On today's podcast:
1) Israel said it had resumed a truce with Hamas in Gaza after heavy fighting over the weekend, with the sides accusing each other of breaching a deal brokered by President Trump. Around 9:30 p.m. Israel time on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had “begun renewed enforcement of the ceasefire” and warned it would “respond firmly to any violation.” Israel launched strikes against Hamas in Gaza and suspended aid shipments on Sunday after blaming the Iran-backed militant group for an ambush that killed two soldiers in the southern part of the strip. The IDF said it responded by hitting weapons-storage facilities and other sites. It also said it dismantled several kilometers of underground tunnels.
2) President Trump listed rare earths, fentanyl and soybeans as the US’s top issues with China just before the two sides return to the negotiating table and as a fragile trade truce nears expiration. Trump also said the US wanted China “to stop with the fentanyl,” a reference to his accusation that Beijing has failed to curb exports of the drug and its precursor chemicals, contributing to the American opioid crisis. Another key demand was for the world’s No. 2 economy to resume soybean purchases. The three topics were all “very, you know, normal things,” he added.
3) Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party will sign a coalition deal with the Japan Innovation Party later Monday, according to the smaller party’s leader, a move that would set up Sanae Takaichi to become the country’s first female prime minister. The LDP and the JIP, also known as Ishin, have broadly reached an agreement and will announce the deal at 6 p.m., Hirofumi Yoshimura, Ishin’s co-leader told reporters, after speaking with Takaichi earlier in the day.
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