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Russian MoD slams US for blocking evacuation convoys at Syria's Rukban camp - UPDATES


Sputnik
Sun, 03 Mar 2019 16:53 UTC
Rukban refugee camp Syria al tanf base
© Agence France-Presse/Khalil Mazraawi
Syrian refugee patients from the makeshift Rukban camp, which lies in no-man's-land off the border between Syria and Jordan in the remote northeast, cross over to visit a UN-operated medical clinic immediately on the Jordanian-side for checkups, on March 1, 2017
The United States has refused to let bus convoys, set to evacuate refugees from the Rukban camp, enter the US-controlled zone in Syria's At-Tanf, where the camp is located, Russian Defense Ministry Center for Syrian Reconciliation head, Lt. Gen. Sergei Solomatin, said Saturday.

"The US side has rejected the demand of the joint Russia-Syria coordination center on refugee repatriation to allow the transport convoys enter the territory of the At-Tanf zone", Solomatin said at a news briefing.

The Rukban camp, which houses about 40,000 displaced people, is located in the southern part of Syria, close to Jordan. The area that became a refugee camp for Syrian residents 2014 is now in the US-controlled zone.

Alexander Marchenko, a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Friday that Washington was delaying the relocation of refugees from the Rukban camp, as it aspires to organize convoys with international humanitarian assistance that will enable the further existence of the camp.

Comment:

UPDATE: The US has issued a statement regarding the Rukban refugee camp:
The US-led coalition, fighting against Daesh had not prevented the exit of refugees from the Rukban camp, located in the US-controlled area in Syria's al-Tanf, a spokesman of the coalition, VR Col. Sean Ryan, told Sputnik on Sunday.

"The Coalition has never denied anyone regarding anything related to humanitarian efforts or the return of IDP's [internally displaced persons], and the Coalition mission is still the enduring defeat of ISIS," Ryan said.

The head of the Russian Defence Ministry's Center for Syrian Reconciliation accused the coalition on Saturday of refusing to allow bus convoys for evacuating refugees enter al-Tanf.

On Friday, Russia and Syria sent convoys to the Rukban camp, which houses around 40,000 displaced people, so that the refugees could return to the places of their permanent residence.

UPDATE 2: Russian MoD says US will not guarantee safety of humanitarian aid convoy
red cross humanitarian aid syria
© Agence France-Presse/Mahmoud Taha
Syrian children stand on the side of a road watching a 48-truck convoy from the ICRC, SARC and UN driving through the Syrian rebel-held village of Teir Maalah, on July 26, 2016
Washington has refused to provide security guarantees for humanitarian convoy movements within the 55-kilometer (34-mile) zone around the US military base in Syria's At-Tanf, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, Col. Gen. Viktor Kupchishin said.

Kupchishin noted that on Friday, Russia and Syria sent humanitarian bus convoys to the Rukban camp, located within the US-controlled territory in At-Tanf, to evacuate refugees. He stressed that the Syrian government guaranteed security for the internally-displaced persons living in Rukban.

"The US side refuses to provide security guarantees for humanitarian convoys' movement within the 55-kilometer zone around the US base in At-Tanf", Kupchishin said.


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Eye 2

Macron crackdown continues: Another man shot in face during Yellow Vest rallies


RT
Sun, 03 Mar 2019 18:49 UTC
yellow vest injury
© Zakaria Abdelkafi/Agence France-Presse/File
The horrid moment when a man was hit in the face during Yellow Vest rallies in Paris was caught on camera, with witnesses saying the projectile was fired from a riot gun - a controversial weapon used by the French police.

The video, apparently captured using a mobile phone camera, shows protesters trying to evade projectiles being fired by police near the iconic Arc de Triomphe. Seconds later, a man can be seen lying on the ground as first responders rush to help him.

It is unclear whether the injury was life threatening. Witnesses said the victim was hit by a so-called defensive bullet launcher, a weapon blamed for dozens of injuries to anti-government Yellow Vest protesters in recent weeks, according to RT France.

Comment:

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Magnify

California DOJ paid $1.1 million to settle claims for harassment and retaliation during Kamala Harris' tenure as top cop

Christine Mai-Duc and Patrick McGreevy
Los Angeles Times
Fri, 01 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC
Kamala Harris
© Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images
The California Department of Justice paid more than $1.1 million to settle claims with employees who alleged they were sexually harassed or retaliated against by co-workers during the tenure of then-state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris from 2011 to 2017, according to documents obtained by The Times.

The cases, which were disclosed this week in response to a California Public Records Act request, come weeks after Harris launched her presidential bid, bringing new scrutiny to her record. The incidents included allegations that DOJ employees sexually harassed and retaliated against co-workers, including claims involving inappropriate touching and cases in which workers felt uncomfortable with the comments and actions of others.

Harris, a Democrat who was elected to the Senate in 2016, did not know about the cases settled by the DOJ until they were brought to her attention by The Times, said her spokesman, Chris Harris.

