Good morning.
The US state department is facing a new lawsuit – brought by Palestinians and Palestinian Americans – accusing it of deliberately circumventing a decades-old human rights law by continuing to fund Israeli military units accused of widespread atrocities in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, marks the first time victims of alleged human rights abuses have challenged the state department’s failure to take action against Israeli security units under the Leahy law, which prohibits military assistance to forces credibly implicated in gross human rights violations.
A Guardian investigation published in January found that top officials had quietly reviewed more than a dozen incidents of alleged gross violations of human rights by Israeli security forces since 2020, but implemented special bureaucratic measures that have ultimately preserved access to US weapons for the allegedly responsible units.
Meanwhile, hopes for an Israel-Gaza hostages-for-ceasefire deal are rising as officials express cautious optimism.
What is the Leahy law? Enacted in 1997, it was designed to prohibit US assistance to any security forces that the US identifies as being ineligible due to a gross violation of human rights. But, as one former state official told the Guardian earlier this year: “The rules were different for Israel.”
What are the aims of the lawsuit? With the death toll in Gaza since last October reportedly approaching 45,000, humanitarian aid to the territory severely restricted, millions of people displaced and infrastructure decimated, the legal challenge demands judicial intervention to force the US to comply with the law.
Suspect in killing of Russian general detained in Moscow, authorities say
Russia has detained an Uzbek citizen alleged to have placed explosives killing Lt Gen Igor Kirillov on the instructions of Ukraine’s security service, the country’s investigative committee has said.
The 29-year-old had allegedly been recruited by Ukrainian special services and promised $100,000 and travel to the European Union, the news agency Tass reported, citing the country’s domestic spy agency, the FSB.
The man was arrested in the village of Chernoye in the Balashikha district of Moscow, the state news agency RIA reported, citing interior ministry spokesperson Irina Volk.
What happens now? The Kremlin has not yet indicated how it will retaliate. But RIA reported that the former president Dmitry Medvedev, now a senior Russian security official, said Ukraine’s military and political leadership faced revenge.
What’s the latest on the frontlines? Russian forces took control of the villages of Trudove and Stari Terny in eastern Ukraine, RIA claimed. Meanwhile, North Korean forces have suffered “several hundred” casualties, according to a senior US military official.
UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect charged with first-degree murder
The alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione, has been indicted by a New York grand jury on charges of murder.
Mangione, 26, has been charged with one count of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree. He is also charged in Manhattan supreme court with multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon and a single count of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.
Mangione is being held without bail in Pennsylvania, and is expected in court on Thursday for a hearing on extradition to New York.
What kind of sentence could Mangione face if found guilty? A conviction of second-degree murder in New York would result in Mangione serving 15 years to life in prison; a first-degree murder conviction would mean a sentence of 20 years to life.
In other news …
Rescuers in Vanuatu are racing to pull out victims trapped under rubble, after the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck the Pacific nation on Tuesday.
South Korea’s impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, failed to appear for questioning on Wednesday, the country’s corruption watchdog said.
Mary Jane Veloso arrived home to the Philippines on Wednesday, after 14 years on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking charges she has always denied.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a mother and four children to Mexico, including newborn twins who are US citizens.
Stat of the day: US Bureau of Prisons pays ‘historic’ $115m to survivors of staff sexual abuse
The $115m payout settles 103 claims of sexual abuse and retaliation for reporting misconduct by people who were incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin, a troubled women’s institution in California.
Don’t miss this: The US has hardly accepted any Gaza refugees during 14 months of war
The US took in more refugees this year than any other year since 1995, but it has hardly resettled anyone from Gaza since the start of the war. And since the asylum system is so backlogged, it is unlikely that a single request from a Palestinian fleeing Gaza in the past 14 months has been approved. Palestinians seeking refuge report facing a Kafkaesque nightmare, which Donald Trump could make even more onerous.
Climate check: Biden administration warns natural gas expansion would drive up domestic costs
The Biden administration has released a long-awaited analysis on the economic and environmental effects of liquefied natural gas exports, concluding any further expansion would drive up costs for domestic consumers and hamper efforts to curtail the climate crisis.
Last Thing: Fyodor fever – how Dostoevsky became a social media sensation
White Nights, the author’s 1848 novella of lovesick loneliness, is now a favourite among TikTok and Instagram users. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that a story about someone who has built an elaborate life of fantasy should become popular on social media, where users intentionally romanticize their lives, writes Imogen West-Knights.
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