RT News - February 16th 2023

Ukraine, airstrikes: There have been multiple strikes across Ukraine targeting power infrastructure.
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Return of the deceased military (warning, gruesome video). The Ukrainian soldiers killed in battle are not retrieved; this is normal practice for Ukraine. Their bodies are placed in wooden coffins ready to be transported.
The PMC Wagner chief shares his insight on the conflict in Ukraine with our correspondent - saying the key city of Artyomovsk - could soon fall. Igor Zhdanov spoke with him.
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Spain - one of the top carriers in the Ukrainian grain deal - has been delivering wheat not to African states in need - but to its own livestock. Report from Rachel Marsden (also see 6 below).
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Africa Russia ties continue to strengthen as countries continue to try and throw off their colonial past. RT spoke with Irina Abramova, director of Russia's RAS Inst. for African Studies who explains it isn't just the field of agriculture and minerals where African countries can shine. (QS I will try and post the link in the later video as it isn't on Rumble, yet)
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Child trafficking remains a major problem in Africa - with four Croatian couples, the latest to be arrested in Zambia, for attempting to smuggle children out of the continent. They used forged documents in their attempt to cross the border. The trial is set to commence on March 1. Nothing has been said in court about the whereabouts or status of the children. The case has sparked a fierce public debate in Croatia and thrust "international adoption" into the spotlight there. The Croatians facing charges incl. Zoran Subosic, 52, a guitarist in Hladno Pivo (Cold Beer) Immovic Subosic, 41, Damir Magic, 44, Nadic Magic, 45, Ladislav Persic, 42, a doctor, Aleksandra Persic, 43, Noah Kraljevic, 40 and Uvona Kraljevic, 36. Zambian immigration official Gloria Sakulenga, 36, is also facing charges.
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Britain, Camilla's crown: Queen consort to be's coronation crown won't feature India's Koh-i-Noor diamond. Instead she will use the Queen Mary crown. (QS: Here is some excellent history of the "shoplifted diamond" in a video from William Dalrymple (sorry it's not on Rumble yet - I will ask him... https://youtu.be/yJgZf9c6MTQ). WD wrote an amazing book about the diamond, if you can find it it's defo. worth a read. Search also William Dalrymple "The Anarchy" which explains about the British East India company, only sadly on youtube so far and of course his book. Did you know the British East India company was the cause of Britain's first government bail-out almost causing bankruptcy to Britain and that most of the then government were shareholders? ) India has for decades, asked for the return of her diamond.
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Israel/USA, underlining the obvious isn't allowed. A human rights candidate who has pointed out some home truths about Israel has had his application withdrawn. (QS - twitter thread https://twitter.com/JimCavallaro/status/1625593527886307328 ) In the eyes of U.S. .gov Israel is sacrosanct and cannot be criticised.
Israel announce the building of nine new outposts in the West Bank and says they are expected to build more settlements. Extended report from Maria Finoshina.
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Below, via RT website 1) --- US says ‘partners’ should investigate Nord Stream blasts
1a) --- US ‘lying’ about Nord Stream expose – Moscow
3) --- Twitter legalizes cannabis ads
4) --- US wants to punish banks linked to Russia – Reuters
5) --- Trade between Russia and EU tumbles – official
5a) --- German exports to Russia nosedive – data
6) --- Grain from Ukraine went to pigs in Spain – report
7) --- Pentagon admits to ‘overdose epidemic’ – media
7a) --- Enough fentanyl to kill all Americans seized in 2022 – DEA
8) --- Biden sibling denies Saudi deal link
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Show more

16 Feb, 2023 01:59

1) --- US says ‘partners’ should investigate Nord Stream blasts

The State Department reacted to Russia’s request for a UN probe of the pipeline destruction

The 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions did not take place on US soil, so Washington says it would be appropriate for the countries whose territory was involved to investigate the matter, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Wednesday.

“I would leave it to our partners on whose territory – on whose soil as it were – these blasts occurred to speak to the appropriate investigative mechanisms,” Price said during a daily briefing.

Price declined to comment on the news that Russia has called a session of the UN Security Council for next week, with the intent to seek an international investigation into the September 2022 explosions that damaged the Baltic Sea pipelines previously supplying Russian natural gas to Germany.

