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Boston ~ Star Spangled Banner

https://www.bitchute.com/video/L8xIz8wCRkH5/

Take the moment and let it in.

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Geopolitical turmoil and conflict around the globe have made the world’s nations hungrier than ever for diplomatic intervention from Washington to help deal with their crises, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has claimed.

“There’s a greater premium than there’s ever been on our engagement, on our leadership, in partnership with others,” Blinken told an audience on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He added that Washington needs to “reimagine” its geopolitical partnerships to resolve global challenges, such as the Israel-Hamas war.

The top US diplomat made his comments as Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip triggers escalating tensions in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine conflict nears its 24th month. He claimed that many governments see Washington as key to finding solutions.

“I’m hearing from virtually every country: They want the United States,” Blinken said. “They want us present, they want us at the table, they want us leading.” When Washington fails to tackle a major issue, he added, it is either handled by another nation – probably to the detriment of US interests – or no one else takes the lead.

When other nations see the domestic investments that US President Joe Biden is making, such as funding of major infrastructure projects and “climate technology,” they realize that “we’re actually serious about ourselves, despite some of the dysfunction that may be seen on the front pages,” Blinken said. Biden also has pressed for re-engagement with US allies and the building of new coalitions to address specific challenges, he added.

“On some of the really big issues of the day – whether it’s how to deal with China, how to deal with Russia – we have more convergence than we’ve had at any time in recent memory between us, key partners throughout Europe, throughout Asia, and even in other parts of the world, about how to manage these problems,” the secretary said.

The Israel-Hamas war has reportedly left more than 24,000 people dead in the Palestinian enclave. The conflict began on October 7, when Hamas militants killed more than 1,100 people – mostly civilians – in southern Israeli villages and took hundreds of hostages back to Gaza. Asked about the disparity in casualties, Blinken denied that the US places a higher value on Jewish lives than Palestinian lives.

“What we’re seeing every single day in Gaza is gut-wrenching,” the diplomat said. “And the suffering we’re seeing among innocent men, women and children breaks my heart.” He claimed that US engagement in the crisis had helped to minimize civilian casualties and get more humanitarian aid into the enclave.

Blinken said he sees no near-term prospects for a negotiated settlement to end the bloodshed in Ukraine. He argued that peace talks can only go forward when Russian leaders are willing to negotiate “in good faith,” respecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Russian officials have accused Western leaders of derailing a potential peace deal in April 2022 and prolonging the conflict by providing massive military aid to Kiev. Moscow also has claimed that US insistence on a negotiated settlement being based on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s demands, which it calls detached from reality, leaves no chance for a ceasefire in 2024.

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https://www.rt.com/news/590829-blinken-says-world-wants-more-us-intervention/

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The total income of self-employed people in Russia has soared since 2019, with the number of people working as their own boss increasing by 39% last year alone, Vedomosti reported on Tuesday, citing a Federal Tax Service official.

From 2019, when the option for self-employment was introduced in the country, to the beginning of 2024, the total income of self-employed people in Russia amounted to 3.2 trillion rubles, according to the outlet. This status allows freelancers and other individuals working independently to pay reduced income tax.

The income of people working for themselves shot up by 48% from 2022 to last year – from 944 billion rubles to 1.4 trillion rubles, Vedomosti added.

The most popular services for self-employed Russians are related to real estate (over 13%), including construction and renting, based on data provided by the Ministry of Economic Development. Transportation services are the second most popular (around 11%), and beauty services are third (9%).

Unemployment continues to decline in Russia, with a record low of 2.9% registered in November 2023, according to the latest data from the Federal State Statistics Service. This is largely a result of the expansion of production in industry, Oksana Dmitrieva, Russia’s former labor minister, said on her website last year.

She also noted a decline in job offers in the labor market, as many potential workers were mobilized or signed military service contracts amid the conflict with Ukraine.

Late last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual press conference that more than 480,000 people signed military contracts in 2023, and according to the Ministry of Defense, over 300,000 people were mobilized in the same year.

Dmitrieva went on to say that the relocation of some young skilled workers contributed to the low unemployment numbers. After Russia’s announcement of partial mobilization on September 21, 2022, some people opted to leave the country. The former labor minister also noted a shortage of engineers, IT specialists, teachers, and medical workers. She added that she does not expect unemployment to go up in the foreseeable future – on the contrary, the country should prepare for a labor shortage, especially for highly qualified specialists. Analysts say Russia is already facing a labor shortage that will grow to 2-4 million people by 2030.

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https://www.rt.com/russia/590807-income-rise-self-employed-russians/

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People no longer trust their governments to tackle climate change, war, and inequality, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said. While Guterres views a reformed UN as the solution, polling shows that most Westerners want their leaders to simply focus on different issues. 

Addressing the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos on Wednesday, Guterres opened by declaring climate change and the development of artificial intelligence to be the most serious threats to public trust in government worldwide. 

“In the face of the serious, even existential threats posed by runaway climate chaos, and the runaway development of Artificial Intelligence without guard rails, we seem powerless to act,” he said.

“These two issues – climate and AI – are exhaustively discussed by governments, by the media, by leaders here in Davos, and yet we have no effective global strategy to deal with either,” he continued. “Geopolitical divides are preventing us from coming together around global solutions. Little wonder that people everywhere are losing faith in governments, institutions, and financial and economic systems.”

Turning to the conflicts in the MIddle East and Ukraine, Guterres blamed both on the breakdown of the US-led unipolar world order. “I am confident we can build a new, multipolar global order,” he said, pointing out that doing so will require reform at institutions like the UN Security Council and World Bank to give greater say to non-Western countries and those in the Global South.

Guterres did not elaborate on any specific reforms, but claimed that the UN’s New Agenda for Peace offers a viable path to preventing future conflicts. Although nominally aimed at balancing geopolitical relations between the world’s military powers, this plan also proposes the phaseout of fossil fuels, the monitoring of online “hate speech”worldwide, and the elimination of “patriarchal power structures.”

Public trust in government has fallen across the Western world since the turn of the millennium. A Pew Research survey found that only 16% of Americans currently trust their leaders and institutions, down from 44% in the year 2000. A survey taken by the EU in 2022 found that the average citizen of the bloc gave their government a ‘trust score’ of 3.6 out of 10, down from 4.7 in 2020.

However, there is a disconnect between the issues highlighted by Guterres and the issues that the public in the US and EU actually consider important. While the UN chief made climate change and AI the focus of his speech, Americans by and large do not consider these to be pressing concerns. According to a Gallup poll conducted last year, Americans rated the economy, poor leadership, inflation, and immigration as their top concerns, with only 3% of respondents naming climate change as their most important issue, and less than 0.5% identifying AI or foreign conflicts as their top priority.

EU citizens overwhelmingly rate immigration as their chief concern, followed by the conflict in Ukraine, with climate change their fifth priority, according to a Eurobarometer survey taken in December.

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https://www.rt.com/news/590810-guterres-davos-government-trust/

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By Tarik Cyril Amar, a historian from Germany working at Koç University, Istanbul, on Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, the history of World War II, the cultural Cold War, and the politics of memory.

At first it feels like a blast from the past but it's really about the present and future: Journalist Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos has released a long interview with former Ukrainian MP Andrey Derkach. In which Derkach makes allegations about corruption in the US and Ukraine. In particular about the American President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

With regard to graft, while the various allegations (by no means only Derkach’s) and ongoing investigations are complex, in essence several simple questions are at stake: Did the current president’s son, Hunter Biden, sell his services as a Washington influence-peddler by using the “brand” (as one witness, Devon Archer, has put it) of his father’s connections (as then vice-president under Barack Obama)? And, potentially even more disturbingly, did the elder Biden himself profit from such influence-peddling? Finally, most disconcerting of all, did the current president use his leverage as Obama’s point-man on Ukraine to shield his son and, possibly, himself from investigations in Ukraine? Including by bringing down Ukrainian chief prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who got too close to the truth about Hunter Biden’s shady role in the Ukrainian Burisma gas company?

In sum, did the highest-ranking American official, charged with overseeing (among other things) Kiev’s putative “fight against corruption,” make things even worse by injecting a strong dose of US-establishment corruption into Washington’s newest client state? And, if so, could that two-sided entanglement have left a legacy, including of compromising actions, that has been influencing America’s reckless and failing (even on its own misconceived terms) proxy war policy in Ukraine?

Full disclosure: I happen to believe that the answer to all these questions is yes. Which is depressing, since it means that decisions, costing many human lives and making our shared global politics very dangerous, have been influenced by corrupt motives reminiscent of the world of organized crime.

But we do not know, yet. It is certain that Hunter Biden, a textbook failed-son and pampered heir, used his dad’s name to cash in, to the tune of (at the very east) $7.5 million. That much even the pro-Biden Washington Post had to admit (while revealing its bias with the packaging of the story, which accuses Republicans of “hyping” the numbers). As to whether Joe Biden himself also got a share and how all of this affected his policy on Ukraine – compelling proof, as opposed to plausible conjecture, is not available. At least at this point. But the Republicans, for their own selfish yet, politically, perfectly normal reasons, are digging for it through an impeachment inquiry into the current president’s record.

This is the background against which Derkach has now spoken up. Make no mistake: There will be attempts to dismiss all of this as – yes, you guessed it – the beginning of BIG BAD RUSSIAN MEDDLING in the 2024 presidential elections. In fact, they have already started. Frankly, yawn: Let’s not be distracted.

Such attempts will inevitably seek to make use of Mangiante Papadopoulos’ and Derkach’s own records. Mangiante Papadopoulos is a journalist and the wife of the former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos. As such (though, to be precise, still his girlfriend at the time), she was questioned by the FBI in 2017, during the hot phase of the neo-McCarthyite campaign commonly known under the misleading label “Russiagate.”

Misleading because it was not really about Russia, but about the American Democrats’ foul-play attempt to undermine the reality of Donald Trump’s victory in 2016. (which was really down to Trump’s gifts as a populist and the Democrats’ arrogant decision to try and ram down the country’s throat the unelectably unappealing and politically terrifying candidacy of Hillary Clinton.)

“Russiagate” was, in reality, Russia Rage, a mix of Centrist and Liberal conspiracy theory-mongering and mass hysteria. The true scandal was that a sizable part of the US political and media establishment further ruined what was left of any working relationship with Russia, and undermined the American public’s faith in a legitimate election result. (No, Trump was not the first one to do so in 2020/21: The roots of the January 6 riot in Washington are deeply bipartisan.)

Derkach came to international attention a few years later, with respect to Trump’s successor. A Russian-Ukrainian businessman and politician (who is open about receiving elite Russian intelligence training in the early 1990s), American and Ukrainian officials have accused him of playing an important role in “meddling” in the election of 2020, specifically by helping undermine Biden’s reputation. Derkach released recordings of what he claimed were conversations between then-vice-president Biden and then-Ukrainian president Pyotr Poroshenko that, critics argued, pointed to illicit dealings. (Ironically enough, for a while these revelations were welcomed by the team of Poroshenko’s successor Vladimir Zelensky because they embarrassed his opponent.)

Derkach has also been accused of – and in Ukraine formally charged with – working for Russian intelligence and with treason. No wonder he fled the country in 2022 and now lives in exile in Belarus. The 56-year-old is, in sum, a very ambiguous figure whose statements should be treated with caution.

Yet they should not be dismissed wholesale. Simply branding anything inconvenient to the American Democrats and their media clique as “information warfare” or “Russian meddling” is how “Russiagate” has done so much damage. That was, after all, the manner in which the authentic and very relevant news about the compromising data on Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop was suppressed before his father’s election. If the evidence pointing to corruption (and revolting personal depravity) had been allowed to be subjected to ordinary scrutiny and public debate – as it certainly would have been if it had concerned a member of the Trump family – the chances of Biden senior would have suffered.

Derkach is a complicated source; Mangiante Papadopoulos has also been accused of promoting Russia’s interests. (But then, frankly, who hasn’t?) But the question among adult observers is not who may be interested in a given piece of information seeing the light of day. Because here’s a little secret: As long as the information is of any political relevance at all, there’s always someone interested (as, by the way, Derkach openly admits in the interview, as far as his case is concerned). And here’s another one: That doesn’t mean that a given piece of information is untrue (“disinformation,” as we have been trained to say now). And finally: Remember, interests are involved not only in revealing, but also in hiding facts. Or, indeed, in pooh-poohing inconvenient revelations as nothing but propaganda.

So, what to make of what Derkach has had to say now? In the interview, which is almost an hour long, he makes many detailed statements, involving a large number of specified persons, especially in Ukraine. Let’s try to focus on key aspects and look at three of his most striking allegations one by one.

First, Derkach states that the Ukrainian authorities started going after him in earnest, including by extra-legal and life-threatening means, when (or because?) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told them to resolve that Derkach problem. The interview is somewhat ambiguous: Is Derkach saying that Blinken himself gave, in essence, an order to use criminal methods or that Blinken – Henry II/Thomas Becket-style – “merely” called for someone to somehow rid his president of that turbulent Ukrainian?

Either way, it would have been a highly incriminating and tawdry act on Blinken’s part. But it would be naive to consider the current Secretary of State incapable of stooping so low. We are, after all, talking about the man who, during Biden’s election campaign, played a devious behind-the-scenes role in organizing the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story.

Back then, by mobilizing the American intelligence community to, once again, serve party-political purposes, Blinken helped Biden win and, in the long term, further shredded what’s left of American establishment credibility. (Not to mention that, currently, Blinken is displaying his absolute legal nihilism in stunning fashion by shielding Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza.)

Secondly, Derkach also maintains that former Ukrainian chief prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who lost his job for going after a Biden (or was it even two of them?), is in danger of assassination and should receive help to leave Ukraine. What makes this claim sound improbable is the fact that Shokin is still alive. What makes it plausible is the fact that there has already been at least one attempt on his life, although that took place years ago when he was still in office: As a matter of fact, for Shokin, losing his job may have made losing his life less likely.

Third, Derkach claims that, inside Ukraine, a large bribe linked to the fallout from the Burisma affair has been turned into funding for the Ukrainian intelligence services, in particular for assassinations in Russia and the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. Can he prove this specific connection, namely that precisely that dirty money was used for this dark purpose? Maybe, maybe not. Yet there is no doubt that Ukraine’s military intelligence service in particular has organized assassinations. Indeed, some Western media have quite openly sung its praises for this, such as The Economist.

As regards Nord Stream, after an initial period of plainly silly Western disinformation absurdly trying to point the finger at Russia (anyone remember that?), it is now fashionable to blame it all on Ukraine, as if the latter could have acted without NATO permission and assistance. So, here as well Derkach gets a grade of 'at least partly true'; and his allegation about how some of these activities have been financed cannot be dismissed as implausible either.

Let’s return, however, to the biggest issue at stake here: the Bidens. And let’s note a simple but generally overlooked fact: They are amazingly good at lowering expectations. They and their media allies are engaged in an ongoing, largely successful operation of shifting US baselines even farther down: In a normal country, there simply should not be an endless, partisan struggle over whether and how much money exactly went to the current president personally. In a normal country, the fact that, at the very least, Joe Biden has long tolerated, facilitated (to one extent or the other) and, finally, defended and shielded the screamingly unethical behavior of his son, should be more than enough to have forced him to resign.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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https://www.rt.com/russia/590531-biden-ukraine-revelations-derkach/

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The administration of US president Joe Biden appealed to the country’s Supreme Court on Friday, after Texas blocked federal Border Patrol officers from accessing Shelby Park, a city property along the Rio Grande river on the frontier with Mexico. Texas officials have accused the federal government of failing to stop “mass illegal crossings.”

The US Border Patrol had previously cut through razor wire erected by the state to block migrants, which a federal appeals court banned in a December ruling.

The Department of Homeland Security amended its emergency application to the Supreme Court on Friday with photos and maps of the area, claiming that Texas has “effectively prevented Border Patrol from monitoring the border” and that this prevented federal agents from determining whether any migrants might require emergency aid while trying to cross – the only exemption from the ban allowed by the court.

The Texas National Guard said on Thursday evening that its current posture in Shelby Park is “to prepare for future illegal immigrant surges and to restrict access to organizations that perpetuate illegal immigrant crossings in the park and greater Eagle Pass area.”

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Texas over Senate Bill 4, the state law that made illegal immigration a state crime. Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta has argued that the law is “clearly unconstitutional” because it violates the Supremacy Clause giving the federal government authority over the border and immigration.

Texas has countered that the Biden administration has “refused to secure the border” and allowed millions of people to illegally cross over from Mexico. Instead of turning them back or deporting them, the US government has allowed the migrants to claim asylum and then released them into the country with a promise to appear in court in a couple of years.

Last month, Border Patrol reported 300,000 encounters with illegal immigrants; an all-time high.

Republicans in Congress have accused President Biden of facilitating an “invasion,” while the ruling Democrats have countered that blocking entry to asylum-seekers would be “cruel” and “inhumane.”

As part of Operation Lone Star, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has sought to build barriers along the border and detained almost 500,000 illegal immigrants. Texas has also bused over 97,000 migrants the federal authorities had allowed into the country to Democrat-run jurisdictions of New York City, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC itself.

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https://www.rt.com/news/590563-texas-mexico-border-lawsuit/

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The flow of US military aid to Kiev has now stopped, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday. His remarks came amid a debate in Congress on whether to continue support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

“We have issued the last drawdown package that we had funding to support, and that’s why it’s critical that Congress move on that national security supplemental request,” Kirby told reporters at a press briefing, admitting that “the assistance that [the US had] provided has now ground to a halt.”

The last aid package worth $250 million was authorized by President Joe Biden in late December through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows for urgent deliveries of weapons to allies without congressional approval.

Biden has been asking Congress to vote for a $100 billion supplemental budget request he has tabled, of which more than $60 billion is slated for Ukraine. Republicans have blocked the measure, demanding that the White House and congressional Democrats agree to their plan of tightening security at the border with Mexico.

The director of the Office of Management and Budget, Shalanda Young, told the press in January that the drawdown authority “is not going to get big tranches of equipment into Ukraine,” describing the situation as “dire.”

Earlier in the month, Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick Ryder, warned that the army was running out of options “to replenish the stocks.”

While Biden has publicly pledged to back Kiev for “as long as it takes,” some Republicans and the media have been questioning Washington’s existing strategy, given that Ukraine’s much-hyped counteroffensive has ended without significant territorial gains.

Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top general, admitted last year that the conflict was “at a stalemate.”

EU officials are also increasingly acknowledging that deliveries of weapons to Ukraine have been delayed due to production and logistical issues.

“Europe doesn’t know how to fight wars,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said in a recent interview. “Unfortunately, our friends spent too much time deliberating on how and when to ramp up their production of weapons and ammunition.”

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https://www.rt.com/news/590483-us-confirms-aid-stopped/

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A spate of fires at Christian churches in Canada could be linked to the discovery of suspected mass graves of indigenous children on the grounds of residential schools previously operated by the Catholic Church, state broadcaster CBC has reported.

At least 33 churches were destroyed or badly damaged by fire between May 2021 and December 2023, the Canadian broadcaster reported on Wednesday, with just two of those having been ruled by investigators as accidental. The network added that 24 of the fires were cases of suspected arson, while several more remain under active investigation.

Citing researchers and community leaders, CBC stated that factors including Canada’s colonial history and the discovery of potential unmarked burial sites on Residential School grounds are thought to have been the motivation for many of the suspected arson cases. This includes allegations made in May 2021 that the remains of over 200 children could lie in an unmarked mass grave at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in the province of British Columbia.

Ground-penetrating radar had revealed the possible remains of 215 children – with some thought to have been just three-years-old when they died. In the weeks following the announcement, 11 churches in western Canada were destroyed by fire in cases determined to be arson by investigators.

Thousands of other suspected unmarked graves have been identified since 2021 in Canada, though no remains have been physically exhumed – including at the Kamloops site.

Canada’s residential school system, in operation from the 1830s to the 1990s, was made up of government-sponsored religious-run institutions  intended to forcefully assimilate children from the North American country’s indigenous population into Euro-Canadian culture. It is estimated that about 150,000 Indian, Inuit and Metis children between 4 and 16 attended the schools – many of whom were subjected to abuse.

While many people who went through the system became devoted Christians, the Residential School system has created deep divides in Canadian society over the church’s role in their formation, and the attempted erasure of indigenous culture.

“[Churches] are on fire because no one’s really addressing the truth,”Paulina Johnson, a researcher at the University of Alberta, told CBC of the cases of suspected arson. “This isn’t to say that the arsons and the fires are justified, but it speaks to a bigger symbolic reality.”

Johnson, who comes from an indigenous background, added: “It gives them a voice. Because for the longest time, Canada hasn’t really acknowledged us.”

In 2015, a commission established to identify the impacts of Canada’s residential schools concluded that the system amounted to “genocide.” Pope Francis, on a visit to Canada in 2022, apologized for the Catholic Church’s role in the system, and also acknowledged it as genocide.

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https://www.rt.com/news/590454-canada-church-fires-residential-schools/

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January 6 rioter Ray Epps, one of the alleged instigators of the unauthorized entry into the US Capitol on that date, was sentenced to just a year’s probation on Tuesday, despite his prominent role in the unrest. He must complete 100 hours of community service and pay a $500 restitution fee.

The unusually light sentence – other defendants, including some who never entered the Capitol or weren’t even in Washington, DC were handed custodial sentences of two decades or more – as well as the court’s decision to allow Epps to “phone in” to his sentencing hearing revived suspicions that he could have been working for the FBI or another agency when he repeatedly urged groups of protesters to enter the building.

Epps can be seen urging multiple different groups to enter the Capitol in footage posted to social media by fellow Stop the Steal protesters on January 6 and the night before. In one clip, fellow demonstrator Tim Gionet (better known as YouTube streamer Baked Alaska) responds by initiating a chant of “Fed!” – accusing Epps of being a federal agent.

“No jail time for Ray Epps! Totally not a fed btw,” Gionet wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday following the sentencing.

“Meanwhile, there are truly peaceful protesters ROTTING in prison simply for wandering onto Capitol grounds,” commentator Nick Sortor wrote in a post on X.

While Epps initially appeared on the FBI’s “wanted” page for January 6 protesters, he was soon removed without being arrested, leading many to suspect he had been working with the agency or some other government entity to rile up the crowd.

After numerous conservative influencers, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, publicly accused Epps of being an agent tasked with “stage-manag[ing] the insurrection,” he was finally arrested – and promptly sued Fox News. The network had unjustly used him as a “scapegoat,” he claimed, accusing Fox of “promoting the lie that Epps was a federal agent who incited the attack on the Capitol.”

Epps would later claim he had tried to “defuse the situation” at the Capitol, insisting he was “shocked and disappointed” to see people climbing the government building’s walls during the riot.

Many of those charged in connection with January 6 received harsh sentences regardless of their proximity to the actual riot. Proud Boys leader (and federal informant) Enrique Tarrio, who was not in Washington, DC on that date, received 22 years, while Guy Reffitt, whose own son turned him into the FBI, received seven years despite remaining outside the Capitol during the unrest. Nearly two-thirds of January 6 defendants – and there have been more than 1,230 – received a custodial sentence, according to the Associated Press.

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https://www.rt.com/news/590410-ray-epps-sentenced-probation-capitol/

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"GOOD NEWS! Conservative Youth Leader CJ Pearson Qualifies for Georgia Special Election in Race for Next State Representative in District 125." TGP

By Jim Hoft.

"This is good news!"

"Young conservative activist CJ Pearson announced on Tuesday that he had qualified for the special election to be Georgia’s next State Representative in District 125."

"CJ is running on the promise to hold Soros-backed prosecutors like Fani Willis accountable, protect Georgia’s traditional values, and to usher in the next generation of America First leadership to Georgia."

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/01/2-6-3/

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Not to be trusted.

He makes a good mouthpiece, very convincing to the younger crowd.

Of particular note is the debris field from flight 93. (3:10)

https://youtu.be/9IEF_jg70P8?si=9leCTG0L8JxzJOdD

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Ukraine lost over 215,000 troops and 28,000 units of military hardware in 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has estimated. He also claimed that Russian forces continue to hold the “strategic initiative” along the entire front line.

Last month, the minister announced that Kiev’s casualties since the conflict began in February 2022 had exceeded 383,000 killed and wounded. He noted that Ukraine had sustained nearly half of those losses during its summer counteroffensive, which began in early June but failed to retake any substantial ground.

Speaking at a meeting of senior military commanders on Tuesday, Shoigu said that Russian forces “are methodically diminishing the combat potential of the Ukrainian armed forces.”

“Last year, the enemy’s losses exceeded 215,000 people and 28,000 units of heavy weaponry,” the minister stated. He also vowed to ensure Moscow’s goals in the conflict are achieved.

Shoigu said that despite Kiev’s heavy casualties, the US is set on trying to “realize its world leadership ambitions” at the expense of Ukrainian lives, urging the country to conscript yet more troops. The minister maintained that this would not affect the outcome of the conflict, but merely prolong hostilities unnecessarily.

The Russian military will also focus on keeping its nuclear capabilities at the “highest level of combat readiness,” Shoigu said. He revealed plans to continue developing state-of-the-art weapons, including using AI technology.

Speaking to Ukrainian media on Sunday, the country’s former prosecutor general, Yury Lutsenko, called on the national leadership to admit they had lost 500,000 service members since February 2022. He went on to allege that Ukraine suffers around 30,000 casualties a month on average.

Ukrainians “must know how many have died, and then all debates about the mobilization will be settled,” Lutsenko argued. He believes that the shock would help bring his compatriots “out of the comfort zone,” leading to large queues at recruitment offices, akin to those seen at the start of the conflict.

To boost motivation and fight draft-dodging, the former official also suggested sending members of the Ukrainian elite to the front line.

In December, President Vladimir Zelensky said that the military had asked him to mobilize another 450,000 or 500,000 men. The top brass, however, later disavowed those estimates.

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https://www.rt.com/russia/590336-russia-estimates-ukrainian-losses-2023/

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Ukrainian enlistment officers are now apparently using new tactics to bolster the ranks of the country’s military, stopping public transportation in the streets and detaining service-aged men, local media has reported.

Disturbing videos emerged from the southwestern Ukrainian port city of Odessa on Tuesday, showing enlistment officers boarding a trolleybus and a tram, detaining all men inside and packing them into a bus.

The boarding party included plain-clothes individuals wearing balaclavas, as well as servicemen in full military garb that appear to be from Ukraine’s National Guard. The recruiters were confronted by women who hurled insults and demanded that they leave the men alone.

Nevertheless, the ‘enlistment’ process apparently went on unhindered, with at least one of those filming the activities reportedly ending up being conscripted.

Ukraine has conducted large-scale recruitment drives since the early days of the conflict with Russia, which broke out in February 2022. The mobilization effort has grown increasingly violent and lawless over time, with numerous videos circulating online showing violations committed by enlistment officers.

Military recruiters have been seen on numerous occasions chasing potential soldiers in the streets, assaulting them and even engaging in brawls. They have also routinely used ambush tactics to round up recruits, utilizing unmarked civilian vehicles and even ambulances to take would-be soldiers by surprise.

Ukraine has struggled to make up for the heavy losses suffered during its much-hyped counteroffensive which was launched in early June last year. While Kiev has not officially disclosed the country’s casualties sustained in the conflict with Russia, the number is believed to be in the hundreds of thousands.

According to Moscow’s latest estimates provided by Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu on Tuesday, Ukraine lost over 215,000 troops and 28,000 units of military hardware last year alone. Last month, Shoigu said that Kiev lost more than 383,000 service members since the beginning of the hostilities, with more than half of the casualties sustained during the summer counteroffensive.

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https://www.rt.com/russia/590338-ukrainian-military-recruitement-trick/

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A senior commander of Hezbollah’s elite special forces unit has been killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, ratcheting up tensions as West Jerusalem’s war with Hamas threatens to expand to a second front.

