WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday urged Israel to protect civilians as it battles Hamas in Gaza, saying that shielding noncombatants is necessary for victory in the urban fight against the Palestinian militant group.
Fighting between Israel and Hamas resumed the day before after a week-long truce between the two sides collapsed, with both sides blaming the other for the breakdown of the deal and the resumption of violence.
Austin told the Reagan National Defense Forum in California that he had “learned a thing or two about urban warfare” while fighting in Iraq and leading the campaign against Daesh.
“Like Hamas, Daesh was deeply embedded in urban areas. And the international coalition against Daesh worked hard to protect civilians and create humanitarian corridors, even during the toughest battles,” Austin said.
“The lesson is not that you can win in urban warfare by protecting civilians. The lesson is that you can only win in urban warfare by protecting civilians,” he said.
“In this kind of a fight, the center of gravity is the civilian population. And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.”
The latest round of fighting in the long-running conflict between Israel and Hamas began when the Palestinian militant group carried out a shock cross-border attack from Gaza on October 7 that Israeli officials say killed about 1,200 people.
Israel responded with a relentless land and air campaign on Hamas-controlled Gaza that the group’s officials say has killed more than 15,000 people.
Those deaths have provoked widespread anger in the Middle East and provided an impetus for armed groups to carry out attacks against American troops in the region as well as on Israel.
Israel has faced drone and missiles launched from Lebanon and Yemen, while American forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted in a series of attacks that have injured dozens of US personnel.
Washington has blamed the attacks on its personnel on Iran-backed forces and responded with air strikes on multiple occasions in recent weeks.
“We will not tolerate attacks on American personnel. And so these attacks must stop,” Austin said. “Until they do, we will do what we need to do to protect our troops — and to impose costs on those who attack them.”
US defense chief says Israel must shield civilians to win in Gaza
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US defense chief says Israel must shield civilians to win in Gaza
- Austin told the Reagan National Defense Forum in California that he had “learned a thing or two about urban warfare” while fighting in Iraq and leading the campaign against Daesh
- “The lesson is that you can only win in urban warfare by protecting civilians,” he said
Child pornography swoop leads to 20 arrests in 12 nations
- Spanish authorities arrested seven suspects, including a health care worker and a teacher
PARIS: An international operation against child pornography led by Spanish police has resulted in the arrest of 20 people in 12 nations across the Americas and Europe, Interpol said.
The operation was initiated by Spain in late 2024, when officers carried out online patrols and identified instant messaging groups dedicated to the circulation of child sexual exploitation images, Interpol said late Friday.
“As the investigation progressed, officers were able to fully identify the alleged perpetrators and alert authorities in the relevant countries,” it said.
It said there were “follow-up sessions between authorities to align operational efforts with Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Paraguay.”
The arrests took place between March and May 2025.
Spanish authorities arrested seven suspects, including a health care worker and a teacher.
The health care worker allegedly paid minors from Eastern Europe for explicit images, while the teacher is accused of possessing and sharing child sexual abuse material via various online platforms.
Sixty-eight additional suspects have been identified and further investigations are underway.
Desktop computers, laptops, mobile phones, tablets and digital storage devices were seized. A teacher was arrested in Panama.
The remaining suspects were arrested elsewhere in Europe and the United States.
Millions sit China’s high-stakes university entrance exam
- China’s gaokao requires students to use all their knowledge acquired to this point
- The exam results are critical for gaining admission to university
BEIJING: Hopeful parents accompanied their teenage children to the gates of a busy Beijing test center on Saturday, among millions of high school students across China sitting their first day of the highly competitive university entrance exam.
Nationwide, 13.35 million students have registered for the multi-subject “gaokao” series this year, according to the Ministry of Education, down from last year’s record-high 13.42 million test takers.
Outside the central Beijing secondary school, a proud parent who gave her name as Chen said “12 years of hard work have finally led to this moment” – as she waved a fan in front of her daughter while the student reviewed her notes one last time before the test.
“We know our kids have endured so much hardship,” Chen said, adding that she was not nervous.
“I’m actually quite excited. I think my child is excellent, and I’m sure she will get the best score,” she said.
China’s gaokao requires students to use all their knowledge acquired to this point, testing them on subjects including Chinese, English, mathematics, science and humanities.
The exam results are critical for gaining admission to university – and determining whether they will attend a prestigious or more modest institution.
While teachers and staff offered students their support, holding up signs of encouragement, some test takers, dressed in school uniforms, appeared panicked, including a girl with tears in her eyes.
“There’s no need for us parents to add pressure. The children are already under a lot of it,” said a woman named Wang, whose son had just entered the exam hall.
Like many mothers, she wore a traditional Chinese qipao in hopes of bringing good luck.
“I hope my son achieves immediate success and gets his name on the (list of high-scoring candidates),” Wang said with a smile.
Higher education has expanded rapidly in China in recent decades as an economic boom pushed up living standards – as well as parents’ expectations for their children’s careers.
But the job market for young graduates remains daunting.
As of April, 15.8 percent of people aged 16 to 24 living in urban areas were unemployed, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Due to this pressure, many Chinese students prepare for the gaokao from a young age, often with extra lessons after the regular school day.
And every year education authorities are on guard against cheating and disruptions during the exam.
This week, China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang called for a “safe gaokao,” stressing the importance of a rigorous campaign against cheating.
Areas around exam centers are closely guarded by police, with road lanes closed to traffic and several cities banning motorists from honking their horns so as not to disrupt the concentration of students.
In some schools, facial recognition is even used to prevent fraud.
While the university admission rate for gaokao test takers has exceeded 80-90 percent in recent years, many students disappointed with their results choose to repeat the exam.
As there is no age limit for the test, some have become notorious for attempting the exam dozens of times, either after failing it or not getting into their top-choice university.
One teacher at the Beijing school where parents saw off their children on Saturday estimated that only about 10 of the approximately 600 final-year students there would earn a place at one of the capital’s top universities.
Jiang, a final-year high school student who only gave one name, said he dreamt of attending a Beijing university, and was remaining calm shortly before his Chinese exam.
“Even though the pressure is intense, it’s actually quite fair,” he said.
“I feel like all the preparations that needed to be made have been made, so there’s really no point in being nervous now, right?
“Whatever happens, happens. It’s truly not something I can completely control.”
Kenya NGO saves turtles from nets, plastic and rising tides
- Turtles are still poached for their shells, meat and oil
- But through the charity’s awareness campaigns in schools and villages, perceptions have significantly changed
WATAMU: A small charity on the Kenyan coast has become vital to the region’s majestic turtle population, saving thousands from poachers, fishermen’s nets and ever-worsening plastic pollution.
On the beach of the seaside town of Watamu, it takes four men to heave the huge Loggerhead sea turtle into the back of a car.
She has just been saved from a fishing tackle and will be taken to a nearby clinic to be checked for injuries, then weighed, tagged and released back into the sea.
A Kenyan NGO, Local Ocean Conservation (LOC), has been doing this work for almost three decades and has carried out some 24,000 rescues.
“Every time I release a turtle, it’s a really great joy for me. My motivation gets stronger and stronger,” said Fikiri Kiponda, 47, who has been part of LOC’s 20-odd staff for 16 years.
LOC began life in 1997 as a group of volunteers who hated seeing the creatures being eaten or dying in nets.
Turtles are still poached for their shells, meat and oil.
But through the charity’s awareness campaigns in schools and villages, “perceptions have significantly changed,” said Kiponda.
LOC, which relies mostly on donations, compensates fishermen for bringing them injured turtles.
More than 1,000 fishermen participate in the scheme and mostly do so for the sake of conservation, the charity emphasizes, since the reward does not offset the hours of lost labor.
At the NGO’s nearby clinic, health coordinator Lameck Maitha, 34, says turtles are often treated for broken bones and tumors caused by a disease called Fibropapillomatosis.
One current in-patient is Safari, a young Olive Ridley turtle around 15 years old — turtles can live beyond 100 — transported by plane from further up the coast.
She arrived in a dire state, barely alive and with a bone protruding from her flipper, which ultimately had to be amputated — likely the result of fighting to free herself from a fisherman’s net.
Safari has been recovering well and the clinic hopes she can return to the sea.
Other frequent tasks include removing barnacles that embed themselves in shells and flippers, weakening their host.
But a growing danger is plastic pollution.
