US paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
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Military forces from the United States, Australia, and the Philippines launched a barrage of high precision rockets and artillery as part of large scale war drills in the South China Sea that have antagonized Beijing. Military officials, diplomats and reporters watched the display of firepower from a hilltop above Laoag City on Wednesday. Washington and Beijing have been on a collision course over China’s increasingly assertive actions to defend its vast territorial claims in the South China Sea. In February last year, the Philippines approved a wider U.S. military presence in the archipelago. China opposed the move which puts US forces across the sea from Taiwan. The Philippines countered t has the right to defend its sovereignty and territorial interests.
The Biden administration is due to deliver a first-of-its-kind formal verdict on whether Israel's conduct of its war in Gaza complies with international and U.S. laws. The decision is due from the administration on Wednesday. However, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller has said that deadline may slip. The formal assessment of whether Israel has used U.S. weapons and other military assistance lawfully is mandated under a directive issued by President Joe Biden in February. The White House agreed to the review under pressure from Democratic lawmakers. A growing number of those Democrats, and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, have demanded the U.S. start conditioning military aid to Israel in light of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
US paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
Israeli forces have taken control of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the Gaza Strip, pressing on with an offensive in the southern city as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remain precarious. The incursion comes after the militant group on Monday said it accepted an Egyptian-Qatari mediated cease-fire proposal. Israel insisted the deal did not meet its core demands. The high-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope alive — but only barely — for an accord that could bring at least a pause in the 7-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip.
The U.S. Army says the soldier arrested in Russia late last week is being held in a pretrial detention facility. U.S. and Russian officials say Staff Sgt. Gordon Black flew to Russia to see his girlfriend and is accused of stealing from her. The Army confirmed Tuesday that he did not seek clearance for the international travel and it was not authorized by the Defense Department. The State Department strongly advises U.S. citizens not to go to Russia, and given the war in Ukraine and ongoing threats to the U.S. and its military, it is extremely unlikely he would have been granted approval.
