Washington is prioritizing its own interests amid growing Arctic rivalry and interest in Greenland, Danish intelligence has said
The United States has for the first time been flagged as a possible security concern in Denmark’s annual intelligence outlook, which cites a more forceful US pursuit of its interests in the Arctic and renewed pressure over Greenland.
A semi-autonomous Danish territory of fewer than 60,000 people, Greenland has become central to the friction between Copenhagen and Washington. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants the island brought under American control, calling it a strategically vital asset because of its Arctic location and mineral wealth, and he has refused to rule out using military force to that end.
In its annual public risk assessment published on Wednesday, intelligence service FE said the global order is becoming more conflict-driven, with major states using economic, technological, and military instruments more forcefully to secure national goals. Alongside its assessments of Russia and China, the report included a new section titled ‘The US is changing the agenda’, which explained that Washington is increasingly prioritizing its own interests and “now using its economic and technological strength as a tool of power, also toward allies and partners.”
Aside from tariff-related pressures, the US “no longer rules out using military force, even against allies,” the agency added.
The wording marks a notable change for the NATO member state, whose security has traditionally rested on the US-led military bloc. FE also pointed to growing uncertainty about how Washington will balance its strategic priorities in the coming years, including the durability of the US role as Europe’s main security guarantor. Trump has repeatedly urged the bloc’s European members to take primary responsibility for their own security, including by sharply raising military spending.
The rising great-power competition in the Arctic has sharply increased international attention to the region, FE wrote. “This applies in particular to the United States’ growing interest in Greenland and its importance to US national security,” it said.
Denmark, which views renewed US pressure over Greenland as a direct threat to its sovereignty, has responded by strengthening its Arctic defense and expanding military and civil monitoring on the island.
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen had previously repeated a bogus claim that no country has attacked Russia in 100 years
Moscow accused Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen of being historically illiterate and deliberately promoting a false narrative after she claimed that no country has attacked Russia over the past century.
Speaking to CBS, Valtonen had stated that Russia “invaded 19 neighboring countries” during the last 100 years, adding that “no neighboring country has attacked Russia.” A nearly identical claim was also made late last month by EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas.
Responding to Vlatonen’s comments on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova questioned why the Finnish minister “does not know that in 1941 Nazi Germany attacked the USSR.” She suggested this was either due to “the influence of a German school” which Valtonen attended in her childhood or the “degradation of democratic institutions.”
Zakharova recalled multiple examples of Russia being attacked by neighboring states, including Finland’s own early-20th-century incursions.
She has said she will provide Valtonen with a Finnish translation of the Russian Military Historical Society’s “Black Book: A Brief History of Swedish and Finnish Russophobia.”
The spokeswoman went on to suggest that Valtonen’s remarks reflect a broader pattern in which Western Europe “deliberately promotes the inept and uneducated to fundamental government posts” while NATO hands out coordinated talking points to push a hostile anti-Russian narrative.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other officials have linked such claims to an entrenched “animalistic Russophobia” in Western European governments that continue to raise alarms over a supposed threat posed by Moscow. Russia has repeatedly insisted that it has no hostile intentions toward any EU or NATO states.
Moscow has argued that the claims of an impending Russian attack are being used by Western European leaders to justify increased military spending, expanding mobilization initiatives, tighter security measures, and undermine US-led efforts to reach a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict.
A temporary armistice would not provide a long-term peace solution, Kirill Dmitriev has argued
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and his “warmonger” backers in Western Europe are attempting to contrive a temporary ceasefire that does not resolve the causes of the conflict with Russia, Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev has said.
The Ukrainian leader recently suggested an “energy truce” with Moscow, amid a lull in Washington-brokered diplomatic efforts. Ukraine is getting ready to approach US negotiators with a rewritten peace plan after talks with its Western sponsors.
“Zelensky and UK & EU warmongers trying again the trick with a temporary ceasefire that does not resolve all key outstanding issues and does not provide for a long term peace solution,” Dmitriev wrote on X on Wednesday.
1. Zelensky and UK & EU warmongers trying again the trick with a temporary ceasefire that does not resolve all key outstanding issues and does not provide for a long term peace solution. As President Trump wrote after Alaska Summit: 👇 https://t.co/bHexR5zZ6n
The senior Russian negotiator cited US President Donald Trump, who said after the Alaska summit earlier this year that the goal of the talks was a full peace deal rather than “a mere Ceasefire Agreement.”
