Inevitably, speculation has begun on who will take over from the outgoing Metropolitan Police Commissioner, following the recent announcement of Cressida Dick’s early departure from the most senior policing position in the country.
Iran’s negotiator Ali Bagheri says nuclear deal ‘closer than ever’The negotiations in Vienna over the revival of the Iran nuclear deal, known as JCPOA, are almost certainly close to an agreement. The surest sign is that crude oil futures were sharply lower in mid-morning Asian trade Feb. 17 despite bearish developments due to the rising tensions on the Ukraine-Russia border. Even an interim deal could potentially increase oil exports by 700,000 b/d, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics, easing the persistent tightness in oil markets.
By John Pilger
Marshall McLuhan’s prophecy that “the successor to politics will be propaganda” has happened. Raw propaganda is now the rule in Western democracies, especially the US and Britain.
This week, the IRR signed an open letter protesting a temporary High Court injunction against the United Voices of the World Union. This unprecedented legal intervention was aimed at suppressing strike action by outsourced security guards at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), prohibiting them from ‘waving banners’, ’vigorous dancing’ or even ‘making rapid dramatic movements’ within 200 metres of the hospital.
There may be some duplication due to cross-posting and may be updated throughout the day, so please check back. If it gets updated, I usually insert the time on the line above. A lot of cross-posting usually indicates that the article is popular.
Ukraine: The Tip of the Spear for the Imperialist Project
https://popularresistance.org/ukraine-the-tip-of-the-spear-for-the-imperialist-project/
Russian UN Ambassador Responds To US ‘War Propaganda’
https://popularresistance.org/russian-un-ambassador-responds-to-us-war-propaganda/
Remarks by Ambassador Zhang Jun at the UN Security Council Briefing on Ukraine
http://thesaker.is/remarks-by-ambassador-zhang-jun-at-the-un-security-council-briefing-on-ukraine/
Russia has called a U.N. Security Council meeting on the anniversary of the signing of the Minsk 2 accord. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is addressing the council. Watch it here live starting at 10 am EST.
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Dear friends,
Greetings from the desk of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.
On 16 February 2015, Govind and Uma Pansare went for a morning walk near their home in Kolhapur, in the western state of Maharashtra, India. Two men on a motorcycle stopped them and asked for directions, but the Pansares could not help them. One of the men laughed, pulled out a gun, and shot the two Pansares. Uma Pansare was hit but survived the attack. Her husband, Govind Pansare, died in a hospital shortly thereafter on 20 February at age 82.
Material for media studies:
The Hill @thehill – 9:32 PM · Feb 3, 2022
Reporter: “It’s an action that you say they have taken, but you have shown no evidence to confirm that. […] This is like – crisis actors? Really? This is like Alex Jones territory you’re getting into now.”
Must-watch exchange between @APDiploWriter Matt Lee and @StateDeptSpox.
video
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Canadian “Freedom Convoy” in Ottawa (Shropshire)A recent preprint meta-analysis by researchers from Denmark (Center for Political Studies), Sweden (Lund University) and the US (Johns Hopkins University) found that lockdowns in the spring of 2020 had no significant impact on mortality. Moreover, the authors highlight that the many “simulation studies” that claimed otherwise essentially presupposed that the entire decline in infections had been due to “measures”, when in reality the decline had been a natural phenomenon. This discrepancy was first shown by a French researcher (see this interview).
Incompetent politicians and diplomats are on the level with ill-prepared generals fighting current wars with dated methods. They err, they stumble, and they may well be responsible for the next idiotic slander, misfire or misunderstanding. UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is synonymous with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s idea of groping diplomacy. Graceless, all confusion, and much ignorance besides, she has been given the task of howling in the Kremlin’s direction, warning that no invasion of Ukraine will be tolerated by Global Britain.
What we are dealing with is a government so power-hungry, paranoid and afraid of losing its stranglehold on power that it is conspiring to wage war on anyone who dares to challenge its authority.
by Ray McGovern
“’Foiled again!’ rose the cry from those expecting Russian President Vladimir Putin to step out of character and risk war, just as he finally succeeds in getting the U.S. to take Russia’s security concerns seriously – and even address them.” Today we can simply recycle the above lede sentence from our article four weeks ago: Godot Likely To Arrive Before Russia Invades Ukraine.
New this time, and so far unique, is the lack-of-spin headline and lede that the AP promptly used yesterday in reporting on the significance of the talks held in Moscow by Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. (Headline and lede sentences follow.)
Unreported Truths by US author Alex BerensonNot everything that has been left unreported is the truth, as several recent claims by a reasonably well-known US author and noted covid propaganda skeptic show.
by Thierry Meyssan
The choice of the Anglo-Saxons to ignore the Russian proposal for a treaty guaranteeing peace and to substitute it with the fantasy of a Ukrainian crisis is not bearing fruit. France is agitated, Germany is paralyzed, but Hungary is likely to lead its neighbors to a position identical to that of Russia: the defense of international law.
Viktor Orbán and his friend Vladimir PutinThere may be some duplication due to cross-posting and may be updated throughout the day, so please check back. If it gets updated, I usually insert the time on the line above. A lot of cross-posting usually indicates that the article is popular.
Biden’s Latest Ukraine Update Is A Bunch Of Malarkey Except For One Key Point
https://orientalreview.org/2022/02/16/bidens-latest-ukraine-update-is-a-bunch-of-malarkey-except-for-one-key-point/
Military Situation In Eastern Ukraine On February 16, 2022 (Map Update)
Ukraine Invasion Scheduled for Wednesday Canceled
https://www.globalresearch.ca/ukraine-invasion-scheduled-wednesday-canceled/5770860
Two interpretations of the Ukrainian affair
https://williambowles.info/2022/02/16/two-interpretations-of-the-ukrainian-affair/
The noise has become deafening.
> The U.S. intelligence briefing included specific reference to next Wednesday, February 16, as a start date for the ground invasion, three officials — based in Washington, London and Ukraine — told POLITICO. <
‘Could’ is doing a lot of work in those headlines.
There may be some duplication due to cross-posting and may be updated throughout the day, so please check back. If it gets updated, I usually insert the time on the line above. A lot of cross-posting usually indicates that the article is popular.
Russia Announces Withdrawal Of Troops Near Ukraine As Drills Conclude
https://popularresistance.org/russia-announces-withdrawal-of-troops-near-ukraine-as-drills-conclude/
The Big White House Plans Behind Its ‘Russian Invasion’ Scam
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/02/the-big-white-house-plans-behind-its-russian-invasion-scam.html
Beijing and Thierry Meyssan see eye to eye on Ukrainian crisis
https://www.voltairenet.org/article215683.html
The mainstream media is, without exception, repeating the unevidenced claim from the Biden administration that Russia is about to invade Ukraine. They do this with no proper journalistic questioning or scepticism. They do this despite the fact that, in the last month, not only have we had repeated cries that invasion is “imminent”, we have had specific secret intelligence sourced claims from the Americans, that a Russian staged false flag attack was about to happen, and from the British, that there was about to be a coup in Kiev led by very minor figures. Both claims turned out to be nonsense.
Vladimir Putin had a working meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Lavrov, we agreed today that the Foreign Ministry would present its views on the responses we received to our proposals sent to our US colleagues in Washington and our NATO colleagues in Brussels regarding security issues in Europe and their response to our concerns, primarily NATO’s endless and, in our view, most dangerous eastward expansion, now aimed at reaching out to former Soviet republics, including Ukraine.
Melkulangara Bhadrakumar
QUAD provides an umbrella to huddle together behind closed doors and give vent to their grouse against China in hushed tone — a safety valve for pent-up frustrations.
The scheduling of the QUAD ministerial meeting in Canberra on February 9 right in the middle of the Ukraine crisis and cascading U.S.-Russia tensions served to highlight that China remains Washington’s top foreign policy priority.
The New Dark Age 