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☆ I'm a retired pilot who worked for royalty. I had no idea how the rich spent their money.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-19 | by ( Mikhaila Friel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewThis as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kent Davis, a retired Air Canada pilot with more than 40 years of experience. AdvertisementA prime minister, movie stars, and royaltyIn 1972, I joined Air Canada and spent 33 years flying for them. In 2005, I retired from Air Canada and was hired by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a Saudi prince based in Riyadh. Kent Davis flew Prince Al Waleed bin Talal (pictured) and his family around the world. I'm mostly retired now, except for some consulting work with my company, Trans Global Aviation Solutions.

Persons: —, Kent Davis, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, CHRISTOPHE ENA, George W, Bush, I'm Organizations: Service, Air Canada, Business, Aviation, Royal Canadian Navy, Navy, Airbus, Boeing, Air India, Trans Global Aviation Solutions Locations: Montreal, Saudi, Riyadh, New York, Republic of Georgia, Greater Caucasus

☆ The plot to topple Putin
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-09 | by ( Paul Starobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +32 min

But it was only when Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine , in 2022, that Ammosov began to plot the overthrow of his homeland. As I found in months of wide-ranging interviews, everyone aspiring to a new Russian revolution grasps the seemingly impossible odds of their bid to topple Putin. Ponomarev — who was profiled last year in The Washington Post under the headline "Could this man bring down Putin?" Most applicants live in Russia, Sokolov tells me, but submissions have come from as far away as Uruguay. "I know a lot of good officers" in the CIA, Ponomarev told me, who "sympathize" with the anti-Putin insurgency.

Persons: Vladislav Ammosov, Ukraine —, Ammosov, wondrously, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Simona Supino, Alexey Navalny —, Ilya Ponomarev, Ponomarev —, —, Sean Guillory, Denis Sokolov, Sokolov, Galina Starovoytova, Anastasia Sergeeva, Sergeeva, Valter, Putin —, Tatiana Kosinova, Yelena Bonner, Itil, Boris Nemtsov, Nemtsov, Vladimir Lenin, specter, NurPhoto, Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Boris Akunin, Ponomarev, Trotsky, Mao, Castro, Alexei Sobchenko, Sergei Chuzavkov, Ilya Ponomarev Ponomarev, Michał Kamiński, Kosinova, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, Nikolai Gogol's, . Barnum, Bernie, Madoff, Donald, Leonid Nevzlin, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Navalny, King George III, Khodorkovsky, Garry Kasparov, Putin's, Andrey Volna, Brian Fitzpatrick, Charlie Wilson's, Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Daniel Fried, William Burns, Fried, Biden, We're, Evgenia, it's Organizations: Putin, Ukrainian, Russian Federation, The Washington Post, University of Pittsburgh, Civic Council, Kennan, Wilson Center, GRU, Russia, BI, International Republican Institute, CIA, Kremlin, Russian, Memorial, Soviet Union, of America, Civic, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, Russian Volunteer Corps, European, Human Rights, Siberian Battalion, Ammosov, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Putin's Defense Ministry, True, Bolsheviks, of Russia Legion, People's Deputies, State Department, Justice Department, Polish Senate, Trump University, Trump, Khodorkovsky, FBI, Intelligence, Senate, Ukrainian Security Services, Bolshevik Locations: Siberia, Russia, Warsaw, Poland, Ukraine, Sakha, India, Putin Russia, Russian, Kyiv, The, restive North Caucasus, Washington, Soviet Union, Moscow, WhatsApp, Ukrainian, Soviet, Crimean, USSR, Europe, Uruguay, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, America, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Australia, Belgorod, Kursk, Kremlin, China, Cuba, True Russia, Ponomarev, Northern Virginia, Polish, ., Lviv, Yukos, London, Pennsylvania, Texas, Afghanistan, Putin Russian, Tallinn, Estonia

☆ I hiked a mountain in the Andes to celebrate my 40th birthday. The hallucinations and violent vomiting that followed had not been part of the plan.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Elizabeth Lavis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

I got altitude psychosis a few hundred meters from high camp as I scaled the frigid face of Huayna Potosi, the ninth-highest mountain in the Bolivian Andes. The geodesic dome was surrounded by snow at Huayna Potosi High Camp. Elizabeth LavisThanks to my excellent guide, I made it to high camp and spent the night in an orange geodesic dome perched on Potosi's precarious eastern side. He rapidly identified the seriousness of the situation, carried my day pack the rest of the way, and helped me ascend slowly to high camp. While I was fairly fit and prepared to climb Huayna Potosi, I didn't consider the mental or extreme physical toll the mountain would take.

