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The Trump-Modi bromance: What sparked it and what do each of them stand to gain?

Courtney Subramanian
Yahoo
Mon, 23 Sep 2019 12:00 UTC
trump modi
President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi walk around NRG Stadium waving to the crowd
When President Donald Trump met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time in June 2017 at the White House, the two men famously embraced in a bear hug, sparking chemistry that would extend beyond relations between the U.S. and India.

Trump spoke of shared values among the world's two largest democracies, but it was hardly the only thing they had in common. Both are known for brash styles, contempt for the news media and a predilection for 280-character missives to huge followings on Twitter.

The two leaders shared the stage Sunday at "Howdy, Modi" a rally in Houston before tens of thousands of Indian-Americans. The event, which comes ahead of Modi's trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, marked the prime minister's largest crowd since his rock concert-like rally at New York's Madison Square Garden in 2014.

Trump has boasted that he and Modi were "world leaders" in social media, a nod to the prime minister's now 50.2 million followers and Trump's own audience of 64.5 million.

Comment: RT reports on trade manouvers involving the US:
US wants trade deal with India to put pressure on China

According to the sources, the deal under discussion with India would lower some tariffs on US produce and restore preferential treatment for some Indian exports to the United States.

"There's a push to get something done with India, with an eye for UNGA," said a Washington-based source familiar with the discussions.

A deal between Washington and New Delhi would come amid Trump's protracted trade war with China. The US president is also expected to sign a deal with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this week that will lower Japanese farm tariffs.

Trump has demanded better terms of trade from most of the top commercial partners of the United States, blaming previous deals for the loss of millions of US manufacturing jobs.

He has repeatedly complained about India's "unacceptable" high tariff rates, describing the country as the "king" of tariffs.

India increased tariffs on 28 American products in June, after the Trump administration had withdrawn the country's special trade privileges. The withdrawal affected more than $5 billion worth exports from India to the United States.

India mostly exports gems, pharmaceuticals, machinery, mineral fuels, and vehicles to the US. The duty on US walnuts skyrocketed to 120 percent, while duties on chickpeas and some types of lentils were raised to 70 percent.

Despite the tariff hikes, trade between the two countries has been growing and reached $142.1 billion last year. According to official US statistics, India had a trade surplus of $24.2 billion.
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Mr. Potato

US lapdog? Boris Johnson calls for 'new' Iran nuclear deal winning praise from Trump, but Tehran says first comply with old one


RT
Tue, 24 Sep 2019 19:59 UTC
trump bojo
© Pool via REUTERS / Erin SchaffUK PM Boris Johnson with US President Donald Trump (file photo)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for a "new" nuclear deal with Iran, winning approval from US President Donald Trump but raising questions if London will now follow Washington in abandoning the existing agreement.

The UK was one of the six countries that signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Tehran in 2015, a deal intended to limit Iran's nuclear program to peaceful research with UN blessing. Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the JCPOA in March 2018, but other signatories have remained committed to the deal on paper - until now.

"Whatever your objections to the old nuclear deal with Iran, it's time now to move forward and do a new deal," Johnson told Sky News on Monday, ahead of the UN General Assembly session in New York. He added that the UK was "trying to bring people together and de-escalate tensions."

Comment: Despite claims of wanting to come to a deal, what the US seems to really be after is neutralizing Iran's influence in the Middle East; Sputnik reports:
US Representative for Iran Brian Hook Says Washington Seeks Comprehensive Negotiations With Tehran

US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook on Monday delivered remarks on the Trump administration's policy toward Tehran and participated in a discussion at the Asia Society In conjunction with the 74th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Hook said on Monday that Washington seeks comprehensive negotiations with Iran, including on the issue of missile development and mitigating global terrorism, adding that Washington was seeking a global coalition countering Tehran and that it was going to act "prudently".

"It is that Iran has crossed the line by this attack on another country's sovereignty", Hook said at an Asia Society event in New York, adding that the United States was seeking to address the issue through diplomacy and a multilateral effort and that there was a role for the United Nations Security Council to play.


No evidence for these claims have been forthcoming: Washington's Iran policy is backstreet thuggery masquerading as statecraft


Earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said a meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and US President Donald Trump at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) would be possible, but only in the 5+1 format similiar to that used for the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, also known as the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and not at a bilateral level.

Hook asserted earlier that the US held the position that the JCPOA was a bad agreement and that the goal of the Trump administration is to negotiate a new accord that would, in his explanation, lead all parties to peace and security in the Middle East.

Hook suggested that Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA because the agreement provided Iran with a path to build a nuclear weapon. The US president is keen, however to reach a diplomatic solution, Hook said.

US Would Like EU to Impose Sanctions Related to Iran's Missile, Drone Programs

US Special Envoy for Iran also said Monday that Washington would like to see the European Union impose sanctions on those who support Iran's missile and drone programs.

"We would like to see the European Union impose sanctions on those individuals and entities that are facilitating Iran's missile program and its drone program, which is behind these strikes," Hook said.

Hook added that there has to be an international effort to encounter Iran's activity in the Middle East region.

In the early hours of 14 September, a drone attack targeted Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq and Khurais oil processing facilities, forcing the national oil company to shut them down. This resulted in a more than twofold drop in Saudi Arabia's daily net oil output. Although responsibility for the attack was claimed by the military wing of Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, the United States and Saudi Arabia have put the blame on Iran. Tehran has refuted the accusations.

Mideast at Risk of Regional Conflict

Brian Hook also said during remarks at the Asia Society in New York that the Middle East is at risk of falling into a regional conflict if the international community continues ignore alleged Iranian aggression.

"We are one missile strike away from a regional war, we are accumulating risk of a regional war if we do not reestablish deterrence [...] If we accept a culture of largely inaction and accepting Iranian answers we are increasing the risk of a regional conflict", Hook said Monday.

Rouhani will arrive in New York City on Monday to participate in the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, accompanied by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

The visit will take place against the background of tensions with the United States, which further escalated after Washington blamed a recent drone attack on Saudi Aramco's oil facilities on Tehran.
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Bizarro Earth

Two rockets strike Baghdad's Green Zone, sirens sound off near US embassy


Sputnik
Mon, 23 Sep 2019 00:27 UTC
baghdad
© REUTERS / Stringer
Two rockets struck Baghdad's fortified Green Zone Monday, according to reports.

According to Reuters, there are currently no reports of casualties or damage. There are siren sounds near the US embassy in the Green Zone, according to reports on Twitter. The rockets may have hit the area housing US troops and staff. Iraqi security officials confirmed to AP that the rockets landed about a half-mile from the US embassy in the Green Zone.

There are also reports that the rockets are "Katyusha." Katyusha multiple rocket launchers are a type of rocket artillery used by the Soviet Union in World War II.

Comment: Attacks in Iraq have been on the rise of late:

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Cookies

Iran's Rouhani proposes 'coalition of hope' peace initiative at UN to defuse Gulf tensions


Sputnik
Mon, 23 Sep 2019 22:44 UTC
rouhani
© Timothy A. Clary / AFP
Earlier on Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's administration said that meetings have been scheduled for him with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, as tensions have been spiralling in the wake of the attack on Saudi Aramco oil facilities.

Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, has stated he will propose a new initiative for the security of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman at this week's UN General Assembly, as Tehran and Washington have been sparring in the diplomatic arena in the wake of the drone attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities.

"This year, we will be putting forward a plan at the United Nations, according to which the Islamic Republic of Iran - in cooperation with the regional countries - can ensure security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman with the help of the region's countries," Tasnim quoted the president as saying as he addressed a military parade in Tehran marking the 39th anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war.

"The security of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Sea of Oman is indigenous. Foreign forces could cause problems and insecurity for our nation and region," Rouhani added.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

Best of the Web: 'Greater Israel': The Zionist plan for the Middle East

Israel Shahak and Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research
Fri, 13 Sep 2019 00:00 UTC
Israeli tank
The Infamous "Oded Yinon Plan". Introduction by Michel Chossudovsky

Introduction

The following document pertaining to the formation of "Greater Israel" constitutes the cornerstone of powerful Zionist factions within the current Netanyahu government, the Likud party, as well as within the Israeli military and intelligence establishment.

President Donald Trump has confirmed in no uncertain terms, his support of Israel's illegal settlements (including his opposition to UN Security Council Resolution 2334, pertaining to the illegality of the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank). In recent developments, the Trump administration has expressed its recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

"Greater Israel" is de facto part of the election campaign. Netanyahu has pledged to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank if he wins in the forthcoming September 17 elections.
Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political life after an inconclusive vote in April [2019], said that Israel will "apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea immediately" if he secured a fifth term in the September 17 polls. (Al Jazeera, September 11, 2019
Trump's "Deal of the Century" is supportive of the "Greater Israel" project, which also consists in the derogation of Palestinian's "right of return" by "naturalizing them as citizens of Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere regionally where they reside".

Bear in mind: The Greater Israel design is not strictly a Zionist Project for the Middle East, it is an integral part of US foreign policy, its strategic objective is extend US hegemony as well as fracture and balkanize the Middle East.

Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital is intended to trigger political instability throughout the region.

According to the founding father of Zionism Theodore Herzl, "the area of the Jewish State stretches: "From the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates." According to Rabbi Fischmann, "The Promised Land extends from the River of Egypt up to the Euphrates, it includes parts of Syria and Lebanon."

greater Israel map
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Snakes in Suits

Bojo fails six times to answer questions about his 'close friend' getting taxpayer money while London mayor


RT
Mon, 23 Sep 2019 16:12 UTC
bojo arcuri
© Facebook / Jennifer Arcuri / Reuters / Luke MacGregor(R) American businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri (L) Former Mayor of London Boris Johnson at City Hall, 2012
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly refused to respond to allegations that a 'close friend' of his was given public cash and access to overseas trade missions during his time as Mayor of London.

During Johnson's flight to New York on Sunday night, where the prime minister is set to attend the UN Climate Action Summit, he failed six times to answer questions from reporters in relation to potential conflicts of interest concerning American businesswoman, Jennifer Arcuri. Johnson also refused to deny he had a relationship with the model-turned-tech entrepreneur.

Furthermore, the former London mayor, who took charge of the UK's capital city between 2008 and 2016, would not confirm whether he supported a full inquiry into the claims, despite an allegation of misuse of public funds.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

The global banking Mafia's ratings game

James Corbett
Corbett Report
Sat, 21 Sep 2019 22:25 UTC
The Ratings Game
© Corbett Report
Five years ago in the pages of this very column I examined "The Ratings Game: Rating agencies as weapons of economic warfare." In that article I explained how the major credit ratings agencies — Standard & Poor's (S&P), Moody's, and Fitch Ratings — act as adjuncts of the US State Department, targeting Uncle Sam's enemies with strategic credit downgrades at times that best serve Washington's interest.

As I pointed out at the time, the credit ratings agencies are the oft-overlooked tools of economic (let alone geopolitical) power. With a wave of their hand they can declare a tranche of toxic Mortgage-Backed Securities sludge to be a AAA prime investment opportunity — thus helping to blow a housing bubble and wreaking havoc in the economy — or downgrade the credit of a foreign treasury on a State Department hit list, hindering their ability to raise funds.

It's now time to return to the topic. But this time, we need to examine how these supposedly "independent" agencies are kept in line by their Washington swamp-dwelling masters. By doing so, we will learn some important lessons about how political (and, ultimately, economic) power is wielded by the global banking mafia.

If you caught my recent conversation with Catherine Austin Fitts about the Financial Coup D'état, you might have noted my remark that "if there was some sort of problem with the 'full faith and credit of the US government,' one of the ratings agencies (like S&P) would step in and downgrade the federal government, right?" Of course, that was sarcasm, and Fitts rightly responded with a story about the time that a ratings agency tried to do precisely that . . . and suffered the consequences.
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Crusader

Best of the Web: G‌reta sues civilization for disappointing her, unleashes tirade at world for 'stealing my dreams'

Olivia Goldhill
Quartz
Mon, 23 Sep 2019 20:22 UTC
greta thunberg UN
© Reuters/Carlo AllegriThunberg at the UN climate action summit
The United Nations' secretary-general António Guterres wanted international leaders to bring plans, not speeches to the Climate Action Summit being held in New York today. Greta Thunberg and 15 other young people don't seem to have much faith in these plans. On Monday, hours after Thunberg addressed assembled leaders at the summit's opening ceremony, the group of activists announced they were suing five of the biggest carbon polluters in the world — Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, and Turkey — for violating their rights as children by failing to adequately reduce emissions.

"You are failing us," Thunberg said, gazing at the crowd with fury. "We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line." Together with 15 international young people, each of whom have been affected by climate change, she filed a lawsuit arguing the carbon-polluting countries are violating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states children have the right to life, health, and peace. The United States is the only country not to have ratified this convention, and so is not included in the lawsuit, despite its high levels of pollution.


Comment: So that means the U.S. will not have to deal with the legal annoyance stemming from a hypocritical (and meaningless) lawsuit. Point to Trump!


Comment: All the issues listed at the end are the result of natural environmental forces. The Sahara used to be green and lush, Central Europe was arid steppe. Climate shifts and humans have nothing to say about it. We can only observe and adapt.

Greta is a media creation of larger globalists forces. Like Syrian child Bana before her, she doesn't understand the issues she is fronting, and the true ramifications of her "message". She is being emotionally ginned-up to spout fear-mongering gibberish, and being rewarded with a media spotlight. The adult abusers exploiting this poor child should be publicly shamed, starting with her mother. Watch as she goes into full melt-down at the UN today:


Seriously, this child abuse has gone on long enough.

Update 11:30pm CET

Check out the stink eye she gave The Donald at the entrance to the UN:


If looks could kill!

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Star of David

Flashback Best of the Web: In order to 'fulfill prophecy of third temple', are Israelis planning to destroy Al-Aqsa mosque?

Whitney Webb
MintPress News
Mon, 24 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC
Dome of the Rock/Israeli police
© Mahmoud Illean/APIsraeli police, Dome of the Rock mosque, Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City
The iconic golden dome of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque, located on the Temple Mount or Haram el-Sharif, is the third holiest site in Islam and is recognized throughout the world as a symbol of the city of Jerusalem. Yet, this ancient site that dates back to the year 705 C.E. is being targeted for destruction by increasingly influential extremist groups that seek to erase Jerusalem's Muslim heritage in pursuit of colonial ambitions and the fulfillment of end-times prophecy.

Some observers may have noticed the growing effort by some Israeli government and religious officials to remove the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque from the Jerusalem skyline, not only erasing the holy site in official posters, banners and educational material but also physically removing the building itself. For instance, current Knesset member of the ruling Likud Party, American-born Yehuda Glick, was also the director of the government-funded Temple Institute, which has created relics and detailed architectural plans for a temple that they hope will soon replace Al-Aqsa. Glick is also close friends with Yehuda Etzion, who was part of a failed plot in 1984 to blow up Al-Aqsa mosque and served prison time as a result.

"In the end we'll build the temple and it will be a house of prayer for all nations," Glick told Israeli newspaper Maariv in 2012. A year later, Israel's Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel stated that "[w]e've built many little, little temples...but we need to build a real Temple on the Temple Mount." Ariel stated that the new Jewish Temple must be built on the site where Al-Aqsa currently sits "as it is at the forefront of Jewish salvation." Since then, prominent Israeli politicians have become more and more overt in their support for the end of Jordanian-Palestinian sovereignty over the mosque compound, leading many prominent Palestinians to warn in recent years of plans to destroy the mosque.
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No Entry

VP Mike Pence lambasted for driving 8 huge SUVs across car-banned historic Mackinac Island


RT
Mon, 23 Sep 2019 13:22 UTC
Pence motorcade
© AP/Stephen B. MortonUS VP Mike Pence
Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Mackinac Island could hardly go unnoticed, as he brought a massive SUV motorcade to a place where cars have been banned for over a century. Some Michiganders said it 'made their blood boil.'

The local population of around 470 residents was plunged into the 21st century when Pence traveled from a helicopter at the Mackinac Island airport to the Grand Hotel, where the conference was held, in a motorcade made up of eight large black SUVs.

The mile-long ride was additionally secured by state police on bicycles. And that's all on an island where cars have been banned since 1898.The motorcade was delivered to the island by a local ferry company that didn't pass on the PR opportunity, tweeting photos of its boats transporting the VP's vehicles, adding that, despite political views, one should understand that security is a priority.

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