The New York Times: Hamas Does Not Have 40 Hostages Who Meet Terms Of Potential Swap With Israel, Officials Said

“A senior Hamas official said on Wednesday that Hamas did not have 40 living hostages in Gaza who met the criteria for an exchange under a proposed cease-fire agreement with Israel being negotiated. A senior Israeli official said Israel had been relayed Hamas’s claim, and the senior Hamas official said that the group had informed mediators facilitating the negotiations. The Israeli official and the Hamas official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. The assertion raised fears that more hostages might be dead than previously believed and came as talks between Hamas and Israel stalled amid disagreements over the permanency of a cease-fire, the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza and other issues. International negotiators have proposed an initial six-week cease-fire during which Hamas would release a first group of 40 hostages — including women, older people, ill hostages and five female Israeli soldiers — in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons as well as other demands. Israeli officials believe there are about 130 hostages remaining in Gaza, and Israeli intelligence officers have concluded that at least 30 of those have died in captivity.”

Associated Press: 2 Alleged Iraqi Militants Arrested In Germany, Accused Of Keeping Yazidi Girls As Slaves

“Two Iraqis accused of being members of the Islamic State group and keeping two young Yazidi girls as slaves as well as sexually and physically abusing them have been arrested in Germany, prosecutors said Wednesday. The man and the woman, identified only as Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. in line with German privacy rules, were arrested in Bavaria on Tuesday, federal prosecutors said in a statement. They are accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, along with membership in a terrorist organization. The suspects were married and were members of IS in Iraq and Syria between October 2015 and December 2017, prosecutors said. They allegedly kept a five-year-old Yazidi girl as a slave starting in late 2015 and a 12-year-old from October 2017. Prosecutors allege that the man raped both girls repeatedly and that the woman prepared the room and put make-up on one of the girls.”

CEP Mentions

DW: Iran: Lufthansa Suspends Flights To Tehran

“German airline Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it had suspended flights to and from Iran's capital, Tehran, probably until Thursday, "due to the current situation in the Middle East." Meanwhile, an Iranian news agency, Mehr, briefly stoked tensions when it published a report on social media platform X, formerly Twitter,  saying that all airspace over Tehran had been closed for military exercises. The agency subsequently removed the report and denied issuing such a message. Countries in the region and the United States have been on high alert and preparing for a possible attack by Iran in response to the April 1 airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria suspected to have been conducted by Israeli warplanes. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused Israel of the airstrike and said it "must be punished and it shall be."  Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Israel would respond if Iran attacked Israel from its own soil.”

CapX: Britain’s Prisons Are Screwed

“I’d been thinking about writing a book about our current crisis in prisons since 2016. Back then, it was the height of the austerity programme that played an integral role in destroying an organisation I had once proudly served in. I was once temporarily in charge of Erlestoke prison. It’s a small category C jail buried in the hills outside Devises in Wiltshire. I had very fond memories of a cohesive staff group who were able to balance security with fairness. Prisons are rarely happy places, but at Erlestoke great relations between prisoners and staff meant hopeful things could happen. In other words, it’s a hard place to get wrong. But then came the riot.”

United States

Associated Press: Man Pleads Not Guilty To Terrorism Charge In Alleged Church Attack Plan In Support Of Islamic State

“An 18-year-old man accused of planning to attack churches in a northern Idaho city in support of the Islamic State group has pleaded not guilty to a federal terrorism charge. Alexander Mercurio appeared Wednesday in Idaho’s U.S. District Court and pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terror organization, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported. Prosecutors say he planned to use a metal pipe, butane fuel, a machete and, if he could get them, his father’s guns in the attack. Mercurio was arrested Saturday, the day before investigators believe he planned to attack people attending a church near his Coeur d’Alene home. According to authorities, Mercurio adopted the Muslim faith against his Christian parents’ wishes and had been communicating for two years with FBI informants posing as Islamic State group supporters. Mercurio told one informant he intended to incapacitate his father with the pipe, handcuff him and steal his guns and a car to carry out his plan, according to an FBI agent’s sworn statement in the case.”

Voice Of America: US Destroys 11 Houthi Drones

“The U.S. military said its forces destroyed eight aerial drones late Wednesday in areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthi militant group. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement the drones "presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels in the region." CENTCOM also reported destroying three other Houthi drones early Wednesday, including two that were over the Gulf of Aden and one over the Red Sea. The United States is leading a coalition effort to help protect the key shipping route through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea from attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis. The Houthis, designated by the U.S. as a terror group, have said their campaign targeting ships is in solidarity with the Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.”

Pakistan

Voice Of America: Taliban Leader Stands Firm On His Islamic Governance In Afghanistan

“The Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader ruled out any compromise Wednesday on his hardline Islamic governance in Afghanistan despite persistent global criticism and calls for him to end sweeping restrictions on women. Hibatullah Akundzada addressed and led thousands of worshipers in Eid al-Fitr prayers at the central mosque in the southern city of Kandahar to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. “If anyone has any issues with us, we are open to resolving them, but we will never compromise on our principles or Islam. At the same time, we expect that Islam will not be disrespected,” stated Akhundzada in his defiant Pashto-language speech aired by the state-run Afghan radio station. "I will not take even a step away from the Islamic law." Akundzada was apparently responding to sustained criticism by the United Nations and Western countries of the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islam being used to govern impoverished Afghanistan, including the public flogging and stoning of women for committing adultery.”

