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Hypocrisie monumentale: Salvini says France deliberately dropped off migrants in Italian woods

macron salvini
© Global Look Press Panoramic/ Mauro Ujetto
Italian anti-immigration leader Matteo Salvini has labeled French President Emmanuel Macron an "international embarrassment" after policemen were spotted dropping off migrants in an Italian forest on the countries' shared border.

The right-wing Northern League party leader and the country's Interior minister said the French authorities' drop off of the migrants in Italian territory "is an unprecedented offence against Italy" and said in an Instagram post on Tuesday that "we don't accept apologies".

A French gendarmerie police van last Friday was seen dropping off the two men, believed to be of African origin, in Italy's Claviere woods. A French official said the incident was a "mistake" at the hands of the officers who were new to patrolling the area.

Comment: France TALKS about sympathy for migrants, while ACTUALLY treating them like dirt. Italy TALKS about the dire need for a return to reasonable migration policy, while ACTUALLY assisting migrants who really need it and turning away those being helped into the EU by Soros NGOs.

It's all about sussing out the extent to which words match actions.


Pirates

Jihadists refuse to leave Idlib buffer zone under Russia-Turkey deal - Syria threatens to resume anti-terror op

National Liberation Front in Idlib Province
© Omar Haj Kadoue / AFPSyrian rebel-fighters from the National Liberation Front in Idlib Province
Militants in Syria's Idlib Province failed to meet an October 15 deadline for vacating a buffer zone created under a Russian-Turkish cease-fire deal, prompting a threat from the Syrian government to resume its military campaign.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said Syrian forces are ready to resume their fight to "eradicate" militants who remain in Idlib, but he said Syria would give Russia time to determine whether they complied with the deal.

The deal between Turkey and Russia, which averted what was widely expected to be a bloody battle in the last remaining Syrian rebel-held stronghold last month, set up a buffer zone about 20 kilometers long which was to be evacuated of all heavy weapons and Islamist extremists by midnight on October 14.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, said on October 15 that the militants largely failed to comply with the agreement.

"We did not document the withdrawal of any jihadist fighters from the entire demilitarized zone," he said.

Pirates

Iraqi general: US not interested in eliminating ISIS - sees them as useful 'tool' to destabilize region

ISIS Estado Islámico Daesh
© REUTERS / Stringer
Baghdad is boosting security at its border with Syria in order to prevent terrorists from infiltrating the country. Speaking to Sputnik, General Dia al-Wakil, an Iraqi military strategic analyst, opined that the US-led coalition may use the terrorist group as a "tool" to further destabilize the region.

The US-led coalition is not interested in eradicating Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) because the group's existence can be used by the US to justify their military buildup in the Middle East, General Dia al-Wakil, an Iraqi military strategic analyst, told Sputnik Arabic.

"I do not believe that the international coalition wants to bring an end to terrorism in the region," he said. "Under the cover of the 'fight against terrorism,' US [military] forces can remain and strengthen here. Behind this are economic goals. Americans need oil and arms sales contracts. It is necessary for the American welfare."

The general expressed concerns that the terrorists could be transferred to Iraq under the US' "supervision." According to al-Wakil, Daesh is a "handy tool" that can be used "multiple times" by its backers.

"When necessary, personnel is simply transferred to a given point," the military analyst said. "We have already seen how terrorists moved throughout the region before the international coalition's very eyes. The last time was in July 2018, when 1,500 militants left Yarmouk, a suburb of Damascus, and moved to al-Suwayda province in southern Syria. They took only light weapons with them."

Eiffel Tower

Another Macron critic has headquarters raided - First Le Pen, now Melenchon

Jean-Luc Melenchon
© Twitter / Fabien RivesJean-Luc Melenchon
Former French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon's home has been raided by police, as part of an investigation into alleged misuse of EU funds that also targeted political firebrand and Macron critic Marine Le Pen.

The leader of France's left-wing La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) livestreamed the unannounced intrusion on Facebook, vowing to exact revenge on France's Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet for the raid, which targeted his home as well as his party's headquarters.

Comment: While not as high-profile as Marine Le Pen, Melenchon has come in for a fair amount of grief from the French political elite. Macron is sending a strong signal by raiding Some of the rulings made by the Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet who authorized the raid:


Stock Down

Goldman Sachs says US sanctions policy against Russia is undermining dollar's reserve currency position

dollar bill crumpled damaged
© Getty Images
Washington's aggressive policy against Moscow could be a sufficient reason behind the recent fall of the dollar's share of global central-bank reserves, according to economist at US multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Russia's Central Bank has sold some $85 billion of its $150 billion holding of the US assets from April through June after the US Treasury Department announced new sanctions on Russian businessmen, companies and government officials, says Goldman's strategist Zach Pandl said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

At the beginning of April, Washington expanded its anti-Russian sanction list, including seven Russian tycoons, 12 companies and 17 senior government officials over alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

Comment: Ya think?


