Wednesday, May 01st
Last update06:36:01 AM GMT
International Glance
The leaders of 23 European parliaments are imploring Speaker Mike Johnson to take up and pass additional assistance for Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia.
"We believe that thanks to your personal leadership, the Congress will demonstrate historic bipartisan unity in support of the collective effort to assist Ukraine," they wrote in an open letter. Supporting passage of further aid would "provide Ukraine with the necessary funds to continue its fight," the leaders added.
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Ukraine's military said on Tuesday it had withdrawn from two more villages near the eastern town of Avdiivka which was captured earlier this month by Russian forces, losing more territory as support from its Western allies runs short.
Jordan and France airdropped food and other supplies to people in Gaza on Monday, parachuting some packages of aid into the sea, a challenging effort that underlined the desperate need in Gaza as aid groups have warned of growing restrictions on their ability to distribute supplies.
Video footage showed a cluster of parachutes falling into the sea near Deir al Balah, a city in central Gaza. Men in small boats paddled out through choppy water to retrieve the aid, watched by a crowd of hundreds who scrambled for the packages once they had reached the shore.
Alaa Fayad, a veterinary student who shot footage of the scene on the beach that he posted online, said the aid did not amount to much. “It was sad seeing people I know well running and crowding to get aid that’s not nearly enough,” he said.
Hungary's parliament has approved Sweden's bid to join NATO, clearing the way for the Nordic country's accession to the military alliance after almost two years of intense negotiations.
Getting approval from the Hungarian parliament was the final hurdle for Sweden to joining NATO. In Hungary's parliament on Monday, 188 voted in favor and six against it, with five abstaining.
"Today is a historic day. The parliaments of all NATO member states have now voted in favour of Swedish accession to NATO. Sweden stands ready to shoulder its responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security," a tweet from the office of Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that 31,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed since Russia invaded two years ago, marking the first time he has provided an official estimate of Ukraine’s military losses during the conflict.
Zelensky gave the figure at a news conference in Kyiv to mark the second anniversary of the war.
“I don’t know if I have a right to tell you the numbers of our losses. Every single person is a tragedy,” he said, adding, “31,000 [members] of Ukraine’s military were killed during this war.”
TVNL Comment: For Heaven's sake, get rid of these heartless Republicns who are holding up aid to Ukraine.
The White House is continuing to sound the alarm bells over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to invade the Gaza city of Rafah — where more than one million civilians are estimated to be seeking refuge at Israel’s direction.
The expected Israeli invasion into Rafah has been anticipated for weeks after Netanyahu ordered evacuations out of the southern city earlier this month. Netanyahu’s plan appears to be at odds with the Biden administration, which has repeatedly urged Israel to not move forward with the operation in Gaza.
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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed Western leaders to Kyiv Saturday to mark the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, as Ukrainian forces run low on ammunition and foreign aid hangs in the balance.
Allies from the EU and the Group of Seven wealthy democracies rallied around Kyiv to express solidarity, with Zelenskyy joining a virtual G7 meeting Saturday and four world leaders traveling to Ukraine’s war-weary capital.
“Two years ago, here, we met enemy landing forces with fire; two years later, we meet our friends and our partners here,” Zelenskyy said as he met the dignitaries at Hostomel airfield just outside of Kyiv, which Russian paratroopers unsuccessfully tried to seize in the first days of the war.
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