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Five Greens/EFA MEPs launch legal action for access to information on vaccine contract transparency
Today, Greens/EFA MEPs Margrete Auken, Kim van Sparrentak, Tilly Metz, Jutta Paulus, and Michele Rivasi submitted an application to the European Court of Justice against the European Commission, requesting access to key information on the Commission's contracts with pharmaceutical companies on the purchase agreements of COVID-19 vaccines. This court case follows the Commission's repeated refusal to provide the public with anything but heavily redacted versions of the contracts. The redactions made it impossible to understand the content of the agreements. Transparency builds trust in the institutions' ability to roll out public health programmes.
https://www.sott.net/article/467120-Five-Greens-EFA-MEPs-launch-legal-action-for-access-to-information-on-vaccine-contract-transparency
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Leslie Dowless, key figure in NC absentee ballot fraud probe, dies
Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr., the key player in a North Carolina absentee ballot fraud probe that led to a do-over congressional election, has died. His daughter, Andrea Dowless Heverly, wrote that her father "passed away peacefully" Sunday morning, according to a social media post. He had been diagnosed with an advanced form of lung cancer and died at his daughter's home in Bladen County, his friend Jay DeLancy told The Associated Press in a brief interview. Dowless was in his mid-60s. The political operative was set to go on trial this summer on more than a dozen state criminal counts related to absentee ballot activities for the 2016 general election and the 2018 primary and general elections. A half-dozen others were also charged.
https://www.sott.net/article/467121-Leslie-Dowless-key-figure-in-NC-absentee-ballot-fraud-probe-dies
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Two large Marsquakes recorded on planet's far side
The seismometer placed on Mars by NASA's InSight lander has recorded its two largest seismic events to date: a magnitude 4.2 and a magnitude 4.1 marsquake. The pair are the first recorded events to occur on the planet's far side from the lander and are five times stronger than the previous largest event recorded. Seismic wave data from the events could help researchers learn more about the interior layers of Mars, particularly its core-mantle boundary, researchers from InSight's Marsquake Service (MQS) report in The Seismic Record. Anna Horleston of the University of Bristol and colleagues were able to identify reflected PP and SS waves from the magnitude 4.2 event, called S0976a, and locate its origin in the Valles Marineris, a massive canyon network that is one of Mars' most distinguishing geological features and one of the largest graben systems in the Solar System. Earlier orbital images of cross-cutting faults and landslides suggested the area would be seismically active, but...
https://www.sott.net/article/467122-Two-large-Marsquakes-recorded-on-planets-far-side
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Austin: US would like Russian military 'weakened'
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Monday that the U.S. would like to see Russia's military "weakened to a degree." The big picture: Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Sunday. Austin and Blinken promised Zelensky over $300 million in foreign military financing and noted that the U.S. had approved a $165 million sale of ammunition.They also said that U.S. diplomats will return to Ukraine this week.What they're saying: "We want to see Russia weakened to a degree that it can't do the kinds of things it has done in invading Ukraine," Austin told reporters in Poland. "It has already lost a lot of military capability and a lot of its troops, quite frankly," Austin added. "And we want to see them not have the capability to very quickly reproduce that capability."
https://www.sott.net/article/467123-Austin-US-would-like-Russian-military-weakened
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What, not executed? Forensic study shows dozens of Bucha civilians were killed by metal darts from artillery
Dozens of civilians who died during the Russian occupation of the Ukrainian city of Bucha were killed by tiny metal arrows from shells of a type fired by Russian artillery, forensic doctors have said. Comment: They can't go one sentence without introducing a stunning example of bias. This artillery is used by both Russian and Ukrainian military. Pathologists and coroners who are carrying out postmortems on bodies found in mass graves in the region north of Kyiv, where occupying Russian forces have been accused of atrocities, said they had found small metal darts, called fléchettes, embedded in people's heads and chests. "We found several really thin, nail-like objects in the bodies of men and women and so did others of my colleagues in the region," Vladyslav Pirovskyi, a Ukrainian forensic doctor, told the Guardian. "It is very hard to find those in the body, they are too thin. The majority of these bodies come from the Bucha-Irpin region." Independent weapons experts who reviewed...
