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Kyle Rittenhouse said he has given up on his Lakers fans and now plans to sue their star player, LeBron Jamesas part of his attempt to prosecute all those he claims to have slandered him before he was acquitted of murder charges.

Rittenhouse, who said he wanted to hold “big” the big media and entertainment figures in charge, was primarily responding to accusations by the NBA superstar that he had falsified his tears in Kenosha. Wisconsin the courtroom during the trial, according to TMZ.

The teenager stood up in his own defense and became emotional when he spoke about the murder of two men and the wounding of a third during clashes amid anti-police protests in Kenosha in August 2020. He added that he acted in self-defense.

James’ tweet mocked Rittenhouse’s tears in front of his 50 million followers.

‘What tears ????? I didn’t see any. Man, take it off! “This boy ate a few lemon heads before going to court,” he wrote.

Kyle Rittenhouse has launched a media accountability project to target those he trusts. slanders him during the trial against him

LeBron James appears at the 2022 NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland

Rittenhouse said he stopped supporting the Lakers after James’ tweet.

“I liked LeBron,” Rittenhouse told The BlazeTV in December. And then I say to myself, “You know what the hell, LeBron.”

“I was a fan of the Lakers before he said that,” he added.

Last November, the 18-year-old was acquitted of first-degree premeditated murder and other charges and walked out of court as a free man.

Speaking of Tucker Carlson Fox News on Monday night, Rittenhouse said he wanted to hold the big media and entertainment figures in charge, noting that there was talk show host Upi Goldberg.

President Joe Biden is likely to be among the targets of the Media Accountability Project

Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse says he intends to take legal action against the media and “celebrities, politicians and athletes” who called him a “murderer”

Rittenhouse told Tucker Carlson on Fox News Monday night that he believed several organizations and individuals had been misled into covering him and the Kenosha incident.

TUCKER: “Will you sue news organizations?”

KYLE RITTENHOUSE: “We look at a lot, politicians, athletes, celebrities, Whope Goldberg is on the list, she called me a murderer after I was acquitted … Also Jenk [Uyhur] from the Young Turks. ” pic.twitter.com/MULZf38Vkf

– Greg Price (@ greg_price11) February 22, 2022

“We look at a lot of politicians, celebrities, athletes, Upie Goldberg is on the list. She called me a murderer after being acquitted by a jury of my peers. She kept saying that, and there are others, “Rittenhouse told Carlson.

Rittenhouse said he would create the Media Accountability Project as a tool to help raise funds and hold the media accountable for “the lies that were told about him.”

He also revealed that Jenk Uyghur, the founder of the Young Turks’ Show, was within his reach, adding that he continued to call me a “killer”.

The Young Turks show is a liberal and left-wing commentary news program on YouTube, which also appears on select television channels.

– What about the people who called you a supporter of the white race? This makes it very difficult to find a job for the rest of your life if you are a white fan. Will you answer them? Carlson asked.

– Absolutely. We will hold everyone responsible for lying to me, and anyone who lies calls me a white supporter, “Rittenhouse said in response. “They will all be held accountable. And we will consider them in court.

Rittenhouse has refused to be drawn to who else may come under fire from him, but it could be quite a list, including United States President Joe Biden.

Two months before Biden was elected president, he criticized then-President Trump for refusing to condemn opponents Black lives matter riots such as the white race.

The then-candidate’s tweet included an image from a video of Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the filming.

“There’s no other way to say it: the president of the United States has refused to deny white supremacy on the debate scene last night,” Biden tweeted in September 2020.

After the jury determined that Rittenhouse did not act with “complete disregard for human life” when he shot the two protesters, Biden delicately weighed the sentence, but back to his campaign tweet.

Two months before Biden was elected president, he criticized then-President Trump for refusing to condemn those opposed to the Black Lives Matter riots as “white leaders,” along with a video of Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time. years

“While the Kenosha verdict will make many Americans feel angry and worried, including me, we have to admit that the jury has spoken.

“I urge everyone to express their views peacefully, in accordance with the rule of law. Violence and the destruction of property have no place in our democracy.

At the time, Rittenhouse’s attorney, Mark Richards, said he was intimidated by Biden’s portrayal of a white man.

“I’ve never had a case, I don’t think I’ll ever have one, when within two or three days of each other, you know, the president and the presidential candidate comment on it. They both had so many different beliefs, “Richards said.

“President Biden has said some things that I think are so untrue and untrue – he is not a white supporter. I am glad that he at least respects the verdict of the jurors.

“I don’t want to see anyone else have to deal with what I’ve been through,” he added. “So I want to hold them accountable for what they did to me, because I don’t want to see anyone have to go through what I went through.”

During a speech Monday night, Rittenhouse said he would pursue people through his media accountability project, which he hopes will target those who speak ill of him.

The website begins with a video of Malcolm X with Rittenhouse reading a quote from the civil rights activist.

“The media is the most powerful subject on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that is power.

New HBO documentary highlights the life and career of Wall Street’s most fearsome investor, Carl Icahn

He’s one of the shrewdest investors in America, but according to Carl Icahn, capitalism is broken.

The 86-year-old billionaire financier points to his own $16.6b fortune as evidence: ‘Frankly I made this money because the system is so bad, not because I’m a genius.’ 

Icahn is the subject of a new HBO documentary titled, Icahn: The Restless Billionaire, which tracks the supremo’s life from his modest beginnings as a Queens-born boy who paid for his Princeton education by playing poker before dropping out of med school to become one of the most fearsome investors on Wall Street. 

For the last 50 years, Icahn, 86, has loomed large as a powerful and controversial figure in corporate America. 

He is capable of moving markets with a single tweet. His high-profile 2013 investment in Apple instantly raised the value of its stock by $17billion – a phenomenon known as ‘The Icahn Lift.’ 

As a camera pans across his plush New York City home office, the lens picks up on a notebook resting on the desk titled, ‘People who I want to punch in the face.’ Next to it, a custom nameplate reads: ‘Master of the Universe.’

Icahn is known to be tough. Intimidating. Relentless. As a child, his mother said he had the spirit of Genghis Khan. His wife Gail, says he can be ‘a bull dog’ when he sets his mind to something.

The late T. Boone Pickens said ‘he’s about smooth as a stucco bathtub.’  

The Wall Street iconoclast is infamously known for his hostile takeovers of blue-chip companies like Xerox, TWA, Texaco, Herbalife and Marvel Comics and well-known investments in Netflix, Ebay, Lionsgate and Time Warner, US Steel Corps and Dell Technologies. 

He calls himself a ‘shareholder activist’ and is every CEO’s worst nightmare. 

Carl Icahn, 86, is known as an ‘activist investor’ which means he uses his considerable shareholder stake in a corporation to put pressure on its management and force change as he sees fit. His goal is to boost profits for himself and fellow stockholders of the company. But detractors say that he’s a ‘corporate raider’ who enriches himself at the harm of the company and its employers 

Icahn is known to be tough, relentless and intimidating. As a child, his mother said he had the spirit of Genghis Khan. His wife Gail, says he can be ‘a bull dog’ when he sets his mind to something

Icahn was born an only child to a family with modest means and grew up playing basketball with the Gotti brothers on the streets of Queens. He taught himself  poker to afford his room and board at Princeton. After dropping out of med-school, he took his skill with numbers to Wall Street where he eventually became known as a ruthless foe to CEOs and friend of shareholders

But to his detractors, Icahn is a bloodsucking ‘vulture capitalist,’ and ‘corporate raider,’ who enriches himself at the expense of employees and the better interest of the company. . 

Nothing gets his hackles up quite like an overpaid, incompetent CEO that lacks accountability – and leaves everyman investors in the lurch. 

The combative moneyman thinks C-suite executives are more akin to country club committees that business. ‘They spend no time thinking about the company. They’re collecting their fee and they’re playing golf all day,’ said CNBC journalist, Scott Wapner to HBO.  

Rather than ‘corporate raider,’ he much prefers to consider himself an advocate and insists that everything he does is good for his fellow stockholders.

‘It’s sort of colorful term, ‘corporate raider,’ but it’s far from the truth,’ he tells HBO. ‘It’s the opposite of what we do. We bring things to the party, we don’t raid them and take them out. Activist or raider, I haven’t changed what I’ve done one iota. Call me whatever you want.’

As an ‘activist investor,’ Icahn focuses on purchasing large quantities of stock in undervalued companies with the goal of increasing their worth. ‘You have to buy things where the rest of the world are looking at you and thinking you’re a little bit crazy, you’re going against the trend,’ he says. 

After amassing large stakes in the undervalued company, Icahn then weaponizes his position to get seats on the board, so he can enforce change as he sees fit.  

