French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Moscow to return to peace negotiations, while at the same time pledging additional military support for Kiev amid the ongoing escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Speaking to the France 2 broadcaster on Wednesday, Macron condemned the large-scale missile attack launched by Russia against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the Crimea bridge. The missile strikes have shown that the conflict has entered “an unprecedented stage,” Macron asserted, claiming that “for the first time all over Ukraine civilians have been killed ... and electricity and heating facilities have been destroyed.”

OUR FRIEND, JULES LETAMBOUR, NOTICED AN ARTICLE ABOUT FAT TROOPERS IN THE US ARMY.... THIS REMINDS HIM OF AN ASTERIX COMIC CLIP WHEN ASTERIX AND OBELIX JOINED THE ROMAN LEGION*. ACCORDING TO JULES, THE JOKE IS HARD TO TRANSLATE IN ENGLISH BUT HE'LL GIVE IT A GO: "IS THIS THE BIG PART OF JULIUS CAESAR?" ASKS A ROMAN TROOPER FROM THE SCIPIO ARMY. OBELIX ALWAYS PEEVED WHEN PEOPLE POINT AT HIS FAT SUPERSTRONG BODY (HE FELL IN THE MAGIC POTION POT WHEN HE WAS A BUB) RESPONDS "NO, SIRREEE", WHILE BASHING SEVERAL SCIPIO TROOPERS. THE PROBLEM WITH THE FATBERGS IN THE US ARMY, IS THERE IS NO MAGIC POTION....

ON THIS SITE, GUS LEONISKY — A RABID ATHEIST — HAS OFTEN MADE FUN OF ROD DREHER FOR BEING ULTRA RELIGIOUS AND FOR ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO FOLLOW HIM INTO A BENEDICT HOLE IN THE GROUND... BUT FOR WHATEVER REASON, COMING FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE — AND POSSIBLY ANTI-WOKE AND ANTI-LGBITi — ROD MAKES SIMILAR CONCLUSION TO GUS: ZELENSKY SHOULD STOP DOING WHAT HE DOES AND VANISH....

Rod Dreher, a senior editor of The American Conservative, a US political magazine, argued in a recent blog post that “Zelensky maximalism has reached its sell-by date.”

The UK is poised to officially classify China as a “threat,” the British media reported on Tuesday. Prime Minister Liz Truss is ready to adopt a more hostile stance towards Beijing and has expressed support for self-governing Taiwan on multiple occasions.

The government is reportedly working fast to rewrite a strategic document released under Truss’ predecessor, Boris Johnson, to formalize a more hawkish approach towards Beijing. According to The Telegraph, the policy update, which was first flagged when Truss was campaigning to become Tory leader, could come “within days.’’

Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating has slammed the US-led Quad grouping as “illegitimate” and a “strategic piece of nonsense,” as he advised Canberra to not be a part of the US-led efforts to “ring-fence” China. 

The Quad, which comprises Australia, India, Japan and the US, says that its official goal is to maintain a "free and open Indo-Pacific region".

Normal person: I think it would be good if everyone didn’t die in a nuclear holocaust.

Crazy person: That means you love Vladimir Putin.

Normal person: No, I just think it would be a good idea to try to prevent the horrific death of literally everyone.

Crazy person: How much is the Kremlin paying you to say that?

Lunatics.

By Caitlin Johnstone
CaitlinJohnstone.com

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Tuesday that a military victory for Russia in Ukraine would spell defeat for the entire Western alliance. Despite providing “unprecedented support” to Kiev, Stoltenberg still claims that the US-led bloc is not a party to the conflict.

Addressing reporters on the eve of a meeting of NATO defense ministers, Stoltenberg declared that continued arms shipments to Ukraine are vital to ensure “that Ukraine wins the battle, the war against the invading Russian forces.”

Australian troops could help train Ukraine’s armed forces following Russia’s “appalling” attack on Kyiv, Defence Minister Richard Marles has declared.

