Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva
detained in Kazan
Posted By: Dreadnought, 10/19/2023 10:00:08 AM
Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva is being held after visiting her family in the Russian city of Kazan and now faces charges, colleagues say. An editor for US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague, she was temporarily detained on 2 June. She was arrested again on Wednesday and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, which carries a jail term of up to five years. Ms Kurmasheva is the second US journalist held in Russia this year. Wall Street Journal Moscow correspondent Evan Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in March and charged with espionage. Earlier this month a court in Moscow rejected an appeal and ordered him to remain in detention.
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WASHINGTON – After Rep. Jim Jordan’s bid for speaker of the U.S. House collapsed Friday, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy threw his endorsement to Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, who had been making calls to GOP colleagues to determine if he would win their support for that top job.
“He is the right person for the job. He can unite the conference,” McCarthy said in a statement. “He understands the dynamics of the conference. He also understands what it takes to win and keep a majority.”
With McCarthy’s endorsement, Emmer would become the top candidate for the job, but others are also weighing a run.
Since McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted from the speakership
Biden Received Direct Payment from Brother
after ‘Shady’ Loan Transaction, Bank
Records Reveal 3 replies
after ‘Shady’ Loan Transaction, Bank
Records Reveal 3 replies
President Joe Biden received a $200,000 personal check from his brother shortly after James Biden received a “shady” loan in the same amount, House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) revealed Friday.
James Biden’s now-bankrupt healthcare business, Americore, sent him the wire loan on March 1, 2018, the same day he paid back his influential brother, according to bank records. This is the first hard evidence linking Joe Biden to influence-peddling schemes.
In 2018 alone, Americore wired $600,000 in loans to James Biden. The president’s brother received these loans on the assumption that the Biden name “could ‘open doors’ and that he could obtain a large investment from the Middle East
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to call a special legislative session to bolster state sanctions against Iran, as he and lawmakers continue taking steps to show support for Israel during the war with Hamas.
DeSantis' office Friday confirmed the decision to hold a special session but did not provide details about a date or what will be proposed. It also was unclear whether other unrelated issues could be added to the special session. "I can confirm that the strongest sanctions against Iran by any state in the nation, as proposed by Governor DeSantis, will be part of an upcoming special session," DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern said in a prepared statement.
President Joe Biden’s deputies are asking Congress for $14 billion extra to help bus illegal migrants up to the U.S. border and onward into hotels in many cities and towns around the nation.
The request is being touted as “border security” even though very few funds would be used to exclude economic migrants. For example, Biden’s deputies have ushered more than 300,000 economic migrants through the U.S. border in September alone. The 2023 inflow has added up to roughly 2.5 million, not counting legal migrants and temporary workers.
Instead, much of the requested money would be used to help more job-seeking migrants reach the U.S. border, register and release them
The federal budget deficit rose to $1.7 trillion in fiscal 2023, according to data released Friday by the Treasury Department.
The gulf between how much money the federal government spent and made in revenue rose by $320 billion between fiscal 2023 — which ended September 30 — and the previous fiscal year. The fiscal 2023 budget deficit was equal to 6.3 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), up from 5.4 percent in fiscal 2022.
Biden administration officials attributed to spike in the deficit to a steep drop in federal revenue, which rose sharply during rapid economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former President Donald Trump was fined $5,000 by a New York judge on Friday for violating a gag order not to speak about any members of the court staff – and was warned twice about possible imprisonment.
“Donald Trump has received ample warning from this Court as to the possible repercussions of violating the gag order. He specifically acknowledged that he understood and would abide by it,” Judge Arthur Engoron said in his order Friday. “Accordingly, issuing yet another warning is not longer appropriate; this Court is way behind the ‘warning’ stage.”
The U.S. conducted a high-explosive experiment at a nuclear test site in Nevada hours after Russia revoked a ban on atomic-weapons testing, which Moscow said would put it on par with the United States. Wednesday's test used chemicals and radioisotopes to "validate new predictive explosion models" that can help detect atomic blasts in other countries, Bloomberg reported, citing the Department of Energy.
"These experiments advance our efforts to develop new technology in support of U.S. nuclear nonproliferation goals," Corey Hinderstein, Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, said in a statement.
Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro pleads guilty
over efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020
loss in Georgia 8 replies
over efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020
loss in Georgia 8 replies
ATLANTA — Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro pleaded guilty to a felony on Friday just as jury selection was getting underway in his trial on charges accusing him of participating in efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election in Georgia.
Chesebro, who was charged alongside Trump and 17 others with violating the state’s anti-racketeering law, pleaded guilty to one felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing false documents in a last-minute deal. His plea came a day after fellow attorney Sidney Powell, who had been scheduled to go to trial alongside him, entered her own guilty plea to six misdemeanor counts.
House Republicans voted to drop Jim Jordan as their speaker nominee in a secret-ballot vote on Friday afternoon, shortly after the House Judiciary chairman failed to secure the gavel in a floor vote for the third time this week.
Twenty-five House Republicans joined a united Democratic caucus in opposing Jordan’s third speaker bid on Friday, setting up the secret-ballot vote to strip him of the nomination. The GOP opposition to Jordan’s bid had steadily grown with each successive ballot: 2o members of the caucus voted against him on the first ballot and 22 voted against him the second time around.
Yesterday I wrote about threatening text messages and death threats to House Republicans who are not supporting Jim Jordan for speaker. Some other stories have emerged since I wrote that post. They are just as disturbing.
YMMV. I realize that not everyone shares my view that death threats have no place in politics. And, that the wife of a lawmaker is off-limits to those who are triggered by votes. Politics isn’t beanbag. In today’s heated political environment, I think it is okay to speak out against these kinds of threats.
Politicians and public figures receive threats all the time. It goes with the gig that mentally disturbed individuals lash out
Rep. Jim Jordan's bid to become speaker failed for a third time on Friday, with no end in sight to the House leadership vacuum as Congress faces a deadline to avoid a government shutdown and the White House calls for urgent security assistance for Israel.
Jordan has insisted on remaining in the race despite failing repeatedly to secure the gavel as support for his bid erodes further with each consecutive vote. This time, 25 Republicans voted against Jordan, who boasts the support of former President Donald Trump. Twenty-two voted against him in the previous vote.
As my colleague Bob Hoge reported, Joe Biden's speech on Israel and Ukraine on Thursday night was a complete mess. He was requesting aid for Israel, Ukraine, and the Palestinians in Gaza.
He started not being aware that the was live on the air, so there was this awkward pause. But that's typical Joe; he always seems to have some difficulty.
I'm not sure what he thought he would achieve with the speech. I think he was trying to use the support for Israel to bootstrap a comparison to Ukraine, to try to justify why we should support both, but they're not the same. And in the case of Hamas,
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Former Trump attorney Sidney Powell pleaded guilty Thursday morning in the Georgia election interference case on the eve of her trial alongside co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro.
Powell entered her guilty plea in Fulton County Superior Court, part of a deal reached with prosecutors, in which she pled guilty to six misdemeanor counts. In her plea, Powell agreed to serve six years of probation and pay a $6,000 fine and $2,700 in restitution to the state of Georgia. She also agreed to submit an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia and to testify at related court proceedings.
Powell was one of 19 defendants
‘Anxiety and fear are high:’ US Palestinians,
Muslims fear a return to post-9/11 Islamophobia 34 replies
Muslims fear a return to post-9/11 Islamophobia 34 replies
As the Israel-Hamas War rages and the crisis in Gaza deepens, Taher Herzallah said he has exchanged frantic messages on social media with his family members who are trapped in Gaza. Their description of the situation is grim. He said they’ve told him they have no food, electricity, water or fuel. (Snip) Herzallah said his concerns for his family thousands of miles away have also been compounded by a growing fear for the safety of his wife and children here in the US, as reports of attacks against people perceived to be Muslim or Palestinian surface across the country.
Veteran climate worrier Greta Thunberg announced Friday she has shifted her attention away from the world’s weather to focus on Israel’s fate as it fights Hamas and its associated terrorist organizations.
Thunberg took to social media and posted on X – formerly known as Twitter – to call a strike “in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza. The world needs to speak up and call for an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for Palestinians and all civilians affected.”
She also wants an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Thunberg’s call for peace and harmony in the Middle East comes three days after she was arrested in London during a protest against fossil fuels.
The ever feckless Republican National Committee (RNC) recently announced that it is going to have NBC News host its next presidential primary debate. This seems an odd choice, if only because NBC News hates Republicans. The news organization detests President Trump, Trump voters, patriotic Americans, capitalism, traditional values, borders, the Constitution of the United States of America, straight white males,Christianity, Israel, pro-lifers, Fox News, the Second Amendment, Mike Lindell, Lee Greenwood, “anti-vaxxers,” Joe Rogan, Aaron Rodgers, fossil fuels...and those of us who reside in Middle America in general.
Harvard pro-Palestinian groups held a 'die-in' on Wednesday, just over a week after the deadly terrorist attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.
The protests come just 12 days after the attack and a letter backed by 33 Harvard student groups that blamed Israel for the attack by Hamas terrorists sparked national outrage.
The Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee and Harvard Graduate Students for Palestine organized Wednesday's march from Harvard's main campus in Cambridge to its business school in Boston.
Former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) said it is an absolute mess behind the scenes on Capitol Hill as House Republicans try to elect a new speaker, saying he “cannot overstate how angry some Republican members are.”[Snip] It is not Jim Jordan. It is the fact that Kevin McCarthy was the victim of a drive-by shooting orchestrated by a small group of people and Stevie Scalise got one crack at it.[Snip] Gowdy was likely referring to the strong-arm tactics Jordan’s supporters have been reportedly using while lobbying on his behalf.
Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume said Thursday that President Joe Biden’s address to the nation was “one of the best, if not the best, speeches of his presidency.”
Hume said, “I think it may be remembered as one of the best, if not the best, speeches of his presidency. He was firm, he was unequivocal, he was strong, as he has been particularly in recent days before he went to Israel and while he was over there.”He continued, “I was struck by the fact that he spent as much time as he did on Ukraine and I think it was a good thing that he did because
House Republicans voted to drop Jim Jordan as their speaker nominee in a secret-ballot vote on Friday afternoon, shortly after the House Judiciary chairman failed to secure the gavel in a floor vote for the third time this week.
Twenty-five House Republicans joined a united Democratic caucus in opposing Jordan’s third speaker bid on Friday, setting up the secret-ballot vote to strip him of the nomination. The GOP opposition to Jordan’s bid had steadily grown with each successive ballot: 2o members of the caucus voted against him on the first ballot and 22 voted against him the second time around.
President Biden delivered a speech to the nation from the Oval Office Thursday evening after returning from Israel in the aftermath of the Hamas terror attacks on October 7. He said he's going to ask Congress to appropriate $100 billion in new funding to combat Hamas and continue to aid Ukraine in its war against Russia. Reportedly, he wants $60 billion more for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.
"American leadership is what holds the world together. American alliances are what keep us – America – safe. American values are what make us a partner that other nations want to work with," he said. "To put all that at risk
A number of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are reportedly refusing to support Rep. Jim Jordan in his bid to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker, not because of personal opposition to Jordan but rather in protest of Matt Gaetz’s efforts to oust the previous speaker. “I have been told by a good number of people that their objection isn’t personal to Jim, it is that voting in Jordan is perceived to be rewarding Matt Gaetz and the rest of the eight,” Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs said.
America has begun preparing for a major attack on the nation's capital - by simulating incoming missiles and hijacked airplanes. US defense contractor Northrop Grumman announced the successful test of its Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) this month. (Photo) The Beltway-area around Washington DC, known by defense personnel as the 'National Capital Region,' was successfully defended against 'simulated cruise missiles and 'compromised aircraft,' the company said. The tests come amid rising tensions worldwide, with the US amassing a war machine in the MidEast in a clear message to Iran to stay on the sidelines as Israel prepares to launch a ground invasion into Gaza.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his staffers Thursday night that he knew many were shaken professionally and personally by the Israel-Hamas war — a message he sent amid unhappiness among some Muslim and Arab employees over how the U.S. is approaching the crisis. Blinken’s note to staff wasn’t a response to reports of the frustrations, a person familiar with the issue said. He had planned to write to department employees about the Middle East crisis but wanted to wait until he returned from a visit to the region, said the person, who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive