Categories
Audio Sources - Full Text Articles

Chile to open embassy in Palestinian territories, says president

2022-12-23T01:03:38Z

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric addresses the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters in New York City, U.S., September 20, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Chile plans to open an embassy in the Palestinian territories, President Gabriel Boric said late on Wednesday, which could make the Andean country one of only a handful to have an embassy-level office in the territories that are contested with Israel.

Chilean Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola confirmed the plan on Thursday but said there was no timeline in place yet and that Chile continues to recognize both Palestine and Israel as legitimate states.

Leftist Boric, who has repeatedly expressed support for the Palestinian people’s demand for an independent state, made the comments at a private ceremony in Santiago hosted by the city’s important Palestinian diaspora.

“I am taking a risk (saying) this… we are going to raise our official representation in Palestine from having a charge d’affaires; now we are going to open an embassy,” Boric said, without giving details on where the embassy would be located.

A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Chile said it would not be making a public statement on the matter.

The Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside of business hours.

The Palestinian territories, which Palestinians want recognized as a state, encompass the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and contest control over East Jerusalem. Israel captured those areas in a 1967 Middle East war and there have been regular clashes since.

The West Bank has experienced some of the worst levels of violence in more than a decade this year, much of it concentrated around Nablus and the nearby city of Jenin, with at least 150 Palestinians and more than 20 Israelis killed.

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian combatant in clashes near a flashpoint site on Thursday, underlining the continuing violence in the occupied West Bank that will confront Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s incoming government.

Netanyahu has secured a coalition with religious and ultranationalist partners who oppose Palestinian statehood and want to extend Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Chile’s Boric said the embassy was meant to give Palestinians the representation they deserve and to demand that “international law be respected.”

In September, Boric postponed receiving the credentials of Israel’s new ambassador to Chile after Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager. Israel criticized the decision, saying it “seriously” harmed bilateral ties.


Categories
Audio Sources - Full Text Articles

Mike Lindell is now creating a whole new nightmare for Ron DeSantis

19121c5c768fb6ee35d5576afe2d9a7f?s=100&d

Help support Palmer Report! Our articles are all 100% free to read, with no forced subscriptions and nothing hidden behind paywalls. If you value our content, you’re welcome to pay for it:

Pay $5 to Palmer Report:

Pay $25 to Palmer Report:

Pay $75 to Palmer Report:



It just doesn’t end for the GOP. Remember Lindsey Graham’s prophesy of destruction? That the party would be destroyed if they rallied around Donald Trump? That certainly is playing out, is it not? And now, friends and readers, I give you the latest GOP shitshow to hit the presses: Mike Lindell.

You already know he is running for Republican Chair. He is also believed to be paying much of Kari Lake’s legal bills. Mike Lindell is sort of like Jaws. Just when you thought it was safe, Lindell has decided to challenge the election results and even says he is dispatching a “team” to do just that.

Not OUR election results. Oh, no, no, no, dear readers. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. No, Mike Lindell is challenging Ron DeSantis’ win. Governor DeSantis. Of Florida. You just can’t make this shit up. You really, really cannot. Lindell explained that he does not believe Dade County in Florida would ever vote for a Republican.

He does not believe it happened. “I am going after Dade County,” Lindell said. Stop laughing, readers. This is serious. Lindell wants to save the Florida election, which he thinks went unfairly to Ron DeSantis.

“For me, I look at deviations,” Mad Mike explained. “That’s a deviation. Normally, republicans don’t win that county,” Lindell thundered. “I don’t believe it,” he added, presumably referring to the election results from Dade county.

“I’m going to find out in Dade County what happened there,” the Lone Ranger vowed.

—

Click here to support Palmer Report! Our articles are all 100% free to read, with no forced subscriptions and nothing hidden behind paywalls. If you value our content, you’re welcome to pay for it:

Pay $5 to Palmer Report:

Pay $25 to Palmer Report:

—

Sign up for the Palmer Report mailing list

—

Follow Palmer Report on Facebook • Twitter • Post • Mastodon

—


When I first heard about this story, I thought it was fake. Delightfully it turned out not to be. I do think Mike Lindell should look into this. Now, WE are not election deniers. We accept the outcomes of free and fair elections.


But we also believe in freedom. We believe in the right to swim with sharks (I have “Jaws” on my mind now) and build sand castles. We believe in the right to shovel snow when it accumulates in our yards and to choose whatever pillow we feel like to lay our heads on, including myPillows.

And we believe in the right of ANY insane person to chase down non-existent fake election leads. So I look forward to Mr. Lindell following through on his promise and letting us know what he finds. I also look forward to the groans of anguish that are no doubt coming from many a Republican right now.

Save Palmer Report! Our articles are all 100% free to read, with no forced subscriptions and nothing hidden behind paywalls. If you value our content, you’re welcome to pay for it:

Pay $5 to Palmer Report:

Pay $25 to Palmer Report:

Pay $75 to Palmer Report:

Write for the Palmer Report Community Section.

Help support Palmer Report! Our articles are all 100% free to read, with no forced subscriptions and nothing hidden behind paywalls. If you value our content, you’re welcome to pay for it:

Pay $5 to Palmer Report:

Pay $25 to Palmer Report:

Pay $75 to Palmer Report:

The post Mike Lindell is now creating a whole new nightmare for Ron DeSantis appeared first on Palmer Report.

Categories
Audio Sources - Full Text Articles

In China, people are learning to live with COVID

2022-12-23T00:30:34Z

Only a few weeks ago COVID-19 positive Chinese teacher Yang Zengdong and her husband would probably have ended up in a makeshift quarantine centre with patchy heating, sparse bedding and overwhelmed toilets, but today they are isolating at home.

Living in a post “zero-COVID” China, despite the anxiety about being infected and rapidly rising cases, hasn’t been too bad, says Yang.

“I wasn’t too worried (when we tested positive), I was quite well prepared with food and medicine,” she said.

Yang, her IT manager husband Hong Ruwei, 41, oldest daughter Xichen, 11, and Hong’s parents are all going about their lives, work and school while isolating in their downtown Shanghai apartment after testing positive for COVID-19. Youngest daughter Zixi, 5, has so far managed to avoid infection.

Though living with COVID-19 has been the norm for most countries around the world this year, it marks an abrupt change for China, which spent most of 2022 trying to keep the virus at bay with harsh lockdowns and near-constant mass PCR testing.

Positive cases and their close contacts were routinely taken to makeshift quarantine centres, but Yang and her family avoided that fate by contracting the virus after restrictions were lifted on Dec. 7.

“When I think of this situation my feeling is just, wow, we are so lucky because now we can isolate at home,” Yang said.

Now, although they are mildly ill with a virus they were told to fear for years, the family believes the worst is behind them.

“This wave is something we have to face, because it is impossible to stay closed forever,” Yang said.

“It may have some impact on the economy and cause some problems in people’s lives, but many of us see hope in front of us now.”

Related Galleries:

A woman wearing a face mask walks past a shopping mall, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks continue in Shanghai, China, December 22, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song

A woman wearing a face mask and face shield walks past a Christmas tree outside a shopping mall, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks continue in Shanghai, China, December 22, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song

Medical staffs work at a hospital, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks continue in Shanghai, China, December 22, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song

A resident sorts out wood sticks near a vaccination center, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, in Langxia town on the outskirts of Shanghai, China December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Brenda Goh

Elderly residents wait after receiving a dose of a vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during a government-organized visit to a vaccination center in Zhongmin village on the outskirts of Shanghai, China December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Brenda Goh
Categories
Audio Sources - Full Text Articles

North Korea denies media report it supplied munitions to Russia

2022-12-23T00:36:46Z

A North Korean flag flutters at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, July 19, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool

North Korea’s foreign ministry denied a media report it supplied munitions to Russia, calling it “groundless,” and denounced the United States for providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, the North’s official KCNA news agency reported on Friday.

Japan’s Tokyo Shimbun reported earlier that North Korea had shipped munitions, including artillery shells, to Russia via train through their border last month and that additional shipments were expected in the coming weeks.

