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Saudi Arabia to limit media coverage of Trump's Jerusalem move, take aim at Iran


The New Arab
Sat, 09 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
Saudinewspaper
© Al Akhbar
Saudi Arabia has ordered media outlets in the kingdom to not focus "too much attention" on Washington's controversial decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, sources have said.

The Saudi royal court sent a "severe warning" to bosses of newspapers and television and radio stations this week about the issue which has sparked protests across the Arab world, sources told The New Arab on Thursday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they added that the directive ordered media to instead "take aim at Iran and other regional countries" in its coverage.

US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital on Wednesday in a move that has outraged Palestinians and drawn near universal condemnation. Trump also began the process of moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The Saudi royal court on Thursday slammed Trump's "unjustified and irresponsible" decision, in a surprise move that likely embarrassed Riyadh's leadership.

Comment: News: Image more than truth; perception more than facts.

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Snakes in Suits

UNSC weighs resolution nullifying Jerusalem capital decision

Max Greenwood
The Hill
Sat, 16 Dec 2017 03:04 UTC
UNSC vote
© JPost.com
United Nations Security Council vote
The United Nations (U.N.) Security Council is weighing a draft resolution that would essentially seek to nullify any move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The resolution, drafted by Egypt and circulated among the Security Council's 15 members, does not directly mention the United States or President Trump, who moved last week to acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel's capital city, according to Reuters, which viewed a copy of the text.

To be sure, any effort by the Security Council to call for the U.S. decision to be withdrawn would be largely symbolic. As one of the body's five permanent members, the U.S. wields veto power over any resolution, and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley is almost certain to shoot the measure down.

Still, the resolution has wide support on the council, according to Reuters, and the body could vote as soon as Monday or Tuesday on the matter. It would need at least nine votes to pass. A veto from the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Russia or China would effectively kill the resolution.

According to Reuters, the resolution
"affirms that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered, the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council."
Please note: After opening remarks, the UNSC comments in English begin at 4:08.

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Footprints

Russian S-400 and Pantsir-S Systems to remain in Syria post troop withdrawal


South Front
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
Russian truckthing
© Sputnik/ Mikhail Fomichev
S-400 and Pantsir-S anti-aircraft weapon systems will remain in Syria despite the recently announced withdarawal of Russian forces, Viktor Bondarev, former Commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces and Chairman of the Defense, and Security Committee of Russia's Federation Council revealed on December 13.

According to the Russian state-run news agency TASS, Russia is not going to reduce its anti-aircraft capabilities in the country. Some number of helicopters, warplanes and military personnel still involved in the ongoing anti-terrorist efforts will also remain.

Earlier, the Pentagon said that the US had not observed any significant withdrawal of forces from the country.

"There have been no meaningful reductions in combat troops following Russia's previous announcements planned departures from Syria," Reuters quoted Marine Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman.


Comment: See also:

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Attention

France reacts with caution to US 'evidence' on Iran weaponry in Yemen

John Irish
Yahoo
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
Niki and cylinder
© Reuters/Yuri
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley briefs the media in front of remains of Iranian "Qiam" ballistic missile provided by Pentagon at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, U.S., December 14, 2017.
France reacted cautiously on Friday to U.S. evidence which allegedly proved Iran supplied weapons to Houthi militia in Yemen, saying it was still studying information at its disposal and the United Nations had yet to draw any conclusions.

The United States on Thursday presented for the first time pieces of what it said were Iranian weapons supplied to the Houthis, describing it as conclusive evidence that Tehran was violating U.N. resolutions.

The arms included charred remnants of what the Pentagon said was an Iranian-made short-range ballistic missile fired from Yemen on Nov. 4 at King Khaled International Airport outside Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh, as well as a drone and an anti-tank weapon recovered in Yemen by the Saudis.

When asked whether Paris believed that evidence was irrefutable, foreign ministry deputy spokesman Alexandre Giorgini declined to respond directly. "The United Nations secretariat has not, at this stage, drawn any conclusions. France continues to examine the information at its disposal," he said.


Comment: And with good reason, too, given the US's track record of fabricating foreign threats as a pretext for destroying other countries.

Our take on the matter: Former Waffle House Waitress Serves Iranian Nothing Burger to the Media


Comment: Consider the sources.

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Info

Trump lawyers to meet with Mueller next week - some think investigation coming to an end, others think it will drag on

Pamela Brown, Evan Perez, Gloria Borger and Kara Scannell
CNN
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 20:43 UTC
mueller trump
President Donald Trump's private lawyers are slated to meet with special counsel Robert Mueller and members of his team as soon as next week for what the President's team considers an opportunity to gain a clearer understanding of the next steps in Mueller's probe, according to sources familiar with the matter.

While the lawyers have met with Mueller's team before and might again, the sources believe the upcoming meeting has greater significance because it comes after the completion of interviews of White House personnel requested by the special counsel and after all requested documents have been turned over. Mueller could still request more documents and additional interviews. No request to interview the President or the vice president has been made, sources tell CNN.

But Trump's team, led by John Dowd and Jay Sekulow, is hoping for signs that Mueller's investigation is nearing its end, or at least the part having to do with the President. Their goal is to help Trump begin to emerge from the cloud of the ongoing investigation, several of the sources explained. The sources acknowledge that Mueller is under no obligation to provide any information and concede they may walk away with no greater clarity.

"There's no 'there' there," one White House official says, a sentiment Trump's legal team hopes Mueller will echo. At a minimum, the lawyers hope to get a sense of what avenues Mueller is still working to investigate.

