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☆ Middle East Crisis Palestinian Authority Leader Expected to Choose Insider as Prime Minister
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Adam Rasgon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority has signaled his desire to appoint Muhammad Mustafa, a close economic adviser, as prime minister. Mr. Abbas could change his mind, and a decision to appoint Mr. Mustafa will only be final if Mr. Abbas signs a decree. Much of the Palestinian public sees the Palestinian Authority as tainted by corruption, mismanagement and cooperation with Israel. In the Palestinian Authority, the prime minister is supposed to oversee the work of ministries, but Mr. Abbas often intervenes in decision-making, according to analysts. He has previously been the authority’s economy minister and deputy prime minister.

Persons: Mahmoud Abbas, Muhammad Mustafa, Abbas, Mustafa, Mr, Majdi Mohammed, Mohammed Shtayyeh, “, Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden, Nasser, Mohammed, Muhammad, ”, Qudwa, Abu Mazen, “ Abu Mazen, Borge Brende, Jehad Harb Organizations: Palestinian Authority, Palestinian, Union, European Union, Press, West Bank, United, Authority, Israel, George Washington University, Washington , D.C, Palestine Investment Fund, Gaza Locations: Gaza, Israel, Hamas, United States, Palestinian, Washington ,, Davos, Ramallah

☆ Middle East escalation fears spike as Houthis launch most damaging attack yet
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed the group's responsibility for the attack, calling it their most severe yet. The group claim to support Palestinian civilians amid Israel's retaliatory military campaign in the Gaza Strip. Simultaneously, fighting is raging between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip with no sign of abating despite diplomatic efforts by a number of countries. INTERNATIONAL WATERS RED SEA, YEMEN - NOVEMBER 20: This handout screen grab captured from a video shows Yemen's Houthi fighters' takeover of the Galaxy Leader Cargo in the Red Sea coast off Hudaydah, on November 20, 2023 in the Red Sea, Yemen. EU foreign ministers called in a joint statement for an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a lasting cease-fire.

Persons: Mohammed Huwais, Yemen's, Yahya Saree, Saree, Charles Myers, CNBC's, Myers, Hungary —, Israel's, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, hasn't, Mohammed Abed Organizations: Hamas, Afp, Getty, U.S . Central Command, Global Advisors, SEA, Galaxy Leader Cargo, Handout, Security, Palestinian Locations: Israel, Sanaa, Gaza, Red, Belize, Gulf, Aden, Iranian, Yemen, U.S, Gulf Aden, Rafah, Gaza's, YEMEN, Red Sea, Lebanon, Iran, Beirut, Hungary

☆ Yulia Navalnaya is raising hopes for a renewed Russian opposition. She will face huge challenges
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Clare Sebastian | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

On Monday, just three days after her husband’s death, Yulia Navalnaya rebranded herself as a political force, vowing to pick up where her husband left off. And yet for those left, Navalny’s death has created some momentum to keep trying. The man who put Nadezhdin forward, Civic Initiative party leader Andrey Nechaev, a former economy minister in the 1990s, denies there’s no functioning opposition left. On Saturday, the Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielus Landsbergis posted a photo of himself with Khodorkovsky, Kasparov, and another exiled former Russian opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov. “We shouldn’t overestimate the spread of opposition ideas, opposition moods in Russian society,” says Bondarev.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, “ You’re, Navalny’s, Yulia, Yulia Navalnaya, ”, “, Putin, Alexey, ” Yulia Navalnaya, Boris Bondarev, ” Bondarev, Navalnaya, ” Navalny, Grigory Yavlinsky, Yavlinsky, Ilya Yashin, Navalny, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Garry Kasparov, Russia’s, Boris Nadezhdin, Andrey Nechaev, Nechaev, Boris Nemtsov’s, Evgeny Feldman, ” Khodorkovsky, Gabrielus Landsbergis, Khodorkovsky, Kasparov, Dmitry Gudkov, …, Putin’s Organizations: CNN, CNN Films, Navalnaya, Munich Security, Corruption, Putin, Civic Initiative Locations: Tomsk, Germany, Russian, Ukraine, Brussels, Russia, British, Moscow, Kirov , Russia, Lithuanian

☆ Navalny's Widow Joins EU Foreign Ministers as Ukraine War Nears Two-Year Mark
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Gabriela BaczynskaBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The widow of Alexei Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's nemesis who died in an Arctic prison last week, joins EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, days before the two-year mark of Russia's war on Ukraine. The Latest Photos From Ukraine View All 91 ImagesNavalny, a 47-year-old former lawyer, rose to prominence campaigning against corruption in Putin's Russia. The ministers are due to discuss military support for Ukraine and what would be the European Union's 13th package of sanctions against Moscow since it unleashed a full-scale invasion of its neighbour on Feb.24, 2022. Inside the EU, Germany has blocked replenishing a military fund used to supply Ukraine saying Berlin was contributing too much compared to other members. One senior EU diplomat said they believed it "will be able to make it in time" and agree the new punitive measures for Feb.24.

Persons: Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS, Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin's, Yulia Navalnaya, Putin, Josep Borrell, Navalnaya's, Donald Trump, Viktor Orban, Gabriela Baczynska, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Ukraine, Moscow, NATO, Kremlin, EU, Washington Locations: Russian, Brussels, Ukraine, Munich, Israel, Gaza, Russia, Putin's Russia, Siberia, United States, Europe, U.S, EU, Germany, Berlin, Hungary, Budapest, Kyiv, London, Sahel, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania

Many world leaders blamed President Vladimir Putin and his government for Navalny’s death Friday at age 47. Navalny’s team said he was “murdered,” and charged that officials' refusal to hand over his body was part of a cover-up. Yarmysh said that Navalny's mother and his lawyers weren't allowed into the morgue in Salekhard on Monday morning. The U.S. and British ambassadors also mourned Navalny's death at a memorial in Moscow. Over 50,000 people have submitted requests to the Russian government asking for Navalny's remains to be handed over to his relatives, OVD-Info said.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Kira Yarmysh, Lyudmila Navalnaya, ” Yarmysh, Vladimir Putin, Navalny’s, “, ”, Yarmysh, weren't, Ivan Zhdanov, “ lackeys, Navalny's, Navalny, ” Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya Organizations: Investigative, Kremlin, Authorities, Russia’s Federal, Service, European Union Locations: Salekhard, Russia, U.S, Moscow, Russia’s, Kharp, Germany, Brussels

☆ Philippines Committed to South China Sea Code of Conduct
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Karen LemaMANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines is firmly committed to negotiations for a code of conduct between China and Southeast Asian countries to avert confrontations in the South China Sea, its foreign minister said on Thursday. Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo also said tensions in the South China Sea were not all about a rivalry between superpowers the United States and China, and the Philippines, and others, had legitimate rights and interests to uphold. The idea of a code of conduct was hatched more than two decades ago but parties only committed to begin the process in 2017. China has chided the Philippines for encroaching on what it says is its territory. Manalo said a high-level "2+2" meeting of the defence and foreign ministers of the Philippines and United States was planned and dates not yet been finalised.

Persons: Karen Lema MANILA, Enrique Manalo, Manalo, Karen Lema, Neil Jerome Morales, Martin Petty Organizations: Beijing Locations: Philippines, China, Southeast, South China, United States, Taiwan, Beijing, Manila

☆ Russia's Parliament to Vote on Suspending Moscow's OSCE Participation
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - Russia's parliament will vote on Feb. 21 on suspending the country's participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE), Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Tuesday. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the organisation has been largely paralysed by Moscow's ongoing use of the effective veto each country has. "It's time for us to say goodbye to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly," Volodin said at a meeting of the Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, according to a statement on the Duma's website. The Latest Photos From Ukraine View All 91 ImagesBoth chambers of the Russian parliament, the Duma and the Federation Council, will vote simultaneously on suspending participation and on stopping Moscow's payments to the OSCE, Volodin said. Ukraine and its Baltic allies, which are Russia's neighbours, refused to attend the OSCE annual foreign ministers meeting late last year over the presence of Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov there.

Persons: Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Lavrov, Lidia Kelly, Oleksandr Kozhukhar, Sonali Paul Organizations: Reuters, Organization for Security, OSCE, Soviet, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Duma, Federation Council, United, Russia's Locations: Parliamentary, Ukraine, U.S, Russia, Washington, United Russia, Baltic

☆ Calls grow in Europe to halt arms exports to Israel as US Senate passes aid package
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The concern around continuing arms exports to Israel comes after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last month ordered Israel to “take all measures” to comply with international laws on genocide. “In the government’s view, the distribution of American F-35 parts is not unlawful. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte met Israeli cabinet minister Benny Gantz at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 12, 2024. Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told local media in late January that Italy had stopped all arms shipments to Israel since October 7. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Albares too said in late January that his country had also halted arms sales to Israel in October.

Persons: “, Josep Borrell, ” Borrell, Mike Johnson, Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden, Mark Rutte, Benny Gantz, Gantz, Abir, Justin Bronk, ” Bronk, Bronk, Lockheed Martin, ”, ‘, ’ ”, Antonio Tajani, Jose Albares Organizations: CNN, United States Senate, Israel, Monday, Oxfam, Hague, International Court of Justice, Israeli, Hamas, US, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, State, Dutch, Royal United Services Institute, Israeli Air Forces, Lockheed, Netherlands Air Force, Pagella, Spanish, El, Amnesty International Locations: Israel, Gaza, Netherlands, Belgium, Brussels, Ukraine, Stockholm, Dutch, Jerusalem, Abir Sultan, Israeli, London, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Italy, Spain

☆ Hezbollah Chief Says Shelling on Israel Will Stop Only When 'Aggression' on Gaza Ends
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Tuesday that his armed group's cross-border shelling into Israel would only end when Israel's "aggression" on the Gaza Strip stops, saying diplomatic efforts so far to bring a halt to hostilities along Lebanon's border seemed to only benefit Israel. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his group would only stop its exchanges of fire if a full ceasefire was reached for Gaza. War in Israel and Gaza View All 206 Images"On that day, when the shooting stops in Gaza, we will stop the shooting in the south," he said in a televised address. The cross-border shelling has already killed around 200 people in Lebanon, including more than 170 Hezbollah fighters, as well as 10 Israeli troops and five Israeli civilians. Nasrallah said residents of northern Israel "will not return" to their homes, and threatened that even more would be displaced.

Persons: Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Nasrallah, Laila Bassam, Gebeily, Alex Richardson, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Gaza, Hamas, Reuters Locations: BEIRUT, Israel, Iran, Gaza, Beirut, Lebanon, France, Britain

☆ Iraqi, Jordanian Foreign Ministers Hold Call After Attack on U.S. Outpost in Jordan
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) - Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in a phone call with his Jordanian counterpart on Tuesday, condemned an attack on a U.S. military outpost on Jordanian territory near the border with Syria, state media reported. Hussein and Ayman Safadi stressed the need to distance the two countries and the region from military threats by any side, Iraqi state media added. That attack killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded more than 40 troops. Iraq's government is backed by parties and militias close to Iran, though not directly by the hardline groups that have been firing on U.S. forces, Western and Iraqi officials say. Baghdad has condemned the attacks while also saying regional escalation would continue as long as the Gaza war went on.

Persons: Fuad Hussein, Hussein, Ayman Safadi, Israel, Lloyd Austin, Joe Biden's, Timour Azhari, Enas, Mark Heinrich Organizations: Reuters, Iraqi, Jordanian, Sunday, U.S, U.S . Defense Locations: Syria, Iran, U.S, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Hamas, Jordan, Israel, Western, Baghdad, Gaza

☆ ASEAN Foreign Ministers Back 'Myanmar-Owned and Led' Solution to Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

(Reuters) - Southeast Asian foreign ministers on Monday pressed for an end to Myanmar's bloody crisis and expressed unity in their backing for an ASEAN peace plan and a "Myanmar-owned and led solution" to the conflict. The ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were attending a retreat in Luang Prabang in Laos, which is chair this year of the 10-member bloc. In a statement, they also called for a cessation of hostilities in Myanmar to allow delivery of humanitarian aid, and concerning the South China Sea, urged a conducive environment for the furthering of talks towards a code of conduct between ASEAN and China. (Reporting by Martin Petty, editing by Ed Osmond)

Persons: Martin Petty, Ed Osmond Organizations: Reuters, ASEAN, Association of Southeast Asian Nations Locations: Myanmar, Luang Prabang, Laos, China

CNN —Unidentified gunmen killed nine Pakistani workers in the restive southeastern border region of Iran, Pakistani officials say, just over a week after Iran and Pakistan carried out military strikes on each other’s territory. No group or individuals have taken responsibility for the attack, in the city of Saravan, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency. “Embassy will extend full support to bereaved families.”“We called upon [Iran] to extend full cooperation in the matter,” he added. Last week, Pakistan and Iran carried out tit-for-tat strikes on militants on each other’s soil in a major escalation of tension between the two sides. Both nations have long fought militants in the restive Baloch region along the border.

Persons: “, ”, Muhammad Mudassir Tipi, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “, Nasser Kanani, Kanani, Pakistan “ Organizations: CNN, Mehr News Agency, Pakistan’s, “, Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Locations: Iran, Pakistan, Saravan, Balochistan, Sistan, Baluchestan, restive Baloch

☆ Analysis: How Orban’s ties to Putin are putting European aid to Ukraine at risk
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —From the start of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Hungary has been the weakest link in the West’s response. That’s why there’s so much attention on a meeting on Monday between the foreign ministers of Hungary and Ukraine. Hungary has frustrated European and US-led efforts to support Ukraine for the best part of two years. But time and again, they have blocked important action to support Ukraine and strengthen the Western alliance,” a German foreign affairs official told CNN. But that is what the vast majority of European officials think we are likely to see in the coming months.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Viktor Orban, Orban, Vladimir Putin, Jens Stoltenberg, Francois Mori, Orban tantrums, Sean Gallup, hasn’t, ”, Putin, John Thys, – Organizations: CNN, EU, Hungarian, Ukraine, NATO, Getty, Russia, Kremlin, Putin Locations: Ukraine, Hungary, Russia, Brussels, Europe, Hungarian, AFP, brinksmanship, Finland, Sweden, Turkish, Hungary’s, Budapest, Moscow, Scandinavia, Balkans

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister will visit Pakistan next week, the two countries said Monday, following unprecedented attacks on either side of the border last week that appeared to target Baluch militant groups with similar separatist goals. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said that Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian spoke to Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani to defuse the flare-up. Pakistan said in a statement Amirabdollahian that would visit the country on Jan. 29. The statement also said that the two foreign ministers agreed that the ambassadors from both countries could return to their posts by Jan. 26. Pakistan recalled its ambassador amid the brief crisis and stopped Iran’s envoy from returning to his post.

Persons: —, Hossein Amirabdollahian, Jalil Abbas Jilani, Jan Locations: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Iran, Iran's

CNN —Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Hamas’ conditions for an end to the Gaza war in exchange for the release of hostages held there, labeling such a prospect as “surrender.”In order to release the remaining hostages, Netanyahu said Hamas was demanding an end to the war, the release of Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Out of the 253 hostages Israel says Hamas seized on October 7, Israel believes that 132 are still in Gaza, of whom 104 are thought to be alive. Relatives and supporters of the Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas attend a protest calling for their release outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence, in Jerusalem on Sunday. Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from the Israeli public to secure the release of captives in Gaza. Leo Correa/APMeanwhile, the death toll in Gaza on Sunday surpassed 25,000, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the enclave.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Netanyahu, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Ohad, Gadi Eisenkot, Eisenkot, You’d, ” Netanyahu, “, Leo Correa, Joe Biden, Israel’s, Josep Borrell Organizations: CNN, Israeli, Hamas, CNN’s, Sunday Locations: Gaza, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Jordan, Palestinian

European foreign ministers pressed their Israeli counterpart on Monday to agree to the creation of a Palestinian state, in a meeting that left European diplomats bewildered about postwar Israeli plans for the Gaza Strip and reinforced the deep disconnect between Israel and much of the world. The two sides appeared to be having two different conversations. Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Union’s top diplomat, said after the meeting in Brussels that European nations were resolute that “sustainable, lasting peace” must include Palestinian statehood, an option that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has doubled down on opposing in recent days. Israel’s foreign minister, Yisrael Katz, presented to the Europeans a plan involving an artificial island off Gaza’s coast — a plan that did not address the future governance of the territory, according to officials in the meeting. While the diplomats talked past each other, heavy fighting intensified in southern Gaza on Monday, with medical personnel reporting major exchanges of gunfire and a surge of Israeli tanks and troops into areas around hospitals.

