For WORLD Radio, I’m Kent Covington.
Ukraine ” AUDIO: [Fire]
The sound of roaring flames coming out of a house in Kherson, Ukraine, after a Russian artillery attack.
Moscow forces continue to attack civilian targets as they lose ground on the battlefield.
US Senator Angus King is a member of the Intelligence and Armed Services committees. He said Sunday…
KING: I think Putin is extremely dangerous right now. The ironic situation we find ourselves in is that the better the Ukrainians do, the more dangerous he becomes because he is running out of options.
US intelligence chief Avril Haines says Vladimir Putin’s advisers may have shielded him from bad news about the war, but that he “is becoming more informed about the challenges he faces.” [his] military faces.
Still, US officials say they have seen no evidence that Putin has a sincere interest in negotiating peace.
Blinken pledges US support for Israel despite concerns about the government. » Secretary of State Tony Blinken said Sunday that the United States and Israel will remain close friends even when their leaders disagree on important issues. Incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disagrees with the Biden administration’s policy of seeking a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
BLINKEN: Just as we believe that Israel has a responsibility to take steps to promote the prospects for a lasting peace, the Palestinian Authority must show that it has the will and the ability to be a true partner in a process that can lead to two states.
The Biden administration also hopes to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which Netanyahu strongly opposes.
Iran Moral Police » Meanwhile, in Tehran, an Iranian lawmaker said on Sunday that Iran’s government is “paying attention to the real demands of the people” after months of protests.
That came a day after a senior official suggested that the country’s so-called morality police division had shut down.
Protests broke out across the country earlier this year after a 22-year-old woman died in police custody. She was arrested for wearing the headscarf incorrectly.
It is not yet clear if the police morality division has, in fact, been shut down.
Twitter » The owner of a computer repair shop who reported the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop is speaking.
Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, released internal Twitter statements on Friday about suppressing news about the laptop. And John Paul Mac Isaac said on Sunday…
ISAAC: Seeing Elon release this material on Friday night was very exciting for me because I felt like I knew the whole time it was true. And I feel vindicated.
Communications Musk posted revealed messages about banning links to stories about the laptop on suspicion that it was Russian propaganda.
Isaac said the FBI took possession of the laptop in December 2019.
ISAAC: And with that they took all my notes, all my information that I had given them. And then they had enough time to review that data and realize that it wasn’t Russia.
Incoming House Republican majority leaders say they plan to investigate the FBI’s actions regarding the suppression of the story.
Wray TikTok Concerns » FBI Director Chris Wray raised national security concerns over the video-sharing app TikTok over the weekend.
TikTok is owned by a Beijing-based company. And Wray says the communist government there has access to user data and the ability to control the app’s recommendation algorithm. And that —in his words— “allows them to manipulate content and, if they want, use it for influence operations.”
WRAY: All of these things are in the hands of a government that doesn’t share our values and that has a mission that is very at odds with what is best for the United States. That should worry us.
He also warned that China could use the app to collect data for spying operations.
US officials and the company are now in talks about a possible deal that would resolve US security concerns.
Pence on possible 2024 race » Former Vice President Mike Pence is still weighing a 2024 White House run. He said Sunday that “democracy depends on strong doses of civility.”
PENCE: And what Karen and I will be considering carefully over the holidays is whether we can play a part in that, in giving the American people a fresh start.
He said the lesson from last month’s midterm elections is that Republican candidates who focused on the future did well, while those who focused on relitigating in the last election didn’t fare as well. .
Pence previously said that former President Trump’s campaign announcement will not affect his decision.
I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org.
WORLD Radio transcripts are created on an expedited turnaround time. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authorized record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.
