2020-07-06: News Headlines

_____ (2020-07-06). Shield of the Union: How the Russian Navy Protected America in the Civil War. strategic-culture.org Strange things happen in civil wars: During the Russian Civil War in 1919, 13,000 U.S. troops were dispatched by President Woodrow Wilson to occupy the cities of Archangelsk in the Arctic and Vladivostok on the Pacific. | Half a century earlier, thousands of Imperial Russian Navy sailors and their officers flooded the cities of San Francisco and New York. But the circumstances were very different. They were there to defend the United States from foreign invasion — not to threaten it and they brilliantly succeeded in their tasks. | The incredible story is well told in "Friends in Peace and War: The Russian N…

Alan MacLeod (2020-07-06). In 'Russian Bounty' story, evidence-free claims from nameless spies became fact overnight. mronline.org Based upon a bombshell New York Times report (6/26/20), virtually the entire media landscape has been engulfed in the allegations that Russia is paying Taliban fighters bounties to kill U.S. soldiers.

_____ (2020-07-06). Russian Bounties: Here We Go Again. strategic-culture.org In case you've been living in a cave the last few weeks, here's latest news scoop riling the United States: Russia has been paying the Afghan Taliban bounties for American scalps. | How do we know? Because the New York Times tells us so, and the Times is not the kind of paper to make stuff up. But how does the Times know it's true? Because sources say so, sources so super-sensitive and high up that it can't reveal their names. All it can say according to in a front-page

Melvin Goodman (2020-07-06). Foreign Election Interference: Who is to Blame? counterpunch.org he New York Times has always taken the view that U.S. election interventions have "generally been aimed at helping non-authoritarian candidates" whereas Russia has "more often intervened to disrupt democracy or promote authoritarian rule." Too bad the Times could not interview Iran's Mohammed Mossadegh, Chile's Salvador Allende, or the Congo's Patrice Lumumba, who were targeted by the Central Intelligence Agency and replaced by brutal regimes that ruled for decades.

Stephen Lendman (2020-07-06). Provocative US Military Drills Near Chinese Waters. globalresearch.ca Imagine how the US and world community would react if Chinese, Russian, or Iranian warships conducted military exercises in the Gulf of Mexico or off America's east or west coasts. | Bipartisan hardliners in Washington and establishment media might consider this …

_____ (2020-07-06). Russia, Afghanistan And The Big Lie. popularresistance.org There is no end to the Russiagate fraud. All major charges have been disproved. No one was convicted of the dreaded "collusion" that was reported endlessly for the last four years. Damning information is now declassified and casts doubt on the veracity of the whole story. CrowdStrike, the Democratic National Committee cybersecurity firm, admitted under oath they had no proof of hacking by Russia or anyone else. Robert Mueller ended his two-year-long, multi-million-dollar investigation with nothing except convictions for process crimes. | Why then did the New York Times print a story with an unnamed intelligence a…

_____ (2020-07-06). Washington Threatens Military Action Against Iran After UN Meeting. popularresistance.org "The international community in general – and the UN Security Council in particular – are facing an important decision: do we maintain respect for the rule of law, or do we return to the law of the jungle by surrendering to the whims of an outlaw bully?" Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said of Washington's recent moves. Several delegates at the Security Council meeting criticized US President Donald Trump for pulling out of the Obama-era nuclear accord, challenging its ability to legally trigger the deal's sanctions "snapback". Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, called the US campaign "a maxim…

yenisafak (2020-07-06). Russian church leader says calls to turn Hagia Sophia into mosque threaten Christianity. yenisafak.com Patriarch Kirill, the leader of Russia's Orthodox Church, said on Monday that calls to convert Istanbul's Hagia Sophia into a mosque posed a threat to Christianity.Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has proposed restoring the mosque status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, an ancient building at the heart of both the Christian Byzantine and Muslim Ottoman empires and now one of Turkey's most visited monuments.The proposal has been criticised by several religious and political leaders, including the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch, spirtual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, as well as Greece, France an…

en.mehrnews (2020-07-06). Russia opposes launch of JCPOA's 'dispute resolution'. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jul. 06 (MNA) — A senior Russian diplomat said that the launch of dispute resolution mechanism in JCPOA is not a good idea.

_____ (2020-07-06). Netherlands 'Justice' Is Totally Corrupt: MH17 Case as Example. strategic-culture.org On Friday, July 3rd, the judge in the Netherlands court case against Russia as having fired a Buk missile that brought down the Malaysian Airlines plane that Ukrainian Air Traffic Control had instructed to fly over Ukraine's civil-war zone on 17 July 2014 ruled out any consideration of evidence from Russia.

_____ (2020-07-05). The Truth About Russian-Taliban Ties. popularresistance.org The New York Times' latest fake news provocation alleging that Russia's military-intelligence agency GRU solicited the Taliban (officially designated as "terrorists" by Moscow) to assassinate American soldiers in Afghanistan has brought a lot of attention to Moscow's ties with the militant group. The truth, however, is just as intriguing than the fake news about them. On the surface, it's surprising enough that Russia has diplomatic contacts with the Taliban considering that the latter grew out of the 1980s Mujahiddin that defeated the USSR. | Casual observers could be forgiven for thinking that Russia still hold…

RT (2020-07-05). Russian citizen arrested in Austria over shooting of 'Chechen refugee', sparking media speculation of 'contract killing'. rt.com A Russian citizen and a possible accomplice have been detained in Austria as part of a probe into the killing of their countryman, who was an asylum seeker. The case has sparked media speculation of a politically motivated murder. | The incident took place on Saturday evening in the parking lot in the small town of Gerasdorf, north of Vienna. | A 43-year-old male asylum seeker, believed to be originally from Russia's southern republic of Chechnya, was shot in the head. He died on site, according to police. | The suspected attacker fled the scene, sparking a massive manhunt involving dozens of police cars an…

RT (2020-07-05). Not every incident in Iran 'necessarily has something to do with us,' Israeli defense chief says after fire at Natanz nuclear site. rt.com Israel's defense minister has rebuffed speculation that Tel Aviv was behind the recent incident at an Iranian nuclear site. He reiterated, however, that Tehran's nuclear program is a threat to his country. | Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that he was "not sure" whether Iranians always follow safety protocols on their strategic sites. | Everyone can be suspicious of us all the time. But not every incident that happens in Iran necessarily has something to do with us. | Gantz reiterated, however, that "a nuclear Iran" is a threat to Israel. "We will do everything possible to prevent Iran from spreading terror…

Eric Zuesse (2020-07-05). Netherlands 'Justice' Is Totally Corrupt: The Malaysian MH17 Court Case against Russia. globalresearch.ca On Friday, July 3rd, the judge in the Netherlands court case against Russia as having fired a Buk missile that brought down the Malaysian Airlines plane that Ukrainian Air Traffic Control had instructed to fly over Ukraine's civil-war zone on …

_____ (2020-07-05). The Democrats' Disastrous, Militarist Climate Plan. popularresistance.org Don't believe for a minute that the Democrats climate plan even means what it says. Its solutions include disastrous scams like "biofuels" and nuclear energy. It proposes no fundamental change in lifestyle, no reduction in personal consumption, and no halt or reduction in eating meat (but renewable energy production on land used for livestock, so that the same land can mitigate the unacknowledged damage it is doing). It offers no proposed federal budget with any major moving of the money to where it's needed, and no plan to extract any resources from billionaires and corporate giants. | This plan has been critici…

_____ (2020-07-05). The Return Of The Anti-Antiwar Left. popularresistance.org In the writings of Dreyfuss, The New York Times' Michelle Goldberg, Mother Jones' David Corn, The Atlantic's Franklin Foer, New York magazine's resident dolt Jonathan Chait, and many more besides, we can see the emergence of the anti-anti-Cold War Left, there has also reemerged alongside it the very vocal and ravenously unscrupulous anti-antiwar Left. And it is on the issue of the Syrian war on which the anti-antiwar Left has coalesced, inexplicably arguing for the wholesale takeover of a secular police state by the very same Islamist radicals who, if given the chance, would turn around and immediately kill them…

yenisafak (2020-07-05). Iran records highest daily COVID-19 fatalities. yenisafak.com Iran on Sunday confirmed 163 more fatalities from coronavirus, the largest daily spike in the country since the outbreak, caused by the novel coronavirus, bringing the nationwide death toll to 11,571.A further of 2,560 people tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, raising the overall count to 240,438, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said.She added that 3,168 patients remain in critical condition in the country.Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions. The US, Brazil and Russia are currently the countries hardest hi…

en.mehrnews (2020-07-05). AEOI to build a shed with more advanced equipment in Natanz. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jul. 05 (MNA) — Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) will construct a large shed with more advanced and sophisticated equipment in Natanz Nuclear Facility.

_____ (2020-07-05). Russia's Political Stability Ensured While the West Sinks. strategic-culture.org Despite what American and European commentators may think, there really is a deep desire among people to vote for their own sovereignty. And that impulse was on full display last week with the announcement of the results of Russia's public vote to approve the changes to its constitution. | The final tally put the vote at 78% in favor with a 65% voter turnout for the referendum. These are the most sweeping changes to Russia's constitution since it was ratified back in 1993, which vested the President with immense power. | And while the final package of reforms differed in one important aspect from the original one…

Dave Lindorff (2020-07-04). Why the high dudgeon over alleged Russian bounties for Taliban slaying of US troops. nationofchange.org Certainly they want Trump to look bad for not loudly condemning the Russians for this alleged atrocity.

Anand Naidoo (2020-07-04). The Heat: Iran arms embargo. america.cgtn.com The United States threatens Iran with military force to stop the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons.

RT (2020-07-04). Dutch MH17 trial: Court to consider report from Russian missile producer that points to Ukraine as culprit. rt.com A Dutch court investigating the downing of MH17 has agreed to hear from Almaz-Antey, a Russian arms manufacturer, which argues that the prevailing Western narrative — that rebels in eastern Ukraine shot down the plane — is false. | The hearing in Badhoevedorp, Netherlands says it will explore alternative scenarios in the high-profile trial, in which four anti-Kiev fighters stand accused of using a Russian anti-aircraft missile to destroy the civilian plane, killing 283 passengers — mostly Dutch — and 15 crew on board. | Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lum…

RT (2020-07-04). Despite speculation, Russia and US are NOT negotiating spy swap for Paul Whelan — senior Russian diplomat. rt.com Moscow and Washington are not discussing a potential prisoner swap involving Paul Whelan – a former US marine, with multiple citizenships – convicted of espionage, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. | Immediately after Whelan's guilty verdict on June 15, attention turned to the possibility of a prisoner exchange. | "People have mentioned some form of secret consultation, negotiations on this issue. I declare, with all responsibility, that this kind of discussion is not being held with the US," Ryabkov said. | Last month, a Moscow court convicted Whelan of spying against Russia and sen…

RT (2020-07-04). Head of Russia's Women's Union thinks rainbow-colored ice cream is 'indirect propaganda' aimed at making kids think being gay's OK. rt.com Rainbow-colored ice cream may endanger children by encouraging them to favorably view the multi-striped Gay Pride flag, according to the head of the Union of Women of Russia. She wants more controls on LGBT imagery in advertising. | Ekaterina Lakhova was speaking at a video conference attended by President Vladimir Putin that focused on the recently approved amendments to the Russian constitution. One of the changes defines a marriage as a union between a man and a woman. | On June 25, the US Embassy in Moscow made headlines when it flew a large rainbow flag alongside the US' famous stars-and-stripes as a show…

Anatoly Karlin (2020-07-04). Massive Cringe as Apparatchiks Stuff the Ballot for Putin's Constitutional Amendments That Would Have Passed Anyway. anti-empire.com So the Russians Putin also gets the option of running for two more 6 year terms come 2024. | It also happens to be the case that this is

