The Kremlin and its alleged rise of zombie voters in US: propaganda review

Collage: EU vs Disinfo. The wall screen in Rossiya-1's studio reads, "1.8 mln 'dead souls' at the U.S. elections." 

2020/11/12 - 14:20 • HYBRID WAR

Source: EU vs Disinfo

Edited by: Yuri Zoria

The US presidential election has predictably dominated world news this week. The protracted tally of the votes; the incumbent president’s persistent refusal to concede, the legal battles – all excellent material for reporting – and for disinformation. While most world leaders and professional and reputable international media have identified Joe Biden as President-elect, the Kremlin and its media continue supporting claims on election fraud. Of 74 cases this week, 21 were devoted to the US elections.

Russian state TV declares, entirely without foundation, that 1.8 million dead voters took part in the election. And it’s not even Halloween! Russian state radio notes that the US cannot be called democracy and that the trade union of US mail employees supported Joe Biden and were hence prone to falsifying votes delivered by mail. RT openly suggests the entire process was “rigged”. Of course, George Soros, a perennial Kremlin bogeyman, stands behind what is described as a color revolution and the dirtiest elections in history. Not US history, but history.

A Clever Plan

All the above-mentioned claims on the US elections have been carefully scrutinized and debunked. The US legal system is handling a number of cases on alleged inconsistencies in the voting system and technical flaws and mistakes that are to be addressed. International observers from the OSCE have described the election as “competitive and well managed despite legal uncertainties and logistical challenges”. Recounts, court appeals – all are normal procedures within the established US electoral system. A timeline of the process can be found here.

The loud claims in pro-Kremlin media about zombie voters and rigged processes will eventually create a problem for the Russian leadership: if even the state media questions the very integrity of the US election – and by default, the legitimacy of the next president, who will take an oath in January – with whom will Russian leaders work?

But, in the parallel universe of pro-Kremlin media, everything might be a clever plan by the incumbent president. All fakes will be disclosed and the Biden team will be caught cheating, red-handed, and Donald Trump triumphantly installed for a second term as president.

The Really Important Election

The US election process is dramatic and complicated, but for the Kremlin, the stakes are even higher in elections in the neighborhood: like in Moldova, where incumbent President Igor Dodon and challenger Maia Sandu will face each other in a second round of the election. Ms. Sandu’s victory in the first round is described as a result of Western falsification. Corruption, social issues, health care, education – no matter the priorities of the actual voters, for the Kremlin media the only relevant question in an election is loyalty or disloyalty to Russia.

This is mirrored in the pro-Kremlin media’s reporting on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue: disloyalty to the Kremlin is a deadly sin. Armenia dared to attempt an independent policy. Now, Margarita Simonyan, the head of state-owned RT and Sputnik blames the people of Armenia for the war,

The citizens of Armenia can criticize no one but themselves. For electing to power a traitor who created preconditions for the war after falling out with the only historical ally of the Armenian people. Where is his Soros now? The US State Department? Pentagon, Macron or whoever?

Ms. Simonyan’s statement correspondents with a trope on “Globalists” behind the war in Nagorno Karabakh and Russia as the real victim in the war. This perspective is repeated virtually anytime pro-Kremlin outlets report on the news: the protests in Belarus are a scheme against Russia, with the US and the West plotting a color revolution. The poisoning of Alexei Navalny is a plan to stop Russia’s Nord Stream 2 energy project; and the protests in Kyrgyzstan are, of course, another scheme against Russia’s interests in Central Asia.

Almost twenty of this week’s cases are devoted to Ukraine. This is much in line with the pro-Kremlin media’s general obsession with the war in Ukraine actually being a scheme against Russia. In the five years of the EUvsDisinfo database, roughly a third of all cases have been about Ukraine. There is a Ukrainian spin to all three above-mentioned topics: President-elect Joe Biden is responsible for war crimes in Ukraine; Ukraine is planning an attack on the Moldovan breakaway territory of Transnistria and the Azerbaijani blitz against Nagorno Karabach is inspiring Ukraine to take similar actions against Donbas and Crimea.

This week’s Russian propaganda: Ukraine to smuggle Russian vaccine via EU as British vaccine turns people into monkeys





2020/10/27 - 20:16 • HYBRID WAR

Article by: EU vs Disinfo
Source: EU vs Disinfo


Vaccines: nothing but a monkey business

As COVID-19 cases skyrocket across Europe, so does disinformation on the pandemic. Take, for example, a story claiming that Ukraine will buy a Russian vaccine and that the purchase will be made via European Union Member States. In reality, experts fear the approval of the Russian vaccine was premature. According to the Lancet, one of the world’s best-known medical journals, at that time the vaccine had not even started phase 3 trials. Another difficulty with this claim is the fact that none of the Member States had announced their intention to buy it.

Read also: These Rt graphs show how fast COVID-19 is spreading in Ukraine

The story is part of a broader narrative asserting that Russia fights the pandemic more effectively than Western democracies, boosting the credibility of a Russian vaccine and undermining that of other (Western) vaccines.

How do you erode the credibility of Western vaccines?An old trick is to administer a lie packed in a larger truth.

Successful campaigns often “shield a forgery under the armor of a larger truth,” explains disinfo scholar Thomas Rid. His acclaimed book, Active Measures, showcases a spectacular example of World War II, the forged Tanaka Memorial. This document (allegedly from 1927) was instrumental in convincing many states that Japan elaborated a military strategy to achieve world domination. It was not authentic though.

Why was this false narrative so effective? Because it was rooted in Japan’s actual assertive foreign policy of that time.

How do you apply this larger-truth method to Western vaccines?

To undermine the credibility of these vaccines, the pro-Kremlin media took a part of the truth (the Oxford vaccine is developed using chimpanzee viral vector) to rebrand it as “the monkey vaccine”. This enables the pro-Kremlin media to suggest that the British vaccine will turn people into monkeys and also tap into criticism of animal rights supporters and anti-vaxxers.

However, a point of no small irony: the principles behind the Sputnik V vaccine are, in most respects, the same as Oxford’s. Monkey see, monkey do?

The monkey narrative tries to erode the credibility of Western vaccines. Despite all this ambitious monkey business, one should remember a good old Jamaican proverb: the higher a monkey climbs, the more exposed he is.



RUSSIA USES RED SCARE COLD WAR PROPAGANDA FROM THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY ABOUT POLIO AND MONKEY VIRUS VACCINATIONS

See all Disinfo Reviews by EU vs Disinfo

Further reading:
Secret labs and George Soros: Kremlin’s COVID-19 disinformation in the EU Eastern Partnership countries
Russian disinformation activities accompanying the MH17 trial
Why are Russian hackers targeting COVID-19 vaccine laboratories?
Vaccine hesitancy and pro-Kremlin opportunism: top-5 COVID-19 conspiracies
How pro-Kremlin outlets employed Satan to prop up disinformation efforts

Death of Belarus protester sparks unrest and threat of more EU sanctions

Reuters13 November 2020


FILE PHOTO: People gather to mourn the death of anti-government protester Roman Bondarenko in Minsk


KYIV (Reuters) - Thousands of people took to the streets of Minsk and other Belarusian cities on Friday after the death of a 31-year-old anti-government protester who died in hospital after what demonstrators say was a severe beating by security forces.

Witnesses say Roman Bondarenko was detained after scuffling with people in plain clothes who had come to a playground to remove red-and-white ribbons that represent the protest movement against veteran President Alexander Lukashenko.

The interior ministry denied responsibility for Bondarenko's death, saying he was killed due to a scuffle with civilians.

The state Investigative Committee alleged Bondarenko was drunk, which was disputed in local media, citing the official medical report into his death.

The death is the latest flashpoint in months of mass protests against Lukashenko following a disputed presidential election in August. The opposition says Lukashenko rigged the vote to secure a sixth successive term.

Lukashenko denies electoral fraud and, buoyed by support from traditional ally Russia, has shown little inclination to step down. A violent crackdown prompted a new round of Western sanctions on Minsk.

The European Union called the death "an outrageous and shameful result of the actions by the Belarusian authorities" who have "directly and violently carried out repression of their own population". The bloc, which has blacklisted some Belarusian officials, threatened further sanctions.

Rupert Colville, the United Nations human rights spokesman, called for a "thorough, transparent and independent investigation".

Videos posted by Belarusian media on Friday showed people standing along roads, near universities, factories and hospitals with white-red-white flags in their hands and portraits of Bondarenko.

In a video from the courtyard where Bondarenko was detained, hundreds of people stood in a minute of silence and then chanted: "We will not forget, we will not forgive."

"It's impossible to bear, what they did. Everybody is crying here," said a participant in one of the human solidarity chains in Minsk.

The news outlet Nasha Niva reported that police had detained protesters in at least four towns.


(Additional reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva and Robin Emmott in Brussels; Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Peter Graff)

Three months of Belarusian gridlock: do the protesters have a chance?

Students at the Belarusian State University join the strike on 26 October.

Photo: RFE/RL

2020/11/12 - • INTERNATIONAL

Editor’s Note

Belarusian protesters are in gridlock with their dictatorial regime. For over three months, they have been relentlessly resisting electoral fraud and police brutality with touching solidarity and admirable civility. A nationwide strike started on 26 October. Nevertheless, dictator Lukashenka remains defiant. Is the strike working? Will the public disobedience do the regime in? Euromaidan Press talked to protest participants to find out.

It is now three months since Belarusians said they had enough of the rule of the “last dictator in Europe” and rose up against rigged elections. Every day of these three months, Belarusians from all regions and walks of life resisted by holding protests, pickets, rallies, marches, strikes, solidarity chains, and mini-concerts. They defied the threat of criminal prosecution and even death, withstood police torture, and kept hanging up the banned white-red-white flag every time it was torn down.

Since Belarusian police and utility workers tear down any instances of the banned white-red-white flag, Belarusians found creative ways to recreate it with random objects, like these three-meter underpants hanging between two skyscrapers. Photo: Cascade Live telegram channel

As the protesters have remained defiant, so has self-proclaimed president Alyaksandr Lukashenka. After a ghastly crackdown in the several days after election day on 9 August, his regime appeared to grow more tolerant of the insubordinate populace, which led to a proliferation of creative protest forms, including multi-hundred-thousand marches, all over the country.

Chilling testimonies of police brutality, humiliation & “re-education” amid vicious crackdown on Belarusian protesters

Lukashenka, who is widely believed to have stolen the election, was unfazed.

He jailed or expelled all the remaining active opposition, including his challenger Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, viewed by the protesters as the rightful president-elect, and is pushing through changes to the Constitution while again cracking down on dissidents, who he derogates as “terrorists” steered from abroad. At least 17,000 have been detained across the country, with the riot police using stun grenades, rubber bullets, water cannons against the protesters, amid reports of torture in police departments.

From exile, Tsikhanouskaya gave the embattled strongman Lukashenka a deadline of two weeks to resign, put an end to police violence and release political prisoners, warning that he would otherwise face a nationwide strike from 26 October.

Can it force the dictator, who is seemingly unperturbed by EU sanctions against him and his entourage, finally heed the rallying call of the protests, “Leave!”? Or will the dissident nation be pacified into submission?

Students come to the forefront


THIS IS THE BELARUSIANS SECOND ATTEMPT AT A STRIKE. THE FIRST ONE TOOK PLACE IN AUGUST:
Wave of strikes sweeps over Belarusian industry on third day of protests against rigged elections

Compared to the first attempt at a strike in August, which was announced by anonymous Telegram channels directing the nascent protest movement, the participation of enterprises is now somewhat lower. That is not surprising given that the authorities had managed to frazzle the August strikerrs through intimidation and threats of layoffs.

On the first day, 26 October, over 255 people were detained at strikes and other protests in the country, according to the human rights organization Viasna. Students in several universities refused to attend lectures and marched in Minsk in protest. Hundreds of small private companies declared Monday a non-working day. Meanwhile, shops and cafes closed their doors, with their owners and employees forming human chains all over Minsk.



Students are increasingly coming to the forefront of resistance. The first university to join the strike was Minsk State University, where 100 students held a “sitting protest,” leading to the administration announcing that mass events will be limited in the following days.

Other universities on strike included the Minsk State Linguistic University, where teachers submitted a strike notice to the university’s chancellor, the Belarusian State Economic University, the State Medical University, and the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics, where approximately 35 employees announced an indefinite strike. Several teachers had resigned, while students held numerous protest actions.





Students of the medical university on strike. Photo: EuroradioFM


Karina during a student protest on 1 September. Snapshot from RFE/RL broadcast

At least 138 students and 15 teachers have been expelled as of 3 November. One of these students is Karina Kalinka, who together with three other students was disenrolled from the Academy of Arts for her political stance.

“I was motivated by my conscience and solidarity with people risking their future, going out in the streets,” Karina told Euromaidan Press. After the start of the strike, the management of the university ramped up pressure on the students and teachers critical of the Belarus regime. It seems to be working: one of her teachers did an ideological U-turn and is now loyal to Lukashenka, at least in words.

“I, as an artist, want to live in a free country, where there would be no censorship for media and artists so that anybody could express her opinion without fear of persecution,” Karina explained her motivation.

Censorship permeates Belarusian society, especially the arts. Karina experienced this herself when she and her co-students, one of whom was also expelled, created an art installation criticizing the Belarusian political system, replete with descriptors such as “violence,” “impunity,” “lawlessness,” “violence,” “corruption,” “murder.”

“They closed the door, threatened us with reprimands, locked the auditorium up so no photos would, God forbid, leak into the media. The censorship is very strong when it concerns politics. When it concerns other topics they don’t like, it’s softer — like, go away and don’t show this to anyone.”

Karina’s censored 30 September art installation

Karina’s censored July art installation
Photos: courtesy of the artist

Like many other people of her age, she was not politically active prior to the rigged elections. That has now changed:

“Prior to the protests, we were all divided, did not communicate; now I am witnessing the revival of the Belarusian nationality, everyone starts talking, making friends, incredible things are happening, in my opinion.”

Now, having been expelled, Karina will continue protesting and supporting her striking friends.

Like other expelled students, she is eligible for support from the BySol fund, one of the many funds set up to help striking workers who have been fired. As well, several western universities have set up scholarships for Belarusian students expelled for their political activities.

The teachers who do not give in to political pressure could be dismissed or fired, like it happened to one of the best specialists in the Italian language and culture, Associate Professor Natalia Dulina. After emerging as a strike leader at the Minsk State Linguistic University, she was called upon to voluntarily resign by its management. Upon refusing to do so, she was kidnapped by law enforcement, driven away to a detention center, and given 14 days in jail.

Yana, a 23-year-old teacher of the Polish language at the private Minsk-based Center for Slavic Languages, took part in the strike as well, together with other teachers and students. It lasted one day — the employees and students met to write letters to political prisoners while the Center was put on a “technical pause.” But there’s no major sense from her private school taking part in the strike, she says:


“While small private firms take part in the strike, it won’t reach its goal, unless the strike will grow to the national level, like with Solidarity in Poland, when everything stopped for long.”

