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Russian PM Mishustin announces first cabinet: Lavrov and Shoigu remain, but many fresh faces are among appointees

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 00:06 UTC
New govt Moscow Jan 2020
© Reuters / Sputnik / Aleksey Nikolskyi / KremlinRussian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin meet with members of the new government in Moscow, Russia January 21, 2020.
Russia's new prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, has announced his first cabinet. It doesn't amount to a radical overhaul, but there are new, and younger, appointees and some well-known ministers have been replaced.

Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Shoigu held on to their "big beast" positions, which suggests foreign and defense policy won't change much. The cabinet retained 12 people from the outgoing one and replaced nine positions, bringing down the average age of ministers down to 50 years. Here are the new faces of Mishustin's cabinet.

First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov (replaces Anton Siluanov) A Muscovite and son of a prominent Soviet economist, the 60-year-old Belousov might have remained a theorist with his degree in economic cybernetics, if not for his 2005 report in which he made several prophetic predictions, including the 2008 financial crisis. He joined the Ministry of Economic Development in 2006 and became its head six years later, before being appointed as an aide to President Vladimir Putin in 2013.

Comment: For an in-depth analysis of Putin's changes and methodology to shepherd Russia as he begins the transition from President, see: Putin prepares his succession, the West is purged from the Kremlin

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Chess

Trump again offers U.S. 'help' in mediating India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir

Alexandra Alper, Luke Baker & Alexander Smith
US News & World Report
Tue, 21 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Donald Trump
© REUTERS/Denis BalibouseU.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with the President of the Swiss Confederation Simonetta Sommaruga at the 50th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2020.
President Donald Trump said the United States was watching developments between India and Pakistan over Kashmir "very closely" and was prepared to help if necessary, but did not say how.

Speaking ahead of talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Trump said trade and borders were both critical points for discussion, while Khan said that for him Afghanistan was the top priority.

"Trade is going to be of very, very paramount importance ... and we're working together on some borders, and we're talking about Kashmir in relation to what is going on with Pakistan and India. And if we can help we certainly will be helping," he said.

Comment: India was against any outside interference in Kashmir and will protest any outside interference, including Pakistan. China tried to raise this issue at the UNSC and found itself isolated over it due to the refusal of 14 other nations:
France and UK out and categorically called Kashmir a "bilateral" issue between India and Pakistan. 14 members of the UNSC rejected China's request to discuss the issue saying it is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.
...
China sought a "closed-door consultation" under "AOB" (Any Other Business) at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) after the listed issues were discussed. The meeting was based on the old request of Pakistan and was scheduled for December 24 but could not take place.

Sources have told India Today TV that the second consultation after the August 2019 closed-door meeting on Kashmir also ended with "zero" outcome.

India Today TV has learnt that UK was forthright in saying that "bilateral" dialogue has no place in the United Nations. US, on its part, also added that the issue did not belong "here" (the UNSC).


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Sherlock

Co-opting nationalism: The case of Italy

Giuseppe Verdi
The Saker Blog
Wed, 15 Jan 2020 12:16 UTC
Salvini
Matteo Salvini addressing his supporters during the yearly Party meeting in Pontida (2019)
Nationalism is dead. Its stinking corpse is laying in front of Palazzo Montecitorio, home to the Italian Parliament (its increasingly peripheral power centre). People start to notice it, people start to smell its awful stench. What is left of the brief Italian nationalist experience has finally shown its true, cowardly face, bowing to the international globalist elite and rejecting its truly revolutionary potential. This is the story of how Italian nationalism has been co-opted by the establishment to serve its wicked agenda.

Liliana Segre and her security detail

Comment: See also:

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Sheriff

Defense, Foreign and Finance ministers retain their positions in new Russian government


RT
Tue, 21 Jan 2020 17:09 UTC
Lavrov
© Sputnik / Maksim BlinovFILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu (R).
President Vladimir Putin has approved a new Russian government after the surprise resignation of the previous cabinet last week. While there was a significant reshuffle, the defense, foreign and finance ministers kept their posts.

"The new government is a well-balanced one, although it went through a major reshuffle," Putin said during a meeting with the new cabinet.

