GenZedong darkcalling • 6 days ago • 96%

https://www.rt.com/russia/603929-ukraine-concentration-camps-kursk/ > Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk Region have rounded up local civilians and placed them in “something like concentration camps,” RIA Novosti reported on Thursday, citing a Russian Foreign Ministry report. > > When Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into Kursk Region last month, thousands of civilians were evacuated or themselves fled deeper into the Russian heartland. Some however, including elderly people and those with disabilities, were unable to leave, and their settlements fell under Ukrainian control. > > According to a new report seen by RIA Novosti, those left behind were subjected to detention methods synonymous with World War II. > > “In a number of territories controlled by militants, something like ‘concentration camps’ were created, which civilians who did not want or were unable to leave the territory captured by the enemy were forcibly driven into,” the report said, according to RIA Novosti. These claims were based on eyewitness accounts collected by the Russian Red Cross in Kursk. > > Of those detained, between 70 and 100 were taken to a school in Sudzha, where some of the fiercest fighting took place. Once there, they were subjected to psychological abuse and presented to foreign journalists, RIA Novosti claimed. ***** https://www.rt.com/news/603943-taiwan-beijing-navy-seal/ > The US Navy’s elite special operations unit, SEAL Team Six, has been training to “help Taiwan” in case of a “Chinese invasion,” according to the Financial Times. The unit is most famous for the 2011 mission that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan. > > SEAL Team Six “has been planning and training for a Taiwan conflict for more than a year at Dam Neck, its headquarters at Virginia Beach about 250km south-east of Washington,” FT reported on Thursday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. > > So far, the only hints of US plans for a potential conflict around Taiwan have come from Admiral Samuel Paparo, the head of the Indo-Pacific Command, in an interview in June. > > “I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities so I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything,” Paparo told the Washington Post. ***** https://www.rt.com/business/603925-china-western-investment-drop/ > Western firms pulling back from China > Declining economic growth and the rise of other manufacturing centers in Asia are slowing investment, lobby groups claim > China is gradually losing its appeal as an investment destination for Western companies, according to reports released this week by the EU Chamber of Commerce in China and the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. > > The two lobby groups conducted surveys among investors and owners of businesses in China. According to their findings, many respondents have been consolidating their operations in the country and no longer see the Chinese market as a primary investment destination. > > An annual poll by the American Chamber of Commerce shows that the number of businesses considering China as their top investment destination has dropped to 47%, the lowest in 25 years. A survey by the EU chamber shows that only 15% of respondents named China as their top investment destination, while previously the figure stood at 20%. > > “Some European Chamber members have begun both siloing their China supply chains and operations, and shifting investments previously planned for China to other markets to increase supply chain resilience, take advantage of comparatively lower labor costs and hedge against future geopolitical shocks,” the EU lobby group stated in its report. > > Experts from both lobbies suggest that one of the main drivers behind the trend is the slump in China’s economic growth. According to official figures, China’s growth slowed to the worst pace in five quarters in April-June this year, at 4.7%. Other factors are intensifying competition from local companies and the appearance of alternative manufacturing centers in Asia. > > For instance, around 20% of the businesses surveyed by the US business lobby said they would be slashing investment in China this year, while 40% stated they would be redirecting it to countries such as India and Vietnam. > > Many of those surveyed said China’s trade tensions with the US were also affecting investor confidence. Washington has been tightening economic restrictions and hiking tariffs on Chinese goods since 2018, when then-President Donald Trump launched a trade war with Beijing. Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, has taken a similarly hostile approach, despite Beijing’s repeated warnings that these measures violate the principles of fair trade. Around 70% of respondents in the survey by the American chamber called US measures targeting China the greatest challenge to the country’s economic growth.

China darkcalling • 1 week ago • 96%

www.globaltimes.cn

Another westerner in China admits the west is full of lies on Xizang and that the people there and their culture, language, etc are flourishing. Here are some bits I found personally a bit interesting: > They call me a liar because I was with the government and only saw what the government wanted me to see. But the government didn't stop me looking out the bus window, nor did they stop me going for long walks into downtown Lhasa, or downtown Linzhi. They didn't stop me interacting, and even dancing, with thousands of people in a village fair in Maizhokunggar. > Oppression exists in many places, I've seen it, and I even helped deliver it as a police officer in the UK, fighting miners who wanted a better life, fighting colored migrants who wanted equality, fighting white supremacists who want their country back. I was one of Margaret Thatcher's thin blue line, keeping "ordinary" people safe from those that in today's world would labeled extremists. > > I know what oppression looks like and here's the thing, after extensive travel in China, I've never seen it anywhere. I didn't see it in Xinjiang and I certainly didn't see it in Xizang. > > I saw kids who speak, read and write their local language. I saw adults dressed in their local styles. I saw ordinary people shopping, visiting temples and serving food in the streets and in restaurants.

US News darkcalling • 1 week ago • 100%

www.techspot.com

I have some thoughts on this I'll post as a comment. But basically the predictions of their re-shoring being a total bust were nonsense. It doesn't matter at the end of the day if their efficiency is only 80% of that of their fabs on the island, if it's enough to be part of what supplies the entire west with all they need for laptops and smartphones and gaming consoles then it's enough to no longer need that occupied part of China or care what their actions taken against China result in as far as consequences.

www.rt.com

[(archive link)](https://archive.ph/5UG3a) Yes they have to some great degree. Russia is not in danger of collapsing or being unable to trade but the difficulties are mounting as the Chinese continue to be averse to directly standing up to US sanctions. This article is quite good and goes into a bit of the details but I'm not sure how I feel about the conclusion that all is alright and this is doomed not to succeed and that this is a sign of decline which the author hastily inserts at the end without any real supporting evidence compared to the rest of the article. It feels not exactly supported, like putting a rosy spin on bad news. > The resilience of the Russian economy in the face of harsh Western sanctions sent those cheering the rise of multipolarity into victory laps. And it has been a huge embarrassment to the West. But Russia’s burgeoning problem settling payments with China demonstrates that this resilience isn’t without setbacks. > > This past June, the US Treasury put the local banks of countries that trade with Russia in the crosshairs for secondary sanctions. The legal foundation for measures against companies or individuals found trading with sanctioned entities was originally implemented back in December, but it was in June that Washington expanded this framework and sent strong signals that this time it was serious. These threats were felt particularly acutely in China, Russia’s largest trade partner. > **What happened and when** > It started with the big state-owned Chinese banks, which began shying away from dealing with Russia at the beginning of the year. But there were always smaller, regional banks, which were seen as less exposed to the Western financial system, which would take their place. For a while, it seemed these banks would carry the day. But now even these institutions have followed suit. > > By the summer, Chinese banks were rejecting and returning about 80% of Russian payments made in Chinese yuan, Kommersant reported in late July. An article in Izvestia from mid-August claimed that things were even worse: 98% of Chinese banks were refusing to take direct yuan payments from Russia. > > The result has been delayed and disrupted payments for many Russian importers. A Reuters report from last week discusses how transactions with Russia are being shut down “en masse” and billions of yuan worth of payments are being held up, according to a government source. > > “At that moment, all cross-border payments to China stopped. We found solutions, but it took about three weeks, which is a very long time, trade volumes fell drastically during that time,” the government source told Reuters. > [...] > Meanwhile, the tighter restrictions have led to a drying up of yuan liquidity in the Russian market. In other words, it has become harder and more expensive for Russian companies needing yuan to get ahold of the currency. Given how much of Russia’s trade now takes place in the Chinese currency, this is certainly an issue. > As a result of the squeeze, more and more firms are having to turn on a regular basis to a channel previously used as a last resort – expensive swaps with the Russian central bank (whereby entities post rubles as collateral in exchange for yuan). At the start of September, Russian banks raised a record 35 billion yuan through this facility, well up from the 20 billion daily average in August and 10 billion average in June. Essentially, the Bank of Russia is being forced to fill the gap left by Chinese private banks operating in Russia. > The Russian central bank will almost certainly have to play a larger role, and exporters will probably also step in to provide liquidity. But there is no quick and easy fix. > In making sense of these issues, first of all, it is important to note that this problem is well understood in Russia and is freely discussed, including at the highest levels of government and in the media. No façade is being erected; there is no attempt to suppress this story. It’s been on the front pages of the Russian financial press. > > It also bears keeping in mind that Russia-China trade is not exactly collapsing. In fact, despite the problems, turnover actually grew overall by 1.6% in the first half of this year. More importantly, the experience of the last few years has shown that whatever headwinds emerge end up being a strong driver of change. Central banks are proposed as a solution including CBDCs (central bank backed digital currencies) but the question then is would the US sanction central banks of partner countries like China and India? In China's case without knowing more or being an expert in these financial systems I'm tempted to say yes because they have it out for China anyways and really want to create friction between China and Russia by forcing China to choose either the US or Russia and if they choose Russia they use that as evidence and ammo to ramp up decoupling and sanctions on China and if they choose the US then it weakens Russia to encourage a US push to finish them off before taking on China or at least they hope pushes Russia away from helping China when the US takes them on.

Palestine darkcalling • 2 weeks ago • 100%

[Original source (RT):](https://www.rt.com/news/603535-israel-negotiations-smokescreen-gaza/) > West Jerusalem has been sidelining diplomacy in favor of a “military solution” to the Gaza war, Moscow said > Israel has been using peace negotiations to mislead the international community and hide its true intentions in Gaza, Russia’s deputy envoy to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky has said. > > Speaking at the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Polyansky accused West Jerusalem of “stubbornly seeking a military solution to the problem, while attempting to ignore the decisions of the UNSC.” > > “The Security Council is united in the understanding that the rescue of the remaining Israelis and foreigners by military methods is impossible and that there is no alternative to negotiations. The Israeli society understands and recognizes this as well,” the diplomat said. > > “However, the Israeli leadership, unfortunately, continues to treat the negotiations only as a ‘smokescreen’ designed to distract the international community.”

www.rt.com

[(archive link)](https://archive.ph/nUTsm) I have excerpted some of the most interesting parts, to read the full article which is worthwhile please follow the link. > As allies continue to pressure Tehran, the Islamic Republic is wondering who will benefit from a possible war in the region > By Farhad Ibragimov – expert, lecturer at the Faculty of Economics of RUDN University, visiting lecturer at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. > The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh [Hamas leadership and chief negotiator] in Tehran at the end of July has dramatically escalated the tension between Iran and Israel, which have been on the brink of a full-scale war for several decades. > > In 2024, Iran faced a series of major challenges: a large terrorist attack in Kerman at the grave of General Qasem Soleimani; an attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus which killed 11 diplomats and two high-ranking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) generals; the tragic deaths of President Ibrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash; and finally, the assassination of the leader of the radical Hamas movement Ismail Haniyeh in the center of Tehran. > > All of this forces Iran’s political leadership to take tougher and more radical measures in order to prove both to its own people and to the world that this is not the way to “talk” with Iran. Apparently Iran is delaying taking any action and frustration is growing with its allies such as Hezbollah and other militias. > On the one hand, by its ominous silence, Iran has forced Israel to resort to extreme security measures and close its airspace. Tehran believes that the expectation of a response is also part of the punishment, because tension in Israel continues to rise. > On the other hand, the White House has reassured itself, insisting that through intermediaries, it has convinced Tehran to abandon the idea of attacking Israel. In its usual manner full of pathos, the Biden administration has declared that Iran would face serious consequences if it decided to strike Israel. In fact, Washington does not benefit from the escalation of the conflict – in light of the upcoming US elections, it does not want to give Donald Trump a chance to accuse the Democrats of having failed to prevent an attack on their main ally in the region. Therefore, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan are ready to negotiate with anyone, even Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in order to prevent a scenario that would be unfavorable for them. But as we know this won't bring an end to the genocide in Gaza, the peace talks are a smoke-screen and short of the US somehow using leverage on isn'treali intelligence to force them to coup Netanyahu there will be no peace this year that involves good terms that Hamas finds acceptable and which give any breathing room to the Palestinian people. > A few days ago, the Kuwaiti edition of Al-Jarida reported that Iran’s relations with its allies have deteriorated because of Israel. The media notes that Tehran has provoked the anger of Hezbollah by saying that it’s necessary to be patient about avenging Israel for the murders of Ismail Haniyeh and Fuad Shukr – one of the senior military officials of Hezbollah. At a meeting of the representatives of pro-Iranian forces in Tehran, representatives of the IRGC demanded their allies demonstrate restraint regarding Israel – at least while negotiations on a ceasefire in Gaza are ongoing. > >The disagreement turned into an argument, and some delegates allegedly left the meeting quite angry. The meeting was attended by representatives of Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Yemen’s Houthis (the Ansar Allah movement), and some smaller Iraqi groups. > > Hezbollah believes that the only way to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and peace in the entire region is to use force against Israel. They believe it is time to open all fronts, directly attack Israel and confront anyone who decides to defend it, including US troops and the Arab countries. Tehran’s allies speak in favor of large-scale and long-term military operations aimed at destroying Israeli infrastructure, security systems, military and economic facilities, as well as Israel’s civilian and residential areas. In their opinion, this will force Israelis to live in shelters for a long time, and they will experience the same challenges as the residents of Gaza. > > Moreover, representatives of Hezbollah stated that the current situation cannot be ignored, and that they can independently decide to attack Israel without coordinating their actions with Iran. Hezbollah also said that after the Israeli attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut, it should attack Haifa and Tel Aviv. Moreover, Hezbollah is considering expanding the goals of its possible military operation and attacking other Israeli cities, even if this leads to casualties among civilians. Yemen’s Houthis supported Hezbollah’s position. > A source in the IRGC said that the Iranian side made it clear that such a scenario is quite risky and will only serve the interests of Israel. > > He noted that the Iranians offered to negotiate with Israel on the principle of “an eye for an eye” – i.e., if one of the leaders of the Axis of Resistance is killed, an Israeli official must be killed in return. To this, Hamas representatives who were at the meeting in Tehran allegedly replied, “If Iran is ready to accept the consequences of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in exchange for the murder of Haniyeh, then Hamas will support this policy, but if Iran’s goal is to kill lower-level figures, the movement will not agree with this.” **** What does everyone think? Should Iran continue avoiding escalation that may draw in the US? Is this foolish and likely to embolden Netanyahu who after all is desperately trying to escalate in order to extend his own rule at home and avoid an election or consequences for his failure to get the hostages back that has made him unpopular even within the settler-colonial occupation? Can a death blow be delivered to the occupation without Iran and other nations suffering serious devastation from US retaliation?

World News darkcalling • 2 weeks ago • 98%

www.rt.com

[(archive link)]([https://archive.ph/HssgC](https://web.archive.org/web/20240902172423/https://www.rt.com/news/603411-venezuela-president-plane-seized/)) > The US government has confiscated an airplane reportedly used by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, claiming it violates Washington’s sanctions against Caracas, CNN reported on Monday. > > The US has charged Maduro with drug trafficking and refused to recognize his victory in the last two Venezuelan presidential elections. > > “Seizing the foreign head of state’s plane is unheard-of for criminal matters. We’re sending a clear message here that no one is above the law, no one is above the reach of US sanctions,” an unnamed Washington official told CNN, which first reported the story on Monday. > > According to CNN, the plane is worth around $13 million and was seized in cooperation with Dominican authorities.

China darkcalling • 3 weeks ago • 100%

> Instead of "protecting human rights," the unilateral sanctions have severely undermined the rights of Uygurs, particularly young Uygur women. > The U.S. sanctions had nothing to do with the alleged human rights concerns. The purpose, he said, is to crush Xinjiang's economy, cause mass unemployment and undermine social stability, said an expert who grew up in Xinjiang. This article goes over the human cost of the US's illegal, coercive sanctions on China and how they fall primarily on women and set back women's rights in Xinjiang. This is probably in keeping with what the US wants as they want to foster a traditionalist, conservative, reactionary culture and religious extremist movement in Xinjiang to attack China with, to destabilize the region and China as a whole and of course to grow into a large separatist movement as part of the goal of balkanizing China.

World News darkcalling • 3 weeks ago • 100%

www.rt.com

[(archive link)](https://archive.ph/0n2zw) > Russia often loses all contact with local residents forcibly taken by Kiev troops, the Foreign Ministry has said > Ukrainian troops occupying part of Russia’s Kursk Region have been abducting and sexually abusing local residents, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s special mission to investigate alleged Ukrainian war crimes, Rodion Miroshnik, has claimed. > > In an interview with RIA Novosti on Thursday, Miroshnik confirmed numerous earlier reports alleging that Ukrainian forces – including foreign mercenaries – have engaged in numerous atrocities against the civilian population since the start of the large-scale incursion on August 6. > > “We have evidence of sexual violence committed by both foreign mercenaries and Ukrainian radicals,” he stated, suggesting that the Ukrainian leadership had deployed “all of its scum” to Kursk Region in an apparent effort to get them out of the country and “dispose” of them. > Other apparent crimes by Kiev’s forces include abductions, Miroshnik claimed. “We have data that Ukrainian militants are taking action to kidnap people. They are snatching civilians and taking them away to an unknown location. We often lose contact with them. Where are they taken? To Ukrainian territory, or to secret prisons?” he asked.

Technology darkcalling • 3 weeks ago • 94%

www.rt.com

[(archive link)](https://archive.ph/yQQ9Z) > The US and its CIA-controlled “soft power” arm utilized the encrypted social media app Telegram to foment riots and protest movements against foreign governments it deems undesirable, former Trump administration official and free speech activist Mike Benz has said. > > These statements were made during an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson on his show Wednesday. Benz, a State Department official under the Trump administration, now runs the free speech watchdog Foundation for Freedom Online. > [...] > The US has championed free speech globally for decades, “in large part” because it allows the country to build resistance and political or paramilitary movements “in countries where the US State Department seeks political control,” the former official said. Durov’s end-to-end encrypted social media app Telegram has been instrumental in this effort, Benz claimed. > > The reason “26 US-government-funded NGOs” condemned Russia for attempting to ban Telegram in 2018 was that “the US State Department was using Telegram,” utilizing its encryption and local popularity “to foment protests and riots within Russia – just as they did in Belarus, Iran, Hong Kong, and attempted to do in China,” the former State Department official stated. The app’s encryption is a powerful means of evading state control over media and allowing “US-funded political groups or dissidents to garner tens of thousands of supporters with relative impunity,” he added.

Technology darkcalling • 4 weeks ago • 100%

https://www.rt.com/news/603033-telegram-founder-paris-arrest/ The founder has been arrested in Paris on charges of abetting criminals by making a censorship resistant app. He in the past claimed the west (NSA/CIA/etc) asked him to put a backdoor in his app and for what little it's worth he claims he refused. Now with him in their custody, in their clutches, where they can sentence him to a brutal prison sentence for the rest of his life he may like many people be willing to cut them a deal on a backdoor so he can save his own life. Such a deal may not be publicly apparent and may even be carefully disguised and hidden behind a public legal drama that is fiction. I don't think any immediate emergency action is warranted but I would encourage those using it to evaluate what this means for their continued usage and the threat it presents to them say 6 months from now. We have to wait and see, he could be cleared and leave quickly, he could face a trial which may or may not say anything about him allowing western intelligence to compromise it. As they could try and hide the fact he cut a deal behind a public apparent defeat by his lawyers if they want to keep it under wraps to better utilize such access against Russians for example who are heavy, heavy users of the app and it could present a trove of intelligence to say nothing of abilities to compromise top Russian officials were they to get in bed with the eyes agreement agencies. Point is they snatched him at the airport when he landed and it can't be anything but politically motivated. At the very least I expect them to force him to submit to public censorship of "disinformation" which means the Russian perspective. Oh they'll bust a few pedophiles and drug rings as well but it's mainly about controlling yet another app that's available in the west and sticking a knife in Russia's back. Here's something interesting from Ars: > As Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, noted tonight, "A popular Russian channel says that Telegram is also used by Russian forces to communicate, and that if Western intelligence services gain access to it, they could obtain sensitive information about the Russian military." > https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/08/shocker-french-make-surprise-arrest-of-telegram-founder-at-paris-airport/ This once again shows the need for tech sovereignty among anti-imperialist nations. It's not enough to use something that's not directly controlled by the enemy because the enemy will find ways to pressure, blackmail, coerce those third parties into doing their bidding anyways. It's important for these countries to have platforms safely headquartered within one of these other friend nations that are resistant to just one person being arrested, where even someone with extraordinary access wouldn't be a threat because of security service involvement.

World News darkcalling • 4 weeks ago • 88%

www.rt.com

[(archive link)](https://archive.ph/A9mMi) > Ukrainian forces that have occupied part of Kursk Region have committed atrocities against civilians while using them as human shields, the commander of the Akhmat Special Forces from Russia's Chechen Republic has claimed. > > In a post on Telegram on Monday, Apty Alaudinov recounted an episode in the border town of Sudzha, where he said Ukrainian troops had entered a residential house with children inside. > > “In this building, they settled down on the ground floor… and chased children and teachers upstairs to use them as a shield,” he said, adding that this practice is widespread. > He claimed that first-person footage filmed by the Ukrainians had ended up in Russian hands, and showed the brutality of Kiev’s forces. > “I received a huge number of photos in which I saw civilians who were simply shot at point-blank [range], in the head and from the back. All these civilians, unfortunately, died,” he said, expressing his condolences and vowing revenge. > As fighting continues on the border, videos have surfaced on social media showing Ukrainian troops grabbing people off the street, blindfolding them, and pushing them into trucks.

World News darkcalling • 1 month ago • 87%

[(archive link)](https://archive.ph/2W3z4) > A false flag operation using radioactive warheads is reportedly aimed at spent nuclear fuel > Ukrainian forces have begun preparations to target nuclear waste storage sites at a Russian power plant with radioactive warheads and to then blame Moscow, according to intelligence received by Russia. > > “Sources on the other side report that the [Ukrainians] are preparing a nuclear false flag – an explosion of a dirty atomic bomb,” military journalist Marat Khairullin said Friday on his Telegram channel. “They plan to strike the storage sites of spent nuclear fuel of a nuclear power plant.” > > The special warheads intended for the attack have already been delivered to the Vostochny Mining and Processing plant in Zhovti Vody, in Ukraine’s Dnepropetrovsk Region, according to Khairullin. > > As possible targets of the attack, Khairullin indicated either the Zaporozhye NPP in Energodar or the Kursk NPP in Kurchatov, noting that the Ukrainian government and its Western backers are “desperate and willing to try anything.” > > A security official in the Russian Military Administration of Kharkov Region corroborated Khairullin’s claim to RIA Novosti on Friday. The attack is intended to use radioactive warheads to target spent fuel storage sites at a nuclear power plant, and the ammunition has already been delivered to Zhovti Vody. > Kiev’s intention is to accuse Moscow of a false flag so it could justify using nuclear weapons against Ukraine, the security official said. The Ukrainian government has received orders from its Western backers to “escalate as much as possible,” he added. > According to the security official, the intelligence came from Ukrainian prisoners of war. > Sergey Lebedev, introduced as leader of the Nikolaev Region underground, who said the planned attack would be carried out with NATO weapons, with the consent of the West. > Lebedev pointed out that a large number of Western journalists have already arrived in the Sumy Region near Kursk, as well as the Ukrainian-controlled part of Zaporozhye, suggesting that this is part of Kiev’s preparations for the nuclear false flag.

Death to NATO darkcalling • 1 month ago • 100%

www.globaltimes.cn

> The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) acts as the US government's "white gloves" and has long engaged in subverting state power in other countries, meddling in their internal affairs, inciting division and confrontation, misleading public opinion, and conducting ideological infiltration, all under the pretext of promoting democracy, according to [a report released on Friday by the Chinese Foreign Ministry](https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xw/wjbxw/202408/t20240809_11468618.html). Rest of the story at the link. Full report link again is: https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xw/wjbxw/202408/t20240809_11468618.html (They use mainstream foreign press sources only, no grayzone or similar likely to be easily dismissed stuff)

Palestine darkcalling • 1 month ago • 97%

> By Tarik Cyril Amar, a historian from Germany working at Koç University, Istanbul, on Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, the history of World War II, the cultural Cold War, and the politics of memory [(original non-archive link)](https://www.rt.com/news/602386-germany-israel-gaza-genocide/) > On 6 August, a court in Berlin sentenced a young woman called Ava Moayeri to a fine of €600 for shouting “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.” One of Moayeri’s lawyers, Alexander Gorski, deplored this as “a rather dark day for freedom of expression in Germany.” > > He’s right, even if his comment is an all too understated response to a scandalous miscarriage of justice. Indeed, it is hard to answer the question of what is wrong with this sentence, because, quite literally, everything is. Judge Birgit Balzer’s reasoning, for one thing, was embarrassingly shoddy, irresponsibly misinformed, and ethically and legally misguided, about which more below. > > Beyond Balzer’s failure to do justice to the important issue she had to adjudicate, the case and sentence also represent a larger problem, in Germany and beyond: the West’s perverse pampering of Israel. One form taken by this pampering is to allow the Israeli regime to abuse the memory of the Holocaust, a genocide targeting Jews, to claim impunity for its own crimes against humanity, including genocide targeting Palestinians. > > Balzer, too, explicitly invoked the Holocaust to justify her sentence. Yet Moayeri, the daughter of Communists from Iran, made clear that she has nothing to do with either glorifying violence or antisemitism. On the contrary, her concern is with showing solidarity to the Palestinian victims of Israeli violence and standing up for their rights. Balzer felt entitled to disregard this perfectly plausible position, attribute entirely unproven motives to Moayeri, and, on that fundamentally flawed basis, punish her. In effect, it is clear that Moayeri’s right to peaceful protest and a perfectly legitimate political position was suppressed to protect Israeli narratives from any challenge. And these narratives, in turn, are used to shield Israel from accountability for its crimes, and thus they also withhold help from Israel’s victims. The whole article is worth reading and perhaps bookmarking as the author takes apart the legal case against this activist for Palestine showing how it doesn't even fit the standards of German law.

World News darkcalling • 1 month ago • 97%

www.rt.com

Suggesting a US intelligence connection and that Ukraine didn't have capabilities on its own to orchestrate this without direct US assistance. [(archive link)](https://archive.ph/yANd0) > A Malian official has reportedly questioned Kiev’s ability to act alone in providing intelligence to armed groups > Mali and Niger have asked the UN Security Council to investigate claims that Ukraine provided intelligence to Tuareg rebels, who killed Malian soldiers and Russian Wagner Group contractors in a recent ambush, according to RIA Novosti. > > Fousseinou Ouattara, deputy chairman of Bamako’s parliamentary committee on security and defense, announced the move in an interview, the Russian news agency reported on Wednesday. > > “It must have been [intelligence] that was mainly transmitted through the Americans, because they are capable of obtaining such information,” Ouattara said, casting doubt on Ukraine’s ability to independently assist armed groups in Africa. (Rest of the story at the link)

US News darkcalling • 1 month ago • 98%

www.rt.com

[(archive link)](https://archive.ph/Sa4ft) > The RT contributor is reportedly being investigated as a “foreign agent” > Federal agents and state police have searched the house of former US Marine and UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter in New York state on Wednesday. > > State Police and FBI agents descended on the street of Bethlehem township, south of Albany, around noon, according to the local outlet Times-Union. They carried “more than two dozen boxes” out of the house just before 5pm local time. > > The law enforcement executed a search warrant “related to concerns apparently the US government has about violations of the Foreign Agent Restriction Act (FARA)” Ritter told reporters gathered outside the house after the agents left. > > He denied any allegations of wrongdoing and said the federal government was trying to intimidate him. > Ritter is a former US Marine Corps major who served as a UN weapons inspector in Iraq during the 1990s. He opposed the 2003 US invasion, insisting that Saddam Hussein’s government did not have weapons of mass destruction, as Washington claimed at the time. > > He has also been an RT contributor and saw his passport seized by the US government when he tried to attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in June.

World News darkcalling • 1 month ago • 100%

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[(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/JmoNl) > Niger says the move is in solidarity with Mali, which has accused Kiev of backing rebels involved in deadly attacks > Niger has severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine in response to Kiev’s alleged support for militants who killed dozens of Malian soldiers and Russian Wagner Group contractors in an attack last month. > > The West African state’s decision on Tuesday came just two days after Mali took the same step, accusing Kiev of supporting international terrorism. Ukrainian officials had earlier indicated that Kiev had assisted Tuareg rebels who staged an attack in the village of Tinzaouaten. > > In an interview following the incident, Ukraine’s spy agency spokesman, Andrey Yusov, indicated on national TV that the insurgents had received intelligence to conduct a “successful military operation against Russian war criminals.” He warned that “there will be more to come.” Ukraine’s embassy in Senegal posted the video – now deleted – on its Facebook page along with a comment from Ambassador Yury Pivovarov, who said “there will certainly be other results.” > > Niamey’s military government spokesman, Amadou Abdramane, called the remarks “indecent” and “unacceptable” in an address on state TV late on Tuesday, claiming that they characterize “acts of aggression.” > > “Niger, in total solidarity with the government and people of Mali, has decided in all sovereignty [...] to sever diplomatic relations between the Republic of Niger and Ukraine with immediate effect,” Abdramane said. > Since 2012, Mali has been embroiled in a jihadist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives. A decade-long French military mission failed to quell the violence, which has spilled over to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. All three former French colonies, led by their militaries, have severed defense ties with Paris and formed the Alliance of Sahel States to combat terrorism. > > Russia, which Bamako, Niamey, and Ouagadougou regard as a strategic security ally, has agreed to assist the troubled Sahel states in combating long-standing terrorist threats. More coverage: "Ukraine spreading ‘terrorism’ around the world – Moscow" https://www.rt.com/russia/602260-ukrainian-terrorism-zakharova-kursk/ [(archive link)](https://archive.is/Xuk37) > Kiev is doing the bidding of the deep states of Western nations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has claimed > “Things will get worse in terms of Ukrainian terrorism spreading across the planet. It’s not a joke,” Zakharova warned. > > People in power in Kiev have turned their country into a “terrorist gang” doing the dirty work for Western nations and their “deep state structures,” the diplomat claimed. She also asked what it would take to convince the American people that by bankrolling Ukraine, their government was sponsoring terrorism.

World News darkcalling • 1 month ago • 100%

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[(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/TDB6m) > Ukraine has denied playing a role in a recent terrorist attack in Mali that killed soldiers and Russian Wagner Group contractors, condemning the West African nation’s decision to cut diplomatic ties with Kiev as shortsighted. > > Mali’s transitional government announced on Sunday that it was “immediately” breaking off diplomatic relations with Ukraine in response to comments by Kiev officials in support of Tuareg militants who carried out the deadly assault last month. > > Tuareg fighters ambushed a military convoy carrying Malian defense forces and Wagner contractors in the village of Tinzaouaten near the Algerian border in late July, killing scores of servicemen and destroying multiple trucks. Andrey Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence service (GUR), stated on Ukrainian TV that his agents had provided “necessary information” to the rebels, allowing them to conduct a “successful military operation.” > > He vowed that there would be “more to come.” Ukraine’s embassy in Senegal posted the interview on its Facebook page, along with a comment from Ambassador Yury Pivovarov, who said: “There will certainly be other results.” The video has since been deleted. > > Bamako expressed “deep shock” at the officials’ “subversive” remarks, declaring that they demonstrate Ukraine’s “support for terrorism in Africa, in the Sahel, and more specifically in Mali.” > > “Mali fully endorses the diagnosis made by the Russian Federation, which for years has been warning the world of the neo-Nazi and villainous character of the Ukrainian authorities, now allies of international terrorism and shows no willingness to implement the Ukrainian people’s aspirations for peace and stability,” the Malian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. > Bamako announced a series of measures, including legal proceedings, in response to Yusov and Pivovarov’s comments, claiming they “constitute acts of terrorism and advocacy of terrorism.” The landlocked state also urged other African countries and the international community to denounce Ukraine’s actions, which “threaten the stability” of the continent. > > “Ukraine unconditionally adheres to the norms of international law, the inviolability of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said. > > Mali has been embroiled in a jihadist insurgency since 2012, which, according to the UN, has killed thousands and displaced over 375,000 people. A French military operation failed to end the violence, which has spread to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. Earlier this year, the three former French colonies formed the Alliance of Sahel States to combat terrorism. They have also sought increased security cooperation with Russia.

World News darkcalling • 2 months ago • 100%

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[(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/pzMmA) > Kiev has reportedly been training Tuareg insurgents in Mali > Evidence of Ukrainian involvement in Mali has been uncovered by the administrator of the Russian military Telegram channel GREY ZONE, which is believed to be affiliated with the Wagner private military company, RT has learned. > > Photos obtained by the blogger and supplied to RT purport to show Ukrainian instructors, allegedly linked to Kiev’s military intelligence agency, the GUR, working in the African country. > > The instructors have allegedly been training local Tuareg separatist militants, as well as covertly bringing at least two groups of them to Ukraine to teach them to use FPV drones. > > While the blogger had been preparing a report to shed more light on the affair, he ultimately ended up being killed in an ambush by the Tuaregs over the weekend. > > [the blogger] had reportedly been traveling with a private military company and Malian army convoy in the vicinity of the village of Tinzawaten, close to the country’s border with Algeria. The area has recently seen hostilities between Tuareg insurgents and the country’s military, the latter of which is reportedly supported by the Wagner Group. > > Gruesome footage circulating online shows scores of bodies and several burned-out vehicles in the aftermath of the ambush, while the militants are seen celebrating their success. During the fight, a military helicopter that had been trying to provide cover for the ambushed group was damaged and had to make an emergency landing, footage suggests. Several fighters, some of whom were presumably with the private military company, ended up taken prisoner by the Tuaregs.

Technology darkcalling • 2 months ago • 94%

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[(Archive Link)](https://archive.ph/igakd) > Before a faulty software update dragged the company’s name into global headlines on Friday, Crowdstrike had a long history of involvement with US intelligence agencies, and played a key role in the ‘Russiagate’ hoax. > > Crowdstrike released a defective update to its cloud-based security software on Friday that left an array of users around the world – including banks, airlines, media outlets, and government agencies – unable to use their IT systems. > > The company issued a fix within several hours of the problem being identified, but thousands of flights remained canceled or delayed into Friday afternoon, while hospitals, police departments, and businesses continued to report issues getting back online. > [...] >Less than a year after Crowdstrike was founded, Kurtz and Alperovitch brought on board former FBI Executive Assistant Director Shawn Henry to head up its cybersecurity consultation wing. By 2014, Henry’s department was issuing a flurry of hacking and espionage accusations against China, Russia, and North Korea, with information provided by Crowdstrike helping the US Justice Department issue indictments that summer against five Chinese military officers who allegedly hacked US energy corporations. > [...] > Crowdstrike was hired by the US Democratic National Committee to investigate the theft of data from its servers in 2016. Published by WikiLeaks, the data revealed that the DNC had rigged the Democratic primary against Bernie Sanders, and that Hillary Clinton had effectively paid to control the committee. > > Crowdstrike concluded that Russia was behind the breach, with Henry testifying to Congress that the company “saw activity that we believed was consistent with activity we’d seen previously and had associated with the Russian government.”

Death to NATO darkcalling • 2 months ago • 100%

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There's been a lot of hopium from many for months, a year or more now about how the west entirely exported its MOP and because of greed of the arms manufacturers who are privately held cannot hope to increase production because they demand guarantees of profits into the future and HERE WE ARE. They are being given those guarantees or the first steps of them. [(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/96pZL) > Western defense spending will remain high for years to come to counter Russia and China, a US official has told weapons makers > The US and its allies are planning to continue ramping up defense spending, which will ensure long-term demand for weapons, US Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks told a gathering of arms manufacturers during a NATO event on Tuesday. > > Speaking at the NATO Summit Defense Industry Forum, the official praised NATO members for boosting their military budgets since the initial flare-up of the Ukraine conflict in 2014, and particularly after the open hostilities between Ukraine and Russia erupted in 2022. Over the past decade, the average annual increase in spending was 72%, adjusted for inflation, she said. > > That reversed a period when “defense industries across the Atlantic were affected by decades of inconsistent funding and blinkered demand signals,” she said. She said the current thinking is: “Production matters. Production is deterrence.” > > Western arms manufacturers have the ability “not just to compete, but to out-compete and prevail” over Russia and other nations that the US considers its rivals, including China, North Korea and Iran. > > “That includes ensuring we are prepared for the possibility of protracted war, which every ally must be prepared for – and not just in Europe, either,” Hicks warned. > > Developing the manufacturing base on both sides of the Atlantic in a way that combines “information-age ingenuity and industrial-era capacity” will benefit US allies in the Pacific, such as Australia, Japan and South Korea, the official said. > > She claimed that Western political systems are inherently beneficial for building “arsenals of democracy,” since they foster innovation and transnational cooperation. On the other hand, “autocracies,” according to her reasoning, can’t move beyond “just landing at each other’s airfields, or sailing ships alongside each other for a few days at a time.” > > The Pentagon is looking for ways “to be a better customer,” Hicks said, by streamlining its internal processes, delivering targeted investments in the defense sector, and providing security services to weapons businesses. I think it's important to point out common misconceptions that many in the anti-imperialist left cling to, hope is nice, but the reality is better even if it's not very inspiring and even depressing. They have no other choice, no way out, war-mongering, domination-demanding Euro-American world empire has been a product in the works for centuries and they're not about to let it go because of a few set-backs or give up in their deranged beliefs that they should dictate to the world how things should work or that they are in fact benevolent for imposing these things on the world. So they are going to double down and much as we might hope for it I think they'll be able to inflict some real pain on China in a few years when they go to war with it. A complete defeat on Chinese soil is not needed, merely to bruise them, humiliate them on the west's preset terms of what that means and be able to throw up a deep ocean island chain blockade on China and thump their chests. I think the actual results will be rather limited but they just need the appearance of a win in their media. I just worry about that limited conditions not being met and things spiraling into nuclear war. I definitely think they'd rather blow up the planet than accept loss of hegemony, certainly the arms manufacturers, the industrial bourgeoisie who remain in the west have that kind of mindset. Yes there are still headwinds against the west in many places, corrupt practices, bad airplanes but they had the high ground to begin with, a better starting position so can afford some of that with their built-in advantages.

Palestine darkcalling • 3 months ago • 96%

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[(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/qC1I3) > Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have postponed a decision on whether arrest warrants should be issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza. > > The delay came after the ICC allowed the UK to submit legal arguments against the jurisdiction over the issue. > > According to court documents made public on Thursday, the UK filed a request with the ICC on June 10 to provide written observations on whether “the court can exercise jurisdiction over Israeli nationals, in circumstances where Palestine cannot exercise criminal jurisdiction over Israeli nationals (under) the Oslo Accords.” > [...] > The UK’s argument is that the Palestinian authorities cannot have jurisdiction over Israeli nationals under the terms of the Oslo Accords, and so it cannot transfer that jurisdiction over to the ICC to prosecute Israelis. > > “The United Kingdom submits that the Chamber, pursuant to Article 19(1) of the Rome Statute, ‘is required to make an initial determination of jurisdiction in resolving the application for arrest warrants’ of which ‘[t]he Oslo Accords issue necessarily forms part,’” the ICC said on Thursday. > > The judges added that the court would also accept submissions from other interested parties on the legal issue until July 12. > > According to media reports, granting the UK’s request could delay for months the decision on arrest warrants for Israeli officials, which ICC prosecutor Karim Khan requested in May.

Death to NATO darkcalling • 3 months ago • 100%

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As usual this is a liberal perspective, the author displays some befuddlement at times at things any Marxist would understand the reasoning for immediately. Just the same there are some gems that align with analysis I've seen here and they bear repeating and underlining and though there are no real shock revelations here it's good the Russians are getting the picture of the situation. > By Andrey Sushentsov, program director at the Valdai Club. > The desire of the US to dominate and its refusal to see other countries as equals, willing and able to assume equal responsibility for peace and stability, is the short answer to the question of why Moscow-Washington relations cannot get out of the current state of crisis. This attitude also leads the US to the same difficulties in its relations with China, India and even some of its own allies, such as Turkey. > > The Russian and Chinese position is buttressed by the principle that peace is the result of compromise between the major centers of power, and that without their mutual agreement – without equality, mutual respect, a willingness to recognize each other’s interests, and adherence to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs – a stable order is impossible. The US believes, however, that peace is a deterministic given, and that no special effort is needed to maintain it. This leads to paradoxical solutions: the more weapons, the more peace. The West is not yet ready to become just one of the Atlanteans holding up the sky. It still believes it should be in charge. > [...] > There is still a paradigm gap between Russians and Americans in their understanding of the world in the 21st century. US experts believe that Russia is part of the West and will inevitably end up in the Western camp at the end of this crisis, with China as its opponent. This set of paradoxical ideas has been present in the American narrative since the early 1990s. > > The Americans believe that ultimately Russia has no alternative, and will therefore accept any offer from Washington. With the dollar sure to remain as the dominant currency for the medium term, the US will be an important country. And much depends on its turbulent domestic political life. > > When it comes to Ukraine, the Americans think in investment banking terms and say straight out that Ukraine is a fairly cheap instrument that serves two purposes: to weaken Russia and to stifle any voices in Europe calling for strategic autonomy from the US. > > Over the past two years, Washington has found this method of mobilisation quite cheap. Indeed, Russia-EU relations have been disrupted, the main gas pipeline linking the Russian and Western European energy systems has been destroyed, Eastern Europe has been militarised, the US military-industrial complex has been strengthened, and economic activity has flowed from Europe to the US. The American economy has gained from this crisis, while the Western European economy has suffered badly. > > What are the US objectives in the Ukraine crisis? It wants a weakened Russia, which has lost control of key advantages in the Eurasian space, such as in transport, economics, production and energy. The US wants to knock Russia out of the top five world powers and make it strategically secondary. > > The US has been looking at Russia as a declining strategic player for some time. They were waiting for the moment when the country would leave the top-five leading countries in order to deal with China. Why did the US abandon negotiations with Moscow at the end of 2021, push Ukraine towards a military solution to the crisis, and then forbid it to negotiate with Russia? They believed that a quick victory over Russia was achievable, that the 52 countries the US had gathered in a coalition around Ukraine – their economies, resources, military arsenals, intelligence, satellite constellations, arms supplies, political intelligence and other support – would be enough to defeat our country. > > The West had not properly assessed Russia’s potential and that of their own coalition, and the short-term goals they set themselves have proved unattainable. > > They believe that a country whose economy apparently accounts for 3% of the world’s nominal GDP cannot fight the entire grand coalition on its own. But when Western countries have 65-80% of their GDP in the service sector, rather than in heavy industry and weapons-related areas, a situation arises in which Russia alone produces more artillery shells than all the Western states. This is a paradox that the US has not taken into account. A paradox any Marxist will understand instantly. Financial capital built on mountains of speculation and consumption is no match in this situation for having actual means of production and the people to run them efficiently under a kind of psuedo war communism. [(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/ZtJ9T)

World News darkcalling • 3 months ago • 100%

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> News about the expiration of a Washington-Riyadh deal may be fake, but an arrangement that is key to the dollar’s success has eroded > It is said that works of fiction can often convey certain truths better than a newswire. That is perhaps the light in which to view reports circulating around the internet recently about the expiration of a 50-year ‘petrodollar’ treaty between the US and Saudi Arabia. > > The agreement is a piece of fiction. The spurious reports appear to have originated in India or in the murky tangle of websites aimed at crypto investors. There was an official agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia signed in June of 1974 and another, secret one reached later that year according to which the Saudis were promised military aid in exchange for recycling their oil proceeds into US Treasuries. The deal whereby Riyadh would sell its oil in dollars was informal, and there was no expiration date. The petrodollar system as we have come to known largely grew organically. > > However, this fiction points to an underlying truth: the petrodollar has entered a long twilight from which there will be no return. No other economic arrangement has done more to ensure American preeminence over the last half-century. Yet in its essence it represented an implicit oil backing to the dollar that would be maintained. To borrow an idea originally expressed by financial analyst Luke Gromen, it is ultimately America’s inability and unwillingness to maintain this backing that is gradually dooming the system. > Origins of the Petro-Dollar > When the US abandoned the dollar’s gold peg in 1971, thus ending the Bretton Woods arrangement, the international financial system was thrown into chaos. What ensued was a turbulent period of high inflation and major adjustments to the new reality of free-floating currencies. Untethered from even the pretense of a gold backing, the dollar unsurprisingly devalued and inflation ran rampant. By the summer of 1973, it had lost a fifth of its value against other major currencies. > > This should have marked the end of the two and a half decades of post-war dollar primacy. And yet quite a peculiar thing happened: the dollar’s role as reserve currency and primary instrument of trade only expanded. The reason is that the Americans managed to steer the oil trade into dollars, starting with the Saudis in 1974 and soon thereafter extending to all of OPEC. This established a de facto commodity backing for the dollar. Since the oil market is much larger than the gold market, it actually gave the dollar even greater scope. > > In exchange for agreeing to sell their oil in dollars, Saudi Arabia became a protectorate of the US military. Many have seen this deal as a Godfather-like “offer you can’t refuse” for the Saudis. > > It probably was a good bet. Many things have transpired in Saudi Arabia in the intervening half century, but one thing that has resolutely not happened is a color revolution or US regime-change operation. > [...] > China introduced yuan-priced oil contracts in 2018 as part of an effort to make its currency tradable globally. [...] What got the needle moving was the Ukraine conflict – or rather Washington’s unhinged reaction to it. And here we arrive at the meeting point of a deep-seated economic trend and a geopolitical flashpoint. > > With Moscow limited by sanctions in where it could market its oil, China significantly ramped up purchases of discounted Russian crude, with settlement in yuan. Legendary analyst Zoltan Pozsar called this development “dusk for the petrodollar… and dawn for the petroyuan.” > > It goes beyond China. The BRICS group as a whole has, as a stated objective, increasing trade in local currencies, an objective that has gained urgency in light of Washington's capricious and overbearing use of sanctions. India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, has become the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude since 2022, paying for Russian crude in rupees, dirhams, and yuan. As the BRICS group consolidates and new financial infrastructure and trade networks coalesce, the non-dollar oil trade will only grow. > > In January 2023, Saudi Arabia even openly stated that it was willing to sell oil in currencies other than the dollar, [...] November of that year, the Kingdom sealed a currency swap deal with China, a surefire precursor of plans to do future business in local currencies. > > The petrodollar arrangement has been very good for the Saudis and historically they have not shown a strong eagerness to give it up. No doubt contributing to this is a certain hesitancy about breaking with the Americans. Things do not tend to end well for the leadership of oil-producing countries who stop doing the bidding of the US. Yet the times are changing and Riyadh seems to sense that. >[...] > The US is now fighting to maintain all the benefits of this broken system, the responsibility for which it is neither equipped nor willing to take any longer. If the dollar isn’t pegged to gold and isn’t even implicitly backed by oil, and Washington won’t preserve its integrity, then it is hardly up to the task of facilitating trade in critical resources. A system as deeply entrenched as the petrodollar won't disappear overnight, but when its economic foundation has eroded, it can only be maintained for so long by bluster and smoke and mirrors. [(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/JbgAb)

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This is an opinion piece. The writers are not Marxists or even leftists so bear that in mind but I think it shows a bit of the mindset and understanding of a certain portion of the Russian leadership (though not necessarily Putin's understanding). It does go a bit into the why of the Ukraine situation and a possible future for developments and has a few nuggets to chew on which I endeavor to mostly excerpt here. > Russia has no other options but to win against the collective West on its own terms > By Yelena Panina and Oleg Pavlov > For more than two years, the special military operation has continued in Ukraine. Undoubtedly, this war against Russia was provoked by the “collective West” and globalist circles standing behind it, and is being waged by them through their proxy forces. > > The leaders of Western countries and their top ‘think-tanks’ (FA, CSIS) have recently stepped up the rhetoric regarding our country and are obviously set on the military defeat of Russia. NATO participation in combat operations is not only coming into the open but the military escalation is being ramped up by leaps and bounds, i.e. supplies of ever more lethal types of weapons to Ukraine are gaining scale, the US and other countries of the West have decided to shift military activities deeper into the territory of Russia, and active preparations are underway for sending a contingent from NATO and its member states to Ukraine. > > Russia has no other alternatives under the circumstances but to either win or die. This is our Patria o Muerte. > [...] > First of all, let us ask ourselves how inevitable a special military operation (SMO) was and whether it was possible to somehow come to an agreement with the West. > > The scale of the military force deployed against Russia, coordination of actions of almost all countries of the Western bloc, and their political declarations and demarches according to pre-written patterns leave no doubt that an anti-Russia operation had been prepared for many years. By all appearances, it has been financed and administered by Western countries, and primarily the United States, since 2012. In fact, everything that is going on in Ukraine today is the hot phase of the war unleashed by the West against us as far back as 1946 (after Winston Churchill’s Fulton speech). In its first stage, the task was set to destroy the USSR and at the second – to assimilate the Russian Federation and definitively solve the ‘Russian question’. > > In practice, immediately after the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the USSR, the West, taking it as its absolute victory, got down to the implementation of the second stage and embarked on the exploration of the geopolitical space left by the Soviet Union, seeing it as a resource to expand and enhance its own hegemony that it had already gained at that time. The goal was to bring about such a model of unipolar globalization that would secure the latter as a form of the domination of the West for many decades, if not centuries ahead. > > Despite verbal promises not to expand the NATO bloc to the territories of the countries of the former Warsaw Pact given to Mikhail Gorbachev, the United States used NATO as an instrument of expansion to bring the situation to admitting the Baltic States, and later Sweden and traditionally neutral Finland into the bloc. And before that, NATO began to woo Ukraine and Georgia. At the same time, NATO is far from being a harmless organization, as Mikhail Khodorkovsky recently called it. Only think about the large-scale bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 using depleted uranium ammunition, the 20-year war in Afghanistan under the auspices of NATO, the Iraq war of 2003–2011, which was fought even without a UN mandate on the basis of falsification – the “Powell test tube” – the war in Libya in 2011 or the reprisal against its leadership and the actual destruction of the country. In just 30 years, NATO conducted 23 military operations against other countries with over one million civilians becoming victims, while the toll of ethnic cleansing or environmental and humanitarian disasters after invasions by NATO troops is impossible to calculate. White phosphorus, depleted uranium, cluster bombs against civilians, tortures, photo sessions with the bodies of the dead – all these crimes are on NATO’s conscience. > [Events from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia joining NATO to the Georgian invasion of Ossetia and the Russian response are mentioned leading up to the coup of Kiev in 2014] > All these events also cannot be considered outside the context of the US activities on the complete abolition of the international security system and arms control treaties. Over the past three decades, through the efforts of Washington and other Western countries, the entire supporting frame of this structure was destroyed almost to the ground. International legal nuclear deterrence mechanisms in essence ceased to exist. > > A united, nationally strong, sovereign Russia with its special civilizational code did not fit at all into the plans of the United States and it openly moved to implement the Brzezinski formula: “A new world order under the US hegemony is being created against Russia, at the expense of Russia and on the ruins of Russia.” > > Since the West failed to swallow Russia and finally turn it into a colony – the Anglo-Saxons decided to implement the old plan. It has existed since the Russian Empire emerged on the world stage as a global power at the beginning of the 18th century. The idea is to dismember and destroy the country, as far as it obviously interferes with hegemonic plans. > > That is why this war was inevitable, and it was not us who started it. Another question is whether it was possible to start the SMO, since it was inevitable, in some other way, or to wait as in 1941 for a direct attack from Ukraine against us in order to have an indisputable right to self-defence? The counter question would be: “Are you really sure that if we continued to wait for the end of the development of Ukraine by NATO and its attack on us from territories that are thousands of kilometres closer to Moscow than the USSR border before the start of Hitler’s aggression, then we would be able to withstand this blow with modern missile technologies when the flight time from Kharkov to Moscow would be four to five minutes for hypersonic missiles?” > > More than two years of the special military operation have convinced us that Russia’s battle for its security and sovereignty will be long and dramatic. All this time, the stated goals of the SMO have remained the same, i.e. to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine, protect the citizens of Donbass and ensure the security of the Russian Federation. > [...] > Some time ago, despite the official belligerent rhetoric, voices started to be heard in the West of those who called for a truce to be declared in Ukraine as soon as possible. > > On June 15–16 this year, a ‘peace conference’ took place in Switzerland, where it was proposed to take the ‘Zelensky formula’ as the basis for a peaceful settlement, [...] The main idea is to present Russia as a country that does not wish to accept peace talks and then to put forward an ultimatum allegedly on behalf of the ‘international community’. > > We also hear soft options: to recognize de facto Russian control over the territories liberated during the SMO and accept the rest of Ukraine into NATO. > > What is behind all these manipulations, including ‘peace initiatives’? The goal of the West was and is unchanged – the strategic defeat of Russia, final resolution of the ‘Russian question’, and termination of the statehood of the Russian Federation in a much harsher way than it was with the USSR. > > Since the ‘Zelensky formula’ is absolutely unacceptable to Russia, they decided to boil the frog slowly: first, to force the parties to agree to an unsatisfactory truce or some kind of a peace, and thereby consolidate preconditions for a new conflict. Here comes all the stuffing about the truce, where the preservation by Russia of the already acquired territories is used as a carrot. > > It is easy to predict the way the events will develop in this case. The truce, even without access to the borders of the Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts, means that Russia will be cut off from the rest of Europe for a long time, for many decades, by the ‘Pilsudski barrier’; the zone of control of the buffer lands by the Western bloc will stretch from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Russia will lose Kaliningrad, and the Baltic will finally take shape as a ‘NATO lake’. Russia will completely lose control over the Western Black Sea region that has existed historically for centuries (since 1711), Moldova will be absorbed by NATO member Romania, and the Transnistrian region by Ukrainian authorities. [And here is where they see this going and I have to agree this seems a strong possibility and an alarming one] > At the same time, the Anglo-Saxons, who have conceptual power in the Western world, build on the views of such geo-politicians of the early twentieth century as Sir Halford Mackinder. According to him, the “pivot area, or heartland of Eurasia – much of Russia and Central Asia – is the key to the global balance of power. The state that gains control over this territory will rule the world.” > > **To master the ‘heartland’ it is necessary to destroy Russia. That is why after the ‘peace treaty’ imposed on it, ‘plan B’ will come into effect, according to which the West will continue to isolate Russia as if “at the will of the international community” and strangle it with increasingly harsh economic sanctions according to the Iranian model. The ‘Anaconda ring’ around our country will begin to shrink even more intensely due to the dragging of limitrophes into its camp. Primarily, Armenia and Kazakhstan, and then other, still Russia-friendly countries. Sabotage will intensify and shatter internal unity, taking advantage of the undermining of interethnic relations. The aim of these medium-term measures is clear, i.e. in 3-5 years (as luck would have it), using ‘salami-slicing tactics’ – numerous small but painful blows – to prepare a lightning disarming military strike against a country weakened by sanctions. It will possibly include the use of nuclear weapons, using both Ukraine’s membership in NATO by that time and the proximity to our borders of new alliance bases, which will be located in the south (Romania) and in the north (Sweden, Norway and Finland). The signs of this have already emerged from the calls of a number of politicians in Eastern European countries. Primarily, from the statements of Poland’s authorities on the placement of nuclear weapons on the territory of their country. Another “intelligence indicator” is a strike on the Russian early warning system, which will provoke Moscow to use tactical nuclear weapons, thus enabling the West to implement the option of a disarming strike.** > > If you look from a historical depth at the methods that are now being used by the ‘collective West’ and the Anglo-Saxons leading them, then it is quite obvious that London and Washington, with outwardly different tactics, use familiar and historically proven techniques based on the classic thalassocracy principle of ‘divide and rule’. The first one is a method that has been tested more than once, i.e. blockade and massive sanctions. This is exactly the way the United States acted against Iraq in two or three steps. First, in 1991, Baghdad was weakened by military means through Operation Desert Storm, and later by crushing 13-year sanctions, only to be finally finished off afterwards by a lightning military strike. > > The second method is the use of a proxy to inflict unacceptable damage and to radically weaken the enemy. This was the way the Ottoman Empire was destroyed. At that time, in 1916, the role of Ukraine was played by the Arabs, who were armed by the Anglo-Saxons, exactly as today, and their military commanders (in that epoch it was, in particular, Thomas Edward Lawrence, or Lawrence of Arabia) achieved military successes. > > Now Russia, since it is a powerful country with nuclear weapons, is being subjected to an unprecedented and multi-aspect hybrid technology of struggle in all areas, where the methods used against the Ottoman Empire and Iraq in different historical periods are being complemented by the ‘Anaconda Strategy’ – surrounding us with unfriendly regimes in parallel preparation for the ‘big war’. This will inevitably be followed by a new, much more destructive and bloody war, but directly with the entire NATO bloc, forcing Russia to surrender and be destroyed. > > These will be the consequences of failing to achieve the stated goals of the special military operation. It goes without saying that any country that finds itself in the situation Russia is in now should do everything to avoid dead isolation and set up coalitions that would allow the legal, psychological, informational and other walls erected by the enemy to be destroyed. This problem is being solved so far with greater or lesser success. They failed to drive Moscow into international isolation and they recognize it in Washington. The Global South did not fall for Western hysterics about ‘Russian aggression in Ukraine’ and the massive Israeli bombing of residential areas in the Gaza Strip, which led to colossal casualties, finally buried the West’s ability to manipulate with theses about ‘Moscow’s cruelty’. These arguments lost their validity for the Arab-Islamic world and Africa. > [...] > **First**, it is necessary to determine the boundaries of our territorial advance in the south and north, which will protect our country for a long time from any threats from the West. It is obvious that in the south there are no other alternatives but access to Odessa and further to connect with the Transnistrian region, where 220,000 of our compatriots live, right up to the mouth of the Danube and full control of it. But in this case, the Pilsudski-drawn arc ‘from sea to sea’ will be broken and the prospect of restoring relations with Western Europe, primarily with Germany, within the next 10 to 15 years will remain (in fact, the Anglo-Saxons’ fear of an alliance between resource-rich Russia and high-tech Europe under the leadership of Germany was precisely the cause of many events). > > The fate of the western lands of the former Ukrainian SSR, and the Polish, Hungarian, and Romanian territories before World War II is not so clear. The fact is that the redistribution of territories between Ukraine and Russia is actually the review of the badly drawn administrative boundaries inside the USSR, which did not take into account (and it was not needed) language or ethnic factors. That is why their revision does not actually affect the fundamentals of the valid Helsinki Act of 1975 on the inviolability of European borders, while changing the borders of Western Ukraine in favor of third countries requires a global revision of the foundations of the European security system. > > **Second**, regarding the demilitarization of Ukraine within the new borders (without the Donbass, Lugansk, Kharkov, Zaporozhye, Nikolaev and Odessa Oblasts and without access to the Black Sea), it is doomed to become a state with a neutral status enshrined in the Constitution. The military industry should be completely abolished; the armed forces should perform only the functions of the police and dealing with emergency situations (natural and man-made disasters). > > **Third**, as for denazification, after the trial of neo-Nazi criminals, Bandera ideology should be completely prohibited and all its followers should be strongly prosecuted. Bilingualism should be introduced in the country with equal use of Russian and Ukrainian languages. > > Of course, the outcome of any conflict is a reflection of the balance of power at the time it ends or freezes. At this stage the analysis shows that any truce or ‘freeze’ in Ukraine would be extremely unstable and only benefit the ‘collective West’ without realizing the above components of the picture of victory. They will provide Europe and the United States with the possibility to carry out the rearmament of their armies, preserve the Ukrainian proto-Nazi regime and prepare for a new, large-scale NATO advance on Russia. No change of power in the White House or the hypothetical arrival of Donald Trump to power will alter this scenario. [(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/aD1M3)

Death to NATO darkcalling • 3 months ago • 94%

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> As its Ukrainian proxy faces defeat, the US-led bloc is becoming increasingly reckless. Where will this hubris lead us? > By Igor Istomin, acting head of the Department of Applied Analysis of International Problems at MGIMO University. > The possibility of a trans-European war is closer today than at any time since the mid-20th century. Western analysts discuss various scenarios of a possible conflict, while officials openly speculate about its likelihood and even discuss specific time horizons. > In a recent speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the actions of Western governments had brought the world “to the point of no return.” At the same time, domestic debate in Russia is dominated by the belief that the US and its allies recognize the catastrophic risks of a direct military confrontation with Moscow and will seek to avoid it for reasons of self-preservation. > Such judgments are based on the assumption that the West, despite its aggressiveness and arrogance, is guided in its policies by a rational balance of benefits and costs based on the existing balance of power. Past experience, however, does not convince us that the US-led bloc is capable of pursuing a balanced, calculated course. > A recent admission by US President Joe Biden is telling: “If we ever let Ukraine fail, mark my words, you will see Poland go, and you will see all these countries along Russia’s actual border negotiate on their own.” Thus, the good old ‘domino theory’ is back in the minds of Western strategists. > [...] > The growing adventurism is clearly visible in the debate over the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine. Moreover, not only hysterical Western European leaders, but also seemingly more responsible American generals have begun to speak out on the issue. **For example, the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Brown, has concluded that the deployment of NATO troops to the country is inevitable.** > [...] > NATO members are openly practising combat scenarios in potential theatres in Eastern and Northern Europe. Much emphasis is being placed on learning lessons from the armed struggle in Ukraine. To this end, a special center is being set up in Bydgoszcz, Poland, to ensure a regular exchange of experience between Western and Ukrainian military personnel. > The weak link in the Western effort has long been the limited capabilities of its military industry. Nevertheless, NATO members are paying increasing attention to overcoming this problem. **It would be foolhardy to expect that they will not be able to increase production over time, including by increasing Western European firms’ links with the US military-industrial complex. ** (Full article at the link) [(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/U3nwA) It seems to me the west is salami slicing their way towards an open conflict with Russia with NATO boots on the ground. This can only end in disaster and possibly full nuclear war. Time is not a friend for Russia here. The west has been caught without proper production but they're not going to sit on their hands and continue to fail to fix that forever, they're doing so more slowly than Russia obviously and sure some of the more high tech stuff they'll never be able to churn out like Russia/China but they don't need that stuff to fight and win a war. So the longer this goes on the more the west is able to get production into play that gets them closer to being able to either better supply their Ukrainian fodder to inflict damages on Russia and/or to be confident they have enough to enter the conflict directly as NATO troops and to challenge Russia, most likely by setting up defensive lines and waiting for Russia to hit them first, trying to force a Korea DMZ situation that still allows the US to station nukes near Russia and to build up massive armies and arms.

www.globaltimes.cn

> "The company is not under the control of any government," New Jersey-based contract manufacturing and development service provider (CDMO) GenScript Biotechnology Co said in a notice on June 2 in response to some US lawmakers' request, along with the FBI, of a briefing on the company's connections to China. > > The response came after the US House Committee on Oversight and Accountability voted overwhelmingly (40-1) to approve the Biosecure Act (H.R. 8333), on May 15, making GenScript Biotech the latest victim of the US' intensified measures to contain China's biomedicine industry. > > Following the same tactic that was used to target Chinese telecommunications companies in the late 2010s, the act would limit the ability of US life sciences companies to contract biotechnology companies that "have ties to the Chinese government or other designated foreign governments" on national security grounds once passed into law. > >Specifically, five Chinese companies are named in the approved version of the bill, naming China's contract research organization (CRO) giant WuXi AppTec, its sister company WuXi Biologics, BGI Group (BGI), BGI's affiliate MGI Tech (MGI), and MGI subsidiary Complete Genomics. > >In the next step, the bill must get through the full House and Senate for further debate. As an earlier version (S.3558) of the bill had been approved by the Senate in March, the Congress has to combine both versions into one before US President Joe Biden signs it into law. > >From the communication technology, chips, and artificial intelligence, to biomedicine, from Donald Trump to Joe Biden, the US is accelerating efforts to utilize national power to maintain technological hegemony, observers said. > >But the US would not succeed as it had dreamed, experts warned. The US is lifting the stone to drop it on its own feet as decoupling Chinese companies would first harm patients and companies in the US. And in a long run, the US' companies' enthusiasm for innovation and international cooperation would be largely discouraged, they noted. > >Fast track to 'de-Chinaization' > >Although the legislative process has kicked off, some legal experts stressed the long and complex procedures before the bill can finally be part of a legal document. They noted that, usually, it would take years for an initiative to be passed into law in the US. Not to mention that there are still many details that need to be discussed. More revisions might also probably be made, some experts said, referring to the 8-year buffer period added in the latest version. > >However, Liu Lu, a senior consultant from Ernst & Young Advisory (China), pointed out that the process had already moved faster than observers expected. "And we deem that Biden might also approve it very quickly once the bill is put on his table," Liu told the Global Times. > >"The deadline extension is a result of the consideration of the actual situation, but it does not indicate any change of the US' long-term aim, which is that, as they had realized their dependence on Chinese CXOs, they want to reduce such dependence and maintain its leading position in the biomedical area and safeguard their supply chain security," Liu said. > >CXO is a collective name for companies that provide medical contract outsourced services. > >Before the bill was amended, a survey carried out by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), a Washington-based trade association representing biotechnology companies, revealed that 79 percent of 124 respondents have at least one contract or product agreement with a manufacturer based in China or owned by China, according to Reuters. > >The trade group told Reuters that millions of US patients would be harmed unless there is "a comprehensive and thoughtful decoupling from China-based or China-owned biomanufacturing." > >According to media reports, in 2023, WuXi AppTec's revenue from US clients was 26.13 billion yuan, accounting for 65 percent of the company's total revenue; meanwhile, revenue from North America for WuXi Biologics was 8.073 billion yuan, accounting for 47.40 percent of the total revenue. Read the rest of the story via the link.

Palestine darkcalling • 4 months ago • 100%

RT: https://www.rt.com/news/598796-meta-palestinian-gaza-censorship/ [(Archive link to RT article)](https://archive.ph/pizle) > A former engineer has accused Meta – the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – of being biased against Palestinians, according to Reuters. > Ferras Hamad filed a lawsuit in California on Tuesday, alleging discrimination and wrongful termination. He had been an engineer on Meta’s machine learning team from 2021 until February. > **Meta was deleting internal employee messages by Palestinian-Amerians that mentioned the deaths of their relatives in Gaza and investigated their use of Palestinian flag emojis, Hamad alleged. By contrast, no such investigations were launched into employees using Israeli or Ukrainian flags, he said.** > According to Hamad, he was fired after pointing out irregularities with an emergency procedure for handling “site events” (SEV), when it resulted in restrictions on Instagram posts by Palestinian personalities. In one case, he said in the complaint, **a short video by photojournalist Motaz Azaiza showed a destroyed building in Gaza, but Meta had labeled it as pornographic.** > When Hamad attempted to resolve that case, Meta told him he was violating the policy barring employees from dealing with the accounts of people they knew personally – although Hamad insists he is not personally acquainted with Azaiza. > The former engineer had handled SEV cases related to Gaza, Israel and Ukraine before, and obtained confirmation in writing that this was part of his job description. He filed an internal discrimination complaint in January, but was fired a few days later. > Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. > **Mark Zuckerberg’s social media behemoth has been widely criticized by human rights groups over its censorship of content related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – specifically, suppressing the Palestinian viewpoint. Almost 200 employees have raised concerns about the matter in an open letter to Zuckerberg and other executives, earlier this year.** Just another reminder that Meta is western regime propaganda operation. It viciously censors against pro-Palestinian content, is all-in on upholding the zionist narrative and is shameless about it. It has no official policy on record saying in its rules that you can't be pro-Palestinian and instead misuses various systems such as the aforementioned flagging videos of rubble as porn to suppress, censor, deplatform, and limit reach of anything contrary to the settler zionist narrative. Reminder that Meta is also one of the driving forces behind the Tik-tok ban (spending tons of money lobbying for it and pushing a campaign that targeted it and painted it as a threat when it was in fact a competitor) and that finally got the bill and ban passed was the fact too much pro-Palestinian content was being posted and not censored quickly enough compared to Meta which outraged the pro-genocide US congress who had been debating but not actually passing the tik-tok ban for months before.

World News darkcalling • 4 months ago • 86%

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> China’s defense chief has warned that Taipei is being dragged into a “dangerous situation” > China’s efforts toward “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan have been consistently undermined by “separatist and external forces,” Defense Minister Dong Jun has claimed. He also warned that anyone attempting to separate Taiwan from China would end up facing “self-destruction.” > Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue conference in Singapore on Sunday, Dong Jun stressed that “the Taiwan question is the core of China’s core interests” aligned with the One-China principle and safeguarded by the Chinese military. > He blasted the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan (DPP) for “pursuing separation in an incremental way, erasing the Chinese identity of Taiwan and severing social, historical, and cultural links across the Taiwan Strait.” He went on to accuse “separatists” of betraying “the Chinese nation and their ancestors.” > **“They will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history,” the defense chief stressed**, before condemning “external interfering forces” – without naming them directly – for “hollowing out” the One-China principle by selling weapons to Taipei and attempting to use Taiwan to “contain China.” > “These malicious intentions are dragging Taiwan into a dangerous situation,” the minister warned. “China remains committed to peaceful reunification; however, this prospect is increasingly being eroded by separatists for Taiwan independence and foreign forces,” he said. Dong added that “resolute actions” would be taken to “curb Taiwan independence” and ensure that such an eventuality never comes to pass. [(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/GixyI)

World News darkcalling • 4 months ago • 95%

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[(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/VGTBp) > Reported Ukrainian attack on a key radar site could trigger retaliation, an expert analysis shared by the Austrian armed forces says > A reported Ukrainian attack on a Russian early-warning radar installation may have been approved by the US and poses the risk of a nuclear escalation, an analysis published by the Austrian armed forces has warned. > Ukrainian sources claimed last week that Kiev had delivered a strike at a Voronezh-DM site in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Region, near the city of Armavir. > The alleged operation is significant, considering that the facility is part of Russian nuclear deterrence, according to a text by Colonel Markus Reisner and posted by the Austrian military on Sunday. > It is unlikely that attacking the radar station had direct military value for Kiev, Reisner argues. Disabling it would reduce the amount of intelligence that Russia collects on Ukrainian launches of US-donated ATACMS ballistic missiles, he added. But the station is designed to detect intercontinental ballistic missiles that fly at altitudes much higher than the tactical weapons used by Ukraine. > The expert suggested that the alleged attack may have been a US-sanctioned response to Moscow’s reminders that it could use non-strategic nuclear weapons under certain circumstances. Senior Ukrainian and Western officials have called those statements a form of blackmail. Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin ordered tactical nuclear exercises in the Southern Military District, which borders Ukraine. Moscow said this was in response to increasingly hostile rhetoric by Western officials. > ”If this is indeed the case, two further conclusions can be drawn: first, the situation in Ukraine is extremely serious and, second, the war over Ukraine has escalated again,” Reisner wrote. Such an attack could qualify for a nuclear retaliation, the colonel added. > Russia’s nuclear doctrine says that its nuclear arsenal may be used in four scenarios, one of which is “enemy action against critical Russian government and military facilities, the disabling of which would prevent a nuclear response.” > Over-the-horizon radar stations, such as the Voronezh-DM, are meant to detect ICBM launches and inform the national leadership, at which point officials can make a decision on whether to fire back. > The Russian Defense Ministry has so far not commented on the alleged attack. This is incredibly dangerous. This is brazen flirting with nuclear war.

Death to NATO darkcalling • 4 months ago • 95%

[(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/ATg9l) > Such facilities are being setup in Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Romania, a high-ranking Russian diplomat has said > NATO is trying to surround Russia with a network of cyber-laboratories as part of its hybrid war against the country, the Special Representative of the Russian President for International Cooperation on Information Security, Artur Lyukmanov, has warned. > The US-led bloc has long been working on developing ways to take on Russia in the infosphere, Lyukmanov said in an interview with RIA-Novosti on Saturday. > Ukraine has been its “main testing ground,” with hackers from the country “carrying out acts of electronic sabotage under the close guidance of the curators from NATO,” he said. > Russia is aware of “entire units of Western intelligence services and armed forces being sent to Kiev” to assist the Ukrainians with hacking activities, the diplomat, who also heads the Department of International Information Security at Russia’s Foreign Ministry, added. > According to the diplomat, in the future NATO also plans to open such facilities in Georgia and Moldova, who are not members of the bloc. > “Under the auspices of the Pentagon, cyber exercises are being carried out systematically, during which scenarios of confrontation with [Russia] in the digital realm are being tested,” he said.

China darkcalling • 4 months ago • 100%

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[(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/0YP0p) > While insisting they don’t support “unilateral changes” to the status quo, US and EU officials won’t criticize Taipei’s blatant provocation > The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) initiated a significant event, Operation Joint Sword-2024A, on Thursday. It involved the creation of a simulated blockade around the self-governing island of Taiwan, as well as areas around the islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu, and Dongyin. It’s worth noting that this is the largest military drill of its kind in a year and follows the recent inauguration of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, who has made it clear that he will escalate the issue of formal independence. > During his address, Lai broke his promise of maintaining the status quo with the mainland. As Kathrine Hille, writing for the Financial Times, noted, he “used conspicuously different language, while also spelling out some of the facts that most jar Beijing.” > While Tsai Ing-wen, Lai’s predecessor, would reference “the Beijing authorities” or “the other side of the Strait,” which do not explicitly state that China and Taiwan are separate entities, the new leader mentioned “China” throughout his address. > He referred to “Taiwan” and “the Republic of China, Taiwan,” saying that “some call this land the Republic of China, some call it the Republic of China Taiwan, and some, Taiwan; but whichever of these names we ourselves or our international friends choose to call our nation, we will resonate and shine all the same.” > Referring to Taiwan as a “nation,” Lai quoted the Republic of China’s constitution – the state that lost control of the mainland to Communist forces during the Chinese Civil War in 1949 but still remains in Taiwan – to say that “the Republic of China Taiwan is a sovereign, independent nation in which sovereignty lies in the hands of the people” (of ROC nationality). “This tells us clearly: the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other,” he concluded. > Officials from the Kuomintang (KMT) party, the long-time ruling party before the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)’s electoral success in recent years, were quick to criticize Lai’s speech. For instance, former Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou’s office harshly criticized him for introducing a “new two-country theory,” adding that his “direct and explicit stance is tantamount to leaning towards Taiwan independence, leading to an unprecedentedly dangerous situation between the two sides of the strait.”

World News darkcalling • 4 months ago • 94%

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[(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/5UItT) > Matuss Sutaj Estok called the suspect a “lone wolf” discontent with Bratislava’s policies > The man who critically injured Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday was a fierce critic of the latter’s decision to stop arms shipments to Ukraine, Interior Minister Matuss Sutaj Estok has said. > Fico was shot at point-blank range several times on Wednesday as he greeted supporters in the small town of Handlova. The assailant was immediately arrested and the prime minister was rushed to a hospital in serious condition. Local authorities said earlier that there was a “clear political motivation” behind the attack. > Media reports identified the attacker as Juraj Cintula, 71, said to be the founder of the Slovak Association of Writers and a supporter of the opposition Progressive Slovakia party. > According to the minister, the suspect closely followed domestic and international events, and protested against several government policies, including the closure of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, and the suspension of military aid to Ukraine. Fico, a critic of the Western stance on the Ukraine conflict, campaigned on a promise to cut arms deliveries to Kiev, which he proceeded to do after taking over as prime minister after the election last autumn’ > “He stated these reasons why he disagrees with the government policy and why he decided to assassinate the Prime Minister,” Sutaj Estok said, describing the attacker as “the so-called lonely wolf” not linked to any groups. (There is a video at the link of a press conference with the relevant authorities)

World News darkcalling • 4 months ago • 90%

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[(Archive link)](https://archive.ph/M2E1s) > Some American and European politicians believe an escalation would help preserve their hegemony, according to Sergey Naryshkin > A number of Western leaders believe they would be able to maintain their hegemony if they plunge the world deeper into turmoil, information possessed by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) suggests, according to the agency’s head, Sergey Naryshkin. > The SVR chief’s statements come as French President Emmanuel Macron and several officials from the Baltic states have repeatedly hinted in recent months at the possibility of deploying Western troops to Ukraine. Russia has warned that such a move would escalate the conflict. > Speaking during a plenary meeting of the Federation Council on Tuesday, Naryshkin stated that his agency had obtained information that “some Euro-Atlantic politicians consider it possible to unleash a large-scale military conflict in order to maintain their hegemony.” > He noted that there are “strong reasons” to believe that such an escalation could actually occur if the West decides that it would be “reasonably safe” and beneficial to its interests. > However, the spy chief admitted that there are also “truly responsible” global and regional players in the world who, if united, could have the potential to “ensure the impossibility of unleashing such a conflict, including the use of nuclear weapons.”

World News darkcalling • 5 months ago • 96%

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[WSJ Source for claims](https://www.wsj.com/finance/ukraine-debt-payments-russia-war-1c0c301e) > Foreign bondholders paused Kiev’s debt payments in 2022, but their patience is reportedly running out > A group of foreign bondholders have taken steps to force Ukraine to begin repaying its debts as soon as next year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. If they succeed, Kiev could hemorrhage $500 million every year on interest payments alone. > The group, which includes investment giants Blackrock and Pimco, granted Kiev a two-year debt holiday in 2022, gambling that the conflict with Russia would have concluded by now. > With no end to the fighting in sight, the lenders have now hired lawyers at Weil Gotshal & Manges and bankers from PJT Partners to meet with Ukrainian officials and strike a deal whereby Ukraine would resume making interest payments next year in exchange for having a significant chunk of its debt written off, anonymous sources told the Wall Street Journal. > The group holds around a fifth of Ukraine’s $20 billion in outstanding Eurobonds, the newspaper reported. While this figure represents a fraction of Ukraine’s total external debt of $161.5 billion, servicing the interest on these bonds would cost the country $500 million annually, the bondholders said. > Should the bondholders fail to strike a deal with Kiev by August, Ukraine could default. This would damage the country’s credit rating and restrict its ability to borrow even more money in the future. > According to the newspaper, Ukrainian officials are hoping that the US and other Western governments will take its side during talks with the bondholders. However, a group of these countries have already offered Ukraine a debt holiday on around $4 billion worth of loans until 2027, and are reportedly concerned that any deal with the bondholders would see private lenders being repaid before them. > Ukraine already relies on foreign aid to keep government departments open and state employees paid. > According to the Wall Street Journal, some bondholders have suggested that the US and EU could use frozen Russian assets to pay off Ukraine’s debts. While around $300 billion in assets belonging to the Russian central bank have been frozen in American and European banks since 2022, the US only passed legislation allowing for their seizure last month, and no similar legal mechanism exists in Europe, where the vast majority of these assets are held. > The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB) have both urged governments not to steal this money, with ECB chief Christine Lagarde warning last month that doing so would risk “breaking the international order that you want to protect.”

