Israeli forces have concluded their largest-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin in decades, killing at least 12 Palestinians and leaving widespread destruction across the city’s refugee camp.

Jenin has emerged yet again as a flashpoint of violence gripping the West Bank. Teenagers are among the dead, and one Israeli soldier died Tuesday, but the Israeli military said that no non-combatants have been killed — although it acknowledged there are civilians among the more than 100 injured. Militant groups in Jenin claimed at least eight of those killed as their fighters.

An Israeli military source said Monday that the operation, which stretched over 48 hours, was the largest in Jenin in more than 20 years. The United Nations secretary-general expressed deep concern and said that all military operations must be conducted with respect for international humanitarian law.

As the operation was underway on Tuesday, a driver rammed into pedestrians standing in a Tel Aviv shopping center and proceeded to get out of the vehicle to stab civilians with a sharp object, according to Israeli police who called the incident a terror attack. Eight people were injured, one critically, and the driver of the car was killed by an armed civilian, Israeli police said. Palestinian militant group Hamas, said the driver was one of their fighters, and claimed responsibility for it.

In the early hours of Wednesday, as the Israeli military was withdrawing from Jenin, militants in Gaza fired five rockets toward Israeli territory, which Israel said were successfully intercepted.

In retaliation, Israeli air force jets struck what they called Hamas weapons and rockets sites in Gaza. No injuries were reported in Gaza or Israel.

The operations came after rising tensions in Jenin and across the West Bank over the past 16 months. Here’s what you need to know:

Why did Israeli forces go into Jenin?

Early on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched its major operation in Jenin, carrying out air strikes by drone and targeting what it said was a “command and control” center for militants in the refugee camp there.

That launched the incursion that involved hundreds of soldiers, at least ten drone airstrikes, and bulldozers that Israel says were used to disarm potential explosives buried under the asphalt. It even included tanks on the outskirts of the city.

An IDF spokesperson told reporters Monday the operation had been planned for some time, with the goal to dismantle the “safe haven” Jenin has become for militants. At least 50 shooting attacks toward Israelis have emanated from Jenin, the spokesperson said.

According to the spokesperson, the IDF entered “every point” of the refugee camp and said at least 120 people were detained. Israeli soldiers dismantled what the IDF said were hundreds of explosives, weapons caches and underground tunnels. Fierce firefights were reported between soldiers and militants.

During the operation, thousands of Palestinians fled their homes in the city’s refugee camp, where electricity and water services were severely damaged, according to Palestinian officials.

On Tuesday evening, the IDF announced that it was starting to leave the camp. And on Wednesday morning, IDF spokesperson Brigadier General Daniel Hagari told Israeli military radio station Galei Tzahal: “All the forces have left Jenin; we have finished the operation — its goals have been achieved.”

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the “extensive operation in Jenin is not a one-off.”

“We will not allow Jenin to go back to being a city of refuge for terrorism,” he added.

The head of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, said on Wednesday that Israel “withdrew from Jenin refugee camp with its tail between its legs.”

He said that even though there were Palestinian casualties in the city, “the Palestinian resistance has taught the Israeli occupation a lesson. Now it will think twice before attacking the Palestinian people.”

What led to this?

Tensions have been high across the West Bank for more than a year, and particularly over the past few weeks. But while this week’s military operations in Jenin were the largest for some time, incursions into the city’s refugee camp have become a feature of life for those who live there.

Israel began regularly raiding cities in the occupied West Bank, targeting militants, last year, after a wave of Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis. Much of the focus of these raids has been on the cities of Jenin and Nablus, which the IDF has called militant hotspots.

Last year was the deadliest year on record for both Palestinians and Israelis across the West Bank and Israel in more than a decade.

The latest wave of violence peaked late last month, when Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank, in revenge attacks after the killing of four Jewish settlers nearby by Hamas militants.

Hamas, the leading Palestinian Islamist militant group, said those killings had been in retaliation for an Israeli military operation in the Jenin area on June 19, which left seven Palestinians dead and 91 injured. Eight Israeli soldiers were injured.

While the military raids have become a regular feature in the West Bank, there’s been a marked increase in settler violence against Palestinians in recent months, as far-right ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government call for unauthorized settler outposts in the West Bank to be expanded and turned into full settlements.

After the violence last month, Netanyahu warned Jewish settlers not to “grab land illegally” in the West Bank, as humanitarian bodies raised the alarm over a series of severe attacks on Palestinian villagers.

But at the same time, Netanyahu endorsed the expansion of government-approved settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.

Is the timing of the operation significant?

The uptick in Israel’s West Bank operations takes place with Israel’s most right-wing government in power. It includes cabinet members who have a history of extremist views, particularly on Palestinians.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was once convicted for supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism. Earlier this year, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich triggered an international outcry when he called for a Palestinian village to be “wiped out” after Israeli settlers were killed there.

