Ukraine’s military said its forces repelled an attack in the area of Blahodatne in the eastern part of the Donetsk region, while Russia’s Wagner private military group said it took control of the village.

* Russia accused the Ukrainian military of deliberately striking a hospital in a Russian-held area of eastern Ukraine on Saturday in what it said was a war crime that killed 14 people and wounded 24 patients and medical staff. There was no immediate response to the allegations from Ukraine. Reuters was not able to independently verify the report.

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the situation at the front as “extremely acute“, especially in the eastern Donetsk region where Russia is stepping up an offensive.

* Tearful mourners in Kyiv commemorated a British volunteer aid worker, Andrew Bagshaw, killed while attempting a rescue mission from the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to contacts with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz though has no phone call scheduled with him, a Kremlin spokesman said. Scholz, who last week approved providing Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukrainian forces, was quoted in a published interview as saying he would speak to Putin again but the onus was on the Russian leader to withdraw troops from Ukraine “to end this horrendous, senseless war…”

* Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov will hold a meeting with Lynne Tracy, the new U.S. ambassador, early next week, RIA news agency reported.

* Zelenskiy condemned the idea of neutrality in sports at a time when his country’s athletes fight and die in war, while their Russian counterparts might be allowed to compete.

* Russia said it will not hold annual talks with Japan on renewing a pact that allows Japanese fishermen to operate near disputed islands, saying Japan had taken anti-Russian measures.

* Expedited talks are under way among Ukraine and its allies about its requests for long-range missiles that it says are needed to prevent Russia from destroying its cities, a top aide to President Zelenskiy said.

* German arms-maker Rheinmetall is ready to greatly boost output of tank and artillery munitions to satisfy strong demand in Ukraine and the West, and may start producing HIMARS multiple rocket launchers in Germany, CEO Armin Papperger told Reuters.

* Ukraine has been promised 321 heavy tanks by several countries, its ambassador to France said.

* Poland will send an additional 60 tanks to Ukraine on top of 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks it has pledged, the Polish prime minister said in an interview with Canadian television.

* Ukraine imposed sanctions on 182 Russian and Belarusian companies, and three individuals, in the latest of a series of steps by Zelenskiy to block their links to his country.

* On a trip to Turkey and the Middle East this week, the U.S. Treasury Department’s top sanctions official will warn countries and businesses that they could lose U.S. market access if they do business with entities subject to U.S. curbs as Washington cracks down on Russian attempts to evade sanctions.

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(NewsNation) — Hal Kempfer, retired Marine Corps intelligence officer, said the U.S. “did a pretty good job” of handing the Chinese balloon.

“I think we did pretty good, overall,” Kempfer said Saturday night on “NewsNation Prime.” “I there’s gonna be a lot of criticism, and there has been against the White House for letting it float across. … “It may have been that we were mitigating the damage of this all along, and said, ‘Why don’t we just find out as much as we can about what they can do?'”

The U.S. shot down the Chinese spy balloon on Saturday afternoon off the Carolina coast.

President Joe Biden said earlier Saturday that officials were “going to take care” of the balloon that had been floating above the U.S. for days.

Some conservatives, including former President Donald Trump, suggested shooting it down earlier. However, on the advice of his defense team, Biden had previously chosen not to do so because of the danger falling debris could pose to residents on the ground.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday said Biden did give authorization to take down the balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished “without undue risk” to people in the balloon’s path.

Watch Kempfer’s full analysis in the video player above.

Dawn is when the sun wakes up from slumber, peeking its head out and turning the skies hazy patterns of pinks and yellows as it begins to rise. Dusk is when twilight covers our lands like a musky tent, as it relaxes and soothes us as we begin preparing for the night’s quiet.

And then there are the hours in between. In those hours, there is much to do, to think about, and to ponder. At times, those hours between dusk and dawn seem endless. For Donald Trump, I imagine he, doesn’t care about the magic of the dewy morning sun and doesn’t feel the comfort of the night’s glow.

All he is focused on is anger. Every day now, usually in those hours between dusk and dawn, news breaks about Trump. And contrary to what he says, he watches. Of course, he does. What else does he have to do in that empty palace of his?

And what he’s hearing is he is a miserable failure. He hears this from dusk to dawn. He is also hearing about all of his incoming indictments. And he’s angry. For example, Trump is claiming that Ron DeSantis was in tears as he begged for Donald Trump’s endorsement for Governor. Trump speaking to Hugh Hewitt, said DeSantis was trailing badly before Trump intervened and got his poll numbers up.

Trump is also talking about going on a “revenge tour” if he wins the presidential race, which will never happen. And he is hopping mad at Kevin McCarthy for saying the officer who shot Ashli Babbitt was doing his job.

I imagine these last few weeks of being unindicted must be nauseating for Trump. Although the man is not very bright, he has to know what’s coming, and he’s got to see the dismal fundraising numbers of his team and also hear the murmur of candidates once beholden to him who are now talking about jumping into the presidential race. He hears all of this from dusk to dawn.

Michael Cohen knows. Lawrence Tribe knows. Bill Palmer knows. They know that freedom will likely soon be a myth to Donald trump. So perhaps Trump should use these dwindling hours of freedom to keep quiet, to think about what he’s done and whom he’s done it to.

However, we all know that sociopaths are incapable of admitting wrong. Whether dusk, or dawn, these myopic and foolish people lack any awareness to look inward, and that will not change for Trump in the dawn, in the dusk, nor at any of the hours in between.

The post Donald Trump’s fading twilight is caving in on him appeared first on Palmer Report.

Lakers forward LeBron James returns to Los Angeles on the verge of becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer after wrapping up a five-game road trip in New Orleans on Saturday night.

‘King James’ now needs just 36 points to pass fellow Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record 38,387 career points after contributing 27 points in the Lakers’ 131-126 loss to the Pelicans.

James, 38, has shown no sign of slowing down in his 20th season, where he is averaging more than 30 points per game and made his 19th All-Star game.

He will have two opportunities to capture what he has called “one of the greatest records in sports” on his home floor next week when the Lakers host the Thunder on Tuesday and the Bucks on Thursday.

Ticket prices for those games have predictably skyrocketed and Hollywood’s biggest stars are expected to be seated courtside.

Fans everywhere are eagerly anticipating the milestone and the league has said that any game where he has a reasonable chance of breaking the record will be broadcast nationally.

At this point the only question is what kind of shot he will take to seize the a title.

James has been seen practicing the skyhook, a shot perfected by Abdul-Jabbar, in warmups before recent games, so an homage to the Hall of Famer may be in the works.

But a dunk, mid-range jumper or three-pointer or even free throw will lead to a pause in the contest as an epic celebration breaks out at Crypto.com Arena.

Breaking the nearly four-decade-old record that Abdul-Jabbar seized from Wilt Chamberlain on April 5, 1984 will further four-time champion James’ case for being recognized as the greatest of all time.

The Akron, Ohio native had an immediate impact on the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers organization when he was selected first overall as a teenager amid a media frenzy in the 2003 NBA Draft.

Since then he has more than exceeded the high expectations put on his broad shoulders and steadily risen up the scoring list.

For two decades James has ruled the NBA, winning four titles with three different franchises, being selected to a record-tying 19 All-Star games last month and being a perenial MVP candidate.

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The post Ukraine war: Half a million without power after ‘significant’ accident at electricity substation in Odesa | World News appeared first on Ukraine Intelligence.

We all know a certain “type” of person. For me, that certain “type” is one who, when they discover I’m a vegan, they start making jokes or references about a “thick, juicy steak,” or they show me disgusting pictures of slaughterhouses. For you it might be, say, when they find out you’re afraid of heights and they start talking about their recent trip to the Empire State Building. Or if you’re disgusted by burping they try to burp. Ha-ha. Get it? Me neither.

