News From Around The Globe

• Israel-Hamas War: U.N. Security Council Passes Gaza Aid Resolution as U.S. Abstains December 23, 2023
  The measure calls for a major increase in aid to beleaguered Palestinian civilians, but aid organizations and critics of Israel and the U.S. harshly objected to its failure to call for a cease-fire.
  The New York Times
• Antonio Negri, 90, Philosopher Who Wrote a Surprise Best Seller, Dies December 22, 2023
  He became famous twice: first in 1979, for his imprisonment related to the murder of a former Italian premier, and then 20 years later, for his influential book “Empire.”
  Clay Risen
• Gadi Haggai, Listed as a Hostage, Is Now Said to Have Been Killed December 22, 2023
  Gadi Haggai, 73, was fatally shot in the Oct. 7 attack, a hostage family group says. His wife was also shot and taken captive.
  Liam Stack
• Yacouba Sawadogo, African Farmer Who Held Back the Desert, Dies at 77 December 22, 2023
  Against the odds, facing the encroaching Sahara, he built a forest in Burkina Faso, becoming “a national hero” and winning acclaim abroad for his innovations.
  Adam Nossiter
• Strike in Somalia Said to Kill Mastermind of Attacks on Americans and Kenyans December 22, 2023
  Maalim Ayman, a senior leader of the extremist group al-Shabab, was believed responsible for attacks in Kenya on a university town that killed 148 people, and on a U.S. military base that killed three Americans.
  Abdi Latif Dahir and Eric Schmitt
• U.S. Increasingly Isolated Over Israel and Gaza After Leading on Ukraine December 22, 2023
  The United States finds itself in a defensive crouch and at odds with even staunch allies like France, Canada, Australia and Japan.
  Michael Crowley
• Mass Shooting in Prague Brings Grief and a Focus on Guns December 22, 2023
  After a student killed 14 people at a premier university, questions swirled. Did the Czech Republic’s permissive attitude toward gun ownership play a role?
  Andrew Higgins and Jenny Gross
• U.S. to Clamp Down on Financial Firms That Help Russia Buy Military Supplies December 22, 2023
  President Biden signed an executive order granting the Treasury Department broader powers to curb the flow of weapons components.
  Alan Rappeport
• A Tokyo Taxi Driver Is Charged With Running Down a Pigeon December 22, 2023
  The arrest of the 50-year-old driver highlighted the strict law in Japan against harming the birds, even if they take over balconies or get in the way of traffic.
  Hisako Ueno and Yan Zhuang
• Gaza Death Toll Nears 20,000 During Israel-Hamas War December 22, 2023
  The death toll reported in Gaza has surpassed 20,000, according to officials in the territory, the heaviest loss on the Arab side in any war with Israel since the 1982 Lebanon invasion.
  Liam Stack