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June 4, 2025

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In this video, Dave shares his weekly stock scan strategy used to identify bullish stock trends. He illustrates how to set up this powerful scan, reveals the tips and tricks he uses to identify the most constructive patterns, and explains the four winning chart setups that tend to come up week after week.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned trader, this guide will enhance your charting process and help you uncover winning trade setups using technical analysis.

This video originally premiered on June 3, 2025. Watch on StockCharts’ dedicated David Keller page!

Previously recorded videos from Dave are available at this link.

In this market update, Frank breaks down recent developments across the S&P 500, crypto markets, commodities, and international ETFs. He analyzes bullish and bearish chart patterns, identifies key RSI signals, and demonstrates how “Go No Go Charts” can support your technical analysis. You’ll also hear updates on Ethereum, Bitcoin, the Spain ETF, silver miners, USO (oil), and sector ETFs like XLP and XLV.

This video originally premiered on June 3, 2025.

You can view previously recorded videos from Frank and other industry experts at this link.

Adam Rozencwajg, managing partner at Goehring & Rozencwajg, shares his latest thoughts on the gold, silver and uranium markets, also discussing why he’s bullish on platinum.

In his view, it has ‘all the hallmarks of something we like to get involved with.’

More broadly, Rozencwajg sees commodities thriving amid a global monetary and trade regime shift.

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Cryptocurrency investors have experienced a real rollercoaster in the last few years — the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple have had incredible highs and crashes, and investors have seen big gains and losses in tandem.

Despite that volatility, many market participants are still interested in how to enter and make money in the cryptocurrency sector. But depending on how you look at it, perhaps the bigger story is blockchain technology, the backbone of crypto.

A blockchain is a digitized and decentralized public ledger that has many applications in different industries as a way to provide transparency. In the crypto realm, blockchain is used to record all cryptocurrency transactions, and it is also the mechanism through which some digital currencies like Bitcoin are “mined” into existence.

The technology has become a popular investment in its own right for savvy investors. Not only are there many blockchain-focused tech stocks, large companies like Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) have invested in blockchain technology. These corporations see the potential for blockchain to play a role in sectors such as driverless vehicles, food safety and fintech.

For those new to the blockchain space, deciding on a specific company to invest in may seem overwhelming, especially with the current market uncertainty around cryptocurrency price movements.

That’s where exchange-traded funds (ETFs) come in. What are blockchain ETFs? In simple terms, ETFs are marketable securities that track an index, a commodity, bonds or a basket of assets like an index fund. ETFs trade like a stock on an exchange, and each ETF owns its underlying assets, dividing them up into shares that are available to investors.

For those interested in diving into the blockchain investing market using ETFs, the list below includes the top five best blockchain ETFs by total assets as per information on ETF.com as of May 28, 2025.

1. Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (ARCA:BLOK)

Total assets: US$893 million

The Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF launched in January 2018. This fund invests in diverse areas of the blockchain sector, such as companies with blockchain platforms, companies developing blockchain applications and blockchain mining companies.

Amplify is an actively managed blockchain ETF, which makes it stand out against the other ETFs on this list. It has 51 holdings with an expense ratio of 0.73 percent. The Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF’s top holdings include Metaplanet (OTCQX:MTPLF,TSE:3350), Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) and Galaxy Digital (TSX:GLXY,NASDAQ:GLXY).

2. VanEck Digital Transformation ETF (NASDAQ:DAPP)

Total assets: US$182 million

The VanEck Digital Transformation ETF launched in April of 2021 and tracks the price and yield performance of the MVIS Global Digital Assets Equity Index. The index is tied to the performance of companies whose revenues are at least 50 percent accrued from the digital assets economy, including exchanges, crypto miners and other crypto infrastructure companies.

DAPP has 22 holdings, 63 percent of which are headquartered within the United States, and has an expense ratio of 0.51 percent. Its top holdings include Strategy (NYSE:MSTR), Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) and Metaplanet.

