The US House of Representatives passed the foreign aid package
The House voted Saturday to approve $95 billion in foreign aid for long-stalled Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, resoundingly approving the funds despite months of opposition from far-right Republicans. The Senate is anticipated to adopt the bill tomorrow and it is sort of certain that it would turn into law.
As a part of the package, the House also introduced a bill that might force China’s ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell the app or risk a nationwide ban within the U.S.
In Ukraine, the vote was greeted with relief as soldiers are quickly running out of weapons and ammunition. The Pentagon has said it could resume sending weapons to Ukraine inside days.
“I really believe the intelligence community,” said Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican who rallied bipartisan support for the bill. “I think Vladimir Putin would still be marching through Europe if he was allowed.”
Details: The laws provides $60 billion for Kiev; $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific region.
Iran appears to have relented after Israel’s attack
Iran appears to have opted for de-escalation following Israel’s retaliatory attack on Friday. Iranian officials and state media downplayed the attack.
Israel also appears to have tried to sidestep a broader war. His strike – a response to Iran’s salvo, which was itself a response to Israel’s deadly attack on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, Syria – was particularly limited. It damaged the air defense system at a military base near Isfahan in central Iran.
“It remains to be seen whether this latest tit-for-tat will create some kind of deterrent for both sides,” Farnaz Fassihi, the pinnacle of our UN office who works on the shadow war, told my colleague Daniel E. Slotnik. “Neither side seems to really want to start an all-out war with each other.”
Iran Concerns: Inflation stays at 32 percent annually, a restive public consistently questions the federal government’s legitimacy, and even supporters of the hijab rule criticize its enforcement.
The conflict in Burma could also be changing
After years of conflict in Myanmar, rebels have won victories against the military junta, potentially turning the tide. If they enter the center of the country, they’ll depose a strong army.
My colleague Hannah Beech joined one among the rebel groups on the front lines in Karenni State, where resistance forces held over 90 percent of the territory. “It’s different this time,” he explains on this short video.
More information: Why has this war – which could shatter a rustic of 55 million people – been so ignored internationally? Here is the background and context.
MORE TOP NEWS
Rahul Gandhi, scion of an Indian political dynasty, is trying to oust Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He traveled across the country trying to pull his once dominant party, the Indian National Congress, out of its political madness.
Letter from Australia: The wife and daughter of the pinnacle of our Sydney office were shopping just minutes before the most recent stabbings at a shopping mall. “Sometimes the news – and the worst of all, the news of death and tragedy – is as close to us as it is to those we write about,” writes Damien Cave.
China anti-doping investigation
On Saturday, my colleagues published a shocking discovery: Seven months before the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, 23 of China’s top swimmers tested positive for a similar banned drug at national competitions.
Chinese officials secretly cleared them of doping. The World Anti-Doping Agency, which oversees national drug testing programs, accepted China’s theory that massive contamination was to blame and allowed China to keep the outcomes secret.
Several athletes who tested positive – including almost half of the Chinese swimming team sent to Tokyo – won medals, including three gold. Many of them are still competing for China. Some, including two-time gold medalist Zhang Yufei, are expected to perform in Paris this summer.
The investigation shocked the swimming world. The American, who won silver in Tokyo, said she felt her team had been “cheated”. British gold medalist demands bans. The sports minister of Germany, where a documentary on this matter was broadcast on Sunday, demanded an investigation. And world anti-doping officials are fighting back fiercely.
Summary: Read the conclusions of the investigation.
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Bake: This moist Persian almond cake it’s seasoned with cardamom – and is suitable for the seder. Here are others ideas for Passoverwhich starts tonight.
To read: In “The New Cold Wars,” my colleague David Sanger traces the changing U.S. approach to the reemergence of great power competition this century.
