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Fri, 05 Nov 2021
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'It's a Tory bribe, plain and simple': Labour MPs blast May over £1.6B pledge for 'left behind' towns


RT
Mon, 04 Mar 2019 15:16 UTC
Stoke-on-Tent club
© AFP/Oli Scarff
A derelict nightclub in the centre of Stoke-on-Trent, central England
PM Theresa May's announcement that £1.6bn will be given to towns in the Midlands and northern England, in a bid to win over politicians in 'leave-supporting' areas to back her Brexit deal, has been branded a "bribe" by Labour MPs.

A string of Labour parliamentarians have greeted the Tory government's pledge to hand a funding boost, worth £320 million a year over six years to areas severely hit by austerity cuts, with derision.

In an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Communities Secretary James Brokenshire denied accusations that this new money for poorer English regions was a Brexit bribe. However, many Labour MPs have interpreted the move as a sweetener from May's administration, in an effort to win support on her EU Withdrawal Agreement.

Labour's shadow education secretary Angela Rayner has taken to social media to brand it "a Tory bribe, plain and simple," and claimed May's party "think buying votes is the only way forward these days."
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Dollar

If France taxed tech giants it could earn hundreds of millions


RT
Mon, 04 Mar 2019 14:57 UTC
GAFA
© Getty Images
Additional taxes on Big Tech corporations like Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook could add up to €500 million ($568.3 million) to France's budget annually, according to French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.

The new levy, dubbed GAFA tax (named after Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon), is aiming to target foreign corporate giants with worldwide digital revenues of at least €750 million and revenue of more than €25 million in France. A draft law will be presented to the cabinet as soon as Wednesday before it is presented to parliament.

"A taxation system for the 21st century has to build on what has value today, and that is data," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told in an interview with Le Parisien newspaper.

The extra tax of three percent will be applied to revenues of at least 30 corporations, most of which are American, including Uber, Airbnb, and Booking, according to the minister.

Comment: See also:
Welcome to the New Year, big tech! France starts taxing Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon

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Chart Bar

China's 'weak' annual economic growth is greater than the whole of Australia's economy


RT
Mon, 04 Mar 2019 10:08 UTC
Sydney Australia
© Global Look Press
Sydney, Australia
Despite slowing growth over recent years, China's added gross domestic product last year was worth more than the value of Australia's total output, according to Chinese National Bureau of Statistics.

Last year, Chinese economic growth saw a slowdown to 6.6 percent compared to 6.8 reached in 2017, marking the lowest full-year growth rate since 3.9 percent in 1990. However, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) still grew well above those of the G7 economies, with China making up nearly 30 percent of global economic growth.

The value of the Chinese economy, the world's second largest, hit $13.6 trillion in 2018, according to the latest data compiled by the country's statistics agency.

"China remains a source of power for the global economy," said Sheng Laiyun, deputy head of the statistics bureau, as quoted by the South China Morning Post. "China's additional economic output was worth $1.4 trillion last year, which is equivalent to the total economic size of Australia in 2017."
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Arrow Up

Goldman Sachs: US tariffs against China remain into 2020 even if trade deal is reached


RT
Mon, 04 Mar 2019 09:50 UTC
bike gears
© Reuters/Thomas Peter
‘MADE IN USA’ label is seen on a Cannondale bicycle in Beijing
The world's two biggest economies, China and the United States are more likely to reach some sort of trade agreement this month but the process of lifting tariffs would be gradual with some remaining into 2020, says Goldman Sachs.

"Our base case is that an agreement would leave some US tariffs in place, potentially lifting them in stages as various commitments under the agreement have been met. We nevertheless expect some US tariffs to remain in place into 2020," the US investment bank wrote in a report on Monday.

It noted that trade tensions between Beijing and Washington appear to have "improved" over the last few weeks, with officials from both countries meeting several times and reporting that progress has been made.

The process to reach a trade deal could take place in three phases, according to Goldman. Most immediately, US and Chinese officials are likely to continue meeting over the next few weeks to work out differences on the outstanding issues, the report says.

The second phase will likely result in a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in late March where unresolved issues are to be ironed out.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Israel lobby rebuts Omar's claims about its immense influence by exerting its immense influence

Caitlin Johnstone
caitlinjohnstone.com
Tue, 05 Mar 2019 00:01 UTC
Ilhan Omar
In response to criticisms made by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar that US political leaders have too much allegiance to Israel and its lobbying groups, House Democrats have put forward an entire House resolution in accordance with demands made by AIPAC and the Anti-Defamation League.

"The backlash [over Omar's comments] continued on Monday, as the Anti-Defamation League wrote a letter to Pelosi calling for a House resolution to specifically reject what the organization calls Omar's 'latest slur,'" Politico reports. "'We urge you and your colleagues to send the unambiguous message that the United States Congress is no place for hate,' the group's CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, wrote in a letter."

"The charge of dual loyalty not only raises the ominous specter of classic anti-Semitism, but it is also deeply insulting to the millions upon millions of patriotic Americans, Jewish and non-Jewish, who stand by our democratic ally, Israel," tweeted the Israel lobbying group AIPAC on Friday in response to Omar's comments.

