Daily Archives: September 18, 2020

2020-09-18: News Headlines

John Laforge (2020-09-18). Germany: US Nuclear Weapons Shamed in Nationwide Debate. counterpunch.org We need a broad public debate … about the sense and nonsense of nuclear deterrence. —Rolf Mutzenich, German Social Democratic Party Leader Public criticism of the US nuclear weapons deployed in Germany bloomed into a vigorous nationwide debate this past spring and summer focused on the controversial scheme known diplomatically as "nuclear sharing" or "nuclear

yenisafak (2020-09-18). Afghanistan, Tajikistan agree to enhance ties. yenisafak.com Afghanistan and Tajikistan, the former Soviet republic in Central Asia, have agreed to enhance security, political and cultural ties, said an official statement on Friday.During his trip to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, Afganistan's Acting Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar met Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said. It added the president of Tajikistan expressed support for the Afghan peace process and assured Kabul of Dushanbe's support.The two sides also discussed the implementation of infrastructure projects, trade and transit development, energy transfer and the fi…

RT (2020-09-17). A habitable base in space? Russia's Space Agency believes humans could one day live on Callisto, Jupiter's second largest moon. rt.com Russian space agency, Roscosmos, considers Callisto, Jupiter's second-largest moon, as possible location for a habitable base in space. That's according to Alexander Bloshenko, the corporation's director for long-term programs. | "In terms of places where it is most suitable to set up a base for humans, Callisto is the third best, after the Moon and Mars," said Bloshenko. | In particular, Roscosmos is attracted to the natural satellite's surface of ice, which could have a subsurface ocean of liquid water. Moreover, seismic activity detected on the moon of Jupiter means that it must have a hot central core. | D…

RT (2020-09-17). 'No evidence': EU Parliament using Navalny's alleged poisoning to push for sanctions & halt Nord Stream project — German MEP. rt.com The EU Parliament's call for a probe into the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, along with new sanctions against Moscow, is just a manifestation of the establishment's "anti-Russian sentiment." | That's according to Maximilian Krah, a member of the European Parliament from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The "obscure" case involving the alleged poisoning of Navalny has been used by the EU establishment to launch another round of Moscow-bashing, he says. | The lawmaker explained that his fellow MEPs had not, in fact, seen a single piece of evidence suggesting the Russian go…

RT (2020-09-17). Big Brother for sale: Moscow woman sues city authorities after 'buying data' on her own movements from dark web. rt.com A Moscow woman is suing the city's mayor's office and demanding that it stops using a facial recognition system on the Russian capital's streets, after she bought data on the dark web about her own movements. | Anna Kuznetsova filed a lawsuit for 100,000 rubles ($1,300) of compensation, after she found a person selling data online and anonymously ordered information about herself. Kuznetsova works for Roskomsvoboda, a project which promotes freedom of information and privacy on the internet. | "She sent a photo, and two days later received a report for the previous month with detailed information about where h…

RT (2020-09-17). 'Anti-Russian hysteria': Moscow hits back after EU Parliament calls for sanctions over alleged poisoning of activist Navalny. rt.com After EU MEPs, on Thursday, called for sanctions over the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, Moscow said the move merely fuels anti-Russia hysteria and is aimed at disrupting the Nord Stream 2 project. | The European Parliament resolution urges an international probe into the Navalny incident. Its approval followed comments by the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, who floated the idea of naming a new anti-Russian sanctions package after the anti-corruption campaigner, in a similar move to the US Magnitsky act. | That was named after a Russian tax auditor who died in a Moscow prison…

RT (2020-09-17). Russia's biggest enemies? New poll suggests Uncle Sam, Perfidious Albion & estranged 'little brother' Ukraine are top three foes. rt.com The great French novelist Gustave Flaubert famously said that you can calculate the worth of a man by the number of his enemies. If the same philosophy applies to countries, well then Russia isn't doing too badly. | Moscow's refusal to accept the vassal status the US had planned for it in the nineties has led to a furious pushback by Washington's allies. But the West's diminishing power means Russia has been able to offset somewhat by building new relations in the east. | But who do Russians themselves see as their nation's main antagonists? Well, a new poll suggests 60% see the United States as a foe, followe…

Stephen Lendman (2020-09-17). Continued German Support for Nord Stream 2 Completion? Towards a Shift in Russia-Germany Relations? globalresearch.ca Construction of Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany is about 94% completed. | The project is all about supplying Germany and other European countries with readily available low-cost Russian natural gas — around 30% cheaper than US liquified natural …

Stansfield Smith (2020-09-17). Why the US Can Keep Increasing its Debt and not Suffer Inflation (Part 2). dissidentvoice.org The US Still Dominates the World Economy The US ruling class has dominated the planet since the end of World War II. Key elements of this control include its military superiority in nuclear and conventional weapons, and the stationing of over 900 military bases around the world. In addition, the US presides over the United …