The rise in tension also takes place amid attempts by the Netanyahu government to pass a contentious judicial reform bill in Israel, which over the last few months sparked some of the largest protests the country has seen.

Disagreements over the judicial overhaul plan have caused deep divisions in Israeli public opinion, which analysts have said are often eased amid national security threats.

What’s life like in Jenin?

Jenin sits toward the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and has officially been under the administration of the Palestinian Authority since 1993.

The city houses a tightly packed refugee camp, which has been the focus of this week’s raids. It was established in 1953 for Palestinians who were uprooted from their homes after Israel’s creation in 1948. Decades later, it’s now a built-up area with homes, shops and schools, but it has one of the highest rates of poverty of all of the West Bank refugee camps, according to the UN.

The camp is home to more than 17,000 Palestinian refugees in an area that is less than half a square kilometer in size. Inside, there are schools and a health center. But levels of unemployment and substance abuse are high among inhabitants, the UN says.

Jenin has seen waves of violence over the past two decades. In 2002, during the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israel, the camp was occupied by Israeli forces after 10 days of intensive fighting, leaving 400 homes destroyed and a quarter of the population homeless, according to the UN.

A UN special envoy to the Middle East, who visited the Jenin refugee camp at the time, described the scene as “shocking and horrifying beyond belief,” the air filled with the smell of decaying bodies.

How has the international community reacted?

International organizations have expressed alarm.

Doctors Without Borders has condemned a lack of medical access for those who have been injured. “Military bulldozers destroyed multiple roads leading to the Jenin refugee camp, making it nearly impossible for ambulances to reach patients,” the group said. “Additionally, Palestinian paramedics have been forced to proceed on foot to reach people in need of desperate medical treatment in an area with active gunfire and drone strikes.”

And a UN agency said Tuesday it was alarmed by the scale of the raids.

“We are alarmed at the scale of air and ground operations that are taking place in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, and air strikes hitting a densely populated refugee camp,” Vanessa Huguenin, a spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, told a briefing, according to Reuters.

“We support Israel’s security and right to defend its people against Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups,” the spokesperson said. “Today’s events further underscore the urgent need for Israeli and Palestinian security forces to work together to improve the security situation in the West Bank.

“It is imperative to take all possible precautions to prevent the loss of civilian lives,” the spokesperson said.

Thousands of Palestinians marched through the streets of Jenin on Wednesday for the funeral of the 12 people killed in Israel’s largest military operation in the occupied West Bank in more than 20 years.

The two-day incursion into the sprawling refugee camp, which caused extensive damage to roads, homes and cars, ended earlier Wednesday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said, as the United Nations expressed deep concern over the violence.

“All the forces have left Jenin. We have finished the operation – its goals have been achieved,” IDF Chief Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told Israeli military radio station Galei Tzahal.

Those who died were aged 16 to 23, and scores more injured, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it was targeting Palestinian terrorists and one of its soldiers was killed in the operation. Eight of those who were killed were members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the militant group said in a statement.

As the bodies were prepared for the funeral procession, many were wrapped in Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad flags, and carried through the streets on Wednesday.

Masked men carrying automatic weapons walked among the crowds of mourners. Many wore the arm and head bands of their factions, with their faces masked, and fired their guns in the air in a demonstration of strength and defiance.

Smeh Abulwafaa, the father of a 19-year-old killed in the incursion, called his son a “martyr.”

During proceedings, angry crowds chased away Palestinian Authority senior officials. Videos showed people chanting “get out, get out” and scuffles within the crowds, although it was unclear which officials were caught in the middle.

Mourners were angry with Palestinian senior officials over their response to the Israeli incursion. The Palestinian Authority released a statement this week with an 18-point action plan which included suspending communication with Israel.

Early Wednesday, the IDF said it also conducted strikes in the Gaza Strip, in response to five rockets launched toward Israeli territory, all of which were intercepted.

UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, reported that at least three children lost their lives in Jenin, while many others sustained injuries amid ongoing clashes.

“We are now in the end of achieving our goals, inside Jenin, fighting the terror and dismantling the terror in the Jenin Camp,” Hagari said. “We are achieving our goals and when we achieve our goals the forces will get out from the camp.”

Even after the initial IDF announcement of their forces starting to withdraw, military operations appeared to continue late Tuesday with the IDF saying that an armed terrorist cell was targeted by an IDF aircraft in a cemetery on the outskirts of Jenin city.

The operation was carried out because the gunmen “posed a threat to the security forces exiting from the Jenin Camp,” the IDF added.

“Our home, all the material things – they can be replaced, but how can I rebuild the psyche of my little girl? How will they ever feel safe again?”

“My youngest, she is only seven years old. She says she wishes she was never born. She says I should never have birthed her into this horror,” Shalby said.

In Gaza early Wednesday, the IDF said it carried out a targeted airstrike on an “underground weapon production site” used by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. A site involved in the production of raw materials for Hamas’ rockets was also targeted, it said.

“This attack constitutes damage to the ability of the terrorist organization Hamas to strengthen and arm itself,” the IDF said on Twitter.

Gaza, an isolated enclave on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, is located southwest of the landlocked West Bank.

Earlier, Hamas said a car ramming and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv Tuesday was carried out by one of their fighters, and was a response to Israel’s operation in Jenin.

Eight people were injured in the attack near a Tel Aviv shopping center, Israeli officials say, which saw the attacker emerge from the crashed vehicle and continue to stab civilians.

The UN’s human rights chief Volker Türk called for the “killing, maiming and the destruction of property” to end.

“The recent operation in the Occupied West Bank and car ramming attack in Tel Aviv worryingly underscore an all too familiar pattern of events: that violence only begets more violence,” a statement read.

“The scale of the Israeli Security Forces’ ongoing operation in Jenin, including the use of repeated airstrikes, along with the destruction of property, raises a host of serious issues with respect to international human rights norms and standards, including protecting and respecting the right to life,” he added.

Türk said “some of the methods and weapons used during the operations by ISF [Israeli Security Forces] in the Jenin Refugee Camp and surrounding areas are more generally associated with the conduct of hostilities in armed conflict, rather than law enforcement.”

He called on Israeli forces to “abide by international human rights standards,” which “do not change simply because the goal of the operation is stated as ‘counter-terrorism.’”

In a statement Wednesday, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, said, “the Israeli occupation army withdrew from Jenin refugee camp with its tail between its legs.”

“All options to support Jenin camp are on the table,” Haniyeh said. “Resistance remains the strategic option for the Palestinian people to confront the Israeli aggression and end the occupation.”

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said in a statement earlier Wednesday that the “Palestinian people scored a great victory by defeating the aggression against Jenin and its camp.”

Rising casualties

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack, saying “whoever thinks that such an attack will deter us from continuing our fight against terrorism is mistaken. He is simply unfamiliar with the spirit of the State of Israel, our government, our citizens and our soldiers.”

In Jenin, a total of 117 people were injured in the refugee camp due to the ongoing IDF operation, said the Palestinian Red Crescent on Tuesday. Among these injuries, there are 12 reported as serious and 33 as moderate. The IDF had acknowledged civilians among those injured.

Thousands are still out of their homes, after evacuating overnight to avoid harm. The damage in the camp is extensive, with some roads torn up as Israeli bulldozers disarmed IEDs, and extensive damage to homes and cars as a result of the clashes.

Rudeineh said that “the Israeli army was attacking Palestinian citizens” and added, “What happened yesterday was completely dangerous.”

After a police officer in France shot dead unarmed 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk during a traffic stop in Paris last week, two fundraisers were set up. One, to support the teen’s mother. The other, for the family of the police officer who shot him.

By early Wednesday morning, the fundraiser for the police officer had raised a final total of more than €1.6 million ($1.7 million), while that for Nahel had topped €400,000 ($450,000). More than 85,000 people had donated to support the police officer, while just over 21,000 had donated to support Nahel.

What explains this divergence? And what does it tell us about French politics?

The fundraiser for the police officer, who has been charged with voluntary homicide, was set up by French media personality and former politician Jean Messiha.

Having previously stood as a candidate for the National Rally – the far-right party led by Marine Le Pen – Messiha later worked as spokesperson for the party of Eric Zemmour, another far-right candidate in last year’s presidential election, whose platform was more extreme than Le Pen’s.

French lawmakers have criticized the fundraiser and questioned the motives of the organizers.

“Everyone can express their feelings and contribute to a fund… But I think, in this case, that it doesn’t go in the direction of appeasement,” Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said in an interview with France Inter on Monday.

“I ask myself if behind all this there isn’t an instrumentalization (of the killing),” he added.

Despite the criticism, host website GoFundMe had refused to remove the campaign.

On Tuesday evening, Messiha announced on Twitter that the fundraiser would close at midnight local time (6 p.m. ET), but urged that its supporters continued the “national momentum” the campaign had built.

The killing of Nahel, who was of Algerian origin, and the riots his death incited, provoked a “typical, traditional far-right” reaction, according to Philippe Marliere, a professor of French politics at University College London.

But while this rhetoric proliferated online, the fundraiser itself used more measured language.

“Support for the family of the Nanterre police officer, Florian.M, who did his job and is now paying a high price. MASSIVELY support him and our police forces!” it read.

