Puppet MastersS


Eiffel Tower

Macron worried Putin & Trump might steal limelight in Paris so he asked them not to meet


RT
Wed, 07 Nov 2018 17:08 UTC
Trump Putin Helsinki.
© Reuters/Leonhard FoegerDonald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will not hold a full-fledged meeting when they both visit a WWI commemoration in Paris because their host, Emmanuel Macron, asked them not to draw attention from the main event, a report claims.

There was speculation that the US and Russian leaders may have a comprehensive bilateral meeting on November 11, when both will attend the centennial commemoration of the end of World War I in France. But their French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, was worried that if it happened, the meeting would steal the limelight from the main event - so he asked them not to do it, Kommersant reported, citing an anonymous European diplomatic source.

Comment: Yeah, who really cares about the world's premiere powers trying to sort things out! What's really important is that Macron remains in the spotlight.

Read More...
Quenelle

Erdogan vows not to honor US Iran sanctions after waiver expires


RFE/RL
Wed, 07 Nov 2018 21:47 UTC
erdogan
© AFP
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that Turkey will not honor renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil and shipping industries when waivers granted by Washington expire in six months.

"These are steps aimed at unbalancing the world. We don't want to live in an imperialist world," Erdogan told reporters in Ankara on November 6.

"We will absolutely not abide by such sanctions. We buy 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas. We cannot freeze our people in the cold," he said.

Washington reimposed the sanctions on November 5 after abandoning Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers.

Erdogan suggested he would discuss the matter when he meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at a summit to commemorate the end of World War I in Paris over the weekend.

Comment: The US State Department is also exempting Iran's Chabahar port from sanctions, due to its importance to Afghanistan:
President Donald Trump's "South Asia strategy underscores our ongoing support of Afghanistan's economic growth and development as well as our close partnership with India," a State Department spokesman said on November 6.

Iran late last year inaugurated the port on the Indian Ocean, which is being built largely by India and is expected to provide a key supply route for Afghanistan while allowing India to bypass rival Pakistan to trade with Central Asia and Africa.

The State Department said it was carving exemptions from its sanctions on Iran's economy for the development of Chabahar along with an attached railway project and Iranian petroleum shipments to Afghanistan.

Iran has plans to link the port by railway through Zahedan on the Pakistani border up to Mashhad in the northeast, near the borders with Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.

"This exception relates to reconstruction assistance and economic development for Afghanistan. These activities are vital for the ongoing support of Afghanistan's growth and humanitarian relief," the spokesman said.

The U.S. sanctions had threatened India's ability to obtain financing for the development of Chabahar, which could potentially end Afghanistan's dependence on Pakistan's port of Karachi.


Read More...
Bad Guys

Saudis have reportedly tortured to death another journalist while in prison..but who's counting?


South Front
Wed, 07 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC
Saudi journalist Turki Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Jasser
Turki Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Jasser

Saudi journalist and writer Turki Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Jasser has died after being tortured while in prison, New Khaleej reported on November 4th.

The news outlet cited human rights sources, claiming that Al-Jasser was arrested and tortured to death after Saudi authorities claimed he administered the Twitter account Kashkool, which disclosed rights violations committed by the Saudi authorities and royal family.

According to the sources, Saudi authorities used moles in Twitter's offices in Dubai to identify the journalist as the account's administrator.

These Twitter moles are considered part of an alleged "Saudi Cyber Army," established by Saud Al-Qahtani, a former aide of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In a tweet, Al-Qahtani has said that the fake names on Twitter would not protect those behind the accounts from the Saudi authorities.

Comment: MbS may think he has emerged unscathed considering the unsubstantial responses from the international community over Kashoggi's death, but his days of committing atrocities with impunity may be numbered amid the growing rebellion against him within the royal family.

Read More...
TV

SOTT Focus: Midterm Madness Shows US Media More Divisive Than The American People

Robert Bridge
RT
Wed, 07 Nov 2018 19:42 UTC
hannity trump rally
© REUTERS/Carlos BarriaSean Hannity of Fox News participates in a Republican rally, Missouri, November 5, 2018.
As witnessed by the midterm elections, the US is cracking up along political and cultural lines. The mainstream media must accept a large part of the blame for this dangerous period of partisanship that only promises to worsen.

Ever since Donald Trump crashed the White House, the US media has dropped all pretensions of being a fair and impartial observer of the political scene. The gloves of objectiveness have come off and journalists now compete in the political ring as full combatants, as opposed to neutral ringside announcers reporting the action as it happens.

That much was proven on Monday, the day before midterms, when popular Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro appeared on stage with Trump at a political rally in the blood-red state of Missouri. This stunt unleashed the predictable howls of protest from sea to shining sea.

"By taking part in the rally, Mr. Hannity was crossing the line that had traditionally separated those in the news media... from the people they are supposed to cover," The New York Times wailed. "Fox News entered new territory - a thicket in which it's hard to tell where the network ends and the president begins."
Read More...
MIB

Ramping up Russophobia: New UK study finds that every second Russian in London is a spy


South Front
Tue, 06 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC
russian spies
As many as half of the 150,000 Russian citizens in London are allegedly informants, according to a new study by the Henry Jackson Society thinktank. The report has not failed in causing a new wave of "spy hysteria" in British media.

The 75,000 alleged informants are also actively assisting Moscow's secret service. The study also warned of a huge increase of Russian case officers in the UK over the past eight years, with 200 officers handling an estimated 500 agents.

The report also claimed that approximately 50% of Russian Embassy diplomats are also allegedly actively engaged in intelligence work.

The report also claims that the number of spies outnumbers that of Cold War Levels. The Telegraph cited Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB colonel who was a double agent for MI6, estimated there were 39 Soviet case officers in 1985.
Read More...
Star of David

LA celebs cough up $60 million for Israel Defense Forces at gala event


RT
Wed, 07 Nov 2018 18:56 UTC
Fran Drescher, Gerard Butler, Andy Garcia
Hollywood flocked to a gala for the Israel Defense Forces and raised a colossal $60 million for the armed force. Some of the celebrity attendees, however, faced a backlash online for appearing at the Beverly Hills event.

The Friends of the Israel Defence Forces (FIDF) annual gala was a star-studded event attended by actors like Ashton Kutcher and Gerard Butler, with Pharrell Williams providing the evening's entertainment.

FIDF announced it raised $60 million at the Beverly Hilton gala, the most raised at any single one of the organization's events. It also said the biggest donors were Haim Saban and his wife, and casino magnate and Republican donor Sheldon Adelson and his wife, with each couple donating $10 million to the cause.

The gala drew 1,200 attendees, the organization said in a statement that listed Andy Garcia, Fran Drescher, Ziggy Marley, David Foster and Katharine McPhee among the celebrity guests.

Comment: These celebs are gladly and boastfully contributing to the murder of Palestinians, but it's all glitz and glamour on the blood red carpet for those narcissistic hypocrites.

Read More...
Smoking

New regulation will ban sale of cigarettes, tobacco in prisons across Thailand


The Nation - Thailand
Tue, 06 Nov 2018 02:00 UTC
Tobacco ban in Thailand prisons
© The Nation (file photo)
A new regulation will ban the sale of cigarettes and tobacco at all prisons across the country to reduce the number of inmates falling sick or dying from respiratory diseases, Corrections Department director-general Pol Colonel Narat Savettanan said.

Narat said the regulation banning the sale of cigarettes and tobacco, which will be implemented at a later unspecified date, was required because prisons were regarded as state facilities and hence came within the ambit of the smoking ban. Once sent to jail, an inmate can use this as an opportunity to quit smoking and do other useful activities such as disciplinary training, vocational skill training or practising meditation, he said.

The plan follows the successful pilot project that banned the sale of such products at 13 prisons: Amnat Charoen, Chon Buri, Chanthaburi, Thanyaburi, Pathum Thani Provincial Special Offenders Institution, Thonburi Women's Correctional Institution, Sikhiu, Pathum Thani Correctional Institution for Young Offenders, Women's Correctional Institution for Drug Addicted Prisoners, Songkhla Female Prison, Phitsanulok Female Prison, Chiang Rai and Maha Sarakham.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Black Magic

UK govt blasted over RAF training of 102 Saudi pilots who are now bombing civilians in Yemen


RT
Wed, 07 Nov 2018 07:08 UTC
RAF jet yemen
© (L) REUTERS / Fahad Shadeed; (R) REUTERS / Khaled Abdullah
The RAF trained dozens of Saudi pilots in the past ten years, the UK admits, despite the Gulf country's controversial role in the Yemen war. The disclosure prompted accusations that the government may have 'blood on its hands.'

Britain's Royal Air Force trained 102 Saudi pilots at its bases across the country in the past ten years. The figure has been recently revealed by Armed Forces Minister Mark Lancaster in an answer to a parliamentary question by Carmarthen East and Dinefwr's MP Jonathan Edwards.

The figure comes amid ongoing concerns over UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia as the latter has been carrying out a bombing campaign against the Houthi rebels in Yemen for the past three years. Human rights organizations allege Saudi Arabia is targeting civilian infrastructure, something which would constitute a war crime, while there is fear UK arms are being used in the conflict.


Comment: Barbarians: Dozens of children slaughtered as Saudi-led coalition airstrike hits bus in Yemen


Comment: The UK isn't the only country currently assisting the Saudi's in their genocide in Yemen: Whereas Norway suspended weapons sales after hearing of the UAE's war crimes in Yemen

Read More...
Boat

And again not the Russians: Mystery vessel in Swedish waters wasn't 'foreign sub', military says


RT
Wed, 07 Nov 2018 18:49 UTC
Swedish corvette HMS Visby
© ReutersFILE PHOTO The Swedish corvette HMS Visby is seen in the search for suspected "foreign underwater activity
Emerging and vanishing 'Russian subs' have hyped up Swedish media headlines for years. After conspiracy fuss on Twitter over a recent elusive vessel, the military admitted that it was neither 'foreign', nor a 'sub'.

Spotting a 'mysterious ' submarine off the Swedish coast should probably be added to the 'top' list of the Nordic country's visitors attractions. Since October this year Swedish-speaking Twitter has been boiling over with conspiracy theories after a new video with 'a new sub' emerged in local media. The alleged sub was filmed by a group of youngsters at a sailing camp at Lidingö Island in June.
Read More...
Dollars

Dumping the dollar: Iran & South Korea agree cross-currency trade


RT
Wed, 07 Nov 2018 18:45 UTC
A South Korea won note
© Reuters / Thomas WhiteA South Korea won note
South Korea and Iran have agreed to switch to national currencies in trade exchanges as the sides aim to strengthen relations despite the US sanctions on Tehran.

The agreement is of great importance to both countries, Yonhap News Agency reported, explaining that the deal indicated Korea's concerns about relations with Iran.

The countries also agreed to make payments and settle their financial and banking accounts using the South Korean national currency, the won. That will allow South Korean and Iranian companies to continue their extensive exchanges in various fields.
Read More...