International
Trump claims Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if he was still in White House
Donald Trump claimed Vladimir Putin would never have invaded Ukraine if he was still in the White House, during his latest MAGA rally.
The one-term president told the crowd in Michigan that he was surprised at the Kremlin’s assault on Ukraine, and admitted that he thought Mr Putin was just negotiating a “great deal”
“I thought he was negotiating. He had 150,000 soldiers on the border, I thought he was going to make a great deal,” Mr Trump told the rally at Michigan Stars Sports Center in Washington Township, Michigan, on Saturday night.
And Mr Trump insisted that Moscow pushed forward with its unprovoked invasion of its neighbour because of the way that US troops left Afghanistan last August.
“I think that when he (Putin) saw what happened in Afghanistan, the way we ran, we didn’t to have one soldier killed there in 18 months, I said Abdul there are going to be no more of our soldiers killed. Not one person was killed for 18 months and Biden even said that,” he said.
“Then we lost 13, but they don’t talk about how horribly so many of them were wounded. This invasion of Ukraine would never have happened if I was in the White House, would never have happened, not ever.
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“I knew Putin very well, and you know they say ‘Oh well he knows Putin’, that is a good thing, good thing, not a bad thing. I know Kim Jong-un, I know President Xi of China and you know what we had no conflict, remember?”
Mr Trump then added that the Taliban now had $85bn worth of US military equipment left behind in the rapid departure from the country, and suggested that America should “maybe go in and take it back.”
He then mocked Joe Biden for his “mental and physical decline” to roars of approval from his supporters.
“I don’t think we have ever had a time in our country where we feel so low and so dejected. We are living through the most dangerous period of our lifetime and we have a president who has no idea what’s going on, what he’s doing, what he’s saying or where he is. other than that he is doing an excellent job,” he said.
“There is maybe nothing we can do to prevent Joe Biden’s mental and physical decline, but with your vote this November we can stop our country’s decline and Make America Great Again.”
Mr Trump also turned his attention to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who it has been reported is leaving the Biden administration to join MSNBC.
He described Ms Psaki as “the woman with the really beautiful red hair” and claimed the news network is trying to hire her because they need a red head in their line-up.
INDEPENDENT
International
Scammers steal over $3.4bn from older Americans – FBI report
Scammers steal over $3.4bn from older Americans – FBI report
Scammers stole more than $3.4 billion from older Americans last year, according to an FBI analysis issued Tuesday, indicating a spike in losses caused by increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics used to deceive the vulnerable into giving up their life savings.
Losses from scams reported by Americans over the age of 60 increased 11% last year compared to the previous year, according to the FBI.
Investigators are warning of an increase in brazen bank account-draining operations that entail deploying couriers in person to collect cash or gold from victims.
“It can have a devastating impact on older Americans who lack the ability to go out and make money,” said Deputy Assistant Director James Barnacle of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “People lose all their money. Some people become destitute.”
Last year, the FBI received more than 100,000 complaints from victims of scammers over the age of 60, with over 6,000 individuals losing more than $100,000.
It comes after a significant increase in reported losses by older Americans in the two years following the 2020 coronavirus epidemic, when people were confined to their homes and easier to reach over the phone.
Barnacle stated that investigators are finding organised, transnational criminal enterprises targeting older Americans through a variety of schemes, such as romance scams and investment frauds.
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Last year, the most common type of fraud reported by older individuals was tech support scams, in which scammers impersonate technical or customer care staff over the phone.
In one such scam, which authorities say is becoming more popular, criminals impersonate technology, banking, and government officials to convince victims that foreign hackers have infiltrated their bank accounts and that they should transfer their funds to a new account that the scammers secretly control.
According to the FBI, between May and December, there was an increase in scammers utilising live couriers to steal money from victims who were fooled into believing their accounts had been hijacked.
In those circumstances, scammers inform victims that their bank accounts have been compromised and that they must sell their possessions for cash or purchase gold or other precious metals to secure their savings. The fraudsters then arrange for a courier to collect it in person.
“A lot of the fraud schemes ask victims to send money via a wire transfer or a cryptocurrency transfer. When the victim is reluctant to do that, they’re given an alternative,” Barnacle said. “And so the bad guy will use courier services.”
According to prosecutors, an 81-year-old Ohio man shot and killed an Uber driver who he believed was attempting to rob him after receiving fraudulent phone calls earlier this month.
The man had been receiving calls from someone claiming to be an officer from the local court and demanding money.
The Uber driver had been instructed to get a package from the man’s residence, a request that officials believe was made by the same hoax caller or an accomplice.
The enormous losses to older Americans are most likely an underestimate. Only roughly half of the more than 880,000 complaints submitted to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre last year included information about the victim’s age.