This language “is designed to appeal to a much broader audience than typical far-right voters. This sort of statement could appeal to a majority of French people – and most of them would never contemplate voting for the National Rally,” Marliere said. The fundraiser is hence helping to bring the politics of the far right into the mainstream, he added.

Le Pen also tempered her rhetoric in response to this crisis, in what Marliere said was an attempt to appeal to more middle-of-the-road voters. Rather than capitalizing on the traditional far-right rallying calls of “riots, ethnic minorities, rebelling against public authority, the police, burning down public buildings,” and more, she has adopted a more moderate tone than she has in the past, and far more so than Zemmour.

While Zemmour called the rioters “scum” and called for some of their requests for French nationality to be refused, Le Pen spoke more sympathetically about the victim. “The death of a young man of 17 cannot leave anyone indifferent,” she said in a tweet.

According to Marliere, Le Pen’s “low-key” response to the crisis is part of a “long-term strategy of coming across no longer as a far-right politician, but as someone who eventually – in four years’ time – could be seen as a credible replacement for Macron.”

Since Le Pen lost the presidential election to Emmanuel Macron in 2022, French politics has grown increasingly fractious. Macron faced huge protests in March and April over his controversial pension reforms, and there is a sense that he has struggled to regain his domestic footing since then.

Many have noted that Le Pen’s decision to temper her rhetoric echoes that of Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. Both politicians, attempting to cast a sheen of electability over their far-right parties, have used a more moderate tone to appeal to the mainstream.

“The Meloni strategy is very much what Le Pen is trying to follow in France,” Marliere said.

“This is politics: You instrumentalize a political event, a tragic political and social event, and you try to score political points with it.”

‘Day-to-day insecurity’

But, for the message to resonate, it has to be grounded in the public’s experience.

Joseph Downing, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations who has lived in Marseille for more than a decade, says he has witnessed the decline of security in the city, which has left whole areas virtually unpoliced.

According to Downing, the success of the fundraiser for the police officer shows “the key reason why Le Pen, and to a lesser extent Zemmour, were both successful in the presidential election campaign, because they spoke about security.”

In some areas of France, police simply “don’t exist,” he said. In their place, gangs armed with Kalashnikovs have been allowed to proliferate.

“Nanterre (the Paris suburb where Nahel was killed) is a good example of this. The police themselves are scared. And the police know, in Nanterre, in Clichy-sous-Bois, in the northern quarters of Marseille, there are people that are armed. And there are people that are armed with bigger guns than they have,” Downing said.

While the absence of police is felt most keenly in Marseille, Downing says the feeling of insecurity has started to trickle into Paris.

“On French voters’ minds – and it’s not being addressed unfortunately by the mainstream – is the question of a banal, day-to-day insecurity,” Downing said.

He thinks the police officer’s fundraiser reveals some of these feelings of insecurity. The riots that rocked several French cities were a short burst of anguish whose peak has passed, according to comments made Tuesday by Macron. But the fundraiser was growing at a rapid rate before Messahi’s announcement, pulling in more than €500,000 (€545,000) since Monday afternoon.

The difference between the two fundraisers also shows the different levels of organization across the French political spectrum. Those who took to the streets to protest police violence “might use Snapchat, but they wouldn’t be aware of a GoFundMe,” said Downing. Meanwhile, the cause of law and order has appealed to the “more engaged” right. “The right is much more mobilized and is much richer generally in France,” he said.

Having faced two huge waves of protests this year, Macron has been left weakened. While the nature of the two crises were very different, both have contributed to the growing image of a president detached from his people, who feels more comfortable before a global audience than a domestic one.

The body of a 19-year-old was also pulled from the rubble by the Fire Department on Saturday morning.

Three people remain missing, including two children, as search and rescue operations continue at the Conjunto Beira Mar building.

Firefighters and public safety teams were mobilized to the area to help in the ongoing rescue operations at the Conjunto Beira Mar building, SDS said on its Facebook page on Friday.

A Pride festival was canceled in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Saturday by organizers who say authorities failed to prevent violent disruptions from Russian-affiliated far-right groups.

According to Georgian public broadcaster First Channel, police clashed with anti-LGBTQ protesters in Lisi Wonderland, an events venue outside Tbilisi where the closed event was scheduled to take place.

Festival organizers Tbilisi Pride said in a tweet that they were “compelled” to cancel the festival and “evacuate” the festival territory.

“The Ministry of Interior of Georgia once again neglected to protect us from violent far-right groups and allowed the mobs to prevent us from exercising our freedom of expression and assembly even in private settings,” Tbilisi Pride said.

Videos posted by Georgian activist channels showed clashes between police officers and anti-LGBTQ protesters in the festival area in Lisi Wonderland. Anti-Pride protesters were also pictured setting Pride flags on fire.

Tbilisi Pride has accused the Georgian government of orchestrating and coordinating with Russian-affiliated, far-right group Alt Info, who they claim disrupted the event.

Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Darakhvelidze told reporters that the event had been hard to police because of its location, Reuters reported.

“The protesters managed to find… ways to enter the area of the event, but we were able to evacuate the Pride participants and organizers,” Darakhvelidze said, according to the news agency. “Nobody was harmed during the incident and police are now taking measures to stabilize the situation.”

In a statement on Friday, the Georgian Interior Ministry said it was taking “appropriate measures” to ensure the “safe format” of Saturday’s event and “to protect the freedom of expression and assembly of each person.”

The speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, stressed the government’s condemnation of any violence on Saturday, according to First Channel.

Papuashvili said police coped with the situation and prevented festival participants from being injured, according to First Channel.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said statements from Papuashvili and other government officials had no value, calling on the government to “stop using hate speech and inciting confrontation.”

Zourabichvili, who is independent of the country’s ruling Georgian Dream party, said the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression guaranteed by the Georgian constitution were violated on Saturday.

The UN condemned the “violence and attacks on Tbilisi Pride” in a tweet, calling on Georgian authorities to “denounce this disturbing incident” and protect the rights to peaceful assembly and expression of LGBTQI+ people in Georgia.

The US Embassy in Tbilisi also condemned the actions of an “uncontrolled crowd threatening violence,” tweeting that they had denied Georgian citizens their right to peacefully assemble. The embassy called on the Georgian authorities “to hold accountable all those who broke the law and make clear that violence is unacceptable.”

Britain’s ambassador to Georgia, Mark Clayton, said he was “shocked” and “saddened” to see the festival canceled “despite the planning and preventative measures.”

In a tweet, Clayton called on the Georgian authorities to “ensure that all who broke the law & aggressively disrupted a peaceful gathering will be brought to justice.”

The German ambassador to Georgia, Peter Fischer, called it a “sad day,” remarking in a tweet that Georgian law had been “violated.”

Northwestern University has suspended head football coach Pat Fitzgerald for two weeks without pay following an investigation into allegations of hazing within the Wildcats’ program, the school announced Friday.

The independent investigation, conducted by a former Illinois inspector general, began in December to review a complaint from an anonymous email address received at the end of the 2022 season, according to an executive summary of the investigation made public by the university.

The investigation determined that Fitzgerald and other coaching staff members did not know about the hazing, but “there had been opportunities for them to discover and report the hazing conduct,” the university said in a news release.

“While current and former players varied on their perspectives about the conduct, the whistleblower’s claims were largely supported by the evidence,” the university said.

The whistleblower alleged that football players pressured team members into participating in hazing activities, which typically occurred in the locker room and may have started at “Camp Kenosha” in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where the team held training camp, the summary says.

Fitzgerald, who is suspended effective immediately, said he is “disappointed” to learn of the hazing allegations, adding he was not “aware” of any of the alleged activities.

“Northwestern football prides itself on producing not just athletes, but fine young men with character befitting the program and our University,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “We hold our student-athletes and our program to the highest standards; we will continue to work to exceed those standards moving forward.”

The probe was led by former state executive inspector general Maggie Hickey, whose team found “evidence to corroborate claims made by an anonymous whistleblower regarding hazing activities and events,” the university said. In addition to speaking with the whistleblower, Hickey’s team interviewed more than 50 people affiliated or formerly affiliated with the football program.

Following the report’s findings, the school will take several additional actions going forward, including discontinuing practices at “Camp Kenosha.” The university, located in Evanston, Illinois, will also require locker room monitoring by “someone who doesn’t report to the football coaching staff,” the news release states.

An online tool dedicated to reporting incidents of potential hazing or hazing-related concerns among student-athletes will be created, the university said. Coaches, staff members and student-athletes must complete an annual mandatory anti-hazing training.

“Hazing in any form is unacceptable and goes against our core values at Northwestern, where we strive to make the University a safe and welcoming environment for all of our students,” Northwestern University president Michael Schill said. “Our athletics programs are held to the highest standards, and in this case, we failed to meet them. I expect that today’s actions will prevent this from ever happening again.”

Fitzgerald, 48, is entering his 18th season coaching the Wildcats. The program under Fitzgerald has won four bowl games since 2016, yet the team fell to a 1-11 record last season.

The Wildcats are scheduled to open the 2023 season on September 3 at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Influencers who pose naked on top of sacred mountains. Reckless tourists who ride motorbikes around the island without helmets performing daredevil stunts.

When it comes to misbehaving tourists in Bali, Niluh Djelantik has seen and heard it all.

These are just a few “hugely unacceptable but too common forms of behavior,” says Djelantik, a local entrepreneur who has, in recent years, become the go-to person foreign tourists and travelers call upon when they run into trouble with the authorities.

“Things can get that outrageous.”