“The Japanese media’s false report that the DPRK offered munitions to Russia is the most absurd red herring, which is not worth any comment or interpretation,” a ministry spokesperson said in a statement carried by the KCNA.

The White House said on Thursday the North has completed an initial arms delivery to a private Russian military company, the Wagner Group, to help bolster Russian forces in Ukraine.

The North Korean foreign ministry statement did not make any mention of Wagner.

According to the White House, Wagner took delivery of infantry rockets and missiles from North Korea, though Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin denied the assertion as “gossip and speculation”.

“The DPRK remains unchanged in its principled stand on the issue of ‘arms transaction’ between the DPRK and Russia which has never happened,” the North Korean spokesperson said, adding it is the United States that’s “bringing bloodshed and destruction to Ukraine by providing it with various kinds of lethal weapons.”

DPRK are the initials of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Thursday they have been monitoring North Korea’s activities amid concerns over possible arms transactions with Russia.

In a separate statement, the North Korean foreign ministry also slammed the United States’ attempt to issue a U.N. Security Council presidential statement on its latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch.

“The DPRK has already and clearly warned that such foolish attempt of the U.S. may entail a very undesirable consequence,” the spokesperson said in the statement, calling the U.S. move a “very dangerous act” that the North “has to counter with action.”

North Korea has tested an unprecedented number of missiles this year, including an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to reach the U.S. mainland, in defiance of international sanctions.

Categories
Audio Sources - Full Text Articles

Airlines scrap 4,400 U.S. flights as winter storm disrupts holiday travel

2022-12-23T00:38:07Z

Over 4,400 flights have been canceled over a two-day period as a powerful winter storm hits the United States, coinciding with the start of a holiday season that some predict could be the busiest ever.

More than 2,350 U.S. flights had been canceled Thursday and another 2,120 flights for Friday were scrapped, according to flight tracking website FlightAware, while passenger railroad Amtrak canceled dozens of trains through Christmas, disrupting holiday travel for tens of thousands.

Another 8,450 flights were delayed Thursday — including more than one-third of those operated by American Airlines (AAL.O), United Airlines (UAL.O), and Southwest Airlines (LUV.N).

Southwest canceled 865 flights Thursday, about one-fifth of all its scheduled flights, and had already scrapped another 550 for Friday.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that the winter storm was bringing blizzard conditions to the Midwest, with major travel disruptions expected in Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), which had canceled 140 flights Thursday out of 4,400 and 90 on Friday per FlightAware, warned “additional cancellations will be necessary Friday as the storm continues to impact operations in Detroit and the Northeast.”

As of 7:30 p.m. ET Thursday (0030 GMT), 25% of departing flights at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and 37% of flights at Chicago Midway were canceled, while 27% of departing Denver flights had been canceled.

Amtrak said it was cancelling several dozen scheduled train trips in the Midwest through Christmas because of the weather conditions, including trains in Michigan, Illinois, and Missouri and trains between New York and Chicago.

Brandon Mattis, 24, was at New York’s La Guardia Airport seeking to get to Atlanta, Georgia, to join the rest of his family for Christmas celebrations. His flight had been canceled, he said.

“We’re trying to search on our phones. Figure out other routes. Maybe even taking a bus from here to Atlanta, which it’ll take us about 21 hours. So, that’s really inconvenient. But anything we can do just to get there (is) what we’re going to do.”

In the seven days ending Wednesday, the Transportation Security Administration said it screened nearly 16.2 million passengers, slightly below the 16.5 million screened in the same period in 2019, pre-COVID pandemic.

Last year’s holiday period was marred by an outbreak of COVID-19 among staff that forced airlines to cancel thousands of flights.

U.S. airlines said earlier this week they were waiving change fees and fare differences for passengers in a range of affected areas.

