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France under threat 'like never before' - should remain vigilant, says ex-French spy chief


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 12:59 UTC
Bernard Squarcini
© AFP
Bernard Squarcini
France is facing unprecedented menace - both internal and external - as it is struggling to battle terrorism, Bernard Squarcini, former head of the French Internal Security Bureau has warned speaking to RT's SophieCo show.

Sitting in with RT's Sophie Shevardnadze, the ex-spy chief underscored that France does not feel secure at all. He explained that threats exist both beyond and inside its borders, including people in the French territory using the Internet to serve their malign purposes.

"France is very much threatened, like never before," - he proclaimed adding that France is struggling to deal with those threats, especially in the wake of the terrorist attacks that bloodied the country in recent years.

Paris is part of a global intelligence approach, but this area faces its own challenges not to allow data mining to "attack [the] national sovereignty" of each state. The methods to battle terrorism still need to be improved, the ex-spy chief believes, as a terrorist cannot be spotted on a European level so far.


Comment: An invasion of the ultimate privacy? Thought-control?
Excerpt: "Today the question to the interior intelligence is posed like this: which person out of a hundred people is capable of taking action? Without having executed the act, which is obviously a punishable offense. Without having done any preparations, for instance, buying nitrogen and fertilizer which can be used for preparing explosives. The task is to probe the consciousness, to find out who has an intention to commit a terrorist act in their head. And this is where we asked - after the Merah affair - to legalise special operations which are particularly useful in the domain of counter-espionage. Like Internet surveillance, e-mail surveillance, everything with regards to social networks and all. The problem is no longer only that of the police. The threat analysis must be much more refined, it must bring together sociologists, academics, people from surveillance, lawyers, psychiatrists, priests. How can we prevent extreme radicalisation working as a group?"


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Pirates

Canadian analyst: White Helmets are nothing more than terrorist auxiliaries


The Syria Times
Tue, 30 Oct 2018 12:31 UTC
Trudeau/WHelmets
© YourNewsWire
Canadian President Trudeau • White Helmets /Terrorists
Canada's decision to welcome White Helmets terrorists evacuated from Syria is consistent with Canada's overall strategy throughout the course of this criminal "Regime Change" war against Syria, a founding member of the United Nations, according to Mark Taliano, the Canadian political analyst and Research Associate at Global research.

Taliano told the Syriatimes e-newspaper that the strategy consists of pretending that the war of aggression using terrorist proxies is "humanitarian" while at the same time supporting all of the terrorists in coordination with a "coalition" that consists of NATO and its allies.

"Some refer to the strategy as a 'double game'... Will the consequences of this 'double game' imperil Canadians? It is impossible to foresee the future, but these terrorists are "intelligence assets", and the government will no doubt provide them with adequate remuneration for "services rendered", he added, raising the question: " Why would the terrorists bite the hand that feeds them?

Comment: Without an informed public and subsequent condemnation, the deception remains convenient and continued.

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Attention

Bolsonaro wants Brazil's Israel embassy to locate in Jerusalem, Palestine needs to be a state to have one


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 00:30 UTC
Bolsonaro
© Reuters/Lucas Landau
Brazil's President-elect Jair Bolsonaro
Brazil's President-elect Jair Bolsonaro has reaffirmed his commitment to move his country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, saying no other country has the right to tell Israel where its capital should be.

The controversial right-wing politician, who swept to power in Sunday's presidential runoff, had vowed to move the embassy during the election campaign, but confirmed in an interview with an Israeli newspaper on Thursday that he would proceed with the move once he's taken office.

"Israel is a sovereign state. If you decide on your capital city, we will act in accordance."

"When I was asked during the campaign if I'd do it when I became president, I said 'yes, the one who decides on the capital of Israel is you, not other nations'," Bolsonaro told the Israel Hayom newspaper.

Bolsonaro also suggested that he would close the Palestinian Embassy in Brasilia, saying the diplomatic building was built too close to Bolsonaro's future residence. "No embassy can be so close to the presidential palace, so we intend to move it."

