How Biden Reluctantly Agreed to Send Tanks to Ukraine

WASHINGTON — President Biden’s announcement Wednesday that he would send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine came after weeks of tense back-channel negotiations with the chancellor of Germany and other European leaders, who insisted that the only way to unlock a flow of heavy European arms was for the United States to send tanks of its own.

His decision, however reluctant, now paves the way for German-made Leopard 2 tanks to be delivered to Ukraine in two or three months, provided by several European nations. While it is unclear whether it will make a decisive difference in the spring offensive that President Volodymyr Zelensky is now planning to take back territory seized by Russia, it is the latest in a series of gradual escalations that has inched the United States and its NATO allies closer to direct conflict with Russia.

Billionaire friend of Putin’s daughter defied sanctions to import world’s finest wines into Russia

A friend of Vladimir Putin’s daughter managed to import bottles of the world’s most expensive wines into Russia last year despite Western sanctions, according to public filings.

Pharmaceutical billionaire Alexey Repik’s company Ryatiko brought in ten bottles of Henri Jayer wine, which fetched £184,000 a bottle at a Christie’s auction in 2020.

Scientists set Doomsday clock closer to midnight amid climate change, Ukraine invasion

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday clock forward to just 90 seconds before midnight Tuesday. The clock is a metaphor for how close scientists say we are to destroying our planet. Sivan Kartha, a member of the Science and Security Board for the Bulletin, explained the reasons for clock’s movement to CBS News.