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Whistle

UK high court rules publisher must prove libelous claims about Putin, Abramovich, Rosneft, in largest legal case against anti-Russia peddlers yet

John Helmer
Dances With Bears
Fri, 26 Nov 2021 23:31 UTC
CATHERINE BELTON,
© JohnHelmer.net
A High Court judge in London has ruled sharply against Catherine Belton and Rupert Murdoch's book publisher HarperCollins dismissing their principal lines of defence against a multi-million pound case for libel by Roman Abramovich and the Russian state oil company Rosneft.

Yesterday, in two detailed examinations of Belton's allegations of a corrupt conspiracy masterminded by President Vladimir Putin and implemented by Abramovich, Rosneft and others, Justice Amanda Tipples (lead image) dismissed the publisher's case that Belton had been justified in reporting opinions from named or anonymous sources. The judge's rulings cast doubt on the credibility of Belton's sources, requiring lawyers for the defence to show in trial next year that Belton's reporting proves the truth of her "statements of fact". This sets the stage for one of the largest and most expensive court tests of truth and faking in the Anglo-American war against Russia.

Worse for Belton and HarperCollins, Tipples ruled that their allegation that Rosneft had created a fake transaction to bribe Putin with $300 million is a statement of fact which Belton is unlikely to be able to prove in the witness box on oath and under cross-examination. Tipples dismissed Belton's method of using sources whose "denials do not provide any antidote to the information provided by Mr Kondaurov or the anonymous source."

Comment: See also: 'Fabricated, idle rumours': Russiagate, the Steele dossier, US indictment of Danchenko

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Arrow Up

"The Omicron Variant" - Magic pills, or solving the Africa problem?

Kit Knightly
Off-Guardian
Sat, 27 Nov 2021 16:27 UTC
Omicron Variant
© kare11.com
Yesterday the WHO labelled the sars-cov-2 variant B.1.1.529 as a "variant of concern" and officially named it "Omicron".

This was as entirely predictable as it is completely meaningless. The "variants" are just tools to stretch the story out and keep people on their toes.

If you want to know exactly how the Omicron variant is going to affect the narrative, well The Guardian has done a handy "here's all the bullshit we're gonna sell you over the next couple of weeks" guide:
  • The Omicron variant is more transmissable, but they don't know if it's more dangerous yet (keeping their options open).
  • It originated in Africa, possible mutating in an "untreated AIDS patient" (sick people are breeding grounds for dangerous "mutations").
  • "it has more than double the mutations of Delta...scientists anticipate that the virus will be more likely to infect - or reinfect - people who have immunity to earlier variants. (undermining natural immunity, selling more boosters, keeping the scarefest going).
  • "Scientists are concerned" that current vaccines may not be as effective against the new strain, they may need to be "tweaked" (get your boosters, and the new booster we haven't invented yet)
  • "Scientists expect that recently approved antiviral drugs, such as Merck's pill, will work as effectively against the new variant" (more on this later)
  • It's already spreading around the world, and travel bans may be needed to prevent the need for another lockdown
We're already seeing preparations for more "public health measures", with the press breathlessly quoting "concerned" public health officials. We're being told that a new lockdown won't be necessary...as long as we remember to get boosted and wear masks and blah blah blah.

Generally speaking, it's all fairly boilerplate scary nonsense. Although it is quite funny that the Biden administration has already put a bunch of African nations on a travel ban list, when Biden called Trump a racist for doing the same thing in 2020.
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Bad Guys

Best of the Web: Leaked Zoom call shows US, European diplomats secretly planning Ethiopian 'transition government' with rebel TPLF leader

Morgan Artykhina
Sputnik
Sat, 27 Nov 2021 10:53 UTC
ethiopia zoom call
© Youtube/Jeff PearceDonald Yamamoto was one of a group of former ambassadors and current diplomats for the United States, Britain and EU who had a Zoom meeting on Sunday, November 21, to encourage and try to help the TPLF, and there’s evidence to prove it: a secret phone-cam video of the two-hour meeting.
Video footage has emerged of several Western diplomats meeting with leaders of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), showing them frankly discussing plans to overthrow Ethiopia's democratically-elected president, Abiy Ahmed. Abiy arrived at the front lines on Wednesday to take personal control over the effort to halt the TPLF's offensive.

Top US, UK and European Union diplomats with longstanding connections to Ethiopia during its 27 years of TPLF rule met on Zoom on Sunday with a "chief representative" of the TPLF, trading ideas about the group's potential to seize power and the Ethiopian National Defense Force's (ENDF) ability to stop it.

Comment: For further insight, check out Andrew Korybko's The latest offensive & defensive developments in the US' hybrid war on Ethiopia.

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



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Arrow Up

Michael Flynn ups the conspiracy ante, says COVID released by 'Global Elites'

Aila Slisco
Newsweek
Wed, 24 Nov 2021 10:45 UTC
Michael Flynn
© Tasos Katopodis/Getty ImagesFormer Trump advisor Michael Flynn addresses a crowd in Washington D.C, December 2020.
Michael Flynn is pushing an evidence-free conspiracy theory that claims COVID-19 was released by a mysterious group of "global elites" who may be preparing to "impose" a new virus on the world.

Flynn, best known for a short stint as former President Donald Trump's national security adviser, made the remarks during a recent interview on The Alex Jones Show. Flynn told host Alex Jones that there would be a planned surge of COVID-19 despite sleuthing by "digital warriors" having uncovered the "truth" about the virus, although no credible evidence that would prove the sinister plot has been publicly presented anywhere.

Flynn said:
"We're going to see an uptick in other aspects of the COVID. There might even be another form of a SARS that's imposed on the international system ... because their little plan with COVID didn't work because too many people in the world of what I call the digital warriors, or the citizen journalists that are out there, they are fighting for the truth.

"The truth has been exposed about all the COVID tyranny that we are facing. So, I think what we're gonna see is potentially another type of virus that's imposed on the public. And I hope that that's not the case, but I've seen some indications of that in some of the statements by some of these global elite type of people."
Beyond creating "COVID tyranny," Flynn did not indicate what was the ultimate goal of the supposed elites involved in the pandemic-creating plot. He also predicted that the country's economy would soon be plunged into an intentional "controlled depression" and that the government would "shut down" all communications, although he conceded that "these are the worst-case scenarios."

Comment: It is easy to tell which side of the political line Newsweek occupies, evidenced in its narratives and qualifiers.

Check out the 'banned' video roundtable with Michael Flynn, Joe Flynn and Patrick Byrne interviewed by Alex Jones:



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X

Best of the Web: Venezuela's socialists win elections in landslide - so US refuses to recognize them

Ben Norton
The Grayzone
Tue, 23 Nov 2021 00:00 UTC
rally
© Reuters/Carlos Garcia RawlinsVenezuela campaign rally
The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won the November 21 mega-elections in a landslide, getting more votes in 20 of 23 states and the capital Caracas. So the US government responded by trying to discredit the vote. Venezuelan journalist Diego Sequera speaks about the elections, the historic victory of the ruling party of President Nicolás Maduro, and Washington's attempt to de-legitimize the process.


Venezuela's November 21 regional elections were monitored by the European Union.

Comment: The US would rather be consistently wrong than admit it.

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Target

Zelenskiy says coup plot uncovered, Ukraine ready for any escalation with Russia


RFE/RL
Fri, 26 Nov 2021 11:54 UTC
Zelensky
© ReutersUkraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine's intelligence service has uncovered plans to stage a coup involving people from Russia that was due to occur next week. Zelenskiy did not give full details of the plot nor did he accuse the Kremlin of direct involvement in his comments at a press conference in Kyiv on November 26.

The Kremlin swiftly denied any role in any coup plot.

At the press conference involving journalists from Ukraine and abroad, Zelenskiy also said Ukraine was ready for any escalation from Russia amid recent reports of Russian troops massing in Russia's western regions and in illegally occupied Crimea.

Media outlets including The New York Times and Bloomberg have quoted U.S. officials as warning that Russia might attack this winter, with some saying a potential invasion could be "on a scale far greater" than in 2014, when Russia seized the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.


Comment: Russia did not seize Crimea. Crimean people voted over 90% in favor to rejoin Russia.


Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the allegation of Russia being involved in the planned coup attempt. "We never do things like that," Peskov said.

Comment: If Ukraine is 'prepared' for a war with Russia 'tomorrow' it stands to reason the US has promised unlimited support. If Zelenskiy is bluffing, he is a fool and a tool. Sec. of State Blinken remains on the offensive towards Russia hoping to distance the Biden family controversies associated with Ukraine.

Another report offers different aspects of 'the coup':
A Russian-backed plot to topple the Ukrainian government within days has been exposed, the country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has claimed, pointing the finger at a high-profile oligarch as one of the backers of the coup.

Speaking as part of a marathon press conference in Kiev on Friday, Zelensky told journalists that officials have
"received information that a coup d'état will take place in our country on December 1-2. We have audio recordings in which representatives of Russia and Rinat Akhmetov discuss the coup."
According to Zelensky, billions of dollars are being spent by Akhmetov, the owner of Shaktar Donetsk football club and recently a leading critic of the government, as part of a regime-change bid. Zelensky, however, said that he doesn't believe the entrepreneur, who has an estimated net worth of more than $7 billion, will take part in the coup himself.

Pledging action over the purported plot, Zelensky warned:
"you can't fight against your people and the president who was elected by the citizens of Ukraine."
He went on to allege that internal threats within the country are now far more pressing than the risk of a major military conflict with Russia.

Earlier this year, Viktor Medvedchuk, the leader of the largest opposition party in the country's parliament, was detained on charges of high treason. While details of the allegations have not been made public, they are believed to relate to business interests in Crimea. Medvedchuk insists the prosecution is politically motivated and accuses Zelensky of trying to create a "dictatorship."

In September, Ukraine's national parliament voted through a sweeping new law designed to prevent "oligarchs" from influencing public life. Critics say that the designations can be applied arbitrarily to silence opposition figures, while wealthy backers of the government remain unaffected.
Meanwhile reports, making similar claims of Russian troops massing on Ukrainian borders, have proved to be untrue.

See also:

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Star of David

Israel 'limits' spy tech sales


RT
Fri, 26 Nov 2021 00:55 UTC
Face recognition
© Reuters/Amir CohenFacial recognition program script during cyber security training course
Israel's Ministry of Defense is reportedly placing new limitations on where the country's cybersecurity firms can sell their surveillance and hacking tools, sharply narrowing its list of approved nations for such deals.

Notably absent from the list are Israel's new allies under last year's Abraham Accords: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. The Jerusalem Post said on Thursday that by slashing the list of approved nations to 37 from 102, the Ministry of Defense also excluded "behind-the-scenes ally" Saudi Arabia.

Countries that survived the purge include the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, South Korea, and dozens of European nations, according to Israel's Calcalist newspaper.

The move comes after the US Commerce Department earlier this month blacklisted Israeli firms NSO Group and Candiru for allegedly supplying spyware to governments that used the technology to abuse human rights. Washington said:
"These tools have also enabled foreign governments to conduct transnational repression, which is the practice of authoritarian governments targeting dissidents, journalists and activists outside of their sovereign borders to silence dissent. Such practices threaten the rules-based international order."
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Arrow Down

Poland downgrades mission to Israel, says it won't send ambassador


The Times of Israel
Thu, 25 Nov 2021 07:43 UTC
Marek Magierowski
© Poland EmbassyPoland's Ambassador to Israel Marek Magierowski
Poland's Foreign Ministry says it will have no ambassador in Israel for the time being, bringing the mission level down to that of Israel's mission in Poland.