Persons: —, hallucinating, crampons skidding, Elizabeth Lavis, I've, it's Organizations: Service, Business, Bolivia's La, El, Huayna, Psychiatry Locations: Huayna Potosi, Bolivian, Caucasus, Potosi, Bolivia's, Bolivia's La Paz, El Alto, Lake Titicaca, Peru, Bolivia, Camp, Svaneti , Georgia

☆ At a Mountain Retreat, Wine, Lamb Kebabs and Lots of Climate Talk
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Max Bearak | Nanna Heitmann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A few days ago, at an ornate hilltop hotel in Azerbaijan’s wine country with panoramic views of the Caucasus foothills, the world’s top climate diplomats debated how to marshal whopping amounts of money to fight global warming and compensate poor and vulnerable countries that suffer its worst effects. “Some say single-digit trillions. Some say double-digit,” said Yalchin Rafiyev, Azerbaijan’s chief climate negotiator. The meeting was a pre-meeting, of sorts, for the main event: November’s United Nations sponsored climate negotiations, known as COP29, to be held in the seaside capital, Baku, a few hours away. At previous summits, the world’s nations had struggled to agree on a seemingly basic premise in the fight against climate change, namely that humanity’s reliance on fossil fuels must be curbed as quickly as possible.

Persons: ”, Yalchin Rafiyev Organizations: November’s United Locations: Azerbaijan’s, Caucasus, November’s United Nations, Baku

☆ Russia’s Dagestan temporarily bans wearing niqabs following deadly shootings
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-03 | by ( Mariya Knight | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Russia’s southernmost Dagestan province has announced a temporary ban on the wearing of niqabs, a full-face veil with an opening for the eyes, as a security measure following deadly attacks by gunmen last month. The niqab ban is to take place until “the identified threats are eliminated and a new theological conclusion is issued,” deputy head of the Mufti of Dagestan Abdulla Salimov said in a video message Wednesday. The duration of the ban depends on the development of the situation in the region,” he said. Bastrykin blamed “Islamist terrorists” for the deadly shooting in Dagestan. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, but law enforcement agencies told Russian state media TASS that the attackers are “adherents of an international terrorist organization.”

Persons: ”, Dagestan Abdulla Salimov, Dagestan Muhammad Muhammadov, ” Alexander Bastrykin, “, Bastrykin Organizations: CNN, Gunmen, EA Regnum, Center, TASS Locations: Dagestan, Russian, North Caucasus, Russia

☆ Terrorist attacks are on the rise in Russia as Putin remains 'distracted' by war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The attacks, which killed around 20 people, raised major questions about whether the Kremlin has the resources to protect its citizens back home while pursuing its war in Ukraine. The attacks also illustrated "the diverse range of militant actors Russia has angered through its domestic and foreign policy actions," he added. North CaucasusRussia's North Caucasus region has a long history of rebellion against Kremlin rule, especially in Chechnya, where Russia battled separatists in two bloody wars — in 1994-1996 and then in 1999-2009. Despite Sunday's incident being the second major terrorist attack in just three months, Russian security services "have not really changed their strategy," Harold Chambers, a political and security analyst specializing in the North Caucasus, told BI. Russia's security services "do not seem to possess the same level of intelligence about threats — or, if they do, they are not acting on it," Youngman added.

Persons: —, Molotov, Lucas Webber, Wilayat Kavkaz, Vladimir Putin, Mark Youngman, Youngman, STRINGER, Webber, Russia's, Harold Chambers, Chambers Organizations: Service, Kremlin, Business, Soufan, Dagestan region's, Center for, Washington DC, Anadolu, Getty, Islamic, Tass, Federal, Crocus City Hall, Islamic State Locations: Russia's, Dagestan, Ukraine, New York, Russia, Northern Caucasus, North Caucasus, Washington, Makhachkala, Derbent, Russian, Rostov, Crocus, Moscow, Tajikistan, Dagestan's, Caucasus, Chechnya, Syria, Iraq, Islamic State, Africa, Iran

☆ Putin pledged decades ago to conquer the horrors of Islamic extremism. Deadly Dagestan attack again proves he failed
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Only a fraction of the violence that raged across Dagestan on Sunday is visible at the moment, and it is already horrific. But it is particularly bad in Dagestan, where protests broke out in the earlier months of the war, as their sons had been disproportionately mobilized. Putin came to power in 1999 graphically pledging to wipe out “in the toilet” the extremists apparently behind apartment bombings in Moscow. But it is still the same problem Putin faced when he sneaked into Beslan in 2004. A raging sore for the Kremlin, and a reminder of both how Putin came to power and his limits on it.

Persons: Putin, Shamil Basayev, Vladimir Putin, –, Lenin, jihadists, ISIS’s Organizations: CNN, Hall, Kremlin, National Antiterrorism, Antiterrorism, Police, ISIS Locations: Dagestan, Moscow, North Caucasus, Moscow’s Crocus, Ukraine, Russia, Chechnya, Chechen, Chechnya’s, Beslan, Ingushetia, Boston, Makhachkala, South, Central Asia

☆ Russia has seen two terror attacks in just three months. Here’s what we know
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | Jerome Taylor | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

In Dagestan, Russian security forces fought an Islamist insurgency in the mountainous region in the 2000s that spilled over from neighboring Chechnya, though attacks have become rarer in recent years. Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with his election campaign confidants at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 20, 2024. ISIS-K attack on music venueThe coordinated attacks in Dagestan come just weeks after Russia suffered its worst terror attack in decades. For a leader who has long promised security and stability to Russians, the major attack on Russian soil was another powerful blow. In the aftermath of the March attack, Putin called for Russia to remain united.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Putin, Ramzan Kadyrov, Jill Dougherty, Vladimir Putin, confidants, Evgenia Novozhenina, Bashar al, Assad, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Organizations: CNN, ISIS, Ukraine grinds, Russian Jewish Congress, Attackers, TASS, Russian Federation, Soviet, Hamas, Makhachkala Uytash Airport, Kremlin, Reuters, Saudi, Israeli, Central, Migrants, Kazakhstan — Locations: Russia, Russia’s, Dagestan, Moscow, Derbent, Makhachkala –, Makhachkala, Russian, Republic of Dagestan, Russia’s Caucasus, Caucasus, Soviet Union, Chechnya, –, Grozny, Ukraine, ”, Gaza, Israel, CNN Moscow, Reuters Russia, Iran, Soviet, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan

☆ Georgia president overruled as lawmakers push forward with Russia-style 'foreign agents' law
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Sam Meredith | In Samuelmeredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Demonstrators protesting the "foreign influence" law crowd outside the parliament building in central Tbilisi on May 28, 2024. Georgian lawmakers on Tuesday voted to override a presidential veto on a Russia-style "foreign agents" law, pushing forward with legislation that has triggered international condemnation and large-scale protests in the South Caucasus nation. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili vetoed the controversial legislation on May 18, saying on social media platform X that the "fundamentally Russian" law represents "an obstacle to our European path." Zourabichvili, a critic of the ruling Georgian Dream government, has called for a repeal of the law. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has said the bill will create "strong guarantees" to help ensure long-lasting peace in the country.

Persons: Salome Zourabichvili, Irakli Kobakhidze Organizations: Union, NATO, United Nations, EU, Kremlin ., Georgian Locations: Tbilisi, Russia, South Caucasus, The U.S, Georgian, Soviet Union

☆ Georgia’s Ruling Party Secures a Contentious Law on Foreign Influence
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Ivan Nechepurenko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Georgia’s Parliament overrode a presidential veto to give final approval on Tuesday evening to a contentious bill that has plunged the country into a political crisis and threatened to derail the pro-Western aspirations of many Georgians in favor of closer ties with Russia. The law will require nongovernmental groups and media organizations that receive at least 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as organizations “pursuing the interests of a foreign power.” The country’s justice ministry will be given broad powers to monitor compliance. Violations could result in fines equivalent to more than $9,000. The passage of the bill is likely to represent a pivotal moment for Georgia, which has been one of the most pro-Western states to emerge from the collapse of the Soviet Union. The bill has already unsteadied Georgia’s relationship with the United States and the European Union, and it could upset the fragile geopolitics of the Caucasus, a volatile region where the interests of Russia, Turkey, Iran and the West have long come into conflict.

Organizations: Soviet Union, European Union Locations: Russia, Georgia, Soviet, United States, Caucasus, Turkey, Iran

☆ Opinion | Do Not Allow Putin to Capture Another Pawn in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-26 | by ( Serge Schmemann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The law has drawn stiff rebukes from the United States and Europe. The State Department has announced visa restrictions on officials behind the foreign-agent law and Congress has threatened further sanctions. The clash over the foreign-agent law in a small country nestled in the Caucasus Mountains has been largely overshadowed by Russia’s war on Ukraine. Georgia, in fact, was the first neighboring country invaded by Russia post-Soviet Union, in 2008, to block its westward drift. Now the ruling party, Georgian Dream, seems to share Russia’s goal, though it has generally avoided openly siding with Russia.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili —, Russia —, Ivanishvili Organizations: Russian, The State Department, European Union Locations: Republic of Georgia, Vladimir Putin’s Russia, United States, Europe, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, Soviet Union, Georgian, Tbilisi, ”

☆ Georgia’s Parliament Gives Final Approval to ‘Foreign Agents’ Measure
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Ivan Nechepurenko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Parliament of Georgia gave final approval on Tuesday to a contentious bill that has prompted a series of tense protests in the capital, Tbilisi, spurred by fears that the legislation could push the country back into the Kremlin’s orbit. President Salome Zourabichvili has promised to veto the bill. But Georgian Dream, the governing party in Georgia since 2012, has enough votes to override her veto. Georgia’s justice ministry would be given broad powers to monitor compliance. Violations would incur fines equivalent to more than $9,300.

Persons: Salome Zourabichvili Locations: Georgia, Tbilisi, Caucasus

Tbilisi, Georgia CNN —Georgia’s parliament has passed a controversial “foreign agents” bill despite widespread domestic opposition and warnings from the European Union that its enactment would imperil the country’s chances of joining the bloc. Many Georgians fear their foreign agents bill will be used the same way in their country. Georgia’s parliament now has 10 days to send the bill to President Salome Zourabichvili, who has already vowed to veto it. However, EU leaders have made it clear that the foreign agents bill’s passage would jeopardize Georgia’s chances of accession. Georgian law enforcement officers detain a demonstrator near the parliament in Tbilisi on May 14.

Persons: Georgia CNN —, Salome Zourabichvili, Zourabichvili, Giorgi Arjevanidze, Bidzina Ivanishvili, they’ve, Putin, ” Zourabichvili, Shakh, Levan Khabeishvili, “, ” Khabeishvili, ” Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s, Irakli, CNN’s Christian Edwards, Anna Chernova, Vasco Cotovio Organizations: Georgia CNN, European Union, EU, United, Getty, Soviet Union, Georgian, CNN, European Locations: Tbilisi, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Soviet, United States, Caucasus, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, AFP, Russian, Moscow

☆ What is Georgia’s ‘foreign agents’ bill, and why is Europe so alarmed?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Joshua Berlinger | Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Georgia’s parliament is set to pass a highly controversial so-called “foreign agents” bill that has triggered widespread protests across the former Soviet republic nestled in the Caucasus Mountains. Here’s what you need to know about the proposed law and the uproar it has caused. The bill would require organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “agents of foreign influence” or face crippling fines. About 50,000 protesters gathered in Tbilisi to protest the proposed legislation on Sunday. The proposed law is modeled after a similar one in Russia that the Kremlin has used to increasingly snuff out opposition and civil society.

Persons: CNN —, Salome Zourabichvili, Irakli Kobakhidze, Bidzina Ivanishvili, Vano Shlamov, Ivanishvili, they’ve, Georgia’s, Kobakhidze, Mirian, Jake Sullivan, ”, Dmitry Peskov, “, Ursula von der Leyen, Anna Chernova Organizations: CNN, Getty, European, House, Washington, Georgian, EU, “ Locations: Soviet, Caucasus, Tbilisi, Here’s, Georgian, Georgia, AFP, Russia, Europe, Ukraine, Soviet Union, European Union, Georgia’s, Didn’t Georgia, Anadolu, backsliding, George, Brussels, “ Georgia

☆ Charges Against a Congressman Lay Bare Foreign Government Influence Attempts
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Kenneth P. Vogel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As tensions flared over disputed territory in the Caucasus region in the summer of 2020, Azerbaijan’s squadron of high-priced Washington lobbyists scrambled to pin the blame on neighboring Armenia and highlight its connections to Russia. Unbeknown to members of Congress, Azerbaijan had an inside man who was working closely with the Azerbaijani ambassador to Washington at the time on a parallel line of attack, according to text messages released by federal prosecutors. Azerbaijan’s ambassador responded enthusiastically. “Your amendment is more timely than ever,” the ambassador, Elin Suleymanov, wrote to Mr. Cuellar. “It is all about Russian presence there,” added Mr. Suleymanov, who referred to the congressman as “Boss.”

