EU Will Get Poland Fines by Withholding EU Cash

EU Will Get Poland Fines by Withholding EU Cash

Mark Clouse February 9, 2022

After the EU fined Poland for not bending its knee to the EU’s demands that it cuts off a power station and ends a lignite mining operation, Poland told the EU it’s just not paying the fines. Now, as the EU prepares to doll out the cash it gives out to member nations, it has informed Poland it will simply withhold the funds that it needs to pay the fine.

EU notifies Poland it will withhold its EU cash to cover unpaid fines

From www.euronews.com
2022-02-09 10:15:41

Excerpt:

BRUSSELS – The European Commission notified Poland on Tuesday it would withhold cash that the EU was to pay Warsaw as part of regular EU transfers, to cover the first part of fines imposed by the EU’s court on Poland which the country did not pay.

This is the first time that the Commission has to withhold EU money for a member country because it is not complying with a ruling by the EU’s top court.

Last September, the Court of Justice of the European Union put a 500,000 euro ($571,000) daily fine on Poland for not stopping the operations of its Turow lignite mine and power plant on the border with Czech Republic.

This followed a complaint from Prague that its operations were endangering water sources of residents across the border. Poland’s eurosceptic and nationalist government refused to comply with the court ruling.

“The Commission has informed Poland that it would proceed with the offsetting of payments for penalties due under case C-121/21 Czechia v Poland on Turów lignite mine”, Commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari said in a statement.

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Taliban’s Afghanistan Becoming Safe Haven for Terrorists

Ivo Fysic February 9, 2022

Terror groups enjoy greater freedom in Afghanistan than any time in recent history: UN report

From www.financialexpress.com
2022-02-09 10:12:51

Excerpt:

Terror groups enjoy greater freedom in Afghanistan than at any time in recent history and there are no signs that the Taliban leadership has taken steps to limit the activities of foreign terrorists in the war-torn country, a report of the UN Secretary-General has said.

The report says the dreaded Islamic State terrorist group aims to position itself as the “chief rejectionist force” in Afghanistan, expands into neighbouring Central and South Asian countries and is viewed by the Taliban as its primary armed threat.

The ’14th report of the Secretary-General on the threat posed by ISIS to international peace and security and the range of United Nations efforts in support of Member States in countering the threat’ notes…

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Libyan Parliament Prepared to Declare New PM

Mark Clouse February 9, 2022

Libyan parliament set to name new PM amid signs of power struggle | News

From www.aljazeera.com
2022-02-09 11:21:38

Excerpt:

Interim PM Dbeibah says he will not hand over power, a position that could lead to a flare-up of conflicts between rival factions.

Libya’s parliament is set to name a new prime minister to head the transitional government on Thursday, raising concerns over the possibility of a new power struggle.

The effort to replace interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah comes after the date for Libya’s first presidential election – scheduled for December 24 last year – came and went during his watch.

Lawmakers argue that the mandate of Dbeibah’s government ended when the presidential election was supposed to happen: December 24. He has refused to leave.

The postponement dealt a major blow to international efforts to end a decade of chaos in the oil-rich Mediterranean nation.

The presidential vote was postponed over disputes between rival factions on laws governing the elections and controversial hopefuls.

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Slovakia Pushed to US Defense Alliance

Mark Clouse February 9, 2022

Slovakia lawmakers approve defense military treaty with US – CBS17.com

From www.cbs17.com
2022-02-09 11:44:18

Excerpt:

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s parliament on Wednesday approved a defense military treaty with the United States.

The Defense Cooperation Agreement passed 79-60 in the 150-seat legislature in a vote split between lawmakers from the four-party ruling coalition and the opposition.

The treaty allows the U.S. military to use two Slovak air force bases — Malacky-Kuchyna and Sliac — for 10 years while Slovakia — a NATO member — will receive $100 million from the U.S. to modernize them.

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Germans Want Energy Freedom from Russia

Mark Clouse February 9, 2022

Russian Gas: 79 Percent of Germans Want To Become More Independent – Survey By Stiebel Eltron Reveals | National

From www.wdrb.com
2022-02-09 06:22:14

Excerpt:

Almost 80 percent of Germans want to gradually make the country independent of energy imports from Russia. 74 percent consider it important to become independent of gas imports – for example delivered via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Renewable energies should be expanded more quickly. These are the findings of the new “Energy Trend Survey 2022” by Stiebel Eltron. In February 2022, a market research institute conducted a representative survey of 1,000 German citizens on behalf of the company.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005962/en/

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Democrats are Losing Women in Texas

Ivo Fysic February 9, 2022

Texas women going GOP

From www.americanthinker.com
2022-02-09 06:00:00

Excerpt:

Democrats were caught off guard by Donald Trump’s numbers in South Texas in 2020. The Hispanic Republican women who live there were not.

Many of them have played a leading role in urging their neighbors in majority-Hispanic South Texas to question their traditional loyalty to the Democratic Party. Hispanic women now serve as party chairs in the state’s four southernmost border counties, spanning a distance from Brownsville almost to Laredo — places where Trump made some of his biggest inroads with Latino voters.

