Does Putin Have Cancer?

Lyle Lovett is back.

1. This from The Times of London:

President Putin is “very ill with blood cancer”, an oligarch close to the Kremlin is reported to have said.

The unnamed oligarch was recorded discussing Putin’s health with a Western venture capitalist in mid-March in a recording obtained by New Lines, a US magazine.

The Russian says in the recording that Putin had surgery on his back linked to his blood cancer shortly before ordering the invasion of Ukraine. He complains that the president has gone “crazy”.

He says that there is deep dissatisfaction in Moscow about the state of the economy and, appearing to speak on behalf of other oligarchs, says “we all hope” that Putin dies.

“He absolutely ruined Russia’s economy, Ukraine’s economy and many other economies — ruined [them] absolutely,” the oligarch says. “The problem is with his head. One crazy guy can turn the world upside down.” (Source: thetimes.co.uk, newlinesmag.com)

---

2. North Korea reported a dramatic surge in suspected coronavirus infections and deaths earlier today as it struggled to contain its first reported outbreak, which the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, said could be “the biggest crisis since our nation’s founding.” State media said an additional 174,400 people had symptoms, like fever, that could be due to Covid-19, nearly a tenfold jump from the 18,000 such cases reported yesterday. It also said 21 more people had died in connection with the outbreak, bringing the country’s total to 27. But the reports did not say how many of the new infections or deaths had been definitively linked to Covid-19 through testing. (Source: nytimes.com)

---