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Austria crisis: Will Sebastian Kurz survive foreign influence operation against his government?


RT
Wed, 22 May 2019 15:19 UTC
Sebastian Kurz
© Getty ImagesAustrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz
A corruption scandal has Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's grip on power slipping by the day. With a no-confidence motion likely, can Austria's right and left wings team up to boot the 32-year-old leader from office?

In a matter of days, Kurz has accepted the resignation of former coalition partner head Heinz-Christian Strache, and sacked Interior Minister Herbert Kickl. In the wake of Kickl's dismissal, members of his Freedom Party (FPO) vacated their seats in Kurz's cabinet, and Federal President Alexander Van Der Bellen filled these posts on Wednesday with a mix of Austrian People's Party (OVP) and Social Democrats (SPO) officials and neutral technocrats.

The scandal erupted on Friday when German media published a video showing Strache negotiating a quid-pro-quo deal with the supposed niece of a Russian oligarch in Ibiza in 2017.

Strache called the video a "targeted political assassination," but resigned a day later regardless. Kurz claimed Kickl's sacking was necessary because as interior minister and FPO member, Kickl was not in a position to investigate his own party leader impartially.

A snap election is expected in September, but Kurz will first have to survive a motion of no-confidence, likely in parliament on Monday. Neither the FPO nor the SPO has enough seats in parliament to carry such a motion on their own, and speculation has mounted over whether the SPO will enter into a Faustian pact with the FPO to boot Kurz from office.

Comment: What took place in Austria this week is the very definition of 'foreign meddling in our democracy' - and it didn't come from Russia...

See also:

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Footprints

Pentagon may send 'up to 10K' troops to the ME in light of Iran tensions, but where's the other 110K?


RT
Wed, 22 May 2019 22:30 UTC
troop deployment
© Flickr/DOD/Lance Cpl. Juanenrique Owings, USMC
US Central Command has asked the Pentagon to send up to 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East, citing threat from Iran even as the Trump administration boasted about having successfully 'deterred' Tehran already.

A CENTCOM request for 5,000 troops was reported by Reuters on Wednesday, citing two anonymous US officials. The reinforcements would be "defensive in nature," one of the officials reportedly said.

AP reported soon thereafter that the Pentagon will present plans to send "up to 10,000 troops" to the Middle East, also citing unnamed officials.

Washington has already sent a carrier strike group, a number of B-52 strategic bombers, and a unit of Patriot missile defense batteries to the region, citing intelligence warnings of an "imminent threat" by Iran. Many US diplomats and their families were evacuated from the neighboring Iraq as well.

On Tuesday, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters that the deployments have had the desired effect, deterring the Iranian attack and putting Tehran's plans "on hold."

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Up

IRGC commander: Persian gulf 'under complete control' of Iran


RT
Wed, 22 May 2019 22:55 UTC
Iranian boats
© Tasnim News Agency/Hamed MalekpourIRGC patrol boats in the Persian Gulf
A commander in Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said that the Persian Gulf is "under the full control" of Iran's military and US ships are "not a concern," even as the US claimed victory in the Iran standoff.

"Over the years, our forces have completely surrounded the Persian Gulf, so that they (the Americans) need our permission to move in this area," Ali Fadavi, deputy commander of the IRGC, said on Wednesday, according to Iran's Fars News Agency.

Washington would likely dispute Fadavi's claim that Iran has the Lincoln - a 100,000 ton behemoth carrying 90 aircraft and multiple batteries of missiles - under control, but the United States has made similar claims itself during the recent standoff.

Fresh from threatening the "official end of Iran" on Sunday, Trump seemed to reverse course on Monday, declaring there was "no indication that anything is happening or will happen," presumably pleasing the almost two-thirds of Americans who oppose preemptive strikes on Iran, and sorely disappointing hawkish adviser John Bolton.

