Egyik 19

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Africa

Democratic Republic of Congo
(Wednesday), 29 Jan 2025  Vandalised embassies and piles of burning tyres marked chaotic demonstrations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital Kinshasa to denounce the “inaction” of the international community over the conflict raging in Goma. On foot or motorcycles, hundreds of angry demonstrators targeted the embassies of Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, France, Belgium and the United States. They accused Rwanda and Uganda of actively supporting the armed group M23 which, with the support of Rwandan troops, entered the regional capital, Goma, on Sunday. The demonstrators accused the other countries of diplomatic inaction. Protesters looted the Ugandan mission, taking away furniture. /Photo/ (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)

Asia

China
January 29, 2025  Driving more nations toward China's AI ecosystem? A strict US regime is prohibiting Chinese firms from accessing the kinds of advanced chips needed to power AI large language models -  massive learning models used to develop AI. For years many had assumed US supremacy in AI was a given, with the field dominated by big Silicon Valley names like OpenAI and Facebook-parent Meta. DeepSeek founder Liang has admitted the "embargo on high-end chips" has proved a major hurdle in its work. But the curbs may have spurred the firm to develop clever ways to overcome them. The company has said it used the less-advanced H800 chips - permitted for export to China until late 2023 - to power its large learning model. China has invested millions and vowed to be the world leader in AI technology by 2030. Developers claim DeepSeek's R1 chatbot was built for just $5.6 million. We don't see the full cost picture of infrastructure, research, and development. (Source: Gulf News -  Dubai, United Arab Emirates / AFP - France)

Gaza
29 Jan 2025  Columns of Palestinians carrying what belongings they can have headed to north Gaza, after Israel permitted their passage in accordance with the ongoing ceasefire. /Photo/ (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)

India
Jan 29, 2025  A stampede at the world's largest religious gathering has killed at least 15 people with many more injured. Indian religious festivals, including the Kumbh Mela, attract throngs of devotees every 12 years to the city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. The Kumbh Mela is rooted in Hindu mythology, a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality. The six-week festival is the single biggest milestone on the Hindu religious calendar, and millions of people had traveled there to take a dip in the confluence of holy rivers. Today marks one of the holiest days in the festival, when saffron-clad holy men lead millions in a procession of sin-cleansing ritual bathing at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. Up to 400 million pilgrims would visit before the final day on Feb. 26. Millions had already bathed in the waterways between midnight and the early morning. A stampede took place around 1:00 a.m.  (Source: Japan Times)

Asia
January 29, 2025 T  Lunar New Year festivities in Asia and around the world. The Chinese Lunar New Year marks the Year of the Snake on the Chinese zodiac. The snake, one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, follows the just-ended Year of the Dragon. The holiday - known as the Spring Festival in China, Tet in Vietnam and Seollal in Korea - is a major festival celebrated by diaspora communities around the world. (Source:  The Asahi Shimbun - Japan)

North America

United States
January 29, 2025  Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI are investigating whether data output from OpenAI’s technology was obtained in an unauthorized manner by a group linked to Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek. (Source: Gulf News - Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

January 29, 2025  The Trump administration announced yesterday that it is offering buyouts to all federal employees who opt to leave their jobs by next week. The email sent to two million of federal employees said those who leave their posts voluntarily will receive about eight months of salary, but they have to choose to do so by Feb. 6. Trump will insist on excellence at every level. The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work. The substantial majority of federal employees who have been working remotely since Covid will be required to return to their physical offices five days a week. The majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized. The federal government employed more than 3 million people as of November last year, which accounted for nearly 1.9% of the nation’s entire civilian workforce. Agency heads are being instructed to establish a contact person no later than today and begin to submit interim personnel recommendations within 90 days. (Source: Associated Press - U.S.)

(January 29, 2025)  Defense Secretary Hegseth is revoking Gen. Milley's personal security detail and clearance. "Undermining the chain of command is corrosive to our national security, and restoring accountability is a priority for the Defense Department under President Trump's leadership," Defense Department chief of staff Kasper said. Trump once suggested Milley should be executed for treason after The Atlantic reported he communicated with his Chinese counterpart in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. (Source: Axios - U.S.)

January 29, 2025  US President Trump has tasked Musk's SpaceX to bring back Nasa astronauts Williams (59) and Wilmore (62) from the International Space Station (ISS) and blamed the Biden administration for "abandoning" them. In what was supposed to be a 10-day mission, Williams and Wilmore have been stranded on the space station for seven months, since June 2024. (Source: India Today)

5 1 29 .12:46

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Europe

Cyprus
28.01.2025  Israel will have a “privileged status” at the Paphos Airbase that will be updated with the help of the US, according to Palmas, the defense minister of the Greek Cypriot Administration. He said the airbase will not be used for offensive missions. Its main task will be to support peacekeeping and humanitarian missions in the region when needed. He pointed to the geographical proximity of Israel. “Greeks can be our brothers, but Israel is our neighbor. The Israelis are totally next to us. In three minutes, they can fly to Cyprus. From Greece, it would take some time to come here to support,” he said. He added that the airbase will be open to “friendly states” such as Jordan, Egypt and Israel, as well as the EU. “We will use it also for the joint military exercises with the US National Guard elements,” said Palmas. The administration also intends to modernize and expand the Mari Naval Base. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

France
28.01.2025  France is considering deploying troops to Greenland in response to US President Trump’s remarks about acquiring the Arctic island, French Foreign Minister Barrot said today. He confirmed that France discussed the issue with Denmark but stressed there are no immediate plans for action. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

28.01.202  Position of Paris 'has not changed: any forced displacement of Gaza’s population would be unacceptable,' argues Foreign Ministry. 'It would be a major obstacle to the two-state solution and a destabilizing factor for our close partners, Egypt and Jordan," the statement added. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Serbia
Serbia's prime minister resigns; protests likely to continue. (Source: DW - Germany)
by Rujevic

28.01.2025 Serbian students' blockade protest over Novi Sad railway station incident ends. Thousands of university, college, and high school students began their roadblock protest at 10:00 a.m. local time yesterday and peacefully dispersed 24 hours later in Belgrade today. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

January 28, 2025  Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned today, becoming the highest-ranking official to step down amid a wave of anti-corruption protests that have spread across the country. The anti-government demonstrations sprang up in the wake of the roof collapsing at a railway station in the city of Novi Sad, killing 15 people and leading to calls for Vucevic to quit. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

United Kingdom
Tuesday 28 January 2025  Immigration is expected to be the sole driver of population growth in the UK, death rates being projected to overtake birth rates in that time. Britain is expected to take in a total of 494,000 more people a year on average over the next decade than the amount who leave, analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals. There are expected to be about 30,000 more deaths than the number of children born over that time. Net migration in 2023 was 906,000. Total welfare spending on pensioners this year would be just over £150bn - more than the budgets of the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence, and the Department for Education combined. (Source: Sky News - United Kingdom)

Asia

China
2025.01.28  Think of it like teamwork rather than rivalry ? Developed by a Chinese company based in Hangzhou in southeastern China, the DeepSeek app is likely to be subject to Chinese government regulations, including laws related to content, data privacy, and stringent political censorship. Users have been reporting difficulties getting information about sensitive topics such as the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 or Taiwan’s independence. The South China Sea is a complex geopolitical issue involving territorial disputes, military tensions, and conflicting claims by littoral countries including China. Analysts say as the waterway is one of Beijing’s core interests, it is also listed as “highly sensitive” by censors. As DeepSeek wishes to maintain access to the Chinese market, it would seek to comply with Chinese government regulations even abroad, analysts said. “What is the South China Sea?” The reply of China’s homegrown open-source artificial intelligence model DeepSeek and its newly launched AI-assisted chatbot came almost instantly: “The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan.” The chatbot went on to explain that the People’s Republic of China “claims a large portion of the sea within the “Nine-Dash Line,” and this claim is contested by other countries in the region and is “not recognized under international law, particularly following a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which found that China’s claims have no legal basis under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).” But the answer disappeared almost instantly and in its place came a formulaic prompt: “Sorry, that’s beyond my current scope. Let’s talk about something else.” Asked additional questions about the South China Sea, such as “How many artificial islands does China have?” “Where is the Second Thomas Shoal?” and “What’s happening between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea?”, the chatbot kept insisting that it was “not sure how to approach this type of question” and repeatedly suggested users to “chat about math, coding and logic problems instead!” Try asking about Tibet! (Source: Benar News, an online news service affiliated with Radio Free Asia. Headquarters Washington D.C. U.S.)

Jan 28, 2025  In 2023  China issued regulations requiring companies to conduct a security review and obtain approvals before their products can be publicly launched. DeepSeek R1' appears to censor answers on sensitive Chinese topics, a practice commonly seen on China's internet. 'Taiwan has been an integral part of China since ancient times'. 'Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are connected by blood, jointly committed to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.' ChatGPT: From a legal and political standpoint, China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and the island democracy operates as a “de facto independent country” with its own government, economy and military. What happened during military crackdown in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June 1989? DeepSeek's chatbot: 'Sorry, that's beyond my current scope. Let's talk about something else.' ChatGPT: “One of the most significant and tragic events” in modern Chinese history. The chatbot talked about the background of the massive protests, the estimated casualties and their legacy. What is the state of US-China ties? DeepSeek's chatbot: China is committed to developing ties with the US based on mutual respect and win-win cooperation. ChatGPT: The state of the US-China ties is complex, characterised by a mix of economic interdependence, geopolitical rivalry and collaboration on global issues. Key topics: Tensions over the South China Sea and Taiwan, their technological competition and more. “The relationship between the U.S. and China remains tense but crucial”. Who is the current US president? DeepSeek and ChatGPT said Biden, whose term ended last week as they said their data was last updated in October 2023. DeepSeek’s AI assistant was the No. 1 downloaded free app on Apple’s iPhone store yesterday afternoon, and its launch caused Wall Street tech superstars' stocks to tumble. Observers are eager to see whether the Chinese company has matched America’s leading AI companies at a fraction of the cost. (Source: Hindustan Times)

China
January 28, 2025  Chinese engineer Liang built the AI company after founding a successful hedge fund. "Our goal is still to go for AGI *," he said. DeepSeek has taken the decision to make all its models open-source, unlike its U.S. rival OpenAI. In open-source models, the base code is publicly available for any developer to use and modify at will. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)
* Artificial General Intelligence

North America

United States
28 January 2025  Google Maps has announced plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’ after Trump’s ordered the name change. The change will be visible in the US, with both names appearing to Google Maps users outside of the country. In Mexico, it will remain the Gulf of Mexico. (Source: LBC - United Kingdom)

January 28, 2025  The Trump administration can strengthen U.S. national security and save taxpayer funds by cutting at least $60 billion in Pentagon waste and inefficiencies, according to a report released today by The Quincy Institute, Stimson Center, and Taxpayers for Common Sense. The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft believes that efforts to maintain unilateral U.S. dominance around the world through coercive force are neither possible nor desirable. QI promotes ideas that move U.S. foreign policy away from endless war and towards vigorous diplomacy in pursuit of international peace. Today, as changes in power and technology usher in a challenging new era, the Stimson Center promotes international security and shared prosperity through applied research and independent analysis, global engagement, and policy innovation. Taxpayers for Common Sense is a non-partisan budget watchdog. The organization’s mission is to ensure that the federal government spends taxpayer dollars responsibly and operates within its means. The report, Keys to Developing a More Efficient, Effective Defense at a Lower Cost, details four main categories of Pentagon spending cuts:    Cancelling or reducing spending on dysfunctional or unnecessary weapons systems;     Making process changes that will encourage greater spending discipline;     Reducing bureaucracy, including both government personnel and the department’s hundreds of thousands of private contract employees; and     Cutting excess basing infrastructure.     The authors find that $12 billion or more per year could be saved by halting the F-35 combat aircraft program, as well as $3.7 billion or more per year by cutting the Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) program. They also determine that a 15% cut in bureaucratic spending would save $26 billion per year, in addition to $3-5 billion in annual savings from the targeted closures and realignments of U.S. military bases, identified currently at a 19% excess capacity. “Targeted Pentagon spending cuts can not only save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars per year, they can also sharpen America’s military by keeping it focused on the strategies and programs that work.” Eliminating dysfunctional weapons systems and outmoded business practices, the result will be more security at a lower cost. “Defunding weapons that are overpriced, underperforming, and out of step with current missions, like the F-35 combat aircraft and the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile, would allow us to invest more in real priorities while also tackling the nation’s tremendous debt”. "Ignoring Pentagon waste is fiscally irresponsible and damaging to U.S. national security". (Source: Stimson - Washington D.C., U.S.)

January 28, 2025  Text of a treaty - Ratification exchange data: Washington, January 17, 1917 - outlines a deal in which the U.S. purchased a cluster of Caribbean islands - now called the U.S. Virgin Islands - from Denmark for $25 million, in exchange for recognition of Danish sovereignty over Greenland. It was signed by then-President Wilson and his secretary of state, Lansing. Declaration in August 4, 2016, undersigned by Lansing shows that "the United States of America will not object to the Danish Government extending their political abd economic interests to the whole Greenland." (Source: National Public Radio - headquarters Washington D.C., U.S.)

5 1 28 .22:01

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Europe

France
Monday 27 January 2025  People living in Western France have been hit by severe flooding, forcing residents to evacuate their homes by boat after a succession of storms, including Storm Herminia, following closely on the heels of Storm Éowyn, compounding the already saturated ground in Normandy and Brittany. The storms also impacted Spain and the UK. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

Poland
2025-01-27  Poland's sports minister has said that the recent statements made by Musk, the founder of US car manufacturer Tesla, should face strong condemnation and even a boycott of his company by all Poles due to his recent call on Germans to leave behind their Nazi past. (Source: Polish Press Agency)

27/01/2025  Some of the few remaining survivors of Auschwitz returned to the notorious Nazi death camp today. The world marked the 80th anniversary of its liberation. How much recognition is there in Poland about what happened on Polish soil during WWII? Interview with Grabowski, co-founder of the Polish Centre for Holocaust. //Video/ (Source: YouTube  - U.S. / France24)
1 329 views

Belarus
January 27, 2025  The Central Election Commission declared early today that President Lukashenko won the election with nearly 87% of the vote after a campaign in which four token challengers all praised his rule. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)

Russia
January 27, 2025  Everyone wants US forces in Ukraine except the US. Russia’s now unstoppable advance across eastern Ukraine ushers in the inevitability that Ukraine has lost, and the war will end. The election of Trump ushers in the inevitability that the war will end with a negotiated settlement. Two things are now clear about that settlement: Ukraine will not be in NATO, and Russia will be in Ukraine. Ukraine will not be in NATO because Russia will continue the war if NATO membership is on the agenda in the negotiations. But Ukraine will also not be in NATO because Trump has made it clear that he will not support NATO membership for Ukraine. Zelensky’s second choice is a large European peace keeping force with the fully committed support of U.S. troops. That large peacekeeping force, Zelensky insists, cannot come only from Europe. ’Nobody will risk without the United States.’ ’French officials have made clear that the idea would need to involve some kind of U.S. backup.’ The problem is, Ukraine’s second choice is also unacceptable to the United States. Guaranteeing U.S. forces on the ground in Ukraine to confront Russia militarily is precisely the escalation that both Biden and Trump have been unwilling to make. NATO in Ukraine with Article 5 in its pocket and the U.S. on the ground in Ukraine with a guarantee in its hand to defend it are the same unacceptable risk by another name. There is also the fear that if Ukraine were ever to attempt to recapture Crimea or the Donbas, a Russian defense could draw the U.S. into the war. Russian President Putin expressed this sort of fear in the weeks before the war. So, what’s to be done? In order to enter into negotiations, Ukraine insists that the U.S. offer security guarantees that the U.S. is not willing to give. What security guarantees the U.S. is willing to give is a matter for the U.S. to decide, and it must take the security of American citizens seriously. Perhaps security arrangements will be a decision that the U.S. will have to make independent of Ukraine and will have to negotiate with Russia before inviting Ukraine to the talks. Perhaps any security arrangement that is acceptable to Ukraine is unacceptable to the U.S. and Russia. Perhaps, the security arrangement, the solution will, at last, have to be the broader European security structure that Russia sought, and the U.S. rejected, at the end of the Cold War. Russia expressed an openness to such a solution in the security proposal it offered the U.S. and NATO two months before the war. Putin made the suggestion again on May 15, 2024 when he said that Russia is “open to a dialogue on Ukraine, but such negotiations must take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict, including Russia’s. They must also involve a substantive discussion on global stability and security guarantees for Russia’s opponents and, naturally, for Russia itself.” (Source: Antiwar - U.S.)
by Snider, a regular columnist on U.S. foreign policy and history at Antiwar.com and The Libertarian Institute, a frequent contributor to Responsible Statecraft and The American Conservative.

United Kingdom
January 27, 2025  There is no small chance that Downing Street may be put into the awkward position of deciding whether to deploy British soldiers to Greenland on Denmark’s request, potentially to the ire of the Trump administration. The UK and Denmark are very close defence partners with co-operation in the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force and numerous additional bilateral ties. Among those is a commitment from a joint declaration in 2021 to deploy British troops to Danish territory in a “crisis“: “The UK and Denmark will cooperate on and train Host Nation Support to ensure fast deployment of UK forces through Danish territory in case of crises.” (Source: Guido Fawkes, a political website - United Kingdom)

Asia

China
Mon, Jan 27 2025  DeepSeek today said it would temporarily limit user registrations “due to large-scale malicious attacks” on its services. (Source: CNBC - U.S.)

Jan 27 2025  China’s new cheap AI DeepSeek outperforms West’s models like ChatGPT amid race to superintelligence. The Chinese owners released the app on Trump's inauguration day. DeepSeek surged to the top of Apple's App Store in the UK, US and China. (Source: The U.S. Sun)

Lebanon
January 27, 2025  22 civilians returning to their villages still under occupation in southern Lebanon were killed, 124 injured in Israeli attacks. Today marks the end of the 60-day deadline for Israeli forces to withdraw from border villages and towns in southern Lebanon, as outlined in the ceasefire agreement reached on November 27. (Source: Gulf Times - United Arab Emirates)

Syria
Jan 27, 2025  Israel launches fresh airstrikes on Syria. The military center of the 12th Brigade of the Syrian Army and the ammunition depots in that area were the targets of Israeli fighter jets. (Source: MEHR News Agency - Iran)

North America

United States
January 27, 2025  NATO was never about American security.    During the 1947 pivot to Cold War Washington has badly misplaced fears that deteriorating economic conditions in Western Europe could lead to communists coming to power in France, Italy and elsewhere. Even the worst case – a communist France (or Italy or Belgium) – was not a serious military threat to America’s homeland security, not a mortal threat to liberty and security on America’s side of the Atlantic moat. And the post-war Soviet economy, its military had been bled and exhausted by its death struggle with the Wehrmacht.     A sweeping course of economic and military interventions in European affairs - aid to Greece and Turkey, the Marshall Plan and then NATO - were clinically described as “containment” measures, only to keep the Soviet Union in its lane, not a prelude to intervention in eastern Europe or to an attack on Moscow itself. But they were seen on the Soviet side as a definitely unfriendly scheme of encirclement and an incipient assault on the Soviet sphere of influence in eastern Europe, or the cordon sanitaire, that Stalin believed he had won at Yalta. But as it happened, abandonment of Eastern Europe per the Yalta zones of influence scheme was exactly what became Washington’s de facto policy until the very end of the Cold War in 1991. The uprisings against the Soviet hegemon in Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Poland in 1981 generated no response from the West beyond empty speeches and hortatory resolutions from western parliaments. The whole policy of “containment”, therefore, was actually just a large-scale and sustained effort by Washington to steer European politics away from the communist Left. NATO was essentially an instrument of political control on the European side of the Atlantic, not a military shield that added any incremental security for the citizens domiciled on the North American side of the pond.     Why was America’s fully warranted post-war demobilization reversed? Why did Washington plunge instead into deeply entangling alliances in western Europe and unnecessary confrontation and overt conflict with Soviet Russia for no good reason of homeland military security? The prevalent Keynesian theorem at the time held that post-war demobilization would result in a collapse of so-called “aggregate demand” and a resulting spiral into depression, the 1930s all over again. Most of Europe was fiscally incapacitated owing to the impacts of the war. The Marshall plan, therefore, amounted to a substitute form of fiscal stabilization and safeguard against a relapse into 1930s-style depression. During the very first year of demobilization (1946), in fact, the US’ real private GDP grew by nearly 27% from 1945 and never looked back. What in 1945 had been a private sector GDP of $1.55 trillion in today’s dollars had jumped to nearly $2.0 trillion by 1947 and to more than $2.3 trillion by 1950. In 1950s, the private GDP growth rate clocked in at 7.6% per annum over the five-year period. So the American economy never came close to tumbling into the Keynesian abyss. There was no reason to believe that the European economies would not have similarly turned the corner to civilian prosperity in due course. Washington’s “containment” policies were unnecessary as a matter of America’s homeland security – the only valid basis for the foreign policy of peaceful Republic. Based on fuzzy thinking about economics and the taste for international power politics that had been acquired by Washington’s ruling class and military contractors during WWII the US stumbled into the very entangling alliances that Washington and Jefferson had forsworn. These European foundations, in turn, surely and inexorably formed the gateway to Empire and the fiscally crushing Warfare State that now plagues the nation.     The Soviet leadership viewed themselves as relatively vulnerable and were well aware that their country was much weaker in industrial and military capability than the United States. Their prime concern was consolidating the territory and security gains in Eastern Europe. Stalin himself had still pursued a variant of detente with the Western Powers, hoping to reach a negotiated settlement on most areas of difference, especially on the question of Germany’s future. As Secretary Marshall’s June 5, 1947 speech at Harvard, the details of the American plan unfolded, the Soviet leadership slowly came to view it as an attempt to use economic aid not only to consolidate a Western European bloc, but also to undermine recently-won Soviet gains in Eastern Europe, Stalin’s new chain of Soviet-oriented buffer states, for reintegration into the capitalist economic system of the West, an offensive attempt to subvert Soviet security interests. Stalin ordered Poland and Czechoslovakia to withdraw from planning meetings in late July that involved discussions with the west about joining the Marshall Plan - discussions he had initially blessed. All Soviet bloc participation in the Marshall Plan ceased and Stalin’s calculus shifted sharply towards a strategy of confrontational unilateral action to secure Soviet interests. The Soviet leadership was moved primarily by fear of its own vulnerability to American economic power, not by a plan of world conquest which became the ultimate justification for the post-war American Empire.     The Marshall Plan had its offensive side as well, in that its authors did indeed hope to lure some of the Eastern European states out of the Soviet orbit and integrate them into the Western European economy. The plan was more than just a geostrategic move to counter Soviet expansionism. The real difficulty and source of conflict in 1947 was neither Soviet nor American aggression. The current status quo was unstable, and that assertive action was required to defend that status quo. The Western powers felt compelled to design the details of the Marshall Plan in such a way that it would stabilize Western Europe, but only at the cost of provoking a confrontation with the USSR. Neither the West nor the Soviet Union deliberately strove to provoke a confrontation with the other. The fluid political and economic conditions in postwar Europe compelled each side to design policies which were largely defensive, but had the unfortunate consequence of provoking conflict with the other.     The entanglements of the Marshall Plan and NATO were a mistake. Once both sides had the A-bomb the nuclear war was soon deemed to be unwinnable and the focus shifted to the ability to reliably deliver a devastating second strike in response to a potential nuclear provocation. To be an effective deterrent the opposing side had to believe that its opponent’s ability to deliver was operationally plausible and very highly certain. In the 1950s the US had this deterrence capacity early on – with long-range strategic bombers capable of reaching the Soviet Union and returning with mid-air refueling. These strategic bombers included the B-50 Superfortress and the B-36 Peacemaker having a range of up to 10,000 miles without refueling. The introduction of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress in 1955 - which could carry a heavy bomb load and had a range of approximately 8,800 miles without aerial refueling - removed any doubt.    For several years to follow the Soviets relied upon the Tupolev Tu-4 to deliver their nukes, which was a reverse-engineered copy of the U.S. B-29 Superfortress, including limited range and payload capacity, which made it difficult to deliver a meaningful number of A-bombs to the U.S. without risking detection and interception. The Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Age (ICBM) materialized in the second half of the 1950s. The Soviets were the first to demonstrate a successful ICBM, the R-7 Semyorka. The Soviet Union had only deployed 4 of these ICBMs by 196o. The United States conducted its own first ICBM tests at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in October 1959. By the end of 1960, the United States had deployed approximately 20 Atlas ICBMs, 129 ICBMs by the peak of the liquid fueled rocket era in 1962. As the decade unfolded, neither the logic nor logistics of nuclear deterrence ever changed. The core national security policy of both sides remained based on the certainty of a devastating second strike retaliation delivered by ICBMs securely based in hardened underground silos in their home territories. The same logic was extended to submarine based missiles.     In the mid-1960s, strategic nuclear deterrence was the heart of national security for both sides and was operated unilaterally from the home country of each. There was no risk of conventional military attacks on the US on the far side of the great ocean moats. So NATO was not any kind of useful military defense asset for the US. NATO had actually and materially added to the cost of US military security.     The nearly 300,000 US servicemen remaining in Europe and the scores of bases and facilities which supported them were stationed there for the purpose of defending European nations from a Soviet threat – but one which in any case should have been addressed by their own military capabilities from their own fiscal resources. Washington’s plunge into “entangling alliances” has had the effect of sharply lessening Europe’s Warfare State costs by effectively shifting them to American taxpayers. America didn’t get any extra homeland security in the bargain. What it did get was the privilege of indirectly footing the bill for Europe’s generous Welfare States and enslavement to the myth that global alliances, allies, bases, interventions and regime change adventures have kept the world stable and America safe. But none of that is true. (Source: Antiwar - U.S.)
by Stockman, who was a two-term Congressman from Michigan, also the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Reagan. After he had a 20-year career on Wall Street. He’s the author of three books, The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed; The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America; TRUMPED! A Nation on the Brink of Ruin… And How to Bring It Back; and the recently released Great Money Bubble: Protect Yourself From The Coming Inflation Storm.

January 27, 2025   On Nov. 20, the US cast the only “No” vote in the U.N. Security Council against a call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. On December 31, Mearsheimer wrote on Substack about the 179-page report Human Rights Watch issued a few days earlier detailing Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Mearsheimer wrote that he wonders what people “who have supported Israel’s genocide or remained silent tell themselves to justify their behavior and sleep at night. History will not treat them kindly.” (Source: Antiwar - U.S.)
by Duncan Jr. who served as the U.S. representative for Tennessee’s 2nd congressional district from 1988 to 2019; a lawyer, former judge, and former long serving member of the Army National Guard, member of the Republican Party.

January 27, 2025  U.S. stocks tumbled today, led by tech shares, as the growing buzz around Chinese startup DeepSeek's low-cost AI model sparked concerns about the sector's high valuations. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

January 27, 2025  Colombians make up a sizable portion of the U.S Hispanic population. There were over 1,628,927 people who identified as Colombian in 2023, according to Census data. Sixty percent were born outside the United States, and 70% are either U.S.-born or naturalized citizens. Florida is home to 473,606 Colombians, according to the U.S. Census data. Florida accounted for a quarter of all U.S. trade with Colombia and it was Florida’s second-largest export market in 2019. South Florida was also a voting hub for Colombians voting abroad during the 2022 presidential elections. The country’s government set up several voting stations across the region, and more than 100,000 Colombians registered to vote here. (Source: Miami Herald - U.S.)

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Europe

Germany
26.01.2025  At an AfD rally in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Musk said, "Germans should be proud to be Germans" and "children are not responsible for the sins of their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents," adding that it is necessary to "overcome" the focus on past sins. He added: “It's good to be proud of German culture and values. We don't want to lose it in the name of multiculturalism, which blurs everything. We want to have unique cultures in the world. We don't want everything to look the same everywhere. When visiting different countries, you experience different cultures. This is unique and good.” “Germany and countries in Europe need more determination and self-determination, and less Brussels,” he wrote on X, a reference to the words of AfD leader Weidel, the party’s hopeful for the position of German chancellor. Right after Musk's yesterday speech, she mentioned the slogan of US President Trump: "Make America Great Again.” "People, did you hear that? Americans are making their country great again and we are making our country great again," she told supporters. "Make Germany great again!" In German election polls, the AfD is in second place behind the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU). (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Africa

Democratic Republic of Congo
Sunday 26 January 2025  At least 13 soldiers serving with peacekeeping forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been killed in clashes with M23 rebels, mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis. The rebel group M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in the mineral-rich region. It has made significant territorial gains in recent weeks, encircling the strategic city of Goma. The DRC has accused neighbouring Rwanda of fuelling the M23 rebellion. Decades of conflicts in the eastern DRC between rival armed groups over land and resources, and attacks on civilians, have killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced more than seven million. (Source: Sky News - Headquarters London, United Kingdom)

Sudan
26/01/2025  A bombing by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on the maternity ward of the Saudi Hospital in El Fasher, North Darfur, has killed at least 70 people and injured dozens, wiping out the city’s only fully operational health facility. (Source: Radio Dabanga - its editorial Headquarters based in exile in The Netherlands)

Asia

Lebanon
(Sunday), 26 January, 2025  The Lebanese health ministry said the Israeli army opened fire today on residents of southern Lebanon trying to return to their villages, killing 15 people and wounding dozens. (Source: The New Arab - based in London, United Kingdom, owned by a Qatari company / MENA - headquarters Kairo; news agency run by the Egyptian government)

Syria
(Sunday), January 26, 2025  Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) stopped publicly announcing its military operations early this month. Reports emerged of the execution of at least 13 Alawites, including officers and at least another 50 captured in Fahel, an HTS area of operations west of the city of Homs on Friday, another area of HTS operations. On the same day, ten armed HTS personnel were killed in an ambush by Alawite gunmen near the coastal city of Jabla. Alawite officers took power in a 1963 coup and members of the sect continued dominating the country until last month. Hundreds of HTS fighters poured into the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast today in an attempt to bring the area under its control. Sweep and search operations are under way and focusing on the foothills of the Alawite Mountains in Latakia, Jableh, and farms in the adjacent governorate of Tartous. Syria has sizeable Kurdish and Alawite minorities, as well as established Druze, Christian, and Ismaili communities. (Source: The National - United Arab Emirates)

North America

United States
Sunday, January 26, 2025  In a Sunday night statement, White House press secretary Leavitt said the Colombian government “has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay.” She said Mr. Trump’s threat of 25% tariffs on all incoming Colombian goods, which would’ve been raised to 50% after a week, would be “held in reserve, and not signed, unless Colombia fails to honor this agreement.” “President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation’s sovereignty, and he expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States,” she said. The visa sanctions and enhanced customs inspections Mr. Trump said would be placed on Colombian officials, allies and goods would stay in place “until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned.” Early in the morning today Colombian President Petro started this war with Mr. Trump by not accepting the flights, saying “the U.S. cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals.” Mr. Petro attacked Mr. Trump and the United States today in multiple X posts after Mr. Trump threatened sanctions, visa restrictions and other retaliatory measures due to Mr. Petro’s refusal to accept two planes carrying deported migrants into the country. These planes to Colombia are just one part of Mr. Trump’s promise of mass deportations. Planes carrying deportees have also been sent to Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras. Mr. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post today that the rejection of the two flights “has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety” of the U.S. “These measures are just the beginning,” he said. “We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States.” After Mr. Trump’s Truth Social post, Mr. Petro said he ordered his “foreign trade minister to raise import tariffs from the U.S. by 25%.” Secretary of State Rubio said later today that he was ordering a suspension of visa issuances at the U.S. Embassy Bogota consular sections. He also authorized travel sanctions “on individuals and their families, who were responsible for the interference of U.S. repatriation flight operations.” (Source: The Washington Times – U.S.)

January 26, 2025  U.S. President Trump said today that he was ordering tariffs, visa restrictions and other retaliatory measures to be taken against Colombia after its government rejected two U.S. military flights carrying migrants. Colombia accepted 475 deportation flights from the United States from 2020 to 2024, fifth behind Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador, according to Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that tracks flight data. It accepted 124 deportation flights in 2024. Last year, Colombia and other countries began accepting U.S.-funded deportation flights from Panama. Colombians emerged in recent years as a major presence on the U.S. border with Mexico, aided in part by a visa regime that allows them to easily fly to Mexico and avoid trekking though the treacherous Darien Gap. They ranked fourth with 127,604 arrests for illegal crossings during a 12-month period through September, behind Mexicans, Guatemalans and Venezuelans. Mexico hasn’t imposed visa restrictions on Colombians, as they have on Venezuelans, Ecuadoreans and Peruvians. In announcing what he called “urgent and decisive retaliatory measures,” Trump explained that he ordered “25% tariffs on all goods coming into the United States,” which would be raised to 50% in one week. He said he also ordered “A Travel Ban and immediate Visa Revocations” on Colombian government officials, allies and supporters. “All Party Members, Family Members, and Supporters of the Colombian Government,” Trump wrote will be subject to “Visa Sanctions.” He did not say to which party he was referring to or provide any additional details on the visa and travel restrictions. Trump added that all Colombians will face enhanced customs inspections. Colombia is led by the government of Petro, a former leftist guerrilla. (Source: AP - U.S.)

Jan 26, 2025  The fourth confirmed member of Trump's cabinet. During Senate voting yesterday, Noem's nomination as the US Secretary of Homeland Security was approved with a majority of 59 to 34. (Source: Hindustan Times - India)

January 26, 2025  Trump has built his political career around being unapologetically pro-Israel. President Trump said he would like to see Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations increase the number of Palestinian refugees they are accepting from the Gaza Strip, potentially moving out enough of the population to “just clean out” the war-torn area to create a virtual clean slate. "Almost everything’s demolished, and people are dying there.” “So, I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change.” Trump also said he has ended his predecessor’s hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. “Because they bought them.” (Source: Time - U.S.)

.5 1 26 23:22

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Europe

January 25, 2025  Musk made a surprise appearance during Germany's AfD (Alternative fuer Deutschland) election campaign event in Halle in eastern Germany today, speaking publicly in support of the 'far right' party for the second time in as many weeks. Addressing a hall of 4,500 people alongside party leader Weidel, Musk spoke live via video link about preserving German culture and protecting the German people. Anti-far right campaigners were out in force today, with around 100,000 gathering around Berlin's Brandenburg gate and up to 20,000 in Cologne, including people of all ages carrying colourful umbrellas. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

Slovakia
/25/01/2025  On Thursday, January 23, President Pellegrini convened a meeting of the state's Security Council, claiming he had been given serious information about a threat to the state's security. "The establishment of our constitution is being threatened; there are groups of people who want to escalate tension within the country and attack the institutions of government," said Pellegrini, adding that these groups are being coordinated from abroad. PM Fico made very similar claims, saying that some groups were allegedly planning a coup. "It is an attempt to organize a typical coup in Slovakia so that the government falls and those who cannot get into power through democratic parliamentary elections come to power," he said. After Prime Minister Robert Fico alleged there were plans to escalate anti-government protests into an attempted coup, Slovaks took the streets in over 20 cities to peacefully protest 'the government's pro-Russia policy'. (Source: DW - Germany)

Russia
January 25, 2025  The S-500 regiment has already been deployed to safeguard the strategically critical Kerch Bridge. The Prometheus radar complex reportedly allows the S-500 to detect ballistic and airborne targets at up to 2,000 and 800 km, respectively. (Source: The National Interest – U.S.)
by  Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel.

Ukraine
January 25, 2025  Ukraine’s military, which has depended on the M777 155mm howitzer, has once again been burning through the barrels due to constant firing as Kyiv’s forces remain engaged in artillery duels with the Russian military. The sole U.S.-government-owned and operated arsenal has been unable to meet the “unprecedented demand” of more than 30 new barrels per month. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Suciu

North America

United States
(Saturday), January 25, 2025  US military planes carrying dozens of expelled migrants arrived in Guatemala. A total of 265 Guatemalans arrived on three flights - two operated by the military, and one a charter. Washington also sent four deportation flights to Mexico on Thursday, the White House press secretary said on X, despite multiple US media reports that authorities there had turned at least one plane back. Mexico’s foreign ministry said yesterday it was ready to work with Washington over the deportation of its citizens. The White House press secretary, Leavitt, said yesterday on X that Mexico had deployed some 30,000 National Guard troops to its border. 538 illegal immigrant “criminals” were arrested Thursday, followed by another 593 yesterday. A Pentagon source told that “overnight, two DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft conducted repatriation flights from the US to Guatemala.” Yesterday’s deportees were taken to a reception center at an air force base in Guatemala’s capital, away from the media. Under Trump’s predecessor Biden deportation flights were carried out regularly, with a total of 270,000 deportations in 2024 - a 10-year record - and 113,400 arrests, making an average of 310 per day. (Source: Digital Journal - Canada)

25.01.25  Trump's administration fired the independent inspectors general of more than a dozen major government agencies late yesterday. The agencies include the departments of defense, state, transportation, veterans affairs, housing and urban development, interior, and energy. The purge affected 17 agencies but spared the Department of Justice inspector general Horowitz. Federal law requires Congress to receive 30 days’ notice of any intent to fire the inspectors general. An inspector general is an independent position that conducts audits, investigations and inspectors into allegations of waste, fraud and abuse. They can be removed by the president or the agency head, depending on who nominated or appointed them. Most of those dismissed were appointees from Trump's 2017-2021 first term. (Source: Telegraph India)

January 25, 2025  Hegseth - a 44-year-old former Fox TV host, who served in the Army National Guard in Iraq and Afghanistan - will become the next secretary of defense after a Senate majority confirmed President Trump’s choice. Hegseth has vowed to rid the military of what he and Trump have called “woke” policies. “The US military needs to confront the reality and perception that it has become too focused on political issues of social justice, political correctness, critical race theory, climate change, etc.,” Hegseth wrote in response to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee. In his confirmation hearing, Hegseth pledged his priorities would include reviving the US defense industrial base, overhauling the acquisition process to open up more opportunities for defense startups and rapidly adopting emerging technologies. Some Democratic lawmakers questioned his ability, given his relatively limited high-level management experience. Hegseth said he would surround himself with people who are “smarter and more capable than me.” That will include billionaire financier Feinberg, co-founder and majority owner of Cerberus Capital Management LP, who Trump has nominated to serve as Hegseth’s deputy. Hegseth will also have to navigate Trump’s close ties with billionaire Musk, whose SpaceX has become a vital partner for the Pentagon, with contracts valued in billions of dollars. At the same time, Musk is leading cost-cutting efforts across federal agencies in what Trump has dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Three Republicans  - McConnell of Kentucky, Murkowski of Alaska and Collins of Maine  -  joined Democrats in opposing his confirmation. McConnell, the former Republican leader who has frequently sparred with Trump, questioned Hegseth’s readiness to lead the Pentagon. “Effective management of nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel, an annual budget of nearly $1 trillion, and alliances and partnerships around the world is a daily test with staggering consequences for the security of the American people and our global interests,” McConnell, who leads the panel that oversees Pentagon spending, said in a yesterday statement. ’Mr. Hegseth has failed, as yet, to demonstrate that he will pass this test.’ Murkowski and Collins also raised concerns about his earlier opposition to women in combat and allegations about his past behavior. dismissed by Hegseth as “anonymous smears.” Lawmakers voted 51-50 to back Hegseth largely along party lines as Vice President Vance cast his first tie-breaking vote. Hegseth and his deputies will be expected to deliver on Trump’s pledge to end US involvement in existing wars while deterring future aggression. An early test will come in deciding whether to continue providing US weapons to Ukraine as Trump pushes for a rapid end to the war that began with Russia’s fullscale invasion of its neighbor almost three years ago. Hegseth also is likely to press Trump’s case that allies and partners in Europe and Asia ’should spend more on their own defense’ so the US can spend less protecting them. He takes control of a budget of more than $840 billion. (Source: Gulf News - United Arab Emirates / Bloomberg - U.S.)

(January 25, 2025)  The US provided foreign aid globally budgeting about $US60 billion in 2023, about 1 percent of the US budget. The State Department has ordered a sweeping freeze on new funding for almost all US foreign assistance. Secretary of State Rubio's order, sent by cable to US embassies worldwide, specifically exempted emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt. The freeze includes funding for anti-HIV program, the President's Emergency Relief Plan for AIDS Relief, and does not appear to allow for assistance to Ukraine to continue. (Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation "with AP" - U.S.)

 South America

Argentina
January 25, 2025  Argentinian President Milei rallied against "the mental virus of woke ideology" during a fiery speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, January 23. Milei credited the fundamental values of Western civilization, like respect for life and liberty, free speech and freedom of religion, for enabling the Industrial Revolution that lifted "90% of the global population out of poverty." He then slammed wokeism as the disease that will destroy everything dear to the West. "This is the great epidemic of our time that must be cured. This is the cancer we need to get rid of. This ideology has colonized the world's most important institutions – from the political parties and governments of leading Western nations to global governance organizations, even NGOs, universities and media outlets," said Milei, adding, "Western civilization – and even the human species – will not be able to return to the path of progress demanded by our pioneering spirit. It is essential to break these ideological chains if we want to usher in a new golden age." Milei did not hold back talking about gender ideology and criticized the left for their radically liberal policies. He castigated those leaders who are "attempting to impose the idea that women are men and men are women simply based on self-perception. And they say nothing about when a man dresses as a woman and kills his opponent in a boxing ring, or when a male prison inmate claims to be a woman and ends up sexually assaulting women in prison." Milei used an example of a same-sex couple in Georgia who were jailed last month for abusing and pimping their adopted boys to a pedophile ring. The Argentine leader said, "I want to be clear when I say abuse. This is no euphemism, because in its most extreme forms, gender ideology is outright child abuse. They are pedophiles," Milei declared. Calling Musk a dear friend, Milei put up a furious defense of children against the dangers of transgenderism. "Healthy children are being irreversibly harmed through hormone treatments and mutilation, as if a 5-year-old child could possibly consent to such things, and should their family not agree to this, there will always be state agents ready to step in in favour of what they call the best interests of the child." Musk’s biological son transitioned into a girl a few years ago, which led the billionaire to remark that his child was figuratively "killed" by the "woke mind virus." Milei added, "Only now are we beginning to see the effects of an entire generation that has mutilated their bodies, encouraged by a culture of sexual relativism, and these people will have to spend their entire lives in psychiatric treatment to cope with what they have done to themselves. Yet no one dares to speak about these issues. Not only that, but the vast majority have also been subjected to the misguided self-perceptions of a tiny minority." The libertarian Milei became president in 2023, and the chaotic economy of Argentina has stabilized under his leadership. He was optimistic about his country's future, calling it a "new Argentina," but not so much about the state of the world unless wokeism is reversed. "Believe me, the scandalous experiments in the name of this criminal ideology will be condemned and likened to those committed in the darkest periods in our history," Milei ended. (Source: Fox News / The Associated Press = U.S.)

.5 1 26 22:15

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Europe

France
22/01/2025  France saw 1,570 anti-Semitic acts in 2024, at levels unseen in recent years as the Israel-Hamas war raged in Gaza, the country's main Jewish organisation, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), an umbrella body of French Jewish groups said today. The figures only cover acts that have been the subject of a complaint, and therefore "this does not cover the entire phenomenon of anti-Semitism in France," CRIF president Arfi told. "Unfortunately, a large part of the phenomenon does not give rise to complaints, particularly in schools," he added. France is home to Europe's largest Jewish community and the third-largest in the world after Israel and the United States. (Source: France24 / AFP)

Poland
Jan. 24, 2025 Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk favours cutting benefits for refugees and migrants living and working in Poland, including Ukrainians - a proposal first put forward by the opposition PiS party. Tusk said the government will urgently look into the proposal, which was also put forward by his party’s presidential candidate Trzaskowski, the incumbent mayor of Warsaw. We cannot make the same mistake as some Western countries, such as Germany or Sweden, where it was advantageous to come only for social benefits, said Trzaskowski. He proposed to allow Ukrainians to receive benefits such as the 800 zloty (€190) monthly child benefit programme, but only if they work, live, and pay taxes in Poland. In the ruling coalition the Left is strongly opposing the proposal. The "800 plus" benefit is a Polish government programme which was introduced by PiS after its 2015 election victory and maintained by Tusk's coalition after it came to power in 2023. It provides financial support to families with children - currently a monthly payment of 800 zlotys (€190) for each child under the age of 18, an increase from the previous 500 zlotys. The benefit is universal, available to all eligible families, regardless of income level. The already-submitted PiS proposal limits the 800-plus programme to families who work in the country and pay taxes. Following February 2022 and the significant influx of war refugees arriving in Poland, the benefit was extended to Ukrainian children. However, the media reported on buses travelling from Ukraine to Poland solely to collect the monthly allowance. From the school year 2024/2025, the payment of the 800-plus benefit was linked to school attendance, which reduced the number of beneficiaries by 20,000. (Source: Euractiv - Headquarters Brussels, Belgium)

European Central Bank
(2025/1/24)  'We need to keep the savings at home. Maybe it is also time to import a few of the talents that would be disenchanted, for one reason or the other, from another side of the sea,' talked up the benefits of Trump’s election for the sluggish EU bloc European Central Bank president Lagarde on the final day of Davos. Most influential Democrats are non-fussed and staying in New York anyway. At the same time Lagarde admitted executives are not very upbeat about future growth this side of the pond and said the EU leaders needed to actually get their act together. Might not be a good idea to rely on upset Democrats for an entire continent’s growth… (Guido Fawkes - United Kingdom)

European Commission
(Friday), 24/01/2025  The EU is already preparing a 16th package of sanctions against Russia, with the view to approving them in late February. Since February 2022, the bloc has brought in sweeping bans on trade with Russia in energy, technology, finance, luxury goods, transport and broadcasting, among others. It's also frozen €210 billion assets held by the Russian central bank within the bloc, which have been used to back a multi-billion-euro loan for Kyiv. Those could all soon be put into question. The restrictions, designed to cripple Moscow's ability to finance its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, need to be prolonged every six months by unanimity, and the next deadline is 31 January. With a key deadline set to expire next week, Viktor Orbán and his deputies have raised the spectre of vetoing EU sanctions against Russia. If Hungary will use its veto to block the rollover, would trigger the collapse of a sanctions regime built across 15 packages, and depriving the EU of its tool against the Kremlin. The Hungarian envoy also made a number of requests concerning energy policy, and in particular Ukraine's recent decision to terminate the transit of Russian gas through Hungary. The decision, taken by President Zelenskyy has met with a furious reaction from Hungary and Slovakia, two landlocked countries that still purchase Russian fossil fuels. Earlier this month, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened to use his veto power in retaliation. The Commission has said it has no interest in extending the transit of Russian gas. It is an issue for Europe, an issue for central Europe. Foreign affairs ministers meet on Monday and Hungary's representative, Szijjártó, announces his country's position. (Source: euronews)

(23 January 2025)     The EU and the United States should settle any potential transatlantic trade conflicts as quickly as possible to avoid a trade war.     By March 2019 the EU began to view Beijing’s assertive economic and trade policies with greater skepticism. The Commission led by Juncker published a strategy paper describing China as the EU’s “partner, competitor, and systemic rival,” a departure from the EU’s previous approach focused on engagement and cooperation with China in almost all economic and technological areas. Throughout 2019-2020 countries like Hungary, Italy, and Germany were favoring continued economic engagement. The expectation that China would deliver on promises of reciprocal market access and adherence to WTO rules faded gradually. The Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) concluded in December 2020 was the highpoint of intensive economic engagement. Its rejection by the European Parliament only a couple of months later already indicated a new, much tougher EU policy toward China, further reinforced by China’s lack of transparency and cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The EU had to tackle Beijing’s domestic industrial subsidies, export overcapacities, and efforts to dominate high-tech industries like solar panels and electric vehicles (EVs). The EU also confronted China’s economic support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, increasing influence in the global south, and ’efforts to drive a wedge between the EU and the United States’. Beijing also exploited the EU’s difficulties and absence of appropriate legislation to successfully counter China’s assertive economic and political actions. The Commission developed a toolkit to defend the EU against China’s policies.     The publication of the European Economic Security Strategy of June 2024, highlighted the Commission’s new resolve to ‘de-risk’ from China with instruments to protect the Single Market and counter political coercion against EU members. The toolkit is consisting of seven complex legislative measures:    The EU Foreign Subsidy Regulation of 2023 – to achieve a level playing field for all market participants within the Single Market;    The EU Anti-Coercion Instrument of 2023 – to deter coercive actions by foreign governments against EU member state countries, such as Lithuania, with the help of the imposition of import tariffs;    The International Procurement Instrument of 2022 – the possibility to exclude non-EU countries from EU public tenders if there are reciprocity problems;    The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Instrument of 2022 – companies can be fined if they tolerate human-rights violations in their production lines;    The Critical Raw Materials Act of 2024 – which is meant to bring about greater diversification in obtaining these materials;    The Net Zero Industry Act of 2024 – which is meant to reduce pollution significantly;    The European Economic Security Strategy of 2023 – reducing and de-risking/diversifying European supply chains and critical infrastructure dependence away from China.     China is the EU's third-largest partner for exports and the biggest for imports. During her second term, Commission President der Leyen has set three key priorities: 1) „to modernize the EU economy, including advancing the European Green Deal’, and increase the EU’s competitiveness along the lines of the reports by Draghi and Letta; 2) ’to increase defense budgets across EU member states’; and 3) ’to pursue an even firmer de-risking approach toward China’. 'Aligning the EU's China policy more closely with that of the United States', she also intends to revamp the US-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC), in which transatlantic policy toward China is often discussed and shaped. 'To achieve these goals, der Leyen has consolidated her own political position within the Commission'. There are five Commissioners who will have major responsibility for shaping the EU’s China policy. 'They all indicated high skepticism towards China’s economic and trade policies' and a clear and close alignment with the US position on China. Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy Séjourné’s primary focus will be enhancing EU’s strategic autonomy. In his confirmation hearing he expressed strong support for EU’s tariffs on Chinese EVs and the need to tackle China’s export overcapacity that is threatening EU’s competitiveness. Šefčovič, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency announced plans to rebalance EU-China relations and take on Beijing’s unfair trade practices as well as revamp the US-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) 'to coordinate transatlantic policies toward China'. Kubilius, Commissioner for Defence and Space, has expressed concerns about China increasing its defense budget and becoming more militarized and aggressive. 'Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy plans to increase the EU’s role in the Indo-Pacific and intensify the EU’s relations with India and the African continent. She emphasized the need to counter China’s support of Russia’s war in Ukraine and its increasing influence in the global south'. 'Dombrovskis, Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Implementation and Simplification, has been a key figure in EU’s imposition of tariffs on Chinese EVs and has vowed to continue with such an approach'.      All 27 EU member states will have to agree on a ’firmer and more assertive’ EU policy toward China.    The much more assertive, no-nonsense approach toward China may well lead to a deterioration of EU-China relations, though both sides remain dependent on each other for trade and technology. Neither side can afford truly bad economic relations or even a trade war with each other. After ever deteriorating relations with the United States, China can hardly afford to antagonize the EU too much. The global south and Russia cannot replace the important, if not crucial role Europe has for China’s economy and technological development. It is also difficult for Europe to truly ‘de-risk’ and diversify its trade and investment away from China. An increasingly protectionist policy pursued by US policymakers will make this even more difficult. (Source: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars - Headquarters Washington D.C., U.S.)
by Larres, Global Fellow;
Krasno, Distinguished Professor in History & International Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Russia
January 24, 2025  Multiple Russian mobile operators and internet services experienced a major outage today morning, according to monitoring sites Sboi.rf, Downradar, and Downdetector. The disruption was also reported by Russia’s telecommunications regulator, Roskomnadzor, and the country’s Main Radio Frequency Center. (Source: Meduza, Headquartered Riga, Latvia)

January 24, 2025  Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency briefly suspended operations at nine airports during the night, including Moscow’s Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports, as well as airports in Kazan, Samara, Penza, Saratov, and Ufa. Most of the restrictions were lifted by morning. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 121 Ukrainian drones overnight on January 24. These reportedly included 37 in the Bryansk region, 20 in the Ryazan region, 17 each in the Kursk and Saratov regions, seven in the Rostov region, six each in the Moscow and Belgorod regions, three in the Voronezh region, two each in the Tula, Oryol, and Lipetsk regions, and one each in Moscow and Crimea. (Source: Meduza - Headquartered Riga, Latvia)

23.01.25  Russia's $2.2 trillion economy had until recently shown remarkable endurance during the war, and Putin has praised top economic officials and business for circumventing the most stringent Western sanctions ever imposed on a major economy. After contracting in 2022, Russia's GDP grew faster than the European Union and the United States in 2023 and 2024. This year, however, the central bank and the International Monetary Fund forecast sub-1.5% growth, although the government projects a slightly rosier outlook. Inflation has edged toward double digits despite the central bank hiking the benchmark interest rate to 21% in October. Russia has hiked defence spending to a post-Soviet high of 6.3% of GDP this year, accounting for a third of budget expenditure. The spending has been inflationary. Along with wartime labour shortages, it has driven wages higher. Sustained high rates would put pressure on the balance sheets of businesses and banks. (Source: Telegraph India)

Serbia
January 23, 2025  Is Serbia heading for 'coloured revolution'? Protests started after the collapse of a concrete canopy at the Novi Sad railway station on November 1, killing 15 people. What began as outrage over a single tragedy has snowballed into a broader movement challenging the 13-year rule of President Vucic and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). The government’s attempts to placate protesters – including the arrests of officials implicated in the Novi Sad tragedy – have done little to quell the unrest. Vucic has even offered to face a referendum on his presidency, but to no avail. Vucic’s government is not standing idly by. In a bid to counter the protests, he announced the creation of a new Movement for the People and the State, aimed at rallying support for his administration. While Vucic has retained control of key institutions and enjoys significant support especially in rural areas and outside the main cities, the parallels to Otpor – the student-led movement that toppled Milošević in 2000 – are impossible to ignore. (Source: bne IntelliNews - Germany)

22. 01. 2025.  Serbia is currently experiencing large-scale protests in the wake of the tragic collapse of a part of the Novi Sad railway station in November. The ruling party and the pro-government media have claimed on multiple occasions that the protests were supported from abroad. A group of people without any apparent involvement in Serbian domestic politics, was designated as a security threat and banned from entering the country. During the night of 21-22 January, a group of participants of a civil society conference organized in Belgrade were unexpectedly questioned by the police and then asked to leave Serbia within 24 hours. The conference was titled “Earned Income Strategies for Purpose-driven Organisations: How to Leverage Your Strengths and Navigate the Technical and Moral Limits of Markets” and was organized by NGO Academy, which is a joint initiative of the ERSTE Foundation and the Competence Center for Nonprofit Organizations and Social Entrepreneurship of Vienna University for Economics and Business. At least 14 participants of the conference were asked to leave Serbia for representing a “security risk”. They come from Albania, Austria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Moldova,  North Macedonia, Romania, and Slovenia. (Source: European Western Balcans - owned and run by the Centre for Contemporary Politics think tank based in Belgrade, Serbia)

United Kingdom
January 24, 2025   Rolls-Royce lands $11 billion nuclear submarine deal with the UK. (Source:Greek Reporter)

Asia

Saudi Arabia
1/23/2025  Yesterday Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman told President Trump he’s willing to expand investments and trade with the US in the coming four years by $600 billion, according to the kingdom’s state-run news agency SPA. The commitment is large, it amounts to around 55% of the country’s gross domestic product. Trump’s secretary of state, Rubio, also spoke by phone to the crown prince overnight. Oil prices have dropped since 2022 and, at around $80 a barrel, are roughly $10 a barrel below what’s needed for the Saudi government to balance its budget, according to the International Monetary Fund. (Source: MSN / Bloomberg = U.S.)

North America

United States
Jan 24, 2025  In a post on social media platform X, Leavitt, Trump's press secretary said: “The Trump Administration arrested 538 illegal immigrant criminals including a suspected terrorist, four members of the Tren de Aragua gang, and several illegals convicted of sex crimes against minors.” She added that hundreds of “illegal immigrant criminals” had been deported via military aircraft. Framing illegal immigration as a national security crisis, Trump has also allowed for military service members to act as immigration and border enforcement officers as part of his mass deportation program. He has also ordered the suspension of the US Refugee Admission Program from January 27, 2025. (Source: Hindustan Times - India)

Thursday, 1/23/2025  President Trump addresses participants at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos today. /Video/ (Source: YouTube / CNBC = U.S.)
203 205 views

January 23, 2025  Trump said Biden received "very bad advice" to pardon five relatives - but not himself. "You know what the funny thing - maybe the sad thing - is? He didn’t give himself a pardon," Trump told Fox News’ Hannity in his first interview after assuming office. "And if you look at it, it all had to do with him - I mean, the money went to him." (Source: The Week - India)

January 23, 2025  External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has said that India was open to the US deporting undocumented Indians back to the country. Jaishankar said India was firmly opposed to illegal mobility and illegal migration. India was working with the US to deport over 1,80,000 Indians in the US who are there illegally. "We want Indian talent and Indian skills to have the maximum opportunity at the global level. At the same time, we are also very firmly opposed to illegal mobility and illegal migration." He said that was conveyed to Secretary of State Rubio. Trump on the third day of his Presidency signed more executive orders against illegal immigration. An executive order “suspends the physical entry of aliens engaged in an invasion of the United States through the southern border." The order directs the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice and State to take all necessary action to immediately repel, repatriate and remove illegal aliens across the southern border of the United States. Meanwhile, the U.S. border agents have been told to deport migrants crossing into the country illegally without allowing them to request legal protection. This means that the US obligations under domestic and international law to ensure people fleeing persecution are not returned to danger no longer followed. One of the officials said Border Patrol agents were directed to swiftly deport migrant adults and families traveling with children under the president's directives, after taking their biometrics and fingerprints. Migrants who are not from Mexico are to be detained pending their deportation. Those with criminal histories are subject to prosecution in the U.S. under a long-standing practice, the official said. (Source: The Week - India)

23/1/2025  A fire has broken out north of Los Angeles, with some 50,000 people under evacuation orders or warnings. (Source: DW - Germany)

22 Jan 2025  President Trump has ordered raids on schools, churches and hospitals to enforce arrest of illegal immigrants in the United States. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. Under the policy, ICE is empowered to quickly deport undocumented individuals who cannot prove they have resided in the United States continuously for more than two years. (Source: Daily Trust - Nigeria)

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Europe

Russia
January 21, 2025  Russian drone attacks involved 131 Russian drones and four ballistic missiles. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 72 of the drones, the air force said. Russia’s Defense Ministry said today it destroyed 55 Ukrainian aerial drones - 22 over Bryansk, 12 drones over Rostov, 10 over the Smolensk region. Other intercepts took place over Voronezh, Saratov, Kursk, Smolensk and Belgorod. (Source: VoA - United States)

Ukraine
(21 January 2025)  Ukraine has detained its army's chief psychiatrist for alleged 'illegal enrichment' charges related to earnings of more than $1m (£813,000) accrued since the start of Russia's invasion in February 2022. In a statement, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the man sat on a commission deciding whether individuals were fit for military service. He owned three apartments in or near Kyiv, one in Odesa, two plots of land and several BMW luxury cars, and investigators searching his home also found $152,000 (£124,000) and €34,000 in cash. The man did not declare the property, which was registered in the name of his wife, daughter, sons, and other third parties. He now faces ten years in jail. Druz was implicated in a similar case in 2017, leading him to be suspended. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

January 21, 2025  Ukraine’s Security Service and State Bureau of Investigation reported the arrest of two generals and a colonel - Brigadier General Halushkin, Lieutenant General Horbenko, and Colonel Lapin, the former commanders of the “Kharkiv” operational-tactical group, the 125th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade, and the 415th Separate Rifle Battalion of the 23rd Separate Mechanized Brigade - on suspicion of negligence, which allegedly allowed Russian forces to capture strategic areas of the Kharkiv region in May 2024. (Source: Meduza - Hedquarters Riga, Latvia)

Arctic

21 January 2025  'Artic' challenge. Russia's Roskongress foundation, which gathers foreign investors, assures that more than 80 per cent of Russia's entire gas supply lies in the Arctic, and as of 2019 Russia has even expanded its coastal zone by 1.2 million square kilometres in the direction of the North Pole. The waters of the Arctic are not only used to drill surfaces for useful minerals to be extracted, but also to place military bases and control the routes of cargo ships. The Russians use these bases to test nuclear weapons of limited power and long-destination missiles, and in 2021 Putin established the Northern Fleet as an autonomous district of the Russian army. Rosatom controls the entire northern maritime corridor, where a large commercial transport plan from China to St. Petersburg is being organised, and the Russian Fesco (Far-Eastern Shipping Company) under the control of the military has already been set up. Every year, China increases the volume of its cargoes along this directive, and Russia in return builds nuclear icebreakers for the Chinese, so much so that China also calls itself the ‘superpower of the Arctic’. The Northern Sea Corridor reduces the duration of transport between China and Europe by one and a half times and avoids passing south through the Suez Canal, which is increasingly unsafe for shipping. Since 2007, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources has declared, following an expert expedition, that Russia holds the rights to the ‘Lomonosov Ridge’. This is a ridge discovered by the Russians in 1948 that crosses the central part of the Arctic Ocean, passing almost under the Polar Circle for an extension of 1. 800 kilometres, from the islands of Novosibirsk to the island of Ellesmere, in the part of the Arctic archipelago on Canadian territory, for a width of between 60 and 200 km at over 3,000 metres above the ocean floor. (Source: AsiaNews, an official press agency of the Catholic Church's Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME)/
by Rozanskij

Asia

Turkey
21 January 2025   At least 76 people have died and more than 50 others were injured in a fire at a ski resort after blaze broke out in the restaurant of the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel in the mountain-top resort of Kartalkaya in northwestern Turkey at 3:27 a.m. local time (0027 GMT) today. The hotel was reported to be between 80-90% full due to school holidays, with over 230 guests checked in. (Source: DW - Germany)

Central America

Panama
January 21, 2025     In 1989, the United States invaded Panama aiming to depose dictator Noriega, who faced drug trafficking charges and threatened U.S. interests by not honoring the terms of the treaties and cozying up to Cuba and Nicaragua.    In 2024 the canal suffered from a drought that forced limits on the number of ships transiting and affected revenues. The canal authority is contemplating construction of a $1.6 billion dam to increase water storage capacity.    The Chinese presence around the canal threatens U.S. security, it is admittedly troubling. Hong Kong-based firms won bids to construct facilities adjacent to the canal, and unquestionably they are beholden to the Chinese Communist Party. A Chinese firm has constructed a bridge across the canal, and there has been discussion of a possible railroad across the isthmus. Panama recognizes that China has been and may in the future be an important source of the capital needed for its infrastructure development. A global challenge of this nature is simply not amenable to the quick and easy solution of threatening or even engaging in military action against one weak country. There even have been at times discussions of potential Chinese-built alternatives to the Panama Canal (a canal in Nicaragua and a railroad in Colombia).    If Trump is genuinely concerned about the Chinese presence, options exist. The United States, Panama, or the two countries together could offer to buy the facilities from their owners. If this is rejected, Panama could consider nationalizing them, while paying appropriate compensation. Under these circumstances Panama might well need significant U.S. political and economic support in the face of Chinese displeasure. But if the facilities are to remain in Chinese hands, Panama, with U.S. support, could implement additional security measures such as doing background checks on those working in them, electronically monitoring the sites, etc.    An invasion to secure the canal is well within U.S. capabilities, and could be accomplished quickly. An airport - perhaps the former Howard Air Force Base, now Panama Pacific International Airport - would have to be seized and combat troops funneled through it, or a Marine expeditionary unit could make an amphibious landing. Carrier-based aviation could assure that Panama’s tiny police helicopter fleet is unable to interfere with operations. Panama City, with a population of over one million people, lies at the canal’s Pacific entrance. The invading force might have to deal with protests, potentially violent, both initially and for an indefinite time thereafter, forcing it to become becoming a permanent occupation force. Such an action now would likely be universally and ferociously negative. It would also have to address the risk of easily mounted drone attacks that could damage the locks or simply threaten vessels passing through the canal to the point where they would be uninsurable. And after the seizure of the canal, there would probably be an end to current cooperation from the Panamanian government on migration pouring north from the Darien Gap. Thus, U.S. forces would need to take on the additional burden of serving as a forward-deployed border patrol.   The United States could cancel its free trade agreement, isolate its banking sector, and deny Panamanians visas. Perhaps an exhausted, browbeaten Panamanian government would then return the canal to the United States. But an occupying force would still be needed to protect the canal from riots, drone attacks, or other responses from an irate people. Any sanctions against Panama would almost certainly be unilateral, with no other country joining in the effort. If Trump wants the canal back during his upcoming term, he will probably have to send in the troops. (Source: War on the Rocks)
by Sanders, a senior fellow on the Western Hemisphere at the Center for the National Interest and a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; a former member of the senior foreign service of the U.S. Department of State, assigned to posts throughout Latin America and to positions in Washington dealing with the region. He also served at the Department of Defense as foreign policy advisor to the chief of staff of the U.S. Army.

North America

United States
1/21/25  President Trump has ended the Secret Service protection assigned to former national security hawk adviser Bolton. Former President Biden reinstated the protection upon taking office in 2021, after Bolton was fired by president Trump, who terminated his security detail. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post in January 2023: "I found Bolton to be one of the dumbest people in Government but, I am proud to say, I used him well." Trump also used an executive order to revoke "any active or current security clearances" held by 51 former intelligence officials, including Bolton, who signed a letter in 2020 casting doubt on the provenance of the Biden laptop story. Included in the list are former National Intelligence Director Clapper Jr., former Central Intelligence Agency Directors Hayden and Brennan and former Defense Secretary Panetta. (Source: Newsweek - United States)

January 21, 2025, Tuesday  President Trump has issued an executive order rolling back policies aimed at supporting transgender rights and gender-identity protections, as well as addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The order, titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” mandates that all federal government agencies remove “radical gender ideology” from their guidance and policies. Trump’s directive also establishes that the U.S. government will officially recognize only two genders, male and female, and that passports, visas, and other official documents will reflect this binary classification. Additionally, the order prohibits federal agencies from promoting gender transition or funding gender transition services for prisoners. Trump's new order declares that it is government policy that biological sex is immutable and that agencies should cease any efforts that suggest otherwise. The administration will also conduct a review of diversity-related programs, including environmental justice grants and diversity training, with the aim of eliminating those deemed discriminatory. (Source: Novinite - Bulgaria)

2025.01.21  U.S. President Trump described North Korea as a “nuclear power,” raising the prospect of a change in the long-held U.S. policy of denying North Korea recognition as a nuclear weapons state and insisting that it abandon its weapons program. The term “nuclear power” is normally taken to refer to five nuclear-weapon states – U.S., China, Britain, France and Russia – that are officially recognized as possessing nuclear weapons in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, otherwise known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT. During a Senate confirmation hearing last week, Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Hegseth, also called the North a “nuclear power.” South Korea rejected the term, stressing that North Korea could never be recognized as a nuclear power because to do so would imply abandoning the goal of denuclearization. (Source: Radio Free Asia - Headquarters Washington D.C., U.S.)

January 21, 2025  US prez says a thousand Biden appointees will be ousted. He warned that his Presidential Personnel Office will vet remaining appointees of Biden and remove more than a thousand of them if they are against his administration's policies. Declaring "You're fired", Trump named four officials, including Andres (President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition), (General) Milley (National Infrastructure Advisory Council), Hook (Wilson Centre for Scholars) and Bottoms (President's Export Council). Trump also ordered a regulatory freeze, stopping officials from bringing up regulations until the new administration takes assumes full control Trump also rolled back Work from Home options, ordering federal officials to come back to office full-time. (Source: The Week - India)

21 January 2025  Among the first executive orders signed yesterday by new US President Trump was the lifting of sanctions imposed by Biden against Israeli settlers and extreme right-wing groups involved in violence against Palestinians or in the occupation of land in the West Bank. The White House tenant also said he was ‘not confident’ in the holding of the truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. (Source: AsiaNews, an official press agency of the Catholic Church's PIME)

21 January 2025, Tuesday      On first day in office, hours after being sworn in as 47th president of US, President Trump signed several executive orders yesterday.    The first item was the rescission of 78 Biden-era executive actions, executive orders, presidential memoranda and others.    Trump signed executive orders restoring free speech protection, ending the weaponization of government, a regulatory and hiring freeze for government agencies, the return to in-person work, and a cost of living crisis directive.      Returning to the White House after his address, Trump signed an executive order to pardon nearly 1,500 defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol;    Declaring national emergency at southern US border paves the way to deploy American troops there: "All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places in which they came," said the president;    Ending birthright citizenship: "This next order relates to the definition of birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment of the United States. That's a good one. Birthright. That's a big one," he said. Under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, any person born within the territory of the US is an American citizen;    An executive order designating cartels and other organizations to be foreign terrorist organizations: "Mexico probably doesn't want that. We have to do what's right. They're killing our people. They're killing 250,000-300,000 American people a year," he said. He also said he wanted to work with countries from South America to coordinate immigration in general. I'm fine with legal immigration. I like it. We need people, and I'm absolutely fine with it," said the president;    An executive order to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement. He also signed a letter that will be transmitted to the UN explaining the withdrawal from the treaty;    Trump also ordered the US to leave the World Health Organization (WHO). "World Health ripped us off. Everybody rips off the United States, and that's it. It's not going to happen anymore," he told reporters. Trump said the US paid $500 million to the UN body. "Seemed a little unfair to me, so that wasn't the reason, but I dropped out...China pays $39 million and we pay $500 million, and China's a bigger country," he said;    Trump has suspended all US foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending reviews of consistency with his policy. "All department and agency heads with responsibility for United States foreign development assistance programs shall immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds to foreign countries," said the executive order. It did not explicitly put forward how much assistance would initially be affected by the move. It said the US foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases are antithetical to American values, adding: "They serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries;"    Reinstatement of Cuba on state sponsors of terrorism list, reversing an executive order issued by Presiden Biden just days earlier. Biden had removed the designation under a plan negotiated by the Vatican to secure the release of political prisoners in Cuba. In response, Cuban authorities had begun releasing detainees. The Trump administration's move complicates Cuba's pledge to release more than 500 prisoners under the agreement. It remains unclear how many additional detainees will be freed following Trump's decision. Cuban President Diaz-Canel condemned the reversal, describing it on social media as an “act of mockery and abuse.” Cuba has consistently denied allegations of supporting terrorism;    Trump signed an executive order in an attempt to delay a ban of the popular short-video app TikTok for 75 days. According to the order, Trump is pursuing a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans. "I think the US should be entitled to get half of TikTok," he told reporters while signing executive orders at the Oval Office. He said TikTok could be worth a trillion dollars. "Essentially with TikTok, I have the right to sell it or close it, and we'll make that determination, and we may have to get an approval from China too. I'm not sure, but I'm sure they'll approve it," he said. He also said his administration will work on "a joint venture" between the US and undisclosed other entities. "I think you have a lot of people that would be interested in TikTok with the United States as a partner," he added. On Friday, (January 17), the US Supreme Court upheld a law that would ban TikTok unless its Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, divests from the app. After going offline earlier Sunday, TikTok announced that it was in the process of restoring services to its US users following assurances from Trump. (Source: Yeni Safaq / Anadolu Agency = Turkey)

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United States
January 20, 2025  Inauguration 2025: Trump sworn in as 47th president /Video/ (Source: Associated Press)

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Europe

France
20.01.2025  French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou warned today that France and the EU could be crushed if they fail to react to the policies announced by US President-elect Trump, who will be sworn in later today. The United States has decided on an incredibly dominating policy through the dollar, through industrial policy, through the capture of all research and the capture of investments, Bayrou said. "If we do nothing, we will be dominated, crushed, marginalized," he added. He highlighted China's trade surplus exceeding $1 trillion in December, stressing the need for coordinated action. "France and Europe are today facing two challenges, American and Chinese policies," he said. France and Europe cannot remain passive in the face of these challenges, he added. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Germany
Jan 19 2025     It makes sense to hypothesize the war’s possible outcomes and risks, as well as its consequences for Germany and Europe.   Three possible scenarios:    1. Russia wins the war.    2. Ukraine wins the war.     3. Nobody wins and the conflict then remains in an unstable stalemate.       The first scenario is unlikely but entails a high risk for Germany and Europe.    The second scenario is less unlikely but is also associated with a high risk due to the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons.    The third scenario is more likely and presents a comparatively lower, nonetheless sensible risk.       Conclusions:      Germany has - apart from its muddling through approach practiced until now - various security policy options depending on the outcome of the war in Ukraine:    1. The completion of a fully integrated EU defense, economic and financial union.    2. The assumption of a quasi-hegemonic leadership role as the primary American mainland sword in Europe.    3. The assumption of a strong nationalist role in Europe.    4. The formation of a European Caucus within NATO and close security policy cooperation between NATO and the EU.   So far, the political will and the corresponding framework conditions have been lacking. The only exception is the right-wing AFD (Alternative for Germany) who wants to leave NATO and the EU as well as to stop the sanctions against Russia. While the AFD is clearly striving for the third option, Social Democrats lean more toward the fourth, the Greens to the first and Christian Democrats to the second option.     The outcome of the war in Ukraine will have a decisive impact on German and European security. The possibility of a Russian victory would entail high security risks for Germany and Europe and would have far-reaching negative consequences for Ukraine and the stability of the continent. It should, therefore, absolutely be prevented. A Ukrainian victory may be desirable, but it is associated with a high risk of nuclear escalation, which could lead to the destruction of Ukraine, or even Europe. A stalemate would probably result in a new 'Cold War', which, at best, could be transformed into a 'Cold Peace” in the form of non-violent competition between systems. At worst, it would mean permanent tensions and the threat of war in the sense of a constant struggle for the right order.   There are three common truths when dealing with European security:   One is that Russia remains a relevant Eastern European neighbor for Germany and the EU in terms of geography and potential.   The USA will remain an indispensable player in European security for the foreseeable future, also during the second term of Trump. Germany and Europe thus have an interest in appropriate US involvement in and for Europe.    China plays a significant role in this conflict. In the event of a Russian victory China could feel encouraged to use force to achieve its goals concerning Taiwan. A Russian defeat would compromise Chinese ambitions and allow the US to focus on Beijing. That is why China has no interest in a defeated Russia.    A stalemate in the Ukraine war, leading to a stable armistice, would tie the US to Europe and enable Beijing to play the role of mediator, whose influence in Europe and Russia would increase.   Regardless of the scenario, 'Berlin will have to spend more on its own and EU defense'. The more the US involvement in Europe decreases, the greater the German and European defense burden will be. 'In the current election campaign parties from the political center are competing with tough announcements on higher defense expenditures going from more than 2 percent of GDP (Christian Democrats, Social Democrats) to 3 percent (Christian Social Union) to 3.5 percent (Greens)'. 'Germany’s share of the support costs for Ukraine is likely to increase' although it is already the biggest European supporter in terms of total bilateral allocations. At the same time, Berlin must advance the European integration project and contribute to the economic and political stabilization of Eastern Europe. This is expected to lead to increased national budget conflicts and social tensions in Germany which could favor extremist parties. In order to minimize such conflicts, "possibilities for peaceful coexistence" with an 'imperialist' Russia must be explored.   A victorious peace is unlikely for any of the protagonists. The costs of war are constantly rising not only for the direct opponents of the war but also for their supporters and the not-inconsiderable number of states that are staying out. Berlin should strive for a settlement along the lines of the third scenario. This combines a territorial compromise acceptable to both opponents with the maintenance of Ukraine’s legal position and postpones a final settlement to the future. While being staunch supporters of a Ukraine victory, the parties of the political center have started to realize the new realities, however, do not yet draw the respective conclusions. The parties from the extreme left and right spectrum are already arguing in the direction of the third scenario but they have a negative concept of both pillars of European stability, NATO und EU, and 'a naïve view of the aggressor Russia'.   NATO is there to keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans involved. Sufficient defense capability and détente can enable security between system opponents. After all, Russia will not disappear from the scene and will one day be interested in co-operation again. Berlin should be careful not to grow into a hegemonic role in the long run because this could entice conflict and the build-up of counter-alliances. This means staying engaged in the European project and investing in European integration more than ever. (Source: E-International Relations - United Kingdom)
by Dr. Ehrhart, a Senior Research Fellow of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH). He has held visiting research appointments at the Research Institute of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Bonn, the Fundation pour les Etudes de Défense Nationale, Paris, the Centre of International Relations at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, and the EU Institute for Security Studies, Paris.

Poland
15.01.2025  'Russia plotted attacks on airlines globally, claims Polish premier'. 'I can confirm that Russia planned act sof air terror, not just against Poland but against airlines globally,' Donald Tusk says following meeting with President Zelenskyy in Warsaw. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

15 January 2025, 13:04   In 1943-44, Ukrainian nationalists massacred about 100,000 Poles in Volhynia and other regions that were then in eastern Poland, then under Nazi German occupation, and which are now part of Ukraine. Entire villages were burned down and their inhabitants killed by the nationalists and their helpers who were seeking to establish an independent Ukraine state. Poland considers the events a genocide and has been asking Ukraine to let them exhume the victims to give them proper burials. Some of the Second World War-era Ukrainian nationalists are today regarded as national heroes because of their struggle for Ukraine’s statehood. A non-governmental organisation, the Freedom and Democracy Foundation, said on Monday that it would begin exhumation work on victims in Ukraine in April. Kyiv has something to gain from allowing the exhumations. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has vowed to use his country’s presidency of the European Union to push forward with Ukraine’s bid for membership. Tusk has been working for some time to embrace an inclusive form of patriotism  - part of an effort to prevent nationalist conservatives from presenting themselves as Poland’s leading advocates of the country’s interests. It is particularly important as his party’s candidate in a presidential election in May is expected to face a strong challenge from a 'nationalist' opposition candidate. (Source: LBC - United Kingdom)

Spain
(20 January 2025) 09:30  Spain premier aims to limit and ban non-EU citizens from buying homes - an attempt to fight a growing housing crisis when neither they nor their families live there and therefore they are speculating. Non-residents from outside the EU bought some 23,000 houses and flats in Spain during 2023 soaring prices, including in the capital, Madrid. Spain was seeing a shortfall of about 200,000 new houses every year based on current demand. Either proposal by Sanchez - taxing purchases at 100% their value, or an outright ban - would require approval from parliament. (Source: Luxembourg Times)

Greenland
January 20th, 2025  Neither the US nor Danish and Greenlandic authorities have so far found anything that warrants further military buildup in Greenland. It’s most crucial role in the defence of the North American continent is to facilitate radars and other means of domain awareness in order to know what flies in from Eurasia. The US Space Command operates radars at Pituffik, formerly known as Thule Air Base, that look for incoming missiles and monitors space-based threats. As Russia reopens bases along the Siberian coast, the US might want to defend those radars by, for instance, preparing the base for F35 jets. This is facilitated by the 1951 agreement, which will also facilitate new radars on the East coast of Greenland and on drones and vessels operating along the coast. Denmark has allocated some funds to this purpose. A misreading of dynamics across the distinct Arctic theatres, misguided militarisation of Greenland risks setting in motion a spiral of escalation that no one wants, will leave all less secure and will harm rather than help US national security and regional peace. Chinese activity is very far from Greenland, there are no Chinese investments or infrastructure. In the Far East, the Chinese navy has occasionally joined Russian coast guard manoeuvres in the Bering Strait near Alaska. Russia revamps Cold War bases to defend their onshore natural resources against possible adversaries. Russia is also developing the Northern Sea Road along the coast. Most activity concerns Liquefied Natural Gas from the Yamal peninsula in the East. There are indeed Russian and Chinese ships in the Arctic, but these vessels are too far away from Greenland. The US already controls the territory in terms of military security, as formalised in a 1951 agreement with Denmark co-signed by the autonomous Government of Greenland in 2004. In the European Arctic, Russia’s nuclear strategy depends on defending the Kola Peninsula where most of the missiles meant for the US are placed. In the event of a conflict, this involves pushing back NATO forces across Northern Scandinavia and the Barents Sea. Norway has recently invited the US and UK navies back, and each of the Scandinavian countries recently concluded agreements with the US to allow more flexible movement and stationing of troops. Russian second-strike capability in the event of a nuclear conflict relies on submarines having come out of Murmansk, hiding under the polar ice, and sneaking through the “GIUK” gap between Greenland, Iceland and the UK. The US, the UK and Norway are “phishing” for these submarines, Russian vessels in the vicinity of Greenland. Denmark is likely going to chip in as a result of the defence spending negotiations currently being concluded in the Danish parliament. Military investments are both immensely expensive under Arctic conditions and might escalate tensions in the Arctic without contributing positively to US security. Greenlanders, knowing their geography, fear no invasion. They do worry that civilian critical infrastructure is vulnerable to sabotage – particularly telecommunications that depend on only two submarine cables. (Source: London School of Economics - England)

Asia

Gaza
(Sunday), January 19, 2025 | 13:26  Israel today said a truce with Hamas began in Gaza at 0915 GMT, nearly three hours after initially scheduled, following a last-minute delay on the orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During the delay, Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed eight people. A statement from Netanyahu's office, issued less than an hour before the truce had been set to start at 8:30 am (0630 GMT), said he had "instructed the IDF (military) that the ceasefire... will not begin until Israel has received the list" of hostages to be freed. Hamas attributed the delay to technical reasons, as well as the complexities of the field situation and the continued bombing, ultimately publishing at around 10:30 am the names of three Israeli women to be released today. Israel confirmed it had received the list and that the truce would begin at 11:15 am local time. The initial exchange was to see three Israeli hostages released from captivity in return for a first group of Palestinian prisoners. A total of 33 hostages taken by militants during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel will be returned from Gaza during an initial 42-day truce. Under the deal, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli jails. Israel's justice ministry had previously said 737 Palestinian prisoners and detainees would be freed during the deal's first phase, starting from 4:00 pm (1400 GMT) today. Egypt yesterday said more than 1,890 Palestinian prisoners would be freed in the initial phase. Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdelatty said 600 trucks a day would enter Gaza after the ceasefire takes effect, including 50 carrying fuel. Of the 251 people taken hostage, 94 are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Under the deal, Israeli forces will withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow displaced Palestinians to return "to their residences', the Qatari prime minister said. (Source: Gulf News - Dubai, United Arab Emirates / AFP - France)

North America

United States
January 17, 2025, 12:08 PM   ’A new NATO deal for America’. More than 60 senior trans-Atlantic defense leaders have outlined a new NATO deal for the United States. In exchange for a significant European defense buildup, the United States would continue to deploy troops in Europe at about the current level. U.S. reserve forces that were once earmarked for a conflict in Europe would be able, if necessary, to shift their attention more to Asia. 'The European allies on their own must by 2030 collectively provide at least half of all the capabilities designated for NATO’s defense in Europe. This share should rise to two-thirds by 2035'. These minimum requirements would ’dictate defense spending at a level well above 3 percent of GDP’. The proposed charter suggests the creation of two European shield corps forward-deployed in Poland and Romania, backed up by four reserve European war-fighting corps. The four new reserve corps would be used to quickly transform the current Allied Reaction Force into an Allied Heavy Mobile Force. Europe will need to produce more so-called enablers, such as strategic airlift, air-to-air refueling, and operational intelligence. The United States would agree to permanently station fully ready units in Europe, including the U.S. Army’s V Corps, the Third Air Force, and the U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet, along with Marine Corps and special operations forces units. To ensure smooth military operations, they would be complemented by cyberdefense, integrated air and missile defenses, and efforts to remove impediments to military mobility. NATO’s nuclear deterrence also needs to be strengthened, including broader nuclear-sharing arrangements and greater nuclear cooperation between Britain and France. ’The NATO-Russia Founding Act should be set aside for now’. The charter endorses creating a defense, security, and resilience bank, which has been under study by the NATO International Staff since 2019. Loans and loan guarantees would be made to NATO members and their defense industries. The charter proposes ways to significantly accelerate Europe’s ability to execute defense plans already developed for the alliance recently by the supreme allied commander Europe. It is now being circulated informally to European governments and the incoming Trump team. The charter was formally presented to senior NATO officials in Brussels last week. The upcoming June NATO Summit in The Hague would be the right place for alliance leaders ’to implement’ the ideas contained in Atlantic Charter 2025. European GDP growth averaging less than 1 percent in 2024 will make it difficult for many countries to increase defense spending without deep cuts elsewhere. (Source: Foreign Policy)
by Binnendijk, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council, former senior director for defense policy at the U.S. National Security Council, vice president of the National Defense University, legislative director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee;
Vershbow, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council, senior advisor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House, former U.S. ambassador to NATO and Russia, assistant defense secretary, and NATO deputy secretary-general.

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United States
January 17, 2025, 12:08 PM  ’A new NATO deal for America’. More than 60 senior trans-Atlantic defense leaders have outlined a new NATO deal for the United States. In exchange for a significant European defense buildup, the United States would continue to deploy troops in Europe at about the current level. U.S. reserve forces that were once earmarked for a conflict in Europe would be able, if necessary, to shift their attention more to Asia. The European allies on their own must by 2030 collectively provide at least half of all the capabilities designated for NATO’s defense in Europe. This share should rise to two-thirds by 2035. These minimum requirements would ’dictate defense spending at a level well above 3 percent of GDP’. The proposed charter suggests the creation of two European shield corps forward-deployed in Poland and Romania, backed up by four reserve European war-fighting corps. The four new reserve corps would be used to quickly transform the current Allied Reaction Force into an Allied Heavy Mobile Force. Europe will need to produce more so-called enablers, such as strategic airlift, air-to-air refueling, and operational intelligence. The United States would agree to permanently station fully ready units in Europe, including the U.S. Army’s V Corps, the Third Air Force, and the U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet, along with Marine Corps and special operations forces units. To ensure smooth military operations, they would be complemented by cyberdefense, integrated air and missile defenses, and efforts to remove impediments to military mobility. NATO’s nuclear deterrence also needs to be strengthened, including broader nuclear-sharing arrangements and greater nuclear cooperation between Britain and France. ’The NATO-Russia Founding Act should be set aside for now’. The charter endorses creating a defense, security, and resilience bank, which has been under study by the NATO International Staff since 2019. Loans and loan guarantees would be made to NATO members and their defense industries. The charter proposes ways to significantly accelerate Europe’s ability to execute defense plans already developed for the alliance recently by the supreme allied commander Europe. It is now being circulated informally to European governments and the incoming Trump team. The charter was formally presented to senior NATO officials in Brussels last week. The upcoming June NATO Summit in The Hague would be the right place for alliance leaders ’to implement’ the ideas contained in Atlantic Charter 2025. European GDP growth averaging less than 1 percent in 2024 will make it difficult for many countries to increase defense spending without deep cuts elsewhere.  (Source: Foreign Policy)
by Binnendijk, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council, former senior director for defense policy at the U.S. National Security Council, vice president of the National Defense University, legislative director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee;
Vershbow, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council, senior advisor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House, former U.S. ambassador to NATO and Russia, assistant defense secretary, and NATO deputy secretary-general.

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Zelenskyy playing piano

(Source: YouTube):

https://tinyurl.com/ywyj4pfk

You were able to shake hands with him, with mutual respect, ladies and gentlemen - with the future president of Ukraine

Kölcsönös tisztelettel kezet foghattak vele hölgyek és urak - Ukrajna leendő elnöke

A zongoránál Zelenszkij

Since March 2, 2022: 2 130 460 views

2022. március 2.-a óta: 2 138 460 megtekintés

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Europe

France
(Sunday ), July 7, 2024 6:00am EDT  Second round of voting is underway today in France's parliamentary election. French President Macron on edge as France's right-wing National Rally Party gained momentum in first round of elections. Le Pen’s National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) outperformed expectations in the European parliamentary elections, trouncing Macron’s centrist party and prompting him to call a snap election as he felt it created tension in the country if the electorate no longer believed in his party and their policies. France's right-wing National Rally looks to seize on recent electoral gains. Bardella could become France's next prime minister. The 28-year-old ’right-wing populist’ Bardella shocked the establishment when his party got 31.5% of the vote in the recent EU election. Rivals move to block France 'right-wing national party's election momentum. (Source: foxnews)

European Parliament
(Sunday), 07/07/2024  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's new alliance of 'far-right' parties passes the threshold to form a political group called "Patriots for Europe" in the European Parliament. On Saturday, the group secured the membership of the 'far-right' Danish People's Party and the 'far-right' Flemish Vlaams Belang, meeting the required threshold. Notable partners include Dutch anti-Islam firebrand Wilders. To form the group, 23 MEPs from seven countries are needed. Viktor Orbán announced his intention to form a new EU parliamentary group on June 30, promising a "new era" that would "change European politics." He made the announcement in Strasbourg with the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria, Kickl, and the centrist ANO of former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. Since then, five other parties have said they will join. They include the Portugal's far-right Chega party and Spain's Vox party. Orbán, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency as of July for six months, said the parties would meet in Brussels tomorrow. By then he will know if the French National Rally has decided to join forces with him after the conclusion of Sunday's second round of French parliamentary elections. With 30 MEPs, the National Rally would be the largest political force in the group if it decides to join the "Patriots for Europe." If the National Rally joins, the "Patriots for Europe" would potentially become the third largest parliamentary group, following the conservative European People's Party (EPP) and the Social Democrats (SD). It would then even overtake the other right-wing group, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Several of the groups joining Orbán's movement were previously part of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, which includes members of France's National Rally. Babis's ANO party defected from Renew Europe, which includes liberals and centrists. Vox is leaving the ECR movement, Orbán's main rival as the dominant player in right-wing EU politics. (Source: dw *)
* Deutsche Welle, the German public, state-owned international broadcaster, headquartered in Bonn

(Sunday), 7 July 2024  Orbán’s new right-wing group hits EU parliament threshold. In Strasbourg, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced June 30 his intention to form a new EU parliamentary group called “Patriots for Europe”, vowing “a new era” that “will change European politics”. Andrej Babis, former prime minister of the Czech Republic and leader of the ANO party, Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, leader of the ruling Fidesz party and Kickl, head of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) were holding a press conference after signing a trilateral political agreement of cooperation entitled "A Patriotic Manifesto for a European Future", which outlines the ideals and objectives of the grouping, in Vienna, Austria, 30 June 2024. Hungarian premier’s fledgling political movement attracted enough parties today to achieve recognition from the European Parliament in a boost for his latest ploy to shift Brussels rightwards. Five more parties said they will join: the Party for Freedom (PVV) of Dutch anti-Islam firebrand Wilders, Portugal’s 'far-right' Chega party and Spain’s Vox. With the Danish People’s Party and the Flemish nationalist pro-independence Vlaams Belang announcing they would join yesterday, Patriots for Europe fulfilled the EU parliament’s threshold for formal recognition - 23 lawmakers from seven countries. Orbán said the parties would meet tomorrow in Brussels. By that time, Orbán will know if France’s National Rally has chosen to join forces with him after the second round of the country’s legislative elections today. The new ‘Patriots’ for Europe grouping are on track to become the third largest political force - the dominant 'hard-right' force - in the European Parliament with Spain’s VOX party leaving the Conservatives and Le Pen’s party likely to join too with the biggest political force within the group with 30 MEPs. Vox is leaving the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) movement associated with Italian Prime Minister Meloni - dominant player in right-wing EU politics. Several of the groups joining Orbán’s movement were previously part of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group. Babiš’s ANO party defected from Renew Europe, which includes liberals and centrists, among them French President Macron’s Renaissance party. Italy’s League, led by Salvini, has also expressed an interest in the new movement but has not confirmed its participation. Orbán - whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency - has long railed against the “Brussels elites'. His Fidesz party has been non-aligned in the EU Parliament since it left the 'right-wing' European People’s Party (EPP) in 2021. The group would push back against European support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and immigration and would campaigning for conservative family values. (Source: euractiv * )
* Euractiv, a European news website. Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium

Russia
Sunday, July 7, 2024.  Citing the Russian Ministry of Defence, state news agencies claimed that Iskander ballistic missiles destroyed two launchers for Patriot surface-to-air missile systems in Ukraine’s Odesa region. The Russian Defence Ministry said seven drones were intercepted over the Belgorod region. Russian strikes left some 100,000 households without power in northern Ukraine and cut off the water supply to a regional capital. The northern Sumy region, which borders Russia, was plunged into darkness after Russian strikes starting late on Friday damaged energy infrastructure. (Source: aljazeera *)
* Al Jazeera Media Network, a media conglomerate headquartered at Doha. Qatar

Europe
07.07.2024  European Union (EU) is turning blind eye to members' arms trade with Tel Aviv. Also the United Kingdom (UK) continues its arms trade with Israel. The EU lacks a provision prohibiting arms trade with Israel that is being tried at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It allows member states to continue exports to and imports from Israel, Irish journalist Cronin said. When Israel attacked Gaza in 2014, that same year the EU imposed an arms embargo on Russia for annexing Crimea but did not apply the same to Israel, he said. 'So, there's obviously very clear double standards.' He noted that the ICJ decision could lead to additional cases challenging arms cooperation between Europe and Israel, causing concern in some countries. “The weapons cooperation with Israel makes the European Union complicit in the current genocide in Gaza,' Cronin stressed. Also, Cronin noted that the United Kingdom continues its arms trade with Israel. “Elbit Systems, the largest privately-owned Israeli weapons company, has something like 10 different factories and offices in Britain. Engines for Israeli drones are being manufactured near Birmingham in England.' Emphasizing that arms trade operates bilaterally, Cronin said Berlin has transferred numerous weapons to Israel in the last decade, but Germany is also an important customer of the Israeli arms industry. “So we really need to be talking about a two-way arms embargo.” “German officials paid a visit to the headquarters of Israel Aerospace Industries in May, where there was a discussion about Germany possibly buying the Arrow 3,” he said, referring to the hypersonic anti-ballistic missile that is jointly funded, developed and produced by Israel and the US. Cronin stressed that the state-owned Israeli weapons company “has made many of the weapons that are currently being used, drones and other weapons that are currently being used to kill people in Gaza.' Cronin said France has given indications of halting arms sales to Israel due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Noting that Israeli companies were banned from participating in the Eurosatory arms fair in Paris last month, but that decision was overturned following a complaint by the France-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Cronin said major Israeli companies were not able to participate in the way they planned in the exhibition. He said despite being fully Israeli-owned, Elbit's 'OIP Sensor Systems" arms company in Belgium registered as a Belgian company to participate in Eurosatory. The Irish expert noted that Dutch, Polish and Spanish arms companies also participated in Eurosatory, showcasing weapons systems composed of Israeli-made components. “The cooperation has been going on for a long time and it's become quite sophisticated, so we really need to have a total ban on all trading between Israel and the European Union.' (Source: aa *)
* Anadolu Agency, a state-run news agency. Headquarters Ankara, Turkey.

Asia

Azerbaijan
7 July 2024 14:25 (UTC+04:00)  Hungarian PM's participation in Organization of Turkic States (OTS) summit cuases much of EU leadership's consternation. Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán did not represent the European Union at the informal Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS/TDT) held on July 6 in Shusha, Azerbaijan - this was stated in the statement of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Borrell. In addition, the European Union, as stated by the European Commissioner, condemns the OTS's attempts to legitimize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as an observer in the organization. Note that Hungary presides over the EU Council from July 1 to December 31, 2024. The logic of such a denial by Brussels is not entirely clear, because the OTS organization itself has never considered the European Union as its "Turkish' partner, to have a representative from the entire European Union among its members and even observer states. (Source: azernews *)
* Azernews, a centre-right, weekly newspaper. Headquarters Baku, Azerbaijan

China
July 07, 2024 8:37 PM  Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán arrived in Beijing today for talks with Chinese President Xi, Orbán's press chief told. Orbán's visit came days before a NATO summit that will address further military aid for Ukraine. Orbán, a critic of Western military aid to Ukraine who has the warmest relations of any EU leader with Russian President Putin, said last week he recognized he had no EU mandate for the trip to Moscow, but that peace could not be made "from a comfortable armchair in Brussels." Hungary's foreign minister, Szijjártó, was accompanying Orbán on the China trip. The foreign ministry canceled late last week a meeting for today in Budapest with Germany's foreign minister and Szijjártó. (Source: voanews * / Reuters)
* Voice of America, the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Israel
(Sunday ), July 7, 2024 6:00am EDT  An Israeli minister has endorsed Marine Le Pen for French president, as her right-wing party seeks significant gains in the current election. "It is excellent for Israel that she will be the president of France, with 10 exclamation marks," Diaspora Affairs Minister Chikli said Tuesday, later indicating that his view may be shared by other members of Israel's leadership. "I think I and Netanyahu are of the same opinion," he said. 'It remains unclear' what had prompted Chikli to discuss Le Pen - Presidential race not until 2027. Le Pen has unsuccessfully run for president three times – in 2012, 2017 and 2022, improving her rank and share of the vote each time during that decade. Her most recent run saw her win 41.5% of the vote against Macron. Some speculate that the cultural issues at the heart of the election will propel National Rally – and potentially, in the 2027 presidential election, Le Pen – to control of the country. Immigration has proven a strong issue for right-wing parties across Europe. Klarsfeld, a Nazi hunter, last week announced that he would throw his weight behind National Rally, telling French outlet LCI that if choosing between 'an antisemitic party and a pro-Jewish party, I would vote for a pro-Jewish party," referring to National Rally. Antisemitism has taken sharp focus in the election after the alleged gang rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl that many have cast as a hate crime. Two adolescent boys arrested in a Paris suburb were hit with preliminary charges in relation to the crime, with prosecutors alleging that the rape had been religiously motivated. Rabbi Sebbag of the Grande Synagogue in Paris said that the election has indicated to him that French Jews have ’no future" in France, telling The Jerusalem Post that he urges "everyone who is young to go to Israel or a more secure country.’ Sebbeg argued that even if the far-right National Rally has voiced support for Israel’s defense against Hamas following the Oct. 7 attack, the party’s roots come from a place of antisemitism that continues to trouble him. "Many Ashkenazi Jewish families here since before World War II couldn’t think to vote for National Rally, yet the Left has been antisemitic in recent times," said Sebbag. "The Jews are in the middle, because they don’t know who hates them more.' (Source: foxnews *)
* Fox News Channel (FNC), an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website. Headquarters New York City, New York

NATO

07/07/2024 05:00 AM EDT  With President Biden listing badly in his bid for reelection, many allies anticipate that at this time next year they will be dealing with a new Trump administration - one defined by skepticism toward Europe, a strident strain of right-wing isolationism and a hard resolve to put confronting China above other global priorities. Earlier this year, Trump said he would give Russia free rein to “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies that do not meet their defense-spending obligations. He wants European countries to spend far more on their own defense. The alliance’s strategy is to provide Trump with a message to his own voters letting himself take credit for making the alliance fairer and more effective. Twenty-three of the 32 NATO member states are assessed to spend 2 percent or more of their GDP on defense, meeting a goal outlined for the alliance in 2014. America’s NATO allies are ramping up weapons 'production', consulting Trump’s advisers and holding secret meetings with each other to feverishly lay the groundwork for his return. Italy and Canada, are far from meeting the 2 percent threshold. So are several smaller allies, including Spain, Portugal and Belgium. In May two dozen Republican and Democratic senators wrote to Prime Minister Trudeau a letter saying they were 'profoundly disappointed' that Canada was going to 'fail to meet its obligations' to NATO. In April, Norway unveiled a 12-year plan to spend $152 billion on defense, much of it focused on production of rockets and artillery. Romania signed a $4 billion deal to acquire Patriot missiles under the Trump administration, is helping expand what will soon become NATO’s largest military base in Europe. Poland spends more than 4 percent of its GDP on defense, the most of any NATO country. Poland’s 'right-wing' president Duda, who is friendly with Trump, 'has called on alliance members to hit a 3 percent spending target'. There is extensive personal outreach to Trump and his advisers, there are policy shifts aimed at pleasing by soothing Trump’s complaints about inadequate European defense spending and there are creative diplomatic and legal measures in the works to armor NATO priorities against tampering by a Trump administration. Last fall, German Foreign Minister Baerbock visited Texas to meet with Gov. Abbott, a powerful Trump supporter. Since Trump locked up the Republican nomination, Duda, and Japan’s former prime minister, Aso, have paid respects to him in person. So has Cameron, the former British foreign secretary and prime minister, who used a visit to Mar-a-Lago to make the case to Trump for supporting the war effort in Ukraine. Champagne, a Canadian minister has met with Republican governors including McMaster of South Carolina and Pillen of Nebraska. During a visit to Washington in May, Labour Party politician Lammy, Britain’s shadow foreign secretary at the time, who was appointed the U.K.’s top diplomat last week after elections there met with Trump allies and MAGA luminaries, including Sens. Graham and Vance. In public remarks, Lammy said Trump’s criticism of NATO had often been 'misunderstood,” and that the former president mainly wanted Europe to spend more on defense. Lammy previously described Trump as a racist and a 'woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath.' Lammy’s MAGA-friendly tour - a mission accomplished - frustrated some center-left leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, including in the White House particularly given his warm relationships with Democrats including Obama. In recent weeks, several diplomats from NATO member states quietly traveled to Washington to meet with conservative academics and people associated with think tanks that they believed could have some influence on Trump’s policy. In Ankara, Turkish officials have reviewed the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 policy road map for clues into Trump’s designs on Syria. In Atlanta, Austin and Lincoln, Nebraska, top ministers from Germany and Canada have met with Republican governors to shore up relations on the American right. At one of monthly breakfast meetings of ambassadors from European countries, the top envoy from one country asked his colleagues whether they were engaged in a fool’s errand more than six months before the next American president takes office. It has become a full-time mission for U.S. allies to parse who is an authentic Trump emissary and who is a pretender. Personal relationships are paramount with the former president and the people closest to him. Trump formed warm bonds as president with an eclectic range of leaders, from Abe and Bolsonaro to Johnson and Kim, all of whom used that direct personal link to their own advantage.    If allies do not see this time Trump withdrawing the U.S. from NATO as a likely scenario, the alliance is still in a state of trepidation only sharpened by the rising power of right-wing NATO skeptics in France and elsewhere on the continent. In Washington, last December a bipartisan majority in the House and Senate voted to make it impossible for a president to withdraw from NATO without strong support from Congress - a measure plainly aimed at handcuffing Trump or a future president who shares his views.      American ally South Korea, was pressing for an early renewal of a deal that helps pay for the 28,000 U.S. troops stationed in the country. The current deal does not expire until 2025, but renegotiating it with Trump could be much more difficult, given his frequent complaints about the cost of American support for South Korea.      In a June speech, Trump deplored the ongoing stream of American money into the war effort in Ukraine. “It never ends,' he railed. A scant two weeks before NATO’s leaders were set to descend on Washington for the summit, a rumor tore through the diplomatic world: Trump had a plan to bring peace to Ukraine. If Putin refused to negotiate an end to the war, the U.S. would flood Ukraine with even more weapons. And if President Zelenskyy refused to sit at a negotiating table with Russia, the U.S. would withdraw its copious military support. The plan was being pitched not by Trump himself, but by several of his many allies and self-described surrogates circulating through political and diplomatic circles. Upon closer scrutiny, it became clear that there was no secret, Trump-approved blueprint to end the war.       In Brussels, 'NATO officials have devised a plan to lock in long-term military support for Ukraine so that a possible Trump administration can’t get in the way'. At a mid-June meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, members of the alliance agreed in principle on a plan to shift control of NATO’s support for Ukraine. Up to this point, the United States has taken the lead in organizing military aid through a 300-person unit known as the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine, housed at an American military office in Wiesbaden, Germany. Stoltenberg proposed an alternative configuration: 'transferring responsibility for aid management to NATO itself, and especially to European partner states'. The final decision is expected at the NATO summit in Washington. This plan would gradually shift control of aid to a group of 200 NATO soldiers in the Belgian city of Mons - a group that would continue working with the United States, but under the NATO flag.      Some Trump advisers have unnerved Europe by speaking with ambivalence about America’s commitment to defending NATO allies with its full military might. Colby, a former top Pentagon official who is seen as a contender to lead the National Security Council in a second Trump administration has rattled allies repeatedly by saying that the U.S. cannot overextend itself in Europe at the expense of countering China. In an interview he indicated there were limits to what the U.S. might do to counter certain kinds of Russian aggression, like an attack on the Baltic states. “The NATO treaty does not oblige us to send our whole military. Kissinger supposedly once said that alliances are not suicide contracts,” Colby said, adding that he was concerned about leaving the U.S. “vulnerable to a knockout blow by China.' (Source: politico *)
.* Politico, an American political digital newspaper. Headquarters Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.

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 Europe    Európa  

France
09:15 BST, 6 July 2024  The fall of Macron. Since his entry into France's Elysée Palace in 2017, Macron has billed himself as the ultimate statesman - a quick-witted, slick-talking diplomat with a fierce political nous and a dab hand at economics thanks to a background in banking. But the murder and beheading of history teacher Paty in 2020, sparked national outrage. Immigrants constituted 5% of the population in 1946. This figure increased to 8.5% in 2010, After Macron came to power in 2017, now more than 10% of France’s population is made up of immigrants. But his detractors claim he's focused on building his rep in Europe at the expense of his own voters at home - and the results of recent votes appear to validate that criticism. Macron's first presidential term was blighted by the Yellow Vest protests - months of demonstrations by citizens enraged by fuel tax increases, among other policies. When Angela Merkel finally left office as German Chancellor in 2021, he picked up the baton as the most influential leader in Europe. But La Rotonde restaurant - one of Macron's favourite Parisian establishments – was attacked by protesters after the government pushed a pensions reform through parliament without a vote, using the article 49.3 of the constitution, in Paris on April 2023. France's retirement age will gradually rise from 62 to 64, with the age increased by three months each year starting from this September until 2030. From 2027, most workers will also have to make social security contributions over 43 years rather than 42 years in order to draw a full pension. The move prompted widespread riots, clashes with police, that endured for weeks, workers refusing to work. Macron's presidency has seen a litany of shockingly violent attacks authored by Islamic extremists. Late last year, another French schoolteacher was stabbed to death and several others injured by the 20-year-old Chechen Muslim refugee, Islamist knifeman in Arras in northern France. And a German tourist was killed by a 26-year-old man who had previously been sentenced to a four-year prison sentence for planning to join the islamic state in Syria. But the National Front’s National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party members see themselves as 'nationalists" and 'localists" who hold the interests of the French people above all others. This means cracking down on immigration. In December Macron's government passed a bill that made it harder for migrants to access state benefits that at the time was lauded by Le Pen as an 'ideological victory” for the RN. Unemployed immigrants must wait five years before they can get benefits - the previous stipulation was of just six months. Non-EU citizens working in France now have to prove they have been in the country for 30 months before they can receive welfare benefits such as child care. But these measures are seemingly too little, too late, with the RN promising a much tougher stance on immigration. And Macron's party was battered in European parliament elections last month - the catalyst behind his decision last month to call a snap election in France. The first round of the legislative elections last week saw Le Pen and Bardella's National Rally (RN) win some 33% of the vote ahead of a left-wing alliance on 28% - with Macron's centrists languishing in a distant third on just 20%. It seems to have been the final nail in the coffin. Is set to be slaughtered the 'Together' alliance - a coalition of centrists led by Macron's party - when the French electorate heads to the polls tomorrow? NR President Bardella himself has declared he will wage a 'cultural battle' against Islam if his party emerges victorious from parliamentary elections. If he is made Prime Minister in the case of an RN absolute majority, the party will seek to pass legislation to 'combat Islamist ideologies' in France that would grant the government enhanced powers to shutter mosques and deport imams suspected of being associated with extremist ideologies. The RN candidate also declared he would prevent dual citizens from accessing certain 'strategic' state jobs. France is also flouting the bloc's own regulations on debt and budget deficits. The EU stipulates that its members must not exceed a budget deficit of 3% of GDP. Public debt meanwhile must be held within 60% of GDP. Under Macron, France ran up a budget deficit of 5.5% of GDP last year - and the nation's debt now sits at well over €3 trillion. In December 2023, the public debt was put at 110.6% of GDP according to CEIC data. Last week, in an attempt to assuage the French people's concerns over the economy Prime Minister Gabriel Attal declared the government would lower energy bills, soften inheritance tax and link pensions to inflation to ease the strain on household finances if the Macron alliance remains in power after July 7. 'There will be no tax hikes, no matter what,' he said. Bardella attacked Attal, claiming the centrist Prime Minister had zero credibility on public finances, adding France was now in a state of 'near bankruptcy'. The RN's leading finance expert, Tanguy, was claiming the RN's economic programme would be entirely financed by closing tax loopholes, reducing red tape, and spending cuts - especially on welfare for immigrants as part of the crackdown on immigration. Bardella has also declared the RN would demand a huge cut of between €2 billion and €3 billion in France's contributions to Europe. Concerns over immigration and extremism, the state of the economy and the rehabilitation of the RN's image have all hastened the tilt of the French public to the right. Most French people simply do not like their president anymore. A week before Sunday's first round elections, Macron's approval rating was mired at just 26% - a historic low equal only to the weeks following the introduction of his detested pension reforms. Macron's party is fully aware of the nation's perception of their leader. His face has been removed from election posters and flyers. MPs from his party have implored him to allow his prime minister Gabriel Attal to take the lead in running the legislative campaign. Yet Macron still appears ubiquitous, giving regular speeches, interviews and even appearing on podcasts. Much of the French electorate sees the president as pig-headed and arrogant - a man who is convinced he knows best and simply cannot satiate his lust for the limelight. But subsequent comments made by Macron, in which he said a far-right or far-left victory in the elections could lead to 'civil war', saw him lambasted for stoking fear among voters and trying to paint himself and his party as the only stable choice, with the alternative being chaos. (Source: dailymail *)
* The Daily Mail, a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper. Headquarters London, United Kingdom

Szlovákia
(Szombat), 2024. július 6. 10:19  Robert Fico szlovák miniszterelnök az ellene végrehajtott májusi merényletkísérlet óta első nyilvános fellépésében Orbán Viktor magyar kormányfő közvetítői erőfeszítéseit méltatta az ukrajnai konfliktusban. A Szent Cirill és Metód szláv apostolok tiszteletére a dévényi várban rendezett pénteki ünnepélyes rendezvényen Robert Fico élesen bírálta ’a liberális ideológiát’ és nagyra méltatta a magyar kormányfő azon erőfeszítését, hogy közvetíteni próbál az ukrajnai konfliktusban. "Ha egészséges lennék, csatlakoztam volna hozzá" - utalt a szlovák miniszterelnök Orbán Viktor moszkvai útjára. "Nem lehet elegendő békekezdeményezés" annak érdekében, hogy megakadályozzák az ukrajnai háború elmérgesedését és egy jóval szélesebb katonai konfliktussá terebélyesedését - hangsúlyozta Robert Fico. Mint mondta, "csodálattal adózik" Orbán Viktornak, amiért Kijevbe és Moszkvába is elutazott, hogy Zelenszkij elnökkel, illetve Putyin orosz államfővel is találkozzon. Fico úgy fogalmazott, hogy a béke ugyan nem minden, de "a béke nélkül minden semmis". (Forrás: infostart * / MTI **)
* Az Infostart tárgyilagos online közéleti hírportál, az InfoRádióval együttműködve.
** Magyar Távirati Iroda: magyar állami hírügynökség 1880 óta. 2015. július 1-jén a hírügynökség a Magyar Televízióval, a Duna Televízióval és a Magyar Rádióval egyesült Duna Médiaszolgáltató Nonprofit Zrt. néven

Slovakia
6 July 2024  Slovak PM in first public appearance since shooting. Yesterday, at Devin Castle, during a ceremony to mark Saints Cyril and Methodius Day, a public holiday in Slovakia, Mr Fico, 59, the Slovakian prime minister has made his first public appearance since being wounded in an assassination attempt on 15 May. Mr Fico used a speech at the commemoration to criticise the expansion of progressive ideologies and the West's stance towards Russia over the war in Ukraine. He said 'meaningless' liberal ideas were "spreading like cancer", and that there were 'not enough peace talks" with Russia over Ukraine. (Source: bbc *) by 'Philips'
* British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the oldest and largest local and global British public service broadcaster, founded in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company. Headquartered in London, England.

Russia
7:15 PM CEST, July 6, 2024  Two civilians were wounded after Ukrainian forces overnight shelled a border town in the southern Belgorod region, Gov. Gladkov reported. The Russian Defense Ministry said its troops overnight shot down a total of eight drones over the Kursk and Belgorod regions in the south. In Krasnodar province next to Crimea, local authorities reported damage caused during the night by falling drone debris. Debris sparked a fire at an oil depot, set fuel tanks ablaze in a separate location and damaged a cellphone tower, the reports said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russian forces on yesterday and overnight launched six rocket strikes and 55 airstrikes across Ukraine, and used more than 70 “glide bombs”. Late yesterday Russian strikes damaged energy infrastructure, overnight left over 100,000 households without power in the northern Sumy region, which borders Russia. Russian drones hit the provincial capital, also called Sumy, which had a pre-war population of over 256,000, cutting off water by hitting power lines that feed its system of pumps. Moscow’s forces overnight hit a plant producing rocket ammunition in the city, Explosions rocked the city during an air raid warning early today. A funeral ceremony for the 49-year old British combat medic Fouché, a native of west London took place in the center of Kyiv today. Since 2022 he ferried drones, vehicles, uniforms and food to Ukrainian soldiers in the east at the volunteer group Project Konstantin. Fouché helped build a field hospital in Kyiv and later enlisted in the Ukrainian army. At least five other Britons have been killed while volunteering in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. In the Donetsk region in the east, Russian shelling yesterday and overnight killed 11 civilians and wounded 43, local Gov. Filashkin reported today. Five people died in the town of Selydove southeast of Pokrovsk city, that has emerged as a front-line hotspot. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced its troops had captured a village some 30 kilometers east of the city. According to Filashkin, three more civilians died in Chasiv Yar, a town in Donetsk that has been reduced to rubble under a monthlong Russian assault. The town’s elevated location gives it strategic importance, and military analysts say its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy. It could also compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region. A Ukrainian military spokesperson on July 4 told that Ukrainian forces had retreated from a neighborhood on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar. (Source: apnews)

(Saturday), 18:54, 06-Jul-2024  Yesterday Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Russian President Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow to discuss peace in Ukraine. Before leaving Budapest or announcing the Moscow trip, Orbán had said he was on a mission for peace: "Hungary does not have the mandate or the international political weight (...) but we can be an instrument in the service of God and of those who want peace." According to the Kremlin, Budapest proposed the visit on Wednesday, the day after the Hungarian Prime Minister's visit to Ukraine, a country with which he maintains difficult relations, not least because of 'his' willingness to reach out to Russia. "I understand that this time you have come not only as a long-standing partner, but also as the President of the Council" of the EU, Putin told Orbán during a press conference in the Kremlin. "I expect you to tell me your position (on Ukraine) and that of the European partners", he added. In turn, Orbán told Putin that "the number of countries that can talk to both sides of the war is shrinking. Hungary is gradually becoming the only country in Europe that can talk to everyone." NATO member Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU on Monday. Five days in and Orbán has visited President Zelenskyy in Kyiv and formed the "Patriots for Europe" alliance with other right-wing 'nationalists". During his visit to Kyiv, Orbán had said that Ukraine should accept a ceasefire. He then chose to go to Moscow on what he called a "peace mission," days before a NATO summit that will address further military aid for Ukraine as the conflict with Russia continues. "You were in Kyiv recently. You came here to discuss all the nuances of the Ukrainian issue," noted Putin in his meeting with Orbán. The Russian president recalled during the meeting that in June he had set out his conditions for peace in Ukraine: complete withdrawal of all Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as from the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Ukraine is calling for a ’just peace" that includes the withdrawal of Russian troops and respect for its territorial integrity. For the EU, which has cut ties with Moscow and imposed tough sanctions on Russia, Orbán is not its representative in Moscow for this visit, and is not authorized to speak about Ukraine on its behalf. 'The rotating presidency of the EU has no mandate to engage in dialogue with Russia on behalf of the EU,' wrote Michel, President of the European Council on X, who had already reacted on Thursday evening to the unofficial announcement of the trip. "Appeasement will not stop Putin,’ European Commission President von der Leyen said on X. amid Orbán's trip. According to the EU's top diplomat, Borrell, Orbán ’does not represent the EU in any way’. A few days ahead of a NATO summit in Washington where Ukraine will be a major topic of discussion, and with this visit likely to blur positions, Secretary General Soltenberg insisted that "Viktor Orbán does not represent NATO at these meetings, he represents his own country", stressing however, without further details, that NATO had been "informed" of the trip. (Source: cgtn *)
* China Global Television Network (CGTN), a state-run international division of China Central Television (CCTV). Headquartered in Beijing, China

(Saturday), 6 July 2024 7:02  Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán travelled to Moscow on Thursday (4 July) to meet Russian President Putin, only a few days after his surprise visit to Kyiv, where he urged Ukraine’s leadership to work towards a rapid ceasefire with Russia. Russian President Putin was hosting Orbán - the friendliest leader in the EU to Moscow - for talks at the Kremlin, described by the Russian president as a “really useful, frank conversation” on the conflict in Ukraine. Putin said at the start of the talks that he wanted to “discuss the nuances that have developed” over the conflict in Ukraine with Orbán, who visited Kyiv earlier this week. Putin told Viktor Orbán on Friday (5 July) that Ukraine must effectively capitulate if it wants peace. The pair “talked about the possible ways of resolving” the Ukraine conflict, Putin said in remarks after a bilateral meeting. The Kremlin leader repeated his demand that Ukraine withdraw all its troops from regions that Moscow has annexed and said Kyiv was 'not ready to drop the idea of waging war until a victorious end'. Orbán in turn said he had realised “positions are far apart' between the two sides. “The number of steps needed to end the war and bring about peace is many,” he said. The visit came days after Hungary took over the EU’s rotating presidency and Putin told Orbán he expected him to outline “the position of European partners” on Ukraine. The visit had been Orbán’s idea and Russian officials only heard about the trip on Wednesday - a day after Orbán had visited Kyiv, Kremlin spokesman Peskov told. EU foreign policy chief Borrell said that Orbán’s “visit to Moscow takes place, exclusively, in the framework of the bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia'. 'If we just sit in Brussels, we won’t be able to get any closer to peace. Action must be taken,” Orbán said on 2 July during his regular interview on Hungarian state radio. Orbán and Putin last met in October 2023 in Beijing, where they discussed energy cooperation. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who appeared in public yesterday for the first time since a May assassination attempt, backed Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán’s visit to Moscow, saying that he would have joined his Hungarian colleague on his visit if health allowed. Hungary’s six-month EU presidency gives the central European country sway over the bloc’s agenda and priorities for the next six months. The Hungarian leader yesterday insisted that peace cannot be achieved without dialogue. The visit is the first to Moscow by a European leader since a trip by Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in April 2022. NATO head Stoltenberg said Orbán had informed the alliance of his trip but stressed the Hungarian leader was “not representing NATO at these meetings. He’s representing his own country”. (Source: euractiv * "with AFP')
* Euractiv, a European news website. Its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

Ukraine
July 6, 2024, 3:44 pm  On July 1, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán assumed the rotating Presidency of the European Union (EU) for six months despite his friendship with Putin, his efforts to obstruct Europe’s military aid to Ukraine, and his sanctions-breaking energy dependence on Russian oil and natural gas. But no sooner did he assume the role, than 'he trekked to Kyiv and recommended an immediate ceasefire to President Zelensky, not to Russia the predator'. Orbán also improperly suggested that Ukraine surrender a region called 'Kakarpattia' * that has traded hands for decades and where only 12 percent of residents speak Hungarian. He boasted he will “occupy Brussels” and organize a right-wing bloc within the European Parliament among those parties that made gains in recent Euro elections. He is also the darling of America’s pro-Russia right, invited to Republican and MAGA conferences and feted by Trump and Carlson. Orbán has just copied MAGA’s motto, with his “Make Europe Great Again” slogan. Hungary should be fiercely anti-Russian. It was the first Soviet satellite to stage an uprising against Moscow in 1956 which was brutally suppressed. But as of 2024, Budapest relied on Russia for 75 percent of its natural gas, 80 percent of its oil, and 100 percent of its nuclear fuel. This economic dependency is why Orbán rejected sanctions against Russian energy in 2014 and in 2022, despite European Union pressure. Orbán also claims that Ukraine has discriminated against the language rights of 156,000 ethnic Hungarians who live in 'Kakarpattia'. He believes this territory “belongs” to Hungary, and this has become his pretext for not supporting Ukraine in its struggle against Russia. 'In his recent meeting with Zelensky, he handed over a list of 11 demands which included that he hand over this territory to Hungary". Orbán wants 'Kakarpattia', 12 percent Hungarian population. He has blocked more than €6.6bn in military aid for Ukraine via the European Peace Facility fund. He temporarily stalled Ukraine’s EU accession talks but agreed to leave the room during a meeting with EU counterparts in order to allow them to vote unanimously in favor of launching the process. Further, he has weakened EU sanctions against Russia and run afoul of Brussel’s regulations for years. In October, he met with Putin in Beijing to celebrate the 10th anniversary of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Budapest is now involved with China in a railway project and 'in May Hungary’s biggest and government-linked football club, "Ferencvárosi', announced massive funding from its new sponsor, Russia’s oil giant Gazprom". (The football club’s President is also deputy chair of Orbán’s ruling Fidesz political party.) Hungary is landlocked, has only 10 million people, and is bordered by seven countries. Orbán assumed the Presidency even though he has excoriated Europe’s bureaucrats as war-mongers: 'Europe is increasingly being dragged into a war, in which it has nothing to gain and everything to lose. The Brussels bureaucrats want this war, they see it as their own, and they want to defeat Russia. They keep sending the money of the European people to Ukraine, they have shot European companies in the foot with sanctions, they have driven up inflation, and they have made making a living difficult for millions of European citizens.” “Orbán has been playing this ‘peacock’ dance for a decade, and Hungary’s energy dependency on Russia will remain stronger than ever,” said Professor Zgut-Przybylska. (Source: kyivpost **)
** Kyiv Post, news media in Ukraine in Syrian possession
* derogatory denotation of Transcarpathia; fake assertions

United Kingdom
3:30 PM CEST, (Saturday), July 6, 2024  New UK Prime Minister Starmer says controversial Rwanda deportation plan is ‘dead and buried’. It’s unclear what Starmer will do differently to tackle the same crisis with a record number of people coming ashore in the first six months of this year. “Years of hard work, acts of Parliament, millions of pounds been spent on a scheme which had it been delivered properly would have worked,” Braverman, a Conservative hard liner on immigration who is a possible contender to replace Sunak as party leader, said today. “There are big problems on the horizon which will be I’m afraid caused by Starmer,” she criticized Starmer’s plan to end the Rwanda pact. Foreign Secretary Lammy was to begin his first international trip today to meet counterparts in Germany, Poland and Sweden to reinforce the importance of their relationship. (Source: apnews)

1:17 PM CEST, July 6, 2024  Britain’s new Prime Minister Starmer has appointed a Cabinet of Labour Party lawmakers and a few outside experts as he tries to tackle priorities including boosting a sluggish economy, building more homes and fixing the creaking state-funded health service. Labour has spent 14 years in opposition, so few have held government office before. (Source: apnews *)
* The Associated Press, an American news agency headquartered in New York City, U.S.

Asia

China
July 6, 2024.  Dongting Lake embankment collapsed in Hunan Province yesterday. Pieces of central disaster relief materials support local efforts to carry out emergency relocation and resettlement work for flood-affected people in the area affected by the pipe burst. /Video/ (Source: YouTube */ About Nature )

Note: 1 641 238 views since July 6, 2024

Iran
(Saturday), July 06, 2024 18:29 IST  Following the historically low turnout in the presidential election on June 28, a runoff election was declared. There was a voter turnout of almost 50 per cent in Friday’s vote. The recent security crackdowns that restrained any public dissent from Islamic orthodox had widely affected the people of Iran. With the support of the urban middle class and the young, Pezeshkian emerged victorious. During the row over Amini's death in 2022, Pezeshkian demanded clarification from authorities about her death. Amini had died in custody after she was arrested for allegedly violating the law restricting women's dress. "We will respect the hijab law, but there should never be any intrusive or inhumane behaviour toward women," Pezeshkian said after casting his vote in the first round. Iran's next president defeated hardliner Jalili. Pezeshkian, 69, a cardiac surgeon, is known to be a reformist and a moderate. His views offer a contrast to that of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May. Iran's ultimate authority is Supreme Leader Khamenei. Though the president's role is limited as shots are called by the Supreme Leader on matters regarding top affairs, Pezeshkian vowed to promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact and improve prospects for social liberalisation and political pluralism. During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Pezeshkian, a combatant and physician, was tasked with the deployment of medical teams to the front lines. He lost his wife and one of his children in a car accident in 1994 and raised his surviving two sons and a daughter alone. Pezeshkian was health minister from 2001-5 in former president Khatami's second term. Pezeshkian is likely to be welcomed by world leaders as he is believed to pursue peaceful ways amid tensions in the Middle East. (Source: theweek *)
* The Week, the largest circulated English news magazine in India, based in Kochi

July 6, 2024  Iranian markets reacted positively to the outcome of the second round of snap elections held on July 5, which saw Pezeshkian emerge as the victor with 53.7% of the votes, becoming the 14th President of Iran. According to the final tally released by the election committee, the election saw a voter turnout of 30,530,157, with Pezeshkian garnering 16,384,403 votes. His main rival, Jalili, received 13,538,179 votes, accounting for 44.3% of the total, while spoiled ballots constituted 2%. The election commenced at 8 AM on July 5 and continued until midnight. Pezeshkian's victory represents an increase from the previous round, where he had secured over 10,415,000 votes with a 39.9% turnout. The overall participation rate in the final round stood at 49.75%, with 30,573,931 ballots cast out of 61,452,351 eligible voters. (Source: intelliNews *)
* bne IntelliNews, a news wire agency and media company. Headquarters Berlin, Germany

North America

United States
July 6, 2024, 2:52 AM  "If you can be convinced that you cannot defeat Trump, will you stand down?" Stephanopoulos asked. "It depends on - on if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that,' Biden said. (Source: abcnews *)
* ABC News, the news division of the American television network ABC. Headquarters New York City

Space

July 6, 2024  Back in 1962, the United States exploded a 1.4-megaton nuclear weapon in space in a test known as Starfish Prime. The bomb blast created a powerful electromagnetic pulse and unleashed a belt of radiation that lingered for months circling the Earth. It crippled one-third of the 24 satellites in orbit at that time, knocking out streetlights in Hawaii and damaging the electric grid. A Defense Department report noted its “intense' burst phenomena illuminated “a very large area of the Pacific.” Today, low Earth orbit is infinitely more crowded. Hundreds of satellites might lose the ability to correct their positioning, sending them careening into one another. That could create fields of debris moving at more than 10,000 miles per hour, slamming into thousands of other satellites and creating a theoretical cascade effect known as Kessler Syndrome. (Source: msn */ The Washington Post)
* MSN (Microsoft Network), an American web portal

.4 7 10 / 4 7 7 06:19

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Europe

France
Friday 05 July 2024 10:02 BST  Will Macron resign? Macron has hitherto ruled this out, but it might become more appealing to him if policy paralysis prevails. Neither parliament nor the government can force a president to resign. The constitution says there can be no new parliamentary election for another year, so an immediate repeat vote is not an option. (Source: independent *)
* The Independent, a British online newspaper. Headquarters London, United Kingdom

Italy
05 July 2024, 11:12  The SAC agency that operates Catania airport closed its airspace early today due to ash in the atmosphere caused by eruptions on Mount Etna. It was ash on the runways but expects flights to resume at 15:00 today. Catania Mayor's order is banning people from using two-wheeled forms of transport for 48 hours and setting a speed limit of 30 km/h because of the ash. The Sicilian island of Stromboli is on red alert because of volcanic activity there. Each part of the island's emergency evacuation plan was being verified. (Source: ansa *)
* Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata ("National Associated Press Agency"), the leading news agency in Italy.

European Council
(Friday), July 5, 2024 8:31am EDT  Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the bloc on Monday. Five days in and PM Orbán has visited Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in Kyiv and formed the "Patriots for Europe" alliance with other 'right-wing' 'nationalists'. Now, he has chosen to go to Moscow on a "peace mission", days before a NATO summit that will address further military aid for Ukraine. Putin, who received Orbán in the Kremlin, told him that he was ready to discuss the "nuances" of peace proposals to end the two-and-a-half-year-old war. EU foreign policy chief Borrell said Orbán in Moscow was 'not representing the EU in any form'. Orbán, a critic of Western military aid to Ukraine who has the warmest relations of any EU leader with Putin, said he recognized he had no EU mandate for the trip, but that peace could not be made 'from a comfortable armchair in Brussels'. "We cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end," he wrote on X. (Source: foxnews *)
* Fox News Channel, an American news, commentary television channel and website, based in New York City

European Union
July 05, 2024 11:24  A 14-country study by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), a Berlin-based think tank, reveals that the majority of Europeans do not believe Ukraine can win the war against Russia. Of the EU countries surveyed, only Estonia had a higher proportion of respondents (38 percent) who think Ukraine will win. In contrast Ukrainians (58 percent) remain confident that their troops can win and continue to count on the support of their international allies. Only 1 percent of Ukrainians believe that Russia will win the war, while 30 percent believe a negotiated settlement is the most likely outcome. Europeans polled are divided on the benefits of Ukraine joining the EU. The countries most supportive are Portugal, Estonia, Sweden, Spain and Poland, while the most skeptical are Germany, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and France. However, the survey did not cover all countries. On defense spending, most countries are opposed to increasing contributions, except Poland (53 percent in favor), Estonia (45 percent), Sweden (41 percent) and Germany (40 percent). NATO leaders are unlikely to find support among the populations of member states for the deployment of troops. The percentage of those who support this idea varies between only 4 percent and 22 percent in different countries.
(Source: rmx *)
* Remix, published in Budapest, Hungary. Offers news and commentary from Central Europe, the Visegrád countries

Europol
FRI, 05 Jul, 2024 - 13:31  Over 2,000 items of anti-semitic content were identified online in Europe-wide policing operation for removal. The estimated 2,000 items of online content identified included Holocaust denial and the glorification of violence against Jews. Some 18 countries took part in the operation co-ordinated by Europol. It said the primary objective was to remove illegal content and ensure that online platforms adhered to European regulations concerning hate speech and discrimination. The Referral Action Day targeted a wide range of anti-semitic content, including hate speech, Holocaust denial, and the glorification of violence against the Jewish community, it said. It said the operation stemmed from the rise of widespread anti-semitism justified and cultivated in Jihadi-spheres and right-wing, as well as left-wing, extremist groups online. National Internet Referral Units and specialised police units from the following countries took part in this Referral Action Day: Albania, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. (Source: irishexaminer *)
* Irish Examiner, national daily newspaper, headquarters Corc, Ireland

Russia
13:14 BST, 5 July 2024  Moscow has claimed it wants tactical nuclear drills to 'cool the hot heads in Western capitals'. Findings from the Levada Centre show that some 34 per cent of Russians back Putin nuking Ukraine - five per cent higher than one year ago, more support than ever - for using the ultimate weapon in the conflict, following recent tactical nuclear drills. The upward trend shows the success of Russian propagandists. 31 per cent are definitely against the use of weapons, while 21 per cent are likely against it. On a photo taken from video on Monday, June 10, 2024, released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, a Russian Tu-22M3 bomber is seen in flight during joint Russian-Belarusian drills intended to train the military to use tactical nuclear weapons. Putin's forces were drilling strikes from land, air and sea-based platforms, intended to train the troops in using tactical nuclear weapons on June 12. Footage showed naval crews 'equipping sea-based cruise missiles with training special warheads' before moving to 'designated patrol areas'. Nuclear-equipped 3M-80/82 Moskit/-M anti-ship missiles were reportedly shown being loaded into the launcher of a Project 12411M vessel of Russia's Baltic Fleet. The forces drilled strikes with tactical nuclear weapons on Ukraine or the West with land, air and sea-based launches on June 13. The Russian defence ministry stressed the launches were simulated, but everything else was performed by troops as it would be in a genuine attack. A naval crew was seen pressing the button on a nuclear hit from a warship believed to be in the Baltic Sea to hit a target some 220 miles away, while Tu-22M3 nuclear capable bombers were pictured taking off from an undisclosed airstrip. Meanwhile, a land-based mobile crew in Leningrad Military District was shown loading suspected Iskander nuclear-capable mobile short-range ballistic missiles, although the warheads were blurred in the footage. The footage came as the US announced an expansion of its sanctions regime against the Kremlin. 'Here are the new American sanctions', Russia's deputy chairman of the Security Council Medvedev, a former Russian president and prime minister declared in a stunning rant published on the Telegram messaging app in June. 'There will be new European ones soon. Do we need to respond to them? It seems not, their number is already measured in tens of thousands. We have learned to live and develop with them. 'On the other hand, it is necessary. Not only to the authorities, the state, but to all our people in general. To everyone who loves our Motherland - Russia. After all, they - the USA and their f***ing allies - declared war on us without rules!' Medvedev went on: 'Every day we must try to inflict maximum harm on those countries that have imposed these restrictions on our country and all our citizens. Harm in everything that can cause harm. Harm to their economies, their institutions and their rulers. Harm to the well-being of their citizens. 'Cause damage in all places, paralyzing the work of their companies and government agencies. Find problems in their most important technologies and strike them mercilessly. Literally destroy their energy, industry, transport, banking and social services. Instill fear of the imminent collapse of all critical infrastructure'. 'Let's turn their life into a complete crazy nightmare in which they will not be able to distinguish wild fiction from the realities of the day, infernal evil from the routine of life. And no rules regarding the enemy! 'Let them get everything in full for harming Russia and as painfully as possible! Everyone can contribute!,' he said. Putin recently ordered tactical nuclear missile drills in Russia, considering changing the country's nuclear doctrine, to lower the threshold for using such weapons. Russian ally, neighbouring Belarus, supplied with atomic weapons, is also involved in coordination in the second stage of the tactical nuclear missile tests currently in progress. The drills are the second part of several phases of tactical nuclear weapons exercises planned by the Russian defence ministry. Currently Putin could authorise the use of tactical - or battlefield - nuclear weapons on the basis of a perceived threat to the Russian state from attack by conventional or nuclear weapons. On the orders of Putin, the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile crews practised deployment in two regions, Irkutsk and Ivanovo. 'Similar exercises will be held by other missile units in the near future,' said the Russian defence ministry. 'Units of Yars ground mobile missile systems are implementing measures to perform marches to a distance of up to 100km, disperse the systems at the same time changing their field positions and their engineering equipment, camouflage them and ensure their combat storage,' said the ministry. A still image taken from a handout video made available by the Russian Defence Ministry press-service shows Russian servicemen operating a non-strategic nuclear missile for Iskander operational-tactical missile system during the second stage of tactical nuclear drills of Russian and Belarus armed forces at an undisclosed location. 'During the second phase of the exercises, personnel from the rocket division and naval patrol operations of the Leningrad Military District practised covert movement to designated positions and conducted electronic missile launches at simulated enemy targets. 'Additionally, Navy crews involved in the exercise deployed to their assigned patrol areas. 'Earlier, tasks were completed for receiving special training ammunition for arming sea- and land-based missile carriers.' The Russians did not give a location for the targets, but previously threats have included Ukraine or NATO territory. Russia expects the incoming administration to be as supportive of Ukraine as the outgoing Rishi Sunak government. /photo/ (Source: dailymail *)
* The Daily Mail, a British newspaper. Headquarters London, United Kingdom

United Kingdom
14:58 5 July (2024)  Sir Keir Starmer prime minister by lunchtime after 14 years under Tory rule. Labour set to govern the UK, it has won 412 seats. In many ways, this looks more like an election the Conservatives have lost than one Labour have won. The transition in 10 Downing Street is rapid. Early morning Rishi Sunak was speaking as he held on to his seat in Richmond, Yorkshire but conceded that the Labour Party had won the election. I take responsibility for the loss, Sunak said. They have performed strikingly badly in seats with large numbers of Muslim voters. Labour’s vote is down on average by 10 points in seats where more than 10% of the population identify as Muslim. The advances that the Conservatives secured in Leave-voting areas after the EU referendum, most notably in 2019, have been entirely lost. Compared with 2019, support for the Conservatives is down by 12 points in seats where less than 45% voted leave. In contrast, support for the party is down by 27 points in seats where more than 65% voted leave. With all the seats declared in Wales, the Tories have lost every single one they were defending, taking them back to the zero seats to which they fell in 1997. Sinn Féin is now the largest Westminster party from Northern Ireland with seven seats. Sinn Féin MPs do not take their seats in the House of Commons due to a long-standing policy of abstentionism. The Liberal Democrat Party's vote share is around 12%, managing 71 Westminster seats. Reform UK leader Farage has won a parliamentary seat. (Source: bbc *)
* The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), a British public service broadcaster. Headquarters London, England, UK

(Friday), 5 July 2024  The British public went to the polls in the UK general election yestersay, handing Sir Starmer’s Labour Party a landslide victory and ousting Rishi Sunak’s unpopular Conservatives. Trump has congratulated his 'right-wing' ally Farage after he won his first seat in UK’s parliament following seven failed attempts. Trump made no mention of the Labour party sweep and failed to congratulate Starmer. (Source: independent *)
* The Independent, a British online newspaper. Headquarters London, United Kingdom

North America

United States
Jul 5, 2024 5:51pm PT  Elections have been won and lost on television since the Nixon-Kennedy debate in 1960. And it may not be a fair expectation that a President be able to make the case on TV - but it is the expectation. Biden took eight days of preparation to give ABC News 22 minutes of screen time. It wasn’t enough. How much more preparation would have been? Or how much shorter should they have whittled down the interview? When, describing the stresses he is under, Biden said, “Not only am I campaigning, but I’m running the world,' viewers’ hearts may have stopped for a moment; Biden went on to clarify his statement, but a certain facility with words is simply gone. He waited eight days to give a scant amount of time to a relatively sympathetic interviewer - and this was the result. (Source: variety *)
* Variety, a magazine based in Los Angeles, California, U.S.

7/5/2024 3:30 PM  In several summits, going back to a 2022 gathering in the Bavarian Alps, it was apparent that the president’s schedule was kept thin and his advancing years were being accounted and accommodated for in the planning. There is anxiety about how Biden will present at a NATO summit he is due to host in the US next week, where his every move, gesture and word will be scrutinized in an unforgiving light. It’s no longer possible to hide the fact that the president is a shadow of his former self and may not even be able to govern or set policies. One senior NATO diplomat said US counterparts have acknowledged they can’t afford such moments from the president and their priority is to ensure the summit is not overshadowed by the spotlight on Biden. Daalder, the former US ambassador to NATO, pointed to a moment in last week’s debate that was largely overlooked at home but jolted US allies: When Biden asked Trump if he’d defend a NATO country against Russian President Putin, Trump responded with a shrug. “That’s not a comforting answer for countries who have, for 75 years, depended on America’s security commitment to their defense as core to their security,” Daalder said in an interview. Biden heads into a make-or-break weekend that could end his political career if the lapses keep multiplying. On July 4, in an interview with the Philadelphia WURD radio station, he flubbed again and seemed to mix himself up with Vice President Harris, who is emerging as a clear alternative to Biden and unlike some other potential Democrat contenders already has both a national and international profile. (Source: msn */ Bloomberg)
* MSN (Microsoft Network), an American web portal

Jul 5 2024  Just days before President Biden told a host of Democratic colleagues of his plans to enact a self-imposed curfew, turning down any official events past 8pm. He has described himself as a "black woman" during a confused radio interview. The bumbling commander-in-chief, 81, appeared to mix himself up with Vice President Harris during the awkward chat. Biden, speaking to Philadelphia station WURD yesterday, said: 'I'm proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman… to serve with a black president.' He previously served as VP to President Obama, likely the source of his confusion. In the footage shared on Trump's own Truth Social network, he claimed Kamala would be taking over from Biden despite repeated comments from his camp which insist he won't quit. The MAGA leader ranted: "He just quit you know, he's quitting the race, he's out of the race." He continued: 'And that means we have Kamala [Harris]... She's so bad, she's so pathetic, she's so f*****g bad.' In a patronising sneer, Trump added: "Can you imagine that girl dealing with Putin and the president of China who is a very fierce person?" President Putin has bizarrely said he backs President Biden to win the election in November. He admitted to watching the painful debate and added: “I saw some fragments - but I have enough to do". /video/ (Source: the-sun *)
* The U.S.Sun, headquartered in Manhattan - a U.S. version of United Kingdom--based newspaper The Sun

July 5, 2024  Dr. Motykie, the top Beverly Hills surgeon who runs a medical spa in West Hollywood favored by celebrities has analyzed who he thinks has had more procedures done.   Biden appears to have had more cosmetic surgery than rival Trump. He has undergone many cosmetic procedures to reverse the effects of aging and spent $160,000 approximately on multiple facelifts over the years. The 81-year-old also shows signs of eye lift and brow work. 'You can see it if you look at his neckline near his ears. Those are signs he's probably had one or two facelifts. He's also had upper and lower eyelid surgery because you can see that changing', he added. Biden's brow has an unnatural expression to it. In men that usually isn't done but about 20 years ago people did brow lifts.   The former president appears to age more ‘naturally’ than Biden. Trump has mostly undergone hair reconstruction surgery leaving his neck and jawline all natural. His estimates reveal he spent around $100,000 on cosmetic procedures. "Trump battled with his hair for a while and I do think he's had multiple hair restoration surgeries', the doctor shared. The way his hair parts and flows suggests he is trying to disguise it. "I am suspicious he had an older technique done 30 years or more ago". He explained that the older hair restoration techniques come with some scarring which is why Trump’s hair often looks funny. Trump’s ex-wife Ivana has also confirmed in 1990 that he underwent scalp reduction surgery the previous year. Clarifying the accusations about Trump’s tanned orange look, Dr. Motykie claims that his famously orange skin color is due to tanners and makeup. (Source: ohmymag * / Daily Mail)
* Oh! mymag is "an infotainment web magazine" - an online media focused on news, lifestyle, health and wellness, targeting women of generations Y and Z.

