All posts tagged: flexes

Russia flexes nuclear muscles as tensions rise with NATO

Russia flexes nuclear muscles as tensions rise with NATO

Published by Sam Flores

NUCLEAR WAR GAMES As part of the drills, Russia test-fired a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia and a Zircon hypersonic missile from a frigate in the Barents Sea, while a submarine launched a liquid-fuelled Sineva ballistic missile, the defence ministry said. Russia displayed a Borei-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft and a MiG-31 armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile. Units in Belarus and Russia were issued with nuclear munitions as part of the exercises, Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, told Putin. Russian nuclear exercises typically use dummy warheads. One video released by the defence ministry showed a tarp-backed military truck travelling with minimal security. The drills come as Moscow says it is locked in an existential struggle with the West over Ukraine. Throughout the war, Putin has issued reminders of Russia‘s nuclear might as a warning to the West not to go too far in its support of Kyiv. Ukraine and some Western leaders have dismissed such moves as irresponsible sabre–rattling. Source link

Trump flexes endorsement power for Ken Paxton after ousting Cassidy

Trump flexes endorsement power for Ken Paxton after ousting Cassidy

Published by Sam Flores

GOP Texas Senate Candidate Ken Paxton speaks to supporters at a watch party on March 3, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Paxton and incumbent John Cornyn will face off again in a run off. Sergio Flores | Getty Images President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s Republican Senate primary runoff Tuesday, throwing his weight behind a hard-line ally and dealing a major blow to incumbent Sen. John Cornyn one week before Election Day. The endorsement gives Paxton a major boost in one of the GOP’s most closely watched Senate primaries, a race that has become a test of Trump’s grip on Republican voters and the strength of the Senate GOP establishment. “Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate. He will tirelessly fight to continue the Great Growth of our Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he …

Ukraine Flexes With Much Deeper Drone Reach Targeting Russia’s Refineries 

Ukraine Flexes With Much Deeper Drone Reach Targeting Russia’s Refineries 

Published by Jenni Sidey

Ukraine has been demonstrating deeper targeting reach inside Russia, as several key oil sites have come under direct drone attack this week, resulting in significant destruction. This as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday announced “a new stage in the use of Ukrainian weapons to limit the potential of Russia’s war.“ Satellite image of Perm attack aftermath, via Reuters. The massive Tuapse complex on Russia’s Black Sea coast has been hit no less than three times in under a month, sparking a series of massive fires that in some cases took days for emergency crews to extinguish. In some cases, targets in the Urals – nearly 1,000 miles away from the Ukraine border – have been hit. Transneft’s oil pumping and distribution facility in the city of Perm was struck this week, which lies very far into Russian territory. The Ukraine Security Service (SBU) owned up to it, boasting that the targeted facility is “a strategically important hub of the main oil transportation system.” It further declared that “almost all oil storage tanks are on fire.“ Amid …

Dispatch from Davos: hot air, big egos and cold flexes

Dispatch from Davos: hot air, big egos and cold flexes

Published by skeptic

I’m no meteorologist, but it’s true that there is a lot of hot air here.  On Wednesday, President Donald Trump arrived in Davos to address the assembly, and held forth for more than 90 minutes, weaving his way through remarks about the economy, Greenland, windmills, Switzerland, Rolexes, Venezuela, and drug prices. It was a talk lousy with gripes, grievances and outright falsehoods.  One small example: Trump made a big deal of claiming that China, despite being the world leader in manufacturing windmill componentry, doesn’t actually use them for energy generation itself. In fact, it is the world leader in generation, as well.  I did not get to watch this spectacle from the room itself. Sad!  By the time I got to the Congress Hall where the address was taking place, there was already a massive scrum of people jostling to get in.  I had just wrapped up moderating a panel on “the intelligent co-worker,” ie: AI agents in the workplace. I was really excited for this one as the speakers represented a diverse cross-section of …

With Maduro abduction, Trump flexes muscles and sends world a message

With Maduro abduction, Trump flexes muscles and sends world a message

Published by Sam Flores

In this photo posted by Donald Trump on his social network, CIA director John Ratcliffe, the US president and Secretary of State Marco Rubio watch a live broadcast of the operation to abduct Nicolas Maduro, at the Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, January 3, 2026. COMPTE TRUTH SOCIAL DE DONALD TRUMP VIA AFP The abduction of Nicolas Maduro was only a prelude to a broader takeover of Venezuela by the US. That was the takeaway from Donald Trump’s press conference in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, January 3, held just hours after the US special forces’ raid in Caracas that resulted in the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president and his wife, who stand accused of drug trafficking. “We are going to run the country until such time such as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” said the American president. While the official justification for the intervention was the fight against narcoterrorism, Trump made no secret that the main objective was access to Venezuela’s oil resources, the largest in the world. The …

China flexes blockade capabilities near Taiwan on second day of military drills : NPR

China flexes blockade capabilities near Taiwan on second day of military drills : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

A Taiwan’s Mirage 2000 fighter jet runs past an airplane fort at an airbase in Hsinchu, northern Taiwan, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying) Chiang Ying-ying/AP hide caption toggle caption Chiang Ying-ying/AP TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China’s People’s Liberation Army staged a second day of large-scale military drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, unleashing a live-fire show of force as part of what it called “Justice Mission 2025” to demonstrate its ability to deter any external armed support for the self-ruled island that it has long insisted is part of its sovereign territory. The PLA’s Eastern Theater Command sent destroyers, frigates, fighters and bombers to the waters to the north and south of the island to test its ability in sea-air coordination and blockading. Its ground forces carried out long-range, live-fire drills in the waters to the island’s north and also organized live-fire training, alongside simulated long-range, joint strike with air, navy and missiles units, in the waters to Taiwan’s south, achieving what command spokesperson Li Xi called “desired effects.” The maneuvers increased tension around …