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Articles Posted by Apparatchik

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  • Leading Russia Watcher in China Makes Surprise Ukraine War Prediction

    04/16/2024 3:21:43 PM PDT · by Apparatchik · 78 replies
    Newsweek ^ | 16 April 1963 | Micah McCartney
    A Chinese specialist on Russia has delivered a grim forecast for Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine: that it is doomed to fail. Peking University professor Feng Yujun is also cooling on the future of Beijing-Moscow relations, writing in a recent op-ed in The Economist that the two nations have diverging visions of the future of global affairs.
  • Trump posts $175M bond in civil fraud case, freeing up ex-president to start appeal of massive judgment

    04/01/2024 5:39:54 PM PDT · by Apparatchik · 19 replies
    New York Post ^ | 1 April 2024 | Priscilla DeGregory
    Donald Trump has posted a $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case, freeing him up to start appealing the massive judgment. The Knight Specialty Insurance Company backed the bond, an attorney for the Los Angeles-based firm wrote in a court filing Monday. Trump, 77, successfully lobbied an appeals court to lower the bond from the full nearly half-billion judgment amount to the drastically reduced figure and gave him 10 days from the day of the decision, on March 25, to post the lessened bond.
  • Royal Author Says Prince Harry Is Discussing Writing a Sequel to ‘Spare’

    04/01/2024 2:46:01 PM PDT · by Apparatchik · 30 replies
    Marie Claire via Yahoo! ^ | March 28, 2024 | Rachel Burchfield
    Prince Harry has said in interviews about his memoir, Spare, that he had enough material for a second book—so, will he put that material to good use? Opinions are split between two royal authors The Mirror spoke to. Royal author Tom Quinn said that Harry (and possibly his wife Meghan Markle, as well) have discussed the possibility of a second book, but this one with a much more “conciliatory” tone. “It wouldn’t include explosive allegations like his first book did, as the couple are reportedly keen to reunite with Harry’s estranged family,” The Mirror writes.
  • Dramatic video appearing to show a flaming Russian Su-27 jet crashing into the Black Sea shot down by own side, Ukraine says

    03/30/2024 4:26:16 PM PDT · by Apparatchik · 22 replies
    Business Insider via MSN ^ | 30 March 2024 | Cameron Manle
    Russian Armed Forces appear to have downed their own Su-27 fighter jet over occupied Crimea. A Ukrainian spokesperson said human error was to blame for the Russian blunder. Russia's aviation losses have been growing significantly in 2024.
  • Putin axes head of Russia’s navy after string of humiliating Black Sea losses to Ukraine: reports

    03/12/2024 3:49:49 PM PDT · by Apparatchik · 43 replies
    MSN ^ | 10 March 2024 | Snejana Farberov
    Russian President Vladimir Putin has ousted the country’s navy chief after a series of humiliating Ukrainian attacks decimated Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet, according to multiple reports. Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, 61, Russia’s navy commander-in-chief since May 2019, has been replaced by Northern Fleet Cmdr. Alexander Moiseyev, reported several Russian outlets, including the St. Petersburg news service Fontanka and the pro-Putin Izvestia newspaper. Moiseyev, 61 — who holds the country’s highest honorary title, “Hero of Russia” — was said to have been tapped as acting navy commander-in-chief and will soon be appointed on a permanent basis. The Russian navy’s rank-and-file have reportedly...
  • Russian Advanced A-50 Spy Plane Hit in Strike on Aircraft Factory: Kyiv

    03/11/2024 3:39:42 PM PDT · by Apparatchik · 62 replies
    Newsweek ^ | 10 March 2024 | Ellie Cook
    Ukrainian forces "destroyed or heavily damaged" one of Russia's prized but scarce A-50 spy planes, according to a Ukrainian official, after Kyiv targeted an aviation plant in southern Russia. Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday that its air defenses had intercepted 47 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight, including 41 over the southwestern Rostov region. Vasily Golubev, the governor of the Rostov region, said Kyiv launched a "massive UAV (uncrewed aerial vehicle) attack" on the city of Taganrog, east of the captured Ukrainian city of Mariupol and west of Rostov-on-Don. Russian military bloggers reported that Ukrainian drones struck a plant...
  • Nikki Haley Provides Big Clue She is About to Drop Out of Race

    Nikki Haley's campaign has provided a clue that she might be about to drop out of the Republican primary race after suffering a series of losses on Super Tuesday. All events have been removed from the former South Carolina governor's website, sparking rumors on social media about the future of her campaign.
  • Russia averaged nearly 1,000 casualties per day in February, marking a new record, UK intel says

    03/03/2024 3:53:33 PM PST · by Apparatchik · 114 replies
    Business Insider ^ | 3 March 2024 | Alia Shoaib
    Russian forces suffered an average of 983 casualties per day in Ukraine in February, the highest since the war began, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in an intelligence update on Sunday. The UK department said the increase in casualties, which included both killed and wounded soldiers, was likely due to "Russia's commitment to mass and attritional warfare." In February, Russia finally captured the embattled Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, which sits just north of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. War analysts have noted that Russia's tactics to take Avdiivka often involved "human wave" assaults, attempting to overwhelm Ukrainian positions with...
  • Six Russian Fighter Jets Shot Down in Just Three Days

    02/19/2024 1:22:21 PM PST · by Apparatchik · 54 replies
    Newsweek ^ | 19 February 2024 | Isabel van Brugen
    Ukraine's armed forces have shot down six Russian fighter jets in just three days, according to the country's Ministry of Defense. The ministry said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that Ukraine on Monday destroyed two Russian jets—an Su-34 fighter-bomber and an Su-35S fighter jet. "Russian planes continue to fall! This morning, defenders of the sky shot down two russian planes in the eastern direction—a Su-34 fighter-bomber and a Su-35 fighter," it said. "In 3 days, Ukraine destroyed 6 russian jets." The news comes after the Commander of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General...
  • Putin may have fired the admiral of Russia's Black Sea Fleet as punishment for a series of humiliating losses to Ukraine

    02/19/2024 5:05:39 AM PST · by Apparatchik · 37 replies
    Business Insider ^ | 20 February 2024 | ALEXEY PAVLISHAK
    The Kremlin has fired the commander of its Black Sea Fleet as punishment for a series of humiliating losses to Ukraine, according to Russian war bloggers. The bloggers said that Admiral Viktor Sokolov was replaced by chief of staff Vice Admiral Sergey Pinchuk after Ukraine sank the Russian warship Caesar Kunikov with a sea drone last week. It was the latest in a series of victories for Ukraine, which has a tiny navy, against Russia's much bigger Black Sea fleet. "It seems that it had become impossible to ignore the latest heavy losses of the fleet," the War Informant channel...
  • Tim Scott to Endorse Donald Trump Ahead of New Hampshire Republican Primary

    01/19/2024 10:13:55 AM PST · by Apparatchik · 13 replies
    US News and World Report ^ | 19 January 2024 | AP
    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is expected to endorse former President Donald Trump ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, a blow to his fellow South Carolinian Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador. A person familiar with Scott’s plans confirmed Friday to The Associated Press that Scott was expected to travel from Florida to New Hampshire with the GOP front-runner. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity due to not being allowed to discuss the plans publicly. The endorsement was first reported by The New York Times.
  • Biden administration is expected to re-designate Houthis as a global terrorist entity

    01/16/2024 3:20:33 PM PST · by Apparatchik · 43 replies
    CNN ^ | 16 January 2024 | Jennifer Hansler
    The Biden administration is expected to re-designate the Houthis as a specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) entity amid continued attacks by the Yemen-based militia, a source familiar told CNN Tuesday. The administration removed the Houthis’ SDGT designation and de-listed it as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) in February 2021, after it was designated by the Trump administration in its final weeks. At the time, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the decision to remove the group’s designations was driven by concerns that it could imperil the ability to deliver crucial assistance to the people of Yemen. He said it was...
  • Chris Christie drops out of 2024 Republican presidential race

    01/10/2024 2:53:52 PM PST · by Apparatchik · 110 replies
    Boston Globe ^ | 10 January 2024 | James Pindell
    WINDHAM, N.H. — Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie is dropping out of the race for president, he said Wednesday evening, marking the exit of the last true anti-Donald Trump candidate from the Republican contest and potentially boosting rival Nikki Haley at a crucial moment. WINDHAM, N.H. — Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie is dropping out of the race for president, he said Wednesday evening, marking the exit of the last true anti-Donald Trump candidate from the Republican contest and potentially boosting rival Nikki Haley at a crucial . Christie made the announcement at an event previously billed as...
  • Russia Loses Two Prized Pantsir Systems As Ukraine Mocks 'Leaky' Defenses

