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☆ The Informant Turned Defendant Who Took Aim at the Bidens
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Kenneth P. Vogel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For more than a decade, he played a double game, giving the F.B.I. In 2020, Mr. Smirnov told his F.B.I. handler what prosecutors say was a brazen lie — that the oligarch owner of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had arranged to pay $5 million bribes to both President Biden and his son Hunter. The explosive claim was leaked to Republicans, who made Mr. Smirnov’s allegations a centerpiece of their now-stalled effort to impeach President Biden, apparently without verifying the allegation. Last week, Mr. Smirnov, 43, was indicted on charges that he lied to investigators about the Bidens.

Persons: Alexander Smirnov, Smirnov, Burisma, Biden, Hunter Organizations: Soviet Locations: Soviet Union, Ukrainian

☆ Moon company Intuitive Machines begins first mission after SpaceX launch
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lander launched from Florida on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, beginning the IM-1 mission. Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lander "Odysseus" deploys from the upper stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket to begin the IM-1 mission. NASA leadership emphasized before the launch that "IM-1 is an Intuitive Machines' mission, it's not a NASA mission." After landing, Intuitive Machines aims to operate Odysseus on the surface for up to seven days. Last month, U.S. company Astrobotic got its first moon mission off the ground but encountered problems shortly after launch.

Persons: Paul Hennessy, Trent Martin, Odysseus, it's, Joel Kearns, Kearns, Russia —, ispace, Astrobotic, didn't Organizations: SpaceX, Kennedy Space Center, Anadolu, Getty Images, Machines, SpaceX's, NASA, Payload, Artemis, Nasdaq, Marshall Space, Center, Soviet Union —, U.S Locations: Cape Canaveral , Florida, Getty Images Texas, U.S, Florida, United States, Wednesday's, Japan, Russia, Soviet Union, China, India

Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton has pneumonia and is in intensive care in a Texas hospital. Retton's daughter, McKenna Kelley, shared Retton's condition in an Instagram post on Tuesday. Kelley said the 55-year-old Retton, who became the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title, is “fighting for her life” and not able to breathe on her own. Kelley wrote that Retton does not currently have medical insurance. Retton was 16 years old when she became an icon of the U.S. Olympic movement during her gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

Persons: Mary Lou Retton, Retton's, McKenna Kelley, Kelley, ”, Retton Organizations: U.S, — Locations: Texas, Los Angeles, Fairmont , West Virginia, Romania, Soviet, U.S

☆ How hydrogen bombs compare to atomic bombs, and how scientists created the most destructive weapon ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Adam Barnes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Hydrogen bombs and atomic bombs are both nuclear weapons that can cause mass destruction. But just seven years later an even more destructive nuclear bomb was built — the hydrogen bomb. Whereas hydrogen bombs get their power from a combination of fission and its opposite — nuclear fusion — the binding of atoms. Hydrogen vs. atomic bombs: damage and destructionWhile atomic bomb blasts are measured in kilotons — 1 kt is equivalent to the explosive force of 1,000 tons of TNT — hydrogen bombs are often measured in megatons. AdvertisementAdvertisementBoth atomic and hydrogen bombs are nuclear weapons and therefore create long-lasting, dangerous nuclear fallout.

Persons: Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassman, Hahn, Lisa Meitner, Otto Frisch, Meitner, Frisch, Alex Wellerstein, Wellerstein, Little, Amanda Macias, Tsar, Soviet Union —, Bomba, it's Organizations: Service, Trinity, Stevens Institute of Technology, Little Boy, Lions, TNT, Little, Bravo, US, Hanford , Washington . Department of Locations: Wall, Silicon, United States, Japan, Austrian, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, megatons, Soviet Union, Soviet, Manhattan, Los Angeles, Hanford , Washington

“Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence,” Mr. Biden said as President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine watched from the audience. I respectfully suggest the answer is no.”“We have to stand up to this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow,” Mr. Biden continued. “Ask Prigozhin if one bets on Putin’s promises.”Both Mr. Biden and Mr. Zelensky received strong applause from some of the delegations in the hall, but many others did not clap. On Tuesday evening, Mr. Biden and Jill Biden were to host a reception for other world leaders at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “This is clearly a genocide,” Mr. Zelensky said.

