US Announces New $600 Mln Arms Package for Ukraine

US President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks during a signing ceremony for "The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022" in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, US August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis
US President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks during a signing ceremony for "The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022" in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, US August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis
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US Announces New $600 Mln Arms Package for Ukraine

US President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks during a signing ceremony for "The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022" in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, US August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis
US President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks during a signing ceremony for "The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022" in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, US August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis

US President Joe Biden announced a new $600 million arms package to help the Ukrainian military battle Russia, according to a White House memo sent to the State Department on Thursday.

Biden authorized the assistance using his Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the president to sanction the transfer of excess weapons from US stocks.

The package includes High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), night vision goggles, claymore mines, mine clearing equipment, 105mm artillery rounds and 155mm precision guided artillery rounds, the Pentagon said.

The White House memo also mentioned the money will be used for military education and training.

Washington has sent about $15.1 billion dollars in security assistance to the Kyiv government since Russia's invasion.

"To meet Ukraine’s evolving battlefield requirements, the United States will continue to work with its Allies and partners to provide Ukraine with key capabilities," the Pentagon said.

As Russia's war on Ukraine drags on, US security assistance is shifting to a longer-term campaign that also will likely keep more American military troops in Europe into the future, US officials have said.

The arms package announcement came as Ukrainian authorities found a mass burial site near a recaptured northeastern city previously occupied by Russian forces.



Israeli Police Arrest Couple Accused of Spying for Iran

A man walks across a bridge, in front of billboards bearing the flags of the US and Israel with a message in support of US presidential candidate Donald Trump, in Tel Aviv on October 30, 2024. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
A man walks across a bridge, in front of billboards bearing the flags of the US and Israel with a message in support of US presidential candidate Donald Trump, in Tel Aviv on October 30, 2024. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
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Israeli Police Arrest Couple Accused of Spying for Iran

A man walks across a bridge, in front of billboards bearing the flags of the US and Israel with a message in support of US presidential candidate Donald Trump, in Tel Aviv on October 30, 2024. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
A man walks across a bridge, in front of billboards bearing the flags of the US and Israel with a message in support of US presidential candidate Donald Trump, in Tel Aviv on October 30, 2024. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Israeli police said Thursday they have arrested a couple accused of spying on Israeli intelligence sites and collecting information on an Israeli academic on behalf of Iran.

Israeli security services say they have uncovered several Iranian spy networks in recent months. The two archenemies have waged a long-running shadow war that has burst into the open since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. They exchanged fire directly for the first time in April and then again this month.

In a statement released Thursday, the police and the Shin Bet internal security agency said that the man arrested, Rafael Guliev, from the central city of Lod, had surveilled Israel’s Mossad spy headquarters for the Iranians and collected information on an academic working at the Institute for National Security Studies, a prominent Israeli think tank. It did not identify the scholar.

The statement said Guliev was also entrusted with finding an assassin, though the statement did not make clear if he had actually done so.
Guliev’s wife, Lala, assisted in the activities, the statement said.