Comment: See also:

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Eye 2

Ecuador breaks international law to seize Assange's computers, legal documents and personal records, turns them over to US prosecutors

Joshua Goodman
Associated Press
Mon, 20 May 2019 13:45 UTC
protest assange london embassy Ecuador
© Associated Press/Alastair GrantBritish police arrive and guard the Ecuadorian Embassy as protesters in support of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange demonstrate outside the embassy in London, Monday, May 20, 2019. Swedish authorities on Monday issued a request for a detention order against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is now jailed in Britain, a Swedish prosecutor said.
With Julian Assange locked away in a London jail, a new battle has broken out over what may contain some of the WikiLeaks founder's biggest secrets: his computers.

On Monday, judicial authorities from Ecuador carried out an inventory of all the belongings and digital devices left behind at the London embassy following his expulsion last month from the diplomatic compound that had been his home the past seven years.

It came as Sweden announced it was seeking Assange's arrest on suspicion of rape, setting up a possible future tug-of-war with the United States over any extradition of Assange from Britain.

Comment: Greg Barns and Israel Shamir weigh in on Sputnik:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's belongings, including legal papers, medical records and electronic equipment, left over from his time spent living with asylum status at the Ecuadorian embassy in London have been handed over to US prosecutors Monday, states WikiLeaks.


Earlier, WikiLeaks said UN officials and Assange's lawyers were stopped from being present to witness the " illegal seizure of property", which has been requested by the US authorities.

The material is said to include two of Assange's manuscripts.

Kristinn Hrafnsson, the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, said:
"On Monday, Ecuador will perform a puppet show at the embassy of Ecuador in London for their masters in Washington, just in time to expand their extradition case before the UK deadline on 14 June. The Trump administration is inducing its allies to behave like it's the wild west."
Baltasar Garzón, the international legal coordinator for the defence of Assange and WikiLeaks, said:
"It is extremely worrying that Ecuador has proceeded with the search and seizure of property, documents, information and other material belonging to the defence of Julian Assange, which Ecuador arbitrarily confiscated, so that these can be handed over to the agent of political persecution against him, the United States."

"It is an unprecedented attack on the rights of the defence, freedom of expression and access to information exposing massive human rights abuses and corruption. We call on international protection institutions to intervene to put a stop to this persecution."
Assange's Ecuadorian lawyer Carlos Poveda told Sputnik the defence team for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will appeal a decision by Quito to hand over Assange's documents to Washington.

According to Poveda, this decision was taken on 1 May by a court in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito.The lawyer recalled that Assange remains an Ecuadorian citizen, and since no investigation is being conducted against him in this country, the material evidence related to him cannot be transferred to a third country.

On Sunday, the newspaper El Pais reported that Ecuador would hand over to Washington Assange's mobile phones, computers, memory cards, and other data storage devices after searching the room where he used to reside.

The WikiLeaks founder was arrested in the UK capital on 11 April on the heels of Ecuador revoking his asylum status. The whistleblower was subsequently sentenced to 50 weeks in jail for jumping bail back in 2012, when he took refuge inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault investigation that has since been dropped.

The US, seeking Assange's extradition on charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, has to provide London with all the necessary documents on the issue by the 12 June deadline.

Assange's lawyers and supporters fear that he could be charged under the Espionage Act in the United States and face the death penalty.

Separately, Swedish prosecutors said on Monday that they had requested a district court in the Swedish city of Uppsala to issue a warrant for arresting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in absentia. The announcement came a week after Sweden had reopened an inquiry into 2010 rape allegations, two years after a preliminary probe into the claims was closed.

'Some Nations Prepared to Bend Their Legal Systems to US Demands'

Greg Barns, a prominent barrister and adviser to the Assange Australian campaign, has commented on the matter, saying that Assange's case is "showing that there are some nations prepared to bend their legal systems to Washington's demands, while Ecuador's and Sweden's conduct falls into this category.
"In the case of Ecuador, it is prepared to breach international law to allow the US to seize property which should be protected by Ecuador and given back to Assange. Sweden has closed its Assange file twice but reopens it because the US tells it to do that. Its selling out it's legal system," the adviser claimed.
Israel Shamir, a political analyst and expert on WikiLeaks, has also slammed Ecuador's move as "an obvious betrayal of Julian Assange's trust in the country."
"Julian trusted them and stayed for a while in their London embassy, and, to add insult to injury, they didn't just give him up to UK police, they've also now given his personal belongings to the United States. Their betrayal is awful and truly regrettable."
As for Sweden's decision to seek the extradition of Assange, he said that "this move would also be a very bad and upsetting development."
"In the very beginning of this sad story, the [general] attorney in Sweden released Assange from all accusations and allowed him to leave for England. But since then there's been strong pressure on the UK suggesting that the Swedes would renew their demand for extradition and apparently, they have done so again. In short, Sweden decided to submit to British and American demands to imprison Assange."
The analyst stated that he expects that it would be easier for the UK to hand over Assange to Sweden as in Sweden he will probably be sent to jail for at least a couple of years over alleged rape.

