RT News - January 24th 2023

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Western countries are applying a neo-colonialist approach to Africa, by patronizing nations instead of co-operating with them. FM Lavrov is visiting South Africa ahead of them taking over the BRICS chair this year. South Africa has a lot of plans. Thuli Dladla (Eswatini FM) said the visit was testimony to the hard work and efforts Russia's FM offices have put in. (Eswatini was formerly Swaziland) Donald Courter reports on the important day and press conference.
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is also in Africa after many years of U.S. absence. There has been a lot of Russia-bashing (see previous posts) but today she accused China of being a barrier for solving Zambia's debt issues. China made a response. China lambastes Washington for portraying it as a 'barrier' to solving Africa's debts with Beijing calling the US the main reason of the continent's economic instability. Mali's Sidilamine Bagayogo, a political analyst discusses.
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Special Operation/Ukraine conflict: RT's sources say that 200 Ukrainian soldiers were lost after a failed counter attack on Russian forces. The Ukrainian forces have withdrawn. RT talks to international attorney Arnaud Develay who has visited Donbass. The Kiev regime is lashing out on the civilian population.
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Palestine/Israel: Palestine has asked the west to put pressure on Israel to stop demolishing a village near to Jerusalem (about 25 kms west) Demonstrators from the village (Al-Khan Al-Ahmar) are unsurprisingly upset at the demolition. RT talks to some of them and Mustafa Barghouti PNIP general secretary.
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Morocco's parliament is considering it's position in regards to the EU saying it is harming the country's image and interests. "Rabat is able to deal with it's internal issues by itself" Amine Ayoub discusses and calls out the European Parliament for getting it's facts wrong.
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A wave of resignations by Ukrainian officials grips Kiev with Ukraine's Deputy Prosecutor and heads of several front line regions on the list. Some have also been fired. Marina Kosareva talks in detail about what appears to be going on.
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Below via RT website: 1) --- Zelensky makes ‘big business’ pitch to US
2) --- Kiev fires many of its officials amid corruption scandals
3) --- Kiev asked Minsk to sign non-aggression pact – Lukashenko
4) --- US not ready to fight China – study
5) --- Finnish FM backtracks on NATO comment
6) --- California rocked by back-to-back deadly shootings
7) --- Another alleged coup plot foiled in Germany
8) --- China slams US over ‘catastrophic’ debt
8a) --- US warned of default

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24 Jan, 2023 16:56

1) --- Zelensky makes ‘big business’ pitch to US

The Ukrainian leader touts ties to Blackrock, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan in another weapons plea

Kiev is already working with some giants of the finance and military industry, offering “big business” opportunities to any American company interested in working there, President Vladimir Zelensky has boasted in a video message to an association of US enterprises.

Addressing the National Association of State Chambers (NASC) meeting in Boca Raton, Florida on Monday, Zelensky argued that “American business can become the locomotive that will once again push forward global economic growth.”

“We have already managed to attract attention and have cooperation with such giants of international financial and investment world as Blackrock, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs,” Zelensky said. “Such American brands as Starlink or Westinghouse have already become a part of our Ukrainian Way.”

According to Zelensky, “everyone can become a big business by working with Ukraine, in all sectors: from weapons and defense to construction, from communication to agriculture, from transport to IT, from banks to medicine.”

He also lavished praise on the weapons the US has showered upon Kiev.

“Your brilliant defense systems, such as HIMARS or Bradleys, are already uniting our history of freedom with your enterprises. We are waiting for Patriots. We are looking closely at Abrams. Thousands of such examples are possible,” Zelensky said in the video.

By the Pentagon’s own estimates, the US has sent over $20 billion worth of weapons, ammunition and supplies to Ukraine in 2022. However, most of that came out of the US military stockpiles. The Department of Defense did award contracts worth hundreds of millions to Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and other manufacturers to replenish some of the depleted supplies.

Russia has repeatedly warned the West that continued deliveries of weapons to Ukraine only prolonged the conflict and risked a direct confrontation between Moscow and NATO.

The Ukrainian president revealed in December that his government had hired Blackrock – a major US asset management company – to “advise” Kiev on how to use reconstruction funds provided by Western governments. He has estimated the cost of rebuilding Ukraine from the ongoing conflict would be at least $1 trillion.
https://www.rt.com/russia/570422-zelensky-ukraine-america-business/
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24 Jan, 2023 15:37

2) --- Kiev fires many of its officials amid corruption scandals

Several deputy ministers as well as heads of regional military administrations have been relieved of their duties

Multiple senior Ukrainian officials were relieved of their duties by the country’s government on Tuesday. The ongoing reshuffle was announced by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in his daily video address and affects officials "on different levels, in ministries and other bodies of central and provincial authority, and law enforcement."

The government has dismissed deputy defense minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov, deputy social policy minister Vitaly Muzychenko, as well as two deputies of the minister of regional development, Vyacheslav Negoda and Ivan Lukerya.

Shortly before the government’s decision, Shapovalov himself announced his resignation, which was swiftly accepted by his boss, Alexey Reznikov. The move has been prompted by an ongoing graft scandal within the ministry, which had allegedly been procuring food for troops at abnormally high prices.

"Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who was in charge of the logistics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, asked to be dismissed so as not to pose a threat to a stable supply of the military as a result of a campaign of accusations related to food procurement," the defense ministry said in a statement, branding the allegations "unreasonable and baseless" and lauding Shapovalov’s resignation as an "honorable deed in line with traditions of European and democratic politics."

According to a Ukrainian media investigation that emerged over the weekend, various foodstuffs for the military ended up costing several times more than the average prices offered by retailers. Reznikov has rejected the allegations, stating the documents cited in the investigation were inaccurate and some prices ended up inflated due to a "technical error." The minister also rubbished the comparisons with consumer prices, insisting that military procurements include costs that retail ones do not.

Apart from the deputy ministers, the government has also dismissed multiple heads of regional military administrations, including Aleksey Kuleba, the head of Kiev Region. According to reports by some Ukrainian outlets, Kuleba is poised to replace Zelensky’s deputy chief of staff, Kirill Timoshenko, who resigned earlier in the day.

Deputy Prosecutor General Aleksey Simonenko became another victim of the ongoing reshuffle, ending up dismissed on Tuesday as well. The official became embroiled in a public scandal earlier this month, after spending the New Year's holidays in Spain. Apart from getting bad publicity for relaxing at a foreign resort during the ongoing military conflict with Russia, the official faced allegations of corruption as he'd purportedly used the car of a wealthy businessman with a security detail hired by its owner during the ill-fated trip.
https://www.rt.com/russia/570402-ukrainian-officials-fired-corruption/
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24 Jan, 2023 15:27

3) --- Kiev asked Minsk to sign non-aggression pact – Lukashenko

Despite offering a deal, Ukraine is training militants that pose a threat to its neighbor, the Belarusian president claims

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has claimed Ukraine proposed a “non-aggression pact” with his country, but continues to train militants who pose a national security threat.

“I don’t know why the Ukrainians are doing this. On the one hand, they ask us not to fight with Ukraine under any circumstances, and that our troops don’t move in there. They suggest signing a non-aggression pact. And on the other hand they are preparing this ‘explosive mixture’ and are arming these [militants],” Lukashenko said during a government meeting on Tuesday.

The president said the West has not abandoned its “plans” for Belarus, and that Ukraine, along with neighboring states Poland and Lithuania, continue to train militants and extremists that pose a threat to national security.

He insisted that Belarus will never allow a repeat of the protests that swept the country in 2020, and will act “harshly” in order to make sure the nation survives and doesn’t turn into a warzone like Ukraine.

Lukashenko said Poland and Lithuania have gone “completely gone crazy” and that Belarus has no choice but to respond appropriately.

“We are forced to react harshly,” he said, adding that Belarus “has enough issues” on its borders, both in the air and on the ground, and the last thing it needs is turmoil within the country.

“Let them not be offended, they were warned,” the president said, addressing “not the internal opposition, but the extremists” that choose to “crawl out from under the baseboard” and stir up trouble.

On Monday, the State Border Committee of Belarus said “a group of armed formations” made up of 23,500 troops from European Union states and Ukraine were concentrated near the country’s border. It claimed 17,500 of them were from Ukraine, and 3,700 from Poland.

The committee also alleged that neighboring countries were constructing an “iron curtain” along the frontier, consisting of stationary engineering structures, barriers and even minefields.

Kiev has insisted that it does not have any aggressive plans against Belarus, but that it is “prepared for any scenario,” and warned Minsk against making any hostile plans of its own.
https://www.rt.com/russia/570414-belarus-ukraine-non-agression-pact/
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24 Jan, 2023 13:55

4) --- US not ready to fight China – study

The Pentagon ran out of crucial missiles in the first week of a simulated clash for Taiwan

The US does not have enough stockpiles of munitions or the industrial capacity to replenish them for a major military confrontation with China, a US think tank has warned, citing a series of war games it conducted.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which ran the simulation, has urged the Pentagon to stockpile weapons and materials for producing them, and incentivize manufacturers to build new facilities by offering better terms.

The CSIS, a nonprofit that lists among its donors major defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and General Dynamics, criticized the state of the US defense industry as inadequate for “today’s competitive environment.”

The production base cannot support a protracted, high-intensity conflict, the report released on Monday stated. The country ran low on certain weapons in the simulation, including Javelin and Stinger missiles, 155 mm howitzers and counter-artillery radars, as these had been sent to Ukraine.

In a possible conflict with China over Taiwan, which CSIS assessed may break out with little preparation time, this scenario may replicate.

“In nearly two dozen iterations of a CSIS war game that examined a US-China war in the Taiwan Strait, the United States typically expended more than 5,000 long-range missiles in three weeks of conflict: 4,000 JASSMs, 450 LRASMs, 400 Harpoons, and 400 Tomahawk land-attack missiles (TLAMs),” the report said.

The think tank predicted that LRASMs, Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles, would be of particular importance in the event that the Chinese navy would impose a blockade of the self-governed island.

The US used up its inventory of those weapons in the first week in every iteration of the modeled conflict, CSIS noted, adding that the weapon’s production time is two years.

The report identified a number of underlying weaknesses, including the Pentagon’s status as a sole buyer of weapons, and its acquisition rules, which prioritize “efficiency and cost control over speed and capacity.”

Producers don’t enjoy predictable demand for munitions, which could be provided by multiyear contracts, for example, the report explained. So investing seriously in capital and personnel “is not a sound business decision” for them.

The US regulations for weapons exports mean that getting through the pipeline takes extra months, even years. Some advanced weapons offered by China and Russia get a competitive edge because of this, and due to their lower prices, the report claimed.
https://www.rt.com/news/570405-taiwan-conflict-simulation-munitions/
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24 Jan, 2023 16:05

5) --- Finnish FM backtracks on NATO comment

Pekka Haavisto previously hinted that Helsinki may consider joining the military bloc alone if Türkiye keeps blocking Sweden’s bid

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto has backpedaled on his previous remark in which he suggested Helsinki could move forward with its NATO application alone if Türkiye keeps blocking neighboring Sweden’s bid. Clarifying his position on Tuesday, the diplomat insisted that Helsinki’s goal of becoming part of the military bloc together with Stokholm remains unchanged.

Speaking at a press conference in the Finnish parliament on Tuesday, Haavisto said Helsinki “does not have a plan B,” as “at the moment there is no need for that.” The minister emphasized that both Finland and Sweden “meet NATO’s criteria and it would seem that both should join” the US-led military bloc.

Speaking to Finland’s Yle broadcaster on Monday, however, Haavisto had suggested that while the two nations’ joint ascension remained the “number one option,” Helsinki must “be prepared to reevaluate the situation” in case something prevented Sweden’s bid from being accepted.

The comment was taken by some to indicate a change in Finland’s position.

While Türkiye has long accused Sweden of harboring terrorists, the Scandinavian country’s chances of reaching a compromise with Ankara appear even slimmer following a Quran-burning protest staged by right-wing politician and activist Rasmus Paludan in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on Saturday. The incident led Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to warn that Sweden “should not expect support” for its NATO bid from Ankara.

