RT News - December 27th 2022 Late

The head of a private US military group that trains Ukrainian soldiers admits he doesn't actually like the country while also confirming that Kiev's troops executed Russian war prisoners. Detailed report... get a pen, take notes 😎

Vladimir Putin officially bans the export of Russian oil to countries that impose a price cap - starting from February and lasting initially for 6 months when Pres. Putin can review the decree or choose to keep it in place. Price caps don't benefit anyone. Gas sales to Europe were so competitive and reliable it gave them the commercial edge over most others .... Detailed report and analysis.

In the same vein perhaps, Ukraine suggests that "if you are benefiting from cheap energy products it's because of Ukraine's suffering..." All at the same time as trying to drag India into the fray

Ukraine wants to hold peace talks in the UN but doesn't want to invite Russia.

In Nigeria, petrol shortages inflict a dramatic spike in transport costs as the energy crisis sparked by Western sanctions on Russian fuel exports, sinks in across the globe.

In Kabwe, Zambia, a class action is being brought against Anglo-American. The lawsuit, filed in October 2020, accuses the company of negligence over its alleged failure to prevent widespread lead poisoning. An estimated 140,000 children and women of child-bearing age living in Kabwe are represented in the case, one of Africa’s largest class action cases. Experts say Kabwe is one of the world's most lead polluted regions.
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Below 1) --- US corruption doomed Afghanistan – ex-president
2) --- Asian nation lifts sex doll ban
3) --- Ukraine run by ‘f****d up people’ – US instructor
** Breaking ** 4) --- Putin bans all oil sales to ‘price cap’ states
5) --- Every social media firm censors for US government – Musk
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via RT website 27 Dec, 2022 16:12

1) --- US corruption doomed Afghanistan – ex-president

While acknowledging his own culpability, Hamid Karzai argued Washington's was deeper

Hamid Karzai, the only Afghan president since the 2001 US-led invasion, has admitted his culpability in the corruption that has plagued the country for the past two decades – but argued an external power played a much greater role than he did himself. Speaking to the Washington Post on Monday, he blamed the US for his country’s fate.

Karzai took “full responsibility for the corruption and bribes in the delivery of services,” he told the outlet. “But the big contracts, big corruption, in hundreds of millions of dollars or millions of dollars, was clearly a United States of America thing.”

“The war in Afghanistan was not our war,” Karzai explained, clarifying his position between the US-backed “democracy” he ran and the Taliban government, which has allowed him to continue living in Kabul. Despite owing his power to Washington, he has controversially referred to the Taliban as “brothers” and denounced the 21-year war ostensibly fought against them.

“I was not a partner of the United States in that war against Afghan villages and homes. I changed from the moment I recognized that this war that is fought in the name of defeating terrorism is actually a war against the Afghan people,” the former leader said.

Karzai also blamed his most recent successor for the Taliban’s return to power in the wake of the Biden administration’s hasty departure from the country in September 2021. “The state would not have collapsed” had President Ashraf Ghani not fled, he argued. “Ghani leaving was the collapse of the whole thing.”

However, he said, it is the US who is primarily to blame for what happened to Afghanistan. Despite Washington's promises, two decades of war not only failed to end terrorism, it gave birth to new terror groups such as ISIS-K.

Karzai spent 13 years running US-occupied Afghanistan. By the time he left his post in 2014, his government had become synonymous with corruption, nepotism, and the looting of both state assets and US ‘nation-building’ projects. Afghanistan had been named one of the top three most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International.

However, the Washington Post claims his reputation has improved – from that of “an American puppet” to an advocate for “a more equitable Afghanistan.”
https://www.rt.com/news/569011-karzai-blames-us-corruption-afghanistan/
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27 Dec, 2022 16:19

2) --- Asian nation lifts sex doll ban

Importers say the prohibition restricted the South Korean public’s “right to seek happiness”

South Korea’s customs agency announced on Monday that it will once again allow the importation of life-sized sex dolls. While the dolls were declared legal years ago, agents nonetheless continued seizing them, referring to a law that forbids the import of items that “harm the beautiful traditions and public morals” of the nation.

“Full body Realdolls in adult form are allowed to clear customs,” the Korea Customs Service (KCS) said in a statement, referring to one of the more widely-known brands of sex doll. However, the KCS added that “imports of Realdolls in the form of minors are prohibited.”

The customs agency had forbidden foreign-made sex dolls from entering the country since 2018, despite the absence of specific legislation on the matter.

The de facto ban remained in place even after the country’s supreme court ruled in 2019 that sex dolls fall under the same category as pornography, which although heavily regulated, is legal.

In its statement on Monday, the KCS acknowledged that the change in policy was made in light of the court’s ruling, and based on the policies of the US, UK and Australia, which allow adult-sized sex dolls but not child-sized ones.

The decision was hailed by South Korea’s sex doll importers, with the head of one firm telling the Telegraph that he thought “people’s rights to seek happiness and use [sex dolls] in their private lives have been restricted by the state.”

Not everyone agreed, however, with nearly a quarter of a million people signing a petition demanding a complete ban on the silicone sex toys following the 2019 court decision.

The KCS has seized more than 1,000 sex dolls since 2018. According to multiple media outlets, the agency will hang on to these models despite the change in policy.
https://www.rt.com/news/569012-korea-sex-doll-ban/
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27 Dec, 2022 13:03

3) --- Ukraine run by ‘f****d up people’ – US instructor

A video shows the founder of Mozart Group, Andrew Milburn, admitting Kiev’s forces have committed “atrocities”

Ukraine should not be placed on a pedestal in the West’s attempts to support the country in its conflict with Russia, believes Andrew Milburn, the founder of the ‘Mozart Group’, which has been providing training for Kiev’s forces.

The retired Marine commander shared his experience and conclusions from working in Ukraine during an appearance on the Team House podcast last month. Attention to the video, which had only amassed some 20,000 views since it was posted, was drawn by Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal on Monday.

During the podcast, Milburn stated that Ukraine is a “corrupt, f****d-up society.” While he stressed that continued Western support for the country was important and justified by the need to uphold “global norms,” he suggested that the whole point was “not about Ukraine.”

“I have a Ukrainian flag tied to my bag, but I’m not like ‘oh my God, Ukraine is so awesome,’ because I understand that there are plenty of f****d up people running Ukraine,” Milburn said, admitting that he’s really “not a big fan” of the country.

He also stated that “a number of things” that Kiev’s forces do with Russian POWs violate the Hague convention on the laws of armed conflict, especially when it comes to filming interrogations of captured Russian soldiers and posting them online.

Milburn noted that the trainers from Mozart Group don’t condone such acts and have always tried to distance themselves from any unit that showed them videos of killing Russian POWs. “We’ve been shown those videos plenty of times,” he said, adding that “there were plenty” of atrocities being committed by Ukrainian forces and “all kinds of atrocities to go around.”

tweet with video : https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1607477025962430465

He did stress, however, that most of the groups his trainers have dealt with were “very professional” and did not resort to such acts.

While Milburn’s Mozart Group claims charity status, it is considered to be among the largest private military companies currently working in Ukraine and has been providing military training to Ukrainian soldiers since the early days of the conflict. However, it has also been the source of several damning reports on the dark underbelly of Kiev’s armed forces.

Back in August, Milburn was quoted by CBS news in a since-deleted report that revealed how Western-supplied weapons were disappearing in Ukraine and popping up on the black market. Recently, he was also quoted by Newsweek in a report revealing that the Ukrainian military was seeing casualty rates of 70% or more, contrary to official Kiev’s claims.
https://www.rt.com/russia/568994-us-instructor-ukraine-corruption/
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BREAKING 27 Dec, 2022 16:16

4) --- Putin bans all oil sales to ‘price cap’ states

The move is in response to a Western coalition price-limit on Russia’s seaborne oil exports

President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on retaliatory measures to the West’s price cap on Russian oil exports. The ratification on Tuesday is in response to the punitive measure taken by the EU, G7 countries, and Australia, which came into effect earlier this month.

The presidential decree bans the supply of oil and petroleum products from Russia to countries which apply a price cap in their contracts. It also prohibits deliveries if the contracts directly or indirectly specify the cap.

According to the decree, which was published on the government’s website, the ban on oil supplies in response to the price cap comes into effect on February 1, 2023 and is valid until July 1, 2023. The effective date of the ban on supplying petroleum products will be determined later by the government.

The president can grant special permission for the supply of oil and oil products prohibited by the price ceiling, according to the decree. The Russian Ministry of Energy will monitor compliance with the presidential order on retaliatory measures.

The $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil exports was introduced by the EU, G7 countries, and Australia on December 5. It bans Western companies from providing insurance and other services for Russian oil shipments unless the cargo is purchased at or below the set price.

The Kremlin vowed to respond to the measure in a way that would best serve Moscow’s interests, warning it would not trade with nations that support the price ceiling. Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said that Russian oil will still be in high demand despite the latest sanctions on the country’s exports. By imposing a price cap, Western countries will only trigger further energy inflation due to scarce supply, the minister said, adding that Russia views such types of non-market mechanisms as unacceptable.
https://www.rt.com/business/569014-russia-putin-oil-price-response/
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27 Dec, 2022 17:13

5) --- Every social media firm censors for US government – Musk

Platforms remove content at the “explicit direction” of US federal agencies, the Twitter CEO has claimed

All social media platforms work with the US government to censor content, Twitter CEO Elon Musk claimed on Tuesday. Documents released by Musk following his purchase of Twitter showed that the platform colluded with the FBI, CIA, Pentagon and other government agencies to suppress information on elections, Ukraine, and Covid-19.

“*Every* social media company is engaged in heavy censorship, with significant involvement of and, at times, explicit direction of the government,” Musk tweeted, adding that “Google frequently makes links disappear, for example.”

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1607743022925504514