Donald Trump’s 75-country US Visa Suspension Challenged

A group of United States citizens and immigrant rights bodies have launched a lawsuit seeking to challenge the sweeping suspension of immigrant visa processing for 75 countries by the administration of President Donald Trump.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday, argues that the Trump administration has relied on a false narrative to justify the visa processing suspension, one of the most substantial restrictions on legal immigration in the country’s history. 

The lawsuit charges that the policy “constitutes an unlawful nationality-based ban on legal immigration and a new set of discriminatory, unlawful public charge rules that strips families and working people of the process guaranteed by law”, according to a case overview by the National Immigration Law Center, which are among the groups supporting the legal challenge. 

The sprawling 106-page complaint further alleges that the administration relies “on an unsupported and demonstrably false claim that nationals of the covered countries migrate to the United States to improperly rely on cash welfare and are likely to become ‘public charges'”. 

The State Department has described the action, announced in mid-January, as a “pause” on immigrant visa processing on “countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates”. 

The department have not revealed the criteria it used to determine which countries were added to the list, which comes amid a wider effort to constrict legal immigration pathways into the US and to deport undocumented citizens from the country. 

According to a January 14 state department cable obtained by the Guardian, the sweeping list cuts across every major region of the world, spanning countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and eastern Europe. 

Amongst the affected countries include Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Syria, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

Donald Trump Wants EU to Punish China and India

Tried as he may, Donald Trump couldn't fulfill his pledge to end the war in Ukraine on "day one" of becoming US president. 

(But then, he was just being disingenuous and always hyperbolic; he was never genuinely serious about wanting peace).

Now, he has called on the European Union to hit China and India with tariffs of up to 100% to force Russian president Vladimir Putin to cease and desist in Ukraine. 

(Another BS! Why won't the US cease and desist supplying weapons to Ukraine? That'll end the war soon enough!)

Trump made the demand during a meeting between US and EU officials on Tuesday discussing options to increase economic pressure on Russia, a source familiar with the discussions has told the BBC. 

However, as per my understanding, the EU treat tariffs in a different way to sanctions and only impose them after an investigation typically lasting months to establish a legally sound justification. 

The bloc have so far only imposed tariffs in the context of the Ukraine war on Russian and Belarusian fertilisers and farm products. The justification for the measures was to prevent creating a dependency that could be exploited and to avoid harm to EU fertiliser producers. 

"So far, there is no discussion on possible tariffs neither on India...nor with China", one EU diplomat said. 

It has been said such tariffs are risky and could be too broad; it is easier to sanction specific entities and open the door to delist them if they end their business with Russia.  

I guess Trump should know better. He may love tariffs but the Europeans are only enamoured with sanctions! 🤣🤣🤣

Chinese-made aircraft are set to spread their wings further in Southeast Asia after Air Cambodia announced an order for ten C909 passenger jets, with an option to purchase ten more from the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) on Tuesday. 

And Capital A, the investment holding company of AirAsia, on Wednesday, claimed to be in active discussions to buy the C919.

In fact, in July, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke disclosed that AirAsia and the soon-to-launch Air Borneo had both expressed interest in the Chinese jet, aligning with Kuala Lumpur’s ambition to diversify fleet sourcing and strengthen strategic links with Beijing. 

Even Irish low-cost giant Ryanair are flirting with the idea of adding the Chinese narrowbody twinjet to their fleet, which is currently dominated by aircraft from the Boeing 737 Next Generation (737NG) and 737 MAX families. 

Most notably, Ryanair Group CEO Michael O'Leary said in March that "if it was cheap enough, 10 or 20% cheaper than an Airbus aircraft, then we’d order it".

Vietnam Joins BRICS As 10th Partner Country

Vietnam has joined BRICS as their tenth partner country, marking a significant step in the bloc’s expansion, Brazil’s foreign ministry announced on Saturday. 

“With a population of almost 100 million and a dynamic economy deeply integrated into global value chains, Vietnam stands out as a relevant actor in Asia”, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. 

The economic collective’s other nine partner countries are Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan. Hanoi’s inclusion as a partner country grants it access to key economic initiatives without formal voting rights.

BRICS just got bigger!

