Iran opens Strait of Hormuz; Thousands return to southern Lebanon as ceasefire takes hold; House rejects Iran resolution by one vote
Drop Site Daily: April 17, 2026
Iran declares Strait of Hormuz “completely open” for the remainder of ceasefire. War Secretary Pete Hegseth vows to maintain Iran blockade indefinitely, warns of strikes on energy infrastructure. Three loaded Iranian tankers bypass U.S. blockade. Ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel announced Thursday, Israeli violations reported. Thousands of displaced Lebanese return south on the first day of the ceasefire despite warnings. Israeli troops will remain in southern Lebanon, defense minister says. Hezbollah says it will respect ceasefire but hands “remain on the trigger.” Israeli assault on Gaza and the occupied West Bank continue. Israel reinstates soldiers charged with raping Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman. On Palestinian Prisoners Day, rights groups report a 83% surge in Palestinian prisoner population since start of Gaza genocide. Analilia Mejia wins New Jersey special election. ICE agent charged with assault after pointing gun at motorists on Minnesota highway. House rejects resolution to end U.S. war with Iran by one vote with one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden, voting against it. House extends FISA over “serious reservations” of Congressional Black Caucus. Senior Treasury official bought oil, nuclear, and cybersecurity funds eight days before U.S. strikes on Iran. UK security vetting officials did not clear Peter Mandelson to be U.S. ambassador. IMF and World Bank resume ties with Venezuela. Myanmar junta leader grants amnesty to 4,000 prisoners. 2025 was the deadliest year on record for Rohingya sea crossings, UN says. Lula and Pedro Sánchez convene left leaders in Barcelona.
From Drop Site: Jeremy Scahill speaks with Hezbollah MP Ibrahim al-Moussawi.
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Iran and Ceasefire
Iran declares Strait of Hormuz “completely open” for the remainder of ceasefire: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared the Strait of Hormuz “in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon” will be “completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire,” in a post on X. Araghchi specified that the Strait will be open on “the coordinated route,” referring to the path that runs near Iran’s coast and Qeshm and Larak Islands. President Donald Trump responded by thanking Iran for opening the “STRAIT OF IRAN,” in a post on Truth Social. Shortly after, Trump added that “THE NAVAL BLOCKADE WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN,” until ongoing negotiations are complete. “THIS PROCESS SHOULD GO VERY QUICKLY IN THAT MOST OF THE POINTS ARE ALREADY NEGOTIATED.” Iran’s state broadcaster reported that the opening of the Strait is conditional on a Lebanon ceasefire and the passage of military vehicles remains prohibited, citing a senior military official.
Trump talks Iran ceasefire: President Donald Trump claimed on the White House lawn Thursday that Tehran had “agreed to not have a nuclear weapon” and that Iran would “give us back the nuclear dust that’s way underground because of the attack we made with the B-2 bombers.” He added he would travel to Pakistan “if the deal is signed.” “Pakistan has been great,” he told reporters. “I might go.” When asked about his spat with Pope Leo XIV, Trump said he had “nothing against the pope” but mischaracterized the pontiff’s position, falsely asserting that the Pope had suggested Iran could possess a nuclear weapon. “The Pope has to understand: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
War Secretary Pete Hegseth vows to maintain Iran blockade indefinitely, warns of strikes on energy infrastructure: The U.S. will maintain its naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf “as long as it takes,” Hegseth said Thursday, warning Tehran that continued noncompliance would bring “a blockade and bombs dropping on infrastructure, power and energy.” Hegseth said the U.S. is using the current pause in fighting—which President Donald Trump announced Monday following the breakdown of talks in Pakistan and which is set to extend through early next week—to rearm and gather intelligence on Iranian military movements. Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine said 13 ships departing Iranian ports had already turned back in response to U.S. military warnings, adding bluntly: “If you do not comply with this blockade, we will use force.” Hegseth also said Washington had received assurances from Beijing that China does not intend to supply weapons to Iran during the pause.
Three loaded Iranian tankers bypass U.S. blockade: Three tankers, Deep Sea, Sonia I, and Diona, left Iran with oil and crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday despite a new U.S. blockade aimed at stopping exports, according to maritime data company Kpler via AFP. Their tracking signals were turned off, but satellite imagery confirmed their passage. Separately, two sanctioned Iranian container ships exited the Gulf earlier in the week but reversed course near the Pakistan border and were last detected near the port of Chabahar, while two sanctioned cargo vessels transited the strait into the Gulf and were last detected near Bandar Abbas.