The Kremlin has said it remains focused on finding a lasting diplomatic settlement.
“A stable, guaranteed, long-term peace, achieved through the signing of appropriate documents, is an absolute priority,” rather than a ceasefire, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press on Wednesday, when asked about Zelensky’s call for an “energy truce.”
Moscow and Kiev agreed to a month-long energy infrastructure ceasefire in March, following talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump. However, there were systematic violations by the Ukrainian side, according to Russian officials.
Russia has long insisted on a stable peace that eliminates the conflict’s underlying causes, arguing that any temporary armistice would afford Kiev time to rearm with the help of its Western backers.
Western European nations have insisted on playing a bigger role in talks based on Trump’s 28-point peace plan. UK and EU leaders are complicating the negotiations, making demands that are outright “unacceptable” to Moscow, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said last week.
Officials in Washington reportedly fear the court could target the president and others in his administration after 2029
Washington is pressuring the International Criminal Court (ICC) to amend its founding statute to block any future attempt to prosecute US President Donald Trump or his senior officials, Reuters has reported, citing administration sources.
The ICC was created in 2002 under the Rome Statute to prosecute genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. So far, 125 countries have ratified the treaty and are full members of the court. However, major global powers including Russia, China, India, the US, and Israel have either not signed or not ratified the agreement.
The administration fears the court could move against Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and others after Trump leaves office in 2029, according to one senior official. The source did not specify which issues might trigger prosecution but insisted that the Rome Statute must be amended to state explicitly that the ICC has “no jurisdiction” to pursue them.
If the tribunal refuses to act, Washington may sanction the ICC as an institution, severely disrupting its operations, the outlet claimed.
According to Reuters, future ICC investigations may include the US military campaign in the Caribbean and off the Pacific coast of South America, where American forces have carried out deadly strikes on suspected drug-running vessels, killing more than 80 people.
Last year, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
The court recognizes Palestine as a member, which it says grants jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in the enclave. The Trump administration has maintained strong political and military backing for Israel throughout the conflict.
Washington is also reportedly pressuring the ICC to drop its investigation of Israeli officials and to formally close an earlier probe into the conduct of US forces in Afghanistan. The US previously imposed economic sanctions and visa bans on ICC judges and prosecutors.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described the court as “a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare” against the US and Israel.
Lithuania has accused Belarus of “hybrid attacks” and has requested indefinite emergency powers for the military
The Lithuanian government has declared a nationwide state of emergency, citing air traffic disruptions caused by weather balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes into the country.
Vilnius claims they have been launched from Belarus as part of a wider “hybrid attack,” allegations Minsk firmly denies.
The NATO country’s government has additionally requested indefinite emergency powers for the military to address the situation, asking its parliament to allow soldiers to restrict access to specific areas, stop and search vehicles, check documents and personal belongings, and detain those suspected of crimes or resisting officers. Troops would be authorized to use force while performing these tasks if the motion passes.
Vilnius claims that the weather balloons, which are uncontrollable meteorological devices equipped with GPS trackers, have repeatedly disrupted flights and prompted airport shutdowns. Officials claim they pose a risk to civil aviation and national security. Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Rugyniene has said the declared measures will remain in place as long as needed.
Belarus has denied responsibility for the balloons, dismissing the accusations as a provocation. Minsk has pointed to cases in which SIM cards from Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland were reportedly found in GPS devices attached to the balloons, suggesting they were launched from inside the Baltic states.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a key Russian ally, has described Lithuania’s accusations as “exaggerated and politicized,” adding that pilots consulted by Minsk saw no threat to civil aviation. He has insisted that his country does not seek confrontation with its neighbors.
Vilnius declared an emergency in 2021 after accusing Minsk of facilitating migrant crossings, which it denied, and again in 2022 following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict. Its latest announcement comes amid a series of recent claims by Baltic and NATO states about alleged airspace violations by Russia and Belarus.
Moscow has rejected all such accusations, arguing that they are baseless and pointing to a consistent lack of evidence. Russian officials have said the claims are aimed at creating fear among Europeans in order to justify expanding military budgets, tightening security measures, and undermining US-led efforts to reach a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict.
