WORLD BRIEFING: March 10, 2024

A US military ship is sailing towards the Middle East, carrying equipment to build a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza, the army says. The support ship, General Frank S Besson, set sail from a military base in the state of Virginia on Saturday. It comes after President Joe Biden said the US would build the floating harbour to help get aid into Gaza by sea. The UN has warned that famine in the Gaza Strip is "almost inevitable" and children are starving to death. The Pentagon has said it could take up to 60 days to build the pier with the help of 1,000 troops - none of whom would go ashore.

Meanwhile, an aid ship laden with some 200 tonnes of food was still waiting for clearance to set sail from a port in Cyprus on Sunday morning. It is hoped the vessel, Open Arms, will be able to depart before Monday, following an EU announcement that a new sea route would be opened over the weekend to allow aid to sail directly from Cyprus - the closest EU country to Gaza. The ship belongs to the Spanish charity of the same name, Open Arms, and the food on board has been provided by US charity World Central Kitchen - BBC

Russia has begun using a powerful aerial bomb that has decimated Ukrainian defenses and tilted the balance on the front lines. It has done so by converting a basic Soviet-era weapon into a gliding bomb that can cause a crater fifteen meters wide. The bomb is the FAB-1500, essentially a 1.5-tonne weapon of which nearly half comprises high explosives. It is delivered from above by fighter jets from a distance of some 60-70 kilometers, out of range of many Ukrainian air defenses. The FAB-1500 is another example of how Russia is fighting its war in Ukraine, inflicting massive destruction before trying to take territory. Recent videos from the battlelines in Donetsk region have illustrated the immense power of these bombs as they have hit thermal power plants, factories and tower blocks - places from which the Ukrainians coordinate their defenses - CNN

In late 2022, the US began “preparing rigorously” for Russia potentially striking Ukraine with a nuclear weapon, in what would have been the first nuclear attack in war since the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki nearly eighty years before, two senior administration officials told CNN. The Biden administration was specifically concerned Russia might use a tactical or battlefield nuclear weapon, the officials said. - CNN

Ukraine's air force said on March 10 that its air-defense systems had destroyed 35 of 39 drones it said were launched against Ukraine overnight. Most of the drones were destroyed over Ukraine's eastern and southern regions, the air force said. Missile strikes in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv and Donetsk regions were also reported, resulting in one death and 11 injuries - RFE/RL

The governor of Russia's southwestern Kursk region has said that one person had been killed as a result of Ukrainian shelling and a fire broke out at a local oil depot due to a Ukrainian drone strike. "As a result of a direct hit from a shell, a residential building caught fire and a local woman died," Governor Roman Starovoit wrote on Telegram on March 10. "Her husband had extensive burns and is now receiving qualified medical care." Starovoit later wrote that a "Ukrainian drone fell and caught fire on the grounds of the oil depot" and that fire and emergency services were at the scene." The SHOT Telegram channel reported that the drone had damaged a 3,000-ton capacity tank at the oil terminal but suggested the tank was empty when it was struck - RFE/RL

The streets of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, are piling up with corpses. It’s a grisly new marker of the violence and dysfunction in this beleaguered Caribbean nation of 11 million people. In the absence of a functioning state, violent armed gangs have taken control of more than 80 percent of the capital, the United Nations estimates. Gunfire crackles at all hours. Residents who dare leave their homes stumble across bodies that have been left where they fell. Port-au-Prince reached a high of 92 degrees on Friday. The smell of decaying corpses, human rights activists say, has driven some people from their homes. Others have taken it upon themselves to move or burn the bodies - Washington Post

Canada is resuming funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and will help support the airdrop of Canadian-funded supplies into Gaza. Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen announced the decision Friday afternoon, stating it was taken in part so that more can be urgently done to respond to the "dire" needs of Palestinian civilians. Canada and other allies had paused funding amid allegations that some UNRWA staff were involved in the Hamas attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. According to Hussen, while the final report of the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) isn't final, Canada has reviewed the interim report of the investigation and is assured by its contents, adding that UNRWA has taken measures to strengthen oversight, accountability and transparency. "Canada will work with fellow donors, the UN and UNRWA to ensure that the recommendations stemming from both the OIOS investigation and the independent review are fully implemented," reads a statement from Hussen's office that accompanied the minister's announcement. No regularly scheduled payment was missed during the temporary pause that began in January, and the Canadian government is set to send $25 million to the agency in April. Hussen said this is to help prevent the collapse of the organization, which he described as "the backbone of the humanitarian response" in the region - CTV