News of the World

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Fog of War: Zelensky Says Russia ‘Razed’ Ukraine City but It Isn’t Lost

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Russian troops weren’t occupying Bakhmut even though they may have “razed it” to the ground and it is no longer in full possession of Kyiv’s forces.

That assertion made in Hiroshima, Japan, where Zelensky is meeting members of the G7 at their annual conference directly contradicts Moscow’s claims the eastern Ukrainian city has fallen.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated mercenaries from the Wagner organisation and regular units for the operation to “liberate” the town.

Responding to a reporter’s question about the status of the city, Zelenskyy maintained: “Bakhmut is not occupied by the Russian Federation as of today.”

This appeared to contradict the president’s response in English to a question earlier at the summit about the status of Bakhmut which was interpreted by many as saying the city had indeed fallen to Russian forces, AP reports.

Hungary Blocks EU Weapons Aid to ‘Hostile’ Ukraine
After Leaks of Alleged Plan to Bomb Pipeline

Hungary has announced that it will block an EU military aid package for Ukraine, labelling the country as “hostile” after an alleged plan to blow up an oil pipeline leaked in the Western press.

Hungarian government officials have expressed their fury at Ukraine in recent days, decrying the country as being “hostile” after the country’s alleged plans to blow up an oil pipeline leaked in the Washington Post last week.

As detailed by the leaks, Zelensky has reportedly been considering an attack on Russia’s Druzhba pipeline that supplies oil to Hungary in what would appear to be an attempt to sabotage the country.

Kyiv has also blacklisted Hungarian bank OTP, listing the firm as a sponsor of Russia’s invasion, causing further anger in Budapest.

According to a report by the Associated Press, senior officials in the Hungarian government say that they are blocking EU attempts to send more weapons and ammo to Ukraine in retaliation for the blacklisting.

Baltic Buildup: Estonia, Latvia to Purchase
German Medium-Range Air Defence Systems

According to the provisional deal, deliveries of the medium-range IRIS-T SLM air defense system – manufactured by weapons maker Diehl Defence of Germany – could begin in 2025.

The value of the deal and detailed information about the numbers of the system weren’t disclosed as talks with the supplier are still ongoing, defense ministries of the two countries said.

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur described the deal as “a joint project of historical proportions for our defense cooperation, the largest one to date” between Tallinn and Riga.
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The German air defense system, consisting of truck-mounted launchers, missiles and a separate command vehicle, is designed to protect cities, armies and civilian population from air attacks, and being effective at neutralizing planes and helicopters.

The system can be used for protection from a host of other threats, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise missiles and loitering munitions.

Putin Should Help Irish Terrorists
Attack Buckingham Palace
Russian TV Pundit Declares

Vladimir Rogov, a talking head on Russian television, suggested that Vladimir Putin should begin arming Irish terrorists in the hopes they would attack Buckingham Palace.

The outlandish suggestion is largely par for the course in terms of the Russian-language war rhetoric produced domestically in the country, with pundits and politicians regularly recommending that Putin solves all of the country’s problems with precision nuclear strikes.

According to a report by the Belfast Telegraph, Rogov reportedly said that the Russian government should, in response to the UK sending missiles to Ukraine, begin “accidentally” arming the “Irish Republican Army”.

“Can’t we somehow (ensure) the remaining combat wing of the Irish Republican Army, which is fighting against British occupation, has normal weapons (to) hit Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, and elsewhere?” he asked his fellow commentators on the ‘Evening with Vladimir Solovyov’ television show.
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He went on to suggest that such a move would be ethical as it would help provide “self-determination for the Irish”, as well as — somehow — “free” Scotland.

Biden: Zelensky Gave ‘Flat Assurance’ American-Made Fighter Jets
Won’t Be Used to Attack Russian Mainland

At the tail end of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, President Biden said that President Zelensky provided him with a “flat assurance” that Western-supplied F-16 fighter planes will not be used to attack Russia itself, but rather “wherever Russian troops are within Ukraine and the area,” the Reuters news agency reported.
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On this front, Zelensky was successful, with President Biden announcing that despite the ongoing feud in Washington over the debt ceiling, the American taxpayer would supply Ukraine with another $375 million in military aid, including armoured vehicles and artillery.

Perhaps more crucially was the approval from the White House for its NATO allies to supply Ukraine with American-made F-16 fighter jets, a move which President Zelensky has long lobbied for under the premise that its current fleet of MiG-29 Soviet-era planes previously supplied by Poland and Slovakia are outdated and inefficient compared to the American hardware.

President Biden also gave the go-ahead for Western allies to begin training Ukrainian fighter pilots on how to operate the F-16 jets in Europe.

Census: New York City Loses Nearly Half a Million Residents in Two Years

New York City has lost nearly half a million residents over the course of just two years, newly released United States Census Bureau data reveals.

The Census Bureau data, which shows population estimates for mid-2022, finds that fewer than 8.4 million residents remain living in New York City — still making the Big Apple the nation’s most populous city by several million.

...more than 8.8 million residents lived in New York City. This figure indicates a population loss of more than five percent from April 2020 to July 2022 with almost half a million residents leaving the city.

Americans moving out of deep blue cities is widespread, the Census Bureau data shows.

The second largest city, Los Angeles, California, and the third largest city, Chicago, Illinois, also lost residents over the course of two years. In Los Angeles, for instance, about 3.8 million residents remain in the city as of July 2022 compared to about 3.9 million residents in April 2020, a loss of about 100,000 residents.
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Similarly, Chicago had about 2.67 million residents as of July 2022 but in April 2020, the city had about three percent more residents. Over the two years, about 85,000 residents left Chicago.

In addition to crime and social unrest following racial riots, housing prices are a major driver for Americans to leave one area for another. As the real estate site Redfin recently noted, only four major cities in the U.S. have home prices that are cheaper than rent prices: Detroit, Michigan; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Ohio; and Houston, Texas.