3. Fidelity Crypto Industry and Digital Payments ETF (NASDAQ:FDIG)

Total assets: US$170 million

The Fidelity Crypto Industry and Digital Payments ETF, which launched in April 2022, also tracks the performance of companies involved in the cryptocurrency, blockchain technology and digital payments processing sectors. It has an expense ratio of 0.4 percent, the lowest on this list.

Of its 49 holdings, 73 percent are headquartered in the United States and 45 percent are involved in the Technology Services sector. Its top holdings include Coinbase Global, MARA Holdings and CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK).

4. Global X Blockchain (NASDAQ:BKCH)

Total assets: US$162 million

Launched in July 2021, the Global X Blockchain ETF is a relatively new blockchain ETF. It tracks the price and yield performance of the Solactive Blockchain Index with a focus on companies in a variety of blockchain segments, such as, but not limited to, digital asset mining, blockchain applications, and blockchain and digital asset transactions.

At 0.5 percent, this blockchain ETF has the second-lowest expense ratio on the list. Global X Blockchain has 28 holdings, including Coinbase Global, Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) and MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA).

5. First Trust Indxx Innovative Transaction & Process ETF (NASDAQ:LEGR)

Total assets: US$99 million

The First Trust Indxx Innovative Transaction & Process ETF also launched in January 2018. First Trust has two types of companies it selects from for its portfolio: companies that employ blockchain and firms that develop it.

The fund consists of 102 holdings, including companies like NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM). It has an expense ratio of 0.65 percent.

Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

triumph gold Corp. (TSXV: TIG) (OTC Pink: TIGCF) (FSE: 8N6) (‘triumph gold’ or the ‘Company’) is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Coyote Knoll Silver (Ag Gold (Au) Property, located in central Utah, approximately 40 km southwest of the prolific Tintic Mining District (Figure 1).

triumph gold has entered into an agreement to purchase the Coyote Knoll Silver-Gold property for the sum of $150,000USD and the issuance of one million common shares of the Company. Prior to one year from the date of purchase, one million common shares shall be issued to the seller; prior to two years from the date of purchase one million common shares will be issued; prior to three years from the date of purchase one million common shares shall be issued to the seller. Before four years from the date of purchase a three million dollar payment in cash or shares will be made to the seller.

Highlights:

  • Approximately 2,600 metres of RC drilling have been completed, highlighted by 1,350.36 g/t Ag and 3.86 g/t Au over 3.00 metres in ATC-C6 (Table 1 & 2 and Figure 2)NI 43-101 Disclosure 1.
  • Historical rock samples returned silver and gold values, up to 6,730.00 g/t Ag and 23.30 g/t Au (Table 2)NI 43-101 Disclosure 2.
  • Two east-west parallel veins were identified through reverse circulation (RC) drilling and exposed during mining.
  • Recent surface sampling confirmed silver and gold mineralization, with grab samples returning up to 795 g/t Ag and 1.58 g/t Au (Table 4)NI 43-101 Disclosure 2.
  • In 2012, a 12-ton representative bulk sample returned an average grade of 43.60 oz/ton silver and 0.13 oz/ton goldNI 43-101 Disclosure 3.
  • In 1998 Phoenix Gold Resources shipped Coyote Knoll ore to Clifton Mining’s mill at Gold Hill where a 1,000 ounces of silver doré was producedNI 43-101 Disclosure 4.
  • A second mineralized structure, trending northwest-southeast, has been identified through surface sampling and RC drilling.

John Anderson, Chairman and CEO of triumph gold, stated:

‘The Coyote Knoll acquisition represents an exciting addition to our portfolio. Located in a mining-friendly and historically significant region, the property demonstrates high-grade silver mineralization and favorable geological features, similar to those found in the Tintic Mining District. With the confirmation of epithermal silver-gold mineralization and the potential for further discovery, we look forward to advancing exploration at Coyote Knoll.’