Lebanon
A 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday went into effect at midnight local time. Israel bombed Lebanon heavily right up until the ceasefire went into effect with some its heaviest strikes of the past six weeks:
Lebanese media reported 60 different towns were struck in hours leading up to the ceasefire.
A series of airstrikes in the southern city of Tyre killed at least 13 people, wounded 35, and destroyed six residential buildings, according to AFP. Around 15 people remain missing under the rubble, authorities said, as emergency crews continue search operations.
Seven killed and 33 wounded in an Israeli attack on the city of Ghaziyeh, in Sidon district.
Reported Israeli violation of ceasefire: The Israeli military violated the ceasefire hours after it went into place when it struck an ambulance in the town of Kounine close to the border with Israel on Friday, according to the National News Agency, with reported casualties among the targeted medical workers. Over 90 medical workers have been killed in Israel attacks since March 2, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The Lebanese army also reported “a number of violations of the agreement, with several Israeli attacks recorded, in addition to intermittent shelling targeting a number of villages” and renewed its call for citizens to “exercise caution” in returning to their homes in southern Lebanon.
Thousands of displaced Lebanese return south on the first day of the ceasefire despite warnings: Photos and video showed congested roads on Friday, with cars backed up for miles on the road leading south to the Qasmiyeh bridge, the last remaining bridge over the Litani River. The bridge was destroyed by Israel just a day earlier but partially repaired by the Lebanese army with a single reopened lane. More than 1.1 million people in Lebanon—one fifth of the country’s population—have been displaced since March 2.
HRW: Israeli attack on bridge a possible war crime: Human Rights Watch said the Israeli military’s destruction of the Qasmieh bridge, which threatened to cut off Lebanese territory south of the Litani River, should be investigated as a possible war crime. “The Israeli military’s systematic and repeated attacks on bridges, which threaten to isolate civilians in southern Lebanon from access to means of survival, demonstrate a callous disregard for the welfare of the tens of thousands of people still living there,” Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
Israeli troops will remain in southern Lebanon, defense minister says: The 10-day ceasefire is “temporary,” Israel Katz said, and the Israeli military “holds and will continue to hold all the areas it has cleared and captured” in Lebanon, including a 10-kilometer buffer zone. He added that many homes in the area would be destroyed. “Disarming Hezbollah by military or diplomatic means was and remains the goal of the campaign to which we are committed—with significant political leverage now also due to the direct involvement of the U.S. president and his commitment to this goal—while applying pressure to the Lebanese government,” he said. “This would have to be done, either diplomatically or by resuming Israeli military activities at the end of the ceasefire.”
Hezbollah says it will respect ceasefire but hands “remain on the trigger”: Hezbollah said in a statement on Friday that it would respect the ceasefire but that its hands “will remain on the trigger, vigilant against the enemy’s treachery and betrayal.” The group also praised the performance of its fighters, saying it carried 2,184 attacks during the war including drone and missile strikes targeting Israel and attacks targeting Israeli forces inside Lebanese territory.
A recap of negotiations:
Trump reportedly called Lebanon’s President Aoun directly on Thursday afternoon and said a ceasefire would take effect “within hours,” according to Al Araby, which cited a Lebanese presidency source. A phone call between the two was also confirmed by Asharq, LBCI Lebanon, and Axios.
Trump publicly announced the ceasefire soon after with a Truth Social post, saying that he had “directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE.”
Israel’s i24 News reported on Thursday evening Israeli ministers are outraged at Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon
Israel, under the 10-day ceasefire agreement, is permitted to carry out strikes in Lebanon as long as it claims they are in “self-defense.” Article 3 reads: “Israel shall preserve its right to take all necessary measures in self-defense, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks. This shall not be impeded by the cessation of hostilities. Besides this, it will not carry out any offensive military operations against Lebanese targets, including civilian, military, and other state targets, in the territory of Lebanon by land, air, and sea.”
Iran repeatedly came close to resuming confrontation during efforts to secure a Lebanon ceasefire, with missile launch platforms prepared and ready on multiple occasions, a senior Iranian military source told Al Mayadeen. The source said Iran halted launch operations each time in response to diplomatic promises about a Lebanon ceasefire—promises that were subsequently broken by Israel.
Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill speaks with Hezbollah MP: Hezbollah parliamentarian Mohammad Al-Moussawi told Drop Site, “We will be respecting the ceasefire,” and, notably, said the deal is based on the original agreement between the U.S. and Iran that a ceasefire would apply to Lebanon. In an interview Moussawi told Scahill that the Lebanese government’s decision to accept bilateral negotiations outside the Iran framework had “opened a window for the Israelis to make more massacres,” and dismissed Israeli plans to establish a West Bank-style partitioned zone in southern Lebanon as categorically unacceptable. Full report here.
Genocide in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel
Israeli assault on Gaza continues: Two Palestinian brothers were killed, and two others were injured on Friday after Israeli forces targeted a water desalination station in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City; two brothers were also killed in a drone strike near a school in Beit Lahia on Thursday. A drone strike on the Bani Suheila roundabout east of Khan Younis, resulted in two injuries. On Thursday, Israeli forces shot and killed a 9-year-old body, Saleh Badawi, in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.
Israeli attacks on the occupied West Bank:
Israeli forces detained about a dozen Palestinians after early morning raids on the town of al-Ram, near Jerusalem, and on Nablus on Friday, WAFA reports. They also conducted raids in Yaffa and Beit Awwa in the Hebron governorate on Friday, blowing up the doors of stores in Yaffa and ransacking them.
Armed Israeli settlers set fire to two Palestinian cars in the Majd al-Baa community, near Hebron, a local activist reported to WAFA, leaving only the charred frames of the vehicles. Another settler attack in Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya on Thursday evening left a Palestinian seriously injured; settlers reportedly threw a stone at his head after attacking his vehicle.
Settlers attacked the displaced Bedouins from the Arab Al-Mleihat community near Jericho, breaking into their dwellings and chasing livestock herders, according to WAFA.
Israel reinstates soldiers charged with raping Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman: Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has approved the return of five soldiers to active duty after charges against them were dropped, Haaretz reported. The soldiers had been accused of beating, dragging, tasering, and sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman prison, who was hospitalized with broken ribs, a punctured lung, and severe internal injuries. The military’s chief prosecutor withdrew the indictment last month, though no command-level investigation into the incident was completed. Defense Minister Israel Katz apologized to the soldiers and characterized their prosecution as an “injustice.”
France denies visa to Palestinian human rights official: France refused to grant a visa to Shawan Jabarin, director of Al-Haq—one of the oldest human rights organizations documenting abuses in Palestine—blocking his attendance at planned briefings with French lawmakers, the foreign ministry, and European officials in Paris and Brussels. Al-Haq said the last-minute refusal undercut the group’s scheduled European campaign, in which it would seek “accountability” and advocate “for Palestinian rights.”
On Palestinian Prisoners Day, rights groups report a 83% surge in Palestinian prisoner population since start of Gaza genocide: The number of Palestinian and Arab political prisoners held in Israeli prisons now exceeds 9,600—an 83% increase from the roughly 5,250 held before the war on Gaza began—according to a joint report Thursday by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association. Among those detained are 86 women, and approximately 350 children held primarily at Ofer and Megiddo prisons. Administrative detainees—Palestinians held without trial or charge—now number more than 3,532; the report notes that about half of all Palestinian political prisoners are currently held without trial or charge. The associations reported that 89 prisoners have died inside the Israeli prison system since the start of the Gaza war, bringing the total since 1967 to 326 identified deaths, with dozens from Gaza listed as forcibly disappeared. Israeli authorities are withholding the bodies of 97 slain Palestinian prisoners.
U.S. News
By Julian Andreone, with Ryan Grim. Have a tip on Capitol Hill? Email Andreone at Julian@dropsitenews.com.
Analilia Mejia wins New Jersey special election: Progressive organizer Analilia Mejia won the New Jersey special election to replace Mikie Sherrill as the representative for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, defeating Republican Joe Hathaway and independent Alan Bond by more than 20 points. Mejia previously served as the national political director for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign and as the director of her state’s Working Families Party. She has also been a vocal critic of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, notably winning the primary after AIPAC ran attack ads against her opponent, former Rep. Tom Malinowski.
