Thursday, March 30, 2023

US Urges Americans To Leave Russia ‘Immediately’

US urges Americans to leave Russia ‘immediately’
RT



Washington has called upon Americans who are traveling to or residing in Russia to leave the country “immediately” in the aftermath of the arrest of Wall Street Journal (WSJ) correspondent Evan Gershkovich. While Moscow said he was caught “red-handed” trying to obtain state secrets, the US has condemned the arrest as an assault on“press freedom.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was “deeply concerned” about the development, adding that “in the strongest possible terms, we condemn the Kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish journalists and civil society voices.”

“We reiterate our strong warnings about the danger posed to US citizens inside the Russian Federation. US citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately,” the top diplomat said in a statement.

A similar message was conveyed by the White House, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stating that the “targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable.”

“We also condemn the Russian government’s continued targeting and repression of journalists and freedom of the press,” she added, urging Americans to “heed the US government’s warning to not travel to Russia” or leave should they happen to already be in the country.

The call was somewhat watered down by US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, who explained Washington was not actually calling upon all Americans to literally leave Russia and was not encouraging news outlets to withdraw their correspondents from the country.

Gershkovich, a WSJ correspondent who covers news from Russia, Ukraine, and the former USSR, was detained in the city of Ekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced earlier in the day. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the journalist was caught “red-handed” while trying to obtain Russian state secrets.




]

THE EPIDEMIC OF DECEPTION

THE EPIDEMIC OF DECEPTION
Jonathan Brentner 


When the disciples asked Jesus about the signs of the end of the age and of His coming, the first words were, “Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matthew 24:4). A little later in the same discourse, the Lord spoke of the great deception that will happen during the Tribulation period (Matthew 24:24):

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

The Apostle Paul, when he began to speak of the appearance of the antichrist in the last days, echoed the words of Jesus in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, “Let no one deceive you in any way.” A little later in the same chapter, He said this about the coming “man of lawlessness:”

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. (2:9-10).

In 1 Timothy 4:1, Paul warned of “deceitful spirits and teachings of demons” that would appear in the last days.

Scripture is remarkably clear about this: the time leading up to the seven-year Tribulation, as well as the period itself, will be marked by overwhelming and widespread deception.

As we look around us, it’s unmistakable that this has reached epidemic levels, which signifies that we live in the shadow of the coming seven-year Tribulation.

THE DUPLICITY OF THE GLOBALISTS

We witness the deceitfulness of the powerbrokers in the way they say one thing, but behave in a radically different manner. Below are several examples of their duplicity.


In my post, Deadly Delusions: 5 Lies the Globalists Want you to Believe, I demonstrate that while the globalists say they want “democracy and freedom,” their goal is a Marxist Communist state that will enslave the people of the world.

The seventeen goals of the UN’s Agenda 2030 unveil their purpose to control the lives of everyone on the planet. The Great Reset of the World Economic Forum presupposes a world swallowed up in chaos and lawlessness from which they can construct a world order that will enslave humanity.

The elite repeatedly tell us that their goal is to save the planet. They would have us believe that they care deeply about the environment and thus they instruct us to change our way of life based on this.

Do their actions match their words? No, and it’s not even close. Many of the globalists build or purchase mansions on the waterfront; they have no worries about rising sea levels. They fly everywhere in private jets consuming a great amount of fuel and emit much CO2.


I have come to the conclusion that deep state in America is purposely attacking the environment. The train accident in East Palestine, Ohio, is just one of many incidents where trains have spilled hazardous materials into nature during the past several weeks. As I write, there’s a barge carrying methanol that’s slowly sinking into the Ohio River.

The growing number of fires at chemical plants is also alarming. The one that happened two years ago, several miles from where I live, appears to be just the beginning of a rash of such incidents around the world.

There are far too many fires and “accidents” involving hazardous substances for me to accept that they are all coincidences.


More....



Netanyahu Proclaims “Israel is a Sovereign Country” After Biden Regime Is Accused of Sponsoring VIOLENT INSURRECTION This Week

Netanyahu Proclaims “Israel is a Sovereign Country” After Biden Regime Is Accused of Sponsoring VIOLENT INSURRECTION This Week




The Biden Regime continues to interfere in Israeli domestic politics, supporting radical, violent leftists,  seeking to prevent judicial reform, and foster a coup. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the judicial reform legislation would be frozen to allow for negotiations.Thousands of radical leftist insurrectionists  rioted in Israel this week, seeking to stop judicial reform to rein in the out-of-control leftist supreme court. 15 insurrectionists tied themselves to the entrance of the Knesset in Jerusalem Thursday morning.

“A small group of anarchists and power-elites held the entire country hostage, shutting down airports, hospitals, and malls. Chain stores shuttered their gates. Unions went on strike, and the economy and security of the nation hung in the balance”, Jewish Press wrote.


Over a hundred thousand patriots demonstrated against the leftist coup outside the Knesset in Jerusalem Monday evening, Israel National News reported, calling on the government to stand firm in passing the reforms and not to freeze the legislation.

US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) slammed US President Joe Biden and accused him of funding the anti-government protests in Israel.  “Utterly disgraceful. Biden gleefully hosts anti-American radicals like Lula, while shunning close American allies like Netanyahu,” Cruz tweeted Wednesday. “It’s clear that Biden and his officials are high from funding what they believe to be successful anti-government protests in Israel.”

“Like many strong supporters of Israel, I’m very concerned,” President Biden told the press Tuesday. “I’m concerned that they get this straight: They cannot continue down this road. And I sort of made that clear. Hopefully, the prime minister will act in a way that he can try to work out some genuine compromise, but that remains to be seen.” Biden said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be invited to the White House in the near future, and urged him to drop his plan to stop leftist activist judges and restore democracy in Israel.

“Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends“, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted.

Israeli Minister of Culture and Sport Miki Zohar deleted a tweet accusing Biden of being a victim of “fake news” about the judicial reforms.  “It breaks my heart to see how much damage has been done to Israel from all the fake news that has been spread in connection with our justified legal reform,” Zohar wrote after the deletion on Tuesday.

Speaking at Soros-funded Chatham House March 27, radical leader Ehud Barak described the leftist plans for “regime change using the legal tools of democracy”:

Analyst J Michael Waller, who tweeted the excerpt, noted that “the same people have been trying to do this in the United States, using legal mechanisms and mob action. They will not stop.”

“It’s time to call out the hypocrisy of demanding the Right negotiate, only to refuse to come to the table while trying to impose anti-democratic preconditions”, Jewish Press wrote on Tuesday. “Thanks to Bibi’s leadership, the anarchists are now on the defensive. Their indefensible actions yesterday infuriated and scared every sane person in the country. Their hostage-taking was a wake-up call for the need for even broader and deeper reforms. Moreover, yesterday’s massive demonstration of public support for the reforms was undeniable.”

Over 2,000 police officers will be stationed tomorrow (Friday) in Jerusalem, in preparation for the prayers on the second Friday of the month of Ramadan.


Netanyahu reject’s Biden’s call to ‘walk away’ from judicial reform

Netanyahu reject’s Biden’s call to ‘walk away’ from judicial reform


 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday rebuffed U.S. President Joe Biden’s call earlier in the day to “walk away” from his government’s judicial reform push.

“Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends,” said Netanyahu.

Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina, Biden said that “like many strong supporters of Israel, I am very concerned [by the judicial reform plan]. I am concerned that they get this straight. They cannot continue down this road. I have sort of made that clear,” adding, “I hope he walks away from it.”

Biden denied meddling in domestic Israeli affairs, telling reporters, “They know my position. They know America’s position. They know the American Jewish position.”

The U.S. president also shot down reports that Netanyahu would soon be invited to the White House.

On Monday, following Netanyahu’s announcement of a temporary halt to the judicial reform legislation, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides hinted that the Israeli premier would soon receive his first White House invitation since retaking office for the sixth time in late December.

However, in response to a reporter’s question about whether such an invitation would be extended, Biden replied, “No. Not in the near term.”


More...


John Kerry Says New Climate Change Executive Orders Are Coming

John Kerry Says New Climate Change Executive Orders Are Coming




Kerry discussed the Biden administration’s plans for reducing U.S. emissions during an interview with Yahoo News Senior Climate Editor Ben Adler on Friday.

Adler noted that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) championed by the Biden administration is projected to bring down U.S. emissions by about 40 percent, despite a goal set by the administration to bring about a 50 percent reduction in U.S. emissions by the end of the decade.


