News of the World

[kyonides]

US NEWS

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Several Articles

Former Gang Leader Charged in Killing of Tupac Shakur Is Allowed $750K Bail and House Arrest

A Nevada judge set bail Tuesday at $750,000 for a former Los Angeles-area gang leader charged with orchestrating the killing of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur in 1996, saying he can serve house arrest with electronic monitoring ahead of trial on a murder charge.

Court-appointed attorneys for Duane “Keffe D” Davis told The Associated Press after the judge’s decision that they believe Davis can post that amount. They had asked for bail of not more than $100,000 and noted for the judge that the demands of preparing a defense based on two decades of evidence may require a postponement of the current June trial date.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told reporters that he expects Clark County District Judge Carli Kierny will hold a “source hearing” to determine whether money posted for bail is legally obtained. The judge did not set a new trial date but called for a status check Feb. 20.

Prosecutors Binu Palal and Marc DiGiacomo argued Tuesday that Davis has never left gang life, that his 15 years of admissions about his role in Shakur’s killing show he is guilty of murder, and that a jailhouse phone call in October suggested he poses a threat to witnesses.

“There is one constant,” Palal told the judge. “Mr. Davis has consistently admitted to being architect of the murder.”

DiGiacomo called Davis “a very, very high danger to the community.”

The judge, in her ruling, acknowledged that Davis “made a living talking about his past life as a leader of the South Side Crips,” a street gang in his hometown of Compton, California, “and also the killing of Mr. Shakur in graphic detail.”

Fani Willis Faces Being Disqualified From Donald Trump Case

There are calls for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to be disqualified from Donald Trump's Georgia election-interference case, following unsubstantiated allegations she has been involved in a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade. He was hired as a special prosecutor for the proceedings.

The claim was made by Michael Roman, one of Trump's co-defendants, in a legal motion filed on Monday. It seeks to have his seven charges dismissed and Willis and her staff members disqualified from the case. Newsweek reached out to the Fulton County District Attorney's office and representatives of Trump for comment by email on Tuesday.

In August 2023, Trump and 18 others were indicted in Georgia over claims they broke the law while attempting to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election victory in the state. The former president is facing 13 criminal charges in Georgia including an accusation that he violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, initially introduced to combat organized crime. Trump has pled not guilty to all counts and has repeatedly said that the case against him is politically motivated.

Reacting on his Truth Social website, Trump called for all the charges in the Georgia case to be dropped following the allegations against Willis.

The former president wrote: "ALL CHARGES AGAINST ME, AND OTHERS, SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY DROPPED, WITH APOLOGIES, AND MONETARY DAMAGES FOR THE ILLEGAL AND HIGHLY POLITICAL PERSECUTION OF INNOCENT PEOPLE."

But Willis might soon to face a legal battle of her own based on our next article...

Brian Kemp Under Pressure to Investigate Fani Willis

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has been urged to launch a criminal investigation into Fulton County District Attorney Fani Wilis over allegations she had an "improper" relationship with a special prosecutor involved in the election interference case against Donald Trump.

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch supporter of the former president, filed a complaint Wednesday requesting an inquiry into Willis over the allegations which emerged in legal filings submitted by an attorney for Michael Roman, who was charged alongside Trump and 17 others in Willis' RICO probe.

The document from Roman's lawyer, Ashleigh Merchant, accused Willis of having an "improper, clandestine personal relationship" with Nathan Wade, whom the Fulton County DA hired as special prosecutor in her investigation into Trump. The allegations include Wade and Willis going on vacations together while working on the case.

Merchant also says that Willis hired Wade to work on the case without the required approval by the county and is asking for the case against Roman to be dismissed as a result. The allegations are not backed up by evidence in the legal filings, with Merchant citing unnamed "sources" for her claims.

In her letter to Kemp and Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr, Greene urged an investigation into the allegations that Willis "illegally hired her secret boyfriend" to work on an "unprecedented, complex, and partisan" investigation into Trump and others.

