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The Biden administration has told key lawmakers it plans to move ahead on a more than $1 billion arms sales to Israel. That's according to three congressional aides who spoke of condition of anonymity to discuss an arms transfer that has not yet been made public. One aide says it would be an entirely new sale. That means any weapons from the deal could take years to be delivered. It’s the first arms shipment to Israel to be pushed forward since the administration put another arms transfer — consisting of 3,500 bombs — on hold this month. The administration says it paused that earlier transfer to keep Israel from using the bombs in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

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French President Emmanuel Macron is considering imposing state of emergency in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia to curb spiraling violence. Speaking at parliament, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who attended a two-hour meeting with top defense officials at the Elysee, said the aim of the state of emergency would be “to restore order in the shortest time possible.” A decree on the methods to impose the state of emergency is to be presented to the French Cabinet on Wednesday afternoon. French authorities in the territory say more than 130 people have been arrested and more than 300 have been injured since Monday in the violence.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed targeting a U.S. Navy destroyer and a commercial ship in the Red Sea. However, the attack on the warship apparently happened nearly two days earlier and saw the vessel intercept the missile targeting it. The latest statement Wednesday from the Houthis comes as their attacks on shipping, which have disrupted trade through a vital corridor leading onto the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, have slowed in recent weeks. Recently, the Houthis have been claiming days-old attacks. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the rebels targeted the USS Mason with missiles and launched an attack on a ship he identified as the Destiny.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is seeking to rally the spirits of glum Ukrainians facing a fierce new Russian offensive. In a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday, he assured them that they're not alone and that billions of dollars in American military aid that's on its way after months of political delays would make a “real difference” on the battlefield. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to him for more air defense systems to protect civilians. Blinken also took to the stage at a Kyiv bar to play rhythm guitar and sing with a local band on Neil Young’s 1989 hit “Rockin’ in the Free World.”