19 May, 2023 14:32

Kremlin warns of ‘difficult’ demographic situation

Russia still has to deal with the legacy of WWII and the 1990s, Putin’s spokesman said

Russia is facing a “difficult” demographic situation as it has yet to heal the scars left by World War II and the economic crisis of the 1990s, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday. The government has already introduced anumber of measures to encourage childbirth, but they have not yet had the desired effect, he acknowledged.

“There are issues, which are irreducible in nature: those are the demographic pitfalls… linked to the Great Patriotic War… and the 1990s,” Peskov said, referring to the war between the USSR and Nazi Germany, as well as the severe economic crisis in Russia that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Total Soviet fatalities in World War II amounted to26.6 million people, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

“We are now living through a decade when the [echoes] of these two pitfalls have combined. This is our historical hangover that still haunts us,” Peskov explained. The Kremlin spokesman said the government has introduced some “effective” measures to remedy the situation,including special subsidies to women who decide to have children.

A mother receives a grant amounting to 587,000 rubles($7,346) when her first child is bornand an additional 775,600 rubles($9,706) if she gives birth a second time, according to the Russian State Duma.Low-income familieswith children receive additional financial aid from the state, Peskov said.

According to Peskov, the existing measures “have not produced a desired effect” and so “new measures are required.” Peskov did not elaborate on the exact measures the Russian authorities plan to take in this regard, adding that the government is still working on the matter.

“There is no panacea, no magic pill here,”Peskov said, adding that this will be a difficult and “long-term” effort. He also called the demographic situation “one of the major issues [Russia] has to face now.”

According to the Russian state statistics agency Rosstat, the nation’s total populationdecreased by some 555,000 people in 2022 from 146.9 million to 146.4 million.

The agency said the data does not include the population of the four former Ukrainian territories that joined Russia in 2022 following referendums. When those people are added to the numbers, Russia’s population could increase by 2 million people, it said.

https://www.rt.com/russia/576586-kremlin-difficult-demographic-situation/

19 May, 2023 12:52

Russian watchdog addresses ‘radioactive cloud’ reports

The statement by Rospotrebnadzor follows a claim by a top security chief about a “radioactive cloud” heading towards western Europe

Radiation levels in Russia remain at normal, the country’s consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said on Friday. The announcement was made shortly after the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, claimed that a“radioactive cloud” from the destruction of a store of depleted uranium munitions in Ukrainewas heading towards Western Europe.

“The radiation situation in our country remains stable. No excess radiation background has been detected,” the consumer agency said, adding that it carries out constant monitoring of radiation levels in Russia.

Earlier on Friday, Patrushev had said during a government meeting that “a radioactive cloud [is] moving towards Western Europe,”with Poland having already recorded an increasein radiation.

According to the security chief, the hazard was created after the destruction of a Ukrainian ammunition depot in the city of Khmelnitsky last Saturday, which Russia says contained UK-supplied shells with depleted uranium. The munitions were intended to be fired by British-made Challenger tanks.

Moscow has previously harshly criticized London’s decision to provide the Kiev forces with depleted uranium shells, saying that the weapon could cause long-term damage to the environment and public health. British officials have denied such a risk.

Earlier this week, Polish authorities rejected media reports of a spike in radiation being detected in the eastern city of Lublin.

(Russia warned them for weeks before of the danger, it seems the UK wants Ukraine to go away, but this is not good for any country)

https://www.rt.com/russia/576574-radioactive-patrushev-uranium-ukraine/

19 May, 2023 13:06

UK in ‘geriatric decline’ – financier

Guy Hands says Britain will soon be poorer than Poland

Brexit has weakened the UK economy and driven the nation into a “sort of geriatric decline,” British financier and chairman of the private equity firm Terra Firma told Bloomberg on Friday.

Since the UK left the European Union, it has been competing on the world stage, but thecountry’s current laws are not suitable for the new environment, billionaire Guy Hands suggested in the outlet’s weekly ‘In The City’podcast.

Unless change happens, the UK risks becoming poorer compared to other European countries.

“I look at the UK and see that, in 2030, Poland will be wealthier than we are,” he said. “In 2040, we will be the poor man in Europe.”

According to Hands, the UK should not have left the EU, as the country needs rule of law and consistency, but not a single politician is talking about going back. He lamented that Brexit has essentially thrown the country back 50 years, to the 1970’s, a decade that is widely remembered as a time of crisis, with skyrocketing inflation, high unemployment, strikes and power cuts.

The enormous amount of political change that has happened in the UK over the past seven years has left investors concerned, and the public lacking confidence, the billionaire believes.

Now that the UK is out of the EU, the British government could take a radical approach and change some of its laws, Hands said, citing thecountry’s “extraordinarily complex” labor laws that are “a nightmare”compared to other European countries. The UK also needs some “boring bookkeeping,”and the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak seems to be good at it, according to Hands.

The financier noted that the British government has succeeded in repairing some of the damage caused by Liz Truss, whose economic policies were “absolutely disastrous”and would have led to the country needing a bailout. Truss’s argument, however, that theUK needed to become much more productive to be more competitive was “100% right”.

(Farage should get elected and eliminate the Leviathan of governmemt workers that make more rules and laws)

https://www.rt.com/business/576572-uk-geriatric-decline-brexit/

19 May, 2023 13:22

US to accelerate weapons sales

The State Department wants to speed up military shipments by embracing a more flexible approach encompassing entire sales regions

The US State Department is seeking to expedite arms sales amid anew “age of heightened strategic competition”and soaring global tensions, according to a new ten-point plan released on Thursday.

Although the US government authorized weapons sales and training averaging $45.8 billion each year between 2019 and 2022, “the time has come to reassess and adapt security cooperation to meet new and emerging challenges,” the State Department declared, pointing to the ongoingUkraine conflict and tensions in the Indo-Pacific.

According to a Wall Street Journal report on Thursday, the new program comes as the State Department scrambles to rectifydelays in sales to foreign militaries, caused by a “risk-averse and sluggish” system.

These issues have resulted in fears that some of America’s partners could start “shopping for arms from some of America’s adversaries, such as Russia and China,” the WSJ wrote, citing unnamed US officials.

As part of its plan, the department seeks in particular to “save time on the policy approval process” by anticipating the demands of Washington’s international partners based on the prior requirements of their regional neighbors. Citing the officials, the WSJ noted that the reform intends to make the system more flexible by moving away from selling American weapons on a case-by-case basis.

Another point of the plan is to change the State Department’s approach to notifying Congress, by “prioritizing consultations on critical potential arms transfers” and sharpening policies in the field of exporting US drones abroad.

Last year, as global tensions soared amid the Ukraine conflict and the ‘Taiwan’ stand-off between Beijing and Washington,US foreign military sales to other governments skyrocketed by 49%, reaching some $205 billion, according to the State Department.

The US also emerged as the main source of weapons for Ukraine amid its conflict with Russia, having committed some $37 billion in security assistance to Kiev. In recent months, however, US media have reported that Washington was running low on several types of weapons and ammunition as the military industry was struggling to keep up with demand.

(MIC wants more death)

https://www.rt.com/news/576581-us-bolster-weapons-sales/

19 May, 2023 10:28

Hungary ready to host Russia-Ukraine talks – FM

Discussions between Moscow and Kiev are the only way to peace, Peter Szijjarto has insisted

Budapest is prepared to facilitate peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has announced.

“At the very beginning of this conflict, I suggested to both sides… that Hungary is ready to provide a venue for peace talks at any time. This offer still stands,” Szijjarto told RIA Novosti on Friday, on the sidelines of the EU-Central Asia Economic Forum in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

“Whenever Russia and Ukraine express their readiness [to negotiate], we’re prepared to create all the necessary conditions for this,” he added.

The foreign minister stated that, as a neighbor of Ukraine, Hungary is also “paying a high price” for the conflict. Ukraine has alarge Hungarian population and its members are “being sent to the front, where many of them, regrettably, die,”he claimed.

“We call for peace because peace is the only way to preserve lives,” Szijjarto insisted.

However, the diplomat asserted that the “current European and Transatlantic context isn’t favorable to peace.”

He also reiterated support for China’s 12-point roadmap to settle the conflict, which includes calls for the beginning of talks without preconditions.

“We support it for two reasons: firstly, because it exists, and secondly, because it’s about peace. It can be a good basis for negotiations,” the Hungarian minister said, adding that the initial plan should not be viewed as a final agreement.

“The thing is that some kind of discussions must begin [between Moscow and Kiev] eventually, because this is the path that leads to peace,” Szijjarto said.

Hungary has adopted a neutral stance since the start of the conflict in February 2022. It has condemned Russia’s military operation, but unlike many fellow EU members it has refrained from supplying weapons to Ukraine, and has consistently criticized the bloc’s sanctions against Moscow.

Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow remains open to peace proposals “based on a genuine wish to contribute to the stabilization of the world order,” including those recently made by Brazil and African nations.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has promoted his own ten-point peace plan. Among other things, it calls for Russia to withdraw from all territories within Ukraine’s 1991 borders, to pay reparations, and to submit to war-crime tribunals. Moscow has rejected the plan as “unacceptable” and ignoring the reality on the ground.

(According to McGregor this am, most of their trained army are dead, they are capturing and rounding up guys on the street to conscript them and Russia has blown up a majority of their new weapons. They better make peace because it really be the last Ukrainian, andZelensky hasn't been back to Kiev since they attacked the Kremlin)

https://www.rt.com/russia/576565-hungary-ukraine-talks-szijjarto/

19 May, 2023 08:05

Zelensky to travel to Japan for G7 summit (to whine and beg louder)

The Ukrainian leader is expected to ask the group to increase pressure on Russia and provide additional military and financial aid

UPDATE: Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council has contradicted Aleksey Danilov’s statement and saidPresident Zelensky would not travel to Japan to attend the G7 summit. He will, however, make a virtual appearance at the event, the council’s press service said on its website.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is expected to make a personal appearance at the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, a top official confirmed on Friday following several media reports.

Previously, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had stated that Zelensky would only be making a virtual appearance at the summit, addressing leaders via video link on Sunday. However, two officials involved in arranging the event revealed to Reuters that the Ukrainian leader would attend the gathering in person.

Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council Aleksey Danilov confirmed the reports to state media, explaining that“very important things will be decided there and it is therefore the presence of our president that is absolutely essential in order to defend our interests.”

The unexpected trip is being widely interpreted as an attempt by Kiev to convince the G7 group to amplify pressure on Russia amid Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine, as well as anopportunity to demand more military and financial aid.

An EU official also told the Financial Times thatZelenskyis expected to ask the G7 group to consider holding a summit this summer on thepeaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict without the participation of Russia. Kiev wants the potential summit to focus on Zelensky’s ten-point plan, which includes the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine, reparation payments, and a war-crimes tribunal.

Moscow has rejected the plan as “unacceptable,” claiming that it ignores the reality on the ground and is actually a sign of Kiev’s unwillingness to resolve the crisis through talks.

The G7, which consists of the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK, had already been expected to announce additional sanctions on Russia, as well as holding discussions on measures to counter the challenge being posed by China.

On Thursday,Britain had already declared a ban on imports of Russian diamonds and metals such as copper, aluminum and nickel, and also placed sanctions on some 86 individuals and companies allegedly linked to Russia’s military industrial complex, energy, and shipping industries.

In his announcement of the additional measures, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the sanctions showed that “the G7 remains unified in the face of the threat from Russia and steadfast in our support for Ukraine.”(These people are so stupid, its like a gang or a high school clique)

The US, meanwhile, is expected to add 70 entities to its export blacklist and expand sanctions to 300 entities in various sectors of the Russian economy, according to a US administration official cited by Reuters.

(These countries keep on putting more bans and sanctions on when he just hurts their countries. Russia established ties with the largest countries in the world with the most money. All of this is performative with no movement. What good does it do to ban diamonds? Ukraine fatigue is a real thing and getting stronger daily, how long can Zelensky keep on acting and begging?)

https://www.rt.com/news/576551-zelensky-g7-japan-visit/

19 May, 2023 13:39

Cops under fire for tasering 95-year-old

The Australiandementia patientwas “armed with a knife,” a senior official explained

Australian police are facing public outrage after an officer tasered a 95-year-old womanin a treatment room at a nursing home, as she was “slowly” walking towards him using a walking frame with a serrated steak knife in her hand.She hit her head on the ground after the jolt and is now reportedly fighting for her life.

The interaction with Clare Nowland, a grandmother from New South Wales, took place on Wednesday morning inside the Yallambee Lodge facility in the town of Cooma. Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter, who spoke to journalists on Friday, said the woman obtained the tool from the kitchen, which prompted a call to police.

“Negotiations commenced with Clare to essentially drop the knife.For whatever reason, Clare did not do that,” the official explained.(she had dementia assholes)

Australian media aired family footage showing Nowland skydiving back when she was 80. She had been enjoying her sunset years surrounded by eight children and their children, according to reports, but recently has been suffering from dementia.

Critics have questioned whether zapping Nowland, whoweighs just 43 kilograms, is 157cm (5’2”) tall, and quite frail at her advanced age, was justified. The officer who used the taser has been described as a male senior constable with 12 years’ experience in the force.

“She did have a knife in her hand and it is fair to say that she was armed with that knife,”Cotter explained during the press conference. “It is fair to say [she walked] at a slow pace. She had a walking frame. But she had a knife.”

A family friend, Andrew Thaler, told the media thatNowland’s injuries were life-threatening and included a skull fracture and a brain bleed.

The officer involved in the incident is “non-operational” and his duty status has been placed under review, the police leader said. The investigation into the incident has been given the highest-level priority and will be thorough and independently-reviewed, he pledged.

Both officers present at the scene had body cameras,but the footage has not been released to the public, as it was deemed not in the public interest. Cotter described the videos as “confronting” and gave assurances that the responders attempted to deescalate the situation.

He expressed sympathy with the Nowland family and urged journalists to give them time to process what had happened. He explained the delay between the incident and the press briefing by the need to coordinate with the Nowlands, to assess what information can be made public.

(Aussie police are as bad as Canadians)

https://www.rt.com/news/576580-australia-dementia-patient-tasering/

>>18872005

Ok that “mending fences” seems notable

>>18871909

Kek and duh

>>18871678

OMG i’m keeping that! It was nice to see the real Jake Crapper

>>18871901

Very sane and smart

>>18871899

Honestly who dresses this person, my dead great grandmother?

>>18871888

No Zelenksky aint been back to Kiev since they attacked the Kremlin, if he was ever there, he’s a whiny, begging, coward that screams when he’s called out

>>18871806

Where are you getting these?

>>18872100

And he’s really short

>>18872090

I wonder if it was Kyle Seraphin that didn’t show up because he got threats and was in fear for his life (and probably family too)