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Justice Dept. grants immunity to former Clinton staffer who set up Hillary's private email server


RT
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 20:19 UTC
Hillary Clinton
© Scott Morgan / Reuters
The Justice Department has granted immunity to the former State Department staffer who set up Hillary Clinton's private email server. The immunity deal comes as part of a criminal investigation into the possible mishandling of classified information.

A law enforcement official told the Washington Post that Bryan Pagliano has agreed to work with the FBI in exchange for not facing any possible criminal charges.

Pagliano, who invoked the Fifth Amendment when testifying before Congress over the email scandal, worked on Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign before setting up her server in her New York home in 2009.

The controversy is over the presidential Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's use of a private email account and a server installed in her house which she used while she was Secretary of State. Clinton's server did not encrypt emails, a fact that let critics raise concerns about hackers who may have obtained classified information from her correspondence. The Clinton campaign maintains there were no breaches in security.
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Star of David

Propaganda alert! Israel accuses Syrian government of using chemical weapons during ceasefire


Sputnik
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 00:20 UTC
Moshe Yaalon
© AFP 2016/Abir Sultan
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon accused Tuesday the Syrian governmental forces of using chemical weapons against civilians during the current ceasefire, reached at the initiative of Russia and the United States.

"The Syrians initially used industrially produced chemical weapons, but lately they have started to use such substances as chlorine and they use it against civilians. They continue doing it now, during the allegedly holding ceasefire. They are mainly dropping barrels of chlorine from the air," Yaalon said in a speech to a conference near Tel Aviv.

In 2013, a massive chemical weapons attack was carried out in the Syrian suburb of Ghouta which killed more than 1,300 civilians. Both the Syrian government and the militant factions that oppose it blamed one another for the attack.

A mission to eliminate Syria's chemical arsenal was announced after the deadly 2013 gas attack. The Syrian government placed its chemical weapons under international control on Russia's urging.

On February 22, Russia and the United States reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Syria which has been in a state of civil war since 2011. The army loyal to President Bashar Assad is considered to be the only side of the conflict in Syria, which has military aircraft and helicopters.

The ceasefire took effect on Saturday. The cessation of hostilities does not apply to groups designated by the United Nations to be terrorist organizations, such as Islamic State and the Nusra Front, outlawed in a number of countries worldwide including Russia.

Comment: IF chemical weapons were used during the truce, it probably wasn't the Assad government using such substances.

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Mail

Pseudepigrapha? Osama comes across as liberal presidential candidate in latest declassified docs

Avi Asher-Schapiro
Vice News
Tue, 01 Mar 2016 19:54 UTC
Osama bin Laden
© Reuters
In the final years of his life, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden tried to manage the terrorist network's operations and comment on world affairs, even as he grew more and more paranoid about spies and, in the end, worried about his own death.

A cache of 113 documents seized from bin Laden's Pakistani hideout have been translated and declassified by US intelligence agencies, and are now publicly available on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's website. It's the second release of bin Laden material since Navy Seals killed the wanted terrorist in a raid on his compound in 2011.

Along with operational directives and personnel correspondence — including a handwritten will for bin Laden's $29 million fortune — the new documents also contain letters and essays on a wide range of issues, including the US financial crisis, the growing influence of Iran in the Middle East, and President Barack Obama's political prospects.

Comment: Just like Jesus in the New Testament and associated apocrypha, there's an Osama everyone can love in these letters. Concerned about Iran's dominance in the Middle East? Osama's your man! Convinced the U.S. is run by monied financial interests, not the president? Join the revolution! Want to wage jihad against the West? Follow Osama! Wanna help President Obama fight climate change? So does Osama!
Osama bin Laden wrote a letter calling on the American people to help President Barack Obama fight "catastrophic" climate change and "save humanity", in the latest evidence of his worries about environmental issues, newly released documents show. ... That would enable Obama to make "a rational decision to save humanity from the harmful gases that threaten its destiny," bin Laden continued.

In a separate letter, bin Laden urged a close aide to launch a media campaign for the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that included a call for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Bin Laden contended that the world would be better off fighting climate change than waging what he claimed was a war against Islam. "...the world should put its efforts into attempting to reduce the release of gases," said the undated, unsigned letter to someone identified as Shaykh Mahmud that U.S. intelligence officials said they believed was written by bin Laden. "This is a struggle between two of the largest cultures on Earth, and it is in the shadow of catastrophic climate conditions."
What's going on here? Are these letters fabrications designed to plant the association of liberal talking points with evil terrorism? To downplay bin Laden's evil so that al-Nusra in Syria doesn't get such a bad rap? Or is the American intelligence community just messing with us for no other purpose?

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Bullseye

The U.S. 'wants to overthrow democratically elected Syrian government' - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.


Sputnik
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 21:41 UTC
Syrian patriot
© AFP 2016/Anwar Amro
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Sputnik in an exclusive interview that most Americans are unaware that Washington aims to overthrow democratically elected Syrian government.

In his recent op-ed article for Politico Magazine, US attorney and nephew of US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote that the US decided to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power after he refused to back a Qatari gas pipeline project.

The CIA went ahead with this plan after the multi-billion dollar pipeline project first surfaced in 2000, years before the Arab Spring uprising in Syria took place. The project was aimed to build a gas link from Qatar through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey to Europe.

Kennedy writes that if completed, the pipeline would have had major geopolitical implications. For example it would have given "the Sunni kingdoms of the Persian Gulf decisive domination of world natural gas markets and strengthen Qatar, America's closest ally in the Arab world."

The gas link would have also provided Ankara with 'rich transit fees', the author added. This all clearly indicates that the Syrian conflict is not a civil war for greater rights or representation, but a violent foreign-sponsored insurgency aimed at bringing a business project to life.

Radio Sputnik spoke with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to learn more about his research.
If we study the history of America's relation with Mideast and looking at the US' violent intervention in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt over time and the extraordinary and astonishing thing is the solid record of the cataclysmic failure every time we venture there in violent fashion. Most Americans are completely unaware of us attempting to overthrow the democratically elected government in Syria, contrary to our own state department policy and contrary to American values.

Comment: The truth on Syria: Is there a crack in the dam?

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Red Flag

Dutch lawmakers slam secrecy of MH17 investigation, point out lack of evidence of US claims


RT
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 19:27 UTC
mh17 crash
Dutch lawmakers have questioned the course of the investigation into the MH17 crash in Ukraine, highlighting innuendos in the Dutch Safety Board report, and lack of raw data despite US claims of picking up "imagery" as the jet disappeared from radars.

Dutch MPs have held a parliamentary debate on the investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014 that killed all 298 on board, most of them citizens of the Netherlands.

In particular, the Tuesday discussion focused on the final report into the causes of the incident issued by the Dutch Safety Board last October, and the recent chief prosecutor's letter which revealed the investigation has no raw radar data, useful footage or satellite images of the missile launch.

During the debate, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government insisted that there was already enough information for a criminal investigation into the crash, while Dutch opposition lawmakers questioned innuendos and a lack of firm evidence.

Among the questions raised by Dutch MPs was an issue concerning raw radar data and satellite imagery that the United States claimed to have in its possession and which it called strong evidence.
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Map

Making Nice: French Mediterranean mayor to visit Crimea


RT
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 19:31 UTC
Christian Estrosi
© Eric Gaillard/Reuters
Christian Estrosi, mayor of Nice
The mayor of the French Mediterranean city of Nice will visit Crimea to renew a longstanding cooperation agreement with the city of Yalta. The French government decried the visit's importance, dubbing it "an initiative of one of the local politicians."

Nice, a renowned holiday resort on the Mediterranean, and Yalta, a coastal gem on the Black Sea, have been sister cities for over half a century and are set to continue their close ties despite the political rift between EU and Russia, since the Crimean Peninsula reunited with the latter almost two years ago.

