There was no nuclear incident next the Russian strikes on the premises of the Zaporizhzhia NPP on Saturday and Sunday morning, but it could take place upcoming time.

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The post Next time, we may not be so lucky appeared first on Ukraine Intelligence.

Pop superstar Taylor Swift won the most prestigious honor on Sunday at the American Music Awards when she was named artist of the year at the world’s largest fan-voted ceremony.

The “Anti-Hero” singer thanked voters for supporting her after releasing four original albums and two re-recordings in the last three years.

“I cannot express how unbelievable it is to me that I still do this and that you still care,” she said on stage at the awards show in Los Angeles.

Earlier, Swift’s re-recording of her 2012 record “Red” took the trophy for favorite pop album. The 32-year-old singer has been making new versions of albums from her past after a dispute with her former record label.

“I cannot tell you how much my re-recorded albums mean to me, but I never expected or assumed they’d mean anything to you,” she said.

Swift did not mention last week’s controversy over Ticketmaster’s sales for her upcoming tour, which were filled with glitches and prompted the company to apologize to her.

In the artist of the year category, Swift triumphed over formidable names including Beyonce, Harry Styles, The Weeknd, Drake, Adele and Bad Bunny.

Singer Pink opened the awards show dancing and singing on roller skates to her upbeat song “Never Gonna Not Dance Again.”

Comedian and host Wayne Brady rapped in his monologue. “Ain’t nobody getting slapped tonight,” Brady joked, referencing Will Smith’s infamous attack on Chris Rock at the Oscars.

Dove Cameron, a former Disney Channel actress who reached the Billboard charts this year with the pop single “Boyfriend,” earned the first trophy of the night with her best new artist win.

Machine Gun Kelly, wearing a purple suit with long silver spikes, was named favorite rock artist.

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The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog has warned that whoever fired artillery at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was “playing with fire” as his team prepared to inspect it on Monday for damage from the weekend strikes.

The attacks on Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant in the south of Ukraine came as battles raged in the east, where Russian forces pounded Ukrainian positions along the front line President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

The shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station follows setbacks for Russian forces in the Kherson region in the south and a Russian response that has included a barrage of missile strikes across the country, many on power facilities.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said more than a dozen blasts shook the nuclear plant late on Saturday and on Sunday. IAEA head Rafael Grossi said the attacks were extremely disturbing and completely unacceptable.

“Whoever is behind this, it must stop immediately. As I have said many times before, you’re playing with fire!” Grossi said in a statement.

Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for the shelling of the facility, as they have done repeatedly in recent months after attacks on it or near it.

Citing information provided by plant management, an IAEA team on the ground said there had been damage to some buildings, systems and equipment, but none of them critical for nuclear safety and security.

The team plans to conduct an assessment on Monday, Grossi said, but Russian nuclear power operator Rosenergoatom said there would be curbs on what the team could inspect.

“If they want to inspect a facility that has nothing to do with nuclear safety, access will be denied,” Renat Karchaa, an adviser to Rosenergoatom’s CEO, told the Tass news agency.

Repeated shelling of the plant has raised concern about a grave accident just 500 km (300 miles) from the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident, the 1986 Chornobyl disaster.

The Zaporizhzhia plant provided about a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity before Russia’s invasion, and has been forced to operate on back-up generators a number of times. It has six Soviet-designed VVER-1000 V-320 water-cooled and water-moderated reactors containing Uranium 235.

The reactors are shut down but there is a risk that nuclear fuel could overheat if the power driving the cooling systems is cut. Shelling has repeatedly cut power lines.

Russia’s defence ministry said Ukraine fired shells at power lines supplying the plant but Ukraine’s nuclear energy firm Energoatom accused Russia’s military of shelling the site, saying the Russians had targeted infrastructure necessary to restart parts of the plant in an attempt to further limit Ukraine’s power supply.

In eastern Ukraine, Russian forces battered Ukrainian front-line positions with artillery fire, with the heaviest attacks in the Donetsk region, Zelenskiy said in a video address.

