approves

According to the UN, more than 1,800 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians – about five per day – were documented in 2025.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has approved the issuance of gun licences to Israelis in 18 additional illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, as the right-wing government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushes to expand illegal outposts that undermine prospects for a two-state solution.

“The importance of the decision lies in the fact that these settlements will now be able to submit applications for a personal weapon licence,” Ben-Gvir, a far-right minister, wrote on Telegram on Wednesday, claiming that the efforts were to “enhance self-defence and increase personal security”.

Israeli settlers have been emboldened by a wide-scale armament programme spearheaded at the start of Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip by Ben-Gvir, and the near-total impunity they enjoy when carrying out attacks.

Israelis living illegally in the occupied West Bank have been armed with military-grade weapons ranging from US-made M16s to pistols and drones. Israeli authorities maintain that holding arms is necessary for their safety, but local and international organisations have long documented the organised, forced displacement of Palestinians from their ancestral lands.

Last year, Israel formalised plans to develop the illegal E1 settlement project, and this year, it is expected to push forward the plan to expand settlements near Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and across Ramallah.

In December, another 19 settler outposts built without government approval were retroactively approved by Israel’s government as official settlements. In all, the number of settlements and outposts in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem has risen by nearly 50 percent since 2022 – from 141 to 210 now.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in 2024 that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and should come to an end “as rapidly as possible”.

In his statement, Ben-Gvir added that more than 240,000 Israelis have received gun permits since the expansion of the policy, compared with about 8,000 permits issued annually in previous years.

“An unprecedented number,” he said, adding that this contributed to “thwarting attacks, preventing infiltration, and stopping attackers even before security forces arrived”.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 1,800 settler attacks against Palestinians – about five per day – were documented in 2025, resulting in casualties or property damage in about 280 communities across the West Bank, and besting the previous year’s record of settler attacks by more than 350.

A total of 240 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 55 children, were killed by Israeli forces or settlers in 2025.

For eight months, the Los Angeles City Council and Mayor Karen Bass have butted heads over police hiring amid a budget crisis.

The conflict began last spring when the council voted to reduce LAPD hiring to 240 new police officers this budget year — just half the officers Bass had requested — in order to close the city’s $1 billion budget gap and stave off layoffs of other city employees, including civilian workers in the LAPD.

Last month, the council bumped the number of hires up to 280 after the LAPD said it had already hired its 240 allotted officers just halfway through the fiscal year. But the council still declined to fully fund up to 410 positions, which the mayor had called for in a letter.

On Wednesday, the council finally approved the hiring of up to 410 officers this year after hearing back from the city administrative officer that the money used to fund the positions this year will come from the LAPD’s budget, and not from the city’s general fund.

The hiring of the officers delivers a modest victory to Bass, who promised she would find the money for additional police hires when she signed the budget in June. Bass said the additional hires — which would bring the police force to around 8,555 officers by the end of the fiscal year — still would not match the number of officers lost through attrition this year.

“The second largest city in the United States cannot have an effective police department when it is operating with the lowest staffing levels in years,” she said. “And with only five months until Los Angeles welcomes tens of thousands of fans from around the world for the FIFA World Cup, investing in more police officers is critical to public safety.”

Still, the mayor’s victory comes after months of tension, with some council members questioning the fiscal wisdom of hiring more officers than the city budgeted for during a time of fiscal crisis.

“An overwhelming majority of us support additional… hiring,” said Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who chairs the council’s powerful Budget and Finance Committee. “My concern has been and continues to be the fiscal impact to next year.”

While Yaroslavsky said she would have preferred to stick to the original council plan of 240 hires this year, she thanked the city administrative officer and the police department for finding funds to hire the additional 130 officers for the rest of the fiscal year.

The motion to continue hiring up to 410 officers passed in a nine to three vote.

The funding for the hires, which is about $2.6 million in total for this fiscal year, will come from pots of money within the police department, including a tranche from the “accumulated overtime,” bucket, which is used to pay out overtime to officers who are retiring. The city found the $12 million allotted for that was not being fully drawn down this year.

Some on the council took issue with the additional hiring, saying the city did not know how it would pay for the ongoing cost of the hired officers, which will grow to about $25 million in the next fiscal year.

