https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K30vixF8cBw

Scott Ritter: Trump Is PLAYING A Different Game (Interview)

 

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 105 times to 142 Nobel Prize laureates between 1901 and 2024, 111 individuals and 31 organisations. Since the International Committee of the Red Cross has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize three times (in 1917, 1944 and 1963), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize two times (in 1954 and 1981), there are 28 individual organisations which have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Click on the links to get more information.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has urged European members of the bloc to stop complaining about getting sidelined in peace talks and discussions on Ukraine’s future, and to take action instead.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Saturday, Rutte emphasized the need for actionable ideas, including on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the bloc’s effort to ramp up its defense spending.

“Get into the debate, not by complaining… but by coming up with concrete ideas,” he stated.

Rutte also urged the bloc’s members to ramp up their military spending, pointing out that despite previous commitments, many countries have yet to meet agreed-upon defense expenditure targets. The NATO chief also confirmed the US-led bloc was expected to reach a new agreement on spending targets during the upcoming summit of the organization scheduled for June.

Musk took to his social media platform, X, on Sunday, reposting a video of synchronized drone swarms in elaborate formations and adding, “Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35.”

This is not the first time Musk has expressed skepticism about the continued use of manned fighter jets. Back in 2020, Musk declared that the era of traditional fighter jets was coming to an end, stating that the F-35 should have a competitor in the form of an unmanned aerial vehicle.

https://defence-blog.com/elon-musk-slams-f-35-calls-for-drone-replacements/

 

Employee unions are challenging the Trump administration’s moves to fire vast swaths of the federal workforce, saying they violate regulations for carrying out mass “RIFs” across government.

In a new lawsuit filed in federal court Wednesday, five employee unions allege the administration’s moves to initiate reductions-in-force and lay off probationary employees are illegal.

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled
Blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh …….
But woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation
Woe to you who are full now for you will be hungry
Wow to you who are laughing now for you will mourn and weep
From the sermon on the Plain – Luke 6: 20 – 25
Gospel for Epiphany 6 16 February

Silence falls, and the tension in the room is almost palpable as US Vice President JD Vance walks to the podium at the Munich Security Conference. Just 48 hours earlier, the world had felt like a different place.

Europeans knew, of course, how difficult things might get with Donald Trump, and that his second US presidency would seriously test the transatlantic relationship. Nonetheless, the phone call between Trump and the Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Wednesday evening sent shockwaves through the EU and NATO.

After Kennedy's confirmation, Trump establishes 'Make America Healthy Again' commission
Public health experts remain alarmed about Kennedy’s rise from a fringe figure in the alternative health world to one of the most senior and influential positions in U.S. health care.

By Aria Bendix

 

Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham showered praise on Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky at this year’s annual Munich Security Conference, declaring him to be the ally he had always dreamed of and lauding that the fight with Russia had not cost American lives.

The war-hawk senator made the remarks on Friday during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference. Speaking alongside Zelensky, Graham admitted the conflict between Moscow and Kiev was a proxy war fought by Kiev on Washington’s behalf, and praised Zelensky’s role in the continuing bloodshed.

“I want to tell you and your people you’re the ally I've been hoping for all my life. Not one American has died defending Ukraine,” Graham proclaimed, adding that Kiev had taken “our weapons” and purportedly “kicked [Russia’s] ass.”

Sir Keir Starmer has reaffirmed the UK will continue to back Ukraine's "irreversible path" to joining Nato despite leading figures in President Donald Trump's administration appearing to rule out membership.

The prime minister told Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky he stood by a pledge - made alongside ex-US president Joe Biden at last year's Nato summit in Washington - to support Ukraine's bid for membership.

Sir Keir and Zelensky spoke on the phone ahead of a global leaders' meeting at the Munich Security Conference. 

Sir Keir's comments are in stark contrast to those of the Trump administration, which has said this week that Nato membership for Ukraine is not a "realistic prospect".

Would be prime minister Peter Dutton has vowed to slash 36,000 public service jobs but will bringing back consultants be efficient? Josh Barnett checks the evidence.

Channelling the politics of Donald Trump, would be PM Peter Dutton has declared war on the public service pledging to axe the 36,000 public sector jobs added since Labor came to power under Anthony Albanese.

 

Peter Dutton’s DOGE: draining the swamp or making the swamp great again?

    by Joshua Barnett

 

Let us pause the various constitutional crises, geopolitical showdowns, and DOGE dramas to make a simple observation: Donald Trump seems kind of busy, no?

LET'S START HERE BY STATING THE ABC (AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION) IS DOING A MUCH BETTER JOB THAN THE OTHER "LEGACY" MEDIA (MMMM — MEDIOCRE MASS MEDIA DE MIERDA) AND THAT A PUBLIC BROADCASTER IS A NECESSITY IN THESE TIMES MORE THAN EVER. WE ALSO KNOW THAT THE 'LIBERAL" (CONSERVATIVE) PARTY WANTS TO GET RID OF — OR AT LEAST PRIVATISE THE ABC. WE SHALL DEFEND THE ABC, THOUGH FROM TIME TO TIME, THE ABC NEEDS TO BE KEPT ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW...

 

An open letter to ABC chairman Kim Williams    By Alison Broinowski

 

United States President Donald Trump has proposed talks with China and Russia to discuss reducing all three countries’ nuclear stockpiles and slashing their defence budgets in half.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump said he hoped to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin “when things calm down”.

“When we straighten it all out, then I want one of the first meetings I have [to be] with President Xi of China, President Putin of Russia. And I want to say, let’s cut our military budget in half,” Trump said ahead of a summit meeting with Indian President Narendra Modi.

“We’re going to have them spend a lot less money,” Trump added. “We’re going to spend a lot less money. And I know they’re going to do it.”

Arriving at Nato headquarters early on Thursday, Europe's defence ministers had one common message - that there could be no negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine and Europe at the table too.

The question is to what extent the US is listening.

After a frenetic 24 hours of US declarations, there is a tangible sense that Europe's leaders have been caught by surprise; that they now fear being bypassed on any potential Ukraine deal and being deprived of a voice on the future of European security.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke of Donald Trump's call with Vladimir Putin as being "very much out of the blue", even if the US president had made it clear for months that he was aiming to bring a quick end to the war.

Despite US President Donald Trump threatening Brics with 100% tariffs and declaring its death, the group remains important to India and is central to India’s multilateral engagement to secure national interests

 

Continuing his criticism of Brics, US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the death of the group.

For months, Trump has been threatening Brics members with 100 per cent tariffs over concern regarding ‘dedollarisation’, referring to the purported efforts to dislodge US Dollar as the primary currency of international trade.