At least 100 Russians asked for help from President Vladimir Putin on Monday in a city struck by the worst flooding ever recorded, chanting “shame on you” at local officials who they said had done too little to help their plight.

Russia declared an emergency in the Orenburg region near Kazakhstan after the Ural River, Europe’s third longest river, swelled several meters in hours on Friday, and burst through a dam embankment in the city of Orsk.

Swathes of Orsk, a city of 230,000 about 1,800 km (1,100 miles) east of Moscow, have been left submerged.

Late on Monday, Tass news agency quoted the press service of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry as saying flood waters in Orsk had subsided 9 cm (3.5 inches) over a two-hour period. The service warned, however, that “the situation remains difficult, though water levels have begun to come down a bit in some areas.”

People had earlier come out in front of the local administration in Orsk, some chanting “shame on you, shame on you” and “Putin help,” according to video footage from the scene published by local media.

With their properties either destroyed or severely damaged, some are unhappy with the compensation offered by authorities. Some are also unhappy that the dam embankment built in 2010 was unable to defend their city.

Orenburg Governor Denis Pasler spoke to a resident group in Orsk and said it was easy to apportion blame and turn into some sort of “unruly crowd” but that many residents had tried to help the rescue efforts and been true patriots.

“Amid the problems, other people, unfortunately, have started to appear,” Pasler said, adding he had not changed his clothes or slept for days. He called for unity.

Orenburg’s regional prosecutor cautioned citizens against taking part in mass meetings.

“Please take note that this mass event has not been coordinated with the authorities in accordance with the procedure established by law,” the prosecutor said.

After the dam embankment in Orsk was breached, Putin ordered Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov to visit the area and has held several online meetings with governors of the affected regions, including Orenburg, Kurgan and Tyumen.

Some residents were angered by Kurenkov’s remarks that locals had ignored an order to evacuate a week ago. Russian media said the evacuation only began on April 5.

Another part of the dam collapsed on Monday, drone images from state news agency Tass showed. The video showed swathes of the city appeared to be a vast lake with houses submerged up to their roofs.

Widespread flooding

More than 10,400 homes across Russia have been flooded, with the Urals, Siberia, the Volga and central regions the worst hit.

The Ural River rises in the Ural Mountains and flows into the Caspian Sea. In Orenburg, a city of more than half a million down river from Orsk, the peak is expected there on Wednesday, Russia’s emergency ministry said.

Video from Orsk showed one man wading through flood water reaching his neck. He held his keys in his mouth and a black cat above his head.

An emergency was also declared in Tyumen region, one of Russia’s key oil producing areas of Western Siberia, Governor Alexander Moor said.

Rising water was forecast in Siberia’s Ishim and Tobol rivers, tributaries of the Irtysh river, which along with its parent, the Ob, forms the world’s seventh longest river system.

The mayor of Orenburg, Sergei Salmin, said the Ural River was expected to break the previous record of 9.46 meters. It is currently 8.93 meters.

“Absolutely everyone who is in the flood zone needs to leave their homes,” Salmin said. “Do not delay the evacuation! The situation will only get worse in the next two days.”

Tass said the governor of Kurgan region, Vadim Shumkov, issued a video late on Monday saying that 50 localities in his region, northeast of Orenburg, were likely to be flooded.

“To all those who live in all settlements along the floodplain of the Tobol River – evacuate. Do not wait for the arrival of water. It will come at night and unexpectedly, arriving quickly, in the form of a large wave,” said Shumkov.

He said the central part of the city of Kurgan, a city of more than 300,000, would be flooded along with other districts.

It was not immediately clear why this year’s floods were so bad as the snow melt is an annual event in Russia.

Federal investigators opened a criminal case for negligence and the violation of safety rules over the construction of the embankment dam in Orsk, which prosecutors said had not been maintained properly.

Palestinians forced from their homes in Khan Younis by Israel’s military offensive have begun returning in small numbers to the southern Gaza city following the withdrawal of Israeli forces, with many arriving to find their former neighborhoods looking like wasteland.

The Israeli military on Sunday said it had withdrawn its ground forces from Khan Younis after months of fierce fighting in what it described as a major Hamas stronghold. Much of the city, once home to hundreds of thousands of people, has been bulldozed and the video shows the frames of homes completely ripped up alongside roads strewn with rubble and debris.

It shows the returning residents retrieving what few things they can salvage; mattresses, carpets, kitchen containers and blocks of wood. Some children carry sofas and chairs over their backs.

“This is what has become of Gaza,” says one man, driving through the rubble with his motorbike.

Other former residents traveled in on foot, some on bicycles, some on pickup trucks and some on the back of donkeys.

‘Devastation everywhere’

Perched atop a dusty rug with her back resting on a large cushion, 12-year-old Aseel points to a pile of rubble in front of her where she says her home used to be.

“There it was, it’s destroyed,” she says.

“Our house is gone. We managed to grab some pieces of furniture [but] we were only able to retrieve small things from our house. I wish I could’ve gotten my clothes.”

Another Palestinian youth, Tamar, is carrying pieces of wood.

“I’ll go sell them to make 10 to 20 shekels, so that I never have to extend my hand out and beg for money from people,” he explains.

He didn’t recognize his house when he first returned, Tamar says. “If it weren’t for my neighbors, I wouldn’t have known it was my house. Devastation everywhere,” he says.

The vast majority of buildings in the footage, including homes, offices and mosques, have been significantly damaged and many are entirely flattened.

On Monday, the European Hospital in Gaza said the bodies of 46 Palestinians had been recovered following the Israeli withdrawal from Khan Younis, most of them “found dead under the rubble of demolished buildings.”

Those buildings that are still standing are covered in soot and riddled with bullet holes and artillery damage.

Piles of empty bullet shells and the remnants of at least one mortar lie on the ground.

“My house got completely destroyed. It was three stories, and now it’s one with the ground. I wasn’t left with any memories. Just like everyone here. They destroyed the area in a barbaric and intended way,” says another former resident, Saad.

Mahmoud Ahmad, an elderly man, stands inside his destroyed home, reduced to only a frame. He points to areas that used to be rooms, recounting what used to be where and what he has lost.

“That was my washing machine, they burned it, the Israelis. I had a nice little sitting area here, it’s all gone. That was my fridge, look, the door is removed. This was the kitchen. There’s nothing left.”

‘They destroyed us’

Throughout the footage in Khan Younis, Israeli drones can be heard buzzing overhead, as can occasional gunshots.

Graffitied on the walls of what appears to be the office of a telecoms company are Stars of David and anti-Arab profanities written in English.

“Gaza belongs to the Jews,” reads a marking in Arabic on the wall inside a torn up building.

Before the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, Khan Younis – Gaza’s second-largest city – had been home to more than 400,000 people, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Interior.

In the early days of the war, the city was a haven for thousands of Palestinian civilians fleeing Israeli military operations in the north of Gaza.

But when Israeli forces began an assault on Khan Younis in early December, those living there were forced to seek refuge further south.

More than a million Palestinians are now sheltering in dire humanitarian conditions in the southern city of Rafah, where Israel is also planning an offensive.

Even for those now able to return to Khan Younis, there is little solace to be found.

He says that while he was sheltering in Rafah he spent his time reading and writing because he knew he wouldn’t be able to go back to school.

“How are we going to learn now?” he asks. “There’s no more life. Our childhood is gone. They destroyed us.”

Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with top Russian diplomat Sergey Lavrov in Beijing Tuesday, state media reported, in yet another sign of the importance China gives to its increasingly robust ties with Moscow.

Lavrov is making a two-day visit to the Chinese capital, which comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin last month suggested he was considering China for his first overseas trip after extending his one-man rule with a stage-managed election victory last month.

State media did not immediately release further details of the meeting.

The meeting between Lavrov and Xi is their first in six years and notable as heads of state do not necessarily meet with visiting ministers. Their last meeting in 2018 came weeks before a state visit from Putin to China — his first such trip after winning another highly orchestrated Russian presidential election that year.

