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Wednesday, May 24, 2023

5/24 WAKE-UP CALL: Ukraine Attempting To Scatter Russians


A two-day incursion from Ukraine into Russia's western borderlands could force the Kremlin to divert troops from front lines as Kyiv prepares a major counteroffensive, and deal Moscow a psychological blow, according to military analysts. Though Kyiv has denied any role, the biggest cross-border raid from Ukraine since Russia invaded 15 months ago was almost certainly coordinated with Ukraine's armed forces as it prepares to attempt to recapture territory, the experts added.

"The Ukrainians are trying to pull the Russians in different directions to open up gaps. The Russians are forced to send reinforcements," said Neil Melvin, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Ukraine says it plans to conduct a major counteroffensive to seize back occupied territory, but Russia has built sprawling fortifications in its neighbour's east and south in readiness. The incursion took place far from the epicentre of fighting in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region and around 100 miles from the front lines in the northern Kharkiv region.

➤DeSANTIS IS IN: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an outspoken cultural conservative long seen as Donald Trump’s leading rival for the Republican nomination, is set to launch his 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday. The 44-year-old Republican governor plans to announce his decision in an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the announcement publicly. The audio-only event will be streamed on Twitter Spaces beginning at 6 p.m. EDT. He will follow up with a round of prime-time appearances on conservative programs, including Fox News and Mark Levin’s radio show.

Trey Gowdy will present the first television interview with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday’s edition of FOX News Tonight at 8 PM/ET following his announcement that he is entering the 2024 presidential race.


➤AMERICA IS WORTH IT: Ron DeSantis's wife has kicked off his 2024 campaign with a stirring video showing the Florida governor preparing to take the stage, accompanied by a voiceover proclaiming that America is worth fighting for. Casey DeSantis tweeted: 'America is worth the fight... Every. Single. Time.' She shared a 30-second video, showing her husband backstage, preparing to address an audience at a huge hanger draped with a Stars and Stripes.

➤DONALD SHOULD DROP OUT:  A major Republican donor who previously supported Donald Trump said the former president should withdraw from the 2024 presidential race so Ron DeSantis can become the GOP nominee. On Tuesday’s Your World on Fox News, Hal Lambert explained to host Neil Cavuto why he now supports the Florida Governor.  “Number one, Donald Trump can only serve one term,” Lambert said. “He’ll effectively be a lame duck almost on day one if he were to win. But I don’t think he can win the general. That’s the number two reason. I don’t think he can win the general. There’s states that matter and we all know what those are. It’s gonna be things like Nevada and Arizona and Virginia, Wisconsin. I don’t see Trump winning any of those states. And we can’t win if we don’t win those states.”

➤'WE'RE NOT THERE YET': Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday that bipartisan negotiators are not close to a deal but added that there was still time left to avert a potentially catastrophic default on the nation’s debt obligations by next week’s deadline. “We’re not there yet,” McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters after huddling behind closed doors with rank-and-file House Republicans, adding that the two sides could still strike a deal by June 1, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the nation will run out of money to pay its bills. Inside the private meeting at the Republican Party's Capitol Hill Club — steps from the Capitol, a venue where lawmakers are legally permitted to talk electoral politics that can't be hammered out inside government buildings — McCarthy’s message to his GOP colleagues about the state of debt talks was that “Nothing has been done. Nothing has changed,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. 

➤BLM GONE BOKE: BLM's Global Network Foundation, which officially emerged in November 2020, is in dire financial straits, according to its most recent financial disclosure. A $6 million Los Angeles mansion was bought, supposedly as a center for the group, which raised eyebrows. Yet despite the financial controversy and scrutiny, BLM GNF continued to hire relatives of the founder and board members. Patrisse Cullors' brother, Paul Cullors, set up two companies which were paid $1.6 million providing 'professional security services' for Black Lives Matter in 2022. And the sister of former Black Lives Matter board member, Raymond Howard, was also employed in a lucrative role as a consultant. Danielle Edwards's firm, New Impact Partners, was paid $1.1 million for consulting services in 2022.