Hezbollah’s military media office confirmed the death on Monday of Wissam al-Tawil, deputy head of the militant group’s secretive Radwan commando unit. He and another Hezbollah fighter were reportedly killed when a sport-utility vehicle in which they were riding was struck by a missile in the Lebanese town of Majdal Selm, about four miles north of the Israeli border.

Al-Tawil is the highest-level Hezbollah member to have been killed since Israel’s war with Hamas began on October 7. Cross-border violence has escalated in recent days; Hezbollah launched a missile attack on an Israeli intelligence base on Saturday, which came in response to a drone strike last week that killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri and six other people in a Beirut suburb.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it had carried out strikes on Monday against Hezbollah military targets in Lebanon. However, Israeli officials haven’t spoken specifically about the killings of al-Arouri and al-Tawil, in keeping with their policy regarding extraterritorial assassinations.

A video posted on social media purported to show the burned-outvehicle in which al-Tawil was riding. Hezbollah said he had died “on the road to Jerusalem,” a phrase used by the group for fighters killed by Israeli forces. The group also posted pictures of the deceased commander, including photos of him alongside senior Hezbollah leaders and top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a US drone strike in 2020.

US officials have insisted that they are working to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from escalating into a wider conflict. A secret US intelligence assessment found that Israeli forces would find it “difficult to succeed” in a two-front war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to meet with Israeli leaders this week in Tel Aviv as part of a nine-stop Middle East trip.

Al-Tawil’s Radwan unit had prepared for a potential cross-border attack against Israel, but those plans were reportedly suspended when Hamas fighters launched surprise raids on southern Israeli villages on October 7, triggering the region’s latest war.

West Jerusalem isn’t afraid to go to war with Iran-backed Hezbollah and Hamas at the same time, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told the Wall Street Journal in an article published on Sunday. “They see what is happening in Gaza,” he said. “They know we can copy-paste to Beirut.”

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https://www.rt.com/news/590289-hezbollah-leader-killed-in-alleged-israeli-airstrike/

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Polish officials withheld evidence and attempted to stall an international probe into the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, making investigators “suspicious of Warsaw’s role and motives,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas lines – which linked Russia with Germany under the Baltic Sea – were destroyed in a series of explosions near the Danish island of Bornholm in September 2022. A joint inquiry by Germany, Denmark, and Sweden is ongoing, with investigators theorizing that a Ukrainian team rented a yacht in Germany from a Polish company, which they used to transport explosives to the blast sites.

When the investigators chased these leads in Poland, they found themselves stonewalled by government officials and law enforcement agents, the Journal reported, citing sources within the investigation.

Polish authorities failed to turn over testimony from eyewitnesses who encountered the yacht’s six-person crew in the Polish port of Kolobrzeg until pushed to do so by German police, the sources said. CCTV footage from the port was then withheld, and Poland’s internal security agency, the ABW, “failed to answer queries, obfuscated or gave contradictory information,” the newspaper stated.

Polish prosecutors said they found no traces of explosives on the yacht, despite never having boarded it to check, the investigators claimed. The investigation would later find explosive residue on the vessel, according to media reports.

The prosecutors reportedly told European investigators that the boat arrived in Kolobrzeg at 4pm September 19, when it actually moored seven hours earlier. Later in the investigation, the ABW told its sister agencies in Europe that the yacht “had links with Russian espionage,” the newspaper wrote, adding that investigators considered this “disinformation.”

According to all available information, no Western governments or intelligence agencies suspect that Russia was behind the bombings. Gas sold to Europe via the Nord Stream lines was a lucrative source of revenue for Moscow, and was seen as a powerful instrument of leverage for the Kremlin.

Poland’s efforts to hinder the investigators have made them “increasingly suspicious of Warsaw’s role and motives,” the Wall Street Journal noted. All of the alleged misdirection and obfuscation took place under Poland’s previous government, however, and unnamed “senior European officials” told the newspaper that they are considering contacting Poland’s new prime minister, Donald Tusk, in the hope that he will grant them access to police and security personnel who may have previously been pressured to stay silent.

According to an alternate theory put forward by American journalist Seymour Hersh, the CIA was responsible for the Nord Stream blasts. Citing sources within the intelligence community, Hersh argued that CIA divers working with the Norwegian Navy planted remotely-triggered bombs on the lines last summer, using a NATO exercise in the region as cover.

Bolstering this theory was a tweet by former Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who within hours of the explosions shared an image of a giant gas leak at the blast site along with the caption “Thank you, USA.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has backed this explanation, stating last month that the sabotage operation “was done, most likely, by the Americans or someone at their instruction.”

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https://www.rt.com/news/590277-poland-nord-stream-investigation/

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Ruslana Korshunova, a Kazakhstan-born Russian top model who jumped to her death from her Manhattan apartment in 2008, had visited Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious “pedophile island” when she was just 18, newly unsealed court documents have revealed. 

Korshunova, who was featured in ads for Marc Jacobs, DKNY, and Nina Ricci, was flown on the billionaire’s private jet dubbed ‘Lolita Express’ on June 7, 2006, two years before her apparent suicide, the Daily Mail reports citing flight logs.

Epstein, who is known for sexually exploiting underage girls on his Little St. James island, was also listed on the same flight along with five other people. He was charged with multiple counts of unlawful sex with a minor just a month before the trip and was arrested in July 2006 on a single count of soliciting prostitution, a relatively minor charge that drew criticism from critics for giving the financier special treatment.

Although it remains unknown what happened to the young beauty of the island, several years after her tragic death Epstein’s victim Virginia Giuffre received an email from her attorney asking whether she knew Korshunova, according to the New York Post.

Ruslana Korshunova was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 1992 and moved to New York City when she was 15, after being discovered by a London-based modeling agency Model 1. She had a dazzling career with her schedule packed with high-profile modeling gigs and Russian Vogue and French Elle covers in her arsenal.

She leapt to her death from her ninth-floor apartment in June 2008, days before her 21st birthday. At the time it was reported that her friends and family said that she displayed no signs of wanting to kill herself, having described her as a cheerful girl who “loved life.”

Others said that she kept her problems “bottled up” and felt confused about the direction of her life. Reportedly, she also complained about a mysterious stomach ailment and lost lots of weight months before her death.

Although Korshunova left no suicide note, the investigation found a long message on her computer describing how she missed her home and family.

She was buried in Russia with her mother saying that she “would want her beloved Moscow to be her last resting place.”

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https://www.rt.com/news/590246-russian-model-suicide-epstein/

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An American court this week released over 900 documents relating to the sordid and seemingly never-ending Jeffrey Epstein saga.

Epstein was the very well-connected billionaire financial adviser – with a fondness for being “massaged” by teenage girls from Miami trailer parks – who committed suicide (so it is said) in a Manhattan prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

The Western media had, of course, conferred celebrity status on Epstein – in tandem with his lover and partner in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell, long before his controversial and opportune death. Maxwell, no stranger to scandal in her own right, is the daughter of disgraced billionaire publisher Robert Maxwell - who committed suicide in 1991 on the eve of being exposed for having stolen hundreds of millions of pounds from his companies’ pension funds.

Epstein was one of Robert Maxwell’s financial advisers, and when Ghislaine moved to New York after her father’s death, they became romantically involved. She needed and valued his financial advice, and he was impressed with her wide range of social connections within elite circles globally – that extended even to the British royal family.

Maxwell herself is now residing in an American jail cell – having been convicted of sex trafficking and procuring young girls for Epstein in 2021, and receiving a twenty-year sentence.

Ironically, Epstein and Maxwell were brought down by one of the young girls that they exploited sexually – an Australian, Virginia Giuffre, who pursued them both relentlessly through the American legal system. Giuffre also took legal proceedings against the hapless Prince Andrew – a close friend of Epstein and Maxwell with whom she says she was forced to have sex on numerous occasions – that resulted in a multi-million dollar out-of-court settlement and the Prince’s banishment from public life two years ago.

The inherently salacious nature of the long-running Epstein tale and its #MeToo subtext no doubt account for the Western media’s ongoing fascination with Epstein and Maxwell. But there is also another factor at work – a desire to expose and bring down those individual members of the global elites who associated with Epstein and were beneficiaries of his hospitality and largesse.

There is, however, an element of political naivety in this – after all, haven’t Western elites always sexually exploited young girls from the lower orders? More importantly, surely the widespread fraudulent financial activities of these powerful individuals and the corporations they govern are more deserving of exposure?

It should come as no surprise that a clever and ambitious spiv like Epstein (who did not come from a privileged background and was a teacher before becoming a financial adviser to the global elites) should also regularly supply his clients with young working-class women at his private residences.

Media coverage of this week’s document release – and there are more releases to come – has therefore focused on the identity of those prominent individuals who are named in the pleadings, depositions, and exhibits that have now been disclosed.

Not surprisingly, former President Bill Clinton figures prominently – having regularly flown on Epstein’s private jet and stayed on his private island in the Caribbean. One document quotes Epstein as saying “Clinton likes them young”. “Slick Willie” – as he was known to his political opponents in Arkansas – has, of course, denied any improper conduct and any knowledge of Epstein’s trafficking in young girls. Who would not believe Bill Clinton’s denials on such matters? So convincing have they been that not even Hilary has felt the need to come out and support him publically.

Famous American lawyer and academic Alan Dershowitz receives numerous mentions in the documents – including one allegation that he had sex with an underage girl while staying with Epstein. Dershowitz, who acted for Epstein and obtained a favourable plea bargain for him in relation to sex charges that he faced in 2008, has strongly denied this allegation. He admits, however, that he often visited Epstein’s residences and that on one occasion had a massage – but denies any impropriety or knowledge of Epstein’s egregious misconduct. Dershowitz’s denials are strengthened by the fact that he sued Giuffre over allegations that she made about him a few years ago, and she settled the action after admitting that she may have mistaken Dershowitz for someone else.

Prince Andrew, again not surprisingly, figures very conspicuously in the released documents – but his very close association with Epstein and Maxwell is old news, as is his liaison with Ms Giuffre and his subsequent denial of it. Michael Jackson is mentioned once in the documents – although it is very unlikely that he committed any sexual impropriety while enjoying Epstein’s hospitality. The documents make absolutely clear that only young women were on offer at Epstein’s residences. Donald Trump is also mentioned in passing – but it is a matter of public record that Trump’s relationship with Epstein ended decades ago.

Of more interest are those members of the global elites with lesser public profiles who are mentioned in the documents. These individuals include Tom Pritzker, billionaire head of the Pritzker Organisation and Executive Chairman of Hyatt Hotels; Glenn Dubin, billionaire investor and co-founder of Highbridge Capital; Marvin Minsky, AI pioneer and MIT Professor; and Bill Richardson, former Governor of New Mexico, where Epstein had one of his homes.

In the documents, Ms. Giuffre alleges she had sex with Pritzker, Dubin, and Minsky, who died in 2016. Pritzker has denied Giuffre’s allegation.

No doubt, the release of the Epstein documents this week – and the subsequent releases – will be front-page news in the Western media. Details of the sexual crimes allegedly committed by Epstein and his friends will be salaciously pored over by readers excited by such scandals, and the reputations of a few individual participants will be so damaged that they will not be invited to Davos next year.

But the corrupt financial system that created Epstein and allowed him to prosper – he had amassed a fortune of $700 million – will continue to operate completely unchecked and beyond effective scrutiny. And even at the level of exposing those individuals who exploited the young girls that Epstein supplied them with – most will simply escape unscathed.

Portions of many of the documents released this week are redacted, and only Epstein and Maxwell know the names of all the elite individuals who were actually involved in their activities. Epstein is conveniently dead, and Maxwell has remained silent on this issue throughout her trial and incarceration - a wise move, perhaps given Epstein’s fate. Media coverage of the Epstein saga in the West purports to be investigative journalism – but its defects disclose the real scandal, namely that genuine investigative journalism no longer exists in the West.

Graham Hryce is an Australian journalist and former media lawyer, whose work has been published in The Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, the Sunday Mail, the Spectator and Quadrant.

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https://www.rt.com/news/590147-epstein-elites-system-court/

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The White House is worried that the conflict in Gaza could expand to other parts of the Middle East and is drawing up plans for a possible US response if that happens, Politico has reported, citing informed officials.

Internal discussions are underway in the administration of US President Joe Biden about scenarios that could see Washington drawn into a major war in the region, the outlet said in an article on Thursday.

The potential for a wider conflict in the Middle East is growing, said sources including a senior Biden administration official.

The events of the past few days “have convinced some in the administration that the war in Gaza has officially escalated far beyond the strip’s borders,” Politico wrote.

These events included a US drone strike in Baghdad that killed Iraqi militia leader Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, the killing of Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri in an Israeli UAV attack in the Lebanese capital Beirut, and twin explosions in Iran that claimed 84 lives and wounded almost 300 people.

According to the officials, the US military is drafting plans to strike back at Houthi fighters, who have been targeting commercial ships off Yemen’s coast in response to the attacks on Gaza by Israel. “From our perspective, the most worrying thing is that the Houthis might sink a ship. Then what happens?” one of the sources said.

The intelligence community is trying to find ways of anticipating and resisting the attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria by local militias. It’s also working to determine whether the Houthis would carry out similar strikes, the report read.

Such contingency planning is routine amid heightened tension in the Middle East, officials said. But this activity has intensified this week on orders from the top echelons of the administration “over fears that the violence in the region will only continue to grow and that Washington will eventually have to intervene,” they explained.

Politico stressed that rising tensions in the Middle East “are perilous not just for regional security, but for Biden’s re-election chances.” The president, who planned to focus his campaign on domestic issues, instead “ends his first term as the West’s champion for the defense of Ukraine and key enabler of Israel’s retaliation against Hamas,” it said.

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https://www.rt.com/news/590150-biden-us-yemen-gaza/

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Washington will continue to actively support Israel and seek to realize a “nightmare” scenario for the Iranian leadership, US Senator Lindsey Graham told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Tel Aviv on Thursday.

