Ukraine

• The NYT reported that Ukraine's air defenses have been losing efficacy as the military depletes its supplies and Russia lobs larger and faster - and thus harder to intercept - barrages. In May 2023, Ukraine intercepted over 80% of incoming missiles; that rate is now less than 50%.

• Pres. Biden signed legislation enacting a ban on U.S. purchases of enriched uranium from Russia, which currently supplies 24% of the fuel used in U.S. nuclear power plants.
• The ban will take effect in 90 days - although the DoE can make selective exceptions thereafter. The law also releases $2.7 billion in previously earmarked funds to be spent expanding U.S. domestic nuclear fuel capacity.

• Israel opened a new aid entry point from Israel (near Zikim) into Gaza: the Western Erez crossing is now the third one serving northern Gaza.
• The major crossing into southern Gaza - Rafah - remains closed, and the UNRWA says around 360,000 of the 1.3 million Palestinians that were sheltering in the nearby city of Rafah have fled to other parts of Gaza over the past week amidst Israel's "limited military operation" there.
• Israel's neighbor on the other side of the Rafah crossing - Egypt - isn't happy about the Rafah operation or how the crossing closure played out: the WSJ reported that Cairo is considering downgrading its diplomatic ties with Israel and joining South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. That could be a significant setback after 45 years of uneasy peace.
• Separately, the NYT leaked tidbits from a pre-Oct. 7, 62-slide report by Hamas's General Security Service on its activities in Gaza, which revealed a highly oppressive secret police force actively spying on suspected critics.
• The NYT article summarized the trove thus: "The documents show that Hamas leaders, despite claiming to represent the people of Gaza, would not tolerate even a whiff of dissent."

• Sudan Witness, a UK-based NGO, reported that Sudan's warring parties are using fire as a weapon on an unprecedented scale, indescriminately damaging or destroying at least 72 villages in April alone - especially in North Darfur. That's leading to mass displacement in an already-troubled region.
• UN SecGen Guterres said he was "gravely concerned" for civilians affected by both the fires and the looming offensive on the regional capital of El Fasher.

• Islamist militants launched a major attack on Macomia in Cabo Delgado, sending hundreds of fighters to battle security forces in two waves.
• Insurgent attacks in Cabo Delgado have escalated since January, raising concerns for the gas projects Total and Exxon were hoping to restart in the area.
• It doesn't help that the South African Development Community regional force assigned to battle the insurgency ends its mandate in July and has already started to withdraw personnel.

• Georgia's parliament is expected to pass a controversial bill requiring organizations receiving substantial (>20%) funding from abroad to register as "agents of foreign influence" today.
• The bill is contentious because it's a copycat - "an exact duplicate," according to Georgia's figurehead president, who opposes it - of a similar measure Russia uses to suppress dissenting voices.
• Many young Georgians who favor closer ties with the West resent the bill and have been protesting it for months.