World
Former US Marine Paul Whelan Released From Russian Prison
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan are among more than a dozen prisoners released by Russia in exchange for Russian prisoners held by the US and other countries in Europe, according to US officials on Thursday.
Under the accord, 16 political prisoners, journalists, and others, including five Germans, will be exchanged for eight Russians imprisoned in the United States, Germany, Norway, Slovenia, and Poland. Among the Russians are Vadim Krasikov, a convicted Russian state assassin in German jail, and three other Russians in US captivity.
President Biden described the exchange deal as “a diplomatic triumph” and hailed partners who collaborated with the US on it. “This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend on,” according to his statement.
“Not since the Cold War has there been a similar number of individuals exchanged in this way,” said U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan, adding the exchange was the “culmination of many rounds of complex, painstaking negotiations over many, many months.”
Later on Thursday, Sullivan stated that President Biden will strive to build on his success in attempting to liberate Marc Fogel, a US citizen still detained in Russia, as well as other Americans incarcerated in Syria, Afghanistan, and other locations.
Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan Whelan Head Home
Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan Whelan are among those returning from Russia, as are Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who works for US-funded Radio Free Europe, and Russian journalist and dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, a permanent resident of the United States.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked the Turkish government for “providing a location for the safe return of these individuals to the United States and Germany.”
The Turkish government said in a statement that it had played a key role and “conducted the most extensive prisoner exchange operation of recent times in Ankara,” involving not only Whelan and Gershkovich, but also Rico Krieger, a German mercenary imprisoned in Belarus; Russian dissident Ilya Yashin; and Vadim Krasikov, a colonel in Russia’s internal security service.
According to the statement, MIT, Turkey’s intelligence arm, carried out the operation.
Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Moscow in March 2023, becoming the first American journalist to face espionage charges since the Cold War. Last month, a Russian court sentenced him to 16 years in prison after the Russian prosecutor accused him of collaborating with the CIA to gather intelligence on a Russian arms manufacturer.
Gershkovich, his company, and the US government all refuted the claims, and the US believed Gershkovich was unlawfully jailed.
In a statement, Wall Street Journal editor in chief Emma Tucker stated, “We can finally say, in unison, ‘Welcome home, Evan.'”
Paul Whelan, a Marine Corps veteran with US, British, Irish, and Canadian citizenship, was arrested in Russia in December 2018 on espionage charges that he vigorously rejected. On June 15, 2020, a Moscow court condemned Paul Whelan to sixteen years in jail.
Wrongfully imprisoned in Russia
In a statement issued on Thursday, his family stated that “Paul was held hostage for 2,043 days.” His case was that of an American in danger, kept captive by the Russian Federation as part of their heinous attempt to use humans as pawns to extort concessions… While wrongfully imprisoned in Russia, Paul lost his home.
He lost his job. We don’t know how someone overcomes their losses and returns to society after being a captive. We appreciate everyone’s efforts to aid Paul while he was overseas. We hope you will continue to help Paul by giving him the space and privacy he requires as he rebuilds his life. It is Paul’s story to tell, and he will tell it when he is ready.”
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy hailed the release of Whelan and Kara-Murza, both of whom are British citizens. “Mr Kara-Murza is a dedicated opponent of Putin’s regime,” Lammy said in a statement. “He should never have been in prison in the first place: the Russian authorities imprisoned him in life-threatening conditions because he courageously told the truth about the war in Ukraine.”
According to Stephen Capus, president and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Alsu Kurmasheva’s employer, “Alsu was targeted because she was an American journalist who was simply trying to care for a family member inside Russia.”
She did nothing wrong, and she certainly did not deserve the unfair treatment and forced separation from her loving family and colleagues. Alsu’s release strengthens our resolve to free three other RFE/RL journalists imprisoned in Belarus and Russian-occupied Crimea. We will not rest until all of our unjustly detained journalists return home safely. Journalism isn’t a crime.”
Pavel Butorin, Kurmasheva’s spouse, told NPR that Thursday was “the happiest day of our lives.”
The CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Jodie Ginsberg, stated that Kurmasheva and Gershkovich were “detained and sentenced on spurious charges intended to punish them for their journalism and stifle independent reporting.” Their release is great, but it does not change the fact that Russia continues to repress the free press.
According to President Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the president spoke with the liberated inmates on the tarmac in Ankara on Thursday as they waited to board their flight back. He stated that Biden and Vice President Harris will be present at Joint Base Andrews on Thursday night, when a jet carrying Whelan, Gershkovich, and Kurmasheva would land.
Kurmasheva’s husband said that her two girls “have shown incredible courage” during her incarceration. “They have actually become the best supporters of the free Alsu cause.
Not only will Alsu see that they have gotten taller, but he will also discover two young women who are more mature and firm about their own rights to free speech and expression as Americans. And it is primarily due to them, my daughters, that her family has survived this trauma.”
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World
Irish PM’s Party Support Slides Ahead of Friday’s General Election
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris’ Fine Gael party is showing no signs of stabilization in the latest opinion poll before Friday’s general election, which, if repeated, would likely result in the center-right-led coalition returning to power.
Harris’ campaign gaffe, in which he appeared to dismiss an angry disability sector worker during a supermarket meeting, has negatively impacted Fine Gael’s support in the past week.
A care worker complaining about the disability service was captured on camera as Harris walked away. The exchange has been the subject of his numerous apologies, and a video has since gone viral.
Fianna Fail, Harris’ primary coalition partner, maintained its position as the most popular party at 21%, consistent with the most recent Red C poll conducted at the commencement of the campaign. Conversely, the opposition party, Sinn Fein, increased its support by two points to 20%.
In the Business Post/Red C poll, Fine Gael experienced a 2 percentage point decline to 20%. However, this figure was higher than the 19% it declined in a separate survey on Monday, resulting from a succession of campaign missteps that had eroded its pre-election lead.
If those figures are broadly replicated on Friday, two of the three primary parties must collaborate to establish a coalition government. The most recent election in 2020 yielded comparable outcomes.
Election of Sinn Fein
Mary Lou McDonald, the president of the Sinn Fein Party, is optimistic that “momentum” among youth voters will enable the party to gain power; however, there are still some challenges to overcome.
In 2018, McDonald, 55, succeeded Gerry Adams as Sinn Fein president, becoming the first leader of the leftist party who was not associated with Northern Ireland’s Troubles, the decades-long sectarian conflict over British authority.
Last year, Sinn Fein gained over 30% of the survey vote and appeared to be on the brink of becoming the first left-wing government in Ireland since Ireland achieved independence from Britain in 1921.
Sinn Fein and the other major parties, the dominant center-right coalition of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, are polling approximately 20% each.
Simon Harris, the outgoing taoiseach of Fine Gael, and Micheal Martin, the leader of Fianna Fail, have been perceived as less engaging with electors than McDonald.
Change of Government
Ciara Daly, a 24-year-old digital media worker in Dublin, stated to AFP, “Sinn Fein are the only party that can provide us with a change of government. I believe it is well past due after 100 years of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.”
“The housing crisis, homelessness, all my friends are emigrating, if Sinn Fein don’t get into government… what am I going to do next because I can’t stay in this country.”
Despite not occupying its seats, Sinn Fein is the largest party in Northern Ireland in the UK parliament in London. It is also the largest party at the council level and in the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly.
Earlier this year, Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Fein’s deputy leader, became the first Irish nationalist minister of the British region.
In the interim, an exit poll scheduled to be conducted immediately after the conclusion of voting at 2200 GMT on Friday will provide a definitive assessment of the results before the primary results are announced over the weekend.
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World
Biden Escalates Ukraine War With Long-Range Missiles
The Kremlin announced on Monday that President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia with US military long-range missiles is “fuel to the fire” and will exacerbate international tensions.
Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to employ US military long-range missiles to strike deep within Russia has raised concerns about growing tensions, with many fearing that this decision could lead to world conflict.
On Monday, with less than two months remaining in office, President Joe Biden authorized American-provided Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike deep within Russia.
“It is obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps and they have been talking about this, to continue adding fuel to the fire and provoking further escalation of tensions around this conflict,” said Peskov, the spokesman for the president.
Peskov reminded journalists of a September statement by President Vladimir Putin, who stated that enabling Ukraine to target Russia would dramatically raise the stakes.
It would alter “the very nature of the conflict dramatically,” Putin stated. This would mean that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries would be at war with Russia.”
Peskov asserted that Western countries that deliver longer-range weaponry also provide targeting services to Kyiv. “This fundamentally changes the modality of their involvement in the conflict,” he said.
Ukraine War Escalation
In June, Putin threatened that if NATO permitted Ukraine to utilize the arsenal of its partners to attack Russian territory, Moscow would send longer-range weapons to others to strike Western targets.
“The Westerners supply weapons to Ukraine and say: ‘We do not control anything here anymore and it does not matter how they are used.'” Putin had said. “We can also say, ‘We supplied something to someone — and now we have no control over anything.'” “And let them think about it.”
Putin again emphasized Moscow’s willingness to deploy nuclear weapons if it perceived a threat to its sovereignty.
Biden’s decision will “mean the direct involvement of the United States and its satellites in military action against Russia, as well as a radical change in the essence and nature of the conflict,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry stated.
The new policy has unpredictable consequences. ATACMS, with a range of roughly 300 kilometers (190 miles), can travel deep behind Ukraine’s 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, although their range is modest compared to other types of ballistic and cruise missiles.
President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20, has not responded, but he won the election on promises to stop the conflict, and some people close to him have decried the action as a hazardous escalation.
Missile Decision Sparks Anger
The Military Industrial Complex appears to want to start World War III before my father has a chance to restore peace and rescue lives. We need to lock in those $Trillions. Life be damned!! Imbeciles!” Donald Trump Jr., the President-elect’s son, posted on X
“On his way out of office, Joe Biden is dangerously trying to start WWIII by authorizing Ukraine to use U.S. long-range missiles against Russia,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on X. “The American people gave a mandate on November 5 against these exact American last decisions.”
Rebekah Koffler, a former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” speculated that the stories were a “trial balloon to disrupt Trump” and that Biden may not have authorized the ATACMS strikes yet.
According to Dani Belo, PhD, Director of Security and International Relations at Global Policy Horizons Research Lab, Ukraine’s ability to currently hit Russian territory has the potential to escalate the war with Russia.
However, Donald Trump’s victory is likely to moderate the escalation.
There is speculation that Donald Trump’s administration would restrict military hardware deliveries to Ukraine, putting political pressure on Kyiv to resolve the crisis. This implies Ukraine has no motivation to escalate now and lose its fighting capability in a matter of months.
Russia sees no reason to escalate the situation at this time. Moscow expects that Trump’s administration will try to finish the war soon, so the Kremlin will likely take a wait-and-see approach until the new presidential administration takes office without significantly escalating the conflict. As a result, any escalation is unlikely.
Source: AP
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World
A Court Filing Reveals Elon Musk Flatly Rejected OpenAI’s ICO in 2018.
(VOR News) – Elon Musk, the billionaire and CEO of Tesla, claims in a subsequent court filing that was submitted on November 14 that he was successful in stopping OpenAI from doing an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2018.
According to the filing requirements, this information was disclosed.
Musk and his legal team have claimed that two of OpenAI’s founders, Greg Brockman and Sam Altman, tried unsuccessfully to create a token in early 2018 to help the company grow. To the best of our knowledge, this was the founders’ intention.
Elon Musk accurately described the scenario.
Elon Musk made the remark during the pertinent time period, according to the lawsuit’s accusations.
This, in his opinion, would lead to a significant decline in trust in OpenAI and everyone involved in the initial coin offering (ICO). These statements are extracted from his initial declaration.
A unique project backed by Altman, Worldcoin launched a token twenty-three years ago with the goal of creating digital identification for verified individuals.
Furthermore, the company in charge of token distribution was Worldcoin. Through the use of the token, Worldcoin was able to authenticate individual identities.
When OpenAI was first founded, it was a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating safe artificial general intelligence (AGI).
In this context, the acronym AGI stands for artificial global intelligence. “Musk has continuously voiced concern about the grave threat that these sophisticated systems pose to humanity,” his attorney wrote in the complaint. These sophisticated technologies represent a serious threat to humankind.
“Musk remains apprehensive regarding this threat.” “Musk regards these threats with the utmost seriousness.” “Elon Musk has harbored these concerns for an extended period.”
This led to Musk joining OpenAI’s board of directors and continuing to serve as co-chair of the board. Furthermore, he was appointed to that board of directors post.
Elon Musk contributed $44 million to the enterprise.
OpenAI declared in a March 5th news release that it was imperative that the company adopt a profit-making structure in order to obtain the necessary funding to achieve its objectives. In order to enable OpenAI to fulfill its objectives, this transition was necessary.
According to both the OpenAI statement and the amended filing, Elon Musk advocated for the combination of OpenAI and Tesla to help the artificial intelligence startup with its financial issues.
The aforementioned measures were implemented to mitigate the challenges that the organization was facing at that specific moment. Musk submitted his resignation as an OpenAI employee in February 2018.
He founded his own artificial intelligence company, which he named XAI, in the ensuing years. His efforts directly led to the achievement he achieved.
We are deeply disappointed that our friendship with someone we have always held in the highest respect has deteriorated.
As we started to make significant strides toward OpenAI’s goal on our own, this person, who had previously motivated us to achieve greater heights, abruptly predicted that we would fail, established a rival company, and filed a lawsuit against us, according to the group’s press release.
In August of this year, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEOs, Altman and Brockman, claiming that they had violated federal RICO statutes, engaged in unfair competition, and committed fraud. OpenAI is the target of legal action taken by Elon Musk.
According to Elon Musk, they have engaged in additional illegal activity. Microsoft was named as one of the defendants in the dispute in the updated complaint, which was submitted on November 14.
It’s being presented as a case at the moment. Microsoft and OpenAI started working together in 2019, and Microsoft committed $1 billion in the partnership.
In July 2023, OpenAI’s native cryptocurrency, Worldcoin (WLD), was made available to the general public. Not too long ago, an article published by The Block disclosed this knowledge. When the market closed on November 15 at 11:36 p.m. Eastern Time (16:36 UTC), the price of a share of WLD was $2.21.
SOURCE: TB
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