2020-02-13: News Headlines

RT (2020-02-14). Anti-BDS laws are meant to censor & control speech, journalist Abby Martin tells RT after suing Georgia govt over cancelled talk. rt.com Barred from speaking at a public university over her refusal to sign a pledge of allegiance to Israel, journalist Abby Martin is now suing the state of Georgia, arguing its anti-BDS legislation sets fire to the First Amendment. | Slated to give a keynote talk at a media literacy conference at Georgia Southern University later this month, Martin was asked to sign what amounts to a loyalty oath to the State of Israel, mandated under a 2016 Georgia law barring the government from hiring contractors who boycott Israeli products or associate with the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Martin t…

South Front (2020-02-14). Video: Syrian Army Gives Turkey "Flick on Nose" in Nayrab, Secures Entire Aleppo-Damascus Highway. globalresearch.ca For the first time in about 8 years of the war, Syrian government forces have established control of the entire M5 highway, which runs from the border with Jordan through Damascus, Homs and Hama to Aleppo. | During the first half …

RT (2020-02-13). Legendary Soviet spy who saved Krakow from Nazi-made flood dies days after turning 103. rt.com A Soviet spy credited with saving the Polish city of Krakow from devastation has died in Moscow. His biography reads like a thriller novel, from battling Nazi invaders in Poland to training elite commandos in the 1980s. | Over his long life, Aleksey Botyan was many things. He was born in 1917, just as the Russian Empire was collapsing and shattering into pieces. His family lived in the territory that became part of Poland in the 1920s. | Fighting since day one: | He might have lived as a village schoolteacher — his first choice of career — but in 1939 he was conscripted into the Polish Army j…

RT (2020-02-13). Russia declassifies previously unseen papers and PHOTOS of pivotal 1945 recapture of 'fortress city' Budapest from Nazis. rt.com The Soviet offensive in Hungary and siege of its capital Budapest was a key milestone in defeating the Nazis. For its 75th anniversary, Russia has declassified archived documents and photos, giving new insights into the bloodbath. | Hungary was an ally of Nazi Germany, providing troops and resources for the war effort, sharing in its land grabs and pillaging of conquered territories, as well as collaborating in war crimes. But as the tide turned on the battlefields, the relationship became strained, as the government in Budapest weighed up its options and was preparing to leave the Axis camp. | In March 1944,…

RT (2020-02-13). Russia urges Turkey against 'provocative comments' on Syria. rt.com Moscow has called for restraint after a Turkish parliamentarian blamed Russia for the recent deaths of Turkish troops in clashes with Syrian government forces attempting to liberate the militant-held Idlib province. | Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP), had argued in the Turkish parliament that Moscow and Damascus were responsible for the deaths of 13 Turkish soldiers over the past week. | "We consider it unacceptable to use the tragic events to 'score points' in the domestic political debate," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday,…

RT (2020-02-13). Amending constitution is up to Russian people, we'll do what they vote for — Putin. rt.com Planned change of the Russian basic law can only be enacted if the Russian people give an unequivocal mandate for it, President Vladimir Putin told a working group preparing the amendments. | "The thing that is important to me is that the law on constitutional amendment comes into force only after the results of a national vote are tallied. It has to be a true plebiscite so that the citizens of Russia acted as the authors of those changes," he said. | The changes in the Russian constitution proposed by Putin last month are meant to readjust the Russian governance system. A strict two-term limit for the preside…

RT (2020-02-13). UNSC endorses 55-point road map for Libya, Russia doubts it can be implemented. rt.com The UN Security Council has endorsed a 55-point road map for ending the war in Libya, and condemned the recent increase in violence in the oil-rich North African country. | The vote on the British-drafted resolution was 14-0 on Wednesday. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said he abstained because of "serious doubts" about whether the resolution can be implemented and end the war between rival governments "in the way we'd like to see it." | Referring to the conference on Libya held in the German capital on January 19, Nebenzia said the Berlin plan "has one defect… and that is a lack of clearly expressed co…

RT (2020-02-13). Sad face emoji? US social media giants Facebook & Twitter fined by Moscow court as server location impasse intensifies. rt.com Facebook and Twitter were each fined four million rubles ($62,900) by a Moscow court on Thursday. It marks an escalation in a standoff between the American social media giants and Russian regulators. | The core of the problem is that both companies have refused to move servers containing the data of Russian users to Russia, as required under Russian law. LinkedIn, another high-profile US networking site, has already been blocked for failing to comply with the legislation. | Facebook and Twitter have ignored the rule for years, and it was felt their huge popularity helped deter Russian officials from forcing th…

RT (2020-02-13). 'Snake ecstasy': Russian synchronized swimming champion charms fans with underwater routine (VIDEO). rt.com Russian Olympic synchronized swimming champion Vlada Chigireva has wowed her fans with a graceful and mesmerizing underwater routine. | In a 30-second video, clip the 25-year-old swimmer can be seen waving and twirling at the bottom of a swimming pool, making choreographed moves which she compared to a snake's wriggle. | "New type of dance — snake ecstasy," the athlete captioned…

RT (2020-02-13). Phew! 'Nothing is Scandinavian' ad republished as airline SAS is told its critics are actually Putin's trolls & 'useful idiots'. rt.com Nothing shows that your values are granite-strong quite like pulling a much-criticized commercial and then reinstating it to a chorus of media voices proclaiming that the negative feedback is just a Russian psy-op. | The Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) video, which declares that essentially all Scandinavian culture is "copied" and encourages people to fly to lands both near and far to find more things to borrow, is back in action. The company

RT (2020-02-13). 'As long as I'm president we will have 'mother' & 'father': Putin backs traditional family values once again. rt.com Russia will not introduce politically correct terminology such as "parent #1" and "parent #2" any time soon, Putin told a constitutional reform working group on Thursday, as they discussed family values in Russia. | As for 'parent #1' and 'parent #2', I have already publicly said it and I will repeat it once more: as long as I am president, we will not have parents #1 and #2, it will be 'mother' and 'father'. | One of the working group members, Russian lawmaker Olga Batalina, told the president that many people in Russia are concerned about the fate of the traditional family and would like to see it protected…

RT (2020-02-13). INDESTRUCTIBLE: Kalashnikov expert tries & FAILS to destroy iconic WWII PPSh-41 submachine gun (VIDEO). rt.com Kalashnikov Concern gun experts have put an iconic WWII-era PPSh-41 submachine gun through a stress test, trying to destroy it with continuous full-auto shooting. The 78-year-old weapon, however, did not give up easily. | The renowned gun maker produced a new video in its 'Destroyers of Weapons' series. Unlike previous ones, Kalashnikov did not put one of its own guns through a full-auto torture, testing a true classic instead — a legendary wartime PPSh-41 submachine gun, designed by Georgy Shpagin back in 1941. | A whopping 913 7.62×25mm Tokarev rounds, packed in box and drum magazines, were pre…

RT (2020-02-13). Russian authorities investigate after photos emerge of Boris Nemtsov murderer allegedly enjoying prison 'feast'. rt.com The 2015 killing of Boris Nemtsov shocked Russians, and now photographs posted online of the man who assassinated him apparently posing in front of a slap-up meal are generating considerable anger. | The images, taken in an Irkutsk penal colony, show Zaur Dadaev and a group of other men surrounded by kebabs, soups, fruits, and juices. In response, Russian prison authorities have launched an investigation to determine the conditions in which he is being held. | Grilled kebabs, apples and fruit juice. Boris Nemtsov's assassin, Zaur Dadayev, (back left, standing) relaxing with friends in a Russian penal colony.

RT (2020-02-13). New nanosensor can detect cancer from a SINGLE DROP of blood. rt.com Researchers in the Netherlands have developed an incredibly accurate nanosensor which can detect metastatic cancer cells from just a single drop of blood in a major breakthrough for early detection and treatment of the disease. | PhD students Dilu Mathew from University of Twente and Pepijn Beekman from Wageningen University pooled their resources and developed a tiny system to detect tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (tdEVs), a particular type of cancer biomarker. | Their nanosensor is so sensitive it can detect cancer biomarkers on a broad spectrum of concentrations from 10 particles per microliter to 1 m…

RT (2020-02-13). BoJo wields the axe as Northern Ireland & environment ministers become notable victims in cabinet reshuffle. rt.com British PM Boris Johnson has made changes to his top team following his Tory party's landslide general election victory, sacking a number of high profile ministers, including Julian Smith, the Northern Ireland secretary. | Smith was the first cabinet member to fall victim to Johnson's reshuffle, having only been in his role for 204 days. It's a move that has surprised many after Smith oversaw the restoration of Northern Ireland's power-sharing government last month — a notable achievement considering a resolution could not be found in the three years prior. | The feat saw Smith hailed as "one of Britain's…

Alexander Rubinstein (2020-02-13). State-backed Alliance for Securing Democracy disinfo shop falsely smears The Grayzone as 'state-backed'. thegrayzone.com In painting critical reporting on the Iowa caucuses debacle as a Russian plot, a US-backed information warfare shop smeared The…

WSWS (2020-02-13). Anticapitalistas prepare to leave Spain's Podemos-Socialist Party government. wsws.org Amid growing protests against the right-wing policies of Podemos, its Anticapitalistas faction called for a "civilized, respectful, empathetic and even loving" separation from Podemos.

WSWS (2020-02-13). Austrian Green Party in power adopts policies of the far right Freedom Party. wsws.org For many years the Green Party presented itself as a left-wing, liberal political alternative. Now in government the party is pressing ahead with an anti-social, authoritarian course.

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-02-13). Crisis in Syrian Idlib Has Firmly Put Turkey Back into NATO's Sphere. globalresearch.ca Syria was the very reason why relations between Turkey and the United States deteriorated as the latter openly backed the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the People's Protection Units (YPG), that Ankara considers a terrorist organization. …

Stephen Lendman (2020-02-13). Dems Phony War Powers Resolution. globalresearch.ca US 20th and 21st century history shows Dems more hellbent for war than Republicans. | In 1916, Dem Woodrow Wilson was reelected on a pledge of: "He Kept Us Out of War." | Straightaway, he began planning US involvement in Europe's war …

teleSUR (2020-02-13). Turkey Vows To Strike Any Force That Violates Idlib Ceasefire. telesurenglish.net Turkey has vowed to use force against rebel groups violating a ceasefire in Syria's Idlib province, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying on Thursday in an apparent response to Russian criticism. | RELATED: | The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized Ankara on Wednesday, stating that Turkey was not doing its part to uphold the Sochi Agreement that was established in 2018. | The Russian government, which supports Syrian…

Elijah J. Magnier (2020-02-13). Syria Imposes the Astana Deal by Force as Turkish, Russian Tensions Rise. globalresearch.ca Since 2012 the M5 Damascus-Aleppo had been under the control of jihadist forces. The Syrian Army has now liberated the M5 Damascus-Aleppo road and over 140 cities, villages and strategic hills. Turkey and the Uzbeks, Uighurs and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham …

WSWS (2020-02-13). Changes in the car industry threaten Slovakian workers. wsws.org The small central European country, the world's largest auto producer on a per-capita basis, is particularly vulnerable to automation and the world manufacturing slump.

yenisafak (2020-02-13). Every Turkish citizen donated $53 last year: Report. yenisafak.com Every Turkish citizen donated 303 Turkish liras ($53.34) in charity last year, according to an Istanbul-based survey report.These individual donations added up to 17.6 billion Turkish liras ($3.1 billion), which makes for 0.5% of the country's GDP, the Third Sector Foundation of Turkey (TUSEV) said.Nearly 90% of donations were made directly

yenisafak (2020-02-13). Turkey's 2020 budget earmarks $8.6B for investment. yenisafak.com Turkey has allocated 52 billion Turkish liras ($8.6 billion) for investments from the central government's 2020 budget.Transportation and communication investments get the largest share, with 15.4 billion Turkish liras ($2.54 billion) this year, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency.The country earmarked more than 10.9 billion Turkish liras ($1.8 billion) for investments in education and nearly 6 billion liras ($990 million) for healthcare.In December 2019, Turkey's parliament approved budget expenses for the 2020 fiscal year of 1.095 trillion Turkish liras ($180.5 billion).

yenisafak (2020-02-13). Turkey launches indigenous seed mobilization campaign. yenisafak.com Turkey has launched the most comprehensive indigenous seed mobilization campaign of its history, the country's agriculture and forestry minister said Thursday."Our main goal is to ensure that our citizens get larger shares from the international market," thanks to the newly introduced campaign, Bekir Pakdemirli stressed.The seeds will be analyzed by special technology and microscopic devices, Pakdemirli said, adding: "We will develop seeds resistant to disease factors which cause product losses."Pakdemirli emphasized that some 96% of the seeds used in the country are Turkish made.Turkey exports seeds to 86 countr…

yenisafak (2020-02-13). Turkey will use force against 'radicals', others who violate Idlib ceasefire. yenisafak.com Turkey will use force against those violating a ceasefire in Syria's northwestern Idlib region including "radical" groups, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday, according to state media.Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that his military would strike Syrian government forces by air or ground anywhere in Syria if another Turkish soldier was hurt, after 13 troops were killed by Syrian forces in a week.Akar also said Turkey was sending additional reinforcements to its positions in Idlib to ensure a ceasefire in the region is maintained and to "control" the region, state-run Anadolu…

yenisafak (2020-02-13). Wrestling: 'Turkey aiming for 2020 Summer Olympics'. yenisafak.com Winning in the 2020 Summer Olympics is the primary objective of Turkish wrestlers, the head of the country's wrestling federation head said on Thursday.Musa Aydin, chief of the Turkish Wrestling Federation, said they were aware of the importance of the ongoing 2020 European Wrestling Championships in the Italian capital Rome but they were focused on Tokyo 2020."We didn't specifically prepare for the European Championships as 2020 is the year of the Olympics… we specially prepare for the quota games in March," he said, hoping Turkey would be allowed with Olympics quotas."Our goal is to have 12 quotas including f…

yenisafak (2020-02-13). Germany urges Russia to stop attacks in Idlib, Syria. yenisafak.com "These attacks must be stopped," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in an exclusive interview with the German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung."We are now witnessing another dramatic escalation of the situation in Idlib and it is reaching the level of a humanitarian catastrophe," he warned.Almost 1.5 million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border due to intense attacks in recent months, sparking fears of a new refugee influx towards Europe.Germany's top diplomat, during his recent conversations with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, said that he conveyed his government's concerns and expectations."Assad doesn'

yenisafak (2020-02-13). Libya's GNA battles Haftar forces in Tripoli attack. yenisafak.com Libya's UN-recognized government said on Thursday it is confronting an ongoing attack by warlord Khalifa Haftar's forces on the capital Tripoli.A spokesperson for the Government of National Accord (GNA) said fighting is taking place south of the Libyan capital, which has been under siege since last April.The attack comes just a day after the UN Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution demanding "a lasting ceasefire" in the North African country.Fourteen countries voted for the resolution drafted by the UK and Germany. It is the first binding text adopted by the 15-nation UNSC since the conflict flared up last…

sputniknews (2020-02-13). Syrian Parliament Unanimously Recognises Armenian Genocide as Tensions With Turkey Rise — Report. sputniknews.com The overwhelmingly symbolic move comes in the wake of a serious deteriorated situation in northwestern Syria, where Turkish and Syrian troops have been trading fire in the rebel-held province of Idlib.

sputniknews (2020-02-13). After Trial: Pelosi Looks for New Fight, Biden's in Cross Hairs & Trump Kicks Off 'Spring Cleaning'. sputniknews.com On 5 February, President Donald Trump was found not guilty in his Senate impeachment trial, bringing an end to the Ukrainegate saga propelled by the House Democrats. One might ask what will happen next? American independent journalist Max Parry has shed light on further developments in Washington.

sputniknews (2020-02-13). Battle for Budapest: Russian MoD Declassifies Files on Brutal Campaign for Hungarian Capital. sputniknews.com Kicking off in late October 1944, the Soviet offensive to liberate the Hungarian capital turned into a brutal slog in the streets of the city between the Red Army, fanatical local fascists and crack German troops, serving as a final 'dress rehearsal' for the April 1945 operation to take Berlin.

sputniknews (2020-02-13). Moscow Court Fines Twitter, Facebook for Failing to Move Servers With User Data to Russia. sputniknews.com In 2015, Russia's personal data law, requiring Internet companies to store the data of their customers who are Russian nationals exclusively on servers located within the country, came into force.

sputniknews (2020-02-13). 'Assert the Truth' — Ex-Russian Culture Minister. sputniknews.com Former Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky appeared in public for the first time in a new role, as Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, supervising humanitarian and historical policy issues.

sputniknews (2020-02-13). Polish Prime Minister Confirms Plans to Visit Smolensk on Anniversary of Tu-154 Tragedy. sputniknews.com WARSAW (Sputnik) – Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki confirms plans to travel to Russia's Smolensk in April to attend the 10th anniversary of the Tu-154 plane crash that killed then-Polish President Lech Kaczynski.

sputniknews (2020-02-13). Explosion, Possibly From Letter Bomb, Reported in Amsterdam. sputniknews.com This comes after two letter bombs went off in Amsterdam and in Kerkrade on Wednesday.

sputniknews (2020-02-13). Huawei Slams WSJ Report Claiming Proof of Backdoor Spying as WaPo Reveals CIA Tech Spied for Decades. sputniknews.com The Chinese telecoms giant hit back at US officials publishing an alleged 'bombshell' report accusing them of using secret technology to spy on its customers. The news comes as tensions grow between the US and European allies as member-states have announced they will not block Huawei on 5G cooperation.

sputniknews (2020-02-13). Cabinet Reshuffle: Chancellor Sajid Javid Quits After Boris Johnson Orders Him To Fire Advisers. sputniknews.com Boris Johnson became Prime Minister in July last year and led the Conservative Party to a comprehensive victory in December's General Election. He postponed a Cabinet reshuffle until after Britain left the European Union on 31 January.

