US to send controversial depleted-uranium munitions to Ukraine

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Written by northsouth

Category: Americas

Published: 07 September 2023

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WASHINGTON - The Pentagon on Wednesday announced a new security assistance package worth up to $175 million for Ukraine, including depleted uranium ammunition for Abrams tanks, the first time the U.S. is sending the controversial armor-piercing munitions to Kyiv.

Reuters was first to report last week that the rounds, which could help destroy Russian tanks, would form part of a new military aid package for Ukraine, which Russian forces invaded in February 2022.

On Wednesday, the Pentagon said the military aid would also include anti-armor systems, tactical air navigation systems and additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).

The announcement coincides with top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken's visit to Kyiv in a gesture of support as a Ukraine counteroffensive against occupying Russian troops grinds into its fourth month with only small gains.

The $175 million was part of a total of more than $1 billion in assistance that Blinken announced in the Ukrainian capital.

It also included over $665 million in new military and civilian security assistance and millions of dollars in support for Ukraine's air defenses and other areas.

Although Britain sent depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine earlier this year, this would be the first U.S. shipment of the ammunition and will likely stir controversy.

The Russian embassy in Washington denounced the decision as "an indicator of inhumanity", adding that "the United States is deluding itself by refusing to accept the failure of the Ukrainian military's so-called counteroffensive."

Blinken on Wednesday hailed progress in the pushback and said of the fresh U.S. package of support: "This new assistance will help sustain it and build further momentum."

Washington previously announced it would send cluster munitions to Ukraine, despite concerns over the dangers such weapons pose to civilians.

The use of depleted uranium munitions has been fiercely debated, with opponents like the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons saying there are dangerous health risks from ingesting or inhaling depleted uranium dust, including cancers and birth defects.

Biden is ‘old,’ Trump is ‘corrupt’: New poll

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Written by northsouth

Category: Americas

Published: 28 August 2023

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WASHINGTON - Unflattering portraits of US President Joe Biden and Donald Trump emerge clearly in a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Those are among the top terms Americans use when they’re asked to describe President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the Republican best positioned to face him in next year’s election.

Unflattering portraits of both emerge clearly in a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which asked an open-ended question about what comes to mind when people think of them.

For Mr Biden, the largest share of US adults — including both Democrats and Republicans — mentioned his age. At 80, the Democratic president is just three years older than Mr Trump, but many Americans expressed real concerns about his ability to continue as president.

Mr Trump, meanwhile, has been indicted in four cases featuring 91 total criminal counts and elicits words such as “corrupt” and “crooked” (named by 15 per cent), along with “bad” and other generally negative comments (11 per cent). Not far behind are words like “liar” and “dishonest” (8 per cent). Another 8 per cent offered generally positive comments like “good,” though.

A deeper look doesn’t improve things much for Mr Biden or Mr Trump. And while many of the criticisms reflect a familiar partisan divide, the poll shows neither man is immune to criticism from within his own party.

“He looks like he needs to be someone’s kindly grandpa on the arm, not someone at the wheel of power,” Justin Campbell, a 27-year-old Democrat and security guard in the Brookhaven area of Mississippi, said of Mr Biden. He was even more negative about Mr Trump, though, saying that the former president “acts like a kindergartner when people tell him ‘no.’”

Mr Campbell suggested that Mr Trump reads so little about policy and national security that he might be “functionally illiterate.” He said he plans to vote for Mr Biden next year and, “I eagerly await Donald Trump being in jail.”

Such sentiments were common. Fully 26 per cent of respondents use words like “old” or “outdated” to describe Mr Biden, and another 15 per cent mention things like “slow” and “confused.”

Another 10 per cent give generally negative comments about the president, and 6 per cent use words like “corrupt” and “crooked.” Just 6 per cent offer words like “president” and “leader,” and 5 per cent use those like “strong” and “capable” — the top positive comments made about Mr Biden.

Mr Biden's age was referenced frequently even among Democrats, 28 per cent of whom mention it — a significantly higher percentage than those who point to the presidency or leadership (11 per cent) or strength and capability (11 per cent).

Mr Trump's negative comments center not on age but on his moral standing and conduct, along with things like “loudmouth” and “angry” (6 per cent), “crazy” and “dangerous” (6 per cent) and “narcissist” (6 per cent). Some 5 per cent use words like “strong” and “capable.”

Also, 62 per cent of Americans say they have an unfavorable opinion of Mr Trump; 52 per cent say the same about Mr Biden.

Trump booked on state felony charges and got mugshot

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Written by northsouth

Category: Americas

Published: 25 August 2023

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA, USA - Former US President Donald Trump was booked on state felony charges at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta — the fourth time he ha surrendered to authorities this year.

Mr. Trump was indicted last week, along with 18 political allies, as part of a sprawling racketeering case accusing them of engaging in a “criminal enterprise” whose goal was to “unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump.”

Donald Trump’s mugshot has been released by Georgia authorities after he was booked on more than a dozen felony counts at an Atlanta jail.

Trump, who is running for president in the 2024 election, had already made history as the first former US president to face criminal charges - not once, but four times.

But Thursday marked the first time he had to pose for a booking photo - an image that quickly went viral, being shared around the world by both detractors and supporters.

Unlike the other authorities, who gave him a pass, Georgia opted to process him like any other criminal defendant, taking his fingerprints and a mugshot, in a case stemming from Trump‘s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state.

The image shows an unsmiling Trump, 77, glaring into the camera, his brow furrowed, his jaw clenched and his red tie knotted tightly.

Trump wasted little time using the mugshot for fundraising purposes. On Friday, he posted it on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, as well as on his own social media platform Truth Social.

The X post was Trump‘s first in more than two-and-a-half years, after his account was banned following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters. Elon Musk reinstated Trump‘s account last year soon after acquiring X.

Trump also put the photograph on his campaign website alongside an appeal for donations, claiming he had been “arrested despite having committed no crime”.

Fake Trump mugshots had circulated online since shortly after he was first indicted in Manhattan in March on charges involving hush money paid to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.

Trump was booked on more than a dozen felony charges at Fulton County jail on Thursday as part of a wide-ranging criminal case stemming from the former US president’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia.

He was released on a $200,000 bond.

Trump’s lawyer and former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, was among a number of others who turned himself in at the jail this week on charges also related to efforts to overturn the results of the election in Georgia.

Dozens of supporters, waving Trump banners and American flags, jostled for a glimpse as Trump arrived at the jail.

His motorcade left the jail about 20 minutes after entering and headed toward Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport, where his private jet was waiting to ferry him back to his New Jersey golf club.

He denies all the charges he faces.

Outside the jail on Thursday, some Trump supporters questioned why a mugshot was needed.

“The mug shot isn’t necessary and is done to hurt him. But it won’t,” Malcolm Davis, 19, said.

Others, however, saw an opportunity.

“We want them to take a mugshot. We want to put it on a T-shirt. It will go worldwide. It will be a more popular image than the Mona Lisa,” said Laura Loomer, a former Republican congressional candidate.