Persons: Josep Borrell Fontelles, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Yisrael Katz Organizations: Gaza Locations: Palestinian, Israel, Brussels, Gaza

☆ Israeli, Palestinian Ministers to Attend Meeting Where EU Will Push for Peace
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Andrew GrayBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The Israeli and Palestinian foreign ministers are to meet their European Union counterparts on Monday as the EU considers potential steps toward a comprehensive peace between the two sides even as the war in Gaza rages on. Israel's Israel Katz and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki will take part separately in a regular meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels largely devoted to the Middle East but also taking stock of the war in Ukraine. But both parties would be consulted at every step of the talks as delegates sought to draw up a peace plan, the document suggests. The internal document, seen by multiple news organisations including Reuters, makes clear one key goal of a peace plan should be the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, "living side by side with Israel in peace and security". EU officials acknowledge Israeli officials and diplomats currently display no interest in the so-called two-state solution but insist it is the only option for long-term peace.

Persons: Andrew Gray BRUSSELS, Israel's Israel Katz, Riyad al, Maliki, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Joe Biden, Andrew Gray, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: European Union, EU, Palestinian, League of Arab, Hamas, League of, United Nations, Reuters, U.S Locations: Gaza, Brussels, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Palestinian, EU, League of Arab, United States, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary

☆ Iraqi, Saudi Ministers Discuss Iranian Attack on Kurdistan
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Iraqi and Saudi foreign ministers discussed in a phone call on Wednesday the latest regional and international developments, led by the Iranian attack on Iraq's Kurdistan region, the Iraqi foreign ministry said in a statement. Iran late on Monday struck Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, with ballistic missiles in what it said was an attack on an Israeli spy headquarters -- claims vehemently denied by Iraqi and Iraqi Kurdish officials. The Iranian attacks have caused a rare diplomatic dispute between the two neighbouring allies. (Reporting by Timour Azhari, Writing by Muhammad Al Gebaly Editing by Sandra Maler)

Persons: Timour Azhari, Muhammad Al Gebaly, Sandra Maler Organizations: Monday Locations: BAGHDAD, Iraqi, Saudi, Kurdistan, Iran, Erbil, Iraq's

☆ Ukraine is on track to make 72 howitzers next year, but will struggle to get the ammo to use them, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

That means it's on pace to make at least 72 howitzers next year, Forbes reported. But Ukraine and its allies are short of ammunition, with Ukraine limiting its firing as a result. AdvertisementUkraine is ramping up its domestic weapons production and is on track to manufacture 72 howitzers next year, but will struggle to have enough ammunition to use them, Forbes reported. Ukraine's domestic production of weapons, like the howitzers, will help to plug any gaps that emerge. But even after maximizing its howitzer production, Ukraine will struggle to have enough ammunition for them.

Persons: Forbes, —, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin Organizations: Service, NATO, EU, Politico, House Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Russian

☆ UK's Cameron to travel to Washington on Dec. 6
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron looks on during a NATO foreign ministers meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsDec 3 (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary David Cameron will travel to Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Dec. 6, the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) said on Sunday in his first visit to the U.S. since taking up the position last month. Cameron will undertake a programme of bilateral meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as meet Republican and Democratic members of Congress, the FCDO statement said. Cameron, a former British prime minister, will take part in discussions with his U.S. counterparts with a focus on supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, the statement said. Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: David Cameron, Yves Herman, Cameron, Antony Blinken, Nilutpal, Sharon Singleton Organizations: British, NATO, REUTERS, Washington D.C, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development, U.S, Republican, Democratic, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, Washington, British, Ukraine, Bengaluru

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel pounded targets in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, intensifying a renewed offensive that followed a weeklong truce with Hamas and giving rise to renewed concerns about civilian casualties. It divides the Gaza Strip into hundreds of numbered, haphazardly drawn parcels, sometimes across roads or blocks, and asks residents to learn the number of their location in case of an eventual evacuation. During the truce, Israel freed 240 Palestinians from its prisons. After the end of the truce, militants in Gaza resumed firing rockets into Israel, and fighting broke out between Israel and Hezbollah militants operating along its northern border with Lebanon. Israel says 77 of its soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive in northern Gaza.

Persons: KHAN YOUNIS, Israel, Antony Blinken, Younis, ”, Emad Hajar, Khan Younis, “, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's, ___ Magdy Organizations: United Nations, Egyptian Foreign Ministry, House, Rescue Committee, Health Ministry, Hamas Locations: Gaza, United States, Dubai, Beit Lahia, Khan, Israel, Egypt, U.S, House ., Palestinian, Lebanon, Cairo, Rising, Bangkok, israel

☆ At climate summit, Turkey, South Africa hit out at Israel over Gaza war
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Alexander Cornwell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a national statement at the World Climate Action Summit during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 1, 2023. "The current situation in Gaza constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity; those responsible must be held accountable under international law," he said. The war against the innocent people of Palestine is a war crime that must be ended now," he said in his address. The "international youth delegate" said he would try to raise awareness at the COP28 conference of the Palestinian cause. The assault sparked outrage in the Arab world, though most Western leaders have supported what they say is Israel's right to defend itself.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Al Sudani, Israel, Cyril Ramaphosa, Jordan's King Abdullah, Mohammed Ursof, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Rishi Sunak, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Isaac Herzog, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Herzog, Oded Joseph, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Abdul Latif Rashid, Gustavo Petro, Alexander Cornwell, Nadine Awadalla, Jana Choukeir, Huseyin Hayatsever, Mai Shams El, Richard Valdmanis, William Maclean Organizations: United Nations, Change, United Arab Emirates, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Hamas, United, U.S, State Department, Palestinian Authority, Dubai, UAE, Foreign Ministry, Reuters COP28, Thomson Locations: Dubai, United Arab, Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Africa, Palestine, UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, COP28

☆ OSCE Limps Through Another Year as Russia Relents on Veto
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Dec. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

SKOPJE (Reuters) - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) should continue to function for another year as frequent holdout Russia joined others on Friday in approving Malta as OSCE chair for 2024 and extending four senior officials in their positions. The OSCE is the successor to a body set up during the Cold War for the east and west to engage with each other. In recent years, however, and especially since it invaded Ukraine, Russia has used what is effectively a veto each country has to block many key decisions, often crippling the organization. Russia spent months preventing NATO member Estonia from becoming the next OSCE chair as originally planned. While relenting on vetoes that could have brought the OSCE even closer to collapse, Russia showed no sign of warming to its critics among the OSCE's 56 other member states, particularly the United States.

Persons: Russia, Helga Schmid, Ukraine's, Sergei Lavrov, Antony Blinken, relenting, Lavrov, Blinken, OSCE Michael Carpenter, Fedja Grulovic, Felix Light, Francois Murphy Organizations: Reuters, Organization, Security, Cooperation, OSCE, NATO, Russian, Union Locations: SKOPJE, Europe, Malta, Ukraine, Russia, Estonia, Friday's, Macedonia, Skopje, Baltic, U.S, United States, Moscow

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Baby among civilians injured in missile strikes on Ukraine; Russia causes a stir at security summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov both blamed the West for creating global insecurity and instability. The U.S. and its allies are seeking simultaneously to keep the OSCE alive and hold Russia to account for its invasion of Ukraine. The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said he understood unease about Lavrov attending the meeting in Skopje, North Macedonia. But he said it was a chance for Lavrov to hear broad condemnation of Russia's war in Ukraine. Estonia had been due to take over the annually rotating OSCE chairmanship but Russia blocked it for months.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Sergei Lavrov, Russia's Sergei Lavrov, Margus Tsahkna, Lavrov, Josep Borrell, Borrell, Dimitar Kovacevski, — Organizations: Organization for Security, Cooperation, Baltic, OSCE, Soviet, NATO, Tass, Russian, North Macedonia's, Kremlin Locations: Moscow's, Ukraine, U.S, Russia, Estonian, Brussels, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Skopje, North Macedonia, Malta

☆ French ministers head to Indo-Pacific, Australia in diplomatic push
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( John Irish | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna and French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu leave following the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, November 22, 2023. France, with overseas territories in the Pacific and Indian Ocean and 7,000 troops stationed there, considers itself an Indo-Pacific power. The loss of a major submarine deal with Australia in 2021 forced it rethink its strategy amid ongoing regional tensions with China in the disputed South China Sea. Underscoring those efforts, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu will host in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia between Dec. 4-8 the South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting, the first time it has hosted the format since it was created in 2013. While it has diversified its ties across the Pacific, France has also worked on rebuilding its partnership with Australia.

Persons: Catherine Colonna, Sebastien Lecornu, Sarah Meyssonnier, Ferdinand Marcos, Karen Lerna, Sandra Maler Organizations: Foreign, French Defence, REUTERS, South Pacific, South Pacific Defence Ministers, South, Australia, Canberra, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, Philippines, Malaysia, Australia, PARIS, Pacific, Ocean, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Caledonia, Britain, United States, South Korea, Spain, Manila, South China, Kuala Lumpur

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