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Ukraine seeks stronger backing 

Ukraine is demanding more economically destructive sanctions against Russia, saying only measures that are ruinous enough can end the conflict between the two neighbors. President Volodymyr Zelensky says the West should reject Russian oil, and put an international ban on all Russian banks. He is critical of some Western leaders for lacking a principled approach, and says to them, war crimes are not as horrific as financial losses. Earlier, the European Union proposed new sanctions against Russia, but it failed to approve the majority of them amid technical uncertainties. The US, however, has imposed new restrictions on some of Russia’s largest banks, as well as government officials and their families. But Moscow says Washington's measures are a direct blow to ordinary citizens. Currently, Russia is the world’s most-sanctioned country. 

Yemen power shift 

Yemen's former president Abd Rabbu Mansur Hadi says a presidential leadership council has been formed, and that his authority and powers have all been transferred to that council. The council will reportedly be in charge of leading ceasefire negotiations with the Yemeni Ansarullah movement. Hadi was absent from the recent consultations that were held in Riyadh by the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, with Yemeni media speculating that the Saudi regime was planning to dismiss him. Some sources had even suggested that Saudi officials had banned Hadi from holding any meetings or giving interviews to media. Back in 2015, Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh, resigned and fled to Saudi Arabia, amid political strife and conflict in Yemen. That prompted the Kingdom to intervene militarily to bring him back to power. But the Saudi-led coalition has been facing a stiff resistance from the Yemeni army and Ansarullah fighters for seven years. The two sides have now agreed to a two-month truce.

Israeli crimes against minors 

Israel has imprisoned more than 9,000 Palestinian children in less than a decade. The Palestinian Prisoners Society says over 160 Palestinian children are currently in Israeli jails, and subjected to different sorts of torture and abuse. In a report published earlier on the occasion of Palestinian Children’s Day, the rights groups said Palestinian minors in Israeli jails are living under harsh and unhygienic conditions, and deprived of their basic needs. The report has also offered evidence of Israel lowering the age of detention for Palestinian youths. The Society is critical of international organizations and rights groups for their inaction on the detention of Palestinian children, a historically common practice of the Israeli regime.

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