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Eye 1

CIA chief spoke to Moscow about Wagner revolt - WSJ


RT
Sat, 01 Jul 2023 07:10 UTC
William Burns
© AFP / Saul LoebWilliam Burns testifies during a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, April 14, 2021
William Burns reportedly reassured his Russian counterpart that the US played no role in the aborted rebellion.

CIA Director William Burns reached out to Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) head Sergey Naryshkin to state that the US "wasn't involved" in Wagner Group leader Evgeny Prigozhin's march on Moscow last weekend, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

Burns spoke to Naryshkin by phone shortly after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal whereby Prigozhin would leave for Belarus in exchange for immunity from prosecution, the newspaper reported on Friday.

An anonymous US official summed up the message relayed by the CIA chief as "the US wasn't involved. This is an internal Russian matter."

Comment: See also:

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Chess

Taking a dagger to the 'soft underbelly': How the West has opened yet another front against Russia

George Trenin
RT
Wed, 28 Jun 2023 11:42 UTC
image
© RT
In the first half of 2023, both the European Union and the United States were noticeably active in Central Asia - which is regarded by some as Russia's "soft underbelly." Many Western European and American politicians and diplomats frequented the region and attempted to pull the ex-Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan over to their side in the ongoing conflict with Moscow.

The West wants to convince those states to support sanctions on Russia and block parallel imports to the country. It has promised compensation for financial losses. Moreover, Western European leaders see the likes of Kazakhstan as a source of natural resources that could potentially replace Moscow.

With all this recent attention, Central Asia is becoming increasingly aware of its own political importance - but will this lead it to break ties with Russia, as the West hopes?
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SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: NewsReal: Wagner Mutiny, French Révolution


Sott.net
Sun, 02 Jul 2023 11:34 UTC
wagner riots france newsreal
© Sott.net
Oh mon Dieu! France - nay, all Europe - is about to fall!

Or so the screamers say. In this NewsReal, Joe and Niall take a calmer look at the riots in France, and last week's high-octane events in Russia.

First hour: Prigozhin is a snake, and why Putin had to make an example out of him.

Second hour: the root cause of France's riots is a six-decades-long 'African-French' problem that is insoluble - save a miraculous paradigm shift in Western elites' worldview.


Running Time: 02:16:46

Download: MP3 — 93.9 MB

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Arrow Up

SOTT Focus: Rootin' For Putin

Hans Vogel
The Unz Review
Sun, 25 Jun 2023 00:01 UTC
Putin
© ShutterstockRussian President Vladimir Putin
Following in the footsteps of her illustrious predecessor Josef Goebbels, Mrs. Ursula Von der Leyen, unelected president of the "Fourth Reich", has imposed censorship. In the endless wisdom of her little brain, Mrs. Von der Leyen has decided that the inhabitants of the EU, who survived or escaped the covid death jabs she tried to force on them with her Pfizer cronies, are not to be exposed to Russian propaganda. For their own good, of course, because that is what autocrats always brandish as the main justification for imposing censorship. "We decide what is good for you," is what those people like to say. Like Von der Leyen's partner in crime, Blofeld is telling us from his Swiss retreat: "you vill own nussing but you vill bee heppy." However, EU censorship is not yet complete, but it is advancing. The goose steps of the censors and their columns of cowardly collaborationists can be heard all over the social media landscape. All the news information that is not to the liking of the rulers is branded "fake news" or "disinformation."

When so many people are being kept in the dark about so many topics for a long time, it comes as no surprise to learn that most Europeans have no clue about what is really happening in the Ukraine. Of course, Russia has already won the engagement, but the European state and corporate media staunchly maintain a mendacious narrative and, on a daily basis, spread heavy doses of fake news and disinformation. When repeated often enough, any lie will end up sounding like the truth. Dr. Goebbels knew this and Mrs. Von der Leyen knows it also. Needless to say, this does create a certain peace of mind, albeit a false one.
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Star of David

In the service of Israel: Biden admin breathes new life into Trump's Abraham Accords

Mico Peled
MintPress News
Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00 UTC
Biden and flags
© Abir Sultan/Pool/APUS President Joe Biden walks to Air Force One at Ben Gurion Airport • July 15, 2022
HR. 3099 was Introduced in the House of Representatives on May 5, 2023. This bill, known as the "Special Envoy for the Abraham Accords Act," is the latest act by the United States in the service of Israel.

This bill establishes the position of Special Envoy for the Abraham Accords within the Department of State. For anyone who does not remember, the Abraham Accords are agreements to normalize relations between Israel and Arab states that do not recognize Israel. It is an anti-Palestinian accord more than anything. It should be named "a bill to guarantee that governments who go against the wishes of their people and are willing to turn their backs to the plight of the Palestinian people will be rewarded."

The first four members of the Arab League to sign this accord were the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. The initial signing took place in the White House during the Trump administration, and it should be noted that President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu were the only heads of state present. The other countries sent their foreign ministers, ostensibly so as not to be seen signing this disgraceful agreement. It is worth noting that there was extensive widespread opposition to normalizing relations with Israel in all countries that signed the accords.

Comment: See also:

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Footprints

Lukashenka urges Belarusians to 'calm down' over Wagner arrivals, as tent camp springs up In Belarus


RFE/RL
Sat, 01 Jul 2023 00:00 UTC
Lukashenka
© Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty ImagesPresident of Belarus, Alyaksandr Lukashenka
Belarus's internationally isolated leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka has urged Belarusians not to "worry" about the presumed arrival of Wagner mercenaries after their aborted mutiny in Russia, as satellite imagery emerged of a tent camp springing up in the east that RFE/RL's Belarus Service estimates could house around 15,000 soldiers.

Lukashenka was speaking on June 30 ahead of Independence Day on July 3, telling the country that he's run with an iron fist for three decades, "Calm down."

Wagner mercenaries had been essential to Russia's war effort up until their boss Yevgeny Prigozhin led thousands of them in an apparent mutiny and march toward Moscow, complaining of army incompetence.

Lukashenka reportedly mediated between Prigozhin and President Vladimir Putin's regime at the height of the crisis on June 24, including offering haven for Prigozhin and an untold number of his fighters. In his speech, he said of the Wagner transfers to Belarus that "this problem has been inflated."
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Stop

Judges ban Bolsonaro from running for office for eight years over 'appalling lies'

Tom Phillips
The Guardian
Fri, 30 Jun 2023 13:22 UTC
bolsonaro
© Silvia Izquierdo/APFormer Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro
The political future of Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro has been cast into doubt after electoral judges banned him from running for office for eight years for abusing his powers and peddling "immoral" and "appalling lies" during last year's acrimonious election.

Five of the superior electoral court's seven judges voted to banish the far-right radical, who relentlessly vilified the South American country's democratic institutions during his unsuccessful battle to win a second term in power. Two voted against the decision.

The verdict means Bolsonaro, who lost last year's election to his leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will only be able to seek elected office again in 2030, when he will be 75.

The move to bar Bolsonaro from seeking public office was based on his highly controversial decision to summon foreign ambassadors to his official residence last July, 11 weeks before the election's 2 October first round. At the meeting, Bolsonaro made baseless claims against Brazil's electronic voting system which caused a public outcry and were denounced by one supreme court judge as politically motivated disinformation.

Comment: See also:

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Clipboard

Study reveals extent of Western aid to Kiev


RT
Fri, 30 Jun 2023 20:19 UTC
tanks
© Oz Suguitan/Global Look Press
Some of Ukraine's backers have spent more than 2% of their GDP on aid, German research has shown...

Ukraine received more than $170 billion in military, financial, and humanitarian assistance between January 2022 and February 2023, according to a study published this month by a German economic research center.

The data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) covers aid provided by Ukraine's 41 largest donors, which mostly consist of the US and its Western allies.

Washington is Kiev's largest single donor, with total US aid accounting for more than 45% of all assistance provided to Ukraine over that period. Roughly 60% of that money was spent on weapons, the data shows.

The UK's military assistance to Kiev accounted for 67% of London's total aid to Ukraine over that period. Most money Warsaw and Amsterdam allocated for Ukraine was also spent on arms, the research indicated.

The EU's support, including both the aid provided by Brussels and bilateral assistance provided by the bloc's members, amounted to almost 40% of the total aid for Ukraine over the same period.