“Land swaps” combined with a demilitarized zone are intended to make the agreement “more palatable” for Kiev, David Ignatius has claimed
Ukrainian and Western officials have been discussing “land swaps” between Moscow and Kiev, as well as a wide demilitarized zone along the front line to make a potential peace agreement more tolerable for Kiev, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
Ignatius suggested, citing American, Ukrainian, and European officials, that “a peace deal seems to be getting closer.” He added that a Ukrainian official told him the talks are “far from over,” with work ongoing on three documents – a peace plan, security guarantees, and an economic recovery package for Kiev.
One idea centers on a demilitarized zone running along the line of contact from Russia’s Donetsk Region toward Zaporozhye and Kherson Region, with heavy weapons banned in a deeper rear area, the report claims. The line would be “closely monitored, much like the DMZ that divides North and South Korea,” Ignatius wrote.
On the other hand, the report said that “land swaps” between Moscow and Kiev are “an inescapable part of the deal,” with negotiators “haggling” over how new lines would be drawn. According to the column, US officials said that Ukraine was likely to lose much of Donbass and should offer concessions now to avoid further casualties.
These two elements appear to be a compromise to make the deal “more palatable” for Vladimir Zelensky, who has publicly rejected territorial concessions, Ignatius wrote.
Under the package, Ukraine could reportedly join the EU as early as 2027, with Washington believing it could overcome opposition from Hungary, which has been an opponent of the move. Negotiators also expect that Kiev’s membership would push it to address endemic corruption.
As for security guarantees, the US is expected to provide Ukraine with NATO-like assurances, with the EU making similar commitments. Kiev also reportedly wants the US Congress to ratify the agreement. Meanwhile, talks over the eventual size of the Ukrainian army – what the piece described as another “delicate issue” – are still ongoing.
Moscow insists that any sustainable settlement must include Ukraine’s full withdrawal from four new Russian regions, a Ukrainian commitment to stay out of NATO, and demilitarization and denazification.
A place Kiev vows to retake, and Moscow vows to never return – how life continues in Energodar beneath the crosshairs
Following the expiration of the local ceasefire in the area around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, which was established in late October to repair damaged power lines, the Ukrainian Armed Forces intensified their shelling of Energodar, a town near the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. Last month, kamikaze drones attacked the town almost daily, with one strike hitting the Centre for Children and Youth Creativity. Miraculously, no one was injured. Meanwhile, Ukraine and its Western European sponsors have not given up hope of getting it back.
At the entrance to Energodar stands a billboard featuring an image of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant and the words, ‘Difficulties make us stronger.’ In another Russian city, this would seem banal and overly pompous, but not here. Here, it is the harsh truth of life. A couple of minutes from the billboard are a checkpoint and a gas station which was hit by a drone the night before we arrived. Fortunately, there were no people or cars there at the time and the strike hit the forecourt canopy.
Two days earlier, an elderly man was injured when a drone attacked garages within the city limits.
Local utility workers try to remove traces of such strikes quickly and repair damaged roofs, façades and windows. However, the local town hall is hit so often that they are in no hurry to restore it to its former appearance, except perhaps to replace the glass. The city administration building was hit by a US High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS): one rocket hit the roof, damaging part of the supporting structure, and the other exploded near the central entrance. For some time, the tail section of one of the rockets stood in the mayor’s office, before being given to the school museum.
Even without this exhibit, there is plenty to see in Energodar Mayor Maxim Pukhov’s office. “Here we have a small collection of items that flew into the administration building and around the city,” he says, pointing to a shelf in a cupboard where other city leaders usually keep souvenirs and commemorative photographs. “My predecessor started collecting them, and I’m adding to the collection,” Pukhov takes out small pieces of the HIMARS rocket and other shells that flew into the city, as well as the tail of a mortar mine and a drone motor. He then produces an entire FPV drone that ‘landed’ in the city; it didn’t detonate and was later defused.
Maxim Pukhov has no idea what the view from his office window is like. When he became mayor of Energodar in early 2025, the windows in his office were already blocked with sandbags. The view was probably beautiful – Energodar is located on the right bank of the Dnieper River, next to the Kakhovka Reservoir, and the area is very picturesque. However, after the dam was destroyed in 2023, the reservoir dried up. Now, on the other side of the river, the enemy calls Energodar and the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant ‘temporarily occupied’ and shells the area daily.
On February 14 last year, the town hall building was hit by three UAV strikes. The timing of the attack was apparently no coincidence: a city council meeting was taking place in an annex of the administrative building, and the strikes were directed at the connecting gallery, which people usually used to return to the main building after such events. However, the meeting had ended earlier than usual and there was no one in the gallery at the time. Locals later joked grimly that it was a ‘Valentine’s Day gift’ from Ukraine.
Overall, the residents of Energodar are surprisingly optimistic. Despite the constant threat of attacks and interruptions to the electricity, water and heating supplies, life in the city goes on as usual. Warnings about shelling and approaching UAVs on local Telegram channels are interspersed with advertisements for beauty salons, furniture showrooms, and flower shops. Cafés and restaurants are full of people, and the streets are busy with cars.
The large, five-domed Holy Epiphany Cathedral on Kurchatov Street is set to be consecrated next year. Construction began in the mid-1990s under Ukrainian rule, but insufficient funds meant that it could not be completed. For many years, services were only held in the lower chapel in the basement of the church. Following the transfer of control to Russia, the cathedral’s completion was supported by the state corporation Rosatom. The interior of the cathedral is currently being painted. Once consecrated, the cathedral will become the largest in the Zaporozhye region.
However, this remains a frontline zone, as evidenced by details that would not be seen in other Russian regions. At Secondary School No. 2, for example, heavily armed guards sit at the entrance. One of the guards always accompanies the children when they go out for break time, as they may not hear the sound of approaching shells and may not take cover in time.
Due to shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, electricity is periodically cut off here, so generators have been installed in the school’s backyard. The school’s principal, Elena Kotlyarevskaya, knows how to start them herself. People here are also accustomed to stocking up on water. Elena is strict but clearly adored by her students. She does not consider a lack of electricity or water to be a reason to cancel classes or an excuse for not doing homework. Her school is open to children until almost curfew time, as there is no point in them wandering the streets in case something happens. It is better for them to be here under supervision. Even during the holidays, the school is open, as most of the parents work at the station and need to know that their children are safe.
On the day we arrived, the older pupils were rehearsing a dance for an upcoming concert in the assembly hall, which had been renovated with Rosatom’s support. The pupils are no different from children their age in schools in central Russia, and the vast majority speak Russian. According to the school principal, some pupils communicate with each other in Ukrainian, but this does not raise any questions.
The only thing that caught the eye was the abundance of Russian symbols. In front of the school and on the end of the building, there was graffiti depicting a family with the Russian tricolor, accompanied by the words “We are united.” There was a large 3D panel of Pushkin on the school building, and portraits of President Vladimir Putin and posters reading “Together we are strong — my Russia.” could be found in many classrooms.
One high school student had a keychain featuring the Russian flag on his bag, while another wore a sweatshirt bearing the words “I live and create in Russia.” Nobody is forcing them to dress this way. After some initial skepticism when Energodar came under Russian control in spring 2022, some teenagers even refused to go to school. Now, however, they cannot imagine themselves outside of Russia. They are not even bothered by Ukrainian Telegram channels which regularly publish photos of ZNPP employees and Energodar residents (including minors), along with their names, addresses, and threats of reprisals. Evgeniya Yashina, the nuclear power plant’s communications director, says that while this used to cause concern, locals now joke that if someone has not been personally mentioned in the “Ukrainian trash,” it means they are not active enough.
Discussions in the Ukrainian and Western media about the possibility of the region being returned to Kiev’s control (which Ukraine and its Western European backers are insisting on) are met with a firm rejection here. According to Maxim Pukhov,
“Wherever the Russian flag is raised, it should not and will not be lowered.”
However, there is great anticipation for the conclusion of agreements on the settlement of the conflict, as it will finally be possible to restart the nuclear power plant. Since 2022, all six of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant’s power units have been in a state of ‘cold shutdown.’ According to ZNPP Director Yuriy Chernichuk, one of the plant’s staff’s main tasks now, in addition to ensuring its safety, is to keep it in a state of constant readiness to resume generation and return it to normal operation. “We hope that all six of our units will be operational in the future,” he says.
