The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol is postponing its highly anticipated hearing because of Hurricane Ian, which is expected to barrel into the western coast of Florida on Wednesday, committee leaders announced Tuesday.
Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/27/jan-6-committee-postpones-planned-hearing-hurricane-ian-advances/
Manchin has continued working behind the scenes to whip up support, but leading Republicans are increasingly lined up against him. If the bill fails to clear 60 votes on Tuesday, then congressional leaders will likely have to put a spending bill on the floor that omits Manchin’s energy legislation. That permitting proposal was a key piece of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s deal with Manchin to pass a party-line climate, health care and tax bill this summer.
Manchin said on Tuesday afternoon he was single-mindedly focused on trying to get 60 votes on Tuesday afternoon: “We’re not even going over options. We’re just trying to basically get it through.”
“I understand the politics we’re dealing with today,” Manchin said. “I understand how adamantly opposed [McConnell] is and it’s just a shame that we’re going to miss a golden opportunity if we don’t do it.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) also announced Tuesday that he’ll oppose the combo legislation, joining Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has pledged to vote down the funding bill if energy permitting provisions are attached. Manchin’s package needs a minimum of 60 votes to hitch a ride to passage on the continuing resolution, meaning he’ll need backing from at least a dozen Republicans. If he fails to clear that hurdle later Tuesday, Schumer could seek a time agreement to push forward with a stand-alone stopgap spending measure.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said the House may decide to move next if the effort fails on Tuesday evening. He said should Republicans block the Senate bill, “the question then is whether the House can move first on a measure that is acceptable on a bipartisan basis, that does not include the Manchin” bill.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also said the lower chamber could quickly move first if needed, passing a stopgap without Manchin’s plan. The government runs out of funding after Sept. 30.
Senate leaders unveiled the text of the government spending patch, with Manchin’s proposal included, minutes before midnight on Monday. The bill would extend government funding until Dec. 16 and provide Ukraine more than $12 billion in emergency cash. It also devotes $35 million to respond to “potential nuclear and radiological incidents in Ukraine,” according to a summary.
The temporary funding patch includes $1 billion in heating assistance for low-income families, $20 million to help address the water crisis in Jackson, Miss., more than $112 million for federal court security and billions of dollars in other disaster aid.
The measure also allows FEMA to spend at a higher rate to respond to natural disasters in the short term, including the catastrophic flooding and power outages caused by Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico. It includes extra cash and flexibility for resettling Afghan refugees and a five-year reauthorization of the FDA’s user fee programs.
It does not include any additional funding to address emerging coronavirus or monkeypox needs, despite the Biden administration’s request for billions of dollars in such emergency money.
The stopgap measure buys time for negotiations on a broader government funding deal that would boost federal agency budgets in the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1 — a priority for Shelby and Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who are both retiring at the end of the year.
In a statement, House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said she’s “extremely disappointed that controversial permitting reform is attached and not being considered separately.”
“Despite these shortcomings, the continuing resolution still provides resources critical to our communities and national security,” DeLauro said. “And with just four days before the end of the fiscal year, it keeps the government open.”
Leahy also said Manchin’s permitting legislation is “a controversial matter that should be debated on its own merits.”
“However, with four days left in the fiscal year, we cannot risk a government shutdown; we must work to advance this bill,” he said.
Nancy Vu contributed to this report.
Source Article from https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/27/manchin-energy-plan-senate-vote-funding-00058984
The newest addition to former President Donald Trump’s legal team, Chris Kise, has been sidelined from the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation less than a month after he was brought on to represent Trump in the matter, two sources familiar with the move tell CNN.
Kise is expected to remain on Trump’s legal team but is not leading the work related to the federal government’s investigation into how the former President handled 11,000 documents seized from his Florida home in August following a lengthy effort by the government to retrieve them. The reason for the shift in Kise’s role remains unclear and he may instead focus his efforts on the other investigations Trump is facing, which range from his business practices to the January 6 insurrection.
The move is notable given Kise, the former solicitor general for Florida, was brought on to the team after a weeks-long search and struggle to find someone willing to take on the case who was also experienced in Florida law. The legal strategy for fighting the Justice Department following the August seizure of over 100 documents marked as classified was also in disarray.
Kise’s hiring came with an unusual price tag of $3 million, paid for by Trump’s outside spending arm. The retainer fee, paid upfront, raised eyebrows among other lawyers on Trump’s team, given the former President has a developed a reputation for not paying his legal fees.
His sidelining will likely be read as another setback for Trump as he faces multiple investigations.
Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich said: “Chris Kise’s role as an important member of President Trump’s legal team remains unchanged, and any suggestion otherwise is untrue.”
Kise did not respond to a request for comment.
Kise had been viewed among Trump contacts as a serious white-collar attorney and trial lawyer, with Florida court chops. Before he came aboard, other lawyers on Trump’s team were perceived in legal circles to have made serious missteps in the investigation, such as not fully recognizing the legal risk of the documents investigation before the search of Mar-a-Lago, telling investigators all classified records had been turned over, missing opportunities to argue for executive privilege and having an appeals court deliver a drubbing against Trump’s bid to block classified documents in the investigation.
So far, Kise doesn’t appear to be deeply involved Trump’s other most serious criminal investigative risk – the Justice Department’s January 6 investigation. Kise was not present in a DC federal courthouse last week alongside three other Trump attorneys who are arguing for confidentiality around Trump’s conversations at the end of his presidency. They are attempting to block a federal grand jury from gathering information from an expanding circle of close Trump aides about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Kise left his large law firm that he had been with for more than a decade, Foley & Lardner, to take the job as a solo practitioner. He previously worked for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ transition team and has won four cases before the Supreme Court.
CNN’s Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.
Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/27/politics/chris-kise-trump-mar-a-lago/index.html
The Texas attorney general Ken Paxton ran out of his house and jumped into a truck driven by his wife, a state senator, to avoid being served a subpoena to testify Tuesday in an abortion access case, according to court documents.
A process server wrote in an affidavit that he was attempting to deliver the federal court subpoena Monday at Paxton’s home and ultimately had to leave the document on the ground. He said the Republican avoided him for more than an hour from inside his house, then dashed toward the truck and the couple drove off.
Paxton, who is facing a variety of legal troubles as he seeks to win a third term in November, said he avoided the server out of safety concerns and said the news media should be ashamed for reporting on what happened.
“It’s clear that the media wants to drum up another controversy involving my work as attorney general, so they’re attacking me for having the audacity to avoid a stranger lingering outside my home and showing concern about the safety and wellbeing of my family,” Paxton wrote on Twitter Monday night. He did not indicate whether he’d appear for the hearing in a lawsuit by nonprofit groups that want to help Texans pay for abortions out of state.
Ernesto Martin Herrera said in the affidavit that he arrived at Paxton’s home in the Dallas suburb on McKinney Monday morning and knocked on the front door, which had a window in it. Paxton could initially be seen approaching the door but then turned back. Republican state senator Angela Paxton opened it, telling the process server her husband was on the phone, according to the court document, which was first reported by the Texas Tribune.
More than an hour later, the affidavit says, Paxton walked out of the garage but then turned around and ran back inside when Herrera walked up the driveway and called his name. A few minutes after that, Angela Paxton allegedly came out, opened the rear driver-side door of a truck in the driveway, got in the driver’s seat and started the truck.
“A few minutes later I saw Mr Paxton RAN (sic) from the door inside the garage towards the rear door behind the driver side,” Herrera wrote, adding that Paxton ignored his calls that he was there to serve the attorney general legal documents. Herrera said he left the subpoena on the ground beside the truck but the couple drove off without taking it.
Paxton was indicted in 2015 on state securities fraud charges but is yet to face trial amid long delays over where the felony case should be heard and payment for the special prosecutors. The FBI is investigating Paxton over allegations of corruption that eight of Paxton’s own deputies leveled at him two years ago. The Texas state bar has also brought a lawsuit seeking to discipline Paxton for allegedly misleading the US supreme court in his suit seeking to challenge Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
Paxton has broadly denied wrongdoing and remained popular among Republican voters. He faces Democratic challenger Rochelle Garza, a first-time candidate and former ACLU attorney, in the November election.
“Texans deserve an AG who will uphold the law, not run from it,” Garza wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
Source Article from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/27/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-subpoena
CLF, which is run by Dan Conston, has spent more than $7 million in Republican primaries this cycle, much of it focused on nominating more moderate, and therefore electable, candidates in swing districts. The group also spent millions in attempts to protect incumbents like Michael Guest (R-Miss.), Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), and Jamie Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), who hail from safer Republican districts, when they faced challenges from more far-right figures.
Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/27/mccarthy-midterms-gop/
Suspicious leaks reported on the Nord Stream pipelines from Russia to Germany represent a “severe safety and environment hazard,” according to experts at the Eurasia Group.
Nord Stream operator Nord Stream AG reported Tuesday that both the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines have sustained “unprecedented” damage via three known leaks, adding it was impossible to estimate when the gas network system’s working capability would be restored.
Danish and Swedish authorities declared a no-shipping zone around the location of the suspected leak in their maritime zones while Denmark raised its power and gas safety alert level.
Henning Gloystein, director of energy, climate and resources and senior analyst Jason Bush, both at Eurasia Group, said in a note Tuesday that while German and Danish authorities said the cause of the leaks was unknown, “unplanned leaks to undersea pipelines are rare as they are designed to avert accidental damage.”
“Several EU sources said sabotage seemed likely. Neither pipeline was delivering commercial gas at the time of the leaks, yet given both lines were still pressured and each has the capacity to pipe around 165 million cubic metres of methane-heavy gas per day,” they said, adding: “Leaks of this size are a severe safety and environmental hazard, especially should Russia not stop pumping gas into the system.”
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines have centered heavily in the breakdown of relations between Europe and Russia because of the war in Ukraine. The new Nord Stream 2 pipeline had not even opened when the German government refused to certify it for commercial operations after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the functional Nord Stream 1 pipeline is currently not being used to deliver Russian gas to Europe after Gazprom, the Russian gas giant, said there was a technical fault with a turbine that could not be fixed due to Western sanctions.
The latest report of leaks make it even less likely that gas supplies to Europe will resume before the winter, analysts now say.
“Depending on the scale of the damage, the leaks could even mean a permanent closure of both lines,” Eurasia Group said.
Gazprom declined to comment when approached by Reuters.
Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/27/russia-ukraine-live-updates.html
In Pennsylvania, Democrat John Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, has a 30-second spot featuring Sean Kilkenny, the sheriff of Montgomery County, Pa., that also takes a dig at Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz, the celebrity physician.
Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/27/senate-shutdown-biden-social-security/
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) also announced Tuesday that he’ll oppose the combo legislation, joining Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has pledged to vote down the funding bill if energy permitting provisions are attached. Manchin’s package needs a minimum of 60 votes to hitch a ride to passage on the continuing resolution, meaning he’ll need backing from at least a dozen Republicans. If he fails to clear that hurdle later Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer could seek a time agreement to push forward with a stand-alone stopgap spending measure.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also said the lower chamber could quickly move first if needed, passing a stopgap without Manchin’s plan.
But Manchin isn’t conceding anything yet. He made a plea for GOP support on CNN Tuesday morning, pointing to the Republican Party’s past backing for speeding up energy projects. In a bid to heighten the urgency surrounding the vote, he said “I don’t see a pathway forward in the future” to pass permitting reform if it fails this week.
“If 47 of my Republican friends have signed onto a bill extremely similar to this,” Manchin said, “you would think that maybe 15 or 20 out of the 47 would look at this and say it’s a moment in time [to vote yes].”
Senate leaders unveiled the text of the government spending patch, with Manchin’s proposal included, minutes before midnight on Monday. The bill would extend government funding until Dec. 16 and provide Ukraine more than $12 billion in emergency cash. It also devotes $35 million to respond to “potential nuclear and radiological incidents in Ukraine,” according to a summary.
The temporary funding patch includes $1 billion in heating assistance for low-income families, $20 million to help address the water crisis in Jackson, Miss., more than $112 million for federal court security and billions of dollars in other disaster aid.
The measure also allows FEMA to spend at a higher rate to respond to natural disasters in the short term, including the catastrophic flooding and power outages caused by Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico. It includes extra cash and flexibility for resettling Afghan refugees and a five-year reauthorization of the FDA’s user fee programs.
It does not include any additional funding to address emerging coronavirus or monkeypox needs, despite the Biden administration’s request for billions of dollars in such emergency money.
The stopgap measure buys time for negotiations on a broader government funding deal that would boost federal agency budgets in the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1 — a priority for Shelby and Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who are both retiring at the end of the year.
In a statement, House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said she’s “extremely disappointed that controversial permitting reform is attached and not being considered separately.”
“Despite these shortcomings, the continuing resolution still provides resources critical to our communities and national security,” DeLauro said. “And with just four days before the end of the fiscal year, it keeps the government open.”
Leahy also said Manchin’s permitting legislation is “a controversial matter that should be debated on its own merits.”
“However, with four days left in the fiscal year, we cannot risk a government shutdown; we must work to advance this bill,” he said.
Nancy Vu contributed to this report.
Source Article from https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/27/manchin-energy-plan-senate-vote-funding-00058984
On Saturday, witnesses told police, a man walked into a bar in Cascavel, 85 miles from Foz do Iguaçu, and asked who planned to vote for Lula, the newspaper O Povo reported. When a 39-year-old man said that he did, he, too, was stabbed to death. Police said Monday they had arrested a 59-year-old man in what appeared to be a politically motivated attack.
Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/27/bolsonaro-brazil-election-political-violence/
CLF, which is run by Dan Conston, has spent more than $7 million in Republican primaries this cycle, much of it focused on nominating more moderate, and therefore electable, candidates in swing districts. The group also spent millions in attempts to protect incumbents like Michael Guest (R-Miss.), Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), and Jamie Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), who hail from safer Republican districts, when they faced challenges from more far-right figures.
Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/27/mccarthy-midterms-gop/
Editor’s Note: Affected by the storm? Use CNN’s lite site for low bandwidth. You also can text or WhatsApp your Ian stories to CNN +1 347-322-0415.
Rapidly intensifying Hurricane Ian made landfall in western Cuba early Tuesday morning while on its trek toward Florida, where residents in some coastal areas are already evacuating.
The hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds of 125 mph, made landfall just southwest of the town of La Coloma in the Pinar del Rio Province of Cuba at 4:30 a.m., the National Hurricane Center said.
The region is enduring significant wind and storm surge, which could raise water levels by as much as 14 feet above normal tide levels along the coast of Cuba the hurricane center said.
The storm is expected to move north-northwest and across the island, leaving devastating wind damage in its path, according to the center.
It is expected to emerge over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and continue churning toward Florida, passing west of the Florida Keys late Tuesday, and approaching the west coast of Florida late Wednesday into Thursday.
The hurricane is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge along much of Florida’s west coast by mid-week, as well as hurricane-force winds.
While its exact path remains uncertain, projections show the Tampa area could get its first direct hit from a hurricane since 1921, and impacts on the area could be devastating.
“This is something that we haven’t seen in our lifetime … So we definitely need to take it seriously,” said Meteorologist Rick Davis of the National Weather Service’s Tampa office.
A hurricane warning is in place from Bonita Beach to the Anclote River, including Tampa Bay, according to the latest advisory from the hurricane center. This means “hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area, in this case, within 24 to 36 hours,” the center said.
Additionally, a tropical storm warning was issued for the Middle Florida Keys and portions of the state’s east and west coasts. A tropical storm watch was issued for the southeast coast from Deerfield Beach north to Jupiter Inlet, the hurricane center said.
The hurricane’s menacing approach to Florida triggered preparations across the state as officials announced school closures and flight cancellations, and the military began moving ships and aircraft.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned of power outages as well as possible evacuations and fuel shortages, telling people to “make preparations now.”
All along Florida’s west coast, officials are urging residents to get out of harm’s way instead of staying to protect their property. “This is nothing to mess around with. If you can leave, just leave now,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said Monday.
Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties and emergency shelters were opened.
“When we issued that mandatory evacuation, what that means is if you don’t and you call for help, we’re not coming because we’re not going to put our people in harm’s way and put them in peril because you didn’t listen to what we told you to do,” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.
Evacuation orders also went into effect for low-lying areas of Charlotte County as well as the counties of Sarasota, Hernando and Manatee.
Floridians should expect more evacuations Tuesday for counties north of the bay, inland and some south of the bay, said Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
With tropical storm conditions possibly beginning Tuesday night, officials are concerned about Ian’s storm surge – a rise in water level caused by a strong storm’s wind pushing seawater onshore.
A storm surge warning is effect for the Anclote River southward to Flamingo and Tampa Bay, where the inundation of water could reach 10 feet.
The Tampa Bay region is particularly vulnerable to storm surge and could see catastrophic damage from flooding – even if the area doesn’t get a direct hit from the hurricane.
Tampa Electric said it may have to proactively shut down power in the southern tip of downtown early Wednesday in an effort to “avoid serious damage to the underground equipment from saltwater storm surge, which will significantly shorten restoration time after the storm.”
