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Putin-Biden meeting was step towards de-escalating tensions, but once again the US chose to hypocritically exploit 'human rights'

Glenn Diesen
RT
Thu, 17 Jun 2021 11:40 UTC
Lavrov putin biden
© Peter Klaunzer - Pool/Keystone via Getty Images
Members of the media film as U.S. President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meet during the U.S.-Russia summit at Villa La Grange on June 16, 2021 in Geneva, Switzerland.
On the surface, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart, Joe Biden, didn't agree on very much when they met on Wednesday for talks, but getting along isn't actually as important as trying to work together.

If they had a healthy partnership, Moscow and Washington would be able to work together as the world's two most foremost nuclear powers to put in place a framework with clear rules and mechanisms for shoring up international security. However, in a dysfunctional state of affairs, irreconcilable differences make that work nearly impossible.

That said, even with troubled ties, cooperation can continue in selected areas of mutual interest. The real danger lies in a collapse of relations, where even mutually beneficial moves get cut off in the hope that it causes more harm for the other side.

Comment: See also:

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Quenelle - Golden

Russia's ability to maneuver outside US dollar gives it 'incredible freedom' - Max Keiser


RT
Thu, 17 Jun 2021 15:48 UTC
Moscow
© Pixabay.com / Denis Fedotov
Zaryadye Park in Moscow
In this special episode of the Keiser Report recorded at Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the dumpster-diving fiat.

"For 75 years post World War II the global geopolitical game, as it's called, sometimes rests upon the foundation of US dollar supremacy, the US dollar as world reserve currency," says Max.

"And now we have a major economy, Russia, completely outside of the dollar. That gives them a way to maneuver in a way that no other country can," he continues. "But all other countries will emulate and be envious of the ability for Russia to maneuver outside the dollar. It's an incredible freedom that they now have."

Comment: Russia and China are well aware that for as long as they and the world are reliant on the dollar, they leave themselves open to attack from the nefarious forces in the US. It seems that China is also aware that a similar avenue of attack could come through cryptocurrencies.

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Evil Rays

Biden admin proposes Americans snitch on family and friends who are potential 'domestic terrorists'

Mia Cathell
The Post Millenial
Wed, 16 Jun 2021 14:41 UTC
Biden see something say something
In order to "counter domestic terrorism," the Biden administration is proposing that Americans inform on family, friends, and co-workers who are "perceived to be radicalizing and potentially radicalizing towards violence."

According to Tuesday's press briefing, senior Biden administration officials discussed via teleconference the national strategy to combat terrorism in the United States ahead of the effort's release to the public.

The Department of Defense is incorporating training for service members separating or retiring from the military, who may "potentially be targeted by those who seek to radicalize them," a senior official said on the press call.

The administration will also "work to improve public awareness of federal resources to address concerning or threatening behavior before violence occurs," the official said, noting that one of the proposals the White House has been discussing is "the need to do something in this space..."

"If you see something, say something" concept has been promulgated before by the Department of Homeland Security, the official continued. The national campaign "raises public awareness of the indicators of terrorism and terrorism-related crime, as well as the importance of reporting suspicious activity to state and local law enforcement," the Homeland Security Department described online.

Comment: So the Biden admin is further feeding the (already hysterical and incredibly damaging) tendency of the radical left's culturally marxist approach - to demonize and persecute those who dissent from his increasingly totalitarian government. Wonderful.

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Mr. Potato

'Sausage wars': UK PM warns EU it will unilaterally change Brexit terms unless transition extension granted over N. Ireland


International Business Times
Thu, 17 Jun 2021 08:51 UTC
Border Force UK
© Matt Cardy/Getty Images
Border Force staff check passports of motorists arriving at the UK border after leaving a cross-channel ferry on August 13, 2014 in Portsmouth, England.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Wednesday he will take "necessary steps" to unilaterally alter Britain's post-Brexit trade terms unless the EU changes the way it is implementing them in Northern Ireland.

His comments, the latest salvo in a sausage-centred spat between London and Brussels, came as his government confirmed it has asked the EU to extend a grace period for some rules in the British province.

Britain wants the bloc to delay an end-of-month deadline to implement a new trading regime around chilled meats, which could see imports to Northern Ireland of products like sausages banned.

Comment: RT reports:
UK minister blames 'purist' EU for 'little progress' being made in post-Brexit trade talks

Speaking before a parliamentary committee on Wednesday, Lord Frost warned that "little progress" has been made between the UK and EU during post-Brexit trade negotiations, as he addressed concerns about the impact of the Northern Ireland protocol.

"It does seem to us...a very purist point for the EU to insist upon," Lord Frost said addressing the ongoing row between the two sides over extending the border checks grace period.

While a grace period was first introduced to ease the UK's transition out of the EU, Britain has called on Brussels to extend it, something that politicians within the bloc have so far refused to do. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has threatened to suspend the Northern Ireland protocol if the EU does not agree to an extension of the grace period.

While the EU has not responded to the UK minister's recent remarks, French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the trade dispute at the G7, declaring that "inconsistencies from the British side shouldn't be blamed on the EU."

The protocol was negotiated as part of the UK's initial Brexit deal, implementing a measure to ensure that a hard border would not need to be created between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Under the current terms of the agreement, goods do not need to be checked when crossing between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland but must face inspections when travelling from the EU to Ireland or Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Earlier this year, violence broke out in Belfast, with individuals claiming that it was sparked by the impact of post-Brexit changes. Due to the disruption that the new system has caused to businesses, politicians in Northern Ireland and the UK have called on the EU to address concerns in order to protect peace in the region and maintain the Good Friday Agreement.
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Attention

The real B3W-NATO agenda

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Wed, 16 Jun 2021 21:54 UTC
The West is the best

The West is the best

Get here and we'll do the rest

Jim Morrison, The End
Demented JOe
© Asia Times
For those spared the ordeal of sifting through the NATO summit communique, here's the concise low down: Russia is an "acute threat" and China is a "systemic challenge".

NATO, of course, is just a bunch of innocent kids building castles in a sandbox.

Those were the days when Lord Hastings Lionel Ismay, NATO's first secretary-general, coined the trans-Atlantic purpose: to "keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down."

The Raging Twenties remix reads like "keep the Americans in, the EU down and Russia-China contained".

So the North Atlantic (italics mine) organization has now relocated all across Eurasia, fighting what it describes as "threats from the East". Well, that's a step beyond Afghanistan - the intersection of Central and South Asia - where NATO was unceremoniously humiliated by a bunch of Pashtuns with Kalashnikovs.

Russia remains the top threat - mentioned 63 times in the communiqué. Current top NATO chihuahua Jens Stoltenberg says NATO won't simply "mirror" Russia: it will de facto outspend it and surround it with multiple battle formations, as "we now have implemented the biggest reinforcements of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War".

The communiqué is adamant: the only way for military spending is up. Context: the total "defense" budget of the 30 NATO members will grow by 4.1% in 2021, reaching a staggering $1.049 trillion ($726 billion from the US, $323 billion from assorted allies).

After all, "threats from the East" abound. From Russia, there are all those hypersonic weapons that baffle NATO generals; those large-scale exercises near the borders of NATO members; constant airspace violations; military integration with that "dictator" in Belarus.

As for the threats from China - South China Sea, Taiwan, the Indo-Pacific overall - it was up to the G7 to come up with a plan.
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Sherlock

China refutes US claims of radiation leak at Taishan nuclear plant


National Post
Tue, 15 Jun 2021 12:00 UTC
Taishan

The Taishan Nuclear Power Station outside the city of Taishan in Guangdong province. China said radiation levels around the plant are normal, but it has been accused of raising acceptable limits to avoid a shutdown
China said on Tuesday that radiation levels around the Taishan nuclear project in the southeastern province of Guangdong remained normal, following media reports of a leak at one of its reactors.

French utility EDF, one of the project's owners, said on Monday that it was investigating media reports that abnormal levels of radioactive gas had leaked from the plant.

CNN had reported that Framatome, the EDF unit that designed Taishan's reactors, was warning of an "imminent radiological threat" at the project following a build-up of krypton and xenon.

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Chess

28 Chinese air force aircraft amass near Taiwan as US Navy carrier enters South China Sea region


Reuters
Wed, 16 Jun 2021 15:29 UTC
china taiwan flags plane
© REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Chinese and Taiwanese national flags are displayed alongside military airplanes in this illustration taken April 9, 2021.
China does not tolerate foreign forces intervening in Taiwan issues and has to make strong responses to such acts of "collusion", the government said on Wednesday after the island reported the largest incursion to date of Chinese aircraft.

Twenty-eight Chinese air force aircraft, including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers, entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday, the Chinese-claimed island's government said.

The incident came after the Group of Seven leaders issued a joint statement on Sunday scolding China for a series of issues and underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, comments China condemned as "slander".

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Heart - Black

Outcry as Saudi Arabia executes young Shia man for 'rebellion'


The Guardian
Wed, 16 Jun 2021 18:00 UTC
saudi flag
© Cliff Owen/AP
Saudi Arabia has executed a young man who was convicted on charges stemming from his participation in an anti-government rebellion by minority Shia Muslims. A leading rights group said his trial was "deeply flawed".

It was unclear whether Mustafa bin Hashim bin Isa al-Darwish, 26, was executed for crimes committed as a minor, according to Amnesty International. The rights group said he was detained in 2015 for alleged participation in riots between 2011 and 2012.

The official charge sheet does not specify the dates his alleged crimes took place, meaning he could have been 17 at the time, or just turned 18.

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Jet2

New Israeli government bombs Gaza

Jake Johnson
Consortium News
Wed, 16 Jun 2021 00:00 UTC
Gaza bombed
© Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Israel bombs Gaza City with airstrikes June 15, 2021
The Israeli military characterized the latest airstrikes as retaliation for "incendiary balloons" released into Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Just hours after far-right marchers chanted "Death to Arabs!" during a demonstration in the streets of Jerusalem, Israeli war planes bombarded the occupied Gaza Strip early Wednesday morning in the first series of airstrikes launched by the new government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a former IDF officer who once boasted that he has "killed a lot of Arabs" in his life.

While initial reports indicated that no Palestinians were killed in the new bombing campaign, the air raid intensified fears of a fresh wave of violence by the Israeli government just weeks after a tenuous cease-fire agreement paused Israel's deadly 11-day assault on Gaza last month, which killed more than 240 people.

The Israeli military characterized the latest airstrikes as retaliation for "incendiary balloons" released into Israel from the Gaza Strip. The balloons reportedly caused at least 10 fires in Israel.

Comment: Nothing has really changed. New boss is the same or worse than the old boss...and currently unpredictable.

See also: Israeli bombs ignite pesticide stores, spew dangerous chemicals in Gaza

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Key

Who let Capitol protesters into the building on January 6?

Julie Kelly
American Greatness
Mon, 14 Jun 2021 00:00 UTC
Johnson/Cap Riots
© Salon/Getty Images
Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson and Capitol riots
Judge Amit Mehta thinks no one let protesters into the Capitol building on January 6.

During a pre-trial detention hearing on Friday — Joe Biden's Justice Department continues to demand jail time for nonviolent offenders before their trials even begin — the D.C. District Court judge made that false claim. "No one was let in," the Obama appointee told the lawyer representing Jason Dolan, an alleged Oath Keeper and former U.S. Marine with no criminal record. (Mehta denied the government's motion for detention but admitted it was a "close call.")

Mehta, of course, is flat wrong. Videos taken by people at the Capitol not only show some U.S. Capitol Police officers ushering protesters toward the building and allowing them to enter but, as American Greatness exclusively reported last month, USCP officers also cautioned several protesters how they should behave.

In fact, in an anonymous interview with the Gateway Pundit in May, Dolan himself described how someone inside the Capitol opened the doors. (Dolan was arrested three days after the interview was posted.) The Justice Department, in a motion to keep Dolan incarcerated awaiting trial, called his story a "conspiracy theory."

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