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Mogherini: EU to establish alternate payment channel to allow Iran to bypass US sanctions

Frederica Mogherini
© AzerNewsFrederica Mogherini
Brussels will create an alternative payment channel to facilitate financial transactions between the European Union and Iran in the near future to bypass US sanctions, the EU's top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, has announced. "I will expect this instrument to be established in the coming weeks before the end of the year as a way to protect and promote legitimate business," EU's foreign policy chief told reporters on Monday.

The 28-nation bloc has been considering ways to continue doing business with Tehran and bypass US economic restrictions after Washington pulled out from the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed economic sanctions.

In November, EU officials proposed creating a clearinghouse, or a special purpose vehicle (SPV), to facilitate financial transactions with Iran. The proposal failed to reach an agreement after not a single EU country agreed to host such a mechanism out of fear of punitive measures that Washington may potentially introduce against them.

So far, France and Germany have ruled themselves out as SPV hosts. At the same time, the EU's major powers are reportedly planning to put more pressure on Luxembourg and Belgium to host the headquarters for the SPV after Austria declined a request to manage the project. Both Belgium and Luxembourg have reportedly dropped a hint of doubt over the issue.

Comment: 'The nail that sticks out shall be hammered down.' -Japanese proverb


Arrow Down

Lindsey Graham pledges to 'get to the bottom' of FISA abuse as Senate Judiciary Chair

Lindsey Graham
© The HillSenator Lindsey Graham
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Saturday that if he takes over as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as is expected, he will "get to the bottom" of whether the FBI misled the federal surveillance court to obtain spy warrants against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

"In my view the process used to obtain a FISA warrant - and its multiple renewals - against Carter Page should disturb every American," Graham tweeted. "I intend to get to the bottom of what happened if I am Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee."


Laptop

Hillary's use of private email server among 'gravest' offenses to transparency, says judge

Killary
© MSNBC/KJNFormer US Sec of State, Current Criminal-in-Waiting, Hillary Clinton
A conservative group won a court victory this week when a federal judge ordered more fact-finding in the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

In his ruling Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth assailed Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state as "one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency."

Conservative group Judicial Watch had filed a Freedom of information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the State and Justice departments, alleging that Clinton's email practices represented a deliberate effort to violate the FOIA, Politico reported.

On Friday, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton praised Lamberth's ruling, telling Fox News it showed the court was "not terribly convinced" that former FBI Director James Comey adequately investigated Clinton's use of the private server while secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Federal Judge Royce Lamberth says Judicial Watch should be allowed to demand documents and additional testimony into whether Hillary Clinton's use of a private email system was a deliberate effort to thwart the Freedom of Information Act; reaction from Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton.

Fox News interview with Tom Fitton:

Comment: It is time to open the Clintons' multiple cans of worms.


Attention

Over 51K apprehended at the border...in November!

borderwall
© Mario Tama/Getty Images
When speaking with Urs Gehriger of the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche, Fox News host Tucker Carlson said that President Trump was a conversation starter. Carlson said Trump entered Washington D.C. and began to ask the questions that no one seemed willing to ask. One of these questions was simply: why isn't the southern border working?

Migrants have been able to freely and illegally cross into the country for decades, something Trump brought to the forefront of political discourse.

While a funding fight for a $25 billion border wall has an uncertain outcome, one factor has been made remarkably clear: Trump will not tolerate illegal border crossing.

As the Washington Examiner reports, in the month of November over 51,000 people were apprehended at the Mexican border.

More than 51,000 people were caught illegally entering the United States from Mexico in November, according to Department of Homeland Security data released Thursday evening, the highest number recorded since President Trump took office almost two years ago.

"The November 2018 border numbers are the predictable result of a broken immigration system - including flawed judicial rulings - that usurps the will of the American people who have repeatedly demanded secure borders," DHS spokeswoman Katie Waldman said in a statement.

Comment: See also:


Padlock

Deadlocked situation for Rukban refugee camp due to US actions

Rukban Refugee camp
© AFP/Khalil MazraawiRukban refugee camp on border of Jordan and Syria
Russia is wondering why Washington's partners insist on involving militants, extremists in rendering humanitarian assistance to Rukban's residents, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Moscow requires transparent control while organising a new UN humanitarian convoy to the "Rukban" camp in Syria in mid-December, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry recalled that this camp, which, according to various estimates, holds up to 50,000 people, is inside the "illegally occupied 55-kilometre security zone organised by the United States around the Syrian settlement Al-Tanf".

Why do the US's partners insist on joining the militants from illegal armed groups to render humanitarian aid and not give their consent to real assistance to those in need in Rukban if they fully share the well-known concerns, is the question, the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

The Rukban refugee camp is located in Syria's al-Tanf district (Homs province) near the Jordanian border, next to a US military base where Syrian opposition forces are being trained.

Moscow and Damascus, on one side, and Washington on the other accuse each other of hindering the delivery of UN humanitarian assistance to the area.

Comment: See also:


Russian Flag

Russian Navy's Vice-Admiral Igor Kostyukov named new head of military intelligence GRU after predecessor's death

Igor Kostyukov
© Sputnik / Alexei DruzhininVice admiral Igor Kostyukov with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at the event to mark the 100th anniversary of the GRU in Moscow.
Vice-Admiral Igor Kostyukov has become the new head of Russian Military Intelligence Directorate, sources have said. The top job at GRU, which scares the West so much, was vacant since the death of his predecessor in November.

Kostyukov, who used to be the acting head of the GRU, has now fully taken the reins at the agency, a source told Tass. The assignment was reportedly made by Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in early December. However, news of it was only made public on Monday, again proving the high secrecy of GRU activities.

There has so far been no official announcement regarding Kostyukov's new job. If reports are confirmed the 43-year-old will be the first Navy sailor to lead the agency since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Previous spy chief, Colonel General Igor Korobov, died on November 21 after what the Defense Ministry said was "a long and serious illness." Media reports claimed that Korobov died from cancer.

Comment: Now the GRU is the GRU again. To listen to the Western media, however, 'twas always so, and it's been all up in our internets/elections/literally everything since 2014...'


X

Japan joins US in banning China's Huawei 5G

Huawei
© Reuters / Aly Song
Japan's big three telecom operators plan not to use current equipment and upcoming fifth-generation (5G) gear from China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] and ZTE Corp (0763.HK) (000063.SZ), Kyodo News reported on Monday.

The news, for which Kyodo did not cite sources, comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of Chinese tech firms by Washington and some prominent allies over ties to the Chinese government, driven by concerns they could be used by Beijing for spying. Last week sources told Reuters that Japan planned to ban government purchases of equipment from Huawei and ZTE to ensure strength in its defences against intelligence leaks and cyber attacks.


Comment: That is just a cover story for public consumption:
The U.S. spy services and military do not like Huawei. They can no longer easily hack the equipment it sells. Convincing Cisco or some other U.S. company to leave back doors in their equipment is quite simple. One can always threaten the management or board of these companies with some tax investigation or over other shady activities. That is not so easy when the company is hosted in China. It requires the NSA and others to use more expensive efforts to reach their aim:
The National Security Agency breached Huawei servers years ago in an effort to investigate its operations and its ties to Chinese security agencies and the military, and to create back doors so the National Security Agency could roam in networks around the globe wherever Huawei equipment was used.
The U.S. is lobbying various countries not to use Huawei equipment. It claims that the Chinese government could use it for spying. That thought was obviously born when the U.S. spies looked at what they are doing themselves. Australia, New Zealand and Japan already agreed to keep Huawei out. Today the EU tech commissioner Andrus Ansip also warned of using Huawei. Ansip was previously the prime minister of the U.S. protectorate of Estonia. He is known to be a U.S. mole and is not taken too seriously:
Germany, meanwhile, said it opposed excluding any manufacturers from the planned construction of 5G mobile networks.

A SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) spokesman said Japan's third-largest telco was closely watching government policy and is continuing to consider its options. The amount of equipment in use from Chinese makers "is relatively small", he said.

Japan's top two telecommunications operators, NTT Docomo Inc (9437.T) and KDDI Corp (9433.T), said the firms had not made any decision yet.

Comment: More on Meng's arrest by Moon of Alabama:
The December 1 arrest of Meng Wanzhou and a number of other incidents on that day gave raise to a number of interesting conspiracy theories in the Chinese web sphere (via Peter Lee, links added):
Red @OmeletteRed - 19:09 utc- 6 Dec 2018

A great explanation of the Huawei Kidnapping, written by a comrade in the Deng Gang Central discord. There may be a lot more than meets the eye in Canada's shock arrest, at US behest, of Huawei's CFO and heir apparent Meng Wanzhou (link below).

Chinese sources have assembled the following facts:
  • April 2017: A director of Chinese tech giant Huawei personally escorted famed Shanghai-born physicist Zhang Shoucheng from the latter's hotel in Shenzhen. Jackson & Wood Professor of Physics at Stanford University, Zhang was in town to attend an IT summit.
  • Sept. 2018: Prof. Zhang receives a European physics award, one of his many honors. His work in quantum physics is expected to revolutionize the global semiconductor industry. Yang Zhenning, the first Chinese scientist to receive the Nobel Physics Prize (1957), had predicted that Zhang would be the next one.
  • Dec. 1, 2018: Prof. Zhang and Meng Wanzhou are expected to attend a dinner in Argentina, where the G20 summit is being held.
  • Dec. 1, 2018: On her way there, Meng is arrested in transit by the Canadian government.
  • Dec. 1, 2018: Prof. Zhang falls to his death from a building in the US, allegedly a suicide. Said to be suffering from depression, he was 55.
  • Dec. 1, 2018: A nighttime fire breaks out at a factory of Holland's ASML, the world's leading manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology. EUV is crucial to the production of the next generation of semi-conductors, which US and Chinese tech firms as well as Korea's Samsung are competing to be first to bring to market. Leading Chinese semiconductor producer SMIC is known to have ordered EUV technology worth US$120 million from ASML, for scheduled delivery early in 2019. After the fire, ASML announced that it expected delays in shipments of its products, notably early 2019.
Prof. Zhang was also a venture capitalist. He was a founding partner of a Silicon Valley-based fund investing primarily in early-stage technologies. Danhua Capital, also known as Digital Horizon Capital, holds shares in Silicon's Valley's start-ups who work on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and drones. Danhua is backed by Zhongguancun Development Group, a state-owned entity funded by the Beijing municipal government. The company has come under scrutiny of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) which suspects (pdf) that its purpose is to pilfer critical U.S. know how and to transfer it to China.

Zhang's family says that his death had nothing to do with U.S.-China tensions.

...U.S. allegations of sanction violations can always be made up from hot air. They are certainly not the real reason why Meng Wanzhou has come under fire. The White House even admitted such.

Meng Wanzhou was taken hostage to be used as leverage in China trade talks. The 'leverage' could also be used to push Huawei into providing the NSA with back doors to its equipment. This is the policy style of Somali pirates or Saudi clown princes. The ruthlessness of this blackmail operation is breath taking. It is typical of neo-conservative behavior to use such extreme measures. Trump's foreign policy is run by neo-conservatives and they are again, like when they faked intelligence to lay the grounds to invade Iraq, creating huge damage:
Melania was right when she told an interviewer in Africa that her husband is surrounded by enemies within his administration. These are people who either opposed him during the 2016 campaign season or who signed up early in the campaign with an expectation that they could get jobs in a Trump Administration and in both cases understood that a president not accustomed to thinking seriously about other than business hustle could be manipulated or deceived in pursuit of their own agenda rather than his or that of the "deplorables."

These people are the neocon incubi and succubi who seek an even more dominant hegemonic role in the world for the US. They are out and out imperialists of a kind not seen since the time of McKinley and the US-Filipino War.
...
Bolton, Pompeo, his new helpmate Mary Kissel, dozens and dozens of Obama globalist holdovers, and people who find Trump's boorish ways repulsive, they all are undermining the administration from within and Trump does nothing about it.
...
Is Trump competent in such matters as tax policy, regulatory reform and trade negotiations? I think he is, but he is allowing the neocons to destroy the possibility of rational political relations in Europe and the Middle East.
... and with China.



Snakes in Suits

Ex-FBI Assistant Director: Comey is a disgrace to the FBI

Comey
© WGBHFormer FBI director James Comey
The appearance of fired and disgraced FBI Director James Comey before two congressional committees Friday is a reminder of his brief but profoundly disappointing tenure leading the FBI - the outstanding law enforcement agency where I served for 24 years.

Unfortunately, members of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee were unable to get satisfactory answers from Comey regarding his illegal actions and violations of longstanding FBI and Justice Department regulations and procedures.

The chairmen of the two committees released a 235-page transcript Saturday of their interview with Comey.

According to a statement issued by the office of Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., Comey said "I don't remember" 71 times, "I don't know" 166 times, and "I don't recall" eight times during his interview.

Comey flat-out refused to answer some questions dealing with the investigation now led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Comment: In his interview, Comey claimed the FBI never investigated the Trump campaign. Yet he also admitted that the FBI had four files opened on Trump campaign officials:
Additionally, within his 'interview' Comey confirmed our previous hunch on a very specific redaction within the Nunes memo:
nunes memo
See also:


Briefcase

Jerome Corsi goes after Mueller, DOJ, CIA, FBI, NSA in suit for $350 million

Jerome Corsi
© Shannon Stapleton / ReutersJerome Corsi
The suit accuses the special counsel of blackmailing him to lie as part of a "legal coup d'etat" against President Donald Trump.Jerome Corsi, seen during an interview in New York on Nov. 27, repeats in the suit his contention that he never had any direct knowledge of WikiLeaks' plans to leak information about emails stolen from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta.

The conservative writer and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi filed a lawsuit on Sunday accusing special counsel Robert Mueller of blackmailing him to lie about President Donald Trump in the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The suit, which seeks $350 million in actual and punitive damages in U.S. District Court in Washington, was filed six days after Corsi entered a formal complaint with the Justice Department alleging prosecutorial misconduct by Mueller.

Comment: It appears that Mueller may have overplayed his hand in pressuring Corsi.


Map

European Court of Justice rules Britain has right to unilaterally revoke Brexit - one day before House votes on May's 'deal'

brexit signs
© REUTERS / Toby Melville
The UK is free to unilaterally revoke a notification to depart from the EU, the European Court has ruled. The judicial body said this could be done without changing the terms of London's membership in the bloc.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) opined in a document issued on Monday that Britain can reverse Article 50, which stipulates the way a member state leaves the bloc. The potentially important ruling comes only one day before the House of Commons votes on Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal with the EU.


"When a Member State has notified the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the European Union, as the UK has done, that Member State is free to revoke unilaterally that notification," the court's decision reads.

By doing so, the respective state "reflects a sovereign decision to retain its status as a Member State of the European Union."

Comment: See also: