The World Blog by humble servant.

Following the calls from Poland and the Baltic states, the European Union has quietly deleted a sanctions exemption that had allowed EU weapons manufacturers to do business with Russia, Reuters reported on Thursday citing anonymous officials. Brussels blocked export of arms and ammunition to Russia in July 2014, citing Moscow’s “annexation” of Crimea – a peninsula that overwhelmingly voted to rejoin Russia following the US-backed coup in Ukraine. However, a clause in the embargo allowed sales under contracts signed before August 2014. French and German weapons makers took advantage of the “loophole,” as Reuters described it, to earn millions. Citing data from the EU Commission, the agency said EU member countries had sold Moscow 39 million euros ($42.3 million) worth of weapons and ammunition in 2021, up from 25 million euros in 2020, which Reuters said was on par with previous years. It wasn’t until last week that the EU governments agreed to eliminate the exemption, after “fresh ...

johnnie ellington @e7johnny · 2h and the elimination of Democracy. But more serious than that, we still face the risk of more than 25% unemployment in the post-2024 period., our projection on unemployment may sound instance exceeding the highs of the Great Depression, johnnie ellington @e7johnny · 2h but the inflation is reducing the living standards and the reduces economic activity, and that in turn results in businesses failing and jobs vanishing.The United States has abused its position and it may think that it is a Lion, but it has been reduced to just a cat. johnnie ellington @e7johnny · 2h They should pay attention to the military. The Pentagon has been trying to throw cold water on this heated invasion talk over Russia and threatening China with sanctions if they dare to help Russia is just insane. johnnie ellington @e7johnny · 2h They know they are far stronger with Russia than to let Russia fall and the West would only then turn against them. There is deep concern that the U...

Six weeks into Moscow's military offensive, Russia and Ukraine do not have a mutually satisfactory agreement. A treaty between the two countries, when signed, could have far-reaching effects that go beyond bilateral relations, transforming the entire landscape of European security. On February 28, Moscow and Kiev kicked off the talks, focusing on four key areas: political aspects, demilitarization, the issue of Crimea and the Donbass, and the subject of NATO expansion. So far the parties haven’t made much progress. The only breakthrough was made when Ukraine said it would be willing to abandon its NATO ambitions and to encapsulate this commitment in the country’s Constitution. This didn’t come about without conditions, however. President Volodymyr Zelensky's government has stated that it will require the West to provide security guarantees. Here, looks at the implications of Ukraine committing to never joining NATO and remaining neutral. We will also discuss how the peace tal...

French President Emmanuel Macron has doubled down on his refusal to characterize Russia’s conduct in Ukraine as “genocide.” He articulated his unwillingness to invoke the fraught term during a Thursday interview on the France Bleu radio network. “Words have a meaning and we must be very careful,” he said, pointing out that “the word ‘genocide’ must be qualified by jurists, not by politicians.” His reasoning echoed remarks by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres the day before, when he was asked about US President Joe Biden’s use of the term. “Genocide is strictly defined in international law. And for the UN, we rely on the final legal determination by the appropriate judicial bodies,” Guterres stated. He also noted that the International Criminal Court (ICC) was already investigating the matter. Earlier on Wednesday, Macron already said he “would be careful with such terms.” During an interview with France 2, he also demanded accountability for “war crimes” committed in Ukraine b...

Ukrainian forces have now shelled three villages in Russia’s Belgorod region, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Thursday. The region is under a state of emergency and the villages near the Ukrainian border are being evacuated. The attacks caused damage to buildings and wounded an unspecified number of civilians. “Our village of Zhuravlevka was shelled from the Ukrainian side,” Gladkov said on Telegram. “There is damage to homes and community buildings." Gladkov initially said he had "no information about injuries or deaths,” but later revealed that there were wounded among the residents. Zhuravlevka is near the border between Russia and Ukraine. Two other border villages, Spodaryushino and Bezymeno, also came under artillery fire earlier on Thursday. Residents were evacuated and there were no reported injuries. Russia claims Ukrainian helicopters carried out strikes on its territory Read more Russia claims Ukrainian helicopters carried out strikes on its territory Also...

A biolab in Ukraine has allegedly conducted unethical human experiments on behalf of the US government, Russia’s defense ministry claimed on Thursday in its latest update on Pentagon-funded research in the country. The allegations were made about a laboratory located in Merefa, a city in Ukraine’s Kharkov region, located about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southwest from the provincial capital. The Russian military claimed that “American scientists from the lab” made a series of human experiments between 2019 and 2021, using patients at a psych ward in Kharkov as subjects. The research involved testing “potentially dangerous biological preparations,” the ministry claimed, without explaining what exactly was being tested. The subjects were screened based on their age, nationality, and immunity status and were closely monitored, the ministry said. The ward kept no records about the alleged trials while its staff members were made to sign non-disclosure agreements, it alleged. The Russ...

The United States will take “every step” to ensure that China will never invade Taiwan, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Thursday. Speaking at the Economic Club conference in Washington, Sullivan suggested that Beijing is “carefully looking” now at the events in Ukraine following the launch of Russia’s military offensive in February, “to learn lessons writ large, including with respect to Taiwan.” Stressing that “the situation with Ukraine and the situation with Taiwan is not the same,” Sullivan nevertheless underlined that, over the last few weeks, US officials have been telling its allies and partners that “this kind of thing can happen in Europe, this kind of thing can also happen in the Indo-Pacific.” “And it’s incumbent upon responsible countries in the world to send a clear message that any type of aggression is unacceptable, wherever it happens,” the White House security adviser said. US lawmakers arrive in Taiwan unannouncedREAD MORE: US lawmaker...

US President Joe Biden’s approval rating sank to 38% in a CNBC poll released on Thursday, down from 46% in December. Respondents rated Biden poorly on his handling of the economy and the conflict in Ukraine, and rated inflation as their number one concern. The poll found Biden sitting at 38% approval, and 53% disapproval. Just four months earlier, CNBC clocked Biden at 46% approval to 48% disapproval. On his handling of the economy, Biden rates even lower, with only 35% of Americans approving of his job and 60% disapproving, down from 37% and 56% respectively in December. When it comes to the economy, Biden’s rating has fallen consistently over four consecutive CNBC polls. Some 48% of respondents rated the rising cost of living as their number one concern, with the war in Ukraine coming in second at 31%, followed by immigration (23%) and unemployment (20%). The US Labor Department said on Tuesday that its consumer price index soared 8.5% in March from 12 months earlier, the sharpe...

The proffessor What are the proper historical analogies for when a dictator invades a country and then deliberately tries to wipe out the civilian population in parts of the country he is attacking or occupying? johnnie ellington @e7johnny · 2m Moscow attacked the neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements signed in 2014, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. johnnie ellington @e7johnny · 2m The German and French brokered Minsk Protocol was designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state. Russia has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. johnnie ellington @e7johnny · 12s Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force. All your bs pro propaganda only work on the uneducated...

Washington is not planning to return the assets confiscated from Russian businessmen as part of the latest sanctions imposed on Moscow over the military operation in Ukraine, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Thursday. “Our goal is not to give them back,” Sullivan said at the Economic Club of Washington, adding that the US authorities would use the seized assets “in a better way.” “There are authorities we have, and there are further authorities that maybe we could develop, and that’s something we’re actively looking at,” the official added. The White House has introduced several rounds of sanctions against Moscow since February 24, when Russia’s military operation in Ukraine began. As part of the penalties, the US authorities arrested Russian foreign assets along with those belonging to the country’s businesses and high-profile individuals. Washington is not planning to return the assets confiscated from Russian businessmen as part of the latest sanctions imposed o...

German police have arrested four German nationals on suspicion of plotting to kidnap public figures, including Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, as well as planning to carry out a series of attacks on power facilities with the intent to cause a nationwide power outage. “The two main suspects are believed to have agreed with others to mount an attack on the federal health minister,” said a spokesperson for the Koblenz prosecutor’s office on Thursday. According to the police, the group, which called themselves Vereinte Patrioten – German for United Patriots – were detained on Wednesday and found to be affiliated with anti-Covid-19 groups as well as with the far-right “Reichsburger” movement, which denies the legitimacy of the modern German state. State prosecutors claim that by carrying out the kidnapping of public figures and the attacks on German power facilities, the group “intended to cause civil war-like conditions” which would enable the toppling of Germany’s elected government...

Germany has to do “everything” to support Ukraine but that does not mean sending just any weapons it has in stock to Kiev, Eva Hoegl, the German parliament’s commissioner for the Armed Forces, told Handelsblatt daily on Wednesday. Berlin has already been doing “more than suggested in the public debate” when it comes to military aid for Ukraine, Hoegl believes. “Everything must be done to support them,” she added. Still, that does not mean that Berlin should freely give away just anything it has in store since that would just make no sense, the commissioner argued. To make “responsible” decisions, the German authorities have to first look at what Ukraine can effectively use, Hoegl said. “We cannot simply deliver everything a [German] company has somewhere in its backyard like the 50-year-old Marder infantry fighting vehicles,” she explained, adding that she believed the government and the Federal Security Council would explore all reasonable possible options. Asked if NATO members sh...

A group of six US lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Thursday on an unannounced two-day visit, amid growing tensions between Beijing and Washington. The visit has been confirmed by the American Institute in Taiwan, which serves as a de-facto embassy of the United States in Taipei. “The congressional delegation will meet with senior Taiwan leaders to discuss U.S.-Taiwan relations, regional security, and other significant issues of mutual interest,” the Institute said in a statement. According to Reuters, the bipartisan group, which includes a chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez and senior Republican senator Lindsey Graham, arrived on Thursday in Taipei on a US Air Force aircraft and were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu. Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen will meet the lawmakers on Friday. Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang said that the lawmakers' visit would contribute to deepening partnership between the island and the US,...

Greece has announced it would not send any more weapons to Ukraine because it doesn’t have any to spare, and sending more would mean weakening its own defenses. The country has been among the states that have been arming Ukraine after Russia launched its offensive in February. “The defense equipment we sent to Ukraine came from our stocks. There is no issue of sending more,” Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos told the country’s parliament on Wednesday. “There is no way we can weaken any part of our defense, especially on the islands, by taking a portion of it and sending it to Ukraine. I want to make this clear.” Greece has already sent Ukraine several C-130 cargo planes with military aid, such as portable rocket launchers, Kalashnikov rifles, and ammunition. Athens, however, has refused Washington’s request to transfer its heavier, Soviet-made weapons, such as the Tor-M1 and Osa-AK air defense missile systems, the Greek media reported. Turkey comments on possibility ...

The Russian government has announced plans to support the country’s airlines so they can reimburse passengers whose flights were canceled due to sanctions. Under the proposed plan, Russian air carriers will get 19.5 billion rubles ($238 million), according to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. “The subsidies will be used to refund passengers the cost of tickets on routes that have been canceled due to external restrictions, which will save carriers their own working capital, which means there will be financial resources to ensure flight safety,” Mishustin said on Thursday. The EU, UK, and the US closed their airspace to Russian planes as part of sanctions introduced against the country. Russian airspace is also closed to countries that issued the flight ban.

Beijing won’t sanction or condemn Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, and will reject American “pressure or coercion” to change its relationship with Moscow, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters on Thursday. China has remained publicly neutral on the conflict, with Zhao saying this position puts it “on the right side of history.” “China is playing a constructive role in the Ukraine issue," Zhao told a press briefing, claiming that Beijing has “made considerable efforts to de-escalate the situation, defuse the crisis and rebuild peace." “We oppose unfounded accusations and suspicions against China, nor will we accept any pressure or coercion,” Zhao continued. “Time will tell that China’s claims are on the right China has from the outset called for a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Ukraine, and has affirmed both Ukraine’s right to territorial integrity and Russia’s legitimate security concerns. It has continued to trade with Russia, and ha...

Another Russian village located near the border with Ukraine was shelled on Thursday, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod Region, has said. Earlier on Thursday it was reported that two Ukrainian helicopters were responsible for an attack on the border village of Klimovo in Bryansk Region, and in a separate incident a border crossing some 40km southwest of Klimovo was shelled. The village of Spodaryushino in Belgorod Region was also targeted, Gladkov wrote on Telegram. “There are no injuries or fatalities among the civilian population,” he said, adding that damage to property was also avoided. The residents of Spodaryushino and the nearby village of Bezymeno have been evacuated to safety, while additional security personnel were deployed at both locations, according to the governor. It was the second attack on Russian territory from Ukraine on Thursday. Earlier in the day, seven people, including a pregnant woman and a child, were injured in an airstrike on the village ...

Russia has claimed that two Ukrainian helicopters were responsible for an attack on the border village of Klimovo in Bryansk Region on Thursday, which left seven people injured. The incident had earlier been attributed to the Ukrainian military by the region’s governor. An update on the attack was given by Russia’s Investigative Committee, which said it was treating the incident as a criminal conspiracy. Its statement said two Ukrainian military attack helicopters crossed into Russian airspace at around midday local time, flying at a low altitude. The aircraft fired heavy weapons at the village, delivering at least six strikes on residential buildings, the statement said. Seven people were injured and six houses were damaged in the attack, the investigators said. Earlier, health officials said a two-year-old boy and his mother, who is pregnant, were among the seven victims of the attack. Two people were said to be in a serious condition. The attack was one of two separate incident...

Ukrainian authorities have released convicts from prisons in the Kharkov Region in the north east of the country and used them to assemble several new military units, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday. “In Kharkov, the formation of three new nationalist battalions is being completed, staffed by prisoners, who served sentences for grave and extremely grave crimes at the Alekseevskaya and 43rd correctional colonies,” Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, the head of the National Defense Management Center, said during a briefing. The main tasks of these battalions would be blocking Kharkov from the south in order to prevent the civilian population from leaving Ukraine’s second largest city and also targeting the units of the Ukrainian armed forces in case they try to retreat or surrender to the advancing Russian military, he pointed out. Russia claims mass surrender of Ukrainian marines Read more Russia claims mass surrender of Ukrainian marines According to Mizintsev with this ...

Following his visit to Moscow, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin assured him that gas will continue to be delivered to the country and that Vienna will be allowed to continue paying for it in euros. “Putin told me that the gas supply is safe, that Russia will deliver the contractually agreed quantities and that payments can continue to be made in euros,” Nehammer told Austrian APA and German DPA news agencies on Wednesday. The chancellor also noted that Austria, which still gets 80% of its gas from Russia, opposes an immediate EU gas embargo on Moscow, arguing that it is simply not possible at the moment and would mean that both Austrian industry and households would suffer serious harm, while not having much of an effect on Russia. “You know, there is a decision in the EU that we must try everything to become independent from Russian gas. And this is also the will of Austria, for sure. But it is not possible now. It will take time,...

The blaze that broke out aboard Russian missile cruiser ‘Moskva’ in the Black Sea late on Wednesday has been localized and the crew is safe, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday. The flagship of the Black Sea fleet, which is taking part in the country’s military operation in Ukraine, remains afloat. Its main missile armaments haven’t been affected by the blaze, the ministry says. “There is no open fire. The detonation of armaments has ceased,” the ministry announced in a statement on Thursday. The Atlant-class guided missile cruiser, which was commissioned in 1983, carries 16 anti-ship missiles and many more air-defense missiles, torpedoes and guns. Measures are being undertaken to organize the towing of the 12,490-ton vessel to port, the ministry said, adding that the cause of the fire being investigated. Several Ukrainian officials had earlier boasted that a battery of their Neptune anti-ship missiles hidden in the area near the port town of Odessa had successfully struck the ...

Germany’s Trade Union Confederation (DGB) has raised deep concerns over the possible ban on imports of Russian oil and gas that is currently being discussed by the EU policy-makers as part of a new raft of sanctions against Moscow. According to Reiner Hoffmann, the head of the alliance, the embargo is expected to hit the German economy much harder than Russia’s. “I believe that stopping [energy] imports does not make sense at all,” Hoffman told German broadcaster ARD. The official warned that “the economic consequences for Europe and Germany would be much more serious than for Russia,” highlighting that the ban “will not affect events in Ukraine.” Moreover, the embargo on Russian energy supplies “will lead to a significant decline in the labor market” and trigger “the collapse of all supply chains,” Hoffmann outlined. On Wednesday, government spokesman Wolfgang Buechner said that the German authorities oppose introducing an immediate embargo on Russian supplies of oil and gas, ad...

The biggest comet ever recorded by astronomers is approaching the Solar System, researchers have said. The C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) is the “largest long-period comet ever detected,” a team of researchers wrote in a study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on Tuesday. The comet was discovered in 2010, but scientists only recently estimated its features, using NASA’s Hubble space telescope. It is roughly 80 miles (129 km) wide, larger than the US state of Rhode Island and roughly the size of Wales. Scientists say they found dinosaur ‘killed’ by asteroid Read more Scientists say they found dinosaur ‘killed’ by asteroid The nucleus - the comet’s solid, central part - is about 50 times larger than found in most comets, NASA said. It weighs 500 trillion tons, a hundred times greater than the mass of a typical comet. “This is an amazing object, given how active it is when it’s still so far from the Sun,” said the study’s lead author Man-To Hui of the Macau Unive...

