21 Apr, 2022 09:56

American Zelensky critic goes missing in Ukraine

Unconfirmed accounts claim blogger Gonzalo Lira was abducted by a unit linked to the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion

Chilean-American blogger Gonzalo Lira was last heard from in Ukraine almost a week ago. He was reporting from the Ukrainian city of Kharkov and has been a critic of President Volodymyr Zelensky and of Ukraine's conduct during the conflict.

The Chilean foreign ministry said that it was aware that “those close to the Chilean Gonzalo Lira Lopez, who was in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov,” had lost contact with him since April 15. According to the diplomats, they remained in touch “with the relevant entities, to stay informed regarding any news about the location of [our] compatriot.”

Lira, who is a Chilean-American author and movie maker who used to work in Hollywood, was to appear on former UK MP George Galloway's radio show Mother of All Talk Shows (MOATS) on Sunday, but ended up missing the program.

“It's with great regret and even greater sense of concern and anxiety and more, that I have to tell you that there is still no sign of our first guest Gonzalo Lira,” Galloway said on his show.

Other independent journalists, including Dan Cohen and Max Blumenthal, have also sounded the alarm over the blogger's disappearance and have expressed fears he could have been kidnapped, even tortured. They have added, however, that this wasn’t confirmed or verified.

Lira has been living in Ukraine for the last several years. After the start of the Russian military operation, he moved from capital Kiev to Kharkov in the east of the country to do his reporting from there.

The 54-year-old has been a staunch critic of Zelensky and Ukraine's conduct during the conflict, speaking about far-right tendencies among the Ukrainian military and debunking what he saw as false reports by Kiev about events on the ground. He was active on YouTube, posting under the nickname ‘Coach Red Pill,’ as well as on Telegram and Twitter.

According to Lira, both the Ukrainian authorities and the radicals have been increasingly unhappy with his reporting. He had earlier claimed that the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) had made at least two attempts to “disappear” him, but he was lucky to escape capture.

The blogger had also blamed news outlet the Daily Beast for attracting Kiev’s attention to his work and revealing his location to the law enforcers. The accusations were made in a video entitled 'The Daily Beast is trying to get me killed.'

The US outlet dedicated a large article to Lira on March 21, in which he was labeled “a Pro-Putin shill in Ukraine.” In the piece, Daily Beast journalists said they’ve contacted the Ukrainian authorities to clarify if the man was still in Kharkov.

In late March, Lira posted a list of the names of Ukrainian opposition figures who have died or been detained since the outbreak of the conflict, on his Twitter page, insisting that “if you haven't heard from me in 12 hours or more, put my name on this list.”

Canadian journalist Eva Karene Bartlett, who exchanged messages with Lira a week ago, confirmed to RT that “he was definitely quite worried about his own safety.”

“Gonzalo was doing a lot of interviews… and he made it clear that he was aware of the danger that being in Kharkov posed to him in that the city is being overrun with Nazis. But he felt it was important to be there to witness how things played out,” she said.

The blogger’s family may also be under threat now “because his name is now well-known,” Bartlett warned.

She also praised the work that Lira did, pointing out that “he being in Kharkov was one of the sole voices in the English language speaking critically about what’s happening under Zelensky.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/554256-lira-blogger-ukraine-missing/

21 Apr, 2022 07:14

Mariupol captured — Russia

About 2,000 encircled militants, at Azovstal steel plant, are last Ukrainian hold-outs,Putin is told

Russian forces have fully captured the key Donbass Black Sea port-city of Mariupol, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. However, more than 2,000 militants, loyal to Kiev, still remain entrenched at the Azovstal steel plant in the city, he added.

President Vladimir Putin has called Shoigu’s plan of storming the area “inadvisable” and instead ordered him to “safely block” the area while extending to those inside another offer to lay down their arms. The last hold outs are cut off from supplies.

When Mariupol was encircled in early March, some 8,100 Ukrainian soldiers, foreign mercenaries, and nationalist militants – including members of the notorious Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion – remained inside, according to the minister’s estimates.

More than 1,400 militants have laid down their arms, Shoigu said, adding that over 142,000 civilians have also been evacuated from the city. It has been under siege for weeks.

Russia has twice sought to establish a humanitarian corridor for those willing to leave the plant in recent days, but both attempts failed. The Russian Defense Ministry has been calling on the remaining Ukrainian forces to lay down their arms, offering safety guarantees, if they accept the surrender proposal and halt all hostilities.

Sergey Volina, the commander of Ukraine’s 36th Marines Brigade, holed up at the plant, claimed that “hundreds” of civilians were trapped in the facility. He didn't explain why they would voluntarily decide to hide out at a facility controlled by besieged Neo-Nazis and regular Ukrainian troops.

“We have made some 90 buses and 25 ambulances ready for them,” Shoigu said, adding that cameras have been mounted in the area to monitor the situation. “No one has left the Azovstal [plant],” he added. Some 100 civilians from other areas seized this opportunity to evacuate, the minister said.

The Russian forces have also freed all hostages held at the Mariupol port, including the crews of sea vessels, who had their communications cut off by hostage-takers, Shoigu said. The port is still closed due to the presence of mines, he added.

The Ukrainian forces holed up in the plant outlined their own conditions for leaving the location late on Wednesday. The troops indicated that they would leave the area with the support of an unspecified “third party,” Svyatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the neo-Nazi Azov regiment, said at the time. He added that they also wanted to keep their personal weapons, refusing to surrender.

Mariupol has seen some of the most intense fighting since Moscow launched its offensive.

https://www.rt.com/russia/554252-mariupol-azovstal-ukraine-plant/

20 Apr, 2022 21:53

Besieged Ukrainian neo-Nazis outline conditions to leave Mariupol

Kiev and Moscow traded blame after a new attempt at setting up a humanitarian corridor in the city flopped

Yesterdays headline

Ukrainian forces holed up at the Azovstal steel plant in the Black Sea port city of Mariupol have outlined their conditions to leave the besieged location.

Late on Wednesday, Svyatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the neo-Nazi Azov regiment, released a new video address, stating that the troops were ready to leave the plant with the support of an unspecified “third party.” The fighters want to keep their personal weapons, as well as to evacuate their wounded and fallen comrades. Palamar refused to surrender to Russian forces or troops of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), which are besieging the sprawling industrial facility.

Earlier in the day, a similar address was released by Sergey Volyna, the commander of Ukraine’s 36th marines brigade, which is holed up at the plant as well. There are some 500 wounded fighters at the facility, as well as “hundreds” of civilians, Volyna claimed.

“This is our appeal to the world, this may be our last appeal. We may have only a few days or hours left,” he said. “We are asking to apply an extradition procedure to us and take us to the territory of a third state.”

The Russian military has admitted that a new attempt at organizing a humanitarian corridor for those willing to exit the Azovstal plant has flopped.

“We have to state that the declared humanitarian operation by the Kiev authorities was cynically disrupted, no one used the corridor. The commanders of the nationalist battalions did not use yet another opportunity to save themselves and the lives of their subordinates,” the military said, blasting the pleas by the besieged Ukrainian troops issued towards foreign nations.

Your address is misdirected. Russia has done everything to save your lives. You should have pleaded directly with the Ukrainian leadership, which treacherously abandoned you long ago.

Kiev, however, has blamed Moscow for the new botched attempt at staging the humanitarian corridor. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereschuk claimed Russian forces were unable to observe a “proper ceasefire”.

“Due to the inherent disorganization and negligence of the occupiers, they were unable to provide timely transportation of people to the points where dozens of our buses and ambulances were waiting,” she alleged.

https://www.rt.com/russia/554247-ukraine-military-mariupol-demands/

20 Apr, 2022 21:37

HomeRussia & FSU

Turkey accuses NATO members over Ukraine

FM Mevlut Cavusoglu has accused some of Ankara's allies of

Turkey wants to negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine, while some other NATO members would like to see it drag on as a way to harm Russia, Ankara’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday in a TV interview. In a lengthy appearance on CNN Turk, Cavusoglu addressed Turkey’s decision not to sanction Moscow and why the Istanbul talks between Russia and Ukraine failed, among other things.

“There are countries within NATO that want the Ukraine war to continue. They see the continuation of the war as weakening Russia. They don’t care much about the situation in Ukraine,” Cavusoglu said.

While he did not name any names, US President Joe Biden said earlier this month that the conflict in Ukraine “could continue for a long time,” which was echoed by the former CIA chief of Russian operations.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said after a phone call with G7 leaders on Tuesday that the West is united in not allowing Russia to win and determined to “continue to arm the Ukrainian military so that it can continue to defend itself against [Russian] attack.”

Turkey has decided not to join the US-led sanctions against Russia because they are unilateral, unlike the “binding sanctions decided at the UN,” Cavusoglu told CNN Turk. Ankara articulated its position on the first day of the Ukraine conflict, which is to continue diplomatic contacts with both sides, as “a country that both sides trust.”

While Turkey did not expect much after the first Russia-Ukraine talks in Antalya, “hopes were high” after the follow-up talks in Istanbul, Cavusoglu revealed. However, Ukraine backtracked from the agreement reached there after images of the alleged massacre in Bucha, which Kiev blamed on Russian troops. Moscow has denied the allegations.

Cavusogly also shed light on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s demand for security guarantees from NATO.

“Nobody agrees with Zelensky's request for NATO's Article 5 guarantees,” the minister said, referring to the alliance’s famous mutual defense clause. “No country has accepted this proposal. The US, UK and Canada do not accept this either. Of course, Turkey does not accept this. In principle, no one opposes this guarantee, but the terms of it are not clear.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/554248-turkey-ukraine-talks-sanctions/

20 Apr, 2022 12:08

HomeWorld News

The inside story of the prison known as Britain’s Gitmo

How much do we really know about the Belmarsh prison, secretive high-security facility where Julian Assange is held?

It inspired a controversial gangster rap album illicitly recorded inside its walls. It’s also known as Britain’s Guantanamo Bay and Hellmarsh.

HMP Belmarsh is an institution that casts a big shadow over British justice. Yet, despite those daunting monikers and damning reports of its conditions, it actually stands apart from most of Britain’s well-known prisons in that it is a relatively ‘modern’ building.

The other fortresses housing the nation’s most dangerous offenders are relics from Victorian times such as HMP Dartmoor in Devon, HMP Pentonville in North London and HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow.

Belmarsh, in contrast, was opened in 1991 and was the first new men’s jail built in the capital for more than a century. It’s located in a historic part of South-East London, the former Royal Arsenal, where all the British armed forces’ munitions were once manufactured, and is also minutes from the famous River Thames.

The surrounding area is a mix of commercial and residential space, and there are no imposing traffic restrictions, so it’s easy for commuters to pass by without knowing it’s there.

However, they will certainly be aware of its roll of dishonour, with a string of high-profile inmates detained there over the years. Currently, Julian Assange is by far Belmarsh’s most famous inhabitant, behind bars as he awaits a decision on his potential extradition to the United States.

Among Britain’s most notorious criminals who have been held there are armed robber Charles Bronson, who has become famous for threatening and attacking fellow prisoners.

One of his most bizarre escapades happened in Belmarsh when an Iraqi hijacker bumped into him and failed to apologise. Bronson stewed over revenge and eventually took two other Iraqi hijackers hostage, along with another inmate, who he subsequently let go. But he kept the Iraqis, ordered them to tickle his feet and demanded safe passage to Libya in exchange for their release. Needless to say, that didn’t happen – and Bronson was handed an additional five years.

Others who have spent time in Belmarsh include Britain’s most famous Islamist terrorists Anjem Choudary and the former Imam of Finsbury Park mosque, hook-handed Abu Hamza, plus Ronnie Biggs who carried out the Great Train Robbery and escaped prison in 1965, spending the next 36 years on the run publicly in Australia and Rio de Janeiro before returning to Britain – and Belmarsh.

Hashem Abedi, brother of the Ariana Grande concert bomber – and who helped plan the attack – was another who started prison life in Belmarsh, where he assaulted a guard, explaining to a magistrate, “I did assault that filthy pig, but I don’t see any wrongdoing in that.”

One of the latest additions to the current Belmarsh roster is Wayne Couzens, who is expected to never be released after being given a full life sentence. He is the police officer who kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard, after falsely detaining her using Covid-19 protocols.

Another not expected to ever emerge from behind Belmarsh’s walls is the notorious Stephen Port. He is better known as ‘The Grindr Killer’, after drugging, raping and murdering four men he had met online.

Oddly, Port dumped the bodies near his house in East London and then chose to call the emergency services to report them. His crimes have already been turned into a TV series that is set to be released soon.

Belmarsh also houses one of the killers of a heinous crime that happened only a few miles from the prison. Lee Rigby was an off-duty British Army soldier who was hacked to death in broad daylight by two men brandishing cleavers, as he walked to his barracks in nearby Woolwich.

The murderers – Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale – claimed they had to avenge the deaths of Muslims at the hands of the army, and handed horrified members of the public a written justification for the attack while asking onlookers to call the police to come and arrest them.

The ringleader Adebolajo was given a whole life order and is not expected to ever get parole, while his partner Adebowale was moved from Belmarsh to a high-security psychiatric hospital.

Along with that cast, the likes of far-right leader Tommy Robinson and best-selling novelist and former Conservative Party deputy chairman Jeffrey Archer, who committed perjury, have also spent time there. Archer even wrote of his experiences in the prison in a book revealingly called ‘Belmarsh: Hell’.

The lengthy list of notorious names is staggering in the context of its 910-capacity. But what has played an even greater role in cementing the prison’s fearsome image is the 48-capacity High Security Unit (HSU)…

https://www.rt.com/news/540790-uk-belmarsh-prison-london/

20 Apr, 2022 15:57

UN mulls change to Security Council veto process

General Assembly is debating a resolution requiring UNSC permanent members to justify their veto use

The UN General Assembly is considering introducing a provision that would require permanent members of the Security Council to justify their use of veto powers.

Currently, the five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US – can veto any resolutions put forth by the body. The council's other 10 rotating members do not have such powers.

The provision was tabled by Liechtenstein last week and presented at a closed-door discussion panel on Tuesday. The discussion turned out to be quite “positive” and the initiative received additional co-sponsors, the mission of the microstate to the UN said after the meeting.

“We had a strong turnout and positive engagement on the Veto Initiative in open format this afternoon. We will continue our work to get the strongest possible political support for our text which now has 57 cosponsors,” it stated.

If adopted, the initiative would mandate convening the UN General Assembly within 10 days after a permanent member of the UNSC uses their veto power. At the meeting, the state would have to justify its decision to use the veto. According to Liechtenstein, adopting the provision would “empower the General Assembly and strengthen multilateralism”

So far, the initiative has been openly supported only by one permanent member of the UNSC – the United States. Washington co-sponsored the provision, acknowledging the drive is aimed at Moscow and its use of its veto power to block a resolution on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Announcing the co-sponsorship, US envoy to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Moscow of misusing its veto powers.

“We are particularly concerned by Russia’s shameful pattern of abusing its veto privilege over the past two decades,” she stated, adding that, in the latest alleged abuse, Moscow had used the veto power to “protect President [Vladimir] Putin from condemnation over his unprovoked and unjust war of choice against Ukraine.”

Since the first time the UNSC power of veto ever got used – by the Soviet Union in 1946 – Moscow deployed it some 143 times, far ahead of other permanent members. The US used the power some 86 times, while the UK utilized it 30 times, with China and France each using it 18 times. In recent years, Washington primarily used the veto perk to block resolutions it deemed to be harmful towards Israel, one of that nation’s closest allies.

https://www.rt.com/news/554218-unsc-veto-power-debate/

21 Apr, 2022 12:40

Putin calls off assault on Mariupol steel plant

Lives of soldiers should be spared, the Russian president has said, offering the Ukrainian militants another chance to surrender

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called off an assault on the Azovstal steel plant in the Black Sea port of Mariupol during a meeting with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu on Thursday. The facility still harbors some 2,000 Ukrainian militants, including the neo-Nazi 'Azov' regiment, according to Shoigu.

“We always need to think about preserving the lives and health of our soldiers and officers," Putin told the defense chief, adding that, in this particular case, they should not be sent to assault the steel plant.

