Category: Security

A Libertarian candidate described as the “Trump of Argentina” defeated Argentina’s current minister of economy, Sergio Massa, a leftist establishment candidate, to win Argentina’s presidential election on Sunday.

Fox News reported that with 99.3% of the country’s votes counted, Libertarian candidate Javier Milei, from the Liberty Advances Party, had received 55.7% of the vote, while Massa had only received 44.3% of the vote.

According to Fox News, Milei’s presidential victory was a decisive win, as the “Trump of Argentina,” who was previously interviewed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, won 20 of 23 Argentine provinces.

With Argentina currently facing over 140% inflation and over 40% of its citizens currently living below the poverty line, Milei has called for significant changes in the South American nation.

READ MORE: Trump issues message to his supporters on ‘our final battle’

“The situation in Argentina is critical,” Milei told his supporters. “The changes that our country needs are drastic, there is no room for gradualism, there is no room for lukewarmness, there is no room for half measures.”

“Today the impoverishing model of the omnipresent state ends, which only benefits some while the majority of Argentines suffer,” he added. “Today the idea that the state resources are loot to be shared between politicians and their friends end.”

Former President Donald Trump celebrated Milei’s resounding victory in Argentina’s election in two posts on Truth Social. Trump shared a picture of Milei behind a Gadsden flag, encouraging the newly elected president to “Make Argentina Great Again.”

“Congratulations to Javier Milei on a great race for President of Argentina,” Trump wrote in another post. “The whole world was watching! I am very proud of you. You will turn your Country around and truly Make Argentina Great Again!”

Fox News reported that many parallels have been pointed out between Milei’s temperament and the former president’s temperament. Additionally, like Trump, Milei portrayed himself as a political outsider who was willing to fight against the “useless and parasitic” political establishment. Milei also frequently used a chainsaw to demonstrate his opposition to the Argentina government’s spending, which he claims is excessive.

Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who captured the nation’s attention during a controversial self-defense shooting case during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, is releasing a new book that will present the “honest version” of his story, providing a stark contrast with mainstream media’s portrayal of the Second Amendment advocate.

During the Black Lives Matter protests in Wisconsin in 2020, Rittenhouse, who was 17-year-old at the time, fatally shot two protesters and injured a third in self-defense, according to The Independent. 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum and 26-year-old Anthony Huber were killed after Rittenhouse fired a semi-automatic rifle at them in self-defense during the protest in Kenosha. 26-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz was also injured by Rittenhouse.

As a result of the shootings, Rittenhouse was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, two charges of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, and first-degree reckless homicide. However, in 2021, a jury declared him “not guilty” on all charges.

READ MORE: Fox News Books releasing ‘Unbroken Bonds of Battle’ by Marine Corps combat veteran Johnny Joey Jones

After years of the mainstream media portraying Rittenhouse as a murderer and a white supremacist, the now 20-year-old is finally releasing the uncensored account of his story.

Advertising the pre-order of his new book “Acquitted” Sunday on social media, Rittenhouse tweeted, “Two years ago today, accused of unjust charges, I heard ‘NOT GUILTY’ five times over from a jury of my peers who heard the facts.”

“My case split the nation into opposing sides fueled by emotions, politics, and misconceptions driven by media and political figures,” he added. “Today, I want you to learn the truth, and know the real and honest version of my story – without filters or an agenda. My story of survival, resilience, and justice is now available for pre-order.”

Two years ago today, accused of unjust charges, I heard ‘NOT GUILTY’ five times over from a jury of my peers who heard the facts.

My case split the nation into opposing sides fueled by emotions, politics, and misconceptions driven by media and political figures.

Today, I want…

— Kyle Rittenhouse (@ThisIsKyleR) November 19, 2023

According to the description of “Acquitted” on the book’s official pre-order website, Rittenhouse never had any desire to be a public figure. The 20-year-old, who has become a prominent Second Amendment advocate, explained that he was homeless as a young child and was raised in housing that was subsidized by the government.

“My goal was to be a cop or a paramedic,” Rittenhouse stated in the description of his book. “I went to Kenosha to help my community–not become a whipping boy in the national debate.”

Rittenhouse noted how the course of his life was “horribly altered” in “less than three minutes” when he was forced to defend himself with “deadly force” during the Black Lives Matter protest. He explained that so many of the things that were publicly stated or written about him were not true.

“Now, for the first time, I want to tell my story,” he said. “My name is Kyle Rittenhouse. I was attacked. I defended myself. I was prosecuted. I was acquitted.”

