Germany, China hold high-level meeting amid tensions over trade, Ukraine
Trade, climate change and the war in Ukraine are on the agenda as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who is on his first foreign trip since taking office
2023-06-20 15:49
Andrew Tate shares old video accusing ‘The Matrix’ of enslaving individuals, Internet calls him ‘ahead of the game’
Andrew Tate claimed in his recent video that the system has contributed to the weakening of men in society
2023-11-29 16:18
Fans 'obsessed' with Olivia Dunne as she shares dazzling looks from her 21st birthday celebrations
Olivia Dunne took to her various social media accounts to share glimpses of how she spent her 21st birthday
2023-10-02 14:51
Victoria's Secret goes back to its seductive roots, but Internet claims the 'woke' mask has finally slid off
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Prigozhin has made plenty of enemies – including Putin. This is the result
It is a terminally violent twist – perhaps to have been expected, but staggering nevertheless – to one of the most astonishing episodes in recent history. Yevgeny Prigozhin, who attempted a coup against Vladimir Putin, is reported to have been killed in a plane crash in Russia. If the chief of the mercenary group, Wagner, was indeed among the ten passengers said to have died when the private jet went down in the Tver oblast near Moscow, then the immediate suspicion would be that this was assassination by the Kremlin. In the course of 24 hours of armed mutiny, two months to the day ago, Putin had accused Prigozhin of treachery and then pardoned him. The two men even had tea together soon afterwards. Now, it seems, retribution may have come in the form of a dish served cold. According to Rosavista, the Russian aviation authority, Prigozhin was one of the names on passenger manifest of the Embraer jet RA-02795. According to some reports, Dmitry Utkin, one of the founder members of the group whose call sign, Wagner, became its name, is also among the dead. Officials in Moscow say that all the passengers, as well as the crew of three, have perished. A number of Wagner-linked social media channels claimed the jet had been shot down by the national air defence system. Others claimed there was a bomb on board. The destruction of the plane took place 24 hours after the news came that General Sergei Surovoki, who had previously been in charge of the Ukraine mission, had been fired from his post as the head of country’s aerospace forces. Surovokin, who earned the sobriquet "General Armageddon" for his brutal methods in the Syria conflict, was known to have good relations with Prigozhin and shared his antipathy towards some senior figures in the security hierarchy, including defence minister Sergei Shoigu, over the conduct of the Ukraine war. There were claims following the Wagner mutiny that Surovikin had been detained for questioning about his possible complicity. The Kremlin denied this, maintaining the general was merely “ resting”. A video had been posted of Prigozhin earlier in the week purporting to be of him in Africa declaring that Wagner was hard at work there and that made “Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa more free.” Africa, where Wagner has long acted as the Kremlin’s private army and established extensive lucrative networks, seemed to have been one place where the group and the Russian government could work together. Prigozhin had also appeared on the sidelines of a summit hosted for African leaders by Putin in St Petersburg. It was the first sighting of the Wagner boss since the mutiny. It had been assumed that Prigozhin would be exiled to Belarus in the deal brokered by the country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, to end Wagner’s march on Moscow, and his presence at the meeting was seen by some Kremlin watchers to indicate that he was too powerful to be sidelined. If Prigozhin has been killed, then it would appear that was an image his enemies were prepared to publicise while plotting to remove him from the scene permanently. Wagner had been heavily engaged in Ukraine, capturing the city of Bakhmut, more a symbolic than a strategic prize, after bloody siege and assaults lasting months, Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior advisor Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted regarding Prigozhin’s possible demise “…we have to wait for the fog of war to clear. However, it is clear that Putin does not forgive anyone for his own beastly fear - the very one that nullified him in June 2023 – and was waiting for the moment.” Ukrainian forces are taking part in a prolonged counteroffensive to reclaim territory, including Bakhmut, in the Donbas. An infantry captain – talking about Prigozhin’s fate and a spate of recent Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia – during a break in the town of Druzhkivka, mused: “Perhaps Russian air defence mistook his private plane for a large enemy drone. That would be a wonderful end for such a man, wouldn’t it?” Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Wigs, gold bars and pictures of severed heads: Inside Wagner boss’s lavish mansion UK Government closely monitoring reports of Wagner chief’s death in plane crash Joe Biden reacts to Wagner boss Prigozhin’s reported death in plane crash
2023-08-24 05:28
Column: So much money in golf makes it hard to ignore
The PGA Tour completed another season
2023-08-30 00:50
Adam Johnson's UK team gets back on the ice in a memorial game weeks after the player's tragic death
The English hockey team that Adam Johnson played for is holding a memorial game in his honor
2023-11-19 01:45
Grand jury votes to indict Marine who held homeless man in fatal chokehold on NYC subway
A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict Daniel Penny, the retired US Marine who held Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold on the New York City subway, according to a source with knowledge of the case.
2023-06-15 05:22
German heavy metal festival halts admissions as rain turns site to mud
A heavy metal festival in Germany has been forced to halt admissions after heavy rain turned the site into a mud bath.
2023-08-03 02:48
Aid groups scramble to help as Israel-Hamas war intensifies and Gaza blockade complicates efforts
Humanitarian groups are scrambling to assist civilians caught in the war between Israel and Hamas and determine what aid operations are still safe to continue, efforts that are being complicated by an intensified blockade of Gaza and the ongoing fighting
2023-10-10 12:28
House Democrats seek clearer Hunter Biden strategy as GOP impeachment threats loom
While House Democrats are confident they can defend President Joe Biden against a potential impeachment inquiry, many wish for a clearer strategy against GOP allegations on a known sensitive topic in the West Wing: Hunter Biden.
2023-09-08 00:24
Who are Pat Benatar's children? Rock singer fires back at Ted Cruz's bizarre rant involving her, President Biden and child murders
Ted Cruz earlier said Senate Democrats wouldn’t vote to convict Biden even if they saw him murdering children while singing a Pat Benatar song
2023-06-18 20:47
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