Persons: Unbeknown, Henry Cuellar, Elin Suleymanov, Cuellar, ”, Suleymanov Organizations: Azerbaijan’s, Texas Democrat, Russian Locations: Caucasus, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Washington, Texas, “

☆ Georgia rocked by protests as government pushes Putin-style ‘foreign agent’ bill
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —After spending his days making wine in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, Tsotne Jafaridze returns home to Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, and begins his new routine. Jafaridze, who also owns a travel business and says he receives 95% of his income from foreign sources, says he would “immediately” be listed as a foreign agent under the broadly-written law. But the government reintroduced the same bill in March and appears determined to force it through, despite protests that grow fiercer every week. Despite recent Russian aggression against Georgia, Georgian Dream has long been accused of harboring pro-Russian sympathies and its billionaire founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, made his fortune in the Soviet Union. Bidzina Ivanishvili addresses a rally in support of the "foreign agent" law in Tbilisi, April 29, 2024.

Persons: Jafaridze, ”, Vladimir Putin, “, Giorgi Arjevanidze, isn’t, ” Natalie Sabanadze, –, Levan Khabeishvili, Khabeishvili, Bidzina Ivanishvili, ” Buziashvili, Ivanishvili, Bidzina, Shakh, Sabanandze, Irakli Kobakhidze, Kobakhidze, ” Sabanadze, Viktor Orban, Europe’s, Matthew Miller, Washington, Georgia “, Irakli Gedenidze, Viktor Yanukovych, doesn’t Organizations: CNN, European Union, Getty, EU, United National Movement, National Security Council, Soviet Army, Soviet Union, Belarus ’, Party, Georgian, Conservative Political, United, State Department, Protesters, Reuters Locations: Caucasus, Tbilisi, Georgia’s, Russia, Georgian, Russian, Soviet, AFP, Brussels, Georgia, Belarus, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Hungary, Hungarian, United States, stoke, ”

☆ Sex and marriage patterns in an ancient empire revealed by DNA
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

With opulent graves but no written records, the empire and its people have remained largely in the shadows of history until recently. But a landmark April 2022 study involving ancient DNA taken from the graves of the Avar elite shed light on the empire’s far-flung origins. A tiny sample is drilled from a bone at the ancient DNA laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. In the case of men, researchers found two partners in 10 cases, three partners in four cases and four partners in one case. “Polygamy (having multiple marriage partners), serial monogamous marriages and extramarital relations are all possible explanations,” she said.

Persons: ”, Zsófia Rácz, Rácz, aren’t, Guido Alberto Gnecchi, Max Planck, Eötvös Loránd University Múzeum Lara Cassidy, “, polygyny, Ruscone, Cassidy, Bryan Miller, wasn’t Organizations: CNN, of Archaeological Sciences, Eötvös Loránd, Múzeum, University’s, Archaeological Sciences, Max, Max Planck Institute, Eötvös Loránd University, Trinity College Dublin, Turks, Central, University of Michigan Locations: Central, Eastern Europe, Hungary, Rákóczifalva, Budapest, Leipzig, Germany, Europe, Mongolia, Caucasus, what’s, Constantinople, Byzantine, Eurasia

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Ukraine says it downed Tu-22M3 bomber for the first time; 8 killed in major attack by Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk on Friday said the country shot down a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber for the first time, destroying a warplane capable of using long-range missiles. "During today's attack, two such missiles were destroyed for the first time. Ukraine needs more means, more missiles, in order to better protect the frontline territories from Russian terrorism," he added. Separately, Russia's Defense Ministry said the bomber crashed over the southern Stavropol region when it was flying back to its home airfield, state news agency RIA reported via Telegram. The Stavropol region is located in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia, hundreds of kilometers from Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Persons: Mykola Oleschuk, Oleschuk, Sam Meredith Organizations: Tupolev, Kremlin, Nazi, Ukrainian Air Force, Air Force, Main Directorate of Intelligence, Ministry of Defense, CNBC, Russia's Defense Ministry Locations: Moscow, Nazi Germany, Russian, Ukraine, Stavropol, North Caucasus, Russia

☆ Georgia presses on with Putin-style ‘foreign agent’ bill despite huge protests
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Christian Edwards | Niamh Kennedy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Georgia’s government is attempting to force through a controversial “foreign agent” law, despite international condemnation and huge protests from its citizens. Critics of the law say is it is a Kremlin-inspired effort to undermine democracy which will damage Georgia’s bid to join the European Union. The ruling Georgian Dream party first tried to pass the bill 13 months ago, but was forced into an embarrassing climbdown following a week of intense protests. Nearly 80% of Georgians support European integration, according to a poll conducted in December by the National Democratic Institute. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, thousands of Russians – especially men of service age – have fled to Georgia to avoid conscription.

Persons: CNN —, ”, Vladimir Putin, Putin, ” Salome Zourabichvili, Zourabichvili, –, Irakli Gedenidze, ” Giorgi Bekurashvili Organizations: CNN, European Union, South Caucasus, “, Kremlin, EU, National Democratic Institute Locations: Soviet, Europe, United States, Tbilisi, Georgian, Russia, South, Russian, “ Russia, Georgia, Ukraine

☆ Chechnya bans all music deemed too fast or too slow
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Authorities in the Russian Republic of Chechnya have announced a ban on music that they consider too fast or slow. The ban will mean that many songs in musical styles such as pop and techno will be banned. Chechnya sits in the North Caucasus region between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. Kadyrov has been leader since 2007 and has used his time in office to stifle any form of dissent. The pro-Kremlin leader has also subdued the Chechen separatist movement that fought for independence from Russia for almost two decades.

Persons: Culture Musa Dadayev, Chechen Republic “, Chechen Republic Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov, ” Dadayev, Dadayev, Kadyrov, Mike Pompeo, ” Organizations: CNN, Authorities, TASS, of Culture, United, Kremlin, US State Department Locations: Russian Republic, Chechnya, Culture, Russian, Chechen Republic, North Caucasus, Russia’s, Georgia, United Nations, Chechen, Russia

☆ Russia accused a longtime ally of 'distorting history' in an effort to break off relations with Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewRussia's foreign minister accused Armenia, a former ally, of "distorting history" in an effort to "break off" relations with Moscow. Last month, it said it had "frozen our participation" in the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The Collective Security Treaty Organization is considered Russia's equivalent to NATO , and Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped it could rival the Western military alliance. Advertisement"The Collective Security Treaty has not fulfilled its objectives as far as Armenia is concerned, particularly in 2021 and 2022. While tensions between Aremnia and Russia are clearly strained, experts on Russia and former Soviet Union countries say that relations between Russia and other CSTO members are also under pressure.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Sergey Lavrov, Lavrov, Nikol Pashinyan, Putin, Pashinyan, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg's Organizations: Service, Security, Organization, NATO, Business, Russian, Ukraine's Kyiv, Russian Federation, Soviet Locations: Armenia, Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, France, South Caucasus, Central Asia, Aremnia

☆ Who are ISIS-K, the group that claimed it carried out the Moscow terror attack?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

It is a branch of ISIS, the terror group that emerged in Syria and Iraq and, at its peak, controlled a huge stretch of territory. By 2018, ISIS-K was ranked the world’s fourth-deadliest terror group, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace, which monitors global terrorism. Video Ad Feedback What we know about ISIS group claiming responsibility for Moscow terror attack 04:16 - Source: CNNWhat do they want? Russian state media reported on March 7 that the FSB, Russia’s security service, prevented an ISIS attack on a synagogue in Moscow, according to Reuters. It is the most active terror group in the country, responsible for 73 deaths in 2023, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Persons: Kamala Harris, –, Joe Biden, Putin, ”, Daniel Byman, ” Byman, John Miller, Wakil Kohsar, Washington, Vladimir Putin Organizations: CNN, Islamic, ISIS, Sunday, US, Institute for Economics, The United Nations, Sharia, “, RIA Novosti, RIA, Reuters, Kabul University, CSIS, National Legal Training, US Central Command, National Intelligence, UN, Manchester Arena, State Department, Kyiv Locations: Moscow, Soviet, Tajikistan, Khorasan, Asia, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Africa, East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Kabul, Afghanistan’s Kunar, Nangarhar, United States, Britain, Europe, “ Russia, Georgetown, Caucasus, Pakistan –, Mastung, AFP, Germany, Paris, Ariana Grande, England, Orlando , Florida, Russian, Ukraine, Crocus