Russia withdrew its forces from the southern city of Kherson this month and moved some of them to reinforce positions in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, an industrial area known as the Donbas.

“The fiercest battles, as before, are in the Donetsk region. Although there were fewer attacks today due to worsening weather, the amount of Russian shelling unfortunately remains extremely high,” Zelenskiy said.

“In the Luhansk region, we are slowly moving forward while fighting. As of now, there have been almost 400 artillery attacks in the east since the start of the day,” he said.

Zelenskiy also said troops in the south were “consistently and very calculatedly destroying the potential of the occupiers” but gave no details.

Kherson city remains without electricity, running water or heating.

Ukraine said on Saturday that about 60 Russian soldiers had been killed in a long-range artillery attack in the south, the second time in four days that Ukraine has claimed to have inflicted major casualties in a single incident.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday that up to 50 Ukrainian servicemen were killed the previous day along the southern Donetsk front line and 50 elsewhere.

Reuters was not able to immediately verify any battlefield reports.

Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine a “special operation” to demilitarize and “denazify” its neighbour, though Kyiv and its allies say the invasion is an unprovoked war of aggression.

Oleh Zhdanov, a military analyst in Kyiv, said that according to his information, Russian offensives were taking place on the Bakhmut and Avdiivka front line in the Donetsk region, among others.

“The enemy is trying to break through our defences, to no avail,” Zhdanov said in a social media video. “We fight back – they suffer huge losses.”

(Reuters) – The 2022 fan-voted American Music Awards were handed out at a ceremony in Los Angeles at the Microsoft Theater on Sunday, hosted by Wayne Brady.

Following is a list of winners in key categories;

Taylor Swift

Dove Cameron

Elton John & Dua Lipa — “Cold Heart”

Coldplay

Taylor Swift — “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)”

Harry Styles

Taylor Swift

Harry Styles — “As It Was”

Morgan Wallen

Taylor Swift

Dan + Shay

Kendrick Lamar

Nicki Minaj

Machine Gun Kelly

Taylor Swift

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said his panel is reviewing “serious allegations” in a report that a former anti-abortion leader knew in advance the outcome of a 2014 Supreme Court case involving health care coverage of contraception.

The report Saturday in The New York Times followed the stunning leak earlier this year of a draft opinion in the case in which the high court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending constitutional protections for abortion. That decision was written by Justice Samuel Alito, who is also the author of the majority opinion in the 2014 case at the center of the new report.

In the Times story, Rev. Rob Schenck said he learned the outcome of the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores case weeks before the decision was made public. In a 5-4 decision, Alito wrote that some companies with religious objections can avoid the contraceptives requirement in President Barack Obama’s health care legislation.

Schenck, who previously headed the group Faith and Action, has said in other recent stories in Politico and Rolling Stone that he was part of a concerted effort to forge social and ministry relationships with conservative justices.

In the Times story, Schenck said the information about the Hobby Lobby decision came from Gail Wright, a donor to his organization who was part of the outreach effort to the justices and who had dined with Alito and his wife. Wright herself denied obtaining or sharing any information in an interview with the Times.

The New York Times also published a letter Schenck said he wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in July alerting him to the alleged breach years ago. Schenck wrote that he thought the information might be relevant as part of a probe into the leak of the abortion decision.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement Saturday that the committee is “reviewing these serious allegations,” and he called on fellow members of Congress to pass a bill that would require the high court to adopt a code of ethics.

Two fellow Democrats, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia, who chair courts subcommittees, issued a statement calling the Times report “another black mark on the Supreme Court’s increasingly marred ethical record” and said they “intend to get to the bottom of these serious allegations.” They too urged passage of a code of ethics.

The Times’ story included an emphatic denial by Alito that he’d disclosed the outcome of the case. The court released Alito’s full statement to The Associated Press:

“The allegation that the Wrights were told the outcome of the decision in the Hobby Lobby case, or the authorship of the opinion of the Court, by me or my wife is completely false. My wife and I became acquainted with the Wrights some years ago because of their strong support for the Supreme Court Historical Society, and since then, we have had a casual and purely social relationship.

