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United States
Thursday, November 10, 2022 In comments provided during a press conference, Pentagon press secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Ryder explained how the United States is preparing to counter Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and prepare for anticipated aggression in Asia against Taiwan. Brigadier General Ryder explained that 'the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is participating in Exercise Silent Wolverine in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean along with six NATO ally nations in support of multi-domain carrier training and to enhance integrated NATO interoperability and deterrence.' 'Exercise participants include the United States, Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Spain,' the general explained. 'Silent Wolverine demonstrates the U.S. commitment to supporting regional stability and security through seamless interchangeability amongst participating NATO allies. The exercise will conclude on November 14th.' 'Opening ceremonies for Exercise Malabar 2022 commenced today, as well, and will be followed by scheduled at-sea exercises involving naval ships, aircraft, and personnel from Australia, India, Japan, and the United States in the Philippines Sea, off the coast of Japan.' Malabar 2022 is a multi-domain 'field training exercise' that involves the four members of the Quad, a loose cooperation between the United States, Japan, India, and Australia. The exercise aims to 'enhance interoperability between participating maritime forces, strengthen critical partnerships and further demonstrate DOD presence in the Indo-Pacific region.' 'Finally, the Department of Defense continues to consult closely with allies and partners on Ukraine's security assistance needs, in support of their fight to defend their country. As you're aware, we announced additional security assistance for Ukraine on Friday under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative worth approximately $400 million.' (Source: TheNationalInterest)
November 10, 2022 3:44 AM GMT+1 U.S. Senate control hung in the balance while Republicans edged closer to securing a majority in the House of Representatives yesterday. The results suggested voters were punishing Biden for presiding over an economy hit by the steepest inflation in 40 years at 8.2 percent, while also lashing out against Republican efforts to ban abortion and cast doubt on the nation's vote-counting process. Thirty-five Senate seats, all 435 House seats and three dozen governors' races were on the ballot. The Senate contests in Nevada and Arizona, where Democratic incumbents were seeking to hold off Republican challengers, were as yet undecided, with thousands of uncounted ballots that could take days to tally. If the parties split those races, the Senate's fate would come down to a Georgia runoff election for the second time in two years, after Edison Research projected neither Democratic incumbent Warnock nor Republican Walker would reach the 50% necessary to avoid a Dec. 6 one-on-one rematch. Republicans were closing in on the 218 seats needed to wrest control of the House from Democrats, with 210 now in their column, Edison Research projected. But 21 of the 53 most competitive races were still pending as of yesterday evening, raising the prospect that the final outcome may not be known for some time. Even a slim House majority would let Republicans hem in Democratic President Biden during his next two years in office, blocking legislation and launching potentially politically damaging investigations. Control of the Senate would give Republicans the power to block Biden's nominees for judicial and administrative posts. If the Republicans do take control of either chamber, they plan to seek cost savings in the Social Security and Medicare safety-net programs and make permanent tax cuts enacted in 2017 that are due to expire. Republicans also could engineer a showdown over the debt ceiling to extract major spending cuts, and could pare back aid to Ukraine. In a critical win for Democrats, Fetterman flipped a Republican-held U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania, beating Trump-backed retired celebrity surgeon Oz and bolstering his party's chances of holding the chamber. Democrats also had their share of embarrassments, as New York Representative Maloney, the chairman of the committee charged with reelecting House Democrats, conceded he had lost his own race. Trump, who took an active role in recruiting Republican candidates, notched a victory in Ohio, where Vance won a Senate seat to keep it in Republican hands. But Mastriano, another Trump ally, was handily defeated in the Pennsylvania governor's race. Florida Governor DeSantis, who could challenge Trump in 2024, won re-election by nearly 20 percentage points, Edison projected. Poor performances by some candidates backed by Trump - including Walker - signaled exhaustiont, raising questions about the viability of his possible 2024 White House run. Biden has struggled with low public approval. Speaking at a White House news conference, he vowed to work with Republicans and said he understood voters are frustrated. 'The American people have made clear, I think, that they expect Republicans to be prepared to work with me as well,' Biden said. He also reiterated his intention to run for re-election in 2024 and said he would make a final decision early next year. "It was a good day, I think, for democracy," Biden said at a time when hundreds of Republican candidates embraced Trump's claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. A number of election deniers who backed Trump's claims were elected to office on November 8, but many of those who sought positions to oversee elections at the state level were defeated. Easterly, head of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said she saw no evidence any voting system was compromised. U.S. stock indexes fell yesterday as the uncertainty weighed on traders' mood. (Source: Reuters)
November 9, 2022, 11:49 AM Democrats pushed back against historic trends in the 2022 midterms. Their competitiveness came down to a variety of factors - support for abortion rights, negative views of Trump, rejection of election denial, broad backing from young voters and surprising strength among independents among them. The hurdle for Democrats was high with 76% in ABC News exit poll results rating the economy negatively, 24 percentage points more than two years ago when Biden took office and 45 points more than in the last midterms four years ago. Additionally, 47% said their own finances have gotten worse in the last two years, the most dating to 1982 and just 44% approved of Biden’s work in office, among the lowest midterm presidential approval ratings in 40 years. All those typically produce deep losses for the party in power. Yet the Democrats bucked the trend. Even with several Senate seats and House control unsettled in the wee hours, it was clear they’d dodged the level of damage usually associated with this extent of discontent. Abortion was one factor. It ranked a strong second as the top issue - behind inflation – and voters who picked it went for Democratic candidates by 76-23%. Among all voters, the Democratic Party led by 53-42% in trust to handle abortion. In fact, women were 11 points more apt than men to cite abortion as their top issue, but women did not turn out, nor vote Democratic, in larger than usual numbers. Then there were young voters, age 18 to 29. Within this group, 44% picked abortion as their top issue, twice as many as those that picked inflation. Among voters age 30 and older, far fewer named abortion as their top issue – just 25%. While young people made up about 12% of voters - their typical midterm turnout - they voted Democratic by 63-35%, as in a winning Democratic year. Rejection of Trump was as broad as it was of Biden: 58% saw Trump unfavorably, with 56% feeling the same of Biden. Countering election denial, 79% of voters were confident in the fairness and accuracy of the elections in their state. A plurality, 47%, were very confident, and backed Democratic candidates by 70-28%. Further, voters by 61-35% said Biden was legitimately elected. The House vote among that majority was 74-24%, a 3-1 Democratic margin. Then there were independents. Nationally, in strong Republican years, they break for the Republican Party - by 7 points in 2016, 14 in 2014 and 19 in 2010. This year, independents split 49-47% between Democratic and Republican House candidates. While 93% of Democrats said Biden was legitimately elected, so did 64% of independents, while only 28% of Republicans felt this. And among independents who accepted Biden as legitimate, 68% voted Democratic for House - another result that helped stanch the party’s potential losses. State-by-state exit poll results in key races: Arizona with no winner today morning. Democrat Hobbs was helped by a 17-point margin among college-educated whites, a group that split essentially evenly in 2018 when Republican Ducey won. Yet Republican and 2020 election-denier Lake struck back with a 95-point margin among the 35% who do not think Biden legitimately won the presidency in 2020. And the two were neck-and-neck in massive Maricopa County, 50-49%, Lake-Hobbs. Moderates, who made up 42% of Arizona voters, backed incumbent Democrat Kelly over Republican Masters, 63-33%. But 52% said Biden’s policies are mostly hurting the country, and they went for Masters, 87-9%. Kelly did well in his home Pima County, while Masters had a lead in the rest of the state. In one difference, 54% percent said political newcomer Masters’ views are too extreme; fewer, 43%, said the same of Kelly’s, though these exit poll results were still preliminary. Florida: A growing Republican electorate may mark an end to Florida’s position as a swing state, with incumbent Gov. DeSantis and Sen. Rubio securing decisive victories against their Democratic opponents. Florida Republicans outnumbered Democrats by 14 points, up from 8 points in 2020 and 4 points in 2018 to the widest GOP margin in exit polls since 1988. Notable swings among Hispanic voters, particularly non-Cuban Hispanic voters, also helped DeSantis and Rubio win. Hispanics voters overall broke for DeSantis by 15 points. By region, voters in Miami and the Gold Coast, the state’s most Democratic region, were evenly split in both the Senate and governor’s races. Georgia: In the Senate race, Republican Walker, who was embroiled in a personal scandal, was seen by just a third of Georgia voters; half said the same about Democratic Sen. Warnock. Warnock was seen as having views that are “too extreme” by 49%, vs. 43% who said so for Walker. The winner on the gubernatorial side, incumbent Gov. Kemp, improved over his 2018 matchup with Democrat Abrams by shoring up support among key Republican groups, including conservatives (+80 points, vs. +67 in 2018), rural and small city residents (+35 points, vs. +16 in 2018) and evangelical white Christians (+83 points, vs. +77 in 2018). Independents were voting 49-48%, Kemp-Abrams; they went 54-44%, Abrams-Kemp, in 2018. Michigan: In the governor’s race, incumbent Democrat Whitmer was boosted by abortion on the ballot with 54% of voters voting yes on the proposition to establish the right to an abortion and 89% in this group backed Whitmer. 45% said abortion was one of the most important issues in their vote choice in Michigan, 18 points higher than seen in national exit poll results and easily outpacing inflation as the top concern. Among abortion voters, 75% supported Whitmer. She also won 51% of suburban voters, a group she lost by 3 points in her 2018 election. Nevada: With no winner in Nevada’s Senate race projected as of today morning, exit poll data found Republican Laxalt eroding normally wide Democratic margins in Clark County, the home of Las Vegas and more than seven in 10 of the state’s voters. Democratic incumbent Cortez Masto led by 4 points there, vs. 12 points in 2016. While that typically would be a death knell for a Democrat in Nevada, Cortez Masto came back with a 12-point lead in Washoe County, the second most populous county in the state; it was decided by just 1 point in the past two Senate elections. Independent voters, who Cortez Masto lost by 10 points in 2018, split 48-45%, Cortez Masto-Laxalt. In another race with no winner projected as of today morning, Republican Lombardo was aided by the share of voters age 65 and older, 32%, up 10 points vs. 2018. He won older voters by 13 points over incumbent Democrat Sisolak. Lombardo won white men by a 24-point margin. Sisolak was helped by political moderates, 55-41%, and racial and ethnic minorities, 66-31%. New Hampshire: Popular Republican Gov. Sununu rode to re-election with a 69% job approval rating. In a state that has two Democratic senators and has voted for Democratic presidents in five straight contests, his appeal as a moderate was key. He won among independents by 21 points, 59-38%, and was able to sway otherwise Democratic voters; in an impressive crossover, 21% of those who voted for Democratic Sen. Hassan also voted for Sununu. Hassan prevailed with support from moderates. She won by 27 points among this group, far outpacing her 6-point advantage among moderates in 2016. Abortion looked critical: 35% of voters identified it as the top issue in their vote, and Hassan won this group by 73 points with only 36% picking inflation as their top issue, but Republican challenger Bolduc won them by less of a margin, 42 points. While six years ago Hassan held a 7-point advantage among women, that margin expanded to 19 points in this election. North Carolina: A total of 80% of North Carolina rated the nation’s economy negatively and 61% voted for Republican Senate candidate Budd. He also won 62% of white voters. Budd, who owns a gun store, won 65% of voters from gun-owning households, 68% of all voters in the state. Ohio: Incumbent Republican Gov. DeWine won another term with 65% job approval among Ohio voters. As in 2018, DeWine won big among non-college white men (+47 points), whites (+33), men (+31 points) and rural residents (+22). Political newcomer and Republican Vance was helped by Ohio’s recent red-state status: 36x% of Ohio voters were conservatives, compared with 21% liberals. He won by 64-36% among the 75% who rated the economy negatively, and won suburbanites by 13 points, 56 vs. 43%. Pennsylvania: Among key storylines in the state’s Senate race, projected winner Fetterman focused on Oz’s newcomer status and his longtime New Jersey residency. Just 43% of voters thought Oz had lived in Pennsylvania long enough to represent the state effectively in the U.S. Senate. Half thought Fetterman is in good enough health to represent the state effectively; questions over his health circulated since his stroke in May and his Oct. 25 debate performance. The winner in the governor’s race, Democrat Shapiro, was boosted by the strongest showing for a winning gubernatorial candidate in the state among moderates (+40 points) in available data since 1992 and among independents (+29 points) since 2006. Texas: O’Rourke ran a closer race than Gov. Abbott’s Democratic challenger Valdez in 2018 - he was ultimately unable to gather the support he had in his last race for statewide office, one he lost by just 3 points in one of the closest Texas Senate races in decades. In 2018, O’Rourke won Hispanic and Latino voters by 29 points against Cruz; this