China brokers deal between long-time enemies Iran and Saudi Arabia

The surprise deal between #Iran and #SaudiArabia to restore diplomatic ties offers much for the #US to be intrigued about, including a possible path to rein in #Tehran's nuclear program and a chance to cement a ceasefire in #Yemen.


It also contains an element sure to make officials in Washington deeply uneasy - the role of #China as peace broker in a region where the #US has long wielded influence.

The Andromeda sailing yacht, which, according to the German investigation, may have been involved in the sabotage of the Nord Streams, does not have a special mechanism for submerging a large batch of explosives under water, the Bild newspaper reported. 

The author referred to previous media reports that the perpetrators would have needed 500 kilograms of explosives to blow up the pipes. "Three explosions would have required at least 1,500 kg of explosives." "There is no crane on Andromeda to place such volumes under water," the newspaper notes. The second inconsistency, according to the author, lies in logistics: it is hardly possible to smuggle so much explosives through the territory of Poland and Germany and not be noticed. The third problem is the equipment of the divers. Experts doubt that the Andromeda is suitable for transporting such equipment.

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How Quickly The West Forgot It Was Their 2020 Regime-Change Project That Drove Belarus Into Russia’s Arms

March 5, 2023  Eurasia Review
By Mark Ames

US Intel Agencies Need To Focus Intensely On 'Diversity, Equity, Inclusion,' Intelligence Chief Says | ZeroHedge
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/us-intel-agencies-need-focus-intensely-diversity-equity-inclusion-intelligence-chief-says

The monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra do not intend to leave the monastery

Moscow, March 13 — AiF-Moscow.
The monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) are not going to comply with the order of the museum-reserve administration to evict the monastery. This was stated by the rector of the Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel.

“We do not intend to move out and will not,” he said in a video message.

The Metropolitan stressed that some priests have been living in the monastery since 1988 and many have no other place to live. According to him, the monks regularly receive threats.

“Now there are laws that are on the side of man. To threaten us that they will deal with us is not the 17th year. Today there is a world community, there is some kind of culture,” he said.

Last week, the administration of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra museum-reserve warned about the termination of the lease agreement with the UOC from March 29 this year. The monks were obliged to leave the buildings of the Lavra before this date.

Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill appealed to religious figures and representatives of international organizations with an appeal to prevent the expulsion of the UOC from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. According to him, more than two hundred monks and novices live on the territory of the monastery, and the control centre of the UOC is also located there.

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Biden assured Americans that all deposits are available to them if necessary, and the management of bankrupt banks will be fired.

American taxpayers will not suffer losses due to the problems of bankrupt banks, Biden promised.

Biden was laconic and did not say anything particularly specific: the speech lasted 5 minutes, consisted of promises that everything would be fine.

Biden did not answer journalists' questions after his speech.

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Somehow we are not convinced... Like those journalists which were ignored.
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China's "collapsing" economy

Western companies earned twice as much US aid to Ukraine in the energy crisis of 2022

Last year, Western fuel and energy companies made excellent money — the operating profit of Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell & Chevron in 2022 increased by $145.72 billion compared to 2019.

In relative terms, the growth is 216%. In the case of Chevron, almost 8 (!) times — from $5.5 to $49.7 billion.

And here a curious question arises — where did this money go?

Yes, the EU and the US discussed and introduced additional taxes on these windfalls provided by their own citizens and businesses, so it is quite logical that such companies have to to share the proceeds with the state.

But the most curious thing here is something else — the aid actually announced by the United States to Ukraine amounted to almost half of this amount.

Now the United States has promised about $77.3 billion in aid in various forms.

We won't even talk about the fact that this is about 0.33% of the total American GDP, just estimate the scale!

‘Rigorous’ Maidan massacre exposé suppressed by top academic journal

KIT KLARENBERG·MARCH 12, 2023

A peer-reviewed academic paper, initially approved and praised by a prestigious academic journal, was suddenly rescinded without explanation.

