Friday, May 19, 2023

5/19 WAKE-UP CALL: Russian Forces In Retreat in Bakhmut


The Ukrainian military and Russia's Wagner private army both reported further Russian retreats around the city of Bakhmut on Thursday, as Kyiv pressed on with its biggest advance for six months ahead of a planned counteroffensive. Ukrainian troops near the front line said Russia was bombarding access roads to slow the Ukrainian assault, which has shifted momentum after months of slow Russian gains in Europe's deadliest ground combat since World War Two.

"Now, for the most part, as we have started to advance, they are shelling all the routes to front positions, so our armoured vehicles can't deliver more infantry, ammunition and other things," said Petro Podaru, commander of a Ukrainian artillery unit. Ukraine's military said troops had advanced in places by more than a mile. Its forces had been on the defensive for half a year, weathering a huge offensive by Moscow that saw only slow gains.

➤ZELENSKY ATTENDS GROUP OF 7 SUMMIT: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will attend the Group of Seven (G7) Hiroshima summit this weekend, a Ukrainian security official said, putting fresh pressure on Russia against the backdrop of a city synonymous with the horrors of nuclear war . Zelenskiy will attend the gathering on Sunday, the third and final day, two officials involved in the arrangements for the G7 said, declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

➤U-S WALKING BACK TERRORIST KILL: U.S. military officials are walking back a claim that a senior al Qaeda leader was killed in a recent drone strike in Syria, a senior U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News. The family of 56-year-old Lotfi Hassan Misto identified him as the person killed by the American missile on May 3, according to the Post. U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, oversaw the operation and released a statement on the day of the strike saying it conducted a strike "targeting a senior Al Qaeda leader." 

➤SENATOR FEINSTEIN SUFFERED A BRAIN INFECTION: Ailing Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein's office has admitted the 89-year-old did suffer a brain infection, despite her own insistence that she'd just been battling the flu. The New York Times reported on Thursday that Dianne Feinstein, 89, has been diagnosed with vision and balance impairments and facial paralysis known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome and the brain infection encephalitis. Initially, Feinstein denied it, saying 'it was a really bad flu. I'm doing better, thank you.' However, the senator's own office went against her and confirmed it to CNN later Thursday.

John Fetterman
➤STAFFERS HELP FETTERMEN CLARITY: Democratic Senator John Fetterman's office has been accused of smoothing over transcripts of his congressional appearances to hide the stroke victim's struggles to articulate himself.  During a session about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank Tuesday, Fetterman was filmed saying: 'The Republicans want to give a work requirement for SNAP. You know, for a uh, uh, uh, a hungry family has to have these, this kind of penalties, or these some kinds of word — working uh, require — Shouldn't you have a working requirement, after we sail your bank, billions of your bank?,' the liberal senator said during the session.  'Because you seem we were preoccupied, uh when, then SNAP requirements for works, for hungry people, but not about protecting the tax, the tax papers, you know, that will bail them out of whatever does about a bank to crash it,' he continued in the verbatim transcript. 

But a release of Fetterman's remarks shared by his office with Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein later was markedly different. 'Shouldn't you have a working requirement after we bail out your bank? Republicans seem to be more occupied with SNAP requirements for hungry people than protecting taxpayers that have to bail out these banks,' the 'official' version, issued by Fetterman's office, read. 

➤FBI PROTECTED CLINTONS: The FBI had at least four criminal investigations into Hillary and Bill Clinton that were ultimately shut down months before the presidential election in 2016, a new Justice Department report reveals – and Republicans want to reopen those probes. A long-awaited report by Special Counsel John Durham released on Monday shows the FBI began investigating claims in late 2014 from a 'well-placed' confidential source that two foreign governments were trying to make illegal donations to buy influence with Hillary during her presidential campaign.  Investigators were even offered documents of one alleged $2,700 illegal contribution that led to a 'substantial' further donation.


🔥15 PEOPLE RESCUED IN CHARLOTTE FIRE: Firefighters in North Carolina rescued at least 15 people including a crane operator Thursday after a five-alarm fire involving injuries broke out at a construction site near downtown Charlotte. Crews with the Charlotte Fire Department responded to a structure fire call sometime before 10 a.m. ET in the city's SouthPark neighborhood. About 10:30 a.m., the department tweeted it was on scene of a four-alarm fire on Liberty Row Drive and was asking people to avoid the area. The fire was later upgraded to five alarms as it required more assistance from outside agencies due to its size. The crane operator, among the 15 people rescued by firefighters, was treated by local EMS for non life-threatening injuries and taken to a hospital, fire officials reported. As of mid Thursday afternoon, the department said, two construction workers were unaccounted for.


➤TWO MORE STATES MOVE TO RESTRICT ABORTIONS: South Carolina’s House has passed a bill that would outlaw most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The bill now moves to the Republican-controlled Senate for a vote. The bill is a revised version of a similar ban that was overturned by the state’s Supreme Court early this year. Meanwhile, in North Carolina, the legislature overrode Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of a bill that bans most abortions after 12 weeks and adds other barriers making the procedure more difficult to obtain. The override means the bill will become law.

➤PROGRESS SEEN IN DEBT CEILING TALKS: Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters that he is optimistic that an agreement with the White House will be reached in time for a vote next week on raising the debt ceiling. Republicans in the House have refused to take action on the debt ceiling until the White House agrees to spending cuts. If no action is taken, the U.S. government won’t be able to pay its bills after June 1st.