Djelantik, 48, was born and raised in Bali. Like many other Balinese, she has been passionate about promoting and supporting ethical tourism on Indonesia’s most popular island.

But with the return of international travelers after years of pandemic restrictions, reports of trashy tourist behavior have been on the rise.

Djelantik worked at top notch marketing firms in Jakarta and Bali, often alongside foreign expats and despite not having a legal background, it’s her mix of excellent language skills and contacts on the ground, combined with her international work experience that has led Djelantik to develop a reputation as an unofficial peacekeeper for the island.

However, there’s one area where she doesn’t stay neutral. “I’ve seen and heard some being impolite to Indonesian workers and I wouldn’t hesitate to speak up,” she said.

She has also expressed political ambitions and announced plans to run for Bali senator, a national parliamentary seat, next year.

Djelantik has mediated between misbehaving foreigners in Bali and the locals they annoy for years. She says she does this in an unofficial capacity and for free. She often receives “reports” from users on Instagram who flag posts about misbehaving foreigners.

“People like coming to me for help rather than going to the authorities because they know I will always respond and help mediate (trouble),” she said. “But I get approached by foreigners on Instagram too, those who misbehave and land in trouble with the authorities. So I listen to both sides and make a call on what I can do to help.”

Whether it’s calling up lawyers or setting up informal meetings or coffee sessions with local police officers and government officials, Djelantik tries to “strike a balance” between foreigners and residents to maintain peace when trouble arises – but it isn’t easy, she says.

“Things can get heated and Bali is so heavily reliant on international tourists – many who come to Indonesia and we treat with love and respect but they need to know their place if they want to call Bali their second home and this isn’t always the case.”

“If we don’t learn how to coexist peacefully, there will be consequences.”

‘Probably the most important person in Bali’

“She’s probably the most important person in Bali, after the governor (Wayan Koster),” the woman said.

She’s never met Djelantik but follows her on Instagram. “Bali is a small place and many people are close – bad news always travels fast. If there’s a foreigner in trouble, you’ll always see Niluh Djelantik involved,” she said.

“She comes across as being very sincere in her efforts to help and is definitely a good person to know… and you’ll never know if you’ll need her help some day.”

Djelantik recounted several recent incidents she stepped in to mediate – a Russian teenager who was caught spray painting a local school’s wall in January, and an incident that played out in March which saw a 24-year-old Russian tourist named Yuri Chilikin, cause an uproar when he uploaded a semi nude photo of himself taken on Mount Agung – Bali’s highest peak, which is also considered one of its most sacred religious sites.

Facing threats and deportation, Chilikin reached out to Djelantik through Instagram, asking for help with his situation. “He was quite remorseful and cooperative and was sincere and said that he was willing to pay for the consequences for what he did – so I agreed to help him,” she said.

With her help, he recorded a public apology and participated in a ritual ceremony at a temple in Denpasar where he met with Hindu priests and prayed. Bad behavior not only offends locals and officials, it also disrespects Hindu gods and deities, Djelantik said, explaining why such ceremonies had to be performed following these incidents.

“We dressed him up in traditional sarong and took him around the compound,” Djelantik recalled. “We wanted to show him the side of Bali that he needed to see and he was very cooperative.”

But even to the best of her efforts, Chilikin was deported to Moscow in April by immigration officials and barred from returning to Indonesia for at least six months over the incident.

“Balinese people are generally very accepting, tolerant and forgiving but that doesn’t mean our hospitality should be taken for granted,” Djelantik said. “At the end of the day, it’s about respecting the laws of a place you visit.”

Outrageous tourist behavior is no new phenomenon on the island but Djelantik’s efforts to promote ethical tourism comes at an important time.

Tourism has become a thorny subject and ongoing bad behavior among tourists has prompted the proposal of new rules – including bans on mountain climbing and motorbike rentals for foreign visitors. Visa free travel arrangements were also halted for over 150 countries as part of the tourism shakeup.

“We will no longer welcome mass tourism,” Bali governor Wayan Koster said at a conference in May. “We will restrict tourist numbers by implementing a quota system… This push will encourage the transformation of Bali, from mass tourism to quality tourism.”

“Bali should be open to all willing to respect its traditions and harmony,” Djelantik says. “We need to strike a balance between the foreigners, the people in power and Balinese.”

“We all want a better Bali but banning people is not the way to go. Bali needs tourists and this is about (getting foreigners) to respect our laws… and not take our hospitality for granted.”

Not since LeBron James entered the NBA has there been so much hype surrounding a new prospect and fans finally got the chance to see French sensation Victor Wembanyama in a San Antonio Spurs jersey for the first time.

However, it’s fair to say the reality of ‘Wemby’s’ Spurs debut didn’t quite match the expectation as the 19-year-old finished with just nine points on 15.4% shooting in the Spurs’ 76-68 win over the Charlotte Hornets.

