Plans to pave a highway running through the Amazon have been suspended over fears it would increase deforestation. It was first introduced by former President Jair Bolsonaro. A Brazilian federal court on Thursday ruled against a plan to pave a key highway that runs through the Amazon rainforest, citing environmental concerns. The BR-319 roadway is a largely dirt road that runs through the rainforest, connecting the city of Manaus to the rest of the country. Before leaving office, far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro gave permission for the road to be paved, ignoring environmentalist concerns over deforestation. Judge Maria Elisa Andrade cited the 'absence of a climate impact study' in her ruling, saying that the government lacked a plan to prevent rampant deforestation. What were the concerns over the road? 'Justice was done. The importance of this decision is gigantic,' said Suely Araujo, a policy expert with environmental lobby group Climate Observatory, which brought the lawsuit seeking to block the road. 'There are no conditions to control the explosion of deforestation that paving the road will cause.' The main worry is that a major paved road would make it easier for illegal loggers and land grabbers to access more remote parts of the forest that have so far remained relatively untouched. According to one study, the paving of the road could lead to a fivefold increase in deforestation by 2030, leading to the loss of an area the size of the US state of Florida. Key road to remain unpaved for now The BR-319 was built by the military government in the 1970s to connect Manaus, now a city of 2.2 million people, to other urban centers. It quickly fell into disrepair and now turns into an impassable mud road during the rainy season, blocking access for loggers. President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftwinger who took over from Bolsonaro in 2023, has a favorable attitude to paving the road, arguing that it could be achieved while also protecting the environment. His government launched a working group on the issue, but had not commenced the work. Brazil is the world's fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, responsible for almost 3% of total global emissions.  Brazil's emissions are largely due to the cutting down of the world's largest rainforest.

US President Joe Biden is expected to iron out a Gaza cease-fire deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu is also set to meet Kamala Harris on his visit to Washington.  Hamas, Iran condemn Netanyahu's speech to Congress Militant group Hamas as well as the Iranian Foreign Ministry have condemned an address by Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the US Congress. Late on Wednesday, Hamas accused Netanyahu of misleading the public over efforts to secure a hostage release deal. "Netanyahu's talk about intensified efforts to return the hostages is a complete lie and misleading Israeli, American and international public opinion, while he is the one who thwarted all efforts aimed at ending the war and concluding a deal to release the prisoners, despite the continuous efforts of mediators from our brothers in Egypt and Qatar," the Palestinian group said in a statement. Hamas is classified as a terror group by the US, the EU, Germany and others. On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani denounced Congress for welcoming and applauding Netanyahu. "The criminal prime minister of a fake regime is embraced by his supporters after nine months of genocide and infanticide," he said. In his address on Wednesday, Netanyahu called for an alliance against what he called an Iranian "axis of terror." He claimed Iran was behind almost all sectarian violence in the Middle East. Australia imposes sanctions on settlers, youth group Australia has sanctioned Israeli settlers and a youth group accused of "beatings, sexual assault and torture" of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced financial sanctions and travel bans against seven individuals and the Hilltop Youth religious settler group.  The move follows similar measures by the European Union and the United States. "The individuals sanctioned today have been involved in violent attacks on Palestinians," Wong said. "This includes beatings, sexual assault and torture of Palestinians resulting in serious injury and in some cases, death." Since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022 at the helm of a strongly pro-settler coalition, settlement expansion has increased sharply. Occupied by Israel since 1967, the West Bank has seen a significant spike in violence since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Palestinian authorities say at least 589 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers since the outbreak of the war on October 7. At least 17 Israelis, including soldiers, have also been killed in the same period of time in attacks involving Palestinians in the territory, Israeli officials say. Netanyahu to meet Biden at White House US President Joe Biden was due to meet Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday after the Israeli Prime Minister delivered a combative speech to Congress the day before.  Tensions between the two are present, with Biden's administration urging Israel to do more to provide further aid to Gaza and to protect civilians there. The health system in the Palestinian territory has been decimated, with widespread malnutrition and a risk of famine in some areas.  The meeting comes after Netanyahu's heated speech on Wednesday, in which he called for the United States and Israel to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in confronting Iran. Netanyahu is set to hold talks with Biden in the Oval Office before both meet the families of US hostages held in Gaza. The Israeli leader is also set to meet the Democratic Party's presumed presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Thursday, before meeting Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Friday. The visit is Netanyahu's first to Washington since the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 — and the first in nearly four years. Israel brings back five bodies held in Gaza Israel's military says soldiers have retrieved the bodies of five Israelis kept in the Gaza Strip after they were killed in Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel. The five had been previously announced dead, with the military and the Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group saying that they were killed on the day of the attack. The Israeli army said the bodies were recovered in southern Gaza on Wednesday and taken back to Israel. Four of the deceased were soldiers who were killed fighting militants who had crossed the border into Israel on October 7, 2023, the military said. The other was a 56-year-old woman who had been living in a kibbutz near the border with the Palestinian territory. The military said she was "murdered" after she was taken hostage during the attacks. The Palestinian militant group Hamas took some 251 people hostage during the October 7 terror attacks. Some were released, but some 111 remain in Gaza, including around 40 who are believed to be dead. Some 1,200 were also killed during the attacks, which triggered the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. Health officials in the Hamas-run enclave say over 39,000 Palestinians have been killed.