A half-dozen of them are running for Congress across the state’s four House districts that border Mexico, including Monica De La Cruz, the GOP front-runner in one of Texas’ most competitive seats in the Rio Grande Valley.

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China’s CCP Horrors, Recent and Past, Exposed in New Film

Mark Clouse February 9, 2022

Film Unveils Horrors Committed by Chinese Communist Party

From www.dailysignal.com
2022-02-09 08:02:00
Virginia Allen
Excerpt:

Just over 20 years ago, the Chinese Communist Party began persecuting those in China who followed the spiritual practice of Falun Gong.

Today, Uyghur Muslims face imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Chinese government. Tomorrow, more innocent lives will fall victim to suffering at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party if Beijing’s totalitarian leaders do not face consequences for those human rights abuses.

In the new documentary film “Unsilenced,” director Leon Lee tells the true story of those who were persecuted and killed by China’s government because they practiced Falun Gong.

The film highlights the stories of those who “risk their lives and use their wisdom to find ways to counter the propaganda and fight for their freedom” in China, Lee says.

But the threats of the Chinese Communist Party extend far beyond its borders, the film director says.

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Another Judge Stops Military Enforcement of Vaccine Mandate

Ivo Fysic February 8, 2022

Following a Texas Judge stopping the prosecution of soldiers for not getting vaccinated, another judge, this one in Florida, has also stopped the prosection of two soldiers that refused to get the vaccine for religious reasons.

Military can’t discipline officers for refusing vaccine, Florida judge rules

From www.tampabay.com
2022-02-07 18:36:52

Excerpt:

In a stinging rebuke of the military’s handling of the mandatory COVID vaccine enforcement policy, a federal district court judge in Florida has issued a temporary order preventing disciplinary action against two officers who refused the vaccine on religious grounds.

“The military is well aware of the frailty of their arguments in defense of their practices,” federal District Court Judge Steven Merryday ruled in a court order. “The record creates a strong inference that the services are discriminatorily and systematically denying religious exemptions without a meaningful and fair hearing.”

The order, which is in place until Friday, is the latest ruling temporarily barring the military from punishing troops over their refusal to get the COVID vaccine. In a separate case, a Texas judge in January ordered a temporary injunction against the punishment of a group of Navy SEALs, the Washington Post reported.

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China Targets Falklands for Imperial Expansion

Paul Collier February 8, 2022

Argentina has been getting very cozy with China, and has also been getting a lot of Chinese Yuen as well. After siding with China’s One China policy, which invalidates Taiwan’s claim as an independent nation, Argentina is now getting support from China in their claim on the Falkland Islands, a claim that led to the Falkland Islands War in 1982. The British have fired back at China through Twitter, with a UK Official, Liz Truss, saying the Falkland Islands are “part of the British family.”

Liz Truss says Falklands are part of ‘British family’, as China backs Argentina’s claim over islands after meeting during Beijing Olympics | World News

From news.sky.com
2022-02-07 11:09:18

Excerpt:

The Falklands are “part of the British family”, according to Liz Truss, after China backed Argentina’s claims over the south Atlantic islands.

The foreign secretary wrote on Twitter that “China must respect Falklands’ sovereignty” after Argentina‘s President Alberto Fernandez met with Xi Jinping during the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The Chinese and Argentine leaders spoke of their “deep friendship”, in a statement on China’s London embassy website.

They agreed on an accord in which China reasserted its support for Argentina’s claim to the Falklands, while Mr Fernandez backed Mr Jinping’s one-China policy, which claims Taiwan as its own.

“The Argentine side reiterated its adherence to the one-China principle and the Chinese side reiterated its support for the Argentine side’s request to fully exercise its sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands issue,” the statement said.

British government officials have stayed away from the Beijing games as part of a boycott by several Western nations, in protest against human rights concerns.

Argentina also signed up to China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by Beijing in 2013.

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If UK Online Safety Bill Passes, Zuckerberg Might Go to Jail

Paul Collier February 8, 2022

UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has warned Mark Zuckerberg and other Social Media magnates that their days might be numbered if they don’t comply with the Online Safety Bill she is working to get passed. The bill would make the social media platforms responsible for the illegal activity that takes place on its site, meaning the owners themselves could be arrested by the British police for crimes committed on their platform if the crimes take place in the UK.
The bill, if it becomes law, could effectivel end social media in Britain, as the cost to enforce your platform might be prohibitively expensive.

Social media bosses could face jail over UK’s new Online Safety Bill

From metro.co.uk
2022-02-07 09:45:35
Anugraha Sundaravelu
Excerpt:

Mark Zuckerberg could end up in jail if Facebook does not comply with new online safety laws, the UK Culture Secretary has warned.

Nadine Dorries warned that she was putting social media giants such as Facebook on notice with her Online Safety Bill which is supposed to force online giants to act on illegal content on its platforms.

On Friday, it was announced the long-awaited Bill had been strengthened with the addition of a number of new criminal offences to force social media firms to act on illegal content more quickly.

Offences such as revenge porn, hate crime, fraud, the sale of illegal drugs or weapons, the promotion or facilitation of suicide, people smuggling and sexual exploitation have been added to the list of priority offences that must be removed by platforms under the new rules.

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