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Dutch journalist: Leaked investigation docs point to NO Buk missile systems around MH17 crash area


Sputnik
Wed, 19 Feb 2020 17:35 UTC

Comment: As we said right away when this happened in 2014, the 'intelligence community' lied its rear-end off...


MH17 wreckage Ukraine
© Sputnik / Alexey Kudenko
A worker stands beside a piece of MH17 wreckage
According to new data from unpublished MH17 Joint Investigation Team documents obtained and analysed by Bonanza Media investigative journalist Max van der Werff, there were no Buk missile systems in the vicinity of where the Malaysian Airlines Boeing crashed in eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014.

The journalist concludes, citing a letter from Dutch Military Intelligence, that it "becomes apparent that flight MH17 was flying beyond the range of all identified and operational Ukrainian and Russian locations where 9K37M1 Buk M1 systems were deployed".

The letter, dated 21 September 2016, which is exactly one week before JIT held a press conference on 28 September, proves the Dutch team obtained evidence that no Russian Buk system had crossed into Ukraine from Russia only days before the presser, der Werff wrote.

Comment: As we reported at the time, MH17 was probably shot down by cannon-fire from an upgraded Ukrainian Su-25, while a bomb onboard finished it off.

See also:

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Star of David

Netanyahu, on Palestinian submission to the Trump plan: 'Accept it or not, it's going to happen!'

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
netanyahu
© twitter
Netanyahu addresses Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Feb. 16, 2020 in Jerusalem
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told American Jews that he and the Trump administration are moving ahead with plans to remap the West Bank to give Israel sovereignty over large portions of occupied territory, and Palestinians are going to have to live with that plan "whether they accept it or not."

Netanyahu's discussion of Palestinian submission to the "radical" and "historic" terms of the Trump "peace plan" including annexation of all "Jewish communities" and military control of the West Bank sounded very much like surrender.

He spoke in Jerusalem two days ago to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a rightwing Israel lobby organization:


Comment: This is Netanyahu's ultimate power play - a human earthquake in the making. Who will come forth to challenge USrael on behalf of the Palestinians? History, so far, says no one. Will Iran take the bait?

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Attention

Trump accuses Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of violating the Logan Act - an accusation Murphy made of Michael Flynn

John Gage
Washington Examiner
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 03:04 UTC
Murphy
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT)
President Trump took aim at Chris Murphy after the Democratic senator for Connecticut admitted to meeting with Iran's foreign minister.

"I saw that there's this Sen. Murphy met with the Iranians. Is that a fact?" Trump asked reporters Tuesday. "I just saw that on the way over. Is there anything that I should know? Because that sounds like, to me, a violation of the Logan Act."

The law makes it a criminal offense for unauthorized individuals to negotiate with countries that are hostile toward the United States.

The president said he heard about the news just moments before he met with the press. Murphy said earlier Tuesday that he had a secret meeting in March with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

"I met w the Iranian Foreign Minister in Munich. It's dangerous not to talk to adversaries, especially amidst a cycle of escalation," Murphy said.
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Star of David

Israel benevolently allows Palestinians to fish in their own waters, at least for now

Judah Ari Gross
Times of Israel
Wed, 19 Feb 2020 16:50 UTC
gaza fishing boats fishermen palestine
© Agence France-Presse
Palestinian fishermen arrive with their catch at the seafront of Gaza City on April 2, 2019.
Israel will extend the Gaza fishing zone back to 15 nautical miles and increase the number of travel permits from the Strip to 2,000, following a period of relative calm in the coastal enclave, Israel's military liaison to the Palestinians says.

The military had restricted the permitted fishing zone down to 10 nautical miles and cut some 500 travel permits after weeks of regular rocket fire and the launching of balloon-borne explosive devices into Israel from Gaza.
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Mail

Soros demands Zuckerberg, Sandberg step down from Facebook in a scathing letter

Joshua Bote
USA Today
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 02:34 UTC

Comment: This guy is practically on his deathbed, but he still won't give up!


Soros
© Simon Dawson/Bloomberg/Getty Images
George Soros
George Soros called for Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's respective CEO and COO, to be "removed from control" in a letter published in Financial Times.

The liberal billionaire, who has long been a vocal critic of Facebook's head executives and is the subject of many fabricated conspiracy theories peddled on the platform, reiterated the claim that Zuckerberg is in "some kind of mutual assistance arrangement" with President Donald Trump for his re-election. "If there is any doubt whether an ad is political, it should err on the side of caution and refuse to publish," wrote Soros. "It is unlikely that Facebook will follow this course."

