To start, a plug for this morning’s two-hour Consortium News discussion on an “information war” by the U.S. government; with luck, CN can get it online soon for viewers (probably a majority) who couldn’t watch it live anyway. Then, Associated Press and Reuters reports, both linked to the news services’ other current stories related to the war. Then, links to three segments on today’s “Morning Edition” program on NPR. Finally, via CN, Ben Norton of multipolorista.com replies to an April 11 New York Times article terming a “conspiracy theory” his reporting that that former Ukraine President Victor Yanukovych’s leaving office in 2014 resulted from a violent coup d’etat sponsored by the United States. — MCM
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‘Crushing Dissent’ With George Galloway, Chris Hedges, Scott Ritter and Jill Stein. A Consortium News discussion today, which started at 10 a.m. EDT, to “examine the information warfare being waged to enforce a single narrative about the war in Ukraine. . . . Today’s information war against individuals and media who do not adhere to the Western-government-enforced narrative on Ukraine is part of a long history in the U.S. of officially crushing dissent. With the advances of technology for both surveillance and censorship, we might be in the most chilling atmosphere yet for thought control. Will it too be brought down by its own excesses?” The event is co-hosted by Elizabeth Vos and Joe Lauria and produced by Cathy Vogan. Click HERE to tune in and read more about it.
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Russia loses warship, says attacks on Kyiv will increase, by Adam Schreck | The Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine — Russia’s Defense Ministry promised today to ramp up missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukraine’s alleged aggression on Russian territory, an ominous warning that followed Moscow’s stinging symbolic loss of its navy’s flagship in the Black Sea. The threat of intensified attacks on Kyiv came after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes on Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.“The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. READ MORE . . .
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Ukrainians hang on at Mariupol steel plant, by Natalia Zinets | Reuters — Explosions rumbled and smoke rose this week from a steel making district in besieged Mariupol where dwindling Ukrainian forces are holed up as Russia tries to take full control of its biggest city yet. The Azovstal iron and steel works, one of Europe’s biggest metallurgical plants, has become an aptly apocalyptic redoubt for Ukrainian forces who are outgunned, outnumbered and surrounded seven weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. . . . [T]he plant . . . covers more than 11 square kilometres (4.25 square miles), containing myriad buildings, blast furnaces and rail tracks. “The Azovstal factory is an enormous space with so many buildings that the Russians … simply can’t find [the Ukrainian forces],” said Oleh Zhdanov, a military analyst based in Kyiv. READ MORE . . .
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Russian President Vladimir Putin asserts that sanctions have failed. Reported by Steve Inskeep and Charles Maynes | National Public Radio. More than a month into sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine, we look at whether and how Russians are feeling the impact. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.
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The Pentagon can’t confirm yet how the Russian ship Moskva was destroyed. NPR’s Leila Fadel speaks to retired Adm. James Foggo about the impact on Russian dominance in the Black Sea and the war in Ukraine after Russia’s lead warship in the Black Sea sank. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.
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Many countries are seeing the worst inflation in decades.NPR’s Steve Inskeep speaks with correspondents Scott Horsley, Carrie Kahn and Lauren Frayer. Inflation isn’t just an American problem — it’s happening in places around the world and stretching some countries to the point of political unrest. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, to read. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.
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NYT Smears Journalist, Calls 2014 Ukraine Coup ‘Conspiracy Theory,’ by Ben Norton | multipolorista.com The New York Times published a ridiculous article smearing me with misleading claims, and even used an image of my face menacingly crossed out by a red line. The newspaper dismissed my factual statement that the United States sponsored a violent coup d’etatto overthrow Ukraine’s democratically-elected President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, calling this objective truth a “conspiracy theory,” while deceptively erasing the overwhelming evidence that I presented. The Times’ hatchet job violates . . . READ MORE . . .
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TO BE CONTINUED