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The White House has reportedly floated an offer to Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow Kremlin access to key NATO bases in exchange for Moscow de-escalating tensions over its military buildup on Ukraine’s border. The proposal would also involve discussions about Russia verifying that the US has not deployed Tomahawk cruise missiles to bases in Romania and Poland, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday. ​ The reported offer would be contingent on agreement from US allies, including Romania and Poland, while Russia would also have to provide similar information about bases with ground-launched weapon systems. The ​overture reportedly is intended to ease...

Hollywood star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson voiced his support for Joe Rogan after the famed podcaster said he will change his coronavirus messaging strategy after Spotify announced its new “content advisory” rule. In a statement on Sunday, Spotify CEO and co-founder Daniel Ek said the company will do more to “provide balance and access to widely-accepted information” for the coronavirus by adding a content advisory notice to any program that discusses issues with the pandemic. “These are rules of the road to guide all of our creators — from those we work with exclusively to those whose work is shared...

The State Department on Thursday unequivocally warned that if Russia invades Ukraine the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will sit unused at the bottom of the ocean.The controversial pipeline has become the U.S. and NATO’s biggest bargaining chip in its attempts to preserve Kyiv’s sovereignty.But reporters questioned the diplomatic agency on whether Germany, which would profit from the functioning pipeline, is on the same page when it comes to countering a Russian incursion."We continue to have strong, clear communication with our German allies," Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said. "If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream...

Joe Biden is planning to deploy 1,000 troops to Eastern Europe to defend it against Russian aggression alongside several Nato allies, a new report claimed on Wednesday. It comes a day after he put 8,500 U.S. soldiers on alert to go to the region where Putin is threatening to invade Ukraine. The president is trying to patch together a ‘coalition of the willing’ of NATO members who would each deploy 1,000 troops, according to CNN. However, some countries are unwilling to take action and Biden is reserving the right to act bilaterally with just the U.S. and a 'handful' of...

A senior U.S. official says the United States is open to discussions with Russia on curtailing possible future deployments of offensive missiles in Ukraine and putting limits on U.S. and NATO military exercises in Eastern Europe as part of strategic talks to begin next week. Y MATTHEW LEE, AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is open to discussions with Russia on curtailing possible future deployments of offensive missiles in Ukraine and putting limits on U.S. and NATO military exercises in Eastern Europe as part of strategic talks to begin next week, a senior Biden administration official said...

President Joe Biden’s administration reportedly plans to push the Ukrainian government to appease Russian President Vladimir Putin by ceding territory, The Associated Press reported Thursday

A Marxist organization that had been on America’s list of terrorists since 1997 has now had the slate wiped clean by the Biden administration. FARC, the Spanish acronym of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, “no longer exists as a unified organization that engages in terrorism or terrorist activity or has the capability or intent to do so,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Tuesday. The foreign terrorist designation makes it a crime to support a group. ... An estimated 260,000 people were killed during the decades when Colombia was fractured by civil war... As noted by...

A top Huawei executive will soon walk free in Canada and be able to return to China after the Biden Justice Department agreed to enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Chinese military-linked company and acquiesced to ending the United States’s extradition request. Meng Wanzhou was arrested by Canadian authorities in December 2018 at the request of the U.S., indicted in the Eastern District of New York in January 2019, and charged with bank fraud and wire fraud as well as conspiracy to commit both, but she will soon walk free and return to China. Meng, the daughter of...

The Taliban on Tuesday thanked the international community for pledging more than $1 billion in emergency aid to Afghanistan — and called on the US to donate more. Amir Khan Mutaqi, the foreign minister in Afghanistan’s new Taliban-run Cabinet, asked Washington to show appreciation for the militant group allowing the US to complete its massive evacuation effort. “America is a big country, they need to have a big heart,” he said at a press conference. Muttaqi’s comments came a day after the United Nations said that $1.2 billion in humanitarian assistance had been promised to Afghanistan, with some $64 million...

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday spoke with his counterparts in China and Russia about the security situation in Afghanistan. The calls come as both Beijing and Moscow have signaled an openness to recognizing and working with the Taliban, which over the weekend swiftly ousted the Western-backed government in Kabul. Blinken spoke separately with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi about developments in Afghanistan, including the security situation and both countries' respective efforts to bring U.S. and Chinese citizens to safety, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

We are now hearing reports there are thousands of American citizens still throughout Afghanistan that have not made it to the airport https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1427426732584407041

President Biden is practicing “appeasement” of Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of Wednesday’s scheduled summit between the two leaders in Switzerland, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Fox News Tuesday night. “The liberals believe that we’re the problem, not Russia,” Graham told “Hannity”. “That if we were just more reasonable, if we work with them and we gave them the ability to build the [Nord Stream 2] pipeline, if we got back in the new START treaty … everything would be just fine.”

