TYB
Ukraine pounds Kursk with drones as Trump again blames Zelensky for Putin's invasion
April 15, 2025
Ukraine has pounded Russia’s Kursk region with dozens of drones, killing an elderly woman, injuring nine people and sparking fires, Russian authorities have said.
Over 100 drones were shot down over the region where Ukrainian forces have been locked in a grinding conflict, the Russian defence ministry claimed on Tuesday.
"Kursk has been subjected to a massive enemy attack overnight," the Kursk region administration said in a post on Telegram messaging app.
"Unfortunately, an 85-year-old woman died."
A multi-storey apartment building was damaged by the drone attack, with several flats catching fire, acting mayor of Kursk, Sergei Kotlyarov said on Telegram. Residents have been evacuated to a nearby school, he added.
The region's administration posted photos of a multi-storey apartment building with blown-out windows and fire damage to the facade. Drones also hit an ambulance garage, damaging 11 cars, it said.
Three people were killed in the region as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack, officials also said on Monday evening.
The reports are yet to be independently verified and there has been no immediate comment from Ukraine.
The attack follows a devastating Russian missile and bomb attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy over the weekend that killed 35 people and injured at least 119.
Following the deadly strike, US President Donald Trump joined world leaders in calling the attack “terrible” but then appeared to later blame his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, for starting the war in Ukraine.
Asked about Mr Zelensky during a meeting with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, Trump said: "When you start a war, you've got to know you can win the war.
"You don't start a war against somebody that's 20 times your size. And then hope that people give you some missiles."
He also told reporters: "If Biden were competent, and if Zelensky were competent, and I don't know that he is…
"There was no way that war should never have been allowed to happen." He added: "Biden could have stopped it, and Zelensky could have stopped it, and Putin should have never started it."
Meanwhile, Zelensky has urged Trump to visit Ukraine and witness first hand the devastation caused by Russia’s invasion.
Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has repeatedly said he wants to end the "bloodbath" of the three-year war in Ukraine, though a deal has yet to be agreed.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that it was not easy to agree with the US on the key parts of a possible peace deal to end the war and that Russia would never again allow itself to depend economically on the West.
Both Ukraine and Russia have denied targeting civilians since Russia first launched its full-scale invasion on Ukraine more than three years ago. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
Kursk and other Russian regions on the border with Ukraine have been subject to frequent air and land attacks by Kyiv forces who say their goal is to undermine Moscow's overall war efforts.
Ukrainian troops last year staged a cross-border incursion into the Kursk region of which the city of Kursk is the administrative centre.
Ukrainian forces still remain in parts of the region, although Russian forces have recaptured much lost territory.
Russia currently controls a little under one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and parts of four other regions Moscow now claims are part of Russia - a claim not recognised by most countries.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/ukraine-russia-war-donald-trump-drone-attack-b1222517.html
Drone Sightings Surge in NJ—What’s Going On?
April 15, 2025
If you’ve noticed more drones in the skies of New Jersey recently, you’re not imagining it.
While a dramatic spike in drone sightings hit the state last December, this uptick doesn’t repeat that panic.
Instead, it ties to a federal effort to strengthen drone detection and airspace safety.
The Federal Aviation Administration launched a two-week drone-detection test in Cape May on April 14. The test runs through April 25.
During the operation, FAA crews fly several large drones along with more than 100 commercial off-the-shelf models.
They aim to evaluate new detection technology in coastal environments that deal with heavy air traffic, shifting weather and other challenges.
Testing takes place only on weekdays during daylight hours. Officials have asked the public to avoid flying recreational drones in the area until the test ends.
ASSURE, the FAA’s research center, leads the operation in coordination with local police and emergency responders.
Crews conduct testing over marshes, dunes, open channels and offshore zones. Only authorized personnel may access the sites.
The Cape May test is one of 14 evaluations happening nationwide. The FAA wants to see whether these detection systems can spot drones without disrupting aircraft navigation or other flight operations.
Drone activity in New Jersey surged last year. Residents reported thousands of drone sightings, especially at night. Many involved drones flying in groups, raising safety concerns.
Officials verified some reports as drones but later identified others as manned aircraft. The FAA found no national security threat but issued temporary flight restrictions around key infrastructure sites.
The current test doesn’t respond directly to those past incidents. Instead, it supports the FAA’s ongoing effort to refine drone tracking and improve airspace management.
The agency plans to release results after analyzing the data collected.
https://thedigestonline.com/news/drone-sightings-surge-in-nj-whats-going-on/
https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-drone-detection-testing
Might be nothing but I find this weird.
AOL posting this article from late last year about lights over Capitol Hill.
https://www.aol.com/mysterious-lights-over-capitol-hill-225249282.html
Putin wants permanent peace in Ukraine – Trump envoy
15 Apr, 2025 16:02
Russian President Vladimir Putin is pursuing a permanent peace and a legally binding settlement to the Ukraine conflict, US special envoy Steve Witkoff has told Fox News.
Witkoff, tasked by US President Donald Trump to lead negotiations with Moscow, met with Putin and two of his senior advisers on Friday.
The US envoy shared details of the talks in an interview on Monday, describing the nearly five-hour meeting with Putin as “compelling” and saying it brought the Ukraine peace process to “the verge” of a breakthrough.
According to Witkoff, Putin is pursuing a lasting solution. “So beyond just a ceasefire, we got an answer to that,” the envoy said, adding it “took a while for us to get to this place.”
A key part of any deal, Witkoff said, would be the recognition that Crimea, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions are part of Russia. However, he emphasized that the proposed agreement goes beyond territorial issues.
“There’re security protocols, NATO Article 5 [on collective security] … a lot of detail attached to it. It’s a complicated situation,” he said.
Still, Witkoff said he believed the two sides “might be on the verge of something that would be very, very important for the world at large.”
Friday’s meeting was Witkoff’s third with the Russian president since February. Trump has repeatedly said he aims to end the hostilities in Ukraine as quickly as possible.
Russia has maintained it is open to peace talks, provided its key security demands are addressed.
Moscow opposes any NATO presence on Ukrainian soil and has demanded that Kiev demilitarize, denazify, adhere to a position of neutrality, and recognize the territorial “realities on the ground.”
The Russian government has insisted it will not accept a freeze of the conflict, which it maintains will only lead to renewed hostilities later on.
Moscow has cited Ukraine’s violations of a US-proposed moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure as proof of Kiev’s untrustworthiness.
Commenting on Putin’s meeting with Witkoff, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday there were “no clear outlines of any agreement yet,” but that there was the political will to move forward.
Moscow, he added, values the “constructive and substantive” contact with the US side.
https://www.rt.com/news/615790-witkoff-putin-meeting-ukraine-conflict/
Katy Perry's wacky views on aliens revealed - after all-girls space flight
Updated: 05:58 EDT, 15 April 2025
Pop superstar Katy Perry performed on board a Blue Origin rocket as she launched into space alongside five women in an unprecedented all-female space mission.
Perry sang Louis Armstrong's 'What A Wonderful World' after taking off with Lauren Sanchez, fiancee of Jeff Bezos, TV presenter Gayle King, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, former rocket scientist Aisha Bowe and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn on an historic 11-minute flight in Texas.
The mission, the first all-female space trip since 1963 and the only all-women crew, saw the women reach 100km (62 miles) above Earth - thereby crossing the Karman line, the boundary of space.
It marked the latest flight of Blue Origin's New Shepard programme, named NS-31, which transports tourists into space.
Star Wars: Fellow celebs troll Blue Origin's all-female space mission
After Olivia Munn slammed Blue Origin's all-female spaceflight as a 'gluttonous' stunt, other female celebs are now coming out swinging.
Hollywood star Olivia Wilde threw some shade at the New Shepard team that included Katy Perry, Gayle King, and Jeff Bezos's fiancee Lauren Sanchez.
After the spaceflight landed, Wilde reposted a meme making fun of Perry as she held a flower while exiting the space capsule and then kissed the dirt.
The original social media user wrote with their meme 'getting off a commercial flight in 2025.'
Wilde piled on by saying '[a] billion dollars bought some good memes I guess.'
Meanwhile, comedian Amy Schumer continued the trolling by posting a video of herself on Instagram claiming she received a last-minute invite to the all-female space mission.
While holding up a tiny Black Panther toy, Schumer said: 'I'm bringing this thing.
It has no meaning to me, but it was in my bag and I was on the Subway, and I got the text and they were like, 'Do you want to go to space?' so I'm going to space.'
