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Blue Planet

Best of the Web: Lebanon: Pearl on the New Silk Road or zone of Dark Age chaos

lebanon
© AP Photo/ Hassan Ammar
Many voices have been quick to enter the chorus of commentators hypothesizing the manifold possible causes of the devastating explosions which occurred on the afternoon of August 4 in Beirut which has led to mass anarchy and the surprising resignation of the government on August 11th.

While I have no great novel contribution to offer in that growing array of hypotheses (which are slowly turning into noise), I would like to share an insight which addresses a too-often-overlooked aspect of the role of Lebanon in the Great Game. Before proceeding, it is useful to hold in the mind several points of certainty:

1) The official narrative of a chance mishap of Turkish fireworks instigating the detonation of the 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate which had been sitting at the Port of Beirut for six years is entirely unbelievable.

Comment: See also:


Bad Guys

Best of the Web: Narrative control tightens as panicked anti-Trump aristocrats crank up media gaslight machines

protesters
© Getty Images / Giles Clarke
Orange Man Bad. It's a narrative that is being made harder to question every day, even as Democrat-controlled cities descend into chaos and Americans are being fed the same old status quo from the Obama and Clinton era.

The middle and lower classes have been eviscerated, and America's big cities have been decimated and destroyed by the mob. And who is the mob? They are Antifa, BLM, ideologues (aka Democratic elites) and their multi-million-dollar-a-year media propaganda mouthpieces. The mob and its supporters are creating extreme tribalism that is ripping America apart.

Disgracefully, Democratic Party members of the US Congress are actively calling for "unrest in the streets" and the Democratic Party's presidential dream team of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris condone this anarchy, chaos and violence by their silence, as they dance to the mob's tune saying and doing anything to grab power through instilling more fear, terror and uncertainty amongst the voters. Democrats have not denounced the surge in murders, looting, and violence infecting America's biggest cities, but many are instead actively working to defund the police during a massive crime wave. People have to "shoplift some bread," as New York City's member of Congress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explains.

Bomb

Best of the Web: Nasrallah: If Israel is behind Beirut blast, our response will be devastating

nasrallah
Speech by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah on August 14, 2020, on the occasion of the celebration of the 14th anniversary of the 2006 victory.

Source: moqawama.org

Translation: resistancenews.org

This video only captions the last section of the excerpt transcribed below

Transcript:

[Israel assassinated a Hezbollah fighter in Syria, and our retaliation in kind is inevitable]

[...] Today there is an equation that protects Lebanon, namely the deterrence equation (against Israel). And this equation grows stronger and stronger (to our advantage) day after day through the development of our equipment, our state of readiness, our personnel, our abilities, our human, military and material capacities (and our experiences on various battlefields โ€” Syria, Iraq, Yemen...). And Israel and its (American) masters know it (very) well, and they fear and dread it. This is the equation that protects Lebanon today. There is nothing else that protects Lebanon. It is the golden equation Army-People-Resistance, and essentially (the) Resistance (Axis) through the equation of deterrence, that protects Lebanon. It is neither the Arab League, nor the Organization of the Islamic Conference โ€” which is now called the Organization of Islamic Cooperation โ€” nor the United Nations, nor the Security Council, nor the international resolutions (that protect Lebanon). And anyone who claims otherwise, let him come forward and enlighten us with his perspective. [...]

Pistol

Best of the Web: Carlson rips lack of coverage of DC mass shooting, claims media silent to help Biden campaign

'Dead bodies don't count unless they are politically useful dead bodies'
mass shooting washington DC
"Nothing to see here, move along please..."
"The single biggest U.S. mass shooting of 2020 occurred over the weekend in Washington, but because the story didn't "help the Biden campaign," it went largely unreported on, Tucker Carlson said Monday.


Comment: That's Monday last week, in reference to this mass shooting in DC on Saturday August 8th.


"Twenty-one people were shot in this single incident ... more than half of them were women. One was a D.C. Police officer. It was the single biggest mass shooting in America this year and yet you probably heard nothing about it," the "Tucker Carlson Tonight" host said.

"Members of Congress didn't lock arms on the House floor to demand an end to the gun violence, CNN didn't book a procession of weepy teenage gun-control activists ... news organizations barely touched the story and when they did, they moved fast," Carlson continued. "It wouldn't help the Biden campaign to talk about it, so they didn't talk about it."


