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☆ Putin critic facing up to 25 years in jail to learn fate on Monday
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, April 17 (Reuters) - Facing up to a quarter of a century in jail on treason charges he denies, Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza is expected to learn his fate on Monday when a Moscow court pronounces a verdict and sentences him. The court is expected to start delivering its verdict at 11 a.m. (0800 GMT). In his final speech to the court, Kara-Murza compared his trial to one of Josef Stalin's show trials in the 1930s. He declined to ask the court to acquit him and said he stood by and was proud of everything he had said. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate," he said.

☆ Factbox: Who is Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 17 (Reuters) - Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza was convicted of treason by a Moscow court on Monday and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Kara-Murza, 41, is a historian, journalist and opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports and studied in England at Cambridge University. He was a close associate of Boris Nemtsov, a leading opposition figure who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015, and continued to speak out against President Vladimir Putin despite the mounting risks. Twice, in 2015 and 2017, Kara-Murza suddenly fell ill in what he said were poisonings by the Russian security services, on both occasions falling into a coma before eventually recovering. Kara-Murza was arrested in April 2022, hours after CNN broadcast an interview in which he said Russia was being run by a "regime of murderers".

State prosecutors, who had requested the court jail him for 25 years, had accused him of treason and of discrediting the Russian military after he criticised what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine. In a CNN interview broadcast hours before he was arrested, Kara-Murza had alleged that Russia was being run by a "regime of murderers." He had also used speeches in the United States and across Europe to accuse Moscow of bombing civilian targets in Ukraine, a charge it has rejected. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate," he had said. Kara-Murza's lawyers say that as a result, he suffers from a serious nerve disorder called polyneuropathy.

☆ Drinking is killing Russian troops, according to UK intel. Widespread alcoholism during the first Crimean War 150 years ago resulted in Russia's defeat.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The Crimean War would become another example of the county's war drinking problem cataloged in the annals of Russian history. I don't think it's nearly as important nowadays, as it was during the Russo-Japanese War or World War One, but it's significant, right?" In an interview with Insider, Schrad expanded on the history of Russian drinking during wartime. A lot of it is the consequence of my research topic, which has been alcohol and Russian history. The Crimean War, the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, in particular, were all drunken fiascos.

☆ Russian journalists demand politician Kara-Murza's release ahead of 'Stalinist' treason verdict
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The appeal to release Vladimir Kara-Murza, 41, came ahead of a court hearing in Moscow as his trial, which the journalists likened to the political terror meted out by Soviet leader Josef Stalin in the 1930s, draws to a close. Russian state prosecutors on Thursday requested a 25-year prison sentence for Kara-Murza, a father of three and author and former journalist who holds Russian and British passports. The letter petitioning for Kara-Murza's release was signed by many journalists who have fled the country. "We demand that the Russian authorities, law enforcement officers and judges return to the path of justice. Russian authorities deny any involvement in the alleged attacks.

☆ Ukraine war: The latest news
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BATTLEFIELD* The Russian-installed head of Donetsk said Russian forces controlled more than 75% of the besieged city of Bakhmut. * Russia and Ukraine carried out a major prisoner swap, with 106 Russian captives being freed in exchange for 100 Ukrainians. LEAKED DOCUMENTS* Ukraine has been forced to amend some military plans ahead of a much-vaunted counter-offensive because of a leak of classified U.S. documents, CNN reported. [1/4] A Ukrainian serviceman clears a trench amid Russia's attack on Ukraine at the frontline near Donetsk, Ukraine, April 8, 2023. * Ukraine is seeking a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, believing it should be more involved in resolving the war.

☆ Democrats are betting Republicans' defense of Donald Trump's criminal charges will age like milk on the 2024 campaign trail
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Republicans facing tough 2024 races are defending Donald Trump against criminal charges. Democrats are betting their defense of Trump will hurt them in competitive 2024 races. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) April 4, 2023Boebert is on House Democrats' list of 31 vulnerable Republicans and two competitive open seats that they are targeting to take back control of the House in 2024. Biden hasn't commented on Trump's charges, and Democrats in Congress are treading carefully. Democrats shouldn't get ahead of the judicial process, said Rodell Mollineau, a cofounder and partner at Rokk Solutions in Washington, DC.

☆ US journalist detained in Russia reportedly reading famous anti-Soviet novel by a Ukrainian Jew as he sits in notorious ex-KGB prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The WSJ reporter detained in Moscow is reportedly reading a famous anti-Soviet novel. The book, which equated crimes of the Nazis and the Soviets, was written by a Ukrainian Jew. "Life and Fate" was not published in the Soviet Union into 1988, when Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of glasnost allowed for greater freedom of expression. "This is a novel written by a Jew that concludes that the Soviet Union had come to resemble Nazi Germany," historian Walter Laqueur told the Washington Post in 1987, shortly before the novel was finally published in the Soviet Union. His parents were part of a large wave of Jews who fled the Soviet Union due to ongoing persecution.

☆ Eric Trump said passengers on a commercial flight hugged him when his father was indicted
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Eric Trump said he was on a commercial flight when news broke about his father's indictment. Trump raged at the indictment, which he said makes "a mockery out of our legal system." I was on a commercial flight when this whole indictment broke. It is not yet clear what the exact charges are, but reports suggest that Trump faces about 30 charges relating to document fraud. Since news of Trump's indictment broke on Thursday, his children and many Republicans have spoken out in support of him.

☆ Donald Trump Jr. decries his father's indictment and says it's 'communist level shit' that would have made Mao and Stalin 'blush'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald Trump on Thursday. Donald Trump Jr. interrupted his scheduled programming on Rumble to react to the news. Trump Jr. also incorrectly stated that the district attorney is indicting Trump. "Soros-backed Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is actually indicting my father," Trump Jr. said on Rumble. "I found out about this about 15 minutes before I went live," Trump Jr. said.

☆ UK diplomat criticizes Russia for 'astounding levels of incompetence' in Ukraine, labeling it a 'so-called superpower'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A British diplomat has described a series of catastrophic failings by Russia in Ukraine. Russia has threatened to respond to the UK arming Ukraine with armor-piercing weapons. "With support from their partners, Ukraine has shown that agility and ingenuity can have a devastating effect against a so-called superpower," Stubbs said. "Try as they might to present an alternate reality to the ground truth with an increasingly ridiculous carpet of disinformation, the astounding levels of incompetence in Russia's military leadership that have eroded Russia's military reputation are clear for all to see," he said. Russia's President Vladimir Putin recently said Russia would "respond accordingly" if UK plans to deliver armor-piercing shells to Ukraine go ahead.

☆ 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.

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.

☆ Factbox: Iraq War: quotes from the conflict and its aftermath
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

BAGHDAD, March 15 (Reuters) - Here are some notable quotes from before, during and after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein. - U.S. President George W. Bush referring to Iraq, Iran and North Korea in his State of the Union Address. - Saddam Hussein in message to U.N. General Assembly. - Saddam Hussein on first day of invasion. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein," - Bush.

☆ Kremlin elites are fighting over how best to control their Ukraine war narrative, says the Russian foreign ministry's top spokesperson
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Kremlin's leaders can't agree on Russia's narrative on the Ukraine war, a top official said. Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry's press director, said there's a "battle" among Kremlin elites. "There is a battle going on, including among the elites," said Maria Zakharova, director of the Russian foreign ministry's press department, per Russian news outlet Business Gazeta. Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry's top spokesperson, made that statement at a panel with Russian tech entrepreneur Igor Ashmanov and other pundits. It said Zakharova's public statements further show that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has given up control of the Russian information space to "a variety of quasi-independent actors."

☆ Everyone's freaking out about SVB because everyone else is freaking out about SVB
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But the real star — or perhaps supernova — of Thursday was SVB Financial, which saw shares drop as much as 62%. As you can imagine, the past year has not been kind to SVB. SVB had to sell a $21 billion bond portfolio for a $1.8 billion loss (thanks a lot, interest rates!). It wasn't long before reports started rolling in about VCs instructing their founders to get their money out. Here's more on the tech founders trying to calm everyone down amid the chaos.

☆ Russia and Ukraine's deadliest battle is starting to look like Stalingrad 'without the importance,' expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia and Ukraine both say Bakhmut, a city in Ukraine, is the site of their deadliest fighting. An expert on Russia's military likened it to Stalingrad, but without the same level of significance. But at least Stalingrad was an industrial city, a major inland port on the Volga River that was a vital transportation artery for Soviet war production and home to a half-million people. Western experts are struggling to understand why both sides are pouring enormous resources — and prestige — into the Battle of Bakhmut. "It's like becoming like a Stalingrad except for without the importance of Stalingrad."

With Russia embroiled in conflict again in Ukraine, in what the Kremlin says is a fresh existential battle for national survival, memories of the Soviet dictator loom large. "Firstly, thank you for the victory (in World War Two)," said 21-year-old Madina in a typically mixed view of Stalin's legacy among people on the streets of Moscow. said Moscow resident Andrei, 31, praising Stalin as a strong unifying personality whose war victory should be lauded. Today, Gori's Stalin museum, located on the town's Stalin Avenue, is the town's most famous tourist attraction, drawing visitors from across the world. In 2010, the Georgian government ordered the town's Stalin statue removed, saying he did not deserve it.

[1/7] Farmer Wang Zhanling sits next to his wife in their house in Quansheng village, Heilongjiang Province, China, February 8, 2023. The state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences sees the pension system running out of money by 2035. "If the pension system does not change, this is unsustainable," said Xiujian Peng, senior research fellow in the Centre of Policy Studies at Victoria University in Australia. The province has the lowest birth rate in China, with just over 100,000 births in 2021 and 460,000 deaths. Many experts, including Macquarie's chief China economist Larry Hu, suggest implementing a unified national pension system, backstopped by the more resourceful central government rather than cash-strapped local administrations.

☆ The Ukraine war has killed hundreds of thousands of people. His job is to collect the bodies.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Katie Livingstone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

This could translate to tens of thousands of bodies left behind — and many years of work for the body collectors. In 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea and the Donbas region of Ukraine, Yukov helped start the Black Tulip mission. The retrieval process is identical for Ukrainian and Russian bodies, Yukov said. Ukrainian bodies are returned as quickly as possible to their grieving families, while Russian bodies are transferred to Ukrainian government hands so that they can be exchanged for Ukrainians in the possession of Russian forces. Denys Sosnenko, a former Ukrainian national kickboxing champion also from Sloviansk, was killed driving over a buried anti-tank mine while on a Black Tulip mission.

☆ Brawling with elite, Russian mercenary boss wishes politician shot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"During the 1941-45 war, which is now being repeated, Stalin simply shot people like you. I think we're going to return to those times soon," he told Sverdlovsk governor Yevgeny Kuivashev, according to his press service. Earlier this week, he accused various regional governors of refusing to bury Wagner fighters with military honours, labelling them as lawless, corrupt bureaucrats. From eastern Ukraine, Prigozhin replied that he had stopped being a businessman a year ago and was now devoting his life to leading his fighters. "There is a ceiling (of growth) and mechanisms in place," said the source, who declined to provide more details.

☆ Putin expected to channel Stalingrad victory at key moment in Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Tatiana Gomozova | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Kirill BragaVOLGOGRAD, Russia, Feb 2 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin is expected to use an event to mark the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in Stalingrad 80 years ago to rally Russians around his military campaign in Ukraine later on Thursday. Since Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year in what he called a "special military operation", Russian officials have drawn parallels with World War Two and the struggle against the Nazis. Ukraine - which itself suffered devastation at the hands of Hitler's forces - rejects those parallels and accuses Russia of waging a war of imperial conquest. Thousands of people lined Volgograd's streets on Thursday to watch a victory parade as planes flew overhead and modern and World War Two-era tanks and armoured vehicles trundled through the city centre. Some of the modern vehicles had the letter 'V' painted on them, a symbol used by Russia's forces fighting in Ukraine.

☆ Putin evokes Stalingrad to predict victory over 'new Nazism' in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Tatiana Gomozova | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Russian officials have been drawing parallels with the struggle against the Nazis ever since Russian forces entered Ukraine almost a year ago. REUTERS/Kirill Braga 1 2 3 4 5VICTORY PARADEAs Putin finished speaking, the audience gave him a standing ovation. Thousands of people lined Volgograd's streets to watch a victory parade as planes flew overhead and modern and World War Two-era tanks and armoured vehicles rolled past. Some of the modern vehicles had the letter 'V' painted on them, a symbol used by Russia's forces in Ukraine. Irina Zolotoreva, a 61-year-old who said her relatives had fought at Stalingrad, saw a parallel with Ukraine.

Between '97 and '02, HBO released TV series like "Sex and the City," "The Wire," and "The Sopranos." Counterprogram, counterprogram, counterprogramFrom its very inception in the early 1970s, HBO executives came to believe that if HBO was to thrive in the long-run, it would have to focus on doing things differently than the big three commercial TV networks: ABC, CBS, and NBC. When HBO executives sent the first episode of "The Sopranos" to a focus group, it scored horribly. The screening was attended by the film's cast, HBO executives, and a collection of Russian dignitaries. Anybody could watch a new TV series from the comfort of their home, and the actors starring in new TV shows were rarely famous.

☆ 'Stalin' said he disagreed with Putin's invasion of Ukraine. We 'spoke' to dead historical figures using a new AI chatbot that experts are sounding the alarm over.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Bethany Dawson | Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Insider "spoke" to bots acting as Princess Diana, Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Stalin, and Fred Trump. AI 'Fred Trump,' Donald Trump's father, isn't impressed with his son's politics. But AI Fred Trump "said" that he's "very proud" of his son, describing him as a "successful businessperson" and an "amazing father." An AI chatbot acting as Fred Trump, Donald Trump's father. AI Stalin called for the two countries to "find a peaceful solution."

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