الصحف العالمية اليوم.. المفاوضون يتسابقون لوقف اطلاق النار في غزة قبل رمضان.. البنتاجون يخفض قوة الجيش الأمريكي استعدادا للحرب الكبرى.. و بريطانيا ترفض اقتراح ماكرون بإرسال قوات لأوكرانيا وتصفه بالتصعيد الكبير

Today’s international newspapers covered a number of issues, including the continuation of negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza before Ramadan, Trump and Taylor Swift occupying Biden’s thoughts during his preparations for the 2024 elections, and the British Army Commander ruling out any counterattack from Ukraine before 2025.

Wall Street: Negotiators are racing to reach a ceasefire in Gaza before Ramadan

The American Wall Street Journal said that the parties involved in the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza are racing to settle the issue before the holy month of Ramadan.

The report indicated that US President Joe Biden announced earlier that Israel had agreed to stop the war in Gaza during the month of Ramadan if Hamas released the detainees, which increases pressure on the negotiators who are racing to mediate a ceasefire this week. However, Israeli officials said that Biden’s statements surprised them and were met with skepticism by some participants in the negotiations

John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said: “The president’s comments about completing the deal by Monday indicate his optimism that an agreement can be reached,” but insisted that “it is not done yet.”

Biden warned the current Israeli government against losing support from around the world, and in response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was running a campaign aimed at mobilizing support for Israel and reducing pressure to end the war.

According to the report, negotiators view the month of Ramadan as a deadline to reach a ceasefire agreement for several weeks and delay the ground attack that Netanyahu is planning on Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have taken refuge to escape the war.

She noted that the framework under discussion would allow for the release of about 40 Israelis detained by Hamas, the flow of more humanitarian aid to Palestinians suffering from hunger, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel.

Israel and Hamas remain divided over important details about several parts of the deal, as negotiators work to bridge the gap and disagreements could extend the talks beyond the timeline set by Biden, who may try to move the talks forward after a few days of difficult negotiations.

The Pentagon reduces the army’s strength by 24,000 soldiers due to “major wars”

The US Army is reducing the size of its force by about 24,000 soldiers, or nearly 5%, and restructuring it to be more capable of fighting the next great war, as the service suffers from a recruiting shortage that has made it impossible to bring in enough soldiers to fill all the positions.

According to the Associated Press, the cuts will be to positions that are already vacant rather than actual soldiers, including counterinsurgency-related positions that swelled during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars but are no longer needed today. About 3,000 of the cuts will come from the Army’s special operations forces.

At the same time, the move adds about 7,500 soldiers in other critical missions, including air defense and anti-drone units, and 5 new task forces around the world with capabilities in the field of cyber, intelligence, and long-range strikes.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said that she and General Randy George, the Army Commander, worked to reduce the number of empty spaces, adding that the Pentagon is now moving away from combating terrorism and insurgency.

She continued: “We want to be in a position for large-scale combat operations so we’ve looked at where there are parts of the force structure that were perhaps more closely tied to counterinsurgency, for example, that we no longer need.”

The Associated Press noted that the decision reflects the fact that the military has been unable to fill thousands of vacant positions for years. While in its current structure it can house up to 494,000 soldiers, the total number of soldiers on active duty currently is about 445,000. Under the new plan, the goal is to bring in enough troops over the next five years to reach the level of 470,000 troops.

The planned reform comes after two decades of war in Iraq and Afghanistan that forced the military to expand rapidly and dramatically in order to fill brigades sent to the battlefront and included a massive counterinsurgency mission to fight al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Trump, Taylor Swift, and Gaza.. Biden reveals what he is thinking during his preparation for the 2024 elections

US President Joe Biden conducted an interview with comedian Seth Meyers on NBC during his election campaign in New York, and it included questions about his age and his 2024 election program versus the agenda of former President Donald Trump, who is the most likely Republican candidate.

Myers highlighted that opinion polls show that voters are concerned about Biden’s age and his candidacy for a second term and wondered how he plans to address this during the election campaign. Attacking the 77-year-old Trump, Biden said: “No. 1, you have to take a look at the other guy… him.” At the same age as me

Biden continued: “No. 2, it’s about the age of your ideas, I mean this guy wants to take us back – referring to Trump – he wants to take us back to Roe v. Wade. He wants to take us back to a whole set of issues that have been going on for 50 or 60 years represent consistent American positions.”

Biden joked about conspiracy theories about Taylor Swift scheming with Democrats when it comes to everything from the Super Bowl to the 2024 election.

When the host mentioned the topic, Biden said: “Where did you get that information? It’s classified.”

Seth Meyers also asked Biden about the Republican suspension of aid to Ukraine, and Trump’s statements regarding NATO and the war in Gaza.

Biden, who faces criticism from some Arab and Muslim communities in Michigan and elsewhere over his stance on Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, said he believes there is a way forward, albeit a “difficult” one, on a ceasefire and hostage release. .

He said: “Ramadan is coming, and there was an agreement among the Israelis not to carry out any activities during the month of Ramadan as well, in order to give us time to remove all the hostages.” Biden added, continuing his unconditional support for Israel, that without Israel, no Jew will be safe, but he warned. Also, support for the state would decline if it continued its current tactics in Gaza.

He continued: “Israel has received overwhelming support from the vast majority of countries. If it continues without this incredibly conservative government, it will lose support from all over the world and this is not in Israel’s interest.”

Britain’s army commander rules out any counterattack from Ukraine before 2025

The commander of the British armed forces admitted that Ukraine is expected to remain short of ammunition and remain on the defensive in its war with Russia for several months, perhaps until 2025, until the West agrees to further steps to support Kiev.

According to what the Guardian newspaper reported, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin did not comment directly on France’s proposal to deploy ground forces in Ukraine, but instead stressed the urgent need to increase industrial aid.

The British Army Commander said that Ukraine faced a difficult situation on land, as its army suffers from a shortage of ammunition and stocks after American military aid stopped due to the position of Republicans in Congress, with Europe still unable to fill the gap.

Radakin said that talks are ongoing among NATO countries on how to strengthen support for Ukraine, with expectations of new announcements during or before the NATO summit scheduled for next July in Washington.

The British military commander said that Russia is already making gains at the tactical level in relatively small areas of land, including the town of Avdiivka on the eastern front, which was controlled after 17,000 Russians were killed and 30,000 others were injured, according to The Guardian.

Heavy fighting is currently taking place near Chasiv Yar, another town in the Donbass region, where Ukraine retreated after losing Bakhmut last year. A Ukrainian army spokesman said that fierce battles were already taking place on the outskirts of the villages of Ivanevsky and Bogdanivka directly to the east.

Radakin concluded his speech by saying that he believes this is an impasse that is likely to continue for at least the next few months, noting that it is unlikely that Kiev will be able to launch a new counterattack until late summer at the earliest, most likely next year.

A new decline in births in South Korea despite the government spending 270% to encourage childbearing

The latest data from South Korea revealed a deepening demographic crisis in the country, as it showed a decline in the birth rate, which is already the lowest in the world, to a new record low in 2023, despite the government spending billions of dollars on plans aimed at convincing people to have more children. According to what was reported by The Guardian newspaper.

According to preliminary data from the Korea Statistics Authority, a government-affiliated institution, the average number of children a woman gives birth to in South Korea in her lifetime fell to 0.72 from 0.78 in 2022, a decline of about 8%. This rate is much lower than the 2.1 children, which is the average the country needs to maintain its current population of 51 million.

Since 2018, South Korea has become the only member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development with a birth rate of less than 1. In addition, women in South Korea give birth for the first time at an average age of 33.6 years, which is the highest among the OECD member states.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle warns that if the birth rate continues to decline, the population of South Korea, the fifth largest economy in Asia, is expected to shrink by almost half, reaching 26.8 million people by the year 2100.

Lim Young-il, head of the Population Census Department at Statistics Korea, said that the number of new births in 2023 was 230,000, 19,200 fewer than the previous year, representing a decline of 7.7%.

Since 2006, the South Korean government has begun investing more than 360 trillion won, about $270 billion, in programs to encourage couples to have more children, including cash support, child care services, and support for infertility treatment. However, financial and other incentives for childbearing have not succeeded in convincing couples, who see the high cost of raising children and real estate prices, the lack of good-paying jobs, in addition to the country’s strict education system, as reasons hindering the formation of larger families.

Britain rejects Macron’s proposal to send forces to Ukraine and confirms: a major escalation

The Telegraph newspaper said that Britain rejected a French plan seeking to send NATO forces to Ukraine, warning that it would be a major escalation in the war.

French President Emmanuel Macron had suggested that many European Union and NATO countries consider deploying soldiers on the battlefield.

Speaking after a meeting of European Union leaders in Paris with the aim of increasing support for Ukraine, the French President said that the presence of forces on the ground should not be excluded, and he urged the West to do everything required so that Russia is not able to win the war.

On Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Stephane Ségornet stressed in parliament that troops could be sent to Ukraine on training missions or to manufacture weapons without breaching the combat threshold.

However, the Kremlin warned that any deployment of forces would inevitably lead to the outbreak of war between Russia and NATO.

Britain, Germany and many European Union countries rejected Macron’s proposal, and the United States also said that it would not send troops to Ukraine.

The Telegraph said that Macron’s proposal breaks one of the last remaining taboos in NATO, which sought to avoid direct combat with Moscow for fear of escalation.

The Telegraph indicated that when the US aid package estimated at $60 billion was stalled in Congress, Macron sought to portray himself as the most powerful leader in NATO, according to analysts.

Britain had previously presented itself as Ukraine’s strongest supporter, and led the way in collecting donations and providing aid, tanks, and long-range missiles, to pressure Western allies to follow its path.

In response to Macron’s proposal, Downing Street said there were no plans to deploy British forces. Sunak’s spokesman indicated that there were no plans for a large deployment of forces beyond a small number of personnel to support the armed forces in Ukraine. A small number of troops support the Ukrainian army, including medical training.