Joe Biden previewed his upcoming campaign on Thursday, casting Americans’ choice as one between democracy and extremism. Next year’s election will demonstrate the salience of the argument and the suitability of Biden as its champion.

As Republican candidates gathered in California for the party’s second primary debate of the 2024 campaign season, US President Joe Biden signaled he’s already focusing on the general election in a speech in neighboring Arizona.

One candidate was notably absent from the GOP event, but his presence in Biden’s speech was unmistakable even when he wasn’t invoked by name: for the fifth national election cycle in a row, American voters will submit a verdict on former US President and 2024 contender Donald Trump.

This year, there seemed to be reason for optimism among advocates of war powers reform. When the Senate voted in March to repeal the 2002 authorization for war with Iraq, many assumed the House would quickly pass the measure, which had garnered broad bipartisan support in previous years.

But that optimism may be misplaced, as a hearing in the House Foreign Affairs Committee demonstrated Thursday. Far from showing a desire to wrestle back their war-making authorities, most lawmakers appear determined to maintain the status quo that has seen U.S. troops carry out operations in more than 20 countries around the world.

In 1996 I was fortunate enough to be involved in the Centenary of the 1895 Bathurst Peoples Constitutional Convention.

The 1896 event was a grassroots gathering unlike the more official conventions of the 1890s. The colonies had not yet federated and become states of a Commonwealth of Australia, and the document which eventually emerged in 1900-1 was essentially a federal compact.

‘CIA cutouts’, big money grants and biolabs: The depth of US interference in Armenia explained

Washington has sunk tens of millions of dollars into the Caucasian nation, which is a treaty ally of Russia

Within days of the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power touched down in Yerevan with promises of “support for Armenia’s sovereignty.” RT explores how USAID is attempting to reshape the country with the aid of its pro-Western prime minister.

How did we get here? In the face of a military onslaught by Azerbaijani forces, the ethnic Armenian leadership in the disputed province of Nagorno-Karabakh agreed last week to lay down arms and allow the territory to be subsumed into Azerbaijan. 

During a recent appearance on Face the Nation to plug his new Zelensky movie, actor Sean Penn decried the “cowardice” of the U.S. government in its caution around provoking a nuclear exchange with its proxy warfare in Ukraine.

It was a short stint, involving a six-member delegation of Australian parliamentarians lobbying members of the US Congress and various relevant officials on one issue: the release of Julian Assange. If extradited to the US from the United Kingdom to face 18 charges, 17 framed with reference to the oppressive, extinguishing Espionage Act of 1917, the Australian founder of WikiLeaks risks a 175-year prison term.

IRELAND has sadly evolved into a Tax Haven for U.S. Corporations while aligning itself more and more with a failing empire

“‘I’m at home,’ [Biden] told the Irish Parliament to thunderous applause. ‘I only wish I could stay longer.’”[1]

The U.S. President, Joe Biden, visited Ireland at the start of April. In the midst of great power competition, why did he visit such a powerless place? When existential questions are being asked of the U.S. empire, why waste time in Ireland? In the context of war in Europe and possible war in Asia, what’s the purpose of Ireland for U.S. hegemony?

BY Aidan O’Brien

Fiona Hill is often mentioned by the likes of Colonel Tony Shaeffer and Judge Napolitano as one of the main Russophobic disinformation provider. Born in England she became a fierce opponent of Russia in her adopted land America...

SHE IS A "RUSSIA EXPERT"... and this Pom hates Donald Trump so much as to testify in his "impeachment"... NOW, 

Former White House national security adviser Dr Fiona Hill has been appointed chancellor of Durham University.

New Day, Another Lawsuit: Hunter Biden Sues Rudy Giuliani for Spreading Contents From Laptop

The lawsuit, which relies on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, was filed in the Central District of California. Neither Rudy Giuliani nor Hunter Biden live in that district and the alleged crimes took place in Delaware. Whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld told Sputnik the choice was the result of "venue shopping."

Embattled first son Hunter Biden is continuing to file lawsuits against individuals he blames for the release of the contents of a laptop he reportedly abandoned at a Delaware computer repair store.

The Australian Government has a big problem with its security narrative. Preparing for a putative war with China is the nation’s top security priority, while the government’s knowledge of the growing existential threat of climate disruption and their security consequences remains a closely-guarded secret.

It is embarrassing for the government that it will not share in any meaningful way the assessment of climate–security risks delivered to the Prime Minister’s Office last November by the Office of National Intelligence (ONI), even in a declassified version. As our allies have done. Nor has it outlined any substantial policy responses.

By David Spratt

Bundeswehr Bungles Billion Euros on Radios That Can’t Be Installed in Army Vehicles

The German government began a massive €100 billion rearmament campaign last year, pledging additional money for the military as social spending retreats and the country faces the threat of deindustrialization and economic stagnation.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has some explaining to do amid reports that a €1.3 billion batch of new digital radio communications systems for the Bundeswehr’s fleet of tracked and wheeled vehicles will be forced to sit in storage for years due to compatibility and installation difficulties.

Nowhere in the world, I would venture, is the message more stark than it is in Australia. We simply cannot sweep injustice aside.  … the starting point might be to recognise that the problem starts with us non-Aboriginal Australians. It begins, I think, with that act of recognition. … Down the years, there has been no shortage of guilt, but it has not produced the responses we need. Guilt is not a very constructive emotion. I think what we need to do is open our hearts a bit. All of us.”

Redfern Speech (Year for the World’s Indigenous People)
Delivered in Redfern Park by Prime Minister Paul Keating
10 December 1992

I am very pleased to be here today at the launch of Australia’s celebration of the 1993 International Year of the World’s Indigenous People.

First US-made Abrams tanks arrive in Ukraine – Zelensky

Moscow has repeatedly warned that Kiev’s Western-supplied armor will only prolong the conflict

Ukraine has received the first batch of US-made M1 Abrams tanks promised by Washington this winter, President Vladimir Zelensky said on Monday, confirming a New York Times report from earlier in the day.

Writing on Telegram, Zelensky said the Abrams main battle tanks “are already in Ukraine and preparing to reinforce our brigades” while thanking Kiev’s allies for their support.

If you’re looking to help people impacted by the floods in Libya, check out these organizations providing relief.

— Barack Obama