year he won them by a slimmer 17-point margin. O’Rourke also was unable to mobilize Hispanic and Latino voters in the same way that he did in 2018, with turnout down 5 points among them, 26 vs. 21%. O’Rourke’s margins similarly slid among voters age 18-29, from +42 points against Cruz four years ago to +29 points; and among women, flipping from an 8-point win against Cruz to a 3-point loss against Abbott, who retained broad support among evangelical white Christian voters (+76 points), conservatives (+82 points), voters in East (+52 points) and West (+49 points) Texas. Wisconsin: Incumbent Gov. Evers edged out a narrow victory against Republican challenger Michels, almost exactly matching his margin against Republican incumbent Walker four years ago. Evers was aided by his popularity, with 53% percent approving of how he’s handling his job as governor. He also won by 19 points among moderates, who accounted for a plurality of voters in the state, 39%; and by a narrow 2 points among independents, who have backed the winning candidate in all Wisconsin governor races for which data are available since 1994. The Wisconsin Senate race has not been projected as of today morning with 47% saying Democrat Barnes’ views are too extreme, while essentially as many, 48%, said the same about incumbent Republican Johnson. Mandela won by 81-19% among the 31% of voters who called abortion a top issue in their vote; Johnson, by 77-23% margin among the 35% citing inflation. In a notable shift among groups, young voters broke sharply for Barnes, 69-31%, compared with a narrow +3 points for Johnson in 2016. Still, they accounted for 11% of voters, vs. 14% six years ago. Those aged 65 and older, by contrast, were up from 24% of voters in 2016 to 33% this year, and broke 54-45% for Johnson. (Source: ABCNews)
November 9, 2022 10:25 AM. Midterms full of firsts for female, LGBTQ, Black candidates. Serving as governors at least 12 women set to lead states. The U.S. has never had more than nine female governors in office at a time, a record set in 2004. Ten had already won their races; two other races had not been decided but featured women candidates in both parties. Sanders, a Republican who served as White House press secretary for former President Trump between 2017 and 2019, will become the first woman governor of Arkansas. Democrat Healey, is the first woman to be elected to Massachusetts′ office of governor and also the country's first openly lesbian candidate to be elected governor. If Democrat Kotek wins Oregon's gubernatorial race, she may join Healey as a lesbian candidate elected governor. Vermont will send a woman to Congress, after being the only state never to have had female representation in the House. Democrat Balint, president of the Vermont Senate, will also become the first openly gay person to fill the state’s single seat in the U.S. House. In Maryland, voters elected the state's first Black governor, Democrat Moore, a combat veteran, the third Black candidate in the country to be elected governor. He led one of the nation’s largest anti-poverty organizations and campaigned on creating equal opportunity for his state residents. Florida is sending the first member of Gen Z - those born from 1997 to 2012 - to Congress, with the comfortable victory of Democrat Frost, a 25-year-old Black man with Cuban heritage who secured high-profile endorsements from U.S. Sens. Sanders and Warren. Ramirez, 39, a Democrat, who was the first Guatemalan American to serve in the Illinois General Assembly, defeated Republican Burau to represent Illinois’ 3rd District, in Chicago. Pennsylvania elects Democratic Lee, its first Black congresswoman state representative. In Minnesota, Finke - who decided to run after seeing growing anti-transgender sentiment across the country - became the first openly transgender person elected to the state’s Legislature. Voters in western Montana elected the state’s first out transgender lawmaker, Zephyr, and Howell, the first out nonbinary candidate to the state legislature. Both are Democrats. Democrat Roesener, 26, was elected as a state representative to New Hampshire's 400-member House, becoming the first trans man elected to a state legislature. (Source: fresnobee / AssociatedPress)
November 9, 2022 4:56am EST Actor and director Penn yesterday gifted President Zelenskyy one of his Oscar awards and asked him to hold onto it until his country can defeat Russia. Penn has won two Oscars for Best Actor during his career, in 2003 and in 2008. Penn's visit to Ukraine yesterday was his third since the start of war with Russia. The Hollywood director was in Ukraine on February 24, as he was shooting footage for his documentary on the unfolding crisis that was already in the works. In the spring, he even considered taking up arms to defend the war-torn country. His last visit meeting with Zelenskyy was in June. In September, Moscow banned Penn and fellow actor Stiller from entering Russia. (Source: FoxNews)
