RT News - February 13th 2023 Late

Nord Stream sabotage: Seymour Hersh, the journalist behind an investigation into the US role in the Nord Stream pipeline blasts, reveals the pressure he's facing by mainstream media to divulge his sources. The Europeans seem to be far more concerned in tracing his sources than the US. (QS : much more to hide. In the main the governments in the "Liberal Democracies" could find very little to support their policies without the say so of the "approved press" - they in turn are often paid to publish what their governments offer them, as well as being "appropriately briefed". Most of the approved media should have died a natural death with the advent of the internet and social media. Government payments (of our money, via communications departments) encourage them to cling on). The source, if they were to be named, would be put in jail, as the perpetrators just stay free.

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Donbass; Artyomovsk, Kramatorsk and Slavyansk, advances of the Russian troops: Kiev restricts civilian and media access to the embattled city of Artyomovsk, a.k.a. Bakhmut as Russian forces advance on entrenched Ukrainian positions there. RT follows Russian troops as they advance in a battle for one of the key Ukrainian strongholds outside Donetsk. A Ukrainian soldier asks Kiev to withdraw, calling Kiev murderers. Janus Putkonen explains the strategic and moral importance of Artyomovsk and says "we haven't seen the truth in Western media over how the situation in Ukraine unfolded"

NATO: Jens Stoltenberg says the conflict in Ukraine shows the importance of NATO (QS: NATO is a political-only alliance of the most indebted nations in the world with hundreds of $£€trillions of debt; many of it's citizens also believe them to be some of the most corrupt countries in the world) Jens Stoltenberg also pointed out that the "war" didn't start out in 2022 but in 2014 (QS: Since 2008 at least, NATO countries - in particular Britain and EU, paid to groom and grow a NAZI element in Ukraine to overthrow the democratically elected government in Ukraine and cause mass "propaganda hate". It cost citizens of EU several $billions to effect this during/for Maidan, during a time of austerity. Not a single government had had a vote for this, it hadn't been discussed or debated in any parliament. There had never been a list of any .gov objectives for this funding. - Would any of us have cast a vote for any MP or party if we had known they were "growing and supporting" Nazis? - would there have been proper accountability of our money?) See articles below for details, including surveillance. Martin Dolzer reports (but everyone forgets about what happened BEFORE Maidan and how it was prepared, at the expense of the citizens)

Ukraine, Kiev: An elderly woman faces prosecution for saying that Ukraine (Kiev) government started the civil war in 2014 against the citizens of Donbass. Dan Kovalik discusses.

Russia, Mariupol: An incoming missile has been shot down

Russia's MOD publishes a video of Russian troops on the frontline and said that 250 Ukraine troops were lost in the recent battles along with a lot of weapons and military equipment. Igor Zhdanov reports.

Russia, Siberia, Krasnoyarsk. A major warehouse fire, 150 firemen are fighting the blaze.

Space: Progress MS-21 is repaired after the pressure "glitch" on the International Space Station.
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Below, via RT website -- A) --- Nord Stream blast story was ‘not hard to find’ – author
B) --- NATO sounds alarm over Ukraine’s ammo consumption
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1) --- Key Russian ally to host major war games
2) --- Leading ‘politically biased’ corporations identified – watchdog
3) --- Report alleges grim scale of child abuse by clergy in EU state
4) --- NATO flag defaced as ‘thousands’ rally in Paris
5) --- NATO launches new ‘surveillance’ network
6) --- EU to target media in latest anti-Russian sanctions – Politico
7) --- EU preparing more economic sanctions against Russia – Politico
8) --- Star Wars legend says he ‘follows orders’ from Zelensky
9) --- Academic responds to ‘mass suicide’ outrage
10) --- EU spending on energy crisis approaching $1 trillion – think tank
11) --- Berlusconi floats cash-for-ceasefire deal in Ukraine
12) --- Here’s why the China-US confrontation is so strange. Analysis by By Fyodor Lukyanov
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13 Feb, 2023 16:36

A) --- Nord Stream blast story was ‘not hard to find’ – author

Media outlets like the NYT and WaPo “don’t seem to have anyone inside” among their sources, Seymour Hersh claims

Legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed on Saturday that his latest bombshell report, which suggests the CIA was responsible for the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines in September, was not a hard story to find. It was obvious that there was more to the issue than was being reported by most media outlets, Hersh said.

In his first interview since he published the story on Substack last Wednesday, the Pulitzer-prize winning journalist was asked by Radio War Nerd to comment on his source for the story, who still remains anonymous.

Hersh refused to expose any details about who he spoke to and noted that it was his job to protect his sources and take the heat when a story went live. But those within the media who criticize him for using anonymous sources should “understand the business a little better,” the journalist suggested.

“The problem is, it’s all been cheapened. Because now the New York Times and the Washington Post think an unnamed source can be a press guy, a press secretary, that whispers something to them on the side. I don’t know, they don’t seem to have anyone inside,” Hersh said.

He also noted that major news outlets are failing to report a lot of things about the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev. “The war I know about is not the war you’re reading about,” Hersh observed.

“It’s amazing to me how they fall in line, my colleagues,” he added, lamenting that many outlets such as the NYT, WP, CNN and MSN have become a front for the White House and the Biden administration.

As for the Nord Stream expose, Hersh insisted it was “not a hard story to find” and that it was obvious that some NATO country was involved, especially after top US officials, including President Joe Biden, issued clear threats that the Russian-German project would be stopped “one way or another” if Moscow chose to send troops to Ukraine back in February 2022.

Hersh also pointed out that the entire international pipeline industry knew “who did what” and that this was a reality that “nobody thinks about.” “But I did, so there you are,” he concluded.

The White House, as well as officials from the CIA and State Department, have all vehemently dismissed Hersh’s report since it was published. Moscow, meanwhile, has called for an open international investigation into the attack, saying it was “impossible to leave this without finding the perpetrators and punishing them.”
https://www.rt.com/news/571420-seymour-hersh-nord-stream/
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13 Feb, 2023 14:41

B) --- NATO sounds alarm over Ukraine’s ammo consumption

The US-led bloc needs to increase production to keep up, Jens Stoltenberg has said

Ukraine is consuming an “enormous amount” of ammunition, and the West needs to boost production to keep up, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday. Stoltenberg also called on the bloc’s members to increase their intelligence efforts, accusing China and Russia of spying on them with balloons.

“The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of ammunition,” he said ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. “This puts our defense industries under strain,” he continued, adding that “we need to ramp up production and invest in our production capacities.”

Stoltenberg then pledged, as he has repeatedly since Russia’s military operation in Ukraine began, that “NATO stands with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

“Standing with Ukraine” has proven costly for NATO, particularly its European members. After decades of underinvestment, the German military rapidly emptied its stockpiles for Ukraine and reportedly has only enough ammunition for two days of warfare. Furthermore, Berlin will not be able to send its full complement of 187 Leopard 1 tanks to Kiev until refurbishment is complete in 2024, and even then, reports suggest that ammunition for these tanks is in short supply.

The situation in the UK is similar, with the British Army reportedly having just enough ammunition for days or even hours of full-scale fighting. Meanwhile, multiple European nations have walked back promises of tanks for Ukraine, citing shortages and the vehicles’ state of disrepair.

Stoltenberg has repeatedly called on NATO members to boost arms and ammo production since the conflict in Ukraine began. On Monday, however, he also urged them to increase their intelligence gathering and sharing capacities, claiming that China and Russia are “increasing their intelligence and surveillance activities against NATO allies.”

The NATO chief claimed that both nations are using “balloons” to spy on the West, referring to four aircraft shot down over the US and Canada in recent days. One of these airships came from China, while the origin of the other three is unclear. US authorities have not linked any of the four to Russia, and Beijing insists that the first was a “civilian airship” that veered off course.

Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against sending weapons to Ukraine, arguing that continued arms deliveries will prolong the bloodshed without changing the conflict’s outcome.
https://www.rt.com/news/571416-stoltenberg-ammunition-shortage-nato/
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13 Feb, 2023 14:05

1) --- Key Russian ally to host major war games

The members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization will send troops to Belarus for three-part maneuvers

Belarus, a key Russian ally, will host this year’s Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) military exercises, the regional defense alliance’s head announced on Monday.

The plans for joint exercises by the organization, which consists of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan, were shared by Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov during a visit to Minsk. Tasmagambetov, whose tenure at the CSTO started last month, met Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to discuss preparations for the drills.

The host stressed the need for all six member states to boost cooperation due to what is “happening around” their borders.

“If somebody thinks that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is not our conflict, that we can quietly sit it out – no, that won’t happen,” Lukashenko stated. Minsk has allowed Moscow to use its territory in its military operation against Kiev, but has declined to contribute forces.

The Belarusian leader previously accused NATO nations of creating a threat to his nation by amassing troops close to its border. Minsk and Moscow set up a joint military force last year, which was touted as a way to mitigate the risks faced by Belarus.

The three-part CSTO exercise on Belarusian soil will be one of the practical steps to “ensure military readiness of the collective force of the organization,” Tasmagambetov said.

The annual exercise of the CSTO's operative response force has three components, each of which has its own designation. The drills comprise a regular exercise for troops and their commanders called ‘Vzaimodeystvie’ (Interaction), a military intelligence training dubbed ‘Poisk’ (Search) and a logistics exercise ‘Eshelon’ (Echelon).

In the autumn of 2022, Tasmagambetov’s home nation of Kazakhstan hosted the drills. The mission involved over 6,500 troops and more than 850 military vehicles, including warplanes, helicopters and drones, the organization reported at the time.

During his visit to Minsk, the secretary general did not share with the public the timing of this year’s event or the size of the military contingent that the member states will deploy to Belarus.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571407-belarus-csto-military-exercise/
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13 Feb, 2023 14:01

2) --- Leading ‘politically biased’ corporations identified – watchdog

Apple, Coca-Cola, and Disney are among the companies prone to “canceling” those they disagree with, a report claims

More than 140 major corporations operating in the US are more likely to target people and businesses for political reasons, according to a report from conservative non-profit organization 1792 Exchange. The research was released last month, but only recently gained media interest.

In its Corporate Bias Rating, the group assessed over 1,000 entities based on “the likelihood a company will cancel a contract or client, or boycott, divest, or deny services based on views or beliefs.” The non-profit also tracked hiring practices, as well as whether a company uses corporate reputation and charity donations to “advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of religion or speech.”

The corporations placed on the red “high-risk” list include giants such as Amazon, Disney, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonald’s, Johnson & Johnson, Starbucks, Unilever, Nike, and Walmart. The group also rated Google’s parent company Alphabet and Facebook owner Meta as highly prone to bias, together with Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit.

The companies rated as “medium risk” have “generally demonstrated willingness to advance one-sided ideological agendas,” and lack protections against discrimination of dissenting views, 1792 Exchange said. This category includes streaming service Netflix, clothing giants Adidas and H&M, video game publisher Activision Blizzard, and dairy and yogurt producer Danone.

Covid-19 vaccine-maker AstraZeneca, as well as Barnes & Noble, Wendy’s, Acer, and Siemens were among the entities rated as being at “lower risk” of bias.

Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, 1792 Exchange President Paul Fitzpatrick said activists use the companies’ environmental, social, and governance policies to “fill and weaponize” them in order to promote their own agenda.

In recent years, several major companies have been accused of introducing “woke” ideas into their workplace training programs. In 2021, Coca-Cola’s internal training course was leaked, revealing that employees were being advised to try to be “less white.”

Last year, Disney vowed to fight a law in Florida that bans teachers from including the issues of sexual orientation and gender identity in classroom discussions in kindergarten through third grade. Governor Ron DeSantis responded by stripping the Walt Disney World theme park of its special tax and self-government status in the state.
https://www.rt.com/news/571409-companies-political-bias-rating/
https://www.rt.com/news/571409-companies-political-bias-rating/
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13 Feb, 2023 14:53

3) --- Report alleges grim scale of child abuse by clergy in EU state

An independent committee examined misconduct allegations in Portugal from 1950 onwards

Almost 5,000 children have suffered sexual abuse by members of the Portuguese Catholic Church over the last 70 years, according to a report released on Monday.

The Independent Committee for the Study of Child Abuse in the Catholic Church, which was set up over a year ago to look into alleged offenses committed by the Portuguese clergy, said that 512 victims had come forward. The commission examined cases dating from 1950 onward.

Psychiatrist Pedro Strecht, who headed the panel, estimated that the total number of those who had suffered abuse could be more than 4,815, although he did not elaborate on how that figure had been reached.

