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Senior Ukrainian official coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attack: report

A former senior Ukrainian official was the coordinator of the explosions that ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipelines, the Washington Post reported, citing Ukrainian officials and European sources, and in conjunction with German periodical Der Spiegel.

Roman Chervinsky, a former commander of one of the Ukrainian special forces units, was the “coordinator of the Nord Stream operation” and managed a six-person team that carried out the devastating multibillion-dollar infrastructure attack in September 2022, according to the report.

The outlet said Chervinsky and the group of six people rented a sailboat under false identities and used deep-sea diving equipment to place explosive charges on the gas pipelines. 

Chervinsky did not act alone and did not plan the operation, but was obeying the orders of high-ranking officers who ultimately answered to Ukraine’s highest-ranking military officer, Valery Zaluzhny, the Post said, citing people familiar with his role.

NORD STREAM EXPLOSION, LEAK AN ‘ACT OF SABOTAGE,’ WHITE HOUSE ADVISER KIRBY SAYS

Chervinsky, in a written statement to the Washington Post, denied his involvement in the Nord Streams sabotage.

“All speculations about my involvement in the attack on Nord Stream are being spread by Russian propaganda without any basis,” Chervinsky said.

Since the Sept. 26, 2022, explosion, rumors have swirled around who was responsible for the sabotage of the Nord Streams — with people quick to point fingers to Washington, Kyiv or Moscow.

RUSSIA URGES UN TO INVESTIGATE NORD STREAM EXPLOSION 

In February, Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, alleged that U.S. Navy divers laid bombs that destroyed the Nord Stream 2 pipeline under a direct order from President Joe Biden. 

National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson John Kirby repeatedly denied the United States was involved in the explosions following Hersh’s reporting.

“It’s a completely false story. There is no truth to it, Shannon,” Kirby told host Shannon Bream, on “Fox News Sunday” in February. “Not a shred of it. It is not true. The United States, and no proxies of the United States, had anything to do with that, nothing.”

The White House, the CIA and the NSC all said that Hersh’s report was “utterly false and complete fiction.”

Following the sabotage, Russia called for the United Nations to investigate the sabotage. 

In a joint letter to council members in the UN, Denmark, Sweden and Germany reiterated that acts of sabotage against the pipelines were “unacceptable, endanger international security and give cause for our deep concern.”

Concerns about the indirect effects on greenhouse gas emissions are “substantial and worrisome,” the letter said.

The National Security Council did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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White House reacts to Speaker’s ‘extreme’ stopgap funding bill 

The White House reacted to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) new stopgap funding bill Saturday, calling it “extreme.”

“This proposal is just a recipe for more Republican chaos and more shutdowns—full stop,” a statement from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre read. “With just days left before an Extreme Republican Shutdown—and after shutting down Congress for three weeks after they ousted their own leader—House Republicans are wasting precious time with an unserious proposal that has been panned by members of both parties.”

“An Extreme Republican Shutdown would put critical national security and domestic priorities at risk, including by forcing service members to work without pay,” Jean-Pierre continued. “This comes just days after House Republicans were forced to pull two of their own extreme appropriations bills from the floor—further deepening their dysfunction.”

The bill, a “laddered” continuing resolution (CR) would result in some funding running out in mid-January and the rest running out in early February. It tries to dissuade negotiation on a whole-of-government omnibus funding bill and attempts to push for the two houses of Congress to negotiate on the 12 regular funding bills.

“This two-step continuing resolution is a necessary bill to place House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories,” Johnson posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “The bill will stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess.”

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) had a positive response to the bill, saying he is “asking all congressional Republicans to support his decision.”

“Speaker Johnson did not create the mess we are in, but is acting responsibly to avoid a shutdown and put an end to the finely-honed process that has mortgaged our children’s future,” Sen. Johnson posted to X.     

Sen. Johnson’s Democratic colleague, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), appeared to have a polar opposite reaction to the CR.

“We are going to pass a clean short term CR. The only question is whether we do it stupidly and catastrophically or we do it like adults,” Schatz posted to X. “There’s nothing inherently conservative about making simple things super convoluted, and all of this nonsense costs taxpayer money.”

The bill does not include any aid to Israel amid its conflict with Palestinian militant group Hamas. House GOP members passed a $14.3 billion package for aid to Israel earlier this month, however, it also includes $14.3 billion in cuts to IRS funding and earned fierce opposition from Democrats in Washington. 

Speaker Johnson’s fellow House Republican, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) also stated his opposition to the CR. “My opposition to the clean CR just announced by the Speaker to the @HouseGOP cannot be overstated. Funding Pelosi level spending & policies for 75 days – for future ‘promises,’” Roy posted to X.

Go to Source: Administration News | The Hill

Biden’s movable wall is criticized by environmentalists and those who want more border security

McALLEN, Texas — The Biden administration’s plan to build new barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border in South Texas calls for a “movable” design that frustrates both environmentalists and advocates of stronger border enforcement.

The plans for the nearly 20 miles of new barrier in Starr County were made public in September when the federal government sought public input. The following month, the administration waived 26 federal laws protecting the environment and certain species to speed up the construction process.

“The United States Border Patrol did not ask for this downgraded border wall,” Rodney Scott, a former U.S. Border Patrol chief said.

Construction is moving forward despite President Joe Biden’s campaign promise not to build more wall and amid an increase in migrants coming to the nation’s southern border from across Latin America and other parts of the world to seek asylum. Illegal crossings topped 2 million for the second year in a row for the government’s budget year that ended Sept. 30.

People such as Scott who want more border security believe the barriers won’t be strong enough to stop people from crossing illegally. Environmentalists, meanwhile, say the design actually poses a greater risk to animal habitat than former President Donald Trump’s border wall.

Biden has defended the administration’s decision by saying he had to use the Trump-era funding for it. The law requires the funding for the new barriers to be used as approved and for the construction to be completed in 2023.

Most barriers on the border were erected in the last 20 years under Trump and former President George W. Bush. Those sections of border wall include Normandy-style fencing that resembles big X’s and bollard-style fencing made of upright steel posts.

Biden’s barrier will be much shorter than the 18- to 30-foot concrete-filled steel bollard panels of Trump’s wall. It also could be temporary.

An example of the style of barrier his administration will use can be seen in Brownsville, about 100 miles southeast of Starr County. Metal bollards embedded into 4-foot-high cement blocks that taper toward the top sit along the southern part of a neighborhood not far from the curving Rio Grande.

Over the last year, the Rio Grande Valley region was the fourth-busiest area for the number of people crossing into the U.S. illegally, though it was the busiest in previous years.

With the design planned for Starr County, federal border agents will be able to move around the fencing, said Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, who represents Starr County. “So it’s one of those things where if they want to direct traffic, they can move it.”

Scott agreed that the “moveable” fences can be used as an emergency stopgap measure to block off access in some areas. But he warned that if the fencing isn’t placed far enough into the ground, someone might be able to use a vehicle to shove it out of the way, provided they don’t mind damaging the vehicle.

Laiken Jordahl, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, said mountain lions, bobcats, javelinas, coyotes, white-tail deer, armadillos, jack rabbits, ground squirrels, and two endangered, federally protected plants — Zapata bladderpod and prostrate milkweed — may be affected.

Jordahl said the design the Biden administration is using “will block even the smallest species of animals from passing through the barrier.”

“The one advantage for making it shorter is, I guess if somebody falls while they’re climbing over it, they aren’t falling as far,” Scott Nicol, a board member of the Friends of the Wildlife Corridor, said.

Nicol, who lives in the Rio Grande Valley, is familiar with the type of barriers Biden’s administration will use, the terrain, and the weather in Starr County. He is concerned about unintended consequences, particularly on the Rio Grande that separates U.S. and Mexico.

“You know, if Starr County gets hit by a big rainstorm and the water has to drain into the river, these walls — whether it’s the bollard walls or the Jersey barrier walls — are going to block the movement of that water and dam it up,” Nicol said.

Last month, the Center for Biological Diversity along with about 100 other organizations sent the U.S. government a letter pleading for reconsideration of environmental protection laws. To date, they have not received an answer.

Go to Source: Politico

US military aircraft crashes in Mediterranean Sea after training mishap, ‘no indication’ of hostile activity

An American military aircraft crashed Friday night in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, U.S. European Command confirmed.

In a press release, U.S. European Command (EUCOM) said that the unspecified aircraft was conducting a training operation and “suffered a mishap and went down.”

The organization, which is responsible for U.S. military operations across Europe, portions of Asia and the Middle East, the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, said that they can “definitively say” that the mishap was “purely related to” training exercises and that there are “no indications of hostile activity.”

It is not clear what service branch the personnel involved are a part of, or details about the aircraft or its crew. 

BIDEN HAMMERED FOR SEEMING CONFUSED DURING VETERANS DAY WREATH LAYING: ‘JUST SO EMBARRASSING’

EUCOM also did not provide any additional information regarding how many crew were aboard the aircraft, saying that, “out of respect for the families affected, we will not release further information on the personnel involved at this time.”

3 FISHERMAN VANISH NEAR GEORGIA, PROMPTING MASSIVE COAST GUARD, NAVY SEARCH

The cause of the training incident is currently under investigation, EUCOM said.

EUCOM and the Department of Defense declined to provide any additional comment to Fox News Digital.

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Speaker Johnson rolls out plan to avoid government shutdown, prevent ‘spending monstrosity’

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., unveiled a short-term spending plan on Saturday aimed at averting a government shutdown when federal funding runs out on Nov. 17.

The two-step proposal would fund part of the government until Jan. 19, and the rest until Feb. 2. A senior GOP aide told Fox News Digital on Friday that they are aiming for a Tuesday House-wide vote.

Supporters of a staggered short-term bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), argue it puts targeted pressure on lawmakers to achieve their goals at an incremental rate. 

Johnson’s CR includes no additional funding for Ukraine or Israel, but it does extend key programs under the Farm Bill, another must-pass piece of legislation that expires this year. 

SPEAKER JOHNSON DRAWS BATTLE LINES AHEAD OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING SHOWDOWN

The speaker said his plan would avoid forcing lawmakers to make rushed decisions up against the holiday season by extending funding through the new year. He also championed its exclusion of President Biden’s $106 billion supplemental aid request for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the southern border. 

In a one-page summary of the plan, Johnson’s office said the approach would “prevent another irresponsible ‘Christmas omnibus’ spending monstrosity.”

“This two-step continuing resolution is a necessary bill to place House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories,” Johnson said in a statement after it was unveiled.

GOP REBELS’ FAITH IN SPEAKER JOHNSON ON SPENDING FIGHT COULD AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

“The bill will stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess. Separating out the CR from the supplemental funding debates places our conference in the best position to fight for fiscal responsibility, oversight over Ukraine aid, and meaningful policy changes at our Southern border.”

The plan first forces lawmakers to reckon with some of the traditionally less controversial appropriations bills — those concerning military construction and Veterans Affairs; Agriculture; Energy and Water; Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. The remaining eight appropriations bills must be worked out by Feb. 2.

House Republicans have pledged to pass 12 individual spending bills for the next fiscal year as opposed to a mammoth “omnibus” funding bill, which the previous Democratically-controlled Congress passed last year. 

SENATE PASSES STOPGAP MEASURE IN 88-9 VOTE, AVERTING SHUTDOWN WITH THREE HOURS TO SPARE

A majority of Republican lawmakers, including Johnson allies, have signaled they understand a CR is needed to give themselves more time to cobble together a deal and avoid a shutdown. 

But some GOP hardliners are already coming out against it for extending the “omnibus” priorities they opposed.

“My opposition to the clean CR just announced by the Speaker to the [House GOP] cannot be overstated. Funding [former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.] level spending & policies for 75 days – for future ‘promises,’’ House Freedom Caucus Policy Chair Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on X after a House GOP members-only conference call.

Fox News’ Chad Pergram contributed to this report

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Pro-Palestinian protestors gather near Biden’s Delaware home

Pro-Palestinian protestors gathered near President Biden’s Delaware home to demand a cease-fire Saturday.

“Delawareans from all over the state (and allies from out-of-state) are rallying to march toward @JoeBiden’s house in Wilmington & demand a #CeasefireForGazaNOW! Join us! #FreePalestine,” reads a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, by the Delaware chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

The post also featured a video of a crowd chanting, “Biden, Biden, you can’t hide! We charge you with genocide!”

The president has backed Israel strongly throughout its conflict with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which started early last month by way of a surprise attack by the militant group on Israel. 

“We’re going to continue to affirm that Israel has the right, responsibility to defend its citizens from terror and it needs to do so in a manner that is consistent with international and humanitarian law and prioritizes the protection of citizens,” Biden said earlier this month. 

Recently, the White House, Biden and other U.S. officials began a push for a “pause” but have not supported a cease-fire. The pause had been described by the White House as a temporary, “localized” break in fighting to allow aid into Gaza or civilians to get out. 

The White House said Thursday that Israel agreed to stop operations in Gaza for at least four hours at different times each day for civilians to evacuate from the area of conflict. Palestinians will be able to head from the northern part of Gaza to the southern part. Additionally, a second safe corridor will be established.

“We understand that Israel will begin to implement four hour pauses in areas of northern Gaza each day, with an announcement to be made three hours beforehand,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said in a briefing with reporters.

Go to Source: Administration News | The Hill

DeSantis accuses RNC of doing Trump’s ‘bidding’ with threats to punish 2024 candidates

The Republican National Committee (RNC) threatened to prevent GOP presidential candidates from taking part in future party-sanctioned debates if they engaged in an open-press event in Iowa next week, drawing backlash from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The threat came prior to an agreement that was announced Saturday between the RNC and organizers of the event to allow GOP candidates to participate.

Prior to the agreement over the format of the forum, in an Oct. 28 letter to the respective presidential campaigns the RNC Counsel’s Office said that any candidate who participates in the Nov. 17 Des Moines event would violate their pledge to not participate in non-RNC-sanctioned primary debates.

“It has come to the attention of the RNC Counsel’s Office that several Republican presidential candidates have been invited to participate in an open-press event in Iowa in November at which they would ‘gather around the table to have a moderated, friendly, and open discussion about the issues.’ In other words, a debate,” the RNC Counsel’s Office wrote in the letter, which was obtained by Fox News.

GOP DEBATE: HALEY TAKES INCOMING FIRE AS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES BATTLE FOR 2ND PLACE BEHIND TRUMP

“As a reminder, in accordance with RNC Rule 10(a)(11), each Republican presidential candidate participating in RNC-sanctioned primary debates has signed a pledge stating, in relevant part, that ‘if I participate in any debate that has not been sanctioned by the Republican National Committee, I will not be eligible to participate in any further Republican National Committee sanctioned debates,'” the counsel’s office added in the letter.

Should the candidate(s) choose to ignore the warning and participate in the event, or an event similar in nature, the counsel’s office said the candidate(s) said at the time that they “will be deemed to have violated this pledge and will be disqualified from taking part in any future RNC-sanctioned presidential primary debates.”

Five GOP candidates — former President Donald Trump, DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott — were invited to the Family Leader’s “Thanksgiving Family Forum.”

Organizers for the event told Fox News that three candidates — DeSantis, Ramaswamy, and Scott – have confirmed they will attend, with Haley expected to do the same.

The RNC’s former threat to bar Republican candidates from future debates if they take part in the event was met with frustration from DeSantis, who said he would participate in the event “no matter what.”

“I’m going to be there at The Family Leader. I think it’s an important part of this process,” DeSantis wrote in a post to X on Saturday. “There’s no way that should cause the RNC to penalize any candidate. I’ll be here no matter what happens.”

GOP DEBATE FIREWORKS: WHY VIVEK RAMASWAMY TOOK AIM AT RNC CHAIR RONNA MCDANIEL

Following the letter to Republican candidates, Family Leader President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats announced Saturday that he and the RNC had “agreed on the format” for the event.

“The Forum is NOT a debate,” he wrote in a post to X. “Thus, the RNC is giving a thumbs up for candidates to participate. Thanks to the RNC for facilitating a win/win for the process.”

Prior to announcing the agreement Saturday, Vander Plaats told the Des Moines Register that his organization would move forward with the planned event, saying “these forums are not debates.”

DeSantis also accused the RNC of doing Trump’s “bidding” by issuing the threat while speaking to reporters on Saturday, before the agreement was announced by Vander Plaats.

“Bob Vander Plaats is someone that’s been very outspoken, that Donald Trump is not the way forward for the party. And because of that, I think there’s been pressure from Trump’s camp on the RNC to try to do something to stop it,” DeSantis said. “But if I have an opportunity to speak to Iowans about issues that matter to them, I’m going to show up.”

DeSantis also questioned why the RNC would “be doing the bidding of somebody who not only didn’t show up to the last debate, but counter programed a rally.”

“I’ll be there one way or another, we’re going to be there spreading the message, answering the questions,” he added.

The event is set to feature presidential candidates sitting around a table to engage in conversation with Vander Plaats. In order to be invited to the forum, candidates needed to have an RCP polling average of 4.0 or more in either the national polls or the Iowa polls on November 1.

Vander Plaats is one of the major endorsements candidates are seeking. He’s expected to announce around Thanksgiving who he will support in the race.

Vander Plaats endorsed the last three Republican winners of the Iowa caucuses — Mike Huckabee in 2008, Rick Santorum in 2012 and Ted Cruz in 2016 — but none went on to win the GOP nomination.

Fox News Digital reached out to the campaigns of Ramaswamy, Haley, and Scott for comment.

Fox News’ Jessica Loker and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

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