Notable

>>16758531 Fifty years ago this month, women entered the #FBI Training Academy in Quantico, Virginia, for the first time

Question: why did Wray choose these four women, 3 of them like over 55-60. Those three look like they work in an office as assistants. The 4th one looks like she’s mid 40, is asian and the only one turned toward Wray. They lady of the left end looks like she’s uncomfortable clasping the arm of the woman next to her. (Where’s the obligatory black woman?)

Look at Wray with a big smile, weird picture altogether for “supposedly” honoring women in the FBI. None of the women look like they blazed history at the FBI.

>>16762116

Its just a very strange picture.

19 Jul, 2022 13:00

Iran launches Russian ruble trade

The country’s foreign currency exchange starts trading in the rial-ruble currency pair

Iran’s official foreign currency exchange has listed the Russian currency and launched trading in the ruble/rial currency pair, the IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

The listing comes ahead of President Putin’s visit to Tehran, and has been described by the head of Iran’s Central Bank as “an important step in the development of economic relations between Iran and Russia.”

Moscow pledged earlier to gradually stop using the US dollar in transactions with Iran. Trade between the two countries grew by 31% in the first four months of this year, and the Kremlin announced that Moscow and Tehran were preparing a major new cooperation deal.

According to Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, with Russia and Iran among the most sanctioned nations in the world, the two would be able join forces and minimize the impact of international restrictions on their economies.

https://www.rt.com/business/559241-iran-launches-russian-ruble-trade/

John Bolton does it again, foot in mouth disease

19 Jul, 2022 12:46

HomeWorld News

China reacts to John Bolton’s coup-planning admission

The former White House adviser’s remarks about plotting coups were “revealing,” Beijing says

The admission of former White House adviser John Bolton about plotting coups abroad serves as another testament to how Washington meddles in other countries’ affairs around the globe, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said.

Spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday that “overthrowing foreign governments is deep in the bones of how the US conducts its foreign policy.”

“Bolton’s admission is so revealing,” he told reporters during a regular press briefing. “Leading US politicians trumpet the so-called ‘rules-based international order’ for one purpose: to ensure that the US can easily interfere in other countries’ affairs and overthrow their governments at its own will.”

“This is exactly the kind of ‘rules’ and ‘order’ that people like Bolton want absolutely to defend. The people of the world, however, will not let them,” Wang said.

Bolton, a veteran White House official who served as national security adviser in 2018 and 2019, unexpectedly admitted to having “helped plan coups d’etat” abroad during an interview on CNN last week.

Bolton and host Jake Tapper were discussing the storming of the US Capitol building in Washington, DC by supporters of former President Donald Trump,whom Democrats are now accusing of a coup attempt.

Wang said that Bolton’s words were, nevertheless, emblematic of how the US behaves on the world stage. “The US’ acts of regime change remain unchecked even after the end of the Cold War. For years, the US has created political unrest in Latin America, played a part in the Arab Spring, and instigated color revolutions in Europe and Asia,” the Chinese diplomat said.

On Thursday, Venezuela’s parliament voted to condemn Bolton’s remarks. Parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez described Bolton’s words as “an extraordinary feat of brazenness.” Caracas has accused the US of attempting to overthrow the Venezuelan government in 2020. Washington denies the allegations.

https://www.rt.com/news/559243-china-bolton-coups-reaction/

19 Jul, 2022 09:56

Top prosecutor fired in Ukraine security shake-up

Parliament fired the national security service chief, while President Zelensky dismissed five of the agency’s regional chiefs

Ukraine’s parliament has approved the firing of the Security Service (SBU) chief, with President Vladimir Zelensky dismissing the heads of SBU departments in five of the country’s regions on Tuesday.

The SBU leaders in Sumy, Dnepropetrovsk, Zhytomir, Transcarpathia and Poltava regions have all been replaced.

The agency’s deputy head, Vladimir Gorbenko, has also been relieved of his duties by presidential decree.

Shortly after President Zelensky announced the shake-up, Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted to fulfill his request to sack the head of the SBU, Ivan Bakanov, who had been suspended since Sunday.

Lawmakers later made the same decision regarding Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova, also relieving her of her duties.

Zelensky had asked the Verkhovna Rada to fire the two top officials over a loss of trust.

