2022-02-09: News Headlines

_____ (2022-02-09). Biden Makes a Fruitless Attempt to Play the Qatari Card against Russia. journal-neo.org By promoting a Russophobic campaign in Europe, in part by escalating the information war with a fake thesis about Russia's alleged intention to attack Ukraine, Washington is trying to convince Europeans that it can find a vital substitute for Europe's natural gas supply here. In particular, the Joe Biden administration is seeking additional sources of …

Peter Certo (2022-02-09). Media, Take Note: The GOP Is Now Openly Aligned Against Democracy. otherwords.org If you're the sort of person who follows the news, you've probably heard a good bit lately about podcaster Joe Rogan, Neil Young's fight with Spotify, and maybe a little about Russia and Ukraine. | All that's good grist for the mill. But did you also hear former President Trump admit that he'd intended to have Mike Pence Or, here's a bad one: Did you hear that the Tr…

Staff (2022-02-09). Dewey Defeats Truman! Russia Invades Ukraine! davidswanson.org

Leon Kunstenaar (2022-02-09). Protest in Oakland Says No to War with Russia. indybay.org Rally part of a day of international action to protest US/NATO war plans against Russia…

Staff (2022-02-09). European banks panicking over Russia-Ukraine crisis — reports. rt.com Banks in Italy, France, and Austria are most exposed | European banks are concerned that the payment system which connects them to Russia could become a casualty of the Ukraine crisis, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing its sources. The banks describe the potential disconnection of Russia from SWIFT as an "atomic bomb" for the industry because it would prevent the repayment of debts, it said. | According to research by JPMorgan, European banks with subsidiaries in Russia are most at risk from economic restrictions. The study said a handful of lenders, including UniCredit, RBI, France's Societe Generale, and…

Leon Kunstenaar (2022-02-09). No War With Russia; Yes to Diplomacy and Peace. indybay.org Protest at Berkeley Civic Center…

WSWS (2022-02-09). Johnson lays out UK military offensive against Russia. wsws.org Just how deliberately inflammatory the UK's moves are was underscored by the Mirror reporting February 7 that the planned deployment of troops to Poland is part of a joint operation with the US.

sputniknews (2022-02-09). Russia Can Increase Gas Supplies to EU if There Are Requests, Envoy Says. sputniknews.com BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – Russia can increase the volume of natural gas it supplies to European countries once there is a request for it, which is currently not being made due to high spot market prices, Russian Permanent Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told Sputnik in an interview.

WSWS (2022-02-09). EU powers endorse NATO war threats against Russia as Macron visits Ukraine. wsws.org Visiting Kiev, French President Macron hailed the far-right militias fighting for the Ukrainian regime and backed NATO's hard-line demands against Russia.

Staff (2022-02-09). US outlines position on Putin-Macron talks. rt.com White House happy to see 'efforts at diplomacy' between Russia and the West | Cooperative dialogue between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on a potential agreement for security guarantees in Europe is seen as encouraging by the White House, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday. | Speaking to reporters, Psaki remarked that Washington had been heartened by the two presidents' discussion at Monday's meeting in Moscow, which showcased "efforts at diplomacy." She went on to say that interactions of such statesmanship "encourage" and "are encouraged by" the US governm…

In Defense of Liberation! (2022-02-09). Morning Commute: 2-9-2022. anchor.fm Hope everyone is well! Today we're doing a little news coverage based on sources I've been reading like People's Dispatch, Hoodcommunist.org, By Any Means Necessary, Liberation News, Kawasachun News, TeleSur English, Guerrilla History Podcast, etc. We go over Russia/China Relations, the Olympics, the African Union meeting, Oakland and Chicago schools ongoing issues, movements against Police Brutality and the murder by Minneapolis Police Department (yup, that one!) of Amir Locke who was 22 years old! No justice, no peace!! Go organize!

TASS (2022-02-09). US sees no need for new sanctions against Nord Stream 2 — White House. tass.com Jen Psaki did not answer directly to the question about whether the United States and its allies would view a powerful Russian cyberattack on Ukraine as a reason to undertake new measures against the gas pipeline project…

Rick Rozoff (2022-02-09). Britain to provide Ukraine with anti-tank, anti-ship missiles. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com From The Guardian and RT, respectively. The Guardian, being The Guardian, of course spends most of the article, which is hypothetically a report on Britain shipping more arms to the Eastern Ukrainian war zone, to bash Russia and insist British weapons are of the most pacific nature, only meant to protect human and wildlife and …

Staff (2022-02-09). Medal ceremony delayed as Russian 'doping mystery' emerges in Beijing — media. rt.com The medal ceremony for the figure skating team event at the Winter Olympics has been delayed over a 'legal issue' | The Russian figure skating team which won gold in Beijing is reportedly at the center of scrutiny after the medal ceremony was delayed due to unspecified legal issues which "arose at short notice." | The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) wrapped up the figure skating team title earlier this week, with the USA claiming silver and Japan earning bronze. | However, the medal ceremony has been delayed indefinitely after originally being scheduled to take place on Tuesday. | The International Olympic Com…

sputniknews (2022-02-09). Moscow on Potential Delivery of US THAAD Systems to Ukraine: Russia Urges to Avoid 'Stupidity'. sputniknews.com The statement comes amid a standoff between the Kremlin, Ukraine, and the West over the list of security demands Russian authorities made last year, which Moscow says are needed to defuse the crisis in Ukraine and lower tensions in Europe.

sputniknews (2022-02-09). Russia Strongly Condemns Israeli Airstrikes in Syria. sputniknews.com DAMASCUS (Sputnik) – Russia strongly condemns Israeli airstrikes in Syria and considers them illegal according to international law, Russian Ambassador to Damascus Alexander Efimov told Sputnik.

Fight Back (2022-02-09). United protest in New Orleans against US, NATO war on Russia. fightbacknews.org New Orleans, LA — Anti-war protesters gathered on February 5 in New Orleans at Lafayette Square Park to demand an end to NATO aggression against Russia. Activists carried signs and chanted slogans calling for peace and the disbandment of NATO. | The protest was organized by a coalition including the Communist Party USA, the Democratic Socialists of America, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. | Speakers decried the latest U.S. attempt to escalate the situation in Ukraine, which they said threatens us with a nuclear conflict with Russia. The protest also highlight…

teleSUR, hvh, JCM (2022-02-09). China insta a EE.UU. detener sanciones contra Corea del Norte. telesurtv.net El funcionario reclamó a Washington a dar la debida importancia a las medidas de desnuclearización tomadas por Pyongyang.

sputniknews (2022-02-09). US Court Allows $8Mln Bail for Spouses Arrested Over Stolen Bitcoins, Reports Say. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A US court authorised Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan who were arrested on charges of laundering $4.5 billion in stolen bitcoins to be released from jail on $8 million bail, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

_____ (2022-02-08). In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Manufacturing of a Cold War. strategic-culture.org This series will explain how the philosophy of the American establishment formed their "understanding" of nuclear strategy, which continues to influence thought today such as in the belief in the winnability of a limited nuclear war. | "She [the United States] has seen that probably for centuries to come, contests of inveterate power, and emerging right [will persist]…But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy…She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own…she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual…

Staff (2022-02-08). Iran nuclear deal: The role of the Israel lobby & pressure groups in derailing an agreement. rt.com Different impact groups try to prevent a new deal between the West and Tehran. How are some of them connected to Israel? | On January 24, it was revealed in a

Dave DeCamp (2022-02-08). Despite US Warnings, Ukraine Says Diplomatic Solution More Likely Than Russian Invasion. news.antiwar.com Ukraine continues to send a much different message than what US officials are saying concerning a potential Russian invasion. On Sunday, an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a diplomatic solution to the current tensions with Russia "An honest assessment of the situation suggests that the chance of finding a diplomatic solution for de-escalation is still substantially higher than the threat of further escalation," said preside…

_____ (2022-02-08). Ukraine and Russia: History Matters. strategic-culture.org By Karsten RIISE | What is Ukraine? This is a difficult question. Russia was born in Kiev. The first historic Russian empire was Kievan-Rus, which was founded by the Vikings and the King Rurik, who sailed from the Baltic Sea through the rivers Daugava and Dnepr down to the Black Sea and Constantinople. In 882 CE they made Kyiv the capital of the first Russian kingdom. The Mongols put a final end to Kievan-Rus in the 13th century, but the Rurik dynasty then ruled from further north, in what was in the 15th century still just a small principality around another river city called Moscow. Only in 1598 did the ruling…

Staff (2022-02-08). 'Dust walls' could defeat hypersonic weapons — think tank. rt.com A modern version of the nuclear 'dust defense' could be key to countering the threat, a Raytheon and Lockheed-backed paper says | The US could defend itself against enemy hypersonic gliders by dispersing clouds of dust over large areas through which such projectiles are expected to fly, a new white paper has suggested. Traveling through such an area at high speed would degrade and potentially destroy the weapon. | The idea was discussed in a document

Staff (2022-02-08). France's Macron claims he averted Russian invasion of Ukraine. rt.com According to the French leader, he managed to get a pledge from Putin that there will be no escalation in the conflict | French President Emmanuel Macron has claimed a breakthrough in the tense standoff between Russia and Ukraine, taking credit after supposedly obtaining guarantees from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the situation will not escalate further, following a crunch summit between the two heads of state. | Speaking to journalists in Kiev ahead of talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, Macron claimed that he has secured what he sees as a pledge from Moscow on the ma…

Dave DeCamp (2022-02-08). Biden, Germany's Scholz Try to Show United Front Amid Ukraine Tensions. news.antiwar.com President Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington on Monday as the two leaders tried to show a united front amid heightened tensions with Russia over Ukraine. | Germany has not been as eager to stoke conflict between Ukraine and Russia as some of its NATO allies and is not sending weapons to Kyiv, Berlin has cited historical reasons as to why they don't want to send weapons that could be used in a war in Eastern Europe. Another…

_____ (2022-02-08). Antiwar Groups Rally To Stop Us From Being Lied Into War With Russia. popularresistance.org Clearing the FOG provides excerpts from the speakers at the National Online Rally to stop war with Russia over Ukraine that was held on Feb. 5 as part of the national actions that took place in about 70 cities in Hawaii and coast to coast. The rally and actions were organized based on a unified call to action issued by 12 national and international antiwar organizations, which was endorsed by more than 200 more organizations. The demands include stopping the war with Russia, stopping the supply of weapons to Nazis in Ukraine, ending NATO, de-escalating the threat of nuclear war and resolving the current conflict…

_____ (2022-02-08). Memo To Congress: Diplomacy For Ukraine Is Spelled M-i-n-s-k. popularresistance.org A December 2021 poll found that a plurality of Americans in both political parties prefer to resolve differences over Ukraine through diplomacy. Another December poll found that a plurality of Americans (48 percent) would oppose going to war with Russia should it invade Ukraine, with only 27 percent favoring U.S. military involvement. | The conservative Koch Institute, which commissioned that poll, concluded that "the United States has no vital interests at stake in Ukraine and continuing to take actions that increase the risk of a confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia is therefore not necessary for our securit…

_____ (2022-02-08). Russia, Ukraine And The US: The Background They're Not Telling You. popularresistance.org In the winter of 2022, the news is dominated by growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Reports that Russia has amassed some 100,000 troops on its border with neighboring Ukraine have brought charges from the United States and NATO that Russia is planning to invade its neighbor, with whom it has had increasingly tense relations. | Will Russia invade Ukraine? And if it does, how will the United States and NATO react? Already, the U.S. and its allies are threatening new sanctions against Russia, sending massive amounts of military equipment to Ukraine and beefing up their military presence in bordering countri…

Finian Cunningham (2022-02-08). President JFK's Murder Is Graphic Proof of Entrenched Cold War Ideology and Why Peace Eludes U.S.-Russia Relations. dissidentvoice.org The Cold War is back with a vengeance. The current impasse between the United States and Russia over the Ukraine crisis is running the risk of an all-out war in Europe, a war that could escalate into nuclear Armageddon. The crisis is wholly manufactured by Washington's geopolitical power calculations — claims made against Russia about …

John Wojcik (2022-02-08). Macron: No security for Europeans if there is no security for Russia. peoplesworld.org If the diplomatic events of Monday showed us anything, they indicated with striking clarity that old assumptions about how European security is to be achieved will not, if they ever did, work and that NATO is incapable of bringing the people of Europe the peace they so desperately want and need. While President Joe Biden …

Liberation Staff, NYC (2022-02-08). Times Square action says:'Fight racism, not Russia!'. liberationnews.org It wasn't Russia that was forcing us to go back to work during a global pandemic so our bosses could grind out a little extra profit … It was Wall Street.

Staff (2022-02-08). Headlines for February 8, 2022. democracynow.org Biden Vows to Halt Russia-to-Germany Gas Pipeline If Russia Invades Ukraine, Several Democratic-Led States Announce Plans to Roll Back Mask Mandates, Biden Administration Tests Four-Legged Robotic "Dogs" on U.S.-Mexico Border, Costa Rican Presidential Candidates Appear Headed for April Runoff Election, Ex-Honduran President Added to U.S. List of Corrupt Officials over Drug Trafficking, Brazilian Antiracist Protesters Demand Justice for Immigrant Killed over Unpaid Wages, Supreme Court Will Allow Alabama's GOP-Gerrymandered Congressional Maps to Stand, Jill Biden Confirms Free Community College W…

sputniknews (2022-02-08). Macron Says Talks With Putin Helped Avoid Further Escalation on Ukraine Issue. sputniknews.com The French president arrived in Moscow on Monday to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in order to discuss Russia-EU and Russia-NATO relations amid the crisis in Ukraine.

John Knefel (2022-02-08). Homeland Security's Attempts to "Combat Misinformation" Are Suspect. truthout.org During Donald Trump's campaign for president, claims of Russian misinformation and disinformation were ubiquitous on cable news, Twitter and op-ed columns. Public discussion of misinformation has since skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, usually focusing on harmful anti-vaccination media coverage on, for example, Fox News and Joe Rogan's popular podcast. There are, of course, no shortage of Fox News segments praising anti-vaxxers until they die, generally by hosts who themselves have gotten the vac…

Staff (2022-02-08). Germany promises 'very tough sanctions' on Russia. rt.com If Moscow launches an invasion of Ukraine, it will be hit with "far-reaching" measures, Chancellor Scholz says | Russia will face serious consequences if it decides to launch a military incursion into Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned on Sunday, ahead of a trip to the US to meet President Joe Biden at the White House. | Speaking to German channel ARD, Scholz said that current Western efforts are aimed at ensuring there is no need to impose economic measures against Russia, but that a range of ideas had been discussed. | "We have very concrete preparations with our allies in the EU and the US. We ar…

TASS (2022-02-08). It is impossible to build peace in Europe without dialogue with Russia — Macron. tass.com French President also noted that Paris is also interested in good bilateral relations with Russia…

Fight Back (2022-02-08). New Yorkers say 'No war with Russia'. fightbacknews.org New York, NY – Dozens upon dozens of organizers and anti-war activists gathered at two different rallies to protest the U.S. military threats against Russia. | | The first event began at 2 p.m. in Columbus Circle and was organized by Struggle-La Lucha. Organizers gathered near the USS Maine National Monument — the Maine warship exploded due to an accident and became a pretext for the 1898 Spanish-American War. Bill Doares of Struggle-La Lucha explained the important symbolism of the moment and likened it to a false flag operation, similarly to what's happening in Ukraine now. | Speakers denounced spendi…

