No individual has a chance against the resources that a state aggressor can deploy.

The US also claims the Espionage Act applies to everyone [globally.]..so a Frenchman can be extradited to the US based on that law. Transnational repression must not become the norm - PACE must act.

Journalism is not a crime. It is a pillar of a free and informed society... Freedom of expression is at a dark crossroads. Let us commit to doing our part so that the pursuit of truth will live on, and the voices of the many are not silenced by the interests of the few.

“It's extremely difficult to know 5 years from now where we are going to be in AI. There's one thing that is certain, whoever resolves the issue of power … power capacity will be dominating this sector.

This is not just a short-term play, this is a long-term play, and you have to be measured. It's not a sprint. It's a marathon. The AI boom will be revolutionary."

Ugledar served as a key [NATO-fortified] “fortress town,” covering the approaches to the logistics hubs supporting the southern Donbass defense. Russian forces had a chance to capture it in March 2022, but likely lacked the necessary strength at that time. The vacant high-rise buildings were eventually taken over by advancing Ukrainian troops, who began mining the area and preparing the town for defense.

Without taking Ugledar, any advance from the south was impossible. The town is elevated and filled with high-rise buildings, providing a clear view for miles over the surrounding open steppe. Additionally, Ukrainian forces used the tall buildings of nearby mines for observation posts and drone operations, while the basements of the high-rises and the mines themselves provided reliable cover for infantry.

By 2022, the Russian command had already realized that Ugledar was not only holding back their advance but also disrupting Russian logistics throughout southern Ukraine...

I came to Moscow in 1995 under Yeltsin. I couldn’t believe what I saw. The Wild West. Hundreds of people living across from train stations, burning fires, trying to survive. Cops officers taking bribes right in front of me in a taxi I was in. In October 2015, I returned to Moscow again. Exactly 20 years later. And I left Berlin, and I thought I was still in Western Europe.

A clean, orderly city. Why? What happened? It was no longer a crazy country. Vladimir Putin. He restored the sovereignty of this country, the dignity of Russia, and that angered a lot of people on Wall Street and in Washington.
That led us to this invasion, the overthrow of Yanukovych.

Name me one revolution in which a democratically elected government was overthrown. Revolutions happen to kings, dictators. It was a coup orchestrated by the US. Why? Because Yanukovych chose economic package from Russia over the EU. It was started with our help. NATO trained Ukrainian forces, armed them. It was already a de facto NATO state.

Only people in the US and Western Europe believe all this nonsense about Ukraine. Sorry. Why? Because there is no history there. It is excised, it is taken out, and the Russian point of view is removed. They deliberately suppress journalism because we interfere with the state narrative. A noble lie.

I invited Howard Zinn, the great American historian, to the UN. And I asked him then, what is the American noble lie? He answered without hesitation: democracy.

...But because there are our own interests and those of a global player like the US in the region. A security provider to the allies.

To get these problematic friends to align their strategies with US interests, Washington can offer them sweeteners – for Ukraine, a realistic plan for its postwar security needs; for Israel, the economic benefits of normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia.

Both these options are being explored, but they might require major new military commitments that Washington would be wiser to avoid – full Ukrainian membership in Nato and a US defense treaty with Saudi Arabia.

Such incentives therefore need to be combined with tougher love from Washington.