Though <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation">inflation</a> is soaring in the United States, several key <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/europe">European</a> <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/economy">economies</a> are also witnessing record-high prices.
Inflation in the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/european-union">European Union</a> reached 8.1% as of May 2022, according to a data released last week by <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Inflation_in_the_euro_area#Euro_area_annual_inflation_rate_and_its_main_components">Eurostat</a>, with the price of energy alone increasing nearly 40% year-over-year. Meanwhile, in the United States, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-reaches-8-6-setting-new-four-decade-high">8.6%</a> during the same time period, with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-products-gutting-your-bank-account-as-inflation-soars">energy products</a> rising 35% in price.
Although both the United States and Europe began seeing higher inflation after COVID and the lockdown-induced recession, according to data from the <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG?locations=EU-US">World Bank</a>, the problem has since been exacerbated due to the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/russia">Russian</a> invasion of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/ukraine">Ukraine</a>.
Russia is the world’s third largest oil producer and the overall largest exporter of oil to global markets, according to the <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/russian-supplies-to-global-energy-markets/oil-market-and-russian-supply-2">International Energy Agency</a>. Although oil continues to be exported from Baltic and Black Sea ports, trading houses are purchasing and storing the oil in Europe, where it could eventually be resold in avoidance of international sanctions, a March report from the <a href="https://www.dallasfed.org/research/economics/2022/0322">Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas</a> explained.
“The surge in global fuel, electricity, residential natural gas and food prices, as well as the supply-chain disruptions caused directly by the invasion of Ukraine and indirectly by the sanctions against Russia, will sustain inflationary pressures in 2022,” the Dallas analysts said. “If the bulk of Russian energy exports is off the market for the remainder of 2022, a global economic downturn seems unavoidable.”
In <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/germany">Germany</a> — which <a href="https://www.bafa.de/SharedDocs/Kurzmeldungen/DE/Energie/Rohoel/2021_12_rohloelinfo.html">imported</a> over one-third of its oil from Russia in 2021 — producer prices <a href="https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2022/06/PD22_252_61241.html">surged</a> at their highest clip since data collection began in 1949. In the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/united%20kingdom">United Kingdom</a> — where Russian oil <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-to-phase-out-russian-oil-imports">accounts for</a> 8% of demand — inflation edged up to 9.1%, according to the nation’s <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/may2022">Office for National Statistics</a>.
British Conservation Alliance head of research Connor Tomlinson told The Daily Wire that inflation in the United Kingdom is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/europes-gas-prices-are-even-higher-than-americas">worsened</a> by a “catastrophic concoction of high tax government policies, supply-side procurement issues, and quantitative easing.”
Tomlinson noted that the nation has “price caps on energy — introduced by a supposedly free market Conservative government — which has produced an arms race between consumers already strapped for cash, suppliers who are producing at a net loss while the wholesale cost of gas rises, and a government bureaucratic engine which moves too slowly to adjust the cap in accordance with market activity.” Because the <a href="https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/what-is-the-energy-price-cap/">price caps were raised</a> in April, energy bills are expected to increase by £693, or $850, per household.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom became a net energy importer in 2005 after abandoning natural gas production in the North Sea, according to Tomlinson. Sanctions placed on Russia have also limited the nation’s <a href="https://c3newsmag.com/rare-earth-minerals-outer-space/">access to metals</a> necessary for electric vehicle adoption, as well as the decarbonization of energy grids.
“We’re also seeing the return of Marxist unions holding the country to ransom, with national rail union strikes across the country canceling train and tube services everywhere, and tripling the prices of other means of transport as a result,” Tomlinson added. “Some of us are de facto locked down, working from home, because travel strikes and prices make work impossible in offices.”
Earlier this month, the World Bank <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sharpest-slowdown-in-80-years-world-bank-releases-ominous-news-about-recession-risk">slashed</a> its 2022 global economic growth forecast from 4.1% to 2.9%, largely due to elevated price levels.
“Global inflation is expected to moderate next year but it will likely remain above inflation targets in many economies,” the international financial institution said. “If inflation remains elevated, a repeat of the resolution of the earlier stagflation episode could translate into a sharp global downturn along with financial crises in some emerging market and developing economies.”

