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Showing posts from March, 2023

France RISES Up AGAINST Macron

Sabby Sabs    

Roger Waters Concert CANCELLED Over Israel Criticism

Breaking Points   Krystal and Saagar are joined by Katie Halper to discuss Roger Watters concert being cancelled in Germany over criticism of Israel.   

State surveillance and court cases: The lonely fight for press freedom of Greece’s independent media

by Alessio Giussani   Part 4 - Self-censorship   Troubles for press freedom in Greece started well before the conservative government came to power in 2019. In a country with a tradition of political and business meddling in editorial decisions, the economic crisis made the press all the more reliant on political parties, tycoons and advertisers. This, in turn, further eroded journalistic independence and undermined public trust. In Reuters Institute’s 2022 Digital News Report, Greece ranked lowest across 46 countries in terms of the share of citizens thinking that the press is free from undue political or business influence. " From shipping to energy and the banking sector, self-censorship in the mainstream media has become systematic since 2010, " Yannis-Orestis Papadimitriou, a journalist at investigative outfit The Manifold , told Euronews . With members in Athens, Nicosia and London, The Manifold has published extensively on police violence and child abuse in Greece, fa

Oscars Hypocrisy: Elites Cheer “Navalny” While Julian Assange Rots in Prison

Glenn Greenwald    

US hegemony and its perils

Report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China   Part 3 -Military Hegemony / Wanton Use of Force   The history of the United States is characterized by violence and expansion. Since it gained independence in 1776, the United States has constantly sought expansion by force: it slaughtered Indians, invaded Canada, waged a war against Mexico, instigated the American-Spanish War, and annexed Hawaii. After World War II, the wars either provoked or launched by the United States included the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Kosovo War, the War in Afghanistan, the Iraq War, the Libyan War and the Syrian War, abusing its military hegemony to pave the way for expansionist objectives. In recent years, the U.S. average annual military budget has exceeded 700 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 40 percent of the world's total, more than the 15 countries behind it combined. The United States has about 800 overseas military bases, with 173,000 troops de

Revealed: Britain secretly turned non-aligned Cyprus into a key NATO asset

A formerly top secret UK report shows Britain’s territory on Cyprus formed a key part of NATO’s surveillance and nuclear capabilities in the Mediterranean during the Cold War, despite knowing this was “not consistent” with the island’s non-aligned stance. by Matt Kennard   Part 5 - Deterring Russia, protecting oil supplies       Independent Cyprus’s first president, Archbishop Makarios, was prominent supporter of Non-Aligned Movement during Cold War     But British territories on Cyprus were “of great strategic importance” to NATO     Top secret map shows UK ran “NATO communications station” in Cyprus outside of British base areas     Covert surveillance operations were carried out from British Cyprus “on behalf of NATO”     Targets for Cyprus-based nuclear-capable Vulcan bomber squadrons were coordinated with NATO     UK planners cautioned “it is important to avoid drawing attention to the NATO implications of military activities” on British Cyprus   The British presence on Cyprus als

Day 1435: Julian Assange still in prison and under slow-motion execution by the Anglo-American imperialist criminals

failed evolution   On 11 April 2019, the Ecuadorian government of traitor Lenin Moreno, invited the Metropolitan Police into the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and they arrested Julian Assange . Since then, Assange is kept in Belmarsh high security prison in London, without actual charges.   The real reason world's number one political prisoner is still kept in this high security prison, is because he exposed horrendous war crimes carried out by the US imperialists and their allies.   The ruthless Western imperialist regime wants to punish the No1 real journalist in the world and make him an example for any Whistleblower or real journalist who will attempt to expose its big crimes in the future.   And the Anglo-American axis has now become officially a fascist coalition , framed by the rest of its Western pets. UK's Home Secretary Priti Patel, one of the most ruthless ever, decided to extradite Julian Assange to US. No surprise of course. The only question we had in mind is

Iran’s unrest triggers explosion of fake news

Some of the most incendiary accusations made against Iran’s government by corporate media, celebrity influencers and Western leaders in the past months are little more than fabrications. And most remain uncorrected.   by Setareh Sadeqi and Christopher Weaver   Part 8 - Non-existent dead person turns out to be living Iranian rapper   A person named Nadia Arefani has been presented as a casualty of the lethal violence of Iran’s security forces. However, the images of Arefani circulating on social media depict a not-very famous, but still very much alive Iranian rapper known as Niloufar. And Arefani herself may not even exist at all. The photo of Niloufar was first shared by a Twitter user who had been encouraging Iranians to take up arms against their government, painting violent insurrection as the path to freedom and independence. Claiming the headshot depicted someone named Nadia Arefani, the Twitter user said they were killed by the Iranian police.    The claim was later promoted on

European antiwar protests gain strength as NATO’s Ukraine proxy war escalates

Europeans are storming the streets in unprecedented numbers to protest NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine and their own declining living standards. The Grayzone has covered demonstrations and interviewed protest leaders in several countries since the war erupted.   by Stavroula Pabst and Max Blumenthal   Part 2 - Popular resistance builds in Europe as leaders grovel to Washington   By the arrival of the February 24, 2023 anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a growing number of German citizens had begun to bristle at their government’s submissive attitude to Washington. Not only had Chancellor Olaf Scholz acceded to US demands to send Leopard tanks to the Ukrainian military, setting up what could be the first confrontation between German and Russian armor since World War Two, he seemed studiously disinterested in determining who was responsible for destroying the Nord Stream pipelines. An antiwar manifesto authored by Sahra Wagenknecht of the Die Linke (Left) party and feminist writer

When privatisation kills

DiEM25   Last week, a devastating train collision in Greece claimed at least 57 lives, the latest stain on the record of the EU’s most dangerous rail network. In the Greek parliament, MeRA25 blamed the lack of safety on the privatization of the country’s railways. The state-owned train operator was sold for a measly 45 million euros to a bankrupt Italian company at the height of Greece’s debt crisis, in a sell-off of public assets masterminded by the EU and the country’s other creditors. How do the waves of privatization of public services across Europe impact the state's ability to provide basic needs and keep citizens safe? And how can we prevent tragedies like the Greek rail disaster from happening again?     Related:   Nationalize railways now!

How America took out the Nord Stream pipeline

The New York Times called it a “mystery,” but the United States executed a covert sea operation that was kept secret—until now   by Seymour Hersh   Part 4 - FALLOUT   In the immediate aftermath of the pipeline bombing, the American media treated it like an unsolved mystery. Russia was repeatedly cited as a likely culprit, spurred on by calculated leaks from the White House—but without ever establishing a clear motive for such an act of self-sabotage, beyond simple retribution. A few months later, when it emerged that Russian authorities had been quietly getting estimates for the cost to repair the pipelines, the New York Times described the news as “ complicating theories about who was behind ” the attack. No major American newspaper dug into the earlier threats to the pipelines made by Biden and Undersecretary of State Nuland. While it was never clear why Russia would seek to destroy its own lucrative pipeline, a more telling rationale for the President’s action came from Secretary o

Nordstream blame game begins

The Grayzone   Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate discuss the controlled leaks aiming to deflect blame for the Nordstream attacks onto "pro-Ukrainian" elements, the failed attempt by Republican populists and Democratic progressives to withdraw US troops from Syria, and the dramatic congressional Twitter files hearing.  

State surveillance and court cases: The lonely fight for press freedom of Greece’s independent media

by Alessio Giussani   Part 3 - State surveillance   These new outlets, which include Reporters United but also Solomon and The Manifold , half-jokingly call themselves “marides”, Greek for “whitebait”, yet are catching big stories. But at a cost. Editors at Reporters United were sued for hundreds of thousands of euros for a story they ran into the ties of the nephew and then-Secretary General of the Prime Minister Grigoris Dimitriadis with the spyware industry. " Even if you are not going to lose the case, these lawsuits cost a lot, and take up your time and energy, " Stavros Malichudis, who is used to facing legal threats as an investigative reporter at non-profit outfit Solomon , told Euronews . But lawsuits are just the tip of the iceberg. Malichudis was the first journalist found to have been placed under state surveillance while reporting on migration issues on the island of Kos.   " Stavros [Malichudis]’s surveillance deeply affected the mental health of the who

Revealed: the hacking and disinformation team meddling in elections

     ‘Team Jorge’ unit exposed by undercover investigation     Group sells hacking services and access to vast army of fake social media profiles     Evidence unit behind disinformation campaigns across world     Mastermind Tal Hanan claims covert involvement in 33 presidential elections   by Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Manisha Ganguly, David Pegg, Carole Cadwalladr and Jason Burke Part 3 - ‘I will show you how safe Telegram is’ No less alarming were Hanan’s demonstrations of his team’s hacking capabilities, in which he showed the reporters how he could penetrate Telegram and Gmail accounts. In one case, he brought up on screen the Gmail account of a man described as the “ assistant of an important guy ” in the general election in Kenya, which was days away. “ Today if someone has a Gmail, it means they have much more than just email, ” Hanan said as he clicked through the target’s emails, draft folders, contacts and drives. He then showed how he claimed to be able to access accounts on T

US hegemony and its perils

Report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China   Part 2 - Political Hegemony /Throwing Its Weight Around The United States has long been attempting to mold other countries and the world order with its own values and political system in the name of promoting democracy and human rights. ◆ Instances of U.S. interference in other countries' internal affairs abound. In the name of "promoting democracy," the United States practiced a "Neo-Monroe Doctrine" in Latin America, instigated "color revolutions" in Eurasia, and orchestrated the "Arab Spring" in West Asia and North Africa, bringing chaos and disaster to many countries. In 1823, the United States announced the Monroe Doctrine. While touting an "America for the Americans," what it truly wanted was an "America for the United States." Since then, the policies of successive U.S. governments toward Latin America and the Caribbean Region have been ri

