EU partners getting ready to militarily confront Russia following their illegal invasion of Ukraine 2 years ago

More and more voices are being heard from inside and outside Europe,  about the US political confusion in dealing with Ukraine's  military support, and ready to take matters in their own hands,   specially now Putin is under lots of pressure at home by democratic forces.

Ukraine war: Belarus loosing more and more support among few Western friends she stll has

Landlocked Belaru:s is losing more access to its western neighbors. Since the start of the month, Poland has sent more troops toward its border with the country and Lithuania has shut down two of its six crossing points with Belarus. Latvia is also considering border closures: One official told DW that "active consultations" are taking place, with a decision planned later this month.

The three European Union members bordering Belarus say they're responding to the reported presence of Wagner mercenaries on Belarusian territory, after the private Russian military group's fleeting and ill-fated June rebellion.

"This decision is one of the preventive measures aimed at managing emerging threats to national security and possible provocations at the border," Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said last week in a statement announcing the temporary closures. "It will enable border officers to redistribute their capacities at the border with Belarus and pay even larger attention to the protection of the state border."

Read more at: https://www.dw,com

France - Germany 60 year friendship treaty anniversary - as both Nations pledge continued support to Ukraine

France and Germany are celebrating their decades-long friendship with a day of talks Sunday on Europe’s security, energy and other challenges.

Germany’s entire Cabinet is in Paris for joint meetings during the 60th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty. And 300 lawmakers from both countries are coming together at the Sorbonne University to mark the treaty that sealed a bond that underpins today’s European Union.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz oversaw two rounds of talks at the Élysée Palace focusing on energy and economic policy and defence.

“Let us use our inseparable friendship ... to shape the present and future of our continent, together with our European partners,” Scholz said at the ceremony at the Sorbonne.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, the European peace project is at a “turning point,” he said.

Read more at: https://www.euronews.com

NATO: Atlantic Alliance — Foreign Policy for America

• 77% of Americans say NATO should be maintained
• 66% say the United Nations plays a necessary role in the world
• 44% say the U.N. does a good job of trying to solve problems it has faced

President Donald Trump, who has questioned U.S. support for international organizations with his "America First" foreign policy, has been particularly skeptical of NATO, openly questioning the need for the alliance and expressing his wish to pull the U.S. out of it. A clear majority of Americans (currently 77%) continue to say the alliance should be maintained.

Read more t:Atlantic Alliance — Foreign Policy for America

Ukraine Military Assistance: US sending $1 billion more military aid to outgunned Ukraine

The U.S. announced it will send an additional $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, as America and its allies provide longer-range weapons they say can make a difference in a fight where Ukrainian forces are outnumbered and outgunned by their Russian invaders.

President Joe Biden and his top national security leaders said Wednesday the U.S. is moving as fast as possible to get critical weapons to the fight, even as Ukrainian officials protest that they need more, faster, in order to survive.

Read more at: US sending $1 billion more military aid to outgunned Ukraine – Metro US

France - Ukraine relations: Macron says France to 'intensify' military, humanitarian aid to Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that France would "intensify" its supply of military and humanitarian support following a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Read more at: Macron says France to 'intensify' military, humanitarian aid to Ukraine - The Local

Ukraine: Humanitarian work comes from many sources. - by joel brown

Many missionaries have left Ukraine. Most have left their cities, gotten their families to safety, and are actively involved with the rescue and relief effort.

They are at the borders helping refugees. They are coming back to rescue people. They are coordinating with people all over the world.

Some are shell-shocked and have returned to their home countries. I don’t blame anyone for leaving.

Read more at: Staying To Serve The “Least Of These” – even in War – Living Water UA

'EU Unites on a scale never before seen': Europeans band together to help Ukrainians fleeing Russian invasion

After war broke out in Ukraine last week and tens of thousands began to flee to neighbouring EU countries, Diana Avram posted a message on social media offering to house Ukrainians in her dance school.

"The decision to help people came straight away in my mind because we had a dance school in Timişoara and we have enough space to accommodate people," Avram, a 37-year-old dance teacher in Romania, told Euronews.

She was quickly put into contact with multiple families fleeing the violence.

Read more at: 'A scale never before seen': Europeans band together to help Ukrainians fleeing Russian invasion | Euronews

USA -Ukraine crises: Supporting Ukraine in potential Russian invasion could hurt U.S. economy, says Biden

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday acknowledged the likelihood that U.S. and allied sanctions on Russia in retaliation for an invasion of Ukraine would have significant blowback on the American economy, including possible price hikes and disruption to the nation's energy supply.

"The American people understand that defending democracy and liberty is never without cost," Biden said in remarks at the White House about the ongoing crisis. "I will not pretend this will be p

He said the administration was working proactively to try to pre-empt supply issues by working with energy producers and shippers on contingency plans, and said he would work with Congress on unspecified "additional measures to protect consumers and address the impact of prices at the pump."

Read more at: Supporting Ukraine in potential Russian invasion could hurt U.S. economy, says Biden | CBC News

USA: 45% of Republicans Support a Universal Vaccine Mandate: New Poll

45% of Republicans support a universal vaccine mandate, a new poll found. Comparatively, 84% of Democrats support a universal mandate A majority of Americans (64%) also supported such a mandate.

Read more at: 45% of Republicans Support a Universal Vaccine Mandate: New Poll

Russia: Kremlin targets workers with Moscow's iconic Metro who support jailed opposition leader

he Komsomolskaya Metro station is one of the most ornate in Moscow's transit system, which is one of the world's busiest, carrying almost seven million passengers a day. Dozens and perhaps hundreds of employees have been fired or told to resign after supporting a jailed opposition leader. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)

The Putin government's expanding crackdown on political dissent has entangled one of Russia's most iconic and respected institutions: Moscow's famously ornate Metro system.

Over the last week, dozens — perhaps even hundreds — of train drivers, mechanics, ticket agents and other public transit workers have been hauled before management and told to either resign or be fired.

The reason appears to be that either they or a family member signed onto a website calling for President Vladimir Putin's arch-foe, Alexei Navalny, to be freed from prison.

Read more at: Kremlin targets workers with Moscow's iconic Metro who support jailed opposition leader | CBC News

US distances itself from demands for Israel-Hamas cease-fire - by E. Knickmeyer, M. Lee and E. M. Lederer

The Biden administration distanced itself Monday from growing calls by Democrats and others for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers as fighting entered a second week, with more than 200 people dead, most of them Palestinians in Gaza.

The United States, Israel’s top ally, also blocked for the third time what would have been a unanimous statement by the 15-nation U.N. Security Council expressing “grave concern” over the intensifying Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the loss of civilian lives. The final U.S. rejection Monday killed the Security Council statement, at least for now.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki and national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States instead was focusing on “quiet, intensive diplomacy.” As missile and rocket exchanges between Israel and Hamas surged to their worst levels since 2014 and the international outcry grew, the Biden administration — determined to wrench U.S. foreign policy focus away from the Middle East and Afghanistan — has declined so far to criticize Israel’s part in the fighting, send a top-level envoy to the region or press Israel publicly to wind down its latest military operation in the thickly populated Gaza Strip, as some past U.S. administrations have done. Appeals by other countries so far show no sign of progress.

Read more at: US distances itself from demands for Israel-Hamas cease-fire

India - Corona Crises: EU, U.S. Officials Announce Aid For India, Where New COVID-19 Cases Hit 330,000 A Day - by Ja’han Jones

Senior European Union officials announced Sunday that the bloc will send “rapid” assistance to help India combat its latest, devastating coronavirus outbreak. On Friday, India set a world record for the number of new coronavirus cases reported in a single day, with more than 330,000 new infections.

The Indian Health Ministry said Friday that there have been 189,544 coronavirus deaths in the country, but health experts around the world believe the true death count is much higher.

Read more at: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/eu-us-india-coronavirus-aid_n_6085e023e4b0ee126f683a98

USA - Poll: Most Americans Support Raising Minimum Wage, But Not to $15

Democrats in Congress want to raise the hourly minimum wage to $15, but while most Americans support increasing the minimum – currently $7.25 an hour – they balk at proposals to more than double it.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 48% of American Adults believe raising the hourly minimum wage will help the U.S. economy, up from 42% two years ago. Thirty-three percent (33%) think raising the minimum wage will hurt the economy instead, while 10% say it will have no impact. Nine percent (9%) are undecided

Read more at: Most Americans Support Raising Minimum Wage, But Not to $15 - rickmorren@gmail.com - Gmail

US-Palestinian Relations: Biden Will Restore U.S. Relations With Palestinians, Reversing Trump Cutoff - by Michael Crowley

The Biden administration will restore diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority, more than two years after President Donald J. Trump effectively ended them. The action signals a return to a more traditional and evenhanded approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after a Trump administration policy that was heavily slanted toward Israel.

The shift, which will include a resumption of American aid to the Palestinians, was announced on Tuesday in a speech by Richard Mills, the acting United States ambassador to the United Nations.

Read more at: Biden Will Restore U.S. Relations With Palestinians, Reversing Trump Cutoff - The New York Times

Italy: Draghi: Call of duty for Italy's 'Super Mario' - by Mark Lowen

"The thing about Mario Draghi is that when he ran up the pitch, he would always pass the ball - he was generous like that," reflects Staffan de Mistura, a UN diplomat and school friend of Italy's likely next prime minister.

"Mario was a team player. Not the best footballer we had but a good one - and he always had a strategy, he knew which way to turn."

Read more at: Draghi: Call of duty for Italy's 'Super Mario' - BBC News

Caricom: Guyana and Suriname can underpin Caricom’s sovereignty and prosperity

The presidents of Guyana and Suriname have announced two major joint venture projects whose implementation will deepen the beneficial relations between the two countries, and could have a positive effect for the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM) of which they are members.

Read more at: WORLD VIEW: Guyana and Suriname can underpin Caricom’s sovereignty and prosperity | The Tribune

USA: God and the GOP: will conservative evangelicals stay loyal to Trump? –

In 2016, white evangelicals made up a quarter of all US voters. And 81% of them voted for Donald Trump. Oliver Laughland and Tom Silverstone head to the pivotal battleground state of North Carolina to see if Trump's religious base is showing signs of crumbling. They meet extreme evangelical pastors, travelling progressive preachers and the moral movement leader Rev William Barber

Read more at: God and the GOP: will conservative evangelicals stay loyal to Trump? – video | US news | The Guardian

USA: Trump on evangelicals, according to Michael Cohen: 'Can you believe people believe that bulls--t?' - by

 Michael Cohen’s book — specifically the tawdry bits, as related by The Washington Post.

Cohen writes that before winning the presidency, Trump held a meeting at Trump Tower with prominent evangelical leaders, where they laid their hands on him in prayer. Afterward, Trump allegedly said: “Can you believe that bulls--t? Can you believe people believe that bulls--t?”

“The cosmic joke was that Trump convinced a vast swathe of working-class white folks in the Midwest that he cared about their well-being,” Cohen writes. “The truth was that he couldn’t care less.”

Gee, you don’t say. How can this be, Michael Cohen? You mean the guy who promoted Trump University doesn’t really care about the well-being of hardworking middle-class folk?

Cohen details a tawdry 2013 visit to a Las Vegas club, the Act, with Trump and Aras and Emin Agalarov — a Russian father-and-son oligarch duo. Cohen asserts that the group watched a debauched strip show that included one performer who simulated urinating on another performer, who pretended to drink it.

Trump’s reaction to the show, Cohen writes, was “disbelief and delight.”
Okay, super-gross, but no worse than what we expected.
Oh, and guess what! Donald Trump is an irredeemable racist!

Cohen writes that during the 2016 campaign, Trump was dismissive of minorities, describing them as “not my people.” “I will never get the Hispanic vote,” Cohen recounts Trump claiming. “Like the blacks, they’re too stupid to vote for Trump.”

Cohen describes Trump’s obsessive hatred of Obama, including claiming that the only reason the former president got into Columbia University and Harvard Law School was because of “f---ing affirmative action.” He also recounts Trump’s “low opinion of all black folks.” claiming that Trump once said while ranting about Obama, “Tell me one country run by a black person that isn’t a s---hole. They are all complete f---ing toilets.”

Read more at:
Trump on evangelicals, according to Michael Cohen: 'Can you believe people believe that bulls--t?'

Qanon Conspiracy: Trump's line on QAnon nonsense goes from bad to worse

After He let that opportunity pass. Trump didn't voice support for the ridiculous conspiracy theory, but he also dodged the question

Donald Trump touted his support last week for a QAnon adherent who won a Republican congressional primary, a reporter asked the president on Friday for his thoughts on the crackpot conspiracy theory. It offered the president a great opportunity to denounce the nonsense publicly..

It was a disappointing response, which he made vastly worse nearly a week later.

Read more at: 
Trump's line on QAnon nonsense goes from bad to worse