- If you had stood atop the highest peak on Hong Kong Island, on January 26, 1841, you could have seen a British naval squadron assembled in the harbor below. With a spyglass, you might have made out the commodore stepping ashore to toast Queen Victoria and declare the island her territory. There were no signs of dissent from the Chinese military or the local villagers, who numbered fewer than 7,500. It was a mild kickoff to what would add up to a century and a half of British rule.
- Nikolai Patrushev (Wikipedia)
Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev (Russian: Никола́й Плато́нович Па́трушев; born 11 July 1951) is a Russian politician, security officer and former intelligence officer who served as the secretary of the Security Council of Russia from 2008 to 2024. He previously served as the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) from 1999 to 2008. Belonging to the siloviki faction of president Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, Patrushev is believed to be one of the closest advisors to Putin and a leading figure behind Russia’s national security affairs. He played a key role in the decisions to seize and then annex Crimea in 2014 and to invade Ukraine in 2022.