Leaked Pentagon documents on Ukraine
Weakened by repeated Russian barrages, Ukraine’s entire air defense network could fracture without a huge influx of munitions, leaked Pentagon documents reveal. Read more about the trove of files.
A document from Feb. 28 projected that stocks of key missiles would be fully depleted by early May, or possibly as soon as mid-April, basing the assessment on consumption rates at the time; it is not clear whether those rates have changed. It also assessed that Ukrainian air defenses designed to protect troops on the front line would “be completely reduced” by May 23.
If that happens, officials say, Moscow may decide it is finally safe for its prized fighter jets and bombers to enter the fray. Senior Pentagon officials say that would be a major challenge for Ukraine, particularly if the bombers were given freer rein to attack Ukrainian troop positions and essential artillery targets on the ground.
Leaks: The documents portray a battered Russian military that is struggling in Ukraine. But the leak has the potential to do real damage to Ukraine’s war effort by exposing which Russian agencies the U.S. knows the most about, giving Moscow the opportunity to cut off the sources of information.
Support: The Biden administration said last week that it would send additional air defense interceptors and munitions to Ukraine as part of a $2.6 billion aid package. Europe has pledged a million shells in a year, but experts say it may not be able to deliver them.
President Biden in Ireland
President Biden will make a five-day visit to Ireland and Northern Ireland this week, working to shore up trade as well as potentially making trips to his family’s ancestral homes in Ballina, in the western county of Mayo, and in Carlingford, on the east coast’s Cooley Peninsula.
Though Biden’s itinerary has not been formally announced, residents of those towns are already preparing to celebrate the president with flags, bunting and even a mural. Both as vice president and as a private citizen, Biden has visited the places where his ancestors lived before they went to America. He has also kept in contact with distant cousins and has repeatedly quoted Irish poets in speeches.
Biden is visiting in part to focus on a 1998 peace deal, the Good Friday Agreement, that ended the decades of violence known as the Troubles. In the U.S., the accord is viewed as a success for American foreign policy and supported by people on both sides of the political aisle.
Quotable: “I think it’s fair to say that Biden is the most Irish of U.S. presidents, except maybe for Kennedy,” said Lynne Kelleher, the author of a book about Ireland and the White House. “His interest in Ireland is very genuine,” she said, adding, “For him, it’s a personal thing.”
8 missing after building collapses in Marseille
An as-yet unexplained explosion in a five-story building in the southern French city of Marseille early yesterday morning has resulted in the evacuation of some 30 buildings in the area. Eight people were missing after the building they lived in collapsed, and five people sustained minor injuries. A gas explosion has been mentioned as a possible cause for the blast.
Mounds of burning debris were hampering rescue operations, officials said, and more than 100 firefighters worked through the day to extinguish flames deep within the rubble. Two buildings that shared walls with the one that collapsed were partially brought down, with one later caving in.
The explosion took place on a narrow street a half-mile from Marseille’s old port, adding to an array of difficulties for firefighters and rescue workers.
Background: In 2018, two buildings in the center of Marseille collapsed, killing eight people. Those buildings were poorly maintained; that’s not the case with the building that collapsed yesterday, the interior minister said.
THE LATEST NEWS
Around the World
A dialect inherited from New Mexico’s earliest Spanish-speaking settlers has endured for over 400 years in the state’s remote mountain villages. But its time may be running out.
“Our unique Spanish is at real risk of dying out,” said one resident, who traces her ancestry to a member of the 1598 expedition that claimed New Mexico for the Spanish Empire. “Once a treasure like this is lost, I don’t think we realize, it’s lost forever.”
Lives Lived
Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials, died on Friday at 103.
SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC
The last country on Earth without a soccer team: A group of Englishmen is trying to bring soccer to the Marshall Islands, but the climate clock is ticking.
The striking phenomenon tearing up English soccer’s records: A year ago, Alan Shearer predicted 40 goals for Erling Haaland at Manchester City this season. It proved an underestimate. Time for a reassessment.
What’s next for Kylian Mbappe?: The Paris Saint-Germain star went to his 102 million social media followers to vent his frustrations over a team marketing video. It wasn’t the first time.
From The Times: Jon Rahm, the towering Spaniard who dominated the PGA Tour in 2023’s first months, won the Masters.
ARTS AND IDEAS
Mrs. Shakespeare takes the spotlight
Little is known about Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare and mother to his three children — so little, in fact, that scholars believe her name might have actually been Agnes. This week, the Royal Shakespeare Company is debuting a production in Stratford-upon-Avon that is devoted to her side of the Shakespeare story.
The play, adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel “Hamnet,” centers on a version of Anne who brims with spirit and practical intelligence.
Shakespeare was just 18 when he married Anne in 1582; she was 26 and pregnant. Historians have speculated that theirs was a shotgun wedding that Shakespeare entered into with gritted teeth. “She’s cast as an illiterate, cradle-snatching peasant who lured this boy genius into marriage,” O’Farrell said. “But I couldn’t find a single shred of evidence for that.”
