US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that Washington can “certainly” afford to support wars on two separate fronts, saying that its coffers are in good shape to continue backing US interests overseas in its support for Ukraine and amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

“America can certainly afford to stand with Israel and to support Israel’s military needs and we also can and must support Ukraine in its struggle against Russia,” Yellen said in a Monday interview with UK broadcaster Sky News in advance of a meeting with Eurogroup finance ministers in Luxembourg.

Securing financial support is becoming more difficult for Kiev as the country's Western backers shift their focus to domestic matters and geopolitical tensions, the Ukrainian finance minister told Reuters on Saturday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings in Marrakech, Sergey Marchenko said Kiev is having to make “twice the effort right now to convince our partners to provide us with support compared to the last annual meetings” in spring.

“I see a lot of tiredness, I see a lot of weakness among our partners, they would like to forget about the war but the war is still ongoing, full-scale,” the minister said, referring to the conflict with Russia.

Americans face a heightened threat from “lone wolf” terrorists inspired to replicate aspects of Hamas’ recent assault on Israel on US soil, FBI Director Christopher Wray told an audience of law enforcement officers at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference in San Diego on Saturday. 

Claiming there was “no question we’re seeing an increase in reported threats,” Wray warned his law enforcement colleagues, “We’ve got to be on the lookout, especially for lone actors who may take inspiration from recent events to commit violence of their own” – a reference to Hamas’ attack on Israel last Saturday.

“History has been witness to antisemitic and other forms of violent extremism for too long,” the FBI director continued, vowing to “continue confronting those threats.” 

The Western-promoted “rules-based order” is merely a cover for colonialism, as the presumed rules have never been agreed-on by anyone and are ever-shifting from one case to another, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

The president made the remarks in an exclusive interview with state-run broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) that was aired on Monday.

“Have you ever seen these rules? No, because no one has ever written them, and no one has ever agreed to them with anyone. How can we talk about order based on rules that no one has seen?” Putin stated.

The $31.4 trillion U.S. Government debt ceiling was surpassed ten months ago in January.

U.S. national debt surged by more than $500 billion in just the past 20 days to reach $33.5 trillion now, according to data provided by the Treasury Department last week.

On 1 April 1873, the Russian composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff was born in the Novgorod Governorate in the Russian Tsarist Empire; on 28 March 1943, he died in Beverly Hills in California, where he had settled in 1942. The artist also made a stop in Switzerland, namely near Lucerne in Hertenstein, a district of the municipality of Weggis on Lake Lucerne. Here he spent a few years, having been forced to leave his homeland forever in 1917, to devote himself to composing and tending his garden. His work, like that of many other Russian artists, belongs to European culture.

Composer, pianist, conductor – and gardener

On the 150th anniversary of the birth and 80th anniversary of the death of Sergei Rachmaninoff

One of the oldest and most culturally rich countries in West Asia, Iran holds relics of the rise and fall of empires of the past. Tehran, its capital and largest city, full of architectural wonders, has a population of 9.5 million.

Israel has decided to put off the start of its ground operation against Hamas in Gaza due to adverse weather conditions, the New York Times has claimed. The newspaper is also reporting that the incursion will likely come at quite a price for the Israeli military, given its scope as well as the fortifications built by the militants.

In an article on Saturday the media outlet alleged, citing anonymous Israeli officers, that the “invasion was initially planned for the weekend but was delayed by a few days, at least in part because of weather conditions.” These are so far precluding Israeli pilots and drone operators from providing ground forces with air cover, the NYT explained.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive has failed, its troops have built no defensive lines, and President Vladimir Zelensky has allowed corruption and incompetence to flourish, former adviser Aleksey Arestovich said on Saturday. New elections are the only way out of the impasse, he argued.

Zelensky’s focus on defending the Donbass city of Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine) at all costs earlier this year drained men and resources that could have been sent south to participate in the summer counteroffensive against Russian forces, Arestovich wrote on Telegram.

In this compelling video, GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley joins 'The Story' to share her strong views on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Tune in to hear why Haley believes eliminating Hamas is the key to resolving this long-standing issue.

https://original.newsbreak.com/@tv-news-briefing-1790374/3192646572283-nikki-haley-urges-permanent-elimination-of-hamas

Read more at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/104406261.cms?from=mdr&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

"Alright, so here's what's going on. In a land far,

far away, there's a giant prison that's full of people

who shouldn't be in there at all and the prison was

built by a bunch of other people who have a history

of being hated for no reason at all and the reason

they built the prison was because they thought it

would keep them safe if they locked up the locals

who they thought might be part of the group that

hated them for no reason at all. So anyway, the

leaders of the people who have a history of being

hated for no reason at all have lost their minds from

the terrible stress of being prison guards for so long

and have gotten into the unfortunate habit of doing

hateful things and being horribly cruel to their

prisoners who are in prison for no reason at all

and over time this has made some of the prisoners

Referendum defeated

The Voice to Parliament referendum has been defeated, the ABC projects. NSW, Tasmania and South Australia have voted against the change.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/referendum/2023/results?filter=all&sort=az&state=all&party=all

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW....

The PRYOR cartoon as shown by John Menadue's Pearls and irritations reminded me of the cartoon above (The Bulletin, Hop, 1900)....

Edmund Barton getting pissed (nothing new), the Churches bitterly competing for federation prayers, poets and musicians making a racket, while the Aboriginal people are ... nowhere to be seen...

And wisdom, which alone is truly fair. 

So spake our general Mother, and with eyes 

Of conjugal attraction unreprov'd, 

And meek surrender, half imbracing leand 

On our first Father, half her swelling Breast 

Naked met his under the flowing Gold 

Of her loose tresses hid: he in delight 

Both of her Beauty and submissive Charms 

Smil'd with superior Love, as Jupiter 

On Juno smiles, when he impregns the Clouds 

That shed May Flowers; and press'd her Matron lip 

With kisses pure: aside the Devil turnd 

For envie, yet with jealous leer maligne 

Ey'd them askance, and to himself thus plaind. 

Sight hateful, sight tormenting! thus these two