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Biden administration releases US intelligence on Wuhan lab

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

American intelligence agencies don’t know how the Covid-19 pandemic started, declassified intelligence says.The Office of the Director of National Intelligence in a report released today said that all agencies of the government “continue to assess that both a natural and laboratory-associated origin remain plausible hypotheses to explain the first human infection.”The report acknowledges that researchers at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, where scientists conducted coronavirus research in the city where Covid first emerged, fell ill in the fall of 2019, shortly before the pandemic began.The Wall Street Journal, confirming reporting by journalists at the Substack blog Public, reported last week that one of the sick researchers, Ben Hu, had worked on coronaviruses with U.S. funding.Advocates of the lab leak theory seized on the news as near-definitive proof that their hypothesis was correct.But the intelligence report says it’s not so certain.While several Wuh...

Putin raises specter of civil war as Wagner boss Prigozhin menaces Moscow

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

President Vladimir Putin raised the specter of Russia descending into civil war on Saturday after embittered warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin seized key parts of the south of the country — including the large strategic city of Rostov-on-Don — and threatened to march on Moscow. Prigozhin claimed to have taken control of Rostov — a crucial command center for the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, with a population of more than 1 million — without a fight. In response, Putin lashed out at Prigozhin’s “treason” and vowed to “neutralize” the threat posed by his renegade Wagner mercenary army.In a five-and-a-half-minute address to the nation Saturday morning, the president denounced the mutiny as “a stab in the back of our nation and our people.” Without naming Prigozhin, he said: “We are dealing with treason.”The Russian president said the insurrection was “exactly the kind of blow that was dealt to Russia in 1917, when the country fought the First World War, bu...

Live Updates | Armed rebellion by Russian mercenary chief

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

The latest on the armed rebellion declared by Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin:——Russian mercenary leader Yevgheny Prigozhin on Saturday denied allegations by President Vladimir Putin that he is betraying his country and called his fighters patriots.In an audio message on his Telegram channel, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said: “Regarding the betrayal of the motherland, the president was deeply mistaken. We are patriots of our homeland.”He said his fighters would not turn themselves in at the request of Putin, as “we do not want the country to live on in corruption, deceit and bureaucracy.”Putin said in televised address to the nation earlier Saturday that “all those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment.” He said that “the armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders,” ——KEY DEVELOPMENTS:Putin calls armed rebellion by mercenary chief a betrayal and promises to defend RussiaWho is the head of the me...

Putin calls armed rebellion by mercenary chief a betrayal and vows to defend Russia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

President Vladimir Putin vowed Saturday to defend Russia against an armed rebellion by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led his troops out of Ukraine and into a key city south of Moscow. The uprising, which Putin called “a stab in the back,” was the biggest threat to his leadership in over two decades in power. The private army led by Prigozhin appears to control the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city 660 miles (over 1,000 kilometers) south of Moscow that runs Russian offensive operations in Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence briefing.In his address, Putin called the uprising by Prigozhin, whom he did not mention by name, a “betrayal” and “treason.”“All those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment,” Putin said. “The armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders.”Prigozhin called himself a patriot.“Regarding the betrayal of the motherland, the president was deeply mistaken. We are patr...

Ask Amy: I took the online advice to dump my boyfriend, and here’s what happened then

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

Dear Readers: Like you, I’m often curious about what happens to the advice I offer once it leaves my desk, and so I’ve asked readers to send in updates. Publishing them reminds me that we have been through a lot over these past decades.To refresh all of our memories, I’m running the original Q&A, followed by the update.Dear Amy: I’m in my mid-20s. My boyfriend is in his late 20s. We’ve been seeing each other for 10 months, and some things he does bother me.He’s not very sensitive or romantic. I’ve told him multiple times that I want him to be more romantic, but he says it’s just not how he is.He rarely initiates sex, because he says he likes when I do it, even though I say that it’s hard for me to feel sexy when he doesn’t show me first that he finds me sexy.He is really big on spending weekends with his friends (they share hobbies that I don’t share). He’ll usually be gone all day with them. Sometimes he’ll also spend ...

Harriette Cole: I’ve started to worry about my girlfriend’s ethics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have been in a relationship with my girlfriend for a few months now, and I have noticed that she has a habit of gossiping about her own friends to her other friends. This behavior has been bothering me and makes me feel uneasy.Related ArticlesAdvice | Harriette Cole: She drinks to have fun, and then the rest of us can’t Advice | Harriette Cole: How do I tell her there’s no way she could wear those clothes? Advice | Harriette Cole: My boyfriend and I fought about his plan to taunt my ex Advice | Harriette Cole: He refused to pull over, and her new car got damaged Advice | Harriette Cole: My former teacher tells stories about me that aren’t true I cannot help but feel that it is wrong and disrespectful to her friends. I understand that gossip is common, but I believe that sharing information about others without their consent is not ethical. I am worried that if she can ...

A Year After Dobbs, the Anti-Abortion Right Is Grilling Doctors on Tattoos, Tweets, and Too-Strong Beliefs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

Dr. Caitlin Bernard in Indianapolis on Sept. 28, 2022.Photo: Kaiti Sullivan for The Washington Post via Getty ImagesSome three hours into the 14-hour inquisition of Dr. Caitlin Bernard before the Indiana physician’s licensing board, the assistant attorney general asked her an odd question: “Do you have a tattoo of a coat hanger that says, ‘Trust women,’ on your body?”It was hard to tell which part offended him more: the coat hanger or “trust women.”Bernard’s attorney objected to the question as irrelevant. And legally speaking, it was. For the record, Bernard does have such a tattoo, on her left foot, inked years ago to remind her of life in the bad old days. She is not ashamed of it.But the question was certainly not an opening for the doctor to express pride in her profession and her advocacy of reproductive health care. It was not meant to seek information. Nor was the query a misstep. The interrogator, Cory Voight, was on a mission to prove this respected OB-GYN unf...

Russian mercenary leader Prigozhin denies Putin’s allegation of betrayal and calls his fighters patriots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian mercenary leader Prigozhin denies Putin’s allegation of betrayal and calls his fighters patriots.Source

Unsettled Weekend with Clouds and Storms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

This final weekend of June will feature some gloom this time around in South Florida with more clouds filling our skies along with showers and storms at times. This weekend will not be a washout but you will have to deal with rain at times.Expect some sunshine this Saturday, especially early in the day with isolated showers in the morning, then some scattered storms this afternoon with the greatest chance across our inland areas. By the evening, I think that will feature our highest rain chance at a 60% chance with rain and thunderstorms possible across the east coast metro. Highs will be warm into the low 90s once again.Overnight should feature generally quiet weather with only the chance for some spotty showers. Otherwise it will be generally cloudy with lows in the upper 70s to low 80s.Sunday will be another unsettled day with mostly cloudy skies and scattered storms likely. The timing for these storms right now appears to be during the middle of the day Sunday but of course that...

Live blog: Putin warns of civil war amid Russia mutiny

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:26 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday raised the specter of civil war after embittered warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin seized control of key parts of the south of the country. Prigozhin, who has long lambasted Russia’s top brass for their handling of the war in Ukarine, has seized the large strategic city of Rostov-on-Don, a crucial command center for the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, some 1,000 kilometers south of Moscow. His Wagner Group mercenary forces also appear to have a foothold around Voronezh, about 500 kilometers from the capital. Putin has condemned the insurrection as “treason” and Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov has said his fighters have already been dispatched to take the battle to Wagner — raising the prospect of imminent civil conflict inside Russia. Britain’s Ministry of Defense has called Prigozhin’s uprising “the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times.” Follow the latest developments here on POLITICO’s live blog: