Putin promised unspecified technological help to #NorthKorea, which could advance its #NuclearWeapons prgm.
As Putin’s #Russia & #Xi’s #China deepened confrontation w/the West over the past decade, they were united w/the #US on at least one #geopolitical project: dismantling or at least containing North Korea’s #nuclear arsenal.
To the contrary, #Putin declared: “Pyongyang has the right to take reasonable measures to strengthen its own #defense capability, ensure #NationalSecurity & protect sovereignty” — though he did not address whether those measures included further developing #NorthKorea’s #NuclearWeapons.
🔴 Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in southern #Gaza on Saturday, #Israel's #military has said
The soldiers were returning from an overnight operation in #Rafah's Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood at around 05:15 local time (03:15 BST) when their armoured vehicle is understood to have exploded
In a statement on :twitter:, the Israeli #Defense Forces #IDF identified 23-year-old Captain Wassem Mahmoud as among those killed
#ChrisMiller’s contribution to #Project2025 also advocates granting #military recruiters greater access to secondary #schools, & he’s proposed halting use of the #Defense Department’s electronic #MedicalRecords platform, which he says leads to “unnecessary delays” & “unwarranted rejections” for some people w/ disabilities or other conditions who otherwise want to serve.
#Biden calls #America’s democratic values the “grounding wire of our global power” & its #alliances “our greatest asset.” …#Trump, called for withdrawing American forces in #Europe & #Asia & has promised… to cut loose even our closest #allies if they don’t do as he tells them. …Trump sees all countries as unreliable, the relations between them #transactional. That sentiment has spread throughout a #GOP that once championed America’s values abroad…
President #Xi has told his military to be ready to invade #Taiwan by 2027…. #Biden doesn’t rule out sending troops to defend Taiwan if #China attacked, saying, “It would depend on the circumstances.”
Biden’s record in facing these tests is more than just nostalgic talk. He has added 2 powerful European militaries to #NATO, & will soon announce the doubling of the number of countries in the Atlantic #alliance that are paying more than the target 2% of their GDP toward #defense….
Yesterday, Costello behaved so atrociously on the witness stand that Juan Merchan cleared the courtroom to admonish him & the defense attorneys. Costello is due back on the stand
On 7-8 May in #Washington DC, the city’s biggest convention hall welcomed #America’s #military industrial complex, its top #technology companies and its most outspoken justifiers of #warcrimes. Of course, that’s not how they would describe it
It was the inaugural “AI Expo for National Competitiveness”, whose lead sponsor was #Palantir, who are currently, supplying some of its #AI products to the #Israel#Defense Forces
Cross-examination of #MichaelCohen resumes, an opportunity for the defense to poke holes in his testimony & perhaps trip up or provoke the state’s key witness. The questioning of Cohen, #Trump’s fmr fixer, is the beginning of the end of Trump’s #criminal trial, which began April 15 & might conclude before Memorial Day weekend at this pace.
After #MichaelCohen is off the stand, the defense will have an opportunity to present its own case, calling witnesses & questioning them to try to seed reasonable doubt within the jury. Prosecutors can then put on additional #witnesses to rebut expert witness testimony.
Though from what #Trump’s attys have said, it sounds like they aren’t going to bother calling any witnesses or putting on a #defense — I guess they don’t have one.
I am not a lawyer, but even to me this seems like a suicidal ‘defence’ strategy. What am I missing?
"Though from what #Trump’s attys have said, it sounds like they aren’t going to bother calling any witnesses or putting on a #defense — I guess they don’t have one."
ℹ #Ukraine's pilots are flying high-risk 'wild weasel' missions first developed in the #Vietnam War by the #USAF, says #defense analyst
The strategy involves pilots luring enemy anti-aircraft defenses into targeting them with their radars
The radar waves are then traced back to source, and the Ukrainian pilots retaliate with weapons like the US-made AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARMs) before the russians can lock onto them with their SAMs
Prosecutors in Trump’s #criminal trial say he has violated a #GagOrder barring him from attacking #witnesses, #jurors & others close to the case. Testimony is set to resume later Tuesday morning.
