Puppet Masters

Washington playing spoiler during World Cup, ahead of US-Russia summit

Robert Bridge
RT
Sat, 07 Jul 2018 13:34 UTC

Just days before a highly anticipated meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, a Senate panel repeated the claim that Russia played kingmaker in the 2016 presidential election to place Trump in the White House.

The Senate Intelligence Committee report, based on the findings of the FBI, CIA and NSA back in January 2017, can be summed up as follows:

Putin ordered an "influence campaign" to "undermine public faith" in US democracy, and harm Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton's "electability and potential presidency" because the Russian Government had a "clear preference" for Donald J. Trump.

In other words, we Americans are simply too dumb and ignorant to make political decisions on our own. And if somehow we find a particular candidate, like Hillary Clinton, for example, unappealing as presidential material, well, it must have been due to some Kremlin-bankrolled invasion of the mind snatchers cunningly placed in adverts over Facebook and Twitter.

Dominic Raab, May's new Brexit secretary, once called feminists 'obnoxious bigots'

RT
Mon, 09 Jul 2018 13:42 UTC

Theresa May has appointed Dominic Raab as the new Brexit secretary, whom she once had to slap down for claiming that feminists were "amongst the most obnoxious bigots," following David Davis' shock resignation on Sunday night.

The prime minister wasted no time in replacing the outgoing secretary of state for exiting the European Union, but who exactly is Dominic Raab? RT takes a look at the new Brexit secretary's background - and various controversies he's been embroiled in.

Background

Raab, 44, grew up in leafy Buckinghamshire, attending his local grammar school, Dr Challoners in Amersham. He then embarked on a career in law with City firm Linklaters, which is currently ranked the 10th largest law company in the world, with revenue exceeding £1.3 billion (US$1.7 billion).

In 2000, he went on to work for the foreign and commonwealth office as a diplomat, before transferring to work as chief of staff for two shadow Tory ministers in 2006 for three years, most notably for David Davis. In 2010, he became Conservative MP for Esher and Walton in Surrey.

After stints as justice minister under David Cameron and housing minister under the Tory leadership of Theresa May, Raab now has the somewhat unenviable job of picking up the UK Brexit negotiating baton from Davis, with a little under eight months till Britain is scheduled to officially leave the EU - with a 'no deal' becoming an ever more realistic prospect.

Comment: May's team is plummeting to 'second-stringers', former slap-downs and a secret supply of Novichok.

US-Israel seek to stop Iran from withdrawing its cash from Germany

RT
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 11:26 UTC

Iran wants to withdraw €300 million ($350 million) from bank accounts in Germany before US sanctions kick in, German newspaper Bild reports. The United States and Israel are reportedly pressuring Berlin to intervene and stop it.

Iranian officials told the German Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) the money is needed "to pass on to Iranian citizens who require cash while traveling abroad, given their inability to access recognised credit cards," Bild reports.

BaFin has been reviewing the request, the media says. Senior officials in the Chancellery, Foreign Ministry and Finance Ministry have been made aware of the situation.

Tehran has accounts at the Europaeisch-Iranische Handelsbank AG (eihbank). The lender was subject to sanctions from 2010-2016, for allegedly financing the Iranian nuclear program.

US and Israeli intelligence agencies have said the money could be used by Iran to fund armed groups in the Middle East, according to the media.

"We are deeply concerned by reports that the Iranian regime is attempting to move hundreds of millions of euros in cash from a German bank to Iran. We are encouraging the German government at the highest levels to intervene to stop this," US ambassador to Germany told Bild.

German officials say they have no knowledge about such plans, the newspaper wrote.

Comment: Iran's economy is feeling the pinch with US sanction strategy on the increase. A return is Germany's call to make - just as it was Obama's when the US also housed, profited from, and ultimately returned deposited Iranian funds. The funds belong to Iran.

In the shadow of Dawn Sturgess

Craig Murray
craigmurray.org.uk
Mon, 09 Jul 2018 00:00 UTC

The terrible death of Dawn Sturgess casts a new shadow over the Salisbury Affair. Dawn appears to have been a popular and well grounded woman with close friend and family ties, whose life had taken a downward turn before being cruelly ended.

The illogical, inconsistent and shifting government narrative over events in Salisbury and Amesbury had appeared so ludicrous as to be tragi-comic. Any sense of amusement is now abruptly dispelled. But less us take a serious and sober look at the government case.

Sajid Javid stated today:

We know back in March that it was the Russians. We know it was a barbaric, inhuman act by the Russian state. Again, for this particular incident, we need to learn more and let the police do their work.

Actually, we know no such thing and, contrary to Javid's deliberate insinuation, the police have adduced no evidence that it was the Russian state.

Boris Johnson's resignation bodes Britain will become 'colony' status to EU

RT
Mon, 09 Jul 2018 17:47 UTC

Britain is headed for the status of "colony" to the European Union, Boris Johnson has warned, just hours after news broke of his resignation as foreign secretary.

"We are truly headed for the status of a colony - and many will struggle to see the economic or political advantage of that particular arrangement," Johnson said in a resignation statement.

Earlier on Monday, Johnson became the third government official to walk away from the government over Prime Minister Theresa May's soft Brexit plan which has angered many Conservatives.

Johnson also stated in the letter that, by "surrendering control over our rulebook," the UK will make it "much more difficult to do free trade deals." What is most disturbing, he said, is that the unacceptable plan laid out by May is the country's "opening bid."

Comment: See also:

'Prump/Tutin': Diving in, New York Magazine goes off deep end of conspiracy pool

RT
Mon, 09 Jul 2018 20:58 UTC

As President Donald Trump gears up to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin next week, New York Magazine has published the craziest 'Russiagate' conspiracy theory yet: that Trump has been a Russian agent since 1987.

The magazine's article, titled 'Prump Tutin', is the lead story in this week's print issue, and opens by broadly discussing unproven allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016.

"A case like this presents an easy temptation for conspiracy theorists, but we can responsibly speculate as to what lies at the end of this scandal without falling prey to their fallacies," writes author Jonathan Chait, before strapping on his tinfoil hat and presenting almost 80 paragraphs of the wildest conspiracy theories, alleging that Trump has been a Russian agent since 1987.

A fifth of Tory election donations came from 'dark money' trust

Dan Vevers
STV News
Thu, 05 Jul 2018 00:00 UTC

It gave £29,000 in gifts to the Scottish Conservatives in the run-up to 2017's snap election.

A fifth of all declared donations to the Scottish Conservatives in the run-up to 2017's snap general election came from a trust accused of funneling "dark money" into the party, STV News can reveal.

In the first two quarters of 2017, nearly £29,000 of donations recorded by Scottish branches of the Tory party came from a group called the Scottish Unionist Association Trust (SUAT). Electoral Commission data shows the trust accounted for 20% of all Scottish-registered donations to the Conservatives in the months leading up to last year's June 8 vote.

SUAT has been at the centre of a row over party funding, with the SNP raising questions about transparency of donations. The party's Westminster leader Ian Blackford raised the matter with Theresa May at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, and another SNP MP has written to Ruth Davidson about the trust. Listed as an unincorporated association (UA), SUAT has donated around £319,000 to the Scottish Tories since 2001, an investigation by The Ferret revealed last week.

Switzerland files WTO complaint regarding unjustified US steel and aluminum tariffs

RT
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 14:54 UTC

An official action has been launched by Switzerland against US metal tariffs at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The country became the eighth WTO member to challenge the levies.

According to the Swiss Economy Ministry on Monday, the country has "submitted a request for consultations with the US as part of WTO dispute settlement proceedings." The ministry said it had formally asked Washington for "consultations" over tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.

In 2017, Switzerland exported steel and aluminum products to the United States to the tune of around 80 million Swiss francs ($80.7 million, €68.7 million), the ministry's statistics showed.

"From Switzerland's point of view, the additional duties, which according to the US have been introduced to protect national security, are unjustified," the ministry said.

"The US has not responded to Switzerland's request for an exemption from the tariffs to date," the statement said, adding that the request for WTO consultations had been launched "in order to protect Switzerland's interests."

Comment: See also:

Will Boris' bombshell resignation sink Theresa May this month?

Neil Clark
RT
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 17:33 UTC

Boris Johnson's resignation as foreign secretary, coming hours after Brexit Secretary David Davis stepped down, has plunged Britain into a full-scale political crisis on the week Trump is due to visit. Can PM Theresa May survive?

According to the old saying (usually attributed to Lenin, but without citation), "There are decades when weeks happen and there are weeks when decades happen."

This looks like one of those weeks. And it's still only Tuesday.

For a start, and let's get our priorities right, England is appearing in its first World Cup semi-final for 28 years on Wednesday. If the Three Lions beat Croatia, which they are the favorites to do, then next Sunday England will line up in their first World Cup final since 1966, possibly - and you've got to love the irony given the Brexit squabbles - against Belgium.

However, due to the very silly politically-motivated boycott of Russia by the UK government (remember, no evidence has yet been produced that the Russian government was behind the Salisbury poisonings), no top officials or dignitaries will be in Moscow to see it.

Theresa May's collapsing government lashes out at Russia like cornered rats

George Galloway
RT
Tue, 10 Jul 2018 17:21 UTC

"One must have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing," Oscar Wilde said on the Dickens story. The disintegration of this incompetent administration makes me laugh - clearly my heart isn't hard enough.

And this even as I agree with Mrs. May's departing cabinet heavyweights: Boris Johnson the foreign secretary, David Davis the Brexit secretary, Steve Baker the Brexit minister - whilst despising them on every other matter. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

It is true that Mrs. May has supported the Brexit decision by 17.4 million people, the largest vote for anything or anyone in British history, as the rope supports the hanging man. And she hopes to see it dangle to death.

It is true that her elaborately constructed 'Chequers Agreement' (Chequers is the Country House of British prime ministers) would have left Britain a Vassal State of the European Union, a rule taker forever, from a sclerotic neo-liberal protectionist bankers ramp which has impoverished half of Europe and enraged maybe most of the other half.

Dr. RC says no one's talking much about a vaccine caused MCI (myocardial infarction) or stroke etc. Remember the pilots dying? The concern was and...

Rowan Cocoan

Their HELL bent in injecting this SHIT in to everyone and will stop at nothing until their demented goal is achieved. If you lose your job for not...

Winternights3

Someone deport this monstrous POS back to hell, or wherever. Anywhere with a good stockade 😤and his kids too

slbeaudry

To prevent Corona spreading they're gonna make everyone be asymptomatic super spreaders. if you agree with this action as legitimate you're a dumb...

sbc

If you read the linked white house statement try not to puke.

sbc

Puppet Masters

Washington playing spoiler during World Cup, ahead of US-Russia summit

Dominic Raab, May's new Brexit secretary, once called feminists 'obnoxious bigots'

US-Israel seek to stop Iran from withdrawing its cash from Germany

In the shadow of Dawn Sturgess

Boris Johnson's resignation bodes Britain will become 'colony' status to EU

'Prump/Tutin': Diving in, New York Magazine goes off deep end of conspiracy pool

A fifth of Tory election donations came from 'dark money' trust

Switzerland files WTO complaint regarding unjustified US steel and aluminum tariffs

Will Boris' bombshell resignation sink Theresa May this month?

Theresa May's collapsing government lashes out at Russia like cornered rats

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