Kool & the Gang co-founder and percussionist George “Funky” Brown is dead at 74.

The band announced the death of the New Jersey native and “funkiest drummer” on Friday.

“In loving memory of our dear brother, cofounder and the funkiest drummer the world has ever seen,” the band wrote on social media. “His beautiful soul is now at rest. We love you George. Thank you for giving us the sound of happiness.”

Brown died from stage 4 lung cancer Thursday in Los Angeles, according to The Associated Press.

In 1964, Brown helped form Kool & the Gang out of Jersey City under their original name the Jazziacs. The Grammy-winning band took on the name by which it’s now known in 1969 and went on to produce funk-disco hits including “Celebration,” “Ladies Night” and Jungle Boogie.” They were awarded with a star on the The Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015.

“From Nairobi to Newark, Kool & the Gang has performed continuously longer than any R&B group in history and their bulletproof funk and jazzy arrangements have also made them the most sampled R&B bands of all time,” their website boasts.

Kool & the Gang saw several lineup changes over it’s nearly 60 years together, but Brown stayed with the band as they continued to perform through the decades. They were scheduled to kick off a new set of shows early next year, including a Feb. 17 concert in Atlantic City.

Prior to Brown’s passing, the band lost co-founder and singer Ronald Bell in 2020, followed by original saxophonist Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas in 2021.

Brown leaves behind his wife, Hanh, and five children. His family has asked that donations be made in his honor to the Lung Cancer Society of America.

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© 2023 New York Daily News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A new video posted on X, formerly Twitter, over the weekend shows a fistfight between United States Marines and a group of civilian men outside a nightclub in Austin, Texas. The footage also shows a large group of Texas State Police intervening to break up the fight before it escalated further.

A video of the brawl posted by TX Street Fights on X shows a group of men confronting U.S. Marines outside of the Voodoo Room nightclub in Austin. After the men exchange words with the Marines, one of the men can be seen attempting to land punches against one of the Marines, which quickly escalated tensions into a street fight between the Marines and the civilian men.

After a civilian repeatedly punched one of the Marines, the group of Marines quickly knocked the civilian to the ground and began landing multiple blows on him with their fists while other civilians engaged in a fight with the Marines. Texas State Police officers were forced to quickly intervene and bring an end to the fight before it escalated.

During the street fight between the Marines and the group of civilian men, several of the bystanders appeared supportive of the U.S. military members. One of the bystanders can be heard chanting “USA! USA!” as the police worked to break up the fight and create separation between the two groups.

The last segment of the video footage shows additional police officers arriving at the scene of the fight on horseback while an unrelated fight broke out near the Austin nightclub, according to The Gateway Pundit.

READ MORE: Marines active-duty suicide rate highest in US military in 2022

Collin Rugg, co-owner of Trending Politics, also shared the video footage on social media, warning, “Don’t mess with the Marines.”

“The incident started when an angry woman snagged a phone and threw it into the street. (She was later smacked on accident by one of the men she was with),” Rugg tweeted. “One of the black men then swung at a Marine and missed which then escalated the fight. The Marines knocked down one of the men after he landed three punches on a Marine.”

NEW: Group of Marines get into a fight with a group of men outside the Voodoo Room nightclub in Austin, Texas.

Don’t mess with the Marines.

The incident started when an angry woman snagged a phone and threw it into the street. (She was later smacked on accident by one of the… pic.twitter.com/Fr9VD8lHjw

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 19, 2023

The video footage led many users on social media to show support for the U.S. Marines for defending themselves during the Texas street fight. One social media user tweeted, “What a disgraceful incident in Austin! Our brave Marines, defending themselves after unprovoked attacks. This is the state of our country—disrespect for those who put their lives on the line. Unbelievable!”

“I don’t condone violence,” another social media user tweeted. “But just maybe, people should learn to respect our armed forces. The Marines are trained like no others.”

Bayer AG’s Monsanto unit was ordered by a Missouri jury to pay more than $1.5 billion to three former users of its Roundup weedkiller who blamed their cancers on the controversial product in one of its largest trial losses in the five-year litigation over the herbicide.

Jurors in state court in Jefferson City, Missouri, late Friday awarded James Draeger, Valorie Gunther and Dan Anderson a total of $61.1 million in actual damages and $500 million each in punitive damages over their claims that years of using Roundup on their lawns and gardens caused their non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas.

Monsanto has been hit with a recent spate of jury verdicts finding its Roundup contains carcinogens after winning nine cases against it. The more than $1.5 billion verdict is one of the largest damage awards handed down against a U.S. corporate defendant this year. A federal-court jury in Kansas City concluded Oct. 31 the National Association of Realtors and others conspired to artificially inflate commissions paid to real-estate agents across the U.S. and must pay at least $1.78 billion in damages — a figure that could balloon to more than $5 billion.

Bayer officials said Saturday they believe U.S. judges have allowed former Roundup users to mischaracterize regulatory decisions governing the product’s safety before juries, and that led to the recent round of plaintiffs’ wins. “We have strong arguments to get the recent unfounded verdicts overturned,” a company spokesman said in an emailed statement.

Bayer also noted in the statement the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to find Roundup and its main ingredient, glyphosate, as safe and a federal appeals court recently backed a rejection of calls for Bayer to include safety warnings on the product’s distinctive white bottles. The company agreed to transition from the version of Roundup containing glyphosate to new active weed-killing ingredients in the U.S. consumer market by the end of the year.

It’s likely the jury award to Draeger, Gunther and Anderson will be slashed on post-trial motion or appeal under U.S. Supreme Court rulings that limit such punishment awards to 10 times a plaintiff’s actual damages. The punitive award in the Missouri case is about 25 times more than the damages awarded for medical expenses and pain and suffering.

The Missouri verdict isn’t the biggest in the five-year litigation over Roundup. In 2019, a California jury awarded a couple more than $2 billion in damages after they claimed they got cancer from using the weedkiller for 30 years. That award later was cut to $87 million and allowed to stand by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Two years ago, Bayer set aside as much as $16 billion to resolve more than 100,000 cases over Roundup, which it acquired when it bought Monsanto in 2018 for $63 billion. The conglomerate now faces a second wave of lawsuits alleging glyphosate and other elements of the herbicide are carcinogens. It lost a bid in 2022 to have the U.S. Supreme Court hear arguments that all Roundup suits should be barred from going forward on procedural grounds.

“These are the kinds of verdicts Bayer can look forward to in future trials,” Jay Utley, a Dallas-based lawyer for the three ex-Roundup users, said Saturday in an interview. “Monsanto has done wrong for so many years in selling Roundup that it’s a beautiful thing to have a jury recognize that wrongdoing and punish them for it.”

Former users contend in the Roundup cases that Monsanto officials knew some researchers had found glyphosate to be a carcinogen and the company sought to bury those studies. Internal Monsanto documents made public during the litigation also showed company officials ghost-wrote scientific studies backing glyphosate’s safety.

Bayer Chief Executive Officer Bill Anderson has been reviewing the German company’s strategy and structure since taking over the helm in June. The Texas native has said nothing is off the table as he seeks to win back the faith of investors and navigate the company out of a thicket of challenges.

Anderson’s room for maneuverability could be constrained if the company’s U.S. legal problems — which also include litigation around other legacy Monsanto products, such as toxic PCBs — flare up again with more high-profile trial losses. The company is facing more trials in state courts in Arkansas and Delaware in coming months.

The Missouri case brought together claims of former users who lived across the U.S. Draeger and his wife, a landscaper, used Roundup on their home gardens in Mississippi and in commercial jobs, Utley said. Anderson, a San Diego resident, and Gunther, from New York, used it to kill weeds in their yards.

———

The case is Anderson v. Monsanto, Case No. 22AC-CC00968, Missouri Circuit Court for Cole County (Jefferson City).

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© 2023 Bloomberg L.P

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Ken Pifke enlisted with the Marines right out of high school in 1942 with the intent to become a pilot.

But when his depth perception didn’t allow him to be trained as a pilot his skills were put to use in another very important way to help the war effort.

“I enlisted while I was senior in high school and I joined right after graduation in July 1942,” said Pifke, 99, of Lyndon. “I always wanted to be a Marine.”

“He really wanted to be a pilot, but he didn’t pass the depth perception test,” said Kris Bielema, his daughter.

When the Marine Corps saw that Pifke had metal working skills, he was deployed to the South Pacific to work at a base in New Hebrides.

“When they found out I had machine shop skills and could use a metal lathe they put me to work on repairs,” said the Elmwood Park, Illinois native. “My job was maintaining airplanes — wings, landing gear — whatever they needed.”

He remembers working on F4U Corsairs — a fighter plane, and the TBF Avenger — a torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps.

“The TBFs were a slower plane that had a lot of carrier power and that made them very vulnerable,” he said.

Pifke excelled at his job, becoming a Master Tech Sergeant at the age of 20. He served until December 1945, when he returned home to help his mom back in Elmwood Park.

“It was quite an experience,” he said remembering his service maintaining aircraft. “I met some wonderful people. I wanted to stay in, but my mom was a widow. My duty was to take care of mom.”

Pifke, who will celebrate his 100th birthday on Jan. 3, moved to Prophetstown in 1989 to be near his daughter, Kris, who had moved to Lyndon in 1987.

Pifke reflected on his time with the Marines as he carefully touched the medals and patches that grace his original Marine uniform that was on display at the Lyndon Area Historical Society’s Salute to Veterans on Sunday.

“I had a Marine dress uniform tailor-made for me, but I never got to wear it,” he recalled. “After I had it made, another Marine asked if he could wear it home and I let him borrow it and he never gave it back.”

Pifke was one of 80 veterans honored with displays of their service at the annual open house.

Each display included a short family history and background of the veteran as well as personal items such as basic training photos and orders to report.

In the sanctuary, “The Missing Man Table” was displayed honoring fallen, missing, or imprisoned military service members.

This year’s display honored Dennis Keith Eads, a Prophetstown pilot who remains on the Missing in Action List after his helicopter was shot down in South Vietnam on April 23, 1970.

The Lyndon Area Historical Society is located in the former Lyndon Congregational Church at 405 Fourth St.

Regular hours are from 1-3 p.m. Wednesdays. For more information, contact Bielema at 815-499-4015 or visit lyndonareahistoricalsociety.org.

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(c) 2023 the Daily Gazette

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Millennials are the largest generation in the U.S., and everyone has been expecting members of this massive demographic cohort to reshape the housing market. So far, however, it hasn’t quite happened.

Not that millennials don’t value homeownership — two-thirds of them say it’s a central part of the American dream, according to Bankrate’s 2023 Financial Security survey. Still, it’s been a struggle for many aspiring millennial homebuyers to become homeowners.

These mid-twenty-to-early fortysomethings face a tough market. Home prices remain near record levels, and mortgage rates are much higher than they were two years ago. Low inventory, high inflation, expensive financing: The combination has created an affordability squeeze that’s forcing many millennials to keep renting.

Here’s a profile of this generation, their challenges when it comes to home buying, and their behavior when they do become homeowners.

Millennials and home buying statistics

—According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 70% of younger millennials and 46% of older millennials are first-time home buyers. First-timers make up 26% of all homebuyers, in general.

—Millennials trailed baby boomers as the largest generation of home buyers in 2022: They now make up 28% of buyers, vs. 39% for the boomers.

—When buying a home, over half of millennials pay either the full asking price or up to 10% more, according to NAR.

—Personal affordability issues keep 78 percent of aspiring-homeowner millennials from purchasing a home, while current housing market/economic conditions hold back 59 percent of them, according to Bankrate’s April 2023 Financial Security Poll.

—66 percent of millennials cite owning a home as a key element of the American dream — compared to 84 percent of baby boomers (aged 59-77) and 76 percent of Gen X-ers (aged 43-58).

—Among those millennials who have become homeowners, 44 percent say they’ve no regrets about the purchase.

—The best metro areas for first-time homebuyers in 2023 are Austin, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; Raleigh, North Carolina; Minneapolis and Jacksonville.

Millennials in a changing housing market

Millennials are typically defined as those born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s. Their entry into the real estate market has looked different from that of older generations. Generally, millennials are buying their first homes later than their baby-boomer parents. There are a number of reasons behind that delay, but high student debt loads and the lingering effects of career stagnation caused by the Great Recession are some of the most commonly cited.

Even so, for the last eight years, millennials had represented the biggest share of buyers in the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) “Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report,” mounting as high as 43% of buyers in NAR’s 2022 report. However, the share declined in the latest 2023 survey. Despite millennials’ large numbers and their being the prime age for home acquisitions, baby boomers are now the most active generation of homebuyers in the U.S.

Blame it on the triple whammy of pandemic-elevated home prices, tight inventory and rising mortgage rates. The lack of ready cash or assets to draw on hasn’t helped either. Among millennial non-homeowners surveyed by Bankrate earlier this year, many cited paltry savings as their reason for continuing to rent.

Saving enough money, in particular, continues to prove challenging. In Bankrate’s survey, over half (53%) of the older millennials who aspired to homeownership pointed to being unable to afford the down payment and closing costs more than any other reason or any other age group. Younger millennials blamed an array of affordability hurdles: not having enough income (49%), home prices being too high (47%) and not being able to manage the down payment and closing costs (42%).

