(2021-04-29). China Urges Australian Politicians to 'Shake Off the Cold War Mentality'. sputniknews.com Australia-China relations have been growing tense since Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged Beijing last year to allow an independent probe into the origins of COVID-19. This prompted a response from Beijing, leading to reciprocal economic sanctions.
(2021-04-29). Foreign Experts Assess Benefits Of Russia's Sputnik V Coronavirus Vaccine — Analysis. eurasiareview.com The Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) announced that the Sputnik V vaccine demonstrated efficacy of 97.6%, based on the analysis of data on the infection rate of coronavirus among those in Russia vaccinated with both components of Sputnik V. | "The Ministry of Health of Russia maintains a register of persons who have been vaccinated, as well as citizens who have got infected with COVID as part of the Unified State Information System in Healthcare. Ac…
(2021-04-29). Bangladesh approves proposal of producing Russian, Chinese COVID-19 vaccines. ecns.cn The Bangladeshi government on Wednesday gave the greenlight to a proposal of producing Chinese and Russian COVID-19 vaccines in the country.
(2021-04-28). Putin pledges medical aid to India in phone call with Modi. ecns.cn Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday held a phone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pledging to offer emergency medical assistance to pandemic-battered India.
(2021-04-29). NATO Nations Wage Hidden War in Mali. news.antiwar.com With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist bloc it led, the world witnessed what some termed the unipolar moment and others the end of history. No entity benefited more from the opening up of the world than the Pentagon. It immediately insinuated itself into every …
(2021-04-29). Russia's Expanding Footprint In The Middle East — OpEd. eurasiareview.com By Talmiz Ahmad* | Over the last month or so, the shadow of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has loomed large across the Middle East. In March, he visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. He was soon back in the region, visiting Egypt and Iran on April 12-13. | Russia became a key player in the Middle East when it brought its armed forces into Syria in September 2015 to prevent externally sponsored regime change. Having achieved this fairly quickly, its diplomatic canvas has broadened to include all the regional states, with which it is building substantial ties in the areas of energy, economics and defe…
(2021-04-29). Peace Talks On Eastern Ukraine Failed To Establish "Easter Truce" In Donbass (Map Update). southfront.org 
Photo by Mykola Lazarenko/POOL | On April 28, a regular meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on the settlement of the conflict in Donbass took place via videoconference. Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE has failed to reach an agreement on the final text of a ceasefire agreement ahead the Orthodox Easter."After almost five hours of useless discussion between Kiev and representatives of the republics, no practical result has been achieved," the LPR said in a Telegram message. | According to the repr…
(2021-04-29). Military Situation In Syria On April 28, 2021 (Map Update). southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | On April 29, Russia On April 28, the Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq group claimed responsibility for an attack on a Turkish military v…
(2021-04-29). Ukrainian ultranationalist lobby flaunts influence over Biden, blocks top Russia expert's appointment. thegrayzone.com Demonstrating the power the ultranationalist Ukraine lobby has attained in Biden's Washington, the White House has withdrawn consideration of esteemed Russia specialist Matthew Rojansky Matthew Rojansky is the head of the Kennan Institute, a notable think tank at the US government-funded Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. Despite his well-established expertise on Russia and lengthy record of leadership on the issue, he has been judged "too soft" to work in the Biden White House. An increasingly influential element …
(2021-04-29). Russian foreign minister warns of a new "cold war" wsws.org Despite the recent pullback of Russian troops from the border with Ukraine, the conflict between Washington and Moscow continues and the New York Times continues to promote the right-wing oppositionist Alexei Navalny.
(2021-04-29). Oman briefed on latest developments in Iran's nuclear talks. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 29 (MNA) — In his meeting with General Sultan bin Mohammed al Numani Minister of Royal Office of Sultan of Oman on Thu., Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif briefed him on latest developments of Iran's talks with P4+ 1 group.
(2021-04-29). Nuclear talks between Iran, P4+1 continue in Vienna. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 29 (MNA) — Nuclear talks between Iran and P4 + 1 continue in Austrian capital Vienna with the continuation of meetings of expert working groups in the three areas of sanctions, nuclear and executive arrangements.
(2021-04-29). US cooperating with its allies on Iran nuclear program: Biden. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 29 (MNA) — US President Joe Biden said that the United States will cooperate closely with its allies on the nuclear programs of the Islamic Republic of Iran and North Korea.
