Page 68 - Ukraine

US Senate passes $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan

The Senate early Tuesday passed a USD 95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, pushing ahead after months of difficult negotiations and amid growing political divisions in the Republican Party over the role of the United States abroad. The vote came after a small group of Republicans opposed to the USD 60 billion for Ukraine held the Senate floor through the night, using the final hours of debate to argue that the US should focus on its own problems before sending more money overseas. But more than a dozen Republicans voted with almost all Democrats to pass the package 70-29, with supporters arguing that abandoning Ukraine could embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin and threaten national security across the globe. It's been years, perhaps decades, since the Senate has passed a bill that so greatly impacts not just our national security, not just the security of our allies, but also the security of western democracy, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who .

Ukraine's air defence system destroys 14 of 17 Russia-launched drones

He said that according to preliminary information, there were no casualties, but the facades of some non-residential buildings were damaged

'World is watching', say Senators as Republicans oppose to Ukraine aid

As a growing number of Republicans oppose US aid to Ukraine, the Senate's leaders are arguing in strong terms that the money is crucial to pushing back against Russian President Vladimir Putin and maintaining America's global standing. In the Capitol for a rare weekend session, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky issued stark warnings about the consequences of abandoning longtime US allies in Europe. Today it's no exaggeration to say that the eyes of the world are on the United States Senate, McConnell said. Our allies and partners are hoping that the indispensable nation, the leader of the free world, has the resolve to continue. A test vote Sunday on the $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other countries comes as former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, is trying to kill the assistance and has escalated his attacks on the NATO military alliance. Trump said Saturday

Russian forces using Musk's Starlink internet in occupied areas: Ukraine

Starlink said on Feb. 8 that its terminals were not active in Russia and that SpaceX had never sold or marketed the service in Russia, nor shipped equipment to locations in Russia

Parl highlights: Lok Sabha adjourned sine die as Budget session concludes

LIVE Updates: From Pakistan election results to Elon Musk's firm Neuralink ditching Delaware to reincorporate in Nevada, catch all the latest news here

Russian drone strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, kills 7

A Russian drone strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, killed at least seven people overnight, including three children, Kharkiv region governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Saturday. He said the Iranian-made Shahed drone hit civilian infrastructure in the Nemyshlyan district on the city, causing a massive fire that burned down 15 private houses. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said more than 50 people had been evacuated and that emergency workers had contained the blaze by Saturday morning. The Ukrainian air force said air defense systems destroyed 23 out of 31 Iranian Shahed drones launched by Russia overnight. The drones primarily targeted the northeastern Kharkiv region and the southern province of Odesa, the statement said. Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said four people were injured there by the overnight drone attacks. The attacks came in three waves, he said. The first targeted the regional capital the port city of Odesa. All nine drones were shot down, but

US military drills in Philippines unaffected by focus on Ukraine, Gaza

Combat exercises between the United States and the Philippines involving thousands of forces each year will not be affected by America's focus on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, a US general said Thursday. The Biden administration has been strengthening an arc of military alliances in the Indo-Pacific region to build deterrence and to better counter China, including in any future confrontation over Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea. But there have been concerns that the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict could hamper America's pivot to Asia and the Pacific and divert military resources intended for the region. "Certainly, it does not affect our presence, Maj. Gen. Marcus Evans, commanding general of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division, told The Associated Press in an interview late Thursday when asked to comment on those concerns. "If anything, it drives an increased sense of urgency to focus on these partnerships that we've developed decades ago and it'

US Senate votes on package of wartime funding for Ukraine, Israel

The Senate on Thursday voted to begin work on a package of wartime funding for Ukraine and other U.S. allies, but doubts remained about support from Republicans who rejected a carefully negotiated compromise that also included border enforcement policies. A vote to begin work on the new package cleared on a 67-32 vote, but the legislation's path remained uncertain. Senate leaders had not agreed to a process to limit the debate time for the bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the vote a good first step" and pledged that the Senate would keep working on this bill -- until the job is done. The New York Democrat has tried to salvage $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, as well as roughly $35 billion for Israel, other allies and national security priorities, after the collapse this week of a bipartisan agreement to tie border enforcement policies to the package. Republicans are divided about how to proceed, and GOP leaders were still scrambling to find a plan that their senators

Ukraine aid collapses despite Biden's plea for Congress to show some spine

A Senate deal on border enforcement measures and Ukraine aid suffered a swift and total collapse Tuesday as Republicans withdrew support despite President Joe Biden urging Congress to show some spine and stand up to Donald Trump. Just minutes after the Democratic president's remarks at the White House, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell emerged from a GOP luncheon at the Capitol and acknowledged that the deal was dead. It looks to me and to most of our members that we have no real chance here to make a law, the Kentucky Republican told reporters. The split-screen moments in Washington represented a rapid turn of events that showed McConnell's slipping control of his GOP conference, Trump's growing influence, and Biden's ability only to look on as a cornerstone of his foreign policy halting Russian President Vladimir Putin's advance into Europe crumbled in Congress. Out of funds, the Pentagon is sending no more arms shipments to Kyiv just as the war entering its third year

US envoys write to Congress to pass emergency aid for Ukraine, Israel: WH

American envoys in nine countries, including India and Japan, wrote to the Congress Tuesday urging it to act quickly to pass the President's National Security Supplemental Funding request, including the aid it contains for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific, the White House said. John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, told reporters that nine US ambassadors to countries across the Indo-Pacific have sent the letter. "The ambassadors wrote about how... 'many countries in the Indo-Pacific are intently focused on the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East'," Kirby said quoting from the letter. The ambassadors signing the letter included Philip Goldberg of South Korea, Rahm Emanuel of Japan, Caroline Kennedy of Australia, MaryKay Carlson of the Philippines, Eric Garcetti of India, Nicholas Burns of China, Tom Udall of New Zealand, Edgard Kagan of Malaysia and Marc Knapper of Vietnam. "Governments are watching what we

Biden tells Congress to 'show some spine' as Ukraine aid faces defeat

President Joe Biden on Tuesday acknowledged that a bill to provide security funding for Ukraine and for the US border with Mexico is stalled in Congress. The Democratic president blamed the situation on former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner and told Congress to show some spine and stand up to Trump. A bipartisan Senate deal intended to curb illegal crossings at the US border with Mexico faced almost certain defeat Tuesday as Senate Republicans signalled their opposition, stranding President Joe Biden with no clear way to advance aid for Ukraine through Congress. The Democratic president has urged lawmakers to embrace a bipartisan Senate deal that pairs border enforcement measures with USD 60 billion in wartime aid for Ukraine, as well as tens of billions of dollars more for Israel, other US allies in Asia, the US immigration system and humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and Ukraine.

Security is fragile at Ukraine's Russian-occupied nuclear power plant: IAEA

Security at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remains fragile amid worrying recent staff cuts enacted by Russian authorities occupying the facility, which is one of the 10 biggest atomic power plants in the world, the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief said Tuesday. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi, who is in Kyiv, told The Associated Press that his upcoming visit to the plant as the war approaches its two-year milestone will aim to assess the impact of recent personnel reductions after Russia denied access to employees of Ukraine's Energoatom. This huge facility used to have around 12,000 staff. Now, this has been reduced to between 2,000 and 3,000, which is quite a steep reduction in the number of people working there, Grossi said. To man, to operate these very sophisticated big installations you need a certain number of people performing different specific functions. So far the situation is stable, but it is a very, very delicate equilibrium, he

Russia's energy elite, Indian govt officials try to keep oil flowing

Oil imports from Russia, negligible before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, climbed steadily through 2022 and the first half of last year as India saw an opportunity to procure discounted barrels

