Puppet Masters
The US-led coalition evacuated the other day a number of Daesh* terrorists by helicopter from the province of Hasakah to some unknown location, SANA reported.
"On November 10, the helicopters of the international coalition led by the US evacuated supposedly three militants out of As-Suwayda village in the north-eastern part of Hasakah province and headed in an unknown direction," the agency cited its sources as saying.
The coalition hasn't yet commented on the reports.
Head of the political division of the Syrian army, Gen. Hassan Akhmad Hassan earlier stated in an interview with Sputnik that the US and its allies support terrorists in Syria instead of fighting them, rather supervising them and issuing assignments. To prove the point, the general brought up reports of Daesh chiefs having been evacuated on more than one occasion to safe places by American aircraft and choppers.
Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday that the kingdom would slash oil exports by 500,000 bpd in December, a move that would go a long way to reversing the 1 million-barrel-per-day increase in output agreed to by OPEC+ in June.
It was only a few weeks ago that al-Falih was trying to reassure the market that Saudi Arabia had enough spare capacity in the event of an outage; now he is rushing to try to stop the slide in prices but paring back production.
The production cut would come just after crude oil officially entered bear market territory, falling 20 percent from its October peak.
Comment: Considering that Saudi Arabia's main income comes from oil, they must be desperate:
- Iran embargo falters: Bolton gives India temporary waiver, claims won't hurt "friends and allies"
- Russia and China will "disappear" from oil market - Saudi crown prince's prediction raises eyebrows
- US and OPEC flood oil market ahead of midterms and Iran sanctions
- Saudi energy minister denies plans to break up OPEC oil cartel, amid rumors of partnership with Russia
- "King, we're protecting you": Saudi Arabia tells Trump no more oil
"Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism; nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism," Macron said.
As for Trump's policy of "America first," Macron trashed such atavistic thinking in this new age: "By saying we put ourselves first and the others don't matter, we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what makes it great and what is essential: its moral values."
Though he is being hailed as Europe's new anti-Trump leader who will stand up for transnationalism and globalism, Macron revealed his ignorance of America.
Trump's ideas are not ideological but rooted in our country's history.
"Together with the Chinese partners, we have already built four power units at this site and thus have paved the way for further projects," said Vladimir Savushkin from Rosatom's engineering division Atomstroyexport (ASE).
Savushkin told Strana Rosatom newspaper that "cooperation continues, now on the basis of Russia's newest 3+ generation technologies," adding that the deadlines are tight and "in 2021 we are to begin construction works at Tianwan-7."
Comment: Russia is at the forefront of harnessing nuclear power, and, with the energy needs of the planet only increasing, unless another similarly reliable energy source is discovered, it won't be going away anytime soon:
- Nuclear energy to stage a come back in Japan
- Russian scientists isolate bacteria which neutralizes nuclear waste
- Diamond batteries made of nuclear waste can generate power for thousands of years
The UK Prime Minister focused a large part of her annual speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet in London on fighting the perceived Russian threat, which she claims has proven to be "ever more real" recently. Despite the belligerent stance towards Moscow, May said that London seeks a "different relationship" with the Kremlin - if only it "desists from these attacks that undermine international treaties and international security."
"We hope that the Russian state chooses to take this path. If it does, we will respond in kind," May stated on Monday.
Comment: The list of issues that May has bungled, fumbled and made a total mess of in her role as Prime Minister are numerous. So much easier to deflect from her own failures - and play up to the anti-Russia war party - than face up to the real problems she should be addressing effectively:
- 'Bring her own noose': Tory MP's attack Theresa May using violent language as she faces a vote of no confidence over Brexit negotiations
- Theresa May madder than 'Mad Dog' Mattis - refuses to support US calls for Saudi Arabia-Yemen ceasefire
- Theresa May's 'revenge' against Russia all the rage in trashy UK tabloids
- Not So Fun Fact: Theresa May Leads the West in Stealing Africa's Wealth
- Theresa May's husband's company owns shares in firm that made the Yemen school-bus bomb
- Theresa May's collapsing government lashes out at Russia like cornered rats
"There are some indications that the police officer who was injured had been to the house, whereas there was a doctor who looked after the patients in the open, who hasn't been affected at all. So there maybe some clues floating around in here.'"As I pointed out in that piece, the phrase "some indications" was somewhat disingenuous, as The Metropolitan Police would have known by that time exactly where Mr Bailey had been. And in any case, there was no particular reason for Lord Blair to reveal this information.
The point I went on to make is that if it was known that he had been poisoned, which it was; if it was known that he'd been to the house, which it was; and if it was known that the poisoning didn't happen at The Maltings, which it was (at least according to investigators who ruled it out with surprising swiftness), then it MUST have been known that he was poisoned AT THE HOUSE. But if this was the case, why exactly was the house not locked down, with forensic scientists all over the house taking swabs? Why did it take nearly two weeks for that to happen?
Comment: And where exactly is Det. Sgt. Bailey? Hanging out with Sergei Skripal perhaps? Isn't it a bit odd that he hasn't been seen or heard from since he was released from the hospital?
Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the recordings were shared with France, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and the United States, among others. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that he was not aware whether Turkey had actually shared the information and accused the Turkish leader of "playing political games."
"Canada's intelligence agencies have been working very closely on this issue with Turkish intelligence and Canada has been fully briefed on what Turkey had to share," Trudeau said at a press conference in Paris on Monday.
The Canadian prime minister confirmed that the intelligence had heard the tapes, but added that he "has not" heard the tapes himself.
"I had a conversation with Erdogan a couple of weeks ago, and here in Paris we had brief exchanges and I thanked him for his strength in responding to the Khashoggi situation," Trudeau added.
Comment: According to Erdogan, the recordings "shocked" a Saudi intelligence officer when he heard them:
Speaking to reporters on his return from a trip with world leaders to Paris, France, the Turkish leader said the audio related to Khashoggi's murder perturbed a Saudi intelligence official who listened to it.
"The recordings are really appalling. Indeed when the Saudi intelligence officer listened to the recordings, he was so shocked he said: 'This one must have taken heroin, only someone who takes heroin would do this'," he added, Reuters reports.
Erdogan believes the murder occurred at the hands of top Saudi officials, although he said he does not think Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (MBS), for whom he has "limitless respect", could order such an atrocity.
The video, published Monday, begins with a long white bus parked behind the trees. Reportedly dozens of soldiers had just disembarked. Several figures can be seen standing behind the two white SUVs nearby.
The bus starts moving, and, once it gets out in the open, it is suddenly hit with what the IDF described as a guided anti-tank missile.
Comment: Israelis are notoriously thin-skinned about IDF casualties, not seeming to realize that is the cost of a military occupation. You can't have one without the other, even if they would like it to be like that. A very large portion of the Israeli population would prefer to be able to bomb Palestine and kill Palestinians with impunity. But as an occupation force, the IDF is a legitimate target under international law. If they don't like it that way, the Israelis will just have to begin acting like normal people, instead of self-entitled murderers.
See also:
- Israel amasses tanks at Gaza border after "green light" for "major retaliation"
- Israel launches ANOTHER round of airstrikes against Gaza, destroys open air prison's only TV station
- Israeli military kills Hamas commander in Gaza Strip assault
- 200 Rockets launched from Gaza into Israel, bus carrying IDF soldiers destroyed

Michael McFaul speaks during a Russian Public Chamber round table event in Moscow April 4, 2013
McFaul, along with Obama-era UN ambassador Samantha Power, pounced on an anti-Trump tweet posted by a parody account that poses as North Korea's "official news feed."
To his credit, McFaul deleted the offending tweet. But the celebrated Stanford scholar went one step further, issuing an extremely articulate and compelling defense for his oversight: Who even has time to check sources on Twitter?
Comment: McFaul's Twitter life mirrors his public life as he has stumbled from fail to fail. Why is anyone still listening to this clown?
- Russia 'expert' Michael McFaul don't need no Russian language - or English for that matter
- Russia detains American diplomat, accuses him of espionage
- Moscow: Former US ambassador McFaul banned from Russia
- McFaul denies endorsing call to kill Russian intel officers and apologizes for reposting fake video
- Ex-US ambassador to Russia parrots unsupported claims that Russia meddled in U.S. elections
- Obama's Ambassador to Russia McFaul dissembles, then reveals about Magnitsky Act
- Russian prosecutor general: Russia wants to question Chris Steele, Michael McFaul, top politicians for aiding criminal Bill Browder - UPDATE

A migrant woman holds a baby upon her arrival aboard a coast guard boat at Malaga's harbour on September 23, 2018
But the debate requires much more than "moral appeals."
A recent study entitled 'Building Walls' puts the growth of EU internal and external border barriers into stark perspective. In the 1990s, there were two border walls. Now the number has grown to a total of 17, with most of the structures built over the past three years.













Comment: No wonder the US DoD said it would take years to defeat Daesh - the US military keeps rescuing and re-locating the head-choppers!