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The evaluation report of the US intelligence officials shows that Iran will not directly attack Israel in response to the killing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander in Damascus. CNN reported this with reference to two US intelligence sources. It was reported that Tehran demanded the proxy forces in the region to organize large-scale attacks against Israel by using anti-aircraft missiles and rockets. "Preliminary preparations for the attack have been given to Iranian proxy groups and they are waiting for the right time. "If Tehran takes direct action against Israel, it does not want to give the USA and its allies an excuse to attack its territory because it is afraid of the escalation of the conflict in the region," the report said. It should be noted that the possible time for these forces to attack Israel was mentioned as the current week Many regional countries would like to see Iran directly involved in a war with Israel, because it will inflict great damage on the country, two commentators told the media in Tehran. Government controlled media in Tehran has been abuzz with bellicose statements by some officials and at the same time warnings of remaining cool-headed by many pundits, following Israel’s April 1 air strike that killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers in the Iranian embassy in Damascus. The leadership of the Islamic Republic, and particularly Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei face a challenging political dilemma - launch a forceful retaliatory attack and risk a wider war, possibly involving the United States, or exercise restraint and look for less dramatic alternatives. However, Tehran’s proxies around the region, its domestic supporters, and even ordinary Iranians opposed to the government, might see any hesitation as a sign of weakness.

More than 30 “free” F-16s have appeared in the EU, which can be transferred to Ukraine. For example, Greece, which is currently implementing a large-scale program to modernize its Air Force fleet may transfer to Ukraine. As part of the modernization program, it is planned to decommission 108 fighters and prepare them for sale, including 32 F -16C/-D Block 30 fighters. According to Greek media, the transfer of 32 F-16C/-D Block 30 to Ukraine is “considered almost inevitable.” It is noted that during their service, fighters of this type have undergone two modernizations and today, on average, they have used up about 60% of their service life. So, Greece is undertaking a substantial transformation of its air force, planning to decommission and sell parts of its diverse fleet, including F-16 and Mirage 2000 fighter jets, as part of its efforts to modernize and streamline military capabilities for the 21st century. According to The War Zone, the Block 30 F-16s include 34 single-seat F-16C and six F-16D variants. Those aircraft were procured under the Peace Xenia I Foreign Military Sales program and delivered between 1988 and 1990. It was previously suggested those aircraft could be used as aggressors for air defense training, but it now seems more likely that Athens will seek a foreign buyer. The aircraft might not have to fly far – Ukraine was quickly named as a potential destination.

Ten regions of Kazakhstan have declared states of emergency after strong floods hit the entire northwest of the country. The flooding was sparked by a sudden and early period of warm weather that caused huge amounts of snow to melt and overfill numerous rivers across parts of Kazakhstan and Russia. Massive floods in Kazakhstan that began in March became the largest natural disaster in the country over the past 80 years, country's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said. "A natural disaster has occurred, the likes of which have not been seen for many years. This may be the largest disaster in terms of its scale and consequences over in the past 80 years," he said. According to Tokayev, due to the floods, a local emergency situation has been declared in ten regions of the country. The president noted that following his criticism and instructions, the government boosted efforts to reduce the consequences of the flood and is taking appropriate measures. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan, since the beginning of the floods, more than 3,000 private residential buildings and courtyard areas have been flooded, and 70 settlements remain without transport links. At the same time, more than 72,000 people have been evacuated. The national army has been deployed on rescue and aid missions across the regions. Over 8,600 people and 1,700 pieces of equipment, 411 water pumps and 65 watercraft, as well as 10 aircraft are involved in rescue operations.

British media outlet The Economist, with reference to military sources in Kyiv, assumes that Russia decided to turn the city of Kharkiv into a "grey zone" uninhabitable for civilians. The Economist, in the story titled The Kremlin wants to make Ukraine’s second city unliveable. "The escalation had military sources in Kyiv suggesting that Russia has resolved to make the city a "grey zone", uninhabitable for civilians." Meanwhile Ihor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv, strongly refuted this hypothesis. In an interview conducted at a secret location in the industrial quarter, Terekhov says residents of his city have no intention of giving up. Things were worse at the start of the war, he argues, when all but 300,000 of the city's pre-war population of 2 million people fled. "How can you make a city like this a grey zone? People won’t leave, because they have already left, then returned. They have been tortured enough already." Terekhov stated that it was quite challenging to power the city up without power stations or working transformers, but they have managed to do it. "If I told you how we did it, that too would be targeted," he added. The Economist notes that many of Kharkiv’s problems would be solved if the West provided more air defence systems or F-16 fighter jets that could push back the Russian fighter jets carrying the gliding bombs. It adds that Russia destroyed some of the Western-supplied Patriot air-defence units that Ukraine had been using to protect cities like Kharkiv. Russia’s exact intentions are not clear at this stage, though there are certain signs that it is preparing for a major summer offensive. "A Ukrainian source with knowledge of the intelligence picture said Russia is currently training six divisions, approximately 120,000 troops in eastern Siberia," the article says. The Economist believes that "Kharkiv is one of several possible directions for a future assault". It is not the most likely, but it has already been heavily trailed in Russian media. "That might indicate a Kremlin information campaign to frighten Kharkiv residents. Or it could be a nod in the direction of a pro-war camp agitating for a fiercer response to Ukraine’s frequent attacks on Belgorod, which are also causing unease in Western circles," – the material says. The Economist admits that the military operation of invading Kharkiv would be an exceptionally complicated mission for Russia. "Taking the city would require breaking through Ukrainian defences and encircling it, which Russia is nowhere near being able to do; establishing air superiority, which is not a given; and winning a bloody urban campaign," – The Economist explains.

The Russian Federation has shifted its tactics in attacking Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Losses have escalated beyond those suffered during the massive strikes of 2022-2023, according to the Financial Times. Instead of widespread shelling, the militants have focused on precision missile strikes on power stations in less defended regions. Some of these stations may not be restored before the next winter. According to Ukrainian officials, the damages inflicted by Russia are not as extensive but are worse than those in the winters of 2022-2023. From March 22 to 29, Russia targeted seven thermal power plants and two hydroelectric power stations. However, energy facilities in Kyiv remain untouched by the Russians due to the capital's robust air defense system. "Ukraine did not provide details on the extent of damage at each power plant, but officials said that some, including those in Kharkiv Oblast near the Russian border, were almost completely destroyed," adds the publication. Maria Tsaturian, head of communications at Ukrenergo, noted that Russians are deploying the same number of missiles against five to six energy targets in one region as they did during the mass strikes in 2022-2023. While Ukrenergo can protect smaller substations with defensive structures, large power stations require months or even years to restore. Another difference from last year's attacks is that Russia has begun using expensive precision ballistic missiles. Andrii Herus, chairman of Ukraine's parliamentary committee on energy and utilities, revealed that during a recent attack on a coal power station, Russians used ballistic missiles worth $100 million. According to Ukrainian military intelligence representative Andri Cherniak, the enemy also employs a large number of UAVs as a cheaper means of targeting, such as transformers. Chernyak said that Ukraine expected attacks at the beginning of winter, but now it's become known that the missiles they used were just recently manufactured.

President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin ordered his army to seize Ukrainian cities after their destruction. To do this, the Russians have a three-stage plan. This was reported by the Czech edition of Aktualne Zpravodajstvi. "Russia launched a three-stage plan to seize Ukrainian cities after their preliminary destruction," the report reads. The publication noted that the first stage is aimed at spreading panic among civilians to force them to flee. During the second phase, KAB bombs will destroy residential buildings and industrial infrastructure of Ukrainian cities. In the third stage, Russian troops will attack destroyed and abandoned cities. During March, the Russians used a record number of KABs — more than 2,300. The production of three-ton FAB-3000 bombs was also resumed. Journalists suggest that under certain conditions, Russians hypothetically can use up to 5,000 KABs per month. "Such a scenario threatens Ukraine with catastrophic consequences: millions of Ukrainians will be forced to flee to Europe, which will be on the verge of a migration crisis," the media said. Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing the ground for the "largest humanitarian catastrophe" in Ukraine. Another important goal for the enemy is the destruction of Ukraine's energy infrastructure. The Russians consistently attack cities near the front of the border — Sumy, Kharkiv, Nikopol, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Mykolaiv, Odesa, because the air defence system cann’t intercept all the missiles fired at close range. As a result, the maximum damage is caused to the energy infrastructure of the frontline cities. "It is no coincidence that after these attacks, Russian propagandists began to write amicably that Ukrainians should flee Kharkiv, the city that suffers most from Russian KABs," the newspaper noted. The media added that the resumption of production of FAB-3000 is an “extremely alarming signal”, since the enemy will be able to easily destroy densely populated areas, thermal power plants, logistics and factories. As the Russians advance, KAB strikes will force Ukrainians to flee their settlements. "Against the backdrop of international inaction, Putin wants to turn Ukraine into a lifeless conflagration," the journalists added.

The U.S. has warned its allies that China is providing satellite imagery to Russia to assist the Kremlin in its war in Ukraine. "Amid signs of continued military integration between the two nations, China has provided Russia with satellite imagery for military purposes, as well as microelectronics and machine tools for tanks, according to people familiar with the matter," Bloomberg reported, citing sources. Recall, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized strategic cooperation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which was termed a "no-limits" partnership in February 2022. According to Newsweek, though the use of the term "no limits" partnership has disappeared from joint-statements by China and Russia, the two have witnessed increasing convergence since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. China-Russia bilateral trade reached a record $240 billion in 2023, with Chinese companies increasing investments as Western firms left Russia following the imposition of sanctions. The U.S. has now issued multiple warnings to European Union and NATO foreign ministers about Beijing's support for Russia being "at a concerning scale," which includes "tools, inputs and technical expertise," the Financial Times reported. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently told EU and NATO foreign ministers that Beijing was assisting the Kremlin with the production of optical equipment and propellants, and that there has been increased cooperation in the space sector. "There has been a shift and it was felt in the room  this was a new development. It was very striking," one individual told the Financial Times, speaking on condition of anonymity, citing Blinken's comments to European leaders. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned her Chinese counterpart Vice Premier He Lifeng during her visit to China that there will be "significant consequences" for Chinese companies supporting Moscow's war against Ukraine. On April 2, President Joe Biden mentioned China's support for Russia's defense industrial base with Xi Jinping during a phone call, according to a readout by the White House.

The US Army is concerned that Ukraine has become a testing ground for North Korean missiles. This marks the first time North Korea could test its missiles in actual combat situations, according to the Pacific Army Commander General Charles Flynn, as quoted by Bloomberg. "I don’t believe that in my recent memory that the North Korean military has had a battlefield laboratory quite like the Russians are affording them to have in Ukraine," he said. As General Flynn noted, this gives North Korea the opportunity to gain valuable information on technical issues, procedures, and the missiles themselves. The US will closely monitor how this unfolds. Flynn emphasized that he and other commanders are concerned about the information North Korea may learn about its weapons, "they would otherwise not have access to absent a conflict." In December 2023, the White House announced that Russia had purchased ballistic missiles from North Korea. In early January, there was information that the occupiers had struck Kharkiv with North Korean missiles. Vadym Skibitskyi, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, told RBC-Ukraine in an interview that North Korea actively supplied ammunition to Russia throughout the fall. According to intelligence estimates, the Russian army could have received around a million shells from North Korea. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said that the Russians have already used at least 24 ballistic missiles of North Korean production to shell Ukraine. The United States and its allies condemned what they described as Russia's firing of North Korean missiles at Ukraine, with Washington calling it abhorrent and Seoul calling Ukraine a test site for Pyongyang's nuclear-capable missiles. Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood and other U.S. allies said that these violate U.N. resolutions. "It's abhorrent that a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council is flagrantly violating Council resolutions to attack another U.N. member state, violations that further the suffering of the Ukrainian people, support Russia’s brutal war, and undermine the global nonproliferation regime," Wood said. Moscow and Pyongyang have both denied conducting any arms deals but they vowed last year to deepen military relations.

US presidential candidate Donald Trump has repeatedly stated his intention to end Russia's war against Ukraine in 24 hours if he wins the election. It turned out that his plan was to put pressure on Kyiv to make concessions to Moscow, reports The Washington Post. According to The Washington Post, people familiar with Trump's plan say that he said in a private conversation that he could end Russia's war against Ukraine by pressuring Kyiv to give up certain territory. Thus, Trump's idea is to push Ukraine to hand over Crimea and Donbas to Russian control, according to people who have discussed the issue with Trump and his advisers on condition of anonymity. According to the Washington Post, Trump said that he believes both Russia and Ukraine "want to save face, want a way out," and that people in some parts of Ukraine would agree to be part of Russia. Trump's campaign, as noted in The Washington Post, refused to answer the question directly. "Any speculation about President Trump’s plan is coming from unnamed and uninformed sources who have no idea what is going on or what will happen," said campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. The first reports of Trump's plan for Ukraine were circulated last November at a meeting in Washington between center-right groups and a delegation from the European Council on Foreign Relations. According to people who were at the meeting, former Trump White House aide Michael Anton described the expected outlines of the plan as Ukraine ceding the territories of Crimea and Donbas, limiting NATO expansion, and encouraging Putin to reduce his growing dependence on China. However, in a conversation with The Washington Post, he said that he had not spoken to Trump for 18-24 months and denied knowing anything about Trump's plan for Ukraine. In March 2023, Donald Trump promised his voters to "end Russia's war against Ukraine in 24 hours" if elected president of the United States in the November 5 election. At the same time, he noted that he would allow Russia to take part of Ukrainian territories to "avoid war." In addition, Trump stated that if re-elected, he would seek negotiations between Ukraine and Russia

