ROME — Pope Francis said that NATO “barking” at Russia’s door may have led to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine — and said he has offered to meet the Russian president in Moscow.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Francis reflected on Russia’s lethal aggression toward its neighbor and said while he might not go as far as saying NATO’s presence in nearby countries “provoked” Moscow, it “perhaps facilitated” the invasion.

Francis also condemned the “brutality” of the war and compared it to Rwanda’s civil war in the 1990s, which resulted in a genocide of the Tutsi minority.

https://www.politico.eu/article/pope-francis-nato-cause-ukraine-invasion-russia/

“That is so ironic.” This sentence is used frequently—and usually incorrectly—in American English.

Often the word ironic is misused to remark on a coincidence, such as This is the third time today we’ve run into each other. How ironic.

It is also mistakenly used to describe something out of the ordinary or unusual: Yesterday was a beautiful, warm day in November. It was really ironic. And, unfortunately, it is sometimes used to simply emphasize something interesting. For example, Ironically, it was the best movie I’ve seen all year! We submit that ironic might be the most abused word in the English language

The line “For fools rush in where angels fear to tread” was first written by Alexander Pope in his poem An Essay on Criticism. It is used now as a proverb that means: inexperienced people jump into situations that wiser, experienced people avoid.

Putin is a dictator, but romanticizing Zelensky as if he were the hero of our times is a fool’s rush in where angels fear to tread.

https://medium.com/politics-from-hell/ukraine-or-russia-what-about-peace-511ed584ac87

BBC news: facts or interpretation?

Not to be led astray by news reports, it’s important to draw a line between hard and fast facts and their interpretation. Here are two passges comprising both:

“After facing setbacks on the battlefield, Russian forces have concentrated on attacking Ukrainian power facilities, fuel storage depots and water works.

Shells have fallen near reactors and have hit a radioactive waste storage building at the plant but have not yet caused serious damage.

Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the shelling.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-63721069

The West concentrated its efforts on demonizing Putin and mounted an unprecedented campaign of dehumanizing and drowning him in a torrent of abuse. Just look at the editoreal pages of the flagship of American democracy – The New York Times:

Russian strongman, bare-chested muscleman, villain, unreconstructed Russian imperialist who has malign intent and a planto enlarge his empire, leader of a rogue state, authoritarian ruler, bully who seeks a “Great Russia” in an “outrageous and highly dangerous power-play” [Herman, 2014: 174]

The choice of derogatory terms is taken from American research:

Herman Edward S. and Peterson, David. The Ukraine Crisis and the Propaganda System in Overdrive // Lendman Stephen. Flashpoint in Ukraine. – Clarity Press, Inc., 2014. – 269 p. - P. 173 - 174..

Should the cinematic taboo be Suspended?

sex scenes of any kind between men in mainstream films – let alone sexually frank ones –  are still pretty rare. While progress has been made when it comes to representation, showing "two guys going at it" is still somewhat of a cinematic taboo.
 

"If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck" – suggests that something can be identified by its habitual characteristics.

She has softened her image and resents being linked to Italy's fascist past, but she still embraces an old slogan adopted by the fascists - "God, fatherland and family"

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-63025985

In 2019, Hanover became the first state capital to mandate the use of gender-neutral language in all official communication, from emails to brochures and posters. It deployed what's known as the "gender star," an asterisk placed within a noun to indicate it refers to men, women and nonbinary people alike. For instance, the word for all citizens became Bürger*innen.

"Women are being called persons with a menstruation background," Baer says incredulously. "Of course, one can do this sort of thing, but that's more cabaret than anything else."­­

There's no denying the UK can have a complex relationship with France. From boat crossings in the Channel to ferry passport checks, there's been tension recently.

But as a close neighbour and a fellow NATO member, there are few in mainstream politics who would consider France anything but a strong ally. Especially at a time when western unity over the war in Ukraine is so important, and any division could be exploited by the likes of Vladimir Putin.

While Ms Truss's comments did appear to go down well with the audience of Conservative members, she's still the foreign secretary - the UK's chief diplomat. And therefore what she says on international affairs really matters.

This won't be the end of the matter. Ms Truss will be asked about these comments again over the coming days.

What happens next will be watched carefully, on both sides of the Channel.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-62682448