Amna Nawaz:
Meantime, in Israel, the Supreme Court halted the firing of the country’s domestic security chief, Ronen Bar, until an appeal can be heard. It came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet unanimously approved the dismissal.
Critics of Bar’s firing joined anti-war protesters outside of Netanyahu’s residence today, saying his attempted removal is a politically motivated power grab by the prime minister.
Russia and Ukraine say that attacks are continuing even after the parties agreed in principle this week to a limited cease-fire. Ukrainian officials say Russian drones hammered the Black Sea port city of Odesa overnight, injuring at least three people and causing massive fires. A local official said the city suffered — quote — “local emergency power outages,” suggesting that energy infrastructure had been hit.
In the meantime, Russia accused Ukraine of blowing up a gas facility in Russia’s Kursk region. Ukraine denied any responsibility.
Sudan’s military says it has retaken the country’s former seat of government in the capital city of Khartoum. Sudanese soldiers celebrated the victory today outside the Republican palace after two years of fighting with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. The victory is a big step towards retaking all of Khartoum, though the RSF still controls much of Western Sudan, including most of the Darfur region.
The nearly-two-year conflict has produced what the U.N. calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Around half of the country’s population suffers from acute hunger.
On Wall Street today, stocks managed to eke out modest gains to end the week. The Dow Jones industrial average added around 30 points. The Nasdaq tacked on more than 90 points, or about half-a-percent. The S&P 500 ended just barely in positive territory.
