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Giuliani met with Ukraine's Andrey Derkach: Burisma Holdings paid Joe Biden $900K for lobbying

GiulianiDerkach
© Courtesy Andrey Derkash
Trump attorney Rudi Giuliani • Ukraine lawmaker Andrey Derkach
In October Ukrainian Parliamentarian Andrey (Andriy) Derkach revealed in a press conference that Joe Biden was paid $900,000 for lobbying efforts from Burisma Holdings in Ukraine. This is the same organization that paid Hunter Biden over $50,000-83,000 a month to sit on their board in an obvious pay-for-play maneuver.

According to Derkach former Vice President Joe Biden was personally paid $900,000 for lobbying activities from Burisma Holdings.
Biden, Ukraine, Cash
© NABU Leaks
Presidential contender, former US VP Joe Biden and lobbying rewards from Burisma Holdings
Derkach publicized the documents at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency Wednesday as he said the records, "describe the mechanism of getting money by Biden Sr."

Comment: The longer it takes to flush out the corruption connections to the Bidens and US government, the more accumulated evidence the Democrats will have to publicly explain or refute. It is not in their interest to draw this out, but then again, they do not appear to be particularly bright.


Brick Wall

If peace talks over eastern Ukraine fail, Zelensky aide offers 'Plan B': Build a wall and carry on living

checkpoint Ukraine
© Global Look Press/ZUMAPRESS/Maxym Marusenko
A Ukrainian army checkpoint near Hnutove village
Ukraine will wall off its breakaway eastern regions if the upcoming Paris talks end up at an impasse, a presidential aide has suggested, and Israel looks set to become Kiev's wall-building role model, according to reports.

As leaders of France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine brace for the closely-watched 'Normandy Four' summit in Paris, the top Kiev official hinted at what his side has in mind, apart from diplomacy and political solutions.

"We will be building a wall and life will go on," Andriy Yermak, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky, revealed at a security forum in London, according to the organizers and reporters present at the meeting.

"We do have friends and we'll be borrowing from their experience, first of all Israel," the official said, referring to the border fence erected along the West Bank border. Construction of the 708km-long (440 miles) wall was met with worldwide condemnation, and was considered unlawful by the UN's International Court of Justice.

Comment: There are two sides to a wall. Do 'walls make good neighbors' or do they function as an obstacle in coming together to solve the problems?


Green Light

Trump fumes as World Bank greenlights new $1B+ loan to China

Malpass/Li
© Reuters/Florence Lo
World Bank President David Malpass • Chinese Premier Li Keqiang
US President Donald Trump has seen red over a newly-adopted plan by the World Bank to loan China up to $1.3 billion annually through 2025. Trump said Beijing "has plenty of money," urging the bank to cancel the handout.

"Why is the World Bank loaning money to China? Can this be possible? China has plenty of money, and if they don't, they create it. STOP!" Trump tweeted Friday, taking aim at the decision by the financial body's board to approve a five-year plan to help China boost its private sector and foster fiscal reforms the day before.
The plan will see China take in between $1 billion and $1.3 billion each year until 2025, down from $1.8 billion, the average amount of low-interest loans Beijing had been given access to over the last five years.

It is envisaged that the figure would "gradually decline" over the next five-year period. Approving the measure, the World Bank stated, however, that the amount China would be entitled to receive "may fluctuate up and down from year to year" depending on how fast it accomplishes the goals stated in the plan.

Washington has been up in arms over the plan, and, though it can wield a veto on major decisions within the organization, it holds no sway over the Chinese lending scheme, as the move was not decided by a formal vote. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has argued that China does not require any outside financial aid, insisting it is wealthy enough to lend money to poorer countries and propel its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.

House

White House: Moscow's UN envoy jokes 'Where's the 'Russia room'?

WH luncheon
© AFP/Mandel Ngan
US President Donald Trump in a luncheon with the UN Security Council permanent representatives, Cabinet Room of the White House, December 5, 2019.
Moscow's envoy to the UN joked to Donald Trump about the White House's interior after touring the US president's residence. The two also discussed the ongoing visa dispute.

Vasily Nebenzya was given a tour of the White House on Thursday as part of a reception hosted by the president to mark the start of the US' rotating tenure as chair of the UN Security Council. The Russian diplomat thanked Trump for his hospitality, but had one cheeky criticism of the White House.

"We saw the China Room, but we didn't see the Russia Room yet," Nebenzya told the US leader, adding that perhaps it was a "top secret" area in the residence.

Not missing a beat, Trump replied: "Oh, well, we'll have to take care of it."


Comment: If created, the Russian Room would likely be 'A Room Without a View'.


Arrow Down

N. Korean envoy at the UN: Denuclearization is 'already off the table' in talks with the US

TrumpKim
© aexpress.co.uk
US President Donald Trump • North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un
North Korea's ambassador to the UN has rejected Washington's call for "sustained and substantial dialogue," saying that the denuclearization sought by the Trump administration is already "gone out (sic) of the negotiating table."

"We do not need to have lengthy talks with the US now and denuclearization is already gone out of the [sic] negotiating table," ambassador Kim Song said in a statement on Saturday. Song added that the Trump administration's calls for dialogue are a "time-saving trick" to push the denuclearization issue past next year's election.

As Song released Pyongyang's latest statement, US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a telephone discussion, brainstorming ways to restart diplomacy with North Korea.

Pyongyang has given the United States a year-end deadline to abandon its demand for unilateral denuclearization, lest leader Kim Jong-un choose a "new approach."

Comment: See also:

North Korea's tidings, as talks deadline nears: 'It's up to the US what Christmas gift it gets'


Star of David

Columnist Tom Friedman condemns Iran for shooting protesters; but 'easy' to defend Israel for the same

TomFriedman
© screen shot/Jewish Broadcasting Service
Tom Friedman at Temple Emanu-El in New York in September 2019
In a New York Times column three days ago, Tom Friedman embraced the protesters across the Middle East as a sign of democratization. He slams the "bad guys" in Iran for shooting protesters. He writes:
"These movements are authentic and inspiring, but their chances of taking power remain remote, largely because their biggest opponent — the Islamic republic of Iran — is ready to arrest and kill as many democracy demonstrators as needed to retain its grip on Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, not to mention at home. Iran's clerical regime has emerged as arguably the biggest enemy of pluralistic democracy in the region today...

"Iran has used its Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and Syria and its Popular Mobilization Forces militia in Iraq to try to snuff out all their bottom-up secular democratic movements — while also crushing the biggest secular-democracy uprising in Iran itself in 40 years."
Amnesty International says that Iran has killed at least 208 demonstrators since it began cracking down November 15.

The numbers are not much better from Israel's violent response to the Gaza protests over the last 20 months. Human rights agencies have characterized Israel's live-fire policy as a violation of humanitarian law. The United Nations found last March that Israel killed 183 civilians who posed no threat to Israel and wounded another 6000 people. Amnesty International said Israel was pursuing a deliberate policy of maiming civilians, causing untold physical and psychological damage, and called for a world-wide arms embargo on Israel. The casualties have included journalists and paramedics.

Comment: As in the case with Iran, there are no 'bottom-up democratic movements' without the ways, means and impetus from certain Western governments, NGOs and affiliated meddlers to instigate conflict benefitting their own political and geopolitical interests.


Rocket

'Nuke aimed at Iran'? Tehran raises alarm after Israel test-fires mystery rocket in broad daylight

israeli missile
© REUTERS/Amir Cohen
As the world is abuzz with speculation over Israel's shadowy "rocket propulsion system" test, Tehran bluntly claimed that the projectile it fired from a base south of Tel Aviv was actually a nuclear-capable missile aimed at Iran.

