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The United Kingdom, France, Canada and Australia are among a new wave of countries planning to recognise Palestine as a state at this year’s United Nations General Assembly meeting. What does this actually mean? And what, if anything, does it change?

This episode features:

Shibley Telhami | Professor for peace and development at the University of Maryland

Diana Buttu | Palestinian lawyer and analyst

Michael Lynk | Professor emeritus of law at Western University and former United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories

If you want to go deeper on this topic, watch Start Here’s explainer on the two-state solution.

Sept. 10 (UPI) — Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez will testify before the Senate about the organization she briefly ran.

Monarez will appear on Sept. 17 before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, along with Deb Houry, the former Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Program and Science at CDC. Houry resigned her position to protest Monarez’s termination.

The two are slated to discuss their time at the CDC to offer testimony regarding their take on the state of the agency.

“To protect children’s health, Americans need to know what has happened and is happening at the CDC,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chairperson of the HELP Committee, in a press release Tuesday. “They need to be reassured that their child’s health is given priority. Radical transparency is the only way to do that.”

“[Susan Monarez] is a public health expert with unimpeachable scientific credentials,” Kennedy had said of her at the beginning of August after she was sworn into her role. “I have full confidence in her ability to restore the [CDC’s] role as the most trusted authority in public health and to strengthen our nation’s readiness to confront infectious diseases and biosecurity threats.”

However, Monarez only held her position at the CDC for about four weeks, before allegedly being pushed out because she wouldn’t echo the agenda of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. or remove scientists from the agency because of his plans.

She was fired after refusing to resign.

“Susan Monarez is not aligned with the president’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement to media in regard to her being axed.

“Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC,” he added.

“Parents deserve a CDC they can trust to put children above politics, evidence above ideology and facts above fear,” wrote Monarez in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal last week. “I was fired for holding that line.”

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who formerly led the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, and Dr. Daniel Jernigan, who headed the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, also quit the CDC as Kennedy has worked to reshape the vaccine advisory panel to meet his own vaccine policies.

Kennedy, who cancelled approximately $500 million in contracts for mRNA vaccines last month, changed the recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women to receive COVID-19 vaccinations and led the reduction of approval for updated COVID shots this fall to only cover people over 65, or younger Americans with underlying conditions, via the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA.

The Syrian government has blamed Israel for a series of attacks around the country.

The attacks early on Tuesday targeted sites in and around the city of Homs in western Syria and the coastal city of Latakia.

The Syrian government called the attacks “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic”, according to Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.

Israel has attacked Syria hundreds of times since the regime of President Bashar al-Assad fell on December 8 and also conducted a land grab in the chaotic early hours after al-Assad fled to Moscow. Under the al-Assad regime, Israel waged a secretive campaign of aerial bombardment against Syria’s military infrastructure, but attacks have intensified since the war on Gaza began nearly two years ago and even more so since the fall of al-Assad.

In the first days after the fall of the al-Assad regime, Israel launched a devastating series of attacks that destroyed much of Syria’s military infrastructure in an attempt to create a “sterile zone” in southern Syria.

Israel and Syria have held direct talks in recent months, and while Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has ruled out normalisation, the talks are aimed at halting Israel’s aggressive actions towards Syria and reaching some kind of security deal.

So why then has Israel decided to reinitiate attacks? Here’s what you need to know:

What exactly happened?

The United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israeli warplanes attacked a Syrian air force base in Homs, causing huge explosions. No casualties were reported.

Israeli fighter jets also attacked a military barracks in Latakia although there were no reports of casualties there either.

These strikes came on the back of Israeli attacks near Damascus in late August that killed six Syrian soldiers.

The Saudi Arabian news channel Al-Arabiya reported that the site targeted in Homs held Turkish-made rockets and aerial defence equipment. Turkiye has been one of the biggest allies of the new Syrian government and has reportedly agreed to provide Syria with Turkish weapons systems and logistical tools in a military cooperation accord signed in mid-August.

But as relations between Turkiye and Syria grow stronger, tension has been building between Turkiye and Israel. As Israel continues its war on Gaza, which international scholars have called a genocide, Turkiye closed its airspace to Israel and banned Israeli ships from Turkish ports in protest against the war on Gaza.

What is going on between Turkiye and Israel?

Turkiye’s good relations with the new government in Damascus have drawn a reaction from Israel.

Israel has also been accused of trying to undermine Syrian stability by voicing support for Kurdish and Druze autonomy.

This has led to a growing war of words between Turkiye and Israel with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the “biggest obstacle to regional peace” in June, shortly after Israel attacked Iran.

Meanwhile, regional newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported that Netanyahu has been holding security meetings over concerns of Turkiye’s growing influence in Syria and Netanyahu is leaning on Israeli media to portray a confrontation with Ankara as inevitable.

What is Syria saying?

