Headlines:
China Cracks Advanced Microchip Technology in Blow to Western Sanctions
Palestinian Anger over Far-Right Minister’s Holy Site Visit
UK to Declare IRGC a Terrorist Group

China Cracks Advanced Microchip Technology in Blow to Western Sanctions

China has cracked a microchip design method previously only mastered by the West, in a challenge that could undermine sanctions. Patent filings reveal that Huawei has made advances in a crucial method of chip manufacture, raising the prospect that the company could eventually start making some of the smallest and most powerful microchips by itself. Such a development would allow Beijing to skirt Western sanctions. Washington, Brussels and London are currently all blocking access to advanced Western-made computer chips in China over fears the Communist nation could develop new military capabilities beyond the power of Western armies to resist. China’s response to US export controls was to merely complain to the WTO and a more robust response was needed. China has now responded with a major punch, the ball is now back in the US side of the court.

Palestinian Anger over Far-Right Minister’s Holy Site Visit

‘Israel’s’ far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, entered Al-Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards in occupied East Jerusalem. A video posted on social media shows Ben-Gvir touring the courtyards with a heavy security detail. Palestinians have condemned a visit to a contested holy site in Jerusalem by a far-right Israeli minister as an “unprecedented provocation”. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has called for a harder line towards the Palestinians, walked around the site surrounded by police. Mr Ben-Gvir’s visit was his first public act since the government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was sworn in. Mr Ben-Gvir, leader of the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, has long said that he wants to bring about a change to the rules to allow Jewish worship at the site. There is no indication that Mr Ben-Gvir prayed during Tuesday’s visit. “The Temple Mount is open to everyone,” he tweeted, accompanied by a photograph of him surrounded by a security cordon with the golden Dome of the Rock in the background.

UK to Declare IRGC a Terrorist Group

The United Kingdom plans to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group. The designation will make it harder for the UK and Iran to make progress in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. The UK is only the latest European country to consider designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization, and as Iran’s weapons transfers to Russia and crackdowns on anti-government demonstrations continue. The announcement came after the IRGC arrested seven Iranian-British dual nationals who allegedly have links to the ongoing anti-government protests in Iran, and London also recently uncovered 10 IRGC-linked plots to kidnap or murder people in the UK in 2022.