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☆ Ukrainian spies say they intercepted a phone call of a Russian soldier saying 'it was our sabotage group' that destroyed the Kakhovka dam
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Paul Squire | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Russian soldier revealed it was their sabotage group that destroyed a dam in Ukraine, spies say. Ukraine's Security Service says the soldier discussed the dam's destruction on an intercepted phone call. Floodwaters caused by the explosion rushed downstream this week, swamping Ukrainian villages. The Security Service of Ukraine said the phone call was between two Russian service members. It was our sabotage group," one soldier says, according to Ukraine.

Persons: — Organizations: Ukraine's Security Service, Service, Security Service, NBC News Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Dnipro, Crimea, Ukrainian, Russia, Kherson

☆ Tucker Carlson called Ukraine's Jewish leader Zelenskyy 'rat-like' on his Twitter show, repeating a well-worn antisemitic trope
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In his new Twitter show, Tucker Carlson called Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy "rat-like." Tucker Carlson kicked off his new Twitter show with an antisemitic trope. During the debut of his show, the recently ousted Fox News host called Ukraine's Jewish president "rat-like" — repeating an age-old slur used against Jews. "Ukraine, as you may have heard, is led by a man called Zelenskyy. The slur of depicting Jews as vermin dates back to the early 20th century, The Guardian reported in 2015.

Persons: Tucker Carlson, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Carlson, —, Vladimir Putin, oligarch, BlackRock, George Soros, Soros, Carlson didn't Organizations: Ukraine, Fox News, NBC News, Guardian, Defamation League, Twitter, Israeli, Haaretz Locations: Russian, Southern Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russia, Ukraine, Nazi Germany, Nazi

☆ Cuba gives China permission to build spying facility on island, US intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Natasha Bertrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Cuba has agreed to allow China to build a spying facility on the island that could allow the Chinese to eavesdrop on electronic communications across the southeastern US, a source familiar with the intelligence told CNN. It would not be the first time China has attempted to spy on the US’ electronic communications, known as signals intelligence. In that case, the US took steps to protect sensitive sites and censor intelligence signals before shooting down the balloon. But it is unclear what the US can do to stop the construction of a Chinese spying facility in Cuba. But last week, China’s defense chief refused a meeting request by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and warned the US to stop operating near Chinese waters and airspace.

Persons: Biden, Bill Burns, Antony Blinken, Defense Lloyd Austin, Li Shangfu, ”, Obama, – Organizations: CNN, Street Journal, CIA, US, Defense, “, Trump Locations: Cuba, China, Beijing, Cuban, Washington ,, Chinese, South China, Singapore, Havana

An announcement by the PGA Tour declared a partnership with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, as well as the DP World Tour, unifying the trio under a new, yet-to-be-named, commercial entity. An eight-time winner on the PGA Tour and the 2020 US Open champion, DeChambeau’s move was a huge coup for LIV Golf. Yet many of the game’s biggest stars stayed put, with several becoming outspoken critics of LIV Golf. The latter purportedly turned down a $700 - $800 million offer to join the breakaway series, according to LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman. “I do feel bad for the PGA Tour players because they were told one thing and something else happened.

Persons: Bryson DeChambeau, “, LIV, DeChambeau, DeChambeau’s, LIV Golf, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, ” DeChambeau, it’s, Suhaimi Abdullah, Saudi Arabia’s, LIV Golf’s, Mohammed bin Salman, Jamal Khashoggi, Bin Salman, Quizzed, Collins, “ I’m, I’m, ” Bryson, Brett Eagleson, Maddie Meyer, ” Organizations: CNN, PGA Tour, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, PGA, “, LIV, Sentosa Golf Club, Saudi, Congress, United, America, Getty Locations: Saudi, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Washington, al Qaeda

☆ Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund just reshaped professional golf with the PGA Tour-LIV merger. That's just the start
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The Saudi Public Investment Fund is a government-controlled fund that has $650 billion in assets under management, according to its most recent filing. A state-owned investment fund like the PIF is not unique. Critics of LIV Golf accused the Saudis of backing the new tour as a form of “sportswashing” its reputation. For example it’s not clear exactly how much it invested to start up LIV Golf. CNN has not been able to confirm that report, but what is known is that LIV Golf tournaments have been held on Trump Organization properties.

Persons: petro, LIV Golf, LIV, Yasir Al, Rumayyan, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, ”, Elon Musk, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s, Kushner, Mohammed bin Salman, Bin Salman, Jamal Khashoggi, – CNN’s Coy Wire, Jack Bantock, Steve Almasy Organizations: New, New York CNN, Saudi, Saudi Public Investment Fund, Sovereign Wealth Fund, PGA, Soccer, Saudi Aramco, Newcastle United, Saudi Pro League, CNBC, Electronic Arts, EA, Activision Blizzard, Ticketmaster, Carnival Corp, Twitter, Washington Post, CNN, Trump Organization, US State Department, Congress Locations: New York, Europe, Saudi, English, Al, Saudi Arabia, al Qaeda

☆ Who wins in the PGA-LIV tie-up? Hint: It’s not the golfers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

A bit of background for the uninitiated:Men’s pro golf in North America has been dominated by the PGA Tour for decades. Last year, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund spent an estimated $2 billion to form a rival league, LIV Golf, to challenge PGA’s dominance. LIV attracted many of the sport’s top players away from the PGA Tour and Europe’s DP World Tour by offering more prize money. A long legal battle followed, and LIV golfers were banned from established tours. It is pronounced like “live.” As in, “Please don’t kill me, I want to live.”Oh, yeah — that brings me to the whole “why you should care” bit, and why many pro golfers and fans are apoplectic over the tie-up.

Persons: CNN Business ’, LIV Golf, LIV, “ LIV ”, Jamal Khashoggi, sportswashing, Phil Mickelson, Greg Norman, soccer’s Cristiano Ronaldo —, Chris Isidore, Bloomberg, it’s, ”, Peter Coy, “, you’ll Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, PGA Tour, PGA, Bloomberg, US Justice Department, Tour, US Federal Trade Commission, New York Times Locations: New York, North America, Saudi, Saudi Arabia

☆ Exclusive: Ukraine has cultivated sabotage agents inside Russia and is giving them drones to stage attacks, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Natasha Bertrand Zachary Cohen Kylie Atwood | Natasha Bertrand | Zachary Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

US officials believe these pro-Ukrainian agents inside Russia carried out a drone attack that targeted the Kremlin in early May by launching drones from within Russia rather than flying them from Ukraine into Moscow. But US officials believe that Ukraine has developed sabotage cells inside Russia made up of a mix of pro-Ukrainian sympathizers and operatives well-trained in this kind of warfare. Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the head of the Ukrainian Security Service suggested to CNN that the mysterious explosions and drone strikes inside Russia would continue. ‘A culmination of months of effort’There has been a steady drumbeat of mysterious fires and explosions inside Russia over the last year, targeting oil and fuel depots, railways, military enlistment offices, warehouses and pipelines. A savvy military strategyPublicly, senior US officials have condemned the strikes inside Russia, warning of the potential for an escalation of the war.

Persons: Russia –, ‘ Cash, they’ve, “, Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, Vasyl Malyuk, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Kyrylo Budanov, Budanov, Zelensky, ” Budanov, Nicolas Vaujour, ” Vaujour, Vladimir Putin Organizations: Washington CNN —, CNN, Kremlin, Ukrainian, Reuters, Ostorozhno Novosti, Ukrainian Security Service, Security Service, Getty, Pentagon, CIA, Washington Post, Yahoo, Joint Staff, UK Ministry of Defense Locations: Washington CNN — Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Moscow, Russian, Ostorozhno, AFP, Russia’s Rostov, Rostov Oblast, Moscow’s, ”, Belgorod, Russia’s

CNN —CIA Director Bill Burns secretly traveled to China last month, a US official told CNN Friday, amid efforts by the United States to reset relations with Beijing after a year of extremely heightened tensions. The specific intelligence matter that Burns discussed in Beijing is unclear. “Our assessment at CIA is that I wouldn’t underestimate President Xi’s ambitions with regard to Taiwan,” Burns said earlier this year. National security adviser Jake Sullivan met with top Chinese official Wang Yi in Vienna for “candid” and “constructive” talks in mid-May. A US senior administration official said the meeting was an attempt to put communications back on track after the spy balloon incident.

