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| Today's top headlines include: - The U.S. said it does not seek war with Iran after an Iran-supported militant group attacked U.S. troops in Jordan.
- Hong Kong's GDP has fluctuated amid political turmoil in recent years.
- Undercover Israeli forces raided a West Bank hospital and killed three Palestinian militants.
- GOOD NEWS: A new product label initiative is promoting sustainable maple farming.
- Hong Kong's government seeks to pass new national security laws.
- A former IRS consultant who leaked Trump's tax return was sentenced to five years in prison.
Thank you for reading! Gregory
p/Gregory_Bridgman | |
| 1 | | The White House said on Monday that it does not seek to start a war with Iran. The Biden administration aims to avoid wider conflict in the Middle East following a deadly drone attack on U.S. troops in Jordan. More: - The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for a one-way drone attack on Sunday that killed three U.S. troops and injured at least 34 at a support base known as Tower 22 in northeast Jordan
- The attack was the first to kill U.S. troops since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas triggered attacks on U.S. troops by Iran-aligned groups in the region.
- The attack drone was mistaken for a U.S. drone returning to base, reports the WSJ citing U.S. officials.
- U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told NBC News on Monday that the U.S. is "not looking for war with Iran," but noted that Washington wants "these attacks to stop."
- Tehran denied that it was involved in the attack and said those accusing Iran want the U.S. to enter a new conflict.
Zoom Out - The U.S. seeks to avoid further escalation as Israel and Hamas carry out sensitive negotiations that may lead to a new ceasefire.
- Hamas is part of the "Axis of Resistance," an Iran-led coalition of armed groups and governments that seeks to oppose U.S. and Israeli power in the Middle East.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: After a decade of sustained growth, Hong Kong's economy has seen upheavals in recent years due to political unrest. Its gross domestic product (GDP) grew to $363B in 2019 but slid to $345B the following year. The city's GDP rose to $369 in 2021 and then fell to $360B in 2022. In 2019, Hong Kong proposed legal changes that would have enabled its government to consider extradition requests from mainland China and other countries. The plan triggered pro-democracy protests in June that caused much of the city to shut down. Hong Kong withdrew the bill in September 2019. In 2020, China rolled out a new national security law in Hong Kong and security forces began arresting pro-democracy activists and politicians. Hong Kong was then subjected to stringent social restrictions between 2021 and 2022 that were intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The city's population shrank by 187,300 people from the end of 2019 through 2022. | | | |
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| 3 | | Israel said that undercover forces killed three Palestinian militants in a West Bank hospital on Tuesday. Israel's military has been criticized for raiding hospitals in Gaza, which it claims are used by Hamas for military purposes. More: - Israeli forces infiltrated the Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin disguised as women and medical workers and conducted a targeted killing.
- A hospital spokesperson said gunfire was not exchanged during the raid.
- Hamas reported that one of its members was killed in the attack and Islamic Jihad, an allied faction, said two of its members were also killed.
- The hospital said one of the targets was a patient with partial paralysis who was receiving treatment.
- Israel's military claimed that one of the targets had transferred weapons and ammunition in preparation for a planned attack.
- The Palestinian Health Ministry denounced the raid and urged the international community to pressure Israel's military to cease operations in hospitals.
Zoom Out: - Israel's military has accused Hamas of deliberately building tunnels near hospitals and claims they are used as staging posts for military operations.
- Hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed by people seeking treatment amid Israel's ongoing offensive, which has killed at least 26,751 people, according to Gaza's health ministry.
- Israel's military campaign began after Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took 240 people captive during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
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| 4 | | GOOD NEWS: 90 maple farms in the U.S. Northeast are participating in a project to promote biodiversity and protect bird-friendly habitats. The "Bird-Friendly Maple Project" started in Vermont and is now being replicated in New York, Massachusetts, and Maine. More: - The cultivation of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) trees in the U.S. and Canada has come at the expense of other species, resulting in "monocultures."
- Conservation non-profit Audubon Vermont worked with the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association and the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation to develop a solution to maple monocultures.
- In 2014, the organizations jointly launched the "Bird Friendly Maple Project," which provides a product label celebrating maple producers that protect and improve bird habitats.
- To earn the label, producers need to adopt a management plan to ensure that sugar maples comprise no more than 75% of their "sugarbush."
- Producers also need to ensure that their sugarbushes offer nesting and foraging opportunities for birds.
- Sugarbushes that collectively comprise about 7,284 hectares (18,000 acres) of forest are now participating in the program.
Zoom Out: | | | |
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| 5 | | Hong Kong's leader, John Lee, said on Tuesday that the city's government will attempt to pass laws to tighten national security. The proposed changes would expand on legislation imposed by China to crack down on dissent in 2020. More: - Plans to allow extradition from Hong Kong to mainland China triggered pro-democracy protests across the city in 2019.
- China rolled out a new security law in Hong Kong in June 2020 that criminalized subversion, advocating secession, collusion with foreign powers, and terrorism.
- Hundreds of people were arrested under the new law and 47 were charged for participating in an unofficial primary election.
- Lee said on Tuesday that Hong Kong "can't wait," for new legislative changes that target foreign influence, espionage, treason, sedition, sabotage, and theft of state secrets.
- The government sent a consultation document to the Legislative Council on Tuesday and will produce a draft text based on a public consultation that ends on Feb. 28.
Zoom Out: - Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law requires the city to enact laws to "prohibit acts and activities that endanger national security."
- The Basic Law, which serves as a mini-constitution for the city, was enacted when the British government handed control of Hong Kong back to China in 1997.
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| 6 | | A former tax consultant was given a five-year prison sentence for leaking the tax returns of thousands of wealthy people, including former U.S. President Donald Trump. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes described the leak as an "attack on our constitutional democracy," and compared it to the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. More: - Charles Littlejohn, who is 38, disclosed the tax returns to the New York Times and ProPublica, both of which objected to his sentence.
- The New York Times published a report shortly before the 2020 presidential election showing that Trump had paid little to nothing in taxes.
- ProPublica published several stories revealing how billionaires such as Elon Musk and George Soros eliminated or reduced their tax bills.
- Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October to disclosing tax return information without authorization and his lawyers requested a lenient sentence of between 12 and 18 months.
- Littlejohn received the maximum statutory sentence that could be imposed for his crimes.
Zoom Out: - Littlejohn's lawyers said he was influenced by a book in which economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman argue that billionaires pay lower effective tax rates than average U.S. taxpayers.
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 | Writer / Editor | | Gregory Bridgman is a politics and e-commerce researcher with a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. He also holds a Master of Science from University College London and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Cape Town. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or drop him an email at gregory@inside.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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