Like the Ukrainians themselves, their currency has held tough despite Russia’s attempts to destroy it.
Day: December 21, 2022
In an exceptional interview with Kyiv Article, exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya reaffirmed her assist for Ukraine and condemned President Lukashenka’s shut alliance with President Putin.
Since jogging in the 2020 Belarusian presidential election next what Human Legal rights Enjoy explained as the “political arrest“ of her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has displayed a defiance that has garnered her not only intercontinental regard, but no fewer than two Nobel Peace Prize nominations.
With her partner banned from standing, the outspoken politician determined to operate in his spot, refusing to back down despite brutal threats from authorities and the sexist assert from sitting down President Alexander Lukashenka that Belarus was not all set to be led by a girl.
Undeterred, Tsikhanouskaya pressed on with her marketing campaign, gaining assistance from a country fatigued of oppression, exactly where democracy is but a thin veil covering dictatorship, and the place officers have been regarded to threaten opposition leaders with imprisonment and the inserting of their kids in point out-controlled orphanages.
Awash with progressive plan proposals, the former teacher’s campaign bravely condemned Lukashenka and his regime and available Belarusian voters a single matter they’d evidently been craving – hope. And it is this same hope that she shares for the persons of Ukraine.
“Ukrainians are kicking Russians in the tooth with the whole globe observing,” Tsikhanouskaya told Kyiv Write-up on Monday, Dec. 19. “They derive their strength from fighting on their residence soil and acquiring assist from genuine pals and allies. They show that the men and women and the point out in Ukraine are united, seeking in the exact same path, sharing aims and aspirations.”
Now in exile just after tough the outcome of the 2020 election – an election that noticed widespread experiences of electoral fraud – Tsikhanouskaya is now a potent voice in opposition to Lukashenka’s involvement in Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
“The tragedy of Belarusians is that Lukashenka has dragged our land in this war on the wrong facet,” she mentioned. “He missing legitimacy just after the rigged elections of 2020 and needs Russians to keep in electricity. Getting grow to be a co-aggressor, Lukashenka has produced a grave risk to Belarus’s independence by making it possible for Russian troops in.
“Now we are combating a dual crisis – a dictatorship and risk to our statehood.”
Describing herself as the “Countrywide leader of Belarus“ in her bio on Twitter, Tsikhanouskaya still reflects on the mass protests that gripped her homeland after polling day in 2020, and doesn’t hold back when describing her political opponent.
“Additional than two several years just after the protest begun, the repressions are rampant,” she stated. ” “The regime is insecure and simply cannot re-establish handle about the place. It has come to be totally detached from the persons and acts with the sole purpose of preserving Lukashenka’s electrical power, even if it usually means yielding sovereignty to Russians.
“There are 1000’s of political prisoners – the greatest charge for each capita in the earth. In addition to repressions since of the internal disaster, scores of Belarusians are persecuted due to the fact they help Ukraine in the war.”
Very last month, Tsikhanouskaya welcomed the amplified sanctions put on Belarus by Canada, the latter acquiring joined many other western nations in sanctioning individuals and entities joined to Lukashenka’s routine, and inserting limits on trade.
“These sanctions are towards the so-termed wallets and state-operate enterprises of the regime who are funding the repressions towards Belarusians and now also the aggression towards Ukraine,” Tsikhanouskaya instructed Kyiv Write-up. “Belarusians know that it is the regime and its lawless steps who is accountable for sanctions.
“The most biting sanctions have been released mainly because of Lukashenka’s threatening international peace and security: hijacking of a Ryanair flight, migration disaster, aggression from Ukraine.
“The sanctions are meant to adjust the regime’s conduct, but their pace and design have not always been adequate to make a big difference”.
Addressing Ukrainians right, she stated that Belarusians “share your soreness and guidance your combat for independence.”
“Russia is seeking at our countries in the identical light, denying our appropriate to sovereign preference and dismissing nationwide identity,” she extra. “When we act jointly, we can do significantly more to defeat the threats of today, but we will have to also locate electrical power and focus to create the basis for new relations between our nations.
“I think that this will be a new stage and a new stage of closeness of our peoples and states.”
Jay Beecher
Jay Beecher is a British journalist now residing in Kyiv. Obtaining penned for major British newspapers these kinds of as the Every day Mail and Every day Mirror, his beloved matters to address are crime and politics. Beecher arrived to Ukraine in May perhaps and put in time on the entrance traces in the east reporting on Russian war crimes.
The post Belarusian Opposition Leader Sends Message to Ukrainians appeared first on Ukraine Intelligence.
Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko urged nearer armed service cooperation with Russia on Monday, Dec. 19, in the course of a scarce take a look at from President Vladimir Putin, who introduced his invasion of Ukraine from his neighbor’s territory.
Putin landed in Minsk with his protection and overseas minister in tow, several hours soon after Russian forces released a swarm of assault drones at significant infrastructure in Kyiv, which provoked unexpected emergency blackouts in a dozen areas.
“Hard times need us to have political will and to concentration on receiving benefits on all matters of the bilateral agenda,” Lukashenko informed Putin.
“The key difficulties these days have been defence and protection challenges,” he included.
The Kremlin has for years sought to deepen integration with Belarus, which depends on Moscow for low-cost oil and financial loans, but Lukashenko had resisted outright unification with Russia inspite of remaining a vital ally.
Speculation mounted in advance of the Russian leader’s visit that he would tension Lukashenko to send troops to Ukraine to combat along with the Russians right after Moscow endured a string of defeats in virtually 10 months of battling.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, on the other hand, dismissed the reviews “as absolutely silly, groundless fabrications.”
– ‘Open for dialogue’ –
“Russia and Belarus are open up for dialogue with other states, together with European ones. I hope that shortly they will listen to the voice of cause,” Lukashenko stated.
Putin told his Belarusian ally that he hoped to deepen economic ties between the nations throughout the go to and praised Belarus as “our ally in the truest feeling of the term”.
The drone attacks above Ukraine, which wounded 3 people today in close proximity to Kyiv, came as Russia stated it shot down many US-designed missiles around its airspace in the vicinity of Ukraine.
“I 1st read the air raid siren… I considered there is going to be a drone attack. For the very first time, it scared me,” Natalia Dobrovolska, a 68-yr-aged resident of Kyiv, explained to AFP.
She explained hearing numerous explosions ahead of power shut off in her developing in western Kyiv. Officers claimed Russia experienced dispatched 35 attack drones nationwide, which includes 23 more than Kyiv.
Ukraine explained it downed 30 of the aerial weapons, including Iranian-manufactured “Shaheds”, which have pummeled the cash in the latest weeks.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated vital infrastructure facilities have been “destroyed” while regional authorities explained 9 properties experienced been scarred by the attacks.
Electrical power operator Ukrenergo announced that unexpected emergency electrical power outages had been scheduled in the cash and virtually a dozen locations.
– Belarus border a ‘priority’ –
Ukraine has skilled regular and deadly aerial assaults in the 10 months due to the fact Russia invaded in late February.
Right after a series of battlefield setbacks and territory misplaced this summertime and autumn, Moscow stepped up its aerial campaign to focus on the country’s strength grid.
With winter environment in, missile and drone attacks have plunged metropolitan areas close to the state into darkness, and severed water and warmth materials to millions of Ukrainians.
Speaking to the leaders of many NATO countries by means of video clip url on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Ukraine’s allies to offer its military with additional weapons.
“Russian aggression can and must fail. And our endeavor now is to accelerate it,” he told the leaders assembled in Riga.
He claimed in a late-night time address Sunday that some nine million folks experienced their electrical power restored following Russia’s previous missile barrage very last week.
Ukraine has an believed population of 40 million.
Before Putin’s check out, Ukraine’s chief also described the predicament on Ukraine’s border with Russia and Belarus as a “continuous precedence”.
“We are planning for all possible defense scenarios,” Zelensky stated.
Lukashenko, who has been in power considering that 1994, is a lengthy-time Kremlin ally and allowed Russian troops to attack Ukraine from his region on February 24.
– Russian-Belarusian military services drills –
Several hours in advance of Putin touched down in Minsk, Russia declared its forces had been jogging navy drills with Belarusian forces.
The protection ministry launched footage of drills in Belarus, demonstrating soldiers conducting tank manoeuvres, and practising artillery and sniper hearth at a snow-dusted instruction ground.
“From the morning right up until the evening twilight — there is not a solitary next of silence at the instruction grounds of Belarus,” the ministry mentioned.
It did not say the place the drills were being using spot or how lengthy they would last.
In Oct, Belarus declared the formation of a joint regional drive with Moscow with quite a few thousand Russian servicemen arriving in the ex-Soviet place, fueling worries Minsk could also ship troops to Ukraine.
On Monday, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed Ukrainian strikes remaining about 14,000 persons without the need of electricity in a district of southern Russia’s Belgorod region.
The post Belarus Dictator Urges Unity with Moscow in ‘Difficult Times’ appeared first on Ukraine Intelligence.