“I never detected any effort on the part of the Wrights to obtain confidential information or to influence anything that I did in either an official or private capacity, and I would have strongly objected if they had done so. I have no knowledge of any project that they allegedly undertook for ‘Faith and Action,’ ‘Faith and Liberty,’ or any similar group, and I would be shocked and offended if those allegations are true,” it said.

Schenck’s Faith and Action group became Faith & Liberty after becoming part of the Liberty Counsel in 2018.

Alito was appointed to the high court in 2006 by President George W. Bush.

(NewsNation) — Republicans gathered in Las Vegas for the Republican Jewish Coalition‘s leadership convention and many big names seemed to be setting up a possible presidential run.

Former President Donald Trump is the only candidate to officially announce a 2024 run. Here are six Republicans who could challenge him in the primary.

1. Larry Hogan

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan blamed Trump for the GOP’s failure to secure a bigger majority in the 2022 midterm elections, saying the Republican Party was in need of real leadership. Hogan specifically called out swing voters as being turned off by some of the “less than stellar” candidates.

There are rumors Hogan is looking at a run himself; he served two terms as governor of Maryland but was term-limited. He refused to endorse the Trump-backed Republican nominee, Dan Cox, in the 2022 race. Cox was defeated by Democrat Wes Moore.

2. Chris Christie

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie didn’t hold back as he blamed Trump for the Republican Party’s losses, saying it happened because the former president puts himself before everybody else. Christie was also critical of election denial being used as a litmus test for candidates.

Christie ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican primary. He later backed Trump’s candidacy and became the head of his transition team.

3. Chris Sununu

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said the Republicans need to stop backing “crazy” and “unelectable” candidates. He didn’t name names, but he did credit the Democrats for backing more extreme candidates in the Republican primaries in hopes of defeating them in the general election.

Sununu has given mixed answers when asked if he’s planning to throw his hat in the ring for the 2024 primary.

4. Mike Pompeo

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joked about facing former Vice President Mike Pence on a debate stage, raising the possibility he’s considering a 2024 run.

In a tweet prior to his appearance, Pompeo said Trump promised conservatives they’d be tired of winning but instead, they’re tired of losing.

5. Nikki Haley

Former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley directly teased a presidential run in her appearance.

Officially, though, Haley said she won’t decide if she’ll consider entering the race for another few months.

6. Ron DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis didn’t hint or joke about a run in his speech, but he’s considered a front-runner, and donors are already throwing support behind a potential campaign.

In Las Vegas, he said he would be focusing on his day job for now.

Taylor Swift’s re-recording of her 2012 record “Red” took the trophy for favorite pop album on Sunday at the American Music Awards, the world’s largest fan-voted ceremony.

In recent years, Swift has been recording new versions of albums from her past after a dispute with her former record label. “Red” features the hit breakup song “All Too Well.”

“I cannot tell you how much my re-recorded albums mean to me, but I never expected or assumed they’d mean anything to you,” Swift said as she accepted the award. “I can’t thank you enough for caring about this album.”

The 32-year-old singer did not mention last week’s controversy over Ticketmaster’s sales for her upcoming tour, which were filled with glitches and prompted the company to apologize to her.

Swift is also in the running for artist of the year, the night’s top prize. She is competing with formidable names including Beyonce, Harry Styles, The Weeknd, Drake and Adele.

Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, also in contention for artist of the year, went into the night with a leading eight nominations.

Singer Pink opened the show dancing and singing on roller skates to her upbeat song “Never Gonna Not Dance Again.”

Comedian and host Wayne Brady attempted a rap in his monologue. “Ain’t nobody getting slapped tonight,” Brady joked, referencing Will Smith’s infamous attack on Chris Rock at the Oscars.

Dove Cameron, a former Disney Channel actress who reached the Billboard charts this year with the pop single “Boyfriend,” earned the first trophy of the night with her best new artist win.