"Israel today tested a nuke-missile, aimed at Iran," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested in a tweet posted on Friday evening. He lamented that the West never complains "about the only nuclear arsenal in West Asia," but "has fits of apoplexy over our conventional defensive [rockets]."


Comment: He's right. Israel is an illegal, undeclared nuclear-armed state. But as God's Chosen People, they're exempt from international law, apparently.


The mysterious missile in question was launched earlier in the day, with Israel's military remaining conspicuously tight-lipped about it.

"The defense establishment conducted a test of a rocket propulsion system, from a base in central Israel," read a carefully worded tweet that caused much speculation among informed pundits and the media.


Further muddying the water, the Defense Ministry didn't even disclose the location of the "pre-determined" test, but videos and photos that popped up on social media showed a single, long trail of smoke rising from the Palmachim airbase situated south of Tel Aviv.

Mr. Potato

Same old, same old: Reddit says US-UK trade deal leaks may be tied to Russia, citing speculation from... the Atlantic Council

reddit logo doll
© Reuters/Robert Galbraith
A trove of secret papers cited by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in attacking the Tories may have links to Moscow, Reddit has announced. The proof? The US-UK-NATO-funded Atlantic Council says it isn't sure but it might be true.

The leaked documents, which were shared on the discussion site several weeks ago, point to evidence that the United States would demand a market share in the UK's National Health Service in any trade talks after Brexit. In a statement, Reddit said that it believed that the accounts that had shared the documents were "part of a campaign that has been reported as originating from Russia."

Comment: Indeed, Ben Nimmo is one of the vanguard in punting the Atlantic Council's neocon propaganda: And a bit on the amusingly-named Integrity Initiative, mis-begotten child of the Institute for Statecraft:


Jet2

Iraqi leader al-Sadr's Najaf home hit by drone strike - no claim of responsibility

iraqi protests
© Reuters / Thaier al-Sudani
An Iraqi demonstrator throws fireworks towards Iraqi security forces during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq 23 November 2019
Muqtada Al-Sadr's popularity has been coming under strain in recent days among both protestors and Iran-backed forces. The latter has been frustrated by his continued declarations of support for the ongoing anti-government protests that have brought the country to a near total political and economic standstill.

The Najaf home of the Iraqi Shiite nationalist leader, Muqtada Al-Sadr, has been struck by a drone of unknown origin, according to an announcement by his Sadarist organisation.

Saleh Muhammad al-Iraqi, an official of the Sadarist organisation who is said to be close to Mr Sadr, issued a statement on social media that garnered tens of thousands of likes on Facebook and which said that the leader's house had been struck by a drone. Mr Sadr was out of the country at the time of the attack.

Comment: Masked militants? Unknown gunman? Sounds just like the U.S. coup tactics in Ukraine during the Maiden, and now in Hong Kong.


Eye 1

The Supreme Court temporarily blocked Trump's bid to restart federal executions

White House
© Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
The Supreme Court dealt a temporary setback Friday to the Trump administration's bid to revive the death penalty after a 17-year hiatus, refusing the government's request to clear the way for four federal executions a lower court judge put on hold.

The high court did not disclose the vote count or its reasoning, as is typical of orders of this nature. However, the justices did instruct the lower courts to speedily process the dispute.

"We expect that the Court of Appeals will render its decision with appropriate dispatch," Friday's order reads. Justice Samuel Alito put a finer point on that directive in a statement accompanying the decision, which Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh joined.

"The Court has expressed the hope that the Court of Appeals will proceed with 'appropriate dispatch,' and I see no reason why the Court of Appeals should not be able to decide this case, one way or the other, within the next 60 days," Alito's opinion reads. "The question, though important, is straightforward and has already been very ably briefed in considerable detail by both the Solicitor General and by the prisoners' 17-attorney legal team."

The Trump administration resumed executions after a near-20 year reprieve in July. Attorney General William Barr directed the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to use a single-drug pentobarbital lethal injection protocol for capital punishment, which was at issue in the case before the high court.

Comment: See also: DOJ would take halted executions to high court