“We’re doing a lot more than just the IRA,” Kerry responded. “The IRA is a package that in and of itself can get the 40 percent. But in addition to that, the president is issuing executive orders. There’ll be changes on automobile, on light truck, heavy truck, heavy duty—a number of initiatives that are being taken by states, subnational, cities. They really kept us in the game, frankly, during the Trump administration when he pulled out of the [Paris Climate Agreement].”

Kerry didn’t provide many details on what new executive orders could be coming or how they might specifically impact businesses and industries.

“We have a lot of other options, tools, if you will, in the toolkit besides the IRA,” Kerry said. “The IRA is a huge leap forward, and it’s already having a major impact.”

Kerry then said that 75 percent of the new electrical output that came about in the United States during President Donald Trump’s term came from one renewable energy resource or another. He noted other business entities have been independently pursuing their own emission reduction goals.

While Kerry alluded to a new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report and stressed that the United States should do more to counteract climate change, he also defended a recent decision by Biden to approve a new oil drilling project in Alaska.

“You mentioned President Biden’s record, including land use management. But he’s also done some things that have increased fossil fuel production, the recent approval of the Willow project in Alaska,” Adler said.

“For the moment,” Kerry responded. “Remember, we have seven years before the 2030 target. And the president is determined that we will stay on that target. But in the immediate moment, while we transition, you don’t want to crash your whole economy.”

Kerry also defended the U.S. export of liquified natural gas to Europe, saying the move is “critical to the economy of Europe” while the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies support Ukraine in its war with Russia.


More...




Nukes On The Move, Dollar Crash Coming?



BREAKING NEWS! 200 NUKES Moving NOW, USA ENDS Pact, 2 WEEKS to "DOLLAR CRASH" (Video)


Israel is “Protesting” Its Way Right Into the Global Agenda

Israel is “Protesting” Its Way Right Into the Global Agenda

Gal G.



You may have heard about the “big protests” in Israel now – seemingly – against the legal reform that Netanyahu’s government is seeking to pass as new legislation that will limit the power of the Supreme Court to limit the power of the government to make decisions, of the coalition to pass laws as it wishes, and of the Knesset (parliament) to enact laws that do not comply with judicial review.

This reform also includes an intention to change the structure of the committee for appointing judges in Israel – so that the coalition and the government will have more influence there as well.

In my opinion – This protest is a spin

The protests in Israel now are harvesting the already high levels of social anxiety that have existed since the Covid years, and amplifying it through heavy propaganda, very similar to the one used to push the “vaccines” and Covid policy – you can’t escape it, it’s everywhere and it’s very frightening.

The politicians that are leading that protest now are the ones that implemented just a few months ago – the #IsraelPfizerDeal, the Green Pass, and everything else last year – the incitement, the lies, the sanctions, the censorship of the contracts and protocols – everything.

This is portrayed as a disagreement over a legal reform and the structure of our democracy- but it is again: a spin. Netanyahu just announced that he is stopping the progress of this legal reform legislation – and I’m sure this was planned in advance.

The painful results are:

This “protest” is creating a complete wash over all the public’s attention and memory from the previous 3 years of Covid. It is erasing the public’s memory of Covid crimes and criminals completely, creating a fake public debate/storm, and more importantly – it is also creating the reason and justification for more locksteps that will increase the governmental control over liberties and basic rights of the individual-“to bring back order”

I truly believe this was prepared and planned ahead as a manipulative fake narrative, to create a smokescreen and also to allow the next steps of control.


Israel is under an opposition hijack and a fake new “protest”-the leaders that claim to be an opposition are misleading the public to fight a false fight, and to look the other way. There’s a political turmoil in Israel, and it’s fueled and getting worse.

On February 24 the news reported: “Ehud Barak Predicts dictatorship In Israel”

Ehud Batak is the last person I would ever personally trust, and he is leading the “protest” now, along with Yuval Noah Harari and other friends of WEF. This makes me suspicious about the motives of this “protest”, but apart from that – the WAY this “protest” is delivered to the public is to be violent and fascist.

This very strong “protest” now in Israel, is supported by all MSM, and all the senior people in the industry, and the legal, medical, etc. sectors & organizations, even soldiers and police officers are refusing to serve this government “until the legal reform will stop”-you cannot escape it here. You might see headlines in which they shout dictatorship, but for all the reasons- EXCEPT Covid Policy.


Why do I care about the message of the protest? Because it silences the real message from debate, it hijacks public attention and it creates a smokescreen and reverses the narrative where those who are fully complicit in killing our democracy are “fighting for democracy”.

 The newly invented “controversy” prompted by this new “protest” is a kind of WOKE movement in Israel


The new controversy is about Netanyahu’s government’s newly offered REFORM- they are promoting a new regulation that will limit the court’s ability to implement judicial scrutiny and invalidate legislation.

The politicians (who just now lost the power to govern) created a smoke screen protest, with the argument that the new “right-wing” government is trying to take control of the court and end human rights. That’s why they call it = “Dictatorship”

There’s a new anxiety now (mainly “left” voters) – they believe that the government is canceling the High Court’s power, thus canceling its ability to protect human rights, meaning: only woke and progressive rights. NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE RIGHTS STOLEN BY COVID POLICY.

Reminder: the courts in Israel did nothing to protect human rights against the Covid dictatorship and everything that came along with it – the censored contracts & Covid cabinet protocols, the incitement and persecution, the regulation of social media, heavy policing and surveillance on citizens, biometric cameras and more.

They enforced mask fines, dismissed all claims, ordered children to be vaccinated against one parent’s will, ignored informed consent, and approved the Green Pass and the heavy censorship of it all.


So all the attention of the public and the “opposition” to the government is directed with heavy propaganda– to this very branded and socially accepted new “protest” – people are fighting this imaginary fight with masses on the streets and outside of it -whilst the very dangerous emergency legislation that would allow the WHO access and control for example, or a new “climate Act” or a new biometric database Act etc – is continuing in the parliament with full support- from the “opposition” as well, and no one cares.

I believe there is no more left and right political wings in Israel. They’re trying to distract the public from vaccine injuries and agenda 2030’s new legislation already promoted, THIS is the legislative threat to our democracy.

I don’t know why they’re pushing for chaos and violence that will lead to more and more control measures – but I can say that meanwhile- the global agenda is pushing forwards more than ever




Sweden summons Russian envoy over NATO membership threats

Sweden summons Russian envoy over NATO membership threats
DW


The Russian ambassador in Stockholm had said that Sweden and Finland joining NATO would make them "legitimate" military targets. Both countries applied to join the military alliance last year.

Sweden's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it was summoning the Russian ambassador to Stockholm, over threats concerning the country's NATO bid. The Foreign Ministry deemed the ambassador's comments an "attempt at interference."

The Nordic country abandoned last year, alongside neighboring Finland, its military neutrality and sought NATO membershipfollowing Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.


In a long-winded statement shared on the embassy's Facebook page titled "A Swedish step toward the abyss," the ambassador said that if Finland and Sweden join NATO, the alliance's borders with Russia would almost double.

He added that this would not bolster Europe's security but rather make new NATO members "a legitimate target for Russian retaliatory measures, including those of a military nature."

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said his ministry was summoning the Russian ambassador "to make a clear statement against this blatant attempt at influence."

The Nordic countries' joint bid to become NATO members has been riddled with roadblocks, most notably due to diplomatic rows with Turkey, and to a lesser extent with Hungary. Turkey has said this month it intends to ratify Finland's bid, and Hungary's parliament already approved it, whereas Sweden's bid remains pending.

For a new country to join the alliance, all 30 member-states must unanimously approve its bid.


Syria blames Israel for Damascus airstrikes, two injured

Syria blames Israel for Damascus airstrikes, two injured



An airstrike targeted Damascus in Syria late Wednesday night, carrying out attacks against several positions of the Syrian army in the Al-Midan neighborhood of Damascus, injuring two Syrian soldiers and causing "some material damage," state media reported, citing a military source.

Syrian air defense systems were triggered, shooting several missiles down, as Syrian media claimed that Israel was to blame for the attack. The alleged Israeli warplanes carried out the attack from the Golan Heights, the reports claimed, leading several regional sources to report hearing various loud explosions in the region.


According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, there have been several casualties as a result of the alleged Israeli airstrike. 

Recent airstrikes come amid MidEast tensions

Numerous attacks have taken place throughout Syria in recent months and have been attributed to Israel by Syrian and other regional media sources.


An intelligence report by satellite and intelligence solutions company ImageSat International (ISI) was able to determine that an attack in Syria on March 12 included attacks on entrances to underground tunnels.


Just one week prior, Syria’s transport ministry announced that it would re-route flights carrying earthquake aid following an overnight aerial attack that put Aleppo International Airport out of commission.

This followed reports from Syrian media that there were a series of explosions in the north. It is currently believed that the explosions are an attack on Iranian militia targets at an airport in Aleppo. 


Residents of Damascus wrote on social media early on Thursday that a series of loud booms could be heard over some districts.

"I was going to die of fright," said Lana, a Syrian woman who was spending the night with her infant son in a hospital in the Damascus district of Mazzeh.

"The sound made me feel like the whole hospital was going to collapse on us," she told Reuters.






Crisis And Control:

Doug Casey on How Governments Use Global Crises to Take More Control



International Man: Throughout history, governments have used crises—real or imagined—to eliminate freedoms, expand the power of the State, and justify all sorts of things the populace would never accept in normal times.

After World War II, Winston Churchill famously said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.

This was when he and other leaders came together to form the United Nations, which they probably could not have created without the crisis of WWII.

Ever since, it seems that each new supposed crisis causes a further centralization of global power.

Doug Casey: It makes sense that Rahm Emanuel, a sleazy Obama apparatchik, would have stolen the phrase from Churchill. But the statement is quite correct, regardless of the source. Government lives on crisis. As Randolph Bourne said, “War is the health of the State,” and there’s no crisis like a war. But any kind of crisis can work.

Whenever you have a crisis—whether it’s a military, political, economic, financial, or social crisis—the mob calls for strong leaders to kiss it and make it better.

This plays perfectly into the hands of the kind of people who work for the State. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a psychological flaw in humans, stemming from the fact that we’re pack animals.

I’m not sure how we solve this problem other than delegitimizing the idea of the State and defanging it as much as possible. And stop lauding, even apotheosizing, its employees. But as long as the State exists, its basic impetus is to seek out crises. Crises benefit the State as an institution but also the people who work for it.

Over the last century, the reach of the State has moved from a local, to a national, to now an international level. This is what the concept of globalism is all about.

The good news is that the bigger and more complex anything gets—including the movement towards globalism—the more inefficient, corrupt, and unwieldy it becomes. So perhaps the idea of globalism is getting big enough to self-destruct.

In the meantime, some of globalism’s and the State’s most effective minions are NGOs (non-governmental organizations). They are generally supported by private giving, often in estate planning. When people die, they often want to do something for the benefit of humanity. That’s an understandable emotion, although charity generally causes at least as many problems as it cures. I explain that in a previous conversation. Rich people particularly want to virtue signal since today’s society infuses them with guilt for their money. That, plus they naturally want shelter from taxes. So they give money to all kinds of NGOs. There are many thousands of them.

NGOs are almost universally collectivist and Statist in philosophy and have strong political agendas, although they disguise overtly political objectives with “feel-good” rhetoric. Who could possibly be against agitating for world peace or fighting poverty? However, many amount to scams, few accomplish anything meaningful, and they almost all work closely with the government. Few of them produce anything but commercials, lobbying campaigns, and fat incomes for their insiders.

Speaking of globalism, NGOs, and a trend toward world government, I have to mention that vaccine passports are a definite step in that direction. There will undoubtedly be a UN organization formed to standardize vax passports because, right now, there is a myriad of vaccine passports issued by various governments on different criteria in different formats.

An internationally accepted vax certificate will amount to a world government passport. It will probably be tied in with a Social Credit rating such as the one used by China. Naturally, that will be linked to everyone’s digital currency account with the central bank. It will become an international ID document in much the same way that driver’s licenses are effectively internal passports within the US. You’ll be nobody, and do nothing, without it.

Global warming, aka climate change, is an excellent form of control, perhaps even better than a virus. People are being terrified into believing they’re about to destroy the planet itself. Fear is a foolproof way to control the masses. It’s funny, actually. “The masses” is a term Marxist-Leninists are very fond of.

Government is always presented as the friend of “the people,” “our democracy,” or “the masses.” It’s promoted as the noble, wise, and forward-thinking savior that “steps in” to stop the evil producers.

It’s one of many false and horribly destructive memes stalking the earth today like specters. The increasing belief in government as a magic solution to problems acts to decrease the average person’s standard of living and creates all kinds of distortions throughout society. It’s turned the study of economics into a pseudoscience, and its incursions into science are discrediting the idea of science itself.


More...


