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☆ Disney CEO Bob Iger praises rival Universal's 'Super Mario Bros. Movie'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Chris Pratt and Charlie Day voice Mario and Luigi in Universal and Illumination's "The Super Mario Bros. Disney CEO Bob Iger used part of his opening remarks during an earnings call Wednesday to praise rival Universal Studios' "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and its success at the global box office. "Allow me to digress for a moment to congratulate Universal for the tremendous success of 'Super Mario Bros.'" Iger said. Others said Disney has done a poor job marketing its animated films to the public. The widespread success of "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" could pave the way for Disney's upcoming releases, which include Pixar's "Elemental" and the Thanksgiving release "Wish."

☆ FBI disrupts hacking tool that Russian spies used to steal information from foreign governments
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The FBI announced Tuesday that it has disrupted a network of hacked computers that Russian spies have used for years to steal sensitive information from at least 50 countries, including NATO governments. It’s the latest move by the Justice Department to more aggressively target foreign spying and criminal rings using custom-built FBI tools. The Russian hacking group that the FBI targeted, known as Turla, is widely believed by experts to be one of the most elite cyber-espionage units in the Russian intelligence services. In 2018, Turla hijacked an Iranian hacking tool to gain access to the network of an unnamed Middle Eastern government, according to researchers. The US and allies’ advisory confirmed that daily Turla hacking operations occur at an FSB facility in Ryazan.

☆ Moscow's 'special' forces: An inside look at how Russia's famed Spetsnaz really operate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Mark Galeotti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +24 min

Russia's Spetsnaz forces are often depicted as a kind of Russian super troops. Osprey PublishingMost countries' special forces emphasize physical fitness, determination and aggression. Special people, for special tasksMembers of the Russian military's 16th Separate Special Purpose Brigade during an exercise in 2018. Even so, being better than most of the Soviet army's miserable and recalcitrant conscript forces did not make most of them truly special, special forces. The special operations commandMembers of Russian's 22nd Separate Guards Special Purpose Brigade during an exercise in November 2017.

☆ ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ set to become 10th animated film to cross $1 billion at the global box office
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Alli Rosenbloom | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Nearly one month after “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” premiered with an impressive opening weekend at the box office, the animated film is expected to hit another major milestone. The movie is set to cross $1 billion at the global box office on Sunday, according to a news release from Universal, continuing to break box office records as it remains in the No. “Super Mario Bros.” will become the 10th animated film in history to cross $1 billion, making it the 10th biggest animated movie of all time globally, beating out the $942.5 million that “Minions: The Rise of the Gru” grossed in 2019. “Super Mario Bros.” surpassed Marvel’s “Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” at the time, which brought in $225.3 million globally during its February opening. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” follows Brooklyn plumbers Mario and Luigi as they’re transported down a mysterious pipe while working underground to fix a water main.

☆ Russia wanted a quick victory in Ukraine, and it sent its spies after Ukrainian nuclear power plant workers to make it happen
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ukraine's nuclear power plants were a central part of Russia's plan to force Kyiv's capitulation. So when Russia started planning its invasion, Ukraine's nuclear energy infrastructure was a top target. According to the RUSI report, Ukraine's nuclear energy infrastructure "played a significant role" in Russia's invasion plan and in the Kremlin's public narratives about the conflict. Moscow's big planRussian military personnel at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in May 2022. Although Russian forces still control the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, that has not won the Kremlin any leverage over Kyiv.

☆ The Latest U.S. Intelligence Leaks Are No Surprise
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( James Bamford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Oleg Smolenkov knows the dangers of leaks. For nearly a decade, the Russian official was the CIA’s most valuable spy in the Kremlin. From there, the agency quietly exfiltrated Mr. Smolenkov, his wife and three young children to a safe house in the U.S. intelligence appears to have penetrated nearly every Russian military body, including the General Staff, the Defense Ministry and the GRU military intelligence agency, as well as the private mercenary group Wagner,” wrote Russia’s independent, English-language Moscow Times this week. Agents of Russia’s FSB are undoubtedly now engaged in a frantic spy hunt.

WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - Senior officials from the United States, Europe and Britain met on Thursday with financial institutions to brief them on efforts by Russia to evade Western sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine, a senior U.S. Treasury official told reporters. The firms - from the United States, Britain and Europe - assured the officials that they were working hard to avert Russian efforts to evade sanctions and export controls, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Washington on Wednesday imposed sanctions on over 120 targets, including entities linked to Russian state-held energy company Rosatom and firms based in partner nations like Turkey in a sign of stepped-up enforcement. Treasury's top sanctions official, Undersecretary Brian Nelson, will visit Switzerland next week to discuss further moves to crack down on sanctions evasion, with additional stops in Italy, Austria and Germany, Reuters reported last week. Elizabeth Rosenberg, Treasury's assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crime, will travel separately to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) - Ukrainian hackers claim to have broken into the emails of a senior Russian military spy wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for hacking the Hillary Clinton campaign and other senior U.S. Democrats ahead of Donald Trump's election to the presidency in 2016. It wasn't immediately clear what information the hackers had managed to steal or how significant it was. Morgachev's inbox could potentially hold insight into Russia's hacking operations, including the operation against Clinton and the Democrats. It said his department was "dedicated to developing and managing malware," including the "X-Agent" spy software used to hack the DNC. In its message announcing the theft, the group said of Morgachev: "A very cool and clever hacker, but ... We hacked him."

☆ A former Russian military intelligence officer has defected to Ukraine and is setting up his own battalion of dissidents
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A former Russian intelligence officer has defected and says he's setting up a pro-Ukrainian unit. Ethnic minorities in Russia are treated like second-class citizens, he said, according to Ukrainian outlet Focus. Ammosov served in the GRU — the military intelligence wing of Russia's army — for 15 years before moving to Europe, Radio Free Europe reported. None have had a formal explanation, which has led to speculation that they were targeted by Ukrainian commandos or Russian dissidents. According to Focus, Ammosov's unit is the fourth such dissident unit to be formed.

☆ China has not provided extensive assistance to Russia as part of its war against Ukraine even as the two countries forge closer ties, senior Treasury officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Sam Fossum | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

One senior Treasury official said that China is, as of now, unwilling to provide material support to Russia at scale and in a significant way, pointing instead to Russian efforts to source material from North Korea and Iran. The US and its allies have also taken more direct action, sanctioning a Chinese satellite company providing intelligence to Russian forces in January and putting some Chinese companies on the US export control list. But in recent months officials have also begun to see some results from their public and private efforts. Turkish officials told the US last month that their government has been taking further action to block the transit of sanctioned goods directly to Russia, according to a source familiar with the discussion. In a speech earlier this year on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo publicly warned Russian intelligence services that the US is monitoring their efforts and is cracking down.

☆ 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' is set for a big opening weekend — despite bad reviews
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

In this article 7974.T-JP Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTChris Pratt and Charlie Day voice Mario and Luigi in Universal and Illumination's "The Super Mario Bros. Universal"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" isn't looking like a smash with the critics. And box office analysts don't foresee poor critical reviews deterring moviegoers, particularly families, from venturing to the cinema to see "The Super Mario Bros. Jack Black voices the villainous Bowser in Universal and Illumination's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" UniversalRadheyan Simonpillai, Globe and MailLong before critics sat down to watch "Super Mario Bros.," there was a big question about the film's top-billed voice actor — Chris Pratt. "I wonder whether the filmmakers were too timid to draw outside the lines with this copyright protected material, lest they end up with something like the disastrous live-action 1993 movie, 'Super Mario Bros.,'" he said.

☆ Siemens investigating report employee worked for Russian hacking firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, March 31 (Reuters) - Siemens (SIEGn.DE) has launched an investigation after Der Spiegel reported a former programmer from Russian IT company NTC Vulkan - which has reported links to Russian security services - worked for the German engineering and tech company. Der Spiegel reported on Friday that more than 90 former staff from NTC Vulkan worked for a several other European companies. The magazine said NTC Vulkan maintains close ties to all three major Russian intelligence services: FSB, GRU and SWR. Its so-called "Vulkan Files" said the company builds cyber programmes for the security services aimed at attacking critical infrastructure facilities. NTC Vulkan did not respond to requests for comment.

☆ 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.

☆ An 'elite' Russian unit has been weakened by severe front-line losses, and the replacements appear to be making things worse, Western intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's 155th Naval Infantry Brigade has suffered heavy losses while fighting in Ukraine. The 155th was considered to be an "elite" unit, but has been degraded, Western intelligence says. It's the latest high-profile Russian unit to see a high number of causalities on the battlefield. SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty ImagesThe 155th is not the only Russian unit considered elite that has suffered severe setbacks and losses in Ukraine. Western intelligence estimates that Russian forces may have suffered as many as 200,000 casualties while fighting in Ukraine, with up to 60,000 troops dead.

☆ Undercover agents for Russia asked Google how to 'disappear' from trouble. They got caught and sent to prison for years.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two Iranian-born Swedish brothers were convicted of spying for Russia for 10 years. Prosecutors said the brothers tried to cover their tracks, including by asking Google. Peyman Kia and Payam Kia, two Iranian-born Swedish brothers, spent a decade secretly working for Russia's GRU military-intelligence agency, the Associated Press reported. His younger brother, who is 35, was sentenced to nine years and 10 months. Between 2014 and 2015, the eldest brother worked for Sweden's Säpo domestic-intelligence agency and the armed forces, the court heard.

☆ Sweden Convicts Two Iranian-Born Brothers of Spying for Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Sune Engel Rasmussen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The Swedish court said that evidence submitted in the case of two brothers convicted of spying included traces of classified information stored on a private computer, among other things. A Swedish court convicted two Iranian-born Swedish brothers to lengthy prison sentences for spying for Russia and its GRU military intelligence service, in a verdict that ratchets up tensions between Moscow and the West while Russia said it had begun an investigation into a U.S. national detained there on espionage allegations. Peyman Kia, 42 years old, was sentenced to life in prison Thursday as what prosecutors called the “driving force” behind the brothers’ decadelong espionage plot, while Payam Kia, 35, was sentenced to nine years and 10 months in jail. The brothers were accused of passing about 90 secret documents from the Swedish security and intelligence service, SÄPO, where the older brother worked, to Russian intelligence between 2011 and 2021, according to the Stockholm District Court.

☆ Brothers found guilty of spying for Russia in Sweden
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

STOCKHOLM, Jan 19 (Reuters) - A Swedish court on Thursday found a former security services and armed forces employee and his younger brother guilty of spying for Russia' foreign military intelligence agency over the past decade. Swedish citizens Peyman Kia, 42, and Payam Kia, 35, were detained last year and had denied all the allegations. The pair were convicted of aggravated espionage and the older brother was also found guilty of the unauthorised handling of classified information. The court sentenced the older brother to life imprisonment and the younger brother to a term of nine years and 10 months. Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Marie Mannes; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pro-Putin operatives in Germany work to turn Berlin against Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +17 min

Now the main Russian Cossack organisations are loyal to Putin, and they are fighting alongside Russia’s forces in Ukraine. He is regularly pictured on his and other social media pages at Cossack gatherings, often wearing Cossack military uniform. Felk has worked as a security guard and has run a logistics firm, according to posts on Felk’s OK social media account. Photos shared by Kharkovsky on social media show him and other participants standing in front of a Great Don Army flag. Eremenko confirmed to Reuters that he worked for Russian military intelligence, the GRU.

☆ ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ nears $900 million globally
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Sarah Whitten | Whitten Is A Social Media Writer For Cnbc. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Disney and James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” snared an estimated $56 million during its second weekend in theaters, a 58% drop from its debut. A decline in ticket sales is common for blockbuster titles, with most seeing a 50% to 70% slip. Box office analysts noted that cold winter weather and storms during the Christmas weekend likely led to slower ticket sales domestically. Additionally, international ticket sales continue to thrive. “The Way of Water” has generated $855 million in global ticket sales since its Dec. 16 release — $254 million domestically and $601 million from international markets.

☆ 'Avatar: The Way of Water' nears $900 million globally, boosted by international ticket sales
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Disney and James Cameron's "Avatar: The Way of Water" snared an estimated $56 million during its second weekend in theaters, a 58% drop from its debut. A decline in ticket sales is common for blockbuster titles, with most seeing a 50% to 70% slip. Box office analysts noted that cold winter weather and storms during the Christmas weekend likely led to slower ticket sales domestically. Additionally, international ticket sales continue to thrive. "The Way of Water" has generated $855 million in global ticket sales since its Dec. 16 release — $254 million domestically and $601 million from international markets.

☆ An elite Russian military brigade was basically 'wiped out,' taking so many losses in Ukraine that it will 'take years to rebuild,' report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An elite Russian brigade suffered so many losses in Ukraine that it will take years to rebuild. The 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade is one of many high-profile units that saw heavy depletion. But despite these advantages, the 200th suffered greatly in the months of combat that would follow. "Nothing of that brigade is left," Col. Pavlo Fedosenko, the commander of Ukraine's 92nd Mechanized Brigade, told The Post in a recent interview. That figure echoes a similar estimate from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, the highest-ranking US general, who said last month that over 100,000 Russian soldiers had been "killed and wounded."

☆ Gen Z loves Minions, horror and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The short answer: Minions and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, according to new data from decision intelligence company Morning Consult. Minions, Minions, Minions"It might not be too much of a surprise that Gen Z is all over social media," said Saleah Blancaflor, the business of entertainment reporter at Morning Consult. "Minions: The Rise of Gru" is the sequel to the 2015 film, "Minions," and spin-off/prequel to the main "Despicable Me" film series. Those films, and even a lot of the Marvel movies, came out a little bit before Gen Z was starting to come to age." They like to be scaredIn addition to enjoying comedy content, Morning Consult determined that Gen Z likes horror movies significantly more than the general public.

[1/3] Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is escorted by members of a special police unit after a hearing at a criminal court in Bangkok October 5, 2010. "Everyone will forget about Griner tomorrow," Russian state television host Yevgeny Popov wrote on Telegram on Thursday. "Bout's life is only beginning." Bout arrived in Moscow late on Thursday after Russia and the United States swapped the arms dealer for Griner at Abu Dhabi airport. U.S. anger at Bout's release has been widely covered in the Russian media, with the pro-Kremlin tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets claiming that Department of Defense officials were "disturbed" by the exchange, citing U.S. media reports.

☆ Who is Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer swapped for Griner?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/2] Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is escorted by members of a special police unit after a hearing at a criminal court in Bangkok October 5, 2010. Russia got the jailed arms dealer back from the United States on Thursday after exchanging imprisoned U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner for him at Abu Dhabi airport. His notoriety was such that his life helped inspire a Hollywood film, 2005’s Lord of War, starring Nicolas Cage as Yuri Orlov, an arms dealer loosely based on Bout. For some experts, the Russian state's continued interest in Bout, plus his skills and connections in the international arms trade, hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties. “His case has become totemic for the Russian intelligence services, who are keen to show that they don’t abandon their own people,” Galeotti added.

☆ 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.

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