Fears of an Iranian strike drew an American general to Israel
The US has sent its top Middle East military commander to Israel to discuss a widely expected retaliatory strike by Iran, officials said.
Iran’s leaders have repeatedly vowed to punish Israel for the April 1 strike in Syria that killed several senior Iranian commanders. Israel has put its military on alert and President Biden said Iran was threatening a “significant” attack. General Michael Kurilla, the US commander, will also discuss the war in Gaza and humanitarian operations there.
Biden, who has become increasingly critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the Gaza war, said US support for Israel in the face of the threat from Iran was “ironclad”.
Netanyahu said his country was prepared for other challenges. “We have established a simple rule: Whoever hurts us, we will hurt him,” he said.
Homers: A senior Hamas official said the group did not have 40 hostages alive who met the criteria for a proposed exchange with Israel, raising fears that more hostages could be killed than previously thought.
Hunger: The director of the United States Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, said this week that famine is ongoing in northern Gaza.
OJ Simpson has died at the age of 76
OJ Simpson shot to fame on the football field, made fortunes as an American in films, television and commercials and, in a 1995 trial that captivated the US, was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend. He died yesterday at the age of 76.
His trial, for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, lasted nine months and became a turning point in race in America. A civil lawsuit in 1997 found Simpson liable for the deaths and left him owed $33.5 million in damages, and he later served prison time on charges related to the 2007 theft of a cache of sports memorabilia.
The story of OJ Simpson has sparked a wave of books, films, studies and debates about issues of justice, race relations and celebrity in a nation that worships its heroes but has never been comfortable with its deeper contradictions.
For more, Here’s a critic’s notebook about Simpson’s place in the American media spotlight. what did his case mean for LA; and a timeline of his life.
The carefully crafted law imposes new penalties on men who try to avoid service and offers a mix of financial incentives for those who take up arms.
But there is no timetable for when the conscripts will be demobilized, something soldiers and their families have been demanding after more than two brutal years of war.
Draft: Many younger Ukrainians were upset when President Volodymyr Zelensky lowered Ukraine’s military age from 27 to 25.
Demographics: Ukraine needs more soldiers, but has too few young ones.
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The memoirs of Alexei Navalny
Before he died in prison in February, Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, wrote a memoir about his life and activism.
“This book is a testament not only to Alexei’s life, but also to his unwavering commitment to the fight against the dictatorship – a fight for which he gave everything, including his life,” said his wife, Yulia Navalnaya .
That’s all for this week. Thank you for reading and have a relaxing weekend. — Dan
You can reach Dan and the team at briefing@nytimes.com.
