Associated Press: Houthi Rebels Say At Least 16 Killed And 42 Others Wounded In Joint US-British Airstrikes In Yemen

“Joint British-U.S. airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed at least 16 people and wounded 42 others, the rebels said Friday, the highest publicly acknowledged death toll from the multiple rounds of strikes carried out over the rebels’ attacks on shipping. Three U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe a then-ongoing attack, described the strikes Thursday as hitting a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command and control sites, a Houthi vessel and other facilities. They called it a response to a recent surge in attacks by the Iran-backed militia group on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. F/A-18 fighter jets involved in the strikes took off from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, officials said. Other U.S. warships in the region also participated.”

Reuters: Hamas Says It Is Ready For A 'Complete Agreement' If Israel Stops War

“Hamas said on Thursday it had told mediators it would not take part in more negotiations during ongoing aggression but was ready for a "complete agreement" including an exchange of hostages and prisoners if Israel stopped the war. Talks, mediated by among others Egypt and Qatar, to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist movement in the Gaza war have repeatedly stalled with both sides blaming the other for the lack of progress. The latest Hamas statement came as Israel pressed on with an offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite an order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the top U.N. court, to halt the attacks. "Hamas and the Palestinian factions will not accept to be part of this policy by continuing (ceasefire) negotiations in light of the aggression, siege, starvation and genocide of our people", the Hamas statement read.”

CEP Mentions

Instinct: US Gov’t Warns Prides May Not Be Safe. Have Your Plans Changed?

“...The Counter Extremism Project, a New York-based non-profit, has observed that anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments are shared by both Islamist and far-right extremists. Mark D. Wallace, the project’s chief executive, noted the unsettling alliance between neo-Nazis and jihadis based on their mutual disdain for the LGBTQ+ community. Domestic threats have also surged, with increased protests and threats against LGBTQ+ communities in the US. The Anti-Defamation League and GLAAD reported 145 incidents of anti-LGBTQ+ violence, harassment, and vandalism during Pride Month in 2023. Have you ever felt unsafe at Pride?”

Iran

The National: Iran And Al Qaeda Accused Of Trying To Co-Opt US Pro-Palestine Protests

“Iran and Al Qaeda endorsed pro-Palestinian and anti-war student protests this week, providing new challenges for the movement, which is calling for university divestment from Israel. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in social media posts and a long video on Wednesday that “university students in the United States of America … are standing on the right side of history”. “You have now formed a branch of the resistance front and have begun an honourable struggle,” said a letter quoted on his X account. Mr Khamenei's message of support is in sharp contrast to how his own country dealt with anti-government protests in 2022, after the death of a young woman in morality police custody. The crackdown on the movement, which focused largely on women's rights and demands for reform, led to mass arrests and even death sentences for some protesters.”

Iraq

Barron’s: Iraq Hangs 8 Convicted Of 'Terrorism': Security, Health Sources

“Iraqi authorities have executed eight people convicted of "terrorism" over links to the Islamic State group, a security source in the country's southern Dhi Qar province said Friday. The source told AFP that eight Iraqis "convicted of terrorism and of being members of the Islamic State group were executed by hanging" Thursday at Al-Hut prison in the city of Nasiriyah "under the supervision of a justice ministry team". A local medical source confirmed that the health department had received the bodies of eight executed people. Under Iraqi law, terrorism and murder offences are punishable by death, and execution decrees must be signed by the president. The eight Iraqis were hanged "under Article 4 of the anti-terrorism law", the security source said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.”

Pakistan

Voice Of America: Pakistan Arrests 11 Militants In Deadly Attack On Chinese Engineers

“Eleven militants accused of being involved in carrying out the deadly March suicide attack on Chinese engineers are in custody, according to Pakistani officials. Following the arrests, Beijing urged Islamabad to continue the investigation. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that China was attaching great importance to the progress made by Pakistan. "China supports Pakistan in continuing to get to the full bottom of what happened and hunting down and bringing to justice all the perpetrators," she said. The suicide attack killed five Chinese engineers on March 26 along with their Pakistani driver. They were on their way to work at the largest dam at Dasu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistani officials said. A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle filled with explosives into their convoy.”

Associated Press: Pakistan Sends Official To Kabul For Talks With The Afghan Taliban On A Deadly March Suicide Attack

“Pakistan has sent an official to Kabul to share the findings of its investigation into a suicide bombing in March that killed five Chinese engineers and a Pakistani driver with Afghanistan’s Taliban government, the foreign ministry said Thursday. Pakistan says the attack was planned in Afghanistan and that the bomber was an Afghan citizen, alleging that the Afghan Taliban administration should be held accountable for the attack. Afghanistan’s Taliban government has denied it was in any way responsible. According to a statement, Khurram Agha, a top bureaucrat at the Interior Ministry in Islamabad, shared the findings with Afghanistan’s deputy interior minister, Muhammad Nabi Omari. It said Agha traveled to Afghanistan’s capital under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s instructions. The March 26 attack took place as the group of Chinese were heading to Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in Pakistan, where they worked.”

Qatar

Associated Press: Qatar’s Offer To Build 3 Power Plants To Ease Lebanon’s Electricity Crisis Is Blocked

“Lebanon’s political class, fuel companies and private electricity providers blocked an offer by gas-rich Qatar to build three renewable energy power plants to ease the crisis-hit nation’s decades-old electricity crisis, Lebanese caretaker economy minister said Thursday. Lebanon’s electricity crisis worsened after the country’s historic economic meltdown began in October 2019. Power cuts often last for much of the day, leaving many reliant on expensive private generators that work on diesel and raise pollution levels. Although many people have installed solar power systems in their homes over the past three years, most use it only to fill in when the generator is off. Cost and space issues in urban areas have also limited solar use.”

Middle East

Reuters: Israeli Airstrike On Rafah Kills 12 Palestinians, Gaza Medics Say

“Israeli forces killed at least 12 Palestinians in a dawn airstrike on Rafah in southern Gaza on Thursday and fighting raged in several other areas of the coastal enclave, Gaza medics said. Israel pressed on with its offensive on Rafah a day after saying its forces had taken control of a buffer zone along the nearby border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, giving it effective authority over Gaza's entire land frontier. It said the buffer zone's capture had cut off a route used by the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas to smuggle arms into Gaza during more than seven months of war, which has laid waste to much of the territory and raised fears of famine. Gaza medical sources said the 12 Palestinians, whom it said were civilians, had been killed and an unspecified number of others wounded in an Israeli airstrike as they tried to recover the body of a civilian in the centre of Rafah.”

Africa

CBS: Inside A Huge U.S. Military Exercise In Africa To Counter Terrorism And Russia And China's Growing Influence

“On a dusty airport tarmac in the northern Ghanaian city of Tamale, military special operatives from across Africa move stealthily. Shots ring out as they converge on the airport and apprehend armed militants holding it hostage.  It's not a real attack, but just one of the exercises of "Flintlock," the U.S. military's premier counterterrorism training event in Africa, which is now in its 20th year. Special ops teams from the U.S. military's Africa Command, along with NATO allies, are conducting drills alongside soldiers from countries including Ghana, Ivory Coast, Chad, Mauritania, Nigeria, Libya and Morocco. In the exercise CBS News witnessed, the elite forces were rescuing hostages from a simulated attack on an airport. It's a very real scenario in the vast North African region known as the Sahel, which is considered the epicenter of the global fight against ISIS and al Qaeda franchises.”