Machine Gun Kelly, wearing a purple suit with long silver spikes, was named favorite rock artist.

Related Galleries:

I’ve always had a fondness for rabbits. Such adorable little things they are. And magic, too, has held a mystery, a fascination for me and many others. A good magic show can mesmerize an audience. So many magic tricks are a puzzle that people, in awed thoughts, try to figure out. Houdini was the best at magic.

And this article is about rabbits, magic – and us. The Democratic party — and that includes you — has been pulling rabbits out of hats for quite a while now. We did it in 2020. We did it in the Georgia special election.

We did it in the midterms. How good it feels to say that. How proud we should all be. We keep doing it. We keep pulling rabbits out of hats, dumbfounding the pundits who appear stunned, often asking the question how did the democrats DO this? How did they, against all odds, pull the rabbit out of the hat?

The truth is much magic is an illusion. What often appears during magic shows to be pure magic usually is not. The tricks merely involve skill, daring, and determination. And that is true of our magic too. There is nothing otherworldly about what we do. We simply worked together, coming together to use our skills to vanquish the opponent.

And now there is the Georgia special election. It’s coming up fast. I ask you to do whatever you can. Phone banking is obviously vastly needed. But if that’s not for you, please join together and do what you can. We need to pull this one last rabbit out of the hat before the new year.

New years mean new beginnings. Would it not be wonderful to have — as our new beginning yet another magic trick? We keep fooling them — over and over. The best magicians are like that. The best magicians can convince one of magic when really all it is, is determination and focus — lots of focus — a focus few have. But we do.

The post Rabbit out of a hat appeared first on Palmer Report.

New Zealand’s highest court ruled on Monday that the country’s current voting age of 18 was discriminatory, forcing parliament to discuss whether it should be lowered.

The case, which has been going through the courts since 2020, was bought by advocacy group Make It 16, which wants the age lowered to include 16 and 17 year olds.

The Supreme Court found that the current voting age of 18 was inconsistent with the country’s Bill of Rights, which gives people a right to be free from age discrimination when they have reached 16.

The decision triggers a process in which the issue must come before parliament for discussion and be reviewed by a parliamentary select committee. But it does not force parliament to change the voting age.

“This is history,” said Make It 16 co-director Caeden Tipler, adding: “The government and parliament cannot ignore such a clear legal and moral message. They must let us vote.”

The group says on its website there is insufficient justification to stop 16 year olds from voting when they can drive, work full time and pay tax.

Political parties in New Zealand have mixed views on the subject. The Green Party wants immediate action to lower the voting age to 16, but largest opposition party, the National party, does not support the shift.

“Obviously, we’ve got to draw a line somewhere,” said National party leader Christopher Luxon. “We’re comfortable with the line being 18. Lots of different countries have different places where the line’s drawn and from our point of view, 18’s just fine.”

The Labour government has not publicly commented on the decision.

Dove Cameron was named best new artist and Dan + Shay took home the prize for country duo or group on Sunday at the start of the American Music Awards, the world’s largest fan-voted ceremony.

Singer Pink opened the show dancing and singing on roller skates to her upbeat song “Never Gonna Not Dance Again.”

Comedian and host Wayne Brady attempted a rap in his monologue. “Ain’t nobody getting slapped tonight,” Brady joked, referencing Will Smith’s infamous attack on Chris Rock at the Oscars.

Cameron, a former Disney Channel actress who reached the Billboard charts this year with the pop single “Boyfriend,” earned the first trophy of the night with her best new artist win.

Machine Gun Kelly, wearing a purple suit with long silver spikes, was named favorite rock artist. “Thank you to the fans that got me here and I love you,” he said on stage.

Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny started the night with a leading eight nominations. He faces British vocalist Adele, American pop singer Harry Styles and Canadian musician The Weeknd for artist of the year, the night’s top prize.

Rapper Drake and pop superstars Beyonce and Taylor Swift also are in the running for artist of the year.

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