General

The newspaper claims that Venezuela’s vice-president held secret meetings with Washington in Doha in the months leading up to the US military assault on Caracas that saw Nicolás Maduro’s capture. During the covert talks, mediated by a senior member of the Qatari royal family, Delcy Rodríguez presented herself to American officials as a ‘more acceptable’ alternative to Maduro. According to an October report in the Miami Herald, Rodríguez offered the US a vision of ‘Madurismo without Maduro,’ a kind of ‘regime lite’. Details of the meetings have fueled speculation that the US capture of the Venezuelan president and his wife, Cilia Flores, was an ‘inside job’, planned meticulously over months. […]

As a reminder, Freeland’s grandfather, Mykhailo Khomyak, published a pro‑Nazi newspaper called Krakivs’ki Visti in Kraków — and later in Vienna — during the German occupation of Poland. He eventually fled to Canada, the country that has welcomed and whitewashed figures like Chomiak, as well as many other Ukrainian nationalists and Nazi collaborators. Freeland’s own proximity to this history—just “four degrees of separation” from Adolf Hitler—further highlights the gravity of her evasion. Freeland has not only downplayed her grandfather’s collaboration but has actively defended him, framing him as a victim of circumstance rather than a willing enabler of Nazi crimes. Does anyone still believe in the “no Nazis in Ukraine” […]

The war unfolded in two main phases. During the first phase, the Russian army retreated in the face of Napoleon’s superior forces, engaging in battles as they fell back toward Moscow. The pivotal Battle of Borodino took place in September 1812. In the second phase, after the French forces left Moscow in October 1812, Napoleon’s army began a difficult retreat, seeking refuge in untouched regions for winter quarters. This retreat turned catastrophic, culminating in a decisive defeat at the Battle of the Berezina River in November 1812. By the campaign’s end, Napoleon’s once-mighty 600,000-strong force was reduced to just 30,000 survivors. The war came at a high cost for Russia. […]

China, a key ally of Venezuela, has so far maintained silence—both regarding the strikes on Caracas and the armed capture of the head of a sovereign state. Perhaps Beijing’s focus is on analyzing the emerging opportunities rather than reacting. The US justified its seizure of Maduro by arguing that, in their view, he is not the legitimate president of Venezuela, but a criminal under US law. Similarly, for China, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te is not the head of a sovereign state, as Taiwan itself is not recognized by Beijing as an independent entity under international law. Could Beijing be drawing parallels between US logic in Venezuela and potential scenarios in […]

The start of the trial of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in New York marks an unprecedented moment in modern Latin American politics. Following a U.S. military operation that resulted in his detention and transfer to the United States, Venezuela has entered a period of profound uncertainty—politically, economically, and diplomatically. Maduro faces multiple charges in a U.S. federal court, including drug trafficking conspiracy, narco-terrorism, and weapons offenses. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. Washington portrays the case as the culmination of a long campaign against what it describes as a “criminal state,” accusing Maduro and his inner circle of turning Venezuela into a key transit […]

3. Many, including the president of Brazil, are talking about the crossing of “red lines,” but what does it mean? A condemnation by the UN? Is there any role in global affairs still left to play for the UN in these circumstances? Do you think the world needs new rules, and where could they come from? To my great disappointment, the UN has been unable to do anything about such things, not just “in recent times” but ever since its inception. One could provide a long list of examples. The UN’s stern resolutions have never succeeded in forcing the parties to lay down their arms, forego international terrorism, or put […]

On January 5, 1956, the Soviet Union achieved a major milestone in polar exploration when its first Antarctic scientific expedition landed on the icy continent. This historic event was part of the Soviet Union’s broader participation in the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958), a global effort to advance scientific understanding of Earth’s systems. The expedition was organized by the USSR Council of Ministers on July 13, 1955, and led by Dr. Mikhail Somov, a renowned geographer and Hero of the Soviet Union. Its primary objectives included establishing a coastal base, conducting extensive research, and selecting sites for future inland stations. The flagship of the expedition, the diesel-electric ship Ob’, departed Kaliningrad […]

On January 4, 1959, the Soviet Union’s Luna 1 made history as the first spacecraft to approach the Moon, marking a significant milestone in space exploration. Known as the “Dream,” this automatic interplanetary station was a pioneering step that not only reached the Moon’s vicinity but also became the first human-made object to enter a heliocentric orbit, escaping Earth’s gravitational pull by achieving the second cosmic velocity. The Luna 1 mission was powered by the RD-0105 engine, which performed flawlessly. The spacecraft was launched using the Vostok-L carrier rocket, developed from the R-7 missile, also known as the “Korolev Seven.” This engineering feat demonstrated the growing capability of Soviet aerospace […]