I personally find it useful, however. It saves me a lot of time. From that point forward I immediately know two things about such people. First, they’re not very bright. Second, they’re horse’s asses.

But I have to assign a unique category of jerk to a “public servant,” elected by the people, who thinks it’s funny or they think it’s sending some kind of profound message when they wear an AR-15 assault rifle lapel pin in honour of Violence Survivors’ Awareness Week. Given the endemic nature of violence and heartache caused by such weapons in the United States, there cannot be any doubt that at least some of their constituents lost loved ones because of it.

This nauseating behaviour comes to us courtesy of three House of Representatives Republican members. Of course it does. Who else but Republicans would do such a thing? It is the very quintessence of poor taste. (Attention morons of the universe: it’s now time for you to whip out your Laughing Emojis and slap them on this article.)

Who were the three members of Congress who did this? George Santos (the same guy who falsely claimed he lost friends in the Las Vegas shooting), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), and Andrew Clyde (R-GA). Those three were caught on camera with the pins.

By the way, certain smug members of the ammosexual public are fond of tweaking the noses of people who think that the AR in AR-15 stands for “Assault Rifle.” They insist that if you don’t know what it really stands for then you have no right to complain about it, rather like if you don’t know the model of the car running you over you have no right to complain about that. So I’ll save you the embarrassment and I’ll tell you what it stands for, brothers and sisters. It stands for Absolutely Repulsive.

As in, their behaviour is Absolutely Repulsive. And if you don’t agree then so are you. And yes, disgust at this kind of behaviour is what Republicans sometimes refer to as “woke.” Woke means being sensitive to people who’ve suffered devastating loss or hardship. The idea is you’re supposed to be weak if you’re woke, if you care about horrors people have had to endure, such as loss of loved ones or devastating illness or cataclysmic economic hardship.

By the way, one AR-15 pin wearing member idiot, Congresswoman Luna, also participated in a House Natural Resources panel debate to push back on Democrats’ attempt to ban firearms inside the Committee’s hearing room. That’s right, she wants members of Congress to start packing guns. Inside Congress.

She later tweeted: “The same Democrats who are voting to send firearms to Ukraine are telling me I can’t carry one.” Yeah, that’s pretty much it, Congresswoman. I mean, after all, nothing quite sends chills down the spine of an opposition member when they know you’re packing heat. That’s just like defending your home from Russian aggression. Got it.

I think California state Senator Dave Min said it best. He said, “The debate over 2A [the Second Amendment] has never been about 2A. It’s about ‘disrupting’ civilized society as we know it, and trolling the ordinary Americans concerned about our insane levels of gun violence. That’s why it’s the biggest assholes who are most loudly touting irresponsible gun access.”

While all these idiots weep about their rights and demand the right to carry these monstrous weapons of murder, what about the rest of us? What about those of us who would like, for once, to enjoy the right NOT to bear arms. What about those of us whose quality of life would be immeasurably improved if we didn’t know the lunatic next to us with the hair-trigger temper had a hair-trigger gun? What about our rights?

I don’t have to worry about that any more. I live in England. But I used to live in the United States, and I am full of empathy for those of you who have to live in a society where it’s very worst and dumbest and most violent citizens walk around with lethal weapons strapped to their sides. I think it’s hideous and I feel your pain. I think it should stop.

There are 8 million stories in the naked city of Republican asinine behaviour. This has been one of them. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.

The post Absolutely Repulsive appeared first on Palmer Report.

By Phil Stewart, Jeff Mason and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. military fighter aircraft shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon as it floated off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, drawing to a close a dramatic saga that shone a spotlight on worsening Sino-U.S. relations.

“We successfully took it down, and I want to compliment our aviators who did it,” President Joe Biden said.

