EXCLUSIVE: Order to limit Starshield for Ukraine came from inside White House, sources say - Reuters

Open this photo in gallery:Ukrainian servicemen set up a Starlink satellite internet system near the frontline town of Pokrovsk in Ukraine in April, 2025. Inna Varenytsia/ReutersThe order to limit a satellite system used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House, according to two U. S. officials and a Western official briefed on the matter. The officials said leaders at the Defence Department received a message that the SpaceX Starshield service for the Ukrainian military needed to be slowed. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not specify who in the White House made the decision or who was responsible for implementing the order. The Pentagon is the biggest customer of Starshield, which is the military-grade version of the Starlink service. Ukrainian officials said this week that military-grade Starlink receptors stopped working in Ukraine when mounted on fast-moving objects, interfering with the performance of Ukrainian drones that rely on them for onboard guidance systems over Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine’s military Starshield satellite connection has been restored, a Ukrainian Ministry of Defence source says, just days after the United States reportedly restricted the service. The Reuters news agency, quoting a source, reported that Kyiv is still seeking clarifications from Starshield’s parent company, SpaceX, as to why its service was disrupted between Tuesday and Wednesday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Trump slams Zelenskyy as Ukraine resumes strikes on Russian oil refinerieslist 2 of 4How six Ukrainian divers could have blown up Russia’s $20bn pipelineslist 3 of 4Russia attack hits Kyiv after reported intelligence lapselist 4 of 4US inflation rises before midterm elections, fuelling rate hike fearsend of listUkraine relies on Starshield, the military-grade version of SpaceX’s internet service, Starlink, to provide intelligence amid its war with Russia. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has denied the company’s involvement and suggested only the US government could have disrupted it, despite President Donald Trump’s insistence that Washington is still sharing intelligence with Kyiv.

Israeli settlers have attacked European diplomats, including a French mayor, near the Palestinian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank. The delegation was visiting Palestinian olive harvesters on Saturday when the Israeli attackers confronted the group. The attack comes a day after settlers assaulted a US journalist north of Ramallah. In Saturday’s incident, the settlers targeted Belgium’s consul general, French and Polish diplomats and Catholic representatives, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said. “A French mayor was assaulted and a Belgian vehicle damaged,” Prevot said, linking the attack to what he called Israel’s “illegal settlement policy” and pledging to push for further European Union sanctions. French mayor Bernard Baudoux, who was assaulted, told the AFP news agency that the violence suggests that “there is a tolerance on the part of the Israeli government” towards settler violence. Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, said the settlers surrounded the diplomats’ vehicles, pelted them with stones and smashed their windows.

What researchers uncovered through lab testing and surveillance footage, prosecutors said, was a plot by his fellow graduate student to intentionally poison him.

Omar’s legal team says the search violated safeguards designed to protect constitutional rights of members of Congress. Lawyers for Democratic United States Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota have demanded the return of property seized in a federal raid of her Washington, DC home, accusing the US Department of Justice of conducting a politically motivated investigation and failing to follow judicial instructions during the search. “The political motivations behind this pre-election investigation and search are clear as day,” Omar’s lawyers wrote in a letter sent to federal prosecutors on Friday and obtained by The Associated Press news agency.