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B. Safarik

@bradsafarik.bsky.social
563 followers 976 following 231 posts

PhD, Associate Professor in Poli Sci, interested in political systems of the Global South, increasingly concerned about democratic backsliding in my own country. Polyglot. Eyes wide open. Reposts are sometimes endorsements

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Reposted by B. Safarik
Christopher Hale @christopherjhale.bsky.social · 8h
St. Sabina Catholic Church in Chicago has placed more than 100 crosses outside the parish. Each bears the name of someone who died in ICE custody or during an immigration enforcement action. Union workers built the traveling memorial, which began at Holy Name Cathedral last month.
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 4h
prospect.org/2026/10/07/f...
prospect.org
Federal Judge Rules DHS Must Bring Back Arizona Man Imprisoned in Africa - The American Prospect
A Trump-apppointed judge ordered Ahmed Soliman must be returned to the United States.
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 4h
BREAKING: A judge has ordered an immediate halt to the taxpayer-funded pro-Trump ads, including any slated to run tonight. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
New working paper: the Norwegian wealth tax was a huge success. The "exodus" of wealthy people never happened (less than 100 individuals left). Tax revenue increased by 71.5%. No changes in business activity or investment. www.nber.org/papers/w35854
Taxing Entrepreneurial Wealth: Evidence from
Norway, 2021-2025
Marius A. K. Ring
WORKING PAPER 35854|
DOl 10.3386/w35854
ISSUE DATE October 2026
Whether imposing higher taxes on business owners adversely affects business activity by constraining investment and inducing capitalist flight is a central question in the ongoing debate on how to tax the ultra wealthy. To shed new light, I exploit a series of related Norwegian reforms during 2021-2024 that increased dividend tax rates, removed migration-related capital gains tax loopholes, and nearly doubled the effective marginal tax rate on business wealth. These reforms spurred international debate and, allegedly, an "exodus" of Norwegian billionaires (Financial Times,
2023). While I document clear effects on migration, these responses are concentrated among the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution and mostly confined to 2022 and 2023. My results indicate that at most 100 individuals left due to the reforms. I find no evidence of significant outmigration or reduced inflows of startup founders or inventors. I estimate that absent any outmigration, wealth tax revenues would have increased by 75% from 2021 to 2024. Reform-driven outmigration lowers the revenue gain to 71.5%. My findings further show that outmigrating owners' firms remain economically active and do not reduce investment. In a broader set of analyses, I examine whether business outcomes are affected, regardless of whether owners outmigrate, since firms may reduce investment both due to liquidity constraints or distortions to owners' savings decisions. I compare firms owned by Norwegian individuals subject to the wealth tax with firms owned by foreigners and other tax-exempt entities. By merging historical ownership data from Orbis with the Norwegian shareholder register, I perform these analyses on both Norwegian and foreign-domiciled firms.
Across settings, I find no evidence that Norwegian-owned firms pay out more dividends or invest less after the reforms,…
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 9h
An irony of this era is that Trump’s opponents and Trump share the same exact opinions about Trump supporters bsky.app/profile/acyn...
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Reconstructionist @unavaleable.bsky.social · 14h
"Your fault, you deserve it." is some crazy work
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Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 9h
We’ve been talking about this for years. None of these far-right movements are organic.
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Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 8h
"Fear is infectious, of course. But hope is also infectious. People have courage now because they think that they can have courage." Neha Bora profiled by @reuters.com www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...
reuters.com
From theatre to streets, Gen Z protester Neha Bora a new face of India's youth unrest
The 29-year-old doctoral student said she did not set out to become an activist.
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Kees van der Leun @sustainable2050.bsky.social · 8h
Google told to halt work on datacentres in Finland after it felled 330 hectares (815 acres) of forest in Muhos plus 200 hectares in Kajaani without completing an environmental impact assessment (EIA). www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
Google told to halt work on datacentres in Finland over environmental concerns
Order on two construction sites comes after Google failed to carry out environmental impact assessments
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 10h
The campaign of educational censorship sweeping Texas and other GOP-governed states in the name of “free speech” and “diversity of viewpoint” in many ways exceeds the worst of the McCarthy Era (gift link obvs) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...
You have to go back to the loyalty oath cases of the Cold War period to see relatively analogous situations where the government was trying to silence academics with viewpoints that they didn’t like,” Emerson Sykes, an attorney with the ACLU, told me. “But even in those cases, we did not see the sort of brazen attempt to ban particular ideas or ideologies and scrub them from the public record or from public education.”
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ElectionCord @electioncord.com · 8h
Trump's approval of course, isn't good, but over the last couple weeks, he's declined the most with... Republicans? On 9/28, he was at about 80% approval, but since then, it's declined to 75% approval. LINK: electioncord.com/poll-tracker/
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Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 8h
no but seriously "long but good" is kind of liberal currents' trademark at this point, and this by @quinnae.com is a fucking banger that twines around these problems like a whirlpool: the drive to escape the tyranny of the natural and also the drive to reinscribe it
liberalcurrents.com
Fukuyama's Glasses
Like the man himself, Francis Fukuyama's new memoir "In the Realm of the Last Man" combines startling insight and baffling contradiction.
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 8h
Cut out and keep.
Handed Data Centres in Russia - 3 of 9 hit
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Amanda Carpenter @amandacarpenter.bsky.social · 9h
Why is this more than regular nepotism? The scale. The brazenness. The way it’s swallowing the system. It’s a volcanic eruption of corruption and nepotism.
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Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 12h
1. Trump’s new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is a prolific user of Truth Social where she regularly promoted Pizzagate and QAnon conspiracies, accusing elites in the Democratic Party and Hollywood of running child sex rings and eating people.
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 9h
"The whistleblower says FBI supervisors were told not to put things in writing, so many of the directives came in face-to-face meetings..." www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
nbcnews.com
FBI whistleblower says White House pushed unconstitutional probe of protesters
The former analyst says supervisors were told not to put things in writing, so many of the directives came in face-to-face meetings.
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Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
7/ Chile, Argentina, and El Salvador belong to Pax Silica Paraguay is not (yet), but it signed the related AI Opportunity Statement, as did Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama. 6/26/26 www.bnamericas.com/en/analysis/...
bnamericas.com
BNamericas - What joining Pax Silica means for LatAm
Panama is the only Latin American signatory with a specific pilot project, while Argentina, Chile and Costa Rica see openings in minerals, energy and semicon...
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Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 10h
Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund is reportedly tied to a project in Paraguay billed as the largest AI data center in Latin America (Iguazú AI City project). The project reportedly has a “strategic ally” who is “behind the construction of ‘Stargate’, …which trained OpenAI’s Astra model in TX.” 10/1/26 1/
share.google
Avanza una mega base de IA en Paraguay, a 80 kilómetros de Misiones
El Iguazú AI City se encuentra en marcha con una inversión inicial de US$300 millones en Yguazú, dentro del departamento paraguayo Alto Paraná.
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Jooooohhhh No! @josefoshea.bsky.social · 16h
What a weird world we live in - Ukraine hits a data centre deep in Russia - Irish twitter users see racist posts about IPAS centres in Offaly fall off a cliff
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 16h
'Under the changes, the baseline allocation of university-funded research time is being reduced from 600 hours per academic each year to 315. This changes the traditional division of working time: 40% research, 40% teaching and 20% administration.'
nation.cymru
Research cuts make Cardiff Uni ‘a Russell Group university in name only’
Martin Shipton Staff at Cardiff University fear that the near-halving of allocated research time for academics will compromise its status as an elite higher education institution. The university is pr...
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Jamal Greene @jamalgreene.bsky.social · 15h
A massive, and massively underrated, threat to a functioning democracy. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/10/11/u...
nytimes.com
Threats of Political Violence Have America’s Elected Officials Living in Fear (Gift Article)
A Times investigation has found that violent threats have become a new normal among public officials, reshaped private lives, cost millions in security and pushed people out of office.
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Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 22h
Another devastating flash flood today in Nepal. The unfairness of the impacts they're facing as the climate warms is overwhelming. Per capita carbon emissions in Nepal are less than 1/20th that of the US.
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Digital Brain @yourdigitalbrain.bsky.social · 21h
WWF’s Living Planet Report 2026 reports a 73% decline in wild vertebrate populations between 1970 and 2022. The drop reached 85% in freshwater ecosystems, although some species are showing signs of recovery through conservation efforts.
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MPR News @mprnews.org · 10/10/2026
The fire will help restore blueberry patches and help the old growth red pine regenerate. It also makes the land itself more resilient to a changing climate. Clearing out built-up fuel lowers the risk of severe wildfire, and the forest stores carbon as it recovers.
mprnews.org
Indigenous fire practice returns to Minnesota Point after 180 years
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and partners conducted a cultural prescribed burn in Duluth on Thursday. The burn follows an intense wildfire season in northeast Minnesota.
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Truthdig @truthdig.com · 09/10/2026
Indigenous communities are confronting mounting climate threats even as inadequate funding, scant legal recognition, and little support for self-governance limit their ability to respond.
truthdig.com
As Climate Disasters Multiply, Indigenous Governance Offers a Way Forward
Indigenous communities are confronting mounting climate threats even as inadequate funding, scant legal recognition, and little support for self-governance limit their ability to respond.
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Paul Waldman @paulwaldman.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Every article like this is crammed with the most jaw-dropping corruption imaginable, then a third of the way through they have to throw in "The White House said 'Corrupty McGrifty's integrity is an example to all Americans, who are ennobled by her inspiring service.'" www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
Exclusive | At Davos, Kimberly Guilfoyle Boasted of Private Jet Trips, Luxury Stays
A recording captured the U.S. ambassador saying that Greek businessmen were paying for her travels and pleading for an invitation to an event with Eric Trump.
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ryandevereaux.bsky.social @ryandevereaux.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
The archive — coupled w/ photos, videos and firsthand observation — reveals escalating surveillance of the prayer camp before, during and after the Aug. 25 DHS incursion, offering a glimpse at what might come should tribal resistance to the wall grow. Read: www.propublica.org/article/toho...
propublica.org
As Trump’s Wall Closes in, DHS Intimidates a Border Tribe With Surveillance, Masked Agents and Drones
For decades, the Tohono O’odham Nation collaborated with DHS to stave off a border wall. Despite their cooperation, the Trump administration is barreling forward with a project that would divide their...
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Guardian Environment @environment.theguardian.com · 10/10/2026
Despair after 200-year-old ‘grandmother’ tree toppled for Trump’s border wall: ‘It crushes your heart’
theguardian.com
Despair after 200-year-old ‘grandmother’ tree toppled for Trump’s border wall: ‘It crushes your heart’
Protesters spent months occupying an ancient cottonwood. Then a tense standoff with US border patrol came to a head
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ICIJ @icij.org · 10/10/2026
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control granted a Texas-based company license to acquire one of Armenia’s largest copper mines this summer — despite ties to a sanctioned Russian bank. Learn more: buff.ly/4JcIFKF
buff.ly
Trump administration gave firm with ties to ballroom donor the green light to do business with a sanctioned Russian bank - ICIJ
Private equity investor Konstantin Sokolov was also appointed to run a government enterprise fund.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
(NYT) - Artificial intelligence agents created by Anthropic, acting on their own, tried to gain access to a range of government websites, filled out visa applications on the State Department’s website and sent a fake homicide tip to Philadelphia’s Police Department. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/09/t...
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Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
2024 election marked the end of a cycle of de-democratization by Modi's BJP. India’s opposition is back as a force to be reckoned with. Not just a reinvigorated party system but the creativity of social movements from below. Must read by the great political scientist Christoph Jaffrelot
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
School boards are way under the radar in a big year like this, but the same battles you've heard about (book bans, Moms for Liberty, trans kids) are happening this year too. I identified 19 school boards where there battles like this — and what's up: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...
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Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Japan declares cyber space emergency as attacks soar: “Masaaki Taira, head of the NCSH, declared that Japan was in ‘a state of emergency in cyber space.’ Japanese cyber security minister Toshiharu Furukawa said the situation was ‘extremely critical.’” (These attacks are likely AI enabled.)
ft.com
Japan declares cyber space emergency as attacks soar
Dozens of targets including car rental operators, barbecue chains and rail group JR East disclose data leaks
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Billionaire families have spent $1.7 BILLION on the 2026 midterms so far — a 5,200% increase since the 2010 midterms. Citizens United is among the worst decisions in history. It corrupts our system every day. Big Money is the root of our dysfunction.
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Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 10/10/2026
Yesterday folks were fighting me on this. It’s a logical step for pro-Russian administration. militarnyi.com/en/news/usa-...
militarnyi.com
USA Threatens to Stop Sharing Intelligence With Ukraine Over Attacks on Russian Oil Refineries — Axios
The U.S. has threatened to stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine if it continues to attack Russian oil refineries.
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
“ICE is operating outside the limits of its legal authority, and the people of Fresno are paying the price…” www.nytimes.com/2026/10/09/u...
nytimes.com
Off-Duty ICE Agent Is Shot and Arrested After Sleeping on Lawn in California
A woman found the agent asleep on her lawn early Friday, and her 72-year-old father shot the agent after he assaulted her, the police said.
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The China-Global South Project @chinagsproject.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Ghana’s new mining bill could give the state a stronger hand in negotiations with miners, potentially affecting all players, including China’s Zijin Mining, as Accra seeks greater control over the country’s mineral wealth. buff.ly/KlvEvlr
buff.ly
Ghana’s Mining Bill State Share Rules Could Reshape Mining Deals, Including China’s Zijin
By Maxwell Akalaare Adombila Ghana's draft mining bill would allow the mines minister to require mining companies to issue the state a free special share with veto rights over key transactions,…
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Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Zelenskyy has given up pretending to believe in Trump's bona fides
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Senator Sheldon Whitehouse @whitehouse.senate.gov · 09/10/2026
Putin throws lifeline to try to save Trump in the midterms. In return, American dollars go to Russia and get put toward killing innocent Ukrainians. Trump/Russia right out in the open. www.dailymail.com/news/article...
dailymail.com
Putin throws Trump midterm lifeline as Russia agrees to supply diesel
Donald Trump announced today that Vladimir Putin has agreed to supply the US with hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel.
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Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 09/10/2026
The administration that continues to cover up for pedophiles simply cannot be trusted with the care of hundreds of unaccompanied children with no oversight and no transparency
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Robert Faturechi @robert-faturechi.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
New: A private equity executive took a top Pentagon role. Then a firm he has close ties to landed a $281 Million no-bid contract from the unit he runs. www.propublica.org/article/geor...
propublica.org
The Pentagon Gave $350 Million in Contracts to a Firm Closely Tied to a Senior Defense Department Official
The top Pentagon official left Alvarez & Marsal Capital after ProPublica started looking into his financial ties. The contracts with a related company are another example of firms close to the Trump a...
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I Scare You Like Sound Dog @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 09/10/2026
“The Afrikaner policy is illuminating, because it proves the catch-22 facing nonwhite immigrants: If you are poor, you are a moocher, and if you are gainfully employed, you are taking a job from a hardworking American. The only way to be a good immigrant is to be white and Christian.”
theatlantic.com
The GOP’s Message to Immigrants
Be white and Christian, or America doesn’t want you.
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Rep. Mike Levin @levin.house.gov · 09/10/2026
Jared Kushner holds BILLIONS in private business interests tied directly to the same foreign governments he’s negotiating with. When did it become acceptable for someone with ZERO diplomatic experience to lead negotiations between the United States, our allies, and our adversaries?
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B. Safarik @bradsafarik.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The harrassment of federal officials continues unabated, particularly those Afrian American and/or female.
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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The terrible crime of responding to a legal subpoena, facing questions under oath, and answering truthfully about a violent attack on the United States.
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kelsey ables @kelseyables.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
New: The White House is conditioning $190 million for the Smithsonian on compliance with its executive order "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History" through legally-binding footnotes in recent OMB apportionments. www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
theatlantic.com
The White House Revives a Pressure Tactic Against the Smithsonian
The Trump administration is threatening $190 million in museum funding.
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B. Safarik @bradsafarik.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I think I know why... "Pillay was told she had won "while at the Nuremberg court in Germany," which was used for the post-World War II trials of Nazi leaders... “If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump,” she told her applauding admirers." Humiliation all around.
rawstory.com
New Nobel Peace Prize winner nails Trump in initial comments: 'Clap a little bit more'
President Donald Trump was once again denied the Nobel Peace Prize, but the winner made sure to mention him in her initial remarks.And not in a flattering way, reported The Daily Beast.The Norwegian N...
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
There's all the Trumpsters who are making bank off stealing Venezuela's oil. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/1...
washingtonpost.com
Ex-Trump officials find new jobs in Venezuela’s lucrative oil industry
Companies and investors are eager to hire those with recent access to the White House and knowledge of the administration’s Venezuela policy or contacts.
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
There's Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack (most people forget he was prosecuted, but acquitted, in a case that accused him of shaping US policy for UAE for big contracts) failing to disclose a financial tie in his confirmation disclosures. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
reuters.com
Trump envoy kept financial ties to firm behind $15 billion Hormuz-bypass oil pipeline plan
Thomas Barrack, a top US diplomat in the Middle East, advocated for a firm run by his business partner to take part in the development of an oil pipeline from Iraq to Syria, three people said, activit...
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
There's ANOTHER angle on selling out Ukraine, getting Jared to invest in Nordstream. From Reuters. www.reuters.com/business/ene...
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: US, Russia explore gas sale to Europe amid Ukraine war, say sources
Top Russian and US officials, including Special Envoy Jared Kushner, have held talks about bringing a US investor into the Nord Stream pipelines that delivered gas to Germany before Russia invaded Ukr...
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