Puppet MastersS


Arrow Up

The Russia-Global South Connection: Africa as Strategic Partner

Pepe Escobar
Strategic Culture
Wed, 26 Jul 2023 19:32 UTC
Various Flags
© Social Media
The second Russia-Africa summit, this week in St. Petersburg, should be seen as a milestone in terms of Global South integration and the concerted drive by the Global Majority towards a more equal and fair multipolar order.

The summit welcomes no less than 49 African delegations. President Putin previously announced that a comprehensive declaration and a Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan all the way to 2026 will be adopted.

Madaraka Nyerere, the son of Tanzania's legendary anti-colonial activist and first President, Julius Nyerere, set the context, telling RT that the only "realistic" way for Africa to develop is to unite and stop being an agent for foreign exploitative powers.

And the path towards cooperation goes through BRICS - starting with the crucial upcoming summit in South Africa, and the incorporation of more African nations into BRICS+.

Nyerere's father was a very important force behind the Organization of African Unity, which later became the African Union.

South Africa's Julius Malema succinctly expanded the geoeconomic concept of a united Africa: "They [neocolonial powers] thrive on the division of the African continent. Can you imagine the minerals of the DRC combined with the minerals of South Africa, and with a new currency based on the minerals? What can we do to the dollar? If we become a United States of Africa, with our minerals alone, we can defeat the dollar."
Read More...
Bullseye

Media beg Republicans to 'move on' from Hunter Biden - because they know scandal is serious

Jonathan Turley
New York Post
Mon, 24 Jul 2023 18:44 UTC
hunter joe biden devon archer burisma
© Screenshot from TwitterDevon Archer (far left) is pictured with Joe and Hunter Biden
"I wonder after this plea happens if you would advise your party to move on?"

That question from CBS's Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan to Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie was raised just days before a former business associate of Hunter Biden, Devon Archer, gives potentially explosive testimony to a House committee in the Biden corruption scandal.

The media's desire to "move on" from the scandal is reaching an almost frantic level, as millions in foreign payments and dozens of corporate shell companies are revealed, and incriminating emails are released.

The same plaintive demand was made in congressional hearings.
Read More...
Chess

Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to tax, gun charges as judge rips up two versions of sweetheart plea deal

Josh Christenson and Steven Nelson
NY Post
Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:45 UTC
Hunter Biden
© AFP via Getty ImagesHunter Biden appeared confident arriving at a Delaware federal courthouse Wednesday with his “sugar brother,” attorney Kevin Morris
First son Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to federal tax and gun charges Wednesday, a dramatic about-face after his wrist-slap, probation-only plea deal fell apart Wednesday over his demand for blanket immunity from accountability for all criminal conduct — including alleged illegal foreign lobbying.

The stunning turn of events came more than 90 minutes into the hearing at the federal courthouse in Wilmington, Del., where Hunter was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay taxes and enter a diversion program on a felony federal weapons charge.

Prosecutors admitted under questioning from US District Judge Maryellen Noreika that President Biden's 53-year-old son still could be charged with offenses including failing to register as a foreign agent for lucrative dealings in countries such as China and Ukraine that allegedly involved his father.
Read More...
Sherlock

French intelligence knew of Wagner mutiny plans - l'Opinion


RT
Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:42 UTC
wagner
© Sergey Pivovarov; RIA Novosti
French security officials knew in advance about Wagner private military company chief Evgeny Prigozhin's mutiny plans, the l'Opinion newspaper claimed on Wednesday.

According to the outlet, the General Directorate of External Security of France (DGSE) has long monitored the activities of the Russian PMC because of its allegedly "anti-French" activities in Africa, including in the Central African Republic and Mali, which is why they were aware of Prigozhin's plans before mid-June.

L'Opinion's sources also said that France had discovered Prigozhin's plan to stage an uprising even before it was known to the CIA, which also claims to have been aware of the move in advance. CIA Director William Burns previously stated that Prigozhin's actions "did not come as a surprise" to Washington.

The Wagner mutiny began on June 23, when Prigozhin accused the Russian military of launching a deadly missile strike on one of the group's field camps. The Russian Defense Ministry denied the allegation, but Prigozhin vowed to march to Moscow and demand "justice." The uprising was ultimately halted after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that a deal had been reached with the PMC after consultations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The group, along with Prigozhin, has since relocated to Belarus, where it has begun providing training to Belarusian troops and sharing its battlefield experience gained from the Ukraine conflict.
Read More...
Cross

US tacitly endorsing Ukraine's anti-church crackdown - Moscow


RT
Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:40 UTC
biden and zelensky
© AP Photo/Evan Vucci
International organizations have failed to properly react to Kiev's persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), while the US, the self-proclaimed global champion of religious freedoms, is hushing up the crimes and even tacitly approves of them, the Russian Foreign Ministry has claimed.

On Tuesday, the Russian diplomatic service released a report on the mistreatment of the UOC, which has historic ties with the Russian Orthodox Church, by the Ukrainian state.

The section detailing international reactions, or lack of them, blasted Washington, a key supporter of the Ukrainian government, for "hushing up information about Kiev's crimes." The US government purports to be a champion of religious freedoms and regularly produces reports on alleged violations in nations around the world.