“How are we going to pay for the ongoing cost?” asked Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who voted against the new plan. “We are sort of back to where we were in December where we are committing ourselves to a $25 million price tag with no plan for where that’s going to come from.”

In a report, the city administrative officer said the $25 million should be found in “ongoing reductions with the Police Department” that would not result in layoffs to civilian staff at the department or take from the city’s general fund.

“This is robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said Councilmember Monica Rodriguez about the funding decision.

Police Chief Jim McDonnell, who attended the city council meeting, took issue with councilmembers criticizing the increased hiring.

“We’re working on a skeleton crew,” he said. “This department is doing amazing things for the residents of this city, but it doesn’t seem to be appreciated.”

Singapore’s Ministry of Defence plans to replace its fleet of Fokker 50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft with Boeing-made P-8A reconnaissance planes.

The United States has approved a $2.3bn weapons sale to Singapore that includes P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, lightweight torpedoes, and air defence systems.

The State Department notified the US Congress of the sale on Wednesday, according to a statement on the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) website.

The proposed sale will allow Singapore to “meet current and future threats by providing a credible maritime force capable of deterring adversaries and participating in US allied operations”, the DSCA said.

“This proposed sale will enhance the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a strategic partner that is an important force for political stability and economic progress in Asia,” the statement continued.

Ian Chong, a political scientist, told Al Jazeera that the patrol aircraft are used to protect Singapore’s “extended sea lanes of communication and its very busy waterways” in Southeast Asia.

The acquisition of four Boeing P-8A aircraft is part of Singapore’s long-term plan to replace its ageing fleet of Fokker 50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft, according to its Ministry of Defence.

Singapore Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing announced plans to buy the US aircraft in September, following a meeting with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon.

The US has $8.38bn in active government-to-government sales with Singapore, which range from munitions to F-35 fighter jets, according to the State Department.

Singapore is due to receive the first aircraft from its outstanding order of 20 F-35s later this year, according to its Defence Ministry.

The US and Singapore cooperate on a range of security issues, and their militaries regularly host joint training exercises.

The British government has given China approval to build the largest embassy in Europe in London eight years after Beijing bought the site.

The British government has given China approval to build the largest embassy in Europe in London eight years after Beijing bought the site.

Housing Minister Steve Reed’s decision to grant planning permission on Tuesday came before an expected visit to China by Prime Minister Keir Starmer later this month, the first by a British leader since 2018.

China’s plans to build a new embassy on the site of the two-century-old Royal Mint Court near the Tower of London have stalled for three years over opposition from residents, lawmakers and Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners in Britain.

Pro-democracy campaigners from Hong Kong fear Beijing could use the embassy to harass political opponents and even detain them, while nearby residents fear it could pose a security risk to them and attract large protests.

Politicians in Britain and the United States have warned the government against allowing China to build the embassy on the site over concerns that it could be used as a base for spying.

The future embassy could still face legal challenges as residents said they planned to challenge the approval in the courts.

Reed said the decision was now final, barring a successful challenge in court.

A government spokesperson said intelligence agencies had helped to develop a “range of measures … to manage any risks”.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis said China would continue to pose national security threats but added that after “detailed consideration of all possible risks around this new embassy … I am assured that the UK’s national security is protected”.

The Chinese government purchased the Royal Mint Court in 2018, but its requests for planning permission to build the new embassy there were rejected by the local council in 2022 over safety and security concerns.

Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping asked Starmer to intervene.

Starmer’s government had repeatedly postponed its decision in recent months after multiple cases of alleged Chinese spying and political interference underlined concerns about the proposed embassy.

In November, the domestic intelligence agency MI5 issued an alert to lawmakers warning that Chinese agents were making “targeted and widespread” efforts to recruit and cultivate them using LinkedIn or cover companies.

Beijing has strongly denied those claims, calling them “pure fabrication and malicious slander”.

Starmer has stressed that while protecting national security is nonnegotiable, Britain needs to keep up diplomatic dialogue and cooperation with the Asian superpower.

WASHINGTON – The austere House budget drafted by Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) that has come to define the Republican Party was approved Thursday on a strict party-line vote, as the GOP argues that a balanced budget should now be Washington’s top goal.

