Qatar Strikes Aftermath, Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones, Nepal Curfew

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

London-based, pan-Arab daily Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, like most of the Middle East press, featured the Israeli attack on Qatar prominently on its front page, with a large photograph of the damage sustained in Tuesday’s strikes on the country’s capital. Israel reportedly aimed to strike senior Hamas leaders in Doha, figures the IDF said were “directly responsible” for the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. Qatar’s emir condemned the attack as “reckless,” adding that five Hamas members were killed in the airstrike, though its team negotiating a truce in Gaza survived the attack. 

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Israel defends Qatar strikes as “right” decision amid mounting condemnations. Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon defended targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar as the “right” decision on Wednesday, saying Israel doesn’t “always act in the interests of the United States” after the attack drew a rare rebuke from President Donald Trump. Hamas said six people were killed in the strikes on the Qatari capital Doha but that its senior leaders had survived. The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the attack which has raised concerns over efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.

• Poland says it shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace. Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said early Wednesday that the Polish military recorded 19 drone incursions in the country’s airspace overnight during strikes on western Ukraine and that up to four drones were shot down by Polish and NATO aircraft. Tusk called the incident a provocation “incomparably more dangerous” than the previous ones. A Russian diplomat in Poland rejected the claims and said there was “no evidence that these drones are of Russian provenance.” Follow our international coverage of the war in Ukraine here.

• Nepalese army moves to restore order as protests’ death toll rises to 22. Nepal’s army deployed troops on the streets of capital city Kathmandu on Wednesday after tens of thousands protesters defied a curfew to storm and set fire to government buildings and attack politicians. At least 22 have been killed and hundreds injured during the violent protests which continued even after the Nepalese prime minister resigned on Tuesday and the government retreated from a ban on social media platforms that had incensed Nepalese already angry over corruption and nepotism.

• Trump reportedly lobbies EU for 100% tariffs on China and India. U.S. President Donald Trump has urged the European Union to impose tariffs of up to 100% on India and China as part of a strategy to force Russian Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, according to a U.S. official and an EU diplomat. This comes as the leader said on Tuesday his administration is continuing negotiations to address trade barriers with India and that he would speak with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the “upcoming weeks” after weeks of diplomatic friction. For more, we offer this: Modi’s Guide To Taking On Trump? Channeling The Nehru-Gandhis.

• Nearly 200 arrests at French protests as new prime minister takes office. French police have arrested nearly 200 people during the early stages of the “Block Everything” protests on Wednesday, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has reported. The demonstrations organized in anger at the political class and planned budget cuts come as new prime minister Sébastien Lecornu is set to take the reins, 24 hours after a vote of confidence ousted François Bayrou as head of government. Lecornu, 39, who has spent the past three years as armed forces minister and is a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, becomes France’s fifth prime minister in less than two years.

• UNICEF study finds more children are obese than underweight. Obesity has outpaced undernourishment for the first time among children and teenagers worldwide, according to a major study by children’s charity UNICEF. The report released on Tuesday says that around one in 10 of those aged between five and 19 years old are now believed to be affected by obesity — an epidemic fueled by a shift from traditional diets to ones heavily reliant on ultra-processed foods. Read more in this Die Zeit analysis translated from German by Worldcrunch: Beyond The Health Panic Of “Ultra-Processed” Food — Here’s The Science, And What Experts Will Never Eat.

• News Quiz! French researchers have confirmed recent findings from a team of Danish scientists focusing on babies’ cries. What can a crying baby do?

A. Attract bats
B. Shatter thin glass
C. Raise your facial temperature
D. Annoy your neighbors
[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

5.6 mm

At the latest Apple keynote in Cupertino, California on Tuesday, the tech giant unveiled the iPhone 17 lineup, headlined by the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air — the company’s slimmest smartphone yet at just 5.6 mm. The devices feature upgraded cameras, longer battery life, and AI-powered A19 chips, with pricing mostly remaining steady despite tariffs.  

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

🇮🇷 War with Israel and the United States may harm Iran and its infrastructures. But for the regime, it’s a chance to distract opinion from its economic failures and to quell dissent.
— KAYHAN-LONDON

🇵🇸 Aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg draws a clear parallel between environmental devastation and political violence.
— AGÊNCIA PÚBLICA

☢️ U.S. President Trump’s push to revive nuclear energy relies on deregulation, but experts say that strategy is misplaced.
— UNDARK