🤔 New German citizen applicants must declare support for Israel - FT

Berlin has brought in a new citizenship law - with an explicit requirement for applicants to declare the state of Israel’s right to exist.

The landmark ruling began Tuesday with Berlin claiming the policy is a tougher measure of loyalty to “German values.”

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➡️ UPDATE: There is proof that WSJ reporter Gershkovich collected secrets about a Russian defense enterprise for the CIA - Russian prosecutor

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⚡️ BREAKING: Julian Assange Lands in Canberra, Australia – Ending a 14-Year Fight for Freedom 

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⚠️ Fresh Famine Frears Grow as Israel’s Gaza Ground Offensive Obstructs Food Aid Deliveries

The threat of famine in Gaza has been reignited after the IDF’s ground offensive in Rafah obstructed the delivery of food aid, leaving more than half a million Palestinians on the brink of starvation, the UN has said.

Palestinians across the Strip face a “plausible” risk of famine in the coming months, with all but 4% of Gaza’s population facing “acute food insecurity,” as per the latest analysis by the UN’s hunger monitoring system.

“The world must wake up to the gravity and urgency of this crisis and demand a permanent and immediate ceasefire now – the alternative is unthinkable,” British charity ActionAid added.

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😳 Biden to Allow Pentagon Military Contractors to ‘Deploy to Ukraine’

The US is moving toward lifting a long-held ban on American military contractors deploying to Ukraine, four US officials have said. (CNN)

If it’s approved, the change would likely come into play this year, officials said, allowing the Pentagon to provide contracts to American companies for work inside Ukraine for the first time since the war began in 2022. 

Over the last two years, the White House has claimed that all Americans, particularly US troops, have not been near Ukrainian frontlines.

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🤔 India Quietly Helps Israel Wage War on Gaza – Al Jazeera

Evidence seen by Al Jazeera shows India is exporting rockets and explosives to Israel via cargo ships.

A social media clip seems to back up the news outlet – after showing remains of an Israeli missile with a "Made in India" label at a bombed UN shelter in Gaza.

Indian arms company - Premier Explosives Limited - has admitted to exporting to Israel during the current war amid rocketing revenues for the firm.

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❗️ Kiev Critics Accuse Zelensky Govt of Using Military Draft as Political Weapon to Silence Them

Ukrainian investigative journalists and other NGO orgs critical of the Kiev govt are warning that senior officials have found a new way to stifle their work - the power of conscription. (Politico)

When will the West wake up?

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🎯 Prof Jeffrey Sachs: “Julian Assange has done a great service to the American people and a great service for the world”

“We are nearly at World War III, or maybe in World War III, in no small part, because of secrecy and lies.”

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🩸 ICYMI: Kenyan Members of Parliament Speed Away During Anti-Govt Riots

Kenyan protesters vowed Wednesday to keep up their demonstrations against new tax hikes, a day after violent clashes outside parliament left at least 23 people dead and scores wounded.

Police fired live rounds on crowds who massed around parliament and later broke into the assembly's compound, minutes after lawmakers had voted through the contentious tax measures.

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⚠️ Japan Condemns ‘Intolerable’ US Army after Soldier Charged with Raping Teen

The 25-year-old US soldier had been accused of sexual assault, adding that he knew the girl was under 16, the age of consent in Japan, as per local media.

Tokyo called out the US ambassador – demanding stronger oversight of military personnel.

Okinawa accounts for just 0.6% of Japan’s land mass but hosts about 70% of all the US military bases and facilities in the country

The 1995 gang rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US soldiers in the southern island region prompted widespread calls for a rethink of a 1960 pact that outlined the legal status of Japan-based US military personnel.

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📈Sri Lanka Reaches Deal with Creditors Over $5.8BN Debt

Sri Lanka’s restructuring of its hefty debt marks a “significant milestone” in the cash-strapped south Asian nation’s efforts to exit a two-year-old default, the country’s FM Shehan Semasinghe said Wednesday.

The deal was finalized with a committee of official lenders including India, Japan and France in Paris – Semasinghe announcing the country was also in the process of signing a deal with China’s Export-Import Bank to restructure more than $4bn of debt.

Sri Lanka also needs to finalise a separate deal with China Development Bank, which is classed as a commercial creditor that is owed about $2.1bn.

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