But there were still flashes of the incredible talent that has already made Wembanyama a household name, in particular with his vision and passing, while there was one incredible block on a three-point attempt by Brandon Miller – the Hornets’ No. 2 overall pick in the draft – that showcased his remarkable defensive potential.

Wembanyama acknowledged it was a difficult first night for him but called his debut a “special moment.”

“It was really special to wear that jersey for the first time,” Wembanyama said. “It’s really an honor. Overall, I’m glad we won this game.

“Honestly, I didn’t really know what I was doing on the court tonight, there’s no better way to start, but I’m trying to learn for the next games. The important [thing] is to be ready for the season.”

The Hornets were led by Miller, who registered 16 points and 11 rebounds and, at one point, looked to catch Wembanyama in the throat while crossing the Frenchman over and getting to the basket.

Elsewhere, Scoot Henderson, the No. 3 pick in the draft, made his Portland Trail Blazers debut in an enthralling game against the Houston Rockets.

Jabari Smith Jr. scored a wild buzzer-beater for the Rockets with 0.2 seconds remaining after being found by Tari Eason’s incredible scoop inbound pass. Smith Jr. barely had time to catch the ball before launching a hopeful effort towards to basket, which hit nothing but net to give the Rockets a 100-99 victory.

Henderson finished with an eye-catching 15 points, five rebounds, six assists and a steal, but was forced off with a shoulder injury in third quarter.

Blazers summer league coach Jonah Herscu said the physios “were just being cautious” with the injury, according to ESPN.

Injury permitting, next up for these teams is an intriguing clash between Henderson and Wembanyama as the Trail Blazers take on the Spurs on Sunday.

In travel news this week: epic cruise experiences around the world, crocodile ramen and other wild food trends hitting Asia, plus tourist misbehavior in Italy and the airline passenger who found the plane floor soaked in blood.

The new cruise era

Construction is complete on the world’s biggest cruise ship, which is expected to set sail in Caribbean waters in January 2024. Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas is nearly 1,200 feet long and will be home to the world’s largest waterpark at sea.

In other cruise news, the saga of the three-year cruise has a new twist: The 36-month voyage, with cabins starting at $29,999 per person, per year for an all-inclusive lifestyle, is going ahead in November, but with a larger ship.

China’s first homegrown large cruise ship, the Adora Magic City, recently undocked in Shanghai after four years of construction.

And finally, an electric cruise ship with enormous solar sails is set to launch in 2030.

Asian food trends

In China, a new and unlikely food trend is sweeping across the nation. People are sharing social media images of bland fare such as dressing-free salads or carrots wrapped in cheese, tagging it #bairenfan. Translation: #Whitepeoplemeals.

On the opposite end of the scale, some adventurous food can involve perhaps too much danger and controversy. In Taiwan, a 14-legged crustacean is Taipei’s hottest new menu item, despite potential health risks. And crocodile ramen, featuring a whole reptile leg with claws, is being snapped up by customers. (In Taiwan, it’s legal to farm and eat crocodiles that are not designated as protected species.)

Hitting the headlines

We’ve all had rough plane journeys, but few have had as difficult a trip as Habib Battah, who found his airplane footwell still wet with blood and feces from a previous passenger. Yes, you read that right.

Seven people were injured during severe turbulence on a Haiwaiian Airlines flight to Australia and there were roller coaster malfunctions in North Carolina and Wisconsin.

And then there’s all the post-pandemic travel boom woes. The US State Department says that ongoing passport processing delays will continue for the rest of this year.

And in Italy, where beaches are so overwhelmed they’re putting daily caps on visitors, misbehaving tourists are out of control. The latest high-profile incident was the man who allegedly carved his name into Rome’s Colosseum. He now claims he didn’t know the “antiquity of the monument.”

Owned and operated by women

Umoja in northern Kenya is a village that’s quite unlike anywhere else in the world — there are no men. These photos show what life is like inside this female sanctuary.

Far away in Antarctica, a group of four women spend five months running one of the most remote post offices on the planet, though they had thousands of penguins for company.

Airport liquids

Now that several airports around the world have lifted their restrictions on liquids in carry-on luggage, how long will it be until the United States follows suit? An aviation security expert explains.

In case you missed it

Europe’s most ancient “tourist” site is more than 40,000 years old. 

It’s a short trip from the Spanish hot spot of Malaga.

The delicious barbecue dish you’ve been needing in your life. 

It’s a South Carolina secret.

The man who knows every sand dune in the desert. 

And now he shares his knowledge with glampers.

He paid 500k in 1990 for unlimited flights. 

See how many miles he’s accrued.