Related Galleries:

Ice is removed from a United Airlines jet after a cold weather front moved into General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. December 22, 2022. Mark Hoffman/USA Today Network via REUTERS. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES MANDATORY CREDIT

Passengers arrive for their flight on Southwest Airlines as flight cancellations mount during a cold weather front as a weather phenomenon known as a bomb cyclone hits the Upper Midwest, at Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. December 22, 2022. REUTERS/Matt Marton

A plane sits on the airfield as flight cancellations mount during a cold weather front as a weather phenomenon known as a bomb cyclone hits the Upper Midwest, at Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., December 22, 2022. REUTERS/Matt Marton

A traveler sleeps as flight cancellations mount during a cold weather front as a weather phenomenon known as a bomb cyclone hits the Upper Midwest, at Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., December 22, 2022. REUTERS/Matt Marton

Passengers line up to check bags before their flights at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. June 28, 2022. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

A passenger looks at a flight departure board at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport as a budding winter storm across the much of the country is likely to cause travel delays ahead of the Christmas holiday, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., December 20, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Categories
Audio Sources - Full Text Articles

Russia says U.S. Patriot missiles in Ukraine won“t stand in its way

2022-12-23T00:24:04Z

In Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s first wartime foreign visit, he told the U.S. Congress on Wednesday (December 21) that the tens of billions of dollars of aid it had approved to help it fight a Russian invasion was not charity, but an investment in global security. Diane To reports.

Russia said that Ukraine acquiring Patriot missiles from the United States, announced during President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to Washington, would not help settle the conflict or prevent Moscow from achieving its goals.

Though the Patriot air defence system is widely regarded as advanced, President Vladimir Putin dismissed it as “quite old”, telling reporters Moscow would find a way to counter it. At the same time, he said Russia wants an end to the war in Ukraine and that this would inevitably involve a diplomatic solution.

“Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war,” Putin told reporters. “We will strive for an end to this, and the sooner the better, of course.”

These comments drew quick U.S. scepticism. White House spokesman John Kirby said Putin had “shown absolutely zero indication that he’s willing to negotiate” an end to the war that began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

“Everything he (Putin) is doing on the ground and in the air bespeaks a man who wants to continue to visit violence upon the Ukrainian people (and) escalate the war”, Kirby told reporters.

Russia has repeatedly said it is open to negotiations, but Ukraine and its allies suspect a ploy to buy time after a series of Russian battlefield defeats and retreats that have swung the momentum of the 10-month war in favour of Ukraine.

Zelenskiy returned to Ukraine buoyed by the support shown by President Joe Biden in Washington on Wednesday, his first foreign journey since the Russian invasion began.

“We are coming back from Washington with good results. With something that will really help,” Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that deployment of the Patriot system in Ukraine was not conducive to a settlement. “And this cannot prevent the Russian Federation from achieving its goals during the special military operation” he said, using Russia’s term for a war in which tens of thousands of people have been killed.

Zelenskiy told the U.S. Congress on Wednesday that American aid to his country was an investment in democracy as he invoked battles against the Nazis in World War Two to press for more assistance to help Ukraine defend itself.

He said the Patriot system was an important step in creating an air shield.

Zelenskiy made a plea for bipartisan support as Republicans – some of whom have voiced increasing scepticism about sending so much aid to Ukraine – are set to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives from Democrats on Jan. 3.

With a vote scheduled in the House of Representatives on Friday, Congress moved closer to approving an additional $44.9 billion in emergency military and economic assistance, part of wider U.S. government spending bill. That is on top of some $50 billion already sent to Ukraine this year.

The White House said on Thursday that a private Russian military company, the Wagner Group, took delivery last month of infantry rockets and missiles from North Korea to help bolster Russian forces in Ukraine, a sign of the group’s expanding role in that conflict.

Britain said it reached the same conclusion and condemned the move. But Wagner’s head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said no effort had been made for North Korea to supply weapons to Russia and dismissed the talk as “gossip and speculation.”

The Russian mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment. North Korea’s foreign ministry denied the reports, calling them groundless.

Ukraine has come under repeated Russian aerial strikes targeting its energy infrastructure, leaving millions without power or running water in the dead of winter.

Zelenskiy congratulated electrical workers for working round the clock, trying to keep the lights on as they marked Power Engineers’ Day on Thursday, a day after the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year.