Tampa Bay International Airport will suspend operations at 5 p.m. Tuesday, DeSantis said Monday. The Port of Tampa Bay is also planning to suspend operations at 8 a.m. Tuesday, the governor said.
Around the state, residents were waiting in long lines Monday to fill bags of sand or pick up bottled water in preparation for the storm’s arrival.
Resident Khadijah Jones told CNN she was in line for three hours Monday to get free sandbags in Tampa, uncertain if her home will flood.
“Just doing the basics … securing loose materials in the yard, sandbags in low areas, and getting items to prep for no power,” she said.
As the storm approaches a slew of closures and cancellations have been announced.
The HCA Florida Pasadena Hospital in St. Petersburg announced it has suspended services and transferred patients.
Colleges and universities across the state – like Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach and University of South Florida in Tampa – are taking steps to prepare, including campus evacuations or a shift to online classes.
On the K-12 level, Hillsborough County Schools said it had “no choice” but to cancel classes as campuses become storm shelters. And surrounding counties, including Citrus, Pasco, Manatee and Hernando have also announced closures this week.
Disney World announced some temporary resort closures from Wednesday through Friday due to the weather conditions. At least three cruise lines also began rerouting passengers due to the hurricane.
In an effort to ease congestion on the roadways for those leaving evacuation zones, the Florida Department of Transportation will likely authorize emergency shoulder use, which allows drivers to use shoulders at slower speeds, Guthrie, the state emergency management director, said.
As residents are urged to leave, officials are staging people and equipment to quickly respond when recovery begins.
With widespread power outages likely, Florida Power and Light announced it activated its emergency response plan, mobilizing 13,000 personnel. The company will work to restore power “as long as it’s safe to do so,” the release said, including using smart grid technology to remotely restore power to customers where possible.
Resources from outside the state are also pouring in, Guthrie said.
The Florida National Guard activated 5,000 Florida soldiers and 2,000 additional soldiers from Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina, DeSantis announced Monday.
President Joe Biden on Saturday approved a disaster declaration for Ian.
“The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population,” the White House said in a news release.
US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra declared a public health emergency for the state of Florida – a move meant to give health care providers and suppliers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs, his office said.
“We will do all we can to assist Florida officials with responding to the health impacts of Hurricane Ian,” Becerra said. “We are working closely with state, local, and tribal health authorities, as well as our federal partners, and stand ready to provide additional public health and medical support.”
CNN’s Amir Vera, Jamiel Lynch, Amanda Jackson and Robert Shackelford contributed to this report.
Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/27/weather/hurricane-ian-cuba-florida-tuesday/index.html
Lawyers for the Oath Keepers have repeatedly claimed that the group went to Washington in the days leading up to Jan. 6 not to storm the Capitol, but to provide security at pro-Trump rallies for dignitaries like Roger J. Stone Jr., Mr. Trump’s longtime political adviser, and Ali Alexander, a prominent Stop the Steal organizer who had a permit for an event at the Capitol on the day of the attack.
But prosecutors say that despite their work as bodyguards, members of the group broke into the Capitol during the assault in two separate military “stacks,” with some moving off in search of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Others, serving with the “quick reaction force,” remained in Virginia, “watching and waiting on the outside,” as Mr. Rhodes had written in a Signal chat that morning, to deal with “worst case scenarios.”
Mr. Rhodes himself never went into the Capitol that day, but remained outside with the group’s top lawyer, Kellye SoRelle, who is facing separate charges in connection with the riot. That evening, after the violence had finally been subdued, Mr. Rhodes continued to encourage his members to the struggle against the new administration.
“Patriots entering their own Capitol to send a message to the traitors is NOTHING to what’s coming,” he wrote.
Prosecutors say that over the next two weeks, as Mr. Biden’s inauguration neared, Mr. Rhodes spent more than $17,000 on weapons, ammunition and military gear. He remained in touch with several members of the group, including one who reached out to him 10 days after the attack to ask about “next steps.”
These efforts to thwart Mr. Biden and to bolster Mr. Trump were a far cry from the Oath Keepers’ initial mission.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/27/us/jan-6-oath-keepers-trial.html
MOSCOW, Sept 27 (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it did not rule out sabotage as a reason behind damage to the Russia-built network of Nord Stream pipelines which sprung unexplained leaks in the Baltic Sea.
The pipelines, designed to bring gas from Western Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula directly to Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, have been the focus of an energy war between Russia and its traditional European clients over the conflict in Ukraine.
Nord Stream AG, the operator of the network, said earlier on Tuesday that three offshore lines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline system sustained “unprecedented” damage in one day. read more
Asked if sabotage was the reason for the damage, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “No option can be ruled out right now.”
The Kremlin, Peskov said, was very concerned by the situation, which required prompt investigation as it was an issue affecting the energy security of the “entire continent”.
“This is a very concerning news. Indeed, we are talking about some damage of an unclear nature to the pipeline in Denmark’s economic zone,” Peskov said. “This is an issue related to the energy security of the entire continent.”
The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines have a joint annual capacity of 110 billion cubic metres – more than half of Russia’s normal gas exports volumes.
Sweden’s Maritime Authority issued a warning about two leaks in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, shortly after a leak on the nearby Nord Stream 2 pipeline was discovered that had prompted Denmark to restrict shipping in a five nautical mile radius. read more
Nord Stream AG said it was impossible to estimate when the gas network system’s working capability would be restored. read more
Each line of the pipeline consists of about 100,000 24-tonne concrete-weight coated steel pipes laid on the seabed of the Baltic Sea. The pipelines have a constant internal diameter of 1.153 metres, according to Nord Stream.
Sections of the pipelines lie at a depth of around 80-110 metres.
The 1,224 km-long Nord Stream 1 consists of two parallel pipelines with nameplate annual capacity of 27.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) each, running from Vyborg, Russia to the exit point in Lubmin, Germany. read more It started supplying Germany in 2011.
Flows via the pipeline, which had been working at only 20% of its capacity since July, were halted at the end of August and were not restarted following maintenance.
Nord Stream 2, which runs almost in parallel to Nord Stream 1, was built in September 2021 but was never launched as Germany refused to certify it. The project was halted altogether just days before Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/kremlin-sabotage-cannot-be-ruled-out-reason-nord-stream-damage-2022-09-27/
LONDON/ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine, Sept 27 (Reuters) – An ally of President Vladimir Putin issued a stark new nuclear warning to Ukraine and the West on Tuesday as referendums billed by Russia as a prelude to it annexing four Ukrainian regions entered their fifth and final day.
Moscow’s latest broadside came as European countries rushed to investigate unexplained leaks in two Russian natural gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea which will hinder efforts to restart the main line taking Russian gas to Germany.
The Kremlin, which has blamed technical problems for earlier cuts in Russian gas supplies to Europe, said it could not rule out sabotage, but did not say by whom and called for an investigation.
Russia’s confrontation with the West has driven up global inflation and sharpened energy and food crises in many countries since its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, which was met by tough Western sanctions and Russian retaliatory measures.
Tuesday’s nuclear warning by Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, is one of several issued by Putin and his associates in recent weeks.
Analysts say they are designed to deter Ukraine and the West by hinting at a readiness to use tactical nuclear weapons to defend newly annexed territory, where Russian forces have faced strong Ukrainian counteroffensives in recent weeks.
Medvedev’s warning differed from earlier ones in that he predicted for the first time that the NATO military alliance would not risk a nuclear war and directly enter the Ukraine war even if Moscow struck Ukraine with nuclear weapons.
“I believe that NATO would not directly interfere in the conflict even in this scenario,” Medvedev said in a post on Telegram.
“The demagogues across the ocean and in Europe are not going to die in a nuclear apocalypse.”
Voting on whether to join Russia in four Ukrainian regions partly controlled by Moscow — Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia — entered its fifth and final day. The West has said it will not recognise the outcome of what it regards as illegal sham referendums.
Russian government officials have repeatedly warned they might use nuclear weapons to defend the new territory if Kyiv’s forces, who are already in control of some of it, try to take what Moscow says it will soon regard as its sovereign territory.
NATO and the United States have not detailed publicly how they would respond to a Russian nuclear attack on Ukraine, but Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser, told CBS on Sunday that Washington had spelled out to Moscow what he described as “catastrophic consequences” for Russia.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in an interview with Swiss newspaper Blick that Ukraine was preparing for the possibility of a Russian nuclear strike, but said the onus was on nuclear-armed states to deter Russia.
A man walks with his bicycle past banners informing about a referendum on the joining of Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine to Russia, in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 26, 2022. The banner (C) reads: “Future. 23-27 September 2022”. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
“…Where exactly should we evacuate people in the event of a Russian nuclear strike against Ukraine?” he asked. “That is why the use of nuclear weapons is a question of global security – this is no longer just about Ukraine.”
Podolyak said in the same interview that Ukrainians who had helped Russia organise the annexation referendums would face treason charges and at least five years in jail.
“We have lists of names of people who have been involved in some way,” he said, adding that Ukrainians who were forced to vote would not be punished. Ukrainians officials have reported ballot boxes being taken door to door and residents being coerced into voting in front of Russian troops.
None of the provinces are fully under Moscow’s control and fighting has been under way along the entire front line, with Ukrainian forces reporting more advances since they routed Russian troops in a fifth province, Kharkiv, earlier this month.
The British Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that Putin was likely to announce the accession of the occupied regions to the Russian Federation during an address to parliament on Sept. 30. read more
Ukrainian and Russian forces were locked in heavy fighting in different parts of Ukraine on Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Donetsk region in the east remained his country’s — and Russia’s — top strategic priority, with “particularly severe” fighting engulfing several towns as Russian troops try to advance to the south and west.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the regional governor, said three civilians had been killed and 13 wounded in the Donetsk region in the past 24 hours.
There were also reported clashes in the Kharkiv region in the northeast — focus of a Ukrainian counter-offensive this month.
And Ukrainian forces pressed on with a campaign to keep bridges and other river crossings out of action to disrupt supply lines to Russian forces in the south.
A Reuters reporter in the city of Zaporizhzhia saw a huge crater next to a restaurant on Khortytsia Island and workers disentangling power lines and trees. The restaurant owner said nobody had been hurt in the overnight strike.
The Ukrainian Air Force said on Tuesday it had shot down three Iranian-made drones operated by Russia after an attack on the Mykolaiv region.
Reuters could not immediately verify battlefield reports.
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Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraine-annexation-votes-end-amid-russian-mobilisation-exodus-2022-09-26/
The Justice Department submitted, as part of the special master review of the Mar-a-Lago search, a slightly revised inventory of the materials seized in the search, along with an FBI affidavit indicating that the new inventory fully reflects what was taken.
The special master, Judge Raymond Dearie, had requested that the Justice Department submit an affidavit declaring whether the inventory captured a “full and accurate” picture of the search – a request that came after former President Donald Trump claimed, without evidence, that the FBI may have planted items during it.
“I am not aware of any documents or materials seized from the Premises on that date by the FBI that are not reflected in the Revised Detailed Property Inventory,” an FBI agent, whose identity was redacted, wrote in the new affidavit, “other than materials that the Privilege Review Team has not provided to the Case Team.”
According to the FBI, the agency had only a single business day to compile the first version of the inventory – filed several weeks ago – but has since had more time to review and catalog the list. The filing also noted that a review team filtered out potentially privileged material found after the seizure at Mar-a-Lago, which they have kept.
The agent said the revisions to the new list were “minor.”
