Dozens of casualties in Israeli attack on UN hub
- Israeli attack hits UN aid distribution centre in Rafah, killing at least five people and wounding dozens.
- Israeli forces also carry out more raids in the occupied West Bank, killing at least four Palestinians – including two minors – and destroying infrastructure.
- Hezbollah says two of its fighters were killed after Israel launched attacks deep inside Lebanon for a second consecutive day.
- At least 31,272 Palestinians have been killed and 73,024 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attacks stands at 1,139 and dozens continue to be held captive.
Video shows destruction of Hamad City as Israeli troops withdraw
Palestinian photographer Hassan Aslaih has posted video to his Instagram account showing the destruction of the Hamad City residential complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, after Israeli forces began their withdrawal from the area.
The Hamad City complex was built with funding from the state of Qatar, and has been heavily bombarded since the start of the war on Gaza.
How the fishing industry abuses workers who catch the fish we eat
One out of every five fish is caught through illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in conditions where abuse is common, according to a UN estimate
Labor groups and government officials are pushing to rein in rampant abuses of workers in the fishing industry, where migrant laborers are frequently subjected to slavery and violence from employers.
One out of every five fish is caught through illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in conditions where abuses of workers are common, according to a United Nations estimate. Some 128,000 workers are thought to be currently trapped in forced labor on remote fishing vessels around the world, according to the International Labour Organization.
Navalny ally Leonid Volkov attacked near home in Lithuania
Prominent Russian opposition figure Leonid Volkov, an ally of the late Alexei Navalny, had his arm broken in an attack. Lithuania’s intelligence service says it is highly likely that Russia is behind the attack.
Lithuanian police said they are devoting “huge resources” to investigate an attack in Vilnius on Leonid Volkov, a long-time aide to late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Police Commissioner Renatas Pozela said on Wednesday.
Volkov was attacked Tuesday outside his home in the Lithuanian capital.
In a video on Telegram, Volkov said he was struck 15 times in the leg during the attack, and his arm was broken.
The incident sparked an uproar from the Lithuanian government.
Situation in Gaza ‘completely unimaginable’, British doctor says after mission
China demands Japan start Fukushima treated water compensation system
China has demanded Japan set up a compensation system for potential economic damage stemming from the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.
Japan has refused the demand, noting that the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded that the water discharge is safe, but China is unlikely to retract it, according to the sources familiar with bilateral relations.
Senior Chinese officials presented the demand to Japan last year several times through diplomatic channels, the sources said. Beijing has imposed an import ban on all seafood products from its neighbor since the start of the water release in August 2023.
House passes bill that could lead to US ban of TikTok
By Antoinette Radford and Brian Fung, CNN
What we’re covering here
- The House passed legislation that could ban TikTok in the US unless the app parts ways with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. It’s a major challenge to one of the world’s most popular social media platforms, used by 170 million Americans.
- If enacted, the bill, which passed on a bipartisan 352-65 vote, would give TikTok about five months to separate from ByteDance, or app stores in the US would be banned from hosting it on their platforms. It’s not yet clear what the fate of the measure will be in the Senate.
- Lawmakers supportive of the bill have argued TikTok poses a national security threat because the Chinese government could use its intelligence laws against ByteDance, forcing it to hand over the data of US app users.
- TikTok blasted the House vote and urged the Senate to “consider the facts.” China’s foreign ministry responded angrily ahead of the vote, calling it an “act of bullying.”
TikTok failed to read the political landscape, NYU analyst says
From CNN’s Brian Fung
TikTok misread years of signals from politicians that they intended to ban the app, according to Paul Barrett, deputy director of New York University’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.
“Faced with persistent bipartisan suspicion in the US, ByteDance and the Chinese government should have read the political signals more astutely and spun off TikTok as a stand-alone American company,” Barrett said.
“A broad U.S. ban would inhibit Americans from using TikTok to express themselves — an outcome that would limit free speech and make no one happy,” he continued.
More context: Lawmakers supportive of the bill have argued TikTok poses a national security threat because the Chinese government could use its intelligence laws against ByteDance, forcing it to hand over the data of US app users.
TikTok has called the legislation an attack on the constitutional right to freedom of expression for its users.
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