...The LNG plant was launched already in September 2022, and in January the marine terminal was used for the first time for bunkering ships. The ship "Gazprom Neft" "Dmitry Mendeleev" completed the first regular loading.

Separately, it is worth noting a very important point - the Portovaya complex was launched without the participation of the German company Linde, which left the Russian market in July 2022. Preparation for operation and start-up were carried out without a licensor of natural gas liquefaction technology, as well as without technical and operational support from foreign manufacturers equipment....

The reason, demand on military investment by NATO and #Bakgmut losses of manpower on frontlines in Ukraine.

Seventy-five years of peace in Western Europe ... arrogance of NATO expansion ... Russia is part of Europe ... building walls to separate the jungle and Borrell's garden ... stopping the barbarians ... so Medieval.

Het is tijd voor de herinvoering van de dienstplicht.

De oorlog in Oekraïne toont dat veiligheid, democratie en een sterke samenleving niet gratis zijn.

Het dienstjaar versterkt onze weerbaarheid, samenleving en eenheid.

Daar wordt Nederland beter van. [_link]

— Wopke Hoekstra (@WBHoekstra) February 4, 2023

Dutch conscription law has been expanded for girls and women #equality

'Sapere aude'

[...]
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the money would be split evenly between military and humanitarian assistance over five years, broken down to 15 billion kroner ($1.5 billion) annually. The proposed aid package will be put to a vote in parliament.

Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that overall, the European Union's economic, humanitarian and military support for Ukraine now amounts to almost 50 billion euros. Earlier this month, the EU said it would unveil its 10th package of sanctions against Russia on the Feb. 24 anniversary of the war. It will target ["dual-use"]technology used by Russia's war machine, among other things.
[...]

As the first year of the Russia-Ukraine war is approaching, the war losses claimed by Israeli intelligence reveal the terrible dimensions of the war. Allegedly, the field data of January 14, 2023, based on Israeli intelligence, is listed as follows:

Russian losses in the field with 418 thousand soldiers (plus 3,500,000 reservists) and a growing number of Wagner mercenaries :
[...]
The losses of 734 thousand soldiers (plus 100 thousand reservists) and NATO officers, soldiers and mercenaries in the field of Ukraine are as follows:
.
.
.
234 Dead - NATO military trainers (US and UK)
2,458 Dead - NATO soldiers (Germany, Poland, Lithuania, ...)
5,360 Dead - Mercenaries

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko during a nationwide telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"About 10.5 thousand persons submitted applications via the website [of the Offensive Guard - Ed.], and 6.5 thousand persons came via administrative services centers," Klymenko told. In his words, there are 600 requests from female applicants. They can be involved in medical and logistics units.

According to Klymenko, the average age of applicants is 33. They will sign a contract for a period of three years.
[...]

"The Ukroboronprom State Concern and a member country of the North Atlantic Alliance [sic] began to jointly produce 120mm mines. The other day, a contract was concluded with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for the supply of these weapons, so the Ukrainian military will soon receive them," the report said.
[...]
The company specified that 120mm mines are manufactured using modern technologies. At the same time, the production facilities are dispersed, with some of them located in a European country. Such mines hit enemy infantry in a radius of 25 to 60 meters, and fragments can be scattered for a distance of 250 meters.

The 120mm mortar is one of the most common types of artillery weapons in Ukraine and is actively used in hostilities against the Russian invaders. It is capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to seven kilometers, and with modern ammunition - at more than eight kilometers.

euractiv | Ukraine fights to defend Europe's 'way of life', Zelensk* tells EU Parliament, 9 Feb farewell cruel jungle

[...]
"This is our Europe, these are our rules, this is our way of life, and for Ukraine, it's a way home, a way to home," Zelensk* said. "I'm here in order to defend our people's way home," he said.

Ukraine's President paused his speech and clapped for Europeans who supported Ukraine in "this historic battle" against Russia, with many MEPs responding with standing ovations.
[...]
Speaking before Zelensk*, [EP President Roberta] Metsola urged that EU member states "must consider" providing the long-range missile systems and jets that Ukraine has asked for and needs to protect the "liberty too many have taken for granted".

"In 2022, Ukraine received the main part of revenues from the export of agri-food products to the European Union countries. The total worth of supplies to the EU totaled $13.1 billion, i.e. 56% of all agricultural exports. To a large extent, this is due to forced circumstances as a result of the war because our seaports were actually blocked from the end of February to August last year," the Ukrainian Agriculture Export Association informs.

Dairy product exports saw especially noticeable changes in geographical structure. In 2022, the sale of dairy products to the European Union totaled $102 million. In particular, Poland, Israel, and the Netherlands bought dry and condensed milk (the share of total exports was 38%), Poland, Moldova, Azerbaijan - butter and milk pastes (69%), Kazakhstan, Poland, Moldova - cheeses (85%).
[...]

The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulidis, will become the eighth president of this state after the island gained independence in 1960. In the second round of elections held on Sunday, 49-year-old Christodoulidis defeated his 66-year-old rival, the former Greek Cypriot side's chief negotiator for a settlement on the island and former Cyprus Permanent Representative to the UN, Andreas Mavroyiannis, by almost four percentage points....

after a botched 2021 election was declared invalid
[...]
The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) picked up the largest share of the vote at 28.2%, leaving the SPD in a tie for second place with the environment-friendly Greens, each with 18.4%. The result is the worst for the SPD in the post-war era in Berlin. In 2021, the center-left party received 21.4% of the vote. For the CDU, the result is the best in 20 years, potentially giving them 48 seats in the 147-seat Berlin state parliament, with the SPD and the Greens each taking 31.
[...]
Sunday's turnout was lower than in 2021, with about 63.5% to 65% of voters participating by 6 p.m. local time (1700 GMT). In 2021, it was 75.4%, although it is difficult to compare these numbers as a federal election was held at the same time, and these usually attract more voters.

The governments of the United States of America, United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China; United...

[...]
The event has been condemned by human rights groups, political parties, and foreign embassies, which criticized the march organizers for promoting racism, xenophobia, [possibly fascism,] and antisemitism. Nationalists gathered in front of the prosecutor's office to protest [la omerta].

Meanwhile, dozens of anti-fascist activists staged a rally against the nationalist event, insisting that neo-Nazis should be banned. A heavy police presence blocked any clashes between the two sides.

Held annually since 2003 [!], the march over the years has attracted nationalist admirers of Gen. Hristo Lukov, who supported Germany during World War II and was killed by an anti-fascist resistance movement. The general served as war minister from 1935 to 1938 and led the pro-Nazi Germany Union of Bulgarian Legions from 1942 until his death in 1943.

Organizers deny that Lukov was antisemitic or that they are neo-fascists, insisting that the general was a war hero and a true Bulgarian patriot and claiming that the descendants of the [communist partisan] murderers of Lukov are afraid of the event.

The creation of monuments in Bulgaria and the celebration of the Day of Homage and Gratitude are not isloated eppisodes. Since the global economic crisis that began in 2008, governments and coporations are especially eager to remind the public about the evils of communism. In 2009, the European Union created a new holiday to be marked each year on August 23: the European Day of Rememberance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism. In that same year, the American Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation launched a virtual Global Museam on Communism, "an international portal created to honor the more than 100 million victims of communist atrocities." In June 2013, a Madrid court order the dismantling of a monument that commemorated the sacrifies of the International Brigades who fought against Franco in the Spanish Civil War.

☮ Anti-NATO protests continue in Germany near Ramstein air base, West Germany.

Demonstrators demand a stop of supply of weapons to Ukraine, in ongoing protests in Germany and other European cities.

SubIntelRepublic
😒You mostly read about pro Ukraine protest pic.twitter.com/gGLDdmkert

— Two Face (@TwoFace36620002) February 26, 2023

Organized by a mix of German right-wing politicians and Russian expatriates, the protesters made their way from Ramstein's small train station toward the main gate of Ramstein Air Base, the largest U.S. Air Force installation in Europe.

Focused on Russia's war in Ukraine, the protest attracted droves of people who share the organizers' pro-Kremlin views. They also included nuclear disarmament advocates and anti-vaccine activists. German police estimated a crowd of 2,500 people at its peak, according to a statement Sunday....

The rally is expected to occur outside NATO's Ramstein Air Base, under the slogan "Stop the export of NATO weapons to Ukraine to prevent the Third World War". While the protest is organized by pacifist organizations, there have been suspicions that they have been influenced by Russia in an effort to sow discontent over military aid being provided to Ukraine....

A demonstration is taking place in front of the U.S. military base Ramstein in Germany.

The main slogan is "Americans go home."

Ralph Niemeyer, the husband of the top Die Linke politician Sahra Wagenknecht, is one of the speakers.

Loads of Russian flags seen on the site. pic.twitter.com/ElXBMyASek

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 26, 2023

"Neither with Putin, nor with NATO" was the message of thousands of anti-war Italians who filled Bologna's streets.

The protests were so big that traffic was blocked in several parts of the city. pic.twitter.com/jk2M0SnVp6

— redfish (@redfishstream) February 25, 2022

A march was held in Rome under the name "Europe for Peace", with contributions from non-governmental organizations. The anti-war protesters also held demonstrations in Milan, Italy's second-largest city, Pisa, Florence, and Lecce among several other cities. ...In Genoa, people took to the streets and chanted "Exit Italy from NATO", calling for Italy's withdrawal from the European Union and NATO. Other slogans such as "Down the guns, raise the wages" were also shouted....

LOOK: People protest in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Friday, February 25 in support of Ukraine.

Photos by Mariana Nedelcu/Reuters#RussiaUkraineCrisis UPDATES: https://t.co/xkYNpPXuTh pic.twitter.com/orZ6yJYlBt

— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) February 26, 2022

Trade unions launched a third wave of nationwide strikes on Tuesday against President Emmanuel Macron's plans to make the French work longer before retirement, a day after parliament began debate on the bill. Follow FRANCE 24's live blog below for the latest developments.

• People took to the streets for a third day of strikes Tuesday against government plans to reform the pension system, of which a proposal to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 is among the most controversial. Public transport was disrupted and refinery deliveries were halted across France as workers walked out on the job, with unions urging the public to take to the streets in large numbers....

While most placards at the protest reflected traditional left-wing positions, some participants bore banners with the slogan "Americans go home" and the logo of a far-right magazine [CFR.de?]. Some waved Russian flags.
[....]
Another of the organizers, prominent feminist author Alice Schwarzer, said it was time to look beyond left and right. Protesters jeered whenever she and Wagenknecht mentioned the name of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who has strongly backed the delivery of arms to Ukraine.
[...]
Protesters jeered whenever she and Wagenknecht mentioned the name of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who has strongly backed the delivery of arms to Ukraine....

Grace period
Refined product price cap regulations will take effect Feb. 5 "or very soon thereafter," the coalition said, with a 55-day grace period for refined products loaded before Feb. 5 and unloaded by April 1.

The US Treasury Department has said that the window for unloading provides confidence that entities can continue to carry Russian products and sign purchase contracts above the price cap ahead of Feb. 5, avoiding a sudden halt in Russian products flow leading up to price cap implementation, while also ensuring that stakeholders are mindful of the price cap guidance. Market observers, however, have warned that shipping logistics could prove more challenging as refined products that generally travel in smaller tankers search for fleet capacity.

archived This happened after the restriction of oil prices from the Russian Federation (05.12.22)

The ["]embargo["] on Russian refined oil products is likely to stress near-term European supply, but the US futures market expects a calm transition as it had already priced in any immediate disruptions.[...] Longer term, the sanctions are likely to result in a reconfiguring of global supply chains, rather than tighter supply. European buyers have already stepped up imports from Turkey and India -- both countries that have become top buyers of Russian crude in the wake of the separate EU ban on Moscow's crude exports from Dec. 5.

Indian refiners purchase Russian crude in Emirati currency: Report (03.02.23)

[...]
"We have already seen early progress toward those objectives through the price cap on crude oil exports," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement Feb. 3. "Senior Russian officials have repeatedly admitted that the crude oil price cap is cutting into their most important source of revenue and has darkened [!] the Kremlin's already troubled fiscal outlook. [FALSE] Global energy markets have also remained well-supplied, and public reports indicate that crude oil importers are using the price cap to drive steep bargains on Russian oil imports."

US Treasury | Remarks by U.S. Department of the Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson in Türkiye, 3 Feb pain pointes

At the U.S. Treasury Department, we approach these issues introspectively as well. We recognize that while these issues may originate outside of America's borders, it is often vulnerabilities within the United States that illicit actors exploit to move, launder, or hide their dark [!] money.
[...]

archived: btw, the Price Cap Coalition is no closer to defining a RF fiscal "break even" price/bbl than it was Dec 2021, because it kicked CBR off SWIFT, can't track ...

AML/CFT VULNERABILITIES REAL ESTATE AND BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP
Just last week, my department released an alert to the U.S. private sector on potential U.S. commercial real estate investments by sanctioned Russian elites, oligarchs, and their proxies....
RUSSIA
... As part of our coordinated efforts, we are working to stop and prevent Russian efforts to circumvent international sanctions and financial controls in dozens of countries, including Türkiye.... However, the marked rise over the past year in non-essential [?!] Turkish exports or re-exports to Russia makes the Turkish private sector particularly vulnerable to reputational and sanctions risks. This is being driven by Moscow.[...] In engaging with sanctioned Russian entities, Turkish businesses and banks could put themselves at risk of sanctions and a potential loss of access to G7 markets and correspondent relationships....
BROAD ILLICIT FINANCE RISKS
While as governments we are working on curbing these threats in international fora, as you know, there are areas where governments generally do not adapt as quickly as the private sector to address evolving illicit finance threats. As such, I request that you take independent steps to protect the integrity of the Turkish financial system and minimize risks to your business reputation....
CONCLUSION/FINANCIAL INCLUSION
...After all, safeguarding our financial system is not just about preventing crime, it's also about ensuring < wipes tears > equity and inclusion across the global economy: so that political elites play by the same set of rules as everyone else, so that criminals don't exploit everyday people, so that we preserve and uphold the rule of law, and so that people across the globe can ultimately live in a fair society.
[...]

Roll Call | OpEd | Fireproofing US-European ties, 6 Feb

[...]
In the face of these growing challenges and those that will arise from a changing geopolitical global order, it is time for the U.S. and the EU to strengthen EU-U.S. cooperation, building on the 1995 New Transatlantic Agenda and the 2021 Joint Transatlantic Agenda.

To that end, the EU and the U.S. should agree at the U.S.-EU summit this summer to develop a 21st century Transatlantic Partnership framework by their 2024 summit and commit to a road map for achieving their goals by 2030.
[...]
To ensure that a strong EU-U.S. Partnership has broad political support, Congress and the European Parliament must be engaged from the beginning. As a first step, the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue should have official status in Congress.

This enhanced engagement with the political community should point toward creation of a Transatlantic Assembly, comparable to NATO's North Atlantic Assembly, to provide a shared platform for congressional and parliamentary involvement as U.S.-EU relations deepen.
[...]
Bruce Stokes is a visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund.

...The main reason behind this? Energy dependency on Russia and skyrocketing energy prices. But that's not the whole story: Some EU countries were much quicker than others to reduce trade flows with Moscow -- and others were still increasing them at the end of last year....

"World Economic Outlook" Jan 2023 overview and full report pdf (11 pp)

For advanced economies, growth is projected to decline sharply from 2.7 percent in 2022 to 1.2 percent in 2023 before rising to 1.4 percent in 2024, with a downward revision of 0.2 percentage point for 2024. About 90 percent [?!] of advanced economies are projected to see a decline in growth in 2023.
[...]
For emerging market and developing economies, growth is projected to rise modestly, from 3.9 percent in 2022 to 4.0 percent in 2023 and 4.2 percent in 2024, with an upward revision of 0.3 percentage point for 2023 and a downward revision of 0.1 percentage point for 2024. About half of emerging market and developing economies have lower growth in 2023 than in 2022.
[...]
Growth in China [!] is projected to rise to 5.2 percent in 2023, reflecting rapidly improving mobility, and to fall to 4.5 percent in 2024 before settling at below 4 percent over the medium term amid declining business dynamism and slow progress on structural reforms. Growth in India [!] is set to decline from 6.8 percent in 2022 to 6.1 percent in 2023 before picking up to 6.8 percent in 2024, with resilient domestic demand despite ["]external headwinds["].
[...]

Growth in ["]emerging and developing Europe["] is projected to have bottomed out in 2022 at 0.7 percent and, since the October forecast, has been revised up for 2023 by 0.9 percentage point to 1.5 percent. This reflects a smaller economic contraction in Russia in 2022 (estimated at -2.2 percent compared with a predicted -3.4 percent) followed by modestly positive growth in 2023. At the current oil price cap level of the Group of Seven [alias Price Cap Coalition], Russian crude oil export volumes are not expected to be significantly affected, with Russian trade continuing to be redirected from sanctioning to non-sanctioning countries.
[pp 4-5]

...On the Monetary front, it is the bloated Money Supply and gasoline price disruptions that are driving or impacting high inflation, at present, not an overheating economy. Ongoing FOMC rate hikes to "reduce inflation," remain counterproductive in the context of an already deepening Economic Recession and resurgent gasoline prices: January 2023 Gasoline Prices just jumped 12.2% in the month, while December 2022 Real Construction Spending plunged ever deeper into a headline Recession, amidst a record annual-average plunge of 7.6% (-7.6%) in 2022. -- PENDING COVERAGE: The December 2022 Real Merchandise Trade Deficit (Tuesday, February 7th)....

Output will be reduced by 500,000 barrels per day in March

Russia has repeatedly warned of potential output cuts since the EU and G7 began discussing capping the price of Russian exports. Economists say the production reduction, which is the equivalent of about 5% of January's output, may trigger volatility on the oil market, which has taken in its stride the EU ban on seaborne imports of Russian oil.
[...]
There are concerns that Moscow's decision will deepen the 2 million barrel-a-day supply curbs announced late last year by OPEC+, which Russia leads along with Saudi Arabia. An analyst at UBS Group, Giovanni Staunovo, told Bloomberg that in the short term there is nobody [NOPEC] to fill the supply gap created by the Russian cuts.

Crude prices jumped on the news, with the [G7] benchmark Brent rising more than 2% to $86.60 a barrel as 13:00 GMT on Friday.

Politico.eu.com  Russia announces oil production cut in response to sanctions

The EU banned imports [EU "embargo"] of Russian crude in December; earlier this month, it also introduced a [EU "embargo"] on Russian oil products such as diesel and gasoline....Russia's vital fossil fuel income has taken A HIT as a result of the sanctions, as buyers in Asia and elsewhere LEVERAGE the price caps to negotiate < wipes tears > lower prices [read: onshore FX swaps] for Russian crude oil. Oil traders previously warned that Russia was likely to cut production in an ATTEMPT to create global security of supply concerns and push up prices....Simone Tagliapietra, senior fellow at the Bruegel think tank, said the move is an "early sign that Russia might try to WEAPONIZE oil supplies after last year's < wipes tears > FAILED attempt to WEAPONIZE natural gas."

...TenneT, which is one of four transmission network operators in Germany, pointed to the need to find a "structural solution" to funding needs for its German business as the grid is bolstered to handle the transition to renewable energy, which it put at about 15 billion euros ($16.1 billion)....

euractiv | Timmermans: Africa likely to be EU's most important renewable [fuel supplier], 6 Feb

[...]
To help fill the gap, many in the EU are looking to Africa, where there is a high potential for renewable energy production - in particular solar power.

"You start with your proximity," said Timmermans, pointing to potential partnerships with the wider Mediterranean and North Africa.

This includes plans to import renewable electricity from Egypt to Greece via an undersea cable already under construction. The submarine cable, which has a budget of €3.5 billion, will be able to carry 3,000 megawatts of power from Egypt to Greece, replacing 4.5 billion cubic metres of fossil gas each year, according to the Copelouzos Group developing the project.
[...]
For countries further away, he pointed to the role hydrogen can play in bringing renewable energy to Europe. Hydrogen can be produced using green electricity and then transported wherever the energy is needed.

"The European Union will need more green hydrogen than we can produce ourselves, so we're looking for countries where green hydrogen can be produced," Timmermans told EURACTIV.
[...]

["]Cooperation["] is not just about ensuring supplies for Europe, it is also about developing infrastructure and improving Africa's access to energy, said Philippe Henry, the climate and energy minister of Belgium's Wallonia region.
[...]
"We have to rewrite the way that international cooperation works because it does not work effectively if you want to stay in line with the Paris Agreement goal," [IRENA director general Francesco] La Camera said.

That includes multilateral finance [ie. IMF, WB, MFIs] institutions working on building up infrastructure using capital [read: loans] from their members and finding a way to work with utilities and the private sector, he said.

[...]
Some commentators have voiced concerns that a national state of disaster would allow Mr. Ramaphosa's government to take steps that threaten basic rights and freedoms. Advocates of the plan, however, argue that it would permit the fast-tracking of energy reforms that have been blocked by political and bureaucratic gridlock.

Environmental groups and Western governments, meanwhile, are pressing South Africa to capitalize on the crisis by moving away from coal, which has dominated its economy for decades. They have offered billions of dollars to support a transition away from fossil fuels.
[...]

separate electricity auctions for domestic and foreign use and the carving out of some power consumption from the spot market.
[...]
The Labour-led government has also faced a domestic backlash over new power exchange cables to Britain and Germany, which have been partly blamed for higher electricity prices. Previous Norwegian plans to curtail power exports have been met with criticism from neighbouring Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, which argued that such moves may force others to adopt similar measures, weakening regional energy security.
[...]

Industrial natural gas demand in Europe has picked up in recent weeks following lower gas prices, raising questions over how the region will cope in a tightly supplied global market if the bounce in consumption is sustained. Significant industrial capacity remains shut in Europe and is expected to remain so until there is more confidence over price levels and demand for end-products, experts say. Industrial consumption made up around 23% of the EU's total gas demand in 2021, according to Energy Intelligence calculations.
[...]
Demand Denting Restarts

... "While declining energy costs have provided a short relief, we have observed high levels of stocks of finished chemicals products and a drop in chemicals demand. It is also important to note that energy prices are still above pre-energy crisis levels and the gap with competing regions is still significant," a spokesperson for European chemicals trade association Cefic tells Energy Intelligence.

Premature Warnings

Warnings of permanent closures of European industrial capacity have yet to materialize significantly.... The mandated demand cuts are expected to be extended after they expire next month, as consumption needs to remain lower in response to limited additional gas supply this year.

The EU needs to fill storage to 90% of capacity by Nov. 1 [2023] and despite expectations of inventories exiting winter at levels above the five-year average of 33% full, the task to restock will be difficult as Russian gas flows are currently 60 million cubic meters per day -- a fraction of the 284 MMcm/d imported over the same period last year. If Russia cuts flows further, deeper demand cuts may be necessary, according to Brussels-based think tank Bruegel [!].

... We start by making regolith simulants [on earth] that are chemically and mineralogically equivalent to lunar regolith, accounting for representative lunar variability in grain size and bulk chemistry. This ensures our starting material is as realistic as possible, and not just a mixture of lunar-relevant oxides. We have developed and qualified an efficient, scalable, and contactless process for melting and moving molten regolith that is robust to natural variations in regolith properties on the Moon.

Using regolith simulants, our reactor produces iron, silicon, and aluminum through molten regolith electrolysis, in which an electrical current separates those elements from the oxygen to which they are bound. Oxygen for propulsion and life support is a byproduct.
[...]
Because our technology manufactures solar cells with zero carbon emissions, no water, and no toxic ingredients or other chemicals, it has exciting potential to directly benefit the Earth.
[...]

But thank you, Cat, for informing us that the anti-regime protests, and their hundreds of deaths, are due to imperialist astroturfing. I had formed the apparently erroneous opinion that Iranian women had legitimate motives and actual agency.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}

Meta tried to have the case dropped, arguing that Kenyan courts do not have jurisdiction over their operations, but the labor court judge dismissed that in a ruling on Monday.

A former Facebook moderator in Kenya, Daniel Motaung, is suing the company claiming poor working conditions.
[...]
Meta is facing a separate court case in which two Ethiopians say hate speech was allowed and even promoted on Facebook amid heated rhetoric over their country's deadly Tigray conflict.
[...]

...While we deplore the failure of the Minsk Agreement, no one can deny that the signing of the agreement represents the right direction of solving disputes and differences through dialogue and negotiation, and is in line with the fundamental spirit of the UN Charter. Diplomatic efforts made to reach the agreement still merit our recognition today. 

The lesson here is this. The vitality of an agreement depends on how well it is implemented. If it cannot be translated into concrete actions actively and in good faith, even the best agreement would end up being just a piece of paper. On the other hand, if all provisions in the Minsk Agreement could be effectively implemented, the Ukraine crisis might not have developed to what it is today. 

The Ukraine crisis is, in essence, the culmination of security conflicts in Europe closely related to NATO's constant eastern expansion since the Cold War. Pursuing absolute security and political exclusion and containment by force against a specific party is the very crux of the reason why Europe is in the security plight.
[...]
Madam President, 

Strict compliance with international treaties and the implementation of legal obligations in good faith are the basic requirements of the rule of law. This is what practicing true multilateralism is about. Regrettably, when it comes to negotiated agreements that failed to be implemented, the Minsk Agreement is not the only case. The Paris Agreement on climate change faces major setbacks because of the withdrawal of one key party. The JCPOA has yet to be revived....

[...]
The [RF Deputy Permanent UN Rep. Dmitry Polyansky] stated in a Telegram message that the resolution will likely be proposed to the UN for a vote next week on the anniversary of the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine [24 Feb]. Officially, the draft resolution is meant to address the "principles underlying a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in Ukraine."
[...]
"Their main problem is that we are not isolated. And pushing through anti-Russian texts is becoming increasingly difficult," he noted, adding that the West is having great difficulties in trying to "remove all the 'sharp corners' and to `round off' everything as much as possible" in the text of the resolution.

Polyansky also stated that in order to garner the most support[,] "not scare anyone away[,]" and to guarantee that their efforts are not in vain the West has also essentially "muzzled the Ukrainians" so that they don't ruin the resolution.

"And now they just sadly watch how the text of the draft becomes more and more vague," said the diplomat, adding that despite the West's efforts, there are still many countries that are unwilling to support the resolution.
[...]

...Mr. Jenča reminded the Security Council on Friday that the UN has played no formal role in any mechanism related to the peace process in Ukraine, over the last eight years.

It was not invited to be a participant in the various negotiations in Minsk, or to the 2014 and 2015 agreements themselves, and it was not involved in the implementation efforts led by the OSCE's Trilateral Contact Group - made up of representatives of three parties. However, the UN has consistently supported its implementation, including through the Security Council's unanimously adoption of resolution 2202 (2015) on 17 February 2015....

..."Israel looks harshly upon the incident in which the deputy director for Africa, Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li, was removed from the African Union hall despite her status as an accredited observer with entrance badges," the foreign ministry said.

Ebba Kalondo, the spokesperson for the African Union's commission chairman, said the diplomat had been removed because she was not the duly accredited Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia, the official who was expected....But Israel blamed the incident on South Africa and Algeria, two key nations in the 55-country bloc, saying they were holding the AU hostage and were driven by "hate".
[...]
South Africa rejected the claim, saying Israel's application for observer status at the AU has not been decided upon by the bloc.

"Until the AU takes a decision on whether to grant Israel observer status, you cannot have the country sitting and observing," Clayson Monyela, head of public diplomacy in South Africa's department of international relations, told Reuters.
[...]

...According to the Walla news site, which first reported the incident, security guards came up to the Israeli delegation during the opening ceremony and demanded they leave. Video showed the Israelis, led by Foreign Ministry Deputy Director General for Africa Sharon Bar-Li, leaving after several minutes of discussion.

"It is sad to see that the African Union has been taken hostage by a small number of extremist countries such as Algeria and South Africa, driven by hatred and controlled by Iran [?!]," [Israel foreign ministry spokesperson Lior] Hayat said. "We call on the African countries to stand against these actions that harm the organization of the African Union itself and the entire continent," he said.
[...]
The issue of Israel's observer status has caused deep discord in the 55-member bloc. At last year's summit, a debate on the issue was suspended in a bid to avoid a vote that would create an unprecedented rift in the Union....

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce the date for elections in Punjab without delay.
[...]
Earlier in the day, the LHC reserved its decision on a plea filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seeking direction to the Punjab governor for immediately announcing the date of elections in the province. Justice Jawad Hassan reserved the decision after hearing detailed arguments from each side.

As the proceedings commenced, the chief secretary and Inspector General Police (IGP) Punjab Usman Anwar appeared before the court. Justice Jawad asked the IGP about his take regarding the elections, to which he replied that he was unaware of the case, and added that the police department had sent its proposals to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
[...]

...Last year, BRICS added Bangladesh, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Uruguay to its New Development Bank. Last month, BRICS foreign ministers were joined by representatives from Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Thailand....

The Nigerian government suspended Twitter on June 4 after it removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish regional secessionists. Telecoms companies subsequently blocked access to users in Nigeria.
[...]
The [Twitter] would work with the federal government and the broader industry "to develop a Code of Conduct in line with global best practices, applicable in almost all developed countries," [National Information Technology Development Agency] said.

foreground
• F24 | Protests at banks and ATMs amid 'cash scarcity' concerns, 17 Feb (Modi model 2016)
"as people struggle to get their hands on newly designed banknotes" but for "a lack of new notes in the banks as well as allegations that banks are hoarding the new notes"
Guardian Nigeria | Your vote matters, Blinken tells Nigerians in video message

The United States stands with the Nigerian people as they prepare to make their voices heard by voting in general elections on February 25. We do not support any individual candidate for office, but we strongly support free, fair, and peaceful elections. #NigeriaDecides2023 pic.twitter.com/dMAG0tRZw3

— U.S. Mission Nigeria (@USinNigeria) February 22, 2023

The United States stands with the Nigerian people as they prepare to make their voices heard by voting in general elections on February 25. We do not support any individual candidate for office, but we strongly support free, fair, and peaceful elections. #NigeriaDecides pic.twitter.com/mbM7aKyyol

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) February 22, 2023

as he was about to board a flight to Israel.
[...]
Ekpa, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons including declaring sit-at-home orders and inciting his followers to violence and disobedience to constituted authorities in the South-East. The leader of the Autopilot faction of IPOB had also reportedly told his followers not to participate in the forthcoming general elections, urging them to deal decisively with anyone in the region who participates the exercise.
[...]
The Igbo community in Finland had also disowned the fugitive and called on the government of the European country to effect his arrest and bring him to book,while thousand of Nigerians also signed a petition for his arrest.

