Comment on ‘Butcher of Swat’ named new chief of Pakistani Taliban; ordered shooting of Malala Yousafzai

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military on Monday called on residents of southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate homes and other buildings where it claimed Hezbollah stores weapons and said it was carrying out “extensive strikes” against the militant group. It was the first warning of its kind in nearly a year of steadily escalating conflict and came after a particularly heavy exchange of fire on Sunday.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s president on Monday after an election that saw voters reject an old guard accused of leading the country into economic crisis. Dissanayake, 55, who ran as head of the Marxist-leaning National People’s Power coalition, defeated opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and 36 other candidates in Saturday’s election. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Dissanayake received 5,740,179 votes, followed by Premadasa with 4,530,902. In a brief speech, the new president pledged to work with others to take on the country’s challenges. “We have deeply understood that we are going to get a challenging country,” Dissanayake said.

(DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip) — An Israeli strike on a school in northern Gaza on Saturday killed at least 22 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, while the Israeli army said it targeted a Hamas command center in what used to be a school. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Another 30 were wounded in the strike on the school in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City, the ministry said in a statement.

Kamala Harris still has time to change direction on U. S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a way that could secure her the presidency, reduce further damage to Washington’s standing internationally, stop what many—including many Jews, Israelis, and Holocaust scholars—have called a genocide in Gaza, and prevent a regional war.

U. S., U. K. and United Nations officials urged restraint as tensions ramped up between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. After days of escalating conflict, Israel carried out extensive airstrikes targeting Southern Lebanon on Sept. 19 and Hezbollah retaliated on Sept. 20, prompting fears of further conflict and a wider Middle East war.

Taiwan’s Constitutional Court upheld the legality of the death penalty but moved to limit its use, in a decision that strikes a balance between keeping the punishment’s deterrent effect and preventing its abuse. The court on Friday affirmed the constitutionality of capital punishment but restricted its use to only the most serious crimes, while emphasizing the need for better safeguards.