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☆ Insight: Young Russian lawyers step up to defend anti-war protesters
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Lucy Papachristou | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

"I have always had a keen sense of justice," Gominova told a Reuters reporter based in Poland. "Defending protesters in court is my version of protest," said Gominova, who began representing anti-war activists in court almost immediately after the invasion. With numerous civil society groups disbanded by the state, many other lawyers also defend anti-war activists independently, but it is hard to determine how many. Several Russian lawyers have attracted the attention – and condemnation – of authorities, not only for defending critics of the invasion but also for expressing their own opposition. Before the Ukraine conflict, Gominova, in St Petersburg, worked mainly on civil cases ranging from family disputes to consumer rights.

Persons: Young, acquittals, Sofia Gominova, Gominova, Violetta Fitsner, Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Russia's, Evgenia Kara, Vladimir, Vadim Prokhorov –, Putin –, Prokhorov, Dmitry Talantov, Ivan Safronov, Maria Bontsler, Anastasia Rudenko, George Orwell's, Yuri Mikhailov, Mikhailov, Filipp Lebedev, Gabrielle Tetrault, Farber, Mike Collett, White, Mark Trevelyan, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Russia, Ukraine Lawyers, Petersburg Bar Association, Moscow Bar, Russia's, Ministry, Russian Federation, Reuters, U.S, of America, Facebook, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, acquittals Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, Poland, St . Petersburg, St, Petersburg, Moscow, Ivanovo, Russian, St Petersburg, Tbilisi, Geneva

☆ China's working on a secret deal with Cuba to set up a spy base about 100 miles off the coast of Florida: reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

China is reportedly in talks with Cuba about setting up a spy base on the island roughly 100 miles from Florida. The Soviet Union operated a signals intelligence base in Cuba for decades. It's a move that would follow in the footsteps of the Soviet Union, which operated a spy base on the island for decades. US officials told The Wall Street Journal that China and Cuba have reached a multi-billion-dollar agreement in principle on the establishment of the base. China officially only has one overseas military base, an installation in Djibouti that it has expanded since it first opened in 2017.

Persons: —, Laura Richardson, Mike Waltz, China's Organizations: Soviet Union, Service, Privacy, Politico, US Central Command, Cape Canaveral, Wall Street Journal, Senior, US Southern Command, Florida Republican, House Intelligence, Armed Services, Chinese Communist Party, CIA, State Department, National Security Locations: China, Cuba, Florida, Soviet Union, Beijing, Havana, Cape, America, Soviet, Lourdes, Djibouti, Cuban, People's Republic, United States

☆ Fact Check-Video shows train collision in India’s Hyderabad in 2019, not Odisha 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CCTV footage of a train crash in Hyderabad, India in 2019 has been miscaptioned online to say it shows the deadly rail crash in the eastern Indian state of Odisha on June 2. The footage, which features a Voice of America (VOA) watermark in some posts, was shared by the broadcaster in November 2019 following a train collision in Hyderabad, India (here). VOA has credited the Indian Railways for the footage in the caption of the YouTube video. The same footage was also used by Indian news outlets to report on the same incident (here) and (here). The video dates from 2019 and shows a train collision in Hyderabad, not Odisha in 2023.

Persons: Read Organizations: Facebook, America, Indian Railways, YouTube, Reuters Locations: Hyderabad, India, Odisha, Balasore

☆ Fact Check-Derogatory chant digitally added to video of Biden at graduation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

(Warning: this article contains profanity that some readers may find offensive)A clip of U.S. President Joe Biden attending his granddaughter Maisy Biden’s May 15 graduation at the University of Pennsylvania is circulating with altered audio of anti-Biden chants. A tweet sharing the altered clip has been viewed 1.1 million times at the time of writing (here). The crowd in the edited clip can be heard chanting “fuck Joe Biden.” However, no such chant can be heard in the original raw pool video available to media outlets, including Reuters, and a Reuters witness present at the scene heard no such chanting. Similar clips of the raw video lacking the added chant can be viewed on Twitter, where they were published by the Voice of America’s Chinese-language account (here) and by RNC Research, a Twitter handle that describes itself as “managed by the Republican National Committee” (here) (here). Anti-Biden chants have been digitally added to raw footage of President Joe Biden attending his granddaughter’s graduation at the University of Pennsylvania.

☆ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson have linked mass shootings to antidepressants. This is what the evidence says.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

After a spate of mass shootings in the US, right-wing figures have suggested a link to antidepressants. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson have claimed several mass shooters took SSRIs, suggesting they are to blame. Greene has previously made similar comments linking antidepressants to mass shootings, as has former Fox News host Tucker Carlson"A lot of young men in America are going nuts. However, Carlson and Greene's theories fail to note that many mass shooters had no history of taking psychiatric medication. As the gun control debate continues, Democrats and Republicans have drawn up distinctly different plans to prevent future mass shootings.

☆ Saudi Arabia and Iran met in China to start thawing their fierce rivalry — a striking victory for Xi and a potential humiliation for the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Saudi Arabia and Iran's foreign ministers held a historic meeting in Beijing on Thursday. While China has maintained close ties with both countries, the US and Iran have not had diplomatic relations in decades. The meeting between Prince Faisal bin Farhan of Saudi Arabia and Hossein Amirabdollahian of Iran was the first of its kind since 2016. They also discussed visas, as well as a visit to Saudi Arabia by Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, per The Guardian. CIA director William Burns was in Saudi Arabia this week to discuss mutual intelligence cooperation and counterterrorism, Al-Arabiya reported.

☆ Some of Florida's cities don't want spring breakers. With the state's economy booming, many don't need them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Miami Beach's mayor recently said officials "don't want spring break in our city." Spring break is among the reasons the state generates billions of dollars in tax revenue per year from tourism. But there are signs that booming population growth, which Florida's Office of Economic and Demographic Research has described as the state's "primary engine of economic growth," could help diversify the state's economy. The number of arrests in the city during spring break more than doubled in 1986 from the same period in 1985. While thousands of college students still frequent Fort Lauderdale during spring break, the city's current mayor, Dean Trantalis, described them as "very well behaved."

☆ India complains that Russia isn't delivering weapons it owes because it's throwing everything at Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

India says the Ukraine war meant Russia was unable to export the weapons it ordered. Russia has long been a major arms exporter, but is now struggling to supply its own army in Ukraine. According to the report, India also relies on Moscow for parts for its fleet of Su-30MKI and MiG-29 fighter jets: both Russian models. That study noted that invading Ukraine harmed Russia's ability to export its weapons, as so many were diverted to the front in Ukraine. The report came as Russia attempted to gear up its weapons production in the hope of gaining ground in Ukraine.

☆ Ukraine's air force is now allowing foreigners to sign up as pilots as it pushes for Western fighter jets
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine's Air Force will now allow foreigners to serve as pilots, engineers, and specialists. Ukraine said that its air force has been inundated with offers from people willing to fight Russia. Yurii Ihnat, a spokesperson for the commander of Ukraine's air force, said in a statement Thursday that foreign citizens will be able to join if they have suitable military training. Despite bipartisan calls in the US for President Joe Biden's administration to send F-16s, Biden himself said on February 24 that Ukraine "doesn't need F-16s now." Serhii Holubtsov, chief of aviation of Ukraine's Air Force, however, told The Times of London that Ukrainian fighter pilots would be ready to fly F-16 jets after fewer than six months of training.

☆ Fox News is unlikely to face pushback from professional journalism groups after court documents revealed it lied to viewers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The White House Correspondents' Association doesn't police member conduct, a former board member said. A number of professional organizations told Insider that Fox News fell well short of the standards expected in the profession. "Journalism receives significant protections from the First Amendment and with those protections come profound responsibilities," McCarran told Insider. Evidence made public in Dominion's lawsuit shows how Fox employees — beyond just hosts of opinion shows — had priorities other than telling their viewers the truth. "There are left-wing publications, right-wing publications, there are government-owned publications — there's Voice of America, foreign news organizations," the former board member said. "

☆ Palestinians living in refugee camps are being paid $350 to fight for Russia in Ukraine: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Palestinians living in Lebanese refugee camps are being recruited to fight for Russia in Ukraine. The Jerusalem Post reported that some 300 refugees have already been deployed. The majority of Palestinians being deployed to Ukraine come from the largest Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, Ein El Hilweh Camp, the report said. But it is known that Russia has previously recruited Syrian volunteers to fight in Ukraine. Riad Kahwaji, a Dubai-based security analyst, told The Media Line that Russia recruiting Palestinian refugees to fight in Ukraine wouldn't be surprising.

[1/4] U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and South Africa's Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana attend bilateral talks, at the treasury offices in Pretoria, South Africa, January 26, 2023. Nevertheless Lavrov made a stopover after visiting South Africa, which his counterpart Thulisile Dladla described as a "profound honour." Eswatini relies on the United States for aid, but its absolute monarchy has suffered U.S. criticism on human rights. South Africa, alongside Russia and China, is pushing for a "multipolar" world in which geopolitical power is less concentrated around the United States. "It hasn't delivered the kind of benefits South Africa was hoping to get."

☆ Fact Check-Clip of military vehicle running over protesters filmed in Caracas, Venezuela in 2019
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

(Warning: This article contains graphic content)A clip of a military vehicle running over protesters was filmed in Caracas, Venezuela in April 2019 and not Peru amid protests in January 2023. The clip was shared by social media users online amid protests that kicked off in December following the ousting of Peru’s then president, Pedro Castillo. The social media users erroneously captioned it as an incident in Peru during the protests. Reuters also produced an article reporting that a Venezuela National Guard vehicle ran protesters over outside a military base in Venezuela’s capital on April 30, 2019 (here). Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here.