Another Train Derailment - Minnesota - Prompts Evacuations

Fiery train derailment in Minnesota prompts evacuations
 

A train hauling ethanol and corn syrup derailed and caught fire in Minnesota early Thursday and nearby residents were ordered to evacuate their homes, authorities said.

The BNSF train derailed in the town of Raymond, roughly 100 miles (161 kilometers) west of Minneapolis, about 1 a.m., according to a statement from Kandiyohi County Sheriff Eric Tollefson.

The Associated Press left messages seeking comment from BNSF officials and with Tollefson.

The train “had numerous rail cars derail” and several caught fire, Tollefson said. Homes in an area 1/2 mile (0.8 kilometers) around the site were evacuated, according to Tollefson, and residents were taken to a shelter in nearby Prinsburg.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN that about 14 cars were carrying hazardous materials, including ethanol.

“We’ve been in touch with the governor,” Buttigieg said, and Environmental Protection Agency officials were en route to the site “given the hazardous material situation.”

Buttigieg said he has received no reports of deaths or injuries due to the derailment.


Russia stops sharing missile test info with US, opens drills

Russia stops sharing missile test info with US, opens drills
VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV



Russia will no longer give the U.S. advance notice about its missile tests as envisioned under a nuclear pact the Kremlin has suspended, a senior Moscow diplomat said Wednesday, as its military rolled mobile launchers across Siberia in a show of the country’s massive nuclear capability amid fighting in Ukraine.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian news agencies that Moscow has halted all information exchanges with Washington envisioned by the last remaining nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. after suspending its participation in it last month.

Along with the data about the current state of the countries' nuclear forces routinely released every six months in compliance with the New START treaty, the parties also have exchanged advance warnings about test launches and deployments of their nuclear weapons. Such notices have been an essential element of strategic stability for decades, allowing Russia and the United States to correctly interpret each other's moves and make sure that neither country mistakes a test launch for a missile attack.

The termination of information exchanges under the pact marks yet another attempt by the Kremlin to discourage the West from ramping up its support for Ukraine by pointing to Russia's massive nuclear arsenal. In recent days, President Vladimir Putin announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to the territory of Moscow's ally Belarus.

Putin suspended the New START treaty last month, saying Russia can’t accept U.S. inspections of its nuclear sites under the agreement at a time when Washington and its NATO allies have openly declared Moscow’s defeat in Ukraine as their goal. Moscow emphasized that it wasn’t withdrawing from the pact altogether and would continue to respect the caps on nuclear weapons the treaty set.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Ryabkov’s statement indicated Moscow’s intention to terminate all warnings about missile tests or just those envisioned by the New START treaty. Moscow and Washington have exchanged notifications about test launches of ballistic missiles since the Cold War era, and the Foreign Ministry said last month that Russia will keep issuing them in line with a 1988 U.S.-Soviet agreement.

“There will be no notifications at all,” Ryabkov said in remarks reported by Russian news agencies when asked if Moscow would also stop issuing notices about planned missile tests. “All notifications, all kinds of notifications, all activities within the framework of the treaty will be suspended and will not be conducted regardless of what position the U.S. may take.”

Ryabkov's announcement followed U.S. officials' statement that Moscow and Washington have stopped sharing biannual nuclear weapons data that were envisioned by the New START treaty. Officials at the White House, Pentagon and State Department said the U.S. had offered to continue providing this information to Russia even after Putin suspended its participation in the treaty, but Moscow told Washington it would not be sharing its own data.

As part of the Russian drills that began Wednesday, Yars mobile missile launchers will maneuver across three regions of Siberia, Russia's Defense Ministry said. The movements will involve measures to conceal the deployment from foreign satellites and other intelligence assets, the ministry said.

The Defense Ministry didn't say how long the drills would last or mention plans for any practice launches. The Yars is a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of about 11,000 kilometers (over 6,800 miles). It forms the backbone of Russia's strategic missile forces.

More...


Exclusive – Caroline Glick: Israel Facing ‘Revolt’ by ‘Elites’ Seeking to Maintain Control over Country

Caroline Glick: Israel Facing ‘Revolt’ by ‘Elites’ Seeking to Maintain Control over Country


The unrest in Israel is a “revolt” by “elites who want to maintain their control over the country,” according to conservative American-Israeli columnist Caroline Glick who lauded the “tactical retreat” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he declared pausing the judicial reform legislation to allow for negotiation amid large public protests.

