The Economist.

Hello, you're listening to the free edition of the world in brief from The

Economist. As a reminder, if you subscribe to the economist, you'll get access to a deeper look at the day ahead, updated three times a day.

If you're already an economist subscriber, visit Economist.com slash Espresso,

or visit our Espresso app to start listening.

Here's today's free edition. This is the world in brief from the economist.

Our top stories.

Local media in Israel reported that four people, including relatives of an Israeli held hostage in Gaza were arrested at a protest in Tel Aviv.

The protesters had gathered outside a military headquarters after ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas broke down on Tuesday.

Negotiators had been trying to reach a deal that would free 40 of the remaining 130 hostages captured by Hamas during the

October 7th attacks.

American officials retrieved the black box from the Dali, a container ship which struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore Harbor.

Rescuers continued to search the wreckage of the bridge for the remains of six people who are believed to have been killed in the accident.

Disruption is expected following the disaster.

Baltimore's port handled around $80 billion of foreign cargo last year.

Germany's leading economic research groups revised their growth forecast for this year.

They slashed their prediction for the country's GDP growth to 0.1% down from a figure of 1.3% forecast six months ago.

Germany was the world's worst performing major economy last year,

shrinking by 0.3%, owing to weak domestic demand and an ailing export sector.

The lower chamber of Thailand's parliament passed a bill that paves the way for it to legalize same-sex marriage.

The country would be the first in Southeast Asia to do so.

The bill must still pass through the country's upper chamber and receive royal assent, but it is widely expected to become law by the end of the year.

...