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WTO: US wins its case against India over billions in misapplied subsidies

Brendan Murray, Shawn Donnan
Bloomberg
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 12:05 UTC
India/US flagsWTO
© Unknown/KJN
The U.S. won a case against India at the World Trade Organization alleging improper use of export subsidies valued at more than $7 billion.

The WTO's dispute-resolution panel agreed that "India gives prohibited subsidies to producers of steel products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, information technology products, textiles, and apparel, to the detriment of American workers and manufacturers," the U.S. Trade Representative in Washington said in a statement Thursday.

WTO rules prohibit export subsidies, but makes exceptions for developing countries until they reach certain economic benchmarks. India's exemption expired, according to USTR, and the Geneva-based trade body rejected the country's position that it was entitled to more time even after hitting the threshold.

The case was filed in March 2018 by the U.S., challenging what it said were illegal export subsidies provided to Indian firms. The decision, which can be appealed, comes amid a broader deterioration in trade relations between the U.S. and India.
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Bullseye

US concerns over Nord Stream 2 are about fear of losing leverage, not welfare of Europe

Nebojsa Malic
RT
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 17:50 UTC
The pipelay vessel Pioneering Spirit
© Reuters / Axel Schmidt
As the Nord Stream 2 pipeline looms closer to completion, its panicked critics claim it will harm Ukraine and increase the EU's energy dependence on Russia - which are, in fact, mutually exclusive arguments.

After years of delays, on Wednesday Denmark finally gave the approval for building a section of the pipeline inside its exclusive economic zone off the shore of Bornholm. With the receiving terminal in Germany well underway, this paves the way for the pipeline's completion by next year, only slightly behind schedule.

"This is a geopolitical issue, this strengthens Russia and weakens Europe," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Kiev on Thursday.

Not quite. The pipeline strengthens Russia's economic position - while it's Ukraine, not the EU, that ends up weakened politically.
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Rocket

N. Korea: Third test-firing of 'super-large' multiple rocket launcher confirmed


CBS News
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 08:00 UTC
Watching missile launch
© Heo Ran/ReutersOnscreen viewing of North Korean missile launch
North Korea confirmed Friday it conducted its third test-firing of a new "super-large" multiple rocket launcher it says expands its ability to destroy enemy targets in surprise attacks.

The latest launches extended a months-long streak of weapons displays by the North, which continues to use a standstill in nuclear negotiations to advance its military capabilities while pressuring Washington for concessions.

Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency described the tests a day after the South Korean and Japanese militaries said they detected two projectiles launched from an area near the North Korean capital traveling more than 200 miles cross-country before landing in waters off the North's eastern coast.

Experts say the North could continue to ramp up weapons demonstrations ahead of an end-of-year deadline set by leader Kim Jong Un for the U.S. to offer mutually acceptable terms to salvage fragile diplomacy strained by disagreements over exchanging sanctions relief and disarmament steps.

Comment: See also:
'New phase' North Korea lauds successful test of submarine-launched missile

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Bad Guys

Weapons of mass construction? US sanctions Iran's 'terrorist-controlled' building sector & ominous 'strategic materials' supply


RT
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 17:44 UTC
tehran
© Reuters / Caren Firouz
The US has slapped new sanctions on Iran's construction industry, targeting a number of "strategic" materials - like steel tubes and foil - and making sure the MSM amplify their vague hints of nuclear weapons and terrorism links.

The State Department announced the new penalties on Thursday, stating Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) - blatantly branded a terrorist group by Washington earlier this year - controls the country's entire construction sector.

One might think that the State Department deliberately refrained from listing those "strategic materials" in its initial announcement, while implying heavily that these mysterious supplies might somehow be used "in connection with Iran's nuclear, military, or ballistic missile programs." But why would they do such a thing?

Of course a separate fact sheet, conveniently swept under the rug and largely ignored by the mainstream media, does list the four materials, but names only mundane construction supplies with questionable dual-use utility - such as anti-corrosion brazing foils, premium grade stainless steel alloy, and steel tubes - far from plutonium.
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Chess

House approves impeachment inquiry rules after fiery floor debate

Brooke Singman
Fox News
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 17:39 UTC
pelosi and trump
A sharply divided House voted Thursday to approve a resolution setting "ground rules" for the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, putting lawmakers on record over the contentious process while setting the stage for proceedings to move into the public eye after weeks of closed-door depositions.

The measure passed largely along party lines, 232-196. Two Democrats defected on the vote.

The first formal floor vote in relation to the impeachment probe announced a month ago by Speaker Nancy Pelosi followed a fierce debate in the chamber, where Republicans accused Democrats of launching a de facto "coup" against the president in a "pre-ordained" bid to overturn the results of the 2016 election.

