CrossTalk on NATO | Offensive alliance

Russian boxer Azalia Amineva has put out a message to Imane Khelif, challenging the Algerian to a rematch a year after the pair faced off at the World Championships in India. During their bout in 2023, Amineva knocked her opponent down, but ultimately lost the match.

Now Amineva is calling for a rematch after seeing Khelif’s fight with Italian Angela Carini at the Paris Olympics, which saw Carini abandon the match after just 46 seconds, in tears and scared for her safety. Amineva has vowed to avenge ‘all the girls you got in the way of,’ in reference to the ongoing row over Khelif’s gender.

Khelif’s participation in the women’s boxing events at the Paris Olympics has seen heavy backlash, as many accuse them of being ‘male.’ Khelif, along with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, had previously failed a gender eligibility test, reportedly being found to have male XY chromosomes. The International Olympic Committee, however, disagreed with this ruling and allowed the pair to compete alongside women.

During a meeting with President-elect Prabowo Subianto, Putin highlights the long-standing friendly ties between Russia and Indonesia which have lasted for decades

President Putin and Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto exchange a friendly handshake ahead of meeting

Putin meets with the president-elect of Indonesia and current Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto

Israel is on the brink of war with Hezbollah, after a rocket attack on a soccer field left at least 11 dead, most of whom were children. The attack came in Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights region, in the northwest of Israel near the borders with Lebanon and Syria. Hezbollah and Israel have traded rocket fire in the region since the start of the war in Gaza, however those attacks have escalated in recent weeks. The attack came, apparently, after Israeli forces launched airstrikes against Hezbollah, killing three. Hezbollah responded with rocket attacks on a nearby Israeli military base, however they deny the rocket attack on the soccer field.

The strike has pushed tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah beyond breaking point, with Israel now promising a ‘disproportionate response.’ Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told local media that ‘There is no doubt that Hezbollah crossed all red lines,’ adding that, ‘we are facing an all-out war.’ He claimed that the response would have ‘full backing’ of Israel’s US and European allies, however would ‘not go into detail’ on the nature of the response.

Officials are now urging caution in order to prevent the current conflict from conflagrating into an all-out regional war