Posts

None of This Is Going Putin’s Way

Image
April 18, 2026 Credit... Hector Retamal/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images By Serge Schmeman Mr. Schmemann, an Opinion writer, is a former Moscow bureau chief of The Times.   The Iran war has been an economic windfall for Russia, pushing oil prices sky-high and loosening sanctions. But if the Russian economy is having a brief respite, the battering of Iran by the United States and Israel marks yet another in a series of recent blows to the great-power role President Vladimir Putin so cherishes. Iran has been Russia’s closest partner in the Middle East, supplying Moscow with drones for use in Ukraine and a critical route to evade sanctions over its war there. The large-scale damage to Iran’s economy and military comes on the heels of the capture of the Kremlin’s South American ally Nicolás Maduro in an American raid on Venezuela in January. Before that, the Kremlin was unable to prevent the fall of another comrade-dictator when Bashar al-Assad was toppled in Syria (and subsequentl...
Post a Comment
Read more

A mass shooting in Ukraine's capital leaves 6 dead before police shot and killed the gunman

Image
April 18, 2026 - 4:43 PM ET   By The Associated Press Police officers are seen at the site where a gunman killed at least six people in the streets before being shot dead by police, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 18, 2026. Dan Bashakov/AP Dan Bashakov/AP/ KYIV, Ukraine — A gunman wielding an automatic weapon killed six people and barricaded himself inside a supermarket with hostages in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Saturday, before he was shot and killed by police, authorities said.  At least 14 people were wounded and taken to hospital. The 58-year-old attacker was not named by police, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was born in Russia, as authorities worked to piece together a motive for the violence.   The mass shooting — unheard of in wartime Kyiv following Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — took place in a busy central district of the city, outside an apartment block and a nearby shopping center, leaving bodies on a crowde...
Post a Comment
Read more

"[T]he pope said that 'those who rule serve those whom they seem to command.' ”

Image
Standing next to Cameroon’s authoritarian leader, Paul Biya, on Wednesday, the pope said that “those who rule serve those whom they seem to command.” Credit... Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters from ;  see also
Post a Comment
Read more

Latest Love Machine? Probably Not.

Image
In “Rasputin,” the biographer Antony Beevor delves into the mysterious life of the last czarina’s mystic advised. Despite — or because of — the fact that he left behind almost no writings, Grigori Rasputin remains one of the most enigmatic figures of modern history.  Credit... Laski Diffusion/Getty Images By Sophie Pinkham  Sophie Pinkham is the author of “The Oak and the Larch: A Forest History of Russia and Its Empires.” April 15, 2026/ [review of:] RASPUTIN: The Downfall of the Romanovs, by Antony Beevor   More than a century after his murder, Grigori Rasputin remains an object of fascination: the lascivious “mad monk,” disheveled and clairvoyant, beloved by Russia’s last monarchs. With his matted hair and straggly beard, in photos Rasputin resembles a Halloween Jesus. He is a mystery but also a joke. Is it possible that this bizarre character changed the course of Russian and even European history? Is there more to be said?  Early in “Rasputin,” Antony Beevor — ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Who's the Angel, Mr Prez?

Image
A rendering released by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts of plans for a 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington. Credit... U.S. Commission of Fine Arts By  Luke Broadwater April 10, 2026 Updated  2:49 p.m. ET, The New York Times  
Post a Comment
Read more

Republican Senator Ben Sasse re Ukraine ...

Image
Below Ukraine-related item from: " How Ben Sasse Is Living Now That He Is Dying: Th e former senator wants to heal the America he’s leaving behind." Hosted by  Ross Douthat Produced by  Victoria Chamberlin   [excerpt ] Mr. Douthat is a columnist and the host of the “Interesting Times” podcast From Mr. Douthat re S asse/  Ukraine : After the   2022 Russian invasion of  Ukraine , Sasse spoke in favor of expanding American military assistance to   Ukraine , saying, "If [Ukraine] can shoot it, we should ship it." Sasse image from Sasse, who served on the  Senate Select Committee on Intelligence , has criticized what he considered unnecessary roadblocks in supplying actionable intelligence to the  Armed Forces of Ukraine , saying, "There are a bunch of technicalities about intelligence in general versus targeting information in particular. And we should be giving the Ukrainians all the intelligence we can possibly get them as fast as possible. It'...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mention of Ukraine, in NYT's recent articles on "Iran War"

Image
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/10/world/iran-war-trump-israel-lebanon April 10, 2026, 3:27 a.m. ET 57 minutes ago Francesca Regalado and Constant Méheut President Volodymyr Zelensky also said in his social media posts on Friday that Ukraine would receive assistance in various ways in exchange for providing defense expertise to Middle Eastern countries. These include crude oil and diesel supplies, interceptor missiles and financial arrangements, he said, without elaborating. April 10, 2026, 3:26 a.m. ET 58 minutes ago Francesca Regalado and Constant Méheut Ukrainian military experts shot down Iranian drones over several countries in the Middle East during the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said on social media on Friday. Ukraine sent military advisors, including drone warfare experts, to Persian Gulf countries to help improve their air defenses.  This was the first public acknowledgement from Ukraine that its personnel were actively involved in shooting down dron...
Post a Comment
Read more