The strike was supported by the service sector: dozens of bars and restaurants announced a “technical break” on 26 October. There were closures of markets in Brest and Lida due to strikes, as well as shopping centers.


“The cafes and companies take part in the strike so that those who are afraid of losing their jobs at the factories knew that they are not alone, that we’re not afraid, either; we all take part in the strike and all lose money,” Yana explains.


She and other teachers donate a fraction of their salary to solidarity funds which offer compensations to strikers who were fired for their political position. As of 3 November, these funds have paid $2.7 mn to such people. They include employees from all walks of life across the vast state sector of the Belarusian economy, including 14 artists from the Minsk theater of drama. But factory workers are under the greatest pressure: it is the state-owned factories, preserved from the Soviet era, that fill up the state coffers propping up Lukashenka’s regime.

“It’s sad that they didn’t start striking at the large factories: they had a chance in August [at the first strike], but didn’t start. After several days of threats of dismissal, they returned to work. There are many initiative groups of 5 people who started striking, they were fired and jailed. Unfortunately, you can’t really go out on a strike in our country. The fact that they are being fired doesn’t help the protests grow — others see and decide that it’s better to not join the strike.”

The Belarusian regime finds ways to pressure the private sector strikers as well. The cafes that were on strike on Monday are all being shut down for three months and more, after sudden raids of state sanitary inspection services found such violations as scratches on pots and imperfections in mask-wearing.

Of factory workers


A logo of the strike committees of Hrodna Azot and BelarusKali.

Photo: @stachkomazota / Telegram

Several medium-sized enterprises attempted to join the movement, but so far, the major players had not joined the fray.

Striking workers were reported at the companies Belarusneft, fertilizer giant Belaruskali, automakers Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ), MZKT, BelAZ, and Belkommunmash, tractor manufacturer MTZ and appliance maker Atlant, Hrodna Azot, BelarusKali, the Minsk Electro-Technical Plant carried out strikes. No enterprise stopped completely: the strike was limited to separate departments and workers.

According to the latest data from the independent trade union, only 84 state factory workers joined the strike, with the number incrementally growing each day. Nevertheless, this was enough for strikebreakers to be detached to Hrodna Azot, a major nitrogen fertilizer plant. They didn’t help: on 10 November, two departments at the factory stopped working, most likely due to the plant being understaffed because the management keeps firing “problematic” workers.

“The shifts have halved, and it takes at least a year to train a replacement: six months of obligatory internship plus six months of practical work. The higher-ups gave the management two orders which were made public several times: fire all the strikers and keep the plant running. This is an opportunity to test whether it is possible to execute these orders in reality. It isn’t. And it’s only going to get worse,” the strike committee of Hrodna Azot told.

Employees from various large enterprises report that the most active factory workers who take part in solidarity actions are questioned by the management. Leading to fears for their livelihood and curbing the spread of the strike movement, many strikers have been fired.



One of them was Vitaliy, a member of the strike committee of state-owned BelarusKali, the flagman of Belarus’ mining industry which produces 1/6 of the world’s potassium fertilizer.


Striking workers of BelarusKali. Photo: @stachkom / Telegram

Only 59 of BelarusKali’s 17,000 workers joined the strike, Vitaliy says, but many more are hesitating and in the meantime hold a so-called “Italian strike” at their workplaces, stalling production by demanding that the management ensures its workers are protected by all safety measures, which are routinely ignored in Belarus.

Funds supported by the Belarusian diaspora help the strikers who are fired, but management tries to discourage recalcitrant workers by issuing premiums and raising wages — a sign that it is panicking, according to the strike participants.

The demands of the strikers remained stable throughout the months of protests:
to hold real democratic elections without Lukashenka,
bring the perpetrators of police brutality to responsibility,
and release the political prisoners.

Lately, the list has been topped up with economic demands, as workers were stripped of many of their guarantees and bonuses, Vitaliy says. He believes that the number of strikers on the state-owned enterprise will grow, leading to falling revenues to the state.

What can the EU do to support the protests of the Belarusian workers? One promising avenue, Vitaliy says, is holding off contracts with state factories while repressions of Lukashenka’s regime are ongoing. One such company is Norwegian Yara International, one of BelarusKali’s largest clients, which has hinted it may drop contracts if the factory management keeps firing strikers:


“Support us… It’s difficult to deal with the regime from inside the country. Our demands are simple — we want economic and trade relations with all the countries of the world, with Russia, Ukraine, the West, we just want a normal life and development. We want to just live in peace and raise our children, but not with this regime. Either we can stop the situation with peaceful strikes, or Lukashenka will shed blood. Nobody needs this.”

What keeps the protests going?


Anton Ruliou. Photo – courtesy of Mr. Ruliou

Why did the first strike, launched right after the election, fail? Anton Ruliou, editor at the analytical center Belarus in Focus, explains that it was an emotional reaction to the uncovered monstrous falsifications. It died out because the mandatory “Sectors for ideology” present in all state factories pressured the workers into submission: some were intimidated, some were jailed. But at the same time, the strikers saw that they were in the majority.

The present strike that started on 26 October is the second attempt to set the wheels spinning, and it is better planned: the first time, there were no funds for workers who lost their jobs for expressing their political position. Now they don’t need to worry about losing their income: the funds will keep them afloat until they find another job in the private sector.

