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  • India’s Russian oil imports hit record high as US waiver expires; Moscow supplies over 50% of crude needs

    06/25/2026 6:21:11 AM PDT · by delta7 · 42 replies
    Financial express ^ | 22 June 26 | Aditi
    India’s oil imports from Russia are on track to hit a new record in June, as refiners continue to rely heavily on discounted Russian crude after supply disruptions in West Asia caused by the regional conflict. According to preliminary vessel-tracking data from commodity analytics firm Kpler, India imported an average of 2.6 million barrels of Russian oil per day in June so far. That accounts for 53.5% of the country’s total crude imports during the period. For the full month, Russian imports are expected to exceed 2.35 million barrels per day, which would be the highest monthly level ever recorded....
  • US treasury chief urged Trump not to host ‘Mr Bean on crack’ Zelenskyy, book says

    06/21/2026 2:46:06 AM PDT · by McGruff · 55 replies
    The Guardian ^ | June 20, 2026
    Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, advised Donald Trump not to host Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, having called the Ukrainian president a “little f**ker”, a “special-needs child” and “Mr Bean on crack”, according to a new book. The suggestion that a US cabinet official described a world leader in such terms is included in Regime Change, a blockbusting account of the second Trump administration by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, set to be published worldwide on Tuesday. News of Bessent’s alleged remarks may embarrass the Trump administration, although the meeting that did take place...
  • 'Black Rain' Falls Over Moscow After Massive Ukrainian Drone Strike Ignites Oil Refinery

    06/19/2026 9:05:55 AM PDT · by UMCRevMom@aol.com · 65 replies
    News18 ^ | Fri, Jun 19, 2026 | Pathikrit Sen Gupta
    Soot-choked “black rain" has fallen across multiple districts of Moscow after Ukraine launched its largest-ever drone assault against the Russian capital, scoring a direct hit on a vital energy facility. Close to 200 long-range strike drones targeted the metropolis early on Thursday, overwhelming local air defences and setting the strategic Moscow Oil Refinery in Kapotnya ablaze. As thick columns of dark smoke billowed thousands of feet into the air, residents in the southeastern suburbs and surrounding towns, including Balashikha and Lyubertsy, reported a fine, oily drizzle that coated vehicles, streets, and clothing in a dark, toxic residue. The multi-directional aerial...
  • Ukraine’s historic Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery set on fire following major Russian attack

    06/15/2026 8:13:51 AM PDT · by Steven Scharf · 32 replies
    CNN ^ | June 15, 2026 | Victoria Butenko
    Ukraine’s historic Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery set on fire following major Russian attack By Victoria Butenko Kyiv — A prominent Ukrainian monastery complex in the heart of Kyiv was set on fire following a massive Russian attack overnight into Monday that killed at least five people and wounded more than two dozen in the capital, according to local authorities. Images showed flames billowing from the UNESCO-listed Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, which traces its roots back almost 1,000 years, and firefighters beneath the towers and domes of its Dormition Cathedral battling to control the blaze. A CNN journalist reported hearing several explosions...
  • California’s $20 Minimum Wage Experiment Crushes Carl’s Jr. as Crime and Costs Collide

    05/20/2026 9:37:55 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 88 replies
    Discern Money ^ | May 20, 2026 | Samara Sterling
    California’s aggressive push for a $20 fast-food minimum wage was sold as a moral victory for workers, a bold stand against corporate greed that would lift families without consequence. Yet the reality unfolding at Carl’s Jr. locations across the state tells a different story—one of shuttered opportunities, fleeing staff, and franchise operators driven to bankruptcy. What began as political virtue-signaling has delivered economic pain that no amount of union rhetoric can disguise. Friendly Franchisees Corporation, a major operator running dozens of Carl’s Jr. restaurants, filed for Chapter 11 protection last month, citing the wage mandate as a primary driver of...
  • Merz suggests Ukraine may have to accept territorial loss to help pave way for EU membership

    04/27/2026 7:46:07 PM PDT · by MinorityRepublican · 95 replies
    Reuters ^ | April 27, 2026
    German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested on Monday that Ukraine may have to accept that parts of its territory could remain outside Kyiv's control in ​a future peace deal with Russia, linking such concessions to ‌the country's prospects for joining the European Union. "At some point, Ukraine will sign a ceasefire agreement; at some point, hopefully, a peace treaty with Russia. Then it may ​be that part of Ukraine's territory is no longer Ukrainian," Merz ​told students at the Carolus-Magnus-Gymnasium in Marsberg, a town in ⁠North Rhine-Westphalia, on Monday. "If President (Volodymyr) Zelenskiy wants to communicate this to his ​own population...
  • The dark side of Zelenskyy’s rule

    10/31/2025 4:30:00 PM PDT · by E. Pluribus Unum · 69 replies
    Politico ^ | October 31, 2025 12:31 pm CET | amie Dettmer
    Opposition lawmakers and civil society activists say Ukraine’s leadership is using lawfare to intimidate opponents and silence critics. As Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, then head of Ukraine’s state-owned national power company Ukrenergo, was scrambling to keep the lights on.Somehow, he succeeded and continued to do so every year, earning the respect of energy executives worldwide by ensuring the country was able to withstand Russian missile and drone strikes on its power grid and avoid catastrophic blackouts — until he was abruptly forced to resign in 2024, that is.Kudrytskyi’s dismissal was...
  • Watch moment sea drones dodge Russian helicopters’ guns as Ukraine launches attack near Putin’s beloved Kerch Bridge

    05/30/2024 4:44:13 AM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 88 replies
    Sun UK ^ | 5/30/2024 | Ellie Doughty
    INCREDIBLE footage shows Ukraine's sea drones nip out of the way of Russian fire during an overnight blitz in occupied Crimea. Meanwhile Kyiv's forces launched missiles towards Vlad's beloved Kerch Bridge - reportedly sparking some 20 explosions and damaging two ships. Dramatic video shows the drones flying over water in Uzkaya Bay, western Crimea. Kyiv's forces dodge the Russian barrage of explosions raining down around them. The Magura V5 marine drones managed to hit two Russian high speed KS-701 Tunets [Tuna] vessels - despite the onslaught. The Tuna boats are used by Russian forces for patrolling as well as transport...
  • Polish official claims the US told Russia it would strike Russian targets in Ukraine if Putin used nuclear weapons

    05/28/2024 5:20:22 PM PDT · by Mariner · 80 replies
    Business Insider via Yahoo ^ | May 28th, 2024 | Cameron Manley
    Poland's foreign minister said the US had told Russia that it would strike Russian targets in Ukraine if Putin were to use nuclear weapons.In an interview with the Guardian, Radosław Sikorski seemed doubtful of Russia's threats about using nuclear weapons, saying: "The Americans have told the Russians that if you explode a nuke, even if it doesn't kill anybody, we will hit all your targets [positions] in Ukraine with conventional weapons, we'll destroy all of them.""I think that's a credible threat," he said. "Also, the Chinese and the Indians have read Russia the riot act. And it's no child's play...