Ukrainians: Trump Just Sent Us ‘a Terrible Signal’

Ukrainian officials spent last weekend glued to Trump’s Twitter feed. People working closely with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have been in contact with Trump administration officials over the past several weeks discussing the relationship between the two presidents, according to four people with knowledge of the talks. Based on those conversations, Ukrainian officials came to expect that President Donald Trump would make a statement of support before Zelensky met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in France for peace talks. A statement might even come via Twitter, they said they were told. “Through all the signals we got, we firmly believed there would be a statement,” a senior Zelensky administration official told The Daily Beast. But as Saturday and Sunday ticked by, there was only silence from the White House. Even as Ukrainian officials have publicly been loath to criticize Trump’s pressure campaign on their country, frustrations with Washington have quietly percolated. And last weekend, they were especially acute. On Monday, Zelensky and Putin met in Normandy, France for face-to-face negotiations on the war in eastern Ukraine. Russia had seized Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014, and has ever since backed separatists in the eastern part of the country. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were on hand for the talks. Putin and Zelensky agreed to exchange “all known prisoners,” according to The Washington Post. Another round of talks is expected in several months. Words of support from the United States in the lead-up to the Normandy talks could have given the Ukrainian president more leverage with Putin, according to the Zelensky administration official and two additional people close to his administration. Instead, Trump spent the weekend on Twitter tweeting about Fox News pundits, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and CNN. It was a particularly busy weekend of social media for him, with more than 100 tweets and retweets by Politico’s count. But no word on Normandy.And the next week put salt in the wound. On Tuesday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and made an appearance at the White House. Russia’s Top Diplomat: We’re Ready to Publish Our Correspondence With U.S. on Election Meddling AllegationsOne of the people close to the Zelensky administration said the silence from White House—combined with Lavrov’s photo-friendly visit to Washington—sent “a terrible signal” and was “most unfortunate.” According to a read-out of Trump’s meeting with Lavrov, the president “urged Russia to resolve the conflict with Ukraine.” The Ukrainian official called the episode “frustrating.” Ukrainians say they view the coupling of Trump’s pre-Normandy silence and the administration’s decision to welcome Lavrov as a signal in an of itself—and not a good one. Zelensky administration officials are now reconsidering their strategy on communication with and about the Trump administration, the official said. Thus far, Zelensky administration officials have stayed in line with the Trump administration’s narrative on the president's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani’s Ukraine activity and the focuses of the impeachment inquiry. But they say they have little to show for it, and may take a different public relations strategy in the future. A Time interview published earlier this week captured Kyiv’s willingness to publicly bolster Trump’s version of events. Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Zelensky, contradicted a key assertion that European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland made in congressional testimony last month. Sondland had said he pulled Yermak aside during an event in Warsaw and urged him to have Kyiv announce Trump-friendly investigations. Yermak, meanwhile, told Time that no such conversation happened. The statement was a body blow to a key impeachment witness’s testimony, though Sondland’s lawyer said he stood by his description of events. In a separate interview, Zelensky said he did not speak to Trump in terms of “you give me this, I give you that.” Trump tweeted out a link to the interview and thanked Zelensky for the comment. Trump’s relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was a key focus of Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. The inquiry began after an anonymous Intelligence Committee official filed a whistleblower complaint in August alleging that Trump pressured Zelensky to announce investigations of a company linked to the Bidens and of alleged Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election. The complaint said that Trump was withholding military aid from Ukraine until those investigations were announced. Trump has vehemently denied allegations that withholding the military aid—which happened for a short time at his orders—was part of a pressure campaign. Sondland, meanwhile, told Congress that the administration was explicit that it refused to arrange a White House meeting between Trump and Zelensky until Kyiv announced the two investigations. After weeks of closed-door depositions and hearings, Pelosi announced the introduction of two articles of impeachment based on Trump’s pressure on Ukraine. House Democrats are expected to vote on those articles as soon as next week. If they pass—which is extremely likely—then they will be referred to the Senate for a trial.  —with additional reporting by Erin BancoRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

• Despite Talks, Putin Takes Hard Line Over Ukraine Border Control
  Bloomberg
• 
  Ukraine, Russia hope for progress after peace talks
  Associated Press

