Puppet MastersS


Chess

EU extends sanctions against Russia 'over Ukrainian conflict' by 6 months


Sputnik
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 18:28 UTC
Ukrainian nationalist protesters and military veterans
© AFP 2018 / Aleksey FILIPPOVUkrainian nationalist protesters and military veterans take part in a blockade against ongoing trade with the Donbass self-proclaimed republics, on February 23, 2017, in Kryvyi Torets railway station, Donetsk region
The European Union is extending its current sanctions against certain Russian individuals and entities "over actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity" of Ukraine for another six months, the Council of the European Union announced on Thursday.

"The Council has prolonged the restrictive measures over actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine for a further six months, until 15 March 2019. The measures consist of asset freezes and travel restrictions. They currently apply to 155 persons and 44 entities," the statement read.

The news come following US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's announcement last week that the US and EU sanctions against Russia would remain in place until the conflict in eastern Ukraine is resolved.
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Sherlock

Best of the Web: 'We're Not Agents': UK's Suspects in Skripal Case Interviewed by RT's Editor-in-chief


RT
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 15:44 UTC
skripal suspects interview
Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov
RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan has spoken exclusively to the two men the UK named as suspects in the Skripal poisoning - Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.

UK prosecutors claimed their names were not real, but Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov have confirmed their identities in an interview with RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan.

Both men said emphatically that they were not Russian intelligence agents and were merely sightseeing in Salisbury. They said they wanted to visit the "wonderful town" of Salisbury but realized they came at a bad time - and not just because of the wet English weather.

The subsequent accusations caught them completely by surprise.

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Propaganda

The most trusted name in news? CNN totally ignores knife attack on republican congressional candidate


CNN
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 16:25 UTC
SWITCHBLADE ATTACK
© The Daily Caller
More than 24 hours after authorities announced the arrest of a California man who allegedly tried to stab a Republican congressional candidate, CNN has yet to inform its audience of the story.

Farzad Fazeli, 35, allegedly made disparaging remarks about the Republican Party before pulling out a switchblade and attempting to stab Rudy Peters at a festival Sunday, according to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office.

Peters is the Republican nominee in California's 15th Congressional District, where he is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell.
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Footprints

Trump pushes for declassification of FBI, DOJ docs on campaign surveillance

Saagar Enjeti & Chuck Ross
The Daily Caller
Tue, 11 Sep 2018 16:19 UTC
Trump on plane
© CC0/The White House
  • President Donald Trump is insistent on releasing FBI and DOJ documents related to surveillance of campaign advisers, but he has received pushback from White House lawyers, according to multiple sources.
  • House Republicans have pressed Trump to release the documents.
  • Congressional sources say they expect Trump to release the records, but they have tempered their expectations on when they will be made public.
White House lawyers are actively reviewing controversial FBI and Department of Justice documents relating to the 2016 presidential campaign for possible declassification, multiple sources with knowledge tell The Daily Caller News Foundation.
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Gold Coins

'Countries will move away from the dollar because the US uses it as a weapon', says CEO of Russia bank


RT
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 16:08 UTC
dollar don't walk sign
© Maxim Shemetov / Reuters
Countries will stop using the US dollar as a settlement currency because of Washington's aggressive policy, according to Russia's second largest bank CEO Andrey Kostin at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

"I think it's inevitable. The current situation is that the United States uses the dollar as a weapon. So I believe that if the US continues to use the dollar as a weapon, it is inevitable that not only in Russia, but in other countries, we will see a tendency to move away from the dollar," Kostin said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.

The process of switching from the greenback to national currencies is unlikely to be fast or easy, Kostin said. "You cannot immediately abandon the dollar. Probably, impossible taking into account its role in the economy. But if we do not start, we will never come to this, so we need to start now and we are already doing such work," he said separately on the sidelines of the Forum.
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Snakes in Suits

Duma approves Putin's bill granting employee protections for workers of 'pre-pension age'


RT
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 16:02 UTC
Russian Pension Fund
© Alexey Malgavko / SputnikVisitors to the Russian Pension Fund office in Simferopol, Crimea
The Russian Lower House has approved the bill granting additional social protection to people approaching retirement age, like substantial fines for employers who fire such workers or refuse to hire them without valid reasons.

In particular, the bill states that unmotivated sacking or refusal to hire workers of pre-retirement age should be punished by fines up to 200,000 roubles (about $2900) or in the amount of the fired worker's 18-month salary. Violators can also be sentenced to up to 360 hours of correctional labor.

The bill introduces the definition of pre-retirement age and describes it as "up to five years that precede the moment when a citizens receives his pension insurance in accordance with the law. The current retirement age in Russia is 60 for men and 55 for women, but once the reform is complete these figures are set to rise.
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Eye 1

European court rules UK mass surveillance broke human rights convention


RT
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 16:03 UTC
snowden
© REUTERS
The UK's mass surveillance program is in violation of human rights, the European Court of Human Rights has declared. The challenge was instigated following the revelations from US whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

The court stated there is "insufficient oversight" and "inadequate safeguards" over the government's 'bulk interception' of communications. Furthermore, it found the UK "was not in accordance with the law" over it's obtaining of communications data from service providers.

In an extensive condemnation of UK's protection of human rights, the judges also deemed there to be "insufficient safeguards" for journalistic sources under government's surveillance policy.

Aspects of the policy, the court declared, breached two articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) - the right to private life (Article 8) and the right to free expression (Article 10).
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Stock Down

JPMorgan predicts economic crash to come in next few years


RT
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 15:53 UTC
crash económico
© Desconocido
With the 10th anniversary approaching of the catalyst for the last major global stock market crash - the Lehman Brothers' collapse - strategists from JPMorgan are predicting the next financial crisis to strike in 2020.

Wall Street's largest investment bank analyzed the causes of the crash and measures taken by governments and central banks across the world to stop the crisis in 2008, and found that the economy remains propped up by those extraordinary steps.

According to the bank's analysis, the next crisis will probably be less painful, however, diminished financial market liquidity since the 2008 implosion is a "wildcard" that's tough to game out.

Comment: JPMorgan is not so subtly setting up Trump as a reason for the coming collapse. It's surprising they don't include Russia in there as well! In any case, an economic crash has been a long time coming.

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Russian Flag

Vostok 2018: Putin reviews troops & armor on parade during massive military drills


RT
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 15:54 UTC
putin
© Alexei Nikolsky / Sputnik
President Putin opened a spectacular troop review that saw Russian and Chinese armor, troops and warplanes parade through a training ground in Siberia. The parade was part of the Vostok 2018 exercise, the biggest in decades.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived on Thursday to observe the main part of the Vostok 2018 war games, in which Russian, Chinese, and Mongolian troops trained defensive and offensive operations. Scores of tanks, heavy artillery, missile systems and combat jets have been involved, as well as thousands of soldiers and officers.

President Putin also opened a grand parade at the Russian Army's Tsugol training range and praised the troops for their performance in the military exercise. He reiterated, however, that the display of military might is not directed against anyone, as Russia seeks "constructive partnership."

The troop review started with light armored jeeps carrying both Russian and Chinese flags through the parade grounds, followed by four fighter jets flying over the area.
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Attention

Internal video shows Google executives calling Trump voters 'extremists' & promising to fight populism


RT
Thu, 13 Sep 2018 15:27 UTC
Sergey Brin
© Ruben Sprich / ReutersSergey Brin, Google co-founder
Video of an internal Google meeting shows the company's top officials talking about using AI to fight populism and "low-information voters" in the wake of Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 US presidential election.

The 1-hour "confidential, for internal use only" video was posted by Breitbart on Wednesday. It has gained traction online, and is cited by pro-Trump commentators as yet another proof of the Silicon Valley's bias towards conservatives.

It shows a meeting of the company's executives with rattled staff members shortly after the 2016 presidential election.

"Myself as an immigrant and a refugee, I certainly find this election deeply offensive and I know many of you do too," Google's co-founder Sergey Brin says in the opening minutes of the video, before admitting that "many people apparently don't share the values that we have."


Later in the conversation, Brin attempts to explain the inner motives that prompted Trump supporters to vote as they did. He argues that the boredom that stems from handling a "routine job" is what drove people to opt for the Republican candidate in the first place.

Comment: See also: Leaked video of Google meeting shows leaders plotting to thwart Trump agenda post election

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