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Moscow slams France's 'belligerent rhetoric'


RT
Mon, 06 May 2024 19:25 UTC
macroni
© Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesFrench President Emmanuel Macron
The French leadership's "belligerent rhetoric" and provocative statements around the Ukraine conflict are leading to further escalation, the Russian Foreign Ministry told France's envoy in Moscow on Monday.

Ambassador Pierre Levy was summoned to the ministry along with British envoy Nigel Casey amid rising tensions over the Ukraine conflict. The ambassadors were seen visiting the building housing the ministry in central Moscow separately. They did not offer any comments to the press outside.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry's press release on the meeting with Levy, the Russian side gave an assessment of France's "destructive and provocative" approach.
"It was emphasized that the attempts of the French authorities to create some 'strategic uncertainty' for Russia with their irresponsible statements about the possible dispatch of Western military contingents to Ukraine are doomed to failure."
The ministry added that the tasks and goals of Moscow's military operation will be realized.
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Windsock

Swiss summit on Ukraine a 'parody'


RT
Mon, 06 May 2024 09:18 UTC
lavrov
© Mikhail Voskresenskiy/SputnikRussian FM Sergey Lavrov
The upcoming Swiss-hosted peace conference on Moscow's conflict with Kiev is a "parody of negotiations" in which Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky will be promoted, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated.

In an interview with Bosnian broadcaster ATV released on Sunday, he claimed that Bern is "lying" about its willingness to invite Russia to the upcoming summit scheduled for June 15 at the Burgenstock Resort near Lucerne.

"When our Swiss colleagues declare their desire to invite Russia to the first conference, they are lying," Lavrov said, adding that Moscow will not participate in any events that promote Zelensky's "peace formula."

He added that Russia is "seriously" open to negotiations; however, they must be based on the current "realities."
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Footprints

Berlin recalls ambassador to Russia


RT
Mon, 06 May 2024 12:47 UTC
Lambsdorff
© Sefa Karacan/Anadolu/Getty ImagesGerman ambassador to Moscow Alexander Lambsdorff • Russian Foreign Ministry • March 4, 2024
The German Foreign Ministry is temporarily recalling Ambassador Alexander Lambsdorff from Moscow, its spokesperson announced on Monday.

The senior diplomat will hold consultations before returning to Russia, according to the statement. The move comes after Berlin accused the Kremlin of being behind a hacking attack targeting senior members of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The German government claims that a group named 'АРТ28' is a front for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, and used a vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook software to spy on the party's leadership. It described the hack as part of a prolonged campaign targeting various entities in Germany, and claimed that it had identified the culprit in conjunction with NATO and EU partners.

"Cyberattacks on political parties, state institutions and critical infrastructure are a threat to our democracy, our national security and our free society," the German embassy in Moscow said in a statement on Monday.

Comment: See also:

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Windsock

Macron 'breathes Russophobia' - Lavrov


RT
Mon, 06 May 2024 06:59 UTC
Lavrov
© dia images/Getty ImagesRussian FM Sergey Lavrov • Antalya Diplomacy Forum • March 1, 2024 • Antalya, Turkey
French President Emmanuel Macron may be using Russophobia to satisfy his ambition of leading the EU, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has claimed.

Speaking to the Bosnian Serb Alternativna TV on Sunday, Lavrov noted the French leader's recent interview with The Economist in which he called Moscow the main threat to EU security, adding that Macron has adopted an "ardent" anti-Russian stance.

Lavrov explained:
"According to the French leader, the ambitions of Adolf Hitler and Napoleon were driven by the fact that these countries saw Russia as a threat. I know how the power system is set up in France and how the French tend to see their role in Europe. I do not rule out that this 'caveman' Russophobia that Macron is currently 'breathing' might be necessary in order to try and become the leader in Europe, by leveraging this topic."
In recent months, Macron has made several statements which Moscow has criticized as "dangerous talk," accusing the French leader of "verbal escalation."

Comment: Projecting Russia via Western terms exposes the real threat.

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Broom

In the news again! Boeing investigated over falsified plane records


RT
Tue, 07 May 2024 19:29 UTC
Boeing factory in SC, USA
© Wang YingA Boeing factory in North Charleston, South Carolina, US
Suspected "misconduct" at the company's South Carolina plant has reportedly caused a delay in the delivery of new planes

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced it has launched a probe against Boeing to ascertain whether one of its factories may have omitted mandatory inspections and whether employees may have falsified records.

The inquiry was begun after the company itself informed the FAA about what it called "misconduct" at its factory in South Carolina. The issue revolved around the beleaguered 787 program, according to media reports. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a two-aisle plane used mostly for long-haul flights.

"The company voluntarily informed us in April that it may not have completed required inspections to confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings join the fuselage on certain 787 Dreamliner airplanes," the FAA said in a statement. According to the agency, "Boeing is reinspecting all 787 airplanes still within the production system and must also create a plan to address the in-service fleet."

