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WASHINGTONPOST:" President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that requires federal agencies to work with the U.S. Doge Service to cut their existing workforce and limit future hiring — the most explicit statement yet by the president that he supports “large-scale” cuts to the federal workforce.
CNN: "What you need to know • Trump in Doha: President Donald Trump is visiting Qatar, his second stop on a tour of the Middle East, where he received a lavish welcome and announced a $200 billion deal for Qatar to purchase 160 jets from US airplane manufacturer Boeing. Ahead of his trip, Trump said he planned to accept a plane from Qatar to be used as Air Force One — raising legal, ethical and security concerns. • Meeting with Syrian leader: Trump on Wednesday also met with interim Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa in Riyadh, a former jihadist who led the ouster of the Assad regime, a day after the US president said he planned to lift sanctions on Syria. • Ukraine war talks: Trump expressed interest in traveling to Turkey for a possible high-stakes meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying Wednesday that Putin would “like me to be there.” • Action on Capitol Hill: Meanwhile, back in the US, several of Trump’s Cabinet members are being grilled by lawmakers about their policies. This comes as House GOP lawmakers continue to try to push Trump’s legislative agenda amid a fiery debate over Medicaid. US Secretary of State Rubio arrives in Turkey ahead of possible Ukraine-Russia talks From CNN's Jennifer Hansler US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Turkey on Wednesday amid middling expectations for Russia-Ukraine talks in the coming days. Rubio touched down in the coastal city of Antalya after traveling with President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabi and Qatar. .."
AP:"...Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, is set to fete Trump with an opulent state dinner Tuesday evening at Ad-Diriyah. The UNESCO heritage site is the birthplace of the first Saudi state and the site of a major development project championed by the crown prince. It’s set to be Trump’s final event of the day in Riyadh. 8 sec ago U.N. welcomes easing of U.S. sanctions on Syria By EDITH LEDERER Share U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Tuesday that the easing of sanctions on Syria “is a positive development, inviting a broader investment” in the country. The lifting of sanctions will help the reconstruction of Syria and “help the Syrian people recover from more than a decade of conflict, a decade of underinvestment,” Dujarric said. It will put more of a focus “on economic development, on private businesses and investment.”...Lawmakers press Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy on mass cuts..."
CNN:" A ceasefire agreed between India and Pakistan appears to be holding, with both sides stressing their commitment to the surprise truce which halted the worst fighting in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors. The flare-up was triggered by a massacre of tourists last month in Indian-administered Kashmir. Cross-border military strikes began on Wednesday and have left dozens of people dead. There were reports of violations from both sides soon after the ceasefire was announced on Saturday, although CNN understands that since then it has been holding. US President Donald Trump was the first to announce the ceasefire and claimed credit for Washington’s role in securing it, but contradictory accounts have emerged about the extent of US involvement. Here’s what you need to know. How did the truce come about? Just before 8 a.m. ET on Saturday, about 5 p.m. in India and Pakistan, Trump announced the ceasefire in a post on Truth Social. “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE,” Trump said, congratulating the leaders of both countries for “using common sense and great intelligence.” Soon after, Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that India and Pakistan had not only agreed to a ceasefire, but also “to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site.” Rubio said that the ceasefire came after he and Vice President JD Vance spent the past two days speaking with senior officials from both countries. Both sides confirmed the agreement soon after. India’s Ministry of Information said the agreement was worked out “directly between the two countries,” downplaying US involvement and contradicting Trump’s claim. The ministry also said there was “no decision” to hold further talks. But Pakistani officials have heaped praise on Washington..."
CNN:" President Donald Trump’s effort to do as much as possible as quickly as possible to remake the federal government would gut agencies that have existed for decades or longer. His larger plans would remake elements of the government infrastructure that have been around for centuries. From Benjamin Franklin to John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon to Barack Obama, it took all of US history to build up some of what Trump has talked about trying to tear down, privatize or remake. And that’s not counting the reforms he plans for safety net programs such as Social Security and Medicare, which he says, without evidence, are full of fraud, but which are also on objectively unsustainable paths..."
CNN:" President Donald Trump has been personally involved in discussions inside the administration over potentially suspending habeas corpus, a legal procedure that allows people to challenge their detention in court, two people familiar with the consideration told CNN. One of Trump’s top aides, Stephen Miller, confirmed publicly Friday that the administration was “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus, adding that it “depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”..." The Southern Poverty Law Center wrote "...In the run-up to the 2016 election, White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller promoted white nationalist literature, pushed racist immigration stories and obsessed over the loss of Confederate symbols after Dylann Roof’s murderous rampage, according to leaked emails reviewed by Hatewatch. The emails, which Miller sent to the conservative website Breitbart News in 2015 and 2016, showcase the extremist, anti-immigrant ideology that undergirds the policies he has helped create as an architect of Donald Trump’s presidency. These policies include reportedly setting arrest quotas for undocumented immigrants, an executive order effectively banning immigration from five Muslim-majority countries and a policy of family separation at refugee resettlement facilities that the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General said is causing “intense trauma” in children."
The Suspension Clause in relevant part states"...The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it..." Article I Section 9: Powers Denied Congress. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote an article on "The Suspension Clause" for the NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER Based on the plain meaning of the clause and prior precedent, the administration is not likely to prevail on the merits.
CNN:"Justice David Souter, touted as a steadfast conservative for the Supreme Court in 1990, soon revealed himself as the opposite. He valued constitutional privacy, individual equality and the separation of church and state. And in 1992, when the justices confronted a major test of abortion rights, he unflinchingly cast a vote to affirm Roe v. Wade. From the elevated courtroom bench that June 29, 1992, morning, as Souter read his portion of the opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, he emphasized regard for the 1973 precedent and the court’s “promise of constancy.” “Like the character of an individual,” the New Hampshire native said in his distinctive Yankee drawl, “the legitimacy of the court must be earned over time. … The court’s concern for legitimacy is not for the sake of the court but for the sake of the nation to which it is responsible.” .."
CNN:"When the Supreme Court gathers Thursday to hear oral argument in a high-profile emergency appeal involving Trump’s birthright citizenship order, the justices will technically be considering a procedural question about whether lower courts overstepped their authority by blocking the president’s efforts nationwide. But the court’s answer to that question will have enormous on-the-ground consequences, even for people – like Mónica – who are in the United States legally...For nearly 150 years, courts have understood the 14th Amendment’s text to guarantee citizenship to anyone “born or naturalized in the United States,” regardless of the immigration status of their parents. In a landmark 1898 decision, US v. Wong Kim Ark, the Supreme Court affirmed the idea that people born in the United States – in that case, the son of Chinese immigrants – were entitled to US citizenship, with a few narrow exceptions. But a small group of legal conservatives have for years focused on a second phrase in the amendment’s text, requiring people to be “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States before they become entitled to citizenship. People who owe their allegiance to another country, the argument goes, are not covered. Trump often chafed against birthright citizenship during his first term and campaigned heavily on the idea of ending it if he returned to power. Those arguments will not be before the Supreme Court this week, but the absence of a question on the merits raises a thorny practical question for the justices: How much should they take the broader constitutional issues into account if they decide to allow Trump to enforce a policy – even temporarily – that flies in the face of a long-standing recognition that a person born in the United States, regardless of their parents’ immigration status, is entitled to citizenship?..."
SUPREMECOURT.GOV: READ THE MEDIA ADVISORY REGARDING ORAL ARGUMENTS FOR MAY 15, 2O25; READ THE CASE DOCUMENTS FOR 24a884; 24A855; and 24a886.

ELECTIONLAW.ORG:"Case 2:21-cv-01530-AMM Document 490 Filed 05/08/25 Page 1 of 571 FILED 2025 May-08 PM 12:19 U.S. DISTRICT COURT N.D. OF ALABAMA UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA SOUTHERN DIVISION BOBBY SINGLETON, et al., Plaintiffs, v. WES ALLEN, in his official capacity as Alabama Secretary of State, et al., Defendants. EVAN MILLIGAN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. WES ALLEN, in his official capacity as Alabama Secretary of State, et al., Defendants. Case No. 2:21-cv-01291-AMM THREE-JUDGE COURT Case No. 2:21-cv-01530-AMM THREE-JUDGE COURT Before MARCUS, Circuit Judge, MANASCO and MOORER, District Judges. PER CURIAM: INJUNCTION AND ORDER FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW These congressional redistricting cases returned to this Court for trial after the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a preliminary injunction we entered. See Allen v. Milligan, 599 U.S. 1, 10, 17 (2023). These cases are three of four cases pending in the Northern District of Alabama that allege that Alabama’s electoral Case 2:21-cv-01530-AMM Document 490 Filed 05/08/25 Page 2 of 571 maps are racially discriminatory in violation of the United States Constitution and/or dilute the votes of Black Alabamians in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 52 U.S.C. § 10301: Singleton v. Allen, Case No. 2:21-cv-1291-AMM (challenges the congressional map on constitutional and statutory grounds), Milligan v. Allen, Case No. 2:21-cv-1530-AMM (challenges the congressional map on constitutional and statutory grounds), and Caster v. Allen, Case No. 2:21-cv-1536-AMM (challenges the congressional map on statutory grounds).1 Singleton and Milligan are before this three-judge Court, and Caster is before Judge Manasco sitting alone. Although there are differences in the Plaintiffs’ theories of liability, all Plaintiffs challenge districts in South and Central Alabama, with a focus on Alabama’s Black Belt and Gulf Coast regions. Likewise, all Plaintiffs request an injunction barring Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen from conducting elections according to the electoral map for Alabama’s seven seats in the United States House of Representatives that the Alabama Legislature (“the Legislature”) passed after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Allen (“the 2023 Plan”). The preliminary injunction that the Supreme Court affirmed prohibited the use of Alabama’s previous districting plan (“the 2021 Plan”). Milligan Doc. 107.2 1The fourth case is Alabama State Conference of the NAACP v. Allen, Case No. 2:21-cv-1531-AMM which challenges the state Senate map on statutory grounds. 2When we cite a document that appears in more than one of these cases, we cite only the document filed in Milligan. Page ii of xix Case 2:21-cv-01530-AMM Document 490 Filed 05/08/25 Page 3 of 571 2021 Plan included only one majority-Black congressional district — District 7, which became a majority-Black district in 1992 when a federal court drew it that way in a ruling that was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States. .."
CNN:" Donald Trump won back the Oval Office and took charge of the government amid the strongest poll numbers of his political career, but as the 100-day mark of his presidency approaches, Americans’ views of what he’s done so far have turned deeply negative, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds. Trump’s 41% approval rating is the lowest for any newly elected president at 100 days dating back at least to Dwight Eisenhower – including Trump’s own first term. Approval of Trump’s handling of the presidency is down 4 points since March, and 7 points lower than it was in late February. Just 22% say they strongly approve of Trump’s handling of the job, a new low, and about twice as many say they strongly disapprove (45%). Since March, Trump has seen notable drops in approval from women and Hispanic Americans (down 7 points in each group to 36% among women and 28% among Hispanics). Partisan views of Trump remain broadly polarized, with 86% of Republicans approving and 93% of Democrats disapproving. But among political independents, the president’s approval rating has dipped to 31%, matching his first-term low point with that group and about the same as his standing with them in January 2021. The poll finds the president underwater and sinking across nearly all major issues he’s sought to address during his time in office, with the public’s confidence in his ability to handle those issues also on the decline. Trump’s approval ratings on economic issues have dropped notably since early March as the rollout of his tariff plan led to volatility in the stock market and worries about rising prices. On inflation, approval is down 9 points to 35%, and on tariffs themselves, it’s down 4 points to 35%. His marks for handling the economy are down 5 points to a career low of 39%; he hit his previous low once in his first term and again this March. Only about half (52%) express confidence in his ability to deal with the economy, down 13 points compared with a December CNN poll..."
CNN:" The government under President Donald Trump is bending the arc of US history in a new direction, away from the civil rights focus of the past 60 plus years. Addressing or even acknowledging racial injustice toward people of color is out. Separating church and state is out, according to Trump. Exposing anti-Christian bias and being ‘anti-woke’ is in. The Department of Justice division created by the landmark 1957 Civil Rights Act to defend American’s rights has a new mission: rooting out anti-Christian bias, antisemitism and “woke ideology,” the head of the division, Harmeet Dhillon, recently told conservative commentator Glenn Beck. A majority of the lawyers at the Civil Rights division – people who got jobs there to ensure equal access to the ballot box, perhaps – are expected to resign with pay until September. At a White House Cabinet meeting Wednesday, secretaries repeatedly sought praise from Trump for purging diversity efforts from the government. "
CNN:" President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to end federal funding for America’s two biggest public broadcasters, which have faced a series of attacks from the White House and Republican lawmakers accusing them of biased reporting. The order instructs the CPB’s board to terminate direct funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service..."
CNN:" When the Justice Department lifted a school desegregation order in Louisiana this week, officials called its continued existence a “historical wrong” and suggested that others dating to the Civil Rights Movement should be reconsidered...Civil rights activists say that’s the wrong move. Many orders have been only loosely enforced in recent decades, but that doesn’t mean problems are solved, said Johnathan Smith, who worked in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division during President Joe Biden’s administration. “It probably means the opposite — that the school district remains segregated. And in fact, most of these districts are now more segregated today than they were in 1954,” said Smith, who is now chief of staff and general counsel for the National Center for Youth Law...The dismissal has raised alarms among some who fear it could undo decades of progress. Research on districts released from orders has found that many saw greater increases in racial segregation compared with those under court orders. “In very many cases, schools quite rapidly resegregate, and there are new civil rights concerns for students,” said Halley Potter, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation who studies educational inequity...Ending the orders would send a signal that desegregation is no longer a priority, said Robert Westley, a professor of antidiscrimination law at Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. “It’s really just signaling that the backsliding that has started some time ago is complete,” Westley said. “The United States government doesn’t really care anymore of dealing with problems of racial discrimination in the schools. It’s over.” Any attempt to drop further cases would face heavy opposition in court, said Raymond Pierce, president and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation. “It represents a disregard for education opportunities for a large section of America. It represents a disregard for America’s need to have an educated workforce,” he said. “And it represents a disregard for the rule of law.”...
CNN" Protests under the “50501” movement – short for 50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement – in response to the Trump administration’s flurry of moves over its first 100 days are set to take place across the country Thursday for May Day. “Join us in the fight to uphold the Constitution and end executive overreach,” the movement’s website states. “National Day of Solidarity. Stop the Billionaire Takeover. We are the Many. They are the Few.” The 50501 movement sprang out of a Reddit forum and has held multiple national days of action the last few months. The most recent came on April 19 when crowds of people attended over 80 protests at state capitols, courthouses and city halls in several states to oppose what organizers describe as President Donald Trump’s executive overreach, including deportations without due process, the dismantling of federal agencies and threats to higher education. The protests Thursday are part of a partnership with the group May Day Strong, according to Gloriann Sahay, the co-founder and digital director of Political Revolution PAC, who responded to a CNN message sent to 50501’s “Press” email. .. “We will not stand by as this administration kidnaps our neighbors, tramples our rights, jails judges, harms people in our marginalized communities, and turns the evil Project 2025 into a reality. When the government attacks even one person, they are attacking every American,” Sahay said. “On May 1st, we’re gonna step up to bat for our communities and our unions, because we know they would do the same for us.” May 1 marks May Day, which shares a date with International Workers’ Day and is often a day for protests and civil action for labor rights. However, most Americans do not have the day off of work, and planning a protest for the middle of the workweek is a tricky proposition for mass attendance. “Despite it being a weekday, we still expect a large turnout because the American people are committed to defending the rights of their communities,” Sahay said. 50501 describes itself as “decentralized” and says all its events are organized by independent volunteers. A map on its website lists over 1,000 events in communities across the country..."
YOUTUBE/MSNBC:" “He is losing in the courts at literally a historic rate,” says Chris Hayes. So now the Trump admin is "escalating their war against the judiciary by physically arresting a judge and going on air to tell everyone watching, 'We are coming for you next.'" Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley joins to discuss. .. "
NYTIMES:" A federal judge on Thursday permanently barred the Trump administration from invoking the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century wartime law, to deport Venezuelans it has deemed to be criminals from the Southern District of Texas, saying that the White House’s use of the statute was illegal. The decision by the judge, Fernando Rodriguez Jr., was the most expansive ruling yet by any of the numerous jurists who are currently hearing challenges to the White House’s efforts to employ the powerful but rarely invoked law as part of its wide-ranging deportation plans. The 36-page ruling by Judge Rodriguez, a President Trump appointee, amounted to a philosophical rejection of the White House’s attempts to transpose the Alien Enemies Act, which was passed in 1798 as the nascent United States was threatened by war with France, into the context of modern-day immigration policy. The Supreme Court has already said that any Venezuelans the White House wants to expel under Mr. Trump’s proclamation invoking the act must be given a chance to challenge their removal. But Judge Rodriguez’s ruling went further, saying that the White House had improperly stretched the meaning of the law, which is supposed to be used only against members of a hostile foreign nation in times of declared war or during a military invasion. While Judge Rodriguez’s decision applied only to Venezuelan immigrants in the Southern District of Texas — which includes cities like Houston, Brownsville and Laredo — it could have an effect, if not a binding one, on some of the other cases involving the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act. “The court concludes that as a matter of law, the executive branch cannot rely on the A.E.A., based on the proclamation, to detain the named petitioners and the certified class, or to remove them from the country,” Judge Rodriguez wrote. He also found that the “plain ordinary meaning” of the act’s language, like “invasion” and “predatory incursion,” referred to an attack by “military forces” and did not line up with Mr. Trump’s claims about the activities of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan street gang, in a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act. The American Civil Liberties Union has so far filed at least eight lawsuits challenging the statute in Texas, New York, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Washington and Georgia. Federal judges in six of those cases have issued provisional orders stopping the administration from using it to expel Venezuelans accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua to a prison in El Salvador. Lee Gelernt, the A.C.L.U.’s lead lawyer in the cases, praised the ruling by Judge Rodriguez. “This decision correctly recognized that the president cannot simply declare there’s an invasion and invoke a wartime authority during peacetime,” Mr. Gelernt said. “As the court recognized, Congress never intended this law to be used in this manner.” Early in his decision, Judge Rodriguez rebuffed an argument by the Justice Department that he lacked the authority to even consider the White House’s use of the act, which has only been used three times in U.S. history: during the War of 1812 and during World Wars I and II. Department lawyers have consistently maintained that even judges have no power to intrude on the president’s decisions in matters of foreign policy.And whileJudge Rodriguez acknowledged that the Alien Enemies Act gives the president “broad powers,” he also said that judges still have the ability to determine whether presidents were using the law correctly. “The court retains the authority to construe the A.E.A.’s terms and determine whether the announced basis for the proclamation properly invokes the statute,” he wrote..."READ THE 36 PAGE ORDER AND OPINION
CNN:"The math Trump’s administration used to calculate tariff rates stuns economists"
NYTIMES:"...Mr. Trump’s first four years in the White House were filled with false or misleading statements — 30,573 of them, or 21 a day on average, according to one tally. Back then, though, aides often tried to play down or contain the damage of egregious falsehoods. This time, Mr. Trump is joined by a coterie of cabinet officials and advisers who have amplified them and even spread their own. Together, they are effectively institutionalizing disinformation..."
,YOUTUBE/CNN:" CNN,s Randi Kaye speaks with west Virginia voters.some of whom are former supporters of president Donald trump.who now regret their vote after losing their jobs due to DOGE cuts in the federal government...this was the flag Jennifer Pigot 0:02 proudly hung outside her home during 0:04 campaign 2024 we had the flag i had the 0:07 shirt i was a I was a MAGA junkie a MAGA 0:12 junkie who thought her government job 0:14 would be safe with Donald Trump in 0:16 office she was wrong i cried 0:21 um it's scary you know it's a really 0:23 scary thing and 0:26 um I was embarrassed he's a good boy 0:30 pigot was abruptly fired last month from 0:32 the Treasury Department's Bureau of 0:34 Fiscal Service based here in Parkersburg 0:36 West Virginia the reason given for the 0:38 firings of 125 probationary employees at 0:42 the bureau poor performance i had my 0:45 last review on the 31st of 1st of 0:47 January and I had the highest rating 0:48 that you can get on a review less than 0:50 21 days before I was terminated for my 0:53 performance you voted for Donald Trump i 0:55 did do you regret that vote yes I do to 0:58 cut the knees out of the workingclass 1:00 Americans just doesn't make sense to me 1:02 i expected more from President Donald 1:04 Trump since speaking out Pigot says 1:06 she's received death threats and her 1:08 home has been egged..." to the question what would you say to president trump? she said "...I expected better from you. 4:04 I really did. 4:06 I expected that you would do 4:08 what was right and cut waste and fraud 4:11 and all of those things 4:13 that you promised us 4:14 before we elected you in office. 4:15 But you're not doing that. 4:17 You're creating a disaster. And 4:21 I don't know 4:21 what America is going to look like 4:22 if this continues..."
CNN:" Over 1,400 protests against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are expected across all 50 states on Saturday, organized by a pro-democracy movement in response to what organizers call a “hostile takeover” and attack on American rights and freedoms. The “Hands Off!” mass-action protests will take place at state capitols, federal buildings, congressional offices, Social Security’s headquarters, parks and city halls throughout the entire country – anywhere “we can make sure they hear us,” organizers say. “Whether you are mobilized by the attacks on our democracy, the slashing of jobs, the invasion of privacy, or the assault on our services – this moment is for you,” the event flyers state. “We are setting out to build a massive, visible, national rejection of this crisis.” Nearly 600,000 people have signed up to attend the events, some which will also take place in other countries, according to Indivisible, one of the organizations leading the movement in collaboration with a nationwide coalition including civil rights organizations, veterans, women’s rights groups, labor unions and LGBTQ+ advocates..."
CNN:" Offensive operations by Russia’s army have increased across the front line, according to social media posts by Ukrainian officers, an analysis of information from the General Staff in Kyiv and soldiers speaking to CNN. .."
CNN:" President Donald Trump is using the power of the federal government to intimidate or neuter potential sources of opposition to him: The legal establishment, academia and prominent cultural institutions, the media, the judiciary, the Democratic Party, Congress and independent government oversight. The unprecedented breadth of the actions Trump and his allies inside the government have taken against his perceived political and ideological opponents in his first two months back in office is stunning – both in the president’s willingness to test the limits of his powers and the extent to which his foes have struggled to respond or even bent to his will. Through executive orders, his bully pulpit and lieutenants in charge of the Justice Department and other Cabinet agencies, Trump’s actions are paralyzing institutions that stand as pillars of America’s independent civic society. Within the legal establishment, at least two law firms Trump has a political vendetta against have chosen to cut a deal with him to avert his threats. In academia, universities like Columbia have agreed to sweeping demands that encroach on principles of academic freedom that date back centuries. “This White House’s public, multi-pronged frontal assault on national institutions is unprecedented,” said Timothy Naftali, the CNN presidential historian and senior research scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. “Institutions can be rebuilt, but political culture can be poisoned for a generation.” The sources of typical opposition for a president have been quieted – if not quashed altogether. Independent media organizations like the Associated Press are being shut out of access to the president in favor of pro-Trump outlets, while state-supported media is gutted and threatened with defunding..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"The Trump administration on Friday pushed out Peter Marks, the nation’s top vaccine regulator and an architect of the U.S. program to rapidly develop coronavirus vaccines, a move that comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues his overhaul of the nation’s health and science agencies amid a worsening U.S. outbreak of measles...In his resignation letter, Marks also said that he had been willing to work with Kennedy on the health secretary’s planned efforts to review vaccine safety. .. “However, it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Marks wrote..."
CNN:"CNN's Fareed Zakaria joins Erin Burnett after several of President Donald Trump’s top national security officials sent detailed operational plans and other likely highly classified information about US military strikes in Yemen to a group thread on a messaging app to which a reporter had accidentally been added...this this reveals is an administration 0:52 that has kind of contempt 0:54 for the processes and institutions 0:57 of the liberal democratic state 1:00 that the United States has built. 1:01 You know, it's go into a department. 1:04 If you don't 1:05 don't bother 1:06 to learn anything 1:07 about the process or the procedures. 1:09 Fire everybody, you're at the NIH. 1:12 Just stop all the grants. 1:13 You know, these days, 1:14 there have been these 1:14 elaborate procedures 1:15 by which scientists get funded. No. 1:17 Stop that. 1:18 All go into the courts, and the courts 1:21 ask you for documentation 1:23 for reasons why you're deporting people. 1:25 And they just don't provide them 1:27 that way, 1:27 effectively defying court orders. 1:29 And the courts 1:30 and the judges are saying, look, 1:32 you're not following 1:33 the normal procedures we do. 1:34 So this is really, to my mind, 1:37 the most vivid example 1:39 of this complete disrespect 1:41 for the institutions, the norms, 1:44 the procedures 1:44 by which the American state, 1:46 American democracy has been functioning. 1:48 Because, you know, a lot of these people 1:50 have contempt for all of this. 1:52 This is this is, at the end of the day, 1:53 to them, the deep state. 1:55 Well, what this reveals is 1:56 sometimes it's the deep state 1:58 has deep security procedures 2:00 for a reason to protect lives..."
CNN:" The world may feel cold, scary and cruel, but if you are open to seeing it, there is a lot of kindness, according to a new report. The World Happiness Report, released each year on the International Day of Happiness, is a global analysis on happiness and well-being in partnership with Gallup, the University of Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. This year’s report paid special attention to acts of benevolence and people’s expectations of their communities. What are acts of benevolence? The report divided them into three categories: donating money, volunteering and doing a nice thing for a stranger. .."
CNN:" The US Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday it is cutting 10,000 full-time employees across health agencies, the department told CNN. This comes on top of 10,000 employees who’ve left voluntarily, shrinking the workforce from about 82,000 full-time employees to 62,000. The cuts were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. In its announcement, HHS said it will consolidate from 28 to 15 divisions, including a new Administration for a Healthy America, and will reduce regional offices from 10 to five. The workforce reduction will save $1.8 billion per year, the agency said. HHS’ new priority will be to end “America’s epidemic of chronic illness by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins,” the agency said. .."
WASHINGTONPOST:"The Department of Health and Human Services is cutting nearly a quarter of its workforce and consolidating several of its departments, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday, a sweeping reduction of the agency that protects Americans’ health, oversees Medicare and Medicaid and ensures the safety of the nation’s food and drugs. The moves will save the department about $1.8 billion annually, the agency said in a news release, by reducing staff from 82,000 to 62,000. Half of those employees took buyouts and early retirement, while 10,000 will lose their jobs. "
NYTIMES:"President Trump’s intensifying conflict with the federal courts is unusually aggressive compared with similar disputes in other countries, according to scholars. Unlike leaders who subverted or restructured the courts, Mr. Trump is acting as if judges were already too weak to constrain his power. “Honest to god, I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Steven Levitsky, a Harvard political scientist and coauthor of “How Democracies Die” and “Competitive Authoritarianism.” “We look at these comparative cases in the 21st century, like Hungary and Poland and Turkey. And in a lot of respects, this is worse,” he said. “These first two months have been much more aggressively authoritarian than almost any other comparable case I know of democratic backsliding.” ..."
CNN:" — The most chilling aspect of a new White House claim of boundless executive power is not whether officials ignored a judge’s order to halt deportations of Venezuelan gang members. It’s that some senior Trump administration aides seem not to care if they did. There are even claims that some judges are simply too junior to question the actions of a president. The furor caused by the administration’s peacetime use of wartime powers under the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act is the latest, and perhaps most overt, sign of President Donald Trump’s sense of omnipotence. He’s also betting voters will reward him for, in his view, keeping them safe with ruthless immigration enforcement rather than recoil from his challenges to the Constitution..."
CNN:"The White House is denying that it violated a judge’s order Saturday to halt the deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador, which, if it did occur, would take legal showdowns over the administration’s claims of vast presidential power closer to the edge of a constitutional crisis. The drama surrounds Venezuelan migrants expelled with the rare use of an 18th-century law — the Alien Enemies Act — another controversial decision and one that may represent overreach by President Donald Trump. US District Judge James Boasberg temporarily blocked the deportations to consider the implications of using the act — and said in court that any planes already in the air carrying migrants should return to the US. But the administration announced on Sunday that 250 deportees that it said were affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang were in El Salvadorian custody. A carefully worded statement by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Sunday evening only deepened intrigue over whether officials defied the judge. “The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist (Tren de Aragua) aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory,” Leavitt said. “A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil,” she added". A distinction Leavitt made about the judge’s “written” order, and the fact she noted the migrants had left US soil but did not say when in the timeline they arrived in El Salvador, seem significant. Her use of the phrase “aircraft carrier” is confusing, however. And White Houses don’t have the power to decree whether court orders are lawful. The exact timing of Boasberg’s orders and how they correspond to the deportation operation is not yet clear. But if the administration defied the judge, it would potentially create the most serious legal quagmire of the administration so far and would fuel fears that an authoritarian presidency could openly defy the rule of law. Trump is acting now and not waiting for the consequences The drama points to a trend. .."
REUTERS:"WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Marshals have warned federal judges of unusually high threat levels as tech billionaire Elon Musk and other Trump administration allies ramp up efforts to discredit judges who stand in the way of White House efforts to slash federal jobs and programs, said several judges with knowledge of the warnings. In recent weeks, Musk, congressional Republicans and other top allies of U.S. President Donald Trump have called for the impeachment of some federal judges or attacked their integrity in response to court rulings that have slowed the Trump administration's moves to dismantle entire government agencies and fire tens of thousands of workers. .."
BBC:"Hungary has passed a law banning Pride marches held by the LGBTQ+ community, sparking outrage in and out of the country. Parliament voted for the measure just a day after the bill was submitted on Monday, in a process fast-tracked by the ruling right-wing Fidesz party under Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Orban praised the legislation, which bans the event on alleged grounds it is harmful to children, saying: "We won't let woke ideology endanger our kids." Pride marches had been held for the past 30 years in Hungary. Opposition lawmakers lit flares during the voting session on Tuesday, while demonstrators blocked a bridge in central Budapest. Human rights groups have also condemned the move. It is the latest measure from Orban's government targeting Hungary's LGBTQ+ community... "
CNN:"As US President Donald Trump ratcheted up economic pressure on China over the past week, Beijing sent back its own message: Its rise won’t be interrupted. A major political meeting taking place in the capital was the ideal backdrop for Beijing to respond. The “two sessions” gathering of China’s rubber-stamp legislature and its top political advisory body is where the government reveals its plans and sets the tone for the year ahead. The top item on its priority list? Boosting consumer demand to ensure China doesn’t need to rely on exports to power its vast but slowing economy. And the next: driving forward leader Xi Jinping’s bid to transform the country into a technological superpower, by ramping up investment and enlisting the private sector..."
CNN:" Millions of Americans could soon feel the impact of the deep staffing cuts being planned at the Social Security Administration, which is undergoing a massive reorganization that the acting commissioner has acknowledged is being steered by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. The loss of experienced employees who manage Social Security’s fragile and interdependent web of computer systems will likely leave the agency vulnerable to technical outages and, potentially, interrupt the benefit payments that are sent to more than 73 million retirees, people with disabilities and others, Martin O’Malley, who served as commissioner under the Biden administration, told CNN..."
APNEWS:"WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has paused offensive cyberoperations against Russia by U.S. Cyber Command, rolling back some efforts to contend with a key adversary even as national security experts call for the U.S. to expand those capabilities. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, on Monday confirmed the pause. Hegseth’s decision does not affect cyberoperations conducted by other agencies, including the CIA and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. But the Trump administration also has rolled back other efforts at the FBI and other agencies related to countering digital and cyber threats. ..."
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CNN:" Top US officials are piling heat on Volodymyr Zelensky, suggesting he may need to relinquish power after his disastrous Oval Office meeting — even as Europe embraces the Ukrainian president more tightly than ever. The contrast highlighted the most damaging split in the Western alliance at least since the Berlin Wall fell and bolstered a sense that the “free world” has been pushed to the brink of fracturing early in President Donald Trump’s new term. Yet the sight of Europe stepping into the impasse left by Trump’s first bid to end the Ukraine war could also represent hope that good could come out of the debacle of Zelensky’s visit. That’s if the continent can, as it promised Sunday, construct a peace plan to hand to the US president. Still, the fallout from Zelensky’s calamitous trip to Washington is growing. Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” on Sunday that the administration now questions whether Zelensky really wants to end the conflict. Starmer gave Zelensky a friendly welcome on Saturday..."
CNN:"'A coward who is Vladimir Putin's puppet': Rep. Moulton on Trump's meeting with Zelensky Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) called President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance cowards and puppets after their meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky devolved into a tense shouting match...""
YOUTUBE/MSNBC:'A coward who is Vladimir Putin's puppet': Rep. Moulton on Trump's meeting with Zelensky..."THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF 0:22 THE END, THAT PUTIN STARTS NOT 0:24 ONLY WALKING ALL OVER UKRAINE, 0:26 BUT WALKING ALL OVER EUROPE. AND 0:27 THIS GETS A LOT WORSE ON DONALD 0:29 TRUMP'S WATCH. WHY? BECAUSE HE 0:31 SOMEHOW BEHOLDEN TO PUTIN, 0:33 SOMEHOW BEHOLDEN TO THE KREMLIN, 0:34 ECHOING THEIR TALKING POINTS, A 0:37 TRUE PUPPET OF VLADIMIR PUTIN. 0:39 RATHER THAN STANDING UP FOR OUR 0:41 ALLY, STANDING UP FOR OUR VALUES 0:43 AND STANDING UP FOR NATO IN ITS 0:46 DEFENSE OF EUROPE. .." BIBLEGATEWAY: "Revelation 21:8 New King James Version 8 But the cowardly, [a]unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
CNN:"A remarkable shouting match broke out in the Oval Office on Friday between President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, who was hoping to appeal to the US for continued security assistance during his trip to Washington. Raising their voices, Trump and Zelensky — along with the Vice President JD Vance — engaged in a tense back-and-forth about the nature of US support, and whether Zelensky had demonstrated enough gratitude. “You’re not really in good position right now,” Trump scolded Zelensky, raising his voice. “You’re gambling with World War III,” the US president went on. Vance called Zelensky “disrespectful” for trying to litigate the conflict in public...Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump will no longer hold a joint news conference on Friday, a White House official confirmed. The Ukrainians are about to leave the White House. " COMMENT: PUTIN'S POODLES ARE BETRAYING UKRAINE AND THE WEST
YOUTUBE/FOXNEWS:"President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sparred during their meeting at the White House to end the Russia-Ukraine War, including Trump telling the Ukraine leader that he's "gambling with World War III." "We signed a deal with Putin. He did not keep it, what kind of diplomacy are you talking about?" Zelenskyy told Vance. Vance told Zelenskyy his remarks were "very disrespectful." "I think it's disrespectful to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media," Vance said. "Have you said thank you once?" Vance asked Zelenskyy. "What you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country, that's backed you," Trump said to Zelenskyy. "Have you said thank you once?" Vance asked Zelenskyy. "You've talked too much," Trump said to Zelenskyy. "You're country is in big trouble. You're not winning this," Trump said. "You have a damn good chance at coming out okay because of us." "If you didn't have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks," Trump said to Zelenskyy.. "In three days, I heard it from Putin, in three days," Zelenskyy responded. "It's going to be very hard to do business like this," Trump added. .." COMMENT: ZELENSKYY AND UKRAINE DESERVE THE RESPECT OF TRUMP AND VANCE WHO ARE COWARDS AND TRAITORS TO DEMOCRACY BY BOWING TO PUTIN; UKRAINE AND ZELENSKY FIGHT FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY WHILE TRUMP ET AL DESTROY AMERICA
CNN:"British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged US President Donald Trump against accepting any peace deal in Ukraine that would “reward” Russia or its allies. “Mr. President, I welcome your deep and personal commitment to bring peace and stop the killing,” Starmer said at a joint news conference after a meeting between the two leaders in the Oval Office on Thursday. “But we have to get it right. There’s a famous slogan in the United Kingdom from after the Second World War that is ‘we have to win the peace,’ and that is what we must do now, because it can’t be peace that rewards the aggressor, or that gives encouragement to dangerous regimes like Iran,” he added. .."
CNN:" First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose much more than expected last week, a likely indication of some “noisy” data, but also a potential worrisome hint that cracks may be forming in America’s long-solid labor market. There were an estimated 242,000 jobless claims filed last week, according to seasonally adjusted data released Thursday by the Department of Labor. That’s an increase of 22,000 from the prior week’s tally and a figure that landed well above economists’ expectations for 220,000 claims. It’s the largest weekly spike in claims in more than four months and the weekly claims — a proxy for layoffs — are at their highest level since early December, Labor Department data shows..."
YOUTUBE/CNN":"Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) faced angry voters in Roswell, Georgia, who were upset about President Trump attempting to expand his own power using executive orders"
YOUTUBE/JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE :"Trump addressed a joint session of Congress, he got quite an intro from the Sergeant at Arms, many of Donald’s closest allies were in attendance, he laid out his agenda for the next four years, Elon was in the house tonight in his official capacity as America’s highest-ranking DOGEbag, a new poll from CNN said 52% of Americans do not approve of the way Trump is handling his job as President, the Dow dropped 1300 points in two days, Trump touted that he has made English the official language ..."
CNN:" Russia gets a small win, Ukraine gets a slight reprieve yet is still angrily outside the room and Europe is suddenly relevant again. The US-Russia talks that just concluded in Riyadh have broadly given Moscow the most to be pleased about. It has long (incorrectly) portrayed the war in Ukraine as a NATO assault on Russia, and this bilateral meeting helps perpetuate that false idea. Moscow is getting real, practical results too. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested the respective American and Russian embassies would return to a more functional level of staffing, after significant tit-for-tat expulsions which began when Russia used a weapons-grade nerve agent on British soil against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal. That is Russia coming in from the cold, perhaps with some very functional rationale behind it. But the rehabilitation that began with the Kremlin’s release of American teacher Marc Fogel continues now with diplomatic norms being partially restored..."
NYTIMES:"The United States and Russia moved toward a head-spinning reset of their relationship on Tuesday, agreeing to work together on ending the Ukraine war, financial investment and re-establishing normal relations. The meeting between senior officials from both countries was a striking display of bonhomie after three years of American efforts to isolate Moscow for its 2022 invasion. After more than four hours of talks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that both sides had agreed to work on a peace settlement for Ukraine as well as to explore “the incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians,” both geopolitically and economically..."
NYTIMES:"President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia shocked the audience at the annual security conference in Munich in 2007 by demanding the rollback of domineering American influence and a new balance of power in Europe more suitable to Moscow. He didn’t get what he wanted — then. Nearly two decades later, during the very same conference, top officials from President Trump’s cabinet made one thing clear: Mr. Putin has found an American administration that might help him realize his dream. Comments by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance raised fears among attendees that under the new administration the United States. might align with Russia and either assail Europe or abandon it altogether. Such a shift, analysts say, would give Mr. Putin a previously unthinkable victory far more momentous for him than any objectives in Ukraine..."
CNN:" Vladimir Putin is riding high ahead of critical US-Russia talks Tuesday in Saudi Arabia on ending the Ukraine war. Donald Trump’s administration has ended the Russian president’s international isolation, shattered Western unity on the conflict and cast doubt on how far the US would go to defend Europe, signaling a stunning shift toward Putin and away from America’s traditional allies. With a flurry of conflicting statements in their first forays into Europe, Trump aides also fueled concerns that the US president will embrace just about any deal with Putin — even if it’s a bad one for Ukraine and a continent whose borders are again threatened by Russian expansionism. .."
APNEWS:"ROME (AP) — Pope Francis issued a major rebuke Tuesday to the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations of migrants, warning that the forceful removal of people purely because of their illegal status deprives them of their inherent dignity and “will end badly.” Francis took the remarkable step of addressing the U.S. migrant crackdown in a letter to U.S. bishops in which he appeared to take direct aim at Vice President JD Vance’s defense of the deportation program on theological grounds. U.S. border czar Tom Homan immediately pushed back, noting that the Vatican is a city-state surrounded by walls and that Francis should leave border enforcement to his office..." MATTHEW 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
CNN:" The vast and opaque power of Elon Musk is only growing as he seeks new targets for his federal government shredding machine. The head of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency is closing in on his latest victim — an independent government agency set up to shield Americans from the Wall Street excesses that caused the Great Recession. Employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were abruptly told Sunday afternoon that the watchdog’s Washington, DC, headquarters will be closed this week and they should work remotely, a day after Trump’s budget chief, Russell Vought, took over as acting director and told staff to stop fighting financial abuse. “CFPB RIP,” Musk wrote on X on Friday. The agency, which has long been in GOP sights, seems to be following a similar path to doom as the US Agency for International Development, which has saved millions of lives around the world and promoted democracy for decades, but that Musk has eviscerated. On Sunday, Trump called USAID “crazy” and “a big scam.” ..."
WASHINGTONPOST:" A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from imposing a sweeping pause on trillions of dollars in federal spending, capping a frenetic day of disruption to government programs that fund schools, provide housing and ensure low-income Americans have access to health care. The order prevented the new restrictions from taking effect until at least Feb. 3, buying time for a coalition of public health advocates, nonprofits and businesses — represented by the left-leaning group Democracy Forward — to proceed with a case that may test Trump’s claims of expansive power over the nation’s fiscal trajectory. The decision arrived amid a wave of chaos and confusion in Washington, where few appeared to understand the scope and intention of a White House memo that had directed agencies to “temporarily pause” the disbursement of key federal funds. Even before it could officially take effect at 5 p.m., thousands of government services — many dedicated primarily to Americans’ health, safety and well-being — appeared to be at risk of interruption or shutdown, at least temporarily. For hours, states reported issues accessing funds under Medicaid, even though the White House later said it wasn’t supposed to be affected by the spending halt. Preschool centers struggled to obtain reimbursements from the federal program known as Head Start, putting some child-care services at financial risk.A web portal that housing providers use to draw down money for government-voucher and rental-assistance funds stopped working Tuesday, though the cause was not immediately clear. And federal health and education officials similarly said they had to halt work in response to the mixed messages from the White House. That stalled money for some after-school programs, charter schools and the Special Olympics, a spokesperson for the Education Department confirmed. The uncertainty forced the White House to try to clarify its approach by midday: In a second directive, the Office of Management and Budget said it sought only to bring spending in line with the president’s recent executive orders, including those that clamp down on foreign aid and funding for diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, which Trump has called “radical and wasteful.”..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"By Dan Lamothe, Missy Ryan and Alex Horton Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has decided to remove retired Gen. Mark A. Milley’s security detail, suspend his security clearance, and order an inspector general inquiry into his behavior as the Pentagon’s top officer, senior defense officials said Tuesday, taking extraordinary action against a frequent target of President Donald Trump. The move comes after years of Trump criticizing Milley for perceived disloyalty and Milley acknowledging in congressional testimony that he had served as a source for several unflattering books about the first Trump administration. Milley, 66, retired in 2023 following four tumultuous years as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under both Trump and President Joe Biden.Hegseth’s plan, first reported by Fox News, is part of the new defense secretary’s effort to reestablish “warfighter culture” in the Pentagon, one senior defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid backlash....While Trump selected Milley for the chairman’s post, the two men had a bitter falling out over issues that included Trump’s desire to use active-duty military forces to quell protests in America’s streets and Milley’s efforts to reassure Chinese officials that Trump wasn’t looking to attack Beijing as his time in office ended. Though Milley and other officials said that the general coordinated those calls with Trump administration officials, Trump attacked the general, saying at one point that the calls to China were “an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH.” More recently, the retired general told Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward that Trump is “fascist to the core” and that Milley had faced a series of death threats he attributed to Trump’s steady drumbeat of verbal attacks. “No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump,” the general told Woodward in a book published last year. “Now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is the most dangerous person to this country.”..."
WASHINGTONPOST:" By Spencer S. Hsu, Tom Jackman and Mariana Alfaro Two newly freed leaders of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups called for investigations into the prosecution of people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, assailing judges, jurors and prosecutors as they sought “retribution” after being granted clemency from President Donald Trump. The statements by Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, released from sentences of 22 years and 18 years for seditious conspiracy, came before House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) on Wednesday announced formation of a new Judiciary subcommittee led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Georgia) to investigate the House’s own investigation of the Capitol riot four years ago. The moves underscored how the punishments of Jan. 6 defendants have become a rallying cry for parts of Trump’s base, and how his pardons of all of nearly 1,600 defendants — including, controversially, those convicted of political violence and assaults against police — have fed into GOP efforts to punish Democrats for what they call the “weaponization” of the Justice Department. They also mark a deeper fight over how the history of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach will ultimately be written. On Wednesday, several federal judges granted the Justice Department’s pardon-based requests to dismiss cases while saying in their rulings that the true story of Jan. 6 could not be whitewashed. “Dismissal of charges, pardons after convictions, and commutations of sentences will not change the truth of what happened on January 6, 2021,” U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote in dismissing one riot defendant’s case. The record in these cases — thousands of videos, trial transcripts, verdicts and legal opinions analyzing the evidence through a neutral lens — “are immutable and represent the truth, no matter how the events of January 6 are described by those charged or their allies,” the judge said..."
CNN:" Republican senators struggled to defend Donald Trump’s decision to commute and pardon hundreds of January 6 protesters, including those who were charged and convicted of crimes against police officers, just hours after the president entered office Monday. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, who has warned before about giving a blanket pardon to the rioters, said, “I just can’t agree” with Trump’s decision..."
CNN:"As President Donald Trump this week sought to rewrite the history of his supporters’ attack on the US Capitol, a database detailing the vast array of criminal charges and successful convictions of January 6 rioters was removed from the Department of Justice’s website. The searchable database served as an easily accessible and up-to-date repository of all January 6, 2021, cases prosecuted by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The US attorney’s office declined to comment.The removal of the comprehensive website cataloguing the largest criminal investigation in modern department history coincides with Trump’s decision to pardon all convicted January 6 defendants. The president also released early from prison 14 people convicted of seditious conspiracy and asked the federal courts in Washington to dismiss the more than 300 cases that hadn’t yet been resolved. .."
CNN:" One of the world’s most active volcanoes erupted on Monday after a three-month hiatus, spewing bright orange lava as high as 300 feet, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Kilauea volcano on Hawaii island, also known as the Big Island, began erupting at roughly 2:20 a.m. and continued throughout the day –– bringing packed crowds to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is open to the public 24 hours a day..."
CNN:" Mount Tambora changed the world. In 1815, the Indonesian volcano exploded in the most powerful eruption in recorded history, sending an enormous plume of tiny sun-reflecting particles high into the atmosphere, cooling the planet and ushering in disaster. What followed was called the “year without a summer:” global temperatures plunged, crops failed, people starved, a cholera pandemic spread and tens of thousands died. Some even credit the volcano with inspiring Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein, while sheltering from unusually cold weather in Switzerland in 1816..."
WASHINGTONPOST:" Red-state leaders emboldened by Donald Trump’s presidential victory are not waiting for him to take office to advance far more conservative agendas at home. Idaho lawmakers want to allow school staff to carry concealed firearms without prior approval and parents to sue districts in library and curriculum disputes. Lawmakers in Oklahoma plan to further restrict abortion by limiting the emergency exceptions and to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools, while their counterparts in Arkansas are moving to create the felony offense of “vaccine harm,” which could make pharmaceutical companies or their executive officers potentially criminally liable.But few states have bigger, more aggressive plans than Texas. Ahead of their biennial session, which begins Jan. 14, the Republican legislators who control both House and Senate have proposed a multitude of measures that would push the state further right. ..."
YOUTUBE/CNN:" The Wall Street Journal reports that President-elect Donald Trump is likely drafting an executive order to purge “woke” generals from the military. Republican strategist Scott Jennings argues there’s some “utility” to Trump reviewing the people at the top of the military but panelist Nikole Hannah-Jones calls the move “ahistoric” and “dangerous,” arguing Trump really wants to “purge any generals who might actually stop him from using the military against the American people."
CNN:"President-elect Donald Trump is reveling in his victory and the subsequent celebration, being described as having a much different mentality than he did in 2017 and feeling like his popular vote win gives him a mandate as he speaks with world leaders, top aides and allies, business CEOs and his transition team. Sources who have spoken to Trump in the last 24 hours describe him as forward-looking and grateful. He has lavished praise on his campaign co-chairs, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles – who Trump named as his White House chief of staff on Thursday evening. Trump has boasted about his numbers with minority voters and winning the popular vote, sometimes with disbelief, and asked what they need to do to get started on some of his agenda items..."COMMENT: LESS THAN 50% OF THE POPULAR VOTE DOES NOT GIVE YOU A MANDATE
APNEWS:"Former Trump aide Steve Bannon warns prosecutors: ‘the hunted are about to become the hunters’ Longtime Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon appeared in court Tuesday for a pretrial hearing in his New York criminal case. Bannon is accused of defrauding donors who gave money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border..."
CBSNEWS:" U.S. Ohio governor, other leaders condemn neo-Nazi march in Columbus: "Your hate isn't welcome in our city" By Lucia Suarez Sang Updated on: November 18, 2024 / 9:02 AM EST / CBS News Leaders in Ohio condemned a group of neo-Nazis parading around part of Columbus carrying flags with swastikas on Saturday afternoon. Columbus public safety dispatchers told CBS affiliate WBNS on Saturday that they received multiple 911 calls around 1:30 p.m. about a group of individuals marching in the city's Short North. Video sent to the station showed nearly a dozen people wearing black pants, shirts and head coverings and red masks covering their mouths marching down the street. Three of the people were carrying black flags with red swastikas. It was not immediately clear who was in the group. On Monday, the White House weighed in, issuing a statement saying the "hateful poison of Nazism" is "hostile to everything the United States stands for, including protecting the dignity of all our citizens and the freedom to worship."..."
APNEWS:"Transgender youth in the United States have been flooding crisis hotlines since the election of Donald Trump, who made anti-transgender themes central to his campaign. Many teens worry about how their lives could change once he takes office. During his presidential bid, Trump pledged to impose wide-ranging restrictions and roll back civil rights protections for transgender students. And his administration can swiftly start work on one major change: It can exclude transgender students from Title IX protections, which affect school policies on students’ use of pronouns, bathrooms and locker rooms. One ad that aired over 15,000 times crystallized Trump’s stance on rights for transgender and nonbinary Americans: “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"In Worcester, Massachusetts, police officers enforcing anti-prostitution ordinances coerced women to touch their genitals and perform sex acts. In Phoenix, officers clearing homeless encampments illegally disposed of personal belongings of the people who lived there, including tents, sleeping bags, identification cards and medicine.In Lexington, Mississippi, officers jailed those unable to pay fines for minor offenses and added more fees, a scheme one federal prosecutor likened to a “debtor’s prison that Charles Dickens wrote about.” These abuses, and others like them, are documented in exhaustive Justice Department reports that followed sweeping police misconduct investigations in those three cities and five others — Minneapolis; Louisville; Memphis; Trenton, New Jersey; and Mount Vernon, New York.The Biden administration launched the probes in the wake of the national outcry over the police killings in 2020 of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville. Reports issued over the last two years have focused largely on excessive use of force and the kind of racial profiling associated with those high-profile cases. But beyond the most shocking examples of police violence, the reports have highlighted something else: the pernicious ways that other patterns of unlawful policing can disrupt and cause deep harm to local communities. Investigators detailed how officers sexually assaulted women, mistreated the homeless, exploited poor people, threatened and abused minors, taunted and arrested people suffering from mental and behavioral health episodes and punished protesters exercising their constitutional rights to free speech — especially those who denounced police violence..."
NYTIMES:" Eight years ago, conservative Christians wondered if Donald J. Trump, who had just been elected president, would truly be their champion. They were weary, and angry, after wandering in the wilderness of the Obama years when liberal values seemed ascendant and they felt powerless. Mr. Trump delivered. A promise to “my beautiful Christians” came true even after he left office, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the constitutional right to abortion. Now, as Mr. Trump’s sweeping re-election victory brings them to new heights of power, they believe his return is more than an electoral mandate: they believe it is a divine one. Mr. Trump has repeatedly invoked a religious anointing since he survived an assassination attempt in July. And when he claimed victory on Tuesday night, he did so again. “Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason,” Mr. Trump told supporters. “And that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness.” It is a remarkable claim for a president who claimed to be a “dictator” — if only on Day 1..." COMMENT: TRUMP IS A SERIAL LIAR;THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM JOHN 8:44 NKJV HIS POLICIES VIOLATE CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES: MATTHEW 25:41-43 NKJV; 1 JOHN 4:8; MATTHEW 7:15
CNN:" A “worldwide catastrophe” is imperiling Pacific Islands and the world must respond to the unprecedented and devastating impacts of rising seas “before it is too late,” the United Nations chief has warned. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a global SOS – “Save Our Seas” – from the Pacific Island nation of Tonga on Tuesday with a plea to the world to “massively increase finance and support for vulnerable countries” in grave danger of the human-caused climate crisis."
FORBES:"...Scientists have repeatedly warned rising global temperatures could bring “catastrophic” consequences if no action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change reporting in 2022 that, by 2030, those emissions will rise over 10% above 2010 levels. Increased emissions could drastically reduce the chances of meeting a monumental goal laid out at the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100, scientists said. By 2033, U.N. scientists have warned the world could pass that 1.5 degree Celsius threshold, likely triggering more intense droughts, flooding and water security issues, according to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change..."
NYTIMES:"The authorities in New Delhi closed schools and urged people to stay indoors as toxic smog, which has plagued neighboring Pakistan for weeks, choked India’s capital in what officials called a medical emergency. ..."
CNN:" High above Earth, a cutting-edge satellite is zooming around the planet 15 times a day. It is hunting for leaks of methane — an invisible, super-polluting gas that is dramatically warming the planet. Its measurements are precise enough to plot heatmaps of the biggest offenders, lighting up all the places they are venting the gas into the atmosphere at a staggering rate, unbeknownst to regulators, as the planet careens toward what scientists warn could be irreversible climate change impacts. MethaneSAT’s early findings are that the oil and gas industry is belching the gas at a rate three to five times higher on average than what the Environmental Protection Agency has estimated, and way beyond the rate the industry itself agreed to in 2023. The Permian Basin, one of the most productive oil and gas basins in the world, is leaking methane to the tune of 9 to 14.5 times the limit the industry agreed to — nearly 640,000 pounds per hour. The Appalachia Basin is leaking at four times the industry-set rate. And in Utah’s Uinta Basin, the leak rate is an astonishing 45 times the industry-set limit. Although it’s leaking less overall than the Permian Basin, for example, it’s an older basin — with older, leaky equipment — that’s producing far less oil and gas..."
CNN:" Authorities across the United States are investigating after racist text messages – some with references to “slave catchers” and “picking cotton” reminiscent of the country’s painful and bigoted past – have been received by children, college students and working professionals from unrecognized phone numbers in the wake of the presidential election. The NAACP president warned Thursday of possible broader implications of the hate-filled rhetoric reported in more than 20 states from New York to California, and the District of Columbia. Attorneys general of both parties are condemning the messages and vowing to root out their senders. “The unfortunate reality of electing a president who, historically, has embraced and at times encouraged hate, is unfolding before our eyes,” NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson said. “These messages represent an alarming increase in vile and abhorrent rhetoric from racist groups across the country, who now feel emboldened to spread hate and stoke the flames of fear that many of us are feeling after Tuesday’s election results.”..."
YOUTUBE/CNN:
"Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci reacts to John Kelly, the retired Marine general and former chief of staff to former President Donald Trump, publicly commenting that Trump fits “into the general definition of fascist” and wanted the “kind of generals Hitler had.”"
NYTIMES:"When the history of the 2024 election is written, one of the iconic images illustrating it will surely be the mug shot taken of Donald J. Trump after one of his four indictments, staring into the camera with his signature glare. It is an image not of shame but of defiance, the image of a man who would be a convicted felon before Election Day and yet possibly president of the United States again afterward. Sometimes lost amid all the shouting of a high-octane campaign heading into its final couple of weeks is that simple if mind-bending fact. America for the first time in its history may send a criminal to the Oval Office and entrust him with the nuclear codes. What would once have been automatically disqualifying barely seems to slow Mr. Trump down in his comeback march for a second term that he says will be devoted to “retribution.” In all the different ways that Mr. Trump has upended the traditional rules of American politics, that may be one of the most striking. He has survived more scandals than any major party presidential candidate, much less president, in the life of the republic. Not only survived but thrived. He has turned them on their head, making allegations against him into an argument for him by casting himself as a serial victim rather than a serial violator. His persecution defense, the notion that he gets in so much trouble only because everyone is out to get him, resonates at his rallies where he says “they’re not coming after me, they’re coming after you, and I’m just standing in the way.” But that of course belies a record of scandal stretching across his 78 years starting long before politics. Whether in his personal life or his public life, he has been accused of so many acts of wrongdoing, investigated by so many prosecutors and agencies, sued by so many plaintiffs and claimants that it requires a scorecard just to remember them all..."
NYTIMES:"Donald J. Trump on Friday tried to revise the history of the deadly attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, as new details in the federal prosecution against him were made public by the judge in the case. His attempt to recast the events of Jan. 6, 2021, came on the same day that he compared his supporters who were arrested, convicted and imprisoned for their actions at the Capitol to the victims of the Japanese internment camps in the United States during World War II. And it followed a recent remark in which Mr. Trump declared Jan. 6 a day of “love.”... On Friday, on his website Truth Social, Mr. Trump amplified a conspiracy theory that the attack on the Capitol was staged by the federal government, and he promoted his false claims that widespread fraud cost him the 2020 election...... "...The January 6th Select Committee found that the words “peacefully and patriotically” were drafted by Trump’s speechwriters – not Trump. Those two words were also completely at odds with the rest of Trump’s highly inflammatory remarks, during which he retold multiple lies about the election and directed the crowd’s anger at Vice President Pence and lawmakers. While Trump uttered the word “peacefully” just one time during his speech, which lasted more than an hour, he used variations of the word “fight” 20 times. That was Trump’s authentic voice. Though Trump knew the assembled crowd was “angry,” he ad-libbed the word “fight” on approximately 18 occasions. Trump also personally added multiple incendiary lines, including this one: “We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” JUSTSECURITY NYU LAW SCHOOL
CNN:"Former President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the US military should be used to deal with “the enemy from within” on Election Day has reignited concerns about what he might ask US forces to do if he wins a second term as commander in chief. And it is senior military leaders who served under him that have most clearly sounded the alarm about Trump. The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, told Bob Woodward in his new book “War” that the former president “is the most dangerous person to this country … A fascist to the core.” And on Thursday on The Bulwark podcast, Woodward said Gen. Jim Mattis, who served as Trump’s defense secretary, had emailed him to say that he agreed with the assessment that Milley had provided Woodward. On the podcast, Woodward said the thrust of Mattis’ email about Trump was “Let’s make sure we don’t try to downplay the threat, because the threat is high.” Trump has long had a boyish fascination with the military, idolizing World War II generals George Patton and Douglas MacArthur. As a teenager, he reveled in his stint at a military-style boarding school in New York. Despite that fascination, Trump took multiple deferments to avoid service in the Vietnam War. When he became president, Trump staffed his cabinet with senior generals. He appointed Mattis, a retired four-star general to head the Pentagon; his chief of staff John Kelly was another retired four-star general, and two of his national security advisers were three-star generals, Michael Flynn and H. R. McMaster. Trump loves the pomp and ceremony of the military and lobbied for a massive Kremlin-style parade in Washington, DC while, he was in office. In the end, the parade never happened. Despite Trump’s bromance with the military, senior retired generals and admirals haven’t loved him back. Some even seem to think that it is the former president who is the real “enemy within.” Going back as far as four years ago, Mattis, provided a statement to The Atlantic magazine that “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us.” Similarly, Kelly told CNN’s Jake Tapper last year that Trump is “a person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.” In McMaster’s book, “At War with Ourselves,” a memoir of his time working at the Trump White House, McMaster wrote that in the aftermath of Trump’s 2020 electoral defeat, Trump’s “ego and love of self… drove him to abandon his oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution,’ a president’s highest obligation.” Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who revolutionized Joint Special Operations Command, the unit responsible for killing Osama bin Laden in 2011, wrote an op-ed in The New York Times three weeks ago saying he is voting for Vice President Kamala Harris because of her “character.” Unstated in his op-ed was McChrystal’s assessment of Trump, though in the past, McChrystal has said Trump is “immoral” and “dishonest.” The leader of the bin Laden operation was Adm. Bill McRaven, who in 2020 wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post about Trump, saying, “when presidential ego and self-preservation are more important than national security — then there is nothing left to stop the triumph of evil.” ..."
APNEWS:"MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. (AP) — The U.S. military trained him in explosives and battlefield tactics. Now the Iraq War veteran and enlisted National Guard member was calling for taking up arms against police and government officials in his own country. Standing in the North Carolina woods, Chris Arthur warned about a coming civil war. Videos he posted publicly on YouTube bore titles such as “The End of America or the Next Revolutionary War.” In his telling, the U.S. was falling into chaos and there would be only one way to survive: kill or be killed..."
YOUTUBE/CNN:"Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper joins CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and shares his concerns about former President Donald Trump’s comment that the US military should handle “the enemy from within” on Election Day"
WASHINGTONPOST:"Retired Gen. Mark A. Milley warned that former president Donald Trump is a “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country” in new comments voicing his mounting alarm at the prospect of the Republican nominee’s election to another term, according to a forthcoming book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward. Milley, 66, served for more than a year as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump before continuing in the role under President Joe Biden. Upon stepping down in September 2023 after more than 40 years in the military, Milley laid out his apparent concerns about Trump in a pointed retirement speech. “We don’t take an oath to a king, or a queen, to a tyrant or dictator or wannabe dictator,” he said. Woodward’s new book, “War,” due out Tuesday, follows Milley in the years after the Trump administration as he wrestles with escalating fears over the president he once served..."
CNN:"The arrival of a new Bob Woodward book has a well-established choreography; enterprising reporters get hold of copies of the heavily embargoed volume a week or so ahead of its publication date and mine it for the news it contains. Both CNN and The Washington Post, where Woodward retains the honorific title of associate editor, covered the news in the latest book, “War,” last week. And news there was: At the height of the pandemic, President Donald Trump sent Russian President Vladimir Putin a secret shipment of Covid-19 testing equipment, and since he has left office, Trump has called Putin as many as seven times. Ahead of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, President Joe Biden blamed former President Barack Obama for not doing more to counter the Russian leader when he invaded Crimea in 2014, telling a friend, “That’s why we are here. We fucked it up. Barack never took Putin seriously.”..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"Donald Trump and his campaign have waged an aggressive campaign against fact-checking in recent months, pushing TV networks, journalism organizations and others to abandon the practice if they hope to interact with Trump. Trump nearly backed out of an August interview with a group of Black journalists after learning they planned to fact-check his claims. The following month, he and his allies repeatedly complained about the fact-checking that occurred during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, berating journalists and news executives in the middle of the televised debate. And this month, Trump declined to sit down for an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” because he objected to the show’s practice of fact-checking, according to the show. Campaign advisers also expressly asked CBS News to forgo fact checking in its vice-presidential debate with Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance — who then complained on air when a moderator corrected him..."
FOXNEWS: Trump said :" I've been on a mission to rescue our nation from a failed and corrupt 3:16 political establishment and to give you back the country you believe in the country you were born in and the country 3:23 you deserve you're going to get it back we're all getting it back in that mission I will never quit I will never 3:30 Bend I will never break and I will never not ever under any 3:37 circumstances even in the face of death we will never give up never going to give up we're 3:44 going to turn it around we're going to have the four greatest years we've ever had I'm putting everything on the line...we're doing well everywhere because people are looking at the people 5:45 that are destroying our country and they say we're not going to take it anymore if we win Pennsylvania we win the whole 5:52 thing it's over right the whole thing ..." COMMENT: SAME OLD ATTACKS ON MIGRANTS AND OTHER RACIAL SLURS; STRAIGHT OUT OF THE NAZI PLAYBOOK MEIN KAMPF
CNN:" Donald Trump lashed out at E. Jean Carroll and several other women who have accused him of sexual assault following a hearing in New York where the former president’s attorneys tried to convince a federal appeals court that he should get a new trial after a jury found he sexually abused and defamed the onetime columnist....
CNN:"...Trump’s lying is most exceptional in its relentlessness, a never-ending avalanche of wrongness that can bury even the most devoted fact-checkers. But it’s also notable for its repetitiveness. He has found his hits, and he’ll keep playing them no matter how many times they are debunked...As Trump enters the post-Labor Day sprint of his 2024 campaign for the presidency, his commentary is filled with many of the same false claims he made as president from 2017 to 2021. He’s even repeating some of the false claims he used during his 2016 presidential campaign..." "THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM" JOHN 8:44 NKJV
YOUTUBE/CNN:"CNN's Kaitlan Collins speaks with former Trump national security adviser John Bolton about former President Donald Trump’s remarks in Detroit, in which he bragged about his willingness to abandon NATO allies in the face of Russian aggression"
AP:" Inside Washington’s federal courthouse, there’s no denying the reality of Jan. 6, 2021. Day after day, judges and jurors silently absorb the chilling sights and sounds from television screens of rioters beating police, shattering windows and hunting for lawmakers as democracy lay under siege. But as he seeks to reclaim the White House, Donald Trump continues to portray the defendants as patriots worthy of admiration, an assertion that has been undercut by the adjudicated truth in hundreds of criminal cases where judges and juries have reached the opposite conclusion about what history will remember as one of America’s darkest days..."
Stephanie Grisham used her remarks to condemn Trump’s behind closed doors statements, telling the audience that he mocks his supporters in private and has called them “basement dwellers. “He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth He used to tell me, it doesn't matter what you say, Stephanie. Say it enough and people will believe you." COMMENT: TRUMP'S STATEMENT TO HER IS A PART OF "THE BIG LIE", THE NAZI PROPAGANDA THAT LED TO THE HOLOCAUST: WIKIPEDIA: THE BIG LIE TRUMP'S ACCUSATIONS THAT DEMOCRATS ARE A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY (WITHOUT ANY EVIDENCE WHAT SO EVER) AND SIMILAR FALSE STATEMENTS ARE A PART OF NAZI PROPAGANDA AS WELL WIKIPEDIA: ACCUSATION IN A MIRRORTHESE ARE TECHNIQUES THAT TRUMP, VANCE, AND THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN ARE CURRENTLY USING
CNN:" A group of Republican state attorneys general are suing the Biden administration over a federal effort to expand access to voter registration. The lawsuit targets an executive order issued by President Joe Biden in March 2021 that directed the heads of all federal agencies to submit proposals for their respective agencies to promote voter registration and participation through various points of contact with the public. The president issued the order as GOP-led statehouses were pushing voter suppression legislation in the aftermath of the 2020 election..."
CNN: In response to an FBI threat assessment of possible retaliatory attacks against Democrats CNN interviewed Joe Moore a former Army sniper and undercover operative who infiltrated the KKK. Moore stated that nationally the KKK was decimated but many joined like minded alt right groups. They use the First Amendment to cover their real intent which is to take over the government by force.
CNN:" Former President Donald Trump said that he feels like he is “entitled” to make personal attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris. “I’m very angry at her that she’d weaponize the justice system against me and other people, very angry at her,” Trump said at a news conference in New Jersey on Thursday. “I think I’m entitled to personal attacks.”...COMMENT: THERE IS NO WEAPONIZATION OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM. THIS IS THE JUSTICE SYSTEM DOING ITS JOB.
WASHINGTONPOST: "...On Wednesday, the Justice Department published an indictment targeting two employees of RT, the media entity controlled by the Russian government that was formerly known as Russia Today... Unsurprisingly, both efforts aligned with America’s political right. The company appears to have been Tenet Media, which published videos from popular right-wing commentators... " COMMENT: RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE HAS NEVER BEEN A "HOAX"
HUFFPOST:"On Tuesday, an official social media account of Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign posted a racist meme implying that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidency in November, nice suburban neighborhoods will be overrun with hordes of Black people and immigrants. “Import the third world. Become the third world,” read the post on X, the former Twitter..."MORE RACIST FASCIST FEAR MONGERING PROPAGANDA FROM THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN
CNN: Russell Vought, one of the key authors of Project 2025 and a former Trump cabinet member, was recorded on a hidden camera talking to what he believed to be relatives of a wealthy conservative donor about a right-wing blueprint for a second Trump term."THESE ARE NOT CHRISTIANS. THEY ARE OUTRIGHT FASCISTS.MATTHEW 25:31-46
FORBES:"Harris's profile as you know 1:43 the first 1:45 African-American woman who could be the 1:47 president that could make it appealing 1:49 to a lot of 1:50 Voters I always just said put the best 1:53 player in I mean we've got a Dei hire in 1:55 here and Biden said first off he said 1:58 he's going to hire a a black female for 2:01 vice president and that not he just 2:04 skipped over what about what about white 2:06 females what about any other group it 2:09 just when you go down that route you you 2:12 um you take mediocrity and that's what 2:14 they have right now as a vice president 2:16 so are you suggesting she's she was a 2:17 Dei hire 100% she was a Dei hire he said 2:21"COMMENT: TYPICAL RACIST WHITE SUPREMACIST SLUR
AP:"WASHINGTON (AP) — “Mass Deportation Now!” declared the signs at the Republican National Convention, giving a full embrace to Donald Trump’s pledge to expel millions of migrants in the largest deportation program in American history. Some Republicans aren’t quite ready for that. Lauren B. Peña, a Republican activist from Texas, said that hearing Trump’s calls for mass deportations, as well as terms like “illegals” and “invasion” thrown around at the convention, made her feel uncomfortable. Like some Republicans in Congress who have advanced balanced approaches to immigration, she hopes Trump is just blustering..."COMMENT: NOT VERY CHRISTIAN IS IT:"41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’"MATTHEW 25:41-43 NKJV
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CNN/YOUTUBE:"Our panel is back. Stephen Collinson, you write. this morning, I, under the headline Trump Conviction heralds a somber and volatile moment in American history that the danger is acute because with his attempt to stay in power after losing the 2020 election, Trump has already shown he'll do what it takes to save himself, even if his actions catastrophically hurt democratic institutions..."
NYTIMES:"This story is told in three parts. The first documents the unequal system of justice that grew around Jewish settlements in Gaza and the West Bank. The second shows how extremists targeted not only Palestinians but also Israeli officials trying to make peace. The third explores how this movement gained control of the state itself. Taken together, they tell the story of how a radical ideology moved from the fringes to the heart of Israeli political power...."
INSTAGRAM:"sjp.columbia 1d A message from the children of Gaza to the national student movement 🥺💗 Please remember what we are fighting for and remember that the resilient people of Gaza want us to keep protesting and keep disrupting."COMMENT: ISRAEL AND HAMAS AND OTHER MILITANT FACTIONS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTINUING BLOOD LETTING AND IT HAS TO STOP. HAMAS STATED IT WOULD DISARM IF A PALESTINIAN STATE WAS ESTABLISHED. THE RACIST FASCIST JEWISH RIGHT WANT TO KICK THE PALESTINIANS OUT AND NEITHER ISRAELIS NOR PALESTINIANS TRUST EACH OTHER. THE CONTINUING VIOLENCE IS NOT HELPING ANYONE EXCEPT THOSE WHO FEED OFF IT
CNN:" A federal judge on Wednesday blasted a convicted January 6 rioter for downplaying the US Capitol attack and using the kind of revisionist rhetoric that former President Donald Trump often uses on the campaign trial. “This cannot become normal… We cannot condone the normalization of the January 6 US Capitol riot,” US District Judge Royce Lamberth said while sentencing Taylor James Johnatakis to more than seven years in prison.The judge warned of a “vicious cycle … that could imperil our institutions” if Americans, upset with future election results, resort to the “vigilantism, lawlessness and anarchy” that occurred on January 6, 2021.“There can be no room in our country for this sort of political violence,” Lamberth said.
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If anyone remembers what happened on the day of this picture:
NPR..."The plaza between St. John's Church and Lafayette Park was full of people nonviolently protesting police brutality late Monday afternoon when U.S. Park Police and National Guard troops, with the use of tear gas, suddenly started pushing them away for no apparent reason.And then it became clear. ..."
Lest we forget, Donald J Trump serial liar and demagogue is responsible for interfering with the January 2020 election by conspiring to put forth fake electors, intimidating State officials and finally inciting the January 6 insurrection.
His constant lies constitute a continuing insurrection and coup to establish a dictatorship.
CNN:" Take them seriously as well as literally. There is no precedent for two dozen former White House officials coming out so strongly against the fundamental fitness of the man they served with on a day-to-day basis...... Republican voters should keep in mind the words of the one-time conservative hero (and liberal villain) former Vice President Dick Cheney: “There has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”"
ABCNEWS:"According to what sources said Scavino told Smith's team, Trump was "very angry" that day -- not angry at what his supporters were doing to a pillar of American democracy, but steaming that the election was allegedly stolen from him and his supporters, who were "angry on his behalf." Scavino described it all as "very unsettling," sources said. ....”
COMMENT: TRUMP INCITES THE INSURRECTION PRECEEDED BY A MULTI-STATE CONSPIRACY TO INTIMIDATE STATE OFFICIALS AND INSTALL FAKE ELECTORS. HE CONTINUES HIS INSURRECTION WITH LIES ATTACKING THE INTEGRITY OF OUR DEMOCRACY STOKING VIOLENCE WITH HIS VITRIOL
ABCNEWS:"...On Saturday, on the third anniversary Jan. 6, Trump is spending the day in Iowa, delivering his closing message before the Jan. 15 GOP caucuses, continuing to use the events of Jan. 6 as a rallying cry. ..On the campaign trail, Trump has downplayed the violence that ensued that day and has called those charged and convicted in attack "hostages." Trump's claims of widespread election fraud have been rejected in at least 60 court cases, according to PolitiFact... "COMMENT: TRUMP EVER THE SERIAL LYING DEMAGOGUE PANDERS TO THE WHINING GRIEVANCE CROWD AND ALSO THE WHITE SUPREMACIST NEO-NAZI ELEMENTS TO CONTINUE HIS PLAN TO RE-TAKE THE PRESIDENCY. ALL OF AMERICA IS BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY HIS SHIT SHOW NEO NAZI WHITE SUPREMACIST NARRATIVE
MSNBC:"Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold joins Ali Velshi to discuss her reaction to the the state’s Supreme Court deeming Trump ineligible to run for higher office after finding Trump engaged in insurrection and the death threats she and other judges have received in the aftermath of the ruling. “It’s one of the reasons Trump is so dangerous to this country. In this country, people win and lose court cases and elections [but] we have to agree the systems have the outcomes that are correct,” Griswold says. “The use of violence to try and intimidate us is unacceptable in a democracy.”.."COMMENT: TRUMP'S ENTIRE CAMPAIGN IS AN ONGOING INSURRECTION: HE CONSTANTLY ATTACKS THE INTEGRITY OF THE LEGAL AND POLITICAL SYSTEM WITH HIS LIES AND PROPAGANDA AND INCITES VIOLENCE EVERYWHERE HE GOES JUST LIKE HITLER DID IN NAZI GERMANY
MSN/CNN:"‘Frankly stunned’: Jake Tapper reacts to Trump invoking Putin at campaign rally Former President Donald Trump echoed comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a campaign rally attack on President Joe Biden..."PUTIN'S POODLE QUOTES HIS BOSS STALIN HITLER (SHITLER), THE POODLE'S AUTHORITY ON DEMOCRACY
CNN:" Former President Donald Trump on Saturday quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin to attack President Joe Biden as a “threat to democracy” and doubled down on language condemned for its ties to White supremacist rhetoric, saying at a campaign event in New Hampshire that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”..." PUTIN'S POODLE IS A NEO-NAZI
WASHINGTONPOST:"Former president Donald Trump denigrated his domestic opponents and critics during a Veterans Day speech Saturday, calling those on the other side of the aisle “vermin” and suggesting that they posed a greater threat to the United States than countries such as Russia, China or North Korea. That language is drawing rebuke from historians, who compared it to that of authoritarian leaders....”COMMENT: Putin's poodle fauns over communist marxist and fascist dictators. The evidence shows that he and his co-conspirators tried to overturn a valid legal election and he continues to lie that the election was stolen. He knew he lost the election but as Hitler said if you say a lie long enough people will believe it. Trump the wannabe dictator is using Hitler's playbook.
CNN:" In her new book “Enough,” former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson paints the closing days of the Trump White House as even more chaotic and lawless than she previously disclosed in her shocking televised testimony last summer. Meadows emerges in the book as not only duplicitous but as a fall guy for folks who don’t want to admit that Trump had lost grip with reality...."
AMNH.ORG:"Every atom of oxygen in our lungs, of carbon in our muscles, of calcium in our bones, of iron in our blood - was created inside a star before Earth was born. Hydrogen and helium, the lightest elements were produced in the Big Bang. Almost all of the other, heavier, elements were produced inside stars. Stars forge heavy elements by fusion in their cores. In a star of intermediate mass, these elements can mix into the star’s atmosphere and be spread into space through stellar winds. During the supernova explosion of a massive star is the only time when elements heavier than iron are fused. The supernova expels this material across interstellar space..."
CNN:" Artificial intelligence is coming for your job: 41% of employers intend to downsize their workforce as AI automates certain tasks, a World Economic Forum survey showed Wednesday. Out of hundreds of large companies surveyed around the world, 77% also said they were planning to reskill and upskill their existing workers between 2025-2030 to better work alongside AI, according to findings published in the WEF’s Future of Jobs Report. But, unlike the previous, 2023 edition, this year’s report did not say that most technologies, including AI, were expected to be “a net positive” for job numbers...."
CNN:"For about 50 years, the scientific community has been grappling with a substantial problem: There isn’t enough visible matter in the universe. All the matter we can see — stars, planets, cosmic dust and everything in between — can’t account for why the universe behaves as it does, and there must be five times as much of it around for researchers’ observations to make sense, according to NASA. Scientists call that dark matter, because it does not interact with light and is invisible..."
ABCNEWS:"One of nature's most awe-inspiring creatures, the rare and giant blue whale, was seen off the coast of Massachusetts in a rare back-to-back sighting. Cape Ann Whale Watch, a touring group based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, took to Facebook on Monday to share footage of one of two blue whale sightings that day. "We got to see this 'largest animal on our planet' on both of our trips today," the group wrote alongside footage of the blue whale spouting water and breaching to the surface..."
