Good New: January 2020

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Russia Is Destroying Nutella, Fancy Cheese, and Other Western Foods

To remind enemies in the West that Russia is literally the place their delicious, but completely “illegal” Camembert, Nutella, and Mediterranean olives go to die, Vladimir Putin has unveiled a harsh decree: All Western food his goons find will now be destroyed, apparently by flame when possible.

Footage so far involves a lot of bulldozing, suggesting incinerators may be in short supply. Here’s video of what RT — most days of the year, Moscow’s propaganda arm — has taken to calling a “fromagicide”:

It’s a proud moment for Putin regardless. One reporter got invited to stand disconcertingly close to an active bulldozer and pretend to be excited:

It supposedly took an hour to crush around ten metric tons of bright orange-wrapped cheese by dumping it in a wasteland and slowly plowing it over countless times. Boxes arrived from Ukraine unmarked, but authorities at the food-safety agency, Rosselkhoznadzor, feel pretty strongly that it’s “possible” the cheese was produced in one of the countries that fall under the sanctions. (Better safe than sorry.) In another part of the country, five truckloads of definitely-not-Russian tomatoes and stone fruit got smashed with a tractor as well. The plan for the gourmet cheese is just to bury it in the ground.

So far, nearly 300,000 Russians have signed a Change.org petition pleading that the seized food be donated to anybody — orphanages run by pro-Russia separatists groups in Ukraine, if need be.

Agents at Rosselkhoznadzor warn that any wise guys who opt to “destroy” food by crushing it with their teeth and mercilessly dissolving it with stomach acid will face criminal charges.

US unsuccessfully targeted

The US has long accused Iran of supplying the Houthis with missiles and other sophisticated weapons that they have used in those attacks.

The conflict in Yemen began in early 2015 when Houthi rebels -- a minority Shia group from the north of the country -- drove out the US-backed government and took over the capital, Sanaa.

The crisis quickly escalated into a multi-sided war, with neighboring Saudi Arabia leading a coalition of Gulf states against the Houthi rebels.

A report from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project last June found that more than 91,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 2015. It also found that the Saudi-led coalition and its allies had been responsible for more than 8,000 of the approximately 11,700 deaths connected to the direct targeting of civilians in the conflict.

Last year, in a rare moment of bipartisanship, both the House and Senate passed a resolution (SR7) that called on the Trump administration to end all hostilities in Yemen that weren't expressly authorized by the Congress. President Donald Trump vetoed the resolution in April and the support of the Saudi-led effort in Yemen continues.

The Trump administration has been insistent that is the President's job to enact US foreign policy and that any attempt to limit his authority is inappropriate. In his veto message in response to SR7, Trump argued that Congress was the one overstepping its bounds.

"This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future," Trump wrote.

Why would a commercial airliner be operating during this time?

Several planes had taken the exact same flight path as the Ukrainian airliner, up to an hour before it took off, aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas told CNN.

"So clearly the authorities thought it was safe," said the editor-in-chief of Airlineratings.com.

All of which raises the question -- why was this particular aircraft shot down so soon after taking off?

"To sort of say it was an accident doesn't really ring true," said Thomas. "Because other aircraft had been operating in exactly the same manner in the previous hour."

He added that the Ukrainian plane's transponder was switched on and flight radar was "tracking it until it was blown out of the sky at 8,000 feet.

"If it was a threat, that aircraft would be probably below the radar. And/or a stealth aircraft. So it just doesn't ring true (that it would be an accident)," said Thomas.

Ukrainian Airline had "no information about possible threats," says CEO

Rescue teams gather at the scene after a Ukrainian plane carrying 176 passengers crashed in Iran Wednesday.

The head of Ukraine International Airlines said that they had “no information about possible threats” to civilian aircraft on departure from either Kiev or Tehran airports, ahead of Wednesday's crash.

The airline's flight 752 was accidentally shot down by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile last week.

"At the time of the departure from Boryspil airport, no information about possible threats was available,” UIA CEO, Yevgenii Dyhkne, said at a press conference in Kiev Saturday.
"At the time of departure from Tehran airport, similarly, we didn’t have any information and there were no decisions by the responsible administrations given to us,” he added.

Iranian commander "wished he was dead" after missile downed Ukrainian jet

General Amir Ali Hajizadeh,in September. Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images

The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force said Saturday he informed authorities on Wednesday that a missile had downed the Ukrainian passenger plane.

Brigadier-General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh said at a press conference in Tehran that after he told senior IRGC members about it, the general staff of the Armed Forces formed its own investigative team, from which he was excluded.

Hajizadeh partially blamed the US for the downing of the plane, saying Iran was already on high alert following the US’s warning that it could target 52 sites in Iran, and amid rising tensions with the country.

He said the plane was shot down by a short-range missile and was misidentified as a cruise missile by an air defense operator.

The operator identified the plane as a cruise missile but was unable to contact the central air defense command to confirm it. So he had to choose between shooting it down or not, and he choose to do it, Hajizadeh said. The operator had 10 seconds to make a decision.

Hajizadeh accepted full responsibility for the incident and said once it became clear what had happened, he thought: “I wish I was dead.”

