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Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron late on Wednesday.

Ibrahim al-Khayyat, 16, was shot in the abdomen by troops during a raid in the al-Hawooz area, according to medics.

Local media said Israeli forces stormed the area with a large number of military vehicles, closed the main road and forced shop owners to shut their businesses.

The raid was accompanied by live gunfire and tear gas fired at residents, resulting in two people being wounded, including al-Khayyat.

The wounded were taken to the Red Crescent hospital in the city, where al-Khayyat was pronounced dead.

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Israel’s Chief Rabbinate has declined to condemn the smashing of a statue of Jesus by a soldier in southern Lebanon earlier this month, according to Army Radio.

The report on Thursday said military officials had asked the Rabbinate, the highest Jewish religious authority in Israel, to issue a statement condemning the incident, which drew widespread criticism.

According to the report, the army requested that the Rabbinate denounce the act as contrary to Jewish law, but no such condemnation was issued.

Instead, the Rabbinate reportedly agreed to coordinate with the military and Israel’s propaganda apparatus, known as hasbara, in handling similar incidents in the future.

The Israeli military did not deny the report.

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The head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kane, said Russia is providing assistance to Iran amid Tehran’s confrontation with the US, according to remarks made during a US Senate hearing on Thursday.

Speaking at a public session of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kane told lawmakers that Russian President Vladimir Putin is supporting Iran’s military efforts, British newspaper The Guardian reported.

Kane declined to provide details about the nature of Russia’s assistance, citing the open setting of the hearing, but said: “There is definitely some action going on there.”

The committee’s chairman, Republican Senator Roger Wicker, agreed with Kane’s assessment.

“There is no doubt that Putin’s Russia is taking serious steps to undermine our efforts to achieve success in Iran,” Wicker said.

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A new doctrine could soon take hold in part of the US war on drugs: psychedelic drugs for active-duty soldiers suffering from PTSD.

In two studies funded by the Department of Defense (DoD), 186 service personnel with PTSD will likely next year undergo multiple sessions of MDMA-assisted therapy.

The deputy under secretary of war for personnel and readiness, Sean O’Keefe, is following the research closely, a January letter shows, and a new group of DoD and Veterans Affairs (VA) department therapists are to begin training in psychedelic-assisted therapy next week ahead of soldier enrollment.

It is hoped guided sessions with the euphoria-inducing drug could, perhaps counterintuitively, help soldiers fight for their country for longer – and that once they leave the military they will not be crippled by traumatic stress.

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Donald Trump has again lashed out at Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, saying he should focus on “fixing his broken country” and trying to end the Russia-Ukraine war – and spend less time “interfering” in Iran.

Trump’s latest outburst came a day after he suggested the US military presence in Germany was being reviewed, with a “possible reduction” of troops under consideration. Then on Thursday, the president was baited into saying he may consider withdrawing troops from other US bases in Europe.

During an Oval Office event for correspondents from partisan, rightwing outlets, Trump was asked if he would consider withdrawing troops from bases in Spain and Italy, over their unwillingness to get involved in his ruinous war on Iran.

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As word spread on social media Saturday night about a third assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, the reaction felt oddly jaded. Some people shrugged it off — “we’ve seen this movie before” was a common refrain — while others immediately started combing for proof that the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner was staged or a false-flag operation.

The leading theory was that the shooting was orchestrated by the Trump administration for political gain before the midterms and to build support for the construction of a $400 million ballroom at the White House.

As for MAGA, the response has been relatively muted. Where there has been reaction, it’s largely mirrored Trump’s own talking points: his followers said the incident on Saturday night underscores the need for a ballroom outfitted with bulletproof glass and drone-proof ceilings.

The suspect in the shooting, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, from Torrance, California, rushed the event while armed before law enforcement stopped him. While details of the event are still being released, all the available evidence, including an alleged manifesto, points to the gunman having anti-Trump motives.

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Six transgender Idahoans filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday challenging the state’s new bathroom law, which civil rights experts say is the most restrictive in the nation.

The law, which is set to go into effect in July, carries criminal penalties for people if they enter a bathroom or locker room that does not align with their sex assigned at birth in both government-owned buildings and private businesses.

Anyone who “knowingly” enters such a bathroom could face a year in jail for a misdemeanor first offense, or up to five years in prison for a felony second offense.

Idaho’s bathroom law is the “most punitive and broadest sweeping law in the country,” said Paul Carlos Southwick, the legal director for the ACLU of Idaho. So far, it is the only state to criminalize transgender people’s bathroom usage in private businesses.

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Democrats are coalescing around progressive political outsider Graham Platner and his bid to oust incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine after primary rival Gov. Janet Mills ended her struggling bid Thursday.

Mills, who is term limited as governor, jumped into the race late last year as one of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) top recruits, but she had trouble gaining traction in polls and fundraising while Platner surged ahead — despite various controversies around his campaign. She ended her bid Thursday in a statement without endorsing Platner.

But Schumer and the Democrats’ Senate campaign arm got behind Platner as Mills exited the ring, joining progressive Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and nearly two dozen state legislators who were expected to endorse on Thursday. The winnowed field adds to Democrats’ bullishness about what’s expected to be one of the closest Senate races in the country this fall.

“The base couldn’t have spoken more clearly,” Democratic strategist Christy Setzer said.

“Candidates and electeds who act like we’re living in normal times won’t fare well,” Setzer added. “We’re not interested in so-called establishment candidates who are bringing a butter knife to that fight.”

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