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Putin to Turkey: Now that S-400 is in Syria, try to violate Syrian airspace


Sputnik
Thu, 17 Dec 2015 21:28 UTC
s-400
© Sputnik/ Dmitriy Vinogradov
With Russia's deployment of the S-400 anti-aircraft system, Turkey will not be able to violate Syria's airspace with impunity, as they had previously done, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday at his annual press conference.

"They [Turkish authorities] thought that we would turn tail and run! No, Russia is not that country. We have increased our presence in Syria, have increased the number of combat aircraft deployed there. There was no Russian air defense system there - now there's the S-400. If before, Turkey had constantly violated Syrian airspace, let them try it now."

Following the incident involving the Russian Su-24M bomber which was shot down by a Turkish F-16 over Syria on the Turkish border, Russia deployed its latest anti-aircraft missile system - the S-400 to Syria, also deploying the missile cruiser Moskva and the submarine Rostov-on-Don off the shores of Syria in the Mediterranean.

The S-400 Triumf (NATO reporting name SA-21 Growler) is Russia's next-generation air defense system, carrying three different types of missiles capable of destroying aerial targets at short-to-extremely long range.

In late November, the S-400 systems were deployed at the Hmeimim airbase near the Syrian port city of Latakia to protect anti-terror operations by Russia's Aerospace Forces. The decision was made one day after Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 aircraft.
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Eye 2

US carried out at least 16 clandestine anthrax and bubonic plague tests in S. Korea


RT
Fri, 18 Dec 2015 20:21 UTC
hazmat suits
© Kimimasa Mayama / Reuters
The US military has conducted 16 clandestine tests with samples of anthrax and one experiment with bubonic plague since 2009, a joint US-South Korean investigation has revealed. Samples were tested at a US military base, but also in South Korea's capital, Seoul.

The results of the investigation, led by a joint US-South Korean group, contradict previous statements by the Pentagon that anthrax was tested only once at an American military base outside Seoul.

It's been revealed the United States Forces Korea (USFK) imported and tested anthrax samples 15 times at Yongsan Garrison, in the center of Seoul, between 2009 and 2014. This is in addition to the only exercise admitted by the US in May 2015.

Back then, USFK command said it used anthrax samples only once, claiming they were "accidentally" shipped to the US Osan airbase outside Seoul, exposing 22 lab personnel to the deadly agent. None of the workers exposed was eventually infected.

Comment: Here's a nice side benefit of being an American puppet state - you get to be test tube pin cushions for US chemical weapons.

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Radar

Deputy Head of Russian Aerospace Forces: SU-24 shot down by Turkey posed no threat


Sputnik
Fri, 18 Dec 2015 20:09 UTC
black box
© Sputnik/ Anton Denisov
Downed Su-24 posed no threat to Turkey, Deputy Head of Russian Aerospace Forces said during a briefing Friday. The Deputy Head of the Russian Aerospace Forces also stated that Russia has proof the downed Su-24 had never crossed the Turkish border.

"In any case the downed Russian Su-24 bomber jet was of no threat to Turkey and its citizens," Sergei Dronov said. "At present we can say that we have all the necessary info at our disposal: we do have proof that the Russian Su-24 did not violate the Turkish air space."

He also added that Russian bomber jet's flight data recorder is currently in condition found at crash site. "We have not done anything with the black boxes yet. The flight data recorder remains in its initial condition," Dronov assured at a briefing in Moscow.

The Russian Su-24 bomber was brought down over Syria on November 24 by an air-to-air missile fired from the Turkish F-16 fighter in response to an alleged violation of Turkish airspace. Both Russian and Syrian defense officials confirmed that the Su-24 never crossed into Turkish airspace.

In response to the incident, Moscow introduced a set of measures against Ankara. The measures, which ban or restrict the activities of Turkish organizations in Russia and prohibit Russian employers to hire Turkish citizens, are due to take effect from January 1, 2016.
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Bad Guys

Five global powers agree on UN Security resolution draft to settle Syrian crisis - reports


RT
Fri, 18 Dec 2015 20:05 UTC
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov at a meeting regarding Syria at the Palace Hotel in the Manhattan borough of New York December 18, 2015
© Carlo Allegri / Reuters

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov at a meeting regarding Syria at the Palace Hotel in the Manhattan borough of New York December 18, 2015
The five permanent UNSC members have agreed on a draft of a resolution calling for a ceasefire and political settlement in Syria, agencies report, citing diplomat sources. The official vote is expected in the coming hours.

The draft demands that all parties to the Syrian conflict "immediately cease any attacks against civilians," Reuters reports. A mechanism to monitor the truce is to be worked out within a month.

The draft resolution would also ask the UN to convene formal talks on a transitional government. The talks between the regime and opposition are targeted for early January.

Foreign ministers from 18 countries as well as the UN and Arab League representatives gathered in New York Friday to push the Syria roadmap.