On Monday Dec. 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin achieved shut ally and dictator Alexander Lukashenko – the very first time in 3-and-a-50 percent years that the pair have met on Belarusian soil. Lasting just over two hours, the full facts of their meeting have not been disclosed, but statements and activities in advance of and right after might drop some gentle on what was discussed.
What occurred in the run-up to the meeting?
Underneath Lukashenko’s management, Belarus has been a staunch ally of the Kremlin and has supported Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. This is despite most Belarusians allegedly opposing these types of support.
Prior to Monday’s meeting, equally get-togethers formally stated they prepared to explore “the course of action of employing previously adopted allied packages,” with Lukashenko telling reporters in Minsk on Dec. 16, that the scenario about Ukraine was “escalating.”
This was viewed by some, like the Institute for the Review of War, as a sign that Belarus could before long be becoming a member of Russia in launching a new offensive in Ukraine in the coming months or months.
Just before Putin experienced even stepped off his plane, Russia’s defense ministry introduced that its troops stationed in Belarus would perform joint armed forces workout routines with the Belarusian armed service, top Ukrainian Deputy Inside Minister Yevhen Yenin to notify the BBC that it was bolstering its defenses along the Ukraine-Belarus border.
Even though Belarus has of nevertheless not been immediately associated in the war, in February it allowed Russian troops to use its territory to launch the illegal and ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
What did Putin and Lukashenko communicate about?
We never know what specifically was claimed behind closed doorways involving the two unpredictable leaders. But the push meeting that followed, albeit brief and obscure, delivered a couple clues to the context of their discussion and impending options.
Talking mainly about financial relations, trade, and joint security, Putin indicated that some Belarusian armed forces aircraft have been re-geared up to be capable to have nuclear missiles. He also verified that Russia is serving to to prepare the crews of these plane, with Lukashenko thanking him for offering Belarus with an Iskander ballistic missile technique and an S-400 air defense procedure.
There was widespread speculation that Putin may have applied the check out to tension Lukashenko into becoming a member of a new floor offensive in Ukraine – a assert Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed as “totally silly, groundless fabrications.”
The subject matter of Ukraine was rarely outlined at all – at the very least not in public.
Putin did, however, say: “Russia has no interest in absorbing any one – this would only make no sense,” appearing to deal with speculation that Russia may find to swallow Belarus into the Russian Federation, particularly if Lukashenko expressed reluctance to send his troops into Ukraine. Putin additional “this would only make no feeling,” and that rumors of him attempting to stress Lukashenko arrived from “ill-wishers.”
Speaking on Monday evening, U.S. point out section spokesperson Ned Value mocked Putin’s words as displaying the “height of irony” looking at he is at the moment trying to get to forcibly take in Ukraine into Russia.
So, what are the odds of Belarus marching into Ukraine?
Speaking completely to Kyiv Article on Monday, the exiled Belarusian opposition chief Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya staunchly insisted that her country’s folks oppose Belarus’ participation in the war, but admitted that Ukraine is “right to prepare” mainly because the probability “might raise in coming months.”
“Belarusian armed forces are portion of the society and share the same view on the war – 86 % of Belarusians are in opposition to participation in the war,” she claimed. “This has stopped the purchase to ship Belarusian troops to the battlefield in Ukraine. It was not the fantastic will of dictators or [about] Lukashenko standing up to Putin – he is entirely on the Kremlin’s aspect.
“However, the likelihood of these kinds of an order continues to be and could possibly raise in the coming weeks. I feel the Ukrainian management is ideal to get ready for this circumstance even while it implies distracting substantial forces from lively war zones in the south-east.”
Tsikhanouskaya said that Lukashenko “sees Ukraine as a danger,” adding that “a democratic, free, European Ukraine is a lousy example to the dictatorships of Lukashenko and Putin, thus this war is a rational selection for them.”
When questioned what Russia and Belarus’ joint intention might be, the outspoken exiled Politician was crystal clear in her reply: “to destroy Ukraine, its European aspirations and national identity, and deliver it below their regulate.”
“The [Lukashenko] regime is insecure and cannot re-set up manage more than the place,” she ongoing. “It has become entirely detached from the folks and acts with the sole goal to protect Lukashenko’s electrical power, even if it usually means yielding sovereignty to Russians.”
Tsikhanouskaya also stated she was fascinated in owning a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, stating that Belarus and Ukraine “have the identical enemies.”
Speaking to Kyiv Submit currently, however, Daniel Speckhard, a previous U.S. ambassador to Belarus and the CEO of Corus International, an firm praised for its ongoing perform supporting Ukrainians in the course of Russia’s brutal ongoing war, voiced caution in these a assembly.