EU flag

Europe Copes With High Inflation Amid Self-Destructive Energy Policies

European Inflation Rates Continue To Climb

Europe

Inflation

Oil and Gas

Supply Chain

United Kingdom

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/russia">Russia</a> is reportedly preventing grain shipments from leaving <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/ukraine">Ukraine</a>, threatening much of the world with starvation.
The two eastern <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/europe">European</a> nations produce a combined 30% of the world’s traded wheat, according to the <a href="https://www.foodsecurityportal.org/node/1921">International Food Policy Research Institute</a>. As Russia blockades the Black Sea with ships and sea mines, thereby preventing Ukrainian exports, some Western officials have accused Russia of holding people in the developing world hostage.
“You cannot use the hunger of people as a weapon of war,” Joseph Borrell, the European Union&#8217;s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, <a href="https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/foreign-affairs-council-press-remarks-high-representative-josep-borrell-upon-arrival-2_en">said</a> to other diplomats this week. “Millions of tons of wheat remain blocked in Ukraine while in the rest of the world people are suffering hunger. This is a real war crime, so I cannot imagine that this will last much longer.”
Nearly half of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/africa">African</a> wheat imports come from Russia and Ukraine, with some nations importing “more than one third of their wheat from the two countries,” according to a <a href="https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/osginf2022d1_en.pdf">United Nations</a> report released in March. Some countries — such as Egypt, Somalia, and Benin — import more than 80% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine.
However, the potential for trade between African nations to replace the imports is “comparatively small” due to the continent’s low crop production, while “many parts of the continent lack efficient transport infrastructures and storage capacity.”
Even beyond Africa, Russia and Ukraine send 26% of their exports to Turkey, 23% to China, and 13% to India. Rising global food prices may contribute to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-claims-inflation-is-worse-everywhere-but-here-thats-not-even-close-to-true">worldwide inflationary pressures</a>, according to the United Nations.
Many officials are now calling upon the United States to increase agricultural exports to supplement the lost shipments from Russia and Ukraine. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/during-world-economic-forum-imf-leader-calls-for-america-to-increase-food-exports-amid-dire-global-food-shortages">said</a> at the World Economic Forum last month that global food shortages represent a “dire” situation and therefore recommended “openness in exports of food,” refraining from “food restrictions,” and not buying “more food than you need for your own country.”
Earlier this month, the Biden administration vowed ahead of the Summit of the Americas to provide another $331 million in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-commits-to-fighting-food-shortages-in-latin-america">food security and humanitarian</a> aid for Latin American nations.
“This contribution will complement the United States’ existing commitment to providing life-saving humanitarian assistance, responding to acute food insecurity, and advancing capacity-building activities that bolster disaster preparedness and response” across Latin America and the Caribbean, a White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/09/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-commitments-to-advance-food-security-in-the-western-hemisphere/">statement</a> said.
East African nations like Kenya and Ethiopia were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/asian-african-nations-face-famine-as-ukraine-crisis-hits-global-food-supply">already struggling with drought</a> and related livestock deaths before the added threat to the global food supply. According to Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu, the region is experiencing its fourth consecutive season without rain.
&#8220;This, coupled with other stress factors such as conflicts in both our region and Europe, the impact of COVID-19, and macro-economic challenges, has led to acute levels of food insecurity across the Greater Horn of Africa,” Gebeyehu said in April, per the <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/drought-tightens-grip-eastern-africa">World Meteorological Organization</a>. “The episode of droughts became very frequent in the Horn of Africa and the region was also affected by a devastating desert locust outbreak during the past two years.”

DENMARK-RUSSIA-BALTIC-DEFENCE

Russia Is Blocking Ukraine From Exporting Food, Threatening Africa With Starvation

