By Didi Rankovic | Reclaim The Net | January 31, 2024
The expression is, “you can’t make that up” – to signal the level of the absurdity of a situation.
Meanwhile, groups calling themselves “fact checkers” and those bankrolling them keep making things up. And becoming used to it aside, their work still feels as if – “you can’t make that up.”
When names like the Omidyar Network, George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, and Meta start cropping up in the same sentence, you start believing anything could come out of an “alliance” of the sort.
Here we have yet another supposedly “fact-checking” effort that turned into a smear campaign against people engaged in lawful protest regarding economic, social, and political issues.
In this instance, in Germany. There the economy, and with it the government, has been in serious trouble ever since Germany, for political reasons, cut itself off from affordable gas. Those with the most to lose, such as farmers, have been hit the hardest.
One of the recent consequences, though you may not hear much about it in legacy media, have been mass and ongoing farmer protests. At the same time, efforts are under way to ban one of the country’s most popular parties, AfD. Both have been labeled as right-wing conspiracy theorists, Covid “misinformationists,” and even Russia supporters.
And this labeling work is being done by something called “Correctiv” – a group that says it is a news and fact-checking site. Correctiv gets its money from Omidyar, Soros, Meta, but also the current German government. … continue
By Mohamad Hasan Sweidan | The Cradle | January 31, 2024
Israeli import data reveals that a number of Arab countries play a significant role in buoying the occupation state’s trade volume, despite attempts by other regional nations to weaken Israel’s economy.
Since this decade’s onset, Israeli ports have been teeming with the arrival of goods from across the region. Each shipment not only boosts the occupation state’s economy, but also weaves a narrative that goes beyond trade statistics as these economic interactions carry a hidden stream of political significance.
Although not an Arab country, Turkiye was the first Muslim state to establish diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv, and today leads the pack of West Asian states boosting Israeli imports. In 2020 alone, the value of Turkish exports spiked to $5.7 billion, constituting 6.2 percent of total Israeli imports that year.
Iron and steel ($1.06 billion), plastics ($464.67 million), electrical and electronic equipment ($346.83 million), vehicles ($331.48 million), machinery ($298.89 million), metals ($261.66 million), and building materials ($188.39 million) form the cornerstone of Turkish exports to the Zionist entity.
In second place is the UAE, which normalized ties with Tel Aviv as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020, and was the first Arab state to sign a free-trade agreement (2022) with Israel as part of a plan to boost mutual trade to $10 billion annually. … continue
IMEMC | JANUARY 31, 2024
Israeli forces shot, on Tuesday night, a Palestinian young man, in the town of Qaffin, northeast of Tulkarem in the northwestern part of the West Bank.
Media sources said that the army invaded Qaffin town from the southern entrance, deployed an infantry squad, storming and searching many homes, triggering protests.
Soldiers opened fire with live rounds towards those who resisted the incursion, shooting a young man in the back; he was transported to hospital for treatment.
MEMO | January 31, 2024
China’s Foreign Ministry doubled down, Wednesday, on its proposal for a “broad-based, authoritative and effective” international peace conference on Palestine, Anadolu Agency reports.
Beijing “stands ready to work with all parties” to hold the conference “as early as possible” to “formulate a concrete timetable and roadmap” for the implementation of the two-State solution, said spokesman, Wang Wenbin, according to a transcript of a news conference in Beijing that was released by the Ministry. […]
Noting President Xi Jinping’s three-point proposal, including an international peace conference on Palestine, Wang said: “China’s proposal is increasingly recognised in the international community.” – Full article
IF AMERICANS KNEW | JANUARY 31, 2024
Numerous reports have been disseminated about atrocities that have been proven to be untrue, yet they continue to circulate. This website Investigates the facts on each and provides thorough sourcing for its findings:
Our mission is to facilitate an accurate understanding of the events of October 7 and its aftermath through the collection and organization of information. We value accuracy and organization… Due to the nature of this work, there are at times disturbing imagery, video, or descriptions. Viewer discretion is advised… Read more and see the reports
By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | January 30, 2024
The Israeli military granted CNN a three-hour tour inside the Gaza Strip to view the destruction of Palestinian cemeteries. The outlet explained that the evidence presented by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) did not confirm Tel Aviv’s claims about tunnels under the graveyard. Across Gaza, Israel has damaged over a dozen cemeteries.
An IDF general gave CNN’s Jeremy Diamond a guided tour of the Bani Suheila cemetery. Israel claimed it needed to dig up the bodies buried at the graveyard because a Hamas tunnel ran under it. However, the IDF was not able to show CNN evidence supporting that claim.
Diamond explained the evidence presented by the IDF actually suggested that there was no tunnel beneath the cemetery. The IDF invited Diamond into Gaza after he reported that the Israeli military operations in Gaza had damaged 16 Gazan cemeteries. Palestinian officials report that 2,000 graves in the Strip have been damaged or destroyed by the Israeli military. … continue
IMEMC | JANUARY 31, 2024
On Wednesday dawn, Day 117 of Israel’s war on the Palestinians in the devastated and destroyed Gaza Strip, Israeli missiles and shells killed dozens and injured hundreds in several parts of the coastal enclave.
Media sources said at least six Palestinians were killed and dozens were injured when the army fired many missiles and shells at homes and buildings in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli military helicopters and armed drones fired dozens of live rounds at Palestinians, fleeing their homes and areas in the central and western parts of Khan Younis city. Also, the army killed a Palestinian, a security guard at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Khan Younis, after firing live rounds at him while standing near the back door of its building.
In addition, dozens of Palestinians were killed, and many more were injured when the army fired missiles at homes east of Gaza City and northwest of the city.
The Israeli missiles and shells also struck dozens of homes and buildings in various parts of Gaza City, especially in Zeitoun and Remal areas, while Palestinian ambulances remain unable to enter the bombarded areas.
In Remal, the armored Israeli bulldozers also destroyed Shuhada Street while the army pushed more thanks into the area and fired artillery shells around it.
The army also fired many artillery shells in Jabalia, in northern Gaza, including shells and missiles that struck the Al-Awda hospital in Tal Az-Za’tar neighborhood.
In central Gaza, the army fired shells and missiles at homes and buildings around the Da’wa mosque in the Nusseirat refugee camp, in addition to a home in the Al-Berka area in Deir Al-Balah, killing dozens of Palestinians, including many children, and wounding many more.
In addition, the army fired many missiles and shells in the center of Khan Younis and all areas around Nasser Hospital in the city, the Namsawi neighborhood, west of the city, and an entire residential block in the center of the city, causing dozens of casualties.
At least four Palestinians were killed, and many were injured by Israeli missiles that struck Hamad City in Khan Younis. Another Palestinian was killed in the western part of the city near the surrounded and isolated Nasser Medical Center.
Dozens of Israeli missiles and shells were fired into a number of areas and cities in Khan Younis, including Al-Qarara, leading to dozens of casualties, including many fatalities. … Full article
Press TV – January 31, 2024
Iran says the world public opinion is witnessing the moral decline and collapse of the West in the Gaza Strip after the discovery of tens of decomposing bodies of blindfolded Palestinians dumped inside a schoolyard in the northern besieged territory.
“The bodies of many Palestinian civilians have been discovered among the debris and garbage in northern Gaza, where the Israeli occupation forces tied their hands and eyes and then executed them,” Spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Nasser Kan’ani wrote in a post published on X, formerly known as X, on Wednesday.
In the poignant tableau of Gaza, the global audience bears witness to the decline and moral collapse of the West, the Iranian diplomat pointed out.
Palestinian media outlets reported that the bodies of at least 30 Palestinians were discovered at the grounds of the Khalifa bin Zayed elementary school in Beit Lahia after Israeli forces withdrew from the area.
