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Art of the Deal: Despite tough rhetoric, Trump refers to Iranian leader Rouhani as a 'lovely man'


RT
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 16:19 UTC
trump rouhani
© Global Look Press
Despite the Trump administration's hawkish rhetoric aimed at Tehran, the US president apparently thinks that Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani is a "lovely man" - and even hinted that the two could meet in the future.

"Despite requests, I have no plans to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Maybe someday in the future. I am sure he is an absolutely lovely man!" Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

The tweet's friendly tone contrasts sharply with the Trump administration's hostile posturing towards Iran - a tweet-tactic that Trump also employed with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. After lobbing numerous insults at Kim and openly threatening Pyongyang, Trump declared in May that he would be "honored" to meet with the North Korean leader. Overnight, Kim went from "Little Rocket Man" to a "smart cookie." The pair later met at a historic summit in Singapore in June.
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Bad Guys

US targets Maduro's 'inner circle' in new sanctions on Venezuela


RT
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 16:17 UTC
pro-goverment rally Venezuela
© Marco Bello / ReutersA pro-goverment rally in Caracas, Venezuela September 11, 2018.
The US Treasury has reported that it has issued fresh sanctions targeting the 'inner circle' of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro

"President Maduro relies on his inner circle to maintain his grip on power, as his regime systematically plunders what remains of Venezuela's wealth. We are continuing to designate loyalists who enable Maduro to solidify his hold on the military and the government while the Venezuelan people suffer," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Among the figures targeted by the US are First Lady of Venezuela Cilia Flores, who used to serve as attorney general under the late Hugo Chavez, and is now a legislator. Others include Vice President Delcy Eloina Rodriguez Gomez and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, the statement said.
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Red Flag

RT's Keiser Report: Trump's economy is a corporate debt bubble blowing up


RT
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 15:58 UTC
american flag
© Joe Drivas / Getty Images
US Initial Jobless Claims have hit their lowest level since 1969, with consumer confidence reaching its highest in decades. Things are looking pretty good until you start discussing averages, says Mish Shedlock of MishTalk.com.

He tells Max that wages are going really well (eight - nine percent) for the top people who are the ones spending a lot of money. As for the medium person and the below-medium person, they are 'getting killed.'

Housing sales are down four months in a row, mortgage rates are rising, and it's going to hurt the housing market.


"By all measures about everything but housing is looking pretty reasonable but that's always what happens at the top of bubbles. One could have said everything looked reasonable in 2000 and again in 2007," Shedlock says.

He and Max remember the dot-com bubble of 2000 and the housing bubble. They say that right now there is an even bigger bubble which is going to be in corporate bonds.

The question is when this bubble will burst, not whether or not things look good at the moment.
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Handcuffs

Iran apprehends 22 in connection to Ahvaz terror attack (VIDEO)


Sputnik
Mon, 24 Sep 2018 09:33 UTC
ahvaz iranian troops shelter
© AP Photo / ISNA, Behrad Ghasemi
Iran's Intelligence Ministry announced on Monday that authorities have apprehended nearly two dozen in connection to the deadly attack on an Iranian military parade on Saturday that left 25 dead and 53 wounded.

"Some 22 people involved in the attack in Ahvaz have been identified and arrested... weapons, exclusive material and communication equipment were seized in the house that belonged to the five-member terrorist group that carried out the attack," a statement from the intelligence agency said, according to Tasnim News Agency.

The military reportedly vowed a "deadly and unforgettable" response to the terrorist attack which was conducted in the southern city of Ahvaz during an annual military parade.

Twelve members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) were reportedly killed after the terrorists opened fire. Children and journalists were also among the casualties, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. "Terrorists recruited, trained, armed & paid by a foreign regime have attacked Ahvaz," he wrote. "Iran holds regional terror sponsors and their US masters accountable for such attacks. Iran will respond swiftly and decisively in defense of Iranian lives."
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Bulb

State Duma passes Putin's bill criminalizing the sacking of workers approaching retirement age


RT
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 15:53 UTC
russian women
© Alexey Suhorukov / SputnikWomen are consulted by an expert of the Russian Pension Fund in the Russian Pension Fund's client hall in Tambov
The Russian Lower House has approved a bill introducing a legal definition of pre-retirement age, together with criminal responsibility for employers who fire or refuse to hire workers in this age bracket without a solid reason.

The pre-retirement age is described as the period of five years before the official retirement age. The latter figure will change during future pension reform, and will be set at 65 years for men and 60 for women by 2034, if the slated reform plan is fulfilled.

Once the bill is signed into law, firing or refusing to hire workers of pre-retirement age will be punished with fines up to 200,000 rubles (just over $3,000) or in the amount of the employer's income over the period of up to 18 months or up to 360 days of correctional labor.
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Ambulance

Rouhani compares Ahvaz parade attack to 9/11 as he slams US for implying Iran is to blame


RT
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 15:43 UTC
ahvaz attack
© Morteza Jaberian / ISNA / AFP
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has compared the terrorist attack at the Ahvaz military parade to the 9/11 attacks, and lambasted US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who suggested the attack was a result of Tehran's policies.

Rouhani, who was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, took to Twitter on Monday to vent his outrage at Haley for pinning the blame on the Iranian government for the attack that killed up to 29 people and injured over 60 in the southwestern city of Ahvaz on Saturday.

Haley was refuting Tehran's earlier assertions that the US or its Gulf allies should be held accountable for enabling the attack, when she told CNN's 'State of the Union,' that Rouhani "needs to look at his own base to figure out where that's coming from."

"He can blame us all he wants. The thing he's got to do is look at the mirror," Haley said.

Comment: Previously:

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Che Guevara

Evo Morales to RT: VP Mike Pence heads US campaign against anti-imperialist Latin American govts


RT
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 15:37 UTC
evo morales
The US has switched from military coups and now effects regime changes through courts and parliaments, to deal with dissident Latin American leaders and claim their countries' oil, Bolivian President Evo Morales has told RT.

"There are some serious problems in Latin America. In Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador, the presidents, who used to be the guarantors of the sovereignty and dignity of the people, are now being subjected to political persecution," Morales said.

He was referring to Argentina's Cristina de Kirchner, Brazil's Dilma Rousseff and to Rafael Correa of Ecuador, who lost power in their countries in recent years and are now facing various charges, pushed forward by new, US-backed governments.

Washington's "extensive political campaign" in Latina America is headed by US Vice President Mike Pence, the Bolivian leader said, in the run-up to his address at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.
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Network

EU foreign affairs chief: Bloc to create special payment channels to do business with Iran


RT
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 15:32 UTC
euros
© Patrick Pleul / Global Look Press
European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini says the EU signatories remain committed to the nuclear deal with Iran that the US has quit. The group is working to create special payment channels to do business with Iran.

Mogherini read from a statement following a ministerial meeting of the remaining signatories of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The statement by the five nations -Russia, the UK, Germany, China and France- confirms that Iran has been complying with its end of the agreement.

With that in mind, the EU is working to create the means to continue doing business with Iran legally, at a time when the US is looking to stifle Tehran's oil exports with sanctions, aiming ultimately to bring them down to zero.

"Mindful of the urgency and the need for tangible results, the participants welcomed practical proposals to maintain and develop payment channels, notably the initiative to establish a special purpose vehicle to facilitate payments related to Iran's exports, including oil," Mogherini said.
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Light Sabers

Amnesty International wants Kavanaugh vetting process halted over alleged role in post-9/11 torture


RT
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 14:55 UTC
guantanamo protesters
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
The US branch of Amnesty International has dived into the heated debate on whether US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is morally fit for the office, calling for his role in the post-9/11 torture program to be highlighted.

In a letter to Senators penned on Monday, Amnesty argues that Kavanaugh's vetting on the subject of human rights "has been insufficient and calls for the vote on his nomination for Supreme Court of the United States to be further postponed" unless the Trump administration promptly moves forward with disclosing all the data related to Kavanaugh's role in the post-9/11 crackdown, namely, his alleged complicity in the CIA's notorious torture program.

Explaining its foray into the hottest issue currently raging in US politics, Amnesty insists that it typically does not intervene into the appointment of government officials, except in cases when "they are reasonably suspected of crimes under international law and could use their appointment...to ether prevent accountability to these crimes or to continue perpetration."
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Bullseye

Why the fight for Kavanaugh matters

The Editors
National Review
Tue, 25 Sep 2018 15:14 UTC
kavanaugh hearing
© Jim Bourg/ReutersSupreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh at his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, September 4, 2018.
The cynics - or, perhaps more precisely, the realists - believed that the Democrats were playing for time in the hopes of finding another accusation against Brett Kavanaugh. The cynics were right.

The New Yorker stooped to publish a shoddy story alleging that Kavanaugh exposed himself to a woman while he was at Yale. The alleged incident occurred at a drunken party when both were in their freshman year. What's extraordinary is that the woman making the charge, a fellow Yale student named Deborah Ramirez, admits that she hesitated to come forward because there were such large gaps in her memory.

As the magazine puts it: "In her initial conversations with The New Yorker, she was reluctant to characterize Kavanaugh's role in the alleged incident with certainty." She only decided to talk, it says, "after six days of carefully assessing her memories and consulting with her attorney."

Comment: Second woman accuses Kavanaugh of sex abuse - claims are even weaker than Ford's

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