Tag: Region Americas

A European spy agency told the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) it knew of an Ukraine special operations team plan to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipeline three months before explosions damaged the undersea system last year, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper cited US intelligence allegedly leaked earlier this year by a low-level US Air National Guard computer technician who had access to large amounts of highly classified materials.

The leaked documents indicated that an unnamed European intelligence body told the US spy agency in June 2022, four months after Russia invaded Ukraine, that Ukraine military divers reporting directly to the country’s military commander-in-chief were planning the attack.

President Joe Biden‘s administration on Thursday asked Congress for more than $13 billion in new military spending for Ukraine, citing the need for continued support following Russia’s “unprovoked” invasion of the country last year. The funding would help Ukraine and other vulnerable countries “impacted by Russia’s unprovoked and brutal invasion,” Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Shalanda Young wrote in a letter to Congressional leader Kevin McCarthy and others. Close to $10 billion of the new military funding would…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday asked Congress to provide more than $13 billion in emergency defense aid to Ukraine and an additional $8 billion for humanitarian support through the end of the year, another massive infusion of cash as the Russian invasion wears on and Ukraine pushes a counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s deeply entrenched forces. The package includes $12 billion to replenish U.S. federal disaster funds at home after a deadly climate season of heat and storms,…

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A Kentucky woman has been accused of fatally shooting her West Texas Uber driver after mistakenly believing she was being kidnapped and taken to Mexico, according to police. Phoebe Copas remained jailed Sunday in El Paso, Texas, after being charged with murder last week in the death of 52-year-old Daniel Piedra Garcia. Court and jail records did not list an attorney who could speak for Copas, 48. The shooting took place on June 16 as…

TEXAS – Mr Daniel Piedra Garcia had been an Uber driver for three weeks when he picked up a rider on June 16 who was headed to the Speaking Rock Casino in El Paso, Texas. It was near the end of his work day, but Piedra had picked up the rider anyway, his family said. As they passed a sign for Juarez, Mexico, a nearby city over the border, the passenger grew nervous about where they were headed, she told…

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — More than a year and a half after Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer while rehearsing a scene on set in New Mexico, prosecutors have yet to solve the biggest mystery in the tragic case: How did live rounds get on the set? Prosecutors said in their latest court filing that they have some evidence to support the theory that weapons expert Hannah Gutierrez-Reed may be responsible for the introduction of the rounds. But they…

Enlarge this image The Mississippi police officer who shot and wounded the unarmed boy has been suspended without pay during an investigation, a city official said. Here, this December 2022 photo provided by Nakala Murry shows her 11-year-old son Aderrien Murry, who was shot and wounded by an Indianola, Miss., Police Department officer on May 20, 2023, during a domestic disturbance call at the family’s home. AP AP The Mississippi police officer who shot and wounded an 11-year-old boy in…

Mexican prosecutors are investigating what the country’s president on Wednesday called an “execution” after soldiers were filmed beating and then shooting five men they pulled from a crashed pick-up truck. The investigation, confirmed by the defense ministry, follows the publication by media outlets on Tuesday of a video dated May 18 from the northern state of Tamaulipas that showed about a dozen troops surround a truck after it crashed into a wall at high speed. The video shows the soldiers…

  California Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed a 28th Amendment to the US Constitution aimed at curbing gun access in response to the increasing number of nationwide mass shootings.The proposed amendment, according to Newsom, would not eliminate the Second Amendment or civilian gun ownership but would introduce measures such as raising the minimum age to purchase a firearm to 21, implementing universal background checks, imposing a waiting period for gun purchases, and banning the civilian purchase of assault weapons.During an…

VIRGINIA – The mother of a 6-year-old Virginia boy who shot and wounded his elementary school teacher was charged on Monday with two US firearms felonies, and her lawyer said she will plead guilty to both offences under a deal with federal prosecutors. Deja Taylor was charged with being a user of illegal drugs in possession of a gun and of making a false statement to buy the weapon, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. She is accused of concealing in a…

  The title of US Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new book, The Wuhan Cover Up, does not really represent the scope and nature of this seminal work.  This book is the most comprehensive historic summary and indictment of the history of the United States’ biowarfare/biodefense program ever written. Summarizing an amazing sweep of untold censored history, it begins with ancient Mediterranean and European examples of both chemical and biological warfare, proceeds to an open discussion of the shocking truths…

The Justice Department and FBI have used “vague threats and pressure tactics” in an attempt to gain compliance with journalists, reporter James Ball said, citing his own experience being pressured by government officials. Ball briefly worked and lived with Assange, who is imprisoned in the UK and faces the possibility of extradition to the United States for allegedly violating the Espionage Act. In 2013, Ball published an article critical of WikiLeaks, its handling of US State Department cables, and its…

ORLANDO, Fla. — Students in a Florida school district will be reading only excerpts from William Shakespeare’s plays for class rather than the full texts under redesigned curriculum guides developed, in part, to take into consideration the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” laws. The changes to the Hillsborough County Public Schools’ curriculum guides were made with Florida’s new laws prohibiting classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in mind. Other reasons included revised state standards and an effort to get…

The US Supreme Court has temporarily reinstated a rule cracking down on the proliferation of firearms without serial numbers, known as “ghost guns”, reversing a ruling by a lower court. In a narrow 5-4 decision on Tuesday, the nation’s highest judicial body ruled to keep in place regulations introduced by the administration of President Joe Biden to restrict “ghost guns”, which can be constructed from separate parts or put together using 3D printers. The ruling is only temporary, though, while…

Canadian news industry groups have asked the country’s antitrust regulator to investigate Meta Platforms’ decision to block news on its platforms in the country, accusing the Facebook parent of abusing its dominant position. Meta started blocking news on its Facebook and Instagram platforms for all users in Canada last week in response to a law requiring internet giants to pay for news articles. Canada’s Online News Act, part of a global trend to make tech firms pay for news, became…

Syria permitted the UN and its agencies concerned to use Bab Assalama and al-Rae’ crossing points to deliver humanitarian aid to people in need for three extra months to end on November 13th. “The decision comes in light of Syria’s keenness on boosting stability, improving the humanitarian and livelihood situation of the Syrians and facilitating the delivery of aid to people in need,” Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Bassam Sabbagh said Tuesday. On July 13th, Syria allowed the UN agencies to use Bab al-Hawa crossing point to deliver humanitarian aid. – End of content –