European Union

As Sanctions Against Russia Take Hold, They Are Having The Effect Of Devastating Economies All Over Europe, Who Will Be The First To Fall?

The political impact of the cost-of-living squeeze is ultimately likely to test the continent’s resolve to keep confronting Russia at a time when its president, Vladimir Putin, is threatening to shut off gas supplies amounting to about a third of EU consumption. “This is a sword of Damocles,” said Yves Dubief, whose grandfather founded textile weaver Tenthorey, an employer of 50 people in northeastern France that produces 5 million meters of cloth a year. In such circumstances, the business leader says the state would need to revive measures used during Covid to need help with fixed costs and furloughing workers. “If there is an embargo and we have to reduce our production, whatever the price of gas, it will be a question of whether we are compensated by public authorities.”

Published

3 years ago

March 11, 2022

Geoffrey Grider

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Two weeks since Russia began the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II, businesses across the continent are already in varying stages of despair at the consequences on livelihoods from economic sanctions.

Economic sanctions to bring Putler and Russia to their knees? Don’t count on it. In fact, the sanctions placed on Russia over the past 2 weeks is hurting the economies of Europe just as much as it is Russia, and on some levels, even more so. The thing people forget is that Russia is a nation whose people have suffering as their birthright, shutting down McDonald’s and Starbucks doesn’t do anything. But $20 a gallon petrol for the Europeans will wreck their lives and inflict pain that they will not likely survive.

“And the famine was sore in the land.” Genesis 43:1 (KJB)

In many places in the Middle East, flour is already being rationed as Ukraine and Russia account for nearly 30 percent of wheat, 17 percent of corn and over half of sunflower seed oil exports. Critically, Russia is also a major exporter of fertilizer, the price of which has already been soaring. Significant disruptions of Russian exports could see that price jump more — further driving up the cost of food production globally. In the United States soaring gas prices combined with the Biden inflation is already beginning to be felt. But Bidenflation was already in progress before Russia invaded Ukraine.

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Shockwaves Spread as Europe’s Economy Reels at Energy Fallout

FROM YAHOO NEWS: A crisis of human suffering in Ukraine, whose wider economic impact prompted European Central Bank officials to quicken their withdrawal from stimulus this week, is affecting prosperity from the farmlands of Spain to the euro zone’s manufacturing core in Germany and France.

Surging energy costs are the central complaint, though disrupted supply chains, sanctions and worries about a looming demand drop are also weighing on enterprises. The abrupt shock of war nearby, combined with broad effects and an uncertain duration, will pile pressure on governments to cushion the blow as well as testing their resolve to confront Russia.

“I don’t know what to do if the war in Ukraine continues for much longer,” Spanish pig farmer Lorenzo Rivera said in an interview this week. “I either have to halt production — or close business for good.”

Rivera, whose 200 sows outnumber people in Peleas de Arriba, the settlement in northern Spain where he lives, has endured cost increases for a while — first electricity, then fuel, and then animal feed. It was all manageable until war broke out on the other side of the continent.

The root of the difficulty is the European Union’s reliance on Ukraine for over half its supply of corn, a key source of feed for pigs. With farmers unable to access fields, analysts are slashing outlooks for crops and exports there by as much as a third, sending prices to the highest in about a decade. Other economic disruption is being inflicted by the geography of the crisis. In Germany, the heartland of the euro-zone economy, Porsche AG stopped production of its Taycan electric car in Stuttgart because it lacks cable trees made in Ukraine. Meanwhile its parent, Volkswagen AG, has halted exports to Russia and stopped production at an auto factory in Kaluga outside Moscow.

Most onerous is the energy impact. If current prices persist, the extra cost of importing gas and oil will amount to an income shock of 550 billion euros ($605 billion) or 4.5% of annual gross domestic product, according to JPMorgan economist Greg Fuzesi. Goldman Sachs now reckons inflation will reach toward 8% and the euro zone will suffer a contraction in the second quarter. To many euro-zone businesses, that pinch has been immediately crippling. Just in December, Manuel Rodriguez’s Groupe Kramer took over a century-old porcelain factory in eastern France called Jurassienne de Ceramique Francaise. He has now taken the painful decision to put it in hibernation.

“If we were to pay a gas bill that’s increased 10-fold, we’d hit the wall,” he said. “We would have no other choice but to file for bankruptcy and close down the factory.”

Heading south, along Italy’s coastline, the spiraling cost of fuel has also left many trawlers unable to go to sea and sparked a week-long strike of fishing boats. Carlo Lista, who owns a fishmonger business in Rome’s Monteverde district, says the effect has been dramatic.

