# entry

guid: https://matthewehret.substack.com/p/breaking-history-ep-89-why-nato-bombed
title: Breaking History Ep 89: Why NATO bombed the Balkans (guest: Joaquin Flores)
author: ;Matthew Ehret
link: https://matthewehret.substack.com/p/breaking-history-ep-89-why-nato-bombed
hash: [��� �&d�52�n
content:
[unable to retrieve full-text content]26 years ago, a bombing campaign was launched by NATO onto Yugoslavia as part of a much larger and insidious ‘End of History’ program designed to break up the world into micro ethno-national regions unified only by local tribalism, and mutual animosity toward neighboring regions.

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c9c54555-2541-487f-88c4-64166bcd9b1e_1202x662.png","type":"image/jpeg"}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614862-volgograd-stalingrad-zyuganov-communist/
title: Russian communists want Stalingrad back
author: ;RT
hash: �X9]��\�]c�6��
content:
<p><strong>The people “will understand” its significance if the city of Volgograd reverts to its WWII-era name, Gennady Zyuganov has said</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>The leader of the Russian Communist Party (CPRF), Gennady Zyuganov, has called for the city of Volgograd to be renamed Stalingrad to properly mark the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.</p>
<p>The city, which was known as Stalingrad from 1925 to 1961, became the venue for one of the fiercest battles of WWII, which historians believe changed the course of the conflict in the Soviet Union’s favor and paved the way for the ultimate defeat of the Nazis.</p>
<p>Addressing the Russian parliament on Wednesday, Zyuganov stressed that <em>“we have 80 years of victory ahead of us. I call on everyone once again”</em> to make sure that Volgograd has its <em>“true name”</em> returned to it.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e2c0bc20302736e74bebd7.jpg" alt="Jude Law.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/pop-culture/614749-jude-law-putin-kremlin-wizard/">First PHOTOS of Jude Law as Putin emerge</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>If the city of 860,000 is not re-branded as Stalingrad before May 9, when Victory Day is celebrated in Russia, then MPs should fly there and make sure it happens, he insisted.</p>
<p>During World War II, Soviet troops <em>“fought for Stalingrad and got their medals for it too,”</em> the Communist leader explained.</p>
<p>The Russian people <em>“will understand everything”</em> if Stalingrad is back on the map, Zyuganov insisted. <em>“We must mark this holiday properly,”</em> he added.</p>
<p>Volgograd was originally called Tsaritsyn, taking its name from the island where Russian troops built a fort during the 16th century. Due to the name’s association with the monarchy, the Bolshevik government rebranded the city in honor of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1925. </p>

             
    <p>
        <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614852-zelensky-hatred-russians-office/">
            <span>READ MORE: </span>Zelensky speaks of ‘hatred of Russians’
        </a>
    </p>


    

<p>The USSR’s next leader, Nikita Khrushchev, changed the name to Volgograd after the nearby Volga river in 1961 as part of his <em>“de-Stalinization”</em> campaign. Since 1991, multiple petitions have been launched to revert the name to either Tsaritsyn or Stalingrad.</p>
<p>There have been at least two big campaigns to restore the name Stalingrad. One was spearheaded by the Communist Party in 2013, while another emerged in 2021 and was backed by the party ‘A Just Russia – For Truth’. Over the past decade, Volgograd has used the name during events commemorating war victims as a token of respect.</p>
<p>A 2023 study by state-owned pollster VTSIOM showed some 67% of the city’s residents were skeptical of the name change and wanted to keep living in Volgograd.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614862-volgograd-stalingrad-zyuganov-communist/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e55e85203027792e75845a.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: yt:video:KCPG7fUZ8YE
title: COL. Douglas Macgregor : Readying For War With Iran.
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCPG7fUZ8YE
hash: *����!��\�;�s
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/KCPG7fUZ8YE?version=3","title":"COL. Douglas Macgregor  :  Readying For War With Iran.","description":"COL. Douglas Macgregor  :  Readying For War With Iran.","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/KCPG7fUZ8YE/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: yt:video:MSAIhTdefHI
title: Lyndon LaRouche and the American System of Political Economy
author: ;The LaRouche Organization
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSAIhTdefHI
hash: 3V�������eP��E
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/MSAIhTdefHI?version=3","title":"Lyndon LaRouche and the American System of Political Economy","description":"With the second phone call between Presidents Trump and Putin, what appeared to have been impossible under the murderous Biden Administration, is now underway: diplomacy. Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche welcomed this development for two reasons: One that it &quot;opens the way to ending the war in Ukraine,&quot; and secondly, &quot;there is a high probability that the two largest nuclear powers will be able to open a completely new chapter in cooperation.&quot;\n\nMs. LaRouche also warned about the harmful potential intervention of &quot;third forces&quot; who would seek to undermine the presidents' efforts to establish a lasting peace in Europe.\n\nWhat are those &quot;third forces?&quot;\n\nBesides the obvious howling and gnashing of teeth coming from European so-called &quot;leaders,&quot; like Macron and Starmer, and Kaja Kallas, the unseen threat is, not surprisingly, the MOST menacing, and that threat is the impending blow out of the entire transatlantic monetary and financial system, which the British have even threatened to willfully detonate if they can't bring President Trump back into the lemming-like fold.\n\nLyndon LaRouche was the foremost economic forecaster on the planet for many decades, and had the best understanding of anyone I ever encountered of how the United States actually became the industrial powerhouse of the world, at least until recently. (Hint: It wasn't slavery!) The actual principles of the American System, which guided the organizers of the American Revolution are key, and this is what we will be discussing on Saturday.\n\n✅Become a member of the LaRouche Organization ➜ https://laroucheorganization.nationbuilder.com/tlo-membership \n\n✅ Subscribe to EIR News Service ➜ https://eir.news\n\n💥 Follow us on: \nYouTube ➜ https://www.youtube.com/@LaRoucheOrganization\nTwitter ➜ https://twitter.com/HarleySchlanger\nFacebook➜  https://www.facebook.com/LaRoucheOrg\n\n📖 Read the Collected Works of Lyndon LaRouche 👉🏻 https://www.larouchelegacyfoundation.org/collected-works\n\n🚀Donate to the LaRouche Organization ➡ https://laroucheorganization.nationbuilder.com/donate 🚀","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i2.ytimg.com/vi/MSAIhTdefHI/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/news/614868-interpol-republika-srpska-arrest-warrants/
title: Interpol considering arrest warrants for Serb leaders – media
author: ;RT
hash: :-*���)���͹qC�
content:
<p><strong>Republika Srpska’s Milorad Dodik and Nenad Stevandic have reportedly been accused of violating the constitutional order in Bosnia and Herzegovina</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>Interpol has reportedly issued international arrest warrants for the president and the parliament speaker of Republika Srpska - a Serb-majority region within Bosnia and Herzegovina - the Serbian ‘Politika’ newspaper reported on Thursday.</p>
<p>According to the outlet, President Milorad Dodik and Speaker Nenad Stevandic have been accused of attacking the constitutional order and violating the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.</p>
<p>While the arrest warrants have been distributed to Interpol member states by the organisation’s Balkan office, they have not been approved by the Interpol General Secretariat, Politika noted.</p>
<p>Following a brutal civil war Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided into two self-governing entities, the ethnically Serbian Republika Srpska and a federation run by Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) and Croats, under the US-brokered 1995 Dayton Agreement. The country is ruled by a three-member presidency – a Bosniak, a Serb, and a Croat.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, Bosnian prosecutors issued arrest warrants for Dodik, Stevandic as well as Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic, accusing them of launching an <em>“attack on the constitutional order”</em> by enacting laws that restrict the operations of Bosnia’s state-level judiciary and law enforcement agencies.</p>
<p>A Sarajevo-based court sentenced Dodik to one year in prison last month for obstructing decisions made by Bosnia’s constitutional court and defying the authority of international envoy, German national Christian Schmidt.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.02/thumbnail/67bf63a785f540149f5dd7cd.jpg" alt="Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban @ Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press via Getty Images">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/613361-viktor-orban-milorad-dodik-conviction/">Orban blasts conviction of Bosnian Serb leader</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>Dodik has claimed that the charges against him are politically motivated and said he would reject the court’s decision and prohibit the enforcement of its rulings on the territory of Republika Srpska.</p>
<p>The cases against Dodik have also sparked a backlash in neighboring Serbia, whose Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin asserted that Belgrade would prevent the detention of Republika Srpska’s top officials and described Sarajevo’s moves as a <em>“continuous attempt at revenge”</em> against Dodik and the Serbian people.</p>
<p>Moscow has also denounced Dodik’s conviction, calling it an <em>“absolutely political”</em> decision by the Bosnia and Herzegovina judiciary based on a <em>“pseudo-law”</em> pushed through by Schmidt.</p>
<p><em>“These actions could lead to destabilization,”</em> Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned, stressing that such steps could have <em>“very negative consequences not just for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but for the Balkans as a whole.”</em></p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/news/614868-interpol-republika-srpska-arrest-warrants/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e56e28203027121263d15d.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: yt:video:6lAMs5eRG0s
title: NTSB Chair on 15,000 Close Proximity Events at DCA from 2021 to 2024
author: ;C-SPAN
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lAMs5eRG0s
hash: o�"-}�2�I�x\,� M
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/6lAMs5eRG0s?version=3","title":"NTSB Chair on 15,000 Close Proximity Events at DCA from 2021 to 2024","description":"NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy: &quot;Between October 2021 and December 2024 there were over 15,000 close proximity events between commercial aircraft and helicopters at DCA.&quot; Full video here: https://www.c-span.org/event/senate-committee/transportation-officials-testify-on-dc-midair-collision/431685\n\nDownload the FREE C-SPAN Now App. https://www.c-span.org/c-spanNow/\n\nDiscover the C-SPAN Video Library at https://www.c-span.org/quickguide/\n\nExplore C-SPAN's Free Educational Resources at https://www.c-span.org/classroom/\n\nC-SPAN: Created by Cable in 1979. Offered as a public service.\n\nSupport C-SPAN by Donating Today: https://donorbox.org/support-c-span?utm_source=YouTube&amp;utm_medium=Video_Description&amp;utm_campaign=Donations&amp;utm_content=Donate\n\nSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CSPAN \n\nFollow us:\nFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSPAN\nTwitter: https://twitter.com/cspan\nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/cspan/\n\nSubscribe:\nC-SPAN Podcasts: https://www.c-span.org/podcasts/\nNewsletters: https://www.c-span.org/connect/\nVisit the C-SPAN Shop: https://c-spanshop.org/\n#cspan","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/6lAMs5eRG0s/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://consortiumnews.com/?p=126165
title: The Hate Group Helping Trump Deport Israel’s Critics
author: ;corinna barnard
link: https://consortiumnews.com/2025/03/27/the-hate-group-helping-trump-deport-israels-critics/
hash: �n�OԀ���� ��b
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<div data-lg-action="show" data-sm-action="show" data-sm-width="768" data-ga="share_icons" data-ga-action="share" data-ga-link="https://consortiumnews.com/2025/03/27/the-hate-group-helping-trump-deport-israels-critics/" data-sanitized-class="wp-socializer wpsr-share-icons">
<div data-sanitized-class="wpsr-si-inner">
<div data-sanitized-class="wpsr-counter wpsrc-sz-32px"><small data-sanitized-class="stext">Shares</small></div>
<div data-sanitized-class="socializer sr-popup sr-count-1 sr-count-1 sr-32px sr-circle sr-opacity sr-pad"><span data-sanitized-class="sr-facebook"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-x"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-bluesky"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-telegram"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-pinterest"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-print"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-pdf"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-email"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-share-menu"></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<p><span><strong><span>Far-right Betar U.S. does not shy away from the fascism label, writes Alan MacLeod, and it proudly notes that it frequently carried out terror operations against Arab civilians in Palestine.</span></strong></span><span><span data-sanitized-id="more-126165"></span></span></p>
<div data-sanitized-id="attachment_126180" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-126180" src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/54410114685_ef475f8210_k.jpg" alt width="2048" height="1365" data-sanitized-class="size-full wp-image-126180"><p data-sanitized-id="caption-attachment-126180" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption-text"><span>Demonstrators outside the Immigration, Customs and Enforcement Agency headquarters in Washington, protesting agents’ March 8 seizure of pro-Palestine student organizer Mahmoud Khalil. <span>(Diane Krauthamer, Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)</span></span></p>
</div>
<p><strong><span>By <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/tag/alan-macleod/"><span>Alan MacLeod</span></a></span></strong><br><span><a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/betar-the-far-right-hate-group-helping-trump-deport-israels-critics/289301/"><em>MintPress News</em></a></span></p>
<p><span><span><strong><img decoding="async" src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Alan-Macleod-Bio-150x150-1-100x100.jpg" alt width="100" height="100" data-sanitized-class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-97971">A</strong></span> far-right, pro-Israel group with a history of support for terror and genocide is working closely with the Trump administration, preparing dossiers on thousands of pro-Palestine figures it wants deported from the United States.</span></p>
<p><span>Betar U.S. is known to have had several meetings with senior government officials and has claimed credit for the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the nationwide anti-genocide student <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/professor-columbia-university-scandal-former-israeli-spy/289231/">demonstrations</a> that began at Columbia University last year.</span></p>
<p><span>Ross Glick, the group’s executive director until last month, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/14/israel-betar-deportation-list-trump">noted</a> that he met with a diverse set of influential lawmakers, including Democratic Sen. John Fetterman and aides to Republican Senators Ted Cruz and James Lankford, and that all supported Betar U.S.’ campaign to rid the country of thousands of “terror supporters.”</span></p>
<p><span>Shortly after Glick’s trip to Washington, D.C., Trump signed an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/additional-measures-to-combat-anti-semitism/">executive order</a> titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism” that promises “the removal of resident aliens who violate our laws,” to “quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation” and to “investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.”</span></p>
<p><span>Trump himself announced that Khalil’s arrest, which made worldwide headlines, was “the first of many to come.”</span></p>
<p><span>“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump administration will not tolerate it,” he <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114139222625284782">wrote</a> on Truth Social.</span></p>
<p><span>The 45th and 47th president has also <a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-immigration-marxists-communists-ban-2024-d9a377149926457d1b8b182293d9c86e">stated</a> that he plans to deport “Communists” and “Marxists” from the United States, even those who are citizens. As such, this marks an escalation in government-backed suppression of dissent not seen since the McCarthyist era of the 1940s and 1950s.</span></p>
<p><strong><span>Carrying Out Terror, Supporting Genocide</span></strong></p>
<div data-sanitized-id="attachment_126181" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-126181" src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/7586243248_86e9e36f99_k.jpg" alt width="2048" height="1365" data-sanitized-class="size-full wp-image-126181"><p data-sanitized-id="caption-attachment-126181" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption-text"><span>Glick in 2012. <span>(Iryna Kremin/Flickr/</span></span><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)</a></p>
</div>
<p><span>Betar U.S. <a href="https://betarus.org/">describes</a> itself as a “loud, proud, aggressive and unapologetically Zionist” movement “dedicated to defending Israel’s legitimacy and strengthening the Jewish connection to the land of Israel.” This <a href="https://betarus.org/about/what-we-do/">includes</a> “taking action where others won’t” — a rather ominous phrase, considering the aggressive activities of the Jewish organizations it derides as “passive” and weak.</span></p>
<p><span>Last week, the group appeared to openly attempt to organize an assassination attempt on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories. “Join us to give Francesca a [pager emoji] in London on Tuesday,” it posted online, an apparent reference to the <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/israels-lebanon-assault-hungarian-shell-company-linked-to-deadly-pager-blasts/288315/">September pager attack</a> on  Lebanon carried out by the Israeli military.</span></p>
<p><span>The incident killed dozens of people and injured thousands more civilians, and was widely condemned — even by former C.I.A. Director <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2024/9/23/headlines/ex_cia_director_israels_deadly_pager_attacks_in_lebanon_was_act_of_terrorism">Leon Panetta</a> — as an act of international terrorism.</span></p>
<p><span>Last month, Betar U.S. made a similar threat against Jewish-American writer Peter Beinart. After <em>The New York Times</em> published his article criticizing the State of Israel, Betar put out a <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2025-02-04/ty-article/.premium/hes-a-traitor-right-wing-group-targets-jewish-american-author-over-israel-criticism/00000194-d1ef-df91-ab95-ffefc1f60000">statement</a> reading, “We urge all Jews on the Upper West Side to give Peter Beinart a [three pager emojis]. He is a traitor, a kapo, and we must oppose him.” Thus, Betar not only smeared him as a Nazi collaborator (Kapo) and called for his assassination but also appeared to reveal Beinart’s home location.</span></p>
<p><span>[Related: <em><a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2025/02/03/abandoning-the-role-of-conqueror/">Abandoning the Role of Conqueror</a></em>]</span></p>
<p><span>A similar incident involved political scientist Norman Finkelstein. In an effort to intimidate him into silence, a Betar member slipped a pager into his coat pocket, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/onepathnetwork/reel/DFrDNfNy8kT/">filming</a> the incident. After Finkelstein refused to stop speaking out against injustice in the Middle East, last weekend, the group <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgWRh0ad5YI">attempted</a> to break up his public event in Washington, D.C.</span></p>
<p><span>Perhaps most outrageously, Betar has also publicly placed a bounty on the head of Palestinian-American activist Nerdeen Kiswani, <a href="https://x.com/caitoz/status/1903913477246431517">telling</a> her that, “You hate America, you hate Jews, and we are here and won’t be silent. $1,800 to anyone who hands that jihadi a beeper,” and later repeating the offer.</span></p>
<p><span>After worldwide pushback, the organization has deleted its posts calling for political killings of international officials and U.S. citizens.</span></p>
<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Pretty wild how terrorists are allowed to just openly incite and incentivize acts of terrorism on this platform now. <a href="https://t.co/D9aDpMY6yB">https://t.co/D9aDpMY6yB</a> <a href="https://t.co/miBCoMdBKA">pic.twitter.com/miBCoMdBKA</a></p>
<p>— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) <a href="https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1903913477246431517?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2025</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p><span>In addition, Betar has regularly attempted to intimidate or shut down movements or gatherings protesting Israeli crimes. At a student event at UCLA, Betar publicly stated, “We demand police remove these thugs now and if not we will be forced to organize groups of Jews to do so.”</span></p>
<p><span>In January, it tried to break up a New York City vigil for Hind Rajab, a 5-year-old Palestinian girl brutally murdered by Israeli forces. Betar members filmed the event, telling attendees they were with Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) and using facial recognition technology to obtain their identities, which would subsequently be used to deport them.</span></p>
<p><span>In recent weeks, Betar members have also <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/explainers/betar-who-is-far-right-jewish-american-group-blood-gaza">chanted</a> hate speech outside a Bangladeshi mosque in New York City and <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/new-york-real-estate-expo-stolen-land-sale-palestine-descends-violence">attacked</a> people who protested the illegal sale of Occupied West Bank land at an auction in Brooklyn.</span></p>
<p><span>That Betar is a hate group is barely in question. Even notoriously pro-Israel groups such as the Anti-Defamation League (an organization the F.B.I. once <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/adl-data-rise-anti-semitism-doesnt-add-up/286268/">noted</a> was almost certainly being bankrolled by the Israeli government) have included it in its list of extremist hate organizations.</span></p>
<p><span>The ADL <a href="https://extremismterms.adl.org/glossary/betar-usa">notes</a> that Betar uses the fascist <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/kahanist-extremists-take-power-new-government-israel/282734/">Kahanist</a> slogan, “For every Jew, a .22” (meaning Jews should be armed with .22 rifles) and has indicated it wishes to work with the Proud Boys, a far-right American gang.</span></p>
<p><span>Betar <a href="https://stljewishlight.org/world-news/zionist-group-betar-us-jews-fight-back/">frequently</a> revels in violence against civilian populations and calls for genocide against Palestinians.</span></p>
<p><span>“Fuck your ceasefire!!  Turn Gaza to rubble!!” they <a href="https://x.com/Betar_USA/status/1892611426390364362">announced</a> last month. “Betar firmly supports the plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza,” they <a href="https://x.com/Betar_USA/status/1890209274829369707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1890209274829369707%7Ctwgr%5Efea2a1f530e215622c73191c3e8c62eba5889058%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Felectronicintifada.net%2Fblogs%2Fali-abunimah%2Fgroup-claiming-credit-mahmoud-khalil-arrest-demanded-blood-gaza-babies">added</a>. In response to a post detailing the vast numbers of Palestinian babies killed since Oct.7, 2023, it <a href="https://x.com/propvstruth/status/1899551717483806741">replied</a>, “Not enough. We demand blood in Gaza!”</span></p>
<p><strong><span>A Fascist Paramilitary – But Jewish</span></strong></p>
<div data-sanitized-id="attachment_126170" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-126170" src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Jabotinsky.job_.jpg" alt width="1120" height="688" data-sanitized-class=" wp-image-126170"><p data-sanitized-id="caption-attachment-126170" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption-text"><span>Zeev Jabotinsky, bottom right, circa 1939, meeting with Betar leaders in Warsaw. Bottom left Menachem Begin. <span>(Wikimedia Commons/Public domain)</span></span></p>
</div>
<p><span>Betar traces its origins back over 100 years. The group was founded by early Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky as a far-right paramilitary force, one that explicitly stood against the leftist Jewish groups who dominated at a time when “Jewish” and “socialist” were seen by many as virtually synonymous.</span></p>
<p><span>Jabotinsky believed that establishing a state in Palestine would require the creation of what he called a “new Jew,” one that would be willing to fight and die for Zionism. To this end, Betar was established as a fighting organization and received generous funding from conservative benefactors.</span></p>
<p><span>Jabotinsky instructed members to swear an oath to the unborn Israel: “I devote my life to the rebirth of the Jewish State, with a Jewish majority, on both sides of the Jordan.” The creation of such a state, therefore, would require the mass extermination or expulsion of the region’s native inhabitants.</span></p>
<p><span>Betar’s formal name was Brit Yosef Trumpeldor, named after a Jewish settler who was killed in 1920 in an early firefight with Palestinians over disputed land. It was exactly men like Trumpeldor who Jabotinsky believed were necessary in order to win, in contrast to the majority of European Jews, who he saw as passive and weak.</span></p>
<p><span>Europe in the 1920s was a time of rising anti-semitism, and despite their inherent anti-Jewish nature, many conservative Jews admired the discipline and organization of fascist paramilitaries such as Hitler’s Brownshirts. Betar was modeled on these groups, with Jabotinsky believing the Zionist project’s success was dependent on the establishment of such organizations. </span></p>
<p><span><span>[See: ‘</span><span><span><em><a href="https://revolutionsnewsstand.com/2023/10/27/brown-shirts-in-zion-by-robert-gessner-from-new-masses-vol-14-no-8-february-19-1935/">Brown Shirts in Zion’ by Robert Gessner from</a></em> <a href="https://revolutionsnewsstand.com/2023/10/27/brown-shirts-in-zion-by-robert-gessner-from-new-masses-vol-14-no-8-february-19-1935/">New Masses</a><em><a href="https://revolutionsnewsstand.com/2023/10/27/brown-shirts-in-zion-by-robert-gessner-from-new-masses-vol-14-no-8-february-19-1935/">, 1935</a>]</em></span></span></span></p>
<div data-sanitized-id="attachment_126175" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-126175" src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Bundesarchiv_Bild_147-0503_Nurnberg_Horst_Wessel_mit_SA-Sturm.jpg" alt width="800" height="544" data-sanitized-class="size-full wp-image-126175"><p data-sanitized-id="caption-attachment-126175" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption-text"><span>The Sturmabteilung, or SA unit, also known as Brown Shirts, in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1929. <span>(Bundesarchiv/ Wikimedia Commons/ <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-sanitized-class="mw-mmv-license">CC BY-SA 3.0 de)</a><br></span></span></p>
</div>
<p><span>Because of their anti-communist, anti-worker outlook, conservative money flooded into Betar, helping it become one of the largest and most influential Jewish organizations by the 1930s, with membership rising to around 70,000 people.</span></p>
<p><span>Betar leaders would go on to become key figures in Israeli politics. These included Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzchak Shamir, as well as Benzion Netanyahu, the father of current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.</span></p>
<p><span>While this depiction of Betar as a fascist terrorist group might sound biased or one-sided, much of this information comes directly from the organization itself.</span></p>
<p><span>On its official website’s “Our History” section, Betar <a href="https://archive.ph/1l3gA">writes</a> (emphasis added):</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p><span>“Betar thus became an incubator for the development of right-wing Zionist ideas and its supporters were sometimes referred to as ‘Jewish Fascists.’ In Palestine, Betar members facilitated illegal Jewish immigration and were active instigators of disturbances and violence, frequently bombing Arab civilian areas in response to attacks and waging guerilla [sic] warfare against the British.”</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>Thus, the organization does not shy away from the fascism label, and it proudly notes that it “frequently” carried out terror operations against Arab civilians in Palestine. (At some point in the past week, after it began receiving increased scrutiny for its connections to the Trump administration, Betar has removed both the “fascist” moniker and the boast about bombing Arabs, but the original page can still be viewed via the <a href="https://archive.ph/1l3gA">Internet Archive</a>.</span></p>
<p><span>Since Oct. 7, 2023, Betar has greatly upped its presence in the United States, thanks to far-right Israeli-American businessman Ronn Torossian and Executive Director Ross Glick.</span></p>
<p><span>In July 2024, it successfully applied for tax-exempt nonprofit status, meaning it is classified by the government as a charity.</span></p>
<p><span>“Since our revival in 2024, Betar has made a powerful impact across the U.S. and is just getting started. We are recruiting, developing, and empowering Jews to become unapologetic Zionist leaders — defending Israel on campuses, in communities, and across all platforms,” Betar writes. Yet an <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/group-claiming-credit-mahmoud-khalil-arrest-demanded-blood-gaza-babies">investigation</a> by <em>The Electronic Intifada</em> suggests that Betar might have been illegally fundraising.</span></p>
<p><span>The same report notes that Glick has faced <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/02/25/the-disturbing-story-behind-nycs-revenge-porn-perpetrators/">serious allegations</a> of sex crimes. In 2019, his former girlfriend found nude images of herself posted on her company’s official Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter pages. Glick was arrested and charged with unlawful use of a computer and unlawfully posting the lewd pictures. He pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment, a violation, and paid a fine.</span></p>
<p><span>Commentators across the political spectrum agree that the Trump administration is pushing the United States in a rightward direction, in the process running roughshod over constitutional protections and guarantees. In doing so, they have found allies in many controversial groups. That such a small and new movement like Betar U.S. already enjoys such influence within the White House has already raised eyebrows. And given Israel’s determination to continue its genocidal campaigns against its neighbors —and Trump’s limitless support for its ally — it appears likely that Betar’s will grow under the current administration.</span></p>
<p><span>If this is the case, that is bad news for those who value the right to speak freely and to protest. It is therefore crucial that this group be understood and scrutinized rather than be allowed to operate in the shadows behind closed doors.</span></p>
<p><span><a href="https://twitter.com/AlanRMacLeod" rel="noopener"><strong>Alan MacLeod</strong></a> <strong>is senior staff writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: <em><a href="https://www.routledge.com/Bad-News-from-Venezuela-Twenty-years-of-fake-news-and-misreporting/Macleod/p/book/9781138489233" rel="noopener">Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting</a></em> and <em><a href="https://www.routledge.com/Propaganda-in-the-Information-Age-Still-Manufacturing-Consent-1st-Edition/MacLeod/p/book/9781138366404?fbclid=IwAR2xQQWJd98C25wapG4ynmlEnGvL5wxG_mp5RwpBwtwPDxInjNZ1Oo7KD-E" rel="noopener">Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent</a></em>, as well as <a href="https://journalcontent.mediatheoryjournal.org/index.php/mt/article/view/65/56" rel="noopener">a</a> <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0306396818823639#articleShareContainer" rel="noopener">number</a> <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/blar.12940" rel="noopener">of</a> <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2018.00064/full" rel="noopener">academic</a> <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0896920518820934" rel="noopener">articles</a>. He has also contributed to <a href="https://fair.org/author/alan-macleod/" rel="noopener">FAIR.org</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/alan-macleod" rel="noopener"><em>The Guardian</em></a><em>, <a href="https://www.salon.com/writer/alan-macleod" rel="noopener">Salon</a>, <a href="https://thegrayzone.com/author/alan-macleod/" rel="noopener">The Grayzone</a>, <a href="https://jacobinmag.com/author/alan-macleod" rel="noopener">Jacobin Magazine</a></em>, and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/author/alan-macleod" rel="noopener"><em>Common Dreams</em></a>.</strong></span></p>
<p><em><span>This article is from MPN.news, an award winning investigative newsroom.  Sign up for their <a href="http://mintpress.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=3b33b8b02bdc833e727219156&amp;id=51e062931b" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">newsletter</a>.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span>Views expressed in this article and may or may not reflect those of</span></em> <span><strong>Consortium News.</strong></span></p>

tags:
#Commentary #Gaza #Genocide #Militarism #Palestine #Protests #Trump Administration #U.S. #: Alan MacLeod #Betar Movement #Betar U.S. #Columbia University #Mahmoud Khalil #Nerdeen Kiswani #Norman Finkelstein #Peter Beinart #Ross Glick


guid: https://www.rt.com/news/614853-trump-signal-leak-houthis/
title: Signal leak a ‘witch hunt’ – Trump
author: ;RT
hash: wN��83ɋ:)Z���F�
content:
<p><strong>The messaging app could be ‘defective’, the US president has claimed in response to the Yemen bombing chat leak</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>US President Donald Trump has cast doubt on the Signal messaging platform following the leak of a private conversation among senior members of his administration about military strikes in Yemen. He has dismissed the media response to the episode as a <em>“witch hunt.”</em></p>
<p>The Trump administration confirmed this week that a journalist had been mistakenly added to a private chat on Signal discussing a planned attack on Houthi militants. The US launched large-scale airstrikes on March 15 in the Yemeni capital Sanaa and the northern province Saada, reportedly killing dozens, in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping.</p>
<p>Asked by reporters on Wednesday about the leak, Trump said he was not concerned, insisting that <em>“there was no harm done, because the attack was unbelievably successful.”</em></p>
<p>He dismissed the media’s interest as <em>“a witch hunt,”</em> accusing journalists of exaggerating the situation after a question about whether the administration was downplaying the scandal.<br><em></em></p>
<p><em>“I think Signal could be defective, to be honest with you,”</em> Trump said. <em>“We use Signal, and everybody uses Signal, but it could be a defective platform, and we’re gonna have to find that out,”</em> he added.</p>
<p>On Monday, The Atlantic magazine published a report by editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealing a discussion among senior administration officials about military strategy for targeting the Houthis. Goldberg said he gained access to a Signal group chat from a user identified as <em>“Mike Waltz.”</em> </p>
<p>The chat, titled <em>“Houthi PC small group,”</em> reportedly included Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and other cabinet officials. The group had been engaged in what The Atlantic described as a <em>“fascinating policy discussion”</em> in the days leading up to Trump’s order for the strikes.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e40f7985f5401fc210a052.jpg" alt="US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614816-waltz-yemen-leak-responsibility/">Waltz admits adding journalist to Yemen bombing chat</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>Following the White House’s denial that any classified information was leaked, The Atlantic released additional screenshots on Wednesday. Hegseth has insisted that <em>“nobody was texting war plans.”</em></p>
<p>Asked whether the leaked material was classified, Trump replied: <em>“Well, that’s what I’ve heard. I don’t know[.]”</em></p>
<p>National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has taken <em>“full responsibility”</em> for the incident, calling it <em>“embarrassing”</em> in a Fox News interview on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Trump defended Waltz amid calls for his resignation, telling reporters <em>“I guess he said he claimed responsibility.”</em> </p>
<p>He also rejected speculation about Hegseth’s future, stating the defense secretary <em>“had nothing to do with this”</em> and that he is doing an <em>“excellent job.”</em></p>
<p>Signal dismissed media reports of possible <em>“vulnerabilities”</em> on Tuesday, calling its software <em>“the gold standard for private, secure communications.”</em></p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/news/614853-trump-signal-leak-houthis/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e56ae1203027117148b984.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: yt:video:q181ThCI-dU
title: Rep. Tom Tiffany on Republican Efforts to Advance Trump Administration Agenda
author: ;C-SPAN
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q181ThCI-dU
hash: o@�arJ]�IL��^�,
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/q181ThCI-dU?version=3","title":"Rep. Tom Tiffany on Republican Efforts to Advance Trump Administration Agenda","description":"Representative Tom Tiffany (R-WI), a member of the Judiciary Committee and Freedom Caucus, talked about news of the day and Republican efforts to advance the Trump administration agenda. https://www.c-span.org/program/washington-journal/rep-tom-tiffany-on-republican-efforts-to-advance-trump-administration-agenda/657760\n\n\nDownload the FREE C-SPAN Now App. https://www.c-span.org/c-spanNow/\n\nDiscover the C-SPAN Video Library at https://www.c-span.org/quickguide/\n\nExplore C-SPAN's Free Educational Resources at https://www.c-span.org/classroom/\n\nC-SPAN: Created by Cable in 1979. Offered as a public service.\n\nSupport C-SPAN by Donating Today: https://donorbox.org/support-c-span?utm_source=YouTube&amp;utm_medium=Video_Description&amp;utm_campaign=Donations&amp;utm_content=Donate\n\nSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CSPAN \n\nFollow us:\nFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSPAN\nTwitter: https://twitter.com/cspan\nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/cspan/\n\nSubscribe:\nC-SPAN Podcasts: https://www.c-span.org/podcasts/\nNewsletters: https://www.c-span.org/connect/\nVisit the C-SPAN Shop: https://c-spanshop.org/\n#cspan","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i2.ytimg.com/vi/q181ThCI-dU/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: yt:video:Q3psU2nfuNo
title: Richard D. Wolff and Michael Hudson: Russia Has No Choice: Defend Iran or Lose Big?
author: ;Dialogue Works
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3psU2nfuNo
hash: D~ ���d�}��>Y��
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/Q3psU2nfuNo?version=3","title":"Richard D. Wolff and Michael Hudson: Russia Has No Choice: Defend Iran or Lose Big?","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i2.ytimg.com/vi/Q3psU2nfuNo/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: yt:video:iTwZsO5R0zE
title: Rep. Ed Case on Democratic Party Divisions and Trump Administration Agenda
author: ;C-SPAN
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTwZsO5R0zE
hash: ��f��,�Q���*
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/iTwZsO5R0zE?version=3","title":"Rep. Ed Case on Democratic Party Divisions and Trump Administration Agenda","description":"Representative Ed Case (D-HI), a member of the Appropriations Committee, talked about Democratic Party divisions and the approach to counter Republicans and the Trump administration. Full video here: https://www.c-span.org/program/washington-journal/rep-ed-case-on-democratic-party-divisions-and-trump-administration-agenda/657758\n\nDownload the FREE C-SPAN Now App. https://www.c-span.org/c-spanNow/\n\nDiscover the C-SPAN Video Library at https://www.c-span.org/quickguide/\n\nExplore C-SPAN's Free Educational Resources at https://www.c-span.org/classroom/\n\nC-SPAN: Created by Cable in 1979. Offered as a public service.\n\nSupport C-SPAN by Donating Today: https://donorbox.org/support-c-span?utm_source=YouTube&amp;utm_medium=Video_Description&amp;utm_campaign=Donations&amp;utm_content=Donate\n\nSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CSPAN \n\nFollow us:\nFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSPAN\nTwitter: https://twitter.com/cspan\nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/cspan/\n\nSubscribe:\nC-SPAN Podcasts: https://www.c-span.org/podcasts/\nNewsletters: https://www.c-span.org/connect/\nVisit the C-SPAN Shop: https://c-spanshop.org/\n#cspan","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i2.ytimg.com/vi/iTwZsO5R0zE/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://www.mondialisation.ca/?p=5697280
title: Israël lance un programme pilote visant à expulser 100 Gazaouis vers l’Indonésie
author: ;Quds News
hash: �� ϋ��dǞ��tY
tags: #Francais @fr
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p><strong>Palestine occupée</strong> – Israël a lancé un programme pilote visant à encourager le nettoyage ethnique des Palestiniens de Gaza, qu’Israël a qualifié de <em>“migration volontaire”</em>. Le programme prévoit l’expulsion de 100 Palestiniens de Gaza vers l’Indonésie, ont rapporté mardi …</p>

link:
https://www.mondialisation.ca/israel-lance-un-programme-pilote-visant-a-expulser-100-gazaouis-vers-lindonesie/5697280