The official Syrian Arab News Agency quoted Syria’s Foreign Ministry as calling the attacks “a direct threat” to Syrian security and regional stability.

Israel’s continuing and unprovoked attacks on Syria are “part of a series of aggressive escalations pursued by Israel against Syrian territory”, and the government rejects “any attempts to undermine its sovereignty or harm its national security”, the ministry said.

The ministry called on the United Nations to take a “clear and firm stand to put an end” to Israel’s attacks, which it called a “flagrant violation” of international law.

What about Israel?

Israel has not commented yet.

But Israeli forces have been busy with attacks in Syria, Qatar, Gaza and Lebanon, and have been conducting raids on the occupied West Bank. There was also an attack in Tunisia on one of the boats in the aid-carrying Global Sumud flotilla heading towards Gaza that volunteers on board suspect Israel of perpetrating.

Are the peace talks between Israel and Syria dead?

Not necessarily.

Syrian officials have said many times that they do not want a war with Israel. Syria has enough internal troubles going on along its coast, in the south and with the Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeast, not to mention clashes along the border with Lebanon. Syrian authorities are also painfully aware that Israel is technologically and militarily stronger and backed by a global superpower in the United States, which has been crucial to removing sanctions on Syria and giving the country a chance to revive its economy.

As for Israel, ceasefires or other such agreements with other countries haven’t held it back from launching attacks on them.

The European Union will implement new measures against Israel and further raise support for Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said.

In her annual State of the Union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, von der Leyen condemned the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic”, announcing plans to cut support for Israel and implement sanctions.

She also noted plans to further raise support for Ukraine, urging EU members – some of which are likely to be unenthusiastic – to rally behind the measures on both issues.

“Man-made famine can never be a weapon of war. For the sake of the children, for the sake of humanity, this must stop,” the EU chief declared.

The proposed “package of measures” includes sanctions on “extremist Israeli ministers” and settlers, a suspension of bilateral support for Israel, and a suspension of the EU’s association agreement with Israel, which gives it preferential access to European markets.

“Europe needs to do more,” said von der Leyen, adding that while she would attempt to move the bloc in unison, EU member states also needed to take “our own responsibility” on the issue.

“Europe’s goal has always been the same. Real security for Israel and a safe, present future for all Palestinians,” she said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar was quick to slam the EU chief and claimed that she was offering support to Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas.

“The remarks made this morning by the President of the European Commission are regrettable. Some of them also echo the false propaganda of Hamas and its partners,” Saar wrote on social media. “Once again, Europe is sending the wrong message, which strengthens Hamas and the radical axis in the Middle East.”

Reparations and returns for Ukraine

Regarding Ukraine, von der Leyen said she was proposing a summit to coordinate international efforts to secure the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

The use of frozen Russian assets to fund a “reparations loan” for Ukraine was also put forward in the speech, although von der Leyen said the bloc would not seize the assets itself.

The address came shortly after Polish and NATO forces shot down Russian drones that had violated Poland’s airspace. The EU chief branded Moscow’s actions “reckless and unprecedented”.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has imposed 18 rounds of sanctions on it, targeting its economy, individuals and key sectors such as fuel, as well as nearly 140 billion euros ($164bn) in support to Ukraine, including financial, humanitarian, and military assistance.

Von der Leyen said as the EU prepares its 19th package of sanctions against Moscow, it will seek to accelerate efforts to phase out all purchases of Russian fossil fuels, as well as sanctioning the shadow oil shipping fleet used to circumvent such measures and any third countries involved.

Coalition of the unwilling?

However, Brussels is likely to encounter obstacles to such ambitions. Unanimous agreement is required to impose sanctions, and Hungary and Slovakia remain dependent on Russian energy and have blocked previous actions.

The 27-member bloc also remains divided over action regarding Israel’s war on Gaza, which started after Hamas led deadly attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Sanctions and the suspension of the trade agreement would require the approval of all 27 states, and could meet resistance from the likes of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany.

Other member states, such as Spain or Ireland, have been calling for economic curbs and an arms embargo against Israel for some time.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said the “double standards” demonstrated by the West over the wars in Ukraine and Gaza threaten to undermine its global standing.

However, other member states have obstructed efforts to take action and continue to supply the Israeli military with arms and equipment.

Ranging into other topics, von der Leyen defended the much-criticised tariffs deal she agreed recently with Washington, saying it stabilised ties with the United States at a time of soaring global tensions and averted trade war “chaos”.

She also asserted that the EU needs a new sanctions system targeting people smugglers and traffickers, adding it should be part of measures allowing the bloc to manage migration “effectively”.

When Kamala Harris was contemplating a run for California governor, one of her supposed considerations was the security detail that attends the state’s chief executive.

