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Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) speaks during a marathon address from the US Senate floor on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.

US Senate TV via CNP/Sipa USA via Reuters

Hard Numbers: Booker sets record for longest Senate speech, Netanyahu and Orbán defy the ICC, Oz universities cut off Confucius, Argentina’s poverty plunges

25+: The Democrats may not have the White House or a majority in Congress, but one thing they do have, still, is words. Lots and lots of words. Words for days, even, as Democratic Sen. Cory Booker showed by taking to the podium on Monday with a broadside against Donald Trump that lasted more than 25 hours. The veteran lawmaker from New Jersey, a former football player, had vowed to stay up there as long as he was “physically able.” Before yielding the floor on Tuesday night, Booker broke the record for the longest Senate floor speech, surpassing one set in 1957 by the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, who filibustered against civil rights.

5: Benjamin Netanyahuleaves Wednesday on a five-day visit to Hungary. It’s the Israeli PM’s second trip abroad since the International Criminal Court last year issued an arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes in Gaza. In February, he visited the US. Hungary is an ICC member, but the country’s proudly “illiberal” PM Viktor Orban says he won’t honor the court’s warrant. In recent years, the right-winger Netanyahu has cultivated controversial ties with populist nationalist parties in Europe, including some with histories of overt antisemitism.

6: In recent years, half a dozen Australian universities have closed the Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes on their campuses. The CIs educate students about Chinese language, history, and culture. The moves come amid broader tensions between Australia and China, and they reflect fears that Beijing has used the institutes to spread pro-Chinese propaganda and cultivate possible intelligence assets.

38: Argentina’s poverty rate plunged from 53% to 38% last year. Analysts credit “anarcho-capitalist” president Javier Milei, who drastically slashed government spending to put the mismanaged economy on a more stable footing. After an initial bout of pain, those measures brought inflation down from nearly 300% to 70%, easing poverty as people’s spending power increased.

Israel Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben Gvir shake hands as the Israeli government approve Netanyahu's proposal to reappoint Itamar Ben-Gvir as minister of National Security, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusaelm, March 19, 2025

REUTERS/Oren Ben Hakoon

Israel gets “budget of war” amid new plans for Gaza and West Bank

Israel’s Knesset on Tuesday approved its 2025 budget by a vote of 66 to 52, days before a March 31 deadline that would have otherwise triggered an election. Described as a “budget of war, and with God’s help … a budget of victory,” by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the bill includeda 21% increase in spending over 2024, with a record defense budget of 110 billion shekels (US$30 billion) out of a total budget of 756 billion (US$205 billion).
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Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa talks to attendees during a national dialogue in Damascus, Syria, February 25, 2025.

REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Israel turns the screws on Syria's new leader

Israel this week conducted a fresh wave of airstrikes on southern Syria, just a day after Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for an Israel-controlled “security zone” in the south of the country.

The context: Ever since jihadist militias led by al-Sharaa overthrew the Assad regime in December, Israel has moved aggressively to neutralize any new security threats from its old foe. Right after Assad fell, Israel struck dozens of Syrian military targets and sent IDF troops several miles into Syria to establish a “buffer zone.”

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U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands after speaking to reporters before their meeting at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on May 22, 2017.

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Is Trump targeting Netanyahu?

President-elect Donald Trump raised eyebrows this week by sharing a video clip on his Truth Social account that shows economist Jeffrey Sachs trashing Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The edited two-minute-long video shows Sachs accusing Netanyahu of manipulating Washington into involvement in Middle East wars the US should have avoided.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024.

REUTERS/Amir Cohen

ICC warrants for Bibi, Gallant will test respect for international law

The International Criminal Court on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of “crimes against humanity and war crimes” in Gaza — including using “starvation as a method of warfare” and “intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.”

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024.

REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Will Netanyahu survive the Gaza leak scandal?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in hot water (again). An aide to Netanyahu has been arrested over a leak of classified documents that an Israeli court says may have compromised efforts to release hostages in Gaza and threatened national security.

The court partially lifted a gag order on Sunday that revealed the aide as Eliezer Feldstein, a spokesperson in Netanyahu’s office.

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Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, August 19, 2024.

Reuters

Blinken urges Netanyahu to ‘capitalize’ on Hamas leader’s death

The FBI on Tuesday announced it’s investigating a leak of US intelligence documents that offer details on Israel’s potential plans for retaliation against Iran over its missile attack earlier this month. The highly classified documents were shared on an Iran-linked Telegram account.

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Palestinians walk during the evacuation of the Jabalia refugee camp and the Sheikh Radwan and Abu Iskandar neighborhoods in the northern Gaza Strip on October 12, 2024.

Mahmoud Issa/Reuters

Israel’s "generals’ plan" for northern Gaza could worsen already dire humanitarian situation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a plan to empty northern Gaza of civilians, seal the area off as a military zone, cut off aid, and starve out the remaining Hamas militants. The proposal, put forward by retired generals, is being called the “generals’ plan.”

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