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@Pr0porti0nalAriannafrom Colorado submitted…12hrs12H
"These are not arguments, they are excuses, and they keep coming up with them time and time again,” the head of the arms procurement commission in Kiev's parliament, Aleksandra Ustinova, has claimed.The training delays are likely motivated by Washington’s fear that a large-scale presence of US F-16s in the Ukraine conflict could be viewed by Moscow as the integration of the country into NATO, Ustinova told The Times. “This is totally political.”So far only eight Ukrainian pilots have received training at the Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Arizona, Ustinova told British newspaper The Times in an interview published on Monday. An additional 12 are being trained in Denmark, she added.F-16s are needed to help mitigate the effect of Russian glide bombs on the battlefield, a weapon that has shown devastating effectiveness in the Ukraine conflict, Ustinova stressed. “These bombs are huge – from 500 kilos to 1,500 kilos,” and for Kiev, the only solution is to “bring them down is jet-to-jet.”Moscow has repeatedly warned that Western arms deliveries will not change the course of the conflict, and only prolong it, causing more deaths. The Russian Parliament’s Defense Committee chair, Andrey Kartapolov, replied to Kiev’s statements about plans for some F-16s to be stationed outside Ukraine. Should the aircraft take off from foreign bases and be used to strike at Russian forces, both the jets and the facilities they are stationed at will be considered “legitimate targets,” Kartapolov warned
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…6hrs6H
The Biden administration on Tuesday approved a new $360 million weapons sale to Taiwan, sending the island hundreds of armed drones, missile equipment and related support material, the State Department said in a statement that is sure to draw condemnation from China.The announcement was not unexpected but it comes at a time of high tension between Washington and Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to consolidate by force if necessary.The sale includes 291 Altius-600M systems, which are unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, with warheads. It also includes 720 Switchblade drones known as “extended-range loitering munitions,” the State Department said.It said the sale “serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.” It will “help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region,” the department said.Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te thanked the U.S. for approving the latest arms sale to Taiwan during a press conference Wednesday in Taipei. He said such authorizations help to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
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Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom under a bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday.The GOP-drafted legislation mandates that a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” be required in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. Although the bill did not receive final approval from Landry, the time for gubernatorial action — to sign or veto the bill — has lapsed.Opponents question the law’s constitutionality, warning that lawsuits are likely to follow. Proponents say the purpose of the measure is not solely religious, but that it has historical significance. In the law’s language, the Ten Commandments are described as “foundational documents of our state and national government.”The displays, which will be paired with a four-paragraph “context statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries,” must be in place in classrooms by the start of 2025.
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What happened to the separation between church and state
Journalists and groups monitoring press freedoms are raising alarms over what they say are increasing restrictions and pressures on the media in Ukraine under the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky that go well beyond the country’s wartime needs.Analysts say the government’s efforts to control the media appear to be aimed at crimping positive coverage of the opposition and suppressing negative coverage of the government and the military.“It’s really disturbing,” said Oksana Romanyuk, director of the Institute of Mass Information, a nonprofit that monitors media freedoms. That is particularly true, she said, in a war where Ukraine is “fighting for democracy against the values of dictatorship embodied by Russia.”They have also acknowledged some self-censorship, holding back on critical coverage of the government to avoid undermining morale or to prevent reports of corruption from dissuading foreign partners from approving aid.Journalists and media groups say that a string of recent cases have pointed to an increasingly restrictive reporting environment. Ambassadors from the Group of 7, which comprises many of Kyiv’s key military allies, issued a joint statement in January supporting press freedom in Ukraine.“Media freedom is a fundamental pillar of a successful democracy,” the statement said.“Self-censorship in Ukraine is a feature of wartime,” said Serhii Sydorenko, editor at European Truth, an independent online news outlet. The situation was “not a problem” and unavoidable during the war, he added, noting that he expected a return to normal when the fighting eventually stops.
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…11hrs11H
A Russian court on Monday sentenced a member of the American military to three years and nine months in prison on charges that he stole from and threatened to kill his girlfriend, according to state media.Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, is alleged to have grabbed his Russian girlfriend by the neck while in a friend’s apartment in the far eastern city of Vladivostok in May, Russian state-run news agency TASS reported.Black’s girlfriend also accused him of stealing 10,000 rubles ($113) from her wallet.U.S. Army spokesperson Cynthia Smith earlier confirmed to POLITICO that Russian authorities had detained a soldier in Vladivostok on charges of “criminal misconduct.” The Army had notified the soldier’s family, she said.Melody Jones, Black’s mother, told American broadcaster NBC that Black and his girlfriend had been seeing each other in South Korea for over a year and that her son “wanted to see her for the last time before going home.”“He met her in the bar where she was working, and they’ve been together, on and off, for about a year and a half. I’ve never met her in person, but I’ve spoken to her over Messenger. My motherly instincts told me something was wrong with her,” Jones said.
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…9hrs9H
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…4hrs4H
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…8hrs8H
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@WholesomeWeasel from Texas disagreed…6hrs6H
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would 42 billion have helped increase capacity in any way?
@ISIDEWITH submitted…10hrs10H
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…2hrs2H
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…3hrs3H
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@NobleOil from Pennsylvania commented…6hrs6H
▲ 54 replies1 disagreeContext 10
Not necessarily. To increase capacity with satellite (as opposed to ground-based) you have to launch more satellites, an…
@ExecutiveCordial_783 from Missouri commented…10hrs10H
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@Centr1stJerky from Texas commented…3hrs3H
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A statue of a religious nature in front of government building is different than a law requiring public schools to be fo…
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…1hr1H
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@WholesomeWeasel from Texas commented…6hrs6H
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@C0ngressBrady from Wisconsin disagreed…6hrs6H
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…13mins13m
@Bi11R1ghtsGaryfrom Michigan commented…3hrs3H
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