Floods swamp Bangladesh as nation finds its feet after protests

At least two people have died and hundreds of thousands are stranded in the floods. 

Aug 22, 2024

DHAKA - Floods triggered by torrential rains have swamped a swath of low-lying Bangladesh, disaster officials said on Aug 22, adding to the new government’s challenges after weeks of political turmoil.

At least two people have died and hundreds of thousands are stranded in the floods in at least eight districts in southern and eastern areas.

“Around 2.9 million people have been affected and more than 70,000 people have been taken to shelters,” Mr Mohammad Nazmul Abedin, senior official in the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, told AFP.

Long-time premier Sheikh Hasina quit as prime minister in August and fled to India after weeks of deadly student-led protests, ending her 15-year rule.

The South Asian nation of 170 million people, crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers, has seen frequent floods in recent decades.

It is among the countries most vulnerable to disasters and climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index.

The annual monsoon rains cause widespread destruction every year, but climate change is shifting weather patterns and increasing the number of extreme weather events.

The army and the navy have been deployed, with speedboats and helicopters rescuing those stranded by the swollen rivers.

Much of the country is made up of deltas where the Himalayan rivers the Ganges and the Brahmaputra wind towards the sea after coursing through India.

Neighbouring India’s foreign ministry rejected accusations it was to blame for the floods, denying it had deliberately released water from an upstream dam.

It said the catchment area had experienced the “heaviest rains of this year over the last few days”, and that the flow of water downstream was due to “automatic releases”.

Mr Asif Mahmud, a key leader of the student protests that ousted Ms Hasina, and now the sports minister in the interim Cabinet, had accused India of not only hosting Ms Hasina, but of “creating a flood” by deliberately releasing water from dams.

India said that was “factually not correct”.

“Floods on the common rivers between India and Bangladesh are a shared problem inflicting sufferings to people on both sides, and requires close mutual cooperation towards resolving them,” New Delhi’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Ms Hasina’s rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

But Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government preferred Ms Hasina over her rivals from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which it saw as closer to conservative Islamist groups.

Mr Modi has offered his support to the new Bangladeshi leader Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who is heading the caretaker administration. 

AFP

US government inability to monitor Ukraine supplies

GAO says that DoD officials are often unaware of transfers authorised by the State Department until they are identified upon entry to Ukraine, if at all.

John Hill

August 22, 2024

US Airmen load pallets of ammunition onto a contracted aircraft bound for Ukraine during a security assistance mission at Travis Air Force Base, California, 25 June 2024. 

Credit: DVIDS.

The US government is unable to track military supplies transferred to Ukraine by third-party donors due to “inconsistent communication” between departments.

Based on its findings, published on 20 August 2024, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has put forward several recommendations to foster information sharing in Washington, thereby allowing the government to identify where US manufactured items are delivered.

The State Department is responsible for authorising third-party transfers (TPTs) of defence articles of US origin. So far, the department has approved 217 cases by more than 26 foreign donors to Ukraine as of April 2024.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is required to conduct end-use monitoring of these items; however, it is limited in its ability to do so.

“DoD officials are often unaware of TPTs authorised by State until they are identified upon entry to Ukraine, if at all,” says the GAO.
See Also:Explainer: prices rise as Ukrainian forces seize key Russian gas hub
Ukraine military situation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a description of the objectives of the Ukrainian counter-offensive into Kursk, Russia last week.

“There have already been several reports by Commander-in-Chief [Ukrainian Col. Gen. Oleksandr] Syrskyi about the frontline situation and our operation in the Kursk region,” Zelenskyy said in his daily report to the Ukrainian people. “We see that the occupier is suffering losses, and this is helpful — very helpful — for our defence. It is about destroying the logistics of the Russian Army and draining their reserves.”

Ukraine’s forces must inflict maximum damage on all Russian positions, he said. The Ukrainian forces are tenaciously defending the Donbas region even as they advance into Kursk. “We are eliminating the Russian military presence in the area of our operations there,” added the head of state.

Impact on timely delivery

The GAO’s recommedations to impose more information sharing processes across government – and additional protocols for TPT countries divesting equipment to Ukraine – may add more time on preparing deliveries to the war-torn nation.

In its report, the GAO noted that the State Department’s document management procedures may not be able to notify the DoD of information on TPT authorisations in a timely manner.

Restructuring intra-govrnmental communciations to allow for this will risk cutting off Ukraine’s armed forces from much-needed equipment when it is most needed, or when it is relevant, at the height of its counter-offensive.

The pace of warfare is ever-changing and Western donors must attempt to deliver at the moment of necessity. We have seen how crucial timely US aid to Ukraine has been at the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024, when Ukrainian forces were forced onto the backfoot after US military assistance froze due to politicking in Washington over that winter period.

At the time, GloblaData Defence Analyst James Marques observed that when deprived of the Western military equipment they needed, Ukraine’s forces “demonstrated a remarkable capacity to manufacture drones, particularly first-person-view variants.

“Such munitions are used to devastating effect in frontline combat, often compensating for Ukraine’s near-constant shortfall in conventional artillery ammunition.”

 

Chinese, foreign physicists make new discovery in antimatterl

Xinhua, August 22, 2024

A joint research team made up of Chinese and foreign physicists has observed a new antimatter hypernucleus, by using a heavy ion collider in the United States, marking an important step forward in the exploration of antimatter.

The discovery of anti-hyperhydrogen-4, which is the heaviest antimatter hypernucleus observed in experiments to date, was made by a research team led by the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The study was published in the latest issue of the academic journal Nature.

Current physics assumes that the properties of matter and antimatter are symmetrical and that equal amounts of matter and antimatter existed at the birth of the universe. Fortunately, some mysterious physical mechanism led to a slight asymmetry in the early universe. After the annihilation of most matter and antimatter, approximately one in ten billion matter particles survived, which formed the matter world we see today, scientists explained.

"What caused the difference in quantities of matter and antimatter in the universe? To answer this question, an important approach is to create new antimatter in the laboratory and study its properties," said Qiu Hao, a researcher from IMP.

In today's matter-dominated world, antimatter is extremely rare because it easily annihilates with surrounding matter. Antimatter nuclei and antimatter hypernuclei are even more difficult to produce. Since scientists predicted the existence of antimatter in 1928, only six types of antimatter (hyper) nuclei have been discovered, Qiu said.

The newly discovered anti-hyperhydrogen-4 was produced at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in the United States. RHIC can accelerate heavy ion beams to nearly the speed of light and make them collide.

These collisions simulate the conditions of the early universe in the laboratory, producing fireballs with temperatures of several trillion degrees, which contain approximately equal amounts of matter and antimatter. As the fireball rapidly expands and cools, some antimatter escapes annihilation with matter and is detected by a detector named STAR.

"After analyzing experimental data of approximately 6.6 billion heavy-ion collision events, we reconstructed anti-hyperhydrogen-4 from its decay products," said Wu Junlin, a PhD student at IMP.

The researchers also measured the lifetime of anti-hyperhydrogen-4, and found no significant difference from that of its corresponding particle hyperhydrogen-4 within the measurement precision, further verifying the symmetry between matter and antimatter properties.

Outcry after Thai MP slaps woman reporter for asking question

Reporter Duangthip Yiamphop’s employer called for Prawit to be held accountable for violating the rules of ethical conduct

Maroosha Muzaffar

Thai politician, 79, hits female reporter when she asks about country's new PM

Thai politician Prawit Wongsuwan slapped a journalist on the head for asking him a question about the new prime minister, sparking outrage in the country.

A formal parliamentary investigation has been sought against Mr Prawit, 79, who has a controversial history, including alleged involvement in a military coup.


A video of the interaction in Bangkok last week between Duangthip Yiamphop, a veteran reporter for the Thai Public Broadcasting Service, and Mr Prawit, a retired general and former deputy prime minister, led to anger in Thailand.


Journalist associations condemned the politician’s act as intimidation and an assault on press freedom. “The recent attack on a journalist is unacceptable and cannot be ignored,” Ittipan Buathong, president of the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association, said.

“It’s clear that what happened wasn’t just teasing. It was an outright assault.”

He alleged that Mr Prawit had acted inappropriately towards journalists before. “This incident, if dismissed as trivial, risks repeating past scenarios where interviews have belittled the media, questioning their educational background to undermine their professional work.”

Ms Duangthip’s employer called for Mr Prawit to be held accountable for violating the rules of ethical conduct.

