🎧 A Ukrainian lawmaker tells NPR's Joanna Kakissis that Ukraine is being held hostage by election-year politics in the U.S. Republicans in Congress have been blocking a military aid package for Ukraine. Kakissis reports on Up First that Zelenskyy was at the annual Munich Security Conference this weekend, where he once again asked the West not to see this conflict as only Ukraine's war but one that will grow much larger if Russia keeps winning.
Despite international warnings, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not backing down from plans for an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, a city near the Egyptian border where more than 1 million displaced Palestinians are taking shelter. 🎧 Netanyahu has called for both a military plan and a plan to evacuate the civilians in Rafah, NPR's Greg Myre reports. But there's been no word of such a plan, which Myre says would be very complicated. Most Palestinians in Rafah are living in tents, and many say they have nowhere else to go. He adds that if Israel's claim that it's defeated 18 of Hamas' 24 battalions is accurate, it means Hamas has been badly weakened. But Hamas' internal and external leaders are intact, and the group has long had public support in Gaza, so "politically, it's still reasonably strong."
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas is building a military base camp in the city of Eagle Pass on the border with Mexico. The 80-acre facility would house National Guard troops and is part of a $10 billion state effort to limit illegal border crossings. 🎧 Texas Public Radio's Pablo De La Rosa reports that many were blindsided by Gov. Abbott's announcement of plans to build the facility. De La Rosa says Eagle Pass has been through a lot in the past few months after the state took over and militarized a park where people used to celebrate birthdays. Constitutionally, border security and immigration fall under federal control, but Gov. Abbott believes his state has a right to secure the border. NPR | 
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