Apart from the UN and the Arab League, the group also includes Russia, the US, the EU, the UK, Germany, France, China, Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Qatar, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, who have already met twice in Vienna in the last six weeks and drafted a road map for the Syrian conflict reconciliation.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that new calls for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down were voiced during the conference that preceded the UN Security Council meeting. These calls were framed into the fight with terrorism, he said.

"We confirmed our position that - as the UNSC has repeatedly stressed - there can be no pre-conditions to fight terrorism," Lavrov said adding such calls did not make it into the draft. He once again said it is up to the Syrian to determine the future of their country and its current leader.
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Eye 2

Extremists in Libya steal large quantities of chemical weapons


Sputnik
Fri, 18 Dec 2015 20:04 UTC
Libyan extremists
© REUTERS/ Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Extremists in Libya have stolen large amounts of sarin gas, which is considered a weapon of mass destruction by the UN; they found the nerve gas stored in warehouses in southern Libya and have smuggled it to northern cities, including Tripoli, a close aide and cousin of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said in an interview.

"Huge amounts" of sarin are being moved from desert areas in the south to the north of the country and to the suburbs of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, Ahmed Gaddaf al-Dam said in an interview with the London-based Arabic international newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday.

He added that the outlawed gas was first used in the country in 2014, yet some Western countries "turned a blind eye".

Sarin gas, also called GB, is one of the most dangerous and toxic chemical weapons known. It was invented in Germany in 1938 during attempts to develop pesticides; however, following its discovery, the Nazis weaponized it. It belongs to a class of chemical weapons known as nerve agents. Although the Nazis had plans for the construction of a facility to produce sarin for wartime use, it was never completed.

Pure sarin is a colorless and odorless gas, is extremely volatile, and can spread quickly through the air. A lethal dose of sarin is about 0.5 milligrams; it is approximately 500 times more deadly than cyanide.

Comment: You can thank Killary and the US for this. They are the ones that assassinated Gaddafi, bombed Libya back to the Stone Age, and turned the entire country into an ISIS playground. Perhaps that was their intention?

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Magnify

The international community looks away as black box is opened from Turkey-downed Russian jet


RT
Fri, 18 Dec 2015 19:22 UTC
Russian SU-24 jet black box
© RT
The Russian military have invited experts from 14 nations to work on the flight recorder of the Russian Su-24 bomber downed by Turkey, but only two of them accepted their invitations, the Defense Ministry reported, before unsealing the device. The experts who agreed to participate in the study of the flight recorder, which is to provide further evidence into the highly controversial incident, come from the UK and China, Lieut. Gen, Sergey Dronov, deputy commander of the Russian Air and Space Forces, told the media.

Turkey shot down the Russian warplane on November 24 as it was conducting an anti-terrorist mission in a region close to the Turkish border. Ankara says it used force in response to a 17-second violation of its airspace and was fully justified in doing so. Moscow denies that any violation happened, a statement that the flight recorder may help to confirm. The device was recovered by Syrian and Russian troops shortly after the incident and transported to Russia for investigation. Moscow pledged that the study of the flight recorder would be carried out with maximum transparency to avoid any shadow of doubt that it had been tampered with.


Comment: This kind of transparency is incredibly rare in the West, where governments like the US do not allow anyone to participate in their investigations. The Russians are smart enough to know that if they let the rest of the world be involved in decoding the black boxes, there can be no question as to what actually happened. Everything is right there for the world to see.

It's also pretty telling that so few international experts accepted Moscow's invitation to examine the downed jet's black box. If this truly was an issue 'between Russia and Turkey' (as the U.S. has proclaimed), then we would expect more countries involved. But clearly, there is larger influence at work that is keeping countries from participating and providing validation for what is found.

See also: Putin invites UK gov and international experts to analyze black box of Russian jet - says it will expose Turkey for attacking them

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Network

German business leaders against anti-Russian sanctions, seek to develop stronger ties with Moscow


Sputnik
Fri, 18 Dec 2015 18:53 UTC
german eu flag
© Sputnik/ Sergey Guneev
A poll of German companies has found that the majority complain that sanctions aimed against the Russian economy are hurting them no less, the German press reported on Friday. A recent poll conducted by the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce (ANK) has found that 80 percent of companies that have trade links with Russia believe that economic sanctions are not having their desired effect, the German press reported on Friday.

Two thirds of the ANK's 850 member enterprises told the pollsters that sanctions were demonstrating an economic effect - but with the same impact on German companies as on their Russian counterparts.

Half of the companies complained about financial market restrictions, and one quarter said they were affected by restrictions on the sale of dual-use goods that can be used for both military and civil purposes.
"Our member companies say that Russia's political stance has not changed, whether we have sanctions or not," said ANK President Rainer Seele.

"The German economy is suffering in Russia, and it is suffering very much."

"I recommend defining Russia once again as a strategic economic partner," said Seele, who is CEO of OMV, Austria's largest oil and gas company. He added that OMV is continuing with its investment plans in Russia.

"From the cost situation, Russia is very attractive."

Comment: History will likely look back on this period and see that despite Western attempts to 'contain' Russia, it is on an ascending path as a thriving civilization. Conversely, the EU is on the decline and is only sealing it's fate as long as it remains fixed to the sinking USS Dominion.

EU officials, without the agreement of it's member countries, have just extended sanctions against Russia. Let's see how that works out for them.

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Jet5

Russian airstrikes obliterates half of Daesh oil trade


Sputnik
Fri, 18 Dec 2015 18:40 UTC
Daesh oil trade
© AP Photo/ Khalil Ashawi
Russian airstrikes have halved Daesh's (also known as ISIL/ISIS) proceeds from its illegal oil trade, according to America's Fox News channel quoting unnamed sources from the ground. Retired Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney suggested that the jihadist group might be tempted to take more fields, but Russian airstrikes prevent them from doing so.
"They'll be tempted to but I do not see Daesh (ISIL/ISIS) expanding with the Russians there. The Russians are using their air power far more effectively than the US," former Assistant Vice Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney told Fox News in a live broadcast.

"Some may say it is not in accordance with the law of land warfare but the fact is they [the Russians] are getting results," he added.
Earlier on Monday Russia's envoy to UN warned that Moscow could raise the issue of imposing sanctions on Ankara over Daesh oil smuggling.
"Mechanisms exist to place sanctions on both Turkish companies and individuals. Even the country could be subject to sanctions if it is shown that it has not taken effective measures against financing terrorism," Churkin told RIA Novosti.

Comment: Not only is Russia 'far more effective' in Syria than the US, they are accomplishing their goals under international law. Those in the US saying otherwise should look in the mirror at the US' own refusal to abide by international law.

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Airplane

Dutch Safety Board's MH17 report doesn't meet international standard of evidence


Sputnik
Fri, 18 Dec 2015 18:25 UTC
MH17 Dutch Safety Board
© Reuters/ Maxim Zmeyev
The Australian Federal Police and their Dutch counterparts believe that the Dutch Safety Board has failed to provide "conclusive evidence" of what type of weapons destroyed Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 and who could have been responsible for the catastrophe, Moscow-based Australian journalist John Helmer notes.

The criminal investigation into the crash of the notorious Malaysian Airlines MH17 on July 17, 2014 in eastern Ukraine requires a "tougher standard than the DSB [Dutch Safety Board] report", Moscow-based Australian journalist John Helmer reports, citing Detective Superintendent Andrew Donoghoe, the senior Australian policeman in the international MH17 investigation.
"Testifying for the first time in an international court, Detective Superintendent Andrew Donoghoe, the senior Australian policeman in the international MH17 investigation, said a 'tougher standard than the DSB report' is required before the criminal investigation can identify the weapon which brought the aircraft down, or pinpoint the perpetrators," Helmer writes on his personal blog.
Donoghoe and other international investigators called attention to the fact that the claim made by the US and Ukrainian governments as well as the DSB that the passenger aircraft was downed by a Buk missile doesn't sounds convincing enough. Quoting Donoghoe, John Helmer notes that the initial information that MH17 was shot down by a Buk surface to air missile does not meet "the Australian or international standard of evidence."
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Eye 1

What idiots! The EU gives in to another six months of sanctions against Russia


Sputnik
Fri, 18 Dec 2015 18:09 UTC
european Union
The decision to extend sanctions against Russia for another six months was made in the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union (Coreper), according to a source close to the EU leadership. The Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union (Coreper) has decided to extend sanctions against Russia for another six months, a source close to the EU leadership said Friday.

"The decision was made at Coreper," the source told RIA Novosti. It is expected to be finalized Monday noon GMT. The source said the "rollover" is expected to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and take effect on Tuesday. European Council President Donald Tusk, who chaired the two-day meeting in Brussels, linked the extension to the Minsk ceasefire agreement on eastern Ukraine. Tusk claims Moscow is responsible for implementing its provisions.

Both the 28-member bloc and the United States imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russian banking, defense and energy sectors starting April 2014. The measures were imposed following the reunification of Crimea with Russia in 2014 and the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis. The source later clarified there were no plans to expand the list of EU sanctions, saying the extension is an automatic rollover.

Comment: The extension of sanctions were pushed through without the parliamentary agreement of the countries within the EU. So much for the European Union embodying so-called democratic principles. If such a debate were allowed to occur, there would undoubtedly be much opposition as the sanctions have affected European countries just as they have Russia. The US presses forward in its attempt to keep Europe from joining with their more natural global partner in Russia, but it is an unsustainable and self-defeating policy that the EU is imposing on its people.

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