Friday, Apr 26th
Last update06:09:34 AM GMT
International Glance
A Russian missile strike that broke in half a 240-metre (787-foot) television tower in Kharkiv on Monday is part of a deliberate effort by Moscow to make Ukraine's second largest city uninhabitable, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the US Senate to rapidly ratify the long-delayed military aid package passed by Congress over the weekend, warning that his country was preparing its defences amid fears there could be a large Russian offensive before the fresh supplies reach the frontline. “We really need to get this to the final point. We need to get it approved by the Senate … so that we get some tangible assistance for the soldiers on the frontline as soon as possible, not in another six months,” he said.
In the interview with US television network NBC, he also said that Saturday’s vote showed Ukraine would not be “a second Afghanistan”, whose pro-western government collapsed during an US-led pull out in the summer of 2021. Zelenskiy said his immediate priorities were air-defence systems such as the US-made Patriots and long-range missiles such as Atacms, which can travel up to 186 miles (300km) and which the House has called on the Pentagon to provide promptly.
Some Israeli leaders are lashing out at reported plans by the Biden administration to sanction an ultra-Orthodox Israeli combat unit that for years has faced claims of abuse against Palestinians.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the intention to impose sanctions on the Netzah Yehuda Battalion as "the height of absurdity and a moral nadir."
"I will strongly defend the (Israeli military), our army and our fighters," Netanyahu said. "If somebody thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit in the IDF – I will fight this with all my powers."
Axios and the Israeli media outlet Haaretz, citing U.S. government sources they did not name, reported the battalion could be banned from receiving U.S. military assistance or training. The battalion, among other issues, was linked in the death of an 80-year-old Palestinian-American in 2022. Haaretz said the Biden administration is considering sanctions against other military and police units in Israel.
TikTok’s days may be numbered after the House approved legislation Saturday that would ban the popular social media app nationwide unless its Chinese owners sell.
Under the measure, which passed on a bipartisan 360-to-58 vote, TikTok's parent company ByteDance has up to a year to divest before the prohibition begins.
President Joe Biden has already expressed support for the effort, which Speaker Mike Johnson attached to a larger foreign aid package that includes three bills that separately provides billions for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region.
Commercial flights including Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting their routes early on Friday morning over western Iran without explanation. Local warnings to aviators suggested the airspace may have been closed.
The incident comes as tensions remain high in the wider Middle East after Iran’s unprecedented missile-and-drone attack on Israel. Isfahan is home to a major airbase for the Iranian military, as well as sites associated with its nuclear program.
Foreign malign influence in the U.S. presidential election got off to a slower start than in 2016 and 2020 due to the less contested primary season. Russian efforts are focused on undermining U.S. support for Ukraine while China seeks to exploit societal polarization and diminish faith in U.S. democratic systems.
Additionally, fears that sophisticated AI deepfake videos would succeed in voter manipulation have not yet been borne out but simpler “shallow” AI-enhanced and AI audio fake content will likely have more success. These insights and analysis are contained in the second Microsoft Threat Intelligence Election Report published today.
Israel has reportedly deployed extra artillery and armoured personnel carriers to the Gaza Strip periphery, suggesting that the military is preparing for its long-threatened ground offensive on Rafah, the only place of relative safety for at least 1.4 million displaced Palestinian civilians.
Israeli daily Ma’ariv also said on Wednesday that troops had been put on alert and “the governing principle of the operation” had been approved by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) general staff and Yoav Gallant, the defence minister. The IDF declined to comment on the reports.
The IDF confirmed on Tuesday it was buying 40,000 tents to prepare for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians who have sought shelter in Rafah, the southernmost town in the Gaza Strip, which is only major urban area in the territory that Israeli ground forces have not yet entered.
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