“I will repeat what we’ve said before: What we have heard from Moscow, what we’ve heard from the Kremlin, is nothing but a lie. It’s pure disinformation that the US was behind what transpired with Nord Stream 2, the Nord Stream blasts,” Price said. “This is the message that we have conveyed consistently in the face of these lies that have been parroted by Russian officials, and will convey them [sic] again if we need to, in any form.”

Russia has previously said that the UK and US “benefited” from the destruction of the pipelines, but stopped short of accusing Washington outright. Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, however, did just that in a Substack article published last week. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist described how US divers planted the explosives, also alleging that a Norwegian airplane gave the detonation signal.

The White House dismissed Hersh’s story as “utterly false and complete fiction.” Price himself called it “utter and complete nonsense” at a briefing last week, prompting his Russian counterpart, Maria Zakharova, to accuse him of “once again lying live on air, openly mocking journalists who asked fully justified questions.”

In an interview with the German outlet Berliner Zeitung over the weekend, Hersh stood by his claims and said that the incident happened because US President Joe Biden “would rather see Germany freeze than Germany possibly stop supporting Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, when asked about a UN probe into the Nord Stream sabotage, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday that the world body would need to “have a mandate, which we don’t, clearly.”

Denmark, in whose waters the explosions happened, is a NATO member. Both Denmark and Sweden – which is trying to join the US-led bloc – have refused to even respond to Russian requests for an investigation. NATO’s current secretary general is a former prime minister of Norway.
https://www.rt.com/news/571554-us-partners-nord-stream/
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10 Feb, 2023 16:57 RECAP

1a) --- US ‘lying’ about Nord Stream expose – Moscow

The Russian Foreign Ministry has reminded the State Department about its own history of misleading claims

Attempts by the US State Department to brush off Seymour Hersh’s article about the sabotage of Nord Stream pipelines as “nonsense” are overt lies that display shocking ignorance of American history, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Friday.

The veteran investigative journalist reported on Wednesday that the US was behind the destruction of the Baltic Sea pipelines in September 2022. American divers planted charges under the cover of a NATO exercise, and a Norwegian airplane detonated them remotely when the time came, Hersh wrote.

“It would not be typical for us to engage allies and partners on something that is utter and complete nonsense,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday, answering a question about Hersh’s article.

Zakharova said she was astonished by Price’s audacity to call “nonsense” what US President Joe Biden and Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland openly described as their preferred outcome.

“The US is once again lying live on air, openly mocking journalists who asked fully justified questions,” Zakharova said.

Washington also has a history of targeting civilian petrochemical infrastructure, Zakharova noted, citing the 1983 CIA sabotage of a pipeline in Nicaragua as an example.

“You did this, you do this, and you will do this until you’re stopped,” the spokeswoman added.

As for bringing allies and partners into “nonsense,” Zakharova argued that this was precisely what “trans-Atlantic solidarity” means in practice, referring to the 2003 invasion of Iraq as one example.

“Twenty years ago, Secretary of State Colin Powell brought to the UN Security Council a vial of something, and called [on] allies and partners to invade a sovereign state, without any evidence, over claims that proved to be utter nonsense. Ned, do you know your own department’s history?” Zakharova said. “I have no doubts that at the State Department they are bad with the history of their own country. That’s why we are where we are.”

Explosions that damaged both Nord Stream pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm cut off the flow of Russian natural gas to Germany. US officials tried to blame Russia for the blasts, while expressing delight at the destruction and calling it an “opportunity” for Europe. The White House has denounced Hersh’s report as “utterly false and complete fiction.”

Zakharova noted that Denmark and Sweden had refused Russian offers to assist with the investigation, while Norway declined to provide aid citing EU sanctions, adding that this shows the three governments were not interested in finding out the truth, but rather covering it up.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571298-zakharova-american-lies-nordstream/
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16 Feb, 2023 02:25

3) --- Twitter legalizes cannabis ads

While marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, dozens of US states have decriminalized it to some extent

Twitter has given the green light for cannabis companies to run advertisements on its platform in certain US states, with the social media giant saying it will permit “responsible” pot marketing so long as vendors comply with a series of restrictions.

The company announced the policy change in a blog post on Wednesday, declaring that it would work to enable “more brands to connect with the cannabis conversation” on Twitter.

“As of today, in certain US states we have taken measures to relax our Cannabis Ads policy to create more opportunities for responsible cannabis marketing – the largest step forward by any social media platform,” Twitter’s US Sales and Partnerships head, Alexa Alianiello, said. “Going forward, Twitter is allowing advertisers to promote brand preference and informational cannabis-related content for CBD, THC, and cannabis-related products and services.”

