2020-07-30: News Headlines

Ajamu Baraka (2020-07-30). No to the New Cold war with China. mronline.org The African radical, anti-imperialist, internationalist movement, sees the Chinese state and the Chinese people much differently than the U.S. state and its ruling class.

WSWS (2020-07-30). Corporate press promotes Susan Rice as Biden running mate. wsws.org The former Obama national security advisor is identified with illegal wars, drone missile assassinations and an aggressive posture towards both Russia and China.

yenisafak (2020-07-30). Russian, Turkish diplomats to discuss Libya in Moscow. yenisafak.com Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Alexey Zaytsev, deputy spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that the delegations from the two countries will discuss "different aspects of the Libyan crisis," including disposition of the warring sides at the moment of the cease-fire declaration.Zaytsev recalled that the previous rounds of consultations on Libya were held in Turkey — In Istanbul in June and in Ankara in July.Asked about violations of arms embargo on Libya by Russia, he said "allegations are groundless" and that countries accusing Russia "directly involved in arms supplies to the Libyan warring…

sputniknews (2020-07-30). Trump Asks Why US Should Protect a Germany that 'Pays Russia Billions of Dollars for Energy'. sputniknews.com The Pentagon pressed forward with plans to withdraw nearly 12,000 personnel from Germany on Wednesday, with some of the troops to be redeployed to other European NATO nations while others are sent home. At the moment, there are about 36,000 US troops stationed in the Central European country. American troops have been on German soil since 1945.

_____ (2020-07-30). Foreign Interference in Elections: Is it Real or Just Political Noise? strategic-culture.org A recently concluded British Parliamentary inquiry has determined that Russia may have The Parliament's Intelligence and Security…

_____ (2020-07-30). CIA Fabricated Russiagate 'Evidence', Says Former NSA Tech Chief. strategic-culture.org Bill Binney has now laid out, in this speech, the evidence that he wants to present in court against Barack Obama's CIA, that it defrauded Americans to believe in "Russiagate" (the allegation that Russia 'hacked' the computers of Hillary Clinton and Democratic Party officials and fed that information to Wikileaks and other organizations). Binney cites evidence, which, if true, conclusively proves that Russiagate was actually created fraudulently by the CIA's extensive evidence-tampering, which subsequently became covered-up by the Special Counsel Robert Mueller, in his investigations for the Democratic Party's fi…

Kenneth Surin (2020-07-29). The UK's Russia Report on the "Londongrad Laundromat" counterpunch.org The UK parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), drawn from MPs and peers of all parties, last week published its report on possible Russian interference in UK politics. The report's release had been delayed by 9 months after it had been blocked by Boris "BoJo" Johnson in the run-up to the December 2019 general election.

The Canary (2020-07-29). US officials claim Russia is behind the spread of virus disinformation. thecanary.co US officials say Russian intelligence services are using a trio of English-language websites to spread disinformation about the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.The officials alleged Russian operatives have acted in seeking to exploit a crisis the US is struggling to contain ahead of the presidential election in November.Two Russians who have held senior roles in Moscow's military intelligence service known as the GRU have been identified as responsible for the effort to reach American and western audiences, according to the US government officials, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.The i…

RT (2020-07-29). Bye Bye Benjamin! Russia & China speed up de-dollarization process: most trade no longer conducted in greenbacks. rt.com After years of talking about abandoning the US dollar, Russia and China are doing it for real. In the first quarter of 2020, the share of the dollar in trade between the countries fell below 50 percent for the first time.

RT (2020-07-29). Lukashenko 'demands answers' as KGB chief briefs him on 'Russian mercenaries' detained in Belarus. rt.com Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has ordered a thorough probe into what he called an "emergency situation" as security chief confirmed arrests of 32 suspected 'Wagner' private military recruits in a televised briefing. | Lukashenko on Wednesday told the head of the Belarusian National Security Service, the KGB, to launch a transparent and unbiased probe into the incident, which the media has been quick to tie to the upcoming presidential election. | "If these are indeed Russian citizens… we must immediately contact the Russian officials and demand that they explain what is going on," Lukashenko said…

RT (2020-07-29). Veteran diplomat becomes new US envoy for Arctic as Washington seeks greater role in region. rt.com The Trump administration on Wednesday named a special envoy for the Arctic, filling a post that had been vacant for more than three years. Washington is seeking a greater role in the region, trying to blunt growing Russian and Chinese influence there. | The State Department's appointment of veteran career diplomat Jim DeHart to be US coordinator for the Arctic came just a week after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed enhanced US engagement in the Arctic, speaking during a visit to Denmark, AP reported. | The US opened a consulate in the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland earlier this year as part…

RT (2020-07-29). Blow to go! Latest Russian plan to eliminate drink-driving — installing alcohol locks on all newly produced cars. rt.com Get ready for a new sensation: breathing into your car before it starts. In a bid to make roads safer, Russia's is planning to introduce 'alcolocks,' which require a driver to prove their sobriety before a vehicle moves. | According to Moscow business daily Kommersant, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is developing a plan to introduce alcohol locks en-masse. The technology, known as an 'ignition interlock device,' is already set to become mandatory in the European Union from 2022. | The locks work by making it impossible to start a car when alcohol above a certain threshold is detected in the driver's breath…

William Astore (2020-07-29). Killing Democracy in America. counterpunch.org The phrase "thinking about the unthinkable" has always been associated with the unthinkable cataclysm of a nuclear war, and rightly so. Lately, though, I've been pondering another kind of unthinkable scenario, nearly as nightmarish (at least for a democracy) as a thermonuclear Armageddon, but one that's been rolling out in far slower motion: that America's

C.J. Hopkins (2020-07-29). The White Black Nationalist Color Revolution. dissidentvoice.org So, the White Black Nationalist Color Revolution ("made possible in part by GloboCap") appears to be going extremely well. According to Foreign Policy magazine, the Trump regime is clinging to power, but it's only a matter of time until the identitarian moderate rebels drive the Putin-backed fascists out of office and restore democracy to the …

WSWS (2020-07-29). Russian pseudo-left provides neo-Stalinist justification for vendetta against historian Yuri Dmitriev. wsws.org Boris Kagarlitsky's website Rabkor has published a commentary justifying the frame-up of Dmitriev, who has done valuable work in exposing Stalin's crimes.

yenisafak (2020-07-29). Thirty-three Russians arrested in Belarus. yenisafak.com Thirty-three Russian nationals allegedly linked to the private military company Wagner were arrested in Belarus last night, the country's state news agency Belta said on Wednesday.According to Belta, the law enforcement bodies followed the suspects from the moment of their arrival in Belarus.It said a total of 200 Wagner mercenaries came to the country "to destabilize the situation during the presidential election campaign". The Investigative Committee is probing the detained individuals.Belarus will hold its presidential election on Aug. 9, and earlier, acting President Alexander Lukashenko voiced concern over p…

yenisafak (2020-07-29). Merkel ally: US decision to withdraw troops from Germany weakens NATO. yenisafak.com A senior member of Chancellor Angel Merkel's conservatives has criticised a U.S. decision to withdraw about 12,000 troops from Germany and move its European headquarters to Belgium."Instead of strengthening NATO, the troop withdrawal will weaken the alliance," Norbert Roettgen, chairman of the German parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper."The effectiveness of the U.S. military is not increased but reduced, especially with a view to Russia and ongoing military conflicts in the Middle East," Roettgen added.The U.S. military said on Wednesday it would move its headquarters out…

sputniknews (2020-07-29). 'It Does Damage': Assembly of World's Largest Fusion Reactor Begins Despite 'Huge Problems' – Expert. sputniknews.com Assembly of the world's largest nuclear fusion reactor started at the Cadarache facility in southern France, despite the fact that the the reactor is not radioactive waste-free and costs huge sums of money that could instead be used to address urgent needs in the world, Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste watchdog with Beyond Nuclear, told Sputnik.

sputniknews (2020-07-29). India Celebrates Induction of Five French Rafale Jets to Its Depleting Air Fleet. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): The Indian Air Force has a shortage of around 10 squadrons of combat aircraft after phasing out its MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighter planes. The induction of French Rafale jets on Wednesday was the first to take place in two decades – last time, India bought 270 Su-30 MKI from Russia in staggered contracts in the late 1990s.

Mehr News Agency (2020-07-29). VIDEO: Two trains collide in Russia. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jul. 29 (MNA) — Two cargo trains collided with each other in Russia on Wed. due to the falling sleep of driver of one of the trains, injuring two people and causing trains to derail.

RT (2020-07-28). Anyone for a 'CoronaBurger?' Crimean fast-food PR ploy falls flat as Covid fails to whet the appetite. rt.com Who says that a pandemic can't have a silver lining? In Sevastopol, on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, a fast food restaurant called 'Covid-Burger' has popped up, hoping to cash in on the hype. | Local entrepreneurs developed a brand new burger concept inspired by the Coronavirus epidemic – but customers aren't so interested. | The burger joint's cashier, who spoke to a journalist from the local edition of national daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, explained the restaurant is the same as before – just rebranded. | "The name is just a trick, we are fighting the coronavirus, before that we just sold burgers," the c…

RT (2020-07-28). Taking from crooks to give to the old? Russian finance ministry to seize unexplained bank funds & transfer them to pension pot. rt.com It's not quite Robin Hood, but it's close. Russia's Ministry of Finance is planning to transfer the confiscated suspicious savings of Russian citizens to the country's pension fund, according to newly proposed amendments. | So, if you can't prove where your money came from, it's going to the old folks. | As things stand, illegally held assets can be seized by the state. If the proposed new amendments pass through parliament, any money taken because the owner can't prove the source of the moolah will be sent to the Russian Pension Fund (PFR), which is responsible for payments to pensioners and other forms of so…

RT (2020-07-28). 'Why don't we focus on now?' Pressed over Trump campaign spying, Obama adviser 'recreates' Hillary's infamous Benghazi moment. rt.com Former Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett was grilled on the Steele Dossier and the FBI spying on the Trump campaign live on TV, but tried to dodge the topic altogether, earning comparisons to Hillary Clinton from conservatives. | Confronted by a Fox Business anchor with mounting

RT (2020-07-28). Russian envoy appreciates Kuchma's work on Donbass settlement as ex-Ukrainian president leaves contact group. rt.com Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma did a lot to make sure that Kiev implements its obligations under the Minsk agreements, Russian presidential envoy to the Contact Group on the settlement in Donbass, Boris Gryzlov, has said. He was commenting Tuesday on Kuchma's decision to step down as head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Minsk talks on the conflict in eastern Ukraine. | "The approval of additional measures to monitor the ceasefire in Donbass, which was the last of the Contact Group's moves that involved Kuchma, is an important step in the right direction," Gryzlov said. He noted that Kuchma "took a…

Thierry Meyssan (2020-07-28). Jean Castex's first three errors. thealtworld.com

| Without a doubt, Jean Castex is a brilliant senior civil servant. But that does not make him the right man to become Prime Minister of France. He has not thought about how to restore the social pact in the face of financial globalisation and is satisfied with measures to buy social peace in the short term. As soon as he was appointed, he showed that he did not want to reform the political class, that he was content to fight the pandemic by doing as others did, and that he supported the Maastrichian project conceived during the Cold War. | The French administration works very well on its own. In this s…

WSWS (2020-07-28). Mass protests continue in Russian Far East. wsws.org Demonstrators expressed anger over social inequality and the federal government's infringement of regional authorities and laws.

_____ (2020-07-28). US — China Conflict Puts Allies In Crossfire. popularresistance.org US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is calling for "an alliance of democracies" to confront China. It amounts to a new Cold War in which nations are being forced to side either with Washington or Beijing. | It's a classic tyrannical power-play by Washington. Such polarized demarcation of the planet as designated by Washington is impossible in a global economy which is highly integrated, from consumer and financial markets to supply chains. | A news report this week once again underscores how even the American military is reliant on China for supplies of rare earth metals used in its weapon systems. | Indeed, the en…

yenisafak (2020-07-28). Nukes guarantee N. Korea's safety, future: Kim Jong-un. yenisafak.com North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has said the country's nuclear capabilities will permanently guarantee its "national security and future," according to media reports on Tuesday.His remarks came at an event in the capital Pyongyang on Monday night to mark the 67th anniversary of the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.They were a clear signal that North Korea has no intention of giving up its nuclear weapons and views them as an essential means of deterrence."Thanks to our reliable and effective self-defense war deterrence, there will no longer be war on this land and our na…

_____ (2020-07-28). Iran's Future Will Be Prosperous: A 150-Year Fight for Sovereignty From Oil to Nuclear Energy. strategic-culture.org This is Part 3 of the series "Follow the Trail of Blood and Oil".

RT (2020-07-27). US police are wearing imaginary CGI armor to appease Putin, suggests acclaimed Russiagate huckster. rt.com Commentary on Donald Trump's decision to send federal police to riot-stricken cities has taken a creative turn: according to a celebrated Russiagate disciple, Putin has "ordered" US cops to wear cyberpunk armor that doesn't exist. | Cheri Jacobus, a popular #NeverTrump Twitter pundit and Russian collusion peddler, has joined the growing chorus of outrage over the use of federal law enforcement to help maintain order in Portland, Oregon, which has seen two months of increasingly violent demonstrations. | While most critics have focused on allegations that federal officers are too militarized and use excessive f…

RT (2020-07-27). Internet searches for Tanzania increase by 65 TIMES after Russian govt announces flights will soon begin. rt.com Russian interest in the African nation of Tanzania has soared after Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova named it as one of three countries to resume flights with Russia from August 1. | According to Yandex, the most popular Russian search engine, the number of people searching for the tropical East African country shot through the roof. | "On Friday, July 24, interest in Tanzania on Yandex Search soared," Yandex said. "The number of requests about the country increased 65 times, compared to Thursday." | Yandex users were most interested in Tanzania's location, how the country looks, flight times, reviews fr…

RT (2020-07-27). American pilots can't get enough of the Black Sea! Russian jet intercepts US spy plane for 3rd time in less than a week (VIDEO). rt.com Everyone knows the Black Sea is an attractive place in summer, but this year American pilots seem especially drawn to its shores. For the third time since Thursday, Russia's Air Force has intercepted a US spy plane in the area. | A Russian Su-27 jet was scrambled to escort an American – -8–ê Poseidon surveillance aircraft above the Black Sea after it was spotted once again scanning Russia's southern borders, some 8,000 kilometers away from home. | The radar picked up "an aerial target" approaching the border over the neutral waters on Monday, Russia's Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

RT (2020-07-27). Russian reporter whose arm was broken by cop at St Petersburg polling station fined $35 for disobedience. rt.com A Russian reporter has been fined for not following the instruction of a police officer who broke his arm at a polling station, during last month's vote on far-reaching amendments to Russia's constitution. | David Frenkel, a correspondent for the alternative media outlet Mediazona, was fined 2,500 rubles ($35) by Saint Petersburg's Dzerzhinsky District Court, for a combination of interfering with the work of the election commission and for not obeying the command of a law enforcement officer. | On June 30, Frenkel was restrained by a policeman and an election observer during the country's plebiscite on propose…

_____ (2020-07-27). With Cold War Language, Pompeo Defines Plan For 'Totalitarian' China. popularresistance.org In a major foreign policy speech on U.S.-China relations, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cast ratcheted-up tensions with Beijing in Cold War terms, announcing that Washington would seek to change Beijing's behavior and stopping just short of calling for regime change. | He described Beijing — and Chinese President Xi Jinping — as a generational threat to "free democracies around the world," a totalitarian and hegemonic regime that must not be treated like a normal nation. Riffing on President Ronald Reagan's famous "trust but verify" dictum about the Soviet Union, he said that when it comes to Beijing…

Stephen Lendman (2020-07-27). Militarizing Space: US Plans What Russia and Most Other Countries Oppose. globalresearch.ca Longstanding US plans call for waging wars from space. | In 1985, the US Space Command (USSPACECOM) was created. | In December 2018, Trump ordered it be made a unified combatant command for war under the US Strategic Command, saying: | "Pursuant to …

Karl Grossman (2020-07-27). Ohio nuclear scandal 2020. nationofchange.org The U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI last week charged the speaker of the Ohio House of Representative and four others in a scheme to use ratepayers money to keep two decrepit nuclear power plants operating.

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-07-27). Yankee McYeehaw: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix. thealtworld.com Hi I'm Yankee McYeehaw. My government assistance during the pandemic consists of $1200 and a dick pic while congress passes a $740 billion annual military budget and trillions are funneled to giant corporations, so obviously I'm very very angry at Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. | ~ | Opposing the most destructive behaviors of the most powerful government on earth should not be an unusual and controversial position. | ~ | Arguments for western interventionism always remind me of the beginning of Edward Scissorhands when he's trying to move around the suburban house and make things right but he keeps destroying eve…

yenisafak (2020-07-27). Russia says it thwarted planned mass shooting attack in Moscow. yenisafak.com Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday it had thwarted a planned militant attack in Moscow and shot dead an unnamed man it said was plotting a mass shooting in a crowded public place.State TV channel Rossiya 24 showed a picture of the man, who the FSB said was from a Central Asian country, lying face down dead on the ground with a Kalashnikov assault rifle he had apparently been using nearby.The FSB said he had opened fire on them when they had tried to arrest him on the outskirts of Moscow and that they had shot him dead.State TV showed a sports bag nearby containing three hand grenades.The FSB s…

yenisafak (2020-07-27). Germany rejects US proposal for Russia's return to G7. yenisafak.com Germany on Monday opposed Russia's return to the G7 group of nations, amid US President Donald Trump's proposal to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to the group's next summit.German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas underlined that Russia's readmission to the group would not be possible if Moscow remains reluctant to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine."The reason behind Russia's suspension was the annexation of Crimea and its intervention in eastern Ukraine. As long as we don't have a solution here, I don't see a chance for this," Maas said in an interview with German daily General Anzeiger.Trump has repeat…