US accuses financial website of spreading Russian propaganda BY NOMAAN MERCHANT ASSOCIATED PRESS FEBRUARY 15, 2022 5:29 AM

... Officials described for the first time what they say are direct communications between Russian spies and the editors or directors of the media outlets. They did not release records of the communications...

... Several of the sites have small social media followings and may not appear influential at first glance, noted Bret Schafer(*) , a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund's Alliance for Securing Democracy. But falsehoods or propaganda narratives often start small before they're amplified by larger actors, he said. “You see the narrative enter the information space, and it’s very hard to see where it goes from there," he said...
https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/health-and-medicine/article258408628.html#storylink=cpy

(*) Bret Schafer is a senior fellow and head of the Alliance for Securing Democracy's information manipulation team. Bret is the creator and manager of Hamilton 2.0, an online open-source dashboard tracking the outputs of Russian, Chinese, and Iranian state media outlets, diplomats, and government officials. As an expert in computational propaganda, state-backed information operations, and tech regulation, he has spoken at conferences around the globe and advised numerous governments and international organizations... - https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/author/bret-schafer/&ved=2ahUKEwjNhYnf74H2AhUNCRoKHZbNA8kQFnoECAQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw33zXOnTuQRWsZ3ATBajg7d

... The far-right and the hard-left (except the Trotskyists candidates) sit curiously together in the same fans’ club. Whoever leads Russia is assured of the goodwill of le Parti communiste. His candidate, Fabien Roussel, a Nato hater, argues that eliminating the Western alliance would solve all the problems. Also on the left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who despises the United States of America, criticizes the alleged American temptation to "annex Ukraine into NATO," even if it has never been on the table. "France must be non-aligned," he argues, adding that "the Russians must not enter Ukraine" either. The France Insoumise candidate is not satisfied with Emmanuel Macron making numerous phone calls with all the foreign leaders engaged in the flurry, or traveling to Moscou in the hope of appeasement...

... "I would like to know what the Americans would say if the Russians put nuclear missiles or made troop movements in Cuba or Mexico," said Eric Zemmour on Monday, as if American exercises were taking place in Ukraine... Also an Anti-American, the far-right candidate is one of the most ardent defenders of Vladimir Putin, whom he presents simply as "a Russian patriot" (don’t expect him to praise a Ukrainian patriot with the same ardor). "It is legitimate for him to defend Russia’s interests (...). The Americans have done a lot to provoke Putin," he added without a say on the Russian military build-up. Marine Le Pen, the other far-right candidate, is as old a friend of Russia as her rival. She does not see any reason to maintain sanctions against Russia imposed after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and keeps advocating for "the return to normal relations" with Moscow. "Reach out" to the Kremlin is also a line often used while Vladimir Putin keeps his hand in his pockets. The fact that a Russian bank has in the past granted a loan of about 10 million euros to Marine Le Pen’s party does not put it on an equal footing in terms of credibility.

Gaullist anti-NATO reflexes also agitate the conservative party Les Républicains even if their candidate, Valérie Pécresse (who happens to speak Russian) belongs to the atlantist current. Former French Prime Minister François Fillon, who was the conservative candidate in the 2017 presidential election, joined the board of a Russian state-owned petrochemical giant. Christian Jacob, the current party leader, also pleads for dropping European sanctions against Russia...

On the contrary, socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo is very attached to Ukrainian sovereignty and speaks bluntly of Vladimir Putin as an autocrat. Yannick Jadot, the environmentalist candidate and Center-left Christiane Taubira are on the same page. In 2019, Emmanuel Macron famously said that Nato was in a state of brain death. Putin’s moves have since resurrected the western alliance and revived the French disagreement on Russia...

https://www.lemonde.fr/le-monde-in-english/article/2022/02/08/how-putin-is-dividing-french-politics_6112804_5026681.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=LMIE&xtor=CS2-33281034-%5BFB%5D-%5Barticles%5D-%5Blemondeinenglish%5D&fbclid=IwAR3WKYUMdbBVmj0-8-8oM5CJy5Kzts99o5j8iqbjOCbKV60ndaEbJrrjgBM

Jerusalem Post World News
Could Ukraine crisis lead to new world order that impacts Israel? - analysis
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN Published: FEBRUARY 13, 2022 13:15

... The China-Russia-Iran-Turkey authoritarian alliance that often works together to challenge the US and western interests is part of an emerging new world order. This order emerged largely to challenge US global hegemony of the 1990s. It is symbolized by meetings in various forums such as Astana process on Syria and also the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation...

... There is compelling evidence that Russia has been able to outmaneuver the US and NATO already and that it has shown that pressure in the form of a troop build-up can cause panic in western chanceries and cause all the western leaders to either phone Moscow or run around in circles discussing what to do next. While the US and UK have appeared quite strong on the need to defend Ukraine, their NATO allies haven’t done much. While countries that were formerly in the Soviet orbit or close to the Russian border, such as Poland and the Baltics are standing strong on these issues, it’s not clear what countries like Spain or Italy will do. This lets us get a glimpse of what comes next. It’s increasingly clear that the “rules-based international order,” the one that made up the so-called “new world order” of the post-Gulf war status, is largely in tatters...

... Meanwhile, the US is largely beset by domestic squabbles and polling on backing Ukraine in the US shows that Americans are divided. They don’t really want involvement in another foreign war. Russia can read the polls too...

