China considers giving lethal weapons to Russia for war

Published

2 years ago

February 22, 2023

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close video China supplying Russia with lethal weapons ‘very disturbing’: Bill Browder

Hermitage Capital CEO Bill Browder discusses Biden’s meeting with NATO allies and Vladimir Putin’s meeting with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi.

After formerly discovering "corruption" in Russia as the country’s ex-largest foreign investor, Hermitage Capital’s CEO Bill Browder warned the country’s strengthening relationship with China could "entirely" change the Russia-Ukraine war dynamics.

"This announcement that Secretary of State Blinken made a few days ago at the Munich Security Conference, if it's true, is extremely disturbing," Browder told Maria Bartiromo on "Mornings with Maria" Wednesday.

"He announced that the U.S. has intelligence that China is intending to supply lethal weapons to Russia in the war on Ukraine," he continued. "And if that were to happen, that could change the dynamics of the war entirely."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken first revealed the U.S.'s suspicions following his meeting with Beijing's top diplomat Saturday, after which he expressed concern "that China’s considering providing lethal support to Russia in its aggression against Ukraine."

U.S. CUTTING TIES WITH CHINA ‘EASIER SAID THAN DONE,’ EXPERTS WARN

The U.S. and its NATO allies have repeatedly warned that any nation, including China, will see swift and severe economic sanctions if they are found aiding Russia’s war effort.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Chinese Communist Party’s foreign policy chief Wang Yi during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. (AP Newsroom)

China has toed the line when it comes to the war in Ukraine, refusing to condemn Russia's invasion but also failing to provide arms to its chief international partner.

"If China enters the game, gives them weapons, then things could be very different, very dangerous and very bad," Browder said. "We will know if China supplies weapons. We'll see them on the ground in Ukraine. And if they do, they should expect a very harsh economic response because America cannot allow China to become involved in this war."

Despite America’s latest warning about China's potential military aid for Russia, one Chinese foreign minister accused the U.S. of "fanning the flames" of the war.

"The U.S. should seriously reflect on what it has done, stop fanning the flames or profiting from it, and stay truly committed to promoting peace talks as China has been doing," spokesman Wang Wenbin said in a statement. close video China is exploiting the Russians at this time: Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin

Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin discusses Vladimir Putin suspending nuclear treaty with the U.S., the importance of the Biden administration’s credibility and China’s rising aggression.

Browder, who described himself as a "canary in the coal mine," became Russia’s leading investor by being a shareholder activist who exposed corruption, and worked with Congress to get the Magnitsky Act passed, preventing foreigners who violate human rights from entering the U.S.

The Magnitsky Act is named after Browder’s Russian accountant, Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Russian prison under suspicious circumstances. From that moment on, the CEO said Wednesday, Putin has "hated" him, allegedly attempting to arrest, kidnap and kill Browder.

After seeing "what Putin was all about" at least a decade before the rest of the world, Browder claimed, the political activist confirmed that the friendship between Russia and China "knows no bounds." He further called out the Russian government for being "human rights violators and kleptocrats." close video China is our chief adversary: Sen. Eric Schmitt

Montana Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt reacts to China policy and the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment on ‘The Evening Edit.’

"I've been screaming from the rooftops that this guy is a murderer, he's a criminal, he needs to be contained and needs to be stopped," Browder said. "For the most part, people didn't want to hear it because they wanted to continue doing business with Russia. And now everybody has seen on the television every day that this guy is a terrible mass murderer who's doing terrible things, and he really needs to be contained."

CHINA'S NEWEST WEAPON TO NAB WESTERN TECHNOLOGY – ITS COURTS

The Putin critic further cautioned that Russian forces are "stuck in a corner" as Ukraine largely holds off their advances, leaving Putin no other option than "to escalate" the war.

"He's lost 140,000 troops, half of his tanks, so he's got to come up with something to make himself look invincible, powerful, sadistic, to make us all reassess the sort of pathetic view that we now have of him as a weak warrior," Browder said.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE close video The ‘axis of evil’ advance China, Russia goals as Biden takes back seat: Rep. Cory Mills

Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., argues America is facing ‘economic, resource and cyber warfare’ from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.

America’s response to the possible threat should include fulfilling Ukraine’s request for F-16 fighter jets and seizing $350 billion of frozen Russian assets currently in U.S. custody, according to the activist.

"These are Russian assets, Russian central bank assets, and that money should be diverted, seized and sent to Ukraine so they could then support themselves both militarily and financially. The sanctions are also very important, but all of these things need to be done in unison," he urged.

Entertainment

French woman faces online mockery after being conned out of £700,000 by fake Brad Pitt

Published

42 mins ago

January 16, 2025

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French woman faces online mockery after being conned out of £700,000 by fake Brad Pitt

A French woman has been mocked on social media after losing more than €830,000 (£700,000) to scammers posing as the Hollywood actor Brad Pitt.

The 53-year-old interior designer, known only as Anne, thought she was in a year-long romantic relationship with the Fight Club and Ocean’s Eleven star.

But after opening up about her ordeal to reporters, she suffered so much trolling that the French television channel TF1 had to pull her interview.

“The story broadcast this Sunday has resulted in a wave of harassment against the witness,” TF1 presenter Harry Roselmack wrote on X.

“For the protection of victims, we have decided to withdraw it from our platforms,” he added.

At the time of the broadcast, Anne was reported to have been suffering from severe depression.

Anne told TF1’s Seven to Eight show that, after starting to use Instagram for the first time, she was contacted by someone posing as Pitt’s mother.

“She told me that her son needed someone like me,” Anne explained. The scammers messaged her again several days afterwards, this time posing as Brad Pitt.

Anne said she began talking to the fake version of the actor sometime in February 2023 on different social media and messaging platforms, including WhatsApp.

Images from the TF1 programme have been widely shared online, showing a number of AI-generated images of Brad Pitt in hospital, designed to trick Anne in believing she was interacting with the 61-year-old actor.

‘I really didn’t understand’

“At first I said to myself that it was fake, that it’s ridiculous,” Anne explained to TF1. “But I’m not used to social media and I didn’t really understand what was happening to me.”

Scammers began requesting money, telling Anne that Brad was in hospital with kidney cancer and needed money for treatment. He claimed his bank accounts were frozen during divorce proceedings with ex-wife Angelina Jolie.

She eventually agreed to transfer a large sum of money to a Turkish bank account after receiving an email from the fake star’s “doctor”.

Scammers ‘deserve hell’

Anne said she finally realised she had been scammed after she saw pictures of the real Brad Pitt with his current partner, Ines de Ramon.

“I ask myself why they chose me to do such harm like this?” she told TF1. “I’ve never harmed anyone. These people deserve hell.”

Police are investigating the scam, but the interview has triggered some social media posts making jokes at Anne’s expense.

French newspaper Sud Ouest reported that Anne was going through divorce proceedings with a millionaire entrepreneur at the time and needed hospital treatment for severe depression following the scam.

A spokesperson for Brad Pitt told Sky News: “It’s awful that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connection with celebrities.”

They added it was “an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence”.

Environment

Biden’s $635M good-bye, Trump’s DOT pick will investigate Tesla, and a look ahead

Published

1 hour ago

January 15, 2025

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Biden's 5M good-bye, Trump's DOT pick will investigate Tesla, and a look ahead

On today’s episode of Quick Charge we explore the uncertainty around the future of EV incentives, the roles different stakeholders will play in shaping that future, and our friend Stacy Noblet from energy consulting firm ICF stops by to share her take on what lies ahead.

We’ve got a couple of different articles and studies referenced in this forward-looking interview, and I’ve done my best to link to all of them below. If I missed one, let me know in the comments.

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New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

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Environment

In December, EV sales were still up and incentives were still sweet – Kelley Blue Book

Published

2 hours ago

January 15, 2025

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In December, EV sales were still up and incentives were still sweet – Kelley Blue Book

December-EV-salesKelley — Chevy Equinox EV (Source: GM)

EV sales kept up their momentum in December 2024, with incentives playing a big role, according to the latest Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book report.

December’s strong EV sales saw an average transaction price (ATP) of $55,544, which helped push the industry-wide ATP higher, according to Kelley Blue Book. The December ATP for an EV was higher year-over-year by 0.8%, slightly below the industry average, and higher month-over-month by 1.1%. Tesla ATPs were higher year-over-year by 10.5%.

Incentives for EVs remained elevated in December, although they were slightly lower month-over-month at 14.3% of ATP, down from 14.7% in November.

EV incentives were higher by an impressive 41% year-over-year and have been above 12% of ATP for six consecutive months. Strong sales incentives, which averaged more than $6,700 per sale in 2024, were one reason EV sales surpassed 1.3 million units last year, according to Cox Automotive, a new record for volume and share.

(My colleague Jameson Dow reported yesterday, “In 2024, the world sold 3.5 million more EVs than it did in the previous year … This increase is larger than the 3.2 million increase in EV sales from the previous year – meaning that EV sales aren’t just up, but that the rate of growth is itself increasing.”)

Kelley Blue Book estimated that in December, approximately 84,000 vehicles – or 5.6% of total sales – transacted at prices higher than $80,000 – the highest volume ever. KBB lumps gas cars and EVs together into this luxury vehicle category, so this is where Tesla Cybertruck is slotted.

However, Tesla bundles sales figures of Cybertruck with Model S, Model X, and Tesla Semi(!) into a category it calls “other models,” so we don’t know for sure exactly how many Cybertrucks Tesla sold in Q4, much less in December. However, Electrek‘s Fred Lambert estimates between 9,000 and 12,000 Cybertrucks were sold in Q4, and that’s not a stellar sales figure.

What will January bring when it comes to EV ATPs? What about tax credits? Check back in a month and I’ll fill you in.

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