US and Germany could unveil plans to send tanks to Ukraine as soon as today

Published

1 year ago

January 25, 2023

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The US and Germany could unveil plans to send tanks to Ukraine as early as today.

Sky News understands that American officials will soon announce their intention to send Abrams tanks to help the country fight off Russia’s invasion.

And German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is set to address MPs in parliament at lunchtime, where he is expected to confirm media reports that Leopard 2 tanks will be sent to the frontline.

Analysis: US set to announce plans to send tanks to Ukraine – but why, when and what are the risks?

While there has been no official confirmation from Berlin or Washington, Ukrainian officials have celebrated what they said was a potential game-changer.

“A few hundred tanks for our tank crews – the best tank crews in the world. This is what is going to become a real punching fist of democracy against the autocracy from the bog,” Andriy Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s administration, wrote on Telegram.

Mr Zelenskyy took a more cautious approach in his evening address, and said: “There is a lot of talk about tanks now, about the modern tanks we need and about how this deficit can be filled. Many efforts, words, promises. But it is important to see reality; it is not five, or 10, or 15 tanks. The need is greater.”

According to Der Spiegel, Germany is preparing to send at least one company of Leopard 2 tanks – and one company is typically made up of 14 tanks.

Berlin is also expected to announce it will approve Poland’s request to transfer the German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the Poles – and other Western allies he did not identify – were already training Ukrainian soldiers on the Leopards in Poland.

Kyiv has been pleading for months for Western nations to send tanks to give its forces the firepower and mobility it hopes will be able to break through Russian defensive lines and recapture territory occupied by Russia.

Germany wary move could cause Moscow to escalate further

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrat party had been holding back on the move, wary it could cause Moscow to escalate further.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said the deployment of Western tanks would trigger “unambiguously negative” consequences.

The German-made Leopards, used by armies across Europe, are widely considered the best option as they are available in large numbers and are easy to deploy and maintain.

Meanwhile the US M1 Abrams is considered a less suitable option due to its heavy fuel consumption and difficulty to maintain, but a move to supply the tanks would appear designed to make it easier for Germany, which has called for a united front among Ukraine’s allies, to allow the supply of Leopards.

Officials reportedly said the tanks would likely be procured through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative fund, in a process that could take months or even years for the tanks to be delivered.

Earlier this month, the UK announced it would send a squadron of 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine “in the coming weeks”.

It came after Sky News exclusively revealed the UK was considering supplying Ukraine with British tanks.

US

Boy, 10, admits to shooting and killing man at trailer park

Published

41 mins ago

April 20, 2024

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Boy, 10, admits to shooting and killing man at trailer park

A 10-year-old boy confessed to shooting and killing a man in his sleep two years ago, Texas officials say.

Brandon Rasberry was killed while sleeping at a recreational vehicle (RV) park in Nixon, Texas, in January 2022, just four days after he moved into the area.

The 32-year-old’s body was discovered after he failed to show up to work for two days. He had been shot once in the head.

The Gonzales County Sheriff’s Office said the child – who was seven at the time of the shooting and did not know Mr Rasberry – cannot be charged with the crime because of his age.

According to Texas law, a child must be at least ten to have criminal culpability. The boy was later evaluated at a psychiatric hospital, and is being held in juvenile detention for a separate incident.

Speaking to local news outlet KSAT, the victim’s father Kenneth Rasberry said: “This is a little boy, for reasons that I’m sure these counsellors and case managers and all of that, that’s going to pick that poor little boy’s brain apart.

“He needs to be prayed on. He needs to be comforted… He’s forgiven. And he can still be saved. He’s so young. He’s definitely tormented by something.”

Boy threatened to kill student

The sheriff’s office said that they were called on 12 April over a boy threatening to assault and kill another student on a bus the day before.

When a deputy arrived at the school, he spoke with officials who told him that the child admitted he shot and killed a man in 2022.

After transporting him to an advocacy centre, he admitted to killing Mr Rasberry at the RV park and described the incident in detail.

According to the sheriff’s office, the child said he was visiting his grandfather – who lived near to Mr Rasberry – at Lazy J RV Park.

On 16 January, the child said he took a pistol from a glovebox in his grandfather’s truck, and then entered the RV belonging to Mr Rasberry. He then shot him once in the head.

As he was leaving the mobile home, the child fired another shot into a couch, before returning the firearm to the glovebox of the truck.

The child added he had never met Mr Rasberry and said he was not upset with him before the shooting.

