Keir Starmer has announced that Britain will “fight for peace in Europe” with a generational increase in defence spending paid for by slashing the foreign aid budget.

The move, just two days before the prime minister is due to meet Donald Trump, raised immediate concerns that he was pandering to the US president, and fury from aid groups that say it could cost lives in countries that rely on UK support.

In a surprise announcement, Starmer announced the biggest increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war, with the budget rising to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 – three years earlier than planned – and an ambition to reach 3%.

The recent United Nations vote to condemn Russia for the war in Ukraine saw unlikely allies in Russia and the United States, which both voted against the resolution. On this episode of the ScheerPost podcast, Ray McGovern joins host Robert Scheer to discuss what this vote means and how a potential new peace with Russia is reminiscent of the days of John F. Kennedy and the Soviet Union. Ray pays tribute to Aaron Bushnell, the Air Force serviceman who set himself on fire in protest of the genocide in Gaza and points out how Trump’s peace in Europe sets up a glaring contradiction for his attitude in the Middle East.

Robert Scheer

Dan Bongino, a former US Secret Service agent and far-right podcaster has been chosen to serve as United States FBI deputy director.

US President Donald Trump announced the appointment on his Truth Social platform, praising Bongino as a "man of incredible law and passion for our country".

Bongino, who unsuccessfully ran for congress three times, will serve under Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist who was sworn in on Friday.

The move to place staunch Trump allies atop the nation's premier federal law enforcement has drawn criticism from Democrats and some Republicans who have raised fears the president will use the FBI to target his adversaries.

Peter Dutton has made $30 million of property transactions across 26 pieces of real estate over 35 years, making him one of the country’s wealthiest-ever contenders for prime minister as the major parties battle to convince voters they can fix Australia’s housing affordability crisis.

BY James Massola

Since buying his first home at 19, Dutton has made property purchases totalling $12 million and sales of $18.8 million in transactions that he has frequently declared to parliament late, partially, and in two cases, not at all.

WHEN EGOS WERE FAR LESS FRAGILE THAN IN TODAY'S GLASSWARE, VERBAL DISPUTE ACCOMPANIED WITH PACKETS OF INSULTS WERE THE GO... LAWYERS HAVE SINCE SEEN A LUCRATIVE INCOME IN SETTLING DEFAMATIONS OF FAR LESS SCOPE THAN SAY "The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie"...

WE HAVE EXPLORED MANY POETIC DESTRUCTIONS AND RIDICULES OF WRITERS FIGHTING WRITERS ON THIS SITE, FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN SOMEONE CALLED WADE, FEELING SLIGHTLY HURT BY A TINY MEDIA OUTLET CALLED MWM, AND, TO SOME EXTEND BRINGING MORE SHIT ON ONESELF BY TAKING THE MATTER TO COURT...

EVEN IF HE WINS THE CASE, IN A MAZE OF LAWS THAT SEEMS, TO THIS OLD DECREPIT KOOKY GUS FELLOW, VERY CONFUSED, CONFUSING AND LOPSIDED TO FAVOUR THE PRACTITIONERS OF THE BAR UNTIL THE CASH RUNS OUT, THE MATTER SEEMS TRIVIAL...

What President Donald Trump has been saying about his friends and our allies recently clearly suggests that both the AUKUS arrangement (it is not a treaty), along with last month’s down payment of some $US500k, has been and will prove to be a terrible mistake.

With AUKUS we have thrown all our eggs into one basket. With what assurance, as opposed to expectation, of a return? Nor is it clear as to purpose once a military stalemate is between the US and China.

Dark night for Germany: Elections will change little, and nothing for the better
Despite the establishment’s historic losses, it will still form a coalition and lead the country deeper into despair

For anyone following German politics, it may be counterintuitive, but things can get even worse. 

I think Trump is sincere in wanting to broker a peace deal with Russia, but I do not think he has grasped the fact that Russia has no desire to end the war with Ukraine until it is defeated, along with NATO, or the United States accepts the conditions President Putin presented last June. Europe is a different matter entirely. The European Union bureaucrats and the leaders of France, Germany and the UK want to keep the war going.

