Economics > Cost of Food Skyrocketing; Brits Panic-Buying Before Christmas; China's Power Crisis Hits Global Economy; Russia-USA Trade Up 50%

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Cost of food in the world rising at fastest pace in 40 years – study

Global food prices have continued to grow substantially this year, with the price index shooting up 27%, according to the INFOLine information and analytical agency.

“This is one of the most dynamic price increases since the 70s. Then the price level was about the same, but then it was associated with global financial changes. For 40 years there has not been such a rise in prices that we are now observing,” INFOLine CEO Ivan Fedyakov told URA.RU.

The analyst pointed to the fact that prices for various goods are related. “Prices are growing not only for fruits and vegetables or milk, but also for feed and fertilizers. This triggers a price spiral, and prices rise and will continue to rise, but the other question is that purchasing power is not unlimited.”

European statistics agency Eurostat reported earlier that annual inflation in the eurozone jumped to a 13-year high in September, driven mainly by a surge in energy prices and the record-shattering cost of natural gas. It was the highest seen level since the economic crisis in September 2008, Eurostat said. According to its data, food, alcohol and tobacco prices across the euro area rose by an average of 2.1%.

In Canada, our uber-liberal Liberal government has placed a special carbon tax on gas and oil which has affected the cost of everything that moves. Everything that is plastic, including most packaging, is doubly affected. The idea is to reduce the consumption of fuels and lower the amount of carbon being exhausted.

Trudeau doesn't really think much beyond Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. He doesn't seem to realize just how immense Canada is and that moving goods from one city to another can mean travelling thousands of kilometres. It's like he's punishing us for having family in other provinces.

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Shelves stripped bare across UK as Brits rush to panic-buy

ahead of Christmas

10 Oct, 2021 14:07

Tewkesbury, England. © Getty Images / Matt Cardy

The supply crisis in Britain has worsened as deep concerns over supply-chain woes, soaring energy bills, and staff shortages prompted millions of locals to stockpile festive essentials ahead of Christmas, leaving shelves empty.

About eight million Britons were unable to purchase essential food for two weeks between September 22 and October 3, while one in six said they were struggling to find non-essential items, according to data tracked by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). 

Two-thirds of British shoppers polled by retail magazine The Grocer were worried or very worried at the prospect of food and drink shortages over Christmas.

Hundreds of thousands of British consumers have reportedly booked their delivery slots for Christmas. Nearly 22,000 slots had been reserved by lunchtime on the first day after supermarket chain Waitrose made dates available last week.

Britain has been struggling with a series of severe crises due to supply shortages attributed to several factors, including the Covid-19 pandemic, soaring gas prices, and breaching of trade and labour relations with the European Union.

Last week, London called in the army to help the authorities ease the fuel crisis by providing troops and transport to make deliveries to petrol stations after many of the outlets ran dry due to panic buying.

Earlier, the UK government issued more than 10,000 three-month visas for drivers of fuel tankers and food lorries, as well as poultry workers. The step was taken to tackle a severe labour crisis that has had an enormous negative impact on food retailers, fast-food chains, and distributors of fuels.

China’s сoal and power crisis hits global economy

Aggravated by nasty weather patterns

19 Oct, 2021 08:00

© Global Look Press / Xiaodong Chen

Surging coal prices and power shortages in China slowed the growth of the world’s second-largest economy in the third quarter and threaten to spill over to the global supply chains in the fourth quarter.

Last week, coal futures in China closed at a record high after sixty coal mines in the country’s top coal-producing region were forced to shut amid heavy rain, flooding, and landslides, worsening the energy supply crisis.

Later in the week, colder than normal weather in parts of China sent coal prices surging to new highs, while electricity demand soared. The rising power demand with cooler weather and industrial recovery after the pandemic has led to shortages of coal in the country, which has been rationing power supply in at least 17 of the mainland regions since last month.

Year to date, the price of the most actively traded Chinese coal futures has soared by over 200%, according to Reuters estimates.

As temperatures further plunged over the weekend, coal futures hit a new record today.

The power cuts and the subdued property investment after the Evergrande debacle resulted in weaker-than-expected economic growth in China in the third quarter. Gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 4.9% in Q3 compared to the same quarter last year, below the 5.2-percent growth expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.

The slowdown in Chinese economic growth and the power cuts in factories risk roiling further global supply chains, which have already been strained by a mass chip shortage and delays in shipments of various input materials.

For example, Dutch conglomerate Phillips warned on Monday that its Q3 sales were “impacted unfavorably by intensified global supply chain issues, such as the shortage of electronic components.”

“Supply chain volatility has intensified globally, which already led to longer lead times to convert our strong order book to revenue in the third quarter, and we expect this headwind to continue in the fourth quarter,” CEO Frans van Houten said.

Someone should ask Justin Trudeau what he would do if he were the Emporer of China?

Trade turnover between Russia & US jumps nearly 50%

since January – customs data

27 Oct, 2021 08:15 

© AFP / SPENCER PLATT

Russia has been actively increasing trade with the United States this year, particularly in energy, mineral fertilizers and timber, Ruslan Davydov, First Deputy Head of the Federal Customs Service, has told RIA Novosti.

“The United States is traditionally one of the five or seven major trading partners of our country. In general, trade is growing due to the increase in the cost of commodities, including energy, metals, timber, grain, and food. All these goods have grown in price,” Davydov explained.

According to the customs service, the volume of trade between Russia and the US surged by 48.7% in January-August, to more than $23 billion. Exports from Russia to the United States amounted to $11.78 billion dollars, up by 70.8%. US exports to Russia accounted for $11.58 billion, an increase of 31.4% year-on-year.

The share of the United States in Russia's total foreign-trade turnover for the reporting period increased to 4.8% from 4.4% a year earlier.

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Bits and Bites From Around the World > Siberian Woman - 35 Years in a Barrel; Twitter Blasts Khan for Woke Project; Stock up on Dung Time

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Siberian woman discovered living in metal barrel for more than

3 decades with no heating or power given new home by bloggers

22 Oct, 2021 15:25

(L) © Instagram / trishhhh_duble2; (R) © RIA / Alexander Kryazhev

A group of bloggers have bought a home for a Russian woman who lost her job at a Soviet military factory and took to living in a rusty barrel for 35 years, refusing to move into care despite having no electricity or running water.

