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We don’t know if Elon Musk brought Armageddon closer — all we know is uncertainty

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:02 GMT

Sergey Radchenko is the Wilson E. Schmidt Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He has written extensively on the Cold War, nuclear history, and on Russian and Chinese foreign and security policies.In an opinion piece published this month, historian Timothy Snyder launched a fiery critique of tech billionaire Elon Musk for his apparent refusal to turn on Starlink satellite coverage for Crimea last year, which would have enabled a Ukrainian drone attack on Sevastopol.Snyder argued that the failure to provide Starlink coverage was inexcusable, and that the entrepreneur was “duped” by Russian nuclear blackmail, leading to needless casualties and making nuclear war more likely.Not only is this argument quite unsound, but its vehement presentation also falls far short of what academics — as opposed to political activists — should be aiming at.The key point in Snyder’s take is that Ukraine’s successful operations in Crimea against military ...

Why Europe’s next president may be made in France

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:02 GMT

PARIS — Thierry Breton, Europe’s self-proclaimed digital “enforcer” and scourge of Elon Musk, has his eye on one of the biggest jobs in Brussels: President of the EU Commission. Emmanuel Macron may be about to give him a leg up. Macron’s Renaissance party is frantically searching for the best candidate to lead its campaign in next year’s European Parliament elections. Whoever gets that role would be well placed to become the party’s nominee to take over from Ursula von der Leyen as Commission president when her term ends after the elections next June. According to reports in French media, and officials familiar with discussions inside Macron’s team, Breton, a flamboyant former telecoms executive and France’s current EU commissioner, is now firmly in the mix. “Everyone knows he wants to continue,” a French diplomat told POLITICO when asked about Breton’s future chances. “Some are wondering whether he doesn’t need to run as a lead candidate if he wan...

Trying to persuade Ukraine to negotiate with Putin would be an error

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:02 GMT

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former political prisoner and CEO of Yukos Oil company, is the author of “How to Slay a Dragon: Building a New Russia After Putin.”As Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pointless brutality against Ukraine continues, so too does Ukraine’s valiant resistance.However, three months into their counteroffensive, while Ukrainian forces have made modest gains, they are yet to deliver a decisive blow. As winter approaches and the war grinds on, siren voices urging Ukraine’s leaders to negotiate a ceasefire will get louder — and Putin will be hoping these voices will be further amplified as the United States presidential campaign looms.Based on everything I know about Putin and the nature of his regime, my own view is that such attempts to persuade Ukraine to negotiate with him would be an error — and no ceasefire agreed under the current circumstances would bring peace in the long-term.Instead, it would provide Putin’s regime with an opportunity to strengthen its abil...

Germany’s Greens and Liberals call for action on immigration as far-right strengthens

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:02 GMT

BERLIN — You know fears over immigration and the rise of the far-right are boiling over in Germany when even the Greens are calling for a crackdown on illegal asylum seekers.In a remarkable intervention on Monday, Green co-chair Ricarda Lang — whose party is usually known for advocating a moderate course on migration — criticized key officials from her two coalition partners for not doing enough to ensure that asylum seekers without a valid reason to stay, such as fleeing a warzone, are being sent back to their home countries.There’s no doubt the political temperature is rising fast in Germany. A poll published Tuesday showed that the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party has become the strongest political force in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, making it the fourth eastern German state — after Brandenburg, Thuringia and Saxony — in which the far-right is leading in polls. This is particularly spooking established parties as the latter three states are heading to the polls i...

Teens in Las Vegas face murder charges as adults for hit-and-run they captured on video, police say

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:02 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two teenagers have been arrested and face murder charges as adults after targeting a bicyclist in Las Vegas and capturing the moments they hit the former California police chief on video, authorities said Tuesday.Las Vegas police said they have tied the teens to at least three hit-and-run incidents on the morning of Aug. 14. They believe the death of 64-year-old Andreas Rene Probst, a former police chief in Bell, California, ended the spree.Graphic video shows a dashboard view from the front seat of a vehicle approaching Probst from behind while he was riding near the curb on an otherwise traffic-free road. Laughter and comments from inside the car are heard before the bicyclist, wearing a red shirt and dark shorts, was struck and thrown against the windshield.A final image from the moving car shows Probst on the ground next to the curb. Deputy Police Chief Nick Farese called the recording from inside a stolen vehicle appalling and a “cowardly act.” Clark Coun...

