MUST-READS

• World Court orders Israel to halt Gaza famine; Hamas says ceasefire needed
  The World Court on Thursday unanimously ordered Israel, accused by South Africa of genocide in Gaza, to take all necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies to the enclave's Palestinian population and halt spreading famine.
  But Gaza's Hamas rulers said a ceasefire was needed to halt the humanitarian crisis.
  The order from the International Court of Justice came as Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters battled in close combat around Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital, where the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they attacked Israeli soldiers and tanks with rockets and mortar fire.

• Israel strikes Syria hard as its pilots resume regular drills for northern war
   Israel carried out its deadliest strikes in months on northern Syria's Aleppo province early on Friday, stepping up its campaign against Iran's proxies in parallel with its war in Gaza.
  Israel has ramped up airstrikes Syria against both the Lebanese Hezbollah militia and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) since the Iranian-backed Palestinian faction Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct. 7, and in recent days its pilots have resumed regular practice for "deep" raids into Lebanon.

• Israel may cut off Palestinian banks from global banking system next week

  Palestinian banks could be cut off from the Israeli banking system starting next week following a decision by Israel’s finance minister to cease dealings between the two financial institutions, according to a report on Thursday by Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has two days to convene a cabinet meeting to discuss reversing plans by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to isolate Palestinian banks from both the Israeli and international banking systems.

• U.S. Census changes how it identifies people by race and ethnicity, creates Middle Eastern category for first time

  For the first time in 27 years, the U.S. government is changing how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity, an effort that federal officials believe will more accurately count residents who identify as Hispanic and of Middle Eastern and North African heritage. The revisions to the minimum categories on race and ethnicity, announced Thursday by the Office of Management and Budget, are the latest effort to label and define the people of the United States. This evolving process often reflects changes in social attitudes and immigration, as well as a wish for people in an increasingly diverse society to see themselves in the numbers produced by the federal government.

• China will be a driving force for the world economic recovery, official says
  China aims to be strong driving force for the world economic recovery this year, opening its markets wider to foreign investors and promoting high quality growth, the country's top legislator Zhao Leji said on Thursday.
  China will make tech innovation a new point of economic growth and is willing to collaborate with other countries on it, Zhao, the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said at the opening plenary of the annual gathering of the Boao Forum for Asia.

• Ireland to intervene in South Africa genocide case against Israel
  Ireland said on Wednesday it would intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel, in the strongest signal to date of Dublin's concern about Israeli operations in Gaza since Oct. 7.
  Announcing the move, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that while it was for the World Court to decide whether genocide is being committed, he wanted to be clear that Hamas' Oct. 7 attack and what is happening in Gaza now "represents the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale."

• Biden’s oil boom

  Almost no matter the metric, the U.S. oil and gas industry has flourished under President Joe Biden, even though his administration has pushed hard to transition the U.S. economy toward a carbon-free future to fight climate change.

• New poll shows waning American support for Israel war in Gaza

  A new Gallup poll shows a majority of Americans (55%) now oppose Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, while only 36% approve of it. That marks a sharp drop in support for Israel’s military campaign since its poll in November, which then found that 50% of Americans approved of Israel’s military action in Gaza, compared with 45% who disapproved.

• State Dept. human rights staffer quits over Biden’s Gaza policy

  Annelle Sheline, 38, stepped down after a year as a foreign affairs officer in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, with nearly half that tenure marked by the war Israel launched in response to a devastating Hamas attack on Oct. 7.

• Unemployment among Saudis down to 7.7% in Q4 2023

  The unemployment rate among Saudis fell to 7.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to 8.6% in the third quarter of 2023, according to the General Authority for Statistics’ (GASTAT) labor force survey.   The unemployment rate in Q4 2023 is at the lowest ever level, based on the data available since 1999.   The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 targets an unemployment rate of 7%.

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