There’s the handshake, and then …

This week

• Israel and Hamas agree to a ceasefire—but disagree on whether the war has ended. What can you do with a peace framework when the two parties haven’t settled on what it means
• Washington finally enforces sanctions on Serbia’s Russian-owned oil company after eight delays. Can gradual pressure work on Belgrade when it hasn’t on Moscow?
• France’s prime minister returns from the dead. TikTok trains casual users to be compulsive scrollers. Hackers demand ransom for 800 companies’ data. Air-traffic controllers work without pay, airports go dark. & It turns out European lawmakers are full of forever chemicals.
• Why are American universities letting foreign governments bully their students? Sarah McLaughlin on the business model behind the pressure.
• Why does Japan have a new prime minister—again? Tobias S. Harris on political scandals, economic struggles, and a deep loss of public confidence in the country’s institutions.
• How is political upheaval in South Korea affecting North Korea? Soo Kim on what’s driving Pyongyang’s increasing hostility toward Seoul.

Cultural intelligence

• Why has theft become Uganda’s main system of government? Mahmood Mamdani, Slow Poison: Idi Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State.
• Who actually listens to chamber music these days?
• & The week in new tracks.

+ Weather report

• Two typhoons in days—what’s next for Southern Japan?

The world in brief

What’s happening, October 4-10

The agreement

On Wednesday evening, October 8, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio slipped President Donald Trump a note during a White House event. Trump read it, looked up, and told reporters: “We’re very close to a deal in the Middle East.” Hours later—at 2 a.m. Thursday in Egypt—Israeli and Hamas negotiators signed what Trump called “the first phase” of a peace framework. By Friday morning, the ceasefire took effect: Hostages would be released within 72 hours, Israeli forces would be pulling back, 2,000 Palestinian prisoners would be freed.

The immediate terms are concrete. What happens next not. Trump’s plan calls for Hamas to disarm completely. Hamas has publicly rejected disarmament. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war continues until Hamas is destroyed. Hamas claims U.S. guarantees that “the war has ended permanently.” The plan envisions international governance leading to “Palestinian self-determination”—language Netanyahu compares to “giving al-Qaeda a state.” According to most recent reporting, substantive discussions on these core issues haven’t begun. Committees will address them only after phase one is complete.

What are they actually agreeing to when they can’t say what happens next?