counts. elena treen, cnn, washington. while congress wrangles in washington, a key player, republican congressman kevin mccarthy, is in israel on his first trip abroad as speaker of the house. he met sunday with his israeli counterpart, and in the next couple of hours, mccarthy is expected to lay a wreath at the holocaust museum. then he s set to address the israeli parliament, or knesset, the first house speaker to do so since 1998. earlier on sunday, mccarthy stopped at the western wall, a sacred place of prayer for the jewish people. french workers are expected to protest in the coming hours as the world marks may day. they ve staged strikes and mass demonstrations for months against an increase in the retirement age. but now it is law, and labor unions are not yet ready to give up the fight. cnn paris correspondent melissa bell reports.
warned that a russian capture of bakhmut would give russia a, quote, open road to capturing other key ukrainian cities in the east. the u.s. says russia is making small tactical advances there but at great cost. melissa bell reports. wer reporter: wagner fighters are making gradual advances but at huge cost. this soldier says ukrainian forces have vast amounts of ammunition and are heavily shelling the area. we can t even raise our heads, he says. wagner has been trying to take bakhmut for two months and may now be running short of fighters. its boss has lashed out at the russian defense ministry for starving his men of ammunition. translator: we need the military to shield the approaches. if they manage to do so,
criticizing the war tin ukraine on instagram. as melissa bell reports, the young woman is being vilified by state media over her post. reporter: it is a sign of the times in putin s russia. a fun loving dancing teenager, the 19-year-old behind bars in court for the most adolescent of crimes. a social media post criticizing russia s invasion of ukraine. the almost unbelievable charge, terrorism and denigrating the russian army. she is very stubborn. sometimes even head strong. she has a heightened sense of justice and this can be hard for her to live with. reporter: the post, a message of empathy with ukraine at fighting ravaged the country. translator: when i was writing the post, never thought
melissa bell reports. reporter: they were part of the russian elite. some at one point critical of the war in ukraine. several died after falling from windows. at least 13 dead in suspicious circumstances this year. the latest russian tycoon to plunge to his death pavel antof who died saturday in india. over the summer he denied opposing the war. another tycoon to fall from a window, this time in moscow, was raval maganof. they called for the soonest termination of the armed conflict. he was one of several russian energy executives whose deaths have raised questions. some have done so alongside their families.
three members of the council resigned be in protest last week writing in a statement that, quote, contrary to claims by elon musk, the safety and well-being of twitter s users are on the decline. meanwhile, twitter is bringing back the blue check marks. the coveted option is available for those who paid for it. you ll recall, the company had to pull the feature last month after a wave of supposedly verified accounts started popping up imposing well known names and brands. it will cost 8 or $11extraordin that they re coming back. an investigation of an american student who disappeared from france. they haven t heard from their son in two weeks and they fear the worst. cnn s melissa bell reports. he was looking forward to coming home for christmas. reporter: kenny delan jr.