The conduct of the strike and the scale of civilian casualties have amplified questions over the proportionality of Israel's military operations in Gaza, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say are aimed at defeating Hamas and rescuing the hostages still being held by the group.

A senior cleric in Iran has issued a fatwa declaring that anyone who threatens Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is "an enemy of God," state media has reported.

Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi was responding to a question about any threats made by U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of Israel, including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A fatwa is a ruling on how to interpret Islamic law issued by a clerical authority.

The president of El Salvador has denied claims that Kilmar Ábrego García was subjected to beatings and deprivation while he was held in the country before being returned to the US to face human-smuggling charges.

Nayib Bukele said in a social media post that Ábrego García, the Salvadorian national who was wrongly extradited from the US to El Salvador in March before being returned in June, “wasn’t tortured, nor did he lose weight”.

They said that, at one point, Ábrego García and four other inmates were transferred to a different part of the prison, “where they were photographed with mattresses and better food – photos that appeared to be staged to document improved conditions”.

Author: Martina Elia Vitoloni | DCL Candidate Air and Space Law, McGill University

Celestial bodies like the moon contain valuable resources, such as lunar regolith — also known as moon dust — and helium-3. These resources could serve a range of applications, including making rocket propellant and generating energy to sustaining long missions, bringing benefits in space and on Earth.

The first objective on this journey is being able to collect lunar regolith. One company taking up this challenge is ispace, a Japanese space exploration company ispace that signed a contract with NASA in 2020 for the collection and transfer of ownership of lunar regolith.

The company recently attempted to land its RESILIENCE lunar lander, but the mission was ultimately unsuccessful. Still, this endeavour marked a significant move toward the commercialization of space resources.

These circumstances give rise to a fundamental question: what are the legal rules governing the exploitation of space resources? The answer is both simple and complex, as there is a mix of international agreements and evolving regulations to consider.

The article has a breakdown of the laws and further context

The use of chloropicrin gas is a grave violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Russia signed on January 13, 1993, and ratified on November 5, 1997.

What's new is that Russia is investing more in the production and research of chemical weapons, intensifying their chemical weapons program. They are recruiting new scientists, for example. This indicates that there are chances that russia will produce new chemical weapons or there could be an escalation of the existing chemical weapons.

Yesterday was the largest attack on Kyiv on record involving more than 550 drones and missiles.

Putin does NOT deserve a seat at any table and should be completely isolated.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/hegseth-halted-weapons-for-ukraine-despite-military-analysis-that-the-aid-wouldn-t-jeopardize-us-readiness/ar-AA1HXER2

Hegseth halted weapons for Ukraine this week amid concern about the U.S. military’s stockpiles despite military analysis that the aid wouldn’t jeopardize U.S. readiness (claims by top military officials).

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the European Union’s top diplomat that Beijing can’t accept Russia losing its war against Ukraine as this could allow the United States to turn its full attention to China, an official briefed on the talks said, contradicting Beijing’s public position of neutrality in the conflict.

The admission came during what the official said was a four-hour meeting with EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas on Wednesday in Brussels that “featured tough but respectful exchanges, covering a broad range of issues from cyber security, rare earths to trade imbalances, Taiwan and Middle East.”

The official said Wang’s private remarks suggested Beijing might prefer a protracted war in Ukraine that keeps the United States from focusing on its rivalry with China. They echo concerns of critics of China’s policy that Beijing has geopolitically much more at stake in the Ukrainian conflict than its admitted position of neutrality.

The disclosure statement from the article:

Laurent Borzillo is secretary general of the French association Forum de défense et de stratégie. He was awarded the FRQ's PBEEE postdoctoral fellowship (2023-2024) and, in recent years, has been a co-recipient with various colleagues of grants from the French, German (DAAD), and Canadian governments for various projects on the politicization of defense issues, disinformation, elections in Europe, and the transatlantic security architecture.

The article touches on some history, terminology, and wider discussion. I didn't pull out any parts for this one since it felt important to read in full and excerpts ended up losing context

In March, Ofcom gained powers to take action against sites hosting illegal material and its investigation into the forum is its first under the Online Safety Act.

In 6 hours it will be illegal to say "I support Palestine Action" in the UK, with a sentence of up to 14 years in prison.

Amid US and Israeli aggression, segments of the Iranian diaspora push a narrative that frames foreign intervention as liberation, manufacturing consent for the killing of their own

THE HAGUE, July 4 (Reuters) - Dutch and German intelligence agencies have gathered evidence of widespread Russian use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, including dropping a choking agent from drones to drive soldiers out of trenches so they can be shot, they said on Friday. Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for tougher sanctions against Moscow. "The main conclusion is that we can confirm Russia is intensifying its use of chemical weapons," he told Reuters. "This intensification is concerning because it is part of a trend we have been observing for several years now, where Russia's use of chemical weapons in this war is becoming more normalized, standardized, and widespread." Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency confirmed the findings, saying in a statement that it had obtained the evidence alongside its Dutch counterparts. Reuters was first to report on the intelligence. The head of the Dutch Military Intelligence Agency (MIVD), Peter Reesink, said the conclusions followed "our own independent intelligence, so we have observed it ourselves based on our own investigations."

Chloropicrin is listed as a banned choking agent by OPCW, which was created to implement and monitor compliance with the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). It can cause severe irritation to the skin, eyes, and respiratory tract. If ingested, it can cause burns in the mouth and stomach, nausea and vomiting, as well as difficulty breathing or shortness of breath.

Seven-hour assault prompts Ukraine to accuse Putin of humiliating Trump hours after the leaders spoke by phone

Ukraine has accused Vladimir Putin of “publicly humiliating” Donald Trump after Russia launched a devastating attack with a record number of drones and ballistic missiles on Kyiv, hours after the two leaders spoke by phone.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the seven-hour raid as a “deliberate act of terror” which “immediately followed the call between Washington and Moscow”. It was one of the most severe assaults of the entire war and a “clear interpretation of how Moscow interprets diplomacy”, he added.

The sustained and coordinated night-time attack involved more than 550 Russian drones and ballistic missiles – a record. Families in Kyiv spent the night in metro stations, basements and underground parking garages.