Where the high hills of the occupied West Bank tumble into the Jordan valley, half a dozen heavy Israeli diggers pound the ancient rocks around the Palestinian village of Bardala.

Low-scudding, rain-laden clouds threaten to soak a group of Palestinian farmers huddling around their ramshackle sheep sheds as the Israel Defense Forces troops drive up to serve them eviction notices.

Sixty-year-old farmer Khalid Sawafta, his head swaddled in a traditional red-and-white keffiyeh, has tears in his eyes. His Israeli orders state: Vacate the land by 9 a.m. on December 4 – just 16 days away – or lose everything.

Such evictions are common in the West Bank, according to the United Nations.

Similarly, according to activist group Peace Now, in the past year alone 227 Palestinian families in the territory have been evicted, as the Israeli government has authorized more than 8,600 new housing units for Israelis in the West Bank and increased funding for settler projects.

Since Hamas’s brutal attacks on Israel on October 7 last year, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking more than 250 others hostage, settler leaders in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have been pushing for the annexation of the whole West Bank.

The new worry for Palestinians is that Donald Trump’s pick for US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who has many fans among Israeli settlers, could accelerate their land losses.

During a visit to Israel in 2017, the former governor of Arkansas told reporters: “There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria,” he said, using the Israeli term for the land.

“There’s no such thing as a settlement. They’re communities, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There’s no such thing as an occupation.”

Israeli settler leader and activist Yishai Fleisher, who met Huckabee during several of his visits to Israel, said: “Mike recognizes our claim, (he is) not an anti-Arab, but he does recognize Jewish claim to this land.”

Fleisher thinks Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, could do even more than Trump’s last ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who helped convince the then-president to declare Jerusalem Israel’s capital – a step that was hugely popular with Israelis.

Noting that Friedman is Jewish, Fleisher said: “David Friedman has legitimacy with Israelis and Jews. I think Huckabee will have legitimacy with millions of Bible-believing folks… He just knows their language and he knows how to talk to their heart. He’s a preacher.”

But Alon Pinkas – an Israeli diplomat and former adviser to Shimon Peres, the last Israeli prime minister to take significant steps towards peace with Palestinians – believes settlers are misguided and that Trump won’t sacrifice his interests in the broader region.

“If Israel unilaterally annexes large parts, large swath of the West Bank, this is not going to fly well in the Arab world.”

Pinkas believes Trump wants to secure what Biden failed to achieve: normalization of Israel’s relations with Arab countries, the holy grail of Middle East diplomacy.

“He’s going to want to build on the Abraham Accords,” Pinkas said, referring to an agreement that normalized Israel’s ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. “He’s going to be pressured by the Saudis, the Qataris and the Emiratis to strike a bigger deal.”

But Israel’s war in Gaza and the killing of so many Palestinians has driven up the price of that grand bargain. Trump’s friend, the powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS, has said normalization can only happen if Israel agrees to a Palestinian state.

Former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh thinks MBS will stick with this position. “Maybe there is an opportunity with Saudi Arabia for us, and that is why we’re closely coordinating with Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Ultimately, it’s Trump’s friends rather than Huckabee who’ll succeed in influencing the Israeli government, Shtayyeh believes. “This man is not the one who will be dictating the shots.”

Israel’s finance minister Belazel Smotrich, for his part, is hopeful that the West Bank will soon be part of his country. “The year 2025 will be, with God’s help, the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” he said in November.

Back in Bardala, Israeli officials claim a recent security threat triggered them to build the new barrier that will almost entirely encircle Bardala and two other villages, population about 4,000, effectively cutting them off from their agricultural livelihoods.

He shows documents he says prove Palestinian ownership of Wadi Salman, the tiny dirt valley that’s refuge to farmer Khalid’s sheep sheds, dating back 100 years.

Ibrahim said they’d appealed to Israeli officials to move the barrier, “but they refused entirely, claiming the road was already planned.”

Around Bardala, annexation is all too familiar.

Khalid, who just got his eviction notice, says he was evicted seven years ago too. “They came and demolished everything, leaving me with nothing,” he said.

The hard reality in Bardala, as elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, is that even before Trump’s approaching inauguration, the Palestinian state had become a distant dream.

A South Korean man who ate to the point of obesity in an attempt to dodge the army has avoided prison after he pledged to take up his mandatory military service.

The man, who was not publicly identified, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, by a court in Seoul for violating the country’s Military Service Act.

He was ruled out of active duty in June last year after he weighed in at 102 kilograms (225 pounds) with a body mass index classified as obese, six years after he was deemed fit to serve following an initial physical exam, according to the November 13 ruling.