If a turtle eats plastic, it can create a blockage that in turn creates gas, making the turtle float and unable to dive.
In these cases, the clinic gives the turtle laxatives to clear out its system.
“We are seeing more and more floating turtles because the ocean has so much plastic,” said Maitha.
LOC also works to protect 50 to 100 nesting sites, threatened by rising sea levels.
Turtles travel far and wide but always lay their eggs on the beach where they were born, and Watamu is one of the most popular spots.
Every three or four years, they produce hundreds of eggs, laid during multiple sessions over several months, that hatch after around 60 days.
The charity often relocates eggs that have been laid too close to the sea.
Marine biologist Joey Ngunu, LOC’s technical manager, always calls the first to appear Kevin.
“And once Kevin comes out, the rest follow,” he said with a smile, describing the slow, clumsy procession to the water, preferably at night to avoid predators as much as possible.
Only one in a thousand reaches adulthood of 20-25 years.
“Living in the sea as a turtle must be crazy. You have to face so many dangers, fish and poachers, and now human pressure with plastic and commercial fishing,” he said.
“Turtles are definitely survivors.”
Thai army to take control of checkpoints on border with Cambodia
- Thailand has reinforced its military presence along a disputed border with Cambodia, following an increase in troops on the other side
- Tension escalated in 2008 over an 11th-century Hindu temple, leading to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths
BANGKOK: Thailand’s army said on Saturday it would take control of the opening and closing of border checkpoints on the border with Cambodia as tensions between the two countries rise.
Thailand has reinforced its military presence along a disputed border with Cambodia, following an increase in troops on the other side, Thailand’s defense minister said on Saturday, as tensions simmer following a deadly clash.
For days, the two Southeast Asian governments have exchanged carefully worded statements committing to dialogue after a brief skirmish in an undemarcated border area on May 28 in which a Cambodian soldier was killed.
But Phumtham Wechayachai, who also serves as Thailand’s deputy prime minister, said that during talks bilateral talks held on Thursday, Cambodia had rejected proposals that could have led to a de-escalation.
“Furthermore, there has been a reinforcement of military presence, which has exacerbated tensions along the border,” Phumtham said in a statement.
“Consequently, the Royal Thai Government has deemed it necessary to implement additional measures and to reinforce our military posture accordingly.”
He did not provide details on the extent of reinforcements by either side.
In a separate statement on Saturday, the Thai army said Cambodian soldiers and civilians had repeatedly made incursions into Thailand’s territory.
“These provocations, and the build up of military forces, indicate a clear intent to use force,” the Thai army said, adding that it would take control of all Thai checkpoints along the border with Cambodia.
A spokesperson for Cambodia’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters.
The military reinforcements come despite efforts by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is the current chair of the Southeast Asian ASEAN bloc, and China to reduce tensions.
Thailand and Cambodia have for more than a century contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817 km (508 miles) land border, which was first mapped by France in 1907 when Cambodia was its colony.
Tension escalated in 2008 over an 11th-century Hindu temple, leading to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, including during a weeklong exchange of artillery in 2011.
Current governments in both countries, however, have enjoyed warm ties. Former leaders Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand and Cambodia’s Hun Sen have had a close relationship, and Thaksin’s daughter and Hun Sen’s son are now the incumbent prime ministers of their countries.
Still, nationalist sentiment has risen in Thailand and the Thai military said on Friday that it is ready to launch a “high-level operation” to counter any violation of its sovereignty.
Cambodia said this week it would refer disputes over four parts of the border to the International Court of Justice and asked Thailand to cooperate.
Phumtham reiterated in his Saturday statement that Thailand does not recognize the jurisdiction of the court and proposed that all boundary-related issues be resolved through bilateral negotiations.
Pope Leo XIV faces funding challenges for cash-strapped Vatican
VATICAN CITY: The world’s smallest country has a big budget problem.
The Vatican doesn’t tax its residents or issue bonds. It primarily finances the Catholic Church’s central government through donations that have been plunging, ticket sales for the Vatican Museums, as well as income from investments and an underperforming real estate portfolio.
The last year the Holy See published a consolidated budget, in 2022, it projected €770 million ($878 million), with the bulk paying for embassies around the world and Vatican media operations. In recent years, it hasn’t been able to cover costs.
