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Best of the Web: How to shoot yourself in the foot: Twitter blocks French govt ad campaign in order to comply with French govt 'fake news' law


RT
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 16:24 UTC
Macron
© Reuters / Philippe Wojazer
An ad campaign launched by the French government to encourage people to register to vote has hit an embarrassing snag: Twitter won't run the ads, as the company fears they may violate the new French law targeting fake news.

The Elysee hoped to inspire citizens to register to vote in the European elections ahead of the upcoming deadline by paying for sponsored tweets promoting the hashtag #OuiJeVote (Yes, I Vote). But the seemingly innocuous ad campaign faced an unexpected hurdle: France's recently-passed anti-fake-news legislation, which places strict rules on online political campaigns. The law states that all political ads must indicate who paid for them and how much was spent.

Fearing that the ad may violate the law passed by President Emmanuel Macron's own government, Twitter refused to run the ad.

The decision stunned French lawmakers and officials.

Comment: See also:

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Candle

SOTT Focus: Solidarity, Survival and Sabotage: Timeline of The Blackouts That Tormented Venezuela

Misión Verdad
The Gray Zone
Mon, 01 Apr 2019 20:51 UTC
blackout candles
While Venezuela's government and the Chavista movement proclaimed victory over the worst blackouts to plague the country, Washington's coup masters have promised more darkness until their goals are complete.
Gray Zone editor's note: Between March 7th and 10th of 2019, Venezuela experienced the longest interruption of its electric system in the country's history. The government alleged that the blackout was the result of a sabotage directed against the central computer of the main hydroelectric power station at El Guri in Bolívar State.

If the electrical collapse was indeed the result of an outside attack, it represented the most severe escalation of hostilities since the beginning of the latest regime change campaign. The blackout significantly disrupted Venezuelan society and showed that the war against the country targeted everyone, regardless of their political affiliations.

What follows is a reconstruction of those moments of darkness, showing how the deluge of fake news and humanitarian propaganda, the interruption and recovery of the electrical services, the calls for violence and the organization of the people and their families transformed daily life into a struggle for peace and coexistence. As in the past, the Chavismo movement successfully resisted Washington's attempts to foment a civil war.

This analysis was originally published at the Venezuelan independent website Misión Verdad, and has been edited and adapted by The Grayzone
Threats of intervention and the failure of "Plan Guaidó"

On January 23 of this year, the United States and its allies recognized Juan Guaidó as "President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela", completely ignoring the Venezuelan Constitution and the more than 6 million Venezuelans who voted for Nicolas Maduro in the elections of May 20, 2018.

During the last two months, all mechanisms of economic suffocation against the country have been deployed. Everything from bank accounts to the assets of the Republic have been frozen by the U.S. government. Most glaring among these cases was the blockage of $1.2 billion in gold owned by Venezuela, located in the Bank of England, and the confiscation of CITGO, a subsidiary of PDVSA on US soil.

Comment: See? Socialism doesn't work!

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Pirates

US still clinging to "regime change" fantasy by occupying Syrian lands and threatening economic warfare

Peter Ford
21st Century Wire
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC
Syrian communities still living in Golan
© SputnikSyrian communities still living in Golan organise protests against Israeli occupation.
With the military situation largely frozen, the last two months have been marked mainly by developments involving the US - the ending of the ISIS caliphate in the US-controlled part of Syria, Trump's U-turn over keeping US forces in Syria, and US recognition of Israel's annexation of the Golan.

US policy

Ambassador James Jeffrey, the US special envoy for Syria, gave an under-reported press briefing on 25 March which made fairly plain the US strategy. Far from being sated with its demolition of ISIS and resigned to Assad's 'victory', the US clearly clings to its desire to remove Assad and proposes to go about that through economic warfare and by maintaining a military presence using the pretext of ensuring the 'enduring' defeat of ISIS.
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Airplane

Ukraine bans all flights to Russia after opposition politicians' Moscow visit


RFE/RL
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 20:56 UTC
Yuriy Boiko, Viktor Medvedchuk, Dmitry Medvedev
© Yekaterina Shtukina (TASS)The legislation has been introduced following a meeting between Ukrainian presidential candidate Yuriy Boiko (center) and tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk (right) with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (left) and Gazprom's CEO Aleksei Miller.
The Ukrainian government has banned unscheduled flights to Russia after a recent visit to Moscow by two opposition politicians.

The action was initiated by Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, who said on April 3 that presidential candidate Yuriy Boiko and Opposition Platform -- For Life party official Viktor Medvedchuk had "used a loophole in Ukraine's legislation" to take a direct flight to Moscow last month.

Avakov said the ban would not apply to potential flights arranged for international organizations such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations, and the Red Cross.
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NPC

Russia is behind the 'creepy' Joe Biden scandal, latest conspiracy claims


RT
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 20:13 UTC
Joe Biden
© Reuters / Jonathan Ernst
If you thought the 2020 US presidential election might be a Russia-free affair, think again. The latest conspiracy taking hold online asserts that Moscow is behind the controversy over potential candidate Joe Biden's creepy past.

Social media has long been chock-full of images and videos demonstrating Biden's overly touchy-feely approach with women he came into (too much) contact with over the course of his political career.

Comment: People are so blinded by their political biases they're missing the crux of the issue, which is that Joe Biden is super creepy and at times has acted in ways that are downright pedophilic. Just like with the leaked DNC emails exposing the party's plot to make sure Hillary became the Democratic candidate, it doesn't really matter who is pushing this information into the public sphere. (For the record, it wasn't the Russians then and isn't the Russians now.) What is important is what has been exposed.

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Megaphone

China refutes reports of sending troops to Venezuela - It sent 65 tons of medicine


RT
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 15:21 UTC
china plane
© AFP / Yuri CORTEZ
Beijing has dismissed reports that it sent a cohort of soldiers to Venezuela along with a shipment of humanitarian aid.

A shipment of 65 tons of Chinese medicine reached Caracas on Friday. Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami welcomed the aid flight, and praised the "important and strategic level" of the partnership between Beijing and Caracas.

However, unconfirmed reports stated that a deployment of more than 120 Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers accompanied the aid flight, bringing military supplies for President Nicolas Maduro's forces.

Beijing, however, denies sending troops to Venezuela. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters on Tuesday

Comment: With Russian equipment, and Lavrov's recent comments that much of South America would be against it, likely fearing that they'd setting a precedent, at the moment, it seems unlikely Venezuela would need Chinese boots on the ground:

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Light Saber

'Venezuela won't become 2nd Syria': Lavrov is sure South America won't back military invasion


RT
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 20:11 UTC
Venezuela military
© Reuters / Miraflores PalaceFILE PHOTO: Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro attends a military exercise.
Tensions over Venezuela won't escalate into a new Caribbean Crisis or turn the country into "a second Syria," Russia's FM Sergey Lavrov has assured, bashing the US for treating the Western Hemisphere as its backyard.

"We don't accept the methods, with which the US is trying to improve the life of the Venezuelan people," Lavrov said in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

Washington has outright backed opposition leader, Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president of Venezuela in January. It has introduced hash economic sanctions against the struggling country, preventing it from importing food and medical supplies. Top US officials also threatened with so-called "humanitarian intervention" of Venezuela in order to remove unwanted socialist leader, Nicolas Maduro, from power.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: US Regime Change Operation in Venezuela - This Time It's Legit?

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Jet2

Turkish FM reiterates Russian S-400s sale a 'done deal' - Pence threatens to boot Turkey from NATO


RT
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 20:18 UTC
s-400 f-35
© Reuters / Vitaly Nevar (L) ; Reuters / Amir Cohen (R)S-400s stationed in Russia and a F-35 on maneuvers
Turkey's top diplomat has stood firm on Ankara's commitment to buy the S-400 anti-air system from Russia, just days after the US froze deliveries of F-35 fighters to Ankara as part of its pressure to scupper the deal.

Speaking at a panel discussion organized by the Atlantic Council in Washington, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the S-400 purchase was "a done deal" - confirming President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement that the transaction would go ahead. He then blamed Washington for preventing the purchase of the US' Patriot system for a decade, while insisting that Russia's S-400 would not be a security issue.

"[S-400s] will not be integrated into the NATO system," Cavusoglu said, before proposing the creation of a technical group that would ensure that the air-defense system "will not be a threat" to either the F-35 or other NATO systems.

The comments come after NATO-member Turkey failed to adhere to a deadline set down by Washington to cancel the S-400 deal. By way of admonishment, the Pentagon said on Monday that it had "suspended deliveries and activities associated" with Turkey's F-35 program until "they forgo delivery of the S-400."

"Should Turkey procure the S-400, their continued participation in the F-35 program is at risk," the statement warned.

Comment: It's not just the overpriced, under-performing F-35 deal that's under threat; it's Turkey's very membership in NATO, according to VP Pence:


This is highly instructive from Pence. It exposes NATO for what it has actually been all along: a 'captive market' for the US military-industrial complex.

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Arrow Down

PM May will further delay Brexit to agree deal with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn


RT
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 17:10 UTC
Brexit caricature
© Reuters / Thilo SchmuelgenFILE PHOTO: Brexit caricature being prepared for 2018 Rose Monday parade in Cologne
British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will try to avoid a no-deal Brexit by meeting with opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn and requesting a 'further extension' from the EU.

Speaking at Number 10 on Tuesday, May said the extension would be "as short as possible" and would come to an end when a deal was made.

May said she understood that people were fed up and wanted to leave the EU without a deal, but said she supported reaching a deal and offered to sit down with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to come up with a workable plan.

Comment: More from RT reports:
Corbyn says he's 'very happy' to meet May to hammer out Brexit plan, others not so sure

UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he would be "very happy" to meet Prime Minister Theresa May after she suggested the two should sit down to agree on a new plan to ensure a no-deal Brexit is avoided.

Commenting shortly after May gave a speech at 10 Downing Street about the way forward for Brexit, Corbyn said he recognized that the PM had "made a move" and that he would meet with her.


"I recognise my responsibility to represent the people that supported Labour in the last election and the people who didn't support Labour but nevertheless want certainty and security for their own future - and that's the basis on which we will meet her and we will have those discussions," Corbyn said.

It wasn't all friendly gestures, however. Corbyn also said that Labour "reserved the right" to bring a motion of no-confidence in May's government if it proves it is "incapable of commanding a majority in the House of Commons" - but "time will tell" on that front, he said.

The response to May's speech has sparked some angry reaction in her own Conservative Party, with hardline Brexiteer MP Jacob Rees-Mogg lashing out at her plan to delay Brexit for a second time in order to work with Labour. Rees-Mogg said May's move was "deeply unsatisfactory" and "not in the interests of the country."

"You do find that leaders who decide to go with the opposition rather than their own party find that their party do not tamely follow," he added.


Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was also unenthusiastic about May's latest plan and her promise to make the Brexit delay time "as short as possible." Sturgeon said this was a "potential trap" and that the sensible way forward would be for Britain to take part in upcoming European elections and then to seek a longer delay and allow for a public vote on whatever parliament agrees.

A spokesperson for May said the government was hoping to avoid taking part in European parliamentary elections, however.


Meanwhile, former British foreign secretary and Brexiteer Boris Johnson also weighed in, saying May's new course of action would mean key law-making powers could end up being "handed over to Brussels."

"As it is, we now face the ridiculous possibility of being forced to contest the European elections more than three years after [voting to] leave the EU and having to agree to exit terms that in no way resemble what the people were promised when they voted to leave," he said.
See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

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Wine

Best of the Web: Unparalleled EU moment: China has arrived

Patrick Lawrence
Consortium News
Mon, 01 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC
Xi Jinping
© Wikimedia CommonsPresident of People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping celebrates in Europe
It would be difficult to overstate the importance of Xi Jinping's visits to Rome, Paris and Monaco last week. In bringing his much-remarked Belt and Road Initiative to the center of Europe, the Chinese president has faced the Continent with the most fundamental question it will have to resolve in coming decades: Where does it stand as a trans-Atlantic partner with the U.S. and - as of Xi's European tour - the western flank of the Eurasian landmass? The simplicities of the postwar order, to put the point another way, have just begun to pass into history.

In Rome, the populist government of Premier Giuseppe Conte brought Italy into China's ambitious plan to connect East Asia and Western Europe via a multitude of infrastructure projects stretching from Shanghai to Lisbon and beyond. The memorandum of understanding Xi and Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio signed calls for joint development of roads, railways, bridges, airports, seaports, energy projects and telecommunications systems. Along with the MoU, Chinese investors signed 29 agreements worth $2.8 billion.
BRI map
© Lommes, CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia CommonsBRI’s six proposed corridors, with Italy circled, on maritime blue route. (Note: Map does not include latest national boundaries.)

Comment: See also:

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