Scammers steal over $3.4bn from older Americans – FBI report
International
Gaza: Protesters clash at UCLA, police arrest pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University
Gaza: Protesters clash at UCLA, police arrest pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University
Violent skirmishes broke out on Wednesday on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) between pro-Palestinian protesters and a group of counter-demonstrators, a live video coverage by a US broadcaster revealed.
According to the UCLA student publication Daily Bruin, supporters of Israel attempted to knock down a pro-Palestinian protest campsite on campus.
Police were responding to UCLA Chancellor Gene Block’s call for assistance, said Zach Seidl, Los Angeles Deputy Mayor of Communications, on X.
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- Gaza: Israeli PM Netanyahu says Rafah attack will happen despite deal
- Gaza: Israeli PM Netanyahu says Rafah attack will happen despite deal
The October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, followed by an Israeli offensive on the Palestinian territory, has sparked the largest outpouring of US student action since the 2020 anti-racism rallies.
Aerial footage from KABC, an ABC affiliate, showed people using sticks or poles attacking wooden planks set up as a temporary barricade to defend pro-Palestinian protesters, some of whom held placards or umbrellas.
Late on Tuesday, New York City police detained scores of pro-Palestinian activists holed up in an academic building on Columbia University’s campus in New York and dismantled a protest encampment that the Ivy League school had attempted to destroy for nearly two weeks.
Gaza: Protesters clash at UCLA, police arrest pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University
Reuters
International
UN warns Israel assault on Gaza’s Rafah on ‘immediate horizon’
UN warns Israel assault on Gaza’s Rafah on ‘immediate horizon’
UNITED NATIONS, April 30 (Reuters) – The United Nations on Tuesday warned that an Israeli assault on Rafah in the Gaza Strip was “on the immediate horizon” and that “incremental” progress by Israel on aid access to the enclave could not be used to prepare for or justify an operation.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for states with influence over Israel “to do everything in their power” to prevent an Israeli assault on Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than 1.2 million displaced Gaza Palestinians are sheltering.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to go ahead with a long-promised assault, whatever the response by Hamas to latest proposals for a halt to fighting in the nearly seven-month-long war and a return of Israeli hostages.
“The world has been appealing to the Israeli authorities for weeks to spare Rafah, but a ground operation there is on the immediate horizon,” said U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths in a statement. “The simplest truth is that a ground operation in Rafah will be nothing short of a tragedy beyond words.”
Israel pledged nearly a month ago to improve aid access to the enclave of 2.3 million people after U.S. President Joe Biden demanded steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis, saying the U.S. could place conditions on support if Israel did not act.
Guterres told reporters that there had been “incremental progress” toward averting “an entirely preventable, human-made famine” in northern Gaza, but much more was urgently needed.
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“These improvements in bringing more aid into Gaza cannot be used to prepare for or justify a full-blown military assault on Rafah,” Griffiths said.
Guterres specifically called on Israel to follow through on its promise to open two crossings to the north.
“A major obstacle to distributing aid across Gaza is the lack of security for humanitarians and the people we serve. Humanitarian convoys, facilities and personnel, and the people in need must not be targets,” Guterres told reporters.
NO ALTERNATIVE TO LAND
A U.N.-backed report in March said famine was imminent and likely by May in northern Gaza, and could spread across the enclave by July. Guterres said the most vulnerable in the north “are already dying of hunger and disease.”
When asked what leverage the U.S. could use over its ally Israel to boost aid access and avert a Rafah assault, Guterres said: “It is very important to put all possible pressure in order to avoid what would be an absolutely devastating tragedy.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he will discuss with Netanyahu on Wednesday measures that Israel still needs to take to increase the flow of aid into Gaza.
“I strongly encourage the government of Israel and the Hamas leadership to reach now an agreement,” Guterres said. “Without that, I fear the war, with all its consequences both in Gaza and across the region, will worsen exponentially.”
The U.N. is in talks with the U.S. about a floating pier it is constructing to allow maritime aid deliveries to Gaza from Cyprus. Guterres said: “We welcome aid delivery by air and sea, but there is no alternative to the massive use of land routes.”
Israel’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Jonathan Miller said last week that Israel continued “to elevate and step up” its aid support and that there had been substantial results with a “dramatic increase” in the volume of aid over the past several months.
Israel is retaliating against Hamas in Gaza over an Oct. 7 surprise attack on southern Israel led by the militant group.
Israel says about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 people were taken hostage in the assault. Gaza health authorities say Israel has killed more than 34,000 people in its offensive in Hamas-run Gaza since then.
UN warns Israel assault on Gaza’s Rafah on ‘immediate horizon’
Reuters
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