In Australia at the federal level of government, we have some of the shortest election cycles in the world: often barely three years. This mitigates against even medium-term planning. A new government takes a year to learn the ropes of office, another year to govern before preparing for re-election in the third. And even if a government survives that long, the odds are its leader won’t.

As a government minister, why forward plan and propose large national projects which might take more than a decade to complete if you are not in office to take the credit for them?

Key European leaders arrived Monday at the Élysée Palace in Paris for an emergency summit called by French President Emmanuel Macron to agree on a coordinated response to a shock policy shift on the Ukraine war by the new US President Donald Trump. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were among the heads of state greeted by Macron, who had a phone call with Trump just before the summit. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments.

An emergency summit of European leaders is gathering in Paris on Monday to discuss the Ukraine war and Europe’s security as the continent scrambles to address the fallout of the US-Russian bilateral agreement to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has said Europe would not be directly involved in talks on Ukraine, though it would still have "input".

Has Vladimir Putin ever had a better few days in Washington? Donald Trump, just four weeks into his second term, has executed a breathtaking pivot toward Moscow, reversing course after years of ruptured relations between the U.S. and Russia that resulted from Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

It Took Trump Only Twenty-four Days to Sell Out Ukraine
Amid the chaos in Washington, the President’s phone call with Putin has Moscow filled with glee.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced that the UK is ready to play a “leading role” in providing security guarantees to Kiev and deploy troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping mission, should a ceasefire agreement with Russia be reached.

In an article for The Telegraph on Sunday, Starmer described the Ukraine conflict as a “once-in-a-generation moment” and an “existential” issue for Europe, justifying the potential deployment of British personnel.

“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves”. 

                        CONFUCIUS.

The Orphan of Zhao is a Chinese play from the Yuan dynasty, attributed to the 13th-century dramatist Ji Junxiang (紀君祥). VOLTAIRE ADAPTED IT TO THE TIME OF THE MONGOLS AND GENGHIS KHAN… THIS IS A BRIEF STORYLINE :

Duke Ling is the ruler of the Jin state.

“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too.” Marcus Aurelius

If you have made even a cursory study of empires of the past, there are a number of signs of the flaws of those empires that are reasonably common, generally when they are in decline, but not always.

It no longer requires any intellectual effort to recognize the fatal failure of German foreign policy since 2022. With the so-called Zeitenwende of that year, the turning point, elements of German foreign policy that had made Germany a respected and recognized player in international relations in recent decades have been abandoned: the peace imperative enshrined in the Basic Law, the German commitment to dialogue, moderation, and understanding, the will to establish good neighbourly relations across all dividing lines.

Current German foreign policy

Balance of a failure

by Petra Erler, Potsdam*

"Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he said. They came. He pushed them and they flew." 

           Guillaume Apollinaire

WE ARE PREPARED TO BELIEVE ANYTHING. WE ARE MOSTLY CONDITIONED TO BELIEVE ANYTHING. 

SHOULD WE ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE HUMAN CONDITION, WE ALWAYS END UP IN THE IMPASSE OF THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE. 

WE INVENT GOD. SOLVED. 

BUT THERE IS SO MUCH PAIN AND SO MANY BAD THINGS HAPPENING IN OUR WORLD THAT WE NEED TO INVENT EVIL. SOLVED. 

HOW COME GOD WHICH WE BELIEVE IS SO OMNIPOTENT CAN ALLOW EVIL TO EXIST? THE CHURCH WILL TELL US IT’S TO TEST OUR BELIEF THAT “HE” (THEM/HER/WHOOPO) WILL MAKE US LIVE TO “THE END OF ETERNITY” IF WE BELIEVE.

WE BELIEVE. WE COME TO THE EDGE. WE ARE PUSHED. WE FLY…

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

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.