"And after that he will probably be deported to the United States to stand trial and, probably, remain in jail forever. That seems to be a very bad and, obviously, very sad result for the brave and courageous truth-seeker," he concluded.
Loud and Clear discusses the turnover of Assange's personal effects shows US' power
Ecuador's move to turn items and documents belonging to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over to the US emphasizes the power that the Trump administration can exert over the famed publisher, activist and comedian Randy Credico told Sputnik.

"It's completely outrageous," Credico told Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear on Monday of the development. "I don't see the legal basis for that. This was done without any kind of court hearing."

"How they could turn that stuff over - his personal belongings - to the US, not even to the Brits, but to the US... it just shows you the level of control that the US government, the [US] State Department [and] every other agency has over [Ecuadorian President] Lenin Moreno, who has totally sold out."

​In an early Monday press release, WikiLeaks revealed that materials forked over to US officials by Ecuador included "two of [Assange's] manuscripts, as well as his legal papers, medical records and electronic equipment."

"Neither Julian Assange nor UN officials have been permitted to be present when Ecuadorian officials arrive to Ecuador's embassy in London on Monday morning. The chain of custody has already been broken," reads the release. "The seizure of his belongings violates laws that protect medical and legal confidentiality and press protections."

It goes on to state that the seizure is formally listed as "Internat ional Assistance in Criminal matters 376-2018-WTT requested by the authorities of the United States of America," and that the reference number on the legal documents reveals that Ecuador began cooperating with the US in 2018.

"This is a very dangerous precedent," Credico told hosts Brian Becker and John Kiriakou. "Everything involved with Assange is a dangerous precedent that we should all be alarmed by."

Listen here:




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War Whore

Pentagon will present plans to send 10,000 more troops to Mideast

Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns
AP
Wed, 22 May 2019 18:38 UTC
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, left, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
© (Patrick Semansky/APActing Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, left, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
The Pentagon on Thursday will present plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East, in a move to beef up defenses against potential Iranian threats, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The officials said no final decision has been made yet, and it's not clear if the White House would approve sending all or just some of the requested forces. Officials said the move is not in response to any new threat from Iran, but is aimed at reinforcing security in the region. They said the troops would be defensive forces, and the discussions include additional Patriot missile batteries, more ships and increased efforts to monitor Iran.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans have not been formally announced.

Thursday morning's meeting comes as tensions with Iran continue to simmer, and it wasn't clear if a decision would be made during the session. Any move to deploy more forces to the Middle East would signal a shift for President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly emphasized the need to reduce America's troop presence in the region.
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Sherlock

Irish regulator opens first privacy probe into Google

Padraic Halpin
Reuters
Thu, 23 May 2019 18:34 UTC
google
Google's lead regulator in the European Union, Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner, opened its first investigation into the U.S. internet giant on Wednesday over how it handles personal data for the purpose of advertising.

The probe was the result of a number of submissions against the company, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner said, including from privacy-focused web browser Brave which complained last year that Google and other digital advertising firms were playing fast and loose with people's data.

Brave argued that when a person visits a website, intimate personal data that describes them and what they are doing online is broadcast to tens or hundreds of companies without their knowledge in order to auction and place targeted adverts.

"A statutory inquiry pursuant to section 110 of the Data Protection Act 2018 has been commenced in respect of Google Ireland Limited's processing of personal data in the context of its online Ad Exchange," the Irish DPC said in a statement.

Comment: Change may be coming, but because these conglomerates picked Ireland as their 'company HQ', the small country won't do anything these entities disagree with.

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Bad Guys

Propaganda alert! Britain boasts it helped counter Russian hacking attempts in 16 countries


RFE/RL
Thu, 23 May 2019 17:53 UTC
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt
Britain has shared information on Russian cyberactivities with 16 NATO allies, helping them counter malicious threats against their countries over the past year and a half, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will announce on May 23, AFP and other media outlets reported.

In a May 23 speech at the NATO Cyber Defense Pledge Conference in London, Hunt accused Russian intelligence services of mounting a "global campaign" to "compromise central government networks."

The event was attended by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, who warned that the Western military alliance was ready to use all means at its disposal to respond to cyberattacks.

The remarks by Hunt and Stoltenberg reflect persistent tension between Russia and the West, where governments have accused Moscow of using cyberattacks and social-media activity to sow discord abroad and increase its global clout.

Comment: Hogwash! To date, not a single country has presented tested evidence that the Russian government has led cyberattacks against any single country. If they had anything, it would be all over the news. But they don't have anything but their make believe world where they bombard people with lies.

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Radar

Revolutionary Guards commander: Iran in complete control of waters north of Strait of Hormuz

Babak Dehghanpisheh
Reuters
Thu, 23 May 2019 17:44 UTC
Strait Of Hormuz
Strait Of Hormuz
A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said on Wednesday that Guards and regular Iranian military forces had complete control of Gulf waters north of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

"Everything north of the Strait of Hormuz is under our control," Ali Fadavi was quoted by Fars as saying, referring to the strait at the Gulf's eastern end through which about a fifth of the oil that is consumed globally flows.

"(Movements of) American battleships in the region are under the complete control of Iran's army and the Revolutionary Guards," Fadavi told Fars, without providing details.

Tensions have spiked between Iran and the United States after Washington sent more military forces to the Middle East, including an aircraft carrier, B-52 bombers and Patriot missiles, in a show of force against what U.S. officials say are Iranian threats to its troops and interests in the region.

Comment: The commander's statement is further backed up by the fact that both Kuwait and Qatar are currently looking at alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz for shipping their oil, hoping to use Iraqi pipelines. The strait is a particularly key location in geopolitics, as it ships 18.5 million barrels per day of oil through its narrow passage, according to the EIA, about 80% of which heads to Asian markets.

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Water

England is implementing a strict plastic ban starting next year

Yessenia Funes
Earther
Thu, 23 May 2019 17:19 UTC
plastic straw
© Getty
Starting April next year, don't expect to receive a plastic straw with your drink if you're traveling through England. Don't expect to find plastic stirrers plastic stems on your cotton swabs either. They're all officially banned starting next year.

The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs announced the ban Wednesday, but it's been in the works for over a year. The country is the latest to take a stance against plastics. The European Union passed a similar ban last year, which will go into effect in 2021. Both did so, in large part, because of the impacts plastic has on ocean life.

"Urgent and decisive action is needed to tackle plastic pollution and protect our environment," Environment Secretary Michael Gove said in a statement. "These items are often used for just a few minutes but take hundreds of years to break down, ending up in our seas and oceans and harming precious marine life."
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NPC

Delusional AOC claims growing cauliflower is 'colonial', thinks people should grow 'culturally significant' plants like yucca

Ross Ibbetson
Daily Mail
Thu, 23 May 2019 17:31 UTC
ocasio cortez
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has claimed that growing cauliflower in community gardens is 'taking a colonial approach to environmentalism.'

The firebrand New York Democrat took to Instagram to discuss how such gardens were a 'core component' of her proposed Green New Deal on Tuesday.

She discussed in the live broadcast how it was important that people of color felt they were able to grow foods familiar to them in these green spaces.

The 29-year-old said: 'What I love too is growing plants that are culturally familiar to the community. It's so important.'

She added: 'A core component of the Green New Deal is having all of these projects make sense in a cultural context, and it's an area that we get the most pushback on because people say, "Why do you need to do that? That's too hard."
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