Svetlana Chernova, from the Siberian city of Omsk, had been living in the dilapidated cistern for over three decades when her story came to light earlier this week. The electricity was cut off two years ago and there is neither running water nor gas. Instead, Chernova must walk hundreds of meters to collect water from a pump and warm her home with a woodfired stove. 

With no relatives and a pension of 14,000 rubles (around $200), she says she was unable to rent an apartment after her job as a crane operator was scrapped when the plant she worked in closed down. 

After Russian officials were made aware of Chernova’s living situation, they requested documents that proved she was legally allowed to live in the barrel, including details about the property, so they could provide her with appropriate housing. However, the forms she lodged at the time are said to have been lost and are irretrievable.

Chernova worked at a factory not far from the barrel she has called home for more than three decades, until it was shuttered after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. There was insufficient housing to accommodate all of the factory’s workers, so some employees were given barrel-like structures to live in temporarily whilst they waited to be designated proper homes. In wintertime, those living in the make-shift accommodation had to sleep in their clothes due to heating problems with the structures. In summer, residents had no respite from the heat.

“They were building a nine-story building nearby, they promised I could have a two-room apartment in it,” she says. “When they were distributing them, I was working on the crane, and another woman, who was seventieth in the queue, jumped in. Later she sold her home and left for Germany. I complained to the director. He shrugged his shoulders and said business was already going badly, and it was not up to him.”

“For some reason, other people received housing. I went to the administration many times, but to no avail,” Chernova continued.

Chernova did previously refuse outright officials’ offers to move her to a comfortable nursing home, saying "they almost forced me to do it. But I think I deserve my own house. I hope they will find an apartment.”

“I wanted to agree. But I looked and realized it won't do. One house is too far from the city. And the second…I just didn't like it. And the owner is there without a wife  – maybe he called me for a reason,” she says.

However, media coverage of Chernova’s living conditions sparked outrage among community activists, with volunteers bringing her food, and bloggers raising over two million rubles (around $28,420) to buy her a new home, RIA Novosti reports.

Give our tax back, citizens say as London mayor launches

funding scheme for renaming streets in the name of diversity

22 Oct, 2021 09:35

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (FILE PHOTO) © REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

The mayor of London has unveiled his latest scheme aimed at making the capital more diverse. A £1 million fund will grant community-led organizations up to £25,000 to improve their public places, including changing street names.

In a press release on Thursday, the office of Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, announced the creation of a £1 million Untold Stories fund which aims to “champion diversity and improve representation in the capital’s public spaces.”

The fund will be made available to community-led groups, who can receive up to £25,000, as a grant. The mayor’s office highlights that the money could be used for new ideas such as “murals, street art, street names and other projects to ensure we are told a fuller version of our capital’s story.”

"London’s diversity is its greatest strength but for far too long our capital’s statues, street names and buildings have only shown a limited perspective on our city’s complex history," Khan said in a statement. 

"London’s diversity is its greatest strength" - where does that come from, and how is it determined?

When you consider the hundreds of Pakistanis who have raped, drugged, and trafficked thousands of young British girls around the country - how is that considered a strength? When police and councils ignore and enable this grooming to go on, how is that considered a strength? When the vast majority of terrorist events are performed by Muslims, how is that a strength? When these things provoke the formation of far-right groups, how is that a strength?

The announcement followed a City Hall-funded study into the capital’s 1,500 monuments. It found that only 4% of statues were dedicated to named women, and only three of them depicted women of colour. There are also twice as many statues depicting animals as women. 

4% of 1,500 is 60! Considering that mostly all government, business people and military heroes were men for over a thousand years, that seems pretty reasonable to me. I have no doubt that women of colour are underrepresented, but I suspect by not very much.

Unsurprisingly, the mayor’s latest woke escapade hasn’t gone down well on social media, where many Britons demanded Khan stop wasting taxpayers’ money. One Twitter user labelled the move as an “unnecessary gesture” and called on Khan to focus on more important issues, such as homelessness and affordable housing. 

Others concurred: “How about he spends it on fighting knife crime instead. How anyone votes for him is beyond me,” another social media user wrote. “That’ll stop all the stabbing,” one person chimed in ironically. 

Some people even asked for their council tax back, noting that the mayor’s office clearly had spare money to throw away on diversity projects such as this. 

Others were more concerned about aspects of the city’s history being continually cancelled. One person argued that the capital’s history was now being “systematically stripped away,” while another asked why the mayor was so intent on cancelling Britain’s heritage and way of life; “if people are offended by such simple things, then they know where the exit is,” they added. 

One person pleaded with the mayor to accept the city’s history. “Accept the bad along with the good, it’s what made us, gives us our identity. We might not be perfect but we’re as good as most,” they wrote, adding that even black nations were involved in the capture and trade of slaves. 

Some were more cynical, suggesting the mayor’s aim of telling the capital’s “fuller” story would be achieved by renaming Knightsbridge as Knifesbridge, and Elephant and Castle as Bomb and Bus. “Yea why not, Taliban road, jihad way, kaffir Avenue,” another jibed. 

While the mayor’s announcement may have received the support of his Labour colleagues at City Hall, his latest diversity drive certainly didn’t have many fans on the Twittersphere. 

The UK is currently celebrating Black History Month. Earlier in October, Transport for London (TfL), the government body responsible for the capital’s transport, unveiled a novelty Tube map in which the names of 272 stations were replaced with the names of black people.

“This reimagination of the iconic tube map celebrates the enormous contribution black people have made,” the mayor told the BBC. 

One week earlier, a TfL-funded project released a tour guide of south London in which the authors claimed some plants have racist origins and that botanical terms like ‘native’ and ‘invasive’ are offensive.

Time to stock up on dung? Ukrainian MP tells citizens to collect

& store manure for energy as country awaits possible fuel crisis

27 Oct, 2021 10:47

© Sputnik / Irina Gerashchenko

Ukrainian citizens can’t rely on the government in Kiev for energy and should take matters into their own hands by collecting manure and drying it out before the bitterly cold winter comes, a long-serving opposition MP has warned.

The bizarre suggestion comes as the Ukrainian authorities struggle to deal with both gas and coal shortages.

Speaking to the Nash TV channel on Tuesday, Mikhail Volynets suggested the country’s shortage of energy resources could leave citizens fighting for themselves.

Volynets is a veteran MP, having served in four convocations of the country’s parliament since 2002. He is currently a member of the Fatherland party, a conservative pro-European faction headed by Yulia Tymoshenko.

“It’s necessary to warn people in rural areas to collect dung and dry it,” Volynets said. We have to rely only on ourselves and not on the government.’

The MP expressly referred to ‘kiziaks,’ the dried animal-feces discs used by Kazakhs on the steppe. The dung is cut into small squares, then left in the sun for several weeks or months. Once dried out, it acts in a similar way to coal and is, therefore, a way to warm the home.

On Sunday, it was revealed that a lack of coal supplies had caused the shutdown of the Slavyansk thermal power plant, in the country’s Donetsk region. At the same time, several other plants reported that they had less than 10 days of supply left. This announcement came just four days after the Federation of Employers of Ukraine dubbed the current situation as “disastrous,” noting issues with both coal and gas supply.

Last week, Tymoshenko described the energy crisis as the result of “corruption” and the authorities’ incompetence, and demanded that a national state of emergency be called.

However, despite the growing crisis, many parliamentarians remain steadfast in refusing to cooperate with Gazprom, despite the country’s reliance on the Russian energy giant for gas supplies. Last week, independent MP Lyudmila Buymister claimed any agreement would cause Kiev to be “brought to its knees” before Moscow.

Islam - Current Day > Islamists Kill 4 Cops, Injure 100s in Pakistan; Car-burning Starts Again in France; Hackers Close All Gas Stations in Iran

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Pakistan will treat banned Islamist party as militant group,

govt says as 4 police officers killed, hundreds injured in clashes

27 Oct, 2021 17:26

FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the banned Islamist political TLP party run during a protest in Lahore, Pakistan,

on October 23, 2021. ©  Reuters / Mohsin Raza

At least four police officers have been killed and hundreds more injured in massive clashes that erupted in Pakistan's north-eastern Punjab province, as law enforcement sought to stop an Islamist protest march on Islamabad.

Punjab's Chief Minister Usman Buzdar confirmed casualties on Twitter on Wednesday, saying at least four officers had been killed and over 250 people injured. There, law enforcement faced fierce resistance from the members and supporters of the banned Islamist Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party as the police sought to disperse their march on the capital.

The TLP orchestrated the protests, demanding the release of one of its leaders, Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi, who has been in custody since April. On Wednesday, it also accused the government of "lying" about an agreement supposedly reached with the party to end the demonstrations.

Other demands included "respect for the Holy Prophet" Mohammed and the expulsion of France's ambassador to Pakistan over the publication of "blasphemous" cartoons of the prophet by French satirical outlet, Charlie Hebdo.

TLP members and their supporters used submachine guns, AK-47 assault rifles and pistols against the police, a Punjab police spokesman told Reuters.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed confirmed at a press conference that at least three officers were killed and 70 injured in the clashes, adding that eight are now in critical condition. He also said that he was sending the Rangers – a federal paramilitary force – to Punjab, adding that the local government may use the unit "wherever it wants."

Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Wednesday that the government would from now on treat the party, banned in April, as a militant group and not a political force. "There is a limit to the state's patience," he said, adding that, although everyone has a right to express their ideas, no one can take up arms if these ideas are not heard.

"No one should make the mistake of thinking that the state is weak. Those who made this mistake later realized they were wrong," Chaudry said, adding that Islamabad "will not tolerate those who challenge the writ of the state."

The information minister also said that the government does not want "blood to be spilled," and blamed the violence on the TLP.

Party members, meanwhile, told Reuters that some of their activists had also been killed and injured by the police. The group also accused Rashid Ahmed of "lying" about settling all the matters with the party, adding that no government officials had contacted them.

On Tuesday, Rashid said the government was willing to consider all the party's demands, bar the French diplomat's expulsion.

Authorities blocked roads leading to Islamabad on Tuesday night in a bid to prevent the marchers from entering the city. According to some Pakistani media, additional police could be deployed to the city and roads might be barricaded with containers and barbed wire.

Founded in 2015, the TLP is known for its hardline stance on Islam. It fiercely opposed any changes to Pakistan's blasphemy law and demanded the nation adopt Sharia as its fundamental law. In 2018, it did not get into the Pakistani parliament but still received the support of more than two million people.

The TLP found itself on a collision course with the government in April 2021 when it organized protests to pressure Islamabad into expelling the French envoy. At that time, one of the party's leaders – Rizvi – was arrested by the Punjab government to maintain "public order." Several people, including police officers, were killed during the April unrest, though tensions eased after the government reportedly agreed to take the issue of the ambassador's expulsion to the national assembly.

Though banned in April, the TLP was still allowed to contest elections. The government has engaged in talks with the party, which continues to demand the release of its leader and of another 1,400 activists. It also demanded the party ban be lifted and that the French envoy deported.

Of course, French media would not indicate that this was a Muslim-led riot, but no other demographic would start a riot because a drug dealer got arrested.

15 vehicles torched in night of violence in Alencon, France

after teen's arrest for allegedly dealing drugs

27 Oct, 2021 15:56

© Twitter / @NicolasBay_

Over a dozen vehicles were left burnt out on Tuesday night in France's Alençon and police and firefighters came under fire from incendiaries and other projectiles, after a 16-year-old was arrested on suspicion of selling drugs.

A group of some 20 young people took to the streets in the town of Alençon in Normandy, torching cars and attacking emergency-services personnel with an array of projectiles and fireworks.  

"We deplore this night of urban violence in Perseigne, in Alençon, in which there were a dozen vehicles set on fire," Françoise Tahéri, prefect of the Orne district, told BFMTV. Tahéri added that the police intervened quickly to stabilize the situation and were reinforced by gendarmes. 

Firefighters and police officers intervened around midnight, after being notified that several private vehicles had been set on fire. Upon arriving at the scene, they came under fire from around 20 youths positioned in different places around the neighborhood, according to BFMTV. Thirteen gendarmes were sent in as reinforcements, and the clashes concluded around 3:30am.

Tahéri said she was delighted that nobody was injured and praised the intervention of law enforcement. Town major Joaquim Pueyo described the events as "extremely serious." In footage shared online, passing cars can be seen coming under attack from mortars. 

