National and international media news & headlines compiled by CLG

British tanks taking part in Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Region – Sky News –Reports claim one of the Challenger 2 tanks donated to Kiev may already have been destroyed on Russian territory | 15 Aug 2024 | Ukrainian forces are using British Challenger 2 main battle tanks inside Russia’s Kursk Region, Sky News reported on Thursday. The UK government has donated 14 of its main battle tanks, and encouraged other NATO nations to provide their heavy weapons after the move was announced in January 2023. They were delivered to Ukraine’s 82nd Air Assault Brigade, but were mostly kept in reserve, after some were destroyed by Russian drones and artillery during Kiev’s attempted counteroffensive later that year. The 82th is one of the Ukrainian units currently participating in the incursion into Russia. Sky News said the expeditionary force has deployed some of the Challenger 2 tanks, citing an anonymous source.  

Zelensky gave initial order for Nord Stream attack – WSJ –The paper claims the CIA pressured the Ukrainian leader to withdraw permission to target the key pipelines in 2022 | 15 Aug 2024 | Vladimir Zelensky approved a Ukrainian plan to sabotage the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, before trying to call off the operation under U.S. pressure, but it was too late to do so, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing people allegedly involved in the plot. The energy infrastructure, built to deliver Russian gas to Germany and the rest of Europe, was ruptured by blasts under the Baltic Sea in September 2022. In its article on Wednesday, the WSJ pointed to a version of events in which the pipelines were targeted by the Ukrainians. According to the outlet’s sources, the idea of blowing up Nord Stream was conceived by “a handful of senior Ukrainian military officers and businessmen” as they gathered for drinks in May 2022, a few months after the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.

U.S. Approves $18.82Bln Sale of 50 F-15IA Aircraft to Israel – Pentagon | 14 Aug 2024 | The US State Department has approved an 18.82 billion sale of 50 F-15IA multirole fighter jets and related equipment to the government of Israel, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said on Tuesday. “The Secretary of State has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Israel of F-15IA and F-15I+ Aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of 18.82 billion,” the agency said in a press release. “The Government of Israel has requested to buy up to fifty (50) new F-15IA multi-role fighter aircraft.” The Israeli government has also requested to purchase 25 modification kits for its existing F-15I multi-role fighter aircraft, 120 F110-GE-129 engines, 90 Advanced Display Core Processors II, 320 LAU-128 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile launchers, 25 M61A Vulcan cannons, and 180 Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System, among other related equipment, according to the release.

German Military Base Locked Down After Suspected Sabotage to Water Supply | 14 Aug 2024 | A German military base, home to thousands of troops, was placed under lockdown on Wednesday following a suspected sabotage targeting its water supply, according to Spiegel magazine. Officials at the Cologne-Wahn military base, which has 4,300 soldiers and 1,200 civilian employees, informed all military personnel and employees not to drink the water as they believed it had been contaminated. Military police and the military intelligence agency found damage to a stretch of fence on the base’s perimeter, with reason to believe someone illegally entered the base. Spiegel said officials are investigating all alleged crimes.

Mpox: UK preparing after virus declared global emergency – as Sweden records first case –Preparations include making sure rapid testing will be available. | 15 Aug 2024 | Sweden has confirmed it has recorded its first case of a contagious new variant of mpox – a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a global health emergency. The strain, known as clade 1b, emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with more than 17,000 cases and 571 deaths in Africa this year, officials have said, which exceeds last year’s total. Scientists from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention report 96% of all cases and deaths have been in DR Congo. There are currently no cases of the virus in the UK, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said, and its deputy director Dr Meera Chand claims the risk “is currently considered low.” “However, planning is under way to prepare for any cases that we might see in the UK,” she added.

WHO declares mpox a global health emergency | 14 Aug 2024 | The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the mpox surge in Africa was now a global public health emergency, sounding its highest possible alarm over the worsening situation. The WHO called a meeting of experts to study the outbreak and make a recommendation to the UN health agency’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Today, the emergency committee met and advised me that in its view, the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice,” Tedros told a press conference… A public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) is the highest alarm the WHO can sound. A PHEIC declaration triggers emergency responses in countries worldwide under the legally binding International Health Regulations.

Minnesota grandma jailed for defying Walz COVID lockdown orders: ‘You do not want tyranny at this level’ –Lisa Hanson, a mother of eight children and soon to be 18 grandchildren, warns Americans against electing Minnesota Gov Tim Walz as VP: ‘He will take your rights away’ | 13 Aug 2024 | Lisa Hanson, a former wine and coffee bistro owner thrown into jail for violating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s lockdown orders, told Fox News Digital that the now-Democratic vice presidential candidate essentially “shut down and destroyed” her small business, warning Americans, “You do not want tyranny at this level.”  Hanson owned businesses with her husband for more than 30 years… 

Target practice: Shocking video shows cops enforcing Tim Walz’s curfew by shooting paintballs at residents as they stood in their doorways | 13 Aug 2024 | Harrowing video shows dozens of riot cops enforcing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s curfew order spreading out in a Minneapolis neighborhood and peppering residents with paintballs while they stood on their porches and in their front doorways. The newly resurfaced clip, filmed May 30, 2020, by Tanya Kersson just outside her home, resembles a scene from a dystopian movie. It shows a tan Humvee rolling slowly down a quiet street in the Whittier neighborhood, followed by at least 25 heavily armored cops. “Go home! Get inside! Get in your house now, let’s go!” the officers shouted as they traipsed down the street. The woman kept filming, at which point an officer can be heard saying “Light ’em up!” Suddenly, officers fired paintballs at the woman and her guests, the gun’s muzzle flash clearly visible against the fading light of dusk.

Kamala Harris’s campaign team is editing news headlines in her favor – without outlets’ knowledge – report | 13 Aug 2024 | Kamala Harris’s campaign team has been silently editing news headlines in Google search results to make it seem like major news outlets are on her side, according to a report. The altered headlines — all paired with a “Paid for by Harris for President” banner — were changed without the news outlets’ knowledge, Axios reported Tuesday. Nearly a dozen publishers were swept up in the faux headline campaign, including major companies like The Guardian, Reuters, CBS News, The Associated Press and PBS. Even smaller publications like North Dakota’s WDay Radio also saw its headlines changed. The ads include links to real articles from news outlets, but the headlines and descriptive text had been edited to cast a supportive light toward the 59-year-old presidential hopeful.

Hunter Biden asked U.S. embassy in Italy for help landing Burisma deal while Joe was VP – report | 13 Aug 2024 | First son Hunter Biden, acting on behalf of a Ukrainian energy company, requested help from the U.S. Embassy in Rome to land a lucrative business deal, while his father, Joe Biden, was vice president, according to a report. Hunter’s big ask and apparent attempt to use his father’s position of power to land the deal for Bursima — the Ukrainian gas giant on which he sat on the board — came to light only after State Department records were released to the New York Times after Joe Biden ended his 2024 re-[s]election bid last month. “I want to be careful about promising too much,” a Commerce Department official at the U.S. embassy in Italy wrote in response to Hunter’s letter, which was not released. The official seemed alarmed by the request, noting the various protocols in place that prevent the U.S. government from lobbying on behalf of foreign companies.

Trump to sue DOJ for $100M over Mar-a-Lago raid, alleging ‘political persecution’ –Trump attorney says ‘unconstitutional’ raid should never have been approved by Garland, Wray | 12 Aug 2024 | Former President Donald Trump is set to sue the Justice Department for 100 million in damages over the government’s unprecedented 2022 raid on his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida, with lawyers arguing it was done with “clear intent to engage in political persecution.” Fox News has obtained Trump’s memo claiming “tortious conduct by the United States against President Trump.” Trump and his legal team intend to sue the Justice Department for its conduct during the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, 2022, amid the federal investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records. After the raid, Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed to investigate.

Jordan investigates daughter of judge in NY v. Trump case over her work for Kamala Harris, Democrats | 1 Aug 2024 | House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is investigating the daughter of the judge who presided over former President Trump’s criminal trial for her past work for Kamala Harris, Fox News Digital has learned. Fox News Digital has obtained a letter Jordan, R-Ohio, sent to Loren Merchan, the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan who presided over New York v. Trump. A jury found Trump guilty on all counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump has requested Merchan overturn that verdict. Prior to the start of the trial, Trump’s legal team urged Judge Merchan to recuse himself from the case due to his daughter’s work for Democratic-affiliated political work for a firm called Authentic Campaigns, Inc. Trump lawyers said the company “services exclusively Democrat clients” and is “the #21 ranked vendor in the country in connection with the 2024 election.”