Close contacts between the two cities have been reinstated thanks to Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi, who invited a delegation from Yalta to France to sign a memorandum on continuing partnership in keeping with the original agreement signed in 1960.

The Russian delegation spent almost a week in the French city, from February 26 to March 1.

Estrosi has agreed to visit Crimea, although the peninsula has not been recognized by France as part of Russia.

"Agreements have been reached on the reciprocal visit of the Nice mayor to Crimea, to Yalta, with the goal of signing a cooperation agreement. The approximate date of the visit is the latter half of May," local administration head Andrey Rostenko told TASS.

French Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandre Georgini has made a point that French government has nothing to do with the mayor's visit.
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Target

Easy target: Almost 2,000 court cases are open in Turkey for insulting Erdogan


RT
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 19:15 UTC
erdogan
© Murat Cetinmuhurdar / Presidential Palace / Reuters
Around 2,000 legal cases have been opened in Turkey for insulting Recep Tayyip Erdogan, since he became president 18 months ago. Mocking the president carries a maximum of four years in jail with schoolchildren and journalists amongst those arrested.

The revelations were made by Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, who said the ministry had allowed 1,845 cases on charges of insulting Erdogan to proceed, Reuters reports.

"I am unable to read the shameful insults made against our president. I start to blush," said Bozdag, who is a member of Erdogan's ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party.

Those convicted of insulting the Turkish leader could receive a maximum prison sentence of four years. However, before Erdogan became president in August, 2014, the law was rarely invoked. Those critical of the president say he is using the legislation to crack down on dissent.

Comment: If he would stop acting like a dysfunctional troll, he wouldn't be so insultable. As he is, how can anyone resist?

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Radar

US delivers eight Blackhawk helicopters to Jordan to guard border against Daesh


Sputnik
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 18:46 UTC
US Blackhawk Helicopter
© Flickr/ Morning Calm Weekly Newspaper Installation
The United States has delivered eight UH-60A Blackhawk helicopters to Jordan to help its coalition partner secure its border from Daesh terrorists, the US Embassy in Jordan announced on Thursday.

Photos on the US Embassy's social media account showed Wells with Jordanian military officials jointly inspecting the Blackhawk helicopters during the handover ceremony.

"The United States is committed to standing with Jordan to face the threat posed by Daesh... We are honored to partner with you," US Ambassador Alice Wells was quoted as saying in the announcement during a ceremony to handover the eight helicopters.

The helicopters are "another tool for safeguarding" Jordan's border with Syria and Iraq, where the terrorist group has grown significantly since 2014, according to the announcement.
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Attention

Greek Coast Guards seize Turkish ship carrying weapons to Lebanon


Sputnik
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 18:42 UTC
Greek Coast Guard
© AP Photo/ Dimitris Drosos
Turkish media reported that the Greek Coast Guards stopped and confiscated a Turkish ship carrying weapons to Lebanon.

The incident took place on Monday. The ship reportedly departed from the port of Izmir on February 4 and was loaded with six containers, two of which contained weapons and ammunition. Greek authorities arrested all crew members, among them six Syrians, one Indian and four Lebanese.

Turkish authorities were repeatedly accused of providing weapons to radical groups, including those in Syria. The supplies are reported to have occurred in various forms, including deliveries using columns with humanitarian aid.
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Bomb

Terrorists bomb power stations in Syria's Hama Province


Sputnik
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 18:38 UTC
Masyaf Castle in Syria
© AP Photo/ Pavel Golovkin
Terrorists have damaged a power station in Syria's Hama province, a source in the Syrian Ministry of Electricity told Sputnik on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, media reported that electricity had been cut off throughout all of the Syrian provinces.

"Militants have launched rockets at the Al-Zara power plant of in Hama province, which resulted in several generators being knocked out," the source said.
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