Biden administration to announce $800Mln more in security aid for Ukraine soon - Reports

The Biden administration is set to announce approximately $800 million in additional security aid to Ukraine as early as this Friday, Reuters reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter.

The $800 million would be authorized using the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows for the transfer of excess military equipment from US stocks, the sources said on Thursday.

Earlier in August, Biden announced up to $1 billion in security aid to Ukraine for military equipment, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), surface-to-air missile systems and munitions.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

‼️ Zaporozhye NPP not damaged during night shelling, radiation level normal - Authorities

The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP) has not been damaged during the night shelling, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Zaporozhye regional administration's main council, told Sputnik, adding that the radiation level is normal.

On late Thursday, the authorities of the Russian-controlled part of the Zaporozhye Region accused Ukraine of shelling the city of Enerhodar where the nuclear power plant is located.

"No shells hit the NPP territory ... The situation at the station is calm, the staff is working. The radiation level is normal," Rogov said.

🚘 Multiple Fatalities Reported After 2 Planes Crash in Watsonville, California

The city of Watsonville, California, said in a statement that a mid-air collision between two small aircraft attempting to land at the local airport has resulted in multiple casualties.

"Multiple agencies responded to Watsonville Municipal Airport after 2 planes attempting to land collided. We have reports of multiple fatalities," the city said via Twitter on Thursday.

An investigation into the incident is currently underway, the statement also said.

More information will become available throughout the day, the statement added.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💨 Wind energy boom and golden eagles collide in the US West

The rush to build wind farms to combat climate change is colliding with preservation of one of the US West’s most spectacular predators — the golden eagle — as the species teeters on the edge of decline.

As wind turbines proliferate, scientists say deaths from collisions could drive down golden eagle numbers considered stable at best. Turbine blades hundreds of feet long are among myriad threats to golden eagles, which are routinely shot, poisoned by lead, hit by vehicles and electrocuted on power lines.

In April, a Florida-based power company pleaded guilty in federal court in Wyoming to criminal violations of wildlife protection laws after its wind turbines killed more than 100 golden eagles in eight states. The company pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and was ordered to pay more than $8 million in fines and restitution

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🎤 Putin to Attend G20 Summit on Bali - Indonesian President

Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will visit the upcoming G20 Summit on Bali, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said.

“Xi Jinping will come. President Putin has also told me he will come,” Widodo told the Bloomberg news agency.

Indonesian Ambassador to Russia Jose Tavares told Sputnik that Ukraine has not yet requested a meeting to be held between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin. “But Indonesia would be very glad to assist in holding such a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit," the ambassador said. 

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🍎 Apple warns of serious security vulnerabilities on its products

Apple disclosed the issue on Wednesday, noting that tech vulnerabilities for iPhones, iPads and Macs could potentially allow attackers to take complete control of these devices.

The company did not say in the reports how, where or by whom the vulnerabilities were discovered. In all cases, it cited an anonymous researcher.

Security researcher Will Strafach said he had seen no technical analysis of the vulnerabilities that Apple has just patched and advised users to update all devices.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚖️ Trump executive pleads guilty in tax case, agrees to testify

Allen Weisselberg, a senior Trump Organization adviser and formerly the company’s longtime chief financial officer, pleaded guilty to all 15 of the charges he faced in the case.

Weisselberg admitted taking in over $1.7 million worth of untaxed extras — including school tuition for his grandchildren, free rent for a Manhattan apartment and lease payments for a luxury car — and explicitly keeping some of the plums off the books. The judge said Weisselberg will have to pay nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest and complete five years of probation.

Judge Juan Manuel Merchan agreed to sentence the 75-year-old executive to five months in New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex, although he will be eligible for release after little more than three months if he behaves behind bars.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇦🇫 Afghanistan wants this year to reach an agreement with Russia to buy some 1 million tonnes of gasoline and 1 million tonnes of diesel, Afghan Minister of Trade and Industry Nooruddin Azizi told Sputnik.

🗯 "We are planning to import some 1 million tonnes of gasoline and the same volume of diesel. An agreement must respect interests of both countries. As this is a very important issue and one of the key priorities of our country, we would like to reach such an agreement as soon as possible," the minister said, adding that the agreement is likely to be signed this year.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Indonesia won't support initiatives that are not in line with its interests - Ambassador about the US idea about a Russian oil price cap

📌 LIVE UPDATES: Zaporozhye NPP safety system boosted over threat of new attacks - authorities

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🤔 The State Department is quietly pushing back on congressional efforts to brand Russia a state sponsor of terror, a new report suggests, a week after a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson underscored that such a designation would prompt a “equal” reaction by Moscow.

DETAILS ⬅️

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📌 🇹🇷 Presidential election in Turkey will be held on June 18, 2023 - Ministry of Justice

🇸🇪 🇺🇸 During exercises in Norrbotten County, northernmost Sweden, US B-52 Stratofortress bombers dropped live bombs on targets at a firing range, marking the first time such a drill has been carried out on Swedish soil.

▪️ In Vidsel, the two US bombers were escorted by Jas 39 Gripens belonging to the Swedish Air Force. A total of three bombs were dropped, which hit targets identified by the Swedish unit on the ground.

🗯 “Exercises such as this one contain several elements: from coordination, connection and escort in Swedish airspace until effective fire against enemy targets. The exercise will prove that the entire chain is working,” Swedish Air Force Chief Carl-Johan Edström said in a press release.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇮🇳🇨🇳 Relations between India and China are going through an extremely difficult phase, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said during his address at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand.

Jaishankar also noted that the Asian century will be difficult if India and China don't come together.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia

😳 An investigation is underway in Yellowstone National Park after an employee found part of a human foot inside a shoe floating in a hot spring, according to the Independent.

▪️ The discovery was made in Abyss Pool in the southern part of the national park.

▪️ The park has no other information about the investigation to make public, park Public Affairs Officer Morgan Warthin said.

▪️ An unsettling discovery was made on Tuesday at Abyss Pool, in the southern part of Yellowstone National Park that led to the temporary closure of the West Thumb Geyser Basin.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ German Bundestag committee head Ernst: It would be wise to negotiate gas with Russia; Germany should not suffer from its own sanctions

📹 Footage showing the Western Military District’s maintenance units restoring and repairing military equipment in the field during the special military operation.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Check out the latest statement made by Russian Security Council Secretary Patrushev:

▪️ Terrorism remains an important tool of the West in hybrid wars.

▪️ The West has not stopped preparing for an open armed conflict with Russia.

▪️ The US is not going to ensure the verifiability of its global network of biological laboratories.

▪️ It is possible that the United States wants to avoid responsibility for the development of coronavirus.

▪️ The US, Britain and their henchmen will be held responsible for any possible disaster at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Footage showing the combat operation of the Central Military District’s 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled artillery regiment.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚡️ Ukrainian shells fall near Zaporozhye thermal power plant, no damage caused - official