Since then, the two countries have ramped up their economic, trade and diplomatic relations – including in the wake of Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Beijing claims neutrality in the conflict but has emerged as a key economic lifeline for the isolated Russian economy and a staunch diplomatic partner for Moscow as both push back against what they see as containment from the West.

When a Russian lawmaker last month expressed his hope that Putin’s symbolic first overseas trip of his new term would be to China, Putin said he would take that “into account.” The Kremlin has yet to confirm any travel plans.

Putin last visited Beijing in October for the Belt and Road Forum. Xi made a state visit to Moscow last March after entering his third term as Chinese president.

Lavrov also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier Tuesday.

Wang touted the countries’ ties as being elevated to “the highest level in history,” and alluded to their shared views on the United States by saying they would “oppose a Cold War mentality,” according to comments made during a joint news conference following their meeting, cited by Chinese state media.

The two sides discussed the war in Ukraine and agreed that international meetings on Ukraine ignoring Moscow’s interests “are futile,” Lavrov told the conference, according to Russian state news agency Tass.

Wang told his counterpart that China supports holding an international peace conference “recognized by both Russia and Ukraine,” with “equal participation by all parties and where all peace plans are discussed fairly,” according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

The remarks come as questions continue to mount about how to end the war in Ukraine.

Previous rounds of international peace conferences have been backed by Kyiv and not included Moscow, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky seeks broad support for his peace formula, which calls for the complete withdrawal of Russian troops.

China has maintained dialogue with Switzerland about an upcoming international peace conference, according to state media, but previously said such talks should be recognized by both Ukraine and Russia.

Religious authorities in Malaysia have stepped up moral policing efforts during the holy month of Ramadan in what critics warn has been part of a wider recent shift toward a more conservative form of Islam in the multi-racial and culturally diverse nation.

Ramadan, regarded as the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, is celebrated by Muslims around the world who abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual acts during daylight hours and break their fast after sundown.

It is a month of deep spiritual reflection and celebration with friends and family – but can also be far from easy, as anyone who has tried fasting can attest.

In many parts of Malaysia, Muslims caught eating or drinking during daytime hours can find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Around 20.6 million of Malaysia’s 34 million-strong population are Muslims, but the country is also home to sizeable ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities that include Buddhists, Christians and Hindus, as well as indigenous communities.

Under the country’s unusual dual track legal system, which is also federal and varies from state to state, Muslims are subject to sharia law on a host of social issues including marriage, divorce and fasting.

Religious police tend to ramp up their presence during Ramadan, activists note, which ends later this week, patrolling the streets more visibly and staking out at popular eateries – sometimes in disguise – to catch those breaching the rules.

Those caught eating or drinking during daytime hours face fines of up to 1,000 Malaysian Ringgit (about $200) and prison terms of up to a year. Non-Muslims caught selling food, drinks or tobacco to Muslims during fasting hours are also subject to penalties.

Arrest figures have not yet been released for this year but in 2023, religious officials in the state of Malacca, a major tourist destination, recorded nearly 100 arrests of Muslims caught eating in public during the fasting month, an increase from 41 arrests the previous year, they said.

This year, more than 10 “hotspots” were identified throughout the state, said the chairman of its Islamic Religious Department, JAIM.

Rahmad Mariman announced that “frequent monitoring and inspections” were being carried out at popular bars, restaurants, malls and parks. “Through these operations, JAIM enforcement officers will detain Muslims found eating in public and will not hesitate to take action against traders involved in selling food to them,” Mariman said in a statement.

Up north in the state of Perak, JAIM’s counterpart, the Gerik Islamic Religious Department (JAIPK), took to TikTok to share videos of inspections and fasting raids religious officers had conducted throughout March.

In one video, set against a spaghetti western soundtrack, JAIPK officers wearing their distinctive black and white uniforms and reflective vests were seen arriving at an open-air eatery in the town of Gerik during the day to question restaurant staff and catch Muslims buying food.

One man wearing a blue motorcycle helmet, whose face is pixelated in the video, was seen fleeing the restaurant with a plastic bag of food.