Comment: Boeing makes it out as if this is an issue of some employees who violated the rules and it not being the fault of company policy. That sounds like damage control!

Two whistleblowers have come out in the last half a year speaking about serious company misconduct. By coincidence both whistleblowers died shortly after.

See also these news on Boeing from the last few months:

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Attention

The real reason Macron is pushing the French troops narrative for Ukraine

Martin Jay
Strategic Culture Foundation
Tue, 07 May 2024 17:55 UTC
Chicken Marcon
© Strategic Culture Foundation
Emmanuel Macron is in the news again with his repeated suggestion that French troops could be sent to Ukraine to fight in the war there against Russian forces. This time it is in the supposedly prestigious British highbrow Economist, which is happy to repeat this empty mantra over and over again, largely, one supposes, as it supports a broader narrative of the EU which it is a servant of in Brussels. There is no relationship more unhealthy and repugnant than that of The Economist and the European Union with the former happy to play the role of free propagandist and PR enactor for the latter.

How Macron can keep repeating this entirely empty threat, which even he himself has admitted to a French magazine won't happen, is astounding. Did someone ask him to do this once again and arrange it in The Economist? Perhaps at a high level in Brussels?

How else to explain this latest ejaculation of utter nonsense?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto condemned the latest remarks and has warned such a move could ultimately spark an all-out nuclear war.

Speaking to French broadcaster LCI, Szijjarto strongly condemned the idea, saying that the French leader's comments themselves have contributed to escalating the situation.

"If a NATO member commits ground troops, it will be a direct NATO-Russia confrontation and it will then be World War Three," Szijjarto told the broadcaster.

Macron himself has moved on though since his original comments to the Parisienne magazine which kicked it all off a few weeks ago. The more recent interview with The Economist clearly shows that he has even reflected on his own rambling and looked deeper at how he could refine the narrative, presumably to get more attention on the issue. However, it's an act of a desperate politician, which analysts interpret one of two ways; it is either a cry of help directed towards the Biden administration to do the very act themselves and send American troops there; or it is simply a PR stunt to keep him in the international press, a zone which is like a crack addiction. Like Trump, Macron seems to want to do and say anything - no matter how absurd - to keep him on the front pages, so to speak.
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Colosseum

Korybko: Polish judge seeks political asylum in Belarus after being persecuted for challenging leadership's warmongering

Andrew Korybko
korybko.substack.com
Tue, 07 May 2024 17:50 UTC
Polish judge Tomasz Szmydt
The importance of his defection rests in the widespread attention that it generated in Polish society on the eve of what might soon be the commencement of a conventional NATO intervention in Ukraine.
Polish judge Tomasz Szmydt, who served at the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw and was the head of the legal department at the National Council of Judges, held a press conference in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Monday where he arrived to ask for political asylum. BelTA's Russian-language report that can be read here summarizes his main points, which will be reviewed in this piece for the reader's convenience prior to being analyzed. Folks can also follow his regular updates on Telegram here.

Szmydt warned that the US wants to drag Poland into directly participating in the NATO-Russianproxywar in Ukraine but said that this could be averted if his country restored dialogue with Belarus, which he praised for its peaceful foreign policy and especially its prior commitment to the Minsk Accords. He can't speak freely in his own country, he said, which is why he and his friends used to turn off their phones when discussing sensitive topics before he fled.

Comment: It's telling that whistleblowers and asylum seekers of various kinds are defecting to Russia, and its allies:



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Attention

US, Russia lock horns in Niger

M.K.Bhadrakumar
Indian Punchline
Tue, 07 May 2024 17:43 UTC
US Drone Base Niger
© Indian PunchlineThe US drone base ‘Base Aerienne 201’ in Agadez, Niger.
Such a thing never happened in the past one hundred years since the United States stepped out of the Western Hemisphere as an imperial power — an adversary barging into one of its military bases abroad.

A military base is deemed sovereign territory and an unauthorised entry constitutes an affront, especially by Russia, a rival superpower. Yet, Washington and Moscow are playing down the co-habitation of their military personnel in the American air base near Niamey, capital of Niger, known as Airbase 101.

In the cacophony over the proxy war in Ukraine, perhaps, the news got submerged that the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin insisted that there was no "significant issue" in such co-habitation in Niger. Austin explained: "The Russians are in a separate compound and don't have access to US forces or access to our equipment. I am always focused on the safety and protection of our troops. But right now, I don't see a significant issue here in terms of our force protection."

Such uncharacteristic restraint by the Pentagon chief would probably be because Washington is in no position to evict the Russians now that Nigerien authorities have annulled the Status of Forces agreements with the US.

On the other hand, the Russian military personnel — reportedly drawn from the newly formed Africa Corps comprising erstwhile Wagner Group — arrived in Niger some three weeks ago at the invitation of the Nigerian government.

