Array
Good morning.
Russian forces carried out fresh airstrikes on Ukrainian energy facilities on Tuesday, causing several explosions in an area of northern Kyiv where there is a thermal power station.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the presidential office, said there had been three Russian strikes on an unspecified energy facility. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said the attack was on “critical infrastructure” in the north of the city, where witnesses said they saw thick smoke rising into the sky.
Neither official said whether the thermal power station had been hit. They also gave no casualty details.
Meanwhile, a Russian military jet has crashed into a residential building shortly after taking off near the border with Ukraine, sparking a major fire that has reportedly left at least 13 people dead, according to Russian news agency Interfax, citing a senior official.
The US’s largest pro-Israel lobby group is backing dozens of racists, homophobes and election deniers running for Congress next month because they have pledged to defend Israel against stiffening criticism of its oppression of the Palestinians, writes Chris McGreal.
The powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) has justified endorsing Republicans with extremist views, including members of Congress with ties to white supremacist groups and representatives who attempted to block Joe Biden’s election victory, on the grounds that the singular issue of support for Israel trumps other considerations.
But Aipac’s support for rightwing politicians has privately embarrassed some Democrats also endorsed by the powerful group and drawn accusations from more moderate pro-Israel organisations that it is attempting to stifle legitimate criticism of hardline Israeli policies.
Logan Bayroff, a spokesperson for J Street, a group campaigning for Washington to take a stronger stand to end the occupation of Palestinian territories, accused Aipac of attempting to impose a narrow definition of what it is to be pro-Israel amid shifting views in Democratic ranks.