The bodies were reportedly discovered under a mound of rubble with videos showing several of the body bags tied with white plastic zip ties, normally used for tying cables together. … continue
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said the Israeli occupation refuses to disclose any information about detainees taken from Gaza, Quds Press reported.
In a statement issued yesterday, the rights group said the Israeli occupation is carrying out “the crime of enforced disappearance” against Gaza detainees, following a number of military orders and laws specifically enacted for them.
The Israeli Knesset has recently ratified regulations depriving “Gaza detainees” of meeting with a lawyer for another four months.
Images from Gaza show Palestinian men being rounded up from shelters, stripped to their underwear and made to wait in the cold while naked and blindfolded. They are later seen being taken away on trucks to undisclosed locations.
Those who have been released bear signs of torture, exhaustion and malnourishment.
RT | January 31, 2024
US Air Force personnel in Iraq have been ordered to remain on standby in case of “on ground US involvement in the Israel Hamas war,” The Intercept reported on Tuesday, citing a Pentagon memo.
Circulated earlier this month, the memo instructs an unknown number of troops to be placed “on standby to forward deploy to support troops in the case of on ground US involvement in the Israel Hamas war,” the news site reported. The standby order applies to troops stationed in Iraq since last year, according to a separate Pentagon document seen by The Intercept.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
The White House has stated on several occasions since October that its support for the Jewish state would not involve American soldiers fighting alongside their Israeli counterparts. … continue
Press TV – January 31, 2024
The Islamic Resistance, an umbrella group of Iraqi anti-terror groups, has announced a pause in its operations against American targets across the region.
The group announced the decision through a statement by Kata’ib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades), one of its major members, on Tuesday.
“We announce the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces,” Hezbollah Brigades’ Secretary-General, Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi said in the statement.
Hamidawi cited “consideration for the Iraqi government” as the reason for the decision, without elaborating.
Over the past years, the resistance has been launching countless attacks against bases housing the US occupation forces across the Arab country and neighboring Syria.
Before announcing the pause, it had escalated its attacks against the targets, citing the United States’ complicity in an October 7, 2023-present war of genocide that has been launched by the Israeli regime against the Gaza Strip.
The statement, however, asserted “we will continue to defend our people in Gaza through other means.”
“We advise the brave fighters of the Hezbollah Brigades to adopt temporary passive defense measures in case of any aggressive American actions…” … Full article
By John Helmer | Dances with Bears | January 31, 2024
When the General Staff have been discussing with President Vladimir Putin the timing of the Russian offensive to force the Kiev regime into capitulation, it has been agreed, understood, and repeated that the strategic reserves of the Ukrainian forces should be destroyed first, together with the supply lines for the weapons and ammunition crossing the border from the US and the NATO allies.
This process, they also agreed, should take as long as required with least casualties on the Russian side, as determined by military intelligence. … continue
By Robert Bridge | RT | January 31, 2024
As support for NATO’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine shows signs of collapsing, hysterical anti-Russian rhetoric is accelerating to the point of countdowns towards all-out war.
The year 2024, barely emerging from the cradle, is already forced to deal with reckless predictions of an imminent clash between NATO and Russia in what would be nothing less than the outbreak of World War III.
Europe has between three and five years to prepare for Moscow to become a military threat on NATO’s eastern flank, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told The Times in an interview. “Our intelligence estimates it to be three to five years, and that very much depends on how we manage our unity and keep our posture regarding Ukraine,” Kallas said.
Not to be outdone, the German Council of Foreign Relations, pointing to Russia’s “imperial ambitions,” came out with a report that said the Kremlin “may need as little as six to ten years to reconstitute its armed forces.” […]
… the US is heading headlong into a momentous presidential election, which will greatly determine the future trajectory of the conflict in Ukraine. As proven by the non-stop legal hurdles being thrown in Trump’s way, the Democrats have no intention of relinquishing power with so much war booty at stake. That’s why the months running up to the US presidential election are going to be filled with all sorts of aggressive posturing aimed square at Russia, with the goal of convincing the public that Western Europe is about to be invaded by Russian forces. […]
The message here is clear: The year 2024 is not going to be an easy ride. The Western military bloc is going to do everything in its power – much as Barack Obama did as he was leaving office in 2016, evicting Russians from their homes on New Year’s Eve – to make Western-Russian relations as bad as humanly possible. Then, in the event that Trump wins another four years in the White House, the political situation will be so muddied that the chances for Trump to help the peace process will be dramatically diminished, and the interested parties will be able to continue profiting off of war. … Full article
By Ilya Tsukanov – Sputnik – 31.01.2024
… “The Ukrainian authorities dropped the phrase somewhere that they would like to conduct an international investigation” into the Il-76 shootdown, Putin said. “We are asking for this, and insist that an international investigation be carried out.” Unfortunately, no relevant international organizations have shown readiness to do so to date, the Russian president added.
“I would like to take this opportunity to officially state – we officially ask that international experts be sent and conduct an analysis, evaluate the available material evidence that the plane was shot down using the Patriot missile system fired from a specific place and at a specific time,” Putin said.
Instead, he said, Western officials and media have been “trying to hush” the incident up.
“Just look, what’s being said in Western media? Nothing. A snap of the fingers and immediately everyone just forgets, everything immediately goes away, the information space is immediately cleared. But we will not forget about the crimes they are committing against our citizens,” Putin said. … Full article
By Ilya Tsukanov – Sputnik – 31.01.2024
The Pentagon plans to “field test” a new, ground-launched variant of its deadly Small Diameter Bomb design in real world battlefield conditions in Ukraine. What are these weapons? What dangers will they pose to Russian forces and civilians in frontline areas? How can Russia defeat them? Sputnik explores.
Sources told Politico on Tuesday that Ukraine is preparing to receive a delivery of the US’ new Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDBs) as soon as this week.
The deliveries will give Kiev “a deeper strike capability they haven’t had” and “complement” the Ukrainian military’s “long-range fire arsenal,” a US official familiar with the transfer boasted. The weapons, which even the US military doesn’t have in its arsenal yet, will serve as “an extra arrow in the quiver that’s gonna allow them to do more,” the official said, without elaborating. … continue
RT | January 31, 2024
Initiatives by China, Brazil, and South Africa on settling the conflict in Ukraine are not even being considered by Western nations during meetings to discuss Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s so-called peace formula, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
The latest discussions were held during the World Economic Forum in Davos two weeks ago and attended by 83 nations, including BRICS members India, Brazil, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. China took part in earlier meetings on the Ukrainian proposal, but declined to participate this time.
During the BRICS sherpa and sous-sherpa meeting in Moscow on Wednesday, Lavrov said he recently “had conversations with colleagues from a number of friendly states, including about the role that the Global South has been playing during those meetings.”
The Russian minister recalled that a number of alternative peace plans had previously been put forward: a Chinese initiative to settle the conflict between Moscow and Kiev that “puts the emphasis on the need to eradicate the reasons for the current situation in Europe”; a proposal by South Africa and other nations on the continent discussed at the Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg last summer; and a plan put forward by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
”I asked those who participated in this meeting in Davos how much attention had been paid to those initiatives by the ‘world majority,’ and they told me: ‘No attention at all was paid to them. These initiatives aren’t needed’,” Lavrov said.
The minister expressed the view that the approach by the US and its allies reveals their “complete disrespect and total disregard of any opinion, except their own.” … Full article
RT | January 30, 2024
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has rejected the notion of peace talks and a ceasefire in Ukraine, instead demanding that the bloc’s member states cough up “whatever it takes” for Kiev to defeat Moscow.
In an op-ed for France’s L’Obs magazine on Tuesday, Borrell urged EU leaders to reject “the temptations of conciliation” with Russia. “These ideas were wrong in 2022, and they remain wrong today,” he wrote, arguing that “we must not let them shape our policy towards Ukraine.”
It is unclear which calls for peace Borrell was referring to. In the EU, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has persistently called for a negotiated settlement, arguing that Kiev’s forces cannot win a military victory against their Russian opponents, and that the EU’s sanctions on Moscow hurt EU economies more than they hurt Russia’s.
Borrell, on the other hand, claimed that sanctions have “weakened Russia’s war machine,” despite admitting in a speech one day earlier that they have largely failed to achieve their goals.
“Instead of seeking compromise, we should remember the lessons we have learned since 2022 and redouble our efforts,” Borrell continued.
“We must shift the paradigm from supporting Ukraine for ‘as long as it takes’ to committing to doing ‘whatever it takes’ for Ukraine to win,” he declared, calling for Ukraine to be given “long range missiles and other advanced weapons systems,” including more air-defense batteries.
Ukraine’s demand for arms and ammunition can only be met if there is “a renaissance of the European defense industry,” Borrell wrote.
While Borrell boasted that defense spending across the EU has risen by 40% since 2014, this increase has not been matched by a corresponding increase in arms production. … Full article
By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D. | The Defender | January 24, 2024
Cameroon this week became the world’s first country to routinely vaccinate children against malaria, using a shot that’s only 30% effective and doesn’t stop transmission.
The country plans to give the vaccine — known as Mosquirix (RTS,S/AS01) — to about 250,000 children by the end of 2025. The GlaxoSmithKline-produced shot, recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), requires four doses and provides protection against severe illness caused by one type of malaria parasite.
Protection wanes over several months.
The first dose is given at age 6 months via an injection into the baby’s thigh. The second and third doses are given one and two months after the first injection, respectively. The fourth dose is given over a year later.
Dr. Paul Thomas — a retired pediatrician who grew up in Africa — said eradicating malaria was a “worthy goal” but that this vaccine was “sure to fail.”
“You cannot eliminate malaria with a vaccine that does not prevent transmission and is only 30% effective,” Thomas told The Defender. “Even Bill Gates — who loves vaccines and whose Gavi [the Vaccine Alliance] organization was behind the development of this vaccine — does not support this program.”
This vaccine will “clearly not protect or improve children’s health,” Thomas said. “[The rollout] is a futile and dangerous project that I feel strongly should be relegated to the scrap heap of failed ideas and programs.” … continue
Employers on notice as Tribunal decides employer is liable
BY REBEKAH BARNETT | JANUARY 30, 2024
The Department of Child Protection (DCP) must pay compensation and medical expenses to a youth worker who developed pericarditis after getting a Covid booster under a workplace vaccination directive, the South Australian Employment Tribunal has ruled.
In a decision handed down on 15 January 2024, the Tribunal determined that Daniel Shepherd’s employment was “a significant contributing cause” to his injury, which has since rendered him incapable of performing his role at work.
Shepherd got a Covid booster in February 2022 as a requirement for his ongoing employment with the DCP. The DCP admitted that Shepherd’s pericarditis had been caused by the booster, but denied responsibility for the injury, arguing that it did not arise from Shepherd’s employment, but from a lawful State Government Public Health Order (PHO), issued under the Emergency Management Act 2004 (EMA).
However, the Tribunal rejected the DCP’s argument, deciding that because the injury arose as a result of both the state-directed vaccination mandate and his employment, Mr Shepherd was entitled to workers compensation. … continue
By Brenda Baletti, Ph.D. | The Defender | January 29, 2024
Governments should endorse a global moratorium on mRNA vaccines until all questions about their safety have been thoroughly investigated, according to the authors of a new, peer-reviewed article on the COVID-19 vaccine trials and the global vaccination campaign published last week in Cureus, Journal of Medical Science.
Cureus is a web-based peer-reviewed open-access general medical journal using prepublication peer review.
The authors surveyed published research on the pharmaceutical companies’ vaccine trials and related adverse events. They also called for the COVID-19 vaccines to be removed immediately from the childhood immunization schedule. … continue
By Calvin Freiburger | Life Site News | January 29, 2024
More than 100 candidates for public office and nearly as many current officeholders across 35 states have publicly declared that they believe the COVID-19 vaccines should be “immediately discontinued” in the interest of public safety, according to a group of medical freedom advocates.
Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, an otolaryngology and sleep medicine specialist who is also president of the group Americans for Health Freedom (AHF), announced Sunday that the tally of public figures who have signed their COVID declaration is up to “106 candidates, 103 elected officials and 1 Surgeon General [Dr. Joseph Ladapo of Florida] from 35 states.”
“Many are also pledging not to take donations from Big Pharma,” she added. “Over 17,000 physicians stand behind them.” … continue
Synthetic assembly method posited in 2022 paper found in DEFUSE draft
BY JOHN LEAKE | COURAGEOUS DISCOURSE | JANUARY 29, 2024
There’s a great scene in the 1986 film Manhunter in which the protagonist—an FBI behavioral sciences profiler named Will Graham—correctly postulates that the fingerprints of a remarkably twisted serial killer will be found on the corneas of his female victim. The Bureau and the guys in the latent print lab are skeptical and think that Will is himself being a weirdo, and are then astonished to discover that he is right.
To put Will Graham’s character in Jungian terms: he is an excellent detective because he possesses a keen understanding of the Shadow—that is, the archaic, aggressive, lustful, power-hungry side of human nature that lurks in all of us. All humans are capable of evil, above all those who walk around with the smug, unexamined belief that they never would be.
I was reminded of this scene today as I read an extraordinary report by “Right to Know” investigative reporter, Emily Kopp, who obtained early drafts of the DEFUSE grant proposal, authored by EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak et al., and submitted to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2018.
I highly recommend reading Kopp’s report, titled US scientists proposed to make viruses with unique features of SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan. The following passage goes to the heart of the matter… continue
By Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D. | The Defender | January 29, 2024
Maryland-based Emergent BioSolutions this month signed a new contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to supply the U.S. military with its BioThrax anthrax vaccine over at least the next five years, Fierce Pharma reported.
The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, announced Jan. 11 by the company, has a maximum value of $235.8 million. According to Yahoo Finance, “The vaccine is intended for use by all branches of the United States military as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for anthrax disease.” … continue
Sputnik – 27.01.2024
Russia has helped India secure its energy needs as a growing nation, but the US is against it, with Washington occasionally pressuring New Delhi not to buy oil from Russia.
The US is trying to deprive India of the benefits of profitable purchases of Russian oil, while Moscow is continuously helping to secure its energy needs, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.
“For many years, Russia has been contributing to India’s energy security. Energy supplies, along with the implementation of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant construction project, are an important part of this work. By processing the black gold purchased from us at a favorable price, Indian companies are steadily increasing their own competitiveness in the global market. Washington and its satellites want to deprive our partners of this advantage,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday. … Full article
Armageddon Prose | January 27, 2024
“If you wound up with a different President who was opposed to climate crisis, I got news for you. No one politician anywhere in the world can undo what is happening now…
The only issue for all of us is not whether or not we can get or will get to a low carbon, no carbon economy globally. We will. The only question is, will we get there in time to meet the challenge of the scientists in order to avoid the worst consequences of this crisis. That is what is at stake.”
– John Kerry, ‘Special Presidential Envoy for Climate’
Mind you, John Kerry’s “climate office” hoovers up $4.3 million in taxpayer money every year (well, technically, it’s just piled onto the national debt, but in theory taxpayer money) in order to ferry him around the globe on private jets giving the finger to the American voter. … Full article
BY THOMAS BROOKE | REMIX NEWS | JANUARY 30, 2024
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been accused of intervening in the U.K.’s domestic politics by warning Chancellor Jeremy Hunt against tax cuts so that net zero targets can be achieved.
