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Star of David

Netanyahu slams corruption indictment as an 'attempted coup', claims probe is 'tainted by foreign interests'


RT
Thu, 21 Nov 2019 18:59 UTC
Netanyahu
© Times of Israelisraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu tore into the judicial authorities, calling the bribery indictment against him an "attempted coup" and hinting at the presence of "foreign interests" behind the three-year investigation.

Netanyahu denounced the "tainted procedure," claiming it was the product of "foreign interests" trying to "carry out a legal revolution," after Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit released his indictment on Thursday.

"Tonight we witness an attempted coup against a right-wing Prime Minister." Netanyahu has been charged with bribery, fraud, and abuse of trust in three separate corruption cases.

"We need to investigate the investigators and the state prosecution which cooks these infected cases," Netanyahu warned, hinting that he would not sit quietly while his reputation was being slimed.

Comment: From Sputnik, 21/11/2019: Crib sheet on indictments
Known as Cases 1000, 2000, and 4000, Netanyahu faces the prospect of defending his innocence in court, unless he is granted immunity from prosecution.

The Case 1000 accuses the prime minister of fraud and breach of trust over allegations of receiving valuable gifts, such as cigars and champagne, from billionaires James Packer and Arnon Milchan between 2007 and 2016, while providing various favours in exchange. The indictment by the attorney general says that Netanyahu's family members, including his wife Sarah, also participated in this scheme. The overall gifts are estimated to be worth some 700,000 Shekels (around $180,000 at 2016 exchange rates).

The prime minister does not deny that he received the gifts, but claims they were from friends and were not repaid via a quid-pro-quo deal and thus not in violation of the law.

Case 2000 became one of the most notorious corruption scandals in modern Israeli history as, according to case files, Netanyahu struck a deal with the editor of one of the country's biggest newspapers, Yedioth Ahronoth, Arnon "Noni" Moses, to tone down its criticism of Netanyahu in 2014. In exchange, the PM allegedly promised to boost Yedioth's position in Israel by introducing measures that would cut the circulation of the newspaper's rival - Israel Hayom.

Netanyahu dismissed the accusations of fraud and breach of trust by claiming that he never intended to fulfill his part of the deal.

Case 4000: Netanyahu is also accused of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust which accuses him of using his posts of prime minister and communications minister between 2012 and 2017 to strike a quid-pro-quo deal with Shaul Elovitch, controlling shareholder in Bezeq, the country's telecom giant.

According to the indictment, Netanyahu exercised control over areas of interest for Bezeq, and consequently for Elovitch, while the telecom giant's owner controlled the Walla News site. The prosecutors believe that Elovitch provided improved coverage in the media outlet for the prime minister in exchange for his favours.

Netanyahu's defence team claims that all his decisions while communication minister were approved by ministry staff, and were not favours for Elovitch. The PM's lawyers also claim that Netanyahu never sought to force friendlier coverage from Walla News, but rather campaigned for what they describe as more "balanced" coverage.

Other Cases

Not all cases against Netanyahu have received the support of the attorney general in the indictment. Under Case 3000, the prime minister is suspected of lobbying the country's Defence Ministry to buy submarines and corvettes from German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp, instead of other contractors. Netanyahu denies these allegations, as well.


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Light Sabers

China vows to 'fight back' against new US legislation aimed at 'destroying Hong Kong'


RT
Thu, 21 Nov 2019 09:36 UTC
Hong Kong Polytechnic
© REUTERS/Thomas PeterAn anti-government protester, with a U.S. flag draped at his waist, leaves the Union building at the besieged Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in Hong Kong, China, November 20, 2019.
Beijing has warned that it will implement retaliatory measures after the US Congress passed a bill purportedly designed to safeguard 'human rights' in Hong Kong.

"We strongly condemn and firmly oppose the passage of relevant Hong Kong-related bills," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, during a press briefing on Thursday. He also cautioned Washington against interfering in China's internal affairs.