However, the conditions for this have not yet been created. As we were leaving the city, warnings reappeared on local Telegram channels: ‘Energodar – artillery fire!’ ‘Energodar – UAV threat!’ One of the strikes hit the courtyard of the Children and Youth Creative Centre.
Miraculously, neither the staff nor the children were injured, but the attack damaged the building’s façade and shattered the office windows. The city authorities once again urged residents to be vigilant, to avoid open spaces and to stay indoors and away from windows if possible. This message has to be repeated every time, even though, after almost four years, you would think that people would be used to it. But they are simply tired of being afraid.
This article was first published by Kommersant, and was translated and edited by the RT team.
Britain’s newest political party consists of two disruptive ideologies completely out of touch with the modern West
In his famous political tract – The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon, published in 1852 – Karl Marx proffered the generalization that “history repeats itself – first as tragedy, then as farce.”
Marx saw Napoleon’s demise as tragedy. Having been born in the German Rhineland – which Napoleon had temporarily dragged into the progressive orbit of the French Revolution – Marx, like all progressive German political thinkers of the 1840s, was bitterly disappointed by Napoleon’s defeat in 1815.
From this perspective, he viewed Louis Napoleon’s coup in 1851 – in which Napoleon’s authoritarian and inept nephew overthrew the second French republic – as an unseemly farce.
Observers who witnessed the recent initial Your Party conference in Liverpool could easily have walked away believing that old-style socialism and contemporary left progressivism had descended into the realm of farce.
What occurred in Liverpool, however, went beyond farce and degenerated into utter absurdity.
The Your Party is a new revolutionary socialist and progressive leftist party created earlier this year by two refugees from the UK Labour Party – the old-style socialist Jeremy Corbyn and the progressive leftist activist Zarah Sultana.
The new party seeks to fuse Corbynite socialism with woke progressivism – with the aim of attracting enough working class votes to enable it to implement its revolutionary political program.
Things, however, did not go well at the Liverpool conference. A bitter clash between the two party co-founders, Corbyn and Sultana, took place on the first day of the conference – which proved that Corbynite socialism and left progressivism are ideologies that have reached their use-by date.
Corbyn was driven out of the Labour Party in 2024 because the party had long ago, under Tony Blair, rejected his brand of socialism – and Keir Starmer regarded him as an embarrassing anachronism. Corbyn’s mentors were Michael Foot and Tony Benn – and under Blair he had vegetated on the back bench.
Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party in 2015 by default, as a result of the party’s electoral defeat and a restructuring that allowed members – rather than members of parliament – to elect the leader.
Corbyn signed up thousands of new members, who elected him leader. The vast majority of Labour MPs never supported Corbyn – and his crushing defeat by Boris Johnson at the 2020 election ended the party’s brief flirtation with Corbyn’s brand of atavistic socialism forever.
Corbyn’s defeat made it clear that the British working class rejected Corbynite socialism – as they had Michael Foot’s version in 1983 – and much preferred Johnson’s brand of “levelling up” conservatism. Subsequently, working-class voters have flocked to support the right-wing populism of Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, which has denounced all woke ideologies and vowed to curb mass immigration.
Sultana left the Labour Party earlier this year because it was not sufficiently committed to the woke ideologies that she so fervently embraces, especially transgender rights and open borders – both elite ideologies that have never garnered any support amongst economically displaced working-class voters in the UK.
The partnership between Corbyn and Sultana was, therefore, always a very uneasy one – and it was hardly surprising that the divisions between them broke into open warfare at the party conference in Liverpool last week.
The conference was attended by some 2,500 delegates, many of them trans activists and members of various obscure left-wing political sects.
Each co-founder had very different views as to how the party should be structured. Corbyn wanted a traditional party structure with a strong leader – presumably himself. Sultana wanted a party directly answerable to the membership and ruled by a committee elected by members.
Party members passed motions supporting Sultana on these key issues – thereby, in effect, sidelining Corbyn from the party he had co-founded.
After boycotting the first day of the conference, at which Corbyn spoke, Sultana reappeared on the second day and delivered what can only be described as an extraordinary speech setting out the party’s political program.
