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The "self-defense strikes" followed attacks on three American naval vessels, though none of the warships was hit, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
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Relations between the United States and the Vatican are at a low point over President Donald Trump's attacks on Leo, who is a leading critic of the war in Iran.
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Gaza is facing an "environmental and biological apocalypse" under Israeli bombardment and blockade, reports Palestinian aid worker Eyad Amawi of the Gaza Relief Committee. Israel's destruction of infrastructure has become a "generator for disease," with sewage contamination and rodent infestation now an everyday hazard for refugees living in tent camps. "[It's] no longer just bombardment or physical destruction. It is the collapse of every essential condition required for human survival: water, food, health, dignity, shelter, safety, everything." Amawi also comments on the extended detention of two international activists with the Global Sumud Flotilla. Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek will not be released before this weekend, according to the latest update from the Israeli military. Neither has been charged with any crime.
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Reporters Without Borders warns press freedom has fallen to its lowest level since the group began publishing its annual World Press Freedom Index in 2002. The index has charted how press freedoms have deteriorated in the United States and elsewhere over the past 25 years. The U.S. was ranked 17th in the world in 2002. In the latest index, the U.S. is down to 64th, falling seven places since last year.
"It's tempting to lay all of this at the feet of President Donald Trump, and to be clear, he is the single biggest threat to American press freedom today," says Clayton Weimers, the North America director for Reporters Without Borders. "But the mere fact that we fell from 57th last year tells us that this isn't just a Trump problem. We have structural deficiencies that are imperiling the future of press freedom in this country." Weimers cites these deficiencies as the consolidation of U.S. media and loss of journalism jobs, "emboldened" politicians' attacks on reporters, and violence against journalists by law enforcement agents.
Weimers also comments on the January FBI raid on the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner shooting and Israel's attacks on journalists in Lebanon and Gaza.
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