November 9, 2022, 12:23 “President Biden's supporters are losing the US elections. Pelosi's visits to Taiwan and Armenia led to the loss of the Speaker's seat. The Democrats have lost their majority in the House of Representatives,” posted Chairman of the State Duma Volodin on his Telegram channel. He gave three reasons for the democrats’ failure in the US Congress elections: first of all, economic issues. Volodin recalled that the “Biden’ inflation” rates were the highest over the past 40 years, Washington’s sanctions policy had led to a world energy crisis. “Over the past two years, there had been printed more than 6 trillion USD backed by nothing. The uncontrolled rise in prices has affected ordinary US citizens. For the first time, the national debt has reached an exorbitant 31.2 trillion USD, that is 137% of the US GDP,” he stressed. The second reason is the internal split. “For many years, the White House has been trying to turn the US citizens against each other by dividing people by race, religion, and political preferences. LGBT propaganda, the imposition of same-sex marriages, the destruction of traditional values had turned into a deep split in the US society,” emphasized Volodin. The third reason is the crisis of power. The current two-party system in the USA only worsened the situation. “Early voting (from 4 to 45 days in advance) and voting by mail, the lack of control and transparency of the elections also worsen distrust of the authorities,” stressed Volodin. “If there are no drastic changes in Washington’s domestic and foreign policy, the crisis of power in the United States of America will be getting worse as the 2024 presidential election approaches,” emphasized the Chairman of the State Duma. (Source: Duma)
11/9/22 at 5:38 AM EST China's media reacts to 'chaos' of U.S. midterm election results - Chinese newspapers were predicting a major setback for the Biden administration, a major midterm election upset for President Biden's Democratic Party yesterday in key races in the Senate and House, before early results appeared to contradict forecasts of a "red wave." The state-owned press has taken a great interest in partisan shifts in Congress, which have the potential to influence U.S. foreign policy. With 35 seats in the Senate up for grabs on November 8, China Daily, among the country's most widely circulated English-language publications, called the midterms a "looming train wreck for Biden's presidency." With projections indicating the Republicans were likely to regain control of the House of Representatives, the paper said today that a GOP flip would undoubtedly impact Biden's domestic legislative agenda, while losing both chambers "would be a disaster" for his administration. The Democratic Party's looming electoral 'disaster' means that the latter part of the Biden presidency will be even more difficult, China Daily said. The Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party's nationalistic tabloid, predicted more "partisan strife" in the U.S. after the midterms. "The U.S. is bracing for further chaos and division, as Republicans are highly likely to trigger an impeachment process against U.S. President Biden if they wrest control of the House back," it said today, citing Diao, an associate professor at Renmin University in Beijing. The outcome of what it believed would be a major midterm setback for Biden would have implications for Beijing, too, according to the newspaper. Washington was likely to "continue to confront and pressure China after a frustration in Congress," it said. The Global Times anticipated Biden pursuing further "confrontational competition with China" to distract from unfavorable midterm results. GOP majorities in the House and Senate would also make U.S. foreign policy more hawkish toward Beijing, it suggested. The Senate race has become too close to call at the time of publication, with both Democrats and Republicans each requiring fewer than five seats to secure a majority. Candidates for the House were also still undecided - 218 seats would give one of the parties control. A number of hotly watched races have already been called, among them DeSantis's reelection to the Florida governorship. The Republican, who is tipped as a 2024 White House hopefully, defeated Democrat Crist. Elsewhere, Pennsylvania's Lt. Gov. Fetterman, a Democrat, claimed victory in the state's Senate race against Dr. Oz, the former Winfrey sidekick who was running for the GOP. In Georgia, the Democratic Party's lawyer and rights activist Abrams conceded to her Republican opponent Kemp in the state's gubernatorial race. (Source: NewsWeek)
11/8/2022 8:19:00 AM GMT The US midterm elections have finally arrived. Economists at Deutsche Bank highlight that the S%P 500 Index has always been higher one year after the vote. There will be plenty of extrapolation onto the 2024 presidential election from the results. “It’s no exaggeration to say that midterm elections are one of the best historic buy signals for equities we have. In fact, in the 19 midterm elections since WWII, the S&P 500 has always been higher one year after the vote. Whether any of those cycles had to contend with the macro tsunami that's coming in the next 12 months is a moot point but it shows the underlying technicals.” “If the Republicans do end up retaking control of either chamber in Congress (or both), the result will likely be legislative gridlock for the next two years, and we do not see any major legislation on economic policy ahead of the 2024 election in this circumstance. If there is divided government, however, one area we might see more action again is the debt ceiling, since there’s a chance that a Republican-controlled Congress use the need to raise the ceiling as leverage to get some of their policy priorities through.” “Whatever ends up happening today, there’ll be plenty of extrapolation onto the 2024 presidential election from the results. However, it’s important to remember that 2 years is also a very long time in politics and a number of presidents have come back from very bad midterm results to win re-election.' (Source: FXStreet)
Nov. 7, 2022 7:26 am ET Even as relations between Washington and Moscow have deteriorated, the U.S. has sought to preserve some areas of cooperation, especially on strategic arms control and the International Space Station. Washington and Moscow have adhered to the New START treaty, which limits long-range U.S. and Russian nuclear arms and is due to expire in 2026. U.S. and Russian officials are planning to hold meetings of the Bilateral Consultative Commission, which was established by the New START treaty to discuss its implementation, according to U.S. officials and a Russian media report. One aim is to discuss resuming inspections under New START that were suspended when the Covid-19 pandemic began, U.S. officials say. While Switzerland had been the traditional host nation for such talks, Moscow has said that it no longer considers it a neutral country because, like other European nations, it has imposed economic sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Western sanctions have also complicated the Russians’ travel arrangements, so plans are being made to hold the meeting in Cairo in late November. The meetings aren’t generally announced in advance. U.S. national-security adviser Sullivan has had confidential discussions with Russian counterparts - top aides to Russian President Putin - in recent months amid concerns over escalation, nuclear threats. He has been in contact with Ushakov, a foreign-policy adviser to Mr. Putin. Mr. Ushakov has served as an ambassador in Washington and is regarded by former and current U.S. officials as a conduit to the Russian leader. “Anglo-Saxon newspapers have been publishing numerous hoaxes,” Kremlin spokesman Peskov said today when asked about the undisclosed communications. He deferred to the White House or The Wall Street Journal for additional comment. Mr. Sullivan spoke with Mr. Ushakov in December. Sullivan has spoken with his direct Russian counterpart in the Russian government, Patrushev, officials said. In his March conversation with Mr. Patrushev, which the White House described, Mr. Sullivan told the Russian official that Moscow’s forces should stop attacking Ukrainian cities and towns and warned the Kremlin not to use chemical or biological weapons. A Russian statement about the March conversation between Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Patrushev said that it took place at the initiative of the U.S., and that Mr. Patrushev has stressed “the need to stop Washington’s support of neo-Nazis and terrorists in Ukraine and facilitate the transfer of foreign mercenaries to the conflict zone, as well as refuse to continue supplying weapons to the Kiev regime.” Mr. Patrushev, director of the Federal Security Service from 1999 to 2008, is regarded by American officials as a hard-liner who shares many of Mr. Putin’s suspicions about the U.S. The White House hasn’t publicly acknowledged any calls between Mr. Sullivan and any senior Russian official since March, when he spoke with Mr. Patrushev. Officials didn’t provide the precise dates and number of the calls or say whether they had been productive. Mr. Sullivan has been involved in diplomatic efforts, including a visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, on November 4, to speak with president Zelensky, and Defense Minister Reznikov, meetings traditionally handled by the secretaries of state or defense. Mr. Sullivan has spoken to Ukraine’s leadership, urging them to publicly signal their willingness to resolve the conflict, a U.S. official said. The U.S. isn’t pushing Ukraine to negotiate, the official added, but rather to show allies that it is seeking a resolution to the war, which has affected world oil and food prices. Secretary of Defense Austin and several of his allied counterparts spoke this past month with Russian Defense Minister Shoigu as Moscow claimed Kyiv was preparing to use what is known as a dirty bomb against it, something Ukrainian and Western officials have denied. Mr. Austin initiated the initial call, which was their first discussion since May. (Source: TheWallStreetJournal)
Sun, November 6, 2022 at 5:05 PM Russia reactivates its trolls and bots ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections. Last month, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued an alert warning of the threat of disinformation spread by 'dark web media channels, online journals, messaging applications, spoofed websites, emails, text messages and fake online personas'. The disinformation could include claims that voting data or results had been hacked or compromised. The goal, as before, is to stoke anger among conservative voters and to undermine trust in the American electoral system. The agencies did not identify specific efforts, but urged people not to like, discuss or share posts online from unknown or distrustful sources. Social media platforms and researchers who track disinformation have recently uncovered a variety of campaigns by Russia, China and Iran. A recurring theme of the new Russian efforts is an argument that the United States under Biden is wasting money by supporting Ukraine in its resistance to the Russian invasion. The user on Gab who identifies as Nora Berka resurfaced in August after a yearlong silence, reposting a handful of messages with sharply conservative political themes before writing a stream of original vitriol. Nora Berka posted a doctored photograph in September that showed President Zelenskyy as a bikini-wearing pole dancer being showered with dollar bills by Biden. “As working class Americans struggle to afford food, gas, and find baby formula, Biden wants to spend $13.7 billion more in aid to Ukraine,' the account posted. The posts mostly denigrated President Biden and other prominent Democrats, sometimes obscenely and were depicting Ukraine’s president as a caricature straight out of Russian propaganda. The account was previously linked to the secretive Russian Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, according to the cybersecurity group Recorded Future. The campaign — using accounts that pose as enraged Americans like Nora Berka - has specifically targeted Democratic candidates in the most contested races, including the Senate seats up for grabs in Ohio, Arizona and Pennsylvania, calculating that a Republican majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives could help the Russian war effort. The accounts started becoming active again in August and September, called to action like sleeper cells. Liston, a senior intelligence analyst with Recorded Future identified the Nora Berka account. According to Liston, the website domain was registered using Bitcoin accounts. Since September the account has repeatedly shared links to a previously unknown website - electiontruth.net - that Recorded Future said was almost certainly linked to the Russian campaign. Electiontruth.net’s earliest posts date only from Sept. 5; since then, it has posted articles almost daily ridiculing Biden and prominent Democratic candidates, while criticizing policies regarding race, crime and gender that it said were destroying the United States. The articles all have pseudonyms as bylines, like Andrew J, Truth4Ever and Laura. Recorded Future and two other social media research companies, Graphika and Mandiant, found a number of Russian campaigns that have turned to Gab, Parler, Getter, the discussion forum patriots.win and other newer platforms that pride themselves on creating unmoderated spaces in the name of free speech. Many of the accounts the researchers identified were previously used by a news outlet calling itself the Newsroom for American and European Based Citizens. Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has previously linked the news outlet to the Russian information campaigns centered around the Internet Research Agency. The campaigns show not only how vulnerable the American political system remains to foreign manipulation but also how purveyors of disinformation have evolved and adapted to efforts by the major social media platforms to remove or play down false or deceptive content. As before, it may be hard to measure the exact impact of these accounts on voters come Tuesday. They contribute to what Perez - a board member with the OSET Institute, a nonpartisan election security organization, who previously worked at Twitter - called “manufactured chaos” in the country’s body politic. (Source: Yahoo / TheNewYorkTimes)
Sunday, November 6, 2022 3:14 AM GMT+1 The Biden administration is privately encouraging Ukraine’s leaders to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia and drop their public refusal to engage in peace talks unless President Putin is removed from power, the Washington Post reported yesterday. The request by American officials was not aimed at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table, but a calculated attempt to ensure Kyiv maintains the support of other nations facing constituencies wary of fueling a war for many years to come. U.S. officials shared the assessment of their Ukrainian counterparts that Putin is not for now serious about negotiations, but acknowledged that President Zelenskiy's ban on talks with him had generated concern in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the war's effects on costs of food and fuel are felt most sharply. U.S. National Security Advisor Sullivan said during a visit to Kyiv on November 4, that Washington's support for Ukraine would remain 'unwavering and unflinching" following next Tuesday's midterm congressional elections. (Source: Reuters)
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