Hello again, Global Recap readers! Here are the highlights of what’s ahead of you today:

• 🇸🇪 The Swedish embassy in Iraq has been torched.

• 🇰🇵 North Korea hacks a US company for crypto.

• 🇺🇸 US defunds the Wuhan Lab.

• 🇺🇦Ukraine starts using US-supplied cluster munitions.

🗓️ On This Day

💡 Starting on this day in 1995, the CCP started firing several missiles in the waters surrounding Taiwan. This continued for 8 months, serving as a warning to Taiwan against moving away from the One-China policy. The crisis ended on March 23, 1996 - the day of the Taiwanese presidential election.

📈 Top News

🔥 The US government just cut off funding to the Wuhan lab. After years of failed attempts to get more information from the lab about its research on bat coronaviruses, the lab has been given 30 days to respond or face permanent debarment from US grants and contracts. Find out more.

🚨 Nuclear war alert. Today, North Korea’s defense minister rattled their nuclear sabers, threatening to unleash their arsenal on their southern neighbor. Why? Due to the recent docking of the nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine USS Kentucky.

🇨🇿 Czech Republic says yes to Uncle Sam. The country's parliament ratified a treaty that allows US troops to put their boots on the country's soil, amid rising tensions with Russia over Ukraine. Is this provocation?

🔥 North Korea hacks a US IT company to steal crypto from its clients. The company in question is called JumpCloud. The rogue nation’s cybercriminals hacked its database to target cryptocurrency companies and siphon off their digital cash. Find out more.

🔥 Ukraine fires US-provided cluster munitions at Russian forces, according to Ukrainian officials. Find out more.

✍🏻 In-Depth

US-Israel
Israeli President’s Response to Congress Boycott

🇮🇱 Herzog, the first Israeli president to be born in Israel, addressed a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday. He celebrated the close relationship between Israel and the US while also responding to criticism from some progressive lawmakers who boycotted his speech over Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

These lawmakers were:

• Ilhan Omar

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

• Rashida Tlaib

• Cori Bush

• Jamaal Bowman

• Nydia Velazquez

• Bernie Sanders

🎙️ Herzog remarked that he respects criticism, but that it must not cross the line into negating Israel’s right to exist. Perhaps this line was nearly crossed by Rep. Pramila Jayapal. Prior to Herzog’s visit, she called Israel a “racist state,” for which she ended up apologizing shortly before Herzog’s arrival in the US. She was harshly criticized by her colleagues from both sides of the aisle.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called the boycott “antisemitic.”

Sweden-Iraq
Swedish Embassy: Torched

🇮🇶 Hundreds of angry protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday and set parts of it on fire. Mere hours after this, Iraq expelled the Swedish ambassador and recalled its own envoy from Stockholm too. What’s the reason? The planned burning of the Quran in Sweden by Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden who had previously burned pages of the Quran outside a mosque in Stockholm in June, during Eid al-Adha, one of the holiest days for Muslims.

Protestors were seen waving flags and signs showing the powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr.