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One of the most intimidating aspects of modern US relations with the Arab and Muslim world is Washington's insistence that all Arab and Muslim-majority countries normalise relations with the state of Israel as a reward for its ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.

These demands have intensified since the US and Israel launched their war of aggression against Iran in February. Washington's long-standing push for Saudi normalisation continues unabated, as does its pressure on Qatar, Iraq, Libya, Tunisia, Syria, and Indonesia, among others, to follow suit.

More recently, the US succeeded in bringing to power a new Lebanese government that has gone as far as supporting Israel's occupation of Lebanese territory by signing an agreement last month recognising the "sovereignty" of the genocidal state.

Which Israel, and which borders, are these Arab and Muslim-majority countries required to recognise?

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According to the reporting, US President Donald Trump approved one of the landmark policies of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, granting Riyadh a 30-year civilian nuclear deal that could allow uranium enrichment in the kingdom.

Israeli politicians took to social media to voice their concerns regarding the agreement, with some stating that it harms Israel's security interests and signals yet another failure of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Saudi Arabia's civilian nuclear programme will end with nuclear weapons and will lead to a frantic arms race throughout the entire Middle East," said Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the right-wing opposition Yisrael Beytenu party.

"The State of Israel must state clearly and unequivocally: we will strongly oppose this," Lieberman added, urging Israeli action in the US Congress to block the deal.

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After a week of nationwide protests over the direction of Ukraine's military strategy in the ongoing war with Russia, the Ukrainian military has a new armed forces commander, Mykhailo Drapatyi.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named Drapatyi to replace military chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, whom he fired late Tuesday.

"There is a difficult task ahead, so we are not making loud promises," Drapatyi wrote in a Facebook post after his appointment was announced. "We are working with responsibility for our decisions and for the people who hold the front line and help Ukraine stand firm."

The 43-year-old major general, widely viewed as a reformer, takes the reins at a time of political and military transition in Ukraine. He is also the face of a younger, post-Soviet generation of military leaders in Ukraine who are adapting more quickly to a tech-focused approach to the battlefield.

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A three-year-old girl landed in the intensive care unit earlier this month after a rattlesnake bit her while she was trying to grab an Amazon package.

Addy, the young girl, ran out with her mother on 13 July to pick up a package dropped over the gate to their home in Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles.

“Tragically, a southern pacific rattlesnake was hiding under the brown padded envelope and bit Addy’s left hand,” her father, Manny Barajas, wrote in a fundraising campaign note.

Addy’s mother, Lynn, took the girl to meet first responders at a nearby grocery store parking lot, who took her to hospital and administered a dose of anti-venom. The hospital then transferred her to another facility with a pediatric ICU, where she received two more doses of anti-venom, according to Barajas.

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A modelling scout who recruited women for Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead at his home near Paris, French officials have said.

Daniel Siad, 69, was under investigation by the prosecutors specialising in human trafficking in France, accused of rape and other charges. His name appeared in more than 1,000 documents in the US Department of Justice Epstein files that were declassified earlier this year.

Siad was one of several French men accused of aiding Epstein to traffic and abuse women. He had not yet been questioned by investigators, but had denied the allegations, saying he wanted to give his version of events.

He was found dead in his home on Monday evening. An investigation to determine the cause of death has been opened and an autopsy is to be carried out.

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The US House of Representatives passed a $1.15tn defense policy bill in a near-party-line vote on Wednesday, after Democrats refused to back the measure amid the war with Iran and Donald Trump’s push to impose new restrictions on voting nationwide.

A key plank of the president’s plan to spend $1.5tn on the military in the 2027 fiscal year, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed the Republican-controlled chamber by a 216-212 vote, with all but six Democrats opposing its passage. Seven House Republicans broke ranks to oppose the measure, which now goes to the Senate.

The NDAA is a mammoth bill with effects across the armed services, and Congress passes it each year with bipartisan margins. This year’s version includes pay raises of 5-7% for the military, as well as the codification of the name “Department of War” for the Pentagon. The bill’s large overall cost is itself a key feature, which top House Republicans say is necessary to make generational investments in the armed forces.

“For the first time in 40 years, we’ve been presented a budget that accounts for the true cost of American deterrence. This topline begins to reverse the damage caused by decades of underinvestment in the US military,” Mike Rogers, the House armed services committee chair, said before the vote.

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More than 400 state lawmakers from all 50 states are demanding an end to attacks on telehealth abortion care.

The lawmakers have signed onto an amicus brief, shared exclusively with HuffPost, that the advocacy organization State Innovation Exchange submitted Wednesday to the Fifth Circuit Court in the Louisiana v. FDA case.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration loosened restrictions around the abortion pill mifepristone, including repealing the in-person dispensing requirement, to ensure people could access the medication without exposing themselves to the virus. Louisiana seeks to reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement and ban access to the medication by mail.

Abortion pills by mail, or telehealth abortion care, has revolutionized access to reproductive healthcare since the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022 — accounting for around 30% of all abortions in 2025.

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The Trump administration on Wednesday announced what it described as a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, hailing it as an economic triumph. But critics and nuclear experts have raised concerns around safeguards to prevent Riyadh from developing a nuclear weapon.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright and his Saudi counterpart, the Minister of Energy His Royal Highness (HRH) Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, signed the agreement. The announcement noted the deal is a “123 agreement,” adhering to U.S. federal law requiring the partner country to meet nonproliferation and security objectives.

The administration said the nuclear cooperation agreement lays the groundwork for a “decades-long, multi-billion-dollar partnership that advances several priority economic and strategic objectives, including nuclear nonproliferation.”

“The 123 agreement provides great access for American companies in the Saudi nuclear energy program, benefiting American industry, workers, and supply chains while helping to meet Saudi energy needs,” the administration said in its statement.

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