Comment: This investigation should never have been put into motion to begin with. It was based on pure propaganda - propaganda engineered with the purpose of discrediting the president on trumped up charges - and everyone who believed that propaganda should be embarrassed for being such gullible hacks. So yes, bring this sham to an "appropriate and prompt conclusion". It's already enough of a stain on the reputation of the American political establishment.

See also: White House lawyer denies fake news rumor that Trump plans on firing Mueller

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Propaganda

White House lawyer denies fake news rumor that Trump plans on firing Mueller

Ryan Levi and Bianca Hernandez
KQED News
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 20:27 UTC
Mueller
© ABC News
A White House lawyer is denying a rumor voiced by Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo) that President Donald Trump intends to fire special counsel Robert Mueller before Christmas.

On Saturday, White House special counsel Ty Cobb told CNN that no such plans exist:
"As the White House has consistently said for months, there is no consideration of firing the special counsel," Ty Cobb, the White House special counsel, told CNN in a statement.
Speier told KQED Newsroom on Friday that she believes Republicans are trying to shut down the House Intelligence Committee's probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

"I believe the President wants all of this shutdown," Speier said when asked if she believed House Republicans were bowing to pressure from the White House. "The rumor on the Hill when I left yesterday was that the president was going to make a significant speech at the end of next week. And on Dec. 22, when we are out of D.C., he was going to fire Robert Mueller."

Comment: There's a simple reason Trump and Republicans want the Mueller probe shut down: because there's NOTHING to it. Trump doesn't need to fire Mueller at this point, because the investigation's futility is becoming clearer each day. The investigation is discrediting itself.

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Play

Trump visits Quantico, blasts "sad, disgraceful" FBI, but praises police and agents

Ali Vitali
NBC News
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 20:03 UTC
FBI Trump
© Associated Press
President Donald Trump heaped praise on law enforcement while decrying anti-police sentiment in a speech to FBI academy graduates on Friday not long after he lamented the agency's "sad" and "disgraceful" state.

In remarks to the FBI National Academy that also touched on immigration and violent crime, Trump called himself a "true friend and loyal champion" of police while noting that members of law enforcement "rarely get the recognition" they deserve.

"We will protect those who protect us," the president said, adding that those accused of killing police officers "should get the death penalty."

"Anti-police sentiment is wrong and it's dangerous, and we will not stand for it," he said.


Comment: No word on what penalty bad cops should get when they use excessive force and kill unarmed people. There are some people who just hate cops. That's painting with too broad a brush. But there are many who have nothing against police per se; they don't like dirty cops. That's something Democrats and Republicans can agree on. See: The reasons Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Republicans should be natural allies


An hour earlier, speaking to reporters on the White House lawn on his way to talk to graduates of the academy in Quantico, Virginia, Trump said: "It's a shame what's happened with the FBI, but we're going to rebuild the FBI. It'll be bigger and better than ever."


Comment: It is a shame. From its inception as the "Federal Blackmail Industry", the FBI has sheltered people who should've been behind bars, not putting people there. Today, there is FBI counterintelligence gone wild and sting/entrapment operations to catch nonexistent terrorists. By all means, rebuild the FBI. But make it better in the process. Drain the swamp.


Comment: Trump's speech:



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USA

America's biggest loser: Hillary blames Republicans for spreading white supremacy, misogyny and homophobia

Pam Key
Breitbart
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 18:51 UTC
Hillary on Ellen
Friday on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said the Republican agenda was fanning the flames of "white supremacy and misogyny and homophobia."

When asked if Trump will last four years, Clinton said, "I can't predict it, but I believe that it really does come down both to the investigation that's going on and to whether Republicans will decide that they have to put our country before their party. And I hope that enough of them will decide to do that."

Comment: Just go away, PLEASE!! Most Americans agree with Trump, it's time for Hillary to move on

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MIB

Finnish paper leaks about long-running spy program targeting Russia, faces criminal investigation


RT
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 06:44 UTC
Pipes for the Baltic Sea pipeline being transported for loading onto a ship in the premises of the harbour in Mukran, Germany
© Stefan Sauer / Global Look Press
Pipes for the Baltic Sea pipeline being transported for loading onto a ship in the premises of the harbour in Mukran, Germany
A Finnish paper is facing criminal charges for reporting the country's extensive spying focused on Russia's military and the Nord Stream pipeline project. Finland's president says the leak compromises the country's security.

An explosive report published by the Helsingin Sanomat daily on Saturday, based on secret documents obtained by the newspaper, focuses on the signal surveillance complex in the city of Tikkakoski in central Finland. The paper based its findings on top secret documents, some of which date back as far as 1999.

The intelligence center's surveillance activities were not confined to Russia, but that country was effectively the primary target of the operation, the paper notes. The center, it says, has been tasked with detecting Russian military movements in the St. Petersburg region based on electromagnetic radiation.
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Map

Will the US offensive against the global south hit South Africa?

Andrew Korybko
Oriental Review
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 18:44 UTC
Southern African Development Community (SADC)

Southern African Development Community (SADC)
In a pattern largely overlooked by many, roughly half of the mainland members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are experiencing various degrees of regime change instability, with the asymmetrical warfare model presently active in Southern Africa closely resembling the one that was already applied in the neighboring "Global South" region of South America.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is a regional integration organization that brings together most of sub-equatorial Africa and is largely considered to be a platform for extending BRICS member South Africa's influence throughout this broad area. After all, South Africa's Southern African Customs Union (SACU) forms the economic core of the group and has the potential of one day expanding northward to incorporate SADC's other members. This is a possible eventuality, albeit a long-term one, due to the 2015 Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) between SADC and its counterparts of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC, which has future plans to formally become a federation).
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