Ukraine says shot down two Russian command aircraft in blow to Moscow
The A-50 and IL-22 play a central role in orchestrating Russian battlefield movements in Ukraine. Ukraine has said it shot down an A-50 Russian reconnaissance plane and an Il-22 airborne command post in a potentially significant blow to the Kremlin’s forces. Ukrainian army chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi announced the aircraft had been hit on the Telegram messenger on Monday, posting a video of a tracking map suggesting the planes were struck over the Sea of Azov, which lies to the east of the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. “I am grateful to the air force for the excellently planned and conducted operation in Azov region!” Zaluzhnyi wrote. Hours after Zaluzhnyi’s statement, a Russian military blog posted an image of the shrapnel-riddled tail section of an Il-22 standing on the tarmac and lauded the crew as “real heroes”. Kyiv’s Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat reposted the image, saying the plane appeared to have made it to the Russian town of Anapa but that it was beyond repair as it had been on fire. He added that the A-50 had been Kyiv’s priority target. The A-50 is a Russian reconnaissance plane, equivalent to the AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) plane, used by NATO. Topped with a large radar, it typically has a crew of 15 and can scan an area of several hundred kilometres for enemy aircraft, ships and missiles. The Russian Air Force is thought to have nine of the planes in its fleet. Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command, told a briefing that Russia had used the plane extensively to prepare for and conduct long-range missile strikes on Ukraine. “We expect such a strike [on the A-50] to be fairly painful and, at least, to delay powerful missile strikes,” she said. The Il-22, meanwhile, oversees military operations and sends radio signals to troops on the front line. The Russian Air Force reportedly has a dozen such planes. ‘No information’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters he had “no information” on the attacks and that further questions should be directed to the Defence Ministry. Russia has largely maintained air dominance since launching a full-scale invasion of its neighbour nearly two years ago. The A-50 and IL-22 play a central role in orchestrating Russian battlefield movements in Ukraine. Their loss would be a landmark feat for Kyiv as well as a major blow to Moscow with fighting along the front line largely bogged down in trench and artillery warfare. Russian military bloggers with close army links did report an incident over the Azov Sea. “It will be another dark day for the Russian Aerospace Forces and Air Defense,” wrote Rybar, a blogger with nearly 1.2 million subscribers who supports and provides running commentary on Russia’s war in Ukraine. “There are not many A-50s. And the specialists operating them are generally rare. If an aircraft of this type is hit, the crew will not be able to escape.” Telegram channel WarGonzo acknowledged that the A-50 had been destroyed. “Unfortunately war is never without tragedies, and the death of our fighters always hurts. We express our condolences to the families and close ones of the crew,” it said. It too reported that the Il-22 was able to make it back to base. “According to reports, the pilots were able to land the damaged machine,” it said. A February 2023 drone attack at an airfield in Belarus damaged a parked A-50 but Russian and Belarusian officials described the damage as minor. Adblock test (Why?)
North Korea’s Kim shuts agencies working for reunification with South Korea
Kim Jong Un says his country does not want war but does not seek to avoid it. North Korea has scrapped several government bodies tasked with promoting reconciliation and reunification with South Korea as authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un warned that his secretive country does not seek to avoid war. In a speech to North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, Kim said unification with South Korea is no longer possible and called for a constitutional amendment to change the status of South Korea to a separate, “hostile country”, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Tuesday. “We don’t want war but we have no intention of avoiding it,” Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA. The Supreme People’s Assembly said in a statement that three organisations handling inter-Korean reconciliation – the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, the National Economic Cooperation Bureau and the (Mount Kumgang) International Tourism Administration – will shut. “The two most hostile states, which are at war, are now in acute confrontation on the Korean peninsula,” the assembly said, according to KCNA. The decision marks a further deterioration in relations between the Koreas following a series of recent missile tests by Pyongyang. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday criticised North Korea’s move to define his country as hostile, saying it showed Pyongyang’s “anti-national and ahistorical” nature. On Monday, North Korea said it had tested a new solid-fuel missile fitted with a hypersonic warhead, weeks after carrying out the launch of its Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile. Japan, South Korea and the United States have ramped up joint military exercises that Pyongyang sees as rehearsals for a future invasion in response to the weapons tests. Over the weekend, US Senior Official for the DPRK [The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name] Jung H Pak held a joint call with her South Korean and Japanese counterparts to condemn Pyongyang’s latest missile tests, the US State Department said on Monday. In an analysis for the US-based 38 North project last week, former State Department official Robert Carlin and nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker said it was their belief Kim was genuinely preparing for war. “We do not know when or how Kim plans to pull the trigger, but the danger is already far beyond the routine warnings in Washington, Seoul and Tokyo about Pyongyang’s ‘provocations’,” they wrote. “In other words, we do not see the war preparation themes in North Korean media appearing since the beginning of last year as typical bluster from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” Last week, Kim labelled South Korea a “principal enemy” and described efforts to reunify with its rival as a “mistake that we should no longer make”. Adblock test (Why?)
Trump cruises to victory in Iowa, cementing frontrunner status in 2024 race
Trump takes step closer to securing third consecutive nomination for the Republican Party after key ballot. Former United States President Donald Trump has decisively won the Iowa caucuses, cementing his Republican frontrunner status as he bids to retake the White House in 2024. Trump beat former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a widely-expected result on Monday, taking him a step closer to securing a third consecutive nomination for the presidency. Trump won at least 17 of 40 delegates, with Haley and DeSantis taking five each, provisional tallies showed, with US media outlets calling the state-wide contest about 30 minutes after the start of voting. Trump’s commanding victory points to his continuing dominance over the Republican Party, even as he faces mounting legal woes including four criminal indictments. On Tuesday, Trump is expected to appear in court in New York as a jury considers whether he should pay further damages to a writer who won a $5m jury award against him for sexual assault and defamation. Trump’s legal challenges have done little to dampen his support among Republicans, many of whom view the cases against him as politically motivated. Iowa has a mixed record of predicting the eventual Republican nominee – George W Bush was the last GOP presidential candidate to win the state in 2000. But the largely rural Midwestern state is seen as an important springboard for candidates competing for delegates in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Iowans braved dangerously cold weather to gather at more than 1,600 schools, community centres and other sites in the first vote in the 2024 presidential race. Ahead of the Iowa caucuses, Trump’s lock on the Republican grassroots was clear, with polls showing the businessman-turned-politician having a double-digit lead over his rivals. Many Republican voters in Iowa cast Trump as the best candidate to address their concerns about the economy, record levels of refugee and migrant arrivals at the southern border and global instability. “We need something different than what we’re doing now. It’s not working. I was making more money than I ever have, and now I’m broker than I’ve ever been,” David Brunell, a 32-year-old Trump supporter, told Al Jazeera before the caucuses. “That says a lot about where the economy is at.” Adblock test (Why?)
Attorney General Ken Paxton campaigns against House Speaker Dade Phelan in his own district
The attorney general has gone on an endorsement spree since his acquittal in his Senate impeachment trial last year, backing primary challengers to the House Republicans who voted to impeach him.
US State Department issues condemnation of Iran’s attacks in Erbil
Following Iran’s announcement late Monday that it had launched strikes against a “spy headquarters and the gathering of anti-Iranian terrorist groups,” the US State Department released a statement condemning Iran’s attacks. “The United States strongly condemns Iran’s attacks in Erbil today and offers condolences to the families of those who were killed. We oppose Iran’s reckless missile strikes, which undermine Iraq’s stability,” Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesperson said in a statement. Miller added that the U.S. supports the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government’s efforts to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people. This all comes just days after the State Department claimed the Biden administration ‘will ensure one way or another that Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon.’ IRAN ANNOUNCES STRIKES IN NORTHERN IRAQ, SYRIA “It was only a matter of when, not if, Iran would act on it’s stated intent to deliver a “hard response” to the terror attack it suffered earlier this year,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) told Fox News Digital. “Iran’s improving ballistic missile capabilities means that these weapons of war will be used more often, and for purposes of conflict adjudication. This raises the risk of escalation mismanagement with any actor involving Iran.” At least five ballistic missiles struck Erbil in the late hours of Monday. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for the strikes, claiming to have hit “spy headquarters” of anti-Iran groups in the Kurdistan Region. The strikes killed at least four civilians and injured 17 others. BIDEN’S IRAN DE-ESCALATION STRATEGY BACKFIRIN AS REGIME CLOSE TO PRODUCING ATOMIC BOMB Taleblu added that Iran is just adding more fuel to the regional fire by launching missiles at Iraq and Syria at a time when its proxies are firing at Israel, U.S. forces and international shipping. “Iran’s ballistic missile program is the largest in the Middle East, with Tehran making improvements to precision, range, survivability, and maneuverability for this force. This strike raises more questions than answers, particularly, why Syria and Iraq, both to Iran’s west, were targeted when the culprit behind the terror attack was ISIS-K, which operates from Iran’s east,” Taleblu continued. Taleblu said while Iran has not reported exactly which missile it has launched, solid-propellant short-range or close-range ballistic missiles with precision strike capabilities have been used in every single missile operation since 2017. “Iran has engaged in eight ballistic missile operations from its own territory since 2017, with five of them occurring under the Biden administration’s watch,” Tabeblu said. In total, Iran has launched at least 14 ballistic missile operations since the end of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988 and all have been launched at targets in Iraq or Syria, according to Tabeblu.
Georgia DA Fani Willis accused of paying expert prosecutor less than Nathan Wade: reports
Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis, who was recently criticized for allegedly having an “improper” romantic relationship with a prosecutor, is now being accused of paying one of her attorneys $100 less per hour than her alleged lover, Nathan Wade, according to reports. The New York Post reported that Wade was billing the DA’s office $250 per hour in November and December 2021, as he worked on the prosecution against former President Donald Trump, who is accused of election interference in 2020. Court records alleged Wade had no experience in state racketeering law. But another prosecutor on the team, John Floyd, reportedly has considerable knowledge when it comes to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) cases. GEORGIA DA FANI WILLIS CLAIMS ‘IMPROPER’ RELATIONSHIP ACCUSATIONS ARE BASED ON RACE Floyd billed $150 per hour during the same months Wade billed $250 per hour, according to a contract obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. Court documents filed earlier this month say Willis hired special prosecutor Nathan Wade, her alleged partner, to prosecute Trump and benefited financially from the relationship in the form of lavish vacations the two went on using funds his firm received for working the case. The accusation about the difference in pay comes nearly a week after Trump’s co-defendant, Michael Roman, accused Willis and Wade of having an “improper” and “clandestine” affair at the same time appointments were being made for the 2020 election interference case. TOP TRUMP PROSECUTOR, GEORGIA DA ALLEGED TO BE IN ‘IMPROPER’ ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP: COURT FILING Roman was a former official on Trump’s 2020 campaign and argued about the integrity of the case being compromised because of the affair, last week in court, asking for the charges against Roman to be dropped. On Sunday, Willis spoke on the matter at the Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta, claiming she was called out because she is Black. “They only attacked one,” she said. “First thing they say, ‘oh, she’s gonna play the race card now.’ FORMER COP TARGETS TRUMP, GOP OPPONENTS OVER ‘DISGRACEFUL’ LAW ENFORCEMENT RHETORIC 3 YEARS AFTER JAN 6 “But no God, isn’t it them that’s playing the race card when they only question one,” Willis asked. While speaking at the church, Willis claimed she treated all three special prosecutors equally, adding she “paid them all the same hourly rate.” According to the Daily Caller, Anna Cross, the third special prosecutor, was paid $250 per hour in 2022. HOUSE JUDICIARY INVESTIGATING WHETHER FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS ‘COORDINATED’ WITH JAN 6 COMMITTEE Fulton County records show Wade has been paid nearly $654,000 in legal fees since January 2022, an amount authorized by the district attorney, or Willis in this case. The filing also calls for the entire district attorney’s office, including Willis and Wade, to be disqualified from prosecuting the case. Trump was indicted by Willis in August and pleaded not guilty to charges related to allegedly attempting to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, including violation of Georgia’s anti-racketeering law. Roman, alongside Trump, was hit with a racketeering charge as part of Willis’ case and was charged with seven felony counts last August. The Georgia case is one of four pending against Trump; he also faces charges in New York City, Florida and Washington, D.C. Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
FBI’s post honoring MLK flagged by X with fact-checking community note
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) honored the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on X on Monday, before the “Community Notes” feature on the social media platform hit the agency with a crowdsourced fact check showing its history with the Civil Rights Movement leader. “This #MLKDay, the #FBI honors one of the most prominent leaders of the Civil Rights movement and reaffirms its commitment to Dr. King’s legacy of fairness and equal justice for all,” the FBI’s post on X read. But directly underneath the post is a community note fact checking the agency, pointing out that the King family believes the FBI was responsible for King’s death. 10 INTERESTING FACTS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. “The FBI engaged in surveillance of King, attempted to discredit him, and used manipulation tactics to influence him to stop organizing,” the note read. “King’s family [believes] the FBI was responsible for his death.” The note also points to an article by CBS, “MLK’s Family Feels Vindicated,” which was published on Dec. 8, 1999, and explained how King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, felt vindicated when a jury found her husband was the victim of a conspiracy, not an assassin. “I think that if people will look at the evidence that we have, it’s conclusive, and I think the Justice Department has a responsibility to do what it feels is the right thing to do, the just thing to do,” King told CBS Early Show Anchor Bryant Gumbel just one day after the December 1999 trial verdict. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR: THE LIFE AND THE LEGACY The article also notes that a cover-up after the Memphis 1968 assassination involved the CIA, media, Army Intelligence and the FBI, according to King’s lawyer, William Pepper. The community note also referenced an NPR story about a document that exposed how the FBI tried to destroy Martin Luther King Jr. with wiretaps and blackmail. The article, published on Jan. 18, 2021, said the FBI conducted an “intense campaign to discredit” King and his work, which was shown in the documentary, “MLK/FBI.” Then-President Lyndon B. Johnson, through the late Bill Moyers, gave Hoover permission to secretly record King during the investigation. MY UNCLE, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., BELIEVED DEEPLY IN THE PROMISE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM. WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN “The FBI has long acknowledged the abuses of power that took place under Director J. Edgar Hoover and the deplorable actions taken against Dr. King and others involved in the civil rights movement,” the FBI told Fox News Digital. “Today, the FBI honors Dr. King’s life and legacy and uses those lessons from our past to reaffirm our commitment to equal justice, fairness, and diversity.” The FBI honored the late leader on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is celebrated on the third Monday of every January. The holiday honors the civil rights leader most remembered for his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963 during the 1963 March on Washington, D.C. King also took part in the Selma March, which led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act – legislation that helped African Americans exercise their right to vote.