Persons: Bill Burns, Burns “, Burns, Antony Blinken, Biden, Burns –, Xi’s, ” Burns, Defense Lloyd Austin, Li Shangfu “, Austin, of National Defense Li Shangfu, Pat Ryder, “, ”, Tan Kefei, John Aquilino, Jake Sullivan, Wang Yi, We’re, we’ve, Gina Raimondo, Katherine Tai, Wang Wentao, Wang, ” Raimondo Organizations: CNN, CIA, Financial Times, Taiwan, Defense, Pentagon, “, of National Defense, PRC, China’s Defense Ministry, Pacific Command, People’s Liberation Army, US Trade, Chinese Commerce, D.C Locations: China, United States, Beijing, Ukraine, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Vienna, Sweden

☆ The US will battle its rivals in outer space if it has to, senior military official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US is gearing up for a potential battle in outer space, according to a top official. The military "is ready to fight tonight in space if we have to," Brigadier general Jesse Morehouse said Thursday. "The United States of America is ready to fight tonight in space if we have to," brigadier general Jesse Morehouse of the US Space Command told reporters. Leaked US intel documents seen by The Washington Post last month showed that the military believes Russia's space program is declining – but China's could "hold key US and Allied space assets at risk." Military strategists believe that any possible space war would involve countries attacking each other's satellites in a bid to cripple key infrastructure, because of the bodies' role in defense communications and navigation.

☆ Russia's fearsome S-400 air-defense missiles are getting unexpected missions as Moscow struggles in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia's S-400 is a highly regarded weapon designed to intercept a variety of aircraft and missiles. But in Ukraine, Moscow has pressed its S-400s into service to intercept US-made HIMARS rockets or, more bizarrely, to bombard Ukrainian cities. Ukraine has used the S-300 — predecessor to the S-400 — and the American-made Patriot to intercept Kalibr cruise missiles and even Kinzhal hypersonic weapons. A more suitable system to destroy HIMARS rockets would be Israel's Iron Dome, which has frequently intercepted small rockets and even mortar shells. An S-400 missile is launched at a military base in southern Russia during an exercise in September 2020.

☆ US spy agencies found signs Ukraine may have carried out the Kremlin drone attack: NYT
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US spy agencies found signs Ukraine may have carried out the Kremlin drone attack earlier this month. US officials told The New York Times the attack was likely completed by special military units. Previous intelligence assessments have said the attacks were likely staged by Russia. This goes against what multiple analysts, including the Institute for the Study of War, have said about the drone attack. The attack was also "caught nicely on camera," ISW added, pointing towards a staged attack to bolster the Kremlin's narrative of the war.

☆ Russia is claiming victory in Bakhmut, but the price it paid for it 'doesn't bode well' for Putin's bigger plans, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Russian forces are claiming victory in Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. Russian leadership praised Wagner for its achievements in the devastated city of Bakhmut and promised the presentation of state awards. Casualty estimates likely skew significantly higher for Russian forces. AdvertisementAdvertisementBy April 11, Russian forces occupied over 76 percent of the city, according to a terrain assessment from the ISW think tank. An aerial view of Bakhmut, the site of heavy battles with Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, March 26, 2023.

Persons: it's, —, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Gen, Oleksandr Syrskiy, Bakhmut, Wagner, ISW, Russia's, Vladimir Putin's, bode, Jeffrey Edmonds, Jens Stoltenberg, Marina Miron, Zelenskyy, Putin, Miron, Edmonds Organizations: Military, Service, Wagner Group, Institute for, CIA, AP Moscow, Russian, NATO, CNN, Moscow, AP, King's College London's Centre, Military Ethics, Bakhmut Locations: Bakhmut, Ukraine's Donetsk, Ukrainian, Moscow, Washington, Ukraine, Berlin, Soviet, Stalingrad, Russia, Kyiv, Donbas, Donetsk, Kramatorsk, Moreso

☆ Bakhmut: Wagner forces claim to have taken the eastern Ukrainian city. But Kyiv's forces could still exact a heavy toll
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Sam Kiley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Kyiv rebuffed claims that Russian forces have captured the city in the eastern Donetsk region. LIBKOS/APYevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner private military group, pictured in a screengrab from May 20, 2023, insisted that his men captured Bakhmut after months of fighting. A Ukrainian serviceman checks Russian positions in Bakhmut on May 11, 2023. He said regular Russian troops were incompetent cowards. And they’re being flanked to the north and south by Ukrainian troops.

☆ The Taliban promised to provide security to Afghans. New data shows threat from ISIS is growing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Eliza Mackintosh Ehsan Popalzai Antonio Jarne Lou Robinson | Eliza Mackintosh | Ehsan Popalzai | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

“Currently we don’t have security in Afghanistan at all, whenever we go out we don’t know if we will come home alive or not,” he added. Taliban security forces guard a checkpoint near the foreign ministry in Kabul on March 27, after an ISIS-K suicide bomber struck the site. The data, which is available in a live map, includes 367 pieces of open-source evidence — largely videos and images shared on social media — about 70 ISIS-K attacks since August 2021. As the Taliban try to minimize the threat ISIS-K poses, attacks on civilians continue. Taliban security forces have been waging ongoing operations and night raids against ISIS-K.

CNN —The FBI improperly searched an intelligence database for information on suspects in the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot and people arrested at 2020 protests after the police killing of George Floyd, according to a court opinion that was unsealed and released Friday. The new details about the database misuse are likely to complicate the Biden administration’s efforts to renew a key foreign surveillance program. The FBI searches were not “reasonably likely” to retrieve foreign intelligence information or evidence of a crime, Justice Department officials who reviewed the searches concluded, according to the opinion from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which oversees US spy agencies. Analysts at the FBI and other agencies can then search the data gathered for leads related to foreign intelligence missions. Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said Friday that congressional action was needed to curb the privacy violations of Americans revealed by the court opinion.

☆ US says Wagner Group is trying to use third countries to obscure weapons shipments to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Natasha Bertrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The Russian mercenary organization Wagner Group has been working to obscure its efforts to acquire military equipment for use in Ukraine, including by trying to source the materials from Mali, where the group has a strong foothold, a US official told CNN. That document also said that Wagner was likely trying to use weapons procured from Turkey for use in its operations in Mali. The White House has also previously accused North Korea of supplying Russia’s Wagner Group with missiles and rockets for use in Ukraine. “Wagner is directly supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine, and we oppose efforts by any other country to assist Russia through Wagner,” the US official said. We will continue to identify, expose, and counter these efforts by Wagner to procure military equipment for use in Ukraine.”

☆ Black Sea grain deal: A crucial pact aimed at averting a global food crisis has been extended
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —A crucial deal aimed at averting a global food crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been extended for two months. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday an agreement has been reached with Russia and Ukraine to extend the Black Sea grain deal. Murat Kula/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesWhat is the Black Sea grain deal and why is it important? The Black Sea grain deal was first reached in July 2022. The Black Sea grain deal was an agreement made between Russia and Ukraine – however, it was not a direct agreement.

☆ Trump is weaponizing the Russia report he demanded -- even though it lacks bombshells
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Another Trump ally, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, argued the report showed the “rule of law in America is subservient to political outcomes. In another politically sensitive part of his report, Durham found that the FBI did not pursue allegations against Clinton with the same vigor with which they acted against Trump. He pointed out that the Trump investigation was launched at a time when Russia was attacking Democratic National Committee servers and had used stolen information to attack Clinton. The investigation was only launched after the bureau received evidence from a friendly foreign government that the Trump campaign had been offered help by the Russians. But all Trump needed from the report was a headline and a general narrative of suspicion against the FBI.

☆ CIA launches video to recruit Russian spies
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Alex Marquardt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The CIA first posted the video on Telegram, which ends with instructions on how to get in touch with the CIA anonymously and securely. The video is also being posted to its other social media platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. It appeals to their sense of patriotism and plays on Russian culture, quoting lines from Leo Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. The emotional two-minute video shows different Russians going about their lives, appearing to contemplate major decisions. Monday’s video mirrors a more blunt outreach on social media by the CIA a year ago, two months into the war in Ukraine.