CNN:"For Māori conservationist Mere Takoko, “losing one whale is like losing an ancestor.” The animals “taught our people about navigation across the Pacific, particularly across the Milky Way… And this is information that was given to our ancestors.” The environmental activist from the small town of Rangitukia, on New Zealand’s east coast, is spearheading a movement of Indigenous groups in the Pacific pushing to protect the magnificent marine mammals, inking a groundbreaking treaty to make them legal persons with inherent rights."
CNN:"Rare footage shows deep-sea creature attacking camera Scientists from Australia and the UK captured unique footage of the rare deep-sea hooked squid, one of the largest deep-water squids in the world."
CNN:" A US Navy and Coast Guard operation on Tuesday rescued three mariners stranded on a tiny Pacific Ocean islet for more than a week after the trio spelled out “HELP” using palm fronds laid on a white-sand beach. The mission also unexpectedly turned into a family reunion. .."
WASHINGTONPOST:"When conservationists began efforts to save the Iberian lynx, a wild cat that had long been considered a symbol of the Iberian Peninsula, they felt the lynx would be extinct in roughly five years if their efforts failed...."
CNN:" Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, never experienced a ruinous population collapse, according to an analysis of ancient DNA from 15 former inhabitants of the remote island in the Pacific Ocean. The analysis also suggested that inhabitants of the island, which lies about 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) from the South American mainland, reached the Americas in the 1300s — long before Christopher Columbus’ 1492 landing in the New World."
CNN:"Sea otters aren’t just cute to look at, they also play a critical role in preserving the environment. By hunting invertebrates like clams and sea urchins, sea otters help preserve kelp forests, which in turn sequester carbon, protect coastlines and provide food and shelter for other marine life. " COMMENT: BE RESPECTFUL AND CAREFUL
AP:"Taters the cat stars in NASA's first video sent by laser from deep space Associated Press 2.51M subscribers Subscribed 300 Share Download 32,184 views Dec 19, 2023 An orange tabby cat named Taters stars in the first video sent by laser from deep space, stealing the show as he chases a red laser light. Thumbnail source: NASA
CNN: YANKEES announcer called a foul that later hit him in the head. He received kudos for keeping it clean and like a Timex watch just kept ticking
CNN:"Arnold Schwarzenegger says going to the gym is all about 'survival' CNN's Chris Wallace joins actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for a visit to Gold's Gym in Venice Beach, California, Schwarzenegger's regular workout spot since he first moved to the United States in 1968."
:"YOUTUBE/60-MINUTES:"Once bound for extinction, giant pandas were saved by their one evolutionary advantage: they're adorable. Scott Pelley reported on their resurgence in 2019." Two giant pandas from China arrived at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. and made their debut January 24,2025 "
POINT DEFIANCE ZOO & AQUARIUM:" Leaf it to Willow to redefine fall fun! 🍂 Watch as our adorable and spunky muskox calf joyfully dives headfirst into her very first pile of maple leaves and turns her leafy playground into a zoomie extravaganza. 🍁😍 .. "
CNN:"Microplastics are in many of your body’s organs and tissues. Why they’re so bad and what you can do to stay healthier"
CNN:" A lowly vegetable typically associated with flatulence has hit the big time. No longer will beans will be infamous only for their fiber content — as in the children’s song “Beans, beans, the magical fruit, the more you eat, the more you toot” — they’ll also be known for their role as a major source of protein."
"WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Fresh corroboration of the perplexing observation that the universe is expanding more rapidly than expected has scientists pondering the cause - perhaps some unknown factor involving the mysterious cosmic components dark energy and dark matter.Two years of data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have now validated the Hubble Space Telescope's earlier finding that the rate of the universe's expansion is faster - by about 8% - than would be expected based on what astrophysicists know of the initial conditions in the cosmos and its evolution over billions of years. The discrepancy is called the Hubble Tension..."
NASA.GOV:"The latest image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows a portion of the dense center of our galaxy in unprecedented detail, including never-before-seen features astronomers have yet to explain. .."
CNN:" The supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*, is spinning rapidly and altering space-time around it, a new study has found. Space-time is the four-dimensional continuum that describes how we see space, fusing one-dimensional time and three-dimensional space together to represent the space fabric that curves in response to massive celestial bodies...."
CNN:"Astronomers have observed a massive pair of jets releasing from a supermassive black hole 7.5 billion light-years from Earth. The megastructure spans 23 million light-years in length, making these black hole jets the largest ever seen, according to new research. Black holes are viewed as the garbage disposals of the universe, gobbling up nearly everything that comes close to them. But a fraction of material is ejected before an object falls in, forming a jet on either side of the black hole, said Martijn Oei, a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology and the lead author of a new study describing the discovery."
NASA.GOV:"From our cosmic backyard in the solar system to distant galaxies near the dawn of time, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has delivered on its promise of revealing the universe like never before in its first year of science operations..."
NYTIMES:"When NASA’s next-generation space observatory launches in a few years, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will expand the search for exoplanets as well as rogue planets, or worlds that travel through space without orbiting stars... ”"
CNN:" The powerful Euclid telescope has captured millions of stars and galaxies in a dazzling new mosaic — and it represents just the first piece of a massive puzzle the observatory has been designed to solve. The European Space Agency mission, launched in July 2023, will create the largest and most accurate 3D map of the cosmos yet to help answer enduring questions about the “dark side” of the universe..."
CNN:"...OpenStar is one of a constellation of fusion companies has sprung up over the past five years, pursuing diverse technologies, said Gerald Navratil, a professor of fusion energy and plasma physics at Columbia University. “The maturity of the field is such that now private venture capitalists are willing to put up money to try to see if they can get to fusion a little faster,” he told CNN. One of the largest commercial ventures, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which uses high-temperature superconducting magnets within a tokamak, has raised more than $2 billion. Others, like OpenStar, are exploring more unusual tech. Seattle-based Zap Energy is trying to build a compact, scalable reactor that doesn’t use magnets at all, but instead fires pulses of power into a stream of plasma..."
CNN:" It feels as if America has emerged from a viral medical pandemic only to be consumed by a moral pandemic, fueled by hate that is poisoning our hearts and minds. It is making people hate and turn against one another, to fear and punish that which makes us different rather than embracing what makes us unique and our common humanity. ..."
"CNN:" The Florida Board of Education approved a new set of standards for how Black history should be taught in the state’s public schools, sparking criticism from education and civil rights advocates who said students should be allowed to learn the full truth of American history. The curriculum was approved at the board’s meeting Wednesday in Orlando......"
CNN:"Holocaust survivor Michael Bornstein reacts to comments made by Fox News host Greg Gutfeld about the work skills of concentration camp inmates during World War II... "
CNN:"Emails shared with CNN by the Texas Department of Public Safety detail a trooper-medic expressing concerns to a supervisor over the inhumane treatment of migrants along the border in Eagle Pass, Texas...”
WASHINGTONPOST:
"HARTWELL, Ga. — At night, the worn sign looks like a beacon in the darkness out front of the modest, red-brick Mt. Hebron Baptist Church. The tired, it reads. The poor. And huddled masses. Welcome home. In this small town in the rural northeast corner of Georgia, it’s the kind of message that assures Teri Massey she is loved for being who she is — a message 180 degrees from the one she heard in the Baptist church where she spent her teens into her 40s, where her grandfather, father and brother all held leadership positions."
CNN:" A Saudi court has sentenced a retired teacher to death over his comments online, say his brother and advocacy group Human Rights Watch. Muhammad al-Ghamdi, a 54-year-old retired Saudi teacher, was sentenced “following 5 tweets criticizing corruption and human rights violations,” his brother Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi tweeted last week. According to Human Rights Watch, Muhammad al-Ghamdi was arrested last year and given little access to a lawyer..."
CNN:" Hundreds of families gathered in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina on June 15, plotting their escape from what had become a hellscape of blown-out buildings scrawled with racist graffiti and streets strewn with corpses. The state governor had just been executed and mutilated by Arab militia groups, leaving civilians with no choice but to flee. What followed was a gruesome massacre, eyewitnesses said, believed to be one of the most violent incidents in the genocide-scarred Sudanese region’s history..."
CNN:"After being a Nazi leader for two and a half decades, he says he regrets his past beliefs Reality Check's John Avlon speaks with former NSM leader Jeff Schoep about the nationwide increase in extremism and what led him to change his neo-Nazi beliefs..."
CNN:"Survivors give horrific accounts of 'parade' of sexual abuse at Catholic high school Four survivors shared their stories more than 50 years after they were brutally physically and sexually assaulted by priests at an all-girls Catholic high school in Baltimore."
CBSNEWS:"Two decades ago, the 9/11 Commission found al Qaeda acted alone in the Sept. 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans, but victims' families say that isn't true. They point to a newly-released video filmed outside the U.S. Capitol two years before the attacks, and other evidence, as proof. The families are now suing Saudi Arabia, claiming its government provided crucial assistance to the hijackers and planners of the attacks. .."
CNN:"The latest United Nations report on the Taliban published Friday is a blistering indictment of the delusions that surrounded the US withdrawal agreement with the Taliban that was negotiated by Donald Trump’s administration in 2020. President Joe Biden followed through on that agreement almost two years ago when he withdrew all US troops from Afghanistan in a chaotic evacuation that marked the end of the US’ longest war. The withdrawal agreement was supposed to be predicated on the Taliban negotiating with the elected Afghan government about some kind of power-sharing arrangement and cutting their ties to terrorist groups like al Qaeda. But none of that happened..."
CNN:"When the US withdrew from Afghanistan years later, the presidential palace quickly overrun by the Taliban, all I could think was, “How could my husband die, and his death didn’t break me, yet the fall of the country he died in did? How could this be worse than the knock at the door?” But this time, everything I loved and everything I had invested in was broken alongside me in pieces on the floor. The country I cherished, the people I treasured. The girls in the school in Paktya – the village Chris died in – who made me pillowcases and gifts, the children at the Kabul orphanage I had just carried, there was no more hope for them. I wanted to hold those babies and never let them go. How could America let it get to this? We are better than this. How cruel to empower Afghan women and little girls for years, ensure they knew they could be anything they wanted in life, and after they became it, leave them to be hunted and killed for following their dreams? This precious land went up in flames after the American people barely noticed 20 years of war. Our war..."
CNN:" Two Indianapolis police officers had spent the day searching in vain for a missing baby in a stolen vehicle when they stopped to eat and gather their wits. A woman suspected of stealing the 2010 black Honda Accord had been taken into custody earlier that day...but the vehicle was still missing. More urgently, baby Kason Thomass... had yet to be found... “It was time for us to decompress because we were disappointed that we could not find him,”... “And then God opened up the heavens to us and almost took him and put him right in our hands.”... "
THE-DOJ-FBI "The FBI is engaged in a nationwide effort to build public awareness of hate crimes and encourage reporting to law enforcement. .. “Hate crimes are the top priority within the FBI’s Civil Rights Program ....There’s simply no place in this country for hate and intolerance. We in the FBI stand ready to use all the tools at our disposal to reduce the threat of hate crimes and fulfill our mission to protect every American. The FBI defines a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity. The FBI works to protect all victims of crimes, regardless of their country of national origin or immigration status. The FBI encourages victims and witnesses of any hate-related incident to report it to law enforcement. After a report is submitted, the FBI will work with its law enforcement partners and use its resources and expertise to determine if an incident meets the criminal standard. If you believe you are victim or a witness of a hate crime, we encourage you to report it to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or submitting a tip at tips.fbi.gov. You may remain anonymous ..."
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"I’ve just spoken with President Trump. It was a good conversation – very warm and constructive. We congratulated each other and our nations on Victory Day in World War II: 80 years since the victory over Nazism – the victory in Europe, achieved together by all the nations that defeated Nazism. It is very important that this shared victory and the joint efforts of the Allies became the foundation for peace and international law – for a normal life for many nations. Now, this life must be protected and restored – rebuilt from the ruins after Russian strikes. Just as before, we must work together to bring peace. We spoke with the President about joint actions: the support of the United States that is so urgently needed, and pressure on Russia – pressure for the sake of peace. We discussed the situation on the front lines. We discussed diplomatic efforts. We talked about how to bring closer a real and lasting ceasefire – for at least 30 days. That could open up many opportunities for diplomacy. Ukraine is ready for a full ceasefire starting right now, from this very moment – a 30-day silence. But it must be real. No missile or drone strikes, no hundreds of assaults on the front. The Russians must respond appropriately – by supporting the ceasefire. They must prove their willingness – willingness to end the war. This isn’t the first time, we are offering this once again. Thirty days that could become the beginning of years of peace. A ceasefire, lasting and reliable, will be a real indicator of movement toward peace. America can help with this. The world needs America now just as it did eighty years ago. Of course, we spoke today about our agreement – the Economic Partnership Agreement with America. We emphasized how important it is for our relations to strengthen both of our countries for decades to come. And they will. I instructed the team to work quickly on establishing a joint Ukraine-United States Investment Fund – a fund for investing in our recovery. We also agreed with President Trump on our further contacts. Overall, today was a very active day. I spoke with Germany’s new Chancellor, Friedrich Merz – we agreed to cooperate. There are already concrete steps we can take together. Decisions will follow. I also spoke today with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to discuss our steps: accession to the European Union, our negotiations, our defense support, the assistance provided to our country and to our resilience. We must continue to defend Ukraine and our entire Europe together. That is exactly what we are doing. I thank everyone who is helping! I thank all those who are defending our national interests and our independence! Glory to Ukraine! "
REUTERS:PARIS, May 13 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday he was in favour of imposing new sanctions on Russia in coming days if Moscow failed to agree to a ceasefire, mentioning financial services and oil and gas as possible targets. "Our intention is to impose new sanctions against Russia in the coming days" if Moscow refuses to implement a ceasefire, Macron said in a prime-time interview on TF1. "We are coordinating in this regard. Macron's comments echoed those by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier on Tuesday, who said European allies would roll out "a significant tightening of sanctions" on Russia if President Vladimir Putin does not agree to a ceasefire. Merz also cited sectors including energy and financial markets as possible targets. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday the European Commission had been asked to propose new sanctions in those areas. The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland said on Saturday that Russia would be hit by new punitive measures if it did not heed calls for a 30-day ceasefire within days. .."
CNN:" For about 30 hours, the illusion of transatlantic unity over Ukraine was maintained. Europe and Ukraine had demanded a deal on the 30-day unconditional ceasefire the Trump administration proposed two months earlier. European leaders said US President Donald Trump had personally backed their plan – and threat of sanctions if Russia declined to sign up by Monday – in a Saturday phone call, a picture of which they posted online from Kyiv. Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, even joined a chorus of US allies demanding Russia adhere to the ceasefire demand. But then Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke, refusing to even mention the demand, and instead presenting something old as something new: direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, four days later. And transatlantic unity shattered. Trump leapt on the Kremlin proposal – simply stating on his Truth Social network that Putin didn’t want a ceasefire – and instead pressuring Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to “HAVE THE MEETING, NOW!!!” Again, the pendulum swung back. Trump had been conspicuously silent as the US’ longstanding allies trumpeted their newfound unity. Putin spoke, and Trump realigned. .."
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:" Dear friends! Thank you to all of you who represent countries that believe in international law! I’m glad to see you all here in Ukraine – not just supporting us from afar, but actually standing with us. It shows that we’re all Europe, all democracies – united not just by borders or institutions, but by shared values and hopes. You’ve come with strong decisions, real support for our people, and a readiness to increase pressure on Russia for the sake of true peace. I know that today a decision is prepared for new support for our defense – for producing weapons in Ukraine – worth one billion euros. In total, it’s about four billion euros in new support decisions from Europe as of today. Thank you very much for this. Russia must feel our shared – and most importantly, growing – strength. That’s what’s needed for peace. The desire to end this war has to grow inside Russia, and that begins with a feeling – the feeling that they are losing, losing from this war as any aggressor should – that is what is needed. I ask you to keep working for exactly that. And it’s very symbolic that our meeting is taking place during these days when we honor the memory of those who defeated Nazism 80 years ago, and when we celebrate Europe Day – the day of a new Europe, a day directly linked to the victory of the Allies in World War II. Our continent has a long and rich history, but today we are most proud of our new Europe – a Europe that knows how to live and stands up for the right to life. We must save this Europe. We’re proud of a Europe that does not kill. That is united. That stands for international law. A Europe that respects the individual – and if we ask who that individual is, it’s definitely not some ruler or a tsar. At the heart of today’s Europe is respect for every human being, for each person’s individuality and identity – the character of each nation, each individual, and each family. A united Europe together with our democratic friends around the world stands for exactly that. And it must be protected. .."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"...Russian forces continue to attack Ukraine with guided aerial bombs despite a three-day ceasefire on Victory Day, Ukraine's Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainska Pravda on May 9. While the Kremlin unilaterally announced a truce from May 8–11 , heavy fighting continued in multiple regions throughout the front line..." CNN:"Some US allies are highly alarmed by the framework the Trump administration is pushing to end the Ukraine war and Europeans are bracing for the outcome of another round of high-level talks between the US and Russia, multiple diplomatic sources told CNN. The administration’s framework, presented in Paris last week, proposes significant sacrifices from Kyiv, including US recognition of Crimea as Russian territory and Ukraine ceding large swaths of territory to Russia, according to an official familiar. Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday called “to freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today.” Asked what concessions Russia was offering on Thursday, Trump replied, “stopping the war,” suggesting that not “taking the whole country” is a “pretty big concession.” Multiple allied diplomats said they are rattled by what the Trump administration is proposing, because they believe such a framework sends a dangerous message to Russia’s Vladimir Putin and other world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping, that illegal conquest could be rewarded, multiple diplomats said. “This is about the fundamental principles of international law. This is very much about our own existence and the weakening of any safeguards that my or other countries have for our own independence,” an Eastern European diplomat told CNN. They and other sources spoke on background to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters. “If one country in Europe is currently under pressure or being forced to give up parts of its own legal territory, territory that has been that has been recognized as part of Ukraine … if one country in Europe is forced to do that, no country in Europe or elsewhere can feel safe, NATO or no NATO,” the diplomat said..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Nine people have been killed and more than 70 injured, including six children, in Russia's large-scale missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight on April 24, Ukrainian officials said. A round of explosions occurred in Kyiv around 1:00 a.m. local time on April 24, according to a Kyiv Independent journalist on the ground. Additional explosions were later heard around 4 a.m. local time. Russia fired attack drones, as well as guided and ballistic missiles, at the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv City Military Administration said. At least 42 people have been hospitalized, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said, adding that a rescue operation is ongoing to retrieve victims stuck under rubble. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko added that six children, as well as a pregnant woman, were among the injured. Ukraine's State Emergency Service said that at least two children are not accounted for.... "
CNN/REUTERS:" President Vladimir Putin said in remarks published on Sunday that Russia had sufficient strength and resources to take the war in Ukraine to its logical conclusion, though he hoped that there would be no need to use nuclear weapons. Putin ordered thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering Europe’s biggest ground conflict since World War II and the largest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the depths of the Cold War. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been killed or injured and US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to end the “bloodbath” that his administration casts as a proxy war between the United States and Russia. .."
THEGUARDIAN:"Sumy is situated a mere 16 miles (25km) from the Russian border. It is home to soldiers and civilians. Residents are used to frequent drone and rocket attacks, and to the constant wail of air raid sirens. Sunday’s double-tap strike, though, was terrible. It was the most egregious Russian attack this year, leaving 35 dead and 129 injured. Eleven people remain in a critical condition. There are 15 wounded children.Asked for his reaction, Donald Trump appeared to downplay the latest Russian atrocity, calling it “a mistake”. Subsequently, he blamed Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, and Joe Biden, the previous US president, by falsely claiming they “started” the war with Russia. Serhii Khvostov, the head of the damaged conference centre in Sumy, was unimpressed. “Trump is a mistake. This is an act by stupid and angry Russians. There’s no logic to it,” he said. “It’s easy to look away. But the world has to understand what is happening here.” KYIVINDEPENDENT:"A full ceasefire can end the hot phase of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine "in the coming weeks" if Western countries put sufficient pressure on Moscow, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a visit to Chernihiv on April 3. Kyiv on March 11 said it was ready to begin a complete 30-day ceasefire, proposed by the U.S., as long as Russia accepted the same terms. Russia has so far refused, only agreeing to partial ceasefires in exchange for restored access to international markets. Russia and the U.S. are continuing to hold private talks on the possibility of an unconditional ceasefire, Zelensky told a group of entrepreneurs during a working visit to Chernihiv. "Then in Saudi Arabia, you know, we agreed to an unconditional ceasefire," he said. "Russia has not agreed to it yet, we see that. Although we know that there are conversations between Americans and Russians on this topic. There are non-public conversations." The U.S. and Europe need to work in concert to pressure Moscow into a full ceasefire as quickly as possible, Zelensky said. "The issue now is putting pressure on the Russians to get there," he said. "I think it is possible to do this as soon as possible in the coming weeks, maybe months, or maybe in different ways: sometimes it happens at the same time. Especially with this phase of the end of the war. A full ceasefire is the right step and one that Ukraine has agreed to and supports." Earlier in the day, Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev confirmed that he had arrived in Washington to hold talks with U.S. officials on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin between April 2 and 3. Dmitriev reportedly met with Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, at the White House on April 2. The content of their discussions remains unclear..."
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"In Oslo, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre. The President expressed his gratitude to Norway for its significant defense and financial support, assistance to Ukraine’s energy sector, and especially for the recent decision to increase its support for Ukraine to nearly $8 billion this year. "We have managed to preserve our independence, and now, together with all of Europe, we are working on restoring peace and guaranteeing the security we so vitally need. I hope Norway’s role in this joint effort with all our partners will remain substantial," said Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the meeting, the parties discussed specific measures to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities, including enhancing air defense, providing ammunition for Ukrainian troops, investing in Ukraine’s defense industry, and developing joint production. "I am confident that Europe now needs a new wave of industrial and technological development – so that the continent has everything necessary for its defense and so that Europe becomes more independent and stronger in global competition," the President stated. The President also invited Norway to take on a more active role in security coalitions, particularly in air defense and other technological initiatives, as well as in drone production. Jonas Gahr Støre emphasized the importance of Ukraine’s cooperation with the U.S., European nations, and NATO in achieving a just peace. He also confirmed that Norway will strengthen its defense support for Ukraine. . ..
"KYIV, March 25 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said a truce with Russia covering the Black Sea and energy strikes was effective immediately on Tuesday, but warned that Moscow was already manipulating and distorting the accords. He said he would ask U.S. President Donald Trump to supply weapons and sanction Russia if Moscow broke the deals.The United States said earlier it had made separate agreements with Kyiv and Moscow to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea and to implement a ban on attacks on energy facilities in the two countries. "The U.S. side considers that our agreements come into force after their announcement by the U.S. side," Zelenskiy told reporters at a news conference in Kyiv, adding that he did not trust Russia to honour the arrangements. The Ukrainian president, speaking later in his nightly video address, said Russia was already deceiving the world. "Unfortunately, even now, even today, on the very day of negotiations, we see how the Russians have already begun to manipulate," Zelenskiy said. "They are already trying to distort agreements and, in fact, deceive both our intermediaries and the entire world." He said the Kremlin was lying when it said accords on Black Sea shipping were linked to sanctions imposed on Moscow. Ukraine, he said, would do everything to implement the accords, but Russia had to understand that it would "receive a strong response" if it launched strikes. The accords are the first aimed at halting energy strikes since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, triggering Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two. The fighting rages on across a 1,000-km (600-mile) front line. 'NO FAITH' In his comments to reporters, the Ukrainian leader said the agreements set out no course of action if Russia broke them and that he would appeal to Trump if that happened. "We have no faith in the Russians, but we will be constructive," he said. He said U.S. officials saw the energy ceasefire as covering attacks on other civilian infrastructure too and that ports should be covered by the Black Sea agreement. Nightly Russian drone attacks have been a feature of life in big Ukrainian cities for months..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Strong statements made after a summit of European leaders in Paris on March 27 demonstrated two things — France and the U.K. are determined to send peacekeepers to Ukraine, but the plans are currently hostage to the whims of the Kremlin. "You cannot trust the Russians any further than you can throw them today, and that really is going to be the blockage in the negotiation process for all parties," Dr. Ian Garner, assistant professor in totalitarian studies at Poland’s Pilecki Institute, told the Kyiv Independent. In the face of a retreating U.S., several European countries have moved forward with plans to send troops to Ukraine as part of a "reassurance force" in case of the ceasefire with Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron announced at the Paris summit. Any potential force deployed would be "a force designed to deter, in order to send that message to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that this is a deal that is going to be defended," U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer added. But at the same time, Starmer acknowledged the obvious impediment to what is needed in order to put the plan into action — an actual peace deal. "We agreed here in Paris today that it’s clear the Russians are filibustering. They are playing games, and they’re playing for time," he said. "It is a classic from the Putin playbook, but we can’t let them drag this out while they continue prosecuting their illegal invasion." .."
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a phone conversation with President of France Emmanuel Macron to coordinate their positions. The Ukrainian President expressed gratitude for France’s support and joint efforts in achieving a just and lasting peace. The parties specifically discussed the outcomes of the online meeting of leaders regarding support for Ukraine, held on Saturday under the joint chairmanship of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron. The Presidents of Ukraine and France noted that the number of countries willing to contribute to advancing peace is growing. A separate topic of discussion was the U.S. proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. Ukraine immediately agreed to it, but for its implementation to begin, Russia must stop setting conditions. .."
CNN:"“Do you think you can trust Putin?” German Brig. Gen. Ralf Hammerstein asks with a wry smile. It’s a rhetorical question to which most of Europe would give the same answer – no. As the Trump administration continues to pursue a deal to end the war in Ukraine — one that may end up being more favorable to Moscow than Kyiv — Europeans, for the first time in decades, are focusing on their own military might. Nowhere is that shift as prominent as in Germany. Its armed forces, known as the Bundeswehr, have been the victim of years of underinvestment – but that is set to change. Presumptive Chancellor Friedrich Merz has decided that now is the moment for Germany to invest in its military, on levels not seen since the Cold War..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Ukraine on March 21 accused Russia of deliberately attacking the Sudzha gas metering station in Kursk Oblast in an attempt to pin the blame on Kyiv. Russian media earlier claimed Ukrainian forces had struck the key gas transit facility, which plays a crucial role in Russian gas exports to Europe. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Ukraine allegedly planned to blow up the station, accusing Kyiv of orchestrating a "provocation."..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Russian President Vladimir Putin's decree threatening Ukrainians with deportation from occupied territories and Russian territory violates international law, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said on March 21. "We emphasize that these systematic deportations and persecutions are part of Russia's genocide policy against the Ukrainian people," Tykhyi said. According to the decree, Ukrainian citizens residing in Russia and occupied Ukrainian territories must leave by Sept. 10 or "regulate their legal status." The decree intensifies Moscow’s efforts to Russify conquered areas by pressuring Ukrainians to accept Russian passports or forcing them out while encouraging Russian citizens to move in." Putin's decree also mandates that all "foreign citizens and stateless persons" residing in the occupied territories must undergo medical screenings for drug use and infectious diseases by June 10. Tykhyi denounced the decree as null and void, calling it another step in Russia’s campaign of discrimination, persecution, and forced displacement of Ukrainian citizens. The spokesperson also said it contradicts Moscow's claims of readiness for a peaceful settlement and undermines initiatives to establish peace..."
CNN:" A Russian presidential aide has cast doubt on a US ceasefire proposal for Ukraine, as American special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to brief Kremlin officials on the peace plan. As the Trump administration emphasizes that the ball is now in Russia’s court, Kremlin aide Yuriy Ushakov said Thursday that Moscow doesn’t want a temporary ceasefire, claiming it would give a break to the Ukrainian army. Ushakov said he explained Russia’s stance to US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz in a Wednesday phone call. “(I) outlined our position that this is nothing more than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military and nothing more,” Ushakov said in an interview with Russian state media, pouring cold water on the proposal before Thursday’s talks began..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has announced that alliance members are ramping up their defense investments and preparing additional financial support for Ukraine. His remarks came after a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 27. "Great to talk with Donald Trump. US & NATO are getting stronger. NATO Allies are moving quickly to invest more in defense. Big increases announced & others to follow," Rutte said in a post on X. He also emphasized NATO's continued support for Ukraine, adding that "on Ukraine, Allies are preparing billions more in aid and contributions to security guarantees." .."
REUTERS:"LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer greeted President Volodymyr Zelenskiy with a warm embrace on Saturday after the Ukrainian leader flew to London for talks following his clash at the White House with U.S. President Donald Trump. In an extraordinary Oval Office meeting on Friday, Trump threatened to withdraw support for Ukraine, three years after Russia invaded its smaller neighbour. In London, a crowd cheered as Zelenskiy arrived for talks with Starmer at his Downing Street office before a summit of European leaders that the Ukrainian president will attend on Sunday to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine..."
CNN:"Russian opposition politician sends message to people who say Ukraine-Russia war doesn’t involve the US Newsroom Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian opposition politician and one of President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, joins CNN’s Jessica Dean to discuss President Donald Trump’s talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. " Jessica Dean posed the question what do you say to Americans who say the war in Ukraine doesn't concern us? Vladimir Kara Murza stated when large countries like Russia become dictatorships no one will be safe. There cannot be security and economic prosperity without democracy and respect for human rights. This is not a theory; it is a basic principle of civilized law, and its violation is happening now
REUTERS:"KYIV, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Russia launched more than 200 drones in an overnight attack, the largest of the war, as he condemned Russia's "aerial terror" and called for unity among Ukraine's allies. "Every day, our people stand against aerial terror," he wrote on X. "On the eve of the third anniversary of the full-scale war, Russia launched 267 attack drones against Ukraine — the largest attack since Iranian drones began striking Ukrainian cities and villages." ..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit Kyiv on the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale war, Costa announced on Feb. 20. Last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced plans to hold a summit for Ukraine's partners in Kyiv on Feb. 24 to discuss the next joint steps on peace and security. The visit aims to reaffirm the EU's "support to the heroic Ukrainian people and to the democratically elected President Volodymyr Zelensky," Costa said on X. The statement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump denounced Zelensky as a "dictator without elections," reiterating Kremlin talking points about the Ukrainian president's legitimacy..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:" President Volodymyr Zelensky pushed back at the U.S.’ demand for a $500 billion fund to be financed with Ukrainian natural resource revenue, saying that the U.S.’s aid grants are not debts, during the Ukraine: Year 2025 forum in Kyiv on Feb. 23. Negotiations on a deal to entrench U.S. interests in Ukraine's reserves are ongoing, with the latest draft presented by the White House demanding $500 billion of Ukraine’s natural resources, including critical minerals, to recuperate American aid to Ukraine. Zelensky said that he will not recognize such a large sum since it vastly outweighs the $100 billion the U.S. has sent to Ukraine under former President Joe Biden. The president added that the aid given to Ukraine cannot be counted as debts since they are grants and stressed that security guarantees need to be included in the deal. So far no such guarantees have been put in place, he said. “I am not signing something that will be paid by 10 generations of Ukrainians," Zelensky said, adding that he wants a dialogue with Trump..."
CNN:" UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to join an emergency summit in Paris on Monday, Britain’s PA news agency reported, as European leaders scramble to respond to the Trump administration’s push to work with Russia to end the war in Ukraine – potentially without them at the negotiating table. “The UK will work to ensure we keep the US and Europe together,” Starmer was quoted as saying in a statement released by Downing Street on Saturday. “We cannot allow any divisions in the alliance to distract from the external enemies we face.”..."
REUTERS:"PARIS/RIYADH, Feb 17 (Reuters) - European leaders meeting in Paris on Monday for emergency talks called for higher spending to ramp up the continent's defence capabilities but remained split on the idea of deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine to back up any peace deal. The Paris meeting was called by French President Emmanuel Macron after U.S. leader Donald Trump arranged bilateral peace talks with Russia, excluding European allies and Ukraine from negotiations to end the war that are scheduled to begin in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday..."
NYTIMES:"As an anxious Europe sought clarity on President Trump’s approach to Russia and Ukraine, Vice President JD Vance instead used a speech in Munich on Friday to signal support for far-right parties, including Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which Moscow has backed through misinformation campaigns. Addressing European leaders at the Munich Security Conference, Mr. Vance scolded them for not sufficiently upholding democratic values — an accusation many of them have leveled at the Trump administration — and offered what amounted to White House political backing for Europe’s far right. He urged the Europeans to end their opposition to anti-immigration parties such as the AfD, parts of which have been classified as extremist by German intelligence, and said the effort to marginalize them and their radical ideas amounted to antidemocratic action..." COMMENT: MATTHEW 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
CNN:"Vice President JD Vance reiterated on Friday that NATO remains an important alliance for the United States, as the Munich Security Conference kicked off in Germany with the Russia-Ukraine war expected to be a focal point of discussions. “Europe is of course a very important ally to the United States, NATO is a very important military alliance … but we want to make sure NATO is actually built for the future, and part of that is ensuring that NATO does a little bit more burden-sharing in Europe so the United States can focus on some of our challenges in East Asia,” Vance said, speaking to reporters beside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte..."
CNN:"President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine will not accept a peace deal struck between the United States and Russia without Kyiv’s involvement. “As an independent country we simply cannot accept any agreements without us. And I articulate this very clearly to our partners. We will not accept any bilateral negotiations on Ukraine without us,” Zelensky said Thursday during a visit to a nuclear power plant in western Ukraine. His comments came a day after US President Donald Trump spoke on the phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, before he also held a call with Zelensky. Zelensky said that the fact that Trump spoke to Putin first was “not pleasant.” He added that talks with Russia should take place only after “a plan to stop Putin has been worked out.”"
CNN:" Europe’s American century is over. Two geopolitical thunderclaps on Wednesday will transform transatlantic relations. Donald Trump’s call with Vladimir Putin brought the Russian leader in from the cold as they hatched plans to end the war in Ukraine and agreed to swap presidential visits. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, went to Brussels and told European allies to “take ownership of conventional security on the continent.” The watershed highlights Trump’s “America First” ideology and his tendency to see every issue or alliance as a dollars and cents value proposition. It also underscores his freedom from establishment advisors steeped in the foreign policy mythology of the West, who he thinks thwarted his first term. Although Hegseth recommitted to NATO, something fundamental has changed. America’s interventions won two world wars that started in Europe and afterwards guaranteed the continent’s freedom in the face of the Soviet threat. But Trump said on the campaign trail he might not defend alliance members who haven’t invested enough in defense. He thus revived a perennial point posed most eloquently by Winston Churchill in 1940 about when “The New World, with all its power and might” will step “forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”..The US-Russia call and a future summit with Putin in Saudi Arabia, which Trump said would happen soon, may be a hint that he’s not just cutting Zelensky out of the deal – but Europe too. In a statement, France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, the European Union, the European Commission, plus the United Kingdom and Ukraine, warned “Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiations.” And they warned Trump, who seems to want a peace deal at any cost, that “a just and lasting peace in Ukraine is a necessary condition for a strong transatlantic security.” Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt is worried by the cozy call between Trump and Putin. “The disturbing thing is of course that we have the two big guys, the two big egos … believing that they can maneuver all of the issues on their own,” he told Richard Quest on CNN International. Bildt evoked the most damning historical analogy possible — the appeasement of Adolf Hitler by Britain that allowed the Nazis to annex the Sudetenland. “For European ears, this sounds like Munich. It sounds like two big leaders wanting to have peace in our time, (over) a faraway country of which they know little. They are preparing to make a deal over the heads of that particular country. A lot of Europeans know how that particular movie ended.”.."
REUTERS:"MOSCOW, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Russia's point man for relations with the United States said on Monday that all of President Vladimir Putin's conditions must be met in full before the war in Ukraine can end, suggesting Moscow is playing hardball with U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants to end the war in Ukraine swiftly after hundreds of thousands of deaths, said on Sunday he thought he was making progress though he has not set out how he hopes to end the conflict. "
REUTERS:"...Zelenskiy said it was important for him to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump before Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin:"It is very important, otherwise it will look like a dialogue about Ukraine without Ukraine. It is still important for partners to discuss their issues first, and then have a conversation with the enemy." "I don't know what compromises can be discussed at the negotiating table, we have not reached that point ... It is important for people to understand that Ukraine is negotiating, not accepting ultimatums from Russia."
APNEWS:" Russian President Vladimir Putin had a call Tuesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing the two countries’ close ties, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president. The two leaders have developed strong personal links that helped bring relations between Moscow and Beijing, growing even closer after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. China has become a major customer of Russian oil and gas and a source of key technologies amid sweeping Western sanctions on Moscow. In Tuesday’s call with Xi, Putin emphasized that Russia-China relations are based on shared interests, equality and mutual benefits, noting that they “don’t depend on internal political factors and the current international environment.” “We jointly support the development of a more just multipolar global order and work to ensure indivisible security in Eurasia and the world as a whole,” Putin told Xi in remarks carried by the Russian state TV. “Joint efforts by Russia and China play an important stabilizing role in global affairs.” .."
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"Dear People! Behind me stands Mother Ukraine. Ukraine that stands firmly on its feet, does not bow its head, looks ahead, believes in its future and victory over all the evil that Russia has brought us. Ukraine that is capable of achieving a just peace – having a shield and a sword. Defending its people, its colors, its Independence. Today I address all those who value Ukraine, cherish their state, and lovingly call it “Mine.” I thank you for 2024. Our people who endure all difficulties with dignity. People for whom being citizens of Ukraine is a source of pride. And for me, it is a pride to be the President of such people – Ukrainians who prove that no cruise missile can defeat a nation that has wings. Throughout this leap year, we have proven it every day. And we saw it yesterday. When we were uplifted with happiness because 189 Ukrainians returned from captivity to their native land. Because they will celebrate the New Year at home. Because we are bringing our people back. 1,358 people this year. 3,956 Ukrainians during this time. And I’m giving not estimates but precise numbers, because each one represents a person, our person, a very important person. And with each return – we bring life back to Ukraine. And every time this happens, we all cry. It doesn’t matter if it’s a moved mother, or it’s a child who finally has their father back, or the President of Ukraine – we all cry because we are all human, and we have kept the light within us. And it helped us endure through over 1,000 days. To be brave when it was needed most. To be strong when it was so vital. As did our teachers, our medics, our power engineers, our transport workers, as did all our air defense personnel, mobile fire groups. The guys who brought down 1,310 cruise and ballistic missiles this year, and 7800 Iranian “Shahed” drones. Bravo! We are proud! Thank you! We lived through this year together. We overcame everything 2024 brought together. Victories and setbacks. Joys and challenges. Tears of happiness when we succeeded. And tears of pain when our hearts were wounded. Justice. Just one word, but behind it stand hundreds of thousands of our people. Our defense industry and our science. Whose minds and work have made us stronger, because 30% of everything our guys had on the battlefield this year – all this was made in Ukraine. And at one of these facilities, I asked a young engineer: "How did you manage to achieve so much? How were these people able to do all of this?" And the young man joked: "They're not just people, they're missiles." And you know, at that moment, I felt ashamed as a citizen that since the 90s, the state hadn’t noticed such people of ours. And I am proud, when meeting them throughout the year I hear: they are happy to be needed by Ukraine. And that Ukraine is once again building its own, its own missiles.... Dear Ukrainians! I know you are celebrating the New Year according to our time, and now you hear these words. In our Crimea, in Donbas, in Melitopol, in Mariupol – everywhere where Ukraine is awaited. And where, one day, Ukraine will return to be together. And the only thing that will divide Ukrainians is a generously laid table. I know that all our people will be at this table. Those who are now abroad but have kept Ukraine in their hearts. So today, in the first minute of the New Year, in Warsaw, New York, or Buenos Aires, "Shche ne vmerla…" will sound In Berlin, Prague or Tokyo, people will say today: “Glory to Ukraine!” And the world will respond: “Glory to the Heroes!” Because Ukraine is not alone. Because we have our friends with us. Since the first minutes of this war, America has stood with Ukraine. I believe that America will also stand with Ukraine in the first minutes of peace... "
APNEWS:"KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — For weeks, Ukrainian troops braced for an unfamiliar enemy: North Korean soldiers sent to bolster Moscow’s forces after Ukraine launched a lightning-fast incursion and seized territory in Russia’s Kursk region over the summer. Their arrival marked a new and alarming phase in the war. And while initially inexperienced on the battlefield, North Korean troops have adapted quickly — a development that could have far-reaching consequences as they gain combat knowledge in the war against Ukraine. Unlike the Russian troops Ukraine has been battling for nearly three years, Kyiv’s forces were uncertain about what to expect from this new adversary, drawn into the war after Moscow and Pyongyang signed an agreement pledging military assistance using “all means” if either were attacked..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"More than 50,000 inquiries have been submitted by Russians seeking missing soldiers through Ukraine’s "I Want to Find" project, Bohdan Okhrimenko, head of the Coordination Center Secretariat, said in an interview with ArmyInform on Jan. 3. "These numbers only reflect those unafraid to contact us," Okhrimenko said, adding that there actual number of Russian soldiers missing in action can be much higher...U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's team has not presented anything "interesting" to Moscow regarding ending the war in Ukraine, Russia's envoy to the U.N., Vasily Nebenzya, said on Jan. 3. Earlier reports from the Wall Street Journal indicated that Trump’s team is considering a plan to delay Ukraine’s NATO membership by at least 20 years in exchange for continued Western arms supplies and the deployment of European peacekeepers to monitor a ceasefire..."
"KYIV, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Russia attacked Ukraine's energy system and some cities with cruise and ballistic missiles plus drones on Wednesday in an "inhuman" Christmas Day assault, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Nearly three years into the war, the strikes wounded at least six people in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and killed one in the region of Dnipropetrovsk, the governors there said. Half a million people in Kharkiv region were left without heating, in temperatures just a few degrees Celsius above zero, while there were blackouts in the capital Kyiv and elsewhere...."
BLOOMBERG:"Russia rebuffed incoming US President Donald Trump’s call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, while saying it’s ready to hold negotiations on a long-lasting peace agreement to end almost three years of war. “A ceasefire is a road to nowhere” that Ukraine will use to build up its military capacity, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an online news conference on Thursday. “We need conclusive, legally-binding agreements which will create all the conditions for ensuring the security of the Russian Federation and, of course, the legitimate security interests of our neighbors.” With Ukraine on the defensive as Russia makes grinding progress on the battlefield, Trump and his advisers have given signals that President Vladimir Putin could keep de facto control of the almost 20% of Ukrainian territory his forces occupy. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has also softened his stance by suggesting his government could use diplomatic means to recover its territory..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said during a Defense Ministry meeting on Dec. 16 that Moscow aims to seize the entirety of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts in 2025. Speaking at a Defense Ministry meeting, Belousov reiterated Russia's commitment to achieving what he described as the "goals announced by President Vladimir Putin in June." "In 2025, Moscow plans to achieve victory in the war," he added. On June 14, Putin stated that Russia would agree to a ceasefire and peace talks only if Ukraine withdrew from the four Ukrainian oblasts and formally abandoned its aspirations to join NATO. A separate priority is, without a doubt, the European Union and everything necessary for Ukraine’s full EU membership. At all levels within the EU – from the highest institutions to civil society leaders – Ukraine’s voice must be strong, clear, and persuasive. We need EU membership. Next year, we must do our utmost to achieve this in the course of negotiations and in building relations with our partners in the EU. This is why Poland's presidency in the EU, and Denmark's in the second half of the year, must become historic for Ukraine..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"President Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris for a trilateral meeting on Dec. 7, as world leaders visited France for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral. The three leaders reportedly spoke for about 35 minute at the Elysee Palace. Zelensky praised the meeting as "productive and meaningful" in a post on social media.. .."
CNN:" An armored vehicle belonging to the UN’s atomic watchdog was hit by a drone strike on its way to inspect a Ukrainian nuclear power plant on Tuesday, in an attack President Volodymyr Zelensky has blamed on Russia. The strike took place as the vehicle traveled in a convoy to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, as part of efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to safeguard the facility amid fears it could be caught in the crossfire of Russia’s war on Ukraine, sparking a nuclear disaster..."
CNN:" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he wants to work “directly” with US President-elect Donald Trump and is open to his ideas, highlighting Kyiv’s eagerness to keep its most important ally onside as Russia intensifies its attacks. “Of course we will work with Trump. I want to work with him directly,” Zelensky said in an interview with Sky News released Friday, adding that he did not want people around Trump to “destroy” their communication. “I want to share with him ideas and I want to hear from him his ideas,” he added..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly held multiple phone conversations with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban since Nov. 5, sources speaking to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Hungarian Service acknowledged. Hungarian government insiders revealed that Trump sought Orban’s opinion on strategies to end the Ukraine war."
NYTIMES"...How is it that Mr. Trump’s open admiration for Mr. Orban was not enough to warn away more American voters? Beyond showering praise on him, Mr. Trump has already ripped pages from Mr. Orban’s playbook: threatening to revoke the broadcast licenses of news channels he derides as “fake,” striving to bypass the Senate’s confirmation process and appointing lackeys to high positions. Expect much more along lines that Mr. Orban has followed as he’s turned Hungary from a fledgling democracy into one of the world’s new authoritarian regimes. Even as American journalists debate whether to take Mr. Trump seriously or literally, I recall Voltaire’s warning, “He who can persuade you to believe absurdities can persuade you to commit atrocities.”..."
YOUTUBE/FREE DOCUMENTARY-HISTORY:"Russia – the largest country on Earth. Misunderstood by many and feared by even more. For the past century, Russian history has been intertwined with the history of its security services, which were used by the Soviet state to crush dissent. Millions suffered at the hands of the most extraordinary and dangerous security network the world has ever known – mass executions, clandestine wars, coups d’état, spies who were capable of stealing the atomic bomb from America, and hacking and poisoning scandals. While many things have changed in modern Russia, the security network is arguably as strong as ever. The reason behind this is the rise of a lowly lieutenant colonel to President of this vast country, Vladimir Putin..."
CNN:"What we're covering • President Vladimir Putin has escalated his threats to countries that allow Ukraine to use their weapons to target Russian territory. He said Moscow was entitled to strike military targets belonging to those countries. • Putin’s warning came after Russia struck the Ukrainian city of Dnipro with a new medium-range ballistic missile that carried multiple warheads. Experts said it was likely the first time that such a weapon had been used in combat. • Putin also said that the regional conflict had taken on “a global nature” after Ukraine targeted Russia this week with missiles made in the US, UK and France. ... Western air defense systems would be able to shoot down warheads from Russia’s new missile, a military analyst told CNN, casting doubt on President Vladimir Putin’s claims that it “cannot be intercepted.” However, Ukraine does not currently possess those air defense systems.In televised comments Friday, Putin claimed the hypersonic ballistic missile known as Oreshnik — fired for the first time at Ukraine on Thursday — could not be intercepted by air defenses. “There are currently no means of countering such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world,” Putin said... Britain’s armed forces would be ready to fight Russia “tonight” if Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded another eastern European country, according to a top UK military official...China has called for restraint in the aftermath of Moscow using a nuclear-capable ballistic missile in a strike on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, and said all parties need to “cool down the situation.”...
CNN:"Top telecom executives met with US national security officials at the White House on Friday as concerns mount over a long-running Chinese cyber-espionage campaign that has targeted some of the most senior US political figures in the country. The hackers burrowed deep into some major US telecom providers to spy on phone calls and text messages and have proved difficult to kick out of some networks, people briefed on the matter said. The meetings were a chance for telecom executives to advise the government on how it could boost its defenses against sophisticated hacks, according to the White House. The groups also shared intelligence on the operation with one another. The hack is shaping up to be one of the biggest cyber and national security challenges facing the incoming Trump administration. It is “by far” the “worst telecom hack in our nation’s history,” Sen. Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia and chairman of the intelligence committee, told CNN. ..."
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"Thank you so much. Thank you very much, dear Roberta, Madam President! Dear ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, our friends, friends of Ukraine! I thank you for supporting Ukraine.... "
"MOSCOW, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks, and Moscow said Ukraine had struck deep inside Russia with U.S.-made ATACMS missiles. Putin approved the change days after two U.S. officials and a source familiar with the decision said on Sunday that U.S. President Joe Biden's administration allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep into Russia.Russia had been warning the West for months that if Washington allowed Ukraine to fire U.S., British and French missiles deep into Russia, Moscow would consider those NATO members to be directly involved in the war in Ukraine. The updated Russian nuclear doctrine, establishing a framework for conditions under which Putin could order a strike from the world's biggest nuclear arsenal, was approved by him on Tuesday, according to a published decree.Analysts said the biggest change was that Russia could consider a nuclear strike in response to a conventional attack on Russia or its ally Belarus that "created a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) their territorial integrity". "The big picture is that Russia is lowering the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a possible conventional attack," said Alexander Graef, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg.The previous doctrine, contained in a 2020 decree, said Russia may use nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatened the existence of the state. The U.S. National Security Council said it had not seen any reason to adjust the U.S. nuclear posture. Together, Russia and the U.S. control 88% of the world's nuclear warheads. Putin is the primary decision-maker on the use of Russia's nuclear arsenal..."
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PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"Prime Minister Orban! President Michel! Dear Leaders! I am glad for this opportunity to meet and work together for Europe and for our nations. Yesterday, I spoke with President Trump, as many of you did. It was a productive conversation, a good conversation. Of course, we cannot yet know what his actions will be. But we do hope that America will become stronger. This is the kind of America that Europe needs. And a strong Europe is what America needs, to my mind. This is the connection between allies that must be valued and cannot be lost. There are many challenges. Since our last meeting in this format, Russia’s war has escalated significantly. And it was Russia that caused this escalation. North Korea is now, in effect, waging war in Europe. North Korean soldiers are attempting to kill our people on European soil. "SOCHI, Russia, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday congratulated Donald Trump on winning the U.S. election, praised him for showing courage when a gunman tried to assassinate him, and said Moscow was ready for dialogue with the Republican president-elect. In his first public remarks since Trump's win, Putin said Trump had acted like a real man during an assassination attempt on him while he was speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July." Reuters headline states Putin said the new world order is underway
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"In his speech declaring victory in the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 6, Donald Trump made no mention of Ukraine yet alluded to just how consequential his second term in office will likely be for the country ravaged by Russia’s invasion. "We had no wars, for four years, we had no wars. Except we defeated ISIS," Trump said in comments referring to his first term as president. "They said ‘he will start a war.’ I’m not going to start a war, I’m going to stop the wars," Trump added. How does Trump plan to stop Russia's war against Ukraine? That's the million-dollar question that is undoubtedly being discussed in capitals worldwide, not least in Kyiv and Moscow..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Beijing was fast at claiming that it had no knowledge of Russia's deepening partnership with North Korea. The U.S. had jumped on the opportunity, hoping to pressure China to dissuade North Korea from taking an active part in Russia's war against Ukraine. Observers, however, are skeptical about China's signals, believing that the deal to deploy North Korean troops on Ukrainian battlefields couldn't have passed without Beijing's knowledge."

CNN:"North Korea said it conducted an intercontinental ballistic missile test on Thursday morning, a launch believed to have achieved the longest flight time yet for a North Korean missile. The test comes just days ahead of the United States presidential election on Tuesday, and follows warnings from South Korea’s intelligence agency that Pyongyang was planning to launch an ICBM testing its reentry technology around the time of the election. The test also comes as North Korea appears to have intensified its nuclear production efforts and strengthened ties with Russia, deepening widespread concern in the West over the isolated nation’s direction..."
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"First, I want to thank the Prime Minister of Iceland for hosting this Summit. Thank you so much for the invitation. The Fourth Ukraine – Nordic Countries Meeting in such a format. It is a successful format to my mind and I’m glad that it is developing. Dear friends! Thank you for your strong support for Ukraine and for upholding the highest standard of principled assistance from your nations. The first thing dictators attack is that – principles. Different 'Putins' around the world undermine principles within their own societies, using propaganda and repression, so that people cannot stand up for what they believe in. And then, when the dictatorship gains strength and has enough resources, it tries to export its lack of principles, creating a gray zone without values next to itself. ..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"KYIV — Russian forces are summarily killing surrendering Ukrainian soldiers in increasing numbers on the battlefield, often shooting them point blank just after they have been taken prisoner, Ukrainian officials say. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, authorities have opened 43 criminal investigations into 113 possible arbitrary killings, with more than a third of those cases registered since the beginning of the year, according to Ukraine’s prosecutor general office. But that does not take into account the more recent spike. “Since the end of last year, the number of such crimes has been steadily increasing,” the prosecutor general’s office said in written comments to The Washington Post. “We receive reports of such killings almost every week.” Over the past weeks, the number of incidents has risen dramatically. ..."
"MOSCOW, Oct 27 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Russia's defence ministry was working on different ways to respond if the United States and its NATO allies help Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with long-range Western missiles. The 2-1/2-year-old Ukraine war has triggered the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the depths of the Cold War, and Russian officials say the war is now entering its most dangerous phase.Russia has been signalling to the United States and its allies for weeks that if they give permission to Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory with Western-supplied missiles, then Moscow will consider it a major escalation. Putin said on Sept. 12 that Western approval for such a step would mean "the direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States and European countries in the war in Ukraine" because NATO military infrastructure and personnel would have to be involved in the targeting and firing of the missiles..."
CNN:"The thousands of North Korean troops US intelligence says arrived in Russia for training this month have sparked concern they will be deployed to bolster Moscow’s battlefront in Ukraine. They’ve also turned up alarm from the United States and its allies that growing coordination between anti-West countries is creating a much broader, urgent security threat – one where partnerships of convenience are evolving into more outright military ties. ..."
"LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - As U.S. election jitters hung over this week's meeting of global finance chiefs in Washington, a smiling Vladimir Putin was in the Russian city of Kazan welcoming leaders of countries which together make up nearly half the world's population. The BRICS club of emerging economies may be a long way from rivalling the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or challenging U.S. dollar dominance. But the first summit with its new batch of members showed clear signs of its growing weight. The final communique was long on words and short on detail about creating new payment and trade mechanisms which could by-pass Western-dominated structures - including, notably in Russia's case, sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine. But the summit scored a series of diplomatic wins: the presence of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and of Tayyip Erdogan, president of NATO member Turkey, which has expressed interest in joining the BRICS group. India and China chose the summit to profile new efforts to nurture ties.For Putin, the simple fact that so many leaders travelled to Russia for the talks was useful in countering the narrative that his country faces isolation from the global economy. "They (Western capitals) are not getting the importance of this thing," said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, a senior fellow at the Bruegel economic think tank. "It's all signalling that the West is losing power."..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT"Russia is helping Pyongyang evade sanctions and develop its nuclear capabilities in return for North Korean troops and missiles, Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov told The Economist in comments published on Oct. 22. Budanov previously revealed that close to 11,000 North Korean troops are already in Russia and will be ready to fight by Nov. 1. The move would signal deepening military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, with North Korea already providing Russia with artillery shells and ballistic missiles for war against Ukraine. Russia's support in nuclear capabilities includes providing technologies for smaller tactical nuclear weapons and submarine missile-launch systems, Budanov claimed. The sanctions evasion can also be vital for North Korea, which faces heavy economic restrictions over its nuclear program. Russia has blocked the renewal of a U.N. monitoring program overseeing Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile development..."
"KAZAN, Russia, Oct 22 (Reuters) - India's Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin on the eve of the BRICS summit that he wanted peace in Ukraine and that New Delhi was ready to help achieve a truce to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two. Putin, who ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, wants the BRICS summit to showcase the rising clout of the non-Western world after the United States and its European and Asian allies tried to isolate Russia over the war."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Close to 11,000 North Korean troops are in Russia and will be "ready to fight" in Ukraine by Nov. 1, Ukrainian military intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov said in comments published by the War Zone on Oct. 17. Budanov said the first group of 2,600 soldiers will be deployed to Russia's Kursk Oblast, where Ukraine began a cross-border incursion in August and still holds significant swathes of territory. The troops will be using Russian equipment and ammunition, but further information is currently unknown. "We don't have the full picture right now," Budanov said. Concerns about North Korea's direct involvement in Russia's full-scale war have reached a fever pitch in recent days. Speaking at a press conference in Brussels on Oct. 17, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia is planning to train and engage not only infantry but also North Korean specialists in various branches of the military. "We know about 10,000 soldiers from North Korea they are preparing to send to fight against us," he added. The Kyiv Independent contacted the President's Office to ask about the discrepancy between Budanov's and Zelensky's figures, but had not received a response at the time of publication. South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said on Oct. 18 that Pyongyang had recently decided to deploy 12,000 North Korean soldiers, including special forces, to support Russia's war effort. The NIS did not say if the troops had already been sent into the field or where they might be deployed. At the same time, Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said on Oct. 17 that he "can't confirm whether there are North Korean forces that have gone to Russia" but added that the U.S. would "continue to monitor" the situation. If the reports were true, it would "demonstrate the situation that Russia finds itself in, the dire situation that it finds itself in, in terms of its forces on the battlefield." "And so it just demonstrates the desperation in terms of identifying additional forces for their military," Ryder added. .."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"North Korea has sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia to boost its war efforts against Ukraine, a Western diplomat familiar with the matter told the Kyiv Independent on Oct. 15. Concerns over the deepening military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang have escalated dramatically this week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 13 that Russia's plans for supporting its full-scale invasion of Ukraine would this autumn include "the actual involvement of North Korea in the war." The Western diplomat told the Kyiv Independent that it’s unclear what kind of soldiers they are or what their roles were. The Kyiv Independent contacted Ukraine's Foreign Ministry but did not receive a reply at the time of publication. Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) declined to comment. As Russia and North Korea deepen military ties, Western diplomats and experts stress that it shows Moscow's increasing need for resources to continue waging its costly war in Ukraine. “It’s a clear indicator how far Russia and its military have fallen over the last 2.5 years that it’s having to beg, borrow and buy support from North Korea,” John Foreman CBE, the U.K.’s former defense attache in Moscow from 2019 to 2022, told the Kyiv Independent.Earlier this year, the two countries signed a mutual defense pact during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Pyongyang. .."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"President Volodymyr Zelensky on Oct. 14 said that Russia plans to involve North Korea directly in the full-scale war against Ukraine over the coming months. ... The previous day, Zelensky warned of Russia's "increasing alliance" with North Korea, stressing it had moved beyond the supply of just weaponry and was now "actually about transferring people from North Korea to the occupying military forces." The president's warning followed reports that several North Korean officers had been killed in a Ukrainian missile strike in occupied Ukraine, raising speculation about just how involved Pyongyang currently is in Russia’s full-scale invasion.."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Russian pro-war milbloggers have reacted to yet more reports of Ukrainian POWs being executed by Moscow’s forces by seeking to justify the killings, while some have even called for more. In the latest case of what appears to be an increasingly common occurrence, Russian troops reportedly shot dead nine Ukrainian drone operators who surrendered near the village of Zeleny Shlyakh in Russia’s Kursk Oblast on Oct. 10..."
"MOSCOW, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Russia's Vladimir Putin held talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday in Turkmenistan, where the two leaders hailed their countries growing economic ties and similar views on world affairs, an entente viewed with concern by the United States. At odds with Washington and the European Union over Russia's war in Ukraine, something he casts as part of a wider existential struggle against an arrogant and self-interested West - Putin is keen to deepen ties with what he calls the Global East and Global South.Putin, whose country is hosting a summit of the BRICS nations in Kazan on Oct. 22-24, invited Pezeshkian to come to Russia on an official visit, a proposal the Iranian leader accepted according to Russia's state RIA news agency...."
KYIVINDEPENDENT: "Ukraine should receive the first Mirage 2000 fighter jets from France in the first quarter of 2025, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Oct. 8. French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled in June that Paris would provide Kyiv with an unspecified number of Mirage 2000-5 planes to boost its airpower. The planes "will be equipped with new equipment: air-to-ground combat capabilities and anti-electronic warfare defense," Lecornu noted. .."
CNN/REUTERS:"President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it was struck with conventional missiles, and that Moscow would consider any assault on it supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack. The decision to change Russia’s official nuclear doctrine is the Kremlin’s answer to deliberations in the United States and Britain about whether or not to give Ukraine permission to fire conventional Western missiles into Russia. Putin, opening a meeting of Russia’s Security Council, said that the changes were in response to a swiftly changing global landscape which had thrown up new threats and risks for Russia."
CNN:" The North American Aerospace Defense Command says it detected four Russian military aircraft flying near Alaska on Monday, less than two weeks after US Army soldiers were deployed to the area as part of a “force protection operation” amid an increase in Russian and Chinese military exercises in the region..."
CNN:"...Dubbed “Ocean-2024,” the seven days of drills that ended Monday are the latest in a recent slew of military exercises and joint patrols between Russia and China that come on the heels of vows from Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to tighten military cooperation, even as the Kremlin wages its war against Ukraine. China sent several warships and 15 aircraft to waters off Russia’s Far East coast for Ocean-2024, according to the Russian military. In addition, Chinese and Russian forces this month touted deepened strategic coordination during joint naval drills in waters near Japan and held their fifth joint maritime patrol in the northern Pacific..." Meanwhile, ..."The North American Aerospace Defense command intercepted Russian military aircraft flying near Alaska four times over the last week in what appears to be an uptick in activity amid tensions between the US and Russia."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"“Russian intelligence is everywhere. And its propaganda is everywhere, not only in Estonia but all over the world,” Estonian President Alar Karis told the Kyiv Independent during an interview on the sidelines of the 20th annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) Conference in Kyiv. Russia has been actively meddling in the domestic affairs of the Baltic states."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"While the Russian advance on Pokrovsk had slightly slowed down in recent days, Vuhledar, in the southern part of Donetsk Oblast, became a new focal point of the ongoing Russian offensive. Located 50 kilometers south of Pokrovsk, Vuhledar is often referred to as a "fortress" among the military and has been under consistent Russian attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. As part of the most recent wave of offensives in Donetsk Oblast, Russian troops resumed their assault on the city...."
"MOSCOW, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, responding to a question about the potential delivery of long-range U.S. missiles to Ukraine, warned the United States on Wednesday not to joke about Russia's "red lines". Lavrov said the U.S. was losing sight of the sense of mutual deterrence that had underpinned the balance of security between Moscow and Washington since the Cold War, and that this was dangerous. It was the second time in just over a week that Lavrov has cautioned the U.S. that a third world war would not be confined to Europe...." COMMENT: THE PUTIN REGIME IS A CRIMINAL TERRORIST IMPERIALIST FASCIST ORGANIZATION THAT HAS CROSSED ALL LINES OF HUMAN DECENCY
CNN:" A Russian strike against a military educational facility in Poltava, central Ukraine, has killed 41 people and injured more than 180 others, the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday. The incident is one of the deadliest single attacks on Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Zelensky said that according to preliminary information, two ballistic missiles hit the facility and a nearby hospital on Tuesday morning. .."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"At least seven civilians were killed and 47 were wounded in Lviv in the early hours of Sept. 4 amid Russia's attack against Ukraine, Lviv Oblast authorities reported. Children were among the casualties. Several explosions were heard in the city amid a nationwide air raid alert as Russia launched drones and missiles against the country. Multiple casualties were reported also in Kryvyi Rih. Explosions were heard in other cities overnight, including Kyiv, Sumy, Lutsk, and Rivne. The fatalities in Lviv included two girls aged 9 and 14, another child, a 50-year-old nurse at a local clinic, and a man, authorities said. There are seven children among the wounded, including a 10-year-old boy. Some 47 people have been hospitalized as a result of the attack, of whom seven are in critical condition, Governor Maksym Kozytskyi reported."
"KYIV, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Loud explosions rocked Ukraine's capital Kyiv early on Monday as Russia launched a barrage of missiles, sparking fires and damaging homes and infrastructure, officials said. Residents across the city were awoken by a quick succession of bangs and the sound of air defence missiles blasting off skyward to intercept targets."
"WASHINGTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Two U.S. researchers say they have identified the probable deployment site in Russia of the 9M370 Burevestnik, a new nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile touted by President Vladimir Putin as "invincible." Putin has said the weapon - dubbed the SSC-X-9 Skyfall by NATO - has an almost unlimited range and can evade U.S. missile defenses. But some Western experts dispute his claims and the Burevestnik's strategic value, saying it will not add capabilities that Moscow does not already have and risks a radiation-spewing mishap."
"KYIV, Aug 29 (Reuters) - One of Ukraine's F-16 fighter jets crashed while repelling a major Russian attack on Monday, Kyiv's military said, the first such loss reported since the long-awaited arrival of the U.S.-made planes this month. The jet came down and its pilot died while it was approaching a Russian target, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Thursday on Facebook.... "
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"The Kursk operation is Ukraine's right of self-defense, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said ahead of an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Aug. 29. As Kyiv's incursion into Kursk Oblast entered its fourth week, Ukraine is in control of 1,294 square kilometers (around 500 square miles) and 100 settlements, including the town of Sudzha, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Aug. 27. The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims. According to Braze, Ukraine's right of self-defense is covered by Article 51 of the U.N. Charter the UN Charter includes Kyiv's right to strike at military targets on Russian soil. "And Ukrainians have been very, very careful and very, very diligent in not going after civilians (in Kursk Oblast), in not doing what Russians have been doing on the Ukrainian territory," the minister said. "This is the normal military counteractions, so this counteroffensive, in our view, is also covered by the right of self-defense."
"MOSCOW, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Russia said the West was playing with fire by considering allowing Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with Western missiles and cautioned the United States on Tuesday that World War Three would not be confined to Europe. Ukraine attacked Russia's western Kursk region on Aug. 6 and has carved out a slice of territory in the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War Two. President Vladimir Putin said there would be a worthy response from Russia to the attack. Sergei Lavrov, who has served as Putin's foreign minister for more than 20 years, said that the West was seeking to escalate the Ukraine war and was "asking for trouble" by considering Ukrainian requests to loosen curbs on using foreign-supplied weapons.Since invading Ukraine in 2022, Putin has repeatedly warned of the risk of a much broader war involving the world's biggest nuclear powers, though he has said Russia does not want a conflict with the U.S.-led NATO alliance."We are now confirming once again that playing with fire - and they are like small children playing with matches - is a very dangerous thing for grown-up uncles and aunts who are entrusted with nuclear weapons in one or another Western country," Lavrov told reporters in Moscow. "Americans unequivocally associate conversations about Third World War as something that, God forbid, if it happens, will affect Europe exclusively," Lavrov said..."COMMENT: THE PUTIN REGIME IS AN IMPERIALIST FASCIST TERRORIST GANGSTER ORGANIZATION WORKING WITH ITS ALLIES AND PROXIES TO SPREAD ITS MURDEROUS CANCER IN UKRAINE, EUROPE, THE MIDDLE EAST, ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA
"KYIV, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Russia launched several waves of missile and drone attacks targeting scores of Ukrainian regions and killing at least four people, Ukraine's military said early on Tuesday, a day after Moscow's biggest air attack of the war on its neighbour. Two people were killed when a hotel was "wiped out" in the central Ukraine city of Kryvyi Rih, regional officials said. Two died in drone attacks on the city of Zaporizhzhia, east of Kryvyi Rih. Kyiv region's air defence systems were deployed several times overnight to repel missiles and drones targeting the Ukrainian capital, the region's military administration said on Telegram. Reuters' witnesses reported at least three rounds of explosions overnight in Kyiv. On Monday, Russia launched more than 200 missiles and drones, killing at least seven and damaging energy infrastructure in an attack condemned by U.S. President Joe Biden as "outrageous"
CNN:"...“The bombing was everywhere around us, all night. Our house is still intact, but it won’t be for long. Everything else has been damaged,” Halyna told CNN. “Our soldiers came and took us away,” she added. A nurse and a miner, the couple are among tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing Pokrovsk and the surrounding towns as it becomes more and more likely that the city could become the next key battleground of the war in Ukraine. Russian forces have been inching toward the city for weeks, but the situation has become critical in recent days. Moscow has been pushing hard to capture Pokrovsk even as it struggles to contain the Ukrainian incursion in the Kursk border region.Pokrovsk is a strategic target for Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that his goal is to seize all of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Pokrovsk sits on a key supply road that connects it with other military hubs, and forms the backbone of Ukrainian defenses in the part of Donetsk region that is still under Kyiv’s control..."
CNN:"US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East and accelerated the arrival of a carrier strike group to the region ahead of an anticipated Iranian attack against Israel, the Pentagon said in a statement Sunday evening. The USS Georgia, a nuclear-powered submarine armed with cruise missiles, was operating in the Mediterranean Sea in recent days, according to the Navy, having just completed training near Italy. Austin ordered the submarine into the waters of the Middle East, the Pentagon said. The movement of US missile submarines is rarely revealed publicly, and the nuclear-powered vessels operate in near-complete secrecy. The announcement of a submarine’s movement is a clear message of deterrence to Iran and its proxies, who the US and Israel believe are preparing for a potential large-scale attack on Israel..."
KYIV-INDEPENDENT:"Russia will receive hundreds of Fath-360 and other ballistic missiles from Iran in the near future following an agreement signed in December 2023 between Moscow and Tehran, intelligence sources revealed to Reuters on Aug. 9."
TIMES OF INDIA:"Russia has reportedly transferred advanced missile systems to Iran amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. This significant arms deal includes Iskander missiles and Murmansk-BN systems, capable of suppressing satellite communications over vast distances."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Russian sovereign territory is once again under attack after Ukrainian forces launched an ambitious operation across the state border in Kursk Oblast in large numbers on Aug. 6. This time, the attack is led not primarily by small units of pro-Ukraine Russian nationals and other assorted foreign formations, like in the numerous incursions conducted over 2023 and early 2024. As of the second day of the incursion, a mix of sources, including the Russian Defense Ministry itself have reported a larger offensive involving a Ukrainian force likely numbering hundreds of troops and dozens of vehicles strong. The attack comes at a tumultuous stage in the war, as, hundreds of kilometers to the south, Ukrainian forces continue a desperate defense against relentless Russian attacks on multiple sectors of the front line in Donetsk Oblast..."
CNN:" The US is sending a carrier strike group, a fighter squadron and additional warships to the Middle East as the region braces for an Iranian retaliation to the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Tehran earlier this week. It is perhaps the largest movement of US forces to the region since the early days of the Gaza war, when the Pentagon sent two carrier strike groups toward the Middle East in a very public warning to regional militant groups not to expand the fighting...."
WASHINGTON-POST:"When President Biden said he was dropping his reelection bid, the sudden upheaval in U.S. politics came as a blow for many in the Russian elite who closely track relations between Moscow and the West. Biden’s withdrawal in favor of Vice President Harris has upended a race that the Kremlin and its backers believed Donald Trump could win, creating “a window of opportunity” to settle the war in Ukraine on Russia’s aggressive, expansionist terms, according to analysts and current and former Russian officials."
"LONDON/WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) - North Korean hackers have conducted a global cyber espionage campaign in efforts to steal classified military secrets to support Pyongyang's banned nuclear weapons programme, the United States, Britain and South Korea said in a joint advisory on Thursday."
"SEOUL, Aug 1 (Reuters) - North Korea wants to reopen nuclear talks with the United States if Donald Trump is re-elected as president and is working to devise a new negotiating strategy, a senior North Korean diplomat who recently defected to South Korea told Reuters. The escape of Ri Il Gyu from Cuba made headlines globally last month. He was the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to defect to the South since 2016. In his first interview with international media, Ri said North Korea has set Russia, the U.S. and Japan as its top foreign policy priorities for this year and beyond.While bolstering relations with Russia, Pyongyang was keen to reopen nuclear negotiations if Trump - who engaged in both fiery brinkmanship and unprecedented diplomacy with North Korea during his previous term - won re-election in November, Ri said. "
"WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - The United States will start deploying longer range missiles in Germany in 2026, the two countries announced at a meeting of the NATO alliance on Tuesday, a major step aimed at countering what the allies say is a growing threat Russia poses to Europe. The decision will send Germany the most potent U.S. weapons to be based on the European continent since the Cold War, in a clear warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin. A U.S.-German statement said the "episodic deployments" were in preparation for longer-term stationing in Europe of capabilities that would include SM-6, Tomahawk and developmental hypersonic weapons with greater range. The move would have been banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by the U.S. and the Soviet Union in 1987 but that collapsed in 2019. "We cannot discount the possibility of an attack against Allies’ sovereignty and territorial integrity," the allies said in a communique released on Wednesday..."
ABCNEWS:"UNITED NATIONS -- Russia’s foreign minister accused the United States on Tuesday of holding the entire West “at gunpoint” and impeding international cooperation, a claim the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations denounced as “hypocrisy” by a country that invaded neighboring Ukraine...."
SWISSINFO.CH:"July 11, 2024 - 10:22 1 minute MOSCOW (Reuters) – Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday denounced NATO’s summit promise to grant eventual membership to Ukraine and said Russia should work towards the “disappearance” of both Ukraine and the military alliance....”
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"GENEVA, July 9 (Reuters) - A lethal strike on a children's hospital in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, was likely caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile, the head of the U.N. human rights monitoring mission said on Tuesday, citing its own analysis. The strike in broad daylight was part of a series of attacks that killed at least 41 people across Ukraine, including children. The Kremlin said it was Ukrainian anti-missile fire, not Russia, that struck the hospital."
CNN:" A court in Moscow has ordered Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of late Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny, to be arrested in absentia, her spokesperson said Tuesday. The Basmanny District Court in Moscow accused Navalnaya of “participation in an extremist organization,” her spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said in a post on social media. She has also been added to an international wanted list, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti."
MSN/NEWSWEEK:"Belarus on Sunday issued a nuclear threat amid rising tensions at its border with Ukraine. The country will be prepared to use nonstrategic nuclear weapons if its sovereignty and independence are threatened, said Pavel Muraveiko. He was appointed chief of the general staff of country's armed forces and first deputy minister in May."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Dmitry Rogozin, a Russian official heading the Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, said on June 27 that it is time to burn everything Ukrainian down to the root" so that "there is no trace left."(Emphasis added) Rogozin's comments were the latest in a long series of genocidal comments directed at Ukraine made by Russian officials and propagandists, a trend that has only increased since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The genocidal intent of Russia's aggression toward Ukraine has manifested in war crimes and indiscriminate violence directed at Ukrainian civilians, but also in the denial and distortion of history, attempts to erase Ukrainian culture, and the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children."
THEGUARDIAN:"Trump handed plan to halt US military aid to Kyiv unless it talks peace with Moscow(Emphasis added) Two key advisers to Donald Trump have presented him with a plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine - if he wins the presidential election - that involves telling Ukraine it will only get more US weapons if it enters into peace talks. The United States would at the same time warn Moscow that any refusal to negotiate would result in increased US support for Ukraine, retired Lt Gen Keith Kellogg, one of Trump’s national security advisers, said in an interview...However, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said only statements made by Trump or authorised members of his campaign should be deemed official, Reuters reported. The strategy outlined by Kellogg and Fleitz is the most detailed plan yet by associates of Trump, who has said he could quickly settle the war in Ukraine if he beats President Joe Biden in the November election, though he has not discussed specifics. The proposal would mark a big shift in the US position on the war and would face opposition from European allies and within Trump’s own Republican party..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Russian President Vladimir Putin said on June 14 that Moscow would only cease fire and enter peace talks if Ukraine withdraws from the four Ukrainian regions claimed – but not fully controlled – by the Kremlin. Speaking on the eve of the global peace summit in Switzerland on June 15-16, Putin said his terms were "very simple," before saying Ukraine's troops must leave Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, and Kyiv must abandon any ambition to join NATO. The demands also include the recognition of Crimea and Sevastopol as "subjects of the Russian Federation."
REUTERS:"SEOUL/MOSCOW, June 18 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed on Tuesday to deepen trade and security ties with North Korea and to support it against the United States, as he headed to the reclusive nuclear-armed country for the first time in 24 years. The U.S. and its Asian allies are trying to work out just how far Russia will go in support of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whose country is the only one to have conducted nuclear weapon tests in the 21st century..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"...The Kyiv Independent spoke with Nad about Slovakia’s turn away from Ukraine, political processes inside the country, and the future of pro-Russian political advances across Europe...Jaroslav Nad: It is extremely difficult to fight against Russian involvement, which is illegal and non-democratic, using whatever tools it can. If you try to ban a Russian channel, or any propaganda with Russian connections on a European or national level, Russia will scream that it is against human rights and freedom of speech...which in reality means that they would like to see Russian propaganda spread across the country because that means support for their parties...The whole of Europe should be very careful; many of those parties have clear links to Russia. For example, Le Pen's party: in the past, it was proved that they were receiving millions and millions of euros from Russia, and other parties with similar links are also present in the election campaign. There were several examples of politicians from Western European countries and also from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, and other countries, who were meeting with Russian officials. Some of them were receiving illegal campaign money from Russia, that's the reality we have to face. If we want to keep the European continent free from injustice and achieve peace, we need to fight Russian hybrid warfare as much as we can, using all the tools that we have..."
MSN/BUSINESS INSIDER:"Although they are members of NATO and the EU, the Baltics are in a precarious position. Bordering Russia or its ally Belarus, they are small and were part of the Soviet Union until its collapse. Furthermore, over 20% of the population of Estonia and Latvia and 5% of Lithuania are ethnically Russian. All of this has put them in Moscow's crosshairs. Russia seems to be employing unconventional methods against them that blur the line between war and peace and fall into what is called the "gray zone." . .."
AP: "ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets in response to NATO allies allowing Ukraine to use their arms to attack Russian territory. Putin also reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to use nuclear weapons if it sees a threat to its sovereignty. The recent actions by the West will further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems,” he said, taking questions from international journalists — something that has become extremely rare since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine. “That would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way,” Putin added."

APNEWS:"Russian warships conducted drills in the Atlantic, the military said Tuesday, as they were heading to visit Cuba, part of Moscow’s efforts to project power amid the tensions with the West over Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said the Admiral Gorshkov frigate and the Kazan nuclear-powered submarine conducted the exercise that was intended to simulate a missile strike on a group of enemy ships. The ministry said the drills involved computer simulation of an attack on sea targets more than 600 kilometers (over 320 nautical miles) away. The Admiral Gorshkov is armed with new Zircon hypersonic missiles. The weapon has been designed to arm Russian cruisers, frigates and submarines and could be used against both enemy ships and ground targets. Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted Zircon as a potent weapon capable of penetrating any existing anti-missile defenses by flying nine times faster than the speed of sound at a range of more than 1,000 kilometers (over 620 miles). The Admiral Gorshkov and the Kazan are accompanied by two support vessels on their visit to Havana, which Cuban officials said reflected “historically friendly relations” between Russia and Cuba.The Cuban Foreign Ministry said the Russian warships will be in Havana between Wednesday and June 17, noting that none will carry nuclear weapons and assuring their presence “does not represent a threat to the region. ..."
