Important Takeaways:
- The rising cost of living, particularly in housing and groceries, is pushing more families in Washington state to seek assistance from food banks.
- According to Robert Ojeda of Food Lifeline, the largest hunger relief organization in the state, food insecurity affects about 25% of Washingtonians, meaning one in four residents is struggling to access enough food.
- Last year, these visits totaled 8 million, resulting in the distribution of 72 million pounds of food through 300 food banks and partner organizations.
- Ojeda noted that the demand is expected to grow, with visits projected to increase from 8 million to 10 million year over year. As more families rely on food banks, Ojeda is calling on the community for support during the season of giving
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Important Takeaways:
- One person has died and over 600,000 Americans have been left without power after a ‘bomb cyclone’ swept across northwest U.S. Tuesday evening, with strong winds tearing through towns and downed trees striking homes and vehicles.
- A woman in Lynnwood, Washington died Tuesday night when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment, according to South County Fire department.
- ‘Trees are coming down all over the city & falling onto homes,’ the fire department in Bellevue, about 10 miles east of Seattle, posted on the social platform X.
- ‘If you can, go to the lowest floor and stay away from windows. Do not go outside if you can avoid it.’
- More than 15,000 had lost power in Oregon and nearly 19,000 in California.
- As of 8 p.m., the peak wind speed was in Canadian waters, where gusts of 101 mph were reported off the coast of Vancouver Island, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.
- Along the Oregon coast, there were wind gusts as high at 79 mph Tuesday evening, according to the National Weather Service in Medford, Oregon, while wind speed of 77 mph was recorded at Mount Rainier in Washington.
- In northern California, flood and high wind watches were in effect, with up to 8 inches of rain predicted for parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, North Coast and Sacramento Valley.
- Dangerous flash flooding, rock slides and debris flows were expected, according to the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center.
- A winter storm watch was issued for the northern Sierra Nevada above 3,500 feet, where 15 inches of snow was possible over two days.
- A blizzard warning was issued for the majority of the Cascades in Washington, including Mount Rainier National Park, starting Tuesday afternoon, with up to a foot of snow and wind gusts up to 60 mph, according to the weather service in Seattle.
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Important Takeaways:
- The region has been tensely awaiting a promised Israeli reprisal for an October 1 massive ballistic missile attack by Iran, with Washington attempting to coordinate and temper Israel’s reaction.
- “There were no big decisions” made by ministers, an Israeli source told The Times of Israel, adding “There is a desire from the Israelis to coordinate with the Americans” over the response, and that strategic discussions continue between the sides.
- The Prime Minister’s Office also told The Times of Israel that Gallant’s trip to the US to discuss Israel’s response has yet to be approved
- Jerusalem has pledged a significant retaliation, but Biden — who directed US forces to help thwart the Iranian attack — has expressed opposition to targeting Iran’s nuclear or oil production sites.
- Tehran said to threaten West’s Arab allies if they assist Israeli strike
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Important Takeaways:
- The Biden-Harris administration has not lifted a finger against Iran for a reported 200 attacks on US troops in the Middle East, which include firing on US Navy ships, closing the Suez Canal, launching a Hamas-Hezbollah-Houthi War against Israel, not to mention the atrocities Iran’s regime commits every day against its own people. By ignoring sanctions against Iran and presenting no deterrence, the administration has, in fact, set up Iran to do all of that.
- The US could probably close down Iran’s election-interference activities, but [m]ore to the point, the administration has the same goal as the Iranian regime: it does not want Trump elected, either.
- These Iranian efforts include fraudulent websites posing as news sites, and the impersonation of social and political activist groups “to stoke chaos, undermine trust in authorities, and sow doubt about election integrity.” — Microsoft Threat Analysis Center, August 9, 2024
- [T]here can be no doubt that a Trump presidency poses a genuine threat to Iran. Meanwhile, the lavish gifts, accommodations and appeasement that the Biden administration continues to shower upon the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, ensures the Islamic regime’s survival.
- The Kamala Harris campaign has previously said it had no indication it was hacked. Of course, why would Iran seek to harm Harris’s campaign in any way, when her presidency would guarantee the continuation of appeasement and accommodation that has been the norm for the Democratic party ever since Barack Hussein Obama was president?
- The million-dollar question is what the Biden-Harris administration is doing to deter, discourage and hold accountable Iran’s Islamist regime for seeking to influence, destabilize, and hack the US elections? The answer appears to be: nothing
- The Biden-Harris administration itself, after all, has been infiltrated by Iranian agents, as an investigation by Semafor showed last fall, with at least three Iranian agents working directly under U.S. Special Representative for Iran Rob Malley.
- One of the agents, Ariane Tabatabai…. has been allowed to keep not only her job at the Pentagon, but her security clearance as well.
- In the end, the Biden-Harris administration itself is the most important shill for Iran…. Why would the Biden-Harris administration want to deter Iran from anything?
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Important Takeaways:
- Washington continues to throw billions into the fire of the Ukraine conflict despite its ballooning debt, Russia’s ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov has said.
- The comments followed Monday’s announcement by the Pentagon that the US will send an additional $1.7 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
- “Washington continues to burn colossal money in the furnace of the Ukraine conflict, and it does so in the face of record levels of US government debt,” the diplomat told journalists.
- US national debt has reached a new milestone, surpassing the $35 trillion mark for the first time, the Treasury Department stated on Monday
- The Pentagon said on Monday that Washington has allocated a total of $56.1 billion to Kiev since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
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Important Takeaways:
- A dangerous heat wave will continue into midweek in much of the West as large wildfires burn out of control in several states, particularly California, Oregon and Washington.