PROF FIRED AFTER DISPLAYING MACHETE: Disturbing video shows the moment a machete-wielding Manhattan college professor menacingly chased a New York Post reporter and photographer down the street Tuesday. Veteran scribe Reuven Fenton and a photographer had just left Shellyne Rodriguez’s Bronx apartment building — where she held the machete to the reporter’s neck after he knocked on her door to ask her about a viral video in which she curses out anti-abortion students. She then followed The Post journalists out into the street, machete in hand, dashcam footage shows. When the photographer snaps a picture of the now-former Hunter College art professor approaching them, she starts chasing after him down the sidewalk, forcing him to run into the middle of a busy roadway as traffic passes by, according to the video. “If I see you on this block one more f–king time, you’re gonna …!” Rodriguez yelled at them. “Get the f–k off the block! Get the f–k out of here, yo!”

➤ILLINIOS MAN GETS STUCK WAIST-DEEP IN ALASKA MUD FLATS, DROWNS AS TIDE COMES IN: A man who was walking on tidal mud flats with friends in an Alaska estuary got stuck up to his waist in the quicksand-like silt and drowned as the tide came in before frantic rescuers could extract him, authorities said. Zachary Porter, 20, of Lake Bluff, Illinois, was submerged Sunday evening as the tide came in, and his body was recovered Monday morning.

➤MAN ACCUSED OF RAMMING U-HAUL INTO BARRIERS NEAR WHITE HOUSE PRAISED HITLER AFTER HIS ARREST, COURT FILINGS SAY: The man accused of crashing a U-Haul truck into a security barrier near the White House Monday night praised Adolf Hitler to investigators after his arrest and said that he aimed to “kill the President” if necessary to overthrow the government and install himself in power, according to court documents. Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, of Chesterfield, Missouri, is in custody and has been charged in federal court with one count of depredation of property of the United States in excess of $1,000. US Park Police originally arrested Kandula on several charges, including threatening to kill or harm a president, vice president or family member. It’s possible that prosecutors add additional charges as the case progresses.

FLORIDA BAD FOR THEE, BUT NOT FOR ME: Democratic Party strategist Aisha C. Mills said on Monday that Florida under GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis was “about to be a terrorist state” for black and LGBTQ people — though in the same interview she admitted traveling to the Sunshine State recently for spring break.Mills made the comment after she was invited to Nicolle Wallace’s “Deadline” talk show to discuss the NAACP’s travel advisory which warned that the Sunshine State was “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.” Praising the NAACP’s advisory as “extremely clever,” Mills revealed that she and her family traveled to Florida for spring break. “You know, I just took my family to spring break in Florida recently and I think about all of the folks who travel there for sun and joy and peace and restoration,” she said.

Amanda Gorman
➤MIAMI SCHOOL BANDS POEM: A Miami elementary school banned students from reading a poem famously read at Biden's inauguration - with the parent who complained mistaking its young black author for Oprah Winfrey. The Miami Herald reported that a parent at Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes took issue with Amanda Gorman's The Hill We Climb. Explaining their complaint in a form shared by Gorman, who's 25, they wrote the work is 'not educational and have indirectly hate messages'. (sic) The complainant further adds that the widely-praised work could 'cause confusion and indoctrinate students.' They also wrongly identified 69 year-old Oprah Winfrey as author of the poem, which was famously read by Gorman during Biden's January 2021 inauguration. It's unclear what exactly offended the parent. The Hill We Climb has no bad language. It references Gorman's slave ancestors, and also takes aim at Donald Trump's refusal to concede the 2020 election to Biden.



