Wake up, Italians – our country is in a state of democratic emergency
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March 20, 2019
March 18, 2019
Netherlands, U.S. agree on use of Curacao as possible aid hub for Venezuela
The Netherlands and the United States reached an agreement on Friday to use facilities on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao for possible distribution of aid to nearby Venezuela, Curacao’s prime minister said.
Theisland will only be used for civilian operations to deliver aid, such as food and medicines, to Venezuela if the Venezuelan government explicitly allows it, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said last month.
Note Almere Digest: A good idea, as long as the US does not use it as a "stepping stone" for a US "sponsored" military invasion.
Read more: Netherlands, U.S. agree on use of Curacao as possible aid hub for Venezuela | Reuters
Theisland will only be used for civilian operations to deliver aid, such as food and medicines, to Venezuela if the Venezuelan government explicitly allows it, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said last month.
Note Almere Digest: A good idea, as long as the US does not use it as a "stepping stone" for a US "sponsored" military invasion.
Read more: Netherlands, U.S. agree on use of Curacao as possible aid hub for Venezuela | Reuters
March 17, 2019
Radicalism and Terrorism - Time to call a spade a spade:Radical right-wing white supremacists who kill people are terrorists just like radical Muslims who kill people - by RM
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| Populism is dangerous and destructive and the wrong way to go |
What a horrible and despicable act of terrorism it was, committed by this white supremacist on innocent Muslim worshipers in New Zealand
This has to stop.
The fact is that right-wing, white supremacists radicalism, based on Islamophobia, race, culture and adversary-immigration policies, is just as radical as Muslim radicalism, but unfortunately not defined as such, or confronted and fought openly by governments and the press, in the same way as Muslim radical extremism is.
Both extremists groups, once they get involved in violent acts, whereby innocent people get killed, are terrorists. There is no difference between the two.
In Europe and the US, radical right-wing, white supremacists movements are usually still labeled as either nationalist, or populist movements by the media and politicians, including Donald Trump in the US, Marianne Le Pen in France, Geert Wilders and Thiery Baudet in the Netherlands, Victor Orban in Hungary, Jörg Meuthen and Alexander Gauland, in Germany, Matteo Salvin in Italy, Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson in United Kingdom, Michał Marusik in Poland, and Ulrich Schlüer and Pascal Junod in Zwitserland.
In this context let us also not forget that all of the European politicians mentioned in the paragraph above are being cheered on by their "big brother", Donald Trump on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, and sad to say, the "love" is mutual.
Unfortunately, this political right-wing alliance has resulted in some extremely negative effects on the well-being of many people around the planet, causing racial and religious tensions, a lack of direction in the area of the environment (the Paris Agreement), nuclear proliferation (the Iran Nuclear Deal framework), a British political debacle (Brexit), and tariff wars..
Democracy, as we knew it, is just about non-existent anymore. The Populist radical charade needs to be exposed for what it really is, before many more people lose their lives, as a result of terrorist acts committed by these white supremacists.
It is high time for Governments, politicians, and the press to take their heads out of the sand and call a spade a spade.A terrorist is a terrorist, if he is white, black, brown, or yellow, Christian, or Muslim, or whatever religion he or she professes.
EU-Digest
March 15, 2019
EU-Britain Brexit Negotiations: EU Negotiator Michael Barnier says: "Negotiations are over"
Euronews exclusive: ‘Negotiations are over,’ says Michel Barnier on Brexit deal
March 14, 2019
EU-Russian Relations: Russia will meddle in European elections, keep prepping for war with NATO says Estonian Secret Service Report
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| The Big Bad Bear From The East is Eyeing the EU Elections |
All this becomes very clear in an exclusive 70-page report, which provides a window into the activity and goals of the Russian intelligence services from next door in Estonia.
"Russia is very likely to try to intervene in the European Parliament elections to secure as many seats as possible for pro-Russian or eurosceptical political forces," writes the report's author Mikk Marran, director general of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service.
The report says Russian intelligence services will also continue
the extensive cyberespionage campaign against the West that they have
pursued for years, with the military intelligence service, called the
GRU, and Russia's spy agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB)
directing most operations.
Cyber espionage groups APT28 and Sandworm are the most active of the Russian-backed groups, usually exploiting simple online tools and tactics, like phishing campaigns and "most likely to blur the line between clearly state-sponsored attacks and the activities of online activists and profiteering cyber criminals," the report says.
SNAKE APT, a group tied to the FSB, operates more covertly, according to the report. "Most cyber and information operations originating from Russia are led by the special services, particularly the FSB and GRU," who often enlist cybercriminals to do the work for them.
