US military aircraft airdrop thousands of meals into Gaza in emergency humanitarian aid operation (apnews.com)
'Settlers are right': The kibbutz movement should break away from the left, leader says (www.haaretz.com)
“The settlers aren’t wrong. The right is correct: That is the way to seize and hold land, and their claim that, any place we Israelis leave, the Arabs will come in our place, is correct. The right is also correct in its path: It’s by settlement and only by settlement that sovereignty can be imposed. The debate is whether...
Israeli director receives death threats after officials call Berlin film festival ‘antisemitic’ (www.theguardian.com)
An Israeli film-maker who won one of the top prizes at the Berlin film festival has said German officials’ description of the awards ceremony as “antisemitic” has led to death threats and the physical intimidation of family members, causing him to hold off plans to return to Israel....
Police find bodies of Sydney couple allegedly killed by jilted police lover (apnews.com)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Police on Tuesday found the bodies of a couple allegedly shot dead by a jilted police officer lover....
“This Is What Our Ruling Class Has Decided Will Be Normal” (web.archive.org)
31,000 Ukrainian troops killed since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Zelenskyy says (apnews.com)
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in action in the two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion....
Brazil fires back at ‘outrageous’ Israeli response to Lula comments (thecradle.co)
Israeli officials have accused Brazil’s president of antisemitism following his comparison of Israeli violence to that of the Nazis...
China condemns US veto of call for immediate ceasefire at UN (www.bbc.com)
Ukraine Situation Report: Kyiv Claims Six Russian Jets Downed In Three Days (www.twz.com)
White House to hit Russia with ‘major sanctions’ in response to Navalny’s death (www.independent.co.uk)
‘Regardless of the scientific answer, Putin’s responsible for it,’ National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says of opposition leader’s death...
A ship carrying 19,000 cattle caused a big stink in the South African city of Cape Town (apnews.com)
What stinks?...
Hindu nationalists go to court over lion named after Muslim emperor in India (www.theguardian.com)
EU warns Israel against "catastrophic" Rafah offensive (www.reuters.com)
BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The European Union on Monday warned Israel against launching an offensive in Rafah that ministers said would create a disaster for the roughly 1.5 million refugees crammed into the city on the southern edge of Gaza. “An attack on Rafah would be absolutely catastrophic … it would be...
The Israeli Settler Movement’s Ugly Postwar Plans for Gaza (newrepublic.com)
Air Canada ordered to pay customer who was misled by airline’s chatbot (www.theguardian.com)
Company claimed its chatbot ‘was responsible for its own actions’ when giving wrong information about bereavement fare...
'More and more hunger': Argentina's soup kitchens on brink of collapse from high inflation (www.reuters.com)
A week ago, 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of pasta was enough to feed the dozens of families who visit the Sal de la Tierra soup kitchen in Villa Fiorito, a poor Buenos Aires suburb beset by the economic crisis ravaging Argentina. But with monthly inflation topping 20%, the number of hungry residents has soared. This week, the soup...
Kremlin runs disinformation campaign to undermine Zelensky, documents show (www.washingtonpost.com)
When news first emerged last month that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was preparing to fire his top military commander, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, officials in Moscow seemed jubilant. They had been trying to orchestrate just such a split for many months, documents show....
Israeli army chief urges soldiers to stop looting Gaza homes (www.middleeasteye.net)
Israel: No evidence so far that Hamas held hostages in Gaza's Nasser Hospital (www.haaretz.com)
The Israel Defense Forces sent troops into Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis based on intelligence that hostages were held there, but army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that as of Thursday evening no evidence had been found to that effect....
In Extraordinary Move, Venezuela Expels U.N. Human Rights Agency (www.nytimes.com)
The agency has 72 hours to leave the country, marking a “drastic hardening” of conditions inside the South American nation....
Egypt reveals alleged Israeli plan to evacuate Rafah civilians (thecradle.co)
If 1.3 million Palestinians from the southern Gaza city are forced into tent camps along the sea ahead of a military offensive, Israel will be closer to its goal of expelling strip’s population to Egypt by land and other countries by boat
Israel's finance minister blasts Moody's downgrade of the the country's credit rating (abcnews.go.com)
U.N. Agency in Gaza Fought Hamas Infiltration; Not Hard Enough, Israel Says (www.nytimes.com)
Current and former UNRWA officials say that the agency has long taken seriously and investigated accusations of infiltration by Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007. The agency has variously responded to tips from Israel, the United States and its own networks. It was the kind of challenge, they said, that all aid groups...
Israeli Army Probing Death of 12 Hostages in Kibbutz Be'eri House Shelled on Orders of Senior Officer (www.haaretz.com)
An Israel Defense Forces General Staff team has begun investigating an incident in which 12 hostages held by Hamas terrorists were killed in the home of Pessi Cohen in Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7....
Czech Republic to build 4 new reactors (www.ans.org)
The Czech government is looking to accelerate the pace at which it is adding nuclear energy to its grid. Officials announced yesterday that it plans to build up to four nuclear reactors—instead of one—as the country tries to become more energy independent and shift away from fossil fuels....