Revealed: Britain secretly turned non-aligned Cyprus into a key NATO asset

A formerly top secret UK report shows Britain’s territory on Cyprus formed a key part of NATO’s surveillance and nuclear capabilities in the Mediterranean during the Cold War, despite knowing this was “not consistent” with the island’s non-aligned stance. by Matt Kennard   Part 4 - ‘Nuclear force’       Independent Cyprus’s first president, Archbishop Makarios, was prominent supporter of Non-Aligned Movement during Cold War     But British territories on Cyprus were “of great strategic importance” to NATO     Top secret map shows UK ran “NATO communications station” in Cyprus outside of British base areas     Covert surveillance operations were carried out from British Cyprus “on behalf of NATO”     Targets for Cyprus-based nuclear-capable Vulcan bomber squadrons were coordinated with NATO     UK planners cautioned “it is important to avoid drawing attention to the NATO implications of military activities” on British Cyprus   The report shows that two Vulcan bomber squadrons, referred

Day 1425: Julian Assange still in prison and under slow-motion execution by the Anglo-American imperialist criminals

failed evolution   On 11 April 2019, the Ecuadorian government of traitor Lenin Moreno, invited the Metropolitan Police into the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and they arrested Julian Assange . Since then, Assange is kept in Belmarsh high security prison in London, without actual charges.   The real reason world's number one political prisoner is still kept in this high security prison, is because he exposed horrendous war crimes carried out by the US imperialists and their allies.   The ruthless Western imperialist regime wants to punish the No1 real journalist in the world and make him an example for any Whistleblower or real journalist who will attempt to expose its big crimes in the future.   And the Anglo-American axis has now become officially a fascist coalition , framed by the rest of its Western pets. UK's Home Secretary Priti Patel, one of the most ruthless ever, decided to extradite Julian Assange to US. No surprise of course. The only question we had in mind is

Iran’s unrest triggers explosion of fake news

Some of the most incendiary accusations made against Iran’s government by corporate media, celebrity influencers and Western leaders in the past months are little more than fabrications. And most remain uncorrected.   by Setareh Sadeqi and Christopher Weaver   Part 7 - Former footballer Ali Karimi scores hat trick of blatant lies   A former Iranian football star with 14.4 million followers on Instagram named Ali Karimi has played an especially influential role in the current unrest in the country of his birth. He has also contributed to three widely disseminated lies. Despite his lack of credibility, the Scrooge-like Karimi was warmly received by the German President this week in a bid to bolster support for the unrest. Ali has claimed the picture below shows an Iranian protester shot dead by a DShK heavy machine gun. The Dushka or DShK 1938, fires 12.7×108-millimeter rounds, which are nearly ten percent larger than .50 caliber rounds which are so devastating that their shockwave can

European antiwar protests gain strength as NATO’s Ukraine proxy war escalates

Europeans are storming the streets in unprecedented numbers to protest NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine and their own declining living standards. The Grayzone has covered demonstrations and interviewed protest leaders in several countries since the war erupted.   by Stavroula Pabst and Max Blumenthal   Part 1   This February 21, several thousand Greeks filled Athens’ streets to denounce NATO and the United States in the wake of Antony Blinken’s Greece visit, where the US Secretary of State applauded the Mediterranean country for being amongst the first European countries to support Ukraine, thus leading to way for “ the support of democracy. ” It was just one action among many protest actions across the continent as the NATO proxy conflict in Ukraine approached  its first anniversary. European citizens are growing agitated as their leaders appear set on extending the war at least another year: they’ve approved several rounds of sanctions on Russia, provided billions of euros in assistance t

Nationalize railways now!

globinfo freexchange   Greece suffered the worst train crash disaster in its history. The frequency of serious accidents in the railways network increased when the country was forced to privatize parts of the previously fully state-owned railways.    The privatizations came after the Greek default in 2010, when the Troika of Greece's creditors demanded mass privatizations in every sector.   This resulted in the fragmentation of the railways services among private companies, leaving the network under public control. It's pretty much the same model implemented in the UK. There, after the privatization and fragmentation of the British railways among private companies, serious problems emerged, with accidents and safety issues occurring more frequently.   Of course the Greek case turned out to be much worse because most privatizations were actually sell-outs carried out under the extreme pressure of the creditors with which foreign and local interests were connected.   Private in

Why is Venezuela’s gold still frozen in the Bank of England?

Four years ago, the UK government recognised Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s president. He’s now gone, but the Bank of England is still holding some of the country’s key assets. JOHN McEVOY   Part 5 - Guaidó gone   Guaidó and his representatives never managed to get their hands on the gold. In the most recent hearing, in October 2022, judge Justice Cockerill granted the Maduro board permission to appeal, declaring that the issues at stake were “ effectively unprecedented ”, and that “ the consequences of the decision have the potential to affect all the citizens of Venezuela ”. Indeed, the freezing of Venezuela’s gold has served as a form of collective punishment. In 2021, United Nations special rapporteur on sanctions, Alena Douhan, urged the UK “ and corresponding banks to unfreeze assets of the Venezuela Central Bank to purchase medicine, vaccines, food, medical and other equipment, spare parts and other essential goods to guarantee humanitarian needs of the people of Venezuela ”. With