Puppet MastersS


Megaphone

Iran blame game: UK govt slams Corbyn as unpatriotic over Gulf attacks but EU also urges caution


RT
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 07:06 UTC
iran corbyn
© Reuters / Handout(Main) An oil tanker is seen after it was attacked at the Gulf of Oman Reuters / Handout (Top-right) Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn
UK ministers including the foreign secretary have been quick to ridicule Jeremy Corbyn's call for caution over blaming Iran for two attacks on Gulf tankers last week. The problem is the EU supports the Labour leader's stance.

In the aftermath of Thursday's attack, Corbyn took to social media to warn that the UK government's rhetoric concerning the issue would "only increase the threat of war." He suggested that they should be working to "ease tensions in the Gulf" and called for "credible evidence" to be put forward before entering into the blame game.

A viewpoint that riled Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who branded the Labour leader "pathetic and predictable," and asked why Corbyn can never back "British allies" [the US] or "British intelligence."

Comment: See also: China warns US don't open "Pandora's Box" in Middle East

Read More...
Bullseye

China warns US don't open "Pandora's Box" in Middle East

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 07:04 UTC
Wang Yi
© Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERSFILE PHOTO: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in Sochi, Russia May 13, 2019.
The Chinese government's top diplomat warned on Tuesday that the world should not open a "Pandora's Box" in the Middle East, as he denounced U.S. pressure on Iran and called on it not to drop out of a landmark nuclear deal.

Fears of a confrontation between Iran and the United States have mounted since last Thursday when two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman.

The United States blamed Iran for the attacks, more than a year after President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Iran denied involvement in the tanker attacks and said on Monday it would soon breach limits on how much enriched uranium it can stockpile under the deal, which had sought to limit its nuclear capabilities.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Handcuffs

Two neo-Nazis jailed after calling for 'race traitor' Prince Harry to be shot


RT
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 12:15 UTC
Harry and Meghan
© Reuters/Hannah McKayBritain's Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
Two teenage neo-Nazis who encouraged an attack on Prince Harry through dissemination of online material following his marriage to Meghan Markle, a mixed race American, have been jailed for terrorism offenses.

Michal Szewczuk, 19, from Leeds, and Oskar Dunn-Koczorowski, 18, from west London, were members of the far-right group Sonnenkrieg Division, described as the "third generation" of banned terrorist group National Action.


Comment: They don't sound British. Polish in fact...


A judge at the Old Bailey in London sentenced Szewczuk to just over four years in jail, while Dunn-Koczorowski was handed an 18-month Detention and Training Order, saying their online propaganda was abhorrent and criminal.

The material was "uniformly violent and threatening" and "the nature of the violence includes rape and execution," Judge Rebecca Poulet said. The British neo-Nazis called for Prince Harry to be shot for being a "race traitor" following his marriage to actress Meghan Markle, a BBC investigation revealed last year.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Snakes in Suits

Lavrov to host S. Korean FM to discuss 'New Russian, Chinese Initiative' on Korean Peninsula


RFE/RL
Sun, 16 Jun 2019 19:57 UTC
Kang Kyung-wha/Sergei Lavrov
© kfmradio.com/African Ripples MagazineS. Korean FM Kang Kyung-wha • Russian FM Sergei Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is set to host his South Korean counterpart in Moscow on June 17 for talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that Lavrov and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will discuss "a number of steps proposed by Russia and China in their new initiative, an action plan aimed at finding a comprehensive solution to the Korean Peninsula's issues."

It said the initiative "expands upon" a joint proposal put forward by Moscow and Beijing that would start with the United States and South Korea suspending their regular military exercises in exchange for Pyongyang suspending its nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

U.S. officials have dismissed the plan.

Comment: More from RT:
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea for a two-day visit starting this Thursday, according to Chinese state media reports.

The visit will be the first by a Chinese leader in a decade. In 2009, then-premier Wen Jiabao travelled to Pyongyang for talks with Kim Jong-il. The last visit by a Chinese president was by Hu Jintao in 2005.

Xi Jinping's trip comes amid an ongoing dispute over North Korea's denuclearization negotiations with the US. Xinhua reports that the state visit is on foot of an invitation by Kim Jong-un.


Read More...
Attention

Top EU officials demand US show 'maximum restraint' to ease tensions in the ME


Sputnik
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 19:06 UTC
EU flags
© Sputnik/Alexey Vitvitsky
The statements come as the EU's foreign policy chief meets with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo following an attack on Japanese oil tankers stationed in the Gulf of Oman and the bolstering of the US' military presence in the Middle East. Europe has maintained a conciliatory approach to the escalation and has not endorsed any of the US actions.

Nathalie Tocci, a special adviser to High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HRVP) Federica Mogherini, reiterated the EU's position on tensions with Iran on BBC radio's Today programme on Tuesday: "the United States has violated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action" and is not "living up" to its side of the bargain.