“This was not a reenactment by professionals. It is an actual video of what took place during our recent operations,” JAIPK wrote in a caption accompanying its TikTok video, which went viral – racking up more than 1.7 million views and continuing to draw thousands of comments since it was uploaded on March 15.

‘Heightened tensions’

Like much of South and Southeast Asia, Malaysia has historically practiced a moderate form of Islam but religious conservatism has been on the rise in recent years.

At the forefront of this shift, experts say, is the ultra-conservative hardline Islamist political party PAS, which made historic gains during Malaysia’s 2023 general election and wields great influence in its stronghold conservative states in the north.

PAS party leader Hadi Awang, also a religious teacher, regularly expresses his support for harsher sharia laws.

“It is our responsibility to protect and preserve the name of Islam during this important time,” said the male officer, who declined to be named as he was not authorized to speak with international media.

But not all cases result in arrests, he also stressed. “It is also important that we show compassion, especially on very hot days when we see people drinking water – sometimes it can’t be helped.”

Moral policing during Ramadan is a longstanding issue in the country, according to Malaysian women’s rights group Sisters in Islam, which advocates against religious policing and points to another controversial area of concern – “khalwat” laws.

Also known as “close proximity laws”, they vary from state to state and are part of the civil sharia legislation that only applies to Muslims. They are used to prosecute unmarried couples deemed to be overly close to each other.

On March 8, religious police raided a luxury condominium in the capital Kuala Lumpur and arrested two actors, a married male and a single female, under these laws, a move that generated significant local media coverage.

Complaints were made to the state religious department, media reports said, and the scandal caused a national stir – drawing scorn from conservative politicians and prompting public apologies from the celebrities.

“These acts of moral policing violate personal freedoms and paint a distorted image of Islam and raises important questions,” said SIS spokeswoman Ameena Siddiqi.

It is also common practice during Ramadan for public schools in Malaysia to shut their canteens, leaving limited options to eat and rest during the day, Siddiqi notes.

“This has led to instances where non-Muslim students are forced to ‘respect’ their fasting peers and eat their recess meals in toilets,” Siddiqi said, adding sensitivities around fasting add to “heightened tensions.”

“Restaurants and eateries have refused to serve food to pregnant women during Ramadan, which goes against the very essence of Islam,” Siddiqi added.

Anisah Mahmood, a 42-year-old mother of two from Kuala Lumpur now living in London, said she was suspended by her company in 2018 after she was caught eating in public. She was breastfeeding at the time.

“There are valid reasons for not fasting, mostly medical,” she said. “But this is severely misunderstood in Malaysia, even if you are tired or sick, you will be shamed and made to feel like a bad person.”

The issue of shuttered school canteens has been hotly debated over the years and was recently revived in parliament by Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek.

Non-Muslim students, she argued, “should not be forced to eat in storerooms or other inappropriate places” during Ramadan “when canteens are available.”

Her comments drew criticism from PAS.

“We think it’s common today that everyone respects those who are fasting and the children that are still learning to fast,” PAS lawmaker Haji Ahmad Bin Yahaya, said in a statement shared online.

For those who struggle to fast or adhere to the rigors of the faith they were born with, Ramadan can be a stressful time.

Yusuf, a Malay Muslim man in his 30s who lives in the southern state of Johor, recalled how he was caught buying food during Ramadan by religious police in 2019.

He asked not to publish his full name and age given the sensitivities of the topic.

“No one likes to admit when they don’t fast – especially if they are in Malaysia,” he said.

“I try to fast and try to be consistent, but it gets mentally taxing and can feel almost impossible when all you want is coffee and a cigarette to help get you through the day.”

Ukraine “will lose the war” if the United States Congress does not approve military aid to help it resist Russia’s invasion, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“It’s important to specifically address the Congress: if the Congress doesn’t help Ukraine, Ukraine will lose the war,” Zelensky said Sunday during a video meeting of the Ukrainian fund-raising group UNITED24.

“If Ukraine loses this war, other countries will be attacked. This is a fact,” he said.

