Category: x.RT

According to nine former workers who talked to the agency, groups of employees shared private footage of customers in Tesla’s internal one-on-one chats between 2019 and 2022. One of the clips in question captured a man approaching his electric car while he was completely naked, one of the sources said.

In recent days, industrial action by refinery workers has intensified, leading to supply disruptions as members of French unions stopped refineries and depots from delivering fuel, the outlet said. According to the latest data compiled by the news outlet, the Val-de-Marne department in Ile-de-France is the worst affected with nearly half (49.4%) of its petrol stations facing partial or complete fuel supply disruption. The second-worst-affected area was the Paris region, where 38.8% of petrol stations were experiencing shortages of at least one type of fuel as of April 6. Drivers reported problems at 39.7% of pumps in Hauts-de-Seine, while 24.2% of pumps in Indre-et-Loire were also affected, reporting little or no supply.

An estimated 60 tornadoes wreaked havoc across at least eight US states on Friday and over the weekend, destroying houses, felling trees, and flipping cars. Tennessee appeared to have been hit the hardest, with officials in McNairy County alone reporting nine deaths.  The local sheriff said that all the deceased were in the buildings destroyed by the disaster. In the same state, tornadoes killed one person in Tipton County, with 28 injured.  At least five people died in Arkansas, four in Illinois, and three in Indiana, according to officials. Authorities in Mississippi, Delaware, Ohio and Alabama reported one death per state. 

In Arkansas, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency while activating the National Guard to help with tornado response and asking for federal assistance.  In Belvidere, northern Illinois, a tornado led to the collapse of a roof at the Apollo Theatre, where spectators had gathered to listen to the metal band Morbid Angel, killing one and injuring 40 others.  The disaster also caused severe power outages, which on Saturday amounted to over one million customers, according to poweroutage.us. The bad weather also spilled over to other states, leaving more than 100,000 customers in Pennsylvania and tens of thousands in Ohio and West Virginia without electricity.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was “deeply concerned” about the development, adding that “in the strongest possible terms, we condemn the Kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish journalists and civil society voices.” “We reiterate our strong warnings about the danger posed to US citizens inside the Russian Federation. US citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately,” the top diplomat said in a statement. A similar message was conveyed by the White House, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stating that the “targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable.”

“We also condemn the Russian government’s continued targeting and repression of journalists and freedom of the press,” she added, urging Americans to “heed the US government’s warning to not travel to Russia” or leave should they happen to already be in the country. The call was somewhat watered down by US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, who explained Washington was not actually calling upon all Americans to literally leave Russia and was not encouraging news outlets to withdraw their correspondents from the country. Gershkovich, a WSJ correspondent who covers news from Russia, Ukraine, and the former USSR, was detained in the city of Ekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced earlier in the day. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the journalist was caught “red-handed” while trying to obtain Russian state secrets.

“Two weeks we fought with Facebook to restore the suspended page of RT Arabic, with 17 million subscribers,” Manna said on her Telegram channel. “We tried to get an explanation of what triggered the shutdown, because we never got any strikes or comments.” After several awkward non-explanations, Facebook’s customer service “simply wished us luck, closed our case, and turned over the URL to another user,” Manna wrote. “Internet democracy in all its glory!” Facebook blocked the page on March 15, without any explanation or advance warning. Attempts to access the page resulted in the message, “this content isn’t available right now.”

Brigadier General Henrik Lyhne said Denmark’s military is facing what he referred to as its worst staffing issue in decades – a factor which he said will complicate efforts to meet Copenhagen’s NATO obligations. He added that low wages and below-par personnel housing have contributed to an exodus from the armed forces. This, in turn, has led to problems in Denmark supplying troops to the US-led military bloc’s eastern flank in Latvia.

“This is an emergency call,” Lynhe said in an interview broadcast on Monday. “The situation is extremely critical, especially because we lack soldiers like never before. I have been in the armed forces for 40 years, and it has never looked so bad.” 

Speaking to journalists via conference call, Peskov was asked to comment on the arrest of the American citizen and whether Russia will cooperate with US security services on the issue. The spokesperson stated that he was not aware of the details of the case and that the matter remains in the hands of the FSB.   However, Peskov claimed that as far as he was aware, Gershkovich had been caught in the act of trying to collect intelligence about a defense facility, in violation of Russian laws on state secrets, as announced by the FSB. The correspondent, who covers news from Russia, Ukraine, and the former USSR, could face between 10 and 20 years in prison if charged with espionage.  Although Gershkovich had obtained the necessary journalistic credentials from the Foreign Ministry to work in Russia, the FSB alleges that he “acted in the interest of the US government” when he was caught during “an attempt to receive” classified intelligence. 

Asked if the incident could provoke a response from US authorities regarding Russian journalists working in America, Peskov said that Moscow hopes no such retaliation will follow because “we are not talking about allegations here. He was caught in the act.”  The WSJ has reacted to the incident by stating that it is “deeply concerned for the safety of Mr Gershkovich.”  Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said that the issue of potentially exchanging the WSJ journalist in a swap deal has not been raised.   Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has claimed that whatever Gershkovich was doing when he was detained by the FSB, it had “nothing to do with journalism.” She argued that the status of correspondent had previously been used as cover by other Western nationals attempting to obtain classified Russian intelligence.

Epstein, who died in a prison cell in 2021 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, had been a client at JPMorgan for 15 years, from 1998 to 2013. The last five years of those were after he’d pleaded guilty in Florida of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute. The lawsuits against JPMorgan claim that Dimon as CEO had knowingly allowed continued cooperation with Epstein, ignoring internal warnings about his illegal behavior. According to a report by the Financial Times, during the pretrial process investigators found communications between JPMorgan employees that mentioned a “Dimon review” of the bank’s relationship with Epstein. The bank, however, denied that Dimon had any knowledge of such a review. A source within JPMorgan with knowledge of the bank’s internal probe into the matter, told the news outlet there was no record of the CEO being in direct communication with Epstein.

According to the reports, Dimon agreed to be interviewed under oath about the lawsuits. His sworn deposition, will reportedly take place in May, behind closed doors.

In a series of tweets shared on Tuesday night, Netanyahu noted that he has known his US counterpart for “over 40 years” and commended Biden for his “longstanding commitment to Israel.” However, he urged Washington not to meddle in his country’s internal affairs, after Biden said he was “very concerned” about the upcoming legal changes.

“My administration is committed to strengthening democracy by restoring the proper balance between the three branches of government, which we are striving to achieve via a broad consensus,” Netanyahu said, adding “Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.”

Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.

Last week, Nasdaq said that it would delist shares of the corporate majors unless they appeal to a Listing Qualifications Hearings Panel. It added that the securities will remain halted and unavailable to trade until any appeal is resolved. A similar decision was announced last week by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in relation to CIAN, a Russian tech firm that runs a classifieds portal. The company said it would appeal the ruling by submitting a written request to the NYSE’s Committee of the Board of Directors.  Delistings can be suspended if an appeal is filed before a written decision is made by the commission. According to the rules of the exchange, the hearing must be held within 45 days of receiving the request by the company. Trading in the securities of a number of companies operating in Russia was halted on February 28, 2022, after Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine. The suspension triggered default clauses on the exchange bonds issued by Yandex and Ozon.

Yandex first went public on the Nasdaq in 2011, via a parent holding company registered in the Netherlands. This was followed by a secondary listing on the Moscow Exchange three years later. The company’s shares hit a record high in November 2021, when its market cap amounted to $31 billion. Ozon raised around $1 billion in its initial public offering in late 2020, a debut that sparked an IPO boom for the Russian corporate sector. 

Last week, Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Rasmussen announced that his government could corroborate a report by the Russian gas giant Gazprom, the operator of the undersea pipeline, about a strange object found near Nord Stream 2. The company sent pictures of the item to Danish authorities, while the Russian government made a formal inquiry through its embassy, the minister said. Copenhagen treats the discovery seriously and will investigate further, Rasmussen pledged at the time.

The object was mentioned last week by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a TV interview. He said it was found during a Gazprom survey about 30 kilometers away from where the pipeline was breached. The device may be an antenna used in remotely detonating a charge, the president suggested, citing experts.

Moscow asked for permission to explore further, Putin added, necessary because the object is located in Denmark’s exclusive zone. Russia could organize a mission “on its own, jointly with [the Danes], or, better yet, with an international group of experts in explosives who are trained to work at such depth.” Rasmussen said such permission would not be granted, triggering a rebuke from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The first lawsuit against JP Morgan, filed by an unnamed “Jane Doe” representing a group of the pedophile’s victims, argues the US-based bank “knowingly benefited from participating in a sex trafficking venture” led by Epstein, who was a client there from 1998 through 2013, and “negligently failed to exercise reasonable care to prevent physical harm.”  The US Virgin Islands’ own suit against JP Morgan alleges the bank enabled the late predator’s sex trafficking operation, though Judge Rakoff also threw out three of the four claims in that suit. 

Eight of the 12 claims from Doe’s lawsuit against Deutsche Bank, which took on Epstein as a client in 2013, even though he had been a registered sex offender since 2008, were also dismissed.  Rakoff’s decision allows the plaintiffs to pursue further pretrial discovery. Former JP Morgan CEO Jes Staley, a central figure in both lawsuits against the bank who resigned in 2021 over his links with Epstein, is reportedly due to be deposed later this week. Court filings show he exchanged over 1,200 emails with Epstein, with more than a few referencing young women. Last week, Rakoff tentatively scheduled trial dates for both JP Morgan cases for October 23.

While Silicon Valley Bank was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation after its value collapsed following a bank run last Friday, the rest of SVB Financial Group will be sold off in an effort to repay creditors and large depositors, though it will not cover everyone who lost money in the collapse. A legal battle is expected to follow. Earlier this week, a shareholder lawsuit filed in the US district court for the Northern District of California alleged that several of SVB’s quarterly and annual financial reports had not fully disclosed the risks being communicated by the Federal Reserve that looming interests rate hikes “had the potential to cause irrevocable damage to the company.” 

While the FDIC only covers customer deposits under $250,000, the administration of President Joe Biden stepped in after SVB’s collapse to guarantee those exceeding that amount, rankling critics who see it as a bailout masquerading as a regulatory action. An inordinately large percentage – 94% – of SVB’s deposits exceeded the $250,000 cutoff, about twice the typical share at other banks. Senate Republicans pointed out that the banks that didn’t fail would be unfairly penalized when their own rates increased to cover the hefty payouts to depositors, costs which would ultimately be passed onto the taxpayer, putting them on the hook for a bailout after all. New York-based Signature Bank collapsed just days after SVB, triggering fears of a wider contagion even as the president attempted to reassure Americans that their finances were safe. Similar to SVB, 90% of its deposits exceeded the FDIC cap.

A massive 20,000-gallon tank was found to be leaking ammonia at a facility in Auburndale, Florida early on Wednesday morning, a city spokesperson told a local Fox affiliate, noting that all employees were evacuated from the plant. Residents living in a two-block area near the plant were also asked to take shelter following the discovery, though the order was lifted…

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Shoigu told Austin that the incident was caused by the Americans violating the airspace restriction declared by Russia, with all the proper international notifications in place. Shoigu called US drone flights off the Russian coast “provocative in nature” and risked an escalation of tensions in the Black Sea. 

While Russia does not desire such a development, it will “continue to respond proportionately to all provocations,” Shoigu said. He added that the two nuclear powers “must act as responsibly as possible,” which includes keeping a military channel open to discuss any crisis.

Speaking at a Pentagon press briefing, Austin confirmed that he made the call, and said it was “important that great powers be models of transparency and communication.” However, he insisted the US would “continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows.”

Responding after Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Ottawa is seeking “potential regime change in Russia” in comments to reporters last week, Moscow’s Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov asked how Western nations would respond if the roles were reversed. “Quite perplexed to hear from Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly that her goal is ‘regime change’ in Russia. Is this how she instructs the Canadian Embassy in Moscow?” Stepanov said on Monday. “And by the way, what reaction would we expect if, for example, someone in Moscow had said that Russia’s goal is ‘regime change’ in Ottawa?”