RT News - November 26th 2022

More civilians have been killed in the latest Ukrainian bombardment of Donetsk as Kiev's troops shell the Russian region 39 times in the past 24 hours. RT reports from the scene of the attacks. (warning: harrowing images) Six civilians were killed in Kherson in the latest round of shelling by Ukraine forces. In Donetsk Ukraine shelling of a cotton factory left one dead and at least three others wounded. Kiev has bombed the civilian only region 39 times in the past 24 hours.

Power cuts continue across Ukraine as Russia continues to disrupt the movement of foreign supplied weapons across the country, used to attack the same regions Ukraine has illegitimately attacked for the past eight years.

Pres. Putin held a meeting with the mothers of the military on Friday. Pres. Putin said that he sometimes speaks to servicemen personally on the phone, and that some of them have outright surprised him with their attitude towards performing their duty. “This gives me every reason to say that they are heroes” He went on to say that “life is more complex and diverse” than what is shown in the media and on the internet, noting that “nothing can be trusted there at all,” because of the extraordinary amount of fakes, lies, and deceit. “Information is also a weapon, and informational attacks are one the most effective types of warfare.” He said "without any exaggeration, Ukraine soldiers are being used as cannon fodder"

"The politicians have no concern for Ukraine or Ukrainians" (QS comment: since April the blood is on the hands of London, EU and Washington for both sides. Zelensky was order not to stop "until the last Ukrainian)

A US military base in Syria comes under attack amid rising tensions between NATO allies - Türkiye and the US. It's getting very complicated.

In the latest news from Africa - Ghana announces a shift towards using Gold instead of the US dollar for its oil purchases. Multi-polar world.

Sahel/Tigray/D.R. Congo: The M23 rebels say any agreements for peace are null and void as talks didn't include them.

Angela Merkel admits that the UN mandated Minsk protocols were only used to buy time for the west to arm and train Kiev; Russia had been a signatory of good faith however (QS: surely all the time and money should have been disclosed to the public. Would people have voted for political parties who were knowingly giving their money to arm and train a known corrupt and fascist based regime? This all didn't start since 2014 either. Since 2008 money has been given to groom and grow the fascist elements of Ukraine in order to overthrow their democratically elected government in 2014; it didn't just happen out of the blue)

In Palestine, a school was demolished by Israel who claim it was in a firing zone.

India's fifth space launch this year for exploration: It's exciting stuff for most people with good crowds gathering. It's the 56th launch of the "Polar Satellite" vehicle and this launch has 9 satellites going into different orbits.

BRICS: Day 3 - "only with the joint effort of all countries can there be a solution to global problems."
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via RT website 26 Nov, 2022 08:10

---- Zelensky slams ‘lies’ in Ukrainian officials’ reports ----

The Ukrainian leader has singled out Kiev authorities for mishandling power outages

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has criticized authorities in Kiev for dropping the ball on makeshift relief stations for residents left without electricity following Russian strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure. Distortions and lies in official reports about the emergency shelters are inexcusable, he said.

In a video address on Friday, Zelensky announced that more than 4,000 so-called ‘invincibility centres' had been set up across the country, where people can find heat, water, first aid and an internet connection. However, only a handful of such shelters in Kiev were properly equipped as around 600,000 families were still without power in the capital, he added.

“I expect quality work from the mayor’s office,” Zelensky said. “No one will forgive the charade with the invincibility centers in Kiev. I ask you to be more serious. The same goes for the lies in reports at various levels.”

While the president did not detail his concerns, Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said on Friday that more than 400 heating stations have been set up in schools and other places.

The Zelensky administration has had a strained relationship with Klitschko, an ally of previous president, Pyotr Poroshenko. In 2019, the capital’s legislators asked the government to sack the mayor, but he remained in office and won re-election the following year. Ukrainian media further reported several times in 2021 that Zelensky had planned to fire the mayor.

Russia intensified strikes on the Ukrainian energy sector, including thermal power plants and power lines, in early October after a truck explosion damaged the strategic Crimean bridge. Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Kiev for the incident, which he described as a terrorist attack on Russian soil.

Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of deliberately killing civilians. Moscow, however, maintains that its forces only attack targets linked to Ukraine’s military capabilities.
https://www.rt.com/russia/567216-zelensky-criticizes-shelter-reports/
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via RT website 25 Nov, 2022 12:44

---- EU believes US is profiting from Ukraine conflict – Politico ----

America is cashing in on the conflict while the bloc is left out in the cold, senior officials have reportedly said

Senior EU officials are angry at the administration of US President Joe Biden, arguing that Washington is capitalizing on the Ukraine conflict and the bloc’s economic problems, Politico reported on Thursday, citing sources.

One senior official who was interviewed by the outlet said that the US is profiting from the conflict the most because “they are selling more gas and at higher prices, and because they are selling more weapons.”

The growing transatlantic rift is based on several factors. The Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its military campaign in Ukraine have caused major disruptions in gas deliveries from Russia to Europe, and the EU now relies on American gas, which comes at a price four times higher than it costs in the US.

French President Emmanuel Macron described this practice as “not friendly.” However, a Politico source indicated that when confronted by EU leaders at the G20 summit over the problem, Biden “simply seemed unaware.”

Another thorny issue is the US Inflation Reduction Act, an incentive scheme which offers huge subsidies and tax breaks to green businesses. Brussels is worried that it may potentially be ruinous for the bloc’s economy, as it could give American electric vehicle manufacturers an advantage over their EU counterparts in the lucrative US market.

“We are really at a historic juncture,” one EU official told Politico, arguing that these disagreements may undermine Western efforts to support Ukraine and the transatlantic alliance itself. “America needs to realize that public opinion is shifting in many EU countries,” he added.

Europeans are also reportedly growing irritated about the money flowing to the US defence industry due to the campaign to support Ukraine with weapons. According to one senior official, it may take the EU years to replenish its supply of weapons, which has fuelled fears that the US will profit from the conflict even more.

The report comes after Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed last week that by trying to isolate Moscow over the Ukraine conflict, the EU only “imposes costs on EU countries and their citizens, who are forced to pay out of their own pockets for the strategic blunders of their politicians.”
https://www.rt.com/news/567169-eu-angry-us-ukraine-conflict/
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via RT website 25 Nov, 2022 17:21

---- Macron’s electoral campaigns under investigation – media ----

French prosecutors have launched a probe into suspected illegal financing

French President Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 and 2022 election campaigns are reportedly under investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor’s office. The probe is focused on illegal financing and suspicions of wrongdoing surrounding contracts with a US-based consulting firm.

The investigation was announced by the prosecutor’s office in a Twitter post on Thursday. Prosecutors did not confirm the probe was targeting Macron’s campaigns, but said they were trying to bring clarification to the issue following media reports. French newspaper Le Parisien has suggested that Macron’s 2017 campaign was linked to US consulting giant McKinsey & Company.

Campaign funding in France is strictly controlled and funding of presidential bids by private companies is illegal. Individual contributions are also heavily regulated.

While the prosecutor’s statement does not mention Macron or his party by name, it says that a judicial inquiry was opened late last month into alleged “inconsistent campaign accounts” and the underbilling of work performed by consultancy firms during recent electoral campaigns. Macron has long faced scrutiny over his alleged ties to McKinsey, dating back to his first election bid in 2017.

Prosecutors also say they have opened an investigation into suspected favouritism in relation to these campaigns after Le Parisien pointed to suspicious “conditions” under which public contracts were granted to McKinsey by the elected French government.

According to a four-month investigation led by French senators and published in March, the government had signed contracts worth at least $2.4 billion with consultancy firms since 2018. The report suggested that since Macron came into power in 2017, government ministries had more than doubled their expenses on consulting services.

The Justice Ministry has another ongoing investigation examining suspected tax fraud committed by the McKinsey group, which was opened in March. The consulting agency has denied the allegation and insisted that it “respects French tax rules that apply to it.”

Responding to the launch of the criminal probes, Macron also denied any wrongdoing and said he had “nothing to fear” and claimed that the “core of the investigation” was not about him. Previously, the president said he was “shocked” by the suspicions of tax evasion by consulting firms his government had hired.
https://www.rt.com/news/567192-macron-illegal-campaign-investigation/
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