“One should not get into those catacombs and crawl there underground, in these industrial facilities," the president said. Built back in Soviet times, the Azovstal steel plant has a vast network of well-fortified underground tunnels built to withstand heavy bombardments. An aide to the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, Yan Gagin, had once described these tunnels as an underground city.

Retreating Ukrainian forces, including the notorious Azov regiment, have entrenched themselves in these tunnels and have since used them as their last line of defense. On Thursday, Shoigu told Putin that Russian forces and the Donbass republics' militias have fully seized the city of Mariupol, except for the Azovstal plant complex.

Shoigu has also said that a military operation at the plant could be finished in three to four days, apparently planning to storm the facility. Putin has instead ordered his troops to "seal the area so that a fly cannot get through."

The president has also offered those entrenched at the plant another chance to surrender. "Offer anyone, who has not laid down their arms yet, to do that," he has told Shoigu, adding that Russia "guarantees them their lives as well as decent treatment under all international norms." Those injured will also get "qualified medical treatment," the president added.

Russia has twice sought to organize humanitarian corridors for those willing to exit the Azovstal plant over the past few days, but both attempts failed. Instead, the Azov militants and the Ukrainian forces demanded they be allowed to leave through the assistance of an unnamed "third party" while also keeping their personal weapons. Kiev has also blamed Moscow for the fact that attempts to create humanitarian corridors had failed.

https://www.rt.com/russia/554273-putin-call-off-assault-mariupol-plant/

21 Apr, 2022 12:21

Ukraine threatens ‘terrorist’ attack on Crimean Bridge

Ukrainian official said if Kiev had the chance, it would have struck the Crimean Bridge long ago and would still do so, if the possibility arises

Russia has responded to recent threats by Ukraine’s armed forces about a potential strike on the Crimean Bridge, which connects the peninsula to the rest of the country.

“Such statements are nothing less than the announcement of a possible terrorist act. This is unacceptable. There are many signs here of deeds that are subject to legal verification and subsequent punishment," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

It comes comes after Alexey Danilov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, stated on Wednesday that if Kiev had the chance, it would have struck the Crimean Bridge long ago, and that its armed forces would do it now if possible.

“If we had the opportunity to do this, we would have done it already. If there is an opportunity to do this, we will definitely do it,” said Danilov in an interview with Radio NV, when asked if Ukraine could strike the Crimean Bridge, since it is being used to send reinforcements.

Former Russian president and current head of the National Security Council Dmitriy Medvedev also replied to the threat by writing in his Telegram channel that “One of the hard-nosed Ukrainian chiefs spoke of the need to strike at the Crimean Bridge. I hope he understands what will be the retaliatory target.”

Construction of the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Strait Bridge began in 2016 and was completed two years later. The multibillion-dollar infrastructure project connects the Crimean peninsula with Krasnodar Krai in Russia’s southwest. At 19km, it is the longest bridge in Europe and allows the passage of cars and trains, and has been used by Russia to transport armored vehicles into the southern regions of Ukraine amid the ongoing military conflict between Moscow and Kiev.

https://www.rt.com/russia/554272-crimean-bridge-peskov-threat/

21 Apr, 2022 10:40

HomeWorld News

Pentagon backtracks on claim of aircraft supplies to Kiev

Ukraine has not received any ‘whole’ fighter jets from anyone, Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby has said

(Remember the article on the two employees quitting due to absolute dysfunction of the Pentagon, this is an example)

No nation has sent any fighter jets to Ukraine, Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby admitted on Wednesday as he apologized for having created a false “impression” and retracting an earlier statement from the US Defense Department on arms supplies to Kiev.

"I was mistaken," Kirby said, adding that, although he did not say that "Ukraine had received 'whole aircraft'," that was "the impression that I gave you." The spokesman has explained that he himself got a misguided impression about another nation following through with its offer to provide Ukraine with "whole fixed-wing aircraft."

"It has not. So, I was in error in saying that, in past tense, they had been given whole aircraft. I regret the error," Kirby added.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon spokesman told journalists that Ukrainian troops “have received additional aircraft and aircraft parts to help them … get more aircraft in the air.” He did specify at the time, though, that the US only helped with shipping certain spare parts and did not transport "the whole aircraft."

"Other nations who have experience with those kinds of aircraft have been able to help them get more aircraft up and running," Kirby added.

On Wednesday, the Pentagon spokesman explained that Ukraine has just been provided with "enough spare parts and additional equipment" through "United States coordination and provision." These deliveries have helped Kiev to "increase their fleet by quite a number," he has added.

Separately, a senior US defense official has told AFP that the spare-parts supplies have allowed Ukraine to put 20 previously inoperable fighter jets back into service.

Kiev has been steadily asking the western nations for more heavy weapons, air-defense systems and fighter jets since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in late February. The US and its allies have been supplying the Ukrainian forces with arms almost since the start of the conflict but have mostly stopped short of sending heavy weapons. The only reports describing such transfers have been about the Czech Republic sending tanks to Ukraine but there had been no official confirmations on that.

The US recently announced a $800-million package of weapons for Kiev, including 200 armored personnel carriers and 18 towed howitzers.

https://www.rt.com/news/554265-us-backtrack-aircraft-supplies-kiev/

21 Apr, 2022 10:23

Fire breaks out at Russian military research facility

At least two people were killed and 20 others injured in the blaze, rescuers have told Russian media

A fire has broken out at the Russian Defense Ministry’s research facility in the city of Tver, some 180 kilometers northwest of Moscow, on Thursday.

According to preliminary data from the rescuers, at least two people were killed and 20 others injured in the blaze, media report.

Footage from the scene shows large clouds of smoke billowing from the upper floors of the building, which belongs to the Central Research and Development Institute of Aerospace Defense Troops.

The burning building has been evacuated, with fire brigades currently working on site.

According to preliminary data, the blaze spanned across some thousand square meters and caused a partial collapse of the roof.

The fire had started in one of the rooms on the second floor of the administrative building.

https://www.rt.com/russia/554261-fire-research-facility-tver/

20 Apr, 2022 16:30

HomeWorld News

China warns US of ‘ruinous’ effect

The mishandling of the Taiwan issue by the US will be detrimental to its ties with Beijing, Defense Minister Wei Fenghe has said

The mishandling of the Taiwan issue by Washington may have a “ruinous” effect on bilateral relations with Beijing, Chinese Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe told his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, on Wednesday.

During the 45-minute-long phone call, which was initiated by the American side, Wei reiterated Beijing’s stance that Taiwan was an “inalienable part of China,” insisting that “it was a fact and status quo that no one could change.”

The Chinese armed forces were eager to do everything to protect the country’s territorial integrity, he added, according to a statement by the Chinese Defense Ministry.

Wei also warned Austin that a US mishandling of the Taiwan issue “would have a ruinous impact on bilateral relations.”

Despite recognizing Beijing as the sole legitimate authority in China since 1979, Washington maintains unofficial ties with the self-governed island of Taiwan, actively backing its push for independence and supplying it with weapons.

Last week, the Chinese military staged major drills in the Taiwan Strait amid the visit of a high-profile delegation of US senators to Taipei.

The Russian military operation in Ukraine was also among the discussed issues, with Wei insisting that the US shouldn’t use the crisis “to smear and pressure China.”

In March, US president Joe Biden told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that there would be “consequences” if Beijing provided material support to Moscow during the conflict.

China has been so far reluctant to condemn the Russian military operation or impose sanctions on Moscow, maintaining a neutral position.

Some American military analysts have also insisted that Beijing has been closely watching the events in Ukraine and learning lessons in preparation for its own attack on Taiwan.

The Chinese Defense Minister said that Beijing wanted to establish a “healthy and stable relationship” with Washington, which would see the militaries of the two countries strengthening their dialogue and engaging in pragmatic cooperation. However, the Americans “shouldn't underestimate China’s determination and ability” to protect its interests, Wei added.

It was the first conversation between the two ministers since Austin took the reins at the Pentagon over a year ago.

