Over 200,000 people protested across Italy on Friday in a nationwide strike supporting the Gaza aid flotilla. Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and blocked trains, ports, and highways in cities from Milan to Naples, where tens of thousands marched. Unions accused Rome of failing to press Israel to lift its blockade on aid reaching Gaza, which the UN says has created famine conditions. Opposition leader Elly Schlein demanded an arms embargo against Israel and the official recognition of a Palestinian state. But Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni branded the flotilla “dangerous” and dismissed the strike by joking that "long weekends and revolution do not go together."
Australia has announced a $16 billion defense boost after Chinese naval drills off its eastern coast underscored the limits of relying on remote geography for security. The spending marks the country’s largest increase since World War II, and comes amid US pressure for allies to raise defense outlays. Australia is planning to spend more than $500bn on its military over the next decade. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to meet Donald Trump on October 20, where defense spending and Indo-Pacific security will top the agenda.
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As the war intensifies, chances of a clean exit from Iran are slipping further out of reach for President Trump. Brookings Institution's Thomas Wright joins Ian Bremmer to unpack the crisis and outline possible endgame scenarios.
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175: The number of people killed at an Iranian girls’ school in a strike on Feb. 28. Initial intelligence reports suggest that the US was to blame for the strike, per the New York Times, after the military used a now-defunct set of coordinates to deploy the hit.