Ukraine war updates and ditching the tech bros
There was so much news about Ukraine this week. Most of the oxygen in the room has been sucked up by Trump’s nominees and conversations about who the Senate will or won’t confirm, who might have compromising ties abroad, and who is or isn’t a sex offender (I wish I were joking about that last one). But in the meantime, the war in Ukraine hit its 1,000-day mark this week. Russia and Ukraine are changing tactics to solidify their positions before being forced to the negotiating table. If you skip down to the What I’m Reading section, there are links with the latest updates, including the first-ever use of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles in a war.
Some tech updates from me: Everyone is ditching Twitter and moving to BlueSky. You can follow me there if that’s your thing. I also had a very unsettling experience with WhatsApp this week. The app kicked me out of my account unexpectedly without any explanation. I suddenly couldn’t access my chat history. That was quite unnerving for someone who spends nearly half the day talking to people in other countries on WhatsApp. How was I even supposed to do my job? Then, just as suddenly, they restored my account with no explanation. “Our systems flagged your account accidentally. We apologize for this,” was the only message I received. The experience made me realize how reliant we are on tech companies with no accountability, companies that don’t even have a functioning helpline with a human at the other end.
I will be moving most of my communications to Signal. I still have WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger installed on my phone. I check them periodically. But if you have my phone number and would like to contact me, Signal will be my primary choice from now on. Here’s a lengthy article on the privacy difference between the two apps. At the very least, when you use Signal, Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t share your data across Meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. As some of you know, I am all about ditching the tech bros these days. Maybe moving to BlueSky and Signal will make us beholden to other tech bros. That could be unavoidable. But at least those guys aren’t Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg. I hope you’re all having a leisurely Sunday and catching up with the week’s world news, Cristina
P.S. You can always send news tips, story ideas, complaints, etc., to c.maza@protonmail.com
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What I’m writing:
• I spoke to representatives of the Venezuelan opposition, who described their hopes for the incoming Trump administration and its ability to force strongman Nicolás Maduro to the negotiating table. This story is unlocked and free to read.
My weekly news blurbs:
What I’m reading:
• In a significant policy reversal, President Biden authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to strike inside Russia, the New York Times reports.
• President Biden authorized the provision of antipersonnel landmines to Ukraine, the Washington Post reports, marking another major policy shift. Some human rights groups criticized the move, citing the risk to civilians.
• The United Kingdom will give Ukraine Storm Shadow missiles to strike inside Russia following President Biden’s policy change, the Guardian reports.
• The Telegraph reports that Ukraine fired U.S. long-range missiles inside Russia for the first time and struck a military facility in Bryansk.
• Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile during an attack on Ukraine, Reuters reports. It is the first known use of ICBMs in a war.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin later confirmed the Kremlin fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine, which he warned U.S. air defense systems would be unable to stop, adding that it “could be used to attack any Ukrainian ally whose missiles are used to attack Russia.” The Associated Press has the story.
• Semafor reports that Russia informed the U.S. about the use of the ICBM in Ukraine shortly before the attack took place.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a revised nuclear doctrine saying any massive aerial attack on Russia could trigger a nuclear response, the Associated Press reports.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to discussing a Ukraine ceasefire deal with Trump but has ruled out any major territorial concessions and insists that Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO, Reuters reports.
• European Union leaders should be prepared to send military forces to Ukraine to guarantee any peace deal, Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told the Financial Times.
• The Biden administration plans to cancel $4.65 billion in debt owed by Ukraine, Bloomberg reports, as the outgoing president seeks to bolster support for Kyiv ahead of the transition of power to Trump.
• Two critical undersea cables in the Baltic Sea connecting Finland with Germany and Lithuania with Sweden were severed, presumably by sabotage. The Guardian has the story.
• An American investor with a history of dealmaking in Russia has asked the U.S. government to allow him to bid on the sabotaged Nord Stream Pipeline 2 if it comes up for auction in a Swiss bankruptcy proceeding, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• Romania goes to the polls today for the first of three elections that could keep it on its broadly pro-European path or possibly push it towards a more nationalist stance likely to alarm Brussels, the Guardian reports.
• Santiago Abascal was elected president of the far-right Patriots for Europe party, Politico Europe reports. He has been the leader of Spain’s Vox party since 2014. He called on the Patriots to capitalize on the EU election and “promote a frontal and total response to globalism.”
• Israel issued draft notices to Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, Haaretz reports.
• Israel has issued 1,126 arrest warrants for ultra-Orthodox conscripts who have not responded to drafting orders, CNN reports.
• Israel’s conduct in Gaza is “consistent with the characteristics of genocide,” a new United Nations Special Committee report said.
• Organized gangs stealing Gaza aid supplies are operating freely in areas controlled by the Israeli military, the Washington Post reports. An internal United Nations memo concluded the gangs “may be benefiting from a passive if not active benevolence” or “protection” from the IDF.
• The Biden administration imposed sanctions on Israel’s largest settlement development organization “involved in settlement and illegal outpost development in the West Bank,” CNN reports.
• Iran raised the possibility it would stop expanding its stockpile of uranium enriched to near-weapons grade levels in exchange for avoiding formal condemnation for its years of blocking some United Nations nuclear inspections, the New York Times reports.
• Myanmar’s military has consistently targeted civilians as a form of collective punishment since seizing power, the Associated Press reports.
• The death toll of Sudan’s war is significantly higher than previously reported, according to a new report by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine's Sudan Research Group.
• Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Sudan’s military and paramilitary forces and aid to the region, the Associated Press reports.
• Brazilian police arrested five people, including a former adviser to ex-President Jair Bolsonaro and an army general, over an alleged 2022 plot to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, CNN reports.
• Brazilian federal police indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others for allegedly attempting a coup to keep Bolsonaro in office following his 2020 election loss, the Associated Press reports.
• The United States formally recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez as the country’s president-elect following the disputed July presidential election, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced.
You can write to me for any reason: c.maza@protonmail.com.