"Amid the persecutions of Orthodox believers in Ukraine, however, [US officials] never criticized the destructive church policy of Zelensky. By their inaction, they apparently signal to their underlings that they approve of their lawless actions," the document concluded.
Read More...
Dominoes

China removes Qin Gang as foreign minister after mysterious month-long absence

Shi Jiangtao
South China Morning Post
Tue, 25 Jul 2023 17:30 UTC
Qin Gang
© Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesQin Gang, China’s foreign minister
Qin Gang, who has not been seen in public since June, has been removed as the country's foreign minister, state broadcaster CCTV reports.

The abrupt announcement of Qin's removal came after weeks of speculation about his fate.

His absence has dominated domestic political discussions, and evolved into one of the biggest crises for Chinese President Xi Jinping since his unprecedented third term began last year.

CCTV's short statement said Wang Yi, who outranks Qin and serves as Xi's top foreign policy aide, is the new foreign minister.
Read More...
Bad Guys

Poland to form new military unit amid tensions with Russia, Belarus


RT
Wed, 26 Jul 2023 13:07 UTC
Blaszczak
© Global Look Press / Attila HusejnowPolish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak
A new sapper battalion is to be formed in northeastern Poland by the end of the year, Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Sunday. The unit, which will be created "from scratch," is expected to beef up Polish defenses in the Suwalki Gap, a region separating the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad from Belarus.

"We care about the security of the eastern flank! A sapper battalion will soon be created in Augustow," Blaszczak said in a Twitter post, referring to the northeastern Polish city located in the Suwalki Gap, which borders Lithuania.

The unit will be just one of many that Warsaw seeks to create in the near future, the minister said in a post that featured a map of eastern Poland with some two dozen locations already hosting or expected to host the "new military units."

"We know very well that Polish soldiers are the best guarantee of our Homeland's security," he added.
Read More...
Info

Africa defiant amid Western pressure to snub Moscow - diplomat


RT
Tue, 25 Jul 2023 07:50 UTC
roscongress russia-africa
© SputnikRussia-Africa Economic Forum participants in October, 2019.
Many leaders from the continent will travel to St. Petersburg for a landmark summit with Russia, Oleg Ozerov has said.

Western countries have tried to strong-arm African nations into skipping a major summit with Russia set to begin later this week in St. Petersburg but have failed in their efforts, Moscow's ambassador-at-large Oleg Ozerov has said.

In an interview with RIA Novosti released on Tuesday, Ozerov, who is also the chair of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Secretariat, accused the West of piling up "permanent" pressure on Africa in a bid to drive a wedge between the continent and Moscow.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
War Whore

Are Israel and Lebanon on the verge of another all-out war?

Robert Inlakesh
RT
Tue, 25 Jul 2023 17:02 UTC
lebanese israeli soldiers
© Ali DIA / AFPA Lebanese army soldier (L) in Kfarshuba in southern Lebanon looks on from his side of the border as Israeli soldiers stand opposite in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on July 20, 2023.
A border wall dispute threatens to reignite a simmering conflict, but it could have been avoided with Washington's help.

After months of tensions along the Blue Line separating Lebanon and Israel, tents set up by Lebanese Hezbollah - in response to an Israeli border war project on occupied territory - may escalate into the largest conflict between both sides since the 34-day war of 2006.

Lebanon and Israel are technically in a constant state of war, frozen since August 2006. Despite both sides having largely held their fire since the mid-2000s, a series of provocations has threatened to change the status quo in dramatic fashion. In 2018, Lebanon's Higher Defence Council announced that it had given orders to prevent Israel from constructing a multi-million dollar border wall on Lebanese territory, to which Tel Aviv* responded that the fence/wall was intended to be built on Israeli territory.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Control Panel

Brzezinski's Warning

Mike Whitney
The Unz Review
Wed, 19 Jul 2023 00:00 UTC
Brzezinski


The Vilnius Summit Communique is a crude attempt to NATO-ize Washington's list of enemies in order to enlist broader support for the impending global conflict. The intended targets of this campaign are Russia and China, the main opponents of the so-called "rules-based order". Neither of these countries pose a direct security threat to NATO or the United States, but their sudden re-emergence on the Asian continent makes them Washington's de facto enemy. The United States is determined to dominate Central Asia, which means that all potential rivals must be contained or crushed. The purpose of the Vilnius Communiqué is to identify these rivals, divulge their alleged offenses, and denounce them in the harshest terms possible. This is how NATO makes its case for war and lays the groundwork for future hostilities. This is an excerpt from the Communique:
The Russian Federation is the most significant and direct threat to Allies' security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area... Russia bears full responsibility for its illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, which has gravely undermined Euro-Atlantic and global security and for which it must be held fully accountable. We continue to condemn in the strongest terms Russia's blatant violations of international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and OSCE commitments and principles. We do not and will never recognize Russia's illegal and illegitimate annexations, including Crimea. There can be no impunity for Russian war crimes and other atrocities, such as attacks against civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure that deprives millions of Ukrainians of basic human services. All those responsible must be held accountable for violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law, particularly against Ukraine's civilian population.... Vilnius Summit Communiqué, NATO
Read More...