Moscow will have to deploy significant forces to its borders with Finland in response to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, Russian ex-president, Dmitry Medvedev, has warned on Thursday, adding that deploying nuclear arms to the region might well be a possible way of “restoring the balance” of security in the area. The two nations acceding to the military bloc would only mean Russia will get more “officially registered adversaries,” the former president has written in a lengthy Telegram post commenting on the aspirations of Stockholm and Helsinki to join NATO in the near future. The length of the land border between Russia and the military bloc will nearly double in that case, Medvedev, who is currently deputy chairman of the country’s Security Council, has added. “This border [security] will have to be strengthened,” he has said. The possible security enhancement options include “drastically increasing the number of land forces and air defenses” in the region and deploying additional ...

India has said that it is tracking human rights abuses in the US, including those targeting Americans of Indian origin. The statement came after Washington criticized India’s human rights record. “We take up human rights issues when they arise [in the US], especially when they pertain to our community,” India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Wednesday. “And, in fact, we had a case yesterday,” the minister said, referring to the recent attacks on members of the Sikh community in New York. On Tuesday, two men were assaulted with fists and a stick in Richmond Hill in Queens, police said. The victims were hospitalized. The incident, which is being investigated as a possible hate crime, occurred a week after another Sikh man was attacked in the same area. He was left with a broken nose and severe bruises. “Sikhs have repeatedly faced this kind of violence – now multiple times in this same place in this month alone,” Nikki Singh, senior policy and advocacy manager with...

The possibility of Turkey joining anti-Russia sanctions is “unrealistic,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry chief, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said in an interview with local news channel NTV on Thursday. He noted however, that Ankara would be forced to follow sanctions if they’re approved by the United Nations. “Turkey abides by international law, we will continue to pursue a balanced foreign policy. But if the UN approves sanctions against Russia, Turkey will be forced to follow them,” said Cavusoglu. “But in terms of joining sanctions imposed by individual countries, I think these countries understand themselves that, given Turkey's intermediary position, it is unrealistic,” he added. He went on to say that Turkey’s Western partners often question Ankara’s position, stating that “They often ask “will you close the sky?” You need to understand that Turkey holds an intermediary position and is committed to stabilizing the situation.” Since Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine on February ...

Seven people, including a pregnant woman and a child, were injured on Thursday in a shelling that targeted a village in Russia located close to the border with Ukraine, Russian officials said. A separate attack targeting a nearby border crossing was reported by the guards. The first incident happened in the village of Klimovo in Russia’s Bryansk Region, some 10km north of the border. Projectiles fired by Ukrainian troops hit residential buildings, Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said. Seven people were reported injured in the incident by health officials. A list of victims published by Russian media said a two-year-old boy, a 74-year-old woman, and a 35-year-old man were seriously hurt during the shelling. A later update by the Health Ministry said the toddler’s injuries were moderate rather than serious. The baby’s 25-year-old pregnant mother was also among the victims. Russia warns Ukraine it might strike KievREAD MORE: Russia warns Ukraine it might strike Kiev Local residents said the...

The US Labor Department said on Tuesday that its consumer price index soared 8.5% in March from 12 months earlier, the sharpest year-over-year increase since 1981. The surge was driven by continuing supply-chain problems, soaring demand and rising energy prices, it said. Statistics showed that the monthly rise was 1.2%, the fastest jump since September 2005 and a sharp acceleration from February’s 0.8% increase. US authorities are blaming the surging prices on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with President Joe Biden saying on Monday: “I am doing everything within my executive power to bring down the Putin price hike.” Meanwhile, Joe Manchin, the moderate Democratic senator from West Virginia, told the Financial Times that “the Federal Reserve and the administration failed to act fast enough, and today’s data is a snapshot in time of the consequences being felt across the country.” He added that it was a “disservice to the American people to act as if inflation is a new phenomenon.” T...

Weeks after snapping up discounted Russian crude, India is setting for a major increase in its purchases of coal from the sanctioned country. The world’s sixth biggest economy is focused on its energy security, disregarding attempts by the US and its allies to isolate Moscow. In March, India’s coal imports from Russia reportedly surged to a two-year high. The Asian country purchased 1.04 million tons of Russian coal, the highest amount since January 2020, according to Matthew Boyle, lead dry bulk analyst at commodity intelligence firm Kpler, as cited by CNBC. Last week, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order banning the import of Russian coal along with crude oil, gasoline, petroleum products, oils and liquefied gas as part of a new batch of penalties against Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine. Later, the European Commission proposed banning Russian energy imports, including coal. However, the bloc’s policy-makers have failed to agree on a new package of sanctio...

rench opposition frontrunner Marine Le Pen said she would not use the term “genocide” regarding Russia’s military action in Ukraine. The position, which she voiced during a TV interview on Thursday, coincides with that of her election rival, incumbent President Emmanuel Macron, whose job she aims to take. The term “legally corresponds to an extremely precise definition which cannot be given at this phase of the conflict,” the opposition candidate told France 2. Macron likewise refused to adopt the definition during his appearance on the channel on Wednesday. Both French presidential candidates said they believed that Russian troops committed war crimes in Ukraine by harming civilians. The accusation of genocide came from Kiev after Russia withdrew troops from the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital. Ukrainian officials presented what they claimed to be evidence of war crimes committed by Russian soldiers in the town of Bucha. President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed the finds proved...

As the US ramped up its involvement in the Ukrainian crisis by supplying heavier weapons to Kiev, it also decided to provide intelligence reports that the Ukrainian forces would need to attack targets in Crimea, US media reported on Wednesday. Russia considers the peninsula part of its territory. “As the conflict evolves, we continue to adjust to ensure that operators have the flexibility to share detailed, timely intelligence with the Ukrainians,” a US intelligence official told the Wall Street Journal about the policy change. The newspaper said Washington is moving to “significantly expand” intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, but “will refrain from providing intelligence that would enable the Ukrainians to strike targets on Russian territory”. The report, which was confirmed by the New York Times, specifically mentioned Crimea as covered by the new policy. Moscow disagrees with the US definition of Crimea as part of Ukraine. The region broke away from the country after the 2014 ar...

Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has shared his frustration that conflicts in other parts of the world, including his home country of Ethiopia, don’t get as much attention internationally as the events in Ukraine. “I don’t know if the world really gives equal attention to black and white lives,” he said during a virtual press conference on Wednesday. The crisis in Ukraine deserves attention as “it impacts the whole world,” he acknowledged, but added that “even a fraction of it isn’t being given to Tigray [in Ethiopia], Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria and the rest. A fraction.” “I need to be blunt and honest that the world is not treating the human race the same way. Some are more equal than others. And when I say this, it pains me. Because I see it. Very different. The Russian military operation in Ukraine has been topping headlines everywhere around the globe for almost two months. It prompted the US, EU and their allies to slap dracon...

The European Commission has told member states that it believes a new scheme, which Russia wants foreign buyers to use to pay for natural gas, will violate the bloc's sanctions, Bloomberg reported on Thursday citing an anonymous source. Moscow wants all payments to go through one bank and be converted into rubles. Russia has instructed buyers of its fuel operating in designated “unfriendly nations” to open two accounts in Russia’s Gazprombank, one in euro and one in rubles. The payments for gas would go to the euro account, after which the bank would exchange them into rubles. The state-owned Gazprom will consider the payment complete once the rubles arrive. Moscow and many European governments have disagreed on whether the scheme breaches the terms of the standing gas contracts. The Commission, the EU’s executive body, presented its preliminary legal assessment of the proposal to national governments of the bloc, Bloomberg said. The analysis reportedly said the Russian proposal...

The United States and Japan have rejected media reports suggesting Tokyo will be invited to join a security pact with Australia and the UK to jointly develop hypersonic weapons, insisting there are no plans to include other nations. Asked about the speculation during a Wednesday press briefing, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said it was “inaccurate,” telling reporters the AUKUS alliance would not become “JAUKUS” anytime soon. “Our focus has been on finalizing a trilateral program of work on a range of advanced military capabilities that align our priorities and amplify our collective strengths,” she added. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno also responded to the claim on Wednesday, stating that Tokyo was “not asked to participate in the security framework.” The initial report was published in Japan’s Sankei Shimbun newspaper on Tuesday. Citing “several government officials,” it said the US, Britain and Australia had “asked for Japan's participation in AUKUS,”...