Comment: Can you guess what color the perps were? Not even Tucker would mention that.

Once you figure that out, you have your answer for why you didn't hear about the 2020 Washington DC mass shooting before now.

But that wasn't the main thing Carlson spoke about in this segment. He spoke about a 'demographic shift' taking place in the US; people (mostly white people) are packing up and moving out of the cities because of the explosion in (mostly black) crime/rioting.

In short, American cities are becoming no-go zones.

Here's the full transcript to go with the above video:
CARLSON: Craziness, but it seems now almost normal. Violence is a feature of daily life at this point in the nation's capital. Over the weekend, 21 people were shot in a single incident in Washington. More than half of them were women, one was a D.C. police officer.

It was the single biggest mass shooting in America this year, and yet, you probably heard nothing about it.

Members of Congress didn't lock arms on the House floor to demand an end to the gun violence. CNN didn't book a procession of weepy teenage gun control activists or extended Town Hall meeting.

News organizations barely touched the story, and when they did, they moved on fast. It wouldn't help the Biden campaign to talk about it, so they didn't talk about it.

As far as we can tell, neither CNN nor MSNBC even mentioned it today. Twenty one people shot in a group in our capital city and they acted like it didn't happen, but it did happen. We're showing it to you on the screen right now.

Twenty one African-Americans shot by a gunman, yet the media spent all weekend telling you about how Simon Cowell fell off his electric bike in Malibu, because really, Black Lives Matter. MSNBC wants you to know that. It's grotesque.

But it's now the rule. Dead bodies don't count unless they are politically useful dead bodies.

Last month, the gang members shot 15 people outside a funeral home in Chicago. It looked like Fallujah. We played some of the video of it on the show. It was very upsetting.

The other channels did not play it. None of the primetime hosts on CNN or MSNBC even mentioned the shooting. They didn't care.

Politicians didn't care either. Muriel Bowser is the Mayor of Washington, D.C. Bowser claims to care about black lives very much. She ordered the slogan Black Lives Matter in fact painted in yellow on the road leading to the White House just to underscore how much she cares.

So how did Muriel Bowser respond when 21 African-Americans were gunned down in her city? Well, she talked about her coronavirus lockdowns.

Bowser has banned gatherings in the city of more than 50 people and apparently there were more than that at the cookout where the shooting occurred. This enraged Muriel Bowser.

Here's what the Mayor said about the shooting yesterday, quote, "It's important as a community that we have zero tolerance for this kind of activity," end quote.

Now to be perfectly clear, Mayor Bowser was not talking about the mass shootings. When she said we need zero tolerance, Bowser is happy to tolerate violence, she does every day. She often encourages violence.

What Bowser won't put up with is citizens violating her lockdown orders. Bowser's Chief of Police, a man called Peter Newsham reiterated that point, quote, "We can't have these large gatherings in the city," the Chief said.

In other words, shootings are acceptable as long as the police don't commit them, but disobey our corona decrees and we will come for you.

The media wholeheartedly agree with this, of course. Violence does not bother them. They encourage it regularly. Disobedience bothers them.

This weekend, motorcycle riders mostly on Harley-Davidsons from all over the country gathered in Sturgis, South Dakota for their annual rally, the Sturgis Rally. Some of them forgot their masks. This outraged our news media.

The people on motorcycles were too masculine and too patriotic, and therefore too unlikely to vote for Joe Biden to go un-criticized. So the media spent a lot of the weekend trying to shame the bikers into disappearing.

In other words, as some of the poorest people in Washington bled onto the sidewalk, this is what your news anchors talked about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A bike rally is drawing tens of thousands of people to a small town in South Dakota for what doctors warn could turn into a coronavirus super spreader event.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not seeing a lot of masks there. Very little social distancing is what we're hearing from our team on the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell people what the odds are, tell people what the risks and the dangers are and let them decide and expect them to be responsible.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: To others, that event, a reckless affront to commonsense and a likely coronavirus super spreader.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Oh, super spreaders. In other words, men who are unapologetically male. They hate that.

Meanwhile, the City of Washington back in the real world continue to spiral toward chaos. In Georgetown, one of the richest, most liberal neighborhoods in the city, certainly, in the country, a group of thugs marched on residential streets in the middle of the night to make certain that no one was sleeping.

