Russia’s NATO is crumbling

Seen the group photo from the CSTO summit held in Yerevan last year? It’s awkward. This divide and lack of support from post-Soviet states is making Putin even more isolated.

Plus, we’re also covering:

• The real reason your rent is so high.
• So, Mark Zuckerberg is shredded now.
• How to save thousands on international airfare.

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Carlson, Trump, & Santos

• Tucker Carlson announced he’s bringing his show to Twitter. After being fired from Fox News last month, Carlson will now court a very different audience. More here.
• A Manhattan jury found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll. Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages. Read more.
• The Justice Department has filed criminal charges against the scandal-plagued Republican Rep. George Santos, per reports. What we know so far.

Russia’s NATO

The Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, is Putin’s equivalent of the NATO military alliance, made up of post-Soviet states. But unlike NATO, the organization has never been as powerful or cohesive as Russia would have liked.

And the organization has been increasingly creaking since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, experts told Insider.

Some of CSTO’s members have made unprecedented public snubs against Putin, including Tajikistan’s president demanding more respect in front of Putin in October and Armenia’s prime minister criticizing the effectiveness of the CSTO to Putin’s face and physically distancing himself from Putin in a group photo with alliance-member leaders.

Peter Frankopan, an expert on Russian and Balkans history at Oxford University, told Insider: “It is certainly true that Putin looks like his status has been downgraded.”

Rents, Zuckerberg, & more

• The real reason your rent is so high. Everyone fled big cities during the pandemic, so there are fewer renters these days — but they all want their own place. Just call it the Great Ex-Roommate Rent Surcharge. More on the trend.
• Muscle Mark: Zuckerberg is now ripped. Gone are the days of being ridiculed for wearing way too much sunscreen. The Meta CEO is now tanned, buff, and winning jujitsu matches. See for yourself.
• An easy strategy to save thousands on international flights. Insider’s credit-card reporter, Joseph Hostetler, books dozens of flights every year. And he said that booking round trip flights or multi-city trips could help passengers save a lot of money. Read more.
• Vice employees worry about salary and severance as bankruptcy lingers. Bankruptcy would wipe out the company’s debts — and people who were recently laid off are worried that those “debts” include the money they were promised. Get the full story.
• Amazon has a secret new home robot with ChatGPT-like features that understands a lot more of its surroundings. This is a new phase for its Astro home robot, and the latest example of Amazon adding AI models to existing products. Get the scoop.
• A cruise ship passenger found a hidden camera in one of the ship’s public restrooms. The FBI arrested a man who officials claim recorded more than 150 passengers — including minors. More on that.
• Google is putting ads that look like emails into inboxes. People aren’t happy. Ads usually appear at the top of Gmail’s promotions and social tabs. But now, they’re being embedded in people’s inboxes, too. It “should be illegal,” one person said. Dive into it here.

Auroras

Victory Day

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