Its author, one of the world’s top scholars on #Ukraine-related issues, had marshaled overwhelming evidence to conclude #Maidan protesters were killed by #US-backed pro-#coup #snipers.

The massacre by snipers of anti-government activists and police officers in Kiev’s Maidan Square in late February 2014 was a defining moment in the US-orchestrated overthrow of Ukraine’s elected government.

The death of 70 protesters triggered an avalanche of international outrage that made President Viktor Yanukovych’s downfall a fait accompli. Yet today these killings remain unsolved.


Enter Ivan Katchanovski, a Ukrainian-Canadian political scientist at the University of Ottawa.

For years, he marshaled overwhelming evidence demonstrating that the snipers were not affiliated with #Yanukovych’s government, but pro-Maidan operatives firing from protester-occupied buildings.


Though Katchanovski’s groundbreaking work has been studiously ignored by the mainstream media, a scrupulous study he presented on the slaughter in September 2015 and August 2021 and published in 2016 and in 2020 has been cited on over 100 occasions by scholars and experts.

As a result of this paper and other pieces of research, he was among the world’s most-referenced political scientists specializing in Ukrainian matters.

In the final months of 2022, Katchanovski submitted a new investigation on the Maidan massacre to a prominent social sciences journal. 

Initially accepted with minor revisions after extensive peer review, the publication’s editor effusively praised the work in a lengthy private note.

They said the paper was “exceptional in many ways,” and offered “solid” evidence in support of its conclusions. The reviewers concurred with this judgment.

However, the paper was not published, a decision Katchanovski firmly believes to have been “political.” He filed an appeal, but to no avail.

There has been a major shift in the mainstream media narrative on Ukraine:

War mongering Washington Post now reports Kiev is "short of skilled troops and munitions" due to catastrophic losses.

Ukrainian forces are now so degraded a major "spring offensive" is a fantasy, with effectively defenceless, untrained #conscripts are being sent to the front.

Ukrainian Battalion commander warns experienced Ukrainian soldiers "all already dead or wounded".

Without ramped up US support, he foresees a massacre should a counteroffensive be attempted.

And WaPo admits it's far from certain more weapons and training would change anything anyway...

++++++++++++++++++

Ukraine short of skilled troops and munitions as losses, pessimism grows.

The quality of Ukraine’s military force, once considered a substantial advantage over Russia, has been degraded by a year of casualties that have taken many of the most experienced fighters off the battlefield, leading some Ukrainian officials to question Kyiv’s readiness to mount a much-anticipated spring offensive...... MORE

China-US on collision course?

The relationships between #Russia-#Ukraine and #China-#Taiwan are very different.

This begins with the degree of agency of the Ukrainian versus Taiwanese governments. It also relates to the relative power of the parties in all dimensions, starting with population:  Russia to Ukraine is 3:1 whereas China to Taiwan is 30:1
 
Ukraine is run by an insane junta first put in place by the United States in the coup d’etat of February 2014 that it stage managed.

Zelensky himself may have been democratically elected but the pro-peace platform that brought him victory was turned around under U.S. marching orders and he has allowed his country to be used as a battering ram against Russia without regard to the physical destruction of his cities, implosion of his economy and loss of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.


No one will say that the Taiwanese are led by fools of that caliber. Nor has the Taiwanese population been brainwashed and cowed by its present leaders in the way we see in Zelensky’s Ukraine.

The issue of independence has been raised repeatedly by candidates in the periodic national elections and each time it has been defeated by Taiwanese voters.

The Taiwanese obviously do not share the suicidal tendencies of Ukrainians.

Русские пилоты настолько суровы, что умудряются подкрадываться к чужому беспилотнику сзади, сбрасывая топливо спереди.

Russian pilots are so savage that they manage to sneak up on someone else's drone from behind, while dumping fuel in front of it.