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The departure of ads chief Linda Yaccarino to Twitter has thrown NBCU into chaos. The exit comes on the heels of the departure of NBCU CEO Jeff Shell after sexual harassment allegations. One advertising executive who works closely with NBCUniversal described the situation inside the company as a "Cuban missile crisis." NBCU does have a deep bench of ad executive talent that's highly regarded in the ad industry. Although Yaccarino's departure from NBCUniversal to Twitter was a surprise, she had been close with the company and its billionaire owner.

☆ Son of Vladimir Putin's spokesman says he served with Wagner in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MOSCOW, April 23 (Reuters) - The son of Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said in an interview published on Saturday that he had served in Ukraine under an assumed name as an artilleryman in the Wagner mercenary force, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported. Nikolai Peskov, the 33-year-old son of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, told the privately-owned newspaper that he had served in Ukraine, a rare, public example of the son of a senior Russian official fighting in the war. "It was on my initiative," Peskov, whose father has served as Putin's spokesman since 2008, said in an interview. Wagner's founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Dmitry Peskov had approached him and asked him to take his son on as an artilleryman. Peskov told him that he would not be going anywhere and would solve the situation at a different level, according to a recording of the call posted online.

If a nuclear attack were headed toward the US, residents would have fewer than 30 minutes to prepare. Russian Presidential Press Service/APA nuclear attack remains highly unlikely, but it's not out of the question, experts say. Redlener said the best way to learn of an impending nuclear attack would probably be TV or radio. Survivors of a nuclear attack would have about 15 minutes before sandlike radioactive particles, known as nuclear fallout, reached the ground. A sign for a nuclear fallout shelter on a residential block in Brooklyn.

Kyiv and its Western allies fear tactical nuclear weapons could be used in battle after Putin and others warned Russia was prepared to use all its vast arsenal in defence. WHAT ARE TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS? Academics and arms control negotiators have spent years arguing about how to define tactical nuclear weapons (TNW). The president is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to using Russian nuclear weapons, both strategic and non-strategic, according to Russia's nuclear doctrine. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, signed by the Soviet Union, says that no nuclear power can transfer nuclear weapons or technology to a non-nuclear power, but it does allow for the weapons to be deployed outside its borders but under its control - as with U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe.

☆ Daniel Ellsberg, the Man Who Leaked the Pentagon Papers, Is Scared - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Alex Kingsbury | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The media as a whole has never really investigated the secrecy system and what it’s for and what its effects are. Q. What’s it like to live surrounded by thoughts of nuclear war and unaccountable government? I think about nuclear war not because I find it fascinating but because I want to prevent it, to make it unthinkable, because I care about the world that it would destroy. Q. Robert McNamara, who was secretary of defense during the Cuban missile crisis, once said, “The indefinite combination of human fallibility and nuclear weapons will destroy nations.” Why haven’t we seen nuclear weapons used since 1945? We have seen nuclear weapons used many times.

Persons: John Podesta’s, Snowden, Steven Aftergood, Steve, ”, Robert McNamara, They’re Organizations: Federation of American Scientists, WikiLeaks, National Security, RAND Corporation, Cuban Locations: Russian, California, Berkeley, Ukraine

[1/2] Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speak before a meeting with members of the government in Moscow, Russia January 15, 2020. The ICC issued an arrest warrant on Friday, accusing Putin of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Any attempt to detain Putin, though, would be a declaration of war, said Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Putin's powerful security council. Russian officials deny war crimes in Ukraine and say the West has ignored what it says are Ukrainian war crimes. "Ukraine is part of Russia," Medvedev said, adding that almost all of modern-day Ukraine had been part of the Russian empire.

Putin, who came to power on the last day of 1999 when Boris Yeltsin resigned, is the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin. "I know Russia will hold a presidential election," Xi told Putin in Mandarin. As Xi's words were translated into Russian, Putin looked Xi in the eye and smiled briefly. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov swiftly pointed out that Xi had not specifically said Putin would participate in next year's election but added that the Kremlin shared Xi's confidence in Russians' support for Putin. Xi called Putin his "dear friend", and Putin used the same term to his guest.

☆ From pigeon-mounted cameras to dragonfly drones, here's how aerial surveillance has evolved to spy on people over the past 200 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( James Pasley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A Chinese spy balloon in the US is the latest in a long history of governments spying on each other from the sky. Aerial surveillance dates back to the French Revolution to UFO rumors to the Cuban Missile Crisis. It's gone from hot air balloons to CIA gadgets to sophisticated live-streaming drones. Loading Something is loading. Here's how surveillance from the sky has developed over the years.

☆ Vintage photos show what life was like in the White House during John F. Kennedy's iconic presidency
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( James Pasley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

President John F. Kennedy lived with his family in the White House for less than three years. His kids enjoyed making the most of the expansive White House grounds, while his wife famously restored the residence. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyThe Kennedys' time in the White House was brief but iconic. For less than three years, President John F. Kennedy, his wife Jackie and their two children, Caroline and John Jr., lived in the White House. Here's how the Kennedys' life in the White House left such a lasting impression.

☆ China's top diplomat says Russia ties 'rock solid'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary China's top diplomat in MoscowPutin ally: we stick together versus the WestXi could visit Moscow soon - WSJMOSCOW, Feb 21 (Reuters) - China's top diplomat told one of President Vladimir Putin's closest allies on Tuesday that Beijing's relationship with Moscow was "rock solid" and would withstand any test in a changing international situation. At a meeting in Moscow, Wang Yi told Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia's powerful Security Council, that he looked forward to discussions about security. "Chinese-Russian relations are mature in character: they are rock solid and will withstand any test in a changing international situation," Wang told "Comrade" Patrushev through a Russian interpreter in remarks aired on state television. Wang said Russia and China should work out new joint steps to ensure the security of both countries, without elaborating. The United States casts China and Russia as the two biggest nation-state threats to its security.

Hours before Biden spoke in Poland following a surprise visit to Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed that Moscow would achieve its objectives in Ukraine and accused the West of plotting to destroy Russia. Biden proclaimed "unwavering" support for Kyiv and a commitment to bolstering NATO's eastern flank facing Russia, while rejecting Moscow's contention that the West was plotting to attack Russia. "I can report: Kyiv stands strong, Kyiv stands proud, it stands tall and, most important, it stands free. "When President Putin ordered his tanks to roll into Ukraine, he thought we would roll over. Putin said Ukraine had sought to strike a facility deep inside Russia where it keeps nuclear bombers, a reference to the Engels air base.

☆ China's top diplomat due in Moscow for talks on Ukraine - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Wang due in MoscowChina preparing Ukraine settlement proposalBlinken warns ChinaWang scolds "hysterical" United StatesMOSCOW, Feb 20 (Reuters) - China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, is due in Moscow shortly for talks on a possible peace settlement for Ukraine, a diplomatic source with knowledge of the matter said. China's foreign ministry declined immediate comment as did Russia's foreign ministry. China's parliament chief told his Russian counterpart last year that Russian action against Ukraine is a legitimate response to U.S. provocation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday warned Wang of consequences should China provide material support to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, adding that Washington was concerned Beijing was considering supplying weapons to Moscow. China's Xi will deliver a "peace speech" on the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, Italy's foreign minister said on Friday.

☆ Soros says Russian defeat in Ukraine would trigger dissolution of 'Russian empire'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"This means that a Ukrainian victory would result in the dissolution of the Russian empire. 'REGIME CHANGE'The United States has denied Kremlin claims that it wants to destroy Russia, the world's biggest commodities producer. Ukraine, he said, had a narrow window of opportunity in Spring once it got the weapons promised by the West. On China, Soros said that President Xi Jinping's 'zero-COVID' strategy had shaken trust in the Communist Party. "The current situation fulfills all the preconditions for regime change or revolution," Soros said of China.

☆ Exposing the Chinese Spy Balloon Fleet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

President Biden in his Tuesday State of the Union address made only a veiled reference to the Chinese spy balloon that appeared over Montana last week, and then only to boast about how he’s standing up to Beijing. If he means it, he can take a cue from the Cuban missile crisis and educate the world about China’s global spy campaign. Beijing is complaining about the U.S. decision to shoot down the balloon, though it isn’t cooperating with U.S. attempts to engage on the issue. This isn’t the behavior of a great power that wants better relations. All the more so given that China’s explanation that this was a merely a weather balloon that took a wrong turn at the Aleutian Islands has imploded under scrutiny and more disclosures.

Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November with that goal in mind and both leaders pledged more frequent communications. He has also sidelined some of his "wolf warrior" diplomats whose strident rhetoric alienated many of China's trade partners. Despite such pragmatic rhetoric, China's actions - especially its military activity around Taiwan and in the South China Sea - have not moderated, analysts said. Washington hopes for incremental progress on more specific but vital matters such as securing China's cooperation on fentanyl, global health, climate change and the cases of U.S. citizens detained there. That ... is more than deeply frustrating," said another source familiar with the administration's thinking, adding that China has rebuffed Washington's "very specific" proposals.

☆ Trump suggests providing tanks to Ukraine will lead to 'nukes' and says ending the war with Russia would be 'easy'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Donald Trump appeared to criticize a decision by the US and Germany to provide tanks to Ukraine. Trump also suggested ending the war in Ukraine would be "easy," without elaborating. Trump suggested offering tanks to Ukraine would lead to the use of nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, Trump said it would be "easy" to end the war, without providing any suggestions on how this would be accomplished. The US has provided more security aid to Ukraine than any other country — over $27 billion since Russia invaded.

☆ Ron Klain says Putin using a nuclear weapon is 'not impossible to imagine' and Biden is preparing for the possibility, book
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Biden is preparing in case Putin decides to use nuclear weapons, his chief of staff said in October. Biden is "'very focused on being prepared in case Putin does it, and trying to figure out what we can do to deter him,'" Ron Klain said. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told author Chris Whipple, in an October interview, that the prospect isn't outside the realm of possibility. "Those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the prevailing winds can turn in their direction," Putin said at the time. "People argue that we should not escalate and should be wary of doing things that further provoke Putin," Johnson said.

"The defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war may trigger a nuclear war," Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Putin's powerful security council, said in a post on Telegram. Russia and the United States, by far the largest nuclear powers, hold around 90% of the world's nuclear warheads. While NATO has conventional military superiority over Russia, when it comes to nuclear weapons, Russia has nuclear superiority over the alliance in Europe. Russia's nuclear doctrine allows for a nuclear strike after "aggression against the Russian Federation with conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened". Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Medvedev has repeatedly raised the threat of nuclear chaos and used insults to describe the West.

☆ Putin ally Patrushev says Russia is now fighting NATO in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev (L) looks at President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with the BRICS countries' senior officials in charge of security matters at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 26, 2015. "The Westerners' plans are to continue to pull Russia apart, and eventually just erase it from the political map of the world," Patrushev said. The United States has denied Russian claims that it wants to destroy Russia, the world's biggest producer of natural resources, while President Joe Biden has cautioned that a conflict between Russia and NATO could trigger World War Three. "The American state is just a shell for a conglomerate of huge corporations that rule the country and try to dominate the world," Patrushev said. The United States, Patrushev said, had sown chaos in Afghanistan, Vietnam and the Middle East, and had been trying for years to undermine Russia's "unique" culture and language.

☆ Russia's Medvedev snaps back after U.S. appeal over Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has triggered one of the most deadly wars in Europe since World War Two and the deepest crisis in Moscow's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Medvedev said the missiles could be placed 100 miles (160 km) off the U.S. coast, adding: "So rejoice! He was speaking after the U.S. embassy to Russia released a video that it called an "an appeal to the people of Russia". The 50-second video included images of the impact of bombing in Ukraine, saying what was happening there "is not worthy of you". Since the war began, Medvedev's rhetoric has become increasingly vitriolic though his published views sometimes chime with thinking at the top levels of the Kremlin elite.

REUTERS/Clodagh KilcoyneKVIV/MOSCOW, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Russian forces bombarded scores of towns in Ukraine on Christmas Day as Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was open to negotiations, a stance Washington has dismissed as posturing because of continued Russian attacks. Ukraine has traditionally not celebrated Christmas on Dec. 25, but Jan. 7, the same as Russia. That range reaches deep into neighbours of Belarus: Ukraine and NATO member Poland, which has very strained relations with Minsk. The S-400 system is a Russian mobile, surface-to-air missile (SAM) interception system capable of engaging aircraft, UAVs, cruise missiles, and has a terminal ballistic missile defence capability. Blasts were heard at Russia's Engels air base, hundreds of kilometres (miles) from the Ukraine frontlines, Ukrainian and Russian media reported on Monday.

☆ Putin says Russia ready to negotiate over Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

And we have no other choice but to protect our citizens," Putin said. Soon after that revolution, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and Russian-backed separatist forces began fighting Ukraine's armed forces in eastern Ukraine. "Actually, the fundamental thing here is the policy of our geopolitical opponents which is aimed at pulling apart Russia, historical Russia," Putin said. Ukraine and the West say Putin has no justification for what they cast as an imperial-style war of occupation which has sown suffering and death across Ukraine. Putin described Russia as a "unique country" and said the vast majority of its people were united in wanting to defend it.

☆ Putin says Russia is ready to negotiate over war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference after a meeting of the State Council on youth policy in Moscow, Russia, December 22, 2022. Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine but Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to engage in talks, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired on Sunday. "We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them — we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are," Putin told Rossiya 1 state television in the interview. An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Putin needed to return to reality and acknowledge that it was Russia that did not want any negotiations. "Russia single-handedly attacked Ukraine and is killing citizens," Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter.

☆ Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a 'geopolitical earthquake' that defined 2022 and has transformed the world for years to come
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

An unthinkable, nightmare scenario was now a reality — the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II had begun. The war, which is still raging on, will continue to shape the world in the year to come and likely long after. "Russia's invasion of Ukraine represented a geopolitical earthquake, scrambling the entire chessboard of global politics," Ivo Daalder, a former US ambassador to NATO, told Insider. Some experts have warned that the nuclear dangers posed by the Ukraine war after are "far worse" than the Cuban missile crisis, which occurred 60 years ago this past October. Indeed, the global dimensions of the Ukraine war could make it an era-defining fight.

☆ Warren Buffett has cautioned against stockpiling cash, gold, or bitcoin in times of war - and declared stocks are the safest long-term play
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Warren Buffett has advised against switching out stocks for cash, gold, or bitcoin during wars. The investor added that he wouldn't cash out even if the conflict escalated into another cold war or World War III. "You're going to invest your money in something over time. "American businesses are going to be worth more money," Buffett said. "I was convinced of this in World War II.

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