“The need of Ms. Tsikhanouskaya to satisfy with President Zelensky in increasing focus to the condition in Belarus is understandable,” he explained. “But a meeting is likely not sensible at this time and probably only to force the existing leadership in Minsk nearer to Russia and reduce sympathies for Ukraine’s plight.”
On the likelihood of Belarus becoming a member of an offensive into Ukraine, Speckhard stated: “I feel the odds are even that Russia will power Belarusian troops to add troops to Russia’s struggle.
“It would be a mistake for Belarus and Russia to consider this stage as it will weaken Belarus’ individual safety and require Russia to defend an added 1100 km border.
“However, Russia’s shortage of experienced troops is very likely to enhance the stress to pull in supplemental Belarusian forces.
“At the exact same time, Russia might just take Belarusian armed forces staff and set them in Russian uniforms as a 1st stage,” he included.
The post EXPLAINED: Putin, Lukashenko Meeting – What Happened? appeared first on Ukraine Intelligence.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday frequented the eastern frontline city of Bakhmut, now the epicentre of preventing in Russia’s virtually 10-thirty day period invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky met armed service officials and handed out awards to Ukrainian servicemen, who have been holding back again a intense and months-extended Russian military services marketing campaign for the metropolis.
To get manage of the city, Russia is believed to have relied on mercenaries, jail conscripts and recently mobilised troopers to send waves of attacks versus Ukrainian positions.
The brutal trench warfare and artillery battles around Bakhmut — as soon as acknowledged for its vineyards and cavernous salt mines — have flattened huge portions of the town and its environment.
“I would like to wish there was light but the scenario is so hard that there is gentle and then there is no mild. The most important issue is that there mild is inside of,” Zelensky was cited as saying by point out media.
The check out arrives soon after Vladimir Putin reported previously Tuesday the circumstance in four territories of Ukraine that Russia statements to have annexed but does not command militarily was “particularly tough”.
Putin in September announced the annexation of four locations in the east and south of Ukraine following Moscow proxies held referendums there, denounced as a sham by Kyiv and the West.
His troops hardly ever thoroughly managed any of the territories and very last month were being pressured to retreat from the regional capital of the southern Kherson location soon after a months-very long Ukrainian counteroffensive.
“The predicament in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia areas is very hard,” Putin instructed the Russian security services on their qualified vacation.
Singling out people doing work in the “new regions of Russia”, he added that “the people dwelling there, the citizens of Russia, count on you, on your defense”.
– ‘Closely monitoring’ Belarus border –
Putin said that “optimum composure and focus of forces” was expected of Russia’s counterintelligence functions.
“It is important to strictly suppress the steps of international intelligence companies, to promptly identify traitors, spies and saboteurs,” he included.
Putin’s remarks arrived just one working day following his initial go to in numerous years to neighbouring Belarus for talks with strongman chief Alexander Lukashenko, who permitted Russian troops to use his state to initiate their invasion of Ukraine in February.
Ukraine said following the check out that there was a rising danger of yet another potential assault from Belarusian territory but that its forces had been having measures to prepare.
“We carefully watch the weapons becoming transferred from Russia,” explained Sergiy Nayev, commander of Ukraine’s joint forces.
“The degree of the armed forces danger is little by little expanding but we are also having ample steps.”
Putin denied programs to absorb Belarus in the course of the check out Monday but the two ex-Soviet allies vowed closer armed forces cooperation heading ahead.
The Ukrainian presidency in the meantime reported that Russian attacks throughout Ukraine had still left 5 persons lifeless which include 3 in the Donetsk location, the place Bakhmut is positioned, and in the Kherson region.
The war has taken a considerable toll on Ukraine’s economic climate and the IMF reported Monday it experienced authorised an financial monitoring programme which could assist Kyiv safe funding from donors, with the war-torn place needing extra than $40 billion this year.
The post Zelensky Visits Frontline City of Bakhmut appeared first on Ukraine Intelligence.
Federal prosecutors say two Queens men worked with Russians to charge cabbies $10 to jump the line at the airport. The scheme was an open secret among drivers competing for fares.
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An indictment says the scheme “enabled as many as 1,000 fraudulently expedited taxi trips a day.”Credit…Gabby Jones for The New York Times
By Benjamin Weiser and Nate Schweber
Russian hackers have carried out cyberattacks on hospitals, oil and gas companies, a presidential election and a massive fuel pipeline. But cyberwarfare reached a new battlefield on Tuesday when the authorities said that two Queens men working with Russians had been able to hack the electronic taxi dispatch system at Kennedy International Airport.
