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Growing sentiment: Investor says EU businesses shouldn't be held hostage by US sanctions against Russia


RT
Sat, 26 May 2018 14:23 UTC
St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF)
© Sputnik/ Alexei Danichev
US sanctions against Russia are pointless and completely out of order, the President of Thomas Vendome Investment Jean-Pierre Thomas told RT at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

Thomas said he does not understand why the European economy should be impacted. "Sanctions are the sole decision of the United States, it's not the decision of Europe and even the UN," he said, adding "it's inacceptable" and "we should get out of this."

According to him, Washington's sanctions should not be of any concern for European companies. However, while those companies have branches in the US they are also impacted by sanctions. Washington can penalize any company working in the US if it's doing business in a sanctioned country.

The businessmen suggested that Europe could also introduce counter-sanctions against the US in Europe. And if Russia retaliates against the United States it will be an adequate response, he said. "In this silly game the US understands that the sanctions system is not a good one because the balance of the forces is the best way to negotiate."

Comment: European nations have been slaves to US interests for years. Influential Europeans seem to be finally waking up to this fact - or at least realizing it is no longer in their interests to be slaves. They can thank Trump for that. Now it's just a matter of growing up and figuring out how to reclaim their own sovereignty. See also:

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Bad Guys

Philippine FM claims Manila will 'go to war' if China 'crosses red lines'


RT
Tue, 29 May 2018 05:05 UTC
Philippine Navy
© Romeo Ranoco / ReutersFILE PHOTO: Members of the Philippine Navy's Marine Special Operations Group
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is ready to go to war with Beijing if it crosses 'red lines' and unilaterally claims natural resources in the disputed South China Sea, the country's foreign minister has warned.

The Philippines will go to war to protect its rights in the South China Sea, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano noted, somewhat contradicting President Rodrigo Duterte's policy of avoiding any confrontation with their neighbor.

"If anyone gets the natural resources in the West Philippine Sea, he [Duterte] will go to war," Cayetano said on Monday.

"He said, 'Bahala na.' (meaning come what may) [But] he will go to war," Cayetano repeated, outlining 'red lines' amid a simmering territorial dispute with Beijing, which continues to ignore the 2016 international arbitration ruling that said "there was no legal basis" for China to claim historic rights in the South China Sea.

Comment: Sounds like a bit of tough talk from Cayetano that shouldn't amount to much if Duterte and Xi maintain cool heads and continue working together.

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Chess

Germany's new foreign minister pressured to walk back his anti-Russian stance

Frank Sellers
The Duran
Tue, 29 May 2018 13:37 UTC
Heiko Maas
Germany's Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, came onto duty at his present post a Russian hardliner. Russia was the evil empire, and everything wrong with Germany, the EU, or anywhere else in the universe somehow went back to Moscow.

It was the Crimean annexation, it was the Skripal poisoning, it was some computer hacking, etc. But then Trump pulled America out of the Iran nuclear deal and suddenly Germany's foreign policy with Russia was headed in a completely different trajectory.

Now, he found himself on a mission to go to Moscow and hobnob with those very Russians, say some nice things, and try to get them to help convince the Iranians to stick to the deal even though Trump was out. And then the economic factor came to the fore.
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Question

Etherium cryptocurrency founder speculates on Rothschilds' investment in blockchain project


RT
Tue, 29 May 2018 11:10 UTC
puppeteer
© Darrin Zammit Lupi / Reuters
The founder of the world's second biggest cryptocurrency Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, has questioned whether the Rothschild conspiracy theory extends to digital money.

"Are 'the Rothschilds' even well-coordinated enough to be worth caring about as a group these days?" Buterin asked on Reddit. Buterin raised the issue as cryptocurrency enthusiasts are discussing the opaque IMMO blockchain project the banking dynasty is reportedly investing in.

Little is known about IMMO, but the crypto-society has said it can be a digital token backed by natural resources like gold or somehow related to real estate. The project is reported to be watched personally by Alexandre de Rothschild, the newly-appointed head of the family's banking dynasty.


Comment: See: 200 years of banker family rule: Rothschild cabal passing its dynasty on to 7th generation


Comment: Another possibility is that the Rothschilds are a little late to the cryptocurrency party and are just hedging their bets and diversifying a little with their billions.

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Chess

Lavrov: ISIS-linked terrorists are showing up in Syrian refugee camp under US control


RT
Mon, 28 May 2018 12:41 UTC
Syrian war US army
© Rodi Said / Reuters
Militants linked with the terrorist group Islamic State are feeling increasingly comfortable in a refugee camp located near a US military base in southern Syria, the Russian foreign minister said.

"We have plenty of reports about strange things happening in the Al-Tanf area," Sergey Lavrov said on Monday. "This area has no particular military value in terms of fighting terrorism. And in practical terms, we see a rise of presence in the region of militant groups, including those we believe to be connected with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in this or that way, including in the Rukban refugee camp."

Located on Syria's border with Jordan, Al-Tanf was captured last year by the US, which declared it under its protection and attacked pro-government forces showing up there. Russia has repeatedly expressed concern about the presence of US troops in the area and their refusal to allow access to it, including for humanitarian convoys to the Rukban camp.

Comment: Lavrov also spoke about the situation in the border with Israel:
Agreements concerning the southern de-escalation zone in Syria imply that only Syrian government forces can remain on the border with Israel, Lavrov said, commenting on Israeli media reports about Moscow's plans to ask Iran to pull its units back from the Syrian-Israeli border.

"In the end, only Syrian government forces must remain on the country's border with Israel," the Russian top diplomat said.

He pointed out that the 2017 agreements on setting up a de-escalation zone along the Syrian-Israeli border implied that all foreign troops must pull out of the area.

On Sunday, Israel's Haaretz newspaper wrote that Moscow may convince Iran to pull its troops back 60 kilometers from Syria's border with Israel.
Ok, no Iranian forces in that area then, but notice that Lavrov's words imply that there should be no militant (terrorist) groups there either. Unfortunately, the US and Israel will have none of that:

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Stop

Imagine the outrage if Russia censored opposition the way the UK just censored Robinson


RT
Tue, 29 May 2018 11:22 UTC
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon Tommy Robinson
© AFPStephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, the co-founder, spokesman and leader of the English Defence League
Imagine the flood of sanctimonious media headlines if Russia were to prevent the hacks from reporting on the trial of a high-profile activist such as Aleksey Navalny. Now imagine such a ban existed in the UK. Oh, wait, it does...

Imagine this: Navalny, a highly-polarizing and outspoken opponent of the Russian government, beloved by the Western press despite his nationalist background, was sentenced to 50 years of hard labor in a Siberian borscht mine after being found guilty of high treason. (Actually, he received a 30-day prison sentence for something illegal in basically every developed nation - "blocking traffic without the correct permits" - but we're sure the Siberian exile story must be floating around somewhere, even without restrictions on media reporting.)

Comment: Further reading:

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Propaganda

Fake News: 'Caged migrant children' picture taken under Obama, not Trump


RT
Tue, 29 May 2018 11:22 UTC
caged migrant children obama
Journalists, Obama's former speechwriter and other public figures all quietly deleted their misplaced horror at images of caged migrant children in the US when they found out the picture was taken under President Obama.

CNN journalist Hadas Gold, NYT Magazine editor-in-chief Jake Silverstein, Obama's speechwriter Jon Favreau, Women's March co-founder Linda Sarsour and former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa were all caught out by a seemingly new article that featured an image of two migrant children sleeping in a cage at an ICE detention facility.

The group, along with several others too excited to tweet their dismay to check the article's publication date, told their 'followers' to look at the "disturbing" images and the immigration policy that put them there. The only problem? It was under President Obama's watch, not Trump's.
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Bad Guys

Poland to get new US base, Kremlin says Russia ready to respond to NATO expansion on its borders


TASS
Mon, 28 May 2018 13:06 UTC
Warsaw's plans to build a US base in Poland
© AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski
Moscow is prepared to respond to the expanding NATO infrastructure towards Russia's borders, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said commenting on Warsaw's plans to build a US base in Poland.

"In general, when we record gradual expansion of NATO military structure towards our borders, when NATO infrastructure directly approaches our borders, this certainly does not contribute to security and stability on the continent in any way," Peskov said.

"On the contrary, these expansionist steps, certainly, result in counteractions of the Russian side to balance the parity which is violated every time this way," he noted.

Comment: Also recently, Poland announced it will foolishly pay out over $10 billion for the installation of the US Patriot missile system, which Russia has neutralised with the release of its own advanced weaponry: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Atlantic Trade War? How Trump Breaking Iran Deal Could Dismantle US Empire

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Take 2

Best of the Web: Brussels-Rome war: EU holds back Italy's anti-euro tide for now

Steve Keen
RT
Tue, 29 May 2018 09:39 UTC
salvini juncker
By pushing a presidential veto of Rome's proposed new government, Brussels may have secured the euro's status in Italy, for now. However, it may prove to be only a stay of execution.

As I write, a constitutional crisis has erupted in Italy after its President - who normally fulfils only a ceremonial role - refused to allow the prospective new coalition government to appoint Paolo Savona as finance minister.

Superficially, this is a ridiculous decision: Savona is a distinguished 81-year-old economist who has worked at Italy's Central Bank and Treasury, created the first model of the Italian economy, and - among numerous other honors - was a minister in a previous Italian government in 1993-94. Was his age the problem?

No, President Sergio Mattarella's problem with Savona is that he is a critic of the euro. And Mattarella's obstructionism is a problem for the prospective coalition government of the self-described anti-establishment Five Star Movement (founded by the satirist and activist Beppe Grillo) and the originally secessionist, but now federalist, Lega Nord (Northern League) - because about the only thing they have in common is opposition to the euro and the austerity policies that have come with it following the 2008 crisis.
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People

'Italy is not a colony, we are neither German nor French slaves': Italian Euroskeptic coalition lashes out at pro-EU interim PM


RT
Mon, 28 May 2018 09:29 UTC
Italian President Sergio Mattarella
© Alessandro Bianchi / ReutersItalian President Sergio Mattarella
The appointment of a former IMF director as interim PM shows that Italy's president is "with the bankers," not the people, the head of Euroskeptic Lega Nord has said, exemplifying the widespread anger over the unprecedented move.

"They are with the bankers and the powerful ones. We are with the Italian people," Matteo Salvini, the leader of Lega Nord, wrote on Twitter shortly after President Sergio Mattarella announced his decision to make ex-IMF director Carlo Cottarelli interim prime minister on Monday. The defiant message was accompanied by a photograph showing Mattarella, Cottarelli, former prime minister Matteo Renzi, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Mattarella. Salvini is pictured below, rallying a crowd.


Comment: See also:

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