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Storm Kathleen brought disruption to parts of the UK and Ireland. Planes struggled to land at some airports, with flights cancelled and tens of thousands of people left without power. Motorists were hit by huge waves in Douglas, Isle of Man, as Storm Kathleen made its way through the British Isles. Eyewitness video from the capital of the British Crown dependency showed traffic on the Douglas Promenade coastal road caught in the overtopping waves. High winds and heavy rain from Storm Kathleen persisted through last Sunday, battering parts of Scotland and Ireland and disrupting travel. The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency had 18 regional flood alerts and 37 flood warnings in place in Scotland. They have been in force since Saturday. The Met Office has also issued a yellow wind warning from 9am on Sunday covering parts of the west and northern Highlands, the Isle of Skye and the Hebrides. A previous warning stretched from the Scottish Borders to just south of Stirling. It spanned the west coast, throughout much of central Scotland, and ended just short of the east coast. Scotland's ferry operator CalMac said on Sunday morning that it has cancelled all sailings on at least five different routes "in relation to strong winds". In addition, all ferries to and from Liverpool, Heysham and Douglas on the Isle of Man have been cancelled until at least 3pm on Sunday, and ferries to and from the Isle of Wight also face some disruption.

After the explosion of two dams in Russia's Orenburg region, another river, the Yelshanka River, burst its course. Vasiliy Kosupitsa, the mayor of Orsk, informed about this. As a result, several more districts of the city of Orsk were flooded. The mayor called on the population to evacuate to safe places. According to the latest information, 11,000 houses and 18,400 living areas were flooded in the region. Rescuers have evacuated 6,100 people, more than a thousand of them are in temporary accommodation. It should be noted that the Ural River overflowed due to the explosion of the dam in the city of Orsk. As a result, the city was flooded.

A strong fire broke out in the warehouses of shoe production materials in the town of Industrialny, Krasnodar region, Russia. The Russian press reported on this. The cause of the fire, which covers an area of 1.8 thousand square meters, is not revealed. Although 23 fire engines were deployed to the area, it was not possible to put out the fire yet. No casualties are reported.

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The United States calls on Armenia to reach final agreement with Azerbaijan, James O'Brien, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, told reporters, while speaking about the results of the trilateral meeting between the Armenian Prime Minister, the US Secretary of State, and the President of the European Commission in Brussels. "The meeting was about the reforms in Armenia, but we certainly encouraged it to continue on the path to peace and to try to reach a final agreement with Azerbaijan," O'Brien noted. According to him, the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations is the best way to ensure regional security and prosperity. In particular, it will open new trade routes from the Mediterranean region to Central Asia. İt should be noted that the Armenian-Azerbaijani border has experienced the most peaceful period in the last six months. Currently, Armenia and Azerbaijan are closer to peace than ever before. However, meeting between the United States, the European Union, and Armenia shows that the West is not sincere about regional peace and that it is trying to create new dividing lines and overlapping spheres of influence in the region. Because this meeting was prepared in a non-transparent manner, regional inclusiveness and character were not taken into account. Before the meeting, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, and tried to explain the situation. In a telephone conversation with the President, Blinken said that this meeting was not against Azerbaijan, but was dedicated to the development of trade relations with Armenia. But any economic challenge of Paris, Washington, and Brussels to Armenia cannot provide an opportunity for Armenians comparable to the Moscow market. Currently, Armenian products, capital, and, most importantly, labor have free access to the Russian market. The number of Armenians living in Russia is more than Armenians living in Armenia. Russian companies are the beneficiaries of Yerevan's main economic and transport infrastructures. The West, which is well aware of the history and complexity of relations between Armenia and Russia, does not see any prospects for economic cooperation with Armenia. The main goal is to open a new front against Russia in Armenia after Ukraine. This as creating a new source of conflict in the region and preparing Armenia for revenge against Azerbaijan.

Third victim recovered

Six months into the war in Gaza, the Israeli army has released statistics about the ongoing battle.

Our Ariel Levin-Waldman reports on Israel's advancements in the artificial intelligence sector, and the risks it presents when used on the battlefield.

After six months of fighting, the IDF has released statistics on its war in Gaza.

Iran Vows to Punish Israel for Embassy Airstrike | Vantage with Palki Sharma Iran's supreme leader has promised to punish Israel for air strikes that targeted an Iranian consulate building in the Syrian capital. The air strikes on Monday evening killed seven Iranian military officers, including two top generals. While Israel is yet to admit carrying out the attack, global players including China and Russia are pointing fingers at Israel. Monday's attack followed a missile attack on Syria last week that killed more than 50 people. Israel has previously accused Iran of using Syria to funnel money and weapons to its anti-Israel proxies. Why is Israel risking an escalation with Iran? How will Iran respond? Palki Sharma tells you.

BREAKING NEWS TODAY

BREAKING NEWS TODAY

BREAKING NEWS TODAY

In preparation for the total solar eclipse, Austin and surrounding areas in Central Texas have declared a state of emergency and boosted emergency services, including adding ambulances and opening operations centers, to handle an expected influx of approximately one million visitors.