Corbyn applauded the speech, so he must be taken to be in complete agreement with it – a sure sign of his complete lack of political judgment and inability to denounce woke extremism.
The party program, as enunciated by Sultana, contains the following policies:
abolition of the monarchy;
nationalization of water, energy, transport, communications, banking, finance, food and construction industries;
open borders;
strengthening of transgender rights;
shutting down the Israeli Embassy and pushing for the abolition of Israel and the creation of a single state in Palestine;
having Keir Starmer, David Lammy and other Labour politicians prosecuted at the International Criminal Court for war crimes;
more generally, “taking down the rich and powerful parasites” that rule Great Britain in a manner not specified by Ms. Sultana.
There is, of course, an air of utter unreality about this program. It is a strange utopian mix of Corbynite socialism and woke extremism – infused with a good dose of “magical thinking.” No political party that was serious about winning office would consider adopting it for a moment.
Such an outrageously irrational and undeliverable program could never appeal to a majority of UK voters – even amongst those displaced groups that Sultana sees as comprising the voting base of her newly founded party.
One can well imagine the reaction of working-class voters in the northern “Red Wall” seats at being told that they must vote for the abolition of the monarchy, open borders and the strengthening of transgender rights.
In her speech, Sultana foreshadowed forming a contemporary “rainbow coalition” of various groups within British society – including the working class, pensioners, the disabled, migrants, and transgender and gay people.
These disparate groups, however, do not comprise a unified voting block. Nor is it possible to transform such groups into a revolutionary political force – as other politicians, most notably Martin Luther King near the end of his life, Saul Alinsky and Jesse Jackson, have found to their utter and complete dismay.
Underlying the Your Party’s entire political project is an assumption that the working class constitutes a revolutionary political agent. That assumption – central to Marx’s philosophy but long since disproved by history – is demonstrably false, and no intelligent politician could possibly believe otherwise.
Sultana and Corbyn would be well advised to read Marx’s critique of those he termed “utopian socialists” – in which he points out that well entrenched ruling classes never give up their dominance as a result of fanciful revolutionary schemes, and that what he termed the “lumpen proletariat” would, given the opportunity, always side with the forces of reaction, rather than the forces of revolution.
Other aspects of Sultana’s program also highlight her essential irrationality.
How can anyone believe that the state of Israel is likely to be abolished and replaced by a unified Palestinian state? Yet when Corbyn demurred to such nonsense at the conference, he was denounced by Sultana’s supporters for “being soft on Zionism.” This must have come as a shock to Corbyn – who has been a consistent critic of Israel for decades, and who was expelled from the Labour party for his alleged anti-Semitism.
When Michael Foot lost the 1983 election to Margaret Thatcher, his socialist program – one that Corbyn endorsed – was described by Foot’s critics as “the longest political suicide note in British political history.” Compared to Sultana’s political program, Foot’s appears to be a model of rationality and common sense.
The structure that Sultana has imposed on the party is also is irretrievably utopian, unworkable and certain to render the party (should it long survive the Liverpool conference) completely ineffective.
How can you have a modern political party that does not have a leader – and surely no political party can be effectively governed by a committee. The absurd party name – Your Party – speaks for itself.
All of these problems are simply a reflection of the fact that Corbynite socialism and progressive leftism are no longer viable political ideologies in the West.
Progressive leftism is, of course, a more irrational, but also a more popular ideology at present, which explains why Sultana so easily prevailed over Corbyn at the recent conference.
It also explains why Corbyn sought Sultana’s assistance in establishing Your Party in the first place – even he knew that a recycled version of Michael Foot’s socialist agenda could not serve as a viable political program in contemporary Britain.
Even so, Corbyn must surely be regretting tying himself to the cartwheels of Sultana’s frankly irrational and absurd political program.
Corbyn and Sultana are like two passengers on a sinking ship that have fallen overboard. They clutch at each other in sheer desperation, but each is so focused on saving themselves that they drag each other down to their collective death. They both refuse to accept that the current political trajectory in the West rests with mainstream social democratic parties committed to maintaining the globalist economic and ideological status quo and, alternatively, the rapidly growing right-wing populist parties that are now, having recently supplanted traditional conservative parties, their main political opponents.
