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US 'deal of the century': Does it achieve peace or demilitarize Palestinian resistance?


Middle East Monitor
Sat, 25 Jan 2020 02:05 UTC
PalProtest
© Issam Rimawi/Anadolu AgencyPalestinian protest against the 'Deal of the Century', Ramallah, West Bank.
The US 'deal of the century', which according to US President Donald Trump, aims to achieve peace in the Middle East, proposes demilitarising Palestinian resistance, Arabi21.com reported on Friday.

Reporting Israeli TV Channel 12, Arabi21.com revealed that the deal will be presented to leaders of the two largest Israeli parties - the Likud and Blue and White parties - in Washington.

The deal recognises full Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, annexing all Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and cancelling the right of return of Palestinian refugees. The deal is the most generous proposal that has been offered to Israel, noting that it includes the establishment of a Palestinian state with certain conditions, that no Palestinian leader would accept.

Channel 12 disclosed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) president, Mahmoud Abbas, is not aware of the details of the deal, as there has been no real contact between the PA and US administration, since the latter's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, in December 2017.

Comment: Sputnik, 26/1/2020: Palestinians could abandon Oslo Accords
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) reserves the right to withdraw from the Oslo agreements [signed in the 1990's], which regulate relations between the Palestinian Authority and the state of Israel, if US President Donald Trump releases his "deal of the century" peace plan, citing Saeb Erekat, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and former Palestinian representative in the talks on the Oslo Accords.

Trump's plan seeks to turn the "temporary occupation [of Palestinian territory by Israel] into a permanent" one, although there has so far been no reliable information about the political part of Trump's "deal".

Deal of the Century contents largely remain a mystery except for its economic part, which was published in June 2019. The deal namely pledges to invest $50 billion in the Palestinian territories and neighbouring Arab countries. It also envisages the construction of a transport corridor between the PNA-controlled West Bank and the Gaza Strip for additional $5 billion.
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Oil Well

In a dangerous standoff, US troops block Russians from Syrian oilfields

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Thu, 23 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Roadblock
© Mohammed HassanUS blocks Russian access to oil fields
Tense encounters could turn deadly, sparking a major clash of superpowers after third such incident within a week.

Yet another dangerous incident has played out between American and Russian forces operating in Syria in what appears a series of standoffs near key oil installations since Saturday. "This is the third incident that occurred within a week," one local reporter told VOA in an alarming report.

Days ago we reported on the first incident involving a US convoy blocking a Russian convoy on a highway near the town of Rmelan, after the Americans were apparently concerned the Russians were going to enter an oil field, which the US administration says it has "secured".

But now Voice of America reports three total incidents, with the most recent ones happening Tuesday and Wednesday in al-Hasakah province, as newly detailed by the opposition outlet Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

All of the incidents involved US forces blocking Russian military vehicles and forcing them to turn around as they neared sensitive oil installations held by the US-backed Kurdish SDF and American special forces in Syria's northeast.

Comment: The US has no justification to 'protect' Syrian oil fields, nor rights to the resources. The risks in continuing to do so may be mightier than any illegitimate gains it envisions.

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Airplane

Zarif: American who shot down Iranian plane got a medal, Iranian who downed Ukraine's jet is in jail


RT
Sat, 25 Jan 2020 11:04 UTC
Zarif
© UnknownIranian FM Javad Zarif
Iran has imprisoned the army officer who fired a missile that killed 176 on board a Ukrainian jet, Mohammad Javad Zarif has said, comparing Tehran's actions to that of the US when it downed an Iranian airliner 32 years ago.

The downing of a Ukraine International Airlines' Boeing 737 in early January was "a complicated situation in a complicated time," Zarif revealed in an interview with Germany's Spiegel magazine, when pressed into explaining why it took three days for Tehran to admit their guilt.

"Others needed much more time. Almost 32 years ago, the US shot down an Iranian passenger plane. As of today, they still haven't issued an official apology," the chief diplomat said, referring to Iran Air's Dubai-bound Flight 655 which was shot down by the USS Vincennes cruiser in July 1988.

And unlike the US, Iran didn't promote those involved in firing missiles against a civilian target, Zarif reminded. "The American officer who was responsible for shooting it down even received a medal. Meanwhile, the Iranian man who shot down the Ukrainian plane is now in prison."

Comment: Iran has claimed responsibility for the Iranian airliner tragedy, however questions remain as well as speculation that there is more to this tragedy than currently known.

