The US has condemned the prison sentence handed to veteran French conservative politician Marine Le Pen, who was found guilty of embezzlement and banned from running for president.

On Monday, a Paris court ordered Le Pen, the former head of the National Rally (RN) party, to serve four years in prison, of which two will be suspended, and banned her from holding office for five years. If not overturned, the verdict would effectively bar her from the 2027 presidential election.

Adam Entous of the New York Times just published a lengthy article that pretends to tell the true history of the war in Ukraine. I can summarize the massive story in one sentence — Ukraine would have destroyed the weak, incompetent Russians if only the Ukrainian generals had followed the guidance from the US military. If you’re looking for a signal that the war in Ukraine is on its last legs, this article is it. This is a ridiculous attempt to burnish the image of the Pentagon and US European Command as strategic and tactical geniuses who could have beaten the Russians if only those damn Ukrainians had followed their advice.

Despite 80 years of Australian unwavering loyalty, as expected the US, “our closest ally”, is now screwing us on tariffs, with a hefty 25% tariff placed on Australian steel and aluminium exports. 

John Queripel

It’s not the first time they’ve done us in regards trade in recent times. Just a few years ago, when we did their dirty work with regards to China, causing us to lose lots of access to, by far, our largest export market, following their sanctioning of our goods, the US was quick to cut in, taking the Chinese markets we lost for themselves. That’s loyalty back for you!

Donald Trump has expressed frustration and stated that he is “pissed off” with Russia. He has then warned Russia that he would impose secondary tariffs on all Russian oil exports unless Putin agrees to a ceasefire in Ukraine. Donald Trump also stated that the US will “100% take Greenland” and he warned Zelensky not to back out of the Mineral Deal. It is also being reported that Zelensky is getting ready for elections in the summer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVRelmubfK4

In 2023, the federal government set up a review of the National Intelligence Community (the NIC). It was to report in the first half of 2024.

On 21 March 2025, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese released, with a flourish, the review’s report, titled “Independent Intelligence Review 2024”.

BY Paddy Gourley

“There is no more important priority than keeping Australians safe,” Albanese said, although a couple of days later he reckoned that “helping with your family budget is our number one priority”. The more number one priorities, the better for Albo.

With Donald Trump overturning assumptions about international order, we must re-examine the fundamentals of our foreign and defence policies. Former Senator and submariner Rex Patrick proposes four ideas to advance the debate.

At 9:30 this morning a number of Defence luminaries and experts will gather at the National Press Club for an invite only ‘Sovereignty and Security Forum’ organised by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to debate what needs to happen in response to Trump’s “America First” doctrine.

As a former Senator and recognised expert on Australian defence policy, especially submarine procurement, I’ve been invited to attend and will take the opportunity to advance four major ideas for discussion.

Trump says 'very angry' with Putin over Ukraine truce talks
Kieran Burke with dpa, Reuters
American broadcaster NBC reported Trump was "pissed off" with Putin over Ukraine and threatened to hit Moscow with secondary tariffs on Russian oil.

United States President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed anger with Russian President Vladimir Putin and threatened secondary tariffs on Russian oil should the two not reach a deal to stop fighting in Ukraine.

The EU will not fulfill Russia’s demand to lift sanctions on the country’s main agricultural bank as part of the Black Sea ceasefire initiative discussed between Moscow and Washington, European Commission Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Anitta Hipper has said.

During the talks between Russian and US experts in Riyadh on Monday, the sides agreed to move towards reviving the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which, according to the Kremlin, should include the removal of Western restrictions against Russian Agricultural Bank and other financial institutions involved in the international sale of food and fertilizers. The maritime ceasefire is seen by Moscow and Washington as a step towards settling the Ukraine conflict.

People like Dominic Cummings, chief advisor to former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have a habit of revealing things we’re not supposed to know about how government operates. They often expose the motives and acts of what many these days call the deep state.

The Deep State Revelations CERCLE

by IAIN DAVIS, INDEPENDENT MEDIA ALLIANCE, OFFGUARDIAN

One of the most reasonable definitions of the “deep state” was offered by US defence analyst-turned-writer Mike Lofgren in his 2014 essay “Anatomy of the Deep State“:

[T]here is another government concealed behind the one that is visible[.] [It is] a hybrid entity of public and private institutions ruling the country according to consistent patterns in season and out.

YOUNG AND OLD PEOPLE OUT THERE MAY NOT KNOW OR MAY NOT REMEMBER NATION REVIEW — A SHORT-LIVED MAGAZINE WITH A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE… ONE OF ITS EDITORS WAS JOHN HEPWORTH… 

HE HAD A LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP WITH ORIEL GRAY, A GREAT PLAY WRITER ON GENDER EQUALITY (WOMEN VS MEN, THEN...), ABORIGINES AND THE ENVIRONMENT. HEPWORTH WAS ALSO A GOOD FRIEND OF MICHAEL LEUNIG, THE WHIMSICAL CARTOONIST.

AS THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE-EAST FROM GAZA TO DAMASCUS IS RAGING, AND AS MORE THAN ONE MILLION UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED AND AROUND 60,000 RUSSIANS KILLED, ONE SHOULD SAMPLE SOME OF HEPWORTH’S GREAT WRITING ON WAR…

U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest defiance of the courts — this time refusing to follow an appellate judge’s order to halt migrant deportations — has triggered another round of liberal outrage. Critics are calling it an authoritarian move, a blatant assault on the rule of law, and a warning sign that American democracy is on its last legs.

But if this is the end of democracy, it’s been ending for a long time. And not just at Trump’s hands.

Trump’s Rule by Fiat a Bipartisan Legacy

By Vinnie Rotondaro
Common Dreams

America’s librarians elected a Marxist to represent them and staked their reputation on providing explicitly sexual material to kids. It’s no surprise the Trump administration is pulling federal funding.

Churchill once said of John Foster Dulles that he was “the only case I know of a bull who carries his own China shop around with him.” Had Churchill miraculously lived another 60 odd years, I think he would agree that when it comes to this particular metaphor, Dulles has been outclassed. At the dawn of Trump’s second term, we even see that the bull has become self-aware and is deliberately trying to break as much of the federal crockery as he can get away with.

Environmentalists have failed to transform the underlying social values that drive environmental destruction. Fifteen companies produce 30% of Australia’s greenhouse gases. Mountains provide 60% of our fresh water, but not for much longer.

Who is really destroying the environment?

Are environmentalists as culpable as governments for failing to protect the environment?

The possible withdrawal of the United States from its preeminent position in NATO, even if it does not withdraw from the Atlantic Alliance, sends the political West back to its own devices. How can peace be ensured on the continent? The European Defense project, developed by François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac, does not allow for the defense of the European space, but only provides the EU with the means to intervene in the event of a massacre abroad.

Western Europeans Deprived of Defense
by Thierry Meyssan

The projects of Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer correspond to the needs of their countries, but in no way to those of the continent. However, time is running out as conflicts loom in northern Ukraine, Moldova, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Pretoria’s diplomatic tensions with Washington have worsened following the nomination of a new ambassador by US President Donald Trump, a South African legislator has said.

Speaking to RT, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party commissar Nqobile Mhlongo stated that the timing of Trump’s nomination of Leo Brent Bozell III – just days after South African ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was expelled from Washington – signals a strategic attempt to pressure Pretoria into compliance. 

“He’s doing it to provoke South Africa, but also to assert his authority,” she said.