And Trump calls Zelensky.
Happy Thursday and welcome to your morning wrap of the key international headlines from around the world.
First up, the Israeli military has launched its first ground offensive in Gaza since the collapse of its ceasefire deal with Hamas.
CNN reported the operation followed Israel’s renewed bombardment of the territory yesterday. Israel, in justifying the attack, accused the militant group of “repeatedly” refusing to release hostages and rejecting offers from mediators. Meanwhile, Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of putting hostages “at risk of an unknown fate” after it unilaterally upended the truce.
The Israel Defense Force said overnight that its troops “began targeted ground activities in the central and southern Gaza Strip in order to expand the security zone and to create a partial buffer between northern and southern Gaza”.
Israel had withdrawn from the corridor, a strip of land that splits Gaza in half, under January’s ceasefire deal.
Al Jazeera reported that at least 436 Palestinians, including 183 children, have been killed since Israel resumed the bombardment of Gaza on Tuesday (local time).
The head of the United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees said today was a “another black day” for the UN in Gaza.
To the war in Ukraine, and US President Donald Trump has just had a hour-long phone call with his Ukranian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenesky to discuss a peace deal with Russia.
It followed a call yesterday Trump had with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, where the Russian leader agreed to a partial ceasefire deal to stop attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days.
Trump, this morning, said on social media his call with Zelensky was “very good”.
"Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs," he wrote.
Zelensky is yet to comment.
Next up, Turkish authorities have detained Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the main rival of President Tayyip Erdogan, on charges of corruption and aiding a terrorist group.
Reuters reported the move against the popular two-term mayor capped a months-long crackdown on opposition figures across the country, which critics have called an attempt to silence dissent.
Imamoglu, 54, who leads Erdogan in some opinion polls, was to be named his Republican People's Party's presidential candidate within days. He now faces two separate investigations that included charges of leading a crime organisation, bribery, and tender rigging.
The leader of the party called his arrest a “coup”, although Justice Minister Yilmac Tunc warned against linking Erdogan to Imamoglu’s arrest.
Turkey’s lira crashed by as much 12% on the news to an all-time low.
Tayyip Erdogan
In financial news, the US Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged and maintained there will be two further cuts later this year.
The central bank, in a widely anticipated move, left its benchmark interest rate at between 4.25% and 4.5%. Fed officials marked up their outlook for inflation this year in light of the Trump administration's aggressive tariff policies. But they also moved down the outlook for economic growth and expect slightly higher unemployment.
"Uncertainty around the outlook has increased," the Fed said in a statement.
The Fed's decision to pencil in two rate cuts this year was in line with expectations.
Wall Street's main indices have all increased in response to the announcement.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
To Malaysia now, where the country’s cabinet has agreed to a fresh search for the missing wreckage of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, more than a decade after the plane disappeared.
The BBC reported the search will cover 15,000 square kilometres in the southern Indian Ocean under a “no find, no fee” agreement with the exploration firm Ocean Infinity.
The company could receive US$70m if the wreckage is found.
The flight disappeared in 2014 in 239 people on board while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane has never been found.
Finally this morning, the athletic exploits of teenage Tauranga middle distance runner Sam Ruthe have made global headlines.
Last night, the 15-year-old became the youngest person in history to run a sub-four-minute mile, running 3:58.35 in wet conditions at Auckland’s Mount Smart Stadium.
Norway's two-time Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen ran the mile in 3:58.07 at the age of 16, while Australian Cam Myers' 3:55.44 is currently the best time for a 16-year-old.
Ruthe has burst onto the scene this summer, running a number of impressive times including becoming New Zealand’s youngest senior national champion when he won the 3000m – in another world-record time for his age – in February.