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614873-zelensky-trump-envoy-remarks/
title: Zelensky lashes out at Trump envoy
author: ;RT
hash: ����G~U8z�,��o
content:
<p><strong>The Ukrainian leader accused Steve Witkoff of spreading “Kremlin narratives” and “helping” Moscow</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has hit out at US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, accusing him of disseminating <em>“Kremlin narratives.”</em></p>
<p>Zelensky made the remarks on Wednesday in an interview with European broadcasters, including France 2. He accused Witkoff, a key official in opening negotiations on resolving the Ukraine conflict, of taking Moscow’s side and <em>“helping”</em> Russian President Vladimir Putin.</p>
<p><em>“I believe that Witkoff really does quote Kremlin narratives very often. I believe that this will not bring us closer to peace. And I believe that, unfortunately, this will weaken the American pressure on Russia. We can only fix this information backdrop through our actions. We’re trying to do that,”</em> Zelensky stated.</p>
<p><em>“Witkoff’s statements are very much a hindrance to us, because we are fighting Putin and we really do not want him to have many helpers,”</em> he added.</p>
<p>Zelensky was apparently referring to remarks made by Witkoff in a recent interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, during which the special envoy spoke about the status of former Ukrainian territories that have joined Russia, describing the issue as <em>“an elephant in the room”</em> that <em>“no one wants to talk about.”</em></p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67ded92a20302775bf2e1288.jpg" alt="FILE PHOTO.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614636-trump-envoy-largest-issue-ukraine/">Trump envoy names ‘largest issue’ in Ukraine conflict</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p><em>“They’re Russian-speaking. There have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule,”</em> Witkoff said.</p>
<p><em>“The Russians are de facto in control of these territories. The question is: Will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories? Can Zelensky survive politically if he acknowledges this? This is the central issue in the conflict,”</em> he added.</p>
<p>The remarks outraged Kiev, with the head of Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Aleksandr Merezhko, condemning what he called <em>“disgraceful, shocking statements”</em> and urging Washington to dismiss <em>“completely unprofessional”</em> Witkoff from his role.</p>
<p>Witkoff’s statements were welcomed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, however, who suggested that, judging by his remarks, the special envoy had understood the very <em>“essence”</em> of the hostilities between Moscow and Kiev.</p>
<p><em>“I understand Steve Witkoff. He is a clever and energetic person who thinks that everyone should be aware of the things he regards as obvious. Judging by the statements he made during his conversation with Tucker Carlson, the essence of this conflict is clear to him,”</em> Lavrov said in an interview with Russia’s Channel 1 this week.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614873-zelensky-trump-envoy-remarks/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e580f4203027121263d166.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: yt:video:ZQHIDX1lC3k
title: Joe Rogan Experience #2295 - Scott Payne
author: ;PowerfulJRE
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQHIDX1lC3k
hash: ҾԹɒ�m�Z09n 0
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/ZQHIDX1lC3k?version=3","title":"Joe Rogan Experience #2295 - Scott Payne","description":"Scott Payne is a retired FBI Special Agent who spent 28 years in law enforcement investigating cases against drug trafficking organizations, human traffickers, outlaw motorcycle clubs, gangs, public corruption, and domestic terrorists. He is the co-author of the book &quot;Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America’s Nazis&quot; and the subject of the podcast &quot;White Hot Hate: Agent Pale Horse,&quot; both created in collaboration with journalist Michelle Shephard.\n\nhttps://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Code-Name-Pale-Horse/Scott-Payne/9781668032909\nhttps://link.mgln.ai/63oNQg\n\nJoin Visible by visiting https://visible.com/rogan and experience all-digital wireless with nothing to hide, with plans starting at $25/mo.\n\nVisit https://LifeLock.com/JOEROGAN to save up to 40% off.","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/ZQHIDX1lC3k/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614875-arctic-nato-conflict-putin/
title: Putin issues Arctic warning to NATO
author: ;RT
hash: � �!�Uڙ����Ʈ
content:
<p><strong>Russia has never threatened anyone in the area, and will uphold its national interests there, president Putin has said</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>The US-led NATO bloc views the Arctic as a <em>“bridgehead”</em> for future conflicts and is actively training troops to operate in the far north, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.</p>
<p>Speaking at the International Arctic Forum in Murmansk on Thursday, he stated that Russia would do its best to uphold its national interests and sovereignty in the region.</p>
<p>The number of Russian forces deployed in the Arctic is bound to grow to meet the growing challenges there, Putin said.</p>
<p><em>“We are, of course, concerned by the fact that NATO countries as a whole are more frequently designating the far north as a bridgehead for possible conflicts, practicing the use of troops in these conditions, including their new recruits from Finland and Sweden,”</em> he declared.</p>
<p>Moscow has been <em>“closely monitoring”</em> the situation in the region, and has taken <em>“an adequate response approach by increasing the combat capabilities of the armed forces and modernizing military infrastructure facilities,”</em> the president explained.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e581e185f54058983999c5.jpg" alt="Russian President Vladimir Putin">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614874-putin-develop-arctic-cities/">Putin calls for developing cities in Arctic Circle</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p><em>“I would like to emphasize that Russia has never threatened anyone in the Arctic,”</em> he said, adding that Russia will not tolerate any encroachments on its sovereignty and will <em>“reliably protect”</em> its national interests.</p>
<p>Maintaining <em>“peace and stability”</em> in the Arctic is the key to the long-term development of the region, in addition to <em>“improvement of the quality of life of people and preservation of the unique natural environment,”</em> Putin said.</p>
<p><em>“The stronger our positions are, the more significant the results will be,”</em> he stressed.</p>
<p>Russia’s strong posture in the Arctic gives more opportunities to <em>“launch global international projects”</em> there with the participation of <em>“friendly nations,”</em> and potentially with Western states as well. <em>“Should they, of course, show interest in working together, and I am sure that the time for such projects will definitely come,”</em> the president stated.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614875-arctic-nato-conflict-putin/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e58f37203027121263d171.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


title: OPP operation to target damaged, dirty and hidden licence plates
author: ;Staff Reporter
link: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/opp-operation-to-target-damaged-dirty-and-hidden-license-plates
hash: ` ?q~Ļ�|���4�+N
tags: #Local News #News
guid:
tag:ottawacitizen.com,2025-03-27:/news/opp-operation-to-target-damaged-dirty-and-hidden-license-plates/20250327171821

content:
<div data-sanitized-id=""><h2 data-sanitized-class="visually-hidden">Article content</h2>
<p>Ontario Provincial Police in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario are gearing up for a week-long operation targeting licence plate infractions.</p>
<p>Starting Monday, March 31, the force will be on the lookout for plates that are damaged, unreadable, missing and/or obstructed.</p>
<p>Patrol officers say there has been an increase in the number of illegal plate covers in use.</p>
<p>Drivers who have been stopped by police have admitted to buying the plate covers to avoid being detected by the Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras that have been installed in police cruisers.</p>
</div><div data-sanitized-id=""><p>Article content</p>
<p>In addition, the ALPR camera’s abilities are significantly reduced by licence plates that are damaged or have had their reflective colour fade or peel off over time.</p>
<p>Obstructed or unreadable plates also pose a significant safety risk to officers, police said.</p>
<p>Police are unable to obtain proper information checks on the vehicle and driver before conducting a traffic stop. This also reduces the ability of police to follow up with drivers of vehicles that failed to stop for police or are involved in collisions where the driver fails to remain at the scene.</p>
<p>Fines for licence plate violations range from $110 to $170.</p>
<p>The operation concludes April 6.</p>
<section aria-labelledby="moreTopicLabel5977938082393369162864958323556352" data-aqa="embed-more-topic" data-carousel-component data-carousel-icon-button data-carousel-type="list" readability="0.32558139534884" data-sanitized-class="more-topic"><p>Recommended from Editorial</p>
<ol data-carousel-slide-list tabindex="0" data-sanitized-class="more-topic__items list-unstyled"><li data-evt-val='{"control_fields": {"mparticle": {"keys": {"click_source_type": "click_source_type", "data_source": "data_source", "anchor_text": "anchor_text", "widget_title": "widget_title", "target_url": "target_url", "target_article_title": "target_article_title", "target_article_id": "target_article_id", "target_article_position": "target_article_position", "layout_section": "layout_section"}, "mp_event_type": "Navigation", "extra_keys": ["click_vertical_position_percentage", "click_vertical_position_pixels"]}}, "click_source_type": "widget-list", "data_source": "editorial", "anchor_text": "Fairouz Cafe in the ByWard Market to close, replaced by three new food-and-drink businesses", "widget_title": "recommended-from-editorial", "target_url": "https://ottawacitizen.com/news/fairouz-closing-sussex-steakhouse", "target_article_title": "Fairouz Cafe in the ByWard Market to close, replaced by three new food-and-drink businesses", "target_article_id": "315bb623-7836-42cb-9ec9-1fdae4fe9cc1", "target_article_position": "0", "layout_section": "recommended-from-editorial"}' data-carousel-item data-evt="click" data-evt-typ="click" readability="-0" data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item"><a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/news/fairouz-closing-sussex-steakhouse" readability="3"><picture data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item-image"><img alt="Fairouz Cafe in the ByWard Market is closing. Co-owners Tony Garcia (left) and Hussain Ruhal want to open a steakhouse, cocktail bar and burger joint to attract customers with different price points." data-src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ottfoodmar25_294621846.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80&amp;sig=QYGoTMWIZt0htub_elphyw" src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ottfoodmar25_294621846.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=5&amp;sig=CFxnhThoU-SaMof8ehkeRg" height="96" loading="lazy" width="96" data-sanitized-class="lazyload"></picture><p><span data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item-text-clamp">Fairouz Cafe in the ByWard Market to close, replaced by three new food-and-drink businesses</span></p>
</a></li>
<li data-evt-val='{"control_fields": {"mparticle": {"keys": {"click_source_type": "click_source_type", "data_source": "data_source", "anchor_text": "anchor_text", "widget_title": "widget_title", "target_url": "target_url", "target_article_title": "target_article_title", "target_article_id": "target_article_id", "target_article_position": "target_article_position", "layout_section": "layout_section"}, "mp_event_type": "Navigation", "extra_keys": ["click_vertical_position_percentage", "click_vertical_position_pixels"]}}, "click_source_type": "widget-list", "data_source": "editorial", "anchor_text": "Power outage leaves thousands in the dark in West End", "widget_title": "recommended-from-editorial", "target_url": "https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/power-outage-leaves-thousands-in-the-dark-in-west-end", "target_article_title": "Power outage leaves thousands in the dark in West End", "target_article_id": "94075d7e-fb0a-4f62-899b-0ae68c69cd9f", "target_article_position": "1", "layout_section": "recommended-from-editorial"}' data-carousel-item data-evt="click" data-evt-typ="click" readability="0" data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item"><a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/power-outage-leaves-thousands-in-the-dark-in-west-end" readability="2"><picture data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item-image"><img alt="File photo of Hydro Ottawa lineman at work during a power outage." data-src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/20220526em0073_270393658.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80&amp;sig=fvQMLm-COyHFOnBN0xYrFg" src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/20220526em0073_270393658.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=5&amp;sig=O0dJ3p-XoDPiDMzHgwtu8g" height="96" loading="lazy" width="96" data-sanitized-class="lazyload"></picture><p><span data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item-text-clamp">Power outage leaves thousands in the dark in West End</span></p>
</a></li>
</ol></section></div><div data-sanitized-id=""><p>Share this article in your social network</p>
</div>

attributes:
{"thumbnail":{"url":"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/opp-badplates_294649800.jpg"},"enclosures":[]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614874-putin-develop-arctic-cities/
title: Putin calls for developing cities in Arctic Circle
author: ;RT
hash: K�W_vPܥjN&`� 
content:
<p><strong>Speaking at the International Arctic Forum in Murmansk, the president stressed that the region is strategically vital for Russia</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>Russia must continue to develop the Arctic and improve urban environments in the region, President Vladimir Putin has said. He made the remarks at the 6th International Arctic Forum in Murmansk.</p>
<p>Putin reiterated that the region holds great strategic importance for Russia and that there are a number of large-scale and systemic tasks that must be addressed.</p>
<p>”We must strengthen the transport and logistics infrastructure, [and] expand opportunities for the economy and business with the obligatory protection of the sensitive ecosystems of the Arctic,” Putin said.</p>
<p>He further stressed the need to <em>“consistently improve the urban environment and develop settlements in the Far North”</em> and to <em>“generally improve the quality of life”</em> in the region to make living in the Arctic <em>“truly comfortable and attractive.”</em></p>
<p>Putin also called on the participants of the forum to come up with concrete plans for developing the Northern Sea Route to provide its cargo flows with infrastructure and a fleet.</p>
<p>Speaking to RT, Andrey Chibis, the governor of Murmansk Region, also stressed the importance of developing the route as a <em>“long, powerful corridor”</em> and the Arctic territories as the basis for the next <em>“major leap forward for the economy of the future.”</em></p>
<p>This year’s International Arctic Forum is being held under the motto ‘To Live in the North’, which organizers say <em>“not only symbolizes the desire to create a comfortable living environment in the harsh conditions of the North but also underscores the region’s strategic importance.”</em></p>
<p>The forum is also dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the opening of the Northern Sea Route. Over the past nine years, Russia has made considerable progress in modernizing the route, attracting significant investment from countries such as India and China.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614874-putin-develop-arctic-cities/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e581e185f54058983999c5.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: https://consortiumnews.com/?p=126255
title: Thousands Protest ICE Abduction of Tufts Student
author: ;corinna barnard
link: https://consortiumnews.com/2025/03/27/thousands-protest-ice-abduction-of-tufts-student/
hash: 4&?"Iv���'@ ���
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<div data-lg-action="show" data-sm-action="show" data-sm-width="768" data-ga="share_icons" data-ga-action="share" data-ga-link="https://consortiumnews.com/2025/03/27/thousands-protest-ice-abduction-of-tufts-student/" data-sanitized-class="wp-socializer wpsr-share-icons">
<div data-sanitized-class="wpsr-si-inner">
<div data-sanitized-class="wpsr-counter wpsrc-sz-32px"><small data-sanitized-class="stext">Shares</small></div>
<div data-sanitized-class="socializer sr-popup sr-count-1 sr-count-1 sr-32px sr-circle sr-opacity sr-pad"><span data-sanitized-class="sr-facebook"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-x"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-bluesky"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-telegram"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-pinterest"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-print"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-pdf"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-email"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-share-menu"></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<p><strong><span>Rumeysa Ozturk’s supporters</span> <span>turned out Wednesday to denounce ICE’s expanding dragnet against pro-Palestine foreign students.</span></strong> <span data-sanitized-id="more-126255"></span></p>
<div data-sanitized-id="attachment_126267" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-126267" src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/4103727438_436370ba99_c.jpg" alt width="800" height="600" data-sanitized-class="size-full wp-image-126267"><p data-sanitized-id="caption-attachment-126267" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption-text"><span>(Pete Jelliffe/Flickr/CC BY-ND 2.0)</span></p>
</div>
<p><strong><span><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/author/julia-conley">By <span>Julia Conley</span></a></span></strong><br><span><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/michael-waltz-trump"><em>Common Dreams</em></a></span></p>
<p><span><span><strong>A</strong></span>s reports surfaced Wednesday that Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts University Ph.D. student who was abducted by immigration agents off a street in Somerville, Massachusetts, had been <a href="https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2025/03/26/thousands-protest-after-tufts-grad-student-arrested-by-ice-transferred-out-of-state/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taken</a> to a detention center in Louisiana, thousands of people assembled in the Boston-area to demand Ozturk’s release.</span></p>
<p><span>Ozturk was transferred to the South Louisiana Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center despite a court order barring immigration officials from moving her out-of-state without prior notice. Her lawyers <a href="https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2025/03/26/thousands-protest-after-tufts-grad-student-arrested-by-ice-transferred-out-of-state/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared</a> a statement at Powder House Park saying they hadn’t been notified about the Turkish student’s exact whereabouts. They also said her F-1 student visa had been terminated.</span></p>
<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Protesters gathered in Somerville, Massachusetts, on Wednesday to demand the freedom of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts PhD student and Fulbright scholar abducted by ICE agents. She is believed to have been targeted for co-authoring an opinion piece for her student newspaper about Gaza. <a href="https://t.co/Ul6wOGWdyw">pic.twitter.com/Ul6wOGWdyw</a></p>
<p>— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) <a href="https://twitter.com/democracynow/status/1905236650080281055?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2025</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p><span>Organizers wearing keffiyehs, the traditional Palestinian scarf, <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/what-we-know-about-the-case-of-the-tufts-university-student-detained-by-ice/3669105/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Ozturk is the victim of “state-sanctioned political kidnapping” — targeted by ICE and the Trump administration for co-authoring an <a href="https://www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2024/03/4ftk27sm6jkj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">op-ed</a> that criticized Tufts administrators for their “inadequate and dismissive” response to a student demand that the university divest from companies with ties to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/israel">Israel.</a></span></p>
<p><span>Ozturk co-wrote the letter last March, weeks before students at Columbia University led a nationwide campus protest movement against the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/gaza">Gaza</a>, which at the time had <a href="https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-136" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed</a> more than 30,000 Palestinians — the majority of whom were civilians despite repeated claims by the U.S. and Israel that the operation was targeting Hamas.</span></p>
<p><span>Since then, the official Gaza death toll has surged past 50,000, and the Trump administration has cracked down on international students and organizers who participated in anti-Israel protests.</span></p>
<p><span>“She was abducted by armed agents of the state because she dared take a stand against genocide,” said Lea Kayali of the Palestinian Youth Movement at the rally in Somerville. “And even though she may not consider herself an activist, she has more courage in the hand she wrote that article with than all of [President Donald] Trump’s cronies combined.”</span></p>
<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Here is chilling video of Fulbright scholar and Tufts U student Rumeysa Ozturk being snatched by masked ICE agents from the streets of Boston yesterday. Her supposed sin: publishing an article in support of Palestinian rights.</p>
<p>Patently illegal. ??<a href="https://t.co/jEGxTuoZDV">https://t.co/jEGxTuoZDV</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ptvl7ixH5w">pic.twitter.com/Ptvl7ixH5w</a></p>
<p>— Steven Donziger (@SDonziger) <a href="https://twitter.com/SDonziger/status/1905031655846564151?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2025</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p><span>As organizers noted that 370 people have been arrested in the Boston area by ICE in the last week — with officials calling some “collateral” in Trump’s mass deportation campaign — demonstrators chanted, “Free Rumeysa, free them all!” and, “Come for one, face us all!”</span></p>
<p><span>Sen. <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/elizabeth-warren">Elizabeth Warren</a> (D-MA) <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-statement-on-arrest-of-tufts-student" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> Ozturk’s detention “the latest in an alarming pattern to stifle civil liberties.”</span></p>
<p><span>“The Trump administration is targeting students with legal status and ripping people out of their communities without due process,” said Warren. “This is an attack on our Constitution and basic freedoms — and we will push back.”</span></p>
<p><span>Organizers urged attendees to focus on “community building,” not just rallies, in response to ICE’s repeated abductions.</span></p>
<p><span>“I don’t need you to come to any more rallies. I need you to know your neighbors,” said Fatima Ahmad, executive director of the Muslim Justice League. “There is no more time for these rallies and these marches where you say these things and you go home and you wait for another social media post to tell you to come here. You have to get organized.”</span></p>
<p><span>Later Wednesday evening, AL.com <a href="https://www.al.com/news/2025/03/iranian-doctoral-student-at-alabama-university-detained-by-ice.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that ICE’s hunt for international students had reached the University of Alabama (UA). As the student-run newspaper, <em>The Crimson White</em>, <a href="https://thecrimsonwhite.com/120415/news/ua-student-reportedly-detained-by-ice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, Iranian mechanical engineering doctoral student Alireza Doroudi was arrested early Tuesday morning by ICE agents. He was issued an F-1 student visa in January 2023 but had it revoked six months after he arrived in the U.S.</span></p>
<p><span>“After receiving the revocation notice, Alireza immediately contacted ISSS [International Student and Scholar Service] at University of Alabama,” read a message sent in a group chat including Iranian students, according to <em>The Crimson White</em>. “ISSS replied with confidence, stating that his case was not unusual or problematic and that he could remain in the U.S. legally as long as he maintained his student status.”</span></p>
<p><span>The University of Alabama Democrats said in response to Doroudi’s abduction and detention in an undisclosed location, “Our fears have come to pass.”</span></p>
<p><span><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/donald-trump">“Donald Trump</a>, [border czar] Tom Homan, and ICE have struck a cold, vicious dagger through the heart of UA’s international community,” the group <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/university-alabama-doctoral-student-detained-ice-governments-college-c-rcna198320" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “As far as we know right now, ICE is yet to provide any justification for their actions, so we are not sure if this persecution is politically motivated, as has been seen in other universities around the country.”</span></p>
<p><span>The targeting of <a href="https://time.com/7272060/international-students-targeted-trump-ice-detention-deport-campus-palestinian-activism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">foreign students</a> at Columbia, Tufts, Georgetown, and other universities in recent weeks has led to outcry among academics, particularly as the ICE abductions have taken place alongside <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-campus-protests" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threats</a> from the Trump administration to pull funding from schools for not sufficiently cracking down on alleged anti-semitism on campus — which the White House has conflated with calls for Palestinian liberation and opposition to Israel’s U.S.-backed attacks.</span></p>
<div data-sanitized-id="attachment_125512" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-125512" src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Mahmoud_Khalil_NYC_detention_protest_013-scaled.jpg" alt width="2560" height="1703" data-sanitized-class="size-full wp-image-125512"><p data-sanitized-id="caption-attachment-125512" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption-text"><span>New York City protest on March 10 against the detention of Palestinian activist and Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil. <span>(SWinxy / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0)</span></span></p>
</div>
<p><span>More than 600 members of the Harvard University faculty <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/3/27/faculty-letter-condemn-attacks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> a letter to the school’s governing board Wednesday warning that “ongoing attacks on American universities threaten bedrock principles of a democratic society, including rights of free expression, association, and inquiry.” The faculty called on administrators to defy any orders that threaten academic freedom.</span></p>
<p><span>Nearly 1,400 academics have also <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ly9mCidxILVCRsTqSz4YM5mUSrnXLnSMZOEgmUs0DfQ/edit?tab=t.0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> for a boycott of Columbia over its refusal to defend and protect students against Trump’s attacks on pro-Palestinian protesters.</span></p>
<p><span>“We are appalled that Columbia’s leadership has colluded with the authoritarian suppression of its students by fully capitulating to the conditions imposed by the Trump administration for the release of $400 million in grants withdrawn on March 7, and that it did so against the warning issued by constitutional law scholars that this course of action ‘creates a dangerous precedent for every recipient of federal financial assistance,'” reads a letter from supporters of the academic boycott.</span></p>
<p><span>Former Columbia graduate student <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mahmoud Khalil</a> remains in detention in Louisiana after being abducted by plainclothes immigration agents earlier this month for leading negotiations with Columbia regarding divestment from Israel, while Ph.D. candidate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/betar-deportation-list" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ranjani Srinivasan</a> fled the country after her visa was revoked and Columbia unenrolled her.</span></p>
<p><span>Columbia also expelled Grant Miner, a Jewish student and labor leader who occupied a campus building last spring, and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/columbia-protests" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revoked</a> degrees from some student protesters.</span></p>
<p><span>“Universities cannot pretend to hold higher education sacred while repressing students and faculty, undermining free speech and academic freedom, and prohibiting dissent,” reads the letter. “Every such act of craven suppression and compliance only further undermines the university and emboldens the reactionary forces intent on destroying it.”</span></p>
<p><strong><span>Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams.</span></strong></p>
<p><span><em>This article is from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/rumeysa-ozturk">Common Dreams.</a></em> </span></p>

tags:
#Civil Rights #Gaza #Israel #Palestine #Protests #Trump Administration #U.S. #ICE deportations #Julia Conley #Rumeysa Ozturk #Tufts University


guid: yt:video:oglTySQCZLU
title: Secretary Rubio on Detained Turkish student: &quot;We revoked her visa.&quot;
author: ;C-SPAN
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oglTySQCZLU
hash: ��4fT�:��2�y�7��
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/oglTySQCZLU?version=3","title":"Secretary Rubio on Detained Turkish student: &quot;We revoked her visa.&quot;","description":"Secretary of State Marco Rubio on detained Turkish student: &quot;We revoked her visa...We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses. If we've given you a visa and then you decide to do that we're going to take it away.&quot; Full video here: https://www.c-span.org/program/news-conference/secretary-rubio-news-conference-with-guyanese-president/657787\n\nDownload the FREE C-SPAN Now App. https://www.c-span.org/c-spanNow/\n\nDiscover the C-SPAN Video Library at https://www.c-span.org/quickguide/\n\nExplore C-SPAN's Free Educational Resources at https://www.c-span.org/classroom/\n\nC-SPAN: Created by Cable in 1979. Offered as a public service.\n\nSupport C-SPAN by Donating Today: https://donorbox.org/support-c-span?utm_source=YouTube&amp;utm_medium=Video_Description&amp;utm_campaign=Donations&amp;utm_content=Donate\n\nSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CSPAN \n\nFollow us:\nFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSPAN\nTwitter: https://twitter.com/cspan\nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/cspan/\n\nSubscribe:\nC-SPAN Podcasts: https://www.c-span.org/podcasts/\nNewsletters: https://www.c-span.org/connect/\nVisit the C-SPAN Shop: https://c-spanshop.org/\n#cspan","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/oglTySQCZLU/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://consortiumnews.com/?p=126015
title: Losing Academic Freedom
author: ;Elizabeth Vos
link: https://consortiumnews.com/2025/03/27/losing-academic-freedom/
hash: ���hDb��!��X�� u
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<div data-lg-action="show" data-sm-action="show" data-sm-width="768" data-ga="share_icons" data-ga-action="share" data-ga-link="https://consortiumnews.com/2025/03/27/losing-academic-freedom/" data-sanitized-class="wp-socializer wpsr-share-icons">
<div data-sanitized-class="wpsr-si-inner">
<div data-sanitized-class="wpsr-counter wpsrc-sz-32px"><small data-sanitized-class="stext">Shares</small></div>
<div data-sanitized-class="socializer sr-popup sr-count-1 sr-count-1 sr-32px sr-circle sr-opacity sr-pad"><span data-sanitized-class="sr-facebook"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-x"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-bluesky"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-telegram"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-pinterest"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-print"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-pdf"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-email"></span> <span data-sanitized-class="sr-share-menu"></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<p><strong><span><span>The neoliberal university doesn’t need overt censorship, writes <span>Samyuktha Kannan. I</span>t’s perfected the art of silent control. <strong><span>It’s not that one is explicitly told what can’t be written — it’s that over time, one simply learns what is too dangerous to say. </span></strong></span></span></strong></p>
<p><span><span data-sanitized-id="more-126015"></span></span></p>
<div data-sanitized-id="attachment_126050" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-126050" src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-24-at-10.19.45-1.jpeg" alt width="1003" height="1082" data-sanitized-class=" wp-image-126050"><p data-sanitized-id="caption-attachment-126050" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption-text"><span>“Silence,” street mural by Carlos Gomilo. <span>(PXHere, Creative Commons CC0)</span></span></p>
</div>
<p><span><strong>By</strong></span><strong> <span><span>Samyuktha Kannan</span></span><br></strong> <em><span><a href="https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-weight-of-fear-the-silent-erosion-of-academic-freedom/">Z Network</a></span></em></p>
<p><span><strong><span>T</span></strong>here was a time when the university was imagined as a space of intellectual risk, where thought could move freely, unrestricted by the anxieties of power or professional survival. That time is long gone. </span></p>
<p><span>Today, for students and faculty alike, the act of writing — of producing knowledge, of articulating critique — is suffused with fear. Not the productive fear that accompanies intellectual rigor, but the dull ache and exhausting fear of consequence. </span></p>
<p><span>What will this essay, this paper, this published article mean for my future? Will it cost me a job? A fellowship? A visa? Will it mark me, quietly and irrevocably, as a threat?</span></p>
<p><span>I remember drafting an abstract for a Marxist conference in Berlin, excited by the possibility of engaging with ideas beyond the sanitized limits of our classrooms. It was a small act — writing a 300-word abstract and submitting — but one that felt, for once, intellectually honest. </span></p>
<p><span>A faculty member, someone I trusted, pulled me aside. Their warning was not unkind. It was pragmatic, even protective: “You have postgrad applications coming up in a few months. Why invite the wrong kind of attention?”</span></p>
<p><span>I nodded, understanding what was left unsaid. A line on my CV, a question in an admissions interview, an invisible mark against my name — were risks worth taking? The abstract was never sent. But I realised my mistake a day too late. </span></p>
<p><span>The neoliberal university does not need overt censorship: it has perfected the art of silent control. It is not that one is explicitly told what cannot be written — it is that over time, one simply learns what is too dangerous to say. </span></p>
<p><span>Controversial words disappear from syllabi. Faculty stop assigning texts that might provoke discomfort in the wrong quarters. Students internalize the limits of acceptable inquiry, sculpting their research to fit within an increasingly narrow, apolitical frame.</span></p>
<p><span>And so, without official prohibitions, entire fields of thought shrink. The range of permissible discourse is not policed through direct suppression but through precarity — through the quiet, unspoken understanding that dissent has consequences.</span></p>
<p><span>For many, this fear is not abstract. It is deeply personal, woven into the reality of insecure contracts, shrinking academic jobs and the quiet but ruthless surveillance of CVs and publication records. </span></p>
<p><span>A single article, a single critique in the wrong place, can close doors before they even open. </span></p>
<div data-sanitized-id="attachment_126088" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-126088" src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Gatekeeper_8633805365-scaled.jpg" alt width="2560" height="1709" data-sanitized-class="size-full wp-image-126088"><p data-sanitized-id="caption-attachment-126088" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption-text"><span>Gatekeeper in Lisbon, 2013. <span>(Luca Sartoni/Wikimedia Commons/</span></span><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en">CC BY-SA 2.0)</a></p>
</div>
<p><span><span>In a system where everything — from research funding to job prospects — depends on demonstrating compliance, the most rational choice is silence.</span></span></p>
<p><span>And so the university, once imagined as a site of knowledge production, becomes instead a space of careful omission, where what is not written, not spoken, not thought, tells us more than what remains. </span></p>
<p><span><strong>The Violence of Silencing: When Ideas Become Personal</strong></span></p>
<p><span>At its core, academia is not just a site of learning — it is a space where ideologies collide, evolve and take form. Disciplines are not built on neutral facts but on contestations, on the ability to question, challenge and defend ideas. </span></p>
<p><span>Every field, from history to law, from literature to political theory, is shaped by the ideological commitments of those who inhabit it. To study is not just to accumulate knowledge: it is to position oneself within a larger intellectual and political tradition. And for many scholars, especially those engaged in critical, radical, or anti-establishment thought, this positioning is not merely academic — it is deeply personal. </span></p>
<p><span>To curb discourse is not just to control what can be said, it is to suffocate the intellectual life of a scholar who is committed to their politics. </span></p>
<p><span>The violence of this is not always visible, but it is relentless. It is in the quiet revisions of a research proposal to remove a politically charged term. It is in the hesitation before citing a scholar whose work has been deemed controversial. It is in the exhaustion of constantly assessing whether a thought is “safe” enough to articulate. </span></p>
<p><span>Over time, this does not just limit discourse — it hollows out the very purpose of intellectual inquiry. For those who enter academia not as a careerist project but as a site of political engagement, this erasure is not just professional: it is existential. </span></p>
<p><span>A scholar who writes against the grain, who studies capitalism critically, who engages with Marxism, feminism, anti-caste thought, or anti-imperialism, does not do so as an abstract exercise. Their work reflects the world they live in and the world they seek to change. </span></p>
<div data-sanitized-id="attachment_99563" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-99563" src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Graffito_in_University_of_Lyon_classroom_during_student_revolt_of_1968.jpg" alt width="1799" height="1205" data-sanitized-class="size-full wp-image-99563"><p data-sanitized-id="caption-attachment-99563" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption-text"><span>Graffitti on a classroom wall at the University of Lyon, “DE L’HISTOIRE KARL MARX,” made during student occupation of parts of the campus as part of the May 1968 events in France. <span>(BeenAroundAWhile, Wikimedia Commons,</span></span><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en">CC BY-SA 3.0)</a></p>
</div>
<p><span>To tell them to self-censor, to sanitize their arguments, to “choose their battles wisely,” is not just a professional warning — it is an instruction to sever a part of themselves, to dilute their own convictions for the sake of survival. The result is an academic culture that is not just fearful but profoundly uncreative. </span></p>
<p><span>The kind of intellectual risks that produce new ways of thinking are abandoned in favour of work that is acceptable, palatable and ultimately safe. Scholars who might have produced groundbreaking work instead learn to work within the narrow confines of what will not jeopardize their careers. </span></p>
<p><span>And so, the university, which should be a space of intellectual possibility, becomes instead a space of intellectual resignation. What is lost in this process is not just the vibrancy of academic debate but something more fundamental – the ability to think freely, to create without fear, to exist in a field of study without constantly negotiating one’s own silence. </span></p>
<p><span>A scholar whose politics are central to their work is not just losing a platform: they are losing a piece of their own mind. And what remains is not scholarship, but survival. </span></p>
<p><span><strong>The University as a Site of Precarity and Control</strong></span></p>
<p><span>The university, once imagined as a space of critical inquiry, has been hollowed out by the logic of neoliberalism. No longer an intellectual commons, it now functions as a corporate entity — managed, bureaucratized and increasingly detached from the very idea of free thought. </span></p>
<div data-sanitized-id="attachment_126091" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-126091" src="https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Library.png" alt width="1402" height="1016" data-sanitized-class="size-full wp-image-126091"><p data-sanitized-id="caption-attachment-126091" data-sanitized-class="wp-caption-text"><span>(Pixabay, CC0 1.0)</span></p>
</div>
<p><span>The language of learning has been replaced by the language of capital: students are “consumers,” faculty are “service providers,” and knowledge is only as valuable as its ability to secure funding. In this landscape, risk-taking is not just discouraged — it is actively penalized. </span></p>
<p><span>At the heart of this transformation is precarity. Tenure is disappearing, replaced by a workforce of adjuncts, visiting faculty and contract teachers who have no institutional protection. Their continued employment is contingent on remaining uncontroversial — on being docile enough to secure another short-term contract, on ensuring their research does not antagonize funders, on performing intellectual labour that aligns with the university’s market logic. </span></p>
<p><span>Even full-time faculty are not exempt: tenure tracks are narrowing and promotions are increasingly tied to grant money, which in turn is tied to political and corporate interests. </span></p>
<p><span>The fear that this system produces is not just external — it is internalized. I have caught myself altering my arguments, choosing softer language, avoiding certain keywords even when they are the most accurate descriptors of reality. Sometimes, I do this without even realizing it, as if my mind has already adapted to the consequences of speaking too freely. </span></p>
<p><span>It was a comrade who first pointed this out to me after reading a draft of mine. “Why are you holding back?” they asked. “This isn’t how you actually talk about this.” </span></p>
<p><span>They were right. Without meaning to, I had sanded down the rough edges of my argument, made it more palatable, more “academic.” Not out of intellectual dishonesty, but out of habit — out of an unspoken knowledge that writing a certain way would make my work more acceptable, more publishable, less risky. </span></p>
<p><span>I have seen the same fear in my peers, in professors who once spoke more freely but now hesitate, glancing over their shoulders before making a critical remark. It is in the small revisions we make to our papers, the choice of conference panels we avoid, the reluctance to cite scholars who have been marked as “too political.” This is not just about avoiding direct punishment — it is about survival.</span></p>
<p><span>We instinctively understand that funding, fellowships and even future job opportunities depend not just on the quality of our work but on how well we navigate the silent, unwritten rules of academic acceptability. </span></p>
<p><span>Funding is the unspoken gatekeeper of academia. Research that attracts state or private sponsorship flourishes, while work that interrogates capitalism, caste, state violence, or majoritarianism struggles to survive.</span></p>
<p><span>The politics of publishing mirrors this dynamic — journals, conferences and institutional support all subtly, but decisively, steer scholars away from work that is too radical, too unsettling. The choice is clear: conform or be pushed to the margins.</span></p>
<p><span>The cost of this is not just intellectual stagnation — it is the slow death of the university as a space of critical thought. When scholars are forced into self-censorship, when students internalize fear before they even begin writing, when entire fields are shaped not by the pursuit of knowledge but by the imperatives of funding and employability, what remains is a university in name only. </span></p>
<p><span>A space where learning is reduced to careerism, where thought is managed rather than nurtured and where the most dangerous thing one can do is think freely. </span></p>
<p><span><strong>The Right-Wing’s Academic Takeover</strong></span></p>
<p><span>The shift of universities toward the right is no accident: it is a deliberate restructuring of academic spaces to align with the interests of the state and capital. Administrators actively discourage dissent, not necessarily through direct prohibitions, but through institutional inertia – by making it difficult for radical voices to thrive, by ensuring that funding and career security are tied to compliance. </span></p>
<p><span>The result is an academic culture where right-wing professors can openly declare, “I am a Zionist,” without consequence, while leftist or critical faculty must navigate their words with caution, knowing that a single misstep could make them targets of smear campaigns, job insecurity, or worse. </span></p>
<p><span>Surveillance, both formal and informal, has become an unspoken reality of the classroom. Students record lectures. Colleagues report each other.</span></p>
<p><span>A passing comment, a critical remark on state policy, a casual mention of Marx or Ambedkar, can be flagged, weaponized and used to justify administrative action. </span></p>
<p><span>This culture of policing does not need state intervention to function – it is internalized, operating within the university itself. Fear replaces discussion. Silence replaces critique. The classroom ceases to be a space of inquiry and becomes one of performance, where the safest thing to do is to say nothing at all. </span></p>
<p><span>This is not about silencing the right — it is about the left not even being allowed to speak. Academia was never meant to be a monologue: it was meant to be a collision, a space where ideas clashed, where arguments were sharpened through debate, where thought was forced to evolve.</span></p>
<p><span>What remains when only one side is allowed to speak? What is left to synthesize when a thesis is denied its antithesis? Nothing. Nothing but the slow, quiet death of intellectual thought.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>Samyuktha Kannan is a student of law, based out of India. Her work includes research and writing on Kashmir, Political Economy and Carcerality. Her works have previously appeared in places such as ZNetwork.org, Human Geography and Groundxero. </strong></span></p>
<p><span><em>This article is from <a href="https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-weight-of-fear-the-silent-erosion-of-academic-freedom/">Z Network</a>.</em></span></p>
<p><span><em>The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of </em><strong>Consortium News.</strong></span></p>

tags:
#Censorship #Commentary #Free Speech #Politics #Academia #Academic Freedom #Education #Samyuktha Kannan #Self-censorship #University


guid: 845031914
title: Résultat de l'enquête au sujet du confinement à l'école secondaire Hormisdas-Gamelin
content: Résultat de l'enquête au sujet du confinement à l'école secondaire Hormisdas-Gamelin
hash: ] �j[�4���i�y�]
link:
https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/default.aspx?p=police/actualites/communiques/communique&amp;id=-2030156482

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/default.aspx?p=police/actualites/communiques/communique&amp;id=-2030156482"}]}


guid: yt:video:g9Ip_EkAbfM
title: COL. Lawrence Wilkerson : Is Hegseth Competent?
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Ip_EkAbfM
hash: b*6��jvc�h)�f�
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/g9Ip_EkAbfM?version=3","title":"COL. Lawrence Wilkerson  :  Is Hegseth Competent?","description":"COL. Lawrence Wilkerson  :  Is Hegseth Competent?","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/g9Ip_EkAbfM/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/news/614870-finland-nato-membership-russia/
title: Finland risks becoming a ‘battlefield’ against Russia – former EU adviser
author: ;RT
hash: G�`� ��-MH�m�
content:
<p><strong>The Nordic nation’s recent NATO membership could spell catastrophe, Sakari Linden has told RT</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>Finland’s decision to abandon neutrality and join NATO could prove catastrophic, as it risks turning the country into a battlefield in a potential conflict with Russia, former EU Parliament adviser Sakari Linden has warned.</p>
<p>Linden spoke to RT on Thursday, on the sidelines of the International Arctic Forum in Murmansk.</p>
<p>Finland has an almost 1,300-kilometer-long border with Russia, and officially joined the US-led military bloc in April 2023 following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict.</p>
<p>By joining NATO, Finland <em>“abandoned decades of neutrality,”</em> which had provided the country with independence, prosperity, and security, Linden said.<br><em></em></p>
<p><em>“Every time in history when Finland becomes very aligned with… Western powers,”</em> it becomes, in Linden’s words, <em>“some kind of natural resources reservoir of the West.”</em></p>
<p>The country then loses its independence and <em>“risks becoming a battlefield against Russia,”</em> he warned.</p>
<p>Linden said Finland’s position between East and West gives it <em>“geopolitical balance,”</em> and that it benefits most from acting as a trade bridge between Russia and the EU.</p>

            <iframe src="https://odysee.com/%24/embed/%40RT%3Afd%2Flinden-arctic-forum%3Ae?r=7JKugANPvTG76K8B9tFBHtvqu4ZJsCm3" allowfullscreen data-sanitized-id="odysee-iframe" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe>
    

<p>The former EU adviser further noted that during the Cold War, Finland was a <em>“neutral”</em> country that traded with both the West and the East. He said that it has often been the West that sought to restrict Finland’s trade with Russia, while <em>“Russia has never forbidden Finland”</em> from trading with the West.</p>
<p>Now that Finland has totally aligned with Western powers in foreign and security policy – which Linden said <em>“want to put pressure on Russia”</em> – Helsinki is the one bearing the <em>“burden of all the security risks.”</em></p>
<p>Since joining the US-led bloc, the Finnish government has embarked on a militarization push, including expanding military training and urging the population to prepare for a possible war with Russia.</p>
<p>NATO’s eastern members have long declared Russia to be a direct threat, and Western officials have repeatedly claimed that if Moscow wins the Ukraine conflict, it could target other European countries.</p>

             
    <p>
        <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rt.com/news/612347-finland-military-confrontation-russia-nato/">
            <span>READ MORE: </span>Moscow accuses EU state’s leaders of ‘whipping up war psychosis’
        </a>
    </p>


    