Speaking with Breitbart News on Monday, Glick shed light on just how Israel arrived at its current situation.


“We’re suffering from a problem that Americans have become familiar with, which is that the left in Israel has just had it with representative democracy, and that they want to rule through the institutions that they control in Israel: the Supreme Court, the General Staff of the Army and the media,” she said. 

Glick attributes the situation to a “revolt” of these elites who seek control through those institutions under their control.

“[The elites] incited the left, and they demonized the government, and they demonized Israelis who vote for right-wing parties in a way that we’ve really never seen before,” she said. “And that’s why the hatred that we’ve been seeing expressed by leftists and the outright rejection of our democratic norms has been so intense and violent.”

Addressing Netanyahu’s announcement Monday of pausing the judicial reforms in order to calm tensions, Glick admitted that everyone, “including the Prime Minister himself, had a real dilemma” about how to handle the situation.

“On the one hand, any delay [of the judicial reforms] meant that we were conceding authority to the mob. But on the other hand, I think that [PM Netanyahu] viewed it, and I certainly do, as a tactical retreat in order to regroup, calm things down; hopefully, get people to realize just how over the top things have become, and to step back from the brink,” she said.


Glick explained that, in the process, “a lot of people have crossed a lot of red lines.” 

“We’ve had former prime ministers taking actions that I think are inarguably treasonous: going to foreign countries and telling them to boycott the government of Israel — we’ve never seen things like this before. Generals, the former chief of staff of the army calling for people not to serve [their mandatory military duty in the IDF],” she said. 

“These are felonies,” she added, “not to mention that it’s calling for a rebellion; we never saw anything like that before.”


However, Glick explained the need to lower tensions:

“We need to calm things down because if we had passed the reform today, it would have been written in water. It would have been overturned by an out-of-control Supreme Court that has right now unlimited powers. And there’s judicial reform which tried to bring them from the level of oligarchy, back into the game of democracy. Where a democratic system [exists], where all three branches of government are co-equal and check and balance one another’s powers, which is the way things used to be in Israel but have ceased to be that way today.”

The problem going forward, Glick argued, is that “a government and leader, no matter how talented he is, only has a certain amount of bandwidth when the country is being engulfed by riots [and] a general strike — which is illegal but the judges side with the people who are breaking the law.”

But under such circumstances, she added, “you can’t take care of other very acute issues and we have [plenty].”


Glick explained the context of current tensions as Iran nears posing an existential threat to the Jewish state.


“Netanyahu for the past 30 years as the head of the Likud Party and as on-again off-again prime minister for the better part of the past 30 years, has made blocking Iran from getting nuclear weapons the most important priority of his political life – and Iran is a near nuclear power now,” she said.

“And America’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said last week that the United States will not accept a ‘fielded nuclear missile’ — a nuclear weapon by Iran — which means that they will accept a nuclear Iran; which means that Israel is alone; which means that we have to act now,” she added.

However, she noted, “you can’t take action against Iran when your country is in open revolt,” explaining that that was “the other reason why it was absolutely vital to calm things down.”

“I think we have to take care of Iran and its nuclear weapons program, and we have to be able to focus [our] energies on that,” she said. “I think that if we’re able to do that successfully, then we’ll be able to restore a lot of our diplomatic standing that has been harmed by the last ten weeks of rioting.”


“And I think that the government itself will be in a much better position politically to continue on with the judicial reform process, which was the deciding issue of the November 1st election,” she added.

Glick concluded by stressing that Israel has more to contend with in the near future, something impossible to do “when the country is on fire.”

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in a national address that he was halting his judicial reform legislation to allow for negotiation, though vowing that reform would pass in one way or another.


The Israeli prime minister’s decision to halt the reforms came a day after he fired Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, who had given an unauthorized speech opposing the reforms, citing the desertions of left-wing military reservists.

The Israeli judiciary, which has become increasingly powerful in recent decades, currently operates without functional checks and balances, as Israeli judges are selected by a commission largely composed of judges and lawyers.

Critics claim the process produces ideological conformity, allowing the secular elite to entrench judicial power.

Netanyahu’s legislation increases the power of the legislature relative to the judicial branch in order to bring into balance the three branches of government.

The proposal would reflect the process in the United States and several other democracies, in which judges would be approved by democratically elected representatives, in the hope of increasing their diversity.