Companies in the marijuana industry looking to run ads on Twitter will have to meet a number of requirements before they can do so, however. First and foremost, advertisers must be “licensed by the appropriate authorities” in their region to offer cannabis products, as well as “pre-authorized by Twitter.”

Once approved, companies will be required to limit their ads to jurisdictions where cannabis is legal, and may not directly promote the use of pot-related products (with the exception of certain topical CBD products containing negligible amounts of THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis). Advertisers are also prohibited from targeting customers under the age of 21, and must not “appeal to minors” in any way.

While other social media platforms allow ads for certain hemp and CBD products, Twitter is the first tech giant to permit advertising related to medicinal or recreational cannabis, which has been legalized in 21 US states and decriminalized in ten others. It remains illegal on the federal level, however, with the government classifying the substance as a schedule I drug – the highest level under the Controlled Substances Act of 1971.
https://www.rt.com/news/571555-twitter-allows-cannabis-ads/
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16 Feb, 2023 05:08

4) --- US wants to punish banks linked to Russia – Reuters

Washington says it will check on who benefits from Moscow-related transactions

The US could target more banks linked to Russia with sanctions and is set to tighten enforcement of existing restrictions, Reuters has reported, citing a senior US official.

Sanctions imposed by Washington and its allies “immobilized about 80% of the assets in the Russian banking sector,” according to the head of the US State Department’s Office of Sanctions Coordination, James O’Brien.

Last year, Russia was hit by sweeping Western economic sanctions, which included measures to cut the Russian central bank off from the international financial system, while around $300 billion of the bank’s foreign reserves were frozen. Many of the largest Russian banks were expelled from the global financial messaging system SWIFT.

“We are looking at additional banks and financial institutions to see how Russia deals with the outside world. It is very possible that there will be more action,” O’Brien said.

This comes as the EU is preparing a new package of sanctions that will reportedly include more Russian banks. The European Commission has proposed that Russia’s largest private lender, Alfa Bank, online bank Tinkoff, and commercial lender Rosbank be cut off from SWIFT, two EU diplomatic sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

“We are now looking at how sanctions, including financial sanctions, can be most effective,” O’Brien said. He warned that although the restrictions allowed global trade in Russian oil and other products, the US would check on banks and their clients “to see which companies and parties could benefit from financial transactions linked to Russia.”

Meanwhile, not all banking ties are being targeted by Western sanctions. Gazprombank, the bank that services Russian energy giant Gazprom, has not been sanctioned because of its importance in processing payments for Russian gas, which some EU states, such as Austria, Hungary and Italy, still buy.

“While the majority of important Russian banks are sanctioned, there is a lot outside that perimeter that you could go after,” said Nicolas Veron of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington think tank.

However, while sanctions advocates say there is plenty of scope to pile more sanctions on the country, they also admit that “nonetheless, Russia has proven it can adapt.”
https://www.rt.com/business/571530-us-russia-banks-sanctions/
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16 Feb, 2023 05:24

5) --- Trade between Russia and EU tumbles – official

The volume of commerce has been decreasing dramatically, according to a deputy PM

Trade turnover between Russia and the EU fell by a third in April-December 2022 amid Western sanctions on Moscow, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov has revealed.

Russia’s commerce with the EU has been declining significantly, the official said. “At the same time, trade turnover in the eastern and southern directions is growing,” Belousov said on Wednesday.

The deputy PM highlighted that during the period of April-December of last year Russian trade turnover with Türkiye, Egypt, and the countries of the Persian Gulf nearly doubled, while volumes with Southeast Asian countries and China rose by more than 17%.

Official statistics show that in 2020 the EU was Russia’s leading trade partner, accounting for 37.3% of the country’s total trade in goods with the world. Over 36% of Russia’s imports came from the EU and 37.9% of its exports went to the 27-nation bloc.

The total trade in goods between Russia and the bloc amounted to €257.5 billion ($275 billion) in 2021, according to European Commission data. The EU’s imports were worth €158.5 billion ($170 billion) and were dominated by fuel and mining products, particularly mineral fuels, wood, iron and steel, and fertilizers.

