United States blocks Palestinian request for full UN membership (www.cbc.ca)
Israeli minister Ben Gvir calls for execution of Palestinian prisoners to ease overcrowding (www.middleeasteye.net)
Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, has called for the execution of Palestinian prisoners to ease overcrowding in the country’s jails....
Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem wins 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award (www.reuters.com)
Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem won the prestigious 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award on Thursday for his image of a Palestinian woman cradling the body of her five-year-old niece in the Gaza Strip....
Chinese EV makers won’t get subsidies from Mexico after US pressure (arstechnica.com)
Iran Issues Unprecedented Nuclear Threat in Duel With Israel (www.thedailybeast.com)
Argentina seeks NATO partner status amid pivot to the West (www.unionleader.com)
They Graduated Into Gaza’s War. What Happened to Them? (www.nytimes.com)
A class of freshly minted dentistry graduates in Gaza had big plans. Now they are counting the dead and trying not to join them.
Poland arrests man suspected of spying for Russia to aid Zelenskyy assassination plot (apnews.com)
Hackers are threatening to publish a huge stolen sanctions and financial crimes watchlist | TechCrunch (techcrunch.com)
Europeans care more about elephants than people, says Botswana president (www.theguardian.com)
Israeli army broadcasts intimidating sounds to lure, kill, and forcibly displace civilians in the Nuseirat camp (euromedmonitor.org)
Testimonies from camp residents, which were provided to the Euro-Med Monitor team, confirm that the sound of women screaming and babies crying was heard late at night on both Sunday and Monday. When some of the residents went out to investigate and tried to help, they were shot at by Israeli quadcopter drones. The sounds they...
Germany arrests two for alleged military sabotage plot on behalf of Russia (www.reuters.com)
Blinken Is Sitting on Staff Recommendations to Sanction Israeli Military Units Linked to Killings or Rapes (www.propublica.org)
A special State Department panel told Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the U.S. should restrict arms sales to Israeli military units that have been credibly accused of human rights abuses. He has not taken any action....
Indonesians leave homes near erupting volcano and airport closes due to ash danger (apnews.com)
In a rebel-held Myanmar town, fragile unity pushes junta to the brink (www.reuters.com)
‘Russia doesn’t care’: Sweden sounds alarm over unsafe oil fleet (www.theguardian.com)
Foreign minister warns of environmental catastrophe in Baltic Sea as he accuses Moscow of using unseaworthy vessels...
Russia to Hire Contract Soldiers in Bid to Avoid Unpopular Draft (www.bloomberg.com)
Russia to Hire Contract Soldiers in Bid to Avoid Unpopular Draft. Russia is preparing to enlist more contract soldiers as it presses its invasion of Ukraine, aiming to avoid at least for now another mass call-up that could undermine popular support for the war
Germany arrests men who allegedly spied on U.S. military sites for Russia (www.nbcnews.com)
Putin is bombing Ukraine into darkness — and leaving Europe short of power (www.politico.eu)
The EU relies on Kyiv for energy. So Russia is attacking the critical storage sites that hold Europe’s gas....
Why Donald Trump ‘hates Ukraine’: The once and possibly future U.S. president blames the country for his political woes (www.politico.eu)
Donald Trump doesn’t easily forgive or forget....
Russia, Iran turning Israel and Ukraine into ‘battlefield laboratories,’ experts say (thehill.com)
Russia and Iran are using Ukraine and Israel as “battlefield laboratories” to probe at Western military vulnerabilities, experts told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee Wednesday....
Jordan walks a tightrope after downing Iranian drones and missiles (www.cnn.com)
As the skies over Amman and other Jordanian cities lit up with Jordan’s interception of Iranian drones and missiles headed for Israel last weekend, officials in the country were notably silent for hours....
Europe wants two things from China. It may not get far on either of them (apnews.com)
Europe wants two things from China: First, a shift in its relatively pro-Russia position on the war in Ukraine. Second, a reduction in the trade imbalance — Chinese goods exports to the EU exceeded its imports from the 27-nation bloc by 291 billion euros ($310 billion) last year....
Once a fringe Indian ideology, Hindu nationalism is now mainstream, thanks to Modi's decade in power (apnews.com)
Hindu nationalism, once a fringe ideology in India, is now mainstream. Nobody has done more to advance this cause than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of India’s most beloved and polarizing political leaders....
