Puppet Masters
"A mechanism to mine digital coins was approved by the government's economic commission and will later be put to discussion at a cabinet meeting," said Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati on Sunday.
Government ministers are poised to vote on a plan to apply an exported electricity rate to crypto-mining "farms," according to Deputy Minister of Energy Homayun Haeri. While Iran has been dubbed a "heaven for miners" due to its ultra-cheap, subsidized electricity, the free ride is coming to an end.

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, departs Capitol Hill following a closed door meeting in Washington.
Though Mr. Mueller's final report asserted that the Russian government interfered in "a sweeping and systemic fashion" to influence the 2016 election, the 450-page great tome contains zero evidence to support that claim, and the discrepancy was actually noticed by federal judge Dabney Friedrich who is presiding over the case against the alleged Russian Facebook trolls that was one of the two tent-poles in the RussiaGate fantasy. The case is now blowing up in Robert Mueller's face.
In early 2018, Mr. Mueller sold a DC grand jury on producing indictments against a Russian outfit called the Internet Research Agency and its parent company Concord Management, owned by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin for the so-called election meddling. The indictment was celebrated as a huge coup at the time by the likes of CNN and The New York Times, styled as a silver bullet in the heart of the Trump presidency. But the indicted parties were all in Russia, and could not be extradited, and there was zero expectation that any actual trial would ever take place — leaving Mueller & Co. off-the-hook for proving their allegations.
To the great surprise of Mr. Mueller and his "team," Mr. Prigozhin hired some American lawyers to defend his company in court. Smooth move. It automatically triggered the discovery process, by which the accused is entitled to see the evidence that prosecutors hold. It turned out that Mr. Mueller's team had no evidence that the Russian government was involved with the Facebook pranks. This annoyed Judge Friedrich, who ordered Mr. Mueller and his lawyers to desist making public statements about Concord and IRA's alleged "sweeping and systemic" collusion with Russia, and threatened legal sanctions if they did.
Washington added Huawei to its "entity list" in May which restricts its ability to trade with US firms. Tensions between the US and China over trade and Huawei have escalated this year.
Based in California, Futurewei is a research and development subsidiary of Huawei.
In a statement, Huawei said "Futurewei Technologies announces a reduction in force, directly impacting over 600 US positions," effective 22 July.
After nearly two years of work, the inter-ministerial committee (IMC), chaired by the economic affairs secretary, has submitted its final report to the government, together with draft legislation seeking to ban crypto trading in the country. It also recommended setting up a 'Digital Rupee' that would be issued by the Reserve Bank as legal tender.
The Committee has recommended a law banning the cryptocurrencies in India and criminalizing carrying on of any activities connected with cryptocurrencies in India.Highlighting their "serious concern" over the growing popularity of alternative digital payment systems that completely lack government oversight, the IMC stressed that privately generated cryptocurrencies "lack all the attributes of a currency," carry no "intrinsic value" and therefore can be detrimental to India's economy.
With The Daily Caller News Foundation, Judicial Watch has released 84 pages of documents, including a September 2016 email exchange between then-Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Special Coordinator for Libya Jonathan Winer, a close associate of dossier author Christopher Steele, discussing a "face-to-face" meeting on a "Russian matter."
(In June 2016 Nuland permitted a meeting between Steele and the FBI's legal attaché in Rome. Nuland told CBS News that the State Department knew about the Steele dossier by July 2016.)
Recently our resident (users of the "Cont" website) "communists" who are furiously criticising Putin again became more active. For what? Well, for anything, Putin doesn't please our red-bellied guys, and that's all.
Perhaps it is necessary for these faultfinders to see Putin furiously shaking his fists and threatening the whole world with an "atomic bludgeon"; to see in Putin the "double of comrade Kim", threatening the US with his missiles? Or the "double of Trump", who doesn't shun to launch missiles at a sovereign and independent country?
Putin is not as they want to see him.

Workers inspect pipelines at a natural gas facility run by Sinopec in Dazhou, Sichuan province, China
As the Chinese Century nears its third decade, Fortune's Global 500 shows how profoundly the world's balance of power is shifting. American companies account for 121 of the world's largest corporations by revenue. Chinese companies account for 129 (including 10 Taiwanese companies). For the first time since the debut of the Global 500 in 1990, and arguably for the first time since World War II, a nation other than the U.S. is at the top of the ranks of global big business.
That shift is transforming not just the business world but the whole world. As China seeks to succeed the U.S. as the preeminent superpower, business is playing an even larger role in international affairs than usual. Nations have always competed economically, but the U.S. and China are engaged in direct battle over the world's economic life force: technology. As former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has written, "The battle is about whose economy will drive the technology of the future and set the standards for it." For an example of corporate China pushing technology's frontiers, see our story on insurance giant Ping An.
Israel may be behind Thursday night's mystery drone attack on an alleged Iranian-backed militia base in Amirli, northeastern Iraq, Kuwait's Al-Jarida newspaper has alleged, citing a source in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
According to Al-Jarida's source, the attack on the militia depot, which contained stocks of short- and medium-range missiles, as well as a militia headquarters building, was allegedly carried out by an aircraft flying out of an American base near the Syrian-Jordan-Iraqi border, possibly al-Tanf.
The source claimed that the preliminary results of a forensic investigation by the Iraqi government have suggested that they were the same type used by Israel during its periodic attacks against Syria.
Comment: See also:
- SOTT EXCLUSIVE: Match made in Sheol: Israel working with terrorists in Syria (says UN), Mossad training ISIS (says Putin aide)
- Israel's fire support for its Al-Qaeda/ISIS mercenaries started three years ago
- Syriana Analysis: An alliance of convenience - why Israel supports ISIS
- Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon confirms Israel's collaboration with ISIS in Syria

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith says Sri Lanka's leaders were locked in power struggle rather than paying attention to intelligence warnings about the bombings.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said the authorities had failed to identify those behind the suicide bombings that killed at least 258 people at three churches and three luxury hotels in Colombo.
"The executive and the legislature were locked in a power struggle. They did not care about the international conspiracy against the country," Ranjith said at the reconsecration one of the bombed churches.
He was referring to President Maithripala Sirisena's failed bid to oust his erstwhile ally, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the ongoing power struggle between the two since October.
"The selfish power hungry leaders did not worry about ordinary people... The leaders did not heed intelligence warnings... the security council did not meet since October because of the power struggle," he said.
Comment:
- ISIS-linked extremist cleric accused of masterminding deadly Sri Lanka bombings
- Israel recently helped Sri Lanka prepare for 'mega-terror attacks'
- Analyst: Sri Lankan officials 'unprepared' for Easter Sunday attacks
- Sri Lanka Terror: Multiple explosions target Catholic churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday - Death toll hits 290 - UPDATES
"According to him, Zelensky is 90% likely to end the war in the Donbass by fulfilling the Minsk agreements in the form in which they were signed. At the same time, he will try to negotiate with the LDNR directly, removing his rival Medvedchuk from them."
Tsarev notes that Zelensky is not going to share his power with anyone, including with the Ukrainian Nazis. The former parliamentarian does not exclude that in the near future the radicals are waiting for the "night of long knives."
Comment: Normalisation of relations with Russia would be the best for the majority in Ukraine, and it's what new President Zelensky promised to bring about, but the violent minority, with their backing from the deep state in the West, will do their utmost to sabotage it:
- Sergey Lavrov interviewed by Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty
- 'Mini-Guantanamo': Secret prison operating in Ukraine torturing Donbass citizens
- From joker to peacemaker? Zelensky needs to follow his words with actions to end Ukraine's conflict












Comment: Let it be remembered that Putin has gathered an intelligent team of advisors around him who share the same love of Mother Russia. They are tasked with telling him the truth about Russia's issues and giving their unvarnished advice. Only those who see reality as it is are able to function effectively. Russia is a shining example.