The goal? To allow taxi drivers in a holding lot waiting to pick up their next fare to jump the line — for a $10 fee.
The Queens men discussed their plans in messages to their Russian counterparts, a federal indictment charged. The defendants credited that nation’s hackers with great technical prowess.
“I know that the Pentagon is being hacked,” one of the defendants, Daniel Abayev, wrote. “So, can’t we hack the taxi industry?”
On Tuesday, Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, and John Gay, the inspector general of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, announced the indictments of Mr. Abayev and another man, Peter Leyman, each 48.
“The Port Authority has zero tolerance for bad actors violating the law at our facilities,” Mr. Gay said in a statement.
The scheme “enabled as many as 1,000 fraudulently expedited taxi trips a day,” the indictment said.
Each defendant was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. Mr. Abayev’s lawyer, Matthew Myers, said his client would plead not guilty.
“A proper investigation must be conducted before anyone jumps to conclusions about the involvement or role Mr. Abayev did or did not play in this international matter,” Mr. Myers said.
Mr. Leyman’s lawyer, Jacob Kaplan, declined to comment.
On Tuesday afternoon, drivers waiting in the airport holding lot, which was packed to capacity, suggested in interviews that the scheme had been an open secret.
Sasenarine Singh, a cabdriver since 1975, said he learned about it from indiscreet drivers waiting inside the lot.
Whenever he spotted a yellow cab sitting in a nearby gas station lot or side street, he said, he presumed the driver was part of what he called “the monkey business.”
Mr. Singh said he did not join in: “I come in the lot, I wait like a human being.”
Mr. Singh said he felt “most angry about it,” adding “they come and take a job away from you.”
Another driver, Alhousain Diallo, 34, said he knew about the scheme from other cabbies trying to recruit him in. Mr. Diallo said he turned everyone down. “It’s unfair to the other taxi drivers,” he said.
Nearly 30 years ago, the airport created a taxi dispatching system to control the mad jockeying of yellow cabs that cruised the roads surrounding the terminals in search of passengers. Drivers were directed to park in a new holding lot — now 5.4 acres — just north of the airport. Cabs would be dispatched in the order they arrived to terminals where they were needed, airport officials said at the time.
The Port Authority says that today, during peak periods, as many as 300 to 400 cabs an hour are dispatched, and that during early-morning hours, when passenger demand is lower, drivers may wait in the lot for two to three hours before being sent to a terminal to pick up a fare.
Those long waits gave the hackers an opening.
The $10 bite was a significant proportion of cabbies’ revenue: They are allowed to charge a flat fare of $52 for trips to Manhattan, plus surcharges during peak hours.
Members of the hacking scheme, including Mr. Abayev and Mr. Leyman, began exploring ways to gain access to the dispatch system in 2019, the indictment says. Eventually, they succeeded, and were able to move specific taxis to the front of the line, ahead of those that had arrived in the lot earlier.
The defendants communicated with drivers through large group chat threads, the indictment says, adding that when the conspirators gained access to the system on a particular day, a message would be sent: “Shop open.” When the hackers’ access was interrupted, another message would go out: “Shop closed.”
As the indictment describes the scheme, drivers paid the $10 fee in cash or through a mobile payment system. Sometimes, the fee was waived if the driver agreed to recruit other cabbies. To take advantage of the scheme, approaching drivers would send their taxi medallion numbers to the group chat threads and were told which terminal to go to in order to pick up a fare.
In early December 2019, just months after the scheme began, the indictment says, Mr. Abayev sent a voice message to one of the Russian hackers, saying they had charged for a record number of trips that day.
“This is exactly the level that I want to have every day,” Mr. Abayev said.
Mr. Abayev and Mr. Leyman moved more than $100,000 of their criminal proceeds to the hackers in Russia, the indictment says.
Mr. Abayev also repeatedly sent a message to large groups of drivers participating in the scheme instructing them how to avoid detection by law enforcement authorities.
“DEAR DRIVERS !!!! PLEASE !!!! Do not wait at the gas station in JFK,” the message said, listing other locations where drivers also should not wait. Drivers should be “very very” careful, the message cautioned, ending with two emojis of police officers.
At the holding lot on Tuesday, drivers who said they were unaware of the scheme expressed anger upon learning about it, lavishing their comments with profanities.
“Why did they do that?” said Ahmed Motaher, 54, a driver for more than 30 years.
