The Sunday Subject – October 16, 2022

A Florida jury sentenced Nikolas Cruz, the Parkland high school shooter, to life in prison.

Cruz pleaded guilty last year to the premeditated murder of 14 students and three teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The 2018 attack was the deadliest school shooting in America to go to trial.

For the first time, enemies Israel and Lebanon struck an agreement on where to draw the maritime border between their countries.

Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese militia, had threatened military escalation if the dispute was not resolved in Lebanon’s favor; it has supported the agreement. Both sides are happy with the agreement: Israel hopes the deal will bring security to its tense northern border and Lebanon hopes the potential gas it finds will benefit its struggling economy. The deal, which was brokered by the US, is also a victory for the Biden administration, which has seen its influence across the Middle East wane. While far from a peace agreement, some consider it a first step in a long road to normalized relations.

Joseph Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, announced the EU will set up camps in Poland and Germany to train thousands of Ukrainian soldiers.

Borrell also pledged to boost funding for weapons to more than €3bn in the midst of Russian escalation. Ukraine was shelled across more than 40 cities and towns on Thursday.