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White House to develop anti-Islamophobia strategy amid skepticism from Muslim Americans

President Joe Biden's administration is preparing to announce that it will develop a national strategy to combat Islamophobia, according to people briefed on the matter, as it faces skepticism from many in the Muslim American community for its staunch support of Israel's military assault on Hamas in Gaza.

The White House announcement had originally been expected to come last week when Biden held a meeting with Muslim leaders, but was delayed, three people said. Two of them said the delay was due in part to concerns from the Muslim American community that the administration lacked credibility on the issue given its robust support for Israel's military, whose strikes against Hamas militants have also killed thousands of civilians in Gaza. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the White House plans.

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Eruption of Eurasia's tallest active volcano sends ash columns above Russian peninsula

Huge ash columns erupted from Eurasia's tallest active volcano Wednesday, forcing authorities to close schools in two towns on Russia's sparsely populated Kamchatka Peninsula.

The eruptions from the Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano sent ash as high as 13 kilometers (8 miles) above sea level, officials said.

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China keeps up military pressure on Taiwan, sending 43 planes and 7 ships

Taiwan said Wednesday that China sent 43 military aircraft and seven ships near the self-ruled island, the latest sign that Beijing plans no let-up in its campaign of harassment, threats and intimidation.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry said the figure was current for the 24 hours up to 6:00 a.m. Wednesday and that 37 of the aircraft had crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait, which China no longer recognizes as an informal divider between the sides.

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Has Israel invaded Gaza? Its army has been vague, even if its objectives are clear

Over the past five days, Israeli ground troops have pushed deeper and deeper into Gaza in their war against Hamas, launched in response to a bloody Oct. 7 cross-border raid by the Islamic militant group.

A growing array of units, including naval, air and ground forces, have joined the effort. The army says it has killed scores of militants and damaged Hamas' strategic tunnel network. Soldiers have taken over abandoned Palestinian homes to stake out positions.

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South Korea says North Korea shipped more than a million artillery shells to Russia

South Korea's top spy agency believes North Korea sent more than a million artillery shells to Russia since August to help fuel Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine, according to a lawmaker who attended a closed-door briefing Wednesday with intelligence officials.

North Korea and Russia have been actively boosting the visibility of their partnership in the face of separate, deepening confrontations with the United States. Their diplomacy — highlighted by a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Putin in September — has triggered concerns about an arms arrangement in which North Korea supplies Russia with badly needed munitions in exchange for advanced Russian technologies that would strengthen Kim's nuclear-armed military.

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Israeli airstrikes hit Jabalia refugee camp for second day

The Hamas-run government in Gaza says Israeli airstrikes have hit apartment blocks in a refugee camp near Gaza City for a second day in a row, causing many deaths and injuries.

The toll from Wednesday’s strikes on Jabalia was not immediately known. Al-Jazeera television, which is still reporting from northern Gaza, aired videos of devastation and of several wounded people, including children, being brought to a nearby hospital.

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'Enough war in Lebanon': Mikati says 'time is of essence' to stop war from spreading

After visiting Qatar, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati will continue a tour of other Arab countries, as he works to ensure Lebanon does not enter the Hamas-Israel war.

Mikati said Wednesday that time is of the essence in stopping the Hamas-Israel war from “going out of control” and affecting Lebanon and the wider region.

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Bolivia severs diplomatic ties with Israel as Chile and Colombia recall their ambassadors

Bolivia's government severed diplomatic relations with Israel on Tuesday, accusing it of carrying out "crimes against humanity" in Gaza, and Chile and Colombia recalled their ambassadors to Israel as they criticized the Israeli military offensive against Hamas militants.

Bolivian officials cited the number of Palestinian casualties in Gaza that have resulted from the latest Israel-Hamas war, but made no mention of the Hamas attack on Israel at the start of the conflict.

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11 Israeli soldiers killed in ground battles, Gaza cut off from world again

Palestinians reported another widespread outage of internet and phone service in Gaza early Wednesday, hours after Israeli airstrikes leveled apartment buildings near Gaza City and as ground troops battled Hamas militants inside the besieged territory.

Humanitarian aid agencies have warned that such blackouts severely disrupt their work in an already dire situation in Gaza, where more than half of the population of 2.3 million Palestinians has been displaced and basic supplies are running low more than three weeks into the war triggered by Hamas' bloody Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel.

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Lebanese civilians wounded with Israeli white phosphorus shells

The human rights group Amnesty International has said that civilians in southern Lebanon were injured this month when Israeli forces hit a border village with shells containing white phosphorus, a controversial incendiary munition.

The organization said it verified three other instances of Israel's military dropping white phosphorus on Lebanese border areas in the past month, but Amnesty said it did not document any harm to civilians in those cases.

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