☆ Ukraine defence minister says forces will train on German tanks in Poland - VOA
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius meets with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov to discuss how to help Ukraine defend itself, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Wolfgang RattayJan 20 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces will train on Leopard-2 battle tanks in Poland, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov was quoted as saying on Friday, even though allies failed to reach an agreement to supply the German-made vehicles to Kyiv. Reznikov, echoing earlier comments by Ukrainian officials, said he hoped Germany will reach a decision on the tanks. Earlier Reznikov had tweeted his gratitude to the German government and people for their military aid and hospitality. Next to a photograph of himself with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, he wrote, "We had a frank discussion on Leopards 2.

☆ Zelenskyy aide resigns after suggesting Ukraine air defense caused a Russian missile to hit an apartment building, killing 44
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Ukrainian official resigned after suggesting Russia did not target a Dnipro apartment block with a missile. Oleksiy Arestovych said Ukraine shot down the Russian missile that hit the block, killing 44. There was an international outcry after a massive Russian KH-22 missile slammed into the residential block on Saturday. Russian missiles have repeatedly struck residential buildings throughout the war. Contrary to Arestovych's statement, Ukraine's air force said that the country doesn't have the capability to shoot down the type of missile Russia used on Saturday, which has been dubbed an "aircraft carrier killer."

☆ The ways federal officials from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump — and now Joe Biden — have been accused of mishandling government records
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

President Joe BidenPresident Joe Biden speaks at the White House on January 12, 2023. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel, Robert K. Hur, to investigate Biden for potential mishandling of classified documents. Another State Department investigation that lasted for three years and ended in 2019 found Clinton's use of a private email server put classified information at risk but that there was "no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information." Berger was found to have smuggled out highly classified documents, destroying some, and lying about possessing them. Lower-profile federal officials are more commonly chargedIn addition to former presidents and top White House officials, lower-profile federal agents are more commonly charged with mishandling government documents.

☆ Africa should not be arena for international competition, says Chinese foreign minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang addresses delegates at the inauguration of the new Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters, which China is building and equipping in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, January 11, 2023. REUTERS/Tiksa NegeriADDIS ABABA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Africa should not be an arena for competition between world powers, China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Wednesday, opening a new headquarters for a pan-African health body at the start of five-country Africa tour. "Africa should be a big stage for the international cooperation, not an arena for major countries competition," Qin said at a news conference with AU Commission chair Moussa Faki. A trusted aide of President Xi Jinping and former ambassador to the United States, Qin was appointed foreign minister last month. Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, said the choice of countries reflected China's diversity of interests in Africa.

☆ American Greed: Inside The Episode-Stacy Keach
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Dj Sixsmith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailAmerican Greed: Inside The Episode-Stacy KeachLegendary actor Stacy Keach joins CNBC's DJ Sixsmith to discuss his time as the voice of American Greed and why this show still resonates with fans after so many seasons.

"The worst governments are already going to suppress speech," said David Kaye, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine and the former free speech watchdog for the United Nations between 2014 and 2020. The free speech experts who spoke to NBC News on Friday said Twitter's actions could invite international attempts to manipulate Musk. Would some head of state say, 'Hey, can you do this for my country and prevent public reporting?' Kaye, the former U.N. free speech watchdog, said Musk's behavior reminded him in part of authoritarian leaders who enforce rules against challenging the government or criticizing powerful figures, such as royal family members or regime allies. Musk can talk about standing for free speech all he wants, but this should make it clear to everyone that what he’s doing is quite the opposite.

☆ Democrats criticize Elon Musk for suspending journalists covering Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Amanda Terkel | Amanda Is Senior Politics Editor For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON — Democratic members of Congress had harsh words for Elon Musk on Thursday night after Twitter suddenly suspended a number of high-profile journalists who have been covering the company and Musk, its billionaire CEO. In November, shortly after he took over Twitter, Musk tweeted that he would not ban the account. Musk tweeted Thursday night. "Ro Khanna is great," Musk tweeted in response to one of some of the Twitter files. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., tweeted: "Twitter can suspend whoever it wants.

☆ Elon Musk argued with reporters on Twitter Spaces about suspending multiple high-profile journalists' accounts — hear the full exchange, including the moment he abruptly left
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

On Thursday, Twitter suspended the accounts of multiple high-profile journalists who cover owner Elon Musk. Elon Musk later dropped into Twitter Spaces, where reporters asked why the accounts were suspended. Multiple reporters, many of whom cover tech, including Musk and Twitter, saw their Twitter accounts suspended without warning or explanation on Thursday. Twitter suspended that account on Wednesday despite Musk, who has called himself a free-speech absolutist, tweeting in November that he wouldn't do so. Twitter Spaces later stopped working, which Musk says happened to fix a "legacy bug," but several Twitter users recorded the exchange between Musk and the reporters.