<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed any possibility of a military advance against NATO as <em>“nonsense,”</em> arguing that the supposed threat of a Russian attack is being used by European politicians to scare their citizens to extract more resources from them and justify increased military spending.</p>
<p>At the same time, Russia has repeatedly warned against what it describes as NATO’s unprecedented military activity near its western borders in recent years.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/news/614870-finland-nato-membership-russia/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5947a85f54058ea2d77a4.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: yt:video:YCuz1ubWGgQ
title: Graham E. Fuller and David Gibbs: From Vietnam to Iraq: Did America Learn or Forget?
author: ;Dialogue Works
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCuz1ubWGgQ
hash: �3ȡa��=et�__+�
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/YCuz1ubWGgQ?version=3","title":"Graham E. Fuller and David Gibbs: From Vietnam to Iraq: Did America Learn or Forget?","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i2.ytimg.com/vi/YCuz1ubWGgQ/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/news/614867-israel-qatar-netanyahu-scandal/
title: Will this scandal be the end of ‘unsinkable’ Netanyahu?
author: ;RT
hash: ��"D�"K�(�,�[Mf
content:
<p><strong>Revelations of high-ranking Israeli officials’ shady connections to Qatar open a new front in the PM and his allies’ fight to retain power</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>A major scandal known as <em>“Qatargate”</em> has erupted in Israel, involving alleged Qatari interference in Israeli politics.</p>
<p>At the center of the investigation is Eliezer Feldstein, former chief aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was arrested in November 2024 on charges of leaking classified documents to foreign media and orchestrating leaks from high-level government offices, allegedly with Netanyahu’s own approval, under the pretext of combating disinformation.</p>
<p>The investigation revealed Feldstein’s connections with Qatari authorities. While serving as an employee of the press office in Netanyahu’s administration, Feldstein had for several years combined his government work with private practice, offering political consulting and branding services. One of his clients was Qatar.</p>
<p>Specifically, on behalf of Doha, Feldstein and his team of Israeli consultants developed a reputation protection strategy during preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Later, they helped Qatari brands regain their positions in Gulf markets that had been lost during the 2017-2021 diplomatic crisis.</p>
<p>When the most recent war with Hamas began in October 2023, Feldstein used his official position to actively promote the idea of Qatar’s <em>“exceptional role”</em> in resolving the Gaza crisis. He was so successful in communicating this position to the media that at one point, Israeli press began emphasizing Qatar’s key role in negotiations compared to Egypt and Jordan. In turn, Qatar actively used its Al Jazeera media network to promote positive coverage, strengthening its image in this context.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e1693a203027465e168a5e.jpg" alt="FILE PHOTO. Israeli forces near border with Gaza">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614710-israel-gaza-offensive-plans/">Israel readying new Gaza invasion – WSJ</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>However, after Feldstein’s arrest by Israeli security forces in the autumn of 2024, the contract with Qatar was abruptly terminated. Initial publications about the <em>“Qatar dossier”</em> in Israeli media raised more questions than outrage. Feldstein, along with other figures in the case such as Yonatan Urich and Srulik Einhorn, had been actively involved in international activities, advising not only Qatar but also other Israeli partners in the Middle East and beyond. Had they not used confidential materials from the Prime Minister’s Office, their work might have been considered part of Israel’s <em>“backchannel diplomacy.”</em></p>
<p>Yet, in the context of the conflict with Hamas, the situation took on a different meaning. It became clear that Qatar’s status as a <em>“neutral force”</em> in negotiations with Hamas was not accidental, and this country’s role in the process had been significantly exaggerated. For example, Doha’s decision not to pressure Hamas’s <em>“political office”</em> was presented as diplomatic <em>“flexibility,”</em> which also raised questions. Even more suspicious was the downplaying of the scandal involving Hamas military training camps in Syria’s Afrin, to whose construction Qatari contractors were allegedly linked.</p>
<p>This series of coincidences strengthened suspicions that those involved in the <em>“Qatar dossier”</em> had actively helped Qatar cover up international scandals using documents from the Prime Minister’s Office. All three suspects theoretically had access to such materials. Although Feldstein’s lawyers call these accusations <em>“baseless speculation,”</em> those involved in the case have so far been unable to explain how Qatar managed to navigate crises with minimal damage to its image.</p>
<p>Adding to the intrigue, Urich and Einhorn are also suspects in a case involving the intimidation of official Shlomo Filber, who allegedly retracted his testimony about Netanyahu’s corrupt connections after prolonged psychological pressure from Likud representatives.</p>
<p>The case, initially classified as a <em>“special investigation”</em> under a secrecy order imposed by intelligence services, has been becoming increasingly public. In recent weeks, the escalation has drawn public attention as new developments pointed to major new suspects. This scandal has affected not only Israel’s political class but also the business community, significantly expanding the circle of suspects.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67d7afea2030276dad7bafb3.jpg" alt="File photo">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614331-netanyahu-seeks-to-oust-security/">Netanyahu seeks to oust security chief</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>What began as an investigation into abuse of authority soon accumulated new details and acquired the colorful name <em>“Qatargate.”</em> This name hints at potential consequences for the country’s top leadership, including the possible resignation of senior Israeli officials. However, those implicated in the scandal aren’t giving up without a fight. According to investigators, Feldstein was involved in transferring confidential documents to foreign media, bypassing military censorship, as well as organizing leaks from high-level government offices. Allegedly, he acted with the permission of Netanyahu himself, who, according to the prosecution, sought to <em>“combat fake news”</em> about Israel’s foreign and domestic policies this way.</p>
<p>Over time, the investigation expanded in scope. The number of suspects grew to five, most of whom had close ties to the Prime Minister’s Office. It also emerged that Feldstein not only leaked confidential information but also advised Qatari authorities, helping the monarchy use this information for diplomatic purposes, including positioning itself as a key mediator in matters concerning the release of Israeli hostages.</p>
<p>Given Qatar’s close ties with Hamas, this new information about the figures involved in the investigation has deeply shocked the Israeli public. It has sparked discussions about the true scale of the threat to Israel’s national security. But the investigation didn’t end there. A new public figure emerged – Israeli businessman Gil Birger, who works with Persian Gulf states. According to investigators, it was he who paid Feldstein fees for work improving Qatar’s image while Feldstein simultaneously worked in the Prime Minister’s Office and engaged in political consulting.</p>
<p>However, according to Birger himself, he merely served as a link in a complex lobbying scheme. The main services to Qatar, including developing a reputation improvement strategy, were provided by American political consultant Jay Footlik, who was officially employed by the Qatari government. It was Footlik who initiated Feldstein’s involvement in the work. However, facing difficulties with tax laws and organizing money transfers from Qatar to Israel, Footlik asked Birger to temporarily serve as the <em>“accountant”</em> of their small enterprise. The cooperation continued in this format for several months.</p>
<p>Although Birger’s testimony is corroborated by witness statements and intelligence materials, the businessman clearly downplayed his involvement in <em>“Qatargate.”</em> He failed to mention that his connection with Footlik and the arrested Likud supporters of Netanyahu wasn’t limited to working together on several election campaigns – it also included indirect participation in developing shadow trade channels between Israel and Arab monarchies. Moreover, according to some witnesses, Footlik allegedly engaged with Hamas representatives, attempting to secure the release of Israeli hostages by offering generous payoffs to certain field commanders. Such moves were clearly too risky to be undertaken without approval from high-ranking officials. It’s unlikely a lobbyist working for Qatar would take such risks without backing from higher-ups.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e1457a203027465e168a2e.jpg" alt="FILE PHOTO: Israel's ambassador to Austria David Roet.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614700-israeli-diplomat-execute-children-gaza/">Israeli diplomat suggests ‘killing off’ teenagers in Gaza – leaked VIDEO</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>Among Israeli elites, many are trying to capitalize on the <em>“Feldstein affair,”</em> especially since the scandal tarnishes the reputation of the seemingly <em>“unsinkable”</em> Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose role in the arrested political operatives’ activities remains unclear. One advocate for sweeping changes in the prime minister’s office is Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, who was tasked with investigating this high-profile case.</p>
<p>Bar’s dissatisfaction stems partly from professional pride. For a year and a half, he co-led Israel’s official negotiation team with Hamas. However, his work faced constant criticism, especially when talks stalled, and he was nearly ousted multiple times. Upon discovering that the Prime Minister’s Office had been conducting its own diplomatic maneuvers – sometimes disregarding national interests and even contradicting the negotiation team’s official stance – Bar was deeply disillusioned. He was the first to coin the term <em>“Qatargate,”</em> a clear allusion to the scale of damage inflicted on the country. Netanyahu’s attempts to swiftly remove Bar under the pretext of incompetence only backfired, fueling suspicions that the PM was trying to obstruct the investigation and bury the scandal. This triggered protests in Bar’s support, further escalating political tensions.</p>
<p>Israel’s government continues to reel from a wave of resignations and reshuffles. On March 19, far-right leader Itamar Ben-Gvir rejoined the cabinet, and on March 21, the ministers reluctantly approved Bar’s dismissal – part of Netanyahu’s strategy to consolidate power and sideline <em>“uniformed opposition.”</em> But this time, the PM’s usual tactics misfired, as Bar’s departure created new complications.</p>
<p>Bar outlasted his counterparts in the military and intelligence brass, largely due to his key role in Gaza negotiations, where he co-led Israel’s delegation. His successes in eliminating high-profile Palestinian militants also bolstered his standing. Yet his personal clash with Netanyahu ultimately led to his resignation. Bar accused the PM of corrupt dealings and jeopardizing national security through leaks of classified documents to the press – dubbed <em>“Qatargate.”</em> Netanyahu took this as a personal affront and leveraged all his influence to force Bar out. Against the backdrop of Gaza talks and the abrupt decapitation of counterintelligence, fears grew that this might hand Hamas a tactical advantage.</p>
<p>Despite these challenges, Netanyahu successfully convinced the government and oversight bodies of his initiative’s merits. On March 21, plans were announced for imminent reshuffles in Shin Bet, with Bar expected to depart by April 10. However, the government is considering accelerating the process by appointing an external candidate as Shin Bet chief, as Netanyahu and his inner circle distrust Bar’s deputies, viewing them as ideologically aligned with the ousted director. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Shin Bet’s entire leadership has been tainted by failures in Palestinian operations and a series of espionage scandals.</p>
<p>Amid these changes, the return of Ben-Gvir as national security minister went almost unnoticed. Ben-Gvir, who left Netanyahu’s coalition in January 2025, rejoined the government as Gaza operations escalated. To facilitate this, Netanyahu overruled Israel’s Attorney General, who had deemed Ben-Gvir’s reappointment untenable. Upon his return, Ben-Gvir shelved his criticism of Netanyahu, endorsing the government’s current strategy and praising its decision to resume attacks on Hamas. Yet he spared no harsh words for those advocating ceasefire talks – including Bar, whom he branded <em>“democracy’s greatest threat.”</em></p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e13e4420302746d2246b25.jpg" alt="Smoke rises from the Nasser Hospital as a result of an Israeli airstrike">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614695-israel-gaza-hospital-airstrike/">Hamas political leader killed in Israeli airstrike on hospital – reports</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>This political maneuvering – pitting Ben-Gvir against Bar – allowed Netanyahu to deflect scrutiny, redirecting criticism toward Bar. The government showcased unity among the far-right flank, now represented by Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party. With his return, the coalition stabilized, and the six-seat leverage of Ben-Gvir’s party enabled unpopular decisions without risking legitimacy.</p>
<p>However, the opposition continues exploiting pro-Bar protests for its own gain. Though officially resigned, Bar may remain in office until Gaza hostilities conclude, citing operational necessity – a move that could allow him to expand his <em>“dossier of failures”</em> and corner the prime minister, potentially marking the beginning of Netanyahu’s political end.</p>
<p>The<em> “Qatargate” </em>scandal keeps widening, clearly entangling Netanyahu in a precarious position where he battles not just external threats but an internal power struggle. Despite his decades-long dominance, his career now faces relentless adversaries – both within his party and the opposition – eager to exploit any weakness. This infighting intensifies pressure on his government, where political survival rivals military strategy in urgency.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the military situation deteriorates. Israel has resumed strikes on Gaza, escalated West Bank operations, and continued aerial attacks in Lebanon and Syria. The repeatedly violated truce with Hamas has collapsed again, edging the region toward all-out war. Recent discussions of relaunching ground operations in Gaza have heightened domestic tension, compounding Netanyahu’s challenges. Against this backdrop, political instability and scandals like <em>“Qatargate”</em> only deepen the crisis.</p>
<p>Netanyahu and his allies now navigate a high-stakes balancing act – simultaneously managing wartime operations, internal dissent, and international pressure. As Gaza’s protracted war drags on and complexities mount, retaining power grows increasingly arduous. Each move in this multilayered political game could prove decisive for Netanyahu’s fate – with every passing day raising the stakes higher.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/news/614867-israel-qatar-netanyahu-scandal/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e563d920302711682321e5.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: 237472296
title: Entrée en vigueur - PPCMOI - 404, boulevard Alexandre-Taché
content: Entrée en vigueur - PPCMOI - 404, boulevard Alexandre-Taché
hash: 90�\�\��� �ʻS
link:
https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/lien.aspx?t=rssfeed&amp;u=/upload/avis_publics/2025327144850_avis_entr%C3%A9e_en_vigueur_-_404__alexandre-tach%C3%A9_(affichage).pdf

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/lien.aspx?t=rssfeed&amp;u=/upload/avis_publics/2025327144850_avis_entr%C3%A9e_en_vigueur_-_404__alexandre-tach%C3%A9_(affichage).pdf"}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/news/614877-france-ukraine-reassurance-force/
title: France and UK rebrand possible military deployment to Ukraine
author: ;RT
hash: �A�[� *�;�u����
content:
<p><strong>A “reassurance force” could be sent to the conflict zone, President Emmanuel Macron has said</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>France and Britain will continue to push for a deployment of a military contingent to Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron has said. A plan by Paris and London to send troops to Ukraine in case of a peace deal with Russia has been rejected already by several EU members.</p>
<p>While a shift in Western European thinking was reported by Reuters, citing multiple sources, Kiev has been pushing for a deployment of troops as a security guarantee, including combat troops ready to fight.</p>
<p>Speaking after a summit in Paris on Thursday, Macron announced that the so-called <em>“coalition of the willing”</em> will seek to deploy a <em>“reassurance force”</em> to Ukraine after a peace deal with Russia is reached. The French leader admitted that the proposal failed to win anonymous support, however, a French-British delegation would visit Kiev to discuss the plan anyway.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e113b22030272098312210.jpg" alt="UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614682-uk-military-slams-peacekeeping-plans/">UK military slams Ukraine ‘peacekeeping’ plan as ‘political theater’ – Telegraph</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p><em>“It does not have unanimity, but we do not need unanimity to do this,”</em> Macron stated.</p>
<p>The so-called <em>“coalition of the willing”</em> – initially coined by the US to refer to countries who supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003 - now involves countries that have pledged to continue to militarily support Kiev and who have previously discussed sending a peacekeeping force to Ukraine.</p>
<p>Establishing such a force would require consensus among EU member states and would operate under an international mandate, such as from the UN. The <em>“reassurance force”</em> would see countries provide direct military assistance to Ukraine.</p>
<p>Italy, Germany, and Hungary reportedly spoke against the Anglo-French peacekeeping plan, citing concerns over a possible escalation and financial implications. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed the idea of any NATO states undertaking peacekeeping roles in Ukraine.</p>
<p>The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused France and Britain of hatching plans for <em>“military intervention in Ukraine”</em> which could lead to a direct military clash between Russia and NATO.</p>
<p>Moscow has also accused France and the UK of deliberately escalating tensions to undermine efforts to resolve the conflict by the US and Russia.</p>

             
    <p>
        <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rt.com/news/614588-france-ukraine-peacekeepers-un/">
            <span>READ MORE: </span>Macron exploring ways to put boots on the ground in Ukraine – Telegraph
        </a>
    </p>


    

<p>The US recently brokered a limited ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, placing a moratorium on attacks on energy infrastructure. Moscow has accused Kiev of repeatedly breaching the ceasefire terms and attacking energy-related sites in Russia.</p>
<p>The EU has been pushing a militarization agenda despite the ongoing peace process. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently unveiled a €800 billion plan to ramp up military spending through loans. Southern European states, such as Italy and Spain, however, have reportedly been pushing back against the proposal amid concerns it could deepen their already heavy debt burdens.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/news/614877-france-ukraine-reassurance-force/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5881285f54058ea2d779a.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: -988595959
content: Extrait PV - CCU - PPC - 404, boul. Alexandre-Taché
hash: ��J�c���1^x�<��K
title:
Entrée en vigueur - PPCMOI - 404, boulevard Alexandre-Taché - Extrait PV - CCU - PPC - 404, boul. Alexandre-Taché

link:
https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/lien.aspx?t=rssfeed&amp;u=/upload/avis_publics/2025327144948_237472296_extrait_pv_-_ccu_-_404__boulevard_alexandre-tach%C3%A9.pdf

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/lien.aspx?t=rssfeed&amp;u=/upload/avis_publics/2025327144948_237472296_extrait_pv_-_ccu_-_404__boulevard_alexandre-tach%C3%A9.pdf"}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/news/614859-estonia-uk-nato-defense/
title: Baltic NATO state voices alarm over UK troop reduction – Times
author: ;RT
hash: %���m�9/���?R�
content:
<p><strong>The move raises questions whether Britain can contribute to a peacekeeping force in Ukraine should a ceasefire be agreed, according to the outlet</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>Estonian officials are concerned about their national security due to a significant reduction in British troops and tanks deployed as part of NATO’s contingent in the Baltic nation, The Times reported on Wednesday. The drawdown also raises questions about Britain’s ability to send “peacekeepers” to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, according to the outlet.</p>
<p>Riho Terras, former commander of the Estonian Defense Forces and now MEP, told Times Radio that the UK appears unable to provide the brigade-sized force, typically around 3,000 to 5,000 troops, it had pledged.</p>
<p><em>“The UK has difficulties to put together one brigade to participate in operations. I see it in Estonia every day,”</em> Terras said.</p>
<p>He warned that the British military’s financial struggles were becoming visible on the ground, citing the UK’s likely inability to fully participate in Exercise Hedgehog – one of NATO’s largest training operations in the region – this coming May.</p>
<p><em>“The UK is not coming with the full power to the exercises because they have problems with the financing,”</em> Terras said, adding <em>“Of course it concerns me that we are not taking seriously our defence.”</em></p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5881285f54058ea2d779a.jpg" alt="French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pictured ahead of the 'Coalition of the willing' summit on March 27, 2025 in Paris, France.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614877-france-ukraine-reassurance-force/">France and UK rebrand possible military deployment to Ukraine</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>According to the Times, the UK has reduced its troop presence in Estonia to around 1,000 – down from 1,650 in April 2022 – and now has fewer than ten Challenger tanks in the country. The figures mark a return to pre-Ukraine conflict levels, despite earlier British pledges to expand their footprint when hostilities began, the outlet noted.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the UK and France are currently trying to create a <em>“coalition of the willing”</em> – countries ready to deploy troops to Ukraine after the ceasefire. The initiative envisions the potential deployment of a 30,000-strong <em>“reassurance”</em> force to secure key cities, ports, and infrastructure, as well as air-policing missions.</p>
<p>However, The Times questioned how the UK would be able to contribute to such a force if it cannot afford to keep even a small number of troops in Estonia.</p>
<p>While NATO positions itself as a defense bloc, Russia sees its eastward expansion as a threat. Moscow has repeatedly stated that the bloc’s enlargement closer to its borders since the 1990s, including promises of eventual membership for Ukraine, contributed to the escalation of the conflict in 2022.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/news/614859-estonia-uk-nato-defense/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e55ea685f54054021f34da.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: yt:video:n69N9h4A8N4
title: Prof. John Mearsheimer : Killing Without Purpose.
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n69N9h4A8N4
hash: >�Z�5�/5����� 
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/n69N9h4A8N4?version=3","title":"Prof. John Mearsheimer  :  Killing Without Purpose.","description":"Prof. John Mearsheimer  :  Killing Without Purpose.","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/n69N9h4A8N4/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614878-moldova-gagauzia-gutsul-putin/
title: Kremlin responds to arrested Moldovan governor’s appeal to Putin
author: ;RT
hash: ��(��oJ"��������
content:
<p><strong>Known critic of Moldova’s government Yevgenia Gutsul has been in custody since Tuesday</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>The Kremlin said on Thursday it had reviewed an appeal by Yevgenia Gutsul, the detained leader of Moldova’s autonomous Gagauzia region, to Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking for help in securing her release.</p>
<p>Gutsul was taken into custody on Tuesday evening at Chisinau International Airport, with the Moldovan authorities saying she was on a wanted list. In a statement released via her lawyers on Thursday, she accused the government of pursuing a plan to dismantle the region of Gagauzia’s autonomy through lawfare targeting her administration.</p>
<p>Also on Thursday, Gutsul appealed to both Russia and Türkiye to apply pressure on Moldovan President Maia Sandu’s administration in defense of Gagauzia’s rights. In her message to Putin – published on her Telegram channel – she said the region looks <em>“with hope and faith to Russia,”</em> a country that has <em>“never betrayed friends”</em> and always stood by those <em>“who fight for the truth and their legal rights.”</em></p>
<p>Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to TASS that Moscow had <em>“reviewed”</em> Gutsul’s request, and said her detention was at odds with the democratic principles proclaimed by the West.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e521d220302768cf68bcf2.jpg" alt="FILE PHOTO: Gagauzia Governor Yevgenia Gutsul during a visit to Russia in September 2024.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614847-moldova-governor-gutsul-arrest/">EU candidate’s pro-Western government arrests autonomous region’s leader</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>Peskov had already condemned the arrest on Wednesday, calling on Moldovan authorities to stop putting pressure on political opponents. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova echoed that criticism, accusing the government in Chisinau of cracking down on politicians and journalists who advocate for closer ties with Moscow.</p>
<p>According to Moldovan media, Gutsul was taken into custody as part of an investigation into the 2023 gubernatorial election in Gagauzia, which she won. Her campaign was accused of financial irregularities. The Moldovan government claims that Gutsul is part of a Russian influence operation aimed at disrupting the country’s attempts to become a member of the EU.</p>
<p>The Gagauz are a Turkic-speaking, predominantly Orthodox Christian ethnic group living in southern Moldova. Their region, Gagauzia, has been granted broad rights to self-government. Sandu has questioned Gutsul’s mandate as governor, denouncing her former party ‘Shor’ as a <em>“criminal organization.”</em> A court in Chisinau banned the party in 2023.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614878-moldova-gagauzia-gutsul-putin/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e596a02030277f7d53a5f6.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614879-putins-move-why-ukraine-fears/
title: Putin’s move: Why Ukraine fears the ceasefire deal it helped shape
author: ;RT
hash: �R�ԇ �~�e�pk��
content:
<p><strong>Kiev pushed for a deal — now it’s nervous about the outcome</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>A month of intense diplomacy has paid off. Russia and Ukraine, with US mediation, have reached their first formal agreement – so far limited to reducing hostilities. The deal outlines a 30-day ceasefire in the Black Sea and a moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure. Superficially, this resembles the <em>“fake”</em> air and naval ceasefire once floated by France and Britain to box Russia into a strategic dilemma. But the result turned out very differently.</p>
<p>Notably, Western European players are absent. Discussions about a second phase involving peacekeepers from France and the UK have stalled. Despite the noise, there will be no EU personnel monitoring this ceasefire. Instead, Russia has used the talks to extract valuable concessions from the Trump administration – chief among them, help regaining access to global agricultural markets.</p>
<p>The US has now placed sanctions relief for Rosselkhozbank, Russian food and fertiliser exporters, and shipping access to international ports on the agenda. These were the very demands Moscow had raised during the original 2022 Black Sea Grain Initiative, but at the time it received only vague UN assurances. Now, Russia has firm traction.</p>
<p>The energy truce also tilted in Moscow’s favour. Ukraine had wanted it to apply to all critical infrastructure, but the final version – negotiated by Russia and the US – is much narrower. It restricts attacks only on energy-related targets: oil refineries, power plants, hydroelectric stations, pipelines, and so forth. This specificity robs Kiev of opportunities to claim Russian ceasefire violations.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67dedbde85f5402d002937b4.jpeg" alt="RT">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614637-americans-want-zelensky-out/">The Americans want Zelensky out – Is this woman their Plan B?</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>But there are caveats. The biggest: it remains unclear whether the ceasefire has actually come into force. All three parties have issued contradictory statements with conflicting terms. </p>
<p>On the Black Sea deal, for instance, the Kremlin says the ceasefire will not begin until sanctions are lifted. It also claims the agreement allows Russia to inspect all ships heading to Ukrainian ports for weapons. </p>
<p>However, the Ukrainian and US versions omit these conditions. Kiev even asserts that Russian naval vessels are barred from the western Black Sea and that the ceasefire started on 25 March.</p>
<p>Similarly, the timeline for the energy truce is disputed. Moscow insists it began on 18 March, the day of the Putin-Trump phone call. If so, Ukraine is already in breach: recent attacks on Russian infrastructure, such as the strike on the Sudzha gas station, occurred after that date. It’s no surprise then that Zelensky insists the ceasefire only began a week later.</p>
<p>In short, while a ceasefire has been announced, its fragility is obvious. There may not even be a unified written document. Its provisions are being interpreted differently by each party, and the sheer number of caveats allows any participant to declare the deal void at will. As a result, any real progress toward peace remains uncertain.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e464ca85f5404d2f4c47d2.jpg" alt="President Donald Trump looks down from the Presidential Box in the Opera House at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614827-dmitry-trenin-liberalism-is-dead/">Dmitry Trenin: Liberalism is dead, this is what comes after</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>Now comes the most delicate phase: the battle for narrative dominance. The next few weeks will be filled with technical talks, diplomatic testing, and mutual accusations. Kiev’s aim is to portray Russia as violating the deal, hoping Trump will respond by tightening sanctions and increasing military aid. Moscow, by contrast, seeks to depict Ukraine as the spoiler, thereby strengthening its position in Washington and perhaps even reviving discussions about Zelensky’s future.</p>
<p>Who will succeed in this information war? Russia enters with a clear advantage: the deep mistrust that now exists between the White House and Bankova. Moreover, Trump has broader ambitions, including dismantling the Russia-China partnership. That aim may guide his approach to Moscow far more than anything Zelensky says.</p>
<p>The next big test is the long-delayed agreement on Ukraine’s subsoil resources – a key American interest that Zelensky sabotaged with his recent Washington visit. A revised 40-page draft is reportedly in the works, and insiders suggest it will be more demanding than the original.</p>
<p>Will Zelensky hold his ground? Or fold under pressure? The answer could reshape the peace process. If the Ukrainian leader concedes, Trump may move closer to Russia. If not, relations could once again stall.</p>
<p>Whatever happens, the US-Russia-Ukraine triangle is entering a new, unpredictable chapter. But for now, it is Russia that appears to have gained the most from this uneasy ceasefire – not least by turning a Western pressure tactic into a platform for negotiation on its own terms.</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>This article was first published by the online newspaper <a href="https://www.gazeta.ru/comments/column/articles/20771768.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gazeta.ru</a> and was translated and edited by the RT team</em></p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614879-putins-move-why-ukraine-fears/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5b393203027121263d17a.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/news/614880-trump-greenland-hidden-threat/
title: Trump has ‘gone too far’ – Danish defense minister
author: ;RT
hash: �� >N����x4^����
content:
<p><strong>The US president’s Greenland aspirations are “escalating tensions,” Troels Lund Poulsen has said</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>US President Donald Trump’s repeated promises to annex Greenland are not appropriate for a close ally and overall are <em>“escalating tensions,”</em> Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen has said.</p>
<p><em>“I think we’ll go as far as we have to go. We need Greenland, and the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark,”</em> Trump told reporters on Wednesday.</p>
<p><em>“We have to have the land because it’s not possible to properly defend a large section of this Earth – not just the US – without it. So we have to have it, and I think we will have it,”</em> he stated.</p>
<p>Speaking to Danish state broadcaster DR on Thursday, Poulsen condemned Trump’s recent remarks as escalatory and disrespectful. Trump’s rhetoric was becoming increasingly aggressive and amounted to a <em>“hidden threat”</em> against Denmark and its semi-autonomous territory.</p>
<p><em>“I think they are going too far – both in interfering in Greenland’s internal affairs and in showing a lack of respect for its people’s right to decide their future,”</em> Lund stated, responding to Trump’s latest remarks on the island.</p>
<p><em>“These very powerful statements about a close ally do not suit the US president,”</em> he added.</p>
<p>Over the past few months, Trump repeatedly invoked the topic of Greenland, insisting that Washington needed to take control of the island to enhance its <em>“national security.”</em></p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e1163985f5406ccc0e2542.jpg" alt="FILE PHOTO: US Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance during a visit to Germany in February 2025.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614685-greenland-visit-second-lady/">Greenland’s PM denounces ‘aggressive pressure’ by US</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>The ramped-up rhetoric comes against the backdrop of a visit of a high-profile US delegation to the island led by Usha Vance, wife of US Vice President JD Vance, White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. JD Vance is expected to join his wife on Friday.</p>
<p>The visit has been criticized by both Danish and Greenlandic authorities, with the semi-autonomous territory’s acting head of government, Mute Egede, who branded it a <em>“provocation”</em> and refused to meet the US delegation. Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has also condemned the trip, accusing the US of exerting <em>“unacceptable pressure.”</em></p>
<p><em>“I have to say that it is unacceptable pressure being placed on Greenland and Denmark in this situation. And it is pressure that we will resist,”</em> she told DR and TV2 broadcasters.</p>
<p>While the former Danish colony of some 57,000 has a strong pro-independence movement, a poll commissioned by the Sermitsiaq daily in late January suggested that 85% of Greenlanders opposed any incorporation into the US, while only 6% backed it.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/news/614880-trump-greenland-hidden-threat/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5b6702030271168232236.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: https://www.mondialisation.ca/?p=5697283
title: Le nouveau fascisme : Israël, modèle de Trump et de l’Europe contre les libertés
author: ;Jonathan Cook
hash: C v�ɀn�d�)v�+�
tags: #Francais @fr #Mobile
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>Le virus du fascisme n’a jamais disparu de l’Occident, malgré son apparente éradication au cours de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.</p>
<p>Partout, les premiers indicateurs montrent que le fascisme – une idéologie déterminant une hiérarchie raciste des valeurs humaines – qui …</p>

link:
https://www.mondialisation.ca/le-nouveau-fascisme-israel-modele-de-trump-de-leurope-contre-les-libertes/5697283


guid: yt:video:Htts6ZU0XF4
title: COL. Douglas Macgregor : DNI, Gabbard - SecDef, Hegseth - CIA, Ratcliffe
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htts6ZU0XF4
hash: �ڋ>Z�@��xc�� �
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/Htts6ZU0XF4?version=3","title":"COL. Douglas Macgregor :  DNI, Gabbard - SecDef, Hegseth - CIA, Ratcliffe","description":"COL. Douglas Macgregor :  Tulsi Gabbard","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/Htts6ZU0XF4/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://www.mondialisation.ca/?p=5697247
author: ;Michael Nevradakis
hash: )@|�t�ʄ.c�� �
tags: #Francais @fr #Mobile #Japon
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
title:
Après que 3 enfants soient morts dans les 24 heures suivant des vaccins routiniers, des chercheurs japonais sonnent l’alarme

content:
Citant le décès de trois enfants japonais dans les 24 heures suivant leur vaccination infantile de routine, les auteurs d'une étude évaluée par des pairs ont appelé à une réévaluation des « risques et avantages des vaccins actuellement approuvés » et à une révision du calendrier des vaccinations infantiles.

link:
https://www.mondialisation.ca/apres-que-3-enfants-soient-morts-dans-les-24-heures-suivant-des-vaccins-routiniers-des-chercheurs-japonais-sonnent-lalarme/5697247


guid: https://www.whitehouse.gov/?p=7503
title: ICYMI: President Trump Outlines OSTP’s Goals and Priorities
author: ;The White House
hash: h�y�G.}u���� �M�
tags: #Articles
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<div><img src="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/WH47-Social-Share-Card.jpg" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p><strong>In case you missed it</strong>, President Trump signed a letter to Assistant to the President and OSTP Director Michael Kratsios outlining the road ahead to the Golden Age of American Innovation.<br> <br>The President outlined three main goals:</p>
<ul data-sanitized-class="wp-block-list"><li>How can the United States secure its position as the unrivaled world leader in critical and emerging technologies — such as artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and nuclear technology — maintaining our advantage over potential adversaries?</li>
</ul><ul data-sanitized-class="wp-block-list"><li>How can we revitalize America’s science and technology enterprise – pursuing truth, reducing administrative burdens, and empowering researchers to achieve groundbreaking discoveries?</li>
</ul><ul data-sanitized-class="wp-block-list"><li>How can we ensure that scientific progress and technological innovation fuel economic growth and better the lives of all Americans?</li>
</ul><p>President Trump writes, “now, after 4 long years of weakness and complacency, we must set our sights even higher. I am calling upon you to blaze a trail to the next frontiers of science. We have the opportunity to cement America’s global technological leadership and usher in the Golden Age of American Innovation. We are not just competing with other nations; we are seeking, striving, fighting to make America greater than ever before.”</p><p>APST and OSTP Director Kratsios <a href="https://webdevelopmentgroup.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6821469cd180710d53bfc94d1&amp;id=fb5dd4f881&amp;e=f395826b19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said that</a> “by accelerating U.S. tech leadership, restoring our scientific enterprise, and promoting opportunity for all Americans, we will usher in a Golden Age of innovation. When FDR gave his science advisor Vannevar Bush a mandate to chart a course for U.S. research and development, American boots soon left their mark on the moon. Today, with President Trump’s agenda for American science and technology, we will achieve future triumphs and explore new frontiers. “<br> <br>Read the full letter <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/03/a-letter-to-michael-kratsios-director-of-the-white-house-office-of-science-and-technology-policy/">HERE</a>.</p>

link:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/03/icymi-president-trump-outlines-ostps-goals-and-priorities/


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614881-putin-proposes-un-govern-ukraine/
title: Putin proposes that UN temporarily govern Ukraine
author: ;RT
hash: ��V�� ��ӽ��AMR
content:
<p><strong>The Russian president has reiterated that the current authorities in Kiev are illegitimate given the lack of elections</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested discussing the establishment of a temporary government in Ukraine, under the guidance of the UN and several countries. The aim would be to hold fair elections in the country, since Vladimir Zelensky’s presidential term officially expired in May 2024. </p>
<p>Moscow sees no clear way to sign any agreements with Kiev since <em>“other leaders might come tomorrow,”</em> Putin explained on Thursday night while addressing the sailors of the Arkhangelsk nuclear submarine.</p>
<p><em>“In such cases, international practice follows a well-known path within the framework of the United Nations peacekeeping activities; several instances have already demonstrated what is referred to as external management or temporary administration,”</em> he suggested.</p>
<p>External powers should facilitate elections in Ukraine to <em>“establish a capable government that has the trust of the people”</em>, Putin stressed. After that, the new authorities could begin negotiations with Moscow and sign a peace agreement <em>“that would be recognized around the world and will be reliable and stable.”</em></p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5e90785f5405a530dcf37.jpg" alt="RT">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614884-putin-un-control-ukraine/">Key points from Putin’s speech on placing Ukraine under UN control</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>However, Putin also stressed that temporary governance is only one possible option. <em>“In general, we support resolving conflicts peacefully, including this one, but not at our expense,”</em> he concluded.</p>
<p>The US recently brokered a limited ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, placing a moratorium on attacks on energy infrastructure. Zelensky has publicly supported the 30-day partial ceasefire, which is supposed to involve a reciprocal suspension of attacks by Kiev’s forces.</p>
<p>The Russian Ministry of Defense, however, has reported multiple Ukrainian violations of the agreement, which it described as aimed at undermining US President Donald Trump’s efforts to mediate between Moscow and Kiev.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e538222030276824001869.jpg" alt="FILE PHOTO: High-voltage power lines in Russia.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614849-mod-ukraine-energy-infrastructure/">Kiev breaking energy ceasefire – Moscow</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Moscow will honor its obligations despite Ukrainian actions, since the agreement represents positive diplomatic engagement with the Trump administration.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, US officials met separately with Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Saudi Arabia. Following the talks, Moscow said it was willing to revive the Black Sea Grain Initiative, an arrangement that was originally mediated by the UN and Türkiye and expired in 2023.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614881-putin-proposes-un-govern-ukraine/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5c5ed20302711f9507321.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614882-us-greenland-annexation-putin/
title: US has been plotting to annex Greenland since the 1860s – Putin
author: ;RT
hash: �j��^��4P چ^
content:
<p><strong>The tensions around the island should not be dismissed as the “extravagant talk” of the US administration, according to Russia’s president</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>Washington has long harbored plans to get its hands on Greenland, and the ongoing tensions around the world’s largest island should be taken seriously, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned.</p>
<p>Speaking at the International Arctic Forum in Murmansk on Thursday, Putin touched upon the ongoing tensions around Greenland, a Danish semi-autonomous territory, and US President Donald Trump’s repeated promises to annex it.</p>
<p>Trump invoked the topic of Greenland once again on Wednesday, claiming that US ownership of the island is needed to <em>“properly defend a large section of this Earth”</em> and would be universally beneficial – including for Denmark.</p>
<p><em>“We have to have the land because it’s not possible to properly defend a large section of this Earth – not just the US – without it. So we have to have it, and I think we will have it,”</em> he said.</p>
<p>Trump’s statements should be taken seriously, Putin warned, pointing out that the US has been harboring plans to annex Greenland for over a century and a half already.</p>
<p><em>“Everyone knows about the US plans to annex Greenland. You know, this may surprise someone only at first glance. And it is a deep mistake to believe that this is some kind of extravagant talk of the new American administration,”</em> Putin warned.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5b6702030271168232236.jpg" alt="Greenlanders protest US President Donald Trump's remarks on the island in Nuuk, Greenland on March 15, 2025.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614880-trump-greenland-hidden-threat/">Trump has ‘gone too far’ – Danish defense minister</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>American plans to seize Greenland date back to 1860, but at the time they did not get Congressional support, the Russian president pointed out.</p>
<p><em>“Let me remind you that by 1868, the Alaska purchase was being ridiculed in American newspapers. It was called madness, an ‘ice box,’ and ‘the polar bear garden’ of Andrew Johnson, then-US president. And his Greenland proposals failed,”</em> Putin said.</p>
<p>The US, Germany, and Denmark also came close to signing a land-swap deal in 1910, which would have resulted in Greenland being ceded to America, Putin noted. However, the agreement ultimately fell through. </p>
<p>From the early 19th century until the 1950s, Greenland was under the full control of Denmark. During World War Two, it was occupied by the US after the Scandinavian country itself was captured by Nazi Germany. Currently, the island hosts an American military base and the infrastructure for an early warning system for ballistic missiles. </p>
<p>In recent decades, the island has grown increasingly autonomous; it was granted home rule in 1979, ultimately receiving the right in 2009 to declare independence if a referendum passes.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614882-us-greenland-annexation-putin/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5c4d820302711c83481bc.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: yt:video:gOyTLFZnKrg
title: Could Espionage Charges Be on the Table?
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOyTLFZnKrg
hash: {��V�V+m �����)
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/gOyTLFZnKrg?version=3","title":"Could Espionage Charges Be on the Table?","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/gOyTLFZnKrg/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/maria-zakharova-western-media-still
title: Maria Zakharova: Western Media Still Pushing Well Known Lies
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/maria-zakharova-western-media-still
hash: ��*@Yc6��Ӧ�~
content:
<h3 data-sanitized-class="subtitle">An excerpt from her weekly briefing.</h3><div dir="auto" data-sanitized-class="body markup">
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container">
<figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa852fa45-f15d-4fad-adbc-3e840efc1495_720x480.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" rel data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img">
<div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa852fa45-f15d-4fad-adbc-3e840efc1495_720x480.jpeg" width="720" height="480" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a852fa45-f15d-4fad-adbc-3e840efc1495_720x480.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":480,"width":720,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":112673,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/160022083?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa852fa45-f15d-4fad-adbc-3e840efc1495_720x480.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand">
<div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset">
<div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div>
<div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</a></figure></div>
<p><span>Reiterating this history becomes tiresome but it must be done since Western media refuses to stop publishing outright lies, which perhaps shouldn’t surprise us too much as it’s become their MO. This is one item Maria addressed during</span> <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/2005860/" rel>her weekly briefing</a><span>. IMO, the continuing prevarication by Western media needs to be seen as a big red flag to Russians while negotiating with Americans as their media shares the same level of credibility or rather lack thereof. IMO and that of many others, the hurry to complete a deal with Russia must be seen as being connected to something else more nefarious, which was deeply</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3psU2nfuNo" rel>discussed today by Hudson and Wolff</a><span>. As reported in the</span> <a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/p/negotiations-report-by-lavrov-and" rel>Negotiation Update article</a><span>, numerous conditions that must be fulfilled were placed by Russia to get its consent for this new version of the Black Sea Agreement, conditions that President Putin recently told</span> <a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/p/34th-annual-congress-of-the-russian" rel>Industrialists and Entrepreneurs</a> <span>to expect to be unfulfilled—sanctions will continue forever in some form, meaning the duplicity of the West will never abate and that’s what needs to be considered in future planning:</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p><span>Vladimir Zelensky made a "fantastic" statement in an interview with a US TV channel. Commenting on his conversation with US President Donald Trump, he said: "If you can force Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war, that will be great, but you should know that he can deceive, he deceived me after the Minsk truce."</span> <em><strong>All this, as it is, began to be reprinted by the Western media, without reminding their own audience of other quotes from their leaders, such as Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, that it was they who deceived not only the citizens of Ukraine, but also the entire international community by not fulfilling the Minsk Agreements, because they knew from the beginning that they would not comply with them</strong></em><span>.</span></p>
<p><span>In the course of our briefings and other public speeches, we regularly say that</span> <em><strong>it is the "collective West" that has always stood for the disruption of all peace initiatives on Ukraine, starting with the bloody coup d'état in February 2014 and then step by step.</strong></em></p>
<p>For a long time, the "guarantors" of the Minsk Agreements (primarily Germany and France, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande) declared their commitment to peace. Time passed, February 2022 happened, the authorities in these countries changed and the former leaders ceased to be restrained at all.</p>
<p><span>On December 7, 2022, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was in power for more than 16 years (who likes to talk about democratic processes?), who directly participated in the meetings of the Normandy format and in the process</span> <a href="http://www.kremlin.ru/supplement/4804" rel>of drafting the Minsk Agreements,</a> <span>spoke very frankly in an interview with the German media. Let me remind you of the quote: "The Minsk agreements were an attempt to give time to Ukraine. They used this time to become stronger. Ukraine of the 2014-2015 model is not Ukraine today. I doubt that NATO countries would then have been able to do as much as they are doing now to help Ukraine. It was clear to all of us that this was a frozen conflict, that the problem had not been resolved. This is what gave Ukraine precious time."</span> <em><strong>Why did the Western media, quoting Vladimir Zelensky today that he was allegedly deceived, not say specifically who deceived him?</strong></em></p>
<p><span>Another guarantor, also a former one, but this time French President François Hollande supported Angela Merkel in the same way, saying: "The fuss around the Minsk agreements has led to the fact that since 2014 Ukraine has strengthened its military potential... It has become better...</span> <em><strong>The merit of the Minsk agreements is that Kiev got time to strengthen its army, because in 2014 NATO could not provide Kiev with weapons to the extent that it is doing now, and stopped the Russian offensive for a while.</strong></em><span>" The "fuss," as he said, is about the Security Council resolution, the Normandy format meetings, and the endless efforts of various representatives and special representatives to implement and monitor the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. And this was said by former French President Francois Hollande, the "guarantor" of the Minsk Agreements.</span></p>
<p><em><strong>These are not just revelations and memories, but an admission of guilt, a confession, but only without remorse.</strong></em> <span>Even then, in 2015, when they had many hours of conversations, they knew that they would never do anything like this and that they would pump the Kiev regime with weapons for further slaughter. They forget to mention one more important thing. They understood then and still understand that the Kiev regime is doomed. They have never felt sorry for anyone, neither women, nor children, nor the civilian population of Donbass, nor Ukraine as a whole. They just needed a conflict.</span></p>
<p><span>After these revelations, to say that Russia is allegedly to blame for something is an attempt to shift the blame from a sore head to a healthy one. After all, these are the same countries and the same leaders that were part of the Normandy format and manually led many political processes, including the change of power in Ukraine.</span> <em><strong>The main thing in these revelations is that, from the point of view of the West, all this was a falsification, flirting with the use of international law with the sole purpose of pumping the Kiev regime with weapons and politically preparing it to start hostilities, which we saw in early 2022, when the Kiev regime began to escalate in Donbass, multiplying the shelling of civilians.</strong></em> <span>Now they (these same Westerners) also need to "set fire" to the western part of Europe.</span></p>
<p><span>Then, with the Minsk Agreements, from their point of view, it was a distraction of the international community's attention from the real events on the territory of Ukraine, the humanitarian catastrophe and the endless killings that led to 2022.</span> <em><strong>Do you remember what Europe came to at the end of 2021? More than 13,000 victims on all sides. This is the result of Western manipulation of the Minsk Agreements.</strong></em> <span>This left no room for any other actions than those taken by the Russian Federation: first recognising these territories as sovereign and then accepting them into the Russian Federation so that they could be protected, to save the lives of citizens and preserve their dignity.</span></p>
<p><span>The main goal of this grandiose provocation was to create a hotbed of tension in this region, on the borders of the Russian Federation. Then came the illegal regime change, despite the fact that the people of Ukraine made the choices they needed.</span> <em><strong>The West swept away all legitimately elected presidents and brought to power its puppets: Viktor Yushchenko, Petr Poroshenko and, finally, the "bloody, bunker" Vladimir Zelensky. That's how they began to prepare for a big conflict.</strong></em></p>
<p>Let's remember what the third signatory of the Minsk Agreements, then President of Ukraine Petr Poroshenko, said? This former one also told the BBC in a documentary: "You know what the success of the Minsk Agreements is, despite the fact that Russia has not fulfilled any of their points, allegedly, naturally. This document gave Ukraine eight years to build an army, economy and a global pro-Ukrainian coalition."</p>
<p><em><strong>Do you think this is all a distant past and everyone has forgotten it? I assure you – no. Now all this is being actively promoted in the Western media, only from their point of view and logic, on the contrary.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>All these quotes are carefully pushed forward and Vladimir Zelensky and other representatives of Bankova or Western regimes come to the fore, who are starting to talk about the deception committed around the Minsk Agreements.</span> <em><strong>But in order to "put away" the confessions of Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, they are beginning to blame Moscow for this.</strong></em></p>
<p>At the news conference "Ukraine. 2024", Vladimir Zelensky said that President of Russia Vladimir Putin "constantly raised the issue of a ceasefire" in Donbass during a personal meeting in 2019. And when Vladimir Zelensky was asked about the details of the meeting, he immediately replied that he did not remember them, that it was as if in another life. A great excuse, isn't it?</p>
<p>Let's go back a year earlier. In 2023, in an interview with the German newspaper Der Spiegel, Vladimir Zelensky was even more frank: "I did not see in the [Minsk] agreements a desire to preserve Ukraine's independence. I understand their [Western countries'] point of view: first of all, they wanted to quench Russia's appetites a little at the expense of Ukraine. Procrastination is completely normal in diplomacy. You never know when a decision-maker dies and everything suddenly becomes easier. &lt;... &gt; I told Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel that we cannot implement them [the Minsk agreements] this way... I jumped on this train, which, to be honest, was already rolling into the abyss. By "train" I mean these agreements in general. Each point is a wagon, and when you begin to disassemble it, you understand: everything is arranged in such a way that one side cannot fulfill something, and the other side freezes the conflict." There are a huge number of such statements.</p>
<p><span>I will cite another quote in support of what I was talking about:</span> <em><strong>"We do not need military people with foreign flags on our territory. We are not asking for this. Otherwise, there will be destabilization all over the world. We don't want to give Russia another reason to say that we have bases here and that they need to defend themselves.</strong></em><span>" Do you know who said that? Vladimir Zelensky, February 2022 Again, on the issue of peacekeeping, which is being discussed by the Westerners. [My Emphasis]</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>The name prominently missing above is Donald Trump who was US president during four crucial years of the Minsk Agreements—International Law—non-enforcement. Instead, Trump pumped ever more weapons and monies into Ukraine in contravention of International Law, and he now tries to absolve himself of that crime. The latest attempt at</span> <a href="https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/03/trumps-rewritten-deal-with-ukraine-is-imposed-indentured-servitude.html" rel>extortion of Ukraine</a> <span>by Trump was just made public that has many Ukrainians up in arms. Perhaps they will now remember what nation waged an aggressive war upon them in 2013-14 with the Maidan “color” revolt followed by an aggressive coup—the primary act of war—the empowerment of Nazis and detailing them to wage war on all Russian speakers and all things Russian, which began the reign of terror that is worse today than ever.</span></p>
<p>Russia all along has stated its willingness to talk provided it was treated respectfully. Trump, IMO, saw that as an opening and his ticket to return to power—he vowed he’d solve the war in 24 hours because he’d talk with Putin—that he would be a “peace president.” Since 20 January, we’ve seen just how peaceful he is—Abetting Genocide in Gaza and waging undeclared war on Yemen while allowing weapons and monies to continue flowing into Ukraine (yes, there was a hic-cup for a few days that didn’t make any difference). And now he’s directly threatened Iran with war if Iran doesn’t obey his diktat. Oh, and we mustn’t forget the Trade War he’s began against most of the world and his threat to steal Greenland. IMO, Putin was very cleaver to deflect the immediate demand of a ceasefire by detailing all the “nuances” involved in such an undertaking. Now the renewal of the Black Sea Grain deal but only upon the fulfillment of a detailed list of conditions, all of which are objected to by the Europeans and many in Congress. That makes two deals proposed and two deals failed. What will be the next failed deal? Today, Putin’s in Murmansk commissioning a nuclear submarine and addressing the plenary session of the VI International Arctic Forum 'The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue.’ Unlike Trump and his team, I doubt very much that Putin and his team gloat and laugh when they get battlefield results. And IMO that’s more than enough to tell us who are the Good Guys and who are the Bad.</p>
<p><span>*</span><br><span>*</span><br><span>*</span><br><em><span>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a</span> <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> <span>to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</span></em></p>

</div>

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a852fa45-f15d-4fad-adbc-3e840efc1495_720x480.jpeg","type":"image/jpeg"}]}


guid: https://raymcgovern.com/?p=8774
title: MUST READ – What War With Iran Would Mean
author: ;Ray McGovern
link: https://raymcgovern.com/2025/03/27/must-read-what-war-with-iran-would-mean/
hash: �&�� �y�(�-��IZ�
tags: #-
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p data-sanitized-class="excerpt">WAR WITH IRAN??? In a MUST-READ, Dennis Kucinich, who “knows the territory” AND the players from before the ill-begotten war on Iraq, addresses the March-of-Folly implications for us if Trump identifies AMERICA FIRST with a fully unnecessary “ISRAEL FIRST” https://kucinichreport.substack.com/p/the-high-price-of-war-with-iran-10</p><p data-sanitized-class="more-link-p"><a href="https://raymcgovern.com/2025/03/27/must-read-what-war-with-iran-would-mean/" data-sanitized-class="btn btn-default">Read more</a></p>


guid: 67e5d1238d1545000199a742
title: Putin Lays Out Global Role of Arctic for Russia, Undisturbed by Trump&amp;#039;s Greenland Scheme
author: ;Bill Jones
hash: �ԇ<����s�P�� a
tags: #New World Paradigm #Russia and Ukraine #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>March 27, 2025 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a visit to the Far North on March 27, speaking at the VI International Forum “<a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76554">Arctic—A Territory of Dialogue</a>.” In his 37-minute comments, it was clear that he saw the Arctic not as a regional question, but rather as a global question of importance for Russia. The functioning of the Northern Sea Route year-round has enhanced Russia’s position in world trade, as well as its position as a major maritime nation.</p>
<p>There is every intention by the Putin government to utilize its position in the Arctic to regain and enhance the role it has as a major power, encompassing the greatest landmass of any country in the world. He is also intent on reviving the collaboration with the other Arctic nations, particularly the United States, after the demise of the Arctic Council as a result of the West’s attempt to contain Russia. He went through the various plans that are under consideration for bringing the Arctic and its resources into the world economy: the construction of new ports, the creation of new rail lines in the Far North, the upgrading of shipbuilding, including icebreakers and other vessels for the maritime trade route, and the enhancement of the extensive system of rivers—the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena Rivers, which flow into the Arctic Ocean.</p>
<p>The significance of the region for Russia was also clearly indicated in his extensive comments on President Trump’s proposal to annex Greenland: “Suffice it to say about the plans of the United States to annex Greenland, as everyone is aware. But you know, it can surprise someone only at first glance. It is a profound mistake to treat it as some preposterous talk by the new U.S. administration. Nothing of the sort.</p>
<p>“In fact, the United States had such plans as far back as 1860s. As early as that, the U.S. administration was considering possible annexation of Greenland and Iceland. However, the idea did not enjoy support in the Congress then. …</p>
<p>“Thus what is happening today is not really surprising, particularly since this story only began back then, and it went on and on. In 1910, for example, a trilateral land swap deal was negotiated between the United States, Germany and Denmark. As a result, Greenland would have gone to the United States but the deal fell through then.”</p>
<p>Putin also noted the establishment of American bases in Greenland to protect it from the Nazis, when even then, there were talks of the U.S. purchasing Greenland.</p>
<p>“As to Greenland, this is an issue that concerns two specific nations and has nothing to do with us,” he said. Then he went into what he considered the real problem—the crazy Scandinavians, who want war. “But at the same time, of course, we are concerned about the fact that NATO countries are increasingly often designating the Far North as a springboard for possible conflicts and are practicing the use of troops in these conditions, including by their ‘new recruits’—Finland and Sweden, with whom, incidentally, until recently we had no problems at all.”</p>

link:
https://eir.news/2025/03/news/putin-lays-out-global-role-of-arctic-for-russia-undisturbed-by-trumps-greenland-scheme/


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614883-putin-western-partners-trust/
title: Russia will never blindly trust ‘Western partners’ again – Putin
author: ;RT
hash: IV/TO !��e�ke]c�
content:
<p><strong>The president has stated that Moscow will no longer tolerate diplomatic deception</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p data-start="313" data-end="483">President Vladimir Putin has emphasized that Moscow’s trust in Western Europe has been fundamentally broken, stating that while Russia remains open to working with the EU to resolve the Ukraine conflict, it will no longer do so on the basis of trust.</p>
<p data-start="746" data-end="989">The remarks came during Putin's meeting with Russian submarine crews following the launch of a new nuclear sub on Thursday, in the context of what he described as a <em>“sincere”</em> effort by US President Donald Trump to find a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.</p>
<p data-start="746" data-end="989">While expressing cautious optimism toward Washington, the Russian president made it clear that Europe is no longer regarded as a trustworthy interlocutor.</p>
<p data-start="991" data-end="1139"><em>“We are ready to work with Europe,” </em>Putin said.<em> “But they behave inconsistently and keep trying to string us along. That’s fine – we’re used to it now. I hope we won’t make any more mistakes based on trust in our so-called Western partners.”</em></p>
<p data-start="1386" data-end="1576">Putin accused Western leaders – particularly in France, Germany, and the UK – of manipulating previous peace efforts, especially the Minsk Agreements, as a tactic to buy time and rearm Ukraine.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5881285f54058ea2d779a.jpg" alt="French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pictured ahead of the 'Coalition of the willing' summit on March 27, 2025 in Paris, France.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614877-france-ukraine-reassurance-force/">France and UK rebrand possible military deployment to Ukraine</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p data-start="1386" data-end="1576"><em>“Unfortunately, the former leaders of some Western countries... openly and without shame, have admitted that they only needed the Minsk Agreements to rearm the Ukrainian regime and prepare it for military action against us,”</em> Putin said.</p>
<p data-start="1902" data-end="1977"><em>“We tried to resolve these issues peacefully for eight years,”</em> even <em>“when the conflict entered a hot phase,” </em>Putin explained, accusing former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson of derailing the 2022 Istanbul peace talks. </p>
<p data-start="1902" data-end="1977"><em>“It is well known that Western handlers... arrived and persuaded the Ukrainian leadership to continue armed resistance to the end, essentially to the last Ukrainian, with the goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia,”</em> he said.</p>
<p data-start="2549" data-end="2755">Despite the past breaches of trust, Putin maintained that Russia is still open to dialogue – including with European nations – but stressed that future agreements must rest on firm, enforceable guarantees.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5c5ed20302711f9507321.jpg" alt="FILE PHOTO.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614881-putin-proposes-un-govern-ukraine/">Putin proposes that UN temporarily govern Ukraine</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p data-start="2757" data-end="3026">As part of this approach, he floated the idea of placing Ukraine under a temporary international administration. He suggested that a UN-led transitional authority could organize elections and establish a legitimate government capable of negotiating a lasting peace.</p>
<p data-start="2757" data-end="3026"><em>“Of course, it would be possible – under the UN’s auspices and together with the United States, European countries, and our partners – to discuss the introduction of a temporary administration in Ukraine,”</em> Putin said. <em>“In order to hold democratic elections and bring a capable, trusted government to power, with whom we could then sign legally binding agreements.”</em></p>
<p data-start="3394" data-end="3494">He concluded by reaffirming that any resolution must address Russia’s long-term strategic interests.</p>
<p data-start="3394" data-end="3494"><em>“We must, without question, ensure Russia’s security for the long historical perspective,”</em> he said.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614883-putin-western-partners-trust/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5d6fd2030273de6149142.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: yt:video:X3Tup3S4CO0
title: Shahid Bolsen Breaks Down Netflix &quot;Adolescence&quot; &amp; Western Moral Chaos
author: ;Middle Nation
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3Tup3S4CO0
hash: 풁'h����z�:w
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/X3Tup3S4CO0?version=3","title":"Shahid Bolsen Breaks Down Netflix &quot;Adolescence&quot;  &amp; Western Moral Chaos","description":"In this discussion, Shahid Bolsen breaks down the Netflix series Adolescence, exposing the deeper social and psychological themes embedded in its narrative. How does the show reflect the manipulation of youth identity, the erosion of moral boundaries, and the broader cultural agenda shaping the next generation? Watch as we dissect the hidden messages behind the entertainment industry’s latest attempt at redefining reality.\n\nSubscribe for more critical analysis of media, society, and power.\n\n#ShahidBolsen #Netflix #Adolescence #MediaAnalysis #MiddleNation #redpill","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/X3Tup3S4CO0/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: yt:video:OTVFc24KP1Y
title: Washington Today (3-27-25): HHS Sec says 'sprawling bureaucracy' dept. to be reorganized, downsized
author: ;C-SPAN
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTVFc24KP1Y
hash: �A�'B�KY��a��
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/OTVFc24KP1Y?version=3","title":"Washington Today (3-27-25): HHS Sec says 'sprawling bureaucracy' dept. to be reorganized, downsized","description":"Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announces a reorganization and downsizing of his department, calling the current setup a “sprawling bureaucracy.” He says there will be a “painful period” but the result will be better able to achieve the mission of helping to make American healthier.\n\nPresident Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi announce the arrest in Virginia of a top leader of the MS-13 gang, who they say is an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador.\n\nSecretary of State Marco Rubio is asked about a Tufts University graduate student from Turkey in the U.S. with a student visa who was detained in Boston, allegedly for supporting Hamas. The Secretary is also asked how many more students in similar situations will be detained.\n\nPresident Trump withdraws the nomination of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations over concerns about the super thin House Republican majority and the need for every vote in upcoming legislative battles.\n\nPresident Trump's announcement a 25 percent tariff on imported cars and auto parts is getting a chilly reception from foreign leaders. We will talk about it with Brett Samuels, The Hill's White House reporter. (38)\n\nSenate Commerce, Science &amp; Transportation Committee hold a hearing on the investigation of the midair deadly collision near Reagan National Airport between a commercial plane and Army helicopter.\n\nDownload the FREE C-SPAN Now App. https://www.c-span.org/c-spanNow/\n\nDiscover the C-SPAN Video Library at https://www.c-span.org/quickguide/\n\nExplore C-SPAN's Free Educational Resources at https://www.c-span.org/classroom/\n\nC-SPAN: Created by Cable in 1979. Offered as a public service.\n\nSupport C-SPAN by Donating Today: https://donorbox.org/support-c-span?utm_source=YouTube&amp;utm_medium=Video_Description&amp;utm_campaign=Donations&amp;utm_content=Donate\n\nSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CSPAN \n\nFollow us:\nFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSPAN\nTwitter: https://twitter.com/cspan\nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/cspan/\n\nSubscribe:\nC-SPAN Podcasts: https://www.c-span.org/podcasts/\nNewsletters: https://www.c-span.org/connect/\nVisit the C-SPAN Shop: https://c-spanshop.org/\n#cspan","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/OTVFc24KP1Y/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: 67e5e46b8d1545000199a76a
title: Trump Orders Declassification of FBI&amp;#039;s ‘Russiagate’ Operation
author: ;David Shavin
link: https://eir.news/2025/03/news/trump-orders-declassification-of-fbis-russia-gate-operation/
hash: X�te�ag �ՋN ���
tags: #U.S. and Canada #United Kingdom #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>March 27, 2025 (EIRNS)—U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the declassification of all FBI files related to the agency’s investigation into his first election campaign’s alleged contacts with Russia. The FBI launched the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation in July 2016, ostensibly to examine whether then presidential candidate Trump or members of his campaign were colluding or coordinating with Moscow to influence the election.</p>
<p>In a March 25 memorandum, Trump directed the Attorney General to make the materials available to the public “immediately.” And in a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114224810565767895">video posted the same day on Truth Social</a>, Trump said, after signing the order: “This was total weaponization. It’s a disgrace … but now you’ll be able to see for yourselves.” Addressing journalists, he prefaced: “This gives the media the right to check it—you probably won’t bother, because you’re not going to like what you see.”</p>
<p>Previously, in January 2021, Trump had ordered a full declassification of Crossfire Hurricane, but the documents were never released. According to a 2023 CNN report, a binder containing highly classified information later went missing. Of note, the present head of the FBI, Kash Patel, back in 2017 was the lead investigator for Rep. Devin Nunes’ House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, in which his “Nunes Memo” concluded that the FBI had abused their authority in the Russiagate operation. Patel is certainly acquainted with where some of the bodies are buried, and how some of the coverups were carried out.</p>
<p>“Crossfire Hurricane” was prompted by the infamous “Steele Dossier” of “former” MI6 agent Christopher Steele. His series of memos—basically unverified second-hand rumors and gossip on Trump—began in June 2016. Also at that time, the director of Britain’s GCHQ Robert Hannigan flew to Washington to brief CIA director John Brennan on the “Russiagate” project, one that London had been preparing months before.</p>
<p>On July 28, 2016, Brennan briefed President Barack Obama, VP Joe Biden, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director James Comey, and former DNI James Clapper on the project. Brennan’s handwritten notes on that briefing were made public by John Ratcliffe, then Trump’s DNI, now the Director of the CIA. However, the CIA had heavily redacted that memo. The only two lines not redacted more than justify the full disclosure. They read: “Cite alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on 26 July on a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security services”; and, “Any evidence of collaboration between Trump campaign &amp; Russians.” (A prime candidate for the “foreign policy advisor” Brennan referenced might well be Jake Sullivan, a former State Department official, who was then Clinton’s senior advisor in her campaign.) The present order by Trump will not please the Russiagate circles of Hannigan, Steele, and Brennan.</p>
<p>Immediately after Brennan’s briefing, the CIA sent a Counterintelligence Operational Lead (CIOL) to then-FBI Director James Comey and then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, with the subject line: “Crossfire Hurricane.” It stated: “The following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate. Per FBI verbal request, CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date. An exchange [REDACTED] discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.” The FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” was officially in gear by July 31, 2016.</p>
<p>Of some note: Britain’s former MI6 Chief Richard Dearlove, according to the Feb. 16, 2018 <em>Washington Post</em>, told Steele in London’s posh Garrick Club that Trump “reminded him of a predicament he had faced years earlier, when he [Dearlove] was chief of station for British intelligence in Washington [1991-93] and alerted U.S. authorities to British information that a vice presidential hopeful had once been in communication with the Kremlin.” Apparently, that was sufficient to do the job on the VP wannabe, but not so much with Donald Trump.</p>


guid: 0syG6a77AVFRxgCU0Kdcvp
link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0syG6a77AVFRxgCU0Kdcvp
hash: ���N T��LYr�e��
title:
Fireside Chat Mar 27th – Dennis Speed + Diane Sare – Don’t Let the British Decapitate the Presidency!!!

content:
<img src="https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67656300005f1fc64c6dbede910be68591e4f7" width="300" height="300"><br><br>Some time soon, perhaps even by the time you read this, British Intelligence infiltrators in the Trump Administration may have forced the resignation of one of the senior officials of the Presidency. This is to be accomplished in the same way that Gen. Michael Flynn was dismissed as Trump’s National Security Advisor 22 days into the first Trump Administration. The immediate targets include Steve Witkoff, Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, and CIA Director Ratcliffe.That is what the “Signal-Gate” affair is all about: use the “leak” of the sensitive discussion (on a public app!!) about carrying out the ill-conceived bombing of Yemen, to disrupt the selected Trump team. That would, in turn, disrupt the ultra-sensitive negotiations going on between Russia and the United States. These negotiations are not about Ukraine, though that ongoing war is one of the features of those discussions. These talks are about the United States making a sovereign policy decision, and taking concrete action, to move the world away from thermonuclear war, and that in the short term, without “consulting” the British Empire.Today, a new Russian ambassador, Alexander Darchiev arrived in the United States. This is the first time that Russia officially returned to the U.S. since October 5 of last year. This comes about after hours of personal exchanges between Putin and Trump, and after the concrete work of the Saudi Arabia negotiations process. In this context, ask yourself: Just why would the same President Trump, who once said in a May, 2024 speech that “you can solve problems over a telephone, instead they start dropping bombs…Recently, they’re dropping bombs all over Yemen. You don’t have to do that” then engage in bombing Yemen?Former U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who is a long-time opponent of the endless wars waged in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan, has intervened in a article on March 25 warning Trump against going to war with Iran: “It was not in America’s interest then, nor is it now, to go to war with Iran, a nation of 90 million people, a technologically advanced society, with nearly a million-person army. President Trump should not be misled. War with Iran would be the end of his presidency.” He then warns the disruption of the oil markets would translate into $7-$10 a gallon gasoline at the pumps in the US causing mass economic dislocation and financial shocks. This is the British Great Game in action.Are Americans just too dumb to understand what’s going on? Possibly. Organizers report that as many as 70% of Americans under 50 randomly polled in the street have no idea that 2025-26 is the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution , and that at least 25% have no idea that the United States fought the British to gain independence. King Charles is offering the United States to re-join the Commonwealth, a proposal originally made and authorized by his mother, Elizabeth in the first Trump Administration. Are Americans, is the Trump Administration, dumb enough to accept? That’s the way of perfidious Albion. You will find that is you bow to His/Her Majesty, whether in Gaza, Yemen, Iran or Ukraine, the next time you try to lift your head, it will fall into the royal lap.Speakers: Diane Sare and Dennis Speed<br><br><span>(Feed generated with <a href="https://fetchrss.com/" target="_blank">FetchRSS</a>)</span>


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614884-putin-un-control-ukraine/
title: Key points from Putin’s speech on placing Ukraine under UN control
author: ;RT
hash: ��@�� �z��`�
content:
<p><strong>The current authorities in Kiev have lost the legitimacy needed to sign any peace agreements, the president has said</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p data-start="228" data-end="296"><strong data-start="228" data-end="296"></strong><strong data-start="298" data-end="413"></strong> Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed placing Ukraine under a temporary international administration as one possible way of resolving the ongoing conflict. The idea, he said, draws on international precedent and would aim to restore legitimate governance before any peace deal could be finalized.</p>
<p data-start="731" data-end="972">During his meeting with Russian nuclear submarine officers on Thursday, President Putin described a <a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614881-putin-proposes-un-govern-ukraine/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">possible international mechanism</a> for stabilizing Ukraine – placing it under temporary external administration coordinated by the United Nations.</p>
<p data-start="974" data-end="1021">Here are the key takeaways from Putin’s proposal:</p>
<p data-start="1023" data-end="1066"><strong data-start="1023" data-end="1066"></strong></p>
<aside data-sanitized-class="listicle">
<p data-start="1023" data-end="1066"><strong data-start="1023" data-end="1066">Problem: Collapse of legitimacy in Kiev</strong></p>
<p data-start="1023" data-end="1066">Putin argued that Ukraine’s constitutional legitimacy has broken down due to the expiration of Vladimir Zelensky’s presidential term last year and the lack of elections since – rendering all of his government’s claims to authority invalid.<br><br><em>“Presidential elections weren’t held... under the constitution, all officials are appointed by the president. If he himself is illegitimate, then so is everyone else.”</em></p>
</aside>
<aside data-sanitized-class="listicle">
<p data-start="1485" data-end="2169"><strong data-start="1485" data-end="1533">Consequence: Power vacuum filled by radicals</strong></p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67d461742030275b854871e0.jpg" alt="FILE PHOTO: Mikhail Podoliak.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614238-no-election-ukraine-truce-podolyak/">No election in Ukraine even if truce with Russia achieved – top Zelensky aide</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p data-start="1485" data-end="2169">Putin has warned that groups with neo-Nazi views, such as the notorious Azov battalion – which receive Western weapons and actively recruit followers – could increasingly exert de facto control in Ukraine, potentially replacing formal civilian authorities.<br><br><em>“Amid the de facto illegitimacy… Neo-Nazi formations are receiving more weapons,”</em> and could take <em>“the actual power in their hands.”<br><br></em>Putin argued that this makes negotiating with Ukraine’s current government even more unreliable and unstable: <em>“It’s unclear who you’re even signing any documents with – tomorrow new people could come and say, ‘We don’t know who signed this – goodbye.’”</em></p>
</aside>
<aside data-sanitized-class="listicle">
<p data-start="2171" data-end="2568"><strong data-start="2171" data-end="2227">Suggestion: UN-led temporary external administration</strong></p>
<p data-start="2171" data-end="2568">Putin proposed the use of a UN-led transitional authority, referencing prior international missions such as in East Timor, Papua New Guinea, and parts of former Yugoslavia.</p>

             
    <p>
        <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614881-putin-proposes-un-govern-ukraine/">
            <span>READ MORE: </span>Putin proposes that UN temporarily govern Ukraine
        </a>
    </p>


    

<p data-start="2171" data-end="2568"><br><em>“In such cases, international practice often follows a known path – under UN peacekeeping, through what is called external governance, a temporary administration.”</em></p>
</aside>
<aside data-sanitized-class="listicle">
<p data-start="2171" data-end="2568"><strong data-start="2570" data-end="2627">Purpose: Restoring constitutional order and setting a legal framework for stable peace</strong></p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5b393203027121263d17a.jpg" alt="Russian President Vladimir Putin.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614879-putins-move-why-ukraine-fears/">Putin’s move: Why Ukraine fears the ceasefire deal it helped shape</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p data-start="2171" data-end="2568">The main goal, according to Putin, would be to organize democratic elections and install a functioning, legitimate government trusted by citizens and recognized globally. He stated that only such leaders could sign peace agreements that would be recognized worldwide and upheld over time.</p>
<p data-start="2171" data-end="2568"><em>“Why do this? In order to hold democratic elections, in order to bring to power a government that is capable and enjoys the trust of the people, and then begin negotiations with them on a peace treaty, sign legitimate documents that will be recognized worldwide and will be reliable and stable.”</em></p>
</aside>
<aside data-sanitized-class="listicle">
<p data-start="3220" data-end="3581"><strong data-start="3220" data-end="3262">Not the only option – but a viable one</strong></p>
<p data-start="3220" data-end="3581">Putin emphasized that this idea is not the only possibility, but an example drawn from historical precedent.<br><br><em>“This is just one option... I’m not saying other options do not exist, but it is hard right now, or maybe even impossible, to lay everything out clearly because the situation is changing so fast,”</em> he said.</p>
</aside>
<aside data-sanitized-class="listicle">
<p data-start="3220" data-end="3581"><strong data-start="3583" data-end="3627">Multilateral cooperation beyond the West</strong></p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5d6fd2030273de6149142.jpg" alt="RT">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614883-putin-western-partners-trust/">Russia will never blindly trust ‘Western partners’ again – Putin</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p data-start="3220" data-end="3581">Putin said such an initiative should involve not just the UN or the US, but a broader coalition, including BRICS nations and others Russia considers reliable.<br><br><em>“We will work with any partners – the US, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, BRICS countries… and, for example, North Korea.”<br><br></em>He also stressed that Russia remains open to working with the EU, even though Moscow’s trust in the Western European countries has been fundamentally undermined by their manipulation of peace efforts as a tactic to buy time and rearm Ukraine.</p>
</aside>
<p data-start="1485" data-end="2169"></p>
<p data-start="3220" data-end="3581"><strong data-start="3583" data-end="3627"></strong></p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614884-putin-un-control-ukraine/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5e90785f5405a530dcf37.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/putin-in-murmansk-for
title: Putin in Murmansk for АРКТИКА
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/putin-in-murmansk-for
hash: ��Y2h* ��ve'���
content:
<h3 data-sanitized-class="subtitle">The VI International Arctic Forum 'The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue'</h3><div dir="auto" data-sanitized-class="body markup">
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container">
<figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5bdea29e-b0b9-4cbc-92d9-83ba27984d4a_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" rel data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img">
<div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5bdea29e-b0b9-4cbc-92d9-83ba27984d4a_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5bdea29e-b0b9-4cbc-92d9-83ba27984d4a_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":516366,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/160029304?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5bdea29e-b0b9-4cbc-92d9-83ba27984d4a_1880x1160.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand">
<div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset">
<div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div>
<div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</a></figure></div>
<p>The Kremlin tells us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The International Arctic Forum is a key platform for discussing topical issues of the integrated development of the Arctic territories, the development of effective mechanisms for the joint use and development of the rich resources of the Arctic region at different levels.</p>
<p>In 2025, the events of the forum are held in Murmansk on March 26–27 under the motto "To live in the North!"</p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>Prior to this event, Putin chaired</span> <a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76553" rel>a meeting</a> <span>on the development of the Arctic zone and the Arctic transport corridor. Putin then stepped out into the night to go to Atomflot’s territory at Severodvinsk shipyard</span> <a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76556" rel>to commission</a> <span>the newest Yasen-M nuclear submarine</span> <em>Perm</em> <span>with Putin noting “the</span> <em>Perm</em> <span>became the first multi-purpose submarine armed with Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles.”</span></p>
<p><span>Then it was back inside to conduct</span> <a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76559" rel>the ceremony</a> <span>for starting the shipment of the first batch of coal from the Lavna transshipment complex. The Kremin tells us:</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Lavna coal transshipment complex is located on the western shore of the Kola Bay within the boundaries of the port of Murmansk, and is an integral part of the Integrated Development of the Murmansk Transport Hub project.</p>
<p>Within its framework, the construction of a coal transshipment complex with a transshipment capacity of 18 million tons per year, a special railway line, the arrangement of the port water area.</p>
<p>The construction of the port "Lavna" will contribute to the growth of cargo turnover along the Northern Sea Route and the organization of year-round navigation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Putin said the following as part of the ceremony:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The opening of the terminal will be a good contribution to increasing the capacity of our Arctic ports, in the creation of additional opportunities for the coal mining industry. I note, by the way, that coal was shipped from Kuzbass. The new capacities will allow to diversify the logistics of Kuzbass coal supplies to foreign markets.</p>
<p>Today, Russia is strengthening its sovereignty and creating new growth points for the economy and trade, forming effective transport corridors, including the active development of the Northern Sea Route, the entire global route from St. Petersburg through the Arctic to Vladivostok.</p>
<p><span>The port of Murmansk is one of the key points on this significant route. We will definitely continue to increase its capacity</span> <em><strong>at least three times</strong></em> <span>in the coming years, and in the future we need to reach large indicators. We will do this through the construction of new terminals, modern port infrastructure, and the expansion of short- and long-distance railway transport approaches. All these plans should be closely linked with the development of the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route, with ensuring the growth of transshipment not only of Russian, but also of foreign cargo, with the development of domestic Shipbuilding. [My Emphasis]</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lots of effort is being made into making Murmansk buzz. It was the last city constructed during the Tsarist Era beginning in 1915 as a crucial ice-free port and that’s what’s made it into a strategic city. Today about a quater million live there with more constantly being attracted thanks to intense levels of investment. At the development meeting, all we’re provided with is Putin’s opening 5-minute address with the remainder being a closed session:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>Dear colleagues, good afternoon!</span></p>
<p>We are meeting and working today in Murmansk, the largest city in the Arctic Circle, to discuss the development of the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route in a comprehensive manner.</p>
<p>I would like to note that both the city itself and the Murmansk Region set an example of dynamic and progressive development for all the Arctic regions. Large-scale, largely unique industrial and logistics projects are being implemented here, such as the Belokamenka center for the construction of large-capacity offshore structures, the development and modernization of the Murmansk transport hub, including the opening of new terminals and the expansion of railway approaches.</p>
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container">
<figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd686a44b-9785-4216-b90c-8012192455d4_1412x806.webp" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" rel data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img">
<div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd686a44b-9785-4216-b90c-8012192455d4_1412x806.webp" width="1412" height="806" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d686a44b-9785-4216-b90c-8012192455d4_1412x806.webp","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":806,"width":1412,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":206804,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/webp","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/160029304?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd686a44b-9785-4216-b90c-8012192455d4_1412x806.webp","isProcessing":false}' alt loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand">
<div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset">
<div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div>
<div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</a></figure></div>
<p>The Belokamenka Yard outside Murmansk builds gravity-based structures for LNG production.</p>
<p><br><span>Of course, Murmansk is the home port of Russia's nuclear icebreaker fleet. As you know, it plays a decisive role in the development of Arctic shipping routes, the Arctic as a whole. And finally, on the Kola Peninsula our most powerful Northern Fleet is based, ensuring the security of the Arctic borders of Russia.</span></p>
<p>Today I met with some of my colleagues who told me about it, and yesterday I spoke about this with the leadership of the Defence Ministry, and the Chief of the General Staff [Valery Gerasimov] about how the sailors are fighting–-I would like to thank everyone once again for their service, for the courage that the Severomorsk sailors are showing during the special military operation.</p>
<p>Repeat: here, in the Arctic, in this strategic and significant for us region, we are facing large-scale and systemic tasks. They will strengthen transport and logistics infrastructure, expand the opportunities of the economy, business with the mandatory protection of sensitive Arctic ecosystems.</p>
<p><em><strong>It is necessary to consistently improve the urban environment, to improve the settlements of the Far North, in general, to improve the quality of life of people, so that they have interesting, well-paid jobs, modern education systems and healthcare, so that life in the Arctic is truly comfortable and attractive.</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>It is obvious that all these tasks require a comprehensive approach, clear plans calculated for the long term, a combination of efforts of federal ministries and regional teams, business and scientific circles, and public associations.</strong></em></p>
<p>Such work is deployed in the Government, as well as within the framework of the Maritime Board. I know that on the eve of our meeting there were events and a specially created commission of the State Council. It is called "Northern Sea Route and the Arctic" and is headed by the Governor of the Murmansk region Andrey Vladimirovich Chibis.</p>
<p><em><strong>In all these formats, ideas for the strategic development of the Arctic are being discussed, and proposals are being prepared, which we will consider today</strong></em><span>. At the same time, I would like to draw the attention of the meeting participants: now,</span> <em><strong>after all the discussions, we need to make extremely specific financial, managerial, and legislative decisions.</strong></em></p>
<p>Let me remind you that we have already discussed with the Government the need to define in detail the model for the development of the Northern Sea Route, to provide its cargo flows with infrastructure and fleet. We agreed to work out all the organizational issues. Unfortunately, decisions on this issue have not yet been made, and the model has not been compiled. I would like to draw the attention of my colleagues to this.</p>
<p><span>Of course,</span> <em><strong>it is important to take into account today's objective problems, difficulties and limitations. But despite this, we should not delay the launch of development projects that are important for the Arctic and for the whole</strong></em> <span>of Russia. I ask you to build your reports today, dear colleagues, based on these considerations.</span></p>
<p>Let's start working. A word to Yuri Trutnev. I ask you to start. [My Emphasis]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of the few instances since I began closely following Russian development that groundwork planning is incomplete. Yet, the need to move forward is there because it’s too important not to. That’s likely the reason why the rest of the session is closed since many of the reports are likely ad hoc. Now we’ll move on to the bigger event, the plenary session of VI International Arctic Forum "The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue:"</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>Dear colleagues and friends, Ladies and gentlemen,</span></p>
<p>I would like to welcome the participants and guests of the VI International Forum "Arctic-Territory of Dialogue". For the first time, it is hosted by Murmansk, the capital of the Russian Arctic, a hero city that is developing dynamically today, like our other northern cities and regions of the Federation, and is launching landmark projects for the whole country.</p>
<p><span>Russia is the largest Arctic power. We have always supported equal cooperation in the region, including scientific research, biodiversity protection, climate issues, emergency response and, of course, economic and industrial development of the Arctic. Moreover, we are ready to work together not only with the Arctic states, but with all those who share the same responsibility for a stable, sustainable future of the planet, and</span> <em><strong>are able to make balanced decisions designed for decades to come.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>Unfortunately, international cooperation in the northern latitudes is not going through the best of times right now. In previous years, many Western countries have taken a course of confrontation, severed economic ties with Russia, and cut off scientific, educational, and cultural contacts. The dialogue on the conservation of Arctic ecosystems has been curtailed.</span> <em><strong>In other words, politicians, party leaders, and the same "greens" in some Western countries tell their citizens and voters about the importance of the climate agenda and nature protection, but in reality, in their practical policies, they act quite differently.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>Let me remind you that the Arctic Council was also established to cooperate in the environmental sphere, to prevent emergencies in the Arctic circle and jointly respond to them, but this mechanism is now degraded. Moreover, Russia did not refuse to communicate in this format–-it was the choice of our Western partners, Western states. As they say in such cases: if you don't want to, you don't need to.</span> <em><strong>We will work with those who want it.</strong></em></p>
<p>At the same time, it is obvious that the role and importance of the Arctic for both Russia and the whole world is growing. Unfortunately, geopolitical competition and the struggle for positions in this region are also intensifying.</p>
<p>Suffice it to say, everyone is well aware of this, of the plans of the United States of America to annex Greenland. But you know, this may surprise some only at first glance, and it is deeply erroneous to believe that these are some extravagant conversations of the new American administration. Nothing like that.</p>
<p><em><strong>In fact, such plans for the United States of America appeared in the 60s of the XIX century. Even then, the US administration considered annexing Greenland and Iceland, but this idea did not receive Congressional support at the time.</strong></em></p>
<p>By the way, let me remind you that by 1868, American newspapers were ridiculing the purchase of Alaska: it was called "madness", "ice box" and "Andrew Johnson's polar bear garden"—the then President of the United States. Therefore, the Greenland proposal failed.</p>
<p>But today, this acquisition, I mean the acquisition of Alaska, is probably evaluated very differently in the United States itself–-just like the activities of President Andrew Johnson.</p>
<p><span>Therefore, there is nothing surprising in what is happening today. Moreover, this story began only then, and it continued further.</span> <em><strong>In 1910, for example, a three-way deal was prepared for the exchange of territories between the United States, Germany and Denmark. As a result, Greenland would have gone to the United States, but the deal fell through.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>During World War II, the United States placed military bases in Greenland to protect it from Nazi occupation, and</span> <em><strong>after the war ended, the United States offered Denmark to buy the island—most recently by the standards of world history.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>In short, we are talking about serious plans on the American side regarding Greenland. These plans have long-standing historical roots, as I have just shown, and</span> <em><strong>it is obvious that the United States will continue to systematically promote its geostrategic, military-political and economic interests in the Arctic.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>As for Greenland, this is an issue that concerns two specific states and has nothing to do with us. But at the same time, of course, we are only concerned about the fact that the NATO countries as a whole are increasingly identifying the Far North as a springboard for possible conflicts, and they are working out the use of troops in these conditions, including by the forces of their "recruits"–-Finland and Sweden, with which, by the way, we did not have any relations until recently no problems at all. They create it themselves with their own hands for some reason. What for? Totally incomprehensible.</span> <em><strong>But nevertheless, we will proceed from what is there, and we will react to all this.</strong></em></p>
<p>I would like to emphasize that Russia has never threatened anyone in the Arctic. But we are closely monitoring the development of the situation, building an adequate response line, increasing the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces and modernizing military infrastructure facilities.</p>
<p>We will not allow encroachments on the sovereignty of our country, and we will reliably protect our national interests. By maintaining peace and stability in the Arctic, we will ensure long-term socio-economic development of the region, improving the quality of life of people and preserving the unique natural environment.</p>
<p><em><strong>And the stronger our positions are, the more significant the results achieved, the more opportunities we will have to launch global international projects in the Arctic</strong></em> <span>with the participation of friendly countries, friendly states, and possibly Western states, if they, of course, show interest in working together. I am sure that the time for such projects will also come.</span></p>
<p>Dear friends!</p>
<p><span>The Arctic zone accounts for more than a quarter of the territory of the Russian Federation. Almost two and a half million of our citizens live and work here, who make a significant contribution to the country's progress.</span> <em><strong>It is estimated that the Arctic accounts for seven percent of Russia's gross domestic product and about eleven percent of its exports.</strong></em> <span>At the same time, we see enormous prospects for further integrated development of the region.</span> <em><strong>The most important direction is to strengthen the transport and logistics contour of the Arctic.</strong></em></p>
<p>I would like to note that this year marks the 500th anniversary of the first mention in historical sources of the daring idea of Russian navigators, fishermen-Pomors, namely, a possible trade route through the northern seas to the east to China via the so-called North–Eastern Passage--the prototype of the Northern Sea Route.</p>
<p>Over the past ten years, cargo traffic on the Northern Sea Route--from the Kara Gate Strait to the Bering Strait--has grown by an order of magnitude. If in 2014, just recently, only four million tons [of cargo] were transported on it, then last year it was almost 38 million tons. This is five times more than the Soviet record. We think, yes, we are sure, that by 2030 it will be 70-100 million tons.</p>
<p><span>But our plans for the volume and geography of transportation, as well as for building up the Arctic fleet, are much more ambitious.</span> <em><strong>The Northern Sea Route should become a key part of the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor, which will run from St. Petersburg through Murmansk to Vladivostok.</strong></em> <span>It aims to connect the world's industrial, agricultural, energy centers and consumer markets in a shorter, safer, cost-effective route. They talk about it everywhere, write about it everywhere: both in the East and in the West. Experts are well aware of this.</span></p>
<p><span>The cargo base of the Trans-Arctic Corridor will grow due to the extraction and deep processing of resources in the Arctic, by increasing international transit and, I would like to emphasize,</span> <em><strong>linking the Trans-Arctic Corridor with our domestic railway network–-from the north-west to the Far East, to the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railway.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>By the way, even today the idea of building a Trans-Siberian Railway across the country to the Pacific Ocean serves as an example of our strategic vision of the future, when not only current needs and circumstances are taken into account,</span> <em><strong>but also the interests of the country for centuries to come.</strong></em> <span>This is the approach that we should follow when developing the Trans-Arctic Corridor.</span></p>
<p>What are the priority tasks here?</p>
<p>First. Russia already has the largest icebreaking fleet in the world. We need to strengthen these positions and put into operation new-generation icebreakers, including nuclear-powered ones, which only Russia currently has–-no one in the world has such a fleet.</p>
<p>Four of them--the latest 22220 series--are already performing tasks in the Arctic. Three more nuclear–powered vessels of this series are being built—Chukotka, Leningrad and Stalingrad, as well as the heavy-duty 120-megawatt icebreaker Rossiya, which will allow large-capacity vessels to be carried out more efficiently in high latitudes throughout the year, all year round.</p>
<p><span>I would like to emphasize that the cost of icebreaking vessels and, in general, the cost of cargo transportation along the Trans-Arctic Corridor</span> <em><strong>should be competitive and acceptable for the market.</strong></em> <span>This is the most important condition for ensuring that the route is loaded and attractive for business. We have just discussed these issues with our colleagues from the Government–-</span><em><strong>I cannot but agree that this should be primarily market-based work.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>Second. Russia, as a sovereign power,</span> <em><strong>needs its own merchant fleet in the Arctic</strong></em><span>, including cargo and rescue vessels that will provide transportation both in the northern seas and</span> <em><strong>along the inland waterways of the Arctic regions.</strong></em> <span>We must admit that only</span> <em><strong>domestic shipbuilding capacities are currently insufficient for these purposes</strong></em><span>.</span></p>
<p>In this regard, we need to act in all directions: to purchase and order ready-made vessels, to establish cooperation with world manufacturers and, in general, to build the entire system of Russian shipbuilding, based on the strategic tasks that we face.</p>
<p><span>Of course, first of all, I would like to draw the Government's attention to this: we need to support our shipbuilding and ship repair enterprises, which are modernizing and expanding production, and building international production chains.</span> <em><strong>I also ask the Government to work out the construction of new shipyards and modern, complex, high-tech production facilities in Russia.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>The third. Russian shipping companies that transport oil products and liquefied natural gas are already successfully operating in the northern seas.</span> <em><strong>Now we need to create conditions for the growth of efficient domestic operators that will be engaged in the transportation of containers, coal, bulk and other goods through the Arctic.</strong></em> <span>We are also open to setting up joint ventures here. International logistics operators could profitably invest in such companies not only with capital and technology, but also with a part of their merchant ship fleet.</span></p>
<p>Fourth. We will increase the capacity and turnover of our northern ports at a faster pace, using modern, environmental solutions, including unmanned and automated cargo handling technologies. Thus, the capacity of the Murmansk transport hub due to the construction of new terminals, expansion of railway approaches should be increased at least three times in the coming years.</p>
<p>I would like to add that our partners from Belarus, China, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries are showing interest in this project and in the development of the Arctic transport infrastructure in general. This is also a very interesting job from the business point of view.</p>
<p><span>As key logistics centers of the Trans-Arctic Corridor,</span> <em><strong>we intend to create large multimodal hubs</strong></em><span>. It will not only form caravans of ships, handle Russian and foreign cargo,</span> <em><strong>but also create industrial sites for the production of industrial products.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>In order to increase the logistics sustainability of the Trans-Arctic Corridor, I ask the Government to determine</span> <em><strong>plans for expanding the capacity of existing seaports in the Arctic, as well as where and at what points on the Arctic coast new ports should appear and what pace should be gained in the development of adjacent infrastructure</strong></em><span>.</span> <em><strong>First of all, I mean connecting sea harbors with the country's railway network.</strong></em></p>
<p>In this regard–-the fifth. Similar to the Eastern Test Site, which includes the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railway, we will have to implement a project for the development of the Arctic Railway test site, including the modernization of the Northern Railway in the territory of the Komi Republic and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District.</p>
<p><span>We know the current situation with the development of Russian Railways, we know what challenges the company faces–-everything is well known. But we need to think about this–-about what I have just said, about the development of the Northern Railway–-</span><em><strong>right now, today</strong></em><span>.</span></p>
<p><span>What opportunities does this offer? The regions of Siberia, the Urals, and the north-west of Russia will have direct access to the north, to Arctic ports, which will allow unloading the Trans-Siberian Railway and effectively using sea transportation.</span> <em><strong>In addition, new access points to the Arctic will appear along the North-South corridor, which connects us with the states of Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>And of course, for the development of the Trans-Arctic route,</span> <em><strong>it is necessary to unlock the potential of the Arctic's inland waterways, our great rivers: the Lena, Yenisei, and Ob, at a new technological level.</strong></em> <span>This will also strengthen the system of "northern delivery", so that the inhabitants of the Arctic will be reliably provided with food and other goods.</span></p>
<p>What do I want to emphasize separately? To implement these and other major initiatives, it is necessary to pool the resources of the state, regions, and businesses, including banks with both state participation and private ones. It is also necessary to use the opportunities of the domestic stock market to attract capital to the Arctic infrastructure.</p>
<p><em><strong>Yes, infrastructure projects are complex, costly, and have a long payback period. But it is they who provide a new level of real transport sovereignty for Russia.</strong></em> <span>And I am sure that if our foreign partners come to these projects, it will guarantee them investments for the long term and with a good return. Therefore, we should not postpone these projects until later–-</span><em><strong>we need to launch and implement them now, as quickly as possible.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>Of course, it is important to show flexible approaches and attract both Russian and foreign investors, as I just said. In this regard,</span> <em><strong>I suggest that we think about creating a special project office under the auspices of our leading development institute VEB, which will support transport, logistics, infrastructure projects in the Arctic, as well as urban development projects in the region, and will become the structure where a potential investor can apply directly and get the necessary support</strong></em><span>. I ask the Government to prepare proposals in this regard.</span></p>
<p><span>In addition, I instruct the Government--with the participation of Rosatom, VEB, and the relevant State Council commission--</span><em><strong>to approve the financial, economic, and organizational model for the development of the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor by August 1 of this year</strong></em><span>.</span></p>
<p>Dear colleagues!</p>
<p>Today, oil and gas, metals, and other mineral deposits are being developed in the Russian Arctic. We will continue large-scale geological exploration here, primarily within the framework of the federal project "Geology: Revival of a Legend".</p>
<p>At the same time, the task is to use a powerful resource base to open enterprises with deep processing of raw materials in the Arctic regions. Preserving the unique nature of the Arctic, create high-value-added industries in the oil and gas chemistry, rare earth metals, and other industries related to mechanical engineering, the production of complex machinery and industrial equipment.</p>
<p>As an example, I will cite the Belokamenka Center for the Construction of Large-capacity Offshore Structures, where technologies for natural gas liquefaction are localized and the most modern, and proprietary, developments in this area are applied.</p>
<p>I would like to draw the attention of our colleagues from the Government and the regions: we need to not only offer, but also effectively adjust the tools to support investment and business activity in the Arctic, including tax incentives, administrative preferences, infrastructure preparation of land plots, and so on.</p>
<p>In particular, I remind my colleagues of the need to strictly implement the plans for gasification of the Murmansk region. It should be completed by 2030. I emphasize that this task is not removed.</p>
<p>And of course, we need to develop such a promising area as tourism. The North, the Arctic is a unique center of natural, historical, and spiritual monuments. It has a rich cultural palette. The Arctic is visited annually by more than a million tourists to explore its landscapes, see the Northern Lights, go Arctic fishing, go dog sledding, after all, or take a trip to the polar archipelagos.</p>
<p>The number of tourists is growing. Accordingly, there are new projects in this area, such as an Arctic tourism center with a ski destination in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District or an aquathermal resort and all-season hotel complex in Karelia. I ask you, both through the federal government and in the regions, to support such initiatives that open up new facets of the Arctic and work to increase interest in this region.</p>
<p>I also suggest that we consider including the development of the White Sea tourist infrastructure in the federal project "Five Seas and Lake Baikal".</p>
<p>To open up the Arctic to mass tourism, of course, the issue of transport accessibility is important: starting from the repair and construction of highways to the development of aviation communication.</p>
<p>Let me remind you that we have extended preferential fares for flights to Arctic cities. Last year, about eight hundred thousand passengers took advantage of this opportunity. This year, subsidized tickets can be purchased for more than seven dozen air routes.</p>
<p>At the same time, airports in the Far North, especially small ones, need to be updated. In the coming years, we will modernize 16 airfields in the Arctic zone, including those in Salekhard, Arkhangelsk, Naryan-Mar and Vorkuta, as part of a national project.</p>
<p><em><strong>In general, our goal is to maintain an extensive airport network in the Arctic: from large and medium-sized airfields to small landing sites. This is also necessary to ensure the year-round accessibility of settlements and the operation of air ambulance services.</strong></em></p>
<p>Dear friends!</p>
<p><span>The key, integral goal of our plans is to improve the quality of life of people in the Arctic, to create modern conditions for studying and working, for recreation and for raising children in this harsh region, which</span> <em><strong>has an amazing force of attraction.</strong></em> <span>I have talked to people more than once, and the northerners themselves–-both those who were born here and those who came here–-say that the North attracts, people "stick" with their soul to these latitudes, to this land.</span></p>
<p>As you know, master plans have already been prepared for the agglomerations of the Arctic zone. These are not just big cities like Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. The master plans cover Kirovsk, Apatity and Monchegorsk in the Murmansk Region, Karelian Kem and Belomorsk, Vorkuta in the Komi Republic, Bilibino, Pevek in Chukotka, Naryan-Mar in the Nenets Autonomous District, Salekhard, Labytnangi, Novy Urengoy and Noyabrsk in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, and Tiksi and Naiba in Yakutia. Norilsk, Igarka and Dikson in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.</p>
<p>I would like to thank the VEB Corporation in particular .RF" and "DOM. RF", which directly participated in the preparation of many of these master plans.</p>
<p><span>The master plan is a comprehensive document of strategic and territorial planning, a long-term program of socio-economic and spatial development of cities and towns.</span> <em><strong>The latest urban planning solutions will be applied here, while preserving the original appearance of settlements, and based on the proposals of residents themselves, public associations, including organizations of indigenous peoples of the North.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>I would like to draw the Government's attention to the need to speed up the adoption of the schedule for the implementation of the Arctic master plans, consider their financing, including, as I have already said,</span> <em><strong>we need to provide for separate Arctic sections in our national projects,</strong></em> <span>as well as launch a mechanism to involve businesses and strategic investors who work in the Arctic or want work.</span></p>
<p><em><strong>In addition, I ask you to consider creating special competence centers where municipal and regional employees will improve their skills in the field of urban development and learn the best methods of master planning.</strong></em></p>
<p>Further. We have launched an All-Russian competition for projects to create a comfortable urban environment. Winners receive budget support. I propose that the competition should provide for a separate additional limit from the federal budget–-we have just discussed it with our colleagues from the Government and the Ministry of Finance--but I won't mention the final figures, but this limit should be determined and support should be provided so that our colleagues who are engaged in solving the tasks I have just outlined will have more opportunities for embankments, pedestrian zones, and playgrounds, for setting up parks, squares, and so on.</p>
<p><span>Separately,</span> <em><strong>I ask the Government to extend the program of renovation of military camps, closed administrative-territorial formations in the Arctic, where our soldiers and officers and their families live. Such a renovation program should operate at least until 2030,</strong></em> <span>with an annual amount of financial support from the federal budget of at least ten billion rubles. I would like to emphasize that this is also due, of course, to the strengthening of our military component in this region–-the number of military personnel here will grow.</span></p>
<p>One of the tasks of the master plans and the renovation program is to determine where new industries and jobs will appear, including those linked to the Trans-Arctic Corridor, where schools and kindergartens will be built, polyclinics and hospitals, roads and networks, where residential buildings will be built. The Ministry of Defense, together with the Ministry of Construction, together with the regions, should work out all these issues on an object-by-object basis, so that it is clear what specific resources should be allocated in what time frame to support the solution of this problem.</p>
<p><span>The peculiarity of the Arctic is that construction is carried out in conditions of permafrost, and hence–-</span><em><strong>special requirements for the design, to the very structure of buildings and structures, their reliability.</strong></em> <span>At the same time, taking into account climate change, it is important to see the dynamics and take into account potential risks</span><em><strong>. I propose creating a special research center for monitoring permafrost and involving leading federal and regional institutes in this work.</strong></em> <span>Their research will provide a scientific basis for technologies for adapting the Arctic infrastructure to the processes of permafrost melting.</span></p>
<p>At the same time, I know that a register of best construction practices in the Arctic has already been created. It is important to scale up such regional experience. I hope that the idea of Arctic multifunctional centers, where social and administrative institutions, sports complexes, and service organizations are located "under a common roof" in one building, will also find its place in this series.</p>
<p><span>And of course, we must always rely on the opinion and requests of citizens, the Northerners themselves.</span> <em><strong>So, people directly say, for example, that in the Arctic cities and towns there is a lack of the so-called service economy, that is, leisure facilities, places for family recreation and children's entertainment, cultural and educational sites.</strong></em> <span>We need to develop this segment and encourage entrepreneurs ' initiatives.</span></p>
<p>We already have a special program to support small and medium-sized businesses in the Far North regions. It is important to increase its effectiveness. I ask the Government to adjust the parameters of this program, including expanding the list of industries that it extends to, and creating additional opportunities for small companies to attract soft loans.</p>
<p><em><strong>I will also mention healthcare separately. The availability of medical services in the North is objectively lower than in the middle zone, especially in remote localities. I ask the Government to prepare a special mechanism for financing medical care for them.</strong></em></p>
<p>Also, to save the health of residents of the North, it is necessary to use digital technologies, equip mobile paramedic stations with artificial intelligence tools that allow both remotely and directly on the spot to diagnose human health, identify certain diseases and make recommendations for their treatment.</p>
<p><em><strong>Further. Environmental well-being is a sensitive issue for the Arctic and its inhabitants. Let me remind you that at our first forum, which was initiated by the Russian Geographical Society, we announced the beginning of a "general cleaning" of the Arctic from scrap metal, fuel and lubricants and other debris.</strong></em></p>
<p>The project, launched by the Russian Geographical Society with the participation of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, brought together thousands of volunteers and public organizations. And we will definitely continue this work and ensure comprehensive environmental protection of the Russian Arctic zone, including solving such an acute problem as clearing water areas from sunken ships. Of course, money is needed for everything, so it is imperative that the relevant government departments work out all these issues, including the issues of financing by year.</p>
<p><em><strong>We will remove technological waste and carry out reclamation of territories with an emphasis on putting cities and towns in order, on the so-called revitalization of abandoned territories, buildings, and land, that is, their re-involvement in circulation in the interests of residents of Arctic cities.</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>In fact, we are paying back the debt to the Arctic. But we cannot accumulate new debts to its unique nature. Considering the plans for economic development of the region, it is very important to ensure a balance between the use of natural resources and the preservation of the environment.</strong></em></p>
<p>To test new nature-saving technologies in the Polar Urals, it is planned to create a scientific and educational station "Snezhinka" in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District by the end of 2028. Here, an international team of scientists and researchers will work out "green" technologies for the Arctic, their application in the field of life support, telecommunications, medicine and the new materials industry.</p>
<p>Dear colleagues!</p>
<p>The Arctic is a territory of great opportunities for professionals of various professions, for entrepreneurs, for young people, for families who have lived here for generations or have only recently moved and are planning to settle, buy or build their own homes here.</p>
<p>We have already extended the Arctic mortgage program at a rate of two percent per annum until 2030, and eased conditions for borrowers. So, teachers and medical workers who would like to take out a loan for the purchase of housing are no longer subject to the requirements for work experience in the North. Participants of a special military operation and employees of the military-industrial complex can also use the Arctic mortgage.</p>
<p>A very acute problem for Northerners is emergency housing. I instruct the Government to work out a plan of concrete actions by September 1 of this year, and this plan-to solve this problem-should be designed for at least ten years.</p>
<p>Further. As you know, the "Affordable Rental Housing" program has been launched in the Far East. Young people who come to the Far Eastern regions or graduate from educational institutions there, get a job, can rent apartments at fairly low rates. In this case, the rent is subsidized from the regional and federal budgets.</p>
<p>I propose to extend this program to the main population centers of the Arctic, so that rental housing becomes more affordable for those who start their working career in the region, who want to live and work here. The program should start operating in the Arctic as early as 2026.</p>
<p>We also agreed to extend the Muravyov-Amursky-2030 management training program to the Arctic regions. This is already done. I am sure that such training will be a powerful start for many promising managers, which means that it will benefit both the Arctic and the whole country.</p>
<p>And more. The North has always attracted brave people, real leaders. One of these ascetics is an outstanding explorer, polar explorer, scientist Artur Nikolaevich Chilingarov. I propose to establish special grants in his memory and use them to support youth initiatives in the framework of environmental, educational and scientific projects in the Arctic.</p>
<p>Dear friends!</p>
<p>The development of the Russian North, overcoming the challenges of harsh nature, and reaching new frontiers for the state–these tasks inspired many generations of our ancestors: navigators and Novgorod merchants of the Middle Ages, Arctic pioneers of the XVI and XVII centuries, industrialists of the XVIII and XIX centuries, scientists, polar explorers, engineers, workers of the Soviet Union, and collectives of companies in modern Russia that gave start of large Arctic projects in the early 2000s.</p>
<p>And today, the northern vector of development is at the forefront, it is our sovereign, historical choice. This means that the tasks that we set and solve in the Arctic, the projects that we implement here, should be of an appropriate, historical scale, with a view to decades, maybe even centuries.</p>
<p><em><strong>We will do everything possible to strengthen Russia's global leadership in the Arctic, and despite all the current difficulties, we will ensure the comprehensive development of this region and create a solid foundation for future generations.</strong></em></p>
<p>Thank you very much for your attention. [My Emphasis]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It doesn’t seem so long ago that Putin was conducting his tour of the Arctic at the initial stage of research into the master development plans for the places he mentioned in his speech. That was in the Fall of 2023. Parts of the above were presented to the Federal Assembly in Putin’s Leap Day Address that detailed his vision for Russia’s future to 2030 and beyond. It’s now starting to come together and become real. IMO, it’s very important to realize Putin is putting forth the demand that this massive developmental project be done responsibly, thoughtfully, in a way the Soviet attempts at Arctic development weren’t—that’s why clean-up is being done annually and will need to continue for perhaps another decade.</p>
<p>IMO, Putin did a good job of putting Russian minds at ease regarding Trump’s desire to obtain Greenland, which as he pointed out is nothing new and dates back to our post-Civil War Era. It should be noted that at the end of the 19th Century, there were thinkers in the USA and Russia advocating the construction of a railway across the Bering Strait, which even today would pose a very difficult technological, engineering task. Plus, many Russians are aware that the Outlaw US Empire lags far behind in Arctic development—to get to where Russia already is would take several trillion dollars in investment, money the Empire doesn’t have, and this is development in Alaska. Infrastructure is the key as Putin said. For many on the planet, Russia’s Arctic and Far East are the last remaining frontiers that offer great opportunity for those that are bold and strong. In the Gym’s archive are some articles on the Arctic for the curious, including Putin’s 2023 trips.</p>
<p><span>*</span><br><span>*</span><br><span>*</span><br><em><span>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a</span> <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> <span>to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</span></em></p>

</div>

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5bdea29e-b0b9-4cbc-92d9-83ba27984d4a_1880x1160.jpeg","type":"image/jpeg"}]}


title: OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller&amp;#039;s death captured on video; killer says he thought it was intruders
author: ;Gary Dimmock
hash: �vpm)}�ŽuC���
tags: #News
guid:
tag:ottawacitizen.com,2025-03-28:/news/opp-sgt-eric-muellers-death-captured-on-video-killer-says-he-thought-it-was-intruders/20250328014113

content:
<header aria-label="Beginning of Article" data-sanitized-class="article-header article-header--story"><nav aria-label="Breadcrumb" data-aqa="nav-breadcrumb" data-sanitized-class="breadcrumbs"><p>Breadcrumb Trail Links</p>
<ol data-sanitized-class="breadcrumbs__items list-unstyled"><li data-sanitized-class="breadcrumbs__item"><a data-tb-category-link href="https://ottawacitizen.com/category/news/" data-sanitized-class="breadcrumbs__item-link">News</a></li>
</ol></nav><div readability="31.0400390625" data-sanitized-class="article-header__detail">
<div readability="34.432266009852" data-sanitized-class="article-header__detail__texts">

<p data-sanitized-class="article-subtitle">Alain Bellefeuille, on trial for first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, has pleaded not guilty.</p>
<div readability="7.0980392156863" data-sanitized-class="article-meta">

<p><span data-sanitized-class="published-date__since">Published Mar 27, 2025</span>  •  <span data-sanitized-class="updated-date__since">Last updated 2 days ago</span>  •  <span data-sanitized-class="published-date__word-count">6 minute read</span></p>
<div data-sanitized-class="article-meta__bottom">
<div data-sanitized-class="bookmark-wrapper">
<div data-aqa="popover" data-click-to-appear="True" data-container data-container-offset data-no-style data-popover-component data-position="top" data-sticky data-tail-offset="200" data-tail-position="right" data-sanitized-class="popover">
<div aria-describedby="popover-desc-popover-bookmark" hidden role="dialog" data-sanitized-class="popover__content">

<div data-sanitized-class="popover__content__wrapper">
<div readability="27.211111111111" data-sanitized-id="popover-desc-popover-bookmark" data-sanitized-class="popover__content__text">
<div readability="28.088888888889" data-sanitized-class="bookmark__popover__content">
<p>You can save this article by registering for free <a data-evt-skip-click="true" href="https://ottawacitizen.com/register/" data-sanitized-class="bookmark-link">here</a>. Or <a data-evt-skip-click="true" href="https://ottawacitizen.com/sign-in/" data-sanitized-class="bookmark-link">sign-in</a> if you have an account.</p>
</div>
</div>
<button data-evt-skip-click="true" title="Close" data-sanitized-class="popover__content__close"><polygon points="12 0.95 11.05 0 6 5.05 0.95 0 0 0.95 5.05 6 0 11.05 0.95 12 6 6.95 11.05 12 12 11.05 6.95 6"></polygon></button></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<figure data-aqa="featured-image" data-sanitized-class="featured-image"><picture data-sanitized-class="featured-image__ratio"><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" type="image/webp"><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" type="image/jpeg"><source media="(min-width: 768px)" type="image/webp"><source media="(min-width: 768px)" type="image/jpeg"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" type="image/webp"><img alt="Alain Bellefeuille arriving at the L'Orignal courthouse Friday morning." src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ottmurdermar28_294677126.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;h=216&amp;sig=V1Zyzhp-G1otj7UJDNtevA" height="750" width="1000" data-sanitized-class="featured-image__image type:primaryImage"></picture><figcaption data-sanitized-class="featured-image__caption image-caption"><span data-sanitized-class="caption">Alain Bellefeuille arriving at the L'Orignal courthouse Friday morning.</span> <span data-sanitized-class="credit">Photo by Tony Caldwell</span> /<span data-sanitized-class="distributor">Postmedia</span></figcaption></figure></div>
</header><section readability="36" data-sanitized-class="article-content__content-group article-content__content-group--story"><h2 data-sanitized-class="visually-hidden">Article content</h2>
<p><em>Warning: This story contains graphic and disturbing details that may be unsettling to some readers.</em></p>
<p>OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller was gunned down within seconds of entering a home for a wellness check, and as he lay on his back bleeding out on a mudroom floor, his killer leaned over him and said: “You f—ed with the wrong motherf—er … you f—ed with the wrong motherf—er, should have never broke into my house, sorry about that.”</p>
</section><div data-sanitized-class="ad__section-border article-content__ad-group ad_counter_2">
<section aria-describedby="advertisment8030960274524576332780679764901888" data-sanitized-class="ad"><p>Advertisement 2</p>
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__container">
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__label">

<p>Story continues below</p>

</div>
<div data-sanitized-id="ad__inner-2" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner">
<div data-ad="[[6,6],[1200,250],[1200,90],[970,90],[970,250],[728,90],[300,250]]" data-ad-interscroller="6x6" data-ad-loc="2" data-ad-mobile="[[6,6],[320,50],[300,50],[300,250],[300,600]]" data-aqa="advertisement" readability="6.5" data-sanitized-id="ad-2" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner__container">
<div aria-hidden="true" readability="8" data-sanitized-class="ad__placeholder">
<p>This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</section></div>
<div data-aqa="identity-sign-in" data-async data-sanitized-id="article-block" data-sanitized-class="article-block article-block-bg article-content__sign-in-group hidden">
<section data-sanitized-class="row"><header data-sanitized-class="identity-intro col-xs-12 col-md-6 flex-justify-center"><div readability="13" data-sanitized-class="col-xs-12 col-sm-10 col-md-10"><img alt="Ottawa Citizen" height="37" loading="lazy" src="https://dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital/18.3.3/websites/images/identity/logo-identity-oc-new.svg" width="280" data-sanitized-class="market-logo"><div readability="34" data-sanitized-class="intro-body__premium hidden">
<p>THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY</p>
<p data-sanitized-class="identity-intro__description">Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.</p>
<ul data-sanitized-class="list-unstyled list-checkmark"><li>Exclusive articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food reviews and event listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office.</li>
<li>Unlimited online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news sites with one account.</li>
<li>Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.</li>
<li>Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.</li>
<li>Support local journalism.</li>
</ul></div>
<div readability="34" data-sanitized-class="intro-body__register hidden">
<p>SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES</p>
<p data-sanitized-class="identity-intro__description">Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.</p>
<ul data-sanitized-class="list-unstyled list-checkmark"><li>Exclusive articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food reviews and event listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office.</li>
<li>Unlimited online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news sites with one account.</li>
<li>Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.</li>
<li>Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.</li>
<li>Support local journalism.</li>
</ul></div>
<div readability="34" data-sanitized-class="intro-body__anonymous">
<p>REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES</p>
<p data-sanitized-class="identity-intro__description">Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.</p>
<ul data-sanitized-class="list-unstyled list-checkmark"><li>Access articles from across Canada with one account.</li>
<li>Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.</li>
<li>Enjoy additional articles per month.</li>
<li>Get email updates from your favourite authors.</li>
</ul></div>
<div readability="34" data-sanitized-class="intro-body__registration_only hidden">
<p>THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.</p>
<p data-sanitized-class="identity-intro__description">Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.</p>
<ul data-sanitized-class="list-unstyled list-checkmark"><li>Access articles from across Canada with one account</li>
<li>Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments</li>
<li>Enjoy additional articles per month</li>
<li>Get email updates from your favourite authors</li>
</ul></div>
</div>
</header><div aria-live="assertive" data-sanitized-class="identity-screen m-x-0 p-x-0 col-xs-12 col-md-6 flex-justify-center flex-align-center">
<section data-account-id="b9d3df2fccd108b5eff3c44f573b2cd6" data-sailthru-personalization-engine data-sailthru-personalization-engine-component data-sanitized-class="sail"></section><div data-auth-component data-sanitized-id="auth-screen-form" data-sanitized-class="m-x-0 p-x-0 col-xs-12 col-sm-6 col-md-12 flex-align-justify-center">
<div data-sanitized-class="identity-screen-form--active w-full flex-align-justify-center">
<div data-sanitized-class="identity-screen-form identity-screen__content w-full">
<h2 data-sanitized-class="blocker-title">Sign In or Create an Account</h2>

<p><span data-sanitized-class="identity-divider__text">or</span></p>


</div>
</div>
</div>


<footer readability="1.125" data-sanitized-class="identity-footer identity-screen__content m-x-0 p-x-0 col-sm-6 col-md-12">
</footer></div>
</section></div>
<section readability="49" data-sanitized-class="article-content__content-group article-content__content-group--story"><p>Article content</p>
<p>These may have been the last words heard by Mueller, 42, as he lay dying and moaning in raw, agonizing pain.</p>
<p>These details and haunting scenes are captured on Mueller’s bodycam video and were revealed to the jury this week in the first-degree murder trial of Alain Bellefeuille. He’s on trial in L’Orignal for the deadly events on the morning of May 11, 2023, in the typically quiet village of Bourget, some 50 kilometres from downtown Ottawa.</p>
<p>That he killed Mueller and shot Constables Marc Lauzon and François Gamache-Asselin is not in question, nor contested. Bellefeuille thought it was a home invasion, and fired blindly through the walls of his bedroom at the shadowy figures with flashlights and one with a pistol drawn, the jury heard. His defence lawyer, Leo Russomanno, told the jury his client was defending himself and it was anything but an ambush for Bellefeuille never called the police to his home and didn’t know they were police when they came in through his unlocked front door after he fell into a deep sleep following a day of prepping a drywall job out in Orléans.</p>
</section><div data-sanitized-class="ad__section-border article-content__ad-group ad_counter_3">
<section aria-describedby="advertisment5875151250955398858209187193683968" data-sanitized-class="ad"><p>Advertisement 3</p>
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__container">
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__label">

<p>Story continues below</p>

</div>
<div data-sanitized-id="ad__inner-3" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner">
<div data-ad="[[7,7],[1200,250],[1200,90],[970,90],[970,250],[728,90],[300,250]]" data-ad-interscroller="7x7" data-ad-loc="3" data-ad-mobile="[[7,7],[300,250],[320,50],[300,50]]" data-aqa="advertisement" readability="6.5" data-sanitized-id="ad-3" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner__container">
<div aria-hidden="true" readability="8" data-sanitized-class="ad__placeholder">
<p>This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</section></div>
<section readability="50" data-sanitized-class="article-content__content-group article-content__content-group--story"><p>Article content</p>
<figure data-aqa="embed-image" data-sanitized-class="embedded-image"><picture data-sanitized-class="embedded-image__ratio"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=bPJrA7-vbBvzUwRaY2thew, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=jle6J5PP0xaurKFlPScy2A 2x" media="(min-width: 1200px)" type="image/webp"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=jpg&amp;sig=oLIW3_G6I1_Hhx8foj_owQ, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=jpg&amp;sig=4zq6AJpxV-C9UeplqEKMYA 2x" media="(min-width: 1200px)" type="image/jpeg"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=Jf2KtiXQdoUoU25PnGZn1w, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=I5XCF9SpiUrF-4dWNLj1zg 2x" media="(min-width: 768px)" type="image/webp"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=jpg&amp;sig=86Y6dYkmomOkYEmg_2sQHg, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=jpg&amp;sig=nhDo5kHolsrwmp0NpR2iwA 2x" media="(min-width: 768px)" type="image/jpeg"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=ubzppEGtmT2lwKcU3f2DFQ, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=r50AdN1nnLh0RNWhNWPvKw 2x" media="(max-width: 767px)" type="image/webp"><img alt="Laval Street Bourget shooting" data-src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;sig=ad36C6EnxdBcyszn_MteLg" data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;sig=ad36C6EnxdBcyszn_MteLg, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;sig=9j-gn0tqthIxbmzMi-3_0w 2x" src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ottbellefeuillemay24-1.jpg?quality=5&amp;strip=all&amp;w=100&amp;sig=FlBLipON_OkjAJn_jKhnhQ" height="750" loading="lazy" width="1000" data-sanitized-class="embedded-image__image lazyload"></picture><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption"><span data-sanitized-class="caption">A photo taken days after the shooting on May 11 shows bullet holes in a window of the residence on Laval Street in Bourget.</span> <span data-sanitized-class="credit">Photo by Tony Caldwell</span> /<span data-sanitized-class="distributor">Postmedia</span></figcaption></figure><p>The police theory, adopted by prosecutors and presented by Assistant Crown Attorney Francois Dulude, is that Bellefeuille, then 39, lay in wait only to open fire on Mueller and Lauzon seconds after entering his rural home at 2:33 a.m. on May 11, 2023.</p>
<p>On the horrifying bodycam of a dying Mueller, the prosecutor told the jury: “Mr. Bellefeuille will stare at you just as he stared directly at Sgt. Mueller as he laid bleeding to death in front of his very eyes. And you will see that gaze and hear those words because of this witness — this singular, irreplaceable witness — that stands as another testament to the carnage Mr. Bellefeuille perpetrated on Bourget.”</p>
<figure data-aqa="embed-image" data-sanitized-class="embedded-image"><picture data-sanitized-class="embedded-image__ratio"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=7i8nO4I01gm5mZgAk-oy7Q, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=zgRX8-w3kqWFg7axjxoTrQ 2x" media="(min-width: 1200px)" type="image/webp"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=jpg&amp;sig=Y2A6NrD4N4V7DO6BSsJwSA, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=jpg&amp;sig=-AJS6fpLpfaHssjlYgsQNQ 2x" media="(min-width: 1200px)" type="image/jpeg"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=Z7mPjBV7R9xo75Ky-sq3-Q, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=rsTrEhCIGreLTsssIPZFwA 2x" media="(min-width: 768px)" type="image/webp"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=jpg&amp;sig=MJX-ymbkNH9jrFpgVWcdDQ, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=jpg&amp;sig=eGxGy1nszWbGExg8WXt7HQ 2x" media="(min-width: 768px)" type="image/jpeg"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=RZP9RRg8BElyPQjrgWBU5A, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=TCMS7IjvCXbZkJiercZY2w 2x" media="(max-width: 767px)" type="image/webp"><img alt="Eric Mueller OPP shooting Bourget" data-src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;sig=7k1kIpIqQB6-LMKWCI5l8g" data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;sig=7k1kIpIqQB6-LMKWCI5l8g, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;sig=Qrzue7Vw44eEAJ_nHaHcrA 2x" src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/eric-mueller-opp-shooting-bourget-1.jpg?quality=5&amp;strip=all&amp;w=100&amp;sig=CNJk3J3AOUcdESOKSWP07g" height="750" loading="lazy" width="1000" data-sanitized-class="embedded-image__image lazyload"></picture><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption"><span data-sanitized-class="caption">OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller died after being shot in Bourget in the early-morning hours of May 11.</span> <span data-sanitized-class="credit">Photo by Ontario Provincial Police</span> /<span data-sanitized-class="distributor">Handout</span></figcaption></figure><p>Some of the haunting bodycam footage was played in court Thursday, capturing the first volley of gunfire that downed Mueller and wounded Lauzon. Bellefeuille fires nine rounds blindly through his bedroom wall with a semi-automatic rifle. Mueller collapses and Lauzon is downed by bullets, but gets up, his body vest still smoking from impact. The wounded Lauzon presses his back against a wall, his firearm aimed at Bellefeuille’s bedroom door.</p>
</section><div data-sanitized-class="js-widget-content article-content__widget-group article-content__widget-group--content-slot23 article-content__widget-group--newsletter-slot">
<section aria-labelledby="OttawaCitizenEveningUpdate6903066030684494039047590943653888" data-account-id="b9d3df2fccd108b5eff3c44f573b2cd6" data-aqa="widget-newsletter" data-newsletter="single" data-newsletter-component data-target-list="OC_Covid19_Newsletter" data-widget="newsletter" data-sanitized-class="newsletter-widget__new-story-page None background--primary-light-gradient"><div readability="31.276836158192" data-sanitized-class="newsletter-new-story-page-template">
<div readability="6.5" data-sanitized-class="newsletter-widget__header__new-story-page">
<div data-sanitized-class="newsletter-widget__banner__new-story-page"><img alt="Ottawa Citizen" loading="lazy" src="https://dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital/18.3.3/websites/images/newsletters/icon-oc-eveningUpdate.svg"></div>
<div readability="8">
<p>Evening Update</p>
<p data-sanitized-class="newsletter-widget__text__new-story-page">The Ottawa Citizen’s best journalism, delivered directly to your inbox by 7 p.m. on weekdays.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div readability="10.5" data-sanitized-class="newsletter-widget__body__new-story-page">
<div readability="32" data-sanitized-class="js-replace-main__new-story-page">

<p data-sanitized-class="newsletter-widget__disclaimer__new-story-page text-size--tiny">By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.</p>
</div>
<div hidden readability="10" data-sanitized-id="submitSuccessOC_Covid19_Newsletter" data-sanitized-class="js-submit-success">
<p>Thanks for signing up!</p>
<p data-sanitized-class="newsletter-widget__text__new-story-page">A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.</p>
<p data-sanitized-class="newsletter-widget__text__new-story-page newsletter__feedback--last">The next issue of Evening Update will soon be in your inbox.</p>
</div>
<p hidden data-sanitized-id="submitErrorOC_Covid19_Newsletter" data-sanitized-class="newsletter-widget__text__new-story-page js-submit-error">We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again</p>
</div>

</div>
</section></div>
<section data-sanitized-class="article-content__content-group article-content__content-group--story"><p>Article content</p>
</section><div data-sanitized-class="ad__section-border article-content__ad-group ad_counter_4">
<section aria-describedby="advertisment9738801941591471904408756360839168" data-sanitized-class="ad"><p>Advertisement 4</p>
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__container">
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__label">

<p>Story continues below</p>

</div>
<div data-sanitized-id="ad__inner-4" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner">
<div data-ad="[[1200,250],[1200,90],[970,90],[970,250],[728,90],[300,250]]" data-ad-loc="4" data-ad-mobile="[[320,50],[300,50],[300,250]]" data-aqa="advertisement" readability="6.5" data-sanitized-id="ad-4" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner__container">
<div aria-hidden="true" readability="8" data-sanitized-class="ad__placeholder">
<p>This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</section></div>
<section readability="51" data-sanitized-class="article-content__content-group article-content__content-group--story"><p>Article content</p>
<p>Then, slowly, the nose of Bellefeuille’s rifle pokes out of his bedroom door, then disappears. The wounded Lauzon fires two rounds from his service pistol into the bedroom, then retreats from the house and collapses in the yard.</p>
<p>This is when Bellefeuille, long-haired and bearded with a black ballcap, leans over the dying officer and tells him he f—ed around with the wrong motherf—er, should have never broke into his home and then apologizes for shooting him.</p>
<p>It was at this point, right after leaning over the dying officer, on his back with a vest emblazoned with ‘POLICE’, Bellefeuille calls 911 for an ambulance.</p>
<p>At 2:37 a.m., Bellefeuille tells the 911 operator: “I shot a police, unfortunately he broke into my house.”</p>
</section><div data-sanitized-class="ad__section-border article-content__ad-group ad_counter_5">
<section aria-describedby="advertisment705143776266691183597593980567552" data-sanitized-class="ad"><p>Advertisement 5</p>
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__container">
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__label">

