Day: October 13, 2022

Ian Bremmer, head of the Eurasia Group political risk consultancy, alleged that Mr Musk had personally told him about the conversation with Mr Putin. But Mr Musk has now refuted this. "I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space," Mr Musk tweeted. Last week, the Tesla CEO asked his 107.7 million followers to vote on ways to resolve the Ukraine war. The suggestions included a proposal to hold votes in parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia that the Kremlin says it has annexed. His comments were welcomed by Moscow. The multi-billionaire said: "Russia leaves if that is will of the people." President Putin has already declared four Ukrainian regions to be part of Russia, fol...

The move came as it emerged the star had shared a series of comments based on racist conspiracy theories in a separate interview with Fox News. Fox removed those segments before broadcast, but the footage was leaked to technology website Motherboard. West has not commented on either case. The BBC has asked both him and Fox News for a response. The star, who is legally known as Ye, was previously suspended from Instagram and Twitter for making anti-Semitic comments. Those posts came in response to a backlash against his show at Paris Fashion Week, where he wore a t-shirt carrying the slogan "White Lives Matter". The Anti-Defamation League has called the phrase "hate speech" and attributed it to white supremacists, who...

Russia has not delivered gas to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 line since August, and Nord Stream 2 was halted after Russia invaded Ukraine. The February invasion led to gas price hikes, and EU customers face record tariffs this winter. But Germany quickly rejected Mr Putin's offer to send gas via Nord Stream 2. At the same time, a government spokesman in Berlin said Nord Stream 1 - which is not under sanctions - was an option, but gas was not flowing "because Russia did not deliver". Russia has been accused of using gas supplies as a weapon against the West since the invasion of Ukraine - a charge repeatedly denied by the Kremlin. "The ball, as they say, is now in the European Union's court - let them just open the tap," Mr Putin ...

General Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed General Armageddon, is President Vladimir Putin's new tactic in the war against Ukraine. His appointment was announced hours after the attack on the Crimea bridge. And the new leader's first day at work saw Ukraine hit by a huge wave of Russian missiles - one of the widest series of strikes witnessed for months. But Gen Surovikin is not actually new to the faltering war effort. He's been commanding troops on the front in southern Ukraine and, the day before the war began, was sanctioned by Europe for his military influence and relationship with President Putin. This appears to be the first time Russia has officially named a commander for its entire military operation in Ukraine - before that, there were media reports ...

As the midterm elections approach in the US, the wave of false claims surrounding the vote is a reminder of how hard it is to combat fake news. Does Finland have the answer? A few hours after Vladimir Putin called up 300,000 military reservists in September, a video showing long queues of cars at the Finnish-Russian border started circulating on social media. The Finnish Border Guard was quick to point out it was fake. "Some of the videos were filmed earlier and now taken out of context," it said on Twitter. The tweet promptly made it to the top of the Ukraine live page on national broadcaster Yle's news website. The Border Guard's and Yle's response highlights a crucial element of Finland's success against disinformation - public trust in th...

The weaponry promised by the UK, Canada, France and the Netherlands includes missiles and radars. The US earlier made a similar pledge. One high-tech system from Germany is already in Ukraine. The pledges come as Ukraine's allies from 50 countries meet at Nato headquarters in Brussels. Kyiv hailed the summit as "historic". Ukraine says Russia fired more than 100 missiles and used dozens of drones on Monday and Tuesday, hitting energy infrastructure and other non-military targets. At least 19 people were killed on the first day of the strikes. They also resulted in widespread power cuts and water supply disruption in a number of Ukrainian cities. The authorities in the capital Kyiv had to resort to electricity rationing. ...