Todd Blanche, one of Trump's lawyers, is responding for the #defense. He says #Trump knows what the #GagOrder allows him & there was "no #willful violation" of it.
He again argues, as he did in his opening statement, that there's nothing to see here.
#Blanche is arguing that nothing can be seen devoid of #political context when it comes to Trump.
[reminiscent of seal team 6 can assassinate political rivals argument]
Alright, who’s ready to see #Trump get his just deserts? He fucked up the whole damn world & that’s not an overstatement.
PS #BabySquirrel & I had a lovely weekend. It’s as boy! (He’s developed discernible - stuff)
He is doing quite well! Name: “Ramone” because he’s a sweet little punk rocker.
A #juror was quickly dismissed at the start. She was among the 7 already selected, she said she was very worried that despite the fact the court ruled to keep jurors’ name secret, she would still be exposed & targeted.
The #defense is objecting to skipping the question about current & past employers.
"That's not fair," #Trump atty Susan Necheles said of being denied the info.
#Merchan asks the #press not to report the answers to questions 3a & 3d on the #juror questionnaire: "Who is your current employer?" & "Who was your prior employer?"
"I have the #legal authority to do it,” he says of blocking the press from reporting info about jurors' employers.
Steinglass explains the concept of “accessorial liability.” He uses the same analogy he did on Tues: a husband hiring a hitman to murder his wife, he asks prospective #jurors if they would understand the husband to be #guilty of the #crime. Today, though, the #defense lawyers object. #Merchan overrules, & the hitman question stands.
Steinglass managed to compare #Trump coordinating the falsification of docs w/a husband putting out a hit on his wife.
#Trump saw more turnover in his #Cabinet than any other recent president, & it’s not even close. #POTUS#Biden, on the other hand, has had relatively little change in his admin’s top roles so far.
As Trump & Biden barrel toward a fall rematch, The WaPo is examining the numbers behind their time as president. In this case, we reviewed how they ran the vast #ExecutiveBranch of govt through the lens of the #stability of their Cabinets.
The Cabinet consists of the leaders of the 15 major executive depts — think #Defense, #State, #Justice — as well as additional snr ofcls. These can include the #EPA admin & #SmallBusiness Admin chief, ambassador to the #UN & US #trade rep. The VP & the WH #ChiefOfStaff, who are not #Senate-confirmed appointments, are also in the Cabinet.
About ¾ of #Trump’s initial Cabinet picks were GONE by the end of his 4 yrs in office, while only a handful have left #Biden’s almost 3½ yrs in.
With continued American #aid to #Ukraine stalled & against the looming prospect of a 2nd Trump presidency, #NATO ofcls are looking to take more #control of directing #military support from Ukraine’s allies — a role that the #US has played for the past 2 yrs.
Under a prop being discussed at the #military#alliance’s HQ, #NATO would oversee the #Ukraine#Defense Contact Grp, currently led by the #UnitedStates, that coordinates the donation & delivery of weapons to the battlefield.…
“A stronger NATO role in coordinating & providing support is the way to end this #war in a way where Ukraine prevails,” SecGen Stoltenberg said on Wed.
Stoltenberg would not discuss specifics, but said he hoped to have the new efforts approved in time for a July summit of #NATO ldrs in DC, where ofcls are expected to again debate when #Ukraine might be allowed to join the #military#alliance….
…A… NATO ofcl said that Hungary, where PM Viktor #Orban has maintained warm relations w/ #Russia, opposed the effort to put the #Defense Contact Grp under the alliance’s oversight.
"Deliberately grounded on a tiny reef in the #SouthChinaSea, part of an island chain claimed by the two Asian countries, the #BRPSierraMadre is now the unlikely base for a detachment of Filipino marines who stand guard over the atoll, scanning the turquoise waters for Chinese ships." #AyunginShoal#SecondThomasShoal#Philippines