International

US giving Ukraine $3 billion in military aid for years ahead

Published

2 years ago

August 24, 2022

FILE: Pallets of 155 mm shells ultimately bound for Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is expected on Wednesday to announce an additional roughly $3 billion in aid to train and equip Ukrainian forces to fight for years to come, U.S. officials said.

The officials told The Associated Press that the package will fund contracts for as many as three types of drones and other weapons, ammunition and equipment that may not see the battlefront for a year or two.

The total of the aid package — it is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative — could change, but not likely by much. Officials said it will include money for the small, hand-launched Puma drones, the longer-endurance Scan Eagle surveillance drones, which are launched by catapult, and, for the first time, the British Vampire drone system, which can be launched off ships. Several officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the aid before its public release.

As Russia’s war on Ukraine drags on, U.S. security assistance is shifting to a longer-term campaign that also will likely keep more American military troops in Europe into the future, U.S. officials said. Wednesday is Ukraine’s independence day holiday and the six-month point in the war.

Unlike most previous packages, the new funding is largely aimed at helping Ukraine secure its medium- to long-term defense posture, according to officials familiar with the matter. Earlier shipments, most of them done under Presidential Drawdown Authority, have focused on Ukraine’s more immediate needs for weapons and ammunition and involved materiel that the Pentagon already has in stock that can be shipped in short order.

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In addition to providing longer-term assistance that Ukraine can use for potential future defense needs, the new package is intended to reassure Ukrainian officials that the United States intends to keep up its support, regardless of the day-to-day back and forth of the conflict, the officials said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg noted the more extended focus Tuesday as he reaffirmed the alliance’s support for the conflict-torn country.

“Winter is coming, and it will be hard, and what we see now is a grinding war of attrition. This is a battle of wills, and a battle of logistics. Therefore we must sustain our support for Ukraine for the long term, so that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent nation,” Stoltenberg said, speaking at a virtual conference about Crimea, organized by Ukraine.

Six months after Russia invaded, the war has slowed to a grind, as both sides trade combat strikes and small advances in the east and south. Both sides have seen thousands of troops killed and injured, as Russia’s bombardment of cities has killed countless innocent civilians.

There are fears that Russia will intensify attacks on civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days because of the holiday celebrating Ukraine’s 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union and the six-month anniversary of the invasion.

On Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine and the State Department issued a new security alert for Ukraine that repeated a call for Americans in the country to leave due to the danger.

“Given Russia’s track record in Ukraine, we are concerned about the continued threat that Russian strikes pose to civilians and civilian infrastructure,” it said.

Other NATO allies are also marking the independence day with new aid announcements.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country is providing more than 500 million euros (nearly $500 million) in aid, including powerful anti-aircraft systems. The aid will include rocket launchers, ammunition, anti-drone equipment, a dozen armored recovery vehicles and and three additional IRIS-T long-range air defense systems, the German news agency dpa reported.

The funding must still be approved by parliament, and some of it won’t be delivered until next year.

And Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $3.85 million for two Ukraine projects through the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program. It includes about $2.9 million in funding for ongoing development of Ukraine’s national police force and other emergency services, and about $950,000 to help advise Ukraine’s defense ministry.

To date, the U.S. has provided about $10.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration, including 19 packages of weapons taken directly from Defense Department stocks since August 2021.

U.S. defense leaders are also eyeing plans that will expand training for Ukrainian troops outside their country, and for militaries on Europe’s eastern and southern flanks that feel most threatened by Russia’s aggression.

International

Heavy downpours, lightning kill 65 in Pakistan

Published

3 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Trends Admin

Heavy downpours, lightning kill 65 in Pakistan

At least 65 people have perished in storm-related accidents in Pakistan, including lightning, according to officials, with rain falling at roughly twice the historical average rate in April.

Heavy rains between Friday and Monday produced flash floods and collapsed houses, while lightning killed at least 28 people.

The highest death toll occurred in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 32 people, including 15 children, died and more than 1,300 homes were damaged.

“All the casualties resulted from the collapse of walls and roofs,” Anwar Khan, spokesman for the province’s disaster management authority, told AFP on Wednesday.

Villagers whose homes were inundated with water were forced to seek refuge on higher ground, including on the shoulders of motorways, creating makeshift tents with plastic sheeting and bamboo sticks.

“In April, we have observed highly unusual rainfall patterns,” Zaheer Ahmad Babar, spokesperson for the Pakistan Meteorological Department, told AFP.

“From April 1st to April 17th, we experienced precipitation levels exceeding the historical average by 99 percent,” he added, citing data from the past 30 years as a comparison.

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Most of the country experienced a pause in rain on Tuesday and Wednesday, but more downpours are predicted in the coming days.

“Climate change is a major factor behind these unusual weather patterns and above normal rainfalls, but it’s not just Pakistan which is affected, the whole region is experiencing changes in temperature patterns,” Babar added.

Pakistan is increasingly vulnerable to unpredictable weather patterns, as well as often destructive monsoon rains that usually arrive in July.

In the summer of 2022, a third of Pakistan was submerged by unprecedented monsoon rains that displaced millions of people and cost the country $30 billion in damage and economic losses, according to a World Bank estimate.

In the latest rains, 21 people including farmers harvesting wheat were killed by lightning in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, provincial authorities said.

At least eight people were killed in Balochistan province, including seven struck by lightning, where 25 districts were battered by rain and some areas were flooded.

People living in open, rural areas are at greater risk of being struck by lightning during thunderstorms.

Schools in Balochistan province were ordered shut on Monday and Tuesday, with some reopening on Wednesday, because of the downpours.

At least four people were killed in road accidents linked to flooded roads in southern Sindh province.

Heavy downpours, lightning kill 65 in Pakistan

(AFP)

International

Israeli forces attack Gaza refugee camps, kill 18

Published

8 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Trends Admin

Israeli forces attack Gaza refugee camps, kill 18

Eleven people, including children, were killed in an Israeli air strike on the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza as Israel continued to assault the Palestinian territories.

An Israeli jet attack on a residence in Rafah’s Yabna refugee camp was alleged to have killed seven more people, including four children.

ALjazeera had earlier reported that Gaza’s Civil Defence said “a number” of people had been killed and injured in the attack as they worked to pull the people injured, and the bodies of those killed, from under the rubble.

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Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera Arabic shared video footage showing Israeli forces using heavy construction equipment to destroy the home of a Palestinian family in the town of Bani Naim east of Hebron city.

Earlier, Israeli forces used explosives and poured fresh concrete to destroy the family home of a killed Palestinian in the town of Beit Hanina, north of Jerusalem, the Wafa news agency reported.

Wafa also reported raids on homes in Tubas city in the north of the occupied West Bank.

Raids were also under way in Marda village, located north of Salfit city, and the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem.

A young Palestinian man was beaten by Israeli forces, then arrested during a raid south of Jenin, in the village of al-Fandaqumiya, according to Wafa.

Israeli forces attack Gaza refugee camps, kill 18

International

Muslim student loses High Court challenge against Michaela School’s prayer ban

Published

1 day ago

April 16, 2024

Trends Admin

Michaela Community School in London was once dubbed Britain’s strictest (Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Muslim student loses High Court challenge against Michaela School’s prayer ban

Michaela Community School in Wembley, led by headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh, insisted its approach promoted ‘inclusion and social cohesion between pupils’

A Muslim student at a London school once dubbed Britain’s strictest has lost a High Court challenge against its ban on prayer rituals.

The pupil, who cannot be named, took legal action against Michaela Community School in Wembley claiming its policy was discriminatory and “uniquely” affects her faith due to its ritualised nature.

In an 83-page judgment dismissing the student’s case, Mr Justice Linden said: “It seems to me that this is a case…where the claimant at the very least impliedly accepted, when she enrolled at the school, that she would be subject to restrictions on her ability to manifest her religion.

“She knew that the school is secular and her own evidence is that her mother wished her to go there because it was known to be strict.

“She herself says that, long before the prayer ritual policy was introduced, she and her friends believed that prayer was not permitted at school and she therefore made up for missed prayers when she got home.”

The judge upheld the student’s challenge to a decision to temporarily exclude her from the school.

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Katharine Birbalsingh, the founder and headteacher of Michaela Community School, has hailed the ruling as a victory for all schools.

In a statement on X, Ms Birbalsingh said: “A school should be free to do what is right for the pupils it serves.

“The court’s decision is therefore a victory for all schools.

“Schools should not be forced by one child and her mother to change its approach simply because they have decided they don’t like something at the school.”

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan also welcomed the judgment on the free school’s prayer rituals ban.

She said: “I have always been clear that headteachers are best placed to make decisions in their school.

“Michaela is an outstanding school and I hope this judgment gives all school leaders the confidence to make the right decisions for their pupils.”

The case was heard at the High Court in January. Ms Birbalsingh, insisted its approach promoted “inclusion and social cohesion between pupils”.

Ms Birbalsingh, a former government social mobility tsar, argued the prayer policy was justified after the school faced death and bomb threats linked to religious observance on site.

She had planned to appeal the ruling if the school lost, telling the Sunday Times after the January hearing: “I will not divide children according to race and religion; it will not happen under my watch.”

The court was told the pupil, referred to only as TTT, was making a “modest” request to be allowed to pray for around five minutes at lunch time, on dates when faith rules required it, but not during lessons.

She argued the school’s stance on prayer – one of the five pillars of Islam – unlawfully breached her right to religious freedom and was “the kind of discrimination which makes religious minorities feel alienated from society”.

The policy was first introduced in March last year, the court heard.

Additional reporting by PA News Agency