Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: France did not send troops to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war. The French Foreign Ministry called the claim “disinformation.” Images do not show the Soviet Victory banner projected by hackers onto the east side of Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Tuesday night, prior to annual festivities celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. The images were fabricated.
A soon-to-be released Biden administration report to Congress does not conclude that Israel has violated the terms for its use of U.S. weapons, That's according to three people who have been briefed on the national security memorandum to be submitted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to lawmakers. All three requested anonymity to discuss the matter before the report's release. According to one U.S. official, the report is expected to be sharply critical of Israel even though it didn’t conclude that Israel violated terms of U.S.-Israel weapons agreements. A senior Biden administration official said the memorandum is expected to be released later Friday but declined to comment on the contents.
A transitional council tasked with choosing new leaders for Haiti is changing the way it operates in a move that is surprising many as gang violence consumes the country. Two members who were not authorized to publicly share the changes because they had not yet been announced told The Associated Press that instead of a single council president, four politicians will take turns leading the council every five months. The changes follow inner turmoil that threatened to derail the council after it was sworn in April 25. The changes come as Haiti awaits a U.N.-backed police force to help fight gangs whose attacks have closed the main airport and paralyzed the largest seaport as food and other crucial goods dwindle.
Guyana’s government says it gave permission for the U.S. military to fly two powerful F/A-18F Super Hornet jets over its capital to demonstrate the close military and other forms of cooperation between this oil-exporting South American nation and the United States. The country had about three hours notice of the exercise through an American embassy announcement but most people appeared to have been surprised by the noisy and unprecedented fly over that comes amid tensions between Guyana and Venezuela over a large swath of Guyana’s territory. A Guyana government statement said the “exercise seeks to deepen the ongoing security cooperation between our two countries,” but stayed clear of any reference to moves by neighboring Venezuela.
A first ship carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza was on its way Thursday to a floating platform built by the U.S. military. The plan is for cargo to be transferred at the pier to smaller U.S. boats that will deliver it to shore. The Rafah border crossing with Egypt has been shut down since Israel’s military took control of the Palestinian side early Tuesday. The operation closed a main entry point for aid. Civilians in Rafah have been thrown into panic and chaos by the possibility of a full-scale Israeli invasion of the overcrowded city. Tens of thousands of displaced and exhausted Palestinians have packed up their tents and other belongings and left for other parts of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu minister on Thursday said his country will “stand alone” if it has to in its war against Hamas — threatening to deepen a crisis in relations with the United States. Netanyahu spoke after President Joe Biden said the United States would not provide offensive weapons for Israel’s long-promised assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Israel says that Rafah is Hamas’ last stronghold in Gaza and Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to invade the city, despite widespread international opposition due concerns over the more than 1 million Palestinian civilians are huddled in the city. “If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone,” said. “If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails."