Figure 1. Coyote Knoll property location map.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5125/254408_c03b07c774e7e8a6_001full.jpg

Figure 2. Coyote Knoll drill and sample highlights.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5125/254408_c03b07c774e7e8a6_002full.jpg

Location and Geological Overview:

Coyote Knoll is located in central Utah, approximately 85 km south of Bingham Canyon Cu-Mo-Au Porphyry deposit and 40 km southwest of the city of Eureka. Eureka is historically associated with the Tintic Mining District, which has been a major producer of gold, silver, lead, and zinc from both epithermal and Carbonate Replacement Deposits (CRD). The Tintic District is known for its productive mining history and the potential for undiscovered porphyry systems.

Coyote Knoll was discovered in 1988, with subsequent exploration activities including mapping, trenching, rock sampling, and induced polarization and magnetic geophysical surveys. Follow-up work also included near-surface Reverse Circulation RC-drilling, totaling 2,606.96 metres across 33 drill holes. Highlights from historical drilling are summarized in Table 1 & 2, and surface samples are highlighted in Table 3. A 12-ton representative bulk sample was also mined from a shallow open pit, centered over the east-west (70°) trending mineralized structure. Silver and gold epithermal mineralization was exposed over approximately 60 metres within the open pit and has been delineated for 1.5 km through surface trenching, sampling, and shallow RC drilling (Figure 2).

Table 1. Historic RC drilling composite highlights

Hole-ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Ag g/t Au g/t
AT1-C6 54.10 57.10 3.00 1350.36 3.86
CK-10 68.60 74.70 6.10 114.84 0.12
AT1-C5 49.80 54.30 4.50 99.37 0.40
CK-1 27.40 32.00 4.60 68.89 0.09
CK-10 51.80 54.90 3.10 67.81 0.38
CK-10 61.00 64.00 3.00 38.50 0.08
CK-2 36.60 39.60 3.00 60.00 0.18
CK-2 53.30 57.90 4.60 39.04 0.09
CK-15 21.30 24.40 3.10 40.39 0.07

 

NI 43-101 Disclosure 1.

*Composites grades were calculated using Datashed software with >25 g/t Ag cutoff and

Table 2. Historical drill attributes for Table 1 highlights.

Hole-ID Easting Northing Elevation (m) Depth (m) Azimuth Dip
AT1-C5 367,889 4,408,432 1,622 76 -90
AT1-C6 367,897 4,408,436 1,621 75 -90
CK-1 367,904 4,408,411 1,613 80 170 -60
CK-2 367,910 4,408,421 1,616 87 -90
CK-10 367,951 4,408,442 1,624 110 -90

 

NI 43-101 Disclosure 1.

Two additional historical drill holes (CK-141. and CK-232.) have previously been reported to contain high gold values and are in proximity to the open pit. CK-14 has an intercept of 8.19g/t Au and 1,060g/t Ag over 1.52 m from 9.14 m downhole. CK-23 has an intercept of 2g/t Au and 814g/t Ag over 1.52 m from 45.72 m downhole.

  1. Freeport-McMoRan Gold Company, 1989-1990; Reverse Circulation Drill Hole CK-14; from NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Coyote Mine Project Juab County, Utah, USA, Arthur J. Mendenhall.
  2. Freeport-McMoRan Gold Company, 1989-1990; Reverse Circulation Drill Hole CK-23; from NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Coyote Mine Project Juab County, Utah, USA, Arthur J. Mendenhall.

