As Russia continues its multi-pronged efforts to erode Ukrainian resistance and morale, new intelligence has shed more light on the Kremlin’s depravity and incompetence. 
 

• A Russian fighter jet accidentally bombed the Russian city of Belgorod about twenty five miles from the Ukrainian border. Three people were injured and several buildings were damaged, but thus far no fatalities have been reported. The Russian defense ministry admitted that one of its fighter bombers had “accidentally discharged aircraft ordinance,” on Thursday night. The bomb landed at the intersection of two roads near the city center and next to several residential buildings. 
   

• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed today that he is “confident” that Ukraine is prepared to retake more of its lost territory. It remains to be seen whether Kyiv has the requisite supplies to successfully execute its planned offensive. Germany and the United States have now provided Ukraine with Patriot defense missiles and replacement batteries for them.
   

• In Germany, documents show that Russian operatives continue trying to infiltrate the country’s far-right and far-left and join them together to build a pro-Russian bloc in the European Union’s most powerful nation, and thereby dampen support for Ukraine. Germany is at the center of Russia’s plan to rend Western unity asunder. Both ends of the political spectrum in the country seem to have potential—if not overt—Russian sympathies, and the Kremlin hopes to build on those and form a more active coalition.

Russia seems to have gone all-in on a number of unsustainable “recruitment” methods for its armed forces. 
 

• A shocking new report from the New York Times unveils a horrifying reality of Russian conscription: In an effort to boost their numbers on the battlefield, the Kremlin is “recruiting” from Russia’s prisons. Some 20 percent of recruits in the prisoner units are estimated to be HIV positive, and conditions in Russian prisons are notoriously harsh and often do not give them the necessary antiviral drugs to treat their conditions. Russia has offered such prisoners pardons and supplies of antiviral medications in exchange for service on the front lines of risky assault missions as part of the Wagner group of mercenaries—basically as cannon fodder. 
   

• Speaking of, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is so closely connected to the Kremlin that his nickname in Russian media translates to “Putin’s Chef,” stated that a long conflict in Ukraine could lead to the dissolution of Russia. The Wagner group currently plays a predominant role in the fighting in Eastern Ukraine. Prigozhin suggested that domestic support for the conflict is waning in Russia, and that many who once supported the war “either have doubts or are categorically opposed to what is happening.”

But there are no signs that the conflict is coming to a close, even though it’s clear that neither the international order nor the Russian public is on the Kremlin’s side, and Russian attempts to divide Western unity have thus far failed.

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In an 11th-hour ruling (are you guys freaking kidding me with this Friday night bullshit again), the Supreme Court has ordered that mifepristone will remain broadly available while litigation continues in the lower courts. The SCOTUS ruling blocks new restrictions set by those courts on the widely-used abortion pill, a rare victory for the Biden administration as it attempts to defend broad access to the drug in the latest legal battles over reproductive rights. Justices granted emergency requests by the Justice Department and the pill’s manufacturer to put Trump-appointed Texas judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s preliminary injunction on hold. Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito publicly dissented—wow, those guys really suck! We’re not totally out of the woods yet with this decision, not by a long shot, but for now, mifepristone remains available where it is legal.

New data published on Friday shows that investors at European bank Credit Suisse pulled out a record 4.6 billion euros when the bank faltered last month. 

Late Thursday Google asked a court to dismiss antitrust allegations made by the companies Epic, Match, and U.S. state attorneys general, its latest attempt to evade regulation. 

Tesla raised its U.S. electric vehicle prices for the first time in months, even though they are still 20 percent lower than they were last year after a run of price cuts. Tesla: Our prices are also exploding!

The U.S. is undergoing mass shootings at a record pace in 2023. 

While the United Kingdom still suffers from double-digit inflation and soaring energy prices and the subsequent national austerity measures imposed by its Conservative Party government, Ireland had the third-highest budget surplus in the EU last year. One step closer to payback for the famine. 

The New York City Rent Guidelines Board, appointed by Mayor Eric Adams (D-NY), is considering an almost 16 percent rent increase on two-year leases for close to one million of the city’s rent-stabilized apartments. The hike would be the largest in decades, and would disproportionately affect low-income New Yorkers. 

Montana state-Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D-MT) has been silenced for a second consecutive day after her Republican colleagues demanded she apologize for saying that lawmakers would have “blood on their hands” if they succeed in banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youths. House Speaker Matt Regier continues to block requests to speak from Zephyr, who is herself trans. 

A coalition of 60 progressive groups in California have joined together in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) asking her to resign, arguing that her extended absence has ground president Biden’s agenda to a halt.

In 2022, the Supreme Court made a crack in the dam that separates Church and State with a ruling that allowed public funds to go to religious schools. Since then, right-wing religious groups have been trying to further erode that foundational American principle. The GOP-controlled Texas State Senate passed three bills on Thursday that would require(!) public schools to promote religion to their students and employees. I repeat: REQUIRE. This includes a proposal to prominently display the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom in the state, beginning next year. Look, I know the Ten Commandments are in the top 10 of commandments, but overtly Christian religious texts in public school? Even more disgusting, there are specific requirements for the size and placement of the Ten Commandments, which must be at least 16 inches tall by 20 inches wide “in a size and typeface that is legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the classroom.” What! The! Fuck! Republican supporters of the bill have defended the legislation with a few different variations on “When the Founding Fathers said separation of Church and State they didn’t mean our Church.”

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MyPillow CEO and MAGA nutjob Mike Lindell launched his “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge,” offering $5 million to anyone who could debunk “data” claiming that China interfered in the 2020 presidential election and tipped the scales in favor of Joe Biden. Then he refused to pay when a software engineer did just that. So an arbitration panel in Minnesota has ordered Lindell to pay.

Students across Florida are staging walkouts to protest the regressive education policies of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). 

Since actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney purchased the Wrexham football club, the small, economically embattled city in the north of Wales has seen a huge tourism boost.