The briefing for Wednesday, March 11.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has called for direct negotiations with Israel to end the escalating conflict with Hezbollah, while delivering sharp criticism of the Iran-backed group for dragging Lebanon into wider war. Under Aoun's four-point plan, a complete truce would coincide with Hezbollah's disarmament and international assistance for Lebanese Armed Forces, with Lebanon and Israel beginning direct talks under international sponsorship. According to the UN, more than 700,000 people have been displaced, including 200,000 children, with at least 486 killed in Israeli strikes since the conflict reignited nine days ago.

Aoun accused Hezbollah of acting against Lebanon's national interests, saying the group gave "no weight to Lebanon's interests or to the lives of its people." The Lebanese government declared Hezbollah's military operations illegal last week, though the state currently lacks capacity to disarm the group independently. Israeli officials have shown little sign of backing negotiations, with Israel's ambassador to France stating he was "not aware of any decision to enter negotiations to end this war."

The current crisis stems from a failed November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Israel has continued near-daily strikes, accusing Hezbollah of trying to rearm, while Hezbollah entered the recent conflict two days after the US-Israeli attack on Iran began, firing rockets into northern Israel in retaliation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said operations will continue until Hezbollah is disarmed, while Hezbollah has vowed to keep attacking Israel regardless of cost.

A federal judge has disqualified three Justice Department officials from overseeing prosecutions in New Jersey, calling their appointment an illegal power grab by the Trump administration that violates the Constitution's Senate confirmation requirements. US District Judge Matthew Brann issued a scathing 130-page ruling on Monday blocking Philip Lamparello, Jordan Fox, and Ari Fontecchio from serving as a three-person leadership team for the office. The judge said Attorney General Pam Bondi's unusual decision to replace former acting US attorney Alina Habba with the trio constituted another violation of the Appointments Clause.

Judge Brann wrote that the Trump administration's maneuvers represented an "enormous assertion of Presidential power," adding that "President Trump and his top aides have chafed at the limits on their power set forth by law and the Constitution." Habba, who had been barred from the role last year for staying too long without Senate confirmation, called the ruling "ridiculous" and remains with the Justice Department as a senior adviser. The judge argued there are "at least three undisputedly legal methods" for filling the post, questioning why the administration chose an "unprecedented and byzantine leadership structure."

The New Jersey case is part of a broader pattern of courts blocking Trump administration appointments of unconfirmed prosecutors. Judges have ruled that people installed as top federal prosecutors in Nevada, Los Angeles, northern New York, and Virginia were all serving unlawfully. In Virginia, a judge concluded that indictments brought by acting US attorney Lindsey Halligan against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey must be dismissed due to her unlawful appointment.

The UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has officially declared that Russia's deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children constitutes both a crime against humanity and a war crime. The new report states that Russian authorities "at the highest level" have deported thousands of children from occupied Ukrainian territories, with Vladimir Putin's "direct involvement" visible from the outset. The Commission has identified 1,205 specific cases of children taken in 2022, with 80% still not returned and many parents unaware of their children's whereabouts.

The report indicates most affected children lived in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions before Russia's full-scale invasion. Just before the invasion, Moscow evacuated these children to Russia claiming they faced imminent attack from Ukraine, then placed them in families or institutions and gave them Russian citizenship. Children who managed to return suffer from "trauma, anxiety and fear of abandonment" due to harsh treatment in Russia. One child was told by Russian orphanage staff that Ukraine "does not exist anymore, everything has burnt down, and your parents have probably died."

Ukraine says almost 20,000 children have been illegally sent to Russia and Belarus, with only 2,000 recovered so far. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023, accusing him and Russian children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova of unlawful deportation. Lvova-Belova previously gave an interview describing "taking in" a 15-year-old boy from Mariupol and "re-educating" him despite his not wanting to go to Russia. US First Lady Melania Trump has reportedly facilitated some reunifications through an "open channel of communication" with Putin.

The family of a 12-year-old girl critically injured in Canada's deadliest school shooting is suing ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, alleging the company knew the suspect was planning an attack but failed to alert authorities. Maya Gebala was shot in the neck and head during the February 10 attack in Tumbler Ridge that killed eight people, including five young children and the suspect's mother. According to the lawsuit, 18-year-old suspect Jesse Van Rootselaar had an initial ChatGPT account banned by OpenAI in June 2025 due to concerning conversations about gun violence, but Canadian police were never notified.

The lawsuit claims twelve OpenAI employees flagged posts from the suspect's first account as "indicating an imminent risk of serious harm to others" and recommended contacting Canadian law enforcement. Instead, the lawsuit alleges, the request was "rebuffed" and only the account was banned. OpenAI has said the account did not meet its threshold of a credible or imminent plan for serious physical harm. The suspect was then able to open a second ChatGPT account and "continue planning scenarios involving gun violence" despite previous flagging by OpenAI systems.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has since pledged to strengthen protocols on notifying police and apologize to the Tumbler Ridge community. In a February 26 letter to Canadian officials, OpenAI said it has implemented changes including enlisting mental health experts to assess cases and making police referral criteria "more flexible." The company stated it would have reported the suspect's account under the new guidelines and committed to establishing direct contact with Canadian law enforcement. Gebala, who was shot three times while trying to lock a library door, has suffered what the lawsuit describes as a "catastrophic brain injury."

Polish President Karol Nawrocki refused to sign legislation that would enable Poland to access nearly 44 billion euros in preferential defense loans from the European Union, arguing it would make Poland more dependent on Brussels. Instead, Nawrocki proposed alternative draft legislation suggesting national resources could fund defense investments without European loans. Poland was set to be the largest beneficiary of the 150 billion-euro EU loan program called SAFE (Security Action for Europe), designed to boost European defense readiness as the US diminishes its continental security role.

The decision reflects deepening tensions between the euro-skeptic president and Prime Minister Donald Tusk's liberal government over European versus American defense partnerships. Nawrocki and the opposition Law and Justice party argue the EU money comes with conditions that increase German influence and encourage purchases from European manufacturers over US producers. Party leader Jarosław Kaczyński said last month that "Polish independence has no price" and rejected what he called Poland's placement "under the German boot."

US officials have also criticized SAFE, with ambassadors to the EU and NATO writing in February that such programs "undermine collective defense" by limiting competition and depriving American companies of orders. The Polish government prepared a list of 139 projects to finance with the EU loans, including 30 dedicated to strengthening eastern borders, with 80% going to domestic industry. Tusk said the government would prepare a "plan B" to access SAFE funds under more restrictive conditions if Nawrocki ultimately vetoes the law, for which he has until March 20 to decide.