Michael Jansen (2020-09-17). Cyprus Victim of External Efforts to Drag It into Rival East Mediterranean Orbits of Russia, US. globalresearch.ca Cyprus has become the victim of fresh external push-and-pull efforts with the aim of dragging the island republic, a European Union (EU) member, into one or other of the rival East Mediterranean orbits of Russia and the US. | Cyprus received …

_____ (2020-09-17). Less Than Two Minutes to Midnight — and Getting Closer. strategic-culture.org On January 23 this year, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set their famous "Doomsday Clock" at 100 seconds to midnight — midnight signifying the outbreak of thermonuclear world war. In the 73 years since the famed and fearful symbol was first created in 1947, this setting was — and remains — the closest to Armageddon this supreme symbol of warning to the world has ever been set. | Yet were the Doomsday Clock to be reset today, eight months after that last announcement, the time gap to midnight would have to be further reduced, perhaps to a little more than one minute, but not by much [mdash…

_____ (2020-09-17). New Ambassador Attracts the Usual Enemies: Doug Macgregor Feels the Wrath of the Jewish Lobby. strategic-culture.org There is an old saying that allegedly came out of the French Revolution, that revolution, like the god Saturn, devours its own children. It was reportedly uttered by Georges Danton at the trial that preceded his execution and could be applied equally to the demise of Trotsky after the Russian Revolution. It meant that the leaders that drove the dramatic political developments frequently get a taste of power and become resistant to any further change. They often end up turning on their own former followers who have different ideas on how to run the country. | Nearly all the top-level political appointees that have…

yenisafak (2020-09-17). Romania receives Patriot missiles from US to boost defences. yenisafak.com The Romanian army received its first shipment of U.S. Raytheon Patriot surface-to-air missiles on Thursday, part of an effort to bolster its defences that has annoyed Russia."Romania has just become a safer nation by hosting these Patriot missiles on its territory. Romanian citizens are now better protected," Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said at the receiving ceremony at a firing range on the Black Sea shore.The missiles will form part of an integrated air defence system comprising newly acquired F-16 fighter jets as Romania brings its obsolete military equipment up to NATO standards and phases out outdated commu…

Andre Vltchek (2020-09-16). Guo Wengui: So Anti-Chinese that even U.S. Establishment cannot stomach him. dissidentvoice.org In some very rare cases, it is better to read British conservative, right-wing press, like The Economist or the Telegraph, instead of the mainstream liberal sheets like The Independent or The Guardian. That is if one wants to come somehow closer to the truth. The Economist is extremely biased; it is pre-historically conservative, anti-Russian, anti-Chinese, …

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Top Russian, Saudi diplomats discuss Yemeni conflict. yenisafak.com Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday discussed the conflict in Yemen with his Saudi counterpart over the phone.Lavrov agreed with Faisal bin Farhan on the need to support UN efforts for a cease-fire in the war-torn country, as well as to implement urgent humanitarian measures and launch a settlement process between the sides, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an online statement."Sergey Lavrov stressed that progress towards the establishment of long-awaited peace and stability in Yemen is possible only by taking into account the interests and concerns of all the leading political forces, religi…

RT (2020-09-16). Another color revolution? US orchestrating Belarusian unrest, says Russian spy chief Naryshkin; Belarus' leader Lukashenko agrees. rt.com The director of Russia's foreign intelligence service (SVR) has accused the US of fomenting anti-government demonstrations in Belarus. Spy boss Sergey Naryshkin says Washington provided about $20 million to bolster the opposition. | His comments came as the president of Belarus said that — what he called — the orchestrators of the current events planned their tactics in accordance with the classic American textbook of color revolutions. Speaking on Wednesday, Alexander Lukashenko added that the turmoil had been plotted by Western countries for over a decade. | "According to the available information,…

_____ (2020-09-16). Democrats Ignore U.S. Military's Refutation of 'Russian Bounties' Story. strategic-culture.org Caitlin JOHNSTONE | NBC News Two months after top Pentagon officials vowed to get to the bottom of whether the Russian government bribed the Taliban to kill American service members, the commander of troops in the region says a detailed review of all available intelligence has not been able to corroborate the existence of such a program. | "It just has not been proved to a level of certainty that satisfies me," Gen. Frank McKenzie, comm…

RT (2020-09-16). Sputnik V to lift off for India: Russia will help supply 100 MILLION doses of pioneering coronavirus vaccine to New Delhi. rt.com Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine will be clinically trialed and distributed in India, with deliveries expected to begin later this year, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which bankrolled its development. | As soon as the vaccine is granted regulatory approval in India, Russia will help supply 100 million doses to the Asian nation, the RDIF said in a statement on Wednesday. It will partner with Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical giant Dr Reddy's. | "India is amongst the most severely impacted countries from COVID 19 and we believe our human adenovirus dual vector platform will provide a sa…

RT (2020-09-16). Survey reveals most Russians prioritise high living standards & peace over status: Only 31% want their country to be a superpower. rt.com Barely more than a third (37%) of Russians think their country is still a superpower, and only 31% think it's important to have such a status. That's according to a new survey on the public's attitude to their place in the world.

RT (2020-09-16). Poland accuses Russian air traffic controllers of DELIBERATELY crashing late President Kaczynski's plane, seeks their arrest. rt.com In a bizarre twist, Polish prosecutors are now seeking the arrest of three Russian air traffic controllers from Smolensk airport. They are accused of deliberately causing the crash that killed ex-President Lech Kaczynski in 2010. | Investigators have "applied to the district court of the Warsaw-Mokotow region with a motion for the temporary arrest" of the three men, Ewa Bialik, a spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office, told reporters on Wednesday. | "The charges brought against the air traffic controllers relate to the deliberate provocation of a plane crash that resulted in the death of many people,…

Stephen Lendman (2020-09-16). Challenging the Novichok Poisoning of Navalny Hoax by Russia. globalresearch.ca Already strained EU relations with Russia potentially reached a new low over the great novichok poisoning of Alexey Navalny hoax. | On Tuesday, Russia's EU mission challenged the bloc's fake news about what happened to him, saying the following: | "In recent …

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-16). Russia says US 'fully isolated' on international scene. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 16 (MNA) — Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov in a tweet on Wednesday said the US is "practically fully isolated" on the international scene.

sputniknews (2020-09-16). UK's Air Chief Warns Arms Race in Space Could End in Disaster. sputniknews.com States, including Russia, have expressed concerns before about the militarisation of space and how it could potentially lead to the destruction of the existing security balance they have been trying to maintain over the last several decades.

sputniknews (2020-09-16). Fire at Private Drug Treatment Clinic in Russia's Krasnoyarsk Kills 4 People. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Four people have died and two more have been injured as a result of a fire at a private drug treatment clinic in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said on Thursday.

sputniknews (2020-09-16). Russia Must Release Former US Marine Trevor Reed, House Minority Leader McCarthy Says. sputniknews.com WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US Congressmen from the state of Texas, Michael McCaul and Mike Conaway, also demanded that Russia release Reed.

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Nord Stream 2 should not be linked to Navalny case: Kremlin. yenisafak.com Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany should not be linked to the case of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.German Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced calls to halt the nearly-complete pipeline bringing Russian gas to Germany in response to the poisoning of Navalny in Siberia last month.Moscow says it has yet to see proof he was poisoned with a nerve agent, as Berlin says. Peskov reiterated that Russia was hoping to cooperate with Germany on the case but that its efforts to do so had not met with understanding.

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Turkey repels attack on observation post in Syria. yenisafak.com Turkish security forces fended off an attack in the Idlib de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, the country's National Defense Ministry said Wednesday.The ministry said in a statement that groups directed by the Bashar al-Assad regime but disguised as civilians approached several of Turkey's observation posts in the region.One of these groups staged an attack near a Turkish observation post and was then dispersed, it added.No damage to the observation post was reported, it said.Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia.The area has been the subject of multiple…

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Germany offered to build LNG terminals to avert US pipeline sanctions. yenisafak.com Berlin offered to spend 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) to build two liquid natural gas terminals in a bid to dissuade the United States from imposing sanctions over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, due to bring gas directly from Russia to Germany, Die Zeit reported on Wednesday.The weekly paper said Finance Minister Olaf Scholz made the proposal in an Aug. 7 letter before Washington imposed sanctions on companies involved in building the Baltic Sea pipeline, effectively freezing its construction.A spokesman for the German finance ministry said he could not comment on individual reports.The United States and many Europ…

Gareth Porter (2020-09-15). Dark Web Voter Database Report Casts New Doubts on Russian Election Hack Narrative. globalresearch.ca A new report showing that US state-level voter databases were publicly available calls into question the narrative that Russian intelligence "targeted" US state election-related websites in 2016. | *** | A September 1

RT (2020-09-15). Does he want to end his political ambitions? Top Eurocrat Borrell calls for Navalny's name to be attached to EU 'Magnitsky List'. rt.com The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has proposed naming a new sanctions regime directed against Russia after Alexey Navalny. Such a move would surely destroy the anti-corruption campaigner's oft-stated political aspirations. | In fact, it's hard to imagine the opposition figure would approve of the idea, as it would allow his critics in Russia to paint him as a tool of the West. While English-speaking and communicative with foreign journalists, Navalny, a Russian nationalist at heart, has always rejected any notions that he's helping the US and EU further their objectives in the country — for instance,…

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-09-15). Democrats Ignore US Military's Refutation Of 'Russian Bounties' Story. thealtworld.com The US military has been unable to find any evidence that the Russian government paid bounties on US troops to Taliban-linked fighters in Afghanistan, confirming what was already obvious to anyone who hasn't had their brain stem hijacked by mass media-induced Russophobia. | NBC News Two months after top Pentagon officials vowed to get to the bottom of whether the Russian government bribed the Taliban to kill American service…

RT (2020-09-15). It may be a 'living hell,' but it's a 'Russian planet': Moscow will focus efforts on exploration of Venus, space agency chief says. rt.com Moscow plans to send its own mission to Venus in addition to the planned 'Venera-D' joint mission with the US, according to the head of its space agency Dmitry Rogozin, who believes the second planet from the Sun is "Russian." | Speaking at the HeliRussia-2020 exhibition, a convention focused on the Russian helicopter industry, Rogozin announced that Roscosmos plans to focus its efforts on Venus. | Read more | | "We believe that Venus is a Ru…

RT (2020-09-15). US military reveals it can't corroborate NYT's story on Russian bounties to Taliban – months after vowing to get to bottom of it. rt.com After two months of digging for evidence that Russia's government paid bounties to Taliban forces to kill American forces in Afghanistan, as reported by the New York Times, the US military has found no corroboration. | "It just has not been proved to a level of certainty that satisfies me," General Frank McKenzie, the commander who oversees US troops in Afghanistan, reportedly The investigation alre…

Stephen Lendman (2020-09-15). Putin Affirms Support for Lukashenko, Consolidates Russia-Belarus Cooperation against Foreign Intervention. globalresearch.ca On Monday, Vladimir Putin met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi, Russia. | Both leaders are united against the diabolical made-in-the-USA attempt to transform Belarus into another US vassal state. | On the President of Russia website, Putin said the following: …

teleSUR (2020-09-15). Russia's COVID-19 Vaccine Could Be Distributed in Saudi Arabia. telesurenglish.net The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Chemical Holding Co. so that the COVID-19 Sputnik V vaccine can be developed in Saudi Arabia, the country most affected by the pandemic in the Persian Gulf. | RELATED: | For the Russian vaccine to be used in that nation, the Saudi company must locally register Sputnik V and its clinical studies. | Authorizations for its…

Dr. Thorsten Pattberg (2020-09-15). Germany, France and the EU Succumb to US Digital Hegemony. globalresearch.ca It is official. President of France, Emmanuel Macron, on Monday 14, 2020, conceded that Europe has lost the battle for data security and cloud computing. The continent cannot compete against America. Not that France could have asserted any claims …

Shane Quinn (2020-09-15). US Planned Nuclear Attacks on Every City in the USSR and China. globalresearch.ca This article was originally published in 2018. | In mid-December 1960, a conference was held at Strategic Air Command headquarters near Omaha, Nebraska, to outline America's nuclear war strategy. During the meeting, plans were revealed whereby Moscow alone would be hit …

Tsvetana Paraskova (2020-09-15). Iran to Link Its Power Grid to Russia, Azerbaijan. globalresearch.ca Iran's electricity grid will be connected with Russia and Azerbaijan in a few months, once grid compatibility studies are completed, Iran's Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian Iran's power grid could be linked and synchronized to connect with other …

No Nukes Action (2020-09-15). On Tenth Year Of Fukushima, The Olympics & The Resignation Of Abe. indybay.org No Nukes Action hosts a panel with anti-nuclear activists, unionists and a journalist in Japan about the 10th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the Olympics and the resignation of Abe. It also presents a new videos from Fukushima tens years after the meltdowns.

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-15). All countries must take all possible measures to save JCPOA. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 15 (MNA) — Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres called on countries to take all possible measures to safeguard Iran's nuclear deal entitled "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA".

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-15). Iran reiterates concern on Saudis' secret nuclear activities. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 15 (MNA) — Iran has once again expressed its concerns over the "non-transparent" nuclear activities of Saudi Arabia.

yenisafak (2020-09-15). Belarus does not rule out 'forceful response' to military threats: TASS cites defmin. yenisafak.com The Belarusian defence ministry said on Tuesday it does not rule out a forceful response to what it perceives as military threats, the TASS news agency reported.The defence ministry said any threat would be met with a response within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a post-Soviet security bloc that includes Russia.It said a number of neighbouring countries were trying to damage relations between Minsk and Moscow, the day after Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed embattled Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to Sochi.

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-15). Power Politics and Imperial Gambles. counterpunch.org In grand power politics, there are only national interests, not friendships. This is a point often missed on Australia's dedicated Americanophiles. Faith is put in such untestable propositions as extended nuclear deterrence. Faith is also unqualified. Foreign conflicts with US forces are bound to see the company, albeit small, of Australian contingents. When it comes