He went on to question Palestinians' right to even possess a diplomatic mission, telling the paper: "Palestine first needs to be a state to have the right to an embassy."
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Bad Guys

A senior Russian diplomat confirms: "Russia is preparing for war" - the West is not listening

The Saker
The Unz Review
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 17:23 UTC
missile russian flag US flag
Andrei Belousov, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of Nonproliferation and Arms Control, has recently made an important statement which I shall quote in full and then provide a translation.
Original Russian text:

"Тут недавно на заседании Соединенные Штаты заявили, что Россия готовится к войне. Да, Россия готовится к войне, я это подтверждаю. Да, мы готовимся защищать нашу родину, нашу территориальную целостность, наши принципы, наших людей. Мы готовимся к такой войне. Но у нас есть серьезные отличия от Соединенных Штатов Америки. И в лингвистическом плане это отличие заключается всего в одном слове, что в русском языке, что в английском языке: Российская Федерация готовится к войне, а Соединенные Штаты Америки готовят войну"

Translation:

"Recently at a meeting the United States stated that Russia is preparing for war. Yes, Russia is preparing for war, I can confirm it. Yes, we are preparing to defend our homeland, our territorial integrity, our principles, our values, our people. We are preparing for such a war. But there is a major difference between us and the United States. Linguistically, this difference is just in one word, in both Russian and English: Russia is preparing for war while the United States is preparing a war" (emphasis added).
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TV

Police launch probe into allegations of anti-Semitic hate crimes by Labour party members


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 09:01 UTC
labour conference corbyn
© Reuters / Hannah Mckay
A criminal investigation has been launched into allegations of anti-Semitic hate crimes within the Labour Party, the Metropolitan police have confirmed after receiving a complaint in September.

Cressida Dick, the Met Police chief, has told the BBC officers are now examining online material because it appears "there may have been a crime committed."


Comment: Here's an actual crime that should be investigated: Israeli diplomat who plotted against MPs also set up political groups


The Guardian reports that radio station LBC received an internal Labour dossier detailing 45 cases that included messages posted on social media by party members. According to the paper, LBC handed the leaked documentation to former senior police officer Mak Chishty, who dealt with hate crime for the Met Police until last year.

Comment: We're in the era of hysteria where where pathological projection, more often than not, trumps reality - and that includes both those involved in 'hate speech' and those calling for the investigation: Also check out SOTT radio's:

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Cross

Double standards. ECHR says you can insult Christianity, but not Islam

John Laughland
RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 16:59 UTC
pussy riot
© Getty Images / Gary Miller
Pussy Riot performs in concert during Day For Night festival on December 16, 2017 in Houston, Texas
Two recent rulings by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) demonstrate not only that it's a political and hypocritical organization. They also show the severe structural defects of human rights law in general.

On October 25, the ECHR found in favor of Austria and against a claimant, Frau S., who had been prosecuted for saying in 2008 that the Prophet Mohammed "was a pedophile" because he had married a six-year-old girl. The applicant had claimed that the criminal sentence she received violated her right to free speech, enshrined in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court found against her and in favor of Austria, which had convicted her of inciting religious hatred.

On July 17, the same ECHR, by contrast, had found in favor of Russian applicants from the now famous 'Pussy Riot' band, and against the Russian state, which convicted them for having incited religious hatred by staging a performance of a 'punk prayer' in Moscow's Christ the Savior cathedral in 2012. This case was considered under three different articles of the European Convention on Human Rights but it made two judgements under the same Article 10 which the judges later said could not protect Frau S. In the Pussy Riot case, the court found that the girls' right to freedom of expression under Article 10 had been violated.
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Bizarro Earth

Brazil's newly-elected president Bolsonaro appoints judge who jailed rival Lula to top justice role - opposition outraged


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 16:56 UTC
Sergio Moro judge brazil
© Reuters / Rodolfo Buhrer
Top judge Sergio Moro set to become Brazil’s new justice minister
A Brazilian anti-corruption judge who helped imprison president-elect Jair Bolsonaro's main political rival has been appointed to lead the country's justice ministry, in a highly controversial political move.

Bolsonaro announced on Thursday that Sergio Moro would take on the powerful role of justice and security minister when he takes office in January. Moro was the judge responsible for jailing former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who, polls showed, would have easily beaten Bolsonaro had he been allowed to run again.

Tweeting about the appointment, Bolsonaro said his government would be guided by Moro's "anti-corruption and anti-organized crime agenda" as well as his "respect for the constitution" and rule of law.

Comment:

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Dollars

US threatens SWIFT with sanctions if it fails to cut off Iran's financial services


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 16:21 UTC
Trumpova strategija i europska podrška Iranu
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has warned global financial messaging service SWIFT on Friday that it could be penalized if it doesn't cut off financial services to entities and individuals doing business with Iran.

The warning comes as the Trump administration announced the re-imposition of all US sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal. The latest sanctions take effect November 4 and cover Iran's shipping, financial and energy sectors.

"SWIFT is no different than any other entity," Mnuchin told reporters, adding "We have advised SWIFT that it must disconnect any Iranian financial institutions that we designate as soon as technologically feasible to avoid sanctions exposure."

Comment: It's interesting that Washington feels the need to threaten SWIFT, which is based in Brussels, Belgium, capital of the EU, which wants to maintain trade/investment relations with Iran...

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Magic Wand

Crying wolf: Netanyahu claims he warned EU nation of Iranian plots on European soil


RFE/RL
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 16:48 UTC
netanyahu
© Petras Maluka / AFP
Big head, small brain
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling Iran the "most potent force of militant Islam," says he has warned Europe of possible Iranian attacks on its soil.

Speaking to reporters on November 1 after talks with his Bulgarian counterpart in Sofia, Netanyahu said radical Islam is a threat to the world and that Israel has recently revealed a number of Iranian plots to carry out attacks on European soil.


Comment: What planet is this clown living on? The vast majority of Islamic terrorism is Sunni/Wahhabi - i.e. it has its roots in Saudi Arabia, not Iran. Iran, like Syria, Iraq and Hezbollah, have been the only Middle Eastern nations to fight radical Islam while all the rest supported it - Israel included. But Netanyahu has never been known for his truthfulness, integrity, or even an average sense of morality.


Netanyahu did not provide details, but cases involving alleged Iranian plots to attack Iranian opposition groups or figures in both France and Denmark have emerged in recent months

The Israeli premier's warnings about Iranian plots in Europe have been part of his campaign to pressure European nations to take a tougher stance toward Tehran.


Comment: Exactly. It's called instrumental lying. It's what psychopaths and other criminals do.


Israel was one of the only countries to side with the United States this year in its decision to pull out of Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimpose sanctions.

Comment: See also: Iranian FM presents a chronology of Mossad attempts to kill nuclear deal

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Eagle

New US commander in Afghanistan finally admits Taliban cannot be defeated after 17 years of useless war


RT
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 16:33 UTC
Scott Miller
© Reuters / Mohammad Ismail
Commander of Resolute Support forces and command of NATO forces in Afghanistan, U.S. Army General Scott Miller
The Afghanistan war cannot be won militarily and peace will only be achieved through a political resolution with the Taliban, the newly-appointed American general in charge of US and NATO operations has conceded.

In his first interview since taking command of NATO's Resolute Support mission in September, Gen. Austin Scott Miller provided NBC News with a surprisingly candid assessment of the seemingly never-ending conflict, which began with the US invasion of Afghanistan in October, 2001.

"This is not going to be won militarily. This is going to a political solution," Miller said.

He mused that the Taliban is also tired of fighting and may be interested in starting to "work through the political piece" of the 17-year-old war.

Comment: Trump has been consistent in his criticism of the costly and insane decisions of US policymakers to start useless wars in foreign nations over the past 17 years. So Miller's admission is not just a coincidence. He's only saying what has been obvious from day one, but which can only now be said because the US has a president that is somewhat sane when it comes to foreign interventions. The stated justification for going to war in Afghanistan - because Bin Laden - was a lie. No mention of drug trade profits or the benefits of keeping the Middle East and Central Asia destabilized. But those goals only make sense to hardcore ideologues. To any normal human, nothing good has come out of them. They've wasted trillions of dollars and destroyed millions of lives. It's time to go home, America, and stay there.

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