TV News LIES

• The Pentagon has found $2bn worth of additional errors in its calculations for ammunition, missiles and other equipment sent to Ukraine, increasing the improperly valued material to a total of $8.2bn, a US government report revealed on Thursday. In 2023, the Pentagon said staff used “replacement value” instead of “depreciated value” to tabulate the billions in materials sent to Ukraine. The $6.2bn error created a path for billions more to be sent to Kyiv.

• Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on Hong Kong to prevent Russia and Russian businesses from using the region to circumvent sanctions. Kuleba met with Hong Kong leader John Lee as part of a visit to China. He called on the administration to prevent Russia from using Hong Kong to circumvent restrictions resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to a statement from the Ukrainian foreign affairs ministry. “These restrictive measures are necessary to weaken Russia’s potential to wage war and kill people in Ukraine,” the statement said.

A judge dismissed a bankruptcy case filed by the Gateway Pundit on Wednesday, saying the far-right outlet did not file the case in good faith.

The ruling from US bankruptcy judge Mindy Mora in the southern district of Florida comes as the outlet faces significant defamation cases from two Georgia election workers and a former Dominion Voting Systems employee who say the site spread false claims about them after the 2020 election.

Calling the site’s assets “eye-catching”, Mora noted that they were 22 times the size of its liabilities. The company reported nearly $3.1m in revenue in 2023.

“TGP remains both balance sheet and cash flow solvent. There is no present financial distress, no looming foreclosure sale, no prospect of a market crash. There is only the State Court Litigation in which TGP must defend itself. That’s not a basis for bankruptcy relief; it’s the justice system in operation,” Mora wrote.

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The former attorney general Bill Barr was personally involved in a decision to release an unusual and misleading justice department statement on the eve of the 2020 election suggesting there may have been voter fraud in Pennsylvania, according to a new inspector general’s report that was released on Thursday.

The 76-page report from the justice department’s Office of the Inspector General focused on the department’s handling of an investigation into nine military ballots that were found discarded in the trash in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. Barr briefed Trump on the ballot issue before it was public and the president subsequently disclosed it in a radio interview. David Freed, the US attorney overseeing the matter, also released a statement and letter detailing the investigation.

Kamala Harris said she pressed Benjamin Netanyahu about her concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza in “frank” talks in Washington that are being closely watched for indications of how she might deal with Israel if she becomes president.

After speaking to the Israeli prime minister she said:

Israel has a right to defend itself. And how it does so matters ... I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there [in Gaza] .... I will not be silent.

Harris’s remarks, which were sharp and serious in tone, reflected what could be a shift from President Joe Biden in how she deals with Netanyahu, Reuters reported.

United States and Canadian fighter jets intercepted multiple Russian and Chinese bomber aircraft in international airspace off the coast of Alaska on Wednesday, according to a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

Two Russian TU-95 and two People’s Republic of China H-6 military aircraft were “detected, tracked, and intercepted” while operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday, according to NORAD.

According to NORAD officials, the Russian and Chinese aircraft did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace and were “not seen as a threat.”

The interceptions were carried out by U.S. F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, as well as Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter jets.

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The Park Fire, already the largest wildfire in California this year has burned over 71,000 acres in less than a day. CalFire has issued evacuation orders and warnings across Butte and Tehama counties, some reaching Chico city limits. No fatalities have been reported. The cause of the fire, currently only 3 percent contained, is under active investigation.

Some communities are in immediate danger said Rick Carhart, public information officer with Cal Fire and the Butte County Fire Department. “Cohasset and Forest Ranch are under evacuation orders now, so the structures in those areas are in immediate threat and we're hopeful that everybody has heeded the evacuation orders.”

The blaze started at approximately 4 p.m. local time Wednesday near Upper Park Road in Upper Bidwell Park, east of Chico.

According to CalFire this is the largest blaze in the state this year, currently at 71,489 acres and only three percent contained as of 1:30 p.m. local time Thursday. 2024's second largest fire is the Lake Fire near Santa Barbara which has burned at least 38,000 acres but is now 90 percent contained.

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