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Malindi, Kenya CNN —The reddish soil of the Shakahola forest is still giving up its terrible secrets. The cult was preparing for the end of the world under the instruction of their its powerful pastor, say investigators. Many find it difficult to comprehend the dark path that Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie allegedly took his followers along. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty ImagesAt a recent hearing Mackenzie denied all knowledge of the horrors that witnesses, inspectors, and survivors believe happened in the Shakahola forest. ‘Intoxicating power’To understand the Shakahola cult, the focus must be on Mackenzie, says Rick Ross, a leading American cult expert who has studied destructive cults for decades.

Persons: Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, Paul Mackenzie, David McKenzie, ’ ”, Agnes, Mackenzie, “, ”, Yasuyoshi Chiba, Rick Ross, “ It’s, Ross, Charles Manson, David Koresh, Joseph Kibwetere, Geoffrey Wango, Wango, Ruto, Nxivm, God, Naomi Kahindi's, Mwangi, Francis Wanje, Wanje’s, It’s, Wanje, Khalid Hussein, Mackenzie's, Monicah Mwangi, Jesus, couldn’t, didn’t, David Man’ong’o Organizations: Kenya CNN, CNN, Good News International Ministry, Criminal Investigations, Getty, Nairobi University, Kenyan, Reuters, . Police, Public Prosecutions Locations: Malindi, Kenya, Galilee, Bethlehem, Shakahola, AFP, American, Africa

☆ Who is winning the war in Ukraine? Experts break down the territorial, psychological, and military gains made by Putin and Zelenskyy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Insider spoke to four experts about who they think is currently winning the war in Ukraine. But two experts told Insider this appears to be unattainable. "So territory-wise, I don't think Zelenskyy has budged on his objective of liberating all of the occupied territories," Miron told Insider. Photo by Getty ImagesMilitary victoryIt is difficult to analyze who is currently winning from a military standpoint because a lot of hinges on Ukraine's counteroffensive, all experts told Insider. John E. Herbst, who was the US ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006, told Insider that he believes that right now, the advantage lies with Ukraine.

Persons: —, Ukraine —, Vladimir Putin, Marina Miron, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's, Miron, David Lewis, Yasuyoshi Chiba, University of Birmingham's Jaroslava Barbieri, " Barbieri, Lewis, John E . Herbst, Bakhmut, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Barbieri, Herbst, Putin Organizations: Service, Department of, King's College London, Institute for, Royal United Services Institute, Getty, Kyiv, University of Birmingham's, Getty Images, Washington Post, Ukraine Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Crimea, Sloviansk, AFP, Ukrainian, Irpin, Bakhmut

Pamela Mukalasinga, 54, a small-scale trader and mother of five, would tune in religiously to Mackenzie’s Times TV channel. “The rescued child narrated the sufferings his two siblings underwent after being starved for some time before their mother suffocated them to death,” prosecutors said. Many of those found in the forest are believed to be followers of Mackenzie. This is extremism and brainwashing of the highest order,” Walid Sketty of Kenya-based human rights group Haki Africa, which has been involved in rescue operations at Shakahola, told CNN. Shibutse recalls that his mother started to observe some of Mackenzie’s doctrines denouncing healthcare and modern education for children.

Persons: Rodgers Shibutse, Pamela, Paul Mackenzie, Pamela Mukalasinga, Shibutse, Rodgers, Mackenzie, “, Paul McKenzie, ”, Malindi, ” Mackenzie, George Kariuki, Pastor Mackenzie, ” Kariuki, Kariuki, Titus Katana, GNI, Katana, “ Mackenzie, Yasuyoshi Chiba, I’ve, ” Walid Sketty, Johansen Oduor, ” Oduor, Oduor, ” Shibutse, Robert, Mackenzie’s GNI, Gideon Mung’aro, Mackenzie wasn’t, Moses Odhiambo, Kithure Kindiki, Ezekiel Ombok Odero, ” Kindiki, Jared Magolo, “ It’s, Pastor Odero, hasn’t, Odero, Odhiambo Organizations: CNN, Mackenzie’s Times, Good News International, Kenyan Red Cross, Police, National Police, Kenyan, …, Nation . Police, Workers, Getty, Government, Digital, Times TV, Citizen Digital, Prosecutors, New, Centre Church, Kenya’s Communications Authority Locations: Kenya’s, Bungoma County, Malindi, Kenya, Shakahola, Mombasa, AFP, Africa, ”, bodybags, Kenyan, Haki Africa, “, Kilifi County, Odero

☆ Marieke Vervoort: How one Paralympian and triathlete's euthanasia papers extended her life by a decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Throughout her storied career, triathlete and Paralympian Marieke Vervoort captured the imagination of her native Belgium and the wider world. … The fact that that had given her so much mental liberation and spiritual liberation, I thought, was a fantastic story,” Rapaport told CNN Sport. “If I didn’t have the papers, I think I would have already committed suicide,” Vervoort told reporters in 2016. And in this case, having control over decision-making about the end of your life,” Rapaport explained. Vervoort died in October 2019.

☆ Catastrophic drought that’s pushed millions into crisis made 100 times more likely by climate change, analysis finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The unrelenting drought that has devastated the Horn of Africa and left more than 20 million people facing acute food insecurity would not have been possible without climate change, a new analysis has found. In a world without human-caused climate change, this devastating drought would not have happened. The organization is made up of a team of international scientists who, in the immediate aftermath of extreme weather events, analyze data and climate models to establish what role climate change played. The scientists also looked at whether climate change was to blame for the lack of rain, but concluded there was no overall impact. “The country continues to pay the price of global warming and climate change,” he added.

☆ Paralympics TikTok account uses 'edgy and unique content' but has been critiqued by some for lack of sensitivity
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Social media is awash with memes and GIFs and, at times, ‘edginess,’ but it can be a difficult balancing act as the official Paralympics TikTok account is discovering. The account is run by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the organization which organizes and manages the Paralympic Games. In the comments, the official Paralympic account replied: “This is Brad Snyder. Mixed reactionsAs a result, the videos posted on the official account have received a mixed reaction, with commentators on many of them left disbelieving that the content published there is permitted. “Looking through that whole account, I might have seen one or two [videos] where the athlete actually does something successfully.

☆ Putin's top troops are being 'decimated' as Russia relies too much on so-called 'elite' forces to wage war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Several so-called "elite" Russian units have suffered heavy casualties on the battlefield in Ukraine. The 155th is only the latest so-called "elite" Russian unit to face serious setbacks on the battlefield. An abandoned Russian military tank left in the Ukrainian city of Balakliia after Russian Forces withdrew from the Kharkiv region on September 15, 2022. So I think it's much more of a blow to Russia's ground force's combat power than it is to their reputations." Russia's military leadership has at times faced criticism and even domestic outrage over its decision-making.

☆ CIA director says Russia is offering to help Iran's advanced missile program in exchange for military aid
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

William Burns said Russia was likely offering Iran help with its missile program in exchange for military aid. Russia has been accused of using Iran-made drones on strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine. National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that US officials believe that Russia may be planning to give Iran military jets after Iran sent much-needed artillery rounds to Russia. While the US has sought to limit Iran's missile program through sanctions, it said in 2019 that Iran had managed to build the "largest missile force in the Middle East." The US and NATO have also said they see evidence that China may be planning to give Russia weapons.

☆ A year into the war, Ukraine and the West prepare for the biggest reconstruction since World War II
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

People help to clean up debris at a bus station damaged after a shelling, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson, Ukraine February 21, 2023. Lisi Niesner | ReutersOne year since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's economy and infrastructure are in tatters, with the government and its allies planning the largest rebuilding effort since World War II. The International Monetary Fund estimates that the Ukrainian economy contracted by 30%, a less severe decline than previously projected. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva visited Ukraine this week, meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyy, among others. It is difficult to predict the size of this debt reduction as it depends on the state of the Ukrainian economy at the time the restructuring is agreed," Nasser said.

☆ After a year of death and destruction, Ukraine braces itself for a major escalation in the war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Emergency service workers extinguish a fire after shelling on the Bakhmut frontline in Ivanivske, Ukraine as Russia-Ukraine war continues on January 02, 2023. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesWhen Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, it shocked the world. Russia and Ukraine have only published data sporadically on their own casualty rates in the war — so we have to rely on estimates. One former NATO official told CNBC that, sooner or later, Ukraine would need to be given combat aircraft. Kenzo Tribouillard | Afp | Getty ImagesAsked whether he believed Ukraine could prevail and win the war before the end of 2023, Shea said two things need to happen: Western weapons need to arrive quickly and Ukraine must be given aircraft.

☆ A big bang or a grinding assault? What to expect from Russia's new offensive in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Russian citizens recruited as part of partial mobilization attend combat training in the training spots of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk, Ukraine on October 05, 2022. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesA renewed Russian offensive in the east of Ukraine is underway. Over the weekend, Russian forces shelled Ukrainian cities like Nikopol, a city in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, where one person was reportedly killed. Ukrainian servicemen make a trench near Bakhmut on Feb. 1, 2023, as they prepare for a Russian offensive in the area. Shea, who was deputy assistant secretary general for emerging security challenges at NATO until 2018, said he did not expect a big bang start to the offensive.

