«Це питання української влади» – Салліван про ймовірне звільнення Залужного

Раніше цього тижня видання The Washington Post із посиланням на двох осіб, обізнаних із питанням, повідомило, що Україна поінформувала Білий дім про те, що президент Володимир Зеленський вирішив звільнити генерала Валерія Залужного з посади головнокомандувача Збройних сил України

House Republicans Announce Bill With Military Aid for Israel Not Ukraine 

Washington — House Republicans will move forward with a $17.6 billion package that provides military aid to Israel and replenish U.S. weapons, but leaves out more help for Ukraine, underscoring the challenges facing supporters of a comprehensive national security package that would also include billions of dollars for immigration enforcement.

The move gives Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans the chance to show support for Israel even though there is little chance the Senate will go along. Meanwhile, text of a broader Senate compromise is expected to be released this weekend and a key test vote on that package will be held during the week.

Johnson said that Senate leadership is aware that by failing to include the House in their negotiations, they have eliminated the ability for swift consideration of any legislation.

“As I have said consistently for the past three months, the House will have to work its will on these issues and our priorities will need to be addressed,” Johnson said in a letter to colleagues.

The House has already approved a nearly $14.5 billion military aid package in November for Israel that the Senate declined to take up. Republicans also insisted it be paid for with cuts elsewhere. The bill targeted the Internal Revenue Service for cuts, though the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said doing so would end up costing the federal government a net $12.5 billion because of lost revenue from tax collections.

The tactic of including IRS cuts also turned it into a more partisan, 226-196 vote. Johnson said in his letter to colleagues that removing the offsets should allow for swift passage of the Israel aid.

“During debate in the House and in numerous subsequent statements, Democrats made clear that their primary objection to the original House bill was with its offsets,” Johnson said. “The Senate will no longer have excuses, however misguided, against swift passage of this critical support for our ally.”

Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., released the text of the military assistance bill for Israel. It would provide $4 billion to replenish missile defense systems and $1.2 billion to counter short-range rockets and mortar threats. There’s also funding for the procurement of advanced weapons systems and to enhance the production of artillery and other munitions.

To ensure the support does not compromise U.S. readiness, it includes $4.4 billion to replenish U.S. stocks of weapons provided to Israel. There’s also $3.3 billion for current U.S. military operations in the region.

Footage on Stolen Memory Card Is Key to Alaska Murder Trial 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A woman with a lengthy criminal history including theft, assault and prostitution got into a truck with a man who had picked her up for a “date” near downtown Anchorage. When he left her alone in the vehicle, she stole a digital memory card from the center console. 

Now, more than four years later, what she found on that card is key to a double murder trial set to begin this week: gruesome photos and videos of a woman being beaten and strangled at a Marriott hotel, her attacker speaking in a strong accent as he urged her to die, her blanket-covered body being snuck outside on a luggage cart. 

“In my movies, everybody always dies,” the voice says on one video. “What are my followers going to think of me? People need to know when they are being serial-killed.” 

About a week after she took the SD card, the woman turned it over to police, who said they recognized the voice as that of Brian Steven Smith, now 52, a South Africa native they knew from a prior investigation, court documents say. 

Smith has pleaded not guilty to 14 charges, including first- and second-degree murder, sexual assault and tampering with evidence, in the deaths of Kathleen Henry, 30, and Veronica Abouchuk, who was 52 when her family reported her missing in February 2019, seven months after they last saw her. 

Henry and Abouchuk were both Alaska Native women who had experienced homelessness. They were from small villages in western Alaska, Henry from Eek and Abouchuk from Stebbins. 

Authorities say Henry was the victim whose death was recorded at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott, a hotel in midtown Anchorage. Smith was registered to stay there from Sept. 2 to Sept. 4, 2019; the first images showing her body were time-stamped at about 1 a.m. on Sept. 4, police said. 

The last images on the card were taken early on Sept. 6 and showed Henry’s body in the back of a black pickup, according to charging documents. Location data showed that at the time the photo was taken, Smith’s phone was in the area of Rainbow Valley Road, along the Seward Highway south of Anchorage, the same area where Henry’s body was found several weeks later, police said. 

As detectives interrogated Smith about the Marriott case, authorities said, he offered up more information to police who escorted him to a bathroom: He had killed another woman, and he went on to identify her — Abouchuk — from a photo and to provide the location of her remains, along the Old Glenn Highway north of Anchorage. 

“With no prompting, he tells the troopers in the bathroom, ‘I’m going to make you famous,’” District Attorney Brittany Dunlop said during a court hearing last week. “He comes back in and says … ‘You guys got some more time? You want to keep talking?’ And then discloses this other murder.” 

Alaska State Troopers in 2018 incorrectly identified another body as that of Abouchuk, because Abouchuk’s ID had been discovered with it, for reasons that remain unclear. But with the information Smith provided, investigators re-examined the case and used dental records to confirm a skull with a bullet wound found in the area Smith identified was Abouchuk’s, authorities have said. 

Smith’s attorney, Timothy Ayer, unsuccessfully sought to have the digital memory card’s evidence — or even mention of it — excluded at trial. The woman who turned in the card initially claimed she had simply found it on the street, and it wasn’t until a second interview that she confessed she had stolen the card from Smith’s truck while he tried to get money from an ATM and she had it for a week before giving it to police, he said. 

For that reason, he argued, prosecutors would not be able to demonstrate the provenance of the 39 photos and 12 videos, establish whether they were originals or duplicates, or say for sure whether they had been tampered with. 

“The state cannot produce a witness to testify that the video fairly and accurately depicts any act that actually happened,” Ayer wrote. 

However, Third Judicial District Judge Kevin Saxby ruled late Friday that the woman can testify about her possession of the card until she handed it over to police and that the recordings can be properly authenticated. 

Henry’s family has not spoken publicly about her death and efforts to reach relatives have not been successful. Abouchuk’s family has not returned messages from The Associated Press. 

“These were two Alaska Native women,” Dunlop, then the assistant district attorney, said in 2019 after Smith was charged. “And I know that hits home here in Alaska, and we’re cognizant of that. We treat them with dignity and respect.” 

Authorities said Smith, who is in custody at the Anchorage Correctional Facility, came to Alaska in 2014 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen the same month Henry was killed.  

In a 2019 letter to the AP, he declined to discuss the case. He added that he was doing well: “I have lost weight, I have much less stress and I am sober.” 

His wife, Stephanie Bissland of Anchorage, and a sister acting as a family spokesperson in South Africa, both declined to comment until after the trial. 

The trial, expected to last three to four weeks, was scheduled to begin Monday with jury selection. 

Prosecutors had suggested the possibility of closing the courtroom to prevent the gruesome videos from being seen by the public. The Associated Press, the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska’s News Source and Alaska Public Media objected to any such move in a letter to the court’s presiding judge. 

Afterward, Saxby said he has no intention of keeping the public from the courtroom, but safeguards will be in place to prevent those in the gallery or watching the trial’s livestream from seeing them. 

Republicans Governors, National Guard and the Texas Border: What to Know

AUSTIN, Texas — As Republicans cheer on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s escalating feud with the Biden administration over immigration enforcement, some governors are considering deploying National Guard members to the border — again.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday was among the first to commit more personnel to Texas, announcing he would send hundreds of additional guard members as tensions grow between state authorities and the U.S. government over who has the power to enforce immigration policies, where and how.

Republicans say tougher actions along the border are needed in response to record levels of illegal crossings, but sending guard members to the border is not new.

DeSantis is one of more than a dozen Republican governors who have sent state National Guard units to the southern border since 2021. His latest deployment comes as Texas continues to deny U.S. Border Patrol agents entry to a popular crossing spot for migrants in the border city of Eagle Pass.

Here’s what to know about National Guard on the border to date:

What is happening at the Texas border?

At the center of the clash between Texas officials and the federal government is Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, which has become one of the busiest locations for people attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally from Mexico. Earlier this month, troops from the Texas National Guard seized the park and began turning away federal immigration authorities despite pleas from U.S. government officials.

Immigration enforcement is typically a federal responsibility.

Abbott has said he will continue implementing new immigration measures, calling it a “constitutional right to self-defense.” Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal agents were allowed to remove razor wire placed by Texas officers along the border with Mexico, including in Shelby Park.

Texas has since installed more razor wire in Eagle Pass, which was not prohibited under the Supreme Court’s order. The Biden administration has argued that the wiring makes it difficult and dangerous for federal agents to perform their duties.

Other measures taken by Abbott as part of his border security initiative include a floating barrier installed in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, which has also been challenged by federal officials.

Who is sending guard members?

Florida has already sent more than 1,000 guard members, troopers and other officers to the Texas border since last May, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

At least a dozen governors have sent deployments ranging in size from a few dozen guard members to more than 100, including those of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Virginia and West Virginia.

South Dakota GOP Gov. Kristi Noem was the first to send 50 guard members to Texas in 2021, which were paid for by a private Republican donor who offered $1 million to make the mission possible. Two years later, she deployed at least 50 more.

Some governors have also looked beyond the National Guard, including Idaho Gov. Brad Little, who said last week he would send additional members of the state police to Texas.

What do they do?

The most recent guard deployments have been in support of Abbott’s border mission known as Operation Lone Star, which began shortly after President Joe Biden took office.

Many have been used for surveillance, such as spotting illegal crossings. Migrants are then turned over to federal immigration authorities, although Abbott has also empowered Texas National Guard members to arrest migrants on misdemeanor trespassing charges in some areas. National Guard members have also installed barricades and razor wire.

After Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds sent more than 100 Guard members and more than 30 state police to Texas last year, she credited the deployments with being directly involved in dozens of human smuggling cases and arrests.

But South Dakota records show that some days troops had little to do. During a rushed deployment of Texas National Guard members at the start of the mission, some also complained of low morale and uneventful patrols.

Trespassing arrests have been a key part of Abbott’s nearly $10 billion border mission, but may soon be phased out under a new state law, set to take effect in March, which allows police anywhere in Texas to arrest migrants who are suspected of entering the U.S. illegally.

How else is the National Guard used?

Not all National Guard members are helping Texas.

In Massachusetts, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey activated hundreds of guard members last August to aid with an influx of migrants. The members helped coordinate food, transportation, medical care and other basic needs at shelters and hotels.

National Guard members from across the country are also in Texas helping with the border security operations under the command of federal authorities, including from states that have not deployed soldiers to help with Operation Lone Star.

Сили РФ «активно штурмують» населені пункти на північ та південь від Авдіївки – Генштаб ЗСУ

«На Лиманському напрямку Сили оборони відбили 8 атак окупантів у районах Серебрянського лісництва, Білогорівки Луганської області, Тернів і Ямполівки Донецької області»

Tiny Texas City in Spotlight During Clash Over Border Security

EAGLE PASS, Texas — There are razor wire fences, a barrier of shipping containers along the Rio Grande and patrols of Texas National Guard. All are familiar sights by now in Eagle Pass, which has been thrust into an extraordinary turf war over immigration enforcement.

But the widening spotlight and record levels of illegal crossings into the U.S. have left a mark on this small Texas border town. More attention came Saturday when protesters gathered on the rural outskirts to rail against President Joe Biden’s border policies. On Sunday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was due to arrive alongside more than a dozen other GOP governors who have cheered on his feud with the Biden administration.

“We’ve even met people in Texas who have no idea the things that are happening down here at the border,” said Amanda Clark, 46, who was among the crowd at a “Take Back Our Border” rally.

The rally was the latest sign of how an unprecedented migrant surge has shaken Eagle Pass, a sprawling town of warehouses and decaying houses that many big retailers have overlooked. The town of about 30,000 people has become a major corridor for illegal crossings in recent years, making it a target for Abbott’s enforcement.

“Eagle Pass is more than just the immigration crisis that you see in the media,” Mayor Rolando Salinas said.

Mission: Border Hope, a group that helps migrants with travel plans after they are released by the Border Patrol with notices to appear in immigration court, has seen daily arrivals plummet to about 20 in recent days from highs of about 1,200, director Valeria Wheeler said.