According to the report, Russian intelligence and special services use human, cyber and signals intelligence — electronic and radio signals — to gather information, including tapping into civilian communication services inside and outside the country.
All Russian communications service providers are required to give the FSB access their networks and information," says the report. Russian authorities force service providers operating in Russia to disclose their decryption keys, while the FSB works to decrypt communications from foreign service providers.
The report also tracks Russia's military activities. Last year, says the report, the Russian military expanded its military build-up along the western border, placing seven new maneuver regiments less than 50 km (31 miles) from the border.
Most units are based near Ukraine and Belarus, but one division, the Pskov Air Assault Division, near the Estonian border "became the first division of Russian Airborne Troops to be reinforced with a third regiment."
"Russian armed forces are preparing for a possible war along a wide front," the report says.
Analyzing Russia's most recent exercises, the report finds that "Russian armed forces are consistently practicing for an extensive military conflict with NATO." Leadership in Russia fears the spread of democracy and Russian armed forces leaders believe a military conflict with NATO will be sparked by a "colored revolution" in one of Russia's neighboring countries, in other words Western intelligence services encouraging democratic uprisings.
If crisis breaks out, Russia is most likely to attack the Baltic States first, but a conflict between Russia and NATO would involve attacks on Western Europe, says the report.
Vladimir Putin continues to focus attention on Belarus and moving both the leadership and population closer to Russia and away from any western influences, according to the report. "If anything unexpected should happen to President Alyaksandr Lukashenka personally or to his regime, there will be a great risk of swift military action by Russia to prevent Belarus from becoming a pro-Western democracy," the report finds.
A new trend identified by the report is the Russian state enlisting civilian ships and vessels to carry out activities on behalf of the government. The report identities "provocative behavior" of Russian civilian ships, including entering territorial waters without permission and carrying out research on a nation's submarine communication's networks. Shipowners and crews must at all times be ready to perform national assignments, regardless of geographical location, the report warns.
"The Russian civilian fleet and its activities are a potential security threat," it says. "More attention should be paid to Russian civilian vessels sailing under the Russian flag."
For the complete Estonian report click here.
For the complete Estonian report click here.
March 13, 2019
Britain - Brexit: British MPs reject Brexit deal by 391 to 242 despite May securing changes to backstop - by Alice Tidey & Rachael Kennedy
British lawmakers on Tuesday rejected May's Brexit deal for a second time with 391 votes against, 242 in favour.
MPs first rejected the deal on January 14 by a margin of 230, handing May the worst defeat of any sitting government in British parliamentary history.
The prime minister said immediately after the vote that MPs now face "an unenviable choice" and said she still believes that her deal is the best and only deal available.
May said if lawmakers backed a no-deal Brexit on Wednesday, it would become government policy.
A division list released by the Commons website shows that 75 Conservative MPs rebelled against May.
They were joined by 232 Labour MPs, 17 independent MPs, and every single MPs from Scotland's National party (35), the Liberal Democrats (11) and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (10)
Bottom ine: the Brexit deal is clearly dead - and to make any sense of what the British really want, specially now the British Public has become more familiar with what breaking away from the EU and the Common Market would eventually mean to the economy and them, and the danger of becoming totally subservient to the US, is to have a second referendum.
This is the only way to stop this chaos, after the political establishment totally failed the people. It is high time to put the control of the future of Britain back in the hands of the British people, before the country implodes.
Read more: British MPs reject Brexit deal by 391 to 242 despite May securing changes to backstop | Euronews
MPs first rejected the deal on January 14 by a margin of 230, handing May the worst defeat of any sitting government in British parliamentary history.
The prime minister said immediately after the vote that MPs now face "an unenviable choice" and said she still believes that her deal is the best and only deal available.
May said if lawmakers backed a no-deal Brexit on Wednesday, it would become government policy.
A division list released by the Commons website shows that 75 Conservative MPs rebelled against May.
They were joined by 232 Labour MPs, 17 independent MPs, and every single MPs from Scotland's National party (35), the Liberal Democrats (11) and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (10)
Bottom ine: the Brexit deal is clearly dead - and to make any sense of what the British really want, specially now the British Public has become more familiar with what breaking away from the EU and the Common Market would eventually mean to the economy and them, and the danger of becoming totally subservient to the US, is to have a second referendum.
This is the only way to stop this chaos, after the political establishment totally failed the people. It is high time to put the control of the future of Britain back in the hands of the British people, before the country implodes.
Read more: British MPs reject Brexit deal by 391 to 242 despite May securing changes to backstop | Euronews
March 11, 2019
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