- The heat wave has triggered warnings for millions in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. In addition, red flag warnings are in effect in many areas for dangerous fire weather conditions.
- The National Interagency Fire Center was tracking 60 uncontained large wildfires as of Sunday afternoon, most of them in the Northwest and Southwest.
- Several have exhibited extreme fire behavior, which makes them more difficult for firefighters to control. The Durkee Fire in eastern Oregon burned nearly 60,000 acres on Saturday alone, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, bringing its total to more than 100,000 acres.
- In California, the Hawarden Fire burned homes in Riverside, about 55 miles east of Los Angeles, prompting evacuations.
- All-time temperature records have been set or tied in the Northwest Territories, with other milestones falling in British Columbia as well.
- Extreme wildfire events during the past two decades more than doubled in frequency and magnitude globally, with the six worst seasons occurring during the past seven years, a study published last month found.
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Important Takeaways:
- The chaos in Washington, could sway Hamas to harden its stance in the hostage talks and give Iran that impression that now is the moment to increase military activity against Israel.
- Now, he is suddenly a lame duck president with only six months left in office, and there are calls for him to step down immediately in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
- This means that the issue of retrieving the hostages and forming a military coalition against Iran could almost immediately fall into her hands.
- The leadership chaos will be most acute in the next month, given that the question of Harris replacing Biden on the ticket can only be officially decided by the Democratic National Convention on August 19-22.
- This sudden potential shift in leadership comes as Biden and his administration are in the final phase of potentially closing a hostage deal.
- The problem is not just that Harris is untested on these issues, but more that Biden is now at his weakest point during a month when Israel most needs Washington to be in a strong leadership position.
- That will create difficulties with closing the hostage deal and make Israel seem more vulnerable to Iran.
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Important Takeaways:
- The United States on Thursday announced a new security package for Ukraine worth $225 million, which includes a Patriot missile battery, additional ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems and missiles, among other items.
- Washington, Ukraine’s biggest supporter, has provided more than $50 billion in military aid since 2022 when the Russian invasion began.
- U.S. legislation was approved in April that provided $61 billion in funding to Ukraine.
- “We will stay with you, period,” U.S. President Joe Biden told Zelenskiy ahead of a bilateral meeting at the NATO summit in Washington.
- Ukraine has repeatedly called on partners to provide more help with air defense as it faces attacks from Russia on cities and energy infrastructure.
- Zelenskiy said last week he wanted to double Ukraine’s air defense capacity over the summer.
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Important Takeaways:
- Putin ‘is prepared to SHARE Crimea with Ukraine according to new peace plan that has been presented by Russia to the US’
- It would see the Kremlin dictator gain spoils from going to war.
- ‘The main purpose of his [Kolokoltsev’s] arrival was to hand over Russia’s peace plan to the US authorities,’ said Gordon, who said it was a Putin plan ‘to end the war’.
- The demands were that Ukraine must completely withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk regions, both of which are now partially annexed by Russia.
- But Russia would hand over Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station and the nearby town of Enerhodar to Ukraine.
- And he would discuss the possible transfer of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to the control of Ukraine.
- Crimea would become a ‘specially demilitarized administrative territory with dual subordination to Ukraine and the Russian Federation’.
- Ukraine must take on itself legally binding international guarantees, not to block the supply of water to Crimea,’ said Gordon, reading from a document.
- Putin seized the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014 and vowed he would never return it to Ukraine.
- Ukraine would also control a 62-mile ‘demilitarized zone’ along the Dnipro River.
- The Ukrainian army would have a legal maximum size, and the country would be barred from joining NATO, a key Zelinsky goal.
- But Putin would not seek to block Ukraine joining the EU.
- The West would drop sanctions on Russian oil and gas, as well as banking.
- Gordon gave the army size as 350,000, but the Gosdumskaya Telegram channel said 150,000.
- The UN meeting that the Russian minister attended was a ‘diversionary maneuver’, said Gordon.
- The Donetsk and Luhansk regions cannot be transferred under the control of Ukraine, because this will cause, they say, the imminent genocide of the population of the territory, a third of which took part in hostilities against Ukraine,’ said Gordon.
- There has been no official comment from the US, Russia or Ukraine over the alleged back channel contacts concerning Kolokoltsev’s visit.
- Intriguingly, Kolokoltsev’s plane was seen alongside former US president Donald Trump’s aircraft as it arrived in Washington.
- Trump has vowed that he could rapidly halt the debilitating war if re-elected and hinted that this would involve Ukraine ceding territory in exchange for security assurances short of being a NATO member
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Important Takeaways:
- The so-called Darlene 3 fire broke out in central Oregon on Tuesday and burned more than 2,415 acres by Wednesday morning, prompting officials in the rural city of La Pine – population 2,500 – to issue evacuation orders and warnings
- As of Thursday morning, the east side of town and surrounding areas were under a level three evacuation order, the highest level, while residents in the central and west sides were asked to prepare to flee their homes.
- Officials have contained the fire by 30% as “fire activity picked up” on Wednesday.
- To the north, firefighters made headway against the Long Bend fire, which erupted in central Oregon on Saturday and, as of Wednesday, burned more than 1,000 acres
- The blaze knocked out power to homes and temporarily closed a portion of the Wapinitia Creek
- In New Mexico, firefighters gained momentum in the battle against two blazes that have forced thousands from their homes and killed at least two people.
- The South Fork and Salt fires have scorched 17,569 and 7,939 acres of land, respectively. They broke out on June 17 and have damaged over 23,000 structures and displaced about 8,000 people.
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