“The defendant consumed high-calorie foods, approximately doubled his meal portions, refrained from physically demanding jobs such as parcel delivery work, and drank large amounts of water right before measurements to deliberately increase his weight,” the judge said in the ruling.

The man, whose age was not revealed by the court, has since “expressed his intention to fulfill his military duty sincerely,” the ruling said.

A friend who encouraged the man to take up his radical eating regime was handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for one year, for aiding and abetting the offense, according to the ruling.

Since the Korean War, almost all able-bodied men in South Korea have been required to serve in the army for at least 18 months by the time they are 28 years old.

The requirement has long been a contentious topic – hundreds of conscientious objectors have been jailed over the years, according to Amnesty International, many of whom refused to serve on religious grounds.

It has also interrupted the careers of many prominent sports and music stars, including K-pop phenomenon BTS, which went on hiatus in 2022 to perform military service.

There have been dozens of cases of young men who intentionally gain or lose weight, feign mental illness, get full body tattoos, or self-harm to receive an exemption, the Yonhap news agency reported in 2018. The military have since become more tolerant of tattoos, cutting off that particular draft-dodging loophole.

The Constitutional Court ruled in 2018 that the government must provide alternative civilian roles for those who refuse to take up arms, due to religious or political reasons.

But the draft has remained controversial – even becoming a flash point in heated gender wars. Women are exempt from compulsory conscription, and volunteer females account for only 3.6% of the Korean military, according to the Defense Ministry.

That has angered many men, including a vocal “anti-feminist” bloc who argue the draft gives women an unfair advantage in the country’s hyper-competitive job market. Many point to statistics showing women attend university at a higher rate than men, arguing that young men should also be able to pursue their dreams and careers.

In a 2018 survey, 72% of Korean men in their 20s said they thought the draft was a form of gender discrimination, and almost 65% believed women should also be conscripted. Nearly 83% said it was better to dodge military service if possible, and 68% believed it was a waste of time.

Lucknow, India (AP) — Authorities closed schools and suspended internet services in a northern Indian city on Monday, officials said, a day after four people were killed in clashes sparked by an official survey probing whether a 16th-century mosque was built on a Hindu temple.

Nearly 1,000 Muslim protesters gathered outside the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday to prevent a team conducting a court-ordered survey after a petition from a Hindu lawyer that claimed the mosque was built on the site of a Hindu temple, officials said.

“All schools and colleges have been closed and public gatherings have been prohibited” in Sambhal, said a local administrator, Aunjaneya Kumar Singh. Authorities also banned outsiders, social organizations and public representatives from entering the city without official permission until Nov. 30, Singh said, as the government scrambled to contain the unrest.

What began as a standoff escalated into clashes when protesters threw stones at police, who responded by deploying tear gas, police said.

“Some miscreants in the crowd resorted to violence, forcing us to use minor force and tear gas to restore order,” said Krishna Kumar Vishnoi, a local police officer.

Videos circulating on social media showed scenes of stone-pelting and vehicles engulfed in flames as police used firearms.

Despite the unrest, the survey proceeded as planned.

As authorities brace for potential fallout, the incident has reignited tensions over religious disputes in India where historical grievances often fuel contemporary conflicts.

Hindu activist groups, mostly linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party, have claimed that several mosques in India were built over Hindu temples centuries ago during the Muslim Mughal empire.

Experts say Hindu nationalists have been emboldened after Modi earlier this year inaugurated a controversial Hindu temple built on the ruins of a centuries-old mosque in the northern city of Ayodhya, in a political triumph for the populist leader who is seeking to transform the country from a secular democracy into a Hindu state.

The petitioner in Sambhal cites historical texts that the mosque was constructed over a Hindu temple allegedly destroyed by Mughal emperor Babur in 1529. The proponents of the survey argue it seeks to uncover historical truths while opponents condemn it as a violation of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which maintains the religious status quo of sites as they were in 1947.

Pakistani police Monday fired tear gas canisters at supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan to stop them from entering the capital, where they hoped to stage a sit-in to demand his release, officials said.

The firing of tear gas came shortly after demonstrators — who traveled 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the restive northwest — began arriving and gathering near Islamabad. They defied a lockdown, previous tear gas and widespread arrests despite a ban on rallies in the city.

The development came a day after the leadership of Khan’s party went ahead with the “long march” even as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived for a three-day visit. He was received at an airport near the capital by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday evening.

Authorities said at least one police officer was killed and several officers and demonstrators were injured in clashes. The marchers appeared determined to enter Islamabad, where the lockdown, which has been in place for two days, has disrupted daily life.