ICE agent charged with assault after pointing gun at motorists on Minnesota highway: Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty on Thursday charged Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. with two counts of second-degree assault, accusing him of pointing a handgun at two motorists from a moving, unmarked government vehicle on a highway near Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport on February 5. The incident occurred during Operation Metro Surge, a federal immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities. Morgan told state investigators he feared for his safety after a car cut him off and yelled “Police, stop!” before drawing his weapon, though the motorists said they had no indication the occupants of the unmarked SUV were law enforcement and called 911, believing they were being threatened by a civilian.
House rejects resolution to end U.S. war with Iran by one vote: The Republican-controlled House voted 213–214 on Thursday to defeat a resolution directing President Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. armed forces from hostilities against Iran, one day after the Senate rejected a similar measure 52–47. Only one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), broke with his party to support the measure. One Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (Maine) voted against it; Rep. Warren Davidson (Ohio), who had previously voted to end the war, voted present. The resolution, introduced by Rep. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.), would have required congressional authorization to continue military operations under the War Powers Resolution.
House extends FISA over “serious reservations” of Congressional Black Caucus: The House passed an extension of Section 702 of FISA on Friday morning, keeping surveillance powers in place until April 30. Passed by unanimous consent, after two earlier attempts to extend by five years and eighteen months failed. Four Democrats joined Republicans to support the extension, 20 Republicans voted against. On Thursday, following reporting from Drop Site, The American Prospect, and The Lever, the Congressional Black Caucus said it had “very serious reservations about legislation that would allow the continued oversurveillance of our communities.” Before this, it was expected that the Caucus would support the “clean reauthorization” of FISA and its controversial Section 702 provisions, which allow for warrantless surveillance of Americans. The CBC statement called for “guardrails” and cited its objection to “documented instances of abuse” of the provision.
AOC discusses endorsements and non-endorsements: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who has yet to endorse her former campaign manager and chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti in his bid to succeed Nancy Pelosi in representing California’s 11th district, told Drop Site’s Julian Andreone that she is “trying to think about the role that I am trying to play more broadly” as candidates across the country court her endorsement. With Chakrabarti, as with all others, she said, “Once you go in it’s like ‘what about this, what about this, what about this one’ and I’m one person with an amazing but pretty lean team.”
Congressman calls for sanctions on Israel: Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) called Thursday for the United States to sanction those involved in implementing Israel’s newly passed death penalty law, which applies exclusively to Palestinians. “Anyone involved in carrying out this directive should be sanctioned by the United States government,” McGovern wrote on X. “It is long past time to put our money where our mouth is and impose consequences for the Israeli government’s ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories and two-tiered system of justice.”
Trump and Mamdani talk relationship: President Donald Trump publicly criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday for the first time since their Oval Office meeting last November, accusing him of “DESTROYING” the city over a proposed tax increase on luxury properties. “They must change their ways,” Trump said in a post, “AND FAST.” He walked this back a bit, however, responding to a question from Drop Site contributor Timmy Facciola about whether or not he had fallen out with Mamdani by saying: “No, not at all. He’s going to ruin the city, however. His policies are no good.” Earlier in the day, Mamdani had said he and President Trump were “in touch” and were “honest” and “direct” about their disagreements. “There is one place of agreement that we have, which is that we both love New York City,” he told CBS. Also on Thursday, The New York Times reported that the Trump administration would release nearly $60 million in funding for New York City’s Second Avenue subway extension, reversing a prior hold that triggered a lawsuit by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Senate votes to allow copper mining near Minnesota wilderness: The Senate voted 50 to 49 on Thursday to repeal a Biden-era moratorium on new mining across more than 225,000 acres of Minnesota’s Superior National Forest, which encompasses the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The House had already passed the Republican-led resolution under the Congressional Review Act of 1996, and President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into law. The measure clears the way for Twin Metals Minnesota, a subsidiary of Chilean mining giant Antofagasta, to pursue a copper and nickel mine roughly five miles from the wilderness area. Environmentalists, Native American tribes who depend on the watershed for fishing and wild rice harvesting, and hunting and fishing groups had fought the project for years, warning of contamination from heavy metals and sulfuric acid.
