Russia fills coffers with gold & adds $2.5 billion to forex reserves during coronavirus peak
rt.com | 2020-05-14
Russian gold and foreign currency holdings have hit $566 billion as of May 1, according to the latest data released by the country's central bank. International funds grew by $2.53 billion, or 0.4 percent, last month. | The regulator said that currency holdings decreased by 0.8 percent in April, to $440 billion. At the same time, the value of monetary gold rose by 5.2 percent, amounting to over $126 billion. | The state's international reserves are highly liquid foreign assets comprising stocks of monetary gold, foreign currencies and Special Drawing Right (SDR) assets, which are at the disposal of the Central…
rt.com/business/488550-russia-gold-reserves-coronavirus/

A World Health Crisis? So Ramp Up Confrontation and Deploy Nuclear Bombers against China, Russia, Iran and North Korea
Brian Cloughley | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-14
The Pentagon is excelling itself in its enthusiastic march to war. There are countless thousands suffering from the effects of the Covid-19 virus, including hundreds of members of the U.S. armed services, while the world's despots are relishing their freedom …
globalresearch.ca/world-health-crisis-ramp-up-confrontation-deploy-nuclear-bombers/5712909

More than 70 servicemen who helped to tackle coronavirus in Italy return to Russia
rt.com | 2020-05-14
Il-76 planes belonging to the Russian Aerospace Forces have brought home more than 70 Russian servicemen who helped to tackle the novel coronavirus outbreak in Italy, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday. "Starting from May 8, more than 70 servicemen and 19 pieces of special-purpose military equipment, have been brought from… the Verona Villafranca Airport," it said. | A total of 10 Russian planes have already arrived from Verona. From March 22 to May 7, Russian specialists working with Italian military personnel fully disinfected care homes for elderly people and other facilities in around 100 comm…
rt.com/newsline/488631-servicemen-russia-return-italy/

Former Georgian President Saakashvili becomes advisor to the Ukrainian government
wsws.org | 2020-05-14
The political return of the vociferously anti-Russian and cartoonish Saakashvilli to Ukraine is a sign of a profound crisis of the Ukrainian oligarchy.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/05/14/ukra-m14.html

Russian aviation industry gets government lifeline to stay afloat during pandemic-related flight restrictions
rt.com | 2020-05-14
The Russian government has allocated 23.4 billion rubles ($316 million) to support domestic airlines, which are suffering tremendous losses as a result of coronavirus-related restrictions. | The subsidies were unveiled on the government website early Thursday following Russian President Vladimir Putin's call to support the troubled sector. | According to the document, air carriers will have to use at least 60 percent of the funds on wages for their employees. The rest can be spent on leasing payments (30 percent at most), payments for aircraft parking, as well as other operating activities. The companies will…
rt.com/business/488599-russia-airlines-support-coronavirus/

Fearsome storm ravages Siberian city, ripping roofs from buildings, tossing cars down street (VIDEOS)
rt.com | 2020-05-14
A powerful storm has battered the Siberian city of Chita, raining roof tiles and lumber down upon the city streets while tossing cars and mobile garages alike down the road with terrifying ease. At least three people were injured. | The Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that winds of between 25 and 30 meters per second upended trees and crushed multiple vehicles with a barrage of flying debris, with the tempest eventually causing a citywide power outage. | Eyewitness footage shows the sheer ferocity of the wind as beleaguered residents sought shelter wherever they could. | | Thankfully no-one was c…
rt.com/russia/488602-fearsome-storm-ravages-siberia-city/

Investigation opened after photos of HITLER & HIMMLER uploaded to Russian online WWII victory celebration
rt.com | 2020-05-14
Russia's Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal case after pictures of Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler were found on the website Immortal Regiment Online, celebrating Soviet veterans of World War II. | Every May 9, Russia celebrates the triumph over Nazism in the Second World War with fireworks, ceremonies, and parties. Another tradition, introduced in 2012, is the 'Immortal Regiment', a parade of ordinary Russian people who walk in the memory of their forefathers who fought in the war, often holding a sign with their picture. Originat…
rt.com/russia/488654-hitler-himmler-immortal-regiment-photo/

Beginning of the End of German Support for NATO
MISH | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-14
Make way for the Greens and the Leftists. They do not want US nuclear weapons on German soil. |

| Three Consequences | Germany | …
globalresearch.ca/end-german-support-nato/5712911

Nuclear Weapons: Stopping the War That No One Wants (livestream)
The Commonwealth Club | indybay.org | 2020-05-14
Online via livestream…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/11/18832982.php

Germany Split on Banning US Nuclear Weapons on Its Territory
Lucas Leiroz de Almeida | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-14
NATO has a "sharing" treaty with Berlin where it delivers to Germany dozens of nuclear warheads, which are deposited in Buchel, at Ramstein Air Force Base. | The presence of these weapons in German territory has been controversial for a long …
globalresearch.ca/germany-split-banning-us-nuclear-weapons-territory/5712928

Gunpoint diplomacy: US to 'snap back' all UN sanctions on Iran if expiring arms embargo isn't renewed
rt.com | 2020-05-14
Two years after spectacularly exiting the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the US has threatened to trigger a return of all UN sanctions

Brian Hook threatens to trigger return of UN sanctions on Iran
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-14
TEHRAN, May 14 (MNA)

Michael McClure: Beat Poet and Playwright Helped Thaw Cold War American Culture
Jonah Raskin | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-14
"I put mammalian consciousness into Beat literature. I expressed the biological aspect of humans. At the Six Gallery, I read about the slaughter of whales."

A Close Look at Efforts of Pro-NATO Propaganda Units Behind the Scenes of South Front Censorship
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-13
Pro-NATO propaganda units have broadcasted a new episode of their censorship excuse series. | On May 5th, the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), published a new piece designed to label SouthFront as official Russian propaganda. ( LINK…
globalresearch.ca/efforts-pro-nato-propaganda-units-south-front-censorship/5712741

Russia Ready to Assist the US in the Taliban Peace Agreement
telesurenglish.net | 2020-05-13
Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country is ready to help the United States and the Taliban overcome difficulties in implementing the Doha Peace Agreement. | RELATED: | At Least 14 People Killed in Afghanistan Hospital Attack | …
telesurenglish.net/news/Russia-Ready-to-Assist-the-US-in-the-Taliban-Peace-Agreement-20200513-0001.html

Russia Ready to Assist the US in the Taliban Peace Agreement
telesurenglish.net | 2020-05-13
Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country is ready to help the United States and the Taliban overcome difficulties in implementing the Doha Peace Agreement. | RELATED: | At Least 14 People Killed in Afghanistan Hospital Attack | …
telesurenglish.net/news/Russia-Ready-to-Assist-the-US-in-the-Taliban-Peace-Agreement-20200513-0001.html

US: Twitter Announces Work-From-Home Strategy Extension
telesurenglish.net | 2020-05-13
Twitter chief executive officer Jack Dorsey announced on May 12 Company allowed employees to work indefinitely from home. | RELATED: | Russia Ready to Assist the US in the Taliban Peace Agreement | "We were uniquely positioned to respond quickly and allow folks to work from home given our emphasis on decentralization and supporting a distributed workforce capable of working from anywhere," Twitter representatives stated. | The social network administration was one of the first t…
telesurenglish.net/news/twitter-announces-home-working-strategy-extension–20200513-0012.html

Only Three Countries Control Over 80% of Global Diamond Reserves
Justinas Baltrusaitis | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-13
Only three countries are in control of more than three quarters of the world's diamond reserves globally. Data gathered and calculated by Learnbonds.com indicates that Russia, Congo, and Botswana combined account for at least 80.6% of the world diamond reserves….
globalresearch.ca/only-three-countries-control-over-80-global-diamond-reserves/5712816

Chechen leader Kadyrov BANNED from Instagram AGAIN, loses account with 1.4 MILLION followers
rt.com | 2020-05-13
For many in the 21st century, losing social media access would be a devastating blow. However, for Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, it's just another day. For the third time in three years, Kadyrov has been banned from Instagram. | According to Instagram's owners, Facebook, the ban was in relation to US sanctions against the Chechen leader. | Since 2017, Kadyrov has been sanctioned by the United States under the terms of the Magnitsky Act. Signed by President Barack Obama in 2012, and later expanded in 2016, the Magnitsky Act enables the US government to sanction foreign government officials implicated in allege…
rt.com/russia/488533-kadyrov-banned-instagram-again/

Russia, S Arabia agree to stabilize oil market
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-13
TEHRAN, May 13 (MNA)

Russia may start talks with Iran in future over selling armament to country: Kabulov
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-13
TEHRAN, May 13 (MNA)

Russia BANS usage of ventilators suspected of causing deadly fires killing six Covid-19 patients
rt.com | 2020-05-13
Russia has indefinitely suspended the usage of Aventa-M artificial lung ventilation machines. The recently produced ventilators are suspected of causing two deadly fires in the past week, killing six people. | The ventilators, made in Ural's Instrument Making Plant, have been manufactured since April 1, 2020, in response to Russia's ever-growing number of Covid-19 patients. | According to Russia's health watchdog Roszdravnadzor, the ventilators were used to provide medical care to patients at the S. I. Spasokukotsky City Clinical Hospital in Moscow and St. George's Hospital in St. Petersburg, where fires occur…
rt.com/russia/488552-russia-ban-ventilator-fire/

'What are those white crosses?' Badges to 'scare off' coronavirus cause dress-code debate in Russian parliament
rt.com | 2020-05-13
With the Russian State Duma in session despite the Covid-19 pandemic, some MPs went beyond the obligatory face masks and rubber gloves, leaving their colleagues and citizens baffled by unusual means to fend off the virus. | "For several sessions in row, I've seen MPs wearing white crosses on their chests," Igor Molyakov of the Fair Russia party said on Wednesday, asking his colleagues to clarify the unusual accessory. State Duma deputies usually wear an official badge, which is shaped as a Russian tricolor. | Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin stepped up to educate his colleague and dispel the "white cross" mystery fo…
rt.com/russia/488587-covid-badge-state-duma/

Merkel cites 'hard evidence' she was victim of 'Russian hackers', says it doesn't help mend ties with Moscow
rt.com | 2020-05-13
Germany's chancellor has lamented what she claimed was irrefutable proof of a Russian "hacking attack" on her Bundestag office but said she is working day and night to fix relations with Moscow despite the "painful" incident. | Chancellor Angela Merkel accused Russia of carrying out an online intrusion into her Bundestag constituency office back in 2015, as she spoke to MPs on Wednesday. | "I can honestly say that it hurts me," she said of the alleged hack attack, claiming…
rt.com/news/488541-merkel-russia-hacking-evidence/

Flynn 'unmasking' documents show involvement of senior Obama administration officials, including Joe Biden
rt.com | 2020-05-13
A newly published list of US officials who were interested in National Security Agency (NSA) records on Trump adviser Michael Flynn includes President Barack Obama's chief of staff, as well as Vice President Joe Biden. | Biden is listed as requesting the unmasking on January 12, 2017, the same day the Washington Post published a story claiming that Flynn had misreported his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, based on leaked NSA information. | Flynn unmasking documents f… by
rt.com/usa/488579-flynn-unmasking-obama-administration/

Break or retirement? Russia's 'Angelina Jolie' of curling Anastasia Bryzgalova puts competitive career on hold
rt.com | 2020-05-13
Russian curling stunner Anastasia Bryzgalova who became a viral hit during the 2018 PyeongChang Games, drawing comparisons with Angelina Jolie, has put her competitive career on ice. | The 27-year-old curling star who is taking a break from competitions will focus on training mixed-double duets serving as a second team coach in the Russian national team. | READ MORE: Bryzgalova or Jolie? Hottest Russian curler takes up role of Tomb Raider (PHOTOS) | "I wanted to take a break right after the Winter O…
rt.com/sport/488576-curling-anastasia-bryzgalova-career-break/

Iran to give harsh response to any military escapade by US: Envoy
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-13
TEHRAN, May 13 (MNA)

Conflict between Russia, Iran over Syria psychological war: Nasrallah
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-13
TEHRAN, May 13 (MNA)

'Example of infodemic': Moscow slams FT & NYT reports that put Russian Covid-19 death toll 70 percent higher than official data
rt.com | 2020-05-13
Russia's Foreign Ministry will send letters to the Financial Times and New York Times demanding they retract reports which claim the actual death toll from Covid-19 in the country is much higher than the official figures. | The editors-in-chief of those outlets will be handed the letters on Thursday through the Russian embassies in the UK and the US, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing. | Moscow will also address the UN, OSCE and UNESCO on the situation, as the reports in the FT and NYT represent "an example of that very 'infodemic' that the UN General Secretary, Antonio Guterres, urged…
rt.com/russia/488577-coronavirus-death-toll-russia-nyt/

Holding Healthcare Hostage: The Making of a Ventilator Crisis
Tony Cartalucci | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-13
When coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began dominating headlines, it was accompanied by fears of potential shortages of critical medical equipment including personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators. | Nations like Russia had large stockpiles of affordable ventilators on hand

'What are those white crosses?': Badges to 'scare off' coronavirus cause dress-code debate in Russian parliament
rt.com | 2020-05-13
With the Russian State Duma in session despite the Covid-19 pandemic, some MPs went beyond the obligatory face masks and rubber gloves, leaving their colleagues and citizens baffled by unusual means to fend off the virus. | "For several sessions in row, I've seen MPs wearing white crosses on their chests," Igor Molyakov of the Fair Russia party said on Wednesday, asking his colleagues to clarify the unusual accessory. State Duma deputies usually wear an official badge, which is shaped as a Russian tricolor. | Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin stepped up to educate his colleague and dispel the "white cross" mystery fo…
rt.com/russia/488587-covid-badge-state-duma/

Russian Arctic sea route shipping exceeds 10 million tons in Q1
rt.com | 2020-05-13
Freight transportation via Russia's Northern Sea Route (NSR) grew 4.5 percent year-on-year from January to April, exceeding 10 million tons, the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transportation, Rosmorrechflot, said. | The agency's representative, Nikolai Monko, earlier told TASS that the growth of freight transportation would be moderate in 2020. | According to Rosmorrechflot, 31.5 million tons were transported in 2019, up from 21.1 million tons in the previous year. Transit carriages rose by almost 41.9 percent last year to 697,200 tons. Cargo handling was mainly conducted at the ports of Sabetta (20.5 m…
rt.com/business/488519-northern-sea-route-freight/

NASA quietly buys additional Soyuz seat as SpaceX prepares for historic manned space flight
rt.com | 2020-05-13
NASA has inked a deal with Russia's space agency Roscosmos to allow a US astronaut to travel into space aboard a Soyuz rocket in the fall, even as SpaceX gears up for its first manned launch later this month. | "A contract was signed today on providing a seat for a US astronaut onboard a Soyuz MS manned spaceship to be launched to the ISS in the autumn of 2020," Roscosmos told Tass on Tuesday. | Though the agency refused to disclose the sum Washington paid for the seat, calling it "a commercial secret," NASA spokespeople told reporters the deal was valued at $90.25 million, which includes the cost of the fligh…
rt.com/news/488494-nasa-roscosmos-deal-soyuz/

Lavrov slams US' baseless accusations against Russia, China amid coronavirus pandemic
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-13
TEHRAN, May 13 (MNA)

US anti-ISIS chief says his goal in Syria is to create a 'quagmire' for Russia, not battle terrorism
rt.com | 2020-05-13
James Jeffrey, the US special envoy for Syria and defeating the Islamic State, has made quite a frank confession of how he sees his job and that of US troops there: to create a new Vietnam or Afghanistan for Moscow. | "Our military presence, while small, is important for overall calculations. So we urge the Congress, the American people, the president to keep these forces on, but again this isn't Afghanistan, this isn't Vietnam, this isn't a quagmire," Jeffrey said on Tuesday, during a video event hosted by the Hudson Institute. | My job is to make it a quagmire for the Russians. | Asked why the American publ…
rt.com/news/488491-us-syria-russia-quagmire/

Ulyanov reacts to US allegations of Moscow's support for JCPOA
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-13
TEHRAN, May 13 (MNA)

Iran, Russia stress coop. in fight against coronavirus
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-13
TEHRAN, May 13 (MNA)

Patriotic Vaccines: The Divided Coronavirus Cause
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-13
When it comes to the politics of medicine and disease, the United States has always attempted to steal the limelight, while adding the now faded colouring of universal human welfare. In 1965, Washington pledged financial and technical support to the international effort to eradicate smallpox, though the initiative had initially been spurred by the Soviet…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/13/patriotic-vaccines-the-divided-coronavirus-cause/

Nuclear Weapons: Stopping the War That No One Wants (livestream)
The Commonwealth Club | indybay.org | 2020-05-13
Online via livestream…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/11/18832982.php

Pity they don't work against Covid-19: US drives RECORD global spending on atomic weapons, report shows
rt.com | 2020-05-13
The world's nuclear powers are increasingly pouring money into their atomic arsenals, a new report shows, with Washington leading the way. The US has also exited a major arms control treaty and deployed a new tactical weapon. | Nine nuclear-armed nations spent an estimated $72.9 billion on their 13,000-plus atomic weapons in 2019, according to a new paper by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear We…
rt.com/news/488581-nuclear-weapons-spending-spree/

The US military is hell-bent on trying to overpower China
Vijay Prashad | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-05-12
On April 1, Admiral Philip Davidson–the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command–told the US Congress that he would like $20 billion to create a robust military cordon that runs from California to Japan and down the Pacific Rim of Asia. His proposal–titled "Regain the Advantage"–pointed to the "renewed threat we face from Great Power Competition. … Without a valid and convincing conventional deterrent, China and Russia will be emboldened to take ac…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/05/12/the-us-military-is-hell-bent-on-trying-to-overpower-china/

