News of the World

[kyonides]

US and Western Allies to Remove Selected Russian Banks From SWIFT

The United States, European Union, and other Western allies announced Saturday they will cut off certain Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system, and put restrictions on the Russian Central Bank, in retaliation for Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Thousands of banks as well as financial institutions around the world use the SWIFT system to settle cross-border payments. SWIFT, the “Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication,” is used by more than 11,000 financial institutions in over 200 countries and is regarded as crucial for financing international trade.

In a joint statement, the United States and EU, as well as France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Canada, “commit to ensuring that selected Russian banks are removed from the SWIFT messaging system.”

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They also commit “to imposing restrictive measures that will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions.”

Barring banks out of the world’s main international payments network “doesn’t make transactions impossible” but will make them “much more difficult,” Paul Marquardt, a lawyer with international law firm Davis Polk, told Reuters. “It makes them much more difficult—getting kicked out of SWIFT would increase transaction costs significantly,” he said.

In another measure, the United States and allies will also limit the sale of citizenship that lets Russians tied to the Russian government become citizens of their countries, to prevent them from accessing the countries’ financial systems.

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The measures will be implemented in the coming days, the nations said in a joint statement, and also vowed further action to come.

[kyonides]

Psaki pushes renewable energy to stop dependence
on foreign oil instead of increasing US production

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that the U.S. needs to decrease its reliance on foreign oil by switching over to renewable energy, not increasing domestic production.

"We need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, on oil in general, and we need to look at other ways of having energy in our country and others," Psaki said during an interview with ABC This Week Sunday. "We've seen over the last week or so... a number of European countries are recognizing they need to reduce their own reliance on Russian oil."

Psaki's comments come as fears grow that energy prices could continue to rise amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, with many NATO countries such as Germany dependent on Russian oil to fuel their countries.

That dependence has also limited the international response to Russia's invasion, with sanctions being specifically designed not to target Russian fuel exports amid fears such a move could send energy prices soaring in Europe.
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Since 2021 Russia is the United States' top source of imported gasoline and other refined petroleum products, Forbes recently reported. Lithium, one of the main ingredients in rechargeable batteries used in cars, phones, and other products, chiefly originates in China.

Qatar deploys ex-spies to blunt German’s World Cup criticism

As head of the German soccer federation, Theo Zwanziger was among his sport’s most prominent critics of the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. He publicly attacked the energy-rich Gulf nation’s human rights record. He questioned the wisdom of staging the world’s most popular sporting event in searing desert heat.

“The infinite wealth of this small country of Qatar spreads almost like a cancer through football and sport,” Zwanziger once said. A member of FIFA’s executive committee, he urged world soccer’s governing body to reverse its 2010 decision.

The Qatari government was so concerned by Zwanziger’s criticism that it took action. It paid more than $10 million to a company staffed by former CIA operatives for a multi-year covert influence operation codenamed “Project Riverbed,” according to internal company documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

The records indicate that the goal of the operation was to use spycraft to silence Zwanziger. It failed.
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The endeavor has long been dogged by allegations of corruption and wrongdoing. U.S. prosecutors said in 2020 that bribes were paid to FIFA executive committee members to gain their votes. Qatar has denied any wrongdoing.
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Chalker acknowledged in a statement that GRA did work on a Project Riverbed, but said it was only “a media monitoring project staffed by interns and supervised by one full-time employee, who were responsible for reading and summarizing news articles.”

Chalker’s spokesman David Wells said he was not at liberty to say who the client was for Project Riverbed or provide other details, like how long it ran or the name of the employees who worked for on it. Chalker’s attorney, Brian Ascher, said Zwanziger was never the subject of a covert influence campaign by GRA.

The records reviewed by AP indicate otherwise.

EU shuts airspace to Russian airlines, will buy Ukraine arms

The European Union agreed Sunday to close its airspace to Russian airlines, spend hundreds of millions of euros on buying weapons for Ukraine and ban some pro-Kremlin media outlets in its latest response to Russia’s invasion, EU officials said.

That and Germany’s announcement earlier in the day that it would almost triple its defense budget this year underscored how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was rewriting Europe’s post-World War II security and defense policy in ways that were unthinkable only a few weeks ago.

