IDF Intel Chief Quits, Earth Day Plastic Alarm, Taiwan’s Drag Race Pride

💡 SPOTLIGHT

Preventing a Putin victory: Washington's $61 billion bet on Ukraine

It has taken months for Ukraine to be able to celebrate the U.S. approval of a much-needed aid package. Now that the House of Representatives has voted in favor, what is crucial is the timing of the arms delivery. Because the aid package comes late, but hopefully not too late for Ukraine to reverse its losses on the battlefield, writes Pierre Haski for France Inter.

Volodymyr Zelensky took to the stage Sunday to tell his compatriots that the West had not abandoned Ukraine. The Ukrainian president had to wait until the end of a long political suspense in Washington on Saturday before he could send this hopeful message to his war-torn country. The vote, which saw a large majority in the House of Representatives support the $61 billion aid package, had been seen by Ukrainians as a matter of life or death.

In the final days before the vote, U.S. intelligence services made it known that — without this aid — the Ukrainian army was condemned to be defeated by Russia, which is simply superior in ammunition and population.

Even if we avoid the dramatic tone caused by the political climate in Washington, the same opinion came from Ukrainian units on the front, demoralized by their inability to respond, for lack of shells, to Russian artillery barrages.

Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, who was initially hostile to this aid package, changed his mind so as not to find himself, in his own words, “on the wrong side of history” — in other words, the side which gives victory to Vladimir Putin.

He did, however, take the precaution of first checking in with the true leader of the Republicans party, Donald Trump, who did not stand in the way. [...]

— Read the full analysis by Pierre Haski for France Inter, translated into English by Worldcrunch.

🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

Ecuadorian daily Diario Expreso dedicates its front page to the results of a referendum on new laws to fight drug trafficking and gangs in the South American country. Initial results showed that some 65% of voters approved the measures, which include extradition of organized crime leaders to the United States as part of an ongoing crackdown by tough-talking Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa. Violence marred the voting in some places, including the killing of a prison warden.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Israeli military intelligence chief resigns over failure to prevent Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Major General Aharon Haliva becomes the first senior figure to step down over his role in the deadliest assault in Israel’s history. “I have carried that black day with me ever since,” he said in a letter released by the military on Monday.

• Rockets fired from Iraq target U.S. military base in northeastern Syria. The attack, launched from the town of Zummar late on Sunday, is the first by Iranian-backed groups against U.S. troops in Iraq since they halted their campaign in early February. The hostilities resumed a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani returned from the U.S. where he met with President Joe Biden.

• Zelensky welcomes U.S. aid to Ukraine, Russia says it won’t change situation on battlefield. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “grateful” to the U.S. House of Representatives following the passage of $60 billion in military aid for his country over the weekend and that it would “keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger.” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded that Russia has the upper hand on the frontlines and that “the money allocated and the weapons that will be supplied will not change this dynamic.” Read more in this analysis translated from French to English by Worldcrunch: The West's Defense Of Israel Reminds Ukraine Of A Bitter Truth.

• Opening arguments begin in Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York. The first former U.S. president ever to face a criminal trial is accused of trying to cover up a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of business fraud.

• Pro-China party is set for a landslide victory in Maldives election. President Mohamed Muizzu's People's National Congress (PNC) won 70 out of 93 seats to take full control of parliament, local media reported on Monday. The vote was seen as a referendum on Muizzu’s pledge for the country to shift away from traditional ally India in favor of China.

• Tens of thousands have been evacuated as deadly storms batter southern China. At least three people died, 11 are missing and nearly 60,000 were forced to leave their homes in Guangdong, after days of heavy rain caused massive flooding in China's most populous province with 127 million residents.

• Taiwan president praises RuPaul’s Drag Race winner. Tsai Ing-wen thanked Nymphia Wind, the drag personality creation of Leo Tsao, a 28-year-old Taiwanese designer, for “being so accomplished in the difficult art form of drag” and for “living fearlessly.” The president and her ruling party DPP have pushed hard to enhance LGBTQ+ rights in Taiwan, legalizing same-sex marriage in 2019 in a first for Asia. For more on LGBTQ+ rights on Worldcrunch.

📰 STORY OF THE DAY

Fleeing war, Sudanese risk their lives in the desert to reach Egypt

Many Sudanese fleeing the war in their country are risking their lives and crossing to Egypt through the desert road. They pay traffickers between $300 and $509 for each person for the perilous trip, reports Shaghaf al-Zein in Arabic-language independent digital media Daraj.

💥 It's a 1,200 kilometer-long (745 miles) trip to the border town of Wadi Halfa, filled with risks of violence and starvation. But there are no other options since the war started a year ago. The conflict broke out in April last year after heightened tensions between the military and the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into street fighting in the capital, and elsewhere in the East African country. About 15,000 people have been killed, according to the United Nations.

🛃 The Egyptian consulate in the border town of Wadi Halfa was overwhelmed on a recent day, with Sudanese having to wait months to get visas. But many others took the risk and crossed into Egypt through the desert road. They pay between $300 and $500 each to traffickers, according to many people who arrived in Egypt. “Unfortunately, we had to choose between death from hunger and bombing in Sudan, or death in the desert on our road to survive,” one Sudanese woman said.

⚠️ German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock highlighted the plight of children in her speech at a donors conference in Paris last week. “What we are witnessing in Sudan is the worst child displacement crisis in the world,” she said. “In many of our countries, as the war enters its second year, it is practically absent from our daily news. Every life counts equally, whether in Ukraine, in Gaza, or in Sudan … The international community has to provide more for the people of Sudan, for the children of Sudan.”

➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com

📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO

➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

2.4 billion

The United Nations’ International Labor Organization issued a warning about the escalating danger to workers posed by excessive heat and climate change. Over 70% of the global workforce — an estimated 2.4 billion workers — is projected to endure extreme heat during their careers, with concerns extending to air pollution, pesticide exposure, and associated health risks.

📣 VERBATIM

“Iran demonstrated its power.”

— Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei commended Iran's armed forces for their actions in launching a direct attack on Israel, saying in a meeting with Iranian military commanders on Sunday: “How many missiles were launched and how many of them hit their target is not the primary question, what really matters is that Iran demonstrated its power during that operation.” Analysts believe his comments are a sign that a full-scale war between Iran and Israel in the near term is unlikely.

📸 PHOTO DU JOUR

A worker sorts plastic waste for recycling during the World Earth Day in Srinagar. The theme for this year’s Earth Day is “Planet vs Plastic.” World Earth Day is celebrated annually worldwide on April 22 to raise awareness about the environment. — Photo: Faisal Bashir/SOPA Images/ZUMA

👉  MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH  

• Toward A New Humanism: How To Defeat Putin And The Ideology Of Demonization — VAZHNYYE ISTORII/IMPORTANT STORIES

• Education, Internet And The Growing Risk Of A "Parallel School" — ETHIC

• LSD vs. Fibromyalgia: One Woman's Psychedelic Search For Chronic Pain Relief— LUCY SULLA CULTURA

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