Emily Fang
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Podcast Appearances
The pandas Xiaoxiao and Leilei have arrived back in their native Sichuan province.
China has developed an advanced panda breeding program and loans the black and white animals out to other countries for a hefty fee as a symbol of friendship.
But this panda diplomacy has not been able to patch tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.
Beijing has canceled some tourism to Japan, reimposed import bans on Japanese seafood, and even canceled some Japanese performances in China after their prime minister described a potential future Chinese invasion of Taiwan as an existential-level threat to Japan.
Israel has already bulldozed the main offices for the agency called UNRWA in East Jerusalem.
UNRWA schools once serviced about half a million Palestinian children across the Middle East, including in East Jerusalem, and its health care clinics supported underserved Palestinian communities.
But in 2024, Israel banned it from its territory, saying UNRWA supports terror, something the agency denies.
Under a law passed last fall, Israel can also cut off utilities to UNRWA sites and is planning to do so on Monday.
UNRWA says it does not know which of its facilities might be targeted, given Israel's also forbidden its government officials from having any contact with UNRWA.
Emily Fang, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
Don't you just think the whole, like, keep having a brat summer thing is a bit cringe?
UN Commissioner Philip Lazzarini wrote Israel's seizure of his agency UNRWA's premises in East Jerusalem broke international law and said Israel's presence in East Jerusalem, which it annexed in a 1967 war, was illegal.
Meanwhile, far-right Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gavir called the demolition this week
A day for celebration because Israel has accused UNRWA employees of participating in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, something UNRWA denies.
And Jerusalem's mayor, Aryeh King, said in a video statement that, quote, it's either us or them, and with God's help, we will eliminate and annihilate all UNRWA personnel.
Emily Fang, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu cannot travel to Switzerland for fear of being arrested.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants against him and the former defense minister, Yoav Galant, for alleged war crimes they committed in Gaza during Israel's war with Hamas.