Table 3. Historic rock sample highlights

Sample-ID Easting Northing Ag g/t Au g/t
CK-5 367,870 4,408,430 6730.00 23.30
54359 367,924 4,408,270 6687.08 26.37
CK-6 367,870 4,408,430 6490.00 13.10
CKRX-0001 367,928 4,408,377 5570.00 12.25
CK-3 367,870 4,408,430 2270.00 9.63
48396 367,884 4,408,389 1673.83 7.30
48395 367,933 4,408,423 1638.86 0.51
48382 367,927 4,408,360 1086.86 6.03
CK-4 367,870 4,408,430 979.00 14.05
48380 367,911 4,408,333 600.69 1.03
54354 367,858 4,408,379 370.97 0.31
56251 367,411 4,408,309 172.00 173.14
CKRX-0027 368,645 4,408,585 3.38 0.02

 

NI 43-101 Disclosure 2.

While Coyote Knoll is approximately 40 km southwest of the Tintic District the geological setting at Coyote Knoll exhibits similarities to the Tintic Mining District. Where precious metal epithermal veins at the Trixie Mine are formed within faulted quartzites and the Burgin and Tintic Standard mines are hosted in carbonate-rich stratigraphy forming CRD. During the March site visit, the Company also toured the high-grade Trixie Gold Mine to gain further insight into the regional geological setting of the Tintic Mining District. At Coyote Knoll, epithermal mineralization is located along the margin a large volcanic caldera hosting a granitic center. Veining crosscuts quartzite, carbonate-rich stratigraphy and volcanic flows. This provides an encouraging framework for the exploration of both epithermal veins and potential carbonate replacement mineralization at Coyote Knoll.

Fieldwork conducted during a March 2025 site visit confirmed the presence of epithermal-style mineralization with key geological features including:

  • Silica-flooded pebble clastic fault breccia (pebble dyke), jasperoid, and chalcedony vein infill hosted within faulted quartzite.
  • Mineralization consisted of native silver and silver sulphide ‘sulfosalt’ minerals.
  • Secondary northwest-trending epithermal veining represented by quartz-carbonate and jasperoid infill. This trend contains anomalous silver and elevated pathfinder elements such as arsenic (As), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), and zinc (Zn) (Table 4).

Table 4. Coyote Knoll grab sample results (March 2025 site visit)

Sample-ID Easting Northing Ag
g/t
Au
g/t
As
ppm
Cu
ppm
Pb
ppm
Sb
ppm
Zn
ppm
A001051 367,537 4,408,331 1.23 25.40 8.90 11.80 0.85 4.00
A001052 367,905 4,408,383 0.22 364.00 9.60 4.50 2.27 47.00
A001053 367,874 4,408,395 0.31 207.00 21.50 11.50 2.61 147.00
A001054 367,839 4,408,395 795.00 1.58 61.40 68.40 177.50 67.60 24.00
A001055 367,787 4,408,386 20.70 0.06 431.00 45.30 31.70 7.98 122.00
A001056 368,438 4,408,853 1.23 29.70 6.60 9.60 2.85 8.00
A001057 368,424 4,408,894 0.25 11.40 19.40 1.80 0.31 12.00
A001061 367,891 4,408,372 1.86 381.00 82.80 38.70 19.65 36.00
A001062 367,898 4,408,367 1.87 66.30 27.40 22.40 1.00 7.00

 

NI 43-101 Disclosure 2.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by triumph gold’s Principal Geologist Marty Henning, P.Geo., a ‘Qualified Person’ as defined in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators (‘NI 43-101’). He verified the data collected during the March 2025 site visit, including sampling, analytical and test data, and the underlying technical information in this news release.

The historical data presented in this release has not been verified for accuracy and reliability with the use of current quality assurance, quality control, or chain of custody standards current with NI 43-101 best practices. See the following disclaimers for additional details.

  1. The Company has not done sufficient work to classify the historical drilling information as current to NI 43-101 and is not treating the historical drilling disclosure as a current mineral estimate. Historical drilling database has not been verified for accuracy or quality. The reported historical values in this release require verification through additional exploration drilling, twinned holes will be used to verify style, grade and widths of mineralization.
  2. Grab samples are from select surface material and may not represent true underlying mineralization and drilling is required to confirm mineralization width and grade continuity below surface. Additional sampling is required to verify historical rock sample database.
  3. The 12-ton bulk sample reported in 2012 has not been verified for accuracy or quality control and therefore the reported tonnage and grades are not considered a 43-101 mineral resource estimate or a pre-feasibility study. Additional exploration drilling and metallurgical studies are required to verify tonnage and concentrations of silver and gold contained beneath the mined-out area. The bulk sample values are provided to illustrate the presence of surface mineralization.
  4. The 1,000 ounces of silver doré, produced in 1998 reported by Phoenix Gold Resources has not been verified. This information is not considered a mineral resource estimate as there were no reported head grades or tonnage provided. Additional drilling and metallurgical studies are required to verify width, strike and plunge of the surface mineralization reported from the open pit operation at Coyote Knoll. This bulk sample information is provided to illustrate the presence of surface mineralization.

Rock samples collected during the site were located using a handheld GPS, material was sealed in heavy poly ore sample bags with a representative sample retained for future inspection. Samples were placed into a 5-gal pail and shipped to ALS Vancouver for analyses. Samples were crushed, split and pulverized using PREP-31 specifications and analyses was completed using ME-GRA22 for Ag and Au as well as ME-MS41 for a multielement output utilizing an aqua regia digest, over limit elements (Ag, Cu and Pb) were analyzed using OG46.

About triumph gold Corp.

triumph gold is a Canadian based, growth-oriented exploration and development company with a district scale land package in mining friendly Yukon. Led by an experienced management and technical team, The Company is focused on actively advancing their flagship Freegold Mountain Project using multidiscipline exploration and evaluation techniques. The Company acknowledges the Freegold Mountain, Tad Toro and Big Creek properties are situated within the traditional territory of the Little Salmon Carmack and Selkirk Nations. triumph gold is committed to ongoing engagement with local communities through communication, environmental stewardship, and local employment.

The road-accessible Freegold Mountain Project, located in the Dawson Range Au-Cu Belt, is host to three NI 43-101 Mineral Deposits (Nucleus, Revenue, and Tinta Hill). The Project is 200 square kilometers and covers an extensive section of the Big Creek Fault Zone, a structure directly related to epithermal gold and silver mineralization as well as gold-rich porphyry copper mineralization.

The Company owns 100% of the Big Creek and Tad/Toro gold-silver-copper properties situated along strike of the Freegold Mountain Project within the Dawson Range.

The Company also owns 100% of the Andalusite Peak copper-gold property, situated 36 km southeast of Dease Lake within the Stikine Range in British Columbia. The Company acknowledges the Andalusite Peak property project is situated within the traditional territory of the Tahltan Nation. triumph gold is committed to ongoing engagement with local communities through communication, environmental stewardship, and local employment.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Signed ‘John Anderson’

John Anderson, Executive Chairman

For further information about triumph gold, please contact:

John Anderson, Executive Chairman
triumph gold Corp.
(604) 218-7400
janderson@triumphgoldcorp.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors – including the availability of funds, the results of financing efforts, the completion of due diligence and the results of exploration activities – that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations are disclosed in the Company’s documents filed from time to time on SEDAR+ (see www.sedarplus.ca). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/254408

News Provided by Newsfile via QuoteMedia

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

It’s a dark chapter in Chile’s history.

During the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet from 1973 to 1990, thousands of babies were stolen from their biological mothers and sold into adoption, mainly to foreign couples from the United States and Europe. In Chile, they’re known as “The Children of Silence.”

And now, for the first time in the country’s history, a Chilean judge announced he was prosecuting individuals alleged to have stolen babies in the country.

Alejandro Aguilar Brevis, a Santiago Court of Appeals judge in charge of the investigation “determined that in the 1980s” there was a network of health officials, Catholic priests, attorneys, social workers and even a judge who detected and delivered stole babies from mainly impoverished mothers and sold them into adoption to foreign couples for as much as $50,000, according to a Monday press release by Chile’s judiciary.

The investigation, which focuses on the city of San Fernando in central Chile, involves two babies who were stolen and handed over to foreign couples, according to the judiciary statement.

According to the statement by Chile’s judiciary, the ring allegedly focused on “abducting or stealing infants for monetary gain” with the purpose of “taking them out of the country to different destinations in Europe and the US.”

The judge charged and issued arrest warrants for five people, who he said should remain in pre-trial detention for “criminal association, child abduction, and willful misconduct,” the release said.

The Chilean government has made an extradition request to Israel for a former Chilean family court judge who now lives there and was allegedly involved, the release added.

Systemic theft of babies

The judge ruled that the statute of limitations does not apply in this case because as “these are crimes against humanity committed under a military regime and must be punished in accordance with the American Convention on Human Rights and the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.”

The investigation was announced Monday, one day after Chilean President Gabriel Boric said that a task force he created last year to investigate cases of stolen babies has issued its final report.

Following its recommendations, Boric said the Chilean government will “create a genetic fingerprint bank that will provide additional means of searching for origins and enable family reunification for the many babies who were stolen for so long and given to foreign families.”

Constanza del Río, founder and director of Nos Buscamos (We Are Looking for Each Other), a Santiago NGO dedicated to reuniting families of stolen babies said that she feels cautiously optimistic because actions by countries like Chile to find the truth about the stolen babies have been “very slow and something that revictimizes the victims.”

Del Río, herself a victim of an illegal adoption, filed a lawsuit in 2017 demanding an investigation by the Chilean government. Authorities named a special prosecutor, but the investigation went nowhere, she said. Another prosecutor took the case for five years only to declare last year that he hadn’t been able “to establish that any crimes have been committed,” according to Del Rio.

President Boric has said creating a task force proves his government is serious about the issue and has spoken publicly about it, recognizing the systematic theft of babies back then as a fact.

Constanza del Río says Nos Buscamos alone has built a database that includes about 9,000 cases and has helped reunite more than 600 parents with their stolen children.

“This is no longer a myth. We know nowadays that this happened, and it was real. It’s not a tale that a couple of people were telling,” Labraña said at the time.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

How will Moscow respond to the stunning Ukrainian drone strikes on its fleet of strategic aircraft?

So far, the Kremlin has stayed tight-lipped, saying only that it is waiting for the results of a formal investigation into the attacks, which struck air bases thousands of miles from the Ukraine border.

But fury is being openly vented across the Russia media, with pro-Kremlin pundits and bloggers seething with calls for retribution, even nuclear retaliation.

“This is not just a pretext but a reason to launch nuclear strikes on Ukraine,” the prominent “Two Majors” bloggers said on their popular Telegram channel, which has over a million subscribers.

“After the mushroom cloud you can think about who lied, made mistakes and so on,” they added, referring to the inevitable Kremlin search for scapegoats for the fiasco.

At least one prominent Russian political analyst, Sergei Markov, urged caution, warning in a social media post that using nuclear weapons would “lead to real political isolation”.

But popular blogger Alexander Kots demanded Russia should “strike with all our might, regardless of the consequences.”

Of course, Russian hardliners routinely clammer for the nuclear obliteration of Ukraine, while issuing thinly veiled, but ultimately empty threats of Armageddon aimed at the Western allies. The fact they are doing so again, after such a painful series of attacks, is hardly surprising.

But it would be wrong to get too complacent and dismiss all Russian nuclear saber-rattling as mere propaganda.

In fact, there are some worrying reasons to take the slim possibility of a devastating Russian response a little more seriously this time around.

Firstly, several Russian pundits have commented on how Ukraine’s destruction of a significant number of Russian strategic nuclear bombers may be interpreted as breaching Moscow’s legal nuclear threshold.

