RT News - March 1st 2023

Greece: Two trains have collided head on in Tempe, about 140 miles north of Athens. At least 32 people dead and more than 80 injured. A fire broke out igniting some carriages.
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Africa, Nigeria elections: Nigerian Electoral Body, INEC declared Bola Tinubu the winner of the presidential election. The three leading presidential candidates won in 12 states each while Rabiu Kwankwaso claimed only Kano State. This is amid protests by the Labour Party and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and calls from various quarters that the results of the elections be cancelled going by irregularities around the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS). Questions are raised about the integrity of Nigeria's electoral system as the ruling party's candidate narrowly wins victory in the presidential election. Karabo Letlhatlha reports. RT also spoke to residents to see what they thought of the election. Lere Olayinka (PDP party) also comments.
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Africa, Zimbabwe/South Africa: Arthur Mutambara, former deputy PM of Zimbabwe, decries the continuing interference and interjections of USA in the general running and policies of South Africa. He says a country with 1.3 billion people and $2.5 trillion GDP deserves better. Recently, USA has decried by resolution, the joint military drills going on between South Africa, China and Russia and has demanded South Africa to take sides against Russia's special operation in Ukraine and for S.A. to review their bilateral ties with Russia. Jackie Shandu reports.
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Yemen/USA : The US pats itself on the back for providing humanitarian aid to Yemen, while at the same time supplying weapons for the Saudi-led coalition that's bombing the Middle Eastern country. RT hears from a Red Cross representative about the situation. (QS we must stop confusing the actions of mostly highly corrupted, bank/corporate controlled political parties with good government. They are mutually exclusive). Abdul Lattif Alwashali reports on the gross hypocrisy and outright lies. Imene Trabelsi (Red Cross) talks of the hauntingly dire situation in Yemen where 30 million people struggle to stay alive every day.
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Syria: Years of war raged on Syria by the west, including the funding of XYZ alphabet soup of head-chopping "rebels", have left Syria devastated. The recent earthquakes/aftershocks which killed thousands of people and injured even more, has destroyed homes and infrastructure yet the sanctions illegally imposed on Syria to effect regime change (which isn't going to happen) are still in place, with the Caesar sanctions ruining the lives of everyone in the country. Bouthania Shaaban talks about the problems facing the government and citizens of Syria.
If you are interested in Syria and it's myriad of problems and would like to make changes for the good of all, watch this video https://youtu.be/-4zmzNa6UW0
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Africa, Uganda/South Africa : Pres. Yoweri Museveni is visiting South Africa on a State visit. Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa (S.A.) and Pres Museveni will discuss trade and bi-lateral ties. They have signed memorandums of understanding on cooperation in the fields of women, youth and persons with disabilities, an MOU on cooperation in tourism, an MOU on cooperation in the field of correctional services and prisons, an MOU on cooperation in transport related matters and MOU on cooperation in the field of information and communication technologies. The last visit was 12+ years ago. Several officials and business leaders went with Pres. Museveni. Imports seem to be well over priced. Noluvuyo Kunge reports from J'burg.
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Tik-Tok: You'll have to listen as QS has no idea. Lionel reports, he knows.
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Moldova: Protests continued on Tuesday in Chisnau, as thousands of people gave dissent (again) against their .gov over rising cost of living and other economic problems. They are getting more and more ticked off. The huge rally was filmed from above by drone. The protest in Chisnau brought people from all over Moldova. Ilan Shor gives comments.
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India/Russia: FM Lavrov arrived in India yesterday night and will meet with Indian FM Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and other FMs today at the G20 FM's meeting. 30 countries delegates will attend (this time in person) - more info https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/new-delhi-welcomes-foreign-ministers-for-key-g-20-meeting/article66564054.ece (turn off ad-block)
https://twitter.com/the_hindu/status/1630637010493796353
Updates to come later.

Show more

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Below, via RT website - - ---- -1) --- Horror train crash kills dozens
2) --- EU is threatening Serbia – Vucic
2a) --- Serb leader ‘proud’ of relations with Russia
3) --- Pentagon makes nuclear prediction
3a) --- Iranian FM reveals nuclear 'signals' from US
3b) --- Iran reacts to uranium claim
4) --- US senator threatens Brazil with ‘crippling sanctions’
4a) --- Brazil ignores US demands
5) --- Indian spirits to replace Western liquor brands in Russia – Kommersant
6) --- German FM plans ‘feminist’ blitz
6a) --- Twitter clarifies ‘violent speech’ policy
6b) --- New Twitter bombshell: How American spies used false claims of Russian election interference to bring the tech giant to heel
6c) --- Gov Sponsored Censorship? FBI Paid Twitter Millions, Raising Serious Questions
7) --- FBI makes claim over ‘most likely’ Covid origin
7a) --- US funded Chinese lab for intelligence op – whistleblower
8) --- Ukraine sends more reinforcements to Artyomovsk ‘meat grinder’
9) --- Berlin left unprotected as air defense systems sent to Ukraine – arms maker
10) --- Russia finds answer to IKEA exit – media
10a) --- IKEA of Sweden Nazi heritage - BBC + others

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1 Mar, 2023 00:57

1) --- Horror train crash kills dozens

The collision between freight and passenger trains in Greece caused a blaze with people trapped inside overturned cars

At least 32 people have been killed and dozens more injured following a head-on collision between two trains in northeastern Greece. Some 350 passengers were on board one of the trains at the time of the crash, with rescuers pulling many survivors from the wreckage.

The incident took place shortly after midnight on Wednesday near Tempe, close to Greece’s eastern coast and some 144 miles (233km) north of Athens.

A representative of the Greek fire service, Vassilis Vathrakogiannis, confirmed 32 fatalities, in addition to some 85 injured. At least 25 of those injured are said to be in “serious condition,” according to state-run broadcaster ERT News, which noted that several train cars were derailed in the collision.

“It was a very powerful collision. This is a terrible night… It’s hard to describe the scene,” Costas Agorastos, the regional governor of Greece’s Thessaly region, told state media, adding that around 250 survivors had been evacuated to Thessaloniki on buses.
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https://twitter.com/SaadAbedine/status/1630733630380167170
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Passengers reached by local media described the moment of the crash, saying they felt a “strong jolt” before the train lost power, forcing panicked travelers to smash windows in order to flee overturned railcars.
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https://twitter.com/eha_news/status/1630724795292610560
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Thirty ambulances reportedly rushed to the scene to treat the victims, with multiple hospitals in nearby Larissa now operating on an “emergency basis,” local reports added. Fire crews battled a blaze that erupted in some cars, while the police and military have also mobilized rescue teams.

It remains unclear what caused the collision, and officials have yet to discuss any investigation into the deadly incident.
https://www.rt.com/news/572232-greece-train-collision-victims/
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28 Feb, 2023 21:56

2) --- EU is threatening Serbia – Vucic

No “normalization” agreement has been signed with Kosovo, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said

Serbia has not agreed to the EU’s “normalization” proposal on its relations with the breakaway province of Kosovo, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday while appearing on national TV. He added that Belgrade was facing threats from Brussels, but still refused to discuss the recognition of Kosovo and its accession to the UN.

His words came a day after the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said on Twitter that both Belgrade and Pristina supported the Franco-German proposal for a “path to normalization” of relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti then said he had offered to sign the plan, but that Vucic refused to do so, even though he had apparently “agreed to” it.

On Tuesday, however, Vucic said that the sides “did not agree,” but simply agreed on continuing the talks. He added that “nothing has been signed in Brussels.”

Serbia is “ready to work on the implementation of many [points of] this plan,” Vucic said, but Belgrade still does not want to discuss “mutual recognition” as well as Kosovo’s accession to the UN.

Serbia has not struck any “secret agreements,” the president said, adding that “not a single agreement is hidden” and he has “nothing to hide.” Vucic also called Borrell’s statement “very vague” and said that he was ready to discuss the “concept” of normalization.

Vucic vowed that he would never sign any “formal or informal recognition of Kosovo” as long as he is Serbia’s president. He also admitted that Belgrade was facing pressure from Brussels and that the consequences of rejecting the plan would be a halting of Serbia’s integration into the European Union and a withdrawal of EU investments.

“We currently have 80,000 people working in German-owned factories alone. They threatened a number of other measures, including that Serbia would become a pariah isolated from the [rest of the] world,” Vucic said.

An EU plan published by the bloc’s External Action Service says that Serbia and Kosovo would “develop normal, good-neighborly relations with each other on the basis of equal rights” and their dialogue would be guided by UN principles, including “those of the sovereign equality of all States.”

The EU has insisted on Serbia recognizing Kosovo’s independence as a precondition for joining the bloc, even though five member countries – Spain, Slovakia, Cyprus, Greece, and Romania – do not recognize it either.
https://www.rt.com/news/572229-eu-threaten-serbia-kosovo-vucic/
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28 Feb, 2023 19:20

2a) --- Serb leader ‘proud’ of relations with Russia

Rumors of sanctions against Moscow are just propaganda, said Republika Srpska’s Milorad Dodik

Bosnia-Herzegovina has not made the decision to join the US-EU sanctions against Russia, and any diplomats who claim otherwise are renegades, Serb Republic President Milorad Dodik said on Tuesday.

By law, the three-member Presidency is in charge of Bosnia’s foreign policy, but the Foreign Ministry and Sarajevo’s envoy to the UN are acting on their own and beyond their authority, Dodik told RT Balkans. Bosnia was among the countries that voted to condemn Russia last week in the UN General Assembly.

The previous government ignored the constitution and proper procedures and conducted foreign policy on behalf of only one of Bosnia’s three constituent communities, Dodik said, noting that some traces of this renegade behavior continue to linger.

“We will not end relations with Russia. We wish all the best for everyone. We don’t care about the position of the US ambassador. We are proud of our cooperation with Russia. We also want good cooperation with the US, but the terms they insist on make that impossible,” Dodik noted.

According to Dodik, the EU and the US are pressuring Bosnia to join their sanctions against Moscow, but such a decision has not been made by the Presidency, the Council of Ministers, or the Parliament, whatever some politicians may claim.

“There will be no sanctions against Russia,” he said.

The leader of the Alliance of Independent Social-Democrats was elected president of the Serb Republic (Republika Srpska, RS) last year, having previously served a term in the tripartite presidency. The RS accounts for half of Bosnia, while the Federation consisting of ten Bosniak- and Croat-majority provinces makes up the other half. The decentralized arrangement was built into the 1995 Dayton Accords, the peace treaty that ended almost four years of sectarian conflict.

Dodik has opposed attempts by international overseers to centralize Bosnia-Herzegovina, which got him accused of “undermining peace” and placed on the US sanctions list. After taking office last year, he said the West needed to understand that “communication is no longer possible from the position of demanding complete obedience and submission” and that outsiders need to respect the foreign policy priorities of RS, among which were good relations with Moscow.

Neighboring Serbia has also refused to join the EU sanctions against Russia, insisting on neutrality in the Ukraine conflict. Earlier this month, however, President Aleksandar Vucic said the Western pressure might soon compel him to submit.
https://www.rt.com/news/572219-russia-bosnia-serbs-sanctions/
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1 Mar, 2023 00:44

3) --- Pentagon makes nuclear prediction

US officials and media speculate that Iran is less than two weeks away from having enough material to make a bomb

Iran is just 12 days away from making enough uranium for an atomic bomb, the Pentagon’s top policy official told Congress on Tuesday. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl was asked about the defunct nuclear deal with Iran, while testifying at the House Armed Services Committee hearing about arming Ukraine.

“Iran’s nuclear progress since we left the JCPOA has been remarkable,” Kahl said, referring to the 2015 agreement by its acronym. “Back in 2018, when the previous administration decided to leave the JCPOA it would have taken Iran about 12 months to produce one bomb's worth of fissile material. Now it would take about 12 days.”

According to a “confidential” IAEA report, seen by the Associated Press on Tuesday, the United Nations nuclear watchdog’s inspectors had allegedly discovered traces of uranium “particles” enriched up to 83.7% in Iran's underground Fordo nuclear site. However, they found no signs of Tehran actually stockpiling it – in line with Iranian officials' explanation. Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), previously dismissed a similar report by Bloomberg as “slander and a distortion of the facts.”

While US officials and media claim Iran may be on the cusp of producing enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, the Pentagon reportedly doesn’t believe Tehran has the technology to actually build one.

The agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), placed severe restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting the UN sanctions. It was signed by Iran, China, Russia, the US, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the EU. In May 2018, however, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement and reimposed sanctions unilaterally. Iran responded by continuing the program, which Tehran has described as entirely peaceful.

The Joe Biden administration has attempted to revive the deal, but has been unwilling to lift the sanctions or provide Iran with guarantees it would not violate the agreement again. Negotiations have been stalled since August 2022.

“I think there is still the view that if you could resolve this issue diplomatically and put constraints back on their nuclear program, it is better than the other options,” Kahl told lawmakers on Tuesday. “But right now, the JCPOA is on ice.”

On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that the US had sent a message via the Iraqi foreign minister that Washington was “ready to conclude an agreement.” Iran was willing as well, so long as any settlement respected the Islamic Republic’s “red lines,” said Amir-Abdollahian, noting again that it was the US that reneged on the deal.
https://www.rt.com/news/572231-pentagon-iran-nuclear-enrichment/
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27 Feb, 2023 09:16

3a) --- Iranian FM reveals nuclear 'signals' from US

Agreement with the US is possible, if Washington “behaves realistically,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said

The US has signaled that it’s ready to engage with Tehran with a view to reviving the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Sunday, noting that any settlement must respect the Islamic Republic’s “red lines.”

Speaking to Al-Alam TV network, Abdollahian said Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hossein, who recently returned from a trip to Washington, “carried the message that the American side is ready to conclude an agreement” on the Iranian nuclear deal.

“We have always welcomed the path of diplomacy and negotiation. We are and we have not distanced ourselves from the negotiations,” the minister stated.

Abdollahian went on to say that Tehran is ready to work toward an agreement based on the results of marathon Vienna talks to revive the 2015 deal, as well as intermediary contacts between Iran and the US.

“I imagine that if the American side behaves realistically within the framework of the message it sent and does not repeat the previous hypocritical media statements, we will not be far from an agreement,” the Iranian foreign minister said, noting that it was the American side that had deviated from its obligations under the deal in the first place.

The agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed by Iran, China, Russia, the US, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the EU in 2015. It sought to place severe restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions. However, in 2018 the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement, with then-President Donald Trump describing the deal as flawed.

However, the administration of US President Joe Biden has repeatedly said it is ready to engage with Iran on the matter. Subsequently, negotiations on reviving the deal kicked off in April 2021 in the Austrian capital, which resulted in hammering out the so-called “final” draft text of the agreement in August 2022.

Since then, the negotiations have stalled, however, with Washington unwilling to lift all anti-Iranian sanctions and refusing to give guarantees that it would not exit the agreement again.

Earlier this month, the US also imposed new sanctions on Iran’s petroleum industry, targeting entities that sought to bypass restrictions that had already been in place. Tehran’s foreign ministry denounced the move, portraying it as further proof of “hostility and hypocrisy” toward the nuclear accord.
https://www.rt.com/news/572120-iran-nuclear-deal-us/
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20 Feb, 2023 07:16

3b) --- Iran reacts to uranium claim

Tehran denies changing its enrichment targets, after US media reported that it has produced ‘almost’ weapons-grade material

Tehran has rejected as misleading a Bloomberg report, which claimed that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was investigating how the country enriched uranium “to levels just below that needed for a nuclear weapon.”

The news agency cited two anonymous diplomats, who alleged that the UN nuclear watchdog found uranium of 84% purity, or “just 6% below what’s needed for a weapon” in Iran, Bloomberg explained in its article, published on Sunday.

Responding on Monday, Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said the piece was “slander and a distortion of the facts”.

“The presence of uranium particles above 60% during the enrichment process does not mean enrichment above 60% level,” he told IRNA news agency, claiming that in publishing the story, Bloomberg was serving as a tool of anti-Iran pressure.

Bloomberg did, however, acknowledge the possibility that the sample was found after unintended accumulation in an enrichment centrifuge cascade.

The IAEA has commented on the news by stating that it was “discussing with Iran the results of recent Agency verification activities” and would report the outcome to its board of governors when appropriate.

Iran agreed to impose restrictions on its nuclear industry, including enrichment activities, under a 2015 deal with world powers. The agreement was torpedoed by US President Donald Trump, who pulled out in 2018 to pursue a so-called “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions.

Iran eventually started reneging on its commitments, and announced it was enriching uranium to 60% purity at its Natanz facility in 2021 and at the Fordo site in 2022.

The nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was touted as a way to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, an ambition that Tehran denies having.
https://www.rt.com/news/571753-iran-uranium-enrichment-bloomberg/
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28 Feb, 2023 22:24

4) --- US senator threatens Brazil with ‘crippling sanctions’

Ted Cruz was furious after Iranian warships docked in Rio de Janeiro over American objections

Washington should sanction everyone having anything to do with the visit of two Iranian warships to Brazil, Senator Ted Cruz said on Tuesday, declaring the visit “a direct threat to the safety and security of Americans.”

The Iranian Navy frigate Dena and the supply ship Makran are on the mission to sail around the world. They arrived in Brazil on Sunday, with the intent to resupply before proceeding to the Panama Canal. The US has previously demanded of Brazil to refuse them permission to dock, citing the unilateral American sanctions against Tehran.

“These Iranian warships are already sanctioned, and so the port in Rio de Janeiro where they docked is now at risk of crippling sanctions, as are any Brazilian companies that provided them services or accepted payments – and so are all foreign companies that entangle themselves with the port or those Brazilian companies in the future,” Cruz said in a statement.

Insisting that US anti-terrorism laws are “not optional,” the senator demanded of President Joe Biden to “impose relevant sanctions” and re-evaluate whether Brasilia is adequately cooperating with Washington. “If the administration does not, Congress should force them to do so.”

The Texas Republican sits on the Foreign Relations Committee and is the ranking member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Though his party is in the minority in the Senate, it currently controls the House of Representatives.

Cruz also described the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as “aligned against the US and our interests,” and said that Biden either did not convey the US concerns to him when hosting Lula at the White House, “or the Brazilians did not care.”

Glenn Greenwald, an American journalist who lives in Brazil, pointed out that Cruz’s statement illustrates the US hypocrisy on the world stage.

“The US officially regards all of South America as its property, and sees itself as the Supreme Ruler of the whole region,” Greenwald tweeted, adding that this is the reason Brazil and many other countries “laugh in Biden’s face” when he talks about “the US war in Ukraine” being about defending sovereignty.

“If Ukraine has the right to host all of NATO right on the Russian border, then Brazil can host whichever ships it wants,” Greenwald added.
https://www.rt.com/news/572228-brazil-iranian-ships-sanctions/
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27 Feb, 2023 19:33

4a) --- Brazil ignores US demands

Rio de Janeiro has welcomed the Iranian Navy after a brief delay

Brazil has allowed two Iranian warships to dock in their country. The visit on Sunday comes after a diplomatic delay and in spite of US pressure.

Iranian warships IRIS Makran and IRIS Dena have docked in Rio de Janeiro, as confirmed by the deputy chief of Brazil's Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Carlos Eduardo Horta Arentz, in the state’s Official Gazette (Diário Oficial da União). The ships will remain there until March 4, when they depart further for the Panama Canal that divides the American continent.

The decision comes in spite of US Ambassador to Brazil Elizabeth Bagley’s warning Brasilia not to allow the Iranian Navy access to the South American port. She said at a press conference earlier this month that these ships “facilitated illegal trade and terrorist activities.” She added that, to date, no other countries have provided a port for these vessels.

The Iranian warships started their journey in January, departing from the south of Iran to circumnavigate the world. Initially, the plan was for Brazil to receive the ships in January, but it was delayed in order to appease the US.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, commonly referred to simply as Lula, was planning his trip to Washington to meet with US President Joe Biden and delayed the ships’ entry into his country’s port. After the two leaders met earlier this month and, as their joint statement says, “reaffirmed the vital and enduring nature of the US-Brazil relationship,” Tehran’s ships are once again welcome in Rio.

Lula has a history of relations with the Islamic Republic, welcoming then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Brasilia in 2009 to try and broker a nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran.

The US and Iran have a longstanding animosity towards each other, dating back to the Islamic Revolution and the 1979–81 hostage crisis. The US is also strongly opposed to Iran’s possible nuclear power developments, arguing that they would grant the Middle Eastern country access to atomic weapons. Washington has also accused Tehran of sponsoring terrorism. In 2019, the Pentagon killed one of Iran's most powerful generals – Qassem Soleimani, in an airstrike, an event that only increased the mutual antagonism.
https://www.rt.com/news/572156-brazil-us-iran-ships/
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1 Mar, 2023 05:24

5) --- Indian spirits to replace Western liquor brands in Russia – Kommersant

ABD is aiming to enter the Russian market

Indian company Allied Blenders & Distillers (ABD), which produces the world’s third-most-popular whisky, Officer’s Choice, is planning to enter the Russian market, according to business daily Kommersant.

Russian vodka manufacturer Alcohol Siberian Group (ASG) will be the sole distributor of two ABD brands, the Indian company announced on Tuesday.

ABD is eyeing the market share that was vacated after the departure of some Western brands, Kommersant said. The Indian company’s brands have not been marketed in Russia before.

According to the newspaper, deliveries of ABD products started in February. The contract is valid until October 2025, while the specific sales volume has not been agreed.

Officer’s Choice Blue whisky from rare Scotch malts and Indian grain spirits will reportedly cost between 1,000 and 1,200 rubles ($13-$16) for a 0.75-liter bottle. Sterling Reserve premium blend’s price in Russia will vary from 1,100 rubles to 1,500 rubles ($14-$20) per bottle.

Whisky has been the most affected type of alcohol in the Russian market as a result of Western trade restrictions. According to WineRetail estimates, bottled whisky imports have halved in 2022 to between 11 million and 12 million liters. Some brands, including Johnnie Walker, Jack Daniel’s, Bushmills, Jim Beam and White Horse were allowed for parallel import, and the number of their suppliers is growing. In addition, 36 new local whisky brands appeared in the market in the first nine months of 2022, according to analysis by NielsenIQ.