Nigerian Canadian Debby Friday wins Polaris Music Prize for ‘Good Luck’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:02 GMT

TORONTO — Debby Friday has won the 2023 Polaris Music Prize for her album “Good Luck.”The debut full-length release from the Nigerian-born Canadian was selected for the $50,000 prize by an 11-member grand jury that named it best Canadian album of the year based on its artistic merit.“Good Luck” finds Friday building on the industrial sounds of her earlier EPs with more soulful vocals.Music critics have likened her album to artists as diverse as industrial metal band Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, rappers Run the Jewels and Beyoncé.The Polaris Music Prize is considered one of the country’s most prestigious music awards.Previous winners include Pierre Kwenders, Haviah Mighty, Jeremy Dutcher and Kaytranada.Friday thanked many of the people who helped her career and reflected on her childhood in a small village in Nigeria.“This is something that I didn’t realize was a possibility,” she said from the stage.“Now I’m here today and it just feels like a miracle.”An...

International Criminal Court says cybersecurity incident affected its information systems last week

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:02 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court said Tuesday that it detected “anomalous activity affecting its information systems” last week and took urgent measures to respond. It didn’t elaborate on what it called a “cybersecurity incident.”Court spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said in a written statement that extra “response and security measures are now ongoing” with the assistance of authorities in the Netherlands, where the court is based.“Looking forward, the Court will be building on existing work presently underway to strengthen its cyber security framework, including accelerating its use of cloud technology,” his statement added.The court declined to go into any more detail about the incident, but said that as it “continues to analyse and mitigate the impact of this incident, priority is also being given to ensuring that the core work of the Court continues.”The ICC has a number of high-profile investigations and preliminary inquiries underway in na...

Stock market today: Asian shares decline ahead of Fed decision on rates

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:02 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares declined Wednesday as markets awaited a decision on interest rates by the Federal Reserve.Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.1% in morning trading to 33,200.34. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.6% to 7,152.70. South Korea’s Kospi edged down 0.1% to 2,556.20. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 0.4% to 17,932.24, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.3% to 3,115.10. Trade data for Japan showed exports fell 0.8% last month from a year ago, marking the second straight month of declines, as exports to China lagged, dropping 11%. Japan’s exports to the U.S. rose 5.1%, while exports to Europe surged 12.7%. By product category, auto exports zoomed 40.9%, while those of semiconductors rose 8.1%, according to Finance Ministry data.“We think the weak recovery in China will continue to have a negative impact on exports for a while, but semiconductors seem like they are bottoming out from the down cycle,” Robert Carnell, regional head of research...

Japan’s Kishida, at UN, tries to get the global nuclear disarmament effort back on track

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:02 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed Tuesday night to lead the effort to put the struggling global nuclear disarmament effort back on track, proposing to encourage nuclear weapons states to engage in discussions with non-nuclear weapons states.Kishida proposed reactivating discussion of the 1993 Fissile Materials Cutoff Treaty, or FMCT, which has never entered negotiations at the United Nations, but its significance remains unchanged.Earlier Tuesday, he co-hosted FMCT high-level talks with non-nuclear weapons defense partners Australia and the Philippines, in hopes of gaining broad support from the so-called Global South nations for the cause.Japan will contribute 3 billion yen ($20 million) fund to establish Japan Chairs toward achieving a world without nuclear weapons at overseas research institutions and think tanks. The aim, Kishida said: to energize the debate that would overcome a polarized choices between deterrence and disarmament.As a lawmaker r...

Syria’s Assad will visit China as Beijing boosts its reach in the Middle East

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:02 GMT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s President Bashar Assad will head to China later this week in his first visit to Beijing since the start of his country’s 12-year conflict during which China has been one of his main backers, his office said Tuesday.China has been expanding its reach in the Middle East after mediating a deal in March between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and it continues to support Assad in the Syrian conflict, which has killed half a million people and left large parts of the nation in ruins.China could play a major role in the future in Syria’s reconstruction, which is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars. Syria last year joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative in which Beijing expands its influence in developing regions through infrastructure projects.Assad’s office said the Syrian leader was invited by Chinese President Xi Jinping for a summit and will head Thursday to Beijing along with a high-ranking Syrian delegation.Syria’s worsening economic crisis...