The Kremlin’s recently updated nuclear doctrine – which sets out conditions for a launch – states that any attack on “critically important” military infrastructure which “disrupts response actions by nuclear forces” could trigger a nuclear retaliation.

The Ukrainian operation was “grounds for a nuclear attack,” declared Vladmir Solovyov, a firebrand host on Russian state TV, calling for strikes on the Ukrainian presidential office in Kyiv, and beyond.

Whatever the legality, the barrier for a Russian nuclear response remains mercifully high and such a strike is likely to be dismissed in Kremlin circles as an impractical overkill.

For a start, it would poison relations with key Russian trading partners like China and India, as well as provoke potential military action against Russian forces.

Inevitable mass casualties would be certain to invite universal scorn, further isolating Russia on the international stage.

But here’s the problem: the Kremlin may now feel overwhelming pressure to restore deterrence.

It’s not just the recent Ukrainian drone strikes, deep inside Russia, that have humiliated Moscow. Shortly afterwards, Ukraine staged yet another bold attack on the strategic Kerch bridge linking Russia with Crimea – the third time the vital road and rail link has been hit.

The capture by Ukrainian forces of the Kursk region in western Russia last year dealt another powerful blow, leaving the Kremlin struggling to liberate its own land. Meanwhile, weekly, if not daily, drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and airports continue to cause widespread disruption far from the front lines.

At the same time, Ukraine’s allies have been gradually lifting restrictions on the use of Western-supplied arms against Russia, further challenging what were once believed to be Moscow’s red lines.

Few doubt the Kremlin is itching to respond decisively, but how?

“There’s no other way to go, because Russia does not have the capacity to launch a massive military offensive. They don’t have enough personnel for it,” said Vladimir Milov, a former deputy energy minister now living outside of Russia.

“People talk about potential use of nuclear weapons and so on. I don’t think this is on the table. But, again, Putin has shown many times that he is resorting to barbarity and revenge.”

In other words, highly unlikely, but the nuclear option can’t be entirely discounted. This Ukraine conflict has already taken multiple unexpected turns, not least the full-scale Russian invasion itself in 2022.

And while Ukraine and its supporters revel in the stunning successes of recent military operations, poking a humiliated and wounded Russian bear may yield dangerous and frightening consequences.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

At age 14 he was an impoverished factory worker. On Wednesday, he became the leader of one of Asia’s most powerful economies, a US ally and cultural juggernaut.

But after sweeping to a decisive victory over conservative rival Kim Moon-soo on Tuesday, Lee Jae-myung faces a daunting task. South Korea remains deeply divided, Lee’s predecessor having declared martial law in a short-lived power grab in December, leaving many voters anxious about the state of their democracy.

Six months of ensuing political turmoil entrenched existing rifts, with protests – both for and against former President Yook Suk Yeol and his People Power Party – filling the streets of the capital Seoul.

Choppy international conditions have compounded domestic uncertainty. US President Donald Trump’s global tariffs have hit South Korea’s trade-reliant economy hard, with no permanent leader at the helm to steer negotiations with Washington.

Lee’s election – after a revolving door of interim leaders over the past half-year – might finally offer the country some much-needed stability, said Cho Hee-kyoung, a law professor at Hongik University in Seoul.

“We didn’t even have someone who could engage with Trump on the tariff war, and for an export-driven economy, that’s a serious problem,” Cho said. And, she added, the election – which saw the highest voter turnout since 1997 – represented a stinging public rebuke to the People Power Party.

“For many people, I think this election was about holding those responsible for bringing chaos to the country accountable,” she said.

But it remains to be seen whether Lee, 60, will be able to heal the political divides – especially as he comes with his own baggage, caught up in various legal challenges, facing allegations of corruption and abuse of power.

It’s not clear what will happen to his ongoing criminal trials; sitting presidents are normally immune from prosecution, but there’s disagreement on whether that applies to cases that begin before they take office.

At his inauguration on Wednesday, however, Lee sought to cast himself as a bringer of unity and a fresh start to the nation of more than 50 million people.

