The Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessel Handala has concluded the first stage of the new mission to break the Israeli-led siege of the Gaza Strip. The vessel has returned to the Norwegian capital, Oslo, the International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza said on Wednesday.

17 August 2023; MEMO: The head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, will visit Israel next week to assess the impact to the Israel Defence Forces combat readiness following the refusal of some reservists to report for voluntary duties in protest against the government’s judicial overhaul plan, Israeli media reported on Wednesday. Senior Israeli military leaders, including Air Force Commander Major General Tomer Bar, have warned of a gradual degradation in the IDF’s combat readiness amid the protests. 

YELLOWKNIFE, Northwest Territories (AP) — Air evacuations were to begin Thursday to move residents in the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories out of the path of wildfires that neared the city of 20,000 people.

BEIJING (AP) — China says it would welcome a visit by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo following the imposition of foreign investment controls by her agency that have stung numerous Chinese companies.

Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson Shu Jueting did not offer a date, but said the countries are in “close communication on arrangements,” according to reports Thursday.

Media have speculated that a visit could come as early as later this month. Raimondo last met her Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao, in Washington in May to discuss trade.

JERUSALEM, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Israel announced on Thursday that it will sell its most advanced missile defense system Arrow-3 to Germany, marking the country's largest-ever military deal.

The Israeli and German defense ministries "will sign the landmark 3.5-billion-U.S. dollar defense agreement," the Israeli Defense Ministry said in a statement.

According to the ministry, senior officials from both sides will soon sign a Letter of Commitment, with a preliminary payment of 600 million dollars, and the full contract will be signed by the end of 2023.

17 August 2023; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces this morning demolished a Palestinian school in the occupied West Bank under the pretext that it lacked the necessary building license, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education.

The Israeli authorities demolished Ein Samia School, located east of Ramallah, which provides educational services to a number of students in the Bedouin community, a ministry statement said.

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — West African defense chiefs met Thursday to discuss the crisis in Niger after coup leaders there ignored their deadline to step down, leaving the region’s countries with few options in their effort to restore democratic rule.

Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, was overthrown in July and remains under house arrest with his wife and son in the capital, Niamey.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Defense Ministry said Thursday it has secured its largest-ever defense deal selling a sophisticated missile defense system to Germany for $3.5 billion after the United States approved the deal.

Although Israel has long had close economic and military links with western European countries, the deal with Germany could draw the attention of Russia. Israel has maintained working relations with Russia throughout the war in Ukraine and has repeatedly rebuffed requests to sell arms to Kyiv for fear of antagonizing Moscow.

BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 jolted Northern Sumatra, Indonesia at 1316 GMT on Thursday, said the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10 km, was initially determined to be at 4.46 degrees north latitude and 96.43 degrees east longitude.

JIFTLIK, West Bank (AP) — Across the dusty villages of the occupied West Bank, where Israeli water pipes don’t reach, date palms have been left to die. Greenhouses are empty and deserted. Palestinians say they can barely get enough water to bathe their children and wash their clothes — let alone sustain livestock and grow fruit trees.

In sharp contrast, neighboring Jewish settlements look like an oasis. Wildflowers burst through the soil. Farmed fish swim in neat rows of ponds. Children splash in community pools.

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — More than 60 migrants are feared dead after a Spanish fishing vessel rescued a boat off the Atlantic archipelago of Cape Verde that originally had more than 100 people aboard, authorities and migrant advocates said Thursday.

STOCKHOLM, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The terrorist threat level in Sweden has been raised from "elevated" to "high," the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) said on Thursday.

The threat posed by "violent Islamist actors has increased over the past year," Director General of the Swedish Security Service Charlotte von Essen said in a press release.

"Sweden has gone from being considered a legitimate target for terrorist attacks to being considered a prioritized target. In our assessment, this threat will remain for a long time," von Essen said.