Puppet MastersS


Arrow Down

Saudi friend Kushner is 'keeping low profile' as Trump admin opts for 'wait and see'


RT
Thu, 18 Oct 2018 16:39 UTC
Jared Kushner, Ivanka, Saudis
© AFP/Bandar Al-JaloudJared Kushner and Ivanka Trump accompany Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (L), Saudi Crown Prince and Minister of Interior, Muhammad bin Nayef Abdulaziz (C), and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed in Riyadh in May 2017.
Amid growing outrage over Jamal Khashoggi's case, US media seem to have found a target in Jared Kushner, claiming he's being kept at arm's length over ties to Riyadh - all that despite the openly pro-Saudi stance of Donald Trump.

Pleasantries were exchanged between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman earlier this week, while President Donald Trump himself signaled that lucrative arms deals would prevent a rift in US-Saudi ties.

However, now CNN reports that Jared Kushner - who has cultivated close ties with both Riyadh and Tel Aviv - has been hiding in the shadows, lest the Trump administration is painted as overly friendly towards Saudi Arabia.

Citing "multiple people familiar with the matter," the report says that Kushner has remained "intentionally in the background this week" as the White House fears a more conspicuous role in dealing with the diplomatic nightmare created by the Khashoggi case could spark public anger.

Comment: Trump has a pattern of appearing to think one way and pivoting another. There is no way to know what will be the outcome should the Saudis prove guilty of a horrific murder. It is obvious this event has rocked the relationship. Kushner's low profile is one more indication as to the seriousness of the implications and his need to protect his public personae.

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Attention

Trump: 'It certainly looks like' Khashoggi is dead, if so, consequences will be 'severe'


RT
Thu, 18 Oct 2018 20:29 UTC
Trump King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud
© the-wau.com/Getty Images
The missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi appears to be dead, US President Donald Trump has told reporters, saying there would be "severe" consequences for whoever is behind it.

"It certainly looks that way to me," Trump said when asked if Khashoggi was dead. "It's very sad."


Comment: So far, in a break from US reactions of late, there is no 'rush to judgement'. Then again it is SA, not Russia or China, that is under Washington's squinty scrutiny.

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Pocket Knife

Chopping block: Saudis may cut billions in military contracts if US imposes sanctions


RT
Thu, 18 Oct 2018 08:25 UTC
Saudis
© Alex Wong/Getty ImagesCrown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Saudi princes
US penalties against Saudi Arabia over the alleged murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi may never be implemented. But just in case, the oil-rich kingdom has threatened to hit back using several effective weapons.

Washington pledged 'severe punishment' if the Saudis ordered the killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi-born journalist, who disappeared nearly two weeks ago shortly after he entered the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul. Turkey's government claims they have evidence the journalist was tortured, killed and dismembered in the building.

RT talked to international oil economist Dr Mamdouh G. Salameh, who also serves as a consultant for the World Bank on oil and energy, and a technical expert with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, to explore what action Riyadh may take in retaliation to possible penalties.

"The US should not underestimate Saudi Arabia's ability to retaliate against any punishment in the future. Remember there's a lesson in history dating back to 1973, which shows Saudi Arabia never hesitated to retaliate," Dr Salameh said, referring to an oil embargo on the US, which inflicted heavy damage on the American economy.

Comment: The US and Saudis are posturing. All roads lead to oil. People and principles are secondary considerations. The US does not want China's involvement to reap oil benefits the US currently claims nor further/faster destabilize the dollar.

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Oil Well

Huge Iranian oil armada to dock in China before US sanctions kick in


RT
Fri, 19 Oct 2018 10:44 UTC
oil tanker
© Reuters/Jean-Paul Pelissier
An unprecedented volume of Iranian crude oil is set to arrive at China's northeast port of Dalian this month and in early November before US sanctions on Iran take effect.

More than 20 million barrels of oil have been shipped to Dalian by the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), Reuters reports, citing an unnamed Iranian shipping source.
"As our leaders have said, it will be impossible to stop Iran from selling its oil," the source said, adding: "We have various ways of selling our oil and when the tankers reach Dalian, we will decide whether to sell it to other buyers or to China."
Dalian typically receives between one million and three million barrels of Iranian oil each month, according to statistics. The port has some of the biggest refineries and commercial oil storage facilities in China.

Comment: Oil commodities are a necessity for all countries, especially given increasingly longer and colder winters. The move by the US not only restricts Iran's commercial abilities, it bolsters a default oil and LNG trade with American and other nation providers. Smart move by Iran to pro-actively move its crude and save what it can in investment.

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Pistol

Kandahar: Afghan guards open fire at NATO meeting injuring 2 Americans


RT
Thu, 18 Oct 2018 12:26 UTC
Afghan security forces.
© Afghan security forces. AFP/Noorullah ShirzadaAfghan security forces.
Two US citizens were wounded and a local police chief killed when Afghan guards opened fire at Austin S. Miller, the NATO and US forces commander in Afghanistan, after his meeting with Kandahar officials in the city.

The attack took place on Thursday afternoon after Miller's meeting with Kandahar's governor and the provincial police chief, General Abdul Raziq.

Raziq was killed in the attack at the governor's office, while two US citizens and several top Afghan officials, including the governor, were wounded, Pajhwok Afghan News reported. General Miller was safely evacuated from the area after the incident, NATO said.

At least one Afghan civilian was also killed in the attack, according to reports.
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Gold Coins

Russia and China prepare to ditch the dollar and trade in national currencies says top official


RT
Thu, 18 Oct 2018 15:07 UTC
ruble and yuan
© Sputnik/Alexandr Demyanchuk
Russia's Ministry of Economic Development said on Thursday that Moscow and Beijing are working on an inter-governmental agreement to boost the use of the ruble and yuan in mutual trade settlements.

"The document is currently being prepared, the process is not easy," said Deputy Minister of Russia's Economic Development Sergey Gorkov, as quoted by TASS. "Russia and China have had some experience of using national currencies in bilateral trade."

Gorkov added that Russia and China have been successfully implementing the terms of ruble-yuan currency swap agreement, clinched in 2014 to boost trade using national currencies and eliminate dependence on the dollar and the euro. The deal was extended at the end of 2017.

Comment: There will be no turning back to the dollar once alternate mechanisms are in place and momentum takes over.

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Light Sabers

Best of the Web: China on notice as the Deep State's next big enemy, right after Russia

Jim Jatras
RT
Fri, 19 Oct 2018 17:21 UTC
destroyer ship
© Reuters
One wonders what went on in Russian minds during last month's spectacle of US President Trump raking Beijing over the coals on accusations of meddling, in the upcoming US midterm elections, to try to undermine his trade policies.

Certainly the Chinese, who evidently didn't expect it, were shocked and outraged, but it was behavior to which Moscow was accustomed to being on the receiving end of - this time aimed at someone else for a change.

Geng Shuang, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, called Donald Trump's claims "totally far-fetched and fictional," and advised the "US side to stop its unwarranted accusations and slander against China and refrain from wrong words and deeds that might hurt our bilateral relations and fundamental interests."

Undeterred, Vice President Mike Pence picked up the same theme earlier this month, even accusing Beijing of what amounts to an effort at regime change in the United States: "China has initiated an unprecedented effort to influence American public opinion, the 2018 elections, and the environment leading into the 2020 presidential elections," said Trump's No. 2. "To put it bluntly, President Trump's leadership is working; and China wants a different American President." Beijing called the charge "ridiculous" and "malicious slander."
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Bad Guys

Islamic State supporter and radical preacher Anjem Choudary released from London prison


RT
Fri, 19 Oct 2018 16:56 UTC
Anjem Choudary
© REUTERS / Luke MacGregorDemonstrator Anjem Choudary
Convicted hate-preacher Anjem Choudary has been released from prison, two years into his five-and-a-half-year sentence. The preacher had been convicted of inviting support for the so-called Islamic State.

The 51-year-old was driven away from London's high-security Belmarsh prison. Choudary has reportedly been taken to a secure bail hostel in an undisclosed location.

He will now be subject to a large number of requirements as well as monitoring from MI5 and police at a reported cost of £2m a year.

Conditions are thought to include limits on his movements; such as an evening curfew, the wearing of a GPS electronic tag and a ban on visiting specific venues such as Regent's Park Mosque in central London, where he used to worship.

Choudary's name has been added to a UN sanctions list, prohibiting him from travelling as well as imposing an asset freeze on him and an 'arms embargo.'

Comment: Choudary is almost certainly a British agent. Just two years ago, British police were complaining that they couldn't proceed with prosecution of Choudary because MI5 kept blocking them. Choudary was already way up the 'database' food chain back in 1999, when he was Bin Laden's chief recruiter in the UK, sending low-IQ boys of Muslim origin to training camps across the country before they would be shipped out to fight the Anglo-Americans' proxy wars in Chechnya, Kashmir, Yugoslavia and elsewhere.

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Crusader

EU's chief Brexit negotiator says Irish border issue could sink whole deal


RT
Fri, 19 Oct 2018 16:54 UTC
brexit
© REUTERS / Clodagh Kilcoyne
The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier, has claimed on French radio, that the contentious issue of the Irish border could sink any chance of a Brexit deal between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Barnier revealed that the EU's Brexit deal with the UK was 90% complete, but there was still a possibility of negotiations failing due to ongoing disagreements over the Irish border.

He warned that solving the Irish border issue was a "prerequisite" for a successful outcome of Brexit negotiations, and that failure to find a resolution would spell disaster for striking any deal.

"The answer is yes," Barnier said when asked on France Inter radio if the Irish border issue could cause the negotiations to collapse. "I believe we need a deal. I'm not yet sure we'll get one. It is difficult, but possible."
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Airplane Paper

French parliament member proposes bill to outlaw mockery of accents

Myriam Rivet
Reuters
Fri, 19 Oct 2018 11:59 UTC
Laetitia Avia
© AFP
A French member of parliament has proposed that mockery of accents be outlawed, after an irate politician derided a journalist's southwestern pronunciation before asking if anyone had a question in "understandable French".

Laetitia Avia of President Emmanuel Macron's ruling party said she was proposing a bill that would classify such mockery with other forms of prohibited discrimination such as on grounds of sex or race.

She did so after a journalist from Toulouse in southwest France asked former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon about an anti-corruption investigation of his hard-left political party.

In an exchange widely relayed on media and social networks, Melenchon mimicked the journalist's accent and told her she was "talking nonsense" before turning away and saying: "Has anyone got a question in more or less comprehensible French?"
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