China drops 'peaceful reunification' reference to Taiwan ( www.reuters.com )
China will boost its defence spending by 7.2% this year, fuelling a military budget that has more than doubled under President Xi Jinping's 11 years in office as Beijing hardens its stance on Taiwan, according to official reports on Tuesday....
Israeli tanks have deliberately run over dozens of Palestinian civilians alive ( euromedmonitor.org )
Man, 27, charged after threatening pro-Palestinian demonstrators with nail gun in Thornhill ( toronto.citynews.ca )
U.N. report: ‘Convincing’ information Hamas raped, tortured hostages ( www.washingtonpost.com )
A team of United Nations experts tasked with gathering information on sexual violence linked to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel found “reasonable grounds to believe” that some victims were sexually assaulted, including rape and gang rape, according to a U.N. report released Monday....
Albania, wary of Russia, reopens Soviet-era air base to NATO ( www.reuters.com )
KUCOVA, Albania, March 4 (Reuters) - NATO member Albania, which has no fighter jets of its own, opened a rebuilt Soviet-era air base to serve NATO aircraft on Monday amid an increased threat from Russia, Prime Minister Edi Rama said....
Israel ‘accepts six-week ceasefire deal’ as Hamas response awaited, US officials say ( www.theguardian.com )
More people from China seeking asylum at US border ( www.dw.com )
A weakening economy and increasing political repression are forcing ever more Chinese people to emigrate. Spurred by TikTok, many are seeking more sustainable conditions in the United States.
Hamas Says Gaza Truce Possible 'Within 24 To 48 Hours' If Israel Accepts Terms ( www.barrons.com )
"If Israel agrees to Hamas demands, which include the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza and increasing humanitarian aid, that would pave the way for a (truce) agreement within the next 24 to 48 hours," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, as negotiations were set...
Russia publishes German army meeting on Ukraine ( www.bbc.com )
Germany has admitted the apparent hack by Russia of a military meeting where officers discussed giving Ukraine long-range missiles - and possible targets....
'Settlers are right': The kibbutz movement should break away from the left, leader says ( www.haaretz.com )
"The settlers aren't wrong. The right is correct: That is the way to seize and hold land, and their claim that, any place we Israelis leave, the Arabs will come in our place, is correct. The right is also correct in its path: It's by settlement and only by settlement that sovereignty can be imposed. The debate is whether...
Biden calls for 'immediate ceasefire' in Gaza ( www.newshub.co.nz )
The US will begin air dropping food aid to the people of Gaza, President Joe Biden announced on Friday, as the humanitarian crisis deepens and Israel continues to resist opening additional land crossings to allow more assistance into the war-torn strip....
Pope Francis: ‘Today the ugliest danger is gender ideology’ ( www.catholicnewsagency.com )
Gaza doctor says gunfire accounted for 80% of the wounds at his hospital from aid convoy bloodshed ( apnews.com )
The head of a Gaza City hospital that treated some of those wounded in the bloodshed surrounding an aid convoy said Friday that more than 80% had been struck by gunfire, suggesting there was heavy shooting by Israeli troops....
US Blocks Security Council Statement Condemning IDF Killing of Gazans Seeking Aid ( www.commondreams.org )
South Korea’s fertility rate sinks to record low despite $270bn in incentives ( www.theguardian.com )
Hamas Rejects Cease-Fire Proposal, Dashing Biden’s Hopes of Near Term Deal ( www.nytimes.com )
South Korean companies are offering workers $75,000 to have babies amid the country's desperate bid for more children ( www.businessinsider.com )
Two-month-old Palestinian boy dies of hunger amid Israel’s war on Gaza ( www.aljazeera.com )
A two-month-old Palestinian boy has died from starvation in northern Gaza, according to media reports, days after the United Nations warned of an “explosion” in child deaths due to Israel’s war on the besieged enclave....
'Make Argentina Great Again': Milei Echoes Trump On US Visit ( www.ibtimes.com )
Germany: Berlin schools asked to distribute leaflet describing the 1948 Nakba as a 'myth' ( www.middleeasteye.net )
Germany's leading Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the opposition Christian Democratic Party (CDU) have ordered high schools in Berlin's borough of Neukolln to distribute brochures titled The Myth of Israel #1948....
Thousands protest as hunger grows amid Argentine austerity ( www.france24.com )
Argentine austerity anger mounts, but govt says its working ( www.france24.com )
Houthis to step up Red Sea strikes, use 'submarine weapons', leader says ( www.reuters.com )
"Operations in the Red and Arabian Seas, Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden are continuing, escalating, and effective," Abdul Malik al-Houthi added in a televised speech. He gave no details of the submarine weapons....
US tells allies Russia could launch space nuke this year: NYT ( thehill.com )
The U.S. informed its NATO and Asian allies that Russia could deploy a nuclear weapon into space this year after details of American intelligence assessments of its ambitions circulated last week, according to The New York Times....