International Glance
Violence by Jewish settlers in Palestine has now also struck the residents of Taibeh, the only entirely Christian Palestinian village. Taibeh is the ancient Ephraim, the location mentioned in the Gospel of John where Jesus took refuge after the resurrection of Lazarus (Jn 11:54), and where the Christian community has extremely ancient roots. The village is home to three churches—Latin, Greek Orthodox, and Melkite—whose pastors, Fathers Bashar Fawadleh, Jack Nobel Abed, and Daoud Khoury, issued an appeal last night calling on Israeli authorities to prevent further settler violence, which so far has largely occurred in the presence of passive Israeli soldiers.
Yesterday, a group of Jewish settlers set fires near the Byzantine Christian cemetery and at the Church of Al-Khader (St. George), dating back to the 5th century and one of the oldest and most venerated places of worship for Christians in Palestine. These arson attacks follow a series of violent acts against the town’s Christian residents, which have been escalating in recent weeks. The settlers have also damaged olive groves—Taibeh’s primary source of income—and are preventing farmers from accessing and working their land.
Ukraine said it had arrested a Chinese father and son, both suspected of spying on Kyiv’s Neptune cruise missile programme. Counterintelligence officials detained a 24-year-old former student in Kyiv after they provided him with “technical documentation” related to Neptune production, Ukraine’s SBU said. They later swooped on his father when he visited Ukraine from China to “personally coordinate” his son’s work and smuggle out the documents to the Chinese special services, the SBU said.
Rescue teams continue to search the banks of the Guadalupe River in central Texas as more than 160 people are still missing following last week's flash floods, which have killed more than 100 people, according to authorities in Texas.
Europe’s top human rights court delivered damning judgments on Wednesday against Russia in four cases brought by Kyiv and the Netherlands, including finding Moscow shot down flight MH17, killing all passengers, including 38 Australians.
Donald Trump was basking in the praise of a group of African leaders on Wednesday, when the Liberian president took the microphone.
