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US officials say Ukraine almost run out of air defense missiles

Russia Ukraine War

According to the sources, representatives of Kiev made the warning during a security conference last month.

Ukrainian forces, which previously managed to shoot down four out of every five missiles fired by Russia, may soon be able to target only one in five, one of the officials claimed.

The lack of air defense missiles is going to “have a significant effect on life in Ukraine’s urban centers”, the source added.

Russia has been carrying out a large-scale missile and drone campaign against Ukrainian military targets, defense-industrial complex facilities and critical infrastructure since the fall of 2022. Russia Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said previously that the aim of the attacks was to “crush Ukraine’s military potential”.

On Wednesday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow announced that a US-supplied Patriot air defense system had been destroyed by Russian forces in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region.

The US officials who talked to WaPo warned of “catastrophic breakdown of Ukrainian lines in the grimmest contingency and the likelihood of massive casualties in the best” if Kiev does not get more military assistance from Washington.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has been trying to push through another $60 billion in assistance for Ukraine since October last year, but has so far been unable to break the resistance of hardline Republicans, who are demanding increased funding to secure the border with Mexico.

Moscow has repeatedly warned that deliveries of weapons to Kiev by the US, EU and their allies will not prevent it from achieving the goals of its military operation and will only prolong the fighting, and may increase the risk of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO. According to Russian officials, the provision of arms, intelligence-sharing, and training of Ukrainian troops means that Western nations have already become de-facto parties to the conflict.

Biden angry after poll numbers drop over his handling of Gaza war: Report

Joe Biden

The report cited a lawmaker familiar with the private meeting in January at the White House, where the scene played out.

He believed he had been doing what was right, despite the political fallout, Biden told the group, according to the lawmaker.

Asked about the episode, Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, stated: “President Biden makes national security decisions based on the country’s national security needs alone – no other factor.”

Majority of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of the conflict in the besieged enclave, the recent poll have showed.

The Gaza death toll keeps going up. Famine looms. Much of the besieged Palestinian territory’s 2.3 million population has become homeless. And Israel has killed nearly 31,000 people there since.

Hamas says war not confined to Gaza

Hamas

“The field battle is not confined to Gaza,” Osama Hamdan, who represents the group in Lebanon, told al-Manar television network on Monday.

The enemy sees itself face to face with an extensive resistance front, he asserted.

Israel launched the war against Gaza on October 7 after a retaliatory operation by the territory’s resistance groups, during which hundreds were taken captive. Since the beginning of the war, the regime has killed more than 31,600 Gazans, most of them women, children, and adolescents.

In response, resistance movements from Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen have been carrying out military operations against the Tel Aviv regime and its interests in the region.

Hamdan also noted that, despite its hugely deadly and destructive campaign, the enemy has fallen short of realizing all of its “objectives”.

He was referring to the declared goals of releasing the captives, bringing about forced displacement of Gaza’s population to neighboring Egypt, and “eliminating” Hamas.

“After 163 days, the resistance is still capable in the field battle,” Hamdan stated.

The resistance is still fighting across locations, where the Israeli army claims to have ended the war and eliminated the resistance, he continued, adding, “This issue has created crises for the occupying army.”

The Hamas representative, meanwhile, pointed to rising tensions across the occupied territories over Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to clinch the return of the Israeli captives.

“The tensions are deeper and greater that what comes to the eye,” he said.

“All eyes are on the next elections in the occupied territories,” he stated, adding, “Planning underway for the post-Netanyahu era.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Hamdan said Hamas faced a “real chance” of ending the invasion and achieving a “permanent ceasefire.”

The resistance movement has agreed to the Israeli military’s “partial withdrawal” from Gaza until the realization of an agreement on complete cessation of the aggression, the Hamas official added.

In the first phase, the movement would identify the ailing Palestinian prisoners for release by the regime, he said.

Hamdan pointed to talks in Doha aimed at enabling a prisoner swap.

The Israeli cabinet would determine the sphere of authority of its negotiators in upcoming meetings in the Qatari capital, Hamdan continued.

“And we determine the likelihood of conclusion or defeat of an agreement accordingly,” he added.

Iranian border guard soldier killed in southeast by unknown assailants

Iranian Border Guards

The conscript, identified by Mohammad Javad Bayanati, was killed in a shooting by the unknown armed men in Hirmand region and succumbed to his severe injuries.

The border areas of Iran and Pakistan are the scene of repeated attacks by terrorists and drug smugglers on Iranian forces.

Clashes between Iranian troops and bandits who infiltrate Iran from the eastern borders are a commonplace occurrence.

Most of the armed gangs are narcotraffickers but some are also members of terrorist groups who enter Iran to carry out acts of terror.

Cheshmeh Kileh bridge in Iran’s Tonekabon, a tourist spot for Nowruz

Cheshmeh Kileh bridge in Iran’s Tonekabon

But the bridge is well-known as a site to watch the large number of seagulls flying over it.

Domestic and foreign tourists usually swarm the bridge at the end of winter and early spring to watch the birds.

The bridge is one of the recommended places for travelers during the two-week Nowruz, or Persian New Year, holidays, which start on March 20.

Watch more in this video:

EU: Rafah military operation must be avoided at all costs

Gaza War

She stated she is “very concerned about the risks a full-scale offensive on Rafah would have on the vulnerable civilian population”, which currently numbers more than 1.5 million.

“This needs to be avoided at all costs,” she continued.

She also spoke about the rampant hunger among the population in Gaza, saying that it is “facing famine” and that this is unacceptable.

“It is critical to achieve an agreement on a ceasefire rapidly now, that frees the hostages and allows more humanitarian aid to reach Gaza”, she added.

Israel continues to block aid from getting into Gaza as thousands of trucks continue to pile up at Egypt’s border with the territory.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has also warned that Israel’s invasion of Rafah would cause “a humanitarian catastrophe”, saying it was “the urgent matter and priority” to prevent the attack from happening, according to the Wafa news agency.

He made the remarks during his meeting with Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira in Ramallah, the report added.

It comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting that Israeli troops would pursue the planned ground offensive in Rafah despite fears of mass civilian casualties.

Since October 7, Israel’s military campaign has killed at least 31,600 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and displaced nearly 2 million of its residents.

More than 13k children killed in Gaza since outbreak of war: UNICEF

Gaza War

“Thousands more have been injured or we can’t even determine where they are. They may be stuck under rubble … We haven’t seen that rate of death among children in almost any other conflict in the world,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell told the CBS News network on Sunday.

“I have been in wards of children who are suffering from severe anaemia malnutrition, the whole ward is absolutely quiet. Because the children, the babies … don’t even have the energy to cry.”

Russell added there were “very great bureaucratic challenges” moving trucks into Gaza for aid and assistance as famine stalks more than two million Palestinians since Israel’s “genocidal” war began.

Moreover, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), one in three children under the age of two in northern Gaza is now acutely malnourished. The agency also warned that famine is looming in the besieged enclave facing relentless Israeli bombing for more than five months.

International criticism has mounted on Israel due to the death toll of the war, the starvation crisis in Gaza, and allegations of blocking aid deliveries into the enclave.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his threat of a ground assault on Rafah, the town bordering Egypt where more than a million Palestinians have taken refuge.

“No amount of international pressure will stop us from realising all the goals of the war: eliminating Hamas, releasing all our hostages and ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat against Israel,” Netanyahu said in a video released by his office.

“To do this, we will also operate in Rafah,” he added.

Since October 7, Israel’s military campaign has killed at least 31,600 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and displaced nearly two million of its residents.

The Israeli operation has also led to accusations of genocide, being probed at the UN’s International Court of Justice.

Russia’s election commission says Putin set for landslide win in presidential election

Russian Presidential Election

According to the CEC, more than 99.5% of the votes have been counted and Putin is leading the race with an estimated 87.3%.

His opponent from the Communist Party, Nikolay Kharitonov, is expected to come in second with 4.3%, followed by Vladislav Davankov of the New People party (3.8%) and Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democrats (3.2%).

Exit polls earlier showed similar trends, with the head of state expected to win the election with 87.8%. The exit survey was conducted among 466,324 voters at polling stations across the country.

This year’s election has clocked a historic high voter turnout, which topped 74%, according to data from the CEC.

The processing of ballots has already ended in most Russian regions. Putin has gained 94.12% of the votes in Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) and over 95% in Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), two of Russia’s new regions where citizens are voting for the first time.

The results from the Republics of Tyva, Khakassia and Yakutia, the regions of Zaporozhye, Kherson and Khabarovsk, and from Chukotka Autonomous Region also show the serving president leading the four candidates, with roughly 90% of the vote.

Speaking in front of his supporters on Sunday night, Putin stressed that the “only source of power in the country is the Russian people”, adding that the vote of every citizen counts when its comes to charting the nation’s course.

The Russian leader noted that while the country is about to face numerous challenges, its people will be up to the task if they remain united.

“No matter who and how they would try to intimidate and suppress us, our will, our consciousness… Nobody in our history has ever succeeded, won’t succeed now or in the future. Never.”

Putin went on to thank Russian citizens for the trust they had placed in him.

“I will do my best to solve the tasks set before the country and achieve the goals we all consider to be of the highest priority,” he added.

Restoration efforts underway for firecracker-damaged Khaju bridge in Iran’s Isfahan

Khaju bridge Isfahan

The Khaju historical bridge, a Safavid-era masterpiece, spans 133 meters in length and 12 meters in width, adorned with intricate decorations and tiling.

It stands as one of the region’s most distinguished architectural marvels.

The unfortunate incident has prompted swift action to preserve this cultural gem, with restoration efforts aimed at returning the bridge to its former glory.

The Cultural Heritage Organization’s restoration artists are meticulously working to ensure the bridge’s historical significance is upheld and its beauty restored.

To see pictures of the restoration process, scroll down:

Tehran air quality report reveals alarming figures

Iran Air Pollution

Factors contributing to this crisis include heavy traffic congestion, industrial emissions, topographical challenges trapping pollutants, and adverse weather conditions hindering dispersion.

Tehran’s dense population exacerbates emissions from various sources, worsening the situation.

Efforts to combat these issues are underway, including stricter emission standards, promoting public transportation, and investing in green technologies.