Category: war

AP: Ukraine Corruption Scandal; U.S. likely to OK sending Abrams tanks

Several senior Ukrainian officials, including front-line governors, lost their jobs Tuesday in a corruption scandal plaguing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government as it grapples with the nearly 11-month-old Russian invasion. Ukraine’s biggest government shake-up since the war began came as U.S. officials said Washington was poised to approve supplying Kyiv with M1 Abrams tanks, with international reluctance eroding toward sending tanks to the battlefront against the Russians. Zelenskyy was elected in 2019 on an anti-establishment and anti-corruption platform in a country…

North Korea calls U.S. pledge of tanks to Ukraine ‘unethical crime’

North Korea on Sunday criticized for a second day a U.S. decision to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine, calling it an “unethical crime” aimed at perpetuating an unstable international situation. Washington’s allegations that North Korea has provided arms to Russia are a “groundless rumor” to justify its own military aid to Ukraine, Kwon Chung-keun, director of U.S. affairs at North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA. “The U.S. is working hard…

Defence minister won’t say whether Canada is willing to send battle tanks to Ukraine

Defence Minister Anita Anand says she has “no news to share” on whether Canada is willing to send some of its battle tanks to Ukraine — should Germany greenlight the export — following a meeting of 50 allied defence leaders this week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly issued pleas for tanks, although members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group failed to come to an agreement on what to send after meetings at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany this…

Peru closes Machu Picchu as protesters face arrest in Lima

Peru closed its famed tourist site Machu Picchu Saturday as authorities expelled protesters from a Lima university where they have been sheltering as they wage relentless anti-government demonstrations in the capital. Protests demanding the resignation of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte have been ongoing since early December, leaving 46 people dead and prompting the government to impose a state of emergency in violence-hit areas. Authorities announced Saturday yet another protester had died following demonstrations in the country’s south, with the victim…

Vladimir Putin Press Conference – December 22 2022 – English Subtitles

S Korea launches jets, fires shots after North flies drones cross border

South Korea’s military fired warning shots, scrambled fighter jets and flew surveillance assets across the heavily fortified border with North Korea on Monday, after North Korean drones violated its airspace for the first time in five years in a fresh escalation of tensions. South Korea’s military detected five drones from North Korea crossing the border, and one traveled as far as the northern part of the South Korean capital region, which is about an hour’s drive away, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs…

Kremlin says Biden, Zelenskyy ignoring Russia’s concerns

The Kremlin on Thursday accused Kyiv and Washington of turning a deaf ear to its concerns and charged the United States was using Ukraine as a battleground to weaken Russia. It came as President Vladimir Putin insisted Russia was aiming for a speedy end to the fighting. “Our goal is… to end this conflict. We are striving for this”, he told reporters. “We will seek to make sure that it all ends, and the sooner, the better. “All conflicts end,…

Effective Arms-Control Measures Needed to Block Diversion of Ukraine Weapons, Senior United Nations Disarmament Official Tells Security Council

States must apply effective arms-control measures to prevent the diversion of weapons supplied to Ukraine, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as some Council members defended their decision to continue providing military support to Kyiv while others detailed the danger of doing so. Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, said that the transfer of materiel to Ukraine by several States since the Russian Federation’s invasion on 24 February is a matter of public record.  Information from…

As Sean Hannity’s (Fox News) former director awaits extradition to US for entangled sanctions mess with Russia, Konstantin Malofeyev’s US bank account was just seized

Prosecutors on Wednesday moved to confiscate $5.4 million from a U.S. bank account belonging to Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, who Washington has accused of financing separatists in eastern Ukraine and Crimea and imposed sanctions on him. (Reuters) Konstantin Malofeyev is the founder of Tsargrad TV, and has been reported in western media to be a regular “consultant” to the Kremlin. He is the “Orthodox oligarch” behind Tsargrad TV, a channel he founded “with the help of the Fox News ex-director…

Broker for Israeli Arms to Myanmar Arrested in Thailand for Drug Dealing and Money Laundering

Haaretz Daily Newspaper reports: Documents reveal that a corporation implicated in corruption, served as a middleman between Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Elbit (publicly traded co), Israel Shipyards (publicly traded co) and Myanmar’s brutal junta, despite international sanctions over the Rohingya genocide. Company Company Relation Location Industry Description Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) Parent Israel Aircraft Engines Elta Systems Ltd Subsidiary of Parent Israel Electronic Navigation/Tracking Systems Iai Asia Pte. Ltd. Subsidiary of Parent Singapore Wholesalers Iai North America Inc. Principal…

Leaked: Unintentional whistleblower Berlusconi tells “true story” of the Russia/Ukraine “massacre”

Ukraine throws damns this treaty to hell [less dramatic translation: violates the treaty] a year later, and begins attacking the borders of the two republics…Desperate, the two republics send a delegation to Moscow and finally manage to talk to Putin.

Russia asks for UNSC meeting to discuss strikes on Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Russia claims that Ukrainian forces have repeatedly launched targeted attacks hitting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, a sensitive area known as the largest nuclear power plant in Europe with at least six operating reactors. On August 7, the military-civilian administration of Energodar city, located in the north-western part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast in Ukraine, accused Ukrainian forces of launching a 220 mm Uragan rocket with a cluster warhead. The Russian officials said that Ukraine’s strike has damaged the station’s administrative buildings…

Watch: Greenpeace Warns of Nuclear Crises in Ukraine from Chernobyl to Russian Control of Zaporizhzhia

Aug 6, 2022. Democracy Now Video

Watch: Warnings Grow over Nuclear Annihilation as Tensions Escalate Between U.S., Russia & China

Democracy Now Video

Nancy Pelosi has arrived in Taiwan, China says she is “playing with fire”

Why do we care? China considers Taiwan to be part of China and doesn’t appreciate the political U.S. visit, which China sees as showing support for Taiwan’s democracy. This is exactly what Pelosi just tweeted: Our visit reiterates that America stands with Taiwan: a robust, vibrant democracy and our important partner in the Indo-Pacific. See Tweet by @SpeakerPelosi China, a communist nation, has promised to conquer Tawian on several occasions. Furthermore, Pelosi has a history of being critical of China…

Germany silences journalist covering Ukraine, threatens prison, freezes family’s bank accounts

June 25, 2022. A criminal investigation has been opened against Alina Lipp, a German journalist based in the Donbass. She has been covering the Russian-Ukrainian conflict as an independent journalist and has fallen out of favor with the German government. Alina faces up to three years in prison.