The United Kingdom, the United States, and South Korea have warned of a global cyberespionage campaign backed by North Korea to advance its nuclear ambitions. North Korean hackers have waged a global cyberespionage campaign to steal classified military secrets in support of Pyongyang's banned nuclear weapons program, the United States, Britain and South Korea said in a joint advisory on Thursday. It was co-authored by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US National Security Agency (NSA) and cyber agencies, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS). What do we know about Anadriel? The North Korea-backed hackers, known as Anadriel or APT45 by cybersecurity researchers, have targeted or breached computer systems at a wide range of defense or engineering companies, including the makers of tanks, submarines, naval ships, fighter jets, missiles and radar systems, according to the joint advisory. Andariel has been identified as an arm of Pyongyang's spy agency. 'The authoring agencies believe the group and the cyber techniques remain an ongoing threat to various industry sectors worldwide, including but not limited to entities in their respective countries, as well as in Japan and India,' the advisory said. 'The global cyber espionage operation that we have exposed today shows the lengths that [North Korean] state-sponsored actors are willing to go to pursue their military and nuclear programs,' said Paul Chichester at the NCSC, a part of Britain's GCHQ spy agency. How does the group steal secrets? According to the FBI, Andariel has used software vulnerabilities to launch cyberattacks, including malware and phishing, to access sensitive data and information. The FBI urged companies involved in defense, aerospace, nuclear and engineering sectors 'to remain vigilant in defending their networks from North Korea-state-sponsored cyber operations.' The FBI said Andariel had been trying to obtain information such as specifications and design drawings for uranium processing and enrichment as well as missiles and missile defense systems.

An oil tanker capsized off the Philippines on Thursday, raising concerns of a major oil spill in the Manila Bay. The MT Terra Nova was carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil when it capsized nearly 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) off the coast of Limay municipality in Bataan province. "We are racing against time and we will try to do our best to contain it immediately and stop the fuel from leaking," Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Rear Admiral Armando Balilo said at a briefing. Oil slick reported Balilo said the Terra Nova sank in relatively shallow waters with a depth of 34 meters (111 feet). An aerial survey of the incident spotted an oil slick spanning 3.7 kilometers (2.3 miles). However, this oil may have come from the fuel intended to power the ship's engine. Balilo said a leak of the ship's cargo could expose the capital, Manila, to the biggest oil spill in the country's history. "There's a big danger that Manila would be affected, its shorelines, if the fuel leaks because this happened within Manila Bay. It's part of the contingency we're preparing for," he said. "The effect on the marine environment would not be good." One plan to avert a crisis is to siphon off the oil, which would take around a week. Crew members rescued Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista said 16 of the ship's 17 crew members had been rescued. Four received medical treatment. A search was underway for the remaining crew member but Bautista said strong winds and high waves made rescue efforts difficult. The Terra Nova sank after days of monsoon rains that were exacerbated by nearby Typhoon Gaemi, which also caused a ship to sink off Taiwan. In a later statement, Balilo said the Philippine-flagged Terra Nova had not violated any rules and regulations about operating in severe weather conditions. An investigation has been launched to determine if the sinking was related to Gaemi.  