After Blue Origin flight, Neil deGrasse Tyson reminds world that Katy Perry has a thing for aliens
We may know why Katy Perry decided to join the all-female crew of the New Shepard spacecraft - the popstar has a bit of crush on extraterrestrial life.
After the Blue Origin flight returned to Earth, astrophysicist and writer Neil deGrasse Tyson reminded his fans on X that the music megastar once appeared on his show StarTalk Radio in 2017, where they discussed her hit song E.T. and Perry's infatuation with alien life.
It turns out that Perry already purchased a ticket to be a future passenger on Virgin Galactic's commercial spacecraft, but this opportunity obviously presented itself first.
As for the aliens, Tyson left the interview with the firm belief Perry had a crush on possible visitors from another planet.
He even joked about it later on The Late Late Show with James Corden, claiming that the singer 'wants to bone E.T.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14606297/blue-origin-flight-live-katy-perry-gayle-king-lauren-sanchez-launch.html
Donald Trump’s ex-adviser says bring on ‘Alien vs. Predator’ showdown for presidency
Apr. 15, 2025, 5:45 a.m.
Donald Trump cannot run for a third term according to the Constitution, and as significant as that might seem, it has not stopped the president or those in his orbit from talking about the possibility.
Steve Bannon has particularly been pushing the idea that Trump will seek and win a third term.
That talk, of course, has led some to fantasize about former president Barack Obama returning to run against Trump in a battle for a third term.
That was something that was pitched to Bannon during his stop in on “Real Time with Bill Maher” recently.
Maher asked Bannon if there would be any Democrat who would scare him if Trump runs for a third term. “Because I guess if we allow that, it could be Obama,” Maher said.
“Absolutely, I think that would be great,” Bannon said. “Alien versus Predator. Let’s do it.” “That’s kind of a worse insult to Trump,” Maher said.
The two spent most of their time though with Maher pressing Bannon to explain how it would be possible for Trump to run for a third term.
Bannon told Maher that Trump was “going to run for a third term.” That is when Maher read the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution to Bannon.
“Amendment 22,” Maher said. “No person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice.
“And yet you keep talking about Trump’s — maybe you should have this,” Maher said handing Bannon the Constitution.
“President Trump is going to run for a third term, and President Trump is going to be elected again on the afternoon of January 20th of 2029,” Bannon said. “He’s going to be President of the United States.”
“OK, but the thing I just read in there,” Maher said pointing to the Constitution. “It seemed like there was no wiggle room there. It seemed like it was just, you know, eight or 10 words that said only two times.”
Bannon told Maher that there was “a team of people” working on finding a way around that amendment.
“How can a team do something about that?” Maher asked. “I don’t care if the team is twelve trillion people, the words are still the words.”
Bannon then said, “The interpretation of this (U.S. Constitution) is open for interpretation.”
Maher then took the time to go through each word of the amendment with Bannon. “I don’t see what the ‘team’ is finding,” Maher said.
Bannon has been trumpeting that Trump will run for a third term for some time now.
“I’m a firm believer that President Trump will run and win again in 2028, so I’ve already endorsed President Trump,” Bannon said during an interview with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo recently. “
A man like this comes along once every century if we’re a little lucky. We’ve got him now. He’s on fire, and I’m a huge supporter. I wanna see him again in 2028.”
Cuomo, of course, also pointed out that Trump was term-limited and asked how Trump could get another term.
“We are working on it,” Bannon said. “I think we’ll have a couple of alternatives. Let’s say that. “We’ll see what the definition of term-limit is.”
“Because I don’t want people to listen to our interview and say, ‘Bannon is cooking up an insurrection, ‘” Cuomo said. “You know what I mean? I want people to get a straight take on where you head is.”
Bannon said he has had “greater longshots.”
“We supported President Trump after the election,” Bannon said. “I realize you don’t think the election of 2020 was stolen. We do. We fervently believe that.
When President Trump went back to Mar-a-Lago on January 20, 2021, he was the longest of longshots to return to the White House.
We said that day on our podcast, having President Trump’s back that he was coming back not just to win the primary but to win the White House.”
https://www.pennlive.com/news/2025/04/donald-trumps-ex-adviser-says-bring-on-alien-vs-predator-showdown-for-presidency.html