☆ Hillary Clinton: Durham interviewed former Secretary of State on alleged plan to tie Trump to Russia, found no 'provable criminal offense'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Evan Perez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The special counsel was looking into whether any crimes occurred in the handling of an uncorroborated piece of US intelligence indicating Russia knew of a Clinton campaign plan to vilify her opponent, Trump, by tying him to the country. During the Trump administration, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe released some of Brennan’s notes about the intelligence used in his briefing of former President Barack Obama. Ratcliffe publicly said that the intelligence community never corroborated the Russian claims of a “Clinton Plan” to frame Trump, and didn’t know whether it was fabricated. In her interview with Durham’s investigators, Clinton expressed sympathy for Durham’s hunt. Durham concludes that it would be impossible to prosecute anyone for their handling of the intelligence.

☆ Opinion: The dubious MLK Jr. quote about Malcolm X
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Opinion Peniel E. Joseph | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, long a contentious backdrop to the history of civil rights and anti-racist activism in America, is under new scrutiny after the bombshell news that a quote denigrating Malcolm X, published in Playboy and attributed to King, is apparently fraudulent. This new information adds to the ongoing rethinking of the relationship between King and Malcolm X. Of course, this is not to suggest that we stop teaching “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” since all memoir and autobiography is an act of literary creation. The complexity of his relationship to Malcolm X is handled judiciously. Balancing the bitter and beautiful parts of the relationship between King and Malcolm X helps us come to terms with past and contemporary historical traumas.

☆ Special counsel John Durham concludes FBI never should have launched full Trump-Russia probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Zachary Cohen Devan Cole Tierney Sneed Evan Perez Hannah Rabinowitz Jeremy Herb Marshall Cohen | Zachary Cohen | Devan Cole | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

“Strzok, at a minimum, had pronounced hostile feelings toward Trump,” Durham wrote, while quoting in a footnote previously known texts between Strzok and Lisa Page, then an FBI attorney. Witness testimony exposed the FBI’s overreliance on the dossier as it sought court approval to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser in 2016. Mixed results over 3+ yearsBarr tapped Durham in 2019 to review the origins of the Russia probe, and the scope of Durham’s work grew over the years. Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which inherited the initial Russia probe, released a detailed accounting of Russia’s effort to interfere in the 2016 election. Mueller found no evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but investigators documented numerous contacts between Trump associates and Russians.

☆ Takeaways from special counsel John Durham’s report on FBI’s Russia-Trump probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Zachary Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Special counsel John Durham released his final report on Monday in which he casts doubt about the FBI’s decision to launch a full investigation into connections between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. The report does not ultimately fulfill the expectations set by former President Trump and his allies who have long claimed that it would prove the FBI’s investigation was nothing more than a political witch hunt. That finding was at the core of Durham’s most scathing criticism of the FBI’s decision to launch a full investigation. “Strzok, at a minimum, had pronounced hostile feelings toward Trump,” Durham wrote, while quoting in a footnote previously known texts between Strzok and Lisa Page, then an FBI attorney. Witness testimony exposed the FBI’s overreliance on the dossier as it sought court approval to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser in 2016.

☆ Leaked details of Wagner boss Prigozhin's dealings suggest he was ready to throw Russia's war 'under the bus' just to win a battle, Russia expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Sinéad Baker | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The Wagner Group has frequently feuded with Russia's military leadership over its war in Ukraine. A new report suggests the group leader took it farther than previously known, offering to give Ukraine Russian troop locations. The report indicates that Yevgeny Prigozhin was ready to derail Russia's war for his own aims, an expert told Insider. And according to a new report, amid these tensions, Prigozhin attempted derail Russia's battlefield operations in a major way. Ukrainian soldiers walk in the position close to Bakhmut, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.

☆ Yevgeny Prigozhin: Wagner boss denies Washington Post report that he offered intelligence to Kyiv in exchange for territory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Kostan Nechyporenko Victoria Butenko Anna Chernova Sana Noor Haq | Kostan Nechyporenko | Victoria Butenko | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Ukrainian soldiers, pictured in Bakhmut on Friday, fire a cannon near the eastern city, where a fierce battle for control against Russian forces rages. Prigozhin made the offer to Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate, known as HUR, in January, the Post alleged. It quoted one leaked document as stating that Prigozhin met HUR officers in an unspecified country in Africa. “Therefore, I simply could not meet with anyone there physically.”In his message, Prigozhin asked rhetorically, “Who is behind this? Kyiv also said it was operating “effective counterattacks” in the Bakhmut area, matching remarks by Prigozhin that Kyiv had recaptured some territory.

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