Strained China-US Relations. Renewed Trade War Ahead? New Cold War?
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-12
Sino/US relations are more dismal than at any time since Nixon's 1972 meeting with Mao during his weeklong visit to China. | Are bilateral differences irreconcilable? Is the breach between both countries too great to restore more cooperative relations? | Is a …
globalresearch.ca/sino-us-relations-renewed-trade-war-ahead-new-cold-war/5712600

NATO Chief Urges Berlin to 'Protect Peace and Freedom' by Stationing US Nukes
sputniknews.com | 2020-05-12
The appeal comes as leaders from the SPD, Germany's second-largest party and member of Chancellor Merkel's governing coalition, demand the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from the country's airbases.
sputniknews.com/military/202005121079280137-nato-chief-urges-berlin-to-protect-peace-and-freedom-by-stationing-us-nukes/

The 'See-No-Evil' Phase of Russiagate
Andrey Areshev | strategic-culture.org | 2020-05-12
The media spinfest following the collapse of this conspiracy theory suggests our troubled republic simply cannot accept its errors, leaving us unable to learn from them. | Patrick LAWRENCE | The long, destructive conspiracy theory known as Russiagate, the mother of them all, at last evaporates into thin air. No shred of it remains as of back-to-back disclosures over the past couple of weeks. Where does this leave us? What is to come of this momentous turn of events? | Among those not inclined toward hysteria or copious quaffs of Democratic Party Kool–Aid, it has long been a question how those who concocted…
strategic-culture.org/news/2020/05/12/the-see-no-evil-phase-of-russiagate/

Six big lies you have been told about 'Russiagate'
rt.com | 2020-05-12
Russian 'meddling' in the 2016 US presidential election has become an article of faith, not just among Democrats but many Republicans as well, thanks to the endless repetition of vague talking points, none of which hold water. | It all began with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) claiming in June 2016 that Russia hacked their computers, after documents were published revealing the party's rigging of the primaries. This was followed by Hillary Clinton accusing her rival for the presidency Donald Trump that he…
rt.com/usa/488488-biggest-lies-of-russiagate/

Russia becomes world's second hardest-hit country with 230,000+ confirmed Covid-19 cases, surpassing Spain & UK
rt.com | 2020-05-12
With 10,899 more coronavirus infections reported across the country on Tuesday morning, Russia now trails only the United States in terms of people known to have contracted Covid-19. | Nationwide, 232,243 confirmed cases have been discovered since the start of the outbreak, national disease response officials said. This figure is higher than those recorded by Spanish (227,436), British (224,332) and Italian (219,814) authorities. | However, it's worth noting that Russia has over twice the population of those countries and has carried out far more tests. | At the same time, Russia has had considerably fewer dea…
rt.com/russia/488419-russia-second-world-cases-coronavirus/

Obama's halo is slipping, and that's a good thing
Peter Bolton | thecanary.co | 2020-05-12
One of the major chapters in the so-called 'Russiagate' saga recently came to an end, sparking the beginning of what has become known by some as 'Obamagate'. US president Donald Trump has been reacting in his usual manner. But on this occasion, as with many others, Bar…
thecanary.co/us/us-analysis/2020/05/12/obamas-halo-is-slipping-and-thats-a-good-thing/

Arms embargo on Iran to expire on Oct.: Ulyanov
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-12
TEHRAN, May 12 (MNA)

Russian court keeps historian of Stalinist massacres jailed amid COVID-19 outbreak
wsws.org | 2020-05-12
The vendetta against Dmitriev is part of the campaign by Russia's state and ruling oligarchy to suppress all efforts to uncover the truth about the crimes of Stalinism.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/05/12/russ-m12.html

Fire erupts at Saint Petersburg Covid-19 hospital after ventilator malfunctions, 5 dead
rt.com | 2020-05-12
Five patients have perished in a major fire at a Saint Petersburg hospital on Tuesday morning with 150 people evacuated to safety. The facility has been designated to treat patients with coronavirus. | Emergency services were alerted to the blaze at the Saint George Hospital in Russia's second city at around 6: 30am local time. Plumes of smokes were observed coming from the building's sixth floor. | Officials told local media that there were five fatalities. Citing sources, local reporters said the victims were receiving artificial lung ventilation. | The institution was repurposed to care for coronavirus su…
rt.com/russia/488411-st-petersburg-coronavirus-hospital-fire/