Daily World Briefing, Aug. 13
Netanyahu says partial Gaza ceasefire deal no longer possible
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he believes the prospects for a partial ceasefire and hostage-release deal with Hamas are no longer possible.
In an interview with Israeli broadcaster i24, Netanyahu said the possibility of reaching a partial agreement "is behind us." He rejected accusations from opposition figures and former senior military officials that he was dragging his feet in the war, saying the goal remains to end the conflict, defeat Hamas, and secure the release of all hostages as part of a single final agreement "on our terms."
"I'm not going back to partial agreements," he said, accusing Hamas of "misleading" Israel, without providing details.
S. Korean court issues warrant to detain ex-President Yoon's wife
A South Korean court issued a warrant to detain Kim Keon-hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk-yeol who has been kept in custody on insurrection and other charges, a special counsel team said Tuesday night.
The Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant, requested by independent counsel Min Joong-ki, on charges of violating the capital market act, the political funds act and a law on the acceptance of bribes for mediation, saying that the move aimed to prevent Kim from destroying evidence.
It marked the first time in the country's constitutional history that ex-presidential couple was simultaneously brought into custody.
Orban calls for EU-Russia summit, rejects joint statement on Ukraine
The European Union (EU) should not set conditions for talks to which its leaders are not invited, but should initiate its own summit with Russia, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Tuesday, explaining why Hungary did not join a joint EU statement on Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, 26 EU member states issued a declaration welcoming U.S. President Donald Trump's stated efforts to help end the conflict in Ukraine ahead of his planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska later this week. Hungary is the only EU member state not to associate itself with the declaration.
"The declaration tries to set conditions for a negotiation to which the EU leaders were not even invited," Orban wrote on social media. "It is already sad enough that the EU has been sidelined."
U.S. Treasury secretary calls for Fed rates cut by 50 bps in September
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that the Federal Reserve should cut interest rates by 50 basis points (bps) at its next meeting in September, adding the Fed should have reduced the rates in June.
Bessent also expressed the hope that White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) Chair Stephen Miran will be confirmed by the Senate to join the central bank's board of governors before the Fed meeting next month, multiple U.S. media outlets reported, citing Bessent's interview with Fox Business.■