Meanwhile, last summer the EU exported 43% fewer goods to Russia versus the same period a year ago. In comparison, China exported 23% more goods to Russia last summer versus 2021, according to a report by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
https://www.rt.com/business/571516-russia-eu-trade-tumbles/
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5 Feb, 2023 05:25 -RECAP-

5a) --- German exports to Russia nosedive – data

Trade decreased dramatically last year due to Western sanctions on Moscow

Germany reduced exports to Russia in December by 16.7% to €900 million ($988 million) compared to the previous month, according to the country’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

Data showed on Thursday that the volume of German exports to Russia was nearly 60% lower than in December 2021.

Imports from Russia remained virtually unchanged compared to November, amounting to €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion).

Back in 2021, Russia accounted for 2.3% of total German foreign trade and was among the country’s 15 most important trading partners.

Overall, in 2022, the supply of German products to Russia dropped by 43.7% to €14.9 billion (around $16.3 billion), while German imports of Russian goods increased by 6.5% to €35.3 billion (almost $39 billion).

According to the report, Germany’s overall exports to countries outside the EU were down 9.1% in December compared to the previous month, at €56.5 billion ($62 billion).

The US remained the largest market for German-made goods among non-EU countries. In December, German exports to the US stood at €12.3 billion ($13.5 billion).
https://www.rt.com/business/570869-german-exports-nosedive-russia/
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15 Feb, 2023 21:47

6) --- Grain from Ukraine went to pigs in Spain – report

The scheme to ostensibly prevent famine in Africa may have benefited Spanish ham producers instead

Almost half of all Ukrainian wheat and corn exports to the EU ended up feeding pigs in Spain to produce the world-famous, and very expensive, jamon, according to an investigation by Austrian outlet eXXpress. The bloc ended up accounting for most of Kiev’s grain exports, even though the opening of the Black Sea corridor was advertised as a way to feed Africa and Asia.

An estimated 2.9 million tons of wheat and corn from Ukraine ended up in Spain, where it was used as animal feed, the Austrian outlet said on Monday. According to eXXpress, only 15% of the exports ended up in the countries at risk of famine, including 167,000 tons in Ethiopia and 65,000 tons in Sudan.

“Spain paid more money – and Ukraine delivered,” the outlet said.

After months of Kiev and its Western backers accusing Russia of “blockading” the Ukrainian ports, the UN and Türkiye negotiated an arrangement for exporting grain from both Ukraine and Russia, via special corridors in the Black Sea. The “grain deal” announced in August last year was presented as a way to avoid famine in parts of Africa and Asia, dependent on imports from Russia and Ukraine that were disrupted by both the conflict and Western sanctions.

From the very beginning, however, things did not go as advertised. The grain from Ukraine turned out to be animal feed, and was shipped mainly to European ports and Türkiye. By December, Russian officials were saying that 6.4 million tons of Ukrainian grain had been exported to the EU, of which 43% was corn and 29% wheat.

Moscow is not happy with the grain deal, either, as the mechanism that envisioned lifting restrictions on Russian grain and fertilizer exports has simply been ignored by the West. The US and its allies say they never sanctioned these products. While that is technically true, their embargo has banned all Russian ships from docking in their ports, or accessing insurance and brokerage services, in effect imposing a total blockade on commercial shipping.

Spanish jamon is touted as “the finest ham in the world,” commanding premium prices on the export market. The most expensive variety, Jamon Iberico de Bellota, comes from free-range pigs that feed on acorns. The vast majority of pigs, however, are raised on industrial farms on corn-based feed.

Seeking to bolster the government in Kiev, the EU had also suspended all tariffs and taxes on Ukrainian agricultural goods. The temporary arrangement was rolled out in May 2022 and is due to expire in June this year. Poland, Hungary and Romania – all of which border Ukraine – are reportedly lobbying against extending the deal, complaining that it has “disrupted competitiveness in the region” and flooded their markets with cheap Ukrainian goods.
https://www.rt.com/news/571548-ukraine-grain-pig-spain/
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16 Feb, 2023 00:22

7) --- Pentagon admits to ‘overdose epidemic’ – media

Hundreds of troops have died from drug overdoses, the US military reportedly told Congress

More than 15,000 US military service members have overdosed on illicit drugs in the past five years, and 332 of those cases have resulted in death, the Pentagon has reportedly admitted in response to questions from Congress.

The data was given this week to five US senators, led by Massachusetts Democrats Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren, Rolling Stone reported on Wednesday. The senators had written to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin last September, demanding information on overdoses in the ranks, after the magazine revealed that as many as 30 US soldiers died from overdoses at Fort Bragg in 2020 and 2021. The base in North Carolina is the headquarters for America’s special forces, among other things.

“The loss of a single service member to a fatal overdose is one loss too many,” Markey said on Wednesday. “With hundreds of fatal overdoses reported on US military bases, the toll is mounting. We can and must stop America’s overdose crisis.”
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https://twitter.com/SenMarkey/status/1625953862589812767
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Fentanyl accounted for more than half of the military overdose deaths, the Pentagon said. In fact, deaths from the synthetic opioid have more than doubled since 2017, following a similar trajectory with America’s overall drug crisis. The US had nearly 107,000 civilian overdose deaths in 2021, including more than 71,000 linked to fentanyl, according to government data.

The military’s overdose deaths have paralleled those in the civilian population in other ways, too. For instance, 96% of those who died were enlisted service members, rather than officers, just as the vast majority of civilian cases involve people without college degrees. The overwhelming majority of service members who died from drug overdoses were white males under the age of 33.

There were high concentrations of overdoses at bases that host Army infantrymen, Green Berets, and other elite soldiers, Rolling Stone wrote, claiming “this is likely no coincidence,” as these formations have “borne nearly all of the brunt of the past decade of war in Afghanistan and a half-dozen other countries.”
https://www.rt.com/news/571552-us-military-fentanyl-overdoses/
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21 Dec, 2022 21:09 RECAP

7a) --- Enough fentanyl to kill all Americans seized in 2022 – DEA

The law enforcement interdicted a record 50 million pills containing the deadly opiate, along with 10,000 pounds of powder

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized more than 379 million deadly doses of fentanyl in 2022, enough to kill every single person in the US. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl are currently killing over 70,000 Americans per year, according to government data.

In a press release on Tuesday, the agency announced that it had seized 50.6 million fentanyl-laced pills, a record number for the DEA. More than 10,000 pounds (4,535 kilos) of fentanyl powder was also seized, with the total haul adding up to over 379 million deadly doses – more than enough to kill the US’ 331 million men, women and children.

Fentanyl is a man-made opioid that is around 50 times more potent than heroin. Two milligrams of the substance is considered a lethal dose, making it easy for traffickers to smuggle potentially lucrative amounts of the drug across US borders, often disguised as branded pharmaceutical pills.

Two Mexican crime organizations – the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels – are “primarily responsible for the fentanyl that is killing Americans today,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement. Milgram explained that the cartels mass-produce the drug in Mexico, using chemicals sourced largely from China.

Republicans have repeatedly blamed President Joe Biden’s relaxation of border security for the upsurge in fentanyl deaths in the US. A record 108,000 people died of drug overdoses in the US in the 12 months leading up to March 2022, up from a previous high of 98,000 in March 2021. Around 72,000 of these deaths were caused by synthetic opioids like fentanyl, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While these grim milestones were reached under the Biden administration, overdoses skyrocketed during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, when Donald Trump was president. However, before the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns, overdoses slowly crept downwards through 2018 and 2019, when some of Trump’s strictest border controls were put in place.

On top of the DEA’s seizures, Customs and Border Protection agents impounded 14,700 pounds (6,667 kilos) of fentanyl during the 2022 financial year, which ran until October
https://www.rt.com/news/568702-dea-record-fentanyl-pills/
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15 Feb, 2023 19:50

8) --- Biden sibling denies Saudi deal link

A 2021 affidavit alleges that Jim Biden admitted to being hired to negotiate a $140 million settlement with Riyadh

Jim Biden, the brother of US President Joe Biden, has denied he was hired to help negotiate a $140 million settlement between a US construction firm and the Saudi government after a sworn affidavit surfaced on Tuesday claiming he admitted he was given the position because of his family name.

Former US Treasury official turned private investigator Thomas Sullivan claimed in a sworn affidavit that Jim Biden confessed he was appointed to represent construction firm Hill International in settlement negotiations with Riyadh in 2012 because of his family ties with the then-vice president. “Of course, the [Biden] name didn’t hurt,” the politician’s brother told Sullivan, according to the affidavit, the contents of which were made public by the Daily Mail on Tuesday.