People who live there must have been confused. In Georgetown, Black Lives Matter yard signs are about as common as designer dog breeds โ€” it is very common.

The residents apparently thought they bought themselves peace by paying their indulgences with the correct political slogans, but they hadn't.

The fact their neighborhood is still safe is now considered a crime and the mob made that very clear.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

CARLSON: Did you see that footage on CNN? Oh, you didn't. You saw footage of super spreaders at Sturgis. How dare they ride motorcycles without masks?

Meanwhile, back in Georgetown, again, the real world, just in case the residents here didn't feel sufficiently threatened, the mob then barricaded a key bridge, the Francis Scott Key Bridge. That's the main artery from Georgetown out of the city.

Blocking main arteries out of cities is an obvious threat to public safety. It's far more dangerous than any over attended cookout. But police didn't stop it, they helped the mob. And once again, the media collectively ignored all of it.

And what exactly did the liberal passive heavily elderly residents of Georgetown do to deserve this kind of abuse and harassment from a mob of Joe Biden voters? That's the core question. But no one on television wanted to talk about that. So again, they just ignored the entire thing.

They're doing it all over the country. Story after story, ignored, disappeared down the memory hole because it is politically inconvenient.

In Los Angeles, for example, a City Council member called Mike Bonin voted to slash the LAPD budget by $150 million. He is very opposed to the police, but that didn't stop him from calling the police.

Since April, it turns out that cops have been called to Bonin's home eight separate times, often to deal with โ€” surprise, surprise โ€” protesters.

Bonin's defense is that he didn't make the calls. No. Somehow the LAPD with collusion from rightwing elements made the calls.

Does that make sense? No, it doesn't make sense. But it's good enough for the newspapers in Los Angeles. They're not covering the story. It's not a story. Right.

A guy who votes to defund the police calls them eight times to keep the lunatics from coming through his front door? Not a story. Okay.

Last Thursday, meanwhile, in Portland, Oregon, a city that effectively no longer has a government, rioters threw paint on an elderly woman. What was her crime? She made the mistake of trying to stop them from destroying a building.

Here's why this is so interesting. As the mob attacked her, they explained their agenda, quote, "This isn't your world anymore," they shouted. "Put your mask on." Boy, does that tell you everything.

Meanwhile, in the City of Chicago, rioters have dropped any pretense of ideology. Sure, they'll vote for Joe Biden, obviously, but this isn't about the election. They just want to steal things.

And in effect, authorities there, as they are in so many places, are allowing them to do that.

Early this morning, caravans of looters sacked stores in downtown Chicago. Here's part of it.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

CARLSON: What country is this? And what's the justification for that? There's always a story at the bottom of these things that the media repeat, allow them to believe it was justified.

The pretext for that theft and destruction you just saw was a false report that a teenager had been executed by the police. It was a lie as it turned out, it usually is a lie.

In fact, a 20-year-old had been killed after shooting at the police. Whatever. We're so used to violence justified by lies that few people seem to notice the difference, and speaking of, just this weekend, Joe Biden honored Michael Brown. That was the man killed in Ferguson, Missouri after he violently attacked a store owner on tape, and then a cop.

Joe Biden apparently doesn't remember that part. He seems to consider Michael Brown a martyr.

It's hard to know who in America still believes these lies. Most people no longer seem to believe anything they hear from politicians. When everything is political, we learn to trust nothing.

But one thing that is real and will always be real is the debris left behind. Bullet holes are real. So are burnt store, so are boarded up windows and terrified neighbors. That will always be real โ€” and we have it.

So what will be the aftermath of all of this? What are America's cities going to look like a year from now? There's no question people flee Georgetown. They may have BLM signs in the driveway, but it doesn't mean they want screaming BLM lunatics on their streets. They don't. Nobody does, actually, no matter what they tell you. No matter what color they are, no one likes that.

That's true for people in Georgetown, in Portland, Oregon, in San Francisco and Chicago, New York โ€” any other place where order and decency have disappeared.

People will not live long with chaos. No matter what they tell you. No matter what signs they put in their yard, they will leave and many of them have already left.

We are about to see one of the great demographic shifts in American history. Unless the insanity stops and soon, our biggest cities will revert to what they were 50 years ago โ€” broke, dirty and dangerous.

On the bright side, we'll have resolved the gentrification problem. So a lot of college professors pat themselves on the back.