Comment: See also:

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Beaker

One year after Salisbury poisoning, still no evidence of Novichok nerve agent use disclosed to public


RT
Tue, 05 Mar 2019 11:11 UTC
skripals salisbury
© REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/Dylan Martinez/Global Look Press
Soldiers wearing protective suits work at an ambulance station in Salisbury
On March 4, 2018, former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were 'poisoned by a nerve agent' in Salisbury, UK. Many details do not match up and what happened in reality remains a mystery (though we all know the villain, thanks).

It was on March 4, 2018 that the Skripals were admitted to a hospital in Salisbury. Within days, British Prime Minister Theresa May would claim they had been poisoned by a nerve agent called "novichok" and that it was "highly likely" the Russian government was behind the hit.

A war of words, sanctions and diplomatic expulsions followed, with relations between London and Moscow at their worst since the Cold War, and maybe worse than that. There has been no shortage of often fanciful theories emanating from UK officialdom and NATO-backed "open-source detectives" such as Bellingcat, but none have taken the world closer to knowing what actually happened.


Comment: See also: The Novichok Anniversary: BBC Change Official Skripal Story Yet Again

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Stop

Lavrov: Bolton's Monroe Doctrine remark on Venezuela is an 'insult to entire region'


TASS
Tue, 05 Mar 2019 11:04 UTC
John Bolton
© AP Photo/Cliff Owen
US National Security Advisor John Bolton
White House National Security Adviser John Bolton's statement that Washington is not afraid of pursuing the Monroe Doctrine against Venezuela is a slap in the face to the entire Latin American region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

Lavrov recalled that after the United Nations was established in 1945, international law has been ensured through the Charter of this universal and the most legitimate organization. "The theory and practice of 'backyards' is insulting, to a large extent," Russia's top diplomat stressed.

"I believe that Latin American states will react to John Bolton's statement. He mentioned that the Monroe Doctrine could be used in Venezuela, insulting the entire Latin America," he noted. "Moreover, several days ago Washington threatened that Venezuela is not the end of the story, and Cuba and Nicaragua would be next."
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Bad Guys

US attempts to 'regime change' Venezuela by giving Citgo to opposition have not yet succeeded

Nick Cunningham
Oil Price
Tue, 05 Mar 2019 11:04 UTC
oil machinery
Venezuela is scrambling to find buyers for its oil, hoping to keep revenue streams alive even as President Nicolas Maduro loses control of Citgo.

The US-based subsidiary of PDVSA officially severed ties with its parent company in order to comply with US sanctions, according to Reuters. The American government is trying to shift control of Citgo into the hands of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó. Citgo has stopped sending payments to PDVSA, and Gauidó has appointed a new board to the company. Some Venezuelan employees working at Citgo in the US returned back to Caracas.

Citgo is one of the major prizes that the US has tried to wrestle away from Maduro as part of the American regime change campaign in Venezuela. Citgo is the eight largest refiner in the US at 750,000 bpd, and it owns pipelines and retail gasoline stations. The company is a key source of revenue for the Venezuelan government.
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Stop

Russian ambassador demands official apology from UK newspaper for slander


TASS
Tue, 05 Mar 2019 11:04 UTC
Alexander Yakovenko
© Michael Metzel/TASS
Russia's ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko
Russia's ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko expects an official apology from Mail on Sunday newspaper for slander, according to the letter published on the official websited of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"We have noted today's Mail on Sunday piece on Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko. As was made clear to your correspondent yesterday, we would have been prepared to comment on statements regarding the Ambassador personally if we had an opportunity to look at the article in advance," the letter said. The Ministry noted that the newspaper misled the British public.

"The information that Mr Yakovenko, when working at the USSR Mission in New York, was expelled for spying, is not true. Mr Yakovenko worked at the Mission from 1981 and 1986 and left after the standard term of posting expired. The allegation on him having been expelled is a blatant lie," the message said.
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War Whore

Washington's war on Syria, for Israel

Elias Samo
Strategic Culture Foundation
Tue, 05 Mar 2019 11:11 UTC
missile launch
I was recently asked to participate and give a presentation at a closed, and invitation-only, conference in Washington, DC, on February 6th, 2019. The topic was: "Strategic Implications of Recent US Decisions on Syria". I attended the conference and gave a presentation. The following is a summary of some of the things I said.

Upon my introduction, I informed the audience that I hold dual nationality, Syrian by birth and American by choice. In over five decades of academic work, I was always plagued by a nightmare of a war between the US and Syria, my two countries; unfortunately, this eventually become a reality. However, I should qualify; the ongoing war in Syria is not between the US and Syria, for there is no conflict between the Syrians and the Americans. It is a war waged by Washington against Syria in the service of Israel and some regional powers; Washington is waging a proxy war on Syria.

I briefly introduced Syria and its historic and religious importance. Syria is the cradle of civilization and home of the three monotheistic religions, where they started or flourished. I also reminded the audience that Syria is an archeological treasure; of the five oldest and continually inhabited cities, three are in Syria: Aleppo, the oldest, Damascus, the third and Latakia, the fifth. Following this introduction, I moved to the subject of the conference, dividing it into two sub topics:
  1. Trump Decisions to serve American interests in Syria; and
  2. Strategic Implications for Syria.

Comment: See also: Israel's 'secret war' on Syria is likened to the US' 'secret war' on Laos

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