Former US President Donald Trump speaks to the crowd during a rally in South Carolina
Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, is facing further scrutiny over his voting history after it emerged that he registered for the 2020 election at an address in North Carolina that he allegedly has never used.
Mr Meadows, who as a top Trump staffer was a major proponent of the false theory that the election was stolen via massive fraud, registered to vote by absentee ballot citing the address of a rental home to which he has no clear connection. The North Carolina attorney general has now requested a probe into the allegations.
Meanwhile, far-right Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn has found a new audience on Russian state TV, which has been screening video of recent remarks in which he described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “thug”.
The North Carolina representative is one of several GOP members drawing intense criticism for their remarks on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His colleague Marjorie Taylor Greene was slated this week for repeating Russia-friendly conspiracy theories about the Biden administration and the US in general.
Blinken: US documenting potential Russian war crimes in Ukraine
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said he agreed with President Joe Biden’s characterisation of Russian atrocities in Ukraine as “war crimes” and said US officials are currently collecting evidence that could be used to prove such crimes were committed.
Andrew Feinberg reports for The Independent from Washington, DC.
Oliver O’Connell17 March 2022 18:50
Blinken confirms death of American citizen in Ukraine
Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that an American citizen was killed in Ukraine on Thursday. He did not provide additional information.
Oliver O’Connell17 March 2022 18:55
Roger Stone has a wild plan to reinstall Trump as president
There’s a lot of “ifs” in this…
Oliver O’Connell17 March 2022 19:03
Biden and Xi to meet for talks on Russia-Ukraine crisis
President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet virtually on Friday to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine and managing competition between the US and China.
The two are meeting as Russia shows few signs of relenting on its assault of Ukraine.
“This is part of our ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication between the United States and the [People’s Republic of China],” a statement from the White House said.
Eric Garcia reports from Washington, DC.
Oliver O’Connell17 March 2022 19:15
Blinken retweets viral Arnie clip appealing to people of Russia
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has retweeted a viral video posted by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Mr Blinken says that in addition to the brutal violence in Ukraine perpetuated by the Kremlin, “we are also seeing a war of the truth versus tyranny”.
He adds: “As @Schwarzenegger explains, we do not blame the people of Russia, and we need you to know what your government is hiding from you.”
The former governor of California and movie star addresses the video message to his “dear Russian friends and Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine”.
He says there are “things going on in the world that are being kept from you, terrible things that you should know about”.
After explaining what is going on in Ukraine, Mr Schwarzenegger asks the Russian people to help him spread the truth about the human catastrophe that is happening there.
Watch the full video below:
Oliver O’Connell17 March 2022 19:30
Marjorie Taylor Greene panned as ‘useful idiot’ for Putin for conspiracy-laden speech
Critics are slamming Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene as one of Vladimir Putin’s “useful idiots” after the Republican gave a speech on Wednesday with numerous false or misleading claims about the Ukraine invasion that echoed Russian talking points.
Oliver O’Connell17 March 2022 19:40
Fewer Americans file for jobless claims last week
Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs continue to fall amid a strong job market rebound.
Jobless claims fell by 15,000 to 214,000 for the week ending March 12, down from the previous week’s 229,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Oliver O’Connell17 March 2022 19:45
Russia warns it has the ‘might’ to put enemies ‘in their place’
Russia has issued a harsh warning to the United States and its allies, threatening to put the West in its “place”.
The menacing words come from Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president and current deputy secretary of the country’s Security Council. On Thursday, Mr Medvedev accused Western nations of a “disgusting” anti-Russian conspiracy.
Nathan Place has the latest on the threat.
Oliver O’Connell17 March 2022 19:47
House votes to strip Russia and Belarus of favoured trade status
The US House of Representatives backed legislation on Thursday that would remove “most favoured nation” trade status for Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine, which would allow higher tariffs on imports from the two countries.
The House voted 424 to 8 in support of the bill.
Oliver O’Connell17 March 2022 19:50
Josh Hawley goes after Biden Supreme Court pick for record on sex offenders
A right-wing senator whose support of the protesters who subsequently attacked the Capitol last year – and who became the stuff of headlines and furious editorials – is now speaking out against the judicial record of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Joe Biden’s nominee to the Supreme Court.
Josh Hawley delivered his criticism of Ms Jackson in a lengthy Twitter thread published on Thursday morning.
The Hawley criticism even got a mention in Thursday’s White House press briefing:
John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.
Oliver O’Connell17 March 2022 20:00
Leave a Reply