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CNN  —  Yevgeny Prigozhin, the combative boss of Russia’s Wagner private military group, relishes his role as an anti-establishment maverick, but signs are growing that the Moscow establishment now has him pinned down and gasping for breath. Prigozhin placed a bet on his mercenaries raising the Russian flag in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, albeit at a considerable cost to the ranks of his force and probably to his own fortune. He spent heavily on recruiting as many as 40,000 prisoners to throw into the fight, but after months of grinding battle and staggering losses he is struggling to replenish Wagner’s ranks, all the while accusing Russia’s Ministry of Defense of trying to strangle his force. Many analysts think his suspicions are well-founded – that Russia’s military establishment is using the Bakhmut “meat-grinder” to cut him down to size or eliminate him as a political force altogether. At the…

Paris CNN  —  The French government has forced through controversial plans to raise the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64, a move likely to inflame the country’s weeks-long protest movement. French President Emmanuel Macron will trigger special constitutional powers to enact the proposed pension reform bill, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced Thursday in the National Assembly, which had not yet voted on the proposal. “We cannot bet on the future of our pensions,” Borne said amid jeers and chants from lawmakers. “This reform is necessary.” Labor leaders in France called for new demonstrations following Borne’s announcement, with several thousand people converging at Paris’ Place de la Concorde and in several other cities in France on Thursday evening. “By resorting to [constitutional article] 49.3, the government demonstrates that it does not have a majority to approve the two-year postponement of the legal retirement age,” tweeted Laurent Berger, head of the…

Government signs £2.9m Moon base nuclear power deal with Rolls-Royce - BBC News Source

Swiatek was beaten in straight sets by Elena Rybakina, who she will face in the Indian Wells semi-finals, at the Australian Open in JanuaryWorld number one Iga Swiatek continued her pursuit of back-to-back Indian Wells titles as she cruised past Romania's Sorana Cirstea in straight sets to reach the semi-finals.The 21-year-old beat Cirstea, ranked 83 in the world, 6-2 6-3.The defending champion won eight consecutive games en route to a comprehensive victory in California.In the men's event, Carlos Alcaraz beat Felix Auger-Aliassime as he seeks to return to the world number one spot.The Spanish top seed, who must win his first Indian Wells title to replace Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings, won 6-4 6-4."Today, the goal was to stay there," Alcaraz said. "I knew that I was going to have my chances. Probably I played one of my best matches this season. I'm really happy and [I…

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. CNN  —  The remains of a glacier have been found near the Martian equator, suggesting that some form of water could still exist in a region on the red planet where humans may one day land. The ice mass is no longer there, but scientists spotted telltale remains among other mineral deposits near Mars’ equatorial region. The deposits there usually contain light-colored sulfate salts. When scientists took a closer look, they recognized the features of a glacier, including ridges called moraines — debris deposited or pushed by a moving glacier. The research team also spotted crevasse fields, or deep wedge-shaped openings that form inside glaciers. The findings were shared Wednesday at the 54th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas. “What we’ve found is not ice, but a…

Sao Paulo CNN  —  Five Starlink internet devices were found in illegal mining sites in the Amazon during raids by Brazil’s environmental police on Tuesday, the environmental agency said. Starlink are small, easy-to-use satellite dishes made by Elon Musk’s private rocket company SpaceX. Starlink says its equipment can provide “high-speed, low-latency broadband internet in remote and rural locations across the globe. The equipment itself is not illegal, but can be used for illegal activities, according to the environmental agency. Communications can be challenging in the Amazon, and the small satellite dishes aided in communications between illegal miners. “The goal of raids in this indigenous territory is to disrupt the supply lines of illegal mining so that it can no longer be supports and force the retreat of the trespassers,” the agency said in a statement. Yanomami territory, which spans the Brazilian states of Roraima and Amazonas, is supposed to be…

CNN  —  At least two dozen people – from Mar-a-Lago resort staff to members of Donald Trump’s inner circle at the Florida estate – have been subpoenaed to testify to a federal grand jury that’s investigating the former president’s handling of classified documents, multiple sources familiar with the investigation told CNN. On Thursday, Trump’s communications aide Margo Martin, who worked in the White House and then moved with Trump to Florida, appeared before the grand jury in Washington, DC. One of special counsel Jack Smith’s senior-most prosecutors was involved in the interview. Martin, who is among a small group of former White House advisers who have remained employed by Trump after he left office, declined to answer any questions when approached by a CNN reporter. Smith has sought testimony from a range of people close to Trump – from his own attorneys who represent him in the matter to staffers…

CNN  —  US European Command released footage of the Tuesday encounter between a US surveillance drone and the Russian fighter jets as it played out over the Black Sea. The newly declassified video depicts critical moments in the mid-air encounter, which the Pentagon said lasted between 30 and 40 minutes. The video shows the camera of the MQ-9 Reaper drone pointed backward toward its tail and the drone’s propeller, which is mounted on the rear, spinning. Then, a Russian Sukhoi SU-27 fighter jet is shown approaching. As it draws closer, the Russian fighter jet dumps fuel as it intercepts the US drone. In another portion of the footage, the Russian jet makes another pass. As it approaches, it again dumps fuel. The video from the drone is then disrupted as the Russian fighter jet collides with the MQ-9 Reaper, damaging the propeller and ultimately forcing the US to bring down…

CNN  —  Iranian authorities have used torture methods including sexual violence against imprisoned children as part of a crackdown on recent protests, according to rights group Amnesty International. “Iran’s intelligence and security forces have been committing horrific acts of torture, including beatings, flogging, electric shocks, rape and other sexual violence against child protesters as young as 12 to quell their involvement in nationwide protests,” Amnesty said Thursday. A report by the group exposed “the torture methods that the Revolutionary Guards, the paramilitary Basij, the Public Security Police, and other security and intelligence forces used against boys and girls in custody to punish and humiliate them and to extract forced ‘confessions.’” Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said Iran’s “violence against children exposes deliberate strategy to crush the vibrant spirit of the country’s youth and stop them from demanding freedom and human rights.”…

Ukraine will remember who backed us - foreign minister - BBC News Source