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President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Peace Missions, Steve Witkoff, prostrated himself before Russia's Vladimir Putin at a summit on Wednesday — despite Putin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, butcher of civilians, and the lack of any progress in getting him to back off his demands for territorial and political control of his neighbors."You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian," said Witkoff. "You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that, I commend you, and I thank you again."This display earned disgust and horror from commentators on social media, both in the U.S. and around the world."Holy s---, Witkoff just called Putin a 'humanitarian,'" wrote the account "Vatnik Soup." "Because of Putin, thousands of Ukrainian civilians are dead, hospitals lie in ruins, and people are suffering from hunger, torture and Russian terrorism.""What is clear is Putin is playing rope a dope with Trump/Witkoff: Release a hostage here, feign interest in peace talks there, signalling willingness to listen, while blaming Ukraine for intransigence. But never actually agreeing to change course," wrote John Foreman, an independent defense consultant and former British defence attaché in Moscow."The sheer insanity of American diplomacy under Trump is becoming difficult to comprehend," wrote Substacker Gandalv. "Steve Witkoff, a New York property developer somehow entrusted with negotiating Europe’s most consequential war since 1945, has just saluted Vladimir Putin as a humanitarian. The man who invaded Ukraine, ordered the destruction of its cities and presides over a state accused of abducting Ukrainian children. Apparently, releasing an American whom Russia wrongfully imprisoned makes Putin a humanitarian. Imagine sending a property salesman to negotiate with a war criminal, only to discover he cannot distinguish between a humanitarian gesture and the man responsible for creating the humanitarian catastrophe. They are so cringe.""US humiliation level 100," wrote Czech political analyst Vláďa Foltán."Absurd simpering obsequiousness from a representative of the most powerful country on earth, and another American humiliation, to add to the growing, growing list," wrote Kyiv Independent correspondent Jimmy Rushton.

A Republican lawmaker who worked as an FBI agent in Ukraine demands sworn testimony over a decision he warned "costs human lives."Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) told CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday that if Elon Musk ordered a lapse in Starshield coverage for Ukraine, as a report says, "that is likely a violation of the law." Fitzpatrick said Musk has authority over Starlink, the commercial satellite internet service, but not Starshield, which the congressman called "a military-grade national security tool.""No individual civilian should have any decision-making authority on how that's deployed," he said.Collins asked whether it was clear Musk was responsible. "Well, that's what the report says. But we got to investigate," said Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent who chairs the Ukraine caucus in Congress."We got to call the witnesses. Got to bring them in, put them under oath, and get to the bottom of it," he said. "Because this is a very, very serious matter. It cannot be glossed over."He added that "lapsing Starshield in that manner" is something that "costs human lives," and "there's got to be consequences to that."Asked whether that could include putting Musk under oath, Fitzpatrick replied, "You got to interview everybody. Yes."He also threatened to hit the executive branch where it hurts, noting it "does not have a dime of their own money" and that there "needs to be financial consequences to any agency or any agency head that had any part in this."Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier Tuesday that "we haven't pulled anything back" and that Starlink "has the option to make those decisions." Fitzpatrick wasn't satisfied."These answers are wildly insufficient," he said. "There's a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of people saying, well, not me. Okay, if not you, then who?"Fitzpatrick said he has spoken with several colleagues on both sides of the aisle and there is "a strong, strong resolve" to pursue oversight as soon as Congress returns.He didn't spare President Donald Trump either. Asked whether Trump is equivocating on Ukraine and Russia, Fitzpatrick said, "I think they all are." When Collins raised Trump's claim that Russia hasn't been doing much lately, the congressman shot back, "It's ridiculous.""Ukraine is our ally," he said. "Russia is the self-identified enemy of the United States."

Case in Africa’s most populous country was detected in a woman who had travelled from UgandaNigeria has confirmed an Ebola case in its capital, Abuja, after a woman who arrived from Uganda tested positive for the virus, the health ministry said.The woman began showing symptoms on 7 October and was admitted to a hospital in Abuja four days later, where she was later diagnosed with Ebola. It is unclear when she arrived in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. Continue reading...

Elon Musk's attempt to distance himself from a move Ukraine says put lives at risk took a major hit with a new report.The SpaceX founder personally ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink that Ukrainian forces rely on, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter. The speed cap rendered some of Ukraine's attack and interceptor drones close to useless, according to the report.That account clashes with what Musk told the public. Hours after the slowdown came to light, he posted on X that "any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS."Some U.S. officials told The Journal that Musk acted on his own and that Trump never specifically ordered any retribution against Kyiv. But one person familiar with the situation said Musk spoke with several senior Trump administration officials, including the president, before imposing the cap. Ukrainian officials said the restriction allowed Russian missiles to slip past their defenses.Two people said Musk and Trump discussed the decision by phone shortly after it became public, while the president was on the campaign trail. One of them claimed the pair had also talked it over before the cap went into effect.As the uproar grew, SpaceX representatives reached out to their White House counterparts hoping to settle on a shared message that the company and the Trump administration had worked together before Musk gave the order, according to the report. Trump, meanwhile, told reporters Monday that he didn't know who was behind the slowdown, "but I would like to find out."The slowdown, which started Oct. 14, came just days after Trump lashed out at Ukraine over strikes on Russian diesel refineries, which he blames for high fuel prices.Last week, The Telegraph reported that Musk had pitched the idea of slowing the service to Trump, citing four sources familiar with the talks.Michael Kofman, a war expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the restrictions "continue to hamper Ukrainian strike operations and air defenses." Denys Sienik, Ukraine's top diplomat in Washington, said Tuesday that Kyiv was still trying "to understand whether the connection has been restored or will be restored."SpaceX did not respond to The Journal's request for comment.