“It is not possible to quantify the total number of child victims,” Strecht said, adding that any contact with the panel had been voluntary.

On average, victims were 11 years old, with most of them allegedly abused more than once. According to sociologist Ana Nunes de Almeida, 58% of the victims were male. Of the alleged abusers, 96% are said to be male, with 77% being priests. Strecht noted that among other locations, offenses allegedly took place in Catholic schools, at priests’ homes, and in confessionals.

The commission has no plans to publish the names of the victims or alleged abusers. However, the report includes a confidential annex of all the names of the clergy reported to the panel, which was shared with the Portuguese Bishops Conference and the police.

While the statute of limitations has expired on most of the alleged cases, 25 files were still sent to prosecutors.

Bishop Jose Ornelas said that the Portuguese Church would need time to study the report before giving an official response, but added that “we have seen and heard things we cannot ignore.”

In recent years, the Catholic Church has been beset by sexual abuse scandals and claims that senior clergy have attempted to cover up offenses. In 2021, a commission investigating sexual misconduct cases found that since 1950, members of the French clergy have abused some 216,000 children, with around 3,000 priests and others allegedly involved.

The same year, Pope Francis changed the Catholic Church’s laws to explicitly criminalize sexual abuse, in a bid to “reduce the number of cases in which the... penalty was left to the discretion of authorities.”
https://www.rt.com/news/571410-portugal-church-children-sexual-abuse/
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13 Feb, 2023 13:26

4) --- NATO flag defaced as ‘thousands’ rally in Paris

The organizers claim that some 10,000 people protested against sending weapons to Ukraine

A major rally against the membership of France in NATO and the supply of weapons to Ukraine took place in Paris on Sunday.

Florian Philippot, the head of the right-wing Les Patriotes party, which organized the march, claimed that it had gathered some 10,000 people and was the largest such protest to date. He said 25 smaller anti-NATO rallies were held elsewhere across France on the same day.

Videos from the French capital did capture a significant crowd of at least several thousand people, carrying French national flags and a large banner reading: “For peace.”

The crowd chanted slogans, including “No planes, no tanks, no missiles for Ukraine,” “Let’s get out of NATO,” “Macron, we don’t want your war,” and “No to World War III” among others.

At some point during the event, Philippot got on stage and used scissors to cut the blue NATO flag in half to the cheers of the demonstrators. “NATO means war,” he proclaimed.
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https://twitter.com/f_philippot/status/1624816387679047685
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The politician has been staging protests against French membership in NATO and the EU since the fall, while also harshly criticizing weapons deliveries to Ukraine throughout the present conflict.

Between 2012 and 2017, Philippot was the deputy head of the biggest opposition party in France, Rassemblement National (National Rally), which until last year was led by Marine Le Pen. After leaving National Rally, the 41-year-old established his own party, Les Patriotes.

French President Emmanuel Macron has been one of the few Western leaders to maintain contact with Vladimir Putin during the fighting in Ukraine. He has also spoken about the need to achieve a ceasefire that that wouldn’t “humiliate Russia,” much to the displeasure of the Ukrainian government.

France has nevertheless been one of the main suppliers among EU states of heavy weapons to Ukraine. Paris provided Kiev with Caesar howitzers and other equipment early in the conflict. In January, Macron announced that Vladimir Zelensky’s government would be getting dozens of French-made AMX-10 armored personnel carriers, often described as ‘light tanks.’ He also didn’t rule out the delivery of Rafale fighter jets, but said it wouldn’t happen “in coming weeks.”

Russia has stated many times that by providing arms, Western nations have made themselves de facto participants in hostilities. “The line between indirect and direct involvement is gradually disappearing,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week.
https://www.rt.com/news/571400-france-nato-ukraine-rally/
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13 Feb, 2023 16:21

5) --- NATO launches new ‘surveillance’ network

The new satellites will facilitate the sharing of intelligence data between commercial and national systems

NATO will launch a new “virtual network” comprising national and commercial satellites, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg revealed in a press conference on Monday ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

“This will improve our intelligence and surveillance. And support NATO missions and operations,” he said, adding that it would allow for “better navigation, communication, and early warning of missile launches.”

The move comes several months after the Russian Foreign Ministry warned that Western commercial satellites being used in the Ukraine conflict are valid military targets.
Stoltenberg acknowledged that the new network – as well as the much-needed replenishment of member nations’ weapons stores after a year of fighting in Ukraine – would require increased military spending from those nations. The day’s meeting would thus include discussions of how to “maintain and step up defense spending across the alliance,” he said.

In addition to “stand[ing] with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” he hinted at an expansion of NATO’s efforts in Eastern Europe, explaining that “ministers will also address how to step up our practical support for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova,” whom he called “valued partners which face Russian threats.”

While none of the three named countries are NATO members, the bloc has encouraged them to cozy up to it as the conflict in Ukraine drags on. Moldova received EU candidate status in June, Bosnia in December, and Georgia applied for EU membership in March, though none have officially applied for NATO membership.

Russia has adamantly opposed NATO expansion, viewing the military alliance’s efforts to encroach on its borders and place missiles on its western flank as a direct threat. Moscow has sought a promise from Kiev that it will never join the bloc, though such a pledge has not been forthcoming.
https://www.rt.com/news/571421-nato-military-commercial-satellites-network/
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13 Feb, 2023 14:52

6) --- EU to target media in latest anti-Russian sanctions – Politico

The bloc is seeking to slap restrictions on some 130 entities and people, including media workers, according to the news outlet

The EU is seeking to further intensify pressure on Russian media by targeting the nation’s journalists as part of its tenth sanctions package against Moscow over the Ukraine conflict, Politico reported on Monday, citing sources.

Speaking to the outlet, a number of unnamed officials and diplomats offered insight into the new raft of sanctions against Russia, which, according to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is supposed to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of hostilities between Moscow and Kiev.

Apart from new economic restrictions, the sanctions are expected to include some 130 entities and people, with the lists proposed by Poland, the Baltic countries, Germany, France, and other countries, the report says.

The planned restrictions are intended to be applied to Russian military leaders, local officials in the new Russian territories, and journalists, including those working with RT. The outlet did not identify the names of media personalities who might be facing restrictions.

In recent years, the EU has unleashed a campaign against Russian media that only escalated since the onset of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. The bloc has suspended the broadcasting activities of several channels, including RT and Sputnik.

Earlier this month, RT DE Productions, which produces content for RT DE, said that it had been forced to halt its journalistic activities in the country due to “the repressive state of media freedoms within the EU.” It also noted that the bloc’s sanctions had “effectively cut off oxygen for staff," adding that it had “betrayed the reliance on the fundamental rights and freedoms recognized in the Charter of Fundamental Rights.”

Last week, Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, defended the crackdown on Russian media, suggesting that the bloc was “not attacking the freedom of expression,” but rather protecting it. This statement prompted outcry from Russia, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying that Moscow has regarded such actions as “a manifestation of liberal dictatorship.”
https://www.rt.com/russia/571408-eu-sanctions-russia-journalists/
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13 Feb, 2023 11:10

7) --- EU preparing more economic sanctions against Russia – Politico

The tenth package will reportedly include new financial restrictions and additional trade bans, among other penalties

The EU is set to propose a new package of sanctions on Russia, Politico reported on Monday, citing unnamed European officials and diplomats.

The sources told the outlet that the latest set of measures would include proposals for new financial sanctions against four Russian banks, including the country’s largest private lender, Alfa Bank.

Russian nationals are also expected to be banned from serving on the boards of critical infrastructure companies in the EU, such as electricity grids or gas providers.

Additional trade bans could be imposed on imports into the EU of Russian rubber and asphalt or bitumen (an oil product) and on exports to Russia of a range of EU goods such as trucks, other heavy vehicles, construction machines, pumps, and other machines used in the construction sector.

The package reportedly also includes additional export bans on electronic components that Russia could use to make weapons. It’s unclear whether Russian diamonds will be included in the package, the sources said.

The report indicated that Brussels is also planning to blacklist a Dubai-based shipping company, “suspected of helping Russia circumvent sanctions on oil exports.”

The company is believed to have bought several Russian oil tankers, which were no longer allowed to ship oil because of the Western sanctions on Russian-owned entities, Politico wrote. Under their new Emirati ownership, the tankers can again ship oil, the outlet explained. Meanwhile, one EU country has asked Brussels to list that company in the new sanctions package, in order to prevent it from increasing Russia’s capacity to export oil, according to two people involved in or briefed on the sanctions discussions.

