Re: #92 - Main news thread - conflicts, terrorism, crisis from around the globe

[Zambeezi]

The Economist has finally found a war it doesn't like. pic.twitter.com/Lmh3sQAycS

— Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) March 16, 2022

[Zambeezi]

#UPDATE: U.K. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace confirms to BBC News UK is supplying Ukraine with Starstreak surface-to-air missiles

This comes as CNN reports US and NATO are sending S-300, Osa and Strela surface-to-air missile systems to Ukraine

— ELINT News (@ELINTNews) March 16, 2022

Oliver Carroll
@olliecarroll
Loud in Odesa now — anti-air systems working
9:06 AM · Mar 16, 2022

[Zambeezi]

Russia makes bond payment, now ‘the ball is in US’ court’ – finance minister
https://www.rt.com/business/552061-russia-makes-bond-payment/


Russia has ordered payment on two US dollar bond coupons due on Wednesday, but it is up to Western states, mainly the US,
to withdraw the funds from the country's frozen foreign currency accounts and pay bondholders.

“The possibility or impossibility of fulfilling our obligations in foreign currency does not depend on us,
we have the money, we made the payment, now the ball is in America’s court,”

What happened to Russia’s gold and foreign currency reserves? Will there be a default?
https://thesaker.is/what-happened-to-russias-gold-and-foreign-currency-reserves-will-there-be-a-default/
(translated by the Saker Translation community)

Part of our gold and currency reserves was frozen in other countries, mainly the US and EU member states,
due to sanctions imposed against Russia’s Central Bank (RCB).

Therefore, Russians are naturally asking why are our strategic reserves NOT stored on Russia’s territory
but on the territory of our economic adversaries?

We’ll try to explain
how much was stored where, how much is left, can it be returned,
how the freeze will affect the economy and ordinary Russians,
and also who’s to blame.

Pepe Escobar
Say hello to Russian gold and Chinese petroyuan
http://thesaker.is/say-hello-to-russian-gold-and-chinese-petroyuan/
►The emerging new monetary system to be designed by the EAEU/China.
►The mystery of the Russian gold.
►The emerging petroyuan.

[Mr Badger]

This was interesting:

Climbing the Escalation Ladder in the Economic War with Russia… Here’s the Nuclear Option

https://www.globalresearch.ca/climbing-escalation-ladder-economic-war-russia-here-nuclear-option/5774307

[刘汉]

There is a mass transfer of American armored vehicles from Germany to Poland. On video, the train with M2 Bradley IFV pic.twitter.com/u0R3NnYo9s

— Spriter (@spriter99880) March 16, 2022

Not again,here is some real history

Now Im not a Nazi supporter but the true history of what started WW2 was when Polish nutter Marshal Smigly allowed Polish partisan terrorists to attack a German radio station in Germany they then started broadcasting for Poles to rise up and kill Germans this followed a string of other border instigations,very soon after Hitler invades.Now one can argue that judging by what Hitler had done by 1939 ww2 was inevitable,which is probably true,but Poland provided the spark.

I disagree here. Hitler and Stalin had planned long ago to share Poland. The faked attack on the Sender (radio station) Gleiwitz was a classical false flag. Hiter needed a pretext to start the attack.
Poland was aggressive towards Germany through the whole 1920s and 1930s, this is true, but the attack on September 1st was agreed and planned to get at German-Russian border. Poland was just in the way. Poland was part of the so-called "cordon sanitaire" to separate Germany and Russia to avoid a German-Russian war.
UK had guaranteed the existence of Poland, but didn't do anything, because they wanted a German-Russian war and therefore a German-Russian border was necessary. The Polish campaign did not start WW II, because it was finished. WW II started with the German attack on Russia and the Japanese attack on US. It was later used by the Western Allies as a pretext to blame the whole war on Germany. And as usual, the winner is writing the history.