     24 February 2025 by Larry C. Johnson

Construction of former President Barack Obama's long-awaited library and museum in Chicago began with ambitious plans for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) but is now plagued by huge cost overruns, delays and a $40.75-million, racially charged lawsuit filed by a minority contractor.

Economist Martin Armstrong speaks again with SouthFront. In the interview he gave, Armstrong offers some insights into the main issues on the geopolitical and economic agenda. Armstrong’s reflections are based on the interpretative model of economic cycles, the Socrates model.

Exclusive interview with Martin A. Armstrong by Carlo Alberto Amen, Piero Messina and Lorenzo Maria Pacini.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqB6xXVnpqo

Ukraine War Could End Within Weeks / Lt Col Daniel Davis

In a recent White House speech alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, former President Donald Trump stated that the Russia-Ukraine war could end within weeks if handled smartly. Trump expressed concerns over ongoing casualties and warned of potential escalation into World War III. Macron appeared visibly uncomfortable, and there were signs of diplomatic tension between him and Trump.

America's founders would approve of trump's anti-christian bias task force....

SO SCREAMS THE HEADLINE! FOLLOWED BY THE SOOTHING WORDS OF GOD...

To many believers, Trump’s pro-religious freedom stance is most welcome. Furthermore, I believe that the founders of America would applaud this — including those we could call the patron saints of the ACLU.

The Christian faith played an indisputable role in the founding of America. The Supreme Court reviewed all the evidence in the Trinity decision of 1892, where they declared, “This is a Christian nation.” And because America began as a Christian nation, people of all faiths or no faiths are welcome here.

IN THE ADVERT ABOVE, PUBLISHED IN THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD ON 25/02/2025, THERE IS ONLY ONE DYNAMIC STATED: NO TO DONALD TRUMP ETHNIC CLEANSING. FULL STOP. WE COULD NOT AGREE MORE, BUT IN THIS WORLD OF DEVIOUS DONALD DEALING, SOMETHING IS MISSING.

I MEAN MANY THINGS ARE MISSING:

— WHAT ABOUT NETANYAHU DOING HIS OWN STYLE OF ETHNIC CLEANSING?

— IS THERE A VOICE HERE FOR A “PALESTINIAN STATE”?

— IS GAZA GOING TO STAY IN THE HANDS OF THE JEWISH AUTHORITY? 

— WHAT ABOUT ISRAEL DOING ETHNIC CLEANSING IN THE WEST BANK?

— IS THE OUTRAGEOUS TRUMP’S SUGGESTION ABOUT GETTING THE (RICH) ARAB STATES, TO ABSORB 2.5 MILLION REFUGEES DESIGNED TO ANNOY THE ARAB STATES WHO HAVE DONE PEANUTS TO PROTECT THE PALESTINIANS FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS — EXCEPT MAKE DEALS WITH ISRAEL?

The Trump paradox is like a schism

He is a horrible man to be analysed 

Through a strategically enlightened prism 

Not the progressive current presently advised 

By dint of submitting to the woke injunctions 

Of the globalist and transhumanist elites 

That have abandoned their original functions 

Fake cultural reference to find themselves cheats

Uprooted and disarmed in the face of uncertainties 

The unthought in which they prevent the hand 

From giving meaning to events, incapable universities

From thinking in complexity needed to understand 

Gross subtleties brought in by Donald Trump 

More useful than futile resistance of the left

Arming people of the world with a loud crump

Amplifying faulty layers of upright cunning theft 

If you want to get a sense of what President Kennedy was up against with his Peace Speech at American University a few months before he was taken out, just look at the reaction to President Trump’s friendly overtures toward Russia in the last few days. The mainstream media is up in arms over Trump’s actions. Multiply that reaction by about 1,000 and you’ll get a sense of what Kennedy was facing with his attempt to move America in a similar direction.*

Is Trump Risking His Life with Russia and Ukraine?
    by Jacob G. Hornberger