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Russia launches drills of its nuclear missile forces

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:20 GMT

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV (Associated Press)MOSCOW — The Russian military conducted drills of its strategic missile forces Wednesday, deploying mobile launchers in Siberia in a show of the country’s massive nuclear capability amid the fighting in Ukraine.As part of the drills, the Yars mobile missile launchers will maneuver across three regions of Siberia, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. The movements will involve measures to conceal the deployment from foreign satellites and other intelligence assets, the ministry said.The Defense Ministry didn’t say how long the drills would last or mention plans for any practice launches. The Yars is a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of about 11,000 kilometers (over 6,800 miles). It forms the backbone of Russia’s strategic missile forces.The Defense Ministry released a video showing massive trucks carrying the missiles driving out from a base to go on patrol. The maneuvers involve about 300 vehicles and 3,000 tro...

Kommersant (Russia): Management under sanctions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:20 GMT

Economist Alexander Zotin in his opinion piece published in Russia’s main business daily discusses possible twists in the pushback against sanctions pressure on the Russian FederationManagers, shareholders, the state, employees, customers. Balancing the interests of these groups should help the economy grow and develop. But what looks good in theory often looks very different in practice. Institutional theory pays a great deal of attention to the tension between the principal (owner) and the agent (executive manager). But this is by no means the end of the management problem. For example, during the recent forced sale of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse to its competitor UBS, the Swiss state, represented by the banking regulator Finma, circumvented the interests of shareholders, depriving them of the opportunity to vote on the deal.Russia has its own tensions. As we have written before, Russia hasn’t actually developed a CEO class in the Western sense. This is one of the problems facing...

Peaceful demonstration by boxing community to take place March 29

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:20 GMT

Join us on March 29 to raise the voice of the boxing community and demonstrate our strength and unity in what can surely be described as the biggest and most decisive fight – the fight to protect boxing and make sure it stays at the Olympics.Respect is what we have been taught by boxing, respect is what we call for when it comes to fair and transparent evaluation and monitoring of the boxing activities within the International Boxing Association (IBA).We are all witnesses of the profound transformation undergone by the IBA during the past 2 years on the road to compliance with the best international practices. It is high time this progress is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is high time that the decisions on the future of boxing are made based on close cooperation and open discussions with the IBA and boxing community.We have seen enough decisions made behind closed doors and on the basis of the reports that have not been made public. We can all testify t...

Presale Codes for Eric Clapton 2023 North American Tour

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:20 GMT

If you want to hang out, you’ve gotta take her out — to an Eric Clapton concert, that is, because she’s probably just as big of a fan as we are. Well you’re in luck because the rock and blues legend is doing five dates this September in North America. The short tour will feature special guest Jimmie Vaughan, and launches on September 8 in Pittsburgh, PA, followed by Toronto, ON, St. Louis, MO, St. Paul, MN and wrapping in Denver, CO on September 16 — see below for all dates. Passwords and presale codes for the Eric Clapton 2023 North American Tour tickets are as follows:Presale codes for Eric Clapton 2023 North American TourPresale tickets for the Eric Clapton 2023 North American Tour are go on sale today, Wednesday, March 29 and we’ve been told the following presale codes and passwords may work. Details are subject to change, and vary by event date:American Express card presale code or password: INGOLD (you will need an Amex card to make the purchase)Sales f...

Bouie: What the Republican push for ‘parents’ rights’ is really about

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:20 GMT

You may have heard the phrase “parents’ rights.”It sounds unobjectionable — of course parents should have rights — which is probably why it’s become the term of choice for the conservative effort to ban books, censor school curriculums and suppress politically undesirable forms of knowledge.When House Republicans introduced a bill that would require public schools to notify parents that they are entitled to access course material and lists of books kept in school libraries, they cited “parents’ rights” as the reason.“That’s what today is all about: It’s about every parent, mom and dad, but most importantly about the students in America,” Speaker Kevin McCarthy said. Several Republican-controlled states have either proposed or passed similar measures.The official name for Florida’s infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill, prohibiting “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity,” is the Parental Rights in Education Act. And the state’s Stop WOKE Act — short for “Wrongs to ...