Sometimes this means huge layoffs across the company, or adjustments in the structure of operations – but most of the time it means massive changes in upper management. 

If they refuse, he will do whatever it takes to browbeat them into submission. He will threaten executives with a shareholder revolt, undertake massive PR campaigns to sway public opinion and run his own alternate slate of directors at annual board meetings. For Icahn, waging proxy battles is sport.   

Identifying opportunity, imploding from within, and rebuilding companies stronger is a strategy that has made him fabulously rich, (he’s ranked 43 among the world’s richest people) while also padding the pockets of small-time investors.

His singular goal is to boost shareholder profit. He argues that what’s good for himself as a majority stakeholder, is also good for small stockholders. 

Bryan Burrough, author of Barbarians At The Gate told HBO: ‘He has helped stockholders quite a lot, including plumbers and teachers whose pension funds, fund their retirement. So this is not just for hoity toity big time investors.’

To prove the point, Icahn Enterprises LLP stock has increased 1,931% since the year 2000, ‘that’s when we really started getting into the activism,’ he tells the filmmaker. By comparison the S&P only increased 324% in that same time period. ‘The proof is in the pudding.’  

The film tracks Icahn’s career highlights from his first corporate takeover in 1978 when he took a controlling stake in the appliance company, Tappan – to one of his largest failures: the eventual bankruptcy of Trans World Airlines in 1985

Icahn believes that capitalism is broken. ‘Frankly I made this money because the system is so bad, not because I’m a genius.’ He says we exist in a ‘corporate welfare’ state. ‘You have levels and levels of vice presidents in corporations that really actually produce nothing,’ he says in old archival footage. ‘It’s survival of the unfittest’

Icahn insists that everything he does is good for his fellow shareholders. Finance writer, Bryan Burrough told HBO: ‘He has helped stockholders quite a lot, including plumbers and teachers whose pension funds, fund their retirement. So this is not just for hoity toity big time investors’

Icahn’s age old gripe with CEOs is that he believes they have grown fat at the expense of investor money. 

He says we exist in a ‘corporate welfare’ state. ‘You have levels and levels of vice presidents in corporations that really actually produce nothing,’ he says in old archival footage. ‘It’s survival of the unfittest.’ 

Sound familiar? That’s because the legendary moneyman was part inspiration for Gordon Gekko’s infamous ‘greed’ speech in the 1987 film, Wall Street. The iconic scene which lambasts ‘bureaucrats, with their luncheons, their hunting and fishing trips, their corporate jets and golden parachutes’ was informed by talks that director Oliver Stone had with Icahn while writing the script. 

‘He was telling us how it was necessary to attack these companies because they take profit for the executives and they don’t care about the shareholders,’ recalls Stone of his meeting with Icahn. ‘Of course there is some truth to that but, nonetheless, Gordon Gekko is also out for himself.’ 

Herein lies the great complexity of Carl Icahn: he is at once greedy and ruthless while at the same time a Robinhood-figure who advocates for smaller shareholders.

Born during the Great Depression, Icahn was the only child of a demanding schoolteacher mother, and a father who was a cantor at the local synagogue.

He grew up on the streets of Far Rockaway, Queens, where he played basketball with the Gotti brothers. 

As a child, Icahn was constantly told that he possessed ‘absolutely no talent,’ and while his parents bragged about him publicly, they would berate him privately. 

One of the more compelling moments in the doc is when the financier opens up about his ‘stormy’ relationship with his ‘egomaniac’ mother who demanded perfection, and his father whom he says: ‘I was never close to him. I never respected him or admired him.’ (It didn’t help either, that he suspected him to be a communist). 

For years, Icahn’s father never bothered to ask what he did for work. ‘Even when I went on Wall Street and was making the money. He never tried to have me explain it,’ he said while choking back tears. ‘I still cry about that.’  

‘I was never really happy in that whole environment, so I really wanted to get out of there.’ 

Icahn was a natural student with possessing intellect. His parents agreed to pay for his college tuition if he was accepted into Yale, Harvard or Princeton. It was a great surprise to everyone  when he was accepted to all three, ‘because nobody ever got in from Far Rockaway High School.’ None were more surprised than his own parents, he laughed.

In order to pay for his room and board at Princeton where he majored in philosophy, Icahn became a self-taught poker prodigy. 

He was working as a cabana boy in Atlantic City when a group of New Jersey business men invited him to play cards. ‘They wiped me clean,’ he said. Determined to not make the same mistake twice, Icahn checked out three poker books from the library – he walked away one week later, $800 richer.  

‘Activist or raider, I haven’t changed what I’ve done one iota,’ he tells the doc. ‘Call me whatever you want’

The proof of his skill is in the numbers: Icahn Enterprises LLP stock has increased 1,931% since the year 2000, ‘that’s when we really started getting into the activism,’ he tells HBO. By comparison the S&P only increased 324% in that same time period

Icahn’s critics who accuse him of running companies into the ground for his own financial gain are quick to remember his role in Trans World Airlines bankruptcy. His reputation as a ‘corporate raider’ was cemented when he acquire the company through a leveraged buyout in 1985. After massive layoffs, TWA holding the bag for $540million debt, while he ran off with $469million for his personal coffers

After college, Icahn pursued his mother’s dream of entering medical school but dropped out a number of times before he finally quit to join the military. As he saw it there were two options: face the ire of her disappointment, or enter the Army.  

He spent most of his time in uniform playing poker and left the Army with $25,000 in winnings. Using his talent for numbers, Icahn started his career as a stockbroker for Dreyfus in 1962. ‘And I’m making a fortune, I’m making all this money. I bought a Galaxy convertible, I had a beautiful girlfriend.’ 

Then the market dropped out one year later and the novice banker was broke. ‘I don’t know which one went first, the Galaxy or the girlfriend,’ laughed Icahn. ‘You always pay for hubris.’  

From there, the film tracks Icahn’s career to his first corporate takeover in 1978 when he took a controlling stake in the appliance company, Tappan, which had been trading at $7 per share. Within seven months, Icahn forced the company to sell itself to competitor Electrolux and the stock value rose to $18 per share. The deal doubled Icahn’s personal investment, earned him a cool $2.7million profit and padded the pockets of shareholders too. 

But there have been some big career missteps along the way. Icahn’s critics who accuse him of running companies into the ground for his own financial gain are quick to remember his role in Trans World Airlines bankruptcy and closure. 

He acquired the company in a leveraged buyout in 1985 and began systematically selling off its assets to repay the loans. He cut down on overhead with massive pay cuts which resulted in strikes that grounded the airline. Protesters stood outside his Bedford, NY compound where he put his foot in his mouth by accusing their leaders of lying to them. 

His reputation as a ‘corporate raider’ was sealed when he left TWA holding the bag for $540million debt, while he ran off with $469million for his personal coffers.  

He admits in the documentary, ‘I made a lot of mistakes.’ And says that his line of work can often result in ‘collateral damage.’ 

‘There’s no question,’ he says his line of work is ‘creative destruction.’ But ultimately, he believes that his corporate takeovers lead to changes that make companies more productive and ‘create more jobs in the macro picture.’

He points to Icahn Enterprises LLP to prove his point. Icahn Enterprises is his conglomerate holding company that owns minor and major interests in major corporations in a variety of industries. It employs over 20,000 people, has more than $10billion in revenue and over $2billion in assets. 

The film tracks his other greatest hits: in 1989, Icahn was responsible for the largest dollar transaction ever on the New York Stock Exchange when he sold his considerable stake in Texaco for $2billion. He also had his hand in businesses such as: RJR Nabisco, Blockbuster, Time Warner, Lear Corporation, US Steel, Hertz, Gannett, Pep Boys, PayPal, and a portfolio of Las Vegas casinos. 

As for what keeps him motivated, his wife Gail says, ‘It isn’t money, strangely enough. He just becomes obsessed on something and he just keeps going and going until he gets what he wants.’ 

Critics say that Icahn is exclusively motivated by money. In old footage featured on the doc, Icahn tells the interviewer: ‘Part of my values is to make money and I cant change my values. A great painter loves to paint. What do you do, criticize him because he likes to paint?  

Today Icahn says he’s driven by competition and winning. As a diehard history buff, he compares himself to the explorers like Cortez. ‘They believed in going for the gold. But I think the actual finding and doing is so much more exciting than having money.’ 

Money, he says,  is ‘not all what it’s drummed to be.’  