Russia Blockades Ukrainian Food Shipments, Threatening World With Starvation

Africa

Russia

Ukraine

As the U.S. barrels toward allowing more children with gender dysphoria to get medical intervention to affirm their new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gender">gender</a> identities, several European countries that have been ahead of the U.S. on this issue are pumping the brakes.
Some <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/europe">countries</a> initially embraced puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for children several years ago, but are now taking a step back.
The United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, and France have all taken steps recently to pull back on transgender medical treatments for seemingly gender-dysphoric children.
Sweden has been one of the most progressive nations on transgender health care for decades. Back in 1972, Sweden became the first country to allow transgender people to change their legal gender.
Last year though, Swedish hospitals <a href="https://segm.org/sites/default/files/Karolinska%20_Policy_Statement_English.pdf">halted</a> the use of puberty blockers in five of the country&#8217;s six clinics for minors with gender dysphoria. The last clinic only uses puberty blockers in clinical trials. The country now emphasizes psychotherapy for minors with gender dysphoria instead.
The Swedish hospitals cited a U.K. court ruling in their decision.
The U.K. took a step back in December 2020 when the High Court in London effectively suspended prescribing puberty blockers for children 15 and under and recommended that teens ages 16 to 18 get court approval before going on hormones. However, that decision was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-58598186">overturned</a> in September.
The case was brought by Keira Bell, who argued the U.K.’s <a href="https://tavistockandportman.nhs.uk/care-and-treatment/our-clinical-services/gender-identity-development-service-gids/">only</a> youth gender identity clinic should have pushed back more when she expressed her desire to transition to male as a teen and had surgery to remove her breasts.
In April of last year, before the U.K. court&#8217;s initial decision in favor of Bell was overturned, the U.K.’s health advisory board, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/health-56601386">found</a> that the evidence for prescribing puberty blockers to minors with gender dysphoria was &#8220;very low&#8221; and studies of the treatment were small and &#8220;subject to bias and confounding.&#8221;
In France, the country&#8217;s National Academy of Medicine warned medical professionals in a March <a href="https://www.academie-medecine.fr/la-medecine-face-a-la-transidentite-de-genre-chez-les-enfants-et-les-adolescents/?lang=en">press release</a> that the spike in young people saying they want to medically transition genders may be due to social contagion and urged medical personnel to approach this issue with extreme caution.
&#8220;Whatever the mechanisms involved in adolescents &#8211; excessive engagement with social media, greater social acceptability, or influence by those in one’s social circle &#8211; this epidemic-like phenomenon manifests itself in the emergence of cases or even clusters of cases in the adolescents’ immediate surroundings,&#8221; read the Academy&#8217;s press release.
&#8220;Great medical caution must be taken in children and adolescents, given the vulnerability, particularly psychological, of this population and the many undesirable effects and even serious complications that can be caused by some of the therapies available,&#8221; the press release said.
Finland has walked a similar path. In June 2020, Finland began deemphasizing medical treatment for children with gender dysphoria and recommended prioritized psychotherapy instead. Finland did not ban puberty blockers outright, but said they should be prescribed on a case-by-case basis after &#8220;careful consideration.&#8221;
&#8220;Surgical treatments are not part of the treatment methods for dysphoria caused by gender-related conflicts in minors,&#8221; <a href="https://palveluvalikoima.fi/documents/1237350/22895008/Summary_minors_en.pdf/aaf9a6e7-b970-9de9-165c-abedfae46f2e/Summary_minors_en.pdf">said</a> Finland&#8217;s Council for Choices in Health Care, which issues recommendations on public health care.
The Council also said more information is needed about the &#8220;effects of different treatment methods on the mental wellbeing, social capacity and quality of life of children and youth,&#8221; as well as on the &#8220;disadvantages of procedures and on people who regret them.&#8221;
&#8220;It is quite clear that some of the most progressive countries in Europe are choosing to reconsider their use of medicalizing children’s identities and, in Europe, puberty blockers are fast becoming the most controversial aspect of gender treatment paths for children,&#8221; said Stella O&#8217;Malley, a U.K.-based psychotherapist and author who works with young people.
O&#8217;Malley added that &#8220;we simply don’t know who will go on to transition as adults and who will come to accept their bodies as they are,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire.
While some of Europe has pulled back, other countries allow children to access transgender hormone therapy at disturbingly young ages. As of 2018, Denmark and Slovenia <a href="https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2017/mapping-minimum-age-requirements-concerning-rights-child-eu/access-transgender-hormone-therapy">allowed</a> 15-year-olds to obtain hormones without parental consent, while Latvia allowed 14-year-olds to do so, and Poland and Spain put their minimum age only slightly higher at 16.
Canada has <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canada-transgender-treatment">rushed</a> to <a href="https://www.cmaj.ca/content/191/3/E69">promote</a> gender dysphoric children receiving hormone treatments, as well as permanent procedures like double mastectomies.
In the U.S., the issue of medical intervention for gender dysphoric children has pitted opposing government forces against one another.
The Biden administration has promoted “early” transgender surgeries and hormone treatments as “crucial” for the health of minors who identify as transgender and non-binary.
Meanwhile, last year, Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas banned minors from receiving surgeries related to gender transition. The last three states also banned cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers for minors. Only Alabama&#8217;s law is still standing, however, after the others were struck down in federal court. At least 15 states are considering similar pieces of legislation relating to gender dysphoric minors and medical treatments.
Critics have warned that research and data on gender dysphoric children and how various treatment paths affect them is limited. One recent <a href="https://www.heritage.org/gender/report/puberty-blockers-cross-sex-hormones-and-youth-suicide">report</a> even suggested that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones in teens could actually increase the teen suicide rate, rather than decrease it as advocates claim.

International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Europe Dialing Back Shocking Policies On Transgender Kids And Medical Intervention

Europe Slowing Shocking Policies On Transgender Kids And Medical Intervention

Gender

Gender Identity

LGBTQ

Medical

Sweden

Transgender

U.K.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/finland">Finland</a> took preliminary steps Thursday to fortify its 830-mile border with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/russia">Russia</a>, just weeks after applying to join NATO.
Lawmakers amended border legislation to allow for construction of barriers along its eastern border as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ukraine-russia-war">Moscow&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine</a> has Russia&#8217;s neighbors increasingly nervous. The amended legislation will permit fencing and new roads to facilitate border patrolling amid concerns Russia could flood Finland with asylum seekers as a means of applying political pressure.
&#8220;Later on, the government will decide on border barriers to the critical zones on the eastern border, on the basis of the Finnish Border Guard&#8217;s assessment,&#8221; minister of internal affairs Krista Mikkonen said in a statement.
Helsinki&#8217;s concern that Russia could send asylum seekers to overwhelm the border, which is currently just marked with signs and plastic lines, has precedent: The European Union accused Belarus of sending a wave of migrants into Poland at the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/11/10/world/poland-belarus-border-migrants">end of 2021</a>.
Current EU rules dictate that migrants have the right to apply for asylum at any given point of entry to an EU member state. Finland’s proposed legislation would concentrate asylum seekers to a smaller number of entry points to make such a scenario more manageable.
Last month, both Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership after long histories of neutrality. Finland has spent the majority of the last few centuries under the Swedish and Russian empires and only gained independence in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917. The small Scandinavian nation fought off a Soviet invasion during the Winter War (1939-1940), but in the post-war period, the looming threat of Russian military reprisals kept it from formally aligning with the West, despite extensive cultural and economic ties.
Russia has responded negatively to Finland’s prospective NATO membership, which would expand its contentious land border with the alliance by hundreds of miles.
“Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to stop threats to its national security arising,” the Russian Foreign Ministry <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/12/russia-threatens-retaliatory-steps-if-finland-joins-nato.html">said</a> in a statement last month.

Sign at Border Zone, Finland

Finland Plans To Fortify Its Border With Russia

Finland

NATO

Ukraine-Russia War

Many Americans find themselves bending over backward to afford <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oil-and-gas">prices at the pump</a> quickly approaching $5 per gallon. In <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/europe">Europe</a>, however, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gas-prices">fuel costs</a> are much higher.
Due to the conflict in Ukraine, Russia — the world’s <a href="https://www.eia.gov/international/rankings/world?pa=12&amp;u=0&amp;f=A&amp;v=none&amp;y=01%2F01%2F2019">third-largest</a> producer of energy as of 2019 — has cut off <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/27/energy/russia-europe-gas-supply/index.html">natural gas</a> supplies to many European nations. Meanwhile, sanctions against Russia have also severed many Europeans from a major source of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/05/31/oil-prices-surge-gas-hits-new-high-after-eu-cracks-down-russia/">gasoline</a>.
As a result, gas prices in leading European economies are significantly higher than in the United States. Citizens of Germany, for example, are purchasing gas at <a href="https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Germany/gasoline_prices/">$7.89</a> per gallon as of June 6. In the United Kingdom, Spain, and France, prices at the pump are <a href="https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/United-Kingdom/gasoline_prices/">$8.32</a>, <a href="https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Spain/gasoline_prices/">$8.40</a>, and <a href="https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/France/gasoline_prices/">$8.57</a>, respectively. Prices are especially high in Scandinavia — <a href="https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Sweden/gasoline_prices/">$9.33</a> in Sweden, <a href="https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Finland/gasoline_prices/">$10.13</a> in Finland, <a href="https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Denmark/gasoline_prices/">$10.32</a> in Denmark, and <a href="https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Norway/gasoline_prices/">$10.82</a> in Norway.
British Conservation Alliance head of research Connor Tomlinson told The Daily Wire that America’s “fall from grace as a leading exporter” prompted Britain to rely upon Russia and other hostile powers.
“Were Trump still in office, and our Prime Minister less beholden to green lobbyists, I don’t doubt we’d have signed a deal securing cleaner and reliable oil and gas,” Tomlinson remarked.
As of Thursday, average national gas prices in the United States are <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/">$4.97</a> per gallon. In California, which has particularly harsh regulations on gas consumption, the cost per gallon is <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=CA">$6.40</a>. Nevertheless, in the United States, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-cost-of-gas-has-more-than-doubled-since-the-day-biden-took-office">gas prices have more than doubled</a> since the time President Joe Biden assumed office.
Members of the Biden administration have dismissed the high prices — or suggested that they will lead to a more favorable green energy adoption.
After <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-slammed-for-remarks-on-enormously-high-gas-prices-theyre-saying-the-quiet-part-out-loud-now">questions</a> from a reporter about “enormously high gas prices” last month, President Joe Biden said: “When it comes to the gas prices, we’re going through an incredible transition that is taking place that, God willing, when it’s over, we’ll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over.”
Likewise, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/energy-sec-granholm-soaring-gas-prices-are-an-exclamation-point-that-u-s-must-accelerate-green-energy-push">contended</a> that soaring gas prices are an “exclamation point” to transition away from fossil fuels.
“No one has ever weaponized access to the sun,” Granholm said in reference to Russia’s move to cancel energy exports. “No one has ever weaponized access to wind. The way we are energy secure is to build homegrown clean energy, and other countries are looking to that as well.”
Europe generally has a higher level of regulation upon fossil fuels than the United States. As of 2018, the United Kingdom taxes gasoline for road use at $3.49 per gallon. In Germany, France, and Spain, drivers pay $2.86, $2.73, and $1.99 per gallon, according to <a href="https://afdc.energy.gov/data/10327">data</a> from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Tomlinson added that although gas prices in Britain have always been higher than in the United States, a series of policy decisions over the last two decades has worsened the problem.
“We abandoned domestic gas production in the North Sea after a peak in 2000,” Tomlinson explained. “We became net importers in 2005, and doubly tax our energy sources with a value-added tax (VAT) — something the Brexiteers promised to scrap once we left the EU, but have failed to do so — and a fuel duty tax.”
Although the fuel duty tax was lowered by five pence per liter (about $0.24 per gallon) earlier this year, inflationary pressures led to a functional tax increase of seven pence per liter (about $0.33 per gallon) — meaning that drivers are “still paying two pence per liter at the pump higher than pre-pandemic levels.”
“Businesses can claim VAT back, but consumers cannot, so working families are being priced out of automobile ownership,” Tomlinson said.

19F8743A-7926-4196-B55C-33EB5FE3BAEA_1_201_a

Europe’s Gas Prices Are Even Higher Than America’s

Europeans Join Americans In Struggles Over Gas Prices

Biden Administration

Energy

Gas Prices

Great Britain

The music group Kalush Orchestra decided to sell off the trophy the band won at the Eurovision Song Contest, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, to help their homeland Ukraine fight Russia.
In a post on Facebook, the Ukrainian band thanked fans for their support after the group was able to auction off the crystal microphone award for $900,000. The message said the money would go toward purchasing drones to help Ukraine&#8217;s armed forces fight off Russia after President Vladimir Putin invaded the country in February, the <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/eurovision-song-contest-ukraine-trophy-sale-drones-1235156187/">Hollywood Reporter</a> reported.
&#8220;You guys are amazing!&#8221; the post read. &#8220;We appreciate each and every one of you who donated to this auction, and a special thanks to the team (of cryptocurrency exchange) <a href="https://whitebit.com">Whitebit</a> who purchased the trophy for $900,000 and are now the rightful owners of our trophy.&#8221;
The sale coincided with the group&#8217;s appearance at a charity concert in Berlin, Germany, to raise funds for supplies and medical care, the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61628590">BBC</a> noted.
Speaking to the crowd, a member of the band, Oleh Psiuk, pleaded with people not to get used to what was happening in his home country.
&#8220;I think it should be on the front pages always, until peace comes,&#8221; Psiuk shared.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The winner of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Eurovision?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Eurovision</a> Song Contest 2022 is Ukraine 🇺🇦 <a href="https://t.co/vPbOdfzKx9">pic.twitter.com/vPbOdfzKx9</a>
&mdash; Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) <a href="https://twitter.com/Eurovision/status/1525612263490859008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 14, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The song the band performed that won the European contest, &#8220;Stefania,&#8221; was originally written as a tribute to Psiuk&#8217;s mother. But since the war, lyrics like &#8220;I will always walk to you by broken roads&#8221; have become a rallying cry and a tribute to the country.
Given that most Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave the country in case they are needed on the front lines to fight, the group was granted special permission to compete in the contest held earlier this month in Turin, Italy.
Following the group&#8217;s win, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated them, calling it a victory for Ukraine, the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/entertainment-arts-61392733">BBC</a> noted.
&#8220;Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe,&#8221; Zelensky wrote. &#8220;We will do our best to one day host the participants and guests of Eurovision in Ukrainian Mariupol. Free, peaceful, rebuilt.&#8221;

Kalush Orchestra-2

Winners Of Eurovision Song Contest Sell Off Trophy To Help Ukraine Fight Russia

Enterainment

Music

Volodymyr Zelensky

The White House has announced first lady Jill Biden will take her second international trip this week to Eastern Europe amid the war following Russian President Vladimir Putin&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine in February.
A press release from the Office of the First Lady Sunday provided the FLOTUS&#8217;s itinerary when she travels to Romania and Slovakia later this week, detailing who Biden will meet and how she will spend Mother&#8217;s Day.
&#8220;First Lady Jill Biden will travel to Romania and Slovakia from May 5 &#8211; May 9, 2022,&#8221; a White House release said. &#8220;During her visit, she will meet with U.S. service members, U.S. embassy personnel, displaced Ukrainian parents and children, humanitarian aid workers, and educators. On Mother&#8217;s Day, she will meet with Ukrainian mothers and children who have been forced to flee their home country because of Putin&#8217;s war.&#8221;
The first lady is scheduled to depart Thursday, May 5, then on Friday, May 6, she is expected to travel to &#8220;Mihail Kogalniceau Airbase in Romania, where she will meet with United States military service members. In the evening, the First Lady will travel to Bucharest, Romania,&#8221; the release read.
On Mother&#8217;s Day, FLOTUS will &#8220;travel to Kosice and Vysne Nemecke, Slovakia to meet with refugees, humanitarian aid workers, and local Slovakians who are supporting families who have sought refuge in Slovakia during this crisis,&#8221; the release added.
The first lady discussed her upcoming trip to Eastern Europe on Monday.
&#8220;Earlier today I announced that at the end of this week, I&#8217;ll be headed to Romania and Slovakia to visit our troops and spend Mother&#8217;s Day with Ukrainian families who&#8217;ve been displaced by Putin war,&#8221; Biden shared. &#8220;As a mother myself, I can only imagine the grief the families are feeling. I know that we might not share a language. But I hope that I can convey in ways so much greater than words, that their resilience inspires me, that they are not forgotten.&#8221;
&#8220;And that all Americans stand with them still,&#8221; she added.
The first lady&#8217;s first international solo trip was in July 2021 when she participated in the opening ceremonies at the Summer Olympics in Japan, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/02/politics/jill-biden-travel-ukrainian-refugees/index.html">reported</a> CNN.

Jill Biden-2

Jill Biden Making Solo Trip To Eastern Europe Amid War

Jill Biden Traveling To Romania And Slovakia Amid Russia-Ukraine War

Air Travel

Jill Biden

A man stabbed a Catholic priest several times and injured a nun at a French church on Sunday after shouting, “We have to kill Macron.”
Both the priest and the nun <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/france-nice-knife-attack-catholic-priest-stabbed-nun-injured">survived</a> the attack, which took place at a church in Nice beside the French Riviera. The motives of the suspect, who was taken into custody by police, are still unclear, although his mental faculties had been under watch.
The nun, Sister Marie-Claude, was injured while trying to stop the attacker from stabbing the priest, Father Christophe. Her actions were praised as heroic and she was credited for having “extraordinary courage.”
Both were at the Église Saint-Pierre-d&#8217;Arène de Nice Catholic Church when the assault unfolded.
“Speaking with reporters at the scene, Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi described the suspect as a mentally unstable French national who was born in Fréjus, a port town on the Côte d&#8217;Azur in southeastern France,” Fox News reported. “Bernard Gonzalez, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes department of southeast France, added that according to the preliminary investigation, the suspect had no criminal record and was unknown to police services.”
The outlet also noted that the attacker had reportedly been under psychiatric monitoring. Before attacking the priest, the French outlet Le Figaro <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/nice-attack-priest-nun-macron-b2064380.html">reported</a> that the attacker said, “We have to kill Macron.”
“I was the first on the scene once I was alerted to the incident by my assistant and the local police,” Estrosi <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/nice-attack-priest-nun-macron-b2064380.html">told</a> reporters. “Both local and national police were swiftly on the scene together to neutralize the disturbance.”
Estrosi also provided an update on the status of Father Christophe.
“I want to thank the emergency services even though the priest is currently in the emergency care unit, he&#8217;s being well taken care of and we are in constant contact with him and despite everything he is doing well and is awake and alert,” he said.
The attack came the same day as citizens across France <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/french-president-macron-wins-second-term-over-right-wing-candidate-le-pen">voted</a> in the second round of the country’s presidential elections. Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron defeated right-wing challenger Marine Le Pen.
“President Macron is expected to take 58.2% of the vote to Le Pen’s 41.8%, according to an analysis of voting data by pollsters Ipsos &amp; Sopra Steria conducted for broadcasters France Televisions and Radio France,” CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/macron-le-pen-french-election-results-04-24-22-intl/index.html">reported</a> Sunday.
Le Pen has conceded to Macron, stating that France missed a chance to make a move for freedom throughout the country.
“A great wind of freedom could have blown over our country, the fate of the ballot box wanted otherwise,” she said. “I will not abandon the French! Vive la France.”
Le Pen favored restrictions on immigration, reducing the country’s connections to NATO, and hoped to introduce a ban on headscarves being worn in public by Muslim women.

The sun rises behind a Christian cross

Catholic Priest, Nun Injured In Stabbing Attack At French Church

Catholic Church

Crime

Emmanuel Macron

France

Marine Le Pen

French President Emmanuel Macron has won a second term, according to pollsters&#8217; projections, fending off another challenge from a right-wing candidate.
Macron faced off against Marine Le Pen in a runoff election held Sunday in France. Pollsters predicted an hour before voting closed in the country that Macron would easily win, beating Le Pen by nearly 17 points.
“President Macron is expected to take 58.2% of the vote to Le Pen&#8217;s 41.8%, according to an analysis of voting data by pollsters Ipsos &amp; Sopra Steria conducted for broadcasters France Televisions and Radio France,” CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/macron-le-pen-french-election-results-04-24-22-intl/index.html">reported</a> Sunday.
Shortly after the predictions, Le Pen conceded, stating, &#8220;A great wind of freedom could have blown over our country, the fate of the ballot box wanted otherwise.”
She concluded her concession speech promising to continue fighting for France. “I will not abandon the French! Vive la France,” Le Pen said.
Le Pen gained support as a nationalist candidate who focused on an extreme France-first agenda, standing against NATO and immigration. She also vowed to ban Muslim women from wearing headscarves in public, something Macron quickly criticized as dangerously xenophobic. &#8220;I&#8217;m telling it in a very clear manner: I think the headscarf is a uniform imposed by Islamists,&#8221; Le Pen said, according to the Daily Mail.
The race became heated last week when, during a <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10738501/Marine-Le-Pen-slumps-polls-pledging-BAN-Islamic-headscarf-TV-debate-Macron.html">debate</a> on Wednesday night, Le Pen pledged to ban headscarves in public and Macron accused her of being “in the grip of Russia.” Macron claimed that Le Pen is still paying back money to a Moscow bank as Russia invades Ukraine. &#8220;War is raging on the continent,&#8221; Macron said during the debate.
&#8220;Times are very dangerous indeed. Russia is strengthening its offensive, and this will lead to more human disasters,&#8221; he added.
After the debate, polls showed Le Pen drop among voters. “Survey results published hours after the face-off showed Macron on 59 per cent of the vote, and his right-wing right rival on 39 per cent, with 2 per cent abstentions,” the Daily Mail reported.
The two political rivals also faced each other in the 2017 election when Macron beat Le Pen by an even larger margin than what pollsters are predicting for Sunday&#8217;s outcome. In 2017, Macron won nearly two thirds of the vote to Le Pen’s 33%, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/04/24/world/french-election-runoff-results">per</a> The New York Times.
The Times also wrote that Macron becomes the first French president to be reelected since 2002. 
The French president has been criticized for his harsh words toward those who wish to remain unvaccinated against COVID-19. In January, he doubled down on saying he wanted to “piss off” unvaccinated people, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/french-president-macron-doubles-down-on-comment-to-piss-off-the-unvaccinated">reported</a>.
“When some make from their freedom … a motto, not only do they put others’ lives at risk, but they are also curtailing others’ freedom,” Macron said in January. “That I cannot accept.”

French President Macron Wins Second Term Over Right-Wing Candidate Le Pen

Election

Politics

President Joe Biden late last month announced he would release 1 million barrels of oil per day from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) for up to six months as the price of gas continued to soar across the nation.
The move was intended to ease the pinch caused by another action Biden took &#8212; boycotting Russian oil after its invasion of Ukraine. While the SPR release amounts to just 5% of the oil Americans use every day, it&#8217;s also roughly what Russia supplied to the U.S.
But now a new report says some of the SPR release is being exported.
&#8220;A cargo of crude from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve departed a Texas port bound for Europe, a signal of increasing oil-market disarray as refiners shun Russian supplies and prices surge,&#8221; Bloomberg News <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-18/texas-port-sends-strategic-u-s-oil-to-europe-amid-supply-crunch">reported</a>.
&#8220;The rare export of strategic U.S. barrels is evidence of the ever-widening search for crude to replace Russian cargoes seven weeks after President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine triggered international revulsion and sanctions. With the global oil benchmark trading above $110 a barrel, traders and refiners also are trying to cope with a cutoff of Libya’s biggest source of crude and little expansion in U.S. output,&#8221; the news site said.
The U.S. oil is headed to Rotterdam, Bloomberg reported.
&#8220;A tanker known as the Advantage Spring loaded low-sulfur crude originally pumped from the strategic reserve caverns in Southwest Louisiana at a port in Nederland, Texas earlier this month, according to a person familiar with the matter. The ship, chartered by an affiliate of French energy giant TotalEnergies SE, is bound for the key European port of Rotterdam, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.&#8221;
Back in November, Biden released about 60 million barrels, the largest release from the reserve in history, he said at the time, and released another 30 million barrels last month.
But a million barrels a day is a drop in the bucket. The U.S. Energy Information <a href="https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=32&amp;t=6">reported</a> that, “In 2020, the United States consumed an average of about 18.19 million barrels of petroleum per day, or a total of about 6.66 billion barrels of petroleum” over the full year.
At the time, Biden said 32 million barrels “will be an exchange over the next several months, releasing oil that will eventually return to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the years ahead,” with the other 18 million authorized for sale via Congress. That means the total amount of oil tapped will be just over 2.5 days worth.
Tapping the reserve doesn’t solve the production problem or lower prices for long, either. “Analysts have warned an SPR release would only produce a short-term effect in the market, as it would not increase U.S. production capacity,” Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-rise-with-few-us-government-brakes-available-2021-11-09/">wrote</a>.

Anti Joe Biden Protest Sticker

Oil From Biden’s Emergency Release From The Strategic Petroleum Reserve Is Heading For Europe

Joe Biden

United States

Russian state media reported on Thursday that Russia&#8217;s most prominent warship, the Moskva, has sunk in the Black Sea. The report comes after Ukraine claimed to have made a direct hit on the vessel with two shore-based anti-ship missiles on Wednesday.
&#8220;While being towed &#8230; towards the destined port, the vessel lost its balance due to damage sustained in the hull as fire broke out after ammunition exploded. Given the choppy seas, the vessel sank,&#8221; state news agency TASS quoted the Russian government as saying, BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61114843">reported</a>.
Late Wednesday evening, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/russian-navys-flagship-in-black-sea-badly-damaged-ukraine-claims-they-hit-it-with-missiles-report">reported</a> that the &#8220;flagship of Russia’s naval fleet in the Black Sea was severely damaged from a fire on board the ship Wednesday, which comes just hours after Ukraine claimed that they hit the ship with missiles.&#8221;
Russia denied that story, claiming instead that ammunition on the ship exploded during a fire sometime on Wednesday.
“The 12,500 tonne ship has a crew of around 500,” Reuters <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-04-13/russia-says-major-ship-in-black-sea-fleet-badly-damaged-in-blast-interfax">reported</a>. “Russian news agencies said the Moskva was armed with 16 anti-ship ‘Vulkan’ cruise missiles, which have a range of at least 700 km (440 miles).”
“As the result of a fire on the Moskva missile cruiser, ammunition detonated. The ship was seriously damaged,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement at the time. “The crew was completely evacuated.”
Odessa Governor Maksym Marchenko also announced via Telegram message on <a href="https://t.me/odeskaODA/424" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tuesday</a> that the ship was hit by Ukrainian missiles.
“It has been confirmed that the missile cruiser Moskva today went exactly where it was sent by our border guards on Snake Island!” Marchenko said. “Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea caused very serious damage to the Russian ship.”
While the exact cause of the ship&#8217;s sinking remains unconfirmed, Mark Cancian, senior adviser for the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/14/ukraine-russian-missile-cruiser-moskva-warship/">told</a> The Washington Post that it was “more likely” Ukrainian weapons had caused the ship to sink.
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“Given that there’s a war going on and the Ukrainians have this anti-ship capability, it’s more likely that it was caused by these cruise missiles,” he said.
“The flagship is literally the ship on which the admiral’s flag flies,” said Cancian. “It’s typically the largest and most important ship in a fleet or squadron, and that’s the case here — this is a large and very powerful ship.”
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Collin Koh, an expert on maritime security at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, also told the Post that the &#8220;loss of not just a principal surface combatant in the Russian navy, but also the fleet flagship, would amount to more of a psychological blow to the Russians.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/what-does-putin-really-want-foreign-policy-experts-break-down-cold-war-ii">What Does Putin Really Want? Foreign Policy Experts Break Down ‘Cold War II’</a>