House passes Haitian TPS bill over GOP leadership opposition: The House passed legislation Thursday that would reinstate three-year Temporary Protected Status protections for approximately 350,000 Haitian immigrants, with ten Republicans breaking from party leadership to join all Democrats in a 224-204 vote. The bill was forced to the floor through a discharge petition, a maneuver made possible by the GOP’s razor-thin 218-213 majority. The White House issued a veto threat, with a senior official calling the bill “terrible” and saying it was “going nowhere.” The Trump administration moved last summer to terminate Haitian TPS, but a federal court blocked the effort; the administration’s attempts to end TPS for both Haitian and Syrian nationals are now pending before the Supreme Court.
State Department announces restrictions on visas in Western Hemisphere: The State Department announced Thursday it is broadening visa restrictions against individuals “from countries in our hemisphere who support our adversaries in undermining America’s interests in our region.” Twenty-six people have already had their visas revoked under the policy, it said in a statement. Proscribed “activities” on the parts of Western Hemisphere nations “include but are not limited to: enabling adversarial powers to acquire or control key assets and strategic resources,” “destabilizing regional security efforts,” “undermining American economic interests,” and “conducting influence operations designed to undermine the sovereignty and stability of nations in our region,” the agency noted.
Senior Treasury official bought oil, nuclear, and cybersecurity funds eight days before U.S. strikes on Iran: Jonathan Burke, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing, purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 in shares across three sector-specific exchange-traded funds—covering oil and gas exploration, nuclear energy, and cybersecurity—on February 20, eight days before President Donald Trump ordered the first strikes on Iran, according to reporting from NOTUS. The trades were part of a mandated divestiture process: Burke had been required to sell existing Citigroup holdings worth between $250,000 and $500,000 and reinvest in funds that do not conflict with his duties. Burke’s oil and gas fund gained several percentage points immediately after the war began and rose roughly 20% within a month, though it has since retreated. Read the full report from NOTUS here.
LAUSD teachers win tentative agreements with District: A coordinated strike threat by nearly 70,000 Los Angeles Unified School District employees was averted hours before a scheduled April 14 walkout, after the acting superintendent reached separate tentative agreements with United Teachers Los Angeles, SEIU Local 99, and the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles/Teamsters 2010. Support staff won a 24% pay increase over three years, along with protections against subcontracting; teachers secured a nearly 14% raise over two years, plus an immediate bump in starting pay to approximately $77,000 and hundreds of new counseling and mental health positions; and administrators will see pay rise by an average of nearly 12% over two years.
Other International News
UK security vetting officials did not clear Peter Mandelson to be U.S. ambassador: Britain’s security vetting officials recommended against granting Peter Mandelson the country’s highest level of security clearance before he was appointed ambassador to the United States, but were overruled by the Foreign Office, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office confirmed. Downing Street said neither Starmer nor any government minister knew until this week that the Foreign Office had granted Mandelson the elevated clearance against the formal vetting team’s advice; David Lammy, currently the country’s Justice Minister, was the head of the Foreign Office when Mandelson was vetted. Mandelson was dismissed from the ambassadorship last September after leaked emails revealed his longstanding friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; he was subsequently arrested in February over accusations of passing confidential government information to Epstein in the late 2000s.
Syria takes control of final U.S. military bases: The government of Syria announced that it has assumed control of all military bases previously hosting American forces, completing a withdrawal it had coordinated with Washington. U.S. Central Command said it would “continue to support” Syria in counter-terrorism efforts. Syria’s foreign ministry framed the handover as reflecting a shared assessment that the circumstances requiring American military presence had fundamentally changed, and credited the integration of Kurdish forces into national state structures as a factor enabling the transition.
IMF and World Bank resume ties with Venezuela: The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank announced the restoration of institutional ties with Venezuela under acting President Delcy Rodríguez, ending a freeze that began in 2019 and clearing the way for Venezuela to request financial assistance from both institutions. The country carries an estimated $150 billion in external debt.
Myanmar junta leader grants amnesty to 4,335 prisoners: The recently sworn-in military president of Myanmar, Min Aung Hlaing, approved an amnesty for 4,335 prisoners on Thursday, commuting all death sentences to life imprisonment, reducing life sentences to 40 years, and cutting all other terms by one-sixth. Former president Win Myint, detained since Myanmar’s February 2021 coup, was pardoned of his convictions and the sentence of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi—who is 80 and serving 27 years in prison—was reduced by one-sixth, her lawyer told Reuters.
Russian drones strike Ukraine’s Izmail port, enter Romania: A Russian overnight drone assault damaged port infrastructure at Izmail on Friday, damaging but not shutting down Ukraine’s largest Danube river port, according to Reuters. Administrative and production buildings and railway infrastructure at Izmail were damaged, and fires were briefly ignited, with no injuries reported. The Romanian government confirmed that a drone also strayed across the border into Romanian territory.
2025 deadliest year on record for Rohingya sea crossings, UN says: Nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal in 2025—the deadliest year on record for the route. More than one in seven of the estimated 6,500 who attempted the crossing perished, the UN refugee agency UNHCR reported. The numbers reflect a deepening “sense of desperation among the Rohingya population,” UNHCR’s spokesperson said, driven by ongoing conflict in Myanmar and deteriorating conditions in overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh. More than half of those attempting the crossings in recent years have been women and children.
Chile carries out first deportation flight under Kast: Under new far-right President José Antonio Kast, Chile conducted its first deportation flight, sending 40 foreign nationals from the northern city of Iquique to Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador. Pavez described the flight as “the first of many” under a planned immigration crackdown the government has been developing since taking office on March 11.
Lula and Sánchez convene progressive leaders in Barcelona: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived in Spain on Friday for a two-day visit that will include meetings with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, European Council President António Costa, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), among others. Meetings will focus on wage inequality and electoral strategy for left-leaning parties. “We are going to discuss the state of democracy, to see what went wrong and what we have to do to repair it,” Lula told the Spanish newspaper El País.
Pope continues Africa tour with visit to Cameroon war zone: Pope Leo XIV delivered a sermon in the conflict-hit city of Bamenda on Thursday, the third day of his 11-day Africa tour, after stops in Algeria and ahead of visits to Angola and Equatorial Guinea. His visit to the heart of Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis prompted a fragile three-day pause in fighting, as he met with religious leaders and called for lasting peace in a war that has killed more than 6,500 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. He also sharpened his criticism of global powers amid an escalating rift with Donald Trump, condemning a “handful of tyrants” who ravage the world with “killing and devastation,” while exploiting Africa’s resources and pouring wealth into weapons instead of rebuilding.
More from Drop Site
Updates on journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin: A State Department spokesperson says the Trump administration is aware that American journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been detained in Kuwait and claims the safety of U.S. citizens is its top priority. Officials confirm awareness of the case and say consular assistance is being provided in line with U.S. and international law. They declined to give further details, citing privacy considerations, offering no additional comment on the circumstances of his detention. Sen. Chris Van Hollen joined Sen. Chris Murphy in calling for release, as well. The Committee to Protect Journalists launched a petition demanding that Kuwait immediately release Shihab-Eldin, whose case we recently reported on here—we encourage our readers to consider signing.
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So Iran lives up to its promise to open the Strait of Hormuz if the casefire includes Lebanon. Good on them. Meanwhile, Israel (with U.S. support) continues its war crimes.
The world is watching and here's the irony of the war launched against Iran: We've elevated Iran's status internationally, while our status is in the ditch.
Iran is winning the actual war and also gaining the moral high ground -- while we're the losers on both counts. Well done, Trump and Netanyahu!
First off, I want people to know that with so much going on in our moment - overwhelming really - it's important to try to understand the broader picture, as opposed to individual topics of momentary passion. Drop Site's daily newsletter covers so much, and it's worth the entire read. I'm guilty of hyper focusing, like anyone, but I'm trying to take it all in.
Now, on to where my attention is stuck - the developed world's explicit backing and legitimization of Israel. And I'm stuck here because none of what is fundamentally broken in this world can truly be mended until Israel is fully cutoff from support of any kind.
Divestment from Israel is the global bellwether of moral seriousness. Until there is a full rejection of this barbaric and suicidal nation state, I find it impossible to take much else seriously from world leadership.
Here is one example of why I feel like I do:
"Israel reinstates soldiers charged with raping Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman: Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has approved the return of five soldiers to active duty after charges against them were dropped, Haaretz reported. The soldiers had been accused of beating, dragging, tasering, and sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman prison, who was hospitalized with broken ribs, a punctured lung, and severe internal injuries. The military’s chief prosecutor withdrew the indictment last month, though no command-level investigation into the incident was completed. Defense Minister Israel Katz apologized to the soldiers and characterized their prosecution as an “injustice.”"