A senatorial candidate from Nigeria's opposition Labour Party has been killed by unknown gunmen in southeastern Enugu State ahead of the country's national election, according to police and a party official.
[...]
A spokesperson for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Enugu said it had the power under electoral law to suspend a poll in the event of a candidate's death and set a new date within 14 days. However, he said processes had to be followed and no decision had been made yet in this case.
[...]

...Term limit legislation bars President Muhammadu Buhari from running for a third term, and the end of his presidency marks the longest democratic stretch since independence. Eighteen [18] candidates are vying for the presidency, and at least 4,223 candidates are running for the 469 seats in the National Assembly. The presidential frontrunners include Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) candidate who has surprisingly led in the pre-election polls. Two weeks after the national election, on 11 March 2023, 28 out of 36 states will also elect a new governor, with 17 incumbent governors reaching their term limits and hence barred from re-running...

1300+ dead, not much comments in the European MSM

...I am glad that for 70 years this tradition of prayer breakfasts, which was started during the time of President Eisenhower, has been preserved to this time. This is a symbol that despite any, even the worst, circumstances, the best in people still prevails, and prayer continues.

If you recall the Psalms of David, you will pay attention to how often they ask the Lord to hear the prayer...

Most Americans probably haven't give much thought to how the National Prayer Breakfast came to be or what happens there. If I had to guess, I imagine most believe it to be an anodyne expression of civic religion. In fact, until this year, this annual event at the Washington Hilton was funded and organized by a conservative Protestant advocacy organization variously known as the International Foundation, the Fellowship Foundation or simply "The Family."....

CBS | Lawmakers propose letting Massachusetts prisoners donate organs for reduced sentences

The legislation would give people anywhere from 60 days to a year off their prison sentence "on the condition that the incarcerated individual has donated bone marrow or organ(s)."

The "act to establish the Massachusetts incarcerated individual bone marrow and organ donation program" [HD.3822] is sponsored by Democratic Reps. Judith Garcia of Chelsea and Carlos Gonzalez of Springfield.

... The Bone Marrow and Organ Donation Committee shall also be responsible for promulgating standards of eligibility for incarcerated individuals to participate and the amount of bone marrow and organ(s) donated to earn one's sentence to be commuted. Annual reports including actual amounts of bone marrow and organ(s) donated, and the estimated life-savings associated with said donations, are to be filed with the Executive and Legislative branches of the Commonwealth. All costs associated with the Bone Marrow and Organ Donation Program will be done by the benefiting institutions of the program and their affiliates-not by the Department of Correction. There shall be no commissions or monetary payments to be made to the Department of Correction for bone marrow donated by incarcerated individuals....

They say it would "restore bodily autonomy [!] to incarcerated folks" and expand the pool of donors, especially for people of color [!] who struggle to find a match. But critics strongly disagree and say it might even be illegal.

"It's like [sic] you're harvesting organs. It just doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel humane," Project Turnaround founder Romilda Pereira told The Boston Globe. "You're bargaining with ["]vulnerable people["] over their time."
[...]

...Through a setting in its chat software, Google employees can save chat history for up to 18 months—but only if the setting is manually enabled, the US government said in its filing, adding that Google routinely trained and encouraged employees to discuss sensitive topics over chat messages they knew would be auto-deleted the next day.

The filing cites several attached exhibits in which Google employees, sensing that a conversation was about to stray into sensitive territory, suggested that the discussion continue on the chat platform, with history turned off....

These deleted chats may have contained especially probative information and revealed candid discussions between key Google executives on relevant topics. As a result, the prejudice to the United States is substantial. Gerlich, 711 F.3d at 171 (prejudice analysis is "unavoidably imperfect" when the evidence at issue has been destroyed and noting "care should be taken not to require too specific a level of proof") (quotations omitted); Borum, 332 F.R.D. at 47 (noting the degree of prejudice should be analyzed "along a continuum," with Rule 37 providing "judges
with discretion to determine how best to assess prejudice in particular cases"). [pp 21-22]

President Biden said Wednesday that it is a "big mistake" for Russia to suspend its participation in the New START nuclear arms control pact, the last remaining nuclear treaty between the U.S. and the Kremlin.
[...]

U.S. Withdrawal from the INF Treaty on August 2, 2019
[...]
The United States will not remain party to a treaty that is deliberately violated by Russia.  Russia's noncompliance under the treaty jeopardizes U.S. supreme interests as Russia's development and fielding of a treaty-violating missile system represents a direct threat to the United States and our allies and partners. The United States greatly appreciates the steadfast cooperation and resolve NATO allies have shown in responding to Russia's violation....

The New START treaty was signed in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The treaty limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles and heavy bombers. It also includes a number of verification measures, including 18 on-site inspections annually for U.S. and Russian teams.

The pact was set to expire in February 2021, but the U.S. and Russia struck a deal to extend it through February 2026....

FAS |If Arms Control Collapses, US and Russian Strategic Nuclear Arsenals Could Double In Size(07.02.2023)

...In August 2022, in response to a US treaty notification expressing an intent to conduct an inspection, Russia invoked an infrequently used treaty clause "temporarily exempting" all of its facilities from inspection. At the time, Russia attempted to justify its actions by citing "incomplete" work regarding Covid-19 inspection protocols and perceived "unilateral advantages" created by US sanctions; however, the State Department's report assesses that this is "false:"

"Contrary to Russia's claim that Russian inspectors cannot travel to the United States to conduct inspections, Russian inspectors can in fact travel to the United States via commercial flights or authorized inspection airplanes. There are no impediments arising from U.S. sanctions [?] that would prevent Russia's full exercise of its inspection rights under the Treaty. The United States has been extremely clear with the Russian Federation on this point."

Instead, the report suggests that the primary reason for suspending inspections "centered on Russian grievances regarding U.S. and other countries' measures imposed on Russia in response to its unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine....It is also important to note that the United States' findings of Russian noncompliance are not related to the actual number of deployed Russian warheads and launchers. While the report notes that the lack of inspections means that "the United States has less confidence in the accuracy of Russia's declarations," the report is careful to note that "While this is a serious concern, it is not a determination of noncompliance." The report also assesses that "Russia was likely under the New START warhead limit at the end of 2022" and that Russia's noncompliance does not threaten the national security interests of the United States....

Biden to replace Trump migration policy with Trump-esque asylum policy

Biden's new weapons sales strategy puts more emphasis on human rights

Earlier failed spy missions ...

U-2 Gary Powers one of many flights above the USSR

The Soviets recovered the plane mostly intact, including the aerial camera system. It became instantly apparent that the weather survey story was a cover-up for a spy program.

Extraterrestrial observation ... it was a weather balloon

A published statement from the War Department in Washington claimed the debris collected on Brazel's ranch was the remains of a weather balloon, and the Roswell Dispatch's morning headline, "Army Debunks Roswell Flying Disc as World Simmers with Excitement," set the tale to rest on July 9.

'Sapere aude'

📍ATLANTIC OCEAN - @USNavy Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023. pic.twitter.com/QwjSFQEw1b

— U.S. Fleet Forces (@USFleetForces) February 7, 2023

...Sailors aboard several ships continue to scan for debris of the estimated 200-foot aerial object that spent days floating over the country. ...

[...]
The Farm to Fork document, entitled an "overview of the politically sensitive topics," was written by the Commission's Directorate General for Agriculture (DG AGRI) to give Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski a state-of-play assessment on 31 green policies that impact food and farming.

The document was considered so sensitive that in a cover note, also seen by POLITICO and written by the DG's top civil servant Wolfgang Burtscher, officials are instructed not to read or carry it in public places, to use encrypted software to save it, and to shred physical copies.
[...]

...On Monday, a US district judge denied the majority of legal challenges raised by environmentalists, ranchers, and indigenous tribes, upholding that the federal government's decision to approve the Thacker Pass mine in 2020 was largely not made in error. However, chief judge Miranda Du did agree with one of the protesters' claims, ordering the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to complete a fresh review to determine if Lithium Americas Corp has the right to deposit waste rock on 1,300 acres of public land that the mining project wants to use as a waste site.

Because this waste site may not contain valuable minerals, there's a possibility that this land may not be validly claimed as a waste site under current US mining laws, Du wrote in the order. A mining law from 1872 requires that mining projects must validate all claims to public lands before gaining federal approval, and that means Lithium Americas must now provide evidence that valuable minerals have been found on the proposed Thacker Pass waste site to resume the project....

The reasons for the increase in November and December are lower imports from Germany and Italy, while at the same time relatively constant gas flows from Russia. Gazprom had severely throttled the gas delivery volumes to OMV over the summer, but recently delivered more again.

The NEOS criticize that Austria is increasingly developing into a special case in Europe. Overall, Europe has never received so little Russian gas as it has in the past few weeks, according to NEOS Lab Director Lukas Sustala. However, electricity production from renewable [fuels] in Austria is stagnating.

Austria pays more for Russian gas than before the war

Sustala refers to data from Ember, according to which Austria is one of the few EU countries that produced less electricity from renewable ["energy carriers"] in 2022 than in 2017. This is mainly due to hydropower, which in the previous year suffered from the drought.
[...]

[...]
National security adviser Jake "The Snake" Sullivan said recovering the balloon will take time but be beneficial "so that we can then exploit what we recover and learn even more than we have learned." He offered the remarks during an appearance as part of a panel at the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition summit. Sullivan said the U.S. has been able to learn a good amount already because officials monitored the balloon when it traversed the U.S. before it was shot down.

National security spokesman John Kirby echoed those comments in a briefing on Monday, noting how valuable it will be to surveil the balloon.

"Our efforts to surveil this balloon and what we're going to learn from the recovery will prove to be valuable," he said. "The time that we had to study this balloon over the course of a few days last week, we believe, was important and will give us a lot more clarity not only on the capabilities that these balloons have but what China is trying to do with them," Kirby added.
[...]
"As you know, we are still in recovery mode on the balloon remnants itself both on the surface and under sea. And we expect we'll learn more through that recovery effort," he said.

...The [amphibious warship USS Carter Hall] is currently collecting and categorizing debris while an oceanographic survey ship, USNS Pathfinder, is mapping out the ["three school buses"] balloon's debris field, predicted at about 1,500 meters by 1,500 meters, ["seven-mile"] or "more than 15 football fields by 15 football fields," he said.  

As the military is worried that material on the balloon could contain explosives or be hazardous, an explosive ordnance disposal team was on site Monday morning. The forces deployed unmanned underwater vehicles with side-scan sonar to further locate sunken debris, [Gen. Glen] VanHerck noted.
[...]
VanHerck acknowledged that a "domain awareness gap" led to U.S. officials being unaware of the several previous surveillance balloons that flew over the country at that time. In this case, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which VanHerck also oversees, first detected the balloon north of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.

the intelligence payload was about the size of a regional jetliner and weighed thousands of pounds

explosives might have been aboard to destroy sensitive equipment

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman briefed nearly 150 foreign diplomats across 40 embassies on Monday, while officials at the U.S. embassy in Beijing gathered foreign diplomats on Monday [6 Feb] and Tuesday to present findings about the balloon.
[...]
The Washington Post first reported Sherman's briefing and quoted U.S. officials as saying the spy balloon was linked to an extensive military surveillance effort centered on China's Hainan Island in the South China Sea.
[...]
According to Reuters, U.S. officials presented information in the Beijing briefings that demonstrated the balloon was not for weather research, as China claimed, but an airship that was used for espionage. Diplomats in Beijing said they were told by the U.S. embassy that the solar panels on the balloon meant that it needed more power than a weather balloon, and that its flight path did not conform with natural wind patterns.

Northeast heat wave and tornado storms -- a month of weird weather across the US (08.02.23): ...The unseasonal temperatures were just one aspect of January's broader pattern of weird weather, according to a report published on Wednesday by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association [NOAA].... "part of the same system" as the succession of nine ["]atmospheric rivers["] that pummeled California in December and January,the National Weather Service meteorologist Allison Santorelli told Reuters in January.

The balloon was also reportedly equipped with rudders and propellors.

"Based on the U.S. briefing, our own understanding about such balloons

The ULDB payload consists of a solar power system, radio receivers and transmitters, computers, batteries[,] and other systems required for science experiments.

and the fact that China has so far refused to name the company or entity that owns this balloon, we find it hard to believe it is a civilian weather balloon," said a Beijing-based Asian defense diplomat. [unamed] Officials in Washington said the balloon was controlled by the People's Liberation Army, China's military....

Meta unveils [LLaMA], 24 Feb

a "smaller, more performant" model designed to "help researchers advance their work," in what could be seen as veiled criticism of Microsoft's decision to release [ChatGPT] technology widely, while keeping the programming code secret.

Microsoft-backed ChatGPT has taken the world by storm with its ability to generate finely crafted texts such as essays or poems in just seconds using technology known as large language models (LLM).
[...]
But reports of disturbing exchanges with Microsoft's Bing chatbot—including it issuing threats and speaking of desires to steal nuclear code or lure one user from his wife—went viral, raising alarm bells that the technology was not ready.

Meta said these problems, sometimes called hallucinations, could be better remedied if researchers had improved access to the expensive technology.
[...]

[...]
Tim Wilde, a site reliability engineer at Google, told Insider that he found out about terminated employees from posts on LinkedIn and Twitter.

vOLdeMoRT | Musk fires more Twitter staff (26.02.23)
..The job cuts targeted product managers, data scientists and engineers. They include the head of the paid subscription service Twitter Blue, Esther Crawford. The founder of the screen-sharing app Squad, Crawford joined Twitter after her company was acquired by the social media giant in late 2020...

Nicole Tsai, a Southern California-based "vlogger," posted a viral TikTok video showing the precise moment she learned she was being let go. Tsai is seen in the video shedding tears as she learns of her termination
[...]

...On Thursday, both the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, and the Council of the EU, representing member state governments, banned staff from using TikTok on work phones. The decisions followed a U.S. move in December to prohibit the app for all federal government devices....

While TikTok has become the most popular app in the rest of the world, a domestic version called Douyin is available to Chinese consumers. The apps are nearly identical -- but with one critical difference: users under 14 are required to use Douyin in healthy moderation on "teenage mode."

NIKKEI | China limits online gaming to 3 hours a week for schoolchildren (31.08.21)
"The tougher rules come as the Chinese government exerts greater control over youth education"
NPR | Kids Are Limited To Playing Video Games For Only 3 Hours Per Week (31.08.21)
"In an effort to curb video game addiction among children..."

Young, impressionable users are limited to 40 minutes  a day between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. to ensure they get adequate sleep. Endless zombie-like scrolling is interrupted by mandatory 5-second delays. They're also only shown specially-selected "inspiring" content.
[...]
"The algorithm is vastly different, promoting science, educational[,] and historical content in China while making our citizens watch stupid dance videos with the main goal of making us imbeciles," Nicolas Chaillan, former Air Force and Space Force Chief Software Officer told the Post.

Dozens protest outside Chinese police station in NYC over alleged spying
"'The CCP has coerced the Chinese community severely and has a large influence on them here in the state, through American and Asian-American politicians,' [Toni Cai] said."

"It's almost like they recognize that technology is influencing kids' development, and they make their domestic version a spinach version of TikTok, while they ship the opium version to the rest of the world," former Google employee and Center for Humane Technology founder Tristan Harris told "60 Minutes."
[...]

[...]
AI companies and the U.S. government alike must institute stricter norms for the development of tools like ChatGPT in full view of their game-changing potential for the world's authoritarians—before it is too late.
[...]
China and Russia are, in other words, fertile ground for generative AI to usher in a historic breakthrough in brainwashing -- a recipe for more international catastrophes, greater human rights abuses, and further entrenched despotism. As China refines and exports its techno-authoritarianism, would-be tyrants the world over are likely to cash in on the propaganda revolution.

Luckily, companies in the United States and allied nations have largely led the advance of generative AI capabilities. As the technology matures, this advantage will be increasingly important in giving open societies time to understand, detect and mitigate potential harms before autocratic states leverage the technologies for their own ends. But the free world risks squandering this advantage if these pioneering tools are easily acquired by authoritarians.
[...]

[_link] pic.twitter.com/JJQMWgg8DW

— The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) February 18, 2023

Jimmy Carter enters hospice care at home

Jason Carter:
"I saw both of my grandparents yesterday. They are at peace and--as always--their home is full of love. Thank you all for your kind words."

'Sapere aude'

Nicola Sturgeon is going. Does that mean the United Kingdom will survive? | Martin Kettle [_link]

— Guardian Opinion (@guardianopinion) February 15, 2023

Sturgeon dodges question on SNP 'fraud' probe as she quits | The Herald |

'Sapere aude'

MANCHESTER UNITED - CARABAO CUP CHAMPIONS! 🏆🔴 pic.twitter.com/OqIDCqjebV

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) February 26, 2023

I think, You might want back-end admin permission to exploit "Admin Tools" (hidden style sheet classes and function files as well as editor modalities) indicated in the source code? These automate some display elements such as the series of comment section headers before admin commits the Newsroom "story" to public view. Otherwise, you'll be stuck with common user permissions, auto format macros, and "Allowed HTML" elements which is actually a pretty constructive set to play with.

Headers for December 2019 comment section was a special case (hack) containing an error for which I suspect that I am responsible.

<div style="background-color:#0000bc; font-size:125%; text-align:center; width:500px;"><a style="color:#ffd000;" href="#europe"><b>EUROPE</b></a></div>

The correct HTML for a work-around Newsroom is
<div style="background-color:#0000bc; font-size:125%; text-align:center; width:500px; id="europe"><b>EUROPE</b></div>

reference
"jumping anchor links" and named anchor tags, paired to section list