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HSBC whistleblower Falciani sentenced to five years in prison for exposing corruption

Sudip Kar-Gupta
Reuters
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 16:36 UTC
Herve Falciani
© Reuters/Denis Balibouse
Former HSBC employee Herve Falciani poses for photographs before a news conference in Divonne-les-Bains, France October 28, 2015.
Herve Falciani, an ex-employee of HSBC's Geneva private bank who leaked information on clients and their tax situation, has been sentenced to five years in prison for aggravated industrial espionage, the bank said on Friday.

HSBC said it welcomed the ruling on Falciani, a 43-year old French citizen who had been on trial in Switzerland.

HSBC's Swiss unit has been in the spotlight since 2008, when Falciani, a former IT employee there, fled Geneva with files that were leaked to the media and were alleged to show evidence of tax evasion by clients. French newspaper Le Monde has said it identified more than 106,000 clients.

Falciani, who is based in France, did not attend his trial and stayed out of Switzerland while it was going on.

He may not serve any time in a Swiss prison since France typically does not extradite its own citizens, and there are no legal proceedings against him in France.

Falciani's lawyer -- Marc Henzelin -- did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.

Comment: So HSBC gets no criminal charges and spends a trifling 40 million Swiss Francs in fines, while the man that exposes the corruption within the bank gets sentenced to 5 years in prison. How's that for 'blind justice'?

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Cut

Why the West wants Turkey out

Martin Berger
New Eastern Outlook
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 01:00 UTC
Putin, map
© politicalpistachio.blogspot.com
The downing of Russia's Su-24 bomber by the Turkish Air Force is "one of the nightmare scenarios that military planners had envisaged as a result of Moscow's decision to enter the conflict," reports The Financial Times.

In turn, The Washington Post believes that "NATO faced being thrust into a new Middle Eastern crisis... The incident marked a serious escalation in the Syrian conflict that is likely to further strain relations between Russia and the NATO alliance."

The Guardian argues that we've witnessed "a nerve-jangling event, that raised the spectre of a direct confrontation between two large powers: one a NATO member, the other nuclear-armed".

While it's clear that neither Russia nor NATO wants to go to war against each other, each side is trying to deal with the situation and identify the reasons that provoked the recent crisis and, what's even more important, to establish who's at fault.

Comment: The commentary and excuses of rats leaving the ship are piled high and deep as NATO/the West wiggles out of blame. It is evident, in this article anyway, that the some of the news sources cannot distinguish "church" from "state." How does one get a political and military alliance of NATO members against "Islamism?" ...not even Islam, but 'Islamism!"

However, another source opines: "Turkey's action, using US-supplied F-16 planes, was taken with the full knowledge and advance support of the US. In fact, given Turkey's vassal status as a member of US-dominated NATO, it could well be that Ankara was put up to this act of brinksmanship by the US."

By virtue of the West's alliance, should Russia retaliate against Turkey, NATO would be obliged to come to Turkey's defense. Kudos to Putin's restraint, and, unlike the US/NATO, to operating within the boundaries of international law.

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Light Sabers

Pepe Escobar - Putin and Hollande teaming up to bust Erdogan's oil racket

Pepe Escobar
RT
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 15:50 UTC
Putin hollande
© Alexander Zemlianichenko / Reuters
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) and his French counterpart Francois Hollande speak after a news conference at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, November 26, 2015
It all started with French President Francois Hollande, after the Paris attacks, having the temerity to advance the idea of France working together with Russia in the same coalition against ISIS/ISIL/Daesh in Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip "no excuse" Erdogan thought NATO and Russia by this time would be at each other's - Cold War 2.0 - nuclear throats, while Washington had brushed off Hollande's idea with a cascade of platitudes and distortions.

And in less than 17 seconds, Prime Minister Ahmet "I ordered it myself" Davutoglu had authorized Turkey to shoot down a Russian Su-24 - only a few hours before Hollande met with President Obama.

So everything seemed to be falling into place. No chance of a new détente between the Atlanticist powers and NATO. On the contrary. Erdogan was sure he had sabotaged for good the Hollande-Putin face-to-face meeting in Moscow.

Not so fast, Sultan.

Comment: Erdogan seems to have made the miscalculation of a lifetime.

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Question

Was terror in Mali an attack on China and Russia?

Eric Draitser
New Eastern Outlook
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 16:04 UTC
Mali terror attack
Coming on the heels of the terrorist attack in Paris, the mass shooting and siege at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, the capital of the African nation of Mali, is still further evidence of the escalation of terrorism throughout the world. While there has already been much written about the incident in both western and non-western media, one critical angle on this story has been entirely ignored: the motive.

For although it is true that most people think of terrorism as entirely ideologically driven, with motives being religious or cultural, it is equally true that much of what gets defined as "terrorism" is in fact politically motivated violence that is intended to send a message to the targeted group or nation. So it seems that the attack in Mali could very well have been just such an action as news of the victims has raised very serious questions about just what the motive for this heinous crime might have been.
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Play

South Front International Military Review: Russia bombs crash location, Syria retakes major highway


South Front
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 13:43 UTC
south front
International Military Review: Syria (Nov. 27)


Comment: And just for fun...



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Pistol

Turkey transports cargo of 847 shotguns without transportation permits, seized by Italian police on route to Belgium


RT
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 13:35 UTC
Image
© Pupia Crime / YouTube
A large cargo of shotguns without transportation permits has been seized by the Italian police at the Port of Trieste. The 847 Turkish-made Winchester shotguns worth about €500,000 were on their way to Belgium.

The weapons were declared along with other cargoes destined for Germany and the Netherlands on a Dutch-registered truck driven by a Turkish citizen. Gun shipments from Turkey are nothing new in Trieste, but this time the shipment was missing a key document: authorization for transportation in the EU.

The shipment consisted of 847 pump-action Winchester shotguns: 781 SXP 12-51 and 66 SXP 12-47 models, La Stampa reports.
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Bomb

Bombshell: Putin says US knew the flight plan of the Russian jet


New Europe
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 14:49 UTC
Image
© EPA/SERGEI CHIRIKOV
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) speaks during a press conference following talks with French President Francois Hollande (L) in the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, 26 November 2015.
President Vladimir Putin said that Russia had given prior information to the United States of the flight path of the Su-24 downed by the Turkish Air Force on the Syrian border. The US leads the anti-Daesh coalition, in which Turkey is member.

"The American side, which leads the coalition that Turkey belongs to, knew about the location and time of our planes' flights, and we were hit exactly there and at that time," Putin said at a joint press conference with French counterpart Francois Hollande in the Kremlin. "Why did we give this information to the Americans if they did not pass it along to the rest of the coalition?"

Moreover, Putin dismissed as "rubbish" Turkey's claim that it didn't know the nationality of the plane when the Turkish Air Force hit it. "They (Russian military jets) have identification signs and these are well visible," Putin said and added. "If it was an American aircraft, would they have struck an American?...What we hear instead is they have nothing to apologize for."

Comment: For more analysis on the Russian jet shoot-down:

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Bad Guys

Blinking first: The Turkish-Russian apology contest


Moon of Alabama
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 12:31 UTC
erdogan 800px

Making one bad career move after another
Syria:
"The incident which happened two days ago in the skies over Syria defies common sense and international law. The plane was shot down over Syrian territory. And we have yet to receive an intelligible apology from Turkey on a top political level, " [the Russian President Putin] said.
---
"I think if there is a party that needs to apologize, it is not us," [the Turkish President Erdogan] said. "Those who violated our airspace are the ones who need to apologize. Our pilots and our armed forces, they simply fulfilled their duties, which consisted of responding to ... violations of the rules of engagement. I think this is the essence."
Erdogan did not take the exit ramp Putin offered. So who will win this contest?

U.S. Air Force General (ret) Charles J. Dunlap assesses that Russia wins the legal case. The Turkish shoot down of the Russian bomber was plainly illegal under international law as there was no threat to Turkey from the Russian plane. Even Turkey itself does not allege that the Russian bomber intended to attack that country. There was no self-defense situation that would allow such behavior.

Comment: Turkey still seems to think NATO has its back. An unpleasant surprise may be in the offing.

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Red Flag

Molenbeek mayor had 'detailed list of Paris terrorists' one month prior to attacks


RT
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 13:47 UTC
Image
© Youssef Boudlal / Reuters
Belgian soldiers patrol in the neighborhood of Molenbeek, in Brussels, Belgium.
As the aftermath of the Paris tragedy unfolds, it has come to light that Belgian authorities were given a detailed list of suspected terrorists - including the mastermind of the attacks - a month before the atrocity took place.

However, the mayor of the Molenbeek district of Brussels, notorious for harboring jihadists, believes it was not her responsibility to follow up on the information, according to a report by the New York Times.

"What was I supposed to do about them? It is not my job to track possible terrorists," Francoise Schepmans said in an interview with the paper, adding that these things are "the responsibility of the federal police."

Comment: Bear in mind that the Paris attack was planned to happen: Attacks on the Muslim population, exploiting fear and paranoia

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Eye 2

Black Friday Saudi-style: Riyadh set to behead more than 50 people


RT
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 09:20 UTC
Saudi head choppers
© Andrew Biraj / Reuters
Saudi Arabia is planning to execute more than 50 people, found guilty of terrorism, in a single day. The move was immediately slammed by Amnesty International, which said the Saudis are "using the guise of counter-terrorism to settle political scores."

The information about executions was recently released in Saudi media, which said that up to 55 'Al-Qaeda terrorists' and 'criminals' from the town of Awamiyya will be executed in the next few days. However, it hasn't been specified when and how exactly the executions will take place. Awamiya, in Eastern Province where the authorities suppressed protests in 2011, has a predominantly Shiite population. According to sources, the executions may be carried out after Friday prayers.

Reuters cited the Saudi Okaz newspaper as saying these 55 people are accused of sedition, attacks on security officials, and attempts to overthrow the government and carry out attacks by using explosives and surface-to-air missiles. According to Okaz, those on death row have killed more than 100 civilians and 71 security personnel.

One of the prisoners is accused of attempting to buy nuclear material in Yemen worth $1.5 million for use inside Saudi Arabia.

Comment: Such barbarity and blatant hypocrisy from the 'head of the UN Human Rights Council'. See also:

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