The US was also the biggest military aid provider to Ukraine, spending a total of $47.16 billion on arms for Kiev's troops, leaving all other nations far behind. The UK became the second largest contributor by spending $7.1 billion on weapons for the Ukrainian forces.
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Light Saber

Republicans celebrate Supreme Court overturning student loan plan - a 'victory' for taxpayers

Morgan Phillips
The Daily Mail
Sun, 02 Jul 2023 17:33 UTC
supreme court justices student loan ruling
© Associated PressThe Supreme Court has struck down President Joe Biden 's $400 billion student loans forgiveness plan, ruling 6-3 against Biden's controversial plan to wipe out debts for around 20 million Americans
'The 87% of Americans without student loans are no longer forced to pay for the 13% who do'

Republicans are celebrating the Supreme Court's overturning of President Biden's student loan plan as a 'victory' for taxpayers while Democrats are deeming the high court 'corrupt.' The court ruled in a 6-3 decision that the scheme was unlawful.

The plan would have eradicated $10,000 in debt for borrowers earning less than $125,000 and up to $20,000 for those with Pell Grants. Estimates pegged the cost at over $400 billion.

It was challenged by six Republican states and two borrowers who argued Biden should have sought approval from Congress for a plan using substantial taxpayer funds.

Comment: Student loans were a racket from the start:

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Attention

Assisted Suicide

Raúl Ilargi Meijer
The Automatic Earth
Sun, 02 Jul 2023 12:22 UTC
The raising of Lazarus 1609
© CaravaggioThe raising of Lazarus 1609.
A Dutch paper tells me that PM Mark Rutte is "very disappointed" that Switzerland has decided not to deliver 96 more tanks, that belong to Swiss "defense company" Ruag, and which Germany, Holland and Denmark wanted to purchase, to send to Ukraine. The 96 would have come on top of another 100 they also apparently bought for the same purpose. Neither would make any difference for the outcome of the battle. 100 tanks is nothing. The only thing we know for sure is that 96 more tanks will kill 96xY more people. But of course Rutte is not the only EU and NATO "leader" who thinks the way he does. They all do, except Orban and perhaps Serbia's Vucic. But Biden, Blinken, Macron, Scholz, you name them, they all say the same thing: we must deliver more guns, tanks, jet fighters. US "top general" Mark Milley chimes in:

Ukrainian Counteroffensive Will Be Long And 'Very Bloody'
Ukraine's counteroffensive will be "very difficult" and achieving significant gains could take a long time, a top US military officer has warned, Report informs, citing Yahoo. Army general Mark Milley told the National Press Club in Washington that the counteroffensive was "advancing steadily, deliberately working its way through very difficult minefields ... 500 meters a day, 1,000 meters a day, 2,000 meters a day, that kind of thing". Mr Milley said he was unsurprised progress was slower than some people predicted.

He said: "War on paper and real war are different. In real war, real people die. Real people are on those front lines and real people are in those vehicles. Real bodies are being shredded by high explosives." Mr Milley added: "What I had said was this is going to take six, eight, 10 weeks, it's going to be very difficult. It's going to be very long, and it's going to be very, very bloody. And no one should have any illusions about any of that."
My problem with this is they all know very well that some 400,000 young Ukrainians have already died in the conflict, with many more severely injured, and many many more will be killed and maimed if these tanks are delivered to Kiev and the "counteroffensive" continues. Not Rutte's Dutch young people, or Biden and Milley's Americans or Macron's French, no, just young Ukrainians. And some Russians, at about a 1 to 10 count. But if they don't care about young Ukrainians, they sure care less about young Russians.

Where does this attitude come from? What makes it acceptable to help kill more young people, anywhere in the world? Young men who have mothers, fathers, girlfriends, wives, who should have children or already have them? Who are "leaders" like Rutte to knowingly send them to their deaths? For what reason? So they can beat Russia and save Ukraine's "democracy"? Ukraine has no elections, no political parties, no free press, and Zelensky is selling its land to BlackRock et al as we speak. And that's what these promising young lives have to be cut short for? For Zelensky's and BlackRock's profits?
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