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Former French PM Fillon found guilty of embezzling funds

Kim Willsher
The Guardian
Mon, 29 Jun 2020 17:31 UTC
Fillon
© Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images
François Fillon (right) and his wife, Penelope Fillon, were found guilty of fraud after a trial heard he paid her and two of their children for non-existent jobs.
The former French prime minister François Fillon and his Welsh wife, Penelope, were sentenced to jail on Monday for embezzling public funds as part of a "fake jobs" scandal.

A court found the couple guilty of fraud after a trial heard he had paid her and two of the couple's children about €1m for non-existent jobs as his parliamentary assistants.

In a scathing verdict, the judge said Fillon, 66, who was prime minister under the centre-right president Nicolas Sarkozy, had eroded trust in France's political class.

The court said Mrs Fillon, 64, was paid "the maximum possible" and that the sums were "out of proportion to her activities".

Comment: One does wonder, since this kind of scam happens all the time by those in power, what did Fillion do to make the establishment turn on him? Did he pose a threat to Macron's rise to power?

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Putin

Democrats call for investigation as Trump labels reports of Russian bounties to Taliban for killing US troops possible hoax by fake news

Jamie McIntyre
Washington Examiner
Mon, 29 Jun 2020 17:12 UTC
daily on defense
'POSSIBLY ANOTHER FABRICATED RUSSIA HOAX': Three days after the news first broke in the New York Times, President Trump says the reason he was never briefed on intelligence that the Taliban have been paid by Russia to target U.S. troops in Afghanistan is that his advisers don't believe the intelligence is accurate.

"Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or VP," Trump tweeted last night. "Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!!"

Earlier in the evening, National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot told the Washington Examiner that Trump had not been briefed because of a lack of consensus within the intelligence community, adding that "the veracity of the underlying allegations continues to be evaluated."

MULTIPLE REPORTS: While Trump singled out the New York Times, the story was quickly matched by other major news organizations, including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, and Fox News.

In fact, Trump's tweet was in response to one by his reliable supporter, Sen. Lindsey Graham, who himself was reacting to a Fox News report. "Imperative Congress get to the bottom of recent media reports that Russian GRU units in Afghanistan have offered to pay the Taliban to kill American soldiers with the goal of pushing America out of the region," Graham tweeted.


Comment: Soulless hacks like Graham know that just repeating the allegation is enough - damage done. They know the reports are fake. They just use them for cheap but effective propaganda purposes.


Comment: One possible motivation, aside for your usual run-of-the-mill Putin Derangement Syndrome:
"It is clear that there are forces in the US which don't want to withdraw from Afghanistan, (and) want a justification for their own failures. This is what it's all about," Zamir Kabulov, Russia's presidential envoy to Afghanistan, told news agency RIA Novosti.

"We really shouldn't waste time commenting on an obvious lie," he added.


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Star of David

Netanyahu's West Bank annexation scheme: Four scenarios Israel could follow to extend the illegal occupation


Sputnik
Mon, 29 Jun 2020 16:44 UTC
netanyahu annex west bank election
© Avshalom Sassoni
Benjamin Netanyahu announces that if reelected, he will extend Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, September 10 2019.
The Israeli premier seems to have abandoned his previous plans to apply sovereignty over 30 percent of the West Bank, succumbing to international and regional pressure. However, unwilling to show signs of weakness, Netanyahu is determined to force through at least some changes.

Special representative to US President Donald Trump Avi Berkowitz is set to hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday as the two sides struggle to achieve a breakthrough in the premier's annexation plan that's supposed to be voted on two days from now.

What started off as Israel's "immediate right" to extend its sovereignty over some 30 percent of the West Bank has shaped into a complicated process, and now as the deadline is looming, an agreement on borders and boundaries between Israeli and the Palestinian territories is still nowhere in sight.

So what options does Netanyahu have? Here are four possible scenarios.

Comment: Rest assured, though Netanyahu may go with the tactically soft option 4, the goal of taking over the entirety of Palestine will remain paramount. The stealth move of individual squatter "communities" applying for "sovereignty" is along those lines (Hebrew):
MK Bezalel Smutrich told Ma'ariv in response to the report:
"There is an advantage in applying sovereignty to the localities themselves rather than entire areas, because in this case, the need to draw maps and borders is saved. This addresses the real concern in Israel that drawing the maps paves the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Thus, it will be possible, on the one hand, to normalize and continue to develop life in localities, and on the other hand there will be no danger of drawing permanent borders and consent, even indirectly, to a Palestinian state.
[Google Translate]

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2 + 2 = 4

Everything You Think You Know About Coronavirus...

Joe Quinn
Sott.net
Sun, 14 Jun 2020 12:44 UTC
covid question
Despite government and health authority claims to the contrary, the accumulated evidence from the SARS-CoV-2 'outbreak' earlier this year points to it being no more significant than a seasonal 'flu-like virus' in terms of its infection and mortality rate, and that the significant death toll 'from Covid-19' is primarily due to the effects of lockdowns.
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Boat

It's not about Trump: Berlin says relations with US are so bad even Democrats back in White House cannot fix them


RT
Sun, 28 Jun 2020 19:43 UTC
us germany trump
© Global Look Press / Imago stock & people
FILE PHOTO.
The days of the good old 'transatlantic partnership' have passed, Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has admitted, adding that even the Democrats returning to power is unlikely to automatically bring those days back.

"Anyone, who believes that the transatlantic partnership will once again be what it once was with a Democratic president, underestimates the structural changes," the minister told German news agency dpa, hinting that relations between the two allies will never be the same even without President Donald Trump at the helm in Washington.

Still, he also admitted that Berlin is not ready to give up on its longstanding alliance with Washington just yet. "The transatlantic relations are extraordinarily important, they will remain important and we are working to make sure they have a future," he said.

Comment: See also: Europe, US, China, Russia, the failing economy, populism: Angela Merkel interview in full

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Syringe

EU keeps quiet over suspicious vaccination passport documents

Daniele Pozzati
Strategic Culture Foundation
Sun, 28 Jun 2020 19:46 UTC
macron lab covid
Surprise, surprise, the European Commission (EC) had a "Roadmap on Vaccination" ready months before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

The Roadmap should lead to a "commission proposal for a common vaccination card / passport for EU citizens by 2022".

Last updated during the third quarter of 2019, the 10-page document was followed, on September 12th, by a "global vaccination summit" jointly hosted by the EC and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Under the header "Ten Actions Towards Vaccination for All - Everyone should be able to benefit from the power of vaccination", the summit manifesto laments that:
"Despite the availability of safe and effective vaccines, lack of access, vaccine shortages, misinformation, complacency towards disease risks, diminishing public confidence in the value of vaccines and disinvestments are harming vaccination rates worldwide."



Comment: So the problem isn't just that some people are not "able" to allegedly benefit; it's that some don't want to, or don't believe that there is an actual benefit. That's their choice, but technocrats tend to be little totalitarians. People's choices don't matter to them. They must be forced to comply.


And with them, arguably, the pharmaceutical companies' profits.
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Robot

NATO's 2030 vision: Global domination or bust

James Corbett
Corbett Report
Sat, 27 Jun 2020 18:38 UTC
James Corbett
© Corbett Report
It's like something out of a comic book.
Speaking from his billion-dollar headquarter fortress, the Overlord of the dreaded military alliance, S.N.A.K.E. (Supreme Nasty Alliance for Killing Everyone) delivered his starkest threat yet, declaring a "S.N.A.K.E. 2030" vision that would see the organization ruling supreme over the planet in the next 10 years. "All challengers will be destroyed!" he brayed over the video uplink as the world cowered in terror.
If this were a comic book story, this is the point where the valiant fighters of the F.R.E.E.D.O.M. Alliance would swoop in and capture the Overlord, defeating his robot army in the process.

Sadly, this is not a comic book story, it's a very real one; and we're not dealing with S.N.A.K.E. but NATO, a very non-fictional military alliance that has just put forward its vision for NATO 2030 — a vision that threatens to realize NATO's quest for total global domination.

So let's roll up our sleeves and go over the details, shall we?
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Target

Trump's 15 'Wanted' posters of vandalism suspects spurs accusations of harassment, persecution


RT
Sat, 27 Jun 2020 22:24 UTC
DJTwanted
© Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump's barrage of tweets about the FBI seeking to identify individuals suspected of vandalizing federal property has triggered a wave of criticism for unwarranted persecution of Black Lives Matter activists.

Back on Friday, the US president already shared an FBI poster with the pictures of the wanted individuals, yet on Saturday night he doubled down on his call to bring the suspected vandals to justice, tweeting out fifteen separate posters.

Comment: There should be no free passes when it comes to wanton vandalism and putting lives in jeopardy. Points for creativity to the president.

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Cardboard Box

Turkey prepares to open Pandora's box in Libya - a potential humanitarian disaster!

Jonathan Smith
Mideast Discourse
Sun, 28 Jun 2020 01:00 UTC
Turkish Army
© Unknown
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), confirmed in media statements on June 25, that Turkey and loyal armed groups are preparing to attack Sirte, calling for joint efforts to save the city. He explained that more than 60,000 civilians inside the city should be saved and a long-term political solution found in Libya. Gargash stressed the futility of a military solution to the Libyan conflict.

He explained that the League of Arab States (LAS) made a sharp statement condemning the presence of foreign forces in Libya, calling for a ceasefire, the expulsion of mercenaries from Libya, and a return to the political process. Gargash noted that diplomatic efforts were needed to avoid confrontation in Sirte, to achieve a ceasefire and later a political settlement. According to Gargash, the Turkish approach to relations with Arab countries is wrong and shows that the Turkish ruling "Justice and Development Party" of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to revive the imperial ambitions of the former Ottoman Empire.

Comment: It always comes back to hubris and greed - neither of which ever satisfy the oppressor.

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Pistol

'Does Spain have anything to say?' WSJ confirms Guaido ally plotted Spanish Embassy coup against Maduro


RT
Sun, 28 Jun 2020 04:20 UTC
Spanish Embassy Caracas
© Reuters/Carlos Eduardo Ramirez
Spanish Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, May 2019
Caracas has lashed out at Spain after it was revealed that Juan Guaido's mentor, Leopoldo Lopez, residing in the Spanish embassy in Venezuela was behind the botched incursion and coup attempt involving the US mercenaries.

"Does the Spanish ambassador know that Leopoldo López has held and continues to hold video conferences with the sole purpose of going on with his plans to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro?" Venezuela's Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said in an emotional TV address.

The minister described Lopez as a "criminal" who planned a May military incursion involving US ex-soldiers and aimed at toppling the Venezuela government. An influential opposition politician, Lopez, is considered to be the mentor of the US-backed self-proclaimed "interim president," Juan Guaido.

Lopez was under house arrest since 2014, but was freed in April 2019 during an attempt to topple Maduro, only to seek refuge in the Spanish embassy after the attempt failed. He lived in the embassy ever since as the Spanish government refused to hand him over to Caracas.

Comment: See also:

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