A satellite image shows deployment of a troop housing area and milvitary vehicles in Rechitsa, Belarus, this week.Credit...Maxar Technologies., via Reuters

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration warned on Friday that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia could mount a major assault on Ukraine at any time, having built up formidable land, sea and air forces on three sides of its smaller neighbor.

U.S. intelligence officials had initially thought Mr. Putin was prepared to wait until the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing before possibly ordering an offensive, to avoid antagonizing President Xi Jinping of China, a critical ally. In recent days, they say, the timeline began moving up, an acceleration that Biden administration officials began publicly acknowledging on Friday.

“We continue to see signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border,” Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, told reporters on Friday, adding that an invasion could begin “during the Olympics,” which are scheduled to end on Feb. 20, and warned that all Americans should leave Ukraine in the next 24 to 48 hours.

U.S. officials still do not know whether Mr. Putin has decided to invade, Mr. Sullivan insisted. “We are ready either way,” he said. “Whatever happens next, the West is more united than it has been in years.”

The United States has picked up intelligence that Russia is discussing next Wednesday as the target date for the start of military action, officials said, acknowledging the possibility that mentioning a particular date could be part of a Russian disinformation effort. The combination of the Russian troop movements and the new information about a possible date helped to trigger the flurry of diplomatic activity and public warnings by the NATO allies on Friday.

Antony J. Blinken, the secretary of state, told reporters at a news conference in Melbourne that an “invasion could begin at any time. And, to be clear, that includes during the Olympics.” Mr. Blinken added that U.S. officials “continue to see very troubling signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border.”

The United States and many other countries — including, recently, Britain, Japan, Norway, Latvia and Denmark — have issued a series of increasingly urgent calls for their citizens to leave Ukraine. The U.S. has ruled out sending troops to defend Ukraine, but has increased deployments to NATO member countries in Eastern Europe, and on Friday the Pentagon ordered 3,000 more soldiers to Poland.

American officials have warned of a grim toll if Mr. Putin proceeds with a military invasion of Ukraine, including the potential deaths of 25,000 to 50,000 civilians, 5,000 to 25,000 members of the Ukrainian military and 3,000 to 10,000 members of the Russian military. On Friday, Mr. Sullivan said that officials believed that an attack would likely start with missile and aerial attacks, and continue with a ground invasion.

“Russia could choose in very short order to commence a major military action against Ukraine,” Mr. Sullivan said, but added that officials could not be sure exactly when, or if, Mr. Putin may decide to invade. As Mr. Sullivan spoke, the president was preparing to depart for Camp David for the weekend — the whir of Marine One’s blades could be heard in the White House briefing room.

“The risk is now high enough and the threat is now immediate enough that this is what prudence demands,” Mr. Sullivan said. “We believe he very well may give the final go order,” he added, “but we are not standing here before you today saying the order has been given.”

On Thursday evening, President Biden told Lester Holt of NBC News that Americans should leave Ukraine immediately, following a State Department advisory that “military action may commence at any time and without warning,” its starkest language yet. And the president said that in the event of all-out war, the United States would not send troops to rescue Americans and risk a clash with Russia.

“We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world,” Mr. Biden said. “This is a very different situation, and things could go crazy quickly.”

Mr. Sullivan said on Friday that he expected the president to soon meet with Mr. Putin by phone.

Earlier Friday, Mr. Biden met by phone with other trans-Atlantic leaders in a call that included Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany; Prime Ministers Boris Johnson of Britain, Mario Draghi of Italy and Justin Trudeau of Canada; and Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France, Andrzej Duda of Poland, Klaus Iohannis of Romania, Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission and Charles Michel of the European Council; and the NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.

The leaders met for about 80 minutes, in a call that was initially supposed to be centered around “diplomacy and deterrence,” the White House said.

The call came as Russia builds up its forces around Ukraine — in Belarus, western Russia and Crimea, the territory Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014 — in what U.S. and NATO leaders have said appears to be preparation for an invasion.

Ukraine said on Friday that Russian-backed separatists were holding military exercises in the slice of eastern Ukraine they control, at the same time that Russia holds exercises near Ukraine.

— Katie Rogers

Sources: nytimes.com

Biden wants to brand you an enemy of the state: Dinesh D'Souza

D’Souza explains how the Biden administration is targeting its political enemies on 'The Ingraham Angle.'

SitindaonNews.Com, || Dinesh D'Souza commented on what he called an alarming trend he's observed under the Biden administration on "The Ingraham Angle" Thursday.

DINESH D'SOUZA: What I find really remarkable is that there seems to be an embedded point of view inside the Biden administration that America has now somehow become under Biden, a one-party state. And what I mean by that is that with the one-party state goes one perspective — a party line in thinking about issues. And so if you fall outside the party line, they don't just want to ostracize you or deplatform you or excommunicate you. They want to actually brand you an enemy of the state. 

…

Now, they're very far from this point of view becoming established or consolidated. But if it is, just think what a short step it is to essentially start locking people up, setting up camps, basically treating people as if they deserve to be somehow shut down because they represent a danger to the country's national security. But this seems to be the operating premise of the Biden administration.

Sources: foxnews.com

A South Korean diplomat was punched in the face in New York City on Wednesday night during what police described as an "unprovoked" attack.  STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images

SitindaonNews.Com, || A South Korean diplomat was punched in the face in New York City on Wednesday night during what police described as an "unprovoked" attack.

Officers responded to a 911 call about an assault in the area of Fifth Avenue and West 35th Street in Midtown Manhattan at around 8:10 p.m. ET. Upon arrival, they found a 52-year-old man suffering from pain and swelling to his face. The victim was a diplomat from South Korea, according to the New York City Police Department

After further investigation, the officers learned that an unknown man had approached the victim at the location and punched him in the face before fleeing on foot toward Sixth Avenue. Police told ABC News that "the incident was unprovoked."

The victim was transported via ambulance in stable condition to NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn for complaints of pain, police said. The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made, police said

A description of the suspect has not been released.

ABC News has reached out to the Korean Consulate General in New York City for comment.

New York City ABC station WABC-TV reported that the incident is not currently being investigated as a hate crime.

Sources: abcnews.go.com

Former-President Trump on Thursday denied a report from a new book that claimed he regularly clogged White House toilets by attempting to flush documents down the can. 

'Categorically untrue and simply made up by a reporter in order to get publicity for a mostly fictitious book,' Trump said

SitindaonNews.Com, || Former-President Trump on Thursday denied a report that claimed he regularly clogged White House toilets by attempting to flush documents down the can. 

"Another fake story, that I flushed papers and documents down a White House toilet, is categorically untrue and simply made up by a reporter in order to get publicity for a mostly fictitious book," Trump said in a statement. 

CNN spent much of the morning covering "breaking news" about Trump’s White House toilet, which came from New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman's forthcoming book. Haberman is also a CNN political analyst

"We are beginning with breaking news. Staff members at the White House residence discovered wads of printed paper in a clogged toilet on more than one occasion during the Trump administration and believe that it was the former president himself who was trying to flush documents," CNN’s Brianna Keilar said to open the 8 a.m. hour of "New Day."

CNN covered the "breaking news" several times throughout the morning, bringing on Haberman and others to break down the significance of Trump’s reported plumbing issues. 

"I learned that staff in the White House residence would periodicaly find the toilet clogged, the engineer would have to come and fix it and what the engineer would generally find would be wads of, you know, wet, printed paper … Meaning it was not toilet paper, this was either notes or some other piece of paper that they believed he had thrown down the toilet," Haberman told CNN viewers. 

"What it could be, Brianna, could be anybody’s guess. It could be post-its, it could be notes to himself, it could be other things," Haberman added. "It certainly does add, as you said another dimension to what we know about how he handled material in the White House." 

At one point, CNN anchor John Berman pressed Haberman on whether the alleged plumbing issues occurred in Trump’s personal toilet. 

"His toilet? Like no mistaking, whose toilet it was?" Berman asked. 

"It was in the pipes," Haberman answered. "This was his bathroom." 