Zelensky’s warning, among his starkest since the war began more than two years ago, comes as Congress has for months refused to pass a package of aid for Ukraine, leaving Kyiv to battle manpower and ammunition shortages while an emboldened Russia pounds Ukraine’s cities with missiles and tests for weak spots along the front line.

The US Senate passed a $95.3 billion foreign aid bill with assistance for Ukraine and Israel in February, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has so far refused to hold a vote on passing the package for Ukraine.

When Russia launched its invasion in February 2022, it thought it would take Kyiv in days and the rest of the country in weeks. In what proved to be a disastrous miscalculation for Moscow, Ukraine repelled the initial assault on its capital and, later in 2022, reclaimed some of the territories overrun by Russia.

The frontlines have since been largely static, with Russia continuing to occupy around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory. Despite optimism that Ukraine could reclaim more of its occupied territories, its counteroffensive in the summer of 2023 failed to significantly pierce Russia’s defenses. Ukraine’s then-Commander in Chief conceded the war had entered a “stalemate.”

Since the start of this year, Russia – enjoying a huge advantage in manpower and technology – has attempted to seize the initiative, bombarding Ukraine’s cities with missiles and forcing Ukraine to retreat from the eastern town of Avdiivka.

“Russia is conducting probing attacks along the front line. It is trying to advance where it can. And it is preparing what seems to be a future offensive down the road,” he said.

While European countries have tried to replace US aid, Gady said there was “no substitute” for the support Washington can provide.

“This year, Ukraine really needs US support. There’s certain weapons systems, certain logistical support which the European countries simply cannot provide to Ukraine” such as air defense systems, he said.

Also on Sunday, Zelensky warned that “in the coming weeks Russia will be more and more insistent on dragging nuclear weapons into the debate, threatening, playing with this matter.”

In a separate post on X, he thanked UNITED24’s ambassadors for “continuing to draw US attention to the Ukrainian people’s fight for freedom and independence.”

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine was damaged Sunday in a drone attack, the International Atomic Energy Agency said, calling the strike “a serious incident (with) potential to undermine integrity of the reactor’s containment system.”

In a statement posted to X, the IAEA stressed that the damage at the Russian-controlled facility “has not compromised nuclear safety.”

The drone attack included three direct hits against the facility’s main reactor containment, the agency’s director-general, Rafael Grossi, said on X. One person died as a result of the attack, he added.

“This is a clear violation of the basic principles for protecting Europe’s largest (nuclear power plant). Such reckless attacks significantly increase the risk of a major nuclear accident and must cease immediately,” Grossi said.

Russian authorities accused the Ukrainian military of carrying out a series of attacks against the plant using “self-exploding” drones, according to a statement posted on ZNPP’s official Telegram channel.

A truck unloading food was damaged, and another hit was registered in the cargo port area of the facility, according to the ZNPP statement.

“Shelling of Zaporizhzhia NPP and its infrastructure is unacceptable. No nuclear power plant in the world is designed to withstand full-fledged fire from the armed forces.
Damage to infrastructure facilities may affect the safe operation of the NPP,” the statement added, using an acronym for the nuclear power plant.

Following Russia’s accusations, Ukraine denied any involvement in the attack, the spokesperson for the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, told Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda.

“The aggressor state is once again endangering the nuclear facility, civilians and the environment of the whole of Europe,” Yusov said, according to Ukrayinska Pravda.

“No one can conceivably benefit or get any military or political advantage from attacks against nuclear facilities. This is a no go. I firmly appeal to military decision makers to abstain from any action violating the basic principles that protect nuclear facilities,” Grossi said.

Ecuador is facing outrage after storming the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, a controversial figure who had been seeking asylum there.

The late Friday night arrest of Glas prompted Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to order the immediate suspension of diplomatic ties with Quito.

In a post on X, Obrador called the act a “flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Mexico.”

The breach of diplomatic convention has sent shockwaves through the region, with Latin American leaders from across the political spectrum condemning the incident.

Under diplomatic norms, embassies are considered protected spaces.

It marks the culmination of a series of diplomatic provocations between Mexico and Ecuador this week.

Glas has since been transferred to a maximum-security prison in Guayaquil known as La Roca, Ecuadorean authorities said.

The diplomatic staff of the Mexican embassy in Quito and their families arrived in Mexico City on Sunday after leaving Ecuador, according to the Mexican Foreign Ministry.

The group of 18 people boarded a commercial flight earlier Sunday. Officials from what Mexico called “friendly and allied countries” accompanied them to the airport in Quito.

“We thank the ambassadors of Germany, Panama, Cuba, Honduras, the president of the Ecuador-Mexico Chamber and the rest of the diplomatic staff for their solidarity with the people of Mexico!” the Mexican Foreign Ministry said.

Mexico added that its embassy in Ecuador will remain closed indefinitely, as will its consular services. Mexicans in Ecuador can still get help through a communications system for nationals abroad and from the Mexican embassies in Chile, Colombia and Peru.

Glas served under leftist ex-President Rafael Correa between 2013 and 2017. He had most recently been accused by Ecuadorian authorities of embezzling government funds meant to help rebuild after a devastating 2016 earthquake.

Following his arrest, a host of Latin American countries – including regional giants Brazil and Argentina – rallied around Mexico to condemn Ecuador. Several pointed to a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the international treaty that defines a framework for relations between countries.

Some also pointed to a breach of Glas’s right to asylum. Nicaragua has joined Mexico in severing diplomatic ties with Ecuador.

The right-wing Argentinian government called for “full observance of the provisions of that international instrument as well as the obligations arising from the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”

Left-wing Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Glas’s right to asylum was “barbarically violated,” while Honduras President Xiomara Castro said the assault on the embassy “constitutes an intolerable act for the international community.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres was “alarmed” by the raid, his spokesperson said.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the Secretary-General, said Guterres reaffirmed “the cardinal principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises and personnel.”

Glas, 54, was arrested late Friday night. He has said he is the subject of political persecution and had been sheltering inside the embassy.

Video from the scene showed police officers massing around the embassy, some armed.

At a news conference Saturday, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld defended the raid, saying the action was taken “in the face of a real risk of imminent escape.”

Sommerfeld also accused Mexico of violating the principle of non-intervention by letting Glas stay in the embassy and evade an order to appear regularly before authorities in a corruption probe.

She dismissed Mexico’s claim that Glas was being politically prosecuted, saying: “For Ecuador, no criminal can be considered a politically persecuted person when he has been convicted with an enforceable sentence and with an arrest warrant issued by the judicial authorities.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

The Israeli military said it has withdrawn its ground forces from Khan Younis in southern Gaza after months of fierce fighting.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday that its 98th division had “concluded its mission” in Khan Younis. The division was leaving the Gaza Strip to “recuperate and prepare for future operations.”

The IDF added that “a significant force led by the 162nd division and the Nahal brigade continues to operate in the Gaza strip, and will preserve the IDF’s freedom of action and its ability to conduct precise intelligence based operations.”

An Israeli brigade typically has roughly a few thousand troops, but it remains unclear precisely how many Israeli troops have withdrawn from Gaza.

As of January, the 98th division was the military’s biggest-ever division, as it was specifically bolstered to fight Hamas in Khan Younis.

IDF Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said at a news conference Sunday the military is “far from stopping” its operations in the Gaza Strip following the withdrawal.

“We will not leave any Hamas brigades active – in any part of the Gaza Strip. We have plans and will act when we decide,” he said, adding that the military’s goals in Gaza have not been fully achieved, including the return of all hostages, the return of displaced residents to the north and the dismantling of Hamas throughout Gaza.

In response to a question about the effect of the military’s withdrawal of ground forces from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Halevi said, “the military wing of Hamas is deterred, the vast majority of its battalions are dismantled and lost their capabilities. That military framework, which had many capabilities, is currently running as small terrorist cells.”

Halevi reiterated that the IDF has not left the Gaza Strip and that there are “many troops at this very hour” in the strip.

“This is a long war; we can’t maintain the same (extent of) troop deployment,” he said, adding, “many achievements are yet to come on our way to the victory.”

It’s unclear what the withdrawal means for Israel’s plans to invade Rafah, the southernmost part of Gaza that has become a shelter for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Israel has said an incursion into Rafah is essential to achieve its goal of eliminating Hamas from Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Sunday that the troops were leaving Gaza to prepare for follow-up missions, including in the Rafah region.

“The troops exit and prepare ahead of their follow-up missions. We saw examples of such missions in action in Shifa. And also for their follow-up mission in the Rafah region,” Gallant said in remarks during his visit to the military’s Southern Command.

“We are reaching a situation where Hamas does not control the Gaza Strip and that it does not function as a military framework that poses a risk to the citizens of the State of Israel,” Gallant said, noting that he has completed a situational assessment of the IDF Southern Command as its forces are pulling out of Khan Younis.

The defense minister added that Israeli forces in Khan Younis were successful in destroying “enemy targets, warehouses, weapons, underground [infrastructure], headquarters [and] communication rooms.”

Speaking to ABC’s “The Week,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said it was unlikely the move was sign of some incoming new operation but rather a “rest and refit.”

“They’ve been on the ground for four months. The word we’re getting is they’re tired, they need to be refit.”

The US is Israel’s major ally but has been pressuring the country to do more to protect civilians and allow in aid.

In a call this week between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden told Netanyahu to take steps to address the crisis or face consequences.

The IDF began its campaign against Hamas in Gaza’s north soon after the October 7 attacks that killed about 1,200 people. Early in the war, the Israeli military designated Khan Younis as a safer zone and told residents from northern Gaza to seek shelter there.

But as the IDF increasingly switched its focus to the south, the city became a battleground.

On December 1, the Israeli military launched a massive air raid operation on Khan Younis, dropping leaflets into the city telling residents to immediately evacuate.

The IDF says the city is a Hamas stronghold, adding that the tunnel network underneath civilian buildings in the city was likely where Hamas planned the October 7 attacks from. The city is the hometown of Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

The day has finally arrived. After a nearly seven-year wait, it’s time for a total solar eclipse to create a celestial spectacle in the skies over the United States as well as parts of Mexico and Canada.

An estimated 32 million people across the US live within the path of totality, or locations where the moon will completely block the face of the sun from view for a few moments.

The eclipse will first appear over the South Pacific Ocean and begin its journey across North America. Mexico’s Pacific coast is the first point of totality on the path, expected at 11:07 a.m. PT (2:07 p.m. ET), and the eclipse is expected to end on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland at 5:16 p.m. local time (3:46 p.m. ET). Check to see what the eclipse will look like and when it will appear over your area using our map.

Those squarely along the center line of the path will see an eclipse that lasts between 3 ½ and 4 minutes, according to NASA.

In the US, a total solar eclipse will be visible for those in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, although weather threatens to spoil the fun for some.

A partial solar eclipse, where the moon appears to take a crescent-shaped “bite” out of the sun, will be visible for those outside the path of totality.

Remember to grab a pair of certified eclipse glasses or a solar viewer to watch the skies safely; it isn’t safe to view any phase of an eclipse, except for when the moon completely block’s the sun’s light, without proper eye protection. And sunglasses, or multiple pairs of sunglasses, won’t cut it. The biggest risk of looking at the sun without the dark filter of eclipse glasses or solar viewers is permanent eye damage known as solar retinopathy. This condition can improve or worsen over time, but it can’t be treated.

Worried that your eclipse glasses could be counterfeit? There’s an easy way to test for that problem. And if your eclipse glasses aren’t safe, or you’re worried about children removing their glasses, make an easy pinhole projector to join in the eclipse fanfare.

Special eclipse moments

While totality is considered to be the most exciting part of a total solar eclipse, there are other special phases to watch for before the big moment arrives.

Apart from the weeks and months of anticipation leading up to the eclipse, the longest phase of the event is the partial eclipse, as the moon slowly moves over the sun. This phase can last from 70 to 80 minutes.

But a great cue for spectators will be when the skies start to darken and turn an eerie gray color, about 15 to 20 minutes before totality.

Then, several phases happen in quick succession just before the sun’s light completely disappears from view.

Look for drops of sunlight to form around the moon, known as Baily’s beads, as sunlight streams over the craters and valleys of the lunar surface. After about 30 seconds to a minute, some of those drops will appear to merge together, creating a glistening “diamond ring” effect. After about another minute, the moon will seem to move completely in front of the sun, and only a white halo of light will be visible as totality begins.

The luminous glow belongs to the sun’s corona, or hot outer atmosphere, and its faint light is only visible when the sun’s ultrabright surface is blocked. Astronomers are eager to study the corona with a number of experiments, including high-altitude research planes, to better understand fine structures within it and why the corona is millions of degrees hotter than the surface of the sun.

While totality is the main event, a few dots of light may also be visible in the sky near the eclipse, belonging to Jupiter, Venus, Mars and the faint light from Saturn.

The horned “devil comet,” or Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, will likely be too faint to be seen without a telescope or binoculars — but the eclipse is the key moment to watch Monday anyway, according to astronomers.

During the ephemeral darkness of the total eclipse, some daytime animals may fall silent, while nocturnal creatures such as crickets may begin to chirp and stir. Scientists are eager to study why animals behave unusually during the brief moments of eclipses, and the public is invited to participate in some of the research taking place Monday.

And expect the local temperature to drop briefly during those few moments of totality.

A diamond ring effect will be visible on the other side of the moon as totality ends, followed by Baily’s beads, and then a partial eclipse as the temporary alignment of the sun, moon and Earth, known as syzygy, comes to an end.

When will the next eclipse occur?

After the total solar eclipse ends, it’s a bit of a wait for the next such celestial sightings in the United States.

Those living in Alaska will catch a glimpse of a total solar eclipse on March 30, 2033, and a partial solar eclipse will shine over most of the US during that event.

A total solar eclipse won’t be visible again from the contiguous US until August 22, 2044, but totality will only occur over North Dakota and Montana, plus northern Canada.

However, the next total solar eclipse with a coast-to-coast path spanning the Lower 48 states will occur on August 12, 2045. The path of totality will arc over California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, with a partial eclipse visible across other states.

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Authorities in the Russian Republic of Chechnya have announced a ban on music that they consider too fast or slow.

Minister of Culture Musa Dadayev announced the decision to limit all musical, vocal and choreographic compositions to a tempo ranging from 80 to 116 beats per minute (BPM) at a meeting Friday, the Russian state new agency TASS reported.

“(I) have announced the final decision, agreed with the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov, that from now on all musical, vocal and choreographic works must correspond to a tempo of 80 to 116 beats per minute,” Dadayev said, according to TASS.

Under Kadyrov’s directive, the region now ensures that Chechen musical and dance creations align with the “Chechen mentality and musical rhythm,” aiming to bring “to the people and to the future of our children the cultural heritage of the Chechen people,” Dadayev added.

The ban will mean that many songs in musical styles such as pop and techno will be banned.

Chechnya sits in the North Caucasus region between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.

It is an almost entirely Muslim republic, which includes part of Russia’s border with Georgia.

Kadyrov has been leader since 2007 and has used his time in office to stifle any form of dissent.

There have also been reports of waves of violence against gay men.

In early 2017, United Nations human rights experts urged authorities to investigate allegations that gay men were being targeted and detained, and local media reported that some had been murdered for their sexuality.

Another wave of anti-LGBT persecution was reported in January 2019, when activists said dozens of men and women were detained and at least two died in custody.

In response, Kadyrov said there were no gay people in his republic, and that if there were any they should be taken away from the region.

The pro-Kremlin leader has also subdued the Chechen separatist movement that fought for independence from Russia for almost two decades.

In July 2020, the US State Department sanctioned Kadyrov for his “involvement in gross violations of human rights.”

According to a statement from the then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the department has “extensive credible information” of Kadyrov’s responsibility “for numerous gross violations of human rights dating back more than a decade, including torture and extrajudicial killings.”