The senator said she takes responsibility for what happened in her office when she was California's top cop.

Comment: Kamala Harris' 'progressive' record speaks for itself:

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Bad Guys

Neocon Bolton calls for 'broad' regime-change coalition on Venezuela


RT
Sun, 03 Mar 2019 16:04 UTC
Juan Guaido pictured with Colombian President Ivan Duque and US Vice President Mike Pence at a meeting of the anti-Maduro Lima Group
© Reuters
Juan Guaido pictured with Colombian President Ivan Duque and US Vice President Mike Pence at a meeting of the anti-Maduro Lima Group
National Security Adviser John Bolton said that the United States will form "as broad a coalition" as possible to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Bolton went on to call for a "completely democratic hemisphere."

"I'd like to see as broad a coalition as we can put together to replace Maduro, to replace the whole corrupt regime," Bolton told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday. "That's what we're trying to do."


Comment: Who in their right mind listens to John Bolton?

Comment: Venezuela is certainly not without problems, however that doesn't justify US intervention to overthrow a democratically elected leader, never mind the fact that the track record of US intervention is utterly abysmal. See more:

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MIB

A US intelligence official is traveling with Guaido on his 'regional tour' - who is she?


teleSUR
Sat, 02 Mar 2019 16:40 UTC
guaido Kimberly Breier
© Twitter / @WHAAsstSecty
Juan Guaido and Kimberly Breier pose for a photo with Brazilian officials during his visit to Brazil earlier this week.
His advisor is Kimberly Breier, a 20-year-experienced U.S. intelligence professional.

Since leaving Venezuela on Feb. 22, despite a travel-ban in place against him, opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido has deployed an intense agenda of attacking democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro as he travels to Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay, and other South American countries, whose right-wing leaders were quick to throw their support behind his self-proclamation as interim president.

Besides traveling with his wife Fabiana Rosales, who has accompanied him on each visit as if they were performing official trips, Guaido has been accompanied by another woman: U.S. senior official Kimberly Breier.

A brief look at her social media posts reveals how Breier's constant close presence and collaboration with Guaido to achieve his political objectives of ousting the legitimate government in Venezuela, in line with the interests of her superiors in Washington.

Comment: So Breier's been sticking her official nose into Latin American affairs for quite a while it seems. Just this month she was castigating Cuba for voting massively against the US' preferred agenda.

Cuba snubs Trump's anti-socialist crusade with massive constitution vote

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Eye 2

Propaganda Alert: Hezbollah in Venezuela! Maduro "steals" 8 tons of gold!


SouthFront
Thu, 28 Feb 2019 15:13 UTC
maduro rouhani

A meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on October 22nd, 2016.
The claim that Hezbollah has ties to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was reinforced by a report by the Jerusalem Post, citing former Venezuelan Intelligence Chief Hugo Carvajal.

The article was originally published on February 24th, but US National Security Adviser shared it on twitter on February 27th, with accusations that no longer mention "Maduro and his cronies," but rather Maduro and "a counsel of terrorists and Cuban minders."


According to the Jerusalem Post article, which itself cites a NYT report, Carvajal revealed powerful ties between the administration of President Nicolás Maduro and the Hezbollah terrorist group, as well as wide-spread corruption and drug activity.

Allegedly, those who were meant to combat drugs were engaged in trafficking them, Carvajal said.

Comment: Unfortunately, Russia was unable to get its resolution passed by the UN Security Council. On the plus side, neither was the US able to pass its resolution demanding Venezuela immediately hold a new election.

Russian, US resolutions on Venezuela fail to pass at UN Security Council

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Blue Planet

Final steps of the multipolar revolution: Containing the US in Europe

Federico Pieraccini
Strategic Culture
Tue, 26 Feb 2019 12:00 UTC
us troops
We discussed in the previous article how China and Russia are using diplomatic, economic and military means in areas like Asia and the Middle East to contain the belligerence and chaos unleashed by the United States. In this analysis, we will examine the extent to which this strategy is working in Europe. In the next and final article, we will look at the consequences of the "America First" doctrine in relation to South America and the Monroe Doctrine.
The United States has in the last three decades brought chaos and destruction to large parts of Europe, in spite of the common myth that the old continent has basked in the post-WWII peace of the American-led world order. This falsehood is fueled by European politicians devoted to the European Union and eager to justify and praise the European project. But history shows that the United States fueled or directed devastating wars on the European continent in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, with the conflict between Georgia and Ossetia at the beginning of the 1990s, with the war in Georgia in 2008, and in the coup in Ukraine in 2014, with the ensuing aggression against the Donbass.

Comment: It's likely that this pivot, although slow and with massive resistance from the Western establishment, is driven by the undeniable fact that the future for the planet no longer lies with one country. And the maniacs at the helm in the US and elsewhere have helped drive this point home: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Trump Ditches Europe, Europe Bluffs, Russia and China Carry on With Eurasian Integration

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Bad Guys

How Trump sabotaged the North Korea summit to appease the hawks and lied about Kim's terms

Mike Whitney
The Unz Review
Fri, 01 Mar 2019 20:05 UTC
trump kim us north korea
"During the Korean War, the US dropped more bombs on North Korea than it had dropped in the entire Pacific theater during World War II. This carpet bombing, which included 32,000 tons of napalm, often deliberately targeted civilian as well as military targets, devastating the country far beyond what was necessary to win the war. Whole cities were destroyed, with many thousands of innocent civilians killed and many more left homeless and hungry.... Dean Rusk, a supporter of the war and later secretary of state, said the United States bombed "everything that moved in North Korea, every brick standing on top of another." ...The number of inhabitants of Pyongyang killed by bomb splinters, burnt alive and suffocated by smoke is incalculable..." ("Americans have forgotten what we did to North Korea", Vox World)
The US-North Korea Summit in Hanoi has ended in failure just as all previous attempts at peace have ended in failure. This is by design. Washington has refused to incrementally lift the sanctions on the DPRK because sanctions are Washington's way of prosecuting an economic war against an enemy who, for the last six and a half decades, has been the target of US hostility. In case you hadn't noticed, US policy towards North Korea is regime change, the same as it is towards Iran, Cuba, Russia, Venezuela and any other country that doesn't accept Washington's moral superiority and divine right to rule the world. Economic strangulation (sanctions) is just one way that Washington cracks down on the dissidents and imposes its will with an iron fist. But don't kid yourself, this isn't about nuclear weapons, in fact, the Trump administration hasn't even bothered to assemble a team of weapons inspectors to investigate probable nuclear sites. Why? Because it isn't about nuclear weapons, it's about regime change, it's about inflicting maximum pain and suffering on the Korean people so they take up arms against the government and violently depose Kim and his cabinet. That's the goal. That's always been the goal. The blocking of heating oil, essential medicines and vital food supplies are all being used to promote social unrest, fratricidal warfare, and political anarchy. Sound familiar? It should, Washington has it down to an art.
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X

Pakistan didn't violate the Geneva Convention, it instead confirmed its adherence

Andrew Korybko
Eurasia Future
Thu, 28 Feb 2019 00:00 UTC
Modi,Troops,sign
© Lahore News
Pakistan-India Kashmir dispute
After suffering a humiliating military defeat on the morning of 27 February when Pakistan shot down two of its MiGs that violated the country's airspace and even captured one of its pilots, India went wild trying to distract its population by switching the subject of discussion to allegations that Islamabad violated the Geneva Convention of 1949 by airing footage of the captured pilot, but in reality Pakistan actually confirmed its adherence to this cornerstone of international law and simultaneously contributed to de-escalating the worst military crisis with its nuclear-armed neighbor since their 1971 war almost half a century ago.

A Desperate Distraction To Cover Up A Military Defeat

"Pakistan Turned The Latest Bollywood 'Surgical Strike' Flick Into Reality" on the morning of 27 February after it upheld the rules-based international order centered on the UN Charter's principles about territorial integrity, sovereignty, and the right to defend oneself against aggression when it shot down two Indian MiGs that violated its airspace and even captured one of the pilots.

This came as a total shock for the Mainstream Media-indoctrinated Indian masses who had mostly been convinced up until that point that Prime Minister Modi had "succeeded" in "putting Pakistan in its place" after "surgically striking" it on the unsubstantiated pretext that Islamabad was involved in the Pulwama attack. As the clichéd saying goes, "the truth hurts", and the proverbial "bloody nose" that Pakistan gave India risked exposing the latter's government-driven narrative as nothing more than pre-election propaganda for the incumbent BJP, which is why the state swiftly moved to distract the population as soon as possible.

Comment: The three videos referenced in the article:



See also: Kashmir crisis: Though tempers run high, India and Pakistan to avoid all-out war say analysts

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Briefcase

House Dems prepare case to request Trump's tax returns

Heidi Przybyla
NBC News
Fri, 01 Mar 2019 04:52 UTC
Rep Richard Neal
© Anna Moneymaker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Rep. Richard Neal during a hearing with Robert Lighthizer in Washington, Feb. 27, 2019.
Democrats are crafting a request to send to the IRS and say they will "take all necessary steps" to obtain the president's returns.

The top tax-writing committee in the House is readying a request for years of President Donald Trump's personal tax returns that is expected to land at the Internal Revenue Service as early as the next few weeks, according to congressional aides involved in the process. And Democrats are prepared to "take all necessary steps," including litigation, in order to obtain them.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., has asked the committee's attorneys to prepare the request, according to two aides involved in the process. Neal has also contacted the chairs of several other House investigative committees, including Oversight and Government Reform, Financial Services, Intelligence and Judiciary, asking them to provide detailed arguments for why they need the president's tax returns to conduct their probes.

Comment: See also:

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