He was placed on a 72-hour emergency detention, and was later transported to a psychiatric hospital in San Antonio for evaluation and treatment.

Upon release from the hospital, the child was booked in on charges relating to the school bus incident for terroristic threat and was placed in detention.

US

Israel’s attack on Iran reflects badly on Biden after president’s public message for Netanyahu

Published

10 hours ago

April 20, 2024

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Israel's attack on Iran reflects badly on Biden after president's public message for Netanyahu

The overnight events do not reflect well on President Biden.

He had signalled so emphatically just days ago for Israel not to retaliate.

“Take the win,” the American president told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Middle East latest – follow live

It was a message made public and combined with back-channel briefings we were getting from the White House and the State Department.

Washington’s message to the Israeli government was that the spectacular failure of the Iranian attack, combined with the diplomatic first of having the Jordanians and the Saudis defending Israel, was a victory.

“Take it, don’t retaliate,” was the message they hoped would land. Uncontrolled escalation is just too much of a risk.

But Israel has been ignoring America for a few months now. Biden has frequently found the limits of his influence over Gaza.

As this week progressed, it became clear that on this issue too Netanyahu wasn’t going to be bent by Washington, London or anywhere else.

And there were plenty who questioned the wisdom of Biden’s diplomatic directive.

Israel had just faced the biggest aerial assault in its history by a nation committed to its destruction.

“Take the win”?! Really? To many, it sounded like an astonishing appeasement of Iran.

And so, as it dawned on diplomatic visitors to Israel this week that Netanyahu and his war cabinet were going to ignore Biden and hit back, the language began to shift.

“Don’t retaliate” became “minimise escalation”.

“We hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible,” UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said after meeting Netanyahu on Tuesday.

My understanding is that Western diplomats were given a heads-up by Israel that it was hitting back overnight and with some detail on the type and location of the targets.

But this past week raises questions about the Biden administration’s influence and its strategy.

Biden’s call for no retaliation was very public and echoed by allies. It was driven by the real fear of uncontrolled escalation.

But was it diplomatically smart to make the call so public? Some are asking if that didn’t just undermine Israel’s ability to reestablish deterrence.

Privately call for restraint, maybe. But why publicly?

But more than that, did the public “don’t do it” messaging just expose President Biden to failure and weakness when his directive was simply ignored by Israel?

Brace now for the next move.

Perhaps a steady de-escalation through a series of strikes on targets each less significant than the one before it – both sides saving face, both claiming deterrence.

Such is the madness of conflict.

US

Donald Trump labels hush money trial a ‘mess’ after jury selected

Published

10 hours ago

April 20, 2024

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Donald Trump labels hush money trial a 'mess' after jury selected

Donald Trump described the hush money case against him as a “mess” after the jury who will decide his fate has been selected.

Leaving the court in New York after proceedings were adjourned for the day, Trump addressed reporters, saying he was supposed to be in states like Georgia, New Hampshire and North Carolina as part of his campaign for the 2024 presidential election.

“[But instead] I’ve been here all day,” he said, labelling the trial as “unfair”.

Trump trial as it happened: Former president looks ‘bored’ in court

Trump held up a stack of news stories and editorials that he said were critical of the case while he continued railing against the trial.

“The whole thing is a mess,” he said.

It comes as all 12 jurors have been seated in the first criminal case against a former US president.

Members of the jury include a sales professional, a software engineer, an English teacher and multiple lawyers.

Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News reported there are seven men and five women on the jury.

It comes after lawyers grilled hundreds of potential jurors asking questions on everything from their hobbies and social media posts to their opinion of the former president.

More than half of a second group of prospective jurors were dismissed by Judge Juan Merchan on Thursday after most said they doubted their ability to be fair and impartial.

One juror was also dismissed after she said she “slept on it overnight” and woke up with concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial in the case.

The challenge now is to select six alternate jury members before the trial can move to opening statements, with Mr Merchan hopeful this will be completed on Friday.

Trump is accused of criminally altering business records to cover up a $130,000 (£104,200) payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, during his 2016 election campaign.

Ms Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who was paid $150,000 (£120,000), both claim to have had affairs with Trump.

His lawyers say the payment was meant to spare himself and his family embarrassment, not to help him win the election.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He could get up to four years in prison if convicted.

The former president faces two other criminal trials accusing him of trying to subvert his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, and another that accuses him of mishandling classified information after he left the White House in 2021.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.