Puppet MastersS


Dominoes

Hungary breaks with EU, will pay for Russian gas in rubles

Orban
© Getty ImagesHungarian President Victor Orban
Hungary has broken ranks with the European Union, saying it will accept Moscow's demand that gas supplies be paid for in rubles.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has opposed any EU sanctions on Russian oil and gas or Western arms shipments through Hungarian territory to Ukraine, told journalists on April 6 that he had agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin that if asked, Hungary would pay for gas shipments using the Russian currency.

Earlier on April 6, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said gas contracts were between his country and Russia, and that the EU had "no role" to play in the deal.

Comment: Blowback on Hungary could be significant. It urges the bloc to not punish Hungarians for their political choices:
The EU Commission has triggered a new mechanism which could see billions of euros allocated for Hungary [be withdrawn].

Speaking in the European parliament on Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen explained that the European Commission and the Hungarian leadership have "not been able to find common ground" on the issue of anti-corruption reforms. She added that Budapest's response to a formal notice on the matter did not leave the EU top body with any other option but to move on "to the next step." "The Commission has today told the Hungarian authorities that we will now send a formal letter to start the conditionality mechanism." She referred to the instrument adopted in late 2020 allowing the bloc to withhold aid funding from a member that is found to be failing to adhere to the union's democratic principles.

Orban's presidential victory prompted his chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, to call on the European Commission to accept "the basic rules of democracy" and "not to punish Hungarian voters for expressing an opinion not to Brussels' taste." Gulyas was apparently referring to harsh criticism of Orban's policies by the EU leadership.

EU Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn made it clear that the body planned to speed up the implementation of the mechanism. However, any suspension of funds would involve additional negotiations between the sides and a qualified majority vote in the European Council. The EU Commission will have to provide details of particular cases when rule-of-law violations directly led to the misuse of EU budget funds by Hungarian authorities, which means that the process is expected to last months.

The conditionality mechanism, along with a multi-billion recovery package, was supposed to serve as "an additional layer of protection in cases when breaches of the rule of law principles affect or risk affecting the EU financial interests."

Poland and Hungary had consistently argued that the "conditionality mechanism" was not included in any of the EU treaties. They also said the ECJ would be overstepping its powers in approving such a mechanism.
Budapest takes umbrage with Kiev's offensive comments and insults:
Hungary's Foreign Ministry has summoned the Ukrainian ambassador, on Wednesday, over Kiev's harsh criticism of Budapest's stance on Russia's ongoing military operation in Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Peter SzijjartoIt wrote on facebook:
"It is time for Ukrainian leaders to stop their insults directed at Hungary. Kiev should acknowledge the will of the Hungarian people."
He reminded that Budapest had condemned the use of force by Russia, acknowledged Ukraine's sovereignty and accepted hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the fighting.

However, the FM reiterated that Hungary wasn't a party to the conflict in Ukraine, saying that "we want to, and will, stay out of it."

Budapest, which has arguably the closest ties with Moscow among the EU capitals, has joined European sanctions imposed on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine. But it refused to send weapons to Kiev and insisted that it'll never support any curbs on Russian energy.

Ukrainian ambassador to Hungary, Lyubov Nepop, will now have to explain the words of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who claimed on Tuesday that
"Orban feared Russia's influence and warned that Hungary would eventually be forced to choose between Moscow and the "other world."
Kiev officials suggested that Budapest could be looking to use the fighting in Ukraine to claim the country's western Zakarpattia Region, populated by Hungarians, for itself.
A peace summit has been proposed:
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday that he has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet the leaders of France, Germany and Ukraine in Budapest, urging the Russian leader to declare an immediate ceasefire.

Orban said, as quoted by AFP, "His response was positive, but with conditions."
To the EU, Hungary is 'a disturbance' in 'the force'.


Calculator

Moscow pays foreign debt in rubles for first time

rubledollar
© Getty Images/Diy13The US currency's share of global reserves fell ten times faster in the last year than in the previous 20, Stephen Jen has said
US blocks banks from processing payments in dollars.

Russia has paid foreign holders of Eurobonds in rubles for the first time after an attempt to settle the $649.2 million payment was rejected by a foreign financial institution under orders from Washington, the Russian Ministry of Finance announced on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, the US Treasury stopped Russia from paying holders of its sovereign debt more than $600 million from reserves held in US bank accounts, saying that the Kremlin had to choose between draining its dollar reserves and default.

Roughly half of Russia's foreign exchange reserves, worth over $300 billion, have been frozen by Western countries as part of sanctions over Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded:
"Russia has all necessary resources to service its debts... If this blockade continues and payments aimed for servicing debts are blocked, it (future payment) could be made in rubles."
The country has a total of 15 international bonds outstanding with a face value of around $40 billion. Moscow has managed to provide several foreign exchange coupon payments on its Eurobonds before Washington stopped transactions.

