Month: دسمبر 2019

Twitter erupts with flamethrower memes as Bolsonaro v DiCaprio feud over Amazon flares up The row over rainforest fires in Brazil is far from over after Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio denied President Bolsonaro’s bizarre claim that he financed torching the Amazon, prompting fiery memes on Twitter. “While worthy of support, we did not fund the organizations targeted,” the actor wrote on Instagram, rebutting Bolsonaro’s allegations, without mentioning him by name. The Hollywood A-lister has become a household name in celebrity activism, championing various environmental causes across the globe. In his post, he promised to continue to support everyone in Brazil “who are working tirelessly to secure the Amazon for the future of all Brazilians.” //www...

Wake up call for Merkel as her coalition is threatened by new leftist leaders German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ‘Grand Coalition’ is under threat from within, as the Social Democrats (SDP) elect new, leftist leaders. Their focus on social justice puts the SDP at odds with Merkel’s center-right CDU. The SDP announced its new leaders on Saturday, following a vote by party members. While Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and Klara Geywitz – allies of Merkel – were tipped to win, the leadership went to leftists Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken. Both politicians have called for higher taxes on the wealthy, more government investment in infrastructure and climate change measures, and increased welfare spending, regardless of whether the country’s budget...

Russia wants to attract Indian investors to mine rare earths in Far East Indian companies IREL (Erstwhile Indian Rare Earths Ltd) and KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Ltd) are looking into rare earth elements projects in Russia, according to Russia’s Far East Investment and Export Agency. In a meeting with Indian firms in New Delhi, the Russian delegation presented perspective projects that could be implemented in the remote Far Eastern region and the Arctic zone. “We’re considering mining of lithium and cobalt,” the director of the agency, Leonid Petukhov, said. The official added that the region is keen to secure foreign investment for developing local deposits amid the lack of Russian investors. Also on rt.com US &am...

Hong Kong Unmasked: The real reasons & instigators behind anti-Beijing riots As Hong Kong’s anti-government movement continues to rage, RT looks into what sparked the unrest, the dire social inequality problems that fuel it, and how forces in Washington exploited this public discontent for their own ends. RT America’s Michele Greenstein, who personally witnessed brutal clashes and spoke to key figures on both sides of the barricades, paints a comprehensive picture of the protests. The contentious extradition bill, which was the catalyst for the uprising this summer served just as a pretext, while its nature was grossly misinterpreted. It doesn’t mean that the islanders – suffocated by prosaic issues like crippling prices and poor housing conditi...

Non-lethal, but dead-on: WATCH Russian cops use massive BIRCH LOG to disarm knife-wielding man Known as the Russian national tree, birch also works well as a taser, apparently – at least this is how these local policemen tackled a violent knifeman, whom they didn’t want to shoot because they “pitied” the erratic man. Starting off as a typical ‘Meanwhile in Russia’ video, the undated clip, which surfaced on social media this week, quickly turns into a tense and thought-provoking standoff. The video begins in the middle of an altercation between three traffic police officers and a man dual-wielding a knife and a traffic baton – which he apparently yanked from the cops. The profanity-filled exchange, possibly filmed by another officer, has the traf...