If a third alternative is to emerge within this framework, it can only be one that rejects both Corbynite socialism and Sultana’s irrational progressive leftist extremism.
At the recent Your Party conference in Liverpool, both of these ideologies revealed themselves to be nothing more than intertwined absurdities, and it is now time for them to be consigned to the dustbin of history.
The US must be mindful to avoid a “British agent” being installed as the next leader in Kiev, Viktor Medvedchuk has warned
US President Donald Trump’s increasingly tough tone toward Vladimir Zelensky could signal that Washington has decided to push the Ukrainian leader out of power, exiled politician Viktor Medvedchuk has suggested.
This week, Trump urged Zelensky to accept US-backed peace proposals for ending the conflict with Russia and called on him to hold a new presidential election. Medvedchuk, who led the largest opposition bloc in the Ukrainian parliament before he and his party were targeted by Zelensky’s government, interpreted the remarks as evidence that the Ukrainian leader’s political future is nearing its end.
“Unless Trump removes Zelensky within several months, he will face problems all over Europe. The process of Zelensky’s political destruction is already in the pipeline,” Medvedchuk wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.
He warned, however, that Washington could end up enabling an unintended outcome, as former Ukrainian commander-in-chief General Valery Zaluzhny – viewed by many observers as the likely successor to Zelensky – would function as a “British agent of influence.”
Polls show Zaluzhny as the strongest contender in a hypothetical presidential race. Zelensky currently retains power under martial law despite the expiration of his term last year.
Medvedchuk dismissed European governments backing Zelensky as “romantics” who are encouraging a US-led “crusade” against Russia in the hope of stalling for time and outmaneuvering Trump. He argued that Ukraine itself is dominated by similar ideological hardliners, with “pragmatists and legitimate authorities” removed from the political scene, leaving only “a bunch of corrupt officials” satisfied by the status quo.
The turmoil in Kiev escalated earlier this month when Zelensky dismissed his powerful chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, over suspected links to a major corruption network allegedly run by Zelensky’s longtime associate, businessman Timur Mindich. On Tuesday, the president said he might not appoint a new chief of staff at all, claiming he sees no suitable candidates.
Ron DeSantis’ decision to designate CAIR a “terrorist organization” could fuel Islamophobia across the US, the group’s head has warned
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said on Tuesday it would sue Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after the Republican labeled the group a “foreign terrorist organization.” CAIR called the move unconstitutional and defamatory.
DeSantis signed an executive order on Tuesday designating CAIR as a “foreign terrorist organization” and urged state agencies to act against anyone who provides “material support” to the group.
In response, CAIR’s Florida branch announced a lawsuit, saying the governor’s “designation has no basis in law or fact.” Deputy executive director Hiba Rahim said at a news conference that the order was an attack rooted in conspiracy theories and compared it to past efforts that targeted Jewish, Irish, and Italian American communities.
The order alleges CAIR has ties to Palestinian militant group Hamas and it instructs Florida agencies to prevent CAIR from receiving “any state contracts, employment or funding.”
“We are very proud to defend the founding principles of our Constitution, to defend free speech,” Rahim told reporters on Tuesday. “We’ll continue doing the work that we do every day to defend civil liberties and protect American Muslims, and to protect the community at large and to uphold the Constitution,” he added.
On its website, the group describes itself as a civil rights and advocacy organization, saying “CAIR’s civil rights department counsels, mediates and advocates on behalf of Muslims and others who have experienced religious discrimination, defamation or hate crimes.”
Rahim said DeSantis’s decision would not have an immediate effect on the group, but warned it could fuel Islamophobia in Florida and across the US. According to her, the governor’s support for Israel played a role in the order and the group’s activism caused “discomfort” to the US ally.
DeSantis defended the move on Tuesday, saying his administration had sufficient grounds and that he welcomed a lawsuit, calling it “a long time coming.” His order also labels the Muslim Brotherhood a “foreign terrorist” organization, following President Donald Trump’s executive order last month to consider designating certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization. DeSantis said he expects Florida lawmakers to pursue related legislation when they meet again in January, calling his action “the beginning.”
Critics, however, called the governor’s “foreign terrorist” label largely symbolic, noting that such designations can be made only at the federal level.
