The Guardian / Netanyahu ‘determined’ to carry out Rafah assault despite pleas from Biden

• The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said he remains determined to carry out a ground invasion of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah – where many displaced Palestinians are sheltering – despite the misgivings of US president Joe Biden. 

• Netanyahu told lawmakers on Tuesday he had made it “supremely clear” to the US president “that we are determined to complete the elimination of these battalions in Rafah, and there’s no way to do that except by going in on the ground”. 

• After the two leaders spoke on Monday, White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that the US believed that storming Rafah would be a “mistake” and that Israel could achieve its military aims by other means. 

• In his comments on Tuesday, Netanyahu said that he would wait to hear proposals from the US “out of respect to the president” about ways to protect the civilian population in Rafah before ordering the operation.

   

Bloomberg / Ukraine’s Drone Strikes on Russian Oil Refineries Mark New Phase in War

• Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion has entered a new phase, pitting homegrown drone technology against a 2,000 kilometer (1,200 mile) swathe of largely Soviet-era oil facilities. 

• At least nine major refineries have been successfully attacked this year, currently taking offline 11% of the country’s total capacity by some estimates. As the conflict at the front lines has shifted in Moscow’s favor, the drone campaign is becoming a key plank of Ukraine’s defense — both in its symbolism and its strategic aims.  

• It gives Kyiv the ability to reach deep into Russian territory and strike an industry that’s crucial to the Kremlin’s war effort, providing both supplies of fuel to its armed forces and a flow of petrodollars into its coffers. 

• “Russia is a gas station with an army, and we intend on destroying that gas station,” Francisco Serra-Martins, co-founder and chief executive officer of drone manufacturer Terminal Autonomy, said in an interview. “We are going to focus on where it hits the hardest, and that’s financial resources.”

   

The New York Times - Tiffany May and David Pierson / Hong Kong Adopts Sweeping Security Laws, Bowing to Beijing

• Hong Kong on Tuesday passed national security laws at the behest of Beijing, thwarting decades of public resistance in a move that critics say will strike a lasting blow to the partial autonomy the city had been promised by China. 

• The new legislation, which was passed with extraordinary speed, grants the authorities even more powers to crack down on opposition to Beijing and the Hong Kong government, establishing penalties — including life imprisonment — for political crimes like treason and insurrection, which are vaguely defined. It also targets offenses like “external interference” and the theft of state secrets, creating potential risks for multinational companies and international groups operating in the Asian financial center. 

• Analysts say the legislation, which will take effect on March 23, could have a chilling effect on a wide range of people, including entrepreneurs, civil servants, lawyers, diplomats, journalists and academics, raising questions about Hong Kong’s status as an international city. 

• An earlier attempt to pass such legislation, in 2003, set off mass protests involving hundreds of thousands of people.

   

Financial Times - Bryan Harris / Brazil police recommend criminal charges against ex-president Jair Bolsonaro

• Federal police in Brazil have recommended that former president Jair Bolsonaro face criminal charges over claims he faked Covid-19 vaccine certificates, in what would mark the first formal indictment against the rightwing ex-leader. 

• Police also accused Bolsonaro of “criminal association”, or conspiracy, in a report released on Tuesday. The attorney-general must now decide whether to pursue the case. 

• “The evidence collected throughout this investigation demonstrates that Jair Messias Bolsonaro acted knowingly and willingly, determining that his chief of staff should mediate the insertion of false Covid-19 vaccination data into the Ministry of Health’s systems for the benefit of himself and his daughter,” said the police report,

• Bolsonaro denies the claims.

Our opinion reads for today:

• Bloomberg - Rachel Sanderson / Where’s the Water? Spain’s Drought, Gridlock and Sharks' Teeth 

• Project Syndicate - Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg / Why Have Developing Countries Soured on Multilateralism?