>>16006861, >>16006946 Unconfirmed: Has Russian army captured U.S Major General Roger L. Cloutier Jr. (U.S. Africa Command HQ Chief of Staff) in Mariupol?
Why was a NATO commander inside Ukraine? No wonder Russia doesn’t trust anything US and EU says.
3 Apr, 2022 23:53
Clinton wants to punish Putinkek look at the picture! Whiny Baby Loser, Acting Fierce! Oooh we’re scared.
Failed presidential candidatecalls for more lethal aid to Ukraine to ‘end the bloodshed’
Former US Secretary of State Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for imposing harsher sanctions against Russia over its attack on Ukraine and ramping up pressure on Saudi Arabia, China and other countries to bring them into the anti-Moscow line.
“We need to be putting more sanctions more quickly on more things to up the ante on Russia and to try to bring more countries to the side of seeing that it’s in their interests to support that,” Clinton said on Sunday in an NBC News interview. “I think it’s time to double-down on the pressure,” she added.
Although President Joe Biden and other Western leaders have touted the unprecedented severity of the sanctions they’ve already imposed on Moscow, Clinton said they haven’t gone far enough.
“The only way that we're going to end the bloodshed and the terror that we're seeing unleashed in Ukraine and protect Europe and democracy is to do everything we can to impose even greater costs on Putin,” she said
There is more that can be done to increase pressure and stress – additional sanctions, more in the way of lethal aid.
For instance, Clinton suggested that more Russian banks can be barred from the SWIFT system for international transactions. She said, too, that more can be done to cut off Russia’s oil and natural gas sales, and Moscow should be kicked out of the G20.
“I would not allow Russia back into the organization that it has been a part of,” Clinton said, adding that she would ban Russian officials from attending the G20 summit later this year in Indonesia. “If they insisted on literally showing up, I would hope that there would be a significant, if not total, boycott.”
Clinton, who has repeatedly blamed the Kremlin, among other alleged culprits, for her loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election, also called for punishing Russian President Vladimir Putin personally. “The only way that we’re going to end the bloodshed and the terror that we’re seeing unleashed in Ukraine and protect Europe and democracy is to do everything we can to impose even greater costs on Putin.”
NBC host Chuck Todd suggested that Saudi Arabia has chosen to be “on the side of Putin” because its leaders have declined to boost oil production to enable Western nations to cut off Russian supplies. Clinton said she was “disappointed” by Riyadh’s decision and called for increasing pressure on the OPEC giant to support the West’s anti-Russia agenda.
“I would certainly do whatever I could that was available to me to try to be more persuasive, if you will, and talk about some consequences,” Clinton said. “I think you have to do carrot and stick, Chuck. We’re in an existential crisis right now.”
Clinton also lamented that other large countries, including China and India, continue to import Russian energy products while “trying to figure out which side to end up on this.” She called for increasing pressure on neutral or pro-Russia nations to make them realize they should turn against Moscow.
https://www.rt.com/news/553244-clinton-sanctions-putin-ukraine/
4 Apr, 2022 01:24
Hungarian PM names Zelensky, Soros as ‘opponents’
Viktor Orban claims his party has defeated an ‘overwhelming force’ of opposition
Hungary’s Viktor Orban, fresh from winning a fourth term as prime minister in Sunday’s election, said his party was victorious despite facing interference from left-wing forces at home and “opponents” around the world, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and billionaire political activist George Soros.
“We have such a victory, it can be seen from the moon, but it’s sure that it can be seen from Brussels,” Orban told supporters on Sunday night, alluding to his party’s clashes with EU leaders. “We will remember this victory until the end of our lives because we had to fight against a huge amount of opponents.”
Those forces included not only Hungary’s own opposition parties, he said, but also “Brussels bureaucrats, the Soros empire – with all its money – the international mainstream media, and in the end, even the Ukrainian president. We never had so many opponents at the same time.” (This guy is great, Trump archetype running Hungary)
Orban's Fidesz-led coalition has crushed asix-party opposition blocin Sunday's elections, and with over 90% of votes counted is projected to secure enough parliament seats for yet another constitutional supermajority.
“The entire world can see that our brand of Christian democratic, conservative, patriotic politics has won,” Orban declared.
In the run-up to the election, Orban was portrayed as “pro-Putin” by opponnets and Western media outlets, after he resisted pressure to take a stronger stance against Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s attack on Ukraine.
On the eve of the election, Zelensky took time out from defending against Russia’s military offensive to complain that Orban had failed to condemn Putin or aid Kiev’s war effort.
“He is virtually the only one in Europe to openly support Mr. Putin,” Zelensky claimed.
Orban has tried to keep Hungary out of the conflict, saying that sending weapons to Ukraine would make his country a target for Russian retaliation. He also has resisted pressure to sanction Russian oil and natural gas, saying Hungary has no alternative suppliers available to meet its fuel needs.
“This isn’t our war, we have to stay out of it,” Orban said during a campaign rally on Friday. He added that “Zelensky is not voting today,” and that “Putin isn’t running in the Hungarian elections.”
https://www.rt.com/news/553246-orban-soros-zelensky-opponents/
4 Apr, 2022 00:29
Pentagon defends ICBM test decision
Spokesman denies that Biden is fearful of Putin
The Pentagon has defended its decision to cancel a planned test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, saying it would be reckless to disregard risks of escalating the Ukraine crisis with Russian nuclear forces on high alert.
“We are trying to help Ukraine defend itself; we’re going to make sure NATO can defend itself,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Sunday in a Fox News interview. “But we also have to be mindful that Russia’s a nuclear power. And so as we make these decisions, it would be irresponsible for us not to think about making sure we don’t escalate this conflict any bigger than it already is.”
The test in question involved an LGM-30G Minuteman III missile, a silo-mounted ICBM that can carry multiple nuclear warheads. The launch had been delayed a month ago, shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his country’s nuclear deterrent forces to be in a higher state of readiness, or “special regime of combat duty.”
Kirby dismissed critics’ suggestions that President Joe Biden might be afraid of Putin. “Biden has been nothing but direct with President Putin,” he said. “There's no fear here. President Biden sees President Putin for exactly what he is and the kind of leader that he is and the kind of unprovoked aggression that he's conducting inside Ukraine.”
Kirby is not at all convincing.
The Pentagon spokesman noted that the Biden administration has bolstered the eastern flank of NATO, including additional aircraft and forces that have been deployed in just the past week. As for the ICBM launch, he said other tests remain on the schedule for later this year.
“We are confident in our capabilities in terms of ballistic missile capabilities – that they’re still ready, that they're still sound,” Kirby said. “This test is just one of many that will be conducted and have been conducted in recent years. So we're confident in that capability.”
When the test was delayed last month, Kirby said the decision was “an effort to demonstrate that we have no intention of engaging in any actions that could be misunderstood or misconstrued.” The Pentagon also criticized Putin’s decision to put Russian forces on high alert, calling it “dangerous, irresponsible and unnecessary.” Putin has said that “aggressive statements” by NATO and the West’s sanctions campaign against Russia made heightened nuclear readiness necessary.
The Minuteman III was first deployed in 1970 and was originally meant to be in service for about 10 years. Testing of its replacement, the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) missile, is scheduled to begin by the end of 2023.
https://www.rt.com/news/553245-pentagon-icbm-test-confident/
3 Apr, 2022 12:39
Spain sees highest inflation in nearly 40 years
The government says the Ukraine crisis is to blame
Inflation in Spain rose by 9.8% in March compared to the same month last year, according to preliminary data published by the National Statistics Institute on Wednesday.
The rise in the consumer price index is the highest since May 1985, and the provisional figure for this month is more than two percentage points above the rate registered in February, the statistics office said, adding that inflation was driven by hikes in the price of electricity, fuel, food, and alcoholic beverages.
“73% of the inflation can be explained by the runaway prices of energy and food staples, which have been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the parliament.
On Tuesday, the Bank of Spain called the March inflation reading “particularly negative” and “a very significant uptick.”
The country’s core inflation, which does not take into account price changes in volatile areas like food and energy, also hit 3.4% in March – the fastest annual increase since 2008.
The National Statistics Institute will publish the final consumer price index data for March on April 13.
Inflation has risen globally in recent months and has been made worse by the sanctions imposed on Russia by the US, EU, and their allies over Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine. The Eurozone saw a record 5.8% spike in inflation in February compared to the same month last year, according to Eurostat, the statistics office of the EU.