Quenelle

Oh, so.... You're now saying we were right about Arizona election fraud?

trump rally Texas
© Miami StandardFormer President Trump rallies gigantic crowd to his recent Texas rally
Just a day or two after I threw in the towel on Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, he surprises me. General Brnovich has issued to Senate President Karen a 6 month "interim report" on his investigations Fann is the woman who had the fortitude to stand up and drive the Maricopa Audit to completion. Six months after she turned her investigation over to the Attorney General, he has now confirmed in an official letter that the Maricopa Audit led him to investigate and catalogue in his letter a shocking amount and kind of systemic vulnerabilities (precisely as CyberNinjas reported), punctuated by the news of criminal fraud for which he has been and is prosecuting people.

Attorney General Brnovich put the money shot in the opening:

Comment: Good news, though it isn't as if there weren't already mounds of evidence screaming the fact:


Eye 2

Projection: Zelensky compares Russia to Isis, calls for Nuremberg-style trials in UN address

zelensky address united nations
© AP Photo/John MinchilloUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks via remote feed during a meeting of the UN Security Council.
Mr Zelesnkyy said he had visited the "recently liberated" city of Bucha and he said there was "not a single crime that they (Russian forces) would not commit".

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has compared Russia to so-called Isis in an address to the United Nations (UN) Security Council.

The Ukrainian President accused Russia of committing the "most terrible war crimes" since the Second World War as he called for trials akin to those held after the defeat of the Nazis.

In a graphic address on Tuesday, Mr Zelenskyy accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin's forces of creating "mass starvation" and shooting and raping civilians.

He called for those responsible to be "brought to justice" in a tribunal similar to the Nuremberg trials.

Comment: Clueless U.S.Secretary of State Antony Blinken piles on too, pretending to know the minds of those infinitely more intelligent, not to mention infinitely more moral, than him:
Russia waged a deliberate campaign to commit atrocities in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, and the United States is supporting the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities in their investigation of these acts, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.

"What we've seen in Bucha is not the random act of a rogue unit," Blinken told reporters before departing for Brussels for a NATO foreign ministers' meeting.

"It's a deliberate campaign to kill, to torture, to rape, to commit atrocities," he said.

Russia, which says it launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24 to demilitarize and "denazify" its neighbor, denies targeting civilians and said the deaths were a "monstrous forgery" staged by the West to discredit it.
Another propaganda-spouting idiot who can safely be ignored.


Arrow Up

Saudi's offer $3 billion in support to Yemen & 'transfer' of powers from exiled puppet president in latest victory for Houthis

Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi
Former Riyadh-backed Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi
Former Yemeni president, a staunch ally of Riyadh, has handed over his self-proclaimed powers to a newly established body, in what appears to be another sign of the failure of the Saudi-led war that began seven years ago with the main goal of reinstalling him by force.

A Thursday statement from Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi said he had delegated his powers to the "presidential leadership" council and dismissed vice president Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar.

The council will assume the duties of the former president and his deputy, and will be in charge of political, military and security decisions during a "transitional period," the statement added.

Comment: It's likely primarily due to the Saudi's sensing the shift of power from the west to the east that led to them finally dropping their war on Yemen; which is a yet another positive effect the multipolar alliance is having on world affairs. Despite causing mass death and devastation to Yemen, they'd made little headway, and worse, the Saudi's were increasingly putting their own security at risk because of the Houthi's primitive yet highly effective retaliations: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Bucha False-Flag - Sanctions Gas Theater - BRICS Dismantling Dollar Domination




Chess

US to approve another arms deal with Taiwan totaling $940 million in the last year, in latest provocation against China

Patriot missile
© Tyrone Siu/ReutersThe US has approved services and equipment worth $95m for Taiwan's Patriot air defence system
The US State Department has approved the potential sale to Taiwan of equipment, training and other services worth $95m to support the island's defence in what would be the third arms package since President Joe Biden took office a year ago.

The approval covers the training, planning, fielding, deployment, operation, maintenance and sustainment of the Patriot Air Defense System and associated equipment, the Pentagon said in a notification to Congress.

"This proposed sale serves US national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient's continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability," it said.

Comment: It's looking like the US is trying to turn Taiwan - officially known as the Republic of China - into another Ukraine. The situation in the region was summed up rather aptly in the following Tweet:

See also: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Why You Should Question Media Reports About China 'Causing Covid' And 'Invading Taiwan'





Stormtrooper

Norway latest country to expel Russian diplomats, totaling 300 across Europe

Russian Embassy in Norway
Russian Embassy in Norway
"This is a consequence of the appalling discovery of Russian forces' crimes against civilians, in particular in the town of Bucha outside Kyiv. In this situation we pay particular attention to unwanted Russian activities in Norway," Foreign Minister Huitfeldt said in a short statement.


Comment: How can Norway know Russia is responsible for Bucha when no independent investigation has taken place? Moreover, Russia has been blocked by the UN chair, Britain, from presenting evidence that Ukraine is actually responsible; and now, before even hearing the evidence, the UN is holding a vote to suspend Russia from the council.


On Tuesday, Germany expelled 40, Italy 30, France 35, Sweden 3 and Denmark 15 diplomats that will have to pack up and return to Moscow. As of Wednesday, about 20 European countries have told Ambassadors that people in their staff are persona non grata, making the number of Russian diplomats now leaving Europe more than 300.

Comment: As Biden admitted, the intent is to oust Putin from power, with the probable intent to install a US puppet regime, as they did in Kiev, and it seems that since the US proxy war in Ukraine is failing, as are the 6,000 + different sanctions, the establishment in the West is scrambling to isolate Russia by any and every means possible. These expulsions at least help identify just which countries are under the yoke of the US, and to what extent:

Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Bucha False-Flag - Sanctions Gas Theater - BRICS Dismantling Dollar Domination





Bad Guys

A Look at the United States' 'Most Terrible War Crimes' Since World War 2

Sculpture
© Sputnik Screenshot
Speaking before the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Russia was responsible for "the most terrible war crimes in the world" since World War II amid its ongoing special operation in Ukraine, and demanded Russia's expulsion from UN bodies.

Zelensky was specifically referring to film footage shown to the council of dozens of dead bodies in Bucha, a suburb of Kiev, which the Ukrainian government has claimed were executed by Russian forces before they withdrew from the city last week.The Russian Defense Ministry has dismissed the claims as a provocation, noting that Ukrainian artillery had previously bombarded the town and that Ukrainian police conducted an operation in Bucha to "clear the area of saboteurs and accomplices of Russian troops" prior to news emerging of the alleged massacre, both of which could also be responsible for the deaths.

Regardless, the claim that the Bucha incident represents the worst war crime since the total war that ended in 1945 is clear hyperbole, especially considering the incessant war-making of Ukraine's patron, the United States.

To help jog the memory of the Ukrainian president, we have compiled a few examples of US war crimes since 1945 that have not been investigated as crimes.

Comment: The empire of lies continues with its propaganda and atrocities in Ukraine. Blaming other for something they have done is an insane level of hypocrisy and typical psychopathic behaviour.

This article is a great reminder of just a fraction of the atrocities that they have done in the world after WWII.

See also:


MIB

Best of the Web: In a break with the past, U.S. is using intel to fight an info war with Russia, even when the intel isn't rock solid

missile base Cuba
© GettyA spy photo of a medium-range ballistic missile base in San Cristobal, Cuba, with labels detailing various parts of the base, in October 1962.
It was an attention-grabbing assertion that made headlines around the world: U.S. officials said they had indications suggesting Russia might be preparing to use chemical agents in Ukraine.

President Joe Biden later said it publicly. But three U.S. officials told NBC News this week there is no evidence Russia has brought any chemical weapons near Ukraine. They said the U.S. released the information to deter Russia from using the banned munitions.

It's one of a string of examples of the Biden administration's breaking with recent precedent by deploying declassified intelligence as part of an information war against Russia. The administration has done so even when the intelligence wasn't rock solid, officials said, to keep Russian President Vladimir Putin off balance. Coordinated by the White House National Security Council, the unprecedented intelligence releases have been so frequent and voluminous, officials said, that intelligence agencies had to devote more staff members to work on the declassification process, scrubbing the information so it wouldn't betray sources and methods.

Observers of all stripes have called it a bold and so far successful strategy — although not one without risks.


Comment: "Intel not rock solid" sounds a lot like "let's make up a bunch of crap" and see what sticks. Doesn't really sound all that much like a winning strategy.


Attention

Bucha massacre - when satellite images and videos are manipulated to tell a false story

bucha false flag 1
As the scandal surrounding the Bucha massacre grows, new elements prove that this episode is indeed worthy of the mass graves of Timisoara, between the disinformation of the New York Time which releases satellite images that do not hold water, the Ukraine which releases the video of a drone taken on another day, and the truth which appears in the video filmed by the Ukrainian troops in charge of "cleaning the city".

Following my article of yesterday highlighting several inconsistencies in the official narrative of the Bucha massacre, new information has come to reinforce my analysis.

First, posts from a Telegram channel dedicated to life in Bucha show photos from 31 March 2022, where there are no bodies in the streets. And no mention of them either.


Comment: See also: