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Attention

'Europe shouldn't let US meddle in its economy,' says German mayor under threat of US sanctions over Nord Stream 2


RT
Thu, 23 Jul 2020 14:27 UTC
Kracht
© RT Screenshot
A German mayor at risk of being blacklisted over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia told RT that Europe must not let the US dictate its economic policy.

Two Russian ships busy laying pipes on the Baltic seabed are docked at the port of Mukran on Germany's Rugen Island. Ninety percent of the port is owned by the small town of Sassnitz, which is why its mayor, Frank Kracht, risks landing on the US sanctions list.

Kracht told RT:
"I don't accept this because I believe it is illegal under international law. Europe is a sovereign land. And I think that Europe shouldn't allow such interference into its economic issues."
The US has been placing sanctions on Nord Stream 2 in an attempt to pressure Germany into scrapping it. Yet another bill that would impose new restrictions on companies helping Russia to complete the pipeline was adopted by the US House of Representatives earlier this week.

Comment: See also:

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Bullseye

Ayatollah Khamenei: Iran to strike back at US in response to Assassination of General Soleimani


Tasnim News Agency
Tue, 21 Jul 2020 23:31 UTC
Khamenei/al-Kadhimi
© leader.ir.Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei (L) meets with the visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi (R) in Tehran on July 21, 2020.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei underlined Iran's determination to show proper response to the US crime in assassinating General Qassem Soleimani.

According to official website of Ayatollah Khamenei, the Prime Minister of Iraq, Mr. Mustafa al-Kadhimi, met with the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei, Tuesday. The following is an excerpt of the statements Imam Khamenei made at this meeting:
"Iran has never had and never will have any intention to meddle in Iraq's affairs. Iran seeks a dignified, independent Iraq with its territorial integrity and internal unity and cohesion protected."

"Iran is certainly against anything that weakens Iraq. The U.S. outlook concerning Iraq is exactly the opposite to our outlook because the U.S. is the enemy in the true sense of the word and opposes an independent, strong Iraqi government elected by popular vote."

"It doesn't matter to the US who the Prime Minister of Iraq is. They want a government like that of Paul Bremer - the American ruler of Iraq after Saddam's downfall."

Comment: Iran and Iraq have indicated their ability and willingness to team-up on US retaliation with justifiable reasons, courtesy Washington. Another Iranian leader expresses his disdain and desire for retaliation. Will talk turn into action? Momentum seems to be on the uptick.
Pic of Soleimani
© unknownTehran, Baghdad will jointly sue US for assassinating Gen. Soleimani in Iraq.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf has called on neighboring Iraq to "vigorously" follow up on the US assassination of top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, censuring the crime as a stain on the record of American statesmen.

"The United States violated Iraqi territory and impudently assassinated those who risked their lives to crush the bones of terrorism. This is not a simple issue. The American assassination is a major case that must be pursued vigorously," Qalibaf said in a meeting with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in Tehran on Wednesday.

"The criminal assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, an international hero in the fight against terrorism, and the great martyr Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and their companions, on the direct order of [US] President [Donald] Trump, is a stain of shame that will never be erased from the faces of White House officials," the top parliamentarian said.

The Islamic Republic, he added, believes that stability will not return to the region as long as foreign forces are present.

Qalibaf also highlighted the historical and religious bonds between the two neighboring nations and said, "We fought Daesh and Takfiris and emerged victorious. The Islamic Republic of Iran has been standing by the Iraqi government and since the start [of their anti-terror fight]."

The Parliament chief said political, economic and cultural relations between the two sides have been growing at a proper rate, calling for serious efforts to further enhance bilateral ties in various sectors.


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Bad Guys

Prosecutors say San Francisco consulate is harboring Chinese military researcher wanted by FBI

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
Axios
Wed, 22 Jul 2020 00:00 UTC
Chinese consulate San Francisco
A researcher who lied about her affiliation with a Chinese military university entered the Chinese consulate in San Francisco after being interviewed by the FBI on June 20 about alleged visa fraud and has remained there, according to an FBI assessment in court filings dated July 20.

Why it matters: Using a diplomatic facility to shelter someone charged with a federal crime could cause serious tension between the U.S. and China, especially as the U.S. is seeking to crack down on Chinese espionage and research theft.

"It is highly unusual for a Chinese diplomatic post to associate so closely with a suspect in an intellectual property theft-related case," said Minyao Wang, a New York-based lawyer who has worked on IP theft cases related to China.
  • "Sheltering a defendant in a criminal case by using the diplomatic immunity of a consular building, if true, is really extraordinary."
Context: On July 21, the U.S. told China that it must close its Houston consulate within 72 hours.
  • State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said the move was intended to "protect American intellectual property and American's private information."

Comment: All of this is occurring on the heals of the US shutting down China's Houston, Texas Consulate:
The Chinese foreign ministry, on Thursday, said that the U.S.'s decision to shut down China's consulate in Houston, Texas, "severely harmed," relations between the two countries.

While speaking at a daily media briefing on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, "In response to the U.S.'s unreasonable actions, China must make a necessary response and safeguard its legitimate rights," but declined to detail any specific measures, according to Reuters.

"This is tearing down the friendly bridge between the people of China and the U.S.," he added.

The comments from the Chinese foreign ministry come shortly after the U.S. announced that they have ordered China to close its consulate in Houston "to protect American intellectual property."

According to the Washington Post, firefighters in Houston responded to reports of papers being lit on fire on the consulate grounds but they were not permitted to enter the building.

The U.S. announced that the consulate will be closed in a brief statement.

"The United States will not tolerate the PRC's (People's Republic of China) violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just as we have not tolerated the PRC's unfair trade practices, theft of American jobs and other egregious behavior. President Trump insists on fairness and reciprocity in U.S.-China relations," said Morgan Ortagus, a State Department spokesperson. "We have directed the closure of PRC Consulate General Houston, in order to protect American intellectual property and American's private information."

During the daily media briefing on Thursday, Wang described the U.S. allegations as "malicious slander."

"For some time, the U.S. has held ideological bias to continuously surveil, harass and even arbitrarily detain Chinese students and scholars in the U.S.," Wang said. "We urge the U.S. to stop using any excuse to restrict, harass or oppress Chinese students and researchers in the U.S."
Trump is threatening even more action:
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday it was "always possible" he would order the closure of more Chinese consulates in the United States in the wake of the State Department's order to close Beijing's consulate in Houston.

Trump, at a White House news conference, noted that a fire was spotted on the Houston consulate's grounds after the State Department ordered the closure in 72 hours. "I guess they were burning documents and burning papers," he said.
To make matters between the two nations even worse, Beijing is claiming that its Washington D.C. embassy is now receiving bomb and death threats:
A spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry has blamed alleged bomb and death threats made against the country's embassy in Washington, DC on the US government.

The US' order that the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas be closed represents an "unprecedented upgrade" in "political oppression" against China, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying tweeted on Wednesday, adding that the embassy in Washington has received bomb and death threats "as a result of smears and hatred fanned up by the US government."



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Network

Iranian foreign ministry says Iran faced massive cyberattacks over past months, but fires and explosions unrelated


Sputnik
Thu, 23 Jul 2020 17:18 UTC
cyberattack computer code
© CC0
Iran has faced several large-scale cyberattacks in recent months sponsored by foreign governments and Tehran preserves the right to properly respond to these hostile acts, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Thursday.

"Thousands of cyberattacks are launched against the country's infrastructure on a daily basis, which is not anything new. Most of those attacks are repulsed by our defence systems ... without making any impact. Over the past recent months, a couple of cyberattacks on a broader scale have been also launched against the country's infrastructure, as with the analysis of the dimensions and the technology used [in the attacks], one can say they have been sponsored or launched by governments", Mousavi said in a statement.

Mousavi also refuted claims that the recent fires and acts of sabotage had been caused by those cyberattacks.

"No, the recent fires have had nothing to do with the cyberattacks", the spokesman said.

He added that Tehran will consider the US government to be responsible for any cyberattack against the country given the current hostile rhetoric.

Comment: He's most likely telling the truth about the fires and explosions (though in the case of Natanz, that appears to have been an attack). Such fires are common this time of year. It's only now that western media are commenting on them:

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No Entry

Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska warns Moscow to brace for 'sanctions from hell' if Biden elected in US

Jonny Tickle
RT
Thu, 23 Jul 2020 17:10 UTC
Oleg Deripaska
© REUTERS/Sergei KarpukhinOleg Deripaska
Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska thinks a Joe Biden victory in November's US election would lead to much tougher sanctions on Russia, and Moscow is not ready.

In an interview with Business FM, the aluminum tycoon explained that, in the case of a Democrats' victory, Russia should expect a new package of sanctions in the spring of 2021, shortly after 77-year-old Biden's inauguration. Deripaska explained that they would be so severe that we should "stop and smell the roses" under the current measures.

Comment: Having suffered from the personal attention of the previous Democrat administration, Deripaska knows what he's talking about.

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Better Earth

Deal reached for Ukraine cease-fire from July 27


RFE/RL
Thu, 23 Jul 2020 16:44 UTC
ukraine donetsk checkpoint
Ukrainian servicemen stand guard at the Mayorske checkpoint in the Donetsk region
Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have reached an agreement for a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine from July 27.

"The regime of full and comprehensive cease-fire, if observed by the other party, is a basic precondition for the implementation of the Minsk agreements and opens the way to the implementation of other provisions of these agreements," the Ukrainian president's office said July 22.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was elected last year on promises to end the conflict in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Germany and France have mediated between Ukraine and Russia since a peace agreement was signed in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, in 2015, but efforts at implementation have faltered.

The leaders of the four countries met at a summit in Paris in December 2019 to revive the peace process, leading to Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists in the east of Ukraine conducting a series of prisoner exchanges.
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Dig

Bulgaria to complete TurkStream pipeline extension amid US threats to sanction Russian energy projects


RT
Thu, 23 Jul 2020 13:09 UTC
TurkStream gas pipeline in Letnitsa, Bulgaria
© Reuters / Stoyan NenovA construction site on the extension of Russia's TurkStream gas pipeline in Letnitsa, Bulgaria
The Bulgarian section of the TurkStream natural gas pipeline from Russia, known as Balkan Stream, is set to be completed by the end of the year, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The news that the construction of the gas pipeline is proceeding on schedule comes shortly after Washington updated the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). The move paved the way to impose secondary sanctions on companies involved in Russian energy projects - Nord Stream 2 and the second line of TurkStream natural gas pipelines - both of which are under construction.

"Construction of the second branch of TurkStream on the territory of Bulgaria is going as planned and, according to our partners, will be completed by January 1 2021. [Bulgarian] Prime Minister Boyko Borissov keeps the project's progress under personal control, regularly inspecting construction sites," the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Fourth European Department, Yuri Pilipson, told RIA Novosti.

Comment: The world is simply not going to stop trying to provide itself with economically sound supplies of energy because of US anti-competitive/anti-Russia sanctions.

See also:

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Bizarro Earth

US-made 'Ninja Bomb' used again in strike on Northern Syria


Sputnik
Tue, 21 Jul 2020 19:17 UTC
ninja bomb
© YouTube/R&U Videos
New reports out of the Middle East allege that the use of the US' sword-carrying Hellfire R9-X "ninja bomb" has increased in recent weeks, and that it was most recently used in a Monday attack on alleged terrorists in northern Syria.

The Jerusalem Post reported on Tuesday that an R9-X missile struck a small, white truck the day prior and killed several individuals near Azaz, Syria.

Images uploaded to social media by independent outlet Islamic World News showed what is believed to be the remaining wreckage from the scene.

Comment: The US claims to be wanting to leave Syria and yet somehow its bombs continue to wreak havoc: U.S. Didn't 'Withdraw' From Syria - It Redeployed, And Now Controls 75% of The Country's Oil

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Binoculars

Greek navy on 'heightened readiness' over Turkey's energy drilling activities in Mediterranean - official


Arab News
Wed, 22 Jul 2020 12:00 UTC
Greek Coast Guard
© ReutersGreek Coast Guard vessel "Gavdos" is moored following a night patrol, at the port of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, Greece, September 30, 2019.
Greece's navy has deployed ships in the Aegean in "heightened readiness" over Turkish energy exploration activities, a navy source said Wednesday.

The move came after the Greek foreign ministry on Tuesday formally protested to Ankara following the announcement that a Turkish drilling ship would conduct explorations in the sea area south of the Greek island of Kastellorizo in the southeastern Aegean.

"Navy units have been deployed since yesterday in the south and southeastern Aegean," the source told AFP, declining to give further detail.

Athens had said Turkish surveys in a section of the Greek continental shelf constituted an escalation of the tension in the region where the two countries dispute maritime rights.

Comment: Reuters reports:
Greece accused Turkey on Tuesday of attempting to encroach on its continental shelf in a serious escalation of tensions between the two NATO allies at odds over a range of issues.

Turkey and Greece are at loggerheads over overlapping claims for hydrocarbon resources, brought into sharper focus by attempts of EU member Cyprus to also explore for natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean amid strong Turkish objections.

An advisory known as a Navtex was issued by Turkey's navy on Tuesday for seismic surveys in an area of sea between Cyprus and Crete. The advisory is in effect until Aug. 20.

Seismic surveys are part of preparatory work for potential hydrocarbons exploration. The Greek foreign ministry said the advisory covered part of the Greek continental shelf.

"We call on Turkey to immediately cease these illegal actions which violate our sovereign rights and undermine peace and security in the area," it said in a statement.

Mitsotakis
© AFPGreek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (L) speaks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas prior to their meeting in Athens, Greece, on July 21, 2020.
A protest had been lodged with the Turkish foreign ministry while the United Nations, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, NATO and the European Union had been informed.

There was no immediate comment from Turkey. Ankara says it is within its sovereign rights to explore for resources in areas it considers its continental shelf.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said earlier on Tuesday that unless Turkey backed down, European Union sanctions against its NATO ally could be inevitable.

"As long as Turkey continues to take this path, sanctions on Turkey will be a one-way street," he told German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who was visiting Athens.

Greece and Turkey have had testy relations for decades, with occasional flare-ups. There was a sharp exchange of words earlier this year when thousands of migrants Turkey hosts tried to force their way into Greece.

They disagree over ethnically-partitioned Cyprus as well. Greece is also angry over a Turkish-Libyan deal carving out maritime boundaries that skim the southern Greek island of Crete.

Turkey seems intent on stepping on everyone's toes at the moment:

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X

No-deal Brexit now 'almost certain'

Drago Bosnic
Fort Russ
Wed, 22 Jul 2020 07:23 UTC
brexit flags EU UK
© Luis Manuel Tapia Bolivar/Dreamstime
The UK government and the EU will fail to sign a post-Brexit trade deal, with only a few days left before Prime Minister Boris Johnson's July deadline, due to deadlock on a number of key issues, according to a report.

Ministers are working on the assumption that there will not be a deal, although it may be possible for a "basic" agreement to be reached if the EU gives ground in the autumn, The Daily Telegraph reported, citing government sources.

The newspaper added that the government expects to be trading on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms when the transition period comes to an end. Since the UK left the EU on January 31, its relationship with the bloc has been governed by a transition arrangement which keeps previous rules in place while the two sides negotiate new terms.

Negotiations remained deadlocked this week on fishing rights, the deal's governance, the role of the European Court of Justice and so-called level playing field guarantees, the report said. A spokesperson for Johnson stated on Monday that the UK would continue to "engage constructively" with the EU in talks on a future relationship, but insisted London was not willing to give up its rights as an independent state.

Comment: See also:

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