The report, however, noted that shipping countries could oppose the move. Two diplomats and one official reportedly cautioned there had been some opposition from Mediterranean countries.

Brussels has so far adopted nine rounds of sanctions on Russia that have affected various sectors of the country's economy and targeted many businessmen, politicians, and journalists. The latest measures, announced in December, introduced a number of export bans, and extended restrictions to include more banks. A further 168 Russian entities came under export restrictions, bringing the total number of sanctioned companies to 410.

The new sanctions package will be discussed by the EU ambassadors on Wednesday.
https://www.rt.com/business/571392-eu-more-sanctions-russia/
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13 Feb, 2023 15:56

8) --- Star Wars legend says he ‘follows orders’ from Zelensky

Mark Hamill has described himself as the Ukrainian president’s “good soldier”

Actor Mark Hamill, who portrayed Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films, has called himself a “good soldier” of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. In September, Hamill became an ambassador of Kiev’s Army of Drones campaign, which is in charge of acquiring reconnaissance UAVs, according to its website.

In an interview published on Monday, the actor told Politico that his role in helping Kiev during its conflict with Russia was “much more meaningful than what I’m used to doing.”
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https://twitter.com/MarkHamill/status/1622315647060566016
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Hamill was quoted as saying that he was a “good soldier” who would do anything Zelensky or his team asked him to. “I follow orders,” he added.

The actor, who often comments on political issues on Twitter, has been selling signed Star Wars posters in order to raise funds for Ukraine. While some social media users have praised Hamill’s involvement, others have argued that he could have been raising money to help those in the US.

Mark Hamill is not the only Hollywood actor to openly support Kiev in its conflict with Moscow. American actor Ben Stiller met with the Ukrainian leader and called Zelensky his “hero.” Hollywood star Sean Penn brought Zelensky his Oscar, telling his “great friend” to hold on to his award until “he wins.”
https://www.rt.com/pop-culture/571412-mark-hamill-soldier-zelensky/
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13 Feb, 2023 16:12

9) --- Academic responds to ‘mass suicide’ outrage

Dr. Yusuke Narita says his suggestion that the elderly kill themselves was “taken out of context”

Yale University professor Yusuke Narita has retracted his claim that old people in Japan should commit mass suicide to solve the country’s problem of a rapidly aging society.

Narita suggested what he said was the “only solution” to the crisis during an appearance on a Japanese YouTube news show back in 2021. “In the end, isn’t it mass suicide and mass ‘seppuku’ of the elderly?” he said, referring to the practice of ritual disembowelment performed by dishonored samurai between the 17th and 19th centuries.

His comments went largely unnoticed until they surfaced online last month and were quoted in a New York Times article on Sunday. The Times revealed Narita’s long history of promoting suicide, including his suggestion to a group of students last year that people could simply throw themselves off cliffs, and an interview in which he said that “making [euthanasia] mandatory” will one day “come up in discussion.”

According to last year’s data, Japan had the highest senior population ratio in the world, with almost 30% of its people being over the age of 65. The country also has one of the lowest birth rates and the highest public debt in the developed world.

The Times did not directly endorse Narita’s “solution,” but noted that his comments may open the door “to much-needed political conversations about pension reform and changes to social welfare,” and that a majority of the Japanese public supports legalizing voluntary euthanasia.

In the West, however, the damage was done. Spectator contributing editor Stephen Miller declared that the “American press is rapidly on their way to endorsing…euthanasia,” as hundreds of outraged comments piled up under a tweet by the Times promoting the story. Narita’s fellow academics and writers accused him of being “irresponsible” and inciting “hatred toward the vulnerable.”

In a response to the newspaper, Narita said that his words were “taken out of context,” and that he wasn’t talking about old people in general, being “primarily concerned with the phenomenon in Japan, where the same tycoons continue to dominate the worlds of politics, traditional industries, and media/entertainment/journalism for many years.”

Phrases such as “mass suicide” and “mass seppuku” were just “an abstract metaphor,” he insisted, adding that he already made a decision stop using such terms altogether last year.