Images posted on social media on Wednesday morning show the extent of the devastation, with numerous burnt-out cars being transported for scrapping. 

The unrest was apparently prompted by the arrest of a 16-year-old boy who was allegedly caught selling drugs to a woman in the area. During a press conference on Wednesday, Tahéri stated the authorities believed the violence was related to Tuesday's arrest of a suspected drug dealer.

Iran’s president claims cyberattackers crippled every gas station

in the country to create ‘disorder’ but fails to assign blame

27 Oct, 2021 14:25

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said a cyberattack targeted every gas station in the country in an attempt to spark anger and create “disorder and disruption,” but he failed to say who the government believes was behind it.

The comments, which were broadcast on Iranian state television, saw the country’s president announce that a cyberattack had crippled every gas station in the republic, making the government-issued cards used by citizens to buy fuel useless.

“There should be serious readiness in the field of cyberwar, and related bodies should not allow the enemy to follow their ominous aims to make problem in the trend of people's life,” Raisi stated, adding that the attack had been aimed at making “people angry by creating disorder and disruption.”

Despite announcing the vast cyberattack on the Islamic Republic, Raisi did not blame a country or group for the incident, though he did indicate that anti-Iranian forces were trying to inflame tensions. A group of hackers did claim responsibility for the attack on the gas stations late on Tuesday, but they have yet to provide any evidence that they were behind it.

Digital systems used for purchasing fuel showed a message reading “cyberattack 64411,” according to reports, bearing similarities to another incident which hit the country’s rail system back in July. The July attack was blamed by Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point on a group of hackers known as Indra.

Iran has been subjected to multiple cyberattacks in recent times, with an August incident exposing a video that reportedly showed abusive behavior at the country’s Evin prison. Another attack, which saw the Stuxnet computer virus infect devices, forced the government to disconnect infrastructure from the internet while it sought to contain the spread of that cyberattack.

War on Christianity > Indian Church Attacked by 200 Hindus; 17 US Christians Kidnapped in Haiti; 300 Persecuted in India 2021; 7 Pastors Arrested in UP; 17 Coptics Missing in Libya

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200 radicals attack church service in India; Christian leaders

demand authorities take action

By Anugrah Kumar, 

Christian Post Contributor| 

Monday, October 11, 2021

A religious cross is captured through some ornamental railings in the Fort Kochi area

in the state of Kerala in South India. | Getty Images

Christian leaders in India are demanding action be taken against a mob of 200 radical Hindu nationalists who left a church damaged and at least three Christian women seriously injured in an attack in India's northern state of Uttarakhand.

The attackers accused the church of "illegally" converting people to Christianity.

The Union of Catholic Asian News reports that a police complaint indicates that the mob attacked the church on Oct. 3 in Roorkee city's Solanipuram Colony and comprised members of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party and radical Hindu nationalist groups associated with the party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal.

As the service was about to begin, the mob reportedly barged into the church, thrashed the congregants and vandalized church properties, injuring at least three Christian women who were taken to a hospital in Dehradun city.

Video footage of the damage caused by the attack was posted on social media.

The attackers claimed the church was engaged in illegal conversion activities.

The police complaint acknowledges that 200 people attacked the church, but no one was initially reported to have been arrested. However, a case has been filed against the perpetrators. 

"We demand strict action against them and police protection for us," Prio Sadhana Lanse, a leader in the church and who filed the police complaint, was quoted as saying.

Lanse said the church members recognized many individuals in the mob as they had previously threatened to shut down the church.

"The church that was attacked has been active for the past 30 to 40 years," Rev. Titoo Peter, a Methodist pastor, told UCA News. "Christians in Roorkee enjoy good relations with people of other faiths, and this is the first incident of a church being attacked. It is the handiwork of some bad elements who do not want peace and harmony in the area."

While some of these laws existed for decades in some states, no Christian has been convicted of "forcibly" converting anyone to Christianity. These laws, however, enable Hindu nationalist groups to make false charges against Christians. Nationalists are emboldened to attack churches under the pretext of the alleged forced conversion.

Hindu nationalists have accused Christians of giving financial benefits to Hindus to convert them to Christianity. Anti-conversion laws state that no one is allowed to use the "threat" of "divine displeasure." This means Christians can't talk about Heaven or Hell. Also, if snacks or meals are served to Hindus after an evangelistic meeting, that could be seen as an "inducement."

Christians make up about 2.5% of India's population, while Hindus comprise 79.5%.

India ranks as the 10th-worst country globally when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA's 2021 World Watch List. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has urged the U.S. State Department to label India as a "country of particular concern" for engaging in or tolerating severe religious freedom violations.

Open Doors USA warns that since the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party took power in 2014, persecution against Christians and other religious minorities has increased.

The group reports that "Hindu radicals often attack Christians with little to no consequences."

Armed gang kidnaps up to 17 American Christian missionaries,

including children, in Haiti – reports

17 Oct, 2021 10:46

FILE PHOTO. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. © FRED DUFOUR / AFP

Between 15 and 17 US missionaries and their families are reportedly being held by a gang in Haiti. Although the country is infamous for kidnappings, the abduction of such a large group of foreigners is nonetheless unusual.

The group was kidnapped on Saturday, while traveling on a bus not far from the Caribbean nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince, an initial report by the New York Times stated. Citing Haitian officials, the NYT said 17 hostages – among them US missionaries and their family members – had been abducted. At least three children were believed to be with the group, CNN reported. On Sunday, local security sources confirmed to the AFP news agency that at least 15 Americans had been kidnapped, and said they were being held by an armed gang.

The group had reportedly been heading to the airport after visiting an orphanage, when one of its members had posted an SOS message in a WhatsApp group. Cited by the Washington Post, it read, “We are being held hostage. They kidnapped our driver. Pray, pray, pray. We don’t know where they are taking us.” 

No further details about the missionaries or their church is currently available, but news of their abduction was disseminated among other religious aid groups via a “special prayer alert” sent out by Ohio’s Christian Aid Ministries, which is said to have direct knowledge of the incident. It said a field director of the mission whose members have been kidnapped had been staying at a base in Haiti at the time of the incident and was now working with the US Embassy there to try to resolve the crisis. 