Mr Prawit, who heads the Palang Pracharath Party, apologised, claiming he was teasing someone he knew well.

“Because he was a soldier the teasing could appear to be violent but those close to him know that he teases like this all the time,” Piya Tavichai, a spokesman for the party, said. “He was teasing her as someone who he is close to.”

Last year, Thailand’s military-appointed Senate rejected the outcome of an election won by a candidate who advocated for changes to a law criminalising criticism of the monarchy, allegedly under Mr Prawit’s influence.

“Senior or influential figures feel they can act with impunity towards younger or less powerful people,” Senator Tewarait Maneechai was quoted as saying by The New York Times.

“Unfortunately, this has become a norm in Thai society.”

Mr Prawit, president of Thailand’s National Olympic Committee, was leaving a meeting with athletes returning from the Paris Games when Ms Duangthip asked him in Thai, “Have you watched the prime ministerial vote?”

“What did you ask? What kind of question is that?” Mr Prawit responded and proceeded to slap her on the head multiple times before walking away.

​​Mr Prawit is accused of playing a role in orchestrating the 2014 military coup as Thailand’s top general, following his involvement in the ousting of Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Last week, Thailand’s constitutional court removed Srettha Thavisin as prime minister for appointing a convicted lawyer to his cabinet. Mr Srettha was replaced on Sunday by Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

Japan: Robot's Attempt To Get Nuclear Fuel Sample Of Damaged Fukushima Daiichi Reactor Suspended

The work was stopped Thursday morning when workers noticed that five 1.5-meter (5-foot) pipes used to maneuver the robot were placed in the wrong order and could not be corrected within the time limit for their radiation exposure, the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said.

Associated Press
Updated on: 22 August 2024 

Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant Photo: AP

An attempt to use a telescoping robot to remove a sample of melted fuel from a wrecked reactor at Japan's tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was suspended Thursday due to a technical issue.

The collection of a tiny sample of the debris inside the Unit 2 reactor's primary containment vessel would start the fuel debris removal phase, the most challenging part of the decades-long decommissioning of the plant where three reactors were destroyed in the March 11, 2011, magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

The work was stopped Thursday morning when workers noticed that five 1.5-meter (5-foot) pipes used to maneuver the robot were placed in the wrong order and could not be corrected within the time limit for their radiation exposure, the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said.

The pipes were to be used to push the robot inside and pull it back out when it finished. Once inside the vessel, the robot is operated remotely from a safer location.

The robot can extend up to 22 meters (72 feet) to reach its target area to collect a fragment from the surface of the melted fuel mound using a device equipped with tongs that hang from the tip of the robot.

The mission to obtain the fragment and return with it is to last two weeks. TEPCO said a new start date is undecided.

The sample-return mission is a first crucial step of a decades-long decommissioning at the Fukushima Daiichi. But its goal to bring back less than 3 grams (0.1 ounce) of an estimated 880 tons of fatally radioactive molten fuel underscores the daunting challenges.

Despite the small amount of the debris sample, it will provide key data to develop future decommissioning methods and necessary technology and robots, experts say.

Better understanding of the melted fuel debris is key to decommissioning the three wrecked reactors and the entire plant.

The government and TEPCO are sticking to a 30-40-year cleanup target set soon after the meltdown, despite criticism it is unrealistic. No specific plans for the full removal of the melted fuel debris or its storage have been decided.

Gaza faces cash crisis as main banks halt operations

Copyright © africanewsAbdel Kareem Hana/

Copyright 2024 

The AP All rights reserved
By Rédaction Africanews 


The main Palestinian banking association has said that all banks across Gaza have halted operations, the latest deterioration in living conditions to hit the war-ravaged enclave.

Bashar Yasin, general manager of the Association of Banks in Palestine, confirmed the closure on Wednesday.

The association represents banks across the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

A number of banks had been semi-operational across Gaza before Wednesday, including a large Bank of Palestine branch in the central city of Deir al-Balah.

It was not immediately clear why the branch, the last place that Palestinians could withdraw cash, was closed.

The 10-month war has devastated Gaza’s already fragile economy, displacing most of the population, causing widespread damage and leaving the vast majority of Palestinian workers unemployed.

A cash crisis has worsened these problems, with displaced people having little or no access to their meager savings as prices for food and basic commodities have increased.

For months, hours-long queues had formed outside the few working branches and cash points, with limits on how much could be withdrawn.

Additional sources • AP

War-battered Gaza faces uphill battle against polio

GAZA STRIP

Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip, walk past sewage flowing into the streets of the southern town of Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday, July 4, 2024.

The recent discovery of the first case of polio in the Gaza Strip in 25 years is presenting significant challenges for health workers and aid agencies as they prepare for a mass vaccination campaign in the conflict-torn territory.

The ongoing Israeli air strikes, restrictions on aid entering the besieged region, and the intense summer heat are all potential obstacles to the success of the critical inoculation effort.

Despite these challenges, equipment necessary for the vaccination campaign—which U.N. agencies anticipate could launch on Aug. 31—has already begun arriving in the region.

According to the Palestinian health ministry based in the occupied West Bank, a 10-month-old unvaccinated child from central Gaza tested positive for polio last week, with confirmation obtained from tests conducted in Jordan.

Gaza had not reported a polio case in 25 years, although type 2 poliovirus was detected in wastewater samples from the area in June, highlighting a significant public health threat. The poliovirus, which spreads easily through sewage and contaminated water, predominately affects children under five, potentially causing deformities, paralysis, and even death.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF have outlined comprehensive plans to vaccinate 640,000 children across Gaza. However, conducting such a large-scale campaign amid persistent military activity poses a formidable challenge.

"It's extremely difficult to undertake a vaccination campaign of this scale and volume under a sky full of air strikes," said Juliette Touma, communications director for UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

Touma, who worked on polio response during wars in Iraq and Syria, said that "the return of polio to a place where it's been eradicated says quite a lot."

The U.N.'s plan involves deploying 2,700 health workers in 708 teams, managed by the WHO, to execute the vaccination initiative, according to Richard Peeperkorn, WHO's representative in the Palestinian territories.

UNICEF is overseeing the cold supply chain logistics necessary for the distribution of vaccines, as stated by spokesman Jonathan Crickx.

Refrigeration units essential for maintaining vaccine potency arrived at Israel's primary international airport, with 1.6 million doses of the oral polio vaccine expected to enter Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing. The aim is to administer two doses to approximately 95% of Gaza’s children under 10.

While Israel denies accusations of blocking aid, logistical hurdles have long been a concern for relief workers seeking to bring supplies into Gaza. The territory is experiencing critical shortages of essential goods, including fuel and medical equipment.

Since Oct. 7, Israel’s military campaign has resulted in at least 40,223 deaths in Gaza, mostly among women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry under Hamas administration. These figures accompany a dire humanitarian situation with widespread displacement as most of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents have been forced to relocate at least once during the conflict.

Gaza's health system has been severely impacted, with only 16 of the original 36 hospitals still operational. Of these, just 11 have the capability to maintain the required cold chain for vaccines. The vaccines will initially be stored at a U.N. central hub in Gaza before being distributed to various health facilities and UNRWA shelters.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has advocated for two separate seven-day ceasefires to allow for the distribution of the vaccine doses. Moussa Abed from Gaza's health ministry emphasized that a “safe environment” is crucial for reaching the campaign’s goal of vaccinating 95% of children under 10.

In response, COGAT, the Israeli body overseeing civilian matters in Palestinian territories, indicated intentions for a collaborative effort with the international community concerning polio but did not discuss the U.N. campaign specifically. However, a COGAT spokesperson assured "full cooperation" with the efforts.

Ilhan Omar slams Blinken's 'humiliation' after his trip to Israel ends without Gaza cease-fire deal

'It's not just the hypocrisy of saying we respect international law, but humiliation,' Omar says during press conference in Chicago


- 22/08/2024 Perşembe

File photo

Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar blasted on Wednesday the “humiliation” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken endured during his recent trip to Israel, where he failed to secure a breakthrough for a Gaza cease-fire deal.

"Now ask yourselves, how does our Secretary of State travel 11 times begging for an end to a situation that we truly have continued to provide the bombs and the weapons that are creating that situation," the Minnesota representative told the “Uncommitted” movement's press conference in Chicago, Illinois, where thousands of delegates gathered for the Democratic National Convention (DNC).