Lebanon

The National: Lebanese Man Linked To Hezbollah And Hamas Found Dead Near Beirut

“A Lebanese man, who was the subject of US sanctions for allegedly funnelling money from Iran to Hamas, was found shot dead at a villa outside Beirut. The body of Mohammad Ibrahim Srour was discovered in the village of Beit Meri, a Lebanese security source told The National. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported late on Tuesday that the body of a man, 57, was found in an area near Beit Meri, an affluent town that overlooks Beirut. The man had three bullet wounds, it added. He was found in possession of an undisclosed sum of money, a security source told AFP. In a press conference, at which two Hezbollah MPs were present, his family said Mr Srour had been missing for a week before his body was discovered. The family said he was a money changer who had "never hurt anyone". They called for a full investigation into the circumstances of his death but did not accuse any individual, group or government. Mr Srour was subject to US sanctions and worked for financial institutions belonging to Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group, the source said. Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas and has traded almost daily cross-border fire with Israel since the start of the Gaza war.”

Qatar

BBC: Qatar Airways Avoids Australian Lawsuit Over Women's Invasive Examinations

“They and other women were ordered off a flight and checked for whether they had given birth after a baby was found abandoned in an airport bin in 2020. The incident sparked public outrage and it was condemned by several nations. An Australian court found the state-owned airline could not be prosecuted under the laws governing global travel. The five women filed a claim in the Federal Court of Australia in 2021, seeking damages over the alleged "unlawful physical contact" and false imprisonment, which had caused mental health impacts including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Other passengers - including from the UK and New Zealand - were not part of the lawsuit. But on Wednesday, Justice John Halley found that Qatar Airways could not be held responsible under a multilateral treaty called the Montreal Convention, which is used to establish airline liability in the event of death or injury to passengers. He also found that the airline's staff could not have influenced the actions of Qatari police who removed the women from the flight, nor the nurses who examined them in ambulances on the tarmac.”

Middle East

Associated Press: A Mission Of Mercy, Then A Fatal Strike: How An Aid Convoy In Gaza Became Israel’s Target

“It was hours after sundown when the eight aid trucks drove from the makeshift jetty, cobbled together from tons of wreckage left across Gaza by months of war. The trucks were escorted by three vehicles carrying aid workers from the World Central Kitchen, the relief organization that had arranged the massive food shipment. All seven aid workers wore body armor. The cars were marked, including on the roof, with the group’s emblem, a multi-colored frying pan. After a grueling crawl along a beaten-up road, it seemed like mission accomplished. The convoy dropped off its precious cargo at a warehouse, and the team prepared to head home. There wasn’t much more than a sliver of moon that night. The roads were dark, except for occasional patches where light spilled from buildings with their own generators. By a few minutes after 10 p.m., the convoy was moving south on Al Rashid Street, Gaza’s coastal road. The first missile struck a little more than an hour later. Soon after, all seven aid workers were dead.”

Associated Press: An Israeli Airstrike In Gaza Kills 3 Sons And 4 Grandchildren Of Hamas’ Top Leader

“Israeli aircraft killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate cease-fire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh ’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated cease-fire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far apart on key issues. The slayings also come as Israel is under intensifying pressure — increasingly from its top ally, the U.S. — to change tack in the war, especially when it comes to humanitarian aid for desperate people in Gaza. Haniyeh said Hamas would not cave to the pressure leveled by the strike on his family. “The enemy believes that by targeting the families of the leaders, it will push them to give up the demands of our people,” Haniyeh told the Al Jazeera satellite channel. “Anyone who believes that targeting my sons will push Hamas to change its position is delusional.””

Russia

Reuters: Russia Launches 'Counter-Terrorist Operation' In Southern Region, RIA Reports

“Russia launched a "counter-terrorist operation" in parts of the city of Nalchik and in the Cherek district of its southern Kabardino-Balkaria region on Thursday, the RIA news agency cited local authorities as saying. RIA also cited Russia's National Anti-terrorist Committee as saying a group of gunmen has opened fire on security forces who had surrounded them outside Nalchik.”

Associated Press: Russian Forces Kill 2 Suspected Of Plotting Terror Attacks, Authorities Say

“Russian special forces killed two people suspected of plotting terror attacks in a shootout in the country’s south on Thursday, the National Antiterror Committee said. The suspects were blockaded on the outskirts of Nalchik, capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria republic, and opened fire on special forces of the Federal Security Service, the committee said. The committee did not give details of the actions that the suspects were believed to be planning. But the shootout came amid heightened security concerns after the March 22 attack by gunmen on a Moscow concert hall that killed 145 people. An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack. Kabardino-Balkaria is in the North Caucasus region where Islamic extremism has brewed for decades.”