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☆ Fight still ahead for Texas' Ken Paxton after historic impeachment deepens GOP divisions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Republican Texas Gov. "Free Ken Paxton," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, warning that if House Republicans proceeded with the impeachment, "I will fight you." "The ugly spectacle in the Texas House today confirmed the outrageous impeachment plot against me was never meant to be fair or just," Paxton said. The impeachment accuses Paxton of attempting to interfere in foreclosure lawsuits and issuing legal opinions to benefit Paul. "But for Paxton's own request for a taxpayer-funded settlement over his wrongful conduct, Paxton would not be facing impeachment," the panel said.

An investigative committee of the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request by Judge Pauline Newman, 95, to transfer the probe to another circuit. The Washington-based Federal Circuit said it will not comment on the order or other related documents it released on Tuesday. "Though it is difficult to say this, I believe Judge Newman is simply losing it mentally," one staffer told judicial investigators. The Federal Circuit disclosed the probe last month, citing concerns about Newman's ability to handle cases and her refusal to cooperate with the investigation. Newman was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 to the patent law-focused Federal Circuit, which often hears major cases involving technology and pharmaceutical companies.

☆ Head of Russia's crime agency suggests nationalising key parts of economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 13 (Reuters) - The head of Russia's federal crime agency on Saturday suggested that key sectors of the economy should be returned to state ownership to support Moscow's war in Ukraine. "Let's go along the path of nationalising the main sectors of our economy." Russia's economy and government coffers rely heavily on production of oil, gas and metals. Gazprom (GAZP.MM), Russia's largest natural gas producer, is already controlled by the state. Its largest oil company, Rosneft (ROSN.MM), is not formally under government control but is headed by Igor Sechin, a long-standing ally of Putin.

☆ GOP turns on Texas lawmaker investigated for having sex with a teenage intern after he resigned but didn't apologize
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Bryan Slaton, 45, resigned after a Texas House investigative committee recommended he be expelled. The committee said Slaton had sex with a teenage intern and then pressured her and others to keep the conduct a secret. Some of Slaton's fellow Republicans expressed outrage at his conduct and his resignation, which notably lacked an apology, according to the Texas Tribune. Texas House of Representatives. Slaton also asked a fellow lawmaker to "support" him and keep the situation a secret, the investigation report said.

☆ Zakhar Prilepin: Russia says bombing of military blogger is 'a terrorist act'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Mariya Knight | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Russia has blamed the “Kyiv regime” and several Western nations for the bombing of military blogger Zakhar Prilepin’s car on Saturday. The claim was made by a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, but she provided no proof for the allegation. The incident follows the death of another Russian military blogger last month. The Russian Investigative Committee called the latest incident “a terrorist act” and said it plans to investigate the blast as such. Russian pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia reported that Prilepin had surgery earlier on Saturday and is at the hospital in stable condition.

☆ Russian nationalist writer describes surviving attack Moscow blamed on U.S., Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A view shows a damaged white Audi Q7 car lying overturned on a track next to a wood, after Russian nationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin was allegedly wounded in a bomb attack in a village in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia, May 6, 2023. REUTERS/Anastasia MakarychevaMay 7 (Reuters) - The prominent Russian nationalist writer, Zakhar Prilepin, on Sunday described breaking both legs in a car bomb that killed his driver and which Moscow blamed on the United States and Ukraine. Russia's Foreign Ministry blamed Ukraine and the Western states backing it, particularly the United States, for the attack on the writer, an ardent proponent of Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he believed Russian authorities had staged the attack. He said the regional Nizhny Novgorod governor, Gleb Nikitin, had sent a helicopter to fly him to the city in 16 minutes, sparing him a three-hour drive.

☆ Texas lawmaker, who previously said drag queen story hours would sexualize children, should be expelled for sexual misconduct with a teenage intern, committee says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Texas legislative committee recommended a lawmaker be expelled for inappropriate conduct, per the Associated Press. The committee report said GOP Rep. Bryan Slaton, 45, had sex with a 19-year-old intern. Slaton and his attorney did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Sunday, but his attorneys previously called the claims "outrageous" and "false," the AP reported. "Children don't need to be focused on sex and sexualization," he said in an interview last year, the AP previously reported. The intern was "really dizzy" and had "split vision," the committee report found.

The novelist is an outspoken champion of Russia's war in Ukraine and has boasted of taking part in military combat there. He was the third prominent pro-war figure to be targeted by a bomb since Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. [1/2] A view shows a destroyed vehicle, which transported Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin allegedly wounded in a car bombing in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia, May 6, 2023. On Wednesday, Russia accused Ukraine of trying to kill President Vladimir Putin with a night-time drone attack on the Kremlin. TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as declining to comment on Saturday's car bomb in the absence of information from investigators.

☆ Opinion: The chilling logic behind Russia’s deportation of children
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Opinion Kristina Hook | Oleksandra Gaidai | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Writing in 1914, historian Marian Dubiecki recounted Moscow’s deportation of Polish children following the 18th century Kościuszko Uprising. More recently, testimonies of rescued Ukrainian children recount extensive ideological coercion, often violent, while in Russian custody. Kristina Hook and Oleksandra GaidaiRussian perpetrators now demonstrate radicalization dynamics well-known to genocide scholars, and their dehumanizing ire has turned toward Ukrainian children. One state TV pundit openly speculated about drowning or burning Ukrainian children. Children are falsely told that their families have abandoned them and that they are “children of Russia” forever.

☆ Russia Tightens Restrictions in Occupied Regions of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Marc Santora | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Residents waiting for buses in Russian-controlled Mariupol, Ukraine, in December. Russian counterintelligence operatives are restricting travel in occupied areas of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials. KYIV, Ukraine — As Ukrainian forces step up their assaults behind enemy lines ahead of an expected counteroffensive, Russia is imposing stricter measures on civilians in occupied areas of Ukraine, Ukrainian officials say. The Ukrainian General Staff, which is responsible for the country’s overall military strategy, said “the violent abduction of pro-Ukrainian civilians” in occupied areas was continuing and that there were signs more civilians could be detained. In a reflection of the dangers facing Russian occupiers themselves, both Ukrainian and Russian officials reported an assassination attempt on the Kremlin-appointed deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Tuesday.

☆ Russia charges St Petersburg bomb suspect with terrorism
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. April 4 (Reuters) - Russian investigators on Tuesday charged Darya Trepova, a 26-year-old woman, with terrorism offences over the killing of pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in a bomb blast in St Petersburg. Tatarsky, a cheerleader for Russia's military campaign in Ukraine whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed on Sunday in a cafe where he was due to talk. Trepova was transferred from St Petersburg to Moscow, where prosecutors were due to ask the Basmanny district court to remand her in pre-trial detention. Footage of the St Petersburg event had Tatarsky showing the figurine off to his audience before it exploded.

☆ Russia Arrests Suspect in Cafe Killing of Prominent War Propagandist
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Matthew Luxmoore | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Russian authorities arrested a suspect in the killing of a Russian war propagandist, alleging she gave him a statuette in his likeness containing explosives, in the second apparent bomb attack targeting pro-war figures on Russian soil since last year’s invasion of Ukraine. The country’s Investigative Committee said in a statement that it had detained Darya Trepova on suspicion of carrying out the Sunday attack in a cafe in the city center where the blogger, Maxim Fomin, was giving a talk. More than two dozen people were injured in the attack, authorities said.

☆ Bomb that killed Russian war blogger wounded 32, RIA reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 3 (Reuters) - The number of people wounded in the bomb blast that killed a prominent Russian military blogger in St Petersburg on Sunday has risen to 32 from 25 reported earlier, Russia's RIA sate news agency reported. Citing the ministry of health, RIA reported on Monday that 10 of the people were in a serious condition. [1/3] Investigators and members of emergency services work at the site of an explosion in a cafe in Saint Petersburg, Russia April 2, 2023. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov 1 2 3Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in a St Petersburg cafe in what appeared to be the second assassination on Russian soil of a figure closely associated with the war in Ukraine. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The Kremlin alleged a female assassin used a bomb hidden in a statue to kill a prominent pro-Russia blogger. Video shows the moment he received the figurine.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Video shows Russian military blogger receiving statue that Russia says exploded, killing him. The video shows Trepova admitting she handed over the statue, BBC reported. The BBC reported that Trepova may have been recorded under duress. "I would say for being at the scene of Vladlen Tatarsky's murder," she said when asked if she knew why she was arrested, the BBC reported. When interrogated about who gave her the statue, Trepova asked if she could talk about it at a later time.

Organizations: ХВ

☆ Bomb kills Russian pro-war blogger in St. Petersburg café
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A leading Russian military blogger was killed on April 2, 2023 in an explosion in Russia's second-largest city of St. Petersburg, the interior ministry said. Olga Maltseva | AFP | Getty ImagesWell-known Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed by a bomb blast in a St Petersburg café on Sunday in what appeared to be the second assassination on Russian soil of a figure closely associated with the war in Ukraine. The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Sunday he would "not blame the Kyiv regime" for it. Vladlen Tatarsky Russian blogger, speaking last SeptemberBut another leading Russian official pointed the finger at Ukraine, without providing evidence. The Kyiv regime is a terrorist regime.

☆ Factbox: Who was Vladlen Tatarsky and why was he targeted?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 3 (Reuters) - Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in a bomb attack in a St Petersburg cafe on Sunday in which some 30 other people were wounded. Tatarsky – real name Maxim Fomin - was among the best-known members of an influential group of military bloggers who have provided a running commentary on Russia’s war in Ukraine. Tatarsky, 40, was among those who publicly demanded that Russia pursue the war even more aggressively. Tatarsky was the second high-profile war propagandist to be assassinated in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Tatarsky also had ties to Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group fighting for Russia in Ukraine and also the former owner of the cafe.

☆ Prominent Russian War Blogger Killed in Cafe Blast
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Ann M. Simmons | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The blogger known as Vladlen Tatarsky had almost 570,000 followers on his Telegram messenger channel. An influential Russian military blogger was killed Sunday in an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg, marking the second time a prominent pro-war figure has been killed in an apparent bomb attack on Russian soil since the invasion of Ukraine. The Russian Investigative Committee said Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin, died after an unknown device exploded in a cafe located in the center of the city.

March 20 (Reuters) - Russia's top investigative body said on Monday it had opened a criminal case against the International Criminal Court prosecutor and judges who issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges. The move was a symbolic gesture of defiance, three days after the ICC accused Putin and his children's commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova of the war crime of deporting children from Ukraine to Russia. The Kremlin has called the issuing of the warrant outrageous but legally void, as Russia is not a signatory to the treaty that created the ICC. On Monday it said the court's move was a sign of the "clear hostility" that exists against Russia and against Putin personally. Russia has publicly said it has brought thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia in what it presents as a humanitarian campaign to protect orphans and abandoned children in the conflict zone.

☆ Russian court hands down first sabotage verdict since start or Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 21 (Reuters) - A Russian court sentenced two defendants to three-and-a-half years in a strict regime colony for plotting to sabotage the railway in a region bordering Ukraine, the first convictions for sabotage since Russia's invasion, media reported on Tuesday. Their convictions were the first based on the "Sabotage" Article 231 of the Russian Criminal Code since the start of what Russia calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine, the news agency said. Ukraine and its allies say Russia's military intervention in its neighbour, launched on Feb. 24 last year, is an imperialistic land-grab. There have been several sabotage incidents against Russian railways and other facilities, especially in regions bordering Ukraine, such as Belgorod and Bryansk, according to the British Ministry of Defence. The ministry said in an October report that with the Russian military primarily relaying on rail transport, which often passes through isolated areas, meaning "the system is extremely challenging to secure against physical threats".

☆ Without supplying evidence, Russia says it's investigating alleged Ukrainian use of chemical weapons
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Russia's state Investigative Committee said on Monday it was examining the alleged use of chemical weapons by Ukrainian forces near the towns of Soledar and Bakhmut. Ukraine's Defence Ministry did not immediately reply to requests for comment on the allegation, which was not accompanied by any publicly released evidence. The Investigative Committee said the Donetsk People's Republic - one of Russia's proxies in the territories it has seized and occupied in eastern Ukraine - had reported the use of chemical weapons by Ukrainian drones near the two locations. Since the start of its invasion nearly a year ago, Russia has repeatedly warned that Ukraine might be preparing to use non-conventional weapons, including biological weapons or a radioactive dirty bomb. Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Jon BoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Zelenskiy says he needs to show that Ukraine was a safe steward of billions of dollars of Western military and other aid. Ukrainian aircraft have launched nine strikes on areas of concentration of Russian forces and two anti-aircraft positions, it said. Arakhamia had said the 37-year-old head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, would replace Reznikov, who would become minister of strategic industries. One obstacle to replacing Reznikov with Budanov, a fast-rising officer decorated for operations that remain secret, is a rule requiring the defence minister to be a civilian. Ukraine said on Monday evening that Russian forces had trained tank, mortar and artillery fire there in the past 24 hours.

☆ Actor who starred in one of Putin's favorite movies says he's now prepared to fight for Ukraine and kill Russian soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian actor Artur Smolyaninov told Novaya Gazeta he is willing to fight for Ukraine. Smolyaninov, who is living in exile, starred in one of President Vladimir Putin's favorite movies. Smolyaninov was once a beloved actor in Russia, known as Russia's "Rambo," a reference to the action movies starring Sylvester Stallone. Last summer, he told a journalist that Russia's war was a catastrophe. US-born actor Steven Seagal has regularly advanced Russian talking points, notably when visiting the site of a destroyed Ukrainian prison in Donetsk last August.

☆ Fire at Russian Private Shelter Kills 22
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Russian firefighters at the scene in Kemerovo, Siberia, on Saturday. MOSCOW—A fire Saturday at a private shelter in the Siberian city of Kemerovo that was operating illegally killed 22 people, Russian officials said. Initial reports described the wooden building in the city 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) east of Moscow as a nursing home, but the country’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, later said it was a “temporary residence for persons in a difficult life situation.”

☆ Fire guts second Moscow region shopping centre in four days
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BALASHIKHA, Russia, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A shopping centre in the Moscow region was damaged in a major fire on Monday, emergency services said, the second such blaze in less than a week. Pictures published on Telegram by Russia's emergencies ministry showed that the fire at a construction supplies hypermarket in Balashikha, a satellite town of 500,000 people on the outskirts of the Russian capital, had caused part of the roof to collapse, with smoke billowing into the air. The ministry said the fire had grown to 9,000 sq m (100,000 sq feet) before being brought under control. The Investigative Committee, which is responsible for serious crimes, said it had opened an investigation. On Friday, a fire at a large shopping centre in the Moscow suburb of Khimki killed one person and consumed an area of 7,000 sq m.Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fire rages through shopping mall in Moscow suburbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 9 (Reuters) - Fire engulfed one of the largest shopping malls near Moscow early on Friday, emergency services said, leading to the collapse of part of the structure, which complicated firefighters' efforts to douse the flames. The conflagration spread over an area of about 7,000 sq m (75,000 sq ft) in the Mega shopping centre in Khimki near the Russian capital, authorities said. Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it was looking into the cause of the fire. The head of the Moscow region's emergency services agency said it appeared the blaze was the result of safety regulations being violated during repair work on the building. Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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