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Absolutely Israel conducted attacks on Iraqi militia bases, probe results verify


Sputnik
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 21:54 UTC
Rafael Spice bomb
© CC by 3.0/KGyST/Rafael Spice
An Israel Rafael Spice guided bomb
Earlier, a group of Iraqi lawmakers described the recent spate of airstrikes in the country allegedly conducted by Israel as a "declaration of war" by Tel Aviv.

Israel is "absolutely" responsible for the spate of attacks against pro-government Popular Mobilisation Unit (PMU) militia in Iraq, Ahmad al-Assadi, a spokesman for the Fatah Coalition, a major Iraqi parliamentary group, has claimed, citing the findings of government probes.

"Some of the government investigations have reached a conclusion that the perpetrator behind some of the attacks is absolutely, certainly Israel," al-Assadi said, his remarks quoted by AFP.

"The government is preparing sufficient evidence and documents to complain to the Security Council. It won't submit a complaint against an unknown entity," the lawmaker added, declining to comment on the specifics of what the probes have apparently found.

The PMU began accusing Israel of being behind the attacks last week, with members of the organization claiming they had "proof" that Israeli air power had hit "several targets in Iraq, including the al-Saqr and Amerli bases." The group also blamed the US for the attacks, saying Iraq's airspace was controlled by the US Air Force, and that Israel could not conduct attacks in Iraq without the US knowing about it.

Comment: See also:

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Document

Trump could clarify history by declassifying three Obama-era documents

John Solomon
The Hill
Wed, 28 Aug 2019 07:30 UTC
KillaryUranium1
© Global Research
Hillary Clinton • DOJ • Uranium One
My sources tell me President Trump is putting the finishing touches on a White House initiative to declassify documents that have remained hidden from the public for far too long.

This welcome effort to provide more public transparency and accountability almost certainly will focus early on the failings of the now-debunked Russia collusion probe. And I'm sure it will spread quickly toward other high-profile issues, such as the government's UFO files that have been a focus of clamoring for decades.

But my reporting indicates three sets of documents from the Obama years should be declassified immediately, too, because they will fundamentally change the public's understanding of history and identify ways to improve governance.

The first includes the national security assessments that the U.S. intelligence community conducted under President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton concerning the Russia nuclear giant Rosatom's effort to acquire uranium business in the United States.

Comment: See also:

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Calendar

First 100 days: Zelensky scurries like Macron, doesn't thunder like Trump - what is his path forward?

Igor Ogorodnev
RT
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 11:45 UTC
Zelensky
© Sputnik/Stringer
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky
The comedian-elected-president has been a safer pair of hands than critics warned, but hasn't yet drained Ukraine's swamp, as supporters hoped. And for Volodymyr Zelensky, it will only get harder from now on.

Honeymoon polls

Headline figures show that the 41-year-old political novice, who promised to cut across existing political fault lines and unify the country, is still in the ascendant. After thrashing incumbent Petro Poroshenko in the second round of the presidential election in April, his newly-created party secured the first-ever single-faction majority in parliament in the country's history following a snap election in July.

Zelensky has recorded an approval rating of 70 percent, an all-time high, in a poll published this week to mark one hundred days in office. Zelensky's team has bombarded the electorate with proof of the new leader's bustle as he combats the patronage, backroom deals and shifting loyalties of Ukraine's radioactively charged political scene.

Over 500 personal edicts and orders, more than 300 officials removed, 20 trips across the country, five foreign visits. His party say that they have prepared 465 fresh laws and amendments, and once the president finished his speech during the opening session of the Rada on Thursday, they immediately began to exercise their voting dominance.
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Target

US sanctions Iran-linked entities, individuals in Oman and Lebanon


RFE/RL
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 00:12 UTC
Lebanese sanctions
© Unknown/KJN
The United States has announced a set of sanctions in Lebanon and Oman targeting the financing of the Iran-backed Hizballah militant group, which opposes Israel.

The Treasury Department on August 29 said it was sanctioning the Lebanon-based Jammal Trust Bank "for supporting Hizballah's illicit financial and banking activities."

The action declared Jammal Trust a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT):
"for assisting in, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, Hizballah. Jammal Trust has a long-standing relationship with a key Hizballah financial entity and provides financial services to the Martyrs Foundation and companies controlled by Hizballah's Executive Council. Jammal Trust's misconduct undermines the integrity of the Lebanese financial system."
The Treasury statement said the action "reflects our determination to counter Hizballah's terrorist and illicit activities in Lebanon."

Lebanon-based Hizballah was first listed as a SDGT in January 1995 as part of efforts to target "terrorists who threaten to disrupt the Middle East peace process."
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Stock Up

The Plunge Protection Team

James Corbett
Corbett Report
Sat, 31 Aug 2019 17:26 UTC
Plunge Protection Team
© Corbett Report
As I pointed out in this week's #PropagandaWatch video, the stock market is often portrayed in the financial media as a magical crystal ball that can predict the future and see into the hearts and minds of men. We are routinely told that it shows us the resilience of consumers, for example, or that it can predict the next economic cataclysm or that we can pore over it like an X-ray to reveal the true health of the economy.

And as I also pointed out in that video (and much of my other work over the past several years), this perception of the market is a bunch of hooey. As we all know (or should know by now) this central bank-created phony baloney reality inversion bubble that the markets are "revealing" to us is just that: A bubble. More precisely, it's a bubble that has been 93% filled with hopium and paper promises from the Federal Reserve.

But what if I were to tell you that there was yet another mechanism by which the markets are manipulated? A mechanism wielded by a cabal of four men? One that is admittedly and on the record empowered by the POTUS to prop up the markets whenever they start flagging?

Does that sound like "conspiracy theory?" Well, it's not. Just another humdrum conspiracy fact. This cabal of four is known colloquially as the "Plunge Protection Team" and it's been on the books since 1988

By "on the books" I mean the books of the Federal Register, specifically 53 Fed. Reg. 9281 (Mar. 22, 1988), which carried notice of Executive Order 12631, signed off by President Reagan on March 18, 1988. Issued in the wake of the infamous "Black Monday" stock market scare of 1987, EO 12631 established a "Working Group on Financial Markets" to identify and consider "the major issues raised by the numerous studies on the events in the financial markets surrounding October 19, 1987." Consisting of the treasury secretary, the Fed chair, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the group was empowered to "consult, as appropriate, with representatives of the various exchanges, clearinghouses, self-regulatory bodies, and with major market participants to determine private sector solutions wherever possible" and to report back to the president.
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Star of David

Northern IDF units have leave canceled as UN extends Lebanon Mandate to forstall 'new conflict'


Sputnik
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 17:10 UTC
isreal soldier golan heights
© Associated Press/Ariel Schalit
An Israeli soldier walks in an old military outpost, used for visitors to view the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria, Thursday, May 10, 2018
As tensions quickly increase between Israel and Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces have canceled leave for northern combat brigades. Meanwhile, the United Nations has extended the mission for its 10,500-man peacekeeping force on the two nations' border.

Israel's Northern Command chief, Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, made the announcement Thursday, telling the Times of Israel it was done in part to calm the nerves of civilians living near the border with Lebanon, a UN-imposed separator called the Blue Line.

The Blue Line is a de facto border, created by the United Nations in 2000 to determine whether or not Israeli forces had totally withdrawn from Lebanon. However, the Blue Line differs from the internationally recognized 1949 borders, in some places by as much as several hundred meters.

Comment:

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Black Cat

New report details sleazy Comey cabal plan to ambush Trump with Moscow sex allegation

Byron York
The Washington Examiner
Thu, 29 Aug 2019 16:49 UTC
Comey
© Associated Press/Carolyn Kaster
Former FBI Director James Comey
A just-released Justice Department inspector general's report provides new details on a January 2017 plan by then-FBI Director James Comey, top bureau officials, and the nation's intelligence chiefs to spring a scandalous allegation on President-elect Trump, quickly record his reaction, use a prearranged secure videoconference to discuss the information, and fit it all into the FBI's ongoing (but unknown to Trump) "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation.

The allegation came from the Steele dossier, the collection of unverified tales about Trump and Russia compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele. The story was that in a Moscow hotel room in 2013, Trump had watched as prostitutes performed a kinky sex act — and Russian intelligence service cameras rolled. This is what the Steele dossier said:
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Mr. Potato

Ex-Canadian PM sparks online storm for wishing Hurricane Dorian 'direct hit' on Trump's Mar-a-Lago


RT
Sat, 31 Aug 2019 15:27 UTC
Kim Campbell
© Reuters / Blair Gable
Canada's former prime minister, Kim Campbell, found herself in hot water after wishing in a tweet that Hurricane Dorian would make a "direct hit" on President Trump's Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, prompting a swift retraction.

As news reports emerged on Wednesday about a raging tropical storm inching closer to America's coastline - an "absolute monster" in the words of President Trump - the former PM used the opportunity to declare: "I'm rooting for a direct hit on Mar a Lago!"

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Binoculars

Did Trump reveal US top-secret military spy tech by posting Iranian launch site pic?


Sputnik
Sat, 31 Aug 2019 03:22 UTC
Planet Labs Inc

Planet Labs Inc. via Middlebury Institute of International Studies
An image of a failed Iranian launch tweeted by the US President set experts and netizens on their toes, as the high resolution of the photo cannot be achieved with known satellite technology.

In a tweet posted Friday, US President Donald Trump posted a highly-detailed aerial photo of Iran's Semnan Space Center Launch Site One, damaged and charred after an explosion which supposedly happened during the fueling of a rocket.

"The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran. I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One," Trump tweeted, accompanied by the photo.

Comment: See also: Putin details why Russia's military tech changes balance of power

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Newspaper

Ukraine-Russia prisoner swap negotiations continue despite missing deadline


RFE/RL
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 05:04 UTC
Sailors of Ukrainian

Sailors of Ukrainian naval ships, which were seized by Russia in November 2018, attend a court hearing in Moscow earlier this month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says that negotiations to exchange prisoners with Russia are continuing despite earlier unconfirmed reports that a swap had been completed.

"The process of the mutual release of individuals held is in progress," the Ukrainian presidential office said in a post on its official Facebook page on August 30.

"Information about its completion does not correspond to reality," it added.

The post described reports to the contrary as "disinformation" and said that when a prisoner exchange is completed, "the president's office will announce it on official channels."

The post came after relatives of one of the 24 sailors being held by Russia told RFE/RL's Crimean Desk that they all had been freed.

Comment: RT reports:
The much-anticipated major prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine will not happen on Friday, despite earlier reports, Kiev said. This follows the buzz that a plane with people slated for exchange took off from Moscow.

"We can't name [the exact] date [of the exchange] but I can say that it won't happen today," the spokesperson for the Security Service of Ukraine, Elena Hitlyanskaya, said.

Earlier reports said that a plane, carrying a number of Ukrainian nationals held by Russia, was due to land in Kiev on Friday morning. Neither Moscow, nor Kiev confirmed this. Ukrainian officials later clarified that the talks on the prison exchange are still ongoing.

Hitlyanskaya said that the process is moving "as planned" and that there are "no obstacles" preventing the exchange from starting.

The possibility of a major prisoner swap was one of the stories dominating the news on Russian-Ukrainian relations in recent months. President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, discussed the issue over the phone in July. Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that such an exchange requires "meticulous work" and cannot be rushed.

Ukraine has been demanding the release of filmmaker Oleg Sentsov who was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted by a Russian court of plotting terrorist attacks in Crimea. The filmmaker denies the allegations. Last month, Zelensky offered to swap Sentsov for journalist Kirill Vyshinsky, who was charged with treason in Kiev. The authorities accuse him of publishing false information and backing the breakaway People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk (DPR and LPR) in eastern Ukraine. The journalist denies the allegations and argues that he had covered both sides of the conflict fairly.

After being detained for a year, Vyshinsky was released on Wednesday, with the condition that he will continue to appear in court for trial. His lawyer confirmed on Friday that the journalist remains in Ukraine and is staunchly against being included in a prisoner exchange.

Kiev also urged Moscow to free the crews of three warships, which were seized by the Russian Coast Guard in November. Two dozen sailors were arrested and charged with violating Russia's maritime border in the narrow Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, east of Crimea. Ukraine denies this, insisting that the vessels were seized in international waters.
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