(Didn’t Milley say on his book he would call his China contact, he would pick up the phone and warn if Trump was going to war? And Austin hasnt talked to China since the beginning!)

https://www.rt.com/news/554229-china-us-taiwan-ukraine/

Is this SC justice losing her mind? Sounds like it

https://twitter.com/JohnBasham/status/1516922581991006210?s=20&t=quaV82rSArRsMpJAhLBijA

https://twitter.com/Patriot911News/status/1516917715549655040?s=20&t=quaV82rSArRsMpJAhLBijA

https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1515886467729473536?s=20&t=quaV82rSArRsMpJAhLBijA

It’s criminal that all Pharma recommended the jab for immune compromised individuals, without compunction.

https://twitter.com/pnjaban/status/1516530012815388673?s=20&t=quaV82rSArRsMpJAhLBijA

A district manager at MetMife told me they have paid out a Billion dollars in life insurance this year, thus far

https://twitter.com/pnjaban/status/1516530012815388673?s=20&t=quaV82rSArRsMpJAhLBijA

Rage porn

https://twitter.com/JohnBasham/status/1516835403571081217?s=20&t=ty9ZR-yZQgOF3jcpdr20RQ

New Emails Raise Questions About Defense Involvement In Spygate

After spending weeks dismissing concerns about its work with Russia hoax-connected researchers, a newly discovered email from The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to a Georgia Tech researcher with the subject line “Mueller case” casts doubt on DARPA’s denials.

Last month, The Federalist first reported that an email exchange obtained from Georgia Tech pursuant to a Right-to-Know request indicated that Special Counsel John Durham’s office was investigating the Democrat National Committee hack. Manos Antonakakis, the Georgia Tech researcher branded “Researcher-1” in the special counsel’s indictment of former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, penned the email shortly after being questioned by one of Durham’s top prosecutors.

The Sussmann indictment also revealed that the Georgia Tech researchers, since identified as Antonakakis and David Dagon, “were receiving and analyzing Internet data in connection with a pending federal government cybersecurity research contract.”

The then-unidentified government contract originated with DARPA, withDARPA eventually awarding Georgia Tech more than $17 million for the project dubbed “Rhamnousia,” after the mythical Greek goddess of divine retribution, Rhamnous.

While Durham did not provide Antonakakis immunity, Antonakakis nonetheless spoke with the special counsel’s office after receiving assurances that he was merely considered a witness in the investigation.

Then, after speaking with the special counsel’s team, Antonakakis told the university’s general counsel and other members of upper management that he was asked point-blank by lead prosecutor Andrew DeFilippis: “‘Do you believe that DARPA should be instructing you to investigate the origins of a hacker (Guccifer_2.0) that hacked a political entity (DNC)?’”

According to his email, Antonakakis told DeFilippis that was “a question for DARPA’s director.” As I reported at the time, this represented “a seeming confirmation that DARPA had, as the special counsel’s question presumed, directed Antonakakis to investigate who bore responsibility for the DNC hack, although it is unclear whether Antonakakis’ task concerned solely the supposed identity of ‘Guccifer,’ or more broadly the question of who hacked the DNC.”

However, within days, DARPA denied any involvement “in efforts to attribute the DNC hack.” “Dr. Antonakakis worked on DARPA’s Enhanced Attribution program, which did not involve analysis of the DNC hack,” according to Jared Adams, DARPA’s chief of communications. Adams further told the Washington Examiner that “DARPA was not involved in efforts to attribute the Guccifer 2.0 persona, nor any involvement in efforts to attribute the origin of leaked emails provided to Wikileaks.”

While acknowledging DARPA met with the special counsel’s office, DARPA noted that “the meeting between DARPA and special counsel Durham was to provide a high-level overview of the Enhanced Attribution program,” stressing that “during the course of that meeting, DARPA did not discuss matters related to the DNC hack, Guccifer 2.0, or leaked DNC emails provided to Wikileaks.” The Washington Examiner’s article added the DARPA spokesman’s claim that, “to the best our knowledge, no DARPA-funded researchers investigated” the DNC hack or assisted the FBI’s or Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of the hack….

But now an email first obtained by The Federalist shows Chris Schneck from DARPA’s Information Innovation Office, known as “I2O,” writing Antonakakis on September 25, 2018, with the subject line of “Mueller case.” While redactions prevent a full understanding of the email, the “Mueller case” subject line and Schneck’s “great work” closer indicate the DARPA-funded Georgia Tech researcher was assisting Special Counsel Robert Mueller….

While DARPA’s September 25, 2018 email to Antonakakis about his “great work” regarding the “Mueller case” does not mention the DNC hack, a “chat log” for the DARPA Rhamnousia project shows the Georgia Tech researchers discussing both the DNC hack and GRU. One text reads: “For FBI to give a heads up to the DNC in fall 2015, this means that the attack was active for many months before.” In another message, one of the researchers jokes that if GRU sends the Russian beauty Annet Mahendru after him, he’s “giving up” his colleagues.

Moreover, another email reviewed by The Federalist reveals that Dagon told Durham’s team that the “entire set” of “Rhannousia chat logs” were “pertinent to” the Special Counsel’s investigation.”

September 25, 2018 email about the “Mueller case.” (The Georgia Tech emails obtained by The Federalist also established that Durham’s team sought to question Keromytis about his time at DARPA.)…

https://thefederalist.com/2022/04/21/newly-obtained-emails-raise-questions-about-department-of-defense-involvement-in-spygate/

>>16119905

New Emails Raise Questions About Defense Involvement In Spygate

Continued

The extensive redactions in the “Rhannousia chat logs” make it impossible to assess whether Antonakakis and his colleagues were working on the DNC hack or investigating the identity of Guccifer2.0 for the “Mueller case” against the Russian GRU agents. But if so, it raises serious questions, the foremost of which is: Why did DARPA claim no DARPA-funded researchers assisted the FBI’s or Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of the DNC hack?

If Antonakakis assisted Mueller in the DNC hack investigation, as these various documents suggest, it raises a second significant question: Did Rodney Joffe provide Antonakakis the data necessary to conduct an attribution analysis of the hack?

Other emails The Federalist obtained from Georgia Tech establish that Joffe had assisted Antonakakis with data requests he needed for some attribution requests, beginning in August of 2016, even before the DARPA contract became official. So, the question is, did Joffe continue providing the data Antonakakis needed to run various attribution analyses, and specifically did he provide data used to investigate the DNC hack?

Given Joffe’s role in the Alfa Bank hoax, and given yesterday’s revelation by the special counsel’s lead prosecutor DeFilippis that a CIA analyst believed the data was user-created, the country deserves to know whether Georgia Tech researchers assisted the special counsel’s office in investigating the DNC hack and, in turn, relied on data Joffe provided.

DARPA Chief of Communications Jared Adams has not replied to multiple requests for clarification from The Federalist, leaving one to wonder why. (The author of the “Mueller case” email, Chris Schneck, also did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment.) And if DARPA and Antonakakis weren’t working on the DNC hack case, then what was the Mueller case with which they were assisting?

(Seems like DARPA lied to Durham. Were the also involved in taking down POTUS? Silly question, of course they were )

https://thefederalist.com/2022/04/21/newly-obtained-emails-raise-questions-about-department-of-defense-involvement-in-spygate/

>>16119902

They were required years ago to fund (lifetime) reserves for possibly Long Term Disabilty and life claims. Probably the reason why they are increasing disability pricing.

646 times, whoa!

https://twitter.com/FreeSpeechAmer/status/1517125265746542593?s=20&t=zcpjWvfOeWUl4CMfjphrCg

Kylee Zempel

@kyleezempel

"Earth is a planet in space. It exists next to another planet called Mars. Earth is a bigger planet. Earth is a powerful planet. Earth decided to explore a smaller planet called Mars. So, basically, that's exciting."

There’s no way this is a VP, its a joke right?

https://twitter.com/kyleezempel/status/1517134869234601985?s=20&t=zcpjWvfOeWUl4CMfjphrCg

Mollie

@MZHemingway

Propagandists praise use of propaganda techniques in oligarch-owned propaganda press … all in service of disinforming readers on important topic of parental rights.

https://twitter.com/MZHemingway/status/1517128217630547969?s=20&t=k6t0qv1NqkAdnbr0-dgW6Q