Israel has for years been determined to cut aid to the refugees both in Gaza and the West Bank.

European Council president Charles Michel has abandoned plans to contest a seat in the upcoming European Parliament elections in June. This comes amid suggestions that doing so could have led Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, a critic of aid to Ukraine, to replace him as EU Council chief.

Michel, previously Belgium’s prime minister, announced his intention to stand as an MEP for his home country three weeks ago. If he, as was widely expected, had been elected, he would have been required to leave his EU role before the official end of his term in late November.

Le Pen has repeatedly declared her admiration for Vladimir Putin and her support for his policies, despite the Russian regime's repeated violations of human rights and international law. She only truly began shifting her position after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

See "The Crazies" on this site to let you know Putin did not "have a choice"...

SEE ALSO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-l61J86P8U

MEANWHILE: 

Macron's dangerous game on immigration
EDITORIAL

Le Monde
Passing a law at costs, including seeing a large part of it ruled as unconstitutional, is fraught with consequences. Only the far-right Rassemblement National has emerged victorious from this process.

Two days ago I (Moon of Alabama) discussed the reported hope the Biden administration has to get China’s help in the U.S. conflict with Yemen.

To Hope That China Will Help With Yemen Is Delusional Bullshit – Moon of Alabama, Jan 23, 2024

Chinese ship do not get bothered by Yemini forces. They only targeted ships were related to Israel and, since the U.S. and UK bombed Houthi positions, ships related to those countries are also under attack.

We have now learned why U.S. officials had expressed hope for Chinese help. The Financial Times reports of previous backroom talks with China about the issue.

The Auschwitz concentration camp established by Germans in 1940 in Oswiecim, a Polish city annexed by the Nazis, became a symbol of terror and genocide. Initially intended as one of many concentration camps, it evolved into the largest complex of over 40 concentration and extermination centers on the occupied territory of Poland.

The first party meeting of the new Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance for Reason and Justice party began with a speech of gratitude towards the Red Army for having liberated the Nazi concentration camps.

The opening speech was delivered by new party member, writer and journalist Daniela Dan, and was broadcast on the party's website.

Just before midnight on 15 January, Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, was rocked by a targeted missile attack by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Eleven Fateh 110 ballistic missiles homed in on the private residence of the affluent and connected Kurdish tycoon Peshraw Dizayee, aged 61, who was killed along with members of his family and a fellow business associate.

The Cradle's Iraq Correspondent

For those who remember their high school textbooks, the issue of America's imperial history is very clear cut. American imperialism, the textbooks told us, was that fairly brief period in American history that lasted from 1898 to 1945. This was the period during which the United States acquired a number of overseas territories, including the Philippines and Puerto Rico, among others. The era of imperialism, we are told, ended in 1945 when the Philippines was finally granted full independence from Washington. Even more dubious—the textbook writers tell us—is the idea that the US is or has been a colonial empire. After all, American citizens did not set up any colonies in the Philippines or in Puerto Rico in the way that British migrants populated Virginia or New England.

The US has the power to pressure Hungary if it does not adjust its foreign policy towards the EU, NATO and Russia, American ambassador to Budapest, Davis Pressman, said.

In an interview published in the Financial Times on Friday, Pressman laid out a laundry list of complaints about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, including his defiant stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and attitude towards Russian President Vladimir Putin.

THE ABC (AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION) HAS BEEN UNDER THE GUNS FROM VARIOUS PLACES — FROM THE MURDOCH MEDIA, THE IPA, THE MELBOURNE JEWISH LOBBY, FROM VARIOUS GOVERNMENTS SLASHING ITS BUDGET AND FROM WITHIN ITSELF — LOSING SIGHT OF ITS NEWS VALUES AWAY FROM THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA.

NOW IT HAS A NEW CHAIRMAN (CHAIRPERSON) WHO USED TO WORK FOR RUPERT MURDOCH... DESPITE THIS, WE SUSPECT KIM WILLIAMS IS QUITE AWARE OF THE VALUE OF PUBLIC BROADCASTING, AND WILL PROTECT THE ABC FROM THE DESTRUCTORS...

FROM THE SMH...

The new chair will have to act fast to restore order in the wake of the Lattouf sacking, write Michael Bachelard and Calum Jaspan.

I assign the German youth the noblest task of being masters of life and the future. Despite their wrong-doings throughout history, the German people are a great people — a people that has given the world waves of intellectual, scientific, artistic, and philosophical thought, a people that has enriched the world with countless products of its ingenuity, technology, and labour; a people that, in its peaceful work as well as in the sorrows of war, has unfolded true treasures of courage, discipline, and organisation.

                                General de Gaulle

«J'espère que les 21% d'inflation qu'ont connus les consommateurs en deux ans ont profité à l'agriculture», défend Michel Édouard Leclerc

«J'espère que les 21% d'inflation qu'ont connus les consommateurs en deux ans ont profité à l'agriculture ! Si ce n'est pas le cas, il faut ouvrir des commissions d'enquête pour voir où est passé cet argent», défend Michel Édouard Leclerc dans l'émission Esprit d'Entreprise...

https://video.lefigaro.fr/figaro/video/jespere-que-les-21-dinflation-quont-connus-les-consommateurs-en-deux-ans-ont-profite-a-lagriculture-defend-michel-edouard-leclerc/

25 Republican governors back Texas in standoff with Biden
Gov. Greg Abbott has waged a legal battle with federal agencies over his immigration policies

A large group of Republican governors has issued a joint statement voicing “solidarity” with Texas Governor Greg Abbott and his stepped-up border protections, accusing the White House of leaving the country “completely vulnerable” amid an influx of illegal migrants.

Published on Thursday, the open letter was signed by 25 GOP governors across the country, with Vermont Governor Phil Scott the sole Republican to leave his signature off the message. 

Josep Borrell, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, receiving an honorary doctorate in Valadolid, declared: "We believe that a two-state solution [Israeli and Palestinian] must be imposed from outside to bring about peace.

NATO is a “walking war machine” that has been spreading chaos across Asia since its formation, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian told reporters on Thursday, accusing the bloc of using the specter of a dominant Beijing to foment regional conflict.

Wu appeared to be referencing comments made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during the World Economic Forum last week, in which the bloc’s leader attempted to frame its buildout in Asia as a response to purported Chinese aggression.

“It should be said that NATO is a walking ‘war machine,’ and wherever it appears, it brings disorder everywhere,” Wu said, referencing “inappropriate statements by the NATO Secretary General regarding China.” 

During his speech, he did not beg for money and weapons. This is the first time I’ve seen him do this. Instead, he touted his “peace plan,” which was simply incomprehensible.

The 3-point plan goes as follows: