Global Tensions: Key Reports from Gaza to Kenya

This summary provides updates on several critical global events, including the escalation of conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza, a UN meeting with the Taliban, a pause on U.S. bomb shipments to Israel, and developments in North Korea's missile program. Also covered are incidents involving Julian Assange, religious violence in India, a coup attempt in Bolivia, EU border defense proposals, a heated UK debate, and tax protests in Kenya.

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.

UN-led Doha meeting with Taliban not about recognition, says UN

A United Nations-led meeting with Afghanistan's Taliban in Qatar this weekend will not be a discussion about international recognition of the group, U.N. political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo said on Wednesday. The meeting, which will also be attended by envoys from some 25 countries, will be the third such meeting in Doha, but the first attended by the Taliban, which has not been internationally recognized since seizing power in August 2021 as U.S.-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war.

US keeps pause on one bomb shipment to Israel while it is under review

U.S. President Joe Biden's top aides told the visiting Israeli defense chief this week that Washington is maintaining a pause on a shipment of heavy bombs for Israel while the issue is under review, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday. The official, briefing reporters about national security adviser Jake Sullivan's meeting with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, said the allies remain in discussions about the single shipment of powerful munitions, which was paused by Biden in May over concerns they could cause more Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza.

North Korea claims successful test to develop multiple warhead missile

North Korea has successfully conducted an important test aimed at developing missiles carrying multiple warheads, state media KCNA said on Thursday. The test was carried out on Wednesday using a first-stage engine equipped with a solid-fuel based intermediate and long-range ballistic missile, it said.

US calls Julian Assange actions dangerous even as judge notes no victims

The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday that Julian Assange's actions put lives at risk even as the judge who accepted the WikiLeaks founder's guilty plea to resolve his case noted that no victims had been identified. A State Department spokesperson was repeatedly asked by reporters to give examples of harm caused by the WikiLeaks releases but did not provide any. The spokesperson said the department's involvement in the resolution of Assange's case was very limited.

US religious freedom report notes violence against Indian minorities

The U.S. State Department's 2023 religious freedom report on India noted violent attacks on minority groups, especially Muslims and Christians, including killings, assaults and vandalism of houses of worship. The report on international religious freedom released on Wednesday said that in 2023, senior U.S. officials continued to "raise concerns about religious freedom issues" with their Indian counterparts.

Bolivia coup attempt fails after military assault on presidential palace

Bolivian armed forces pulled back from the presidential palace in La Paz on Wednesday evening and a general was arrested after President Luis Arce slammed a "coup" attempt against the government and called for international support. Earlier in the day, military units led by General Juan Jose Zuniga, recently stripped of his military command, had gathered in the central Plaza Murillo square, home to the presidential palace and Congress. A Reuters witness saw an armored vehicle ram a door of the presidential palace and soldiers rush in.

Poland, Baltics call for EU defence line on border with Russia, Belarus

Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia called on Wednesday for the European Union to build a defence line along the bloc's border with Russia and Belarus to protect the EU from military threats and other harmful activities from Moscow. In a letter to the chairman of the EU to be discussed at a summit in Brussels starting on Thursday, the leaders of the four countries that share borders with Russia and Belarus said the project, to protect the 27-nation bloc of 450 million people, would also need the financial support of all members.

Sunak and Starmer clash in testy final UK TV debate

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer went head-to-head on Wednesday in their last debate before an election next week, with both launching highly personal attacks over their and their parties' credibility. With Sunak's Conservatives trailing Labour by around 20 points in the polls, the prime minister went on the attack, accusing Starmer of not being straight with the country on migration, tax and women's rights, and urging voters not to "surrender" to the Labour Party.

Kenya president backs down on tax hikes after deadly unrest

Kenyan President William Ruto on Wednesday withdrew planned tax hikes, bowing to pressure from protesters who had stormed parliament, launched demonstrations across the country and threatened more action this week. The move will be seen as a major victory for a week-old, youth-led protest movement that grew from online condemnations of tax rises into mass rallies demanding a political overhaul, in the most serious crisis of Ruto's two-year-old presidency.

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