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Hiliter

India and Brazil sign 15 accords, deepen ties and cooperation

Ismail Shakil, Jamie McGeever
Reuters
Sat, 25 Jan 2020 09:49 UTC
Bolsonaro/Modi
© The Indian ExpressBrazilian President Jair Bolsonaro • India PM Narendra Modi
India and Brazil have signed 15 accords aimed at forging closer ties between the two emerging market giants across a range of sectors, especially defense, both countries' leaders tweeted on Saturday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took to social media to hail the closer cooperation and agreements struck during Bolsonaro's official visit to India.

"Several agreements signed in ​​infrastructure, justice, science and technology, agriculture, oil exploration, mining, health, culture and tourism," Bolsonaro tweeted, adding: "The world's confidence in Brazil is back!"

For his part, Modi tweeted: "India and Brazil are focusing on expanding cooperation in the defense sector," adding that the two countries share "immense synergies" on several key issues such as the environment and fighting terrorism.

Separately, Brazil's foreign minister Ernesto Araujo tweeted that the 15 accords signed by the two countries represent a move "against the structures of globalist thought." "Brazil is rising to be a great among the greats," he tweeted.

Comment: Yahoo News 25/1/2020:
Bolsonaro arrived in Delhi on Friday for a four-day visit to India, accompanied by his daughter Laura Bolsonaro, daughter-in-law Leticia Firmo, eight ministers, four members of the Brazilian parliament and a large business delegation.



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Info

'Bad Farsi? Try English': Iran's Zarif mocks Trump for comments based on Fox headlines & shabby translation


RT
Sun, 26 Jan 2020 18:26 UTC
fox news microphone
© Alexandra Schuler / dpa via Global Look Press
Tehran's top diplomat has suggested the US president stop sourcing news from either Fox or his hapless Farsi translators, after Trump rejected negotiating with Iran, apparently missing a crucial nuance in a Der Spiegel interview.

President Donald Trump on Sunday told his Twitter subscribers that "Iran wants to negotiate with The United States, but wants sanctions removed." He tagged Fox News and One America News and issued a resounding "No Thanks!" To hammer home the message, the commander-in-chief posted the same words in Farsi, the official language of Iran. Trump had earlier tweeted, also in Farsi, his support of anti-government protesters in Iran.


His remark apparently was in response to an interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, which was published by Der Spiegel magazine. The Iranian foreign minister appears to doubt whether Trump got his words right, Zarif took to Twitter to lecture the US leader.

Trump, he said, "would be better advised to base his foreign policy comments & decisions on facts, rather than @Fox News headlines or his Farsi translators." He also suggested that Trump read the English version of the interview himself, or at least the relevant part of it, which he helpfully attached to his Twitter post.
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Black Cat

Joe Biden: A portrait of corruption

Eric Zuesse
The Duran
Sun, 26 Jan 2020 18:10 UTC
biden obama joe hunter
© Associated PressHunter Biden, right, attends a basketball game with his father, Vice President Joe Biden, center, and President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., in 2010.
On 25 October 2019, Lee Fang at The Intercept headlined "JOE BIDEN'S SUPER PAC IS BEING ORGANIZED BY CORPORATE LOBBYISTS FOR HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY, WEAPONS MAKERS, FINANCE", and he reported that among the billionaires who were planning a PAC to support Joe Biden's campaign was Bernard Schwartz. On that same day, I headlined "Biden Backer — Former Lockheed Leader — Convinces Biden to Sell-Out", and I reported that the "Former Lockheed leader" who was leading this effort was Schwartz, himself, formerly a Chairman of Lockheed Martin, the company that sells more to the U.S. Government than does any other — it's by far the largest federal contractor.

In other words: if Biden does become the U.S. President, then he will be heavily in debt to the world's biggest weapons-maker, a corporation whose profits are totally dependent upon selling to the U.S. Government and to its allied governments such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Israel. This is exactly the opposite of what America's Founding Fathers urged subsequent generations of Americans to do. They were very wise. Joe Biden is not.
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Dollars

Analysts say EU carbon tax more about political wrangling and increasing revenue than tackling climate change


RT
Sun, 26 Jan 2020 17:31 UTC
steel mill foundry molten iron
© Pixabay / Erdenebayar Bayansan'Dirty' industries, such as Chinese steel manufacturers are in the cross-hairs
The new European Commission president has been trying to make fighting climate change the hallmark of her presidency. However, her proposals could further split the bloc and backfire, hurting the EU itself, analysts believe.