World News darkcalling • 5 months ago • 96%

> *By Tarik Cyril Amar, a historian from Germany working at Koç University, Istanbul, on Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, the history of World War II, the cultural Cold War, and the politics of memory* > The meaning of the words ‘civil society’ changes depending on whether Washington is speaking about protests inside or outside the American border > The elites and mainstream media of the West are so addicted to double standards that spotting yet another one is hardly news. These are the people who have just given us genocide re-labeled as ”self-defense,” who abhor spheres of influence except when they are global and belong to Washington (with a sidekick role for Brussels), and who insist on the rule of law while threatening the International Criminal Court if it so much as dares look their way. > Yet there is something special about the latest case of Western ‘values’ schizophrenia, this time about the concept of ‘civil society’ in conjunction with two political struggles, one in the US and the other in the Caucasus nation of Georgia. > In the US, students, professors, and others are protesting against the ongoing Israeli genocide of the Palestinians and against American participation in that crime. > In Georgia, the issue at stake is a proposed law to impose transparency on the sprawling and unusually powerful NGO sector. Its critics denounce this law as a government power grab and as somehow ‘Russian’ (which, spoiler alert, it is not). [Poster's Note: Their law is less far reaching than a US law called FARA, additionally most EU states have similar laws.] > The very different reactions to these two cases of intense public contention by the West’s political and mainstream media elites show that, for them, there are really two kinds of civil society: There is the ‘vibrant’ variety, with ‘vibrant’ an almost comically ossified cliche, used by the Washington Post Editorial Board, in EU statements, and by White House spokesman John Kirby, to name only a few. It is almost as if someone had sent around a memo on proper terminology. This vibrant, good kind of civil society is to be celebrated and supported. > And then there is the wrong kind of civil society, which must be shut down. US President Joe Biden has just expressed the essence of this attitude: “We are a civil society, and order must prevail.” This is, of course, a bizarre misreading of the idea of civil society. Ideally, its key features are autonomy from the state and the capacity to establish an effective counterweight, and even, if necessary, to offer resistance to it. Putting the emphasis on “order” instead is ignorant or dishonest. In reality, civil society makes no sense, even as an ideal, if it is not granted a substantial degree of freedom to be disorderly. A civil society that is so orderly as to disturb no one is a fig leaf for enforced conformism and – at least – incipient authoritarianism. > What is more important is that ‘order,’ in his usage, is a transparent euphemism: According to the New York Times, over the last two weeks, over 2,300 protesters have been arrested on almost 50 American campuses. Often, arrests have been made with demonstrative brutality. Police have used riot gear, stun grenades, and rubber bullets. They have assaulted students as well as some professors with massive aggression. > The most well-known individual case at this moment is that of Annelise Orleck, a professor at Dartmouth College. Orleck is 65 years old and attempted to protect students from police violence. In response, she was slammed into the ground in the worst MMA style, knelt on by beefy policemen, who clearly lack elementary decency, and dragged away with whiplash trauma, as if she had been in a serious car accident. Ironically (if that’s the word), Orleck is Jewish and, at one time, used to be the head of her universities program in Jewish Studies. > In another, extremely disturbing development, at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a violent police crackdown – including use of rubber bullets – was preceded by a vicious attack by so-called pro-Israeli ”counter-protesters.” In reality, this was a mob out to inflict maximum harm on the anti-genocide protesters, who, a New York Times investigation has found, maintained an almost entirely defensive stance. University security forces and the police failed to intervene for hours, letting the “counter-protesters” run wild. > That is a pattern every historian of the rise of fascism in Weimar Germany will recognize: First the SA mobs of the rising Nazi party had a free hand to assault the Left, then the police would go after the same Left as well. > That is the real face of the “order” that President Biden and all too many in the West’s establishments endorse. But only at home. When it comes to the unrest in Georgia, their tone is entirely different. Make no mistake, there has been substantial violence – and what Biden would denounce as “chaos” if it happened in America – in Georgia. Indeed, while the US anti-genocide protesters have not been violent but disorderly (yes, those are very different things), the protesters in Georgia have used genuine violence, for instance, when they tried to storm the parliament. > Nothing remotely comparable has been done by the US anti-genocide protesters. Regarding the trespassing and causing public inconveniences that so agitate the US president, there has been plenty of that in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. By Biden’s logic a protest must not even disturb or delay a campus graduation ceremony. What would that imply for blocking a central traffic node in the capital city? > Don’t get me wrong: The Georgian protesters report violent police tactics used against them as well, and, more broadly, the rights or wrongs of their cause, or the draft law they reject are beyond the scope of this article. I do believe they are used by the West for a geopolitical play Color-Revolution-style, but that is not the point. > The pertinent point here is, once again, staggering Western hypocrisy: A West that thinks trying to storm parliament is part of having a “vibrant” civil society in Georgia, cannot mass-arrest and brutalize anti-genocide protesters on its own campuses. [Original Non-archived Source](https://www.rt.com/news/596994-us-georgia-civil-society/)

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[Archive Link](https://archive.ph/GGgNE) > By Timur Fomenko > The Iran-Israel clash has served as a catalyst for renewed escalation by Western leaders, and World War III cannot be ruled out > The events of recent weeks have produced a sudden jolt in Western politics. From a lethargy that was starting to creep into US and western discourse over the Ukraine war, Iran’s attack on Israel suddenly seemed to have had the effect of awakening Ronald Reagan from his grave and leading to a surge of neo-conservativism on steroids, on both sides of the Atlantic. > US House Speaker Mike Johnson did a complete 180-degree U-turn and proclaimed himself a “Reagan Republican” passing a series of aid bills for astronomical overseas spending that he had otherwise blocked for months, as he denounced an “axis of evil.” Along with that, a proposed TikTok ban bill came out of nowhere too and was quickly signed into law. > Then the UK decided to devote its largest ever aid package to Ukraine, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warning of an “axis of authoritarian states” and amplifying ideologically combative rhetoric. > At the same time, it was then revealed Biden had sent 300km long range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine despite having pledged not to do so for years, fearing escalation. > Finally, EU President Ursula von der Leyen has suddenly dramatically increased economic warfare on China, pushing the European Commission to open probes on scores of Chinese exports. Where exactly did all this come from? > It’s almost as if the US and its allies seized upon the tensions between Iran and Israel in order to “whitewash” their slate and double down on a series of objectives they are otherwise losing public support for, including the war in Ukraine, but also Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Rest of the article at the link (short) Personally I think he oversells the suddenness and unexpected nature but the firmness does seem to be increasing and one has to wonder if the US/NATO is going to choose to escalate in Ukraine. After all they're already weathering massive protests against their policy of aiding genocide in Palestine and simply calling them all terrorist sympathizers and people duped by Russia, by contrast Ukraine is far more popular a cause. Where he sees a push with the potential for WW3 I see that but in a larger sense the chessboard being set up for cold war 2.0, economic blocs and wars with lines firmly drawn in the sand and an "either you're with us, or with them" mentality towards others or as Blinken put it "you're either at [our] table or on the menu".

Palestine darkcalling • 5 months ago • 100%

> A video of a Jewish woman arguing with Indians over anti-Israeli ‘propaganda’ has gone viral > A Jewish woman from Australia was taken into police custody in the state of Kerala in southern India for tearing down posters supporting Palestine, Indian media have reported. > [A video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV5mEG9WrUc) of a heated exchange between a woman and the locals, who questioned her move, has gone viral on social media. In the footage, the woman can be heard claiming that the posters promoted “racism and propaganda.” The scene took place in the city of Kochi, known, among other things, as home to the oldest group of Jews in India, although just a handful of them remain. > After a brief investigation, the woman was tried in court in the Thoppumpady ward of Kochi, according to the New Indian Express. Her friend was not arrested, as her involvement could not be established. Meanwhile, two officials from the Australian embassy have reached out to help with the legal procedures, according to Indian media outlets. > The tourist has been charged under section 153 (provoking riots) of the Indian Panel Code (IPC), which is a bailable offence, at the Fort Kochi Police Station. > A police complaint filed by the SIO notes that the banners showed pictures of a child standing in front of a battle tank along with a description reading “silence is violence, stand up for humanity.” After West Jerusalem launched its offensive in Gaza in retaliation for the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, the organization’s president Syed Sadatullah Husani claimed that Palestine is the “most oppressed country in the world” and argued that support for Palestine is in India’s “best interests.”

World News darkcalling • 5 months ago • 96%

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[AP coverage](https://apnews.com/article/un-vote-palestinian-membership-us-veto-8d8ad60d8576b5ab9e70d2f8bf7e2881) > America was the sole Security Council member to vote against the resolution > The US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have paved a way for Palestine to become a member of the world body. > Palestine is currently a “permanent observer state” at the UN that participates in many meetings but does not have voting rights. > The draft resolution debated on Thursday contained a recommendation to the UN General Assembly to hold a vote on updating Palestine’s status within the organization. The document was rejected with 12 votes in favor, one against, and two abstentions. > US Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs Robert Wood said that “there are unresolved questions as to whether [Palestine] meets the criteria to be considered a state.” He argued that Palestine cannot be admitted to the UN as long as the militant group Hamas controls Gaza. The usual "but what about Hamas" from the US that would be replaced by some other excuse if they didn't exist in order to allow their outpost of Isn'treal to continue the extermination and occupation of its genocidal settler white supremacist state. > Speaking at the Security Council, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said that the vote had shown that “for Washington, [the Palestinians] do not deserve to have their own state.” > “Today’s use of the veto by the US delegation is a hopeless attempt to stop the inevitable course of history. The results of the vote, where Washington was practically in complete isolation, speak for themselves,” Nebenzia said. > Palestinian Ambassador Majed Bamya said after the vote that the PA was “not deterred in our pursuit for Palestinian freedom and independence.” > Algeria’s U.N. Ambassador Amar Bendjama, the Arab representative on the council who introduced the resolution, called Palestine’s admission “a critical step toward rectifying a longstanding injustice” and said that “Peace will come from Palestine’s inclusion, not from its exclusion.” > Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour, at times emotional, told the council after the vote: "The fact that this resolution did not pass will not break our will and it will not defeat our determination. We will not stop in our effort." > [The Zionist Occupation]'s Foreign Minister Israel Katz commended the United States for casting a veto. Other coverage: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-security-council-vote-thursday-palestinian-un-membership-2024-04-18/ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/18/us-veto-palestine-membership-request-united-nations-council