海角大神

Israel鈥檚 strategy of targeting Iranian leaders gathered pace. Airstrikes Tuesday killed Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran鈥檚 Supreme National Security Council and one of the country鈥檚 most powerful figures, as well as Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, head of a notorious militia. Iran responded by targeting Israel with multiple-warhead missiles, which have an increased chance of evading missile defense systems. Two people were killed east of Tel Aviv. Targeted assassination is essential to Israel鈥檚 plans for regime change in Iran. 鈥淚f we persist in this, we will give them a chance to take their fate into their own hands,鈥� Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.

A U.S. counterterrorism official resigned, citing the Iran war. Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote on X that he could not, 鈥渋n good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,鈥� and said previous wars in the Middle East 鈥渨ere a trap that robbed America.鈥� Mr. Kent is a Green Beret combat veteran. During his confirmation as director last summer and a preceding race for Congress in Washington state, Mr. Kent was scrutinized for his ties to right-wing extremists, including a member of the Proud Boys.

A Pakistani airstrike could escalate the conflict with Afghanistan. Officials in the Afghan capital Kabul said on Tuesday that an overnight strike carried out by Pakistan hit a drug rehab center, killing more than 400 people. The incident marks a major escalation in a conflict between the two countries that is now entering its third week. Pakistan denies that the facility was deliberately targeted. Pakistani officials accuse Afghanistan of providing safe haven to terrorists who have carried out attacks across the border inside Pakistan.
Our coverage: How Afghanistan-Pakistan relations deteriorated into 鈥榦pen war鈥�

The European Union proposed to pay for a pipeline repair in Ukraine. It seeks to convince Hungary to lift its veto of a $106 billion aid package for Ukraine. Tensions between the two countries have escalated since Russian oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline, which delivers to Hungary and Slovakia, halted in January. Ukrainian officials say the Ukraine portion of the pipeline was damaged by Russian attacks. Hungary and Slovakia have said Ukraine is delaying its reopening. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called repairing the pipeline tantamount to lifting sanctions on Russian oil.

Nebraska is fighting the largest wildfire in the state鈥檚 history. Four fires have collectively burned nearly 750,000 acres of grazing and forage land in central and western Nebraska. Warm temperatures, drought, and high winds have helped fuel the Morrill, Cottonwood, Anderson Bridge, and Road 203 fires in the state. Containment of the four fires ranged from 18% to 60% as of the evening of March 16. The Morrill Fire alone has burned grazing land for 35,000 cows. One person has been killed in the fires.

Amazon unveiled speedier delivery. The retailer announced one-hour delivery to hundreds of U.S. cities and three-hour delivery to more than 2,000 cities, suburbs, and towns. The push to speed shipments is driven by competition. Walmart and Costco offer same-day delivery through Instacart. Walmart鈥檚 Sam鈥檚 Club has same-day delivery to a 40-mile radius of the cities it serves. Amazon Prime members will pay $9.99 for the faster option.

鈥� Compiled by Monitor writers around the world

Israel鈥檚 killing of Ali Larijani, a pivotal Iranian leader, served only to escalate the crisis atmosphere that Iranians are feeling: How to cope and envision a future, while facing crushing U.S.-Israeli attacks and a rigid regime that sees protesters as 鈥渏ust like the enemy.鈥�

After nearly 2 1/2 years of intermittent war, with sirens, dashes to shelters, and sleepless nights 鈥� 鈥渢his madness that is our new normal鈥� 鈥� Israelis acknowledge war fatigue鈥檚 toll even as they want arch foe Iran to be defeated.

The U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran have had wide impacts on the Middle East and beyond. The attacks have also burned through a costly chunk of U.S. weapons stockpiles.

Across rural Nigeria, women cultivate most of the smaller land plots but rarely own them. The Hoomsen Women Farmers Shepwan Cooperative Society is quietly changing that 鈥� and creating a blueprint for expanding women鈥檚 land access in the country.

The Bernhard Goetz trial in New York grabbed national headlines at a time when crime was a major concern. Two books capture the social and legal fissures that the case laid bare.

For most of the four-year war in Ukraine, Russia鈥檚 trading partners in Africa have maintained a studied silence on the issue. These nations rely on Russia for crucial imports 鈥� especially the oil that fuels their modernization and the wheat that feeds their burgeoning populations.

But recently, civilians in several of these trade-dependent countries have pushed their governments to speak up about a much different, much murkier type of trade with Russia 鈥� the deceitful trafficking in humans who are forcibly thrown into the Russian battlefront in Ukraine.

Last month, families of Kenyan men allegedly duped into fighting for Russia held protests in Nairobi, as the government revealed that more than 1,000 citizens had been so recruited. 鈥淭hese are ... matters of human rights, national responsibility, and continental dignity,鈥� declared the Centre for Investigative Journalism in Zambia. 鈥淲hen African lives are treated as expendable labour or disposable combatants in a foreign conflict, governments have a duty to ask hard questions, and to act.鈥�

This week, Kenya鈥檚 foreign minister visited Moscow and announced that Russia has agreed to stop using Kenyans in its war in Ukraine.

According to the Switzerland-based investigative group Inpact, more than 1,400 Africans had contracted with the Russian army as of last September 鈥� and over 300 of them were killed within months of arriving at the front. Inpact described how Russia uses social media influencers and intermediaries to draw in Africans with promises of jobs or scholarships. On arrival, their passports are taken, they are forced to sign Russian-language contracts they don鈥檛 understand, and they are shipped to the front.聽

While human trafficking is a crime under international law, recruiting from third countries is not unusual to boost troop contingents. The number of recruits joining Russia鈥檚 military has been steadily dropping, most recently by 6% from 2024 to 2025. (Early in the war, North Korea sent 14,000 of its soldiers to fight alongside Russians, earning foreign exchange.) Nonnative fighters have also joined on the Ukrainian side 鈥� but they have done so 聽voluntarily.

Russia, on the other hand, 鈥渞elies on systematic deception鈥� and the exploitation of citizens facing 鈥渆conomic desperation鈥� and 鈥渨eak institutions,鈥� according to the Swedish publication Engelsberg Ideas.

However, 鈥淭he growth of Russia鈥檚 influence is not inevitable,鈥� analysts William Mockapetris and Ryan Jurich wrote encouragingly in The International Affairs Review last month. 鈥淎 comprehensive strategy to engage at-risk nations鈥� and 鈥渄ismantle trafficking networks鈥� can curb Russia, they said.

Despite economic and institutional challenges, African governments are stepping up. Kenya recently shut down more than 600 recruitment agencies suspected of duping applicants with promises of jobs overseas. And along with South Africa, Ghana, and Botswana, among others, Kenya is working to repatriate nationals 鈥� from Russia鈥檚 military ranks and from prisoner-of-war camps in Ukraine.

Preventive and restorative actions such as these are essential 鈥� and effective 鈥� in upholding individual dignity and national accountability.