​John Cena was on the receiving end of a piledriver Tuesday from American Twitter users after his “pathetic” apology to China for referring to Taiwan as a country during a promotional spot for his new movie “F9.” SNIP Cena, speaking Mandarin, went on Chinese social media site Weibo Tuesday to apologize for calling Taiwan a country during a promotional interview for “F9,” the latest installment for the “Fast and Furious” franchise, earlier this month. SNIP “I made one mistake. I have to say something very, very, very important now. I love and respect China and Chinese people. I’m very, very...

New leader of Hong Kong’s 400,000 Catholics says church will ‘passively cooperate’ in city politics The new bishop of Hong Kong, Stephen Chow Sau-yan, says he is "not happy to see" the removal of crosses by authorities in the mainland but shies away from describing it as religious "suppression"The new leader of Hong Kong’s more than 400,000 Catholics says the church will adopt a position of “passive co-operation” in politics as the city grapples with the fall-out from months of protest and the imposition of a wide-ranging national security law by Beijing.Stephen Chow Sau-yan was appointed bishop of the...

China’s Year of the Ox, which began on Friday, is a fitting metaphor for the most formidable, and potentially dangerous, geopolitical challenge facing Joe Biden and the western democracies. In Chinese mythology, the ox is large, powerful and adept on land and water. It’s determined, stubborn, and takes a lot of stopping. Biden is well aware he has a fight on his hands that, if mishandled, could swiftly turn physical. Some analysts fear war with China is inevitable, sooner or later. So he is moving fast. In a first phone call to China’s president, Xi Jinping, last week, he raised...

TEL AVIV: Israel has said openly that it will attack Iran if the U.S eases sanctions against the Shiite regime and agrees to go back to the nuclear agreement the Jewish state claims is “the biggest hoax in recent history.” “Israel needs to know — and fast — whether Washington plans to stop Iran’s race to the bomb or take some action to do this,” a source told BD. Israeli intelligence is closely watching the Iranian nuclear facilities. “The people who need to know are updated by the hour” the source said. Israel allegedly attacked another Iranian target in Syria...

Didn't play well among her left-wing pals Christian author Jen Hatmaker received the opportunity to lead a group of fellow left-wing progressive faith leaders in prayer Thursday at the National Prayer Service, an event held every four years the day after the presidential inauguration to honor and pray for the president and the country. And now Hatmaker is mea culpa-ing all over social media for daring to thank God for giving America the land we have — and she's throwing event organizers under the bus for her troubles. What did Hatmaker say? When it came time for her to lead...

[Catholic Caucus] Far from the Spirit of the Lord: On the Pope’s New Motu ProprioThe obvious problems with the recent opening of the ministries of lector and acolyte to women by Pope Francis has already been the subject of a number of articles, including one that I wrote earlier this week. As I reflect further on the motu proprio Spiritus Domini, I see more and more disturbing implications of this modification to canon law. Those who think “it’s not a big deal, it just formalizes what we’ve already been doing for decades!” greatly underestimate the difference between custom (which can...

The New York Stock Exchange said it no longer intends to delist three Chinese telecom giants - a shock reversal of an announcement made only last week and deepening confusion over a U.S. crackdown on firms said to be linked to China's military. The bourse, which had planned to delist the companies before Jan. 11, said in a brief statement it had made the decision "in light of further consultation with relevant regulatory authorities." Hong Kong-traded shares in the state-backed firms, China Mobile (NYSE:CHL) Ltd, China Telecom (NYSE:CHA) Corp Ltd and China Unicom (NYSE:CHU) Hong Kong Ltd, surged following the...

Nuns arrested as Beijing turns up heat on Church in Hong KongIn a high-walled Art Deco villa in the Hong Kong suburbs of Kowloon, the Vatican operates an unofficial diplomatic mission, its only political outpost of any kind in China.The mission keeps such a low profile that it isn’t listed in the Roman Catholic Church’s formal directory of every priest and property in the city. The two monsignors who staff the outpost have no formal standing with Beijing or the Hong Kong government, and they don’t conduct official work, not even meeting Hong Kong officials. The tenuous foothold is a...