Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called for the immediate suspension of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul legislation, saying it has "created an internal rift that poses a clear and immediate threat for Israel's national security."
Why it matters: Gallant, a member of Netanyahu's Likud party, is the most senior minister to publicly call for the suspension of the legislation. A vote on the first part of the judicial overhaul plan is expected on Wednesday.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-N.Y.) first and only TikTok video has gone viral — and in it, she outlines her case against banning the Chinese-owned social media app as its fate hangs in the balance.
Why it matters: With more than 150 million monthly active users in the U.S., TikTok is one of the most popular smartphone apps in the country. Lawmakers are pressing forward with bipartisan efforts to facilitate a ban in the U.S. amid scrutiny surrounding the firm's relationship with the Chinese government.
A Hungarian official has said that the country would not arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he entered Hungary, despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for alleged war crimes.
What they're saying: Gergely Gulyas, Orbán's chief of staff, called the warrant counterproductive at a news conference in Budapest this week, per Reuters. It pushed "things toward further escalation and not toward peace, this is my personal subjective opinion," he said.
The U.S. and Canada have struck a new agreement that will allow them to divert some asylum-seekers amid a surge in entries at the northern border.
Driving the news: The deal closes a legal loophole that allowed migrants traveling from the U.S. to Canada to apply for asylum if they used unofficial crossings — and vice versa.
The UN published a report Friday highlighting summary executions, torture, and other instances in which Russia and Ukraine violated international human rights laws in their treatment of prisoners of war.
The big picture: The report comes after another UN report last week found that Russian forces in Ukraine committed an array of violations that amount to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
President Biden on Friday said the U.S. will "act forcefully" to protect its troops and other personnel in Syria after a drone strike by suspected Iranian proxies in the northeast part of the country killed an American contractor and wounded five American service members and another U.S. contractor.
Details: A U.S. intelligence assessment determined that the "one-way unmanned aerial vehicle" that struck a maintenance facility on a coalition base near Hasakah on Thursday was "of Iranian origin," per a U.S. Defense Department statement issued late Thursday.
Paul Rusesabagina, whose actions to shield Tutsis during the Rwandan genocide served as the basis of the film "Hotel Rwanda," will be released from prison on Saturday, according to a spokesperson for the Rwandan government.
The backstory: Rwandan President Paul Kagame came to power after the genocide, and Rusesabagina became a prominent critic-in-exile of his increasingly authoritarian rule. Rusesabagina's family says he was taken to Rwanda against his will in 2020. He was later convicted of terrorism charges.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that he is concerned about the Israeli government’s plan to weaken the country's Supreme Court and other democratic institutions, according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting.
Why it matters: Sunak’s criticism, while mostly conveyed in private, adds to the growing international pressure Netanyahu is facing over his judicial overhaul plan and the anxiety among Israel’s key allies over its potential consequences for the country's democracy.