"If the US side is determined to act alone, China will introduce effective measures to resolutely fight back"

The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday, one day after the Senate gave its approval. US President Donald Trump is now expected to sign off on the new bill.

Comment: Any human rights abuses in Hong Kong are being committed by the protesters, who, unsurprisingly, are backed by the US:

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Light Saber

Sondland testimony frees Team Trump to adopt the best defense: the truth

Andrew McCarthy
The New York Post
Thu, 21 Nov 2019 21:10 UTC
Sondland
© Reuters / Loren ElliottAmbassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland
Wednesday's impeachment testimony by US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland underscored the folly of the main defense strategy adopted by President Trump and his supporters against Democratic allegations that he traded military aid for dirt on the Bidens.

That strategy has been to categorically deny any quid pro quo. Yet contrary to other witnesses' versions of events, Sondland clearly and explicitly acknowledges that there was a quid pro quo.

Specifically, Sondland testified that he knows Trump was stalling on a promised White House visit for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Sondland came to realize Trump was also withholding $400 million in defense aid. That was the quid.

Comment: The Duran's Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris provide more commentary. They are less enamoured of Sondland's performance and feel that Vindman's performance was a disaster for Democrats:
The Duran's Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss the embarrassing testimony of EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland, in the latest installment of Adam Schiff's impeachment clown show. Sondland flat out admitted that, 'President Trump never told me military aid was tied to an investigation into the Bidens'.

Meanwhile Alexander Vindman all but outed himself as the man who kicked off this hoax by leaking the Trump-Zelensky phone call to Schiff's gossip-blower. A conflicted Vindman revealed that corrupt Ukraine oligarch and former President Poroshenko asked him to be Ukraine's defense minister three times.



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Arrow Up

Merkel slips from top spot as Left Party bigwig Sahra Wagenknecht becomes Germany's most loved politician


RT
Thu, 21 Nov 2019 15:07 UTC
Wagenknecht Merkel
© Global Look Press / DPA / Kay Nietfeld; Wolfgang KummSahra Wagenknecht and Angela Merkel
Wagenknecht took over from Angela Merkel, beating her by three points in the latest survey carried out by the authoritative INSA pollster for Germany's Focus magazine. The poll measured Germans' preferences by asking which politician best represents their interests.

Merkel's popularity started to shrink on the back of the heavy refugee crisis in 2015 when she proclaimed that Germany would take any asylum seeker that crossed the border. Her 'open-door' policy cost her many supporters, who opted not to vote for her ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) in national and local elections since then.

Wagenknecht, for her part, surged to popularity last year when she started a new political movement called Aufstehen ('Stand Up') which aims to be a voice for workers across Europe. Wagenknecht's new left-wing movement champions the cause of limiting the number of migrants that come to Germany to work.

Comment: It's notable that ending mass migration is a pledge by both the left and far-right parties, and those are the parties seeing their share of the vote increase: Also check out SOTT radio's: The Truth Perspective: Weapons of Mass Migration: Interview with Michael Springmann on Europe's Migrant Crisis

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Windsock

Impeachment hearing gets more bizarre with Sondland confirming 'Zelensky loves Trump's ass' , but vague on quid pro quo


RT
Wed, 20 Nov 2019 17:25 UTC
Sondland
© Reuters / Loren ElliottAmbassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland
House Democrats tried repeatedly to goad their diplomatic witness into "admitting" the elusive quid pro quo of aid withheld pending a probe, but the best they could get was confirmation he told Trump "Zelensky loves your ass."

US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland played the 'can't recall exactly' card as Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff and Democratic Counsel Daniel Goldman pushed him to confirm President Donald Trump had made the release of foreign aid to Ukraine contingent upon President Volodymyr Zelensky's launch of a corruption investigation. Sondland did say he believed that there was a quid pro quo in his prepared remarks, but in his later testimony he was hazy about where that belief came from.