Equally, Washington must also have factored in that Niger's military, which had in the past worked closely with the US, while seeking cooperation with Russia, is stopping short of the full-fledged embrace of Moscow by military-run neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso. Arguably, it signals Niger's so-called "diversification of international partnerships" plan that keeps open prospects of a US comeback.

At any rate, Austin must be aware that this impasse in the US-Niger ties is largely to be attributed to the State Department's mishandling by officially designating the military takeover in Niamey last July as a "coup". The Rubicon was crossed in October when Washington triggered laws restricting the military support and aid that it can provide to Niger.
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Light Sabers

'Provocation': China blasts Australian military after helicopter violates airspace


Bloomberg
Tue, 07 May 2024 17:13 UTC
china
China accused an Australian military aircraft of conducting dangerous maneuvers, escalating a dispute over a recent incident involving the nations' two militaries.

"What truly happened was an Australian military aircraft deliberately flew within close range of China's airspace in a provocative move that endangered China's maritime air security in the name of enforcing a UN Security Council resolution," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

Australia's Defence Department said earlier that a People's Liberation Army aircraft intercepted one of its helicopters in the Yellow Sea on May 4 and "released flares along the flight path." But Lin said the Chinese aircraft took "necessary measures" to alert the Australian chopper. He added that Beijing lodged a "serious protest" with Australia.

Comment: In just the past week or so, the UK has accused China of hacking its Ministry of Defense computers; Japan violated Chinese territory when officials visited a contested island; Canada accused China of 'maybe' interfering in its elections; and a month or so ago the US decided to station its military within striking distance of its coast - as just a few, recent examples - which, taken together, lead one to conclude that, even for the belligerent West and its lackeys, these provocations are increasing and escalating.

And this, perhaps not coincidentally, is occurring alongside a number of other notable developments including: NATO aggression forcing Russia to schedule a nuclear drill; the West seemingly priming the world for false flags to blame on Russia; Israel's new carpet bombing of Rafah; and the West unleashing its draconian security apparatus against anti-genocide protesters: China is preparing its economy for 'something major' - Newsweek

China under the wise leadership of Xi Jinping has emerged as the paramount leader of world civilization and the shared future of humanity.

From its stance against NATO expansion, to its just position on the Palestinian issue, it has assumed a genuine position of global responsibility.

It is emerging as the principal moral and spiritual guide of all humanity in terms of the precedent it sets in assuming a far-sighted and global outlook for the shared future of all mankind.

It is not replacing US global hegemony.

It is accomplishing what the latter was never able to accomplish- a position of global leadership based not on military force, political coercion of aggression, but genuine moral and spiritual preeminence.

With the collective West's refusal to take responsibility for, and even enablance of the genocide in Gaza, it has lost the Mandate of Heaven on the global stage.

It's calls for human rights, democracy, freedom and humanitarianism are simply no longer taken seriously.

It's unilateral pretensions are nakedly exposed as disguising the raw economic self-interest of a monopoly capitalist cartel.

China's leadership derives from leading the effort to establish a truly multi-lateral and multi-polar form of shared global responsibility.

Anyone is free to opt-in or opt-out. But the benefits of opting in clearly outweigh being left out.

The US regime and its allies are increasingly becoming pariah states on the global stage.

Liberal democracy has lost the status of a truly post-historical and universal paradigm of political existence.

The Palestinian struggle has finally exposed the fundamental contradictions of liberal 'civilization' in a way that is indisputable even from the liberal standpoint itself.

China is the Middle Kingdom of all human civilization. It has acquired the status of a truly universal power, attending to the basic premises - which are principally economic, but include good governance - shared by all civilizations.

It imposes no prescriptions upon the cultures, norms, religions, ways of life, and political characteristics of any given country. It only offers the ABILITY to participate in a shared global community, through win-win economic cooperation.

It offers the ABILITY for nations to develop, in the first place, regardless of how they do it.

A confrontation between the US regime and China is not simply a confrontation between great powers.

It is a confrontation between a dictatorship of banksters and the whole wealth of human civilization.


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HAL9000

CIA engaged in "infinite race" with China for AI, other tech


Zerohedge
Sat, 04 May 2024 22:45 UTC
AI Race
The CIA is engaged in an "infinite race" with China when it comes to AI and other top technologies, according to the agency's Chief Technology Officer, Nand Mulchandani, who outlined a strategy that prioritizes technological prowess as crucial to national security.

Speaking at the Hill & Valley Forum's gathering of top technology and government officials in Washington this week, Mulchandani's made it clear that the agency is aggressively pursuing advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) to bolster both offensive and defensive capabilities, the Washington Times reports.

"We're looking at transforming every single part of what the agency does," he stated, underscoring the depth of the CIA's commitment to integrating AI into its core operations. The agency's push includes the development of large language models, sophisticated algorithms that are the backbone of generative AI tools, aiming to enhance everything from field operations to analytical and support functions.
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