No official statement has so far been issued by the embassy, while the US State Department said it was “aware of these reports,” but did not provide any further details.

Haiti has been engulfed in turmoil for years. The security and economic situation has worsened over the past several months, however, after President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated at his residence in July, and an earthquake hit the country in August, killing more than 2,000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

Kidnappings have recently become much more common in the country, often happening in broad daylight. Those abducted include schoolchildren, pastors, police on patrol and even poor street vendors. Estimated to be the highest recorded per-capita kidnapping rate in the world, the number of abductions this year has spiked dramatically and already exceeds 600. According to the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights, a civil society group based in the capital, at least 628 kidnappings, including 29 of foreigners, have taken place since January. In 2020, 234 abductions were reported to the police, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti.

Where's Rodrigo Duterte when you need him! 

Please pray for these Christians and please pray for Haiti. Nothing barring a series of miracles can save that hapless and hopeless country.

Over 300 Incidents of Christian Persecution Have Occurred

across India in 2021

Milton Quintanilla | 

Contributor for ChristianHeadlines.com | 

Monday, October 25, 2021

A street in India, Pastor beaten in India for refusing to help pay for tribal rituals

According to a recent report by human rights groups in India, more than 300 incidents of Christian persecution have taken place in the country in just the first nine months of 2021.

The report, titled "Christians Under Attack in India," was published by United Against Hate, the United Christian Forum and the Association of Protection of Civil Rights. The groups also held a joint press conference in Delhi last week detailing the findings.

"The brutal attacks have taken place across 21 states. Most of the incidents are taking place in northern states, and 288 instances were of mob violence," A.C. Michael, the National Coordinator of the United Christian Forum, said at the press conference.

As reported by International Christian Concern, the continued attacks on believers may result in the highest incidents of Christian persecution recorded in a single year.

"This is a scary situation, raising critical questions over the role and the position of the National Human Rights Commission and the Home [Interior] Ministry and their failures in stopping this violence," Michael added. "Over 49 FIRs [police complaints] have been registered, too, but no substantial action has taken place."

India is ranked 10 on Open Doors USA's 2021 World Watch List of countries where Christians experience persecution.

Since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party took power in 2014, Christians and other religious minorities have faced increasing incidents of persecution. According to The Christian Post, Hindus comprise about 80 percent of radical nationalists, while Christians only make up 2.3 percent of the population.

Across India, nine states have enacted anti-conversion laws which have permitted radical Hindus to persecute Christians with impunity.

Earlier this month, a mob of some 200 radical Hindu nationalists ravaged a local church, which left at least three Christian women seriously injured. The attackers, who were associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party, claimed that the church was "illegally" converting Hindus to Christianity.

Michael, however, denied the mob's claims of forced conversions.

"The fears which are being fueled of Christians converting Hindus are baseless," he contended.

Seven Pastors arrested on anti-conversion laws in Uttar Pradesh

The Voice of the Martyrs (Canada) 

1 d  · 

Seven pastors were arrested on October 10th in the Mau district of Uttar Pradesh, India. They were accused of violating the state's anti-conversion legislation, and subsequently charged with "illegal assembly."

The pastors had gathered together for a prayer meeting when they were detained. Fifty other Christians were also detained at the time but later released, including two Catholic nuns who were merely waiting at a nearby bus stop and had no connection with the gathering. At last report, the pastors remained in custody, but their lawyer was working on obtaining bail.

Anti-conversion laws have been widely abused throughout India. Hindu nationalists frequently accuse Christians to justify harassment. In the words of one pastor: "Police officials often don't bother to record our complaints. This further emboldens our attackers and we have to bear the brunt." More information on the persecution of Christians in India has been made available here: https://vomcanada.com/india.htm

17 Coptic Christians go missing in Libya, fears rise

over possible abduction by terrorists

By Anugrah Kumar, 

Christian Post Contributor| 

Monday, October 25, 2021

At least 17 Egyptian Coptic Christians have gone missing in Libya, and it's feared an armed group might have abducted them in the north African country where 21 Coptic Christians were beheaded by ISIS in 2015.

The Coptic Christians, who were living in an Egyptian neighborhood in Tripoli, have either been detained by the authorities or taken by an armed group due to their Christian faith, friends and family believe, according to the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern, which says that they have been missing since Sept. 30.

The Copts had work visas for labor work in Libya, “but they failed to get work opportunities and the costs of renewing the visas are high and it’s likely that “the police of Libya detained them from September 30 until now,” a lawyer and friend of one the missing Copts was quoted as saying.

“The Copts were staying in the Gargash District in Tripoli,” he added. “In this residency, they were surrounded by so many persons of other countries like India and Bangladesh. So the action of detaining 17 Copts only is such a mysterious action! We are fearing of repeating an incident like the one who did by ISIS. We are contacting the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to intervene in the situation.”

Numerous Coptic Christians cross over to Libya in search of work despite knowing that they will face severe persecution, including death.

The Sunday Times quoted a Coptic Christian as previously saying: “We know it is more likely we will die than live in Libya but we don't have a choice. … More and more people are going to Libya because of the economic crisis here. You can't get work, you can't make money in Egypt. We are aware of the dangers, particularly as Christians.”

Getting work in Egypt is more difficult for a Christian than other demographics. An economic crisis just exacerbates the problem.

In 2017, Libya’s interior ministry said they had found a mass grave with the bodies of 21 Coptic Christians who were beheaded by the Islamic State two years earlier.

“The heads are separated from the bodies clad in orange jumpsuits, hands bound behind the back with plastic wire,” said the ministry’s unit for fighting organized crime in the city of Misurata at the time, according to Agence France Presse.

The authorities came to know about the mass grave near the one-time Islamic State bastion of Sirte, 280 miles east of Tripoli, after an ISIS prisoner confessed to the group's killings.

ISIS had kidnapped the Copts in separate incidents in Libya throughout December 2014 and January 2015. The terrorist group then released the video of their execution on Feb. 15, 2015, showing the Christian men in orange jumpsuits kneeling on the sand as the terrorists stood behind them, ready to carry out the executions at a beach near Tripoli.

ICC earlier reported that the victims' family members took pride in how their loved ones stood up to the Islamic radicals and refused to deny their faith despite the imminent threat of death.

One wife said that her husband “kept the faith, and was martyred in the name of Christ. His faith was very strong. I'm proud of him. He has lifted our heads up and honored us and all the Christians.”

Could you do that? Would you do that? 

Another family member said: “I’m very happy that my brother is in Heaven with Jesus now. I loved my brother when he was alive on the Earth, but now I love him more than before. He was martyred in the name of Jesus Christ.”

European Politics > EU's President a Headache for Leftist EU; Orban Backs Poland's Stand on Primacy; Poland Threatens EU

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Slovenia’s presidency has been a DISASTER for the EU, shining

a light on the ‘West v the rest’ cultural divide like never before

16 Oct, 2021 10:08

Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Jansa. © AFP / STEPHANIE LECOCQ

By Paul A. Nuttall, a historian, author and a former politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament between 2009 and 2019 and was a prominent campaigner for Brexit.

Western European countries are counting the days until Janez Janša’s reign as Council of EU president comes to an end. His time in the role has perfectly illustrated the massive differences that exist between the member states.

Since June, Slovenia has held the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, which is fitting – or one could say ironic – because it coincides with the 30-year anniversary of the country’s independence.

The rotating nature of the presidency is meant to project a sense of unity and altruism; a statement that the European Union is a shared venture between willing and cooperating member states who hold the same values.  

However, Slovenia’s presidency has done no such thing. Indeed, all it has achieved until now is to shine a light on the differences that exist between Eastern and Western Europe.

Slovenia’s Prime Minister Janez Janša has been a constant thorn in the side of the EU recently, and one suspects that Brussels cannot wait until his six-month term comes to an end on December 31.

The Slovenian presidency was not greeted with much enthusiasm in Brussels in the first place, as Janša was viewed as too authoritarian and populist, which is something the EU despises most of all. 

Moreover, Janša’s closeness to Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, who is viewed as a bogeyman by the EU, has not endeared him to either the Brussels bureaucrats or Western European leaders. Orban, it seems, is in constant conflict with the EU on a whole range of issues, spanning from immigration policy to LGBT rights, and also press freedoms.

Regardless, Janša is undeterred and has spoken against the ostracisation of Orban, saying that “I think that he has the right to explain how he envisages the future of the European Union…if the debate on the future of the European Union excludes people in advance, then I think that the European Union will indeed continue to shrink (a reference to Brexit).”

Not only has Janša backed Orban, but he also supports Poland, which is, at present, in a dispute with Brussels over the primacy of EU law. Janša warned the EU back in late 2020 that “the ‘rule of law’ means that disputes are decided by an independent court and not by a political majority in any other institution…we need EU institutions that will not be involved in member states’ internal political conflicts.”

The Slovenian government also sees its Central European partners as its political kith and kin, and obviously feels increasingly out of step with the aggressive liberalism of Western Europe. Recently, Janša attended the Demographic Summit in Budapest, a gathering to promote family and Christian values, whilst rejecting the need for mass immigration into the continent. 

Indeed, rather than allow for mass immigration, Janša argued that “we need to make it easier for young people to start families. We need to support the family as the fundamental unit of society.” This is not the sort of language that the largely atheist Brussels wants to hear from the president of the Council of the EU.  

Moreover, the Slovenes have attempted to use their presidency to speed up the accession of the western Balkan states into the EU. Earlier this month, Janša hosted a conference of EU and western Balkan leaders in an attempt to quicken the accession.

However, these plans were kiboshed by a number of Western European capitals, who worried that the incorporation of the Balkan nations into the bloc would lead to another surge of economic migrants heading west. Indeed, what many of the Western European leaders fear most is another Brexit, and therefore the brakes have been applied on the expansion east, leaving the irate Slovenes with egg on their faces.  

This week, however, relations have hit a new low. A European Parliament delegation, headed by the Dutch liberal Sophie in ‘t Veld, has travelled to Ljubljana to assess Slovenia’s situation regarding rule of law, media freedoms and corruption.

Janša obviously objected to the composition of the delegation and tweeted that the MEPs were “13 of the 226 known Soros puppets in the EU parliament” – a reference to the Jewish Hungarian-American financier George Soros.  

Although the tweet has since been deleted, the damage has been done. The Dutch PM, Mark Rutte, stated that “I condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” adding that his government had “just conveyed this same sentiment to the Slovenian ambassador in The Hague.”

I am sure that the mandarins in Brussels are counting down the days until they can be rid of this Slovenian pest. They will be looking forward to January 1, when, in their view, normality can be restored, as France takes over the presidency.

Although President Macron will use the role to strut like a plastic Napoleon on the world stage, virtue signal, and bash the Brits, at least the EU will have someone it broadly trusts to say the right things and do its bidding.  

The Slovenian presidency has been a disaster for Brussels, because it has laid bare the cultural and political differences that plague the bloc. It is clear that Western Europe and the Central and Eastern European states have different views about what the EU is and where it is headed. Inevitably only one side can win, and the result could well be the disintegration of the EU altogether.

One would have thought that this matter of primacy would have been settled before these countries joined the EU. Apparently, no one thought of it.

‘Not in treaty’: Hungary’s Orban sides with Poland,

rejects EU law primacy ahead of bloc’s summit

21 Oct, 2021 18:01

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks to the media as he arrives for an EU leaders summit

in Brussels, Belgium, on October 21, 2021. ©  Reuters / Olivier Hoslet

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has once again challenged the idea of the primacy of EU law, accusing Brussels of attempts to infringe upon the rights of the national governments as he arrived at an EU summit on Thursday.

Orban dismissed the idea of imposing sanctions against Poland over its decision to make EU law subordinate to its national legislation by calling such measures ridiculous. He also praised Poland as “one of the best European countries,” adding that “there is no need for any sanctions.”

Earlier, the EU Commission head, Ursula von der Leyen, warned Warsaw it would face penalties over the move. She said Poland encroached upon the “foundations” of the union. Orban, however, believes that EU law primacy has nothing to do with any EU foundations in the first place.

“The fact is very clear: The primacy of EU law is not in the [EU] treaty at all,” Orban told reporters in Brussels, accusing the bloc of having a thirst for power.

“What’s going on here is... that European institutions circumvent the rights of the national parliament and government, and modify the treaty without having any legitimate authority to do so,” the Hungarian prime minister said.

On Monday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki expressed a similar sentiment when he warned that the EU was becoming a “centrally managed organism run by institutions deprived of democratic control.” Earlier this month, a Warsaw court ruled that areas of EU treaties are incompatible with Poland’s laws and that national laws should take precedence, backing Morawiecki’s government.

Orban had already expressed his support for Warsaw in its standoff with Brussels. In early October, he demanded the EU respect its member states’ sovereignty and said that the bloc could only take primacy in areas specifically set out in EU treaties.

The dispute has become the latest episode in a series of clashes between Poland and EU authorities. Poland’s nationalist Law and Justice party and the EU have frequently clashed over a number of issues, ranging from Poland’s self-declared LGBTQ-free zones to the situation with the rule of law in the country. The law precedence dispute was sparked amid a row over whether EU institutions could influence Warsaw’s plans for reorganizing its judiciary.

It seems, however, that Warsaw and Budapest could have trouble finding other member states to agree with them. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Thursday that European nations have to be “tough” on Poland to make it “safeguard” the independence of its judiciary.

“The independence of the Polish judiciary is the key issue we have to discuss. It is very difficult to see how a big new fund of money could be made available to Poland when this is not settled,” he said.

Ireland’s prime minister, Michael Martin, also expressed his “extreme disappointment” with the developments in Poland and maintained that EU law is needed to protect people across the continent.

“We in Ireland are very concerned, we have good bilateral relations with Poland, but we believe the primacy of EU law and the Court of Justice is critical for the protection of citizens all across Europe,” Martin told reporters as he arrived at the summit.

Here we see that the dividing lines are essentially between east and west Europe. Eastern Europe is more conservative in their values and are more likely to be Christians, while Western Europe is far more liberal and far less likely to be Christians.

Aside from Hungary, Poland's supporters are most likely to be those countries directly south of them.

Warsaw itself seems to be unrelenting. Morawiecki said on Thursday that his nation would not cave in to “blackmail” but said Poland is ready to “talk about how to resolve the current disputes in dialogue.”

He rejected the idea of “ever-expanding competencies” of EU institutions by saying that “some European institutions assume the right to decide on matters that have not been assigned to them.” Still, the prime minister once again ruled out the idea of leaving the bloc.

If EU ‘starts WW3’ against Poland by withholding promised funding,

Warsaw will defend itself with ‘any weapons available’ – PM

25 Oct, 2021 12:09 

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. © Reuters / Olivier Hoslet

Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki has warned the EU against acting “with a gun to our heads,” claiming Warsaw would defend itself by any means available if the EU launched a “third World War” by holding back Covid-19 recovery funding.

The strongly-worded statement came after the European Commission threatened to leave Poland without billions in grants and loans as a response to a controversial decision by the country’s Constitutional Tribunal, which prioritized national laws over those of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

“What will happen if the European Commission starts a third World War? … We are going to defend our rights with any weapons which are at our disposal,” Morawiecki said, when asked by the Financial Times if Poland could now veto important legislation such as the EU’s landmark climate package.

“We feel this is already discriminatory and a diktat type of approach [by Brussels]. But if it’s going to get even worse, we’ll have to think through our strategy,” he added.

The prime minister described the European Commission’s withholding of the €36-billion grant for post-pandemic rebuilding as a “breach of the rule of law,” and said Poles would not “surrender.” In order to find a compromise, he added, the EU should reverse its recent decision to fine Warsaw daily until it implemented ECJ decisions regarding its judicial reform.

“This would be the wisest thing they can do because then we are not talking to each other with a gun to our head. This very situation creates a relative lack of our appetite for any further actions,” he said.

Morawiecki nonetheless summed up his recent talks with EU leaders – including outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen – as “very satisfying,” and stated that, despite the aforementioned disagreement, there was no risk of “Polexit.”

Last month, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal ruled that some provisions of EU treaties conflicted with Polish laws, and that the European institutions were acting “beyond the scope of their competences.” Thе move to prioritize national laws over European ones raised eyebrows in Brussels. Several figures – among them Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and European Parliament President David Sassoli – demanded Poland be punished, while others, including Merkel, called for a compromise.

Military Madness > NATO's Mad Plan for Russia; Ukraine's Mad Plan for Russia; Germany's Mad Plan for Russia

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NATO unveils master plan to defeat Russia in nuclear war, as Moscow

says ‘confrontational’ playbook shows it was right to cut ties

22 Oct, 2021 12:46

Launch of the US military’s land-based Aegis missile defense testing system. © Mark Wright / Missile Defense Agency via AP; (inset) © Beata Zawrzel / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Top defense chiefs from NATO member states have given a green light to a new grand strategy on how to beat Russia in any potential all-out conflict, as Moscow says the move proves the US-led bloc isn’t open to improving relations.

On Thursday, ministers met in Brussels to sign off the scheme, named the “Concept for Deterrence and Defense in the Euro-Atlantic Area.”

According to NATO’s General Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, it is part of efforts to “continue to strengthen our alliance with better and modernized plans.”

In other words, to raise the specter of nuclear war to a level far beyond sanity.

The bloc’s officials insist they don’t believe an attack is imminent, but that it is worthwhile being prepared in any case. As part of the plan, NATO troops would fight against Russia’s forces in both the Baltic Region and across the Black Sea. 

The battle plans also focus on non-conventional warfare, including the use of nuclear weapons, cyber-attacks and even conflict in space. However, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov hit out at the adoption of the strategy on Friday, saying that it shows there is no prospect for turning around rock-bottom relations with the bloc.

Certainly not while there is money to be made by risking all human life.

“There is no need for dialogue under these conditions,” he argued, saying that the adoption “of such a concept by NATO confirms it once again.” According to him, “this alliance was not created for peace, it was conceived, designed and created for confrontation.”

Defending the measures, Stoltenberg told reporters earlier this week that the bloc welcomes US efforts “to really engage in meaningful, strategic talks with Russia” over the extension of the New START atomic weapons treaty, saying that “some important steps have been taken recently.”

However, he added, “the relationship between NATO and Russia is at its lowest, lowest point since the end of the Cold War, and the reason for that is the Russian behavior. They have invaded the neighbors, they have annexed part of another country, they are investing heavily in new nuclear capabilities,” the bloc’s top official claimed.

“They’re meddling in our democratic processes, and we have seen Russia being responsible for aggressive actions against NATO Allies.” Moscow, however, has sounded the alarm in recent days over a number of standoffs with US battleships and warplanes near its borders.

Earlier this week, two fighter jets were scrambled to escort a pair of American US B-1B strategic bombers over the Black Sea, just days after Russian sailors intercepted the USS Chafee as it set course for the waters of Peter the Great Bay, which Russia maintains is its sovereign territory.

Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova hit out at Stoltenberg’s comments on Thursday, saying that the NATO boss underestimates the scale of the problem in relations, and that ties between the two are actually even “in a state worse than at any point during the darkest days of the Cold War.”

Speaking to dignitaries in a speech at the Valdai Discussion Club on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the US of “opening the door” to Ukraine joining NATO with a recent trip by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Kiev.

However, even without the Eastern European nation joining the bloc, he said, “the military development of the territory is already underway and this really poses a threat to the Russian Federation.”

“Tomorrow, rockets could appear near Kharkov, what are we going to do about it? It’s not us placing our missiles there, it’s them shoving theirs under our nose,” Putin added.

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Missiles ‘aimed at Moscow’: Adviser to Ukraine’s Zelensky warns Kremlin

that war with Kiev would spell ‘end of Russia’ & its army

25 Oct, 2021 09:36

FILE PHOTO. Ukrainian servicemen are seen on a tank during a drill of the airborne troops taking place in Zhytomyr region.

© AFP / SERGEI SUPINSKY

Kiev is working on long-range missiles that can reach Moscow, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin needs to realize that any attack on Ukraine could see his entire country obliterated, a top Ukrainian official has warned.

Speaking to the Dom TV network, Alexey Arestovich warned the Kremlin that his country would soon have the ability to hit the Russian capital with its missiles. Arestovich serves as an adviser to the office of Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Putin will get to the point, in the foreseeable future, where Ukrainian missiles will be aimed at Moscow, and for one simple reason: we are working on a missile program,” he explained. “And our operational-tactical missiles will be able to reach Moscow.”

In Arestovich’s opinion, the Russian Army is already aware of Ukraine’s military capabilities, and the heads of the armed forces are telling the Kremlin that an attack on Ukraine “would be the end of the Russian army and the end of the Russian Federation.”

Incredible! Do they think for one minute that they can destroy Russia without Ukraine being completely pulverized? It's that kind of military stupidity that is really frightening.

“This is an absolutely losing option. They cannot fail to understand that,” he added. “And when they scare us with an invasion, an expansion, a hint of threats – it’s a bluff.”

In recent times, the Ukrainian leadership has brought up possible war with Russia on numerous occasions, despite Moscow’s insistence that it has no desire for any conflict. Last week, the commander of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces Grigory Galagan called for “all regions” of the country to have their defenses bolstered, claiming that there is “no guarantee Russia won’t invade and subsequently escalate.”

Last month, Zelensky claimed that there was a possibility of a full-scale war with Russia and accused Moscow of not respecting his country’s independence.

On Wednesday, Britain’s The Times reported that London is in talks with Ukraine to sell it missiles for the first time, including the state-of-the-art Brimstone.

Of course, the sale of these missiles will go better if the heads of the armed forces can create an atmosphere of fear (read paranoia). That is what is going on here. It's a good bet that these heads will also have pockets that will be lined with British pounds.

Russia summons German military attaché after Berlin’s defense minister

suggests NATO should threaten Moscow with nuclear missiles

25 Oct, 2021 16:01

The building of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the Frunzenskaya Embankment in Moscow.

© RIA / Alexey Kudenko; (inset) © AFP / Aris Oikonomou

Russian officials have held an urgent meeting with the German Embassy’s military attaché in Moscow, expressing concern at a series of comments by the country’s defense minister that they say may worsen already fraught relations.

In a statement released on Monday, the Ministry of Defense revealed that, earlier that day, Berlin’s envoy “was asked to appear before the Main Directorate for Military Co-Operation.”

During the meeting, “attention was drawn to the remarks made by German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on nuclear deterrence against Russia, and a diplomatic note was handed over.”

Last week, Kramp-Karrenbauer told radio station Deutschlandfunk that nuclear weapons could be deployed over the Baltic nations that border Russia. According to her, “we must make it very clear to Russia that we are ready to use such measures as well, so that it would have an early deterrent effect.” This, she said, “is in response to the current behavior of Russia.”

AKK's sudden madness probably has to do with the sales pitch of weapons manufacturers and probably NATO, as above. 

According to officials in Moscow, “such statements provoke increased tension in Europe and are not conducive to the normalization of the situation.” Responding to the claims, Kramp-Karrenbauer’s Russian counterpart, Sergey Shoigu, said that “security in Europe can only be collective, without infringement on Russia's interest.” However, he went on, “currently NATO is the party that’s not ready for equal dialogue on this issue.”

NATO cannot talk peace while they are trying to sell weapons. There are still lots of countries that have not colossally increased their debt to buy weapons systems. NATO must keep them in a terrified state until they succumb to the fear-mongering.

“Amid calls to deter Russia militarily, NATO is consistently building up its forces near our borders. The German foreign minister must know quite well how such actions have ended for Germany and Europe previously,” Shoigu added, in a remark widely interpreted as a reference to WWII.

Kramp-Karrenbauer’s comments have also drawn criticism from members of Germany’s coalition government, with Rolf Mützenich, the parliamentary chair of the Social Democratic Party, blasting them as unhelpful. “The defense minister’s recent conclusions about the use of nuclear weapons in the event of a conflict with Russia are irresponsible,” he said.

Not to mention, spectacularly stupid! She should be fired!

“Mrs. Kramp-Karrenbauer[’s comments are] no different from the equally unfounded threats from the Russian side,” Mützenich continued, adding that such statements contributed to the “spiral of escalation.”

The row comes just days after NATO revealed its members had given a green light to a major plan designed to combat Russia in a putative military conflict. The classified document, detailing how the US-led bloc could clash with Moscow’s forces from the Baltic to the Black Sea, is said to include a focus on non-conventional warfare, including cyberattacks, conflict in space and even the use of nuclear warheads.