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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS – ISRAEL JUDICIAL OVERHAUL
Israel’s Parliament yesterday passed a controversial judicial overhaul law. Under the law, the Supreme Court’s ability to overturn government decisions it finds “unreasonable in the extreme” has been removed. The protests that have rocked Israel may now expand as thousands of military reservists have said they would quit, and others, including medical professionals, have threatened strikes. Dov Lieber and Shayndi Raice report for the Wall Street Journal.
The Israeli Supreme Court could challenge the judicial overhaul law in three ways. Firstly, it could strike down the law. Secondly, it could narrowly interpret the law to curb its impact. Finally, it may avoid a decision by refusing to hear any petitions. Emily Bazelon reports for the New York Times.
“It is unfortunate that the vote today took place with the slimmest possible majority,” the White House said in response to the judicial overhaul. “The United States will continue to support the efforts of President Herzog and other Israeli leaders as they seek to build a broader consensus through political dialogue,” it added. The vote is likely to strain the U.S.-Israeli relationship further. Miriam Berger and Meryl Kornfield report for the Washington Post.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Taiwan has canceled parts of its largest annual Han Kuang drills that tests Taiwan’s defense in case of an attack from China as it braces for typhoon Doksuri, which could be the strongest in four years. Derek Cai reports for BBC News.
Iraq, Yemen, Algeria, and Turkey have strongly condemned the burning of a Quran by a far-right group called “Danish Patriots” outside the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen yesterday. Almost 1,000 demonstrators in Baghdad tried to reach the Danish embassy after that incident. Laurence Peter reports for BBC News.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS
Despite being forewarned of the paramilitary organization Wagner group armed action days in advance, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared “paralyzed,” leading to “absolute dismay and confusion,” one European security official said. Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, said these intelligence assessments were “nonsense.” Catherine Belton, Shane Harris, and Greg Miller report for the Washington Post.
China is delivering enough non-lethal but militarily useful equipment to Russia to impact the war. The amount of Chinese-made body armor and other protective gear sent to Russia could equip many men mobilized since the full-scale invasion. Delivering “dual-use” technology with both civilian and military uses, such as drones and thermal optics, provides Western authorities with enough deniability to avoid confronting an economic power like China. Sarah Anne Aarup, Sergey Panov, and Douglas Busvine report for POLITICO.
Russia yesterday, for the first time, attacked a port on the Danube River in Ukraine, close to the Romanian border, destroying a grain hangar. The attack on Ukraine’s alternative grain export routes follows Russian strikes on the port of Odesa after pulling out of the Black Sea grain deal. The attack near the Romanian border is the closest Russia has come to hitting NATO territory since the full-scale invasion. Matthew Mpoke Bigg, Andrew Higgins, Andrés R. Martínez, Haley Willis, and Tiffany May report for New York Times.
Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (I.A.E.A.) discovered mines at the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, agency chief Rafael Grossi said yesterday. The “I.A.E.A. team saw some mines located in a buffer zone between the site’s internal and external perimeter barriers,” Grossi said, noting that the mines were “situated in a restricted area that operating plant personnel cannot access and were facing away from the site.” Mariya Knight, Olga Voitovych, and Josh Pennington report for CNN.
Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence confirmed that it had carried out a drone attack on Moscow yesterday. The Kremlin said all the drones targeting the Russian capital had been neutralized. CNN reports.
The White House said it does not support Ukraine launching attacks inside Russia. The comments come after two drones from Ukraine damaged buildings in Moscow yesterday. Jeff Mason and Kanishka Singh report for Reuters.
The Belarusian Ministry of Emergency Situations is arming and providing military training to its personnel to be ready in the event of an armed conflict, Emergency Minister Vadim Sinyavsky said yesterday. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko earlier this year said he wants “every man – and not only a man” to have weapons handling training to respond to an act of aggression. Reuters reports.
U.S. RELATIONS
The Biden administration is discussing lifting sanctions on a Chinese police forensics institute, alleged to have participated in human rights abuses against ethnic Uyghurs, in exchange for China’s renewed cooperation in fighting the fentanyl crisis. Though “[n]o member of the U.S. delegation offered to lift any sanctions on [Chinese] entities or said we would consider doing so,” Matthew Miller, a spokesperson, said. Brian Spegele and Charles Hutzler report for the Wall Street Journal.
Former U.S. Marine pilot Daniel Duggan has been fighting an extradition order in Australia to return him to the United States to face trial on charges including money laundering and conspiracy to export U.S. defense services to China. The U.S. indictment alleges Duggan used his specialist skills to teach Chinese pilots how to land planes on aircraft carriers. Duggan’s lawyers argued for a stay of extradition to allow for an investigation into claims that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation “lured” Duggan from China, where he was living, to Australia, where the United States could arrest him. Hilary Whiteman, Angus Watson, and Paul Devitt report for CNN.
Shanghai Haixun Technology, a Chinese marketing firm, likely organized and promoted protests in Washington as part of a wide-ranging pro-China influence campaign, according to security firm Mandiant. The Chinese firm also used over 70 fake news websites to promote pro-China content, indicative of operations to influence U.S. political debate in recent years. Ryan Serabian, Daniel Kapellmann Zafra, Conor Quigley, and David Mainor report for Mandiant.
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast yesterday after a second U.S. nuclear-powered submarine arrived in South Korea. Sara Fortinsky reports for The Hill.
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Biden administration sued Texas over a floating barrier installed in the Rio Grande River to deter migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border. Federal authorities say the barriers flout federal law and present “humanitarian concerns.” Texas Governor Greg Abbott vowed to “see” the government in court. Bernd Debusmann Jr reports for BBC News.
Peter Stager, a truck driver who assaulted a police officer with a flagpole during the Jan. 6 attack, was sentenced to 52 months in prison yesterday. Stager was one of nine men charged with assaulting Miller and two of his colleagues. Stager was recorded on camera declaring, “Everybody in [the Capitol] is a disgrace. That entire building is filled with treasonous traitors. Death is the only remedy for what’s in that building.” Alan Feuer reports for the New York Times.
President Biden said he would veto Republican-backed defense, health, and agriculture spending bills, the White House said yesterday. The comment was made after the White House said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was backing away from spending levels agreed to in a debt-limit deal. Kanishka Singh reports for Reuters.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) yesterday said that Republicans’ investigations into the business deals of President Biden’s family members are “rising to the level of impeachment inquiry.” McCarthy did not explicitly say he would move to formalize an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, or any other administration official. No timeline was offered. Jordain Carney reports for POLITICO.
The United States has exceeded 400 mass shootings in 2023, setting the stage for a record-breaking year in gun violence. Paul LeBlanc and Annette Choi report for CNN.