The president earlier said thatthere was “rampant” treasonin the SBU and General Prosecutor’s Office relating to the conflict with Russia.

More than 650 criminal cases have been launched against the employees of the two agencies, he announced.

Such a vast “array of crimes,” as well as contacts between “employees of law enforcement agencies of Ukraine and Russia,”raise “serious questions” for Bakanov and Venediktova, Zelensky insisted, warning that they would not remain unanswered

(I wonder if the officials fired knew about all the corruption with Zelensky, the Nazis and Kholomoisky and were trying to stop it? I think this story is bigger than we know)

https://www.rt.com/russia/559228-sbu-ukraine-bakanov-zelensky/

>>16762250

True that, Zelensky is almost worst then Lenin. Dissent is not tolerated in Ukraine. He’s banned at least 8 political parties. Zelensky is implementing communism at its worst. The EU should have stayed out of Ukraine, it’s obvious they are bring blackmailed.

19 Jul, 2022 00:32

Turkey may still ‘freeze’ NATO expansion – Erdogan

Finland and Sweden must fulfill Ankara’s conditions before becoming members, President Erdogan warned

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Sweden and Finland on Monday that Ankara may still “freeze” their NATO membership they fall short of last month’s agreement, in which the two Nordic countries promised to take specific steps to overcome Turkey’s objections.

“I want to reiterate once again that we will freeze the process if these countries do not take the necessary steps to fulfill our conditions,” Erdogan told reporters. “Our stance on this issue is very clear. The rest is up to them.”

“Sweden in particular does not have a good image on this issue,” he added.

Ankara had blocked the bids by Helsinki and Stockholm for NATO membership until late June. A trilateral memorandum signed in Madrid allowed the alliance to formally invite Finland and Sweden at a summit in Spain. The document called for the two Nordic countries to address Turkish demands by ending their embargo on arms sales to Ankara and cracking down on individuals and organizations Turkey has designated as terrorists. Among them are Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) activists who sought asylum in Sweden and Finland, and followers of the exiled cleric Fetullah Gulen.

Finland and Sweden remained neutral during the Cold War, but applied to join NATO on May 18 this year, citing concerns for their security amid the Russian military operation in Ukraine. The parliaments of all 30 NATO countries must ratify their membership before it can take effect.

Erdogan’s conditions had threatened to derail NATO’s plans to formally invite the duo at the June 28-30 summit in Madrid, but the last-minute deal – reportedly struck over coffee – found the formula to move the process forward.

The US intends to work with Finland, Sweden and Turkey to ensure “this accession process and ratification process around the world is as swift and efficient as it can possibly be,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday, adding that the White House wants to see them both in NATO “as soon as possible.”

Erdogan’s warning comes after the US House of Representatives adopted the text of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that required additional certifications before Turkey could buy more F-16 fighter jets. US President Joe Biden insisted last month that the F-16 sale was not a “quid pro quo” for Ankara agreeing to NATO’s Nordic expansion, and said he could get congressional approval for it.

https://www.rt.com/news/559203-erdogan-freeze-nato-finland-sweden/

19 Jul, 2022 05:37

European energy firms rack up debt to cover soaring costs – Bloomberg

Their liabilities have reportedly reached over $1.7 trillion

European energy and utilities companies are taking on more debt to offset soaring oil and gas prices, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

The firms’ overall debt has jumped by more than 50% since the start of the pandemic in early 2020, and now stands at €1.7 trillion ($1.7 trillion), the publication adds.

Earlier this month one of Germany’s largest energy supply companies, Uniper, asked for a government bailout, citing “extreme financial pressure” caused by reduced Russian natural gas deliveries. The company may need as much as €9 billion to stay afloat, Bloomberg says, adding that Czech power firm CEZ CP is also seeking help of up to €3 billion.

The EU’s power companies raised €45 billion in bonds and €72 billion in loans during the first six months of the year, according to the news agency.

The energy crunch has led toan eight-fold increasein European benchmark natural gas prices over the past 18 months, with oil becoming roughly 50% more expensive over the past year. This has driven up the overall cost of living, with inflation hitting multi-decade highs across the EU.

(EU goes bankrupt and Russia grows stronger with new alliances, all for a shithole country, Ukraine and “climate change)

https://www.rt.com/business/559165-european-energy-firms-debt/