News Briefs

An Israeli military agency that coordinates aid says it will allow gradual and controlled entry of goods to Gaza through local merchants, as global monitors say famine is unfolding in the enclave. A mechanism has been approved by the cabinet to expand the scope of humanitarian aid. 

The House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed the Justice Department for files in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation and is seeking depositions with former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and eight former top law enforcement officials. It’s part of a probe lawmakers believe may show links to President Donald Trump and former top officials. 

Tuesday’s meeting is the sixth and possibly final negotiation round for a treaty that would tackle global plastic pollution. A major debate is whether to cut plastic production, with oil-producing countries opposing it; most plastic is made from fossil fuels. The United States opposes global production caps, focusing on waste management and recycling. Others, including some major companies, disagree. The meeting involves thousands of participants and aims to create a binding agreement.

A newly formed parliamentary committee has begun meeting to oversee a peace process with a Kurdish militant group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or the PKK. The committee held its inaugural meeting on Tuesday, marking a significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency. The PKK announced in May that it would renounce armed conflict, ending four decades of hostilities. Previous peace efforts between Turkey and the PKK have ended in failure.

The move comes after the Netherlands said it would provide air defense equipment, ammunition, and other military aid worth 500 million euros ($578 million). Sweden also announced Tuesday it would contribute $275 million to a joint effort along with its Nordic neighbors Denmark and Norway to provide $500 million worth of weaponry and parts. Two deliveries of equipment, most of it bought in the United States, are expected this month. The equipment is based on Ukraine’s priority needs on the battlefield. 

The Chinese fast fashion company Shein was hit with a €1 million ($1.16 million) fine for misleading shoppers with its environmental claims on Monday. Last fall, a United Kingdom watchdog warned 17 fashion brands to clarify their claims of sustainability, reflecting growing concern among consumers about deceptive branding. – Staff

U.S. stocks are rebounding to recover more than two-thirds of their sharp loss from last week. The S&P 500 rose 1.4% Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 558 points, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.8%. Gains for Tyson Foods and other companies following profit reports that topped analysts’ expectations helped offset a drop for Berkshire Hathaway. This upcoming week may have fewer fireworks on Wall Street than last week, which was punctuated by a disappointingly weak report on the U.S. job market. That raised worries that President Donald Trump’s tariffs may be punishing the economy.

After an era pushing the world toward open trade, the U.S. under President Trump is imposing higher tariffs from Canada to South Korea. His bilateral brinkmanship has won promises of new investment in America, but prices are poised to rise.

The move escalates a long-running standoff between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the judiciary that critics see as a threat to the country’s democratic institutions. Mr. Netanyahu and his supporters accuse Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of exceeding her powers by blocking decisions by the elected government. Critics accuse Mr. Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, of undermining judicial independence and seeking to concentrate power in the hands of his coalition government.

The speakers had previously been used to blast anti-North Korean propaganda across the border, but the South’s new liberal government halted the broadcasts in June in a conciliatory gesture as it looks to rebuild trust and revive dialogue with Pyongyang, which has largely cut off cooperation with the South in recent years.

Several thousand workers at three Midwest manufacturing plants where Boeing develops military aircraft and weapons went on strike early Monday, potentially complicating the aerospace company's progress in regaining its financial footing. The strike began after about 3,200 local members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted Sunday to reject a modified four-year labor agreement.

Sunday’s last-resort bid was meant to block new congressional maps sought by President Donald Trump that would give Republicans a better chance of preserving their narrow U.S. House majority in the 2026 midterm elections. Gov. Greg Abbott says he will begin trying to remove Democratic lawmakers from office Monday if they don’t return. 

In a statement late Saturday, anti-corruption agencies said officials took kickbacks worth up to 30% on overpriced contracts for drones and electronic warfare gear. Four people have been arrested, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised investigators. The exposure follows parliament’s reversal of a controversial move by Mr. Zelenskyy to curb the agencies’ powers. 

A report by state TV Monday says the council will handle defensive plans and improve capabilities of armed forces. The decision follows a 12-day air war by Israel and the United States that led to the deaths of nearly 1,100 people, including military chiefs and commanders. A ceasefire has been in force since shortly after the airstrikes targeted Iran’s major nuclear facilities. 

A new political party formed by students who led an anti-government movement that ousted the former prime minister rallied in Dhaka on Sunday. Party leaders vowed to work to establish democracy, as Bangladesh is at a crossroads with shifting power dynamics and unresolved tensions. 

New outbreaks of violence occurred at two distinct flashpoints, straining a fragile ceasefire and calling into question the ability of the transitional government to exert its authority across the country. In the north, government-affiliated fighters confronted Kurdish-led forces who control much of the region, while in the southern province of Sweida, they clashed with Druze armed groups. Syria’s interim authorities are trying to maintain a tense ceasefire in Sweida province after clashes with Druze factions last month, and to implement an agreement with the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that would reintegrate large swaths of northeastern Syria.

An independent watchdog agency responsible for enforcing a law against partisan political activity by federal employees has opened an investigation into Jack Smith, the Justice Department special counsel who brought two criminal cases against then-candidate Donald Trump before his election to the White House last year. The Office of Special Counsel confirmed Saturday that it was investigating Mr. Smith on allegations he engaged in political activity through his inquiries into President Trump. Mr. Smith was named special counsel by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 and his special counsel title is entirely distinct from the agency now investigating him. The office has no criminal enforcement power but does have the authority to impose fines and other sanctions.

Russian officials say a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil depot near Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi has sparked a major fire. More than 120 firefighters have been working to extinguish the blaze. Russia’s civil aviation authority temporarily stopped flights at Sochi’s airport. Meanwhile, in southern Ukraine, a Russian missile strike hit a residential area in Mykolaiv, wounding seven people. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners following negotiations in Istanbul. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

It did so in just 15 hours. The team, consisting of astronauts from the U.S., Russia, and Japan, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and arrived on Saturday. They will spend at least six months aboard, replacing colleagues who have been there since March. SpaceX plans to bring the previous crew back as early as Wednesday. NASA’s Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui, and Russia’s Oleg Platonov are now on board. Their arrival temporarily increases the space station’s population to 11.