☆ Russian forces are closing in on the strategic city of Bakhmut, giving Ukraine a tough choice to make
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Ukrainian military vehicles drive along a road outside of the strategic city of Bakhmut on January 18, 2023 in Bakhmut, Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers outside the strategic city of Bakhmut on Jan. 18, 2023, in Bakhmut, Ukraine. Ukrainian servicemen of the artillery unit of the 80th Air Assault Brigade talk near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Feb. 7, 2023. On Wednesday, Russian media reported comments from a Russian special forces commander, who claimed Russian units were advancing into Bakhmut. Ukrainian security forces talk to an elder woman while the first anniversary of Russia-Ukraine war approaches in Bakhmut, Ukraine on January 25, 2023.

☆ Russia has stopped using its Iranian suicide drones because they don't work in the cold, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia has stopped using Iranian-made suicide drones due to cold weather, a Ukrainian official said. Russia started to use the Iranian drones in October, as part of a new playbook that targeted power distribution and other critical infrastructure from afar. A composite image showing an Iranian drone in the sky and the aftermath of a strike on Kyiv on October 17, 2022. And it reported that Iran and Russia had reached an agreement for Russia to start producing the drones itself. Multiple reports have also said that Iran has been training Russia on how to use the drones and other weapons.

☆ As Ukrainian forces recaptured a key town, another elite Russian unit appears to have gone through 'the meat grinder'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russian troops in Lyman and those who retreated took heavy losses, including an elite GRU unit. In just a few days, Ukrainian forces liberated hundreds of square miles of territory and scores of villages. Its cadre of Spetsnaz commandos is among the best in the Russian military. Competent special operators require years of basic and advanced military training, as well as training tailored to their mission sets. The Russian military as a whole is taking a battering in Ukraine, though casualty estimates vary widely.

☆ Russian soldiers are surrendering to Ukrainian drones, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Footage shared by Ukraine's MOD appears to show a Russian soldier surrendering to a drone. Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have claimed to have used drones to advise combatants to surrender. Ukraine has claimed other successes in getting Russian soldiers to surrender, most prominently through its "I Want to Live" hotline, which it says has received more than 3,500 calls. Russia's defense ministry also says it is using drones to ask Ukrainians to surrender, state-controlled news agency TASS reported in early November. Russia's primary use of drones in the fall has been aggressive, deploying Iran-made drones to attack Ukrainian forces — and infrastructure — in swarms, as Insider's Michael Peck reported.

☆ Ukraine in danger of running out of air defenses as Russia launches relentless drone attacks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

However, the Iranian government acknowledged for the first time Saturday that it had sent a number of drones to Russia, but insisted this was before Russia invaded Ukraine. The U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley rejected that claim, saying Tehran supplied drones to Russia in the summer. He also warned that Russia needed Iranian missiles for a "possible repetition of mass attacks on our infrastructure." For its part, Ukraine continues to plead for more air defense weapons to help it combat Russian drone and missile attacks. RUSI's analysts agree that Ukraine requires urgent assistance to ensure that "Kyiv can counter Moscow's updated approach to the air war in Ukraine."

☆ Kenya drought: Hundreds of elephants, wildebeests and zebras reported dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Idris Mukhtar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Hundreds of elephants, wildebeests, and zebras have died across Kenya amid the nation’s longest drought in decades. “The Kenya Wildlife Service Rangers, Community Scouts, and Research Teams counted the deaths of 205 elephants, 512 wildebeests, 381 common zebras, 51 buffalos, 49 Grevy’s zebras, and 12 giraffes in the past nine months,” a report released Friday by the country’s Ministry of Tourism said. An elephant keeper rests next to a month-old calf at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in Samburu, Kenya on October 12, 2022. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images“The drought has caused mortality of wildlife, mostly herbivore species,” Malonza said. According to the ministry, Kenya had just 36,000 elephants left last year.

☆ Ethiopia: Warring parties agree to a truce in two-year civil war. Here's what to know
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Eliza Mackintosh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

CNN —When Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, he was lauded as a regional peacemaker. A year later, he launched a conflict that spiraled into a brutal civil war, spawning one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. In November 2020, Abiy ordered a military offensive in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region and promised that the clash would be resolved quickly. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Tigray conflict has its roots in tensions that go back generations in Ethiopia. For months at the start of the conflict, Abiy denied that civilians were being harmed or that soldiers from Eritrea had joined the fight.

☆ Ethiopian government and Tigray agree to end fighting after 2 years
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Eritrea, which has fought alongside neighboring Ethiopia, was notably not part of the peace talks. Eritrean forces have been blamed for some of the conflict’s worst abuses, including gang-rapes, and witnesses have described killings and lootings by Eritrean forces even during the peace talks. Forces from Ethiopia’s neighboring Amhara region also have been fighting Tigray ones, but Amhara representatives are also not part of the peace talks. The conflict began in November 2020, less than a year after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for making peace with Eritrea, which borders the Tigray region. In a speech Wednesday before the peace talks’ announcement, Ethiopia’s prime minster said that “we need to replicate the victory we got on the battlefield in peace efforts, too.

☆ IEA says developing nations are the No. 1 casualty of the energy crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

watch nowInternational Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol warned emerging and developing countries are most vulnerable to soaring energy prices. "It is not the U.S. who will suffer the most [from] the high energy prices," Birol told CNBC on Tuesday. 'First truly global energy crisis'"We are in the middle of the first truly global energy crisis," Birol said. Soaring energy prices plaguing global markets could offer much-needed impetus to nudge governments to invest toward moving away from dirty energy. The main casualties who will suffer the brunt of high energy prices is neither the United States nor Europe — but emerging and developing nations, said the head of International Energy Agency (IEA) Fatih Birol.

☆ Iran sent troops to Ukraine to help Russia use Iranian-made drones, Biden admin officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The U.S. has evidence that Iran sent troops to Ukraine to help Russia launch drone attacks on targets across the country, Biden administration officials said Thursday. “We assess that Iranian military personnel were on the ground in Crimea and assisted Russia in these operations,” Kirby said. The U.S. has “credible information that Russian officials prior to the presence of Iranian trainers in Crimea have received training in Iran,” Price said. The New York Times first reported that Iranian personnel had been sent to Ukraine to guide Russian forces in the use of newly acquired Iranian-made drones. The Biden administration earlier this year accused Iran of preparing to send drones to Russia.

☆ NATO will send 'hundreds' of signal-jammers to Ukraine to counter Russia's onslaught of explosive Iranian-made suicide drones
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NATO is sending signal-jammers to Ukraine so it can counter Iranian-made suicide drones. These systems will help Ukraine address the "specific threat of drones, including, of course, Iranian-made drones that are now causing a lot of havoc or suffering in Ukraine," Stoltenberg said during the virtual interview. "I welcome @JensStoltenberg's statement on NATO planning to deliver anti-drone air defense systems to Ukraine in the coming days. A composite photo showing a drone in the sky in Kyiv and the aftermath of it hitting in Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 17, 2022. As recently as Monday, Ukrainian officials said Russia used a swarm of suicide drones to attack Kyiv — killing several.

☆ Russia denied using Iranian suicide drones to attack Ukraine, even though there are pictures of it
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Kieran Corcoran | Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian on Tuesday denied deploying Iran-made suicide drones to attack Ukraine. A Russian drone is seen during a Russian drone strike, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 17, 2022. YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images; InsiderThe White House yesterday said that the drones used were Shahed-136 models. Britain's Ministry of Defence also said that Shahed-136 drones had been used in Ukraine, identifying them in an assessment published Tuesday. Denmark also said that Iranian drones were used, with its foreign minister saying on Monday: "Iranian drones are used apparently to attack in the middle of Kyiv, this is an atrocity."

☆ Before-and-after photos show the moment an Iranian 'suicide drone' detonates in Russian strike on Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Multiple Ukrainian officials said Russia used Iran-made drones in the Monday morning strikes. Firefighters work after a drone fired on buildings in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 17, 2022 AP Photo/Roman HrytsynaSerhiy Kruk, the head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, said three people were killed. Klitschko and other Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russia used "kamikaze drones," which are drones that explode on impact. Multiple Ukrainian officials identified the drones as ones made in Iran, which are being increasingly seen on the battlefield in Ukraine. A drone is seen during an attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 17, 2022.

☆ Russia is slamming explosive suicide drones into Ukrainian cities. Here's what these weapons do.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russian forces have used Iranian-made suicide drones to strike cities across Ukraine. Ukraine's defense ministry identified the drones that Russia used against the Ukrainian capital as the Iranian-made Shahed-136, a weapon which Russia calls the Geran-2. Russian forces have been using these suicide drones for over a month, and the frequency of use appears to be on the rise. According to an intelligence update from Britain's defense ministry, the 440-pound Shahed-136 drones are slow and carry a small explosive payload. It's not immediately clear how many drones Russian forces have in their arsenal.

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