In what he described as “a defining moment for European history,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers had greenlighted the unprecedented support for Ukraine and that those actions would take effect within hours.
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The EU ministers also agreed to add several more people and organizations to a growing list of sanctions. Those included Russian oligarchs whose money, Borrell said, is important for the Russian economy, as well as other key officials, notably those spreading disinformation. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have already seen their assets in Europe frozen.

In a separate announcement, Germany’s leader said the country would commit 100 billion euros ($113 billion) to a special armed forces fund and keep its defense spending above NATO’s target of 2% of GDP.

Anti-war protesters, meanwhile, took to the streets in Berlin, Rome, Prague, Istanbul and elsewhere — even Russian cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg and in a dozen Belarusian cities — to demand an end to the war, the largest ground offensive on the continent since WWII.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said beyond the weapons purchases, EU nations would shut down European airspace for Russians.
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She said the EU will also ban “the Kremlin’s media machine. The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, as well as their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war and to sow division in our union.”

Von der Leyen added that the EU will also target Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko for supporting Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.

“We will hit Lukashenko’s regime with a new package of sanctions,” she said.

Thief steals Angela Merkel’s wallet in Berlin supermarket

A pickpocket stole German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s wallet while she was shopping for groceries in Berlin on Thursday.

Merkel’s wallet was in her handbag which was dangling from her shopping trolley when it was taken, according to German tabloid Bild, which first reported on the incident.

Berlin police confirmed to the paper that the incident occurred around 11:40 a.m. on Thursday. According to the report, Merkel did not call the police from the store, but went to a nearby police department to report the incident.

Merkel’s bodyguard, who was accompanying her in the grocery store, was unable to prevent the theft.

Danish police seek info on apparent escaped kangaroo

Police in southeastern Denmark on Monday appealed for public help to track down what appeared to be a kangaroo that was filmed hopping across a field.

Police said on Facebook that a driver saw the marsupial “hopping around” near Øster Ulslev, a village 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the port city of Rødbyhavn where ferries connect to northern Germany. They said the driver, whom they didn’t identify, had the presence of mind to film the animal, although they acknowledged the three-second video they posted was “short and grainy.”

Nobody has reported a kangaroo missing.
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Despite the fact that kangaroos are not common in northern Europe, it is the second time the same police district has reached out for help in finding one: in 2014, a kangaroo escaped from a private animal farm in the same area.

And in July 2018, a kangaroo was on the run elsewhere in Denmark for half a day before its owner found it.

 So why are kangaroos in Denmark always escaping from some unknown place every so often?
 Are they some of the most wanted  criminals in Denmark!?

An Ukrainian Airplane Visits Costa Rica During the Ukraine War

This afternoon the arrival of an Antonov An-124 from Antonov Airlines at Juan Santamaría Airport (SJO) at 5pm. However, he suffered a land delay. The flight took off at 3:40pm time from Houston and is estimated to arrive in Costa Rica at 7pm. It would be a great gesture to receive them with flags of Ukraine, or any distinction with the colors of this nation, as they adorn the An-124 missile. Flight ADB3132 can be traced in the following links:
https://es.flightaware.com/live/flight/UR82007
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/adb3132

Curiously, some Costa Rican News anchors like one from Teletica were spreading the rumor that they might have brought some Ukrainian refugees to the Central American nation.  His emotive tone of voice could not be hidden from viewers.

What's weird about this coverage of the story is that the very same post on Facebook included the following explanation on the reason why the plane had landed in Costa Rica.

Frequently Asked Questions: ✅ What's coming to? Cargo charter flight for a private company moving operation from Asia to Costa Rica. ✅ When and where does it go? The ferry (no charge) flight to Miami is scheduled for tomorrow morning, no confirmed time. Update 3:40pm, already flying to Costa Rica.

And guess which company was moving some of its operations and cargo to Costa Rica...
It was Intel.  So nope, it was not related to the Ukraine War at all.
 What a blooper!

[DerVVulfman]

Putin puts Russia’s nuclear forces on
high alert as tensions rise with West

Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country.

