• Georgia DETAINS controversial ex-President Saakashvili, who fled homeland in 2013 & was sentenced in absentia on criminal charges
• Georgia summons ex-president and U.S. puppet Saakashvili for questioning in criminal investigations
• Georgia asks Ukraine to extradite Mikheil Saakashvili
• Murderous thug Saakashvili convicted of abuse of power, sentenced in absentia - Wanted in Georgia to serve 9 years in prison
• Ukraine junta considers extraditing Saakashvili back to Georgia (but they don't seem to want him)

The first segment of the now-completed Nord Stream 2 underwater pipeline is being filled with gas in advance of final authorization from German regulators to turn on the taps, the company behind the scheme has revealed.

In a statement released on Monday, the operators said "the procedure for filling the first string of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has begun." According to them, "the string will now be filled with gas gradually in order to achieve the volume and pressure required for further technical testing."

"Earlier, technical work was carried out to ensure the integrity of the pipeline, including in-line inspections using special diagnostic devices known as 'smart pistons', as well as external visual and instrumental checks," the statement continued.

The step is among the final preparations to ready the underwater link to begin carrying supplies of Siberian gas from near the Russian city of St. Petersburg to consumers in Germany, where it terminates, and across Western Europe.

In September, the team behind the project said the final section of pipe, numbered 200,858, had been lowered into the Baltic Sea and welded into place. The last stage of construction was carried out in Danish waters, through which the network runs.

On Monday, Danish officials said all the necessary steps had been taken to certify the pipeline and now, as far as they were concerned, it was ready to begin operating. However, it won't get the green light to begin pumping until Berlin's regulators give the final say-so. Russian officials have said they hope this will be received within the coming days, and there will be no bureaucratic delays.

However, on Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said there was still a chance that opponents of the scheme would aim to exploit "legal squiggles" in an effort to prevent it from ever working. Ukraine has strong objections to Nord Stream 2, which it says will deprive it of billions of dollars in gas transit revenues from supplies passing through its Soviet-built network of overground pipes. The US has also imposed a series of sanctions designed to halt construction, arguing that the new gas link would give Russia the upper hand when it comes to energy security in Europe.

It's hardly Russia's fault that Europe instead chose to waste billions investing in 'green energy' and that governments failed to come up with a viable alternative.

Both the team behind it, and the Kremlin, reject these claims. Its operators say that "Nord Stream 2 will contribute to meeting the long-term needs of the European energy market for gas imports, improving supply security and reliability, and providing gas under sensible economic conditions."

The news comes amid a deepening crisis over energy supplies in much of Western Europe, with reserves of gas running low and prices shooting up by as much as 250%, even before the cold winter weather sets in.

• UK fires up coal power plant as gas prices soar to record levels
• China suffering power shortages, limits factories working hours, situation expected to worsen entering winter
• 'Precarious': Energy prices in Europe hit records as wind stops blowing amidst already soaring costs
• Texas cold snap linked to 40 years of increasing snowfall in Arctic & disruptions in stratospheric polar vortex - increase in extreme cold events likely - study

• NewsReal: Is The Government Hyping Shortages? And is 'Vaccination Shedding' Really a Thing?
• NewsReal: Climate Disaster Plans and Vaccine War Games: Government to the Rescue!

• 'COVID Zero' New Zealand has completed its transformation into a full-blown Police State
• Biggest city in New Zealand locked down - for 3 Covid positive covid tests
• New Zealand's fanatical PM declares country 'beat the virus again' as Auckland comes out of second lockdown
• New Zealand police surround address after Covid-positive man escapes quarantine
• New Zealand military to oversee 'quarantine camps' for any citizen testing positive for covid
• New Zealand police arrest pair trying to enter Auckland with 'large amount' of KFC
• New Zealand government bans books as 'non-essential'

• What 'Israel's right to exist' means to Palestinians
• Sowing The Seeds Of Civil War
• Does Israel have the right to exist?
• War Crimes: Israel Pillaging Palestinian Resources
• Last two escaped Palestinian prisoners surrender to Israel forces
• Palestinian Central Council suspends Israel recognition
• Israel accused of illegally spraying toxic herbicides on Palestinian farmlands, destroying crops and contaminating water supply
• Israel DEMOLISHES 51 Palestinian structures in East Jerusalem as destruction continues in 'unprecedented manner'
• Israel Does Not Want a Palestinian State. Period.
• Israel is responsible for unrest in the Middle East - Russia's ambassador to Israel
• Apartheid: Israel arrests 6 Palestinian, 2 foreign journalists, in the span of one week
• Horror: One Palestinian child has been killed by Israel every 3 days for the past 13 years

The story builds on previous disclosures including a May 2020 exposé by The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal, which revealed that the CIA was working with Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson and the Spanish security firm UC Global to target and surveil Assange in London's Ecuadorian embassy.

Isikoff and Aaron Maté also debate Russia's role in the Assange controversy, particularly the allegation that Russia stole Democratic Party emails in 2016 and gave them to Wikileaks.

• HPSCI Democrats started the false 'Russia Facebook Ads' narrative
• New book 'Russian Roulette' proves to be shameless CIA anti-Russia propaganda that rests on lies
• Interview with 'Russian Roulette' co-author Isikoff reveals big problems with 'collusion' theory
• Michael Isikoff cutting his losses at 'Russian Roulette'
• La-La-Land: US Media Cites Fake News Disinfo Site to Prove 'Russia' Behind 'Theory' Clinton Hitmen Killed Seth Rich

The White House in July explicitly stated that coronavirus vaccine mandates are "not the role of the federal government" — an admission made months before President Biden announced federal vaccine mandates he was imposing on private businesses.

During a divisive speech in September, the commander-in-chief scolded the unvaccinated while announcing his decision to instruct the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop a rule forcing private businesses with over 100 employees to mandate the vaccine or implement weekly testing requirements.

Weeks ago, Biden asserted there is only a "small percentage" of Americans who oppose vaccine mandates. "There's a positive support for mandates - by and large," Biden told reporters. "There's always going to be a small percentage that say no."

The Biden administration has become more emboldened in its public support of mandates. On Tuesday, Biden's chief of staff, Ron Klain, essentially praised New York's vaccine mandate for healthcare workers after preliminary reports suggested it forced more to get the jab.

Notably, Biden's administration has been unable to provide a timeline of when to expect OSHA's rule, despite the fact that he made the announcement more than three weeks ago.