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For today, links to eight reports from Reuters, Middle East Eye, the Associated Press, Middle East Monitor, and National Public Radio, and to commentary from Substack; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE and ASSANGE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) – MCM

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NEWER  Senior U.S. Republican demands Biden administration shut Gaza aid pier, by Phil Stewart | Reuters  WASHINGTON — The Republican lawmaker who leads the House Armed Services Committee has written to the Biden administration formally demanding it shut down its aid pier off the coast Gaza, calling the operation ineffective, risky and a waste of money. The offshore floating pier . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israel storms Gaza City neighbourhood, orders Palestinians to go south, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  Israel stormed a neighborhood in Gaza City today, telling Palestinians as the tanks moved in that they must move south, and bombed the southern city of Rafah in what it says are the final stages of an operation against Hamas militants there. READ MORE . . .

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Battered Shujaiya comes under fresh Israeli assault, by Lubna Masarwa | Middle East Eye  JERUSALEM — Israeli air strikes and artillery heavily bombed Gaza’s Shujaiya neighbourhood today amid a fresh ground assault on the war-ravaged residential area. At least seven Palestinianswere killed and 40 wounded, including children, women and the elderly, according to initial estimates.  READ MORE . . .

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Gazans struggle to feed their children under Israeli campaign, by Mohammad Salem | Reuters  KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Famine approaches slowly for Gazans, who spend hours in queues for a few ladles of cooked food and the chance to fill plastic containers with drinkable water. Sometimes there is nothing to queue for in . . . READ MORE . . .

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In the searing heat of the Gaza summer, Palestinians are surrounded by sewage and garbage, by Wafaa Shurafa and Julia Frankel | AP  DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza — Children in sandals trudge through water contaminated with sewage and scale growing mounds of garbage in Gaza’s crowded tent camps for displaced families. People relieve themselves in burlap-covered pits, with nowhere nearby to wash their hands. READ MORE . . .

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Israel preparing to increase water supply for Palestinians in Gaza, sources say. From Middle East Monitor.  Israel, under pressure from Western allies to ease a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, is preparing to boost electricity to a desalination plant so it can produce more water for people in the enclave, an Israeli security official and a western official told Reuters on Wednesday. READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 26  Looting in Gaza has led to skyrocketing food prices. Reported by Kat Lonsdorf and Anas Baba | NPR  A breakdown in law and order along a main route in southern Gaza has made Israel’s daytime fighting pause ineffectual for aid delivery. This led to skyrocketing food prices sold on the black market. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Germany imposes Israel ‘loyalty’ test with new citizenship law. From Middle East Monitor. Germany has introduced a new citizenship law that requires applicants to declare their belief in Israel’s right to exist. The unprecedented move demands recognition of a foreign country’s right to exist as part of a citizenship process, and . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 26  The suspect body count, by Seymour M. Hersh | Substack  The number of slain Palestinians in Gaza, including those believed to be Hamas cadres, has gone through a series of public recalibrations in recent weeks, as Israel’s reshuffled war cabinet has struggled to minimize international rage at the slaughter there. The reduced body count . . . READ MORE . . .

 

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For today, links to 10 reports from Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Tass, the Kyiv Independent, the Moscow Times, National Public Radio, the Kyiv Post, the Associated Press and Reuters, and to commentary from Indian Punchline; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA and ASSANGE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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Russia considering downgrading relations with the West, the Kremlin says. From Reuters. MOSCOW — The Kremlin said today that Russia is considering a possible downgrading of diplomatic relations with the West due to the deeper involvement of the United States and its allies in the Ukraine war, though no decision has yet been made. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 26  Belousov discusses Ukraine war with U.S. defense secretary. From AFP. Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin spoke by phone on Tuesday to discuss the war in Ukraine. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the conversation took place “at the initiative of the American side.”READ MORE . . .

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EU, Ukraine sign agreement on security guarantees for Kiev. From Tass. BRUSSELS — The European Union and Ukraine signed an agreement on security guarantees for Kiev, according to a Tass reporter. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed the pact for Ukraine. The presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, signed it for the EU. READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine signs long-term security deals with Estonia, Lithuania, by Kateryna Denisova | The Kyiv Independent  Kyiv signed 10-year bilateral security agreements with Estonia and Lithuania at the Brussels summit on June 26, Ukraine’s Presidential Office reported. The two nations have joined 17 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and France, that have signed similar . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia strikes Ukrainian military airfields by precision weapons — top brass. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian troops delivered a combined strike by precision weapons, Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles against Ukrainian military airfields over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry said today in a broader statement. READ MORE . . .

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Russia sent 10K naturalized citizens to war in Ukraine, top investigator says. From the Moscow Times.  A senior federal law enforcement official said today that Russia has sent 10,000 recently naturalized citizens to fight in Ukraine amid Moscow’s manpower shortage. Male migrants who receive Russian citizenship. . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian soldiers, who are also musicians, are on a thank you tour in the U.S. Reported by Chuck Quirmbach | NPR  The Ukrainian soldiers are on a U.S tour to thank Americans for the latest round of military aid to Ukraine — and to court new support. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Russia loses last Black Sea missile ship – Putin demands better protection. From Kyiv Post. Russia’s Navy needs to be protected from long-range missile attacks as soon as possible, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting Wednesday discussing shipbuilding. Last month, Ukraine’s Armed Forces destroyed a Russian Black Sea Fleet small missile ship . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 26  Ukraine’s Zelenskyy visits front-line troops under pressure from Russia’s onslaught in eastern areas, by Illia Novikov | AP  KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on Wednesday visited troops in the eastern Donetsk region who have weathered fierce Russian ground and air assaults in recent months. The Kremlin’s army has escalated . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 25  Kyiv says any peace plan for Ukraine should be ‘fair’ and based on international law. From Reuters. KYIV — Ukraine has a clear understanding that any plan to end the war with Russia should be based on international law and the peace should be fair, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Tuesday. Commenting on a peace plan for Ukraine presented by . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 21  Russia and DPRK rustle up an alliance, by M.K. Bhadrakumar | Indian Punchline  The sensational thing about the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed on June 19 by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is that it reportedly provides for the two countries helping each other in the event of an attack by a third country. But . . . READ MORE . . .

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For now, links to three June 26 reports from National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on its initials below. (GAZA and UKRAINE entries for this date, so far, are HERE and HERE.) — MCM.

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FROM JUNE 26  Assange arrives in Australia after pleading guilty to espionage on the way home. Reported by Adam Hancock | NPR  CANBERRA — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has finally stepped foot on home soil in Australia after a 14-year legal battle came to a close on Wednesday. He arrived in Canberra just hours after walking free from a court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a remote U.S. territory in . . . Click HERE to read and listen.

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FROM JUNE 26  What did WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange change by releasing classified documents? A Martínez of NPR asks Alan Rusbridger, former editor-in-chief of The Guardian, about the legacy of Julian Assange, and the 2010 WikiLeaks publication of classified government information. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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FROM JUNE 26  What Julian Assange’s plea deal means for journalists who expose government secrets. Reported by David Folkenflik | NPR  Julian Assange avoids a trial or further jail time in the U.S. for posting classified documents, but his plea deal suggests journalists cannot count on sidestepping prosecution for publishing such government secrets. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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TO BE CONTINUED

For today, links to four reports from Middle East Monitor, Reuters and the Associated Press, and to commentary from Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their initials or names below. (UKRAINE and ASSANGE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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10 children lose one or two legs in Gaza every day, says UNRWA. From Middle East Monitor. An average of 10 Palestinian children a day are losing one or both legs, the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has revealed. “This gives you an idea,” said Philippe Lazzarini, “of the scope of the type of childhood, a child can . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israeli forces pound north and south Gaza, battle Hamas in Rafah, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  CAIRO — Israeli forces pounded several areas across Gaza today, and residents reported fierce fighting overnight in Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave. Residents said fighting intensified in the Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah, where . . . READ MORE . . .

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Gunfire, lawlessness and gang-like looters are preventing aid distribution in Gaza, an official says, by Menelaos Hadjicostis | AP  LARNACA, Cyprus — Thousands of tons of food, medicines and other aid piled up on a beach in war-torn Gaza is not reaching those in need because of a dire security situation and lawlessness on the ground, a U.S. aid official said today. Doug Strope, with the U.S. Agency for International Development, said . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 25  Israel’s high court orders the army to draft ultra-Orthodox men, rattling Netanyahu’s government, by Tia Goldenberg | AP  JERUSALEM — Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled unanimously that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men for compulsory service, a landmark decision that could lead to . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 25  The occupation army is being affected seriously by suicide, low morale and mental illness, by Aziz Mustafa | Middle East Monitor  More than 250 days since the outbreak of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza, the Israeli occupation army is slowly revealing the issues that are killing its troops, along with other factors which limit its ability to achieve its . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to five reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, and Consortium News; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA and UKRAINE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returns to Australia a free man after U.S. legal battle ends, by Rick Rycroft and Rod McGuirk | AP  CANBERRA — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned to his homeland Australia aboard a charter jet today, hours after pleading guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that concludes a drawn-out legal saga. The criminal case of international intrigue came to an end in . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 25  WikiLeaks’ Assange pleads guilty in deal with US that secures his freedom, ends legal fight, by Mari Yamaguchi, Alanna Durkin Richer, Kimberly Esmores and Eric Tucker | AP  SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has pleaded guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that secures his liberty and concludes a drawn-out legal saga that raised divisive questions about press freedom and national security. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for June 25 report from Reuters.

