The World Blog by humble servant.

The Russian military has announced a new unilateral pause in its operation at the Azovstal steelworks plant in Mariupol, promising to open humanitarian corridors for civilians said to be holed up at the facility for three days straight. The steel plant remains the last stronghold under the control of Ukrainian servicemen and members of the neo-Nazi Azov regiment in the city. “In accordance with the decision of Russia’s leadership, based on the humane principles of the Russian Armed Forces … we will open a humanitarian corridor from the territory of the Azovstal steel plant to evacuate civilians (workers, women and children), whose presence in the underground facilities of the plant has once again been claimed by Kiev,” the military said in a statement late on Wednesday. The humanitarian corridor will be open for three days, from Thursday to Saturday, functioning from 8am to 6pm Moscow time every day. Civilians evacuating from the plant will be free to go anywhere, should they desire ...

Professor Harald Matthes of Berlin’s Charite University Hospital said on Tuesday that he has recorded 40 times more “serious side effects” from Covid-19 vaccinations than official German sources have acknowledged. As Matthes called on doctors to speak up for those allegedly injured, US pharma giant Pfizer released a tranche of data apparently showing its jab was far less effective than claimed. Matthes has been conducting a study entitled ‘Safety Profile of Covid-19 Vaccines’ for a year, and after surveying 40,000 vaccinated people, he has noticed that one in every 125 have struggled with “serious side effects,” Germany’s MDR television network reported on Tuesday. "The number is not surprising," Matthes explained. "It corresponds to what is known from other countries such as Sweden, Israel or Canada. Incidentally, even the manufacturers of the vaccines have already determined similar values ​​in their studies." However, Matthes claimed that this risk profile i...

"First they still allow infections ('breakthrough') and the duration appears to be limited. We need vaccines that prevent re-infection and have many years of duration. Bill Gates. Who is not a scenitist he is know for microsoft. And there is no such thing as breakthrough virus if VACCINATED with a true vaccine and tha rna messenger is not a vaccine but a gene therphy drug.Experimental Vaccines The vaccine received temporary authorization under Regulation 174 of the Human Medicine Regulations Act (2012). The report notes that mRNA vaccines have never been approved for human usage and the effects are completely unknown. “The long-term effects and safety of the treatment in recipients are unknown. It is important to note that the Corona Virus ‘vaccines’ are the world’s first introduction to the synthetic m-RNA technology and all previous immunisations [sic] worked in a totally different manner, by way of introducing a deactivated or weakened virus to the body to trigger a na...

The Delaware computer technician who exposed data from a laptop left at his shop by President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, has sued US Representative Adam Schiff (D-California) and three media outlets for defaming him by suggesting that he was an agent of a Russian John Paul Mac Isaac’s lawsuit against Schiff, CNN, Politico, and the Daily Beast was filed on Tuesday at Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville, Maryland, seeking at least $1 million in actual damages and far more in punitive damages. Mac Isaac claimed that his business and reputation were destroyed because he was smeared as a treasonous criminal who worked with the Russians to influence the 2020 presidential election. The filing was first reported by the New York Post, which also broke the story on alleged influence-peddling by the Biden family in October 2020 – just three weeks before the election – based on emails from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop. “After fighting to reveal the truth, all I want now is for t...

The Russian ruble rose to its strongest position against the US dollar in over two years on Tuesday, amid reports that Russia’s dollar payments on two foreign bonds reached the creditors just before the deadline, averting a default. The exchange rate reached 66.43 rubles per dollar at 13:06 GMT during Tuesday’s foreign exchange trading, Bloomberg data showed, although the Russian currency lost some of its gains later in the day. The Moscow Exchange was closed on Tuesday due to an extended public holiday. When trading in Moscow opened on Wednesday, the Russian currency was at just under 69 rubles per dollar at 09:12 GMT, the highest level since May 2020. The ruble has been strong against the euro as well, touching 72.00 in morning trading in Moscow, its highest point since February 2020. Russia averts defaultREAD MORE: Russia averts default This comes as the EU proposed a sixth package of sanctions against Moscow, which includes the gradual phasing-out of Russian oil imports. On F...

The European Union has so far not presented Hungary with firm guarantees of its energy security amid an effort to phase out Russian oil imports, the Hungarian government said on Wednesday. The comment came ahead of a meeting of EU envoys on the decision. The Hungarian government’s press office told the news outlet AFP that it did not “see any plan or guarantee on how even a transition could be managed on the basis of the current proposals, and what would guarantee Hungary’s energy security.” According to AFP, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested that Hungary and Slovakia, two nations heavily dependent on Russian oil, be given an additional transition period to ensure a less painful implementation of the ban. The phase-out of Russian oil had been touted as one of the components of the EU’s sixth round of sanctions against Moscow, which representatives of all 27 EU member states discussed on Wednesday. For the new sanctions to come into effect, the package has ...

