🇪🇺 Brussels vs. Brussels: EU Parliament to sue Commission over Hungary cash — Politico

The European Parliament is preparing to sue the European Commission over its controversial decision to unfreeze billions in funds for Hungary late last year, people involved in the decision told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook.

The Parliament’s legal affairs committee on Monday voted nearly unanimously — with 16 members in favor, one opposed and no abstentions — to take the Commission to court for breaching its obligation to protect taxpayer money from being misused.

Last December, the Commission unblocked €10.2 billion in frozen EU cohesion funds earmarked for Budapest, which had been held back amid human rights and rule-of-law concerns.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s decision to unfreeze the funds was met with backlash from MEPs, who accused her of caving to Orbán’s blackmail.

“We believe we have a solid case, as the Commission has contradicted itself on whether Hungary is respecting the rule of law,” Greens MEP Daniel Freund told Playbook Monday night. “The Court of Justice of the EU has always stood up for the independence of the courts.”

🔗 https://www.politico.eu/article/parliament-sues-commission-over-unfreezing-of-hungary-funds/

💰🚀📈 Bitcoin over $73000 on all mayor exchanges!

🇺🇸❗️🇷🇺🔫📈 — 🇺🇸 The Libertarian Institute | Russia Producing 3 Times More Shells Than US, EUROPE Combined – Report | March 12, 2024:

"Russia’s defense industry is turning out nearly three times more artillery shells than its American and European counterparts, according to a NATO intelligence report obtained by CNN. Western powers have scrambled to ramp up production as Ukrainian troops face dire ammunition shortages.

While the US and Europe have the capacity to produce a combined 1.2 million shells annually, Russia’s output has now reached 3 million, the NATO estimate said. Though Washington aims to boost production to 100,000 155mm shells each month by 2025 – up from just 28,000 last September – that target can only be met with a resumption of American aid to Kiev, and would still put US output at less than half of Moscow’s.

According to US officials, Russia is burning through around 10,000 shells per day, vastly outgunning Ukraine’s daily average of just 2,000. The Estonian Defense Ministry has estimated that Kiev would need 200,000 rounds every month to match Russia’s firepower."

🗄 Archive

🔗 Full:

🇪🇺🤝🇺🇦 High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security, Josep Borrell announced 5 billion EURs in aid to Ukraine.

📝 The EU is the sole Western country still funding Ukraine after the U.S. got stuck in a deadlock and halted funding for the last ~9 months

🔗 Josep Borrell

🇨🇳🔫💸📈 — 🏴 ZeroHedge | China Steps Up Military Spending | March 12, 2024:

"According to SIPRI data, China has increased its military expenditure by almost 900 percent since 1992.

As Statista's Katharina Buchholz notes, at around $300 billion in 2022, the Chinese spent significantly more than the Russians (around $72 billion), but their spending was still well below that of the U.S. (around $812 billion).

China is the second-biggest spender in total military budget after the United States."

🗄 Archive

🔗 Full:

💰 Bitcoin  ETFs are 58% of the way to flipping Gold ETFs for total assets.

$58.7b for $BTC
$98b for Gold

That's just after just 8 weeks...

At this rate, Bitcoin will flip Gold ETFs in a few months!😳

➡️ @Bitcoin_Insights

🇩🇰 Denmark to begin connoscripting women for the military in rare move

Women in Denmark can already volunteer for military service. In 2023, they made up about a quarter of the cohort.

Denmark is now the third country in Europe to introduce female connoscription. Norway and Sweden did so in 2015 and in 2017, respectively.

The Danish Army consists of 7,000 to 9,000 professional troops, excluding connoscripts undergoing basic training, according to official figures. Compulsory military service applies to men over the age of 18. However, because there are enough volunteers, not all young men are connoscripted. Instead, a lottery is held.

🔗 https://www.politico.eu/article/denmark-extend-military-service-women-connoscription/

🇺🇸💸 Breaking Down $1.3T in NATO Defense Spending 🪖

https://twitter.com/VisualCap/status/1764486072157774097

🇳🇮👁🌐⚠️ — In an initiative that intensifies control over telecommunications, the dictator of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, proposed a new law to his controlled parliament that requires telecommunications companies to provide detailed information about their users to the Sandinista regime

➡️ The measure, which is being reviewed by the Infrastructure Committee of the Parliament, which has an almost absolute Sandinista majority, includes the delivery of statistical and georeferenced data to the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Postal Services (Telcor).

➡️ The legislative proposal, which would replace the current General Law of Telecommunications and Postal Services, aims to "update regulations to correspond to technological advances."

‼️ However, exiled and persecuted opponents of the Sandinista regime warn that it would give permission for Ortega's dictatorship to develop a comprehensive surveillance system, directly affecting both operators and users.

⚠️ The proposed law also imposes, under Telcor's supervision, the importation of technological equipment and requires telecommunications operators to provide the geolocation of their users to the regime.

➡️ The legislation also obliges companies to make their facilities and services available to the regime free of charge in situations of "national or regional emergency." Ortega's regime argues that the new Convergent Telecommunications Law will promote "high-speed connectivity, quality, and affordability for Nicaraguans."

Source 🔗

🇺🇸 Officials in New Mexico confirm the death of a man resulting from infection with the bubonic plague

A man in Lincoln County succumbed to the bubonic plague becoming the first fatality since 2020 and the first recorded case since 2021.

The New Mexico Health Department is assessing the risks of further infections in the Lincoln County. The department warned locals to avoid sick or dead rodents, rabbits, their nests and burrows to prevent infected fleas from jumping onto the skin of humans and passing on the bacterial infection.

🔗 https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/health-officials-man-dies-bubonic-plague-new-mexico

🇺🇸 CNN: "Three measles cases have been linked to a migrant shelter in Chicago...A team from the CDC is now on the ground in an effort to curb the spread of the highly contagious virus."

🔗 MAGA War Room

🇿🇦🚢⚓️ Inefficient African Ports See Diverted Red Sea Traffic Slipping Away

Africa’s inefficient and aging ports are hampering the continent’s chances of capitalizing on a surge in ship traffic that’s avoiding attacks by Houthi rebels through the Red Sea, logistics experts said.

The number of vessels sailing around the southern tip of Africa is up 85% from the first half of December, when the Iran-backed, Yemen-based terrorists intensified their attacks on ships, according to Clarksons Research. Some of the biggest beneficiaries are ports in South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Namibia, all of which have seen volumes rise, manufacturing and logistics company Fictiv Inc. said.

“However, most ports in Africa are inefficient and not in the best condition to be able to fully realize all the benefits,” said Vinny Licata, Fictiv’s head of logistics. “This is could be a real opportunity for Africa, but several ports were already congested due to inefficiencies. Investments are needed to enable them to compete.”

Merchant ships have largely avoided the route that would ultimately take them through the Suez Canal since the attacks started. Last week, a missile strike killed three crew members, the first confirmed deaths since the attacks began.

Currently, Africa accounts for about 6% of global maritime trade, despite approximately 90% of its imports and exports being transported by sea, according to Freight Right Global Logistics Chief Executive Officer and Founder Robert Khachatryan.

Freight costs from Asia to the US East Coast are projected to increase by 20% to 30%, with delivery times extended by two weeks due to the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, said Khachatryan.

It’s here that South Africa’s port-infrastructure problems — ranging from equipment breakdowns to staff shortages — hurt its competitive advantage. Shipping companies using the Cape route for east-west trade have largely avoided having to restock and refuel at South Africa’s maritime hubs due to their inability to provide services.

“This shift has directly benefited strategically located ports like Toamasina in Madagascar, Port Louis in Mauritius, and Walvis Bay in Namibia, which lie along the east-west route connecting Asia with Europe” as ships avoid South Africa, Khachatryan said.

Countries with the capability to quickly scale up port and logistical operations — such as Morocco and Ghana — could accommodate the increased demand for maritime services.

🔗 https://gcaptain.com/inefficient-african-ports-see-diverted-red-sea-traffic-slipping-away/

🇫🇷❌🇷🇺 Conservative French politician, Marine Le Pen, did a 180 degree turn on her stance regarding the Russo-Ukrainian war.

She expressed her support to the Ukrainian side of the conflict after previously calling numerous times for the EU to cut its support to Kiev and force an end of the war.

🔗 Marine Le Pen

🇫🇷🌐❌🇷🇺 — French President Emmanuel Macron during an interview to French media, on sending Western troops to Ukraine:

“We are not in this situation today”

🔗 BFMTV (@BFMTV)