Wednesday Briefing

President Biden’s reaction: “I am the president, but I am also a dad,” Biden, who has vowed that he will not pardon his son, said in a statement. “I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.”

Israel and Hamas are pressed on U.N. cease-fire plan

Hamas and Israel both made positive but vague statements about the cease-fire plan endorsed by the U.N. Security Council. Even with global pressure mounting to end the war, neither side said it would formally embrace the proposal, which was outlined last month in a speech by President Biden and was passed by the Security Council in a 14-0 vote on Monday. Here’s how the cease-fire would work.

An Israeli government official said in a statement that the proposed deal “enables Israel to achieve” its war goals, but stopped short of saying whether Israel would accept it.

Hamas said in a statement that it had given Egypt and Qatar a response to the U.N. resolution. An official with knowledge of the talks said Hamas’s proposal called for amendments to the cease-fire plan, including firm timetables for a permanent truce, and a full Israeli withdrawal. An Israeli official described Hamas’s response as a rejection of Biden’s proposal; a White House spokesman for the National Security Council said that the U.S. was evaluating the counterproposal.

The U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said yesterday that the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had privately assured him that he supported the resolution, and that the onus was on Yahya Sinwar, a Hamas leader, to accept the proposal.

Lebanon: Hezbollah said that Israeli forces killed one of its commanders in a strike yesterday, stoking concerns about another conflict escalating in the region.

Nigeria’s spiraling economic crisis

Millions in Nigeria are struggling to buy food, fuel and medicine as the country faces its worst economic crisis in a generation. The country’s decline has been sharp: Two years ago, Nigeria was Africa’s biggest economy; this year, it is set to fall to fourth.

The crisis is believed to be rooted in the removal of some fuel subsidies and the devaluation of the currency — two changes set down by a president elected 15 months ago. Punishing inflation means poverty rates are expected to rise even higher.

MORE TOP NEWS

Tenjen Lama Sherpa, one of Nepal’s most storied mountain guides of his generation, was killed by an avalanche last year while trying to help an American climber set a record. An elder brother also died last year, on a Mount Everest rescue expedition.

Their last brother wants to quit mountaineering. But he will go again this season, to make a living and to try to recover Lama’s body.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

SPORTS NEWS

Noel Gallagher interview: The former Oasis musician discusses soccer at length with The Athletic.

Ranking the Euro 2024 managers: Which of them was the best player?

T20 World Cup: How India vs. Pakistan converted an American sports fan to cricket.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Seeing Russia’s invasion through the prism of colonialism

Young Ukrainians are trying to rebuild their identity free of Russian influence. Often, that means re-examining Russia’s history in Ukraine and highlighting its colonial imprint.

Mariam Naiem, a researcher and podcaster, above, has emerged as a leading voice in those efforts. Calling Russia a colonial empire challenges decades of scholarship, but Naiem and others point to Russia’s long efforts to impose its language on Ukraine, occupy its territory and rewrite its history.

Naiem said it took the war for Ukrainians to begin to “decolonize” themselves, pointing to those who switched from speaking Russian to Ukrainian. “This is exactly a decolonial act,” she said.

That’s all for today. Thank you for reading, and see you tomorrow. — Dan

You can reach Dan and the team at [email protected].