Israeli diplomatic staff killed in DC. U.S. authorities took a man into custody after two Israeli embassy staffers were fatally shot last night in downtown Washington, D.C. The shooting occurred outside the Capital Jewish Museum, where a reception for young diplomats was being held. The man shouted “free, free Palestine” after he was in custody, the Metropolitan Police chief said. President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and several other world leaders condemned the killings as an act of antisemitism. The shooting has few parallels in recent history in the U.S. capital; a former Chilean diplomat was killed in a bomb attack in 1976.
U.S. accepts plane from Qatar. The Department of Defense said yesterday that it accepted a Qatari luxury plane to be used as Air Force One, the president’s plane. The transfer has sparked concerns of breaking foreign influence laws and of the plane’s potential bugging, but a Pentagon spokesperson said it was “in accordance with all federal rules and regulations” and that “proper security measures” will be taken into account.
Russian spies in Brazil. Brazilian authorities, in cooperation with Western intelligence agencies, have since 2022 identified at least nine deep-cover Russian spies that built fake identities in the country, the New York Times reported. At least two were arrested, while others apparently fled the country as the investigations progressed. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted increased global cooperation to root out Russian espionage.
India targets insurgents. India’s military killed the top leader of the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency group and twenty-six others in a military operation yesterday, the country’s home affairs minister said. The group has been fighting the government since 1967. The government said it killed thirty-one members of the movement in a separate operation last week.
Tropical forest destruction. Worldwide primary tropical forest destruction surged to a record high of roughly 25,869 square miles last year, around half of it due to fires, according to the World Resources Institute. In previous years, fires accounted for a much smaller portion of forest loss, but dry conditions have expanded the size of fires that farmers often start to clear land for agriculture. Bolivia, Brazil, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) lost the most tropical forest last year.
European backing for RFE/RL. The European Union agreed to contribute some $6 million in short-term emergency funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said yesterday. The Trump administration cut funding for the U.S.-created media organization, whose journalistic headquarters are in the Czech Republic. Kallas said Brussels would not be able to fully fund the organization’s worldwide operations but hoped to help it function “in our neighborhood.”
Bus attack in Pakistan. Pakistan blamed India for an explosion targeting a school bus that killed five people Wednesday morning in the province of Balochistan. India’s foreign ministry called the accusations “baseless.” The incident is being investigated as a suspected suicide bombing. A separatist insurgency has carried out several attacks in Balochistan in recent years.
Former DRC leader sentenced. The DRC’s Constitutional Court sentenced former Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo Mapon to ten years of forced labor for embezzlement. Matata led the country between 2012 and 2016 and was accused of misusing funds from an agricultural development project; he now heads the Leadership and Governance for Development party. His lawyer denied wrongdoing and said the charges were politically motivated.
