Drone strike killed three U.S. service members in Jordan
Three U.S. service members have been killed in Jordan yesterday and no less than 34 others have been injured in what the U.S. mentioned was a drone strike from an Iran-backed militia. The deaths have been the primary U.S. navy fatalities from hostile hearth within the turmoil spilling over from Israel’s struggle with Hamas in Gaza.
The assault occurred at a base close to the Syrian border. The deaths of U.S. service members will virtually definitely put extra strain on President Biden to reply extra forcefully as turmoil grows within the Center East.
“Whereas we’re nonetheless gathering the info of this assault, we all know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant teams working in Syria and Iraq,” Biden mentioned in a press release.
This month, no less than 4 U.S. service members stationed in western Iraq have been injured when their base got here below hearth from what the U.S. mentioned have been Iran-backed militias. Per week in the past, the U.S. declared two Navy SEALs lifeless after their disappearance throughout an operation at sea to intercept weapons headed to Houthi fighters, who’ve fired on industrial ships off Yemen since November.
New particulars on the U.N. staff accused of aiding Hamas
The U.N. mentioned on Friday that it had fired a number of staff of the United Nations Aid and Works Company, the U.N. company that aids Palestinian civilians within the Gaza Strip, after Israel claimed 12 staff performed a task within the Hamas assaults towards Israel on Oct. 7 or of their aftermath. Israel supplied a file to the U.S. detailing its claims, however little was recognized concerning the accusations till the paperwork have been reviewed yesterday by The Occasions.
One particular person was accused of kidnapping a girl. One other is alleged to have handed out ammunition. A 3rd was described as participating within the bloodbath at a kibbutz the place 97 folks died.
The Israelis described 10 of the staff as members of Hamas, with seven of the accused additionally mentioned to be lecturers at UNRWA faculties, instructing college students in topics like math and Arabic. The file mentioned Israel tracked and monitored lots of the accused staff via their telephones.
Fallout: The U.S. and several other different nations mentioned yesterday that they have been suspending some funding for UNRWA. António Guterres, the top of the U.N., implored the main donor nations to proceed their assist. He mentioned that, with out it, UNRWA would run out of cash subsequent month. Fears of famine are rising within the enclave, and two million Gazans rely on the company for meals, water and important providers.
Three African juntas left a regional financial bloc
Army juntas who seized energy in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso mentioned that they have been withdrawing from the Financial Neighborhood of West African States, or ECOWAS, due to sanctions the group imposed after the coups have been carried out.
The three juntas mentioned that the sanctions have been “inhumane,” and that the bloc had “change into a risk to its member states and their folks.” West African commentators mentioned that the nations’ departures may have an effect on commerce relations and regional stability, and trigger ache for the bloc’s remaining 12 member states.
Background: In recent times, coups have erupted throughout an space south of the Sahara, forming an unbroken strip of military-run nations stretching coast to coast throughout the continent. ECOWAS did not reverse a few of these coups and later imposed sanctions, inflicting intense hardship for thousands and thousands of individuals.
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ARTS AND IDEAS
At Sundance, causes to like films
Reporting from Park Metropolis, Utah, our chief movie critic, Manohla Dargis, wrote that she was transported into the Sundance Movie Pageant she at all times hopes for, “the one wherein a film surprises and strikes and perhaps delights me.”
The movie in query, which introduced down the home, is “Will & Harper,” a documentary wherein the actor Will Ferrell and his longtime good friend Harper Steele, a trans girl, set off on a momentous cross-country journey of discovery.
