Vladimir Putin has claimed Russian forces have taken control of the strategic city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine, as he sought to project confidence before a key meeting on Tuesday with a US delegation to discuss a possible peace deal to end the war.
Dressed in military fatigues during a visit to a command centre on Monday evening, the Russian president hailed what he called the “important” capture of Pokrovsk – once a major logistical hub for the Ukrainian army – though Ukrainian officials later disputed the claim.
#Ukraine corruption scandal: Is Putin’s GRU behind it? Putin’s #GRU ( #Russia‘s military intelligence agency).The recent significant corruption scandal in Ukraine involving the state nuclear energy company Energoatom is being investigated by Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies, and while it is being exploited by Russian propaganda, there is no direct evidence that the current scheme was orchestrated by However, the GRU has a documented history of coordinating past disinformation campaigns and leveraging corrupt Ukrainian officials for its own purposes. Russian Interference in Past Ukrainian Corruption Narratives In previous years, Russian military intelligence was directly involved in spreading false allegations and amplifying existing corruption narratives to achieve its strategic goals, which included worsening U.S.–Ukrainian relations and undermining Western support for Ukraine. Key facts regarding past Russian involvement: GRU Coordination: A network involving GRU lieutenants coordinated the spread of falsehoods through specific Ukrainian lawmakers and businessmen. Andrii Derkach: This pro-Kremlin former Ukrainian lawmaker, who recently fled to Russia and became a Russian senator, has been accused by Ukraine’s SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) of receiving millions of dollars per month from the GRU to create security companies that would assist the 2022 Russian invasion forces. Derkach was also a central figure in spreading the Biden-Ukraine conspiracy theory, a campaign linked to Russian intelligence efforts to interfere with U.S. politics. Weaponized Corruption: Analysts at the Atlantic Council and other sources note that Putin consistently uses “weaponized corruption” tactics to weaken Ukraine and Europe from within. Current Scandal vs. Russian Involvement The current, separate $100 million Energoatom scandal involves a scheme to misappropriate funds through inflated contracts. Investigation by Independent Bodies: The current investigation is being handled by Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption bodies, specifically the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), which were designed to operate independently of the President. Domestic Focus: The focus of the current domestic investigation is on Ukrainian nationals, including high-level officials and business partners close to President Zelenskyy’s circle. Exploitation by Russia: While the scandal is a serious domestic issue, Russian state media and propaganda are actively using it to portray Ukraine’s government as illegitimate and corrupt to their own advantage. In summary, while Russia’s GRU has a proven track record of orchestrating past disinformation and corruption schemes in Ukraine for strategic gain, the current large-scale Energoatom scandal appears to be an internal Ukrainian matter that is being exploited by the Kremlin for propaganda purposes.
Elderly people unable to reach water stations set up by South East Water after treatment site closed
Thousands of homes have been without water for four days in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, after South East Water accidentally added the wrong chemicals to the tap water supply.
Schools across the area have been shut for two days, and residents have been filling buckets with rainwater to flush toilets. Cats, dogs and guinea pigs have been given Evian to drink as the people of Tunbridge Wells wait for their water to be switched back on. Currently, 18,000 homes are without water.
Questions mount over US attack in Caribbean Sea that killed survivors on boat allegedly carrying drugs
US navy vice-admiral Frank Bradley will provide a classified briefing to key lawmakers overseeing the military on Thursday as they investigate a US attack on a boat in the Caribbean Sea allegedly carrying drugs that included a second strike that killed any survivors.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, on Monday said the second strike was carried out “in self-defence” and in accordance with laws governing armed conflict.
Maitri Mangal spent seven months learning about AI before she applied to AI-related roles at Google.
Maitri Mangal
A 26-year-old Google software engineer says it took her a year to transition to an AI team.
Maitri Mangal dedicated two hours daily toward upskilling and still spends hours learning weekly.
She says making content helped her understand material and suggests solo projects to nail concepts.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Maitri Mangal, a 26-year-old software engineer at Google, based in New York. Her identity and employment have been verified by Business Insider. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
When I started off as a software engineer, my dad, who also works in tech, kept telling me to get into AI.
I brushed it offbecause I was just starting off my engineering career, and no one was really talking about AI in 2019, unless they were getting a PhD.
Then in 2023, the tech industry changed and everyone started going into AI. That led me to want to start pursuing AI as a job, and alsocreating content about it. When trying to join an AI team, I think having a strong presence and personal brand is crucial for others to take you seriously.
In my three years at Google, I’ve changed roles three times, most recently switching to the Workspace AI team.
It’s important to make a distinction between an AI machine learning engineer and an AI software engineer. An AI ML engineer creates the model, trains it, and evaluates it. An AI software engineer integrates AI capabilities into software applications, and builds APIs and infrastructure to serve the model to the end user.
My transition to an AI team didn’t happen overnight. It required spending about a year upskilling through courses and creating content about the material, which forced me to learn the concepts.
Here’s how I made the switch:
Creating content about AI
In the spring of 2024, I started creating tech content on Instagram and LinkedIn, outside my job. That became a major factor in my transition to an AI team.
Making content motivated me to keep learning and also made me confident about sharing what I knew. Once I started seeing how much it helped people, I wanted to learn more. So that’s where the upskilling started, and I started taking courses to understand the fundamentals of AI.
Eventually, I started applying to AI teams at Google. I felt like if I was going to spend so much time upskilling and making content about AI, I should make the most of what I had. I started searching for new roles in January, about seven months after I started upskilling. In March, I landed the new job.
I still spend an hour a day upskilling
I typically take Google’s internal courses to upskill. Coursera also has amazing courses.
The easiest way to start is by taking the basics of AI, like Google’s Introduction to Generative AI and Google Prompting Essentials. Since I have a computer science background, I was able to get more in-depth with concepts like linear regression and vector analysis.
I took courses for about two hours a day, but in order to absorb the material, I had to talk about it, not just read. When I verbalized the concepts through making content, it helped me understand the material.
I also get feedback from my followers, and when they ask follow-up questions in the comments, it makes me go even deeper into understanding a topic. Talking to friends or teammates who are excited about AI also helps me better understand the material.
In this field, it’s very hard not to learn. I’m not necessarily still dedicating two hours daily to courses, but I still spend about an hour a day upskilling, whether that’s in the form of internal trainings for my job, or watching YouTube courses for the content I create.
Not everyone wants to create content, so that’s not always the best way to go about transitioning to an AI team. If you’re just starting out in tech, my biggest piece of advice would be to take on projects. You should definitely take courses about AI, but keeping up-to-date with the news and doing AI projects also really helps. Many AI courses have users do mini projects, so you get to know how to work with it.
Since I applied internally, I didn’t have to go through the same interview process. However, I still had to submit my résumé, which included all of my side projects, and I think that really helps.
