TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli leaders on Sunday credited an international military coalition with helping thwart a direct Iranian attack involving hundreds of drones and missiles, calling the coordinated response a starting point for a “strategic alliance” of regional opposition to Tehran.
The center-left Democratic Party added to its legislative majority after the recent parliamentary election, which would deal a blow to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s domestic reform agenda and possibly his efforts to improve ties with Japan.
Lee Jae-myung (middle), leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, stands with supporters at a campaign rally in Seoul, South Korea on April 9, 2024. Kim Soo-hyeon/Reuters
What are the major takeaways from the National Assembly elections in South Korea?
South Koreans went to the polls on April 10 to elect every member of the unicameral National Assembly. To the chagrin of President Yoon Suk Yeol, his conservative People Power Party (PPP) did not secure a majority. PPP lost six seats from 114 to 108 and DPP and allies gained thirty seats from 157 to 187.
World Depends on ‘Indispensable’ U.S. Leadership, Japanese PM Tells U.S. CongressJapanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio stressed the global importance (Nikkei) of U.S. leadership and Japan’s increased commitment to helping bear the burden of upholding a rules-based international order in an address to Congress yesterday. The United States is “indispensable,” Kishida said, adding that Japan is fully committed to upholding the same values and thus has transformed from a “reticent ally” to a “strong, committed” one in recent years.
Kishida’s address to Congress was the first (Bloomberg) by a Japanese leader since 2015 and occurred during a visit where the two nations also held a first-of-its-kind trilateral summit with the Philippines. A joint statement issued after the summit called (Nikkei) the three countries “equal partners and trusted friends,” and pledged to advance a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region with more such meetings “for decades to come.”
The United Nations chief is blaming Israel’s military strategy and procedures for the killing of nearly 200 humanitarian workers and is calling for independent investigations to fix those failures and practices.Photos
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 cross-border attack, Israel has pummeled the Gaza Strip, displacing the vast majority of the population and causing many to flee to Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah. Food is scarce, the U.N. says famine is approaching and few Palestinians have been able to leave the besieged territory.
FILE – People inspect the site where World Central Kitchen workers were killed in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)
Meanwhile, Hamas continues to fire rockets into Israel from Gaza, and Hezbollah and other militant groups do so from southern Lebanon, prompting tit-for-tat fighting that has displaced thousands of civilians on both sides of Israel’s borders. Hamas is still holding hostages taken during the Oct. 7 raid, as well as the bodies of some who died in captivity. And cease-fire talks stretch on with no end in sight.
Palestinians flee from the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza after an Israeli ground and air offensive on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024. Associated Press photographers have captured what six months of devastating war have brought for Israel and for Palestinians. At its six-month mark, it is not clear what direction the war will now take. Weeks of mediation by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar for a longer cease-fire have so far been unable to make a breakthrough. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk together after a meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ week in Woodside, California on November 15, 2023. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty ImagesWashingtonCNN —
President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, marking the first conversation between the leaders since their historic in-person summit in November and the latest in ongoing efforts by US and Chinese officials to defuse tensions between the two superpowers.
Over the last twenty years, China’s influence in the Middle East has grown substantially. China has major economic partnerships with Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and also Israel.
Statement of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA to the General Assembly
4 March 2024, New York
Mr. President,
Excellencies,
I am here today because UNRWA, the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees, is at a breaking point.
75 years after its creation by this Assembly as a temporary UN entity, pending a just political solution to the question of Palestine, the Agency’s ability to fulfil its mandate is seriously threatened.
Your urgent action is needed to facilitate a political solution that will bring peace to Palestinians and Israelis, and in this context alone, allow the Agency to transition.
The Palestinian Authority’s prime minister announced his government’s resignation on Monday, seen as the first step in a reform process demanded by the United States as part of its latest ambitious plans to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Feb. 26)Photos
BY JOSEPH KRAUSSUpdated 9:02 AM GMT+7, February 27, 2024 AP
The Palestinian Authority’s prime minister announced his government’s resignation on Monday, seen as the first step in a reform process urged by the United States as part of its latest ambitious plans to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
But it will do little to address the authority’s longstanding lack of legitimacy among its own people or its strained relations with Israel. Both pose major obstacles to U.S. plans calling for the PA, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to govern postwar Gaza ahead of eventual statehood.
TTCT – Năm 2023 đối với cá nhân tôi đáng nhớ vì vào cuối năm xảy ra sự cố Gaza. Dĩ nhiên đây là về mặt chủ quan cá nhân vì tôi có nhiều gắn bó với khu vực và có nhiều quan hệ với người Palestine tị nạn ở Lebanon và nước ngoài.
Dẫu vậy, tôi chưa hề đặt chân lên lãnh thổ Palestine.
Ảnh: The Nation
Lebanon là một trong những quốc gia còn trong tình trạng chiến tranh với Israel và mỗi bận tôi nhập cảnh Lebanon là công an cửa khẩu lật sổ thông hành của tôi ra dò kỹ từng trang. Nếu bạn có con dấu Israel là họ không cho bạn vào.
Mỗi bận như vậy, tôi nói thách anh tìm ra con dấu vì tôi sẽ chỉ đặt chân đến lãnh thổ đó ngày nào có một nhà nước Palestine độc lập và chủ quyền. Các anh cười nhưng lần nào cũng vẫn dò tìm con dấu tiếp.
Đọt Chuối Non 