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US trying to force EU to pay more for their gas rather than get it from Russia


Sputnik
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 13:06 UTC
Nord Stream 2
© Sergey Guneev / Sputnik
Earlier in the day, Washington reiterated its opposition to the Moscow-initiated Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, threatening to sanction any firms working in the Russian energy sector.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, responding to US President Donald Trump's earlier statements on the Nord Stream 2, called liquefied gas (LNG) suppliers attempts to force European consumers to buy more expensive gas a manifestation of "unfair competition."

"As regards attempts to, so to say, orchestrate various attacks on this commercial project, we have said before that we consider this to be a manifestation of unfair competition. It is nothing more than an attempt to force European consumers to purchase more expensive liquefied gas that can be supplied from alternative places," Peskov told reporters.

Comment: Russia is offering a better deal, it's that simple. The US can lash out all it likes, threatening sanctions and pushing lies, and in doing so it risks alienating itself even more and forcing countries to find suitable alternatives: 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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Sherlock

India deports British Lord amidst conviction of former PM of Bangladesh for corruption involving foreign donations to orphanage


Sputnik
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 12:29 UTC
india airport
Alex Carlile, who is a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the chief legal consultant to former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, was scheduled to hold a press conference in New Delhi but was deported on the grounds of not having a valid visa. Earlier, Lord Carlile had also tried to address the media in Bangladesh but was denied entry.

A British member of Parliament and barrister, Lord Alexander Carlile, was deported back to his country soon after he landed at an airport in New Delhi from London.

"Lord Alexander Carlile, a British national, arrived in New Delhi on July 11, 2018, without having obtained the appropriate Indian visa. His intended activity in India was incompatible with the purpose of his visit as mentioned in his visa application. It was therefore decided to deny him entry into India upon arrival," the Ministry of External Affairs' spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar, said.

Comment: One wonders if the Indian government was eager to keep the Lord out of the country, and why?

See also:

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Attention

What's up? ME officials flocking to Moscow ahead of Putin-Trump meeting


RT
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 09:49 UTC
PutinArabs
© Yuri Kadobnov/Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin and guests
Moscow is awash this week with Middle East movers and shakers, apparently eager to have a word with Vladimir Putin ahead of his meeting with Trump. Is there a big ME deal in the making? RT talks to analysts.

Before having a face-off with his US counterpart in Helsinki next week, President Putin is to have several high-profile meetings in Russia. There is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ali Akbar Velayati, the foreign policy aide to Iran's Supreme Leader. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be in Moscow in time to watch the World Cup finals on Sunday and is expected to meet Putin. Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, will also be among the spectators, although whether he would talk with Putin is yet to be confirmed.

Amid the flurry of visits there is some speculation in the media that a grand deal between the US and Russia, which would involve a rebalancing of power in the Middle East, may come out from the Helsinki talks and that regional players are making an 11th-hour bid to ensure that their interests would be taken into consideration.

Comment: Political acorns do not fall far from their ideological trees. Perhaps it is enough Putin and Trump find themselves, finally, in the same forrest. That said, two unusual men may just as likely produce an unusual outcome.

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Target

Mueller suggests tenuous link between Manafort charges and Trump

Byron York
Washington Examiner
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 04:01 UTC
ManafortMueller
© Mother Jones
It's often been observed that special counsel Robert Mueller, assigned to investigate alleged Trump-Russia collusion in the 2016 presidential campaign, has yet to charge anyone with a crime involving Trump-Russia collusion in the 2016 presidential campaign.

The biggest of Mueller's indictments, that of one-time Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, has no connection at all to collusion. And until a few days ago, it appeared to have no connection to Donald Trump, either.

Now, though, Mueller has revealed why he believes the Manafort prosecution is related to the 2016 Trump campaign. It's a small part, a very small part, of the overall charges against Manafort. And it has nothing to do with any actions by the candidate - now the president - himself.

Comment: Mueller is out to lunch: Another nothing-burger without a legal bun.

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Hiliter

Kiev accuses Blumenthal of pen naming a Haaretz expose on Ukrainian neo-Nazis


RT
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 15:35 UTC
AZOVGuy and gun
© YouTube
Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion recruit and Tavor assault rifle
Connecting the dots can be tricky. Ukraine's Embassy in Israel tried, and came up with a crazy conspiracy theory, claiming Israel critic Max Blumenthal stole the identity of a longtime Haaretz contributor to publish an expose.

Blumenthal is editor of the Grayzone Project website and a longtime critic of right-wing policies in Israel. He has also for years reported on the rise of far-right extremists in post-coup Ukraine and criticized Western media and politicians for turning a blind eye to it.

Ukraine's ambassador in Israel, Hennadii Nadolenko, believes that on Monday Blumenthal published an extensive expose about Israel's supply of arms to Ukraine - particularly the Azov Battalion, which began as a far-right extremist group with clear neo-Nazi sympathies and won legitimacy and official support of the Ukrainian government after the 2014 Maidan coup in Kiev. In an open letter to Haaretz, Nadolenko suggested that the author of the piece, John Brown, was actually Blumenthal.


Comment: The referred Asa Winstanley article: Israel now arming neo-Nazis in Ukraine

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Snakes in Suits

Ellison won't rule out Dems impeaching Supreme Court justices

Joshua Caplan
Breitbart
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 00:00 UTC
DNC Deputy chair Keith Ellison
© AP/Lauren Victoria Burke
DNC Deputy Chair Keith Ellison
DNC Deputy chair Keith Ellison told attendees at a Supreme Court Community Forum in Minneapolis Monday that Democrats could theoretically impeach Supreme Court justices if the party regains a majority following the 2018 midterm elections.


Transcript is as follows:

Comment: Progressing from constitutional theory to judicial action could be a suicidal career move for both the judge and the initiator. Opening that door could bring on a floodwater of impeachments - for good, bad or all hell breaking loose. The current Supreme Court 'job for life' insulation may become a thing of the past.

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X

Russian DM Shoigu rules out direct military conflict with Ukraine


RT
Wed, 11 Jul 2018 09:53 UTC
Sergei Shoigu
© Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/KJN
Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu has ruled an armed standoff with Ukraine out as "impossible" but added that violations of Minsk Accords by Kiev could aggravate the crisis and lead to the "genocide" of ethnic Russians in Donbass.

"I consider it impossible that a direct clash emerges between Russia and Ukraine," Shoygu stated in his interview with Italian news outlet Il Giornale. The Russian official emphasized that the Kiev regime must unconditionally observe the Minsk agreements as this was the main condition for preventing the genocide of the ethnic Russian population of the south-eastern parts of Ukraine. "Unfortunately, Kiev authorities are very persistent in their attempts to balk at the fulfillment of these agreements, finding various invented excuses and making unfounded accusations in Russia's address," he said.

Shoygu also noted that the Kiev regime was completely rejecting one very important condition of the settlement - the possibility of a dialogue with the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass. "Of course, our country reacts to the existing situation by constantly calling on Kiev to observe the complex of measures described in the Minsk accords," he said. The Russian minister also expressed hope that other guarantors of the Minsk accords, such as Germany and France would use their influence on Ukrainian authorities to press for peaceful settlement of the conflict.

In the same interview the Russian defense minister said that Western nations, and first of all the United States, had planned to destabilize situation in Crimea using "hybrid warfare" methods similar to those used in Iraq, Yugoslavia, Libya and Syria.
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Arrow Down

Turkey's markets react as Erdogan appoints son-in-law as finance minister


RT
Wed, 11 Jul 2018 18:58 UTC
Istanbul
© Murad Sezer/Reuters
Istanbul, Turkey
Investors in Turkey were not impressed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's decision to appoint his son-in-law Berat Albayrak as finance minister on Monday.

Borsa Istanbul 100 Index was down 2.78 percent at 5pm local time (14:00 GMT) on Tuesday. The Turkish lira dropped three percent on the news, but rebounded slightly on Tuesday. The lira is down 17 percent this year.

Investors are worried that, with the appointment of Albayrak and dismissal of some top finance ministers, there will be no-one left to temper Erdogan's economic views.

"Albayrak will have to move very quickly to reassure financial markets - and will need to send a signal that he will listen," said Timothy Ash, senior emerging markets sovereign strategist at Bluebay Asset Management, in a Twitter post.
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Network

Trump says Iran is treating US 'with much more respect now'


RFE/RL
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 18:55 UTC
trump
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he expects to receive a call from Iranian officials in the future with an offer to alleviate Washington's security concerns.

Speaking at a press conference during the NATO summit in Brussels on July 12, Trump said Tehran was treating the United States "with much more respect right now than they did in the past."

"I know they're having a lot of problems and their economy is collapsing," Trump said. "At a certain point they're going to call me. They're going to say, 'Let's make a deal.' They're feeling a lot of pain right now."

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on July 12 that the allies of the United States should help impose more economic pressure on Iran.

Pompeo accused Tehran of selling weapons in the Middle East in violation of United Nations resolutions.

"We must cut off all funding the regime uses to fund terrorism & proxy wars," Pompeo said in a Twitter post ahead of his scheduled meeting with European Union's foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini on July 12 on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
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Dominoes

Mexican president plans to scrap billion-dollar helicopter deal with US


RT
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 18:49 UTC
Sea Hawk helicopter
© US Navy / Sean M. Castellano / Reuters
MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter
Mexico's newly-elected, anti-establishment president is planning to scrap some of the deals his predecessor had signed up to, including a $1.36 billion order for eight MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for the country's Navy.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, widely known as AMLO, was elected Mexico's next president on promises to pursue national interests and reduce the country's reliance on the US. He has vowed to cut government spending as soon as he takes over the top office in December. Amid a number of announced measures, the anti-establishment leader promised to scrap some of the deals outgoing President Enrique Peña Nieto had sealed with the US during his tenure. Among his targets are the Lockheed Martin MH-60R helicopters, which the US State Department green-lighted to sell back in April.

"We know of the order to purchase eight gunship choppers for the Mexican Navy, made to the government of the United States, for a total value of 25 billion pesos, that purchase will be canceled, because we cannot [afford] this expense," Lopez Obrador said Wednesday.
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