UN: There Is ‘Credible’ Information Ukrainian Forces Are Torturing Russian POWs

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There is “credible” information that Russian prisoners of war have been mistreated by Ukrainian forces since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February, a United Nations official said.

The evidence suggests that Russia is not the only country willing to break international norms during war, as the U.N. reports that Ukrainian forces have subjected Russians under their watch to treatment that violates international law, Matilda Bogner, head of the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said Tuesday.

“We have received credible information of torture, ill-treatment and incommunicado detention by Ukrainian Armed Forces against prisoners of war from Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups,” Bogner said. “We continue to see the publication of videos, which show inhumane treatment, including prisoners from both sides being coerced to make statements, apologies and confessions, and other forms of humiliation.”

The mistreatment from both sides is considered a violation of international humanitarian law, as the U.N. continues to investigate and document egregious violations since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

“Ukraine and Russia must promptly and effectively investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war. They must also effectively control and instruct their forces to stop any further violations from occurring,” Bogner said. (Read more from “UN: There Is ‘Credible’ Information Ukrainian Forces Are Torturing Russian POWs” HERE)

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Eyes Wide Shut: NIH Director Confirms Agency Hid Early COVID Genes at Request of Chinese Scientists

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National Institutes of Health acting director Lawrence Tabak confirmed to lawmakers Wednesday that US health officials concealed early genomic sequences of COVID-19 at the request of Chinese scientists — but insisted the data remains on file.

Tabak told a House Appropriations subcommittee that the NIH “eliminated from public view” the data from the pandemic epicenter in Wuhan, China, before adding that researchers can still access it via an archaic “tape drive.”

Vanity Fair recently reported that the information was hidden in response to a request from Chinese scientists, despite potentially resolving whether the virus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology or passed naturally from animals to humans.

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) asked Tabek to explain why US officials would comply with such a request.

“There’s no question that the communication that we had about the sequence archive — Sequence Read Archive — could have been improved. I freely admit that,” Tabek said. “If I may, the archive never deleted the sequence, it just did not make it available for interrogation.” (Read more from “Eyes Wide Shut: NIH Director Confirms Agency Hid Early COVID Genes at Request of Chinese Scientists” HERE)

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Putin Seen With Blotches on Cheeks After Skipping Beloved Ice Hockey Game

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Questions about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health continued to swirl Wednesday as he missed his beloved annual ice hockey game – appearing instead on a video sporting mysterious marks on his face.

Putin pulled out of the Night Hockey League game in which he had been “expected” to compete and sent a video message while at Sochi, the Black Sea resort where the match was scheduled to take place, East2West News reported.

Adding to speculation about the strongman’s health were dark blotches on his cheeks that may have been masked by makeup.

“I wish you good luck in your ice battles and all the best,” Putin said in his message. “And as they say, ‘May the best win.’”

A Moscow source told the news outlet that the amateur game “was always a firm date in his [Putin’s] diary,” added that “something must be wrong for him to be a no-show.” (Read more from “Putin Seen With Blotches on Cheeks After Skipping Beloved Ice Hockey Game” HERE)

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Iran Looking to Attack US for ‘Revenge’ Over Soleimani Assassination

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Iran is attempting to inflict “revenge” against the United States over the assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, according to the director of national intelligence.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served in then-President Donald Trump’s Cabinet when Soleimani was killed, has been a target of Iran, his successor Antony Blinken told Congress last month. Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, attributed Iran’s efforts against current and former U.S. officials as an attempt to avenge Soleimani’s January 2020 death in Iraq, where he was killed in an American strike.

“A fair amount of their motivation in this scenario we assess to be in relation to Soleimani as part of their sort of efforts for revenge, and is a particularly challenging area, I think, to deter them from action in this space,” she said, noting that she could go into further detail in a classified setting.

Pompeo isn’t the only former Trump official to be in Iran’s crosshairs. Former national security adviser John Bolton has also been the target of supposed assassination plots, among others. A Feb. 14 State Department report to Congress revealed that it costs the Diplomatic Security Service $2 million per month to protect Pompeo.

While U.S. officials face threats from Iran, the Biden administration is seeking to reenter an agreement similar to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which intends to cap Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for a rollback of international sanctions and was later abandoned by the Trump administration. (Read more from “Iran Looking to Attack US for ‘Revenge’ Over Soleimani Assassination” HERE)

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North Korea Bans Tight Jeans, Dyed Hair, Other Trends With ‘Capitalist Flair’: Report

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Kim Jong Un’s regime is ramping up its crackdown on “decadent” Western fashion trends in North Korea, including dyed hair, tight jeans and piercings, according to a report.

Radio Free Asia says North Korea’s Socialist Patriot Youth League is now directing its repressive efforts at women in their 20s and 30s who wear long hair down to their waist, dye their locks brown, or don clothing emblazoned with large foreign letters.

An unnamed resident of the city of Hamhung told the US government-sponsored nonprofit news outlet that North Korea’s regime is also going after women who wear curve-hugging pants.

Those who are spotted wearing styles showing “capitalist flair” outdoors are forced to wait on the side of the road until a youth patrol is finished searching the area for other violators.

All the offenders are then taken to the Youth League’s office, where they must confess their crimes in writing, according to the report. They can only be released to their homes if someone brings them more appropriate clothing. (Read more from “North Korea Bans Tight Jeans, Dyed Hair, Other Trends With ‘Capitalist Flair’: Report” HERE)

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Russia’s Senior Commanders Are Headed to the Front Lines in Ukraine: UK

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Several senior Russian commanders are joining the fighting in Ukraine after their predecessors died in battle, according to the United Kingdom.

After more than two months of fighting and thousands of Russian soldiers killed, including an estimated 12 generals, Russian military leadership is poised to become more intimately involved in the war in Ukraine. The U.K. Ministry of Defense said on Sunday that “difficulties in command and control” are drawing senior officials to the front lines of the war effort.

“Russian commanders rarely delegate operational authority to their subordinates,” the ministry said, “who in turn do not gain vital leadership experience.”

Without that “vital leadership experience,” Russian forces have failed to make much headway in their “special operation” to conquer Ukraine. (Read more from “Russia’s Senior Commanders Are Headed to the Front Lines in Ukraine: UK” HERE)

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Jill Biden Visits Ukraine, Meets First Lady

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Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother’s Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for the embattled nation as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

She became the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during the war, while Zalenska’s public appearance was her first since since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24

“I wanted to come on Mother’s Day,” the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. “I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.” (Read more from “Jill Biden Visits Ukraine, Meets First Lady” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

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Taliban Orders Afghan Women to Cover Their Faces in Public

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The Taliban government in Afghanistan on Saturday ordered that women must cover their faces in public, returning to the restrictive policy that ended more than two decades ago.

Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada ruled that a woman who refuses to comply could lead to her father or closest male relative facing imprisonment or loss of a state job.

“We call on the world to co-operate with the Islamic Emirate and people of Afghanistan … Don’t bother us. Don’t bring more pressure, because history is witness, Afghans won’t be affected by pressure,” Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, the minister for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, told a news conference, Reuters reported.

The group announced the recommended covering would be a blue burqa, the head-to-toe garment forced upon Afghan women during the Taliban’s previous rule.

Most Afghan women already wear a headscarf, though the new requirement and its enforcement increase the regulation and punishment upon a woman’s family. (Read more from “Taliban Orders Afghan Women to Cover Their Faces in Public” HERE)

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Radical Claim: Trump Proposed Missile Attack to Wipe Out Mexican Drug Cartels

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Former President Donald Trump allegedly said he wanted to launch missiles into Mexico to wipe out drug cartels, former defense secretary Mark Esper claims in his upcoming memoir, according to the New York Times (NYT).

Esper reportedly recounts in “A Sacred Oath,” set to be released Tuesday, how Trump allegedly asked at least twice if the military could “shoot missiles into Mexico to destroy the drug labs” in the summer of 2020. Esper reportedly said Trump cited the constant flow of narcotics across the border as his reasoning.

“They don’t have control of their own country,” Trump allegedly said, according to Esper. Esper claims he objected to the suggestion, to which Trump allegedly said “we could just shoot some Patriot missiles and take out the labs, quietly,” according to the NYT. Trump allegedly said the U.S. could then deny they had conducted the strike, the NYT reported citing Esper. (Read more from “Radical Claim: Trump Proposed Missile Attack to Wipe Out Mexican Drug Cartels” HERE)

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Putin’s Billionaire Confidante, Wagner Mercenary Chief, Brands West ‘Pathetic Endangered Perverts’

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Yevgeny Prigozhin, thought to finance the private military company Wagner Group, declared the West a “pathetic endangered bunch of perverts” in a blistering rant. Mr Prigozhin, a billionaire with close relations to the Russian president, told The Guardian: “You are a dying-out western civilisation that considers Russians, Malians, Central Africans, Cubans, Nicaraguans and many other peoples and countries to be third world scum.

“Remember, this is not true …. You are a pathetic endangered bunch of perverts, and there are many of us, billions of us. And victory will be ours.”

Mr Prigozhin has been called ‘Putin’s chef’ due to his history of catering for the Russian dictator.

The businessman has built up a food empire within Russia, having been awarded contracts by the state to supply dinners to schools and also to Russian soldiers.

However, the billionaire is also alleged to own the private militia Wagner Group, which came to global prominence during the war in Donbas in Ukraine in 2014. (Read more from “Putin’s Billionaire Confidante, Wagner Mercenary Chief, Brands West ‘Pathetic Endangered Perverts’” HERE)

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