After a long hiatus on here, I’ve launched a Substack where I’ll be writing about how we navigate the rapidly changing information space — and often get lost in it. Here's my first post on an important subject. I hope you’ll read & subscribe (it's free). antidotenote.substack.com/p/charlie-ki...

NEW: A federal court in New York has rejected a Russian businessman’s challenge to the U.S. government's efforts to confiscate a luxury superyacht that allegedly belongs to sanctioned #Russia oligarch Suleyman Kerimov.

Former Sen. Bob Menendez sentenced to 11 years in prison. Prosecutors said he "shepherded military aid to Egypt, provided assistance to Qatar, and interfered in local prosecutions [...] in exchange for bribes including gold, cash and a Mercedes-Benz."

NEW: Scammers have been stealing Facebook accounts in multiple countries to advertise a phony @voanews.com.web.brid.gy article and push a “cryptocurrency investment” plan that Russian tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov supposedly described to Tucker Carlson. It's all BS & it's bizarre. I dug into it.

NEW: At first blush, the video appeared to show a teenage refugee from #Ukraine making insulting comments about US aid and racist remarks about Black people. In reality, it was a deepfake — one of several — created and pushed by Matryoshka, a #Russia info op. Details from me & Tatiana Vorozhko.

Royal Navy surfaces a sub (nuclear?) near the Russian surveillance ship Yantar that was sailing in the North Sea (now apparently has left). "This is a Russian spy ship used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure," per defense minister John Healey.

What is new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's position on Russia's war against #Ukraine? @kyivindependent.com had a look at his recent statements. Yesterday he said: "Russia is the aggressor in this conflict, but this war needs to end. And ultimately, that’s the complexity of foreign policy."

NEW: News reports have revealed that #Russia is deceptively recruiting young African women to work in a military drone factory. Salem Solomon and I tried to find out what governments in #Africa are doing to protect their citizens. So far? Not much.

threadreaderapp.com/thread/18658.... My thoughts on rumors of Russian evacuation from Syria, what we know, and what we don’t.

Assad seems finished. An Iranian intervention is not forthcoming. Russia is also running out of options. They may try to cut a deal to keep bases, which are key to operations in MENA. I suspect it will end up as either a panicked evacuation, or a negotiated withdrawal given how things are trending.

A London-based man won a $24m Ukrainian state contract for a project meant to defend Dnipro power plant from Russian attacks while secretly helping Moscow’s spy services to launder money and evade sanctions. Wild scoop w/ my colleague Miles Johnson @financialtimes.com www.ft.com/content/57a3...

What does the future look like for #Russia 's Wagner Group and other mercenaries over a year after the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin? I spoke with @jackmargolin.bsky.social, @johnalechner.bsky.social, Ilya Barabanov, and Maria Kucherenko to find out. Read my story for their insights.

Very alarming news about how #China penetrated the US telecom system. “We have to let the American people know this,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner said. “Folks need to know.” www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/u...

Germany, meanwhile, announces its own new weapons package for Ukraine as well, including several dozen more MRAPs; more air defense radars; 4 more self-propelled Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers; a few hundred more surveillance drones, and other equipment. www.bundesregierung.de/breg-en/news...

#Israel is finding large amounts of modern Russian weapons — some manufactured as recently as 2020 — in #Lebanon, raising concerns that #Russia could be deepening its relationship with Hezbollah. www.wsj.com/world/middle...

As we mark 1000 days of #Russia 's full-scale war against #Ukraine, the Kremlin has a new endorsement: Norwegian neo-Nazi terrorist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people — mostly teenagers — in 2011. (Not visible in photo: He shaved Russian war symbol "Z" into his hair.) nypost.com/2024/11/19/w...

I am not sure what’s the fuss in Moscow about. Ukraine struck Crimea with ATACMS many many times. Is Lavrov suggesting that Crimea unlike Bryansk is not, well, really Russian? www.wsj.com/world/europe...

In case you forgot: This platform is pronounced "Blew-skee" like a Slavic surname.

U.S. to allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons inside Russia, NYT reports. This could be a game-changer for Ukraine, which would allow them to challenge Russian logistics supply lines and air dominance. Below is a map of potential targets from ISW www.nytimes.com/2024/11/17/u...

“The officials said that while the Ukrainians were likely to use the missiles first against Russian and North Korean troops that threaten Ukrainian forces in Kursk, Mr. Biden could authorize them to use the weapons elsewhere.” #Ukraine

Not sure what is happening with Khamenei but I hope his obituary will clear up whether or not he graduated from Patrice Lumumba People’s Friendship University in Moscow, as reported by RT in 2010

News that is also meta-humor. "The satirical news publication The Onion won the bidding for Alex Jones' Infowars at a bankruptcy auction, backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims whom Jones owes more than $1 billion in defamation judgments..."

What a terrible story from #Ingushetia: In 2014, 12-year-old Leila Gatagazheva moved from Ingushetia to the Middle East with her mother and was forced into marriage at age 13. At 15 y.o., Leyla already had two children. She and her husband moved to Iraq, where he fought for ISIS.

I think this op-ed makes an interesting point about public health messaging: Instead of simply telling people "this is true"/"this is false," author Emily Oster recommends entrusting the public with more nuance. This comes with certain risks, but also benefits.

In light of the mass migration to this platform, I will try to re-activate this account. Some news: For the past year, I've been working as an investigative reporter at Voice of America covering Russian sanctions violations, disinformation, corruption, etc. Looking forward to sharing my work here.

NEW: The latest development in California's insurance crisis: Two more companies—including a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway—will exit the state homeowner's insurance market, dropping 50,000+ policies in the process.

NEW: He’s the face of accident & injury law in SoCal — a man whose ads feature 'Machete' star Danny Trejo. Now his face is plastered on San Francisco buses: "Sweet James." But lawsuits and his ex-wife’s role on ‘Real Housewives’ tell a bitter tale.

NEW: Bay Area homeowners who protect their homes with Safeco Insurance may be in for a bad surprise: The company plans to drop over 950 policies in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and beyond when they come up for renewal starting in October. See the affected ZIP codes in my latest story.

NEW: Before he allegedly killed tech exec Bob Lee in San Francisco in April, Nima Momeni threatened another man—reputedly Lee's drug dealer—who allegedly gave his sister date-rape drugs. Who was he? Jonah Lamb, Michael Barba, and I report.

Imagine having a 10-minute video visit with a doctor and receiving a $1,100 bill. Or getting charged a huge "facility fee" for a medical test. Patients say this is the unpleasant reality at UCSF Health in San Francisco. It's more common than you think. I dug into it.

California and Florida are becoming uninsurable, writes Peter Coy. "In both states, the nightmare would be that insurance markets fully unravel and the state government has to take over entirely."

My colleague Han Li and I "raced" Waymo and Uber across #SanFrancisco. Things did not go as planned, an illustration of the current limitations of autonomous vehicles. You can read all about it here.

Autonomous vehicles are one of the most mindboggling — and controversial — technologies you will encounter in San Francisco. Yesterday, I got a chance to ride one for the first time. Here's what I learned from that eerie, but fun experience.

Following other major providers, Farmers Insurance appears to be sharply limiting business in California and declining to cover older homes. By @matthewkupfer.bsky.social https://sfstandard.com/business/farmers-insurance-state-farm-allstate-californ/

The U.S. State Department on Monday condemned a fire set over the weekend outside the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, the second act of vandalism this year against the diplomatic post.

Last month, State Farm and Allstate stopped signing new home insurance policies in California. For people aiming to buy a home, it was like an earthquake. Since then, the picture has grown clearer. Here's what you need to know.

What happens to a neighborhood and its residents when the force driving its development—a booming tech sector—disappears overnight? Welcome to SoMa, an "up-and-coming" part of San Francisco hit hard by the pandemic and the so-called "doom loop." My latest for @sfstandard.bsky.social:

Just FYI, this platform is pronounced "Blew-skee" like a Slavic surname.

great story about an oligarch buying up a San Francisco church that was going to become a homeless shelter in an attempt to build a "Startup Temple" that would be a "Church of Hacktivism" https://sfstandard.com/business/how-a-mega-rich-oligarch-linked-to-putin-derailed-a-bay-area-homeless-shelter/