Russia

Some employees and their families left the Russian Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, earlier this month amid fraught tensions between the two countries, The New York Times reported , citing a senior Ukrainian security official. The Ukrainian security official told the newspaper that mostly the wives and children of employees from the Russian Embassy began leaving on Jan. 5. A total of 18 people left the embassy. Over the next couple of days, roughly another 30 staff members and relatives from the Russia's consulate in Lviv and the embassy in Kyiv also left. ADVERTISEMENT A U.S. official said in a statement to the Times regarding the matter that “we have information that indicates the Russian government was preparing to evacuate their family members from the Russian Embassy in Ukraine in late December and early January.” However, the newspaper noted that it remains unclear exactly what Russia is trying to communicate by such a move to empty out its diplomatic facilities in … [Read more...] about Russia removing staff from Kyiv embassy: report

White House press secretary Jen Psaki Jen Psaki Psaki claps back at Youngkin over school mask mandates Clyburn says he 'wholeheartedly' endorses Biden's voting rights remarks Democrats call on Biden to step up virus response MORE told reporters on Tuesday that the U.S. believes that Russia could carry out an attack on Ukraine “at any point,” underscoring the immediacy of the threat. “Our view is this is an extremely dangerous situation. We're now at a stage where Russia could at any point launch an attack in Ukraine,” Psaki told reporters at a briefing, adding later that her language was “more stark than we have been.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken Antony Blinken US calls on North Korea to halt 'unlawful and destabilizing' missile launches Wendy Sherman takes leading role as Biden's 'hard-nosed' Russia negotiator Pacific tsunami threat recedes, volcano ash hinders response MORE plans to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey … [Read more...] about White House says Russia could launch attack in Ukraine ‘at any point’

MOSCOW (AP) — Kazakhstan's influential former leader released a short video on Tuesday in which he talked about the violent unrest that engulfed the ex-Soviet nation earlier this month and rejected reports alleging that he fled the country amid tensions with the current president. It was the first time that Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ran Kazakhstan for 29 years after it gained independence and kept an influential post after stepping down as president in 2019, spoke publicly about the protests and the bloodshed they descended into. Nazarbayev also denied that there were tensions between him and his hand-picked successor, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Some speculated that a rift between the two could have played a role in exacerbating the unrest. Protests in Kazakhstan, an oil and gas-rich nation of 19 million in Central Asia, began on Jan. 2 in a small western town over the near-doubling of fuel prices. But they quickly spread across the vast country, growing into a general … [Read more...] about Kazakhstan’s ex-leader rejects reports that he fled abroad

Ukrainian servicemen walk past a minefield warning sign on the front line with Russia-backed separatists near Luganske in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Photo: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images Over the past few months, Russia has amassed tens of thousands of soldiers, along with tanks, artillery, and other materiel near its border with Ukraine in what U.S. intelligence (and much of the world) has interpreted as a buildup in preparation for an invasion. At the same time, online propaganda and disinformation activity has increased , as have cyberattacks on Ukrainian targets, including one that took down several government websites on Friday. It is no coincidence that these ominous activities look strikingly similar to the lead-up to Russia’s 2014 invasion of its weaker neighbor, in which it annexed Crimea and launched the still-ongoing insurgency by Moscow-backed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Indeed, if Russia does send troops into Ukraine in the … [Read more...] about Is Another Russian Invasion of Ukraine Inevitable?

Over the last few months, Select All has interviewed more than a dozen prominent technology figures about what has gone wrong with the contemporary internet for a project called “ The Internet Apologizes .” We’re now publishing lengthier transcripts of each individual interview. This interview features Dan McComas, the former senior vice-president for product of Reddit and the founder and CEO of Imzy, a community-focused platform . You can find other interviews from this series here . Reddit started a couple of years after Facebook, and it’s super giant, and the kind of thing that you were present for was the challenge of building a platform that can accommodate a really large and sprawling set of communities, but at the same time make sure that it’s able to maintain community standards. You worked at it, I know, from the product end. I’m interested in hearing a bit about how you came to work at Reddit, and the questions you were thinking about. I came in … [Read more...] about ‘I Fundamentally Believe That My Time at Reddit Made the World a Worse Place’

Presented by Facebook Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. It is Tuesday! We get you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the co-creators. Readers can find us on Twitter @asimendinger and @alweaver22. Please recommend the Morning Report to friends and let us know what you think. CLICK HERE to subscribe! Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported each day this week: Monday, 850,605; Tuesday, 851,730. U.S. fatalities from COVID-19 have risen more than 5 percent in one month, based on available data. As public health experts prepare for 1 million COVID-19 deaths, journalists and Boston University collaborated for a USA Today series that disclosed some counties in the South and the West that underreported the number of people dying from the coronavirus. The time to vote — or at least stage a real debate — is nigh for … [Read more...] about The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Voting rights week for Democrats (again)