India produces 60% of the world’s whisky, with ABD exporting to more than 20 countries. The company’s revenue in the 2021 financial year exceeded $765 million.
https://www.rt.com/business/572197-indian-spirits-replace-western-liquor-russia/
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28 Feb, 2023 23:54

6) --- German FM plans ‘feminist’ blitz

Annalena Baerbock believes gender issues are “bitterly necessary” for Berlin

Green Party leader Annalena Baerbock has put together a platform for “feminist foreign policy,” several outlets reported on Tuesday. The revamp of Berlin’s diplomacy, due to be made public later this week, will infuse “gender issues” into everything from humanitarian aid and energy to climate change.

“We are pursuing a feminist foreign policy because it is bitterly necessary. Because men and women are still not equal worldwide,” Baerbock wrote, according to Politico Europe.

The 80-page report outlines 10 principal guidelines, according to the German news agency DPA. Among them are offering “gender-sensitive” humanitarian aid, involving “women and marginalized groups” in economic development and considering the “gender issues” dimension of climate and energy policies.

The measures are intended to “shape our inner workings and help us to form a ‘feminist reflex’,” Baerbock reportedly wrote, arguing that one of the foreign ministry’s goals should be to “measurably advance gender equality worldwide.” She also wants to create a new post of “ambassador for feminist foreign policy.”

By her definition, however, feminism policy is not just for women, but also for those “marginalized by society on the basis of gender identity, origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation or other reasons.”

Therefore, in addition to spending 85% of project funds in a “gender-sensitive” manner, the Foreign Ministry intends to spend another 8% in a “gender-transformative” way that “actively challenges gender norms” by the end of the legislative cycle.

Baerbock’s Greens are currently in the “traffic light coalition” with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats and the Free Democrats. The opposition has already pushed back, however. Bavarian PM Markus Soeder, who chairs the CSU party, told the Mediengruppe Bayern that her plan was “incomprehensible” and that “traveling the world and telling everyone else what they should and should not do is doomed to failure.”

Soeder has already called on Scholz to sack Baerbock before she becomes a “security risk.” The foreign minister has made a series of un-diplomatic gaffes over the past several months, mostly in relation to the conflict in Ukraine, reportedly prompting Scholz’s office to keep “careful track” of her mistakes.

In August 2022, Baerbock infamously told an EU conference in Prague that she intended to deliver on her promises to Ukraine “no matter what my German voters think.”

Last month, during a debate in the European Parliament on sending Ukraine more weapons, Baerbock said EU members should not fight among themselves, since “we are fighting a war against Russia.” She later walked that back, but still claimed her remarks were taken out of context and deliberately misinterpreted by the “Russian regime’s propaganda.”

In mid-February, Baerbock told the Munich Security Conference that Moscow’s policy needed to “change by 360 degrees,” prompting former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to dub her a “connoisseur of geometry.”
https://www.rt.com/news/572230-germany-baerbock-feminist-foreign-policy/
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1 Mar, 2023 03:06

6a) --- Twitter clarifies ‘violent speech’ policy

The social media giant said it would continue to allow “hyperbolic and consensual speech between friends”

Twitter has unveiled new rules to crack down on “violent speech,” saying it will impose a “zero tolerance” policy toward those threatening or glorifying the harm of another person or group. Certain exemptions will apply for cases involving satire, jokes and some forms of “artistic expression.”

The company announced the decision on Tuesday, noting that going forward, Twitter users “may not threaten, incite, glorify, or express desire for violence or harm,” part of a policy change intended to “prevent the normalization of violent actions.”

“In most cases, we will immediately and permanently suspend any account that violates this policy,” it said in a press release, adding that “for less severe violations,” some accounts may simply be locked temporarily.

However, the new policy will also make several exceptions, including for posts which contain “no clear abusive or violent context,” such as “hyperbolic and consensual” ribbing between friends, or during the “discussion of video games or sporting events.”

“We also allow certain cases of figures of speech, satire, or artistic expression when the context is expressing a viewpoint rather than instigating actionable violence or harm,” the company added, claiming it would “evaluate” all flagged posts before taking action against users.

While the decision marks one of the first major speech policy changes adopted by Twitter since its takeover by Elon Musk last October, the site’s rules have continued to evolve over the years.

In 2018, under the leadership of the platform’s original owner and co-founder Jack Dorsey, Twitter imposed a ban on speech which “dehumanize[s] anyone based on membership in an identifiable group, as this speech can lead to offline harm.” The following year, it expanded that policy to prohibit posts attacking users on the basis of their “religion, caste, age, disability, disease, race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation,” and later took additional steps to curtail violent posts following the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
https://www.rt.com/news/572233-twitter-violent-speech-policy/
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4 Jan, 2023 17:00 --- ---- ---- recall ----

6b) --- New Twitter bombshell: How American spies used false claims of Russian election interference to bring the tech giant to heel

Files reveal how the specter of Moscow's supposed underhand ways was used to subjugate the platform to the US Democratic Party

In a pair of blockbuster #TwitterFiles threads, this week, journalist Matt Taibbi has blown open, even wider, the media giant's concerning collusion with the US national security state. The former Rolling Stone writer exposed how political pressure from the US Democratic Party very effectively forced the company to endorse the lie that its platform was extensively weaponized by Russia, with hugely significant consequences.

Find the "Russian trace" at any cost
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The first, boldly titled 'How Twitter Let the Intelligence Community In', documents how in August 2017, despite dubious allegations that Russian bots and trolls were responsible for the election of Donald Trump in the mainstream media reaching fever pitch, Twitter's hierarchy knew its platform wasn’t riddled with malign Kremlin-directed actors.

In internal emails, the company’s senior executives and communications professionals almost mocked the idea that it was overrun with Russian bots. They could neither detect “a big correlation” in account activity related to the November 2016 election, nor any “larger patterns” at all. They forecast potentially taking action against less than 25 users. As such, it was decided to simply ignore approaches from the media on the issue.

The next month, Twitter informed the Senate it had suspended 22 possible Russian accounts, and 179 others with “possible links” to those accounts. Senator Mark Warner, a ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, immediately held a high-profile press conference to denounce the social network’s response as “frankly inadequate on every level.”

Such pressure, combined with bitter, twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton declaring, “It’s time for Twitter to stop dragging its heels and live up to the fact that its platform is being used as a tool for cyber-warfare,” forced the social network to set up a dedicated “Russia task force” to investigate the issue. It did – and found nothing. “No evidence of a coordinated approach” between accounts flagged as potentially Kremlin-run was identified, despite an “exhaustive” internal investigation.

In all, after manually scouring through the posts of thousands of accounts flagged as “suspicious” by external actors, they found that just 32 were questionable, 17 of which were connected with Russia, and only two had spent any money on advertising – one being RT, which was specifically given favorable marketing offers by Twitter before the election.

Again, senior Democratic party officials were enraged by these results. What followed was a flurry of unhinged, sensationalist news stories, claiming Twitter was either covering up the Kremlin’s dirty work for sinister reasons, either by lying about the issue, or actively deleting reams of incriminating data to cover its own tracks.

“Were Twitter a contractor for the FSB … they could not have built a more effective disinformation platform,” professor Thomas Rid, an adviser to the Intelligence Committee, remarked to Politico at the time.

Surrender to politics
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None of this was true. But it provided the Democrats with ammunition to threaten regulations on Twitter’s political advertising, which could’ve been extremely costly to the company’s revenue. This sent senior staffers into a panic, which was only intensified by the timely leak of a database of thousands of alleged Russian bots and trolls to major media outlets by the Intelligence Committee. This resulted in a flood of aggressive queries from journalists.

Realizing the pressure would only keep mounting – as media outlets and politicians had decided this absolutely was a major scandal, irrespective of the available evidence, and were going to keep pushing until they got what they wanted – Twitter kowtowed, and publicly declared bots and trolls were in fact a massive issue on its platform, and it would be proactive in rooting out such activity in future.

Internally, Twitter executives settled on an informal, secret policy for dealing with rogue actors on the network. Publicly, they would stick to the line content was removed and users were banned “at our sole discretion,” while privately they would “off-board” anything and everything “identified by the US intelligence community as a state-sponsored entity conducting cyber-operations,” without argument.

Twitter had actively invited US spies to run its moderation process, without anyone knowing, and on the explicit internal understanding they would not be leaving. That sinister penetration widened substantially when Covid-19 arrived in the US, and again the bogeyman of Kremlin “disinformation” was the battering ram.

In February 2020, US State Department intelligence wing the Global Engagement Center published a report, “Russian Disinformation Apparatus Taking Advantage of Coronavirus Concerns.” It claimed that a vast network of bots and trolls controlled by Moscow and amplified by China and Iran was pumping endless propaganda “describing the Coronavirus as an engineered bioweapon.”

The report’s criteria for determining if an account was a bot or troll was, unbelievably, whether the user followed “two or more” Chinese diplomats. The 250,000-strong network included Western government officials, and media outlets, including CNN. Such a weak evidentiary foundation did not deter mainstream journalists publishing countless stories endorsing the report’s findings.

Twitter staff, likely due to past experience at this point, could see what the Center was up to – namely, attempting to “insert themselves” into the “content moderation club” through which Google, Twitter and Facebook were controlled by the FBI, DHS, and other US government agencies. Executives at these tech giants were unanimously opposed to the Center’s inclusion, not least due to its “mandate for offensive” information operations to “promote American interests.”

Hell under the heel
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After years of bending over backwards to placate the Democratic establishment, Twitter attempted to push back. Over a series of internal emails, various executives spelled out deep concerns about allowing the Center any influence over the platform, and initially rejected an FBI request for the organization to be included in the moderation club’s regular 'industry call'. It was felt the Center’s involvement would pose “major risks … especially as the election heats up.”

Eventually, the FBI offered a compromise – the CIA, NSA, and Global Engagement Center would be able to simply listen to the industry calls, but wouldn’t be active participants. Twitter relented, a decision its higher-ups seem to have quickly come to regret. Before long, the social network was being bombarded with requests to censor content and ban users from every US government body under the sun.

This extended to US government officials asking for users to be banned because they didn’t personally like an individual in question. Notorious House Intelligence Committee chief Adam Schiff, a Democrat, once asked Twitter to ban journalist Paul Sperry, due to his critical reporting on the Committee’s work. After initially refusing, Sperry was later suspended.

Almost every other request was granted immediately, even those from the Global Engagement Center. This included demands to ban independent media outlets falsely claimed to be “GRU-controlled” and linked “to the Russian government.” In one email, a former CIA staffer remarked that Twitter would soon be unable to deny a single request. “Our window on that is closing,” they said.

In the weeks before the 2020 Presidential election, Twitter was flooded with demands from so many officials, departments and agencies, they were confused and overworked. If action wasn’t taken promptly, followup emails quickly appeared, asking if action had yet been taken, and if not, why, and when it would be.

In one request, an FBI official even apologized “in advance for your workload.” Once, a no doubt exhausted senior attorney at the social network complained internally, “my inbox is really f***ed up at this point.”