Haavisto also said he had held talks with his Swedish counterpart, Tobias Billstrom, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. According to the Finnish foreign minister, the bloc’s chief confirmed that NATO itself would also want the two Nordic countries to join simultaneously.

“We are trying to progress this together,” the diplomat concluded.

Both nations applied to join NATO in May last year in the wake of Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine.

Türkiye, however, has blocked their bids, demanding that Sweden and Finland first lift arms embargoes they had previously imposed on Ankara. Moreover, President Erdogan insisted that the two Nordic countries had to stop harboring members of organizations considered terrorist in Türkiye, particularly Kurdish ones.

While Helsinki and Stockholm pledged to address the concerns, Ankara is still not fully satisfied with the progress. Tensions were further compounded following the protest outside the Turkish diplomatic mission in the Swedish capital on Saturday.

While Swedish officials condemned the stunt, they insisted that they had no option but to allow it in accordance with the country’s freedom of expression principle.
https://www.rt.com/news/570417-finland-backtracks-sweden-nato/
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24 Jan, 2023 12:47

6) --- California rocked by back-to-back deadly shootings

Seven people were killed at two separate sites in the town of Half Moon Bay, police say

Seven people were killed in a mass shooting in the town of Half Moon Bay in California on Monday, police have confirmed. The bloodshed comes just two days after a gunman shot 11 people dead during a Lunar New Year celebration in the Los Angeles area.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said he had been visiting the victims of Saturday’s Monterey Park attack in hospital when he was told that another shooting had occurred, this time in the northern part of the state. It’s been “tragedy upon tragedy,” Newsom wrote on Twitter.

The attack in Half Moon Bay, some 48km (30 miles) south of San Francisco, took place at two nearby agricultural enterprises.

Four people were shot dead and one was seriously injured at a mushroom farm, while three more bodies were later discovered at a soil farm, located about a mile away. All of the victims were Chinese-American workers, according to police.

The suspected shooter was identified as Chunli Zhao, a 67-year-old resident of Half Moon Bay. Chunli was detained after being found sitting in his car outside the sheriff’s station, with the authorities suggesting that he had driven there to turn himself in. US news channels have aired footage of officers pinning the man to the ground.

“This kind of shooting is horrific,” San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus told journalists. According to Corpus, a semi-automatic handgun was discovered inside Chunli’s vehicle. The suspect has been “fully cooperating” with investigators, she added. However, the motives for the deadly attack currently remain unclear.

The shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay were both carried out by Asian men of retirement age. The gunman, who attacked people at a dance studio in an LA suburb on Saturday, was identified as Huu Can Tran, 72. He took his own life as police tried to arrest him.
https://www.rt.com/news/570399-california-shooting-half-moon/
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24 Jan, 2023 13:07

7) --- Another alleged coup plot foiled in Germany

Five suspects from right-wing circles were charged with preparing to overthrow the government and abduct a minister

German security services have charged five suspects with treason over a purported plot to overthrow the government. The group, whose members are now all in custody, allegedly planned to cause a “civil war-like” situation and abduct a government minister.

In early December, the German authorities also claimed to have thwarted a separate coup attempt, also by right-wing extremists.

On Monday, the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office released a statement, saying charges were brought on January 16 against five individuals identified as Sven B., Michael H., Thomas K., Thomas O. and Elisabeth R. They are suspected of having “established or participated in a domestic terrorist organization.”

In addition, the suspects were charged with preparing an “act of high treason” against the German federal government.

The authorities claim the group was set up no later than mid-January last year, aiming to trigger “civil war-like conditions” in the country. The suspects’ supposed goal was to topple the German government and the “parliamentary democracy.”

All of the members are believed to be followers of the so-called Reichsbuerger or ‘Citizens of the Reich’ movement, which claims the constitution and government of Germany have no legal basis. The conspiracy theory’s proponents insist that the 1871 constitution is the only valid one.

According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the suspects had planned to create an “authoritarian government system” to replace the current one.

The group is said to have been divided into two branches: military and administrative. According to their alleged plans, cited by the authorities, the plotters would have targeted Germany’s power grid in the hope of plunging the country into a blackout.

Moreover, the suspects had presumably planned to abduct Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, who was in charge of the government’s Covid-19 measures and vaccination efforts, unpopular with right-wingers.

Officials believe the suspects had tried to recruit supporters on Telegram and also sought to procure several tons of explosives from the former Yugoslavia.

One of the ring members was apprehended after he had “ordered and received” two AK47 assault rifles, four Glock pistols, as well as ammunition, the authorities revealed. The arrest took place in April 2022, with another three suspects detained around the same time. The last remaining alleged member was arrested in October. All have been in pre-trial detention ever since.

Health Minister Lauterbach, whom the plotters had apparently planned to kidnap, has posted a tweet, thanking the security services. https://twitter.com/Karl_Lauterbach/status/1617535814618980352

This is not the first alleged plot of the kind uncovered by German authorities in recent months.

In early December, police conducted dozens of searches and arrests in connection with suspected coup preparations by ‘Citizens of the Reich.’ Back then, security services, too, claimed that the suspects had been planning to cause a power outage, storm the Bundestag and possibly kill some of the top officials.
https://www.rt.com/news/570397-germany-coup-attempt-treason-charges/
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24 Jan, 2023 12:29

8) --- China slams US over ‘catastrophic’ debt

Beijing has urged Washington to conduct responsible monetary policy to avoid a default on payments

China has rebuked the US for its brinkmanship over the nation's “catastrophic debt problem” as Washington approaches a statutory debt ceiling this week that could see the country defaulting on its obligations.

The criticism came from the Chinese embassy in Zambia’s capital Lusaka, following a reproach from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen over alleged mishandling by Beijing of a debt problem in the southern African country.

On Monday, during a visit to Zambia, Yellen said that it was critically important to restructure the country’s debt. She blamed China, the key creditor of the African state, for being an obstacle to resolving the problem.

In response, the Chinese Embassy in Zambia said on Tuesday that “the biggest contribution that the US can make to the debt issues outside the country is to act on responsible monetary policies, cope with its own debt problem, and stop sabotaging other sovereign countries’ active efforts to solve their debt issues.”

According to official data, China holds about $870 billion in US debt, down from more than $1.3 trillion in late 2013. The country’s stockpile, the world's largest after Japan's, slumped for the third straight month, reaching the lowest level since June 2010, Bloomberg reported.

US debt is currently capped at $31.4 trillion. In December the ceiling was lifted. Last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that “once the limit is reached, the Treasury will need to start taking certain extraordinary measures to prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations.” She explained that these measures will only go as far as to give Congress time to negotiate and pass a debt-limit hike, most likely until early June.

Economists warn that raising the debt ceiling would give the Treasury some time before it runs out of money, adding that a US default on payments would damage not only the world’s biggest economy but also the global financial system.
https://www.rt.com/business/570398-china-slams-us-debt/
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14 Jan, 2023 10:22

8a) --- US warned of default

The Treasury Secretary says a debt limit hike is badly needed

The US is expected to reach a statutory debt ceiling next week, which could see the country defaulting on its obligations unless preventative steps are taken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Friday in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“Once the limit is reached, Treasury will need to start taking certain extraordinary measures to prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations,” Yellen wrote. She noted, however, that these measures will only go as far as to give the Congress time to negotiate and pass a debt limit hike, most likely until early June.

“The use of extraordinary measures enables the government to meet its obligations for only a limited amount of time…It is therefore critical that Congress act in a timely manner to increase or suspend the debt limit. Failure to meet the government’s obligations would cause irreparable harm to the US economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability,” the secretary stated.

The US debt is currently capped at $31.4 trillion. The ceiling was last lifted in December 2021.

There are concerns that the process of hiking the limit may be drawn out, as there are disputes over the move between the Republican and Democratic parties. However, following Yellen's letter, the White House said it would support an increase and urged Congress to act in a prompt and bipartisan way.

“We believe when it comes to the debt limit, it has been done in a bipartisan way over the years and decades, and it should be done, and it should be done without conditions… There’s going to be no negotiation over it,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.
https://www.rt.com/business/569848-us-default-debt-limit-hike/

QS see yesterday's (23rd Jan) video post report from Chris Emms to see proposals
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