Russia has launched a barrage of missiles at Kyiv, which Vladimir Putin claims is in retaliation for the blowing up of the Crimean bridge built by Moscow to supply its military.

At least 11 people have been killed following the assault.

Mr Marles said he was with Ukraine’s Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko when the “appalling” missile offensive was launched at the country’s capital.

“The sense of heartbreak was really palpable,” he told Sky News on Tuesday.

The Biden administration is swiftly establishing a narrative that the recent OPEC decision to cut oil production by 2 million tonnes is a geopolitical “aligning” by Saudi Arabia and Russia. 

It taps into the Russophobia in the Beltway and deflects attention from the humiliating defeat of President Joe Biden’s personal diplomacy with Saudi Arabia. But it is not without basis, either.

BY M.K. Bhadrakumar

the OPEC+ decision could change the security picture in West Asia more than anything since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Star Wars megastar Mark Hamill was recently named an ambassador for United24, the fundraising platform of the Ukrainian government, where according to The Times his attention will center on “the procurement, repair and replacement of drones as well as pilot training.”

BY Caitlin Johnstone

caitlinjohnstone.com

From The Times:

IT IS SAD THAT OUR SMH (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD) CANNOT FIND A RELEVANT CARTOON FOR THE DAY (11/10/2022)… THE PAPER ENDS UP PUBLISHING A VINTAGE CARTOON FROM CATHY WILCOX… 

SO WE MIGHT HAVE TO MAKE ONE FOR THE SMH… OH…. I KNOW, WITH SO MUCH CRAP HAPPENING IN THE WORLD, WE DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START…. WE MAY HAVE TO TAKE A SIDE: DO WE SUPPORT (OR APPROVE OF) PUTIN’S RIGHT TO DEFEND THE DONBASS REPUBLICS? DO WE SUPPORT THE US EMPIRE’S GOALS TO MUCK UP EVERYTHING? DO WE REALISE THAT ZELENSKY IS A RAVING LUNATIC? DO WE SEE PERROTTET AS A SILLY DICTATOR OF DAMS? IS HE A STAMP-DUTY TRICKSTER?

Ukrainian intelligence is behind the deadly attack on the Crimean Bridge, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday following a report by the head of the national Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin.

The attack was organized by the Ukrainian security services, which were “aided” by some Russian and foreign nationals, according to Bastrykin. The Investigative Committee head also said that the Federal Security Service (FSB) had identified suspects in the blast.

The attack on the bridge was aimed at Russia’s “critical infrastructure,” Bastrykin said, adding that it was “an act of terrorism.” 

Amid an endless stream of misstatements, verbal blunders, and bizarre behavior offered up by Joe Biden, 79, there has been growing speculation about the cognitive decline of America’s oldest president.

Saturday Night Live homed in on the latest batch of President Joe Biden's gaffes on its "Weekend Update."

As he referenced the 79-year-old Biden's plan to offer pardons for federal marijuana convictions, anchor Colin Jost suggested the Democratic president's conduct indicated that “maybe he celebrated with them a little.”

Colin and Che with Weekend Update! pic.twitter.com/zljm483Zwi

New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet has made a decision which has been on the cards for decades: his government will ‘fast-track’ the raising of Warragamba Dam as a means of mitigating flooding on the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system. And we still keep building on flood plains.

The idea has been in Liberal Party minds at least since 1993, when then-premier John Fahey touted it as the solution to the flood woes of the communities downstream. Mike Baird revived it in 2016. Now, Perrottet has demonstrated his determination to get the job done.

Within hours of the attack on the September attack on the Nordstream pipelines, a consensus emerged that the Americans did it, in spite of the fact that the mainstream media were united in blaming Russia. Only the Americans had the motive and the means. The evidence was circumstantial but irrefutable. Within hours of the attack on Nordstream, the video of President Biden’s February 2022 press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was making the rounds on the internet. In response to a question from a reporter in February, Biden said in no uncertain terms that if Russia invaded the Ukraine, America would take out the Nordstream pipelines. The video of Victoria Nuland saying the same thing also started circulating within hours of the attack.