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Putin is ready for talks on Ukraine, but on his own terms

On February 8, US TV anchor Tucker Carlson released a two-hour interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This was the Russian leader’s first encounter with a Western journalist since the start of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The interview was met with a lot of mockery in the West, largely focused on the first part, in which Putin suggested that he would talk about Russo-Ukrainian history for 30 seconds and then went on bragging about medieval princes and long-extinct empires for a good half-hour. Some of his claims were outright shocking, such as his suggestion that Poland precipitated World War II by failing to accommodate Hitler’s demands. Others reflected a view of history associated with Russian nationalist mythology, which is hardly worse than Ukraine’s nationalist mythology – the one which Western supporters of Ukraine tend to pass as the country’s legitimate history. While the interview provided a lot of fodder for Western ridicule, it also contained some important messaging that Western observers ignored amid their persistent rejection of the very likely prospect that Putin will end the war in Ukraine on his own terms. Throughout his conversation with Carlson, the Russian leader appeared to channel the sentiment of being constantly duped by the West and demonstrate a firm resolve not to be duped ever again. The Russian president spoke of Ukraine’s invitation to join NATO, issued at the Bucharest summit in 2008. Germany and France were known to be against it at the time and only a small minority of Ukrainians supported the idea. According to Putin, US President George W Bush pushed through the decision which triggered a chain of events ultimately leading to the conflict in Ukraine. He told Carlson that at the time he was being repeatedly assured by his German and French counterparts that Ukraine wasn’t really going to join NATO, but he had no reason to believe these assurances. If the US was able to press them into agreeing to the invitation for Ukraine, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t do it again to get the country into NATO, he said. Later in the interview, Putin brought up the February 2014 agreement between the Ukrainian government and the opposition. Mediated by France, Germany and Poland, it was supposed to end the violence at the most dramatic point of the Maidan revolution in Kyiv. Putin said that instead of complying with it, the opposition proceeded with overthrowing Viktor Yanukovych’s government, whereupon – he maintained – the Western guarantors threw the agreement “into the furnace”. Towards the end of his history lecture, he brought up the Istanbul talks in March 2022, which could have ended the current war in Ukraine. He claimed that he removed the troops from the surroundings of Kyiv at the insistence of Western leaders in order to facilitate the talks, whereupon the Ukrainians ditched the agreements at the behest of the West – namely British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The claim that the withdrawal was intentional is hardly plausible since the Russian forces in northern Ukraine were extremely stretched and suffering heavy losses from the Ukrainian army’s guerrilla tactics. They likely would have had to be pulled back anyway. But the sentiment of being duped was once again very much there and it should inform us about his further actions. Putin appears to see the history of his relationship with Western and Ukrainian leaders as a succession of insults and betrayals, to which he has responded in his trademark heavy-handed manner: Not an eye for eye, but a punishment that grows exponentially each time the opponent shows perceived intransigence. Yet his policy, at least from his own point of view, has always been reactive, not proactive. Whether it was in good or bad faith, the message he was trying to convey in the interview is that at each crucial point in history, Ukraine had a choice of sparing itself all the further trouble and that it still has this choice now. He is ready for talks. A few times in the interview, he ridiculed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for banning himself from talking to Putin by a presidential decree. He urged his Ukrainian counterpart to cancel that decision. Putin’s endgame appears to be getting an agreement along the lines of what has been tentatively achieved in Istanbul, but this time with all the territories which Russia occupied and formally annexed after these talks fell through. The implied threat is that Ukraine will lose even more territory – not to mention lives and infrastructure – should it keep being stubborn. What Putin is trying to achieve is making the West face its moral dilemma which boils down to the cost and benefit of resisting his aggression. The continued support for Ukraine’s military effort will cost thousands of lives and devastate Ukraine even further, while success is hardly guaranteed. The stakes do not seem to be in Kyiv’s favour as things stand now: Russian troops are advancing all along the front line and the US military aid to Ukraine is in jeopardy due to the resistance from the Republicans. But getting back to the Istanbul framework means a clear defeat for both Ukraine and the West, no matter how hard all the spin doctors and troll farms will try to frame it as a victory. More than anyone else, it will be the Ukrainians who will be asking what was all this enormous sacrifice for when it was possible to sign a deal in Istanbul back in March 2022 or to implement the Minsk agreements, which Zelenskyy publicly dismissed as “vapid” days before Putin ordered his troops to march on Ukraine. If the situation does not miraculously change, at the moment Ukraine looks very far from getting any semblance of what was envisaged in Minsk or Istanbul and it is drifting further towards misery. The mockery of Putin’s interview will, of course, continue in a hermetic echo chamber that has long parted ways with reality. The views expressed in this article

UK announces sanctions on four ‘extremist’ Israeli settlers

The settlers are accused of committing human rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The United Kingdom has announced sanctions on four Israeli settlers accused of committing human rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank after a similar move by the United States this month. The sanctions announced on Monday follow what the UK called “unprecedented levels of violence by extremist settlers in the West Bank” over the past year by some residents of illegal Israeli settlements and outposts there. The sanctions represent a rare move by London and Washington against Israelis as war rages in the besieged Gaza Strip. The transatlantic allies’ steadfast support for Israel’s military operations in the territory has drawn heavy criticism both internationally and among sections of their domestic populations. Announcing the asset freezes and travel and visa bans against the settlers, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: “Israel must also take stronger action and put a stop to settler violence.” “Too often, we see commitments made and undertakings given but not followed through,” he added. Cameron said “extremist Israeli settlers” are threatening Palestinians, often at gunpoint, and “forcing them off land that is rightfully theirs,” branding the behaviour “illegal and unacceptable”. “Extremist settlers, by targeting and attacking Palestinian civilians, are undermining security and stability for both Israelis and Palestinians,” he said. Two of the individuals sanctioned – Moshe Sharvit and Yinon Levy – have in recent months used physical aggression, threatened families at gunpoint and destroyed property, Cameron’s foreign ministry said. Their actions are “part of a targeted and calculated effort to displace Palestinian communities”, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office added. London also targeted Zvi Bar Yosef, who it said had set up an illegal outpost in the West Bank in 2018, which has been described by local Palestinian residents as a “source of systematic intimidation and violence”. A fourth person London sanctioned, Ely Federman, has been involved in multiple incidents against Palestinian shepherds in the South Hebron Hills, according to the Foreign Office. Levi was the only one of the quartet to also be targeted by the US when it imposed sanctions on four Israeli settlers for attacking Palestinian communities in the West Bank, accusing them of undermining stability and security in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The US sanctions target Levy, David Chai Chasdai and Einan Tanjil, who are accused of assaulting and intimidating Palestinians. They also target Shalom Zickerman, who is accused of assaulting Israeli activists. The White House also announced a new decree to penalise perpetrators of “extremist settler violence” in the West Bank. Adblock test (Why?)

Two orphaned teens got their seven siblings to Rafah; now they live in fear

Deir el-Balah/Rafah, Gaza – In a little tent in Rafah, 15-year-old Nagham al-Yaziji and her brother Mohammad, 14, are holding down the fort as best they can, keeping house and caring for their seven younger siblings, the youngest of whom is six-month-old sister Toleen. The children have lost both their parents over the past four months and had to bring their younger siblings south on their own, set up a tent, and struggle through every day as best they can. Holding Toleen in his arms and bouncing her gently, Mohammad tells Al Jazeera about the day they lost their mother, Shouq al-Yazji, 37, in the first week of Israel’s war on Gaza. Mohammad plays with Toleen in their tent [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] “That day, my mother asked us to look after my little sister, Toleen, who was three months old at the time, because she was going to visit my grandfather nearby,” Mohammad recalls. While Shouq was visiting her elderly parents, the house next door was bombed, killing everyone in it and in the surrounding houses. Her husband and children found out late that evening. “Hearing that was devastating,” Nagham says, describing the feelings of sadness and utter loss they all felt when they realised they would never see their mother again. Left alone After Shouq was killed, the family struggled without her as their fears built up with the worsening safety situation in their neighbourhood. Five of the al-Yazji children stand outside their tent [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] Seeking safety in numbers, their father took everyone to al-Shifa Hospital for shelter. But conditions there were terrible, with overcrowding and a severe lack of everything, even access to hygiene. So the decision was taken that they would flee further south, and the children’s father started to prepare for the trip. “My father left us that day to go to our house and get a few things we would need. But he never came back,” Nagham says. “We lost contact with him, and we don’t know his fate.” In the midst of the confusion and worry over their disappeared father, the older children were painfully aware that the situation was only getting worse and that something would have to be done to protect the younger ones. Mohammad and two of his younger brothers walk through their encampment to get water [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] “So, we fled to the south with my uncle,” Nagham says. Their uncle does not live with them. All he could do was help them set their tent up and look in on them from time to time. For the day-to-day, the older children take care of the younger ones and somehow the nine make do. “I queue for water and aid and bread every morning. I start a wood fire and heat up the water to prepare formula for my baby sister,” Mohammad says proudly. Nagham, as the eldest, frets about her siblings daily. “Life without a father and mother would be excruciating in normal circumstances, let alone such dire circumstances,” Nagham adds. Mohammad, in spite of his young age, tries as hard as he can to do the things that his father would have been doing for the family, and it seems to pain him that the little makeshift tent where they all shelter lacks even the simplest and most basic of necessities. Mohammad gathers clothes that had been hung out to dry. With no washing facilities, they are never really clean [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] “Sometimes I’ll go out looking for a day’s work when we have nothing to eat and I need to earn to support my siblings. “But some of those times I come back without any money and they go to bed hungry,” Mohammad says. Nagham, for her part, takes on the mothering, trying to take care of the entire family, especially 18-month-old Youssef and baby Toleen. “I make them their bottles with Mohammad’s help. I change their diapers and figure out what our meals will be every day. “Yesterday I managed to make falafel for them, with the help of my aunt,” Nagham says. Nagham stands holding Toleen as her younger siblings eat falafel she managed to prepare with the help of an aunt [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] While she does her best with her circumstances, Nagham is still a child herself and struggles with fear, doubt and sadness. “I don’t understand everything children want. Sometimes, my baby sister will wake up in the middle of the night crying but I won’t understand what she wants. “I don’t know: Is she hungry? Is she in pain? I often end up crying along with her,” Nagham says tearfully. While both Mohammad and Nagham hope day in and day out that the war ends soon and that they can find out what happened to their father, they also live in constant terror of the Israeli raids and the land assault Israel is threatening to launch. “This situation is so terrifying. We’re afraid when they bomb at night. I try to reassure my siblings and calm their fears, but the whole time I’m trembling myself,” Mohammad says. “We don’t know where we would go anymore,” Nagham interjects. “It’s not like there’s anywhere safe that we can take the little ones and go, so we just stay here with our fears.” “I miss my parents terribly. Life without them is so unbearably hard and sad,” Mohammad concludes. Mohammad holding Toleen outside their makeshift tent in Rafah [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] Adblock test (Why?)

Weather update: IMD issues yellow alert for heavy rainfall in several states; check full forecast

The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a yellow alert for heavy rainfall till February 13th in several states of Central and North India.

Biden campaign joins TikTok after admin purged app from federal devices over security concerns

President Biden’s re-election campaign has joined TikTok in an effort to woo young voters after the administration banned the Chinese-owned app from federal devices over security concerns. On Sunday, Biden’s campaign announced they joined the platform with a video of the president answering Super Bowl questions as the game was underway. The campaign made the move after reports surfaced late last year that they were mulling joining the app. However, a campaign spokesperson downplayed the move at the time.  BIDEN ‘DID NOT REMEMBER WHEN HE WAS VICE PRESIDENT,’ WHEN HIS SON BEAU DIED, DURING SPECIAL COUNSEL INTERVIEWS It also came after the Biden administration banned the app over security concerns. Last February, the administration set a 30-day deadline for government agencies to purge the app from federal devices. The social media platform, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is popular among younger Americans. Biden has previously joined forces with TikTok influencers amid his re-election run, and the Democratic National Committee also joined the platform. The president’s campaign joining the Beijing-based social media platform could present unique security risks. Most notably, the Chinese Communist Party’s cybersecurity law allows government authorities to access companies’ data. BIDEN’S BRUTAL WEEK: PRESIDENT BATTERED BY GAFFES, DAMAGING SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT Many Republicans resist using TikTok due to data security concerns, while an increasing number of Democrats have adopted the platform. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has railed against TikTok, saying last month that it should be “banned” and that the CEO is “lying” about the app being safe for Americans. “The evidence that China is using TikTok to spy on and influence American citizens is clear, and it only keeps mounting as time goes on,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., previously wrote in a Fox News Digital op-ed. “Moreover, Beijing’s influence on ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is undeniable,” he said. “Not only does Chinese law compel ByteDance to hand over data at a moment’s notice, but the Chinese government also holds an ownership stake in the tech giant’s key domestic subsidiary.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.

How to get new Fastag? Check step-by-step guide, documents required and more

FASTag is used to facilitate the toll collection system. One can get a Fastag through various ways including from banks and digital payment apps.

Fulton County DA Fani Willis accused of lying about timing of affair with Trump prosecutor

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is accused of lying about the timing of her alleged “improper” romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade in a new court filing. Michael Roman, who is a co-defendant in the Georgia election interference case against former President Trump, made the new allegation in a filing with the Superior Court of Fulton County on Friday. Roman’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, informed the court that Wade’s former law partner will testify that Wade and Willis began their affair before she appointed him to prosecute Trump and his 18 co-defendants.  “Willis and Wade claim they did not have a personal, romantic relationship before Willis appointed Wade as a special prosecutor, but Terrence Bradley (“Bradley”) will refute that claim,” Merchant wrote. Georgia attorney Terrence Bradley is a friend and former business partner of Wade, according to the filing. He will testify that the romantic relationship between Wade and Willis began before Willis was sworn as the district attorney for Fulton County in January 2021, Merchant wrote. EMBATTLED DA FANI WILLIS FACES 4TH ACCUSATION TO DISQUALIFY HER FROM THE TRUMP CASE “Thus, Bradley can confirm that Willis contracted with Wade after Wade and Willis began a romantic relationship, thus rebutting Wade’s claim in his affidavit that they did not start dating until 2022,” the filing states. Roman, a Republican operative who worked on Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, has asked the court to disqualify Willis from the election case, alleging that her personal relationship with Wade created a conflict of interest. In legal filings last month, Roman alleged that Wade billed Fulton County for 24 hours of work on a single day in November 2021, shortly after being appointed as special prosecutor, and that Willis financially benefited from her alleged lover’s padded taxpayer-funded salary by taking lavish vacations together on his dime.  According to the court documents, Wade, who has no Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act or felony prosecution experience, billed taxpayers $654,000 since January 2022.   FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS ADMITS PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH PROSECUTOR BUT DENIES CONFLICT OF INTEREST Willis responded to the allegations in a court filing earlier this month and admitted to having a “personal” relationship with Wade but denied any conflict of interest. She also argued that according to Georgia law, in order for a district attorney to be forcibly removed from a case, the conflict of interest has to be harmful to a defendant’s case.  In the filing, Willis denied having a personal relationship with Wade at the time of his appointment to the Trump case in November 2021.  Roman’s attorneys claim Bradley will “refute” that claim. The filing states that Bradley learned of the affair directly from Wade prior to Wade’s decision to file for divorce from his wife of 26 years.  “Bradley also has personal knowledge that Wade and Willis regularly stayed together at her home until Willis’ father moved into her home sometime in 2020,” Merchant wrote. GEORGIA WHISTLEBLOWERS LINING UP TO TESTIFY AGAINST FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS, STATE LAWMAKER SAYS Roman also added new details to his claim that Wade spent thousands of dollars on vacations he took with Willis, including a Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas cruise to the Bahamas in October 2022; a trip to Aruba in November 2022; a Norwegian New Year’s cruise from December 2022-January 2023; a trip to Belize in March 2023; and a Napa Valley getaway in May 2023.  “If, as Bradley confirms, Willis and Wade were in a romantic relationship before she even took office, Wade likely provided Willis with significant other gifts and benefits,” the filing asserts. “Of course, the State and Wade have now filed motions to quash Mr. Roman’s lawful subpoenas in an attempt to prevent discovery of these facts.” In her response last week, Willis claimed she and Wade split travel expenses, but she only provided receipts for one flight from Atlanta to Miami.  GOP REP SENDS MESSAGE TO TRUMP PROSECUTOR FANI WILLIS WITH CHEEKILY NAMED NEW BILL The new allegations come two days after Willis’ office filed a motion seeking to block Roman’s subpoenas for Willis, Wade and others to testify at a Feb. 15 evidentiary hearing presided by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee. Roman also claims in the filing that Willis intentionally gave statements to the media to “enhance her own public image” and “poison the jury pool” against Roman, echoing allegations made last week by fellow Trump co-defendant David Shafer, the former Georgia GOP chairman and a GOP presidential elector for the Peach State during the 2020 election. Shafer accused Willis of a “pattern of prosecutorial, forensic misconduct” in a court filing arguing she and her entire office and staff should be disqualified from the election interference case. He claimed that Willis has a “pattern of prejudicial public statements” about the case through various media interviews and public speeches, and claimed that in making such statements, she intended to “inject and infect the jury pool.” Roman’s attorney made similar arguments in his filing.  “When the lines get blurred between a prosecutor’s interest in her personal fame and publicity and her public duty, the system breaks down, as does the public’s confidence in the process itself, which threatens to undermine the public’s confidence in the outcome,” Merchant wrote. Trump, represented by attorney Steve Sadow in the Georgia case, has joined Roman and two other co-defendants in calling for Willis to be disqualified. Willis also faces a separate lawsuit from Merchant over claims she failed to turn over records in compliance with the Georgia Open Records Act and that she is “intentionally withholding information” ahead of the hearing. Additionally, the district attorney is under investigation by both Georgia Republicans and the House Judiciary Committee over whistleblower claims that her office has misused taxpayer funds. The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fox News’ Brianna Herilhy and Claudia Kely-Bazan contributed to this report.

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Delve into the intricacies of BestSMMProvider, exploring its features, pricing, strengths, and weaknesses.

Biden apparently bumps his head on Marine One as debate persists over president’s mental fitness

President Biden appeared to bump his head while exiting Marine One after flying back to Washington, D.C., from Delaware on Sunday. Biden, walking with first lady Jill Biden, did not appear to react after bumping into the top frame of Marine One’s exit. The incident comes amid heated debate over Biden’s continued mental fitness for office after Special Counsel Robert Hur revealed the 81-year-old has significant memory issues. Biden departed his home in Delaware just before 10 p.m. as the fourth quarter of the Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl began. Last week, Hur’s report on Biden’s handling of classified material fueled questions about Biden’s mental acuity when it described the president as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” who could not recall details of significant life events. Biden then held a last-minute White House press conference to dispute the notion, but the event was slammed as a “political disaster,” even by The New York Times. BIDEN LASHES OUT AT REPORTERS ASKING ABOUT AGE CONCERNS AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT: ‘THAT IS YOUR JUDGMENT!’ Moments after insisting that his memory was “fine,” Biden proceeded to refer to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the “president of Mexico.” Biden then went off script and took questions from reporters at random, prompting a combative exchange with CNN correspondent MJ Lee, who asked about Americans who are concerned about his age. BIDEN LEAD OVER TRUMP SHRINKS WITH THIRD PARTY CANDIDATES ADDED “They’ve expressed concerns about your mental acuity,” Lee told Biden. “They say that you’re too old. Mr. President, you told me in December that you believe there are many Democrats who could defeat Donald Trump. So why does it have to be you now?” FLASHBACK: DEMS RAN DEFENSE ON BIDEN’S AGE BEFORE SPECIAL COUNSEL PUT DAMNING SPOTLIGHT ON HIS ‘POOR MEMORY’ Polls have repeatedly shown that a majority of Americans and even Democrats believe Biden is too old to serve a second term. A new poll from ABC News/Ipsos found that 86% of Americans believe he is too old to hold office, while 62% said the same for former President Trump, 77. Criticism of Biden’s age has grown more prevalent in the left-wing media in recent days as well, with hosts on “The View” going so far as to say Vice President Kamala Harris or California Gov. Gavin Newsom should replace him on the Democratic ticket. Fox News’ Brian Flood and David Rutz contributed to this report.

Former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia gets 3-day interim bail to attend niece’s wedding

The Rouse Avenue Court granted 3 days interim bail to Former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia on Monday to attend his niece’s wedding function from February 13 to 15.