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Tue, 19 Oct 2021
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New York City cyber center with controversial ties to Israeli intelligence opens costing taxpayers millions

Whitney Webb
Mint Press News
Fri, 14 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
NY cybersecurity
© Graphic by Claudio Cabrera
New York City taxpayers are on the hook for a multi-million dollar cyber center in the heart of Manhattan with deep ties to Israel's high-tech intelligence apparatus.

Early last week, the city of New York launched — with little media scrutiny — one of two new massive cybersecurity centers that will be run by private Israeli firms with close ties to Israel's government, the so-called "Mega Group" tied to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and prominent pro-Israel lobby organizations operating in the United States. The centers were first announced in 2018 as was the identity of the firms who would run them: Israel-based Jerusalem Venture Partners and SOSA.

As MintPress has reported on several occasions, all three of these entities have a history of aggressively spying on the U.S. federal government and/or blackmailing top American politicians, raising concerns regarding why these companies were chosen to run the new centers in the heart of Manhattan. The news also comes as Israeli cybersecurity companies tied to Israeli military intelligence Unit 8200 were revealed to have access to the U.S. government's most classified systems and simulating the cancellation of the upcoming 2020 presidential election.
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Map

Trump plans to keep US troops permanently in Iraq under NATO command

Eric Zuesse
The Saker
Mon, 17 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
NATO in Iraq
A reliable and exceptionally knowledgeable source, who doesn't wish to be publicly identified, has confidentially informed me that an agreement has been reached in which U.S. troops will remain permanently in Iraq but under exclusively NATO command, no longer under the command of CentCom (US Central Command in the Middle East).

On February 12th, NATO's defense ministers agreed to increase operations in Iraq. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has been working ever since Fall of 2019 to prepare this plan (Trump had been pushing for it even before that), and Stoltenberg has consulted in Jordan with King Abdullah, and also in Brussels with Sabri Bachtabji, Tunisia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, because Tunisia is a key part of Trump's plan, to use other NATO nations as America's proxies controlling the Middle East.

On February 1st, pro-Muslim-Brotherhood Turkey agreed to the plan, and will be transferring jihadists (al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, plus some ISIS) from Syria's jihadist-filled Idlib Province, into Libya, via Tunisia, so as to boost the forces of Fayez al-Sarraj (former monarchist now backed by U.S., EU, and Turkey) to defeat the forces of Khalifa Haftar (former Gaddafi-supporter, now in the Libyan civil war claiming as his objective the defeat of all jihadists there). Whereas U.S., EU, and Turkey, back al-Sarraj, Russia isn't involved in the war, except trying to negotiate peace there, but al-Sarraj rejects any involvement by Russia.

Turkey's interest in Libya is to win Libya's backing so as to be in a stronger position to win turf in the emerging competition for rights to oil and gas under nearby parts of the Mediterranean Sea. To have Libya beholden to Turkey would be to increase the likelihood of Turkey's getting that offshore oil.

Comment: But for a little nuance concerning Trump's maneuvers in the Middle East - and elsewhere, don't miss: What Trump is really about

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Airplane

Iranian ministers say Ukraine airline black box damaged, won't hand it over to another country without Iranian cooperation


RFE/RL
Wed, 19 Feb 2020 22:00 UTC
ukraine airlines ps752 iran
© Reuters
Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was brought down after it took off from Tehran on January 8, killing everyone on board.
The black box of a Ukrainian passenger airliner shot down by Iranian forces in Tehran in January is damaged and Iran will not hand it over to another country, despite pressure for access, state media quoted top Iranian ministers as saying on February 19.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that he had "impressed upon" Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that a complete and independent investigation into the shooting down of the airliner had to be carried out.

Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was brought down by Iranian air defenses after it took off from Tehran on January 8, killing everyone on board. Iran says the shoot-down was a mistake. The 176 victims included 82 Iranian citizens and 63 Canadians, many of them of Iranian origin.

The crash occurred with Iran's air-defense forces on high alert following an Iranian ballistic-missile attack a few hours earlier against U.S. forces in Iraq. The strikes came days after Iran's most prominent military commander, Qasem Soleimani, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.

"We have a right to read the black box ourselves. We have a right to be present at any examination of the black box," Zarif said.

"If we are supposed to give the black box to others for them to read it in our place then this is something we will definitely not do," he said.

Comment: Read Zarif's words closely, because this was RFE/RL's original headline: 'Ministers Say Tehran Won't Hand Over 'Damaged' Black Box Of Downed Ukrainian Plane.' That's not what he said. At least, that's not what RFE/RL quoted him as saying. Of course, many people only read the headlines...

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Binoculars

Trump claims he knows identity of anonymous administration official who penned scathing tell-all

Andrew O'Reilly
Fox News
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 19:17 UTC
Trump
President Trump on Tuesday claimed he knows the identity of the anonymous administration official who penned a scathing tell-all about his White House but said he won't reveal the name publicly.

"I know who it is," Trump told reporters gathered at Andrews Air Force Base before departing on a trip to California.

Trump added that he can't tell who it is, but he "knows who it is."

"People know it's a fraud," he said. "I know about anonymous and I know about the leakers too."

The anonymous author, who also penned a now-infamous op-ed in the New York Times in 2018 claiming that he or she was "part of the resistance" to undermine Trump, published a book entitled A Warning last November that was highly critical of the president. It slammed him for mocking immigrants and challenging major public policy decisions.


Comment: That's the real problem the 'resistance' has with Trump: on some issues - which happen to be of some importance! - he has his own opinions. And in a lot of cases, though not all, he happens to be right. And for the "resistance", that is simply unacceptable.

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Megaphone

Dutch journalist: Leaked investigation docs point to NO Buk missile systems around MH17 crash area


Sputnik
Wed, 19 Feb 2020 17:35 UTC

Comment: As we said right away when this happened in 2014, the 'intelligence community' lied its rear-end off...


MH17 wreckage Ukraine
© Sputnik / Alexey Kudenko
A worker stands beside a piece of MH17 wreckage
According to new data from unpublished MH17 Joint Investigation Team documents obtained and analysed by Bonanza Media investigative journalist Max van der Werff, there were no Buk missile systems in the vicinity of where the Malaysian Airlines Boeing crashed in eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014.

The journalist concludes, citing a letter from Dutch Military Intelligence, that it "becomes apparent that flight MH17 was flying beyond the range of all identified and operational Ukrainian and Russian locations where 9K37M1 Buk M1 systems were deployed".

The letter, dated 21 September 2016, which is exactly one week before JIT held a press conference on 28 September, proves the Dutch team obtained evidence that no Russian Buk system had crossed into Ukraine from Russia only days before the presser, der Werff wrote.

Comment: As we reported at the time, MH17 was probably shot down by cannon-fire from an upgraded Ukrainian Su-25, while a bomb onboard finished it off.

See also:

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Star of David

Netanyahu, on Palestinian submission to the Trump plan: 'Accept it or not, it's going to happen!'

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
netanyahu
© twitter
Netanyahu addresses Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Feb. 16, 2020 in Jerusalem
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told American Jews that he and the Trump administration are moving ahead with plans to remap the West Bank to give Israel sovereignty over large portions of occupied territory, and Palestinians are going to have to live with that plan "whether they accept it or not."

Netanyahu's discussion of Palestinian submission to the "radical" and "historic" terms of the Trump "peace plan" including annexation of all "Jewish communities" and military control of the West Bank sounded very much like surrender.

He spoke in Jerusalem two days ago to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a rightwing Israel lobby organization:


Comment: This is Netanyahu's ultimate power play - a human earthquake in the making. Who will come forth to challenge USrael on behalf of the Palestinians? History, so far, says no one. Will Iran take the bait?

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Attention

Trump accuses Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of violating the Logan Act - an accusation Murphy made of Michael Flynn

John Gage
Washington Examiner
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 03:04 UTC
Murphy
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT)
President Trump took aim at Chris Murphy after the Democratic senator for Connecticut admitted to meeting with Iran's foreign minister.

"I saw that there's this Sen. Murphy met with the Iranians. Is that a fact?" Trump asked reporters Tuesday. "I just saw that on the way over. Is there anything that I should know? Because that sounds like, to me, a violation of the Logan Act."

The law makes it a criminal offense for unauthorized individuals to negotiate with countries that are hostile toward the United States.

The president said he heard about the news just moments before he met with the press. Murphy said earlier Tuesday that he had a secret meeting in March with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

"I met w the Iranian Foreign Minister in Munich. It's dangerous not to talk to adversaries, especially amidst a cycle of escalation," Murphy said.
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Star of David

Israel benevolently allows Palestinians to fish in their own waters, at least for now

Judah Ari Gross
Times of Israel
Wed, 19 Feb 2020 16:50 UTC
gaza fishing boats fishermen palestine
© Agence France-Presse
Palestinian fishermen arrive with their catch at the seafront of Gaza City on April 2, 2019.
Israel will extend the Gaza fishing zone back to 15 nautical miles and increase the number of travel permits from the Strip to 2,000, following a period of relative calm in the coastal enclave, Israel's military liaison to the Palestinians says.

The military had restricted the permitted fishing zone down to 10 nautical miles and cut some 500 travel permits after weeks of regular rocket fire and the launching of balloon-borne explosive devices into Israel from Gaza.
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Mail

Soros demands Zuckerberg, Sandberg step down from Facebook in a scathing letter

Joshua Bote
USA Today
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 02:34 UTC

Comment: This guy is practically on his deathbed, but he still won't give up!


Soros
© Simon Dawson/Bloomberg/Getty Images
George Soros
George Soros called for Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's respective CEO and COO, to be "removed from control" in a letter published in Financial Times.

The liberal billionaire, who has long been a vocal critic of Facebook's head executives and is the subject of many fabricated conspiracy theories peddled on the platform, reiterated the claim that Zuckerberg is in "some kind of mutual assistance arrangement" with President Donald Trump for his re-election. "If there is any doubt whether an ad is political, it should err on the side of caution and refuse to publish," wrote Soros. "It is unlikely that Facebook will follow this course."

The sentiment is similar to a speech he gave at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, in which he claimed some "kind of informal mutual assistance operation or agreement developing between Trump and Facebook." He did not verify this claim, and it was denied by the company.

The company also rejected Soros' claims in the letter. In a statement to USA TODAY, a representative from Facebook said that the suggestion that the company is connected to a figure or party "runs counter to our values and the facts."

Comment: RT, 19/2/2020: Third time's a charm? Soros' relentless accusations and demands...
Billionaire speculator George Soros has once again called for the de-platforming of Facebook leadership, accusing them of collusion with US President Donald Trump, after CEO Mark Zuckerberg begged for more government regulation. "Zuckerberg does not need government regulation to stop accepting all political advertising until after the November 2020 US election."

Soros's angry missive was a response to Zuckerberg's op-ed published the day before, in which the hapless head of the Menlo Park behemoth pleaded for some kind of government regulation that would establish clear lines on matters that "touch on fundamental democratic values" such as "elections" and "harmful content," among others.

"I believe clearer rules would be better for everyone," Zuckerberg wrote, apparently irritated by the stream of ever-shifting objections from parties and individuals who blame Facebook for losing elections and referenda they believed were rightfully theirs to win - the 2016 US presidential contest and Brexit, to name but two.

Facebook's rejection of Soros's assertions as "just plain wrong" and unsubstantiated by evidence has obviously not deterred the 'Open Society' magnate from stating them again, and again, as evidenced by the op-eds and letters that keep coming. Soros famously denounced it and other social media as a "menace" to society whose "days are numbered," in a January 2018 speech in Davos.

Facebook responded by paying a PR firm to investigate Soros, something Sandberg admitted to in November 2018 - which may explain his ongoing vendetta against her.
See also:

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Footprints

Trump commutes sentences for ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, ex-NYPD commissioner Kerik, 'junk bond king' Milken & ex-NFL owner DeBartolo

Dan Mangan and Kevin Breuninger
CNBC
Tue, 18 Feb 2020 22:29 UTC
trump
© REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
President Donald Trump granted executive clemency Tuesday to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, as well as to ex-New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and to Edward DeBartolo Jr., former owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team.

Trump also announced that he had pardoned Michael Milken, the former junk bond king who became a face of the insider trading financial scandals of the 1980s.

In all, Trump granted some form of executive clemency to 11 individuals Tuesday, according to the White House.

Trump commuted the remainder of Blagojevich's 14-year prison term. The Illinois Democrat had begun serving that sentence in 2012 after he was found guilty of attempting to trade the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama for money or favors.

Blagojevich was scheduled for release on March 13, 2024, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Trump has floated the possibility of commuting Blagojevich's sentence for nearly two years.
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