➤HIGH COURT RULES FOR TECH INDUSTRY:  The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the families of terrorism victims had not proved Google, Twitter and Facebook helped foster attacks on their loved ones, and handed a greater victory to the tech industry by declining to weigh in on a protective internet law at the center of the debate over social media regulation. The families “never allege that, after defendants established their platforms, they gave ISIS any special treatment or words of encouragement,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for a unanimous court. “Nor is there reason to think that defendants selected or took any action at all with respect to ISIS’ content (except, perhaps, blocking some of it).” The case involved allegations against Twitter, Facebook and Google, which owns YouTube. The court adopted similar reasoning in a separate lawsuit against Google filed by a different family.

🏠HOME PRICES DROP: Home Prices Posted Largest Annual Drop in More Than 11 Years in April - U.S. existing home sales, which make up most of the housing market, fell 3.4% in April from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.28 million.

🏀NBA NUGGETS PUT LAKERS DOWN 2: The Nuggets came alive in the fourth quarter Thursday to take a 2-0 series lead over the Lakers, winning 108-103 behind a late push from Jamal Murray. The Canadian guard was just 5-17 from the field entering the fourth quarter and Denver trailed by three entering that period. But Murray, the team's second-leading scorer behind Nikola Jokic this season, finally sprung to life in the final frame and scored 23 points in the last 12 minutes as LA's offense stalled.

🏀BARKLEY SLAMS ' 'IDIOTS': Ja Morant's second incident involving an apparent gun in an Instagram Live video has brought out  The latest clash of opinions involves TNT's Charles Barkley and ESPN's JJ Redick. On Wednesday, Redick noted that he wasn't condoning Morant's behavior and expected consequences, but he passionately explained how politicians post guns and don't receive the same blowback as Morant. Redick's comments came on ESPN's debate show "First Take" after Chris "Mad Dog" Russo said Morant should be suspended 40 games.  "Why are we trying to lay down the hammer on a 23-year-old who didn't break a law? Explain that to me," Redick said. Barkley took aim at what he called "idiots" on television who took a similar stance as Redick. "Those guys are just freaking idiots," Barkley said. "... When you're making a $100 million a year to play sports, your life changes. There are certain rules and regulations you have to live by. Plain and simple. You can't do stupid stuff. That's the tradeoff."

🏒NHL PLAYOFFS: The Carolina Hurricanes had their chances, but ultimately lost 3-2 in the longest game in franchise history as Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk netted the tie-breaker in quadruple overtime. Florida thought they had the game won in the first overtime, but Ryan Lomberg's apparent goal was overturned due to a controversial goalie-interference call on the Panthers' Colin White. There were other opportunities as well, such as Sebastian Aho's shot off the post in the early stages of the fourth overtime, as Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky was caught out of position. Minutes later, during a Carolina power play, Jesper Fast whiffed in front of the net on a would-be game winner. Later in the fourth, a deflected Aaron Ekblad shot ricocheted off the crossbar but failed to find the back of the Hurricanes' net.

⚾MLB SCORES:

  • Mets 3 Rays 2
  • Yankees 4 Blue Jays 2
  • Angels 6 Orioles 5
  • Marlins 5 Nationals 3
  • Guardians 3 White Sox 1
  • Carindals 16 Dodgers 8

⚾MLB YANKEES WIN: Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer in the first inning and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Thursday night to win for the 11th time in 16 games. Nestor Cortes (4-2) allowed two runs and five hits in six-plus innings to snap a four-start winless streak. He struck out six and walked one. 'Just a great way to finish off what was a very good series for us,' Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

⚾YANKEES’ TREVINO ON INJURED LIST: New York Yankees starting catcher Jose Trevino has landed on the 10-day injured list with a strained hamstring. That brings the number of Yankees players on the injured list up to 13, including Giancarlo Stanton, Carlos Rodon and Josh Donaldson.

⚾YANKEES’ GERMAN SUSPENDED FOR STICKY FINGERS: Meanwhile, Yankees pitcher Domingo German has been suspended for 10 games for violating the league’s foreign substances rules. German was ejected in the fourth inning of the Yankee’s 6-3 game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. The crew chief said German had the “stickiest hand I’ve ever felt.” German insisted it was just resin but will not appeal the ruling. He’ll be eligible to return for the May 28 game against the San Diego Padres.

⚾MLB CARDINALS BATS ARE SMOKIN': Willson Contreras hit two three-run homers, Nolan Gorman also homered twice and the St. Louis Cardinals went deep seven times in a home game for the first time in 83 years, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 16-8 in a slugfest Thursday night. Nolan Arenado added a two-run homer, and Juan Yepez and Paul DeJong each hit solo homers run for St. Louis. The Cardinals, who have homered in a season-high seven games in a row, hit seven in a home game for the first time since May 7, 1940, when they did it against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Yepez, Gorman and DeJong hit consecutive homers in the sixth inning. Freddie Freeman hit a grand slam and Max Muncy added a solo homer for the Dodgers. It was the fourth grand slam for Freeman and his 300th career homer. Los Angeles leads the majors this season with five grand slams and rank second with 74 homers. The teams´ nine combined home runs set a record for Busch Stadium.



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