☆ Russia says 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Gunmen who opened fire at a Moscow concert hall killed more than 60 people and wounded over 100 while sparking an inferno, authorities said on March 23, 2024, with the Islamic State group claiming responsibility. The prosecutor's office said several men in combat fatigues entered the concert hall and fired on concertgoers. Working to extinguish the blaze continues at Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow, Russia after reports of a shooting incident on March 23, 2024. Working to extinguish the blaze continues at Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow, Russia after reports of a shooting incident on March 23, 2024. An injured woman is transported to an ambulance near the Crocus City Hall concert venue following a reported shooting incident, near Moscow, Russia.

Persons: Stringer, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Sobyanin, Putin, fatigues, Ali Cura, Dave Primov, Primov, Aymenn Jawad, Dmitry Medvedev, Mykhailo Podolyak, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, John Kirby, Maksim Blinov Organizations: Crocus City, Gunmen, Islamic, Afp, Getty, Associated Press, Moscow, Health, Crocus City Hall, Anadolu, Russian, U.S, AP, Soviet Union, Russia's Security, White House National Security Council, Embassy, Sputnik Locations: Russian, Crocus, Krasnogorsk, Moscow, U.S, Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow's, Sinai, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Africa, Soviet, Islamic State, Kaluga, Ingushetia, Russia's Caucasus

☆ Crocus City attack: The ghost of Russia’s past wars comes back to haunt Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Twenty years ago, the Dubrovka gunmen were the disturbed product of Russia’s savage anti-terror campaign that summarily executed hundreds of military aged males in Chechnya in the early 2000s. Emergency services personnel and police work at the scene of the Crocus City Hall attack. First, there will be further efforts to suggest Ukraine and the West are somehow involved in these attacks. The Dubrovka attack was followed two years later by airplanes being blown out of the sky and the catastrophic nightmare of the Beslan school siege. In 2002, Dubrovka forced Moscow reluctantly yet closer to the United States’ war on terror.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Putin, Kadyrov, Stringer, Maria Zakharova, Margarita Simonyan, overstretched Putin, Dubrovka, Yevgeny Prigozhin Organizations: CNN, Gunmen, Dubrovka Theatre, Chechen, Crocus City, Kremlin, Authorities, Getty, Russia Today, ISIS Locations: Moscow, Crocus, Russia, Chechnya, Iraq, Syria, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Caucasus, AFP, Ukraine, fatigues, Russian, Beslan, United States

☆ Death toll from Moscow concert hall attack rises to 115. The FSB confirmed 11 suspects have been arrested.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewThe death toll from the attack on Moscow's Crocus City Hall Friday night has risen to 115 as Russia's Federal Security Bureau confirmed eleven suspects had been arrested in connection with the attack. Emergency services vehicles are seen outside the burning Crocus City Hall concert hall following the shooting incident in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow on March 22, 2024. ArrestsRussia's FSB confirmed that 11 people had been arrested in connection with the attack on the concert hall. AdvertisementA woman lays flowers at a makeshift memorial in front of Moscow's Crocus City Hall a day after terrorist attack. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the terrorist attack "in the strongest possible terms," his spokesman said.

Persons: —, STRINGER, Andrey Vorobyov, OLGA MALTSEVA, Vladimir Putin, Dmitrii Peskov, Mykhailo Podolyak, Amaq, Daniel Byman, Hamid Karzai, Byman, Putin, Antonio Guterres Organizations: Service, Moscow's, Federal Security, Russia's, Business, Islamic, Kremlin, TASS, Associated Press, Getty, Health, Moscow Crocus City, Getty Images, Russian Federation, Novosti, State, Hall, Kyiv, ISIS, CNN, The New York Times, AP, Russian, CSIS, Central, UN, Council Locations: Moscow's Crocus, Islamic State, Russian, Crocus, Krasnogorsk, Moscow, AFP, Ukraine, Khorasan Province, Afghanistan, Kabul, Russia

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