Since August, Russian forces have been bogged down in a costly, extended fight for Bakhmut, an industrial town with a pre-war population of some 70,000 in the Donetsk region, one of four that Moscow claimed to annex after so-called referendums in September.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Facebook on Thursday that fighting in Donetsk remained focused on Bakhmut and Avdiivka, about 90 km (54 miles) south of it.

Near Bakhmut, Russian forces shelled about 10 towns, while close to Avdiivka, Russian forces trained fire on the towns of Kostyantyivka and Maryinka as well as Vodyane and Nevelske, the Ukrainian military said. Reuters was not able to independently confirm the battlefield reports.

Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Thursday the frontline in Ukraine was stable, and that Moscow’s forces had concentrated on “completing the liberation of the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic”.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited army units fighting in Ukraine, state-owned news agency RIA reported, citing the ministry. It did not say where.

Related Galleries:

Patriot missile defence system is seen at Sliac Airport, in Sliac, near Zvolen, Slovakia, May 6, 2022. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Polish President Andrzej Duda meet after Zelenskiy’s visit to Washington, at Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport, Poland, December 22, 2022. Jakub Szymczuk/KPRP/Handout via REUTERS

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress while U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris applaud, as a U.S. flag and Ukrainian flag are pictured on the table, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Flags representing fallen soldiers, including foreign soldiers are seen in the snow, on Independence Square, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 22, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference after a meeting of the State Council on youth policy in Moscow, Russia, December 22, 2022. Sputnik/Sergey Guneev/Pool via REUTERS


A man wearing a camouflage uniform walks out of PMC Wagner Centre, which is a project implemented by the businessman and founder of the Wagner private military group Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the official opening of the office block in Saint Petersburg, Russia, November 4, 2022. REUTERS/Igor Russak

Ukrainian servicemen ride a tank, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Bakhmut, Ukraine December 18, 2022. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy receives a U.S. flag from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy receives one of many standing ovations as he addresses a joint meeting of U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy greets U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during a joint meeting of U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy presents a Ukrainian flag given to him by defenders of Bakhmut to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), while U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris applauds during a joint meeting of U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy carries a U.S. flag presented to him by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst


Categories
Audio Sources - Full Text Articles

Russia says U.S. Patriot missiles in Ukraine won“t stand in its way

2022-12-23T00:24:04Z

In Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s first wartime foreign visit, he told the U.S. Congress on Wednesday (December 21) that the tens of billions of dollars of aid it had approved to help it fight a Russian invasion was not charity, but an investment in global security. Diane To reports.

Russia said that Ukraine acquiring Patriot missiles from the United States, announced during President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to Washington, would not help settle the conflict or prevent Moscow from achieving its goals.

Though the Patriot air defence system is widely regarded as advanced, President Vladimir Putin dismissed it as “quite old”, telling reporters Moscow would find a way to counter it. At the same time, he said Russia wants an end to the war in Ukraine and that this would inevitably involve a diplomatic solution.

“Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war,” Putin told reporters. “We will strive for an end to this, and the sooner the better, of course.”

These comments drew quick U.S. scepticism. White House spokesman John Kirby said Putin had “shown absolutely zero indication that he’s willing to negotiate” an end to the war that began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

“Everything he (Putin) is doing on the ground and in the air bespeaks a man who wants to continue to visit violence upon the Ukrainian people (and) escalate the war”, Kirby told reporters.

Russia has repeatedly said it is open to negotiations, but Ukraine and its allies suspect a ploy to buy time after a series of Russian battlefield defeats and retreats that have swung the momentum of the 10-month war in favour of Ukraine.

Zelenskiy returned to Ukraine buoyed by the support shown by President Joe Biden in Washington on Wednesday, his first foreign journey since the Russian invasion began.

“We are coming back from Washington with good results. With something that will really help,” Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that deployment of the Patriot system in Ukraine was not conducive to a settlement. “And this cannot prevent the Russian Federation from achieving its goals during the special military operation” he said, using Russia’s term for a war in which tens of thousands of people have been killed.