In the latest update to its economic forecasts, IMF analysts said that the U.K. Treasury should not be considering cuts to taxation — as hinted at recently by Hunt ahead of March’s budget statement — and should instead raise it in particular areas — all at a time when ordinary Brits continue to struggle with the cost of living.
“Preserving high-quality public services and undertaking critical public investments to boost growth and achieve the net zero targets, will imply higher spending needs over the medium term than are currently reflected in the government’s budget plans,” an IMF spokesperson said.
“Accommodating these needs… will already require generating additional high-quality fiscal savings, including on the tax side.
“The IMF has recommended strengthening carbon and property taxation, eliminating loopholes in wealth and income taxation, and reforming the pensions triple lock.
“It is in this context that staff advises against further tax cuts,” they added.
U.K. conservatives, however, hit back at the global financial institution and accused it of meddling in domestic affairs ahead of a general election expected later this year. … continue
National Audit Office is questioning sustainability of burning wood sources
By Jonathan Leake | The Telegraph | January 24, 2024
Britain’s biggest renewable power station cannot prove it is burning wood from sustainable sources despite receiving billions of pounds in taxpayer handouts, the Government’s audit body has said.
The Drax plant in Selby, North Yorkshire, receives subsidies to help generate 6pc of Britain’s electricity, which it achieves by burning 7m tonnes of wood a year.
Drax has claimed that the wood is sourced sustainably, although the National Audit Office (NAO) has sought to question this: “The Government cannot demonstrate that its current arrangements are adequate to give it confidence that industry is meeting sustainability standards.”
Gareth Davies, head of the watchdog, said: “If biomass is going to play a key role in the transition to net zero, the Government needs to be confident that the industry is meeting high sustainability standards.
“However, the Government has been unable to demonstrate its current assurances are adequate to provide confidence in this regard,” Davies added. … Full article
GWPF | January 29, 2024
A new briefing from the Global Warming Policy Foundation argues that nuclear fusion is unlikely to be a decarbonisation saviour, at least not in the short-to-medium term.
The author, retired nuclear researcher John Carr, explains that the technical hurdles to be overcome are still considerable:
“There is a litany of technical difficulties, from degradation of materials due to radiation damage, to lack of tritium fuel supply. Progress towards a working reactor has been dismal, and the problems may be insuperable.”
And Dr Carr says that even if fusion reactors can be brought online, they are unlikely to deliver cheap electricity.
“The costs of electricity from a fusion reactor are likely to exceed those from fission by a factor of ten or more. Fusion is simply not going to ride to politicians’ rescue.“
Dr Carr’s study focuses on “mainstream” fusion, such as the massive ITER reactor currently under construction in France, but he warns that alternative technologies being pursued in the private sector appear little more promising.
“We don’t know as much about private sector projects, but the technical hurdles appear to be just as high.”
The briefing is entitled Nuclear Fusion: Should we bother? And can be downloaded here.
RT | January 30, 2024
EU member states have reached an agreement that is expected to allow Brussels to transfer the income generated by Russia’s frozen central bank reserves to Kiev, according to the Belgian presidency of the EU Council.
“EU Ambassadors just agreed in principle on a proposal on the use of windfall profits related to immobilised assets to support Ukraine’s reconstruction,” the country’s representatives announced in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday. … continue
The EU plans to raise up to €10 billion ($10.8 billion) in investment to create a transport corridor to Central Asia through the South Caucasus and Türkiye that bypasses Russia, the European Commission announced on Monday at a forum devoted to developing the route.
According a statement released by the European Commission, Brussels is currently ready to allocate €2.97 billion for the purpose.
For additional funding, the European Investment Bank has reportedly signed memorandums of understanding totaling €1.47 billion with the governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, as well as the Development Bank of Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan regarding an investment pipeline worth €1.5 billion for projects already being prepared to develop transport connectivity in Central Asia.
The two-day Investors Forum for EU-Central Asia Transport Connectivity, which began in Brussels on Monday, is expected to address the investment that will be necessary to transform the Trans-Caspian transport corridor into “a cutting-edge, multimodal, and efficient route, connecting Europe and Central Asia.”
According to the statement, the bloc is urgently trying to find alternative trade routes between Europe and Asia that could bypass Russia.
Sputnik – 30.01.2024
More bad news for Ukraine – Japan and the UK fail to carry out preliminary agreements on supplying the struggling army with more artillery, as the silver lining at the end of the tunnel goes dim for the Kiev regime.
Efforts by the UK and Japan to replenish Ukraine’s artillery stocks have fallen through, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported, citing sources privy to the draft.
There are two core aspects to the issue – the technical mismatch of the British and the Japanese military blueprints, and the limited production capacity of the supposed Japanese contractor. … continue
MOSCOW – The West is beginning to understand that the “Ukraine project” is failing but can not stop assisting Kiev because of its economic benefit and fear of losing “prestige,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.
“The figures that are hidden in Ukraine, they speak a lot about how important it is for the West to prevent the ‘failure’ of their ‘Ukraine project’. Moreover, they already understand that the failure has already begun. But nevertheless they cannot stop. And not only for reasons of prestige … And also from the point of view of economic benefits,” Lavrov said during a meeting with foreign diplomats in Moscow.
Addressing the UN Security Council meeting on January 22, 2023, Lavrov emphasized that there are no interests – and there never were – in the conflict with Russia in favor of the Ukrainian people. There are only “the interests of the Anglo-Saxons, their henchmen and the criminal, rotten Kiev elite, which is tied to the West by mutual responsibility and which is afraid of being swept away the day after the end of the war.”
The Russian top diplomat pointed out that Moscow has never given up on a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict.
“We never gave up on the peaceful resolution, we are always ready to negotiate — negotiate not about how to keep the leadership of the Kiev regime in place but about overcoming the inheritance of a decade-long destructive looting of the country and violence against the people, removing the reasons for the tragic Ukrainian situation,” Lavrov said. However, the key factor hindering a resolution of the conflict in Ukraine is the continued support of the West, he added.
By Brad Pearce | The Libertarian Institute | January 30, 2024
In the time since the October 7 invasion of Israel there have been suggestions both from within Israel and from alternative media elsewhere that Israel used a version of a military protocol known as “The Hannibal Directive” that day, and perhaps has continued to operate upon that protocol since.
The “Hannibal Directive” is a military order which was created in 1986 in response to the kidnapping of an Israeli Defense Forces soldier in Lebanon. The premise of the original order is that in this circumstance, the IDF can prioritize stopping the kidnappers even if it endangers the hostage. The example that those within the Israeli government like to give is sniping the tires of the escape car knowing it may cause an accident which endangers the hostage, while ruling out an airstrike on the car. This highly controversial protocol was repealed in 2016 and replaced with an order whose text has remained secret. However, there is a growing body of evidence that on October 7 Israel issued a sort of “mass Hannibal Directive on steroids,” where an unknown number of Israeli civilians were killed by the IDF to prevent their becoming hostages. While there has been much discussion of this topic within Israel media, there is a near-total blackout on the topic in corporate media in the United States and United Kingdom. … continue
GAZA – Israeli occupation forces this evening stormed the courtyards of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, in the southern Strip, amid heavy shelling and shooting.
Israeli forces demanded at gunpoint displaced persons and PRCS teams to evacuate, said PRCS.
PRCS teams and the displaced are currently in severe danger, warned the Society in a post on the “X” platform.
