Ukraine's military says it controls nearly 400 square miles of Russia, in and around the Kursk region, NPR's Morning Edition reports. Scroll down for details.
TUE 8/13/24
Details -- Up to 1,000 soldiers, at least 11 tanks and 20 armored vehicles have crossed the Ukraine border into Russia since its counteroffensive a week ago, the Kyiv Post reports. Alexei Smirnov, governor of Kursk Oblast reports at least 12 civilians dead and 121 injured. About 121,000 residents of the region have fled or evacuated, and the governor of the neighboring Belgorod region also has evacuated civilians from its border region, according to the Post.
As Western pundits debate over why Ukraine chose to invade a week ago, The Kyiv Independent says the move into Kursk Oblast is meant to divert Russian tanks and protect Ukraine's border regions, Kyiv says. But the Kyiv Post also reports that residents of the small town of Sudzha have appealed to Russian leader Vladimir Putin for help and that many there worry that family members were unable to evacuate. Sudzha has just 5,000 residents, but it also is the last major transit point for Russian pipeline gas heading to Europe via Ukraine.
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Both Campaigns Hacked, FBI Says -- Computer hackers in Iran have tried to hack a Trump associate and advisors to the Biden-Harris campaign, people "familiar with the matter" tell The Washington Post. Three Biden-Harris staffers also received spear-phishing emails, according to the report.
"We can confirm the FBI is investigating this matter," the agency said in a prepared statement. According to the WaPo the FBI began investigating the hacking in June, contacting Google and other companies.
--TL
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MON 8/12/24
More – Ukraine pushed at least 10 miles into Russia’s Kursk Oblast, NPR’s Morning Edition reports, adding that unconfirmed reports say the counteroffensive went as much as 20 miles past the border, with locals fleeing and complaining there was a lack of warning from Russia’s government, which is offering them 10,000 rubles (about US$115) compensation.
The incursion has strained Ukraine’s defensive forces in the Kharkiv region, according to NPR, while Russian reinforcements are expected to push back Ukrainian troops in Kursk soon and reclaim the border.
The debate: Allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with US arms once raised worries Vladimir Putin would give him excuse to engage with the US and NATO. In May, the US allowed Ukraine to use its missiles to counter-strike Russia’s attack on the Kharkiv region. Of the further push across the border, Business Ukraine magazine tweeted this Monday morning: “Now that Ukraine has crossed the reddest of Putin’s red lines and invaded Russia without sparking World War III, there are no excuses for restricting Kyiv’s ability to defend itself or denying Ukraine the weapons it needs to win the war.”
Agree? Disagree? – Read the left or right column for how to add your comments to this page.
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‘Final’ Ceasefire Proposal This Week (?) – It all comes to a head, again, this week when President Biden, Egyptian President Abdul Fattah el-Sisi and Qatar Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad al-Thani are to present a “final” ceasefire proposal to end Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza (per The New York Times). The US, Egypt and Qatar last Thursday called on Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiations table. Then on Saturday, at least 93 people were killed in a school sheltering Palestinian refugees in Gaza, The Washington Post reports. Israel said its military forces were targeting Hamas fighters.
On Monday, according to Haaretz, leaders of the UK, France and Germany called on Iran to refrain from attacks on Israel that would jeopardize truce talks, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz asking Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, to “do everything possible to prevent further military escalation.”
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On Biden’s Exit Interview – President Biden spoke about his proposal for an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire in his interview with Robert Costa for CBS Sunday Morning over the weekend.
“The plan I put together, endorsed by the G7, endorsed by the UN Security Council, etc., is still viable,” Biden said. “And I’m working literally every single day – and my whole term – to see to it that it doesn’t escalate into a regional war. But it easily can.”
Huge turnouts supporting Harris’ campaign have included some demonstrators opposed to continued funding and support for Israel in its war on Hamas in Gaza.
CBS News released a clip of the Sunday Morning interview last week, in which Biden warns that he believes Donald J. Trump will not accept a loss in the November election. Trump has said he will accept results of a free and fair election, but his campaign also is floating the notion that the Democratic Party’s switch to Vice President Harris as his opponent is not “constitutional.”
Biden told Costa he made his decision to withdraw from the presidential race with a “small circle” of people including First Lady Jill Biden at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, vacation home as he recovered from a case of COVID.
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Harris Trumps Trump, Biden, on Economy – This one, frankly, is a bit confounding. An FT Michigan Ross poll finds that 42% trust Vice President Kamala Harris to handle the economy while 41% trust ex-President Trump. … And Harris’ score tops the most recent score for President Biden by seven points. Never mind that the Federal Reserve has more to do with interest rates and trying to control inflation than does any president, though Trump has indicated his second presidential term would seize some or all control from the Fed. In her nascent presidential campaign, there is no indication Harris would abandon Biden’s reversal of “trickle-down” supply side Reaganomics.
And yet, “The fact that voters were more positive on Harris than on Biden … says as much about how badly Biden was doing as it does about how well Harris is doing,” University of Michigan Professor Erik Golden said, according to the Financial Times.
Presumably, the professor was speaking about the Harris v. the Biden campaign, not the Harris v. the Biden economy.
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Musk Interviews Trump – X-Twitter owner Elon Musk will interview Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump on X-Twitter, 8 pm Eastern/5 pm Pacific, on X-Twitter.
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa