BREAKING: The Pentagon this week formally ordered all 1,000 U.S. combat troops to withdraw from Niger, a blow to the Biden administration’s effort to counter terrorism and Russian influence in West Africa. politico.com/news/2024/05/1…

Understand Bill Burns is heading back to US. Deal was not reached.

'I think we can see how the Israelis are going to do their Rafah operation without confronting the Biden administration, piecemeal little bit here, a little bit there, rather than a giant, smashing attack..They will just salami-slice it off bit by bit.'

pbs.org/newshour/show/…

Israel's Minister of National Security Ben Gvir

Breaking:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden says 'I'm not supplying the weapons' if Israel launches assault on Gaza's Rafah, after US paused bomb shipment.

'We do not believe Israel has presented a credible humanitarian plan that would account for both the potential harm to civilian life...in such a crowded area, or for properly evacuating and caring for the over million people who are there.' -Matthew Miller

While conspiratorial thinking has wreaked havoc in both public/private spheres, not every conspiracy merits media/analytical attention or poses a risk to audiences. Jared Holt & Lucy Cooper walk us through 5 impt considerations for predicting impact 👇 isdglobal.org/digital_dispat…

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“India is at a crucial juncture in history. You have to decide whether there will be ‘vote jihad’ in India or ‘Ram Rajya’.”

This year, it is imperative the public have accurate information. That’s why ISD has co-led an effort of >50 advocacy groups & researchers to call on Meta to maintain CrowdTangle—a critical tool for information scrutiny—through the 2025 inauguration day.

americanprogress.org/article/cap-au…

The Biden administration’s report on whether Israel has violated U.S. and international humanitarian law during the war in Gaza has been delayed indefinitely politico.com/news/2024/05/0…

New statement from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood: 'Storming the Rafah Crossing From the Palestinian Side Is a Violation of Egyptian Sovereignty' ikhwanology.wordpress.com/2024/05/07/new…

BREAKING: The Biden administration is holding up shipments of two types of Boeing-made precision bombs to send a political message to Israel, according to a U.S. official and six other people with knowledge of the deliberations. Team effort w Lee Hudson Paul McLeary Joe Gould

“Two Israeli officials said Burns wanted Israel to send its negotiators to Cairo, but at a meeting on Saturday Israeli PM Netanyahu and other senior officials decided not to send a delegation before Hamas gives its response to the latest hostage deal proposal.”

Fantastic piece! All kinds of lessons here including how to build an encouraging academic environment (N.B. strict rule on cell phones), power of high expectations, and reality of American racism (“two Black females solving this? No”)
Bravo Calcea and Ne’Kiya!

Houthis team up with feared Al-Qaeda branch in new threat to Yemen telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

BREAKING: CIA director Bill Burns arrived in Doha on Sunday for a meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani to discuss the efforts to reach a Gaza hostage deal, a source with knowledge told me

Famine has arrived in Gaza. Cindy McCain, head of WFP, says parts of Gaza is in 'full blown-famine' and it's spreading to the south.

nytimes.com/2024/05/04/wor…

US says defence deal with Saudi Arabia is not possible without Israel, Jake Sullivan tells Edward Luce in an interview at the #FTWeekendFestival ft.com/content/8f5b64…

Science fiction is becoming jaw-dropping fact, largely thanks to collaboration among many nations. Launch into a real-life space adventure with @markhamill, who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: stories.state.gov/space