Puppet MastersS


Star of David

International criticism forces Israel to 'temporarily' freeze plans to raze Palestinian village


The New Arab
Sun, 21 Oct 2018 16:11 UTC
protester Khan al-Ahmar
© GettyA protester at the village of Khan al-Ahmar
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has temporarily frozen plans to demolish a strategically located Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank after international criticism.

Israeli plans to demolish a strategically located Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank have been postponed after drawing international concern, the prime minister's office said on Sunday.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu froze the planned demolition in Khan al-Ahmar, a small village located east of Jerusalem along a road leading to the Dead Sea, which Israeli authorities claimed was built illegally.

"The intention is to give a chance to the negotiations and the offers we received from different bodies, including in recent days," a statement from Netanyahu's office said about Khan al-Ahmar.

Comment:

Read More...
War Whore

US leaving INF puts nuclear non-proliferation at risk, may lead to 'complete chaos'


RT
Sun, 21 Oct 2018 12:43 UTC
Pershing IA missile launcher and RSD-10 Pioneer (SS-20) missile
© Wikimedia Commons / RIA Novosti / SputnikPershing IA missile launcher and RSD-10 Pioneer (SS-20) missile.
If the US ditches the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), it could collapse the entire nuclear non-proliferation system, and bring nuclear war even closer, Russian officials warn.

By ending the INF, Washington risks creating a domino effect which could endanger other landmark deals like the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and collapse the existing non-proliferation mechanism as we know it, senior lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev said on Sunday.

The current iteration of the START treaty, which limits the deployment of all types of nuclear weapons, is due to expire in 2021. Kosachev, who chairs the Parliament's Upper House Foreign Affairs Committee, warned that such an outcome pits mankind against "complete chaos in terms of nuclear weapons."

Comment: Senator Rand Paul wasn't too keen on the idea of pulling out of the INF Treaty either:
The decision "would undo decades of bipartisan arms control dating from [US President Ronald] Reagan," Republican Senator Rand Paul tweeted.
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev also criticized the move:
Giving his take on President Donald Trump's ambitious plan to scrap the historic Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), one of the "fathers" of the accord berated the current US leader.

"It's completely unacceptable to break the old treaties on disarmament," Gorbachev told Interfax.

Doubling down on his criticism, the first and only president of the Soviet Union said: "It can't be that hard to understand that discarding such agreements 'is narrow-minded,' as they say." Gorbachev said Trump's move is a mistake which would "undermine all the efforts, made by the leaders of the USSR and the US itself to reach nuclear disarmament."
Berlin is also warning against the decision:
President Donald Trump must think twice and carefully assess all consequences before finally tearing up the landmark nuclear disarmament agreement (INF) with Russia, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned on Sunday.

"We now urge the U.S. to consider the possible consequences," Maas said in a statement, hailing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) as "an important pillar of our European security architecture."
...
Niels Annen, minister of state at the Federal Foreign Office, called Trump's idea "devastating," stressing that his own nation will remain committed to nuclear disarmament. The minister also called on other EU states to prevent mid-range missiles from reappearing on the continent.


Read More...
SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: NewsReal: Saudi Arabia: A Wretched Hive of Scum And Villainy, Fully Supported by The West


Sott.net
Sun, 21 Oct 2018 16:00 UTC
saudi
The murder and dismembering of Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul is now all but admitted by the Saudi regime. The deed was so brazen and gruesome, we wondered in our last show if 'rogue operators' did it in order to frame the Saudi Crown Prince, aka MBS. Trump apparently heard us because he subsequently suggested the same, before reminding the world that Saudi money trumps all.

The Faustian Pact between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - carved out of the Ottoman Empire under the cover of WW1 - and the British, then US, empires in the early 20th century is so fundamental to Western hegemony that it will not be undone, much less 'transformed' or impeded in any way, by public outcry over the fact that the West keeps serial killers for friends.