... If Moscow fumbles then this could fuel the US desire to move to near-peer rivalry and it could fuel massive defense spending for new systems and platforms to confront Moscow. That in turn could lead to the US seemingly awakening from a slumber of domestic chaos and pandemic-induced malaise...

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-696326

... According to the ministry, a Virginia-class submarine belonging to the US Navy was detected on February 12, 2022 at 10.40 (Moscow Time).

Under the guiding documents on protection of the Russian state border in the underwater environment, the crew of the Pacific Fleet’s frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov used appropriate means. The US submarine started a self-propelled simulator to split the target image on radar and acoustic control means into two parts and retreated from Russian territorial waters at a maximum speed, the ministry said...

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed reports Friday about Russia's "imminent invasion" of Ukraine as a "mass disinformation campaign" against Russia.

"The White House hysteria is more revealing than ever. The Anglo-Saxons need a war. At any cost. Provocations, disinformation, and threats are favorite methods of solving their own problems,” she wrote in a post on her Telegram channel. "Road roller of the American military-political machine is ready to go through people's lives. The whole world is watching how militarism, imperial ambitions denounce themselves. And a propaganda brigade chaired by Bloomberg serving all this."

Zakharova said the position of Western officials "in conditions of a mass disinformation campaign against Russia" is worth a separate mention -- avoiding giving a proper assessment of what is happening, the authorities validate their involvement in "fakes."...

... "We can talk about the collusion of the authorities of Western countries and the media in order to escalate artificial tension around Ukraine by the massive and coordinated publication of false information in geopolitical interests, in particular, to distract attention from their own aggressive actions," she wrote...

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/moscow-slams-reports-about-imminent-invasion-of-ukraine-as-disinformation-campaign-against-russia/2500496#

... Chinese experts believe Washington is trying to declare it is determined to fight and can win on two fronts - China and Russia - at the same time to emphasize the US' hegemonic status and try its best to mobilize as many allies and partners as possible to serve this strategic goal amid anxiety over unprecedented China-Russia relations.

But they pointed out the Biden administration has seriously misjudged itself and the international situation because the US today, deeply split and plagued by domestic problems, has neither the capability to contain two major powers simultaneously, nor the leadership to maintain trust from allies...

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202202/1252049.shtml

... Gavin Sundwall, a career foreign service officer in the office of policy, planning and resources for public diplomacy at the State Department, said, “The competition is fierce. Other actors, China, Russia, Iran are actively competing for control of information environments, and they’re well funded. They’re putting a lot of money into it precisely because — in the big scheme of things — it’s low cost... ”

... The terms “information warfare,” or “information operations” includes military information support operations that are carried out by special operators. Sometimes still referred to as “psychological operations,” or psy-ops, these specialists use various means to influence local populations or leaders to help combatant commanders achieve certain results on the battlefield. Strategically, information operations are used by governments to influence populations or other governments.

“Disinformation campaigns” — normally the realm of intelligence agencies — are covert efforts to intentionally spread false or misleading information, according to a policy brief by the Center for Security and Emerging Technology titled, “AI and the Future of Disinformation Campaigns.” Whether it is the State Department, Special Operations Command or the Defense Department, no single agency “owns this space,” Sundwall said...

https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2022/2/11/still-playing-catch-up-in-information-operations

Argentina’s government has confirmed that the country has signed up to China’s sweeping Belt and Road initiative, paving the way for investments worth more than US$23 billion.

The deal is expected to be finalised in the next few hours during a closely watched bilateral meeting between President Alberto Fernández and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, as part of the Argentine leader's three-day visit to Beijing. A memorandum of understanding committing both nations to the deal has already been signed...

... Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, said that Xi had called for the two nations to implement existing hydropower and railway projects and deepen cooperation in trade, industry, infrastructure, investment and anti-epidemic efforts in his meeting with Fernández. The Argentine leader expressed willingness to step up work with China on vaccine production and in other areas, Xinhua reported on Sunday morning. A host of other documents were also signed for joint cooperation on areas include climate change, the digital economy, space, technology, education, agriculture, public media and nuclear energy, according to reports.

https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/argentina-joins-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-eyes-us23-billion-investment.phtml

Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development

... Today, the world is going through momentous changes, and humanity is entering a new era of rapid development and profound transformation. It sees the development of such processes and phenomena as multipolarity, economic globalization, the advent of information society, cultural diversity, transformation of the global governance architecture and world order; there is increasing interrelation and interdependence between the States; a trend has emerged towards redistribution of power in the world; and the international community is showing a growing demand for the leadership aiming at peaceful and gradual development. At the same time, as the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection continues, the international and regional security situation is complicating and the number of global challenges and threats is growing from day to day. Some actors representing but the minority on the international scale continue to advocate unilateral approaches to addressing international issues and resort to force; they interfere in the internal affairs of other states, infringing their legitimate rights and interests, and incite contradictions, differences and confrontation, thus hampering the development and progress of mankind, against the opposition from the international community.

The sides call on all States to pursue well-being for all and, with these ends, to build dialogue and mutual trust, strengthen mutual understanding, champion such universal human values as peace, development, equality, justice, democracy and freedom, respect the rights of peoples to independently determine the development paths of their countries and the sovereignty and the security and development interests of States, to protect the United Nations-driven international architecture and the international law-based world order, seek genuine multipolarity with the United Nations and its Security Council playing a central and coordinating role, promote more democratic international relations, and ensure peace, stability and sustainable development across the world...

http://en.kremlin.ru/supplement/5770?s=08