*) Gaza's Nasser Hospital ‘has become a place of death’ — UN

An official from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, expressed concern over the state of the Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis in the south of besieged Gaza.

Jonathan Whittall, senior humanitarian affairs officer at OCHA in the occupied Palestinian territory, said: “The conditions are appalling. There are dead bodies in the corridors. Patients are in a desperate situation.”

He also added that the hospital “has become a place of death, not a place of healing.”

*) UN official says ‘there needs to be an explanation on how the veto is used’

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the five countries that hold the veto power at the UN Security Council “have a great amount of responsibility, and there needs to be an explanation on how the veto is used.”

The spokesperson’s comments came after the Security Council failed to adopt a resolution on a humanitarian ceasefire in besieged Gaza for the third time.

*) Russia rejects US claims of nuclear space threat

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space and that his country has only developed space capabilities similar to those of the US.

Putin’s statement followed the White House confirmation last week that Russia obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.

*) Pakistan parties reach power-sharing agreement, Khan loyalists left out

Two Pakistan parties have reached a power-sharing agreement that will return Shehbaz Sharif to the premiership, leaving out politicians loyal to jailed former leader Imran Khan despite winning the most seats in this month’s vote.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party said they had settled days of negotiations on securing a majority to form a coalition government that will also include several smaller parties.

Under the deal, the PML-N and PPP will put forward former leader Sharif as prime minister and Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, as president.

And finally…

*) Eagles’ iconic ‘Hotel California’ lyrics at centre of rare manuscript trial

In the mid-1970s, the Eagles were working on a spooky, cryptic new song.

On a lined yellow pad, Don Henley, with input from band co-founder Glenn Frey, jotted thoughts about “a dark desert highway” and “a lovely place” with a luxurious surface and ominous undertones.

The song, “Hotel California”, became one of rock’s most indelible singles. And nearly a half-century later, those handwritten pages of lyrics-in-the-making have become the centre of an unusual criminal trial set to open on Wednesday.