    01/07/2024 2:15:18 PM PST · by Apparatchik · 75 replies
    Newsweek ^ | 7 January 2024 | Ellie Cook
    Ukraine has destroyed two of Russia's Pantsir-S1 air-defense systems, officials said on Sunday, in the latest push by Kyiv to take out key Russian assets and ground-based weaponry. Fighters with Ukraine's intelligence agency, the GUR, took out two Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft systems in Russia's Belgorod border region on Saturday, the agency said in a statement on Sunday. Russian air defenses close to the country "turned out to be leaky," added Ivan Fedorov, the exiled Ukrainian mayor of the southern Moscow-controlled city of Melitopol.
  • Army unveils rebranding campaign amid recruiting challenges

    03/08/2023 3:31:32 PM PST · by Apparatchik · 29 replies
    The (s)Hill ^ | 8 March 2023 | Brad Dress
    The U.S. Army on Wednesday unveiled a rebranded campaign to bolster recruiting efforts as the military struggles to meet personnel goals, particularly among younger generations of Americans. The Army’s latest recruitment campaign brand has a focused interest on attracting the next generation of Americans to the branch based on the argument that an Army career leads to self-discovery and limitless possibilities. The new campaign includes a tweaked logo design — the same gold five-star symbol, but without the box that the logo previously included, to suggest the sky is the limit — along with a return of the Army catchphrase...
  • Igor Mangushev: Russian who waved Ukrainian skull on stage dies days after being shot

    02/08/2023 3:22:37 PM PST · by Apparatchik · 32 replies
    Evening Standard ^ | 8 February 2023 | Barney Davis
    A Russian ultranationalist who once held the skull of what he purported was a dead Ukrainian soldier has died in hospital after being shot in the head. Igor Mangushev, 36, who also claimed to have invented the Z symbol used as a symbol of support for Russian forces, was shot in a close-range attack, doctors told his wife. He died in hospital four days later at 6am on Wednesday. His wife hit out at Russian authorities for failing to investigate the killing seen as a warning to one of Putin’s closest allies, head of Wagner private army Yevgeny Prigozhin. In...
  • Daughter of Putin ally Alexander Dugin killed in car bomb in Moscow – reports

    08/20/2022 11:49:17 PM PDT · by Apparatchik · 98 replies
    The Grauniad ^ | 20 August 2022 | Martin Farrer
    The daughter of an ultranationalist Russian ideologue believed to have had a strong influence on Vladimir Putin has been killed in a car bomb on the outskirts of Moscow, according to multiple media reports. Darya Dugin, daughter of Russian political commentator Alexander Dugin – dubbed “Putin’s brain” – died when the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving was ripped apart by a powerful explosion about 20km west of the capital at around 9.30pm local time. The blast occurred near the village of Bolshiye Vyazemy, according to Russian media sites Baza and 112, and state-owned Novaya Gazeta. Witnesses said debris was...
  • (Hurl Alert) Jason Alexander Compares Jan. 6 Committee Hearings to 'Seinfeld,' Insists — Sincerely — That Viewers Tune In (Video)

    06/09/2022 1:50:43 AM PDT · by Apparatchik · 24 replies
    MSN.com ^ | June 8, 2022 | Katie Campione
    Jason Alexander is imploring people to watch the upcoming Jan. 6 committee hearings, which will begin airing Thursday in primetime. In a video message on Wednesday, he told viewers that, should they choose to tune in, they won't have a hard time finding a network airing it -- kind of like "Seinfeld."
  • Black Democratic Senate candidate in Kentucky wears noose in campaign video

    06/03/2022 7:15:30 PM PDT · by Apparatchik · 47 replies
    CBS News ^ | 2 June 2022 | ADAM BREWSTER
    Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Charles Booker released a campaign video Wednesday which features him wearing a noose, in an attempt to highlight Senator Rand Paul's opposition to a 2020 bill that would have made lynching a federal hate crime. The video, which starts with a graphic warning, opens with a shot of a noose hanging from a tree. "The pain of our past persists to this day," Booker, who is Black, says in the opening lines. "In Kentucky, like many states throughout the South, lynching was a tool for terror. It was used to kill hopes for freedom."
  • FDA's proposed menthol cigarette ban could save 248,000 Black lives in 4 years

    05/21/2022 5:10:11 PM PDT · by Apparatchik · 88 replies
    The Philadelphia Tribune ^ | May 20, 2021 | Stephen Williams TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
    On April 28, the Food and Drug Administration proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes, which are smoked by more than 18.5 million people ages 12 and older. More than 85% of menthol smokers are African American. By comparison, 30% of menthol smokers are white. Menthol cigarettes are also more popular in the Latin and Asian communities. From that date in April, the public, including the tobacco industry, has 60 days to make comments.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 480,000 Americans die from tobacco-related disease, every year. This is including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from...