Icahn served as a special advisor to former president Donald Trump on issues relating to regulatory reform during his presidency. In a press release, Trump said of his longtime pal: ‘Carl was with me from the beginning and with his being one of the world’s great businessmen, that was something I truly appreciated. He is not only a brilliant negotiator, but also someone who is innately able to predict the future, especially having to do with finances and economies’

Carl Icahn’s wife of 22 years, Gail, began working for her husband as a secretary in 1978. They finally got married in 1999. Sitting in their resplendent toile chintz dining room in East Hampton, Gail tells filmmakers how she was originally hired through an employment agency. ‘This employment agency said, ‘I have this guy, I’ve had a hard time keeping people with him.’ She adds: ‘In the first two weeks, I was ready to quit’

Today Icahn says he’s driven by competition and winning. As a diehard history buff, he compares himself to the explorers like Cortez. ‘They believed in going for the gold. But I think the actual finding and doing is so much more exciting than having money.’ Money, he says, is ‘not all what it’s drummed to be’

Ukraine‘s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed that the Ukrainian people will ‘fight back’ if Vladimir Putin threatens their freedom and lives by launching a full-scale invasion.

President Zelenskyy made an emotional address to his nation after Moscow-backed rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine asked Putin for military assistance in fending off Ukrainian ‘aggression’ – a move which has fuelled fears the Russian strongman will use it as an excuse to invade Ukraine.

The U.S. earlier tonight warned the Ukrainian government that Putin’s troops are ‘ready to go now’ with an invasion of Ukraine, with 80 per cent of Russian soldiers now assembled around the country in attack positions.

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken issued a further stark warning and said he believed Russia will invade before the night is over. 

And in a further worrisome move, Russia issued a notice to airmen (NOTAM) which closed the airspace across Ukraine to all civilian air traffic.

In an emotional televised address tonight, President Zelenskyy said: ‘The people of Ukraine and the government of Ukraine want peace.  

‘But if we come under attack, if we face an attempt to take away our country, our freedom, our lives and lives of our children, we will defend ourselves. When you attack us, you will see our faces, not our backs.’ 

The Ukrainian President said he had tried to call Putin this evening, but there was ‘no answer, only silence’, adding that Moscow now has around 200,000 soldiers by Ukraine’s borders.  

The United Nations Security Council quickly scheduled an emergency meeting Wednesday night – the second in three days – at Ukraine’s request. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the separatists’ request ‘a further escalation of the security situation.’ 

Earlier today, Ukraine was placed on a war footing: A state of emergency was declared and approved by parliament, 200,000 military reservists called up, border zones were restricted and three million Ukrainians told to leave Russia, with Kiev acknowledging for the first time that an attack could now take place anywhere, at any time.

U.S. President Joe Biden today warned President Zelenskyy of an ‘imminent’ attack by Putin’s troops in the next 48 hours, just hours after Ukraine was hit by a ‘massive’ cyberattack targeting its government and banks.  

But Blinken cut that time frame of a Russian invasion drastically and said on Wednesday he expected Russia to invade Ukraine before the night was over.  

U.S. intelligence chiefs fear Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, is at particular risk of being targeted in a Russian invasion as it is close to the Ukrainian-Russian border. Last night, a huge military convoy of more than 100 trucks with soldiers were heading in the direction of the city. 

Elsewhere today…

• Twitter accounts tracking Russia’s military buildup were being temporarily blocked, apparently after being reported en-mass by Russian bots
• Fighting along the frontline between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels killed one Ukrainian soldier and wounded six others, with shells falling in villages close to the front
• Russia claimed to have foiled a terror attack against a church in occupied Crimea and arrested six Russian citizens it said were members of a banned ‘right-wing’ group, in what is feared to be another false flag
• Ukrainian troops along the frontline with separatists reported receiving text messages warning of a Russian attack and telling them to abandon their posts 
• Satellite images and photos from the ground showed that Russia continues to move troops to the borders, including newly-arrived troops in Belarus, close to Kiev 
• Denis Pushilin, leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said conscription of men in the region is gathering pace to counter ‘Ukrainian threats’ and he is sure of support from ‘big Russia’ 
• United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the General Assembly Wednesday that the world is ‘facing a moment of peril’ over Ukraine’s crisis with Russia 

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed that the Ukrainian people will ‘fight back’ if Vladimir Putin threatens their freedom and lives by launching a full-scale invasion

Vladimir Putin praised the battle readiness of his armies and boasted of developing hypersonic weapons as he called Russia’s security interests ‘non-negotiable’ in an address to mark Defender of the Fatherland Day today

Russian armored vehicles are loaded onto railway platforms at a railway station in the Rostov-on-Don region, not far from Russia-Ukraine border, on Wednesday

Putin has recognised two areas in eastern Ukraine as independent and authorised Russian troops to go in on ‘peacekeeping’ missions. Rebels already hold part of that territory (in red) but Putin has recognised a much-wider region (yellow) amid fears he will now try to seize it. There are also fears he is preparing to attack Kharkiv in Ukraine (green) after massing forces nearby 

Russia has up to 190,000 troops backed by tanks, artillery, fighter jets and bombers surrounding Ukraine from three sides, as the US warns of a full-scale invasion of the whole country including an attack on the capital, Kiev

Russian armoured vehicles and artillery pieces are seen at a rail yard in the Rostov-on-Don region, close to the border with Ukraine, as the country was today put on a war footing

Russian troops in full packs are seen marching through mud at a rail yard in Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia close to the frontline with Ukraine, with armoured vehicles loaded on to train carriages nearby

Russian armored vehicles are pictured at a railway station in the Rostov region, amid fears Putin is about to attack

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken issued a further stark warning and said he believed Russia will invade before the night is over

A Russian attack on Ukraine could start in the Donbass region (top right) with attempts to expand rebel-held areas, that could either be in coordination with or before a much wider assault on the entire country (top right). Should the fighting spill over Ukraine’s borders, it could drag in NATO forces stationed in Europe (bottom centre)

‘Welcome to hell, you’ll die here’: Firebrand Ukraine MP threatens Russian troops 

A Ukrainian MP has warned invading Russian soldiers: ‘Welcome to hell…you will die here’.

In a firebrand speech to parliament in Kyiv, Oleksiy Goncharenko, 41, told Vladimir Putin’s forces: ‘You wont leave from here, we promise you this.

‘Welcome to hell. We can say, you will die here. Die like lousy dogs if you enter our country.

‘And your generals throwing you to this meat grinder will run away first.

‘So drop your [weapons] and go back home to your wives and kids.

‘You have nothing to do here. It’s not your land. And won’t ever be.’

Meanwhile Roman Dudin, head of the SBU security service of Ukraine in Kharkiv region, said today: ‘We see active maneuvering and movement of Russian troops along our borders.

‘The military presence is gradually increasing, there are no elements of withdrawing troops from the state border of Ukraine after the so-called exercises.

‘Today, according to our information, their best tactical group has only 70 per cent of serviceable equipment.

’30 per cent of equipment is defective.

‘We see even in the direction of Belgorod, where … military equipment that is unable to move independently.

‘We see a daily decline in the morale and psychological [wellbeing] of Russian troops.’

According to Dudin, Russian troops have purchased 45,000 cellophane bags to transport corpses.

‘However, I think, according to the ancient Russian tradition, they will bury them just in the middle of the field or in these nameless graves.’

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned that Putin is ‘hell-bent’ on a full-scale invasion of Ukraine with a direct attack on the capital of Kiev ‘highly likely’ to be in his plans. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison predicted the attack is ‘likely to occur within the next 24 hours’. 

Meanwhile the EU imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Russia targeting the defence minister, heads of the armed forces, all 351 members of its parliament, and prominent propagandists. It comes after the US and UK announced their own measures on Tuesday, targeting oligarchs and banks.   

Russia hit back, saying ‘there should be no doubt’ that new US sanctions would be met with a ‘strong response’ which would be ‘well-calibrated and sensitive for the American side’ – while warning it is ‘capable of minimising the damage’ from American measures.   

Biden had last night announced a first wave of US sanctions, warning he is ready with more if Russia escalates. He also ordered the deployment of more NATO troops to Europe – 800 soldiers to Italy, dozens of Apache helicopters to the Baltics and Poland, and raised the prospect of the alliance’s first permanent base in eastern Europe.

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official warned Putin’s military is as ready as it can be to launch a full scale invasion of Ukraine, with 80 per cent of Russian troops assembled around Ukraine in attack positions within three to 30 miles of the border.  

‘They are literally ready to go now,’ the official told NBC News, adding that Russia has brought in ‘nearly 100 percent of all the forces we anticipated [Putin] would need’ for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

‘He is as ready as he can be. We’ve been saying any day now and it’s certainly possible that today is that day,’ the U.S. defence official said. 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC Nightly News on Wednesday that he expected Russia to invade Ukraine before the night was over but still sees a chance to ‘avert a major aggression’.

‘Everything seems to be in place for Russia to engage in a major aggression against Ukraine,’ Blinken told NBC in an interview, adding he could not be precise about time or place.

In a significant move, the Kremlin said rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine asked Russia for military assistance Wednesday to help fend off Ukrainian ‘aggression’.

Many observers have suggested baseless and unfounded claims of Ukrainian military aggression to Moscow-backed separatist forces would form the pretext to a full-scale invasion. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the rebel chiefs in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk wrote to Putin, pleading with him to intervene after Ukrainian shelling caused civilian deaths and crippled vital infrastructure. 

But the White House said the separatists’ request for Russian help was another example of the sort of ‘false-flag’ operations the West has consistently warned Moscow would use to create a justification for war.

‘We’ll continue to call out what we see as false flag operations or efforts to spread misinformation about what the actual status is on the ground,’ White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. 

In an apparent reference to Putin’s move to sanction the deployment of the Russian military to ‘maintain peace’ in eastern Ukraine, President Zelenskyy warned that ‘this step could mark the start of a big war on the European continent.’

‘Any provocation, any spark could trigger a blaze that will destroy everything,’ he said.

He challenged the Russian propaganda claims, saying that ‘you are told that this blaze will bring freedom to the people of Ukraine, but the Ukrainian people are free.’

If Russia does invade Ukraine, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby warned that any attack by Putin ‘won’t be bloodless’. 

‘There will be suffering,’ Kirby said. ‘There will be sacrifice. And all of that must and should be laid at his feet. Because he’s doing this by choice. 

And amid an ‘imminent’ Russian invasion, two separate convoys with no identifiable insignia were seen moving towards the city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine along different roads from the direction of the Russian border, a Reuters witness said on Wednesday. 

One convoy included nine tanks and an infantry fighting vehicle, while the other was made up of trucks and fuel tankers, said the reporter, who was in the territory of two Russia-backed rebel regions recognised as independent by Moscow on Monday. 

And on Wednesday night, the crack troops of Russia’s advanced units were banned from using all mobile phones in what was believed to be a key sign that they would invade Kyiv-controlled Ukraine. 

The 1st and 2nd Army Corps in Donbas received an order to turn off mobile phones, according to the volunteer project Informnapalm on its Facebook page.

‘Attention! ….(we) received information from insiders from ORDLO that at 20:40 (Moscow time) all advanced units of the 1st and 2nd Army Corps were ordered to completely turn off phones and walkie-talkies.

‘They were strictly forbidden to go on the air for this time, they were even ordered to remove the batteries from their phones. As an option, the Russians will probably scan the space and all available phones on the line of contact in order to make target designations by coordinates,’ the statement said. 

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tweeted on Wednesday that a night shift of the Titan chemicals plant in annexed Crimea had been evacuated from the facility.

He said it was a possible preparation for another staged provocation by Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014.

‘Moscow seems to have no limits in attempts to falsify pretexts for further aggression,’ he wrote. 

Meanwhile, the websites of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service, and Cabinet of Ministers were all out of action Wednesday afternoon after a cyberattack. Bomb threats were also phoned in to several government buildings, thought to be part of a psychological pressure campaign by Moscow.

Deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov said banks were also targeted in a ‘massive’ distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack – which uses computer networks to bombard websites with information until they crash – in what analysts have warned would likely be the first stage of a Russian attack.  

As the noose tightened, Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to send more weapons to help Ukraine defend itself against what the US has warned will be an all-out Russian assault. Johnson also promised more and tougher sanctions against Russia if Putin escalates further. 

Earlier in the day, Vladimir Putin had given a sabre-rattling address to his troops to mark Defender of the Fatherland Day, praising their ‘battle readiness’ while saying he is assured that they will fight to defend Russian security interests – which he called ‘non-negotiable’. Russia also evacuated staff from its Kiev embassy.  

Ukraine’s security agency claimed 45,000 plastic body bags have now been ordered to the Russian frontlines, giving the first hint of the amount lives Putin is willing to sacrifice to get what he wants – after Joe Biden said supplies of blood for transfusions have also been brought in. 

The UN Security Council has also now scheduled an emergency meeting following a request from Ukraine. 

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba asked for the meeting in a letter to Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, who holds the council presidency in February. The meeting is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday (02.30am GMT on Thursday).

The meeting comes two days after the 15-member council held an emergency open meeting, also at Ukraine’s request, which saw no support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declaration of independence for two separatist areas in Ukraine’s east and his announcement that Russian troops would head there to keep the peace. 

A convoy of Russian military vehicles is seen as the vehicles move towards border in Donbas region of eastern Ukraine on Wednesday

A convoy of Russian military vehicles is seen as the vehicles move towards border in Donbas region of eastern Ukraine on February 23

Russia has for months been massing troops, tanks, and support vehicles (pictured) on the border with Ukraine and is now thought to have up to 190,000 men ready to attack the country

Russia also began evacuating diplomatic staff from its Kiev embassy, with the flag lowered over the building (pictured, workers leave the building with their baggage on Wednesday, February 23)

Moscow’s foreign ministry announced on Tuesday that it would evacuate diplomats from the country soon, saying this was in order to ‘protect their lives’, and the withdrawal appeared to be underway on Wednesday, with workers pictured leaving the building in Kiev

Boris Johnson is briefed by the Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin at the Ministry of Defence on the situation in Ukraine on Tuesday

Meanwhile, Ms Truss sought to defend the UK’s own sanctions – criticised yesterday for not being harsh enough – by insisting that ‘nothing’ is off the table should Putin decide to escalate. 

‘We’ve been very clear that we’re going to limit Russian access to British markets,’ Truss told Sky. ‘We’re going to stop the Russian government with raising sovereign debt in the United Kingdom.’

‘There will be even more tough sanctions on key oligarchs, on key organisations in Russia, limiting Russia’s access to the financial markets, if there is a full scale invasion of Ukraine,’ Truss said.

Separately, US Secretary of State Antony Bliken announced that he has called off a high-level summit with Russian Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov scheduled for Thursday, saying it ‘does not make sense’ to go ahead with peace negotiations when an invasion is already underway.

Russia today began evacuating diplomatic staff from Ukraine, with the flag lowered over the embassy in Kiev. 

Moscow’s foreign ministry announced on Tuesday that it would evacuate diplomats from the country soon, saying this was in order to ‘protect their lives’. 

Asked if the evacuation had begun, the embassy’s spokesperson Denis Golenko told AFP by phone today: ‘Yes.’  

Golenko said the evacuation was ‘linked to the fact that Western embassies announced evacuations of some of their staff, and that our ministry also took this decision.’

Some Western embassies, including the United States and Britain, moved their staff to the city of Lviv near the Polish border.

They did so fearing a Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying the capital could come under attack.   

Fighting also escalated along the frontlines between separatist forces and Ukraine’s men overnight, with one Ukrainian soldier killed and six injured in shelling. A house was also hit in the village of Muratovo. 

The Russian-backed leader of the breakaway Donetsk region said today that he wanted to peacefully settle its borders with Ukraine but reserved the right to ask ‘big Russia’ for help.

Denis Pushilin, who heads the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic that was recognised by Russia this week, said he favoured dialogue with Ukraine in the first instance.

But he told a news conference the situation in their long-running conflict had become critical and the separatists had accelerated a mobilisation of forces, in which healthy men between 18 and 55 have been called up to fight.

‘We will win. With people like this, we will win. With such a country, with big Russia, which we respect and value,’ he said. ‘We have no right to lose, or even to doubt in our victory.’

Russian armoured troop transports are pictured in an assembly area, amid fears they could soon roll across the border and into Ukraine – sparking the most-serious war in Europe for decades

Russia has alternately claimed to be staging routine training exercises in its border regions, withdrawing its forces and reinforcing its allies in the region – all of which has been dismissed by the West as pretense (pictured, a Russian soldier)

People hold placards during a pro-Ukrainian demonstration outside the Russian Embassy, in London, UK, on Wednesday night

The Brandenburg Gate is lit in the blue and yellow colours of the Ukrainian national flag in solidarity with Ukraine and its people on Wednesday in Berlin, Germany

Tensions between East and West dramatically ratcheted up on Tuesday as Putin was granted authority by Russia’s lap-dog parliament to use military force abroad, a move that paves the way for him to attack Ukraine.

Hours earlier, he had given a speech in which he made expansionist claims about rebel-held territory in Ukraine’s east – saying Russia has recognised areas currently held by Ukrainian troops as belonging to the separatists.

That has sparked fears he is preparing for a land-grab of that territory under the auspices of a ‘peacekeeping’ mission to the region which could extend even beyond those boundaries and all the way to the city of Kharkiv – where several major Ukrainian military bases are located.

Russian tanks and armoured vehicles have been spotted hiding in civilian areas and the tree lines of forests in several areas just to the north of Kharkiv in recent days, within just three miles of the border. 

Putin has up to 190,000 troops backed by thousands of tanks and artillery units, hundreds of fighter jets and dozens of bombers encircling Ukraine from three sides – with up to 10,000 men already thought to have moved into rebel-held areas of Donetsk and Luhansk on the current frontlines with Ukrainian forces.  

Western nations have tried to present a united front in the face of the invasion, with more than two dozen European Union members unanimously agreeing to levy their own initial set of sanctions against Russian officials. 

Germany also said it was halting the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia – a lucrative deal long sought by Moscow but criticized by the US for increasing Europe’s reliance on Russian energy.

Meanwhile, President Biden on Wednesday announced he was sanctioning the company building Russia‘s Nord Stream 2 pipeline and its CEO – a coordinated response by Germany and the U.S. to Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.  

‘Today, I have directed my administration to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its corporate officers,’ Biden said in a statement. ‘These steps are another piece of our initial tranche of sanctions in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. As I have made clear, we will not hesitate to take further steps if Russia continues to escalate.’

Biden waived sanctions last year against Nord Stream 2 AG, when the project was almost completed, in return for an agreement from Germany to take action against Russia if it used gas as a weapon or attacked Ukraine.  

The U.S. also moved to cut off Russia’s government from Western finance, sanctioning two of its banks and blocking it from trading in its debt on American and European markets. 

The administration’s actions hit civilian leaders in Russia’s leadership hierarchy and two Russian banks considered especially close to the Kremlin and Russia’s military, with more than $80 billion in assets. 

That includes freezing all of those banks’ assets under US jurisdictions.

Russia warned today that new sanctions would be met with a ‘strong response’.

‘There should be no doubt – sanctions will meet a strong response, not necessarily symmetrical, but well-calibrated and sensitive for the American side,’ the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said that Washington had slapped a new round of sanctions in order to ‘change Russia’s course.’

‘Russia has proved that, with all the sanctions costs, it is capable of minimizing the damage. And even more so, sanctions pressure cannot affect our determination to firmly defend our interests,’ the statement said.  

The Russian-backed leader of the breakaway Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, said on Wednesday that he had accelerated a mobilisation of forces, in which healthy men between 18 and 55 have been called up to fight

A Ukrainian pilot boards a fighter jet at an air base in an undisclosed region of the country early Wednesday, as he takes part in combat readiness drills amid fears Russian is about to invade

A Ukrainian Su-34 fighter jet, originally made in Russia, takes off from an airfield in an undisclosed region of the country amid fears that Russia is about to stage a full-scale invasion

The tail fins of Ukrainian Su-34 fighter jets are seen at an undisclosed air field somewhere in Ukraine as one takes to the skies during combat readiness checks ahead of what could be a full-scale Russian invasion

Ukrainian firefighters attempt to put out a blazing house in the village of Muratovo, close to the frontlines with pro-Moscow rebels in Luhansk, after it was shelled overnight 

Ukraine said one soldier died and another six were injured in shelling by pro-Moscow rebels overnight, which also hit and destroyed a house in the village of Muratovo

Russian volunteers carry medical supplies to a warehouse in the city of Taganrog, close to the border of Ukraine, after Biden warned that blood is being moved to the frontlines in what is considered to be one of the final moves before an attack

A wreath laying ceremony is held at the Fallen Warriors Memorial in Rostov-on-Don, where Russian troops are gathering

Frontline Ukrainian soldiers sent texts telling them to abandon posts

Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines with pro-Moscow rebels have been sent texts warning of an imminent attack and told to abandon their posts.

‘Moscow gave a go to the use of [Russian] Armed Forces in the Donbas,’ one text read, referring to a wide area of eastern Ukraine where large parts of the country’s armed forces are currently deployed.

‘There’s still time to save your life and leave the [area],’ the text message added.

Another read: ‘Ukrainian military servicemen! The Russian army is already in Donetsk and Luhansk. Return home while it isn’t too late!’

There are fears Putin is about to stage a land-grab in eastern Ukraine after acknowledging the whole of the Donbass – including areas held by Ukraine – as independent and authorising Russian troops to go in on a ‘peacekeeping’ mission.

If his troops do try to advance into Ukrainian areas, then it would likely spark direct fighting between the two militaries which could quickly escalate into all-out war.

Biden, though, did hold back some of the broadest and toughest of the financial penalties contemplated by the US, including sanctions that would reinforce the hold that Germany put on any startup of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline; an export ban that would deny Russia US high tech for its industries and military; and sweeping bans that could cripple Russia’s ability to do business with the rest of the world.

Biden said he was moving additional US troops to the Baltics, though he described the deployments as purely ‘defensive,’ asserting, ‘We have no intention of fighting Russia.’

 The US is sending about 800 infantry troops and 40 attack aircraft to NATO’s eastern flank from other locations within Europe, according to a senior defense official. In addition, a contingent of F-35 strike fighters and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters will also be relocated.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is set to ask Turkey to close the Black Sea strait in the event of an invasion.  

Earlier Tuesday, members of Russia’s upper house, the Federation Council, voted unanimously to allow Putin to use military force outside the country – effectively formalizing a Russian military deployment to the rebel regions, where an eight-year conflict has killed nearly 14,000 people.

Shortly afterward, Putin laid out three conditions to end the crisis that has threatened to plunge Europe back into war, raising the specter of massive casualties, energy shortages across the continent and global economic chaos.

Putin said the crisis could be resolved if Kyiv recognizes Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014, renounces its bid to join NATO and partially demilitarizes. 

The West has decried the annexation of Crimea as a violation of international law and has previously flatly rejected permanently barring Ukraine from NATO.

Asked whether he has sent any Russian troops into Ukraine and how far they could go, Putin responded: ‘I haven’t said that the troops will go there right now.’ He added that ‘it’s impossible to forecast a specific pattern of action – it will depend on a concrete situation as it takes shape on the ground.’

The EU announced initial sanctions aimed at the 351 Russian lawmakers who voted for recognizing the two separatist regions in Ukraine, as well as 27 other Russian officials and institutions from the defense and banking sectors. They also sought to limit Moscow’s access to EU capital and financial markets.

With tensions rising and a broader conflict looking more likely, the White House began referring to the Russian deployments in the region known as the Donbas as an ‘invasion’ after initially hesitating to use the term – a red line that Biden had said would result in severe sanctions.

U.S President Joe Biden said it defies logic to think Putin has taken such extensive military preparations, including putting 190,000 Russian troops on the border and moving blood supplies to those areas, for reasons other than invading Ukraine

Satellite imagery from Tuesday shows several new deployments of troops and equipment have been established in rural areas southwest of Belgorod, less than 20 kilometers to the northwest of the border with Ukraine

Satellite imagery provided by Maxar Technologies shows a close up of field hospital and troop deployment in western Belgorod, Russia, less than 20 kilometers to the northwest of the border with Ukraine

Satellite imagery provided by Maxar Technologies shows a close up of assembled vehicles at Bokov Airfield near Mazyr, Belarus, on Tuesday

Satellite imagery provided by Maxar Technologies shows armor and vehicles at a railyard in Belgorod, Russia, on Tuesday

Satellite imagery from Tuesday shows new deployments of troops and equipment that have been established in rural areas southwest of Belgorod, Russia, which is close to the Ukrainian border

‘We think this is, yes, the beginning of an invasion, Russia’s latest invasion into Ukraine,’ Jon Finer, principal deputy national security adviser, said on CNN. ‘An invasion is an invasion, and that is what is underway.’

The White House announced limited sanctions targeting the rebel regions on Monday evening soon after Putin said he was sending in troops. A senior Biden administration official, who briefed reporters about those sanctions, noted ‘that Russia has occupied these regions since 2014’ and that ‘Russian troops moving into Donbas would not itself be a new step.’

Western leaders have long warned Moscow would look for cover to invade – and just such a pretext appeared to come Monday, when Putin recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk separatist regions. 

The Kremlin then raised the stakes further by saying that recognition extends even to the large parts of those two regions now held by Ukrainian forces, including the major Azov Sea port of Mariupol. 

He added, however, that the rebels should eventually negotiate with Ukraine.

Condemnation from around the world was quick. In Washington, lawmakers from both parties in Congress vowed continued US support for Ukraine, even as some pushed for swifter and even more severe sanctions on Russia. Senators had been considering a sanctions package but held off as the White House pursued its strategy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would consider breaking diplomatic ties with Russia, and Kyiv recalled its ambassador in Moscow.

If Putin pushes farther into Ukraine, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg insisted the West would move in lockstep. ‘If Russia decides once again to use force against Ukraine, there will be even stronger sanctions, even a higher price to pay,’ he said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the U.K. would slap sanctions on five Russian banks and three wealthy individuals. He warned a full-scale offensive would bring ‘further powerful sanctions.’

Zelenskyy said he was calling up some of the country’s military reservists but added there was no need for a full military mobilization.

In an address to the nation, Zelenskyy said his decree applied only to those assigned to the so-called operational reserve, which is typically activated during ongoing hostilities, and covers ‘a special period of time,’ without clarifying what that means.

‘Today there is no need for a full mobilization. We need to quickly add additional staff to the Ukrainian army and other military formations,’ he said. The head of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksii Danilov, said earlier this year that Ukraine can call up up to 2.5 million people.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian security council, takes part in a flower-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow’s Alexander Garden to mark Defender of the Fatherland Day

Russian supporters of President Putin’s party take part in a march through Moscow, waving flags of newly-recognised republics in the east of Ukraine that could be the trigger for war 

Men in rebel-held areas of Donetsk are conscripted into the military, amid fears they could soon be ordered to join an invasion of Ukraine along with regular Russian troops

Members of Poland’s parliament wave a Ukrainian flag as they show support for their neighbouring nation as it faces down the full force of a Russian invasion

Donnie Davis, a comedian loved by Britney Spears, Mariah Carey and Miley Cyrus, died in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday. He was 43 years old.

The impersonator, who frequently appeared on the Chelsea Handler show, Chelsea recently, was found dead in a room at the Resorts World Hotel, according to a local 8 News now report.

Authorities responded to the hotel at the southern end of the strip shortly after 6 a.m. and the cause of death has not yet been determined pending an autopsy.

Davis was known for his entertaining imitations in the comedy chain, including playing a version of Donald Trump’s Mini-Trump, and also working on a podcast series with Kelly Osbourne and longtime friend Jeff Beecher.

Rest in Peace: Donnie Davis, a comedian loved by Britney Spears, Mariah Carey and Miley Cyrus, died in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday. He was 43 years old

Davis played with Britney in Vegas at her Piece of Me residency in 2013 and was a regular in Los Angeles for more than two decades at Jeff Beecher’s Madhouse.

Beecher told DailyMail.com: “I didn’t just lose a friend today. I lost a dream, brother, best friend. Donnie wasn’t just a loyal loving best friend. I literally entrusted him with everything from my life to business and everything in between. Donnie was an angel.

“A magical being who spreads love and laughter to everyone in his presence, I would always tell people that he is not from this planet. He loved to love and he loved to make everyone happy.

“He was the best, best friend, producer and performer I knew and everyone will know. My love, condolences and prayers are to everyone who knows and or loves him like me, as well as to all his friends and family. Donnie, you will miss him more than you can imagine. I will appreciate our 20 years that God has given me with you as my Ride or die and the 100,000 people you have touched with your magical love and the fun you have given people.

“The planet was a better place with you on it.” I will continue our dream and win awards for our documentary and I will continue to push for equality for all in your honor. I love you Donnie. You are the best.

Tragic: The impersonator, who frequently appeared on the Chelsea Handler show, Chelsea recently, was found dead in a room at the Resorts World Hotel, according to a local report in 8 News Now; seen in 2018

Beecher told TMZ: “Donnie broke down barriers in the community of young people and was an inspiration to his peers. He will be terribly absent, but his legacy and the impact he had on those who loved him will live on forever.

Friends forever: Ryan Philip took to Instagram with lots of photos to immortalize his Dynamo friend, who had “more confidence than I could have hoped to have.”

Ryan Philip took to Instagram with lots of photos to immortalize his Dynamo friend, who had “more confidence than I could have hoped to have.”

He wrote: “It was impossible to be around him without having a good time. His energy was boundless and he got everything he could from life with the time he had here. A good lesson for all of us. I miss you now, my friend. Rest in peace and cause some chaos in the sky. You are unforgettable.

Comedian Jeffrey Ross wrote that Donnie is a complete “rock star” in a cheerful tribute shared on Instagram, writing: “I will miss my beautiful generous friend. My condolences to his family and his older brother Jeff Beecher.

Friends: Comedian Jeffrey Ross wrote that Donnie is a full “rock star” in a cheerful tribute shared on Instagram

It’s never a boring moment: his list of celebrity friends seemed endless with shared photos of wild nights with the city’s hottest stars, including Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato.

Just one more day: Donnie is having fun with Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner

Nicki Hilton commented: “We lost a legend” as Sister Paris added emoji to her heart under Jeffrey’s post.

Donnie’s list of friends seemed endless with shared photos of wild nights with the city’s hottest stars, including Nick and Joe Jonas, Sophie Turner, Demi Lovato and Paris Hilton.

While Davis gained fame on stage, he also appeared in the 2013 film Pain & Gain with Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie, as well as in Tommy Chong’s 2017 comedy It’s Gawd!

Always good weather: He shared “St. Pattys Day Returns, celebrating Paris Hilton’s birthday last year dressed in leprechaun threads

President Joe Biden on Wednesday he announced he was sanctioning the company’s building Russiathe Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which Germany stopped certification on Tuesday – a coordinated response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Today I ordered my administration to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its corporate employees,” the president said in a statement. “These steps are another part of our initial tranche of sanctions in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.”

The president also warned: “We will not hesitate to take further steps if Russia continues to escalate.”

State Department spokesman Ned Price said Wednesday afternoon that Nord Stream 2 was a “reward investment of $ 11 billion, which is now steel at the bottom of the sea.”

At a briefing Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki did not say whether the project could be resurrected in the future.

“Well, not only has the German chancellor announced that he is not moving forward, we have also announced additional sanctions and this is not moving at the moment, no,” she said in response to a question from Peter Alexander of NBC.

When he asked if it was done “forever”, she replied: “Peter is dead at the bottom of the sea right now.”

President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he was sanctioning the company that is building Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, for which Germany suspended certification on Tuesday.

Nord Stream 2 was completed in September and would double the amount of Russian gas going to Germany

When White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked at Wednesday’s briefing if Nord Stream 2 was built “forever,” she said, “He’s dead at the bottom of the sea right now.”

“I will not be ahead of where we are in the process, this is not happening, it is not moving forward, it has not acted for some time, so this is where it stands and this is all a result of the diplomatic commitment and leadership of the president and his commitment with Chancellor Scholz, “she said.

When new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the White House earlier this month, Biden told a joint news conference that they were one step closer to the pipeline as Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Ukraine with a build-up of troops.

However, Scholz would not call Nord Stream 2 by name.

This week, when Putin declared separatist territories in eastern Ukraine “independent” and introduced “peacekeeping” forces, the United States and its European allies began sanctioning Russia.

The White House said Tuesday that among the first “tranches” of sanctions are sanctions for the complete blocking of two Russian banks, sanctions against the Russian elite and their families and sanctions that will prevent external financing of the country’s public debt.

Also Tuesday, Scholz announced that Germany would not certify the pipeline.

Construction of Nord Stream 2 was completed in September.

Nord Stream 2 AG is registered in Switzerland, but its parent company is the Russian state gas company Gazprom.

Nord Stream 2 would double the amount of Russian gas going to Germany.

“Through his actions, President Putin has given the world a huge incentive to move away from Russian gas to other forms of energy,” Biden said in a statement.

“I want to thank Chancellor Scholz for his close partnership and continued commitment to holding Russia accountable for its actions,” he said.

Biden has received rare praise from Republican Senator Ted Cruz for his initial move to lift sanctions on the bill.

“President Biden made the right decision today,” the Texas Republican said in a statement.

Cruz called on Biden to “close the sanctions”, which Biden did later Wednesday afternoon.

Regarding Biden’s actions, Cruz announced that he would unblock the candidates for the Biden administration in the State Department, which he holds in the Senate.

Cruz’s further comments came after former President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Putin’s move to declare Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk districts “independent.”

Biden receives rare praise from Republican Sen. Ted Cruz for his initial move to lift sanctions

“I came in yesterday and there was a TV screen and I said, ‘That’s brilliant,'” Trump said. “Putin declares a large part of Ukraine – from Ukraine – Putin declares it independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.

