Really a pleasure to sit a few days ago and talk with Mohamed Ali​, a brave Syrian journalist whose war reporting and political commentary I've followed for years. We were mainly meeting to finally sit down and chat--as we'd only accidentally crossed paths, at a briefing given by Syria's Foreign Minister, Mr. Walid al-Muallem [see Mohamed's overview of that here: https://www.facebook.com/EvaBoBeeva/videos/1606751786001476/]--but Mohamed had so many stories about his experiences, including a number of near-death ones, but also experiences interacting with civilians fleeing terrorist-occupied areas, that I asked if I could just record a bit of one of his videos. This video is relevant now, even though its from months ago, because similar scenarios will have played out along the humanitarian corridor in eastern Idlib... keep that in mind when western talking heads blather about Idlib. I'm pleased to learn that he'll be working on a documentary and will include a lot of footage he's never published in his reports for Press TV or elsewhere. I'm positive it will be a riveting mixture of war journalism and the humanity we don't see in Western media depictions of the Syrian army. Finally, it was really just so nice to talk with you, Mohamed, you're really a lovely person and Syrian patriot. Honoured to know you! :) ** What I wrote about Mohamed in the past: Syrian journalist Mohamed Ali has for years been bravely reporting from on the ground, including countless occasions in very dangerous areas, on front-lines, to bring truth to those seeking information on Syria. He is additionally an articulate political commentator. Last November, by fortunate chance, I had the opportunity to meet Mohamed, following a press conference where Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem addressed developments in and regarding Syria. Mohamed gave an overview of the conference, and while the attached video is from November and certain things have changed (Aleppo has been liberated, for one :) ), some other things remain the same (The Syrian govt remains committed to a political solution--but the powers fighting Syria do not; Syria will ally with anyone honestly fighting terrorism; US administrations can't be trusted...). In any case, the real intent of this post is to celebrate Mohamed's valuable work, for which I continue to be grateful. He is highlighted in this video: "10th Press TV Anniversary - Behind the scenes in Syria" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VMr7kVz7eU&feature=youtu.be * Some links, though he's done many more impressive reports: -On Twitter: https://twitter.com/mohali87 -Mohamed's report on the Nov press conference: http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/11/20/494478/Syrian-Foreign-Minister-Walid-alMuallem-UN-Staffan-De-Mistura -Syrian army ta ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS_BzrEOcv0

At Kaeson Youth (amusement) park, speaking with a group of 14 year olds about the park, whether they'd come there prior (yes, many times), if it was affordable (yes, inexpensive) and what their favourite ride was. Later in the week I saw another amusement park. Seems like DPRK authorities actually provide affordable entertainment to youths (and adults) in addition to the (free) impressive extra-curricular education/cultural/sports programs at the Children's Palace. Support my work by following on: My blog: https://ingaza.wordpress.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/EvaKBartlett Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvaBoBeeva Twitter: https://twitter.com/EvaKBartlett ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peBInUvOQqU

Powerful words of Donetsk residents speaking about what Victory Day means to them, with grandparents who fought to defeat fascism, and who for the past 9 years have lived under Ukraine/NATO's fascism. May peace return to them soon. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XutRAzYGTk

Navalny is a criminal (https://tinyurl.com/yyz36c7l ), and the West is propping him up (ala Guaido in Venezuela) & lauding a fake poisoning story in order to again attempt to foment unrest in Russia. On January 23, I went by metro to the site of the pro-Navalny protest planned for Moscow, in Pushkinskaya Square, arriving two hours before the 2 pm protest time, and standing roughly five hours in the cold until police had slowly cleared the square. This was a mix of young and less young people (including large numbers of self-appointed "citizen journalists"/social media activists wearing fluorescent vests easily-bought in stores to appear as accredited press) with scripted placards (handed out to participants, I saw a young man doing so). They protested for well over1.5 hours, chanting periodically (saying nothing of content), before the first police movements to clear the square (these movements amounted to police locking arms and walking forward, to push people back).It's what I saw in 2019 (except this time I saw very young, early or pre-teens participating), and this time it took longer for police to respond (in 2019 the response was fairly immediate). Note the intervals when an area has been cleared. Police & protesters stand around in close proximity to one another, police not "attacking" protesters, protesters standing close enough to police to indicate they don't actually fear "police brutality". Watch the body language, laughter even, of some of the protesters. Is that normal in a situation where one fears getting brutalized? My writeup: https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2021/01/30/the-navalny-protests-charade-western-interference-disinfo-on-russia-once-again/