Will the case and her reputation plummet in the near future?  Time will tell.

Fauci Gives Republicans Ammo for Lab Leak 'Conspiracy' Theory

Dr. Anthony Fauci provided ammo to Republicans this week as he reportedly acknowledged that claims that the COVID-19 virus stemmed from a lab leak in Wuhan, China, was not a "conspiracy" theory.

Fauci's testimony this week comes amid ongoing speculation among Republicans that COVID-19 originated from a lab leak in Wuhan, China. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) previously determined with a "low confidence" rating that the virus likely originated from a lab leak, the Wall Street Journal previously reported.
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"He testified that the lab leak hypothesis—which was often suppressed—was, in fact, not a conspiracy theory," Committee Chairman Representative Brad Wenstrup said in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement also included key takeaways from Fauci's closed-door testimony which said, "Dr. Fauci acknowledged that the lab leak hypothesis is not a conspiracy theory. This comes nearly four years after prompting the publication of the now infamous 'Proximal Origin' paper that attempted to vilify and disprove the lab leak hypothesis."
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"You have to look at the data. I don't see any data for a lab leak...That doesn't mean it could not have happened, and that's the reason I keep an open mind always about that," Fauci said during an interview with the Boston Globe in February 2023.

In 2022, Fauci spoke again about the theory during an interview with NBC's Meet the Press saying, "I have a completely open mind about that, despite people saying that I don't."

In the statement following his second day of testimony this week, the COVID-19 Select Subcommittee also said that Fauci "claimed that the '6 feet apart' social distancing recommendation promoted by federal health officials was likely not based on any data."

"Dr. Fauci admitted that America's vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic could increase vaccine hesitancy in the future. Previously, Dr. Fauci advocated 'that when you make it difficult for people in their lives, they lose their ideological bullshit, and they get vaccinated,'" the statement added.

Mayor Eric Adams Forces Students into Virtual Classes So Migrants Can Stay in School Gym

Ahead of a thunderstorm Tuesday evening, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) is moving nearly 2,000 border crossers and illegal aliens from Floyd Bennett Field into a Brooklyn high school’s gymnasium — forcing students into virtual classes.

On Tuesday, Adams announced that the border crossers and illegal aliens would be moved from Floyd Bennett Field, where they have been staying, to the gym at James Madison High School in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn.

School faculty were told to take important items with them from their classrooms and offices when they left campus on Tuesday.

As a result, James Madison High School Principal Jodie Cohen notified parents, students, and faculty that they would have to go virtual on Wednesday to accommodate the border crossers and illegal aliens and their gym being turned into a migrant shelter.

“I am writing with an update regarding the activation of James Madison High School as a temporary overnight respite center due to the forecast of potential high winds and flooding conditions beginning this evening through tomorrow morning,” Cohen wrote in a letter posted to the school’s website.:

AFRICAN NEWS

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'Lack of Oxygen' on Flight Nearly Kills Passengers As Plane Forced To Land

Gambia's soccer team was flying to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Wednesday evening when a serious incident on board the plane headed to the Ivory Coast forced them back within nine minutes from take off.

The plane experienced a sudden lack of oxygen in the cabin after supply failed, causing several players to pass out and fall asleep. The flight, which had just left the airport in Gambia's capital Banjul, was forced to return and make an emergency landing as oxygen supplies on board were dangerously low.

Saidy Janko, a former Manchester United player and a Gambia player, wrote on Instagram about the incident, describing how the "lack of oxygen" affected players.
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According to Janko, the situation "got worse" while in the air, "leaving the pilot with no other option than initiating an emergency landing back in Banjul airport nine minutes after takeoff." The player writes that, had they not returned to Banjul, "the consequences could have been a lot worse."

The 28-year-old player said he was grateful for averting a potential tragedy, but slammed his country for what he called an "unacceptable" situation.
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AFCON is the main international men's soccer competition in Africa, which was held for the first time in 1957 with only three participating nations. It's now held every two years and involves 24 teams.

THE WAR IN UKRAINE

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3 Articles

U.S. Tech Powers Russian Missile Onslaught on Ukraine as Sanctions Fall Short

Russia's latest onslaught of drones and missiles against Ukraine has been made possible by imports of Western technology through the "widespread and systemic" evasion of sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies, a new Ukrainian study shows.

Russia each month imports billions of dollars in technology for its war effort, evading Western sanctions by routing the trade through China, NATO member Turkey and other countries, according to a new report by the KSE Institute, a think tank at the Kyiv School of Economics, to which Newsweek was given exclusive access.

The sanctions evasion has helped sustain Russia's military as President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks has signaled plans for a protracted conflict in Ukraine. The war has reached a critical stage, with Russian forces dug in in eastern Ukraine and Ukraine struggling to defend its territory without additional military aid from the West.

"The sanctions are not effective enough right now," Olena Bilousova, the senior researcher on military and dual-use goods at KSE Institute, told Newsweek. Russia's barrage of missile and drone strikes inside Ukraine underscore the problem, she said. "They're all made from Western components."

The KSE Institute report was produced jointly with the Yermak-McFaul International Working Group on Russian Sanctions, which is led by Andrii Yermak, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.

In the first 10 months of 2023, Russia imported $8.7 billion in semiconductors, communications technology and other high-priority goods produced primarily for military use that fall under export controls put in place against Russia by the U.S., the European Union and other nations backing Ukraine, according to the study.

During the same period, Russia imported $22.2 billion in electronics, computer components and other so-called critical components that can be used for civilian purposes or adopted for military use, the report found.

MAGA Furious at Report $1 Billion in Ukraine Aid Possibly Stolen

The New York Times reported on Thursday that a Pentagon document discussing that a massive military aid package sent to Ukraine has not been properly tracked, prompting concerns regarding its whereabouts.

"It was beyond the scope of our evaluation to determine whether there has been diversion of such assistance," the Pentagon report said.

The package included different military aid to Ukraine amid its war with Russia, such as missiles, drones and night vision equipment. The report was created by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Defense and sent to Congress on Wednesday, the Times said.
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As many Republicans have continued to criticize the different aid packages the U.S. government has sent to Ukraine, the report on Thursday sparked further backlash.

"We have sent Ukraine BILLIONS in liquid cash and billions more in weapons and ammunition. The kicker? We have no idea where it all went! Yet Speaker Johnson wants to tie securing America's border to MORE aid for Ukraine," Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "I'm a HARD NO!! #AmericaFirst."

"BREAKING: Pentagon report concludes that over 40,000 weapons worth well over $1 billion that the U.S. sent to Ukraine has been lost and can not be tracked. Is anyone actually surprised? What a disaster..." X user Proud Elephant wrote.

Putin Ally Threatens Nuclear Attack If Red Line Crossed

An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday threatened a nuclear attack if Ukraine continues to destroy Russia's missile launchers.

"Certain thickheaded trench monkeys of Banderostan have made a point that the best method to fight Russia is to destroy our missile launchers all over Russia using the Western-provided long-range missiles," Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as the deputy chair of Russia's security council, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"What does it mean? Just one thing: they risk matching Point 19 of Foundations of State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Area of Nuclear Deterrence, (d): '[A]ggression against the Russian Federation with the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of state is in jeopardy.'"

Medvedev, who previously served as Russia's president and prime minister, claimed that Ukraine's attacks have "nothing to do with the right of self-defense," adding, "it is an unequivocal and obvious ground for us to use the nuclear weapons against such a state.
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On Tuesday, Ukraine's special operations forces released a video on Facebook claiming to show the military using a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to destroy a Russian TOS-1A, a multiple launch rocket system, in southern Ukraine.

The video showed the TOS-1A camouflaged in a forest and then a fiery explosion. In the caption of the video, Ukrainian forces wrote, translated into English: "see how beautifully it burns."