The group’s shelter closed ahead of Saturday’s rally out of fears of unrest, even though rally organizers said they had planned a peaceful protest.

Since early January, when Texas seized control of city’s Shelby Park on the banks of Rio Grande, Eagle Pass has been at the center of a feud between Texas’ Republican governor and the Democratic White House.

The park, made up of playing fields and a boat ramp at the end of the downtown business district and next to a golf course, is closed. U.S. Border Patrol agents are denied entry.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday that the governor’s actions were “unconscionable.”

“It is unconscionable for a public official to deliberately refuse to communicate, coordinate, collaborate with other public officials in the service of our nation’s interests, and to refuse to do so with the hope of creating disorder for others,” Mayorkas said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The community lies in the Border Patrol’s Del Rio, Texas, sector, which is often the busiest of the agency’s nine divisions on the Mexican border. In a record-high month of nearly 250,000 arrests for illegal crossings in December, Del Rio tallied 71,095 arrests, second only to Tucson, Arizona. San Diego in California was a distant third.

Visitors have struggled to find hotel rooms as the state law enforcement presence surges, with budget chains charging more than $200 per night, said Jorge Barrera, president of the Eagle Pass Chamber of Commerce.

“Obviously everybody likes growth,” Barrera said. “But when it’s a little too fast, it’s little bit hard for the community to be able to keep up.”

On Friday, there were no migrants to be found on the grassy fields of Shelby Park as Texas National Guard members unspooled razor wire atop train containers dotting the riverbanks. About 200 migrants arrived Thursday, according to the mayor, a sharp drop from December.

A divided U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Border Patrol to cut razor wire that Texas installed, for now, but the state continues to erect more. The federal government argued the wire impedes its ability to patrol the border, including aiding migrants in need.

The Biden administration told the Supreme Court that “Texas has effectively prevented Border Patrol from monitoring the border” at Shelby Park. The state has defended the seizure, with Attorney General Ken Paxton saying he “will continue to defend Texas’s efforts to protect its southern border” against the federal government’s attempts to undermine it.

At a ranch outside Eagle Pass where Abbott sympathizers gathered ahead of Saturday’s rally, vendors sold Donald Trump-inspired MAGA hats and Trump flags. A homemade sign read, “The federal government has lost its way. Their job is to protect the states.”

Julio Vasquez, pastor of Iglesia Luterana San Lucas in Eagle Pass, said Abbott’s campaign is a waste of money because migrants “come with empty hands asking for help.”

Alicia Garcia, a lifelong Eagle Pass resident who avoids Shelby Park but attended an annual rodeo-themed festival at the nearby international bridge on Friday, questioned the value of Abbott’s efforts because many asylum-seekers are released by U.S. authorities to argue their cases in immigration court.

“What’s with the show?” said Garcia, 38. “Better to just break everything down if they are still crossing.”

Iraq, Syria, Along With Iran, Russia, Condemn US Strikes

Cairo — U.S. military retaliatory strikes on pro-Iranian militia forces inside both Syria and Iraq early Saturday have prompted condemnation from both the Syrian and Iraqi governments, as well as several countries that are allies of both Damascus and Baghdad.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad said in a statement the U.S. attacks “will seriously increase tensions in the region.” Syrian state TV quoted the Syrian defense ministry, which claimed the U.S. “attacked Syrian government forces which are fighting the Islamic State terrorist group,” alleging the U.S. is trying to help the terrorists “regroup.”

Rami Abdul Rahman, with the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Arab media the U.S. attacks targeted pro-Iranian militia and Syrian government forces along the border with Iraq in the area between al-Bukamal and Deir el-Zour, in addition to the Iraqi border post of al-Qaim.

He said that Iranian al Quds Forces, as well as Iranian Revolutionary Guard Forces and pro-Iranian militia forces, were hit in the U.S. strikes on the Syrian border region between al-Bukamal, Al-Mayadeen and Deir el-Zour.

Rahman argues, though, that the militiamen had been alerted to the strikes and were hiding in underground tunnels for the most part.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani declared an official period of mourning for the victims of the U.S. attacks on the pro-Iranian Hashd al-Shaabi militia headquarters in al Qaim and the town of Al Kashat. At least 18 people were killed, according to an Iraqi government spokesperson. The Hashd also claimed to have struck the al Harir U.S. base in the Kurdistan capital of Irbil. That was not confirmed.

Iraqi state TV reported that government spokesperson Bassem al Awadi denied U.S. reports it had consulted with the Iraqi government before the U.S. strikes, claiming the U.S. was “trying to mislead world opinion,” adding that the U.S. attacks “put Iraq on the brink of a precipice.”

The Iraqi parliament convened an urgent session to discuss the “repercussions of the U.S. strikes,” and the “presence of foreign forces on Iraqi soil.”

The Iraqi foreign ministry said it would summon U.S. Charge A’affaires David Baker to express its consternation.

Iran, which supports the militia forces targeted by the U.S., called the attacks “a violation of Syrian and Iraqi sovereignty and their territorial integrity.” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani termed the U.S. attacks “a serious strategic mistake.”

Russia, which is an ally of both Syria and Iran, accused the U.S. of “sowing chaos and destruction in the Middle East.”

London-based Iran analyst Ali Nourizadeh tells VOA that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was extremely concerned about a possible U.S. strike against Iranian territory and dispatched his Quds Forces commander Ismail Ka’ani to Baghdad several days ago to warn them “not to kill Americans and provoke them to retaliate.”

“(Ka’ani’s) advice was you shouldn’t go to kill Americans,” Nourizadeh said. “A strike should be limited just to show to the people that we are in action, and we do something, but not killing Americans, because on that basis the Americans are not going to tolerate it.”

U.S. Senator Jack Reed, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, had harsh words for Iran, however, saying that “Iran’s proxy forces in Syria and Iraq have been dealt a significant blow, and Iranian-linked militias around the Middle East should understand that they, too, will be held accountable.”

In Cairo, top political leaders of the Palestinian Hamas group, which controls Gaza, have been meeting with Egyptian intelligence chief Gen. Abbas Kamel to discuss a prisoner exchange and cease-fire with Israel to bring a halt to the nearly 4-month-old conflict.

Egyptian government sources have been tight-lipped about the talks, but Arab media claims that Israel has agreed to a six-month cease-fire and that Hamas is ready to trade over a hundred Israeli captives in return for around 300 Palestinian prisoners. VOA could not independently confirm the report. 

Prominent Australians Urge Government to Do More to Defuse US-China Tensions

SYDNEY — A group of prominent Australians including former politicians, diplomats and academics have called on the government to adopt “an activist middle power role” to avert U.S.-China conflict.

A group of high-profile Australians Wednesday called for the government to take action to head off conflict between the United States and China. The group, led by former Australian foreign affairs ministers Bob Carr and Gareth Evans, said in a statement that without a “comprehensive new détente,” tensions between the United States and China could escalate into a conflict that could involve Australia.

Fifty prominent Australian public figures, including former state government premiers, diplomats, writers and academics have called on the government to act as an intermediary to defuse tensions.

The group said it supports “a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region in which the United States and China respect and recognise each other as equals.”

It added that if “neither side demands absolute primacy” the risk to “global peace and prosperity” would be reduced. There has been no official comment so far from Washington or Beijing on the declaration.

China is Australia’s biggest trading partner. The center-left government of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stabilized relations with Beijing after years of disagreement and distrust over various geopolitical and trade disputes, including China’s ambitions in the Pacific and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australia also has deep-seated security links to the United States dating back to the early 1950s.

Carr told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.that Australia has the opportunity to act as an honest broker between the United States and China.

“Australia’s role is to plant the notion of greater collaboration and less adversarial talk in the relationship,” he said. “Taiwan, the most challenging diplomatic question here, provides a perfect opportunity of diplomatic language being an alternative to a descent into conflict and argument that could give rise to war.”

The Australian government has previously conceded that there will be differences and difficulties in its bilateral relationship with China.

The government is pushing ahead with plans to acquire nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS accord with the United States and Britain.

Analysts say that China’s increasing assertiveness is a key motivation behind the trilateral AUKUS agreement, but China has accused the three countries of a “Cold War mentality,” saying the alliance was embarking on a “path of error and danger.” 

In Effort to Curb Deaths, US Avalanche Forecasters Promote Taking Safety Steps

COOKE CITY, Montana — As Wesley Mlaskoch motored his snowmobile across a mountain in the Montana backcountry, the slope above him collapsed into a thick slab and began rushing down the hillside. 

He had triggered an avalanche. Within seconds, the fury of accelerating snow flipped the snowmobile on top of him, threatening to bury Mlaskoch in the slide’s debris. 

The Willow River, Minnesota, man survived the recent accident near Yellowstone National Park after pulling a cord on his backpack to trigger an inflatable airbag specially designed for avalanches. It floated him higher in the moving white torrent, so his head stayed above the surface as he came to a stop. His brother and several friends scrambled up the slope and used shovels to dig him out, according to Mlaskoch and the others. 

Mlaskoch was shaken up but not hurt, and by the next morning, details of his misadventure were posted online as yet another cautionary tale by the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, one of many organizations working around the U.S. to forecast avalanche conditions and try to prevent accidents that kill about 30 people a year on average. Four people have died so far this winter, including one in a rare slide within the boundaries of a Lake Tahoe ski resort and skiers in backcountry areas of Idaho, Colorado and Wyoming. 

‘It’s a house of cards’

Avalanche safety specialists say their job has become more difficult in recent years as climate change brings extreme weather and as surging numbers of skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers visit backcountry areas since the pandemic. 

More people means more chances to trigger fatal avalanches despite technological advances in safety equipment, including the airbag that saved Mlaskoch and kept him off the death tally for Cooke City. Avalanches in the area have killed 22 snowmobilers and 2 skiers since 1998, making it one of the deadliest locations for snowslides in the United States.

Experts say the potential for hazardous avalanches has set in for the winter for many mountain ranges. Scant snowfall across much of the U.S. West early in the season created an unstable layer at the bottom of the snowpack. That dangerous condition is likely to persist for months, said Doug Chabot, director of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. 

“That weak layer, when we get snowfall on top of it, it’s a house of cards,” he said. 

Specialists raise awareness of danger

Chabot is among avalanche specialists scattered across the country bringing increased attention to the dangers of avalanches and teaching people how to stay safe. They say their work has helped keep deaths from spiking despite more skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers pushing the limits on remote mountainsides. 

Breathtakingly steep terrain makes the Cooke City area particularly susceptible to avalanches. There’s no ski patrol, and the best hope for rescue is your own partner or group. 

“If you’re dug up in 10 minutes, you have an 80% chance of surviving,” said Chabot. “It’s not a smooth ride as you come down. You can hit rocks, you can hit trees, you can be traumatized, and even in the best case you’re still looking at 20% of the people don’t make it.” 

Southwest Montana’s Beartooth Mountains are inherently dangerous and there’s no stopping people from putting their lives on the line. Chabot’s goal is to make sure they at least know what they’re getting into. For 29 years he’s observed the region’s weather and visited backcountry sites to survey the snow conditions, gauge the danger and post avalanche forecasts. 

Just a few miles from where Mlaskoch nearly died and on the dame day, Chabot snowmobiled through the forest then clipped into skis to climb a steep slope. He steered wide of a funnel-shaped chute — hazardous terrain, its surface sliced up from recent snowmobile traffic — and worked his way higher. Reaching a clearing, he stopped, took out a lightweight shovel and started to dig. 

As snow gets deeper, it can get denser and stronger. But as it goes through temperature changes — which are more likely and more dramatic when the snow is not deep, a variable that’s shifting with climate change-induced droughts — it sometimes transforms into sugar-like crystals. Those crystals are quick to collapse when the weight above them gets too heavy, such as after a large snowfall or when the wind piles snow on one side of a mountain. 

Ten minutes into his digging, Chabot struck the ground 5 feet (1.5 meters) down. He tossed icy grains from the hole. “You see I’m just shoveling sugar here,” he said. 

Some outfitters require safety gear

With so many deaths in their small community, Cooke City’s residents “take them personally,” said Kay Whittle, who runs the Antlers Lodge inn and restaurant with her husband Bill. Both are longtime members of a local search and rescue team that musters after accidents to help find and dig out fatal avalanche victims. Kay Whittle is also an EMT and deputy county coroner, tasking her with calling family members of the dead. 

She and other business owners in recent years started more aggressively pushing their advice about avalanches, holding weekly public safety briefings at the Antlers Lodge. On Saturdays at a backcountry warming hut used by snowmobilers, avalanche educators give basic rescue lessons including how to use avalanche beacons — transmitters that send a signal rescuers can use to find victims. 

The equipment is expensive, but Mlaskovich attests that it’s worth it — and some local outfitters now mandate the gear before taking people out on trips. 

“I’m sure these guys get tired of hearing, you know, listening to us preach to them about safety, but it’s gotta be done,” said Shannon Abelseth, a snowmobile outfitter in Cooke City. “We don’t like to send people home in body bags.” 

Iranian-Backed Militia Official Downplays US Strikes in Iraq, Hints at De-escalation

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi militia official on Saturday hinted at a desire to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East following retaliatory strikes launched by the United States against dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iranian-backed militias and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Hussein al-Mosawi, spokesperson for Harakat al-Nujaba, one of the main Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, in an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad condemned the U.S. strikes, saying Washington “must understand that every action elicits a reaction.”

But he then struck a more conciliatory tone, saying that “we do not wish to escalate or widen regional tensions.”

Mosawi said the targeted sites in Iraq were mainly “devoid of fighters and military personnel at the time of the attack.” Suggesting there was not much damage could allow him to justify the lack of a strong response.

Syrian state media reported casualties from the strikes but did not give a number. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that 23 people were killed in the Syria strikes, all rank-and-file fighters.

Iraqi government spokesperson Bassim al-Awadi said in a statement Saturday that the strikes in Iraq near the Syrian border killed 16, including civilians, and that there was “significant damage” to homes and private properties.

Iraq’s foreign ministry announced Saturday it would summon the U.S. embassy’s charge d’affaires — the ambassador being outside of the country — to deliver a formal protest over U.S. strikes on “Iraqi military and civilian sites.”

The air assault was the opening salvo of U.S. retaliation for a drone strike that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan last weekend. The U.S. has blamed that on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iranian-backed militias.

Iran, meanwhile, has attempted to distance itself from the attack, saying that the militias act independently.

Iraqi spokesperson al-Awadi condemned the strikes as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, particularly since some of them targeted facilities of the Popular Mobilization Forces. The PMF, a coalition of Iranian-backed militias, was officially brought under the umbrella of the Iraqi armed forces after it joined the fight against the Islamic State in 2014, but in practice it continues to operate largely outside of state control.

The Popular Mobilization Forces said in a statement Saturday that one of the sites targeted was an official security headquarters of the group. In addition to 16 killed, it said 36 were wounded, “while the search is still ongoing for the bodies of a number of the missing.”

The Iraqi government has been in a delicate position since a group of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias calling itself Islamic Resistance in Iraq — many of whose members are also part of the PMF — began launching attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria on October 18. The group described the strikes as retaliation for Washington’s support for Israel in the war in Gaza.

Iraqi officials have attempted behind the scenes to rein the militias in, while also condemning U.S. retaliatory strikes as a violation of the country’s sovereignty and calling for an exit of the 2,500 U.S. troops in the country as part of an international coalition to fight IS. Last month, Iraqi and U.S. military officials launched formal talks to wind down the coalition’s presence, a process that will likely take years.

One of the main Iran-backed militias, Kataib Hezbollah, said it was suspending attacks on American troops following Sunday’s strike that killed the U.S. troops in Jordan, to avoid “embarrassing” the Iraqi government.

Як чехи збирають мільйони на допомогу ЗСУ

Чеська організація «Team 4 Ukraine» допомагає Україні вже 10 років. Її було створено після незаконної анексії Росією Криму та початку війни на Донбасі. Після повномасштабного вторгнення Росії команда активно збирає гроші та закуповує обладнання для ЗСУ та гуманітарну допомогу цивільним.