Star of David

New Australian PM 'open' to moving embassy to Jerusalem

israel australia flags
© AFP / Jack Guez
Australia might soon follow in controversial US footsteps and relocate its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the country's new prime minister hinted after discussing the issue with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

Arguing that a two-state solution has failed to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that his government is contemplating moving the Australian embassy to the Holy City, to somehow rejuvenate the negotiation process.

"We're committed to a two-state solution, but frankly, it hasn't been going that well, not a lot of progress has been made, and you don't keep doing the same thing and expect different results," Morrison said Tuesday morning, speaking from Parliament House.


Comment: He's right about that. But how moving the embassy to Jerusalem somehow works towards resolving the problem is baffling. Maybe Australia should go ahead and recognize all the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights as Israeli to "solve" the deadlock?


Crediting the former Australian ambassador to Israel, Dave Sharma, of bringing up the relocation issue to a public debate, Morrison noted that he remains "open-minded" about the "sensible"and "persuasive" possibility of following US President Donald Trump's controversial move. Establishing a permanent diplomatic presence in Jerusalem, the PM argued, will not impede the potential creation of independent state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel.

"You can achieve both" the two-state solution and Jerusalem being Israel's capital, he claimed. "Indeed by pursuing both you are actually aiding the cause for a two-state solution."


Comment: Keep telling yourself that... It's a great way to rationalize being controlled by the Israeli Lobby.


Palette

Khashoggi case: Erdogan says Turkish investigators found surfaces newly painted in Saudi consulate

Trump Bin Salman Saudi glowing globe
© Saudi Press AgencySaudi King Salman with President Donald Trump and the US first lady, Melania Trump, at a new Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
  • Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday suggested the Saudis might have covered up a murder in their Istanbul consulate, a dramatic new twist in the case of the missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
  • Investigators on Monday were allowed access to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where Turkey has said a hit team of 15 killed and dismembered Khashoggi.
  • Erdogan said investigators found surfaces newly painted over, which could indicate an attempt to conceal evidence.
  • President Donald Trump on Monday said he talked to Saudi King Salman and had begun leaning toward the idea that "rogue killers," not agents of the Saudi state, killed Khashoggi.
  • Under increasing international pressure, Saudi Arabia is reportedly trying to piece together an alibi over Khashoggi's disappearance.
While US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was meeting with Saudi Arabia's leaders on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped a bombshell of a new twist in the investigation into the mysterious disappearance of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

According to Erdogan, Turkish investigators who searched the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul found surfaces there newly painted over.

Comment: The Murder of Jamal Khashoggi: Oil, Sanctions And The Anti-Trump Establishment


Handcuffs

British PhD student detained in United Arab Emirates, charged with spying

Matthew Hedges
© AFP / DETAINED IN DUBAIMatthew Hedges with his wife Daniela Tejada
Matthew Hedges, a Durham university PhD student, has officially been charged with spying for the UK government in the United Arab Emirates, leading to calls for Britain to "reassess their ties" with the Middle East Gulf state.

The 31-year-old student who, according to his wife, Daniela Tejada, was in the UAE to conduct interviews for his doctoral thesis on the impact of the Emirates' foreign and security strategy, has been charged with spying on behalf of a foreign state.

In a statement, the UAE government said: "The attorney general of United Arab Emirates confirmed today that Matthew Hedges, a British citizen, has been charged with spying for and on behalf of a foreign state, jeopardizing the military, economy and political security of the UAE."

Comment: The UAE looks to be taking a page from the US playbook in charging foreign nationals with spying to cover up their own misdeeds. When manipulative tactics are accepted by the public, no matter how absurd, they are free to be used in all manner of ways.


Sheeple

Trapped in information bubbles? Consequences of the media's polarized Trump coverage

cnn fake news
© Reuters / Joshua Roberts
Shrill media reports about Donald Trump's alleged praise of Confederate General Robert E. Lee underscore the president's deep-rooted racism, or America's fake news epidemic - depending on where you get your news from.

The recent soundbite controversy began after NBC claimed that Trump had heaped praise upon Lee during a speech - sparking an avalanche of indignation from liberal outlets. The network corrected its story two days later, conceding that its video report "lacked the full context for Trump's remarks."

Depending on who you ask, the incident proves that Trump is a white supremacist, or illustrates why the media can't be trusted.

Horse

Chief spreading bull: Cherokee Nation rejects Elizabeth Warren's DNA results

Sen. Elizabeth Warren
© Reuters / Yuri Gripas
The Cherokee Nation has rejected the DNA results of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D), which showed distant Indian ancestry. Warren, they say, "is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage."

Warren has long been ridiculed by President Donald Trump for claiming Native American ancestry, with Trump dubbing her 'Pocahontas' and accusing her of claiming minority status for personal and career gain.

However, Warren looked set to silence Trump on Monday when she released the results of a DNA test showing "strong evidence" she may have had a Native American ancestor 6-10 generations ago.

Comment: Warren doesn't give a hoot about Native Americans or their culture. She just wants to use the minority label as political weapon against "oppressors".