CNN:"The USS Helena, a fast-attack nuclear submarine, surfaced in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a day after Russian naval forces arrived in Havana to conduct drills with the island nation, a Russian ally. In a statement posted on X, US Southern Command said, “The fast-attack submarine USS Helena is in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as part of a routine port visit as it transits the U.S. Southern Command geographic area of responsibility while conducting its global maritime security and national defense mission.” The specific movements of Navy submarines are highly classified and are rarely disclosed publicly..."
NYTIMES:"A senior Biden administration official warned on Friday that “absent a change” in nuclear strategy by China and Russia, the United States may be forced to expand its nuclear arsenal, after decades of cutting back through now largely abandoned arms control agreements. The comments on Friday from Pranay Vaddi, a senior director of the National Security Council, were the most explicit public warning yet that the United States was prepared to shift from simply modernizing its arsenal to expanding it. They were also a warning to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia about the likely U.S. reaction if the last major nuclear arms control agreement, called New START, expires in February 2026 with no replacement..."
WASHINGTONPOST:Russia’s Foreign Ministry has been drawing up plans to try to weaken its Western adversaries, including the United States, and leverage the Ukraine war to forge a global order free from what it sees as American dominance, according to a secret Foreign Ministry document. Russia is seeking to subvert Western support for Ukraine and disrupt the domestic politics of the United States and European countries, through propaganda campaigns supporting isolationist and extremist policies, according to Kremlin documents previously reported on by The Post. It is also seeking to refashion geopolitics, drawing closer to China, Iran and North Korea in an attempt to shift the current balance of power..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"Rep. Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio), who chairs the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Sunday that it was “absolutely true” that some Republican members of Congress were repeating Russian propaganda about the invasion of Ukraine instigated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.Turner did not specify which members he was referring to, but he said he agreed with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), who said in an interview with Puck News last week that Russian propaganda had “infected a good chunk of my party’s base” and suggested that conservative media was to blame..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"Former president Donald Trump has privately said he could end Russia’s war in Ukraine by pressuring Ukraine to give up some territory, according to people familiar with the plan. Some foreign policy experts said Trump’s idea would reward Russian President Vladimir Putin and condone the violation of internationally recognized borders by force."
" KYIV-INDEPENDENT:"French President Emmanuel Macron was left on his lonesome by his fellow European allies after saying that the possibility of sending Western troops on the ground in Ukraine should not be “ruled out” in the future. Macron made the remarks on Feb. 26 at a gathering of 20 European heads of state and other Western officials at an allied conference in Paris to reaffirm support for Ukraine as Russia’s war against the country enters its third year. ...

CNN:"It’s a scenario that’s playing out up and down the front lines in Ukraine. As the United States Congress stalls on US President Joe Biden’s request for an additional $60 billion in security assistance for Kyiv, Ukrainian commanders are facing tough choices on how to use the dwindling stockpiles of ammunition. ..."
KYIV-INDEPENDENT:"Almost immediately following the end of the EuroMaidan Revolution in Ukraine in February 2014, Russia swiftly moved to annex and occupy the Crimean Peninsula. Within a couple of months, unrest erupted in eastern Ukraine followed by Russian-backed militias taking over administrative buildings. The events mark the start of Russia's 10-year invasion and occupation of Ukraine that continues to this day. .."
NEWSWEEK:"The head of Polish military counterintelligence has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is already prepared for a small operation against NATO frontier states in northeastern Europe, as the alliance seeks to deter aggression from Moscow while bolstering Ukraine against the ongoing Russian invasion. "Putin is certainly already prepared for some mini-operation against one of the Baltic countries," Jarosław Stróżyk, who was appointed to lead the Polish military counterintelligence service in March—told the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna publication..."
BLOOMBERG:"German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned of the dangers of a Russian victory if Ukraine’s allies don’t increase military support and financial aid, ahead of a meeting with US President Joe Biden. “Make no mistake: A Russian victory in Ukraine would not only be the end of Ukraine as a free, democratic and independent state, it would also dramatically change the face of Europe,” Scholz wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. "COMMENT:SEND NATO FORCES IN AND PUSH THE RUSSIANS OUT
CNN:"President Joe Biden on Tuesday slammed Donald Trump after the former president said he would encourage Russia to invade countries that don’t meet their NATO obligations, saying such comments amount to bowing down to Vladimir Putin."

WASHINGTONPOST:"...Capturing Avdiivka would mark Moscow’s most significant battlefield victory since the failure of a Ukrainian counteroffensive last year — and would be the clearest sign yet that Russian forces are regaining the initiative as Kyiv runs short of soldiers, weapons, ammunition, morale and money..."COMMENT: THIS IS ON TRUMP AND HIS MINIONS
BBC:"The UN's top court has said it has jurisdiction to hear a case brought against Russia by Ukraine. Kyiv brought the case at The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ), days after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Kyiv accuses Moscow of falsely using genocide law to justify its brutal invasion which continues..."
THE-GUARDIAN:" Rishi Sunak pledges £2.5bn in military aid to Ukraine during Kyiv visit UK prime minister also signs multi-year security treaty with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, calling it ‘a strong signal to Putin’ "
THE-KYIV-INDEPENDENT:"As sanctions bite, Russia eyes Ukraine’s mineral resources to fund its invasion. Russia's 2024 federal budget brought little in the way of surprises, the country is gearing up for a long war...."
MSN/NEWSWEEK:"A top Ukrainian military official has issued a desperate plea for resources as Russia gains momentum in its war against Ukraine...."
BUSINESS-INSIDER:"The Kremlin has been painting a rosy picture of the country's economy even amid a swathe of Western sanctions — but "the real situation is bad," Igor Lipsits, a prominent Russian economist, told Reuters. ..."
THE-KYIV-INDEPENDENT:"Along with war crimes, such as torture, rape, and executions, Russia has also taken civilian hostages in the areas it has occupied, at times transferring them to prisons both in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory and Russia for reasons unknown. The hostages include people taken off the streets, psychiatric patients, and inmates of Ukrainian prisons now under Russian-occupied territories..."
THE-KYIV-INDEPENDENT:"Russia launched a record number of drones into Ukraine over the course of six hours on Holodomor Memorial Day on Nov. 25. According to the Kyiv City Military Administration, "this was the largest drone attack since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.".."
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"...Ladies and gentlemen! Next Monday will mark the six hundredth day of our resistance to Russia's full-scale aggression against our people, against Ukraine. And today, no one can say for sure how many more days we will have to defend our independence and identity. But we can already say several things, which are important. First: Putin will not achieve Ukraine. Second: Russia cannot afford a new arms race. And third: democracy can win this battle. It is necessary not only for our country, but for every nation, for the whole world...."

CNN:"All 27 EU member states have dispatched officials to a key meeting in Kyiv on Monday, a European Union official told CNN. .. The bloc convened in the Ukrainian capital to reaffirm their support for Kyiv amid Russia's invasion...."

"Sept 7 (Reuters)
...Rudenko, a former Russian military psychologist, was arrested for a sixth time on July 21 - this time for allegedly justifying terrorism on the internet, a more serious crime punishable by up to seven years in prison, according to court records, which give no further details about his alleged offence pending a trial.Three Russian human rights lawyers described Rudenko's experience as an example of "carousel arrests" ..."
CNN:"Russia's conditions to revive the Black Sea grain deal amount to "blackmail," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told national news agency Ukrinform on Monday. The deal "must be restored," but not "at the expense of blackmail and fulfilling Russia’s whims," he said. "
NYTIMES:"Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, plans to travel to Russia this month to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin to discuss the possibility of supplying Russia with more weaponry for its war in Ukraine and other military cooperation, according to American and allied officials. "
CNN:"“What is going on now is simply the genocide of the Ukrainian people. Both Ukrainian and Russian. The motivation for my action was to not contribute to these crimes. Ukraine will unequivocally win this war simply because the people are very united. Before they were not like this, but now they are very unified. The whole world is helping them, because first and foremost, human life should be valued." The pilot also urged other Russians in the military to defect to Ukraine." The pilot, Maksim Kuzmov was found shot dead in Spain "...Ukrainska Pravda and other outlets reported on Feb.19..."
CNN:" Ukraine’s Security Service says it has identified a Russian commander who is accused of giving orders to shoot civilians. The SBU announced in a statement on Thursday that it is investigating Vadym Ovchinnikov, the commander of a Russian intelligence group, who it alleges ordered the shooting of a Ukrainian family during the occupation of the town of Bucha in March of 2022.
CNN:"...Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky put it bluntly on Monday, when he thanked Denmark for pledging to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, which the Netherlands also agreed to give Ukraine. “All of Russia’s neighbors are under threat,” he said, “if Ukraine does not prevail.” He will find few who disagree among those neighbors....”
..."
CNN:"NATO allies on Tuesday reaffirmed their support for Ukraine’s push for membership of the alliance, according to a final declaration issued by the 31-member group at a summit in Lithuania. “Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” it said. .."
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"In the Republic of Lithuania, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska took part in an event organized as part of the "Raising the Flag for Ukraine in NATO" campaign...”
CNN:"US President Joe Biden and his British counterpart, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, touted their "unwavering support" for Ukraine and shared condemnation of Moscow's "brutal aggression" as they met in Washington, DC, Thursday..."
NEWSWEEK:"British officials are now a "legitimate military target" for Moscow, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday, responding to remarks from the U.K.'s foreign secretary that Ukraine has the right to strike military targets inside Russian territory..."
CNN:"The Russian Foreign Ministry called on senior US diplomats on Friday to express "strong protest" over US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan's remarks about Ukrainian strikes on Crimea, after he said the US has not placed limitations on Kyiv to hit its territory. The ministry called Sullivan's remarks in an interview with CNN on Sunday "unacceptable."
CNN:"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked President Biden Sunday for the “powerful” financial assistance provided by the US, which totals $37 billion, and for the new military assistance package, according to a readout from the president’s office. "
CNN:"British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has underscored his country’s support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia, saying “Ukraine’s security is our security.” .."
CNN:"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in the United Kingdom to meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, 10 Downing Street said in a statement Monday.. .."
CNN:Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with his French counterpart in Paris on Sunday, the latest stop on his tour of European capitals providing Kyiv with weapons.
CNN:"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that Russia is seeking to destroy values of freedom in Ukraine because it is afraid of the country’s path to the European Union. "We Europeans cherish our liberty, our democracy, our freedom of thought and speech," von der Leyen said alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a visit to Kyiv to mark Europe Day.
CNN:"Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said NATO countries must prepare for a long war in Ukraine, calling on allies to increase defense spending. “Russia has prepared for a long confrontation and so must we,” Kallas tweeted on Wednesday.... "
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"The leaders condemned in the strongest possible terms the illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked aggression by Russia against Ukraine..."
Meanwhile,"[a] day after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a harsher crackdown on internal “enemies,” authorities raided the homes of activists from the Russian human rights organization Memorial, which was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year."
ICC:"Today, 17 March 2023, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “the Court”) issued warrants of arrest for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine: Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.... "
WASHINGTONPOST:"Poland plans to give Ukraine Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets, becoming the first NATO country to provide long-sought warplanes since the Russian invasion began last year, Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a news conference Thursday.
The first four are set to arrive in the coming days. Western governments had thus far declined to send fighter jets out of concern over escalating tensions between NATO and Russia."

CNN:"US President Joe Biden made an unannounced trip to Kyiv early Monday for the first time since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago..."
EUROPEAN-PARLIAMENT:
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed MEPs in a formal sitting in Brussels on 9th of February 2023. In his speech, President Zelenskyy stressed how Russia is trying to annihilate not only sovereign Ukraine, but also the European “way of life”. ..."

CNN:"The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has voted unanimously to demand the creation of a special international tribunal to prosecute Russian and Belarusian political and military leaders “for the crime of aggression in Ukraine,” according to a statement published Thursday. PACE, composed of members appointed by the national parliaments of the Council's 46 member states, proposes a tribunal in The Hague “to prosecute Russian and Belarusian political and military leaders who planned, prepared, initiated or executed Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”
CNN:"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska that the alliance's support for her nation is "unwavering," as world leaders and policymakers gathered at the World Economic Forum Tuesday..."
"KYIV, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Ukraine accused the Kremlin on Saturday of reviving the "genocidal" tactics of Josef Stalin as Kyiv commemorated a Soviet-era famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in the winter of 1932-33."
CNN:"Russia's invasion of Ukraine has plunged Europe into an era of insecurity, Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Friday, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the world faces the ”the most dangerous decade” since the end of World War II. .."
CNN:"Former Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev told CNN Tuesday that “terror is the only thing left” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, “like for any miserable terrorist in the world.” CNN:"Nina Khrushcheva, great-granddaughter of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, discusses Russian President Vladimir Putin's propaganda speech and "'crazy rhetoric against the West.'.. After 22 years under Putin there is absolute hopelessness for the future of the country. Things are turning into a dystopian novel divorced from reality.
anti-war-protests-across-russia ALJAZEERA:"A police monitoring group says more than 1,300 people have been arrested at demonstrations across Russia against President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a partial mobilisation of civilians to fight in Ukraine."
CNN:"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told lawmakers at the European Parliament in Strasbourg that "Europe's solidarity with Ukraine will remain unshakeable," and that she would be visiting Kyiv on Wednesday. Von der Leyen said European sanctions against Russia would remain in place and that the European Union's (EU) 27-nation bloc would continue to offer financial support to Ukraine. .. "
russia-plundering-sudan-gold CNN:"Russia is plundering gold in Sudan to boost Putin's war effort in Ukraine-...Multiple interviews with high-level Sudanese and US officials and troves of documents reviewed by CNN paint a picture of an elaborate Russian scheme to plunder Sudan's riches in a bid to fortify Russia against increasingly robust Western sanctions and to buttress Moscow's war effort in Ukraine. The evidence also suggests that Russia has colluded with Sudan's beleaguered military leadership, enabling billions of dollars in gold to bypass the Sudanese state and to deprive the poverty-stricken country of hundreds of millions in state revenue. In exchange, Russia has lent powerful political and military backing to Sudan's increasingly unpopular military leadership as it violently quashes the country's pro-democracy movement..."
RUSSIAN CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN UKRAINE CNN:"A new report from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe documents the discovery of torture chambers at a summer camp in Bucha, Ukraine. This report — OSCE's second one — covered the period between April 1 to June 25... "
CNN:"Russia's actions in Ukraine provide enough evidence to conclude that Moscow is inciting genocide and committing atrocities intended to destroy the Ukrainian people, according to the first independent report into allegations of genocide in that country. "
BBC:"Kira Glodan, a three-month-old baby, is one of the latest victims in the war in Ukraine. She was killed along with her mother and grandmother in a Russian missile strike in Odesa..”
BBC:"Russian forces executed civilians in various locations in the Kyiv region, according to new testimony published by Amnesty International.... Russian forces have committed extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings, which must be investigated as likely war crimes" says Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard. "Testimonies show that unarmed civilians in Ukraine are being killed in their homes and streets in acts of unspeakable cruelty and shocking brutality.".."
"REUTERS:A woman carries her cat as she walks past buildings that were destroyed by Russian shelling amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Borodyanka the Kyiv region Ukraine, April 5, 2022 REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra ..."
CNN:" Congress averted a government shutdown Friday just hours before the funding deadline, after the Senate approved a House-passed spending bill that exposed deep rifts within the Democratic Party. The stopgap measure to fund the government into the fall now heads to the desk of President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it. Senate Democrats came under intense pressure to oppose the Trump-backed bill, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and others are now facing backlash after they helped to clear a path for its passage. .. "
BLOOMBERG "Wall Street’s epic rebound from April’s meltdown is showing signs of exhaustion on speculation stocks have run too fast amid risks stemming from a trade war to an economic slowdown and sticky inflation. Following a 22% surge from last month’s intraday lows, the S&P 500 fluctuated. Most major groups fell, though big tech climbed. Boeing Co. rose after winning its largest-ever deal, with Qatar Airways placing an order for long-range jets during a visit to Doha by Donald Trump. The dollar pared losses as Bloomberg News reported the US is not working to include currency policy pledges in trade accords. Bond yields rose as Federal Reserve rate-cut bets receded. Stock Movers Super Micro Computer, AMD, Aurora Innovation 3:14 Subscribe to the Stock Movers Podcast on Apple, Spotify and other Podcast Platforms. US Stocks Slump As Trump’s Threat To Fire Powell Adds Pressure Stock rally wavers.Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg A sharp rebound in risk assets — fueled by progress in trade talks, economic resilience and receding volatility — followed a month in which the consensus was to brace for the worst. The three-month pause in US-China trade tensions is reassuring investors, yet lurking in the background is the risk that stocks get so extended that they’re vulnerable to any fresh surprises. “As trade tensions ease, investors are pivoting back to fundamentals, but they may not like what they see,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide. “The market has raced from oversold to overbought in record time. That limits near-term upside unless we see a clear re-acceleration in growth.” To Matt Maley at Miller Tabak, a breather in the rally would be “quite normal and healthy” after the S&P 500 hit overbought territory on a short-term basis. Its seven-day Relative Strength Index jumped to the highest since July this week. And the CNN Fear/Greed measure approached “extreme greed” levels. “The market’s improved breadth and pickup in bullish momentum reflect a fear of missing out as investors are drawn off the sidelines,” said Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler. “Stocks are getting a little short-term stretched, but we’d view modest pullbacks that confirm support as buying opportunities, especially among sectors with relative strength.” The S&P 500 was little changed. The Nasdaq 100 added 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3%. A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” megacaps climbed 1.4%. Super Micro Computer Inc. extended this week’s rally to over 40% on a deal with Saudi Arabia-based DataVolt. Oil giant Saudi Aramco signed agreements with major US companies potentially totaling about $90 billion. EToro Group Ltd. surged in its first session as a public company. The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 4.52%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed. “The stock market’s rally has legs, as the trade negotiation with China was seemingly the toughest one on the docket, and the idea that there has been this much progress on the negotiations over such a short period of time, suggests that a resolution may be on the horizon,” said Rick Gardner at RGA Investments. Gardner says that what is remarkable about the market’s rebound since the April lows is the leadership of the technology sector, which was not leading the market in the early months of 2025 before the tariff situation escalated. “We anticipate tech may continue to lead this market, as the sector stands to benefit from easing trade tensions and as investors once again resume their excitement over the promise of artificial intelligence,” he noted. “Even if we see a continued economic slowdown, the stock market may have already priced that in during the April selloff.” Since the closing low on April 8, the S&P 500 has climbed 18% in the past 24 trading days — a feat that has occurred only six other times since 1950, according to data compiled by Jeffrey Yale Rubin at Birinyi Associates Inc. “As a result, we expect further gains to follow,” he said. Source: Birinyi Associates Inc. S&P 500 rose 18% in the past 24 days — a feat that has occurred only six other times since 1950, according to Birinyi Associates Inc.S&P 500 rose 18% in the past 24 days — a feat that has occurred only six other times since 1950, according to Birinyi Associates Inc. Two of Wall Street’s major trading desks are making the same bold call on US stocks as trade tensions ease: Pile into this year’s biggest losers for quick, short-term profits. Heads of equity trading at Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. say they’re particularly bullish over the next few weeks on small caps, technology hardware and homebuilders, which have each lagged the broader S&P 500 during the most recent leg up. In the current environment, Stuart Kaiser, who runs Citi’s desk as head of US equity trading strategy, also likes shares of companies with weaker finances, he said. With the broader US stock indexes already erasing their declines of the year, the firms now say the traders and other speculative buyers who missed out will be on the hunt for pockets of opportunity to play catch-up before the next bout of tariff-induced turbulence strikes again. “Despite this momentum, the full extent of tariff and earnings-related hits is still unknown,” said Daniel Skelly at Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Market Research & Strategy Team. “Investors may want to lean toward buying dips rather than chasing rallies, focusing on quality stocks with achievable earnings estimates.” “Our neutral view is not a ‘negative’ stance,” said David Lefkowitz at UBS Global Wealth Management. “We believe the bull market is intact and stocks will likely rise further over the next year. But the economy will have to adjust to higher tariffs, and this could lead to a period of weaker economic data, which could be a modest headwind for stocks.” Treasury yields climbed on Wednesday — sending the two-year note’s to the highest level since March. TD Securities joined several other Wall Street banks in predicting the Fed will cut rates later than previously anticipated, and swap contracts ceased fully pricing in two quarter-point moves by year-end. Longer-maturity yields climbed to multi-week highs too, as investors focus on the potential for proposed US tax legislation to lead the bigger budget deficits. Read: US PREVIEW: PPI to Signal Services Deflation in Fed’s Key Gauge Without any relevant economic data to digest, traders awaited a raft of reports scheduled for Thursday while sifting through the latest Fedspeak. Fed Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said that it’s important for central bankers not to respond to day-to-day volatility in equities and economic policy pronouncements, noting that economic data remain steady for now. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said tariffs and related uncertainty could slow growth and boost inflation this year, but monetary policy is well positioned to respond as needed. “Fed vice chair Jefferson’s speech today leans a little dovish after a run of more hawkish commentary from Fed officials, signaling that the Fed leadership is (sensibly) wary of calling the all-clear on downside risk even after US-China de-escalation,” said Krishna Guha at Evercore. Corporate Highlights: American Eagle Outfitters Inc. pulled its guidance for the full year following a first quarter that was marred by discounting and a write-down of inventory, sending the stock down in New York trading. Tyson Foods Inc. is looking to run its chicken plants harder as demand is set to remain strong into 2026. JBS SA, the world’s largest meat supplier, faces deepening losses at its US beef business, even as chicken continues to drive profits. Cboe Global Markets Inc. declined after Morgan Stanley double downgraded the stock, recommending lower defensives exposure on the back of greater than expected tariff de-escalation between China and the US. Nucor Corp., the biggest steel manufacturer in North America, shut down production at some of its facilities after detecting an unauthorized intrusion into its computer systems. Saudi-backed electric-vehicle maker Lucid Group Inc. said the kingdom should consider tariffs on foreign cars to boost domestic auto manufacturing and cut reliance on imports. Telefonica SA is drawing up plans for a deal that would allow it to take control of the UK joint venture it owns with Liberty Global Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter. Novo Nordisk A/S is partnering with US biotech Septerna Inc. on the development of oral pills for obesity in a deal potentially worth up to $2.2 billion. Sanofi SA said it will invest at least $20 billion in the US through 2030, joining other European pharmaceutical companies boosting their American operations as President Donald Trump threatens to impose tariffs and cut prices on drugs. Roche Holding AG said it would need to reconsider planned US investments if President Donald Trump implements an executive order to cut prescription drug costs. Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s revenue grew at its fastest pace in more than three years, bolstering investors’ expectations that China’s gaming and social media leader will weather a potential global downturn in 2025. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. updated its video-generating model for the second time in one month as Chinese firms look to better compete against each other and American rivals in the white-hot AI race. Key Events This Week For a list of top events, click here. Stocks The S&P 500 was little changed as of 1:14 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3% The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% The MSCI World Index was little changed Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 1.4% The Russell 2000 Index fell 0.7% Currencies The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1189 The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3285 The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 146.68 per dollar Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin fell 1.4% to $103,147.86 Ether fell 4.3% to $2,574.53 Bonds The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 4.52% Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.70% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.71% Commodities West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $63.45 a barrel Spot gold fell 2% to $3,186.45 an ounce..."
WSJ:"Stocks were mostly lower and the dollar came under fresh pressure Wednesday, with renewed optimism about potential trade deals and U.S. economic resilience losing some steam. The S&P 500 fell back into negative territory for the year, just a day after turning positive for the first time since February. Still, the index has now rebounded roughly 18% from its lowest closing level this year, recorded in early April when investors panicked over President Trump’s tariff blitz. Other indexes are modestly underwater for 2025. Meanwhile, President Trump continues his tour of the Middle East. The tour has been accompanied by a flurry of AI deals involving American tech companies, while the U.S. has scrapped a Biden-era rule limiting the diffusion of AI technology. Stocks such as Nvidia and AMD rose Wednesday, building on Tuesday's gains. In recent market action: Stock indexes were mixed, with the Nasdaq Composite up and the others lower. The dollar fell for a second day, as the Japanese yen and South Korean won strengthened. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield inched higher, after settling Tuesday at 4.498%. Hong Kong stocks jumped, with tech shares helping lift the Hang Seng Index more than 2%. Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped. —By Angus Berwick and Krystal Hur 📧 Get smarter about markets with our free weekday morning and evening newsletters. WSJ Dollar Index XX:BUXX (WSJ Index) 96.99-0.00-0.00% U.S. 10 Yr BX:TMUBMUSD10Y (XTUP) 4.523%0.050 DJIA DJIA (Dow Jones Global) 42036.34-104.09-0.25% Nasdaq COMP (Nasdaq) 19112.90102.820.54% S&P 500 SPX (S&P US) 5886.820.270.00% Share..."
FOMC "CHAIR POWELL. Good afternoon. My colleagues and I remain squarely focused on achieving our dual mandate goals of maximum employment and stable prices for the benefit of the American people. Despite heightened uncertainty, the economy is still in a solid position. The unemployment rate remains low, and the labor market is at or near maximum employment. Inflation has come down a great deal but has been running somewhat above our 2 percent longerrun objective. In support of our goals, today the Federal Open Market Committee decided to leave our policy interest rate unchanged. The risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation appear to have risen, and we believe that the current stance of monetary policy leaves us well positioned to respond in a timely way to potential economic developments. I will have more to say about monetary policy after briefly reviewing economic developments. Following growth of 2.5 percent last year, GDP was reported to have edged down in the first quarter, reflecting swings in net exports that were likely driven by businesses bringing in imports ahead of potential tariffs. This unusual swing complicated GDP measurement last quarter. Private domestic final purchases, or PDFP—which excludes net exports, inventory investment, and government spending—grew at a solid 3 percent rate in the first quarter, the same as last year’s pace. Within PDFP, growth of consumer spending moderated while investment in equipment and intangibles rebounded from weakness in the fourth quarter. Surveys of households and businesses, however, report a sharp decline in sentiment and elevated uncertainty about the economic outlook, largely reflecting trade policy concerns...."
CNN:" Some of the last cargo ships carrying Chinese goods without crippling tariffs are currently drifting into US ports. Come next week, though, that will change. Cargo on ships from China loaded after April 9 will carry with them the 145% tariff President Donald Trump slapped on goods from that nation last month. Next week, those goods will arrive, but there will be fewer ships at sea and they will be carrying less cargo. For many importers, it is too expensive to do business with China. Yet China is still one of America’s most important trading partners. It’s where we get most of our clothes, footwear, electronics and microchips, which power appliances, thermostats and anything else that beeps. .."
CNN:" President Donald Trump threatened legal action against The New York Times, calling the newspaper’s citation of legal experts’ opinion of his lawsuit against CBS “likely unlawful.” The Times reported Tuesday evening that legal representatives for Trump and Paramount are set to begin mediation on Wednesday over Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit alleging “60 Minutes” deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris before the election. (CBS said they simply aired different portions of the same answer.)..."
CNN:" The agency charged with policing federal campaign finance laws is losing its enforcement and policy-making powers with the resignation of a Republican commissioner. Allen Dickerson’s departure Wednesday — combined with President Donald Trump’s February firing of long-serving Democratic Commissioner Ellen Weintraub — leaves the Federal Election Commission with just three members and lacking a quorum. .."
NYTIMES:"Jewish Groups and Synagogues Defend Students Detained by ICE More than two dozen are joining a legal effort to free a Tufts University student the Trump administration is trying to deport because of her pro-Palestinian views. .. They are a group of progressive Jewish organizations and congregations, and they are coming to the defense of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Muslim graduate student at Tufts, who faces deportation after she helped write an essay critical of Israel. The coalition includes synagogues in places like West Newton, Mass., San Francisco and the Upper West Side of New York, along with J-Street, a pro-Israel advocacy group. On Thursday, they filed a brief in federal court in Burlington, Vt., objecting to the tactics the government was using against Ms. Ozturk in the name of combating antisemitism. In the brief, the groups argued she should be released from the Louisiana immigration detention center where she has been held for over two weeks, after masked immigration agents surrounded and arrested her on a street near her home in Somerville, Mass. “Jewish people came to America to escape generations of similar predations,” the brief says. “Yet the images of Ozturk’s arrest in twenty-first century Massachusetts evoke the oppressive tactics employed by the authoritarian regimes that many ancestors of amici’s members left behind in Odessa, Kishinev, and Warsaw.”..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"A Louisiana immigration judge ruled Friday that Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil is eligible for deportation after the Trump administration accused the legal permanent resident of being a threat to U.S. foreign policy for his involvement in pro-Palestinian activism. Judge Jamee Comans issued her ruling after an almost two-hour hearing at the LaSalle Immigration Court in Jena, Louisiana, where Khalil, 30, has been detained since he was arrested at his New York apartment last month and stripped of his green-card status. She set a deadline of April 23 for Khalil’s legal team to apply for a waiver to delay or prevent the administration from removing him, his attorneys said. If they fail to do so, the judge said, he could be deported to Syria, where he was born, or Algeria, where he is a citizen. Khalil’s attorneys said they would appeal if Comans ordered him deported, and they are pursuing other legal avenues that could keep him in the United States. .."
CNN:" At least 22 people, including seven children, were killed Tuesday in an Israeli strike on a school compound sheltering thousands of displaced people in the Al Bureij camp in central Gaza, hospital officials said. Dozens more were injured in the strike, they said. At the site of the attack, video from the scene showed a large crater where people searched through the rubble of the school for survivors, the remnants of tents and belongings littering the ground. Safaa Al Khaldi, who was sheltering at the school, said that her son was injured in the strike. “Our children are starving, our children cannot find a piece of bread,” she said, referring to Israel’s complete blockade of Gaza, now in its third month. “What did we do wrong?” .."
REUTERS:"JERUSALEM/CAIRO, April 2 (Reuters) - Israel announced a major expansion of military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, saying large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to its security zones, accompanied by large-scale evacuations of the population. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said troops were seizing an area he called the Morag Axis, a reference to a former Israeli settlement once located between the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, some 3-4 kilometres from the southern border. .."
CNN:" In Donald Trump’s White House, it matters less what you screw up than how hard you fight back. The uproar over operational details of military strikes on Yemen posted on a group chat among top administration officials is highlighting this fundamental rule of life in the president’s orbit. Naive and sloppy behavior by top Trump aides could have endangered US pilots. One of the worst intelligence breaches by top officials in years, it raises grave questions about the competence of top officials meant to keep Americans safe. But the administration’s main concern is protecting the president and his team. They are demonizing those who point out their malfeasance and embroidering the wider conspiratorial narrative that Trump is again a victim of a deep state witch hunt. The obsession with answering a national security scandal with a fiercely political argument is characteristic of a White House that never admits wrongdoing — following one of the core principles of Trump’s pre-political life. But the drama may already have damaged US operations in Yemen as well as America’s reputation more broadly and offered an intelligence bonanza to its enemies. The contempt by top officials for basic security precautions and a refusal to hold themselves to account for transgressions that could get a subordinate dismissed or even prosecuted can only compromise the integrity of government. It’s too early to say, however, whether the careers of top Cabinet members and officials are threatened and whether Trump himself might pay a political price. The president’s process of souring on subordinates is often a slow burn, which can be affected by media coverage and where blemishes gather their own momentum and limit the shelf life of top aides. White House pulls out one of its favorite excuses: It’s a ‘hoax’ .."
WSJ:"Rapturous applause and a sea of phones in the air greeted President Trump as he walked on stage and declared, “The golden age of America has officially begun.” He was barely a month into office when the Saudi-backed investor conference in Miami captured the optimism. “The Nasdaq is up nearly 10% in just a few months,” Trump said, ticking through a list of economic indicators. “The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 2,200 points.” On the same day, Feb. 19, the S&P 500 hit an all-time high. But as Trump unleashed an on-one-day, off-the-next tariff fight with America’s largest trading partners, those gains unraveled. In just a few weeks, the S&P lost $4 trillion in value driven by his whipsaw trade policy, receding optimism about an artificial-intelligence boom and souring consumer sentiment caused by threats of higher prices and weaker growth. A measure of consumer sentiment fell in March for the fourth straight month to the lowest level since January 2021, the Conference Board, a business-research group, said Tuesday...."
"WASHINGTON, March 25 (Reuters) - Food banks across the country, already strained by rising demand, say they will have less food to distribute because of at least $1 billion in federal funding cuts and pauses by the Trump administration, according to Reuters interviews with organizations in seven states. Hunger in the U.S. has ticked up in recent years with rising inflation and the end of pandemic-era programs that expanded food aid. President Donald Trump's administration has vowed to lower inflation by cutting back on government spending, including two U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that helped schools and food banks buy food from local farms. Reuters spoke with food banks in seven states who said cancellation and pauses of the programs meant they expected to offer less produce, meat and other staples in the coming weeks and months, leaving scarcer food for those reliant on free supplies that helped stave off hunger. .."
YOUTUBE/CBSNEWS:"ANGRY CONSTITUENTS 0:06 CONTINUE TO CONFRONT THEIR 0:08 REPRESENTATIVES AT TOWN HALLS 0:09 BEING HELD ACROSS THE COUNTRY.... ACROSS THE BOARD, RED, BLUE. 1:01 WE'RE SEEING 1:03 REPRESENTATIVES REALLY FACING 1:05 THE BRUNT OF THESE 1:07 CONCERNED CONSTITUENTS, THESE 1:10 REPUBLICANS' 1:11 REPUTATIONS, RAPPORT AND 1:13 CREDIBILITY WITH 1:13 THEIR VOTERS, MARCHED BY THE 1:17 EFFORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 1:18 GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY. 1:18 AT THE HEART OF THE CONCERNS 1:20 OF THESE VOTERS ARE THE FACT 1:23 THAT 1:23 DONALD TRUMP HAS SELECTED ELON 1:27 MUSK, AN UNELECTED 1:29 BILLIONAIRE TO OVERSEE THESE 1:32 MASS CUTS..."
CNN:"...The number of Israeli herding outposts has dramatically increased since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition took power in 2022 on a platform of settlement expansion. The government includes ministers who are themselves settlers and want to annex the occupied territory to Israel. In the wake of the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, which triggered Israel’s invasion of Gaza, settlers have accelerated land grabs with support from the state. Israeli herding outposts have ballooned by nearly 50% since the war broke out, according to a joint report shared exclusively with CNN by Peace Now and Kerem Navot, two Israeli advocacy groups that oppose settlements and track their development, covering data up to the end of December 2024. Settlers established 49 new illegal shepherding outposts between October 7, 2023, and December 2024, seizing large swathes of surrounding land, according to the report which was corroborated by a CNN analysis of satellite imagery of the area..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"JERUSALEM — Hamdan Ballal, a Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” was attacked Monday by a group of Jewish settlers in the West Bank and later arrested by the Israeli army, according to activists and a neighbor who spoke to The Washington Post. Ballal was in his home village of Susya, part of the cluster of rural Palestinian communities known as Masafer Yatta, when settlers approached the village and tried to graze their sheep on private Palestinian land just before iftar, the sundown meal at which Muslims break their daily fast during Ramadan, according to Nasser Nawaj’ah, who lives in the small village and reports on settler violence for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. He spoke with Ballal’s wife, who described the attack. A video taken by Khamudi Mahmoud, a resident of the village, shows a tall man wearing a T-shirt and baseball cap aggressively approaching Ballal in a rocky clearing as Ballal backs away and a crowd of villagers shout behind him. Dozens of masked settlers wielding batons, knives and a rifle then attacked property and residents, activists focused on documenting settler attacks in the area said in a statement afterward..."
CNN:" — Ukraine and Russia exchanged aerial assaults overnight, just hours after the Kremlin agreed to temporarily halt attacks on energy infrastructure targets, but stopped short of signing off on a broader ceasefire sought by the US. President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump spoke by phone on Tuesday, with the Russian leader not agreeing to the 30-day truce that Trump has endorsed and Ukraine has agreed to. The White House said a narrower pause on attacking energy targets would go into effect followed by negotiations over a broader ceasefire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday accused Putin of already breaking his pledge, saying that Russia attacked Ukraine with 150 drones overnight, including strikes on energy facilities. ..."
CNN:"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced fury from protesters outside Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem, a day after he resumed the war in Gaza, shattering the two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas. On Highway 1 – the main road connecting Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – some protesters held a banner reading: “The future of the coalition or the future of Israel.” The banner alludes to how, over nearly 18 months of war and fragile ceasefires, Netanyahu has been accused of prioritizing the solidity of his governing coalition over the security of his country, as well as the lives of Israeli hostages and Palestinians in Gaza. Those accusations have been made with fresh anger after Israel bombarded Gaza overnight into Tuesday and killed more than 400 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, in one of the war’s deadliest days..."
CNN:" Palestinians demonstrated against Hamas in northern Gaza on Tuesday, in what appeared to be the largest protest against the militant group since its attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. Video obtained by CNN showed large crowds, estimated to be thousands of people by a CNN journalist on the ground, marching through the streets of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, chanting “For god’s sake, Hamas out,” “Hamas terrorists” and “We want an end to the war.” A message shared on social media appeared to call for nine anti-Hamas demonstrations across Gaza on Wednesday, with the protest organizers saying, “our voices must reach all the spies who sold our blood.”.."
NYTIMES:"A federal judge on Thursday ordered six federal agencies to rehire thousands of workers with probationary status who had been fired as part of President Trump’s government-gutting initiative. Ruling from the bench, Judge William H. Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California went further than a previous ruling. He found that the Trump administration’s firing of probationary workers had essentially been done unlawfully by fiat from the Office of Personnel Management, the government’s human resources arm. Only agencies themselves have broad hiring and firing powers, he said. He directed the Treasury and the Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy and Interior Departments to comply with his order and offer to reinstate any probationary employees who were improperly terminated. But he added that he was open to expanding his decision later to apply to other agencies where the extent of harms had not been as fully documented yet. ..." The Minute Order on 3-13-23 states:"Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge William Alsup: Preliminary Injunction Hearing held on 3/13/2025. Court granted and extended TRO as stated on the record. Court directed counsel to file briefs by 3/21/2025, 12:00 noon, 10 pages in length as stated on the record. Memorandum Opinion to issue. Initial Case Management Conference not held. Still, discovery open; parties to comply with all rules and standing orders (e.g., Supplemental Order to Order Setting Initial Case Management Conference in Civil Cases Before Judge William Alsup 18, 35 (Revd Aug. 27, 2024)). Court further stated plaintiffs may depose Noah Peters in Washington, D.C.; Government to make him available for 3 hours within two weeks. Total Time in Court: 8:00 - 9:30 = 1 Hour; 30 Minutes. Court Reporter: Kendra Steppler. Plaintiff Attorneys: Danielle Leonard, Stacey Leyton, Eileen Goldsmith, Tera Heintz, Norman Eisen. Defendant Attorney: Kelsey Helland. (This is a text-only entry generated by the court. There is no document associated with this entry.) (afm, COURT STAFF) (Date Filed: 3/13/2025) (Entered: 03/13/2025)" READ THE FIRST TRO The Trump administration filed a notice of appeal.
