USA - Individuals sanctioned under the vague bill would be unable to enter the United States or obtain US visas. The US House of Representatives this week passed a bill that would allow the Biden administration to sanction foreign individuals who oppose LGBT ideology. The so-called Global Respect Act (GRA) cleared the House in a 227-206 vote Wednesday, with six Republicans joining all Democrats in support. The GRA would empower the White House to impose visa bans on foreigners deemed responsible for or “complicit” in violations of “internationally recognized human rights” against people who identify as “LGBTQI.” The broadly-worded bill, which applies to private citizens, defines violations as “cruel and degrading treatment” and “flagrant denial” of the right to “liberty,” among other things. The findings of the bill specifically take aim at laws in dozens of countries that prohibit sodomy and other homosexual activity, as well as “policies or laws that would further target LGBTQI individuals.” More than 70 nations, including much of Africa and the Middle East, currently ban homosexual acts.

USA - 'I get PAID to be homeless in San Francisco’, it takes one phone call': 'Old school junkie' says he moved to woke city because it's 'pretty easy' when he gets $620-a-month from the city and the 'cops are like neighbors'. A self-proclaimed' old-school junkie' who moved from Texas to San Francisco because 'it's easy' to be homeless there claims he's being paid by the city government to live on the streets, getting $620 in cash per month and hundreds of food stamps while he sells Narcan and enjoys Amazon Prime and Netflix on his phone. ‘This right now is literally by choice, literally by choice. If we’re going to be realistic, they pay you to be homeless here,' James, a homeless man with face tattoos who has been living in San Francisco since June, told Michael Shellenberger, author of 'San Fransicko,' a book about how the city's progressive leaders are worsening homelessness, inequality and crime. James said it only took one phone call to receive government assistance, including hundreds in cash and food stamps worth approximately $100, and notes that the 'free money' is motivation to remain homeless.

USA - Shoplifting has gotten so bad nationally that chains like Rite Aid are closing hard-hit stores, sending terrified employees home in Ubers and locking up aisles of seemingly mundane items like deodorant and toothpaste. Why it matters: Retailers are already reeling from the pandemic, supply chain woes and the labor shortage. Now they're combating systematic looting by organized crime gangs — which are growing more aggressive and violent. At a Rite Aid that just closed its doors in midtown Manhattan, more than $200,000 in goods were stolen in December and January, per the New York Post. “They come in every day, sometimes twice a day, with laundry bags and just load up on stuff,” the Post quoted a store employee saying. One Bay Area crime ring stole $8 million in merchandise from CVS, Walgreens and Target stores. Another one ripped off a staggering $50 million in goods — mostly health and beauty products that thieves stockpiled in a warehouse. The top five cities for organized retail crime, in order, were Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, New York and San Francisco.

UKRAINE - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded the US share intelligence which suggests Russia is planning to invade his country on Wednesday - as the first British families begin arriving to the UK after being urged to flee the potential future war zone. The alleged invasion plans, reported by German newspaper Der Spiegel, are said to detail specific routes that might be taken by individual Russian units and were analysed by the Secret Service, the CIA and the Pentagon before being handed over to President Joe Biden's government.

RUSSIA - As of February 1st, 20 percent of the world’s potash (potassium-based fertilizer) exports are suddenly, and for the foreseeable future at least (Russia as a bypass option can’t yet handle this level of traffic), off-line due to Lithuanian Railways unlawfully tearing up its contract with Belaruskali to bring Belarussian potash to Klaipeda, Lithuania for seaborne export. This arises from Lithuania’s political decision to follow US sanctions on Belaruskali and Belarus in general.

USA - Wall Street titan Steve Schwarzman launched a $100 million plan to create a global education scholarship program in China to rival the Rhodes Scholarships offered at Oxford University, Peter Schweizer writes in his bestseller Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win.

USA - Consumer prices rose 7.5 percent annually by the end of January, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department, the fastest rate since February 1982. The Labor Department’s consumer price index (CPI), which tracks inflation, rose on an annual basis for the sixth consecutive month and above the 7.2 percent increase projected by a consensus of economists. Price hikes for food, electricity and shelter contributed the most to January's inflation jump, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday. Food prices are 7 percent higher, gas prices are 40 percent higher and energy prices in general are 27 percent higher than in January 2021, according to the Labor Department. “Congress and the Administration must proceed with caution before adding more fuel to an economy already on fire,” Manchin said in a Thursday statement.

USA - US President Joe Biden said after his meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that he will “end” the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Europe if Moscow sent troops into Ukraine. “If Russia invades ... there will no longer [be] a Nord Stream 2,” Biden said during a joint press conference with Scholz. “We will bring an end to it.” When pressed for more details on just exactly how the US can achieve this, Biden could only mutter: “I promise you, we'll be able to do it.” The American president of course found it difficult to answer this question because his country is not involved in the Nord Stream 2 project and has very little influence over it - the only thing Washington can hope for is that sustained pressure on European allies will make them capitulate to their demands. However, the reality is that Germany, Europe’s most important country alongside France, has its own economic interests that must be served and not compromised for the sake of the US. Berlin has defended its ability to complete the pipeline, despite the fact that the US opposes the project in any way possible. Washington has no interest in the fact that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is vital for the German economy and industry.

USA - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is visiting Joe Biden in Washington today. As a student activist, Scholz cooperated closely with the Communist East German regime against NATO, as Gateway Pundit reported. Now it emerges that his Homeland Security secretary, who wants to weaponize the Feds against conservatives, supports violent Antifa extremists.

USA - Stock of Tyson Foods, the world's second largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after Brazil's JBS SA, is soaring 9%, hitting an all time high and is one of the S&P's best companies this morning after the company reported blowout earnings (thanks to passing on surging food prices) and announced that it is raising prices even more as it grapples with a tight labor market and smaller livestock herds. According to the report, beef prices jumped by 32% in the quarter, with chicken up ~20% and pork 13%. This helped Tyson's operating margin grow to 11.3%, up from 6.7%, a year earlier. The higher meat prices has, however, had the Biden administration scrambling as profits continue to mount at meatpackers, while runaway inflation continues to crush Biden's collapsing approval rating.

CHINA - In a statement on Sunday, China said it would support Argentina in its claims over the Falklands Islands – also known as Islas Malvinas – a self-governing British overseas territory in the southern Atlantic. The remote archipelago is the subject of an almost 200-year sovereignty dispute. Beijing said that it hoped negotiations over the islands would resume soon in accordance with relevant UN resolutions to resolve the dispute peacefully. China’s announcement, which was part of a joint statement on deepening relations between Beijing and Buenos Aires, has angered Britain. “We completely reject any questions over sovereignty of the Falklands. The Falklands are part of the British family and we will defend their right to self-determination. China must respect the Falklands’ sovereignty,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a tweet on Sunday.

USA - General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, has accused Iran of being “morally responsible” for drone and missile strikes by the Houthi militia of Yemen against the UAE and Saudi Arabia. McKenzie is currently visiting the United Arab Emirates to give Abu Dhabi “assurance” that the US stands with the Gulf country against what he described as a threat from Tehran.

UK - The first Queen Elizabeth transformed her country into a world power. The second, through no fault of her own, has overseen the reverse. There’s no doubt that Queen Elizabeth II is a wonderful monarch, perhaps one of the greatest Britain has ever seen. To put her long reign in perspective, she ascended to the throne only seven years after the end of the Second World War, and Winston Churchill was her first prime minister. Her commitment to duty and to her people are beyond reproach, and, as a result, her jubilee will be met with a swathe of celebratory television documentaries and news articles.

UK - Legendary television presenter turned farmer Jeremy Clarkson has spoken out for his fellow farmers of Oxfordshire, England, who held a protest on Tuesday after local officials decided that only vegan products would be served at council events. “Farmers of Oxfordshire. I wish I’d known about your protest today. I’d have been there like a shot,” Clarkson posted on Twitter. Sharing a link to local news coverage of the demonstration, he criticized the council’s move to ban non-vegan foods at municipal events as “utter utter madness.” “Why are Liberal Democrats always Stalinist?” the presenter added. On Tuesday, local farmers staged a demonstration at County Hall in Oxford to protest the decision made by the Liberal Democrat and Green alliance council. The protesters also called on the authorities, as well as Oxfordshire residents, to better support the British agricultural sector. The council, which passed plans for the move in December, said the measure was part of its efforts to tackle climate change.

USA - Fact-checking is one part of the campaign to control what you see online, and therefore what you think and how you perceive reality. Investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson explains how virtually everything you see and hear online has been co-opted, or taken over to serve a greater agenda. Instead of real journalists and reporters, the media is infiltrated with propagandists who dictate what’s “fake news” and what’s not. The public is being manipulated to want their information censored by third-party “fact”-checkers, which were introduced as a tool to confuse and control the public further. “Conspiracy theory”, “debunked”, “quackery” and “antivaccine” are examples of terms that are being used as propaganda tools; if you hear them, it should make you dig deeper for the truth. Those who rely solely on the internet for their information are at serious risk of being controlled; you can fight back by doing your own research, trusting your cognitive dissonance and using your common sense.