That leaves Pope Leo XIV facing challenges to drum up the funds needed to pull his city-state out of the red.
Withering donations
Anyone can donate money to the Vatican, but the regular sources come in two main forms.
Canon law requires bishops around the world to pay an annual fee, with amounts varying and at bishops’ discretion “according to the resources of their dioceses.” US bishops contributed over one-third of the $22 million (€19.3 million) collected annually under the provision from 2021-2023, according to Vatican data.
The other main source of annual donations is more well-known to ordinary Catholics: Peter’s Pence, a special collection usually taken on the last Sunday of June. From 2021-2023, individual Catholics in the US gave an average $27 million (€23.7 million) to Peter’s Pence, more than half the global total.
American generosity hasn’t prevented overall Peter’s Pence contributions from cratering. After hitting a high of $101 million (€88.6 million) in 2006, contributions hovered around $75 million (€66.8 million) during the 2010’s then tanked to $47 million (€41.2 million) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many churches were closed.
Donations remained low in the following years, amid revelations of the Vatican’s bungled investment in a London property, a former Harrod’s warehouse that it hoped to develop into luxury apartments. The scandal and ensuing trial confirmed that the vast majority of Peter’s Pence contributions had funded the Holy See’s budgetary shortfalls, not papal charity initiatives as many parishioners had been led to believe.
Peter’s Pence donations rose slightly in 2023 and Vatican officials expect more growth going forward, in part because there has traditionally been a bump immediately after papal elections.
New donors
The Vatican bank and the city state’s governorate, which controls the museums, also make annual contributions to the pope. As recently as a decade ago, the bank gave the pope around €55 million ($62.7 million) a year to help with the budget. But the amounts have dwindled; the bank gave nothing specifically to the pope in 2023, despite registering a net profit of €30 million ($34.2 million), according to its financial statements. The governorate’s giving has likewise dropped off.
Some Vatican officials ask how the Holy See can credibly ask donors to be more generous when its own institutions are holding back.
Leo will need to attract donations from outside the US, no small task given the different culture of philanthropy, said the Rev. Robert Gahl, director of the Church Management Program at Catholic University of America’s business school. He noted that in Europe there is much less of a tradition (and tax advantage) of individual philanthropy, with corporations and government entities doing most of the donating or allocating designated tax dollars.
Even more important is leaving behind the “mendicant mentality” of fundraising to address a particular problem, and instead encouraging Catholics to invest in the church as a project, he said.
Speaking right after Leo’s installation ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, which drew around 200,000 people, Gahl asked: “Don’t you think there were a lot of people there that would have loved to contribute to that and to the pontificate?”
In the US, donation baskets are passed around at every Sunday Mass. Not so at the Vatican.
Untapped real estate
The Vatican has 4,249 properties in Italy and 1,200 more in London, Paris, Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland. Only about one-fifth are rented at fair market value, according to the annual report from the APSA patrimony office, which manages them. Some 70 percent generate no income because they house Vatican or other church offices; the remaining 10 percent are rented at reduced rents to Vatican employees.
In 2023, these properties only generated €35 million euros ($39.9) in profit. Financial analysts have long identified such undervalued real estate as a source of potential revenue.
But Ward Fitzgerald, the president of the US-based Papal Foundation, which finances papal charities, said the Vatican should also be willing to sell properties, especially those too expensive to maintain. Many bishops are wrestling with similar downsizing questions as the number of church-going Catholics in parts of the US and Europe shrinks and once-full churches stand empty.
Toward that end, the Vatican recently sold the property housing its embassy in Tokyo’s high-end Sanbancho neighborhood, near the Imperial Palace, to a developer building a 13-story apartment complex, according to the Kensetsu News trade journal.
Yet there has long been institutional reluctance to part with even money-losing properties. Witness the Vatican announcement in 2021 that the cash-strapped Fatebenefratelli Catholic hospital in Rome, run by a religious order, would not be sold. Pope Francis simultaneously created a Vatican fundraising foundation to keep it and other Catholic hospitals afloat.
“They have to come to grips with the fact that they own so much real estate that is not serving the mission of the church,” said Fitzgerald, who built a career in real estate private equity.
