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Ukraine forced to close controversial 'war sponsors' blacklist

war sponsors list
© Ukrainian government
Publishing a list of 'enemies' has had a negative impact on Kiev's fight against Moscow.

Ukraine has decided to abandon its list of 'international sponsors of war' following complaints from other countries.

Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention has hosted a website listing companies that continue to do business in Russia or "indirectly assist in or contribute to Russia's war efforts." The list includes major corporations such as PepsiCo, P&G, Yves Rocher, Unilever, Metro, Nestle, Auchan, and Xiaomi.

Comment: Ukraine continues their losing strategy of trying to shame politicians and corporations into supporting their aims. As people continue to get tired of this nonsense, Ukraine can expect to see support further wane.

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Attention

La Macronnerie of a failed French president: Ukraine

La Petit Napolean
© Strategic Culture Foundation
Just what is Emmanuel Macron thinking with his recent media trysts which have gained the attention of the world? Initially, we thought his statements about sending French troops to Ukraine to fight Russian forces was merely chaf to throw up in the air to distract journalists and a gullible French public. It's true, it has rattled Germany which promptly replied to Macron, reminding him that EU countries are not "at war with Russia" - a curious statement given that just a week earlier, a leaked audio conversation with German air force chiefs revealed that they wanted to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine so as to hit the Crimean bridge.

Of course, now that we all know what the intentions of the Germans were, Scholz has been forced to backpedal and downplay the scandal, sticking to its position of neutrality.

But if you think that's funny, wait until you see what Macron has in store for Old Europe. Could it be really true that he believes French troops could end up in Ukraine? A quick glance at the actual quote from Le Parisienne interview would suggest the opposite and that he's hedging his bets, or, as some suspect trying to bait the Americans into wanting to get there first. Is this what the British expression "jumping the gun" really means?

"Maybe at some point - I don't want it, I won't take the initiative - we will have to have operations on the ground, whatever they may be, to counter the Russian forces," he is quoted as saying. In reality, it seems as though he has been misquoted as there is no story here. Even he is saying on the record that he won't authorise it. So is he hinting at other western countries taking the lead, perhaps the Poles, Lithuanians and Latvians? Possibly.

But in reality, the most likely scenario would be the U.S. biting the bullet and financing a private army made up of various nationalities. Yet even this initiative would need to be prepared for media and even Russia itself so that the underlying point is clear: this is not a NATO war.

Bizarro Earth

Western troops in Ukraine 'an open secret' - Poland

Radoslaw Sikorski
© Getty Images / NurPhoto / ContributorPolish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski
The fact that Western forces are present in Ukraine is now an 'open secret', Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has told German press agency dpa.

The statement comes less than two weeks after the minister said the deployment of NATO troops to the country was "not unthinkable," and that he appreciates French President Emmanuel Macron for not ruling out the idea.

In an interview with dpa on Wednesday, Sikorski stated, "As your chancellor [Olaf Scholz] said, there are already some troops from big countries in Ukraine."

Last month during a press meeting, Scholz justified his rejection of the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine by saying that Berlin would not participate using soldiers in targeting control, either from Germany or on the ground.

"What the British and the French are doing in terms of target control and accompanying target control cannot be done in Germany," the chancellor told journalists at the time. His words have been widely interpreted as confirming the presence of Western soldiers in Ukraine.

Asked by dpa whether Scholz' revelation was a problem, Sikorski responded, "In Polish, we have the expression 'tajemnica poliszynela,' which describes a secret that everyone knows."

Handcuffs

'They came for me, they can come for you' - Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro reports to prison

Trump and Navarro
© Getty Images/Pete MarovichPresident Donald Trump • Dir. National Trade Council Peter Navarro
Peter Navarro voiced frustration at a press conference on March 19, just before turning himself over to authorities in Miami, Florida, to begin his four-month sentence at the city's minimum-security prison.

The former Trump White House trade adviser is the first official from President Donald Trump's administration to serve jail time. He was found in contempt of Congress in 2023 for refusing to comply with the Democrat-led House Jan. 6 select committee subpoena.

Mr. Navarro declined to turn over records for the committee, citing the former president's executive privilege that allows some presidential records to be blocked from disclosure.

"I am not nervous," Mr. Navarro said to a reporter on March 19. "I am pissed."

"When I walk in that prison today, the justice system, such as it is, will have done a crippling blow to the constitutional separation of powers of executive privilege," he added.

Bug

What's bugging Chuck Schumer and Washington about Israel?

Chuck Schumer
Why did Chuck Schumer call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an "obstacle to peace" and demand new elections in Israel just weeks before an IDF ground offensive in Rafah?

Hasn't Schumer opposed a ceasefire in Gaza from the beginning? Hasn't Schumer criticized pro-Palestinian activists and their public protests? Hasn't Schumer been a champion of the Jewish state for more than three decades in office?

Yes, yes and yes. So, why would he suddenly do an about-face and blast Israel's leader at the same time the IDF is conducting a major military operation in Gaza? Here's an excerpt from Schumer's speech:
It is precisely out of this long-standing connection to, and concern for, the State of Israel and its people that I speak today about what I view are the most pressing existential threats to Israel's long-term peace and prosperity.

After five months of suffering on both sides of this conflict, our thinking must turn — urgently — I believe that to achieve that lasting peace — which we so long for — Israel must make some significant course corrections.....

If Israel were to not only maintain the status quo, but go beyond that and tighten its control over Gaza and the West Bank, as some in the current Netanyahu administration have suggested — in effect creating a de facto single state — then what reasonable expectation can we have that Hamas and their allies will lay down their arms? It would mean constant war.

On top of that, Israel moving closer to a single state entirely under its control would further rupture its relationship with the rest of the world, including the United States. Support for Israel has declined worldwide in the last few months, and this trend will only get worse if the Israeli government continues to follow its current path.... Full text of Senator Chuck Schumer's speech: 'Israeli elections are the only way', Times of Israel

USA

What might Trump 2.0 mean for America and the world?

trump campaign 2024
© Getty Images / Win McNameeFormer President Donald Trump
Vengeance on Biden, curbing illegal migration, ending support for Kiev - The Donald will have a busy schedule should he win the presidency, but how much can he accomplish?

In the event of another Trump presidency, will the Orange Man restrain the desire to seek vengeance on his political enemies, or will he succumb to the temptation to play 'dictator for a day', unleashing mayhem in the process?

Perhaps it would be the understatement of the century to say that Donald Trump has a grudge to bear. Not only was his first term as president overshadowed by the dual hoaxes known as Russiagate and Ukrainegate, but the legal entanglements continue to follow him out of office as well. This has made Orange Man the first former president in American history to be hounded with state and federal lawsuits. And should he get elected to another four years in the Oval Office, nobody should be surprised if the reprisals against his arch-nemesis begin in earnest.

Comment: Along with better staffing picks, Trump will have to rely on his base to deliver congressmen and women who will be on board with his goals. Were not the specter of vote rigging up and down the ballot hanging over the election, this would not be a problem


Question

A start? FM Joly says Canada to stop arms sales to Israel

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly,
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly
The parliament has passed a resolution calling for an end to weapons deliveries as the war in Gaza continues

Canada will halt future arms sales to Israel, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told the Toronto Star on Tuesday.

The statement came after the parliament passed a resolution on the matter amid a growing push among MPs to condemn Israel's military operation against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, which has entered its sixth month.

Despite the non-binding nature of the document, Joly confirmed that the government will cease the transfer of weapons to Israel. "It is a real thing," she said, answering a reporter's question.

Tank

Ukrainian attacks in Belgorod reveal the terrorist nature of the Kiev regime

Belgorad, Russia
Entering Belgorad, Russia
Trying to disrupt the Russian elections, Ukraine launched a series of terrorist attacks on the Belgorod border, leaving many dead and injured.

The presidential elections are definitely the most important event for the Russian Federation in 2024. Across the country, millions of people left their homes to vote at the polls and choose the best candidate for the next six years in the presidential office. However, on the country's southwestern borders, the exercise of political rights by Russian citizens has been affected by Ukrainian terrorism. In the Belgorod region, several attacks have occurred in recent days, leaving people dead or injured, as well as destroying the city's civilian facilities.

On March 14, the day before the start of the election period, I was in Belgorod on a special expedition by the BRICS Journalists Association, with the aim of covering Ukrainian shelling on the ground and collecting information about the local situation. It was a day marked by intense bombing, with missiles and drones constantly hitting civilian targets. On that occasion, we followed the attacks one by one, visiting almost all the affected locations and talking to the victims who had their properties destroyed and relatives injured.

Pirates

Moscow: EU poised to destroy international law

Euroclear bank russian assets
Eurosclear Bank has repeatedly warned of catastrophic financial fallout if Russian funds are seized.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned the bloc against diverting earnings from Russia's frozen assets to Ukraine

A proposal by the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, to use the profits from Russia's frozen central bank assets to fund Ukraine will erode international law and irrevocably tarnish the bloc's image globally, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Borrell said on Wednesday that he had proposed to the EU using 90% of the revenues generated by the Russian assets to procure arms for Ukraine, which has repeatedly complained about shortages of ammunition and weapons. According to the diplomat's plan, the remaining 10% would be transferred to the EU budget to be used to support Kiev's defense industry.

Comment: The EU's growing panic over Russia prevailing in Ukraine is clearer every day, especially with the U.S. signalling it's ready to walk away from the fiasco and leave them to sort it out.


Big Bomb

Erdogan considering military operations in Iraq and Syria

Turkish tank
© AFP / Bakr ALkasemA Turkish tank in northern Syria.
Türkiye's military is set to carry out operations to achieve full security along the country's borders, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

In January, Türkiye carried out a series of airstrikes and ground operations in northern Iraq and northern Syria, targeting members and facilities of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara views as a terrorist organization. The escalation followed the death of nine Turkish troops in clashes with the PKK fighters.

The goal of the government in Ankara is to make sure that Türkiye is free from "the dark shadow of terrorism," Erdogan said during a speech on Monday.