海角大神

Aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday and Israel resumed preparations to open the main Rafah crossing as Hamas handed over more bodies of dead hostages. Israel had warned it could keep Rafah shut and reduce aid supplies because it said Hamas was returning bodies too slowly. Seeking to keep the pressure on Hamas, President Trump said he would consider allowing Israeli forces to resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas fails to uphold its end of the ceasefire deal. 鈥� Reuters

Washington is ready to impose 鈥渃osts鈥� on Russia for its war in Ukraine if it does not come to the peace table soon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned at a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels yesterday. The statement was one of the Trump administration鈥檚 clearest signals yet of support for Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now headed to the White House, where he is expected to ask for long-range Tomahawk missiles. President Trump suggested earlier this week that he may provide them 鈥渋f this war is not going to get settled.鈥� 鈥� Staff

President Trump authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, he confirmed yesterday, marking a sharp escalation in U.S. efforts to pressure President Nicol谩s Maduro鈥檚 government. The new authority would allow the CIA to carry out lethal operations in Venezuela and conduct a range of operations in the Caribbean, the New York Times first reported. Venezuela鈥檚 government said Mr. Trump鈥檚 remarks constituted a violation of international law. 鈥� Reuters

All U.S. colleges and universities can reportedly now receive extra federal funding 鈥� if they agree to a list of 10 terms. Those include banning the consideration of sex, race, ethnicity, political views, sexual orientation, and religious association for financial aid decisions, as well as capping foreign admissions at 15%. The White House initially sent the offer to nine highly selective schools on Oct. 1. Critics say the conditions strip schools of their independence. MIT and Brown University have rejected the deal. 鈥� Staff

Argentina could receive an additional $20 billion in financing from the Trump administration. That would come on top of the $20 billion credit swap line that the U.S. Treasury pledged to President Javier Milei and his government this month to bolster the Argentine peso. President Trump has suggested the money could be pulled if Mr. Milei鈥檚 party does not prevail in upcoming midterm elections. 鈥� The Associated Press

Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to a 鈥渢emporary ceasefire鈥� yesterday. Fighting along the contested frontier upset a fragile peace after weekend clashes killed dozens, the worst violence between the two countries since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021. Both sides will make sincere efforts through dialogue to find a solution, Pakistan鈥檚 foreign ministry said in a statement. 鈥� Reuters

Fire deaths have fallen by almost two-thirds across the United States since 1980, reports Vox, with the total number of reported fires dropping by half. That鈥檚 in large part because buildings have become safer, from the prevalence of fire alarms and automatic sprinklers to smolder-resistant upholstered furniture and electrical safeguards. Plus, less smoking has meant fewer cigarette-related fires. 鈥� Staff

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a case asking whether using race as a factor in congressional maps violates the Constitution. If the justices decide it is, the decision could open the door for聽Republican聽politicians to redraw maps聽to聽eliminate聽a number of Black and Hispanic districts.

In the West鈥檚 race to secure critical minerals, the pact being tested between the United States and Canada over tungsten mining in Yukon might prove influential in mending the pair鈥檚 rocky relationship.

Nine months after the Eaton Fire, an Altadena family navigates the red tape that is hampering recovery for those who lost it all in the blaze. How much of their daughter鈥檚 childhood will be spent in limbo? The third in our series from Olive Avenue showing the long road after a natural disaster. Read聽Parts 1 and 2.

The Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs through America鈥檚 most-visited national park, is slowly recovering after mudslides from Hurricane Helene closed it last year. Locals have now joined in the hazardous work of reconnecting their Appalachian communities.

It can be hard to dazzle tech-savvy children growing up in the age of animation. A puppet theater founded in 1963 pulls the right strings so that adults marvel at the magic, too.

Every few years, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences goes to thinkers who offer fresh insights on the sources of economic progress. A good example is this year鈥檚 award 鈥� or rather, awards 鈥� announced on Monday. They were given to three people: two with a theory about progress 鈥� 鈥渃reative destruction鈥� 鈥� and another who points to a 鈥渃ulture of growth.鈥� Given this long record of Nobels, there appears no end to the idea that ideas on progress have no end.

One of this year鈥檚 winners, economic historian Joel Mokyr, even states that growth depends heavily on an infinite source 鈥� what people believe, or specifically, a societal perspective that not only expects more ideas to be discovered but also makes them practical. This facilitates a continuous flow of聽innovation 鈥� such as clean energy or regenerative agriculture 鈥� that can provide sustainable growth.

Dr. Mokyr鈥檚 work on the origins of Britain鈥檚 Industrial Revolution showed how a change of view in a country can unlock curiosity and creativity. By itself, material innovation is not the key but rather the surrounding culture 鈥� such as a tolerance for failure in research, rule of law to protect patents, or an appreciation for the scientific method. And progress is not always linear. Leonardo da Vinci, for example, designed an early version of a helicopter in the 15th century. Today, many experts claim artificial intelligence is more dangerous than it is transformative.

Yet a society that sees progress as natural will spur new inventions, including ones that fix problems caused by past inventions. 鈥淥penness is a driver of growth,鈥� one of this year鈥檚 Nobel winners, Philippe Aghion, told reporters this week. 鈥淎nything that gets in the way of openness is an obstruction to growth.鈥�

Ingenuity is a bottomless trait, and yet its role in economic growth requires the right set of conditions: freedom, collaboration, equality, and a receptivity to challenging ideas. Future economists might posit different causes of growth. The field has had to broaden its scope to many areas, from religion to quantum mechanics.

One constant, however, is the boundless attempts to measure the immeasurable flow of inspiration that, despite fits and starts, uplifts humanity. 鈥淲e consistently fail to grasp how many ideas remain to be discovered,鈥� states a former Nobel winner in economics, Paul Romer. There might be no end to prizes for new theories of progress.