(2021-04-29). Report: Biden Considering Major Rollback of Iran Sanctions to Revive Deal. news.antiwar.com According to a report from The Associated Press, Iran is willing to return to the nuclear limits set by the JCPOA if the US lifts sanctions that have been imposed since 2018 when the US withdrew from the agreement. But because the Biden administration refuses to do so, the U…
(2021-04-29). Can War with Russia be Avoided? globalresearch.ca Considering the level of tension between the nuclear powers, the topic …
(2021-04-29). Sullivan: US and Israel Have a Policy of 'No Surprises'. news.antiwar.com National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan When asked if he would prefer that Iran's nuclear sites not come under attack, Sullivan said, "We certainly believe that there are certain kinds of activities that are unhelpful to diplomacy.
(2021-04-29). Moscow Thinking About Using Prison Labor Again For Major Construction Projects — OpEd. eurasiareview.com The Russian government is now thinking about reviving a practice associated with Stalinism: the use of prison labor to work on major construction sites in areas where free labor is scarce, such as the expansion of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) railway. Legal experts say Moscow can do so as long as it arranges to pay those who take part. | Vladimir Putin is pushing for the expansion of the BAM but has come up against a problem that earlier Russian rulers have faced: there are too few workers in the region through which it passes and attracting more free laborers would require spending more money than the gover…
(2021-04-29). Iran receives 7th shipment of Sputnik-V vaccine. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 29 (MNA) — The seventh consignment of the Russian "Sputnik V" vaccine has been dispatched to the Islamic Republic of Iran on Thursday via Iran's Mahan Airlines.
(2021-04-29). Russia's FSB Detained 16 Neo-Nazi MKU Supporters Who Plotted Explosions, Armed Attacks. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Thursday that it detained 16 supporters of Ukrainian radical organization MKU, who plotted explosions and armed attacks, in nine cities across Russia.
(2021-04-29). Over 20 People Dead, Some 30 Injured as Result of Road Accident in Haiti, Security Office Says. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A road accident in central Haiti, about 50 kilometers northwest of the capital city of Port-au-Prince, has left 21 people dead and about 30 more injured, the public security office said.
(2021-04-29). Assailant in Kindergarten Knife Attack in Southern China Has Mental Disorder, Police Confirm. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The suspect who carried out the knife attack at a kindergarten in the city of Beiliu in southwestern China's Guangxi province has mental illness, local police said on Thursday.
(2021-04-28). Russia to send medical aid to India amid COVID-19 surge. ecns.cn The Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the country has decided to send a large consignment of medical assistance to India, which is hit hard by a drastic increase in COVID-19 infections.
(2021-04-28). India Surpasses 200,000 COVID-19 Death Toll, Vaccine Shortages. telesurenglish.net Russia and Italy sent humanitarian aid including oxygen tanks while the Czech Republic, Austria, and the UK will also send oxygen. Scientist have not specified the causes of this intense second wave but it is considered that variants such as the double mutation B1617 are more transmissible than others, according to the World Health Organization.
(2021-04-28). Headlines for April 28, 2021. democracynow.org FBI Opens Probe into Police Killing of Andrew Brown as Autopsy Confirms He Was Shot in Back of Head, Video of Police Killing of Mario Gonzalez Prompts Comparison to George Floyd, Call for Probe, India Tops 200,000 COVID Deaths as Hospitals, Cremation Sites Are Overwhelmed, Turkey Orders Coronavirus Lockdown; Brazil Rejects Russia's Sputnik V Vaccine, CDC Says Vaccinated People Can Go Unmasked in Most Outdoor Settings, Seattle City Council Calls on Biden to Support IP Waiver for COVID Vaccine Patents, Biden Proposes Crackdown on Tax Evaders, Changes to Capital Gains Tax to Fund American Families Plan, Protesters K…
(2021-04-28). A Cold War Mindset. zcomm.org Focusing on injustices in just a few 'bad' nations is a dangerous game…
(2021-04-28). It's Time To End The Embargo Against Cuba — OpEd. eurasiareview.com By Jacob G. Hornberger* | Now that Cuban president Raul Castro has resigned the presidency of Cuba, will the U.S. government lift its six-decades-long economic embargo against Cuba? | Don't count it. Squeezing the life out of the Cuban people as a way to get regime change has become such a normalized way of life for the United States that it is unlikely that this cruel and brutal policy will be ended anytime soon. | Back in the day, the embargo was justified as part of the Cold War against "godless communism" and, specifically, the international communist conspiracy that was supposedly based in Moscow, Russia,…
(2021-04-28). Solzhenitsyn: Everyone's Pain in the Neck. dissidentvoice.org 
When you are too close to something, someone, you are not the best analyst. Your feelings get in the way. You reveal more about who you are than who or what you love/hate. But you can see better from afar. That sums up Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who, despite accurately predicting the collapse of the Soviet Union, …
(2021-04-28). The Cold War Has Already Turned Hot — on the Internet. juancole.com 
( Tomdispatch.com) — America has a serious infrastructure problem. Maybe when I say that what comes to mind are all the potholes on your street. Or the dismal state of public transportation in your city. Or crumbling bridges all over the country. But that's so twentieth century of you. America's most urgent infrastructure vulnerability is …
(2021-04-28). Sanctions, War Preparations And An Endless Supply Of Weapons For Kiev. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | On April 21st a new act entered US Senate that will be voted on soon, titled Ukraine Security Partnership Act. | It passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee without a hitch and aims to increase and improve U.S. military support to Ukraine, and sends a message that the United States will continue to support the people of Ukraine, their ability to defend themselves, and the country's democratic transition."Today, as Russia masses more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border, mor…
(2021-04-28). Russia's "Harsh Response" To US: You Are Not My Friend Anymore. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | On April 27th, in response to all the sanctions, harsh rhetoric, diplomatic expulsions and threats, Russia's Channel 1 released a list of "unfriendly countries". | Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced over the weekend that the U.S. would be on the list following a presidential decree on April 23rd. | Also named were: Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Czech Republic, Estonia, United Kingdom and Georgia. Another screen grab from Channel 1, circulating on soci…
(2021-04-28). Russian Aircraft Detected On Rare Flight From Israel To Syria's Hmeimim. southfront.org 
An old military vehicle can be seen positioned near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. IMAGE: AMMAR AWAD/REUTERS | On April 27, a plane of the Ministry of Defense of Russia landed in Hmeimim Air Base on the Syrian coast after having taken off from Ben Gurion Airport in Israel's Tel Aviv. | The plane was a Tu-134 with the registration "RA-65992," which has previously been detected for the transport of Russia's senior defense and intelligence officials. | Aviation observers tracked the unusual f…
(2021-04-28). The Russia/China Space Weaponization Treaty. counterpunch.org 
"Let's be clear: Deploying weapons in space crosses a threshold that cannot be walked back," stated retired U.S. Army Colonel John Fairlamb in a piece in the The Hill, the Washington, D.C. news website. Fairlamb knows the weaponization of space issue. His background includes being International Affairs Specialist for the Army Space and Missile Defense
(2021-04-28). Military Situation In Syria On April 28, 2021 (Map Update). southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | On April 28, Russia reported that Idlib militants violated the ceasefire regime in Greater Idlib 31 times: 19 — in Idlib province, 10 — in Latakia province, 2 — in Hama province | On April 27, clashes between the SDF and Turkish-backed forces were reported in the Um al-Jolud area | On April 27, ISIS claimed responsibility for the assassination of a SDF member in the al-Sawr area | On April 27, ISIS claimed responsibility for the assassination of a SDF m…
(2021-04-28). The Composer Who Fought Uranium Mining on the Orkneys. counterpunch.org 
On a midsummer day on Saturday, June 21, 1980, in a Victorian Hotel on the Orkney Islands, resident composer Peter Maxwell Davies and actress Eleanor Bron performed the composer's newest piece — The Yellow Cake Revue. It was part of the Islands' annual St. Magnus Festival, founded by Maxwell Davies, poet George Mackay Brown and
(2021-04-28). Why Israel is alarmed. thealtworld.com Iran and its allies have had enough of Israeli attacks and provocations | It was no small matter for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convene a meeting of Israel's top military and security chiefs along with its defense and foreign ministers on Saturday, 24 hours after a Syrian missile landed near the Dimona nuclear complex. | The media were told the emergency conference was a response to the recent spate of missile firings from the Gaza Strip. Its supposed aim was to deliver a warning to Hamas that Israel would invade or carpet-bomb the territory if violations of the de-escalation agreements persist. | But t…
(2021-04-28). Waiting for the Cyber-Apocalypse. zcomm.org The Cold War Has Already Turned Hot — on the Internet…
(2021-04-28). Russian FM: US-Russia Relations Worse Than During Cold War. news.antiwar.com On Wednesday, Lavrov said that Moscow was prepared to normalize ties with Washington but warned that if the US would not participate in a respectful dialogue, "we would live in conditions of a 'Cold War' or worse." | "During the Cold War, the tensions were flying high and risky crisis situations often emerged, but there was also a mutual respect," he said. "It seems to me there is…
(2021-04-28). Ukraine's Fascist Nightmare and the Growing Risk of a Repeat of World War II. orinocotribune.com By Rainer Shea — Apr 22, 2021 | I warn about World War II repeating itself not because I expect Washington's currently escalating anti-Russian proxy war in Ukraine to turn into a nuclear confrontation any time soon; as Moscow-based international affairs analyst Mark Sleboda recently
(2021-04-28). China Urges Japan To Revoke Nuclear Wastewater Decision. telesurenglish.net China's Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Wednesday urged Japan to revoke and apologize for its wrong decision to dump contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. | RELATED: | He made the remarks at a daily news briefing when asked whether or not to delete his related tweet, in consideration of protests from the Japanese side. On Monday, Zhao tweeted an image by…
(2021-04-28). Sleepwalking Into Nuclear War? — OpEd. eurasiareview.com By Jonathan Power* | Last week on Tuesday (April 20), US Strategic Command, the part of the military responsible for nuclear weaponry and its use, posted an official Tweet that read, "We must account for the possibility of conflict leading to conditions which could very rapidly drive an adversary to consider nuclear use as their least bad option". | This came just as Russia was pulling back its large deployment of troops on Ukraine's border which, in turn, was triggered in part by President Joseph Biden's decision to ship for the first time sophisticated weapons to Ukraine. | The crisis has now passed but the…
(2021-04-28). Iranian top negotiator says nuclear talks on right track with challenges ahead. ecns.cn Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday that the process of talks aimed at reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is "on the right track," yet there are still important challenges to address, Iranian media reported.
(2021-04-28). Chinese envoy underscores sequence of U.S., Iran returning to nuke deal. ecns.cn The sequence in which the United States and Iran return to compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is first and foremost a matter of "sense of justice".
(2021-04-28). Alarm over Fukushima water mounts. ecns.cn A decision by Japan to dump contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea is generating growing anger in Southeast Asia.
(2021-04-28). China urges Japan to revoke wastewater dump decision and apologize. ecns.cn China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Wednesday called on the Japanese government to revoke its decision to dump nuclear polluted water into the ocean and apologize, in response to a question regarding a tweet he posted on Monday.
(2021-04-28). China urges full disclosure on Japan's nuclear wastewater dumping. ecns.cn China has urged timely and comprehensive disclosure of relevant information, before Japan takes action to dump nuclear wastewater into the ocean, to dispel stakeholders and the international community's concerns.
(2021-04-28). There will be no "JCPOA Plus" in Vienna talks, Ulyanov says. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 28 (MNA) — Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov says he is optimistic about reaching an agreement on reviving Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) before May 21st.
(2021-04-28). Communications in the Internet Age. orinocotribune.com By Luis Britto García — Apr 24, 2021 | Every technological advance gives rise to a utopian dream and a dystopian nightmare. The invention of the internet around 1990 generated enthusiastic expectations. Its very beginning was utopian. Its creator, Tim Berners-Lee, refused to register the patents that would have made him a billionaire in order to make the internet available to humanity. | A device initially taken over by the military industrial complex as an underground network safe from nuclear attack, it soon became an instrument supposedly available to all for the free exchange of messages and knowledge. I…
(2021-04-27). Chinese envoy underscores sequence of U.S., Iran returning to nuke deal. ecns.cn The sequence in which the United States and Iran return to compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is first and foremost a matter of "sense of justice".
(2021-04-28). US Updates Israel on Iran Policy as Nuclear Talks Continue in Vienna. news.antiwar.com Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat
(2021-04-28). Vienna Shadow Play Hangs Over Iran Nuke Deal. strategic-culture.org Few people, apart from specialists, may have heard of the JCPOA Joint Commission. That's the group in charge of a Sisyphean task: the attempt to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal through a series of negotiations in Vienna. | The Iranian negotiating team was back in Vienna yesterday, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi. Shadowplay starts with the fact the Iranians negotiate with the other members of the P+1 — Russia, China, France, UK and Germany — but not directly with the US. | That's quite something: after all, it was the Trump administration that blew up the JCPOA. There is an A…