UK Debt Pledge, Gaza Ceasefire Shattered & Stranded Astronauts Fly Home

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On today's podcast:

(1) Rachel Reeves has defended her fiscal rules and pledged to bring down government borrowing, as the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer faces dissent from Labour party colleagues opposed to cuts to welfare payments and government spending.

(2) Israel launched a series of military strikes across Gaza, shattering a nearly two-month ceasefire, in response to Hamas's refusal to release hostages and rejection of proposals from the US and mediators. The escalation is the latest sign of renewed conflict in the Middle East.

(3) President Donald Trump said the US and Russia are already talking about dividing “assets” as part of a push to end the fighting in Ukraine, the latest sign that he may be preparing to sacrifice Kyiv’s interests when he speaks with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

(4) German lawmakers will vote on a bill today that would unlock hundreds of billions of euros in debt-financed defense and infrastructure spending and herald a pivot toward a substantially more expansive fiscal policy in Europe’s biggest economy.

(5)  Two NASA astronauts stuck in orbit for nine months finally departed the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX capsule on Tuesday, kicking off their long-awaited voyage home. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, seated inside a Dragon capsule with two other crew members, undocked from the ISS at 1:05 a.m. New York time on Tuesday.  The capsule is expected to travel through space, plunge through the atmosphere and ultimately fall to Earth under parachutes before splashing down off the Florida coast around 6 p.m. New York time. 

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