Turkey was keen to promote the importance of what it called “tripartite” talks between Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, despite few results, reports Ruth Michaelson.

“It is significant that this meeting took place,” Çavuşoğlu told a press conference. “Both sides wanted Turkey to be present at this meeting.” Asked about the mood in the room, he said it “took place in a civilized manner. They didn’t raise their voices.

“I didn’t expect all demands to be met, some decisions can only be made at management level,” he added. “Of course, we couldn’t expect a miracle to come out of it, but it was significant because a political contact took place.”

In an interview with Turkish broadcaster TRT World immediately after the talks, Kuleba said he was surprised that Lavrov had not been empowered by the Kremlin to reach agreements on his demands for humanitarian corridors and a possible ceasefire. fire.

“He came to discuss but not decide,” he said. “I would like to congratulate Çavuşoğlu, who really did his best to facilitate the discussion, but I have the impression that Lavrov came to speak but not to decide, so we did not find common ground on these issues. I offered a number of solutions, but unfortunately he was unable to accept them, I feel like he had no authority to make decisions during these talks,” he said. he declared.

“I was surprised to hear that because I guess foreign ministers have the power to make decisions, the power to make deals. But it seems that, specifically for the first round of talks, Lavrov didn’t was not in that position,” he added.

Turkey has deep diplomatic and economic ties with Russia and Ukraine and has positioned itself as a neutral partner willing to retain the trust of both countries while maintaining its own international commitments as a NATO member. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is due to speak with US President Joe Biden later today, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due in Ankara next week.

Still, Turkey’s push for a diplomatic push is partly a self-preservation effort, as the war in Ukraine risks further endangering Turkey’s economy and perhaps even domestic politics. The country is currently going through a protracted economic crisis which saw the lira lose half of its value last year, and protests over rising energy costs and soaring inflation.

As a major buyer of Russian natural gas as well as Russian and Ukrainian wheat, Turkey’s economy is only becoming more vulnerable as the conflict in Ukraine continues. Many in Turkey expected Erdoğan to call a snap election later this year, which now seems uncertain as the country’s economy appears unlikely to recover as the government had previously hoped.

“We don’t have to take sides in the war; on the contrary, we are a country that can establish an equal dialogue with both parties to end it. We cannot afford to take sides,” Çavuşoğlu told Turkish TV channel Habertürk earlier this month when asked about international sanctions against Russia.

Turkey worked to assert its alliances with Russia and Ukraine even before the Russian invasion, including a visit by Erdoğan to Kiev in early February. Turkish officials have since stressed that they have remained neutral, despite a steady stream of footage released by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry showing Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones attacking Russian artillery columns. Ukraine recently received a new batch of drones last week, according to Ukrainian officials.

Çavuşoğlu and Kuleba stressed that they are open to further talks if the Russian side agrees. “Turkish diplomacy has succeeded in what others have not been able to, bringing us together for the first meeting between Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers in years, especially since the start of the conflict,” Kuleba said.

Çavuşoğlu also raised the possibility of a direct meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin either in Belarus or Turkey. “Lavrov said that Putin was not against such a meeting in principle,” he said.

Joe Biden’s speech sounded like a closing argument, one that had been honed for some time and suggested that expectations are still high in the White House for Russia’s military action.

Biden briefly nodded to Moscow’s claims to stand down before sharply contradicting them, raising the US estimate of the number of troops surrounding Ukraine to 150,000 in a “threatening position”.

It was the kind of speech normally delivered on the eve of a capital action, usually a military action, to prepare the expectations of the population. Biden spoke directly to the American people, telling them he wasn’t going to “pretend it’s going to be painless” and that they would smell it at the gas pump. He promised that his administration would do what it could to mitigate this.

