On February 6th, Syria and Turkey were brutally rocked by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, one of the most devastating recorded in the Levant’s history. Ever since, residents of these countries and the region more widely have been subjected to a particularly unforgiving – yet illuminating – crash course in Western double standards over humanitarian aid.
“The goal is to subjugate the people, to punish the people, and to push them to the abyss to the extent that they would revolt against their government.”
Kevork Almassian, the founder of Syriana Analysis, explains how the US has used economic warfare against Syria and how it has undermined the country’s ability to rebuild after recent earthquakes.
Rescuers carry a victim on the rubble as the search for survivors continues in the aftermath of an earthquake, in rebel-held town of Jindires, Syria, February 7, 2023. [Source: usnews.com]
Zimbabweans march against sanctions in Harare, October 25, 2019. [Source: voanews.com]
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (L) met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Moscow, November 8, 2022 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday marks a new stage in the bilateral relationship between the two time-tested friends, both contextually and from a long-term perspective.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell (L) with Iran’s Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian, Tehran, July 27, 2022. (File photo)The European Union has returned to the ritual of sanctioning Iran to leverage its foreign and security policies. The highlight of the EU Foreign Affairs Council ministerial meeting in Brussels on Monday was the imposition of sanctions against Iran over a range of issues.
While all the focus is on the plight of Ukrainians facing a winter without energy, everyone seems to have forgotten that Syria has been living under western Sanctions for eleven years.
Vanessa Beeley explains the impact of sanctions on the people of Syria and appeals for everyone to assist in raising awareness, and having them lifted.
By John Perry
[Source: afgj.salsalabs.org]The Biden administration has announced new sanctions which are intended to hit the poorest Nicaraguans—both in their pockets and in the public services on which they depend.
On Monday, President Joe Biden announced new sanctions on Nicaragua’s state-owned mining enterprises. Revenue from these mining operations funds Nicaragua’s social welfare programs. The move comes less than 2 weeks before President Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista party is expected to secure major victories in local elections.
Last year, days before Ortega’s re-election, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Nicaragua to intimidate voters into abandoning the Sandinista party. Twitter and Facebook also banned dozens of Nicaraguan activists, influencers, and journalists under the guise of removing botnets.
[Source: theguardian.com]In an era increasingly awash with political instability, the latest protests in Iran are yet another manifestation of the plague of Western imperialism. The sudden death of Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini and the unclear circumstances surrounding her death have precipitated a remarkable global response condemning the Iranian government as well as purporting to champion the rights of Iranian women in defiance of Islamic fundamentalism.
Prabhat Patnaik
THE cessation of natural gas supplies from Russia to Europe in retaliation against Western sanctions imposed on Russia because of the Ukraine war, is threatening Europe not only with a winter with inadequate heating that will take a big toll in terms of lives among poor people, but also with large-scale closures of enterprises; such closures would push up the unemployment rate, and significantly increase poverty and destitution among the workers.
The same arrogant, self-righteous posturing from the West that fuelled the Ukraine war is now plunging Europe into recession
Middle East Eye – 14 September 2022
Outraged western leaders are threatening a price cap on imports of Russian natural gas after Moscow cut supplies to Europe this month, deepening an already dire energy and cost-of-living crisis. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Europe will “freeze” this winter unless there is a change of tack.
Indian Oil Corporation’s Numaligarh Refinery, Assam (File photo)To be sure, energy security has surged as the key to a country’s strategic autonomy and independence, as world events testify, currently within the matrix of “food-fertiliser-fuel” sufficiency where the global supply chains are disrupted. Europe’s missteps on this front, upon the advice of the US to atrophy and sever the continent’s seven decades-long economic links with Russia, is proving to be a Himalayan blunder that threatens the western economies with recession and brewing political turmoil.
The expected knockout blow from anti-Russia restrictions “has not materialized,” the UK magazine reports
The harsh sanctions imposed on Russia by the West over the conflict in Ukraine have so far been unable to deliver the desired result, The Economist magazine has acknowledged, adding that the strategy has “flaws.”
Gas pipelines form Russia to Europe (Welt)Is Russia limiting gas flows to Europe? The surprising answer is: no.
Many people in Europe and the US seem to believe that Russia, in response to Western sanctions, has been limiting gas flows to Europe. Yet this is not the case.
For years now, I’ve been sending out a mailing, giving updates on my work, how to support, my reportage, etc. Recent times have seen an unprecedented level of contact, and interest, something I’m very grateful for, and which also puts it on me to up the game a bit in this sphere.
Craig Murray
The imposition of sanctions against British citizen and journalist Graham Phillips is an appalling violation of freedom of speech – which to have meaning must mean freedom to say things which disagree with the government, the media and/or majority public opinion.
Combines work on a wheat field near the village of Talniki in Siberia (File photo). For the first time since the days of the tsars, Russia has emerged in recent years as the world’s largest wheat exporterThe agreements signed in Istanbul on Friday regarding the export of grain out of Ukraine and Russia catch the headlines as a major development from the angle of global food security, which it surely is. Between around 22 million tonnes of grain from last year’s harvest now trapped inside Ukraine due to the war, and an estimated 41 million tonnes from Russia’s 2022/23 wheat exports, around 60 million tonnes, are reaching the world grain market.
Gazprom’s Nord Stream gas pipeline, Lubmin, GermanyThe unthinkable is happening for the second time in five months: Russian gas giant Gazprom writes to German gas companies announcing force majeure effective from June 14, exonerating it from any compensation for shortfalls since then.
A crucial policy of the Trump administration remains, and that is Cuba’s presence on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. It is critical to Cuba’s ability to pursue economic, trade and humanitarian activities that it be removed immediately from the list – a power well within Biden’s authority. Please sign our petition to the White House calling for Cuba to be removed from the list.
The New Dark Age 