Trump quickly denied the allegation, chalking it up as "another fake story." 

"The Democrats are just using this and the Unselect Committee of political hacks as a camouflage for how horribly our Country is doing under the Biden Administration," Trump said. 

Sources: foxnews.com

Troops loyal to Libya's internationally recognized government are seen in military vehicles as they prepare before heading to Sirte, on the outskirts of Misrata, Libya, July 18, 2020. /Reuters

SitindaonNews.Com | Sudanese forces arrested around 160 people on the border with Libya who were en-route to the war-torn neighboring country to work as "mercenaries," a state-linked paramilitary group said Sunday.

"The joint security forces stationed at the Sudanese-Libyan border arrested 160 people who were going to work as mercenaries to fight in Libya, including two foreigners," Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said in a statement.

The RSF is led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, a leading member of Sudan's transitional ruling council.

"Sending Sudanese to fight in Libya as mercenaries is unacceptable," said General Jaddo Hamdan, the RSF's commander in North Darfur state.

"We have been monitoring and securing the border with Libya to combat illegal migration, human trafficking and all cross-border criminal enterprises," he added.

Sudan is currently undergoing a fragile democratic transition after massive protests last year prompted the military to topple long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

In January, a United Nations panel of experts said many Arabs from Sudan's conflict-wracked region of Darfur and neighboring Chad were fighting as "individual mercenaries" in Libya.

The panel said they belonged to the same tribes that made up a majority of RSF personnel, but said there was no "credible evidence" that the RSF itself had deployed in Libya.

The UN experts' report also said several Darfuri armed groups operating in Libya "have participated in various clashes and military operations alongside Libyan warring parties."

Sudan's Darfur region itself remains scarred by war after a rebellion in the early 2000s against al-Bashir was brutally suppressed.

Libya has turned into a regional proxy-war in recent years, amid chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Since 2015, a power struggle has pitted Libya's UN-recognized, Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) against forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar, who is based in the east of the country.

Last month, Khartoum arrested 122 people including eight children in western Darfur who were allegedly intending to serve as mercenaries in Libya's civil war.

In an interview with AFP in June, Sudan's then foreign minister Asma Abdalla denied that Sudanese forces were involved in the conflict in Libya.

On Saturday leaders from France, Italy and Germany said in a statement that, they were considering imposing sanctions on foreign powers that violate an arms embargo in Libya.

"We urge all foreign actors to end their increasing interference and to fully respect the arms embargo established by the United Nations Security Council," the statement said.

"We are ready to consider the possible use of sanctions should breaches to the embargo at sea, on land or in the air continue and look forward to the proposals the EU High Representative/Vice President will make to this end," it added.

(With input from agencies)

Source: newsaf.cgtn.com

SitindaonNews.Com | The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Francistown, Botswana’s second largest city, on Friday donated 420 blankets valued at 117,600 pula (about 9,878 U.S. dollars) to assist the needy people during the cold winter season.

Luo Jinghong, the spokesperson for the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Francistown, said the donors decided to do something for the northeastern community of Botswana since they do business and live there, at a donation ceremony held in Francistown, a city situated some 430km northeast of the southern African country’s capital Gaborone.

“We are donating these 420 blankets which will be distributed to the needy people within the communities because we wish everyone good health and prosperity,” said Luo.

Luo said most Chinese people doing business and living in Francistown as well as its surrounding areas are now regarding Francistown as their second home due to the co-existence between them and locals.

“Our kids go to the same schools with those of the locals. We need to hold hands, stand and fight together challenges coming our way,” he said.

Godisang Radisigo, the mayor of the City of Francistown, said the donation has come at an opportune time bearing in mind that it is winter time. In winter, Radisigo said temperatures drop significantly, thereby exposing some underprivileged people to the harsh weather conditions.

“This will go a long way in ensuring that the people will keep warm this winter. We are very grateful,” said Radisigo.

Radisigo said the donation is another effort of the countless efforts by the Chinese community in Francistown to complement the Botswana government to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 2016, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Francistown has conducted seven donations to over 1,000 people, who are mostly the elderly.

Source : cgtn.com