The Society reported that forces destroyed the external wall of the PRCS headquarters and targeted with gunfire and smoke bombs the displaced people, its crews, and the front door of its building and the hospital, causing fire to break out in several makeshift tents where the displaced are taking shelter.
Earlier today, a woman was killed and others were injured in the ongoing Israeli targeting of the vicinity of Al-Amal Hospital. The occupation’s armored tanks shelled areas near the Al-Amal hospital and the PRCS headquarters in Khan Yunis, where thousands of displaced persons are seeking refuge, killing a woman and injuring nine others, reported the Society.
By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | January 29, 2024
Several human rights officials are warning that the US and other countries suspending support to the Palestinian UN aid agency will be catastrophic for the people of Gaza. The Israeli war and blockade placed Gaza on the brink of famine and widespread death. The US and several other countries cut aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after Israel alleged a small number of low-level staff members participated in the October 7 attack.
On Sunday, Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, posted on X, “Some states decided to defund UNRWA for the alleged actions of a small number of employees. This collectively punishes +2.2 million Palestinians. Famine was imminent. Famine is now inevitable.”
On Friday, Israel informed UNRWA that 12 of its staff members had participated in the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel. A senior Israeli official said, “A lot of the intelligence is a result of interrogations of militants who were arrested during the Oct. 7 attack.”
The allegations generated from intelligence obtained during interrogations of Palestinians could be problematic. Since October 7, Israel has engaged in widespread campaigns to arrest Palestinians. Once in detention, Palestinians are subject to well-documented sexual abuse, humiliation, beatings, and torture. The brutal conditions in Israeli prisons have killed some detainees.
UNRWA Secretary-General Philippe Lazzarini took immediate action by firing the accused staff members. Still, the Joe Biden administration elected to halt aid transfers to the organization. … Full article
MEMO | January 30, 2024
Two more Palestinian journalists were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip yesterday, raising the number of media professionals killed since 7 October to 122, officials and state media said.
Israeli warplanes targeted the home of journalist Isam Al-Lulu in the town of Al-Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip, Wafa news agency reported, adding that the attack also killed Al-Lulu’s wife and two sons.
Journalist Mohammed Abdul-Fattah Atallah from Al-Resala media office was also killed in an air strike on his home in the enclave, according to the Gaza Media Office. … Full article
Press TV – January 30, 2024
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has strongly condemned the assassination of Palestinian patients by Israeli forces in a hospital in the occupied West Bank, calling on the international community not to remain silent in the face of the “terrorist act.”
Nasser Kan’ani made the remarks in a statement on Tuesday, after a unit of undercover Israeli special forces fatally shot three young Palestinians inside Ibn Sina Hospital in the west of Jenin earlier in the day.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman went on to say that such brutal action can pave the way for normalization of “organized terrorism” in the world, urging the international community not to remain silent and condemn the Israeli regime’s “barbaric behavior.”
Kan’ani further noted it is regrettable that the Israeli regime’s supporters are silent in the face of such obvious crimes in medical centers and the continued activity of the Zionist genocide machine. … continue
By John Miles – Sputnik – 29.01.2024
Democrats in Washington stepped up their criticism of pro-Palestine activism Sunday as former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called for the FBI to investigate pro-Palestine organizers.
“For them [protesters] to call for a ceasefire is Mr. Putin’s message, Mr. Putin’s message,” the 83-year-old politician claimed in an interview on US television Sunday. “Make no mistake. This is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message.”
“I don’t think they’re plants,” Pelosi added, when asked to clarify her stance. “I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the FBI to investigate that.” […]
Senator Bernie Sanders has also engaged in the McCarthy-esque argument. “Who’s paying you?” the Vermont politician who aligns with the Democratic Party angrily asked when confronted by a former campaign chief over his vote to arm Ukrainian neo-Nazis. … Read full article
By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | January 28, 2024
The newly installed Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has uncovered over $200 million in corruption during his first four months in his post. Umerov’s predecessor was dismissed over corruption allegations.
Earlier this month, Umerov announced that an audit had uncovered $262 million in corruption. […]
Corruption has long plagued Kiev. In September, Former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov resigned as evidence of his illegal activity surfaced. Last year, Ukrainian President Zelensky dismissed every recruitment official over systematic corruption.
However, the White House has attempted to dismiss claims that Kiev is facing a corruption problem. The administration often asserts that allegations of Ukrainian illegality were Russian propaganda. American officials have denied that weapons and aid sent to Ukraine are being misused and rebuffed efforts to create an oversight office for Ukraine aid. – Full article
By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | January 29, 2024
President Joe Biden is working on a document that would promise military assistance to Ukraine for the next decade. The White House hopes to get Congressional approval and prevent Donald Trump from changing course in Ukraine if elected. With the commitment to Kiev, Biden is seeking President Zelensky to adopt a defensive position and abandon aspirations to retake territory.
The Washington Post reports that the White House is working with the State Department to compile a document that will pledge short and long-term military assistance to Ukraine. The administration will seek Congressional buy-in. A portion of the policy would be included in a $111 billion supplemental defense spending bill that includes $61 billion in military assistance for Ukraine.
“According to US officials, the American document will guarantee support for short-term military operations as well as build a future Ukrainian military force that can deter Russian aggression,” The Post explains, “ It will include specific promises and programs to help protect, reconstitute and expand Ukraine’s industrial and export base, and assist the country with political reforms needed for full integration into Western institutions.”
It continues, “Not incidentally, a US official said, the hope is that the long-term promise will also “future-proof” aid for Ukraine against the possibility that former president Trump wins his reelection bid.” … continue
RT | January 29, 2024
Hungary’s minister for European affairs, Janos Boka, has said that Budapest will not give in to “blackmail” by Brussels, following a report that claimed the EU would seek to sabotage the country’s economy if it does not unblock an aid package for Ukraine.
Ahead of a summit of EU leaders on Thursday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pledged to oppose the use of the bloc’s collective budget to funnel €50 billion ($54 billion) in aid to Ukraine.
Should Orban not lift the veto, Brussels could seek to sabotage Hungary’s economy by pulling funding to the EU member state, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing confidential plans drawn up by European leaders seen by the newspaper. … continue
The European Union’s offer to help improve infrastructure in Central Asia ultimately serves a “political purpose,” EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell declared.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has admitted that the EU efforts to invest in the transport infrastructure of the Central Asian states are aimed at enforcing anti-Russian sanctions.
In his speech at the Investors Forum for EU-Central Asia Transport Connectivity, Borrell noted that the European Union needs “full cooperation” from its partners in order for the sanctions imposed on Russia to be effective.
“We are following closely the trade between us, between Central Asia countries, with them and Russia. We try to analyze which are the mechanisms that make sanctions being circumvented. We have to increase our cooperation on that,” he stated.
“Yes, we have to build infrastructures. Yes, we have to increase the connectivity of our space,” he added. “But all that is at the service of a political purpose, which is [to] increase our partnership and to share a better future by increasing economic ties and also defending the same values.”
Meanwhile, the European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis has announced the intent of European and international institutions who attended the forum to commit some €10 billion “in support and investments towards sustainable transport connectivity in Central Asia,” according to a statement shared via the EC website.
The Cradle | January 29, 2024
Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) announced on 29 January that Chinese energy firms were the biggest buyers of Iraqi oil last month.
“Chinese companies were the largest in number among other international companies in purchasing Iraqi oil, with 12 companies out of 44 companies purchasing oil during the month of last December,” SOMO said.
“Indian companies came second with seven companies, South Korean companies came third with four companies, Turkish companies came third with three companies, and American, Italian, Japanese, UAE and Greek companies came fourth with two companies each. … continue
IMEMC | JANUARY 29, 2024
On Monday, the Israeli army conducted massive invasions and violent searches of homes in various parts of the occupied West Bank, destroyed property and infrastructure, killed five Palestinians, including a child, injured several others, and abducted at least 40.
A young man, Obeida Shahem was killed after a soldier shot him during protests after several military jeeps invaded Silwad town, east of the central West Bank city of Ramallah.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the Israeli soldiers killed a second Palestinian in Doura town, south of Hebron.
It said a young man, Mohannad Ismael Fasfous, 18, succumbed to serious gunshot wounds to the chest. He was among four wounded Palestinians, one of them, Mo’taz Mahmoud Tbeish, succumbed to serious gunshot wounds to the head earlier.
In Nablus, in the northern West Bank, the Israeli military vehicles invaded the city, in addition to Balata and Askar refugee camps, east of the city, before storming and ransacking many homes.
During the Askar refugee camp invasion, the soldiers abducted two young men, Mojahed Sheikh and Sa’id Anani.
Israeli military bulldozers destroyed streets and bulldozed and demolished structures in the Balata refugee camp, causing extensive damage to the building and the infrastructure. … Full article
By Ramzy Baroud | MEMO | January 29, 2024
Europe stayed silent when Israel began pounding the besieged Gaza Strip with the kind of ferocity that could only lead to a genocide. In fact, Europe remained silent when the word ‘genocide’ quickly replaced the earlier reference to the ‘Israel-Hamas war’ which starting on 7 October.
Those familiar with Europe’s political discourse and action regarding Israel and Palestine, must already realise that most European governments have always been on the side of Israel.
However, if this is entirely true, what can we make of the latest comments by the Foreign Policy Chief of the European Union, Josep Borrell, when he seemed to lash out at Israel on 23 January accusing it of “seeding hate for generations”?
During a joint press conference in Brussels with Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, and EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, Borell said that “Israel cannot have the veto right to the self-determination of the Palestinian people.”
But is Borrell being genuine? … continue
The Cradle | January 29, 2024
Several Israeli cabinet ministers and members of parliament, including Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, attended the Return to Gaza Conference in the occupied city of Jerusalem on 28 January.
The conference – organized by the extremist Nachala settler organization and Samaria Regional Council in the occupied West Bank – calls for the reestablishment of the 22 Israeli settlements in Gaza that were evacuated under the Disengagement Law in 2005, as well as the construction of six new settlements.
At the conference, a map was displayed showing where the evacuated settlements once stood and where the organizers wish to establish six new ones. The map includes settlements in Gaza City, north of the strip, and in the southern city of Khan Yunis – which have been ravaged by Israel’s assault on the enclave.
Over a million Palestinians have been displaced from north, central, and south Gaza and pushed towards the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, where they remain stranded. Israel is actively pursuing this policy, as thousands more were ordered to evacuate Khan Yunis on Sunday. … continue
MEMO | January 29, 2024
Palestinian-Canadian aid worker Mansour Shouman has been disappeared by Israeli occupation forces, eyewitnesses have said.
Mansour went missing last week as he tried to flee to Rafah after occupation forces surrounded the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza’s Khan Yunis.
Activists who post on his social media channels updated followers on his plight saying: “We have learnt that Mansour Shouman, a father, a son and humanitarian may have been abducted by the IDF [occupation forces], as reported by several eyewitness accounts.”
They added that he “was reportedly taken away while passing through a safe passage between Khan Younis and Rafah on Tuesday January 23rd, 2024.”
They called for “immediate action for Mansour’s safety & return to his family.” … continue
By Ekaterina Blinova – Sputnik – 29.01.2024
Having groundlessly accused Tehran of masterminding a recent deadly drone bombing on US personnel, President Joe Biden and his team are allegedly considering a covert strike on Iran or targeting Iranian officials, as per Bloomberg. How could the purported plan pan out for Washington? … continue
The Cradle | January 29, 2024
Much of the arsenal used by Hamas during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October was originally Israeli weapons, the New York Times (NYT) reported on 28 January.
“Israeli military and intelligence officials have concluded that a significant number of weapons used by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attacks and in the war in Gaza came from an unlikely source: the Israeli military itself,” the NYT wrote on Sunday.
According to recent intelligence, a large number of Hamas’ explosive weapons were recycled from undetonated Israeli bombs dropped on Gaza and repurposed for the resistance group’s use.
“Unexploded ordnance is a main source of explosives for Hamas,” Michael Cardash, former deputy head of the Israeli National Police Bomb Disposal Division, said.
“Hamas has been able to build many of its rockets and anti-tank weaponry out of the thousands of munitions that failed to detonate when Israel lobbed them into Gaza,” the NYT cites weapons experts, as well as US and Israeli intelligence officials, as saying.
The report also highlights that Hamas fighters are armed with weapons that have been stolen from Israeli military bases.
“Intelligence gathered during months of fighting revealed that, just as the Israeli authorities misjudged Hamas’s intentions before Oct. 7, they also underestimated its ability to obtain arms.” … continue
By Wesam Bahrani | Press TV | January 2024
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced a drone attack on Sunday deep inside the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, marking another significant development amid the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
What makes it a major development is the location of the target. The Israeli Zevulun naval facility near Haifa Port was struck as part of a “new phase” of operations against the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine as well as the illegal American occupation of Iraq and Syria.
A pattern is emerging of the Iraqi resistance attacking Zionist targets in the Mediterranean while the Yemeni military continues its operations against Zionist and US targets in the Red and Arabian seas.
In a statement on Sunday, the Iraqi resistance said it struck “four enemy targets”, which included three illegal American bases in Syria and “the Israeli Zevulun naval facility”.
In a sign of how quickly these operations are occurring, by Sunday afternoon the Iraqi resistance published another statement announcing an attack on another illegal US base in Erbil, northern Iraq.
The attack by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq near Haifa followed a successful operation against the Israeli port of Ashdod just two days before that, which followed two other operations against Haifa itself as well as drone attacks on the Israeli Karish gas rig.
All these military operations against the Zionist entity have one thing in common: strategically all these targets sit on the Mediterranean Sea. … continue
Press TV – January 29, 2024
The secretary general of the Iraqi Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada resistance group has censured US expression of deep grief over the loss of three American forces in an attack near the Jordan-Syria border while turning a blind eye to the Gaza carnage.
“While Americans have shown great sadness over the death of the three troops, they are unmoved by the murder and injury of 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza at the hands of Zionists with US-built munitions,” Abu Ala al-Walai wrote in a social media post.
He added that Washington’s contradictory behavior dispelled the myth about its self-proclaimed advocacy for human rights and exposed its criminal nature and ugly face to the entire world.
The hypocrisy has got to the point that the US has even lost international sympathy and solidarity, and it is now in isolation, the Iraqi anti-terror resistance figure said. … Full article
The breaking news that Ansar Allah (Houthi) fighters have fired on the USS Carney in the Red Sea today [Friday, January 26] underscores the shocking failure of the Biden Administration, which initiated airstrikes on the Houthis this month with no plan for “victory” beyond hoping that the mere presence of U.S. warships would intimidate them into surrendering.
Even a junior Pentagon or State Department analyst could have advised the Administration that, based on everything we understand about the Houthis and their successful defeat of Saudi Arabia (and, by proxy, DC), lobbing a few missiles in their general direction was not going to result in an ocean of white flags raising over Aden.
In other words, it was the kind of doomed operation that, had cooler (i.e. non-political) Pentagon heads prevailed, would never in a million years have been launched. There was simply no possibility of success and 100 percent probability of failure.
How did it all start? In response to the ongoing Israeli attack on Gaza (codified as “potential genocide” in today’s International Court for Justice ruling), Ansar Allah announced last month that they would not allow international shipping to service any commerce to or from Israeli ports. They judged the killing of more than 25,000 Palestinian civilians to be a “genocide” and cited obligations under international law to take steps to end the killing.
Whatever one’s view on the legality of the Houthi decision to interdict Israeli shipping in the Red Sea, the fact is by virtue of their unique geography they have the ability to do so. It is also a fact that the Houthis did not explicitly target U.S. or U.S.-flagged shipping unless it was headed to or from Israeli ports.
In short, it was not our fight. Until [Joe] Biden made it our fight.
On January 11, Biden announced that he was ordering the U.S. military to launch airstrikes against Yemen, but very soon it became clear that far from being intimidated into surrender, Biden’s move was just what the Houthis wanted: a David’s slingshot chance at Goliath.
As it turns out, the Bidens were a Goliath intent on sacrificing the U.S. standing in the world, military deterrence, U.S. economy, and even U.S. servicemembers in its blind support of Israel. … continue
Press TV – January 29, 2024
Iran has described continued war crimes committed by Israel against the oppressed Palestinian people as the cause of the current crisis gripping West Asia.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani made the remarks at a weekly press briefing on Monday, as Israel’s US-backed genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip entered its 115th day.
“The Gaza Strip has witnessed the most brutal attacks by the occupying regime… The crisis in the region is the outcome of the continuation of war crimes by the Zionist regime,” he added.
“Unfortunately, the international community and the [United Nations] Security Council failed to fulfill their duty in ending the crisis due to the United States’ unconstructive actions. Iran is interested in strengthening stability in the region.”
The top diplomat also echoed remarks made last week by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who had called on Muslim countries to cut off Israel’s vital arteries by severing their political and economic relations with the occupying regime.
Kan’ani said that the Islamic states have tools to cut off the vital arteries of the Zionist regime and that they should not wait for international organizations to take action because they are controlled by pro-Israel governments. … Full article
By Salman Rafi Sheikh – New Eastern outlook – 29.01.2024
By repeatedly targeting the Houthis in Yemen and pushing for an escalation in the Red Sea, the US is jumping into the Middle East with a military and strategic mindset. The objective is to create space for Washington – and its global allies – to push back against the recent gains, i.e., normalization between Iran and Saudi and Arab normalization with Syria more than a decade after the start of the so-called “Arab Spring”, that Russia and China have made. A wider war in the region will, in the US calculation at least, re-politicize regional fault lines that might allow Washington to reverse the larger normalization process. Considering the high stakes Washington has in developing a wider war in the region, it makes sense for both Russia and China, who largely have similar interests vis-à-vis normalization processes within the Middle East, to develop a joint approach. … continue
Sputnik – 29.01.2024
WASHINGTON – The United States will retaliate to a deadly drone attack on its al-Tanf military base on Syrian-Jordanian border at a time and in a manner of its choosing, but it is not seeking a wider conflict in the region, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Axios reported that President Joe Biden discussed a “significant military response” to the attack during a meeting with top US officials on Sunday.
“As for our response options, the President is working his way through that right now. He had a good meeting yesterday with the National Security Team,” Kirby told CNN. … continue
The US is so deeply mired in an unwinnable battle from the Levant to the Persian Gulf that only its adversaries in China, Russia, and Iran can bail it out.
By MK Bhadrakumar | The Cradle | January 29, 2024
Deterrence in defense is a military strategy where one power uses the threat of reprisal to preclude attack from an adversary, while maintaining at the same time the freedom of action and flexibility to respond to the full spectrum of challenges. In this realm, the Lebanese resistance, Hezbollah, is an outstanding example.
Hezbollah’s clarity of purpose in establishing and strictly maintaining ground rules that deter Israeli military aggression has set a high regional bar. Today, its West Asian allies have adopted similar strategies, which have multiplied in the context of the war in Gaza. … continue
Press TV – January 29, 2024
The Israeli regime has launched a deadly missile attack on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus as the occupying entity continues its brutal ground and air aggression against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Syrian media said the strikes targeted an area near the Sayeda Zeinab shrine in a southern suburb of Damascus on Monday, with initial reports putting the number of civilians killed at two in addition to material damage.
The Syrian Defense Ministry confirmed in a short statement the reports of the Israeli regime’s strikes and said, “In the Zionist regime’s aggression, some places in the south of Damascus were targeted, which led to the martyrdom and wounding of several civilians.”
Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that the airstrike was launched from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and targeted several locations in southern Damascus. … Full article
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- Poland’s new government moves to crack down on ‘hate speech’
- NATO’s Steadfast Defender Exercises Threaten Europe’s Security
- India’s Modi inaugurates Hindu temple on site of razed mosque ahead of elections
- The U.S. Steals Syrian Oil, and the Kurds Sell It to Israel at a Discount in Erbil
- For regional security, Zionist presence in Erbil and US occupation of Iraq must end
- The petition to have Hamas removed from the UK ‘terrorist’ list lives on
- Palestinian-American Teenager Killed in West Bank
- Israeli Colonizers Attack Shepherds, Kill Sheep, Near Hebron
- Israel: army displays artefacts stolen from Gaza in the Knesset
- Israel kills at least 190 people in Khan Younis in 24 hours
- French soldier serving in Israeli army calls for ‘massacre’ of Gazans
- Western Leaders Disregard Zelensky’s Murderous Attack on Donetsk
- Faced with looming defeat in Ukraine, NATO wants WW3 to prevent it
- Lawmakers Push Funding to Replace Weapons Used in Yemen
- Journalist Who Attacked Top Tennis Player For Refusing COVID Vaccine Dies Suddenly
- European Parliament votes to keep secret Pfizer contracts withheld from public
- School Closes Six Times In Three Months Because Of Net Zero Agenda
- Climate chiefs admitted net zero plan based on insufficient data, leading physicist says
- Texas Cold Weather Caused By Global Warming, Says Renewables Lobbyist
- Internal prison files suggest Epstein ‘suicide’ coverup
- Protesters block Israeli ship from port of Melbourne, call for ceasefire in Gaza
- US House Speaker Johnson accepted $95k from pro-Israel lobby
- Nasrallah: October 7 foreshadows the Liberation of all Palestine
- New Evidence of Mass Execution of Gazans by Israeli Forces
- Israel killed 94 university professors during Gaza war: Rights body
- Germany’s leading Jewish newspaper advocates genocide in Gaza
- Russia reacts to Germany’s support for Israel in genocide case
- Yemen parliament says US, UK, Israel ‘top terrorist’ entities
- US preparing for ‘sustained’ Yemen bombing campaign – WaPo
- UK to Spend $510Mln on Sea Viper Missile System Upgrade Following Houthi Attacks in Red Sea
- ‘Barbaric attack using Western arms’ – Moscow decries Ukrainian shelling of Donetsk
- Russia responds to IAEA nuclear plant ‘mines’ claim
- The Fall of the West
- Why Are Almost 40 Percent of US Nuclear Attack Subs Out of Service?
