HAMAS CHIEF BALANCES NEGOTIATION AND PREPAREDNESS FOR CONFLICT

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh expressed a dual approach on Wednesday, indicating flexibility in negotiations with Israel regarding the Gaza war while maintaining readiness for further conflict. In a televised address, Haniyeh urged Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank to converge at Al-Aqsa Mosque on March 10, the first day of Ramzan, escalating pressure in the indirect talks for a truce by that date.

Israel recently announced permission for Ramzan prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, but with security restrictions, potentially leading to clashes if large Palestinian crowds gather. Haniyeh also appealed to the "Axis of Resistance," including Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis, and Iraq's Islamic Resistance, along with Arab states, to enhance their support for Gaza Palestinians.

He emphasized the responsibility of Arab and Islamic nations to counter what Palestinians perceive as Israel's deliberate starvation policy in Gaza, underscoring the need for regional solidarity.

PAKISTAN PRESIDENT FACES BACKLASH FOR DELAYING NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SESSION

Pakistan President Dr. Arif Alvi's decision to postpone the first session of the newly-elected National Assembly has sparked warnings of "legal consequences" from senior PML-N and PPP leaders. Despite the Prime Minister's Office's assertion that the session should occur within 21 days of elections, Alvi, aligned with former PM Imran Khan, insisted on first allocating all reserved seats.

This move has led to accusations of "abrogating the Constitution." Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari of the PPP threatened legal action, citing two potential cases against Alvi for dissolution of the National Assembly during a no-confidence motion in 2022 and for failing to convene the session. PML-N's Ishaq Dar also criticized Alvi, urging compliance with the Constitution by convening the session promptly. The outgoing Speaker of the National Assembly has now scheduled the session for February 29, following Alvi's refusal.

‘UNCOMMITTED’ VOTES TAKE THE SHEEN OFF TRUMP, BIDEN’S WINS

U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won the Michigan primaries on Tuesday, further solidifying the all-but-certain rematch between the two men — yet early results from the State were highlighting some of their biggest political vulnerabilities ahead of the November general election.

A vigorous “uncommitted” campaign organised by activists disillusioned with Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza was making headway. It had already far surpassed the 10,000-vote margin by which Trump won Michigan in 2016, a goal set by organisers of this year’s protest effort.

As for Trump, he has now swept the first five States on the Republican primary calendar.

But there were early signs that Trump was continuing to struggle with some influential voter blocs who have favoured former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in previous contests.

Ms. Haley’s strongest performance on Tuesday night came in areas with college towns like Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, and suburbs around Detroit and Grand Rapids.

For Biden, the notable percentage of “uncommitted” voters could signal weakness with parts of the Democratic base in a State he can hardly afford to lose in November. Trump, meanwhile, has underperformed with suburban voters and people with college degrees, and faces a faction within his own party that believes he broke the law in one or more of the criminal cases against him.

Michigan has the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the nation. More than 3,10,000 residents are of West Asian or North African ancestry.

A grassroots campaign emerged weeks ago, urging voters to select "uncommitted" to protest the death toll from Israel's offensive. This campaign has garnered support from figures like Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib and former Representative Andy Levin.

"Uncommitted" votes have reached about 15%, enough to qualify for delegates statewide, but it's unclear if this will translate to local delegate collection.

Biden, in a statement, did not directly address the "uncommitted" effort, instead highlighting his administration's progress for Michigan voters.

UK BOOSTS MPS’ SECURITY AS TENSIONS FLARE OVER GAZA

The UK government announced a £31 million ($39 million) package to enhance the security of elected lawmakers amid escalating tensions over the Israel-Hamas conflict. The funding includes provisions for a dedicated police contact, bodyguards for those at high risk, expanded cybersecurity advice, and increased police patrols in areas with heightened community tensions. Interior Minister James Cleverly emphasized that MPs should not have to tolerate hate crimes, harassment, or threats as part of their job. MPs have expressed concerns about their safety, with instances of antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents rising since the conflict began.

ISRAEL’S SETTLEMENT PLANS TRIGGERED US SHIFT IN LANGUAGE

Washington : Israel’s plan to add thousands more homes to settlements in West Bank announced last week was the final push Biden administration needed to declare them “inconsistent” with international law, sources and US officials familiar with the move told Reuters.

Rather than the carefully choreographed policy rollout typical in Washington, US secretary of state Antony Blinken made the reversal in response to a question at a news conference in Buenos Aires. “It’s been longstanding US policy under Republican and Democratic administrations alike that new settlements are counter-productive to reaching an enduring peace,” he told reporters. “They’re also inconsistent with international law.”