Spain is one of the most corrupt countries and had no real leadership because they are always on the take
https://www.rt.com/business/552978-spain-inflation-soaring/
Kek
3 Apr, 2022 08:00
Trump names 'biggest danger' to America
I bet they loved Trumps rally last night! Kekkity. Maybe Putin watches it for rally tips
People in the US are now going through “the most dangerous period” of their lives, the former president insisted
The greatest threat to the US isn’t Russia, China or any other foreign state, but the “radical left” politicians now running America, former US President Donald Trump said during a Republican rally in Washington Township, Michigan on Sunday.
Because of Joe Biden’s policies, which included giving up on Russian energy, America is now “teetering on the edge of an economic nightmare known as stagflation… that’s simultaneous inflation and recession,” the 45th US president said.
“We’re living through the most dangerous period of our lifetime. And we have a president who has no idea what’s going on. He has no idea what he’s doing. He has no idea what he’s saying and where he is. Other than that he’s doing a fantastic job,” he laughed in front of a massive crowd holding “Save America” banners and chanting “USA! USA!”
Despite all you are hearing and seeing of China and Russia and Iran and others, our biggest danger is not from outside coming in, our biggest danger is from the sick and radical politicians that are knowingly or unknowingly wanting to destroy our country,” he said to cheers from the audience.
“Everything the radical left touches turns into a catastrophic mess,” Trump insisted, accusing Biden and the Democrats in Congress of waging a “war on American energy” and creating a situation in which the middle class is “being crushed by the highest gas and food prices in the history of our country.”
According to the 75-year-old, inflation will cost an average family in the US an estimated $5,200 this year. “Biden’s weakness has given us the Ukraine disaster,” he added, referring to Russia’s ongoing military operation in the country, while also blaming the president for a spike in crime and an influx of migrants from Mexico.
He called on his supporters to vote for the Republicans in the midterm election in November. “We are going to retake Congress,” Trump declared.
https://www.rt.com/news/553205-trump-biden-us-inflation/
3 Apr, 2022 08:00
US drivers create fuel shortage in Mexico
The government was forced to scrap a gasoline subsidy in border regions
Mexico has been forced to cancel gasoline subsidies in regions bordering the US as American drivers flock to the area to stock up on cheaper fuel.
“In the United States, gasoline prices are higher than in Mexico, and citizens of that country cross the border to stock up,” Mexico’s Finance Ministry said in a statement on Saturday, adding that the border regions are now suffering a gasoline shortage “from an imbalance between supply and demand.”
The ministry went on to announce that the country’s subsidy policy, recently introduced to battle rising fuel prices, would not apply in the US border regions from April 2 to April 8.
The suspension applies to cities in the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora and Baja California, including Tijuana, considered one of the globe’s busiest border crossings.
US gasoline prices smashed historic records last month as global oil prices soared amid supply woes in connection to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine and ensuing anti-Russia sanctions, which many fear could impair Russia’s ability to export oil. The country is the world’s biggest supplier of oil to global markets, exporting about 2.85 million barrels per day, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Despite the global oil price spike, however, Mexican motorists have so far been spared higher fuel costs due to the subsidy recently introduced by the government. Mexico itself is a big oil producer and exporter, and the government said earlier this week that it plans to keep subsidizing gasoline at the pump using the extra revenue it collects from higher prices on oil exports. Finance Minister Rogelio Ramirez de la O recently said that Mexico will be able to keep rising costs at bay through subsidies even if the price of crude oil spikes to $155 per barrel.
Global benchmark Brent crude on Friday closed at $104.35 per barrel, while US benchmark WTI was at $99.38.
https://www.rt.com/business/553201-us-drivers-create-fuel-shortage-mexico/
Navy Vet Abducted in Afghanistan Appears in Newly Posted Video
Hostages in Afghanistan, POTUS mentioned this last night
WASHINGTON — An American man kidnapped in Afghanistan two years ago is seen in a video pleading for his release so that he can be reunited with his family, according to a recording posted Friday by The New Yorker magazine.
The video of Mark Frerichs marks the first time that the Navy veteran and civilian contractor has been seen by the public since his abduction in Kabul on Jan. 31, 2020. Frerichs, of Lombard, Illinois, is believed to be held by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network, and U.S. officials across two presidential administrations have tried unsuccessfully to get him home.
Frerichs appears by himself in the video, sitting upright before a dark curtain and wearing what appears to be traditional Afghan clothing. In the video, which he says was recorded last Nov. 28, he says he has patiently awaited his release and adds: “I'd like to ask the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan: please release me. Release me so that I may be re-united with my family. Thank you."
Videos of hostages are sometimes released to show proof that they are alive and to facilitate negotiations for a release, though it was not immediately clear if that was the case here.
The video was posted Friday by The New Yorker, which says it obtained it from an unidentified individual in Afghanistan.
An FBI spokeswoman in Washington declined to comment on the video's authenticity, but a sister of Frerichs, Charlene Cakora, said in a statement Friday that she was grateful to the Taliban for releasing the video and described it as "public confirmation of our family’s long-held belief that he is alive after more than two years in captivity.”
She appealed to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to step up efforts to get Frerichs released.
“We consider this to be an important indicator of the Taliban’s interest in seeking to arrange for Mark’s immediate release. President Biden and Secretary Blinken, we urge you to take bold and decisive action to bring Mark home," she added.
The Taliban has made clear to U.S. officials that it seeks the release of a convicted drug lord named Bashir Noorzai, but the U.S. government has not moved forward on any sort of prisoner trade or exchange that could get Frerichs home.
The video of Frerichs surfaced on the same day that the State Department announced the release from Afghanistan of U.S. citizen Safiullah Rauf and Anees Khalil, a lawful permanent resident. The State Department said that they were now in Qatar before traveling home but offered no additional details about their activities in Afghanistan.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/04/01/navy-vet-abducted-afghanistan-appears-newly-posted-video.html
American Veterans Joining the Ukrainian Army May Run Afoul of Federal Law and Could Lose Benefits or US Citizenship
Since the Russian Federation launched, in its words, a "special military operation" on Feb. 24, there has been a steady stream of footage of heartbreaking mass atrocities inflicted by the invading Russian military. Much of the world has looked on in shock. These are unfolding events the world has not seen coming out of Europe since the tragic collapse and disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Many American veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have had sleepless nights, filled with intense anxiety from viewing the ongoing atrocities. In response to calls from Ukrainian officials for foreign fighters to join a newly formed foreign legion, many American veterans have shown interest in joining the fight in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ordered a temporary lift on visas for foreign fighters and has taken to social media to actively encourage everyone with military experience and training willing to join his countrymen to help his nation resist the Russian war effort.
But do American veterans risk losing their earned benefits by joining a foreign army? The answer, sadly, is yes.
A key limitation on the participation of retired United States military personnel is found in the Constitution itself. It lies in Article I, Section 9, Clause 8. This constitutional provision, known in American legal doctrine as the "Emoluments Clause," specifically prohibits any person "holding any office of profit or trust" in the federal government from accepting any gift, emolument, office or title of any kind from any king, prince or foreign state without the consent of Congress.
As interpreted by the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel, the Emoluments Clause prohibits the receipt of any form of compensation, including consulting fees, gifts, travel expenses, honoraria or salary by all retired military personnel officer and enlisted, regular and Reserve from a foreign government unless Congress consents. Consent, arguably, is provided by Congress in 37 U.S.C. § 908, which has delegated approval to the military branches and requires advance consent from the relevant service secretary and the secretary of state before accepting anything from any foreign government.
This limitation would apply equally to United States military veterans agreeing to fight for Ukraine, Russia or any other country engaged in any other armed conflict around the world.
Thus far Ukraine has said that it will not offer to compensate Americans who join its new foreign legion, but that position could well change.
Additionally, receipt of retirement pay from the United States government is conditioned on maintaining citizenship and availability to be recalled in the event of a national emergency. Fighting for a foreign government in some limited circumstances can result in the loss of American citizenship, imperiling those benefits.
Furthermore, the Department of Defense may suspend retirement pay up to the amount of any foreign salary earned or obtained as a result of fighting for a foreign government, such as Ukraine. Retired veterans wishing to obtain formal permission from their service secretary should contact the branch for which they last served, which means they must contact the pertinent office: Air Force Personnel Command, Army Human Resources Command, Navy Personnel Command, or the Judge Advocates Division of Marine Corps Headquarters.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/opinions/2022/03/11/american-veterans-joining-ukrainian-army-may-run-afoul-of-federal-law-and-could-lose-benefits-or-us.html