Ten Things You Didn’t Know About The Shelby Cobra

Learn about this important American sports car. Everyone knows about the Shelby Cobra, the little roadster which launched Carroll Shelby’s career as a car builder. It looks fast just sitting in a parking lot, plus it has the guts to back all that up. But how much do you really know about it? Read on for ten facts about the Shelby Cobra you might not have known before. 1. Used to Convert CosbyCarroll Shelby was a friend of Bill Cosby and one day the former racer asked the comedian why he drove Ferraris. Shelby then convinced Cosby to get a CSX 3015 Super Snake, which was the ultimate version of the Cobra 427 competition roadster. Only two were built and both are worth large fortunes. One sold at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale sale for a cool $5.1 million. The car was so powerful it scared Cosby, so he sold it. But for a moment he wasn’t driving a Ferrari, so you might consider that an accomplishment. 2. Inspired By ItaliansYou probably already know the Shelby Cobra used AC Ace rolling chassis, with Mr. Shelby shoving a big Ford V8 under the hood. What you might not realize is the design for the Ace was heavily inspired by the Italian coachbuilders’ work, particularly the Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta. John Tojeiro, a British enthusiast, created his own version of that roadster and called it the Cooper-MG. To get more financial means, Tojeiro sold the rights to his car to A.C. Cars Ltd. The boutique automaker in Surrey was looking for a sexier body style and scored big time. 3. A GM HeartMany builders use Chevrolet V8 engines for a variety of excellent reasons, and Carroll Shelby was going to do the same thing with the AC Cobra. However, since the high-powered roadster would hit the market at the same time as the C2 Corvette and it would be a direct competitor, GM wasn’t supportive. Shelby’s second pick was Ford, which supplied the new Windsor V8. You can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if GM had decided to support the new Cobras.   4. Fabricated StoryDid you ever hear about how Shelby's "Secret Weapon" CSX2286, a one-off Shelby Cobra Dayton Coupe built specifically for the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, was involved in a horrific accident as it was being transported by truck to the race? Many people repeat the legend, but it was completely fabricated. The car wasn’t finished in time for the competition, so it sat in Carrozzeria Grand Sport, an Italian body shop located in Modena. Some think the story was actually dreamt up by Carroll Shelby as a way to save face after his car didn’t show for the race. It was supposed to embarrass Ferrari on its own turf, but Shelby was able to help do that at the 1966 Le Mans, so it kind of worked out. 5. Feline FerocityMost people don’t realize Ford experimented using the CSX chassis, creating a few different concepts. One of the most famous was the Mercury Cougar II, revealed back in 1963. The word is that Ford executives weren’t wild about the AC body on the Cobra. Some thought it was too conservative, while others weren’t fans of how thin the aluminum body was. There’s heavy resemblance to the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray in the concept.   6. Not The First HardtopYou might think the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe was the first time the roadster body had been converted into a fixed hardtop, but that’s actually not true. AC actually made a fastback hardtop version of the Ace starting in 1954, calling it the AC Aceca Coupe. What’s more, that hardtop model stayed in production until 1963, so it wasn’t something which was around for only a brief period of time. 7. Focus Of LawsuitsThey say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or something like that, but Carroll Shelby and his associates obviously disagreed. Shelby American Inc. and Ford jointed forces back in the early 2000s to stamp out reproduction models of the AC Cobra, specifically targeting Factory Five Performance and Superformance. Several years later the companies settled the matter out of court, and fortunately you can still get a reproduction Cobra which won’t cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. 8. Ford V Ferrari MerchandisingWith the explosive Ford V Ferrari movie debuting, Shelby American decided to cash in on the fan frenzy and make some reproduction vehicles of its own. Among them are three different versions of the Cobra. You can call it a cash grab or a wise business move, depending on how you look at things. 9. Dominant ForceThe Shelby Cobra is a legendary American car and it comes by that reputation rightfully. Instead of relying on flashy marketing ploys, Carroll Shelby did what he knew best: building scary-fast cars. For years the Cobra 427 remained the most potent American performance car in just about every aspect. For example, with the Competition package installed, it did 0-60 mph in just over 4 seconds, a time which was blistering for the 1960s. 10. Maybe Too GoodSometimes you can have too much of a good thing. Raw performance is great, but only if you can handle it. A lot of people with financial means stretched beyond their driving capabilities when they purchased a Shelby Cobra. Maybe they wanted an expensive car to make them look good or they thought they could handle what was essentially a street-legal race car. Whatever the reasons, quite a few original Cobras were crashed by their owners, adding to the value of those today which are truly accident-free.See it in full 360-degree view and learn more about the Shelby Cobra here. Read More * Ford Performance And Shelby Vehicles To Take Over Barrett-Jackson * Ford Made A Carroll Shelby Racing Video

Say Hello To America’s Newest Aircraft Carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy

It’s the second aircraft carrier named after the 35th President of the United States.

Megan Fox has revealed she sends her sons to an 'organic, sustainable, vegan school'

The actress wants her children to grow up to be kind to animals and live sustainably.

• 
  Megan Fox on Her Children's 'Vegan School' — and Why She's Teaching Them Plants 'Have Feelings'
  People
• 
  Megan Fox & Brian Austin Green Once Held a Full Funeral for a Rollie Pollie Because, Kids
  SheKnows

Europe launches 'Green Deal' as Thunberg denounces climate inaction

BRUSSELS/MADRID (Reuters) - Europe sought on Wednesday to bolster the world's faltering battle against climate change with its "Green Deal" to slash fossil fuel dependence, while teen activist Greta Thunberg rebuked global leaders for dragging their feet. With fires, floods and droughts ruining millions of lives around the world, the European Union's new executive cast the plan as the bloc's "man on the moon moment," kindling hopes among campaigners that other big emitters may follow suit. "I'm sure that if people heard what was going on and what was said ... during these meetings, they would be outraged," Thunberg told the gathering.

• 
  Greta Thunberg's Twitter bio is trolling Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who called her a 'brat'
  Business Insider
• 
  At UN Climate Summit, Greta Thunberg Lifts Up Science, Blasts World Leaders
  HuffPost