</div>
</div>

Moskva

Russia’s ‘Most Important’ Warship Has Officially Sunk: Report

Vladimir Putin

Entrepreneur Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, said on Sunday that Europe needed to immediately restart dormant nuclear power plants due to increasing energy prices from Russia invading Ukraine.
&#8220;Hopefully, it is now extremely obvious that Europe should restart dormant nuclear power stations and increase power output of existing ones. This is *critical* to national and international security,&#8221; Musk tweeted. &#8220;Also nuclear is vastly better for global warming than burning hydrocarbons for energy.&#8221;
&#8220;For those who (mistakenly) think this is a radiation risk, pick what you think is the worst location,&#8221; Musk added. &#8220;I will travel there &amp; eat locally grown food on TV. I did this in Japan many years ago, shortly after Fukushima. Radiation risk is much, much lower than most people believe.&#8221;
The Financial Times <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/53ffd3fc-8c7b-40ba-a29a-7a31cdd933e4">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Europe is facing shortages of building materials as companies have stopped production because of surging energy costs and “chaotic” EU policies, the head of the world’s biggest brickmaker has warned. &#8230;
 His warning came after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia triggered further volatility in natural gas markets, pushing European wholesale prices for next day delivery up 38 per cent on Friday to €205 per megawatt hour, a ninefold increase compared with a year ago.</blockquote>
Musk said late last week that he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-pushes-energy-policy-for-u-s-that-would-negatively-affect-his-own-company-extraordinary-times-demand-extraordinary-measures">supported</a> increasing domestic oil and gas drilling to offset energy problems that the U.S. is facing due to policies from the Biden administration and the war in Europe.
“Hate to say it, but we need to increase oil &amp; gas output immediately. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures,” Musk tweeted. “Obviously, this would negatively affect Tesla, but sustainable energy solutions simply cannot react instantaneously to make up for Russian oil &amp; gas exports.”
Musk’s tweet comes as energy prices have been a problem under Democrat President Joe Biden, and there has been widespread support to cut U.S. imports of Russian oil in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.
“A broad bipartisan majority of Americans think the United States should stop buying Russian oil,” Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-weighs-cutting-russian-oil-imports-white-house-2022-03-04/">reported</a>. “Some 80% of Americans – including solid majorities of Republicans and Democrats – support the measure.”
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-does-the-u-s-still-buy-russian-oil-11646151935">reported</a> that the U.S. imported approximately 672,000 barrels of oil a day from Russia and that during Biden’s first year in office “U.S. imports of Russian crude hit the highest levels in about a decade.”
When <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/arent-we-financing-the-war-fox-reporter-corners-jen-psaki-on-u-s-buying-russian-oil">asked</a> this week about whether continuing to buy Russian oil was effectively “financing the war” in Europe, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tried to downplay it, saying, “it’s only about 10 percent of what we’re importing.”
The national average price for gas over the weekend <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/average-gas-prices-hit-4-per-gallon-for-first-time-in-over-decade-approach-record-high">jumped</a> to $4 per gallon for the first time since 2008 as prices continued to worsen during Biden’s administration.
“As of Sunday afternoon, the national average of a regular gallon of gas was $4.009, according to AAA,” USA Today <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/03/06/gas-price-tops-4-dollar-gallon/9402743002/">reported</a>. “That’s up 8 cents from Saturday and up 40 cents from last week. The U.S. hit the $4 national average a day earlier than analysts expected.”
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at fuel-savings app GasBuddy, said in a tweet on Sunday that gas prices were approaching an all-time high.
“We are currently at a 7 day rise in #gasprices of 43.7c/gal,” he tweeted. “If we surpass 49.0c/gal ago, we will be at the highest ever 7 day rise in average price.”

Elon Musk

Elon Musk Warns Of Immediate Action Europe Needs To Take That Is ‘Critical’ To International Security

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