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As President Joe Biden likes to remind anyone who’ll listen, “This is not your grandfather’s Republican Party”. One of the issues where that’s becoming more evident by the day is Ukraine. John McCain, the late Arizona Senator and 2008 GOP presidential candidate, sounded the alarm about Russia for years, making him one of President Vladimir Putin’s “greatest antagonists,” the Arizona Republic noted in February 2022, days after the Russian invasion began. During the last year of his presidency in 2008, George W Bush said he “strongly supported” eventual Nato membership for Ukraine and Georgia. Last year, in a viral gaffe, he mistakenly said Iraq when he meant to call the war in Ukraine “unjustified and brutal”. His younger brother, Jeb Bush, a former Florida Governor, went to Europe in 2015 shortly before announcing his presidential campaign. In a speech in Berlin about a year after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support of separatists in eastern Ukraine, he said: “Russia must respect the sovereignty of all of its neighbours. And who can doubt that Russia will do what it pleases if aggression goes unanswered?” Mr Bush was quickly bullied out of the 2016 primary by the man who would come to embody the modern Republican Party – reality TV star and real estate mogul Donald Trump. Support for Ukraine is dividing the GOP field, with several saying the US should continue to support the war effort, while a number of others are following Mr Trump’s lead towards isolationism. The leading candidates are all against further intervention, while those adhering to more traditional Republican foreign policy remain in the lower half of the pack. Ahead of the first Republican primary debate, which may or may not include Mr Trump, here’s what the qualifying candidates have said about Ukraine: Donald Trump While president, Mr Trump attempted to withhold military assistance to Ukraine to get then-rookie president – now wartime leader – Volodymyr Zelensky to open an investigation into Hunter and Joe Biden, who Mr Trump saw as his main rival in 2020. During an infamous press conference in Helsinki, Finland, Mr Trump sided with Mr Putin when asked if he believed Russia had interfered in the 2016 US election, as outlined by the US intelligence community. More recently, Mr Trump has argued that all aid to Ukraine should be put on pause until federal agencies provide evidence regarding what he claimed were “corrupt business dealings” by Mr Biden and his son. During a July rally in Pennsylvania, Mr Trump argued that Mr Biden was “dragging” the US into the war. “The US Congress should refuse to authorize a single additional payment of our depleted stockpiles … until the FBI, [Department of Justice] and [Internal Revenue Service] hand over every scrap of evidence they have on the Biden crime family’s corrupt business dealings,” Mr Trump said in reference to what Republicans have claimed are allegations of bribery against Mr Biden. The GOP has been unable to provide any evidence of the supposed scheme. Mr Trump appeared on Fox News in March, saying that he would end the war in Ukraine “in 24 hours with Zelensky and with Putin”. “And there’s a very easy negotiation to take place. But I don’t want to tell you what it is because then I can’t use that negotiation – it’ll never work. But it’s a very easy negotiation to take place. I will have it solved within one day, a peace between them. Now that’s a year and a half. That’s a long time. I can’t imagine something not happening,” he added. “The key is the war has to stop now because Ukraine is being obliterated.” Mr Trump has also been ambivalent about his support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato). While president he equivocated over whether he would back Article V, which states that an attack on any one of the defence pact’s 31 members constituted an attack on all of them. The article has only been invoked once, by the US following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He is also reported to have wanted to pull the US out of Nato. Ron DeSantis In March, Mr DeSantis was forced to walk back his comments calling the war a “territorial dispute”. Mr DeSantis made the remark in writing to then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson. “While the US has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party — becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them,” he wrote at the time. In an appearance on the streaming service Fox Nation, he backtracked. “What I’m referring to is where the fighting is going on now, which is that eastern border region Donbas, and then Crimea, and you have a situation where Russia has had that. I don’t think legitimately, but they had,” he said. “There’s a lot of ethnic Russians there. So, that’s some difficult fighting, and that’s what I was referring to, and so it wasn’t that I thought Russia had a right to that, and so if I should have made that more clear, I could have done it.” In April, he said he supported a ceasefire, saying it’s “in everybody’s interest”. He told the Japanese English-language weekly Nikkei Asia that “You don’t want to end up in like a [Battle of] Verdun situation, where you just have mass casualties, mass expense and end up with a stalemate”. Vivek Ramaswamy On 5 August, the tech entrepreneur suggested that the US is aiding Ukraine because of Hunter Biden. “The purpose of the US military [is] to advance American interests, to protect the homeland. Not to aimlessly fight some random war that’s arguably a repayment for a private bribe that a family member of the United States received, $5m from Burisma,” Mr Ramaswamy told a small crowd at a Council Bluffs, Iowa campaign event, according to NBC News. “Was the payment to Hunter Biden corrupt? Absolutely it was. Do I think that it has some relationship towards our posture toward Ukraine? I think it’s likely that it does,” he added, seemingly in reference to unsubstantiated allegations made by congressional Republicans. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has claimed that a whistleblower told him about a tip about a $5m payment to Mr Biden and a family member during his time as vice president, “relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions”. Mr Ramaswamy has said that he would work to get an agreement that would offer major concessions to Mr Putin, which would mean handing over most of the eastern Donbas regions of Ukraine to Russia, removing sanctions, shutting down all US bases in Eastern Europe, and blocking Ukraine from entering Nato, according to The New York Times. He would then require Russia to end its military alliance with China and once again join the START nuclear treaty. “I don’t think it is preferable for Russia to be able to invade a sovereign country that is its neighbour, but I think the job of the US president is to look after American interests, and what I think the number one threat to the US military is right now, our top military threat, is the Sino-Russian alliance,” he told ABC News. “I think that by fighting further in Russia, by further arming Ukraine, we are driving Russia into China’s hands.” Mike Pence The former vice president made a surprise visit to Ukraine in June to meet with Mr Zelensky, becoming the first GOP presidential candidate to do so. “I believe America’s the leader of the free world,” Mr Pence told NBC News at the time. “But coming here just as a private citizen — being able to really see firsthand the heroism of the Ukrainian soldiers holding the line in those woods, see the heroism of the people here in Irpin that held back the Russian army, to see families whose homes were literally shelled in the midst of an unconscionable and unprovoked Russian invasion — just steels my resolve to do my part, to continue to call for strong American support for our Ukrainian friends and allies.” He added that the visit “steeled my resolve, and it’s made me better equipped to be able to go home as I speak to the American people about the vital importance of American support to repel Russian aggression”. He also criticised the Biden administration for being slow in sending aid to Ukraine. “We should never send American troops into Ukraine, and we don’t need to,” he said. “There are too many voices in our party that are sounding the retreat, that are willing to let Putin keep the land grab that he’s made in Eastern Ukraine, willing to make promises. I heard my former running mate announced over the weekend that he’s willing to promise that Ukraine will never be in Nato,” Mr Pence told radio host Hugh Hewitt last month. “In my opinion, the only thing Putin will understand is strength, and providing those courageous fighters in Ukraine what they need to repel the Russian invasion is the fastest way to security and preventing, preventing the day that American forces are actually required to go into battle in Europe again.” Tim Scott The South Carolina Senator supports sending military aid to Ukraine but dodged questions on if it was right for the Biden administration to send cluster munitions. Like Mr Pence, Mr Scott told NBC News that Mr Biden has “done a terrible job explaining and articulating to the American people” what the US interests are in Ukraine. “First, it prevents or reduces attacks on the homeland,” Mr Scott said in May, according to the Greenville Post and Courier. “Second, as part of Nato and land being contiguous to Ukraine, it will reduce the likelihood that Russia will have the weaponry or the will to attack on Nato territory, which would get us involved.” Just a month after the invasion, in March 2022, Mr Scott wrote that the war was “for the principles that America has always championed”. In May last year, he voted for funding Ukraine beyond what Mr Biden had suggested. While Mr Scott argued that Mr Biden had been waiting “too long to provide too little support,” the president backed the increase in funding. Nikki Haley The former UN ambassador has argued that it’s in the best interest of the US to support Ukraine. “A win for Ukraine is a win for all of us because tyrants tell us exactly what they’re going to do,” she said on CNN. “China says Taiwan’s next, we’d better believe them. Russia said Poland and the Baltics are next, if that happens, we’re looking at a world war. This is about preventing war,” the ex-South Carolina governor added. She argued that a Ukrainian victory would send a broader message to warn China about attacking Taiwan, that it would push Iran to not build nuclear weapons, and urge North Korea to move away from ballistic missile testing. She added that it would tell Russia that “it’s over”. Mr Biden has been “far too slow and weak in helping Ukraine,” she said in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute. Chris Christie Like Mr Pence, Chris Christie also ventured through the old iron curtain to visit Ukraine and signal bipartisan support even as the top candidates in the field are arguing for US withdrawal. The former New Jersey governor has argued that the US should back Ukraine until the war is “resolved”. “None of us like the idea that there’s a war going on and that we’re supporting it, but the alternative is for the Chinese to take over, the Russians, the Iranians and the North Koreans,” he said on CNN. He referred to the conflict as “a proxy war with China”. He noted that “some kind of compromise” with Russia may be required at some point and that the US should be part of the negotiations at a time when “Ukraine can protect the land that’s been taken by Russia in this latest incursion”. He argued that Mr Trump “set the groundwork” for the invasion and echoed 2016 comments by former Secretary of State and then-Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, calling him “Putin’s puppet”. He compared Mr DeSantis to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who unsuccessfully attempted to appease Adolf Hitler ahead of the Second World War. Doug Burgum The North Dakota Governor has suggested that he supports backing Ukraine but that he wants “accountability on every dollar”. “Russia cannot have a win coming out of this, because if it’s a win for them, it’s a win for China,” he told told North Dakota TV station KFYR. But he also said he wanted Europe to take on a bigger role financially in supporting Ukraine. In June, during an appearance on CNN, he said that problems within Russia could be exploited by the US and Nato. “Let’s give them the support they need,” he said in reference to Ukraine. “Let’s get this war over now instead of having it be protracted.” On the day the invasion began, 24 February 2022, Mr Burgum issued a statement. “We support and pray for the Ukrainian people as they defend themselves against these brazen acts of aggression by Russia and President Putin, which we condemn in the strongest terms possible,” he said. “The United States and its allies must stand together in support of Ukraine and hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked attacks. “This international crisis underscores the importance of U.S. energy security and increasing American production so we can sell energy to our friends and allies versus buying it from our enemies. “Our thoughts also are with those of Ukrainian heritage here in North Dakota who are concerned for the safety of their relatives as their homeland is under siege, as well as those North Dakota farmers and businesses with interests in Ukraine.” Read More Trump is raking in supporters’ donations to pay for his legal battles. Some of his co-defendants are going broke Trump slammed for ‘racist’ Georgia indictment post using term ‘riggers’ as jail booking nears – live updates Ramaswamy dismisses ‘professional politician’ DeSantis after ‘sledgehammer’ strategy for debate revealed The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 7, 2023--

A widely watched section of the U.S. Treasury yield curve on Monday hit its deepest inversion since the

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan's popular opposition leader, is now an inmate at a high-security prison after being convicted of corruption and sentenced to three years. It's the most dramatic twist yet in months of political and legal wrangling between Khan and his political rivals since he was toppled in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022. Khan's party said it will appeal what government critics describe as a flimsy case, aimed at removing the former cricket star from politics ahead of a general election meant to be held this fall. The government defended the conviction as lawful and denied that Khan is a victim of political persecution. If the conviction stands, the 70-year-old Khan would be prohibited by law from running for office or leading Pakistan Tehreek e-Insaf, the party he founded in the 1990s. However, polls indicate a strong election showing for PTI, and Khan's imprisonment could further boost its standing. WHAT WAS THE CASE AGAINST HIM? An Islamabad court ruled Saturday that Khan failed to report income from gifts he received from foreign dignitaries and heads of state while he was in power. In Pakistan, government leaders are allowed to keep such gifts after leaving power, in exchange for paying a portion of the value for them. The court said Khan sold some of those gifts and failed to state those earnings in a report last year to Pakistan's election commission. The court convicted Khan of corruption, handed down a three-year sentence and fined him 100,000 rupees, or roughly $350. Shortly after the verdict, Khan was detained at his home in the eastern city of Lahore and taken to a high-security lockup in the town of Attock, about an hour's drive from the capital of Islamabad. WHAT OTHER CASES ARE PENDING AGAINST KHAN? Since Khan's ouster, more than 150 cases have been filed against him by various government agencies on charges ranging from contempt of court to terrorism and inciting violence. Critics say this flurry of legal filings is part of an attempt by the governing coalition to sideline Khan, who as opposition leader has been able to mobilize huge crowds of loyal supporters. The government, in turn, portrays Khan as a corrupt trickster who has employed legal maneuvers to stay out of prison. The government has backers in Pakistan's powerful military, which has controlled the country for much of its 75-year history. HOW IS THIS ARREST DIFFERENT? Khan is being held in Attock, a notorious lockup for convicted militants and violent criminals. Officials familiar with conditions there said he has his own cell with a fan and separate bathing facilities, a step up from the prison's generally harsh conditions. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to brief the media. This is in marked contrast to Khan's brief detention in May, after he was dragged from a court hearing on a different set of corruption charges by anti-graft officials. The Supreme Court intervened swiftly, declaring the detention illegal. Khan was allowed to stay at a guest house in a police compound and could receive visitors while the legal arguments over his detention played out. Khan eventually returned to Labore, where his car was showered with rose petals. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? The Supreme Court could overturn Khan’s conviction and sentence on appeal — an outcome that political analyst Imtiaz Gul believes is likely. “There was absolutely no solid case against Imran Khan, who had to face this conviction because of a technical mistake,” said Gul, who heads the Center for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank. Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb claimed in a statement defending the conviction that support for Khan is eroding. “He may deceive a few naive, gullible supporters, but the general public now recognizes his true nature,” she wrote. “His pretense has been stripped away, revealing the face of an individual who evaded the law, exploited state gifts for trivial profits.” If Khan's conviction stands, he won't be able to lead his party into an election because those with criminal convictions are barred from running for office. But even from behind bars, he could wield significant political influence. After his detention in May, his supporters demonstrated their ability to disrupt public life. Tens of thousands of Khan loyalists rampaged through cities, some of them destroying military and government property. The government cracked down, detaining more than 7,000, with some prosecutions still ongoing. By comparison, the reaction to Khan’s arrest this weekend was much more muted, possibly because of fears of another crackdown. His calls for peaceful protests failed to rouse widespread support. WHAT IS THE POLITICAL FALLOUT? Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is likely to dissolve parliament in the coming weeks, possibly paving the way for elections by mid-November. The government could delay the vote by several months if it decides to redraw constituencies based on recent census results. Khan's imprisonment could win him and his party greater electoral support. It would also feed into the political persona he created after losing power — that of a fearless campaigner for Pakistan's disadvantaged. “The next elections are likely to be held without active participation of Imran Khan, but even from jail, he has the potential to effectively run a campaign for his candidates,” said political analyst Azim Chaudhry. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Pakistan’s ex-Prime Minister spends night at high-security prison after sentencing Bill apparently aimed at halting criticism of Pakistani intelligence figures expected to become law Beijing has invested $25.4B in Pakistan over the last decade, Chinese vice premier says

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More than a thousand pro-Palestine protesters stormed a Russian airport on Sunday evening after rumours swirled that “Israeli refugees” were arriving from Tel Aviv. The group stormed into the Makhachkala airport, located in the Republic of Dagestan, and rushed onto the landing field, chanting antisemitic slogans and seeking passengers arriving on the Tel Aviv flight, Russian news agencies and social media reported. Authorities quickly closed the airport in the capital of the predominantly Muslim region and police converged on the facility. Dagestan’s ministry of health said more than 20 people were injured, with two in critical condition. It said the injured included police officers and civilians. The local leader has since blamed Ukraine - he claimed he had “reliable information” that the rumours of refugees was started by a Telegram channel outside of Russia - but has not provided any evidence. Here is everything we know about what the Russian authorities are calling a riot. 7pm: Crowds gather in the car park of the airport Tensions arose when, the previous day, a local Telegram channel with more than 64,000 followers claimed that Israeli refugees were staying at a hotel inland near the border with Chechnya. They called for demonstrations in the centre of the Makhachkala, managing to encourage only small crowds to attend. Planned demonstrations for a second day, this time at the airport, escalated after the channel posted a screenshot from a flight tracker showing a Russian plane descending across the Georgian border into Dagestan. The screenshot was posted at 6.56pm local time (3.56pm GMT). Demonstrators had already gathered outside the airport prior to this message. The Independent has reviewed the flight history of (Red Wings) RWZ4728 and can confirm that it did arrive from Tel Aviv. It arrived in Makhachkala just after 7.15pm local time. At 7.01pm, the channel wrote: “Everyone to the airport!” 8.10pm: Someone surrounded and accosted by the swelling crowd A video emerged of a crowd of men surrounding someone they suspect of being from Israel. The channel that had called for the demonstration had urged the crowds to check the passports of those leaving the airport. “Every car must be followed by our car - we must identify everyone,” it wrote. In the video, the suspected Israeli’s passport is flicked through as others film the ordeal. Images show a woman holding a sign nearby that reads: “We are against Jewish refugees.” Videos showed the group shouting: “Death to the Zionists.” 8.20pm: The crowd storms the airport Just after 8.20pm, the first videos emerged of the protesters inside the airport. They appear to have stormed the entrance to the international terminal, from where they had moved after gathering in the car park. At 8.25pm, the channel urged people to return to the car park. They wrote: “Attention! Brothers! What we have done so far is enough! Just go back to the exit and be there checking the cars! “There is no need to engage in vandalism!!! Tell everyone on the spot!” This appeared to have no effect on the crowd. Five minutes later, they could be seen attempting to kick down a fence to the side of the terminal. The channel posted this video alongside the caption: “This is unnecessary! Come back to inspect every car!” It then abruptly stops publishing footage of the incident before authorities temporarily shut it down. A group of Dagestani men are seen inside the terminal at 8.30pm, according to footage posted by another channel. Fifteen minutes later, the crowds are seen running through the airport, towards the runway. 9pm: Crowds reach the runway The first videos of the protesters on the runway emerged just after 9pm. One video, taken from the stairs up to the back entrance of a nearby plane, shows a few demonstrators running around the parked planes looking for flight RWZ4728. At the airport car park, where crowds continue to swell, riot police equipped with shields arrive and begin to circle the group. 9.10pm: Airport runway is closed Local media reports suggest the Makhachkala airport authorities closed their runway just after 9pm. 9.20pm: Crowds reach a Red Wing plane A portion of the crowds, now being labelled rioters by the local authorities, surround a flight they believe to be RWZ4728. It is unclear if it is the exact flight that left Tel Aviv earlier that day, but it is a Red Wings flight, and only one RW flight travelled from Israel to Dagestan that day. Russian media reports suggested that the flight from Tel Aviv was only connecting at Makhachkala before heading to Moscow, but the flight did not leave Dagestan, according to flight tracking information. 10pm: Rioters start fighting with police Minister of National Policy of Dagestan Enrik Muslimov arrives at the airport, according to local reports. One Russian state media outlet wrote: “Now the crowd has been pushed out of the runway, and almost everyone has been removed from the airport building.” Outside the building, footage shows rioters rocking a police vehicle. The Investigative Committee of Russia for the Republic of Dagestan announces it has formally opened a criminal case for organising mass riots (212 Criminal Code) Video later emerges of rioters being arrested under the Red Wings plane. It is unclear when these detentions took place. 11.30pm: Crowds start throwing rocks at security officials Videos emerge of rioters throwing stones at security officials guarding the resecured fences. There are various reports of gunfire. Footage then emerges of hundreds of rioters marching along the runway. It is unclear what time this videos were taken. According to one local state media outlet, a passenger blocked at the airport reported “riot police, military, protesters, all in a heap”. According to another outlet, about 500 police officers were sent to Makhachkala airport to contain the riots. The word “pogrom”, a reference to the killing of Jewish civilians, is appearing in multiple Russian reports of the riots at Makhachkala. Midnight: Dagestan head calls for deescalation The head of the Republic of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, laments the situation in Gaza facing Palestinians but calls for de-escalation in Makhachkala. A military chief from Chechnya makes a similar statement. Melikov wrote: “All Dagestanis empathise with the suffering of victims of the actions of unrighteous people and politicians and pray for peace in Palestine. “But what happened at our airport is outrageous and should receive an appropriate assessment from law enforcement agencies! And this will definitely be done!” 2am: Airport cleared, injuries sustained The local health ministry says roughly 20 people are injured, including at least two security officials. At least 60 people are detained and 150 rioters are identified as the main perpetrators. Crowds are then dispersed while local authorities remain at the airport. The response Mr Melikov, during a press conference, blamed the riots on Ukraine without providing evidence. “Attempts to destabilise the situation in Dagestan, including using prohibited methods associated with inciting ethnic hatred, are being carried out by our enemies, opponents of our country,” he said. “Today we have received absolutely reliable information that the channel ‘Morning of Dagestan’ is administered and regulated from the territory of Ukraine - by traitors, Banderaites.” Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky responded on Monday morning, pointing to Russian antisemitism. “This is not an isolated incident in Makhachkala, but rather part of Russia’s widespread culture of hatred toward other nations, which is propagated by state television, pundits, and authorities,” he said. “Russian antisemitism and hatred toward other nations are systemic and deeply rooted. Hatred is what drives aggression and terror. We must all work together to oppose hatred.” You can read a full breakdown of the response here. Read More Sunak chairs Cobra meeting as police chief says terror threat ‘accelerating’ Jewish people in UK experiencing fearful time, says minister Biden wants to move fast on AI safeguards and will sign an executive order to address his concerns Live updates | Israel deepens military assault in the northern Gaza Strip Israel expands ground assault into Gaza as fears rise over airstrikes near crowded hospitals Cornell University sends police to Jewish center after violent, antisemitic messages posted online

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