First Thing: Kharkiv could become ‘second Aleppo’ without US aid to Ukraine, mayor says

House speaker seeks to split US aid into separate votes. Plus, Trump rebuked by judge in warning against juror ‘intimidation’

Good morning,

The mayor of Kharkiv has said the city is at risk of becoming “a second Aleppo”, unless US politicians vote for fresh military aid to help Ukraine obtain the air defences needed to prevent long-range Russian attacks.

Ihor Terekhov said Russia had switched tactics to try to destroy the city’s power supply and terrorise its 1.3 million residents by firing into residential areas, with people experiencing unscheduled power cuts for hours at a time. He said aid was of “critical importance”.

Meanwhile, Russian forces are exploiting the delays in US aid and are manoeuvring on the battlefield again, the Institute for the Study of War says. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, fears a large Russian offensive this spring.

• What’s the latest with US funding? The Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, has refused to allow a vote on the $95bn joint Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan aid bill already passed by the Senate. Instead, this week he proposed a complicated plan for separate votes for each section.

• How is Zelenskiy responding to Iran’s attack on Israel? He said Ukraine “could have received the same level of protection [as Israel] long ago” with intercepting drones and missiles.

Israel has sped up settlement building in East Jerusalem since 7 October

Israel’s government has accelerated the construction of settlements across East Jerusalem, with more than 20 projects totalling thousands of housing units having been approved or advanced since the start of the full-scale war in Gaza, planning documents show.

Ministries and offices within the Israeli government are behind all the largest and most contentious of the projects, sometimes in association with rightwing nationalist groups with a history of trying to evict Palestinians from their homes.

The rapid approval or construction of settlements that are illegal under international law is likely to further damage Israel’s relationship with the Biden administration.

• What’s the backstory to settlement expansions? Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the six-day war of 1967 and later annexed it, in a move not recognised by the international community. Permanent settlement of territory occupied militarily is illegal under international law. Today, about 40% of Jerusalem’s population of roughly 1 million is Palestinian, and maintaining a Jewish majority in the city has been an aim of successive Israeli governments.

• What’s happening in Gaza after Iran’s attack on Israel? Israel has said for weeks it is going to launch a ground operation into Rafah, with the fate of nearly 2 million Palestinians in the city hanging in the balance.

Trump rebuked as hush-money trial judge warns against juror intimidation

Donald Trump met a stern rebuke on Tuesday from the judge presiding over his criminal hush-money trial, with Juan Merchan warning: “I won’t have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom.”

Trump’s team had found a video on one possible juror’s social media that appeared to show a street celebration over Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, but Trump’s apparent misbehavior – gesturing and speaking in the direction of a juror, the judge said – did not derail the trial’s progress.

• How many jurors have been picked so far? Seven jurors were picked by the day’s end; dozens have been dismissed for having strong preconceived views about Trump.

• Which case is this one again? Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records over an alleged $130,000 hush-money scheme involving Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.

In other news …

• Highways were flooded and flights disrupted in Dubai and across the UAE, amid what officials called the heaviest rainfall in 75 years.

• The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said he had urged Xi Jinping to press Russia to end its war in Ukraine. He also said the Chinese president had agreed to back a peace conference in Switzerland.

• The US made assurances to the UK high court over Julian Assange’s extradition, but the WikiLeaks founder’s wife dismissed them.

• The government of Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, passed a measure allowing anti-abortion activists to enter abortion consultation clinics, in a move criticised by opponents as a heavy blow for women’s rights.

Stat of the day: Companies made at least $100m clearing California homeless camps

Public spending on private sweep contractors is soaring across California. In total, private firms have been paid at least $100m to clear homeless camps, an investigation by the Guardian and Type Investigations has found. The 14 municipalities and public agencies from which spending details could be obtained represent a small slice of such spending in the state. Unhoused people say they have been treated poorly.

Don’t miss this: ‘Water is more valuable than oil’ – the corporation cashing in on America’s drought

In an unprecedented deal, Greenstone Resource Partners, a private company, purchased land in a tiny Arizona town – and sold its water rights to a suburb 200 miles away for a $14m profit. Guardian reporting reveals that Greenstone strategically purchased land to advance the deal, exploiting the arcane water policies governing the Colorado River. Local residents fear the agreement has opened a Pandora’s box. Read Maanvi Singh’s full investigation here.

Last Thing: Drivers gawp as elephant joins Montana traffic after escaping circus

Viola, a 58-year-old elephant, slipped her circus handlers in Butte, Montana on Tuesday and strolled through traffic, sparking alarm and surprise among drivers. “An elephant walking down the road, oh my god,” a woman says in a video. Viola, who escaped Jordan World Circus, was recaptured without harm, though not before she defecated on a suburban house’s lawn.

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