Solidarity and a decentralized, incessant protest is how he describes the events of the last three months. The protest tactics are incredibly diverse. 100,000-200,000-strong Sunday marches, self-organization initiatives such as community get-togethers in the city neighborhoods, solidarity chains, strikes, boycotts of state goods, flyers, stickers, symbols — any form of disobedience chips away at the facade of Lukashenka’s regime. IT workers bring pizza to striking students. Students hold rallies in solidarity with detained medical workers.


Graffiti such as this traditional Pahonya knight are ubiquitous markers of resistance springing up throughout all of Belarus. Photo from @NEXTA / Telegram

Symbols are of special importance. Utility workers are obliged to remove symbols like the banned national white-red-white flag or the Pahonya knight, but they often can’t keep up: whenever one gets removed, three spring up in its place.


“The regime goes into overdrive to extinguish all the fires. For instance, the riot police first chases the participants of the Sunday march and throws stun grenades, and on Monday they again run across the whole city the whole day. They complain that they don’t see their families. It’s important to understand that the regime’s resources are not endless,” Anton Ruliou told Euromaidan Press.

According to him, Interior Minister Karaev claimed that in the regions, he needed to admonish the police so they would repress local protests. The mayors are reluctant to put a clamp on rallies, as in small towns, residents all know each other, and such unpopular measures draw public reprehension.

“It feels like we live in the Middle Ages.” Screams of tortured Belarusian protesters recorded near prison




According to a Chatham House study, 85% of protesting Belarusians are ready to take part in them until victory — a year and more.

Do they get tired? Anton says the fatigue is building, but the protesters can take a break from protesting and then return with renewed energy — unlike the riot police. Multi-hundred-thousand Sunday marches, which, however, the regime managed to suppress the last two weeks, are something that gives protesters strength and motivation.

For many protesters, Lukashenka’s savage crackdown right after the elections, on 9-12 August, was an eye-opener: they didn’t imagine that our country was permeated with such atrocities. They were shocked: they don’t want those who started the war against their own people to remain in power. Moreover, if the protests stop, everyone who participated and stood next to them will be caught. Retreating is more dangerous than not retreating.

Constitutional amendments plan wins little support

Critics believe that the Constitutional reform that Lukashenka has peddled since October is but a method to distract the protesters. It’s not working very well, say my Belarusian interlocutors.


“With Lukashenka in charge of the country, no Costitutional reform is possible. The man clearly indicated that power for him equals life, and he isn’t about to give it up. To propose such things, there has to be a certain level of credibility; you can’t suggest such things and simultaneously lie, threaten, and intimidate the protesters. Many times over, Lukashenka said the protesters were high on drugs. They do not trust him at all, and therefore, his proposals aren’t trusted, either,” Anton Ruliou explained.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called upon Belarusians to vote against Lukashenka’s project. An online poll on the alternative vote count platform Golos revealed that out of the 460,000 participants, 99% voted against adopting Constitutional amendents before new presidential elections would take place.

But there is little detail on what the reform would be about. Despite hints being dropped that they would serve to curb presidential powers, a leaked project document revealed no such plans.

Mr. Ruliou believes that the amendments will be adopted not through a referendum, but through the Belarusian People’s Gathering, consisting of the so-called “best people of the country,” such as the ideological workers at factories or loyal business groups. The protesters will not accept this decision.


“I believe that the Constitutional reform is Lukashenka’s attempt to distract us from our main goal, with which we come out to the streets. We want Lukashenka to leave. We were cheated at the elections, the president is illegitimate,” believes Yana.

What next?

AS A RESULT OF THE CRACKDOWN, PROTESTERS ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO HOLD THEIR REGULAR SUNDAY MARCH:
Lukashenka’s crackdown on protesters is increasingly brutal, over 1000 detained this Sunday





Amid the intensifying crackdown, a sense of desperation grows among the protesters. During a dispersed Sunday march in early November, protesters were shot at and beaten by swarms of riot police. Those detained are facing criminal charges of organizing mass unrest, instead of merely participating, which is punishable up to 10 years in jail.


“I personally started being afraid to come out,” Yana shares. “It’s bearable if you get jailed for two weeks, for a month. But three years, 10 years, and criminal charges? The perspectives are totally different.”

What can the world do to support Belarus?


“Don’t forget that the nightmare is growing in Belarus.

Many of my friends were simply kidnapped from their apartments. There are many missing people and many dead bodies found, many more than are officially declared. So when a friend doesn’t pick up his phone, I am scared that we might end up finding him in the forest.

You can help with moral support — I would like to thank the Poles, who mention us during their protests, this really helps. Please support the funds helping refugees — now there are many who flee because of the criminal charges.

Please don’t forget what is happening here; it will continue for a long time. The ideal revolution didn’t happen. Considering that our new Interior Minister [Minister Ivan Kubrakov replaced Yuriy Karaev on 29 October – Ed] is even harsher than the previous one… We know that they will beat our pensioners, shoot at them.

Terrifying things are happening, but it’s valuable that the people are peaceful. There are no firearms from our side, we don’t track them down, don’t ruin their life. But, unfortunately, the story is not mutual,” Yana told.

We thank the initiative Pray for Belarus for their assistance in writing this article.

UK abuse inquiry says Catholic Church prioritised reputation over children


By Estelle Shirbon


LONDON (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Church in Britain betrayed its moral purpose over decades by protecting those who sexually abused children rather than caring for their victims, an independent inquiry said on Tuesday.



FILE PHOTO: Cardinal Vincent Nichols attends a reception at the Urban College in Rome Italy October 13, 2019. Arthur Edwards/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

In a report, it said the Church had consistently prioritised its own reputation, moving abusive priests and monks to different parishes where some continued to prey on children, and resisting any external intervention.

“Child sexual abuse was swept under the carpet,” the report said, describing “appalling” attacks including sadistic beatings driven by sexual gratification, often perpetrated by deeply manipulative people in positions of trust.

“Victims described the profound and lifelong effects of abuse, including depression, anxiety, self-harming and trust issues,” the report said.

The Catholic Church received more than 900 complaints involving over 3,000 instances of child sex abuse in England and Wales between 1970 and 2015, and there have been more than 100 reported allegations a year since 2016. The report said those figures likely under-estimated the scale of the problem.

Lawyer David Enright, representing 20 victims who gave evidence to the inquiry, said the findings showed the Church was incapable of making itself a safe place for children despite repeated inquiries and damning reports.

“The Church has had many, many chances to reform and root out child abuse. It has failed,” he said

The report criticised the most senior Catholic leader in England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, for failing to acknowledge any personal responsibility or show compassion for victims in recent cases.

Shortly after the publication of the report, Nichols said he was ashamed.

“I want to say to every single person who has suffered childhood abuse in the context of the Catholic Church, I am sorry, we will work at this, we will get it better, and to do so we need your help,” he said in an interview on Sky News TV.

VATICAN CRITICISED

But victims and their representatives called for Nichols to resign.

“He has lost all moral authority and must go,” said one victim, a former seminarian identified only as Frank, who gave evidence to the inquiry.

The report also criticised the Vatican and the Apostolic Nuncio, its ambassador to the UK, for failing to provide a witness statement to the inquiry despite repeated requests.

“The responses of the Holy See appear at odds with the Pope’s promise to take action on this hugely important problem,” said Alexis Jay, the inquiry chair.

Asked about that, Nichols said only that the Holy See was a sovereign state and he had to accept its decision.

The long-lasting Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse, which is examining the problem across British institutions and society, published similar findings about the Church of England on Oct. 6.

Its report on the Catholic Church comes on the same day that the Vatican has published a report into disgraced ex-U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a sex abuser, which pointed to failings by popes, Vatican officials and senior U.S. clerics.

Separately, the Vatican’s former ambassador to France went on trial in Paris accused of molesting four men.

Additional reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison and Raissa Kasolowsky

Cardinal declined to meet abuse victim before Vatican ...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/02/cardinal-vincent-nichols...

2019-03-03 · Sun 3 Mar 2019 01.00 EST First published on Sat 2 Mar 2019 09.29 ... wrote to Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, several times in the run-up to the Rome …

240 rare books worth over $3.3 million returned to owners after ‘Mission: Impossible’ burglary in UK

The men, who were jailed in Britain last month, were dubbed the “Mission: Impossible” gang by UK media because of their acrobatic technique, reminiscent of a famous scene in the 1996 movie in which Tom Cruise is lowered into a vault on a rope.

Updated: Nov 12, 2020
Reuters | Posted by: Sanya Budhiraja
London

A combination picture shows recovered stolen books in unknown location.(via REUTERS)

A trove of 240 rare books worth over $3.3 million have been returned to their owners after they were stolen in London by a gang of Romanian men who abseiled down from a warehouse ceiling to avoid setting off alarms.

The men, who were jailed in Britain last month, were dubbed the “Mission: Impossible” gang by UK media because of their acrobatic technique, reminiscent of a famous scene in the 1996 movie in which Tom Cruise is lowered into a vault on a rope.

A recovered stolen book is seen in unknown location. ( via REUTERS )

The antique books, considered to be of international cultural significance, include works by English scientist Isaac Newton and Spanish artist Francisco Goya and relating to Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, the Metropolitan Police said.

The burglary took place in January 2017 at a warehouse in Feltham, west London, where the books, which belonged to specialist dealers and had been shipped from Italy and Germany, were being stored on their way to a U.S. book fair.

After cutting holes in the perimeter fence to gain access to the warehouse, the burglars cut holes into skylights in the roof and lowered themselves down onto shelves, thus avoiding activating sensor-based alarms located by the doors.

Recovered stolen books are seen in unknown location in Romania. ( via REUTERS )

The burglary was one of 12 carried out by the gang, linked to the Clamparu organised crime group based in the Iasi region in eastern Romania, at various locations around Britain over a two-and-a-half year period.

In meticulously planned operations, gang members would fly into the country to commit burglaries then fly out shortly afterwards. Twelve of them were jailed for terms ranging from three years and eight months to five years and eight months.

London’s Metropolitan Police worked on the case for over three years with counterparts in Romania and Italy.

After the books were discovered hidden underground at a house in Romania, they were transported to the country’s National Library in Bucharest, where four of the five owners travelled last month to recover them.


A combination picture shows recovered stolen books in unknown location. ( via REUTERS )

“It was lovely to see the joy of each victim being reunited with these irreplaceable books,” said Detective Inspector Andy Durham, adding that one of the book dealers, Alessandro Bado, had reacted by declaring with great gusto: “Tonight we drink like lions.”

Why Pfizer’s ultra-cold COVID-19 vaccine will not be at the local pharmacy any time soon

By Carl O’Donnell


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Work to distribute the experimental COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE is gearing up after the companies announced successful interim data earlier on Monday, but it will not be coming to local pharmacies for the general public any time soon.

The data, which sent U.S. stocks to record highs [.N], showed that the two companies’ experimental vaccine is 90% effective at preventing COVID-19. They are still awaiting data on safety, which could come later this month.

Pfizer and BioNTech need to get regulators to sign off on the shot before it can start shipping vaccines to those considered most in need by government. Healthcare workers and people living in nursing homes will likely top that list.

But the vaccine’s complex and super-cold storage requirements are an obstacle for even the most sophisticated hospitals in the United States and may impact when and where it is available in rural areas or poor countries where resources are tight.

The main issue is that the vaccine, which is based on a novel technology that uses synthetic mRNA to activate the immune system against the virus, needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below.

“The cold chain is going to be one of the most challenging aspects of delivery of this vaccination,” said Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

“This will be a challenge in all settings because hospitals even in big cities do not have storage facilities for a vaccine at that ultra-low temperature.”

Indeed, one of the most prestigious U.S. hospitals, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said it does not currently have that capability.

“We’re talking about a vaccine that needs storage at minus 70 or 80. That’s a tremendous logistical issue not only in the U.S. but outside the Western world,” said Dr Gregory Poland, a virologist and vaccine researcher with the Mayo Clinic.

“We’re a major medical center and we don’t have storage capacity like this. That will be true for everybody. This is a logistical obstacle.”

Pfizer spokeswoman Kim Bencker said the company was working closely with the U.S. government and state officials on how to ship the vaccine from its distribution centers in the United States, Germany and Belgium around the globe.

The detailed plan includes using dry ice to transport frozen vaccine vials by both air and land at their recommended temperatures for up to 10 days, she said.

See graphic on COVID-19 global tracker: here

A person walks past the Pfizer Headquarters building in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., November 9, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

ON ICE

State and local healthcare providers are responsible for storing and administering vaccines once delivered.

They can be kept in an ultra-low temperature freezer for up to six months, or for five days at 2-8 degrees C – a type of refrigeration commonly available at hospitals, Bencker said.

The Pfizer storage units can also be refilled with ice for up to 15 days, she said.

But shots will spoil in around five days at normal refrigeration temperatures of slightly above freezing. BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told Reuters the companies are analyzing if they can extend that for two weeks.

The vaccine of Moderna Inc, which is working on a vaccine based on similar technology, does not need to be stored at such a low temperature.

Other vaccines including ones from Johnson & Johnson and Novavax Inc can be stored at 2-8 degrees C, the temperature of a regular refrigerator.

EXPANSION

Northwell Health, a major hospital system in New York, is expanding its ultra-cold storage capacity. Although it is possible to deploy the vaccine before it spoils, Northwell Chief Pharmacy Officer Onisis Stefas said the hospital decided the freezer access would ensure a smooth rollout.

The cold storage requirements could impede Pfizer’s ability to reach rural healthcare systems and nursing homes, or less wealthy nations, which may not have the funds for the refrigeration units, experts said.

“If Pfizer’s is the only vaccine to be authorized in the next few months, we do worry about equity when it comes to spreading it to rural areas,” said Claire Hannan, executive director at the Association of Immunization Managers, a nonprofit organization representing state and local public health officials who handle vaccines.

Ultra-cold freezer supplies are already limited as hospitals scramble to stock up, Stefas said.

Some states have said they have a shortage of ultra-cold freezers, according to public documents that states filed with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

New Hampshire has purchased extra ultra-cold freezers and like other states is lobbying the Trump administration for additional funds, the documents show.

California has also said ultra-cold freezer supplies are limited and roughly half of the states’ health departments are looking in to purchasing or leasing additional cold storage supplies.

It has proposed building a distribution network of ultra-cold freezers, including mobile vaccination clinics, to reach underserved areas around the state. California said it will not provide vaccine supplies to facilities without adequate cold-storage capabilities.

Without the extra equipment, doctors will have a dilemma: store vaccines in standard refrigerators and deploy all 975 doses in each Pfizer vaccine container in less than five days or restock them with dry ice and open them only twice a day to extend the vaccines’ life span, Hannan said.

“I think it will be difficult, but based on the task and how important it is, people will do the best to their ability to make that happen,” Stefas said.

(This story corrects to clarify in the 24th paragraph that the Association of Immunization Managers is not a lobbying group)

Reporting by Carl O’Donnell in New York; additional reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Editing by Caroline Humer, Josephine Mason and Matthew Lewis


Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principle

Q&A: Studying the capture and storage of carbon dioxide during waste incineration

by Nils Røkke, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The capture and storage of CO2, also known as CCS, from our waste is essential because this refuse is responsible for a large proportion or our cities' greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, the technology represents a relatively inexpensive abatement cost.


In order to achieve the targets set out in the Paris Agreement, aiming to keep global warming to within 1.5 degrees higher than pre-industrial levels, it will not be sufficient simply to reduce emissions. We must also actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere and establish a balance between emissions and removal.

Not all industries will be able to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The agricultural sector is a good example. But if we are to achieve total net zero emissions during the next 30 years, we have to capture one CO2 molecule and remove it from the atmosphere for every molecule we release. With between 50 and 70 percent biological material currently being processed in energy recycling plants employing waste incineration, this will make a considerable difference to our carbon accounting.

What does 'climate-positive' mean?

Let's say that you throw away a set of IKEA's Ivar storage shelves and it ends up in an incineration plant. The shelves contain CO2 extracted from the air by the wood while the tree was living. So, in principle, if we incinerate this wood the entire cycle is carbon neutral. The same amount of the gas is released on incineration as was originally taken up. But if we capture and remove the CO2 during incineration, we also extract some CO2 from the cycle and make a positive contribution to the carbon budget.

Of course there will be hurdles to negotiate, but these are also created by humans. How we calculate and reward climate-positive approaches is currently unclear, not least within the EU. I have been in Brussels for some years now, and the debate continues to rage about how fast it is possible to store the CO2 locked in biological material. It is argued that this will take longer than the 30-year perspective leading up to 2050.

"During the next 30 years, we have to capture one CO2 molecule and remove it from the atmosphere for every molecule we release."


There is some misunderstanding, and a constructive dialog is being launched on this topic as a basis for the formulation of regulations governing sustainable investment. Or "sustainable taxonomy" as it is referred to in EU jargon.

But we mustn't let such things prevent us from taking action. There is no doubt that climate-positive systems have to be implemented if we are to achieve carbon neutrality. Globally, we have to remove between five and ten billion tons net of greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere by 2050. In Norway, the figures are about the same, but here at home we're talking millions, not billions of tons. Our ability to achieve this will depend on the measures that we implement and which of these has the greatest impact.

And we have to bear in mind that such measures involve technologies that must be applied in addition to, and not simply replace, other initiatives such as electrification and lifestyle changes.

What does Brussels have to say about CCS?

Brussels views CCS as a necessary measure. There is no doubt that it is essential if we are to achieve the decarbonisation of industry and the transport sector, to provide heat and power, and to open the door to the use of hydrogen, which can also be generated from biomass using CCS. But we need countries that can lead the way, with vision that extends beyond the end of their noses. In my view, our towns and cities must be closely linked to the Norwegian full-scale project. And why not establish links to other urban initiatives taking place across Europe? We all know that passivity is much more expensive for society than taking proactive steps.

We must link CCS to wealth generation

The smart things to do are to develop a CO2 transport infrastructure across national boundaries and link CCS to wealth generation and climate-positive initiatives. In this regard, our waste materials are very well suited to such concepts, and it is quite simply amazing to see that others as well as Norway are taking up the challenge. This is not a race to be first to the finishing line considering that we need a few thousand full-scale plants in operation if we are to meet the targets set out in the Paris Agreement.

As President of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA). I have been observing the ups and downs of the CCS debate. The challenge of climate change and the overriding political ambition within the EU to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 demand that we implement all the measures we can lay our hands on. I often say that the most expensive climate change mitigation measures are the ones we don't implement. We all know that passivity is much more expensive for society than taking proactive steps.

"And we have to bear in mind that such measures involve technologies that must be applied in addition to, and not simply replace, other initiatives such as electrification and lifestyle changes."

The significance of CCS cannot be overestimated

Research shows that we need systems to address greenhouse gas emissions in all industrial sectors. We need zero emissions electrons, zero emissions molecules and CCS. And these will all be linked together by energy—one of contemporary society's most important prerequisites.

The significance of having or not having implemented a full-scale CCS project in Norway cannot be overestimated.

I want to see a joint effort in the field of CCS based on the full-scale project, involving our towns and cities and the industrial and waste management sectors, and I want it to be closely linked to similar initiatives being carried out in Europe. I receive calls from Austria, wondering when they can deliver CO2 to Equinor's transport and storage project Northern Lights.

In a broader context, CCS is all about the future of the Norwegian welfare system

It is no less than considering the benefits of having a car—with or without roads to drive it on. Our towns and cities can make all the difference. In this respect, the assessments being made by the Norwegian Environment Agency's Klimakur ("Climate Cure") project investigating emissions mitigation measures will be well worth following up. We must lose no time in focusing our ambitions.

In Brussels, we are sick and tired of hearing about ambitions linked to CCS. We want to see action and genuine investment in real projects. In a broader context, CCS is all about the future of the Norwegian welfare system. The debate about jobs and towns and cities is welcome—but now we really have to take action!


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Provided by Norwegian University of Science and Technology