E.U. Cuts Aid to Ukraine Over Corruption Concerns
Posted By: sunset, 7/27/2025 3:39:52 AM
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s anticorruption policies have already provoked Ukraine’s first antigovernment protests since the Russian invasion in 2022. Now, it seems, they may cost the country a portion of its foreign aid from the European Union, in a clear rebuke from the bloc, once a staunch ally. The European Union said on Friday that it would withhold 1.5 billion euros, or $1.7 billion, from an overall fund of 4.5 billion euros whose disbursement is dependent on achieving good governance standards and that can’t be used for military purchases. James Wasserstrom, an American anticorruption expert, said in an interview that “the luster is definitely coming off” Mr. Zelensky’s wartime leadership
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "sunset"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Most Recent Articles posted by
sunset"
The U.S. DOGE Service is using a new artificial intelligence tool to slash federal regulations, with the goal of eliminating half of Washington’s regulatory mandates by the first anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post and four government officials familiar with the plans. The tool, called the “DOGE AI Deregulation Decision Tool,” is supposed to analyze roughly 200,000 federal regulations to determine which can be eliminated because they are no longer required by law, according to a PowerPoint presentation dated July 1 and outlines DOGE’s plans. The PowerPoint says: 50 percent are not required by law, 38 percent are statutorily mandated
Heroic shoppers forced a man to drop his weapon after he stabbed 11 people inside a Walmart in Michigan on Saturday afternoon.
The extraordinary moment four men confronted the deranged suspect in the parking lot of the Traverse City supermarket was caught on camera. During the urgency of the situation, one man lost his shoes and was barefoot as he ordered the knife-wielding man to drop his weapon. One of the citizens can be seen holding a gun in his hands aimed squarely at the suspect. 'Get on the ground!' the men continued to yell as the man attempted to move between cars before finally placing the knife on the ground.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s anticorruption policies have already provoked Ukraine’s first antigovernment protests since the Russian invasion in 2022. Now, it seems, they may cost the country a portion of its foreign aid from the European Union, in a clear rebuke from the bloc, once a staunch ally.
The European Union said on Friday that it would withhold 1.5 billion euros, or $1.7 billion, from an overall fund of 4.5 billion euros whose disbursement is dependent on achieving good governance standards and that can’t be used for military purchases. James Wasserstrom, an American anticorruption expert, said in an interview that “the luster is definitely coming off” Mr. Zelensky’s wartime leadership
A petition before the U.S. Supreme Court is asking the justices to consider overturning the 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in light of religious liberty concerns and a recent ruling reversing decades-old U.S. policy on abortion. The Christian conservative legal group Liberty Counsel announced Thursday it filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Kim Davis, the former county clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky. Davis, 59, has faced nearly a decade of litigation over her refusal to issue same-sex marriage licenses following the Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges decision that overturned state bans on same-sex marriage.
A federal judge refused Friday to invalidate the state, city and county laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants in Chicago by prohibiting local law enforcement officials from helping federal agents, tossing a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump. U.S. District Court Judge Lindsey Jenkins’ decision to grant Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s request to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice without holding a full trial is a major win for officials seeking to prevent federal officials from slashing billions of dollars in federal aid to Chicago and Illinois.
California law requiring background checks
for ammo is unconstitutional, appeals
court rules 2 replies
for ammo is unconstitutional, appeals
court rules 2 replies
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that California’s law requiring background checks for people purchasing ammunition is unconstitutional, upholding a San Diego federal judge’s previous ruling that struck the law down. The ruling stems from a lawsuit brought in San Diego by a coalition of gun owners and gun-rights groups that alleged the law infringed on the Second Amendment rights of California residents. The California Attorney General’s Office argued the law was a safety measure that prevented people who shouldn’t have firearms and ammunition from obtaining them. The law was struck down twice by U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez,
Hulk Hogan, the blond and boisterous body-slammer who brought pro wrestling into the mainstream in the 1980s while becoming one of the most recognizable celebrities of his generation, died Thursday. He was 71.
Hogan’s death was confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter by promoter Eric Bischoff, his partner in the recently launched Real America Freestyle amateur wrestling league. TMZ reported that medical personnel were sent to his home in Clearwater, Florida, with operators stating it regarded a “cardiac arrest.” “The Hulkster” headlined WrestleMania eight times, with perhaps his most memorable bout in the WWE‘s signature event coming in 1987 against the 520-pound Andre the Giant — his mentor
U.S. Republicans continued on Wednesday a years-long effort to override a 2018 California law that bans the sale in the state of pork from pigs kept in tightly confined spaces, arguing in a House Agriculture Committee hearing that the law is overly burdensome to farmers.
Proposition 12, which also sets housing standards for veal and eggs sold in the state, was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2023 after a legal challenge by the pork industry.
Committee Chair Glenn Thompson has sought to limit the law's scope to California farmers, excluding farmers from other states who sell pork into California, in the next farm bill omnibus funding package
After the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Russia has scrambled to transfer military equipment to other areas, including eastern Libya. Experts question Russia’s long-term strategic goals and fear the expanded presence of mercenaries and military personnel could further destabilize Libya, Sudan and other nations in the region.
The Kremlin increasingly has used Al-Khadim air base, about 100 kilometers east of Benghazi, as a hub for conducting operations, supplying arms, and trafficking resources in and out of the restive Sahel region.
The federal government has awarded a contract to build and operate a sprawling tent camp at Fort Bliss, an Army base in Texas, to serve as an immigrant detention center.
In the Trump administration’s latest move to vastly expand space for such detention, the work would turn the base in El Paso, with more than 1 million acres and an airport, into a deportation hub with 5,000 beds. That would make it the largest immigration detention facility in the country. An official for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that the agency “is indeed pursuing all available options to expand bedspace capacity.
A magistrate judge paused Kilmar Abrego Garcia's release from federal custody Wednesday, shortly after a separate judge ruled that Abrego, who was mistakenly deported in March to El Salvador, should be released while he awaits trial on human smuggling charges. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in the Middle District of Tennessee ordered Abrego’s release from federal custody paused for 30 days or until further court order. “Abrego shall therefore remain in the custody of the United States Marshal pending further order,” she wrote.
An appellate court ruled the Trump administration can move forward with ending temporary deportation protections for thousands of Afghan and Cameroonian nationals.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is allowed to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for roughly 10,000 Afghans and Cameroonians while a court challenge against the move continues to play out in court, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday. The court determined that while CASA — an immigration advocacy group suing DHS — has a plausible case, there is not enough evidence to block the TPS phaseout while the court challenge continues.
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening sees a moment sometime in the cartooning future when “kids across America will liberate their Republican parents from the cult of MAGA” adding “Here’s how to do it. Delete Fox News.”
Variety reports Groening made his forecast while musing on future content for shows of the Emmy-winning production and how they may meld into reality and predict the future, saying:
The Simpsons’ predicts kids across America will liberate their Republican parents from the cult of MAGA. And here’s how you do it. Grab the TV remote, go to menu, go to controls, vertical controls, look for channel list and delete Fox News.
Florida county school board chair deletes
comments celebrating Hulk Hogan's death
as 'one less MAGA' 33 replies
comments celebrating Hulk Hogan's death
as 'one less MAGA' 33 replies
Florida county school board chair Sarah Rockwell apologized for Facebook comments celebrating legendary wrestler Hulk Hogan’s death on Thursday as "one less MAGA" in the world. "Oh did Hulk die? I didn’t even know. Good. One less MAGA in the world," Rockwell’s since-deleted comment read. In a follow-up comment, Rockwell added, "[H]e worked with the McMahons to union bust professional wrestling. [H]e’s never been a good guy. I feel absolutely nothing about his death." After her comments went viral on social media, Rockwell deleted and apologized for them on her official school board Facebook account. ''A few days ago, I
Police in Cincinnati are investigating a viral video that shows what appears to be a violent brawl in the downtown section of the city. The fight happened on Friday night, between Elm and Fourth Streets, according to FOX 19 in Cincinnati. Several videos of the fight have made the rounds on social media.
A man in a white t-shirt appears to be shoved to the ground by two other men and mercilessly beaten. The video then shows others in the crowd, women included, joining in on the beating. The man's head appears to be stomped multiple times.
Cancel the 2028 L.A. Olympics
21 replies
This show must not go on.
It’s time, right now, for greater Los Angeles to halt all preparations to host the 2028 Summer Olympics. Let’s turn over these Games to a world city better positioned to host them.
Not because Angelenos don’t love the Olympics. We are a proud Olympic city, shaped by the 1932 and 1984 Games. In normal times, the city’s incomparable international connections, entertainment assets and sports facilities would make us the perfect host for what LA 28 chair Casey Wasserman calls “the largest peacetime gathering in the history of the world.”
But it’s no longer peacetime in Los Angeles.
This event is now too dangerous for California.
Deflect, Distract, but Game’s Up!
19 replies
The great Satchel Paige once said, “Don’t look back -- something may be gaining on you.” Well, I think for Barack Obama and his cohort, something is gaining on them, and so, too, I believe it is happening now for those who engaged with Jeffrey Epstein in his illicit activities. Stuff kept hidden by the wrongdoers in the Obama and Biden administrations is coming to light, and you can expect they will amp up their deflection and distraction moves to keep the focus off what they did.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s anticorruption policies have already provoked Ukraine’s first antigovernment protests since the Russian invasion in 2022. Now, it seems, they may cost the country a portion of its foreign aid from the European Union, in a clear rebuke from the bloc, once a staunch ally.
The European Union said on Friday that it would withhold 1.5 billion euros, or $1.7 billion, from an overall fund of 4.5 billion euros whose disbursement is dependent on achieving good governance standards and that can’t be used for military purchases. James Wasserstrom, an American anticorruption expert, said in an interview that “the luster is definitely coming off” Mr. Zelensky’s wartime leadership
The owner of a Florida telecommunications company will spend the next five years in prison and his firm must pay a hefty fine regarding an “Obama phone” scam.
Q Link Wireless LLC and its owner, identified as CEO Issa Asad, previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and steal federal funds from the Lifeline program that began in the 1980s, Fox News reported Sunday.
The program offers subsidized cellphone services to lower-income people. In 2012, a video emerged of a protester outside a Mitt Romney event who claimed her neighbors received an “Obama phone,” Breitbart News reported at the time.
Harry Reid, the former Democrat leader of the U.S. Senate, left the Senate in 2017 and died in 2021, but his ghost must still be haunting the chamber. How else can one explain why the Republican majority is continuing the blockade Reid initiated back in 2007 to prevent a Republican President (George W. Bush) from using recess appointments to get around the various roadblocks Reid put in place to delay confirming Bush's nominees?
How quickly things change. It was barely more than a year ago that climate activists and federal bureaucrats thought they had maneuvered the internal combustion engine (ICE) automobile to the brink of extinction. ICE vehicles had become like dinosaurs, inferior to their new competitors the EVs, and therefore headed for the scrap heap of history. Customers were flocking to the trendy new EVs, which were seeing rapidly rising sales. And the all-powerful federal bureaucracy was going to give the final push to put ICE vehicles out of their misery. On June 7, 2024 President Biden’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Oran Routh, the son of Ryan Routh, who is currently in federal custody on charges related to an attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, was sentenced Friday morning to seven years in federal prison for possession of child pornography involving a minor under the age of 12.(snip)Investigators discovered an SD card in the device containing a large cache of illegal material.
“A review of the SD card located in Device-1 revealed that it contained hundreds of child pornography files,” prosecutors wrote in the criminal complaint,
Matson Inc., a major ocean cargo carrier in the trans-Pacific trade, announced this week that they have decided to stop carrying electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles on their ships, effective immediately.
Some in the industry were shocked and upset.
Matson, after all, has never had a ship sink as a result of an EV fire. What are they worried about?
But there have been three especially severe EV fires on cargo ships in just the past three years: the Felicity Ace in 2022, the Fremantle Highway in 2023, and most recently, the Morning Midas in 2025, each fire destroying thousands of vehicles each along with much or all of the vessels.
It took just 75 minutes for President Trump to get major concessions from the European Union.
That’s how long he and European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were away from the cameras.
When they returned, Trump was triumphant. Europe agreed to buy $750 billion in American energy products, invest $600 billion in new money in the US, purchase additional US military equipment and drop key tariffs on American goods, according to the terms of the preliminary agreement.
Comments:
Should have taken the deal PDJT offered him.