PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, January 14: We look at front-page reactions after outgoing US President Joe Biden announces that Israel and Hamas may be close to a temporary truce in the 15-month war in Gaza. Also in the news: confirmation hearings begin for Donald Trump's top cabinet picks, including the controversial Peter Hegseth as secretary of defence. Plus: a group of dads in a French village band together for a nude calendar – to raise money for their children's school trips!

Papers are reacting to Biden's announcement that a ceasefire in Gaza is near. A glimmer of hope perhaps in the region? The Lebanese daily Al Akhbar, which is close to Hezbollah, wonders if Gaza is nearing the end of its nightmare. There is a similar headline from the British daily The Independent, which announces that Israel and Gaza are "on the brink of peace". The Times of Israel, citing the Saudi channel Al-Hadath, notes that Israel reportedly sent Hamas a list of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners who could be freed in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages, most of them alive, and that the ceasefire could last six weeks at least.

Haaretz, meanwhile, focuses on how the deal was facilitated thanks to unusual US political circumstances. A week before Trump's inauguration, the outgoing Biden administration has let Steven Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, lead the process for negotiating a ceasefire. This was made on the grounds that any obligations the US undertakes would be Trump’s responsibility, not Biden's. The paper explains that Witkoff is a Jewish real estate developer and investor and has been described as someone who has no interest is acting like a diplomat. Last Friday, he called Binyamin Netanyahu’s office from Qatar to let them know he'd be coming to Israel the following afternoon. Netanyahu's aides informed him that it was Shabbat and that they could meet him the next day. Witkoff replied in "salty English" that Shabbat was of no interest to him. Netanyahu had no choice to but to meet him on Shabbat to seal the deal.

In the US, confirmation hearings have begun for Trump's nominations for key posts under his presidency. The New York Times reports that hearings are scheduled for more than a dozen of Trump's cabinet choices and these will provide an early test of Trump's hold over Senate Republicans. As The Washington Post notes, the most high-profile and potentially contentious hearing takes place this Tuesday, when the Senate Armed Services Committee will consider the nomination of Peter Hegseth for secretary of defence. As the paper notes, Hegseth is a former Fox News host and combat veteran. His bid is unconventional because he's just 44 and has a relative lack of political experience. He also admitted to paying a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017. Hegseth's path to winning the job depends on whether he’s able to keep his calm as he faces blistering questions. The US secretary of defence oversees 3 million military and civilian personnel around the world, the US nuclear arsenal and an annual budget of $800 billion.

In other news: here in France, a group of dads have gone to extreme lengths to raise money for their kids' school trips, as Madame Figaro reports. In Seyne-les-Alpes, a village in the south of France, a group of dads have posed nude, dad bods and all, in a calendar to raise money for their children's outings. One of the mothers said it started out as a joke. But they managed to sell 100 copies of their nude calendar and help finance their children's trips in the process.

Finally, a pizzeria in the UK is fighting against pineapple on pizza! The Times of London says the restaurant was forced to add Hawaiian pizzas to its take-out menu, due to popular demand. The restaurant, however, sees it as an abomination. It has decided to charge £100 for the pizza, in the hope of deterring would-be customers!

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.