US and UK to back Israel over ICJ ruling after blurring their Rafah red lines

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Having initially vowed to oppose any offensive, Washington and London are showing signs of having backed down

The US and the UK will reject the international court of justice order directing Israel to end its offensive on Rafah after slowly blurring their red lines that once stated that they could not support a military offensive in Rafah.

The line was first adapted by saying they could not support a major ground offensive without a credible plan to protect civilians, but since then the definition of what constitutes a major offensive has become more flexible.

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Russian jamming of U.S. weapons in Ukraine forces Pentagon to adjust – The Washington Post

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  1. Russian jamming of U.S. weapons in Ukraine forces Pentagon to adjust  The Washington Post
  2. Ukraine's long-range glide bomb blunted by Russian jamming  Reuters
  3. Russian electronic warfare jams some US weapons in Ukraine – The Washington Post  Ukrainska Pravda
  4. Ukraine war briefing: US-supplied glide bombs struggle against Russian jamming  The Guardian
  5. Ukraine War Exposes Flaws in America's Sophisticated Weapons: Analysts  The Defense Post
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Israeli army says bodies of 3 more hostages are recovered from Gaza – PBS NewsHour

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  1. Israeli army says bodies of 3 more hostages are recovered from Gaza  PBS NewsHour
  2. Israel Recovers Bodies of 3 More Hostages in Gaza  The New York Times
  3. Israeli military recovers bodies of 3 more hostages from Gaza  NBC News
  4. IDF recovers bodies of three hostages from north Gaza; all were killed on October 7  The Times of Israel
  5. Bodies of three hostages taken by Hamas during attack on Israel recovered from Gaza  Yahoo! Voices
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Viktor Orbán holds up Ukraine arms funding from frozen Russian assets – Financial Times

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  1. Viktor Orbán holds up Ukraine arms funding from frozen Russian assets  Financial Times
  2. U.S. and Europe Near Deal on Novel Funding Plan for Ukraine  The Wall Street Journal
  3. Exclusive: World Bank chief Banga open to managing a G7 loan to Ukraine  Reuters
  4. The West is tapping Russian money to arm Ukraine. Much more could follow  CNN
  5. ‘New ground is being broken’: EU seizes Russian profits for Ukraine  Al Jazeera English
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Tory donors pour cash into seats held by big names at risk of losing

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Exclusive: Over £2.5m for MPs such as Fox and Mordaunt in what will be the highest-spending UK election

Conservative donors have poured more than £2.5m into key election battlegrounds to shore up support for MPs, such as Liam Fox and Penny Mordaunt, who are in danger of losing their seats.

The 2024 election will be the highest-spending UK contest, after the government raised national election limits to £34m per party – leaving the Conservatives and Labour in an arms race to raise cash.

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Hungary looking to redefine its NATO membership – POLITICO Europe

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  1. Hungary looking to redefine its NATO membership  POLITICO Europe
  2. Hungary Working to 'Redefine' Its NATO Membership, Orban Says  Bloomberg
  3. Russia unlikely to 'swallow the West whole', Hungary's Orban says  Reuters
  4. Putin's NATO Ally Delivers Sharp Critique of Russian Military  Newsweek
  5. Russia cannot swallow the West whole, Orban says; G7 finance chiefs meet with Ukraine on agenda  CNBC
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Countries Fail to Agree on Treaty to Prepare the World for the Next Pandemic – The New York Times

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  1. Countries Fail to Agree on Treaty to Prepare the World for the Next Pandemic  The New York Times
  2. WHO Member States agree to share outcomes of historic IHR, pandemic agreement processes to World Health Assembly  World Health Organization (WHO)
  3. Global pandemic treaty might not be finished by deadline : Goats and Soda  NPR
  4. Global treaty to fight pandemics like COVID is going to have to wait  The Associated Press
  5. Breaking - WHO Member States Fail To Reach Agreement On Pandemic Accord; Way Forward In Hands Of World Health Assembly  Health Policy Watch
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Haiti gang kills US politician’s missionary daughter and her husband

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Missouri state representative Ben Baker’s daughter and her husband were reportedly ambushed when leaving a church

The daughter and son-in-law of a US Republican politician are among three Christian missionaries who have been killed by gang members in Haiti as it emerged that the long-awaited deployment of an multinational security force tasked with rescuing the Caribbean country from months of bloodshed had been delayed.

Ben Baker, a Republican state representative from Missouri, announced the news of the couple’s murder on Facebook late on Thursday, writing: “My heart is broken in a thousand pieces. I’ve never felt this kind of pain.”

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Italian anti-fascist goes on trial in Hungary accused of attacking neo-Nazis

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Ilaria Salis, 39, says she is being persecuted for her beliefs in case that has led to tensions between two countries

An Italian anti-fascist activist has gone on trial in Hungary for allegedly attacking neo-Nazis, in a case that has sparked tensions between the two EU allies.

Ilaria Salis, 39, arrived at the Budapest court accompanied by her father, with Italy’s ambassador and a throng of Italian journalists also in attendance. She left to applause after the court heard testimony from one of the victims and two witnesses. None of the three could personally identify Salis, as their attackers were masked.

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Tens of thousands flee camp in Sudan after attacks by RSF paramilitaries

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Concerns grow that Darfur is facing another genocide as Rapid Support Forces besiege city of El Fasher

Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in a displacement camp in the city of El Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur region after attacks by the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, as concern grows that Darfur is facing another genocide.

The RSF has besieged the city for weeks, aiming to take the last major population centre in Darfur that it does not control. Hundreds of thousands are sheltering there after fleeing other cities taken by the group over the past year.

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UN’s top court orders Israel to immediately halt Rafah offensive

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ICJ president says humanitarian situation in Gaza’s southernmost city is now classified as ‘disastrous’

The UN’s top court has ordered Israel to halt its assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah in a ruling that will ratchet up the pressure on the increasingly isolated country.

The president of the international court of justice, Nawaf Salam, said the humanitarian situation in Rafah had deteriorated further and was now classified as “disastrous”, meaning the ICJ’s previously issued provisional measures were insufficient.

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Russia removes buoys on Estonian border, EU demands explanation – Fox News

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  1. Russia removes buoys on Estonian border, EU demands explanation  Fox News
  2. European Union criticizes Russia for removing Estonian buoys, demand an explanation from Moscow  The Associated Press
  3. Putin's Estonia provocation rings alarm bells in the Baltics  POLITICO Europe
  4. Don’t Look Now, but Putin Is Messing with NATO  National Review
  5. EU wants answers from Russia on 'unacceptable' Estonian border action  Reuters
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Canada to restore right of citizens born abroad to pass citizenship to children also born outside country

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Federal government to amend Citizenship Act, removing ‘second-generation cut-off’ introduced by Conservative government

Canada plans to restore the right of citizens born abroad to pass their citizenship to children also born outside the country, following a court ruling that a “first-generation limit” in the law was unconstitutional.

The federal government announced legislation to amend the Citizenship Act, removing a “second-generation cut-off” introduced by the previous Conservative government, after an Ontario court ruled in December that the limit was unconstitutional.

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