Collapse Of International Security System: Open Skies Treaty Is Also Dead

On January 15th, Russia withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty, following the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from yet another international security agreement back in 2020.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the U.S. withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty “significantly upended the balance of interests of signatory states.”

The Russian foreign ministry also said that the United States had used a “fictitious pretext” for its withdrawal and had disturbed “the balance of interests of the participating states”.

The ministry said Russia had put forward proposals to retain the “viability” of the treaty but did not receive support from Washington and its allies.

Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian parliament’s upper house, said Moscow’s decision to leave Open Skies was “predictable” as the other member states did not fulfil its terms.

In a post on Facebook, the lawmaker said Russia requested the remaining signatories to confirm that they would not transfer information obtained under the Open Skies agreement to Washington.

The United States, like many Open Skies treaty members, is part of the NATO alliance.

“The blame for what is happening — and this is a very unfortunate scenario — is entirely on the United States and NATO allies,” Kosachev wrote.

The treaty was intended to build trust between Russia and the West by allowing the accord’s more than three dozen signatories to conduct reconnaissance flights over each other’s territories to collect information about military forces and activities.

U.S. President Donald Trump declared Washington’s intention to pull out of the Open Skies Treaty in May 2020, arguing that Russian violations made it untenable for the United States to remain a party.

The U.S. completed its withdrawal from the pact in November 2020.

After two months of attempts to salvage it, Russia also said it is initiating its own withdrawal.

Russia denied breaching the treaty, which came into force in 2002. The European Union has urged the U.S. to reconsider and called on Russia to stay in the pact.

https://southfront.org/collapse-of-international-security-system-open-skies-treaty-is-also-dead/

Syrian, Israeli Intelligence Officials Held Meeting At Hmeimim Air Base – Report

Syrian and Israeli intelligence officials have held a secret meeting, the UAE-based al-Arabiya al-Hadath reported on January 14.

The secret meeting, which was supposedly arranged by Russia, was held at Hmeimim Air Base in the costal Syrian governorate of Lattakia. The base is the headquarters of Russian troops in Syria.

Al-Arabiya Al-Hadath didn’t provide details on when the alleged meeting took place, who attended or what was the main purpose of it.

According to the news channel, this was the second secret meeting between Syrian and Israeli intelligence officials. The first meeting was held a while ago in Cyprus and was also arranged by Russia.

The report is highly questionable as it came amid high tensions between Syria and Israel. Earlier this week, a series of Israeli strikes hit military positions in the eastern Syrian governorate of Deir Ezzor. Dozens of Syrian and Iranian-backed fighters were allegedly killed. A senior Syrian intelligence officer was also injured.

In 2019, Israel recovered the remains of Zachary Baumel, a U.S.-born Israeli soldier missing since a 1982 tank battle against the Syrian Arab Army. Russia facilitated the recovery efforts. Several Syrian prisoners were released from Israeli jails in return.

While al-Arabiya’s report may be a mere propaganda stunt, it is possible that Russia is arranging Syrian-Israeli talks on specific matters like the prisoners, missing personnel issue.

Syria engaged in peace talks with Israel on a number of occasions before. The last round of talks, which was held in Turkey in 2008, saw some progress. However, it eventually collapsed.

https://southfront.org/syrian-israeli-intelligence-officials-held-meeting-at-hmeimim-air-base-report/

Minds next? Google sends ‘24 hour warning' to free-speech 'anti-Facebook' platform, forces changes to app

The social media platform Minds had to remove ‘major functionality’ from its Android app after getting a chilling warning from Google. Its co-founder said plans for a censorship-resistant infrastructure are in the works.

In a post on Friday evening, Bill Ottman said that Minds had received a “24 hour warning” from the Google Play store. This forced them to submit an updated version of the app, based on “interim solution and ninja developers,” which removed the search, discovery and comments functionality.

“I know. We aren't happy and will be working towards something better,” Ottman said. “What is happening on the internet with major providers is fueling the cultural divide as much as anything,” he added.

Operating since 2015, Minds was conceived as a blockchain-based community-owned social media platform that would not monetize user data but enable free speech instead. Wired magazine once described it as the “anti-Facebook.”

Ottman advised users to download the app from Minds directly if possible. “If you are on Apple, leave if you're smart,” he said.

As for going forward, he said a plan for “fully censorship-resistant infrastructure” is coming soon, and that Minds has “multiple escape pods ready to go” if Amazon moves against them.

https://www.rt.com/usa/512709-minds-warning-parler-censorship/

EC president von der Leyen dares European nations to call her bluff with announcement of (mandatory?) vaccine certificates

Europeans must carry certificates proving they’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19 to travel, EC president Ursula von der Leyen told Portuguese media - likely shocking Europeans who’d never heard of such a rule.

Von der Leyen sprung the idea of a “mutually recognized vaccination certificate” as a “medical requirement” for travel on Thursday in the course of praising a similar plan outlined to her in a letter from Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“It is a medical requirement to have a certificate proving that you have been vaccinated,” von der Leyen told Portuguese reporters.

While Mitsotakis’ plan was not meant to be “compulsory or a prerequisite for travel,” von der Leyen seemed to be leaning in that direction, repeating that “we have to have a medical requirement that proves that people have been vaccinated.” The idea of an EU-wide vaccine certificate “is a political and legal decision that should be discussed at a European level,” she continued emphatically.

https://www.rt.com/news/512701-vaccination-certificates-europe-surprise-vonderleyen/

>>12544020

I suspect Parler was the same

Hong Kong braces for internet restrictions after web domain firm says it will block sites that ‘contravene public interest’

Web operators in Hong Kong have been warned they face being blocked by the region’s domain registrar under a new policy banning “inappropriate content,” including any deemed illegal or “disruptive to the operation of government.”

The Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation (HKIRC) alerted people who hold ‘.hk’ domains to its new Acceptable Use Policy via email and through an announcement on its website.

The policy is to enter into effect on January 28, the agency said, and will require that websites don’t “contravene any applicable local, national or international law” and aren’t “contrary to the public interest (including but not limited to disrupting the operation of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region).”

While the web domain company’s policy is not due to start until later this month, the first reported casualty of new internet restrictions in the region was HKChronicles, a website used by activists to promote their pro-democracy campaign and publish the personal details of figures such as police officers and their relatives.

Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN) said it had blocked the website in compliance with the national security law.

While internet activity and access in mainland China is largely censored by the government, Hong Kong has, until now, been free from the same sort of restrictions under the “one country, two systems” policy.

Activist Wong Ho Wah, a candidate for Hong Kong’s legislative body, decried the new measures, declaring that “the government has the responsibility to explain the justification and the rationale of the action.” While the government has not yet responded, a spokesperson for the HKIRC said its new policy “does not intend to regulate the content of the individual websites.”

Beijing’s increasing legislative and political reach over Hong Kong, particularly the security law which sparked the protests, has raised concerns that it is seeking to assert control in violation of the agreement made when the UK returned the colony in 1997. At that time, Beijing pledged not to make political or economic changes in Hong Kong for five decades.

On Thursday, a further 11 people were arrested in Hong Kong on suspicion of aiding a dozen pro-democracy activists in their attempt to flee the city and evade arrest in an ongoing crackdown following the 2019 protests that gripped the city.

https://www.rt.com/news/512680-hongkong-security-law-internet-freedom/