Socialism_Is_The_Alternative

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The West’s efforts to block the ongoing transition from the old world order - built around the dominance of the dollar and enforced via the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO - “cannot succeed, because it is an objective, irreversible process,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated in an interview for the international TV BRICS network.

When the new centers of growth, operating under these very rules, began to demonstrate far more substantial economic results and significantly higher growth rates – as is evident across the BRICS countries – the West started seeking ways to block this transition, Sergey Lavrov said.

"This cannot succeed, because it is an objective, irreversible process. For several years now, the BRICS countries’ growth rates and GDP volumes have, in terms of purchasing power parity, substantially exceeded the combined GDP of the G7," noted Lavrov.

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Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak regularly stayed in an apartment in New York provided by convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to email correspondence with Epstein and his assistants released last week by the US Justice Department.

[...]

A newly released 2020 FBI document from the latest batch of Epstein files alleges that Epstein was “trained as a spy” by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The document is based on information provided by a confidential human source (an FBI informant) and was included in millions of pages disclosed last week by the US Justice Department as part of federal investigations into Epstein and his network.

According to the informant, Epstein was believed to be operating as an agent for Israeli intelligence. The document claims Epstein’s longtime lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, told then-US Attorney Alex Acosta that Epstein “belonged to both US and allied intelligence services.” The source further stated that they listened to and took notes on phone calls between Epstein and Dershowitz, and that Israel’s intelligence agency, the Mossad, later contacted Dershowitz to conduct debriefings about Epstein.

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A senior leader of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has firmly rejected calls for the group to surrender its weapons or accept foreign intervention in Gaza, pushing back against demands from the United States and Israel tied to the ongoing ceasefire process.

Khaled Meshaal, a former Hamas chief who currently heads the group’s diaspora office, made these remarks during a conference in Doha on Sunday, emphasizing that efforts to criminalize armed resistance and disarm Palestinian factions are “unacceptable” under continued Israeli occupation.

“Criminalizing the resistance, its weapons, and those who carried it out is something we should not accept,” Meshaal said.

“As long as there is occupation, there is resistance. Resistance is a right of peoples under occupation ... something nations take pride in,” he added.

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Last month, sales to the United States reached $2.4 billion, a 25.5% decrease compared to the same month in 2025 ($3.22 billion). At the same time, imports from the U.S. market fell by 10.9%, to $3.07 billion. The trade balance shows a deficit of $670 million, unfavorable for Brazil.

The 50% tariff originally imposed by the White House to Brasilia in mid-2025 was partially revised at the end of the year, but the ministry estimates that 22% of national exports to the northern country are still subject to extra rates between 40% and 50%.

Meanwhile, data from this entity points to a positive scenario in trade with China. In January, Brazil’s exports to the Beijing climbed to over $6.47 billion, a 17.4% increase compared to the first month of 2025 ($5.51 billion). Imports from the Chinese market fell by 4.9% to about $5.75 billion, resulting in a surplus of $720 million for the South American country.

U.S. and China are Brazil’s main trading partners. While total trade with the latter reached about $12.23 billion in January, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%, the figure for trade with the United States was $5.47 billion, an 18% drop compared to the same month in 2025.

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The Western authorities shielded Jeffrey Epstein’s child trafficking scheme, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said, calling newly unsealed US Justice Department files “pure hell.”

[...]

The Epstein files name several other high-profile figures, including US President Donald Trump, former US President Bill Clinton, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. None has been charged, and all deny wrongdoing.

Zakharova said the handling of the case exposes the hypocrisy of the Western justice system, which she said shields elites from accountability.

“It’s becoming clear: From the Kennedy assassination to the Nord Stream sabotage, nothing in the West is investigated – just like the Epstein case – when it implicates ‘global elites,’” she wrote. “Ironically, their crimes are now captured in photos and videos – and yet they claim ‘it’s not all that clear.’”

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Turkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) arrested two individuals with suspected links to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency following what officials described as a successful counter-espionage operation dubbed “MONITUM,” Turkish officials announced on 6 February.

The suspects, Mehmet Budak Derya and Veysel Kerimoglu, were detained in coordinated operations conducted by MIT in cooperation with the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Istanbul Police Department’s counterterrorism unit.

The dismantled cell had reportedly been operating on behalf of Israeli intelligence since 2012, using commercial activity as a cover for gathering intelligence on Palestinian individuals and targets while attempting to penetrate international supply chains.

The two suspects allegedly set up and managed shell companies, attempted to export drone components, and explored establishing front firms abroad to conceal where products came from and where they were ultimately sent, under the direction of Israeli handlers.

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Yemenis have staged a million-strong march in the capital Sana’a to reiterate their support for Palestinians and the axis of resistance.

The demonstrators reiterated their solidarity with Palestinians who are subjected to Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Amid ongoing crimes perpetrated by Israeli forces in violation of the US-backed ceasefire agreement, protesters chanted, “With Gaza, our initial stance, it will not change or waver,” “O Gaza, we stand by our principles, eager to strike the enemies.”

They also expressed their solidarity with Iran and Lebanon against the American and Israeli tyranny and arrogance.

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A 2005 IRS filings for one of Epstein’s charitable foundations, C.O.U.Q., show a $25,000 donation to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF).

The US-based charity raises funds in coordination with Israel’s military establishment to support Israeli soldiers and related military infrastructure.

In 2008, as Epstein was facing charges of sex trafficking minors, he traveled to Israel, taking a tour of military bases with the FIDF chairman, businessman Benny Shabtai.

The same IRS records also document a $15,000 donation to the JNF, which works to acquire Palestinian land for illegal settlements in occupied Palestine.

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After a decade without formal high-level meetings, Russia and Brazil resumed their strategic cooperation agenda this Thursday, February 5, in Brasilia. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin led the eighth meeting of the bilateral commission to outline the roadmap for the coming years. The meeting culminated in the signing of a joint declaration that prioritizes the technological and political sovereignty of both nations.

One of the most significant points of the document is Russia’s explicit support for Brazil’s candidacy for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. Both countries agreed that the body must be reformed to be more representative, integrating developing nations from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This stance seeks to adapt global institutions to the realities of a multipolar world, breaking with old patterns of exclusion.

On the economic front, the declaration underscores the absolute rejection of unilateral coercive measures, deeming them illegal and a violation of human rights. Moscow and Brasilia emphasized that such sanctions undermine sustainable development and threaten the independence of states. In this context, they agreed to diversify agro-industrial trade and strengthen logistical infrastructure to fully leverage the potential of their export economies.

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, in Beijing on Thursday.

“China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and security, opposes unwarranted interference by external forces, and rejects any attempt to deprive the Cuban people of their rights to survival and development,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said after the meeting.

Lin added that China is ready to support Cuba “to the best of its ability.”

Parrilla wrote on X that the sides “affirmed the special and strategic nature of the historical ties between the two socialist countries.”

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On Wednesday, Diosdado Cabello, vice president of Venezuela’s United Socialist Party (PSUV), led ceremonies honoring Commander Hugo Chavez at the Cuartel de la Montaña, as part of commemorations marking the 34th anniversary of the Feb. 4, 1992, Civic-Military Rebellion.

“This sacred date for the revolutionary calendar is a space for spiritual and political gathering where patriotic forces reaffirm their commitment to the man who restored national dignity,” he said.

Cabello emphasized that resistance to foreign aggression is one of the main lessons inherited from Chavez and that it continues to uphold the pillars of the Bolivarian Revolution.

[...]

“Under any circumstance, the best thing is always to think, ‘What would Chavez do?’ And there you always find the right answer,” Cabello said, reaffirming that the spirit of Feb. 4 remains alive in current resistance efforts and in the construction of a socialist homeland.

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Only 17% of Denmark’s citizens regard the United States as an ally country, while 60% see the US as an enemy, an Epinion poll commissioned for Danmarks Radio revealed.

This view of the US, driven by President Donald Trump’s statements about Washington’s need to control the Danish-owned island of Greenland, is shared by respondents across all political and age groups.

The poll, which involved 1,053 people, took place on January 21-28.