According to CNN’s comparison of the two versions, the new version showed the same total number of documents marked classified as compiled in the previously filed inventory. The new version shows two fewer press clippings and two fewer empty envelopes with classified banners than the previous count. The revised inventory also shows a few dozen more government records without classified markings, out of the thousands that the FBI says it obtained in the search.
On Friday, Trump faces a deadline to submit to the special master descriptions of any seized items that he claims are missing from the inventory, or items that were included in the inventory that he says were not at the premises.
Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/26/politics/justice-department-maralago-seized-materials-list-full-accurate/index.html
Rapidly intensifying Hurricane Ian became a Category 3 storm as it neared landfall in western Cuba early Tuesday morning while on its trek toward Florida, where residents in some coastal areas are already evacuating.
The hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, is “expected to make landfall over western Cuba soon,” the National Hurricane Center said around 2:30 a.m.
Life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds and flash flooding are expected in the area.
Conditions in western Cuba began deteriorating Monday evening, and the center of the storm was about 35 miles south of the city of Pinar del Rio as of 2:30 a.m., the center said.
Storm surge from the hurricane could raise water levels by as much as 14 feet above normal tide levels along the coast of Cuba, forecasters said.
The hurricane is expected to move north-northwest and across the island, leaving devastating wind damage in its path, according to the center.
Ian quickly strengthened Monday and will likely continue gaining power as it moves over Cuba Tuesday morning, forecasters say.
It is expected to emerge over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and continue churning toward Florida, passing west of the Florida Keys late Tuesday, and approaching the west coast of Florida late Wednesday into Thursday.
The hurricane is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge along much of Florida’s west coast by mid-week, as well as hurricane-force winds.
While its exact path remains uncertain, projections show the Tampa area could get its first direct hit from a hurricane since 1921, and impacts on the area could be devastating.
“This is something that we haven’t seen in our lifetime … So we definitely need to take it seriously,” said Meteorologist Rick Davis of the National Weather Service’s Tampa office.
A hurricane warning is in place from Englewood to the Anclote River, including Tampa Bay, according to the latest advisory from the hurricane center. This means “hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area, in this case, within 24 to 36 hours,” the center said.
The hurricane’s menacing approach to Florida triggered preparations across the state as officials announced school closures and flight cancellations, and the military began moving ships and aircraft.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned of power outages as well as possible evacuations and fuel shortages, telling people to “make preparations now.”
All along Florida’s west coast, officials are urging residents to get out of harm’s way instead of staying to protect their property. “This is nothing to mess around with. If you can leave, just leave now,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said Monday.
Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties and emergency shelters were opened.
“When we issued that mandatory evacuation, what that means is if you don’t and you call for help, we’re not coming because we’re not going to put our people in harm’s way and put them in peril because you didn’t listen to what we told you to do,” said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri.
Evacuation orders also went into effect for low-lying areas of Charlotte County as well as the counties of Sarasota, Hernando and Manatee.
Floridians should expect more evacuations Tuesday for counties north of the bay, inland and some south of the bay, said Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
With tropical storm conditions possibly beginning Tuesday night, officials are concerned about Ian’s storm surge – a rise in water level caused by a strong storm’s wind pushing water onshore.
A storm surge warning is effect for the Anclote River southward to Flamingo and Tampa Bay, where the inundation of water could reach 10 feet.
The Tampa Bay region is particularly vulnerable to storm surge and could see catastrophic damage from flooding – even if the area doesn’t get a direct hit from the hurricane.
Tampa Electric said it may have to proactively shut down power in the southern tip of downtown early Wednesday in an effort to “avoid serious damage to the underground equipment from saltwater storm surge, which will significantly shorten restoration time after the storm.”
Tampa Bay International Airport will suspend operations at 5 p.m. Tuesday, DeSantis said Monday. The Port of Tampa Bay is also planning to suspend operations at 8 a.m. Tuesday, the governor said.
Around the state, residents were queuing in long lines Monday to fill up bags of sand or pick up bottled water in preparation for the storm’s arrival.
Resident Khadijah Jones told CNN she was in line for three hours Monday to get free sandbags in Tampa, uncertain if her home will flood.
“Just doing the basics… securing loose materials in the yard, sandbags in low areas, and getting items to prep for no power,” she said.
As the storm approaches a slew of closures and cancellations have been announced.
The HCA Florida Pasadena Hospital in St. Petersburg announced it has suspended services and transferred patients.
Colleges and universities across the state – like Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach and University of South Florida in Tampa – are taking steps to prepare, including campus evacuations or a shift to online classes.
On the K-12 level, Hillsborough County Schools said it had “no choice” but to cancel classes as campuses become storm shelters. And surrounding counties, including Citrus, Pasco, Manatee and Hernando have also announced closures this week.
Disney World announced some temporary resort closures from Wednesday through Friday due to the weather conditions. At least three cruise lines also began rerouting passengers due to the hurricane.
In an effort to ease congestion on the roadways for those leaving evacuation zones, the Florida Department of Transportation will likely authorize emergency shoulder use, which allows drivers to use shoulders at slower speeds, Guthrie, the state emergency management director, said.
As residents are urged to leave, officials are staging people and equipment to quickly respond when recovery begins.
With widespread power outages likely, Florida Power and Light announced it activated its emergency response plan, mobilizing 13,000 personnel. The company will work to restore power “as long as it’s safe to do so,” the release said, including using smart grid technology to remotely restore power to customers where possible.
Resources from outside the state are also pouring in, Guthrie said.
The Florida National Guard activated 5,000 Florida soldiers and 2,000 additional soldiers from Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina, DeSantis announced Monday.
President Joe Biden on Saturday approved a disaster declaration for Ian.
“The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population,” the White House said in a news release.
US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra declared a public health emergency for the state of Florida – a move meant to give health care providers and suppliers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs, his office said.
“We will do all we can to assist Florida officials with responding to the health impacts of Hurricane Ian,” Becerra said. “We are working closely with state, local, and tribal health authorities, as well as our federal partners, and stand ready to provide additional public health and medical support.”
CNN’s Amir Vera, Jamiel Lynch, Amanda Jackson and Robert Shackelford contributed to this report.
Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/27/weather/hurricane-ian-cuba-florida-tuesday/index.html
Shinzo Abe was not his assassin’s preferred target.
Investigators say Tetsuya Yamagami, who fatally shot Japan’s longest-serving prime minister on July 8, had initially wanted to kill the leader of the Unification Church — a South-Korean religious sect that the 41-year-old blames for his family’s financial ruin. But the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way.
Hak Ja Han Moon, who has led the church since the 2012 death of its founder — her husband Sun Myung Moon — had stopped coming to Japan following pandemic-related border closures.
In a letter Yamagami sent to a blogger a day before shooting Abe with a handmade gun, he wrote that it was “impossible” to kill Hak Ja Han Moon. And although Abe was “not my original enemy”, the 67-year-old politician was “one of the most influential sympathisers” of the Unification Church, he wrote. “I can no longer afford to think about the political implications and consequences that Abe’s death will bring,” he added.
The brazen killing in the city of Nara, as Abe was delivering a campaign speech, shocked Japan, a nation where political violence and gun crimes are extremely rare. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida quickly declared that he would hold a state funeral for Abe while the Japanese public handed his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) a sweeping victory in an upper house election held just days after the assassination.
But the grief quickly gave way to anger amid growing media scrutiny of the church’s extensive ties with Abe and the LDP, and alleged abuses, including claims of forced donations. Kishida has, meanwhile, seen his approval ratings plunge from 63 percent at the time of Abe’s assassination to about 29 percent in mid-September, raising questions over the prime minister’s political future.
“The Unification Church is not so much regarded as a religious organisation, but rather as a predatory cult in Japan,” said Koichi Nakano, professor of political science at the Sophia University in Tokyo. The LDP has “outraged” the Japanese people just as if “ties with a notorious criminal organization had been revealed,” said Nakano.
Officially known as Family Federation for World Peace and Reunification and disparagingly called “the Moonies”, Sun Myung Moon founded the Unification Church in South Korea in 1954. The self-proclaimed messiah was a staunch anti-Communist who advocated conservative family-oriented beliefs. Famously, he oversaw mass weddings at which he had matched thousands of couples, sometimes by pairing photographs of people who had never met before.
Experts say the church’s right-wing beliefs helped it expand overseas during the Cold War.
Moon became good friends with Nobusuke Kishi, who served as Japan’s prime minister from 1957 to 1960 and was Abe’s grandfather. It was Kishi who helped found the church’s political arm, the International Federation for Victory Over Communism in Japan in 1968, according to Japanese media. After gaining a foothold in Japan, the church treated its followers there like an “economic army”, a former senior member told the Reuters news agency, raising money by collecting donations and selling “spiritual goods” such as expensive ginseng tea or miniature stone pagodas.
In the case of Yamagami, Abe’s killer, relatives say his mother, a devout follower, donated some 100 million yen ($692,000) to the church, a large part of which came from a life insurance payment from his father’s death by suicide. The donations bankrupted the family and Yamagami, described by his uncle as “extremely smart” and “hardworking”, had to abandon plans to go to college.
A group of lawyers representing victims of the church’s “spiritual sales” in Japan said the religious group has been linked to some 30,000 complaints involving losses of 123.7 billion yen ($856m) since 1987 and that the church has used the funds raised in Japan to build and seed a multi-billion dollar business empire spanning the globe.
According to Britain’s Financial Times, Moon founded a conglomerate called Tongil Group in South Korea in 1963, and its affiliates now operate ski and golf resorts, a defence company, a chemicals group, a car parts business and a newspaper. In the United States, the church’s business interests include the conservative Washington Times newspaper, the New Yorker Hotel in New York, the True World Foods seafood wholesaler and a vast property portfolio, it said.
Despite the complaints over its fundraising practices in Japan, the church continued to find favour among LDP politicians, with whom it shared conservative values, including opposition to LGBTQ rights.
Investigators say it was a video message that Abe had sent last year to an event hosted by a Unification Church-affiliated group, the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), and attended by Hak Ja Han Moon that prompted his killer to consider switching his targets. In the message to the UPF, Abe had praised Hak Ja Han Moon and thanked the group for its “focus and emphasis on family values”.
Japanese media, meanwhile, have alleged that the church, which now has about 100,000 active followers in Japan, has directed its members to help elect LDP candidates. A former follower told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper that she had volunteered in campaigns to help elect Abe ally Koichi Haguida in order to “save” Japan. Five former followers also told Reuters that church officials had instructed them to vote for LDP candidates who opposed gay rights.
“The nexus of right-wing politicians and a right-wing Church that both oppose gender rights, LGBTQ rights and want to turn back the hands of history on social developments involving the family have sparked anger,” said Jeffrey Kingston, professor of history and Asian studies at Temple University in Japan. “Their conservative dogma does not enjoy public support.”
In a bid to address the growing outcry, Kishida reshuffled his cabinet, ordered LDP legislators to sever ties with the church and announced a new programme to help those experiencing trouble with the group. This includes offering legal aid for those who are seeking the return of their donations.
The LDP also carried out an internal survey that found nearly half of its 379 national legislators had ties to the church. It said some 96 of the legislators reported attending events organised by the church or its affiliates while 29 said they had accepted donations from the group. A further 17 said they had received election support from church followers who volunteered in their campaigns.
Kingston said a thorough investigation of the allegations of the church’s activities in Japan was necessary.
“Its extensive and longstanding political role has been kept obscure until the assassination,” he said. “It is in the public interest to thoroughly vet the organisation and its role in politics and whether it is in compliance with regulations covering religious organisations.”
The church has denied supporting any particular political party and said it does not give political guidance to its members. It did say, however, that its political arm, the UPF, has courted Japanese legislators and most of them were from the LDP because of shared values.
A spokesman for UPF, Kajikuri Masayoshi, also told NHK he did not understand the furore over ties between the two groups. “Our relationship is just normal. In most cases, they sent congratulatory telegrams or did interviews with our magazines. I think there were no legal or ethical problems,” he said in late August.
With Japan preparing to hold Abe’s funeral on Tuesday, some analysts said they expect the outcry to blow over.
Masaki Nakamasa, professor of philosophy at Kanazawa University, said he believed the links between the Unification Church and the LDP were “not so strong”.
Attending church meetings in order to gain election volunteers does not make the legislators believers, said Nakamasa, who was also formerly a member of the church.
“It is really hard to turn conservative Japanese politicians into devoted Moonies,” he said, adding: “After the memorial service for Abe, the media and the net opinion will lose interest, because there are no real shocking links between Abe and the Unification Church.”
Source Article from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/27/unification-church-linked-to-shinzo-abes-killing-japan-political-crisis
KYIV, Ukraine, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Ukrainians who help Russian-backed referendums to annexe large swathes of the country will face treason charges and at least five years in jail, Ukraine’s presidential adviser said, as voting in four regions entered its last day.
“We have lists of names of people who have been involved in some way,” presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak said in an interview with Swiss newspaper Blick.
“We are talking about hundreds of collaborators. They will be prosecuted for treason. They face prison sentences of at least five years.”
Podolyak said Ukrainians who were forced to vote would not be punished. Ukrainians officials have reported ballot boxes being taken door to door and residents being coerced into voting in front of Russian-backed security.
Moscow hopes to annex the provinces of Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, in the east and south, which make up about 15 percent of Ukraine.
None of the provinces are fully under Moscow’s control and fighting has been under way along the entire front line, with Ukrainian forces reporting more advances since they routed Russian troops in a fifth province, Kharkiv, earlier this month.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons to protect Russian soil, which would include the four provinces if annexed.
Voting on whether to join Russia began on Friday in the regions and is due to end on Tuesday, with the Russian parliament possibly approving the annexation within days.
The British Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that Putin is likely to announce the accession of the occupied regions of Ukraine to the Russian Federation during his address to parliament on Sept. 30. read more
Kyiv and the West have dismissed the referendums as a sham and pledged not to recognise the results.
Ukrainian and Russian forces were locked in heavy fighting in different parts of Ukraine on Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Donetsk region in the east remained his country’s — and Russia’s — top strategic priority, with fighting engulfing several towns as Russian troops try to advance to the south and west.
There were also clashes in Kharkiv region in the northeast — focus of a Ukrainian counter-offensive this month. And Ukrainian forces pressed on with a campaign to put out of action four bridges and other river crossings to disrupt supply lines to Russian forces in the south.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces southern command said on Tuesday that its counter offensive in Kherson had resulted in enemy losses of 77 servicemen, six tanks, five howitzers, three anti-aircraft installations and 14 armoured vehicles.
Reuters could not immediately verify battlefield reports.
A man walks with his bicycle past banners informing about a referendum on the joining of Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine to Russia, in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 26, 2022. The banner (C) reads: “Future. 23-27 September 2022”. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
In Russia, the call-up of some 300,000 reservists has led to the first sustained protests since the invasion began, with one monitoring group estimating at least 2,000 people have been arrested so far. All public criticism of Russia’s “special military operation” is banned.
Flights out of Russia have sold out and cars have clogged border checkpoints, with reports of a 48-hour queue at the sole road border to Georgia, the rare pro-Western neighbour that allows Russian citizens to enter without a visa.
Asked about the prospect of the border being shut, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday: “I don’t know anything about this. At the moment, no decisions have been taken on this.”
Russia counts millions of former conscripts as official reservists. The authorities have not spelled out precisely who is due to be called up, as that part of Putin’s order is classified.
The mobilisation has also seen the first sustained criticism of the authorities within state-controlled media since the war began.
But Sergei Tsekov, a senior lawmaker who represents Russian-annexed Crimea in Russia’s upper house of parliament, told RIA news agency: “Everyone who is of conscription age should be banned from travelling abroad in the current situation.”
Two exiled news sites – Meduza and Novaya Gazeta Europe – both reported that the authorities were planning to ban men from leaving, citing unidentified officials.
Ukraine’s presidential adviser Podolyak said his country was well positioned to counter Russia’s mobilisation, with 700,000 men in reserve or fighting.
“We already have an effective army that is well positioned and has experienced forces,” he said.
Moscow says it wants to rid Ukraine of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities. Kyiv and the West describe Russia’s actions as an unprovoked war of aggression.
Late on Monday, Zelenskiy described the military situation in Donetsk as “particularly severe.”
“We are doing everything to contain enemy activity. This is our No. 1 goal right now because Donbas is still the No. 1 goal for the occupiers,” he said, referring to the wider region that encompasses Donetsk and Luhansk.
Russia carried out at least five attacks on targets in the Odesa region using Iranian drones in the last few days, according to the regional administration.
Russian missiles hit the airport in Kriviy Rih, Zelenskiy’s home town in central Ukraine, destroying infrastructure and making the airport unusable, Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of Dnipropetrovsk region, said on Telegram.
More U.S. funding looks to be on the way as negotiators of a stop-gap spending bill in Congress have agreed to include nearly $12 billion in new military and economic aid to Ukraine, according to sources. read more
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Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraine-annexation-votes-end-amid-russian-mobilisation-exodus-2022-09-26/