CNN:" A federal appeals court will allow the Trump administration to implement directives from the president cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, as an appeal of a ruling pausing those orders plays out. Two of the three judges on the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel wrote concurring opinions raising concerns about the anti-DEI directives, even as they concluded that the administration had met the bar for putting the trial judge’s ruling on hold. The circuit order is a major win for President Donald Trump, who has made the elimination of DEI programs a centerpiece of his administration..." COMMENT: THIS IS A STAY PENDING APPEAL, NOT A FINAL DETERMINATION OF THE LEGALITY OF THE ORDERS MEMORANDUM OPINION OF DISTRICT COURT JUDGE; DISTRICT COURT PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION; DISTRICT COURT CLARIFIED PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION; 4TH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS STAY PENDING APPEAL
The concurring opinion of Chief Judge Diaz stated:
"...The Executive Orders charge that DEI (and the related DEIA, which also denotes Accessibility) policies include “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences” that “deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system.” See Exec. Order No. 14,173, 90 Fed. Reg. 8633 (Jan. 21, 2025). The Orders seek to terminate all “‘equity-based’ grants or contracts” that apparently have led to “immense public waste and shameful discrimination.” Exec. Order No. 14,151, 90 Fed. Reg. 8339 (Jan. 20, 2025). But neither Order ever defines DEI or its component terms.2 1Like my colleague, I too reserve judgment on how the administration enforces these executive orders, which may well implicate cognizable First and Fifth Amendment concerns. See Concurring Op. at 7–8 (Harris, J., concurring). I likewise reserve judgment on the extent to which the government relies on the Orders’ savings clause provisions as it enforces the Orders’ directives against federal contractors, grantees, and private entities. See, e.g., City & Cnty. of San Francisco v. Trump, 897 F.3d 1225, 1239–40 (9th Cir. 2018) (declining to give effect to savings clause where that clause “in [] context” would “override clear and specific language,” and render “judicial review a meaningless exercise”). 2 As a result, it’s unclear what types of programs—formal or informal—the administration seeks to eliminate, and it could not respond to the district court’s (Continued) 4 And despite the vitriol now being heaped on DEI, people of good faith who work to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion deserve praise, not opprobrium. For when this country embraces true diversity, it acknowledges and respects the social identity of its people. When it fosters true equity, it opens opportunities and ensures a level playing field for all. And when its policies are truly inclusive, it creates an environment and culture where everyone is respected and valued. What could be more American than that?..." COMMENT: The government alleges DEI programs are discriminatory. DEI is designed to remedy past and present discrimination against minority groups. What the government under Trump and the MAGA movement is doing is reasserting racist white supremacist ideology and targeting minority and disenfranchised groups. This is inspite of the fact that "In the United States, the wealthiest families are overwhelmingly white, and white households hold a significantly larger share of total wealth compared to other racial groups, with white families having six times the average wealth of Black and Hispanic families..." GOOGLE" Therefore Trump and the MAGA movement are attempting to maintain white supremacy and hegemony During the election Trump et al belittled Kamala Harris as a DEI hire who was incompetent. "The latest attack on Harris is that she is a “DEI Vice President” Specifically, Tennessee Congressman Timothy Burchett, who is incidentally exactly the same age as Harris and arguably possesses a thinner resume, claims that because she is a woman of color chosen for such a high office, she is just another example of the kind of “mediocrity” that you get when you make a “DEI hire.” “DEI hire” is a disparaging term that refers to quotas or targets for hiring racial and ethnic minorities, women, and/or people with disabilities for positions of authority and/or power. Because it refers to all of the above groups, the term “DEI hire” actually implies that only heterosexual, white men are qualified for such high leadership positions. Indeed, the same people who use the term also tend to extol the idea of “meritocracy.”"FORBES "...The formation of unity struggles among people of color widely emerged in the 20th century and have been identified as an attempt to forge a united struggle by emphasizing the similar forms of oppression black and brown people confront under white supremacy, including shared experiences of subjugation under colonial capitalism, Jim Crow laws, de jure and de facto school and community segregation, voter disenfranchisement, economic oppression, exclusion from white-owned establishments, and the perception by white people that black and brown people are biologically and racially predisposed to be inferior, criminal, disorderly, and degenerate.[4][5]"WIKIPEDIA"
" WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday rescinded sanctions imposed by the former Biden administration on far-right Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of being involved in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the new White House website said. The website said Trump rescinded Executive Order 14115 issued on Feb. 1, 2024, which authorized the imposition of certain sanctions "on Persons Undermining Peace. Security, and Stability in the West Bank." Trump's decision is a reversal of a major policy action by former President Joe Biden's administration which had slapped sanctions on numerous Israeli settler individuals and entities, freezing their U.S. assets and generally barring Americans from dealing with them. As much of the world's attention has focused on the war in Gaza, growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank and land grabs in the occupied territory have raised concern among some of Israel's Western allies..."
ATLANTIC:"Did Elon Musk actually toss off a Sieg heil! at Donald Trump’s inauguration rally today? A lot of people online seem to think he did, based on data from their eyeballs. Freeze-frame images of Musk on social media show the world’s richest man at a podium in Washington, D.C.’s Capital One Arena engaging in what could definitely be construed as a Nazi salute..."
CNN:" The US Treasury Department notified lawmakers on Monday that a China state-sponsored actor infiltrated Treasury workstations in what officials are describing as a “major incident.” In a letter reviewed by CNN, a Treasury official said it was informed by a third-party software service provider on December 8 that a threat actor used a stolen key to remotely access certain Treasury workstations and unclassified documents. “Based on available indicators, the incident has been attributed to a Chinese state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor,” Aditi Hardikar, assistant secretary for management at the US Treasury, wrote in the letter. A Treasury spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that the compromised service has been taken offline and officials are working with law enforcement and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). “There is no evidence indicating the threat actor has continued access to Treasury systems or information,” the Treasury spokesperson said..."
CNN:"Body-worn camera footage released Friday shows correctional officers at the Marcy Correctional Facility in upstate New York punching and kicking a handcuffed inmate in a fatal beating that is now under investigation by the New York attorney general. Robert Brooks was pronounced dead on December 10 at Wynn Hospital in Utica, according to Attorney General Letitia James. Brooks, 43, had been serving a 12-year prison sentence since 2017 for first-degree assault, prison documents show. CNN has reviewed the footage, parts of which show surrounding officers kicking and punching Brooks, who has his hands handcuffed behind his back in a medical examination room. Brooks’ face appears bloody in some of the footage. At one point, an officer appears to shove something in Brooks’ mouth before repeatedly hitting him in the face. Another officer then punches Brooks in the groin before using a shoe to strike him..."
NYTIMES:"Five journalists were killed early Thursday when their vehicle was hit by an Israeli strike in the Nuseirat area of Gaza, according to the local authorities and Palestinian news media reports. The Israeli military said its air force had struck a vehicle overnight in Nuseirat with a “terrorist cell” from the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad inside. Reports about journalists being targeted were “fake claims,” Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said on social media. The media office of Gaza’s Hamas-run government said five journalists from Al Quds Today, a Palestinian television channel, were killed in an Israeli strike on their broadcast vehicle. The channel has regularly featured Islamic Jihad leaders and promoted the group’s ideology. The office said this brought the number of journalists killed in Gaza to 201 since the start of the war in October last year. The vehicle, bearing the word “Press” in red letters, was hit near the gates of Al Awda Hospital, according to a post on social media from Quds News Network, another Palestinian news outlet. The Reuters news agency published a photo from Nuseirat of a charred white van bearing the word “Press” on its rear doors, with smoke coming out of it..."
CNN:" A newborn baby died from the cold in a tent encampment in Al-Mawasi, in southern Gaza, a health official said Wednesday, highlighting the stark challenges to survival faced by Palestinian children displaced from their homes amid Israel’s ongoing assault on the strip. Sela Mahmoud Al-Fasih “froze to death from the extreme cold” in Al-Mawasi, Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, the director general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, posted on X on Wednesday. In the past week, at least four infants have died of hypothermia from low temperatures and a lack of access to warmth while living in tents, Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra, the head of pediatrics and obstetrics at Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis, said on Thursday. Among them were a three-day-old and a one-month-old who also died in Al-Mawasi, he said. Staff in the neonatal ICU see at least five cases of hypothermia per day, added Al-Farra. Reduced breastfeeding and limited availability of infant formula has severely compounded the risk of hypothermia among babies, he told CNN. Meanwhile, health workers are struggling to treat young patients due to shortages of electricity, diesel and other fuel. “This is one of the disastrous results of this criminal war,” said Al-Farra..."
APNEWS:" Democrats in North Carolina were celebrating big wins in the swing state after the November election, including victories in races for governor and other top statewide offices. But the political high didn’t last long. Republican lawmakers are stripping away some core powers of the newly elected officials through a series of wide-ranging changes, anticipating that the result of a yet-to-be-called state legislative race will cost them their veto-proof majority next year. Critics say the moves, which were rushed through without any chance for public comment or analysis, undermine the voters and are simply undemocratic, but they have few options for undoing them. “Let us speak plainly: This bill is nothing more than a desperate power grab,” said Courtney Patterson, vice president of the NAACP’s North Carolina chapter...."
WASHINGTONPOST:"More than 45,000 people have been killed in Israel’s war in Gaza, the enclave’s Health Ministry said Monday, a grim milestone that underscores the bloody toll for Palestinians after 14 months of fighting. Gaza’s Health Ministry, which reported the death toll of 45,028 since October 2023, does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. At least 106,962 people have also been injured in that time. Experts and observers have previously said that the official figure is likely an undercount. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack that triggered its war in Gaza, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 384 soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation in Gaza...In Syria, the Israel Defense Forces has destroyed much of the country’s military capabilities over the past week as the country fell to rebel forces. Huge explosions rocked an area near the port city of Tartus overnight. Israel’s Army Radio said that Israeli forces targeted large warehouses of rockets, mortars and mines. The IDF declined to comment. Here’s what else to know Turkey, Qatar, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates criticized a decision by the Israeli government to expand settlements in the occupied Golan Heights. Israel said it was acting “in light of the war and the new front facing Syria,” as it uses the power vacuum next door to consolidate security on its border and advance its aims of growing settlements. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Sunday statement that he spoke with President-elect Donald Trump and discussed the “need to complete Israel’s victory” and efforts to release hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. The YPJ, a female unit that operates under the umbrella of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, denounced Turkey’s influence in Syria, accusing Ankara of empowering Islamist militants and vowing to fight against both “until the end.” In the Sunday statement, the YPJ also expressed concern for the security of Syria’s minorities who fought alongside the Kurds...”
NYTIMES:"Amnesty International on Thursday became the first major international human rights organization to accuse Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza, drawing a rebuke from Israeli officials who denied the claim. Amnesty’s contention, outlined in a 296-page report, comes as the International Court of Justice, the principal court of the United Nations, is reviewing similar allegations by South Africa, claims that have been at the heart of difficult debates about the war around the world. “Israel committed and is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” the Amnesty report said. “Israel’s unlawful conduct throughout its military offensive resulted in unprecedented harm to Palestinians in Gaza that resulted in the massive scale of killings and serious injuries over an extremely short time,” it added. Lawyers say that genocide is among the most difficult crimes to prove in international law because it requires demonstrating the specific intent to destroy a group, “in whole or in part,” something that Israeli leaders have persistently denied is their intent in Gaza. In a rare move, the Israel chapter of Amnesty International protested the findings of the report, saying “the majority” of local members “holds that the claim that Israel is committing a genocide is not sufficiently substantiated.” Still, the local chapter said that it was worried “serious crimes” were being perpetrated in Gaza and that the killing and destruction in Gaza was at “catastrophic proportions and must cease immediately.” The chapter later said that four members of its board resigned over differences of opinion on the report. The organization didn’t clarify whether those who resigned were in favor or against the report..."
THE ICC:" Today, on 21 November 2024, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (‘Court’), in its composition for the Situation in the State of Palestine, unanimously issued two decisions rejecting challenges by the State of Israel (‘Israel’) brought under articles 18 and 19 of the Rome Statute (the ‘Statute’). It also issued warrants of arrest for Mr Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Yoav Gallant...."
CNN:" Israel’s cabinet unanimously voted to sanction the nation’s oldest newspaper, Haaretz, on Sunday citing its critical coverage of the war following the October 7 Hamas attacks and comments by the outlet’s publisher calling for sanctions on senior government officials. Haaretz, which is widely respected internationally, has provided critical coverage of Israel’s war following the Hamas attacks on October 7, including investigations into abuses allegedly committed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as military operations expanded across Gaza and into neighboring Lebanon. The proposal, put forward by communications minister Shlomo Kar’i, will end government advertising in the newspaper and cancel all subscriptions for state employees and employees of state-owned companies."
NYTIMES:"We Americans live in faith with our Constitution and with the past generations of Americans who swore to protect it and fought to defend it. One week from today, we will decide whether Donald Trump is fit to be president of the United States again. He is not. When we entrusted our Constitution and our democracy to him before, he betrayed us. Campaigning for the presidency again, he now promises to exact vengeance against his fellow Americans whom he deems “the enemy from within,” those who have dared to challenge his betrayal, an enemies list that includes Republicans and Democrats alike. There could be no higher duty of American citizenship than to decisively repudiate a man who betrayed the nation when he was previously entrusted with the highest office in the land and now threatens the persecution of American citizens who have crossed him. In the almost 250 years since the founding of the nation, no president before Donald Trump has ever so betrayed America..."
THEGUARDIAN:" World must act to prevent ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Gaza, António Guterres warns Secretary general makes appeal as civilian casualties mount amid intensive Israeli strikes on north Patrick Greenfield in Cali, Malak A Tantesh in Gaza and Julian Borger in Jerusalem Wed 30 Oct 2024 14.05 EDT Share The UN secretary general, António Guterres has warned Israel could carry out the “ethnic cleansing” of Gaza if the international community does not make a determined stand to prevent it. Guterres made his appeal at a time of mounting civilian casualties from the Israeli bombardment of northern Gaza. A strike on Tuesday in Beit Lahiya district killed at least 93 people, in what the UN said was just one of at least seven “mass casualty incidents” across Gaza in the past week. At the same time, aid deliveries to Gaza are reported to have fallen to their lowest level since the start of the war, leading to growing allegations that Israel’s true intention is to drive the remaining Palestinian population out of at least part of Gaza. The UN secretary general, speaking on the sidelines of the COP16 biodiversity conference in Colombia, suggested that the “ethnic cleansing” of Gaza had been prevented until now by its people’s refusal to succumb to the intense pressure to flee their homes..."
"JERUSALEM/CAIRO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Israel's parliament passed a law on Monday to ban the UN relief agency UNRWA from operating inside the country, alarming some of Israel's Western allies who fear it will worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. Israeli officials cited the involvement of a handful of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees' thousands of staffers in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and a few staffers' membership in Hamas and other armed groups."
WASHINGTONPOST:"TEMPE, Ariz. — Former president Donald Trump painted a dark picture of the United States under the Biden administration at a campaign rally here Thursday, comparing the country to “a garbage can for the world” because of illegal border crossings. Cut through the 2024 election noise. Get The Campaign Moment newsletter. “First time I’ve ever said ‘garbage can,’” Trump said. “But you know what? It’s a very accurate description.” The remark was a new rendition of a common refrain for Trump, who has repeatedly used dehumanizing language when talking about immigrants, accusing them of “poisoning the blood of our country” and spreading falsehoods that some were eating people’s pets. He spent much of his insult-laced rally decrying a border “invasion” that he blamed on Vice President Kamala Harris. For roughly an hour, the Republican presidential nominee interwove attacks on illegal immigration and invective aimed at Harris — the Democratic nominee — other Democratic politicians and journalists. In Trump’s words, Harris’s “gross incompetence” at controlling illegal immigration disqualifies her from the presidency. Trump also called President Joe Biden “a stupid fool” and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) “crazy as a bedbug.” The former president slammed California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) as “the worst” and accused Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) of being too “petrified” to deal with migrant-fueled gang violence. Earlier this month, Trump promoted false claims that a Venezuelan gang had taken over an apartment complex in a Denver suburb. Despite Trump’s tendency to link migrants and crime during his rallies, there is evidence that immigrants — documented or undocumented — tend to be more law-abiding than people born in the United States. Crime, including homicides and assaults, is also falling nationwide. Trump repeated many of the same insults and attacks at a separate rally in Las Vegas, where he projected confidence that he’s “leading by a lot” in several swing states, despite polling showing razor-thin margins. He added that he’s “not allowed to say” that he’s way ahead and said he expects to be declared the winner on Nov. 5, despite the possibility that the result will not be clear that night. .." COMMENT: TRUMP IS A FASCIST RACIST SERIAL LIAR;THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM JOHN 8:44 NKJV HIS POLICIES VIOLATE CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES: "MATTHEW 25:41-43 NKJV
WASHINGTONPOST:"Is Israel carrying out de facto ethnic cleansing? A pro-settlement Israeli group and some Israeli lawmakers gathered a couple miles from northern Gaza’s blasted neighborhoods to rally around settling Gaza.Just a couple miles from Gaza, top Israeli politicians gathered earlier this week and declaimed their grand visions for its future. “If we want it, we can renew settlements in Gaza,” said far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, telling a gathering of a major settler organization that he would encourage the “voluntary transfer” of Palestinians living in war-stricken Gaza out of the territory and the return of Jewish settlers, including those who were forced out of Gaza by their own government in 2005. “What we have learned this year is that everything is in our hands,” Ben Gvir said, before identifying what he considered the major legacy of militant group Hamas’s terrorist strike on southern Israel more than a year ago. “We are the owners of this land. Yes, we experienced a terrible catastrophe on October 7. But what we need to understand, one year later, is that so many Israelis have changed their thinking. They have changed their mindset. They understand that when Israel acts like the rightful owners of this land, this is what brings results.” The mindset that he was extolling was a certain streak of ruthlessness in cracking down on its enemies, from Palestinian group Hamas to Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Israel was doing “whatever we want,” as Ben Gvir put it, in its ongoing military operations. It underscores the conviction of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who still speaks of achieving a “total victory” against Israel’s foes even when myriad Western leaders want him to agree to deals ceasing hostilities over both Gaza and Lebanon..."
CNN:"Israel has been on the receiving end of scathing criticism from European leaders who are trying to restrain the Jewish state from pressing on with its wars in Gaza and southern Lebanon. From calls for a complete halt of weapons sales to Israel and considering sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers, to talks among EU members on reviewing Israel’s Association Agreement with the bloc, European leaders are trying to use their leverage to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into negotiating ceasefires. Adding impetus to their effort is the fact Israeli military strikes are now hitting UN peacekeeping bases in southern Lebanon, which house European troops."
AP:"Army Gen. Mark Milley delivered a full-throated defense of democracy and not-so-subtle swipes at former President Donald Trump during a packed ceremony as he closed out his four, often tumultuous years as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I'm deeply honored to have worn the cloth of this nation for 43 and a half years and I'm humbled to have served as the 20th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff but today is not about anyone up here on this stage it's not about the president the Secretary of Defense May CQ it's not about us it's about something much larger than all of us it's about our democracy it's about our Republic we are unique among the world's armies we are unique among the world's militaries we don't take an oath to a country we don't take an oath to a tribe we don't take an oath to a religion we don't take an oath to a king or queen or they're Tyrant or dictator that we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator we don't take an oath to an individual we've taken oath to the Constitution and we take an oath to the idea that is America and we're willing to die to protect it those values and ideas are contained within the Constitution of the United States of America which is the moral North Star for all of us who have the privilege of wearing the cloth of our nation is that document that all of us in uniform Swear to protect and defend against all enemies foreign and domestic those who sacrifice themselves on the altar of freedom in the last two and a half centuries of this country must not have done so in vain the millions wounded in our nation's wars did not sacrifice their limbs and shed their blood see this great experiment in democracy perish from this Earth no we the American people we the American Military must never turn our back on those that came before us and we will never turn our back on the Constitution that is our North Star that is who we are and that is why we fight thank you and may God bless our military and may God bless the United States of America [Applause]..."
CNN:" John Kelly, the retired Marine general who was Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff, entered the 2024 fray in stunning fashion, saying the former president fits “into the general definition of fascist” and wanted the “kind of generals Hitler had” in a series of interviews published Tuesday. Kelly’s comments, two weeks from Election Day, are the latest in a line of warnings from former Trump White House aides about how he views the presidency and would exercise power if returned to office. In addition to the fascist comments, Kelly — who was Trump’s chief of staff from 2017 to 2019 — told The New York Times that the former president “certainly prefers the dictator approach to government.” He also confirmed to The Atlantic that Trump had said he wished his military personnel showed him the same deference Adolf Hitler’s Nazi generals showed the German dictator during World War II, and recounted the moment...
"WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Donald Trump on Thursday blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for helping start that nation's war with Russia, a comment that further suggests Trump is likely to radically shift U.S. policy toward Ukraine if he wins the Nov. 5 election. The Republican former president has frequently criticized Zelenskiy on the campaign trail, repeatedly calling him "the greatest salesman on Earth" for having solicited and received billions of dollars of U.S. military aid since the war broke out in 2022.Trump has also slammed the Ukrainian leader for failing to seek peace with Moscow, and he has suggested Ukraine may have to cede some of its land to Russia to make a peace deal, a concession Kyiv considers unacceptable...." COMMENT: ONCE AGAIN PUTIN'S POODLE, A DE FACTO RUSSIAN PET, BARKS. RUSSIA HAS ALWAYS SOUGHT TO CREATE DIVISION AND MAKE AMERICA TURN ON ITSELF WHICH IS WHAT TRUMP HAS BEEN DOING, AND CONTINUES TO DO
NYTIMES:"...An investigation by The New York Times found that Israeli soldiers and intelligence agents, throughout the war in Gaza, have regularly forced captured Palestinians like Mr. Shubeir to conduct life-threatening reconnaissance missions to avoid putting Israeli soldiers at risk on the battlefield...""...Deadly strikes in central Gaza overnight killed or injured dozens of Palestinians, health officials and the United Nations said on Monday, as the Israeli military hit a hospital complex where it said Hamas fighters were hiding and a separate attack damaged a school turned shelter..."
CNN:"Israel’s widening military operations in Gaza and Lebanon – and looming response to Iran’s missile attack – are testament to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s need for political survival, a former Israeli diplomat told CNN. “Netanyahu does not want to end the war,” Israel’s former consul general to New York Alon Pinkas told CNN’s Lynda Kinkade. “He wanted to extend, to prolong the war in order to create … a war-like atmosphere which is important to him politically and expedient to him politically,” said Pinkas, who was speaking from Tel Aviv..."
CNN:" The European Union joined the United Nations, the United States and others in criticizing Israel for attempting to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem. A bill calling for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to be banned from operating in Israel and for Israel to stop cooperating with the agency is making its way through the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. The EU said the bill would prevent “all UNRWA’s operations in Israel and East Jerusalem, destroy UNRWA’s life-saving operations in Gaza, seriously hamper provision of health, education and social services in the West Bank, and revoke UNRWA’s diplomatic privileges and immunities.” Remember: Israel has been trying to dismantle the agency for months after it accused 12 UNRWA staffers of being involved in the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. The allegations initially prompted 16 countries to suspend their funding of the agency. However, most have since reinstated their funding... "
CNN:"No food has entered northern Gaza since the start of October, putting 1 million people at risk of going hungry, the World Food Programme told CNN on Friday. In August, approximately 700 hundred aid trucks entered northern Gaza. In September, only 400 aid trucks entered, after commercial operations ceased at the Allenby Crossing on the border between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, the WFP added. No food trucks have entered northern Gaza in October, the WFP told CNN. On Wednesday, the WFP said in a report that the aid entering the strip has plummeted to its lowest level in months, forcing the organization to stop the distribution of food parcels in October..."
NYTIMES:"...The story Netanyahu wants to tell the world is that Iran and its proxies are the main obstacle to the world of inclusion stretching from Europe, through the Middle East, and over to the Asia-Pacific region. I beg to differ. The keystone to this whole alliance is a Saudi-Israel normalization based on reconciliation between Israel and moderate Palestinians. If Israel now moved ahead and opened a dialogue on two states for two peoples with a reformed Palestinian Authority, which has already accepted the Oslo peace treaty, it would be the diplomatic knockout blow that would accompany and solidify the military knockout blow Israel just delivered to Hezbollah and Hamas...."
WSJ:"In less than two years, OpenAI has gone from a little-known nonprofit lab working on obscure technology to a world-famous business whose chief executive is the face of the artificial-intelligence revolution. That change is tearing the company apart. On Wednesday, OpenAI’s chief technology officer became the latest high-profile executive to announce an exit, departing as the company prepares to become a for-profit corporation. The exits are public eruptions of tensions that have been growing in the company behind ChatGPT since CEO Sam Altman returned following his brief ouster last year. Some tensions are related to conflicts between OpenAI’s original mission to develop AI for the public good and new initiatives to deploy moneymaking products. Others relate to chaos and infighting among executives worthy of a soap opera. CTO Mira Murati is one of more than 20 OpenAI researchers and executives who have quit this year, including several co-founders..."
NYTIMES:" On the Trail, Trump and Vance Sharpen a Nativist, Anti-Immigrant Tone From calling for mass deportations to spreading false claims about migrants eating pets, former President Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, are taking a hard line... Mr. Trump then took a broad swipe at several corners of the globe. “They’re coming from the Congo. They’re coming from Africa. They’re coming from the Middle East. They’re coming from all over the world — Asia,” Mr. Trump said. “A lot of it coming from Asia. “What’s happening to our country is we’re just destroying the fabric of life in our country,” Mr. Trump continued. “We’re not going to take it any longer. You got to get rid of these people. Give me a shot.” Kathleen Belew, an associate professor of American studies at Northwestern University and the author of “Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America,” said Mr. Trump’s campaign was taking a page from “an old playbook.” “It’s straight-up fear-mongering,” Ms. Belew said. “It’s incredibly efficient to demonize people and make others scared of them, and it’s always carried a huge and violent cost.” " COMMENT: THE ONLY TRUE NATIVISTS ARE THE NATIVE AMERICANS. THE REST OF YOU ARE IMMIGRANTS AND DECENDANTS OF IMMIGRANTS
WOKEPREACHERTV: Billy Graham's grand daughter spoke about why she became involved in politics. It started in 2016 when a man bragged about assaulting women. Various leaders propped up this man as a poster boy for Godly manhood and leadership. She watched pastors overlook his actions and continued supporting him. These same pastors looked the other way concerning the assaults, the name calling and January 6. The reason why she got involved in politics is to go against faith leaders who support a man who destroys everything that Jesus stands for: Justice Mercy and Humility citing Micah 6:8.
CNN:"A former president of the United States who wants to be the next president is now directly spreading the slogans of the conspiracy cult QAnon, as well as posting a crude, sexist and misogynistic slur online, reposting. To be precise. Which means he didn't come up with it himself, but liked it so much that he wanted the rest of the world to see it, which is both a gentle introduction and a warning. One posting of several uses two QAnon catchphrases nothing can stop what is coming, which refers to the so-called mass arrests of so-called deep state members, which in the world of QAnon is basically anyone who has irked Donald Trump...."
CNN:" The father of an American hostage still being held in Gaza by Hamas criticized the deadly attacks in Lebanon that caused pagers and walkie-talkies to explode killing dozens, stating “this pager, mission-impossible action, it’s like treating agony with more agony.” Adi Alexander, whose son Edan Alexander is being held, said in an interview on “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” that “this vicious cycle of violence needs to stop.” Israel has not officially taken credit for the attacks, but CNN has reported that Tuesday’s operation was a joint effort between the IDF and Mossad..."COMMENT: THE VIOLENCE MUST STOP
CNN:"US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has called for “fundamental changes” to the way Israeli forces operate in the occupied West Bank after the killing of American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi at a protest last week. Blinken’s sharply worded rebuke came after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday that it was “highly likely” that Eygi was “hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire.”"
CNN:"Many are feared killed and wounded after Israeli forces struck a humanitarian zone created to shelter displaced people in southern Gaza, in what Israel said was an attack on Hamas terrorists in the area. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Monday evening that it “struck significant Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command-and-control center embedded inside the humanitarian area” in Khan Younis, Gaza. Hamas denied it had placed fighters in the area. Gazan authorities said dozens of Palestinian families had been buried in the strike on a crowded displacement camp and that a search was underway to locate victims."
CNN:" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July effectively spiked a draft hostage and ceasefire deal by introducing a raft of new, 11th-hour demands, according to a report by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth citing a document it obtained. The report lends credence to charges often leveled at the prime minister – most notably by hostage families – of purposefully prolonging the war and torpedoing deals for his political benefit. Far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition have pledged to bring down the government should he end the war. Several news outlets, including CNN, have reported on the late July demands made by Netanyahu, but this is the first time the Israeli document has been obtained in full. According to the newspaper, at least three of six hostages found dead in Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces over the weekend were due for release as part of the May draft agreement – Carmel Gat, Aden Yerushalmi, and Hersh Goldberg-Polin."
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed “there will be a strong reaction” to the deaths of the six hostages whose bodies were found in Gaza this weekend, and plans “to hurt Hamas in a way Israel hasn’t done before,” according to an Israeli official. “The intention of the PM now is to hurt Hamas in a way Israel hasn’t done before,” the official told CNN. The official also spoke about the Israeli cabinet’s decision on Thursday to demand that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) remain in the Philadelphi corridor.."
CNN:" With its announcement that militants guarding Israeli hostages in the buildings and tunnels of Gaza had “new instructions” to kill them If Israeli troops closed in, Hamas signalled the opening of a chilling new chapter in an already brutal war...."
"WASHINGTON (AP) — The same Iranian hacking group believed to have targeted both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns tried to go after the WhatsApp accounts of staffers in the administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Meta Platforms said Friday...."
"CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Israeli airstrikes across Gaza killed at least 50 Palestinians in the past 24 hours, Palestinian health authorities said on Wednesday, as the military said troops continued to target militants and seize weapons and ammunition. As last-ditch diplomatic efforts continued to halt the 10-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli military said jets hit around 30 targets throughout the Gaza Strip including tunnels, launch sites and an observation post.... The conflict churned on as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his latest visit to the Middle East with no clear sign over whether a deal to end the fighting is in sight."COMMENT: NETANYAHU WANTS TO STAY IN POWER WITH CONTINUAL WAR AS DOES HAMAS HEZBOLLAH ISLAMIC JIHAD BACKED BY IRAN AND RUSSIA. THE ONLY SOLUTION AT THIS POINT IS A UN PEACE KEEPING FORCE TO FORCE THE PARTIES TO DEMILITARIZE AND WORK OUT A PERMANENT CEASE FIRE
CNN:"Iran claims Hamas leader killed by ‘short-range projectile,’ contradicting reports it was hidden bomb"REUTERS: " For many of the Druze community in the Golan Heights mourning 12 youngsters killed in a missile strike at the weekend, the carnage came as a shock despite the months of daily rocket fire and air strikes between Israel and southern Lebanon." THENATIONAL:"After the attack, right-wing members of Israel’s security cabinet showed up in Majdal Shams to mourn, despite a request from Yasser Gadban, a local Druze community leader, for them to stay away. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was met by chants of "murderer" during his visit, while far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has repeatedly called for war against Lebanon, was surrounded by angry locals when he arrived in the area."COMMENT: THE WAR MONGERS WANT THE CARNAGE TO CONTINUE UNTIL WE ARE ALL DEAD. THE WHOLE WORLD IS SICK AND TIRED OF THIS CONSTANT STRIFE. WE MUST HAVE PEACE AND A PEACEFUL RESOLUTION WITHOUT VIOLENCE AND WAR.
CNN:" Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the United States’ and Germany’s decision to deploy US long-range missiles in Germany from 2026 is “reminiscent of the events of the Cold War” and could see Russia station similar missiles in response. “If the United States of America implements such plans, we will consider ourselves free from the unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium and shorter-range strike weapons, including increasing the capabilities of the coastal forces of our Navy,” said Putin, speaking at Russia’s annual Navy Day in St. Petersburg. Putin added that the development of Russian medium and shorter-range strike weapons was “in the final stages,” and Russia would take “reciprocal measures to deploy them.”...COMMENT: YOU HAVE BEEN THREATENING THE WORLD WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS SINCE THE INVASION OF UKRAINE. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ASSHOLE.
REUTERS:"MOSCOW, June 23 (Reuters) - Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power, could reduce the decision-making time stipulated in official policy for the use of nuclear weapons if Moscow believes that threats are increasing, parliament's defence committee chairman said. The war in Ukraine has triggered the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis..."BOTH THE KREMLIN AND NORTH KOREA HAVE BEEN THREATENING THE WEST WITH NUCLEAR ARMAGEDDON FOR YEARS.
CNN:" A federal appeals court ruled on Monday that white supremacist and nationalist groups will have to pay a more than $2 million in punitive damages to people who suffered physical or emotional injuries from the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 2021, a jury ruled white nationalist leaders and organizations had to pay more than $26 million in damages to those who suffered injuries from the rally. "
NYTIMES:"...In January 2016, I warned what were then my fellow Republicans that if they nominated Mr. Trump, he would constitute a grave threat to the nation. But I added that there was an additional reason to oppose him: Mr. Trump’s nomination would pose a profound danger to the Republican Party, in ways that Hillary Clinton never could. “For while Mrs. Clinton could inflict a defeat on the Republican Party, she could not redefine it,” I wrote. “But Mr. Trump, if he were the Republican nominee, would.” And so he has. Few figures in American history have overhauled a political party as quickly and as fundamentally as Mr. Trump has..."
CNN: Donald Trump, Steve Bannon and the MAGA mob are calling for revenge and retribution Andrew McCabe and James Comey were legally harassed by Trump for years but nothing came of it. In the interview with Anderson, McCabe stated that people in the Justice Department and Intelligence are worried that they and their families will be subjected to extra-judicial unconstitutional detentions or worse. "This level of absolutely anti-democratic rhetoric and behavior and ideation he says stands in direct contrast to the nation we think we are, the nation we have always been..."(emphasis added) "
WASHINGTONPOST:"The Justice Department on Wednesday charged two Russian media executives in an alleged scheme that authorities say illegally funneled millions of dollars to a Tennessee-based company to create and publish propaganda videos that racked up millions of views on U.S. social media...."
BLOOMBERG:"Almost two-thirds of Americans considered middle class said they are facing economic hardship and don’t anticipate a change for the rest of their lives, according to a poll commissioned by the National True Cost of Living Coalition. By many traditional measures, the US economy is strong, with robust labor, housing and stock markets, as well as solid gross domestic product growth. But the data don’t capture the financial insecurity of millions of households who worry about their future and are unable to save, according to the group, created this year to come up with cost-of-living tools that help gauge economic well-being...."
WASHINGTONPOST:"The United Nations Security Council approved, 14-0, a U.S.-sponsored resolution to support the American-backed cease-fire plan for Gaza. Russia abstained. The vote was a rare diplomatic victory for the Biden administration in the international body, where criticism has grown over what is seen by many as U.S. support for the war and Israeli intransigence..."
CNN:"The United Nations' top court has ordered Israel to halt its military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. “Israel must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah Governorate which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part," said Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The court, which sits in The Hague, the Netherlands, made the ruling on Friday as part of the ongoing genocide case brought by South Africa. .."
NYTIMES:" Israeli Bulldozers Flatten Mile After Mile in the West Bank Videos from Tulkarm and Jenin show bulldozers destroying infrastructure and businesses, as well as soldiers impeding local emergency responders.Over two weeks, Palestinians watched as Israeli military bulldozers tore up mile after mile of their streets and alleys, sewage seeping into the dusty ruts left behind...."
BLOOMBERG:" Sundar Pichai, Google, and the AI Boom Ahead of Google's developer conference I/O, Google & Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai sits down exclusively with Bloomberg Originals Host & Executive Producer Emily Chang to discuss the future of search, accelerating work on Google's AI models and how his upbringing prepared him for this moment. (Source: Bloomberg) ..”
WSJ:"CUPERTINO, Calif.—If I had a dollar for every time an executive said “Apple Intelligence” at its developer’s conference on Monday, I’d have a steak dinner with all the trimmings. (So, yes, about 60 times.) After nearly two years of sitting out the generative-artificial-intelligence frenzy, Apple finally jumped in the deep end. The company is injecting AI tools throughout coming versions of its biggest platforms: iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and MacOS Sequoia. There’s a new and improved Siri you can even text with. There’s a new partnership with OpenAI that will bring ChatGPT into Apple apps. There are ways to generate new images and emojis on the fly...."
WSJ:"As the U.S. and some Arab nations try to persuade Israel to work toward resolving its conflicts with Palestinians for good, young Palestinians increasingly say they don’t see an independent state as viable given Israel’s deep footprint in the West Bank and Gaza. Their pessimism, coupled with a flatlining peace process, makes it less likely a two-state solution will be achieved. It could also force Palestinian, Israeli and international leaders to return to the drawing board. Palestinians under 25 are less optimistic about the future than their elders, according to polling from the West Bank-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. They are also more supportive of using violence to fight for democratic rights than their parents and grandparents, a symptom of the past’s failed diplomacy, said Khalil Shikaki, the center’s director...."
THEGUARDIAN:"The provocative Jerusalem Day parade by thousands of Jewish nationalists celebrates Israel’s capture and occupation of East Jerusalem and its holy sites in the 1967 war, a move that is not internationally recognised. It has often featured violent clashes between marchers and Palestinian residents of the Old City, as well as anti-Arab hate speech and vandalism of Palestinian property, although last year’s march passed relatively peacefully......"
HAARETZ:"On December 4 , 1948, the New York Times published a letter by a group of Jewish dignitaries, including Albert Einstein and political theorist Hannah Arendt, protesting a visit to the United States “a political party closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties.”"(EMPHASIS ADDED)
PRINCETON ALUMNI WEEKLY:"Referring to the massacre of Arabs by Jews in the village of Deir Yassin, the letter said “the [Jewish] terrorists, far from being ashamed of their act, were proud of this massacre, publicized it widely. … The Deir Yassin incident exemplifies the character and actions of the Freedom Party.” Further describing the Freedom Party, the letter stated it includes “an admixture of ultranationalism, religious mysticism, and racial superiority” and that it bore the “unmistakable stamp of a Fascist party for whom terrorism (against Jews, Arabs, and British alike), and misrepresentation are means, and a ‘Leader State’ is the goal.” The letter ended by saying that America should turn its back on Begin and not support “this latest manifestation of fascism.” "EMPHASIS ADDED
WIKIPEDIA:"The Nakba (Arabic: النَّكْبَة an-Nakba, lit. 'the catastrophe') was the ethnic cleansing[1] of Palestinians in Mandatory Palestine during the 1948 Palestine war through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their society, and the suppression of their culture, identity, political rights, and national aspirations.[2] The term is also used to describe the ongoing persecution and displacement of Palestinians by Israel.[3] As a whole, it covers the fracturing of Palestinian society and the long-running rejection of the right of return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.[4][5]"WIKIPEDIA:"The history of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict traces back to the late 19th century when Zionists sought to establish a homeland for the Jewish people in Ottoman-controlled Palestine, a region roughly corresponding to the Land of Israel in Jewish tradition.[1][2][3][4] The Balfour Declaration of 1917, issued by the British government, endorsed the idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, which led to an influx of Jewish immigrants to the region. Following World War II and the Holocaust, international pressure mounted for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, leading to the creation of Israel in 1948..."
CNN:" Almost exactly six months ago, Israelis awoke to a nightmare. Civilians in the southern part of the country, areas near the border with Gaza, were under a brutal, ongoing attack. It would become the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust and a prelude to unspeakable suffering on both sides of the border.Six months after Hamas launched that deadly rampage, knowing that Israel’s response would be ferocious, there are only losers in this terrible war...."