In addition to being held back by financial considerations, many millennials are in a general pattern of reaching life milestones later. The average age for getting married has been rising, for example. In 2020, the median age for a man’s first marriage was above 30 for the first time in history, according to Census estimates, while the median age of a first-time bride was above 28, also for the first time. Subsequently, millennials are starting their families later. And they’re waiting to buy homes. NAR research indicates the typical first-time homebuyer was 36 years old in 2022 — up from 33 the previous year. That was an all-time high.

Sacrifices millennials will be willing to make for affordable housing

No spoiled brats, they: Millennials are willing to make compromises in the name of finding a residence they can afford. Among the sacrifices they cited in Bankrate’s April survey:

—Buy a fixer upper: 33%

—Move out of state: 32%

—Downsize their living space: 31%

—Take on roommates: 27%

—Move farther away from family and friends: 30%

Millennials and home renovations

Since the pandemic, remodeling has been all the rage among American homeowners. Given their tight budgets and low rates of homeownership, millennials haven’t fully jumped into that game yet. They made up just 9% of homeowners who renovated in 2022, according to the “2023 US Home & Houzz Study” by home remodeling platform Houzz.

Still, millennials’ median spend on renovations has increased by 33% compared with 2021 and doubled since 2020. It’s now at $20,000, the study found.

Social media has played a role in the trend. FOMO no longer is just for nights out and vacations, it seems, but also for home renovations and remodels. Not to say that social media is a negative force — to the contrary, it’s a place for younger homeowners to find ideas, learn how to do projects and share before-and-after photos.

Houzz found that millennials did more home system upgrades than other generations, with automation and security enhancements being their top priorities. And reflecting work-from-home trends, home office upgrades also were more popular among millennials than among members of any older generation in 2022.

To pay for renovations, most millennials (88%) use cash from savings. However, 35% also use credit cards, and they’re more likely to use them than older generations do. Only 15% of millennials used a secured home loan, perhaps reflecting they had not yet built up much of an ownership stake to borrow against.

Tips for millennial homebuyers

If you’re looking to become a homeowner, there are a few key bits of advice to keep in mind:

Work with a real estate agent.

Although the housing market is showing signs of cooling, now’s not the time to embark on a purchase without someone to guide you through the process. If you’re a first-time homebuyer, it’s even more important to have a real estate professional who understands your needs, concerns and stresses.

Use technology

When baby boomers were first-time buyers, home listings were kept by real estate agents in paper binders. Today, it’s all available on your phone, tablet or laptop. Real estate apps and home technology tools help homebuyers peruse their local real estate market’s listings, take virtual tours, find a Realtor, sign contracts and even shop for mortgages.

Real estate agents and brokers have embraced the changes — many share new listings across platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. They’re going there because that’s where the buyers are — 76% of homebuyers used a mobile device in their home search, the National Association of Realtors says. Millennials used them twice as often as the silent generation.

Shop around with multiple mortgage lenders to make sure you’re getting the best deal

It’s not just about interest rates, but the all-in costs and other terms and conditions on your loan. Online sources abound that allow you to follow interest rates (like Bankrate’s mortgage page) and compare lenders’ offerings and terms.

Make a budget and stick to it

You don’t want to wind up with more houses than you can afford. Keep that budget going once you move, too. In Bankrate’s April survey, the top regret for millennial homebuyers was maintenance and hidden costs being more expensive than expected (expressed by 42% of those with buyer’s remorse). In a subsequent June survey, 5% of millennials said that buying more home than they could afford was their biggest financial regret. While this percentage is relatively low, millennials were above average in this instance: just 3% of all respondents felt that way.

Over half of millennials (54%) feel behind in their emergency savings, according to a Bankrate September study. You’ll want to be ready to cover the ongoing expenses, plus whatever issues inevitably crop up.That cash cushion can bail you out when it’s time to pay for emergency home repairs.

Be strategic in financing home renovations

Using credit cards to pay for home improvements is a risky move, considering their double-digit interest rates: The average interest rate on credit cards as of late October was just nearly 21%, according to Bankrate’s national survey of lenders. In contrast, the average rate on a home equity line of credit (HELOC) or home equity loan was around 9%. The interest could be tax-deductible as well, if you itemize on your return.

FAQ

—What years are millennials?

Millennials are those born from 1981 to 1996, according to the Pew Research Center. They’re preceded by Generation X and followed by Generation Z.

—When should I start the homebuying process?

