Pentagon plan would create military ‘reaction force' for civil unrest
The plan calls for 600 troops to be on standby at all times so they can deploy in as little as one hour, the documents say. They would be split into two groups of 300 and stationed at military bases in Alabama and Arizona, with purview of regions east and west of the Mississippi River, respectively.
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Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Love in a cold climate: Putin romances Trump in Alaska with talk of rigged elections and a trip to Moscow
That was the moment he knew it was true love. Donald Trump turned to gaze at Vladimir Putin as the Russian president publicly endorsed his view that, had Trump been president instead of Joe Biden, the war in Ukraine would never have happened. 'Today President Trump was saying that if he was president back then, there would be no war, and I'm quite sure that it would indeed be so,' Putin said. 'I can confirm that.' Vladimir, you complete me, Trump might have replied. To hell with all those Democrats, democrats, wokesters, fake news reporters and factcheckers. Here is a man who speaks my authoritarian alternative facts language. The damned doubters had been worried about Friday's big summit at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a cold war-era airbase under a big sky and picturesque mountains on the outskirts of Anchorage, Alaska. Related: No Ukraine ceasefire but a PR victory for Putin: key takeaways from Trump's Alaska summit with Russian president They feared that it might resemble Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Adolf Hitler in Munich 1938, or Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin carving up the world for the great powers at the Yalta Conference in 1945. It was worse than that. Trump, 79, purportedly the most powerful man in the world, literally rolled out the red carpet for a Russian dictator indicted for alleged war crimes over the abduction and transfer of thousands of Ukrainian children. Putin's troops have also been accused of indiscriminate murder, rape and torture on an appalling scale. In more than 100 countries, the 72-year-old would have been arrested the moment he set foot on the tarmac. In America, he was treated to a spontaneous burst of applause from the waiting Trump, who gave him a long, lingering handshake and a ride in 'the Beast', the presidential limousine. Putin could be seen cackling on the back seat, looking like the cat who got the cream. As a former KGB man, did he leave behind a bug or two? Three hours later, the men walked on stage for an anticlimactic 12-minute press conference against a blue backdrop printed with the words 'Pursuing peace'. Putin is reportedly 170cm (5.7ft) tall, while Trump is 190cm (6.3ft), yet the Russian seemed be the dominant figure. Curiously, given that the US was hosting, Putin was allowed to speak first, which gave him the opportunity to frame the narrative. More curiously still, the deferential Trump spoke for less time than his counterpart, though he did slip in a compliment: 'I've always had a fantastic relationship with President Putin – with Vladimir.' The low-energy Trump declined to take any questions from reporters – a rare thing indeed for the attention monster and wizard of 'the weave' – and shed little light on the prospect of a ceasefire in Ukraine. Perhaps he wanted to give his old pals at Fox News the exclusive. Having snubbed the world's media, Trump promptly sat down and spilled the beans – well, a few of them – to host Sean Hannity, a cheerleader who has even spoken at a Trump rally. The president revealed: 'Vladimir Putin said something – one of the most interesting things. He said: 'Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting … No country has mail-in voting. It's impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections.' 'And he said that to me because we talked about 2020. He said: 'You won that election by so much and that's how we got here.' He said: 'And if you would have won, we wouldn't have had a war. You'd have all these millions of people alive now instead of dead. And he said: 'You lost it because of mail-in voting. It was a rigged election.'' In other words, the leader of one of the world's oldest democracies was taking advice from a man who won last year's Russian election with more than 87% of the vote and changed the constitution so he can stay in power until 2036. In this warped retelling of history, the insurrectionists of January 6 were actually trying to stop a war. Evidently Putin knows that whispering Trump's favourite lies into his ear is the way to his heart. It worked. The Russian leader, visiting the United States for the first time in a decade, got his wish of being welcomed back on the world stage and made to look the equal of the US president. He could also go home reassured that, despite a recent rough patch, and despite Trump's brief bromance with Elon Musk, he loves you yeah, yeah, yeah. 'Next time in Moscow,' he told Trump in English. 'Oh, that's an interesting one,' the US president responded. 'I'll get a little heat on that one, but I could see it possibly happening.' Trump's humiliation was complete. But all was not lost. At least no one was talking about Jeffrey Epstein or the price of vegetables.
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Truth about asylum seekers in Birmingham and West Midlands amid protest fears
The number of asylum seekers living in hotels and other properties in the West Midlands has gone up slightly this year to 8,828. While there has been an increase in small boat crossings that has driven up requests, the numbers involved still represents less than half a per cent of the local population. Latest Home Office data also reveals that only a quarter of those seeking asylum in the region are in hotels, despite those being a focal point for anti-migrant protests. The majority live in shared refuges, hostels and houses operated by Home Office contractors Serco. READ MORE: Police reveal dog walker update in urgent search for missing Birmingham man The new data, for the period up to the end of March, shows the real number of asylum seekers being housed in the region. It comes in the wake of damaging protests at hotel locations around the region and country, including at hotels in Sutton Coldfield, Solihull and Wolverhampton. One asylum seeker in Wolverhampton bravely shared his experience of being on the receiving end of protestors' chants and anger, describing it as 'very fearful'. 'Ibrahim' was speaking on BBC Newsnight. More protests are planned this weekend. As at March 2025, there were 8,828 asylum seekers being supported in hotels and other accommodation across the West Midlands. This is up around 5,000 since December 2024. Of those placed in the region, 3,306 were in hotel accommodation and the rest were living in homes, hostels and specialist provision. Birmingham: 1,018 living in hotels and 1,354 in dispersed accommodation. Sandwell: 277 in hotels and 1,367 in dispersed accommodation. Dudley: 35 in hotels, 630 in dispersed accommodation Solihull: 211 in hotels, 43 in dispersed accommodation Walsall: 0 in hotels, 687 in dispersed accommodation Coventry: 329 in hotels, 1,554 in dispersed accommodation Wolverhampton: 227 in hotels, 1,013 in dispersed accommodation In 2024, 53% of all asylum applications were refused at initial decision. Refugees have also been able to enter the UK through resettlement schemes. Between 2014 and March 2025, around 34,200 Afghans had been resettled under a government scheme. In 2022 two Ukrainian resettlement schemes were launched, triggering the biggest flow of people into the UK than at any time in recent history. By March 2025, some 223,000 people had arrived in the UK through these schemes. That represents more than the total number granted refuge via all other routes and countries. In 2024, a total of 108,100 applicants sought asylum, the highest annual number ever recorded. In that year, around 53% of applications were initially refused. The biggest nationality of origin was Pakistani, followed by Afghan, according to Home Office data.
Washington Post
14 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Trump, Putin break off summit with no Ukraine deal
Politics Trump, Putin break off summit with no Ukraine deal August 16, 2025 | 5:43 AM GMT President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin reached no agreement to end the war in Ukraine on Aug. 15. The Post's Michael Birnbaum explains.