🏀CELTICS AVOID SWEEP:  The Boston Celtics came and came again. At the scene of its criminal performance just two days prior, the road team produced a spirit unseen thus far in the Eastern Conference Finals to win 116-99. Boston are still alive in the East Finals and face yet another elimination game, this time at the less-hostile TD Garden in Massachusetts.  Jayson Tatum produced a superstar performance befitting of his reputation, pouring in 25 second-half points, finishing with 33 on the night. Tatum also had 11 rebounds and seven assists.

🏒NHL GOLDEN KNIGHTS WIN: Vegas Golden Knights are one win away from the Stanley Cup final after beating Dallas Stars 4-0 - as hosts' hot-headed captain Jamie Benn is ejected less than two minutes into Game 3. Knights goalie Adin Hill made 34 saves for his first career postseason shutout.

🏀LAKERS HOPING LEBRON JAMES DECIDES TO CONTINUE CAREER: The Los Angeles Lakers hope LeBron James will decide to continue his career after he recovers from the difficult end to their season. James didn't meet with the media on the day after the top scorer in NBA history told reporters he needed time to think about his basketball future following the Lakers' elimination from the Western Conference finals. James elaborated afterward that he will consider retirement this offseason.

🏈FAIR CATCHES ON NFL KICKOFFS TO NOW BE SPOTTED AT 25-YARD LINE: NFL owners took what might be their final step Tuesday toward decreasing injuries on kickoffs before considering a more dramatic set of changes, approving a rule that will incentivize fair catches on balls fielded outside of the end zone. This season, a fair catch on a kickoff will be placed at the 25-yard line regardless of where it is fielded. The proposal is designed to counteract a recent increase in "pop-up" kickoffs that some teams use to pin the returning team deep in their own territory.

⚾MLB BLUE JAYS ROUT RAYS: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had six RBI and the Toronto Blue Jays stopped a five-game losing streak with a 20-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night, scoring their last 10 runs off position players. Guerrero put Toronto ahead with an RBI single off Taj Bradley (3-1) in the first, had a run-scoring single in the fifth that opened a 10-0 lead and hit a 423-foot grand slam in a nine-run ninth against Luke Raley. Guerrero is hitting .300 with eight homers and 33 RBI. His six RBI were one shy of his career high.

⚾YANKEES SWEEP: Aaron Judge hit a tying homer in the ninth inning and rookie Anthony Volpe drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th as the streaking New York Yankees rallied past the Baltimore Orioles 6-5. Harrison Bader homered to begin New York's comeback from an early 4-0 deficit, and Judge took Gerrit Cole off the hook for his first loss in 11 starts this season. Back home from a 6-1 trip, the Yankees (30-20) won their fifth straight in a series opener between AL East rivals who both entered on a roll. They improved to 15-5 in their last 20 games, moving 10 games above .500 for the first time this season. Cole, who reached 2,000 strikeouts in the second, was pulled after giving up back-to-back singles to start the sixth. 

⚾MLB SCORES:

  • Diamondbacks 4 Phillies 3
  • White Sox 4 Guardians 2
  • Rangers 6 Pirates 1
  • Cardinals 8 Reds 5
  • Padres 7 Nationals 4
  • Dodgers 8 Braves 1
  • Royals 4 Tigers 1
  • Brewers 6 Astros 0
  • Giants 4 Twins 3
  • Cubs 7 Mets 2
  • Rockies 5 Marlins 4
  • Angels 4 Red Sox 0
  • Mariners 3 Athletics 2

➤A MONSTER TYPHOON IS BARRELING TOWARDS A US TERRITORY WITH DEADLY WINDS AND 25-FOOT STORM SURGE: Super Typhoon Mawar is barreling toward Guam on Tuesday, threatening to slam into the US territory as the strongest storm there in more than 60 years. The typhoon, which has strengthened rapidly in recent days, is posing a “triple threat” of devastation including deadly winds equivalent to a category 5 hurricane, exceptional storm surge and torrential rainfall, according to the National Weather Service office in Guam.



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