RT NEWS - 4th December 2022 Late

In Nizhnevartovsk, six people have died and ten injured after an explosion in an apartment block. Residents have been evacuated and emergency services are still searching for survivors.

In Donetsk city, continued shelling by Ukraine using US supplied shells has injured at least six civilians including a child.

Fierce fighting near Artyomovsk has led to heavy casualties among Ukraine troops.

Pres. Zelensky has announced new measures seeking to ban religious institutions deemed to have links with Russia. He said the move is intended to safeguard the nation’s “spiritual independence” amid Kiev’s conflict with Moscow. Arrests of the faithful, monks and around 800 people have taken place and these people are "being questioned"

In Khartoum, Sudan, thousands of Islamists are trying to disrupt the transition to civilian rule.

Members of OPEC plus reportedly mull further oil production cuts. That's as Russia says it won't export to those countries observing the EU's price cap.

In Iran, reports say that the "morality police" are now suspended (2 below)

The EU Commission chief deletes a post claiming 100,000 Ukrainian officers have been killed in the war - a figure around ten times higher than that released by Ukrainian officials in August.

Hundreds gather to protest against the release of the convicted murderer of a South African anti-apartheid icon.
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below 1) ---- Kremlin comments on potential Putin Donbass visit
2) ----- Iran abolishes morality police -----
3 and 3a) ----- EU should sue US – trade chief
4) ----- Pentagon may run out of money for Ukraine – Politico
5) ----- Russian Central Bank reveals shift away from dollar and euro
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via RT website 4th Dec 2022 09:29

1) ---- Kremlin comments on potential Putin Donbass visit

The president will travel to the new Russian territory “in due time,” his spokesman has said

Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a visit to Donbass in the future, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. The former Ukrainian territory voted to join Russia earlier this year.

“It will happen in due time, of course. It is a region of the Russian Federation after all,” Peskov told reporters on Saturday.

Peskov added that Putin does not have “concrete plans for now” for the visit.

The predominately Russian-speaking Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) broke away from Ukraine shortly after the 2014 coup in Kiev.

The DPR and LPR, along with two other former Ukrainian territories, joined Russia after residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move in late September.

Putin has said that protecting the people of Donbass is one of the main objectives of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. Since the conflict began, he has also accused the Ukrainian military of committing genocide of the local population.

Russian and local troops pushed Kiev’s forces out of the LPR by early July, though heavy fighting in the DPR continues as local officials report constant shelling of civilian areas. Three people were killed and five wounded in a Ukrainian rocket attack on Donetsk on Friday, according to the DPR authorities.
https://www.rt.com/russia/567635-putin-donbass-visit-time/
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via RT website 4 Dec, 2022 14:41

2) ----- Iran abolishes morality police -----

The country has been gripped by violent protests after the death of a woman who allegedly wore an “improper” hijab

Iran has disbanded its morality police, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the nation’s attorney general, confirmed on Saturday. This comes as the country has been embroiled in weeks of violent anti-government protests over the death of a young woman detained by the force.

Montazeri said that while the institution had been abolished, authorities will “continue to monitor behavioral actions at the community level.”

On Thursday, the attorney general stated that Iranian officials were reviewing whether they needed to change the law requiring women to cover their heads.

The morality police was established in 2005 to control how people comply with Islamic rules regarding their clothes and behavior. It was sanctioned by the EU, US and the UK over the death of a 22-year-old woman named Mahsa Amini, who was arrested over allegedly wearing an “improper” hijab and died hours later.

Iran has seen weeks of violent protests that erupted in mid-September over the death of Amini. While the Iranian authorities claim that she died of a pre-existing medical condition, her family insists she was beaten to death while in custody.

According to figures released by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the riots have claimed the lives of more than 200 people. Earlier this week, Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh, who serves with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps put the total death toll during the unrest at “more than 300 people.”

Iranian officials have accused foreign players, especially the US and Israel, of inciting violence and trying to destabilize the country.
https://www.rt.com/news/567648-iran-abolish-morality-police/
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via RT website 4 Dec, 2022 14:15

3) ----- EU should sue US – trade chief

Washington’s latest inflation battling legislation has been branded discriminatory by European officials

The EU should file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the controversial US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Bernd Lange, head of the European Parliament's Trade Committee, told the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper on Saturday.

“My assumption is that the negotiations between the EU and the US will not be able to help agree even on small changes in the implementation of the IRA. The basic structure of the IRA will remain in place. In this regard, I think it is necessary for the EU to quickly file a complaint with the WTO in the coming months,” the lawmaker said ahead of a meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council on Monday, at which the IRA package is expected to be discussed. He added that the lawsuit would help clarify “that the US's actions are clearly not compatible with WTO regulations.”

The IRA is a $430 billion climate protection and social package passed by the US Congress in August. The package aims to help battle inflation and reduce energy prices, as well as tackling climate change. It offers generous tax breaks for US companies that invest in clean energy and significant subsidies for domestic electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy projects. The measure has sparked concerns in the EU, with many warning that the “protectionist” legislation may be “discriminatory” towards European companies.

French President Emmanuel Macron has slammed the subsidies provision in the IRA as “super aggressive,” while German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has called for a “robust” response to the law from Brussels. Meanwhile, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told the newspaper Journal du Dimanche that the legislation would cause a “competitive imbalance” between the EU and other buyers of US goods. He called for the creation of a “European sovereignty fund” which would support industrial projects within the bloc.

Lange also suggested the EU should step up its support for domestic industry in the face of the US legislation.

