World roundup: September 27 2023

Stories from North Korea, Mali, Spain, and elsewhere

TODAY IN HISTORY

September 27, 1669: The Siege of Candia ends

September 27, 1822: French orientalist Jean-François Champollion (d. 1832) publishes the first results of his translation of the Rosetta Stone, the first true breakthrough in the effort by European scholars to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. Two years later he published Précis du système hiéroglyphique des anciens Égyptiens, which cemented his reputation as the “Father of Egyptology.”

MIDDLE EAST

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

The Biden administration said on Wednesday that it will add Israel to the US State Department’s Visa Waiver Program, effective by November 30. This will allow Israeli travelers to enter the US and stay for up to 90 days visa-free (with a few exceptions) and puts Israel on par with 40 other countries that are already part of the VWP. The Israeli government has been pursuing VWP membership for some time but has consistently failed to meet one of its main obligations: equal treatment for all US travelers. Israel has as a matter of policy discriminated against Palestinian-Americans, particularly if they’re trying to get to the Occupied Territories.

The Israelis have since July been in a “trial period” whereby they’ve ended that discrimination (at least officially) in order to qualify for the VWP. Apparently they’ve convinced the administration that they’ve turned over a new leaf, though there have been allegations that Israeli authorities are still discriminating against Palestinian-Americans and calls for the administration not to approve Israel for the program.