Eye 1

Best of the Web: Belarus in the firing line for a colour revolution

belarus protest
Belarus had their presidential election last Sunday, and the incumbent Alexandr Lukashenko apparently won. This was evidently not supposed to happen, or in some other way counter to the Western world's grand plan - because now we have a little colour revolution happening.

You can always tell an Eastern European colour revolution, because Shaun Walker emerges from his burrow, dragging with him 3000 words of total speculation, unsourced anecdotal evidence and some partisan quotes from Western-backed NGOs. You know, like this.

Another good indication is just how irate Simon Tisdall is, and judging by this column...he's pretty irate. Granted it's mostly about Erdogan and Turkey, but he has words for Lukashenko too, and they are not friendly. I wouldn't be surprised if he broke the keys on his laptop, so furious is his typing.

If you can't be bothered to read it, I don't blame you. To sum up: NATO needs to "do something", or "take action" or "intervene". He doesn't use the word "coup", because our side don't do those, but he definitely means coup.

Comment: See also:


Attention

Best of the Web: First ever firenado warning in California as wildfires rage into third day

Firenado
© nevada_traveler/TwitterFirenado spotted in California on the 16th August 2020
The Loyalton Fire currently raging in California, as seen in this one-hour timelapse, produced a fiery vortex on Saturday, leading the National Weather Service to issue its first-ever tornado warning for a twister spawned by fire.

Apparently running out of cataclysmic events to throw at us this year, Mother Nature decided to reach deep into her bag of tricks and pull out a Biblical classic: swirling hellfire.

The National Weather Service issued its first-ever tornado warning for a twister spawned by fire early Saturday afternoon after a wildfire in Northern California produced a towering, flaming vortex. While not unheard of, fire tornadoes are some of the rarest weather phenomena on Earth, and meteorologists are saying this is the first time one's received an official tornado warning.

Comment: As the original title noted: You can mark firenado off of your 2020 apocalypse bingo card.

More footage has emerged on Twitter:


And this isn't the first firenado that's been spawned from this wildfire:


In Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection Pierre Lescaudron explicates the drivers behind wind vortices of all kinds:
The accumulation of cometary dust in the Earth's atmosphere plays an important role in the increase of tornadoes, cyclones, hurricanes and their associated rainfalls, snowfalls and lightning. To understand this mechanism we must first take into account the electric nature of hurricanes, tornadoes and cyclones, which are actually manifestations of the same electric phenomenon at different scales or levels of power. Because of this similarity, we will refer to these three phenomena collectively as 'air spirals' in the following discussion.

McCanney [in his book Planet-X, Comets and Earth Changes] describes the electric nature of hurricanes in these terms:
A simple model showed that these [tropical] storms formed when electrical currents connected between the ionosphere and the top of the clouds. [...] the reason hurricanes lost power when they approached land was that the powering electrical current from the ionosphere to the cloud tops and to the Earth's surface had no connection (anode) while over the ocean so it drew up vast surface areas of ionized air from the ocean surface and sucked them up a central column (the spinning vortex was caused by the moist air rising 'up the drain') ๏‚ผ whereas the land provided a 'ground' for the current and therefore it shunted out the storm's power source. [...] I also calculated that the warm water theory for hurricane development lacked sufficient energy to account for the energy in these massive storms. We later witnessed hurricanes on Mars where there is no water at all. Clearly, the warm water concept did not work [...]1
From this perspective, air spirals are simply the manifestation of electric discharges between the ionosphere and the Earth's surface. The image above shows a waterspout and a lightning bolt occurring in the same place at the same time, suggesting that indeed electric potential difference between the clouds at the top of the picture and the ground at the bottom is what powers both the lightning and the tornado.This additional feature of dust particles - their ability to carry an electric charge - means that dust accumulation enables any given area of the atmosphere to carry potentially massive electric charges, which can differ from the charge of adjacent regions, from the charge of the ionosphere and from the charge of the Earth's surface.
See also: And check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made?


Syringe

Best of the Web: Exposing the fear mongering, propaganda and outright lies that are plaguing the world: The five biggest coronavirus myths

crowd people masks covid
© Getty Images / Linh PhamMarch of the brainwashed
The coronavirus misinformation that scientists, politicians and media have fed to the public has been shocking. Take a tour through the bizarre, contradictory and downright ludicrous myths that have done more damage than Covid.