“I said, ‘How smart is that?'” The former US president said continue. “And he will come in and be a peacemaker.” This is the strongest peaceful force … We can use this on our southern border. This is the strongest peacekeeping force I have ever seen. There were more army tanks than I saw. They will keep the peace well.

“No, but think about it.” Here is a man who is very understanding, “Trump continued. “I know him very well.” Very, very, very good. If I were in office, even unthinkable, this would never have happened.

Trump added: “But here’s a man who says, you know, ‘I’m going to declare much of Ukraine independent,’ he uses the word ‘independent’ and ‘we’re going to go in and out.’ and we will help keep the peace. You have to say that it is quite understandable. And do you know what Biden’s response was? There was no answer. They didn’t have one for that. No, it’s very sad. Very sad.’

Trump also called Biden “a man who has no idea what he’s doing.”

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki responded to Trump at a news briefing on Tuesday.

“As a matter of policy, we try not to take advice from anyone who praises President Putin and his military strategy, which I think is what happened there,” Psaki said at a briefing on Tuesday when asked to respond to comments made earlier in Trump. The day.

She pointed out the comments Trump reportedly did to the leaders of the G7 in 2018, when the former president already said that Crimea, which was annexed by Russia after the invasion in 2014, is part of Russia because everyone there speaks Russian.

He said Trump had “expressed openness” to lifting sanctions on Russia over the 2014 invasion.

“So there are a little different tactics, a little different approach, and that’s probably why President Biden, not his predecessor, managed to unite the world and the world community in taking steps against Russian aggression,” Psaki said.

Most Republicans have said they want to see Russia punished for what the White House now calls an “invasion” of Ukraine – after Putin announced Monday that he would consider two Russian-backed separatist territories independent of Ukraine and ordered troops there under cover. of “peacekeeping functions”.

Asked if there were fears that comments like Trump’s could lead to Ukraine’s support becoming a more party issue among the American public, she pointed to the Republican Party.

“You know, I think it depends on the members of the Republican Party to make the decision, to make the decision,” she told DailyMail.com.

In contrast to the traditional hawk and pigeon roles of both political parties – with Republicans historically more hawkish – Republicans were less inclined to want the United States to play a major role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict by 10 points.

“There is a long history, decades of history of which President Biden was a part, when he was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, of defending the efforts of any country to occupy the territory of another country, of defending the efforts of the United States to gather global support against inappropriate and illegal actions by another country, “she continued. “There is a long history of this, not in a partisan way – in a partisan way.”

“And it certainly depends on the Republicans to … determine,” she added.

New A study by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs published on Wednesday, Americans have little appetite for the United States to play an important role in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

But away from the traditional hawk and pigeon roles of both political parties – with Republicans historically more hawkish – Republicans were less likely to want the United States to play a major role with 10 points.

The survey found that a total of 26% of older Americans said they wanted the United States to play a major role – with 32% of Democrats in the group and 22% of Republicans.

Former Princess Mako’s “ordinary” husband Kay Komuro showed a new queue when he was seen leaving his second attempt at the New York State Bar Exam – after failing his first attempt just months before his partner sensationally left the Japanese royal family. to start a new life with him in the United States.

Mako, 30, the eldest daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito and niece of the ruling Emperor Naruhito, relinquished her royal title to marry “ordinary” Komuro last October in a small civil ceremony.

The couple, who were engaged for eight years before getting married, have since moved into a one-bedroom apartment in New York City, where Komuro works for New Jersey-based Lowenstein Sandler LLP.

Komuro first took the New York Bar Exam last summer, months before his marriage to Mako, but it was revealed in November that he had failed; Tuesday’s test marked his second attempt at qualifying.

However, if Komuro felt more confident in his performance during his last exam, he certainly didn’t show it when he left the testing center; the novice lawyer looked incredibly gloomy as he stood outside and called Uber as he showed off his long locks, which were tied in a short tail.

The long style is a remarkable change from the neatly cut hairstyle that Komuro wore during his wedding to Mako four months ago – and he also seems to have adopted a much more casual wardrobe after moving to Manhattan.

Former Princess Mako’s “ordinary” husband Kay Komuro, 30, has been spotted waiting for Uber in front of a test center after taking his New York State Bar Exam for the second time this afternoon.

The lawyer was spotted on Tuesday calling Uber outside a test center after the exam – which he appeared for the first time last summer, but failed

Komuro has been seen wearing much longer locks than in the past, with the lawyer pulling his long hair into a ponytail.

Instead of an elegant suit and tie, Komuro wore a dark green Tommy Hilfiger jacket, which he wore with a denim shirt, faded navy blue pants, and a pair of colorful Vans sneakers.

He also carried a black-and-white bag over his shoulder and a white face mask as he left the testing center.

Komuro’s last attempt to pass a bar exam came less than a year after he first took the test in July 2021, when he had the opportunity to take the test remotely. This time there was no remote option for the candidates.

As he did last year, Komuro will now face a torturous wait of several months before finding out whether his second attempt at an exam was successful or not; Candidates who take the test in February usually receive their results only in April, which means that Komuro will not know whether it has passed or failed for two months.

The results of the July 2021 exam were published on the website of the U.S. Board of State Examiners last November. Komuro’s name was not among the successful candidates.

According to the Japanese TV operator NHKKomuro called lawyer Okuno Yoshihiko, the head of a company in Japan where he had worked before, to tell him he had failed the exam.

If he fails again, Komuro will have to wait until July this year to retake the exam, which is only offered twice a year, but he can take the test as many times as he wants until he passes, because New York State does not impose a limit on the number of attempts the candidate may make.

Former Princess Mako married Komuro in October 2018, eight years after the couple got engaged

The lawyer has adopted a much more casual look since moving to New York, and he is growing his hair away from the haircut style he had at his wedding (right).

Komuro and the first moved into a one-bedroom apartment in New York, where Komuro works as a lawyer for the New Jersey-based company Lowenstein Sandler LLP

Komuro will not know if he passed his second attempt at the bar exam by April; if he fails, he will have to wait until July before he gets another chance to take it again

Komuro was raised by his widowed mother, Cayo. His father died when he was still in elementary school. His work in Japan included working in a bank and a French restaurant.

He met Mako in 2013, when they were both studying at the International Christian University outside Tokyo.

The couple, both now 30, got engaged “unofficially” in 2017 and planned to get married in November 2018.

The news was initially greeted with delight in Japan, but then a scandal erupted when it was revealed that Kayo had not repaid a loan of 4 million yen ($ 35,000) from an ex-fiancé, in part to pay for her son’s education.

This has led critics to speculate that Komuro married the princess for money or fame.

Komuro issued a 24-page explanation of the money – claiming it was a gift, not a loan. In the end, he said he would return it, although it is not known if the money was returned.

But despite the turmoil, Kay and Mako’s love endured. In 2020, the former princess asked the Japanese public to support her decision.

“We are indispensable for each other – someone to rely on in both happy and unhappy moments,” she said, announcing that the wedding would continue.

Komuro was seen leaving the building with several other candidates after completing the first day of the two-day exam.

After leaving the test center, Komuro made his way to Uber, which may have taken him back to the Hells Kitchen apartment he shares with his wife.

Mako and Komuro (pictured in November) moved to New York just a few weeks after they got married, and they have since adjusted to their new lives as “commoners.”

“So marriage is a necessary choice to live while valuing and protecting our feelings.”

Komuro has not lived in Japan for three years – moving to New York shortly after their marriage was postponed for the first time.

He studied law at Fordham University in the Bronx and then worked as a clerk at Lowenstein Sandler in Manhattan, advising companies and investors on venture capital financing, mergers and acquisitions.

Only members of the Japanese imperial family are allowed to marry “commoners”, so Mako’s decision to marry for love means a lot of new things to her.

For a start, she is no longer considered a princess – even if the marriage ends in divorce, she can never return to the family.

For the first time in her life, she has a family name and will be known as Mako Komuro.

She will also have to apply for a passport – royals do not need it – to be able to move to the United States.

She can no longer live in the imperial palace. And all the sons the couple has will not be in the line of inheritance of imperial power only for men.

And this is a potential problem in Japan, where there are now only three people allowed by the Imperial Household Act to succeed 61-year-old Emperor Naruhito – and one of them, his uncle Masohito, is 85 years old.

The other two are Nauruhito’s 55-year-old brother, Akishino, Mako’s father, and Mako’s brother, Hisahito, 15.

The Ordinary Who Courts a Princess: How Kay Komuro Overcame the Scandal to Marry Mako

Komuro was raised by a single mother, with some media outlets reporting that part of his education was funded by his mother’s ex-fiancé.

At one point, he made money working to promote tourism near Tokyo.

