Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, a Vladimir Putin loyalist who was given a new job this week, predicted war between Germany and France next year and a civil war in the US that would lead to Elon Musk becoming president.
Mr Medvedev, deputy head of Mr Putin's advisory security council, served as president during a four-year spell when Mr Putin held the office of prime minister.
His fortunes appear to be on the rise in the Kremlin, which said on Monday he would serve as Mr Putin's deputy on a body overseeing the military industry.
In his list of predictions for 2023, published on Telegram and Twitter, he also foresaw Britain rejoining the EU, which would in turn collapse.
Mr Musk, the Tesla boss who now owns Twitter, responded to the suggestion that he would become US president by tweeting back “Epic thread!!” — although he also criticised some of Mr Medvedev's predictions in a later post.
Mr Medvedev has praised Mr Musk in the past for proposing that Ukraine cede territory to Russia in a peace deal.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Mr Medvedev has reinvented himself as an arch-hawk, framing the conflict in apocalyptic, religious terms and referring to Ukrainians as “cockroaches” in language Kyiv says is openly genocidal.
Last week, he made a rare foreign visit to China, holding talks on foreign policy with President Xi Jinping.
Political scientist Vladimir Pastukhov said Mr Medvedev's newly outspoken public persona appeared to have found favour with his boss.
“Medvedev's Telegram posts have found at least one reader, and indeed an admirer: Putin,” Mr Pastukhov, a professor at London's University College London, wrote on Telegram.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
'Midnights'
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More coverage from the Future Forum
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
OPTA'S PREDICTED TABLE
1. Liverpool 101 points
2. Manchester City 80
3. Leicester 67
4. Chelsea 63
5. Manchester United 61
6. Tottenham 58
7. Wolves 56
8. Arsenal 56
9. Sheffield United 55
10. Everton 50
11. Burnley 49
12. Crystal Palace 49
13. Newcastle 46
14. Southampton 44
15. West Ham 39
16. Brighton 37
17. Watford 36
18. Bournemouth 36
19. Aston Villa 32
20. Norwich City 29
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