"A yes vote on this resolution today gives a stamp of approval to a process that has been damaged beyond all repair and a blatant and obvious coup to unseat a sitting president of the United States," Rep. Ross Spano, R-Fla., said.
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Light Sabers

Electoral euthanasia in the UK: The Grim Reaper of liberalism is stalking

George Galloway
RT
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 17:35 UTC
grim reaper
© Getty Images / Derek Davis
Britain's liberal europhiles, still convinced that they lost the Brexit vote because 'Workington Men' are too old and stupid to appreciate their virtues, would rather euthanize them from the ballot box.

That political discourse has coarsened during this century can scarcely be gainsaid. The availability of the means to insult people without looking them in the eyes, to slander without much fear of legal retribution, has emboldened the most egregious slurs and stereotypes.

The British General Election has only just begun and a new stereotype - 'Workington Man' - has been produced by the spin-doctors as the microcosm of swing-vote Britain.

Predictably, it is a 'he' (he has no wife, daughters, sisters or mother, apparently), is northern working class and has no university education.
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Dominoes

Russia & Turkey begin joint military patrols in northeastern Syria


RT
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 15:59 UTC
syrian army
Russian military police and Turkish border troops have started patrolling the areas along Syria-Turkey border. The patrols came as a part of a deal reached earlier this month by the presidents of the two countries.

The mission began in the vicinity of al-Darbasiyah on Friday.

Footage from the scene shows a massive convoy of military vehicles, including armored personnel carriers and mine-resistant trucks - from both Russia and Turkey - driving through the Syrian countryside.
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MIB

Best of the Web: 'Thank God for the deep state': Once rejected as conspiracy theory, MSM and CIA are now embracing reality of secret govt

Nebojsa Malic
RT
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 16:51 UTC
Deep State
In just a few short months, the US political establishment has gone from denying the existence of the 'Deep State' and calling it a conspiracy theory, to praising it as the bulwark of the Republic against President Donald Trump.

"Thank God for the 'Deep State,'" declared former CIA director John E. McLaughlin at an event this week, describing the diplomats and intelligence officers testifying before the congressional impeachment inquiry as "people who are doing their duty or responding to a higher call."

Lavishing praise on the 'whistleblower' intelligence officer whose complaint about Trump's phone call launched the impeachment probe, McLaughlin said the intelligence community is "institutionally committed to objectivity and telling the truth."


Comment: In other words, McLaughlin is a liar with no commitment to objectivity or truth. Either that, or he's just a complete idiot - and he doesn't seem to be stupid.


One would think this might be a bit rich, coming from the former deputy director of the CIA at the time of the infamous 'Iraqi WMDs' fiasco - and acting director for a time in 2004 - but McLaughlin's comments were met with applause by the crowd at George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government.

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Info

Kurdish militias willing to join Syrian military if government restructures army


Sputnik
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 16:34 UTC
Turkish YPG
© AFP 2019/ Delil Souleiman
Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria are ready to join forces with President Bashar Assad, but they want "restructuring" of the Syrian army" to happen first, Ilham Ehmed, the president of the Executive Committee of the Syrian Democratic Council said.

"We are prepared to join the forces with Assad but restructuring, changing the Syrian army. If we agree with the Syrian regime about how we are managing our areas, and then yes, we are ready to join the Syrian army," Ehmed said, stressing that it "cannot happen in an hour," as there should be discussions with Damascus first.

"What happened is the Defence Ministry released the statement where they are addressing us like criminals," she added.


Comment: Well, you did collaborate with an illegal foreign military occupation...


"So, the SDF said 'no.' We have to sit together and agree on how we are going to be integrated together, not like join as we are the fugitive," Ehmed said.

The SDC is a political branch of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces operating mostly in northeastern Syria, where Turkey recently launched an anti-terrorist offensive.
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Bizarro Earth

United Nations shuts down free press at Salt Lake City, Utah conference

Enoch Moore
Defending Utah
Thu, 24 Oct 2019 14:02 UTC
UN Security
In August of this year, with $650,000 provided by the state legislature, the United Nations held a conference at the publicly owned Salt Palace in downtown Salt Lake City.

Defending Utah covered many of the events as detailed at www.unitednationsutah.com

During the conference, pushing the UN's anti-family/anti property rights/ anti American Agenda 2030, journalists covering the event were confronted by UN officers. You can watch what happened here:


Comment: Underneath the UN's veneer of international cooperation and doing good works for the world are a number of festering and fetid agendas that largely go unnoticed by most:

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