MUST-READS

• Sand creature — like something out of ‘Dune’ — found in Saudi Arabia. See new species

  Along the coast of Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea retreats from the rocky and sandy beaches with the tide, revealing small pools teeming with life. The “lagoon-like” environments are scattered along the shore where land meets water, and in them, tiny creatures crawl up under the rocks and burrow into the sand. Then the rock lifts, and the creepy crawlies are met with the wide eyes of a researcher. One of these researchers is Chloé Fourreau, a PhD student at the University of Ryukyus in Japan. Fourreau is part of a team searching the coastline for the presence of Perinereis, a type of segmented marine ragworm. It wasn’t long before researchers found one — and it’s a new species.

• Many Iranian options to retaliate against Israel, but all carry risk
  Iran faces a dilemma following an Israeli attack on its embassy in Syria: how to retaliate without sparking a wider conflict that Middle East analysts said Tehran doesn't appear to want.
  Monday's strike, which killed two Iranian generals and five military advisers at Iran's embassy compound in Damascus, comes as Israel accelerates a long-running campaign against Iran and the armed groups it backs. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed revenge.

• Explainer: Could the Palestinians become a full United Nations member?
  The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday formally asked for renewed consideration by the United Nations Security Council of its 2011 application to become a full member of the world body.
  Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour told Reuters on Monday that the aim was for the council to take a decision at an April 18 ministerial meeting on the Middle East, but that a vote had yet to be scheduled.
  Here are details on U.N. membership:
  • Reuters - Spain to recognise Palestinian statehood by July, leader says -reports
• Palestinian Mandela? Marwan Barghouti, imprisoned preacher of unity.

  Serving five life sentences after being convicted by an Israeli court for involvement in militant killings in the second intifada, Mr. Barghouti remains the rare – perhaps the only – figure trusted by all Palestinian factions. With his release from Israeli prison demanded by Fatah’s rival, Hamas, and even advocated by a former Israeli spy chief, the mere possibility of Mr. Barghouti’s return to the scene is stirring up Palestinian politics, and hope, at a historic crossroads

• Israel Unleashed? A Brazen Campaign Against Iranian Targets Could Backfire

  On April 1, Israel launched its latest attack on Iran in the two countries’ ongoing shadow war, with an airstrike that flattened a section of Iran’s embassy complex in Damascus and reportedly killed at least 12 people. Among the dead was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who headed Iran’s military operations in Syria and Lebanon, where he worked for decades and became a close interlocutor with Hezbollah and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The strike also killed Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, Zahedi’s deputy, and at least five other officers in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

• Gaza infrastructure damages estimated at $18.5bn in UN-World Bank report

  The cost of damage to critical infrastructure in the first four months of Israel’s continuing war on Gaza is estimated at about $18.5bn, a new report by the World Bank and the United Nations has found. The report estimated that the damage was equivalent to 97 percent of the combined GDP of the occupied West Bank and Gaza in 2022.

• ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza

  A new investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call reveals that the Israeli army has developed an artificial intelligence-based program known as “Lavender,” unveiled here for the first time. According to six Israeli intelligence officers, who have all served in the army during the current war on the Gaza Strip and had first-hand involvement with the use of AI to generate targets for assassination, Lavender has played a central role in the unprecedented bombing of Palestinians, especially during the early stages of the war. In fact, according to the sources, its influence on the military’s operations was such that they essentially treated the outputs of the AI machine “as if it were a human decision.”

• Readout of President Joe Biden’s Call with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel

  He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps. He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.

• Iraq Navigates the Mideast Crisis

  As Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani prepares for a pivotal visit to Washington in mid-April, his government is attempting to navigate through multiple currents roiling the region, calls to distance the country from U.S. mentorship, and internal crises that continue to divide Iraq’s Arab leaders from their Kurdish counterparts that run northern Iraq.

• The UAE’s AI Dreams

  The United Arab Emirates (UAE) hopes to position itself as a pivotal force in artificial intelligence (AI), underscored by its development of the Falcon Large Language Model, the establishment of the Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC), and a comprehensive national AI agenda. While these initiatives reflect a clear ambition to redefine its global standing through technology, they also introduce complexities and challenges in the realms of geopolitics, governance, and global tech competition.

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