In viaggio gli aiuti via mare per Gaza. Blinken in Giamaica per Haiti 🗞️ Rassegna del 13/3/2024

Israele

(Reuters) First Gaza aid ship leaves Cyprus with Palestinians on brink of famine

• However, senior U.N. officials said it could not replace the delivery of humanitarian aid by land from Egypt and Jordan. Separately, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday it had managed to get the first aid convoy into Gaza City in the north of the Gaza Strip since Feb. 20.
• The charity ship Open Arms was seen sailing out of Larnaca port, towing a barge containing flour, rice and protein. The mission was funded mostly by the United Arab Emirates and organised by U.S.-based charity World Central Kitchen (WCK)
• The U.S. military said one of its vessels, the General Frank S. Besson, was also en route to provide humanitarian relief to Gaza by sea.

(New York Times) Hezbollah Fires More Than 100 Rockets Into Israel, Drawing Retaliation

• In a statement, Hezbollah said it had launched the volley in response to Israeli military strikes on Monday in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and as a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza.
• The violence has displaced about 80,000 Israelis from areas near the border with Lebanon; a similar number of Lebanese have fled their homes on the other side.
• Israeli leaders have said that there are only two options for restoring calm in the conflict with Hezbollah: a diplomatic agreement that moves the militant group’s forces farther from the border or, failing that, a major military offensive aimed at achieving the same goal.

Ucraina

(Reuters) US to send $300 million in new weapons package for Ukraine

• U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the funding was coming from unanticipated cost savings from Pentagon contracts and would be used for artillery rounds and munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS)
• Using the funds that have been returned to replenish stocks opens a narrow window to urgently allow more aid to be sent from existing stocks as the Biden administration waits for supplemental funding to be passed by lawmakers.

(Wall Street Journal) House Democrats Try to Bypass Speaker Johnson to Force Vote on Ukraine Aid

• House Democrats moved to force a vote on a $95.3 billion aid package focused on Ukraine and Israel, as impatience with Speaker Mike Johnson prompted them to seize on a rarely used parliamentary tactic that could enable them to circumvent Republican leadership.
• House Democratic leaders told rank-and-file lawmakers that they would begin accepting signatures on a so-called discharge petition Tuesday morning. The petition allows rank-and-file members to bypass House leaders and put legislation directly on the floor provided they can collect 218 signatures—or a majority of the seats in the House.
• Advancing a discharge petition will require Democrats to pick up support from some Republicans who are willing to defy their own leadership. Some Democratic aides predict the party might need up to two dozen Republicans to sign on, given likely Democratic defections over Israel policy.

Russia

(Wall Street Journal) Ukrainian Drone Strikes Disrupt Russian Oil Industry

• One of the drone attacks hit a large refinery operated by Lukoil, Russia’s second-biggest oil company, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, some 600 miles from the Ukrainian border. The strike caused a fire
• Another drone hit near the town of Kirishi not far from St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, and home to a large refinery. A third attack struck oil-storage tanks in Oryol, a region near the Ukrainian border, authorities said.
• A full repair of such facilities would usually take no more than a couple of months. But sanctions have tightened Moscow’s access to Western parts, on which much of Russia’s energy industry has been built over the past few decades.

(New York Times) Ukraine-Backed Russian Exile Groups Stage Assaults on Moscow’s Turf

• Three armed groups of Russian exiles who operate in coordination with Ukraine’s military said they had crossed the border into southern Russia overnight and were fighting in border regions. 
• Members of two of the organisations, the Volunteer Corps and the Legion, also crossed into Russia last spring to skirmish with Russia’s border patrol and military. But whereas that incursion was considered to have a military purpose — diverting Russian forces to the border before a planned Ukrainian offensive elsewhere — the attacks on Tuesday delivered a more overtly political message.
• A deputy commander of the Free Russia Legion, Maksimillian Andronnikov, posted a video on social media describing the incursion as being timed to the lead-up to a presidential election that is set to extend Mr. Putin’s tenure into a fifth term.