The US expressed its strong support for the Jewish State in October 2023 in the wake of a Hamas terrorist attack, which claimed some 1,200 lives and saw more than 240 people taken hostage. The Israeli retaliation campaign, which was also backed by the US, has already killed more than 22,000 people in the Palestinian enclave, according to local health officials.

On Thursday, Graham told Netanyahu that both US lawmakers and the administration of President Joe Biden would “push forward to make Iran’s worst nightmare real,” adding that the US would “do everything we can” to support Israel. He argued that West Jerusalem should strive for reconciliation with Arab nations, calling such an outcome “a nightmare for the ayatollah.” He also described establishing ties between Israel and the Arab world as an “absolutely essential ingredient to a better, more stable Mid-East and a safe and secure Israel and a prosperous Palestinian people.”

The senator also stated that he was personally “more dedicated now to bringing stability to your country and this region.” Netanyahu responded by expressing his gratitude to Graham and vowed to continue Israel’s war campaign in Gaza.

“We’re absolutely committed to achieving our war goals,” Netanyahu told Graham, adding that West Jerusalem would “apply maximum power with maximum precision everywhere that's needed.”

Iran has repeatedly blamed Israel for the escalation in the region throughout the ongoing conflict as well as accused it of committing “genocide” in Gaza and setting “fire to the region.” Tehran also accused West Jerusalem’s Western backers, including the US, of employing double standards in their assessment of the situation in the Middle East.

Last month, Graham, who is also known for his staunch anti-Iranian position, called for a bombing campaign against Iran, calling for the country's oil fields and the Revolutionary Guard Corps headquarters to be “blown off the map.”

Graham is a retired US Air Force colonel but spent his entire military career in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps as a lawyer and then a judge. He also has a long history of promoting the use of force abroad.

His words came as Washington was reportedly preparing for the conflict between Israel and Hamas to spill over the borders of Gaza and expand further to the Middle East, according to Politico. The administration of US President Joe Biden was allegedly reviewing scenarios that could see Washington drawn into a major conflict in the region.

A US response could be triggered by Yemeni Houthi fighters, who have been targeting commercial ships off Yemen’s coast in response to the attacks on Gaza by Israel, according to the news media outlet.

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https://www.rt.com/news/590162-us-senator-iran-worst-nightmare/

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Discuss.

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Israel should not get $10 billion in “unconditional military aid” to wage a “brutal war” on the Palestinians in Gaza, US Senator Bernie Sanders announced on Tuesday. Sanders is a Democrat-allied Vermont independent who challenged Hillary Clinton for the party’s nomination in 2016.

Sanders issued a similar announcement last month, but said it would be appropriate to “support defense systems” that would help Israel defend itself from rocket and missile attacks. That qualification was entirely absent from his Tuesday statement, however, which described what’s going on in Gaza as a “brutal war against the Palestinian people” by the “right-wing” government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“While we recognize that Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attack began this war, we must also recognize that Israel’s military response has been grossly disproportionate, immoral, and in violation of international law,” said Sanders, who noted that Israel is using “US bombs, artillery shells, and other forms of weaponry” against Gaza.

The senator pointed out that “over 22,000 Palestinians have been killed” and another 57,000 have been wounded by Israeli strikes since October 7, while about 70% of Gaza has been destroyed or damaged and 85% of its total population has been displaced already.

“This cannot be allowed to continue,” said the 82-year-old Jewish senator. “The taxpayers of the United States must no longer be complicit in destroying the lives of innocent men, women, and children in Gaza.”

His comments come as the US State Department has denounced statements made by two key Netanyahu allies calling for the permanent displacement of the Palestinians living in Gaza as “inflammatory and irresponsible.”

Washington’s official policy calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state and for Gaza to be administered by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. Netanyahu’s government has rejected both proposals.

The White House included funding for Israel in its $106 billion national security emergency spending request in October, bundling it with over $60 billion in military aid for Ukraine and other issues. It has been repeatedly rejected by Republicans in both the House and the Senate. The House Republicans passed a separate $14 billion Israel aid bill, which the Senate Democrats then blocked.

Last week, the State Department approved the delivery of $147.5 million worth of 155mm artillery shells to Israel, bypassing Congressional approval by citing a national emergency.

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https://www.rt.com/news/590056-israel-gaza-us-military-aid/

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The US emerged as the globe’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the global market in 2023, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing tanker tracking and government data. Australia came in second, while Qatar, which ranked first in 2022, saw its output drop by 1.9% and slid to third place.

According to the report, US LNG exports hit monthly and annual records last month, with the country exporting 8.6 million metric tons in December alone to total 88.9 million metric tons in 2023, up 14.7% compared to 2022.

According to US government data, Europe remained the foremost destination for US LNG exports last month, accounting for 5.43 million metric tons, or more than 60% of overall shipments. Nearly 70% of US LNG exports were destined for the region in November. The EU significantly increased its LNG imports last year, following the drop in pipeline gas flows from Russia, once its major supplier. This occurred amid Ukraine-related sanctions against Moscow and a sabotage of Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines in 2022, which made them inoperable.

Meanwhile, according to earlier reports, despite Brussels’ drive to rid itself of Russian energy, the EU has been boosting imports of Russian LNG. In November, the country’s exports to the bloc hit a historic high at 1.75 million metric tons. According to data from the Ministry of Economic Development, Russia’s overall fuel exports in 2023 stood at roughly 33.3 million metric tons.

Analysts link the increased shipments with the restart of Freeport LNG in Texas, whose production had been paused for several months following a June 2022 fire. The facility’s return to full service reportedly added 6 million metric tons to overall output. Another factor, according to experts who spoke to Reuters, was increased production at other LNG plants. For instance, Venture Global LNG’s Calcasieu Pass facility boosted output by 3 million metric tons year-on-year in 2023.

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https://www.rt.com/business/590059-us-top-lng-exporter/

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Republicans will be starting the new year by launching impeachment proceedings against a Biden regime official.

CNN revealed Wednesday that the House Committee on Homeland Security has decided to start impeachment proceedings against radical Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his handling of the ongoing southern border crisis created by the regime.

A committee spokesperson provided the following statement to CNN:

The House Committee on Homeland Security has conducted a comprehensive investigation into Secretary Mayorkas’ handling of, and role in, the unprecedented crisis at the Southwest border for nearly a year.

Following the bipartisan vote in the House to refer articles of impeachment against the secretary to our Committee, we will be conducting hearings and taking up those articles in the coming weeks.

This news comes after border officials revealed that over 302,000 people crossed the border illegally in December. The Mail notes this is the highest monthly total recorded in American history.

The Daily Mail reported the first impeachment hearing into Mayorkas will be held next week. Of course, circumstances can always change.

Instead of taking responsibility for his failures in controlling America’s border with Mexico, Mayorkas went on MSNBC Wednesday and blamed “climate change” for the illegal crossings.

“Border Patrol, in the month of December, processed more migrants entering the United States illegally than any month in the history of that agency. Why is that happening?”

MAYORKAS: “Climate change” pic.twitter.com/HOXFzyNSx0

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 3, 2024

During an interview with CNN, DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg blasted the GOP for moving ahead with Mayorkas impeachment.

There is no valid basis to impeach Secretary Mayorkas, as senior members of the House majority have attested, and this extreme impeachment push is a harmful distraction from our critical national security priorities.

Secretary Mayorkas and the Department of Homeland Security will continue working every day to keep Americans safe.

As Gateway Pundit readers know, eight cowardly House Republicans voted to shelve Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Articles of Impeachment against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas back in November, killing impeachment efforts then.

It remains to be seen whether the second attempt will be the charm.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/01/breaking-house-republicans-begin-impeachment-proceedings-against-homeland/

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At least 103 people have reportedly been killed as two explosions ripped through a memorial to mark the fourth anniversary of the death of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Iran’s south-central city of Kerman on Wednesday, according to media reports.

The blasts occurred close to the grave site of the former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander, Iranian media reports said. Mohammad Saberi, who leads Kerman’s emergency rescue services, initially told state media that 20 people had been killed in the explosions and a further 20 had been injured, Al Jazeera reported.

Iranian media has since reported that 103 people have died, while 141 were injured. These figures are likely to rise in the coming hours. The agency also noted that officials at the scene have described the incident as a terrorist attack, and that two bags containing bombs are thought to have exploded in the crowded area after being detonated remotely.

Video footage of the aftermath of the incident circulating on social media shows injured people at the scene being attended to by medics and being removed on stretchers.

“Our rapid response teams are evacuating the injured,” Reza Fallah, head of Kerman’s Red Crescent humanitarian group, told Iranian television, according to Al Jazeera. He added that rescue operations were hampered by “waves of crowds blocking roads.”

Soleimani, a revered figure in Iran, was killed in a US drone strike authorized by former US President Donald Trump in Baghdad, Iraq on January 3, 2020. Trump later said that he had ordered the US military operation in response to intelligence that claimed that Soleimani was planning an “imminent” attack on US forces in the Iraqi capital.

The incident in Kerman comes one day after a senior Hamas figure, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed in a drone strike in Lebanon. Iran condemned the attack, saying that it could potentially “ignite another surge in the veins of resistance and the motivation to fight against the Zionist occupiers.”

The explosions are reported to have been separated by periods of about ten to 15 minutes. The first occurred about 700 meters (less than half a mile) from Soleimani’s tomb at the Golzar Shohada cemetery in Kerman. The second was about a kilometer (0.6 miles) away, the Guardian said.

The cemetery, otherwise known as the Garden of Martyrs, is a resting place for more than 1,000 people considered to be martyrs. The site has become known as a pilgrimage destination for supporters of the “axis of resistance” against the US and the West. Footage appears to show that Soleimani’s tomb was not damaged in the attack.

The identities of those behind the explosions – or their motivations – are not yet known. However, Kianush Jahanpur, the former spokesman for Iran’s health ministry, has suggested on social media that “the answer to this crime should only be in Tel Aviv, Haifa.”

Iran had in recent days said it had executed four persons that it said were linked to Israel’s Mossad intelligence services.

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https://www.rt.com/news/590074-iran-soleimani-memorial-blasts/

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The Turkish government said on Tuesday that it will not allow minesweeping vessels that the UK has pledged to donate to Ukraine to enter the Black Sea. Ankara, which controls the straits linking the Black Sea with the Mediterranean, shut down access to foreign warships when the conflict in Ukraine began in 2022.

British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps announced last month that the UK would hand over two Royal Navy mine-hunting ships to Ukraine. Shapps claimed that by clearing Russian mines, the craft would make it easier for Ukraine to conduct naval operations against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, while clearing export routes to bolster the country’s battered economy.

In a statement on Tuesday, Türkiye said that these ships will not make it to the Black Sea.

“Our relevant allies have been informed that the mine hunting ships donated to Ukraine by the United Kingdom will not be allowed to pass through the Turkish Straits to the Black Sea as long as the war continues,” the Turkish presidency’s communications directorate said.

Türkiye controls the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, which connect the Black Sea with the Mediterranean and the wider world. Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Ankara is obliged to grant free passage to civilian ships and limited passage to military craft through these waterways during peacetime, but in wartime, can deny access to the military ships of belligerent parties.

Within days of Russian troops entering Ukraine, Türkiye “immediately defined Russia's special military operation against Ukraine as a ‘war’ and closed the Straits to warships of the warring parties (Russia and Ukraine) in accordance with Article 19 of the Montreux Straits Convention,” the communications directorate said.

Türkiye “has been implementing the Montreux Convention impartially and meticulously since 1936,” the statement continued, adding that it will maintain this “unwavering determination and principled attitude throughout this war.”

While the decision forbade Western powers from sending warships to Ukraine, it also blocked Russia from reinforcing its Black Sea fleet, which is based in the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

Although Türkiye is a member of NATO, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described the country’s position on the Ukraine conflict as “balanced.” In addition to hosting peace talks in 2022, Türkiye brokered the now-defunct Black Sea Grain Initiative, while Ankara has refused to sanction Russia, and has strengthened its trade links with Moscow.

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https://www.rt.com/news/590041-turkiye-blocks-ships-ukraine/

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Türkiye arrested 33 people suspected of spying for Israel on Tuesday and is reportedly pursuing another 13 believed to be involved with the West Jerusalem's Mossad intelligence agency, according to Anadolu Agency.

The detained individuals, who were not named in the report, are believed to have been plotting to conduct “reconnaissance” work including “pursuing, assaulting and kidnapping” foreign nationals living in Türkiye on behalf of Israel.

Ronen Bar, director of the Israeli Shin Bet intelligence agency, warned last month that his officers planned to hunt down Hamas operatives “everywhere, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Türkiye, in Qatar.”

“It will take a few years but we will be there to do it,” Bar said in a recording aired by Israeli state broadcaster Kan.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Israel that it would face “serious consequences” if it continued attempting to attack Hamas officials in his country.

While Türkiye and Israel had begun to normalize ties before war was declared on Hamas and Gaza was bombed with unprecedented intensity, both countries have since withdrawn ambassadors from each other’s territory.

Last week, Erdogan condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “worse than Hitler,” declaring that “what Netanyahu is doing [in Gaza] is no less than what Hitler did,” only that the Israeli leader was “richer” than the Nazi leader.

“He takes support from the West, he receives all kinds of support from the US, and with all that support, 20,000 Gazans have been killed,” Erdogan said. That number has since increased to 21,800, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and its leaders following the October 7 attack by the militant group that left 1,200 Israelis dead and saw more than 200 others taken prisoner.

Critics of the military operation that followed have pointed to the high civilian death toll, admissions by military officials that civilian infrastructure had been deliberately targeted, and leaked government documents describing plans to move the entire Palestinian population out of Gaza as proof that it is Palestinian civil society that is being targeted, rather than the militant group that governs the territory.

Many high-ranking Hamas officials reside or spend significant time outside Gaza and the West Bank, including in Türkiye, where the group has an office in Istanbul. Erdogan has said the militant group is “defending its lands” and fighting for the liberation of Palestinians.

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https://www.rt.com/news/590040-turkiye-arrests-israeli-spying-hamas/

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