The Syrian president voiced his concerns about the "escalation" of conflicts across the Middle East. Putin has long provided military support to Assad. What do we know about the meeting? The video released by the Kremlin showed Putin appearing to ask Assad for his opinion about the conflicts across the Middle East. "Unfortunately, there is a tendency toward escalation, we can see that. This also applies directly to Syria," Putin was quoted as saying. Assad said that both countries have faced "difficult challenges" and managed to overcome them, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported. "Considering all the events that are taking place in the world as a whole and in the Eurasian region today, our meeting today seems very important," Assad told Putin via a Russian translator. Possible restoration of Syria-Turkey ties The Kremlin said the meeting between the two leaders took place on Wednesday. Though it did not provide details on the talks, one potential point of discussion could be the restoration of ties between Damascus and Ankara. Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have hinted at readiness to restore relations between their two countries, severed since 2011, when Erdogan initially backed rebel forces fighting Assad. Recently, Erdogan said: "Now we have come to such a point that as soon as Bashar al-Assad takes a step towards improving relations with Turkey, we will show him the same approach," Erdogan said. The Turkish president has made it clear that returning refugees to Syria is one of his top priorities. Putin and Assad have long been allies, and the Kremlin has previously taken credit for helping stabilize Syria during its 12-year uprising-turned-civil-war. Russian fighters helped Assad's forces recapture large areas of territory, and the Russian military still maintains bases in Syria. The pair last met in person in March 2023, also in Moscow.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday shouted at some women members of the state's assembly, drawing criticism from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Kumar’s latest outburst was prompted by the protest of Opposition members over their demand that the state's amended reservation laws be incorporated in the 9th schedule of the Constitution. The incident took place when women MLAs were shouting slogans against Nitish Kumar. "Nitish Kumar Hai Hai (down with Nitish Kumar)," they said. They also accused Nitish Kumar of being anti-reservation. Peeved by the accusation, he said women started getting their dues only after he became the chief minister of Bihar. Waving his fingers at the legislators, especially at Rekha Devi of RJD, Nitish Kumar shouted, "You are a woman. Do you realise that it was only after I assumed power that women started getting their dues in Bihar? You are a woman, (still) you do not know anything. If you say Hai Hai to me, then it’s Hai Hai for all". "It was at my instance that you all agreed to a caste survey after which quotas for SC, ST, OBCs and the extremely backward classes were hiked," he added. RJD, the main Opposition party in Bihar, attacked the chief minister over his behaviour, alleging he has no respect for women. Senior RJD leader Rabri Devi said his conduct was a sheer insult to women. "This has not happened for the first time with the CM. People know that he (CM) has no respect for women. Whatever he has done today in the assembly, is a sheer insult to women," she said. She said leaders of the ruling NDA don't respect women and only the INDIA bloc leaders revere women. RJD MLA Rekha Devi also accused Nitish Kumar of insulting her. She said Nitish Kumar has lost control over his mind. "Whatever Nitish Kumar ji said today in the assembly is insulting to a woman… We are here today because of our leader and party supremo Lalu Prasad and not because of Nitish Kumar. He has insulted a Dalit legislator today in the house. It seems that he (CM) has no control over his mind," she said. Source: HT  

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in southern China on Wednesday, state media reported. News agency Xinhua said the pair held talks in the city of Guangzhou without immediately giving further details. Kuleba said a day earlier it was important for Kyiv and Beijing -- a close ally of Moscow -- to speak directly about ending the war in Ukraine. China presents itself as a neutral party in the war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations. But its deepening "no limits" partnership with Moscow has led NATO members to brand it a "decisive enabler" of the war that Beijing has never condemned. Kuleba has said his visit until Friday is the first of any senior Ukrainian official since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Beijing said Tuesday the talks would focus on bilateral ties and "other issues of common interest".   Source: BSS