Author: CNN

The Biden administration denounced efforts by the International Criminal Court to seek arrest warrants for top Israeli officials and Hamas leaders, saying the court’s efforts put the terrorist organization and a top US ally on equivalent footing. Source link

The death of President Ebrahim Raisi couldn’t have come at a “more unstable time” for both Iran and the region, according to CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour. International outlookRaisi’s death comes as Israel’s war against Hamas continues into its eighth month, fueling a spiraling humanitarian catastrophe and sending regional tensions soaring.“The perennial shadow war between Israel and Iran that had been going on broke into the open over the last several weeks,” Amanpour said.“You can imagine for the United States, for the west, one of the most important issues is the Iran nuclear issue,” she added.Raisi took the presidency as…

The Israeli military has given more details about its ground operations around the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, which have now entered their second week.The Israeli army said it carried out dozens of strikes in the area to assist forces fighting “armed terrorist cells” on the ground.The army said, “Soldiers found large quantities of weapons, including explosives, anti-tank missiles, AK-47 rifles, drones, and grenades.”Israel says that the Israeli army has returned to parts of northern and central Gaza to confront Hamas’s efforts to re-establish its presence in these areas.Reports from the ground: Displaced Palestinians in Jabalia tell…

Born in 1960, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attended the seminary in Qom and earned a Ph.D in law from Shahid Motahari University.He started his career as a prosecutor in the early 1980s, and rose from being prosecutor general of Tehran in 1994 to chief justice of the country by 2019.His two years as Iran’s chief justice were marked by the intensified repression of dissent and human rights abuses, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.Raisi became president of Iran on June 19, 2021, after winning a historically uncompetitive presidential election. Many reform-minded Iranians had refused to take part in an…

Dr. Mahmoud Sobha was among the American doctors evacuated after they were trapped in Gaza this week after an Israeli military offensive in Rafah shut down a vital border crossing where they were planning to exit. Subha, 39, a Dallas-based doctor who specializes in wound care, was on his second humanitarian trip to Gaza, which was supposed to end last Monday. His wife, Dr. Somaya Mushtaq, learned that his plans to leave were on hold last Friday afternoon via voicemail. “He said we weren’t leaving on Monday and I remember listening to him and just saying, ‘No, no, no, no,'”…

Ahed Bseso’s right leg was amputated at home in Gaza after a tank fired at her building, bringing a wall and debris crashing down on her.  Celina OdehAhed Bseso lay on the kitchen table in her home in Gaza, watching as her uncle amputated her wounded right leg. Standing by, her mother cried, “Ahed is dead!”But 18-year-old Bseso was very much alive, and she survived to tell her story from a hospital in Greenville, South Carolina.Bseso said that on December 19, she went to the top floor of her house in Gaza to get a phone signal when an Israeli…

As countries around the world ramped up sanctions on Russia in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it became clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin still had a powerful friend in Xi Jinping.This week, Xi is welcoming Putin to China for a two-day state visit — their fourth in-person meeting since Russia’s onslaught in Ukraine began.The war has driven the two leaders and their economies closer together — with trade hitting record levels last year as Russia upped its imports of key commodities from China and Chinese buyers lapped up discounted Russian fuel.The United States has said Chinese exports of products…

Slovaks have been deeply divided over the country’s direction and position in the world since Prime Minister Robert Fico was reelected last year. Supporters see Fico as a caring leader who has their interests at heart while critics say he is a populist whose pro-Russian leanings pose major risks for the country.Since taking the top job in October, Fico has brought about a major pivot in Slovakia’s foreign policy and its previously staunch support for Ukraine. He pledged an immediate end to military support for Kyiv against the Russian invasion and promised to block Ukraine’s ambitions of joining NATO.Domestically, his…

An apartment building damaged in the Russian missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 14. Andrii Marienko/APAt least 21 civilians, including two 12-year-old girls and an 8-year-old boy, were wounded in Russian attacks on Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, according to prosecutors.Russian forces used glide bombs in three waves of attacks, striking more than 20 targets, according to Oleksandr Filchakov, Kharkiv region prosecutor.Glide bombs can carry hundreds of kilograms of explosives and are dropped from aircraft which — in the case of attacks on the Kharkiv border region — do not even need to enter Ukrainian airspace.Writing on Telegram, Filchakov said that several apartment blocks, a shopping center, and an…

The changing language used by the Ukrainian military in 72 hours of daily updates tells the story: “Ongoing defensive fighting.” “Significantly worsened.” Russian “tactical success.”You rarely ever hear Kyiv’s top brass sounding downbeat, but their steep southerly trajectory reflects the grave place Ukraine finds itself in. Russia is not just advancing slowly in one place; it appears to be advancing in four, across the frontline.Moscow knows it is on the clock: in about a month, the $61 billion of US military aid will start to translate into Ukraine having the weapons it has been begging for. So, Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be throwing…