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Putin is reportedly on the brink of a new land grab to defy the West by possibly announcing soon that Russia is taking control of a breakaway Moldovan region. There is speculation that unofficial state Transnistria is poised to make an appeal to Putin to join Russia. The landlocked strip along the Dniester River is wedged between Moldova and Ukraine. Putin already has a 'peacekeeping' force of up to 2,000 troops in the territory which Russia says overwhelmingly wishes to be incorporated by Moscow. There are also likely thousands of Russian paramilitaries on the ground. A fear is Putin will...

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Belarus on Monday for talks with his counterpart and ally Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarus leader’s office said. The Belarus presidency said Friday the pair will hold discussions at the Independence Palace, Lukashenko’s office, in Minsk during Putin’s “working visit”. -snip- Minsk said the pair will hold one-on-one talks as well as wider negotiations with their ministers on “Belarusian-Russian integration”.

Don't the Czechs want an aircraft carrier? Politicians and embassies also picked up on the joke about the annexation of Královec The joke about joining Kaliningrad, or Královec, to the Czech Republic continues to be picked up by top politicians and embassies. The American Embassy in Prague offers the Czech Republic an aircraft carrier, Deputy Minister of Finance Jiří Valenta jokingly plans that it will be necessary to increase the GDP of the annexed region after taking over Královec. Senator Miroslava Němcová proposes a letter in which the Czechia would inform the Russians about the accession of Kaliningrad to the...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions a “farce” on Sunday. “Recently, someone somewhere held pseudo-referendums, and when the Ukrainian flag is returned, no one remembers the Russian farce with some pieces of paper and some annexations,” Zelensky said in his nightly address. “Except, of course, law enforcement agencies of Ukraine,” he continued. “Because everyone who is involved in any elements of aggression against our state will be accountable for it.” Russia on Friday annexed four regions in Ukraine’s east and south, a major escalation in the seven-month war after Russian President Vladimir Putin called up...

Let's see Dementia Joe ever get such an exuberant crowd.

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (Reuters) -"It's funny. Nobody voted, yet the results are in," laughed Lyubomir Boyko, 43, from Golo Pristan, a village in Russian-occupied Kherson province as he waited on Wednesday outside a United Nations aid office with his family at a refugee reception centre. As Russia prepares to annex a swathe of Ukrainian territory the size of Portugal after staging what it calls referendums in four provinces, hundreds of Ukrainians escaped through the last Russian checkpoint. Many said they had fled while they still can. "A lot of people are just leaving everything behind. There are places that are completely...

This week, Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, announced that “the Trump policy requiring that Mexicans remain in Mexico until legally admitted into the United States will no longer be enforced. President Biden has instructed us to ‘let them come in’ and that’s what we’re going to do.” The Secretary explained that “Trump’s policy had endemic flaws and imposes unjustifiable human costs. It will be unwound in a quick, and orderly manner. Resources that had been used to keep people out will be redeployed. Up to now immigrants had to travel to the border at their own...

Ireland has become the first EU country to formally designate Israeli settlement expansion as “annexation” of Palestinian land. The Irish parliament, the Dáil, said so in a motion passed unanimously on Wednesday (26 May). “The scale, pace, and strategic nature of Israel’s actions on settlement expansion and the intent behind it have brought us to a point where we need to be honest about what is actually happening on the ground … it is de facto annexation,” Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney also told MPs in a debate on Tuesday prior to voting. “This is not something that I, or...

the plan, which would involve Idaho expanding its border to the Pacific Ocean, could grow Idaho's population by 50% and make it the nation's third-largest state in terms of area, KTVB reports. The plan calls for around three-quarters of Oregon becoming part of Idaho. Supporters say residents of parts of southeast Washington and northern California would also welcome the chance to become part of a red state.

Consider U.S. farmers happy. They are exporting record volumes of products to China. Shipments of soybeans, corn and pork are bringing smiles back to the American heartland. Or, to put this another way, Beijing is effectively acknowledging it cannot feed the Chinese people. China's leader, Xi Jinping, recently made such an admission. Last August, he announced what became known as the "clean your plate" campaign to end what he called a "shocking and distressing" waste of food. Just about everyone saw this effort, to get the Chinese people to eat less, as a warning of food shortages to come. Chinese...

Through Palestinian Eyes – Zvi Yechezkeli (Channel 13, Israel) and the hidden camera: What do the Palestinians in the territories really think about annexation?

The Vatican issued a statement Wednesday warning Israel that “unilateral actions” in the West Bank and Jordan Valley would seriously compromise peace efforts in the area. In its statement, the Holy See press office revealed the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, met with the Ambassadors of the United States of America and of the State of Israel on Tuesday. […] The Vatican’s “concern” relates to plans to extend Israeli law over parts of the West Bank and Jordan Valley in an effort to safeguard Jewish settlements in the West Bank and shore up Israel’s western border by annexing...

Are we heading for the Bible’s great end-time conflict? We appear to be approaching yet more choppy waters in Israel’s turbulent history. The Jewish state’s proposed ‘annexation’ of the Jordan Valley, along with parts of Judea and Samaria – otherwise known as the West Bank despite being the heart of ancient Israel – is causing hackles to rise once again among the nations. This includes Britain who insist on sticking to their longstanding Foreign Office mantra of pushing for a ‘two-state solution’ – even though there is no evidence whatsoever that it will work, or indeed that it is justifiable....

More than half of the Democratic senators currently in office havespoken out in recent weeks against Israeli annexation of settlements in the West Bank. Together with the opposition to annexation expressed by former Vice President Joe Biden, the senators’ statements on the subject show that annexation could harm Israel’s standing with Democratic politicians and voters. As of Monday, at least 28 of the 47 Democrats in the Senate have expressed their opposition to annexation, most of them by sending letters on the subject to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz. A Democratic source in the Senate told...

Saeb Erekat, Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said on Sunday that an application of sovereignty over even “one inch” of “occupied Palestinian Territory” by Prime Binyamin Benjamin Netanyahu means an extermination of any chance of peace in the region. “If Netanyahu goes ahead with the annexation and apartheid, then he must ally with the American racist extremist organization, Klu Klux Klan, and must be ready to assume all his responsibilities as an occupying power,” said Erekat, who spoke during a virtual meeting of Israeli and foreign journalists and quoted by the Wafa news agency....

Defense Minister Benny Gantz orders IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi to “step up preparations for the IDF,” his office says, ahead of the potential annexation of portions of the West Bank. “Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz instructed the chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, to step up preparations for the IDF ahead of diplomatic efforts on the agenda in the Palestinian arena,” the statement reads. Gantz says he also plans to appoint a point-person to coordinate between the different government bodies involved in the process. “In addition, a joint team will be formed that will...

The French government issued a strongly-worded statement Tuesday urging Israel not to apply sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. The statement calls on Prime Minister Netanyahu and alternate Prime Minister Gantz not to "annex", as the move "will have significant implications for Israel's relations with the EU." The French foreign ministry is aligning with the European foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, who is regarded as the most senior official in Europe who actively opposes the move. "We support the announcement by EU Foreign Minister Borrrell that annexation would be in violation of international law, and would not proceed without implications for...

The Trump administration does not view the new Israeli government's July 1 deadline to begin the process of applying sovereignty over Judea and Samaria as a "do or die" date, a senior US official told Barak Ravid of Channel 13 News on Tuesday. The coalition deal that allowed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to form a new government says he can bring "the understandings with the Trump administration" on sovereignty up for a vote in the cabinet or in the Knesset as early as July 1 — but only with the full agreement of the White House. The report comes as...

The European Union warned Israel Thursday against applying sovereignty over portions of Judea and Samaria, vowing to “closely monitor” Israeli moves in the area. In a statement released Thursday afternoon, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell noted the deal between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Blue and White chief Benny Gantz for the formation of a unity government, expressing a willingness to cooperate with the new Israeli government in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, while cautioning the Jewish state against altering the status quo in Judea and Samaria. “The European Union takes note of the political agreement that could...

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday warned that if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu carries out his plan to annex communities in Judea and Samaria, he would if elected ensure no US taxpayer funds support the move. ​“If Prime Minister Netanyahu makes good on his threat to annex Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a President Buttigieg would take steps to ensure that American taxpayers won’t help foot the bill​,” he said during a speech at Indiana University, according to The New York Post. Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said that in the same way an American patriot...