Anonymous U.S. officials suggest that a pro-Ukrainian group is suspected to have been responsible for the September 2022 bombing of Nord Stream pipelines, according to The New York Times, although it is unclear who directed or paid for the operation.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Russia committed “crimes against humanity” in Ukraine in a Saturday statement, vowing to hold Russia “accountable” for murder, torture and rape.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley acknowledged on Friday that it would be difficult for Ukrainian forces to “eject” Russian forces from all of Ukraine this year.
Those hoping for a Christmastime government shutdown were once again disappointed when Congress passed a 4,000-page, $1.7 trillion omnibus appropriations bill that few, if any, Representatives and Senators read before voting on.
Each dot represents $100,000 in U.S. taxpayer dollars, according to a visualization created by Columbia and Duke graduate Will Geary, a data scientist and assistant professor at The Pratt Institute in New York. "U.S. aid to Ukraine totals $68 billion, and in November the White House asked Congress for another $38 billion," Geary Tweeted. "This would bring the total amount appropriated for Ukraine to over $100 billion."
On Friday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping met Saudi Arabian leaders in that country, expressing his interest in using yuan to buy Persian Gulf generated gas and oil.
The Biden administration has quietly approved plans to build a new crude oil terminal in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas, seemingly in contradiction to the president’s past comments on the consumption of fossil fuels and carbon emissions.