Comment: Aaron Mate took to Twitter:






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Jet2

Report: Russian Military, Command Control Exceeds NATO Capacities


RFE/RL
Thu, 21 Nov 2019 20:28 UTC
russian military helicopter troops
© ReutersRussian marines disembark from a Mi-8 helicopter during the military exercises known as Center-2019 on the Caspian Sea coast on September 20.
Russia's ongoing development of an advanced command-and-control military system using sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) has surpassed the existing capacities of NATO, an analysis by the Washington-based global research group Jamestown Foundation says.

The breakthrough, announced by the Russian Defense Ministry, means that Russian field commanders can make real-time military decisions faster than their potential adversary.

Called automated command and control, the system uses "AI and Big Data technologies to analyze the battlefield situation and through the automated system to rapidly provide commanders in the field with several possible solutions," the analysis, published on November 20, says.

To use the system, a commander must enter numerous battlefield-related factors into a computer software program based on the Russian armed forces combat regulations on decision making: the number of one's own forces and equipment, intelligence on the enemy, road conditions, weather, amount of ammunition, fuel, and many more.

Then the AI system in a matter of seconds makes calculations using special programmed formulas or algorithms to provide commanders with a battle plan consisting of how much force to use on a particular combat mission.

Comment: Not that NATO is in any real danger because of this - Russia has not demonstrated any intention to invade Europe, political hysteria notwithstanding. But the fact that the Russian military is so advanced is cause for concern for a different reason. The United States would love to control Russia. The fact that they can't makes them angry. So until military supremacy is once again established, expect more hysteria, more calls for increases in defense spending, and more Russophobia in general. The U.S. and NATO don't like strong rivals.

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Bad Guys

Pompeo reinvents NATO's mission: To boldly contain the 'Chinese Communist Party'


RT
Thu, 21 Nov 2019 17:32 UTC
pompeo
With the US establishment's attention firmly fixed on the impeachment hearings in Washington, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seems to have expanded NATO's mission into the Far East, to oppose the Communist Party of China.

Speaking at the meeting of NATO ministers of foreign affairs in Brussels on Wednesday, Pompeo said that "our alliance must address the current and potential long-term threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party," adding that NATO countries cannot ignore the "fundamental differences and beliefs" between themselves and the ruling party in Beijing.


Comment: Many alt-media people would agree with Pompeo on this. So let's ask: what ARE the "fundamental differences and beliefs" between Western elites and Chinese?


The US Secretary of State framed the anti-China pivot in the context of what he described as NATO's victory in the Cold War for "the cause of freedom and democracy."

Comment: Notice the similarity of thought between Pompeo, which accurately reflects US foreign policy, and that of the 'progressive' SJW mentality. Although each have their own playing field, both identify 'enemies' based on 'differences and beliefs'. Neither can accept that others have freedom of association.

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Dollars

Ukrainian MP: $7.4B Obama-linked laundering, Biden group's take tallies at $16.5M

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Wed, 20 Nov 2019 12:25 UTC
Hunter/Joe
© UnknownHunter and Joe Biden
A Ukrainian MP says a document leaked from the Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General contains claims against Burisma owner Nikolai Zlochevsky, as well as Hunter Biden and his partners - who allegedly received $16.5 million for their 'services' - according to Alexander Dubinsky of the ruling Servant of the People Party.

Dubinsky made the claim in a Wednesday press conference, citing materials from an investigation into Zlochevsky and Burisma. "Zlochevsky was charged with this new accusation by the Office of the Prosecutor General but the press ignored it," said the MP. "It was issued on November 14."

"The son of Vice-President Joe Biden was receiving payment for his services, with money raised through criminal means and money laundering. Biden received money that did not come from the company's successful operation but rather from money stolen from citizens."

According to Dubinsky, Hunter Biden's income from Burisma is a "link that reveals how money is siphoned [from Ukraine]," and how Biden is just one link in the chain of Zlochevsky's money laundering operation which included politicians from the previous Yanukovich administration who continued their schemes under his successor, President Pyotr Poroshenko.

Comment: In addition from TASS, 20/11/2019:
Dubinsky stressed that through the implementation of this scheme Ukraine has money siphoned from it with high interest rates — "40% of the state budget is spent on the debt service."

