The U.S. is planning to provide Ukraine with an aid package of $700-800 million for the domestic production of long-range capabilities, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists on Oct. 21.

On the same day, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a new $400 million military aid package during a surprise visit to Kyiv. In addition, it was also announced that Washington is preparing to provide $800 million for the production of Ukrainian drones.

. . .

Zelensky and Austin also discussed how much of the $8 billion in aid the U.S. announced in late September could be dedicated to Ukrainian production by the end of the year.

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As search teams combed the ruins of residential buildings across from Rafik Hariri University Hospital just south of Lebanon’s capital, locals listened for signs of their loved ones in the wreckage.

At least 18 people, including four children, were killed in the strike, and 60 others were wounded, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. The attack, which was not preceded by an evacuation notice from the Israeli military, also damaged the nearby hospital, which in recent weeks has been swamped by patients evacuated from other health facilities.

The Israeli military said that it had not targeted the hospital, and had instead aimed at a “Hezbollah terror target” in the area. The military said that the hospital had not been affected, but damage was seen during a visit to the facility by a Times reporter and photographer on Tuesday.

The powerful blast had shattered the hospital’s windows and the solar panels affixed atop the building, a lifeline amid Lebanon’s chronic power shortages. Rows of sand bags now lined the underground parking lot as hospital workers made preparations for further strikes. Many of them were in an uproar, saying they did not have the staff numbers and supplies they needed.

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Israel is weighing the use of private security contractors – possibly involving UK special forces veterans – to deliver aid to Gaza, as conditions in the north of the strip worsen dramatically, the Guardian has learned.

According to an Israeli official, the security cabinet discussed the issue on Sunday, before an expected vote in the Knesset next week on two bills that would ban the UN relief agency, Unrwa, from operating in Israel. If passed, the bills would severely curtail the operations of by far the biggest aid operation in Gaza.

After more than a year of bombardment, all form of law and order has collapsed in Gaza, where the population is desperate and armed gangs run much of what is left of its urban areas.

Security threats are a major obstacle to aid deliveries, including the threat of attack by Israeli forces. Aid agencies have resisted being part of militarised convoys, state or privately run, for fear of being targeted as being party to the conflict.

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China and the Vatican have agreed to extend a deal on the appointment of Catholic bishops in the Asian nation by four years. Some conservative Catholics have criticized the accord for handing too much control to Beijing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Chinese President Xi Jinping his “dear friend,” amid growing cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, as the leaders met at the BRICS summit in Kazan.

“The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, and the international situation is chaotic and intertwined," Xi told Putin, adding that ties between the countries have “injected strong impetus into the development, revitalization and modernization of the two countries” and “made important contributions to upholding international equity and justice.”

The BRICS alliance refers to a grouping of emerging economies whose core members are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but has been expanding rapidly to include Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. In addition, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally applied to become members, while other countries have expressed their interest in joining the alliance.

The eastern province of Guantanamo has suffered severe damage due to the storm, which made landfall on Sunday. Electricity has been restored in Havana, but many residents outside the capital remain without power.

An infection with the new mpox variant Ib has been detected for the first time in Germany. The strain has been spreading in several African countries for months.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21661988

[gift article - expires in 30 days] By Bilal Shbair and Erika Solomon

Bilal Shbair reported from central Gaza, visiting the site of the fire at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital compound and speaking to several members of the Dalou family.

Published Oct. 20, 2024 Updated Oct. 21, 2024, 7:51 a.m. ET

Outlet Wikipedia.

The U.S. has allocated a new military assistance package for Ukraine worth $400 million, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced during his to Kyiv on Oct. 21, Ukrinform reported.

Later in the day, the Pentagon said in its press release that the recent package included HIMARS air defense systems, tube-launched, optically tracked, and wire-guided (TOW) missiles, M113 armored personnel carriers, Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems, and ammunition for high-mobility artillery.

Washington also pledged to provide Kyiv with 155 mm and 105 mm artillery ammunition, as well as 60 mm, 81 mm, and 120 mm mortar systems and rounds, among other weapons and training equipment.

The Pentagon chief arrived in Kyiv in a surprise visit to discuss further support for Ukraine as the uncertain U.S. presidential election looms.

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The new £2.26 billion is the UK’s contribution to the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) Loans to Ukraine scheme, in which $50 billion from G7 countries will be delivered to Ukraine for its military, budget and reconstruction needs. The loan will be repaid using the extraordinary profits on immobilised Russian sovereign assets.

South Korean media claimed on Monday that Seoul could send military and intelligence personnel to Ukraine after the North dispatched troops to support Russia in the war.

A report said the government and military of South Korea "are reviewing a plan to send an appropriate number of personnel, including intelligence officers [specialized in North Korea] and experts in enemy tactics," to Ukraine, citing a South Korean intelligence official.

South Korean personnel in Ukraine would interrogate or provide interpretation services if North Korean soldiers were captured by Ukrainian forces, the report said. They would also provide Kyiv with information about the North's military tactics, doctrine, and operations.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3997245

According to China's National Bureau of Statistics on the 21st, the unemployment rate of young people (16-24 years old) reached 18.8% in August. It's the highest it's been this year. This is attributed to the fact that a large number of students who graduated from school in the first half of this year jumped into the job front.

[...]

Chinese authorities temporarily suspended the release of monthly figures after youth unemployment hit an all-time high of 21.3% in June last year. Since then, new standards have been applied and announced from this year excluding enrolled students from the statistical target. Nevertheless, the youth unemployment rate, which was 14.6% in January this year, is steadily rising.

Last month, the story of 24-year-old Lee became a hot topic on Weibo, a Chinese social network service (SNS). After completing a master's degree in physics at the graduate school, it was known that he got a job as a cleaner at a high school in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

[...]

In fact, many young Chinese people are flocking to gig workers (short-time workers). The number of delivery drivers registered on Meituan, a large delivery platform, jumped from 3.98 million in 2019 to 7.45 million last year. The growth of the delivery market slowed due to the end of the "COVID-19 lockdown" policy, but the number of delivery drivers increased.

[...]

Against this backdrop, the Chinese government has recently decided to strengthen its crackdown on slang and newly coined words on the Internet. Some analysts say that they intend to censor terms that criticize the Chinese Communist Party and the government.

Israel has accused Hezbollah of keeping hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker under a hospital in the southern suburbs of Beirut, though it said it would not strike the complex.

The Sahel hospital in Dahiyeh was evacuated shortly afterwards, and Fadi Alame, its director, told Reuters that the allegations were untrue.

Israel did not provide evidence for its claim that cash was being kept under the hospital. Instead, it published an animated graphic that purported to show a bunker under the hospital and said it had previously been used to hide the former secretary general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah. Israel appealed to the Lebanese government to confiscate the money it said the Shia militant organisation had stolen from the Lebanese people.

Shortly after, Israel issued a series of warnings to residents of Dahiyeh that it would begin striking buildings in the area and that they should move at least 500 metres away. Those who remained in the area began to flee.

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European Union candidate Serbia will continue to refuse to impose sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine despite Western pressure, Serbia’s leader said after his telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.

Populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Instagram that he believes the call, what he said was his first in more than two years with the Russian president, will help “further development of relations and trust between Russia and Serbia.”

“We talked as people who have known each other for a long time, as friends, and the ten-minute conversation was marked by a personal note, and we also talked about those who are weak (pro-Western) leaders,” Vucic said.

Vucic quoted Putin as saying “what is good for Serbia is also good for Russia, what is good for the Serbs is also good for the Russians.”

Schools in Mexico have six months to implement a government-sponsored ban on junk food or face heavy fines, officials said Monday, as authorities confront what they call the worst childhood obesity problem in the world.

The rules, published on Sept. 30, target products that have become staples for two or three generations of Mexican school kids: sugary fruit drinks, chips, artificial pork rinds and soy-encased, salty peanuts with chili.

School administrators who violate the order will face fines equivalent to between $545 and $5,450, which could double for a second offense. That could amount to nearly a year’s wages for some.