Puppet MastersS


Wall Street

Gulf oil minister: Saudi Arabia's Aramco will go public in 2018


CNBC
Fri, 17 Nov 2017 11:02 UTC
Saudi Arabia aramco
Saudi Aramco's plan to take a portion of its business public next year will go ahead as scheduled in 2018, Oman's oil minister told CNBC Monday.

At an energy industry conference in Abu Dhabi, Oman's Mohammed bin Hamad al-Rumhi was pressed for a definitive answer regarding his expectations over Saudi Aramco's potential IPO next year. He replied: "If CNBC says yes, then I say yes."

The initial public offering (IPO) for the world's largest energy company is expected to take place in the second half of 2018. However, recent reports have suggested Saudi Aramco could move to delay its IPO into 2019 or even shelve the exercise altogether in favor of selling private shares to sovereign wealth funds.
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Star of David

Syrian terrorists now 'at war' over Israeli aid packages


Fars News Agency
Fri, 17 Nov 2017 11:02 UTC
Free Syrian Army fighters in Saqba, a suburb of Damascus
© Freedom House / CC-BY-2.0Free Syrian Army fighters in Saqba, a suburb of Damascus.
The Arabic-language al-Watan daily quoted dissident-affiliated websites as saying that a number of the FSA militants started infighting over how to distribute aid as they were receiving three Israeli vehicles with a cargo of flour bags from Commander of Tajamo al-Ahrar Abu Yazan al-Jabileh and Commander of Tajamo Abu Hamza al-Na'eimi Abu Tariq al-Qadir at gates of al-Dareeyat region.

It added that the Israeli missile units shelled the road connecting the villages of al-Ma'alaqa and al-Rafid in Southern Quneitra following the escalation among the FSA terrorists.

The road was cut off due to the heavy fire of Israeli forces, al-Watan added.

Comment: Further reading: Netanyahu to US, Russia: Israel will continue 'acting in Syria'

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Life Preserver

EU countries pledge to accept 34,000 refugees after UN rebuke


Sputnik
Thu, 16 Nov 2017 10:51 UTC
raft refugees Africa sea
© Photo/ Emilio MorenattiMigrants and refugees call out to Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms workers, after being located out of control sailing on a rubber boat in the Mediterranean Sea, about 18 miles north of Sabratha, Libya
Sixteen EU member states say they are ready to accept 34,000 refugees from North Africa and the Middle East after the UN accused Brussels of helping Libyan authorities intercept Europe-bound refugees, Press TV reported.

The offer to admit more refugees meets the European Commission's stated goal of letting in at least 50,000 refugees over the next two years in a bid to discourage them from making the risky Mediterranean crossing.

Comment: The real solution to the immigration problem is not to be found in reshuffling numbers and allocations within the EU, but in solving the conflicts and economic conditions that make life unbearable for people in North Africa and the Middle East. Are European powers regretting already their involvement in the destruction of Gadaffi's Libya and their attempt at toppling Assad in Syria via proxy terrorist groups?

The proof that the flow of immigration can (and should) be reversed is that since 2015, thanks to Russia helping the Syrian Army to liberate and pacify their country, 1.12 million refugees have returned to their homes. We hope Europe will take note of this.

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Attention

Fake News: Fox's Shep Smith's 'debunking' of Uranium One story full of holes

Jerome Hudson
Breitbart
Wed, 15 Nov 2017 00:01 UTC
Shepard Smith
© The Associated Press
Fox News' Shepard Smith drew applause from liberal media outlets Tuesday in a "fact check" marred with mispronunciations and misrepresentations.

Smith, one of Fox's top liberals and who frequently opposes the network's narratives, spoke at length on his show Shepard Smith Reports after Attorney General Jeff Sessions floated the idea of a special counsel to investigate recent revelations surrounding the 2010 partial sale of Canadian firm Uranium One to Russian energy giant Rosatom. The sale was approved by the Obama administration as it included the sale of 20 percent of U.S. uranium to the Russian giant.

Comment: See also:

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Smiley

Researcher finds 'infinitesimal' 400 tweets from Russia which UK government claimed 'influenced' entire country's vote on Brexit


RT
Wed, 15 Nov 2017 21:08 UTC
Twitter computer
© Fred Tanneau / AFP
The claims around alleged Russian meddling in British politics has been stirred by allegations that fake Twitter accounts attempted to influence the Brexit vote. But while the mere suggestion was enough to make mainstream headlines, little was said about the "infinitesimal" quantity of tweets involved.

According to Sky News, fake Twitter accounts created by an outlet known as the Russian Internet Research Agency have been accused of carrying out a "determined, coordinated attempt to interfere during the EU referendum."

The findings came out of analysis carried out by Yin Yin Lu, a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, who revealed she found just 400 tweets sent out before, during and after the 2016 EU referendum by Russia based usernames.

Comment: For some in the establishment, this is a sign of collective hysteria, for others it's a propaganda push to keep the failing western regimes afloat by creating an enemy 'out there' who's to blame for all the problems the systemic corruption those who wield power have created:

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Light Saber

Russia vetoes US attempt to pass resolution blaming Assad for chemical attacks in Syria


RT
Fri, 17 Nov 2017 08:47 UTC
UN Security Council
© Lucas Jackson / ReutersUN Security Council
A Russian resolution on the international inquiry into chemical attacks in Syria has been rejected by the UN Security Council, shortly after Russia vetoed a rival proposal by the US, calling it flawed and unbalanced.

The US and Russia both put forward their respective resolutions to the UN Security Council on how the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) should proceed with investigating alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria, including the April incident in Khan Shaykhun. Washington pinned the blame for that attack on the Assad government without waiting for any solid evidence, and JIM inspectors never actually went on the ground to investigate.

The vetoed US resolution on extending the JIM mandate was supported by 11 members of the Security Council. Apart from Russia, Bolivia opposed the resolution, while China and Egypt abstained.
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Chess

The strange journey of Lebanon's Saad Hariri

Robert Bridge
RT
Fri, 17 Nov 2017 08:47 UTC
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri
© Jamal Saidi / ReutersA poster showing Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri
In early November, Lebanese PM Saad Hariri shocked the world by unexpectedly flying to Saudi Arabia and announcing his retirement. The Lebanese people suspected foul play on the part of Riyadh. Now they may finally have a chance to hear the full story.

In the latest twist in this incredible tale, Saad Hariri is expected to leave Saudi Arabia for France in several days before traveling to Beirut where he will reportedly formally resign as prime minister. To say Hariri's return will be a momentous event would be a great understatement. Naturally, speculation is rife among Lebanese citizens that Hariri, a Sunni Muslim politician with strong bonds to Saudi Arabia, was coerced to quit.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Thursday that he looked forward to Hariri's return following the latter's acceptance of the French invitation. "I await the return of PM Hariri to Beirut so we can decide on the situation of the government - if he wants to resign or rescind his resignation," Aoun said, according to presidential sources quoted by Reuters.
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Magic Wand

US House of Representatives approves 'Tax Cuts and Jobs Act'


RT
Fri, 17 Nov 2017 08:47 UTC
Washington DC
© Zach Gibson / Reuters
The House of Representatives has approved a game-changing rewrite of the US tax code proposed by President Donald Trump. No Democrats voted for the bill. Tax reform now faces an uphill battle in the divided Senate.

On Thursday, the Republican majority voted to approve HR1, or "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act." The final vote was 227 in favor and 205 against. All of the Democrats opposed the bill, and over a dozen Republicans joined them.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) and his top staffers have worked to bring a few holdouts over to his side. Trump himself met with the House Republican leadership earlier in the day.
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Bad Guys

Diplomatic Lavrov: No evidence US works with ISIS, despite acting 'suspiciously'

Samer Hussein (translator)
Fort Russ
Fri, 17 Nov 2017 08:47 UTC
Lavrov
© AP Photo/ Ivan Sekretarev
Originally at Breakingnews.sy

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Moscow has no evidence of US coordination with the terrorist group ISIS, though it does consider Washington's actions to be negatively impacting counter-terrorism operations in Syria.

At a joint press conference held with his Argentine counterpart Jorge Faurie in Moscow on Thursday, Lavrov stressed that there is no evidence that the US-led international "anti-ISIS" coalition has been coordinating with the terrorist group ISIS.

When asked by journalists on the withdrawal of the remaining ISIS elements from the Syrian city of Raqqah, Lavrov said there is no evidence that the withdrawal was executed in coordination with the US-led forces, however, the whole thing nevertheless remains suspicious, which is why Moscow asked Washington to provide details on the events there.
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Cult

Reverse Midas Touch: 2015 German intelligence memo forecast Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince's reckless actions

Mehdi Hasan
The Intercept
Mon, 13 Nov 2017 08:39 UTC
bin salman banner lebanon
A banner depicts images of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, right, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, displayed in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli on Nov. 10, 2017. The banner reads in Arabic: “firm and moderating leadership.”
Kudos to Germany's spooks. Back in December 2015, the German foreign intelligence agency, BND, distributed a one-and-a-half-page memo to various media outlets titled: "Saudi Arabia - Sunni regional power torn between foreign policy paradigm change and domestic policy consolidation." The document was pretty astonishing, both in its undiplomatic bluntness and remarkable prescience.

"The current cautious diplomatic stance of senior members of the Saudi royal family will be replaced by an impulsive intervention policy," the memo warned, focusing on the role of Mohammed bin Salman, who had been appointed as deputy crown prince and defense minister at the age of 30 earlier that year.

Both MBS, as he has come to be known, and his elderly father King Salman, the BND analysts wrote, want Saudi Arabia to be seen as "the leader of the Arab world" with a foreign policy built on "a strong military component." Yet the memo also pointed out that the consolidation of so much power in a single young prince's hands "harbors a latent risk that in seeking to establish himself in the line of succession in his father's lifetime, he may overreach," adding: "Relations with friendly and above all allied countries in the region could be overstretched."
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