The services of a life-preserving, ego-boosting retinue of intimidating protectors — picture dark glasses, earpiece, stern visage — were cited by more than one Harris associate, past and present, as a factor in her deliberations. These were not Trumpers or Harris haters looking to impugn or embarrass the former vice president.

According to one of those associates, Harris has been accompanied nonstop by an official driver and person with a gun since 2003, when she was elected San Francisco district attorney. One could easily grow accustomed to that level of comfort and status, not to mention the pleasure of never having to personally navigate the 101 or 405 freeways at rush hour.

That is, of course, a perfectly terrible and selfish reason to run for governor, if ever it was a part of Harris’ thinking. To her credit, the reason she chose to not run was a very good one: Harris simply “didn’t feel called” to pursue the job, in the words of one political advisor.

Now, however, the matter of Harris’ personal protection has become a topic of heated discussion and debate, which is hardly surprising in an age when everything has become politicized, including “and” and “the.”

There is plenty of bad faith to go around.

Last month, President Trump abruptly revoked Harris’ Secret Service protection. The security arrangement for vice presidents typically lasts for six months after they leave office, allowing them to quietly fade into ever greater obscurity. But before vacating the White House, President Biden signed an executive order extending protection for Harris for an additional year. (Former presidents are guarded by Secret Service details for life.)

As the first female, first Black and first Asian American vice president, Harris faced, as they say in the protective-service business, an elevated threat level while serving in the post. In the 230-odd days since Harris left office, there is no reason to believe racism and misogyny, not to mention wild-eyed partisan hatred, have suddenly abated in this great land of ours.

And there remain no small number of people crazy enough to violently act on those impulses.

The president could have been gracious and extended Harris’ protection. But expecting grace out of Trump is like counting on a starving Doberman to show restraint when presented a bloody T-bone steak.

“This is another act of revenge following a long list of political retaliation in the form of firings, the revoking of security clearances and more,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass angrily declared.

True.

Though Bass omitted the bit about six months being standard operating procedure, which would have at least offered some context. It wasn’t as though Harris was being treated differently than past vice presidents.

Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly stepped into the breach, providing Harris protection by the California Highway Patrol. Soon after, The Times’ Richard Winton broke the news that Los Angeles Police Department officers meant to be fighting crime in hard-hit areas of the city were instead providing security for Harris as a supplement to the CHP.

Not a great look. Or the best use of police resources.

Thus followed news that officers had been pulled off Harris’ security detail after internal criticism; supposedly the LAPD’s involvement had always been intended as a stopgap measure.

All well and good, until the conservative-leaning Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing rank-and-file officers, saw fit to issue a gratuitously snarky statement condemning the hasty arrangement. Its board of directors described Harris as “a failed presidential candidate who also happens to be a multi-millionaire, with multiple homes … who can easily afford to pay for her own security.”

As if Harris’ 2024 defeat — she lost the popular vote to Trump by a scant 1.5%, it might be noted — was somehow relevant.

To be certain, Harris and her husband, attorney Doug Emhoff, won’t miss any hot meals as they shelter in their 3,500-square-foot Brentwood home. (The one house they own.) But they’re not stupid-rich either.

One person in the private-security business told Winton that a certain household name pays him $1,000 a day for a 12-hour shift. That can quickly add up and put a noticeable dent in your back account, assuming your name isn’t Elon or Taylor or Zuckerberg or Bezos.

Setting aside partisanship — if that’s still possible — and speaking bluntly, there’s something to be said for ensuring Harris doesn’t die a violent death at the hands of some crazed assailant.

The CHP’s Dignitary Protection Section is charged with protecting all eight of California’s constitutional officers — we’re talking folks such as the insurance commissioner and state controller — as well as the first lady and other elected officials, as warranted. The statutory authority also extends to former constitutional officers, which would include Harris, who served six years as state attorney general.

Surely there’s room in California’s $321-billion budget to make sure nothing terrible happens to one of the state’s most prominent and credentialed citizens. It doesn’t have to be an open-ended, lifetime commitment to Harris’ protection, but an arrangement that could be periodically reviewed, as time passes and potential danger wanes.

Serving in elected office can be rough, especially in these incendiary times. The price shouldn’t include having to spend the rest of your life looking nervously over your shoulder.

Or draining your life savings, so you don’t have to.

Sept. 10 (UPI) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday that Polish forces and their NATO partners downed a “huge” number of Russian drones overnight, the first time Russian assets have been intercepted in the military alliance’s airspace.

“Last night, the Polish airspace was violated by a huge number of Russian drones. Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down. I am in constant communication with the Secretary General of NATO and our allies,” Tusk said in a post on X.

He said there were “multiple violations of Polish airspace,” each of which was met by Polish and NATO air defenses, including fighter jets.

Tusk said he was in continual contact with the commander of the operation, the defense minister and the country’s president.

Residents were sent emergency texts alerting them of the air defense operation and requesting them to report any drones they saw or locations where they fell, while people in three regions in the east of the country were told to stay indoors.

Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Alexus Grynkewich said NATO’s swift and decisive response demonstrated both the alliance’s ability and determination “to defend Allied territory.”

Speaking after an emergency meeting of the National Security Bureau, Tusk said Poland was most likely “dealing with a large-scale provocation.” He called the situation “serious” but vowed that Poland was “ready to repel” attacks of this nature.

A number of the drones entered from Belarus airspace, Tusk told lawmakers later Wednesday, and that the last of the objects was shot down at 6:45 a.m. local time.

“I have no reason to claim we’re on the brink of war, but a line has been crossed, and it’s incomparably more dangerous than before. This situation brings us the closest we have been to open conflict since World War Two,” he said.

The incursion came amid a massive Russian airborne attack against neighboring Ukraine involving more than 400 drones and more than 40 cruise and ballistic missiles, with the Ukrainian Air Force saying that as many as 24 drones “crossed the Ukrainian state border flying in Poland’s direction.”

Poland shares borders of roughly equal length with both Ukraine and Belarus.

NATO Allied Command Operations confirmed the clashes were the first time NATO aircraft had engaged with potential threats in “Allied Airspace” with Poland and the Netherlands scrambling fighter jets, Italian early warning aircraft and a NATO air-refuelling tanker airborne and German-supplied Patriot missiles on alert.

“NATO, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, and all of Allied Command Operations is committed to defending every kilometer of NATO territory, including our airspace,” said Col. Martin L. O’Donnell, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe spokesman.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a statement saying he had been in communication with Tusk over the incident, which he called a “barbaric attack on Ukraine and the egregious and unprecedented violation of Polish and NATO airspace by Russian drones”.

“This was an extremely reckless move by Russia and only serves to remind us of President Putin’s blatant disregard for peace and the constant bombardment innocent Ukrainians face every day.”

The incident came hours after Starmer hosted NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Downing Street where they discussed work to integrate U.S. support into plans for a so-called Coalition of the Willing of European countries putting together a reassurance force for Ukraine to uphold any future cease-fire.

Condemning the incursion in “the strongest possible terms,” French President Emmanuel Macron said it was completely unacceptable and that he would meet with Rutte — but did not say when.

Belarus claimed the incursion was accidental, caused by drones turned “rogue” after their systems were jammed, claimed its forces had shot some of them down, and that it communicated with Poland and Lithuania over a five-hour period during the night.

Moscow, however, sought to lay blame on Ukraine, with Russian state television quoting unnamed Polish lawmakers saying it appeared to be a false-flag operation perpetrated by Kyiv.

Nepali army orders people in Kathmandu to stay home amid mass unrest gripping capital.

Armed soldiers have been patrolling the streets of Kathmandu, ordering people to remain in their homes, following a wave of deadly protests in Nepal’s capital.

The Nepali army checked vehicles and people on Wednesday amid an indefinite curfew, imposed in a bid to “normalise” the capital after mass unrest saw demonstrators set fire to several government buildings and force Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign.

The protests, triggered by a social media ban, have escalated since Monday, when security forces killed 19 demonstrators and injured hundreds. Tens of thousands filled Kathmandu’s streets on Monday and Tuesday as the protests expanded to target corruption and unemployment in the country’s most violent tumult in decades.

“We are trying to normalise the situation first,” army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet told the Reuters news agency. “We are committed to protect the life and property of people.”

The army’s emergence from the barracks after Oli’s resignation seemed to do little to ease the uproar across the capital.

Late into Tuesday evening, demonstrators blocked roads and stormed the parliament, presidential house and central secretariat, while videos showed protesters beating Nepali Congress party leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and his wife, Arzu Rana Deuba, the foreign minister.

Prompted initially by a now-rescinded government plan to block most popular social media platforms, protesters were galvanised by the deaths on Monday and widespread frustrations with alleged corruption and joblessness.

Pabit Tandukar, 22, was among those shot by live ammunition. “We were there for a peaceful protest. They were initially firing tear gas at us, and we were pushing back. Suddenly, I was shot,” Tandukar told Al Jazeera.

While so-called “nepo kids” — the children of top politicians and government officials — show off lives of luxury on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, most common people have been struggling with an unemployment rate of nearly 11 percent, according to the World Bank. Millions have migrated abroad to Malaysia, the Middle East and South Korea to find jobs.

Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak was the first to resign on Monday, followed by Agriculture Minister Ramnath Adhikari and then Oli on Tuesday. President Ram Chandra Poudel, the ceremonial head of state, moved to appoint Oli to lead a caretaker government — though his location was unclear — and appealed to protesters to “focus on resolving the crisis without further bloodshed or destruction”.

Meanwhile, army helicopters ferried ministers to safe locations.

The protests have led to concern across South Asia over regional stability, with governments having been unseated in recent youth-led uprisings in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Neighbouring China weighed in on the unrest on Wednesday. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman told journalists that Chinese citizens in Nepal should “pay close attention to safety” and that Beijing hopes Kathmandu “can properly handle domestic issues and quickly restore social order and national stability”.

China has sought to increase its influence in Nepal in recent years with diplomatic efforts and the Belt and Road Initiative.

More than 80,000 police have been deployed as demonstrators rally against Macron’s government and austerity policies.

French police have arrested hundreds of people as protests led by left-wing forces under the label “Block Everything” were launched across the country.

More than 200 people were reported to have been arrested in the morning hours as demonstrators set fire to rubbish bins and blocked highways, spurred by frustration with President Emmanuel Macron’s government amid a national political crisis.

The 80,000 police deployed across the nation responded with bouts of tear gas and detainments.

The demonstrations – part of a grassroots movement called “Bloquons Tout” or “Block Everything” – sought to use work strikes, blockades and other acts of defiance to express long-simmering anger over the government and its austerity measures.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau reported that a bus was set on fire in the western city of Rennes and that damage to a power line had blocked trains in the southwest. However, the protests initially appeared more tame than previous bouts of unrest against Macron’s leadership.

The plan to “block everything” emerged after former Prime Minister Francois Bayrou lost a confidence vote on Monday and Macron named close ally, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu, to replace him.

He is France’s fifth premier in less than two years, and the fourth in 12 months.

Florent, a protester in Lyon, told the AFP news agency that Macron’s decision to appoint his close ally to the top job “is a slap in the face”.

“We are tired of his successive governments; we need change,” he said.

The Block Everything movement, which has gone viral on social media, has been fuelled by increased dismay over budget-tightening policies that Bayrou championed, as well as broader concerns with poverty and inequality, which have risen sharply in recent years, according to France’s statistics bureau.

Its spontaneity is reminiscent of the “Yellow Vest” movement that rocked Macron’s first term as president, when yellow-clad protesters across the nation challenged rising fuel prices and pro-business policies for weeks on end in protests that became increasingly violent.

Sept. 10 (UPI) — Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian citizen and a Princeton University student who has been held captive by Shiite militants in Iraq since March 2023, has been freed, President Donald Trump and Iraqi government forces confirmed.

Circumstances surrounding her release were not clear. The Iraqi government said its security forces had discovered Tsurkov’s place of detention Tuesday. It said they reached that location and then handed Tsurkov over to the U.S. embassy, without stating how her freedom was secured.

Trump, on his Truth Social platform, said she had been released by Kata’ib Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

Sabah al-Numan, a spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, said in a statement that Tsurkov had been handed over to the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, which Trump confirmed.

“On this occasion, we reaffirm that our armed forces and all our security agencies and formations will not hesitate to perform their duty to enforce the rule of law, defend the state and its institutions and hold accountable anyone who tries to harm the security and stability that has been achieved through great sacrifices and sincere national efforts,” al-Numan said.

Trump said, “I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up.”

A PhD student in political science at Princeton University, Tsurkov had traveled to Iraq in 2023 to conduct fieldwork when on March 21, eight days after her arrival, she was kidnapped from the Karrada neighborhood of Baghdad.

Months after she was detained, Israel announced that Kata’ib Hezbollah had been responsible for Tsurkov’s abduction.

Emma Tsurkov, one of Elizabeth’s sisters and an American citizen, said in a statement that her family was “incredibly happy” and “cannot wait to see Elizabeth and give her all the love we have been waiting to share for 903 days.”

Among those she thanked for aiding in securing Elizabeth’s release were Trump, his special envoy Adam Boehler, the U.S. Embassy in Iraq and Global Reach, a nonprofit that advocates for Americans detained abroad and has been supporting her family following Elizabeth’s abduction.

“This is a day we have all been waiting for,” Global Reach CEO Mickey Bergman told UPI in an emailed statement.

“As an Israeli-born American, Elizabeth’s safe return was particularly personal for me. It is important to know that we live in a country that fights for those in need, especially those in need, especially those who are targeted just because of their status or relationship with the United States.”

Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber similarly said in a statement that Tsurkov’s release “brings relief and joy to the university community, and we celebrate that she will be reunited with her family.”

The announcement of Archbishop Damianos’ resignation from St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, after decades of leadership, has brought to light more than an internal monastic dispute. It has exposed a larger power struggle at the intersection of ecclesiastical diplomacy and international politics. The controversy surrounding the monastery, one of the most historic centers of Orthodoxy in the Middle East, has turned into a stage where rival patriarchates, foreign influence, and states assert their presence.

For many observers, Damianos’ departure was not simply the end of an era but the culmination of months of escalating tension between the Monastery, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and wider Orthodox dynamics influenced by Moscow.

Jerusalem’s contested claims

At the heart of the dispute lies the claim of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem over Sinai. In its official response, Jerusalem characterized Damianos’ statements as “anti-ecclesiastical” and questioned even the authorship of his lengthy announcement, suggesting manipulation by third parties. Ecclesiastical circles interpret this as a deliberate strategy of delegitimization, portraying the elderly Archbishop as incapable of independent action in order to undermine his authority.

Beyond rhetoric, Jerusalem has consistently sought to present Sinai as canonically dependent on its patriarchal throne, despite the historic sigillion of Patriarch Gabriel IV in 1782, which sealed the monastery’s autonomy. For Damianos and his supporters, such attempts constitute ecclesiastical encroachment and a direct violation of centuries-old canonical order.

Moscow’s shadow over Sinai

Damianos’ final announcement did not spare Moscow either. He accused the Russian Church of fueling division within Orthodoxy and exploiting internal fissures of the Sinai brotherhood. According to his account, networks and organizations aligned with Russian influence attempted to capitalize on the crisis, promoting narratives foreign to Orthodox theology and tradition.

For ecclesiastical diplomacy analysts, this dimension is crucial. It situates the Sinai crisis within the broader confrontation between Constantinople and Moscow over primacy in the Orthodox world, extending the arena of contestation from Ukraine to the deserts of Sinai. The monastery thus becomes more than a spiritual center; it is a geopolitical outpost in the struggle for influence.

Athens and Cairo as indispensable actors

The role of Greece has emerged as pivotal. Damianos repeatedly underlined that without the active involvement of Athens, the monastery would have faced existential threats. The recent law 5224/2025, combined with constitutional guarantees, was presented as a shield of protection for the monastery’s legal and institutional identity.

At the same time, Egypt remains a decisive interlocutor. The court decision of Ismailia in May 2025 that challenged elements of the monastery’s status placed the issue squarely within the Egyptian legal framework. Damianos himself acknowledged that any durable solution requires a tripartite understanding between Athens, Cairo, and the monastery’s leadership.

This triangular dynamic underscores that the future of Sinai cannot be separated from Greek–Egyptian relations, a strategic partnership already central in the Eastern Mediterranean. The monastery, therefore, becomes both a symbol and a test of bilateral trust.

Ecclesiastical diplomacy at a crossroads

The broader Orthodox world has also been drawn into the crisis. Several patriarchates expressed support for Sinai, including Constantinople, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Serbia, while Jerusalem remained isolated in its claims. The silence of Moscow, combined with its indirect involvement, reinforced perceptions that Sinai has become a flashpoint in the Orthodox fragmentation that Russia has often been accused of exacerbating.

For Constantinople, Sinai’s autonomy is not negotiable. For Jerusalem, asserting control is both a matter of prestige and regional influence. For Moscow, exploiting divisions serves its wider strategy. And for Athens, safeguarding the monastery is part of its cultural diplomacy and historical responsibility toward the Eastern Christian heritage.

A power game with lasting implications

The resignation of Damianos closes a personal chapter but opens a much larger one. The crisis of Sinai illustrates how monastic autonomy, canonical tradition, and national diplomacy intersect. What appears as an ecclesiastical quarrel is, in fact, a power game of influence that involves patriarchates, states, and international alignments.

The outcome of the succession process, and whether a unified brotherhood can emerge, will determine not only the monastery’s internal cohesion but also the credibility of Greek–Egyptian partnership and the balance within Orthodoxy.

For analysts of ecclesiastical diplomacy, Sinai has become a microcosm of the wider struggle shaping the Orthodox world: the tension between autonomy and control, between local tradition and geopolitical leverage. The desert of Sinai, where Moses once received the Law, is today a battlefield of influence where spiritual heritage collides with political ambition.

Portugal earned a 3-2 victory at Hungary in their UEFA World Cup qualifier on Tuesday, with Joao Cancelo scoring a late winner, two minutes after the hosts had equalised, to put them in control at the top of Group F with two away wins from two.

The visitors came from behind to lead thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty, but almost let the three points slip when conceding late on before Cancelo’s goal rescued the win to add to their 5-0 success in Armenia on Saturday.

Hungary took the lead in the 21st minute when Barnabas Varga met Zsolt Nagy’s inch-perfect cross into the box with a header which went in off the upright, before Portugal drew level 15 minutes later through Bernardo Silva’s close-range effort.

Portugal went in front after Varga handballed a Ronaldo flick-on in the area, and the 40-year-old buried his spot kick into the bottom corner.

The goal took Ronaldo level with Guatemala’s Carlos Ruiz as the joint-top scorer in World Cup qualifiers on 39. He also extended his international record to 141 in 223 games.

Hungary, who drew 2-2 away to Ireland on Saturday, looked to have done the same in Budapest when Varga headed his second of the night six minutes from time, but the hosts were unable to hold on.

Two minutes later, Cancelo struck a first-time shot from outside the area after a Bernardo Silva pass to leave Portugal top of the group standings on six points.

“It’s never easy once you fall behind, and we showed a lot of character, just like against Germany and Spain [in the Nations League] in June when we were losing but managed to come back,” said Silva.

“Today, once again against a tough team, we managed to come back. Even when they scored after 80-something minutes, we still managed to score the winner.”

Armenia, who beat Ireland 2-1 earlier on Tuesday, are second with three points, with Hungary and Ireland on one point.

Norway register double-digit win against Moldova

Norway’s Erling Haaland scored five goals and substitute Thelo Aasgaard added four more as they hammered hapless Moldova 11-1 to take another huge step towards qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

With five games played, the Norwegians top Group I on 15 points, six ahead of second-placed Italy, who have a game in hand. Moldova’s worst defeat leaves them bottom of the group with no points.

The group winners qualify automatically for next year’s World Cup, while the runners-up go into a playoff.

Haaland’s beautifully cushioned pass teed up Felix Horn Myhre to break the scoring deadlock with a sixth-minute tap-in, and Martin Odegaard should have made it two a minute later, but he blazed the ball over from close range.

The Norwegians did not have to wait long for another goal as Haaland rattled home in the 11th minute, snapping up a loose ball in the box and sweeping it into the far corner.

Haaland slotted home his second to round off a Norwegian counterattack in the 36th minute and completed his hat-trick before halftime.

Moldova keeper Cristian Avram forced him to go wide, but Haaland recovered the ball and chipped it brilliantly in at the far post to make it 4-0.

Odegaard netted a fifth in first-half stoppage time, and seven minutes into the second half, Haaland struck again, scoring his fourth with a header as Norway ran riot in front of their home fans.

Substitute Aasgaard struck twice, either side of an own goal by Leo Ostigard, and he got his hat-trick from the penalty spot in the 79th minute before Haaland added the 10th, his ninth goal in five World Cup qualifiers.

Aasgaard completed the rout with a flicked finish in second-half stoppage time to complete a rare double-digit margin of victory.

England dominate Serbia

England took a huge step towards automatic qualification for the World Cup, with captain Harry Kane paving the way for an impressive 5-0 victory away to main Group K rivals, Serbia.

Criticised for a laboured home win over Andorra at the weekend, England produced their best display under Thomas Tuchel to take full advantage of a timid Serbia display and maintain their 100 percent record in the group without conceding a goal.

Kane headed England’s opener from Declan Rice’s corner in the 33rd minute, and minutes later Noni Madueke scored his first senior international goal to double the lead.

Seven minutes after the break, it was Ezri Konsa’s turn to open his England account and put the visitors in cruise control with a close-range finish.

Serbia’s night went from bad to worse when Nikola Milenkovic was sent off in the 73rd minute for a foul on Kane, and from Rice’s resulting free kick, Marc Guehi arrived to make it 4-0.

Substitute Marcus Rashford rounded it off with a late penalty after a foul on Ollie Watkins as England moved to 15 points from five games and a seven-point lead over Albania.

Serbia’s first defeat in the group leaves them third on seven points, with a game in hand.

The group winners qualify for next year’s finals, with the runners-up going into the playoffs.

US President Donald Trump said he’s “not thrilled” about Israel’s deadly attack on Hamas in Qatar that targeted a residential compound in Doha, where a delegation was meeting to discuss the US’s ceasefire proposal for Gaza.

Just 41 percent of US firms optimistic about the five-year business outlook in China, chamber of commerce says.

US businesses in China are less optimistic about conditions in the country than at any point in the last quarter-century, a survey has revealed.

Only 41 percent of US businesses are optimistic about the five-year business outlook in China, according to the survey released on Wednesday by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

The figure, down from 47 percent in 2024, is the lowest since AmCham Shanghai began releasing its annual business report in 1999.

Just 45 percent of respondents said they expected revenues to increase in 2025, AmCham Shanghai said, which would be a record low if realised.

Just 12 percent ranked China as their headquarters’ top investment destination, also the lowest in the survey’s history, according to the business chamber.

Businesses cited US-China tensions and broader geopolitical pressures as the biggest challenges to operating.

Nearly half of respondents called for the removal of all US tariffs on Chinese goods, with 42 percent supporting the scrapping of Chinese tariffs on US products, according to AmCham Shanghai.

Despite the worsening sentiment, businesses also reported positive developments over the past year.

More than 70 percent of respondents said they were profitable in 2024, up from a record low of 66 percent in 2023.

And nearly half of respondents said the regulatory environment in China was transparent, a 13-percentage point jump from the previous year.

“Government efforts to improve the regulatory environment have been noticed by members, but they are overshadowed by US-China trade tensions,” AmCham Shanghai chair Jeffrey Lehman said in a statement.

“We urge both governments to create a stable and transparent framework that is conducive to cross-border trade and investment.”

The latest gauge of business sentiment comes as China’s slowing economy is facing a raft of challenges ranging from US President Donald Trump’s trade war to weak consumption and a years-long property downturn.

On Wednesday, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said that consumer prices fell in August at their fastest rate in six months, the latest sign of anaemic demand in the world’s second-largest economy.

Carsten Holz, an expert on the Chinese economy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said that the AmCham survey’s results showed that the uncoupling of the US and Chinese economies was “well under way.”

“The results mirror the findings of a May 2025 European Chamber of Commerce in China report that business optimism of European firms in China has never been as low as it currently is,” Holz told Al Jazeera.

“These findings are in line with China’s policy of achieving self-sufficiency across all sectors of its economy.”

Bolivia pulled off one of the biggest shocks of the South American qualifiers to reach the World Cup playoff round.

Bolivia shocked Brazil 1-0 to secure a spot in the intercontinental playoffs for next year’s World Cup, while Argentina suffered a 1-0 defeat by Ecuador in the final round of South America’s 2026 qualifiers on Tuesday night.

Bolivia’s Miguel Terceros converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time to secure the home win over five-time World Cup winners Brazil in La Paz, a result which saw Carlo Ancelotti’s side drop to fifth in the standings.

Bolivia will be joined in the playoffs by two teams from CONCACAF as well as one each from the African, Asian and Oceania confederations, in the hunt for two places at the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The playoffs will take place in Monterrey and Guadalajara in March.

Messi-less Argentina stunned by Ecuador

While Ecuador and reigning champions Argentina had already qualified for the World Cup, there was no shortage of intensity in their match in Guayaquil.

Argentina’s Nicolas Otamendi was sent off in the 31st minute, and the hosts capitalised on their numerical advantage when Enner Valencia scored a penalty in first-half stoppage time.

Ecuador were also reduced to 10 men when Moises Caicedo was dismissed in the 50th minute, but they held firm to claim the 1-0 victory and go second in the table.

Argentina star Lionel Messi, who played his last official match at home last Thursday, did not suit up.

Despite the loss, Argentina retained top spot in the standings with 39 points, nine ahead of Ecuador.

Colombia secured third place with a 6-3 victory over Venezuela in Maturin, with Luis Suarez stealing the show by scoring four goals to extinguish Venezuelan hopes of clinching the playoff place.

Uruguay finished qualifying in fourth place following a 0-0 draw with Chile in Santiago, while Matias Galarza’s strike gave Paraguay a 1-0 win over Peru in Lima, leaving them in sixth place.

Sept. 10 (UPI) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would review a challenge to President Donald Trump‘s sweeping tariffs, expediting the case to be heard in two months.

The high court justices issued the one-page order that set the schedule for the case, with the arguments session to take place during the first week of November.

Trump asked the justices to intervene last week, seeking an early November review by the conservative-leaning high court to make a speedy decision on his controversial tariffs, after twice being told by the courts they are illegal.

“It is gratifying to see the Supreme Court accept these cases on an unusually fast track,” Andrew Morris, senior litigator with the New Civil Liberties Alliance, which filed amicus briefs against Trump’s tariffs in both cases challenging them, told UPI in an emailed statement.

“The court should act promptly to strike down the tariffs. It should hold that the president cannot invoke emergency powers — and national security — to impose tariffs on the American people.”

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has turned to tariffs as a key tool of his economic policy to right what he sees as unfair trading relationships that the United States has with other nations.

In April, he imposed a 10% tariff on nearly all goods imported from nearly all countries, followed by so-called reciprocal tariffs slapped on specific countries and at specific rates in order to redress those perceived negative trade imbalances.

Trump has argued he has the power to impose the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which permits the president to implement asset freezes, trade embargoes and other similar economic sanctions during a national emergency.

On April 22, the educational toy manufacturer Learning Resources Inc. sued the Trump administration, arguing the president did not have the power to impose sweeping tariffs, only Congress does.

“The Constitution vests the power to impose tariffs in Congress,” the company said in its complaint, while arguing Trump was misusing the IEEPA, which was intended to impose sanctions on foreign terrorist and hostile nations representing an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. society.

“The statute does not mention tariffs or duties, and in the five decades and eight administrations since its enactment, no president besides President Trump has ever invoked IEEPA to impose a tariff or a duty.”

Several other lawsuits followed, and in May, the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York ruled against the Trump administration, finding the tariffs were illegal and that the IEEPA did not give the president import tax powers.

Late last month, a divided appeals court agreed. However, the tariffs remain in place, at least for now.

While Trump and his administration have boasted that the tariffs will raise billions in revenue, critics say it is the American public, and not the foreign companies, that are footing the bill.