US cranks up the information warfare against Putin
CNN
Far from buying into claims the Ukraine showdown is easing, the United States is cranking up its relentless informational warfare campaign against Russia, keeping the world on high alert for a possible invasion of Ukraine.
The Biden administration -- seeking to maintain pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and to keep its allies united -- is categorically rejecting what it sees as Moscow's misinformation and is warning the threat is only becoming more urgent. A senior official said late Wednesday that Russia had massed another 7,000 troops on the Ukrainian border in recent days, despite the Kremlin's claims that some forces had returned to base in remarks seen as an opening for diplomacy.
"Every indication we have now is they mean only to publicly offer to talk, and make claims about de-escalation, while privately mobilizing for war," the official said, reiterating that Russia could fake an incident as a pretext to attack using what President Joe Biden said Tuesday was around 150,000 troops.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are suggesting the country stop its biannual ritual of falling back and springing forward – advocating a permanent end to time changes in a move that has garnered broad support in the past.
A woman who flew as a stowaway on a Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Paris earlier this week remains in France after causing a disturbance on a flight scheduled to take her back to the United States Saturday, according to two law enforcement sources.
Donald Trump’s choice of Pete Hegseth to run the Defense Department is in jeopardy amid questions from some key GOP senators over whether he’s fit for the job, forcing the president-elect’s team to maneuver behind the scenes to avoid a second Cabinet pick from collapsing amid a Republican revolt.
Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the FBI, was recently informed by the bureau that he had been targeted as part of an Iranian hack, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff, has withdrawn from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, he announced on Tuesday.
Defense lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump are using President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter to argue that Trump’s conviction in his Manhattan hush money case should be dismissed.
Donald Trump’s transition team has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Justice Department, paving the way for the team to seek FBI background checks on the president-elect’s appointees.
A California man who allegedly confessed to helping the North Korean regime prepare for an attack on South Korea was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday in what federal investigators described as a “sophisticated scheme” to illegally obtain restricted weapons and military grade technology.
The Supreme Court will dive headfirst into the politically fraught issue of transgender rights on Wednesday when it hears a challenge to Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors in the highest-profile case of the fall.
Supreme Court majority appears skeptical of allowing Holocaust survivors to sue Hungary in US courts
A majority of the Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared skeptical that Holocaust victims and their families are permitted to haul Hungary into American courts to recover property stolen during World War II, with several justices fearing that would open the United States up to a flood of similar litigation from abroad.
US officials are still trying to help major telecom providers evict Chinese government-backed hackers from their networks and don’t have a timeline for when that will be done, officials said Tuesday.