The government was in talks with Khan’s party to avoid any further violence, officials said.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters after midnight that the government is willing to allow Khan supporters to rally on the outskirts of Islamabad but he threatened extreme measures if they entered the city to protest.

Khan, who has been in jail for over a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases, remains popular. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, says the cases are politically motivated.

A convoy of vehicles carrying protesters was expected to enter the capital Monday night. Security officials say they expect between 9,000 and 11,000 demonstrators, while the PTI says the number will be much higher.

Video on social media showed Khan supporters donning gas masks and protective goggles.

Travel between Islamabad and other cities has become nearly impossible. Ambulances and cars were seen turning back from areas along the key Grand Trunk Road highway in Punjab province, where shipping containers were used to block roads.

Video circulating online showed some protesters operating heavy machinery to remove the containers.

“We are determined, and we will reach Islamabad, though police are using tear gas to stop our march,” PTI senior leader Kamran Bangash told The Associated Press. “We will overcome all hurdles one by one, and our supporters are removing shipping containers from roads.”

Bangash also said Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, who was recently released on bail in a graft case, will lead the march along with Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan’s party remains in power.

Earlier, almost 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Islamabad, Bibi, wearing a white head-to-toe burqa, addressed protesters while sitting in a truck, urging them to remain determined to achieve their goal and free Khan. She then chanted, “God is great” and left.

Khan’s main political opponent, Sharif, heads the current government.

Sharif’s spokesperson, Attaullah Tarar, said on Sunday that whenever any high-profile foreign delegation comes to Pakistan, the PTI “begins the politics of long marches and onslaught on Islamabad to harm the economy.”

Some economists say protests cause billions of rupees in damages to the country’s fragile economy.

Protesters on Sunday night burned trees as police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds. Khan supporters retaliated by using slingshots and pelting security personnel with rocks.

In a bid to foil the protest, police have arrested more than 4,000 Khan supporters since Friday and suspended mobile and internet services “in areas with security concerns,” which the PTI said affected its call on social media for a protest. On Thursday, a court prohibited rallies in the capital and Naqvi said anyone violating the ban would be arrested.

Authorities say only courts can order the release of Khan, who was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament. He has been imprisoned since his first conviction in a graft case, in August 2023.

Khan has been sentenced in several cases. His convictions were later overturned on appeal but he cannot be freed due to other pending cases against him.

Hong Kong has become a center for money laundering and sanctions evasion under the tightening grip of Beijing, US lawmakers have warned, calling for a re-evaluation of America’s close business relationship with the Asian financial hub.

In a letter to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Monday, bipartisan leaders of the House Select Committee on China demanded greater scrutiny from Washington of Hong Kong’s much prized financial sector, a pillar of the economy that’s home to many big US banks and accounts for more than one-fifth of the Chinese territory’s gross domestic product.

Hong Kong has become a “global leader” in illicit practices, it said, including in the export of controlled Western technology to Russia, the creation of front companies to buy Iranian oil and the managing of “ghost ships” that engage in illegal trade with North Korea.

Since Beijing imposed a national security law on the city in 2020, “Hong Kong has shifted from a trusted global financial center to a critical player in the deepening authoritarian axis of the People’s Republic of China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea,” the lawmakers said.

“We must now question whether longstanding US policy towards Hong Kong, particularly towards its financial and banking sector, is appropriate,” they added.

In 2020, then-President Donald Trump revoked the special treatment Hong Kong had long enjoyed under US law, to punish Beijing for imposing the national security law on the once-outspoken city. The executive order effectively ended the city’s separate customs treatment from mainland China by suspending a 1992 law granting Hong Kong special economic status.

Since then, dozens of Hong Kong-based companies have been hit by US sanctions for evading extensive measures imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, including the supply of critical dual‑use goods such as semiconductors.

Hong Kong officials have previously said the city has no obligation to implement unilateral sanctions imposed by other countries – including when a mega yacht linked to a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the US, the European Union and the United Kingdom dropped anchor in the city in October 2022.

The committee’s letter cited research published this year that shows nearly 40% of goods shipped from Hong Kong to Russia between August and December 2023 were high-priority items that are likely fueling Moscow’s production of military goods such as missiles and aircraft.

The lawmakers asked Treasury Department officials to brief the committee on “the current status of American banking relationships with Hong Kong banks, how our policies have shifted to account for the changes in Hong Kong’s status and posture, and the measures the Treasury plans to implement to address these risks.”

The letter, signed by Republican Rep. John Moolenaar, who chairs the committee, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the panel’s top Democrat, highlights the growing scrutiny on Hong Kong in the escalating great power rivalry between the US and China.

It comes as Trump is poised to return to the White House with a cabinet stacked with China hawks, including Marco Rubio, who has been named secretary of state.

Rubio, a fierce critic of Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong, has sponsored legislation that sanctioned Chinese and Hong Kong officials for alleged human rights violations in the city. He has also proposed a bill now being considered in Congress to let the secretary of state strip certification from Hong Kong’s economic and trade offices in the US.

Trump has also named hedge fund executive Scott Bessent as his treasury secretary.

Isaac Stone Fish, CEO of Strategy Risks, a business intelligence firm that focuses on China, said even if Yellen declines to act upon the letter, Bessent – who in a recent interview described Beijing as a “despotic regime” – is expected to take a more hawkish approach to China.

“In fact, it appears like he’ll be the most hawkish Treasury Secretary since the 1970s. This has massive implications for US businesses with big exposure to Hong Kong,” Fish said.

“Sadly, the idea of Hong Kong as autonomous from China is now a farce … US companies need to understand that their Hong Kong operations will likely fall under increased scrutiny.”

Thousands of supporters of Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan broke through barricades around the capital Tuesday and marched into Islamabad, clashing with security forces and demanding his release.

Authorities have enforced a security lockdown in the country, imposed internet blackouts and barricaded major roads leading into the capital to prevent protesters from entering, after Khan called for his supporters to march on parliament.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters that protesters could remain on the outskirts of Islamabad, but threatened extreme measures if they entered the city.

The latest protests came as Islamabad bolstered security for an official visit by Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who arrived in the capital on Monday for three days of talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Here’s what to know.

What’s happening?

A convoy of vehicles carrying protesters set off from the city of Peshawar Sunday as part of a “long march” with the aim of reaching the capital, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) away.

Led by Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi and Ali Amin Gandapur, chief minister in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province – where Khan’s party remains in power – the protesters planned to hold a sit-in at D-Chowk, a large square near the country’s parliament.

Protesters reached the outskirts of Islamabad Monday, defying a two-day security lockdown and a ban on rallies. Along the way, police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds and blocked roads with shipping containers to prevent them pushing through.

Video showed a police post ablaze and several fires on the highway. Reuters reported 22 police vehicles were torched just outside Islamabad and elsewhere in Punjab province.

By Tuesday morning, protesters had breached the city limits and a large crowd was gathered at Zero Point, an interchange well inside the city.

Soldiers could be seen outside key government buildings in Islamabad, including parliament, the Supreme Court and the Secretariat.

Will the protests continue?

Naqvi, Pakistan’s interior minister, said security forces had suffered bullet wounds, but police were “showing restraint” with protesters.

He warned that if protesters crossed the line, security forces had been authorized to fire back, and he could take extra measures including imposing a curfew or deploying the military.

“Rangers could open fire and there will be no protesters there after five minutes,” Naqvi said. “Anyone who reaches here will be arrested.”

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has accused the government of using excessive force, saying “bullets were fired at protesters” who it described as “peaceful.” The PTI said about two dozen protesters had been injured.

In recent days, thousands of Khan supporters have been arrested in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces as authorities tried to prevent the protest march.

Schools in Islamabad and nearby Rawalpindi closed on Monday and Tuesday, and officials and witnesses said all public transport between cities and terminals had been shut down, according to Reuters.

PTI senior leader Kamran Bangash said protesters were “determined, and we will reach Islamabad,” adding that “we will overcome all hurdles one by one.”

Why are they protesting?

Protesters are demanding the release of Khan and what his supporters deem political prisoners. They also want a new constitutional amendment to be repealed, which has increased the government’s power to select superior court justices and pick those judges to hear political cases.

Khan’s supporters also believe February elections were not free and fair, calling it a “stolen mandate.”

Khan was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in 2022 and has since led a popular campaign against the current government led by Prime Minister Sharif, accusing it of colluding with the military to remove him from office.

The former star cricketer turned populist politician has been in jail for over a year and faces dozens of criminal cases ranging from corruption to leaking state secrets, all of which he and his party deny.

Khan and the PTI – the country’s largest opposition party – remain popular, and his detention has turbocharged an already tense showdown between the country’s powerful military and his supporters.

Khan has repeatedly urged his supporters to take to the streets demanding his release, and violence has broken out in several cities.

A march to Islamabad from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in early October demanding Khan’s release was met with similar road blockades and mobile and internet cuts and ended in clashes with police.

The protests come at a sensitive time for Pakistan, which has seen a wave of sectarian violence and separatist militant attacks that have killed dozens of people in recent months.