“It is time to replace hatred and confrontation with coexistence, reconciliation, and solidarity – to open an era of national happiness, of dreams and hope,” he said in a speech. “I will answer the earnest call to build a completely new nation.”

From rags to riches

Lee’s spectacular rise is well documented.

Born in the mid-1960s, he was the fifth of seven children in a poor family from Andong, a riverside city southeast of Seoul. His father worked as a market cleaner while his mother was a fee collector at public bathrooms, according to his office and biographies that include excerpts from Lee’s own diaries.

With civil war-ravaged South Korea in the early throes of a rapid industrialization that would transform it into a manufacturing powerhouse, Lee began working in factories as a teenager – from jewelry plants to refrigerator assembly lines. While working at a factory making baseball gloves, he permanently injured his left arm.

In his diary, Lee would write about his envy of students he saw wearing school uniforms and those who had enough to eat.

Despite his humble beginnings, he eventually passed his school exams and earned a full scholarship to study law at Chung-Ang University, one of Seoul’s top private universities.

From there, Lee became a human rights lawyer, eventually entering politics in 2010 as the mayor of Seongnam city, just outside Seoul, representing the liberal Democratic Party. That led to another, more significant, stint from 2018 as governor of Gyeonggi province, the country’s most populous, which surrounds the capital.

By then, he was eyeing the presidency – and left the governorship to run in the 2022 election, losing to Yoon by less than one percentage point.

Lee became a lawmaker after that, surviving an assassination attempt in January 2024 when a man stabbed him in the neck during a public event in the southern city of Busan, in what his party denounced as an “act of political terror.”

Later that year came Yoon’s ill-fated power grab. Lee again made headlines as one of the lawmakers who rushed to the legislature and pushed past soldiers to hold an emergency vote to lift martial law. He livestreamed himself jumping a fence to enter the building, in a viral video viewed tens of millions of times.

Despite his growing popularity, Lee has been viewed with suspicion by many opponents because of his criminal trials – including over alleged bribery and charges related to a property development scandal.

Separately, he was convicted of violating election law by knowingly making a false statement during a debate in the 2022 presidential campaign. The case has been sent to an appeals court.

What a Lee presidency might look like

Yoon’s martial law decree had been in part fueled by his frustration over a months-long political stalemate, with Lee’s Democratic Party blocking the president from moving forward with many of his campaign promises and policies.

Now, the Democratic Party controls both the parliament and the presidency – which could see “a return to normal politics,” said Celeste Arrington, Korea Foundation associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University in the US capital.

“It might be easier to push through policies than it had been under impeached President Yoon,” she added.

And Lee has a lot to do, right away – including addressing a sluggish economy and getting involved in the US-South Korea trade talks.

“I will immediately activate an emergency economic response task force team to restore people’s livelihood and revive the economy,” he said during his inauguration speech on Wednesday. He added that he would “turn the global economic and security crisis into an opportunity to maximize our national interest,” and strengthen trilateral cooperation with the US and Japan.

Arrington added that Lee clearly sees the US-South Korea alliance as the “backbone” of the country’s national security – but he will have to balance that against relations with China. The US rival is also South Korea’s largest trading partner.

Yoon took a famously hard line on North Korea, and relations have plummeted. In contrast, Lee hails from a political party that has historically taken a more conciliatory approach to South Korea’s autocratic neighbor.

Lee reiterated the long-standing goal of peace on the Korean Peninsula, vowing to “respond firmly to North Korea’s nuclear threats while also keeping communication channels open.”

But above all, Lee emphasized the importance of rebuilding public trust, badly damaged by the martial law crisis – and punishing those responsible.

“I will rebuild everything that was destroyed by the insurrection and create a society that continues to grow and develop,” he said on Wednesday. “An insurrection that uses the military’s power, to seize the people’s sovereignty, must never happen again.”

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