Vox Sentences: “NO COLLUSION”

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The Justice Department indicts 13 Russian nationals as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation; Ethiopia’s prime minister resigns amid political turmoil.

There’s trouble down on the troll farm

Zach Gibson/Getty Images

• This week’s Friday Russia news dump served up some particularly juicy news: The US Justice Department is indicting 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. [CNN / Manu Raju, David Shortell, and Veronica Stracqualursi]
• You can read the full indictment here. It’s pretty interesting. [Vox / Andrew Prokop]
• You have probably heard of this Russian crew before: They’re all part of the infamous Russian “troll farm” that used social media to sow dissent among the US electorate during the 2016 election and tip the election toward Donald Trump. [Ars Technica / Cyrus Farivar]
• The troll farm, also known as the Internet Research Agency, was a Russian business funded by the Kremlin. [The Verge / Russell Brandom]
• The indictment says the Russians communicated with “unwitting individuals associated with the Trump campaign” in 2016, but Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said the indictment contains no allegations that any American was involved in the meddling or that the meddling altered the result of the 2016 election. [Yamiche Alcindor via Twitter]
• How far did they go? Pretty far, according to the indictment. They had a monthly budget of $1.2 million, and in addition to stepping up attacks on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, they wrote dozens of social media posts to stoke racial tensions and social divides. [Washington Post / Sari Horwitz, Devlin Barrett, and Craig Timberg]
• It’s worth pointing out that Russian meddling in foreign politics is nothing new — in fact, it’s a tradition that goes back 80 years. What’s new here is the scale and the current blowback. [Atlantic / Julia Ioffe]

Ethiopia’s prime minister resigns in the midst of political turmoil

• Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned on Thursday amid violent protests over political prisoners. [Associated Press / Elias Meseret]
• The country’s officials also declared a state of emergency amid violence that has gripped Ethiopia for the past two years. Anti-government protesters are demanding more freedoms from the repressive government. [Al Jazeera]
• Things came to a head recently, causing the government to release three political prisoners, including journalists Eskinder Nega and Woubshet Taye and political opposition leader Bekele Gerba. Nega and Taye have been in prison for seven years. [NYT / Jina Moore]
• Following Desalegn’s resignation, Ethiopia now must decide whether to elect a hardliner who will crack down on dissent further, or someone who will implement the reforms and increased freedoms protesters are clamoring for. [Bloomberg / Nizar Manek and Samuel Gebre]

Miscellaneous

• Seattle is famous for its overcrowding. But recent efforts have put a significant dent in the number of city commuters driving solo. [CityLab / Laura Bliss]
• If you want to have abs like US figure skater Adam Rippon), you’re in luck, because he’s sharing all his secrets. The bad news is these exercises are mostly insane. [NYT / Tara Parker-Pope]
• Apple employees have a problem. They’ve lately been crashing into the new headquarters’ glass panes, and the curved office structure could be to blame. [Bloomberg / Mark Bergen]
• Black Panther’s new villain Erik Killmonger could be the best and most interesting supervillain the Marvel empire has produced so far. [The Ringer / Miles Surrey]

Verbatim

“Two days later (which has always been my definition of ‘wait and see’; I am not a patient girl) I check myself into the hospital and announce I am not leaving until they stop this pain or take my uterus. No, really, take her.” [Vogue / Lena Dunham]

Watch this: Why Black Panther’s box office success matters

Movies spotlighting people of color are kicking ass right now. [YouTube / Carlos Waters and Gina Barton]

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