The traditionally sensitive bilateral relations soured in the summer after Poland adopted legislation seen as banning claims for restitution of some seized property, including that of Holocaust victims. Israel protested.

Poland at the time told its ambassador, Marek Magierowski, not to return to his Tel Aviv post after a vacation. He has since been appointed to Washington, and Warsaw now says it will not send a replacement.

"There are no plans at the moment to propose a new person for the position of ambassador" in Tel Aviv, Ministry spokesman Lukasz Jasina says.

Israel's mission to Poland is only at the charge d'affaires level, following earlier tensions. Tal Ben-Ari Yaalon, who was recalled to Israel during the summer spat, is expected to return to Warsaw.
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Bad Guys

New 'super mutant insane scary worst variant ever' makes landfall in Belgium: Governments do what governments do


Medical Xpress
Fri, 26 Nov 2021 17:41 UTC
covid
Belgium said Friday it has detected the first announced case in Europe of the new COVID-19 variant, in an unvaccinated person returning from abroad.

"We have a case that is now confirmed of this variant," B.1.1.529, first detected in southern Africa, Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke told a media conference.

The infected person tested positive on November 22 and had not had COVID-19 before, he added, without giving further details.

A leading Belgian virologist, Marc Van Ranst, tweeted that the person had returned from Egypt on November 11.

Vandebroucke said: "It must be repeated that this is a suspect variant — we don't know if it is a very dangerous variant."

He noted, however, that "as a precaution" Europe was stopping flights from southern Africa.

"So, total precaution but don't panic," he said, adding that Belgium's COVID-19 risk assessment group was analysing the situation.

Comment: The new variant has been named "Nu" - first spotted in Botswana. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has described the variant as "the worst one we've seen so far." The UK has banned flights from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. The EU is pushing for air travel bans too. Denmark, Morocco, the Philippines and Spain have already imposed restrictions, as have the Netherlands, Italy, Czech Republic, Rome, and France.

Health Secretary Javid says it "may be more transmissable" than Delta, and vaccines "may be less effective" against it. Hey, Javid, the existing vaccines' efficacy is currently around zero for existing variants. That's why boosters are being pushed worldwide.

The WHO is convening a special emergency meeting to discuss the NuFear variant, which has been found in Africa, the Middle East (Israel), and Hong Kong. Though it could take "weeks" for them to "understand the risk." That means fear porn in the meantime, unfortunately!

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Russian Flag

SITREP for the Russian Federation - 25 November 2021

Patrick Armstrong
Russia Observer
Thu, 25 Nov 2021 17:04 UTC
The State Duma of the Russian Federation on Okhotny Ryad Street in Moscow
© Natalia Seliverstova / ReutersThe State Duma of the Russian Federation on Okhotny Ryad Street in Moscow.
UKRAINE

Lots of bogus hysteria about how Russia is about to invade Ukraine - for example. Here's my view - Russia Inc has no desire to pay for "Country 404" - the US/EU/NATO broke it, they own it. But, eventually, the provocations will get to be too much - it's a cost-benefit analysis and I'm not privy to the data - then Russia will liberate those parts of Ukraine where Russians will be welcomed as liberators and leave the rest to its fate. When/if it happens, it will be fast, decisive and surprise everybody (like every Russian military operation since 2000). There is nothing the West can do (sanctions escalation - that's a spavined horse) unless it wants to go nuclear in which case the USA will certainly be obliterated. Orlov and Saker.

From the West, nonsense and more nonsense (complete with The Misquotation). How about this from the country with one fully-staffed infantry battalion? The safety of the world hangs on the patience of Putin and Xi and the hope that not all Western generals are future VP Sales of MIC rackets.
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