Why China Won’t Help Iran – Foreign Affairs

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  1. Why China Won’t Help Iran  Foreign Affairs
  2. The US just took out two China-friendly leaders in two months. Why has Beijing done very little about it?  CNN
  3. What China’s response to the US attack on Iran says about its foreign policy  AP News
  4. Trump's China summit with Xi Jinping just got a lot more complicated  NBC News
  5. Is the US in decline? After Iran strikes, maybe not, Chinese analysts say  South China Morning Post
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Live: Israeli military tells residents to leave Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs – France 24

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  1. Live: Israeli military tells residents to leave Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs  France 24
  2. Live updates: Israel urges evacuation of Beirut’s southern suburbs; Iran threatens revenge over warship  The Washington Post
  3. Israel Orders Southern Beirut Residents to Evacuate  WSJ
  4. Hezbollah’s risky return to the battlefield  Al Jazeera
  5. Israel orders residents to leave southern Beirut  The Detroit News
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Fight over Trump’s Iran war powers comes after a long stretch of Congress yielding to presidents – AP News

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  1. Fight over Trump's Iran war powers comes after a long stretch of Congress yielding to presidents  AP News
  2. Trump’s Unauthorized War  The Atlantic
  3. ‘Restoring the rule of law’: Why declaring war matters  WTOP
  4. Trump administration waging illegal war on Iran, experts say  The Guardian
  5. Why doesn’t Congress declare war anymore?  CNN
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Pentagon releases names of final two soldiers of six killed in Kuwait

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Chief Warrant Officer Robert Marzan, 54, and Maj Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, were from California and Iowa

The Pentagon has released the names of the final two of the six soldiers who were killed during a recent drone strike in Kuwait. They were killed on Sunday, the day after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran. Their names were released by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday.

The two soldiers were identified as Chief Warrant Officer Robert Marzan, 54, and Maj Jeffrey O’Brien, 45. They were from Sacramento, California, and Indianola, Iowa, respectively.

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Ukraine war briefing: Russia claims LNG tanker in Mediterranean hit by drones

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The Arctic Metagaz had been carrying 61,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas when it exploded; Ukrainian drones reported to have hit southern Russia. What we know on day 1,471

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has accused Ukraine of carrying out a attack on one of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, which exploded and sank into the Mediterranean Sea off Libya. Explosions were reported on the Arctic Metagaz, which had been carrying 61,000 tonnes of LNG, on Tuesday night when the ship was about 150 miles (240km) off the coast of Libya. Ukraine has not commented on the sinking on the ship, which had been under US and EU sanctions. Russia’s transport ministry had claimed that the Arctic Metagaz had been hit by Ukrainian drones launched from the Libyan coast.

Ukrainian drones damaged Russian civilian sites in the south-western region of Saratov, Roman Busgarin, the area’s governor said early on Thursday. Saratov airport and other airports in the southern and central regions were closed late on Wednesday and early on Thursday. Three injuries were reported.

A prolonged energy crisis caused by the widening war in the Middle East may offer the Russian war machine an economic lifeline just as it was beginning to show signs of strain over its war in Ukraine. Russia could receive a windfall if disruption in the Middle East pushes buyers towards its energy, while a possible slowdown in western arms supplies to Ukraine as the US military action in Iran continues could give Russia a further boost.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that trilateral talks with Washington and Moscow about ending Ukraine’s war in Russia would resume, once the situation in Iran and the Middle East permitted. The Ukrainian president also said that he spoke to the king of Bahrain and the crown prince of Kuwait about the conflict in the Middle East on Wednesday.

Ukraine has said it will boycott Friday’s opening ceremony of the Paralympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy, over the participation of Russian athletes. Athletes from Russia and Belarus had been banned from the 2022 Winter Paralympics over its war in Ukraine, but were allowed to compete as neutral athletes in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Poland were set to join Ukraine in its boycott on Friday.

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Carney Won’t Rule Out Military Action If Mideast Conflict Widens – Bloomberg

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  1. Carney Won’t Rule Out Military Action If Mideast Conflict Widens  Bloomberg
  2. Canada's Mark Carney under fire as ‘all over the place’ on Iran, risking wider US rift  Fox News
  3. Canadian PM Carney says US and Israel’s strikes on Iran mark ‘failure of the international order’  The Hill
  4. Canada could be called on to help defend Gulf states, says top military commander  CBC
  5. Leaders of Canada and Australia urge Iran war de-escalation, affirm Iranians can't have nuclear weapons  PBS
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Louisiana mayor convicted of raping 16-year-old boy at her home while still in office

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Misty Roberts, 43, faces sentences of up to 10 and seven years in prison after July 2024 sexual assault at pool party

The former mayor of a Louisiana city has been convicted of raping a 16-year-old boy during a party at her house while she was still in office.

Misty Roberts, 43, faces sentences of up to 10 and seven years in prison after a jury in the municipality of DeRidder on Tuesday found her guilty of two felonies: carnal knowledge of a juvenile – or statutory rape – as well as indecent behavior with a minor.

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