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Missing reporter who vanished from Moscow turns up in Belarusian prison, as Kremlin hits out over Minsk's ban on Russian newspaper


RT
Mon, 04 Oct 2021 22:08 UTC
Геннадий Можейко
© vk.com / Геннадий Можейко
A reporter for one of Russia's best-read news outlets has been detained and is being held by authorities in Belarus. While details of the arrest are unclear, his editors at Komsomolskaya Pravda claim he was abducted in Moscow.

Over the weekend, Gennady Mozheiko's mother told journalists her son was being held in an isolation cell in Minsk. Mozheiko, a Belarusian national working for the local branch of the paper had been staying at a hotel in the Russian capital when his apartment back home was raided by police on charges of incitement to hatred and insulting a government official.


Comment: Two of the most overused and loosely interpreted charges on behalf of overcompensating leaders the world over.


Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that its correspondent had been detained in Moscow. "Nobody tells us anything and we're asking everyone," the tabloid's editor-in-chief Vladimir Sungorkin said. "We expect this from Minsk, but we can't get any confirmation from Moscow."

The Kremlin has since denied any involvement in Mozheiko's detention, with President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, refusing to rule out the possibility that he had been captured and taken abroad. "We do not have any reliable information about where the arrest of the journalist took place," he said. "We simply do not know."

Peskov also bluntly stated that "there is no feeling, right now, that our position is being heard in Minsk." He confirmed that Putin himself was aware of the situation around the journalist, outlining that such actions against the press should not be approved, but the Kremlin does not know the details.
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Bullseye

Revelations of CIA conspiring to murder Julian Assange jeopardizes US prosecution case

Tom Coburg
The Canary
Sat, 02 Oct 2021 19:42 UTC
assange pompeo

Former CIA director Mike Pompeo (L) Founder of Wikileaks Julian Assange (R)
The US prosecution of Julian Assange has been dealt another blow following revelations that the CIA plotted the kidnap and rendition or murder of the WikiLeaks founder. The revelations also directly implicate Mike Pompeo, former CIA director and secretary of state, and US president Donald Trump.

Separately, there's evidence of how cyber activists foiled a 2012 attempt by British police to break into and enter the Ecuadorian embassy where Assange had sought asylum.
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Bullseye

Biden's Red Queen justice: How he destroyed both the investigation and the reputation of border agents

Jonathan Turley
The Hill
Mon, 04 Oct 2021 19:00 UTC
biden border patrol whips

Joe Biden and mounted Border Patrol agent
"Those people will pay." With that promise, President Biden vowed to punish Customs and Border Protection agents accused of whipping undocumented immigrants on the southern border. Despite the announcement of an investigation into the allegation just the day before, Biden did not stop for the pretense of process in declaring the agents guilty.

This "sentence first — verdict afterwards" approach may amuse the Red Queen of Alice in Wonderland, but it should be anathema to an American president. Not only did Biden shatter his own administration's investigation but he joined other leading Democratic figures in defaming the agents.

Biden told the American people that these easily identifiable officers would be punished after they allegedly "strapped" the Haitian migrants. Other Democratic politicians like Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) declared that the whipping was "worse than what we witnessed in slavery," while Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) called it "white supremacist behavior." Many in the media went into high gear, too, denouncing what one outlet described as the "Whipping (of) Haitian Asylum Seekers."
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Eye 1

Could the CIA be behind the leak of the Pandora Papers, given their curious lack of focus on US nationals?

Kit Klarenberg
RT
Mon, 04 Oct 2021 14:24 UTC
box and figure
© Loic Venance/AFP
Shadow figure on Pandora Papers • Lavau-sur-Loire, Western France
Hailed as shedding new light on the global elite's complex financial arrangements, the Pandora Papers pose many questions - not least where are the Americans? Are the authors unwilling to bite the hidden hand that fed them?

On October 3, the Washington, DC-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) announced the leak of almost three terabytes of incriminating data on the use of offshore financial arrangements by celebrities, fraudsters, drug dealers, royal family members, and religious leaders the world over.

The ICIJ led what it called "the world's largest-ever journalistic collaboration," involving over 600 journalists from 150 media outlets in 117 countries, to comb through the trove of 12 million documents, dubbed the 'Pandora Papers'.
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Nuke

Russia says AUKUS threatens nuclear non-proliferation

David DeCamp
Antiwar.com
Fri, 01 Oct 2021 00:00 UTC
AUKUS drawing
© Cartoonarts International
Russia has warned that the new military pact between the US, the UK, and Australia threatens global nuclear non-proliferation.

The pact, known as AUKUS, is a military technology-sharing deal that is meant to counter China. Under the agreement, Australia will get access to technology to build nuclear-powered submarines, which would make Canberra the first non-nuclear armed state to have them.

"It's a great challenge to the international non-proliferation regime," said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, according to the Russian news agency Tass. Ryabkov said Russia is "concerned" about the
"partnership that will allow Australia, after 18 months of consultations and several years of attempts, to obtain nuclear-powered submarines in sufficient numbers to become one of the top five countries for this type of armaments."
Ryabkov also said Russia is concerned over the UK's plans to expand its nuclear arsenal that was announced earlier in the year.
"We are concerned especially by the statements produced earlier in the year in London on future prospects for expansion of its nuclear capabilities."

Comment: For a break in the global drama, check this out:

On the serious side (of tossing the world something else to worry about), this controversy is just warming up.

See also:

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Arrow Down

Media stops covering Florida COVID data because DeSantis' downtrend threatens lockdown politics

Charles Creitz
Fox News
Sat, 02 Oct 2021 00:04 UTC
DeSantis
© Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
As the mainstream media and Democrats seem to have abruptly halted or at least slackened their barrage of criticism toward Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, questions arise as to the reasons behind the sudden silence, co-host Buck Sexton discussed Thursday on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.

For more than a year, DeSantis and the Sunshine State were a favorite bugaboo of the left and prominent members of the mainstream media whenever the topic of coronavirus mitigation came up.

Buck Sexton noted that essentially in the time since then, little has been said by the pundits about DeSantis or Florida.
"Why is it that you are not hearing about the Florida COVID caseload so much anymore? We were here talking to you about it in July because the media was convinced Ron DeSantis... 'doesn't care about old people or children dying of COVID' - [saying] horrible things."
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Padlock

'He will serve his full term': Georgian ex-leader Saakashvili plotted to kill opposition figures to frame government, PM claims


RT
Sun, 03 Oct 2021 21:12 UTC
Saakashvili
© Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko
Mikhail Saakashvili • Kiev, Ukraine • May 8, 2020
Mikhail Saakashvili had plotted to have Georgian opposition figures killed at mass protests after his return from exile, the prime minister said, vowing that the disgraced ex-president wouldn't get out of serving his time in jail.

Irakli Garibashvili made the shocking allegation on Sunday in an interview with local broadcaster Imedi TV. He cited intelligence obtained by Georgia's secret services stating that Saakashvili was seeking to appear during mass protests scheduled a day after his abrupt return to the country. Garibashvili said:
"During the culmination and mobilization of about 10,000 people - and they could probably have achieved that - the police would have had to move in to detain Saakashvili and possibly use special equipment. One of the scenarios they considered was the murder of several opposition leaders during the confusion that ensued."
The PM said the killings would then have been used to
"'delegitimize our leadership' and secure foreign support. Afterwards, they would have demanded the government step down and extraordinary elections be held."

Comment: See also:

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Bullseye

Taliban say forces destroy ISIS cell hours after Kabul blast


Alarabiya News
Mon, 04 Oct 2021 10:41 UTC
Eidgah Mosque
© AP
Taliban fighters walk at the entrance of the Eidgah Mosque after an explosion
Kabul, Afghanistan • Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021
Taliban government forces destroyed an ISIS cell in the north of Kabul late on Sunday, a spokesperson for the movement said, after a blast outside a mosque in the Afghan capital killed and wounded a number of civilians.

There was no confirmation that the operation was directly connected with Sunday's blast, which appeared to be the most serious attack in the Afghan capital since the withdrawal of US forces at the end of August.

The local affiliate of ISIS, known as ISIS-Khorasan, has already claimed to have carried out attacks on Taliban targets and remains unreconciled to the movement which swept to victory over the Western-backed government in Kabul in August.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said a special Taliban unit carried out an operation against ISIS elements in Kabul's 17th district, in the city's north late on Sunday. He said in a statement on Twitter early on Monday:
"The ISIS base was entirely destroyed and all of the ISIS members inside were killed as a result of this decisive and successful attack."
Earlier, local media had reported heavy clashes in the area and residents contacted confirmed they had heard explosions and gunfire during the night.
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Sheriff

Europe's energy requests ready to be met in full by Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline as worldwide energy crisis worsens, meanwhile US reignites sanctions on project


TASS
Fri, 01 Oct 2021 15:25 UTC
Nord Stream
© Sputnik / Dmitrij Leltschuk
Piping systems and shut-off valves are pictured at the gas receiving station of the Nord Stream Baltic Sea pipeline, in Lubmin, Germany.
The company books transport capacities for individual destinations on the basis of such requests and opportunities for optimization of the capacity portfolio

Gazprom is supplying gas to European consumers in full compliance with requests and contractual commitments, the company told reporters, commenting on the decline in suppliers over the Yamal-Europe gas line.

"Gazprom is supplying gas in accordance with requests of consumers according to current contractual commitments. The company books transport capacities for individual destinations on the basis of such requests and opportunities for optimization of the capacity portfolio," Gazprom noted.

Comment: On October 4th RT reports:
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.
Citizens have already been pushed to the limit with nearly 19 months of lockdowns (and counting), should their governments choose to reject cheap and reliable Russian gas during what will likely be a particularly bitter winter, it may be prove to be one nonsensical punishment too far: Also check out SOTT radio's:


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Syringe

New Zealand finally abandons controversial (and impossible) 'Zero COVID' policy

Paul Joseph Watson
Summit News
Mon, 04 Oct 2021 15:43 UTC
Jacinda Ardern
© Robert Kitchin/Stuff
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern shows the heat map of isolation Covid-19 contacts across New Zealand.
But lockdowns will remain until 90% of population is vaxxed.

New Zealand has announced it is dropping its controversial 'zero COVID' policy after numerous critics pointed out that such an approach to eliminating the virus was impossible.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the announcement earlier today during a press conference in which she acknowledged, "The return to zero has been extremely difficult."

Comment: Adern has been positively gleeful in her exercise of the dictatorial powers the "epidemic" has given her. No aspect of life has been too small for her attention.

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