Driver dies after jumping out of stolen CHP cruiser during pursuit

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:20 GMT

LANCASTER — A driver who stole a California Highway Patrol cruiser died Tuesday after he jumped out of the car during a high-speed chase down a desert highway.The man was pronounced dead at a hospital, the CHP said. His name wasn’t immediately released.Officer Alec Pereyda said the CHP began receiving calls at around 11:45 a.m. of a reckless driver on Interstate 5 near Castaic, KNBC-TV reported.The driver struck another car and when a CHP showed up to investigate, the man jumped into the patrol car and took off, Pereyda said.The car was clocked at about 50 mph on State Route 138 near Lancaster in the high desert north of Los Angeles when the driver jumped after a spike strip punctured the rear tires, the CHP said.TV news helicopters captured the incident.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Monterey County man convicted for fatally stabbing fiancé in 2021 Crime and Public Safety | Fentanyl admonition blocked again in what father calls California Senat...

Opinion: How Big Tech’s predatory culture fuels failures like SVB

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:20 GMT

After 20 years of what appeared to be unstoppable growth, America’s tech industry has spent the past year underperforming the rest of the economy. Product failures in new industries like virtual reality and cryptocurrency, layoffs across the board, lower stock prices, and the failure of Silicon Valley Bank create a teachable moment to talk about the tech industry’s culture and direction.To an increasing degree over the past dozen years, the tech industry exploited the trust of consumers and policymakers to change the game. Rather than empowering users, many new technologies have exploited human weakness. They have used data and application design to manipulate the choices and sometimes the behavior of users, undermining their autonomy.The recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank illustrates a tech industry culture that prioritizes profit over the public interest time and again. For decades, SVB embraced Silicon Valley culture, providing unique services to its community. And until quit...

Skeletal remains found in Lake Mead identified as 1970s drowning victim

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:20 GMT

By Elizabeth Wolfe and Paradise Afshar | CNNHuman remains discovered in Lake Mead in October have been identified as a 39-year-old man who is believed to have drowned in the reservoir nearly five decades ago, officials announced Tuesday.Medical examiners determined the remains belong to Donald Smith, a Las Vegas resident who reportedly drowned in April 1974, the Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner said in a release.“The identification was based on DNA analysis and reports from the original incident,” the release said. “The cause and manner of Mr. Smith’s death was determined to be drowning and accidental.Smith’s remains were uncovered after a diver came across a human bone in Lake Mead’s National Recreation Area’s Callville Bay on October 17, prompting a search by a park dive team that uncovered more skeletal remains.Smith’s remains were at least the sixth discovery of human remains at the reservoir in the past year as a prolonged, excruciating drought across the Ame...

Program to fix California mobile home parks approved 1 application in 10 years. Will a rebrand work?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:20 GMT

BY MANUELA TOBIAS | Cal MattersMobile home residents in California face an outsize risk of failing utility systems, flooding and fires as a result of infrastructure that frequently hasn’t been updated or repaired in decades.In 1984, California passed a law to help remedy this: a loan program, paid into by the residents themselves, to buy and in later iterations, fix their parks.But that solution, for the last 10 years, has helped only one of California’s 4,500 mobile home parks.State administrators approved a single loan application, in 2021, from a fund now worth $33.5 million, the state’s Housing and Community Development Department confirmed to CalMatters. The loan went to a non-profit organization to rehabilitate a run-down park in the Eastern Coachella Valley, a region notorious for its dilapidated mobile home parks. The last two applications it approved before that were in 2012, according to Alicia Murillo, speaking for the department.Housing experts, including from the housin...

Mistrial declared in case against Bay Area man charged with killing father

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:20 GMT

Acquitted last week of first-degree murder for the 2018 death of his father and with the jury then unable to reach a verdict of second-degree murder, Victor Alfonso Estrada, 34, of Fairfield, returned to his Solano County Jail cell and awaits a new trial date, The Reporter has learned.Solano County Superior Court Judge William J. Pendergast, who presided over the seven-week trial in Department 11, declared a mistrial on March 21, when the jury, after five days of deliberations and the acquittal on March 20, hung on the lesser charge. He ordered Estrada to return for a new trial setting at 8:30 a.m. Monday in the Justice Center in Fairfield.In a text message, Estrada’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Nick Filloy, told The Reporter that “the jury worked very hard and was commended for their service” by the judge, himself and Deputy District Attorney Ilana Shapiro, who led the prosecution.Filloy did not comment at length on the trial’s outcome, only adding, “Hung juries are not a good...