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Syria anti-terrorist mission complete: Russian Aerospace Force returns from Iran's Hamadan Airfield


Sputnik
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 16:00 UTC
Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers
© AP Photo/ WarfareWW
Russian aircraft involved in airstrikes against the Daesh jihadist group last week have returned home from western Iran after successfully completing their tasks, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said Monday.

Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said further use of the Hamadan airfield for Russia's anti-terrorist mission in Syria would be carried out in line with bilateral agreements with the Islamic republic and events on the ground.

"Russian military aircraft that took part in the operation of conducting airstrikes from Iran's Hamadan air base on terrorist targets in Syria have successfully completed all the tasks. Currently, all the Aerospace Forces aircraft involved in the mission are on Russian territory," he told reporters.

"Continued use of the Hamadan air base in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Russian Aerospace Forces will be carried out on the basis of mutual agreements to combat terrorism and depending on the unfolding situation in Syria," Konashenkov said.
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Bad Guys

Alliance broken? Kurds now fighting to conquer Syrian government-run enclave


Sputnik
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 15:39 UTC
Kurds syria
© Sputnik/Mikhail Alaeddin/sputnik/File photo
Syrian army troops.
Sputnik's Arabic edition quoted a source in the Syrian Army as denying reports that the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) were advancing in the Syrian city of al-Hasakah, located in the mainly Kurdish-held northeastern part of the country.

The information came as the Syrian Army continues a military operation against the armed Kurdish groups after a ceasefire violation on August 16, when the YPG fired mortar mines at the government troops' positions.

"The country's Air Force planes continue to fly over al-Hasakah... no one can prevent our forces from conducting air operations," the source said.

It denied previously published information that the US-led international coalition allegedly does not allow the Syrian Air Force to make flights over al-Hasaka due to the presence of American military forces in the region.

Earlier, media outlets cited Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis as saying that the US military dispatched two F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets to intercept a pair of Syrian Su-24 warplanes that had flown in the vicinity of al-Hasakah.

Last week, regular Syrian troops launched a military operation in the eastern areas of al-Nashwa, in what was followed by the army's advance on the district of Geweran. An army source said that the goal is to enter al-Nashwa's western and eastern areas in order to move further towards the center of the city.

Comment: The Kurds are failing to see that their efforts to create an independent state are likely to fail. They are bing used as pawns in the larger game between East and West. For analysis of the situation in Hasakah, see: Hasakah jet encounters: Americans use Kurds to provoke Syrian military response, destroy Kurdish dreams in the process

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Info

Ankara warns India already 'infiltrated' by Turkey coup mastermind Gulen followers


RT
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 15:29 UTC
People with Turkish flags
© Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters
Supporters of the US-based Islamist cleric Fethullah Gulen whom Ankara believes to have been behind the military coup attempt last month have already "infiltrated" India, the Turkish FM claimed, urging Indian authorities to shut down Gulenist organizations.

Referring to the group led by Gulen as FETO (Gulenist Terror Organization, a term used by non-Gulenists) Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday: "Unfortunately, FETO has also infiltrated India through associations and schools."

Gulen's organization is a "transnational" one and has its followers around the world, he added. Claiming that the cleric's supporters represent a threat to Turkey's and India's national security, Cavusoglu urged India to take action to shut down organizations linked to the cleric.

"I have already taken up this issue with my counterpart," Cavusoglu told the Press Trust of India on Sunday following talks with India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj.

"In all countries where FETO has a presence, we ask them to take immediate actions to remove them from their territories," he said.

Comment: Gulen followers living in Europe receiving death threats and feel intimidated

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Jet3

Syria: French fighter jets bomb Daesh heavy equipment site


Sputnik
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 15:29 UTC
Raqqa
© Youtube/Expressen TV
Four of Rafale and Mirage 2000 fighters together with one Atlantique 2 aircraft dropped a dozen of SCALP cruise missiles at the facility which, the Ministry said, was at the heart of the Daesh-controlled territory.

"On Sunday, 21 2016, a French air raid struck at the Daesh center for storing and maintaining heavy equipment in Raqqa, Syria," the ministerial statement read.
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Dollar Gold

Why neither Trump or Hillary has presented a constructive, realistic economic program

Mikhail Khazin
Russia Insider
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 14:51 UTC
Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, republican U.S.presidential candidate Donald Trump
© Reuters
Modern economic science lacks the language and theory for creating such programs. Only Trump is likely to develop a realistic program going forward.

The author is a leading Russian economist, publicist, and TV and radio host. (Wikipedia - Russian only)

Sometimes referred to as the "Russian Paul Krugman", he writes prolifically, and has a very large audience in Russia. His articles typically receive hundreds of thousands of views. He is known for explaining complex economic ideas in clear terms non-specialists can understand.

He is a former senior economist in the presidential administration and a frequent speaker at international conferences.

Let's start with an old Russian joke: Optimists learn English, pessimists - Chinese, and realists - how to use a Kalashnikov.

To properly evaluate a future Trump or Clinton administration, a realist must ask two questions: 1) What are the economic development models proposed by each candidate, and 2) How successful are they likely to be in implementing them?

Let's compare the two candidates:

Comment: How long can we be convinced to ignore economic reality?

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Radar

Flight-test of radar component of Russia's next-gen A-100 AWACS coming March 2017


RT
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 15:27 UTC
Russia AWAC
© Alexander Vilf / Sputnik
An A-50U airborne early warning aircraft
Russia's brand new 'flying radar', reportedly capable of detecting enemy targets at ranges of more than 600km, will be flight-tested next March. The A-100 Premier will make her maiden flight by 2018, a defense source told Russian media.

