European union

EU ministers on Friday agreed cuts to peak-hour power consumption and windfall levies on energy companies in an urgent effort to bring down sky-high energy prices. The decision, announced by the Czech Republic in its role holding the EU presidency, aims to mitigate energy costs sent soaring by Russia’s war in Ukraine and as the northern hemisphere winter looms. European households and businesses are already staggering under surging energy bills, fuelling record inflation that in the eurozone has hit 10 percent. Extra drama has been injected with several unexplained leaks this week of Russia-Germany undersea gas pipelines, Nord Stream 1 and 2, that were widely seen as “sabotage”. The EU ministers’ agreement came a day after Germany — the bloc’s export powerhouse that had long been dependent on Russian gas — announced a 200-billion-euro (about $200 billion) energy aid package to shield its consumers. Other EU countries have deployed smaller-scale national measures with the … [Read more...] about European Union to Cut Power Use, Levy Energy Companies

The Conservative Party-led British government is pressuring pro-Brexit, pro-British unionists in Northern Ireland to accept their ongoing sell-out to the European Union and form a regional government or face consequences. Northern Ireland, sometimes referred to as Ulster, particularly by British Unionists in the Province, was left effectively still inside the European Union, at least for the purposes of customs and regulations, and even subject to an internal border between it and the Great British mainland in the Brexit deal agreed by Boris Johnson. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which is the largest of the pro-British parties in Northern Ireland, fiercely opposed this as undermining their place in the United Kingdom, and ultimately refused to continue participating in the power-sharing government with pro-EU, Irish nationalist party Sinn Féin when London failed to rectify the situation — meaning no regional government at all. Chris Heaton-Harris, the Liz Truss … [Read more...] about UK Govt Pressures Pro-Brexit Unionists in Ulster to Accept EU Sell-Out

For days, Ariana Afshar grappled with whether or not to post on social media about the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, in Iran. Iranian officials are investigating after they said Amini had a pre-existing condition and suffered a heart attack in the custody of Iran’s morality police, who had arrested her for allegedly violating the country’s strictly enforced Islamic dress code. Amini’s family denies that and says witnesses told them she was beaten by police. She died days later at a hospital. Thousands of people have since been protesting the regime in the streets of Iran. Afshar, 26, an Iranian American content creator, knew weighing in would mean she could no longer return safely to her second home, where speaking out against the regime could result in arrest. But after having mulled over the risks, she decided posting was worth the sacrifice. The online solidarity, Afshar said, can go a long way as Iranian women fight for their freedoms after … [Read more...] about Iranians are exposing their regime’s abuses online — and the world is watching

A poll has found that around a third of French women of childbearing age say they do not want to ever have children, citing various reasons including fears of climate change. The survey, which was conducted by the Ifop Institute, spoke to 2,005 women and girls over the age of 15 and found that around a third of those of childbearing age, defined for the purpose of the study as being between 18 49 years of age, were not interested in ever having children in their lifetimes. Among those who did not wish to ever have children, 50 per cent said they did not think that having a child was essential to their own personal development while 48 per cent said they simply did not to bear want the responsibility of raising a child, the newspaper Le Figaro reports . France Sees Third Straight Year of Birthrate Decline https://t.co/gDoHByWqJi — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 18, 2018 Broken down by political affiliation, nearly half of those who support the French … [Read more...] about Green Concerns Cited: Third of French Women Do Not Want Children Ever

On paper, Russia could very well be considered one of the more formidable states in the international system. The country has more than 5,900 nuclear warheads , a permanent seat at the U.N. Security Council, and significant influence in world energy markets. Russian President Vladimir Putin 's war of choice in Ukraine, however, has raised a critical question the strongman is too frightened to ask himself: Is Russia still a great power? Before the conflict in Ukraine erupted in February 2022, Russia was widely seen as a force to be reckoned with. Sure, the Russian economy was smaller than Italy's . The Russian budget relied extensively on oil and gas exports. And the Russian military was largely untested in conventional warfare, with the Kremlin increasingly turning to mercenaries in locales like Mali, the Central African Republic, and Syria instead of professional soldiers. But there was a general assumption that Moscow had the capacity and motivation to effectively pursue … [Read more...] about Is Russia still a great power? | Opinion

Ukraine announced on Friday that it will be signing an application to accelerate its bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) after Russia annexed four Ukrainian territories. "Today, here in Kyiv, in the heart of our country, we are taking a decisive step for the security of the entire community of free nations," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a translated statement on Friday morning. "Today I held a meeting of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The meeting of the National Security and Defense Council has just ended. We have a decision." Zelensky continued, "De facto, we have already completed our path to NATO. De facto, we have already proven interoperability with the alliance's standards, they are real for Ukraine—real on the battlefield and in all aspects of our interaction....Today, Ukraine is applying to make it de jure. Under a procedure consistent with our significance for the protection of our entire community. Under … [Read more...] about Ukraine puts NATO allies’ support to the test after Putin claims territory

Russia's military lost two jets, 13 tanks and a helicopter over the last 24 hours, Ukraine's military claimed Friday, despite Vladimir Putin announcing the annexation of four Ukrainian regions hours later. In a statement on their official Facebook page on Friday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine detailed Russia's combat losses between the beginning of the war on February 24 and September 30, as well as those from the last day. It estimated that 59,080 Russian troops and military personnel had died in the fighting since the war started, including 500 over the last day. It said Russia had lost 13 tanks in the last day, and 2,338 since the beginning of the fighting. Russia lost two jets in the last day, contributing to the 264 it has lost in total since the start of the conflict. Over the last day, Russia lost one helicopter to Ukrainian forces; it has lost 225 overall since February 24. In the last 24 hours, Russia lost 23 armored combat machines (APVs), … [Read more...] about Russia loses 2 jets, 13 tanks and a helicopter in a single day: Ukraine

As the West and Russia remain mired in soaring tensions over Russia's war in Ukraine, increasingly apparent signs of sabotage that struck twin gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea have emerged as another, dangerous front in the crisis between NATO and the Kremlin. Now, Russian President Vladimir Putin has explicitly blamed the attack on an "Anglo-Saxon" plot, further raising the stakes. NATO, for its part, has not yet publicly discussed putting forth any specific military response, nor has it publicly attributed blame for the leaks. But the alliance's North Atlantic Council said Thursday that "all currently available information indicates that this is the result of deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage" in comments referred to Newsweek . "We, as Allies, have committed to prepare for, deter and defend against the coercive use of energy and other hybrid tactics by state and non-state actors," the statement said. "Any deliberate attack against Allies' critical … [Read more...] about Nord Stream pipeline “sabotage” sets up new crisis between NATO and Russia

The Russian embassy in Washington, D.C., waded into the diplomatic row bubbling up over the presumed sabotage of gas pipelines supplying Europe by accusing the U.S. of having the means and motive to carry out an attack. The hot take on Thursday came as the Swedish coast guard confirmed a fourth gas leak had been discovered on the damaged Nord Stream pipelines earlier in the week, Reuters reports, with gas now hemorrhaging into the Baltic Sea. On Wednesday, the European Union said all the available evidence suggested that some kind of sabotage was responsible for the mysterious leaks after seismologists confirmed explosions preceded the leaks. The bloc of 27 nations vowed a “robust” response to the “utterly unacceptable” disruption of its energy infrastructure. But as lawmakers and international analysts started to suggest Moscow could be behind such an attack on the Russian-built pipelines, the Russian embassy in Washington made with wild claim that the true saboteur is more … [Read more...] about Putin Wants Us to Believe U.S. Is Blowing up Gas Pipeline

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin marked the illegal annexation of a territory representing 15 percent of Ukraine on Friday with a rambling speech lamenting the fall of the Soviet Union, condemning gender transitions for children, and proclaiming, “the destruction of this Western hegemony is irreversible.” Four regions of Ukraine – Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and the two regions of eastern Donbas, Donetsk and Luhansk – held wartime referendums throughout the past week asking civilians if they would like Russia to annex their land. Reports on the ground indicated that soldiers went door-to-door in some regions clearly brandishing weapons and forcing citizens to vote in favor of the annexation, leading the vast majority of the free world to reject the referendum as a sham. The pro-Russia leaders in all four areas claimed that an overwhelming number of participants, as many as 99 percent of voters in the Donbas, supported joining Russia. The four leaders attended an event in … [Read more...] about Vladimir Putin Vows Destruction of ‘Satanic’ West in Ukraine Annexation Rant