- Not Ready for the Big Leagues
- Israelis opposing war receiving ‘death threats,’ says Knesset member Ofer Cassif
- Israel bombs hospital in southern Gaza: Palestinian Red Crescent
- Access denials by Israel prevent humanitarian deliveries: UN
- Israeli forces desecrated at least 16 cemeteries in Gaza during their aggression: Report
- IRGC officials killed in Israeli attack on Damascus
- Complaint submitted against UK charity raising money for Israeli soldiers
- Italy Halts Arms Supplies to Israel After War in Gaza Began
- Macron Does a Putin, Ends Up Shooting Own Foot
- France’s and Germany’s Lack of Independence Forces Them to Continue Bankrolling Ukraine
- Letting Ukraine into NATO is ‘basis for World War Three’ – Slovakia
- Slovakia Stripped of Air Defense, Fighter Jets After Aiding Ukraine
- A ‘pro-Russian monster’ or a force for common sense? A new party is reshaping the German political landscape
- Britain Imported £3.5 Billion Of Electricity Last Year
- UK to become only G20 member without steel production
- Miliband will bring wholesale deindustrialisation
- Pentagon admits US drone ‘crash’
- Iran Successfully Launches Sorayya Satellite Into Orbit
- An Epoch of Great Changes Is upon Us
- No More Research on Cellphone Radiation and Human Health, Government Says
- How the WHO’s rules embedded secret, undemocratic “voting” (or not) for a moment such as this
- Masking, Lockdowns, Travel Restrictions, Vaccines Useless in Pandemic
- The long awaited debate of Covid science: Experts rebut expert opinions of BC’s College of Physicians and Surgeons
- That Old Canard of Isolationism
- Zelensky serves Western elites – exiled opposition leader
- Pyongyang’s Poseidon? North Korea Unveils New ‘Tsunami’ Underwater Nuclear Weapon
- US attacks on Yemen aimed at guarding Israel, not world: Ansarullah
- France may not accept ICJ ruling because it’s ‘morally wrong’ to charge Israel with genocide
- Netanyahu: Only greater Israel will exist from ‘river to the sea’
- Nightmares Haunt Israeli Commander: Hezbollah’s Radwan Force Would Invade Galilee!
- Settlers refuse return to Gaza envelope: ‘Hamas not yet deterred’
- Non-Aligned Movement leaders denounce Israel’s military campaign in Gaza
- PM Orbán: EU parliament wants to rob citizens of a choice on Ukraine funding
- Biggest war exercises of NATO to begin next week
- Dennis Kucinich Files to Run for the US House
- Donald Trump Pledges to Block the Introduction of a Central Bank Digital Currency in the US
- Trump is the Republican’s candidate but the “deep state” has its own plan, says Chronicles editor
- California Senator Says Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza Is ‘Dehumanizing Language’
- UK Backing Israel With Spy Planes Over Gaza – Report
- Israel kills Palestinian in Tulkarm, shoots child and blows up home
- Army Shoots Eight Palestinians, Abducts One, Near Ramallah
- Israel Rounds Up Thousands of Palestinians Without Charge or Access to a Lawyer
- Israel uses white phosphorus shells in airstrikes in southern Lebanon: Report
- Israeli army blows up university in Gaza after 70 days of converting it into a military barracks
- More than 390 educational institutes destroyed in Gaza
- Israeli reserve soldiers refuse to fight in Gaza
- US launches 4th round of missile strikes on Yemen in a week
- Netanyahu rebuffs Saudi normalization offer: Report
- Russian Forces Organize Air Patrols Along Separation Zone Between Israel, Syria
- Iraq’s prime minister wants immediate withdrawal of US forces
- Biden Warns Congress Lack of Ukraine Aid Could Lead to US Troops on Ground
- Electric cars suffer ‘unsustainable’ depreciation in second hand market
- Trade unions alarmed by EU’s industrial collapse
- Status Report From Another Would Be “Climate Leader,” The UK
- Jim Jordan Demands Answers After Biden Admin Caught Flagging “MAGA” And “Trump” To Track Political Opponents’ Financial Transactions
- The Case of Typhoid Mary
- mRNA vaccines lead to unwanted proteins – but what does it mean?
- US health agency hushed Covid vax myocarditis warning – media
- Billionaires Melinda Gates and MacKenzie Scott Invest $23 Million to Promote School-Based Health Centers
- Here’s The Real Bombshell of Andrew Bridgen’s Latest Excess Death Debate In Parliament
- EC Chief Ursula von der Leyen calls for public-private collaboration to fight 2024 election “disinformation”
- Australia: ABC staff threaten strike after Arab journalist sacked
- Israel’s Army Strikes Building Near Group of Journalists in Southern Gaza
- Republicans threaten to fire US federal workers if they oppose Israel genocide
- Jews and Antisemitism at Harvard University
- Qatari LNG tankers resume Red Sea passage
- Iran’s Strikes Into Pakistan ‘Sent Strong Message’ to US, Israel and Their Terror Proxies
- Iran slams US plots for post-war Gaza, asserts only Palestinians can decide their future
- When Shepherding Your Flock Becomes a Crime
- Palestinian used as human shield during Israeli raid on West Bank town: Report
- Palestinians killed in drone attack in Nablus
- Germany considers delivery of tank ammunition to Israel amid genocidal Gaza war
- Hungary proposes plan to end Ukraine conflict
- Britons Mock Warmongering Lecture by UK Defense Secretary
- Zelensky threatens Putin’s grandchildren
- Sickest Economy In Europe: Green Policies Corrode Business, Germany’s Economy Plummets
- Germany to Provide Over 7Bln Euros in Military Assistance to Ukraine Amid Economic Recession
- British oil giant Shell halts Red Sea shipments after US-UK strikes on Yemen
- US Troops Flee Syria After Attacks on Bases
- US elections falsified – Putin
- US aviation safety agency hiring people with ‘severe intellectual disability’
- Peer-Reviewed, Published: Autopsy Findings in Cases of Fatal COVID-19 Vaccine-Induced Myocarditis
- US seeks funds for new bioweapons projects from Clinton, Soros, Rockefeller Foundations: Russian MoD
- Who wants the next pandemic and why?
- Israel occupation forces drone killed ex-soldier who crossed into Gaza
- Israeli war on Gaza was a high-risk gamble that proved a failure: Analyst
- Euro-Med: Israeli army killed dozens of Gazans trying to receive aid
- How far will complicity reach in Israel’s genocidal offensive in Gaza?
- CIA Providing Israel with Intelligence on Top Hamas Officials
- Reviving ISIS: A US weapon against the Resistance Axis
- Bypassing the UK parliament; the royal prerogative; and bombing Yemen
- Linking Yemeni retaliatory strikes to Iran meant to conceal Israeli crimes in Gaza: UN envoy
- China Slams US, Issues Statement With Arab League Calling for Gaza Ceasefire
- Fact Check: Is Russia Really Getting Ready to Invade NATO?
- Taiwan: cross-strait brinkmanship to continue
- Philippines Plans South China Sea Escalation With US Support
- US, UK attacks on Yemen illegal, strategic mistake: Iran foreign minister
- Iran fires missiles at ‘terrorists and spies’ near US consulate
- Russia, Iran Foreign Ministers Discuss Middle East, US, UK Strikes on Yemen – Moscow
- 100 days of Israeli genocide in Gaza and 100 lies peddled by regime
- Two Palestinian youths shot in the head by Israel in Nablus
- US to send 1,500 troops to Syria and Iraq
- FBI Recruiting, Entrapping Autistic Children Terror Patsies for National Security
- Poland’s Morawiecki: ‘Now, I understand Brexit’
- Naked power and excessive force replaces the rule of law in Poland
- EU continues to attack Hungary but stays silent on brutal power grab in Poland, says Hungarian MEP
- NBC News Admits ‘Deep State’ Exists… To Save Us From Trump’s Return
- Trump a ‘threat’ to UK – ex-MI6 chief
- Climate Lockdowns Have Begun!
- Was 2023 REALLY the second hottest year since 1884?
- Updates On The March To The Great Green Energy Future
- Germany: Scholz’s ‘green’ government wants to buy 3 VIP helicopters for €200 million
- Scholz pushes fake Russian threats to distract Germans from economic problems
- Germany preparing for potential Russia-NATO war – Bild
- UK to send 20,000 troops to NATO exercise
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