"How do we allow our Secretary of State to go into Israel and say we are close to securing a cease-fire now for the 11th time, to leave for Egypt, only for Bibi Netanyahu to have a press conference right after him and say we are not taking a deal?” she said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“How are we not ashamed that that is the humiliation that our administration's representatives are faced with?

"It's not just the hypocrisy of saying we respect international law, but humiliation," she added.

Omar also criticized the Biden administration for "refusing to recognize the genocidal war" that is taking place in Gaza, adding: "Working tirelessly for a cease-fire is really not a thing, and they should be ashamed of themselves for saying such thing, because we supply these weapons."

"So if you really want a cease-fire, you just stop sending the weapons," she added.

Speaking at the same event, Missouri Representative Cori Bush, who lost the Democratic primary to challenger St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, who was backed by pro-Israel lobby groups, called on her Democratic colleagues to uphold their values.

Bush said that over 40,000 men, women and children in Gaza have been killed by "weapons that we the United States have manufactured and paid for.”

"Millions of people starving in this place while facing the continued dropping of bombs that the United States has paid for," she said. "They question us about why we stand, and why we keep talking and marching and crying and pushing and demanding, and the bombs keep dropping and they're not listening."

Blinken ended his ninth trip to the Middle East since Oct. 7 following stops in Qatar, Egypt and Israel without achieving a breakthrough in the Gaza cease-fire talks.

He said Monday while in Israel that Netanyahu accepted a "bridging proposal" presented by the US, Qatar and Egypt last week following the latest round of talks in Doha, Qatar.

However, Israeli media reported comments from Netanyahu just hours after Blinken's remarks saying that Israel will not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border or the Netzarim Corridor, which divides the Gaza Strip into two parts, “under any circumstances.”

The US, Egypt and Qatar announced last week following cease-fire talks in Doha that they had presented Israel and Hamas with what they called a "bridging proposal" to further narrow "remaining gaps in the manner that allows for a swift implementation of the deal."

Hamas criticized the proposal, claiming it merely aligns with Netanyahu's conditions, including his refusal of a permanent cease-fire, of a complete withdrawal from Gaza, and his insistence on continuing the occupation of the Netzarim Corridor, the Rafah border crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor.

Biden said in May that Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange, the Israeli military's withdrawal from Gaza, a surge in aid and a permanent end to hostilities.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

The conflict has resulted in over 40,170 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and more than 92,740 injuries, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.

As RFK Jr. backs Trump, here's the secretive billionaire plutocrat funding them both

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams
August 24, 2024 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former President Trump at a GOP campaign rally at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, Aug. 23, 2024. Photo: Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images

Joining Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump onstage at a campaign rally in Arizona Friday night, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to emphasize what the two share.

"We talked about not the values that separate us, because we don't agree on everything, but on the values and issues that bind us together," Kennedy said shortly after suspending his independent presidential bid to throw his support behind Trump.

But Kennedy did not mention that he and Trump have in common the same billionaire megadonor, a reclusive heir to a Gilded Age fortune who has pumped over $165 million into the 2024 campaign thus far.

Timothy Mellon, the grandson of plutocrat Andrew Mellon, has poured tens of millions of dollars into the campaigns of both Trump and Kennedy, making the secretive billionaire the top individual donor to both.

The campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets noted Friday in an analysis of Mellon's donations that the billionaire "made a $50 million cash infusion to pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again, Inc." in July, according to new Federal Election Commission filings.

"This brings his total contributions to the group to $125 million this election cycle, including a $50 million check he wrote to the super PAC the day after Trump was convicted of 34 felonies," OpenSecrets added. "Mellon's latest $50 million contribution accounts for over 90% of what MAGA, Inc. raised in July."

As for Kennedy, his hybrid PAC American Values 2024 received $25 million from Mellon earlier this year. OpenSecrets observed that Kennedy is quoted on the cover of the billionaire's autobiography, "praising Mellon as a 'maverick entrepreneur.'"

"He and Trump both shared the same major donor—billionaire nepo baby Timothy Mellon. RFK Jr.'s campaign was always a MAGA spoiler."

Robert Reich, the former U.S. labor secretary, wrote Friday that "it's no surprise" Kennedy dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed Trump.

"He and Trump both shared the same major donor—billionaire nepo baby Timothy Mellon," Reich added. "RFK Jr.'s campaign was always a MAGA spoiler."

