Ukraine turns to Europe for more support
President Volodymyr Zelensky is doubling down on his diplomatic outreach to Europe as US aid to Ukraine continues to flounder in Congress.
Zelensky and other Ukrainian politicians praised the bipartisan group of senators for approving $60 billion in aid for Ukraine at a time when weapons and ammunition are in short supply there. The aid still needs to be approved by the US House, where a powerful Republican faction, emboldened by Donald Trump, is determined to resist the bill and where the Republican president has said he will ignore it.
Mr Zelensky will likely push for more military aid on visits to Berlin, Paris and possibly London as part of a whirlwind tour this week, a Ukrainian official said.
President Biden yesterday asked House Republicans to approve the aid, calling recent anti-NATO comments by Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, “stupid,” “dangerous” and “un-American.”
Indonesia heads to the polls
The world’s third-largest democracy, Indonesia, chooses a new president today as tens of millions of people across the thousand-island archipelago head to the polls to choose one of three presidential candidates.
They are: Anies Baswedan, Prabowo Subianto and Ganjar Pranowo. President Joko Widodo, the popular incumbent who is barred from seeking a third term, appeared to be plotting an alliance with Prabowo without explicitly endorsing anyone.
Prabowo, a former general accused of human rights abuses when Indonesia was a dictatorship under Suharto, is the favorite. But if he does not secure more than 50 percent of the vote, a repeat election will be held in June. Many Indonesians have expressed concerns that Prabowo could return the country to its authoritarian past.
Sui-Lee Wee, The Times’ Southeast Asia bureau chief, said Prabowo’s supporters believe he will likely focus on infrastructure development and economic growth, “but what people fear is the slow erosion of democratic norms, which have been started by Joko, but could accelerate under a leader who once declared that Indonesia does not need democracy or elections.”
The talks in Cairo aim to end the war in Gaza
Negotiators from several countries struggled yesterday to reach an agreement to temporarily stop the war in the Gaza Strip. Officials said the talks were promising, but that Israel and Hamas were still nowhere near an agreement.
The talks came as the United Nations, the US and other countries have expressed growing concern over a possible Israeli invasion of Rafah, where some 1.4 million people are taking refuge.
Israel’s prime minister said the country would launch an attack on Rafah and ordered the army to draw up plans to evacuate civilians. But Palestinians and international aid groups say that no place in Gaza is safe and that moving people from Rafah will worsen their situation.
More news from the war: The Times investigates a tunnel under Al-Shifa Hospital.
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ARTS AND IDEAS
Models under 40 need not apply
Batsheva Hay, a fashion designer in New York, has spent weeks looking for fresh new faces to model her clothes. But it is only of interest to models 40 years and older.
A woman over 40 is not uncommon on the catwalk. But older models are discreet, like plus-size models, and there are usually three at most in a cast of 30, 50 or 80 people.
For this runway show, Hay, 42, plans to keep her models’ faces relatively bare because “I don’t want anyone to feel like they’re trying to look younger.”