Trump blasts Kamala Harris’s high grocery prices, slams her economic agenda as ‘Maduro plan’ –A display of household goods was on display during Trump’s speech and press conference. | 15 Aug 2024 | Former President Donald Trump talked at length about the state of the economy on Thursday, slamming Kamala Harris’s soon-to-be-revealed economic agenda as a socialist plan that will continue Biden-Harris policies that have ravaged the cost of living. “We call it the ‘Maduro plan,’ like something straight out of Venezuela or the Soviet Union,” he said, referencing socialist Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. “[Harris’s new economic plan] is an admission that her economic policies have totally failed and caused really a catastrophe for our country, and beyond that, a catastrophe in the world.” The 45th president hosted an almost two-hour speech and press conference in Bedminster, New Jersey. The tables were filled with cans of food, meat, milk and cereal, highlighting how much groceries have skyrocketed since Harris became vice president.

Trump hammers ‘defective’ Democrats on border, inflation and foreign policy in wide-ranging interview with Elon Musk | 13 Aug 2024 | Former President Donald Trump and billionaire business tycoon Elon Musk chewed over several key 2024 election issues during their much-anticipated X discussion on Monday. More than 1.2 million users of Musk’s social media platform tuned in to the interview — billed as a “conversation” or a “chat” — and heard the Republican nominee for president and the tech titan put their heads together on immigration, foreign policy, inflation, government spending and energy issues. Trump, 78, also lobbed several barbs at the Harris-Walz ticket after Musk, 53, noted that the X Spaces event was “aimed at open-minded, independent voters just trying to make up their mind” with less than three months to go before Election Day.

Kamalanomics: The Worst Food Inflation in Nearly Half a Century | 14 Aug 2024 | As Americans stroll the grocery aisles, confronted with sticker shock at every turn, a central issue that has plagued the Biden-Harris administration since its inception comes into focus: inflation is still taking its toll. It is not just any inflation, but the kind that strikes at the heart of every family’s kitchen-grocery prices. The numbers tell a grim story. Polls consistently show that inflation is the top concern for voters, and it’s easy to see why. Under the Biden-Harris administration, the cost of “food at home” –bureaucratese for groceries — has surged by over 21 percent.

NYC migrant crisis costs will crack eye-popping $5 billion on shelters, security and food – amount could double by 2025 | 15 Aug 2024 | New York City has likely surpassed 5 billion in spending on services for migrants — including nearly 2 billion alone on housing the scores of new arrivals flooding into the Big Apple, according to city data. The eye-popping figures, listed on the city’s online asylum-seeker funding tracker, shows the city overall spent 4.88 billion combined through fiscal years 2023 and ’24. Based on the rate of spending, the city likely exceeded more than 112 million since the start of the new fiscal year beginning July 1, or will soon, cracking 5 billion. Mayor Eric Adams’s administration has even projected the cost could double, hitting 10 billion over the three year period ending June 30, 2025. The NYPD alone has spent 21 million on public safety and security costs amid mayhem breaking out in and around the city-funded migrant shelters.

ICE Agents Arrest Accused Migrant Rapist After Shuttered Biden-Harris Parole Pipeline Freed Him Into U.S. | 14 Aug 2024 | Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have arrested a migrant, released into the United States thanks to a parole pipeline, who is now accused of r-ping a young girl. Cory Alvarez, a 26-year-old migrant from Haiti, was arrested and charged in March and indicted for aggravated r-pe of a child under 16 in Rockland, Massachusetts. In June, Alvarez was released from jail on $500 bail after the Plymouth County Superior Court refused to set bail at 25,000 as requested by prosecutors. This week, Alvarez was arrested by ICE agents and taken into federal custody.

Surveillance footage shows burglary suspect at Trump campaign office in Virginia | 12 Aug 2024 | County police are investigating an apparent burglary at the Trump for President 2024 campaign office in Virginia on Sunday. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said the burglary took place at Trump’s campaign office in Ashburn, Virginia. The office, located in the 20000 block of Ashbrook Place, also serves as the headquarters of the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee. The sheriff’s office said it was contacted about the burglary around 9 p.m. Sunday and deputies responded. The sheriff’s office says it has received video surveillance of the suspect, who is described as a white adult male, wearing dark clothing, a dark cap, and a backpack.