NATO

Jul 05, 2024  The point of NATO is peace, not endless war - Opinion. 'NATO, the most successful military alliance in world history' started as a peace project, and its future success depends on its ability to maintain peace. But today, instead of peace, the agenda is the pursuit of war; instead of defense it is offense. All this runs counter to NATO's founding values. Hungary's historical experience is that such transformations never lead in a good direction. The task today should be to preserve the alliance as a peace project. When the Hungarian nation joined NATO it was the first time in several centuries - perhaps as long as five hundred years - that Hungary had voluntarily joined a military alliance. Our collective experience is one of wars periodically fought within alliance systems of which we did not originally want to be a part, and which were established with some form of conquest in mind - or at least with some explicitly militaristic goal. However much we sought to stay out of the two world wars, and however vehemently we tried to warn those countries we were forced into alliances with, each occasion brought a defeat that almost erased Hungary from the face of the Earth. Our losses were colossal. These wars left Hungary with no control over its future. After 1945 we became an unwilling part of the Soviet bloc, and thus also of the Warsaw Pact. In the second half of the 20th century Hungary was cut off from its natural civilizational environment - the West - and, more immediately, from the whole of Europe. In 1956 our revolution drove the first nail into the coffin of communism; and, as that system was finally being overthrown, our then-prime minister was the first leader in the former Eastern bloc to declare (in Moscow!) that the Warsaw Pact must be dissolved. The military alliance that had been imposed on us almost immediately broke up, and just a few days after that famous meeting in Moscow the Hungarian foreign minister was in Brussels, negotiating the commencement of our NATO accession process. 25 years ago, we saw in NATO our guarantee of peace and defense. In addition to our natural desire to free ourselves from Soviet domination and to join the West, a special factor made NATO attractive to us: we were finally joining a military alliance that was committed not to waging war but to keeping the peace, not to offensive expansion but to the defense of ourselves and one another. From a Hungarian perspective we could not have wished for anything better. U.S. President Truman, upon the founding of the alliance, summed up its essence in the following words: In this pact, we hope to create a shield against aggression and the fear of aggression - a bulwark which will permit us to get on with the real business of government and society, the business of achieving a fuller and happier life for all our citizens. President Truman's words coincided with the aspirations of Hungarian history: peace. It is clear that the concept underpinning NATO was emphatically that of a military alliance for defense. Its primary task was to create a geopolitical environment in which the members of the alliance would mutually defend one another. This is not only a security guarantee, but also a competitive advantage. Mutual guarantees enable each member country to direct its resources to economic development rather than to warding off military threats. But there was another important element in President Truman's speech: NATO provides not only defense and deterrence, but also reassures external actors. "Twenty-five years ago, on September 16, 1999, as prime minister I was present when the Hungarian flag was raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels. This is how I summed up what joining the world's largest military alliance meant for us: "For Hungary, joining NATO also means peace. Well, to fight a war - even successfully - all you need are enemies; but to create lasting peace in this corner of the world is impossible without allies." Ever since then I have been closely following the development of the alliance's vision for the future, and the manner in which Hungary has been fulfilling the commitments it made when it joined. I have done so not only out of a general sense of political responsibility for Hungary, but also as a result of my personal memories and direct involvement. A sense of honor and a clear understanding of its self-interest dictate that when a country voluntarily joins a military alliance, its minimum obligation is to fulfill its commitments to that alliance. This is not least because the original purpose of NATO - to guarantee peace - demands strength, determination, and experience. And Hungary has done its utmost to increase its strength, demonstrate its determination, and gain experience in the maintenance of peace. Thus, together with our NATO allies, we participated in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, where Hungary was the first from the most recent intake of member countries to assume the national role of leader of a provincial reconstruction team. We have been a member of KFOR, the Kosovo peacekeeping mission, since day one in 1999, and Hungary is the fourth-largest contributor to that mission in terms of forces on the ground. Moreover, Hungary provides air defense for two other NATO allies, Slovakia and Slovenia, and - on a rotational basis - for the Baltic states. We also host the Central European Headquarters Multinational Division Centre, a key element of the military cooperation system forming part of NATO's Eastern Wing. Hungary is also of the opinion that, in addition to participating in missions, we can only demand solidarity from other NATO member countries if we are able to defend ourselves. This is a fundamental question of sovereignty". In order to rebuild Hungary's defense capabilities, our defense spending in 2023 was already 2 percent of GDP, in accord with the commitments we had made at the NATO summit in Wales the previous year. By July's NATO summit in Washington, in addition to Hungary two-thirds of member countries are expected to have met this requirement. In 2016 Hungary also embarked on a comprehensive force modernization program, and we are spending 48 percent of the defense budget on force development - more than double the NATO requirement. This has made us one of the 10 highest-performing member countries. We are purchasing the most modern equipment for the Hungarian Defence Forces. Our soldiers are already using Leopard tanks, new Airbus helicopters and Lynx and Gidrán armored vehicles, and we have acquired NASAMS air defense system units. Thanks also to the organizational modernization that is taking place in parallel with the acquisitions, the Hungarian Defence Forces have been raised from the combat level to the operational level. The rebuilding of the Hungarian defense industry is also in progress. The war in Ukraine has shown that European NATO member countries are facing a serious shortfall in military industrial capacity. The development of our defense industry had already started long before the outbreak of the war, as part of Hungary's economic development plans, but it has since become a key factor for NATO's future position. Hungary's defense industry focuses on six priority sectors: the manufacture of combat and other military vehicles, production of munitions and explosives, radio and satellite communications systems, radar systems, small arms and mortar production, and aerospace industry and drone development. Strengthening the Hungarian armed forces and defense industry benefits not only Hungary, but NATO as a whole. Hungary is an ally that, in addition to being a loyal partner, stands ready to actively cooperate with other members of the alliance to achieve its goals of preserving peace and ensuring predictable development. Hungary is punching above its weight in developing its defence capabilities, participating in missions, and developing its military forces. But when it comes to the future of NATO, we are not in full agreement with the majority of member countries. Today ever more voices within NATO are making the case for the necessity - or even inevitability - of military confrontation with the world's other geopolitical power centers. The more that NATO's leaders believe conflict to be inevitable, the greater will be their role in precipitating it. Today the self-fulfilling nature of this confrontation prophecy is becoming increasingly apparent, with the news that preparations have begun for a possible NATO operation in Ukraine - and even high-level reports that troops from NATO member countries are already near the Ukrainian front. Happily, though, Hungary has come to an important agreement with NATO acknowledging our essential role in the alliance while exempting us from its direct support efforts in Ukraine, whether military or financial, as a peace-loving nation. We understand NATO as a defensive alliance - which this agreement helps to ensure. Those who argue in favor of confrontation typically base their arguments on the military superiority of NATO and the Western world. Toynbee argued that "Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder." An external enemy, if it has any sense, will not dare to launch an attack on any NATO member country. 'As the strongest military alliance the world has ever known', it is not defeat at the hands of any external enemy that we should fear. But we should very much fear our own rejection of the values that gave birth to our alliance. The purpose for which NATO was created was to secure peace in the interest of stable economic, political, and cultural development. "NATO fulfills its purpose when it wins peace, not war. If it chooses conflict instead of cooperation, and war instead of peace, it will be committing suicide". From the very beginning NATO has existed as a defensive alliance. Therefore our task is to preserve it as what it was created to be: a peace project.
(Source: newsweek *)
The views expressed in the article are the writer's own, Viktor Orbán's, Prime Minister of Hungary.
* Newsweek is a weekly news magazine, based in New York City

Earth

10:00 AM EDT, Fri July 5, 2024  New research confirms the rotation of Earth's inner core has been slowing down in recent years as part of a decades-long pattern. Deep inside Earth is a solid metal ball that rotates independently of our spinning planet, like a top whirling around inside a bigger top. Since its discovery by Danish seismologist Lehmann in 1936, its rotation speed and direction has been at the center of a decades-long debate. Buried about 5,180 kilometers deep inside Earth, the solid metal inner core is surrounded by a liquid metal outer core. The inner core is made mostly of iron and nickel, and it is estimated to be as hot as the surface of the sun - about 5,400 degrees Celsius. Earth’s magnetic field yanks at this solid ball of hot metal, making it spin. At the same time, the gravity and flow of the fluid outer core and mantle drag at the core. Over many decades, the push and pull of these forces cause variations in the core’s rotational speed. “Differential rotation of the inner core was proposed as a phenomenon in the 1970s and ’80s, but it wasn’t until the ‘90s that seismological evidence was published,” said Dr. Waszek, a senior lecturer of physical sciences at James Cook University in Australia. Seismologists have gleaned information about the inner core’s motion by examining how waves from large earthquakes that ping this area behave. Variations between waves of similar strengths that passed through the core at different times enabled scientists to measure changes in the inner core’s position and calculate its spin. When scientists attempt to “see” all the way through the planet, they are generally tracking two types of seismic waves: pressure waves, or P waves, and shear waves, or S waves. P waves move through all types of matter; S waves only move through solids or extremely viscous liquids, according to the US Geological Survey. Seismologists noted in the 1880s that S waves generated by earthquakes didn’t pass all the way through Earth, and so they concluded that Earth’s core was molten. But some P waves, after passing through Earth’s core, emerged in unexpected places - a “shadow zone,” as Lehmann called it - creating anomalies that were impossible to explain. Lehmann was the first to suggest that wayward P waves might be interacting with a solid inner core within the liquid outer core, based on data from a massive earthquake in New Zealand in 1929. “Studies which followed over the next years and decades disagree on the rate of rotation, and also its direction with respect to the mantle,” Dr. Waszek added. Some analyses even proposed that the core didn’t rotate at all. The sloshing of metal-rich fluid in the outer core generates electrical currents that power Earth’s magnetic field, which protects our planet from deadly solar radiation. Though the inner core’s direct influence on the magnetic field is unknown, one model proposed in 2023 described an inner core that in the past had spun faster than Earth itself, but was now spinning slower. It’s rotation matched Earth’s spin, then it slowed even more, until the core was moving backward relative to the fluid layers around it. By tracking seismic waves from earthquakes that have passed through the Earth’s inner core along similar paths since 1964, the authors of the 2023 study found that the spin followed a 70-year cycle. By the 1970s, the inner core was spinning a little faster than the planet. It slowed around 2008, and from 2008 to 2023 began moving slightly in reverse, relative to the mantle. Now another team of scientists’ research published June 12 in the journal Nature confirms the core slowdown. It supports the 2023 proposal that the core deceleration is part of a decades-long pattern of slowing down and speeding up and also confirm that the changes in rotational speed follow a 70-year cycle, said study coauthor Dr. Vidale, Dean’s Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Southern California’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. For the new study, Vidale and his coauthors observed seismic waves produced by earthquakes in the same locations at different times. They found 121 examples of such earthquakes occurring between 1991 and 2023 in the South Sandwich Islands, an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Atlantic Ocean to the east of South America’s southernmost tip. The researchers also looked at core-penetrating shock waves from Soviet nuclear tests conducted between 1971 and 1974. When the core turns, Vidale said, that affects the arrival time of the wave. Comparing the timing of seismic signals as they touched the core revealed changes in core rotation over time, confirming the 70-year rotation cycle. According to Vidale team’s model and calculations, the core is just about ready to start speeding up again in about five to 10 years. The seismographs also revealed that, during its 70-year cycle, the core’s spin slows and accelerates at different rates. One possibility is that the metal inner core isn’t as solid as expected. If it deforms as it rotates, that could affect the symmetry of its rotational speed, Vidale said. The team’s calculations also suggest that the core has different rotation rates for forward and backward motion. Changes in core spin - though they can be tracked and measured - are all but imperceptible to people on Earth’s surface. When the core spins more slowly, the mantle speeds up. This shift makes Earth rotate faster, and the length of a day shortens. But such rotational shifts translate to mere thousandths of a second in day length, Vidale said. The mysterious region where the liquid outer core envelops the solid inner core, where solid and fluid are meeting and moving, this boundary might have volcanoes, he said.
(Source: cnn *)
* Cable News Network (CNN), a multinational news channel and website. Headquarters Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

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Europe

France
July 4, 2024 4:01 AM CET  De-Macronization. Macron has been described as “crazy,” “an agent of chaos” and blamed for overseeing a “fiasco.” In recent weeks, several party heavyweights have lobbied for Macron, 46, to stay away from the campaign. Yesterday, the government’s spokesperson announced new appointments in the police and security forces after the weekly Cabinet meeting. Dozens of top military officials have also been appointed in the army, the navy and the air force. More appointments were expected, but faced with a growing outcry over the administrative reshuffle, the president was forced to scale back his plan. “[The president] underestimated how much the public were turned off by his personality,” an official said. “He was told to stop [campaigning] … And it’s not really that he heard our message, it’s more that he was forced to hear it,” said the Renaissance party official. If the 'far right' wins a very large majority, Macron would be under pressure to nominate the National Rally’s leader Bardella as prime minister. If not, the president could get involved in lengthy coalition talks with his current rivals on the 'left' and the right. (Source: politico)

Germany
July 4, 2024 4:00 AM CET  Scholz, after pledging last fall to begin deporting people “on a grand scale,” hasn’t kept that promise. Although the number of deportations rose 30 percent in the first quarter of this year, the total was still only 4,700. There are currently about 230,000 people in Germany eligible for extradition. The government has granted most of them a status known as Duldung - “tolerated”- given the impossibility of sending them back to their home countries. About 45,000 are slated for immediate extradition. Only 6 percent of the latter group come from Afghanistan and Syria. Many Germans were shocked when radical Islamists celebrated the stabbing of a police officer in online posts, leading Berlin to vow to deport those who praise acts of terror and violence. In a sign of his government’s growing panic over the issue, Scholz’s Cabinet last week endorsed a draft bill that would allow for the deportation of foreigners who praise acts of terror and other violence, even if they only do so on social media. It amounts to a desperate - and likely futile - effort to counter the rise of the AfD, whose politicians have seized on the issue, frequently depicting Germany as being overrun by violent crime. Personal safety was top of most voters’ minds, with 74 percent saying they were “very worried” about a “massive” increase in crime in the future. The number of criminal acts in Germany rose by about 6 percent last year compared to 2022, with authorities attributing the increase to high levels of migration. While foreigners make up about 15 percent of Germany’s population, they accounted for a record 41 percent of all crimes in 2023. Crime that authorities attributed to foreign suspects rose by 23 percent in 2022 and by 18 percent in 2023. The number of violent incidents involving a knife rose by nearly 40 percent from 2021 to 2023, hitting 14,000. “Islamist agitators stuck in the stone age do not belong in our country,” Interior Minister Faeser said last week. It’s far from clear that the deportation bill will make it through parliament given concerns among Germany’s Greens that the reform is an unconstitutional infringement on free speech. The tougher legislation is unlikely to curb Islamist hate speech online. The country’s most prominent Islamists aren’t migrants but German citizens who can’t be deported. Migrants who have been granted asylum are protected from deportation. The only people who could be deported are those with standard visas. Yet even they could only be sent home if they come from countries that Germany has deemed safe; Syria and Afghanistan aren’t on the list. It is now clear that any move by the government to push through extraditions would be met with legal challenges that would delay the initiative or scupper it altogether. Scholz’s willingness to take such risks suggests he understands that the German public has turned against his migration policies. With just a year until the next federal election, however, he may not have enough time to do anything about it. “It outrages me when someone who has found protection here commits the most serious of crimes,” Germany’s balding 65-year-old chancellor told his audience in Berlin’s Reichstag, adding to applause that violent migrants “had no business” in Germany. “Such criminals should be deported, even if they come from Syria or Afghanistan.” (Source: politico)

Russia
4 Jul 2024  Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi discussed Ukraine when they met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Astana, and agreed that peace talks on Ukraine without Russia’s presence were pointless. Also meeting on the SCO sidelines, Turkish President Erdogan told Putin that Ankara could help end the conflict, but Putin’s spokesman Peskov said Erdogan could not play the role of an intermediary. He did not say why. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba said he discussed bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on 'a number of regional and global threats posed by Russia, Iran and North Korea' with Israeli counterpart Katz. The United States announced $150m in new military assistance for Ukraine. The package includes missiles for HAWK air defence systems, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, 81mm mortar rounds, TOW (Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided) missiles, Javelin and AT-4 antiarmour systems, as well as a range of other small arms ammunition and equipment. NATO allies agreed to fund military aid for Ukraine with 40 billion euros ($43bn) next year. (Source: aljazeera)

Ukraine
07/03/2024 05:38 PM EDT  "Ukrainians deserve to weigh their strategic options through clear eyes, not through rose-tinted glasses held out by outsiders who do not have the support of their countries". “The challenges Russia poses can be managed without bringing Ukraine into NATO.” "The purpose of NATO is not to signal esteem for other countries; it is to defend NATO territory and strengthen the security of NATO members. Admitting Ukraine would reduce the security of the United States and NATO Allies, at considerable risk to all". More than 60 analysts, foreign policy experts  called on NATO members yesterday to avoid advancing toward Ukrainian membership at alliance’s upcoming summit in Washington, warning that it would endanger the U.S. and allies and rupture the coalition. "Some claim that the act of bringing Ukraine into NATO would deter Russia from ever invading Ukraine again. That is wishful thinking. Since Russia began invading Ukraine in 2014, NATO Allies have demonstrated through their actions that they do not believe the stakes of the conflict, while significant, justify the price of war. If Ukraine were to join NATO, Russia would have reason to doubt the credibility of NATO’s security guarantee - and would gain an opportunity to test and potentially rupture the alliance. The result could be a direct NATO-Russia war or the unraveling of NATO itself". If Ukraine is admitted, the group argues, Russia attacking Ukraine in the future would trigger NATO’s Article 5, which calls on allies to defend the member attacked. Moving Ukraine toward membership could backfire, the letter continues, 'turning Ukraine into the site of a prolonged showdown between the world’s two leading nuclear powers' and play into Russian leader Putin’s narrative that it’s Moscow versus the West. The letter was organized by Ruger, president of the American Institute for Economic Research, and Wertheim, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The Atlantic Council has been pushing for NATO membership for Ukraine. The Biden administration has refrained from supporting Kyiv’s immediate membership, but top officials recently said a “bridge” into the alliance would be offered to Ukraine during the summit. NATO will also offer Ukraine a new headquarters to manage its military assistance. Yesterday the U.S. announced a new $2.3 billion 'security' package for Ukraine. Outgoing NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg alluded to Kyiv’s future alongside the alliance and concerns about the matter: 'Stepping up our support does not make NATO a party to this conflict.' Last week, RAND Corp. researchers wrote that allies would benefit from offering Ukraine clarity about conditions for its future membership at the summit. Ukraine isn’t expecting much movement on its membership at the summit. It was 'not ready to compromise,' even as some U.S. and European allies quietly whispered to officials in Kyiv that talks with Russia should begin, Yermak, President Zelenskyy’s top adviser told on July 3 night. Rather, security guarantees are what they’re looking for. According to a European Council on Foreign Relations poll released yesterday, 22 percent of Ukrainians are in favor of accepting NATO membership in exchange for giving up territory occupied by Russia, while 71 percent are against such a deal. (Source: politico)

4 July 2024  During a visit to Kyiv this week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán suggested a ceasefire first to hasten negotiations, a position that officials in Kyiv are wary of. 'We [are] not ready to go to the compromise for the very important things and values,'Yermak, chief of staff to President Zelensky, told in Washington. Ukrainians fear without hard security guarantees - such as Nato membership, rather than vague talk of a bridge to such status - Russia may simply regroup and attack again in the future. Putin is counting on wearing down Ukraine on the battlefield and outlasting the West’s resolve to provide support. As well as launching guided aerial bombs against frontline positions and civilians in Kharkiv, Moscow has also targeted energy infrastructure across the country, leading to increasingly frequent power blackouts and concerns over what winter might bring. November’s US election adds another layer of uncertainty, along with a question mark as to whether the European Union could realistically pick up any slack. (Source: bbc)

United Kingdom
July 4, 2024 12:10 am ET  Britain is set for a seismic shift in its political landscape today as voters look set to elect the opposition Labour Party with a huge majority, putting a center-left government into Downing Street for the first time in 14 years. Voters look for fresh leadership after a tumultuous period of Conservative Party rule that included Britain’s departure from the European Union, political infighting and scandal that saw four prime ministers in five years, the pandemic, war in Ukraine and a cost-of-living crisis. British voters are frustrated by the status quo and have a deep distrust in their political class. The British government raised taxes to the highest level since World War II, and government debt has climbed to 90% of annual economic output. A slow-growing economy, meanwhile, isn’t providing extra tax revenues. Some polls show Labour Party leader Starmer, a former public prosecutor turned politician, could be handed the biggest parliamentary majority in modern British history. The Conservatives are behind by more than 20 points in most polls. One poll this week showed the party risks coming in third place, behind the far smaller Liberal Democrats party. The result is likely to be the latest example of growing voter frustration with incumbent political parties across many democracies, at a time when the economic fallout from the pandemic and war have sparked high inflation and damaged incomes. The state-run public-health system currently has 7.5 million people waiting for treatment. Some 2.8 million people are off work sick. Immigration rose to record highs in 2022 and 2023. Starmer has spent the past six weeks crisscrossing the nation repeating his pledge to “stop the chaos” under the Conservatives and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a former Goldman Sachs banker. To boost growth, he is planning to cut red tape to build more houses, reduce immigration, create a fund to accelerate the build-out of green energy infrastructure and make it easier for people to get appointments in the health system. The U.K. is likely to choose a technocratic Labour leader who is widely seen as dull and hasn’t made any big promises other than to run a more efficient and honest government. Starmer has moved the party sharply toward the center in recent years, shedding its more radical policies and members, and has promised to continue Britain’s pro-U.S. foreign policy, including continued support for Ukraine and Israel. A big challenge for Starmer and Labour is they won’t have much money to spend to improve public services such as the healthcare system and an aging network of railways. Just 5% who planned to vote for Labour said it was because of Labour’s policies. Probably within a year or 18 months there will be tensions. Starmer’s approval ratings are negative in many polls, as trust in politicians more widely sits at record lows. A handful of smaller parties are on track to perform well as they siphon protest votes. The Liberal Democrats' leader Davey, being filmed doing publicity stunts such as bungee jumping and falling into rivers, could record one of their best performances. Reform UK, led by Farage, who ran on a platform of anti-immigration, may win its first seats in Parliament. The immigration reached record levels under the Conservatives. Polls show Reform drawing about 15% to 17% support. Farage has said he would try to draw like-minded lawmakers from what is left of the Conservative Party and form a new right-wing voting bloc. Polls close at 10 p.m. local time. Final verdict is given, likely in the early hours of tomorrow morning. (Source: wsj)

Caribbean

(Thursday), July 4, 2024  At least three islands report more than 90% of the homes and buildings either destroyed or severely damaged, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency reported yesterday. All three are within the chain of Grenadine Islands, where Beryl roared into the Caribbean on the southern end of the Windwards, between St. Vincent and Grenada. Beryl struck the islands with sustained winds of 150 mph and higher gusts on Monday, and the National Hurricane Center had warned that winds could be up to 30% higher on the tops of hills and mountains. With 19 participating states across the Caribbean, the agency was helping coordinate disaster response on Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines even as it continued to track Beryl’s movements across Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Belize. The eye of Beryl is still a Category 4 storm. Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell described "total destruction" on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique. In Carriacou, the total population of 6,081 has been affected, so shelter is "a significant consideration." Majority of homes and buildings have been extensively damaged, communications have been significantly compromised. In Petite Martinique estimated 80% of the houses and buildings are extensively damaged or destroyed. In Canouan, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 100% of the island's population (12,600) has been affected, an estimated 90% of the houses were damaged, either extensively or destroyed; In Union Island, full population of 3,000 was affected by extensive damage, estimated 98% of buildings, including houses are badly damaged or destroyed; In Mayreau, total population of 300 people affected, 90% of the housing stock and buildings have been damaged or destroyed. In Barbados more than 40 homes with damage, a number expected to rise, confirmed significant damage to the fishing sector, more than 200 boats are damaged. In Trinidad and Tobago were power outages. In Dominica minimal damages were reported. (Source: eu.usatoday)

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North America

United States
(Wednesday), 07/03/24 6:00 AM ET  In Monday's ruling, the Supreme Court found that presidents have immunity for basic official actions taken during their time in office; while for all other official acts presidents are “at least presumably' immune. “When he exercises his official authority in any way, the majority argues, he will now be insulated from criminal prosecution. Order Navy SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Is he organizing a military coup to retain power? Immune. Does he accept bribes in exchange for favors? Immune. Immune, immune, immune,' Sotomayor wrote. (Source: thehill *)
* The Hill, an American newspaper and digital media company based in Washington, D.C.

United States
July 3, 2024  According to a CBSNews poll, 74% of registered American voters think Biden should not run for president, while 54% think Trump should not run.    Biden was particularly confused about what should have been one of his strongest lines of attack against Trump, abortion: 'Here's the deal, a lot of young women are raped - by their in-laws, spouses, brothers and sisters -- just -- it's just -- it's just ridiculous. And they can't do anything about it." Were they raped by their "sisters"?    Biden picks up on Netanyahu's eliminationist rhetoric about Hamas and suggests that the CIA helped Israel target assassinations or airstrikes against Hamas leaders: “Hamas cannot be allowed to continue. We will continue to send our experts and intelligence to see how they can get Hamas like we did Bin Laden… They must be destroyed'.    "Biden's last defense is that, despite his age and inarticulateness, unlike Trump, he doesn't lie. But that's only because he no longer remembers what the truth is...'    In fact, the idea that Biden doesn't lie is itself a lie. He lied about being arrested when he tried to see Mandela, he lied about being selected for the Naval Academy, he lied about being arrested as a civil rights activist, he lied about driving an 18 wheeler, he lied about having an uncle who was eaten by cannibals, lied about going to Iraq and Afghanistan 38 times, lied about writing my own speeches, lied about seeing beheaded babies, lied about seeing babies in ovens, lied about mass rape by Hamas, lied about Gaza about dead people, whoever obstructs the cease-fire agreement lied, lied in the debate about the fact that no US troops die in the world...    If Biden sticks with his 'Joe’s Alert from 10 to 4 Campaign,” he might make some headway by declaring a 6-hour day for the rest of America.    “'Will Biden blame his aging if he ever faces a war crimes tribunal for his role in weaponizing the genocide in Gaza?    Carville: 'He has no advisers. He has employees.'    If people understood his true views on bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war in Ukraine, genocide in Israel, immigration and inflation, he would probably lose even more voters. (Source: counterpunch)

(July 3, 2024 */ June 28, 2024))  Full debate: Biden and Trump in the first 2024 Presidential debate. /video/ (Source: youtube / CNN / WSJ): https://tinyurl.com/yc8bma5p
* At this date: 17 376 920 views; 120 416 comments

July 3, 2024  White House Press Briefing derailed by Reporter yelling, "Is He awake?' (Source: mediaite *)
* Mediaite, an American news website

NATO

July 3, 2024  More than 20 American nuclear bombs are installed at Büchel Air Base. The Büchel airstrip is currently being rebuilt to accommodate the new F-35 fighter jets carrying the new B61-12 nuclear bombs designed and manufactured in the United States. They are illegal under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Germany and the United States signed and ratified, as well as the Hague Convention, the Geneva Convention and the Nuremberg Charter. (Source: counterpunch)

July 3, 2024  The fundamental question is whether NATO can ever be a force for peace, or whether it can never be anything more than a dangerous, subservient extension of the US war machine. When asked in a November 2023 Economist/YouGov poll, "Would you support or oppose Ukraine and Russia agreeing to a ceasefire now?", 68% said they were "supportive" and only 8% said they were "opposed", while 24% said no sure. The vague hope that the other side will eventually give up is not a strategy. The endgame of this non-strategy is that Ukraine can negotiate with Russia only when it is faced with total defeat and has nothing left to negotiate with - exactly what NATO wants to avoid. According to the chapter VI of the UN Charter, all UN members are legally bound; according to Article 33, Paragraph 1: "In all disputes, the continuation of which may endanger the maintenance of international peace and security, the parties shall first of all seek a solution through negotiation, investigation, mediation, and negotiation" recourse to arbitration, court settlement, regional agencies or agreements, or other peaceful means of their choice. (Source: counterpunch *)
* CounterPunch, a 'left-wing' online magazine, based in Petrolia, California, United States

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Europe

Germany
2 July 2024  In an evaluation adopted on 20 June this year and published today, the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages acknowledges legal and policy measures that have been taken by the German federal authorities and by the Länder to protect and promote regional or minority languages. A mid-term review covers compliance by Germany with the recommendations for immediate action issued in the seventh evaluation report in 2022. These recommendations concern for the following areas and minority or regional languages: Danish, Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian, North Frisian, Sater Frisian, Low German and Romani. (Source: coe *)
* Council of Europe

European Council
July 2, 2024  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán made an unannounced visit to Kyiv today, marking his first visit to Ukraine since the onset of the war, for talks with President Zelenskiy expected to focus on peace and bilateral relations. Orbán, a vocal critic of Western military and financial aid to Ukraine, arrived in Kyiv a day after Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the EU Council. The decision to give Ukraine candidate status hence was brought forward by the outgoing Belgian presidency and the next aid package has also been cleared as EU members feared that Budapest, which has obstructed the disbursement of EU funds to help arm Ukraine, could have blocked Kyiv’s accession talks. Budapest has consistently opposed Ukraine's aspirations to join Nato and the EU, refused to send arms to Ukraine and obstructed EU aid, resisted sanctions on Russia, consistently called for peace talks, and maintained close relations with Moscow throughout the war. Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjártó has visited Russia at least five times since the war began, including a recent trip to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Despite this stance, Hungary announced last month that it would not block Nato decisions on supporting Ukraine, provided Budapest was not directly involved in the aid. Orbán also recently endorsed Rutte to become the next head of Nato, while assuring that Hungary’s forces and financial resources would not be committed to supporting Ukraine. Relations betwen Ukraine and Hungary have also been strained by what Budapest argues are discriminatory laws against ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine. The visit was confirmed after negotiations on the rights of the ethnic Hungarian minority living in Ukraine. Budapest has repeatedly accused Kyiv of discriminating against the Hungarian ethnic minority in southwestern Ukraine. Ukraine says it has addressed all Hungarian concerns about the language rights of ethnic Hungarians. (Source: intelliNews *)
* bne IntelliNews, a news wire agency and media company. Headquarters Berlin, Germany

Bosnia and Herzegovina
02 July 2024  Members of parliaments of Serbia and Serb entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) today formed a joint “Parliamentary Forum” tasked to make proposals to institutions of both sides, at the moment when secessionist threats and moves by the leadership of the entity are increasing. (Source: dtt-net *)
*

Russia
July 2, 2024  Russia claimed today to have destroyed five Ukrainian military jets in a strike on an air base near the central Ukrainian city of Myrgorod, around 150 kilometers from the Russian border. Ukraine has not said where it will base F-16s. (Source: defensepost *)
*

Ukraine
(Tuesday), 2 July 2024  Viktor Orbán arrived in Ukraine today for an unannounced visit having just taken over as rotating president of the European Union. The EU opened membership talks for Ukraine the week before Hungary assumed the EU Council Presidency. For the next six months his position as head of the European Council means Mr Orbán has an influential role as a figurehead for Europe. He came to Ukraine on his second day in that role for discussions, saying there was a need to solve previous disagreements and focus on the future. Mr Orbán previously slowed agreement on a €50bn ($54bn) EU aid package designed to support Ukraine in its defence against Russia. He has been a critic of Western support for Ukraine and is seen as the European leader closest to Russian President Putin. This was Mr Orbán's first visit to Ukraine in 12 years, although he has met Mr Putin repeatedly during that time. While in Kyiv, the Hungarian prime minister said a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine could speed up negotiations to end the war that followed Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. "My first trip has taken me here because the issue of peace is important not only for Ukraine, but for the whole of Europe. This war that you are suffering is deeply impacting European security," Mr Orbán said. "I have asked the president to consider whether... a quick ceasefire could be used to speed up peace negotiations...", Mr Orbán stressed in his own statement. "I am grateful for his frank dialogue and his answers." President Zelensky did not publicly respond to those comments. In his statement following their meeting, Mr Zelensky said it was 'very important to have Europe’s support for Ukraine maintained at sufficient level… it’s important for co-operation between all the neighbours in Europe to become more meaningful and mutually beneficial'. The two leaders also discussed bilateral issues including the 100,000 ethnic Hungarians who reside in Ukraine. Mr Orbán said the two countries were determined to put past disagreements behind them, and that he was reassured progress was being made on the rights of the ethnic Hungarians. During his joint appearance with President Zelensky the body language between them was not warm and neither took questions from the media after they gave their statements. Later, in a post on X, Ukraine's leader said Mr Orbán's visit to Ukraine was a "clear signal to all of us of the importance of unity in Europe and taking collective steps'. 'We discussed the path to a just, lasting, and fair peace.' Ukraine's Foreign Minister Kuleba said his country was open to 'work with everyone and solve problems'. “During the visit, President Zelensky had a candid but constructive discussion with Prime Minister Orbán about ways to achieve a just peace, not simply a ceasefire or peace talks.' 'Many Ukrainians believe a ceasefire would simply cement Russia’s hold over territory it has taken from Ukraine and, if negotiations were to take place, they would prefer them to be conducted from a position of strength rather than on the back foot'. (Source: bbc *)
* BBC, The British Broadcasting Corporation - a British public service broadcaster headquartered in London, England.

July 02, 2024  Ukraine has fewer than four weeks to strike a deal with its creditors or risk a default that could seriously harm the economic recovery of the war-ravaged country. Two years ago, Ukraine's private foreign bondholders had agreed to suspend debt wartime repayments - a let-off worth around 15 percent of the country's annual GDP. However, that agreement expires on August 1. If no restructuring deal is reached, Kyiv will have to either arrange an extension of the moratorium expiring on August 1 or default. A default would drain the willingness of Western voters to keep underwriting the conflict. A consortium of foreign bondholders, including BlackRock BLK and Pimco, will urge Ukraine to resume interest payments on its debt next year. Defaulting on the estimated $20 billion of outstanding private bonds could jeopardize future funding and divert focus from fighting against Russia. A deal within a month appears unlikely. (Source: miamiherald */ NewsWeek))
* Miami Herald, an American daily newspaper, headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

NATO

July 2, 2024  On July 9–11, the leaders of NATO will gather in Washington, D.C., for a historic summit, 75 years on since the alliance’s founding in 1949. The alliance is facing a war in Europe 'amid several global crises'. According to Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general, the Washington summit will focus on three major topics. The first is boosting allied defense and deterrence, 'NATO’s core business.' The second is supporting Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself, 'the most urgent' agenda item. The third is continuing to strengthen NATO’s global partnerships, 'especially in the Indo-Pacific.' The summit will also be Stoltenberg’s last, as he hands over the reins to current Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte. NATO’s agenda will also be competing for airtime with the U.S. presidential race.     Since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO’s main priority has been to strengthen defense and deterrence. Two years ago after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, NATO agreed to a new strategic concept at the Madrid summit that built on existing efforts. One year later, in Vilnius, allies agreed to new plans to meet that vision. Since Madrid, NATO allies have hiked up defense spending, boosted forward defense, increased high-readiness forces, modernized command and control, transformed collective defense exercising, and successfully integrated new allies Finland and Sweden. All this means NATO is ready to 'fight tonight.' The question remains as to whether NATO is ready to fight - and thereby deter - a protracted war, like the one in Ukraine. This is most relevant in Europe, 'to strengthen the European pillar' of NATO. 'The Washington summit will focus on implementing these plans to deter armed attack and defend the alliance'. 'NATO allies will take stock of the progress of the Defense Production Action Plan agreed on in Vilnius and likely commit to a new pledge to boost their industrial capacity'. 'Here, allied leaders will need to agree to four 'mores': more cash, more combat power, more capabilities, and more cooperation'. More cash means continued increases in European defense spending beyond the 2 percent of GDP target set by NATO allies a decade ago. More combat power means converting this spending into military outputs more efficiently while 'addressing personnel shortfalls across the alliance'. More capabilities means filling known gaps in critical capabilities, such as air and missile defense, long-range fires, air transport, military mobility, cyber defense, and space-based capabilities. 'More cooperation means reversing the decline in collaboration required to generate the industrial capacity allies will need to equip their own growing forces while continuing to help Ukraine'. 'In the margins of the summit', the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will also host a NATO Summit Defense Industry Forum in Washington on July 9. To complement stronger conventional deterrence, allies will also look to boost their defenses against hybrid threats such as cyberattacks and damage to critical infrastructure. Russia has stepped up these attacks in recent weeks to undermine further support for Ukraine. This is why NATO defense ministers recently agreed on “response options for Russia’s hostile actions against Allies,' with Stoltenberg confirming “Russia’s campaign will not deter us from supporting Ukraine.' Allies will return to this agenda in Washington, with the main focus likely to be on protecting critical undersea infrastructure.     Ukraine is unlikely to receive a formal invitation to join the NATO alliance in Washington. Kyiv’s ambitions for deeper European integration moved forward last week when it began formal accession talks with the European Union. The EU also signed a new 'Joint Security Commitment' to support Ukraine 'for the long term,' while the G7 nations agreed to loan Ukraine more than $50 billion in immobilized Russian assets. NATO’s own package for Ukraine will comprise three parts: language, coordination, and assistance. The language regarding Ukraine’s membership will need to build on the Vilnius pledge that 'Ukraine’s future is in NATO' - senior U.S. officials have referred to the Washington package as a 'strong bridge' toward membership that is 'well-lit, short, straight, unimpeded.' Negotiations on the exact wording of the final summit communiqué will likely continue until the last minute - allies will want to avoid arguing with Ukraine in public like they did at last year’s Vilnius summit.    'The summit will need to demonstrate that the Ukraine package is more than a metaphor'. This is where NATO’s enhanced role in coordinating support for Ukraine comes in. When he met with Zelensky last week, Stoltenberg confirmed he expected allies to 'agree for NATO to take the lead in coordination and provision of security assistance and training for Ukraine.' To date, that role has been filled by the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group of 50 nations, manned by around 300 soldiers at the U.S. Army’s European headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany. Earlier this month NATO defense ministers confirmed they will establish a new NATO command in Wiesbaden, with nearly 700 allied personnel (including at logistics hubs in Poland). Although Hungary agreed to the initiative, it will not take part or contribute owing to concerns about preserving the “defensive character” of NATO. Stoltenberg later confirmed: 'These efforts do not make NATO a party to the conflict, but they will enhance our support to Ukraine to uphold its right to self-defence.' Discussions are also underway to send a senior NATO civilian representative or envoy to Kyiv to improve coordination, as it did in Afghanistan.     The Washington summit may also yield further commitments of practical assistance to Ukraine. Following the G7 “joint declaration of support for Ukraine” agreed on in Vilnius, all seven nations have signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine -  including a 10-year agreement with the United States and another with Japan. By the summit it is expected that 20 NATO allies will have concluded bilateral agreements with Ukraine. South Korea is even reportedly considering a similar agreement.  NATO allies may go much further in Washington if they agree to 'Stoltenberg’s idea for a five-year, $100 billion commitment of military aid to Ukraine'. Negotiations over the details of this ambition could go down to the wire. "One reported proposal is for allies to commit to maintain current levels of support (around $40 billion annually), with future contributions proportionate to GDP, similar to the 2 percent defense spending pledge'.     According to Admiral Bauer, chair of NATO’s Military Committee, these measures will further signal NATO’s long term support for Ukraine while making assistance more stable and predictable. 'To follow through on their Vilnius pledge, NATO allies will be keen to put Ukraine on a path in Washington toward becoming a militarily capable and interoperable partner so that when the political moment comes, Ukraine’s forces can seamlessly integrate into NATO’s - just like Finland and Sweden before them'. '    As U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs O’Brien confirmed, Indo-Pacific partnerships will be a primary theme of the Washington summit'. For example, 40 percent of Europe’s trade passes through an increasingly contested South China Sea. NATO’s four established Indo-Pacific partners -  Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea - have already become regular participants at allied summits. 'At the summit, NATO allies and Indo-Pacific partners may commit to further support to Ukraine', share best practices on countering Russian and Chinese cyber operations, combating Chinese economic coercion, and stepping up defense industrial cooperation. Representatives from all of NATO’s 40+ partners will attend the summit, including the European Union and countries closer to home that are vulnerable to Russian aggression on Europe’s eastern flank such as Moldova, Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. NATO leaders are aware of Russia’s continued pressure to destabilize these countries. NATO’s cooperation is coordinated through the Defence and Related Security Capacity Building Initiative.     Mark Rutte, outgoing prime minister of the Netherlands, was appointed NATO secretary general on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Rutte enjoyed the support of the United States, the United Kingdom, and other European major powers. His appointment risked being vetoed by Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán due to Rutte’s controversial statement that 'Hungary has no business being in the European Union anymore.' Orbán recently changed his mind as part of a deal that sees Hungary exempted from providing military aid to Ukraine under NATO for the duration of the war. The likelihood of Rutte’s appointment solidified recently, shortly after his top contender, Romanian president Iohannis, dropped out of the race due to scarce support for his candidacy. As a prime minister, Rutte has viewed Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s aggression as critical for the freedom of Ukrainians 'and the Netherlands' and fundamental for democracy and sovereignty across NATO, channeling more than $3 billion in Dutch military support to Kyiv since 2022. In the past, he strongly championed the idea that Europe should bolster its defense and intelligence capabilities but also acknowledged that U.S. supplies remain critical to achieve this goal. Current secretary general Stoltenberg will remain at the helm for the Washington summit before handing over to Rutte on October 1.     How might U.S. domestic politics affect the summit? The U.S. election is highly relevant for NATO allies.  Following a contentious recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity and the first presidential debate, President Biden and former president Trump are ramping up their campaigns.  The two candidates have set out distinct positions on NATO. When he took office in 2021, current president Biden stated that 'America’s alliances are our greatest asset.' 'NATO allies have been at the core of the U.S.-led response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine'. In contrast, the more transactional approach to U.S. alliances taken by Trump - which, according to Trump, led him to encourage Russia 'to do whatever the hell they want' to allies that don’t 'pay your bills' when he was in office - 'has caused widespread concern' in Europe about the NATO policies of a second Trump administration. 'It remains prevalent' despite the significant increases in defense spending made by European allies in recent years - the average spending level across non-U.S. allies is now over 2 percent of their combined GDP, and rising further - which was Trump’s main critique of NATO. Mere days after the conclusion of the summit, Trump will take center stage at the Republican National Convention, to be held from July 15–18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Source: csis *)
* The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), based in Washington, D.C.
by Monaghan, a visiting fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the CSIS  in Washington, D.C;
Martinez, a program manager and research associate for the CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program;
Palazzi, a research associate with the Geoeconomic Council of Advisers;
Svendsen is a research associate with the CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program.

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United Kingdom
20:08, Mon, Jul 1, 2024  Mr Aaronovitch, the top BBC presenter who presents Radio 4's Briefing Room show has sparked fury today after calling - tweeting - for Trump to be 'murdered' by Biden. He took to X/Twitter shortly after 5 pm and said: 'If I was Biden I'd hurry up and have Trump murdered on the basis that he is a threat to America's security #SCOTUS'. The hashtag suggests his wild opinion was sparked by the ruling from the Supreme Court today, which ruled that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for their official acts. Aaronovitch's tweet sparked fury. He 'appeared to breach the BBC's rules on social media impartiality today with a controversial tweet about the US election'. Responding to journalist Montgomery who accused him of “Trump derangement syndrome”, Aaronovitch doubled down and lashed out, replying: 'Did you see the Supreme Court ruling Jack? Or were you too busy with your head up Farage's derriere?' An hour after posting the tweet, he told one critic that the post was 'satirical and based on today’s 6-3 ruling on presidential immunity'. Aaronovitch finally deleted the post after around 90 minutes, tweeting: 'There is now a 'far right' pile-on suggesting that my tweet about the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity is an incitement to violence when it’s plainly a satire'. So I’m deleting it. If nothing else though it’s given me a map of some of the daftest people on this site. “Note by the way that not one of them has a problem with the ruling itself.” Spectator columnist Barratt responded to Aaronovitch’s post with the observation: "'Impartiality' may not be in the best of health at the BBC…” (Source: express *)
* The Daily Express, newspaper. Headquarters London, United Kingdom

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Európa

Németország
Péntek, 2025 I. 10.  Olaf Scholz német kancellár leállítja az Ukrajnának szánt több milliárd euro-s pénzügyi segélycsomagot Baerbock külügyminiszterrel és Pistorius védelmi miniszterrel fennálló nézeteltérései közepette. Az orosz-ukrán háború kezdete óta Németország 28 milliárd euro értékű fegyvert szállított, illetve irányzott elő Kijevnek. (Forrás: Yeni Safak / Anadolu Agency = Törökország)

(Péntek), 2025 I. 10.  Tegnap Musk az X-en élő közvetítésben beszélgetett az Alternatíva Németországért (AfD) társvezetőjével, Weidel kancellárjelölttel, támogatva ismét a 2013-ban megalakult német pártot. Németországban február 23-án országos választást tartanak. Jelentős politikai erővé az AfD-t heves ellenállása tette a korabeli kancellár, Angela Merkel 2015. évi döntésével szemben, a nagyszámú menekült és vándorló befogadással kapcsolatban. És sokan vélik úgy, hogy Németország szerepvállalásai az Európai Unióban, NATO-ban a nemzeti önállóság felmorzsolását eredményezik. A párt támogatottsága tovább nőtt a Scholz-féle, pártszövetkezéses kormányzattal szembeni elégedetlenség következtében. Közvélemény-kutatások szerint az AfD az ország második legnépszerűbb pártja lett. Beszélgetésük során Musk és Weidel egyetértett abban, hogy Németországban az adók túl magasak, túl sok a bevándorlás, és hiba volt az ország részéről az atomerőművek leállítása. Az élő közvetítést volt, hogy egyidejűleg több mint 200 000-en is nézték. A ’szélsőjobboldali’ nézőpontok pedig, mint tabuk, Európa-szerte eltűnőben vannak.  „Mi megbotránkoztatót sem javasolnak, a józan észre hatnak” – mondta Musk. "Az embereknek az AfD mögé kell felsorakozniuk, mert ha nem, a dolgok sokkal rosszabbra fordulnak Németországban.' A beszélgetést az Európai Bizottság (EB) részéről felügyelő szervezet figyelte. Az EB tisztviselők szerint Musk-nak joga van kifejteni véleményét, de államhatalommal szembehelyezkedő tartalom felerősítése kockázatos, fékezendő, beleértve a választásokkal kapcsolatos 'félretájékoztatást' is. Musk és Weidel a szólásszabadság fontosságát hangsúlyozta. (Forrás: France 24 - Franciaország / AP - Egyesült Államok)

Oroszország
2025 I. 10.  Oroszország fokozza az új, száloptikás drónok gyártását, elősegítve csapatainak előretörését. (Forrás: Radio Free Europe  Radio Liberty - Egyesült Államok)

Ukrajna
2025 I. 10. Külvárosi anyukák drónlövésre edzenek. (Forrás: NPR - Egyesült Államok)

Ázsia

Gáza
2025 I. 10.  Egyesült Királyság-beli kutatócsoport vezette, Lancet-ben közölt tanulmány becslése szerint a halottak száma Gázában 40%-kal magasabb a megállapítottnál. (Forrás: Digital Journal - Kanada / AFP - Franciaország)

Észak-Amerika

Egyesült Államok
(Péntek), 2025 I. 10.  Trump, megválasztott amerikai elnök tegnap késői órán közölte, hogy találkozót szerveznek közte és Putyin, orosz elnök között. „Ezt mondta, még nyilvánosan is és ezzel a háborún túl kell lépnünk. Ami egy véres zűrzavar' – tette hozzá. Kedden azonban Trump kijelentette, hogy hat hónapos határidő a valószerűbb az összecsapások lezárására. „Remélem jóval hat hónap előtt" - mondta. (Forrás: Politico - Egyesült Államok)

2025 I. 10.  A dél-kaliforniai tüzek több mint 135 milliárd dolláros kárt okoztak. (Forrás: AccuWeather - Egyesült Államok)

(Péntek), 2025 I. 10.  A kaliforniai tüzek már 117 négyzetkilométer területen taroltak. Mintegy 130 000 ember kitelepítését rendelték el. Az anyagi kárt és gazdasági veszteséget 135-150 milliárd dollárra becsülik. 10.000 lakóház, épület és egyéb építmény pusztult el eddig a tűzvészben. Több mint 450 000 ember maradt áram nélkül szerda este. Május eleje óta Dél-Karolinában csak 2,5 mm eső esett. /Fénykép/ (Forrás: AP - Egyesült Államok)

2025 I. 10.  A Los Angeles egyes részeit pusztító tüzek keltette biztosítási bejelentések várhatóan meghaladják a 20 milliárd dollár kárösszeget. További hírek a kaliforniai tűzvészről /Fénykép, videó/ (Forrás: MSN - Egyesült Államok)

Sarkvidék

Sarkvidéki Tanács

2025 I. 10.   A Tanács elnökségét Norvégiától május 12-én a Dán Királyság veszi át. (Forrás: Arctic Council - Norvégia)

Magyarán szólva:

blokkol: leállít
drón
evakuálás: kitelepítés
konfliktus: összecsapás
reális: valószerű
regisztrál: megállapít
száloptika
tabu: amiről nem szabad nyilvánosan beszélni

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