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FROM JUNE 25  Stella Assange says she will seek a pardon for husband Julian, by Kate Holton and Michael Holden | Reuters  LONDON — Stella Assange, the wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian, said Tuesday they would seek a pardon after he agreed to plead guilty to violating U.S. espionage law, bringing his long-running legal saga in Britain to an end. Assange . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 24  JULIAN ASSANGE IS FINALLY FREE, by Joe Lauria | Special to Consortium News  He agreed to a plea deal with the United States. He left Belmarsh on Monday and is headed to Australia, WikiLeaks said. “He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK,” WikiLeaks said in a tweet early Tuesday morning London time. Stella Assange, tweeted: . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to reports from Reuters and National Public Radio, and to commentary from Middle East Eye and Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE and ASSANGE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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Israeli airstrikes kill at least 24 in Gaza City, say Gaza officials, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  CAIRO — Israeli forces killed at least 24 Palestinians in three separate airstrikes early today on Gaza City and the dead included a sister of Ismail Haniyeh, the chief of the militant Islamist group Hamas, Gaza health officials and medics said. Israeli tanks also pressed deeper into western areas of Rafah in the south of the enclave overnight, blowing up homes, residents said. READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 24  A look back at the start of the Zionist movement and its founder. Reported by Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei | NPR  Throughline, NPR’s history podcast, goes back to the late 19th century to meet the people who organized the modern Zionist movement. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Hunger ‘worse than bombings’ for starving Palestinians, by Lubna Masarwa and Rayhan Uddin | Middle East Eye  JERUSALEM / LONDON  As part of a policy that amounts to collective punishment of civilians, the Israeli military has used starvation of the population as a weapon of war, according to independent UN investigators. The hunger crisis peaked in March, with dozens of children dying of malnutrition and residents being forced to eat grass as . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israel is forcibly disappearing future Palestinian generations, by Ramona Wadi | Middle East Monitor  It is estimated that around 21,000 Palestinian children are missing in Gaza, either buried under rubble or in mass graves, estranged from their families, detained or disappeared by Israel. The colonised are deprived of their voice, and the silence of colonised children is eerily loud, once the facts . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, National Public Radio, and  Le Monde; others are accessible by clicking on their initials below. (GAZA and UKRAINE entries for this date are HERE and HERE). — MCM

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WikiLeaks’ Assange set to be freed after U.S. espionage charge plea deal, by Alasdair Pal and Sarah N. Lynch | Reuters  SYDNEY / WASHINGTON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is due to plead guilty on Wednesday to violating U.S. espionage law, in a deal that will set him free after a 14-year British legal odyssey and allow his return home to Australia. Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of . . . READ MORE . . .

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange stops in Bangkok on his way to a U.S. court and later freedom, by Jintamas Saksornchai, Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker | AP  BANGKOK — A plane carrying Julian Assange landed today in Bangkok for refueling, as the WikiLeaks founder was on his way to enter a plea deal with the U.S. government that will free him and resolve the legal case that spanned years and continents over the publication of a trove of classified documents. A chartered flight . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM June 24  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange strikes plea deal with the U.S. Reported by Carrie Johnson | NPR  The plea deal with the U.S. government brings to an end to a years-long international saga over Assange’s handling of national security secrets. He is preparing to plead guilty to a single count of . . . Click HERE to listen and read article.

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange enters into a plea deal with the U.S. government. Reported by Carrie Johnson and Steve Inskeep | NPR  He will plead guilty to a single charge and is expected to return to Australia. The move brings an end to a years-long international saga over his handling of national security secrets. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Julian Assange to be freed after surprise guilty plea deal, by Florian Reynaud | Le Monde  We were still waiting for the umpteenth British court hearing in the middle of summer to prevent Julian Assange’s extradition to the U.S. But to everyone’s surprise, the Australian whistleblower reached an agreement with the U.S. justice system and is expected . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE to read in French.

NOTE: AN APPARENT TYPO IN ONE OF THE TRANSLATIONS HAS BEEN CORRECTED.

Two passages from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Bible, chosen by Philip Beyer, a retired archdeacon of the Episcopal Church’s Diocese of Florida, appear below in English, Latin American Spanish, French, and European Spanish translations. His reflection* on them for this date, HERE, is from weekly visits to a  prison in that state, but it and the words of scripture might fit all those who “sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.” — MCM

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By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. — Luke 1:78-79

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A causa de la entrañable misericordia de nuestro Dios, con que la luz de la aurora nos visitará de lo alto; para alumbrar a los que habitan en tinieblas y en sombra de muerte; para encaminar nuestros pies por caminos de paz.  — Lucas 1:78-79

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Car notre Dieu est plein de compassion et de bonté, et c’est pourquoi l’astre levant viendra pour nous d’en haut, pour éclairer tous ceux qui habitent dans les ténèbres et l’ombre de la mort, et pour guider nos pas sur la voie de la paix.  — Luc 1:78-79

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Por la entrañable misericordia de nuestro Dios, con que nos visitó desde lo alto la aurora, para dar luz a los que habitan en tinieblas y en sombra de muerte; para encaminar nuestros pies por camino de paz.  — Lucas 1:78-79

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* Beyer did 30 of them for this month in the May, June and July issue of Forward Day by Day / Día a Día, publications of the Forward Movement, based in Cincinnati, OH.