Since taking office in December, Ursula von der Leyen has been pushing for the Green Deal, aiming to make Europe the "world's first climate-neutral continent by 2050." The approach includes tax on imports from non-EU countries with less-strict ecological rules. By doing this, Brussels claims it wants to prevent so-called carbon leakage, so importers from countries with "lower ambition for emission reduction" do not benefit from European producers abiding by strict green rules.

However, the move could be more about raising tax revenue for the EU and gaining political leverage than climate change, according to Richard Werner, university professor in banking and finance at Linacre College, Oxford. While the tax may not be implemented for many years, von der Leyen may currently use her warnings as part of the trade war between China and the US, he noted.

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Dollar

The green economy is the new black at Davos 2020

Mike Luongo
Gold, Goats 'N Guns
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
corn in snow
Green is the buzzword of the day. And it seems everywhere you turn today there are only two topics that matter — Climate Change and impeaching Donald Trump.

Everything else has been put on the back burner, so to speak.

The annual convocation of oiligarchs known as Davos is underway and all that the dutiful media would report on was the intense focus on climate change.

President Trump, for his part, came into that room and did what he always does, step on the metaphoric duck and draw the ire of the globalist glitterati.

But nothing Trump said landed with any weight because The Davos Crowd is in the process of getting rid of America's Loki anyway.

The Green economy is being touted by everyone now. It was one thing when it began with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her insipid Green New Deal. When it was just her and the Justice Democrats pushing this it could be dismissed as a silly tactic to push the Democratic Party in the U.S. unacceptably left by a bunch of malcontent Bernie Bros.

But when it's every major central banker in the world, including heads of major Federal Reserve Banks, it is quite another. When Greta Thunberg is speaking at both the United Nations and Davos, you know this is official policy.
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Russian Flag

Putin calls for a new system guided by the UN Charter... But is it possible?

Matthew Ehret
Strategic Culture Foundation
Thu, 23 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Putin and FDR
Anyone looking with sober eyes upon today's world and the feeble economic and geopolitical underpinnings holding the system together must accept the fact that a new system WILL be created.

This is not an opinion, but a fact. We are moving towards eight billion lives on this globe and the means of productive powers to sustain that growing population (at least in the west) has been permitted to decay terribly over the recent half century while monetary values have grown like a hyperinflationary cancer to unimaginable proportions. Derivatives speculation alone under the deregulated "too big to fail" banking system has resulted in over $1.5 quadrillion in nominal values which have ZERO connection to the real world (GDP globally barely accounts for $80 trillion). Over the past 5 months $415 billion of QE bailouts have been released into the bankrupt banks to prevent a collapse. So, economically it's foundation of sand.

Militarily, the west has followed the earlier Roman empire of yesteryear by overextending itself beyond capacity creating situations of global turmoil, death and unbounded resentment at the dominant Anglo American powers controlling NATO and the Military industrial complex. The recent near-war with Iran at the start of 2020 put the world on a fast track towards a nuclear war with Iran's allies Russia and China.
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Bizarro Earth

'Once in a lifetime opportunity for Israel': Netanyahu to join Trump in unveiling 'deal of the century' - Palestine not invited


RT
Sat, 25 Jan 2020 20:59 UTC
trump netanyahu
© Reuters / Ronen Zvulun
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz are to meet US President Donald Trump to finally unveil the 'deal of the century' peace plan. No Palestinian representative was invited, and a sovereign state looks unlikely.

"An opportunity like this comes once in history and cannot be missed," Netanyahu gushed as he accepted Trump's invitation to the White House on Saturday, praising the American as "the greatest friend that Israel has ever had." He boasted he would be "leaving for Washington with a sense of great mission, great responsibility and great opportunity - which will not recur - to ensure the future of Israel."

The latter part of the statement seemed clearly directed at Gantz and the voters Netanyahu has to convince that he is the only one who can secure Israel's future when he squares off against his rival in an unprecedented third election later this year. Beset by bribery and corruption charges, Netanyahu has repeatedly failed to form a government after the coalition led by his Likud party twice deadlocked with that of Gantz's Kahol Lavan party. The longest-serving PM in Israeli history has promised to annex the Jordan Valley and taken credit for various pro-Israel moves by the Trump administration, including recognizing Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights - illegal under international law - and moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.

Comment: See also:

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