The blueprint is merely a proposal, without the force of law, but its overhaul of the Medicare program and steep reductions to other social safety net spending serves as the GOP’s opening salvo in renewed budget negotiations with President Obama. It was approved, 221 to 207, with no Democrats and 10 GOP defectors, largely conservatives or congressman in swing districts.

Republicans are anxious to reopen the debate over government spending with the White House even though some attribute the party’s setbacks in the November election to the plan from Ryan, the party’s former vice presidential nominee.

Ryan achieved the party’s goal of balancing the budget in 10 years, a promise House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) made to restive conservatives to win their votes on other matters.

To bring revenues and spending into balance by 2024, Ryan relied on deeply reducing federal spending as well as new revenue coming from the New Year’s tax deal that raised income tax rates on the wealthy.

The centerpiece of the GOP plan would turn Medicare into a voucher-like program for the next generation of seniors, those younger than 55. When they become eligible, at age 65, those seniors will be offered a voucher that can be applied either to the purchase of private health insurance or toward the cost of Medicare, though the voucher may not cover all the costs of the policy chosen.

The Ryan budget also cuts Medicaid, the health program for the poor and seniors in nursing homes, as well as food stamps, welfare programs and student loans, while largely preserving money for defense accounts.

While Ryan temporarily counts the tax hikes from the New Year, his plan would ultimately lower top tax income rates from 39.6% to no more than 25%, while closing loopholes and deductions. The top corporate rate would also be dropped to 25%. Ryan believes that lower taxes will spur economic growth and essentially pay for themselves; but critics say the lower rates cannot be achieved without asking middle-income families to give up popular income-tax deductions or else adding to the deficit.

Before approving the Ryan budget, the House dismissed alternative proposals, including one from the Democratic minority that sought to raise taxes on corporations and wealthier Americans, while putting that new revenue toward infrastructure and state jobs, as well as decreasing the deficit. Also rejected was a more conservative budget that would have balanced in four years, as well as proposals from the progressive caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus.

The Senate, which has not approved a budget in four years, is set to do so later this week. The blueprint from the Democrats is a similarly partisan document, and passage will put the House, Senate and White House on another collision course as they begin budget talks toward the next deadline, in summer, when Congress will be asked to raise the nation’s debt limit.

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lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

Twitter: @LisaMascaroinDC

The move opens key assets to private investment and comes as Petroperu faces mounting losses and debt.

Peru’s government has approved an emergency decree allowing private investment in parts of the state-owned oil company Petroperu, as authorities move to stabilise a firm weighed down by mounting losses and debt.

President Jose Jeri announced the decision shortly before the beginning of the new year.

The measure permits the reorganisation of Petroperu into one or more asset units, opening the door to private participation in key operations. That includes those at the flagship Talara refinery, which recently underwent a $6.5bn upgrade.

Beyond the refinery, Petroperu operates or holds concessions for six crude oil blocks with limited production, alongside a nationwide fuel distribution and marketing network.

In a statement, Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines said the decree seeks to “ensure compliance with financial obligations through technical management of its assets, laying the foundation for Petroperu to become a self-sustaining company”.

The ministry said the company’s financial position “is particularly sensitive”, citing accumulated losses of $479m between January and October 2025, as well as debts to suppliers totalling $764m through December.

Those figures come on top of reported losses of $774m in the previous year.

Petroperu’s financial strain has been compounded by debt linked to the Talara refinery modernisation, which ultimately cost double its original estimate and led to the company losing its investment-grade credit rating in 2022.

Since then, the government has repeatedly stepped in to support the firm, providing about $5.3bn in financing between 2022 and 2024.

The company, which is seen as crucial to Peru’s energy security, has also faced environmental scrutiny.

Authorities declared an “environmental emergency” and launched an investigation following an oil spill along a stretch of the country’s northern coastline in 2024, affecting an estimated 47 to 229 hectares (about 116 to 566 acres).

The Petroperu restructuring effort comes amid persistent political instability in Peru. Several presidents have failed to complete full terms in recent years, including Dina Boluarte, who was impeached by Congress in October.

Her successor, Jeri, has struggled to steady leadership at Petroperu, appointing three board chairs in just three months.

The move comes as Peru faces continuing political volatility, economic uncertainty and public pressure for stronger oversight of state institutions.