President Obama makes a direct appeal to the Iranian people in this video broadcast on several television stations in the Middle East. The president’s call for a “new beginning” in U.S.-Iranian relations coincides with the holiday of Norwuz, the traditional Iranian new year.

The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories calls Israel’s recent offensive in Gaza a war crime of the “greatest magnitude,” noting that the Geneva Conventions require warring parties to make a distinction between military and civilian targets.

Today marks the 6th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.