Both Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Shoigu are political heavyweights and among the most trusted political figures in Russia, trailing only behind President Putin himself when it comes to popularity with the public. Anton Siluanov has been Russia's finance minister since 2011.

A career diplomat with decades of experience in international relations, Lavrov served as Russia's envoy to the UN for ten years before taking the helm at the Foreign Ministry in 2004.

Comment: The reshuffle has apparently been on the cards for some time now and for very good strategic reasons, as noted in Putin prepares his succession, the West is purged from the Kremlin:
[...]
What emerges from my approach as set out below is a tentative and still partially self-contradictory constitutional restructuring to assure continuity of a strong, centralized and deeply patriotic federal government with or without Mr. Putin. Most important of all, it is a restructuring that begins at once, so that it can consolidate in the coming four years of transition, allowing all the political actors to grow into new roles of greater responsibility and prove their mettle under the watchful eye of the sitting president.

[...]

And so, we are likely to see in the coming days that candidates for a number of federal ministries in the new, post-Medvedev cabinet will be drawn precisely from parties other than United Russia. In effect, without introducing the word "coalition" into his vocabulary, Vladimir Putin has set the stage for the creation of a grand coalition to succeed the rule of one party, United Russia, over which Dimitri Medvedev was the nominal chairman. It is highly relevant to note that, unlike Putin, whose popularity as measured by opinion polls has returned to well above 60% in recent months, the United Russia party has seen its popular support continue to erode so that its ability to hold a parliamentary majority after the next general elections is very much in doubt. The new grand coalition will ensure political continuity and stability in all eventualities.


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Attention

Here are four legal problems House Democrats have to face at impeachment trial

Jenna Ellis
Fox News
Tue, 21 Jan 2020 06:43 UTC
trump
President Trump's defense counsel has filed their legal brief on impeachment. It lays out a clear argument explaining why the Senate constitutionally cannot even consider the two flimsy articles of impeachment. The Senate, which has the sole power to try all impeachments, must acquit President Trump and outright dismiss this attempt to undermine the Constitution.

Here are the four legal problems the president's brief reveals that House Democrats have:

1. The Substance Problem โ€” The Articles don't identify any impeachable offense or even any crime

Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution clearly and intentionally limits impeachment to instances of "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." The two articles of impeachment do not allege any conduct that fits within that constitutional definition, or even any crime whatsoever. "Abuse of power" and "obstruction of Congress" are vague allegations and a newly invented theory from the Democrats โ€” not an allegation that is a violation of any actual law.

Trump's brief notes that every prior presidential impeachment in U.S. history has been based on allegations of violations of existing law (specifically, criminal law). For example, though Clinton was ultimately not convicted in the Senate of an impeachable offense, that impeachment still alleged violations of existing federal criminal law โ€” felonies. "Abuse of power" and "obstruction of Congress" are not criminal violations, just catchy phrasing that the Democrats are using to create the public perception of wrongdoing.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Senate impeachment trial: Trump lawyers and Schiff go head-to-head accusing each other of obstruction


RT
Tue, 21 Jan 2020 23:30 UTC
Schiff/Cipollone
© Reuters HandoutHouse Intel committee chair Adam Schiff โ€ข White House Lawyer Pat Cipollone
House intel committee head Adam Schiff clashed with President Donald Trump's attorneys as the Senate impeachment trial began, attempting to spin his party's lackluster articles of impeachment as dire crimes and getting cut down.

Even while insisting the evidence presented during the House hearings was "more than enough" for the Senate to convict Trump, Schiff maintained that failing to include all the witnesses, documents, and other material the Democrats had tried (and failed) to shoehorn into those hearings "only rewards the president's obstruction."

Trump's "refusal to obey subpoenas" was allowing him to "hide all evidence harmful to his position," Schiff insisted, claiming that "the innocent do not act this way."

Americans want a fair trial.

Comment: See also:

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Evil Rays

US officials admit fueling Iran p๏ปฟrotests with covert tech programs to evade government internet controls

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 00:32 UTC
Iran internet access
© Zuma Press/R. FouladiInternet access was disrupted in Iran in response to protests
After major protests hit multiple cities across Iran in November following a drastic government slash in gasoline subsidies which quickly turned anti-regime, broad internet outages were reported โ€” some lasting as long as a week or more nationwide โ€” following Tehran authorities ordering the blockage of external access.

And during smaller January protests over downed Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, more widespread internet outages were reported recently, likely as Iranian security services fear protest "crackdown" videos would fuel outrage in western media, and after months ago Mike Pompeo expressly urged Iranians in the streets to send the State Department damning videos that would implicate Tehran's leaders and police.

But now Washington appears to have initiated the "Syria option" inside Iran: covertly fueling and driving "popular protests" to eventually create conditions for large-scale confrontation on the ground geared toward regime change.
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Black Cat

Sore loser Killary STILL slagging Bernie three years later: 'Divisive', 'nobody likes him'


RT
Tue, 21 Jan 2020 22:53 UTC
hillary bernie 2016
© Reuters / Brian SnyderHappier times: Sanders campaigns for Clinton in 2016 after she secured the Democratic Party's nomination
Two-time presidential also-ran Hillary Clinton hasn't dropped her grudge against erstwhile opponent and current Democratic frontrunner Bernie Sanders, and her comments on his 'likability' have triggered a backlash from all sides.

Clinton excoriated her former competitor as unlikeable and ineffective, telling the Hollywood Reporter that "nobody wants to work with [Sanders]" in the Senate in an interview published Tuesday ahead of a four-part documentary due to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

While the former secretary of state has long blamed Sanders, as well as Russia, former FBI director James Comey, WikiLeaks, actress Susan Sarandon, and dozens of other entities, for her 2016 election loss, Tuesday's attack comes on the heels of several polls placing Sanders at the front of the 2020 primary pack in key demographics.

Comment: The 2020 circus rolls on.

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Star of David

Everyone I don't like is Hitler: Netanyahu shamelessly compares Iran to Nazis


Sputnik
Tue, 21 Jan 2020 23:56 UTC
netanyahu
© REUTERS / Ronen Zvulun
Israel's prime minister and other officials have repeatedly likened the Islamic Republic of Iran to Nazi Germany in recent years, and successfully lobbied President Trump to pull the US out of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, which Tel Aviv has dubbed as 'appeasement'.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the world to remember the Nazis' brutal genocide of millions of European Jews, comparing the event with Iran's nuclear programme.

"Iran is openly declaring every day that it wants to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth - and, by the way, Israel today has a population of more than six million Jews," Netanyahu said, speaking to the US-based Christian broadcaster Trinity Broadcasting Network in an interview expected to air later Tuesday.

The Israeli prime minister recalled that during the Holocaust, "a third of the Jewish people went up in flames; there was nothing we could do. Now, after the Holocaust, the State of Israel has been established - and the attempts to destroy the Jewish people are not disappearing."

According to Netanyahu, "the lessons of Auschwitz are: First, stop bad things when they're small - and Iran is a very bad thing. It's not that small, but it could get a lot bigger with nuclear weapons, and I think the first thing is to stop that. And second is to understand that the Jews will never, ever again be defenceless in the face of those who want to destroy them."


Comment: As always Netanyahu tells the truth - but the truth about Israel, not Iran. Small things should be stopped when they're small, like Israel, the "sh***y little country" that has only grown more evil as it has progressively stolen Palestinian land. And it only got "bigger" with its own illegal nuclear weapons. Netanyahu, your sh***y little country needs to be stopped, before it destroys the Middle East.
map palestine


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Airplane

Kosovo-Serbia flights to restart after two decades

Seana Davis
euronews
Tue, 21 Jan 2020 23:36 UTC
Lufthansa BA
© Reuters / Michaela Rehle
Direct flights are to resume between Kosovo and Belgrade for the first time since the start of the Kosovo War more than two decades ago in what is being hailed as an important diplomatic step.

Eurowings, the no-frills subsidiary of German flag-carrier Lufthansa, will fly between the Kosovan and Serb capitals following a deal brokered by US diplomats.

Serbia and Kosovo have remained uneasy neighbours ever since their 1998-99 war that claimed more than 10,000 lives and left over one million people homeless.

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