https://www.sott.net/article/467124-What-not-executed-Forensic-study-shows-dozens-of-Bucha-civilians-were-killed-by-metal-darts-from-artillery
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5 signs they are CREATING a food crisis
It's no secret that, according to politicians and the corporate press, "food shortages" and a "food supply crises" have been on the way for a while now. They have been regularly predicted for several years. What's really strange is that despite its near-constant incipience, the food shortage never seems to actually arrive and is always blamed on something new. As long ago as 2012, "scientists" were predicting that climate change and a lack of clean water would create "food shortages" that would "turn the world vegetarian by 2050". In 2019, UN "experts" warned that "climate change was threatening the world's food supply". Later the same year, the UK was warned that they could expect a food shortage as a result of "post-Brexit chaos". By early March 2020 supermarkets were already "warning" that the government had been too slow to act on the coronavirus outbreak, and they might run out of food. (They never actually did). A month later, in April 2020 when the "pandemic" was less than...
https://www.sott.net/article/467125-5-signs-they-are-CREATING-a-food-crisis
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Ukrainian nationalists interrupt civilians' evacuation from Mariupol
The evacuation of civilians from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was interrupted by Ukrainian nationalists who mortar shelled the gathering location of evacuation from the Azovstal steel plant territory, DPR People's spokesman Eduard Basurin said on Saturday. Earlier on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said that Ukrainian authorities are planning to evacuate today, Saturday, women, children, and the elderly from Mariupol. She said on Telegram: "About Mariupol: today we are again trying to evacuate women, children, and the elderly. Now we are beginning to gather at the ringway near the Port City Mall. If everything goes according to plan, at about 12.00 we will start the evacuation." Basurin was quoted by the DPR People's Militia as saying on Telegram: "At the request of Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister I. Vereshchuk, Russia organized a humanitarian corridor and provided transport for the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol today. This peaceful action was interrupted...
https://www.sott.net/article/467126-Ukrainian-nationalists-interrupt-civilians-evacuation-from-Mariupol
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'A magnet for conspiracy theories': Wikipedia kills entry for Hunter Biden's investment company
Wikipedia editors are under fire this week for removing the entry for Rosemont Seneca Partners, the investment company connected to Hunter Biden and his alleged multimillion dollar influence peddling schemes. The site bizarrely claimed that the company was "not notable." The timing itself is notable given the new disclosure that Hunter Biden's business partner, Eric Schwerin, made at least 19 visits to the White House and other official locations between 2009 and 2015. That included a meeting with then-Vice President Joe Biden despite Biden's repeated claim that he knew nothing about his son's business dealings. Schwerin was the president of Rosemont Seneca. Wikipedia has been accused of raw bias in removing the entry at a time when interest in the company is at its peak, including the possibility of an indictment of Hunter Biden over his financial dealings. Rosemont Seneca is one of the most searched terms for those trying to understand the background on the Biden business...
https://www.sott.net/article/467127-A-magnet-for-conspiracy-theories-Wikipedia-kills-entry-for-Hunter-Bidens-investment-company
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Oil depot on fire in Russian region bordering Ukraine
A fire broke out on Monday morning at an oil depot in Bryansk, a large Russian city around 150km from Ukraine, and 370km south-west of Moscow. The blaze occurred at a premises operated by Transneft-Druzhba JSC and at another location, officials told RIA Novosti. No casualties have been reported and there is no threat to residential buildings, the Ministry of Emergency Situations has advised. "The evacuation of the population is not planned. According to preliminary information, there were no victims," its press service stated, according to TASS. Local residents have reported that explosions were heard and sirens are audible in social media videos.
https://www.sott.net/article/467128-Oil-depot-on-fire-in-Russian-region-bordering-Ukraine
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Jill Biden was against picking Kamala Harris as husband's running mate, new book reveals
First Lady Jill Biden was against choosing Kamala Harris as her husband Joe Biden's running mate after she attacked him during a primary debate, according to an upcoming new book. The first lady's vexations were revealed in a bombshell new book by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns titled This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future, due to be released in May. After learning that Harris was the leading candidate for the job, according to an excerpt of the book provided to Fox News, Jill Biden said: "There are millions of people in the United States. Why do we have to choose the one who attacked Joe?" Many from Biden's inner circle, however, believed that Harris would give the president the best chance of winning the election, according to the book.
https://www.sott.net/article/467129-Jill-Biden-was-against-picking-Kamala-Harris-as-husbands-running-mate-new-book-reveals
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Communist China has thrown out the old rules of war
When I first read the Chinese war manual Unrestricted Warfare in 1999, I thought it was wacky. I was flying B-2 Stealth bombers out of Whiteman Air Force Base in western Missouri and reading a lot about war. As an Air Force officer, I thought it was part of my day job to understand the bigger picture - even though the prevailing attitude in the military was "Just fly the planes." Unrestricted Warfare was one of those books that caused a stir among some military folks because it had recently been translated into English. It had that insider whiff of mystery and secrets, a peek into the mind of the Chinese Communist Party. Despite that mystique, not a lot of people were finishing the book. For one thing, regardless of its title, no one thought we were ever going to be fighting a war with China, so it seemed like a lot of work for very little payoff. For another, the book itself is not a light read. It is a dense compendium of strategy, economics, social theory, and futuristic...
https://www.sott.net/article/467130-Communist-China-has-thrown-out-the-old-rules-of-war
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Poland's Ukrainization puts the final nail in PiS' faux nationalist project
There's no denying that PiS' faux nationalist project has utterly failed. Patriotic Poles won't be distracted by vague foreign policy victories that have yet to even happen and might never transpire, nor will they let PiS' rabid Russophobia influence them into forgiving it for their country's forced Ukrainization. It's impossible for anyone to seriously describe Poland's ruling "Law & Justice" (PiS per its Polish abbreviation) party as "nationalists" after they willingly allowed their country's Ukrainization by hosting over 3 million refugees from that former Soviet Republic. Warsaw's population jumped by 15-20% according to Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski as quoted by the New York Times (NYT) in their article about this issue titled "Warsaw's Welcome Mat Risks Unraveling Under The Pressure Of A New Wave Of Refugees". The outlet also revealed some other intriguing facts, including Trzaskowski's concern that "these costs (related to accommodating so many refugees) amount to hundreds of...
https://www.sott.net/article/467131-Polands-Ukrainization-puts-the-final-nail-in-PiS-faux-nationalist-project
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Secrets of the command bunker underneath Azovstal revealed in Russian media reports
On the day before Good Friday (Orthodox), Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu reported at the Kremlin to President Vladimir Putin that at Mariupol, inside the Azovstal steel works, about two thousand troops remain underground, including foreigners. Putin issued the following order: "There is no need to penetrate these catacombs and crawl under these industrial facilities. Seal off the industrial zone completely." Four days earlier on April 17, the Defence Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov told the press that "up to four hundred foreign mercenaries were trapped [at Azovstal]... Most of them are citizens of European countries, as well as Canada. We have already reported earlier that radio conversations between militants in Mariupol are conducted in six foreign languages" Today, an unusually detailed report by the Moscow internet broadcaster Tsargrad was published to signal the strategic significance and political value of the NATO officers in their command bunker...
https://www.sott.net/article/467132-Secrets-of-the-command-bunker-underneath-Azovstal-revealed-in-Russian-media-reports
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Putin promises normal business environment for companies that remain
Russia faces unprecedented sanctions pressure that continues to intensify, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, noting that despite the prevailing conditions, the country's economy has the opportunity to function stably and smoothly. He has promised to support businesses as much as possible, including foreign firms that have stayed in Russia. To do that, it is necessary to respect the rights of business owners and support them to the full, including by reducing the administrative burden, Putin said. Foreign companies that have remained in Russia despite sanctions pressure should be allowed to "work peacefully," he added. The Russian president earlier instructed the government to allocate additional resources to support small and medium-sized businesses and create better growth conditions for new industries based on new and yet-to-be-developed supply chains. Putin also said he believes that sanctions will result in new leaders emerging in the Russian market.
https://www.sott.net/article/467133-Putin-promises-normal-business-environment-for-companies-that-remain
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Obama, Clinton rail against free speech under guise of fighting 'misinformation'
Over the last 24 hours, former President Barack Obama and twice-failed presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton have come out against free speech - calling for big tech to go further to censor views they disagree with. On Thursday, Obama told an audience at Stanford University that tech companies are "turbo-charging some of humanity's worst impulses," adding "One of the biggest reasons for the weakening of democracy is the profound change that's taken place in how we communicate and consume information." He then said that people are 'dying because of disinformation.'
https://www.sott.net/article/467134-Obama-Clinton-rail-against-free-speech-under-guise-of-fighting-misinformation
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Europe's big energy problems and the birth of a new relationship with Russia
"Energy makes energy anyhow So spend yourself and get rich right now" — Marillion "Rich" This day has been a long time coming. From the moment, more than a decade ago, when it was finally admitted that Europe was destined to be an energy importer, we were going to see the climax of the showdown between the West and Russia. Europe as energy importer always meant that time was on Russia's side. All it had to do was draw the conflict out long enough, survive long enough, to force Europe into submission. Russia has the energy Europe needs, no one else can supply it, therefore the final decision will be to accept this fate. No amount of financial wizardry, pathetic virtue signaling about Climate Change, malinvestment into inefficient and unsustainable 'renewables,' or military threats would ultimately change the outcome of this story. Output off the North Slope has fallen off and Groningen's gas fields are drying up faster than Hillary's va-jay-jay with each twist of John Durham's...
https://www.sott.net/article/467135-Europes-big-energy-problems-and-the-birth-of-a-new-relationship-with-Russia
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Boris Johnson to face investigation into whether he misled MPs over partygate
Boris Johnson has been referred by MPs to a parliamentary investigation by the privileges committee into whether he deliberately misled the Commons over Downing Street parties. A Labour Party motion, which cites four separate comments made by the Prime Minister about the scandal, passed without division as it became clear it had the overwhelming support of those present in the Commons. The privileges committee will now investigate Mr Johnson's statement to MPs in December that "the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times".
https://www.sott.net/article/467136-Boris-Johnson-to-face-investigation-into-whether-he-misled-MPs-over-partygate
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BEST OF THE WEB: Nearly third of Le Pen backers say French presidential election is rigged
Almost a third of Marine Le Pen's voters believe that the French presidential election has been rigged, according to an opinion poll. The survey by the Ifop institute underlined widespread distrust with the electoral process, notably among supporters of the populist National Rally candidate. The findings were published as Le Pen, 53, prepared to face President Macron, 44, in a televised debate tomorrow before the second round of voting on Sunday.
https://www.sott.net/article/467137-Nearly-third-of-Le-Pen-backers-say-French-presidential-election-is-rigged
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Bans on Russian athletes are ripping out a huge piece of the sporting world
When was the last time a Western athlete was banned because their country started a war? One of the unspoken rules of human affairs is that ordinary citizens should never be personally harassed for the political actions of their leaders. That truism has never been properly observed enough, and went completely out of the window when Russia began its military operation in Ukraine. This week, Serbian tennis sensation Novak Djokovic delivered a powerful rebuke to Wimbledon's decision to bar the participation of Russian players from the famous grass tournament. Referring to himself as a "child of war" who experienced the "emotional trauma" of the US-led 78-day NATO bombardment of his native town of Belgrade in 1999, Djokovic described the banning of Russian players at the prestigious tennis tournament as "crazy." "I cannot support the decision of Wimbledon, I think it is crazy," the world's top-ranked player said. "When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good."
https://www.sott.net/article/467138-Bans-on-Russian-athletes-are-ripping-out-a-huge-piece-of-the-sporting-world
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Far-right Le Pen plots parliament win after loss to Macron
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen gathered her party's troops on Monday, not to mourn her loss a day earlier in the French presidential election but to plot how to orchestrate a victory in June's parliamentary vote and capture a majority of seats in the National Assembly. Centrist President Emmanuel Macron beat her 58.5% to 41.5% to win reelection Sunday but Le Pen produced her highest-ever level of support in her three attempts to become France's leader. That gave the 53-year-old nationalist momentum as she charged into what is called the "third round" of voting, hoping to turn the tables on Macron's majority in parliament. Le Pen called a national meeting of her far-right National Rally party on Monday. French media reports that Le Pen told party officials she would seek to renew representing her working-class stronghold in northern France could not be immediately confirmed. Le Pen's high support Sunday laid bare a European Union nation that is fractured between those she...
https://www.sott.net/article/467139-Far-right-Le-Pen-plots-parliament-win-after-loss-to-Macron
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Time might not exist, according to physicists and philosophers - but that's okay
Does time exist? The answer to this question may seem obvious: of course it does! Just look at a calendar or a clock. But developments in physics suggest the non-existence of time is an open possibility, and one that we should take seriously. How can that be, and what would it mean? It'll take a little while to explain, but don't worry: even if time doesn't exist, our lives will go on as usual. A crisis in physics Physics is in crisis. For the past century or so, we have explained the universe with two wildly successful physical theories: general relativity and quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics describes how things work in the incredibly tiny world of particles and particle interactions. General relativity describes the big picture of gravity and how objects move.
https://www.sott.net/article/467140-Time-might-not-exist-according-to-physicists-and-philosophers-but-thats-okay