Day: January 23, 2023

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Germany signals shift in veto on Leopard tanks for Ukraine

2023-01-23T05:06:27Z

A Polish Leopard 2PL tank fires during Defender Europe 2022 military exercise of NATO troops including French, American, and Polish troops, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the military range in Bemowo Piskie, near Orzysz, Poland May 24, 2022. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

Germany would not stand in the way if Poland wants to send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Germany’s foreign minister said, signalling a possible breakthrough for Ukraine as it tries to bolster its forces ahead of an expected new Russian offensive.

Eleven months after Russia invaded its southern neighbour, the fighting is centred on the town of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s east, where Russia’s Wagner mercenaries and Ukrainian forces have been locked in a battle of attrition.

Russia’s defence ministry said for the second straight day on Sunday that its forces were improving their positions in Ukraine’s southern region of Zaporizhzhia, though a Ukrainian military spokesperson told the state broadcaster the situation there was “difficult” but stable.

Reuters was not able to independently verify battlefield accounts.

Ukrainian officials have been calling on Western allies to supply them with the modern German-made tanks for months but Germany has held back from sending them or allowing other NATO countries to do so.

Leopard tanks, which are held by an array of NATO countries but whose transfer to Ukraine requires Berlin’s approval, are seen by defence experts as the most suitable for Ukraine.

Western allies pledged billions of dollars in weapons for Ukraine last week but they failed to persuade Germany to lift its veto on providing the tanks.

But in an apparent shift in Germany’s position, foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said her government would not block Poland if it were to send its Leopard 2 tanks without German approval.

“For the moment the question has not been asked, but if we were asked we would not stand in the way,” she told France’s LCI TV, when asked about her government’s reaction to any such Polish decision.

Germany has been under heavy pressure to let Leopards go to Ukraine but the Social Democrat party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz is traditionally sceptical of military involvements and wary of sudden moves that could trigger Russia to escalation.

Baerbock’s remarks appeared to go further than Scholz’s comments at a summit in Paris earlier on Sunday that all decisions on weapons deliveries would be made in co-ordination with allies, including the United States.

Ukraine says the heavily armoured battle tanks would give its ground troops more mobility and protection ahead of a new Russian offensive expected in coming months.

But Germany has appeared to have tied any such contribution to a U.S. move to send its Abrams tanks, something American officials have said they are reluctant to do because the vehicles are complicated to maintain.

American lawmakers pushed their government on Sunday to export M1 Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine, saying that even sending a symbolic number would be enough to push European allies to do the same.

Britain recently said it was supplying 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine. Its foreign minister, James Cleverly, said on Sunday it still wanted an international deal to provide Ukraine with the German-made tanks.

French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, said he did not rule out the possibility of sending Ukraine Leclerc tanks.

Last week, the Kremlin’s spokesman said Western countries supplying additional tanks to Ukraine would not change the course of the conflict, but would add to the problems of the Ukrainian people.

A close ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that deliveries of offensive weapons to Kyiv that threaten Russia’s territories would lead to a global catastrophe and make arguments against using weapons of mass destruction untenable.

Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, warned that the United States and NATO’s support of Ukraine was leading the world to a “terrible war”.

Since its invasion on Feb. 24, which it has cast as defending itself from an aggressive West, Russia has taken control of parts of Ukraine and has said it will never return them. Ukraine has said that restoring its territorial integrity is not open for negotiation.

In Ukraine’s embattled east, the top Russian-installed official in the occupied parts of the Donetsk region said late on Sunday he had visited the town of Soledar that Russia says it captured this month.

Denis Pushilin, the administrator, published a short video on the Telegram messaging app that showed him driving and walking amidst uninhabited areas and destroyed buildings.

Reuters was not able to independently verify when and where the video was taken.

On Jan. 11, the private Russian military group Wagner said it had captured Soledar and Russian-installed authorities in the Donetsk region said last week they were in control of the salt-mining town.

Ukraine has never publicly said that the town was taken by Russian forces. On Sunday, the general staff of its armed forces said in a daily update that Russian forces had fired on Ukrainian positions in the area.

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Trump’s MAGA forces threaten to upend vote for RNC chair

NEW YORK (AP) — By week’s end, the Republican National Committee is set to resolve a bitter leadership feud that has exposed perilous divisions within the institution charged with electing the next GOP president.

Those inside the fight believe the days ahead of Friday’s secret ballot at a luxury seaside resort could get even uglier as rebel forces within former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement threaten to upend RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel’s reelection bid.

The attacks have been led by McDaniel’s chief rival, Harmeet Dhillon, a Trump attorney who has accused the incumbent of religious bigotry, chronic misspending and privately claiming she can control the former president — allegations McDaniel denies. Also in the race is My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist who secured enough support to qualify for the ballot.

Trump hasn’t made a public endorsement, but he and his team are privately advocating for McDaniel, whom he tapped for the position shortly after his 2016 victory. Still, many Trump loyalists blame McDaniel, the niece of Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, for some of the party’s recent struggles.

In an interview, Dhillon insisted that the overwhelming majority of Republican voters want a leadership change at the RNC. He warned of serious political consequences for any of the committee’s 168 elected members who support McDaniel’s reelection.

“For those members of the party who vote not with what the people in their state want but with what their own self-interest is, the next time they’re up for election, it’s going to be an issue,” Dhillon told The Associated Press.

Apprised of Dhillon’s statement, McDaniel said, “That sounds like a threat.” She condemned the increasingly ugly attacks against her and the divisions plaguing the committee.

“There’s nobody who’s enjoyed this more than Democrats. I know, because I love it when they’re fighting each other,” McDaniel said.

Friday’s vote for RNC chair serves as the latest high-profile leadership test for a deeply divided Republican Party grappling with questions about its future — and Trump’s influence — ahead of the 2024 presidential election. The infighting was on public display earlier this month as House Republicans almost came to blows before uniting behind House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, undermined by the same MAGA forces threatening McDaniel this week.

In both cases, Trump has struggled to control his own loyalists, who seem intent on fighting the status quo — whether McCarthy or McDaniel — no matter the cost.

Seeking to influence the vote, a group of Florida Republicans from the party’s MAGA wing moved last Friday to hold a vote of “no confidence” in McDaniel, which Republican groups in a handful of other states have done in recent weeks as well. But the Florida gathering, which drew leading McCarthy detractor Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., fell far short of reaching the quorum needed to hold an official vote.

Still, dozens of anti-McDaniel protesters waved signs outside the event. One read, “RONNA IS THE ENEMY WITHIN.”

“The biggest thing is that we want a really strong leader who’s in touch with MAGA, and Ronna just doesn’t have that,” Lake County, Florida, GOP Chair Anthony Sabatini, who led the anti-McDaniel push, said in a phone interview from a shooting range as gunshots rang out. “She’s lost the confidence of voters.”

Trump has avoided weighing in on the RNC chair fight at McDaniel’s request, according to those with direct knowledge of the situation. The former president would endorse her if she asked, but McDaniel’s team currently believes she will win without his public backing, allowing her to maintain a sense of neutrality heading into the 2024 presidential primary season.

According to its bylaws, the RNC must remain neutral in the presidential primary. Trump is the only announced GOP candidate so far, but other high-profile contenders are expected in the coming months.

Still, Trump could ultimately endorse McDaniel ahead of Friday’s vote if his public support is deemed necessary, according to people familiar with his thinking who, like others interviewed, spoke on condition of anonymity to share internal discussions.

At least three top Trump lieutenants — senior advisers Susie Wiles, Chris LaCivita and Clayton Henson — are planning to attend this week’s three-day RNC winter meeting in Southern California, where the vote will play out. While they are not attending specifically on McDaniel’s behalf, Trump’s team is making clear in private conversations that he backs McDaniel.

McDaniel’s unofficial whip team is expected to include former Trump chief counselor Kellyanne Conway, former Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus, former Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, she said. Another high-profile Trump loyalist, Maryland RNC member David Bossie, is also backing McDaniel.

Dhillon’s guest list is still in flux, but she said over the weekend that her team would likely include former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk and country singer John Rich.

After three consecutive disappointing national elections, there is a broad sense of dissatisfaction among Republican voters and RNC members alike about the health of their party. Some are increasingly eager to move on from Trump and, by proxy, McDaniel, who is viewed as a close Trump ally — even if many Trump’s supporters outside the RNC membership see her as insufficiently committed to their cause.

“She’s been Trump’s lap dog for four-plus years,” said Bill Palatucci, an RNC member from New Jersey and a vocal critic of both Trump and McDaniel. While Palatucci formally endorsed Dhillon late last week, he is skeptical she has the votes to defeat McDaniel.

Dhillon has unleashed a torrent of attacks against McDaniel in recent weeks that have resonated across Trump’s MAGA movement. But as the far right cheered, Dhillon may have alienated would-be supporters on the actual Republican National Committee, which is made up of activists and elected officials from all 50 states.

She has seized on several examples of apparent misspending and mismanagement under McDaniel’s watch, which McDaniel’s team — backed by former Trump officials like Wiles — claim are inaccurate or misleading.

In recent days, the attacks against McDaniel have intensified.

Last week, Dhillon promoted claims that a McDaniel ally raised concerns about Dhillon’s faith in at least one private conversation. Dhillon, who is of Indian heritage, identifies as a member of the Sikh religion.

The McDaniel ally has denied the claim, which was outlined in a detailed email to the RNC’s entire membership bearing the subject line “Religious Bigotry.”

Dhillon also highlighted a Washington Post report that McDaniel has said, in multiple private conversations with RNC members, that only she can dissuade Trump from launching an independent presidential bid — and ultimately destroying the party’s chances in the next presidential election — should he fail to win the GOP nomination.

“She said it to many people: Only I can control Trump,” Dhillon told the AP, likening such a statement to someone believing they could single-handedly stop an asteroid from crashing into Earth.

McDaniel said such claims are “ridiculous.”

“After working with President Trump for six years, I don’t think anybody could ever say they control him,” McDaniel said.

Meanwhile, McDaniel warned of a “huge risk” if Republicans cannot stop the infighting as the 2024 election season begins. The GOP is well positioned to win the Senate majority and maintain control of the House, although the presidential contest will dominate much of the committee’s focus.

“This is really critical as we head into ’24 that we stop labeling, attacking, demonizing other Republicans to the point where we can’t bring them together post-primary,” she said.

For her part, Dhillon said she would “of course” unite behind McDaniel if she ultimately prevails Friday.

“Job 1 is winning elections,” Dhillon said. “I’m a team player.”

___

Associated Press writer Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Fla., contributed to this report.

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At the UN, a ‘Book of Names’ invites visitors to touch the names of more than 4.8 million Jewish Holocaust victims

The Book of Names, an installation that includes the names of more than 4.8 million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust, will go on display at the United Nations Jan. 26 in observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

The book, an archive that stands 6 ½-feet high, more than 3-feet wide and nearly 26 ½ feet long, was created by Israel’s Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. The names are organized alphabetically in 50 different segments of 3,000 pages each. Blank pages at the end of the book represent the more than 1 million Jewish Holocaust victims whose identities are yet to be recovered.

Given its length, several people can view the book at the same time. A ray of light that runs the length of the inside of the book illuminates each opened page.

“The big element of the Book of Names is allowing people not only to touch the names of the murdered victims but to connect physically with their memories like we do at a gravesite,” said Simmy Allen, head of the international media section of Yad Vashem.

All the names in the book are also online on Yad Vashem’s website. Whenever the information is known, beside each name is the person’s date of birth, hometown and place of death. The online Book of Names is in English, French, Spanish, Hebrew, German and Russian.

Accompanying the U.N. installation, which is supported by the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations, will be a video about the importance of remembering the names of Holocaust victims, why the search continues for additional names, and information about the Holocaust, a campaign launched by Nazi Germany in 1933 to eradicate Judaism and annihilate the Jewish people. It ended with the Nazi ‘s defeat in 1945. The narrator of the video intones: “The monumental size of the book attests to the immeasurable and inconceivable loss to the Jewish people and to all of humanity.”

The video that will go on display with the Book of Names at the United Nations in New York on Thursday Jan. 26, 2023. Courtesy of Yad Vashem.

The Book of Names will be on display in the U.N.’s Sputnik Hall for three weeks, after which it will be dismantled and shipped back to Israel for permanent display as a part of Yad Vashem’s Museum’s Complex on Jerusalem’s Mount of Remembrance. It will be open for public viewing there in time for Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, observed this year on April 17-18. 

Another Book of Names created by Yad Vashem has been on permanent exhibition in Block 27 in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Memorial since 2013. At the time that book was created it contained 4.2 million names.

The exhibition is free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday from Jan. 26 through to February 17.

The post At the UN, a ‘Book of Names’ invites visitors to touch the names of more than 4.8 million Jewish Holocaust victims appeared first on The Forward.