The president has also sought to speak over Putin’s head to ordinary Russians, who have heard little from their own media about their unprecedented troop deployments around Ukraine. Biden spoke of their “deep family history and cultural ties” with Ukrainians, and warned that a war would bloody the country’s reputation in the history books. The world, he said, “will not forget that Russia chose unnecessary death and destruction.”

He made it clear that the United States remained open to negotiations on mutual security issues, saying it would continue talks “as long as there was hope” for diplomacy, but he was sticking to the American position that no compromise on the fundamental principle of the right of Ukraine and other states to choose their alliances.

Earlier in the day, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had stressed that Ukrainian membership would not happen for the foreseeable future, but Biden did not echo that conciliatory note. The United States has already concluded that such verbal assurances will not be enough for Putin

Biden’s final statement, “If we don’t stand up for freedom. where there is this risk today, we will surely pay a higher price tomorrow” is likely to be met with grim glee in Kyiv, following the evacuation of the US Embassy and the withdrawal of diplomats Americans at the western end of the country. But the United States has maintained the arms supply and is said to have arranged for weapons to continue to flow to a Ukrainian insurgency should that happen.

This administration is well aware that it has been portrayed as weak for the way it left Afghanistan.

But Biden had long since lost faith in the US mission there, despite his wholehearted belief in NATO. He used the word “sacrosanct” to describe America’s obligation to its allies. It was a deliberately resonant language. Biden is clearly aware that this could prove to be a litmus test for his presidency.

This week, we finally got a reprieve from winter storms. There’s still plenty of white, muddy snow on the ground, though.

We plan to get cozy on the couch and watch some of the best athletes in the world compete. We know the 2022 Winter Olympics aren’t without controversy (see: these ESPN and New York times stories, among countless others), but we are always proud of the athletes on Team USA. We enjoyed seeing Nathan Chen’s record breaking performance and how he puts on his N95.

And, in the midst of all the chaos and fragility of the world, we appreciate seeing athletes encouraging and consoling their fellow competitors, reminding us of our humanity.

We’re keeping tabs on the US Food and Drug Administration’s review of Pfizer-BioNTech’s data on their vaccine for children 6 months to 5 years old, which some parents of young children have been desperately hoping for. The results are mixed and complicate the decision-making process, both for experts and for parents, because this article by The Wall Street Journal Explain. Yet even getting to this exam is progress.

We are cautiously optimistic about the decline in COVID-19 cases, but we are still holding our breath as it feels like deja vu again.

Until next week, stay safe and warm everyone!

Historical Legislation on Sexual Harassment

It’s a sad reality that bipartisanship in politics is rare these days, so when legislation is co-sponsored and passed with bipartisan support, it’s remarkable.

This is the case this week. A majority in both houses of Congress passed the law ending forced arbitration of sexual assault and sexual harassment. He is now heading to President Joe Biden’s office for his signature.

The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (DN.Y.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (RS.C.), ends mandatory arbitration in workplace sexual assault and harassment cases, which which means that survivors regained their right to sue their employers in court.

The bill was first introduced in 2017 as the #MeToo movement garnered widespread attention after a number of prominent women, including well-known actresses, came forward with allegations of sexual harassment.

Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson became a strong supporter of the bill after learning her employment contract included a forced arbitration clause, which barred her from suing then-Fox News CEO Roger Alies. . She accused him of sexual harassment.

Read the full story here.

Pandemic lingo

Given the emotional toll the pandemic continues to take, we were surprised and thrilled to stumble across this roundup of COVID-19-inspired buzzwords.

There are a lot of jokes and bingo drinking games about business jargon, but it serves to communicate ideas, culture and values. During the pandemic, this jargon became even more important because we weren’t able to interact like we did before COVID. Meanwhile, the need for open and honest communication has never been greater as conditions, advice and situations continue to evolve.

“In the past, you could communicate culture through physical things,” Andre Spicer, a professor at Bayes Business School, City, University of London, told The New York Times. “When you go virtual, you don’t have artifacts, whether it’s table football or an office canteen, so you end up with people on screens and words.”

The change of language also represents a change of time and environment. For example, doomscrolling was the American Dialect Society’s 2020 Digital Word of the Year. The word conjures up specific memories of when many of us were stuck at home due to stay-at-home orders and trying to learn as much as possible about this new virus. which seemingly overnight turned the world upside down.

This list of lingo had us laughing, sighing and cringing because the past two years have been exhausting, tense and exhausting. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Read the full list here.

A potential breakthrough

Last month we saw some news that we didn’t fully understand. So we’ve bookmarked it until we can give the news the time and attention it deserves, because the implication is huge.

A study in the journal Science suggests that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the main cause of multiple sclerosis (MS). EBV is one of the most common human viruses. It can cause mono, also known as kissing disease, among other illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Once a person contracts an EBV infection, the virus becomes latent or inactive in the body. In some cases, the virus can reactivate. This is what the researchers theorized. Today, a study of 10 million US service members found that nearly all cases of MS are preceded by EBV infection.

These findings raise hope for new treatments for a debilitating chronic disease that affects the brain and spinal cord, as described by the Mayo Clinic. Nearly one million people live with MS in the United States, according to a study funded by the National MS Society.

There are treatments to relieve symptoms, but currently there is no cure for MS. More research is needed, but at a time when so many of us are desperate or discouraged, potential breakthroughs and scientific developments are helping to renew hope for better days for all.

A summary of the study can be read here, and a summary of the results can be read here.

Democrats believe Attorney General Merrick Garland has enough evidence to indict Donald Trump for his role in inciting the Capitol riots.

Several Democratic senators have said the Justice Department is likely to prosecute Mr Trump over the January 6 attacks, but stressed they have no inside knowledge of the investigation.

Tim Kaine of Virginia said he believed Mr Trump’s actions were illegal and the DOJ had “all the evidence at their disposal”. The hill reported.

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said his conduct was part of the FBI investigation and “may be criminal.”

Meanwhile, Mr Trump is being criticized for sharing the false claim that white people face discrimination in the distribution of Covid-19 treatments at his rally in Arizona on Saturday.

“The left is now rationing life-saving therapeutics based on race, discriminating and denigrating, simply denigrating white people to determine who lives and who dies,” he told his supporters.

Mr. Trump also denounced enemies, including Joe Biden and incumbent GOP Congressman John Katko, one of only 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach the 45th president after the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.

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Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), two countries which have long operated on opposing sides of the region’s “cold war”, have started to thaw their relations, according to Iran’s deputy foreign minister after his visit Wednesday in the United Arab Emirates.

Ali Bagheri Kani, the Iranian diplomat who also oversees Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the West, met with UAE Minister of State and Foreign Affairs Khalifa Shaheen and his predecessor in this office, Anwar Gargesh. Emirati state-run media WAM called the meeting amicable, saying the Emirati and Iranian leaders “stressed the importance of strengthening relations on the basis of good neighborliness and mutual respect.”

At the end of the meeting, the Iranian diplomat took to twitter to praise it, saying the two sides had “agreed to open a new chapter” in their often strained relationship.

The two countries have clashed in various regional conflicts, supporting opposing sides in the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars. Iran has also strongly criticized the Abraham Accords, the peace deal brokered by the United States that led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

Despite their differences, Iran and the United Arab Emirates have maintained diplomatic relations even after their ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia were severed in January 2016. Under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi advocated multilateral “collective diplomacy”. between states in the Middle East and the Gulf aimed at defusing ongoing tensions.

Kani’s trip to the United Arab Emirates was made in preparation for Iran’s re-entry into nuclear negotiations with the United States and other P5 + 1 members on November 29. The negotiations aim to restore the precedent set by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which lifted most sanctions against Iran in exchange for severe restrictions on its nuclear program.

In 2018, the United Arab Emirates supported the decision of then-President Donald Trump to withdraw the United States from the JCPOA, saying the deal allowed Iran to continue developing ballistic missiles and funding its regional proxy groups, including the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Under President Joe Biden, the United States pushed all parties to return to the deal, and Iranian Special Envoy Rob Malley visited various countries in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates, to assure regional partners that the Biden administration remains committed to regional security as negotiations loom.

Trevor Filseth is a news and foreign affairs writer for the National interest.

Image: Reuters

I noticed this when buying gasoline. Monday after work. And I felt guilty. As you can see, on the right side of the image there is a Joe Biden “I DID THIS” sticker. On the left side, you can see where a Biden sticker of a similar design has been partially scratched off (I’ll come back to the scratch in a moment). There are several of these models available online and I ordered a few a few weeks ago because I collect political memorabilia.

The package was bigger than expected

I was not expecting a pack of 100. I kept a few and gave the rest to friends, neighbors and guests. One of the guys at work showed me a photo of a similar sticker applied to a gas pump in Jerome. It was larger than what I received in the package.

After taking a photo of the pump at Smith’s, I compared it to a photo of some stickers I took while looking at them on my desk at work. I saw a match in size, though. There is an additional printing on the sticker at the gas station. Maybe someone ordered from Amazon, which I did. Or someone wrote on a sticker after I gave it away.

Nothing to laugh about

It was funny at first. It’s not now. I don’t want to be responsible for the inconvenience of scratching those sticky jokes. On the air, I mentioned the Kyle Rittenhouse story. He had been in Kenosha, Wisconsin to clean up graffiti and then was asked to help and defend private property. The loss of goods at the car store was much worse during the riots compared to the stickers on a gas pump or a grocery shelf and, yet. The two are acts of vandalism separated by degrees.

A guy wrote to me after I mentioned the on-air comparison and said I was no more responsible than a gunmaker who sells a product that is then used in a crime. No, there is a difference. A gun maker realizes that his product could one day be used by a criminal, but for the most part he knows that most guns are used for sporting or self-defense purposes.

People don’t store Biden stickers in family albums and I don’t think anyone sticks them on the fridge at home. These things are screaming “put me on a gas pump!” Looking back, I’m sorry.

Election memes that will make you laugh or cry

KEEP READING: Find Out About The Notable New Words That Were Coated In The Year You Were Born

Norfolk Southern has started enforcing the federal vaccination mandate, which is applicable because the company is a federal contractor, and some of its Altoona employees are unhappy with it.

Enforcement of President Joe Biden’s September executive order began last month with an apology note to employees that was nonetheless final on the need for workers to be vaccinated, unless they could get an exemption for medical or religious reasons.

A few Juniata Locomotive Shop workers protested the warrant in front of the store entrance, according to other workers who spoke to the Mirror about their own opposition to the new requirement, but the protesters were not there Wednesday after- midday.

Norfolk employees must “Provide their (vaccination) status” to the company by Monday, so Norfolk can arrange to meet the federal deadline of Dec. 8 for everyone to be fully immunized, according to the note, a copy of which a Norfolk spokesperson provided to the Mirror.

“For some, this news will require a difficult individual choice”, the memo says. “(But) we don’t want anyone leaving the company because of this.”

The memo encouraged anyone in need of accommodation – an exemption – to request one.

“I’m not going to protest physically” a store worker, who identified himself as Denny, said on Wednesday. “But I don’t think the vaccine is good for me.”

Workers should be able to choose, Denny said.

COVID-19 has been politicized to appear more dangerous than it actually is, Denny said.

In fact, it is “about as bad as the flu”, he said.

COVID-19 has killed around 749,000 people in the United States in the 20 months since the start of the pandemic and around 5 million worldwide, according to sources online.

An average of 36,000 people a year have died from the flu in the United States over the past decade, according to usafacts.org.

Some Norfolk workers apparently attempted to organize a “reminder day” via social media to voice their opposition to the mandate, but there was some kind of pullback that stifled the effort, Denny said, without further explanation.

Three other employees who spoke to the Mirror in the parking lot opposite the stores on Wednesday were either shot or are considering getting them, but disagree with the warrant.

“I didn’t particularly want to get it” said one. “But I’m ready to do it to keep my job.”

It is “sour” about it though, he added.

“I really don’t care” another said. “But I don’t think they should be forcing it on anyone.”

Insurance considerations appeared in the decision of the third employee, who nevertheless complained that he had been forced to “play these games” after having worked all his life.

A longtime store worker, who recently retired, shared these workers’ opposition to the mandate.

“I believe in freedom” said Jim Patterson, chairman of the Township of Logan Board of Trustees. “It is your right to choose. “

The mandate is federal “exceeding”, said Patterson, who did not get a shot.

“I don’t trust the vaccine” Patterson said, citing the lack of a long history for it.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and highly effective in preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19, and despite their rapid development last year, they have been used successfully on several million people, experts say, including those of UPMC.

Norfolk must meet the mandate because it transports tanks, Humvees and jet fuel for the U.S. Department of Defense, and because it delivers coal to the federally-run Tennessee Valley Authority, according to the memo.

The company has determined that it is covered by the mandate “After carefully considering the (executive) order”, the memo says.

“We studied it, we went through it with a fine comb”, Company CEO James Squires said in a “Call for results” with analysts last month. “It is a difficult decision that is being forced on some of our employees as a result, and we regret it. “

The information that employees must share with the company as part of the mandate will be “Treated as confidential medical information”, the memo says.

Employees can request exemptions through a company’s online portal, according to the memo.

Decisions on these exemption requests will likely depend on limitations imposed by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII prohibitions against disability and religious discrimination, according to a blog post by Timothy S. Jost on the Fund’s website. of the Commonwealth.

The executive decree is part of a “Comprehensive national strategy … (to) ensure that we use all the tools available to fight COVID-19” to save lives, keep schools open and protect the economy, according to a White House statement titled “Getting out of the pandemic”.

Norfolk will likely lose a few employees as a result of the tenure, Squires told analysts.

“It was not our idea” Squires said. “However, we will follow the law.”

Mirror staff writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.

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G20 leaders pledged to stop funding overseas coal-fired power plants before the global agenda shifts to Glasgow and also highlighted the divisions that will be visible over the next two weeks.

Was the result of the G20 summit a victory for the climate? It depends on who you ask. Late in the day on Sunday, the leaders were busy giving their own interpretation of the press release (which you can read here).

Many praised the outcome, including, as might be expected, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, US President Joe Biden and UK COP26 President Alok Sharma. But others said he had not done enough, including Canada’s Justin Trudeau and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who said his hopes for the G20 had remained “unfulfilled”.

The keys to the climate

Climate finance: The UK and Italy have each stepped up their commitments to fund the switch to green energy for developing countries that have not benefited from the fossil fuel boom. Mario Draghi said he would triple Italy’s contribution to $ 1.4 billion per year and Boris Johnson said he would increase the UK’s contribution from £ 11.6 billion to £ 12.6 billion of books. This brings the total closer to the annual target of $ 100 billion set in Copenhagen over a decade ago.

Coal: The discussions on coal went hand in hand in Rome. The Italian Presidency has succeeded in securing an agreement to end the international financing of coal-fired power stations, which does not weaken. But nothing was agreed on on phasing out domestic coal despite long tortured negotiations on the issue, or on setting a date for the phasing out of “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.”

Carbon pricing: This was first mentioned in the text of the final communiqué. While Draghi said it was a breakthrough, the term is only mentioned as a set of tools: “Such a policy mix should include. . . a wide range of fiscal, market and regulatory mechanisms to support clean energy transitions, including, where appropriate, the use of carbon pricing mechanisms and incentives.

Methane: The powerful warming gas was also worth mentioning for the first time, albeit in passing. A reduction in methane emissions, from both natural gas leaks and agricultural sources, could have the greatest short-term impact in limiting global warming.

1.5C: The final press release refers to the ideal Parisian target of 1.5 ° C warming since pre-industrial times, noting that the effects of climate change are less at 1.5 ° C than at 2 ° C. (The world has already warmed by about 1.1 ° C.)

“Keeping 1.5 ° C within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment on the part of all countries, taking into account the different approaches,” the document said. This sentence is hailed as a victory by some, but also leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

A House Democrat reintroduced a Social Security reform bill, dubbed Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust, in an effort to gain more support from President Joe Biden and Republicans.

The bill, introduced by Rep. John Larson (D-CT), chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on social security, appears to combine Biden’s proposals with House Ways and Means initiatives. It would expand and improve Social Security benefits for the approximately seventy million Americans currently eligible.

“The United States faces a pension crisis and a modest increase in benefits strengthens the one part of the pension system that is universal and most reliable,” the bill’s backgrounder says.

The new version of the bill follows the latest Social Security Administration estimates that the trust funds that support the program will run out in thirteen years. According to a recent Treasury Department report, the Old-Age and Survivors trust fund will only be able to pay planned Social Security benefits until 2033, while Medicare’s hospital insurance fund is expected to run dry in 2026.

The Treasury Department said in a statement that “the finances of both programs have been significantly affected by the pandemic and the recession of 2020.” In 2034, only 78% of the promised benefits will be payable to Social Security beneficiaries.

According to CNBC, “The bill proposes to extend this date until 2038 to give Congress more time to find a long-term solution to the program’s solvency problems. The measure would also incorporate proposals made by President Joe Biden during his presidential campaign. ”

Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, told CNBC that “there are a lot of attractive things, and nothing that I don’t think should cause any problems for Democrats in an election year.”

A major feature of the legislation proposes to increase the minimum benefit for low-income workers to twenty-five percent above the poverty line. Moreover, this figure would be linked to current salaries in order to “ensure that the minimum allowance does not fall behind”, according to lawmakers. There is also an increase in benefits for new and existing beneficiaries amounting to about two percent of the average benefit.

If the bill is passed and signed by Biden, Social Security will also adopt the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, also known as the CPI-E, which Democrats say “would better reflect the costs incurred by the elderly ”, such as increased health care and prescription costs.

“Social Security is a sacred commitment made to all Americans and a promise that must be kept. As seniors and people with disabilities struggle to pay for the costs of food, shelter and prescription drugs, this bill expands the benefits and protections of millions of Americans, ”said Senator Richard Blumenthal ( D-Conn.) In a press release. “The Social Security Act 2100 will keep this vital lifeline and ensure that our country’s basic social insurance program provides current and future beneficiaries with a quality standard of living. ”

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based science and technology writer who has held positions at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow him or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters

The SHIBA Inu coin is available on Coinbase on Tuesday, as is Bitcoin after Square CEO Jack Dorsey revealed that the company is looking to engage in crypto mining with this currency.

“Square plans to create a custom, open source silicon-based bitcoin mining system for individuals and businesses around the world,” said CEO Dorsey. said in a tweet Friday.

“If we do this, we will be following our hardware portfolio model: building in the open in collaboration with the community.”

The price of Bitcoin peaked at $ 62,000 in six months after the tweet, Business Insider reported.

Bitcoin and Shiba Inu remain active on Tuesday, according to Coinbase.

Additionally, crypto prices have seen some changes after President Biden’s statement calling attention to potential money pitfalls, such as ransomware and other cyber threats.

Joe Biden’s statement reads: “Cyber ​​threats can affect every American, every business, regardless of size, and every community. That’s why my administration is mobilizing a national effort to deal with cyber threats.”

Read our live cryptocurrency blog for the latest news and updates …