Project update + 2 significant news stories

I have a big update to share: News Minimalist now covers news in 21 more languages! Read the full announcement after the news.

Today ChatGPT read 30812 top news stories. After removing previously covered events, there are 2 articles with a significance score over 5.9.

[6.1] Unmanned rocket explodes 40 seconds after launch in Norway — cbsnews.com

The unmanned Spectrum rocket, developed by Isar Aerospace, exploded 40 seconds after launching from Norway's Andoya Spaceport on March 30, 2025. This was the first attempt at an orbital rocket launch from the European continent, excluding Russia.

Despite the explosion, Isar Aerospace deemed the test flight a success, as it met its goals of achieving a clean liftoff and validating its systems. Prior to the launch, the company had downplayed expectations, stating that no new orbital rockets had successfully reached orbit.

This launch was particularly significant as it was primarily funded by the private sector. Previous European attempts to launch rockets into orbit have typically involved government-supported entities, such as the European Space Agency.

[6.3] Hamas agrees to Gaza ceasefire; Israel counters — abc.net.au

Hamas has accepted a new ceasefire proposal for Gaza from Egypt and Qatar. This proposal includes Hamas releasing five hostages in exchange for Israel allowing aid into Gaza and pausing fighting.

Israel has responded with a counter-proposal, announced through Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, but no details were provided. Recent fighting resumed after Israel launched airstrikes, killing many in Gaza.

The conflict has resulted in over 50,000 deaths in Gaza, marking the highest toll in any conflict with Israel in more than 40 years. Families of hostages in Israel are protesting, calling for a resolution that would ensure their loved ones are returned safely.

Highly covered news with significance over 5.5

[5.5] Myanmar earthquake death toll rises to 1,644
(apnews.com + 923)

[5.8] Trump to announce new tariffs on April 2
(news.yahoo.com + 292)

[5.6] U.S. military focuses solely on China as threat
(t-online.de + 14)

[5.5] Cuts in foreign aid may cause 3M HIV deaths
(politico.eu + 7)

[5.6] Gaia space telescope officially retires after decade-long mission
(space.com + 5)

[5.8] New Syrian government includes first woman minister
(rr.sapo.pt + 39)

Since its inception, News Minimalist has only covered news in English. This gave a good enough coverage of events, since most significant events are usually covered in English.

But it also created a bias toward English-speaking countries, giving us a somewhat skewed perspective on the world.

With the addition of new languages, we’ll get much better coverage of perspectives. We’ll see how major events are viewed in other parts of the world. A couple of stories today already came from non-English sources.

The new update supports 21 more languages: Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Malayalam, Marathi, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, and Ukrainian.

The change almost doubled the number of stories processed each day from 15k to 30k. It also increased the number of stories in high-significance range (5+) from 30 to 50.

All the articles are translated and summarized in English — so you don’t need to do it yourself.

I’ve wanted to do this since the beginning and am very happy to finally have it done.

Please let me know if you have any feedback, find any issues with translations or want me to add more languages.

Thank you!

— Vadim

P.S.: This update considerably improved local coverage in non-English speaking countries. You can choose countries and set individual significance thresholds on premium.