Previous #TwitterFiles threads exposed how the FBI paid the social network $3 million to process its requests. Based on the most recent disclosures, it’s clear the company and its staff were significantly underpaid for their efforts. Future releases promise yet further bombshell revelations, but the long-hidden truths divulged so far should prompt every Twitter user to reflect how the site for many years in secret operated as an effective wing of the US intelligence – and may well still do so.
https://www.rt.com/news/569389-politicized-xenophobic-witch-hunt/
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6c) --- Gov Sponsored Censorship? FBI Paid Twitter Millions, Raising Serious Questions
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https://youtu.be/3kz-2J3x73U
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1 Mar, 2023 05:28

7) --- FBI makes claim over ‘most likely’ Covid origin

The head of the bureau accused Beijing of attempting to “thwart” investigations into the source of the global pandemic

FBI Director Christopher Wray has claimed Covid-19 “most likely” originated due to a leak from a Chinese government laboratory, citing a bureau assessment. The assertion follows reports regarding a classified briefing by the Energy Department, which also alleged that the pathogen may have emerged from a lab.

Speaking to Fox News for an interview that aired on Tuesday, Wray was asked to comment on the genesis of the worldwide health crisis, and replied that his agency is confident the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China in late 2019.

“The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan. Here you are talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab,” he said. Wray added that the virus has killed “millions of Americans” and “that's precisely what that capability was designed for.”
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https://twitter.com/FBI/status/1630733743777300483
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The bureau took the additional step of transcribing Wray’s comments into a series of tweets, apparently hoping to amplify the director’s claims online. He provided no evidence to support his assertions, instead telling Fox’s Bret Baier that most details surrounding the FBI probe are “classified.”

Wray went on to accuse the Chinese government of “doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here,” referring to investigations by US federal agencies and “foreign partners,” but did not describe the alleged efforts to hinder the probes.

The director’s comments came on the heels of a report published in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend, which cited a classified intelligence briefing recently seen by the White House and senior lawmakers. The missive noted that the Energy Department had changed its stance on the origin of the virus and now believes Covid-19 probably emerged from the Wuhan lab. However, the department reached that conclusion with only “low confidence,” the report added, also stating that four other federal agencies remain convinced the pathogen jumped to humans by way of natural transmission, not accidental exposure in a laboratory setting.

A previous assessment released by the Director of National Intelligence in 2021 indicated the FBI had “moderate confidence” in the lab leak theory, while the Energy Department was undecided at the time. Officials reached by the Journal said the change in stance was the result of “new intelligence,” though they declined to offer additional details.

A team led by the World Health Organization (WHO) traveled to China in 2021 to investigate the origins of the virus, ultimately concluding the lab leak theory was “extremely unlikely.” Beijing, for its part, has rejected the leak claim as an unfounded rumor at best, and a coordinated effort to smear China’s international image at worst, insisting it has been “open and transparent” with investigators looking into the cause of the pandemic.
https://www.rt.com/news/572234-fbi-director-covid-lab-leak/
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5 Dec, 2022 10:31 -- recall --

7a) --- US funded Chinese lab for intelligence op – whistleblower

America’s technology transfer to China resulted in the Covid-19 pandemic, a former EcoHealth Alliance executive claims

US-funded bioresearch on foreign soil appears to be a “giant intelligence operation” for assessing biowarfare capabilities, according to a whistleblower. Collecting and tinkering with bat coronaviruses in China ultimately resulted in the accidental release of SARS-CoV-2, the infection that causes Covid-19, he believes.

Dr. Andrew Huff once worked as the vice president of EcoHealth Alliance, an NGO involved in funneling US taxpayer dollars to bioresearch projects around the world. One of them, which was conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), was the origin of Covid-19 pandemic, and both Beijing and Washington were involved in a massive cover-up, he claimed. On Saturday, British tabloid The Sun reported on the allegations, which Huff has detailed in an upcoming book.

According to his revelations, in 2009, EcoHealth Alliance launched a program called PREDICT. Funded by foreign aid agency USAID, it was aimed at collecting samples of potentially harmful diseases throughout the world, ostensibly to prepare humanity for potential outbreaks. The Wuhan lab was one of the foreign partners of the program, studying coronaviruses in bats, Huff said.

According to the whistleblower, who has a background in bioweapons threat assessment for the US military, the PREDICT program was not collecting the data that it should have, but appeared to be an intelligence operation for assessing foreign biolab capabilities.

Huff was also involved in assessing a 2014 funding proposal for gain-of-function research at the WIV. The work was funded through EcoHealth Alliance by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Gain-of-function is the modification of pathogens to enhance them in various potential ways, including transmissibility. The rationale is that scientists can study new strains and find ways to stop them before similar adaptations emerge naturally.

“EcoHealth Alliance … was responsible for the development of the agent SARS-CoV-2 during my employment at the organization,” Huff alleged. He believes that the virus was created at the Wuhan lab with technologies it received from the US and accidentally leaked into the general population.

“It could be reasonably argued that EcoHealth Alliance set up China to fail,” he said, claiming that the Chinese institute suffered from shortage of qualified personnel and that US government officials were well aware of it.

The ‘lab leak’ theory – that the coronavirus leaked from a Chinese lab – was popularized by then-US President Donald Trump, who made the allegation amid a trade war with China. Major US media organizations and tech platforms initially labeled it as ‘disinformation’ and tried to suppress the theory from public discourse.