Europa

Francia:

(Reuters) French lawmakers back Ukraine pact after divisive debate

• French lawmakers on Tuesday backed a security accord with Ukraine, after a debate that showed deep divisions over President Emmanuel Macron's policy towards Kyiv.
• The 10-year security pact with Ukraine includes commitments by Paris to deliver more arms, train soldiers and send up to 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in military aid to Ukraine in 2024. Macron has also adopted a tougher stance towards Russia, urging Ukraine's allies to urgently do more. He also did not rule out the presence of Western troops in Ukraine which has created a backlash among some.
• Macron has pushed for the vote in a bid to try and cast the far-right and far-left as being weak on Russia ahead of European parliamentary elections in June, which polls have long forecast the RN would largely win in France, analysts said.

UE:

(Reuters) EU Parliament passes weakened pollution limits for livestock farms

• The EU Parliament on Tuesday gave its final approval to new rules to cut pollution from livestock farms, but only after agreeing with EU countries to make the law far weaker than initially planned. The law will tighten limits for farms and factories on waste disposal and polluting gases to attempt to reduce damage to the environment.
• The Commission's original proposal, from 2022, would have imposed the new limits on all cattle, pig and poultry farms with over 150 livestock units - around 185,000 of Europe's largest farms.
• To attempt to calm the protests, Brussels has weakened some green measures - despite the EU's own environment agency warning that more, not fewer, climate-protecting policies are needed to help farmers adapt to worsening extreme weather.

(Deutsche Welle) EU to recommend membership talks with Bosnia: von der Leyen

• The Western Balkan country is among six nations who are at different stages of the EU accession. Since Russia's war in Ukraine, EU officials are trying to lure them away from Russian influence.
• The announcement means the EU executive is satisfied with Bosnia and the country has met the criteria to begin formal talks on joining the EU. [...] Von der Leyen said the commission will publish a progress report detailing how Bosnia has met those terms. However, the decision to begin talks needs unanimous approval from the leaders of the 27 EU member states, represented in the European Council.
• Bosnia applied to join the EU in 2016 and the council recognized it as a formal candidate for membership in 2022. In November last year, the commission said accession talks should begin once the country has fulfilled certain criteria.

Politica internazionale

Nord America

Stati Uniti:

(Reuters) Pressure rises on Biden, Democrats to reject AIPAC funds

• A coalition of progressive groups is asking U.S. President Joe Biden and other Democratic Party officials to not accept endorsements or contributions from a pro-Israel group and its affiliated super PACs
• The groups' campaign accompanies an increasingly organized movement within the Democratic Party protesting Biden's support of Israel. Israel's attacks on Gaza have killed over 31,000 people, according to health officials in the enclave, and created a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel is responding to the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas that killed 1,200
• The Reject AIPAC coalition said on Monday it was calling on the entire Democratic Party to not accept support from AIPAC, adding that the group takes millions of dollars from donors who also support Republican interests.

(New York Times) Trump Aides, Taking Over R.N.C., Order Mass Layoffs

• Donald J. Trump’s advisers are imposing mass layoffs on the party, with more than 60 officials, including senior staff members, laid off or asked to resign and then reapply for their jobs, according to two people familiar with the matter.
• On Friday, Michael Whatley, a close ally to Mr. Trump, and Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, were unanimously elected as the committee’s chair and co-chair. Mr. Trump had pushed out Ronna McDaniel, the committee’s leader since 2017, and endorsed Mr. Whatley and Ms. Trump to take the reins of the national party.
• The R.N.C. shake-up reflects Mr. Trump’s tightened grip over the Republican Party and its institutions at a time when he has nearly clinched the presidential nomination. 

America Latina

Haiti:

(New York Times) Kenya Hits Pause on Police Deployment to Haiti

• A deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers to Haiti to help quell gang-fueled lawlessness is on hold until a new government is formed in the Caribbean nation, officials in Kenya said Tuesday.
• Kenya had agreed to send a security force to Haiti, but that deal had been reached with Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who on Monday night agreed to step down once a new transitional government is formed.
• The mission was sanctioned by the United Nations and largely financed by the United States, which on Monday pledged to provide more aid.

(Deutsche Welle) Haiti: Regional powers hold crisis meeting in Jamaica

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Jamaica on Monday for emergency talks also involving Canada, France, the UN and Caribbean countries seeking to solve the flare-up of violence in Haiti.
• The meeting was organized by the members of the regional trade bloc known as Caricom, which for months had pressed for a transitional government in Haiti as protests called for Henry's resignation.
• After meeting with Caribbean leaders, Blinken announced an additional $100 million (€92 million) to fund the deployment of a multinational force to Haiti to help stop the violent crisis in the country.