Pepe Escobar: BRICS+ cities unite in Kazan, ushering in new era of cooperation

Russia’s city of Kazan hosted the first BRICS+ Association of Cities and Municipalities forum as part of the Russian presidency of BRICS in 2024. President Putin sent a special message to the attendees, expressing confidence that the forum will launch new promising initiatives.

Kazan was the perfect choice of venue, as it is “Russia’s window to the lands of Islam and [the] 2024 BRICS+ capital,” geo-economic and geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar told Sputnik, referring to the upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan from October 22 to 24.

BRICS member countries sent the largest delegations to Kazan, along with representatives from Argentina and the post-Soviet space. The forum welcomed over 100 mayors, deputy mayors, heads of municipal associations and local government officials, keen to “advance closer cooperation on several fields – from economy, culture and education to ecology, waste management and tourism,” the analyst said.

Escobar stressed how “it was fascinating to watch interconnected interests voiced out of multiple latitudes.”

The formal part of the conference was followed by a cruise down the Volga River - the historic cradle of the Russian state.

“Now it’s up to BRICS+ cities, dozens, soon hundreds, and then thousands, to crosstalk and harmonize their development and problem-solving strategies,” the analyst concluded.

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Google Maps users have discovered a top-secret prototype of the American naval drone Manta Ray at a base in California.

The images have started circulating on social media and can still be found on Google Maps.

One of the unique features of the drone, developed by Northrop Grumman, is its ability to "hibernate" on the seabed and remain there for extended periods without refuelling.

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EU accelerates global move away from dollar and euro by grabbing Russia's funds

The EU will send €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) in profits from the €210 billion frozen assets of Russia's Central Bank to the "European Peace Facility" in order to meet the Kiev regime's military needs.

💬 "The decision is shameful," Gilbert Doctorow, an international relations and Russian affairs analyst, told Sputnik. "It is totally hypocritical to assign to a "Peace Facility" the role of financing arms and war. The ultimate goal of this 'peace initiative' is to prolong the war, at least till after the American elections in November for the sake of Mr Biden's personal ambitions."

Ninety percent of the revenues will be spent on weapons and just 10 percent on construction projects in Ukraine. Going against the usual requirement for unanimity between its members, the EU snubbed Hungary's veto by using a legal "loophole".

"The result will be to sharply reduce use of the Euro as a reserve currency by countries of the Global South, who all fear the kind of arbitrary and illegal confiscation of their national wealth by European governments whenever it suits their purposes," Doctorow warned.

Brussels' decision is "bad" in every respect said Adriel Kasonta, a London-based foreign affairs analyst and former chairman of the International Affairs Committee at the Bow Group think-tank.

"First of all, it is illegal, if we take into the account the violation of the principle of sovereign immunity of the sovereign country, which is the Russian Federation," Kasonta told Sputnik.

"It exposes the western double standard when it comes to the rule of law and the application of the rules to the countries equally," he continued.

That "is clearly detrimental because it serves as a boost to de-dollarization movement," the expert stressed. "It will… accelerate the movement of abandoning the currency of the dollar and euro in international transactions."

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What did Assange and WikiLeaks reveal to the world that global elites tried to hide? Part 1 👉 Part 2

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been released from Belmarsh maximum security prison in the UK following a plea bargain deal with US prosecutors.

The Australian citizen had previously 18 espionage charges in the over publication of classified information from government whistleblowers.

Let’s take a look at some bombshell WikiLeaks revelations.

◾️ In 2006 WikiLeaks peeled back the curtain on the US Camp Delta 'black site' prison at its naval base in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay. The 238-page Army manual from 2003 revealed that the US military stopped Red Cross inspectors seeing prisoners.

◾️ In 2010, US Army Private First Class Chelsea Manning, an intelligence analyst who had been deployed to Iraq, provided WikiLeaks with a wealth of incriminating material about US war crimes.

◻️ Dubbed the "Collateral Murder" video, footage recorded from the gunsight of a US Apache helicopter released in April 2010 revealed its crew laughing as they murdered 18 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, including two Reuters journalists in a covered-up 2007 attack.

◻️ 75,000 Afghanistan war logs were published in July 2010. Disclosures revealed numerous friendly fire incidents in the country and murders of Afghan civilians by US and allied forces.

◻️ Dubbed the Iraq War logs, Wikileaks published a trove of 391,832 secret reports in October 2010. The files detail at least 109,000 deaths in the Iraq war, including over 66,000 civilians with cases of torture and other abuses.

◾️ "Cablegate" was the release of some 250,000 unredacted US diplomatic cables released in November 2010. Dating from 1966 to that year, the cables included revelations of civilian deaths resulting from US operations in the Middle East, secret drone strikes in Yemen and proof of eavesdropping to collect "biographic and biometric" information of key UN officials.

👉 Part 2

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What did Assange and WikiLeaks reveal to the world that global elites tried to hide? Part 2 👉 Part 1

◾️ The Guantanamo Files, made public in April 2011, featured 779 secret documents from the US detention camp. The leaks included evidence or torture, with frequent mental illness caused by inhumane treatment. The data showed that over 150 innocent Afghan and Pakistani civilians were detained and abused for years without being charged with any crime.

◾️ The ‘Global Intelligence Files’ from Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (Stratfor) were published in 2012/2013. Over 5 million emails documented the "inner workings" and money-laundering techniques of the private intelligence company that ran a web of informants while advising US government agencies.

◾️ Washington’s global hacking activities were laid bare in 2016. Wikileaks revealed the US National Security Agency was spying on world leaders, including then-UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon, German chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the previous three French presidents.

◾️ In the run-up to the 2016 US presidential election, WikiLeaks published 30,000 emails from then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's personal email account.

◻️ Dating to her time as Secretary of State from 2010 to 2014, they revealed her gross violation of State Department rules by using a private email server to receive emails with classified information.

◻️ Clinton blamed her loss in the 2016 election on the leak, alleging it was part of the fabricated "Russia hacking" hoax of collaboration between Donald Trump and Russia. An ensuing inquiry failed to find any evidence of the collusion peddled by the Clinton campaign.

◾️ In March 2017, WikiLeaks released leaks code-named "Vault 7." The huge document dump detailed how the US CIA resorted to sophisticated software tools and techniques to compromise smartphones and computers to engage in electronic surveillance and cyber warfare.

👉 Part 1

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❗️Protesters in Kenya's Kikuyu town, near the capital Nairobi, set fire to the National Government Constituencies Development Fund office, local media reports

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Margarita Simonyan hopes to see Julian Assange back on RT

Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik's parent media group Rossiya Segodnya, expressed her hopes of seeing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange back on RT in the future. She expressed her wish to talk to Assange again and for him to return to active life.

"I hope he returns to his active life, and I hope he comes back to us on air,” Simonyan told Sputnik radio. “If you remember, before all this happened to him, he hosted a brilliant programme on RT in 2012, twelve years ago. We would be delighted to bring it back on air."

She also called Assange the best journalist of our time and a visionary, and agreed that he should write a book.

Simonyan said Assange's case would not change attitudes towards the press and freedom of speech in the US or around the world.

"No, nothing will change; it’s all a political game. Biden needed it at a certain moment to gain certain votes. If there were no elections, he wouldn't have been released," Simonyan said.

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Assange, Snowden, Manning: Why does the West hate whistleblowers so much?

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was freed from London’s Belmarsh maximum security prison on 24 June having agreed to a plea-bargain deal with the US. While touting whistleblowing as a fundamental component of democracy, the West usually treats its whistleblowers harshly.

Julian Assange

◻️ In 2010 WikiLeaks released classified files chronicling the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, exposing the Pentagon's war crimes.

◻️ From August 2010, Assange found himself wanted by in Swedish prosecutors and was forced to seek asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy in London from 2012 to 2019. He was later charged with 18 offenses by the US, carrying a combined sentence of up to 175 years in prison, and spent 1,901 days in Belmarsh after the new Ecuadorean government evicted him.

Edward Snowden

◻️ As a US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, Snowden blew the whistle in June 2013 on Washington's Prism program, which facilitated mass surveillance on live communications and stored information of both US and foreign citizens.

◻️ On June 21, 2013, the US revoked Snowden's passport and charged him with three felonies — carrying a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. In August 2013, Snowden was granted asylum in Russia after 27 other countries rejected his request. He became a naturalized Russian citizen in 2022.

Chelsea (born Bradley) Manning

◻️ While serving in the US Army, Manning disclosed nearly 750,000 classified and sensitive files to Wikileaks in early 2010, detailing the "horrific" and "chaotic" nature of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

◻️ Manning was arrested in May 2010. During a two-year-long hearing Manning was lambasted in court as "traitor" and "enemy of state", was convicted on espionage charges in July 2013 and sentenced to 35 years at the maximum-security US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth. In 2017, outgoing president Barack Obama commuted Manning's sentence.

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❗️Assange's defence is considering filing a lawsuit in the European Court or the UN for torture against him, the lawyer for the WikiLeaks founder told Sputnik.

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France’s looming snap elections throw cold water on Macron's warmongering Ukraine bluster

With snap elections on the horizon in France, Ukraine has taken a back seat, while Macron has remained muted on the subject, writes Le Monde.

The “earthquake” dissolution of the French parliament after Marine Le Pen's National Rally had trounced Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party in the European Parliament elections appears to have squelched the French president’s warmongering clamor.

Macron’s bloodthirsty bluster about sending troops to fight on the side of the neo-Nazi Kiev regime that so unnerved European allies has vanished since then.

The same observation prevails regarding the two blocs dominating the debates ahead of the French elections, the left-wing "New Popular Front" and the right-wing National Rally (RN) led by Jordan Bardella, wrote the publication. The question of supporting Ukraine is “almost forgotten, hidden under a facade of unanimity or quite simply swept under the carpet,” it stated.

Macron's rhetoric about sending troops to Ukraine has not resonated well with voters leading up to the coming elections on June 30 and July 7. Current polling figures indicate that Le Pen's party is in the lead with 35% of the electorate's support, while Macron's Renaissance party is trailing in third place with only 19%.

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❗️Biden administration moves toward allowing American military contractors to deploy to Ukraine, reports CNN, citing four US officials familiar with the matter

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❗️Kenya mobilizes army to quell protests that have turned violent

Meanwhile, Kenyan President Ruto said he was open for talks with the opposition.

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Macron’s disastrous reign: highest deficit in EU, eviction from Africa, conflict with Russia

French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve the parliament and call snap elections is a gamble, observers say. Macron hopes that his Renaissance party, which performed badly during the European elections and is now trailing the far-right National Rally — 15% versus 40% — will win back support by June 30.

However, Macron has ruled out resigning, promising to stay until May 2027. Sputnik sums up seven years of his rule, judging his legacy and French domestic and foreign policy.

◻️ According to the latest data from Agence France Trésor, France now has the largest public debt in Europe at €2.3 trillion ($2.5 trillion).

◻️ In 2023, the French budget deficit rose to 5.5% of GDP, from 4.8% in 2022, due to large loans that overtook the EU-imposed limit of 3%. Although Macron blamed the extra spending on COVID-19 measures, the EU recommended disciplinary action against Paris over its debt.

◻️ Le Monde reports that in an average French region, Brittany, “food prices have risen by 20% over two years and electricity by 70%” — showing how inflation, which hit 6% in 2023, has penalized the average French citizen.

◻️ During Macron’s seven years in office the number of violent crimes in France rose from 225,000 in 2016 to 384,000 in 2024, which means a growth by 1.7 times, according to Statista.

◻️ Macron’s presidency was also marked by massive protests, including by the Yellow Vest movement which opposed rises in fuel tax, and residents of the French overseas territory of New Caledonia over controversial changes to the constitution.

◻️ In foreign policy, Macron’s France wrecked relations with Russia by arming Ukraine and failing the guarantor mission entrusted to it by the Minsk accords of 2015.

◻️ Paris has also lost its influence in Africa, where the French military were evicted from Mali in June 2021 and Niger in December 2023.

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❗️Ninety Russian servicemen have been returned from territory controlled by Kiev in exchange for 90 Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of war. The UAE mediated the return of the Russian soldiers from captivity, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence.

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◻️ Assange plea deal: Biden’s ploy or a threat for future journalists?

◻️ What did Assange and WikiLeaks reveal to the world that global elites tried to hide? Part 1|Part 2

◻️ Assange, Snowden, Manning: Why does the West hate whistleblowers so much?

◻️ EU accelerates global move away from dollar and euro by grabbing Russia's funds

◻️ Macron’s disastrous reign: highest deficit in EU, eviction from Africa, conflict with Russia

◻️ Pepe Escobar: BRICS+ cities unite in Kazan, ushering in new era of cooperation

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❗️ US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, discussed the conflict over Ukraine and emphasized the importance of maintaining communications between the US and Russian militaries, Pentagon said.

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❗️ The Pentagon denied reports that it had changed its position on sending US troops or contractors to Ukraine: Biden's position has not changed, the Defense Department told Sputnik.

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The conversation between Austin and Belousov was initiated by the US, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said.

The last contact between the Russian and US defense ministers was on March 15 of last year, Ryder said.

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❗️ The US has no plans to send American troops to Ukraine now or in the future, the Pentagon said.

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"'Make Europe Great Again'. That sounds like a plan, if only anyone was on hand to implement it," concludes a disappointed The Economist.

The newspaper notes that Europe has many presidents but lacks a clear leader:

"Alas, all the putative leaders are currently hobbled. The most swiftly debased leader of Europe is Emmanuel Macron," sighs the author of the article.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz could fill the void, but his weak commitment to the EU and fragile coalition in Berlin limit his influence, writes the publication. It adds that with national capitals failing to perform their duties, Brussels has a chance to seize power. However, the terms of the EU's institutional leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, are coming to an end. The meeting on 17 June, aimed at appointing "three presidents"(to lead the commission, chair meetings of EU leaders and preside over the parliament), failed to reach a consensus.

Most likely, her candidacy will be nominated, the author predicts, noting that "even assuming the parliament backs her next month—which is not yet guaranteed—Mrs von der Leyen will spend much of the rest of the year haggling with national capitals and MEPs to build a team of commissioners."

In the interim, the EU's rotating presidency offers a temporary figure. From 1 July, this role will be taken on by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, known for his eurosceptic stance. On 18 June, he introduced the council's new slogan: "Make Europe Great Again." "That sounds like a plan, if only anyone was on hand to implement it," concludes the author.

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Russian Defense Ministry published video of Russian military personnel returned from Ukrainian captivity. Ninety Russian servicemen have been returned from territory controlled by Kiev in exchange for 90 Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of war.

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