In January, the Japanese government released data for the number of suicides in the country in 2022. It revealed that 21,584 people took their lives last year, which was 577 more than in 2021.

“The rise in men in their 40s through 60s, as well as pensioners or those who are unemployed, stands out,” a health ministry official said as he commented on the figures.
https://www.rt.com/news/571415-yale-japan-elderly-suicide/
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13 Feb, 2023 15:18

10) --- EU spending on energy crisis approaching $1 trillion – think tank

The cost to protect households and businesses from soaring prices keeps growing, analysts at Bruegel say

European nations have splashed out nearly €800 billion ($855 billion) on support measures as the region continues to reel from climbing energy costs, researchers at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel said on Monday.

The analysts have urged governments to be more targeted in their spending aimed at subsidizing bills for households and businesses, in the face of wild swings in prices for gas and electricity over the past year.

EU member states have so far allocated €681 billion to energy spending since September 2021, according to the researchers at Bruegel. Meanwhile, the UK and Norway have reportedly earmarked the equivalent of €103 billion and €8.1 billon, respectively.

The total of €792 billion marks a nearly €86 billion increase in spending since Bruegel's last assessment released in November. The think tank attributes the boost to the region’s continued need to turn to more expensive supplies through winter after most EU states opted to stop importing gas from Russia.

Germany reportedly topped the spending chart, allocating some €270 billion, while the UK, Italy and France – the next highest – each spent almost €150 billion. Most EU states spent a fraction of that. Luxembourg, Denmark and Germany were the biggest spenders on a per capita basis.

The update on energy spending comes as EU member states are debating proposals to ease state aid rules further for green technology projects, as the region seeks to compete with subsidies in the US and China.

The think tank cautioned that most of the support so far had been non-targeted and urged governments to change their approach. Analysts said that dynamic needed to change, as countries are running out of fiscal space to maintain such broad funding.

“Instead of price-suppressing measures that are de facto fossil fuels subsidies, governments should now foster more income-support policies targeted towards the lowest two quintiles of the income distribution and towards strategic sectors of the economy,” according to Bruegel analyst Giovanni Sgaravatti.
https://www.rt.com/business/571396-eu-spending-energy-crisis-bruegel/
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13 Feb, 2023 07:40

11) --- Berlusconi floats cash-for-ceasefire deal in Ukraine

Washington should offer a new Marshall Plan to Kiev, but only after the hostilities are brought to an end, the ex-Italian PM said

US President Joe Biden should agree to continue sending aid to Ukraine, but only on the condition that Kiev immediately agrees to a ceasefire with Moscow, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Sunday.

Speaking after a regional election in Lombardy, Berlusconi, who leads the Forza Italia party, slammed Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, saying: “If I had been the prime minister, I would never have gone [to talk to him] because we are witnessing the devastation of his country and the slaughter of his soldiers and civilians.”

The former Italian leader stated that “it would have been enough for him to stop attacking the two autonomous republics of Donbass and this would not have happened,” adding that he views “this gentleman’s behavior very, very negatively.” Berlusconi was referring to the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, which, along with two other former Ukrainian territories, voted overwhelmingly to join Russia last autumn.

In order to bring the conflict to an end, he continued, Biden should offer Zelensky a new Marshall Plan to the tune of several billion dollars to rebuild the country, but only on condition that Zelensky “orders a ceasefire tomorrow.”

Because starting from tomorrow we will no longer give you dollars and we will no longer give you weapons. Only such a thing could convince this gentleman to reach a ceasefire,” he said.

Following the remarks, his coalition ally, current PM Giorgia Meloni, appeared to distance herself from Berlusconi, with her office saying that Rome’s support for Kiev remains firm.

The former Italian prime minster, who served four terms from 1994 to 2011, developed close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He even visited Crimea in 2015 after the peninsula voted in a referendum to join Russia, despite the fact that Western countries refused to recognize the results.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, Berlusconi has urged Moscow and Kiev to agree to a ceasefire, while offering to act as a mediator between the two sides. In November, he claimed that he could “lure” Putin to the negotiating table.

Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said at the time that Moscow welcomes any peace-making efforts, but noted that it would be better to try to “lure” Zelensky.
https://www.rt.com/news/571381-berlusconi-us-ukraine-cash-ceasefire/
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13 Feb, 2023 13:38

12) --- Here’s why the China-US confrontation is so strange. Analysis by By Fyodor Lukyanov

Trade is booming as military tensions increase, where is all this headed?

