For much of the 2000s, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s serial governments and Hamas’s leaders have found each other useful for their own purposes, a The Washington Post analysis explains.
LaunchFacing threat of Trump’s return, Ukrainians ramp up homegrown arms industry
“It will be very difficult for us to fight alone with such a huge monster. But the civilized world has two options: to help us restore our 1991 borders, or to throw away all claims of shared values and just watch us bleed,” Serhiy Prytula says.
LaunchPutin gets caught in his own trap, with Russians not caring enough to save him
“After spending years cultivating public apathy, the Russian president found his people indifferent to his fate,” Anne Applebaum writes.
Launch‘Something was badly wrong’: When the U.S. realized Russia was actually invading Ukraine
A must-read from Politico: “A first-ever oral history of how top U.S. and Western officials saw the warning signs of a European land war, their frantic attempts to stop it — and the moment Putin actually crossed the border.”
LaunchThe looming Republican dispute over Ukraine
Recently elected Republicans are ready to fire up the base with anger over billions spent to protect allies overseas.
LaunchTranslated excerpts of intercepted phone calls by Russian soldiers shed light on failure of Putin’s plans
“In phone calls to friends and relatives at home, Russian soldiers gave damning insider accounts of battlefield failures and civilian executions, excoriating their leaders just weeks into the campaign to take Kyiv.,” The New York Times reports.
LaunchBattle for Donbas will be decisive, former British commander says
“Donbas could put the Russians back on a successful footing or bring them to what is essentially a defeat,” says General Sir Richard Barrons, the former commander of the UK’s Joint Forces Command.
LaunchWatch President Joe Biden’s speech in Warsaw responding to Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine
Watch President Biden deliver remarks on the united efforts of the free world to support the people of Ukraine, hold Russia accountable for its brutal war, and defend a future that is rooted in democratic principles.
LaunchFitch downgrades Russia’s credit rating amid Ukraine crisis, says default is ‘imminent’
“They can’t get their hands on money or securities or goods or services. They are outcast and they will over the shorter term freeze to death,” financial services veteran George Ball said in comments to The Washington Post.
Launch“Financial nuclear bomb” falling on Russia as a consequence of Putin’s aggression, ex-Russian central bank governor says
“The war came and the money ran out — the money ran out sooner than the war ended,” said Sergei Aleksashenko.
LaunchPutin is making NATO stronger, whether he starts a war in Ukraine or not
“The Russian leader may have thought NATO was in disarray and the U.S. in retreat, but we’ve already seen it’s quite the opposite,” David Rothkopf writes in a piece for The Daily Beast.
LaunchIn Russia, the pandemic is beating Putin
“A deadly virus can’t be ignored, jailed, exiled or co-opted — nor can it be locked down without great economic cost. That puts President Vladimir Putin of Russia in a bind. The pandemic, perhaps his hardiest foe to date, has starkly revealed the limits of his power,” writes Alexey Kovalev, the investigations editor at Meduza, an independent Russian news outlet.
LaunchBiden, allies frustrated with media’s hawkish coverage of Afghanistan withdrawal
“After years of ignoring Afghanistan, many close to the Biden White House — and the president himself — feel some major outlets are adopting a pro-war stance,” Huffington Post’s Daniel Marans writes.
LaunchGlobal approval of the United States has rebounded under Biden, survey finds
“The United States’ favorability rating grew at least 23 percentage points from last year in France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, and a majority of respondents in all four view the country positively,” The Washington Post reported, summarizing findings from a new survey by Pew Research.
LaunchGaza conflict stokes “identity crisis” for young American Jews
“A new generation is confronting the region’s longstanding conflict in a very different context, with very different pressures, from their parents’ and grandparents’ generations,” The New York Times reports.
Launch“I feel sorry for Americans”: A baffled world watches the U.S.
The New York Times reports on the concern and consternation many people feel around the world as the 2020 presidential election enters its final weeks.
LaunchAs neocon John Bolton tries to instigate a conflict with Iran, a reminder that MADtv saw this move coming back in 2007
As neocon John Bolton tries to instigate a conflict with Iran, here’s a reminder that MADtv saw this move coming back in 2007. Watch and laugh… if you can.
LaunchCambodians who fled to Seattle ‘shocked’ as details emerge of Republican Doug Ericksen’s $500K deal with regime
Donald Trump booster and Tim Eyman pal Doug Ericksen has teamed up with disgraced former State Representative Jay Rodne to promote the interests of Cambodia’s authoritarian Hun Sen regime in the United States. The pair have a deal with the regime worth half a million dollars.
LaunchAs Gaza fighting intensifies, Israelis and Palestinians bury their dead
“As much as they loathe one another, they are also codependent: Hamas uses its defiance of Israel to portray itself as the true voice of Palestinian resistance, and Israel’s right-wing government exploits Gaza’s unruliness to argue that it lacks a partner for peace talks.”
LaunchTiny, wealthy Qatar goes its own way, and pays for it
“Qatar’s citizens, today numbering 300,000, have become very rich, very fast. Their average income of $125,000 is the highest in the world, over twice that of the United States or Saudi Arabia. The state cocoons them with free land, cushy jobs and American universities. Gleaming supercars and limousines cruise along Doha’s palm-lined corniche. Poor Qataris are hard to find.”
LaunchBusinessman paints a terrifying and complex picture of Vladimir Putin’s Russia
Required reading from NPR.
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