Hamas’ cease-fire demands, Joey Chestnut banned from hot dog contest

Today's top stories

Mediators are working to close a cease-fire deal in Gaza after Hamas proposed amendments to a plan put forward by President Biden. Israel and Hamas are willing to reach an initial six-week cease-fire, with an exchange of hostages taken from Israel on Oct. 7 for Palestinian prisoners. But beyond that, details for a deal get tricky. Neither party has publicly agreed to Biden's plan.

• 🎧 Hamas wants a guaranteed end to the war, removal of Israeli troops from the Egypt-Gaza border and a say in which Palestinian prisoners get released, NPR's Daniel Estrin reports on Up First. But Israel says it won't agree to end the war until it ensures Hamas will no longer govern Gaza. Estrin says mediators know talks are in a difficult stage now. There are still fundamental gaps between Hamas' desire to survive this war and Israel's desire to make sure Hamas doesn't survive. The challenge for negotiators is how to bridge that gap.

Today is the first day of the G7 summit in southern Italy. President Biden and other world leaders are expected to focus on how to get Ukraine the money it needs to keep fighting against Russia. Leaders are negotiating a plan to use the interest accrued on roughly $300 billion of Russian assets frozen in Western banks.

• 🎧 NPR's Deepa Shivaram says that two factors are adding pressure for leaders to finalize a plan for Ukraine. Far-right candidates won more seats in the recent European elections, which could complicate future support for the country. November's U.S. presidential election also adds a sense of urgency, as former President Donald Trump has been critical of giving Ukraine aid.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed new federal regulations that would remove medical debt from Americans' credit scores. If enacted, the rules would dramatically expand protections for tens of millions of Americans burdened by medical bills they can’t afford. Health care debt affects an estimated 100 million people in the U.S. Growing evidence indicates that credit scores depressed by medical debt can threaten people’s access to housing and fuel homelessness.

Behind the story

This essay was written by NPR's national desk reporter Meg Anderson.

Getting access to prisoners is no easy feat. 

They are, by design, unreachable behind imposing metal doors. But we are the country with the highest incarceration rate, and talking to the people who comprise that statistic is key to understanding how we think about punishment.

I thought this story would be about press freedom for those who aren’t free themselves. I knew the state prison near Stillwater, Minn., has published a newspaper since the 1800s. I also knew this prison made headlines last year when prisoners protested their living conditions.
I wanted to explore how those two facts converge. What I got instead was a deeper understanding of how prisoners find meaning and work toward redemption.

I visited the prison with Minnesota Public Radio photographer Kerem Yucel. We were allowed to speak with newspaper staff unhurried, without administrators listening — a rare opportunity. Kerem even photographed the men in their cells, a glimpse into prison not often seen.

The prisoners talked about how seeing all sides of a story has changed their thinking. As one inmate said: “Through writing, I hope to leave a much different footprint than the one I've already left on the world.”

Picture show

Despite women-only cars, Mexico City's metro has a gender violence crisis. Nine out of 10 women in the area say they have been a victim of sexual harassment even though the city government in 2002 implemented “Let's Travel Safely," a program that allocates 3 out of 9 subway cars to women and children under 12. At the root of the problem — impunity. Mexico is a country where an estimated 99% of crimes go unpunished.

• 📷 See documentary photographer Sara Messinger's pictures capturing women's experience in the subway, and read about the state of the women’s movement in Mexico.

3 things to know before you go

1. Star competitive eater Joey Chestnut has been banned from Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest after he signed a brand deal with the plant-based brand Impossible Foods.
2. Black Americans are known to be at higher risk of some neurological disorders. Researchers in Baltimore who examined 151 postmortem brains may have identified genes that explain the disparity.
3. Have we reached peak yoga in the U.S.? About 1 in 6 adults say they practice yoga, according to a new CDC survey.

This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.