Puppet MastersS


Post-It Note

Abbas notifies Netanyahu Palestine is free to end security cooperation with Israel


Press TV
Thu, 30 Jan 2020 07:40 UTC
Abbas/NEti
© ReutersGlinty-eyed Israeli PM Netanyahu • Jaw-clenched Palestinian President Abbas • 2010
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly sent a note to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning that Palestine now feels free to stop security cooperation with the regime as part of the Oslo accords, which are "disavowed" by a contentious US-devised Middle East plan.

Israel's Channel 12 TV reported on Wednesday that a Palestinian Authority delegation, led by Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh, had met with Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and handed him a handwritten letter in Arabic from Abbas to Netanyahu.

In his note, the report said, Abbas stressed that the plan US President Donald Trump unveiled on Tuesday as a proposed solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict disregards the 1993 Oslo accords that divided the West Bank into areas under Israeli, Palestinian and joint controls.
The report quoted the letter as saying:
"The plan is an American and Israeli disavowal of the Oslo accords, and so the Palestinian Authority now sees itself as free to disregard the agreements with Israel, including security cooperation."

Comment: Trump's attempt failed, as have all previous plans. There can be no concession on lives, land and dignity by Palestinians after decades of unrelenting and punishing compromise to occupier Israel. Good for them to stand 'their ground'.

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Camera

2015 photo of whistleblower Eric Ciaramella in meeting with Biden advisor, Ukraine officials

Cristina Laila
Gateway Pundit
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Eric Ciaramella
© The Gateway Pundit/KJN
A 2015 photo of whistleblower Eric Ciaramella taking notes in a meeting with a Biden advisor and Ukrainian officials emerged Wednesday.

Investigative reporter Paul Sperry, who initially broke the story of the identity of the whistleblower tweeted out the photo on Wednesday.

"Eric Ciaramella,the CIA operative believed to be the "whistleblower," is captured in this 2015 photo taking notes b/t Biden adviser Michael Carpenter & NSC's Liz Zentos in WH meeting w Ukrainian officials. Carpenter later appeared w Biden in infamous "son of a bitch" vid" Sperry said in the caption.

Comment: See also:

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X

Trump's 'win-win' Israel-Palestine deal is like his '100 percent' defeat of ISIS - not backed by reality

Danielle Ryan
RT
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 17:22 UTC
Trump
© Reuters/Leah MillsUS President Donald Trump
During self-congratulatory remarks about his "deal of the century" to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict, Donald Trump threw in another boast; he claimed US forces defeated "100 percent" of the Islamic State caliphate. Have they?

"Thanks to the courage of US forces, the ISIS territorial caliphate — 100 percent — not 95 percent, not 99 or any other percent — 100 percent of their caliphate, ISIS, is destroyed," he said.

The irony is not lost that Trump made the comment while announcing details of what appears to be a dead-on-arrival Middle East peace deal, which he insists amounts to an "historic breakthrough," despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. Such dramatic and exaggerated language is, after all, typical of Trump's 'best president ever' brand.

Of course, it makes sense to boast about your deal-making skills only if both sides of a conflict have actually agreed to the deal. Likewise, with a problem like Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), it would seem prudent to hold off on triumphant declarations of success until they can be fully backed up by reality on the ground. While it is true that IS has lost its territorial caliphate, the group, experts say, is still very much active — and regaining strength.
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Shopping Bag

Mixed bag: US sanctions AEOI, opens channel for med supplies, renews foreign wavers on reactor sites


RT
Thu, 30 Jan 2020 15:31 UTC
Bushehr
© Global Look Press/Ahmad HalabisazBushehr Nuclear Power Plant
The Treasury Department has announced sanctions on the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and its head Ali Akbar Salehi as the US continues its pressure campaign on Tehran after ditching the international Iran nuclear deal.

Though the Trump administration has accused Salehi and his organization of striving to produce a nuclear weapon, the AEOI also oversees the civilian nuclear sector in Iran.

The sanctions are the latest in a string of economic penalties applied to Iran since the US unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal) in 2018, after accusing Tehran of noncompliance. Iran has responded by gradually rolling back its own commitments, but it has continued working with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran scrapped all of the limitations imposed by the agreement this month, following the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani by the US.
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Question

US targeting of Nigeria: Is it really about terrorist problem or is America fearful of Africa's first superpower emerging?

Darius Shahtahmasebi
RT
Fri, 31 Jan 2020 17:03 UTC
nigerian rebels
© Getty Images / Construction Photography / Avalon / Anadolu Agency
The US is punishing Nigeria amid a current humanitarian crisis where the West African nation is grappling with a violent terrorist problem in the form of Boko Haram; a terrorist entity that the US indirectly helped rise to power.


Comment: See:


The Trump administration is considering expanding its travel ban to include five more countries, including Nigeria. While there is opposition to the plan, it is still unclear to what extent this ban will go, as it may only target certain government officials, or certain types of visas.

As the media notes, Nigeria works together with the US in areas such as counter-terrorism and the intention came as a surprise to the Nigerian government, who will have to look for ways its officials can meet with investors.
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Attention

Pompeo: 'The central threat of our times' is...the Chinese Communist Party!


RT
Thu, 30 Jan 2020 15:31 UTC
Pompeo
© Reuters/Kevin LamarqueUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in London
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has labeled the Chinese Communist Party "the central threat of our times," two weeks after President Donald Trump signed the "biggest deal there is" with Beijing.

Speaking at a conference with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in London on Thursday, Pompeo stated that "while we still have to be enormously vigilant about terror... challenges all across the world... the Chinese Communist Party presents the central threat of our times." The State Secretary then outlined the multiple avenues the US is taking to counter China's growing influence - right after he admitted that there's "huge opportunity" for business there.
"...Whether it's at the World Trade Organization, or whether it's in how we handle infrastructure and technology, or it's how we ensure we have the military capabilities...we have to collectively, the West, ensure that the next century is governed by these Western democratic principles."
Pompeo's declaration is a starker one than President Trump's hot and cold statements on Beijing. While the president has overseen a two-year trade war with China, and has accused the country of currency manipulation, stealing intellectual property, and interfering in elections, he has also hailed a recently-signed trade deal with Beijing, and described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a man who "truly loves his country."

Comment: For every ignorant, destructive and mind-numbing statement Pompeo delivers, there is someone, somewhere, who somehow believes it. ...but only one. Who's counting. And those lofty Western democratic principles...how are those working out?

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Dollars

Keiser Report: China's digital yuan to displace US dollar hegemony; bitcoin to join the race


RT
Thu, 30 Jan 2020 12:13 UTC
buckdrowns
© Getty Images/ansonsaw
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin recently rejected suggestions that the Trump administration is weaponizing the dollar through its trade-restricting policies with other countries.

Max Keiser is joined by American investor and the CIO of Morgan Creek Capital Mark Yusko to discuss media reports that weaponizing the greenback could kill its status as the world reserve currency. They also examine alternatives to the US dollar.

"We've been on this path for decades; we've always weaponised the dollar and the United States," says Yusko.

Weaponizing currency can only be done by the world reserve currency which, historically, has been possessed by the country with the most powerful navy, Yusko explains. Those were, in different times, Portugal, Spain, France, the UK, and the United States, he says.
"China has figured out that the next war will be fought by chips, not ships, it will be a cyberwar. And we are already seeing elements of that... So, I think what's going to happen is that they are going to win the race to the digital national currency, the digital renminbi that will displace the US dollar hegemony and world reserve currency dominance."
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Eye 2

Coward: Hillary Clinton refused to be served Tulsi Gabbard's defamation lawsuit, lawyer finally accepts for her after media coverage

Dom Calicchio and Rob DiRienzo |
Fox News
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 18:26 UTC
tulsi gabbard hillary clinton
© Getty Images
A lawyer for Hillary Clinton has finally accepted legal documents in connection with a $50 million defamation lawsuit filed by 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii congresswoman's lawyer told Fox News on Thursday night.

"We look forward to finally moving forward on the merits" of the case, said Brian Dunne, lead attorney representing Gabbard, who is suing over Clinton indirectly referring to her as a "Russian asset" during an October interview.

The development comes after Clinton or her representatives declined to accept the papers in three previous attempts to serve them, Dunne said.

"Today, after the media picked up this story, Ms. Clinton's lawyer changed course and agreed to accept service," Dunne told Fox News in a statement. "We would have preferred that Ms. Clinton just accept federal judicial process in the first instance, without having to be called out by the press, but in any event, Tulsi Gabbard's lawsuit against her will now be moving forward."
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Attention

India and Russia may cooperate in building nuclear plants in Africa and Middle East

Shishir Upadhyaya
RT
Fri, 31 Jan 2020 15:23 UTC
Kudankulam nuclear power plant
© REUTERS/Adnan AbidiKudankulam nuclear power project plant
Following the success of a joint Indo-Russia nuclear power project in Bangladesh, the two countries could join hands to build more nuclear plants abroad. It's a sign of deepening ties, but will the US let it pass?

The Indian ambassador to Russia, Venkatesh Varma, recently announced that India could collaborate with Russia to launch new projects in Africa and the Middle East. He stated, "Russia already has agreements in this field with a number of African countries," adding, "Ethiopia is one of them, and there are some countries in the Middle East."

Russia - a leading player in the international commercial nuclear energy market, offering turnkey projects to over 33 countries globally - has been a key partner for India's own nuclear energy programme. In fact, the nuclear plant at Kudankulam in South India was built with Russian assistance. Furthermore, since 2018, Indian companies have been working in collaboration with Russia's state atomic energy agency, Rosatom in building two nuclear power plants at Rooppur in Bangladesh. The project is expected to be completed by 2023 at a cost of $13 billion.

Comment: India has noted the benefits of having Russia as a reliable partner, as have other nations. The US may complain and threaten, but that will only prove that negotiations with Russia are far more satisfactory!

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Info

Trump acquittal near with senate likely to deny witnesses today

Mike Dorning, Laura Litvan, Billy House and Steven T. Dennis
Bloomberg
Fri, 31 Jan 2020 10:00 UTC
Trump
© Reuters/Leah MillsUS President Donald Trump
The most consequential day in Donald Trump's impeachment trial begins in the Senate on Friday, with Republican leaders likely to muster enough votes to block witnesses and rapidly move to acquit the president.

The decision late Thursday by Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, a Republican who had been considered a potential supporter of testimony, to vote against new evidence largely dashed Democrats hopes of prevailing.

His announcement is a victory for Trump's legal team and, especially, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had been steering the trial to a quick conclusion after two weeks of debate and questioning.

Comment: See also:

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