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The US State Department has greenlit a potential deal that would see the US providing Taiwan with equipment and relevant training to support its Patriot air defense systems, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency told the media on Wednesday. According to the Pentagon, the total value of the deal might amount to up to $95 million. “This proposed sale serves US national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability,” the Pentagon said in a notification to the US Congress. The deal would also help Taiwan “sustain its missile density and ensure readiness for air operations,” as well as to successfully deter “regional threats,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has said it expects the deal to “become effective” within a month. Read more US offers view on chances of China attacking Taiwan The statements made by the US officia...

President Joe Biden wrote a letter of recommendation for the son of Chinese businessman Jonathan Li to attend Brown University in the US, Fox News reported on Wednesday. Biden’s son Hunter had a stake in a venture with Li as recently as last year, and although evidence from Hunter Biden’s laptop shows the Biden family involved in numerous overseas business dealings, the White House still insists the president never spoke with Hunter about these schemes. In a series of emails that Fox claims “originated from a laptop said to belong to Hunter Biden,” Li tells Hunter, as well as his business associates Devon Archer and Jim Bulger, that his son Chris had applied to several US universities, including Brown. After sending on his son’s resumé, another of Biden Jr’s business partners, Eric Schwerin, replies: "Jonathan, Hunter asked me to send you a copy of the recommendation letter that he asked his father to write on behalf of Christopher for Brown University.” Schwerin told Li that t...

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has waded into the growing furore surrounding the fairness of trans athletes competing against women as he says that it is “sensible” that biologically born men shouldn't be permitted to compete in female sporting categories. Johnson's comments come days after transgender cyclist Emily Bridges was prohibited from taking part at the National Omnium Championships last weekend. Bridges, 21, began hormone treatment last year and had been given the all-clear to race by British Cycling but this was subsequently overruled by Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the international governing body of the sport. “I don’t think that biological males should be competing in female sporting events. And maybe that’s a controversial thing… but it just seems to me to be sensible,” said Johnson. “That doesn’t mean that I’m not immensely sympathetic to people who want to change gender, to transition. It’s vital that we give people the maximum possible love and ...

US President Joe Biden boasted on Wednesday that American sanctions on Russia will undo the country’s economic gains over the last 15 years and “stifle” the Russian economy for years to come. Despite previously admitting that sanctions have done little to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden nevertheless unveiled a fresh round of economic penalties on Tuesday. “Just in one year, our sanctions are likely to wipe out the last 15 years of Russia’s economic gains,” Biden told a trade union conference in Washington. “Because we’ve cut Russia off from importing technologies…we’re going to stifle Russia’s ability in its economy to grow for years to come,” he continued. The White House on Wednesday unveiled further sanctions on Russia, to be implemented in lockstep with the US’ G7 and EU allies. These measures include blocking sanctions on more Russian banks, a ban on new US investments in Russia, blocking sanctions on “Russian elites and their family members,” and sanctions on Rus...

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has compared recent Western sanctions to the methods of the Spanish Inquisition, a medieval Catholic Church institution used to combat heresy. The dark page of history has clear parallels with the sanctions which have been imposed on Russia in the wake of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, Medvedev claimed in a Telegram post on Wednesday. According to the former president, who is currently the deputy chair of the country’s Security Council, the only thing that differentiates the medieval inquisitors from modern “unfriendly” countries is that the West hasn’t yet suggested throwing Russian businessmen into a fire. Otherwise, he said, “all the inquisitorial methods are in place.” Since the beginning of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, the West has imposed multiple sanctions on businesses, individuals, and state companies. It has also seized the Russian Central Bank’s foreign-exchange assets. Post-Cold War world order is over, former...

EU policy makers failed to agree Wednesday on a new package of sanctions against Moscow, including a ban on Russian coal imports, Reuters reports, citing its sources. The latest round of economic restrictions was proposed by the European Commission earlier this week. Persons familiar with the matter explained the fiasco citing “technical issues” that needed to be resolved, including on whether a coal import ban would affect existing contracts. The sources noted that it was not clear yet how the issues will be resolved, but the EU hopes to reach a compromise at a meeting on Thursday. READ MORE: Europe’s plan to ban Russian coal sends prices higher The EU depends on Russia for around 45% of its coal imports, according to the European Commission website. In March, European countries imported a total of 7.1 million tons of thermal coal, which is used in power and heat generation. That is a 40.5% increase year-on-year and the highest level of imports since March 2019.

If Western countries continue to expel Russian diplomats, Moscow won’t rule out the possibility of severing diplomatic ties with the states concerned, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned on Wednesday. He explained that the recent wave of expulsions threatens continued diplomatic relations. “There is such a potential risk, since every day we are faced with such hostile actions. The expulsion of diplomats is a decision that closes the window of diplomatic relations,” he told the French TV channel LCI, when asked if Moscow would consider breaking off ties after dozens of its envoys were declared persona non grata in NATO capitals. Italy, Spain, and Denmark expelled a total of 70 Russian representatives on Tuesday, following Monday’s decision by Germany and France to exile 35 and 40, respectively. The expulsions were ordered after images of civilians allegedly killed in the town of Bucha, northwest of Kiev, were released by the Ukrainian government and Western media. Kiev has accus...

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday he is opposed to any EU sanctions on Russian energy, adding his country will accept Moscow’s directive that gas supplies be paid-for in rubles. Hungary will not yield to pressure and will not support restrictions of oil and gas supplies from Russia because this is a ‘red line’ for Hungary, Orban explained, as cited by Reuters. Earlier on April 6, the country’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said gas contracts were a matter between his country and Russia, and that the EU had “no role” to play in the deal. According to Orban, the nation will not follow Washington’s lead and join the ban on energy trade with Russia. He stressed “this is out of the question” because “it will be an unbearable burden for Hungary.” The prime minister pointed out that 85% of all gas consumed in Hungary comes from Russia and that 85% of Hungarian households use gas. He added that the country’s fuel is produced from oil, 64% of which is also supplied...

The events in Ukraine have made the window for China’s possible attack on Taiwan ‘highly unpredictable,’ the commander of the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet, Admiral Samuel Paparo, has said. During his roundtable with journalists from Indo-Pacific countries in Washington on Monday, Paparo was asked if he thought that the conflict in Ukraine and the draconian international sanctions slapped on Russia over it somehow affected Beijing’s plans to bring Taiwan back under its control. “China is undoubtedly watching what’s happened in Ukraine, taking notes, and learning from it … And they’ll improve their capabilities based on what they learn at this time,” he replied. But because of all this, “the window of a potential unification by force [between mainland China and Taiwan] is highly, highly unpredictable,” Paparo pointed out. The admiral basically downplayed last year’s assessment by then Indo-Pacific Command head Philip Davidson, who claimed that the Chinese attack on the self-governed isla...

The EU Commission has triggered a new mechanism which could see billions of euros allocated for the country frozen. The bloc has for years accused Budapest of undermining democracy and violating LGBT rights. Speaking in the European parliament on Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen explained that the European Commission and Hungarian leadership have “not been able to find common ground” on the issue of anti-corruption reforms. She added that Budapest’s response to formal notice from the European Commission on the matter did not leave the EU top body with any other option but to move on “to the next step.” “The Commission has today spoken to the Hungarian authorities that we will now send a formal letter to start the conditionality mechanism,” she said, referring to the instrument adopted in late 2020 and allowing the bloc to withhold aid funding from a member that is found to be failing to adhere to the union’s democratic principles. The announcement on trig...

Chronic labor shortages in the food and farming sector could lead to even higher food prices, a group of British MPs warned in a report published on Wednesday, urging the government to learn its lessons from the failed immigration policies introduced last year and to take immediate action. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee report, penned by a joint group of Tory and Labour MPs, claims that as of August 2021 the industry had “potentially in excess of 500,000 job vacancies” out of 4.1 million roles in the sector, arguing that the shortage had been “caused by Brexit and accentuated by the [Covid-19] pandemic.” The report found “clear evidence” that the worker shortages were having a severe effect on the food and farming industry, “threatening food security, the welfare of animals and the mental health of those working in the sector,” adding that businesses have been “badly hit” by these issues, and that the pig sector was being particularly affected, as some 35,000 pigs ...

Germany will plunge into recession if Russian gas and oil are cut off, the country’s top bank warned on Monday. Economic growth in Europe’s biggest economy was already expected to be much slower than previously anticipated due to the conflict in Ukraine, said Christian Sewing, the chief executive of Deutsche Bank and president of the Association of German Banks (BDB). “The situation would be even worse if imports or supplies of Russian oil and natural gas were to be halted. A significant recession in Germany would then be virtually unavoidable,” he told journalists on Monday. Germany is heavily dependent on Russia’s energy resources, importing some 55% of its natural gas and nearly 40% of its oil from the country. EU countries have been pushing to stop energy imports from Russia to punish Moscow for its military operation in Ukraine, something to which Germany has been reluctant to agree. A growing number of German industrialists and politicians have been warning of dire economic c...

A new era of higher inflation and interest rates is impending as traditional ties between Western countries on one side, and Russia and China on the other, are deteriorating, while the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is driving globalization into reverse, said the head of the Bank for International Settlements, Agustín Carstens. “A key message is that we may be on the cusp of a new inflationary era,” the general manager of the BIS central bank umbrella group said on Tuesday. “We need to be open to the possibility that the inflationary environment is changing fundamentally,” Carstens added. And “if my thesis is correct, central banks will need to adjust”. The warning comes amid spiking prices for energy and food that are pushing year-on-year inflation in over half of developed economies soaring above 5%, while half of the developing world is expected to face inflation of over 7%. Meanwhile, major economies were forced to raise interest rates from all-time lows. Recession bell t...

Immediately after a meeting with congressional leaders on Tuesday, Peruvian President Pedro Castillo lifted the curfew he had imposed on Lima in an attempt to curb violent protests over the country’s high levels of inflation. “I must announce that from this moment on we are going to cancel the curfew order. We now call on the Peruvian people to keep calm,” the Peruvian leader said after his meeting with Congress. The lockdown was supposed to last till Wednesday but had been lifted earlier as many lawmakers expressed their concerns that the measure violated the fundamental rights of Lima’s residents. Violent protests, however, are still shaking the Peruvian capital with demonstrators attacking law enforcement. Police used tear gas on protesters, after rioters set an administrative building on fire. Peru’s Interior Minister Alfonso Chavarry has ordered the use of force to prevent further violence. Legislators vote on Peruvian president’s fateREAD MORE: Legislators vote on Peruvian p...

Citing “atrocities in Ukraine, including in Bucha,” the US on Wednesday rolled out new sanctions against the “Putin regime” and Russian banks, companies and government officials – as well as their family members. Presiden Vladimir Putin’s daughters and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s wife and daughter were among the Russians listed in the latest round of “full blocking sanctions,” which the White House says intend to impose “severe and immediate costs” on Moscow. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and former President Dmitry Medvedev were likewise sanctioned, for their membership on the Russian Security Council. As part of Wednesday’s sanctions, any assets of Sberbank and Alfa Bank “touching” the US financial system have also been blocked, and any Americans banned from doing business with them. The White House also said that US President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Thursday prohibiting any investment in Russia by Americans wherever they are, to “further isolate Russia f...

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday that India’s continued purchasing of Russian weapons systems is “not in their best interest,” and that there will be a “requirement” that leaders in New Delhi swap some of these systems for US and allied arms. India is the world’s largest military importer, and counts on Russia for nearly half of its imported weapons. “We continue to work with [India] to ensure that they understand that it’s not in their … best interest to continue to invest in Russian equipment,” Austin told the members of the House Armed Services Committee. “And our requirement going forward is that they downscale the types of equipment that they’re investing in and look to invest more in the types of things that will make us continue to be compatible,” he added. Austin was responding to a question from Representative Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina), who described India as a “treasured ally” of the US and “the world’s largest democracy.” What, Wilson asked Austin, ...

The French are headed to the polls this Sunday, April 10 for the first of two rounds in the country’s presidential election. No longer about ‘right v left’, the contest pits the establishment globalist straightjacket against true democracy and independence. The result has the potential to not just cause a political earthquake in France, but in all of Europe, dealing a major blow to the “rules-based” order of globalists. But will French voters seize the occasion? There’s a long-standing view that Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally candidacy could never win against an establishment candidate – in this case, incumbent President Emmanuel Macron. Traditionally, voters interested in the social safety net for which Le Pen advocates typically turn instead to the far left. Meanwhile, those seeking better state protection from ever-creeping globalist exploitation have traditionally backed the establishment candidate on the more conventional right, who advocates in favor of free market a...

Russia has paid foreign holders of Eurobonds in rubles for the first time after an attempt to settle the $649.2 million payment was rejected by a foreign financial institution under orders from Washington, the Russian Ministry of Finance announced on Wednesday. Earlier this week, the US Treasury stopped Russia from paying holders of its sovereign debt more than $600 million from reserves held in US bank accounts, saying that the Kremlin had to choose between draining its dollar reserves and default. Roughly half of Russia’s foreign exchange reserves, worth over $300 billion, have been frozen by Western countries as part of sanctions over Ukraine. “Russia has all necessary resources to service its debts... If this blockade continues and payments aimed for servicing debts are blocked, it (future payment) could be made in rubles,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The country has a total of 15 international bonds outstanding with a face value of around $40 billion. Moscow has man...

Moscow has cautioned neighboring European countries against the closure of their borders with Russia and Belarus pointing out that such a scenario would mean the blockade of Russia’s westernmost exclave Kaliningrad. Earlier this week Latvian and Lithuanian officials made statements regarding the possible closure of their borders with Russia and Belarus in response to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine. On Wednesday, commenting on the matter, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko expressed hope that “common sense” would prevent the Europeans from “playing with fire.” Such a measure would deprive Kaliningrad residents of the opportunity to reach Russia’s main territory by land. “I very much hope that common sense in Europe will not allow any games to be played around Kaliningrad. I think many people understand that this is playing with fire,” the deputy minister told the media. EU state could close border with RussiaREAD MORE: EU state could close border with Russia O...

Russian stocks climbed after a short-lived slide in early trading on Wednesday, brushing off reports of new Western sanctions against Moscow on top of unprecedented punitive measures already imposed. The ruble-based MOEX benchmark was up more than 1% by 10:00 GMT, reversing earlier losses. The dollar-denominated RTS index of leading Russian stocks also recovered, trading 1.4% higher. Shares in Russia’s energy giants Lukoil and Gazprom Neft were both up by 3.5% and 2.5%, respectively. The ruble stabilized at 83.42 to the dollar and gained 1.1% to trade at 90.52 versus the euro. In recent weeks, the Russian currency got a boost from capital controls as well as from President Vladimir Putin’s demand that “unfriendly states” pay for Russian natural gas in rubles. Equities lost ground at the opening on reports that the US and its allies had prepared new sanctions that will target Russian banks and officials and ban new investment in Russia. An EU official told Reuters that the bloc wil...

The US coal mining industry is unable to expand production to replace Russian coal on the European market, the country’s biggest exporter said on Tuesday. The comment follows a proposal by the European Commission to impose a ban on coal imports from Russia as part of a wider package of sanctions on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine. “I don’t see any ability for the industry to expand production. It’s like looking at a sweet dessert that you just can’t reach,” Ernie Thrasher, chief executive officer of Xcoal Energy & Resources LLC., the US’ biggest exporter, told Bloomberg. The US is among the world’s top five coal exporters, and sells most of its coal to India, Brazil and South Korea. According to Thrasher, most of the US coal output has already been sold under long-term contracts and there are few spare tons to deliver to Europe. With coal being the dirtiest fossil fuel, there has been little investment in new capacity, he explained, adding that tight labor markets and supp...

Hungary’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the Ukrainian ambassador, on Wednesday, over Kiev’s harsh criticism of Budapest’s stance on Russia’s ongoing military operation in Ukraine. It is “time for Ukrainian leaders to stop their insults directed at Hungary,” the EU country’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto wrote on Facebook. He also insisted that Kiev should “acknowledge the will of the Hungarian people,” referring to Sunday’s election, in which Prime Minister Viktor Orban won by a landslide and secured his fourth term in office. Budapest had condemned the use of force by Russia, acknowledged Ukraine’s sovereignty and accepted hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the fighting, Szijjarto reminded Kiev. Orban names Hungarian government's 'opponents' Read more Orban names Hungarian government's 'opponents' However, the FM reiterated that Hungary wasn’t a party to the conflict in Ukraine, saying that “we want to, and will, stay out of it.” Budapest, which...

Russia has no plans to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or to remove him from power, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov has stated. “No, this is not true,” Peskov replied, when asked on Wednesday to comment on speculations that Moscow wanted Zelensky dead, during an interview French broadcaster LCI. He also insisted that regime change in the neighboring country wasn’t among the goals of Russia’s ongoing military operation. Zelensky “is the President of Ukraine,” Peskov noted, and what Moscow wants from him is to agree to the demands that the Russian delegation has put forward during peace negotiations. Zelensky rejected peace offer days before Russian offensive – WSJ Read more Zelensky rejected peace offer days before Russian offensive – WSJ “Through those talks we want to put an end to the military operation,” Peskov said, adding that Moscow’s recent decision to withdraw its troops from areas near the Ukrainian capital Kiev was a gesture of good will aimed at facili...

A new era of higher inflation and interest rates is impending as traditional ties between Western countries on one side, and Russia and China on the other, are deteriorating, while the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is driving globalization into reverse, said the head of the Bank for International Settlements, Agustín Carstens. “A key message is that we may be on the cusp of a new inflationary era,” the general manager of the BIS central bank umbrella group said on Tuesday. “We need to be open to the possibility that the inflationary environment is changing fundamentally,” Carstens added. And “if my thesis is correct, central banks will need to adjust”. The warning comes amid spiking prices for energy and food that are pushing year-on-year inflation in over half of developed economies soaring above 5%, while half of the developing world is expected to face inflation of over 7%. Meanwhile, major economies were forced to raise interest rates from all-time lows. The supply chain...

The price of coal jumped in Europe, the US and Asia on Tuesday after the EU announced restrictions on imports of the fossil fuel from Russia, according to figures from the leading energy exchanges. The price shot up by 14% to a three-week high, data from ICE Futures Europe show, doubling since the start of the year. The Asian benchmark also rose by 6.4% on the news. The international coal market has already been tight with Asian futures hitting an all-time high in March and coal prices in the US topping $100 a ton last week for the first time since 2008. Bloomberg has predicted that prices will rise further as European consumers step up efforts to find alternatives to Russian supplies. The European Commission on Tuesday proposed a €4 billion ($4.4 billion) ban on coal imports from Russia as part of a wider package of punitive measures on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine. “The proposed sanction would be devastating to European coal imports,” Fabian Ronningen from Norwegian consul...

Australia, UK and the US are going to expand their cooperation under the AUKUS trilateral pact to also include hypersonic technologies, the British government said in a statement on Tuesday. China was quick to condemn the announcement, with Beijing’s UN envoy Zhang Jun warning that it could “lead the other parts of the world into a crisis” like the one currently underway in Ukraine. Referring to the Western rejection of Russia’s military operation, Zhang had some advice for the US and its allies, quoting an old Chinese saying: “If you do not like it, do not impose it against the others.” The leaders of Australia, the UK and the US have assessed the progress made under the AUKUS deal so far, saying that they were “pleased” with it, the UK government said. It didn’t reveal any specific details, only stressing that Britain and America were “fully committed to establishing a robust approach to sharing naval propulsion technology with Australia that strengthens the global non-prolifera...

The United States and Germany have slapped sanctions on the Hydra marketplace, said to be among the largest darknet platforms in the world, with Berlin shutting down servers belonging to the Russia-based site while seizing millions of dollars in proceeds. The US Treasury Department announced the move on Tuesday, declaring that Hydra, as well as crypto exchange Garantex, would be subject to penalties as part of a “coordinated international effort to disrupt [the] proliferation of malicious cybercrime services, dangerous drugs and other illegal offerings.” “Our actions send a message today to criminals that you cannot hide on the darknet or their forums, and you cannot hide in Russia or anywhere else in the world,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement, adding that Washington “will continue to disrupt these networks” alongside allies like Germany and Estonia. The department went on to state that Hydra is “complicit” in “cyber-related activities” which pose a threat to th...

The US is profiting from its campaign to impose anti-Russian sanctions, while even its close allies are suffering, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a briefing on Wednesday. The drive for anti-Russian sanctions should be dropped to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, he claimed. Washington is coercing other nations into imposing sanctions on Russia, but the architects of these measures are careful to avoid any cost to the US itself, the Chinese official pointed out. “American companies import Russian fertilizers. For Europe, the war and sanctions have brought refugees, capital outflow and energy shortages,” he said. The US put itself in a position allowing it to “profit from chaos,” he added. Zhao reiterated Beijing’s position that unilateral sanctions – a tool that the US favors in its foreign policy – were harmful for the world economy and could not bring “peace and security,” the stated goals of such restrictions. “If the US really wants to promote a de-escal...

President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Ukraine will look to Israel for inspiration concerning its future security arrangements, arguing that an “absolutely liberal” Kiev is now “impossible” after Moscow’s attack in late February. Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, the president said security would be the “number one” issue for Ukrainians for the next decade, even going so far as to forecast a lasting armed military presence in the streets. “Ukraine will definitely not be what we wanted it to be from the beginning. It is impossible. Absolutely liberal, European – it will not be like that,” he said. “We will become a ‘big Israel’ with its own face. We will not be surprised if we have representatives of the Armed Forces or the National Guard in cinemas, supermarkets, and people with weapons.” Reached by Haaretz following Zelensky’s comments, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk said that “no matter what happens next, [things] in Ukraine will be similar to the securi...