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Chart Pie

Euro irreversible, says German finance minister after Merkel and Macron agree on Eurozone budget


RT
Sat, 23 Jun 2018 12:57 UTC
The euro sign in front of the former headquarters of the European Central Bank
© Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters
The euro is here to stay and serve as a guarantor of a stronger, more cohesive Europe, Germany's finance minister said as he commended French President Emmanuel Macron for spearheading the effort.

In an interview with the Rheinische Post on Saturday, Olaf Scholz argued that the future of Europe's single currency no longer hangs in the balance with Greece getting back on its feet after a long recession and Paris and Berlin agreeing on a vision for how to reform the EU.

Asked if the euro will still exist in 10 years, Scholz has said he has no doubt about it.

"Yes, the euro is irreversible. It secures our common future in Europe," the German minister said.
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Info

Washington 'indefinitely' delays two more military exercises with Seoul


RT
Sat, 23 Jun 2018 12:52 UTC
South Korean soldiers
© Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
The US continues to wind down the scope of its military activity on North Korea's doorstep, with the Pentagon announcing on Friday it was "indefinitely" suspending two joint training programs with Seoul.

The exercises, which were scheduled to take place within the next three months, have been put on hold with an open-ended date, Pentagon spokesperson Dana White announced on Friday. The drills in question are a part of the marine exchange training program between the US and South Korea.

"To support implementing the outcomes of the Singapore Summit, and in coordination with our Republic of Korea ally, Secretary Mattis has indefinitely suspended select exercises," White said.
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Map

Lavrov: NATO's military build-up near Russia's borders requires special attention


FARS News Agency
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 12:45 UTC
Sergey Lavrov
Sergey Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that NATO's military build-up and growing military activities near the Russian and Belarusian borders require special attention.

"The United States and its allies are not reluctant to interfere in the domestic affairs of sovereign states and even use military force," he said at a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, TASS reported.

"The deployment of the US global missile defenses causes particular concern as the US doctrines reduce the threshold for the use of nuclear arms. NATO's military build-up and growing military activities near the Russian and Belarusian borders require special attention," the Russian top diplomat added.

Comment: Russia is right to be concerned about NATO:

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Treasure Chest

Can you imagine other ways to spend $716 billion?

Matt Taibbi
Rolling Stone
Thu, 21 Jun 2018 12:37 UTC
US Navy ships
© Reuters
The Senate passed a military budget bill that, among other things, earmarks money for shiny new nukes.

While the world continues to be transfixed over the gruesome images coming from the border, business went on as usual in Washington. Earlier this week, the Senate quietly passed the $716 billion "John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019."

The bill, which passed 85-10 in a massive show of bipartisan support, represents a considerable boost in defense spending across the board - roughly $82 billion just for next year.

The annual increase by itself is bigger than the annual defense budget of Russia ($61 billion) and the two-year jump of over $165 billion eclipses the entire defense budget of China ($150 billion).
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Boat

Iranian Navy dispatches warships to the Gulf of Aden amid Saudi blockade


South Front
Sat, 23 Jun 2018 12:11 UTC
Iranian Navy
© Wikipedia
On June 21, the Iranian Navy dispatched two warships to the Gulf of Aden, where a fierce battle is ongoing between the Ansar Allah movement (also known as the Houthis) and the Saudi-led coalition for the port city of al-Hudaydah.

According to Iran's Tasnim News Agency, Iran sent a helicopter-carrier and a naval destroyer. The deployment of Iranian warships in the area will likely further complicate relations between Riyadh and Teheran. However, two warships will not be enough to lift a naval blockade from al-Hudaydah.

Meanwhile, the Houthis repelled another attempt by the Saudi-led coalition and its proxies to capture the al-Hudaydah airport in western Yemen recapturing most of the positions, which they had lost previously.

Comment: Further reading:

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X

Kadyrov warns enemies of Russia: 'Don't repeat Hitler's mistake'


RT
Fri, 22 Jun 2018 18:49 UTC
Ramzan Kadyrov
© Said Tsarnaev / Sputnik
The head of the Chechen Republic has called upon foreign nations to not repeat Hitler's mistake and to avoid antagonizing Russia without learning the history of failed attempts to conquer it.

Ramzan Kadyrov issued the warning through his Telegram Messenger blog on Friday as Russia marked the Day of Memory and Grief - the anniversary of the Nazi Germany's 1941 attack on Soviet Union which started the Great Patriotic War.

Hitler planned to have Russia on its knees within months and have a military parade on Red Square, but he was wrong when he thought that his main task was to reach Moscow, Kadyrov wrote.

"It is true that in times of the war the German divisions directly approached Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad. But Hitler didn't speak Russian and he did not know the Russian history. Otherwise he would have given a second thought to taking the road that had been previously chosen by the French, the Swedes, the Poles and others and ending his life in the same disgraceful way as all these aggressors," he stated.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

Noam Chomsky: Democrats' obsession with Russiagate will allow 'Republican wrecking ball' to tear apart the US


RT
Fri, 22 Jun 2018 09:31 UTC
Trump Russia
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
The Democrats' infatuation with Russiagate - while ignoring the Republican "wrecking ball" destroying US society - illustrates the blindness of the party's elite, renowned linguist and political thinker Noam Chomsky has said.

Noting that the Democratic Party is "bent on revenge for their 2016 failure," Chomsky told Truthout in an interview that "the bankruptcy of the Democrat elite is well-illustrated by the obsession with alleged Russian meddling with our sacred elections" - adding that allegations of Moscow's meddling had amounted to "apparently very little."

He also dismissed European paranoia about nefarious Russian influence in their elections, noting how it was absurd to accuse Moscow of playing a part in parliamentary gains made by right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) during the 2017 German elections.


Comment: Boogeyman prepared: Germany concerned with Russian 'meddling' in upcoming election


"It turns out that there was indeed foreign meddling, but not from Russia," Chomsky said. "AfD hired a Texas media firm [Harris Media] known for support of right-wing nationalist candidates [Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, Benjamin Netanyahu]. The firm enlisted the cooperation of the Berlin office of Facebook, which provided it with detailed information about potential voters for use in microtargeting those who might be receptive to AfD's message."
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Tornado1

Italian deputy PM Matteo Salvini: Very existence of United Europe to be decided within the year


Sputnik
Sat, 23 Jun 2018 10:08 UTC
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini
© Matteo Bazzi/ANSA via APItalian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, center, attends a local election rally in Cinisello Balsamo, near Milan, Italy, Sunday, June 17, 2018
Ahead of the EU summit at the end of June, where the latest disagreements within the bloc over migration policy are expected to be on the agenda, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has lambasted Paris for "lecturing" Rome and resisted Germany's plans to turn away refugees which have been registered in other countries.

The leader of the Italy's Euro-sceptic League party, Matteo Salvini, who was appointed the Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister at the beginning of June, has warned that the future of the European Union is at stake in an interview with the German weekly news magazine Spiegel. According to the top Italian official, the upcoming talks on the joint budget and the results of the European elections, scheduled for 2019, will show if the whole creation "has become meaningless."

"Within a year, it will be decided whether a United Europe will still exist or not," Salvini told the German media outlet.

Comment: See also: 'This Europe is not showing solidarity': After shutting ports to migrant rescue ship, Rome rebukes EU criticism

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Bizarro Earth

Washington and much of the Western world live in state of cognitive dissonance

Paul Craig Roberts
paulcraigroberts.org
Thu, 21 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
cognitive dissonance
In this column I am going to use three of the current top news stories to illustrate the disconnect that is everywhere in the Western mind.

Let us begin with the family separation issue. The separation of children from immigrant/refugee/asylum parents has caused such public outcry that President Trump has backed off his policy and signed an executive order terminating family separation.

The horror of children locked up in warehouses operated by private businesses making a profit off of US taxpayers, while parents are prosecuted for illegal entry, woke even self-satisfied "exceptional and indispensable" Americans out of their stupor. It is a mystery that the Trump regime chose to discredit its border enforcement policy by separating families. Perhaps the policy was intended to deter illegal immigration by sending the message that if you come to America your children will be taken from you.

The question is: How is it that Americans can see and reject the inhumane border control policy and not see the inhumanity of family destruction that has been the over-riding result of Washington's destruction in whole or part of seven or eight countries in the 21st century?

Comment: And the wide-spread malady understood as cognitive dissonance only appears to be getting worse. See how pervasive it is, and weep...

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Bulb

Turning point? Democrats are losing their fear of and standing up to AIPAC and mega Israel-donor Haim Saban

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Fri, 22 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
Obama Saban
© James Lawler Duggan/ReutersU.S. President Barack Obama (L) arrives to speak with Israeli-American media tycoon Haim Saban about negotiations with Iran in Washington December 7, 2013.
Last night in Connecticut, Sarah Walsh of AIPAC told a Conservative synagogue audience that the lobby group is striving to ensure that support for Israel remains bipartisan, but there are more signs that progressive Democrats feel they are able to criticize Israeli policies.

First, Rebecca Vilkomerson of Jewish Voice for Peace says there's been a reluctance even in the Democratic establishment to defend Israel during the Gaza slaughter. In an interview with the Real News, Vilkomerson said Trump's embrace of Netanyahu has opened the door for formerly-silent Democrats to be critical of Israel. "There's a willingness to look at Israel's actions that maybe wasn't possible when Obama was president."
I think with the exception of [Chuck] Schumer, no Democrats have been defending Israel's actions. In fact, quite a number, in fact over a dozen, have spoken out against what Israel has done over the course of the last six weeks. And you contrast that with 2014, when I think it was something like 78 senators signed a statement supporting the Gaza war. So there has been a shift in terms of Congress and who's willing to speak out and being able to speak out, and that there's enough backing from their own constituents to speak out that they're not going to be punished by AIPAC or other organizations... [Aaron Mate points out that House whip Steny Hoyer has also given Israel a blank check] We have very very far to go. Also, not defending is very different from saying Stop, and there are lots of tools that the U.S. government has to stop Israel from what it's doing and they're using none of them.
Senator Bernie Sanders has obviously been a leader here. He has released videos about Gaza and condemned Israeli killings of unarmed protesters.
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