☆ White House calls on Bangladesh to investigate reports of pre-election violence
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Bangladeshi policemen run to disperse Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists gathered in front of the party's central office before clash in Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 7, 2022. REUTERS/StringerWASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The White House on Friday called on the government of Bangladesh to fully investigate reports of violence against journalists and human rights activists ahead of a major political protest, and urged all parties to refrain from violence. "We call on all parties in Bangladesh to respect the rule of law, to refrain from violence. Kirby said Washington was also urging government authorities in Bangladesh to "fully investigate reports of violence in a thorough, transparent and impartial manner." The protest comes ahead of national elections planned in Bangladesh next year.

☆ US military confirms that another ISIS leader has been killed in Syria, revealing that he was taken out in a raid by local forces
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US military revealed on Wednesday that another ISIS leader was killed recently. Earlier on Wednesday, the Islamic State's media affiliate announced that the leader of the terror group had been killed fighting recently. The terror group didn't mention who killed al-Qurayshi — or where, according to multiple reports. "We welcome the announcement that another leader of ISIS is no longer walking the face of the Earth." He added that actions by Turkey have led the SDF to suspend its operations against the terror group.

☆ Ukraine is no longer low on artillery ammo because Russia abandoned so much in recent retreats, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine's well supplied with artillery ammo taken as Russia retreated, The Wall Street Journal said. The report said that equipment was being turned on Russian forces as Ukraine advances beyond the recently recaptured city of Lyman in the Donbas region. —Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 11, 2022Oryx, a project to document and track military-equipment usage and losses, has counted 442 Russian tanks captured by Ukrainians throughout the war. The Journal's report, citing Oryx, said 320 tanks had been supplied to Ukraine from elsewhere. Armored fighting vehicles and infantry fighting vehicles that Ukraine captured from Russia also outnumbered foreign donations, according to Oryx.

Persons: Russia's, Vitaliy Kim, Birdie Organizations: Street Journal, Service, Street, Lyman, Telegraph, — Locations: Russia, Soviet, Wall, Silicon, Kharkiv, Ukraine, Lyman, Donbas, Russian, Mariupol, Mykolaiv, Ukrainian

☆ Jesse Watters' rise at Fox, from Bill O'Reilly's ambush man to Tucker Carlson wannabe
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Noah Hurowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

At the time, Watters was best known for pulling off elaborately planned ambush interviews on "The O'Reilly Factor," then Fox News' top-rated show. When Grim picked his phone up and trained it again on Watters, the smile was gone from Watters' face. Watters on the set of his show "Jesse Watters Primetime." In early 2022, "Jesse Watters Primetime" debuted, airing right before "Hannity." Watters, whose entire career has been at Fox News, might be a safer bet, according to Muto, the former O'Reilly producer.

Persons: Jesse Watters, MSNBC's swank, Watters, O'Reilly, Ryan Grim, Amanda Terkel, Terkel, he'd, Grim, Drudge, Roger Ailes, Tucker Carlson's, Erik Wemple, Tucker Carlson, Carlson's, Carlson, who's, Donald Trump's, Don Jr, Eric, Julio Cortez, David Hockney, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Limbaugh, Mueller, Jon Stewart, Tucker, it's, Wemple, Andrew Lawrence, Lawrence, " Watters, Joe Muto, Jesse, Muto, Clowning, irked O'Reilly, stoke —, Obama, Lefties, Al Qaeda's, Breitbart, Gretchen Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Bill O'Reilly, Spencer Platt, O'Reilly's, cohosts, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Greg Gutfeld, Juan Williams, Ivanka Trump, Emma DiGiovine, DiGiovine, John Lamparski, Hannity, Sean Hannity, Biden, doesn't, You've, we'll, Newt Gingrich, Watters nodded, Neil Cavuto, Chris Wallace, Mike Pence, Tom Brenner, Wallace, gunning, There's, Bill, Jack Newsham, Katherine Long Organizations: Fox News, DC, Huffington Post, Washington Post, Fox, MSNBC, The Washington Post, Better Homes, Gardens, America, East Coast, Quaker, Trinity, Trump National Golf Club, Republican, CNN, Media, Gawker, Ivy League, Fox Nation, stoke, CIA, Corp's, The New York Times, Democrat, Dominion Voting Systems, Daily, Trump, Reuters, OG Locations: O'Reilly's crosshairs, Washington ,, Virginia, Watters, Terkel's, East, St, Middletown , Rhode Island, Philadelphia, Long, Hartford , Connecticut, Bedminster , NJ, San Diego, An Alabama, Chinatown, Telluride, New York's Chinatown, York, New York, Los Angeles

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