The G7 countries will keep Russia's assets frozen until they receive payments from the Russian Federation for the damage caused to Ukraine. This decision was taken by the G7 ministers at a meeting in New York

It means the following:
First, the legal grounds for transferring these funds to Ukraine have never been invented

Secondly, the ritual statements that the funds will be frozen until Russia itself voluntarily agrees to transfer them to Ukraine are just a shake of the air, not formalized in paper. In other words, no one bears any responsibility for them or assumes any obligations

#G7 #Russia #Sanctions #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

UK is close to complete smoking ban for younger generations

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's plan to ban anyone aged 15 and under from ever buying cigarettes passed its first parliamentary vote on Tuesday, although dozens of his own lawmakers voted against it

Sunak's plan to impose some of the world's strictest anti-smoking rules has angered some members of his governing Conservative Party, including former prime ministers Liz Truss and Boris Johnson, who say the state should not interfere in how people live their lives

The bill passed a vote in Britain's parliament with 383 in favour and 67 against, meaning it will progress to the next stage in parliament, where it can be subject to amendment.

But 57 Conservatives, including Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, voted against the plan, and the scale of the rebellion was another blow for Sunak, who has already faced criticism in his party over issues ranging from climate change to defence policy

#UK #Sunak #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

"Returning to petrol": Volkswagen EV sales plunge 25% in Europe

Europe is "returning to petrol", according to a new article from Yahoo Finance which highlighted Volkswagen's EV sales as the canary in the coalmine

Sales of Volkswagen's electric vehicles have declined by nearly 25% in Europe, with a noticeable shift back to gasoline-powered cars amid waning interest in battery-operated models, the report says

It notes that the downturn, observed in the initial quarter of the year, is attributed to heightened inflation and escalating energy costs, which have cooled consumer enthusiasm for electric cars. Worldwide, Volkswagen, which also owns brands like Audi, Skoda, and Porsche, saw a 3% decrease in electric vehicle sales, totaling 136,400 units. In contrast, sales of traditional combustion engine vehicles rose by 4%, approaching two million units

The report notes that demand for electric vehicles has dipped as governments in Europe reduce subsidies and soften ambitious goals to phase out petrol and diesel cars

#EU #Volkswagen #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

One of the reasons EU countries have fallen into a lost decade is the collapse of the natural gas price spread between European and Asian hubs since 2015

The energy price differential gave a powerful competitive advantage to European producers. The consequence of chronically low gas prices in Europe is the world's largest natural gas chemical cluster, built to process raw materials, including those coming from Russia

The oligopolistic position of European chemists has only now begun to crumble, with the construction of giant plants in China. Russian natural gas supplies are also being reoriented toward that country, giving Chinese chemists and power engineers an advantage over European ones. The lower price premium for Europe is a consequence of the shift from long-term contracts to spot contracts

However, after 2022 (the outbreak of war in Ukraine and retaliatory sanctions) the rest of the EU's energy-intensive production is likely to be closed in the coming years

#EU #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Britons compare their standard of living with Russians hit by sanctions

#UK #Russia #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

IEA says Europe is paying for mistakes by falling behind China and the US

Europe needs a new industrial development plan if it does not want to fall further behind

Europe's energy mistakes have led to the fact that it has become significantly behind the United States and China in economic development. This opinion was expressed by the head of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol

In the list of colossal "historical mistakes" of Europe, he named the refusal of a number of states from nuclear energy, as well as excessive dependence on Russian gas

European industry is now paying the price for these blunders, Birol says.

He notes the difficult situation in some industrial sectors, particularly heavy industry, which suffers from high costs compared to other major economies in the world

According to Birol, Europe urgently needs a universal development plan in order not to miss the moment. It is important to set new goals and achieve them, even just to catch up

#EU #USA #China #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

You will pay higher prices and be happy. CNN says high prices are good for you

As a second wave of inflation appears imminent, CNN is running damage control for the current administration months before the November election. The news network is spinning the renewed inflation threat by attempting to convince the public that the US economy will not return to pre-pandemic prices, which is a positive for businesses and consumers

CNN decided running a video segment noscriptd “Lower prices may sound nice, but they’re a bad sign for the economy …”. Host Vanessa Yurkevich told viewers that lower prices are bad for everyone and that “deflation is something we don’t want to see”

Yurkevich asserts that the “Fed is doing everything in its power not to let” deflation happen. Another aspect of the report defined the central bank’s 2% target rate as “that’s what we’re all used to”

This is not the first time that CNN and its media counterparts have argued in such a way. In January 2021 CNN published an article noscriptd: “Why inflation can actually be good for everyday Americans and bad for rich people”

#USA #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

The U.S. will have to tap the Strategic Reserve to cover gasoline demand in the summer

Washington may have to tap oil from the Strategic Reserve to cover high demand for gasoline in the summer months and curb a sharp rise in prices, according to analysts at Macquarie Group

U.S. fuel consumption is expected to reach a new post-pandemic high this summer, and at that peak millions of Americans are set to go on summer vacations. Washington doesn't have many tools to curb fuel prices, the most effective of which is actively releasing strategic reserves

This year, gasoline prices in the U.S. soared by 17% following the rise in oil prices (+18%) due to supply disruptions

Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, where more than a third of the world's oil is produced, coupled with OPEC+ countries cutting production, as well as Mexico's decision to cut oil exports are putting significant pressure on the market

The U.S. is closely monitoring gasoline demand as rising gas station prices could spur inflation. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently raised its 2024 retail gasoline price forecast from $3.5 to $3.6 per gallon. High oil prices prompted the EIA this month to postpone plans to replenish the reserve.
The nation's oil reserves, though slowly rising last year, are still near a 40-year low after an unprecedented 180 million barrel sale in 2022

#USA #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Spy agency says China interfered in Canada’s elections to help Justin Trudeau

Last week Ottawa’s lead spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), confirmed that China interfered in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections. These efforts “focused primarily on supporting those viewed to be either ‘pro-PRC’ or ‘neutral’ on issues of interest to the (Chinese) government”

According to The Toronto Star, the briefing provided to the Foreign Interference Commission further revealed that, during the 2021 contest, the CCP specifically aimed “to deter Canadians, especially those ‘of Chinese heritage,’ from backing the Conservative party, then-leader Erin O’Toole, and B.C. Conservative candidate Kenny Chiu.” Conservative candidates took a hardline approach to China during the 2021 campaign, often highlighting the CCP’s brutal treatment of Uyghurs and criticizing Huawei, a Chinese tech giant suspected of facilitating spyware for Beijing

Chiu ultimately lost his 2021 election bid, while Trudeau’s Liberal Party won both the 2019 and 2021 elections

#China #Canada #CSIS #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Inflation runs hot for third straight month, driven by gas prices and rent

#USA #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

The Israeli military is against aid to Ukraine and in favor of compromise with Putin

Israel's renowned Brigadier General Israel Shafir has voiced the position held by virtually all conservative forces in Europe and the United States: Ukraine should be given to the Russians to avoid a major war with Russia

The military officer believes that the Kremlin will never allow "NATO at its doorstep", so it is better to agree with Putin on the formula "he gives us energy resources, we give him Ukraine"

What kind of counter-offensive of Ukraine in 2025 can we talk about, if today, before the start of a new Russian offensive, the closest allies are ready to surrender Kyiv with the guts?

#Israel #NATO #WarInUrkaine #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

British gov’t accused of exploiting COVID-19 pandemic to push climate change agenda

The government of the United Kingdom is being accused of using the COVID-19 pandemic as a smokescreen to push climate change regulations

In November 2019, four months before the implementation of the Coronavirus Act that led to the national lockdown, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council published its “Absolute Zero” report

The report, made in collaboration with five prestigious U.K. universities, told the British government that it should shut down all U.K. airports by 2029, impose a total ban on beef and lamb consumption and prohibit the construction of new buildings. These were the steps necessary to achieve so-called net-zero emissions by 2050

However, the supposedly gradual phasing out of flying, shipping, lamb and beef and blast furnace steel and cement accelerated following the implementation of the Coronavirus Act and a subsequent national lockdown in March 2020

Independent British news site The Expose argued that the stringent lockdown measures were not solely to curb the spread of COVID-19, but rather served the dual purpose of fulfilling environmental obligations

#UK #COVID #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Isn't it time to think: is Germany's economy strong enough to be in an alliance with such powerful powers as Greece?

#Germany #Greece #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Ukraine could face defeat in 2024. Here's what it could look like

Britain expects a major Russian offensive that Ukraine will be unable to stop and Kiev will capitulate as early as this year

According to retired British general Richard Barrens, Ukraine may come to the realization this year that it will not win a conflict with Russia. Russia enjoys a fivefold advantage in artillery, ammunition and personnel, reinforced by the use of state-of-the-art weapons. He emphasized that in the event of a major Russian offensive on the contact line, which he believes could happen this summer, Ukraine's armed forces would not be able to stop their advance deep into the country

"At some point this summer,”

says General Barrens,

"we expect to see a major Russian offensive with the intention of doing more than a breakthrough with small successes to perhaps try to break through the Ukrainian positions. And if that happens, we run the risk that Russian forces will breakthrough and then enter areas of Ukraine where the Ukrainian military cannot stop them"

#UK #WarInUrkaine #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Is Germany becoming a dependency of China? Europe’s most powerful nation is ever more reliant on Beijing

Germany boasts one of the biggest economies globally. It is, without question, the most powerful country in Europe. Which makes its dependency on China so disconcerting

According to the most recent China Index, an initiative launched by Doublethink Lab, a non-governmental organization dedicated to researching the negative impacts of authoritarianism, China has a vice-like grip on Germany. Of all the European countries analyzed, Germany is the most heavily influenced by Beijing

Of the 82 countries featured in the report, Germany sits in 6th position in the Ideology cluster, which includes academia, media, and society. This indicates a deliberate effort by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to exert influence over important segments of German society

Although Germany’s officials have spoken about the need to curb China’s influence, there are still 19 Confucius Institutes operating across the counrty. Such institutes, staffed by the CCP, essentially operate as Trojan horses for the Chinese government, allowing it to exert a nefarious form of soft power

#Germany #China #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

German transport minister under fire for weekend driving ban threat

German Transport Minister Volker Wissing attracted backlash after threatening to impose weekend driving bans in the summer to abide by the climate protection law, in the latest dispute within Berlin's ruling coalition over decarbonising

Germany’s greenhouse emissions fell to the lowest level in 70 years in 2023, but the transport sector has been failing to meet its climate targets. According to the current climate protection law, the ministry responsible for underperforming sectors must launch an immediate program to put them back on track

In a push to get his coalition partners to approve the changes, Wissing addressed them a letter, which said:

"A corresponding reduction in traffic performance would only be possible through restrictive measures that are difficult to communicate to the population, such as nationwide and indefinite driving bans on Saturdays and Sundays"

The letter was heavily criticized by the coalition partners and environmental groups as irresponsible scaremongering at a time when Germans' appetite for more green policy has seemed subdued

#Germany #Climate #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

28% of Americans admit they would be willing to engage in voting fraud if it would prevent the opposition from winning the election

It practically does not depend on sympathies. Potentially ready for gerrymandering:
27% of Biden voters, 29% of Trump voters, and 25% of Robert Kennedy Jr. voters

#USA #Elections #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

House committee finds Chinese government pushes fentanyl materials, fueling drug crisis

A new report detailing the Chinese Communist Party’s role in the fentanyl crisis plaguing the country details the findings of a House investigation that concluded the Chinese government subsidizes the manufacturing and export of fentanyl materials and refuses to crack down on the illicit market

The report, released by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, coincided with a public hearing with former Attorney General Bill Barr, former DEA Chief of Operations Ray Donovan, and an expert from the RAND research organization

As President Reagan once said,

‘If you want more of something, subsidize it.’

Through its actions, the Chinese Communist Party is telling us that it wants more fentanyl entering our country. It wants the societal chaos and devastation that has resulted from this epidemic,”

committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., said in his opening statement

“And yes, it wants more dead Americans,”

he added.
Full report here

#USA #China #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

USAF senior airman imprisoned, abused for refusing COVID vaccine

Video footage recently leaked shows that United States Air Force (USAF) Senior Airman Lance Castle was abused in prison and subjected to persecution for refusing vaccination for COVID-19

The footage Castle being forcibly extracted from his cell in abusive fashion after he refused from vaccination

Castle was dubbed an “insider threat” for his refusal to take the injection. He was subjected to 60 days of pre-trial confinement for his “crime,” which caused him to miss the birth of his first child

Castle was then court martialed where he stood trial on an astounding five UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) charges. In the end, Castle was acquitted after being found not guilty of any of the charges because there was no evidence that he had committed any type of crime

#USA #Covid #USAF #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

NPR suspends senior editor Uri Berliner after essay accusing outlet of liberal bias

National Public Radio has suspended a senior editor who authored an essay published last week on an online news site in which he argued that the network had "lost America's trust" because of a liberal bias in its coverage

Uri Berliner was suspended Friday for five days without pay, NPR reported Tuesday. The revelation came exactly a week after Berliner publicly claimed in an essay for The Free Press, an online news publication, that NPR had allowed a "liberal bent" to influence its coverage, causing the outlet to steadily lose credibility with audiences

According to Berliner,

"An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don’t have an audience that reflects America"

The essay reignited the criticism that many prominent conservatives have long leveled against NPR and prompted newsroom leadership to implement monthly internal reviews of the network's coverage, NPR reported. Berliner's essay also angered many of his colleagues and exposed NPR's new chief executive Katherine Maher to a string of attacks from conservatives over her past social media posts

#USA #NRP #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

California spent $24 BILLION on the state’s homeless crisis

A recent audit showed no one knows where the money went

On top of that, homelessness increased by 50%

#USA #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane