Riley is a writer and reporter for GZERO. When she isn’t writing about global politics, you can find her making GZERO’s crossword puzzles, conducting research on American politics, or persisting in her lifelong quest to learn French. Riley spends her time outside of work grilling, dancing, and wearing many hats (both literally and figuratively).
Palestinian Authority president pushes statehood in remote address to UN
Denied a US visa, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the UN General Assembly remotely from Ramallah, accusing Israel of “war crimes” and “genocide” in Gaza while rejecting Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and calling for the terrorist group to disarm. He claimed that the Palestinian Authority was ready to govern Gaza without Hamas, and said they are committed to “conducting presidential and parliamentary elections within a year after the end of the war.” His speech came as 10 Western nations joined roughly 150 others in recognizing Palestinian statehood this week, and after the Trump administration presented a plan for ending the war in Gaza on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders are threatening West Bank annexation and deepening their offensive in Gaza City. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will respond tomorrow morning when he addresses the General Assembly.
“Professional” drone intrusion at four Danish airports
In what Danish ministers are calling a “professional” and “systematic” act, drones were spotted at four regional airports in the Scandinavian country. Two of these airports are used by military aircraft. The intrusion comes days after drones incurred into the airspace of Copenhagen airport, the country’s largest. It’s not yet clear who is behind the move, but Europeans are asking whether Moscow was involved, given that Russian drones recently entered the respective airspaces of Estonia, Poland, and Romania. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen didn’t rule out Russian involvement in this latest action, and ministers refused to connect it as yet. Russia denied that it was involved.
The EU is about to get Czeched
Former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, a billionaire rightwing populist, is set for a triumphant return to power in Czechia’s upcoming general election. Babiš, who held power from 2017 to 2021, is ferociously anti-immigration, skeptical of support for Ukraine, and opposed to what he sees as EU encroachments on Czech sovereignty. With less than two weeks until election day, his ANO party leads the polls by more than 10 points over the current center-right governing coalition. His likely win will strengthen a Eurosceptic axis of former Eastern Bloc countries, complicating EU policy on immigration and Ukraine.