Global News Briefs: Key Updates from Gaza's Struggles to Assange's Return

This summary covers crucial global news, including intensified fighting in Gaza, Mark Rutte's selection as NATO's new leader, Julian Assange's return to Australia, and several high-stakes developments across the EU, Russia, and Kenya. Key highlights include Israeli forces' battles in Rafah, NATO's new boss, and EU's contentious job deals.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Israeli forces pound north and south Gaza, battle Hamas in Rafah

Israeli forces pounded several areas across Gaza on Wednesday, and residents reported fierce fighting overnight in Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave. Residents said fighting intensified in the Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah, where tanks were also trying to force their way north amid heavy clashes. The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs.

NATO picks Netherlands' Mark Rutte as next boss

NATO on Wednesday selected Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as NATO's next boss, as the war in Ukraine rages on its doorstep and uncertainty hangs over the United States' future attitude to the transatlantic alliance. Rutte's appointment became a formality after his only rival for the post, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, announced last week that he had quit the race, having failed to gain traction.

Italy's Meloni says EU top jobs deal ignores voters' wishes

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticised on Wednesday plans to share out the top jobs in EU institutions, saying they ignored the successes of rightwing parties at this month's European Parliament elections. Sources said on Tuesday that the three main, broadly centrist European groups - which do not include Meloni's conservatives - had agreed to a deal on the bloc's top posts, which would include picking Germany's Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as head of the EU's executive Commission.

WikiLeaks founder Assange welcomed home in Australia a free man after US deal

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange landed to an ecstatic welcome in Australia on Wednesday after pleading guilty to violating U.S. espionage law in a deal that sets him free from a 14-year legal battle. Assange disembarked from a private jet at Canberra airport just after 7:30 p.m. (0930 GMT), waving to waiting media and cheering supporters before passionately kissing his wife, Stella, and lifting her off the ground.

ECJ annuls sanctions on Dmitry Pumpyansky, the ex-chair of Russia's TMK

Dmitry Pumpyansky, the billionaire former chairman of Russian steel pipe maker TMK, no longer warrants being on the EU's sanctions list related to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the European Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday. The EU has imposed sanctions on over 2,200 people and entities relating to Russia since 2014, which includes travel bans and asset freezes. The annulment is the latest in a series of high profile cases.

Scholz confirms EU top jobs deal with von der Leyen as Commission chief

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed on Wednesday the three main centrist groups in the European Parliament (EP) had agreed on the top European Union posts, selecting Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as head of the EU's powerful executive body. In a speech to the German parliament assessing the fallout from this month's EP elections, Scholz said the groups had also agreed Portuguese ex-premier Antonio Costa should be chair of meetings of EU national leaders and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas should be EU foreign policy chief.

Displaced yet again, southern Lebanese decry lack of state support

Ahmed Abu Della was born in the Lebanese village of Yarine before the land to the south was known as Israel. He hoped to spend his final days there - but 80 years later, with his hometown pummelled by Israeli shelling, Abu Della's children gave him an ultimatum: leave Yarine, or we will come there to die with you.

ICC convicts Mali Islamist for Timbuktu atrocities

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted a Malian Islamist on Wednesday of war crimes and crimes against humanity for being a central figure in the Islamic police of Timbuktu during a 2012 rebel takeover. In a summary of their verdict, the judges said Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz played an important role in the Ansar Dine Islamist group, which took the city on the fringe of the Sahara desert in 2012 and tried to impose sharia Islamic law.

Russia starts secret trial for U.S. reporter Gershkovich on spy charges

U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich went on trial behind closed doors on Wednesday in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, where he faces charges of espionage and a likely sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors say the Wall Street Journal reporter gathered secret information on the orders of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency about a company that manufactures tanks for Russia's war in Ukraine.

Kenyan protesters promise more rallies after at least 23 die in clashes

Kenyan protesters vowed on Wednesday to keep up their demonstrations against new tax hikes, a day after violent clashes outside parliament and across the country left at least 23 people dead and scores wounded. As heavily armed police patrolled the streets of the capital Nairobi on Wednesday, supporters of the week-old protest movement took to X, using the hashtag #tutanethursday, or "see you on Thursday" in a mix of Swahili and English.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)