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Mon, 08 Nov 2021
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Snakes in Suits

Nigel Farage aide held in US on money laundering, extortion and fraud charges

George Cottrell with donor Arron Banks
© Michael Crick / Twitter
Arrested Ukip/Farage aide George Cottrell with donor Arron Banks attending Andrew Marr programme a few weeks ago.
An aide to Nigel Farage is facing money laundering and blackmail charges in the US after being arrested while trying to travel back to Britain with the former UKIP leader.

George Cottrell, 22, a party activist from an aristocratic family, allegedly agreed to launder money for undercover agents posing as drug traffickers. According to court documents, he faces 21 charges relating to money laundering, fraud, blackmail, and extortion.

The pair was traveling together when Cottrell was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare airport in July after visiting the Republican Party convention in Cleveland.

Red Flag

Lavrov on Syrian truces: Terrorists added 7,000 fighters and replenished their arms and munitions

lavrov and steinmeier
© RT
Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Sergey Lavrov
While agreeing that three-hour ceasefires are not enough to alleviate the humanitarian crises in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed out that earlier short-term truces had only helped terrorists replenish munitions and their ranks.

"The main issue is not that there's anyone unwilling to alleviate the humanitarian situation, but it is of utmost importance that terrorists would not be getting reinforced with militants, guns and munition supplies under the humanitarian aid disguise," Lavrov said.

The Russian FM said that Moscow and Washington had managed to enforce 48-hour or 72-hour truces in various parts of Syria before.

"The main results of those pauses was an insignificant relief in the humanitarian situation, while terrorists added 7,000 people to their ranks, not to mention huge amounts of arms and munitions they received," he said.

Comment: Assad: Syria truce deal must guarantee terrorists don't regroup, receive outside support


Info

Russia has no plans to use military force in reply to Kiev's attempted terrorism in Crimea

Right: a suspected Ukrainian saboteur detained by the Russian Federal Security Service in Crimea.
© Public relations center of Federal Security Service / Sputnik
Right: a suspected Ukrainian saboteur detained by the Russian Federal Security Service in Crimea.
Russian Military commanders have no plans to strike Ukrainian territory in response to the terrorist attacks allegedly plotted by Kiev that were thwarted in Crimea, a Russian business daily reported, quoting a source close to the Defense Ministry.

The Vedomosti daily wrote on Monday that the Defense Ministry is not considering carrying out strikes on Ukrainian territory.

The daily also reported on a session of the Russian Security Council that was urgently called last week to decide on a possible response to Kiev's attempt to launch a series of terrorist attacks in Crimea.

Dollars

Can't pay your bill? Join NATO! Ukrainian military launches new ad campaign

US and Ukraine soldiers
© AFP 2016/ YURIY DYACHYSHYN
Kiev residents started receiving army recruitment ads along with their utility bills, with a twist.

The new utility bills that people living in the Ukrainian capital started receiving recently apparently also contain printed ads of a rather unusual sort.

The ads entice the recipients to enroll in Ukraine's armed forces, but one part of the proposal particularly stands out, according to the Ukrainian news agency Vesti.

"There's an opportunity to take part in a NATO peacekeeping contingent. Wages are 1000-1200 euros," the ad says.

Laptop

Hacked! Soros' Open Society Foundation files released online

george soros
© Luke MacGregor / Reuters
Billionaire George Soros
More than 2,500 files from the raft of organizations run by billionaire George Soros have been leaked by hackers.

Saturday's leak, published by DC leaks, includes hundreds of internal documents from multiple departments of Soros' groups, predominantly the Open Society Foundations.

The files are grouped into sections such as geographical region, the World Bank and the President's Office, and cover the period from 2008 up until 2016, according to The Daily Caller.

They reveal work plans, strategies, priorities and other activities by Soros, and include reports on European elections, migration and asylum in Europe.

Comment: See also: Soros Foundation hacks reveal plan to promote 'Western values' in Russia


Dollar

Western arms sales to Saudi Arabia under threat from plans to block US deal

Saudi soldiers shelling Yemen
© AFP 2016/ FAYEZ NURELDINE
With the UK already facing a legal challenge over its continued arms sales to Saudi Arabia, senators in the US have proposed blocking the latest sale of weapons to the Gulf kingdom, raising questions about the future of Western military support for Riyadh.

Less than a week after the US government approved the possible sale of US$1.15 billion worth of tanks, machine guns and other military equipment to Saudi Arabia, Republican senator Rand Paul is now considering blocking the deal.

"I will work with a bipartisan coalition to explore forcing a vote on blocking this sale," he said a statement to Foreign Policy magazine.

Info

'Worst case scenario' possible if EU doesn't lift visa regime Turkey FM warns again

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu
© AP Photo/ Burhan Ozbilici
A visa-free regime for Turkish citizens wishing to travel to the Schengen zone must be implemented in October or the EU refugee deal will be suspended, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has warned.

In March, the European Union and Turkey agreed on a deal, under which Ankara pledged to take back all undocumented migrants who arrive in the European Union through its territory, in exchange Syrian refugees accommodated in Turkey would be relocated to the bloc on a one-for-one basis. In return, the bloc pledged to accelerate Turkey's EU accession bid and introduce a visa-free regime.

"I do not want to talk about the worst case [scenario], the talks with the EU are continuing. But it is clear: either we apply all the agreements at the same time or else put them all aside," Cavusoglu told Bild newspaper on Sunday answering a question on whether Ankara would relax its border controls and allow any refugees travel to Europe if Brussels reneges on its promise to institute a visa-free regime for Turkish citizens.

Bad Guys

Aleppo forensics reveal terrorists using mustard gas

Aleppo forensics officers
The forensics office of Aleppo said examination of the wounded and dead bodies has revealed that the terrorists have most likely used mustard gas against the Syrian army.

The terrorists of Nour al-Din Zanki blew up a tunnel containing chemical materials and gases in al-Aqaba district near al-Awamid square in Aleppo after being discovered by the army. The explosion killed 6 people and injured 14 others.

Zahir al-Hajw, the coroner of Aleppo's forensics, told al-Mayadeen that there were some symptoms in the bodies of the dead and wounded forces, disclosing that the terrorists have most likely used mustard gas and not chlorine or sarin.

"The nose bleeding shows that their lungs have been damaged, hyperemia is seen in the inner membranes of their eyelids and they have wounds on their skin," he added.

Hajw added that the injured people also shown symptoms of shortness of breath and severe consciousness symptoms and disorders in a way that one of the wounded persons was so nervous after the CPR that he wanted to attack his friends and bite them.

Jet3

Syrian Air Force obliterates ISIS convoy outside Palmyra

Syrian warplanes air force
© Sputnik/ Dmitriy Vinogradov
The Syrian Air Force destroyed a convoy of ISIS vehicles near the ancient city of Palmyra in the Syrian province of Homs on August 15. Syrian warplanes also carried out air strikes on ISIS targets in the area of al-Sukhneh and east of Palmyra in the eastern part of Homs province.

Meanwhile, Syrian fighter jets hit militant targets south of Dara'a dam in the eastern province of Dara'a. Air strikes were reported at the Saida Carpets building, al-Sad road and the al-Nakhleh farms. Pro-government sources say that the airstrikes have destroyed 2 militant command centres.

In the province of Aleppo, Syrian and Russian warplanes have been pounding militants advancing on the pro-government forces southwest and west of the provincial capital. Air strikes were reported in the Artillery Academy, the Ramouseh Neighborhood, Khan Touman and Kafr Hamra.

Comment: Further reading: Western corporate media 'disappears' over 1.5 million Syrians and 4,000 doctors


Quenelle - Golden

How Russia upset U.S. strategic dominance of the Mediterranean

russian air base syria
The agreement provides Russia with permanent base rights in Syria capable for the first time of challenging US strategic dominance in the eastern Mediterranean.

Though there has been remarkably little discussion of the subject in the Western media, Russia last week quietly acquired for the first time in its modern history a proper permanent base in the Mediterranean.

Following negotiations between the Syrian government and Russia an agreement dating to 2015 has now been ratified by Russia turning the Russian air base at Khmeimim in Syria into a permanent base. In other words Russia will retain the base at Khmeimim beyond the conclusion of the Syrian conflict, and its presence there has just been made permanent.