He said he was relieved to learn about the arrests because he knew the many ways cabbies could be taken advantage of. “Cabdriver always get the banana,” he said.
Henry Fernandez, 50, who said he started driving only recently and that he was unaware of the hacking, added that he was not surprised to hear about “wiggles” in the industry.
“I don’t think it’s fair, I don’t think it’s nice,” he said.
However, one hour into an expected three-hour wait in the lot, he said he understood the temptation.
“I’m being honest, I’d give $10 to skip the line, I’d give $20,” he said. “I don’t blame them — they were smart.”
Sheelagh McNeill contributed research.
REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
- Russia continues to boost its Arctic military presence, according to satellite photos obtained by CNN.
- The photos show improvements being made to Russian radar bases and runways, CNN reported.
- NATO’s chief said Friday there is now “a significant Russian military build-up in the high north.”
Russia is growing its military presence in the Arctic even while it struggles in Ukraine, according to NATO and satellite photos obtained by CNN.
The photos show improvements made over the past year to Russian radar bases and runways.
Satellite company Maxar Technologies, which took the photos, told CNN that the images show ongoing work on radar stations in two locations: Olenegorsk, in northwest Russia close to Finland; and Vorkuta, north of the Arctic circle.
Thye also appeared to show work to build a radar system at Ostrovnoy, which is close to Russia’s borders with Finland and Norway in the northwest, Maxar said.
The company told CNN that works to add new equipment and protect old equipment had been completed at Tiksi, a site in the north, and there were runway improvements at two other bases.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told CNN on Friday that there is now “a significant Russian military build-up in the high north,” and that NATO had decided to “double its presence” in the area in response to recent tensions.
A Russian border mark is pictured at the Nagurskoye military base in Alexandra Land on the remote Arctic islands of Franz Josef Land, Russia, in March 2017.
REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
He said those bases were still important to Russia, even as the country is focusing much of its resources on its invasion of Ukraine.
“The shortest way from Russia to North America is over the Arctic North Pole. So the strategic importance of these areas has not changed because of the war in Ukraine,” he told CNN.
“We see Russia reopening old Soviet bases, military sites” he said, adding that the country is also “testing novel weapons in the Arctic and the high north.”
As Insider’s Christopher Woody previously reported, Russia has the world’s longest Arctic coastline, and has spent years refurbishing military bases and deploying more troops in the region. Russia also maintains nuclear-capable ships there.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank said last year that Russia is “re-militarizing the Arctic. Cold War-era bases are being restored, and new infrastructure is being built.”
Stoltenberg told CNN that NATO had now doubled its presence in the Baltic and North Seas after explosions earlier this year damaged the Nord Steam pipelines.
He said NATO was increasing its presence “partly to monitor, to have better situational awareness, but also to send a message of deterrence and readiness to protect this critical infrastructure.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
Jim Spellman; Pool / Getty Images
- Tesla stock has plunged about 67% from its peak in November 2021.
- Michael Burry of “The Big Short” fame warned it could plunge 80% or 90% at the time.
- The investor repeatedly warned Tesla shares were in a bubble and destined to crash.
Michael Burry, the prescient investor of “The Big Short” fame, must be feeling vindicated about his downbeat Tesla call.
The stock price of Elon Musk’s automaker has nosedived 67% from its peak in November 2021, slashing its market capitalization from above $1.2 trillion to below $440 billion as of Tuesday’s close.
Burry declared Tesla shares were in a bubble more than two years ago, and has repeatedly warned they would suffer a devastating crash.
The Scion Asset Management chief first revealed he was betting against the electric-vehicle company in December 2020, describing its stock price as “ridiculous.”
Tesla shares soared more than 700% in 2020 and surged in early 2021, a rise fueled by rock-bottom interest rates, zero-commission trading apps, and pandemic-era fiscal and monetary stimulus. Other factors were a boom in people playing the stock market while stuck at home, and a social-media frenzy around certain stocks.
“Well, my last Big Short got bigger and bigger and BIGGER too,” Burry tweeted in January 2021, referring to his famous bet against the mid-2000s housing bubble. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”
After bemoaning what he saw as reckless speculation during the GameStop saga, Burry said in February 2021 that a 90% plunge in Tesla’s stock price wouldn’t send shockwaves through the stock market. Instead, it “would trigger the end of an era for a certain type of investing,” he suggested.
In a follow-up tweet, he compared the hype around Tesla to the excitement during the dot-com and housing bubbles. The frenzy around Musk’s company was “remarkably similar to 1999 and 2006,” he said.
In further tweets, Burry explained why he believed Tesla was hugely overvalued, compared with its rivals. He pointed to its meager sales and slim profits, and described its battery technology as “inferior.”
Burry put his money where his mouth is by purchasing bearish put options against Tesla stock in the first quarter of 2021, and ramping up his bet in the second quarter. However, he exited the position over the next three months.
Still, the money manager doubled down on his criticism of Tesla in November 2021, when the stock hit a record high.
“Can $TSLA fall 80, 90%?” he tweeted. “After 2000, many high flyers did. $AMZN fell 95% 2 decades ago, changed its whole biz, and thrived much later.”
The Scion chief also pointed to Musk’s stock sales at the time as evidence that the Tesla CEO knew his company was overvalued. “Burry is a broken clock,” Musk fired back.
The investor took aim at Tesla again in April this year, after Netflix stock plunged on the back of fears that its subscriber growth was slowing down. “The competition came for Netflix, just like the competition is coming for Tesla,” Burry tweeted.
He returned to his punching bag in September, when Tesla stock was trading at more than double its current level.
“If I am tweeting this you can bet I am not short it,” he tweeted. “But I should be.”
Tesla has shed two-thirds of its market value for several reasons, including fears that Musk’s Twitter takeover has become a costly distraction. Other factors are a wider exodus from growth stocks in the face of inflation and soaring interest rates, and concerns about demand waning if a recession takes hold.
It’s worth noting that the stock more than doubled between December 2020, when Burry announced he was short, and its peak in November 2021. However, it’s now given up all of those gains and more, meaning his call is looking prophetic — at least for now.
Read the original article on Business Insider
John Lamparski/PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
- Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit gained a license for the first orbital space launch from the UK.
- The mission, based at Spaceport Cornwall, will send small satellites into orbit.
- A Boeing 747 named Cosmic Girl will release a rocket from underneath its wing after takeoff.
Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit has been granted its remaining licenses, setting the stage for the first orbital space launch to take off from British soil.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the UK’s space regulator, announced in a statement on Wednesday that Virgin Orbit was permitted to launch from Spaceport Cornwall in southern England. The company, founded by Branson, had “taken all reasonable steps to ensure safety risks arising from launch activities are as low as reasonably practicable,” the CAA said.
Issuing the final license to Virgin Orbit for the UK’s first orbital satellite launch was another “major milestone,” the CAA said in the statement.
Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl.
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
The UK’s transport secretary, Mark Harper, who agreed to grant the license, said in the statement that the launch “reinforces our position as a leading space nation as we look to the future of spaceflight, which can spur growth and innovation across the sector, as well as creating thousands of jobs and apprenticeships.”
The launch was scheduled to happen on December 14, but the date was pushed back because of regulatory and technical challenges, Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart told media outlets at the time. Virgin Orbit didn’t respond to Insider’s request for comment about the new launch date.
Virgin Orbit has named the mission “Start Me Up” after a song by The Rolling Stones.
The launch will involve a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named Cosmic Girl, flying 35,000 feet into the sky. It will release Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket stored under the wing. The rocket will then release a batch of satellites into orbit.
Richard Branson.
Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
Virgin Orbit, which provides launch services for small satellites, is part of Branson’s Virgin Group, which offers a wide range of amenities such as healthcare and airlines. Another part of the group is Virgin Galactic, a commercial-spaceflight company.
Branson was a passenger on Virgin Galactic’s first crewed flight to the edge of space in July 2021. The VSS Unity, a rocket-powered plane, lifted off from Virgin Galactic’s facilities at Spaceport America in New Mexico and flew more than 50 miles above the Earth.
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Happy hump day. Dan DeFrancesco in the Big Apple, and I’m loving this New York story about the internet’s newest obsession with nepotism in Hollywood. Wall Street, obviously, is no stranger to nepotism either, which made me curious: What’s your favorite family lineage in finance? Drop me a line with some suggestions.
Today, we’ve got stories on the latest in the FTX debacle, layoffs at Tom Brady’s crypto company, and why your chances of getting a new car for the holidays are looking slim.
But first, Wells Fargo heads to the penalty box, again.
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Charles Scharf is the CEO of Wells Fargo.
1. Wells Fargo faces the music.
The regulators have once again come knocking at Wells Fargo, and it ain’t pretty.
Wells Fargo was ordered to pay $2 billion back to customers and pay a $1.7 billion civil penalty by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for illegal activity involving auto loans, mortgages, and deposit accounts that impacted over 16 million accounts.
Here’s a rundown of what the CFPB investigation uncovered:
- Wrongfully repossessing borrowers’ vehicles, in addition to incorrectly charging fees and interest on auto loans.
