UK Defense Chief Says Ukraine To Increase Long-Range Strikes In Russia Just as President Biden was signing into effect the newly approved foreign defense package which includes $60 billion for Ukraine, the United Kingdom also rolled out its own massive aid package (though paling in comparison), first unveiled Tuesday. Britain announced its single largest aid package for Ukraine yet, at the equivalent of $620 million (£500 million). According to UK NATO officials, the arms include Storm Shadow missiles among a total of 1,600 strike and air defense missiles, four millio ..read more

Polish President Admits That Major Infrastructure Project Has Dual Military Purposes Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack, Polish President Andrzej Duda revealed in an interview that the Central Communication Port (CPK by its Polish abbreviation) transportation megaproject outside of Warsaw has dual military purposes. He represents Poland’s prior conservative-nationalist government but remains in office despite the liberal-globalist opposition’s victory at the polls last fall since his term doesn’t expire till next year. Duda’s latest claim makes Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s decision to&n ..read more

Chipotle Tells Workers To "Preserve" Chicken Supply As Demand Soars A surge in restaurant traffic boosted Chipotle Mexican Grill's first-quarter earnings and revenue, topping the average estimate of Wall Street analysts tracked by Bloomberg on Wednesday. Shares are higher by more than 5% in the cash session on Thursday. However, this note will not expand on earnings. Instead, we will focus on a letter from the company to employees stating: Stop eating chicken during lunch and dinner meals because soaring demand has collided with dwindling poultry supply—and the need to preserve supply urgentl ..read more

EU Prepares To Tighten Screws On Russian LNG Imports By Julianne Geiger of OilPrice.com In a move that could reshape Europe's energy landscape, the European Commission is poised to propose new sanctions targeting Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. According to Reuters sources close to the matter, the proposed measures will include a ban on shipments within the EU and sanctions on three Russian LNG projects. The European Commission's decision comes amid growing concerns over Europe's reliance on Russian energy, particularly in the wake of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. While the E ..read more

Russia Will Target US Nuclear Weapons In Poland If They Appear Russia has warned that Poland will make itself a 'priority target' if it hosts NATO nuclear weapons on its territory. In a Thursday statement Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said "Moves in this direction will not provide greater security (for Poland or other nations that host such weapons)." He was further quoted in Russian media as saying:  Moscow considers any expansion of NATO’s nuclear-sharing arrangement as “deeply destabilizing” in nature, “and in fact threatening” Russia, R ..read more

European ESG Funds Witness Heavy Decline In Inflows Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com, European exchange-traded funds with a focus on ESG investing saw a substantial decline in inflows in the first quarter amid what Morningstar called “an existential crisis”. According to the Financial Times, net inflows into these funds totaled 7.1 billion euros, or $7.62 billion, in the first three months of the year. This was down from 13.8 billion euros in the final three months of 2023, equal to $14.8 billion. As a result, the portion of ESG fund inflows during the period fell to 16% of total ..read more

Poland Ready To Help Ukraine Round Up Military-Aged Men Poland says it is ready and willing to help Ukraine with its crisis-level manpower and recruitment problems, as it could be poised to round up Ukrainian military-aged males and return them to their home country. Government officials are now strongly signaling just such a controversial plan. Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz issued the words Wednesday, largely in response to Ukraine's new law and policy requiring men between 18 and 59 living abroad to get or renew their passport only at offices inside Ukraine. It is d ..read more

Former British PM Liz Truss Warns About Global Threat Of The Left Via The Epoch Times, Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss spoke Monday at The Heritage Foundation about how the United States and the United Kingdom are facing very challenging forces in the global left, not just in terms of their extremist activists, but also in the power they hold in our institutions. She warned that conservatives must create a stronger infrastructure to take on the left—which is well-funded, activist, and has many friends in high places—by recruiting more conservative activists and candidates wh ..read more

The Great Game Returns To Central Asia Via EurasiaNet.org, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has reanimated US and EU interest in Central Asia. China has eclipsed Russia as the region's largest trade partner. Central Asian trade is diversifying away from Russia and towards the West. The Great Game is playing out once again in Central Asia, but it is getting a new name and adopting a different set of rules. Economics, not politics, is defining the terms of the current superpower competition for regional influence, according to a report prepared by a Kazakh research institute.  There i ..read more

Gaza Aid Flotilla With 1,000 Passengers, Tons Of Supplies Poised To Sail - As IDF Awaits A flotilla of ships packed with a thousand activists, human rights observers and more than 5,500 tons of food and medical supplies is ready to sail from Istanbul to for Gaza. To do so, they'll need the Turkish government to let them leave the port, and then run the risk of being subjected to a deadly Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) attack -- as their predecessors were in an infamous 2010 incident.   “The Freedom Flotilla has the support of millions around the world who are outraged at the fail ..read more