Kiev and Stockholm have agreed to work on a major long-term arms contract under which Sweden would provide between 100 and 150 domestically-produced Gripen fighter jets, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced on Wednesday.

The meeting came a day after the Ukrainian parliament approved amendments to this year’s budget that increased military spending by additional 325 billion hryvnia ($7.7 billion), bringing it to a record 2.96 trillion hryvnia ($70.86 billion).

The two sides have yet to ink the deal, with Sweden only confirming that it had signed a letter of intent on the issue. Zelensky insisted that both parties should ensure that Kiev’s forces start operating Gripen jets “next year.”

EU countries are at odds over how to use a proposed loan for Kiev funded by frozen Russian assets, with some pushing to restrict spending to European-made weapons while others want US arms included, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

EU officials are debating the so-called “reparations loan” of about €140 billion ($162 billion) to Ukraine that would be guaranteed by Russian assets immobilized by the West after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

According to the proposal, Kiev would repay only if Moscow covers damages incurred by the conflict. Moscow has repeatedly condemned Western efforts to use its frozen funds to aid Ukraine, calling the move “theft.”

Somerset as Stand-In – Funeral Etiquette for Abandoned Lads

In the Unted States at least 25% of homes are without a Father. (Representing 18 Million children.)

In the United Kingdom another 25% of homes are single-parent, and of these 80% lack a Father.

In Germany over 18% of homes with minor children are single-parent, about 86% having no Father.

In France 30% of kids are living single-parent, in 85% of the cases enduring life absent a Father.

In Russia almost 40% of all children reside with a singular parent, nearly 90% of these lack a Father.

BY GUY SOMERSET

US President Donald Trump is set to support South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham* at a fundraiser and golf tournament next month, according to US media reports.

The upcoming November event has already been dubbed the “Trump-Graham Classic.”

The US President formally endorsed Lindsey Graham - running for his fifth term in the Senate in what the Cook Political Report calls a “solid Republican race” - in a Truth Social post earlier this year. Trump called him a “wonderful friend.”

Following a haul of $1.7 million in the third quarter, Graham’s cash on hand total sits at $14.5 million. This is believed to be the largest war chest of any Republican senator up for reelection next year.

When Sanae Takaichi became Japan’s first female prime minister, headlines hailed a “historic moment” – a symbol of progress and national renewal. A conservative firebrand molded in Shinzo Abe’s image, she vowed to “work, work, work” for Japan’s rebirth.

Meet the woman vowing to Make Japan Great Again but serving her foreign masters
Behind Sanae Takaichi’s nationalist swagger lies a country still marching to US orders

By André Benoit

Before the cock crows, I’m happy to admit I was educated in the Roman Catholic tradition under the largely effective tutelage of the Dominican Fathers. Like the Jesuits, the Dominicans placed special emphasis on study, critical thinking and the pursuit of truth. As I slouch into my winter years, I’m still trying to think critically and pursue truth whatever that is and wherever it might take me.

John Schumann

Many Australian journalists think Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Ambassador Kevin Rudd did a wonderful job this week in handling the corrupt narcissist who runs the United States, Donald Trump.

Of course, forelock tugging to monarchs is an essential in the Australian political leaders’ toolbox (former prime ministers Paul Keating and Gough Whitlam excepted).

Greg Barns

Bob Katter claims Gaza refugees are part of Hamas, as the Queensland MP continues to position himself as one of Parliament’s most outspoken defenders of Israel. Stephanie Tran reports.

Bob Katter marched alongside thousands of protesters in Brisbane on Sunday at a “March for Australia” rally, one of several anti-immigration demonstrations held across the country.

Addressing the crowd, Katter criticised Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke for allowing Gaza refugees into Australia, describing the refugees as “part of Hamas”.

The US not only helped create conditions that brought Cambodia's Khmer Rouge to power in 1975, but actively supported the genocidal force, politically and financially. By January 1980, the US was secretly funding Pol Pots exiled forces on the Thai border. The extent of this support-$85 million from 1980 to 1986-was revealed six years later in correspondence between congressional lawyer Jonathan Winer, then counsel to Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation.

The Long Secret Alliance: Uncle Sam and Pol Pot

by John Pilger (9 October 1939 – 30 December 2023)

Covert Action Quarterly Fall 1997

On the Afghan–Uzbek border, the first thing you notice is the noise. Trains, trucks, and buses move in both directions almost without pause. For the first time in decades, the hum of trade has replaced the sound of gunfire.

How trade is winning the war that armies couldn’t

Trade replaces war on the CIS’s southern frontier

By Timofey Bordachev

Meanwhile, the recent border clash between Afghanistan and Pakistan is unlikely to escalate into full-scale war. Neither side has the resources – or the appetite – for a long conflict. For most regional governments today, stability and commerce are preferable to military adventure. The Middle East and South Asia remain fragile, but they are calmer now than just a few years ago.

The Australian Financial Review’s editorial cartoonist David Rowe has won the Australian Cartoonists Association’s Gold Stanley for best cartoonist of the year for a record-extending 11th time.

Rowe was also awarded the Bronze Stanley award for best caricaturist at the association’s 41st Annual Stan Cross Awards, held in Hobart on Saturday night. It was the 15th time Rowe had taken out the award.

It is Rowe’s third consecutive Gold Stanley, an award he first won in 2002.

The price of partnership with the United States has changed. Washington is now using  assurances of defence and trade access to pressure allies in Europe and Asia to buy more of its fossil fuels under decades-long contracts.

Christoph Nedopil

English: This cartoon depicts a representation of Rudyard Kipling's famous poem The White Man's Burden. Originally published in February, 1899 the poem's philosophy quickly developed as the United States response to annexation of the Philippines. The United States used the "white man's burden" as an argument for imperial control of the Philippines and Cuba on the basis of moral necessity. It was now the United States' moral duty to develop and modernize the conquest lands in order to help carry the foreign barbarians to civilization.

A senior Pentagon spokesperson has responded with a “your mom” joke when asked about US War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s choice of tie for a recent meeting with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky.   

Hegseth opted for a white, blue, and red striped tie during Zelensky’s visit to the White House on Friday.

While the colors are also found in US national symbolism, media outlets noted that the arrangement of the stripes on Hegseth’s garment mirrored that of the Russian flag. Other members of the US administration, including President Donald Trump, wore solid-colored ties for the meeting. 

Visit many areas of state forest in parts of Victoria and you might get a shock – the forest isn’t there.

It used to be there — logged four, five, six or ten years ago — and once stood as tall, straight trees, sometimes more than 50 metres high. Now, no longer. The forest has failed to regenerate after being logged by former Victorian Government agency, VicForests.

Chris Taylor,  David Lindenmayer