The Beriev A-100 is an airborne early warning and control (AWACS) aircraft currently being developed by Russia, an upgrade of the A-50. The long-awaited addition to the Russian Air Force has already been verified on the ground and are ready for in-flight equipment trials, the source told Izvestia newspaper.

"At the moment, all deadlines have been set up and agreed with the military industry," the source said.

An older Il-76 version, the MD-90A aircraft - codenamed A-100LL during the flight tests - would be first used as a "flying laboratory" to stress-test all systems in the air. The trial is scheduled for March 2017, the source said.

Once the flight tests are complete, the newest variant of the aircraft called Il-476, which was designated for the new 'flying radar', will accommodate the avionics and radar systems, including its distinctive rotating radar dome above the fuselage.

"If everything goes as planned, the 'original' A-100 will make the maiden flight in 2018," the source said.
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Георгиевская ленточка

Russian claims to have shot down US drones violating Crimean airspace


Bosnia Press
Tue, 16 Aug 2016 03:18 UTC
US drones
© DARPA
DARPA's Vertical Take Off And Landing Combat Drone
The war you don't hear about: numerous American military aircraft (albeit of the unmanned variety, though with the possibility of being armed and dangerous) have apparently been violating Russian airspace, leading to the Russians shooting - yes, shooting - them down following the refusal of the Americans to acknowledge Russian diplomatic notes of protest.

The military violation of the territory, including the airspace, of a sovereign state is ordinarily taken to be a casus belli - an act of war.

But to be fair to the Americans, they may justify their belligerent behavior, flagrantly refusing to respect Russia's sovereignty, on the basis that they do not recognize Crimea to be a part of Russia.

Therefore, they do not recognize any violation of the airspace of Russia as having taken place. Rather, they would contend that the American aircraft in question were flying within the sovereign territory of Ukraine, with the permission of the government with the only legitimate authority to grant or refuse such permission, namely the government of Ukraine.

Nevertheless the Russians have made it clear that they consider Crimea to be a sovereign part of Russia. The Russians have made diplomatic protests over what they see as violation of their territory. The Americans have ignored them. The Russians have therefore shot down - and in one case commandeered and landed - these aircraft making incursions into their sovereign territory.
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Network

The Philippines begin peace talks with the New People's Army after 45 years of conflict


Tasnim
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 14:26 UTC
New People's Army
The Philippine government and Maoist-led guerrillas opened peace talks in Oslo Monday to try and end nearly five decades of conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people. Both sides, who agreed a truce over the weekend, sat facing each other in the Holmenkollen Park Hotel's "Nobel" room, named after the Nobel Peace Prize, with photographs of former winners including the Dalai Lama on the walls.

"This is a conflict that has been lasting for far too long," Norwegian Foreign Minister Boerge Brende told the meeting, saying there now seemed to be a "historic momentum" building to end the conflict, according to Reuters. "I'm really crossing my fingers," for progress, he told the parties, each represented by six negotiators.

Talks brokered by Norway between the government and the Maoist-led rebels' National Democratic Front stalled in 2012 over the government's refusal to free communist leaders who had been in jail for decades. Both sides declared a truce at the weekend to pave the way for the week-long talks in Oslo. Last week, Manila also freed 17 captured communist guerrilla leaders in the Philippines so they could attend the talks in Norway.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had previously ended a unilateral truce with the communist New People's Army late last month as rebels did not respond to a deadline to reciprocate the government's truce. The 3,000-strong New People's Army, the armed wing of the communist party, operates mainly in the eastern and southern regions of the country.

Comment: It's unlikely the peace talks between the Philippines and the NPA would be occurring without Duterte. A significant part of his presidential campaign was aimed at the need to end this conflict. While the West has painted him as a zealous supporter of the Communist rebels, he's been insistent on strict measures for the peace talks to continue. First and foremost he's been firm in his position that the guerrillas cease their use of land-mines and attacking civilians.

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No Entry

Southcom report: Sunni extremists entering the US through Mexico

Bill Gertz
Washington Free Beacon
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 14:59 UTC
U.S. Border patrol
© Spencer Selvidge
Sunni extremists are infiltrating the United States with the help of alien smugglers in South America and are crossing U.S. borders with ease, according to a U.S. South Command intelligence report.

The Command's J-2 intelligence directorate reported recently in internal channels that "special interest aliens" are working with a known alien smuggling network in Latin America to reach the United States. The smuggling network was not identified.

Army Col. Lisa A. Garcia, a Southcom spokeswoman, did not address the intelligence report directly but said Sunni terrorist infiltration is a security concern.

Comment: Thousands of Middle Eastern illegal immigrants busted with forged papers at US border

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Dollars

Iran may loosen grip on rial foreign exchange rate to get more investment


RT
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 14:45 UTC
Iran money
© Thaier al-Sudani / Reuters
Tehran is sending signals it may soon let the market decide the exchange rate of the Iranian rial, Bloomberg reports. The current dual-exchange rate system is hindering the inflow of foreign cash, which is crucial to rebuild the Iranian economy.

Iranian officials are reportedly allowing bankers to buy foreign currency at the market exchange rate rather than the central bank rate. At present, the Iranian rial is 12 percent cheaper in the open market, trading at 35-36 against the dollar, while Tehran sells it at 31.

The market are obliged to buy foreign currency at the exchange rate set by the central bank, and the gap between the two rates has widened during the years of international sanctions.
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