However, these are economic sanctions Putin says are hostile are in response to his violent invasion of a sovereign country, a country he alone claims does not exist.

This is really a pattern that we’ve seen from President Putin through the course of this conflict, which is manufacturing threats that don’t exist in order to justify further aggression, and the global community and the American people should look at it through that prism.

The past night was tough – more shelling, more bombing of residential areas and civilian infrastructure. There is not a single facility in the country that the occupiers wouldn’t consider as admissible targets.

According to Zelensky, Russia's attack is state-run terrorism and should be investigated as international war crimes.

I wish to point out that there are worldwide protests regarding Russia's deadly invasion, including within Moscow.

[kyonides]

Ukraine gets $34M in cryptocurrency donations

A firm that tracks cryptocurrency transactions says $33.8 million in the digital currency has been donated to Ukraine’s government and non-governmental organizations there since the start of Russia’s invasion, nearly a third of it on Tuesday.

Chief Scientist Tom Robinson of Elliptic said most donations to date have been in bitcoin and ether. Some people are sending non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, to the Ukrainian government’s ethereum account.

Ukraine issued a plea for contributions on Twitter last week. To date, it has received 30,000 donations, including $5.8 million from Gavin Wood, the British programmer who co-founded ethereum. There have been several other donations of more than $1 million.


Elliptic also warned of scammers tricking unsuspecting cryptocurrency holders wanting to donate to Ukrainian causes.

Nations agree to release 60M barrels of oil amid Russian war

The International Energy Agency’s 31 member countries agreed Tuesday to release 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves — half of that from the United States — “to send a strong message to oil markets” that supplies won’t fall short after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The board of the Paris-based IEA made the decision at an extraordinary meeting of energy ministers chaired by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. She said in a statement that U.S. President Joe Biden approved a commitment of 30 million barrels and that the U.S. is ready to “take additional measures” if needed.

The group’s “decision reflects our common commitment to address significant market and supply disruptions related to President Putin’s war on Ukraine,” Granholm said.

Russia plays an outsized role in global energy markets as the third-largest oil producer. Its exports of 5 million barrels of crude per day amount to about 12% of the global oil trade. Some 60% goes to Europe and another 20% to China.
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But the invasion has still shaken markets worldwide. On Tuesday, oil prices soared, with U.S. benchmark crude surpassing $106 per barrel — the highest price since 2014.

Biden to ban Russian planes from US airspace

President Joe Biden plans to announce Tuesday night that the U.S. is banning Russian aircraft from its airspace in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the decision.

The move follows similar action by Canada and the European Union this week. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Biden’s State of the Union speech in advance.

In remarks released by the White House in advance of the speech, Biden offers an ominous warning that without consequences, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression wouldn’t be contained to Ukraine.
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The ban would come on top of a wide range of sanctions the U.S., Europe and other nations have imposed on Russia that are expected to hammer that nation’s economy.
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The Canadian ban led Russia’s largest airline, Aeroflot, on Monday to say that it had suspended flights to New York, Washington, Miami and Los Angeles through Wednesday.

The U.S. ban raises the possibility that Russia could respond by prohibiting U.S. flights over its territory, which would make for longer and more costly flights, especially for cargo carriers. FedEx and UPS both fly over Russia, although they announced this weekend that they were suspending deliveries to that country.
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A ban on Russian flights could also lead to retaliation against Boeing, a major U.S. exporter and one of the world’s two dominant aircraft manufacturers.

[DerVVulfman]

Zelensky Receives Standing Ovation
From EU Parliament in Emotional Scenes

This a day after Zelensky asked the EU to admit Ukraine into the bloc

[I am] extremely happy with what I have seen here and I am happy that we have united all of you, but I didn't want this unity at this price. Thousands of people killed, two revolutions, one war, and five days of full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation.

This he said among the crowd, some lawmakers with #standwithUkraine T-shirts.  But during his speech, he condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin who has bombed civilian infrastructure and residential areas, all while stating they are not being targeted.

We welcome Mr. President, Ukraine's application for candidate status, and we will work towards that goal because we will and we must face the future together.

And so, the process of becoming a member within the European Union has begun.

  Note that Russia has now used a vacuum air bomb, the largest non-nuclear weapon in their inventory, a weapon that has been banned and increases the number of war atrocities ordered by Putin.

First woman cured of HIV
thanks to stem cells from newborns

The “past middle-aged” woman, who chose not to be identified in the interest of privacy, was among the first to receive a novel transplant method using umbilical cord blood, fortified with a mutation that blocks HIV from entering her cells. She also received partially matched blood stem cells from a first-degree relative — a parent, offspring or sibling — while the cord blood treatment worked its way through her rejiggered immune system.

Now, just 14 months after her transplant, her blood shows no trace of the virus. The successful therapy also led to remission from leukemia that she developed in March 2017 due to HIV infection.

[kyonides]

Suspected cyberattack on parts supplier
forces Toyota to shut down Japan plants

Toyota said Monday that it was suspending operations at all 14 of its plants in Japan after a domestic supplier of parts, Kojima Industries Corp., was hit by a suspected cyberattack.

Toyota described it as a “system failure” at Kojima in a short statement posted online.

A Kojima spokesperson told ABC News that the company was working to fix the problem, which essentially blocked the company’s computers from communicating with Toyota.
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Reuters reported that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his government was investigating the incident.
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Reports said the shutdown would affect the production of about 13,000 vehicles.

Basketball Player Royce White Runs for Congress
Challenging Ilhan Omar

A professional basketball player and activist, Royce White, announced last week he will run for Congress as a Republican for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, seeking to oust Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

White had a brief career in the NBA from 2012 to 2014. He then played professional basketball in Canada for two years. Currently, he’s a professional player in The BIG3 basketball and mixed martial arts (MMA). He said he fought against NBA to create a mental health policy and “paid the price” with his career.

“I’m running for Congress because our leaders have sold us out. We have to fight for freedom. We have to protect our communities. We have to restore what it means to be an American citizen. We have to fight the momentum of globalism,” White said in a campaign video.

“What Big Pharma, Big Tech, and the corporate elites have done to us during this pandemic shows us tyranny is here. The line has been drawn, and it’s pretty damn clear. We the People no longer have a choice,” White continued, adding Omar is “in on it,” and she is a “globalist.”

Australia Joins IEA in Releasing Oil Reserves
to Stabilise Global Markets

Australia will join 31 members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) to release 60 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves to stabilise global energy markets.

Angus Taylor, the minister for industry and energy, said the global oil market was “showing signs of uncertainty” amidst the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Currently, the IEA holds 1.5 billion barrels, and the release of the stock is expected to increase supply and lower petrol prices.

The minister also said international gas markets were also impacted.
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The military attack has spotlighted European, and global dependencies, on Russian energy sources and how it can potentially be leveraged if disputes arise, given Russia’s powerful position as a major supplier of world energy.
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Russia is the world’s third-largest oil producer and exporter—sending 5 million barrels of crude oil per day, roughly 12 percent of global trade. It also exports 2.85 million barrels of petroleum products per day, representing around 15 percent of international trade.

Additionally, around 60 percent of Russia’s oil exports go to Europe and another 20 percent to China.

Russian Foreign Minister Warns: World War III ‘Will Be Nuclear’

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, warned Wednesday that a third world war would be “nuclear and destructive” amid his country’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The third world war will be nuclear and destructive … President Biden is an experienced man and has previously stated that the only alternative to war are sanctions,” Lavrov said in an interview with Al Jazeera’s Arabic channel, without elaborating, according to Gazeta, other Russian media, and Reuters.

Lavrov also alleged that Russia would be in “real danger” if Ukraine ever acquired nuclear weapons. There is no evidence that Ukraine was attempting to acquire nuclear weapons from the West, and Ukraine gave up its nukes in the early 1990s following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Earlier this week, the specter of nuclear war was raised when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his country’s strategic deterrence forces, which operates some of Russia’s nuclear arsenal, to be on a heightened state of alert. Some analysts remarked that the order was meant to intimidate the United States and NATO so as they don’t get involved in the Ukraine conflict.
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The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, said Russia had told the agency that its military had taken control around Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, but operations there were continuing normally.

Pfizer's Covid Vaccine Goes into Liver Cells
and Gets Converted in to DNA

“In this study we present evidence that COVID-19 mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 is able to enter the human liver cell line Huh7 in vitro,” the researchers wrote in the study, published in Current Issues of Molecular Biology. “BNT162b2 mRNA is reverse transcribed intracellularly into DNA as fast as 6 [hours] after BNT162b2 exposure.”

BNT162b2 is another name for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine that is marketed under the brand name Comirnaty.

The whole process occurred rapidly within six hours. The vaccine’s mRNA converting into DNA and being found inside the cell’s nucleus is something that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said would not happen.
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This is the first time that researchers have shown in vitro or inside a petri dish how an mRNA vaccine is converted into DNA on a human liver cell line, and is what health experts and fact-checkers said for over a year couldn’t occur.

The CDC says that the “COVID-19 vaccines do not change or interact with your DNA in any way,” claiming that all of the ingredients in both mRNA and viral vector COVID-19 vaccines (administered in the United States) are discarded from the body once antibodies are produced. These vaccines deliver genetic material that instructs cells to begin making spike proteins found on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 to produce an immune response.
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The Swedish study also found spike proteins expressed on the surface of the liver cells that researchers say may be targeted by the immune system and possibly cause autoimmune hepatitis, as “there [have] been case reports on individuals who developed autoimmune hepatitis after BNT162b2 vaccination.”
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Spike proteins may circulate in the body after an infection or injection with a COVID-19 vaccine. It was assumed that the vaccine’s spike protein would remain mostly at the injection site and last up to several weeks like other proteins produced in the body. But studies are showing that is not the case.

The Japanese regulatory agency’s biodistribution study (pdf) of the Pfizer vaccine showed that some of the mRNAs moved from the injection site and through the bloodstream, and were found in various organs such as the liver, spleen, adrenal glands, and ovaries of rats 48 hours following injection.
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In a different study, the spike proteins made in the body after receiving a Pfizer COVID-19 shot have been found on tiny membrane vesicles called exosomes—that mediate cell-to-cell communication by transferring genetic materials to other cells—for at least four months after the second vaccine dose.

This clearly proves that Wallensky and the CDC don't know what they're talking about.  
They were simply making false promises to the whole nation.  They weren't following science at all.

Ned Eisenberg, ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Star, Dies at 65

Ned Eisenberg, an American actor best known for his long-running recurring role on “Law & Order: SVU,” died at his home in New York on Feb. 27, a family member has said. He was 65.

Eisenberg had been fighting two types of cancer over the past two years, Patricia Dunnock, the actor’s wife, said in a statement to TMZ on Monday, also confirming the death of her husband.

“As Ned would say, he was attacked by two very rare assassins—cholangiocarcinoma and ocular melanoma,” Dunnock said. “Over the course of two years, he bravely fought the cancers in private while continuing to work in show business to ensure that his medical coverage paid for himself and his family.”

Born on Jan. 13, 1957, Eisenberg was raised in the Bronx and graduated from Riverdale Junior High School in 1972. He later studied acting at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.
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The prolific character actor is best known for his work in “Law & Order: SVU,” where he played the high-priced attorney Roger Kressler. He also appeared in the initial “Law & Order” run, where he portrayed the Manhattan-based defense lawyer James Granick.

Eisenberg also appeared in a number of big movies including “Last Man Standing” with Bruce Willis, Woody Allen’s “Celebrity,” “The Exterminator,” and “The Good Wife”—to name a few.

[kyonides]

Judge Blocks New York Attorney General’s Attempt to Dissolve NRA

A judge on March 2 dismissed an attempt by New York Attorney General Letitia James to dissolve the National Rifle Association (NRA).

New York Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen said the allegations against the NRA did not meet the requirements to order its dissolution.

James, a Democrat, has claimed that top NRA executives siphoned millions of dollars from the organization and is seeking restitution and other financial relief from four current and former NRA officers. She had also moved for dissolving the NRA, arguing doing so was in the interest of both the public and NRA members.

But the allegations “concern primarily private harm to the NRA and its members and donors, which if proven can be addressed by the targeted, less intrusive relief she seeks through other claims in her complaint,” Cohen said in his ruling.

“The complaint does not allege that any financial misconduct benefited the NRA, or that the NRA exists primarily to carry out such activity, or that the NRA is incapable of continuing its legitimate activities on behalf of its millions of members. In short, the complaint does not allege the type of public harm that is the legal linchpin for imposing the ‘corporate death penalty,'” he added.

Not even the Californian Attorney General has pressed such charges against BLM for being delinquent or buying expensive mansions and luxury cars with donors' money, yet, New York General Attorney felt she was in need of protecting NRA members from the NRA itself arguing they were stealing their money without providing any valid proof to substantiate her own claims.

[kyonides]

German Rejects Calls to Ban Russian Oil
Supports Seeking Alternative Energy Supplies

At the moment, Europe’s supply of energy for heat generation, mobility, power supply, and industry cannot be secured in any other way. It is therefore of essential importance for the provision of public services and the daily lives of our citizens.

That is why it is a conscious decision on our part to continue the activities of business enterprises in the area of energy supply with Russia.

However, he showed support for finding alternative sources of energy supplies in the long term and said Germany and other European countries have been working on finding alternatives to Russian energy imports.

European Union (EU) leaders are expected to make an announcement about phasing out its dependency on imports of Russian gas, oil, and coal.

The leaders will announce it at a meeting in Versailles which is scheduled on Thursday and Friday.
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The task will be tough, however, because the EU buys from Russia 45 percent of its imported gas, around a third of its oil, and nearly half of its coal. This makes the bloc vulnerable should Russia decide to retaliate for EU policies by curbing exports.
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On the U.S. side, a ban on Russian oil is gaining bipartisan support.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday said the chamber is “exploring” legislation to ban imports of Russian oil and that Congress intends to enact this week $10 billion in aid for Ukraine in response to Russia’s military invasion of its neighbor.

 It seems Scholz is kind of hypocritical here.

NATO Mulls More Permanent Bases in Baltics, Blinken Says

If there is any aggression anywhere on NATO territory, on NATO countries, we the United States, all of our allies and partners, will take action to defend every inch of NATO territory.

It’s as clear and direct as that. No one should doubt our readiness; no one should doubt our resolve.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that NATO is expanding its presence in Eastern Europe via temporary deployments of additional forces and equipment, and is considering additional permanent bases in the Baltics amid Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.

Blinken made the remarks at a March 7 press conference in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, where he sought to reassure Washington’s Eastern European allies, who have been rattled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and fear they could be next.
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Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, commonly referred to as the Baltics, were once part of the Soviet Union and joined NATO in 2004. Estonia and Latvia, in particular, have significant Russian-speaking minority populations and there are concerns that Russia could leverage this in its pressure campaigns, much as it has in other former Soviet republics like Georgia and, now, Ukraine.
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Blinken, for his part, highlighted the additional forces already deployed in the Baltics, as well as ones in the pipeline. He noted the recent deployment of 7,000 additional U.S. troops to Europe, the repositioning of forces already there to bolster NATO’s eastern flank, and plans for 400 more personnel from the 1st Armored Brigade combat team to deploy to Lithuania in the coming days.

Asked about permanent troop deployments to the Baltic region as additional deterrence, Blinked said this was being looked at.
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Lithuania’s government later announced its own plans to ramp up military spending this year, including for Javelin anti-tank weapons, battle drones, and upgrades to its military bases.

[DerVVulfman]

RUSSIA MINES ESCAPE ROUTE

Blocks all escape, forcing evacuation Russia and Belarus

Cynical beyond belief, anyone fleeing Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine found that exit routes have been sabotaged with land mines.  And the only roadways not blocked that lead out of Ukraine head to the hostile nations of Russia and Belarus.

Hypocritically, Russian media is claiming they are opening save passage into Ukraine at the behest of French President Emmanuel Macron, this being flatly denied by France. To quote UK's Europe Minister James Cleverly, "Providing evacuation routes into the arms of the country that is currently destroying yours is a nonsense."

RUSSIA?
YOUR CARD IS CANCELLED!!!

VISA, MASTERCARD AND AMERICAN EXPRESS SUSPENDS SERVICES IN RUSSIA

Mastercard announced that their cards issued by Russian Banks won't be supported and won't function in Russian stores or ATMs, And Visa worked with partners in Russia to cease all Visa transations within coming days. Both of them made their annoucements within 16 minutes of each other.  And American Express halted all transactions in Russia, and cards issued by Russian banks will not work outside of Russia, Amex's move extending to Belarus.

“We are compelled to act following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the unacceptable events that we have witnessed,” Visa Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Al Kelly said in a statement.

ITS A PUTINY!

RUSSIAN MARINES MUTINY AND REFUSE TO ATTACK UKRAINIAN PORT

According to Ukranian media, a riot broke out on the warships, based in nearby Crimea. This while Russian Helicopters were buzzing over Luzanivka beach. Before the attack, a radio communique came in, the Russians reporting the attack was off.

Last night a large group of Russian warships was about to launch landing on Odesa beaches. They approached the coast. Russia was about to shell the beach. Ukraine was about to shoot back when they suddenly withdrew. Reports that marines from Crimea refused to attack Odesa.

[kyonides]

Israel’s Bennett Speaks With Putin, Zelensky Separately
in Effort to Mediate Ukraine Crisis

Conversations with Russian leader in Moscow touch on safety of Ukraine’s Jewish population and international talks over Iran’s nuclear program

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held talks with President Vladimir Putin Saturday in the Kremlin over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and then spoke with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, an attempt to mediate a conflict that has caused growing civilian casualties and refugees.

Following the talks on Saturday evening, Mr. Bennett spoke again to both Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky on Sunday, though the substance of the calls was unclear.
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Mr. Bennett’s meeting with Mr. Putin took place “with the blessing of the U.S. administration,” said Mr. Bennett’s office, which also noted that it coordinated with Germany and France. After seeing Mr. Putin, Mr. Bennett left Moscow for Berlin, where he was to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the prime minister’s office said. Mr. Bennett was joined by Housing Minister Zeev Elkin, who was born in the now Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and assisted with the translation.

It's curious to see that Israel needed the blessing of Biden there.

The nearly three-hour conversation with Mr. Putin on Saturday touched on the safety of Ukraine’s Jewish population and international talks over Iran’s nuclear program, Mr. Bennett’s office said. On Saturday, new demands from Russia—a party to the nuclear talks—threatened to derail efforts to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a pact that Israel opposes.

Mr. Bennett flew to Moscow as Russian troops continued to meet fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces, and an agreement to evacuate civilians from two besieged cities fell apart.
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The meeting comes about a week after Mr. Bennett, in a call with Mr. Putin, offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine. Mr. Putin said during that call that he was “ready for negotiation,” a senior Israeli official said.

Throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Israel has found itself caught between powerful opposing forces. Israel’s most important ally, the U.S., and pro-Western Ukraine, with a large Jewish population, have pushed Israel to side strongly with the Ukrainians. At the same time, Mr. Bennett’s government has worried that taking sides would jeopardize its relationship with Russia, which allows Israel the freedom to bomb Iranian positions in Syria.

Mr. Bennett has faced pressure domestically to boost support to Ukraine. Israel has so far refused a Ukrainian request for weapons and other military equipment, such as helmets and protective vests, Ukraine’s ambassador, Yevgen Korniychuk, said earlier last week. But Israel has condemned Russia’s invasion and voted for a United Nations resolution demanding an end to the offensive.

Israel has worked to maintain good relations with the Kremlin and has been keen not to anger Moscow during the conflict. Russia’s launch of a military intervention in Syria in 2015 turned it into an important player in the Middle East. Israel sees Russia’s presence there as a moderating influence among Islamist militant organizations such as Hezbollah and Iran’s increasingly aggressive stance.

Russia has played a leading role in negotiating the restoration of the deal between the U.S. and Iran. However on Saturday, Mr. Lavrov threw a new hurdle in the way of a deal, demanding guarantees from Washington that powerful Western sanctions against Russia over its Ukraine attack won’t disrupt trade between Russia and Iran under a restored agreement.