The decision to make the change now underscores Biden administration’s growing frustration with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader is increasingly at odds with his biggest backer US President Joe Biden on a host of issues over the IsraelHamas conflict.

NAVALNY TO BE BURIED IN MOSCOW TOMORROW, WIFE FEARS POSSIBLE ARRESTS

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny will be buried in Moscow tomorrow, announced his wife Yulia. However, concerns linger over possible unrest, with plans for a civil memorial service reportedly blocked. The funeral will take place at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God in Maryino, where Navalny lived, followed by burial at Borisovskoye cemetery. Navalny's allies blame Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin for the lack of space for a civil service, accusing the Kremlin of obstructing their plans.

Kremlin denies involvement in Navalny's death on Feb 16. Russian Orthodox funerals typically involve a priest, choral singing, and attendees gathering around the casket. It remains uncertain how crowd control will be managed. Yulia expressed doubt over the funeral's peacefulness and whether police would arrest mourners.

Yulia addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg, blaming Putin for her husband's death, describing him as a "bloody monster." She stated that it's impossible to negotiate with Putin and that further resolutions or sanctions would not affect him.

GOOGLE CEO DISMAYED BY ERRORS FROM GEMINI AI APP

Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday slammed “completely unacceptable” errors by its Gemini AI app, after gaffes such as images of ethnically diverse World War II Nazi troops forced it to stop users from creating pictures of people.

The controversy emerged within weeks of Google’s high-profile rebranding of its ChatGPT-style AI to “Gemini”.

Social media users mocked Google for the historically inaccurate Gemini-generated images, such as U.S. senators from the 1800s that were ethnically diverse and included women.

In a letter to his staff, Pichai said Google’s teams were working “around the clock” to fix these issues but did not say when the image-generating feature would be available again.

SKOREA’S FERTILITY RATE, WORLD’S WORST, PLUNGES YET AGAIN

South Korea’s fertility rate, already the world’s lowest, continued its dramatic decline in 2023, as women concerned about their career advancement and the financial cost of raising children decided to delay childbirth or to not have babies. The average number of expected babies for a South Korean woman during her reproductive life fell to a record low of 0.72 from 0.78 in 2022, data from Statistics Korea showed on Wednesday. That is far below the rate of 2.1 per woman needed for a steady population. South Korea's demographic crisis has become the top risk to economic growth and the social welfare system, with the country's population of 51 million on track to halve by the end of this century. South Korea has projected its fertility rate is likely to fall further to 0.68 in 2024. Seoulhad the lowest fertility rate of 0.55 last year.

NEWBORNS IN JAPAN ARE AT A NEW LOW

The number of babies born in Japan last year fell for an eighth straight year to a new low, govt data showed. The 758,631 babies born in 2023 were a 5.1% decline from the previous year. The number of marriages fell by 5.9% to 489,281 couples, falling below half-million for the first time in 90 years — a key reasons for the declining births

MEMBERS OF GHANA PARLIAMENT PASS CONTROVERSIAL ANTI-LGBTQ BILL

ACCRA: Ghana’s parliament voted to pass a controversial Bill to severely restrict LGBTQ rights on Wednesday. The Bill still has to be validated by the President, which observers believe is unlikely before a general election in December. But President Nana Akufo-Addo has said gay marriage will never be allowed while he is in power.

MITCH MCCONNELL TO STEP DOWN AS REPUBLICAN LEADER IN U.S. SENATE

WASHINGTON: Veteran U.S. politician Mitch McConnell, 82, said on Wednesday he would step down as leader of the Republican Party in the Senate later this year, ending his tenure as the longest-serving Senate leader. “I stand before you today, President and my colleagues to say this will be my last term as Republican leader,” he said.

APPLE KILLS ‘SECRET’ EV PROJECT THAT WAS INTENDED TO CHALLENGE TESLA

San Francisco : Apple has cancelled its plans to release an electric car with self-driving abilities, a secretive product that had been in the works for nearly a decade. The company told employees in an internal meeting Tuesday that it had scrapped the project and that members of the group would be shifted to different roles, including in Apple’s AI division, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Although Apple had not unveiled its car to consumers, the product had for many years been one of Silicon Valley’s worst-kept secrets because it was being tested on public roads. The cancellation is a rare move by Apple, which typically doesn’t shelve such public and high-profile projects.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, has publicly hinted that Apple was interested in entering the car space. The car, internally code-named Titan and Project 172, was a challenging product to develop, as parts of the division were shuttered, plans were scrapped and restarted, and dozens of workers were laid off along the way. The car, which Apple spent billions of dollars researching, had been intended as a rival to Tesla’s electric vehicles, which include autonomous driving features.