Mellon is a member of a powerful group known as "guardian angels," a label "for big donors who supply 40% or more of a committee's funds and are a political group's top contributor," OpenSecrets explained.

Spending from super PACs and other outside groups has topped $1 billion this election cycle, and the largest spender to date has been MAGA, Inc.

But U.S. billionaires, who are collectively richer than ever, aren't exclusively backing pro-Trump groups. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has cut huge checks to Democratic PACs, and groups backing Democratic nominee Kamala Harris have received large donations from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Netflix executive chairman Reed Hastings, among other rich executives.

In his primetime speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) condemned the outsized influence of billionaire "oligarchs" on the U.S. political process, particularly in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling.

"Billionaires in both parties should not be able to buy elections," said Sanders. "For the sake of our democracy, we must overturn the disastrous Citizens UnitedSupreme Court decision and move toward public funding of elections."

Experts say 'barely relevant' RFK Jr.'s endorsement would make Trump team 'even weirder'

Carl Gibson, AlterNet
August 21, 2024 


Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly planning to drop out of the 2024 race and endorse former President Donald Trump this week. That news has prompted both scorn and ridicule from various journalists, pundits and pollsters covering the election.

On Wednesday, ABC News reported that the son of the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy was expected to announce his formal support of Trump's third bid for the White House by the end of the week "in order to try to blunt momentum from the Democratic National Convention."

While he told the outlet he wouldn't "confirm or deny" those reports, he may appear onstage with Trump at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday.

Author and podcaster Jared Yates Sexton tweeted that the news of RFK Jr.'s impending exit from the race was "another indicator that Trump's campaign is in free fall."

READ MORE: 'Real potential blunder': How RFK Jr.'s campaign is 'now evidently hurting Trump'

"Likely they’ve promised RFK something in return and the push to hurt the Democratic ticket through him has completely imploded," Sexton wrote.

Former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum — an anti-Trump conservative — also remarked that RFK Jr.'s campaign failed to drive a big enough wedge in the Democratic coalition.

"The RFK Jr campaign was a $-multimillion gambit by Trump donors to divert poorly informed votes from the Democratic ticket. The scheme backfired when RFK Jr diverted poorly informed Republicans instead," he tweeted. "Funny or sad?"

Like Sexton mentioned, RFK Jr.'s candidacy was initially concerning for Democrats, as his surname is associated with titans of the Democratic Party like his father, the slain President John F. Kennedy and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), who died in 2009. The news of the independent candidate's probable exit comes after numerous polls showed that his campaign was actually drawing in more potential Republican voters than Democratic supporters. A Washington Post analysis found that would-be Trump supporters were even warmer to RFK Jr.'s campaign after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in late July.

READ MORE: 'Wasted protest vote': Trump unleashes on RFK Jr. after polls suggest appeal to GOP voters

Larry Sabato, who is the director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, opined that Trump's campaign wouldn't see that much of a boost if RFK Jr. did end up endorsing him. Sabato referred to the independent's campaign as "barely relevant," as he's lately been unable to breach the 5% mark despite polling in the teens earlier this year. He added that an RFK Jr. endorsement "makes [the] Trump-Vance ticket even weirder."

Early on in his candidacy when he was still running against Biden for the Democratic nomination, RFK Jr. attracted some support from the left for his previous activism on climate change, railing against the pharmaceutical industry and his successful lawsuit against agricultural giant Monsanto. But David Corn, who is Mother Jones' D.C. bureau chief, observed that if he did end up endorsing Trump, it would forever tarnish any progressive legacy he hoped to build.

"If RFK Jr. endorses Trump, it will demonstrate he doesn’t care anything about climate change, clean air and water, women’s freedom, democracy and the rule of law," Corn tweeted. "Just one disingenuous conspiracy-theory-monger joining forces with another. A sad ending to a once noble brand."

Legal expert Chris Geidner, who publishes the Law Dork newsletter on Substack, was more direct in his criticism: "The RFK Jr. run has always been a scam, so there is no one he could ever endorse other than the man whose whole life has been a scam. RFK Jr. and Trump are one, and your push alerts are unnecessary."

READ MORE:
'Whole thing is an epic fraud': RFK Jr. official admits goal is to elect Trump