- Denying changes to mortgages that led to wrongful foreclosures on some customers’ homes.
- Surprise overdraft fees, which occurred even though customers had enough money in their accounts.
- Freezing access to accounts due to a faulty automated filter, which led to customers being locked out of their account for, on average, two weeks.
And while $3.7 billion is quite a large amount of money, it’s not unfamiliar territory for the bank.
Less than three years ago, Wells paid $3 billion to settle an investigation by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission around its fake-account scandal, which involved employees setting up millions of fraudulent accounts for customers without their knowledge in an effort to meet unrealistic sales targets.
The latest fine won’t come as a complete shock to the bank. Wells has already paid out $1.3 billion to 11 million accounts related to auto-loan-servicing issues, the CFPB said. Charlie Scharf, the bank’s CEO, understood the mess he was getting when he took over the bank in 2019. (Check out our org chart on the changes that Scharf has made among Wells’ leadership since he took over.)
But Scharf still needs to contend with an asset cap imposed by the Federal Reserve that limits the bank’s growth. And as the fines continue to pile up, some will ask the question: Can Wells ever straighten itself out?
For Scharf’s part, this is all part of a transformation that needed to take place at the bank.
“We have made significant progress over the last three years and are a different company today,” Scharf said in a statement. “We remain committed to doing the right thing for our customers and working closely with our regulators and others to deal appropriately with any issue that arises.”
But others, including the regulators themselves, might beg to differ.
“Wells Fargo is a corporate recidivist,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra told reporters on a call Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal, adding that the settlement “should not be read as a sign that Wells Fargo has moved past its longstanding problems.”
Click here to read more about Wells Fargo’s $3.7 billion settlement with the CFPB.
In other news:
Tom Brady reacts after an attempted trick play results in an interception.
2. Your (PE-backed) doctor will now see you. Private-equity firms see a big opportunity buying up companies staffing hospitals’ emergency rooms with doctors. But the investment hasn’t come without controversy, the Financial Times reports. Inside PE’s push into healthcare.
3. From “The Great Resignation” to “Quiet Quitting,” these are the trends that defined the workplace in 2022. Experts broke down what was a wild year in the labor market, and made some predictions for what to expect in 2023. Here’s what the workplace will look like next year. And while we’re at, here are some picks from VCs on the hottest future-of-work trends in 2023.
4. So about that donation… FTX is trying to claw back donations and political contributions as it looks to put a dent in the massive amount of money it owes creditors. Meanwhile, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried appeared to be caught taking a little tiger snooze during his extradition hearing. And a small New England town where an FTX exec bought $6 million worth of real estate and restaurants is getting worried.
5. It wasn’t all bad news for startups this year. There were 174 US startups that reached unicorn status (a valuation of at least $1 billion) at some point this year. And while some have already seen those drop, and more could follow, it’s still an interesting look at the state of the startup community. From film studio A24 to cloud-storage provider Wasabi Technologies, these are the 174 US startups that hit the unicorn mark.
6. An NFT platform cofounded by Tom Brady just laid off dozens of employees. Autograph, whose board included the recording artist known as the Weeknd, closed earlier this year a $170 million Series B round that was led by Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins. More on the cuts here.
7. THL just bought a majority stake in a company that helps marketers manage promotional materials. The PE firm agreed to buy a stake in Bynder, which works with companies like Spotify, Puma, and KLM, in a deal valuing it at over $600 million. Here’s why THL wants in on the digital-asset-management space.
8. There’s parties, and then there’s renting out an entire island in the Maldives and goodie bags with Dior jewelry. The CEO of a concierge company for VIPs explains what it’s like planning parties with multimillion-dollar budgets. Take a peek inside how the ultra-wealthy party.
9. Wellness perks are all the rage in luxury homes, but not the kind you think. The wealthy aren’t as interested in gyms and swimming pools these days. Instead, they want plunge pools and infrared saunas in their high-end houses. Two brokers featured on “Million Dollar Listing” break down what’s in at luxury homes.
10. This December might not actually be one to remember. Sellers of big bows for cars, which became a staple of popular culture thanks to Lexus’ holiday commercials, have seen sales drops this year. That could be indicative of fewer cars being purchased as a gift this season, The Wall Street Journal reports. Here’s why you should get comfortable with your current ride.
Curated by Dan DeFrancesco in New York. Feedback or tips? Email ddefrancesco@insider.com, tweet @dandefrancesco, or connect on LinkedIn. Edited by Jeffrey Cane (tweet @jeffrey_cane) in New York and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.
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