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Israel may have used F-35 jets to bomb Aleppo


Al Masdar News
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 18:37 UTC
Erdogan planira kupiti 120 američkih zrakoplova F-35
For the first time this year, the Israeli Air Force has bombed the northern region of Syria, but the attack itself remains rather mysterious.

For one, a source from the Syrian military said they had no idea that an Israeli aircraft was anywhere near the Aleppo Governorate, let alone, inside of Syria.

Two, Israel has not officially taken responsibility for the attack on Syria's Aleppo Governorate, despite some hints by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Iran is constantly trying to place in Syria precision long-range missile [sic] that are very advanced and highly lethal missiles. We are not prepared to accept this. Our activity against Iran's attempt to establish military bases in Syria and to place advanced weapons there continues all the time", he said, as quoted by the Reuters News Agency.

However, a few days after the attack, some photos were released showing the aftermath of the Israeli bombing on the Sheikh Najjar District of Aleppo city.

Comment: See also:

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Gold Seal

Maria Zakharova Places Russiagate Blame Squarely on American Presstitutes

Seraphim Hanisch
The Duran
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 18:06 UTC
Maria Zakharova Russiagate
© Vesti News
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova
Zakharova: "When you say the right rests with those who are strong, you imply that the strong is also smart."

During this last week, most of the reaction from Russian news media to the conclusion of the Russiagate (hoax) investigation was rather factually based, simply with reports on what happened, and the reactions of people within the United States.

However, there certainly is a reaction to this mess from the halls of power in Russia, and on March 27, Maria Zakharova, the Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, gave hers on Russia One's Vesti News' program 60 Minutes. She had a lot to say:
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Question

Indian missile fired before Mi17 V5 chopper crash in Budgam

Manu Pubby
The Economic Times
Sun, 31 Mar 2019 17:49 UTC
Mi 17 V 5 helicopter shot down india

A slow moving target like the Mi 17 V 5 helicopter could potentially be mistaken for a low flying armed UAV homing into an air base, according to these sources.
Investigators have found that an Indian air defence missile was fired shortly before the crash of a Mi17 V5 helicopter at Budgam, near Srinagar on February 27, which resulted in the deaths of six air force personnel and a citizen on ground. The investigators are examining the sequence of events which preceded the crash.

The final moments preceding the crash, including if the IFF (Identity, Friend or Foe) systems were switched on or not, are being carefully looked at to determine what went wrong. The air force brass, highly placed sources told ET, has made it clear that it would not shy away from initiating court martial proceedings against personnel if they are found blameworthy in the inquiry.

Comment: Relations between India and Pakistan are still jittery after last month's confrontation near Kashmir.

Surgical Strikes 2.0? India bombs Pakistan, saying it targeted terrorist camps in cross-border air raid - UPDATES

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Fire

The Democrats are self-destructing over the Mueller Report

Paul Craig Roberts
The Institute for Political Economy
Thu, 28 Mar 2019 16:56 UTC
TrumpBarr
© wikimedia
President Donald Trump • Attorney General William Barr
The Democrats cannot stop making fools of themselves. Thom Hartmann is an example. He writes for Common Dreams and has a progressive talk radio program. During the George W. Bush regime I was a frequent guest on his program. It was OK to tell the truth about the Bush regime's deceits and illegal wars of aggression. But telling the truth about the Obama regime's deceits and illegal wars of aggression left me unqualified for his program.

Hartmann, like the rest of them, will never escape from Democratic partisanship. He asserts that Attorney General William Barr, who he calls "cover-up general" covered up Mueller's Russiagate report. Hartmann seems to think that Mueller found all sorts of damning evidence against Trump, but we will never know because Barr, "without showing us even a single complete sentence from the Mueller report decided that there are no crimes here." He accuses Barr of "burying Mueller's report and cherry-picking fragments of sentences from it to justify Trump's behavior." He tells his readers that "Barr's history of doing just this sort of thing to help Republican presidents in legal crises explains why Trump brought him back in to head the Justice Department."
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Star of David

Psycho Netanyahu threatens Gaza: Israeli troops ready for 'extensive campaign' if needed


RT
Sun, 31 Mar 2019 16:06 UTC
israel tanks border gaza
© Reuters / Amir Cohen
An Israeli soldier sits on an armored military vehicle near the border fence with Gaza, in southern Israel on March 29, 2019.
Israeli military units will remain stationed at the border of the Palestinian Gaza Strip enclave for an unspecified amount of time, and they are ready to wage an "extensive campaign" if needed, PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

The Israeli leader produced the warlike comments on Sunday while greeting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who came to visit the country at a "tense time," as Netanyahu put it.

Comment: Bibi's already begun. There's an election coming. Gotta look tough against the stone-throwing kids.
Israel has pelted the positions of Palestinian militants with tank fire after five rockets were launched from Gaza without inflicting any damage. The exchange of fire comes after a day of mass Palestinian protests.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have confirmed that its tanks shelled "a number of Hamas military posts" in Gaza in retaliation to an earlier attack by Palestinians that saw them firing five rockets towards Israeli territory.

The rockets landed inside the Eshkol region along the border with Gaza, triggering sirens in the area shortly after midnight. The local authorities said the rockets did not inflict any damage or casualties, striking open areas.


Funny how those 'Hamas rockets' generally seem to miss such easy targets. Once in while they seem to get lucky (keeps up the 'terrorist threat credibility). Happily, it gives Israel the excuse to unload tons of precision missiles against the imprisoned Gaza population.


It's unclear if the Israeli retaliatory strike resulted in any damage to the militant group that has been ruling the besieged Gaza since 2007 amid an ongoing blockade of the stretch of land along the Mediterranean by Israel and Egypt.

It is the first cross-border fire incident since earlier this week, which saw two days of heavy bombing by Israel in response to a missile attack from Gaza that hit a home injuring seven Israelis on Monday.

israel bombs gaza march 2019
© Reuters
Flame and smoke are seen during an Israeli air strike in Gaza City March 25, 2019.
Israeli planes bombarded what they claimed were Hamas positions in Gaza. PM Netanyahu ordered an infantry brigade and artillery battalion to move to the Gaza border on Monday. The bombing continued into Tuesday, as the situation risked spiraling into an all-out war, with the Israeli PM hinting at a potential military invasion of Gaza.

The violence has subsided due to Egyptian mediation and a shaky truce held during Saturday's mass protests along the Gaza border. While the IDF sang rare praise for Hamas, commending it for exercising restraint during the rally that marked the one-year anniversary of the Great March of Return protests, the protests still did not end casualty-free for the Palestinians. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that three 17-year-old teenagers were killed in the protests while about 300 people were injured.


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Propaganda

Spineless 'journalism': TIME downgrades Venezuela's Maduro to 'authoritarian ruler' in line with US policy


RT
Sun, 31 Mar 2019 15:50 UTC
maduro second inauguration
© Yuri Cortez/Agence France-Presse
Nicolas Maduro during his the inauguration ceremony of his second mandate.
What government wouldn't like to see its national press toe the line and try to delegitimize a foreign president it wants to topple? Brownie points for you, TIME, for branding Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro in a Trump-approved way.

Maduro, the democratically elected Venezuelan leader the current US administration is trying to oust and replace with a person more to their liking (Juan Guaido), has a uniquely worded description in TIME magazine's reader poll. The American publication is currently asking its audience who they think should be on the list of the world's 100 most influential people this year.

The Latin American president is "Venezuela's authoritarian ruler," according to the poll, while his challenger is "Venezuela's would-be leader." Apparently, when the State Department lectured the press on how they should cover the situation in Venezuela earlier this month, someone at TIME listened.

Comment: Not only is Maduro well-supported by his people, pretender Juan Guaido is loathed. Here he is trying to fake the common touch by dropping in on a poor neighborhood. The populace wasn't buying it.



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Map

Falling on deaf ears: Russian military calls on US to discuss fate of refugees trapped in Rukban camp in Syria AGAIN


RT
Sun, 31 Mar 2019 15:31 UTC
Displaced people at the Rukban desert camp
© AFP / SYRIAN ARAB RED CROSS (SARC)
Displaced people at the Rukban desert camp.
The Russian military has yet again called upon its US counterparts operating in Syria to come together and discuss the situation at the Rukban refugee camp in the US-occupied Al-Tanf area. Washington has ignored previous calls.

"We call upon the commanders of American troops stationed in the Al-Tanf zone to come on 2 April 2019 to the Dzhleb checkpoint to take part in a meeting to plan concrete measures to disband the Rukban camp," the head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria, Major General Viktor Kupchishin, said on Saturday.

Comment: There might be a reason for the US stance on the refugee camp: CIA turning refugee camps in eastern Syria into ISIS hotbeds - Turkish press

Aslo read:

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Attention

Saudi Arabia 'absolutely rejects' any steps impacting Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights


RT
Sun, 31 Mar 2019 15:23 UTC
Syrian soldiers look at the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights near Daraa, Syria. August 2018
© Hummam Sheikh Ali / Xinhua / Global Look Press
Syrian soldiers look at the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights near Daraa, Syria. August 2018
Saudi King Salman said he "absolutely rejects" any steps that would undermine Syrian sovereignty over the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, after US President Donald Trump recognized the area as Israeli territory.

Speaking at an Arab League event in Tunisia on Sunday, Salman also reiterated his support for a 'two-state solution' for Israel and Palestine, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state.

His remarks came as a strong rebuff to US President Donald Trump, who signed a declaration last week officially recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel. The strategic area was captured from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967, and has since remained under Israeli control.
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Crusader

Lavrov: It's sad to see US diplomacy reduced to ultimatums and sanctions


RT
Sun, 31 Mar 2019 15:15 UTC
Sergey Lavrov
© REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lamented the adversarial style of the current US policy towards Moscow, saying Washington shows no intent of seeking compromise contrary to what diplomacy is supposed to be about.

"I don't see anything coming from the US diplomatic corps except ultimatums and threats to impose sanctions unless the demands are met. All other tools have vanished from the arsenal of American diplomacy, and that is sad," the Russian minister said in an interview for an upcoming documentary, which was partially published by the ministry.

The sentiment came in response to the latest threats coming from Washington over Russian policies in Ukraine and Venezuela. Lavrov said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tones down his rhetoric when speaking directly to him, compared to his public statements on Russia, but the essence remains the same.

"When we talk on the phone... he speaks in a correct manner. Understandably, we disagree on virtually everything. And the threats are voiced all the time," he said. "If you head a diplomatic agency, you are supposed to seek diplomatic solutions for various problems."
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Blue Planet

Judge restores Obama-era drilling ban in Arctic

Sudhin Thanawala
ABC News
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 09:57 UTC
Arctic Refuge
A federal judge has thrown out President Donald Trump's executive order that overturned the bans on offshore drilling in vast parts of the Arctic Ocean and dozens of canyons in the Atlantic Ocean that comprised a key part of Obama's environmental legacy

President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he reversed bans on offshore drilling in vast parts of the Arctic Ocean and dozens of canyons in the Atlantic Ocean, a U.S. judge said in a ruling that restored the Obama-era restrictions.

U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason in a decision late Friday threw out Trump's executive order that overturned the bans that comprised a key part of Obama's environmental legacy.

Presidents have the power under a federal law to remove certain lands from development but cannot revoke those removals, Gleason said.
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