RT News - January 9th 2023

Ukraine has used more than 100 artillery shells against Donetsk civilian only regions in the past two days. Strikes on thermal power stations have left two dead and two wounded. Another strike on a power station was stopped by air defences. As well as US supplied himars, cluster bombs have been used and a Soviet style rocket capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.
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600 Ukraine soldiers were killed in retaliation for the new year's day bombing of a barracks building holding 89 new troops, who had allegedly used mobile phones to greet their loved ones at 1 minute past midnight which allowed their discovery using mobile phone signal detection.
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The U.S. is still trying to press India to take sides against Russia. Ned Price says "we both uphold the rules based order" but this "we" business isn't going down too well. India will not invite Pres. Zelensky to the G20 summit coming up in September 2023.
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A state of emergency is declared in Brazil's capital until the end of the month after protesters stormed the presidential palace in an apparent coup attempt. More than 400 demonstrators have been detained.
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Fifty Russian soldiers return home from Ukrainian captivity in a prisoner swap that sees the same number of Ukrainian troops released following negotiations. Russia's Defence Ministry says its soldiers were in 'mortal danger.'
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Provocations: Digging up the past? Ukraine has dug up old human remains and saying they were killed by Russian troops. Russia says it's another false-flag in order to get more weapons from it's western backers and to cast aspersion on Russia.
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Law of the mightiest: RT visits a Palestinian village that residents say Israeli forces have demolished more than 200 times over the past decade. RT hears from local families.
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Kosovo Serbs take to the streets in protest after two Serbian boys were allegedly shot and wounded by an ethnic Albanian.
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Mali has pardoned 49 Ivory Coast soldiers accused of conspiring against the Malian government. They are now returning home. (QS this is great news as both countries can get back to normal relations and cooperation. The soldiers were "commissioned" by the United Nations ! I will try to find out more about this and post later)
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Below via RT website 1) --- Lula orders ‘federal intervention’ against rioters
2) --- Bolsonaro supporters storm three branches of power in Brazil
3) --- Brasilia governor suspended in aftermath of capital riot
4) --- Pres. Biden accused of ‘stage-managed’ border tour
5) --- Belgrade is the new Casablanca – Vucic
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8 Jan, 2023 21:37

1) --- Lula orders ‘federal intervention’ against rioters

The newly inaugurated Brazilian president has declared a state of emergency after the former leader's supporters overran government buildings

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has declared a state of emergency in the Federal District of Brasilia after thousands of supporters of his right-wing predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, overran Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential Planalto Palace.

The leftist leader, inaugurated just last week, gave the order on Sunday, appointing justice minister Ricardo Garcia Capelli to lead the ‘federal intervention’. Lula’s order gives Capelli the power to ask both civil and military bodies for “the necessary means to achieve the object of the intervention.”

After hours of clashes, riot police using tear gas and water cannons managed to regain control of the government buildings by Sunday evening. Authorities announced that at least 300 people were detained, as the justice minister warned that the arrests would continue throughout the night, as investigators try to identify everyone involved in what he dubbed an act of “terrorism” and an attempted “coup.”

However, the emergency order remains in effect until the end of the month. The scope of the order is limited to Brasilia’s Federal District, and its stated aim is to “end the serious compromising of public order in the State in the Federal District, marked by acts of violence and invasion of public buildings.”

https://twitter.com/LulaOficial/status/1612193475369336832

To achieve that goal, Capelli may call upon “the financial, technological, structural, and human resources of the Federal District” – including, but not limited to, the military and police – as needed.

Promising to make those responsible for the chaos “pay with the force of the law” in a televised address, Lula pledged to get to the bottom of “who are the financiers” of the swarm of protesters – most outfitted in matching attire with the colors of the Brazilian flag – who rushed through a barricade and into the government buildings.

He denounced the demonstrators as “vandals and fascists,” accusing Bolsonaro of filling their heads with extremism. The former leader’s supporters have been staging chaotic demonstrations since he lost a close election to his leftist rival in October, blocking roads, setting vehicles on fire, and at one point even surrounding a military facility to try to convince the soldiers inside to rise up and restore Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro left Brazil several days before the traditional handoff ceremony installing Lula in the presidency rather than appear to legitimize the leftist’s win by showing up, maintaining that his defeat had been unfair even as he condemned the violent protests that had resulted. Lula blamed what he described as the day’s “unprecedented” violence on his nemesis, declaring “this is also the responsibilities of him and of the parties that belong to him.”
https://www.rt.com/news/569575-brazil-lula-coup-emergency/
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8 Jan, 2023 19:24

2) --- Bolsonaro supporters storm three branches of power in Brazil

The rioters targeted the National Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace

Supporters of right-wing former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro have swarmed the country's Three Powers Plaza, climbing the roof of the National Congress and ransacking multiple government buildings, following weeks of unrest and claims of election fraud.

Chaotic scenes erupted in the capital Brasilia Video on Sunday, with videos posted to social media showing the rioters also attacking the Supreme Court building as well. Water can be seen pouring out of a broken window and makeshift lettering pasted on another window as demonstrators, many clutching or wearing Brazilian flags, survey the damage. The court had slapped Bolsonaro with a hefty fine in November over his efforts to challenge the results of the presidential race, accusing him of acting in bad faith.

video https://twitter.com/alx/status/1612163704023392256

video https://twitter.com/alx/status/1612164904198504448

The protesters also broke into the Planalto Palace, the official workplace of the president of Brazil, according to other footage. While local media reports placed the crowd size at around 3,000 people, reports by police in the Federal District of Brasilia cited on social media suggested they were concerned they might be outnumbered by the demonstrators.

video https://t.me/CIG_telegram/26466

video https://t.me/tupireport/11214

As local authorities struggled to contain the unrest, the president was forced to declare a state of emergency in the Federal District of Brasilia, appointing justice minister Ricardo Garcia Capelli to lead the “federal intervention.”

video https://twitter.com/MadhawTiwari/status/1612237053051432960

Since Lula’s narrow electoral victory in October, supporters of the former president have blocked roads, set vehicles on fire, and even surrounded military buildings, in an effort to try to convince soldiers inside to overthrow the new government.

Many observers pointed out similarities between the events in the Federal District and the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. In both cases, supporters of a right-wing leader ousted in a hotly-contested election swarmed government buildings that had been left largely unguarded, meeting with little if any resistance from authorities. Like their American counterparts, the Bolsonaro supporters came outfitted with their nation’s flags and messaging for the crowd - “We want the source code,” one banner dropped from the roof of the Congress read, presumably referring to the voting machines whose integrity Bolsonaro had questioned.

RT on Rumble (video) https://rumble.com/v24k2si-damage-and-mess-interiors-of-brazil-govt-buildings-trashed-after-massive-ri.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=4

RT on Rumble (video) https://rumble.com/v24jw8e-protesters-clash-with-riot-police-as-govt-buildings-stormed-by-angry-crowds.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=5

RT on Rumble (video) https://rumble.com/v24hfme-brazilians-breach-the-national-congress-building-protesting-against-preside.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=6
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9 Jan, 2023 07:46

3) --- Brasilia governor suspended in aftermath of capital riot

A top judge says unrest on such a scale could not have occurred without the approval of the authorities

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes removed the governor of the Federal District of Brasilia, Ibaneis Rocha, from his post for 90 days late on Sunday after right-wing supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings in the capital.

Riots on such a scale, which saw thousands of demonstrators overrunning Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential Planalto Palace on Sunday, “could only occur with the approval and even effective participation of the competent authorities,” the judge said, explaining his decision.

The fact that major protests by supporters of Bolsonaro, who were unhappy about his defeat in the November election to leftist opponent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, were being prepared was well-known and widely reported in the media, he pointed out.

According to judge, Ibaneis “not only made public statements defending a false ‘free political demonstration in Brasilia’... he also ignored all appeals by the authorities to carry out a security plan.”

The actions of the rioters were “despicable,” Moraes said, while pledging that those who masterminded and took part in the events will be held accountable.

Brazilian democracy will not be shaken, much less destroyed, by terrorist criminals,” the judge insisted.

Moraes ruled that camps outside military bases set up by pro-Bolsonaro protesters should be removed within 24 hours, while also ordering social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and TikTok to block the accounts of users spreading incendiary content.

Police detained at least 400 people while working to restore order in the capital on Sunday. Newly inaugurated Brazilian president Lula has declared a state of emergency, which will stay in force in Brasilia until the end of the month. Justice Minister Flavio Dino described the chaos in Brasilia as an attempted “coup” and promised more arrests.

Late on Sunday, Governor Ibaneis issued a video apologising for the situation that unfolded on his watch, branding the protesters “real vandals” and “terrorists.”

“We didn’t believe at any time that these demonstrations would take the proportions they took,” he claimed.

Bolsonaro, who is now reportedly staying in Miami, Florida, wrote on Twitter that “peaceful demonstrations... are part of democracy. However, depredations and invasions of public buildings as occurred today… escape the rule.” The former president also claimed that left-wing protesters in Brazil were responsible for similar actions in 2013 and 2017.
https://www.rt.com/news/569582-brazil-governor-ibaneis-riots/
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8 Jan, 2023 23:03

4) --- Pres. Biden accused of ‘stage-managed’ border tour

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has blasted the president for getting only a “sanitized” view of America’s immigration crisis

Texas Governor Greg Abbott welcomed Joe Biden for the president’s long-awaited visit to the southern US border by hand-delivering a letter demanding that the federal government address the “worst illegal immigration” crisis in the nation’s history by enforcing current laws.

“Your visit to our southern border with Mexico today is $20 billion too little and two years too late,” Abbott said in the letter, which he handed to the president after Biden disembarked Air Force One on Sunday in El Paso. He added that Biden’s visit was being carefully crafted to avoid seeing the havoc and damage caused by his open-border policies.

“Even the city you visit has been sanitized of the migrant camps which had overrun downtown El Paso because your administration wants to shield you from the chaos that Texans experience on a daily basis,” Abbott said. “This chaos is the direct result of your failure to enforce the immigration laws that Congress enacted.”

Illegal border crossings into the US have surged fivefold since Biden took office in January 2021 and reached a record high of 2.76 million in the government fiscal year that ended on September 30. Biden hadn’t been to the border since 2008, when was campaigning in New Mexico. He announced a new border plan on Thursday, including new limits on migration from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti.

However, Abbott said the new policies are primarily about helping illegal migrants, rather than blocking them from entering the US. “All of this is happening because you have violated your constitutional obligation to defend the states against invasion through faithful execution of federal laws.”

The governor launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021 to help secure the border. The operation has netted 23,000 criminal arrests and seizures of over 354 million doses of fentanyl. The state also has bussed 16,000 migrants to so-called “sanctuary cities” that support open borders, including Washington and New York.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas criticized Abbott on Sunday for failing to work through the federal government to address border concerns. “We cannot have unilateral governor action,” Mayorkas said in an ABC News interview.

Abbott accused Biden of coming to a “stage-managed version of El Paso” for “photo ops” and argued that nothing will be accomplished unless he begins enforcing immigration laws.
https://www.rt.com/news/569576-biden-sanitized-border-visit/
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8 Jan, 2023 20:14

5) --- Belgrade is the new Casablanca – Vucic

Serbian capital has been swarming with numerous spies, the country’s president has claimed

Serbia has seen a record influx of foreign spies, with the country’s capital city Belgrade swarming with them amid the New Year's Eve celebrations, President Aleksandar Vucic has said, likening the city to Casablanca during World War II.

"This New Year's Eve, Belgrade has become the new Casablanca. We regularly receive these reports, there were no spies who would not check in our hotels, there have never been so many spies," Vucic told TV Pink on Sunday.

The Moroccan city of Casablanca during WWII has long been portrayed in popular culture as a city swarming with assorted Nazis, war refugees, and spies from all over the globe, primarily thanks to the 1942 namesake Hollywood classic. This image of the Moroccan city, a French colonial territory at the time, has been repeatedly reprinted in many spy movies since then.

The influx of spies to Belgrade came amid ongoing tensions between Serbia and its breakaway region of Kosovo, the Serbian president said, stating that the city has never seen such intelligence activity since, at least, the WWII era. The intelligence agents have been "doing their job" and "obviously preparing various things," Vucic added. The president did not elaborate from which countries the purported spies came from.

Serbia and Kosovo have been at odds throughout most of 2022 over Pristina’s plans to ban Belgrade-issued license plates in its jurisdiction. Heavily armed ethnic Albanian police had been deployed in Serbian-populated areas, with locals staging protests and erecting barricades in response.

Tensions were reignited earlier this week when two Serbian youths were wounded in a drive-by shooting near the town of Strpce, as they were walking with oak branches in celebration of Orthodox Christmas. The alleged attacker, who has been detained, turned out to be an ethnic Albanian. The incidents like the Strpce shooting are a direct result of hostile policies pursued by the Pristina authorities, Vucic has said, warning that a "difficult period" still lies ahead.
https://www.rt.com/news/569570-belgrade-vucic-new-casablanca/
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