politicnewsbusterinsiderpostreview: Russian troops are self-sabotaging in Ukraine, says British intelligence

Thursday, 31 March 2022

Russian troops are self-sabotaging in Ukraine, says British intelligence

Russian tanks with letter ''Z'' spray-painted on them, pictured along a road in Ukraine.

By Liza Hearon

Thursday, March 31

RUSSIAN TROOPS ARE SELF-SABOTAGING IN UKRAINE Russian troops deployed to invade Ukraine are undermining their own offensive by rejecting orders and destroying their equipment, including aircraft, according to Jeremy Fleming, the head of British intelligence agency GCHQ. Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about his forces' poor performance in Ukraine. [HuffPost]

CHRIS ROCK ADDRESSES WILL SMITH OSCARS INCIDENT Comedian Chris Rock was greeted by a lengthy standing ovation at a theater in Boston, where he quipped, "How was your weekend?" He said he was "still processing" the incident at Sunday night's Oscars where Will Smith hit Rock in the face onstage after the comedian told a joke about the actor's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. [HuffPost]

BIDEN MAY RELEASE OIL FROM STRATEGIC RESERVE TO MITIGATE GAS PRICES President Joe Biden is considering a plan to release up to a million barrels of oil a day from the nation's strategic reserve to help fight dramatic surges in gas prices, according to multiple reports. Gas prices have remained high for the last month amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has disrupted oil and gas deliveries around the world. [HuffPost ]

TALKING ABOUT COCAINE AND ORGIES IS THE GOP'S RED LINE Freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) found out the hard way what sort of rhetoric the Republican Party absolutely will not tolerate: talking about wild Washington parties. He was called into a meeting with party leadership over comments he made on a fringe-right YouTube channel suggesting that conservative D.C. elites attend sex parties and use drugs. [HuffPost]

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ACADEMY: WILL SMITH REFUSED TO LEAVE OSCARS The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said that Will Smith was asked to leave Sunday's Oscars ceremony after he hit Chris Rock onstage, but that Smith refused. The academy met to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Smith. He has the opportunity to defend himself in a written response before the board meets again on April 18. [AP]

SUSAN COLLINS WEIGHS IN ON KETANJI BROWN JACKSON Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a moderate Republican, said she will vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. If all Democrats and Collins support Jackson, her confirmation would go through without Vice President Kamala Harris having to cast a tie-breaking vote. [HuffPost]

BIDEN CONTINUES PUSHING COVID VIGILANCE, EVEN AS NATION LOSES INTEREST Biden got his second COVID booster shot, announced a new coronavirus vaccine and treatment website, and urged Congress to continue providing funding to help with the pandemic — all as polling shows the country is losing interest in the 2-year-old public health crisis. "Americans are back to living their lives again. We can't surrender that now," Biden said. [HuffPost]

THIS MAY BE THE (ONLY) GOOD NEWS ABOUT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW If you care about LGBTQ rights, it's hard not to be angry about Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signing what he calls a "parental rights bill" and what its many critics call the "Don't Say Gay" bill. But attitudes about sexual orientation and gender identity have changed a lot, and in the long run, the likes of DeSantis may be fighting a losing battle, writes Jonathan Cohn. [HuffPost]

MEHMET OZ GOES FULL CLIMATE DENIAL Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor-turned-GOP Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, declared that carbon dioxide is not a climate problem because it accounts for just a small fraction of the air in Earth's atmosphere, a longtime talking point of climate change deniers. "As a scientist, I'll tell you the Green New Deal is a lie," said Oz, who is a medical doctor, not a climate scientist. [HuffPost]