Japan will release the wastewater sometime this summer, a controversial move 12 years after the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown. Japanese authorities and the IAEA have insisted the plan follows international safety standards – the water will first be treated to remove the most harmful pollutants, and be released gradually over many years in highly diluted quantities.

But public anxiety remains high, including in nearby countries like South Korea, China and the Pacific Islands, which have voiced concern about potential harm to the environment or people’s health. On Friday, Chinese customs officials announced they would maintain a ban on food imports from 10 Japanese prefectures including Fukushima, and strengthen inspections to monitor for “radioactive substances, to ensure the safety of Japanese food imports to China.”

Speaking in an interview during a visit to Tokyo Friday, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said that while fears over the plan reflect a “very logical sense of uncertainty” that must be taken seriously, he is “completely convinced of the sound basis of our conclusions.”

“We have been looking at this basic policy for more than two years. We have been assessing it against … the most stringent standards that exist,” he said. “And we are quite certain of what we are saying, and the scheme we have proposed.”

“My disposition … is one of listening, and explaining in a way that addresses all these concerns they have,” he said.

“When one visits Fukushima, it is quite impressive, I will even say ominous, to look at all these tanks, more than a million tons of water that contains radionuclides – imagining that this is going to be discharged into the ocean. So all sorts of fears kick in, and one has to take them seriously, to address and to explain.

“This is why I’m here, to listen to all those who in good faith have questions and criticism and question marks, and to address them.”

On Tuesday, Grossi formally presented the IAEA’s safety review to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The report found the wastewater release plan will have a “negligible” impact on people and the environment, adding that it was an “independent and transparent review,” not a recommendation or endorsement.

‘No’ better alternatives

Japanese authorities have said the release is necessary because they are running out of room to contain the contaminated water – and the move will allow the full decommissioning of the Fukushima plant.

The 2011 disaster caused the plant’s reactor cores to overheat and contaminate water within the facility with highly radioactive material. Since then, new water has been pumped in to cool fuel debris in the reactors. At the same time, ground and rainwater have leaked in, creating more radioactive wastewater that now needs to be stored and treated.

That wastewater now measures 1.32 million metric tons – enough to fill more than 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Japan has previously said there were “no other options” as space runs out – a sentiment Grossi echoed on Friday. When asked whether there were better alternatives to dispose of the wastewater, the IAEA chief answered succinctly: “No.”

It’s not that there are no other methods, he added – Japan had considered five total options, including hydrogen release, underground burial and vapor release, which would have seen wastewater boiled and released into the atmosphere.

But several of these options are “considered industrially immature,” said Grossi. For instance, vapor release can be more difficult to control due to environmental factors like wind and rain, which could bring the waste back to earth, he said. That left a controlled release of water into the sea – which, Japanese officials and some scientists point out, is frequently done at nuclear plants around the world, including those in the United States.

The IAEA will also remain on site for years to come, with a new permanent office set up in Fukushima to help monitor progress.

“We have the benefit of science,” Grossi said. “Either you have a certain radionuclide in a water sample or you don’t have it … it’s a measurable thing. We have the science, we have the laboratories … to ensure the credibility and the transparency of the process.”

International skepticism

But some critics have cast doubt on the IAEA’s findings, with China recently arguing that the group’s assessment “is not proof of the legality and legitimacy” of the wastewater release.

Many countries have openly opposed the plan; Chinese officials have warned that it could cause “unpredictable harm,” and accused Japan of treating the ocean as a “sewer.” The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, an inter-governmental group of Pacific island nations that includes Australia and New Zealand, also published an op-ed in January voicing “grave concerns,” saying more data was needed.

And in South Korea, residents have taken to the streets to protest the plan. Many shoppers have stockpiled salt and seafood for fear these products will be contaminated once the wastewater is released – even though Seoul has already banned imports of seafood and food items from the Fukushima region.

While Grossi said he takes these objections seriously, he added that he “cannot exclude” the possibility some are driven more by politics than science.

“We understand that there is a political environment … which is tense. Geopolitical divisions are very, very strong these days so we cannot exclude these things,” he said.

Grossi also denied media reports that the IAEA had shared a draft of its final report with the Japanese government ahead of its publication. “It’s absurd,” he said. “This is the DNA of the IAEA – to be the nuclear watchdog for nuclear operations, the nuclear watchdog for nuclear safety and security. When we come to a conclusion, it is our independent conclusion.”

And more broadly, the future of nuclear as an alternative energy source relies on the success of the Fukushima release, he said. Though there has been heightened public alarm toward nuclear plants recently – for instance, regarding the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine – “the problem there is war, the problem is not nuclear energy,” Grossi said.

“If there was one lesson that came clearly after the Fukushima accident, it’s that the nuclear safety standards should be observed to the letter,” he added. “If you do that, the probability of having what happened in Fukushima is extremely low.”

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the status of China’s food import bans on Japan.