House Republicans announce bill that provides more military aid to Israel

House Republicans will move forward with a USD 17.6 billion package next week that provides military aid to Israel and replenish US weapons, but leaves out more help for Ukraine, underscoring the challenges facing supporters of a comprehensive national security package that would also include billions of dollars for immigration enforcement. The move gives Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans the chance to show support for Israel even though there is little chance the Senate will go along. Meanwhile, text of a broader Senate compromise is expected to be released this weekend and a key test vote on that package will be held during the week. Johnson said that Senate leadership is aware that by failing to include the House in their negotiations, they have eliminated the ability for swift consideration of any legislation. As I have said consistently for the past three months, the House will have to work its will on these issues and our priorities will need to be addressed, Johnson

Top UN court decides to proceed with Ukraine case over Russia's invasion

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced on Friday (local time) its decision to proceed with the case initiated by Ukraine concerning Russia's justification for its invasion in Feb 2022

Exxon Mobil beats estimates, ends 2023 with a $36 billion profit

Profits from oil majors have been down in 2023 by about a third from record levels in 2022, pressured as oil and gas prices retreated after spiking when Russia invaded Ukraine

ICJ set to decide if it can hear Ukraine's genocide case against Russia

The International Court of Justice is ruling Friday on whether it has jurisdiction to hear a case filed by Ukraine in the days after Russia's invasion accusing Moscow of breaching the genocide convention. In the highly-charged case, Kyiv claims that Russia breached the landmark 1948 convention by using trumped-up claims of genocide in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as a pretext for attacking Ukraine nearly two years ago. Ukraine also accuses Moscow of planning acts of genocide. Moscow rejects the allegations and argued last year that the court should throw out the case before even considering the merits of Kyiv's claims. At hearings in September, the leader of Moscow's legal team, Gennady Kuzmin, called Ukraine's case hopelessly flawed and at odds with the longstanding jurisprudence of this court. In order for the court to have jurisdiction, Ukraine has to establish that it has a dispute with Russia over the genocide convention. A member of Moscow's legal team, Sienho

European Union agrees on new 50 billion-euro aid package for Ukraine

European Council President Charles Michel says the 27 EU countries have sealed a deal on aid to Ukraine just over an hour into a summit of the bloc's leaders and despite threats from Hungary to veto the move. We have a deal, Michel said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. He wrote that all 27 leaders agreed on an additional 50-billion-euro (USD 54 billion) support package for Ukraine within the EU budget. The announcement came despite staunch objections from Hungary in December and in the days leading up to Thursday's summit in Brussels. Michel said that the move locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine, and demonstrates that the EU is taking leadership and responsibility in support for Ukraine; we know what is at stake.

Swapped 195 prisoners of war with Ukraine on Wednesday, says Russia

Russia's Defence Ministry says Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 195 prisoners of war each. The Russian Defence Ministry said the swap was conducted on Wednesday. The announcement came a week after Russia alleged that Ukrainian forces shot down a military transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war who were to be swapped for Russian POWs. The Defence Ministry said that missiles fired from across the border brought down the transport plane in Russia's Belgorod region on Jan. 24. Local authorities in Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, said the crash killed all 74 people onboard, including six crew members and three Russian servicemen. Ukrainian officials confirmed last week that a prisoner swap was due to happen that day but said it had been called off.

UN to rule Friday on jurisdiction in Ukraine case over genocide claim

The United Nations' top court will rule on Friday whether it has jurisdiction in a case brought by Ukraine accusing Russia of violating international law by using a false accusation of genocide as the pretext for its 2022 invasion. Kyiv launched the case at the International Court of Justice days after the start of the full-scale war in 2022, arguing that Russia breached the 1948 Genocide Convention by wrongly claiming Ukraine was committing genocide against Russian-speaking people in the country. Russia has flouted an order by The Hague-based court to halt hostilities. Moscow snubbed hearings over provisional measures in 2022 but filed an objection to the court's jurisdiction. During hearings in 2023, lawyers for Russia asked the court to toss out the complaint, calling the legal case an abuse of process. Ukraine is not claiming Russia is committing genocide but rather arguing that the false accusation of genocide is enough to violate the 1948 treaty. Kyiv told judges the neighbor