Iowa temperatures plunge to 26 degrees below freezing as GOP caucusgoers prepare to vote
Temperatures across Iowa plunged below zero degrees on Monday evening as Republican voters trudged to caucus sites to cast the first votes of the 2024 presidential primary elections. According to Fox Weather data, temperatures in the state’s capital of Des Moines hit 4 degrees below zero and 23 degrees below zero, factoring in wind chill on Monday night. Other cities in Iowa, including Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux City and Iowa City, similarly plummeted to freezing-cold temperatures, with Sioux City hitting 26 degrees below zero. The low temperatures were recorded as Iowa’s Republican caucuses statewide were called to order. The temperatures mean Monday night is the coldest caucus since the state began holding them in 1972, according to Fox Weather. Some caucus sites were forced to delay proceedings slightly due to the weather. LIVE BLOG: TRUMP, HALEY, DESANTIS FACE OFF AT IOWA CAUCUSES IN GOP 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RACE “When it’s that cold, and you’re also talking about things that happen at night, this is not a ‘go out the middle of the day type of thing,’” David Richards, an associate professor and political chair at the University of Lynchburg in Virginia, told Fox Weather. “It’ll tend to turn some people off. And I think if you are a more casual participant, you might be turned off by the elements.” It is unclear how the weather will impact Iowa voters’ decision to attend caucuses or if it will have a broad impact on the results of the election. YOUR QUICK GUIDE TO THE IOWA CAUCUSES AND WHAT TO EXPECT THIS YEAR But ahead of the caucus, candidates called for voters to brave the cold weather and make their voices heard. “I’m asking you to go out, brave the cold and support me in the Iowa Caucus,” Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on X. “You will never have an opportunity to have your vote make more of an impact than you will tonight!” Fellow GOP candidate former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley told voters to “layer up” and head to their caucus site. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub Fox News’ Matteo Cina contributed to this report.
Trump says he is ‘honored,’ ‘invigorated’ after winning Iowa caucuses: ‘We want to Make America Great Again’
EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump said he feels “invigorated” and “greatly honored” after winning the 2024 Iowa caucuses, telling Fox News Digital that he feels “strong” for our country. Fox News Digital exclusively interviewed the former president and 2024 Republican frontrunner shortly after the Fox News Decision Desk projected that Trump won the Iowa caucuses. Trump takes the lion’s share of the state’s 40 delegates in the first-in-the-nation primary contest. The result solidifies his place as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. “I feel great,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “I am greatly honored by such an early call.” DONALD TRUMP, NIKKI HALEY, RON DESANTIS AND VIVEK RAMASWAMY FACE OFF AT IOWA CAUCUSES “It really is an honor that, minutes after, they’ve announced I’ve won—against very credible competition—great competition, actually,” Trump said. He added: “It is a tremendous thing and a tremendous feeling.” “We have to get our country back,” he told Fox News Digital. “Our country has gone through so many bad things over the last three years and it is continuing to go through bad things.” Trump pointed to conflict in the Middle East and “the attack of Israel.” “I feel really invigorated and strong for our country,” he told Fox News Digital. “We want to Make America Great Again—the greatest slogan ever—and the fact is, that’s what we did.” Trump touted his administration’s success, pointing to U.S. energy independence, the rebuilding of the U.S. military, and “the best economy ever” under his presidency. “We’re going to quickly do it all again,” he said. “We are going to fix our border and we are going to do it and do it quickly.”
Trump quickly secures victory in Iowa, others battle for second in first GOP presidential nominating election
Former President Donald Trump cruised to an easy victory on Monday night in the Iowa caucuses, the lead off contest in the 2024 Republican presidential nominating calendar. The Fox News Decision Desk made call for Trump at 8:31pm ET, a half an hour after the caucuses got underway across the Hawkeye State. The former president’s lightning-fast win in Iowa gives him an early victory in his bid to return to the White House. Trump made history last year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but his four indictments, including charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss, have only fueled his support among Republican voters. CLICK HERE FOR LIVE IOWA CAUCUS UPDATES FROM FOX NEWS “I feel great,” Trump told Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman minutes after his victory was called by numerous networks. “I am greatly honored by such an early call.” “It really is an honor that, minutes after, they’ve announced I’ve won—against very credible competition — great competition, actually,” Trump said. Trump, who narrowly lost the 2016 Iowa caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, assembled a formidable get-out-the-vote machine in the state over the past year. The big questions as Monday night unfolds is whether Trump will capture a majority of the vote in the caucuses, or top the largest previous margin of victory by a Republican presidential candidate in the caucuses. It is still too early to call whether former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will win a distant second place behind Trump. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.