Biden said he had issued an order on Wednesday to take down the balloon, but the Pentagon had recommended waiting until it could be done over open water to safeguard civilians from debris crashing down to Earth from thousands of feet (meters) above commercial air traffic.

Multiple fighter and refueling aircraft were involved in the mission, but only one — an F-22 fighter jet from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia — took the shot at 2:39 p.m. (1939 GMT), using a single AIM-9X supersonic, heat-seeking, air-to-air missile, a senior U.S. military official said.

The balloon was shot down about six nautical miles off the U.S. coast, over relatively shallow water, potentially aiding efforts to recover key elements of the Chinese surveillance equipment among the debris in the coming days, officials said.

The shootdown came shortly after the U.S. government ordered a halt to flights in and out of three South Carolina airports — Wilmington, Myrtle Beach and Charleston — due to what it said at the time was an undisclosed “national security effort.” The flights resumed on Saturday afternoon.

The balloon first entered U.S. airspace on Jan. 28 before moving into Canadian airspace on Monday Jan 30. It then re-entered U.S. airspace on Jan. 31, a U.S. defense official said. Once it crossed over U.S. land, it did not return to the open waters, making a shootdown difficult.

U.S. officials did not publicly disclose the balloon’s presence over the United States until Thursday.

Washington has called it a “clear violation” of U.S. sovereignty and notified Beijing about the shootdown on Saturday, a U.S. official said.

“Our assessment — and we’re going to learn more as we pick up the debris — was that it was not likely to provide significant additive value over and above other (Chinese) intel capability, such as satellites in low-Earth orbit,” the senior U.S. defense official said. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin first announced the shootdown, saying the balloon was being used by China “in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States.”

A Reuters photographer who witnessed the shootdown said a stream came from a jet and hit the balloon, but there was no explosion. It then began to fall, the photographer said.

The U.S. military did not immediately recover the payload from the Chinese surveillance balloon, U.S. officials said.

The FAA had issued a temporary flight restriction to clear airspace around the South Carolina coast. The notice blocked flights to more than 100 square miles (260 square kilometers) — mostly over the Atlantic Ocean, according to a document posted by the FAA. The notice warned the military could use deadly force if airplanes violate the restrictions and do not comply with orders to leave.

The Reuters photographer in the Myrtle Beach area could see the suspected spy balloon overhead, with two U.S. military jets flying alongside it.

China expressed regret that an “airship” used for civilian meteorological and other scientific purposes had strayed into U.S. airspace.

China’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that the flight of the “airship” over the United States was a force majeure accident, and accused U.S. politicians and media of taking advantage of the situation to discredit Beijing.

But the Pentagon assesses that the balloon was just the latest in a string of Chinese spy balloon activity spanning the globe. On Friday, it said another Chinese balloon was currently flying over Latin America.

“Over the past several years, Chinese balloons have previously been spotted over countries across five continents, including in East Asia, South Asia and Europe,” the senior defense official said. The suspected Chinese spy balloon prompted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a visit to China this week that had been expected to start on Friday.

The postponement of Blinken’s trip, which had been agreed to in November by Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, is a blow to those who saw it as an overdue opportunity to stabilize an increasingly fractious relationship between the two countries.

China is keen for a stable U.S. relationship so it can focus on its economy, battered by the now-abandoned zero-COVID policy and neglected by foreign investors alarmed by what they see as a return of state intervention in the market.

(Reporting by Steve Holland, Jeff Mason, Phil Stewart, David Shepardson; Writing by Phil Stewart and Diane Bartz; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Marguerita Choy, Leslie Adler and Sandra Maler)

The post Military Finally Shoots Down Chinese Spy Balloon After Biden Let It Float Across Entire Country appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Dependent on Bible prophecy it would seem to be that Globe War 3 will break out prior to September 2017. This could require a “treacherous” …

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The post September 23, 2017 – Part 3: World War 3 Ignites Before September 2017 appeared first on Ukraine Intelligence.