List of All Articles with Tag 'eppersons'

One of the first personal computers built by Apple and signed by company co-founder Steve Wozniak has sold at auction for more than $223,000

Turkey’s lira slumped as the euphoria surrounding Thursday’s jumbo interest-rate hike subsides, with questions arising over whether the

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that he he warned the Wagner mercenary chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, to "watch out" for threats to his life before the plane crash said to have killed him. Mr Lukashenko helped broker a deal between Mr Prigozhin and the Kremlin that ended an attempted mutiny by Wagner forces against Moscow in June – an uprising that marked the most significant challenge to Mr Putin's authority in more than two decades in power. Two months to the day after that revolt was halted, with fighters 125 miles from the Russian capital, a plane believed to be carrying Mr Prigozhin and a number of other members of Wagner's senior leadership crashed on Wednesday evening. Mr Putin had called the Wagner mutiny treason, and had initially vowed to crush it, and a number of world leaders have suggested that he would not let the embarrassment of that incident stand. Mr Lukashenko said on Friday that Mr Prigozhin had twice dismissed concerns raised by the Belarusian leader about possible threats to his life. Mr Lukashenko said that during the mutiny he had warned Mr Prigozhin that he would "die" if he continued to march on Moscow, to which he said Mr Prigozhin had answered: "'To hell with it - I will die'." Then, Mr Lukashenko said, when Mr Prigozhin and his right-hand man, Dmitry Utkin, who was also listed as a passenger on the plane which crashed, had come to see him, he had warned them both: "Lads – you watch out". Mr Lukashenko said that the Wagner leader had never asked him for security guarantees. "I don't have to ensure Prigozhin's safety... the conversation was never in that vein." It was not exactly clear from Mr Lukashenko’s words, which were reported by state news agency BELTA, when that conversation took place, Reuters reports. Mr Lukashenko has previously claimed that he persuaded Mr Putin not to "wipe out" the Wagner leader. US officials, speaking to American media, have suggested that a preliminary US intelligence assessment concluded the plane was downed by an intentional explosion. One of the US and Western officials who described the assessment to the Associated Press said it determined that Mr Prigozhin was “very likely” targeted and that the explosion falls in line with Putin’s “long history of trying to silence his critics.” The Kremlin rejected that assessment on Friday, falling back on a regular refrain for Moscow that it is the West that are the root of the problem. “Right now, of course, there are lots of speculations around this plane crash and the tragic deaths of the passengers of the plane, including Yevgeny Prigozhin,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said during a conference call with journalists. “Of course, in the West those speculations are put out under a certain angle, and all of it is a complete lie,” he claimed. On Thursday, Mr Putin appeared to eulogise Mr Prigozhin, calling him a “great businessman”. But he also said that the the Wagner leader had made “serious mistakes” in his life and had a “complicated fate”. A close ally of Mr Putin, the Belarusian president said that he believed the plane crash was “just too rough and unprofessional a job” for the Russian leader to be involved. “I know Putin: he is calculating, very calm, even tardy,” Lukashenko said. “I cannot imagine that Putin did it, that Putin is to blame.” The jet crashed soon after taking off from Moscow for St. Petersburg, carrying Mr Prigozhin, six other Wagner members and a crew of three, according to Russia's civil aviation authority. Rescuers found 10 bodies, and Russian media cited anonymous sources in Wagner who said Mr Prigozhin was dead. As part of the deal to end June's mutiny, Mr Prigozhin was due to set up in Belarus, with any Wagner fighters that wanted to join him. While the mercenary leader appeared to be able to travel freely, thousands have his fighters have travelled to Belarus, and have been training Belarusian soldiers near the border with Nato-member Poland. Warsaw has moved thousands of its own troops to its border in response. Britain's Ministry of Defence said on Friday that it was "highly likely" Mr Prigozhin was dead and that his death "would almost certainly have a deeply destabilising effect" on Wagner, with the reported deaths of Mr Utkin and logistics chief Valery Chekalov compounding a "leadership vacuum", Mr Lukashenko said Wagner fighters would remain in Belarus. "Wager lived, Wagner is living and Wagner will live in Belarus," the president said. "The core remains here." "As long as we need this unit, they will live and work with us," he said. Elsewhere, on the battlefield in Ukraine – which has been subject to Russian invasion for 18 months – there was a significant attack on Russian-occupied Crimea involving dozens of drones. Russia's Defence Ministry said that 42 drones had been shot down over Crimea and 73 as a whole across across the last 24 hours. The attacks were the latest in a surge of similar incidents in recent weeks. Ukraine has said that destroying Russia's military infrastructure helps a counteroffensive than Kyiv began in June. President Volodymyr Zelensky told an international conference this week that Kyiv would "de-occupy" Crimea. Ukrainian military intelligence said it had assisted the navy this week in a "special operation" in which they landed units on the western tip of Crimea, had a firefight with Russian forces and raised a Ukrainian flag. Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary What next for the Wagner Group in Russia? Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? Wagner chief presumed dead in plane crash What is the Wagner mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin?

These TV shows reflected changing social mores and broke new ground in American entertainment, a trend that continues today.

Former President Donald Trump and the 18 people indicted along with him in Georgia on charges that they participated in a wide-ranging illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election have all turned themselves in to a jail in Atlanta before the deadline at noon Friday

Provides an overview of Tibet, including key dates and facts about this autonomous region of China.

Provides an overview of China, including key dates and facts about this Asian country.

Estonia’s strongly pro-Ukrainian prime minister is under increasing pressure to resign, after Estonian media revealed her husband’s role in a company that indirectly did business in Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year

Iga Swiatek wants to win the U.S. Open again, of course

New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman shared his gleeful reaction to Donald Trump’s mug shot after the former president surrendered for arrest at Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr Bowman, a former educator who won his seat back in 2020, shared a video of himself laughing at the mug shot, saying “we got you, and more to come” before calling Mr Trump a “crook,” “clown,” “criminal,” and a “thug”. Like Mr Trump, Mr Bowman used the mug shot to fundraise for the Democratic effort to take back the House. In a lengthy statement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Mr Bowman wrote: “In a normal world, Donald Trump’s mugshot would be the end of his political career. But in this world, his poll numbers are actually going up.” He continued: “This mugshot is not what you think it is. It’s a jackpot for Trump who will use this image to raise MILLIONS of dollars from his cult – and the worst part is they are going to use it to win even more elections so they can change our laws to make it easier to steal our Democracy. “It’s a symbol of everything that is wrong with our country. It is a reminder of the deep divisions that exist, the hatred that is spewed, and hate is tolerated. It is a sign that our democracy is in danger.” The New York representative said that the GOP “will solidify their support around Trump and our fate will be sealed ... because Republican voters trust Trump more than their own friends and families. They believe that Trump is one of them and they want revenge”. Other Democrats also reacted to Mr Trump’s arrest. At 7.30pm on Thursday night, just as Mr Trump arrived at the Atlanta jail, President Joe Biden’s account on X also called for donations. “Apropos of nothing, I think today’s a great day to give to my campaign,” the memo read. Maine Democrat Chellie Pingree tweeted: “In the United States, no one is above the law. No one.” Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Democrat Madeleine Dean wrote: “Four indictments and 91 charges in total now against the former President. This is not normal. “I’m sad for our country; hopeful for justice; thoughtful for Mr. Trump’s day in court; disappointed yet confident for our democracy and rule of law. No one is above the law.” Mr Trump’s mug shot has also prompted plenty of memes, including several from the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump campaign group operated by former Republicans. Kari Lake, the 2020 Republican nominee for Arizona governor, tweeted a heavily edited image of Mr Trump in sunglasses and a mullet. Comedian Jordan Klepper of The Daily Show responded by tweeting a mug shot of his own. One X user compared Mr Trump’s mug shot pose to “The Kubrick Stare”. “A method of shot composition where a character stares at the camera with a forward tilt, to convey to the audience that they are at the peak of their derangement,” they wrote. But, some people warned that Democrats in particular won’t be laughing for long as Mr Trump’s arrest and mug shot could help his 2024 bid. “The Democrats are likely going to regret the Trump mug shot politically. It’s over the top,” Republican consultant Ford O’Connell told NBC News. Presidential historian Craig Shirley added to the outlet: “On a political level, this only strengthens Donald Trump’s hand. “The Fulton County DA represents the establishment. Joe Biden represents the establishment. [Attorney General] Merrick Garland represents the establishment. All of these establishment forces have been arrayed against Donald Trump, who is the epitome of the anti-establishment,” he added. “Everyone has a tale of woe about their run-ins with some form of government. There’s no downside for Donald Trump. He’ll laugh all the way to the White House.” Read More Trump cashes in on historic mug shot with ‘never surrender’ merch as codefendants’ arrest deadline looms: Live From smiling Jenna Ellis to scowling Donald Trump: All of the mugshots from the Georgia election arrests Trump’s mugshot was a theatrical masterstroke with a showman’s flair for the outrageous

WASHINGTON The largest U.S. women's group on Friday endorsed President Joe Biden's re-election bid, pledging to use its

French magistrates have ordered former president Nicolas Sarkozy and 12 others to go on trial on charges that his 2007 presidential campaign received millions in illegal financing from the government of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The national financial prosecutor, Jean-Francois Bohnert, announced that the decade-long investigation has been formally closed. The trial will run from January to April 2025, the statement said. The case is the biggest of multiple corruption investigations involving Sarkozy. He has been convicted in two others. He denies wrongdoing in all cases. In the Libya case, he is charged with illegal campaign financing, embezzling, passive corruption and related counts. Sarkozy has been under investigation in the Libya case since 2013. Investigators examined claims that Gaddafi's government secretly gave Sarkozy 50 million euros (£42 million) for his winning 2007 campaign. The sum would be more than double the legal campaign funding limit at the time and would violate French rules against foreign campaign financing. The investigation gained traction when French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine told news site Mediapart in 2016 that he had delivered suitcases from Libya containing five million euros (£4.2 million) in cash to Sarkozy and his former chief of staff. Takieddine later reversed course and Sarkozy sought to have the investigation closed. In May, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) demanded that Sarkozy be tried, citing charges against him of "concealment of laundering public funds, passive corruption, illegal campaign financing and criminal conspiracy with a view to committing a crime punishable by 10 years in jail". Investigating magistrates, who had the last word, gave the go-ahead for a trial, the PNF said. After becoming president in 2007, Sarkozy welcomed Gaddafi to France with high honours later that year. Sarkozy then put France at the forefront of Nato-led air strikes that helped rebel fighters topple Gaddafi's government in 2011. In an unrelated case, Sarkozy was sentenced to a year under house arrest for illegal campaign financing of his unsuccessful 2012 re-election bid. He is free while the case is pending appeal. He was also found guilty of corruption and influence peddling in another case and sentenced to a year under house arrest in an appeals trial in May this year. He took the case to France's highest court, which suspended the sentence. Associated Press Read More French former President Nicolas Sarkozy to go on trial over Libya financing for 2007 campaign Wagner leader ‘killed’ in plane crash: Your questions answered by an expert Minister calls out ‘arsonist scum’ as 79 arrested over Greece wildfires