Building the foundation for homeownership starts years before you actually start shopping for a specific home. Boosting your credit score and saving for a down payment are long-term projects. But once you’re ready, the timeline really depends on how eager you are to do a deal. In today’s low-inventory market, finding a place can take a while. You’ll probably want to get preapproved for a mortgage before you start house-hunting, as that status assures buyers you can get financing. Actually shopping for a home, qualifying for a mortgage, and then getting to the closing table usually takes a few months all told.

—What is the average age of a first-time home buyer?

As Americans delay milestones such as marriage and having kids, the typical age of a first-time buyer has risen to 36, according to the National Association of Realtors.

(Visit Bankrate online at bankrate.com.)

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© 2023 Bankrate.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.

Myanmar’s military junta is increasingly using state media outlets for propaganda purposes while it continues its crack down on independent news outlets, several journalists have told Radio Free Asia.

The junta has ramped up its use of its channel on the messaging app Telegram to distribute its information, according to the reporters. In addition, there are a number of pro-junta Telegram channels that then amplify the junta’s propaganda.

“People need to be vigilant against fake news,” Sein Win, newsroom management editor for Mizzima Media. “It is a traditional and common strategy of the military since long, long ago. People might be trapped in their propaganda.”

The junta has revoked the licenses of four publishers and two printing houses since the junta seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup d’etat.

Some 14 media outlets including Mizzima, Democratic Voice of Burma and The Irrawaddy have also lost their licenses. 

Last month, junta troops raided and shuttered independent news outlet Development Media Group in Rakhine state, arresting one reporter and a guard. The news outlet covers armed conflict and human rights violations in the western state that borders Bangladesh.

But junta-controlled media such as Thazin FM continue to operate. Every Wednesday, the outlet broadcasts its “Public Voices Among Public” call-in program. Most of the callers are just parroting junta-approved talking points, several residents of the Yangon and Sagaing regions told RFA.

The general message repeated on the program is that the National Unity Government, or NUG, and the anti-junta People’s Defense Force paramilitaries are creating problems that worsen people’s lives.

The NUG is made up of leaders in the former civilian government and other anti-junta activists.

Junta leader’s visit to friendly media outlets

Thazin FM also inserts a variety of songs that carry junta messages into the call-in program, a Khin-U township resident told RFA on condition of anonymity. But the propaganda won’t be enough to counteract what many people are experiencing, he said.

“We love to listen to a variety of music, including modern songs,” he said. “But actually, people are suffering various hardships in daily life.”

In June, junta chief Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing spoke about the need for more public interest and educational programs during visits to Thazin FM and the military-owned Myawaddy Television.

“The military council is preventing spread of accurate information to the world, to the people and to its forces by cracking down on independent media and by creating fake news,” said Nay Phone Latt, the spokesman for NUG’s Office of the Prime Minister. “In addition, they have developed fake media agencies to spread misinformation.”

Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun didn’t immediately reply to RFA’s request for comment on the junta’s use of propaganda.

This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.

A court in Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv sentenced a local resident to life in prison for helping coordinate a deadly Russian missile attack in March 2022, the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General’s Office said on November 13.

Media reports identified the man as Denys Panikarov, who was found guilty of treason, justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the illegal fabrication of a firearm, and illegal use of a firearm.

The man pleaded not guilty. On March 1 last year, one of Russia’s missiles hit a site near Kharkiv’s city administration, killing at least 30 people.

This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.

Russia may charge volunteer fighters who surrender, desert, or refuse to carry out orders with a crime as the Kremlin seeks to maintain discipline on the front lines in Ukraine.

Russian lawmakers have proposed amendments to the criminal code that would equate punishments for volunteers with those of professional soldiers, according to a document published on the parliament’s website. Volunteers are not criminally liable for such actions under current legislation.

Russia recruited many volunteer fighters for its invasion of Ukraine with promises of high pay for a tour of duty lasting several months. However, it has extended their tour indefinitely amid a lack of manpower.

President Vladimir Putin said last week that all fighters will remain at the front lines until the war is over. Analysts say he is hesitant to carry out another large-scale mobilization ahead of presidential elections in March. Putin ordered a mobilization in September 2022, sparking anger and the flight of hundreds of thousands of men abroad to avoid conscription.

Some volunteer fighters who have served the terms of their contract have left while others have refused to carry out orders they considered suicidal, according to social media videos. Russia has sent soldiers to attack Ukrainian positions in what is described as “human waves,” leading to a large loss of life.

U.S. intelligences has estimated that more than 200,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in fighting in Ukraine.