Susan Price (2020-02-13). France: Struggle to defend pension system enters new phase. greenleft.org.au

Susan Price (2020-02-13). Ireland: Political earthquake as Sinn Féin wins election. greenleft.org.au

Susan Price (2020-02-13). European left and green MPs support Kurdish struggle. greenleft.org.au

RT (2020-02-13). Germany's defense minister wants to keep UK in 'E3 group' after Brexit, retain security ties. rt.com The EU and Britain have a shared interest in retaining close security ties after Brexit, Germany's Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has said. Speaking ahead of the annual Munich Security Conference, the close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel and leader of their ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, said she wanted to keep Britain in the 'E3' group, which also includes Germany and France. | "It is important to me that the UK remains involved for common security in Europe, even if it is no longer part of the EU," Kramp-Karrenbauer told Reuters. This week, the politician announced she would no…

RT (2020-02-13). Irish MEP calls Venezuela's Juan Guaido a 'gobshite' in EU parliament, gets swiftly reprimanded (VIDEO). rt.com Irish MEP Mick Wallace has been reprimanded for referring to Venezuela's self-declared president Juan Guaido as an "unelected gobshite" during remarks at the European Parliament. | Wallace, an Independents 4 Change MEP, was speaking Wednesday about Venezuela's ongoing political crisis and the European Parliament's recent decision to recognize Guaido as the country's interim president, when he slipped the insult in. | Dressed in a neon green t-shirt, the clearly irate MEP said the decision was "an absolute embarrassment to anyone who has to occupy this chamber" and a "disgrace on the part of the member states o…

Michael T. Klare (2020-02-12). World War III's Newest Battlefield: the Arctic. counterpunch.org In early March, an estimated 7,500 American combat troops will travel to Norway to join thousands of soldiers from other NATO countries in a massive mock battle with imagined invading forces from Russia. In this futuristic simulated engagement — it goes by the name of Exercise Cold Response 2020 — allied forces will "conduct multinational

Conn Hallinan (2020-02-12). Why is Turkey intervening in Libya and elsewhere? peoplesworld.org On the surface, Turkish intervention in the Libyan civil war appears to be a savvy move on the Eastern Mediterranean energy chessboard, a check on plans by a consortium of the European Union (EU), Greece, Egypt, Israel and Cyprus to exploit offshore gas and oil deposits. In exchange for military support, the beleaguered UN supported …

RT (2020-02-12). Young man killed in US-Syrian skirmish, further escalation stopped 'only' due to Russian mediation — Russian MOD. rt.com A 22-year-old Syrian was killed while another man was injured during an altercation between US troops and locals in northern Syria, the Russian military said. The showdown happened after a US convoy diverged from its patrol route. | Editor's note: This article has been corrected to reflect the young man killed was 22, not 14 as initially reported. | The incident took place near the village of Khirbet Amo, east of the town of Qamishli on Wednesday. Clashes broke out after the American patrol veered off its expected route and was stopped at a Syrian Army checkpoint, the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation r…

RT (2020-02-12). Former Goldman Sachs CEO says Sanders presidency would 'ruin our economy,' gets blasted on Twitter. rt.com An ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs who helped cause the 2008 financial crisis has claimed Bernie Sanders would ruin the economy and "screw up the US" if elected president, prompting Twitter to remind him of the Great Recession. | Billionaire Lloyd Blankfein tweeted on Wednesday that Sanders is "just as polarizing as Trump AND he'll ruin [the American] economy and doesn't care about [the American] military," before adding: "If I'm Russian, I go with Sanders this time around." | If Dems go on to nominate Sanders, the Russians will have to reconsider who to work for to best screw up the US. Sanders is just as polarizing…

Staff (2020-02-12). Pope Avoids Question of Married Priests in the Amazon. truthdig.com VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis refused Wednesday to approve the ordination of married men to address a shortage of priests in the Amazon, sidestepping a fraught issue that has dominated debate in the Catholic Church and even involved retired Pope Benedict XVI. | Francis, in an eagerly awaited document, did not refer to the recommendations by Amazonian bishops to consider the ordination of married men as priests or women as deacons. Rather, the pope urged bishops to pray for more priestly vocations and to send missionaries to a region where faithful Catholics in remote areas can go months or even years without…

Barrett Brown (2020-02-12). Der Spiegel is Citing Andy Ngo's Race-Scientist Ex-Editor to Attack Me and I'm Not Even Jewish: As the CEO of Antifa, I Must Object. counterpunch.org Europe's most widely-circulated news magazine, Der Spiegel, has a new piece up entitled "The Man Behind the Mask" that I was curious to read since it turns out to be about me. And to judge from the sub-headline, I've really let myself go: Journalist Barrett Brown supported the hacker collective Anonymous and was jailed for