1. The head of the United Nations refugee agency is hopeful that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip will help to achieve a lasting peace. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi spoke to NHK during his visit to Japan on Monday. He said that as the former head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, he was “very, very relieved and happy” about the ceasefire, which he called a “breakthrough.”
2. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has condemned the Chinese Communist Party for recently detaining dozens of leaders of the unrecognized Zion Church in China. In a statement issued on Sunday, Rubio called for the immediate release of the detained church leaders. According to Weiquanwang, a website that supports human rights activities in China, since October 9 about 30 members of the church have either been detained or gone missing.
3. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he hopes to visit Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump on Friday. The topics at the summit are likely to include the possible provision of Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States to Ukraine.