Новости за 01.02.2019

With embattled Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro reportedly preparing to ship 20 tonnes of gold to the United Arab Emirates, opponents of his regime - including one US senator and former presidential candidate - are scrambling to try and stop him.

In what would be an early geopolitical win for Moscow, German news agency DW reported yesterday, citing one of the project’s engineers, that the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline should be operational by November.

Last week Ukraine invited the European Parliament to send observers to monitor the presidential election which will take place on March 31, 2019. But what are the chances that European observers will witness a transparent and democratic election in accordance with international standards?

Devout socialist congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants tuition to be completely free for all college students. She has a number of brilliant and original socialist proposals (in reality they’re old, stale, and have been tried a thousand times before), of which this is but one. When I say tuition will be “completely free”, I don’t mean free of course, I mean free to those who benefit (students), not to those who pay (taxpayers).

A clip that shows a Russian Air Force Su-27 Flanker aggressively banking into a U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagle has appeared online. It’s not clear where and when the footage was taken but, provided it is genuine (it seems so), it was probably filmed in the Baltic region, when the U.S. Air Force F-15C) were supporting NATO BAP (Baltic Air Policing) mission.

In a move sure to unleash fury from the Trump administration, the European Union has announced it has set up a transactions channel with Iran to bypass US sanctions. The launch of INSTEX — or "Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges" — by France, Germany, and the UK will allow non-dollar trade with Iran and is being described as facilitating humanitarian goods-related transactions only, including food, medicine and medical equipment.  

The neoconservative-backed news rating upstart “Newsguard” is now lobbying the European Union to “force the hand” of major U.S.-based tech companies — including Facebook, Google, and Twitter — to integrate its controversial ratings system into the world’s most popular social media platforms and search engines, according to a recent statement made by Newsguard co-CEO Steven Brill during 

Antiwar.com:

Venezuela coup leader is one smart cookie: 

A change in government in Venezuela would favour the country’s two main foreign creditors Russia and China, Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaido, told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

Guaido said he had sent communications to both allies of President Nicolas Maduro, who accuses Guaido of staging a coup against his socialist administration. The United States and a number of other countries... Читать дальше...

For a moment, at least, the latest crisis is in Latin America, not the Middle East. The Trump administration is hoping to overthrow the disastrous Maduro government, which is busily destroying Venezuela. Although the issue would appear to be of little concern to Russia, its government is actively opposing U.S. efforts.

Luftwaffe is not interested in the American F-35 jet as a replacement for its aging Tornado fleet, but Boeing’s F-18 might still be picked over the Eurofighter Typhoon due to its nuclear capabilities required by NATO.

Helmer is the longest serving foreign correspondent covering Russia. He published his fascinating memoirs in December of 2018. They are full of insights into what has really been going on in Moscow over the past 30 years. RI wrote about it here. He is the author of 12 books, 3 of them about Russia.