Yesterday, I attended the Kajang Toastmasters Club meeting at Prima Saujana, Kajang in Selangor. It was very unusually well-attended; and therefore, the meeting unsurprisingly became a lot livelier. 

And we sold eight books, 4 TDIYS and 4 TPOYS.

May 09 is Russia’s Victory Day

Foreign leaders from 27 countries graced Russia’s Victory Day parade on Friday. 

[Two Heads of State, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith did not turn up – the former pulled out at the last minute and the latter due to illness]. 

As well as military contingents from 13 countries – Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Egypt, Laos, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam – joined in to march alongside Russian forces on the day of the parade. 

The May 09 event commemorates 80 years since the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany in the Second World War (referred to by the Russians as the Great Patriotic War). 

[Notes: The Soviet Union lost around 27 million people during the Great Patriotic War (40% of all human losses in World War II), with civilian deaths accounting for the larger part of these losses. According to data of the Extraordinary State Commission for the Establishment and Investigation of Atrocities of the German Fascist Invaders, the German troops destroyed fully or partially over 1,700 cities and towns, more than 70,000 villages and settlements in the USSR. 

And Western revisionists are deliberately downplaying the USSR's vital contribution to World War II. Partly because of the Cold War rivalry but more due to a Western bias to focus on the Western front and American and British victories]. 

The twenty-seven leaders who came: 

In case you're wondering, Abkhazia and South Ossetia are "separatist" regions of Georgia in the Caucasus. Most countries recognise them as part of Georgia, while Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria regard them as independent.

The T-shirt That Riffs on Donald Trump — and Annoys Moscow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ukrainian President [V]olodmir [Z]elensky showed up to his evening video address in an unusual T-shirt and got a scathing reaction from the Kremlin. The Ukrainian leader on Wednesday discussed the state of the Russo-Ukrainian fighting – but has been getting attention for another reason.

 

Emblazoned on the black T-shirt, in red and white lowercase letters, was the phrase: "Make Russia small again". 

 

There are some who claim it may be a nod to Ukraine's incursion into Kursk, in western Russia, where Kiev's forces say they held around 500 square miles as of last month.

 

The T-shirt quickly got a reaction from Russia's foreign ministry on X, which cited its spokesperson Maria Zakharova (right) as calling [Z]elenskyy a "bloody jerk". 

 

"Small as what? The USSR? The Russian Empire?" the spokesperson said. "Oh, I got it! As the Kievan Rus. For that we need Kiev. You said it yourself, bloody jerk".

 

As comebacks go, it takes a bit of explaining. 

 

Kievan Rus was a medieval state from around the late ninth to the mid-thirteenth century. It included territory in modern-day Ukraine, Belarus, and western Russia, with its center in Kiev, Ukraine's modern-day capital. 

 

Russia has long claimed that it is the only successor to Kyivan Rus, the Kyiv Independent earlier wrote in an explainer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ukraine has a serious Nazi problem – both past and present. In fact, its history of antisemitism and pogroms is well-documented. And if that's not bad enough, Ukrainians despise Russians just as much. 

 

On Monday, in an interview with RBK Ukraine, the mayor of Lviv, Andrey Sadovoy (left), brazenly made the claim that the only good Russian is a dead one! 

 

And for good measure, he even declared that Russia “was, is, and always will be an enemy, and this war will not ever end”. 

 

Whatever. The fact is Russia embarked on the Special Military Operation (Russian: спецопера́ция, romanized: spetsoperatsiya) on February 24, 2022 to demilitarise and denazify Ukraine. And protect Russians in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. 

 

I've no doubt that Russia will vanquish Ukraine. I reckon the endgame is approaching.

The 2 Idiots

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As per RT published October 24, 2024. In an interview with Russian broadcaster VGTRK on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday, called both US presidential candidates, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris "idiots"! 

 

The Belarusian President was asked whether he favored any of the two and Lukashenko (right) decried their empty rhetoric and personal attacks against each other. 

 

“They are all idiots”, he said, adding that both their campaigns have wasted billions of dollars without producing a coherent program. “This is a terrible, stupid election. From our perspective, I don’t understand anything at all”.

 

Emotional farewells are a common sight at airports, but travelers leaving the New Zealand city of Dunedin will have to be quick. A new three-minute time limit on goodbye hugs in the airport’s drop-off area is intended to prevent lingering cuddles from causing traffic jams.

 

“Max hug time three minutes”, warn signs outside the terminal, adding that those seeking “fonder farewells” should head to the airport’s parking lot instead.

 

The cuddle cap was imposed in September to “keep things moving smoothly” in the redesigned passenger drop-off area outside the airport, CEO Dan De Bono told The Associated Press on Tuesday. It was the airport’s way of reminding people that the zone was for “quick farewells” only. 

 

The signs had polarized social media users, De Bono said.

 

“We were accused of breaching basic human rights and how dare we limit how long someone can have a hug for”, he said, adding that others had welcomed the change.

 

The signs were meant as an alternative to those at other airports warning of wheel clamping or fines for drivers parked in drop-off areas. Some in Britain have imposed fees for all drop-offs – however brief. 

 

Dunedin’s airport – a modest terminal serving a city of 135,000 people on New Zealand’s South Island – preferred a “quirky” approach, De Bono said. Three minutes was “plenty of time to pull up, say farewell to your loved ones and move on”, he added. “The time limit is really a nicer way of saying, you know, get on with it”. 

 

A 20-second hug is long enough to release the wellbeing-boosting hormones oxytocin and serotonin, De Bono asserted. Anything longer was “really awkward”.

 

But passengers needn't be unduly worried about enforcement. “We do not have hug police”, De Bono maintained.

Official BRICS Partner Status for Malaysia

Malaysia has been recognized as one of thirteen nations officially added to BRICS as a partner country, a bloc that collectively accounts for one-fifth of global trade.

 

According to an update from @BRICSInfo on X on October 24, the bloc officially added 13 new nations to the alliance as partner countries, though not yet as full members. Apart from Malaysia, the other twelve nations were Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Thailand, Türkiye, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. 

 

Venezuela and Pakistan were supposed to be in but Brazil and India respectively vetoed their applications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Germany, Liverpool beat RB Leipzig 1-0 to continue their perfect start in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. The only goal of the competition was scored in the twenty-seventh minute by Darwin Nunez, who poked Mohamed Salah’s header into the net.

 

Overall, Liverpool were good value for their win, having the majority of chances both in total and in quality.  

 

Also on the same day, a terrific defensive display in Italy ensured Celtic earn a valuable point in their encounter against Atalanta. Even as the Serie A side dominated possession and attacking statistics, the Scottish champions stood firm and held them to a goalless draw.

Geopolitics Corrupt Paris Olympics

Geopolitics are corrupting the Paris 2024 Olympics, which are scheduled to run from July 26 to August 11.

 

Late last month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that the maximum number of Russians who can qualify for the Paris Games is 55, while for Belarus it is just 28. 

 

And these athletes can only participate as neutrals – that is, without a national flag or anthem – and are restricted to individual competitions, with both countries barred from team sports altogether. Moreover, Russian athletes who have publicly supported their country's Special Military Operation in Ukraine or are somehow linked to state security agencies or the military are also barred from the Games. 

 

While athletes are not required to explicitly condemn the operation, all athletes must sign the so-called Conditions of Participation for Paris, which oblige them to respect the Olympic Charter, including “the peace mission of the Olympic Movement”. 

 

The IOC said the two countries were unlikely to meet the quota, given all the restrictions, and that 36 Russian and 22 Belarusian athletes were expected to qualify. 

 

Moscow has harshly criticized the restrictions, describing them as "illegitimate, unfair and unacceptable" – but Russia's Olympic chief, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, has confirmed their athletes would not boycott the Games.

 

And French President Emmanuel Macron not being able to shut his trap, had come out on Thursday to say that he had no doubt Russia would malevolently target the Paris Olympics this summer, in comments that underline the fraught geopolitical backdrop to the games. TBH, I don't even understand what he meant by those pugnacious remarks – but they are definitely unbecoming!

 

Methinks, the IOC are effectively destroying the Olympic spirit and the very purpose of the Games. Not to mention that host France is being unfriendly and hostile to Russia. Certainly, the globally anticipated event takes place amid a complex global context, with Russia's military operation in Ukraine and Israel's genocidal war in Gaza complicating efforts to safeguard the Olympics.

 

I suggest that Russia revive the multi-sport "Friendship Games" in 2024! FYI, the 1984 Friendship Games, or Friendship-84 (Russian: Дружба-84, Druzhba-84), were an international multi-sport event held between July 02 and September 16 in the then Soviet Union and eight other countries which boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, USA.

IOC-OCA Shamelessly Backtrack on Asian Games Invite

Russia's Olympic chief (right) criticised Asian Games organizers for rowing back on a decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete at the multi-sport event in Hangzhou, China. [My blog post "A Croatian Wish for Germany" published on January 27, 2023 had highlighted this issue]. 

 

The Olympic Council of Asia had, in fact, voted in July to allow up to 500 Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Games but the International Olympic Committee confirmed in early-September that the two countries would not participate due to "technical" reasons.

 

Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov said they had been waiting for specifics about their athletes' participation but was "stonewalled" by organizers. 

 

"From the point of view of diplomacy, I think that such things are simply unacceptable; they did not even inform us that they reconsidered their decision to invite us", he said in comments published by Russia's TASS news agency.

 

Acting OCA president Randhir Singh reasserted this week at the Hangzhou Games that Russian and Belarusian athletes would have been welcome but the "logistics" could not be worked out. 

 

Pozdnyakov questioned that logistics were the problem. "The Games are being held in China, relations between our countries would have removed all security issues and the geographical closeness excludes any logistics issues", he said.

 

It's really disgraceful on the part of IOC and OCA for the shameless deception – it's a blardy decision that will live in infamy! 

😂😂😂

A Croatian Wish for Germany

Yesterday's post “Germany Says It Loud and Clear” refers. 

 

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic (right) said on Thursday, the US and Germany might be at war with Russia, but that was news to Croatia – and wished Berlin better luck than in World War 2! 

 

Framing the Ukraine conflict as one between Washington and Moscow, he reminded reporters that he was criticized for merely echoing the words of Kiev’s defense minister, about the current conflict being a “proxy war” between NATO and Russia. 

 

Great news! A real possibility that Russia and Belarus can participate in the Paris Olympics next year after all, despite protests from Ukraine. 

 

Both countries had been unjustly barred from almost all international competitions in Olympic sports following Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. 

 

But the International Olympic Committee indicated Wednesday that they favor officially neutral teams from the two countries at the 2024 Olympics amid fierce objections from Ukrainian President [V]olodymyr [Z]elenskyy to exclude them entirely. 

 

A day later, Russia and Belarus were invited to Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 08, 2023 to compete at the Asian Games, a key Olympic qualifier. 

 

The Olympic Council of Asia issued a statement: "The OCA believe in the unifying power of sport and that all athletes, regardless of their nationality or the passport they hold, should be able to compete in sports competitions". 

 

Thumbs up to OCA because that is what sports should be! Free from toxic politics! 

 

P.S. Malaysia too can learn from this!

Ukraine Bombs Site of Zaporizhzhia NPP

The International Atomic Energy Agency have warned of a “nuclear disaster” at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant situated near the city of Enerhodar, on the southern shore of the Kakhovka Reservoir on the Dnieper river in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, “Ukraine”. Unless fighting stops. 

FYI, Ukraine has been bombing the site of  the nuclear facility – this was confirmed by its president, [V]olodymyr [Z]elenskiy, in a video address on Saturday – and concerns persist about the shelling occurring around the facility, with the potential to damage critical infrastructure, including the reactors. 

Also, reactors need to be constantly cooled by water passing through them. If that water stream is cut out, cut down, cut off in some fashion, then the reactor could lose cooling, and the fuel will start melting. It will sort of create high pressure, and the thing can explode. 

And in the immediate aftermath of an explosion, there will be invisible radioactive clouds being released – and some experts have speculated on the radius of radiation contamination: 

I must point out I don’t know if this is a valid proposition though. 

Anyway, rather than a reactor core explosion, experts are more concerned about damage to systems that cool the spent fuel pool and the reactors. If the cooling fails, this could lead to an uncontrolled heat build-up, a meltdown and a fire that could release and spread radiation from the containment structures. 

A radiation release is just as scary. It’s unpredictable; you won’t know where the plume (containing radioactive material) would go. It can go anywhere really, depending on the weather conditions. 

Due to the power plant’s geographical location, it is said a radiation release could hit any part of the European continent. This scenario is even scarier! 

For sure, Ukraine is getting desperate and reckless! It’s sheer madness!

Ukrainian Borsch-preparation Makes it to List of Intangible Cultural Heritage

These days, Ukraine is so desperate to demonstrate success that just about any accomplishment, big or small that it can show off is to be celebrated! 

And so, on Friday, UNESCO announced that they have added the preparation of Ukrainian borsch (left) to their list of endangered cultural traditions.

FYI, it's really a Slavic signature soup that's rich and hearty. Today, the broadly recognized “standard” borsch is made with beetroot (Beta vulgaris), assorted veggies, meat stock and seasonings. Obviously, beets (right) give it a beautiful color and a beautiful flavor.

 

There are so many types of borsch that one can’t really point to any truly defining elements. It always contains different types of vegetables and is optimally served as a thick meal, brimming with ingredients. However, nearly everything else can be changed without losing the name.

One recipe for “Ukrainian” borsch that I came across has it containing meat, beetroots, cabbages, carrots, parsnips, onions, garlic, potatoes, tomato paste, vinegar and butter, garnished with sour cream and chopped parsley. The Ukrainian recipe, framed as a separate iteration of the standardised version, is supposedly the most well-known today. 

UNESCO put out this narrative: “Whether as part of a wedding meal, the focus of food-related competitions or as a driver of tourism, borsch is considered part of the fabric of Ukrainian society, cultural heritage, identity and tradition”. 

But they pointed out that the UN body’s designation “does not imply exclusivity, nor ownership, of the heritage concerned”. 

Of course, they were aware they had to tread carefully in their description of Ukrainian borsch as a national take on a dish that is consumed in a spread of countries such as Belarus, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Russia. 

Even so, the decision to add Ukrainian borsch to a list that includes Neapolitan pizza-slinging and Georgian winemaking was swiftly criticized by Moscow, with foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accusing Kiev of trying to appropriate the soup for one nationality. “This is xenophobia”, she declared. 

The spat over borsch burst into public view in 2019 when Ukrainian chef Ievgen Klopotenko (left) – vexed by the many restaurants around the world that refer to borsch as Russian soup – launched a campaign to have UNESCO recognize Ukraine’s deep links to the dish. 

“I don’t really like to call it a war for borsch, but in fact that’s what it is”, Klopotenko told AFP in 2020. 

UNESCO admitted too they had fast-tracked the application as it became apparent that the displacement being caused by the “war” in Ukraine was “threatening the viability” of the Ukrainian tradition. A poor excuse, if you ask me!

Predictably, news of the UNESCO designation was hailed by the Ukrainian government. “Victory in the borscht war is ours”, Ukraine’s culture minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko (right), trumpeted on Telegram. “Be sure that in both the war for borsch and in this war, we will win”. 

Now we know UNESCO favor Ukraine!

Shovels and Mercenaries

Ukraine provoked Russia. And when the latter lost its patience and launched a special military operation to halt the former’s aggression, Ukraine realized too late it is no match for Russia. 

Still, with ringing encouragement and belligerent instigation from the US and NATO, it carried on fighting, in spite of heavy losses. Obviously, it wants to continue fighting until the last Ukrainian. 

And to keep on fighting, it grovels and begs the collective West for weapons, financial support and sanctions on Russia. 

In fact, as recent as Thursday, its ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova had asked for more weapons, more financial support and more sanctions on Russia. 

And on Monday, Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister speaking on a German news broadcaster ARD talk show, even declared that Ukrainians “will fight with shovels if they had to”! 

But there’s no shortage of mercenaries going to the country and fight alongside Ukrainians. From a Scott Ritter News posting on Monday: 

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Poland has the most number of mercenaries in Ukraine. And of course, mercs from that country suffered the most serious losses, i.e. the most killed and the most wounded. 

It’s okay to die for your country – but for these hired guns, it’s wasted lives and needless deaths.