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Opposition parties reject Azerbaijan’s snap election call as undemocratic
BAKU (Reuters) – Azerbaijan’s two main opposition parties on Monday denounced the calling of a snap election, in which President Ilham Aliyev is expected to extend his 20 years in…— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) December 18, 2023
Day: December 18, 2023
CIA Director, William Burns (Official Photo: Central Intelligence Agency)
- Details
- The Judean Staff
- International
- 18 December 2023
CIA Director William Burns is set to meet in Poland this Monday with prominent figures including David Barnea, the director of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al Thani. This high-level gathering aims to further efforts to secure the release of numerous hostages currently held in Gaza. This follows two previous meetings in Doha, Qatar, last month, which also included Egyptian intelligence officials.
This latest initiative comes after a series of bilateral discussions between Barnea and al Thani last Friday. These talks marked a significant move in renewing hostage negotiations, which had been stalled since the recent breakdown of a week-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on December 1. Burns and Egyptian intelligence chiefs were briefed on these discussions, highlighting the complexity and international scope of the ongoing negotiations.
Israel’s Channel 13:A trilateral meeting in Poland this day will bring together:Qatari Prime Minister Head of the Mossad Intelligence Service Dadi Barnea
Chief #CIA William Burns
To discuss the launch of a new prisoner exchange deal between Palestinians and Israelis pic.twitter.com/av8za7BYJb
— zolo (@ASEAQ1981) December 18, 2023
A key issue that has hindered progress in previous talks is the matter of the remaining female hostages. Israeli officials have stressed the importance of their release before moving forward with other categories, including elderly and infirm men. Hamas, on the other hand, contends that these women are IDF soldiers, a claim denied by both U.S. and Israeli authorities.
The urgency for Israel to ensure the safe return of the hostages, estimated to be around 130, has intensified. This follows a tragic incident where IDF soldiers mistakenly fired upon three Israeli hostages, who were signaling surrender with a white flag, resulting in their deaths. An IDF official acknowledged that this incident, which is under investigation, contravened their rules of engagement and described it as “very tragic.”
Director Burns, leveraging his experience as a former ambassador to Jordan and Russia, had previously traveled to Doha for talks, which facilitated a brief cessation of hostilities and the release of over 100 hostages by Hamas. In return, Israel freed more than 200 Palestinian prisoners. These developments highlight the intricate dynamics and the crucial role of intermediaries like Qatar in these sensitive negotiations.
Andy Vermaut shares:CIA Director in Talks With Israelis to Restart Hamas Hostage Deal: William Burns is meeting with Israeli and Qatari officials as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrives in Israel. https://t.co/aToUgLig1H Thank you! pic.twitter.com/8yIWBlamDT
— Andy Vermaut (@AndyVermaut) December 18, 2023
The CIA has refrained from commenting on Director Burns’ travel plans. Of the hostages still held in Gaza, eight are believed to be American, including at least one woman. Her expected release in the last exchange did not materialize, and her current status remains uncertain, according to U.S. officials.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is also in the region, with scheduled meetings in Israel, Bahrain, and Qatar. His agenda includes discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, focusing on future strategies in the conflict, which are expected to involve more targeted, intelligence-driven operations.
American officials anticipate the current phase of Israeli operations against Hamas, characterized by ground operations and extensive airstrikes, to conclude within weeks. Barnea, during his regional visit, also met with U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan for nearly two hours.
You want twisted?If Israel wasn’t involvedWorld pressure would be on Egypt to open the gates and let civilians fleeThat would save ALL the civilians. But NOBODY calls for itBecause it doesn’t suit their agenda
They’d rather let civiilains die and criticise Israel for it
— David Collier (@mishtal) December 18, 2023
A senior administration official, speaking about Sullivan’s meetings, emphasized the U.S.’s commitment to resolving the hostage crisis. “We’re doing all we possibly can to locate, identify, rescue or secure the release of all the hostages that Hamas is holding,” the official stated on Friday.
Since October 7, when Hamas launched an unprecedented terror attack on southern Israel, sparking the current conflict, health authorities in Gaza report nearly 20,000 casualties. Israeli officials attribute some 1,200 deaths to Hamas militants during the initial attack, which also involved the kidnapping of approximately 240 individuals.
- 18 December 2023
Since the end of World War II, the United States has not excelled in fully understanding the conditions that led to ordering American forces into battle. Nor was the U.S. prescient in predicting that the Soviet Union would implode. Are we making a similar error today by not understanding Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin?
Yes, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the conduct of is special military operation have been despicable. War crimes have been committed. And Ukrainian non-combatants have been targets of terror, missile and bombing campaigns.
The wisdom of Sun Tzu needs to be repeated: Know your enemy. So, did Putin reveal anything to arouse our interest during his four-hour press conference last Thursday? First, Russian citizens submitted more than 2 million questions using Putin’s website.
Second, regarding the special military operation in Ukraine, Putin was far more positive and confident about progress than last year, when he did not hold a presser, or last summer, when he was still reeling from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s march to Moscow.
Putin recited statistics that must be fact-checked. After restating the reasons for deploying the army to de-nazify and de-militarize Ukraine, Putin claimed Russia had destroyed 747 Ukrainian tanks and 2,300 armored vehicles. He also stated that some 244,000 Russians were in the combat region and later raised that figure to 671,000. About recruiting, the original target of 400,000 was exceeded by 86,000.
Beyond the war in Ukraine, many of the questions and comments were surprisingly blunt criticisms covering a wide range of domestic aspects of Russian life. Reading the transcript, Putin’s comprehensive knowledge of so much material and use of statistical data, notably for the economy, could lead to the conclusion that the presser was scripted.
Putin underscored the economy’s strength, with 2023 GDP growth at 3.5 percent; unemployment at 2.9 percent ; government debt reduction from $46 billion to $32 billion; and private debt from $337 billion to $297 billion. He acknowledged that inflation was running too high, at 7.5 percent, but countered that the government was dealing with that.
But there’s also reason to think the press conference was not scripted. Several times, Putin admitted being unaware of specific issues, promising to look into each to correct or rectify the problems. Putin also spent a serious amount of time focusing on sovereignty that the Western media surprisingly did not report.
Putin explained that “Without sovereignty Russia would cease to exist, at least in the form it exists today.” That was a curious contradiction, because how could any state exist without sovereignty?
Putin argued that “…our main objective is to strengthen sovereignty. But it is a broad concept (in which). …Strengthening sovereignty on the international stage involves enhancing our defense capability and security on the external contour. It also includes strengthening social sovereignty which means providing safeguards for the rights and freedoms of our citizens as well as developing our political and parliamentary systems. … Lastly it includes economic security and sovereignty as well as technical sovereignty.”
But why that focus? To Putin, Russia is sovereign if he can control both internal and external affairs. Little doubt was raised about who is fully in charge in Russia after Prigozhin’s death. Putin was also signaling to Russians that if they vote for him for president next year, this is how Russia will improve its influence, strength, security and economy.
What about the United States? Is it possible Putin could have been sending a message to President Biden? Putin’s emphasis on sovereignty could mean he believes Russia is back and now, after setbacks, comparable to the U.S. And in one of his answers, Putin pointedly said Russia was open to talks on releasing two Americans held in Russian prisons.
The war in Ukraine may provide an answer. U.S. intelligence estimated that Russia has taken at least 315,000 casualties of the initial 360,000 invading force and lost about two-thirds of its equipment. If correct, those levels are stunning.
Suppose U.S. intelligence is correct that Putin now understands that he cannot win in Ukraine. And deadlock, even if he is hoping for a Trump victory in 2024, is not a viable solution. Does this suggest Putin may be seeking talks? Or if they are ongoing, is he prepared for serious negotiations on the Ukraine war in the near term?
Whether or not Putin’s presser opened the door, the idea is worth considering.
Harlan Ullman, Ph.D., is a senior advisor at Washington, D.C.’s Atlantic Council and the prime author of the “shock and awe” doctrine. His 12th book, “The Fifth Horseman and the New MAD: How Massive Attacks of Disruption Became the Looming Existential Danger to a Divided Nation and the World at Large,” is available on Amazon. He can be reached on X @harlankullman.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Zelensky and a $20 million Florida mansion – Google Search https://t.co/OBleukWstR
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) December 18, 2023
A claim alleging that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky purchased a $20 million mansion in Vero Beach, Florida is recirculating online again amid his recent trip to the U.S. Capitol.
Zelensky met with members of Congress on Tuesday in a push for more aid ahead of the winter, when Russia is expected to target civilian infrastructure, like energy facilities, in an offensive move that will force Ukrainians to ration energy in the cold weather.
The Biden administration has sent more than $75 billion in cash and equipment to Ukraine since the war began in February 2022, but Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young notified congressional leadership last week that, “We are out of money—and nearly out of time.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg on September 28, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. A social media post circulated Wednesday claimed that Zelensky purchased a $20 million home in Vero Beach, Florida.
Yan Dobronosov
The Claim
Lauren Witzke, a far-right activist and the 2020 Republican Senate nominee for Delaware, recirculated the claim about Zelensky purchasing a Florida mansion on Wednesday, while calling on the U.S. to “CUT OFF UKRAINE” from additional funding for the war against Russia.
“Zelensky has sent Ukrainians to the slaughter and drained the U.S. Treasury dry with no intention of even staying in Ukraine and standing with his people—instead, he plans to flee and retire to beautiful beaches of Florida, where he has reportedly purchased a luxurious $20 million dollar mansion,” Witzke said on X, formerly Twitter.
Her post, which included photos of the alleged property, quickly racked up 9.1 million views and was recirculated by other popular conservative accounts, like Catturd, who said, “Please tell me this isn’t true.”
Witzke’s post about Zelensky’s alleged $20 million home in Vero Beach, Florida.
Twitter
The Facts
This is not the first time this claim about Zelensky has been made.
In April 2022, former Canadian politician Nicolas Tetrault accused Zelensky of misappropriating Ukrainian aid in a Facebook post, claiming that the Ukrainian president owned 15 homes, including a $35 million home in Florida, and three private planes. The post has since been deleted.
According to a fact check from PolitiFact last year, the earliest mention of the claim stems from a post that was made a day before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022 on the website EPrimeFeed, which only publishes posts from anonymous authors and appears to have ties to the Russian government. PolitiFact concluded the claims were false.
A reverse image search of the photos shared by Witzke pulls up a property address on Ponte Vedra Boulevard in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Public property records from St. Johns County shows that the one-and-a-half acre home was last purchased April 2019 for $6.3 million by a couple that Newsweek identified to be the owners of an Atlanta-based independent broker-dealer firm. The most recent valuation puts the property’s market value at almost $8 million today. The same information can also be found on real estate sites like Zillow, Realtor.com and Redfin.
Lachlan Markay, an investigative journalist who previously worked for Axios and The Daily Beast, also traced Witzke’s claim back to a post from DC Weekly, a website that’s run by American conspiracy theorist John Mark Dougan, who fled Florida for Moscow in 2016.
The DC Weekly post that alleged Zelensky purchased the Vero Beach mansion was written by “highly acclaimed journalist” Jessica Devlin, but Markay noted that the image used for Devlin’s author page was actually of a New York-based writer named Judy Batalion. Ukrainian state media has previously reported Devlin’s use of Batalion’s photo as her own.
The Ruling
False.
Although Zelensky and his business partners had several offshore companies and properties, according to financial documents leaked in 2021, none of those assets are in Florida.
And the Florida home that purportedly belongs to him actually belongs to a couple who bought the property more than four years ago.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Dec 18, 2023 08:42 PM IST
A former Republican Senate candidate Lauren Witzke claimed that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky bought a massive beachfront mansion in Florida amid Russia war. In the post shared on X (formerly Twitter), Lauren Witzke also shared a document bearing a portrait of the Ukrainian leader.
“BREAKING: Zelensky reportedly buys $20 Million Dollar (sic) Mansion in Vero Beach, Florida,” the first line of the caption read, adding, “These are some photos we were sent of Zelensky’s recent purchase. CUT OFF UKRAINE!”
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Read more: Benjamin Netanyahu says this is the biggest challenge Israel faces amid war
However, Zelensky does not appear in any public records searches of property owners in that county, USA Today reported. The pictured mansion is hundreds of miles from Vero Beach and remains on the market at an asking price of nearly $11 million, the report claimed.
The false claim comes as US Congress debates giving Ukraine more aid amid its ongoing war with Russia with some House Republicans threatening to withhold their support.
What we know about the house shown in the post
The home featured in the post is actually located in Ponte Vedra Beach – more than 200 miles north of Vero Beach – according to its listing, reports claimed. Zelensky’s name does not appear in searches of public records that list the property owners. The photographed mansion was still on the market, Kim Bright, the property’s listing agent, told USA TODAY. Its listed price is$10.9 million.
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#Russia‘s In-flight Crisis Looms
Dear subscribers and guests of the channel! The Russian leadership assesses the situation in civil aviation as a catastrophe. According to the experts of the Security Council of #Russia, tragedy will not be avoided in the near future. Due to… pic.twitter.com/vsQ3zlPZoK
— generalsvr_en (@generalsvr_en) December 18, 2023
Russia adds author Akunin to register of ‘extremists and terrorists,’ opens case https://t.co/GK4tESUHJn pic.twitter.com/QCVaSFUgpm
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) December 18, 2023