"This amount — 440 billion hryvnia [around $18.18 billion — TASS] in the end of 2020 — is the last step towards a default and then Ukraine will go bankrupt either by the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021."

Earlier, former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko announced that Hunter Biden received around $1 million from Burisma.
More from en.interfax.com.ua News Press Conference KYIV. 20/11/2019:
As reported, on October 9, 2019, Derkach published official correspondence between NABU and the U.S. Embassy, according to which the first deputy of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), Gizo Uglava, through his assistant Polina Chyzh, for a long time provided the U.S. Embassy with information that negatively affected the course of events in Ukraine and the United States.

Derkach said Chyzh received instructions from the representative of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine Hanna Emelyanova to provide information on the case involving Zlochevsky.

Derkach also announced the amount of money transferred to representatives of the Burisma Group, including Hunter Biden. According to documents, in general, in favor of Hunter Biden, Alexander Kwasniewski, Alan Apter and Devon Archer, Burisma paid about $16.5 million.

According to Derkach, ex-Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin repeatedly appealed to the NABU Director Artem Sytnyk in the framework of criminal proceedings for Burisma, but constantly received formal responses.

The activities of Shokin, according to the MP, irritated then U.S. Vice President Joe Biden during his fifth visit to Kyiv in two years. The visit on December 7-8, 2015, was devoted to solving the issue of Shokin's resignation for the affairs of Zlochevsky and Burisma, he said.
See also:

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Attention

Kissinger's warning: US and China in 'foothills of a cold war'

Zachary Evans
National Review
Thu, 21 Nov 2019 09:11 UTC
Kissinger
© Getty ImagesHenry Kissinger
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warned on Wednesday that the U.S. and China were in the "foothills of a Cold War" and could be headed toward a conflict worse than World War I.

Kissinger flew to Beijing in 1971 to begin trade talks with China when he served as Richard Nixon's secretary of state. He presented his views on U.S.-China relations at Wednesday's Bloomberg New Economy Forum, held in Beijing.
"If conflict is permitted to run unconstrained the outcome could be even worse than it was in Europe. World War I broke out because a relatively minor crisis could not be mastered. It is especially important that a period of relative tension be followed by an explicit effort to understand what the political causes are and a commitment by both sides to try to overcome those . . . It is far from being too late for that, because we are still in the foothills of a cold war."
The U.S. and China are in the midst of strained relations resulting, in part, from an ongoing trade war. President Trump has imposed tariffs on a range of imports from China, to which China has responded by ceasing imports of U.S. agricultural goods.

Trump has sought to sign a trade deal with China to relax certain tariffs. However, reports emerged on Wednesday that the first phase of the deal may not be inked until the coming year.
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Clipboard

Ukraine: 4 key issues named by Zelenskiy for upcoming peace summit on Donbas


RFE/RL
Thu, 21 Nov 2019 01:39 UTC
Zelenskiy and group
© Reuters/Gleb GaranichUkraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he will advance four key issues during an upcoming four-way meeting with the leaders of Germany, France, and Russia on a potential peace settlement in the Donbas conflict.

While visiting the opening of a reconstructed bridge in the frontline town of Stanytsya Luhanske on November 20, Zelenskiy said the most important discussion point was conducting local and regional elections in territories that Kyiv doesn't currently control.

Holding elections "is one of the difficult ones because it has many components," he said. "This is an opportunity to hold local elections already in the territory of Ukraine, not in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. It's the most important issue," Zelenskiy said.

The return of all Ukrainian captives is another priority as well as regaining control over its border with Russia. According to the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service, Kyiv doesn't control 409 kilometers of its eastern border with Russia.

Sealing a permanent cease-fire is paramount, Zelenskiy said, while adding that the current truce in the Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian forces since April 2014, was "fake."
"It's, you know, temporary. For two-three days there could be no shooting and then somebody starts shooting, which over time becomes serious and we start to lose people. Therefore, we need a serious cease-fire when no shots are fired."
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