Israeli Military Kills 15 Palestinians in Confrontations on Gaza Border
Tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered along Gaza’s border with Israel Friday to vent their frustration in a protest that quickly turned violent, with Israeli forces killing 15. As many as 30,000 arrived at tent encampments early Friday on Gaza’s side of the fence to stage a sit-in to protest Israel’s long-standing blockade of the territory and to support their claims to return to homes in what is now Israel. But after some began hurling stones, tossing Molotov cocktails and rolling burning tires, the Israelis responded with tear gas and gunfire. Friday’s flare-up, ignited by isolation and economic deprivation, was the worst in years.
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Anguished Mourners Beg for Answers After Jail Fire in Venezuela
At least 40 wooden coffins were interred at a cemetery on the outskirts of the industrial city of Valencia on Friday in hastily organized funerals for victims of one of Venezuela’s most horrific jail fires. At least 68 people — mostly prisoners but some visiting relatives — died in the police jailhouse fire, which had started as a party run by inmate gangs that got out of control. It remains unclear who set the fire that claimed the victims, many who were barely out of their teens. There were few comforting words from Venezuelan officials, who have yet to explain how the carnage happened.
Greece’s Island of Despair
Thousands of asylum-seekers, many of whom fled wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, are stranded on the Greek island of Lesbos two years after the European Union struck a deal with Turkey aimed at cutting off the route across the Aegean Sea. While some lucky ones have their asylum applications accepted and eventually get to the Greek mainland, others are rejected and sent back to Turkey. But neither country has much motivation and, as authorities sift cases slowly, the asylum-seekers live in limbo, trapped in conditions so deplorable Pope Francis likened them to a concentration camp.
As Russia Empties Embassies, Who Will Replace That Lost Passport?
As Russia summoned 23 ambassadors, mostly European, to the Kremlin on Friday to issue eviction orders for 150 embassy staff members, diplomatic veterans questioned how the U.S. Embassy, with a greatly reduced staff, could perform basic tasks. With the expulsions and counter-expulsions following the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy and his daughter in England, many veteran diplomats wonder how its embassy could keep going the basics of diplomacy: visas, consular services, cultural events and simply talking to people. Even before this week’s expulsions of U.S. diplomats, the wait for a U.S. visitor’s visa in Moscow was among the longest in the world.
Trump Orders State Department to Suspend Funds for Syria Recovery
President Donald Trump, having this week signaled a possible withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, has ordered the State Department to suspend more than $200 million in funds for recovery efforts there while the administration reassesses its role in the conflict, administration officials said Friday. The freeze on stabilization and humanitarian aid came as two members of the U.S.-led coalition fighting in Syria were killed — one U.S. soldier and one British — and five others were wounded by a bomb in a late-night attack, the military said Friday.
Russian Accused of Hacking U.S. Tech Firms Is Extradited
A Russian man accused of hacking the systems of three U.S. technology companies in 2012, possibly compromising the personal information of more than 100 million users, was extradited to the United States from the Czech Republic. The man, Yevgeniy A. Nikulin, appeared in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Friday and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. A magistrate judge scheduled his next court appearance for next week. Nikulin had been held in the Czech Republic since 2016 and his case turned into a battle between Washington and Moscow over whether he should be tried in the United States.
‘Vicious’ Killer of 11 Women Gets Death Penalty in China
Thirty years after Gao Chengyong embarked on a succession of 11 rape-murders of women in northwest China, a court sentenced him to death Friday, following an investigation that involved sifting through 230,000 fingerprints. The sentence by a court in Baiyin, a small city in Gansu province, was not unexpected in China, which executes more prisoners than any other. But the verdict against Gao, 53, a farmer, itinerant worker and shopkeeper, was widely reported, and applauded, in China, where the killings drew intense attention. When Gao was arrested in 2016, the last murder had taken place 14 years earlier.