WORLD BRIEFING: March 29, 2024
A massive Russian drone and missile attack overnight in Ukraine has once again targeted critical infrastructure. Air defense destroyed 84 enemy air targets out of 99 that Russia attacked Ukraine on the night of March 29. Officials said that of 99 objects fired, 84 were intercepted. Missiles and drones flew as far west as Lviv - but also Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkassy, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia. The main energy provider, DTEK, said that three of its thermal power plants were damaged in the overnight attacks.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired rockets with heavy warheads at towns in northern Israel, saying it used the weapons against civilian targets for the first time Thursday in retaliation for Israeli airstrikes the night before that killed nine, including what the group said were several paramedics. There were no reports of Israelis hurt in the rocket attack, local media said. The Israeli military did not immediately offer comment on the rocket attack. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on Oct. 7, concerns have grown that near-daily clashes along the border between Israel and Lebanon could escalate into a full-scale war. Airstrikes and rocket fire Wednesday killed 16 Lebanese and one Israeli, making it the deadliest day of the current conflict. - AP
The U.S. branded Russian officials "pretty good manure salesmen" after Moscow sought to link the attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue to Ukrainian nationalists. “My uncle used to say that the best manure salesmen often carry their samples in their mouths. Russian officials seem to be pretty good manure salesmen," White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters. His remarks come after Russian investigators said they had evidence linking "Ukrainian nationalists" to last week's attack on the concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow in which at least 143 people were killed. “As a result of working with detained terrorists, studying the technical devices seized from them, and analyzing information about financial transactions, evidence was obtained of their connection with Ukrainian nationalists," the Russian Investigative Committee said. They said the attackers had received significant cash and cryptocurrency from Ukraine. However, they did not provide evidence for their claims, and Kirby denounced it as Russia's "nonsense propaganda." - DW
Airline SkyUp has become Ukraine's largest air carrier during the war with Russia by building up its business in Europe to offset the domestic closure of civilian airspace that has lasted more than two years, the company's CEO has said. Not a single commercial flight has carried passengers in or out of Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The airline, which has 10 planes and about 1,200 staff, pivoted its business model from charter and regular flights to focusing on supplying its aircraft, crews, maintenance and insurance to foreign operators, a model known in the industry as ACMI. ACMI accounts for about 70% of SkyUp's revenue, making it one of the 20 biggest such operators in Europe. They transported 1.5 million passengers in 2023, up from 1 million in 2022. Before the invasion, the company set up in 2018 had been Ukraine's fastest growing airline and flew a record of more than 2.57 million passengers to over 50 destinations in 2021.
A Ukrainian man who was listed on a maritime jobs database as captaining Dali for about five months in 2016 is being erroneously blamed for the incident online. The Dali’s captain and crew are Indian, Synergy Marine Group, the company that manages the ship, told The Associated Press. There were two pilots — local specialists who help guide vessels safely in and out of ports — navigating Dali at the time of the collision. Both are U.S. citizens, according to Synergy.
The Biden administration is growing increasingly concerned that a glut of heavily subsidized green technology exports from China is distorting global markets and plans to confront Chinese officials about the problem during an upcoming round of economic talks in Beijing. The tension over industrial policy is flaring as the United States invests heavily in production of solar technology and electric vehicle batteries with funding from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, while China pumps money into its factory sector to help stimulate its sluggish economy. President Biden and Xi Jinping, China’s leader, have sought to stabilize the relationship between the world’s two largest economies, but differences over trade policy, investment restrictions and cyberespionage continue to strain ties. In a speech on Wednesday afternoon, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen laid out her plans to raise the issue of overcapacity with her Chinese counterparts. At the Suniva solar cell factory in Norcross, Ga., she warned that China’s export strategy threatened to destabilize global supply chains that were developing around industries such as solar, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries.
