Satellite photos taken after a series of explosions on Tuesday at a Russian air base in Crimea appear to show at least three blast craters and at least eight wrecked warplanes, showing a serious blow to the Russian military contrary to the Kremlin's account. Russian authorities had previously denied that any aircraft had been destroyed. A senior Ukrainian official said the attacks were an attack carried out with the help of partisans, but was not more specific. Military analysts have said that Ukraine does not have missiles that can reach the base from territory it controls, well over 100 miles away, and Ukrainian jets would have been unlikely to penetrate into Russian-controlled airspace. Multiple explosions were reported at the Saki base. At least one person was killed and more than a dozen wounded, according to officials. At least 62 apartment buildings and 20 commercial buildings have been damaged, according to Sergei Aksyonov, the Kremlin-installed leader of Crimea. He raised the threat level of terrorism on the peninsula and declared a state of emergency.
Days after his home was searched by the F.B. In an unrelated investigation, Donald Trump invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination while being questioned under oath by the New York State attorney general, Letitia James. The former president responded to every question posed by her investigators by repeating the phrase same answer. The course of the civil investigation into whether the former president falsely inflated his assets to secure loans and other benefits could be determined by Trump s refusal to respond substantively. He has always denied the inquiry, but he was forced to sit for questioning under oath after multiple judges ruled against him this spring.
A $1.9 million regional aid package unveiled by the United Nations Development Program on the edge of the Colombian Amazon is an example of how one of the world s largest sustainable development organizations team up with polluters, even those that at times work against the interests of communities the agency is supposed to help. A Times investigation found that U.N. partnerships with oil companies have resulted in the agency acting in the interests of those firms. The U.N. agency in the Amazon is paired with GeoPark, a multinational petroleum company that holds contracts to drill near and possibly on the ancestral land of indigenous Colombians like the Siona people. These partnerships are part of a strategy that treats oil companies not as environmental villains but as major employers that can bring economic growth to poor and middle-income nations. Oil money has been used to provide clean water and job training for areas that might otherwise be neglected, according to the development agency.
Monuments have commemorated the loss of life from a calamitous event: wars, genocides, terrorist attacks. Covid 19 poses a unique challenge. Millions of people have died, but not in a single location or in a single event. Now, as the death toll continues to rise, communities are building new monuments and expanding existing ones in order to keep pace with their mounting grief. The photos and biographies of victims are updated online in Malaysia. White ribbons flutter on a church fence in South Africa, and white flags dot the National Mall in Washington. Family members and friends in London have written the names of their dead on a wall next to the Thames, above.
That was it for today's briefing. The Times won a Pulitzer for its coverage of Covid last year. The medal was kept from going on display at the Times Building until now because of the pandemic. I. search of Mar-a Lago.