The above quote is false.
Russia did not plan for "long" to share Poland.
Read about Russian foreign policy efforts pre-ww2 and the walls of rejections they hit.
Poland was indeed an obstacle to Russian efforts for an alliance to contain Germany as it refused to allow passage of Russian troops in case of a conflict, thus making an alliance with Western powers ineffective. France politics were in disarray  while UK was really never willing to accept Russia as an ally.
Germany advance was inevitable as clearly stated in their ideological doctrine and the Ribbentrop - Molotov pact was only an attempt to keep them away from Russian borders. Without it, Germany would have taken the whole Poland and Baltic States, directly to the Russian borders, regardless of the war on the West which was already decided to start. That would have cut any further Russian alliance plans with the West anyways so the pact was simply a logical choice to delay conflict.

Plain and simple, this is nonsense. Why? Because, how can Molotov keep Germany away from Russian borders by creating a German-Russian border? You are self-contradictory. The (re-)creation of Poland after WW I was done to keep Germany and Russia separated and this was supported by France. Because France had a clear foreign policy in the Inter-war-period: Isolation of Germany. UK had the clear policy of using Germany as a useful idiot and cannon fodder against Russia. That's why Chamberlain was so shocked about the Ribbentrop-Molotov accord.

[Zambeezi]

This was interesting:

Climbing the Escalation Ladder in the Economic War with Russia… Here’s the Nuclear Option

https://www.globalresearch.ca/climbing-escalation-ladder-economic-war-russia-here-nuclear-option/5774307

excerpt ^^^ (ima retitle this ^^^ 'Economic Armageddon')

Where Are We Now?

►The US has sanctioned the Russian central bank, making it illegal for any American to engage with it, the finance ministry, or the national wealth fund.
►The US and European governments froze the US dollar and euro reserves of Russia—the accumulated savings of the nation—worth around $300 billion.
►Certain Russian banks have been kicked out of SWIFT, the system to send international wire transfers.
►A stampede of Western companies have left Russia and are banning average Russian citizens from using their platforms.
►Visa, MasterCard, and American Express have cut off Russia from their networks.
►The US government banned all imports of Russian oil.

In return, Russia has matched these moves with defensive maneuvers and escalations of its own.

Moscow has banned the export of rocket engines to the US, with an official saying,
“In a situation like this we can’t supply the United States with our world’s best rocket engines. Let them fly on something else, their broomsticks.”

Russia and China have live alternatives to SWIFT to facilitate international financial transactions, which limits the effect of being kicked out of SWIFT.
Russian banks started issuing credit and debit cards linked to China’s global payment processing network UnionPay.
Russia has announced, or already is, doing business with China, India, Iran, Turkey, and other countries in local currencies instead of the US dollar, neutralizing much of the effect of sanctions.

In perhaps the most significant escalatory move,
the Russian government has allowed all external debt obtained from unfriendly countries—estimated to be over $400 billion— to be redenominated in rubles.

As a result, instead of paying back creditors in the US and Europe in dollars and euros at Western banks,
Russian companies can now repay their external debts by depositing rubles on their creditor’s behalf in Russian banks,
which are inaccessible to them because of sanctions.  

This move forces the US and EU to either ease sanctions so that the estimated $400 billion in external debt can be repaid
or give massive losses to Western banks and other creditors.

.... we are still several destructive steps away from the top.

What Comes Next

Putin recently announced a forthcoming ban on exports of certain commodities to certain unfriendly countries, with details coming soon.
Given Russia’s dominance in the commodity markets, such a move will be significant.

A logical next step Russia could take if the US and EU increase their sanctions
would be to force Europe to pay for its energy imports in rubles.

European buyers would have to first buy rubles with their euros and use them to pay for Russian gas, oil, and other exports.
Such a move would neutralize the entire sanctions regime because it would force Europeans to deal with the sanctioned Russian central bank
or get cut off from crucial commodities.

The Europeans have no alternative to Russian energy and would have no choice but to comply.

Moscow could implement its economic nuclear option if the US really pushes Russia to the point where it has nothing left to lose.
That would be demanding payment for oil and other commodities in gold.
Since Russia is such a dominant player in the commodity markets, it could dictate this.

Such a move would send gold skyrocketing and blow up the entire Western financial system overnight.
Moreover, the dollar and euro would likely suffer an enormous loss in purchasing power as commodities would be repriced in gold.

That’s Russia’s financial nuclear option, and if the US continues up the escalation ladder, this is where it will ultimately lead.
With neither side backing down, escalation appears inevitable.

[Zambeezi]

RUSSIAN SHIP CARRYING 8,000 TONS OF PETROLEUM PRODUCT TURNED AWAY FROM U.S. PORT

— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) March 16, 2022

[Zambeezi]

MASSIVE' EXPLOSIONS REPORTED IN MULTIPLE CITIES IN BELARUS

— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) March 16, 2022

[Zambeezi]

DNR units knocked out enemy from Verkhnetoretsky not far from Gorlovka, which, during years of war in Donbass, Ukrainians actually turned into a fortified area.

Now Armed Forces of Ukraine are trying to counterattack abandoned positions. pic.twitter.com/XD70HWOQde

— ZOKA (@200_zoka) March 16, 2022

[Zambeezi]

Map:
(would mean only 2km to go and Mariupol is cut in half) https://t.co/PuiEAGGyku pic.twitter.com/osUwOULpYd

— -- GEROMAN -- - (@GeromanAT) March 16, 2022

[Abacus]

Fiorella Isabel
@FiorellaIsabelM (March 16, 2022)

Zelensky invoked key U.S led false flag attacks, 9/11 & Pearl Harbor, to call for a “No fly zone,” aka WW3,
suggesting Ukraine has been experiencing terrorist attacks for 3 wks, ignoring that it’s been 8 years of shelling by U.S FUNDED Ukrainian Neo Nazis.

nitter.net/FiorellaIsabelM/status/1504147977836785669#m

[Abacus]

Sky News
@SkyNews (March 15, 2022)

Tony Blair calls for NATO not to rule out military intervention against Russia in Ukraine

nitter.net/SkyNews/status/1503789970041024521#m

[Zambeezi]

Vladimir Putin: The "Empire of Lies" of the West is powerless against truth and justice, Russia will continue to bring its position to the whole world. pic.twitter.com/78GQMPTpnA

— Spriter (@spriter99880) March 16, 2022

RT
West’s global political and economic dominance ends – Putin
https://www.rt.com/russia/552079-putin-west-domination-ends/

This is Putin today, essentially announcing that oligarchs in Russia are doomed. pic.twitter.com/g5CbqZ0bOs

— Pepe Escobar (@RealPepeEscobar) March 16, 2022

[Zambeezi]

UK PM lands in Riyadh for Russia, oil talks: embassy

— Spriter (@spriter99880) March 16, 2022

Reuters: Johnson fails to get a pledge to increase oil production after talks in the Gulf.

— maytham (@maytham956) March 16, 2022

Blinken Planning Trip To Saudi Arabia Amid Ukraine-Induced Scramble For More Oil
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/blinken-planning-trip-saudi-arabia-amid-ukraine-related-scramble-more-oil

So far, a bitter MbS has rejected Washington's plea.

[Abacus]

[b]Damilare / ViF
@Damilare_arah (March 16, 2022)

Students in Kherson stuck in Ukraine

nitter.net/Damilare_arah/status/1504127537047384077#m

[Mr Badger]

When Alexander Mercouris states "This is the most dangerous moment, definitely, in international affairs since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962", it gives me the shivers.

[khnum]

Sky News
@SkyNews (March 15, 2022)

Tony Blair calls for NATO not to rule out military intervention against Russia in Ukraine

nitter.net/SkyNews/status/1503789970041024521#m

Heaven doesn't want this turd and hell thinks he'll take it over

[Abacus]

Aaron Maté
@aaronjmate (March 16, 2022)

Secret CIA training program in Ukraine helped Kyiv prepare for
Russian invasion by @zachsdorfman

news.yahoo.com/exclusive-secret-cia-training-program-in-ukraine-helped-kyiv-prepare-for-russian-invasion-090052743.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr
nitter.net/aaronjmate/status/1504185570125393931#m

[Mr Badger]

Sky News
@SkyNews (March 15, 2022)

Tony Blair calls for NATO not to rule out military intervention against Russia in Ukraine

nitter.net/SkyNews/status/1503789970041024521#m

Heaven doesn't want this turd and hell thinks he'll take it over

The one and only time I ever voted was to put this bastard in power. How wrong we all were about him, as it turned out.

[khnum]

When Alexander Mercouris states "This is the most dangerous moment, definitely, in international affairs since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962", it gives me the shivers.

55 seconds duration

[Mr Badger]

Cripes!

Ka-52+Mi-28n spotted near Popasnaya. Russian helicopters are hammering ukrov there with terrible force! pic.twitter.com/1heqPKLbr6

— Spriter (@spriter99880) March 16, 2022

[Abacus]

Patricia Dowling
@ketchmeifucan (March 16, 2022)

How nations around the world voted on the U.N. resolution
condemning the glorification of Nazism - do you see Ukraine?

nitter.net/ketchmeifucan/status/1504111418668429318#m

[khnum]

Cripes!

Ka-52+Mi-28n spotted near Popasnaya. Russian helicopters are hammering ukrov there with terrible force! pic.twitter.com/1heqPKLbr6

— Spriter (@spriter99880) March 16, 2022

I think its the lack of combat footage getting through to the Western world that makes this war different social media and msm are definately trying to manage the infowar that Ukraine is winning but in all wars both sides win some and loose some battles and Russia supposedly wiped out some elite Ukranian units yesterday,you wont know the truth for some time to come yet.

[Mr Badger]

I do love listening to this fella. He roasts the shit out of the "soy-boy" mercenaries broadcasting on "stupid social media" in todays episode.

[der_mick]

Will the USA lash out at the world once they realize what's going on?



14:51 duration

[Zambeezi]

[b]Damilare / ViF
@Damilare_arah (March 16, 2022)

Students in Kherson stuck in Ukraine

nitter.net/Damilare_arah/status/1504127537047384077#m

Students in Kherson stuck in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/E1P2CyhtGK

— Damilare / ViF (@Damilare_arah) March 16, 2022

[Zambeezi]

Shame List: These companies are still operating in Russia
https://dip.org.ua/en/russia/shame-list-these-companies-are-still-operating-in-russia/

As corporations pull out of Russia, Koch Industries pushes on
https://www.newsweek.com/corporations-pull-out-russia-koch-industries-pushes-1687700

[Zambeezi]

Soros Worries About Putin-Xi Partnership, Hopes They Can Be Stopped "Before They Destroy Our Civilization"
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/soros-worries-about-putin-xi-partnership-hopes-they-can-be-stopped-they-destroy-our

our. civilization.
our.

[Zambeezi]

wtf

BIDEN: "I bet everybody knows somebody...that in an intimate relationship, what happened was the guy takes a revealing picture of his naked friend, or whatever, in a compromising position and then blackmails.”
pic.twitter.com/Jw7L1u58KF

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 16, 2022

[Böhse Tante]

Soros Worries About Putin-Xi Partnership, Hopes They Can Be Stopped "Before They Destroy Our Civilization"
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/soros-worries-about-putin-xi-partnership-hopes-they-can-be-stopped-they-destroy-our

our. civilization.
our.

.

The "civilization" that bombs "Freedom and Democracy" on other countries to the level of stoneage?

If I had one bomb to drop the target would be Hollywood ...