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While North Korea has been supplying weapons to Russia for some time, the arrival of troops is a major escalation in its involvement in the war of Ukraine. The first official evidence of large numbers of North Korean troops entering Russia was provided by the South Korean government, who last week published a press release outlining the increasingly close military cooperation between the two states. Image: A map of sites in the Russian far east linked to the reported presence of North Korean soldiers According to the press release, an initial contingent of 1,500 North Korean special forces troops were transported on Russian naval ships to the port city of Vladivostok.The South Koreans provided two high-resolution satellite...

A torrent of big-name earnings hit the stock market this week — and the majority did not live up to analysts' muted expectations. Of the S & P 500 companies that have reported so far, about 74% of companies have beaten earnings expectations . But their blended earnings growth rate, which includes the reports already out and estimates for those on the docket, is 3.4%, falling short of the 4.2% estimate. The growth rate of just the companies that have posted so far is 3.1%, according to FactSet. Aside from electric vehicle maker Tesla , tobacco company Philip Morris and cloud-based IT service manager ServiceNow , this week was especially rough for most of the approximately 110 companies that posted earnings. Of the 20 largest companies that reported, shares of 13 ended in the red. Take a...

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has engaged in secret talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022, according to reporting published Thursday by The Wall Street Journal.Citing "several current and former U.S., European and Russian officials," the Journal reported that conversations between Putin and Musk, a Republican megadonor and Pentagon contractor, took place while Russia was waging a brutal war on Ukraine, a top U.S. ally. Topics ranged from business to personal and geopolitical issues.In one instance, Putin pressured Musk to direct SpaceX to withold Starlink, its powerful satellite internet communications service, from Taiwan as a favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Journal reported, citing two people briefed on the request. Beijing is a crucial ally to the Kreml...

The Washington Post Building at One Franklin Square Building on June 5, 2024 in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik | Getty ImagesThe Washington Post said Friday that it will not endorse a candidate in the presidential election this year, breaking decades of tradition, and sparking immediate criticism of the decision.The newspaper also Friday published an article by two staff reporters saying that editorial page staffers had drafted an endorsement of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris over GOP nominee Donald Trump in the election."The decision not to publish was made by The Post's owner — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos," The Post reported, citing two sources briefed on the events.Trump, while president, had been critical of Bezos and the Post. The newspaper in 2016 and again in 2020 endorsed Trump's el...