A representative for Jim Biden has categorically refuted Sullivan’s sworn statement, however, telling the New York Post on Wednesday, “Mr. Biden never negotiated with the Saudi Government on behalf of Hill or any other entity.”
“The entire story is yet another attempt to smear Jim Biden,” he said.

The May 2021 affidavit was filed regarding a dispute with a law firm that Hill had hired in an attempt to reclaim $140 million allegedly owed by the Saudis for a desalinization plant that Hill built in the 1980s. Asked specifically about whether he had attended a meeting with the Saudi Ministry of Trade “to receive the final payment for the work Hill had performed,” Biden allegedly told Sullivan that “to the best of his memory, he had been at such a meeting, and that the reason he attended was ‘because of his position and relationship’ with his brother.”

In a May 2022 affidavit, partner V. Thomas Lankford of the law firm Lankford & Reed confirmed that “Hill, acting through [its CEO Irvin] Richter, sent Jim Biden” to the 2012 meeting in Riyadh “because KSA [the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] would not dare stiff the brother of the Vice President who would be instrumental to the deal.”

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chair James Comer (R-Kentucky) cited the affidavits as “evidence…the Biden family used Joe Biden’s name to secure deals around the world to enrich themselves,” calling the deals “a national security threat.”

The president has denied any knowledge of his family’s foreign business dealings, despite emails and other evidence found on his son Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” suggesting he met with no fewer than 14 of his son’s business associates.
https://www.rt.com/news/571544-jim-biden-saudi-deal/
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14 Feb, 2023 14:14
Canada:

One year ago, this Western democracy dipped into autocracy
At the height of protests against Covid-19-related restrictions, the Canadian government invoked the harsh Emergencies Act

Rachel Marsden is a columnist, political strategist, and host of independently produced talk-shows in French and English.

On February 14, last year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked a sweeping nationwide measure, the kind of which was last used by his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, during the October Crisis of 1970.

That was a reaction to a rash of terrorist incidents perpetrated by Francophone separatists in the province of Quebec.

The federal Emergencies Act, which replaced the War Measures Act used in 1970, as well as during both World Wars, is supposed to be used in cases of a serious threat to national security or public welfare. So what was the threat that caused Trudeau to pull out the big guns? A convoy of truckers and their supporters — coined the Freedom Convoy — headed to Canada’s capital city of Ottawa to defend the notion of equal rights of all Canadians to work, assemble, enjoy indoor leisure activities, and travel regardless of anti-Covid vaccine status. The fact that these fundamental aspects of everyday life could no longer be taken for granted was a testament to how authoritarian the Canadian government had already become. And when Canadians finally decided to demonstrate that they were fed up, the Trudeau government’s response was an unprecedented crackdown that put Canada on par with countries that it in-turn criticizes.

“We are broadening the scope of Canada’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules so that they cover crowdfunding platforms and the payment service providers they use. These changes cover all forms of transactions, including digital assets such as cryptocurrencies,” deputy prime minister and finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, said during the Emergency Act announcement. She also introduced an order “authorizing Canadian financial institutions to temporarily cease providing financial services where the institution suspects that an account is being used to further the illegal blockades and occupations. This order covers both personal and corporate accounts.”

It’s hard to imagine that the conflation of Freedom Convoy protesters and terrorism was just coincidental. Western governments use the tactic frequently. The European Union, for example, routinely evokes “Russia” and “ISIS” in the same breath when arguing for the need to control “disinformation” or “propaganda”. Putting two very different things in the same rhetorical basket served to associate them in people’s minds. So people end up thinking that these average Canadians are like terrorists, and then end up supporting the blocking of their bank accounts by government order.

During an inquiry into the use of the Emergency Act, whose results are expected to be made public just after the one year anniversary of the events, it emerged that a CEO of one of Canada’s banks encouraged Freeland to make this designation. “Label them as terrorists,” he said. “Seize the assets and impair them.” Apparently the government simply dutifully complied.

Trudeau ended up lifting the order nine days later on February 23, 2022, before it could be defeated in a challenge, but the damage was done. As a Canadian born and raised near Vancouver, my earliest memories of protests and strikes roughly date back to the same time that I learned to walk. The Freedom Convoy protests weren’t any different from others. Many public demonstrations are loud, and block traffic. I can’t even count the number of times that traffic was halted on a particular Vancouver area bridge and into the downtown core, all because of environmental protesters perched in old growth trees. The cops usually just end up charging them with mischief, but no one calls a national emergency over it.

Freeland has argued that the extraordinary measures were needed to protect Canada’s economic interests. “What was happening was profoundly jeopardizing the Canadian economy and putting investment in Canada at risk,” she told the inquiry. Sorry, not buying it. How many protests against Canadian oil and gas pipeline projects, which are clearly critical to Canada’s economic security, have lasted for months on end while the government just sat back and let the police do their jobs as they see fit?

As civil rights groups have pointed out, wielding the Emergencies Act was like using a jackhammer on a thumbtack. It failed to specify who in Canada could be targeted by it, and in theory could have been used against anyone or any cause. “By invoking the Emergencies Act, Cabinet gave itself power to enact wide-reaching orders without going through the ordinary democratic process. Using this Act, the federal government gave police increased authority to shut down peaceful protests, on any issue, right across Canada,” argued the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. And that’s without even getting into the merits of the cause.

At the same time, the Canadian government invested a billion dollars to help Canadian provinces set up an integrated digital passport system that linked health and jab records to a digital QR code, much like the European Union’s digital Covid certificate that determined who had received the number of jabs mandated by the government as a prerequisite for access to all the old basic freedoms of daily life. The more people were coerced into getting jabs so they could travel, keep their job, or work out in a gym, the more digital identities could be tied to digital QR codes.

While the mandates have since largely fallen away, that digital tracking infrastructure hasn’t. It is still firmly in place. As long as it persists, it will serve as a reminder of Canada’s authoritarian turn under a questionable but convenient sanitary pretext — and of the government overreach that the Freedom Convoy fought against.

" ... The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT ...."
https://www.rt.com/news/571411-canada-protests-covid19-emergencies-act/
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14 Feb, 2023 10:27

The man behind the curtain: A new report exposes how George Soros’ propaganda machine has corrupted the media

The Budapest-born billionaire has constructed an incredible global network of influence

A new report from the US-based Newsbusters has exposed a vast web of media and activist organizations, funded with millions of dollars, annually, by the billionaire George Soros. The outlet bills itself as “an online rapid-response vehicle for documenting, exposing, and neutralizing liberal bias in the media.” https://cdn.mrc.org/static/pdfuploads/PropagandaPowerhouse_Part1_FINAL.pdf-1670340182273.pdf

The extensive global influence of the Hungarian tycoon is well-known, and Soros himself has admitted it on countless occasions – including boasts about his efforts in Ukraine. Soros openly declared his role in promoting the 2014 US-orchestrated Maidan coup in Kiev, stating at the time: “I set up a foundation in Ukraine before Ukraine became independent of Russia [sic]. The foundation has been functioning ever since. And it played an important part in events now.” https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2014/05/25/soros-on-russian-ethnic-nationalism/

In a lengthy interview with the New York Times in October of 2019, Soros explained: “The arc of history doesn’t follow its own course [and] needs to be bent,” and he was “engaged in trying to bend it in the right direction.”

The Newsbuster report identifies the hundreds of media, humanitarian, and social justice organizations that Soros funds annually and asserts that his donations allow him to “wield massive power over information in international politics,” and “mold public opinion on practically every continent and in many languages.” (paywall) https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/25/business/dealbook/george-soros-interview.html#click=https://t.co/mzmGG7tok9

Who gets the money?
Newsbusters lists Project Syndicate as the biggest propaganda platform funded by the Hungarian. It styles itself as “the world’s opinion page” and has a “global audience” that includes “prominent politicians, policymakers, scholars, business leaders, and civic activists from six continents” and “over 140 heads of state.” From 2016 - 2020, he funneled at least $1.5 million to the outlet. It actively promoted abortion, criticism of Israel and pushed for global climate lockdowns during this period.

The Poynter Institute is also at the top of this list, which Newsbusters condemns as “a global Soros-backed Ministry of Truth.” It received $492,000 during the same period. This money was used to finance Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network, which brings together 100 so-called “fact-checkers”. The network includes the controversial PolitiFact, and actively works with major social media platforms to boost their operations, while censoring alternative voices and opinions.

Newsbusters argues that these initiatives in reality serve only to restrict opinions on issues like abortion, transgenderism, and COVID-19. The reports also points out that there is significant academic research to suggest fact-checking does not stop the spread of false information online, raising questions about why so many organizations and wealthy individuals pump huge amounts of money into such entities in the first place. (possible paywall) https://akademie.dw.com/en/is-fact-checking-effective-a-critical-review-of-what-works-and-what-doesnt/a-55248257

UK-based openDemocracy also received $1,633,457 from 2016 - 2020. The website attracts over 11 million visits per year, publishes in a variety of languages, and its content is picked up by a variety of newspapers and magazines in many countries.