CNN:"To Donald Trump, Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán is “fantastic,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping is “brilliant,” North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is “an OK guy,” and, most alarmingly, he allegedly said Adolf Hitler “did some good things,” a worldview that would reverse decades-old US foreign policy in a second term should he win November’s presidential election, multiple former senior advisers told CNN. ..”An undercurrent of implied violence has always been an essential ingredient of Donald Trump’s strongman persona. As the ex-president’s first trial and the general election approach, he is turning up the heat, creating a tense political atmosphere...."
REUTERS:"DEARBORN, Michigan, Feb 27 - The depth of Democratic Party anger over President Joe Biden’s handling of the Gaza war has caught his campaign off guard and could depress support in November’s election, according to Reuters interviews with more than a dozen senior party and campaign officials and five dozen voters and activists.... "
CNN:"Steven Spielberg had words of caution and hope on Monday while accepting an honor from the University of Southern California. '... The rise in extremist views has created a dangerous environment and radical intolerance (that) leads to a society that no longer celebrates differences, but to instead conspire to demonize those who are different to the point of creating the other.... Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it...'..."
NYTIMES:"...They have preserved this way of life for hundreds of years through isolation — some villages can take a week to reach. But since September, the Marubo have had high-speed internet thanks to Elon Musk...."
WASHINGTONPOST:
"When Pedro Guerrero Mortero was growing up in California’s Central Valley, where one-quarter of the nation’s food is produced, he saw daily how undocumented agricultural workers such as his parents lived in a country that didn’t recognize them or the benefits it was reaping from their countless hours of toil in the blistering sun. .."
CNN:"... JPMorgan Chase now fights off about 45 billion attempts a day by hackers to infiltrate its systems. That’s double what it was last year, highlighting the escalating cybersecurity challenges the bank and other Wall Street titans are facing..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"The major cloud computing provider spun out of Hewlett-Packard said late Wednesday that it had been hacked by a suspected Russian intelligence team, the second such hack of a major U.S. internet company reported this month...."
CNN:"...In 2006, I opened the office of OneVoice Gaza in Gaza City to galvanize Palestinians behind the goal of a two-state solution reached through negotiation with Israel and our neighbors..."COMMENT: VIOLENCE IS COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE. IT ONLY LEADS TO MORE VIOLENCE HATRED AND DEATH. ONE CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WE HAVEN'T LEARNED THIS BY NOW
CNN:" Imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi paid tribute to the Iranian people’s determination to “dismantle” the “despotism and obstruction” of the Islamic Republic’s regime in her Nobel Peace Prize lecture delivered by her children, Kiana and Ali, on Sunday. Her teenage twins, who have not seen their mother in years, accepted the award on her behalf at a ceremony in the Norwegian capital, Oslo..."
NYTIMES:" How the Russian Government Silences Wartime Dissent By Anton Troianovski, Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, Oleg Matsnev, Alina Lobzina, Valerie Hopkins and Aaron Krolik Dec. 29, 2023 Just days after invading Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia signed a censorship law that made it illegal to “discredit” the army. The legislation was so sweeping that even his spokesman acknowledged it was easy to cross the line into prohibited speech. In the first 18 months of the war, the law scooped up a vast array of ordinary Russians — schoolteachers, pensioners, groundskeepers, a carwash owner — for punishment..."
"LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin waited three days before commenting on Hamas' massacre of Israelis, which happened to take place on his 71st birthday. When he did, he blamed the United States, not Hamas. "I think that many will agree with me that this is a clear example of the failed policy in the Middle East of the United States, which tried to monopolise the settlement process," Putin told Iraq's prime minister."COMMENT: HAMAS stated Oct 7 was for 30 years of oppression and immediately called for shitler to act as mediator. Iran feigned surprise. Anyone with half a brain could see that the current war was precipitated by fascist imperialist Russia and its proxies. HAMAS attacked on Putin's birthday. The IDF was aware of the plan a year before but thought it was just "aspirational" NYTIMESThe current catastrophe was calculated and precipitated by Hamas, Iran and Russia. Netanyahu was aware of the plan and has used it to galvanize the right and conduct genocidal tactics creating more hatred towards Israel. At this point Israel Hamas Iran and Russia are responsible for every drop of blood spilled.
CNN:" Arab and Muslim leaders decried Israeli “war crimes” in Gaza at a summit in Riyadh where Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a first public meeting...."COMMENT:THE JEWS ARE INDIGENIOUS TO ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST. IRAN IS A FASCIST PROXY OF AN IMPERIALIST TERRORIST RUSSIA AS IS EVERY FASCIST TERRORIST ORGANIZATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST. IT IS HAMAS' STRATEGY TO USE CIVILIANS AS SHIELDS. ISLAMIC FASCIST THINKING VIEWS ALL INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AS SLAVES.(REUTERS:Arab militias scorn ethnic Africans as 'slaves'; hundreds of thousands flee Sudan) .HAMAS IRAN AND RUSSIA IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS CATASTROPHE. SPARE US YOUR BULLSHIT PROPAGANDA
CNN:"Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas' founder who later became one of Israel's top informants, speaks with CNN's Jake Tapper about Israel's war on the terror group and the situation in Gaza" Yousef states that Hamas wants the total annihilation of Israel and Jews and wants to establish a global Islamic state. Yousef states that Israel is fighting for the Palestians to be free from Hamas.COMMENT: RUSSIA AND IRAN back Hamas and other terror organiations.CHINA also provides them weapons
CNN:"Tapper: Key members of Netanyahu’s cabinet ‘throwing fire on the flames’ CNN’s Jake Tapper breaks down the comments made by several members of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet that he says are increasing tensions amid Israel’s war with Hamas. #CNN #news "
CNN:" More than a billion Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists around the world are celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights. Diwali, also called Deepavali, is one of the biggest festivals in India. It’s also widely celebrated in Nepal, Malaysia, Fiji and other countries with large South Asian diasporas. Homes, businesses and public spaces are lit up with diyas, or oil lamps made from clay, and fireworks displays abound. People gather with their families, eat sweets and exchange gifts. Despite its deep religious significance, Diwali today is also a cultural festival observed by people regardless of faith. Here’s what to know about the holiday..."
" CNN:" The North Shore attracts more than 3 million visitors each year. Surfers are drawn to test their abilities in taming “perfectly glassy waves,” as Cannon described them. Pacific waters roaring against the shores of Banzai Pipeline and Waimea Bay can reach staggering heights north of 30 feet."
METERORED:"These wonderful scenes were filmed at a depth of over 650 metres at the Winslow reef complex on Tokelau Ridge."
ABCNEWS:"Tennessee otter enjoys playing in the snow"
Cat Saves Dog Being Attacked by Coyotes KCAU-TV Sioux City 17.1K subscribers 218,688 views Jan 2, 2024 Cat Saves Dog Being Attacked by Coyotes
CNN:" A 2-year-old girl who walked barefoot more than three miles with her family’s two dogs was found sleeping off a wooded Michigan trail using the smaller dog as a pillow, authorities said. Troopers were called to a house in rural Faithorn, Michigan, around 8 p.m. on Wednesday after the toddler, Thea Chase, had wandered away from the home, Michigan State Police Lt. Mark Giannunzio told CNN on Friday. Faithorn is a small town about a mile east of Wisconsin’s border in northern Michigan."
CNN:" An image of a napping polar bear curled up on an iceberg has captured the hearts of voters to become the winner of this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award. British amateur photographer Nima Sarikhani called it an honor to win the award for the dreamy scene “Ice Bed,” captured off Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, saying that the image “stirred strong emotions,” such as hope, in those who saw it."
APNEWS:"An endangered Pacific Northwest orca that made global headlines in 2018 for carrying her dead calf for over two weeks is doing so once again following the death of her new calf, in another sign of grief over lost offspring, researchers said..."
CNN:" It’s the body of water that instils fear and inspires sailors in equal measure. Six hundred miles of open sea, and some of the roughest conditions on the planet ...It is, of course, the Drake Passage..."
CNN:"World's largest species of fish spotted in rare appearance Researchers from the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology Shark Research Lab say they spotted the whale shark a mile off the Kāneʻohe Bay."
CNN:" An orca pod in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico has devised a cunning strategy to hunt and kill whale sharks — the world’s largest fish that can grow up to 18 meters (60 feet) in length — new research has revealed..."
AP:"SEATTLE (AP) — It’s a good thing seals aren’t on a humpback whale’s menu. A photograph by a whale-watching naturalist captured a seemingly bewildered seal in the mouth of a humpback whale after the giant marine mammal accidentally gulped it last Thursday in the waters off Anacortes, Washington. The food mix-up began while a Blue Kingdom Whale and Wildfire Tours boat spotted birds flying over a school of fish and a humpback whale swimming toward it, Captain Tyler McKeen said..."
NYTIMES:"When a cat dashed into the woods of Yellowstone National Park during a camping trip in June, his California owners, Benny and Susanne Anguiano, thought they’d never see him again. The couple searched for five days through the woods near their campground at Fishing Bridge R.V. Park but never found their 2-year-old male Siamese cat, Rayne Beau, pronounced “rainbow.” ..."
CNN:"Koalas are very hard to see at night. Their gray fur blurs with the bitumen on dimly lit roads, and they move deceptively quickly for a marsupial often seen languidly munching on leaves high in trees. But for an endangered species whose population numbers are said to be unreliable due to their elusive nature, koala sightings are becoming all too common during breeding season in some areas in and around Brisbane. And not just in trees. Day and night, they’re spotted close to busy roads, on fences, up power poles, in backyards, near swimming pools, in schools – places they aren’t safe..."
THEGUARDIAN:"...I’m not an ardent cat lover, and I don’t consider myself to be an especially soppy person, but his words send chills down my neck. I feel something open in my chest and my eyes start prickling. What I’m feeling is kama muta – an under-recognised emotion that has been the focus of Fiske’s work for more than a decade. According to Fiske and his colleagues, kama muta evolved to bind us to others and strengthen our relationships. “It motivates you to embrace and care for other people,” says Jon Zabala, a researcher at the University of the Basque Country. We experience it at some of the most important events of our lives – births, weddings, and funerals ..."
PHYS.ORG:"Fleeting blasts of energy from space, known as fast radio bursts (FRBs), are a cosmic enigma. A Canadian-led international team of researchers has published new findings suggesting that supernovae are the predominant contributors to forming sources that eventually produce FRBs..."
CNBC:"CNBC’s Julia Boorstin and Dario Gil, IBM director of research, join 'Power Lunch' to discuss the new AI alliance between META and IBM. .."IBM, META, AMD, ORACLE, INTEL and about 50 other companies are forming the AI alliance to build vetted interoperable AI tools. They will develop and deploy benchmarks and evaluation standards, tools and other responsible development of AI systems at global scale. They're also talking about addressing social issues witb AI as well as educating policy makers.The IBM Director of Research Dario Gil stated that Open Source has become the modern way develop interoperable standards...
CNN:" Scientists in California shooting nearly 200 lasers at a cylinder holding a fuel capsule the size of a peppercorn have taken another step in the quest for fusion energy, which, if mastered, could provide the world with a near-limitless source of clean power. .”.."
CNNBUSINESS:
"...Silicon Valley startup
ClimateAi is developing an artificial intelligence platform to evaluate how vulnerable crops are to warming temperatures over the next two decades. The tool uses data on the climate, water and soil of a particular location to measure how viable the landscape will be for growing in the coming years. Maharashtra, India, was one of its first case studies in 2021. ..."
THE-EUROPEAN-SPACE-AGENCY:"Euclid, our dark Universe detective, has a difficult task: to investigate how dark matter and dark energy have made our Universe look like it does today. 95% of our cosmos appears to be made of these mysterious ‘dark’ entities. But we don’t understand what they are because their presence causes only very subtle changes in the appearance and motions of the things we can see... "
CNN:"A glowing supernova remnant, a nebula shaped like a cat’s paw and the iconic “Pillars of Creation” are just a few of the celestial objects that shine in 25 never-before-seen images captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to mark the telescope’s 25th anniversary. Chandra, named in honor of the late Indian American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, launched to space aboard the space shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999. The crew, including STS-93 Commander Eileen Collins, deployed the telescope into its oval-shaped orbit, which takes Chandra on a path around Earth that is nearly one-third of the distance to the moon..."
CNN:"...Astronomers thought barred spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way didn’t appear until the universe reached at least half of its current age because it was believed that it took several billion years of galactic evolution before the massive collections of stars within galaxies could form central bars...
WASHINGTONPOST:"A group of U.S. scientists say they have repeated their landmark energy feat — a nuclear fusion reaction that produces more energy than is put into it. But this time, they say the experiment produced an even higher energy yield than one in December that got international attention for making a major step forward toward the long elusive goal of producing energy through fusion..."
"WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The peculiar wobble of a subatomic particle called a muon in a U.S. laboratory experiment is making scientists increasingly suspect they are missing something in their understanding of physics - perhaps some unknown particle or force...."
CNN:THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER: HOW TO UNSCREW A PLANET. Solving the pressing climate issues requires science and everyone's cooperation On https://play.max.com
WSJ:" An international team of astrophysicists has discovered hundreds of mysterious structures in the center of the Milky Way galaxy. These one-dimensional cosmic threads are hundreds of horizontal or radial filaments — slender, elongated bodies of luminous gas that potentially originated a few million years ago when outflow from Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole, interacted with surrounding materials, according to a study published Friday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. .."
CNN:" The James Webb Space Telescope and other observatories witnessed a massive explosion in space that created rare chemical elements, some of which are necessary for life. The explosion, which occurred on March 7, was the second brightest gamma-ray burst ever witnessed by telescopes in more than 50 years of observations, over one million times brighter than the entire Milky Way Galaxy combined. ..
CNN:"What would be the ultimate solution to the energy problems of an advanced civilization? Renowned British American physicist Freeman Dyson theorized it would be a shell made up of mirrors or solar panels that completely surrounds a star — harnessing all the energy it produces. “One should expect that, within a few thousand years of its entering the stage of industrial development, any intelligent species should be found occupying an artificial biosphere which completely surrounds its parent star,” wrote Dyson in a 1960 paper in which he first explained the concept. If it sounds like science fiction, that’s because it is:.."
CNN:"Researchers have discovered a distant disc galaxy that has surprisingly similar characteristics to our own Milky Way, and it could change our understanding of how galaxies form. The galaxy, which has been named REBELS-25, is far more orderly than the existing science suggests it should be for its age, according to research led by astronomers from Leiden University in the Netherlands. REBELS-25 is much younger than our galaxy, but it already shares its rotation and structure, rather than appearent published October 7..."
CNN:"Val Kilmer, a movie star who throughout his career proved he was up for any task, from playing a cocky naval pilot to wearing the Batman suit, died on Tuesday, according to his daughter Mercedes Kilmer, who released a statement to the New York Times and the Associated Press. He was 65. The cause of death was pneumonia, Mercedes Kilmer told the media outlets"
CNN:" Former US Rep. Mia Love, the first Black woman elected to Congress as a Republican, passed away following a fight with an aggressive form of brain cancer, her family announced on X Sunday night. Love, who was 49, represented Utah’s 4th Congressional District from 2015-2019. “With grateful hearts filled to overflowing for the profound influence of Mia on our lives, we want you to know that she passed away peacefully today,” the Love family wrote on Mia Love’s X account. “She was in her home surrounded by family. In the midst of a celebration of her life and an avalanche of happy memories, Mia quietly slipped the bands of mortality and, as her words and vision always did, soared heavenward. We are thankful for the many good wishes, prayers and condolences.”..."
NYTIMES:"George Foreman, a heavyweight boxing champion who returned to the sport to regain his title at the improbable age of 45, and who parlayed his fame and his amiable personality into a multimillion-dollar grill business, died on Friday night in Houston. He was 76. His family announced the death, in a hospital, on his Instagram account. Roy Foreman, George’s brother, said the cause was not known. .."
CNN:"Roy Ayers, the legendary American vibraphonist, composer and pioneer of jazz-funk, died Tuesday, his family said. He was 84. The producer passed away in New York City after a long illness, the family announced on Facebook. A specific cause of death was not immediately disclosed. Ayers “lived a beautiful 84 years and will be sorely missed,” his family said..." YOUTUBE/NORMAN CONNORS ROY AYERS STARSHIP
NYTIMES:"Roberta Flack, the magnetic singer and pianist whose intimate blend of soul, jazz and folk made her one of the most popular artists of the 1970s, died on Monday in Manhattan. She was 88. She died en route to a hospital, according to Suzanne Koga, her manager and friend. The cause was cardiac arrest, she said. Ms. Flack revealed in 2022 that she’d been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, which left her unable to perform. .."
CNN:" Gene Hackman, the unpretentious actor whose performances in such films as “The French Connection,” “Hoosiers,” “Unforgiven” and “The Firm” elevated character roles to leading-man levels, has died. He was 95. Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead in their home in New Mexico along with their dog, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. Hackman’s best roles were often of conflicted authority figures or surprisingly clever white-collar villains. Many held a hint – sometimes more than a hint – of menace. .."
NYTIMES:"Maggie Smith: A Life in Pictures She had a long, award-winning career as a screen and stage actress, finally becoming a household name with her memorable turn in “Downton Abbey.”"
NYTIMES:"Susan Wojcicki, who helped turn Google from a start-up in her garage into an internet juggernaut, and who became one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent female executives with her leadership of YouTube, died on Friday. She was 56... Ms. Wojcicki’s more than two decades with Google began in 1998 in her house in Menlo Park, Calif., part of which she rented to her friends Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the company’s founders. For $1,700 a month, the two used the garage as their office to build the search engine.Ms. Wojcicki, who had been working at Intel, soon joined Google as one of its earliest employees and was its first marketing manager. Over the years, she reached its executive ranks, becoming Google’s most senior woman employee. She eventually led YouTube, which Google acquired in 2006, and which became one of the world’s largest social media companies. “She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her,” Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, said..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"Robert MacNeil, a Canadian-born broadcast journalist who built what is now “PBS NewsHour” and served for two decades as its urbane, evenhanded co-anchor, died April 12 at a hospital in Manhattan. He was 93...."
CNN:" Physicist Peter Higgs, whose theory of an undetected particle in the universe changed science and was vindicated by a Nobel prize-winning discovery half a century later, has died aged 94, the University of Edinburgh said on Tuesday. The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 at the CERN research centre near Geneva was widely hailed as the biggest advance in knowledge about the cosmos for over 30 years, and pointed physics towards ideas that were once science fiction. “For me personally it is just the confirmation of something I did 48 years ago, and it is very satisfying to be proved right in some way,” the British scientist told Reuters at the time. “At the beginning, I had no expectation that I would still be alive when it happened.”..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"Patti McGee, first women’s pro skateboarder, dies at 79 At age 19, she became an ambassador for the fledgling sport, performing demonstrations around the country and doing a handstand for the cover of Life magazine.When Patti McGee started skateboarding in the early 1960s, it was just a way to pass the time between surf sessions. A California teenager who loved riding big waves and racing down hills — she just “had to have some action,” she said — Ms. McGee had started surfing in the eighth grade, taking an old balsa wood board out to Windansea Beach near her home in San Diego. She was often one of the only girls in the lineup. And when she started skateboarding, or “sidewalk surfing,” she was one of only a few girls to join the boys in her neighborhood, flying down a hill on Loring Street atop a makeshift board her brother crafted in shop class, using wheels he had swiped off her roller skates..."
NYTIMES:"Teri Garr, the alternately shy and sassy blond actress whose little-girl voice, deadpan comic timing, expressive eyes and cinematic bravery in the face of seemingly crazy male characters made her a star of 1970s and ’80s movies and earned her an Oscar nomination for her role in “Tootsie,” died on Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 79. Her publicist, Heidi Schaeffer, said the cause was complications of multiple sclerosis."
NYTIMES:"It was that combination of questions — a constant interrogation of heritage, inheritance and “dreaming as planning,” to use the Gloria Steinem phrase — that gave Nikki Giovanni’s work the kind of firepower that burned so brightly for more than 60 years, right up to her death on Monday at the age of 81. Change is a through line in her work. In “Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day,” she wrote:
We are consumed by people who sing
the same old song STAY:
as sweet as you are
in my corner
Or perhaps just a little bit longer
But whatever you do don’t change baby
Baby don’t
change.
Something needs to change.
Her work, like her worldview, was never static. She changed and in the process, encouraged her readers to embrace the evolution of ideas and of self..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"I know Quincy Jones bridged the history of music, from Count Basie to Michael Jackson to Snoop Dogg. That he was the original hipster and had “Thriller” and “We Are the World” and the 22 girlfriends. But since he died on Sunday at age 91, I’ve been mesmerized by one clip. It’s the thing you replay endlessly at moments of great loss and send to your kids and your wife and plead, “Watch this,” because it’s the thing that shows it all. And it’s just one song. Because that song, to me, is a perfect example of how Q — who was not one to shy away from braggadocious-interview behavior — would hang on to his ego when it meant serving the artist. Less is more. This was Quincy the producer. This is the antithesis of the gun-waving, Phil Spector kind of studio monster. It is how the greatest producers (George Martin, Rick Rubin) make big decisions with barely a mention. In this case, Jones turned an unremarkable ditty into a song that you can never forget..."
APNEWS:"CAMBRIDGE, New York (AP) — After he and his fellow monks sang morning prayers in their church nestled in a forest, Brother Luke walked back to his residence to be greeted by a different kind of choir. Lucy and Iso excitedly woofed as they spotted the Orthodox monk, who heads the monastery’s German shepherd breeding program, coming to take them and 10-week-old Pyrena for their morning walks. For nearly six decades, the monks of New Skete in upstate New York have financially supported their community and deepened their spiritual life by breeding German shepherds and running on-site, weekslong training programs for all kinds of canines..."
CNN:"Extrajudicial executions, rape, forced abortions, jail without trial, torture, starvation rations that leave prisoners so hungry some turn to eating insects. These are just some of the abuses commonplace in North Korean prisons and other detention facilities, according to former detainees whose testimony forms the basis of a new report released by a human rights watchdog this week. .."
CNN:"Meet the women fighting for compensation for cancers they say were caused by France’s nuclear testing...In 2013, Hinamoeura Cross, a 25 year-old Tahitian lawyer and mother, received a phone call that would change her life forever.  After a routine blood test, the medical laboratory called and asked if she had been stung by a bee.  Confused, Cross said no. The technician explained that her test results showed an abnormally high white blood cell count, and recommended she see a doctor immediately. Soon after, Cross was diagnosed with leukemia..."
SURGE-IN-EXTREME-POVERTY "LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - The global cost-of-living crisis is pushing an additional 71 million people in the world's poorest countries into extreme poverty, a new report published by the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) on Thursday has warned. Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator, said an analysis of 159 developing countries showed that the surge in key commodity prices this year was already slamming parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, the Balkans, Asia and elsewhere.Export volumes of aluminum oxide, which is used to make the metal aluminum, an important material in weapons production and aerospace, are 400 times higher than last year.The rise in reported export values may partly be explained by inflation. But the data shows that many Chinese tech sellers have continued to do business with Russia despite U.S. scrutiny."
George-F-Will CNN:"Anderson asks George Will if is he worried about democracy: Hear his reply. Contrary to the myth today Americans are quite willing to confront their mistakes. On balance our progress is stunning. The discord today is unsightly awful and childish but we've seen worse. I don't think our democracy is in danger of death but I do think it is in danger of being attenuated and weakened. Democracy depends upon above all else on a culture of persuasion of conversation .."
putos-wars CNN:"Look back at Russia's armed conflicts since Putin took office Anderson Cooper 360 CNN's Matthew Chance takes a look at the career of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the parallels of a number of wars Russia has been involved in the past and the war in Ukraine today.Source: CNN”
NPR: Russian mercenaries are also active in Libya, Sudan, Mali and the CAR.
The Seal of the CISA CISA:"This joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA)—authored by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Security Agency (NSA)—is part of our continuing cybersecurity mission to warn organizations of cyber threats and help the cybersecurity community reduce the risk presented by these threats. This CSA provides an overview of Russian state-sponsored cyber operations; commonly observed tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs);detection actions;incident response guidance; and mitigations. This overview is intended to help the cybersecurity community reduce the risk presented by these threats...."
HEY-HEY-RISE-UP BBC:"Legendary British rock band Pink Floyd has released a song in support of Ukraine. The track is called "Hey Hey Rise Up". It features the vocals of Andriy Khlyvnyuk, from Ukrainian band Boombox. Pink Floyd band member David Gilmour said he was inspired by a video on Instagram by Khlyvnyuk, who is currently serving in Kyiv's defence, in which he sings in an empty Sofia Square in the Ukrainian capital. Gilmour wrote the music for the song, and then spoke by phone to Khlyvnyuk in hospital, where he is recovering from injuries. "I played a little on the phone and he gave me his blessing We both hope to do something together in person in the future,"said the British musician. This is Pink Floyd's first song since 1994, and all proceeds from the sale will go to humanitarian aid for Ukraine.. .”
refugee-children "DHAKA, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Myanmar Rohingya Muslims protested across refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh on Thursday, the fifth anniversary of clashes between Rohingya insurgents and Myanmar security forces that drove hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from their homes. More than a million Rohingya are living in squalid camps in southern Bangladesh comprising the world's largest refugee settlement, with little prospect of returning to Myanmar, where they are mostly denied citizenship and other rights. ..."
CNN:"Measuring the expansion rate of the universe was one of the Hubble Space Telescope's main goals when it was launched in 1990. Over the past 30 years, the space observatory has helped scientists discover and refine that accelerating rate -- as well as uncover a mysterious wrinkle that only brand-new physics may solve. .. "
CNN:"The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a unique perspective of the universe, including never-before-seen galaxies that glitter like diamonds in the cosmos. The new image, shared on Wednesday as part of a study published in the Astronomical Journal, was taken as part of the Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science observing program, called PEARLS. It’s one of the first medium-deep-wide-field images of the universe..."
"
lavrov "LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Russia has lost any illusions about ever relying on the West and Moscow will never accept a world order dominated by the United States, which is acting like a sheriff seeking to call all the shots in a saloon bar, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said..." The Kremlin is acting like a school yard bully that needs to get his ass kicked until he learns how to play nice. Why have so many former soviet states asked to join NATO? Because they have no illusions about putler's desire to re-establish the USSR.
Bridging the Global Wealth Gap Bloomberg New Economy Forum: Bridging the Global Wealth Gap: "IBM Executive Chair Ginni Rometty, McDonald's Corp. CEO Chris Kempxzinski, Singapore Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratmnam and Blackstone Group Inc. Chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman discuss the task of rebuilding the economy and the best path to prosperity for low-income workers. The destruction of covid-19 comes on top of a slow burn that affects the middle class a long period stagnation of incomes diminishing jobs in the middle and polarization of the job market. Then you have the problem lower down, where there are low skill service jobs, and loss of the sense of being able to move up to a middle class life... "
Grand Ayatollah Ali-Al-Sistani and Pope Francis ALJAZEERA:" Pope Francis has met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the most senior leaders in Shia Islam, in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf to deliver a message of peaceful coexistence, urging Muslims to embrace Iraq’s long-beleaguered Christian minority. The historic meeting on Saturday in al-Sistani’s humble home was months in the making, with every detail painstakingly discussed and negotiated between the ayatollah’s office and the Vatican.After the meeting, al-Sistani office released a statement that said religious authorities have a role in protecting Iraq’s Christians and that the Shia leader “affirmed his concern that Christian citizens should live like all Iraqis in peace and security, and with their full constitutional rights”. The Vatican said Francis thanked al-Sistani and the Shia people for having “raised his voice in defence of the weakest and most persecuted” during some of the most violent times in Iraq’s recent history. "
afghan-militia NBCNEWS:"The Taliban’s swift conquest is attributable to many factors. But one that crosses multiple administrations yet is getting very little attention right now is corruption. Specifically, the kind of corruption the U.S. aided and abetted over many years, glad-handing crooked officials and stalling anti-corruption investigations, as ordinary Afghans struggled and watched officials grow wealthier and wealthier. While corruption can hardly be described as the sole reason for the Afghan government’s disintegration, it is a consistent through-line of multiple American administrations — and an element that the U.S. has consistently overlooked.It’s not like the U.S. was unaware of the kind of corruption that exploded during the American occupation, or of the role that Washington played in fueling the kleptocratic graft. ..."
CNN:"The administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis this month quietly proposed extending Florida’s controversial prohibition on classroom instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity to all grades. The Florida Department of Education approved the proposed rule on March 9 and it was published in the Florida Administrative Register for review on March 16. The State Board of Education is scheduled to take it up on April 19. DeSantis last year signed into law a measure that banned such instruction through fourth grade, arguing at the time that young children should not be exposed to concepts like gender identity. The fight over the legislation attracted opposition from across the country, including the White House and Walt Disney Company. In response to Disney’s objections, DeSantis moved to strip the company of its special governing tax district. .."
national-memorial-to-lives-lost-to-covidAP:"As President Donald Trump entered the final year of his term last January, the U.S. recorded its first confirmed case of COVID-19. Not to worry, Trump insisted, his administration had the virus “totally under control.” Now, in his final hours in office, after a year of presidential denials of reality and responsibility, the pandemic’s U.S. death toll has eclipsed 400,000. And the loss of lives is accelerating.

myanmar-general ALJAZERRA:"The leader of Myanmar’s ruling generals will travel to Russia next week for economic talks as both governments face diplomatic isolation over militaristic moves. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing will attend the Eastern Economic Forum in the far-eastern city of Vladivostok, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Saturday. .."Moreover, the source of much of the misinformation about vaccines comes from an unobvious source: the Russian government’s propaganda apparatus, which cultivates and exploits foreign anti-vaccine “useful idiots,” causing palpable harm to Americans and citizens of other Western countries." In addition, the..."anti-mask movement in many ways, shares similarities with that of the anti-vaccine movement..."
kenosha-county-jail NBCNEWS:"Years of housing segregation and redlining have contributed to Wisconsin imprisoning its Black residents at a rate higher than any other state in the country, criminal justice experts say. One in every 36 Black people are currently in prison in the state, according to a report from The Sentencing Project, a group that advocates for reduced incarceration. Black people represent 42 percent of the state’s total prison population despite accounting for only 6 percent of the total population. The report, which uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, also found that Black Wisconsinites are also nearly 12 times as likely as their white counterparts to be imprisoned, well above the national average and behind only New Jersey in the rate of racial disparity between Black people and white people..."
CNN:"...For two decades in the 1980s and 1990s, as a video journalist for CNN in Central America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, I saw people on the run from conflict and unrest, carrying children and whatever belongings they could, sometimes on foot, sometimes packed into the back of overflowing trucks. I saw them fleeing across borders, into the woods, up mountains – in panic and looking for sanctuary. It is not only a daunting assignment to be the world’s witness. It is a privilege. It is an honor. It is a prayer – sending images out as a “first-alert” system to the rest of the world...To this day, it’s hard for me to utter the word “refugee” without a crack in my voice.As breaking news journalists, my colleagues and I scrambled from one story to the next. There seemed to be no end to the world’s tumult. There were civil wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua. The Soviet Union dissolved. Yugoslavia broke apart. There was famine and anarchy in Somalia, war in Sudan and Northern Iraq. Abstract political ideas translated into images and stories of countless individuals uprooted from their homes. I rarely had time to follow each person I encountered to a conclusion. My camera always caught them in the middle of chaos, at a precipice in their lives. Did the woman in Grozny, Chechnya ever find her missing son? Did the baby hit by shrapnel survive his wounds? Did the family in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina make it through the war? Each personal chronicle of tragedy I captured was like one frame in a long movie, and each frame had to stand in for thousands, streaming past. It never felt like I was doing enough... "
pro-trump-nuts MSN/SALON:"... At least 57 state and local officials from 27 different states traveled to the "Stop the Steal" rally on the morning of Jan. 6, HuffPost reported in February. The list included at least 20 Republican state legislators, a state attorney general, six county commissioners, seven city council members, two mayors, three school board members and two state Republican chairs. Four of the GOP officials have been charged with participating in the riot. Two organizers of the Jan. 6 rally also vowed to provide information about White House officials and House Republicans who participated in rally planning meetings. One organizer told Rolling Stone last month that "Marjorie Taylor Greene specifically," along with "close to a dozen other members," were involved in the planning. Other lawmakers named by the organizers included Reps. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Mo Brooks, R-Ala., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., and Louie Gohmert, R-Texas. Gosar, one of the organizers said, even floated "blanket pardons" in a separate investigation to urge them to organize the rallies. The organizers also said that White House chief of staff Mark Meadows played a "major role" in the discussions..."
AUSCHWITZ CNN:" In January 2020, I led a delegation of more than 60 prominent Arab Muslims, including 25 religious leaders, on what our Jewish hosts called a “groundbreaking” visit to the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camps.Ours was the most senior Islamic delegation to visit the site during its sorrowful history. Passing through the infamous gates was a visceral, emotionally-arresting experience that managed to both transport me back in time and sharpen my mind on the future. For it was here that 1.1 million people, the vast majority of them Jews, were murdered during the Holocaust. And it was here that I reaffirmed my commitment to fight intolerance and hate in all its forms.This visit was our moral obligation and an overdue sign of solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters, with whom we must tackle the many injustices and enmities there are in the world. Indeed, all the world’s major faiths — Christian, Judaic, Hindu, Buddhist and Hindu — have at their core a commitment to peace and justice that starts with recognition of the struggles of our fellow travelers... we must ask ourselves: does the truth of the Holocaust continue to set hearts and minds, once blinded by ignorance, fear and prejudice, free? The honest answer is that while Muslim understanding of the Holocaust is important to bringing lasting peace to the Holy Lands, Holocaust ignorance and denial remains a worrisome trend that only worsens with the passage of time. .."
Col(Ret)-Ed-Shames-101st-Airborne "(CNN)Col. Edward Shames, the last surviving officer of the historic World War II parachute infantry regiment of the US Army known as Easy Company, died Friday at the age of 99. Shames "passed away peacefully at home," said the obituary posted by the Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home & Crematory. During World War II, Shames "was a member of the renowned Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division now known globally as the 'Band of Brothers,'" according to the obituary. The story of Easy Company was later immortalized in the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers," based on The New York Times bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose. (CNN and HBO are part of WarnerMedia.) Shames "was involved in some of the most important battles of the war. He made his first combat jump into Normandy on D-Day as part of Operation Overlord," according to the obituary. Shames "gained a reputation as a stubborn and very outspoken soldier who demanded the highest of standards..."
" Dec 13 (Reuters) - For the energy industry, 2022 will be remembered as the year Russia's invasion of Ukraine accelerated a global energy crisis. The invasion, and subsequent Western sanctions, heaped new pressures on oil and gas supplies already strained from the rapid economic rebound from the pandemic. The world's top energy companies beat a hasty retreat from Russia and wrote off tens of billions of dollars in assets. European nations scrambled to make sure they could keep the lights on and their residents from freezing to death... Climate change targets went on the back burner."
CNN:" Japan on Friday unveiled a new national security plan that signals the country’s biggest military buildup since World War II, doubling defense spending and veering from its pacifist constitution in the face of growing threats from regional rivals..."
WASHINGTONPOST:" Reckoning of American Indian boarding schools grows The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition identified 115 more schools than the 408 federally funded schools previously recognized, bringing the known number of schools that forced Native American children to assimilate to White culture to 523 across the U.S. The coalition scoured thousands of records scattered across the National Archives, universities, tribal offices and local historical societies to identify and map the schools as part of an effort to raise awareness about an often forgotten part of U.S. history. “Regardless of who was complicit in running these schools, whether it was done by the federal government or a church or religious group, they both thought it was acceptable to create these schools to remove Native children from their land, strip them of their language and reprogram them under a Manifest Destiny model,” said Samuel Torres, deputy chief executive of the coalition. Tens of thousands of American Indian children attended these schools, although no one knows the exact number. Thousands are believed to have died, the coalition said.There are increasingly few Native elders alive to give firsthand accounts of their time at the schools. Many are now in their 70s and 80s and attended the schools in the late 1940s and ’50s. Some were physically, mentally and sexually abused. Their experiences left them deeply scarred. ‘12 years of hell’: Indian boarding school survivors share their stories The coalition’s work comes amid a growing effort to expose the harmful legacy of the boarding school era on American Indian families and tribes as part of the federal government’s broader, centuries-long policies to try to eradicate Native Americans and seize their land. The reckoning has been spurred in large part, many Native leaders said, by the discovery in 2021 of roughly 200 unmarked graves of children who died at a residential school in Canada."
CNN:"Winter in drought-stricken California is off to a fast start with a series of storms bringing a generous amount of rain and snow across Western states. And it’s already starting to make a dent in California’s drought conditions, according to the latest US Drought Monitor released Thursday morning. The barrage of rain and snow brought a tiny glimpse of hope for drought-weary residents, who in the past three years have been facing back-to-back historically dry years that triggered unprecedented water shortages and landscape-altering wildfires."
CNN:"A year after his Tennessee home was burned down and a racial slur was spray-painted on his property, Alan Mays says he’s still pleading with authorities for answers to what he’s calling a hate crime. Authorities are actively investigating the cause of the fire that destroyed the family’s seven-bedroom home in Ripley last November, but Mays says he’s growing disillusioned as his family is now facing homelessness. “We were never given any kind of closure,” the Iraq War veteran told CNN. Mays, who is Black, claims that authorities are treating the fire as an accident despite a documented pattern of harassment against his multiracial family. From repeated break-ins to security camera footage of people shouting racial slurs around their house, Mays says his family has been targeted for years."
wishma " Tokyo (CNN)As a child, Wishma Rathnayake was fascinated with "Oshin," a popular 1980s' television drama about a young girl who rises from poverty to head a Japanese supermarket chain. Urged by her father to emulate her hero, Rathnayake started learning Japanese with a dream of one day moving to Japan from the small Sri Lankan town of Gampaha, northeast of Colombo. When her father died, the university graduate convinced her mother she could earn enough money working abroad as an English teacher to fund her retirement. The family remortgaged their home, and in 2017, Rathnayake moved to Narita, on the outskirts of Tokyo, on a student visa. Within three years, she was dead. .."
CNN: Two FSB defectors say there are many Russians in the FSB who want to escape from Russia. "Every second FSB officer wants to run away". "There are a lot of people who now work in the Putin system but want to find- a way to work together with the West, with Ukraine, with Europe, with the United States, and to stop Putin." Because there have been FSB agents who pretended to seek asylum but in reality continued to work for Putin, many countries have made it more difficult for many Russians to get visas to enter their countries
CNN:"I care about dismantling Christian nationalism both because I’m a practicing Christian and because I’m a patriotic American – and no, those identities are not the same. As Christians, we can’t allow Greene, Boebert or Trump to distort our faith without a fight. We must speak loudly when our faith is used as a political tool, we must uproot it from our own churches and communities and we must form alliances with religious minorities and the nonreligious – who suffer the impact of Christian nationalism the most. Religion, and Christianity in particular, has flourished in America not because of government aid or favoritism, but for the opposite reason: religion’s freedom from government control. Government involvement in religious affairs doesn’t aid the free exercise of religion. And as Christians, we are called to love our neighbors rather than make them feel unwelcome in their own country. As historian Jemar Tisby has written, “[to] follow Christ is to reject the Christian Nationalist ideology. Marjorie Taylor Greene and her allies can follow Jesus’s teachings or the teachings of Christian Nationalism, but they cannot do both.”"
"WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, on Sunday pressed Democratic President Joe Biden to take action to manage an expected wave of asylum seekers at America's southern border when COVID-era restrictions are set to end this week. U.S. border cities are bracing for an influx of asylum seekers after a U.S. judge in November moved to strike down a policy enacted by the Trump administration in 2020 that has allowed migration authorities to rapidly send asylum seekers back to Mexico and other countries. The policy, known as Title 42, is due to end on Dec. 21, and thousands of asylum seekers have been lining up at the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of the easing of restrictions. On Saturday, the west Texas border city of El Paso declared a state of emergency, citing hundreds of migrants sleeping on the streets in cold temperatures and the thousands being apprehended every day. "It's a very dire situation," U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas, a Republican, told CBS's "Face the Nation"."
"WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The Pentagon's new push to investigate reports of UFOs has so far not yielded any evidence to suggest that aliens have visited Earth or crash-landed here, senior military leaders said on Friday. However, the Pentagon's effort to investigate anomalous, unidentified objects -- whether they are in space, the skies or even underwater -- led to hundreds of new reports that are now being investigated, they say." But so far they have seen nothing that indicates intelligent alien life. "I have not seen anything in those holdings to date that would suggest that there has been an alien visitation, an alien crash or anything like that," said Ronald Moultrie, under secretary of defense for intelligence and security. Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon's newly formed All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), did not rule out the possibility of extraterrestrial life and said he was taking a scientific approach to the research.
REUTERS:"A smoky haze hangs over India's northern plains and its capital, New Delhi, every year as winter sets in, raising fears for the health of many millions of people as authorities order fixes that do little to clear the air. In recent days, the Air Quality Index in the capital of 20 million people, where few use air purifiers or wear masks to protect themselves, has risen above 350 on a scale of 500, near "very poor" levels, according to the SAFAR monitoring agency. Anything above 60 is considered unhealthy."
Albert-Einstein " (CNN)The ripples created by massive cosmic collisions have reached Earth after traveling across the universe for billions of years. Scientists have detected the largest number of these gravitational waves since the cosmic events were first discovered in 2015, according to new research. Astronomers made 35 new detections of gravitational waves, or ripples in space-time, between November 2019 and March 2020. The cosmic waves were largely created by pairs of merging black holes, but several were born of rare collisions between dense neutron stars and black holes. It's a giant leap from when just three gravitational waves were detected between 2015 and 2016. This brings the known number of detected gravitational waves to 90 from 2015 to 2020. They were detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, in the US, and the Virgo gravitational-wave observatory in Italy. The results of the latest observation campaign were published Monday. Star life and death Gravitational waves can help scientists better understand the violent life cycle of stars and why they turn into black holes or neutron stars when they die. These ripples in space-time were first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916 as part of his theory of general relativity. This latest discovery is "a tsunami" and a "major leap forward in our quest to unlock the secrets of the Universe's evolution," said study coauthor Susan Scott, a distinguished professor at the Australian National University Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics, in a statement. .."
Gen-Charles-McGee " Jan 16 (Reuters) - Retired Brigadier General Charles McGee, part of the pioneering all-Black Tuskegee Airmen during World War Two and one of its most decorated pilots, died on Sunday at the age of 102, his family said in a statement. McGee, who flew 409 combat missions spanning World War Two, Korea and Vietnam, died in his sleep Sunday morning, a family spokesperson said. "He had his right hand over his heart and was smiling serenely," his youngest daughter Yvonne McGee said in a statement released by the spokesperson."Today, we lost an America hero," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Twitter. "While I am saddened by his loss, I'm also incredibly grateful for his sacrifice, his legacy and his character. Rest in Peace, General." McGee was born Dec. 7, 1919 in Cleveland, Ohio. His plane was hit twice in combat, once during the Korean conflict and again years later near Laos, both times on his right wing. McGee battled racism and segregation during his military career. He was called to service in 1942 at age 23 and became one of the first Black military aviators known as the Tuskegee Airmen."Being brought up, they say African-American or Black, but we're American and our country was at war," McGee told Reuters in 2016."We were just as interested in supporting that effort as anybody else at that time and so we turned our back on the fact that there was segregation .."
Humanitarian-Catastrophe "GENEVA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - The worst drought in the Horn of Africa in more than 40 years looks almost certain to persist after the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday that forecasts for October-December show a high chance of drier-than-average conditions. The latest outlook confirms the fears of aid agencies which have been warning for months about the worsening consequences of the drought for Ethiopia, Somalia and parts of Kenya, including a risk of another famine in Somalia following one there a decade ago that killed hundreds of thousands of people."
CNN:"You know the story: a young, undersized, aspiring artist from New York’s Lower East Side who loves his country and hates bullies uses a superhero persona to take on the Nazis and becomes a war hero. It’s the origin of Captain America. It’s also the origin of Jack Kirby, his co-creator.Captain America debuted 82 years ago this month, in 1941’s “Captain America Comics” no. 1, the brainchild of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. .."
CNN:"Joseph Bologne, also known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, is not quite a household name -- yet. The 18th century Afro-Caribbean historical figure is best known as a composer, sometimes called "The Black Mozart" for his bright, virtuosic works and peerless talent on the violin. He was also the son of an enslaved woman, a champion fencer, a notorious ladies' man, a boundary-breaking conductor and a close confidante of Marie Antoinette. With a life like that, the drama practically writes itself. Now, more than 200 years after his death, Bologne's remarkable story is finally reaching mainstream audiences through "Chevalier," a film based on his life. Moreover, his works are being dusted off and championed by some of classical music's most influential figures."
casitas-de-esperanza NBCNEWS:"...Even with the minimum wage, if you’re working a full-time job, and you’re making $15 an hour, but the house you’re living in is $2,400,” she said. “There is no way to bridge that gap. So one of the things that we’ve seen with homelessness in our community is that we have a lot of people who are working who are homeless.” .."
Journalist-Lourdes-Maldonado-Lopez-killed "Mexico City (CNN)Journalist Lourdes Maldonado López was killed on Sunday in northern Mexico's border city of Tijuana, marking the third killing of a journalist in the country in two weeks. López was shot to death inside a car in Tijuana's Santa Fe neighborhood, according to a Sunday statement from the Baja California Attorney General Office. Local law enforcement first received a report on Sunday at 7 p.m. local time and found López dead upon arrival, it said. An investigation is underway. López covered corruption and politics, and had been the victim of previous attacks for her work, according to the human rights organization, Article 19, of which López was a member. .. "
thousands-protest-in-India "Delhi, India (CNN)At a conference in India last month, a Hindu extremist dressed head-to-toe in the religion's holy color, saffron, called on her supporters to kill Muslims and "protect" the country. "If 100 of us become soldiers and are prepared to kill 2 million (Muslims), then we will win ... protect India, and make it a Hindu nation," said Pooja Shakun Pandey, a senior member of the right-wing Hindu Mahasabha political party, according to a video of the event. Her words -- and calls for violence from other religious leaders -- were met with a roar of applause from the large audience, video from the three-day conference in the northern Indian city of Haridwar shows. But across India, people were outraged. Nearly a month on, many are still furious at the lack of government response or arrests over the comments, which they say highlights a worsening climate for the country's Muslims... "
Al Jezeera reporter killed WASHINGTONPOST:
"JERUSALEM — The funeral of slain Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh began in chaos Friday, as Israeli police set off stun grenades and beat mourners with batons, after a group of them tried to carry her coffin on their shoulders rather than let it be loaded in a hearse.By day’s end, the crowds had swelled into the largest Palestinian gathering in Jerusalem in recent memory. Mourners called it a stunning display of national unity, prompted by the death of a journalist being hailed as an icon, with a face familiar across the Arab world, who was the latest victim, they said, of Israel’s decades-long occupation. Abu Akleh, a correspondent for the Al Jazeera news channel, was shot dead Wednesday while covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank. The network and Palestinian authorities said she was shot by Israeli troops. Israel has said she was caught in crossfire. After saying Palestinian gunmen were most likely responsible, the military said Thursday that it was examining the possibility that one of its soldiers fired the shot..."
digital-representation-of-murdered-child BBC:"Bodies found at the bottom of a medieval well were Ashkenazi Jews and victims of 12th Century anti-Semitic violence, DNA evidence has suggested. They were discovered in 2004 during an excavation of a site in the centre of Norwich. The well contained the remains of at least 17 people, mostly children, six of whom have had their DNA analysed...The findings, published in the Current Biology journal, indicate that four of the probable victims were relatives, including three young sisters, aged five to 10 years old, 10 to 15 years old and a young adult...According to the study, the findings were consistent with them being victims of a historically-recorded anti-Semitic massacre by local crusaders and their supporters in Norwich on 6 February 1190 AD. It was recorded by the chronicler Ralph de Diceto in his Imagines Historiarum II where he wrote: "Accordingly on 6th February [in 1190 AD] all the Jews who were found in their own houses at Norwich were butchered; some had taken refuge in the castle". Dr Brace, a lead author on the paper, said: "Twelve years after we first started analysing the remains of these individuals, technology has caught up and helped us to understand this historical cold case of who these people were and why we think they were murdered." "
goes-beyond-conservatismCNN:"Armed Idaho locals show up to library board meetings to push ban of over 400 books CNN's Nick Watt is in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, where locals are pushing back against activists trying to get more than 400 books banned from the library — books that the library doesn't even have.Source: CNN Trustees of the local library are under seige by "American Redoubt" and are facing a recall. Locals are resisting. A coalition of conservatives and liberals are attmpting to fight back but the book ban crowd has been running and winning elections. .."COMMENT:The book ban crowd are nothing more than fascist nazis. The scary part is that they are winning. They say they are Christian? Utter nonsense. "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love"1 John 4:7-11 NKJV
David-Flink "New York (CNN)Growing up, David Flink struggled in school -- despite his smarts. He had a hard time focusing in class, and he didn't understand why he couldn't learn the way other students did. "There was a calculation made," he said. "I could either be the dumb kid or I could be the bad kid. So, I started acting out." Flink was often asked to leave the classroom because of the disruptions he caused. "At one point, my desk was literally moved to the hallway," he said. "But then I had this message sent to me that I didn't belong in a classroom." One in five children in the United States has a learning disability. At the time, Flink didn't realize he was among them, and his struggles left him feeling alone and isolated.It was in a hallway where Flink met his first mentor, the school's janitor. "He got to know me, and eventually we started playing chess," Flink said. "There was nothing that said he had to take an interest in my life, and he did anyhow. And that saved me." .."
CNN:" South Korea has a problem: thousands of people, many middle aged and isolated, are dying alone each year, often going undiscovered for days or weeks. This is “godoksa,” or “lonely deaths,” a widespread phenomenon the government has been trying to combat for years as its population rapidly ages. Under South Korean law, a “lonely death” is when someone who lives alone, cut off from family or relatives, dies ..."
secret-meeting-of-fake-electors CNN:"'A secret meeting place': Fake GOP elector reveals how phony ballots were cast for Trump Erin Burnett Out Front A fake elector from Wisconsin reveals how he and other Republicans met secretly to produce phony documents and subvert democracy. CNN's Kyung Lah reports..."
Sri-Lanka CNN:"...For weeks, Sri Lanka has been battling its worst economic crisis since the island nation gained independence in 1948, leaving food, fuel, gas and medicine in short supply, and sending the cost of basic goods skyrocketing.Though the situation is now particularly acute, it's been years in the making... "30% is misfortune. 70% is mismanagement," said Murtaza Jafferjee, chair of Colombo-based think tank Advocata Institute. For the past decade, he said, the Sri Lankan government had borrowed vast sums of money from foreign lenders and expanded public services. As the government's borrowings grew, the economy took hits from major monsoons that hurt agricultural output in 2016 and 2017, followed by a constitutional crisis in 2018, and the deadly Easter bombings in 2019. ..Sri Lanka is now looking for outside help to ease the economic turmoil -- the IMF, India and China..."
CNN:"Former US Army corporal and Medal of Honor recipient Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura has died, according to a news release from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. He was 97 years old. Miyamura was born on October 6, 1925, in Gallup, New Mexico. He joined the Army in January 1945 as part of a mostly-Japanese American infantry regiment, according to the statement. “He was discharged from the Army shortly after Japan surrendered but later enlisted in the US Army Reserve” and returned to active duty after the Korean War began." President Dwight D. Eisenhower presented Miyamura with the Medal of Honor on White House grounds in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 27, 1953, for his actions near Taejon-Ni, Korea, during the Korean War. On April 24, 1951, then-Cpl. Miyamura was a machine-gun squad leader with Company H occupying a defensive position when the enemy threatened to overrun the position. Aware of the imminent danger to his men, he engaged in close hand-to-hand combat, killing approximately 10 of the enemy before returning to administer first aid to the wounded and directed their evacuation. When another assault hit the line, he manned his machine gun until his ammunition was expended and ordered the squad to withdraw while he stayed behind bayoneting his way through infiltrated enemy soldiers to a second gun emplacement and assisted in its operation. He ordered his men to fall back while covering their movement and killed more than 50 of the enemy before his ammunition was depleted and he was severely wounded but was still seen continuing to fight an overwhelming number of enemy soldiers before being captured by the enemy."
ike-schab "(CNN)A Pearl Harbor survivor will be in attendance at the 80th remembrance ceremony this week, thanks to the help of his daughter and dozens of strangers who wanted to make sure he could be there. Ike Schab, 101, told CNN he was on a docked ship when the attack occurred in 1941. "I don't remember seeing the Arizona get hit, but I remember being at the bow of our ship and a big high tower of flame and debris came off of her," Schab said. "It's getting harder to remember these things, but I remember trying not to get killed during the war. Like most people." His daughter, Kimberlee Heinrichs, told CNN she knew her dad needed to attend the event on December 7, after his social life was severely limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But after a tough year of layoffs and financial struggle, getting him there with the care he needed didn't seem possible...To raise the money to get a second caregiver Heinrichs turned to GoFundMe. After about a week she exceeded the $5,000 goal and then some."The idea that complete strangers donated money... made me cry. People did something kind when that seems in short supply," she said."Both said they are grateful for the generosity of others, and the opportunity to have Schab there in person." On Sunday, he's going to be conducting the PACFLEET band at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. Schab has attended the ceremony a few times in his life and said every time he does, it brings him a sense of wonder. “I like that when I go there are reminders of people and things from a long time ago. People I miss. ..
Lake-Shasta "(CNN)Against the backdrop of the water crisis in the Colorado River Basin, where the country's largest reservoirs are plunging at an alarming rate, California's two largest reservoirs — Shasta Lake and Lake Oroville — are facing a similar struggle. Years of low rainfall and snowpack and more intense heat waves have fed directly to the state's multiyear, unrelenting drought conditions, rapidly draining statewide reservoirs. And according to this week's report from the US Drought Monitor, the two major reservoirs are at "critically low levels" at the point of the year when they should be the highest."
CNN:" I honour my God. I serve my Queen. I salute the flag.” Those words began each school day for me. It was late 1960’s Australia. White Australia.Whiteness was Australian policy. The first Act passed by the Australian parliament when it was formed in 1901, was immigration control legislation that would become known as the White Australia Policy.So-called coloured peoples would be excluded. The policy was not formally abolished until the 1970’s. Australia for most of its history was defiantly, proudly White. In 1947, Immigration Minister Arthur Calwell captured the nation’s institutional racism when he disparagingly referred to Chinese people saying, “two Wongs don’t make a white.” Whiteness is built into Australia. In 1770 a British sailor, Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook – at the height of the “age of discovery” – claimed this continent for the Crown. The rights of my people were extinguished. We were rendered British subjects. It continues today. That’s what the coronation of King Charles III will mean for so many First Nations people: a reminder of a history of conquest. My people – First Nations people – had been invaded, our land stolen.Wars were fought in this land now called Australia where Aboriginal people were massacred. Martial law was declared on my people, the Wiradjuri nation, during the 1820’s in what was referred to as an “exterminating war.” The survivors were locked away on segregated missions and reserves. Every movement was monitored, curfews imposed, civil liberties denied..." "
a-mother-and-her-son NYTIMES:"GONE Nearly 100,000 people have disappeared in Mexico. Their families now search for clues among the dead.They lie in clandestine graves strewn across the desert, mingled in communal pits, or hacked to pieces and scattered on desiccated hillsides. Buried without a name, often all that’s left once their bodies are gone are the empty casings of a person: a bloodied sweatshirt, a frilly top, a tattered dress.All over Mexico, mothers wander under the scorching sun, poking at the earth and sniffing for the tell-tale scent of decomposing flesh, hoping for a scrap that points toward their missing son or daughter. For most, the answers never come.A New York Times photographer documented their search, and in Chihuahua state, he photographed the clothing that was found with unidentified bodies and preserved by investigators. ..."
pro democracy activists remanded Reuters:"Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was remanded into custody on Monday after pleading guilty to charges of organising and inciting an unauthorized assembly near the police headquarters during last year's anti-government protests..."
Woman and child in Tigray BBC:"Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: PM gives Tigray forces 72 hours to surrender. Ethiopia's prime minister has given forces in the northern region of Tigray 72 hours to surrender as government troops advance on the capital, Mekelle. Abuy Ahmed told Tigrayan leaders they were 'at a point of no return'.."
The Wonders of Star Gazing CNN: "The two largest planets in our solar system are coming closer together than they have been since the Middle Ages, and it's happenng just in time for Christmas. So there are some things to look forward to in the final month of 2020.On the night of December 21, the winter solstice, Jupiter and Saturn will appear so closely aligned n our sky that they will look like a double planet. This close approach is called a conjunction.' Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare...'..."
Large and Small Magellanic Clouds CNN:"There are nearly 2 billion stars in our galaxy. At least that's what the most current map shows. Astronomers have mapped the most extensive atlas of our Milky Way galaxy yet, including the positions of each and every one of those stars. The European Space Agency's Gaia space observatory also tracked the movement, colorsand brightness of these stars as well as the first visible measurement of the acceleration of our solar system..."
Origin of the planets capsule lands in Australia Reuters:"Japan has retrieved a capsule of asteroid dust from Australia's remote outback after a six-year mission that may help uncover more about the origins of the planets and water, the Asian nation's space agency said on Sunday. The mission of the Japanese spacecraft, Hayabusa2, spotlights Asia's growing role in space exploration, with a Chinese robotic vehicle collecting lunar samples last week for the first time since the 1970s. ...."
Danny-Stewart-Pete-Mercurio-and-their-son "(CNN)A New York family who came together by chance 21 years ago has now shared their remarkable story in a children's book. Pete Mercurio was walking out the door to meet his then-partner (now husband) Danny Stewart for dinner in August 2000 when his phone rang. It was Stewart, calling to tell him he'd be late. He'd found an abandoned baby in the subway and had called 911 from a payphone. Stewart, a social worker, had spotted a little bundle wrapped in a sweatshirt while walking through an eerily empty station. At first, he thought it was a doll, perhaps left behind by a child, until he saw a tiny leg move. He quickly discovered it was a newborn baby, the umbilical cord still attached. Mercurio, who authored a book about this chance encounter, spoke to CNN about that night, and about how he and Stewart ended up raising the baby as their own..."He had actually tried to get on an express train and couldn't get on one," Mercurio recalls of Stewart's path that fateful day. "The fact that he even got on a local was kind of miraculous because who knows if he had gotten on an express if he'd even had found the baby." Mercurio says something made Stewart glance back at the bundle and see the newborn's small motion..."
public-education-in-crisis WASHINGTONPOST:"Test scores are down, and violence is up. Parents are screaming at school boards, and children are crying on the couches of social workers. Anger is rising. Patience is falling. For public schools, the numbers are all going in the wrong direction. Enrollment is down. Absenteeism is up. There aren’t enough teachers, substitutes or bus drivers. Each phase of the pandemic brings new logistics to manage, and Republicans are planning political campaigns this year aimed squarely at failings of public schools. Public education is facing a crisis unlike anything in decades, and it reaches into almost everything that educators do: from teaching math, to counseling anxious children, to managing the building. ..."
Embla-Ademi "(CNN)The President of North Macedonia walked an 11-year-old girl with Down syndrome to school after he heard she was being bullied. President Stevo Pendarovski held Embla Ademi's hand as he walked her to her elementary school in the city of Gostivar on Monday. Embla has experienced bullying at school due as a result of having Down syndrome -- a genetic condition that causes learning disabilities, health problems and distinctive facial characteristics -- a spokesperson for the President's office told CNN.Pendarovski "talked to Embla's parents about the challenges she and her family face on a daily basis," and discussed solutions, his office said in a press release. "The President said that the behavior of those who endanger children's rights is unacceptable, especially when it comes to children with atypical development," the statement said. "They should not only enjoy the rights they deserve, but also feel equal and welcome in the school desks and schoolyard. It is our obligation, as a state, but also as individuals, and the key element in this common mission is empathy."..."
Russia China joint patrols in the Pacific ABCNews:"Russian and Chinese bombers flew a joint patrol mission over the Western Pacific Tuesday in a show of increasingly close military ties between Moscow and Beijing. The Russian military said that a pair of its Tu-95 strategic bombers and four Chinese H-6K bombers flew over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the joint mission was intended to 'develop and deepen the comprehensive Russia-China partnership further increase the level of cooperation between the two militaries, expand their ability for joint action and strengthen strategic stability'..."
Annual Threat Assessment ATA ODNI Unclassified Report:"In the coming year, the United States and its allies will face a diverse array of threats that are playing out amidst the global disruption resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and against the backdrop of great power competition, the disruptive effects of ecological degradation and a changing climate, an increasing number of empowered non-state actors, and rapidly evolving technology. The complexity of the threats,their intersections, and the potential for cascading events in an increasingly interconnected and mobile world create new challenges for the IC. Ecological and climate changes, for example, are connected to public health risks, humanitarian concerns, social and political instability, and geopolitical rivalry. The 2021 Annual Threat Assessment highlights some of those connections as it provides the IC’s baseline assessments of the most pressing threats to US national interests, while emphasizing the United States’ key adversaries and competitors.It is not an exhaustive assessment of all global challenges and notably excludes assessments of US adversaries’ vulnerabilities. It accounts for functional concerns, such as weapons of mass destruction and technology, primarily in the sections on threat actors, such as China and Russia..."
Global Wealth Inequality Bloomberg: "Tax cuts for rich people breed inequality without providing much of a boon to anyone else, according to a study of the advanced world that could add to the case for the wealthy to bear more of the cost of the coronavirus pandemic. The paper, by David Hope of the London School of Economics and Julian Limberg of King's College London, found that such measures over the last 50 years only really benefited the individuals who were directly affected, and did little to promote jobs or growth. 'Policy makers shouldn't worry that raising taxes on the rich to fund the financial cost of the pandemic will harm their economies,' Hope said in an interview..."
French Government to return Klimt to rightful Jewish heirs ABCNews:"The French government announced Monday that it will return a Nazi-looted Gustav Klimt landscape painting to its rightful owners more than 80 years after it was stolen from a Jewish family in Austria in 1938. The colorful 1905 oil work by the Austrian symbolist painter titled “Rosebushes under the Trees” has been hanging in Paris’ Musee d’Orsay museum for decades.French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin told a Paris news conference that “the decision to return a major work from the public collections illustrates our commitment to the duty of justice and reparation vis-à-vis plundered families.”"
Afghanistan one of the worlds most dangerous countries for children BBC:"An average of five children have been killed or wounded every day for the past 14 years in war-torn Afghanistan, a charity has found. Data from the UN showed at least 26,025 children were killed or maimed from 2005 to 2019, said Save the Children. The charity has urged donor nations to protect the future of children ahead of a key meeting in Geneva on Monday..."
Milton Friedman Bloomberg:"George Serafeim wants to revolutionize the way businesses calculate their success. Profit and loss aren't enough says the Harvard Business School professor. Serafeim aims to do what no one has done before: Put a dollar value on the impact of products and operations on people and the planet, then add or subtract it from companies' bottom lines. Intel Corp. provides an example of both. Serafeim and his five-person team credited $6.9 billion to the chipmaker in 2018 for paying its employees well and for boosting local economies where it has offices..."
CNN:
"...Harold George Belafonte Jr. was born March 1, 1927 in New York city to poor Caribbean immigrants. His father worked as a cook on merchant ships and abandoned the family when Belafonte was young. Belafonte also spent some of his boyhood in Jamaica, the former British colony and his mother’s native country, where he witnessed White English authorities mistreating Black Jamaicans. He returned to New York City’s Harlem neighborhood by 1940 to live with his mother, Melvine, who struggled to hold her family together amid grinding poverty...“She was the one who taught him that you shouldn’t let the sun go down without fighting against injustice,” Judith E. Smith, author of “Becoming Belafonte: Black Artist, Public Radical,” says about Belafonte’s mother."..."“I’ve often responded to queries that ask, ‘When as an artist did you decide to become an activist?’ ” he once said. “My response to the question is that I was an activist long before I became an artist. They both service each other, but the activism is first.” The scope of Belafonte’s activism was astonishing. He saw the civil rights movement as a global struggle. He led a campaign against apartheid in South Africa, and befriended Nelson Mandela. He mobilized support for the fight against HIV/AIDS and became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. He also came up with the idea for recording the 1985 hit song, “We Are the World,” which assembled a constellation of pop and rock stars, including Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen, to raise money for famine relief in Africa. Belafonte didn’t mellow as his wealth and fame grew. He drew criticism after calling President George W. Bush “the greatest terrorist in the world” for leading an invasion of Iraq, and assailed Black celebrities such as Jay Z and Beyonce for not taking bolder stands on social justice. He criticized Barack Obama so much during the then Senator’s first presidential run in 2008 that Obama asked him, “When are you going to cut me some slack?” “What makes you think that’s not what I’ve been doing?” Belafonte responded."...
slave-ship NEWYORKTIMES:"The historian Marcus Rediker opens “The Slave Ship: A Human History” with a harrowing reconstruction of the journey, for a captive, from shore to ship: The ship grew larger and more terrifying with every vigorous stroke of the paddles. The smells grew stronger and the sounds louder — crying and wailing from one quarter and low, plaintive singing from another; the anarchic noise of children given an underbeat by hands drumming on wood; the odd comprehensible word or two wafting through: someone asking for menney, water, another laying a curse, appealing to myabecca, spirits. An estimated 12.5 million people endured some version of this journey, captured and shipped mainly from the western coast of Africa to the Western Hemisphere during the four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Of that number, about 10.7 million survived to reach the shores of the so-called New World.It is thanks to decades of painstaking, difficult work that we know a great deal about the scale of human trafficking across the Atlantic Ocean and about the people aboard each ship. Much of that research is available to the public in the form of the SlaveVoyages database. A detailed repository of information on individual ships, individual voyages and even individual people, it is a groundbreaking tool for scholars of slavery, the slave trade and the Atlantic world. .."
Bob-Bryntwick-and-picture WASHINGTONPOST-MAGAZINE:"We’re moving” was a phrase Bob Bryntwick heard once or twice a year during his childhood in the 1950s. There were many times when he’d come home from school to find the contents of his family’s Montreal home scattered across the front lawn. His single mother, Anne, didn’t make rent again.He’d shrug, gather his things and mentally prepare to start over in a different neighborhood, going to a new school and making new friends. With each move, Anne took pride in their dwellings.” .."
marcos-jr-supporters "MANILA, May 9 (Reuters) - Ferdinand Marcos Jr clinched a stunning runaway victory in the Philippines' presidential election on Monday in the first win by a majority since a 1986 revolution that toppled his late father's two-decade dictatorship. An unofficial tally showed Marcos, popularly known as "Bongbong", had surpassed the 27.5 million votes needed for a majority, setting the stage for a once unthinkable return to rule of the Marcos family, 36 years after its humiliating retreat into exile during a "people power" uprising."I hope you won't get tired of trusting us," Marcos told supporters in remarks streamed on Facebook, a platform at the core of his political strategy. "We have plenty of things to do," he said, adding "an endeavour as large as this does not involve one person." Marcos Jr had 29.9 million votes, double that of Leni Robredo, the vice president, with 93.8% of the eligible ballots counted, according to the unofficial Commission on Elections (COMELEC) tally. Turnout was about 80% ..."
PRC Flag outside the old city Xingjiang CNN:"The Chinese government's alleged actions in Xinjiang have violated every single provision in the United Nations' Genocide Convention, according to an independent report by more than 50 global experts in human rights, war crimes and international law. .. It is the first time a non-governmental organization has undertaken an independent legal analysis of the accusations of genocide in Xinjiang, including what responsibility Beijing may bear for the alleged crimes. An advance copy of the report was seen exclusively by CNN. ..."
Auschwitz Reuters:"Marian Turski, a 94-year-old survivor of the Auschwitz death camp, marked the 76th anniversary of its liberation by Soviet troops on Wednesday only virtually, aware that he might never return as the coronavirus pandemic drags on.Survivors and museum officials told Reuters they fear the pandemic could end the era where Auschwitz’s former prisoners can tell their own stories to visitors on site. Most Auschwitz survivors are in their eighties and nineties. “Even if there was no pandemic, there would be fewer survivors at every anniversary,” Turski told Reuters in a Zoom interview from his Warsaw home."
ABCNEWS: "Smaller, grassroots efforts in communities across the country are trying alternative strategies to curb violence, recognizing the fallout from decades of “tough on crime” policies that criminalized a generation, leaving them with fewer resources and opportunities than ever. That includes violence interrupter programs such as Gideon’s Army or Cure Violence Global, which started in Chicago and has branched out to other cites. Other groups, including the West Nashville Dream Center, primarily attack structural issues such as poverty and educational inequality. The groups differ in philosophy but share a common goal of improving life in their communities. Minorities are heavily affected by community violence, said Paul Carrillo, the community violence initiative director at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, but it’s not unusual to see pushback surface at the grassroots level.“Anywhere there’s a significant level of crime there are also homegrown peacemakers," he said...."
500-years NBCNEWS:"MEXICO CITY — There are two ways of remembering the Spanish siege of Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital now known as Mexico City: as the painful birth of modern Mexico, or the start of centuries of virtual enslavement. The world-changing battle started on May 22, 1521, and lasted for months until the city finally fell to the conquistadores on Aug. 13. It was one of the few times an organized Indigenous army under local command fought European colonizers to a standstill for months, and the final defeat helped set the template for much of the conquest and colonization that came afterward. ..."
People sift through debris NBCNews:"A new report by a federal agency that regulates the nation's commodities markets warns that climate change 'poses a major risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system' and is already affecting, or is projected to affect, nearly every part of the American economy. Coming at the midpoint of what has already been an intense hurricane season and as extreme wildfires rage across a huge part of the west Coast, the report offers one of the most strongly worded warnings about the financial risks of climate change yet seen from a federal financial regulator..."
Pro Democracy Activist arrested in security crackdown Reuters:"Over 50 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of violating the city's national security law, local media reported, in the biggest crackdown yet against the opposition camp under the contentious new legislation. Police also arrived at the offices of pr-democracy online media outlet Stand News, according to live footage on its website. A Stand News reporter said police had asked the editor-in-chief to sign documents related to a national security investigation..."
Lost Library BBC:"Centuries ago, a prestigious Islamic library brought Arabic numerals to the world. Though the library long since disappeared, its mathematical revolution changed our world. The House of Wisdom sounds a bit like make belive: no trace remains of this ancient library, destroyed in the 13th Century, so we cannot be sure exactly where it was located or what it looked like. But this prestigious academy was in fact a major intellectual powerhouse..."
Li-Jingwei CNN:"Hong Kong (CNN)A man who was abducted as a child in China more than 30 years ago has been reunited with his parents -- thanks to social media, online sleuths and a crude map drawn from memory. Li Jingwei was only 4 years old when he was kidnapped by a man he knew from his family's village in southwestern Yunnan province in 1988. He was taken to live with another family in central Henan province, where he grew up, according to state-run news outlet The Paper. Even as a young child, Li realized he had been taken far from home -- but he had no way of returning even as he grew older, he told The Paper. He didn't remember his birth name, his parents' names or the name of his village. But he did remember what his home village looked like: where trees grew, cows grazed, roads turned and rivers flowed. He remembered the rice paddies and ponds near his house, and where bamboo shoots grew in the nearby mountain. .."
csu-bans-caste-discrimination "(CNN)On paper, the change was subtle -- the word "caste" appearing in parentheses after the term "race and ethnicity." But for many advocates and student leaders, the tweak to California State University's anti-discrimination policy that quietly went into effect on January 1 was a civil rights victory: An acknowledgment from the nation's largest, four-year public university system that the insidious form of oppression that has long haunted some on campus is, in fact, real. Caste-oppressed students, who mostly hail from South Asian immigrant and diaspora backgrounds, say that casteism tends to manifest in US colleges and universities through slurs, microaggressions and social exclusion...."
The-Patel-Family NBCNEWS:"In the small village of Dingucha, in the state of Gujarat in western India, flyers are plastered on lampposts and buildings, hard to miss even on a short walk down the road. They advertise to the residents, most of whom live in poverty, a better life abroad. “Study in UK, Canada, Free Application, Offer Letter In 3 Days.” The promise might sound too good to be true, but those who live there say many of their dreams revolve around it. “If there is money, they will go,” Ganpatbhai Patel, a resident of Dingucha, told NBC News in a translated interview. Last month, a family took up that offer, as many had before. Jagdish Patel, 39, Vaishaliben Patel, 37, and their children, Vihangi, 11, and Dharmik, 3, left their home in Dingucha and set out for Canada. About a week later, their bodies were found 13 yards from the border, where they had froze to death trying to cross into the U.S. on foot..."
CNN:" On a dark autumn evening almost four years ago, Janie Yoshida was driving her daughter home from high school play rehearsal when she noticed a teenager walking by himself next to a busy road. Tre Burrows, it turned out, was also in the play at Somerset Academy Canyons High School in Boynton Beach, Florida. “I pulled over to the side of the sidewalk and rolled the window down and said, ‘Hey, where do you live? I’ll take you home,’” Janie recalled. The 17-year-old kept insisting he was fine, until Janie put on “my mom’s voice” and demanded: ‘“Get in the car.” The polite young man with the gregarious smile complied. But, Janie soon learned, he led a life more challenging than she imagined – one in which she’d soon play a far bigger role. “He wanted me to drop him off at a main intersection. And I said, ‘Of course not. Just show me where you live.’ And he goes, ‘No, I can walk the rest of the way,’” Janie recalled. Reluctantly, Tre directed Janie to where he and his family were living. A motel...."
NASA:"NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a lush, highly detailed landscape – the iconic Pillars of Creation – where new stars are forming within dense clouds of gas and dust. The three-dimensional pillars look like majestic rock formations, but are far more permeable. These columns are made up of cool interstellar gas and dust that appear – at times – semi-transparent in near-infrared light. Webb’s new view of the Pillars of Creation, which were first made famous when imaged by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, will help researchers revamp their models of star formation by identifying far more precise counts of newly formed stars, along with the quantities of gas and dust in the region. Over time, they will begin to build a clearer understanding of how stars form and burst out of these dusty clouds over millions of years..."
" CNN:"Multiple space and ground-based telescopes witnessed one of the brightest explosions in space when it reached Earth on October 9. The burst may be one of the most powerful ever recorded by telescopes. Gamma-ray bursts, or GRBs, are the most powerful class of explosions in the universe, according to NASA. Scientists have dubbed this one GRB 221009A, and telescopes around the world continue to observe its aftermath.“The exceptionally long GRB 221009A is the brightest GRB ever recorded and its afterglow is smashing all records at all wavelengths,” said Brendan O’Connor, a doctoral student at the University of Maryland and George Washington University in Washington, DC, in a statement. “Because this burst is so bright and also nearby, we think this is a once-in-a-century opportunity to address some of the most fundamental questions regarding these explosions, from the formation of black holes to tests of dark matter models.” Scientists believe the creation of the long, bright pulse occurred when a massive star in the Sagitta constellation — about 2.4 billion light-years away — collapsed into a supernova explosion and became a black hole.
CNN:" At first glance, it looks like another of those viral photos that we can barely watch anymore. It shows a White state trooper and a Black man during a traffic stop on a bright, sunny day. The trooper is leaning his thick arms through the open passenger window to clutch the Black man’s right hand. The man’s back is pinned against the passenger seat, and his eyes are squeezed shut. He appears to be wincing in pain. But this photo is being widely shared for another reason. The trooper is reaching into the car to help, not to harm. And the encounter has been described by those who witnessed it not as tragic, but inspired. “It was a really beautiful moment for me to see this take place between my dad and the officer,” said Ashlye V. Wilkerson, the 39-year-old driver of the car who surreptitiously took the photo. The state trooper still has trouble digesting what happened that afternoon. “It’s just one of those things I can’t explain,” said Trooper Jaret Doty of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol..."
Sagittarius-A "(CNN)For the first time, astronomers have captured an image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. It's the first direct observation confirming the presence of the black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, as the beating heart of the Milky Way. Black holes don't emit light, but the image shows the shadow of the black hole surrounded by a bright ring, which is light bent by the gravity of the black hole. Astronomers said the black hole is 4 million times more massive than our sun. "For decades, astronomers have wondered what lies at the heart of our galaxy, pulling stars into tight orbits through its immense gravity," Michael Johnson, astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, said in a statement."With the (Event Horizon Telescope or EHT) image, we have zoomed in a thousand times closer than these orbits, where the gravity grows a million times stronger. At this close range, the black hole accelerates matter"
CNN:"When Pardeep Kaleka first contacted Arno Michaelis, he was looking for answers. It was 2012, just a few weeks after a White supremacist entered the Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and gunned down Kaleka’s father and five other members of his community. As Kaleka wrestled with feelings of anger, guilt and cynicism, he wanted to understand what would drive someone to target his place of worship. More than that, he wanted someone to take accountability. After carrying out the massacre, the Oak Creek shooter had turned the gun on himself. So Kaleka turned to a substitute: Michaelis, a former White supremacist who had helped found the neo-Nazi skinhead organization to which his father’s killer belonged. The two exchanged some messages and agreed to meet at a Thai restaurant in Milwaukee a few days later..."
DFO-MM-RESPONSE TIMES-COLONIST:
"On Friday, the federal Marine Mammal Rescue team learned of a humpback whale entangled in the ropes of a large yellow buoy used for prawn fishing.In video footage taken by DFO, rescuers manage to release the gear, which appeared to be attached to the whale’s mouth. “Debris is a real problem for marine wildlife,” said an email from Lara Sloane, DFO communications advisor.Sloane said the public can help prevent entanglements by cutting packing material, banding, rope and other looped material before disposing of it, and by not dumping those materials in the marine environment. The DFO said the rescue was a community effort that included the RCMP, commercial tug operators, B.C. Ferries captains, Nanaimo fishery officers, whale-watch companies and others who worked with DFO on the water and provided updates on the entangled whale’s location."
Humpbacks-v-Orcas LIVESCIENCE:"Whale watchers near the U.S.-Canada border recently witnessed a brutal mass brawl between more than a dozen aggressive orcas and a pair of defensive humpback whales. The intense confrontation, which lasted for several hours, included breaching, tail-slapping, biting flippers and loud vocalizations that could be heard from above the surface, according to reports. But it is unclear which species swam away victorious. The cetacean showdown took place Sept. 29 in the Juan de Fuca Strait in the Salish Sea..."
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