The World Health Organization investigated the origins of Covid-19 and concluded that natural evolution was the most likely explanation. Beijing also says accidental transmission from animals to humans is the most plausible theory, blasting the ‘lab leak’ allegations as ‘lies’.
https://www.rt.com/news/567682-bioresearch-intelligence-operation-wuhan/
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28 Feb, 2023 21:02

8) --- Ukraine sends more reinforcements to Artyomovsk ‘meat grinder’

With the Donbass city almost completely encircled, Western officials have reportedly been urging Kiev to retreat for weeks

Kiev has sent reinforcements to the strategically vital city of Artyomovsk/Bakhmut, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on Tuesday. The city has been pounded by Russian artillery, to the point where Kiev’s Western backers have reportedly called on President Vladimir Zelensky to cut his losses and withdraw.

Malyar announced the deployment of reinforcements on national television, with various Ukrainian media outlets carrying her comments. According to the deputy minister, the decision to reinforce Artyomovsk (called Bakhmut in Ukraine) was “made by the military, who are not guided by political motives.”

Artyomovsk is a major Ukrainian stronghold and logistics hub in the People’s Republic of Donetsk (DPR). Russian forces, primarily members of the Wagner private military corporation, have systematically seized outlying settlements around the city in a months-long campaign, and now have Artyomovsk surrounded from the north, south, and east.

While Zelensky declared a month ago that “nobody is going to surrender Bakhmut,” he has since said that the city will only be held “while it remains reasonable” to do so. Doing so, however, has proven costly. While Ukraine has not released the number of troops it has lost in Artyomovsk, Zelensky has admitted that fighting there is “hell,” while a prominent Ukrainian reporter described the situation all across the Donbass front last year as “a senseless meat grinder.”

The current state of attritional warfare plays to Russia’s strengths, allowing Russian forces to leverage their artillery superiority. Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin stated last month that seizing a settlement like Artyomovsk was a secondary goal compared to “the destruction of the Ukrainian army and the reduction of its combat potential.”

According to a recent Washington Post report, senior US officials believe that Zelensky “attaches symbolic importance” to the city, and fears a collapse in morale if it is surrendered. According to the Post and other US media outlets, the White House has been pressing Ukraine since January to relinquish Artyomovsk and look for opportunities to attack elsewhere.
https://www.rt.com/russia/572227-ukraine-reinforcements-bakhmut-wagner/
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28 Feb, 2023 19:54

9) --- Berlin left unprotected as air defense systems sent to Ukraine – arms maker

The Skynex and Skyranger air defense systems were intended to defend the German capital

Germany is sending two air defense systems to Kiev in a move that may leave Berlin unprotected, Armin Papperger, CEO of Germany’s leading military contractor Rheinmetall said in an interview with the Pioneer podcast on Tuesday.

The two systems in question, Skynex and Skyranger, were commissioned by the German government in order to protect the airspace over Berlin, the arms manufacturer revealed. The two units cost around €200 million ($212 million) and they are to be sent to Kiev within the year.

“We had two whole systems that could have certainly defended Berlin,” Papperger said, as quoted by RIA Novosti. According to Papperger, four of the systems would be enough to protect Berlin, but now there will not be enough.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters rallied in the German capital, calling for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to “stop the escalation in weapons deliveries.”

Germany also pledged Western-made tanks to Ukraine in late January, promising 14 of their Leopard 2 tanks and pledging to work with partners to create two armored battalions containing 30 tanks each. However, Germany’s EU and NATO allies have been reluctant to deliver.

Similarly to Germany sacrificing their own protection for the sake of solidarity with Ukraine, Denmark opted in January to send its 19 French-made Caesar howitzer artillery systems to Kiev, compromising their own defensive capabilities. The artillery systems had been a key component of Denmark’s plan to field a heavy infantry brigade.

Officials in some NATO nations have been cautioning that the constant supply of arms and ammunition to Ukraine on such a massive scale would eventually come at a cost to their own defensive capabilities.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has warned on numerous occasions that providing Kiev with military aid will not change the course of the conflict, and will instead just “prolong the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”
https://www.rt.com/news/572226-berlin-air-defense-unprotected/
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1 Mar, 2023 06:14

10) --- Russia finds answer to IKEA exit – media

The Swedish furniture maker has closed stores and sold factories to local buyers

Belarusian furniture maker Swed House is planning to fill the void left by IKEA in the Russian market, the head of the Union of Shopping Centers Bulat Shakirov said on Monday, as quoted by TASS.

Under the terms of a cooperation agreement signed between the organization and Swed House, which sells home goods intended to look like IKEA products, the Belarusian company is expected to open up to ten stores in Moscow by the end of the year. Another 50 outlets could open across the country in the coming years.

Swed House is looking at opening stores in Moscow with the area up to 1,000 square meters, according to Shakirov, who also said the union had started negotiations for the Belarusian firm to become a tenant of Mega shopping centers, which were sold by IKEA.

“We have recently received over 100 requests from shopping malls that want to host them. It doesn’t matter where it will be located – in the center of Moscow, on the Moscow Ring Road or in residential areas,” he said, adding that home products and textiles will inevitably enjoy demand.

In March, Ingka group, the Swedish company that owned IKEA stores and Mega shopping centers in Russia, joined a long list of international corporations suspending business in the country due to Ukraine-related sanctions.

The world’s biggest producer of furniture said it would sell factories, close offices and reduce its 15,000-strong workforce in Russia. It reopened for a brief online fire sale last summer.

Local media had previously reported that the company was looking for buyers for its Russian real estate. Meanwhile, the sale of IKEA’s three factories were approved by a Russian government commission earlier this month.
https://www.rt.com/business/572138-russia-ikea-belarus-sweden/
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10a) --- IKEA of Sweden Nazi heritage - BBC + others

https://apnews.com/article/43698f8211d2409a9e0d0b60ae27b7e8

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14661582

(paywall) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/opinion/ingvar-kamprad-ikea-fascist.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/25/ikea-ingvar-kamprad-new-nazi-claims

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