The sentiment is similar to a speech he gave at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, in which he claimed some "kind of informal mutual assistance operation or agreement developing between Trump and Facebook." He did not verify this claim, and it was denied by the company.

The company also rejected Soros' claims in the letter. In a statement to USA TODAY, a representative from Facebook said that the suggestion that the company is connected to a figure or party "runs counter to our values and the facts."

Comment: RT, 19/2/2020: Third time's a charm? Soros' relentless accusations and demands...
Billionaire speculator George Soros has once again called for the de-platforming of Facebook leadership, accusing them of collusion with US President Donald Trump, after CEO Mark Zuckerberg begged for more government regulation. "Zuckerberg does not need government regulation to stop accepting all political advertising until after the November 2020 US election."

Soros's angry missive was a response to Zuckerberg's op-ed published the day before, in which the hapless head of the Menlo Park behemoth pleaded for some kind of government regulation that would establish clear lines on matters that "touch on fundamental democratic values" such as "elections" and "harmful content," among others.

"I believe clearer rules would be better for everyone," Zuckerberg wrote, apparently irritated by the stream of ever-shifting objections from parties and individuals who blame Facebook for losing elections and referenda they believed were rightfully theirs to win - the 2016 US presidential contest and Brexit, to name but two.

Facebook's rejection of Soros's assertions as "just plain wrong" and unsubstantiated by evidence has obviously not deterred the 'Open Society' magnate from stating them again, and again, as evidenced by the op-eds and letters that keep coming. Soros famously denounced it and other social media as a "menace" to society whose "days are numbered," in a January 2018 speech in Davos.

Facebook responded by paying a PR firm to investigate Soros, something Sandberg admitted to in November 2018 - which may explain his ongoing vendetta against her.
See also:

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Footprints

Trump commutes sentences for ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, ex-NYPD commissioner Kerik, 'junk bond king' Milken & ex-NFL owner DeBartolo

Dan Mangan and Kevin Breuninger
CNBC
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 22:29 UTC
trump
© REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
President Donald Trump granted executive clemency Tuesday to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, as well as to ex-New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and to Edward DeBartolo Jr., former owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team.

Trump also announced that he had pardoned Michael Milken, the former junk bond king who became a face of the insider trading financial scandals of the 1980s.

In all, Trump granted some form of executive clemency to 11 individuals Tuesday, according to the White House.

Trump commuted the remainder of Blagojevich's 14-year prison term. The Illinois Democrat had begun serving that sentence in 2012 after he was found guilty of attempting to trade the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama for money or favors.

Blagojevich was scheduled for release on March 13, 2024, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Trump has floated the possibility of commuting Blagojevich's sentence for nearly two years.
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Burka

Turkey threatens open war against Syria as its forces in Idlib province close in on "world's largest Al-Qaeda safe haven"


RT
Wed, 19 Feb 2020 14:10 UTC
turkish army syria
© REUTERS / Khalil Ashawi
A Turkish soldier walks near Turkish military vehicles in Hazano near Idlib, Syria.
A new Turkish military incursion into Syria's Idlib governorate has been planned and may start at any moment, President Recep Erdogan has warned, ramping up a tense standoff with Damascus.

Ankara will not "leave Idlib to the Assad regime and its backers," Erdogan vowed, referring to the Syrian government and, apparently, to Russia and Iran. Speaking to lawmakers on Wednesday, he said his words were "a final warning."

The Turkish president also said negotiations with Russia over Idlib have so far failed to meet Ankara's demands, and that the two sides are "miles away" from resolving the ongoing crisis. He said he is determined to make safeguard Idlib "no matter the cost," as Turkey would otherwise face a new wave of refugees.

"We are determined at all costs to turn Idlib into a safe haven for the sake of Turkey and the people of the region," he said.

The northwestern Syrian province bordering Turkey is the last major stronghold of anti-government forces in the protracted civil war. Ankara backs some of the armed groups in the area, but there is also a strong presence of jihadists, who have no interest in a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Under an agreement with Russia, Turkey is supposed to use its leverage in Idlib to curb violence and prevent attacks on other parts of Syria.
syria war map idlib
© SouthFront.org

Comment: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has responded to the wannabe Sultan's bellicosity:
"If it will be an operation against terrorist forces in Idlib, that would certainly be within the spirit of our agreements with Turkey.

But if it is about an operation against legitimate Syrian armed forces, that would certainly be the worst case scenario.

"We were satisfied with the agreements that were reached in Sochi over a year ago, and the satisfaction was mutual. We were absolutely not satisfied after militants and terrorist groups started launching attacks from Idlib territory against the Syrian armed forces and Russian military sites. That is when our satisfaction ended."
Here's a reminder of what senior US diplomat Brett McGurk had to say about Idlib province just two years ago:


This is the same Idlib province Western media characterizes as an 'unfolding humanitarian crisis', even as successively liberated villages and towns are seen cheering the 'invading' Syrian army!




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Propaganda

Western outlets claim that Berlin park killer of Chechen exile had 'links to Russia's FSB'

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 17:29 UTC
Russian Embassy
© Getty Images / Carsten Koall
A person walks past The entrance to the Russian Embassy on December 6, 2019 in Berlin, Germany.
When a Chechen exile was shot dead in a Berlin park last summer it strained relations between Germany and Russia. A new report suggests his alleged killer may have been trained by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

The joint investigation from Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, the US-government funded Bellingcat website and Russian outlet The Insider claims to have obtained the phone records of "Vadim Krasikov," which they say is the real identity of Vadim Sokolov, the man German police accuse of carrying out the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili.

Khangoshvili was regarded as a terrorist by Moscow for his role in conflicts in the Caucasus during the early 2000s. He moved to Germany after apparently surviving an assassination attempt in the Georgian capital Tbilisi in 2015. The deceased was born in Georgia and previously served in its military.

Comment: See also:

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Pills

Cocaine, assassination, child prostitution: Rampant criminality among French elites exposed by ex-'Prince of Coke' drugs kingpin


mbs.news
Wed, 19 Feb 2020 10:59 UTC

Comment: The following is a translation of this sputnik.fr article. We have improved the initial translation done by mbs.news.

Gérard Fauré was a drugs kingpin in France who currently, in 'retirement', is causing quite a stir in the francosphere. Fauré has provided dozens of names of celebrities, state officials including police officers and politicians (some of whom are still alive), along with serious accusations. The whole French media sphere is talking about it, but to date Fauré has net been sued once. Which suggests that his claims have credence.

Fauré used his prison time to write 10 books. Only 3 of them have been published so far.


The prince of cocaine is back. Despite his retirement, Gérard Fauré, seventy years old, does not remain unemployed. After a first opus in 2018, he publishes a second volume of his memories, darker, with always more revelations on the drug and gangster scene.

Sputnik interviewed him again - an interview that will take your breath away.

Screenshot of the interiview of Gérard Fauré conducted by Sputnik
© Sputnik
Screenshot of the interview of Gérard Fauré conducted by Sputnik
Here he arrives in a brand new German sedan in a town in the Yvelines. "Copyright," jokes Gérard Fauré when he welcomes us to his home. Other than that, nothing has changed in his apartment since 2018, where we had first come to The Dealer in Tout-Paris: The Supplier of The Stars Speaks. After 30,000 copies sold (some claim twice as much) and millions of views on YouTube, the former gangster has re-offended.

He published the rest of his memoirs in January, The Prince of Coke. Two more opuses are said to be in progress. A movie adaptation is even mooted. And, for the moment, no defamation complaint, nor reprisals.

Comment: Gérard Fauré's claims provide yet further corroboration of the essential correctness of claims made by child witnesses Régina Louf (in the Belgian Dutroux scandal) and Fanny (in the French Alègre scandal) along with numerous others.

They all describe the same thing: widespread and heavy use of hard drugs among certain sections of the elites, rampant organized pedophilia and collusion between politicians, celebrities, journalists, lawyers and policemen.

Fanny and Régina Louf were silenced through intimidation, including bogus prison sentences. Silencing Fauré might be more difficult: he knows prison, he likes to write and he has evidence.

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Newspaper

Taliban to reduce violence within five days under peace deal - Afghan government


RFE/RL
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 12:25 UTC
US troops Afghanistan
Afghanistan's Interior Ministry says a reduction in violence agreed to between Taliban fighters and the United States is due to start within the next five days.

The announcement on February 18 comes a day after Afghanistan's Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah told a meeting of government ministers that the Taliban had agreed to a seven-day reduction of violence ahead of a peace deal with the United States that had been "finalized" a week earlier and may be signed as soon as February 29.

A Taliban spokesman based in Qatar, where peace talks with U.S. negotiators have been under way, also said an agreement had been reached and "will be signed" before the end of February.

Comment: What with the increasing tensions in Syria, Iraq and Libya, it remains to be seen whether there'll be any cessation of violence in Afghanistan:

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