WORLD BRIEFING: April 20, 2024 (2024)

North Korea said on Saturday it had tested a "super-large" cruise missile warhead and a new anti-aircraft missile. A power test of a super-large warhead designed for the Hwasal-1 Ra-3 strategic cruise missile and a test launch of the Pyoljji-1-2 anti-aircraft missile took place on Friday, state media reported. "Through the test launch, a certain goal was attained," KCNA reported. It said Friday’s tests were part of North Korea's regular military activities and had "nothing to do with the surrounding situation." - DPA

After its midnight deadline, the US Senate voted early Saturday to reauthorize a key surveillance law after divisions over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans’ data nearly forced the statute to lapse. The legislation approved 60-34 with bipartisan support would extend for two years the program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk to become law. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden “will swiftly sign the bill…In the nick of time, we are reauthorizing FISA right before it expires at midnight,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said when voting on final passage began 15 minutes before the deadline. “All day long, we persisted, and we persisted in trying to reach a breakthrough and in the end, we have succeeded.” - AP

Russian missiles hit the port of Pivdennyi in Ukraine's southern Odesa region on Friday, damaging Ukrainian and Singaporean facilities at the site, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. The regional governor said one person was injured in the strike, while Ukraine's southern military command said the attack had sparked fires. Local Telegram channels shared videos of heavy black smoke rising from what they said was the site of the strike. - Reuters

Russia is seemingly exploiting air defense shortages in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, to pummel the region’s energy infrastructure and terrorize its 1.3 million residents. Nearly 200,000 city dwellers remain without power, while 50% of the region’s population still suffers from outages, officials say. As utilities clamber to meet electricity demand before the onset of winter in six months, Russia continues to unleash deadly aerial-glide bombs to drive more residents away. Some officials and analysts warn it could be a concerted effort by Moscow to shape conditions for a summer offensive to seize the city. - AP

If Iran decides to respond to a suspected Israeli strike on its territory on April 19, it might not have to pull its punches like it did the last time. Tehran's telegraphed barrage against Israel last week was written off by many as a failure. But Iran has many arrows in its quiver should its standoff with Israel continue to escalate. Experts say that Iran has more sophisticated weaponry at its disposal, can bring its proxies into the fight, and, unlike its attack on April 13, can utilize the element of surprise. And the ultimate threat -- officially activating its long-suspected effort to develop a nuclear weapon -- could come into play. - RFE/RL

The president of the European Council hopes Friday's apparent Israeli retaliation will be the last in the recent escalation with Iran and believes the next "hours and days" will be critical. What is important is the intensity of the reaction," Michel said in an interview on Friday morning. "It's very important to observe in the next days if indeed it's possible to come back to a situation with more stability and to avoid more risks and more tensions…I want to be very cautious and careful, but I sincerely hope that what happened (...) is the end of that story," he added. Friday's attacks, targeted at a nuclear center and major air base, were according to US officials launched by Israel but there are conflicting reports about the nature and scale of the offensive. Tehran says the attack involved drones launched from within Iranian territory, while the US has said missiles were involved. - Euronews

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