“About 80% of fishing boats have stopped due to the surge in fuel prices,” he said. “You go there, and it’s maybe one boat, and one guy bids and then another, and the price just goes up — whoever bids more gets the fish. Prices are just soaring and soaring.”

Grumpy fishermen are calling on Italy’s government to do something about their predicament beyond the 16 billion euros already spent to protect consumers and companies from rising energy costs. That’s a plea being echoed around the continent. In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has already extended a series of energy tax breaks to the end of June. Portugal will cut fuel levies starting on Friday, and other counterparts are likely to take similar action.

With the EU also under pressure to act, leaders are discussing the crisis in Versailles on Friday. One measure the bloc could consider would be to temporarily lift a ban on imports of genetically modified grains from the U.S. and South America to help farmers struggling with supply disruptions, according to Spain’s Agriculture Minister Luis Planas.

What Bloomberg Economics Says…

“If the gas supply is turned off, Germany and Eastern Europe almost certainly face a crunching blow to output, pushing the euro area into recession.”

The political impact of the cost-of-living squeeze is ultimately likely to test the continent’s resolve to keep confronting Russia at a time when its president, Vladimir Putin, is threatening to shut off gas supplies amounting to about a third of EU consumption.

“This is a sword of Damocles,” said Yves Dubief, whose grandfather founded textile weaver Tenthorey, an employer of 50 people in northeastern France that produces 5 million meters of cloth a year. In such circumstances, the business leader says the state would need to revive measures used during Covid to need help with fixed costs and furloughing workers. “If there is an embargo and we have to reduce our production, whatever the price of gas, it will be a question of whether we are compensated by public authorities.”

While such challenges are likely to focus governments in coming weeks, the most immediate task of addressing economic fallout has been left to ECB President Christine Lagarde. Officials accelerated stimulus withdrawal on Thursday as they unveiled forecasts showing inflation averaging 5.1% this year. The war presents a “substantial upside risk” to prices, she said.

Rodriguez, the French ceramics entrepreneur, looks on that threat with dread. He warns that the problems he’s seeing are likely to cascade throughout global manufacturing.

“There is a domino effect,” he said. “All big industrial firms on the planet have the same problem. In the more or less long term, we will all be faced with this problem of gas that’s too expensive.” READ MORE

Russia sanctions: Moscow warns it will retaliate to Europe gas changes

Russia sanctions: Alexander Novak, Russian Deputy Prime Minister speaks of how Russia will retaliate to the European gas movements as he also warned that the actions will cause prices to rise. Novak said Russia, which supplies 40% of Europe’s gas, was fulfilling its obligations in full but that it would be entirely within its rights to retaliate against the European Union after Germany last month froze the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Oil price surge and any sanctions hurt Europe more than U.S., expert explains

Seton Hall University Professor Margarita Balmaceda sits down with Yahoo Finance Live to discuss how the energy market would be impacted by the U.S. import ban on Russian oil, additional operational costs for European refineries, and crude oil prices.

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“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJV)

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Donald Trump

A Surreal Scene At The White House As The Combined Leaders Of Europe Were Lined Up In Chairs Like Schoolchildren As President Trump Lectured Them

Published

2 days ago

August 19, 2025

Geoffrey Grider

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The assembled leadership of Europe were sat down like schoolkids around the desk in the Oval Office while ‘teacher’ Trump lectured them on Russia and Ukraine

It was a wild scene in the Oval Office yesterday as the leaders of Italy, Germany, France, Finland, the president of the EU Commission, and the NATO secretary general were all put in chairs around the Resolute Desk while President Trump pontificated on how to proceed with ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. It was crazy, just look at the disdain on all their faces, like something out of an end times movie. That’s because we are living in an end times movie, and that’s the memo.

“For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.” Isaiah 29:10 (KJB)

On the Podcast yesterday, I talked about why Putin only wants to deal with Trump, and that’s because Putin knows that, in the end, he gets just about everything he wants from Trump that he would never get from talks with anyone else. All Trump wants is the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the war regardless of how the war is actually brought to an end. Trump becomes Putin’s proxy to deliver and dictate the terms to Zelensky and Ukraine. Fun fact, Putin will never, in a million years, agree to a ‘peace deal’ that is not highly slanted in his favor including acquiring parcels of Ukrainian territory he needs to rebuild the old Soviet Union. Don’t get me wrong, I hate war and would love to see peace in Ukraine, but that’s not going to happen because “and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”

European leaders discuss Ukraine security guarantees after Trump talks

FROM THE GUARDIAN UK: Monday’s White House meeting shed little light on Putin’s territorial terms. The Russian leader has demanded Ukraine’s withdrawal from Donetsk and Luhansk, but Zelenskyy has set a firm red line against ceding land beyond the present occupation or legitimising Moscow’s control.

Some observers say that for all the diplomatic manoeuvring, there has been little real movement towards ending the war. “Nothing had happened in Anchorage on Aug. 15th. Nothing happened yesterday in Washington DC,” Gérard Araud, the former French ambassador to the US, wrote on X. “Putin, Zelenskyy and the European leaders were all relieved: they had avoided Trump taking unwelcome decisions. It was the triumph of empty vagueness and meaningless commitments.” READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Donald Trump

VLAD TO SEE YOU: Trump And Putin Propose A ‘West Bank-Style Occupation Of Ukraine’ That Gives All Military And Economic Control To Russia

Published

7 days ago

August 14, 2025

Geoffrey Grider

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Russia and the United States have discussed a model for ending the war in Ukraine that mirrors Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, The Times has been told.

When President Trump had Zelensky visit the White House a while back, it was used as a pretext for Trump and Vance to jump all over him and publicly humiliate him. Trump was praised by some for his very firm handling of a seemingly ungrateful Zelensky. I wonder if President Trump will also be as firm and forthright with Putin when they meet in Alaska on Friday? Trump has given Putin a deadline for stopping the war, what happens if Putin disregards it? Nothing will happen, and that’s the memo.

“Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 39:5 (KJB)

Donald Trump would never, in a million years, speak to Vladimir Putin in the same way he spoke to Zelensky, he knows he is no match for the former KGB Soviet mastermind. But what he will do is appease Putin, and instead of negotiating a peace, he’s more than happy to carve up Ukraine and split it with him. Students of history remember how Hitler made a pact with Stalin and together they carved up Poland, and how did that turn out? When they two meet in Alaska tomorrow, it will be Putin coming in with the upper hand, just ask Ezekiel if you don’t believe me.

US and Russia ‘propose West Bank-style occupation of Ukraine’

FROM THE TIMES UK: Under this scenario Russia would have military and economic control of occupied Ukraine under its own governing body, imitating Israel’s de facto rule of Palestinian territory seized from Jordan in 1967.

The idea was raised weeks ago in discussions between Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s peace envoy, and his Russian counterparts, according to a source close to the US national security council. Witkoff, who is also tasked by Trump with bringing peace to the Middle East, is understood to support the idea, which the Americans believe circumvents barriers in the Ukrainian constitution to ceding territory without holding an “all-Ukraine” referendum.

President Zelensky has refused to countenance handing over land but the occupation model may be a mechanism to allow for a truce after three and a half years of war. Under the model, Ukraine’s borders would not change, just as the borders of the West Bank have gone unchanged for 58 years, only under Israeli control.

“It’ll just be like Israel occupies the West Bank,” the source said before Trump’s summit with President Putin in Alaska on Friday. “With a governor, with an economic situation that goes into Russia, not Ukraine. But it’ll still be Ukraine, because … Ukraine will never give up its sovereignty. But the reality is it’ll be occupied territory and the model is Palestine.”

Anna Kelly, the deputy White House press secretary, said: “This is total fake news and sloppy reporting by The Times, who clearly has terrible sources. Nothing of the sort was discussed with anyone at any point.”

Israel’s occupation has been ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice, which is not recognised by the US and only partially accepted by Russia. In March 2022 the court ordered Russia to “immediately suspend military operations” in Ukraine, by a vote of 13 to two in which Russian and Chinese judges were opposed. The order is binding on Russia but the court has no means of enforcing it.

The United Nations has ordered Israel to end its occupation, most recently in a vote of the general assembly last September by 124 nations to 14, with 43 abstentions.

The resolution called for Israel to comply with international law within 12 months and withdraw its military forces, immediately cease all new settlement activity, evacuate all settlers from occupied land and dismantle parts of the separation wall it constructed inside the occupied West Bank. Israel, which voted against the measure along with the US, has ignored the resolution. Britain abstained. This outcome for Ukraine’s occupied territories is seen by some US negotiators as simply reflecting the reality of the war and the refusal by all other nations to become directly involved in fighting Russia. In this view, all that remains is to establish the exact boundaries of Russian occupation, which Putin is seeking to push as far as possible before his talks with Trump in Alaska.

The scenario would reflect the world view expressed by Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s senior director for counterterrorism, during an interview in May.

“We live in the real world. The Trump administration lives in the real world,” Gorka told Politico. “We recognise the reality on the ground. Number one, that’s the beginning because we’re not utopianists and we’re not human engineers. We’re not some kind of pie in the sky believers in utopia.

“We recognise the reality on the ground and we have one priority above all else, whether it’s the Middle East or whether it’s Ukraine. It’s to stop the bloodshed. Everything else comes after the bloodshed has been halted.”

Israeli troops captured the West Bank — land between Israel and the River Jordan — from Jordanian forces during the 1967 Six Day War, putting millions of its Palestinian residents under Israeli control. Israel’s occupation has been ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice, which is not recognised by the US and only partially accepted by Russia. In March 2022 the court ordered Russia to “immediately suspend military operations” in Ukraine, by a vote of 13 to two in which Russian and Chinese judges were opposed. The order is binding on Russia but the court has no means of enforcing it.

The United Nations has ordered Israel to end its occupation, most recently in a vote of the general assembly last September by 124 nations to 14, with 43 abstentions.

This outcome for Ukraine’s occupied territories is seen by some US negotiators as simply reflecting the reality of the war and the refusal by all other nations to become directly involved in fighting Russia. In this view, all that remains is to establish the exact boundaries of Russian occupation, which Putin is seeking to push as far as possible before his talks with Trump in Alaska. READ MORE

Details on Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska begin to surface

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet on Aug. 15 to discuss a potential end to the war between Russia and Ukraine. Speculation surrounding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s participation in the discussions with Trump and Putin has largely subsided, as it now appears he will not be in Alaska for the meeting. LiveNOW’s Andrew Craft is getting a preview of what we might expect on Friday from Peter B. Doran, an adjunct senior fellow at FDD.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

European Union

OPERATION BARBAROSSA II? For The First Time Since WWII, Germany Launches A Permanent Deployment Of Troops In Eastern Lithuania On The Russian Border

Published

5 months ago

April 1, 2025

Geoffrey Grider

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Germany has launched its first deployment abroad since World War II, saying troops will be sent to eastern Lithuania on Russian border, which is NATO’s eastern flank.

We have been telling you for some time now that World War 3 is coming at us rapidly, and that when it does, Germany will once again be front and center just as they were in the previous two wars. Since then, we have watched Germany begin to rearm themselves to an astonishing degree, something they have not done since WWII, and now we are watching them deploy a permanent troop presence on foreign soil, also something we have not seen since WWII. That deployment just happens to be in eastern Lithuania on the Russian border, what an amazing coincidence.

“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9 (KJB)

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union, launched on June 22, 1941, aiming to conquer the western Soviet Union and establish German dominance in Eastern Europe. Operation Barbarossa was a spectacular failure and sounded the death knell for Nazi power and control in Europe, representing ‘strike 2’ in Germany’s plan to control the continent, WWI being the first strike. Jesus tells us in Matthew 24 that the beginning of sorrows will include wars and rumours of wars, and that is exactly what we are watching right now. WW3 here we come, and that’s the memo.

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Germany launches first permanent foreign deployment since WWII – and it’s on Putin’s doorstep

FROM THE MIRROR UK: Brigadier General Christoph Huber, commander of the brigade, explained: “We have a clear mission. We have to ensure the protection, freedom and security of our Lithuanian allies here on NATO’s eastern flank.” The unit is to be fully operational by 2027. It will be the first time German troops have been serving abroad permanently since the Second World War.

The newly created 45th Armored Brigade will contain 5,000 servicemen and women and be stationed in the east of the country. The brigade was activated during a ceremony outside the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. A temporary headquarters has been established, and the unit is under the command of Brigadier General Huber. The official headquarters in Rūdninkai is expected to be up and running by 2027.

Germany officially launched its first permanent foreign troop deployment since World War II on Tuesday — a 5,000-strong armored brigade in Lithuania — as Berlin moves to bolster NATO’s eastern flank in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine. The newly created 45th Armored Brigade was formally activated during a ceremony outside Vilnius.

Yes, this recent rocket test by Germany was a resounding failure, but let me just say this. You are going to watch them catch up at lightning speed, pun intended. Germany started the last two World Wars and they will start the third one, too. pic.twitter.com/4xr5vdjjJv

— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) April 1, 2025

The brigade is made up of frontline infantry, and support units – including a medical centre, signal company and command support teams.

Plans for the deployment were initially reported back in 2023. It was a major break from Germany’s defence policy, which has prevented the permanent deployment of troops abroad since the end of WWII. READ MORE

German Army At Russia’s Doorstep; Lithuania To Host 4000 German Troops Soon

FROM 2024: Lithuania has initiated the construction of Germany’s first permanent overseas military base since World War II. The financial times reported that new German army barracks are being built near the Belarus border. The base is expected to house approximately four thousand Bundeswehr soldiers by 2027. This significant construction project is part of Germany’s strategic response to regional security issues. In 2025, those troops are arriving daily, with the transfer complete by 2027.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.