This week on NewsReal, Joe & Niall discuss the very public exposure of Western 'values', which turn out not to be democracy, human rights and a rules-based global order, but love of money, lust for power, and sadistic cruelty.


Running Time: 01:23:20

Download: MP3

Read More...
Snakes in Suits

"The tectonic shifts" of the world's economies according to top investor

Lauren Rublin
Barrons.com
Sun, 21 Oct 2018 15:23 UTC
Felix Zulauf
Felix Zulauf
Felix Zulauf was a member of the Barron's Roundtable for about 30 years, until relinquishing his seat at our annual investment gathering in 2017. While his predictions were more right than wrong, it was the breadth of his knowledge and the depth of his analysis of global markets that won him devoted fans among his Roundtable peers, the crew at Barron's, and beyond. Simply put, Felix, president of Zulauf Asset Management in Baar, Switzerland, always knew-and still knows-better than most how to connect the dots among central bankers' actions, fiscal policies, currency gyrations, geopolitics, and the price of assets, hard and soft.

With interest rates rising, governments in flux, and the world's two biggest economies facing off over trade, it seemed the right time to ask him how today's turmoil will impact investors in the year ahead. Ever gracious, he shared his thoughts and best investment bets in an interview this past week. Read on for the view from Baar.

Barron's: Felix, how have you been keeping busy since you left the Roundtable?

Felix Zulauf: I'm still running money, but it's my own money, and I'm still a consultant to investors and institutions. I'm in the market almost every day. I like analyzing the world; the tectonic shifts occurring make it too fascinating to quit.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

Read More...
Shopping Bag

Israel reopens Gaza border crossings after tensions de-escalate


Sputnik
Sun, 21 Oct 2018 15:22 UTC
Taba crossing
© AP Photo / Tsafrir Abayov
The Israeli side has decided to reopen the border crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip, which were closed on Wednesday in response to a shelling by Palestinians, after tensions on the border de-escalated, the Israeli and Palestinian authorities said on Sunday.

"The Israeli side has told us that starting from Sunday, it reopens the Erez and Kerem Shalom checkpoints," the Palestinian civil affairs committee in the Gaza Strip said.

According to the Israeli Defense Ministry, the crossings have been reopened thanks to the de-escalation of tensions on the Israel-Gaza Strip border. The ministry also said that the Hamas movement, de facto governing Gaza, distanced itself from Wednesday's shelling and had taken measures to curb violent acts on its territory.

The Defense Ministry also said that the decision to resume fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip, which had been halted earlier in October due to unrest on the border, had not been made yet and it would not be discussed until a few days later.

Comment: Interesting decision by Israel after their war preparations:

Read More...
Chess

The Brexit trilemma explained in one simple chart

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Sun, 21 Oct 2018 10:00 UTC
Theresa May
As EU negotiators have continued to push back the deadline for achieving a draft Brexit treaty this week, Theresa May and her EU counterparts have expressed tentative support for extending the Brexit transition period, the latest "compromise" proposal to crop up during the seemingly interminable negotiations. However, this proposal isn't a solution. As one BBC editor put it, the proposal for a longer transition is "an extension to an extension that's not a request for a longer transition period but a desire perhaps to have the option" at some point in the future, assuming the two sides can even agree on a treaty to create a framework for those negotiations in the first place. Of course, when politicians are facing an intractable problem, they rarely miss a chance to engage in some preemptive can-kicking.

With the March 29 "Brexit Day" drawing ever nearer, and the risk of a "no-deal" Brexit looming ever larger, many who haven't been following every headline about the increasingly fraught negotiations (and even some who have) are struggling to piece together what, exactly, is going on.

Comment: See more: Brexit Has Exposed The Rotten Foundations of Britain's Political System

Read More...
Info

Jordan King Abdullah II to abandon part of 1994 peace treaty with Israel on land lease


Sputnik
Sun, 21 Oct 2018 14:55 UTC
Jordan's King Abdullah II
© AFP 2018 / Khalil Mazraawi
In line with the 1994 peace agreement, which stipulated a one-year notice period, Jordan granted Israel private ownership rights in two border territories. However, the Jordan King noted that he wants to reclaim the land, citing national interests.

Jordan's King Abdullah II announced on Sunday that Jordan has chosen to nix two annexes of the 1994 peace treaty with Israel, ending the Israeli lease of Baqura/Naharayim and Al-Ghamr/Zofar territories.

"Baqura and Ghamr are Jordanian territory and will remain Jordanian, and we exercise full sovereignty over our land," the King said, as quoted by the state-owned Jordan News Agency (Petra).

"Our priorities in such difficult regional circumstances are protecting our interests and doing everything necessary for Jordan and the Jordanians," Abdullah II noted, adding that Israel had been made aware of the decision.

Comment: Looks like the puppet state of Jordan is making some interesting decisions on its borders: Jordan-Syria border reopening signals move to restore ties and vital trade between regional powers

Read More...
Megaphone

US should consider consequences of leaving Nuclear Arms Treaty - German Foreign Minister


Sputnik
Sun, 21 Oct 2018 16:01 UTC
heiko maas
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas
On Saturday, Washington announced that it would be withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a landmark 1987 arms control deal aimed at reducing the risk of nuclear war in Europe.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has urged the United States to consider the consequences of withdrawing from the INF, including its impact on European security and on future efforts at nuclear disarmament.

"The treaty...has for 30 years been an important pillar of our European security architecture," Maas said in a statement on Sunday. "We have urged Russia to address serious allegations that it is violating the agreement. We now urge the US to consider the possible consequences [of withdrawal]," he added.

Comment: Using spurious allegations against Russia as a means to do as it pleases is typical of the US: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Putin The World To Rights: Russia's New Nuclear Weapons And The End of 'Unipolarity'

Read More...
Snakes in Suits

Fury in Germany as US firm reportedly hijacks multi-billion dollar power deal with Iraq


Sputnik
Sun, 21 Oct 2018 14:29 UTC
Siemens hard hats
© REUTERS / Tobias Schwarz/File Photo
German-based giant Siemens had spent considerable time courting the Iraqi government in order to land the $15-billion-worth contract for building power infrastructure in the war-torn country. It had been considered an odds-on favorite until Washington reportedly intervened and compelled Baghdad to choose US- based General Electric.

In an attempt to secure Siemens' positions in Iraq, its CEO Joe Kaeser signed a memorandum of understanding with the country's electricity minister Kasim al-Fahdawi during his undisclosed trip to Baghdad. The German conglomerate, rivaled by US-based General Electric, has proposed a comprehensive reconstruction framework program for Iraq, the German outlet Welt reports, citing Siemens' statement. A company spokesman told the newspaper that its economic scope hadn't been evaluated, but declined to comment on the company's rivalry with General Electric over Iraqi projects.
Read More...
Better Earth

Germany sees Russia as stable energy partner while US threatens Europe with sanctions unless it dumps Nord Stream 2 pipeline


RT
Sun, 21 Oct 2018 04:16 UTC
cat radiator
© Getty Images
Europe should stop backing a Russia-led project to deliver natural gas to the continent, according to US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell. However, not all the European nations agree.

Earlier this week, Mitchell urged the European countries not to "deepen the energy dependence" on Russia, saying that supporting projects such as the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is totally unacceptable for US allies. According to the official, Washington is doing its best to protect Europeans from their excessive reliance on Russian energy.

The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project is set to deliver Russian natural gas to European consumers. The pipeline, which is set to run from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, is expected to double the existing pipeline's capacity of 55 billion cubic meters annually. Nord Stream 2 is projected to provide transit of 70 percent of Russian gas sales to the EU via the German route when it is built in 2019.

Comment: With only the full support of the failing state of Ukraine and Poland on its side, the US seems to be losing the battle to secure the EU's energy future, and rightly so:

Read More...