<p>Story continues below</p>

</div>
<div data-sanitized-id="ad__inner-5" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner">
<div data-ad="[[1200,250],[1200,90],[970,90],[970,250],[728,90],[300,250]]" data-ad-loc="5" data-ad-mobile="[[320,50],[300,50],[300,250]]" data-aqa="advertisement" readability="6.5" data-sanitized-id="ad-5" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner__container">
<div aria-hidden="true" readability="8" data-sanitized-class="ad__placeholder">
<p>This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</section></div>
<section readability="55" data-sanitized-class="article-content__content-group article-content__content-group--story"><p>Article content</p>
<p>His defence lawyer said it was anything but an ambush and the only call he made was to 911 for an ambulance after shooting someone he thought was an intruder.</p>
<p>Mueller’s bodycam audio captures the conversation between Bellefeuille and paramedics, who were on standby down the road waiting for the scene to be safe before rushing in to help.</p>
<p>He disarmed himself and didn’t leave the scene, rather invited paramedics into his home, “Officer down, officer’s down right here.” He told them to hurry and repeated “come in, come in, he’s breathing still, he’s still breathing.”</p>
<p>The paramedics rushed out Mueller, and performed CPR in vain on the way to hospital where the father and husband was pronounced dead.</p>
<p>The deadly events of May 11, 2023, were first set in motion when a neighbour called 911 just after 2:00 a.m. She was concerned after hearing loud music, screaming and what she thought was a gunshot. She feared her neighbour had harmed himself. Bellefeuille never fired a gun that night until police came in through his unlocked front door, the jury heard.</p>
</section><div data-sanitized-class="ad__section-border article-content__ad-group ad_counter_6">
<section aria-describedby="advertisment6796686812307009394245123147038720" data-sanitized-class="ad"><p>Advertisement 6</p>
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__container">
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__label">

<p>Story continues below</p>

</div>
<div data-sanitized-id="ad__inner-6" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner">
<div data-ad="[[1200,250],[1200,90],[970,90],[970,250],[728,90],[300,250]]" data-ad-loc="6" data-ad-mobile="[[320,50],[300,50],[300,250]]" data-aqa="advertisement" readability="6.5" data-sanitized-id="ad-6" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner__container">
<div aria-hidden="true" readability="8" data-sanitized-class="ad__placeholder">
<p>This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</section></div>
<section readability="50" data-sanitized-class="article-content__content-group article-content__content-group--story"><p>Article content</p>
<p>The police called Bellefeuille, but it went straight to voicemail. Lauzon, captured by the bodycam of Mueller in tow, is seen getting out of his cruiser, and both responding officers circle around the back of the house with their shining flashlights.</p>
<p>Lauzon knocks repeatedly on the back door, which is close to Bellefeuille’s bedroom. You can hear Phoenix, a chocolate lab, bark inside. The police did not announce their presence at the back door. The officers then went to the front door, only this time they announced themselves after walking in for the police wellness check.</p>
<p>“Ah, Hello Alain — police. Hey there dog… Hello Alain, police!” Lauzon announces.</p>
<p>They had flashlights out, and Lauzon had his service pistol drawn. Mueller’s pistol never left his holster.</p>
</section><div data-sanitized-class="ad__section-border article-content__ad-group ad_counter_7">
<section aria-describedby="advertisment6299732239548258177294649293537280" data-sanitized-class="ad"><p>Advertisement 7</p>
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__container">
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__label">

<p>Story continues below</p>

</div>
<div data-sanitized-id="ad__inner-7" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner">
<div data-ad="[[1200,250],[1200,90],[970,90],[970,250],[728,90],[300,250]]" data-ad-loc="7" data-ad-mobile="[[320,50],[300,50],[300,250]]" data-aqa="advertisement" readability="6.5" data-sanitized-id="ad-7" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner__container">
<div aria-hidden="true" readability="8" data-sanitized-class="ad__placeholder">
<p>This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</section></div>
<section readability="43" data-sanitized-class="article-content__content-group article-content__content-group--story"><p>Article content</p>
<figure data-aqa="embed-image" data-sanitized-class="embedded-image"><picture data-sanitized-class="embedded-image__ratio"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=eTCEOxAOw7ovhgGtFuBJxw, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=PVks03XTSIpmMP8xKN7_vg 2x" media="(min-width: 1200px)" type="image/webp"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=jpg&amp;sig=C1sjxz5gqviCqmOEI36qVQ, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=jpg&amp;sig=5C-qeUN_eIuwhHUd67UBoQ 2x" media="(min-width: 1200px)" type="image/jpeg"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=Qd7u1Owy701LYhq1U7xqHg, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=G7owPzXS4T0ehTuTjRQ5Jw 2x" media="(min-width: 768px)" type="image/webp"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=jpg&amp;sig=NLMHJK-2sLWR7UEUSTaaaQ, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=jpg&amp;sig=42-j86NtODkx4l10kBCtxw 2x" media="(min-width: 768px)" type="image/jpeg"><source data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=dSsWPk2cq5pdtrRfAXU4hw, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;type=webp&amp;sig=ZqzkDKIbSBmTzUMNH2oFXg 2x" media="(max-width: 767px)" type="image/webp"><img alt="L'Orignal Courthouse" data-src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;sig=ECKmbWwxSgoR8jVAqLJhIw" data-srcset="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;sig=ECKmbWwxSgoR8jVAqLJhIw, https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;sig=Qr4QOsUiqQHtHATUmAWyoQ 2x" src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0322-l-original-09.ot_294543788.jpg?quality=5&amp;strip=all&amp;w=100&amp;sig=N3lyCfnLYREn_NBgKpwY6w" height="750" loading="lazy" width="1000" data-sanitized-class="embedded-image__image lazyload"></picture><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption"><span data-sanitized-class="caption">L’Orignal Courthouse, Friday March 21, 2025.</span> <span data-sanitized-class="credit">Photo by Ashley Fraser</span> /<span data-sanitized-class="distributor">Postmedia</span></figcaption></figure><p>Bellefeuille, who has no criminal record, will take the stand in his own defence after the Crown — led by Louise Tansey, François Dulude, and Emma Loignon-Giroux — rests its case. The defence has no obligation to tell the jury in advance that their client will testify or not. Bellefeuille is not obligated to testify, but in this case the jury heard straight away they will hear his side of the story.</p>
<p>Russomanno told the jury Bellefeuille has been waiting in jail for almost two years to testify as an innocent man who was concerned about crime and the morning he thought he was under attack in a home invasion. He can’t escape the images of it.</p>
<p>“He will tell you that he believed there was an intruder outside at the back of the house,” Russomanno told the jury.</p>
</section><div data-sanitized-class="ad__section-border article-content__ad-group ad_counter_8">
<section aria-describedby="advertisment3076720270253741053740667316994048" data-sanitized-class="ad"><p>Advertisement 8</p>
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__container">
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__label">

<p>Story continues below</p>

</div>
<div data-sanitized-id="ad__inner-8" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner">
<div data-ad="[[1200,250],[1200,90],[970,90],[970,250],[728,90],[300,250]]" data-ad-loc="8" data-ad-mobile="[[320,50],[300,50],[300,250]]" data-aqa="advertisement" readability="6.5" data-sanitized-id="ad-8" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner__container">
<div aria-hidden="true" readability="8" data-sanitized-class="ad__placeholder">
<p>This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</section></div>
<section readability="47" data-sanitized-class="article-content__content-group article-content__content-group--story"><p>Article content</p>
<p>He noted that Bellefeuille had a valid firearms licence and retrieved his firearm because he was scared and feared for his life. He didn’t know they were police, wasn’t expecting them and certainly didn’t ambush them, which suggests he lured the officers to his home and lay in wait in a deadly surprise attack.</p>
<p>“The consequences of Alain (Bellefeuille)’s actions were devastating. He will tell you that it was the worst moment of his life and it haunts him to this day. He took the life of Sgt. Eric Mueller, and seriously injured two other officers. And it’s your job to determine whether the Crown can prove beyond a reasonable doubt, whether he is guilty of murder.”</p>
<p>He said his client is innocent, did not set out to kill police officers and was reacting, in real time, to what he thought was a home invasion. He asked the jury to keep an open mind and to anchor their decision in evidence, without sympathy or prejudice.</p>
</section><div data-sanitized-class="ad__section-border article-content__ad-group ad_counter_9">
<section aria-describedby="advertisment7062324238980496635249923800956928" data-sanitized-class="ad"><p>Advertisement 9</p>
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__container">
<div data-sanitized-class="ad__label">

<p>Story continues below</p>

</div>
<div data-sanitized-id="ad__inner-9" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner">
<div data-ad="[[1200,250],[1200,90],[970,90],[970,250],[728,90],[300,250]]" data-ad-loc="9" data-ad-mobile="[[320,50],[300,50],[300,250]]" data-aqa="advertisement" readability="6.5" data-sanitized-id="ad-9" data-sanitized-class="ad__inner__container">
<div aria-hidden="true" readability="8" data-sanitized-class="ad__placeholder">
<p>This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</section></div>
<section readability="38.525490196078" data-sanitized-class="article-content__content-group article-content__content-group--story"><p>Article content</p>
<p>After Mueller is downed in the first volley of nine rounds, Bellefeuille goes on to shoot outside, then from the mudroom, and the porch. His rounds hit cruisers. One officer who was struck never entered the home and was hit, either by a direct bullet, fragment or ricochet bullet, after taking cover behind a cruiser.</p>
<p>In all, Bellefeuille fired 17 rounds, killed one police officer and wounded two other officers.</p>
<p>Bellefeuille, on trial for first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, has pleaded not guilty.</p>
<p>The trial resumed Friday.</p>
<p>gdimmock@postmedia.com</p>
<section aria-labelledby="moreTopicLabel7038396933759550317849094163267584" data-aqa="embed-more-topic" data-carousel-component data-carousel-icon-button data-carousel-type="list" readability="0.31284916201117" data-sanitized-class="more-topic"><p>Recommended from Editorial</p>
<ol data-carousel-slide-list tabindex="0" data-sanitized-class="more-topic__items list-unstyled"><li data-evt-val='{"control_fields": {"mparticle": {"keys": {"click_source_type": "click_source_type", "data_source": "data_source", "anchor_text": "anchor_text", "widget_title": "widget_title", "target_url": "target_url", "target_article_title": "target_article_title", "target_article_id": "target_article_id", "target_article_position": "target_article_position", "layout_section": "layout_section"}, "mp_event_type": "Navigation", "extra_keys": ["click_vertical_position_percentage", "click_vertical_position_pixels"]}}, "click_source_type": "widget-list", "data_source": "editorial", "anchor_text": "OPP operation to target damaged, dirty and hidden license plates", "widget_title": "recommended-from-editorial", "target_url": "https://ottawacitizen.com/news/opp-operation-to-target-damaged-dirty-and-hidden-license-plates?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=facebook&amp;tbref=hp", "target_article_title": "OPP operation to target damaged, dirty and hidden license plates", "target_article_id": "befeef10-8db0-4226-a683-086880c1fb83", "target_article_position": "0", "layout_section": "recommended-from-editorial"}' data-carousel-item data-evt="click" data-evt-typ="click" readability="-0" data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item"><a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/news/opp-operation-to-target-damaged-dirty-and-hidden-license-plates?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=facebook&amp;tbref=hp" readability="3"><picture data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item-image"><img alt="OPP is conducting a week-long campaign targeting damaged, defaced or missing licence plates." data-src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/opp-badplates_294649800.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80&amp;sig=zfNz7_j0Hzwv6mEfIOYWaA" src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/opp-badplates_294649800.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=5&amp;sig=ruTIawV7aHETrX-CGTS2Yw" height="96" loading="lazy" width="96" data-sanitized-class="lazyload"></picture><p><span data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item-text-clamp">OPP operation to target damaged, dirty and hidden license plates</span></p>
</a></li>
<li data-evt-val='{"control_fields": {"mparticle": {"keys": {"click_source_type": "click_source_type", "data_source": "data_source", "anchor_text": "anchor_text", "widget_title": "widget_title", "target_url": "target_url", "target_article_title": "target_article_title", "target_article_id": "target_article_id", "target_article_position": "target_article_position", "layout_section": "layout_section"}, "mp_event_type": "Navigation", "extra_keys": ["click_vertical_position_percentage", "click_vertical_position_pixels"]}}, "click_source_type": "widget-list", "data_source": "editorial", "anchor_text": "What to know about serial killer Paul Bernardo as his name comes up in federal election", "widget_title": "recommended-from-editorial", "target_url": "https://ottawacitizen.com/news/canada/what-to-know-about-serial-killer-paul-bernardo", "target_article_title": "What to know about serial killer Paul Bernardo as his name comes up in federal election", "target_article_id": "8ec185d5-2425-4e85-9289-12c6ed0bf8ed", "target_article_position": "1", "layout_section": "recommended-from-editorial"}' data-carousel-item data-evt="click" data-evt-typ="click" readability="0" data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item"><a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/news/canada/what-to-know-about-serial-killer-paul-bernardo" readability="2"><picture data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item-image"><img alt="Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka are seen together at a party before the murders of teens Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French." data-src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/nationalpost/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/13496660.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80&amp;sig=RUmt5nJqulK1yB3kHyMCNw" src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/nationalpost/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/13496660.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=5&amp;sig=N-xwrEoK9MwDjvwx7GK5mw" height="96" loading="lazy" width="96" data-sanitized-class="lazyload"></picture><p><span data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item-text-clamp">What to know about serial killer Paul Bernardo as his name comes up in federal election</span></p>
</a></li>
</ol></section></section>
<section data-sanitized-class="article-content__content-group article-content__content-group--story"><p>Article content</p>
</section>

<section data-evt-val='{"control_fields": {"mparticle": {"mp_custom_flags": ["Google.NonInteraction", "Google.Page"], "extra_keys": ["percentage_of_page_viewed", "active_time_on_page", "percentage_of_story_viewed"]}}}' data-evt="beforeunload" data-evt-typ="page_scroll" readability="21.06" data-sanitized-class="article-content__share-group article-delimiter"><p>Share this article in your social network</p>
</section>




<div data-sanitized-class="article-content__widget-group">
<section aria-labelledby="flyerWidgetLabel" data-aqa="widget-flyercity" data-sanitized-class="widget js-widget-flyercity"><div data-sanitized-id="flipp-ux-slot-ghs7182189">
<div data-sanitized-class="flipp-ux-header">
<p>Featured Local Savings</p>
</div>
</div>
</section></div>

link:
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/opp-sgt-eric-muellers-death-captured-on-video-killer-says-he-thought-it-was-intruders

attributes:
{"thumbnail":{"url":"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ottmurdermar28_294677126.jpg"},"enclosures":[]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614885-putin-finish-ukraine-forces/
title: Russia will ‘finish off’ Kiev’s forces – Putin
author: ;RT
hash:  �Ut�`�:�\�_�
content:
<p><strong>The Ukrainian people must realize they were duped by the Western dream of inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia, the president has said</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>President Vladimir Putin has declared that Russian forces are gaining momentum across the entire line of contact and could soon <em>“finish off”</em> Ukraine’s military, while commenting on attempts by Kiev’s European backers to derail a diplomatic resolution of the conflict.</p>
<p>The Russian president made the remarks on Thursday during a meeting with the crew of the Arkhangelsk nuclear submarine, which is equipped with Zircon hypersonic missiles. Putin reiterated that Moscow has always sought to resolve the conflict through diplomatic means but was met with deception and obstruction from the West – first with the failed Minsk Agreements and then during the 2022 Istanbul peace talks.</p>
<p><em>“Their European handlers… convinced the Ukrainian leadership that they had to continue armed resistance, essentially to the last Ukrainian, with the goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia,”</em> he said.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5e90785f5405a530dcf37.jpg" alt="RT">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614884-putin-un-control-ukraine/">Key points from Putin’s speech on placing Ukraine under UN control</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>Putin accused Western leaders – specifically former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson – of underestimating Russia’s resolve, and warned that the country’s military capabilities should not be taken lightly.</p>
<p><em>“He must have forgotten that there are people like you – and weapons like your submarine,”</em> Putin told the naval crew. <em>“Apparently, he forgot, or maybe they simply do not understand what the Russian people are made of.”</em></p>
<p>The Russian president said the conflict is reaching a turning point and expressed confidence in the outcome, noting that <em>“across the entire line of combat engagement, our troops hold the strategic initiative.”</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong><em>Not long ago I said, ‘We’ll squeeze them.’ Now there’s reason to believe we’ll finish them off. Then, I think a moment of realization must come to the Ukrainian people themselves.</em></strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Despite his hardline tone, Putin reiterated that Russia remains open to peace negotiations – as long as the core causes of the conflict are addressed.</p>
<p><em>“We are in favor of resolving these issues by peaceful means… But the root causes must be eliminated. We must ensure Russia’s security for the long historical perspective,”</em> he said.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e3feef85f540221067a797.jpg" alt="RT">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614811-kremlin-ukraine-unreliable-energy/">Moscow backs ceasefire despite Kiev’s breaches – Kremlin</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>Russia has repeatedly stated that it is open to peace talks, but insists that a true settlement of the conflict requires a permanent and legally-binding solution. Moscow opposes any NATO presence on Ukrainian soil and has demanded that Kiev demilitarize, denazify, adhere to a position of neutrality, and recognize the territorial <em>“realities on the ground.”</em></p>
<p>On March 18, the Russian military was ordered to refrain from attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure under a deal agreed upon by President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump.</p>
<p>However, the Russian Ministry of Defense has since reported multiple Ukrainian violations, which it described as attempts to undermine Trump’s mediation efforts.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614885-putin-finish-ukraine-forces/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5fe1785f54021e22c7853.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: yt:video:6RoLglQl_2I
title: Americans Want Peace, Not War With Iran — Does Trump Know This?
author: ;The LaRouche Organization
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RoLglQl_2I
hash: �bQ���C��g\�p�n
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/6RoLglQl_2I?version=3","title":"Americans Want Peace, Not War With Iran — Does Trump Know This?","description":"Alaistair Crooke Warns, Any U.S. Strike on Iran Will Sink Russia-U.S. Peace\nMarch 26, 2025 (EIRNS)\n\nAppearing on Judge Napolitano’s much-viewed Judging Freedom channel on March 24, Alaistair Crooke, a former British diplomat and intelligence officer with decades of experience in the Middle East, issued a blunt warning to the folks in Washington, D.C.: If the U.S. attacks Iran, it will destroy any possibility of restoring U.S.-Russian relations and ending the Ukraine conflict. The Russian political class is already deeply distrustful of the United States, he warned. If the U.S. attacks Iran it will be taken as a message that the Americans are “agreement-incapable,” killing any possibility of trust between the two superpowers.\n\nCrooke detailed his evidence, that the U.S. bombing campaign against the Houthis is preparation for a decapitation strike on Iran. There is a strong belief in Washington that Israel’s decapitation of Hezbollah’s leadership is a model of how to solve the Iran problem, he warned. People think that they no longer have to worry about taking out Iran’s oil and gas facilities and nuclear sites to overthrow its government. It is now “widely believed” in D.C. that if targeted strikes take out (decapitate) Iran’s leadership, the Iranian people will rise up to welcome the new leadership put in by the U.S. and Israel, as the HTS did in Syria—an “imaginary outcome” that will not happen!\n\nThis is coupled with the Israeli line, also popular now in Washington, that Iran is in its worst security situation since 1979, because Israel has knocked out its air defenses and hit Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. This mistaken evaluation was repeated by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on the talk shows last Sunday, Crooke reminded.\n\nIt is Israel which desperately needs this war on Iran, to rally wartime support from the population once again, Crooke proffered. Of great concern, is that an Israeli delegation led by Netanyahu’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegby, and including (among others) the Atomic Energy Agency, has arrived in Washington for strategic consultations, with their agenda being to convince Washington that Iran cannot be allowed to drag this out, and the decision to strike must be taken this Spring.\n\nCrooke was emphatic that Russia cannot sit quietly by and let Iran fall. Not because Iran and Russia just signed a trade and friendship treaty, and not because of some “concert of nations” theory. Rather, because Iran sits in the middle of the International North-South Trade Corridor, which is Russia’s main trade corridor for the future, and it sits in the middle of the East-West corridor which runs through Central Asia. Defending Iran is crucial to Russia’s own economic self-interest.","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/6RoLglQl_2I/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: yt:video:zeGtm1LDMTI
title: Americans Want Peace, Not War With Iran — Does Trump Know This?
author: ;Diane Sare
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeGtm1LDMTI
hash: �~���-5��A����
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/zeGtm1LDMTI?version=3","title":"Americans Want Peace, Not War With Iran — Does Trump Know This?","description":"Alaistair Crooke Warns, Any U.S. Strike on Iran Will Sink Russia-U.S. Peace\nMarch 26, 2025 (EIRNS)\n\nAppearing on Judge Napolitano’s much-viewed Judging Freedom channel on March 24, Alaistair Crooke, a former British diplomat and intelligence officer with decades of experience in the Middle East, issued a blunt warning to the folks in Washington, D.C.: If the U.S. attacks Iran, it will destroy any possibility of restoring U.S.-Russian relations and ending the Ukraine conflict. The Russian political class is already deeply distrustful of the United States, he warned. If the U.S. attacks Iran it will be taken as a message that the Americans are “agreement-incapable,” killing any possibility of trust between the two superpowers.\n\nCrooke detailed his evidence, that the U.S. bombing campaign against the Houthis is preparation for a decapitation strike on Iran. There is a strong belief in Washington that Israel’s decapitation of Hezbollah’s leadership is a model of how to solve the Iran problem, he warned. People think that they no longer have to worry about taking out Iran’s oil and gas facilities and nuclear sites to overthrow its government. It is now “widely believed” in D.C. that if targeted strikes take out (decapitate) Iran’s leadership, the Iranian people will rise up to welcome the new leadership put in by the U.S. and Israel, as the HTS did in Syria—an “imaginary outcome” that will not happen!\n\nThis is coupled with the Israeli line, also popular now in Washington, that Iran is in its worst security situation since 1979, because Israel has knocked out its air defenses and hit Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. This mistaken evaluation was repeated by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on the talk shows last Sunday, Crooke reminded.\n\nIt is Israel which desperately needs this war on Iran, to rally wartime support from the population once again, Crooke proffered. Of great concern, is that an Israeli delegation led by Netanyahu’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegby, and including (among others) the Atomic Energy Agency, has arrived in Washington for strategic consultations, with their agenda being to convince Washington that Iran cannot be allowed to drag this out, and the decision to strike must be taken this Spring.\n\nCrooke was emphatic that Russia cannot sit quietly by and let Iran fall. Not because Iran and Russia just signed a trade and friendship treaty, and not because of some “concert of nations” theory. Rather, because Iran sits in the middle of the International North-South Trade Corridor, which is Russia’s main trade corridor for the future, and it sits in the middle of the East-West corridor which runs through Central Asia. Defending Iran is crucial to Russia’s own economic self-interest.","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/zeGtm1LDMTI/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: 67e606f58d1545000199a7d0
title: NATO Secretary to U.S., Europe: ‘Can&amp;#039;t We All Just Get Along?’
author: ;Carl Osgood
link: https://eir.news/2025/03/news/nato-secretary-to-u-s-europe-cant-we-all-just-get-along/
hash: �$�'�_@*�Y` "0
tags: #Collapsing Imperial System #Europe #NATO #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>March 27, 2025 (EIRNS)—NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte admonished the United States and Europe on March 26 against any temptation to “go it alone” on security, amid increased tensions over the future of the transatlantic alliance and diverging views on Russia. “Let me be absolutely clear, this is not the time to go it alone. Not for Europe or North America,” Rutte said, in a speech at the Warsaw School of Economics, reported Reuters. “The global security challenges are too great for any of us to face on our own. When it comes to keeping Europe and North America safe, there is no alternative to NATO,” he added.</p>
<p>Asked whether allies can still have confidence in the U.S. after the controversy over the leaked Signal chat, in which both J.D. Vance and Peter Hegseth were disdainful of Europe, Rutte later told reporters: “Absolutely, can we trust the Americans, yes. They are our biggest partner, the biggest allies in NATO. Yes, Europe needs to know that Uncle Sam still has our back. But America also needs to know that its NATO allies will step up,” Rutte said, adding the June summit would provide an opportunity to build a “stronger, fairer and more lethal NATO.” “A fairer NATO means all allies doing their fair share,” the former Dutch prime minister added.</p>
<aside readability="20.022988505747" data-sanitized-class="gh-post-upgrade-cta"><div readability="24.64367816092" data-sanitized-class="gh-post-upgrade-cta-content">
<h2>This post is for paying subscribers only</h2>
<a data-portal="signup" href="https://eir.news/2025/03/news/nato-secretary-to-u-s-europe-cant-we-all-just-get-along/#/portal/signup" data-sanitized-class="gh-btn">Subscribe now</a>
<p><small>Already have an account? <a data-portal="signin" href="https://eir.news/2025/03/news/nato-secretary-to-u-s-europe-cant-we-all-just-get-along/#/portal/signin">Sign in</a></small></p>
</div>
</aside>


guid: 67e608898d1545000199a7dd
title: Former U.S. Congressman Claims Iran War Could End Trump Presidency
author: ;Carl Osgood
link: https://eir.news/2025/03/news/former-u-s-congressman-iran-war-could-end-trump-presidency/
hash: �K���N04��@�T*
tags: #Strategic War Danger #U.S. and Canada #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>March 27, 2025 (EIRNS)—On March 25, as news of the potential deployment was beginning to circulate on social media. <a href="https://kucinichreport.substack.com/p/the-high-price-of-war-with-iran-10">Dennis Kucinich</a> posted an article warning Trump against going to war with Iran. “The Trump Administration, after the series of heady airstrikes against Yemen, is at this moment being beseeched by Netanyahu and his associates to prepare for a seemingly consequence-free nuclear strike against Iran, completing the trifecta of Netanyahu’s long-standing dream,” he writes.</p>
<p>Kucinich recounts a 2002 Congressional hearing, during which Netanyahu exhorted the U.S. to attack Iran, Iraq and Libya. “I spoke to Mr. Netanyahu outside the hearing room and asked him that, if he was so convinced those countries were a threat, why didn’t Israel commence the attacks?” ‘Oh no,’ he responded. ‘We need you to do it,’” he reports.</p>
<p>Kucinich continues: “Recently, President Trump said he would love a deal to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon, ‘I would love to make a deal with them without bombing them.’ At the same time, U.S. B-52 bombers, capable of delivering nuclear bunker-busting bombs, were engaged in joint exercises with the Israeli Air Force, in preparation for a potential strike at Iran’s underground nuclear sites.</p>
<p>“These joint maneuvers were reminiscent of the cooperation and interoperability exercises that took place between the U.K. and French forces in preparation for a real-world offensive against Libya in 2011.</p>
<p>“Ayatollah Khamenei replied ‘…threats will get them (the Americans) nowhere,’ and refused talks under such conditions as ‘deceptive.’ Iranian Brigadier General Kiumars Heidari added, for emphasis, ‘Iran is ready to crush its enemies if it makes mistakes.’”</p>
<p>“The dialectic of conflict is escalating.</p>
<p>“It was not in America’s interest then, nor is it now, to go to war with Iran, a nation of 90 million people, a technologically advanced society, with nearly a million-person army.</p>
<p>“President Trump should not be misled. War with Iran would be the end of his presidency.” Kucinich then warns the resultant disruption of the oil markets would translate into $7-$10 a gallon gasoline at the pumps in the U.S., causing mass economic dislocation and financial shocks.</p>
<p>“Now contemplate this concatenation: War with Iran, reciprocal high tariffs, massive cuts in the federal workforce and domestic federal spending and you have an economy in a tailspin, with high inflation, rising unemployment, falling consumer spending, leading to an economic contraction requiring a system of government intervention which is currently being dismantled. Then there is the permanent restructuring of the tax code to accelerate wealth upwards. These conditions create political combustibility.</p>
<p>“In the end, Iran will never crush Donald Trump. The U.S. will crush itself trying to wipe out Iran.”</p>
<p>“The economic effects of war with Iran could spell the end, not only of the viability of the Trump Presidency, but of the Republican House and Senate, a political turnaround the likes of which has not been seen in American politics since the 1932 sweep led by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal,” Kucinich adds—though without noting that there is no FDR-like figure in the Democratic Party today.</p>
<p>Kucinich concludes hopefully: “One could imagine Trump, considering his own and America’s interests, could call Netanyahu and say, ‘Bibi, we are friends ‘til the end. This is the end.’”</p>


title: Addressing Risks From Jenner &amp; Block
author: ;Executive Office of the President
hash: &R\�5�`g��@��
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
guid:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/28/2025-05519/addressing-risks-from-jenner-and-block

link:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/28/2025-05519/addressing-risks-from-jenner-and-block


title: Modernizing Payments To and From America's Bank Account
author: ;Executive Office of the President
hash: �j���bi E�=�w!M
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
guid:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/28/2025-05522/modernizing-payments-to-and-from-americas-bank-account

link:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/28/2025-05522/modernizing-payments-to-and-from-americas-bank-account


title: Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections
author: ;Executive Office of the President
hash: A����A: C�tò�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
guid:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/28/2025-05523/preserving-and-protecting-the-integrity-of-american-elections

link:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/28/2025-05523/preserving-and-protecting-the-integrity-of-american-elections


title: Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
author: ;Executive Office of the President
hash: 0�?� f��� � ޺
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
guid:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/28/2025-05524/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse

link:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/28/2025-05524/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse


guid: https://www.rt.com/news/614886-russia-musk-mars-nuclear-reactor/
title: Putin aide reveals proposal for Musk’s planned Mars mission
author: ;RT
hash: ��I��O}���d ��3
content:
<p><strong>Russia could offer its nuclear tech to support US interplanetary ambitions, sovereign wealth fund head Kirill Dmitriev has said</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p data-start="189" data-end="395"><strong data-start="189" data-end="256"></strong>Russia is prepared to contribute a compact nuclear power station and <em>“other advanced technologies”</em> to support a mission to Mars planned by Elon Musk, according to President Vladimir Putin’s special economic representative, Kirill Dmitriev.</p>
<p data-start="189" data-end="395">Dmitriev, who has taken on the role of chief economic envoy in recent US-Russia talks, first floated the idea of a joint mission to Mars in mid-March. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the International Arctic Forum on Thursday, Dmitriev said Moscow could provide various technological capabilities for long-duration missions to the Red Planet.</p>
<p data-start="189" data-end="395"><em>“Russia can offer a small-scale nuclear power station for the Mars mission, along with other advanced technologies,”</em> Dmitriev told RIA Novosti. <em>“We believe that Russia has a lot to offer the Mars mission, because we possess nuclear technologies that, I think, could be applicable.”</em></p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67d5429185f5404a9c004690.jpg" alt="An illustration showing how technology might make farming possible on Mars , including greenhouses and solar panels.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614263-moscow-musk-mars-exploration/">Moscow invites Musk to collaborate on Mars exploration</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p data-start="1279" data-end="1728">Dmitriev previously highlighted the potential role of the national nuclear energy giant Rosatom and the space agency Roscosmos in enhancing the safety and efficiency of deep space missions. He also noted that 2025 would be a symbolic year to announce such an initiative, as it marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project — the first crewed international space mission, jointly carried out by the US and the Soviet Union in July 1975.</p>
<p data-start="1279" data-end="1728">The SpaceX CEO has not yet publicly responded to the proposal, though Dmitriev reiterated that he was open to holding a videoconference with Musk to explore potential cooperation.</p>
<p data-start="1279" data-end="1728">The renewed outreach comes amid signs of improving relations between Moscow and Washington. Dmitriev was part of the Russian delegation at recent US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, which resulted in an agreement to begin restoring diplomatic and scientific cooperation across several sectors.</p>

             
    <p>
        <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rt.com/news/611044-starship-test-flight-explosion-videos/">
            <span>READ MORE: </span>American starship explodes in ‘meteor shower’ of debris (VIDEOS)
        </a>
    </p>


    

<p data-start="1279" data-end="1728">Putin has also noted that in his communications with US President Donald Trump, the two sides had <em>“agreed to work together in space.”</em></p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.02/thumbnail/67b98fef2030274cb06f7fba.jpg" alt="Russian President Vladimir Putin">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/613145-putin-russia-cooperate-musk/">Russian business should ‘cooperate’ with Musk – Putin</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p data-start="1279" data-end="1728">The Russian leader has voiced support for cooperation with Musk, signaling high-level backing for potential joint projects. Speaking at the Forum of Future Technologies in February, Putin said Russian companies should be ready to collaborate with Musk once he shifts his focus back to science from his current role advising on US government reform.</p>
<p data-start="1279" data-end="1728">Earlier this month, Musk <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1900774290682683612" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reaffirmed</a> his goal to launch the first uncrewed Mars mission as early as 2026, with human landings possibly beginning in 2029. A prototype Starship carrying a Tesla-developed humanoid robot is expected to be part of the initial test phase.</p>

            <blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus. <br><br>If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely. <a href="https://t.co/JRBB95sgNN">https://t.co/JRBB95sgNN</a></p>— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1900774290682683612?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2025</a></blockquote> 
    

<p></p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/news/614886-russia-musk-mars-nuclear-reactor/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e61f2885f54058983999df.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: CCAL-119scal-2025-03-31
title: Senate Calendars, DAILY - Senate Calendars for March 31, 2025 - 119th Congress, 1st Session
link: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CCAL-119scal-2025-03-31
hash: � ґp�@v,`(��+N�
tags: #Proceedings of Congress and General Congressional Publications
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<h2>Content Files</h2>
 <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CCAL-119scal-2025-03-31/pdf/CCAL-119scal-2025-03-31.pdf">PDF</a><br>
 
 
 
 
 <h2>Metadata download</h2>
 <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/metadata/pkg/CCAL-119scal-2025-03-31/mods.xml">Descriptive Metadata (MODS)</a><br>
 <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/metadata/pkg/CCAL-119scal-2025-03-31/premis.xml">Preservation Metadata (PREMIS)</a><br>
 <h2>All Content and Metadata files, including granules</h2> <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CCAL-119scal-2025-03-31.zip">ZIP</a>


guid: -560900517
title: Commission des aînés du 27 mars 2025 - Partie 1 de 2
content: Commission des aînés du 27 mars 2025 - Partie 1 de 2
hash: ���x�| �n��>�
link:
https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/default.aspx?p=nouvelles_annonces/webdiffusions_videos/videos/video&amp;id=1694364162

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/default.aspx?p=nouvelles_annonces/webdiffusions_videos/videos/video&amp;id=1694364162"}]}


guid: -1063064396
title: Commission des aînés du 27 mars 2025 - Partie 2 de 2
content: Commission des aînés du 27 mars 2025 - Partie 2 de 2
hash: ��� ���7���x�|
link:
https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/default.aspx?p=nouvelles_annonces/webdiffusions_videos/videos/video&amp;id=-1201223073

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/default.aspx?p=nouvelles_annonces/webdiffusions_videos/videos/video&amp;id=-1201223073"}]}


title: Live: 2025 ZGC Forum - Future Artificial Intelligence Pioneer Forum
hash: � �!+z֌`@R r�
guid:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-2025-ZGC-Forum-Future-Artificial-Intelligence-Pioneer-Forum-1C6AlGjgrWo/p.html?UTM_Source=cgtn&amp;UTM_Medium=rss&amp;UTM_Campaign=Video

content:
<div><img src="https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-2025-ZGC-Forum-Future-Artificial-Intelligence-Pioneer-Forum-1C6AlGjgrWo/img/c388f59eb66743cb8419d486a44778d7/c388f59eb66743cb8419d486a44778d7-1920.png" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><div readability="37" data-sanitized-class="text en">
<p>The 2025 Zhongguancun (ZGC) Forum is taking place in Beijing from March 27 to 31. The parallel session, "Future Artificial Intelligence Pioneer Forum," aims to bring together academic and industry leaders from both domestic and international sectors to collectively outline the blueprint for the development of artificial intelligence. Tune in to CGTN for insights from the forum.</p>
</div>

link:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-2025-ZGC-Forum-Future-Artificial-Intelligence-Pioneer-Forum-1C6AlGjgrWo/p.html?UTM_Source=cgtn&amp;UTM_Medium=rss&amp;UTM_Campaign=Video

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-2025-ZGC-Forum-Future-Artificial-Intelligence-Pioneer-Forum-1C6AlGjgrWo/img/c388f59eb66743cb8419d486a44778d7/c388f59eb66743cb8419d486a44778d7-1920.png","type":"image/png","medium":"image"}]}


guid: https://risingtidefoundation.net/?p=28491
title: An Introduction to Open vs Closed Systems (Lecture 01 of Open System Course by Matt Ehret)
author: ;Matthew Ehret
hash: 9�n����Մ��U m�
tags: #Uncategorized
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<div><img src="https://i0.wp.com/risingtidefoundation.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/open-vs-closed-feature.jpg?fit=612%2C455&amp;ssl=1" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p>In this first of a 10 part series of lectures for Russia’s Nasha Zavtra publishing and the Academy for Interntational Cooperation, Matthew Ehret introduces the essentials of Open vs Closed system thinking.</p>
<figure data-sanitized-class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div data-sanitized-class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="An Introduction to Open vs Closed Systems (Lecture 01)" width="1000" height="563" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sHwyVSVrX-0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin">[embedded content]</iframe></div>
</figure>
<div data-sanitized-class="wp-block-jetpack-donations">
<div data-sanitized-class="donations__container">

<div data-sanitized-class="donations__content">
<div data-sanitized-class="donations__tab">
<h4 data-sanitized-class="donations__one-time-item">Make a one-time donation</h4>
<h4 data-sanitized-class="donations__monthly-item">Make a monthly donation</h4>
<h4 data-sanitized-class="donations__annual-item">Make a yearly donation</h4>
<p>Choose an amount</p>



<p>Or enter a custom amount</p>

<hr data-sanitized-class="donations__separator"><p data-sanitized-class="donations__one-time-item">Your contribution is appreciated.</p>
<p data-sanitized-class="donations__monthly-item">Your contribution is appreciated.</p>
<p data-sanitized-class="donations__annual-item">Your contribution is appreciated.</p>
<a href="https://subscribe.wordpress.com/memberships/?blog=162420287&amp;plan=22552&amp;lang=en_US&amp;pid=28491&amp;redirect=https%3A%2F%2Frisingtidefoundation.net%2F2025%2F03%2F28%2Fan-introduction-to-open-vs-closed-systems-lecture-01-of-open-system-course-by-matt-ehret" data-sanitized-class="wp-block-button__link donations__donate-button donations__one-time-item">Donate</a><a href="https://subscribe.wordpress.com/memberships/?blog=162420287&amp;plan=22553&amp;lang=en_US&amp;pid=28491&amp;redirect=https%3A%2F%2Frisingtidefoundation.net%2F2025%2F03%2F28%2Fan-introduction-to-open-vs-closed-systems-lecture-01-of-open-system-course-by-matt-ehret" data-sanitized-class="wp-block-button__link donations__donate-button donations__monthly-item">Donate monthly</a><a href="https://subscribe.wordpress.com/memberships/?blog=162420287&amp;plan=22554&amp;lang=en_US&amp;pid=28491&amp;redirect=https%3A%2F%2Frisingtidefoundation.net%2F2025%2F03%2F28%2Fan-introduction-to-open-vs-closed-systems-lecture-01-of-open-system-course-by-matt-ehret" data-sanitized-class="wp-block-button__link donations__donate-button donations__annual-item">Donate yearly</a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

link:
https://risingtidefoundation.net/2025/03/28/an-introduction-to-open-vs-closed-systems-lecture-01-of-open-system-course-by-matt-ehret/


title: Live: China releases white paper on Xizang&amp;#039;s human rights progress
hash: �JK�dt�������m�
guid:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-China-releases-white-paper-on-Xizang-s-human-rights-progress-1C6IWd71Xs4/p.html?UTM_Source=cgtn&amp;UTM_Medium=rss&amp;UTM_Campaign=Video

content:
<div><img src="https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-China-releases-white-paper-on-Xizang-s-human-rights-progress-1C6IWd71Xs4/img/3a8a845e423f43d188480657ec746516/3a8a845e423f43d188480657ec746516-250.png" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><div readability="7" data-sanitized-class="dialog-header">
                            <p>Our Privacy Statement &amp; Cookie Policy</p>
                            
                        </div>
                        <p data-sanitized-class="dialog-content">
                            By continuing to browse our site you agree to our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.
                        </p>
                        
