1. President Joe Biden announced that an Israeli proposal—which he said could lead to a “durable” ceasefire—had been transmitted to Hamas by Qatar. He said that the terms include a six-week ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza and the release of women and elderly Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Mr Biden also claimed that Hamas is “no longer capable” of carrying out another attack like October 7th, adding that “it’s time for this war to end”. Earlier the Israel Defence Forces confirmed that they had entered central Rafah, despite international condemnation over its offensive in the city.
美國總統喬·拜登宣布，卡達已向哈馬斯傳達了一項以色列的提議——他表示這可能導致“持久的”停火。他表示，該提議的條款包括為期六週的停火、以色列軍隊從加薩人口稠密地區撤出，以及釋放女性和年長的以色列人質，以換取巴勒斯坦囚犯。拜登還聲稱哈馬斯已“不再有能力”進行類似於10月7日的攻擊，並補充說“是時候結束這場戰爭了”。早些時候，以色列國防軍確認他們已進入拉法市中心，儘管國際社會譴責其在該市的進攻行動。
-> Why could Israel ignore international condemnation over its offensive in the city?
2. Voting began in the seventh and final phase of India’s general election. Some 57 of 543 seats will be contested amid a scorching heatwave. If the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party wins as expected, Narendra Modi will become only the second prime minister in the country’s history to retain power for a third term. Votes will be counted on June 4th.
印度大選第七階段也是最後一階段的投票已經開始。543個席位中的57個將在炙熱的熱浪中進行競爭。如果執政的印度人民黨如預期獲勝，納倫德拉·莫迪將成為該國歷史上第二位連任第三屆的總理。選票將於6月4日計算。
-> As the world order is a bit off, do you consider these powerful leaders for many terms necessary?
3. Donald Trump vowed to keep fighting following his criminal conviction and called the judge presiding over his case a “crook” and a “devil”. Earlier his campaign said it had raised $34.8m in donations in the hours following his conviction—and that nearly 30% of online donors were new. Mr Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide hush-money payments to a former porn star before the election in 2016. He said he will lodge an appeal.
唐納·川普在被刑事定罪後誓言將繼續抗爭，並稱主持案件的法官為“騙子”和“惡魔”。稍早，他的競選團隊表示，在他被定罪後的數小時內籌集了3480萬美元的捐款，其中近30%的線上捐款者是新捐款者。川普被判在2016年選舉前為隱瞞向一名前色情明星支付封口費而偽造商業記錄的全部34項罪名成立。他表示將提起上訴。
-> Do you find Donald Trump guilty enough to quit the presidential election? Why or why not?
4. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, is expected to address delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security conference, in Singapore on Saturday. Earlier Germany joined other NATO countries, including America, in approving Ukraine’s use of its weapons to hit targets in Russia. Ukraine and Russia also swapped 75 prisoners of war, the first such exchange in nearly four months, in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
烏克蘭總統弗拉迪米爾·澤連斯基預計將於週六在新加坡的香格里拉對話會議（一個安全會議）上發表演講。稍早，德國加入美國等其他北約國家，批准烏克蘭使用其武器攻擊俄羅斯境內目標。烏克蘭和俄羅斯也交換了75名戰俘，這是近四個月來的首次交換，該交易由阿拉伯聯合大公國斡旋。
-> Do you think Asia should get involved in the war between Ukraine and Russia to make some peace treaties happen? Why or why not?
5. The ruling African National Congress is poised to lose its parliamentary majority, according to early results in South Africa’s election. The ANC’s share of the vote stands at about 41% with counting complete at over 90% of polling stations. The result would make Cyril Ramaphosa the first ANC leader of the country without a parliamentary majority. Final results are expected by Sunday.
根據南非大選的初步結果，執政的非洲民族議會黨（ANC）有可能失去其議會多數席位。已完成計票的超過90%的投票站顯示，非洲民族議會的得票率約為41%。這一結果將使西里爾·拉馬福薩成為該國首位未能在議會中取得多數席位的非洲民族議會領袖。最終結果預計將於週日公佈。
-> Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has suffered the highest unemployment rate- 33% in the world, what may be the causes to the failing state?
6. The British ambassador to Mexico, Jon Benjamin, was fired after pointing an assault rifle at a local employee of his embassy. A video of the incident circulated on social media, captioned “in a context of daily killings in Mexico by drug dealers, he dares to joke”. Mexico has long suffered from drug-related violence; around 30,000 people are murdered in the country each year.
英國駐墨西哥大使喬恩·班傑明因對其大使館的一名當地員工用突擊步槍瞄準而被解職。事件的影片在社交媒體上流傳，標題是「在墨西哥毒販每天殺人的背景下，他竟然敢開這種玩笑」。墨西哥長期受毒品相關暴力困擾，每年約有3萬人被謀殺。
-> The former president of the philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, used strict laws and enforcements to deal with drug deals. Do you think they are the right solutions to the drug-related violence in Mexico? Why or why not?
7. Marian Robinson, the mother of Michelle Obama, a former First Lady, died aged 86. Dubbed the “first grandma”, Robinson moved into the White House to care for her granddaughters when her son-in-law, Barack Obama, won the presidency. A family statement said she preferred spending time with “the ushers and butlers, the folks who make the White House a home,” rather than political elites.
前第一夫人蜜雪兒·歐巴馬的母親瑪麗安·羅賓遜逝世，享年86歲。羅賓遜被稱為“第一祖母”，當她的女婿巴拉克·歐巴馬當選總統時，她搬進了白宮照顧她的外孫女。一份家庭聲明中表示，她更喜歡與“接待員和管家，那些讓白宮成為家的員工”共度時光，而不是與政治精英相處。
-> Have you ever wondered what kind of parents you will be?
-> If you were Robinson, would you like to spend time with ushers and butlers or political elites? Why so?
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