“We also have to examine whether and how we can reduce energy prices for our industry, as at the moment they are up to ten times higher than in the US,” he stated.
https://www.rt.com/business/567637-eu-complaint-us-wto/

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via RT website 4 Dec, 2022 17:06

3a) ----- EU must ‘take action’ against US – von der Leyen

Joe Biden’s investment plan could threaten the bloc’s industry, the European Commission chief has said

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned on Sunday that to be able to compete with the US’ government-subsidized green industry, the EU must “take action” and step up state aid to its own companies.

Signed into law by President Joe Biden in August, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is – despite its name – a $738 billion spending package that allocates $391 billion toward green energy and climate-friendly industry projects, including $270 billion in tax incentives. Initially lauded by liberals on both sides of the Atlantic, von der Leyen now sees the act as a threat to Europe’s industry.

The IRA’s provision of tax breaks for consumers who buy American products, and manufacturers who produce these products in the US, could “lead to unfair competition, could close markets, and thus fragment critical supply chains,” she told a gathering of students in the Belgian city of Bruges.

With these incentives on the one hand, and the EU’s struggles with supply chain bottlenecks and record energy costs on the other, the IRA could place European industry at a disadvantage, she continued.

Competition between the US and EU “must respect a level playing field,” she declared. “We must take action to rebalance the playing field, where the IRA and other measures create distortions.”

To that end, von der Leyen said that the EU must increase state aid to its own industries, and invest in renewable energy, while lobbying the US to “address some of the most concerning aspects” of the IRA. Earlier on Sunday, the head of the European Parliament’s trade committee, Bernd Lange, said that pressing the US to rewrite the act is a waste of time, and that the EU should file a complaint with the World Trade Organization instead.

While von der Leyen blamed the Europe-wide energy crunch on Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, the EU’s own sanctions on Moscow impeded critical repair work along Russian-EU gas lines before deliveries were reduced.

Moreover, the bloc pressed ahead with imposing a price cap on Russian oil on Saturday. On the same day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow is not planning to recognize the measure. He added that the government is currently carrying out a review of the situation.
https://www.rt.com/news/567653-eu-losing-green-industry/
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via RT website 4 Dec, 2022 12:14

4) ----- Pentagon may run out of money for Ukraine – Politico

Kiev could reportedly be left without new American shells and improved howitzers if Congress doesn’t reach a budget deal

A looming cut to Pentagon appropriations could throw a wrench in US military aid to Ukraine, including artillery and ammunition, Politico magazine reported on Saturday, citing Department of Defense internal documents and officials familiar with the matter.

Congress has until December 16 to pass a full-year defense stopgap bill, known as a continuing resolution, or a CR, as Republicans and Democrats debate appropriations. However, the resolution would cut Pentagon funding by $29 billion, or 3.7%, compared to what the White House requested for fiscal year 2023, according to the report. This means that the Department of Defense would have to put a halt to key projects, including aid to Kiev during its conflict with Russia.

Michael McCord, the Pentagon’s chief financial officer, was quoted as saying on Saturday that the US would have problems sending new munitions to Ukraine as the funds marked by Kiev would run out in spring.

"Ukraine is in a kinetic fight, and we are their No. 1 helper … If they run out of ammo, they’re in a bad place."

It was said that the slash in spending could also delay improvements for several major weapon systems, such as the M777 howitzer, which is being supplied by the US to Ukrainian troops.

Other potential shortfalls described in the documents cited by Politico include delays in the procurement of B-21 Raider nuclear-capable long-range bombers and Columbia-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.

The report comes after Pentagon officials warned Congress that a curb to funding would be extra damaging this time due to high inflation rates. “The thing that’s unique about this year is that inflation is occurring and is somewhat unpredictable, and a CR locks you into a previous year’s level of funding when prices are increasing,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told the Senate in May.

Last month, the White House requested that Congress approve around $37.7 billion in additional military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. If greenlighted, it would bring the total amount of funds Congress has earmarked for Ukraine to more than $100 billion in less than a year.
https://www.rt.com/news/567639-pentagon-money-ukraine-bill/
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via RT website 4 Dec, 2022 10:08

5) ----- Russian Central Bank reveals shift away from dollar and euro

Half of the country’s external transactions are now being made in other currencies

The share of the US dollar and the euro in Russia’s cross-border payments has fallen by more than a third since the beginning of the year, from 79% to about 50%, the country’s Central Bank announced this week.

While the bulk of export and import settlements remain in dollars and euros, these payments are hampered by sanctions, as many Russian banks have been disconnected from the Western financial messaging system, SWIFT, and are now unable to carry out certain transactions.

The use of China’s yuan by Russian businesses has increased dramatically in the past nine months as Moscow seeks to reduce its reliance on Western currencies. But to arrange payments in alternative currencies, a new infrastructure for foreign exchange operations has to be established, the regulator said.

The share of the yuan in the volume of Russian currency trading surged from 3% in March to 33% in November, according to the Central Bank. The regulator explained that market players “not only purchased yuan for rubles, but also transferred part of the funds from dollars and euros” into Chinese currency

The two countries have reportedly accelerated efforts to move away from the US dollar and the euro, towards settlements using domestic currencies.

The monthly volume of trading in the currencies of other so-called “friendly” nations rose more than sixfold from 6.5 billion rubles ($100 million) in March to 39.4 billion rubles ($640 million) in September.
https://www.rt.com/business/567524-russia-ditches-dollar-euro/
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