TRIGGER WARNING! Do not read this if you are a loyal member of the Branch Covidians, cravenly awaiting the pleasure-pain prick of the Covid vaccine before you will appear in your own garden without a face nappy.

Or rather, do read it, but don't expect to like it. There is no place for assumptions here โ€” only logical thought from first principles. The only aim is to debunk the biggest myths that the media and political establishment have propagated.

And if you can hear me out then I salute you; there are few of us left who hold open minds.

Comment:


Che Guevara

Best of the Web: Belarus 'revolution' is imperialists running the same tired old script, day after day

protests white march belarus
"What do we want? The right to wear muzzles! When do we want it? NOW!"
The Western establishment narrative managers always follow the same patterns. Just like they fixated on Hong Kong protests, while ignoring those in US-aligned France or Israel, now they're cheering on protests in Belarus.

Imperialist pundit and Obama administration Cold Warrior Michael McFaul recently tweeted the following:

"Belarusians, inside and outside of the country, have reached out to me this week to ask why the West is so indifferent to their courageous fight for democracy. I can't explain. Can you?"

I am not highlighting this tweet because it is remarkable (except for the extremely dubious claim that anyone ever reaches out to Michael McFaul). I am highlighting it because it is completely unremarkable.

Comment: RT has apparently changed its tune on the Belarus protests. For more analysis on the situation, see:


MIB

Best of the Web: Meet Cybereason: The Israeli intelligence cyber-security front company that has been "simulating" the cancellation of the 2020 election

protect the vote
A cybersecurity firm tied to Israeli intelligence's Unit 8200 that simulated a series of terrorist attacks occurring on the U.S. 2020 election has announced a new hire with deep ties to the U.S. intelligence and defense communities with the goal of gaining greater access to U.S. government networks.

A cybersecurity company tied to Israeli intelligence and a series of unnerving simulations regarding cyber-terrorist attacks on the upcoming U.S. elections has recently announced a new hire who plans to aid the company in further penetrating the U.S. public sector. Last Wednesday, the company Cybereason announced that it had hired Andrew Borene as its Managing Director for its recently launched U.S. public sector business. Borene, who boasts longstanding ties to the U.S. intelligence community and the Pentagon, "will accelerate Cybereason's partner and customer presence in the U.S. public sector," according to a Cybereason press release.

"My goal is to build a strong business for Cybereason within the U.S. public sector and I am planning to recruit a group of direct support executives, veterans and alumni of the elite [U.S.] military units and agencies that have defended our nation in the information age. I'll also work to establish a network of the best channel and delivery partners for federal, state and local governments," Borene said per the press release.

Comment: Israeli intelligence-related companies have been popping up out the woodwork like crazy lately: And on the subject a predicted "failed" presidential election: How Government and Media work together preparing America for a failed 2020 election


Magnify

Best of the Web: Belarus' Lukashenko says he is being targeted by 'color revolution', seeks to join forces with Putin

Lukashenko
© REUTERS / BelTA / Andrei Stasevich / Vasily Fedosenko(L) A protest in Minsk ; (R) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
Mass anti-government protests in Belarus are actually a "color revolution" in action, and Russia may be the next target if the country fails to halt its progress, President Alexander Lukashenko has claimed.


Comment: Oh now he says it! This is him obviously pleading for protection/assistance, but boy oh boy did he leave it late, instead suggesting around 10 days ago that the protests may be due to Russian interference.


Lukashenko, whose reelection for a sixth term last Sunday sparked mass protests over an alleged rigging of the vote, believes his detractors are unwitting agents of foreign puppeteers and need to be stopped.

"Don't you lull us with [talk about] peaceful action and demonstrations. We can see what is happening deep down," the Belarus leader said on Saturday at a government meeting, as cited by local media.

Comment: MSN reports that the EU is making moves to sanction Belarus:
European foreign ministers have agreed to move toward sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko's regime, after reports of the systematic abuse and torture of Belarusians swept up in the brutal crackdown on protests.

A diplomatic source said the EU's 27 foreign ministers had agreed that individuals responsible for the falsification of Sunday's presidential elections and subsequent violence against protesters should face asset freezes and travel bans into the bloc.

Officials will now be charged with drawing up a list of names for a legal agreement, which could happen in late August or September. "It was a surprising consensus," the diplomat said, while pointing out the 27 still had to reach consensus on the names.

Belarus
© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Tomasz Jastrzฤ™bowski/Rex/Shutterstock
The emergency video meeting on Friday was called to discuss the disputed elections in Belarus, after a string of EU countries called for action against those responsible for the violence and arbitrary detention of protesters.

Ahead of the meeting Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Denmark had called for "restrictive measures against officials" responsible for the election result, which gave Lukashenko 80% of the vote following a contest the EU said was "neither free nor fair". Germany, Austria and Sweden had also voiced support for sanctions.

"We need additional sanctions against those who violated democratic values or abused human rights in Belarus," the head of the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen, tweeted on Friday. "I am confident today's EU foreign ministers' discussion will demonstrate our strong support for the rights of the people in Belarus to fundamental freedoms & democracy."

The German foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said. "The brutality and the detention of peaceful protesters and journalists in Belarus isn't acceptable in the Europe of the 21st century. This is why we have to increase the pressure on those in power there."

EU sanctions must be agreed unanimously.

Hungary was considered the main obstacle to EU action after the country's prime minister, Viktor Orbรกn, visited Minsk in June and called for existing EU sanctions to be dropped.

The country did voice caution over new sanctions, as did Austria and Greece, but they did not oppose the political decision to move in that direction.

Budapest had already backed an EU statement on Tuesday that threatened sanctions against those "responsible for the observed violence, unjustified arrests and falsification of election results". Following talks with the Latvian foreign minister, Edgars Rinkฤ“viฤs, his Hungarian counterpart, Pรฉter Szijjรกrtรณ, said on Thursday that the two countries shared the same assessment of the situation.

EU sources suggested Hungary could exert influence in narrowing the number of individuals on the sanctions list.

The EU will also explore new funds to support civil society activists in Belarus, and a fact-finding mission to help mediate between the government and opposition.

The British government has not revealed if it supports sanctions against Belarus, but under the terms of the Brexit transition the UK would have to enforce any EU measures that came into force before the end of the year.

The foreign office minister Wendy Morton described the violence as "appalling" and called on the Belarusian authorities to release "all those unjustly detained" and engage in dialogue with the opposition.

An EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security said the bloc was "regularly in touch with it likeminded partners", including the UK on shared concerns and priorities, but added: "It remains to be seen if there will be a specific contact after [Friday's foreign ministers] video conference."

EU foreign ministers are also expected to discuss how the EU could mediate between Lukashenko and protesters. Poland and the three Baltic states have called on the autocrat to "immediately initiate a dialogue with the Belarusian people".

The EU lifted most sanctions against Belarus in 2016 as it sought a rapprochement with Lukashenko, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1994.

The decision to ease sanctions followed the release of political prisoners and a downturn in Minsk's relations with the Kremlin, but one former presidential candidate, Andrei Sannikov, called it "a grave mistake".

The EU retains a ban on arms sales and sanctions on four individuals linked to the unsolved disappearances of opposition politicians, a journalist and businessman in 1999-2000.

Belarus is not the only crisis at the EU's border vying for attention. Ministers will discuss rising tensions in the eastern Mediterranean between Greece and Turkey and the political crisis in Lebanon following last week's catastrophic explosion.

France announced this week it was sending a naval frigate and two fighter jets to the eastern Mediterranean, amid a growing row between Athens and Ankara over offshore energy reserves.

Emmanuel Macron last month called for EU sanctions against Turkey over what he called "violations" of Greek and Cypriot sovereignty in their territorial waters. But that has met a cool response from Berlin, which has called for "de-escalation and solution-orientated dialogue". Brussels also stopped short of proposing sanctions in a recent statement on the "extremely worrying" situation.
Lukashenko has responded by moving troops to the country's western borders.

Belarus has actually been surprisingly free of foreign interference, for decades, and especially in recent years as Lukashenko played it safe like Kazakhstan by courting east and west.

So what changed recently?

Obviously, Belarus' unique stance on Covid-19, which Lukashenko explicitly ignored and called out as a 'scam'. Because the 'system managers' require nothing less than total global submission, Lukashenko must go, and the Belarussian population must instead obey and fear The Covid...

See also: Extensive foreign interference in Belarus attempts to 'destabilize' country, but it's not coming from Moscow - Russian MFA