Puppet Masters

Millions in Yemen are starving and UK, US & France are 'behind this' - Oxfam representative to RT

RT
Tue, 06 Nov 2018 20:55 UTC

The US, UK, and French governments are behind millions of people starving in Yemen because they are "supporting this war," an Oxfam representative told RT, urging London to stop beefing up Saudi Arabia's military.

"We have 14 million people starving," Richard Stanforth, Oxfam UK's regional policy officer for the Middle East, said. "British, French, American governments are all behind this, they are all supporting this war."

Stanforth blamed the British government in particular, saying that London should stop its arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which is accused of targeting food supplies and even no-strike locations in Yemen.

"We've seen attacks on water infrastructure, on hospitals, warehouses of food. This pattern is continuing. Certainly, it's the airstrikes that are killing most civilians," he said.

Stanforth says Riyadh's bombing is not sparing humanitarian sites either... including that of Oxfam. Saudi Arabia is "aware of many of these locations" and along with the UAE, it is still hitting them, he added.

Western states have been widely criticized by rights groups for their continued arms sales to Riyadh. However, turning the tide on multibillion-dollar deals may not be so easy.

Facebook blocks 115 accounts after alert from U.S. authorities

RFE/RL
Tue, 06 Nov 2018 20:41 UTC

Facebook and Instagram ads linked to a previous Russian effort to disrupt the U.S. elections.

Facebook says it has blocked 115 user accounts after U.S. authorities alerted the social network to suspicious activity that may be linked to a foreign country.

The company's move, announced in a blog post late on November 5, came hours after U.S. law enforcement agencies warned that, as U.S. voters go to the polls on November 6, they should be wary of attempts by Russia, Iran, and other countries to spread fake news on social media.

"At this time we have no indication of compromise of our nation's election infrastructure that would prevent voting, change vote counts, or disrupt the ability to tally votes," said a joint statement by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen; Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Comment: US elections have been compromised for a very long time, and it wasn't the Russians' doing:

Deja vu? Was the New Yorker just inspired by an old soviet cartoon on US elections?

RT
Tue, 06 Nov 2018 20:30 UTC

A new cartoon published by the New Yorker depicting voter suppression in the US has drawn comparisons with an old Soviet propaganda poster about electoral fraud and disenfranchisement in 1950s America.

The New Yorker cartoon published on Monday showing a whole series of obstacles in the way of American voters; a barbed wire fence, rings of fire, a crocodile - and finally, President Donald Trump arranging traffic cones in front of a ballot box at the end of the obstacle course.

UK 'heading for a no deal' Brexit - DUP Chief Whip puts fear in Remainers' hearts

RT
Tue, 06 Nov 2018 20:24 UTC

The UK will crash out of the EU with a no deal Brexit, the Chief Whip of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - the Tories' Westminster ally - has warned.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson tweeted, Tuesday, that a UK-EU deal was unlikely, criticising the Irish government and warning them that a no-deal Brexit would mean "serious consequences" for their economy.

Amid US reinforced Saudi-led bombing, Pompeo pins responsibility for Yemeni starvation on Iran

RT
Tue, 06 Nov 2018 12:29 UTC

Saudi Arabia may be maintaining a blockade of Yemen and facing repeated accusations of indiscriminate bombing of civilian sites, but US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says starvation in the country is Iran's fault.

Yemen has been in turmoil for years and the Saudi-led coalition was involved over three years ago. The alliance sent its troops and warplanes to put an ousted president back into power, after he fled under pressure from the Houthi rebels, a group that the Saudi sees as a proxy force of its archenemy Iran.

As part of its campaign, the Saudi-led troops imposed a blockade of the country, stifling the supply of food, fuel, medicine and other essentials. Activists claimed its warplanes have also bombed civilian infrastructure like water treatment facilities, hospitals and markets.

The result is what some observers openly call a man-made humanitarian disaster, with millions of Yemenis estimated by the UN to be on the brink of starvation, and dozens dying each day from malnutrition and preventable disease.

Comment: Redirecting blame to their adversaries is a standard in the Western playbook. Pompeo is following suit. If the Yemeni war came to a ceasefire and negotiations were to be effective, the US and Israel would lose this opportunistic scenario to pin on Iran.

Israel's $72M war chest comes to Brussels to fight BDS

Middle East Monitor
Fri, 26 Oct 2018 04:11 UTC

In its ongoing battle against the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign Israel is pushing for European political parties to declare the movement "fundamentally anti-Semitic". The latest drive saw Israel's Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Ze'ev Elkin, attending a conference in Brussels backed by the Israeli government which proposed a text for prospective MEPs and political parties to sign up to before European elections in May next year.

The text, the Guardian reported, urges European parties to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) "working definition of anti-Semitism" and exclude from government any politicians or parties that breach it.

Most controversially, one of the red lines - based on a resolution adopted by Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union in Germany in 2016 - calls on "all political parties to pass a binding resolution rejecting BDS activities as fundamentally anti-Semitic".

Macron wants 'a real European army' to combat Russian threat, end reliance on US

RT
Tue, 06 Nov 2018 13:18 UTC

French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing for a "real European army" to better defend the continent against Russia. He also said Europe, which mainly depends on the US for security, won't rely solely on its overseas ally.

In a lengthy interview to Europe 1 radio, the French president once again revived his ambitious plans for a combined EU military force. "We won't protect Europeans if we don't decide to have a real European army. Russia... is near our borders and has shown it could be threatening."

Macron wants the EU military to be independent from its key partner on the other side of the Atlantic. "We must have a Europe that can defend itself on its own without relying only on the United States," he said, echoing earlier statements.

Comment: See also:

Lavrov: Israeli strikes in Syria increase regional tensions

Sputnik
Mon, 05 Nov 2018 22:06 UTC

"Military operations cannot resolve Israeli security concerns but will only help increase regional tensions," Lavrov said in an interview with Spain's El Pais newspaper.

The minister added that Israel endangered the life of Russian troops in Syria's Palmyra in 2017 by failing to stick to its own commitments.

"Unfortunately, Israel has not always met its obligations, primarily those related to the warnings by the Russian military against military operations in Syria. In some cases, this endangered the life and health of our soldiers in Syria, for example when Israeli planes bombed targets near Palmyra in March 2017," he stressed.

Lavrov also said that Moscow regrets that the Western countries rejected the idea of Russian President Vladimir Putin to create an international counter-terrorism coalition under the auspices of the United Nations.

"The idea to establish a broad anti-terrorism coalition under the auspices of the United Nations was raised by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the UN General Assembly back in September 2015. Unfortunately, it was not supported by our Western partners. This is unfortunate because terrorism threatens all members of the international community."

Comment: Israel wants guaranteed safety for its aggression. The S-300s are in Syria specifically because of Israeli actions in the downing of the Il-20. The threat to Israel is self-imposed. There is no impunity for deadly, intentional actions. See also:

Moneybags Tony Blair claimed £1m in British taxpayers' money over the last decade

RT
Tue, 06 Nov 2018 13:33 UTC

© Reuters/Brian Lawless
Former British Prime Ministers John Major (R) and Tony Blair attend a Remain campaign event in 2016.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has claimed more than £1m in public funds since leaving office in 2007, as part of a previous confidential arrangement, it has been revealed.

A freedom of information tribunal last month, as first reported by The Sunday Times, revealed that Tony Blair has received £1,077,888 ($1.4m) over the last 10 years. The release of the information also showed former PMs John Major, Gordon Brown and David Cameron all claiming the allowance.

All past prime ministers since Major, who established the arrangement in 1991, have been entitled to claim the public duty cost allowance (PDCA) of up to £115,000 a year, to cover costs of ongoing public arrangements when they step down from office.

Comment: Hard to buck public policy when those who receive its benefits make the policy.
See also: UK: 'Millions still in poverty' reports UN poverty rapporteur

UK: 'Millions still in poverty' reports UN poverty rapporteur

RT
Mon, 05 Nov 2018 15:38 UTC

A special UN advisor on extreme poverty and human rights is touring the UK to assess the impact of austerity on people living in some of the most deprived areas of the country.

UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston's primary goal is to identify examples of social inequalities and systematic neglect, which according to the United Nations, is then used to develop "constructive dialogue with governments, international organizations, civil society and other relevant actors."

Since 1998, the UN special rapporteur has travelled to examine extreme poverty in places like Ghana, Yemen, Benin, Sudan, the US, Portugal and Saudi Arabia. The UK will now join these ranks thanks to concerns over its austerity measures.

In a statement ahead of Alston's tour, the UN said submissions from charities, academics, and public institutions were "by far" the most they've ever received before a country visit.

Comment: It is not whether the Brit government has contributed to poverty levels, it is how much.
See also: Moneybags Tony Blair claimed £1m in British taxpayers' money over the last decade

Winternights3 There's probs a good connection! Just think about it.

sbc

Moving the goalposts. and people are too shit stupid to notice or care

sbc

Hang em... All the jab pushers. At this point they are trying very hard to continue blatant bullshit lies in a bid for total societal control

sbc

It was interesting when the brothers (their family owns the dealerships/service center that were vandalized - something of like 130+ cars burned...

Scoot Over

I ain't going to watch any more than I didn't watch the OJ trial, which ended exactly as I predicted. The thing is that the state should have...

Rowan Cocoan

Puppet Masters

Millions in Yemen are starving and UK, US & France are 'behind this' - Oxfam representative to RT

Facebook blocks 115 accounts after alert from U.S. authorities

Deja vu? Was the New Yorker just inspired by an old soviet cartoon on US elections?

UK 'heading for a no deal' Brexit - DUP Chief Whip puts fear in Remainers' hearts

Amid US reinforced Saudi-led bombing, Pompeo pins responsibility for Yemeni starvation on Iran

Israel's $72M war chest comes to Brussels to fight BDS

Macron wants 'a real European army' to combat Russian threat, end reliance on US

Lavrov: Israeli strikes in Syria increase regional tensions

Moneybags Tony Blair claimed £1m in British taxpayers' money over the last decade

UK: 'Millions still in poverty' reports UN poverty rapporteur

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