Newsclick (2020-07-04). Economically, US is a declining power, China is a rising power. peoplesdispatch.org In this episode of Signs of Our Time, Marxist intellectual Aijaz Ahmad and Vijay Prashad of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research talk about the state of US-China relations and rising tensions in East Asia. Prof. Ahmad analyses the decline in US economic and strategic power and talks about the implications of the China-Russia partnership…

yenisafak (2020-07-04). Coronavirus deaths surge beyond 10,000 in Russia. yenisafak.com Coronavirus-related deaths in Russia crossed the 10,000 mark on Saturday.With 168 fatalities registered over the last 24 hours, the overall count went up to 10,027, the country's emergency task force said in a daily report.The daily growth in coronavirus cases remains below 7,000 for the ninth consecutive day, since 6,632 people tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the overall count to 674,515.Recoveries surged by 8,986 to reach 446,879, raising the share of recovered people to 66,2%.Earlier this week, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the country will continue increasing polymerase chain reaction…

yenisafak (2020-07-04). Russia says China would be needed in expanded G7 summit. yenisafak.com Russia is not in talks with Washington about its potential role at an expanded Group of Seven summit later this year, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday, insisting that China should also be included in the event.His comments to TASS news agency countered those of John Sullivan, U.S. ambassador to Russia, who told RBC TV on Friday that Washington was "engaged with the Russian Foreign Ministry and with the other G7 governments about whether there is an appropriate role for Russia at the G7."U.S. President Donald Trump has raised the prospect of Russia's return to the group, which includes the w…

sputniknews (2020-07-04). Russian Cosmonaut Shares Photo of Brightest Comet in 7 Years. sputniknews.com C/2020 F3 is a retrograde comet discovered in March 2020 by the NEOWISE space telescope and named after it, believed to be the brightest comet in 7 years. It will make its closest approach to the Earth on 23 July, 2020.

_____ (2020-07-04). Why Russians Don't Want to Be Europeans. strategic-culture.org Pravda lied to us about the USSR, but it told the truth about the West. | — Contemporary Russian joke | In a

_____ (2020-07-04). The Malign Russians and Chinese Are Coming. strategic-culture.org A feeble Russiagate 2.0 attempt coincides with hypocritical attacks on the new Hong Kong national security law | Pepe ESCOBAR | In Russia, 78% have just Among these, we find the paramount Atlanticist obsession: the possibility that Vladimir Putin will be able to run for two more presidential terms. | Predictably, anguished cries of "Dictator! Dictator!" have been lobbed like deadly shells all across the Beltway. | They might even silence the echoes of the latest CIA press release to the New York Times, ba…

Richard D. Wolff (2020-07-03). Revolutionary Possibilities: Could U.S. Capitalism Turn Nationalist? counterpunch.org The Trump administration has turned sharply toward economic nationalism. It attacks and undermines the World Trade Organization, NATO, and the UN. Trump and other top officials explicitly insult many world leaders. He imposes high tariffs. Official statements renew and sustain Cold War-type attacks on China, Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran. Trump flirts openly with nationalists who

_____ (2020-07-03). Bounty-Hunter Hoax to Kill U.S.-Russia Relations. strategic-culture.org Relations between the United States and Russia have already been badly wounded during recent years, largely as a result of baseless allegations such as Moscow interfering in American elections, colluding with President Donald Trump, or regarding other international developments, from the downing of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine, to purported war crimes in Syria, to the alleged poisoning of British double-agent Sergei Skripal in England. | But the latest U.S. media effort claiming Russian military intelligence involvement in sponsoring Taliban assassins or "bounty hunters" to target American troops in Afghanis…

Eric Zuesse (2020-07-03). Countries Ranked on "Democracy" in 2020. dissidentvoice.org NATO and its supporters and member-nations are hiding the fact that the predominant belief in many of these nations is that they're dictatorships that merely pontificate 'democracy' to other nations. NATO, which is America's propagandistically 'pro-democracy' military alliance against Russia and against China, polled the people in 53 countries — some of which are in …

Lau Kin Chi (2020-07-03). Tokyo olympics and Fukushima 'revival'. mronline.org At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics a young man born on the day of Hiroshima nuclear bombing was selected to be the last torch bearer on the relay, to signify that Japan had stood up from nuclear ruin. In an attempt to replicate the 1964 Olympic theme, the Abe government has constructed the idea of a …

RT (2020-07-03). First Russian coronavirus vaccine volunteers report no adverse side-effects. Hopes now high for mass immunization in fall. rt.com There may finally be an end in sight. Two weeks after Russia's home-grown Covid-19 vaccine was administered to a group of volunteers, there have been no negative side-effects, raising hopes that mass immunization may be possible. | Read more | | "Volunteers from the first group…feel good and have no complaints about their health," said a Ministry of Defense press release. "Over the past two weeks, there have been no ser…

RT (2020-07-03). Star Wars? Russia's new S-500 has SPACE DEFENSE abilities, can destroy hypersonic weapons & satellites in low-Earth orbit. rt.com Russia's upcoming S-500 anti-missile system will be unrivaled by any other similar technology in the world, a top military official has said. It is also the first in a new class of space-defense weaponry. | The main task of the S-500 is neutralizing mid-range ballistic missiles, but it can also bring down the warheads of intercontinental missiles, as well as warplanes, drones and more, Sergey Surovkin, the commander of Russia's Aerospace Forces,

RT (2020-07-03). Moscow welcomes Fatah & Hamas unity pledge amid Israel's West Bank annexation plans. rt.com Russia welcomed on Friday a pledge of unity between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas against Israel's West Bank annexation plans. "One of the key issues that need to be resolved for our common efforts to succeed is to restore the Palestinian unity," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. | "We are satisfied with yesterday's press conference of Fatah and Hamas representatives, as they announced the decision to jointly defend interests of the Palestinian state based on the Palestine Liberation Organization platform," he noted. | Russia hopes that all Arab representatives will actively back this trend,…

Andrew McCormick (2020-07-03). A Russian Bounty Is Bad. What's Shocking and Outrageous Is the War. thenation.com A Russian Bounty Is Bad. What's Shocking and Outrageous Is the War.

WSWS (2020-07-03). The New York Times fabricates Russian murder plot. wsws.org The Washington frenzy against Russia has been triggered by a lying propaganda campaign initiated by the New York Times.

_____ (2020-07-03). World Rebukes US Over Iran. popularresistance.org Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday sought to reassert America's waning influence on the world stage, challenging the U.N. Security Council to extend a U.N. arms embargo that is due to expire in October. Instead, America's top diplomat received a scolding from friends and foes alike in the 15-nation council, which roundly criticized Washington for withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal two years ago without a clear plan to limit Tehran's nuclear activities. | On a day when the European Union pointedly excluded the United States from a "safe list" of countries permitted to travel to the 27-member bloc, the c…

yenisafak (2020-07-03). Russia reports less than 7,000 cases for 8th day in row. yenisafak.com Russia on Friday reported less than 7,000 new coronavirus for the eight consecutive day.A total of 6,718 cases were reported over the past 24 hours, raising the tally to 667,883, with active cases making up about a third of the total, the country's emergency task force said in a daily report.The virus claimed 176 lives over the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 9,859 while recoveries went up by 8,915 to reach 437,893, it added.Earlier this week, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the country will continue increasing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests despite declining case numbers, to "identify new…

yenisafak (2020-07-03). Russia to reopen embassy in Libya. yenisafak.com Russia has decided to reopen its embassy in Libya, the Interfax news agency cited Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Friday.Lavrov said a ceasefire in the Libyan conflict, proposed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi alongside Libya's eastern commander Khalifa Haftar in Cairo on June 6, fitted into decisions taken at an international conference in Berlin regarding the situation in the North African country.Lavrov was speaking at the start of a meeting with the speaker of Libya's pro-Haftar eastern parliament, Aguila Saleh.

yenisafak (2020-07-03). Top Iran security body says cause of incident at Natanz nuclear site identified. yenisafak.com Iran's top security body said on Friday the cause of an incident and fire at the Natanz nuclear site had been determined and will be announced later, semi-official news agency Tasnim reported."Investigations by the relevant agencies have accurately determined the cause of the incident… at the Natanz nuclear complex," spokesman Keyvan Khosravi said, according to Tasnim. "Due to security considerations, the cause and manner of the incident will be announced at a convenient time."Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation initially reported an "incident" had occurred early on Thursday at Natanz. It later published a photo…

Lee Camp (2020-07-02). Lee Camp: How the Media Used the Bounty Scandal to Stop the 'Threat' of Peace in Afghanistan. mintpressnews.com This is not a column defending Donald Trump. | Across my career, I have said more positive words about the scolex family of intestinal tapeworms than I have said about Donald Trump. (Scolex have been shown to read more.) | No, this is a column about context. When The New York Times reports anonymous sources from the intelligence community say Russia paid Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers, context is very important. | Some of that context is that

_____ (2020-07-02). US Media Used To Stop The 'Threat' Of Peace. popularresistance.org This is not a column defending Donald Trump. | Across my career I have said more positive words about the scolex family of intestinal tapeworms than I have said about Donald Trump. (Scolex have been shown to read more.) | No, this is a column about context. When The New York Times reports anonymous sources from the intelligence community say Russia paid Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers, context is very important. | Some of that context is that Mike Pompeo said, "I was the CIA director — We lied, we cheated, we stole. We had entire training courses." So we know for certain that U.S. intelligence ag…

_____ (2020-07-02). Anti-Russia War Fever Spreads On Capitol Hill. popularresistance.org Groups of congressional Republicans and Democrats have visited the White House over the past two days for briefings on allegations that the Russian military intelligence agency GRU offered bounties to Taliban fighters who killed American soldiers in Afghanistan. | They have emerged bristling with demands for retaliation, with one Republican senator declaring, "I want to hear their plan for Taliban and GRU agents in body bags"—in other words, for military action by the United States against Russia, possessor of the world's second largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. | The "Russian bounties" campaign is a fa…

RT (2020-07-02). Couriers from rivaling food delivery companies stage mass brawl in Moscow (VIDEO). rt.com Couriers from two of Russia's major food delivery companies, sporting their branded uniforms, were filmed engaging in a fight in Moscow… apparently to the disappointment of hungry customers waiting for their orders. | The 'battle' took place in a McDonald's parking lot and involved the employees of Delivery Club in green and Yandex.Eda in yellow. | –í –ú–æ—Å–∫–≤–µ —Å–µ–≥–æ–¥–Ω—è –ø—Ä–æ–∏–∑&ndas…

RT (2020-07-02). Mueller report redactions unlikely to be revealed before presidential election after Supreme Court agrees to hear Trump appeal. rt.com The US Supreme Court agreed to hear the Trump administration's bid to keep parts of prosecutor Robert Mueller's report on alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election redacted, likely ensuring the material won't sway 2020 votes. | Tuesday's Supreme Court decision hands congressional Democrats at least a temporary defeat in their effort to force disclosure of secrets that they hope can be used to damage President Donald Trump politically. The case won't be heard until the court's next term, which begins in October, so it won't likely be decided until after the November 3 election. | The Democrat-controlled US…

RT (2020-07-02). Russia's chief of general staff discusses European security & arms control with NATO military committee head. rt.com Russia's Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov has discussed security in Europe and arms control during a telephone call with Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Sir Stuart Peach, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. | They discussed European security and arms control, the ministry said on Thursday. Also on the agenda were "the issues of the fight against the spread of Covid-19, and measures to prevent incidents during military activity," the statement added. | This was the second contact between Gerasimov and Peach. In late November, they met in Baku, Azerbaijan, to discuss the prevention of incid…