cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/39814137

Israel announces it will open the Rafah border crossing but only for Palestinians leaving. Hamas to hand over the body of another Israeli captive. Over 200 prominent cultural figures sign a letter calling for the release of Palestinian political prisoner Marwan Barghouti. ICE begins targeting Somali Americans in Minnesota. President Donald Trump gives this new antagonism rhetorical support, calling Ilhan Omar and Somalis in general “garbage.” Trump Department of Justice official Harmeet Dillon slanders Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani as an “antisemitic demagogue,” and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blames youth solidarity with Palestine on TikTok. Israel launders its talking points through actress Noa Tishby and her foundation, a new report alleges, and may have violated FARA in the process. Trump admin threatens to cut off SNAP funding in blue states. ICE moves toward a “mega-warehouse” detention facility. Ex-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is released from prison after a Trump pardon. Centrist candidate Salvador Nasralla takes a slim lead in Honduras’ elections. More violence in Pakistan’s northwest. The Ukrainian military disputes Russian claims of gains in the Donbas. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to cut off Ukrainian access to the sea. Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces are systematically holding trapped residents for ransom in El-Fasher. Venezuela resumes repatriation flights. The Philippine military is using U.S. hardware in its counter-insurgency efforts, a new Drop Site report shows. As the feds closed in on Jeffrey Epstein, he estimated in a private email that there might be as many as 20 underage victims, Saagar Enjeti reports for Drop Site.