The whole version of the Congressional oversight hearing.
WATCH LIVE:House Judiciary oversight hearing for the FBI cyber division
Streamed live 6 hours ago
29 Mar, 2022 19:33
Ukrainian sources claim missile strike on Russia – media
Ballistic missile reportedly struck ammunition depot in Russia’s Belgorod, north of Ukraine’s Kharkov
Explosions that lit up the sky south of the Russian city of Belgorod on Tuesday evening were caused by a Ukrainian ballistic missile striking an ammunition depot, Ukrainian sources claimed. While there are no reports of civilian casualties, four Russian soldiers may have been injured in the strike.
Video of the explosion, followed by secondary blasts, started making rounds online late on Tuesday local time. Initial reports speculated someone at the depot mishandled munitions, but Ukrainian media soon claimed that the 19th Missile Brigade of their military had fired a Tochka-U tactical ballistic missile at the warehouse.
Regional head Vyacheslav Gladkov told Russian media that the explosion happened in the hamlet of Red October, about halfway between Belgorod and the Ukrainian border.
“There are no casualties among the residents, and no damage to the hamlet. Emergency services are on the scene. We’ll know the cause of the events later,” Gladkov said in a statement. Secondary explosions reportedly stopped after about half an hour.
Four servicemen were injured when “a projectile hit” a military installation in the Belgorod region, according to the news agency TASS.
The strike comes after Russia announced it would “drastically reduce” its military activity in northern Ukraine, on the approaches to Kiev and Chernigov, as a sign of good faith for peace talks with Kiev. Delegations from both sides met in Istanbul, Turkey earlier on Tuesday and set out their parameters for negotiations.
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told reporters that the primary objective of the military operation had been achieved and that it would now focus on the “liberation of Donbass,” referring to the two breakaway regions that Moscow has recognized as independent states.
https://www.rt.com/russia/552941-belgorod-rocket-strike-explosion/
29 Mar, 2022 15:50
==Macron goes on campaign trail, gets hammered over fuel prices
Amid war in Ukraine and spiraling costs at home, the French president is facing an angry electorate==
Macron goes on campaign trail, gets hammered over fuel prices
Emmanuel Macron meets voters during his first campaign journey in Dijon, France, March 28, 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron took to the streets of Dijon on Monday ahead of next month’s elections, and was hammered over the rising cost of fuel and electricity. He defended his government’s efforts to keep prices down, but insisted that he has “no magical answer” to the problem, and that the public will “without a doubt” have to deal with some hardship. (there they go again, the citizens will have to deal with the pain of their bad decision and money laundering)
Since Russian troops entered Ukraine over a month ago, Macron has portrayed himself as one of Europe’s foremost geopolitical players: Speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin personally, doing photoshoots in a military sweatshirt after negotiations, andlast week announcing a yet-to-happen operation to evacuate the Ukrainian city of Mariupol “in the coming days.”
However, with the first round of presidential elections coming up on April 10, Macron headed to the city of Dijon on Monday to meet voters – some of whom were more concerned with domestic issues than a conflict 2,000km away.
“Put yourself in the shoes of an ordinary French family, it’s terrible,” one man told the president. “It’s horrible to do the shopping, to fill up your tank. I used to get decent pay, I was able to go on holiday, save money. But that’s no longer the case, I’ve become a low-income worker!
“How can you fill a tank with fuel if it costs €140 ($155),” the man continued, “it’s monstrous!”
Macron’s answer was firm. “I have no magical answer,” he replied. “The increase in fixed costs is a tragedy for the middle classes.”
The president defended his government’s allocation of €2 billion ($2.2 billion) toward fuel rebates – a spending hike that gives motorists around 15 cents off a liter of fuel, and boasted of similar moves to offset rising electricity costs – which had already soared to record levels long before Russia’s offensive in Ukraine sent shockwaves through global energy markets.
“If you take electricity, if we hadn’t taken measures your bill wouldn’t just have increased like gas, it would have doubled,” Macron told the man. “When there is an increase in the prices of everything at the world level, and also a war begins, which complicates everything, the prices of everything skyrocket.”
“You are talking to me about Ukraine, but what if tomorrow Putin decides to turn off the gas valve for us? What then?” the man countered. “It’s easy to say, ‘Reduce the temperature in your homes by one or two degrees,’ but I already did it, without waiting for someone to tell me this.”
“Without a doubt, this will have to be done,” Macron admitted, echoing similar comments by officials in Germany. There, Baden-Wurttemberg Minister of Agriculture and Consumer Protection Peter Hauk told citizens to get used to wearing sweaters to deal with the cold after he backed a complete ban on Russian oil and gas imports.
Rising fuel prices have rocked Macron’s entire presidency, with a tax hike in 2018 triggering years of near-weekly ‘Yellow Vest’ protests that grew into a show of dissatisfaction with his neoliberal economic policies. Despite persistently low approval ratings and the current spike in living costs, however, Macron is projected to win the first round of elections next month.
If successful, he would likely face off against right-wing stalwart Marine Le Pen, a showdown that polls show him winning, albeit less comfortably than he did in 2017.
https://www.rt.com/news/552929-macron-fuel-prices-campaign/
28 Mar, 2022 21:58
Russia ditches key demands in Ukraine peace talks – FT
The reported softening of Moscow’s negotiating position comes ahead of Russia-Ukraine talks in Turkey
Russia ditches key demands in Ukraine peace talks – FT
Moscow has apparently dropped several key demands in the painstaking Ukraine peace talks, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing “four people briefed on the discussions.”
The newspaper didn't clarify whether its alleged sources are from the Russian or Ukrainian side, or neither.
According to the report, Moscow is now prepared to let Ukraine “join the European Union if it remains militarily non-aligned as part of ongoing ceasefire negotiations” and drops its NATO aspirations.
“The draft ceasefire document does not contain any discussion of three of Russia’s initial core demands – ‘denazification’, ‘demilitarization’, and legal protection for the Russian language in Ukraine,” the newspaper asserted, adding thatits sources spoke “under the condition of anonymitybecause the matter is not yet finalized.”
The reported shift in Moscow’s position comes ahead of a new round of Russia-Ukraine talks scheduled to take place in Turkey on Tuesday. Moscow and Kiev have held three rounds of in-person talks and further contacts via video link, but the exchanges have failed to yield any tangible result apart from the two sides finding some common ground on humanitarian corridors and evacuation of civilians from combat zones.
In mid-March, the Financial Times reported an imminent breakthrough in the talks, claiming that the two sides had drafted a 15-point peace plan. The report, however, was refuted by both Moscow and Kiev, while no actual breakthrough occurred. The new claims by the newspaper have not prompted any official reaction so far.
The latest prediction appeared to directly contradict fresh statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who told Serbian media that both “denazification” and “demilitarization” remain among the main goals of Moscow.
“It’s in our interest that these negotiations yield a result. A result that will meet our principal goals,” the top diplomat stated, adding that recent events in Ukraine have clearly shown that hard-line nationalist fighters “are exploring Nazi warfare style in practice.”
“If you have seen how the Nazi Ukrainians from the Azov or Aidar battalions treat Russian prisoners of war now, I think everything becomes clear to you,” Lavrov said, referring to gruesome footage, purporting to show the torture and execution of Russian POWs by the Ukrainians that emerged over the weekend.
RT calls out lies, without saying they are lying
https://www.rt.com/russia/552866-moscow-ukraine-peace-talks/
Benny
Sen. Grassley Unveils Explosive New Docs That 'Undeniably' Show Strong Links Between Biden Family and Communist China.
Grassley is pissed and keeps on asking over and over, with every point he made "is this Russian Disinformation that the liberal media accused Senator Johnson and myself of?"
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1508890411489705985?s=20&t=MvxuF0q38s1zKP6U7KUl_g
BennyThis is legitimately the funniest thing I’ve ever seen
Damn this is funny!
I took hours tucking this thing in! kekkity
https://t.co/AZE9hyjLOI
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1508620162395779081?s=20&t=MvxuF0q38s1zKP6U7KUl_g
kek, you guys are cracking me up today
saving that for sure
I thought so too when I read it, especially when Russia was pulling back troops to negotiate. It's called Bad Faith actions by Ukraine, no more mercy for them