_____ (2022-02-08). "Do You Want a War Between Russia and NATO?" strategic-culture.org Without deeper understanding of Chinese and Russian civilizations, and their way of thinking, Westerners simply are not equipped to get it, Pepe Escobar believes. | ISTANBUL — Emmanuel Macron is no Talleyrand. Self-promoted as "Jupiterian", he may have finally got down to earth for a proper realpolitik insight while ruminating one of the former French Minister of Foreign Affairs key bon mots: "A diplomat who says 'yes' means 'maybe', a diplomat who says 'maybe' means 'no', and a diplomat who says 'no' is no diplomat." | Mr. Macron went to Moscow to see Mr. Putin with a simple 4-stage plan in mind. 1. Clinch…

AutumnSun (2022-02-08). Peace with Russia Day of Action: February 5, 2022, Santa Cruz, California. indybay.org Santa Cruz takes part in a day of action for Peace with Russia!

WSWS (2022-02-08). War tensions mount as EU powers hold talks in Moscow, Washington. wsws.org After four hours of one-on-one talks in the Kremlin, the French and Russian presidents gave a press conference at which the latter baldly warned of the danger of world war.

WSWS (2022-02-08). Washington pushes UK Conservatives to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs. wsws.org Washington is intent on using the war threats against Russia as a stick to beat its European allies, forcing them to fall in line with its broader economic and financial demands.

Tom Engelhardt (2022-02-08). Tomgram: Rajan Menon, War with Russia? warisacrime.org This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here. Progress? Let's see. We've gone from unending wars in distant lands against enemies capable of little more than wielding firearms and roadside bombs — and those conflicts were disasters — to the possibility of a war in the …

_____ (2022-02-08). Vladimir Putin's Meeting With Xi Jinping Marks an Important Step in Eurasian Future. journal-neo.org The past week saw what was arguably the most important encounter for a considerable period of time. The Russian president Vladimir Putin travelled to Beijing as the honoured guest of Chinese president Xi Jinping . It was their first face to face meeting for more than two years. The two leaders did not waste the opportunity …

Staff (2022-02-08). US Republicans send threatening letter to Biden over JCPOA. en.mehrnews.com A group of 33 Republican senators has warned US President Joe Biden they will work to thwart the implementation of any new Iran nuclear agreement if his government does not allow Congress to review and vote on its terms.

Rick Rozoff (2022-02-08). NATO holds drills with three carrier strike groups, seven interceptor warships in Eastern Mediterranean. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Near the entrance to the Black Sea. Charles de Gaulle is the only nuclear aircraft in the world aside from the U.S.'s eleven. The USS Bainbridge, USS Gonzalez, USS Gravely and USS Ross are Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers designed to fire Standard Missile 3 anti-ballistic missiles of the sort stationed in their so-called Aegis …

teleSUR, HIM (2022-02-08). Irán y Occidente reanudan diálogo para rescatar pacto nuclear. telesurtv.net El Gobierno iraní califica de insuficiente el paso dado por Washington de permitir a países y compañías extranjeras trabajar en proyectos civiles en reactores nucleares.

Benjamin Norton (2022-02-08). China y Rusia declaran una 'nueva era' de multipolaridad, desafiando el intervencionismo de EEUU. multipolarista.com Tras reunirse en Beijing, Xi Jinping de China y Vladimir Putin de Rusia publicaron una declaración conjunta que aclara las divisiones ideológicas de la nueva guerra fría: Eurasia llama a la multipolaridad, la cooperación, la soberanía y la "redistribución del poder en el mundo" contra la hegemonía unipolar y el intervencionismo de EEUU.

sputniknews (2022-02-08). Canadian Protesters Against Vaccine Mandate Block Bridge on US-Canada Border, Police Says. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Canadian protesters demanding an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates have blocked the Ambassador Bridge linking the US city of Detroit and the Canadian city of Windsor, the Ontario Provincial Police said on Tuesday.

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