US House of Representatives approves foreign aid package
The House voted Saturday in favor of $95 billion in long-stalled foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, resoundingly approving the funds despite months of objections from far-right Republicans. The Senate is expected to pass the legislation tomorrow and will almost certainly become law.
As part of the package, the House also introduced a bill that would force Chinese company ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell the app or risk a nationwide ban in the US.
In Ukraine, the vote was met with relief as troops are rapidly running out of weapons and ammunition. The Pentagon has said it could resume shipping weapons to Ukraine within days.
“I really believe the data,” said Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, who rallied bipartisan support to pass the bill. “I think Vladimir Putin would continue marching through Europe if he was allowed to.”
Details: The legislation includes $60 billion for kyiv; $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 withdraw after Israel attack
Iran appears to have opted to de-escalate tensions following Israel’s retaliatory attack on Friday. Iranian officials and state media downplayed the attack.
Israel also appears to have sought to avoid a broader war. Their attack – a response to Iran’s barrage, which in turn was a response to Israel’s deadly attack on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, Syria – was remarkably limited. It damaged an air defense system at a military base near Isfahan, central Iran.
“It remains to be seen whether this latest give-and-take will create any kind of deterrence for both sides,” Farnaz Fassihi, our U.N. bureau chief, who covers the shadow war, told my colleague Daniel E. Slotnik. “Neither side really seems to want to go into an all-out war with each other.”
Iran’s concerns: Inflation reaches an annual rate of 32 percent, a restive population has consistently challenged the government’s legitimacy, and even supporters of the hijab rule have criticized its implementation.
Myanmar conflict may be changing
After years of conflict in Myanmar, rebels have won victories over the military junta, which could turn the tide of the war. If they advance into the heart of the nation, they could overthrow the powerful military.
My colleague Hannah Beech joined one of the rebel groups on the front lines of Karenni state, where resistance forces said they controlled more than 90 percent of the territory. “This time is different,” she explains in this short video.
For more: Why has this war, which could divide a country of 55 million people, been so ignored internationally? Here’s some background and context.
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Rahul Gandhi, scion of an Indian political dynasty, is trying to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He traveled across the country to try to lift his once-dominant party, the Indian National Congress, out of the political wilderness.
The letter from Australia: The wife and daughter of the head of our Sydney office had been shopping minutes before the recent stabbings at the shopping centre. “Sometimes the news, and the worst of it all, involving death and tragedy, hits as close to us as it does to those we write about,” writes Damien Cave.
A Chinese doping investigation
On Saturday, my colleagues published a shocking revelation: Seven months before the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, 23 of China’s top swimmers tested positive for the same banned drug at a national competition.
Chinese officials secretly cleared them of doping. The World Anti-Doping Agency, which oversees national drug testing programs, accepted China’s theory that a mass contamination event was to blame and allowed China to keep the results secret.
Several athletes who tested positive, including nearly half of the Chinese swimming team sent to Tokyo, won medals, including three golds. Many still compete for China. Some, including two-time gold medalist Zhang Yufei, are expected to compete in Paris this summer.
The investigation has shaken the swimming world. An American who won silver in Tokyo said she felt her team had been “cheated.” British gold medalist calls for bans. The Sports Minister of Germany, where a documentary about the case aired on Sunday, demanded an investigation. And global anti-doping officials are fighting back fiercely.
Summary: Read the research conclusions.
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Bake: This moist Persian almond cake is spiced with cardamom and is good for a Seder. Here are some other ideas for Passover, which starts tonight.
Read: In “New Cold Wars,” my colleague David Sanger analyzes changes in the American approach to re-emerging great power competitions this century.