Gaza, Liberia, China
Today’s three stories you should know
Gaza
At least seven people, including a child, have been killed in an Israeli drone attack on a cafe in Gaza. One of the bodies was so mutilated it couldn’t be identified, health officials said, believing the victim was directly hit by a missile. Al Jazeera reported that the force of the strike threw people into the sea from the portside “Sweet and Bitter” cafe, meaning the death toll could be higher. The Israeli military said it had targeted several “Hamas commanders” without providing evidence. Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire in October but Israel has repeatedly violated the truce, killing at least 1,265 people since it was signed.
More from Middle East Eye here.
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Liberia
Liberia has agreed to accept up to 1,200 third-country deportees from the U.S. over the next year, with the first group of 20 to arrive on Thursday, the government said. The deal is the latest in a series of similar agreements that President Donald Trump has struck with African nations, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Ghana and Sierra Leone, to take in people Washington cannot legally send to their home countries. The terms of the deals often remain secret, but Liberia said there would be no “quid pro quo” with the U.S. and that the gesture was humanitarian. The deportees, who will include nationals from Africa, South America and the Caribbean, can seek asylum in Liberia or “can leave the country whenever they desire,” Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah said.
More from AP here.
China
Security was visibly tightened in China’s capital Beijing as the funeral of former Premier Zhu Rongji was held. Ninety-seven-year-old Zhu, who died of an illness last week, was considered an influential reformer who set China on the path to economic development. His cremation was attended by President Xi Jinping but kept deliberately discreet with no footage released. China sees deaths of former leaders and senior officials as potential flashpoints for unrest and anger toward the government of the day. In 1989, the death of Hu Yaobang, a former Chinese Communist Party general secretary believed to favor political reform, prompted an outpouring of grief that culminated in the Tiananmen Square massacre.
More from BBC here.