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Biden approves $500M Ukraine security package 11 days before Trump takes office

Biden approves 0M Ukraine security package 11 days before Trump takes office

The Biden administration on Thursday announced an additional $500 million of military aid to Ukraine in a security package rushed out the door before President-elect Trump takes office. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the final time at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he made the announcement. Both officials used the occasion to urge the incoming Trump administration to continue to support Kyiv’s fight against Russia. “If Putin swallows Ukraine, his appetite will only grow,” Austin warned at the 25th meeting of about 50 member nations who have joined forces to support Ukraine with an estimated $122 billion in weapons and support. “If autocrats conclude that democracies will lose their nerve, surrender their interests, and forget their principles, we will only see more land grabs. If tyrants learn that aggression pays, we will only invite even more aggression, chaos, and war.” INSIDE PUTIN’S MINDSET: WHAT TEAM TRUMP CAN EXPECT FROM MOSCOW WHEN NEGOTIATING OPTIONS ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR The latest U.S. security assistance to Ukraine includes missiles for fighter jets, support equipment for F-16s, armored bridging systems, small arms and ammunition and other spare parts and communications equipment. The weapons package is funded by the presidential drawdown authority (PDA), meaning the weapons will come from U.S. stockpiles, expediting their delivery to Ukraine.  ZELENSKYY SAYS TRUMP COULD BE ‘DECISIVE’ IN BRINGING AN END TO THE WAR Officials noted this is the Biden administration’s seventy-fourth tranche of equipment to be provided from Defense Department inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.  This latest package leaves about $3.85 billion in funding to provide future arms shipments to Ukraine; if the Biden administration makes no further announcements, that balance will be available to Trump to send if he chooses. Zelensky pleaded for the next administration to continue U.S. support for his country’s defensive war against Russian invaders.  UKRAINE RECEIVES US NATURAL GAS SHIPMENT FOR THE 1ST TIME AMID FRESH SUPPLY FEARS “We’ve come such a long way that it would honestly be crazy to drop the ball now and not keep building on the defense coalitions we’ve created,” Zelenskyy said. “No matter what’s going on in the world, everyone wants to feel sure that their country will not just be erased of the map.” Member nations of the coalition supporting Kyiv, including the U.S., have ramped up weapons production since the Ukraine war exposed that stockpiles were inadequate for a major conventional land war. The U.S. has provided about $66 billion of the total aid since February 2022 and has been able to deliver most of that total — between 80% and 90% — already to Ukraine. “Retreat will only provide incentives for more imperial aggression,” Austin said Thursday. “And if we flinch, you can count on Putin to push further and punch harder. Ukraine’s survival is on the line. But so is the security of Europe, the United States, and the world.”

Americans flock to the Capitol to pay respects to former President Carter ahead of funeral: ‘Job well done’

Americans flock to the Capitol to pay respects to former President Carter ahead of funeral: ‘Job well done’

Americans traveled from all over the country on Wednesday to visit former President Jimmy Carter, who was lying in state at the U.S. Capitol, ahead of his funeral on Thursday. A handful of visitors spoke with Fox News while waiting in line to view Carter’s casket – some knew him personally and others simply admired the late president. Catherine, of nearby Gaithersburg, Maryland, said it was important that she pay her respects to Carter because he was inspirational in how he spent much of his life helping others. “One of the reasons that I respect him is that he showed a lot of us older folks that when you retire, you don’t just stop working,” she said to Fox News’ Rich Edson. “You can use your resources, your experience to help other people, and that’s what I hope to do.” AN ‘EXTRAORDINARY MAN’: FORMER PRESIDENT CARTER LIES IN STATE AT CAPITOL AHEAD OF STATE FUNERAL Georgia native Riley Cagle said he made the trip to Washington, D.C., because Carter was a “dear friend of [her] family” and he wasn’t able to attend his funeral in the Peach State. While Cagle didn’t know him personally, he said his aunt was one of Carter’s best friends and that she was in attendance when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. His grandparents also knew Carter and had shared various “amazing” stories about him while he was growing up – such as his love for pineapple sandwiches. “Man, they just don’t make them like him anymore,” Cagle said, adding that they didn’t “make them like him back then either.” Natalie, another visitor from Maryland, said Carter was “the epitome of a faithful and humble servant” and congratulated him on a “job well done.” JIMMY CARTER, 39TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DEAD AT 100 The respect for Carter transcended political lines as Ted McConnell, an employee of former President Gerald Ford’s 1976 campaign, was present at the Capitol on Wednesday. “As you well know, President Ford and President Carter became compatriots and close friends after the presidency, so I’m supporting both President Ford and President Carter today,” said McConnell, who was even wearing a “Jimmy Carter for president” button. McConnell said he appreciated all the humanitarian work Carter did all over the world and was “honored to honor him in his laying(sic) in state” on Wednesday. Another man was in attendance with a similar “Jimmy for president” pin, but he actually volunteered to work on the late president’s campaign as a high schooler and attended Carter’s inauguration in 1977.  Eric Stromayer told Fox News’ Chad Pergram that the lines to view Carter’s casket were moving quickly and he encouraged “those who want to give a good send off to a highly regarded president, come down and seize the opportunity.” Carter’s casket will be removed from the Rotunda at 9 a.m. on Thursday to be taken to the Washington National Cathedral ahead of his state funeral at 10 a.m. His remains will then be flown to Georgia later in the day via Special Air Mission 39 for a private ceremony in his hometown of Plains. Fox News’ Rich Edson and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

‘DOGE’ senator seeks to ensure feds can continue pursuing COVID fraudsters, debtors, as IG sounds alarm

‘DOGE’ senator seeks to ensure feds can continue pursuing COVID fraudsters, debtors, as IG sounds alarm

FIRST ON FOX: A top “DOGE” senator said a government watchdog alerted her to an “alarming” rate of defaults on COVID-era “PPP” loans, and now she wants to hold fraudsters accountable. In a letter to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR) Brian Miller wrote that the loan programs funding reported losses of $1.27 billion as of November 2024, and had snowballed since debtors’ initial payments began coming due in July 2023. “Without SIGPR to protect the taxpayer, there will be no one on watch which will allow this crisis to continue,” Miller wrote. “Of equal concern is an alarming rate of defaults by borrowers who are failing to pay even the interest payments on the loans for the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) and the Direct Loan Program.” ‘DOGE’-MEETS-CONGRESS: GOP LAWMAKER AARON BEAN LAUNCHES CAUCUS TO HELP MUSK ‘TAKE ON CRAZYTOWN’ The inspector general added that their office has been “shedding staff” and going through legally mandated processes for an agency in the process of shutting down. There are at least 130 potential defendants identified to be probed, and without proper resources, they may never be so. Ernst warned that dishonest loan applicants could get away with $200 billion in fraud from COVID-19 relief if her bill does not pass. “Con artists took advantage of small businesses’ pain during COVID to defraud government programs designed to help hardworking Americans,” Ernst said Wednesday.  “While we are $36 trillion in debt, we especially cannot afford to leave more than $200 billion floating around, especially in the hands of fraudsters. My Republican colleagues and I are making sure that all resources are available in this fight to get taxpayers’ money back and hold these criminals accountable.” BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION FAILED TO RECOUP $200B IN FRAUDULENT COVID LOANS, HOUSE COMMITTEE SAYS When the Small Business Administration initiated the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, they were on a “first come, first serve” basis. Critics claimed at the time that many qualifying businesses and entities were therefore turned away, and reports proliferated that gang members and drug traffickers were instead able to access the resources. One alleged fraudster used a photo of a Barbie doll as their identifier on an SBA loan application, while another raked in $8 million that could have gone to struggling restaurants – particularly in states with onerous shutdown policies.  TOP DOGE SENATOR DEMANDS ANSWERS ON PLAN TO EXHAUST CHIPS FUNDING BEFORE TRUMP ARRIVES In response, Ernst has drafted the Complete COVID Collections Act, Fox News Digital has learned. The bill would extend authorization of the SIGPR through 2030 and expand its jurisdiction to cover other SBA COVID-related programs. As of Wednesday, the SIGPR is only authorized into September. The proposal also directs the Treasury to enforce collection of loans under $100,000 as stringently as high-dollar alleged scofflaws and late-debtors. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP It also brings in the Justice Department, requiring the law enforcement agency to provide regular reports to Congress on activities related to pandemic-centric programs including prosecutions, fund recovery and referrals to the DOJ from other entities. By Wednesday afternoon, Ernst’s bill gained co-sponsorship from four other Republicans: Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Todd Young of Indiana, James Lankford of Oklahoma, and John Curtis of Utah – who was just seated following the departure of Mitt Romney.

‘For Ethiopia’s heritage’: Family fights to reclaim war hero’s stolen medal

‘For Ethiopia’s heritage’: Family fights to reclaim war hero’s stolen medal

Amaha Kassa’s grandfather was the last remaining commander who bravely rallied troops and fought back when the Italians invaded and briefly colonised Ethiopia in 1935. Four decades earlier, the Italians initially attempted to annex the country but were soundly defeated. This time though, the story would be different. Armed with rifles and spears, the Ethiopians were no match for the new machineguns the Italians carried, and the aircraft that sprayed deadly chemicals from the sky. Although Kassa’s grandfather, Ras (Prince) Desta Damtew, fought long and hard, he was eventually caught and executed in 1937. Tens of thousands more Ethiopians would be killed during the seven-year occupation, including civilians and Red Cross aid workers – a memory still raw for many in the country. Imperial Order of the Star of Ethiopia [Courtesy of La Galerie Numismatique] So it was with shock and anger that Kassa and his siblings discovered in November that a gold medal Damtew owned was set to be auctioned by an art gallery in Switzerland. The piece was going for between 60,000 and 90,000 euros ($61,800 and $92,700). Its description or provenance stated blatantly that the medal came from the estate of an Italian soldier who “was present at the capture of the prince”, and painted details of Damtew’s killing. “They were not in any way attempting to hide the provenance of this item, and were even using the personal circumstances of his death and execution as a selling point,” Kassa, who runs African Communities Together, a New York-based activist organisation, told Al Jazeera. Advertisement “I just can’t imagine that this would be a Nazi-era object and that something like this would happen. There’s a way that people have not come to think of African issues as being worthy of respect,” he said. The case has kickstarted an international quest for the medal to be returned. It also shines a light on a pressing, ongoing conversation across Africa, as governments and individuals from Kenya to Cameroon push for the return of thousands of antiquities looted by colonising Western powers. In Ethiopia, hoards of artefacts were looted, first by the British, and later, by the Italians. Although the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty required that Italy return all of the art and religious objects stolen during its brief occupation, and pay $25m in reparations within 18 months, that treaty has not fully been enforced. “The Vatican Library has more than 300 Ethiopian manuscripts, most of which were looted during the occupation,” Alula Pankhurst, the country director of Oxford University’s Young Lives Ethiopia project, told Al Jazeera. While some items have been returned, Italy has continued to hold on to hundreds of other items like crowns, royal regalia, and paintings, said the veteran professor of Ethiopian studies. Members of the Ethiopian Patriotic Association, whose purpose is to honour resistance fighters in Italian East Africa during the second world war, parade at an event to commemorate Arbegnoch Qen, or Ethiopian Patriots’ Victory Day, in the capital, Addis Ababa, on Thursday, May 5, 2022. The event marks the anniversary of when Emperor Haile Selassie returned to Addis Ababa in 1941, ending the five-year Italian occupation of the city during the war [AP Photo] Symbol of African resistance Ras Desta Damtew was executed by the Italian army in February 1937, at age 44. His was a long life of service to the then-Ethiopian Empire. His father died commanding soldiers in the iconic Battle of Adwa in 1896 when Ethiopian forces humiliated Italian invaders in their initial attempt at conquest. It was the first time an invading European power lost to an African force. Advertisement Damtew too fought for various monarchs. He helped Emperor Haile Selassie attain the throne and later married Leult (Princess) Tenagnework, the emperor’s eldest child. “I didn’t grow up with personal memories of him, but I certainly heard a lot about him,” Kassa said, sharing that his mother, Princess Seble – one of the couple’s eight children – was only a child when Damtew died. “He was this kind of legend. There’s a tremendous sense of pride in the sacrifices that he made, but then there’s also a sort of sadness to it as well.” In old newspaper articles, Damtew is described as stoic, handsome and intelligent, with a mastery of French. Grainy black and white photos show him in full royal regalia: heavily decorated mid-length robes and shiny leather shoes. In one, a star-shaped brooch is pinned on his right chest – likely the Imperial Order of the Star of Ethiopia – a medal of pure gold that signified a rare military honour conferred for service to the crown, and the artefact at the centre of the current uproar. As a special ambassador of Ethiopia, the prince visited the United States in July 1933 decked in flowing robes and bearing gifts including lion manes and photos of the emperor. He was feted by President Franklin Roosevelt in Washington. Two years later in October 1935, the Italians, under fascist leader Benito Mussolini, invaded and seized Addis Ababa. From left to right standing: Princess Tsehai; the Crown Prince of Ethiopia, Asfaw Wossen; the Ethiopian princess – wife of Ras Desta; Ras Desta, son-in-law of the emperor, married to the eldest daughter; the crown princess; Princess Thahai; Prince Makonnen; (seated in front) the emperor and empress with the two children of Ras Desta and the eldest daughter of the Emperor Haile Selassie, shown on August 20, 1935 [File: AP Photo] With their “deadly rain” of sulfur and machineguns, the 100,000-plus Italian army decimated Ethiopia’s defences, even though the local forces outnumbered the invaders eight to one. To clamp down on a budding civilian resistance, the Italians massacred people in their thousands, while also pillaging Ethiopia’s cultural objects. At least 100,000 Ethiopians were killed by the end of the occupation in 1941. Advertisement Damtew’s battalion spent two years holding the fort even as Emperor Selassie fled into exile. By the time the prince was caught, he had been wounded in the fighting. Some accounts

Clashes in Mozambique as main opposition leader Mondlane returns from exile

Clashes in Mozambique as main opposition leader Mondlane returns from exile

Injuries reported as police fire tear gas and live ammunition as Venancio Mondlane lands in Maputo after disputed election. Police have fired live ammunition and tear gas to prevent supporters of Mozambique’s main opposition leader Venancio Mondlane from reaching the airport to greet him following his return from self-imposed exile. Live images from capital Maputo broadcast by Al Jazeera on Thursday showed police chasing down protesters, some of whom responded by throwing rocks, as they attempted to breach the main highway leading to the city’s Mavalane International Airport. Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller, reporting from the site of the clashes in Maputo, said some of Mondlane’s supporters were injured in the clashes. “Police have been pushing back at protesters, firing tear gas. We also heard live ammunition being used,” she said. “The protesters are trying to reach the airport to greet Mondlane, and they can’t. So they are increasingly agitated. There has been a back and forth between the police and protesters.” The number of injuries could not be immediately determined. Mondlane’s supporters tend to a man allegedly shot in the head by police at a checkpoint near the Maputo international airport on Thursday [Amilton Neves/AFP] Mondlane, who was met by a large group of journalists after exiting the airport building, claims the October 9 election was rigged in favour of the candidate of the ruling Frelimo party, Daniel Chapo, who is due to be sworn in on January 15. Advertisement Mondlane went into hiding more than two months ago fearing for his life after two senior members of his party were killed in their car by unknown gunmen in the aftermath of the election, which also killed dozens of others. “I am here in the flesh to say that if you want to negotiate … I am here,” Mondlane told reporters outside the airport. The election dispute unleashed waves of violence that have left about 300 people dead, including protesters killed in a police crackdown, according to a tally by a local rights group. Authorities say police officers have also been killed and there has been looting and vandalism. A decision by Mozambique’s top court, the Constitutional Council, to validate the election results triggered more demonstrations. There were fears that Mondlane could be arrested on his return, including on charges related to the weeks of protests by his supporters, many of them young Mozambicans desperate for change after 50 years under the ruling Frelimo. Frelimo, which has ruled Mozambique since the end of the war against Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, denies opposition accusations of electoral fraud. Western observers have said this year’s election was not free and fair. Al Jazeera’s Miller said the government is blaming Mondlane for “inciting” the unrest across the country in recent weeks. “They also said that he should pay for the damages caused in Mozambique during that time. The question now is, how will the government now respond?” Mondlane’s supporters say his return from a two-month exile gives people hope. “We young people are here fighting for our tomorrow,” said Fatima Pinto, 20, who trained as a general medical technician. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)