The European Union is seeking to go beyond an import ban on Russian crude as part of its new sanctions package, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. It said that Brussels plans to target insurers to undermine Moscow’s ability to ship oil anywhere in the world. According to officials and a draft document seen by the outlet, the bloc is proposing banning European vessels and companies from providing services, including insurance, linked to the transportation of Russian oil and products globally. Without this insurance, Russia and its customers would have to find alternatives for risks including oil spills and mishaps at sea, the media said. The insurance measures come on top of the EU’s plan to ban imports of Russian crude and refined products by the end of the year. On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed a sixth package of sanctions against Moscow, which includes an embargo on Russian oil. According to Reuters sources The Kremlin, in turn, warned that a ban on the import of Russi...

It’s been just over a fortnight since officials at Wimbledon announced that Russian and Belarusian players would be barred from this year’s grass court showpiece because of the conflict in Ukraine. The ensuing period has seen tennis descend into civil war with widespread criticism of the decision, including from leading players and organizations. We look at some of the key reaction to the decision by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) – with the likes of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray joining Novak Djokovic in recent days in their condemnation, alongside reports of potential retaliatory action by the ATP and WTA. Denials of discrimination Announcing its ban on April 20, Wimbledon organizers the AELTC claimed they were left with little choice. “Given the profile of The Championships in the United Kingdom and around the world, it is our responsibility to play our part in the widespread efforts of Government, industry, sporting and creative institutions to limit Russia’s global ...

The US Navy has decided to allow sailors living on the USS George Washington to move to other accommodations after a string of suicides onboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The vessel has been dry-docked in Virginia since 2017 and is undergoing an extensive overhaul and refueling process. “The move plan will continue until all Sailors who wish to move off-ship have done so,” Naval Air Force Atlantic said in a statement. While the vessel is not fully crewed during the overhaul process, roughly half of its full 5,000-strong compartment continues to work there. Some 420 sailors live at the dry-docked vessel. The move began on Monday, with more than 200 sailors already leaving the carrier and moving ashore to a nearby Navy facility. The decision to allow sailors not to live aboard the vessel undergoing repairs comes after a string of deaths at the aircraft carrier. Over the past 12 month, seven crew members of the USS George Washington have died, including at least four by sui...

US comedian and actor Dave Chappelle was tackled to the ground by an unidentified individual while performing on Tuesday night at ‘Netflix Is a Joke: The Festival’ in Los Angeles. Security reacted by cornering the man and allegedly beating him up. Later, the suspect was arrested and hospitalized with multiple injuries. He was reportedly armed with a replica gun that could eject a knife blade, but it remains unclear whether the attacker intended to use it. His motives are also unknown. Are these the death throes of cancel culture?READ MORE: Are these the death throes of cancel culture? Following the attack, Chappelle appeared unhurt and continued his performance. He commented on the incident, saying, “It was a trans man.” The joke was a reference to the controversy surrounding his comments on the transgender community. Last year, the comedian faced backlash for stating that “gender is a fact.” Later on in the show, comedian Chris Rock, who had performed earlier in the evening, came ...

Russian forces are not storming the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, where Ukrainian military servicemen and members of the neo-Nazi Azov battalion have been holed up for more than a month, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday. According to the official, the Russian military is abiding by President Vladimir Putin’s earlier order not to storm the plant. “There is no assault. We see that flare-ups occur when militants get out to assume gun emplacements. These attempts are being suppressed quite promptly,” he said. On Tuesday, several Russian and Ukrainian media outlets reported that fighting had broken out at and around the giant steelworks compound following a few days of relative calm thanks to a ceasefire declared by Moscow to ensure the evacuation of civilians from the area. According to these reports, the Azovstal plant was being pounded by artillery and aerial bombardment. Unverified footage circulating on social media appeared to corroborate this, d...

The UK is forcing social media, internet service providers and app stores to block content from state-sponsored Russian media outlets – RT and Sputnik news agency. “For too long RT and Sputnik have churned out dangerous nonsense dressed up as serious news to justify Putin’s invasion of Ukraine,” Tech and Digital Economy Minister Chris Philp said on Wednesday. “These outlets have already been booted off the airwaves in Britain and we’ve barred anyone from doing business with them. Now we’ve moved to pull the plug on their websites, social media accounts and apps to further stop the spread of their lies.” In March, Britain’s media regulator, Ofcom, revoked RT’s broadcasting license. The EU decided to ban RT from broadcasting the same month. RT Deputy Editor-in-Chief Anna Belkina said at the time that Ofcom revoked the license for “purely political reasons tied directly to the situation in Ukraine.” She said that the regulator “falsely judged RT to not be ‘fit and proper’ and in doing s...

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has urged the EU to make key decisions by a qualified majority, rather than seeking unanimous consent of its member states. Draghi said that in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, the EU must learn to work more robustly and effectively. “The geopolitical situation is undergoing rapid and profound change. We have to move, and move as quickly as possible,” Draghi told the European Parliament on Tuesday. “Building a common defense must be accompanied by a united foreign policy, and effective decision-making mechanisms.” We must move beyond the principle of unanimity, which gives rise to an intergovernmental approach based on mutual vetoes, and we must head towards qualified majority decision-making. “A Europe able to make prompt decisions is more credible in the eyes of its citizens and in the eyes of the world,” Draghi said. The PM urged to “streamline and optimize” military spending, and to process Ukrain...

A new study by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has found that 20% of container ships are currently stuck in congestion at various major ports. According to the report, published on Tuesday and seen by Reuters, China’s Covid lockdowns, the conflict in Ukraine, and other strains are causing longer delays at ports, driving up costs. RBC data shows that ships awaiting berth at the Port of Shanghai now tally 344. That is a 34% increase over the past month, with shipping from a warehouse in China to one in the United States currently taking 74 days longer than usual. The same can be seen in Europe, where ships from China are showing up an average of four days late. “Global port congestion is worsening and becoming increasingly widespread,” RBC analysts said, acknowledging that it’s hard to say when things will improve. The plethora of problems is having a “domino-like negative compounding effect across various markets,” they added. According to the report, since the start of the war in U...

North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile from Sunan Airport in Pyongyang on Wednesday, South Korea and Japan have said. The South’s Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) said the missile traveled 470km (292 miles) towards the Sea of Japan. The launch is “a grave threat to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the international community and clearly violates the UN Security Council resolutions,” according to the JCS. “Our military is tracking and monitoring related movements to prepare against the possibility of an additional launch, and it is maintaining a full readiness posture,” the Korean military told reporters. The JCS added that it is monitoring the situation for any additional launches that may occur. According to South Korean media, JCS Chairman General Won In-choul held a video conference about the alleged missile test with US Forces Korea (USFK) Commander General Paul LaCamera. The Japanese Defense Ministry also said it detected the missile launch. “North Ko...

The deputy leader of the Bundestag’s Left Party, Sevim Dagdelen, has accused the Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin, Andrey Melnik, of being a Nazi sympathizer and urged for his immediate expulsion. The move was called for after Melnik insulted Chancellor Olaf Scholz, calling him an “offended liverwurst” for his reluctance to pay a state visit to Ukraine. “If you don’t expel the Nazi sympathizer Melnik now, you have lost all self-respect,” the MP tweeted on Tuesday. “Anyone like Melnik who describes the Nazi collaborator Bandera as ‘our hero’ and makes a pilgrimage to his grave or defends the right-wing Azov Battalion as ‘brave’ is actually still benevolently described as a ‘Nazi sympathizer,’” she added. Earlier the same day, in an interview with news outlet DPA, the envoy expressed frustration over Germany’s lack of support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia. The diplomat described Scholz as an “offended liverwurst” and not “statesmanlike” in response to the chancellor’s refusa...

German exports to Russia plummeted to about €860 million ($905 million) in March “because of the sanctions imposed,” as well as “further measures to restrict exports, and unsanctioned behavior of market participants,” Germany’s federal statistical office said on Wednesday. That is the lowest level of exports in almost two decades. Imports from Russia declined by 2.4% month-over-month to €3.6 billion ($3.8 billion) in the same period. The disruption of trade with Moscow led to a 3.3% fall in overall German exports last month, according to the press release. “Looking ahead, despite richly filled order books, the short-term outlook for German exports doesn’t look encouraging,” said ING analyst Carsten Brzeski, as quoted by Bloomberg. “The war in Ukraine is very likely to disrupt other supply chains for good,” he said. “More generally, with a high risk that the war accelerates the trend of de-globalization and high energy and commodity prices for longer, the German export sector is fac...