Persons: Biden, Mr, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, Vladimir V, Moscow, ”, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, “, Biden’s, Kevin McCarthy, we’ve, Lloyd J, Austin III, Ukraine’s, Xi Jinping, Jill Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Netanyahu, “ Slava Ukraini Organizations: appeasing Moscow, United Nations General Assembly, Republicans, United Nations, International Criminal Court, . Security, Mr, White, Pentagon, Capitol, Defense, General, appeasing, United, Soviet Union —, Turkmenistan —, Metropolitan Museum of Art, United Nations ’ Locations: Russia, Ukraine, United States, Washington, New York, Russia’s, Germany, China, Beijing, Libya, “, United Nations, Soviet Union, Soviet Union — Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, China’s, Brazil, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Moldova, Georgia, Syria, Belarus, Baltic

☆ Hundreds of thousands of people fled Russia after it invaded Ukraine — and now the countries that took them in are seeing a boost in their economies
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Scores of Russians fled their homeland following the outbreak of the Ukraine war. The growth of such countries surged in 2022 after the arrival of these Russians, per a new report. About six months later, there was another wave of departures after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial military mobilization for the Ukraine war on September 21. Armenia — once known as the Silicon Valley of the Soviet Union — saw its 2022 growth spike to 12.6%, per the World Bank. Meanwhile, Georgia's GDP jumped by 10.1% in 2022, per the World Bank, beating an 8.8% growth forecast.

Persons: —, Insider's Jason Lalljee, Vladimir Putin, Georgia —, Armenia —, Soviet Union —, Suren, Martin Galstyan, Oleg Itskhoki Organizations: Service, Reuters, Kremlin, Novaya Gazeta, World Bank, Bank, Armenian State University of Economics, Georgia's, University of California, Bloomberg Locations: Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Soviet Union, IT, outpacing, Turkey, Kazakhstan

☆ Opinion: Supreme Court drops the H-bomb and D-bomb
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. Graduates of Harvard and other Ivy League schools earn significantly more than most college graduates –— the credential opens doors. Maybe the best confirmation of that is that eight out of the nine Supreme Court justices went to law school at either Harvard or its Ivy rival, Yale. “The court’s decision Thursday is consistent with its view that race-based preferences should and would have a limited shelf life. And the Supreme Court has just guaranteed that this will be the case for many years to come.”“The court made the right decision,” wrote Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University.

Persons: Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana, ”, Harvard isn’t, –, Michael Gerhardt, Roe, Wade, Donald, Trump, Bill Bramhall, Tan, ” Ana Fernandez, Richard Kahlenberg, Harvard …, Lanhee Chen, Peniel, Joseph, Joe Biden’s, Rachel Clark, “, Ilya Somin, Biden, ” Clay Jones, Somin, Leah Litman, isn’t, aren’t, Timothy Holbrook, Nicole Hemmer, Drew Sheneman, Phil Hands, Julian Zelizer, Yorkers, Walt Handelsman, Jill Filipovic, ’, Patrick T, Brown, DeSantis, Duncan Hosie, Ken Ballen, Trump Jack Ohman, Jennifer Martin, ” Martin, Vladimir Putin’s, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, David A, Putin, Jade McGlynn, CNN’s Chris Good, it’s, Frida Ghitis, Keir Giles, Victory, Don’t, Agency Dean Obeidallah, Keith Magee, France Kara Alaimo, Vicki Shabo, Leroy Chiao, Abdullah, Billy Lezra, MonaLisa Leung Beckford, Timothy Naftali, David Horsey, It’s, Blake Moore, Marc Veasey, Hershel “ Woody ” Williams, Moore, Veasey, “ Williams, Williams, Hershel ‘ Woody ’, Abraham Lincoln, ” Moore, Lincoln Organizations: CNN, Harvard, Harvard College, Wall Street Journal, of Harvard, Ivy League, Yale, Supreme Court, University of North, University of North Carolina —, Wellesley College, Blacks, …, George Mason University, “, University of Michigan, Democratic, Agency, Trump, New Yorker, American Academy of Sleep, Soviet Union —, RFK, Republican, Utah Republican, Texas Democrat, Marines Locations: Boston, University of North Carolina, California, “, Chicago, Detroit, Great, Bedminster, New Jersey, New, Iran, Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, Moscow, France, Hong Kong, China, America, Utah, Texas, Iwo Jima, Lincoln

☆ The US has a new friend in the Mediterranean that could help it isolate Russia, but not everybody in NATO is happy about it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Cyprus long had close ties with Russia, but it has turned to the West in recent years. John YountzHowever, Nicosia has been moving away from Russia and pursuing a closer relationship with the US. "We keep a strong military-to-military relationship with Cyprus," Cavoli said. Unhappy neighborsA UN peacekeeper looks at a map of the buffer zone between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in Nicosia in April 2021. ROY ISSA/AFP via Getty ImagesBurgeoning US-Cyprus ties would appear to benefit NATO, but not all of the alliance's members are happy about it.

☆ Opinion | The Curious Conservative Case Against Defending Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Is there a coherent philosophical grounding for these antiwar conservatives? From Vietnam to Iraq, the antiwar left (both in the United States and abroad) tended to be united by a kind of instinctive pacifism, a belief that war was almost never the right answer. There has also often been a fair amount of anti-Americanism on the left — the Chomskyite view that Washington’s foreign policy is generally a force for neo-imperialism and rapacious capitalism. But that’s not the case with the antiwar right. Much of this incoherence is partly explained via the George Costanza school of modern conservatism: If a Democrat is for it, they’re against it.

☆ James Abate's stock fund has nearly doubled its benchmark over 3 tumultuous years. Here's how he says investors should get ready for potential black swan events that could shape 2023.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Marley Jay | Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Kiplinger rates the fund as the best US large-company stock fund from 2020 to 2022. That's not the most encouraging backdrop for stocks, especially since Abate said investors will be less comfortable taking big risks. He added that while the beginning of 2023 has been the opposite of 2022, that's not going to last. For the first black swan, Abate pointed towards the escalation of the Russian-Ukraine crisis, including the recent increase in air defense activity, ground troops, and the shipment of armored vehicles, tanks, and fighter aircraft. As for the second black swan, Abate also highlighted the Japanese government's "unprecedented" and "unsustainable" buying of the yen to boost the currency against others like the dollar.

☆ Russia was making big plans for Ukraine's nuclear power plants before its invasion fell apart
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Those plans depended in part on seizing Ukraine's nuclear power plants and using them for leverage. Dmytro Smolyenko/Future Publishing via Getty ImagesAccording to the RUSI report, Russia's war plans viewed Ukraine's nuclear power plants as a means to achieve Moscow's larger aims. The Kremlin's plan envisioned three uses for the Ukrainian nuclear power facilities once the invasion was underway. Moscow also incorporated Ukraine's nuclear power facilities into its information operations. Fighting in a nuclear plantThe Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on August 29.

☆ Russia, South Africa and a 'redesigned global order': The Kremlin's hearts and minds machine is steaming ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Pretoria as part of an African tour, his second since the invasion, which will also reportedly take him to Botswana, Angola and Eswatini. On Feb. 24 2022, shortly after the Ukraine invasion, South Africa urged Russia to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine. South Africa was one of 15 African nations to abstain from the subsequent U.N. vote in March to condemn Russia's war of aggression. watch nowShe emphasized the multilateral responsibilities of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) bloc of leading emerging economies in a changing global landscape. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that "the United States has concerns about any country … exercising with Russia as Russia wages a brutal war against Ukraine."

☆ Splits emerge among Ukraine allies over whether Ukraine should negotiate with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Patrick-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Patrick Smith | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON — A split appeared to be opening this week among Ukraine's supporters over whether its government should sit down for peace talks with Russia. He was summing up the feelings of many in the countries bordering Ukraine or Russia. In a separate interview with The Times of London, Lipavský accused Russia of behaving like a 19th century colonial empire. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, in Brussels this week, said the West should not dictate the terms on which Ukraine should negotiate. Michael McFaul, the U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, said that while many would back the idea of peace talks, not everyone would believe Putin would "negotiate in good faith."

☆ Russian roulette: Is Putin serious about nuclear war, or bluffing?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Jason Corcoran | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

On Oct. 26, President Vladimir Putin appeared on Russian state television overseeing a practice run of Russia's strategic nuclear deterrence forces. The conflict has revived Cold War-era fears of nuclear war across the region. In August, a Ukrainian official said that 9,000 Ukrainian military personnel had been killed, though another source said the number could be far higher. (President Zelensky previously estimated that 30% of Ukraine's power stations have been damaged or destroyed, although the figure is now likely to be greater.) In a wide-ranging answer, Putin had offered, almost as an aside, that Russian victims of nuclear war "will go to heaven as martyrs" while Western citizens would perish without having "time to repent."

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