April 10, 2023

*) Russian forces step up strikes on two key Ukrainian cities Russia's forces have kept up a barrage of attacks along the front concentrated in two Ukrainian cities in the eastern Donetsk region. Fighting was heaviest along the western approaches to Bakhmut, the general staff of Ukraine's armed forces said. Battle also raged in Avdiivka, that Russia's military has been targeting. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denounced Russian air strikes, saying Moscow was further isolating itself from the world. *) China holds live-fire exercises near Taiwan China has held live-fire drills to round off three days of military exercises in response to Taiwan's president's meeting with the US House speaker. Dubbed "Joint Sword", the three-day operation has included rehearsing an encirclement of Taiwan, according to the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen denounced the drills, which come after she met last week with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy outside Los Angeles. *) Saudi delegation in Yemen's capital for talks with Houthis A Saudi delegation is in Yemen's capital to negotiate a potential new truce with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who control the city. Houthi media showed the group's political leader, Mahdi al Mashat, shaking hands and meeting with Saudi officials including the kingdom's ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al Jaber. The Saudi officials are "in Sanaa to discuss moving forward to create peace in Yemen," said a Yemeni diplomat based in the Gulf region, information that was confirmed by a second diplomat. *) Hezbollah, Hamas leaders meet in Lebanon amid Al Aqsa raids Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has held talks with Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Beirut, Lebanon amid escalating Israeli military violence in occupied East Jerusalem. Nasrallah and Haniyeh discussed the latest Palestinian developments, “events at Al Aqsa Mosque, and the escalating resistance in the occupied West Bank and Gaza,” according to a Hezbollah stateme