"We still don't have actually verifiable proof as to exactly what happened and who did what," she said regarding the recent attack on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Boat

Pentagon published new images of Gulf of Oman false-flag tanker attacks - this time in FULL COLOR!


RT
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 21:25 UTC
Tanker examination
© Reuters/US NavyUS Navy examines oil tanker damage, Gulf of Oman.
The US Navy has released new photos of the aftermath of the attack on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. The images are said to show an Iranian speedboat, approaching one of the vessels to remove an unexploded limpet mine.

The new images show the same episode earlier featured in a very low-quality black and white video released by the US military. The new pictures - clearer and colored - appear to be screengrabs from aerial footage of the incident.
US Navy
© Reuters/US Navy
The pictures show a speedboat, said to be Iranian, approaching the Japanese-owned tanker Kokuka Courageous from the starboard side and removing a device that Pentagon insists is a limpet mine. According to Washington, this imagery somehow proves that Tehran was behind the attack.

Comment: Thanks, Pentagon!

Those grainy black-and-white versions sucked.

Read More...
Eagle

Pentagon: 'To hell with Trump, we just sent another 1,000 US troops back to the Middle East'


RT
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 22:31 UTC
Troops Transport
© CC0
The acting Pentagon chief has green-lighted the deployment of 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East, citing "reliable, credible" intelligence on recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf that Washington blames on Iran.

In a statement Monday, Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he approved US Central Command (CENTCOM)'s earlier request to increase forces to "address air, naval, and ground-based threats in the Middle East."


Comment: The silver lining in all this is that it is now clear as day that Trump is not the leader of the US government...

Read More...
Star of David

SIPRI report: Israel owns 80-90 nuclear warheads


Middle East Monitor
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 10:38 UTC
Dimona
© unknown
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report that despite maintaining a long-term policy of not commenting on its nuclear arsenal, Israel is believed to own between 80 and 90 nuclear warheads.

By the start of 2019, nine countries, namely the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea possessed as many as 13,865 nuclear heads, of which 3,750 are operational and an estimated 2,000 are being kept in a state of alert, the report added.

The figures represent a decrease from the figures of 2018 when the institute estimated the number of warheads to be around 14,465 is due in large part to Russia and the US reducing their arsenals in line with the 2010 Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) while also making unilateral reductions.

Both countries collectively own more than 90 per cent of all nuclear weapons, the report said. SIPRI's figures come as Israel launches a strong campaign against Iran's nuclear capability.

In September 2018, Director General of Israel Atomic Energy Commission Zeev Snir said that Tel Aviv would develop and fortify its nuclear facilities in response to Iranian threats.
Read More...
Attention

Russia calls for restraint as US increases military presence in the Middle East


Sputnik
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 13:32 UTC
USS Abraham Lincoln
© AP/Hassan AmmarUSS Abraham Lincoln and a US destroyer, Persian Gulf exercises
The Kremlin calls on all the parties to show restraint amid Washington's plans to boost its military presence in the Middle East, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"We have learned this from media reports. We certainly call on all the sides to show restraint. We would certainly prefer not to see any steps that could introduce additional escalation to the region that is already not calm," Peskov told reporters.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Tuesday that Washington's plans to build up its military presence in the Middle East as means of putting pressure on Iran can only be seen as an intention to provoke war in the region.

"Now, when we are witnessing continuing US attempts to increase political, psychological, economic and military pressure on Iran, such actions are quite provocative, I think. They cannot be viewed otherwise than a policy to provoke a war," Ryabkov told reporters.

Comment: More from Sputnik on Japan's reservations:
The Japanese government expressed concern on Tuesday over the United States' plans to deploy additional 1,000 troops to the Middle East following the recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

"It is a matter of deep concern that tensions will escalate in the region of the Middle East", Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura told a briefing, as cited by Kyodo news agency.


Read More...
Stock Up

London-Shanghai Stock Connect allows foreign firm listings in mainland China for the first time

Daniel Ren
South China Morning Post
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC
London Stock Exchange
© BloombergDebut of Huatai Securities in London
Foreign companies can list their shares in mainland China for the first time starting today, with the official launch of the long-awaited London-Shanghai Stock Connect scheme.

The groundbreaking project, which will enable firms listed in the UK and mainland China to raise funds on each other's stock market, is seen as a major step for Beijing in its efforts to internationalise its markets. It had originally been scheduled to launch in December.

Huatai Securities, one of China's largest brokerages, made its trading debut on the London Stock Exchange at 8am local time as it became the first company to trade via the new link. Investors in the UK capital were able to buy and sell global depository receipts in Huatai, which has raised US$1.54 billion through the flotation.

The listing, marked by an inauguration ceremony in London, could open the floodgates for dozens of mainland Chinese firms to raise funds on the European bourse. As the trade war with the US rages, Beijing is keen to open up more investment doors around the world.

"With the development of the Shanghai-London stock connection scheme, foreign companies that have financing demands will be able to use it to raise funds in China," Fang Xinghai, a vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, told the annual Lujiazui Forum last week.
Read More...