These are interesting times. At a time when everyone is discussing another political escalation between Washington and Beijing (see the balloon over American territory and the cancellation of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit), the US Bureau of Statistics has reported a record trade turnover between the two countries. In 2022, it exceeded $690 billion.

It is time to get used to paradoxes. To describe contemporary processes, derivatives of the term "hybrid" (something derived from the crossing of different breeds, varieties, species) are often used. So why shouldn't normal economic logic be combined with contradictory motives of geopolitical rivalry?

However, the question is: How long can this coexistence last?

US-China relations are one of the most interesting phenomena of the last half century. Last year marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Richard Nixon-Henry Kissinger U-turn, when the United States recognized Communist China, which had previously been a symbol of red radicalism. There had been no reform at all in Beijing, unless you count the Cultural Revolution, which was still raging. In a Washington bereft of today's obsession with “values,” they thought: If Maoist China is in opposition to Brezhnev's USSR, why not join forces?

It would be an exaggeration to say that Sino-American normalization decided the outcome of the Cold War in favour of the US, but it certainly made the Soviet Union's position much more difficult.

However the convergence of geopolitical interests at that time was not matched by economic interaction - Washington and Beijing were in different universes. It was only after Mao's death that the Chinese miracle happened - the world's then second-most important socialist country embarked on a market transformation.

The US-China political understanding proved beneficial - America became the Asian country’s caring and gentle guide through the capitalist jungle. The economic cooperation that began at the turn of the 1980s turned into a financial and industrial symbiosis in the early 21st century. More importantly, it became the backbone of the global economy as it emerged at the end of the century.

Since then, as Beijing’s rise continued, the question of potential conflict with the US, while ever-present, was not pushed too hard. On the one hand, Americans did not believe that impressive growth rates would make China an equal in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, for a long time (almost until the 2010s), American intellectual discussion was dominated by the view that as capitalist transformation progressed and the middle class grew, the Chinese political system would turn towards and align with its Western “inspiration.”

In other words, they expected something like Japan - with its own peculiarities, but generally understandable and loyal to US political structures. The fact that American troops were stationed in Japan and South Korea when each of those countries ‘transformed’, and that the whole process took place under external control, was considered important but not decisive.

In China, they believed, it will work the same way, but just take longer.

The past decade has seen a line drawn in the sand. Xi Jinping's rise to the top of the party and the state has shown conclusively that China is heading in the wrong direction from Washington’s point of view. And Donald Trump has legitimized the blatantly anti-Chinese course that Barack Obama had already implicitly pursued. Now, for the first time in forty years, political incompatibility has come into conflict with economic interdependence.

All current strategic planning in the United States is based on an imminent confrontation with China in the coming years, or perhaps decades. There is a bipartisan consensus on this, and these scenarios are discussed openly and frankly. Taiwan, which, if Biden is to be believed, the US intends to defend at all costs from absorption by the mainland, is seen as a pretext for a direct clash.

It is noteworthy that the recognition of Maoist China actually began with a deal on Taiwan - Washington would not question the unity of the country under Beijing, and the latter would take no steps to implement unification in practice. Both sides committed themselves to the ambiguous restraint that has been in place for decades. However, now the framework is bursting at the seams, and it’s fair to say that it’s the Americans who were first the abandon the magic formula.

At the same time, the US is imposing restrictions on the Chinese economy - targeting its goods and companies. Some of these measures are commercial and protectionist, but the majority are political and strategic. The aim is to slow down and ideally block technological development. This is paired to efforts to militarize the entire region and increase the armed presence of the United States and its allies there.

Yet, against this backdrop, trade is growing and the benefits of cooperation remain strong. And there even seems to have been a softening, at the end of last year, which some cheerfully interpreted as a return to pragmatism. Blinken's visit to Beijing this week was supposed to cement this. But then came the balloon. A seemingly trivial event, but enough to derail the whole thing. What did the balloon mean - was it a signal or an accident? What difference does it make in a hybrid age?

ANALYSIS - By Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs, chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, and research director of the Valdai International Discussion Club.
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https://www.rt.com/news/571404-china-us-confrontation-strange/
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