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Price of gold bullion surges as China and Russia amass precious metal


Sputnik
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 16:12 UTC
Gold ingots
© Sputnik/ Pavel Lisitsyn
China and Russia are steadily accumulating gold as they seek to reduce dependence on the US dollar, financial information website Marketwatch reported.

Russia and China's policy of buying gold has helped the price of the precious metal to reach its highest level for more than two years, according to financial information website Marketwatch.

On August 2 the price of gold future contracts for December delivery closed at $1,372.6 per troy ounce, their highest level since March 2014.

"China and Russia, the world's No. 1 and No. 3 producers, are catching up to the big industrial countries in stocks of bullion in their official reserves," remarked Marketwatch analyst David Marsh.

Comment: Rattled investors seek shining path to gold and silver

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Snakes in Suits

Killary, Queen of War: The road map ahead

Pepe Escobar
Sputnik
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 15:57 UTC
Hillary Clinton
© Sputnik
It all starts with a Wahhabi-Zionist lovefest.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry was forced to go on a non-denial denial overdrive about a visit to Israel on July 22 by a delegation led by retired Gen. Anwar Eshki.

Eshki happens to be close to Saudi intel superstar and onetime close Osama bin Laden pal Prince Turki bin Faisal, who recently met in the open with former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) generals Yaakov Amidror and Amos Yadlin.

While in Israel, Eshki met with Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold, and Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the top IDF honcho in the West Bank.

There's absolutely no way the House of Saud would not have given a green light for such a visit - and such high-level meetings. By the way, the Interior Ministry in Saudi Arabia bans all travel to Israel - as well as Iran and Iraq.
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Info

EU Council extends Libya mission until August 2017, approves $19 million budget


Sputnik
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 15:52 UTC
Libya refugees
© Flickr/ European External Action Service
The Council of the European extended the mandate of the planning mission EUBAM Libya until 21 August 2017, according to official statement.

The Council of the European prolonged the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) in Libya for another year, until august 21, 2017 and has allocated additional $19 million to supports its efforts, the EU institution said in a statement on Thursday.

EUBAM in Libya was established by the Council of the European Union in May 2013, and was given the mandate to support the Libyan authorities in improving and developing the security of the country's borders. On February 15, 2015 the European Union extended the mission by six months, until August 21, 2016.

"On 4 August 2016, the Council extended the mandate of the planning mission EUBAM Libya until 21 August 2017. It also approved a budget of €17 million for the period from 22 August 2016 to 21 August 2017. As part of the EU's comprehensive approach to support the transition to a democratic, stable and prosperous Libya, EUBAM Libya is mandated to plan for a possible future EU mission providing advice and capacity-building in the area of criminal justice, migration, border security and counter-terrorism," the statement reads.
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Handcuffs

Turkish police detain 20 suspected Islamists


Sputnik
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 15:49 UTC
turkish police
© REN TV / Tumay Berkin
Turkish police have detained 20 people in the southern city of Adana on suspicion of having links to Islamists, local media said Thursday.

Police raided 22 homes, seizing computers and electronic data storage devices, the Dogan news agency said. A police helicopter was reportedly involved in the operation.

Police rounded up the suspected Islamists and ran medical checks on them before taking the suspects to the Adana security department, where they are being questioned, according to the news outlet.

Comment: Turkey has already allegedly rounded up some of the key military and intelligence assets involved in covert support for the terrorists in Syria (in collusion with NATO). Have they begun mopping up the lower levels of the network within Turkey? See: Not mincing words: Erdogan determined to smash NATO secret army Gladio involved in attempted Turkish coup

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Propaganda

Ministry of propaganda: Hillary email leak exposes NYT collusion with U.S. govt war machine

E.P. Bannon
World Socialist Web Site
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 12:18 UTC
michael gordon

Spineless U.S. govt-puppet presstitute liar Michael Gordon.
A 2010 correspondence found in the WikiLeaks Hillary Clinton Email Archive reveals that Michael R. Gordon of the New York Times met secretly with US State Department officials prior to the newspaper's coverage of WikiLeaks' Iraq War Logs. The correspondence was made public by WikiLeaks' release of emails from a private, unsecured server used by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during her time as Secretary of State in the Obama administration.

In view of the Times' long record of parroting the official line of the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies, the revelation that the US government has become the paper's unofficial editor comes hardly as a surprise.

The purpose of Gordon's meeting with officials of the State Department was nothing other than damage control: to warn them of what to expect far enough in advance to adjust their press releases accordingly, while making every assurance that his paper would cherry-pick leaked documents to spin coverage in favor of American foreign policy while burying its most criminal offenses.

Comment: One word: disgusting.

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Chess

Russia's long-sighted diplomacy vs US belligerence: The cases of Ukraine and Iran

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 13:27 UTC
nato russia
Whilst Russia always seeks dialogue even with declared enemies, the US prefers confrontation.

The recent dismissal of Mikhail Zurabov, Moscow's ambassador to Kiev has raised many important points. One of the more salient points is 'why does Moscow still have representation in a capital whose rulers are openly hostile to Russia'? This is best addressed by contrasting recent Moscow-Kiev relations with those between Iran and the United States since 1979.

Whilst there are countless historical differences, there are some strange political parallels between the Iran Revolution of 1979 and the overthrow of the Ukrainian government in 2014. The differences are more obvious. For most of its long history Persia (later Iran) was an independent kingdom. Even incursions by the Umayyad and later Abbasid Arab Caliphates were not wholly destructive forces, as the Arabs in Persia adopted some Persian customs and often ruled alongside ethnic Persians. The only serious destruction to the sovereignty of Iran came during the 13thcentury Mongol invasions of Persia under Genghis Khan, a destructive period Russians can historically relate to.

By contrast, there has never been a true Ukrainian state until the 20thcentury. The early 20th century Ukrainian States were short lived and were tainted by the shadow of multi-party civil wars. A Ukrainian state as one knows it only came about in 1991 and did so according to the historically arbitrary borders of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, drawn in the 1920s. The history of the region was historically divided between three great powers, the Russian Tsardom, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Ottoman Empire. Areas of Eastern and South Eastern Ukraine were effectively Ottoman until the rule of Catherine The Great in the 18th century.

Comment: Further reading: Putin reshuffles the deck: Why Russia chose a new ambassador to Ukraine

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Wall Street

Wells Fargo shrugs off Brexit fear, builds new £300 million London headquarters


RT
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 14:31 UTC
More London business district
© Toby Melville / Reuters
American banking giant Wells Fargo says it doesn't see any negative impact on its British business since the country voted to leave the European Union.

"The Brexit vote did not have a material impact on our United Kingdom or other foreign exposure as of June 30, 2016. We will continue to monitor the relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union and assess the related risks," said Wells Fargo in its quarterly report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

"Brexit has added to global economic uncertainty and could result in rates remaining lower for even longer than expected, putting pressure on reinvestment opportunities. However, compared to our large bank peers, it should have a much lower direct impact on our long-term business drivers, because as you know, we're largely a US-centric company and many indicators point to continued relative strength in the US economy," said CEO John Stumpf.


Comment: Sounds like wishful thinking.


Comment: Another bank also sees no worries: Citibank: No significant negative impact in wake of Brexit

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Quenelle - Golden

Battle of Aleppo: Russian Air Force is delivering 'killing blows' to jihadis

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 13:36 UTC
combattenti jihadisti
Unsuccessful attempts to break siege of rebel fighters trapped in eastern Aleppo result in heavy losses due to bombing by the Russian air force.

Furious battles have been raging around Aleppo as rebel forces led by Jabhat Al-Nusra have repeatedly tried - but have so far failed - to break the encirclement of rebel fighters trapped by the Syrian army in the suburbs of eastern Aleppo.

There is wide discrepancy about the number of rebel fighters involved, with figures given for the number of rebel fighters trapped in eastern Aleppo varying between 5,000 to 10,000, and with the number of rebel fighters involved in the attacks to break the siege put anywhere between 3,500 and 10,000. Though no figure has been given for the number of Syrian and allied troops involved in the fighting, it is doubtful that the Syrian army has a decisive numerical advantage. On the contrary if the higher estimates of the number of rebel fighters are anywhere true then the Syrian and allied forces concentrated in and around Aleppo might even be outnumbered.

This explains the decisive role of the Russian air force. Though the Syrian and allied troops fighting in and around Aleppo are better organised and more heavily armed than the rebels, ultimately they have to rely on bombing by Russian aircraft to make up for their lack of manpower. Russian bombing of rebel positions has in fact been going on round the clock, with rebel sources claiming that the Russian air force carried out no fewer than 40 strikes on their positions just this morning.

Comment: Further reading:
A curious thing in the Western media this weekend is how little coverage is being given to a momentous victory unfolding in Syria. The Syrian Arab Army and Russian forces are about to close the final chapter in the five-year war - and the Western media don't seem to want to know about it.

Russia defeats terrorists while America hails a freak show


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Stock Down

Desperation? Bank of England cuts interest rates for first time in seven years, extends QE


RT
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 14:12 UTC
Bank of England
© Toby Melville / Reuters
The Bank of England (BoE) has reduced the official base rate from 0.5 percent to 0.25 percent which is a record low, and the first cut since 2009 when it tried to cushion the UK economy from the global financial crisis.

It has also slashed growth forecast for 2017 from the 2.3 percent it was expecting in May to just 0.8 percent. The forecast for 2018 has been cut from 2.3 percent to 1.8 percent. The regulator said it expects the unemployment rate to rise to 5.4 percent next year and 5.6 percent in 2018.

"Following the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union, the exchange rate has fallen and the outlook for growth in the short- to medium-term has weakened markedly," the bank said.

Governor Mark Carney said there was scope to cut the interest rate further.

Comment: And as a result of this decision: Rattled investors seek shining path to gold and silver

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Info

Forced regime change: Saddam, Gaddafi, Yanukovych, Assad and now Donald Trump

Peter Lavelle
The Duran
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 13:36 UTC
Hussein,Trump,Gaddafi graphic
Washington's penchant for forced regime change abroad is coming home. Calls for Donald Trump to remove himself from the November ballot is akin to the demand a foreign leader must go, having lost the confidence of the Washington Consensus. The inherent anti-democratic nature of this demand is immaterial to the powers-that-be.

It is common knowledge these are gloomy days for the GOP. The party's establishment and donor elite can't come to terms with their nominee Trump. And Trump seems incapable doing himself any favors. He greatest challenge is coming to terms that running a business empire and running for president are entirely different endeavors. Yes, he is running a lousy campaign. Yes, he is too compulsive. And yes, he makes himself an easy target for the liberal corporate media and the ruthless Clinton machine. Indeed, he is the ultimate self-inflicted candidate. Nonetheless, he was fairly elected by his party (unlike the rigged Democratic primary). Though there are voices that "he must go." We have heard this before - many times. And it never works out well. That damn law of unintended consequences always kicks in!
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