However, Soros isn’t just funding content creators. His foundation supports a broad range of social justice activists, who often become media and online influencers. For example, in July 2021, he pledged $100 million to advance the cause of radical feminism worldwide over the next five years. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/newsroom/open-society-foundations-commit-100-million-to-support-feminist-political-mobilization-and-leadership

Organizations receiving cash secure major news coverage for events and activities they orchestrate on his dime, and influence public perception along the way. Soros has explicitly stated that his goal is to ensure “more women, transgender, and gender non-conforming people in positions of leadership in politics and governance,” are drawn from these recipients.

The individual donations from the tycoon, his foundations, and network may appear minor based on their size, but the total volume of financial support over the entire network of nearly 300 organizations is highly significant.

How does this propaganda network operate?
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The Newsbusters report contains numerous examples of how these allegedly independent information sources not only publish articles reflecting the US government’s line, but also influence policy and statements by White House officials, and often reinforce false information.

In mid-2022, the Biden administration announced that despite two consecutive quarters of negative growth, the technical definition of a recession, the country was not in fact in a recession.

This announcement immediately followed a Project Syndicate column by a Harvard economist Jeffrey Frankel, which argued that even if official estimates pointed to two quarters of negative growth, “it does not necessarily mean that the US has entered a recession.” Then, days after the White House denied the US was in recession, the Soros-connected Politifact published a “fact-check” arguing the Biden administration hadn’t changed the definition of recession. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jul/27/instagram-posts/no-white-house-didnt-change-definition-recession/

For its report, Newsbusters consulted Matt Palumbo, author of the 2022 book The Man Behind the Curtain: Inside the Secret Network of George Soros. He stated that “one of the biggest consequences” of Soros funding and effectively controlling major media outlets is “creating a filter on what we can see” in the general public.

It’s not merely individual news outlets, but journalists at highly influential Western publications – including The New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, CNN, and ABC – who are influenced by his money.

Soros assets identified in the Newsbusters report,substantiated by Palumbo, help insulate him from inquiry “as reporters see him as an ally, not a target for investigation.”

"That’s going to influence your coverage. Just type in Soros’ name in any of the major liberal publications he’s linked to and see how they cover him,” Palumbo assesses.

He believes this clout means Soros “can create any impression” he wants about any issue - including the false narrative that any criticism of him is anti-Semitic. https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/business/joseph-vazquez/2020/07/15/ny-times-drools-over-soross-open-society-foundations

“If they’re ever covering him in a negative way, it’s framed as if his critics are the bad guys for noticing.…but because it’s convenient for them on the left, they can do that and the media goes along with it,” Palumbo explained.

Soros’ latest project
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In 2020, Project Syndicate published an op-ed from economist Marianna Mazzucato. She argued that if Earth’s population were not prepared to accept a “green economic transformation” truly revolutionary in scope, with huge consequences for human rights and citizens’ daily lives, then the world should trial “climate lockdowns”, a completely new and untested concept in science, to counter global warming. Government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic were said to show they were possible. https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/business/joseph-vazquez/2020/09/25/sorosgates-funded-org-65m-world-may-need-climate-lockdown
The world is approaching a tipping point on climate change, when protecting the future of civilization will require dramatic interventions. In the near future, the world may need to resort to lockdowns again - this time to tackle a climate emergency,” Mazzucato, whose research was funded by none other than Soros, insisted.

That same year, Soros told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that the COVID-19 pandemic was a “revolutionary moment when the range of possibilities is much greater than in normal times,” and “what is inconceivable in normal times becomes not only possible but actually happens” because “people are disoriented and scared.” https://rep.repubblica.it/pwa/intervista/2020/08/11/news/soros_l_europa_piu_fragile_degli_usa_i_vostri_nemici_sono_i_populisti_all_interno_e_la_cina_all_esterno_-264430601/

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According to Newscasters, it remains unclear which movement Soros will fund next, what catastrophe he will exploit, or create, in order to advance his ideological and financial interests.
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By Felix Livshitz
https://www.rt.com/news/571293-man-who-bends-arcs/
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