Zelenskiy told the U.S. Congress on Wednesday that American aid to his country was an investment in democracy as he invoked battles against the Nazis in World War Two to press for more assistance to help Ukraine defend itself.

He said the Patriot system was an important step in creating an air shield.

Zelenskiy made a plea for bipartisan support as Republicans – some of whom have voiced increasing scepticism about sending so much aid to Ukraine – are set to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives from Democrats on Jan. 3.

With a vote scheduled in the House of Representatives on Friday, Congress moved closer to approving an additional $44.9 billion in emergency military and economic assistance, part of wider U.S. government spending bill. That is on top of some $50 billion already sent to Ukraine this year.

The White House said on Thursday that a private Russian military company, the Wagner Group, took delivery last month of infantry rockets and missiles from North Korea to help bolster Russian forces in Ukraine, a sign of the group’s expanding role in that conflict.

Britain said it reached the same conclusion and condemned the move. But Wagner’s head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said no effort had been made for North Korea to supply weapons to Russia and dismissed the talk as “gossip and speculation.”

The Russian mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment. North Korea’s foreign ministry denied the reports, calling them groundless.

Ukraine has come under repeated Russian aerial strikes targeting its energy infrastructure, leaving millions without power or running water in the dead of winter.

Zelenskiy congratulated electrical workers for working round the clock, trying to keep the lights on as they marked Power Engineers’ Day on Thursday, a day after the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year.

Since August, Russian forces have been bogged down in a costly, extended fight for Bakhmut, an industrial town with a pre-war population of some 70,000 in the Donetsk region, one of four that Moscow claimed to annex after so-called referendums in September.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Facebook on Thursday that fighting in Donetsk remained focused on Bakhmut and Avdiivka, about 90 km (54 miles) south of it.

Near Bakhmut, Russian forces shelled about 10 towns, while close to Avdiivka, Russian forces trained fire on the towns of Kostyantyivka and Maryinka as well as Vodyane and Nevelske, the Ukrainian military said. Reuters was not able to independently confirm the battlefield reports.

Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Thursday the frontline in Ukraine was stable, and that Moscow’s forces had concentrated on “completing the liberation of the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic”.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited army units fighting in Ukraine, state-owned news agency RIA reported, citing the ministry. It did not say where.

Related Galleries:

Patriot missile defence system is seen at Sliac Airport, in Sliac, near Zvolen, Slovakia, May 6, 2022. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Polish President Andrzej Duda meet after Zelenskiy’s visit to Washington, at Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport, Poland, December 22, 2022. Jakub Szymczuk/KPRP/Handout via REUTERS

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress while U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris applaud, as a U.S. flag and Ukrainian flag are pictured on the table, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Flags representing fallen soldiers, including foreign soldiers are seen in the snow, on Independence Square, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 22, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference after a meeting of the State Council on youth policy in Moscow, Russia, December 22, 2022. Sputnik/Sergey Guneev/Pool via REUTERS


A man wearing a camouflage uniform walks out of PMC Wagner Centre, which is a project implemented by the businessman and founder of the Wagner private military group Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the official opening of the office block in Saint Petersburg, Russia, November 4, 2022. REUTERS/Igor Russak

Ukrainian servicemen ride a tank, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Bakhmut, Ukraine December 18, 2022. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy receives a U.S. flag from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy receives one of many standing ovations as he addresses a joint meeting of U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy greets U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during a joint meeting of U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy presents a Ukrainian flag given to him by defenders of Bakhmut to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), while U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris applauds during a joint meeting of U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy carries a U.S. flag presented to him by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst


Categories
Audio Sources - Full Text Articles

Reversing a Trump-era decline, more people are now coming to the US — and fewer are leaving

man's hand holding tiny american flagLeon Small, originally from Jamaica, holds a United States flag in a naturalization ceremony, Wednesday, April 28, 2021 in New York.

AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

  • Net international migration to the US is projected to increase for the first time since 2016.
  • Net international migration refers to the number of new immigrants minus those who have left.
  • In 2022, newcomers exceeded those leaving by more than 1 million, according to the US Census Bureau.

For the first time since Donald Trump was elected president the number of people coming to the United States versus those leaving has increased, according to data from the US Census Bureau, which projects that net international migration this year is projected to exceed 1 million people.

“This is the first time net international migration increased since 2016, marking the largest single-year increase since 2010,” according to the bureau.

Net international migration is calculated by counting the number of new immigrants coming to the US and subtracting the number of people who have left the country. In 2022, net migration is expected to hit more than 1 million, up from a 12-year low of 376,000 in 2021.

Net international migration began falling in 2017, Trump’s first year in office. Still, the number of foreign-born immigrants coming to the US remained relatively steady through Trump’s four-year term, despite efforts to curtail both legal and unauthorized migration.

According to the bureau, the number of new immigrants to the US exceeded 1.4 million in Trump’s first three years — a number that his predecessor, Barack Obama, reached only in his final two years in office. By 2020, however, the effect of immigration restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a decline that has only now been reversed, in part due to an influx of Afghans and Ukrainians fleeing violence and political instability.

The increase in net international migration comes despite a Trump-era border measure known as Title 42 remaining in effect. Under the policy, the US has been removing migrants from the country without offering them a chance to seek asylum, ostensibly to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

President Joe Biden has vowed to lift Title 42, and has carved out exceptions for unaccompanied minors and others who can not be sent to their country of origin, but continued to uphold it throughout 2021, prompting the resignation of a top legal expert at the State Department over concerns that it violates international law. More recent efforts by the administration to end the policy have been thwarted by conservative judges. The issue is now before the Supreme Court.

Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com

Read the original article on Business Insider
Categories
Audio Sources - Full Text Articles

The college student who tracked Elon Musk’s private jet is now back on Twitter under ‘ElonJetNextDay’

Jack Sweeney and Elon MuskJack Sweeney created his first Twitter account tracking Elon Musk’s jet in 2020.

Jack Sweeney and Getty

  • The college student who tracked Elon Musk’s private jet is back on Twitter under a new username.
  • Jack Sweeney, 20, had his first account @ElonJet banned following Musk’s new rules.
  • He’s now back under @ElonJetNextDay – the account operates the same way but with a 24-hour delay.

The college student who tracked Elon Musk’s private jet is now back on Twitter under a new username after the billionaire banned his first account @ElonJet for breaking Twitter rules.

Jack Sweeney, 20, said he started tracking Elon Musk’s private jet in 2020 because he was a fan. Over two years later, the billionaire threatened to sue him after suspending his Twitter accounts.

Using the new username @ElonJetNextDay, Sweeney will continue to track Musk’s private jet but with a 24-hour delay, Insider has learned. The move follows the billionaire changing the rules of Twitter, where he’s become the new CEO since acquiring the platform on October 27.

—ElonJet but Delayed (@ElonJetNextDay) December 22, 2022

 

In an interview with Insider on Thursday, Sweeney said he will be “posting manually” for now as “the framework for automating isn’t there yet.” He added it is hard to say when the account will be fully automated.

He added that “@ElonJet is still available elsewhere” such as on former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social. He will also be bringing other accounts such as @Celebjets to platforms like Instagram and Facebook, Sweeney told Insider.

Sweeney had over 30 accounts tracking politicians and billionaires including Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, and Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos.

But Musk, who had earlier this year offered to pay Sweeney to take the old account down, took issues with it after public information about the whereabouts of both him and other public figures was shared online, including after he said a “crazy stalker” followed a car that had his two-year-old son inside.

Twitter posted around the same time what it said was a new policy to ban the posting of someone’s live location in most cases. It said the update was “to prohibit sharing someone else’s live location in most cases,” saying that it would remove tweets and suspend accounts dedicated to sharing people’s live locations.

According to its new rules, “sharing publicly available location information after a reasonable time has elapsed, so that the individual is no longer at risk for physical harm” is not a violation.

“Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation,” Musk tweeted on December 15. “This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info.”

He added: “Posting locations someone traveled to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety problem, so is ok.”

Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Categories
Audio Sources - Full Text Articles

Justice is coming

robert-harrington.jpg

Help support Palmer Report! Our articles are all 100% free to read, with no forced subscriptions and nothing hidden behind paywalls. If you value our content, you’re welcome to pay for it:

Pay $5 to Palmer Report:

Pay $25 to Palmer Report:

Pay $75 to Palmer Report:



Right now the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States feels like Afghanistan just before the return of the Taliban. I don’t mean to employ hyperbole, but when a wise, just and democratic ruling body is replaced in a single day with a vengeful, divisive cabal of theocratic monsters, find me a better analogy if you can.

Okay, if you prefer, with their heads still above water and feet firmly planted on the deck of RMS Titanic, the January 6 Committee of the 117th Congress has intoned a final epitaph for Donald Trump and his co-conspirators. In their report, limited to oversight of the crimes for which they had a specific remit, the J6 Committee recommended that four criminal charges be considered by the DOJ: obstruction of justice, conspiracy against the United States, false statements, and inciting an insurrection. Each of these charges are to apply to Donald Trump and his co-conspirators. Specifically, they are to apply to Kenneth Chesebro, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, and Donald John Trump.

Will the DOJ use any of the findings and charge recommendations of the J6 Committee? I can’t imagine their not doing so. After all, there’s thousands of hours of testimony here. If nothing else, the DOJ will want to use some of it to fill the occasional gaps in their two year long investigation. Besides, one never knows what testimony will ultimately sway a jury, and the answer may lie somewhere in the final report scheduled to be published today.

But that is not the most valuable utility of the executive summary. The most valuable central message, the one that we must believe in going forward, is that justice is coming for the masterminds, ring leaders and evil plotters behind the insurrection, not merely the foot soldiers. Indeed, that message is an essential component of final justice to guarantee that it doesn’t happen again.

For the first time since January 6, 2021, we are about to find out what it’s like to have part of the legislative branch of the American government filled with a majority of toxic and hateful traitors. We should be grateful that they plan to spend their time — as far as we know, anyway — squabbling among themselves and pursuing irrelevancies. The House will resemble an assembly of infighting Batman villains. Imagine each future proceeding filmed at a Dutch tilt.

—

Click here to support Palmer Report! Our articles are all 100% free to read, with no forced subscriptions and nothing hidden behind paywalls. If you value our content, you’re welcome to pay for it:

Pay $5 to Palmer Report:

Pay $25 to Palmer Report:

—

Sign up for the Palmer Report mailing list

—

Follow Palmer Report on Facebook • Twitter • Post • Mastodon

—


That is why the villains of the 118th Congress will need to understand that they are not free to contrive future insurrectionist plots without consequences. That is the message that the department of justice must deliver to them in no uncertain terms if America is to remain a free and democratic nation.


It is also an important message for the American people. We the People need to be reminded that, of the 45 men who have occupied the exalted position of the office of the president of the United States, only one of them betrayed his oath to the Constitution of the United States. And for that betrayal, only one of them is going to prison.

Not only has the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack delivered a powerful message to the American people, it has delivered a powerful lesson to all who would think to subvert our nation. That it was a masterfully compiled and almost universally acknowledged masterpiece of investigation no credible person can deny. That it has delivered a powerful warning that no one can ride the back of the tiger without dire consequences is a lesson soon to be learned. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.

Save Palmer Report! Our articles are all 100% free to read, with no forced subscriptions and nothing hidden behind paywalls. If you value our content, you’re welcome to pay for it:

Pay $5 to Palmer Report:

Pay $25 to Palmer Report:

Pay $75 to Palmer Report:

Write for the Palmer Report Community Section.

Help support Palmer Report! Our articles are all 100% free to read, with no forced subscriptions and nothing hidden behind paywalls. If you value our content, you’re welcome to pay for it:

Pay $5 to Palmer Report:

Pay $25 to Palmer Report:

Pay $75 to Palmer Report:

The post Justice is coming appeared first on Palmer Report.

WP Radio
WP Radio
OFFLINE LIVE