In its final communication, the doomed jet was told to turn

The final interactions between the doomed Ukraine International Airline flight 752 and the dispatch tower at Tehran airport involved instructions for the plane to turn, according to airline officials who declined to provide additional details.

“We have been reassured that [the aircraft] had the dialogue with the airport, with the dispatcher tower, until the last moment of the catastrophe," the airline’s CEO Yevgenii Dyhkne said Saturday at a press conference in Kiev.

"There were negotiations about the route, they had permission to turn, so all of this is now connected to the investigation and I’m sure it will be available in documents in time,” he added.

Asked what the final words of the pilot were, Dykhne said he couldn’t comment on the details but UIA Vice President Ihor Sosnovsky added that the final communication between the plane and the tower was a command from the tower to “take an altitude and turn.”

Sosnovsky later added: “I do not have the right to tell you what they’ve said. That’s dishonest and that’s not right to do because this is the investigation materials, I have no right to tell you what they’ve said."

German foreign minister: Iran must "deal with terrible catastrophe"

Heiko Maas in May 2019. Odd Anderson/AFP/Getty Images

Germany’s foreign minister has called on Iran to “deal with this terrible catastrophe” after the general staff of Iran’s armed forces admitted Saturday that Iran had mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet on Wednesday, killing 176 people on board.

“It is important that Iran has been clear about flight PS752. Tehran should take steps to deal with this terrible catastrophe so this cannot happen again,” Heiko Maas said today via Twitter.

“Our thoughts are with the victims and the bereaved,” he added.

The Foreign Minister’s remarks come ahead of a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday, in which the two leaders are expected to discuss the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

Boris Johnson: Iran's admission "important first step," investigation is needed

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson said today that Iran’s admission that PS752 was shot down by mistake was “an important first step” and that a transparent investigation was now needed.

“Iran’s admission that Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by mistake by its own armed forces is an important first step,” Johnson said in a statement.

Johnson added: “We now need a comprehensive, transparent and independent international investigation and the repatriation of those who died. The UK will work closely with Canada, Ukraine and our other international partners affected by this accident to ensure this happens."

The statement went on to say that “this tragic accident only reinforces the importance of de-escalating tensions in the region. We can all see very clearly that further conflict will only lead to more loss and tragedy. It is vital that all leaders now pursue a diplomatic way forward.”

European Union expects Iran to "cooperate fully and undertake a comprehensive and transparent investigation"

The European Union has acknowledged the statements made by the Iranian authorities taking responsibility for the crash of Ukrainian International Airlines jetliner on Jan. 8.

"We deplore this tragedy which has caused the death of so many people from various countries and we reiterate our heartfelt condolences to their families and loved ones," a spokesperson for the European Union said.

The spokesperson added: "In view of the commitments given by President Rouhani, the EU expects that Iran will continue to cooperate fully and undertake a comprehensive and transparent investigation, which should abide by international standards, into how this tragedy occurred. Appropriate measures need to be taken to ensure that such a horrible accident can never occur again."

Canadian officials waiting in Turkey for visas to visit accident site in Iran

The Canadian government is waiting for Iran to issue 10 visas to representatives of the Canadian government to gain access to the accident site, Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a press conference Friday evening.

Two members of Canada’s Transportation Safety Board and 10 officials from Global Affairs are waiting in Ankara, Turkey for the documents.

“We need visas for these people to get on the ground, to have eyes on the ground and boots on the ground to be able to provide the assistance and be able to provide obviously consular services to Canadians,” Champagne said.

Champagne added: “I’ve been calling the Foreign Minister of Turkey today to seek his assistance as well to make sure the Iranian embassy in Ankara would be issuing the visas as quickly as possible because we all know that in circumstances like the one we’re facing time is of the essence. Every hour matters and we are pursuing that vigorously with all the authorities and partners around the world.”

Champagne said the latest information he had as of Friday evening was that two visas have been issued, but 10 more were needed for the Canadians to move into Tehran.

Angela Merkel calls plane crash "a dramatic event"

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was “good that we know who was responsible” for the downing of the Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, describing Iran’s accidental downing of the passenger aircraft as “a dramatic event.”

“It’s good that we know who was responsible for it and I believe that we should work together with all nations involved in order to find solutions and have a comprehensive examination,” Merkel said at a press conference in Moscow alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine investigating downing of passenger jet as case of "willful killing"

From Dennis Lapin in Kiev and Mary Ilyushina in Moscow

Ukraine is now investigating the downing of a Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet in Tehran by the Iranian armed forces on Wednesday as a possible case of “willful killing and aircraft destruction,” the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s office said today in a statement.

“Based on the results of processing the data obtained as a result of cooperation with international partners and also from the Ukrainian law enforcement and experts at the site of the tragedy…the General Prosecutor's Office has decided to change the qualification of the criminal offense,” the statement said.

“The investigation will continue under the articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provide for the liability for the willful killing of two or more people and the destruction of the aircraft,” the statement added.

More context: The change in the qualification of the investigation – which had initially been treated as a "violation of traffic safety rules" and "operation of air transport resulting in death" case – follows Iran’s admission on Saturday that it mistakenly downed the flight, killing 176 people on board.

According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Central Investigating Department of the Security Service of Ukraine has been “instructed to conduct a pre-trial investigation” into the case.