Isabel van Brugen

Kuala Lumpur, London

Reporter at Newsweek

Reporter @Newsweek covering Russia/Ukraine • tips to: [email protected] • 🇯🇵🇬🇧

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Articles

RFK Jr. Scrambles to Defuse Outrage Over His Autism Claims

6 days ago | autism.einnews.com | Isabel van Brugen |Erkki Forster |Yasmeen Hamadeh

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is in full damage-control mode after causing outrage with his comments about autism during his first official press briefing as health secretary. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, attempted to dial back the controversy in a sit-down Thursday night with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. He had triggered a firestorm by claiming that people with autism—a neurodevelopmental disorder—will never play baseball, go out on dates, pay taxes, write poems, or hold down a job.
Jimmy Kimmel Goes All In on Elon Musk’s ‘Harem of Baby Mamas’

1 week ago | thedailybeast.com | Michael Boyle |Leigh McManus |Isabel van Brugen

Jimmy Kimmel seized the chance on Wednesday night to ridicule Elon Musk’s apparent quest to repopulate Silicon Valley with dozens of “mini-Musks.”The late-night host highlighted an investigative report that detailed the DOGE boss’s plan to father as many children as possible. ”The Wall Street Journal, of all places, published a bonkers account of Musk’s efforts to seed the world in his own image,“ Kimmel explained in his monologue.
Soccer Star Who Left MLS Under Cloud Dies in Fall From Balcony in China

1 week ago | thedailybeast.com | Leigh McManus |Isabel van Brugen |Nandika Chatterjee |Aazim Jafarey

THIRD DEGREEDonald Trump launched into a furious tirade against Harvard University after the college defied his demands for policy changes. After threatening to take away the college’s tax-exempt status over the refusal, Trump followed up with another blistering Truth Social post early Wednesday. “Harvard has been hiring almost all woke, Radical Left, idiots and ‘birdbrains’ who are only capable of teaching FAILURE to students and so-called ‘future leaders,’” Trump raged.
Ex-GOP Rep Mayra Flores Hospitalized Hours After Announcing 2026 Election Bid

1 week ago | thedailybeast.com | Isabel van Brugen

Ex-GOP Rep. Mayra Flores of Texas was hospitalized hours after she announced her 2026 re-election bid, her team said in a statement on X. The 39-year-old was the first Mexican-born woman to serve in Congress when she represented Texas’s 34th district for a six-month stint after winning a special election in June 2022. She lost the election that November and again in 2024. She announced Tuesday that she’d switched districts to challenge Rep.
He Offered Me $15m and Wanted 10 More Kids

1 week ago | thedailybeast.com | Leigh McManus |Isabel van Brugen

Conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair has claimed that Elon Musk tried to buy her silence about their love child for $15 million—and told her he wanted a total of 10 babies with her. The pair had a baby in secret last year. But St. Clair decided in February 2025 to announce the baby to the world, saying she wanted to get ahead of a news story which would have revealed the child’s birth.
Trump Tariffs Just Became a Big Problem for Musk’s Tesla Plans

1 week ago | thedailybeast.com | Isabel van Brugen

Elon Musk’s big Tesla production plans hit a speed bump thanks to President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war. According to Reuters, the tech mogul’s plans to begin production of the Cybercab and Semi trucks in the U.S. have been thrown into disarray. With fresh tariffs slapped on key Chinese parts, the Tesla CEO has been forced to hit the brakes and suspend shipments of parts for the vehicles, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told the news wire.
Elon Musk Only Grants ‘Special Status’ to One of His Many Baby Mamas

1 week ago | thedailybeast.com | Isabel van Brugen |Julia Ornedo

Of Elon Musk’s many baby mamas, it’s Shivon Zilis, mom to four of his kids, who’s snagged the golden ticket. The Neuralink exec is said to enjoy “special status,” according to a bombshell report. The world’s richest man is freaking out over the planet’s plummeting birth rate, even warning that “civilization is going to crumble.” That’s why he has fathered at least 14 children—whom he calls his “legion,” according to The Wall Street Journal—with four women over the past two decades.
Russian state TV host compares US, UK to "utterly useless animal"

1 week ago | newsweek.com | Isabel van Brugen

A prominent Kremlin propagandist has lashed out at the United States and the United Kingdom, comparing both countries to wasps-"an utterly useless animal"-during a heated segment on Russian state TV. Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the state-controlled media organization RT, made the comment during a live broadcast on channel Russia-1, where she appeared alongside longtime Kremlin mouthpiece Vladimir Solovyov. Newsweek reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry via email for comment.
Russia jails own soldier for surrendering in Ukraine

1 week ago | newsweek.com | Isabel van Brugen

A Russian soldier has been jailed for 15 years for voluntarily surrendering to Ukrainian forces, marking the country's first such prosecution. On Tuesday, a Russian military court in the country's Far East sentenced Roman Ivanishin, a serviceman from Sakhalin who had been deployed with the 39th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported. Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry for comment by email.
JD Vance offers thorny olive branch to Europe

1 week ago | newsweek.com | Isabel van Brugen

Vice President JD Vance has delivered a dose of tough love to Europe in his first major interview with a European outlet since taking office. In the interview with UnHerd, published Tuesday, Vance expressed deep admiration for Europe, its culture and its citizens while simultaneously warning that its leaders are failing their citizens.