                        <p>
                            <span data-sanitized-class="confirm-icon"></span>
                            <span>I agree</span>
                        </p>

link:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-China-releases-white-paper-on-Xizang-s-human-rights-progress-1C6IWd71Xs4/p.html?UTM_Source=cgtn&amp;UTM_Medium=rss&amp;UTM_Campaign=Video

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-China-releases-white-paper-on-Xizang-s-human-rights-progress-1C6IWd71Xs4/img/3a8a845e423f43d188480657ec746516/3a8a845e423f43d188480657ec746516-250.png","type":"image/png","medium":"image"}]}


guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/putin-the-submariner-in-murmansk
title: Putin the Submariner in Murmansk
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/putin-the-submariner-in-murmansk
hash: ���������=����
content:
<h3 data-sanitized-class="subtitle">Not long ago I said "we will put the squeeze on them", there is reason to believe that we will finish it off.</h3><div dir="auto" data-sanitized-class="body markup">
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container">
<figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3ec42923-3e35-4f14-9ed1-10a1bbbf78cf_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" rel data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img">
<div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3ec42923-3e35-4f14-9ed1-10a1bbbf78cf_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3ec42923-3e35-4f14-9ed1-10a1bbbf78cf_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":592490,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/160044122?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3ec42923-3e35-4f14-9ed1-10a1bbbf78cf_1880x1160.jpeg","isProcessing":false}' alt fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand">
<div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset">
<div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div>
<div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</a></figure></div>
<p>Vladimir Putin spoke with the crew members of the nuclear submarine Arkhangelsk</p>
<p><span>President Putin had a very full day n Murmansk. This event almost snuck by as</span> <a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76557" rel>the transcript</a> <span>wasn’t posted when I first visited the page. The picture caption says it all. Putin uses the occasion to give a talk about Russian defense and the SMO in his dialogue in answer to questions posed by the crew. The video is about 40 minutes, so the transcript isn’t too long, and the chat reads fast":</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>Dear comrades, good evening!</span></p>
<p>I am glad to welcome you all. It's nice to once again visit such a rocket carrier as yours, in principle, a rocket carrier. I've never been to one like yours before. I was on other submarines, as you probably know, and I took part in exercises. But as far as your ship is concerned, it's a special thing–-it's the newest ship.</p>
<p>Look, we laid it down in 2015, launched it in 2023, and in 2024 it was commissioned into the Armed Forces and Navy. For such complex products, let's just say that this is a very good time frame, and everything is at the most modern level.</p>
<p>Today, another such boat, also seen, was launched. It is basically the same, but there are also "Zircons", which is especially nice. Because "Zircons" to a certain extent can already be attributed to weapons of strategic importance. How much range does the Zircon have? 1200, right?</p>
<p><strong>Remark:</strong> <span>There are two options, and there are a little more.</span></p>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>Yes, I understand. But still, given the power of this weapon, accuracy and speed of movement to the target, of course, it can be attributed to such systems that perform strategic tasks.</span></p>
<p>The role of the Navy is generally known. Russia has been a powerful maritime power for centuries, and we will do everything to maintain this status, build new surface and submarine ships, and improve their performance. They must meet the requirements of today and must, of course, be combat-ready and effective in the short–term–-in the full sense of the word—historical perspective, because these weapons, which should serve the country for many decades, form the basis of our strategic security.</p>
<p>We will do everything for this, just as we will do everything to train specialists like you. These are individual people, sorry for the expression. This requires a special character, readiness to perform any tasks to ensure the country's security. That's what you are, I have no doubt about it.</p>
<p>The traditions of the Navy have been laid down in our country for a long time, and they are being observed. And the brotherhood of naval officers, especially submariners, has a special quality, a special character.</p>
<p><span>In principle, I would like to congratulate you on joining the service at such a facility-–the most modern, most equipped, and capable of performing a wide variety of tasks. You know this better than anyone, but this is a very, very important question. Work on surface targets, underwater targets, and stationary ground targets. In general, it is probably difficult to list or name such tasks that missile carriers and ships of this kind cannot perform-–everyone can. And we will continue to improve all this. We have just spoken to the commander and your commanders.</span> <em><strong>Everything must meet the requirements of today and tomorrow. We need to look to the future.</strong></em></p>
<p>I'm glad to see you. I congratulate you on being here. And I congratulate you, as I just said at the top, I congratulate all the military seamen on today's event–-on the launch of a new submarine, this is already a class, "Perm".</p>
<p>If there is anything you would like to ask, I will be happy to answer any of your questions. You are welcome.</p>
<p><strong>Alexey Moiseyev [Commander-in-Chief of the Navy]:</strong> <span>Comrade Supreme Commander, allow me to give the floor to the commander.</span></p>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>Yes, of course.</span></p>
<p><strong>Alexander Gladkov:</strong> <span>I would like to say a little about our exhibition, so to speak: four submarines, all called "Arkhangelsk".</span></p>
<p>The first battleship "Arkhangelsk "on reparations, it was transferred to the Soviet Navy in 1944 and from 1944 to 1949 served under the name "Arkhangelsk".</p>
<p>The next ship with the name "Arkhangelsk" was K-525. This is the lead submarine of Project 949, which until 1996 served, respectively, in our Navy. After that, the name " Arkhangelsk "passed to the heavy nuclear-powered strategic missile cruiser TK-17"Arkhangelsk". You know him. And, accordingly, we became the fourth--the ship of the 885 project "Yasen".</p>
<p><strong>Igor Lakomkin:</strong> <span>Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,</span></p>
<p>Commander of the survivability division, Lieutenant Commander Lakomkin. The crew is proud to belong to the glorious Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Currently, the crew is undergoing combat training and preparing to perform important tasks at sea. Everything is going according to plan, and I am confident that the crew and our cruiser will be able to perform the assigned tasks at the appointed time.</p>
<p>The cruiser of this generation is our pride due to the fact that not many countries in the world are able to create such a serious and formidable weapon.</p>
<p>Please tell me what are the future prospects and plans for the development of the Navy of our country?</p>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>Don't worry, I have already said that we believe that the Navy is one of the main guarantees of state security and strategic stability in the world as a whole, because we have a certain strategic balance with the United States, and we will treat this very carefully and do everything in a timely manner.</span></p>
<p><span>Of course, there have always been many questions and problems at all times.</span> <em><strong>Russia is like a land power, a huge territory, but it is no coincidence that since the time of Peter I, the traditions of shipbuilding and the Navy have been laid down</strong></em><span>. In principle, they were there before, but Peter just put it on a completely new base, on a completely new basis.</span> <em><strong>And we will do everything possible not only to preserve this component of the Russian Armed Forces, but also to strengthen it.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>Just now we witnessed the launch of the fifth cruiser Yasen-M. It is planned to build five more such ships, plus three more Borey-A ships.</span> <em><strong>But all our plans for building the Armed Forces and Navy are not limited to this. There are plans to build surface ships and strategic missile carriers.</strong></em></p>
<p>I won't go into details now. We have different views, different approaches about what and how we need to do here. But all this, all these disputes between scientists, designers, the Armed Forces, between various enterprises–-this is all a positive process, which is aimed at choosing the best, optimal options for the development of the fleet. So we will do it.</p>
<p><span>I won't go into the details right now, although I will be immersed in these details. The commander knows that we don't meet so often, we should do it more often, but we still meet regularly, all these disputes are going on, but the decisions are also final. We are not just engaged in lapping up positions, but in the course of these discussions, decisions are made on the development of the fleet. They are long-term, for the future, for decades to come–-</span><em><strong>until 2050 and beyond</strong></em><span>.</span></p>
<p>Now, on my instructions, a strategy for the development of the Naval Forces, the Navy and a program for the construction of surface and submarine ships until 2050 are being prepared, so we will work together with you.</p>
<p>I speak without irony. Why? Because how the operation goes–-in this case, boats—also depends on making decisions on future development plans. So I very much hope that when you serve here, if you notice something, think about something, please, we will only be happy to hear your practical comments.</p>
<p><strong>Igor Lakomkin:</strong> <span>Thank you.</span></p>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>Please.</span></p>
<p><strong>Alexander Frolov:</strong> <span>Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief!</span></p>
<p>Commander of the combat communications unit, Captain of the third rank Frolov.</p>
<p>The tasks that we submariners perform are important for the security of the state. But we also understand that the main task now, as for all of us, the country as a whole, is to achieve the goals of a special military operation.</p>
<p>Could you give your assessment of current events and the progress of the special military operation?</p>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>Of course.</span></p>
<p>I'll tell you briefly: we are gradually, not as quickly as some would like, but nevertheless, persistently and confidently moving towards achieving all the goals stated at the beginning of the operation. But I'd like to start somewhere else.</p>
<p><em><strong>I would like to say that we were not the authors and initiators of the outbreak of hostilities. They began after the coup d'etat in Ukraine in 2014, which was supported by Western countries. And after that, fighting actually began in the south-east of Ukraine.</strong></em></p>
<p>We have been trying for eight years to resolve these issues and problems by peaceful means. We were forced to protect Crimea and the Crimean residents of Sevastopol, and for a very long time and persistently sought to resolve issues related to the Donbass and Luhansk by peaceful means.</p>
<p><span>As it turned out later, everyone knows this very well now, both the Ukrainian authorities and Western curators,</span> <em><strong>they, in fact, led us by the nose, unfortunately</strong></em><span>. Former leaders who then led some of the leading Western countries, in particular, former French President Hollande and Mrs. Merkel, the former German Chancellor, directly stated, publicly said without hesitation that they needed these Minsk agreements only in order to rearm the Ukrainian regime and prepare for military operations with us.</span> <em><strong>But for eight years, people who lived in the territory of Donbass, Luhansk and Donetsk were simply subjected to genocide in the truest sense of the word.</strong></em> <span>The Western curators of the Ukrainian regime preferred not to notice this. This forced us to make an attempt to end the war that was started in 2014 with already armed means. We didn't start it.</span></p>
<p>Even, by the way, when the armed conflict entered such a hot phase in 2022, we still offered to resolve all issues peacefully. Moreover, I have already said this many times, and we reached an agreement with Ukraine when the talks were held in Istanbul. By the way, we have also agreed on issues that are very often asked and interpreted as impossible to resolve-–denasification and demilitarization. We have agreed on these issues as well, in fact. Everything was spelled out there–-in the draft of this document. An excerpt from this document was initialed by the head of the negotiation group on the part of Ukraine. Initialed, signed, so everything was fine.</p>
<p>Then–-it is also known-their curators came from Europe, in particular, from the UK, former Prime Minister Mr. Johnson, convinced the Ukrainian leadership that it was necessary to continue the armed struggle to the last, in fact, Ukrainian, in order to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.</p>
<p><span>So</span> <em><strong>he probably forgot that there are such collectives as yours, such means as your submarine. Apparently, he has forgotten or they do not really understand what the Russian people are, what our people have in their hearts and souls when it comes to the security of the Fatherland.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>What is happening today, in principle, is also clear. Along the entire line of contact, our troops have a strategic initiative.</span> <em><strong>I just recently said "we will finish them off"</strong></em><span>, there are reasons to believe that we will finish them off. I only think that the Ukrainian people should realize what is happening.</span></p>
<p>The fact that our Armed Forces are gaining momentum, acting more and more effectively. A direct participant in the hostilities, Major General Mikhail Gudkov, can also tell about this.</p>
<p>He commands the 155th Marine Brigade, Pacific Fleet. The brigade is one of the best, in my opinion, in the Armed Forces. According to the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff, what Major General Gudkov achieved should be replicated to other units of the Armed Forces and, above all, of course, units of the Marine Corps, which generally fights well. Great, I can tell. You see, without any exaggeration, it refers to the elite of the Armed Forces in the same way as paratroopers, as well as special forces.</p>
<p>Although I should note that today, just before coming here, I listened to the regular report of the Chief of the General Staff, and other units of the Armed Forces have gained very good momentum.</p>
<p>As for the Marines, as I said, they fight very well. And since the Minister and the Chief of the General Staff believe that your experience should be replicated to other units, I have decided to transfer you to another position and increase the level of your responsibility. You are appointed Deputy Commander of the Naval Forces of the Russian Federation.</p>
<p><strong>Mikhail Gudkov:</strong> <span>Yes, Comrade Supreme Commander.</span></p>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>Please sit down.</span></p>
<p>Your area of responsibility will include commanding the entire Marine Corps of the Navy and all missile and artillery coastal troops.</p>
<p>The task is simple, although large-scale: despite the fact that all Marines show themselves in the best possible way, but all these units need to be brought to the level of combat readiness and efficiency to which you brought the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet.</p>
<p>In addition, the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense has approved a program for reorganizing the Marine Corps, these units, and we will gradually create marine divisions from brigades. This year two divisions, including the 155th Brigade, next year two more divisions and in a year we will create another division.</p>
<p>This is a lot of work, which will be primarily related to the organization of combat training, taking into account your experience in combat operations during the command and leadership of the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet. We need to think about organizational changes, as brigades are being transformed into divisions. We need to think about weapons, communications, and so on and so forth. That is, in principle, a lot of work.</p>
<p>I'll tell you a little later what you need to do in the next few days. The commander supported this proposal, so I hope that everything will work out for you, and I don't even doubt it. I wish you the best of luck.</p>
<p>As for the situation on the line of contact. Once again, I would like to emphasize that the entire strategic initiative on the front line is entirely in the hands of the Russian Armed Forces.</p>
<p>The Luhansk People's Republic is 99 percent liberated, its territory, and Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporozhye – over 70 percent. Our troops, our guys are moving forward and liberating one territory after another, one settlement after another every day.</p>
<p><strong>Igor Domnin:</strong> <span>Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,</span></p>
<p><span>Foreman of the second article Domnin. Today, the world's attention is focused on the negotiations between Russia and the United States.</span> <em><strong>Suddenly, we started to have a dialogue and get closer to our main rival</strong></em><span>. If possible, I would like to know firsthand the progress of the negotiations and, possibly, their results.</span></p>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>You don't pay attention to it, just do your duty, do your duty. (Laughter.)</span></p>
<p>In general, this is a joke. I understand that everyone in the world and in our country, all people are watching this closely. In this regard, I would like to say first that, in my opinion, the newly elected President of the United States sincerely wants to end this conflict for a number of reasons – I won't even list them now, there are many of them. But, in my opinion, this is a sincere desire.</p>
<p><span>It is clear that the conflict to which I have referred and to which I have just given a brief description of what has happened in the recent past</span> <em><strong>is still complex and requires careful discussion and approach.</strong></em></p>
<p>We are in favor of resolving all these issues by peaceful means, and I have just said that we have taken one, two, and three steps from the very beginning.</p>
<p><span>Therefore, we are in favor of resolving these issues by peaceful means,</span> <em><strong>but while eliminating the root causes that led to the current situation.</strong></em> <span>We need, of course, to ensure Russia's long-term historical security.</span> <em><strong>Any step aimed at solving this problem will be welcome, and we will work with any partners who are willing to do so. This is not only the United States, but also the People's Republic of China, India, Brazil, South Africa, all the BRICS countries and many others</strong></em><span>, for example, including the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, with which we have signed an agreement, there is article four, and much has been said about how and what we should do and support each other. We are also working with this country in the military-technical and military spheres.</span></p>
<p><span>By the way, we are also ready to work with Europe, but they just behave inconsistently, constantly trying to lead us by the nose. But never mind, we're already used to it.</span> <em><strong>I hope that we will not make any mistakes based on excessive trust in our so-called partners.</strong></em></p>
<p><span>But in general, there is a problem that they seem to talk about, but only in passing, and I myself also talk about it. What is it?</span> <em><strong>It is that the so–called Nazis, as they are called in Ukraine itself, nationalists—people of neo-Nazi views—have a very large influence in the country, in Ukraine, from the very beginning after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Curiously, very few people remember this either now.</strong></em></p>
<p>Back in 2017, in the same United States Congress, an amendment was made to a law that prohibited funding, supporting and having any relations with such a unit as Azov, and directly an American lawmaker called this paramilitary organization terrorist and anti-Semitic.</p>
<p><span>Moreover, although the Senate did not support it at that time, but a year later, in my opinion, two years later, the initiators of this law, and among them was the oldest member of the US Congress, still supported this law, and it was passed by Congress.</span> <em><strong>The US Congress called this organization terrorist, anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi</strong></em><span>.</span></p>
<p><em><strong>But nothing has changed since then. They were just like that, and they still are. What is there, in fact, something has changed? No. What happened? And in 2022, the State Department, with reference to the fact that this formation, "Azov", entered the armed forces of Ukraine, decided that–apparently, the law there was built accordingly–-it is possible to assist them. Because it was integrated into the armed forces of Ukraine, nothing, in fact, has changed. Their views, their actions are still the same as they were in the beginning.</strong></em></p>
<p>And now even more than that, now they are planning to strengthen these units, including Azov ,and create divisions from them, too. This means that such people acquire more weapons, more supporters, and put others under the gun, forcing their views on them.</p>
<p><em><strong>What does this lead to? This leads to the fact that the civil authorities, they are now actually in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine are not legal. Elections were not held for the president there, and the constitution is designed so that everyone is appointed by the president, including regional authorities, governors are appointed, and so on. If he is illegitimate, then so is everyone else.</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>So, in the conditions of this de facto illegitimacy, neo-Nazi formations receive additional weapons and recruit new people to their ranks. What does this lead to, or can it lead to? That the actual power is in their hands. And this means, in turn, that it is not clear with whom to sign what documents, and it is not clear what power they have, because tomorrow other leaders will come, who will go through the elections and say: "Who signed there-we don't know, goodbye."</strong></em></p>
<p><span>It's not even that, but the fact is that</span> <em><strong>these neo-Nazi formations-–such as "Azov", and there are others there--they are actually beginning to lead the country. And the question arises: what about how to negotiate with them?</strong></em></p>
<p><span>However, in such cases, international practice follows a well-known path within the framework of United Nations peacekeeping activities,</span> <em><strong>what is called external management, temporary administration</strong></em><span>, has already been established several times. This was the case in East Timor, in my opinion, in 1999, this was the case in some parts of the former Yugoslavia, this was the case in New Guinea.</span> <em><strong>In general, this practice exists.</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>And in principle, of course, it would be possible to discuss the possibility of introducing a temporary administration in Ukraine under the auspices of the United Nations, even with European countries, of course, with our partners and friends. And for what purpose? In order to hold democratic elections, in order to bring to power a government that is capable and enjoys the confidence of the people, and then start negotiations with them on a peace treaty, sign legitimate documents that will be recognized worldwide and will be reliable and stable.</strong></em></p>
<p>This is just one of the options, I'm not saying that others don't exist. No, they exist. Now there is simply no way to put everything on the shelves, and it may even be impossible to put everything on the shelves, because the situation is changing quickly, but this is one of the options. There is such a practice in the work of the United Nations, and I have already mentioned some examples.</p>
<p><span>But in general, we welcome the resolution of any conflict, including this one, by peaceful means.</span> <em><strong>Not at our expense.</strong></em></p>
<p>Something else? Don't be shy.</p>
<p><strong>Alexander Belyaev:</strong> <span>We, the crew, spend most of our time at sea away from our families. While we are at sea, our families are waiting for us, living in cities that are far removed from the regional center, from large cities.</span></p>
<p>I would like to thank you for taking care of the welfare of our families and ask you to tell us what is planned for the development of infrastructure in closed cities.</p>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>We discussed it today, the commander was present and saw it.</span></p>
<p>You know, as a whole, thank God, the economy and finances of the state are, to put it mildly, in a satisfactory state and everything is stable–-both in the sphere of public finances and in the sphere of the economy as a whole.</p>
<p>But there is always not enough money. There is no such thing, I do not remember in all the years of my work that someone who manages finance and economics said that "everyone, we don't know where to put the money"-–this does not happen. However, when oil prices were high and so on, we had funds that we set aside in reserves, they were called differently–-well, it doesn't matter.</p>
<p>But in general, even when we were saving for reserves, they were still not enough. Let me explain: if you do not save money in reserves, then there will be macroeconomic problems, including inflation. All the same, we need to postpone something, and from what is left, build programs related to the expenditure part of the budget.</p>
<p><span>So, and now the same situation.</span> <em><strong>Everything is stable and normal here. 4.1 percent growth of the country's economy,</strong></em> <span>Russia is the fourth country in the world in terms of economy size, according to purchasing power parity. In the first place is China, then the United States, then India, then Russia. And all the others, including Japan, Germany, and so on, are all lower.</span></p>
<p>I'm not even talking about the UK, they all jump on us, they behave aggressively, but their economy is, in my opinion, in the ninth or tenth place in the world. Hence the armed forces, how many are there, 170 or 180 thousand [people]? This is all the armed forces of Great Britain.</p>
<p><span>But what was I talking about just now? That something is always missing. Here is the commander [of the Navy] sitting today, also attended the</span> <a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.fb42e480-67e62bca-6da5f4c7-74722d776562/kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76553" rel>meeting</a><span>, took part in it. As for the development of military camps, last year, in my opinion, we allocated more than 39 billion rubles for these purposes, for the development, for putting these towns in order over two or three years.</span></p>
<p><strong>A. Moiseev:</strong> <span>2024, 2025, 2026.</span></p>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>But I also listened to the commander today, because the commander reported on the prospects for the development of these ZATS, taking into account the increase in the number of Armed Forces here and the size of the fleet, the increase in land forces, and so on.</span></p>
<p>That is why I gave instructions to the Government and the Ministry of Finance today, and they, of course, accepted them for execution – we will allocate the same amount of funds for the coming years, at least 10 billion rubles each.</p>
<p>I hope that what has already been done is noticeable. This is money for kindergartens, schools, for putting the housing and communal services system in order, for streets, courtyards, yard space, and so on. I hope you're watching this.</p>
<p><strong>A. Moiseev:</strong> <span>Undoubtedly so.</span></p>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>Yes?</span></p>
<p><strong>Alexey Moiseyev:</strong> <span>Yes, I assure you that it is true.</span></p>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>But they [the sailors] don't say anything. (Laughter.)</span></p>
<p><strong>A. Moiseev:</strong> <span>It's simple and modest.</span></p>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>It's clear. So here's what we'll do. This program exists, and money will be allocated.</span></p>
<p><strong>Alexey Moiseyev:</strong> <span>Comrade Supreme Commander, allow me to thank you. thank you.</span></p>
<p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <span>Thank you. [My Emphasis]</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>What a surprise peace solution to the problem of Nazis. A big trial balloon. The Russian Navy’s in great shape. I hope no coffee was spilled over that surprise since most will be reading this is the morning. Good Night.</p>
<p><span>*</span><br><span>*</span><br><span>*</span><br><em><span>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a</span> <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> <span>to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</span></em></p>

</div>

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3ec42923-3e35-4f14-9ed1-10a1bbbf78cf_1880x1160.jpeg","type":"image/jpeg"}]}


title: Live: Enjoy the picturesque scenery in Bakang Village
hash: �)��d�T�����&0Rj
guid:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-Enjoy-the-picturesque-scenery-in-Bakang-Village-1C6KXNAdLby/p.html?UTM_Source=cgtn&amp;UTM_Medium=rss&amp;UTM_Campaign=Video

content:
<div><img src="https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-Enjoy-the-picturesque-scenery-in-Bakang-Village-1C6KXNAdLby/img/ce850dfc75ce4056940161029ea93f0d/ce850dfc75ce4056940161029ea93f0d-1920.png" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><div readability="39" data-sanitized-class="text en">
<p>Witness the ethereal beauty of Bakang Village, Bomi County in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region! Vibrant peach blossoms blanket the village, framed by snow-capped peaks. Immerse in this tranquil spring symphony where nature paints its masterpiece. Breathe, unwind, and let the petals dance with time.</p>
</div>

link:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-Enjoy-the-picturesque-scenery-in-Bakang-Village-1C6KXNAdLby/p.html?UTM_Source=cgtn&amp;UTM_Medium=rss&amp;UTM_Campaign=Video

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-Enjoy-the-picturesque-scenery-in-Bakang-Village-1C6KXNAdLby/img/ce850dfc75ce4056940161029ea93f0d/ce850dfc75ce4056940161029ea93f0d-1920.png","type":"image/png","medium":"image"}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/news/614889-italy-ukraine-meloni-peacekeepers/
title: Italy pours cold water on pro-Ukraine ‘coalition of the willing’
author: ;RT
hash: �2,_���@�)�n3��
content:
<p><strong>European countries must work with Washington to achieve peace between Moscow and Kiev, Giorgia Meloni has said</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has ruled out the participation of her country’s troops in a military force that the UK and France want to be deployed to Ukraine in the event that a peace deal with Russia is reached.</p>
<p>In early March, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron said that their nations were ready to lead a <em>“coalition of the willing”</em> pro-Ukrainian European countries to support Kiev with troops and aircraft. The announcement followed the launch of bilateral talks between Moscow and Washington to settle the ongoing conflict, to which the EU and UK were not invited.</p>
<p>After a summit of Kiev’s backers in Paris on Thursday, which was attended by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, Meloni reiterated that <em>“no national participation in a possible military force on the ground is planned”</em> by the authorities in Rome.</p>
<p>According to a statement published by the Italian prime minister’s office, she also <em>“stressed the importance of continuing to work with the US to stop the conflict and achieve peace”</em> between Moscow and Kiev. She <em>“hoped for the involvement of an American delegation at the next coordination meeting”</em> of Ukraine’s European allies, the statement read.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5881285f54058ea2d779a.jpg" alt="French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pictured ahead of the 'Coalition of the willing' summit on March 27, 2025 in Paris, France.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614877-france-ukraine-reassurance-force/">France and UK rebrand possible military deployment to Ukraine</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>In her interview with the Financial Times on Friday, Meloni stressed that it is <em>“childish”</em> to make Italy choose between the US and the EU.</p>
<p>Instead of deploying what London and Paris now call a <em>“reassurance force”</em> to aid Kiev, she proposed extending NATO’s mutual defense clause to Ukraine without actually making the country a member of the US-led bloc. Doing so would be <em>“easier and more effective than the other ideas that are on the table,”</em> she insisted.</p>
<p>Croatian President Zoran Milanovic also said on Thursday that his country <em>“will not be involved in Ukraine in any form.”</em> Zagreb will not join the peacekeeping force because <em>“the necessary conditions are simply not met – there is no peace agreement, nor the consent of the other side, which in this case is Russia,”</em> he explained.</p>

             
    <p>
        <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614881-putin-proposes-un-govern-ukraine/">
            <span>READ MORE: </span>Putin proposes that UN temporarily govern Ukraine
        </a>
    </p>


    

<p>Russia has categorically ruled out the possibility of NATO-aligned European troops deploying to the conflict zone. It accused France and Britain of hatching plans for <em>“military intervention in Ukraine,”</em> which could lead to a direct military clash between Russia and the bloc. Moscow also suggested that London and Paris are deliberately escalating tensions in order to undermine efforts by the US and Russia to resolve the conflict.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/news/614889-italy-ukraine-meloni-peacekeepers/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e64a9985f5402211032b65.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: tag:ottawacitizen.com,2025-03-28:/opinion/voter-turnout-message-canada/20250328083022
title: EDITORIAL: Strong voter turnout would send a clear message about Canada
author: ;Editorial Board
link: https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/voter-turnout-message-canada
hash: �=�g�(�@?�س���
tags: #Editorials #Federal Election #Opinion
content:
<div data-sanitized-id=""><h2 data-sanitized-class="visually-hidden">Article content</h2>
<p data-async>Recent federal elections have prompted somewhere between 61 and 69 <a data-evt-val='{"control_fields": {"mparticle": {"keys": {"click_source_type": "click_source_type", "anchor_text": "anchor_text", "target_url": "target_url", "layout_section": "layout_section"}, "mp_event_type": "Navigation", "extra_keys": ["click_vertical_position_percentage", "click_vertical_position_pixels"]}}, "click_source_type": "in-page link", "anchor_text": "per cent of eligible voters", "target_url": "https://electionsanddemocracy.ca/elections-numbers-0/graph-voter-turnout-federal-elections", "layout_section": "in-page-link"}' data-evt="click" data-evt-typ="click" href="https://electionsanddemocracy.ca/elections-numbers-0/graph-voter-turnout-federal-elections">per cent of eligible voters</a> to cast a ballot nationally. But as a <a data-evt-val='{"control_fields": {"mparticle": {"keys": {"click_source_type": "click_source_type", "anchor_text": "anchor_text", "target_url": "target_url", "layout_section": "layout_section"}, "mp_event_type": "Navigation", "extra_keys": ["click_vertical_position_percentage", "click_vertical_position_pixels"]}}, "click_source_type": "in-page link", "anchor_text": "letter to the editor", "target_url": "https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/letters-support-canada-sovereignty-by-voting", "layout_section": "in-page-link"}' data-evt="click" data-evt-typ="click" href="https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/letters-support-canada-sovereignty-by-voting">letter to the editor</a> of the Citizen recently declared: “That is not good enough. We must aim for a voter turnout in excess of 90 per cent to demonstrate that we care about our country and that, no matter what party we support, we will do whatever it takes to uphold Canada’s sovereignty.”</p>
</div><div data-sanitized-id=""><p>Article content</p>
<p data-async>Ninety per cent? Not likely. No Canadian election has ever reached that level of public enthusiasm; the highest participation was 79.4 per cent in 1958. In <a data-evt-val='{"control_fields": {"mparticle": {"keys": {"click_source_type": "click_source_type", "anchor_text": "anchor_text", "target_url": "target_url", "layout_section": "layout_section"}, "mp_event_type": "Navigation", "extra_keys": ["click_vertical_position_percentage", "click_vertical_position_pixels"]}}, "click_source_type": "in-page link", "anchor_text": "the 2021 election", "target_url": "https://electionsanddemocracy.ca/elections-numbers-0/graph-voter-turnout-federal-elections", "layout_section": "in-page-link"}' data-evt="click" data-evt-typ="click" href="https://electionsanddemocracy.ca/elections-numbers-0/graph-voter-turnout-federal-elections">the 2021 election</a>, just 62.6 of electors voted nationally. All Ottawa ridings exceeded the national average that year, a tribute to how much this city cares about the country. Still, the letter writer’s challenge is worth mulling: a federal election is a powerful, collective method of showing we care about democracy.</p>
<div readability="10">
<p>In the face of threats to turn Canada into the 51st state, voting this time feels like an act of soverignty. WE will determine our future. WE care enough to pay attention to the candidates. WE will exercise our franchise.</p>
</div>
</div><div data-sanitized-id=""><p>Article content</p>
<p>Even without Donald Trump, voting would be important in this election since the outcome will be a different prime minster from the one who led the country from 2015 to 2025. Having Trump to contend with means it’s even more vital that you think about who should lead us.</p>
<p>To that end, get involved now. Start researching the candidates in your riding and paying attention to their pronouncements. Think about how their promises could affect your life and your family both locally and nationally — but also think about whether they are realistic. Assess potential MPs, not just leaders, over the next five weeks: for character, integrity and backbone. Are they the type who will hold government to account (even if their own party is in power)? Will they fight, intelligently, for Canada? Do they have a solid plan for YOUR community?</p>
<p><img alt="election logo" height="250" src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/election-logo-.jpg" width="1200" data-sanitized-class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2426951"></p>
<p>At the Ottawa Citizen, our reporters are conscious of the need to relay facts and context without spin. Their cumulative experience, coupled with the fact their names are on their work, holds us to account. They don’t traffic in rumour or gossip. That’s a key difference from the information we often encounter on social media, which isn’t held to a robust editorial process. Assertions made there often are not checked for factual accuracy. Personal attacks slip in. Misinformation abounds. Be conscious of which sources you consult to learn about this (or any) election.</p>
<p>But wait — the Citizen runs opinion too, doesn’t it? Yes; this editorial is an opinion piece, aimed at persuading you to be an active participant in your democracy. But you’ll also see the Citizen publish opinions from informed people who hold a wide variety of political views. We hope a broad spectrum of argument will help you clarify your own thinking about the election. We’ll also ask the main Ottawa candidates themselves if they’d like to contribute to the debate with an op-ed article online. If they participate, you can see in their own words what they plan for your riding.</p>
<p>We want you to vote in this election, and to be informed when you do. We want you to defend the independence of Canada by marking your ballot. You have the power to send a message that you care about the country. And we’ll do whatever we can to help make it happen.</p>
<section aria-labelledby="moreTopicLabel1043822345081609723427874655961088" data-aqa="embed-more-topic" data-carousel-component data-carousel-icon-button data-carousel-type="list" readability="0.40579710144928" data-sanitized-class="more-topic"><p>Recommended from Editorial</p>
<ol data-carousel-slide-list tabindex="0" data-sanitized-class="more-topic__items list-unstyled"><li data-evt-val='{"control_fields": {"mparticle": {"keys": {"click_source_type": "click_source_type", "data_source": "data_source", "anchor_text": "anchor_text", "widget_title": "widget_title", "target_url": "target_url", "target_article_title": "target_article_title", "target_article_id": "target_article_id", "target_article_position": "target_article_position", "layout_section": "layout_section"}, "mp_event_type": "Navigation", "extra_keys": ["click_vertical_position_percentage", "click_vertical_position_pixels"]}}, "click_source_type": "widget-list", "data_source": "editorial", "anchor_text": "How well do you know your federal election history?", "widget_title": "recommended-from-editorial", "target_url": "https://ottawacitizen.com/news/federal-election-quiz", "target_article_title": "How well do you know your federal election history?", "target_article_id": "25d4d663-0352-4408-a4d9-33c026e85062", "target_article_position": "0", "layout_section": "recommended-from-editorial"}' data-carousel-item data-evt="click" data-evt-typ="click" readability="0" data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item"><a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/news/federal-election-quiz" readability="2"><picture data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item-image"><img alt="Left to right: A prime minister who served over four decades, a Conservative MP, the first Inuit cabinet minister, the House of Commons in 1918, a US president. GRAPHIC BY SOFIA MISENHEIMER / POSTMEDIA" data-src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/federal-election-quiz.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80&amp;sig=ccL4jeM4hNEu68jUDCFhZQ" src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/federal-election-quiz.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=5&amp;sig=RUuv5jneTxaqcVLrdLsc1g" height="96" loading="lazy" width="96" data-sanitized-class="lazyload"></picture><p><span data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item-text-clamp">How well do you know your federal election history?</span></p>
</a></li>
<li data-evt-val='{"control_fields": {"mparticle": {"keys": {"click_source_type": "click_source_type", "data_source": "data_source", "anchor_text": "anchor_text", "widget_title": "widget_title", "target_url": "target_url", "target_article_title": "target_article_title", "target_article_id": "target_article_id", "target_article_position": "target_article_position", "layout_section": "layout_section"}, "mp_event_type": "Navigation", "extra_keys": ["click_vertical_position_percentage", "click_vertical_position_pixels"]}}, "click_source_type": "widget-list", "data_source": "editorial", "anchor_text": "Adam: No matter who is the next prime minister, Ottawa wins", "widget_title": "recommended-from-editorial", "target_url": "https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/prime-minister-ottawa-wins", "target_article_title": "Adam: No matter who is the next prime minister, Ottawa wins", "target_article_id": "ca0fd0a3-c371-46ce-b834-12fca52d47c2", "target_article_position": "1", "layout_section": "recommended-from-editorial"}' data-carousel-item data-evt="click" data-evt-typ="click" readability="-0" data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item"><a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/prime-minister-ottawa-wins" readability="3"><picture data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item-image"><img alt="Canadians will head to the polls for a federal election April 28. " data-src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0324-col-adam-5.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80&amp;sig=HfWhoof1ttBhMZY_ZDymDw" src="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0324-col-adam-5.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=5&amp;sig=rvPwjPxEgO_fXOGJWQOjZw" height="96" loading="lazy" width="96" data-sanitized-class="lazyload"></picture><p><span data-sanitized-class="more-topic__item-text-clamp">Adam: No matter who is the next prime minister, Ottawa wins</span></p>
</a></li>
</ol></section></div><div data-sanitized-id=""><p>Share this article in your social network</p>
</div>

attributes:
{"thumbnail":{"url":"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/0329-citizen-editorial.jpg"},"enclosures":[]}


title: Live: Latest on powerful earthquake in Myanmar
hash: /h�vt��R۝��M
guid:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-Latest-on-powerful-earthquake-in-Myanmar-1C6TIS91OwM/p.html?UTM_Source=cgtn&amp;UTM_Medium=rss&amp;UTM_Campaign=Video

content:
[unable to retrieve full-text content]A magnitude-7.9 earthquake struck Myanmar at 2:20 p.m. Friday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC). Join CGTN for more.

link:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-Latest-on-powerful-earthquake-in-Myanmar-1C6TIS91OwM/p.html?UTM_Source=cgtn&amp;UTM_Medium=rss&amp;UTM_Campaign=Video

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-03-28/Live-Latest-on-powerful-earthquake-in-Myanmar-1C6TIS91OwM/img/1cae972608e04f44b3e1b8c8d6b600d0/1cae972608e04f44b3e1b8c8d6b600d0-1920.png","type":"image/png","medium":"image"}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/news/614891-myanmar-thailand-quake-videos/
title: Powerful earthquake hits Myanmar with tremors felt in Thailand (VIDEOS)
author: ;RT
hash: ��y�z�o֮必.��
content:
<p><strong>A skyscraper under construction has collapsed in Bangkok, killing one worker and wounding 50 others, according to the rescuers</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>A powerful earthquake has hit Myanmar, with tremors causing destruction across the country and in neighboring Thailand.</p>
<p>A skyscraper under construction collapsed in the Thai capital, Bangkok, due to the quake on Friday, killing one worker and injuring 50 other, the emergencies services have said. Some people remain trapped under the rubble, but their exact number is unknown, according to the authorities.</p>
<p>According to the US Geological Survey, a 7.7-magnitude quake struck northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar at a shallow depth of 10km. A 6.4-magnitude aftershock hit the same area shortly afterwards.</p>
<p>Witnesses in the city of Mandalay in Myanmar told Reuters that they have seen several buildings collapse because of the tremors.</p>

            <blockquote data-media-max-width="560" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here is some of the aftermath footage near Mandalay. <br><br>There was also such similar scale earthquake happened 100 yo ago in the same area, where famous ruin of Mingun Pahtotawgyi and Bell remains. My experts been predicting in past year another strong one is imminent. <a href="https://t.co/Kg5enrsRdV">https://t.co/Kg5enrsRdV</a> <a href="https://t.co/RyE9RPeBR6">pic.twitter.com/RyE9RPeBR6</a></p>— ˙ʞ ๅǝᴉɹqɐꓨ 🇲🇲🏳️‍🌈 (@kokomdy) <a href="https://twitter.com/kokomdy/status/1905515831683158326?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2025</a></blockquote> 
    

<p>An AFP journalist in Naypyidaw, located south of Sagaing, reported cracks appearing on the roads and chunks of ceilings falling from buildings.</p>

            <blockquote data-media-max-width="560" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Video from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mandalay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mandalay</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Myanmar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Myanmar</a>, shows people screaming and crying after a powerful earthquake of 7.3 and 7.7 magnitude struck <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/earthquake?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#earthquake</a> <a href="https://t.co/5Z4jQ6KcpL">pic.twitter.com/5Z4jQ6KcpL</a></p>— sudhakar (@naidusudhakar) <a href="https://twitter.com/naidusudhakar/status/1905536830336106786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2025</a></blockquote> 
    

<p>In the Thai capital Bangkok, skyscrapers were shaken by the tremors, causing locals and tourists to rush outside in panic.</p>

            <blockquote data-media-max-width="560" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">❗️Crane PLUMMETS From The Sky In Bangkok Following <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Earthquake?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Earthquake</a> Which Hit Myanmar, Thailand &amp; Bhutan <br><br>📹 <a href="https://twitter.com/Aspa_ZunNaNu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Aspa_ZunNaNu</a> <a href="https://t.co/2JYOUsrdIW">https://t.co/2JYOUsrdIW</a> <a href="https://t.co/ewh8ErDE7b">pic.twitter.com/ewh8ErDE7b</a></p>— RT_India (@RT_India_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/RT_India_news/status/1905537049379438603?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2025</a></blockquote> 
    

<p>A 30-story building under construction collapsed in the capital’s Chatuchak Park area, with damage reported in other parts of the city.</p>

            <blockquote data-media-max-width="560" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NEW VIDEO: Skyscraper under construction collapses as massive earthquake hits Bangkok. No word on casualties <a href="https://t.co/QhoLEEnd7b">pic.twitter.com/QhoLEEnd7b</a></p>— BNO News (@BNONews) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1905515474122637378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2025</a></blockquote> 
    

<p>Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has declared Bangkok <em>“an emergency zone”</em> and instructed the local authorities in other provinces to treat the earthquake as <em>“a national emergency.”</em></p>

            <blockquote data-media-max-width="560" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">❗️At Least 43 Workers Trapped Following Skyscraper Collapse In Bangkok Triggered By Massive 7.7M Earthquake - AFP <a href="https://t.co/2JYOUsqFTo">https://t.co/2JYOUsqFTo</a> <a href="https://t.co/porDHp9Ltm">pic.twitter.com/porDHp9Ltm</a></p>— RT_India (@RT_India_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/RT_India_news/status/1905531110437568531?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2025</a></blockquote> 
    

<p>Tremors were also felt in China’s southwest Yunnan province, according to the China Earthquake Administration (CEA).</p>
<p>Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said New Delhi <em>“stands ready to offer all possible assistance”</em> to Naypyidaw and Bangkok. <em>“Concerned by the situation in the wake of the earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand,”</em> Modi wrote on X.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/news/614891-myanmar-thailand-quake-videos/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e667f585f5402211032b6d.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614892-kiev-violates-energy-ceasefire-moscow/
title: Kiev again violated US-backed energy ceasefire – Moscow (VIDEO)
author: ;RT
hash: �#�+��1��K%V�&
content:
<p><strong>American-designed HIMARS artillery was used in one of the three latest attacks on infrastructure, according to the Defense Ministry</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>The Ukrainian military has attacked Russia’s energy infrastructure in three separate regions, again violating a US-mediated moratorium on such strikes, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has claimed.</p>
<p>The incidents, recorded over the past 24 hours, took place in Belgorod, Kursk and Saratov Regions of Russia, the Friday statement said. On Thursday, Ukrainian artillery struck an element of the Russian power grid in Belgorod Region, disrupting the power supply in Shchebekino near the international border, the report said.</p>
<p>A separate incident involved HIMARS artillery strikes on the Sudzha gas metering station in Kursk Region, where <em>“the energy site was de facto destroyed.”</em> The ministry had previously accused Kiev of damaging the facility with planted explosive charges as its forces were retreating from the area.</p>

    <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/67e6634a85f54027272db659.mp4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe>


<p>The ministry concluded that <em>“all previous public statements of the Kiev regime about its purported intention to suspend attacks against Russian civilian energy infrastructure are just a smokescreen.”</em> It believes that Ukraine wants to recover its military compatibility with the help of European backers while the US pushes for a complete truce with Russia.</p>
<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered that attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure stop on March 18, following a phone call with his US counterpart Donald Trump. The Kremlin says it intends to maintain the 30-day partial ceasefire as a gesture of goodwill to Washington, even if Kiev fails to honor it. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry has warned that Moscow reserves the right to withdraw from the agreement.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614892-kiev-violates-energy-ceasefire-moscow/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e6632120302755ae1b51a0.png","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/africa/614890-russia-opening-embassy-comoros/
title: Russia to open embassy in another African state
author: ;RT
hash: G!(�l��⊤��S�k
content:
<p><strong>The government of Comoros says the move will create new prospects for bilateral cooperation</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>Comoros has agreed to the establishment of a Russian diplomatic mission in its capital, Moroni, local media reported on Thursday, citing a document from the African island nation’s Foreign Ministry.</p>
<p>The Comorian government has welcomed the move as an opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations with Moscow, according to a letter addressed to the Russian mission in neighboring Madagascar and published by the news agency Comores-infos.<br><em></em></p>
<p><em>“The government of the Union of the Comoros accepts the request of the authorities of the Russian Federation to establish an embassy in the Union of the Comoros,”</em> the ministry stated.<br><em></em></p>
<p><em>“The establishment of this embassy in Moroni will bring the Union of the Comoros and the Russian Federation, which have maintained bilateral relations for several years, closer together and open up new prospects for cooperation between the two countries,”</em> it added.</p>
<p>The move comes at a time when Moscow has declared that developing ties with African states is among its top foreign policy priorities. Plans to open an embassy in Comoros and several other countries, including the Gambia, Liberia, and Togo, in the <em>“near future”</em> were first announced last month by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Currently, the diplomatic representation for Comoros is managed through Russia’s embassy in Madagascar.</p>

             
    <p>
        <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rt.com/africa/611511-russia-open-three-embassies-africa/">
            <span>READ MORE: </span>Russia to open three more embassies in Africa
        </a>
    </p>


    

<p>Earlier this year, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced that Moscow is set to expand its diplomatic presence in Africa with the establishment of embassies in Sierra Leone and South Sudan – the continent’s newest country. She said the relevant government decrees had been issued at the end of December, with the official opening of the missions scheduled for the <em>“near future.”</em></p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e12c36203027213e7d3dd8.jpg" alt="RT">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/africa/614582-african-leaders-educated-in-ussr/">From Soviet classrooms to presidential palaces: How the USSR educated African leaders</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>Russia also intends to reopen its mission in Niger, which had, along with the Sahel state’s embassy in Moscow, ceased operations in the 1990s due to budgetary challenges.</p>
<p>In December 2023, Moscow’s embassy in Burkina Faso officially resumed operations after being shut for more than three decades. The mission in Equatorial Guinea also opened last year, according to Lavrov.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/africa/614890-russia-opening-embassy-comoros/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e6662b2030274f223d7d3c.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: https://risingtidefoundation.net/?p=28479
title: East Africa’s Economic Future with BRICS
author: ;Matthew Ehret
link: https://risingtidefoundation.net/2025/03/28/east-africas-economic-future-with-brics/
hash: ���)[��P�_-��
tags: #Uncategorized
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<div><img src="https://i0.wp.com/risingtidefoundation.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/africa-feature-image-pip.jpg?resize=1200%2C989&amp;ssl=1" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p>The Rising Tide Foundation East Africa’s economic future with BRICS – 2025-35 features guest speaker Nicholas Jones (RTF advisor, President of Artists Alliance for Africa) who will showcase the battle over the soul of Africa now underway.</p>
<figure data-sanitized-class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div data-sanitized-class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="East Africa's economic future with BRICS - 2025-35 (Featuring Nicholas Jones)" width="1000" height="563" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6lTgxeKk8DU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin">[embedded content]</iframe></div>
</figure>

<div data-sanitized-class="wp-block-jetpack-donations">
<div data-sanitized-class="donations__container">

<div data-sanitized-class="donations__content">
<div data-sanitized-class="donations__tab">
<h4 data-sanitized-class="donations__one-time-item">Make a one-time donation</h4>
<h4 data-sanitized-class="donations__monthly-item">Make a monthly donation</h4>
<h4 data-sanitized-class="donations__annual-item">Make a yearly donation</h4>
<p>Choose an amount</p>



<p>Or enter a custom amount</p>

<hr data-sanitized-class="donations__separator"><p data-sanitized-class="donations__one-time-item">Your contribution is appreciated.</p>
<p data-sanitized-class="donations__monthly-item">Your contribution is appreciated.</p>
<p data-sanitized-class="donations__annual-item">Your contribution is appreciated.</p>
<a href="https://subscribe.wordpress.com/memberships/?blog=162420287&amp;plan=22552&amp;lang=en_US&amp;pid=28479&amp;redirect=https%3A%2F%2Frisingtidefoundation.net%2F2025%2F03%2F28%2Feast-africas-economic-future-with-brics" data-sanitized-class="wp-block-button__link donations__donate-button donations__one-time-item">Donate</a><a href="https://subscribe.wordpress.com/memberships/?blog=162420287&amp;plan=22553&amp;lang=en_US&amp;pid=28479&amp;redirect=https%3A%2F%2Frisingtidefoundation.net%2F2025%2F03%2F28%2Feast-africas-economic-future-with-brics" data-sanitized-class="wp-block-button__link donations__donate-button donations__monthly-item">Donate monthly</a><a href="https://subscribe.wordpress.com/memberships/?blog=162420287&amp;plan=22554&amp;lang=en_US&amp;pid=28479&amp;redirect=https%3A%2F%2Frisingtidefoundation.net%2F2025%2F03%2F28%2Feast-africas-economic-future-with-brics" data-sanitized-class="wp-block-button__link donations__donate-button donations__annual-item">Donate yearly</a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>


guid: https://risingtidefoundation.net/?p=28483
title: Is a Multipolar Nationalism Possible? ft. Anton Chaitkin
author: ;Matthew Ehret
link: https://risingtidefoundation.net/2025/03/28/is-a-multipolar-nationalism-possible-ft-anton-chaitkin/
hash: �X���� �%E5����
tags: #Uncategorized
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<div><img src="https://i0.wp.com/risingtidefoundation.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Trump-Multipolar-Nationalism-feature.jpg?fit=800%2C464&amp;ssl=1" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p>In this short interview, historian and analyst Anton Chaitkin delivers his assessment of Trump’s first 25 days in office and his reasons for a revival of a pro-industrial nationalist paradigm domestically fused with a peace-oriented agenda globally.</p>
<figure data-sanitized-class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div data-sanitized-class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Is a Multipolar Nationalism Possible? (with Anton Chaitkin)" width="1000" height="563" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0Zy6Us7OyCA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin">[embedded content]</iframe></div>
</figure><h3 data-sanitized-class="wp-block-heading">Purchase Anton’s most recent book: Who We Are- America’s Fight for Universal Progress vol 1 here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqa2x6OW1RbU9NMVNLWktmdHhtUTQtRUs1QVVWUXxBQ3Jtc0tueklmUlFhamNvNTU0U0JWUUNQakx5TnhBZC1IWFl2NTRrOVFQX3ZFUHhCTkRRaW15aHIwV0JRa1RFdWVNMnJfTXN6VTVGOFlybzhsZmd3SWRIbTNCZGdpczRMY19BYVlRbTlVaHc1aHhydndSdkRGcw&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fwhowearebook.com%2F&amp;v=0Zy6Us7OyCA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://whowearebook.com/</a></h3>
<h3 data-sanitized-class="wp-block-heading">Subscribe to Anton’s substack here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqa21zcVB0QVRFTzVEUThOOTUwWGRKOGlUQTRZQXxBQ3Jtc0ttSnJTc1ctY2pOb2FZclNLM0U0NmZnaFVjcE5FTFVJeUpxRUsyYXJCbnhmUHdWXzVlMTA0X0s1V2RFd19PaUJhaXlBUlVSbUVEc3FQb0lYVDI0cE14ZGN5Q2J6dXBfSExHWXh0QnJRQmRkbXg1Zl9idw&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fantonchaitkin.substack.com%2F&amp;v=0Zy6Us7OyCA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://antonchaitkin.substack.com/</a></h3>
<h3 data-sanitized-class="wp-block-heading">Watch the Canadian Patriot Film “The Arctic: Theater of War or Global Cooperation?” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXKwyquIkbs">   • The Arctic: Theater of War or Global …  </a></h3>
<div data-sanitized-class="wp-block-jetpack-donations">
<div data-sanitized-class="donations__container">

<div data-sanitized-class="donations__content">
<div data-sanitized-class="donations__tab">
<h4 data-sanitized-class="donations__one-time-item">Make a one-time donation</h4>
<h4 data-sanitized-class="donations__monthly-item">Make a monthly donation</h4>
<h4 data-sanitized-class="donations__annual-item">Make a yearly donation</h4>
<p>Choose an amount</p>



<p>Or enter a custom amount</p>

<hr data-sanitized-class="donations__separator"><p data-sanitized-class="donations__one-time-item">Your contribution is appreciated.</p>
<p data-sanitized-class="donations__monthly-item">Your contribution is appreciated.</p>
<p data-sanitized-class="donations__annual-item">Your contribution is appreciated.</p>
<a href="https://subscribe.wordpress.com/memberships/?blog=162420287&amp;plan=22552&amp;lang=en_US&amp;pid=28483&amp;redirect=https%3A%2F%2Frisingtidefoundation.net%2F2025%2F03%2F28%2Fis-a-multipolar-nationalism-possible-ft-anton-chaitkin" data-sanitized-class="wp-block-button__link donations__donate-button donations__one-time-item">Donate</a><a href="https://subscribe.wordpress.com/memberships/?blog=162420287&amp;plan=22553&amp;lang=en_US&amp;pid=28483&amp;redirect=https%3A%2F%2Frisingtidefoundation.net%2F2025%2F03%2F28%2Fis-a-multipolar-nationalism-possible-ft-anton-chaitkin" data-sanitized-class="wp-block-button__link donations__donate-button donations__monthly-item">Donate monthly</a><a href="https://subscribe.wordpress.com/memberships/?blog=162420287&amp;plan=22554&amp;lang=en_US&amp;pid=28483&amp;redirect=https%3A%2F%2Frisingtidefoundation.net%2F2025%2F03%2F28%2Fis-a-multipolar-nationalism-possible-ft-anton-chaitkin" data-sanitized-class="wp-block-button__link donations__donate-button donations__annual-item">Donate yearly</a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614895-lithuania-rescue-american-soldiers/
title: US crew missing as NATO struggles to recover vehicle from border swamp
author: ;RT
hash: �JZ�o�X� :C�b!
content:
<p><strong>A giant mobile crane sank in a bog during military exercises near Belarus</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>The Lithuanian military has called for specialized equipment to lift a sunken US military vehicle, whose four crew members have been classified as missing, following a training incident in a swamp near the country’s border with Belarus on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The M88 Hercules armored vehicle, designed for recovering other military assets and weighing over 60 tons, was located on Wednesday in a bog near Pabrade, where the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division was participating in a joint NATO exercise, according to US Army Europe and Africa command.</p>
<p>Recovery efforts have proven unsuccessful. Rescuers have yet to access the submerged vehicle due to the challenging terrain. The Lithuanian Defense Ministry announced on Friday morning that the country’s most powerful dredger is en route to the site.</p>
<p><em>”We just need to stop the flow of water from the lake into the swamp so that the mud can be pumped out of the swamp,”</em> Lieutenant Colonel Ausrius Buikus, who is leading the rescue operation, told media on Thursday afternoon.</p>

             
    <p>
        <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rt.com/news/614830-us-soldiers-missing-lithuania/">
            <span>READ MORE: </span>NATO chief triggers confusion over ‘dead’ American troops
        </a>
    </p>


    

<p>On Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte extended condolences to the families of the missing US soldiers, who are still declared ‘missing’. His office later issued an apology for <em>“confusion”</em> arising from his implication the crew was deceased.</p>
<p>The US has approximately 1,000 troops in Lithuania. Washington has increased exercises in the Baltic states amid rising tensions with Russia, particularly since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, touting the drills as a NATO confidence-building measure.</p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614895-lithuania-rescue-american-soldiers/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e66f7885f54058983999fa.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


guid: https://www.rt.com/russia/614888-putin-arctic-forum-speech/
title: Putin outlines Russian plans for Arctic (FULL TEXT)
author: ;RT
hash: �V.ӄ}�Í��H" F�
content:
<p><strong>The president has urged sustainable development of the region and addressed the global implications of the US claim to Greenland</strong></p>
            
                        
            <p>Russian President Vladimir Putin has detailed the country’s priorities for the future development of the Arctic region.</p>
<p>Moscow sees huge potential for resource extraction and transportation, which requires major infrastructure investments and careful consideration for the environment, Putin said on Thursday in a speech at the International Arctic Forum in Murmansk. He also addressed the military aspects of Russian plans and US President Donald Trump’s bid to acquire Greenland from Denmark.</p>
<p>Here is Putin’s speech in full:</p>
<p>The International Arctic Forum is a key platform to discuss current issues regarding the comprehensive development of Arctic territories, establishing effective mechanisms for the joint use and exploration of the Arctic region’s abundant resources at various levels.</p>
<p><strong></strong>In 2025, the forum’s events are being held in Murmansk on March 26–27 under the motto <em>“To Live in the North!”</em></p>
<p><strong></strong>* * *</p>
<p><strong></strong>President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, friends, ladies and gentlemen.</p>
<p><strong></strong>I welcome the participants and guests of the 6th International Forum, The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue. For the first time, it is being hosted by Murmansk – the capital of the Russian Arctic, a Hero City, which is developing dynamically today, as are our other northern cities and regions, while launching landmark projects for the entire country.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Russia is the largest Arctic power. We have consistently advocated for equitable cooperation in the region, encompassing scientific research, biodiversity protection, climate issues, emergencies response, and, of course, the economic and industrial development of the Arctic. We are prepared to collaborate not only with Arctic states but with all who, like us, share responsibility for ensuring a stable and sustainable future for the planet and are capable of adopting balanced decisions for decades to come.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Regrettably, international cooperation in northern latitudes is currently facing significant challenges. In the past few years, numerous Western nations have opted for confrontation, cutting off economic connections with Russia and ceasing scientific, educational, and cultural exchanges. Discussions on safeguarding Arctic ecosystems have come to a standstill. Politicians, party leaders, and even the so-called greens in some Western countries address their citizens and electorates about the significance of the climate agenda and environmental conservation, yet in practice, their policies are entirely contradictory.</p>
<p><strong></strong>As a reminder, the Arctic Council was set up to cooperate in addressing environmental issues, to prevent emergencies above the Arctic Circle and to jointly respond to them if they emerge. However, this tool has degraded by now. Meanwhile, Russia did not refuse to communicate in this format – it was the choice of our Western partners, Western nations. As they say in such situations: Don’t do it if you don’t want it. We will work with those who want it.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Meanwhile, the role and importance of the Arctic for Russia and for the entire world are obviously growing. Regrettably, the geopolitical competition and fighting for positions in this region are also escalating.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Suffice it to say about the plans of the United States to annex Greenland, as everyone is aware. But you know, it can surprise someone only at first glance. It is a profound mistake to treat it as some preposterous talk by the new US administration. Nothing of the sort.</p>
<p><strong></strong>In fact, the United States had such plans as far back as the 1860s. As early as that, the US administration was considering possible annexation of Greenland and Iceland. However, the idea did not enjoy support in Congress then.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e5b6702030271168232236.jpg" alt="Greenlanders protest US President Donald Trump's remarks on the island in Nuuk, Greenland on March 15, 2025.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/614880-trump-greenland-hidden-threat/">Trump has ‘gone too far’ – Danish defense minister</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p><strong></strong>Let me remind you, by the way, that by 1868, the purchase of Alaska from Russia was ridiculed in the American press – it was called <em>“madness,”</em> <em>“an ice box”</em> and <em>“President Andrew Johnson’s polar bear garden.”</em> Therefore, the Greenland proposal failed.</p>
<p><strong></strong>But that acquisition, I mean the purchase of Alaska, is probably viewed very differently in the United States today, just as President Andrew Johnson’s actions are.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Thus what is happening today is not really surprising, particularly since this story only began back then, and it went on and on. In 1910, for example, a trilateral land swap deal was negotiated between the United States, Germany and Denmark. As a result, Greenland would have gone to the United States but the deal fell through then.</p>
<p><strong></strong>During World War II, the United States stationed military bases in Greenland to protect it from Nazi takeover. After the war, the United States suggested Denmark should sell the island. This was quite recently in terms of world history.</p>
<p><strong></strong>In short, the United States has serious plans regarding Greenland. These plans have long historical roots, as I have just mentioned, and it is obvious that the United States will continue to consistently advance its geo-strategic, military-political and economic interests in the Arctic.</p>
<p><strong></strong>As to Greenland, this is an issue that concerns two specific nations and has nothing to do with us. But at the same time, of course, we are concerned about the fact that NATO countries are increasingly often designating the Far North as a springboard for possible conflicts and are practicing the use of troops in these conditions, including by their <em>“new recruits”</em> – Finland and Sweden, with whom, incidentally, until recently we had no problems at all. They are creating problems with their own hands for some reason. Why? It is impossible to understand. But nevertheless, we will proceed from current realities and will respond to all this.</p>
<p><strong></strong>I must emphasise: Russia has never threatened anyone in the Arctic. However, we are closely monitoring developments in the region, formulating an appropriate response strategy, enhancing the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces, and modernising military infrastructure facilities.</p>
<p><strong></strong>We will not tolerate any encroachments on our country’s sovereignty and will steadfastly safeguard our national interests. By upholding peace and stability in the Arctic region, we will ensure its long-term socio-economic development, improve the quality of life for its residents, and preserve its unique natural environment.</p>
<p><strong></strong>The stronger our positions and the more substantial our achievements, the greater our opportunities will be to launch global international projects in the Arctic involving partner nations, friendly states, and perhaps even Western countries – provided, however, that they demonstrate a genuine interest in cooperative efforts. I am confident that the time for such projects will undoubtedly come.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Friends,</p>
<p><strong></strong>The Arctic Zone accounts for over a quarter of the Russian Federation’s territory. Nearly two and a half million our citizens live and work here, making a significant contribution to the nation’s progress. Current estimates indicate that the Arctic generates 7% of Russia’s gross domestic product and approximately 11% of our exports. At the same time, we see enormous potential for the region’s further comprehensive development. A critical priority is strengthening the Arctic’s transport and logistical framework.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2024.12/thumbnail/67518f1585f5405bf216caee.jpg" alt="RT">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/india/608765-great-game-in-arctic-russia-india/">The Great Game in the Arctic: Why the region is the next flashpoint between superpowers</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p><strong></strong>Let me note that this year marks the 500th anniversary of the first historical records mentioning the daring concept proposed by Russian seafarers and Pomor trappers: a prospective trade route through the northern seas to the East, reaching China via the so-called Northeast Passage – the precursor to the Northern Sea Route.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Over the past decade, cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route – spanning from the Kara Gates Strait to the Bering Strait – has substantially increased. In 2014, a mere four million tonnes of cargo were transported via this corridor. By last year, that figure had risen to nearly 38 million tonnes – five times the Soviet-era record. We anticipate, with confidence, that volumes will reach 70–100 million tonnes by 2030.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Yet our plans – in terms of cargo volumes, geographical reach, and expansion of the Arctic fleet – are far more ambitious. The Northern Sea Route is poised to become a pivotal segment of the Transarctic Transport Corridor, stretching from St Petersburg through Murmansk to Vladivostok. This corridor is designed to connect global industrial, agricultural, and energy hubs with consumer markets via a shorter, safer, and more economically viable route. This is widely acknowledged – experts across the East and West recognise its significance.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Cargo shipments along the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor are set to increase on the back of growing minerals production and the advanced processing of these resources right here in the Arctic, and due to rising international transits. I would like to stress the importance of linking this Trans-Arctic corridor with our domestic railway network everywhere from the northwest to Russia’s Far East, reaching all the way to the Baikal-Amur Mainline and the Trans-Siberian Railway.</p>
<p><strong></strong>By the way, even today the concept of building the Trans-Siberian Railway, which stretches across the entire country to the Pacific, exemplifies a strategic, forward-looking vision for us. It addressed not only the country’s immediate needs and circumstances but also took into account our national interests within a horizon of several centuries. We must be guided by this approach as we develop the Trans-Arctic corridor.</p>
<p><strong></strong>What are the priority objectives in this regard?</p>
<p><strong></strong>First, Russia already operates the world’s biggest icebreaker fleet. We must consolidate our leadership in this sector by building new-generation icebreakers, including nuclear icebreakers. Today, only Russia has them – no other country has a nuclear icebreaker fleet.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Four of these icebreakers belong to the latest Project 22220, and are already operating in the Arctic. Three more nuclear icebreakers from the same series – Chukotka, Leningrad and Stalingrad – are currently under construction. There is also the mighty 120 Mw icebreaker Rossiya. It will allow for more efficient year-round icebreaker support to large-tonnage ships in high latitudes.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Let me emphasise that icebreaker support costs and shipping costs for the Trans-Arctic Corridor in general must be competitive and acceptable to the market. This is a major prerequisite for guaranteeing that this route is relevant for businesses and creates added value for them. My colleagues from the Government and I have recently discussed these matters, and I fully agree that this offering must be competitive on the market.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.01/thumbnail/678e309a2030277afd607f62.jpg" alt="RT">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/611296-rosatom-floating-nuclear-power-plant-billion/">Russia’s floating Arctic nuclear power plant reaches milestone</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p><strong></strong>Second, Russia is a sovereign nation, and as such it needs a merchant fleet of its own in the Arctic, including cargo, search and rescue ships for operating shipments in northern seas, as well as within our internal waters in the Arctic. We must recognise that for now we cannot rely exclusively on our domestic shipbuilding capabilities.</p>
<p><strong></strong>In this connection, we must work on all fronts by building and ordering ships that have already been built, working with manufacturers around the world and developing the domestic shipbuilding industry based on the strategic objectives we have.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Of course, this message is primarily intended for the Government: we must support our shipbuilding corporations and shipyards in their efforts to upgrade and expand their capabilities and build international manufacturing chains. I also ask the Government to review opportunities for building new, cutting-edge, advanced, high-technology shipyards in Russia.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Third, Russian shipping companies that transport petroleum products and liquefied natural gas are already successfully operating in the northern seas. Now we need to create enabling conditions for effective domestic operators who will be shipping containers, coal, bulk and other goods across the Arctic. We are also open to create joint ventures in this segment. International logistics operators could make profitable investments in such companies. Moreover, in addition to capital and technology, they could contribute part of their merchant fleet to such projects.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Fourth, plans are in place to increase the capacity and turnover of our northern ports through the introduction of innovative and environmentally friendly solutions, including unmanned and automated cargo handling equipment. This will happen soon enough. For example, the capacity of the Murmansk transport hub should be amplified at least three times over in the next few years due to the construction of new terminals and the expansion of railway links.</p>
<p><strong></strong>I would like to add that our partners from Belarus, China, the United Arab Emirates and other countries are showing keen interest in this project and in the development of the Arctic transport infrastructure in general. It is a very interesting undertaking from a business point of view.</p>
<p><strong></strong>We plan to create large multimodal hubs to operate as key logistics centres of the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor. Not only will these hubs serve as ports where convoys of ships are formed or Russian and foreign cargos are handled; they will include industrial facilities for the production of manufactured goods.</p>
<p><strong></strong>To improve the logistical stability of the Trans-Arctic Corridor, I ask the Government to draft plans to expand the capacity of existing seaports in the Arctic, and decide where on the Arctic coast new ports should be built, and how soon the adjacent infrastructure needs to be developed. I am primarily referring to the links between the sea harbours and the national railway network.</p>
<p><strong></strong>In this regard, fifth, we will need to develop the Arctic Operating Domain – similar to the Eastern Operating Domain, which includes the Baikal-Amur Mainline and the Trans-Siberian Railway. The project must include the modernisation of the Northern Railway in the Komi Republic and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area.</p>
<p><strong></strong>We are aware of the situation at Russian Railways today; we know what challenges the company is facing. However, we need to think about what I just said, about the development of the Northern Railway – and we need to start today.</p>
<p><strong></strong>What opportunities will this open? The regions of Siberia, the Urals, and Russia’s North-West will receive direct access to the North, to the Arctic ports, which will lessen the load on the Trans-Siberian Railway and promote effective use of sea transport. In addition, there will be new points of access to the Arctic from the North-South corridor, which connects us with Central Asia and the Gulf states.</p>
<p><strong></strong>And of course, the potential of the Arctic’s inland waterways, our great rivers – the Lena, Yenisei, and Ob – must be unlocked at a new technological level to develop the Trans-Arctic route. This will help, among other things, to enhance the Northern Supply Haul system so as to ensure a reliable supply of foodstuffs and other goods for Arctic residents.</p>
<p><strong></strong>I want to stress specially that the resources of the state, regions, and businesses, including both state-owned and private banks, must be combined to pursue these and other major initiatives. The capabilities of the domestic stock market must also be utilised to attract capital to the Arctic infrastructure.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Infrastructure projects are indeed complex, costly and have a long pay-back period. But it is these projects that provide Russia’s real transport sovereignty at a new level. And I am confident that if our foreign partners join these projects, it will guarantee them long-term investments with good returns. Therefore, we cannot put off these projects for later, we must launch and start pursuing them now, as soon as possible.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Apparently, it is important to resort to flexible approaches here, to attract both Russian and foreign investors, as I have just mentioned. In this regard, I propose that we consider creating a special project office under the auspices of our leading development institution, VEB, which will provide support for transport, logistics, and infrastructure projects in the Arctic, as well as urban development projects in the region. It will also become an entity where potential investors can address directly and receive support they need. I ask the Government to prepare respective proposals.</p>
<p><strong></strong>In addition, I instruct the Government to join hands with Rosatom, VEB and the State Council’s dedicated commission to endorse the financial, economic and organisational model for the development of the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor by August 1 of this year.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Colleagues,</p>
<p><strong></strong>Currently, deposits of oil and gas, metals and other minerals are being developed in the Russian Arctic. We will continue massive geological exploration there, primarily within the framework of the Geology: Revival of the Legend federal project.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Concurrently, the task is to launch enterprises of deep processing of raw materials in the Arctic regions using the powerful resource base there; to create high value-added production facilities in petrochemistry, natural gas conversion, rare earth metals, and other industries related to machine building, production of sophisticated machinery and industrial equipment, while preserving the unique nature of the Arctic.</p>
<p><strong></strong>By way of example, I would like to mention the Centre for the Construction of Large-Capacity Offshore Structures in Belokamenka, where technologies for natural gas liquefaction are being localised and the most up-to-date domestic solutions are being utilised.</p>
<p><strong></strong>I’d like to draw the attention of colleagues in the Government and regional authorities to the following: it is essential not only to propose but also to effectively refine tools for supporting investment and business activity in the Arctic. This includes tax incentives, administrative privileges, infrastructure preparation of land plots, and other measures.</p>
<p><strong></strong>In particular, I remind colleagues of the need to strictly fulfil plans for the gas infrastructure coverage of the Murmansk Region. This must be completed by 2030. I emphasise: this objective remains in force.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2024.06/thumbnail/666acac885f5407254251327.jpg" alt="FILE PHOTO: The nuclear icebreaker '50 years of Victory' at the North Pole.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/599211-north-pole-children-icebreaker-cruise/">Russian nuclear icebreaker to ferry children to North Pole</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p><strong></strong>Of course, we should also develop promising areas such as tourism. The North and the Arctic are unique concentrations of natural, historical, and spiritual landmarks. The region boasts an extraordinarily rich cultural mosaic. Over a million tourists visit the Arctic annually to explore its landscapes, witness the northern lights, engage in Arctic fishing, ride dog sleds, or journey to polar archipelagos.</p>
<p><strong></strong>The number of tourists is growing. Consequently, new initiatives in this sphere are emerging, such as an Arctic tourism centre with a ski resort component in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area or an aqua-thermal spa and year-round hotel complex in Karelia. I request that both the federal Government and regional authorities support such initiatives, which reveal new facets of the Arctic and help heighten interest in the region.</p>
<p><strong></strong>I also propose considering the inclusion of White Sea tourism infrastructure development in the Five Seas and Lake Baikal federal project.</p>
<p><strong></strong>To make the Arctic accessible for mass tourism, transport connectivity is crucial – from the repair and construction of roads to the development of air travel.</p>
<p><strong></strong>I reiterate that we have extended subsidised airfare rates for flights to Arctic cities. Last year, approximately 800,000 passengers utilised this opportunity. This year, subsidised tickets are available for over 70 air routes.</p>
<p><strong></strong>At the same time, Far Northern airports, particularly smaller ones, require modernisation. In the coming years, under the relevant national project, we will upgrade 16 airfields in the Arctic Zone, including those in Salekhard, Arkhangelsk, Naryan-Mar, and Vorkuta.</p>
<p><strong></strong>Overall, our objective is to maintain an extensive airport network in the Arctic – from large and medium-sized airfields to small landing strips. This is also vital to ensure year-round accessibility of residential areas and the operation of air ambulance services.</p>
<p>Friends,</p>
<p>The key and overarching goal of Russia’s efforts is to improve the quality of life for people living in the Arctic, to ensure modern conditions for study and work, leisure, and the upbringing of children in this harsh region that still lures people with amazing force. I have talked to these people many times. Those who were born in the north, as well as those who have come here, have all said that the north is like a magnet since people develop a sense of belonging to these latitudes, and to this land.</p>
<p>As you know, we have already drafted master plans for the Arctic urban centres, which include not only major cities like Arkhangelsk or Murmansk, but also cover towns like Kirovsk, Apatity and Monchegorsk in the Murmansk Region, Kem and Belomorsk in Karelia, Vorkuta in the Komi Republic, Bilibino and Pevek in Chukotka, Naryan-Mar in the Nenets Autonomous Area, Salekhard, Labytnangi, Novy Urengoi and Noyabrsk in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, as well as Tiksi and Naiba in Yakutia, and Norilsk, Igarka and Dikson in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.</p>
<p>On a separate note, I would like to thank the VEB.RF and DOM.RF corporations for their involvement and contribution to drafting these master plans.</p>
<p>A master plan is a comprehensive strategic and territorial planning document that sets forth long-term socioeconomic and spatial development visions for cities, towns and villages. They provide for the introduction of the latest urban planning solutions while also ensuring that these settlements retain their unique cityscapes based on suggestions and proposals from local residents and civil society organisations, including associations of Northern ethnic minorities.</p>
<p>I would like to draw the Government’s attention to the need to be more responsive in its efforts to approve a timeline for carrying out these Arctic master plans and ensuring that they receive the funding they need. As I have already mentioned, this includes, among other things, introducing the Arctic agenda as a separate item into our national projects, while also launching mechanisms for engaging businesses and strategic investors working in the Arctic or those who are willing to work here in carrying out these master plans.</p>
<p>In addition, I ask the Government to think about setting up dedicated competence centres for providing urban planning and development training to municipal and regional officials and teaching them best practices in urban planning.</p>
<p>Moving on, we launched a national contest for creating people-friendly urban spaces. Winners will receive budget funding for their projects. I suggest allocating an additional sum from the federal budget as part of this contest. My colleagues from the Government and the Finance Ministry and I have just discussed this matter. I will not give you any final figures, but we need to earmark this disbursement and provide this kind of assistance so that colleagues working on the objectives I have just mentioned have more opportunities for improving embankments, pedestrian areas and playgrounds, building parks, gardens, and so on.</p>
<p>On a separate note, I would like to ask the Government to extend the programme of renovating military settlements, the closed administrative territorial units in the Arctic where our military personnel live with their families. This renovation programme should continue at least until 2030, with the annual federal budget support of at least 10 billion rubles. I would like to emphasise that this is connected with the strengthening of our military presence in the region, where the number of our military personnel will be increased.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e40d2b203027233450b3e1.jpg" alt="RT">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/russia/614815-arctic-forum-ice-breaker-fire-drill/">Russian Arctic forum city hosts ice breaker fire drill</a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>One of the tasks of our master plans and the renovation programme is to determine where new enterprises and jobs should be created, including those linked to the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor, and where schools and kindergartens, outpatient clinics and hospitals, roads and communications, as well as housing are to be built. The defence and construction ministries are to work together with the regional authorities to coordinate plans for each facility, so as to determine the amount of resources needed for implementing this task and the allocation deadlines.</p>
<p>It is a specific Arctic feature that structures are built in conditions of perpetually frozen ground or permafrost, which explains the special requirements for building designs, structure and reliability. At the same time, we should take the dynamics of climate change into account to forecast potential risks. I propose establishing a special research centre to monitor perpetually frozen ground with contribution from the leading federal and regional institutes. Their research projects will provide the scientific basis for the technology of adjusting Arctic infrastructure to the melting of permafrost.</p>
<p>I know that a register of best Arctic construction practices has been compiled. This regional experience should be expanded. I hope that it will incorporate the idea of multipurpose Arctic centres, where social and administrative offices, sports centres and service facilities are located under one roof, in the same building.</p>
<p>Of course, we must always take the opinions and requests of those who live in the North into account. For example, people openly complain about the shortage of the so-called service economy in Arctic cities and towns, meaning recreation facilities, including those for families and children, as well as cultural and educational venues. We must develop this segment and encourage the relevant business initiatives.</p>
<p>We have a special support programme for small and medium-sized enterprises in the Extreme North. Its efficiency must be upgraded. I would like to ask the Government to adjust the parameters of this programme, in particular, to expand the list of sectors with access to this programme and to create additional subsidised loan opportunities for these companies.</p>
<p>I would like to say a few words about healthcare. The accessibility of medical services in the North is objectively limited compared to central Russia; the situation is even worse in remote communities. I ask the Government to prepare a special mechanism for financing medical care in these areas.</p>
<p>In addition, healthcare in the northern regions must be enhanced with the introduction of digital technologies. The residents of these regions must be served by mobile paramedic stations equipped with artificial intelligence tools, which can conduct physical check-ups both remotely and at the scene, diagnose certain diseases and provide recommendations for treatment.</p>
<p>Next, the environment remains a sensitive issue for the Arctic and its residents. Let me remind you that at our first forum, which was initiated by the Russian Geographical Society, we announced the launch of a <em>“general clean-up”</em> of the Arctic, to remove scrap metal, remnants of fuel and lubricants and other waste.</p>
<p>The project, launched by the Russian Geographical Society and supported by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, brought together thousands of volunteers and public organisations. We will certainly continue this effort. We will also ensure comprehensive environmental protection of Russia’s Arctic zone, in particular by clearing Arctic waters of sunken ships, which is a pressing problem that needs to be addressed. Predictably, everything requires funding, so the relevant government agencies will need to work on all these issues, including to earmark the necessary funds year by year.</p>
<p>We will remove technological waste and reclaim land, focusing on bringing Arctic cities and towns up to standard. We will carry out the so-called revitalisation of abandoned areas, buildings and lands, to return them to circulation to serve the interests of local residents.</p>
<p>In fact, we are repaying our debt to the Arctic. We cannot afford to accumulate more debt to its unique nature. With all the plans in place for the region’s economic development, it is essential to maintain a balance between the use of its natural resources and nature conservation.</p>
<p>A new polar station will be built in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area, in the Polar Urals, to test new environmentally friendly technologies. The new scientific research and educational station, Snowflake, will be established by the end of 2028. An international team of researchers will use it to test green technologies being developed for the Arctic, with applications ranging from essential services, telecommunications, and medicine to new materials.</p>
<p>Colleagues,</p>
<p>The Arctic is a territory of great opportunities for specialists in various fields, for entrepreneurs, for young people, and for families who have lived here for generations or have only recently moved and are planning to settle, buy or build a home here.</p>
<p>We have already extended the Arctic mortgage programme until 2030. It offers an annual interest rate of two percent and lowers the requirements for borrowers. This includes cancelling the requirement for teachers and medical workers to have an employment history in the North before applying for a housing loan. Participants in the special military operation can also benefit from these Arctic mortgages along with people working for defence manufacturers.</p>
<p>Substandard and hazardous housing has become an extremely urgent issue for people in the North. I instruct the Government to draft a targeted action plan by September 1, 2025. It must address this issue and cover at least a ten-year period.</p>

            
    <blockquote>
        <span><strong>Read more</strong></span>
        <figure>
            <img src="https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67dc850185f5403eae2b41cb.jpg" alt="The Lenin icebreaker in the port of Murmansk, Russia on August 14, 2024.">
            <figcaption><a href="https://www.rt.com/india/614558-india-can-stabilise-geopolitical-rifts/">India can stabilize geopolitical rifts in Arctic – Moscow </a></figcaption>
        </figure>
    </blockquote>


    

<p>Moving on, the Accessible Rentals programme has been launched in Russia’s Far East, as you know. It offers affordable rentals to young people coming to the Far Eastern regions, graduating there or taking a job there. This programme consists of using regional and federal funds to subsidise rental payments.</p>
<p>I suggest that we expand this programme to include the key Arctic communities. This way, we will make rentals more accessible for people starting their careers in this region, as well as those who want to live and work there. This programme must cover the Arctic in 2026.</p>
<p>We have agreed to extend the Muravyov-Amursky 2030 training programme in public administration to cover the Arctic regions. We have already done this. I am certain that this kind of training will help many talented administrators jump-start their careers and would benefit the Arctic and the country in general.</p>
<p>There is one more thing I would like to mention. The North has always attracted brave people and true leaders. Outstanding researcher, polar explorer and scientist Artur Chilingarov was one of them. I suggest that in his memory we establish a special grant programme for supporting youth initiatives as part of environmental, educational and research projects in the Arctic.</p>
<p>Friends,</p>
<p>Efforts to explore and develop the Russian North and to overcome the challenges related to its harsh climate while enabling the state to reach new promising horizons – all these objectives have inspired many generations of our ancestors, including medieval sailors and Novgorod merchants, those who pioneered Arctic exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries, industrial leaders of the 18th and 19th centuries, researchers, polar explorers, engineers, Soviet workers, and companies in present-day Russia which launched major Arctic projects in the early 2000s.</p>
<p>Today, the North has become central to our development efforts. This is a sovereign and historical choice for us. This means that the objectives we set for and address in the Arctic, and the projects we undertake here must match this historical scale and have a horizon spanning decades, if not centuries.</p>
<p>We will do everything to consolidate Russia’s leadership in the Arctic despite all the challenges and travails we face today. We will provide for the region’s comprehensive development and create a solid foundation for future generations.</p>
<p>Thank you for your attention.</p>
<p></p>

link:
https://www.rt.com/russia/614888-putin-arctic-forum-speech/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=RSS

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2025.03/thumbnail/67e643bf85f5402211032b5c.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":123}]}