Problems erupted months after he and Mako announced their engagement in 2017, when tabloids reported a financial dispute between Komuro’s mother and her ex-boyfriend, with the man claiming that the mother and son had failed to pay about $ 35,000 in debt. .

Komuro later said the money was a gift, not a loan. But in 2021, he presented a 24-page explanation and later announced that he would pay a settlement.

In September 2018, he went to study at Fordham University in New York and did not return until September this year, after graduating from law school and starting work at a New York law firm.

When he returned to Japan, he was dressed casually and with long hair pulled back in a ponytail, causing media outrage because he was considered “disrespectful.”

But on Tuesday morning, trimmed with a ponytail and dressed in a fresh dark suit and tie, he set out to pick up his bride. Most of his face was covered in a mask according to the Japanese coronavirus protocol, but he looked happy.

Lisa Lukyanova may seem an unlikely recruit for the country’s army, which is facing a battle for survival from a military machine with 2.9 million troops and reserves.

She is 43, a mother of two and learning to become a website developer.

But she is also a trained doctor and has seen the chilling reality of Russian aggression after she was forced to leave her home eight years ago.

“I know what it’s like to run away,” Lukyanova said. “But now we have nowhere to run. Besides, I don’t want to run.

Yesterday, she joined thousands of other Ukrainians in responding to their president’s call for military reservists to move forward as the country goes to war.

President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered the move – which could double the size of Ukraine’s army by an additional 250,000 troops – and said: “We are ready for anything.”

Pictured: 43-year-old Lisa Lukyanova, a trained doctor, is among thousands who responded to a call by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who called on military reservists to move forward.

His government is also preparing to impose a state of emergency in Ukraine as Moscow moves troops and tanks closer to the conflict’s front line.

Zelenski’s original proposal – to temporarily ban political parties, restrict the movement of people, ban strikes, seize cars from citizens, restrict mass rallies and impose curfews – was returned by parliament yesterday. as it was considered too draconian.

Last night, an amended measure was adopted to ban strikes and mass events.

Lukyanova fled her hometown of Luhansk after a 2014 Moscow-backed separatist uprising led to the region being declared an independent pro-Russian “republic.”

I met her in front of the military enlistment building in Kiev, where she joined others in preparing for frontline duties. In front of her was an engineer, behind her came a woman in her early 20s.

Under a new law, women in key positions are included in the list of reservists, along with all men under the age of 60, including servicemen who have served in the armed forces.

Yaroslav, 21, soldier, 25th airborne brigade of the Ukrainian army in Avdievka, Ukraine

“If there is a full-scale war, I will be sent to a military unit as a medic, so I will have to leave my studies,” Lukyanova said.

Her 21-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son do not want her to join the army.

“They are worried that I will be in danger, but I try to explain to them that we are all in danger and I am doing it for them.”

Her husband, who is fighting separatists and Russians in Donbas, is also rejoining the army.

The volunteer reservists were praised by Ukraine’s military leader, Valery Zaluzhny, who called on people to go “en masse” to recruitment centers.

A 41-year-old man named Victor said it was difficult to leave his three children as a divorced father who stays at home.

Elena (center) 26, learns how to handle automatic weapons, while civilian volunteers from Obukhov’s Civil Defense Forces train together in preparation for a possible Russian invasion

He served in the army 20 years ago and explained: “Recent events leave me no choice – I have to defend the country.”

He was joined by his girlfriend, a 33-year-old psychology student, Yana Kaminska, who fears Ukraine will be attacked from all sides by Putin’s forces.

As further signs of a possible invasion, Russia evacuated its diplomats from Kiev with a video showing officers loading suitcases into cars in the capital and burning documents at the consulate in the Black Sea port of Odessa – a possible target for its armed forces.

The government in Kiev told all Ukrainians living in Russia – about three million people

Meanwhile, another cyberattack targeted Kiev’s parliament, security services, the defense ministry, Kiev’s mayor’s office and several banks – the second major attack in eight days.

The previous attack traced Russia, China, the Czech Republic and Uzbekistan.

It can be seen that a column of Russian military vehicles is moving towards the Donbass region of Ukraine

Police also detained 34 people after it was found that up to 1,000 had to be paid to protest violence in prison in front of the Kiev Ministry of Justice headquarters, according to reports.

The plan follows the pattern of recent weeks with the previous discovery of a secret conspiracy to destabilize Ukraine by provoking violent clashes – with hundreds of people paid to fight police and fake blood used to create propaganda videos of allegedly beaten protesters.

Such incidents are linked to fears of events under a false flag, organized by Moscow to inflame tensions and provide a possible pretext for invasion.

Meanwhile, President Zelensky met with 50 leading business figures and announced a package of measures to strengthen the economy, which has been hit hard by the effects of Russia’s hybrid war.

His advisers say the crisis – estimated to have left Ukraine with a £ 206bn bill since 2014 – currently costs the country £ 2bn a month as its currency plummets and troubled companies relocate staff to safety. place.

No wonder many Ukrainians fear that their nation is facing an existential crisis on several fronts.

“We are facing a military invasion and I have two teenage children to defend,” said Sergei Shchevelev, 43, a rescue diver who was at the army’s recruiting center in Kiev.

In an unshakable statement echoed throughout Ukraine, he said: “This is my land and I will defend it at all costs.”

Additional report by Kate Baklitskaya

A surveillance video captured the moment a Florida a woman confronted a driver who stole her daughter’s parking lot, seconds before he hit the gas and hit her with his car, dragging her through the parking lot to her death.

Olga Fernandez, 57, was hit by a car around 3:30 a.m. Sunday in front of her apartment near 1st Avenue and 4th Street in Hialeah, Florida.

Fernandez, a mother of two, ran to her 24-year-old daughter’s aid after she returned to find someone in her designated parking space.

Surveillance footage from the parking lot shows her standing in front of a dark Toyota Corolla, waving her arms and shouting at the driver before he drove the car into it and drove off.

Fernandez was rushed to hospital, where he died of his injuries.

Police hope the video will help them find the driver and look for a dark-colored Toyota Corolla with a dent in the front.

Surveillance footage captures a woman from Florida colliding with a driver furious on the road who stole her daughter’s parking space in her apartment near 1st Avenue and 4th Street in Hialeah

Police are looking for a dark-colored Toyota Corolla with a dent in the front after the driver hit Fernandez and drove off early Sunday.

Olga Fernandez died on Sunday (February 13th) after being hit by a car in front of her home in Hialea after a dispute over a parking space

Fernandez’s best friend, Ileana Aho, explained to local news what happened early this morning.

She explained that Fernandez’s daughter had just returned home when she noticed that someone was in the parking lot.

“Her daughter said, ‘Mom, there’s someone in the parking lot,’ and her mother went downstairs and she went to the bathroom. “When he came out of the bathroom, he heard his mother screaming,” Ajo said.

Earlier this week, another set of surveillance footage was taken by paramedics trying unsuccessfully to rescue Fernandez after she was hit by a car.

Footage from WESH – pixelated to keep Fernandez confidential – shows her being treated on the tarmac before being lifted onto a stretcher and placed in an ambulance.

Police hope the new surveillance footage will help them find the driver they believe is a man driving a black or dark Toyota Corolla (pictured).

This video shows paramedics working frantically to save the life of a mother from Florida who has just been hit by a car and dragged after an argument over a parking space.

It was still dark on Sunday when the video shot half a dozen lifeguards working on Fernandez in front of her apartment near First Avenue and Fourth Street in Hialeah, Florida

Unfortunately, these urgent efforts were unsuccessful and she succumbed to her injuries shortly afterwards.

Family and friends are shocked by Fernandez’s tragic death.

A neighbor, identified only as Janet, told Local NBC 10 that she heard the commotion that day, but was afraid to look.

She remembers Fernandez as a wonderful person and attributes it to her saving her daughter’s life.

“My daughter had stopped breathing and it was getting dark,” Janet said. “My mother went out to run, but she doesn’t know how to drive. Olga saw my mother, dialed 911 and gave her a CPR.

Ajo said that the children of her best friend, Diana, 24, and Freddy, 18, have a broken heart.

“The girl says she can’t close her eyes because she sees her mother on the floor bleeding from her mouth, saying, ‘I can’t breathe,'” she said.

“I feel like half of me has been taken away,” Ajo continued. “Yesterday I realized that I will become a grandmother again and I am far from happy. I was sad because I wanted to call her and tell her, but she wasn’t there.

A GoFundMe was created to help the family with funeral expenses.

Fernandez was described as a hardworking, caring woman who lived for her children

GoFundMe was created to help the family with funeral expenses