Veteran journalist Dan Rather spotted one issue that President Donald Trump can't avoid much longer after he made his latest turn toward Russia. Over the last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin has received several gifts from Trump. The U.S. president has agreed to purchase Russian diesel fuel, which analysts say won't have any impact on gas prices ahead of the midterms. The Trump White House has also reportedly ordered a slowdown in Ukraine's Starshield systems, the military equivalent of Elon Musk's Starlink, which helps the country identify incoming Russian ballistic missile attacks. Trump has also moved to lift sanctions on Russia included in a bill to honor the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) just days before they were scheduled to go into effect. Rather argued in a new essay for his Substack "Ready" that these moves could spark calls to investigate Trump for treason. "Most Americans don’t want to think about it, but in the background of these developments is this: Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution defines treason against the United States as 'levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.' By any objective measure, lifting Russian sanctions is giving aid and comfort to an enemy," Rather argued. "Any suggestion of holding the president to a standard of treason is too far out for a clear majority of Americans. But as Trump draws ever closer to Putin, the subject is bound to come up in some conversations," he continued.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took a secret trip to Israel on Monday to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the country's elections, according to a new report from Axios, citing "two sources with knowledge."Hegseth's trip came just days after President Donald Trump endorsed Netanyahu for re-election. Trump has also said that he would not be "inclined" to continue the war against Iran if Netanyahu were to lose. Israel's elections will be held on October 27.

Just ahead of the midterms, the Trump administration appears to be softening one of its signature policy pledges, immigrant advocates told The Washington Post.According to a Trump administration official who spoke with the Post on the condition of anonymity, and to the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, the Department of Homeland Security is expected to extend Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, which shields noncitizens from certain countries from deportation, for around 100,000 Ukrainians whose protections were scheduled to expire Monday. An embassy spokeswoman said the extension is expected to last six months.DHS did not confirm the extension. “An announcement on Ukraine’s TPS will be made at the appropriate time. Until such an announcement is made, Ukrainian individuals present in the U.S. under TPS remain under protection,” the department said in a statement.The move follows DHS’s decision last month to let TPS remain in place for around 232,000 migrants from El Salvador. The administration never formally announced a decision, instead issuing what the Post described as a “last-minute notice.” The lack of a clear timeline has forced Salvadorans “to grapple with an uncertain future,” the Post reported. Sudanese TPS holders, also set to lose protections Monday, will keep them until further notice, DHS said.“This is different,” said Jessica Bansal, an attorney focused on TPS litigation, speaking with the Post.The Trump administration has moved to strip protected status from 13 of 17 countries whose nationals were covered by TPS when Trump returned to office. As to why the administration is now letting protections continue for some groups, Bansal speculated that officials may be reluctant to deprive American businesses of workers so close to the election. The administration’s mass deportation push has also proven unpopular with voters.“There’s some very concrete negative consequences for businesses and other sorts of constituents that the administration may care more about if they strip these people of their status,” Bansal told the Post.Todd Schulte, president of the pro-immigration advocacy group FWD.us, told the Post that forcing out tens of thousands of Ukrainians just ahead of the midterms would be politically costly.“From a political perspective, demanding Ukrainians with TPS in battleground states like Ohio — who fled Putin’s invasion — leave the U.S. would be very unpopular,” Schulte said. “This is weeks before voters in the U.S. would issue a judgment on what would be seen as purging Ukrainians and a signal that the administration is siding with the Russian authoritarian.”

The editorial board of the conservative Wall Street Journal joined the pile-on of Donald Trump for betraying his friendship with the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).And they didn’t pull their punches.“President Trump’s assistance to Vladimir Putin keeps growing by the day, and in the latest example he stuck a shiv in the back of the legacy of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham,” the board wrote in an editorial.The board said Trump waived tariffs for an indefinite period against the top buyers of Russian energy covered by the Graham bill, which passed the Senate 86-11. His executive order also waives new sanctions on Russian political and military officials, government entities, financial institutions, the energy industry and the shadow fleet Moscow uses to evade sanctions, the board wrote.Trump "offered no explanation" beyond a statement that “the issuance of such a waiver at this time is in the national interests of the United States,” the WSJ board accused. The White House has said enforcing the sanctions now would impede U.S. efforts to negotiate a peace agreement.“The opposite is true, and Mr. Trump is now Mr. Putin’s best friend in the world, after perhaps China’s Xi Jinping,” the editors wrote.The board wrote that Putin responded Friday night with "one of the largest attacks" on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the four-and-a-half-year war, including strikes on more than 15 power generation and transmission facilities.On Sunday, the editorial said, Trump posted that he doesn’t “want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.” The editors countered that “he’s been courting Mr. Putin this way for two years, to no avail.”The board also pointed to Trump dropping sanctions on Russian diesel sales, which it called a $4.5 billion windfall for Russian energy companies, and to threats to cut off U.S. intelligence to Kyiv. Trump has denied threatening to stop sharing intelligence, Euronews reported. The editors added that the administration still hasn’t explained who ordered speed limits on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite service used in Ukraine.The editorial urged “a bipartisan reckoning” after the Nov. 3 election over Trump’s “budding alliance with the Kremlin against Ukraine, Europe and American interests.”