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Sorry USA, there's no sign of Russia's isolation at SPIEF 2018 event


RT
Fri, 25 May 2018 11:19 UTC
PutinMacronBrigitte
© Mikhael Klimentyev/SputnikRussian President Vladimir Putin, and French President Emmanuel Macron with his wife Brigitte.
The opening day of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2018), Russia's annual marquee business event, has seen global leaders in business and politics join a host of multinationals keen to strike deals.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, as well as US Ambassador Jon Huntsman are among those attending.

SPIEF 2018 has become a key business platform, where Russian corporations and investors across the world can sign new contracts and agree on potential joint projects in Russia and abroad.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met President Macron, who led the biggest delegation of French businesses intent on doing business in Russia despite EU and US sanctions against the country.

According to the French embassy in Russia, French businesses will sign up to 20 contracts and cooperation agreements by the end of the forum. This year, President of Movement of Enterprises of France (MEDEF) Pierre Gattaz and Chairman of MEDEF International Frederic Sanchez are reportedly heading the biggest foreign delegation at SPIEF with a total of 170 representatives from 60 companies.

Comment: Russia is 'taking care of business'.

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Attention

Conditions for Europe in order to guarantee Iran remains in the nuclear deal


Middle East Monitor
Thu, 24 May 2018 04:33 UTC
Khamenei
© Famous PeopleIran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, yesterday set out a list of conditions for European powers if they want a guarantee that Iran would remain within the nuclear deal.

Among the list of conditions, Khamenei demanded that European banks "safeguard trade with the Islamic Republic," saying that Tehran does "not want to start a fight with these three countries," making a reference to Britain, France and Germany.

The guarantee to increase the purchase of Iranian oil was also demanded, as "in case Americans can damage our oil sales...Europeans should make up for that and buy Iranian oil."

Khamenei also alleged that the European powers had remained silent as the US "repeatedly violated" the nuclear deal, and demanded that the way for Europe to "make up for that silence" would be to "stand up against the US sanctions".

Another demand is that European powers must promise that they would not attempt to seek new negotiations on Iran's ballistic missile programme and other regional activities within the Middle East.

Comment: Europe has moved from US cohorts to Khamenei's hostages. Look how Iran has turned the table, courtesy the US exit. Is it stronger today?

See also: Iranian leader's demand for Europe to keep nuclear deal: 'Europe must buy our oil'

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Stock Up

St. Petersburg: France signs contracts for €1bn direct investment to Russia


RT
Thu, 24 May 2018 18:36 UTC
PutinMacron
© Kirill Kudryavtsev / ReutersRussian President Vladimir Putin • French President Emmanuel Macron
Russia and France have signed six contracts for direct investment into Russia worth about €1 billion as part of the ongoing business forum in St Petersburg and the coinciding visit of the French president.

The billion-euro ($1.17 billion) sum of the deal was reported on Tuesday by Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The six contracts were signed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), which is being held in the former Russian capital on Tuesday and Friday.

For comparison, the entire foreign direct investment into Russia in 2017 amounted to $27.9 billion.

French Total acquires 10 percent of Russian Arctic gas project for $2.55bn

French oil and gas giant Total has signed a $25.5 billion agreement with Russia's Novatek on joining the Arctic Liquefied Natural Gas-2 project. Total will acquire a 10 percent stake in the enterprise, with the possibility of increasing it to 15 percent, Leonid Mikhelson, the CEO of Novatek, said, as cited by RIA-Novosti.

Comment: And that's how la vie moves on.

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Rocket

Israel will attack Syria again, and Syria will respond, again: How Israel created its own nightmare in Syria, and there's nothing they can do about it

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Wed, 23 May 2018 15:36 UTC
syria air defense
Syrian forces are preparing to liberate areas in southern Syria after having completely liberated the capital Damascus from al-Qaeda and from ISIS in Yarmouk, Hajar al-Aswad and its surroundings, as the countryside of Homs and Hama has become totally free. The Syrian army and its allies are also preparing to eliminate ISIS south of Deir al-Zour as the last pocket of this organization in the areas under Syrian control. However, the Syrian southern city Daraa is assessing its position regarding Israel, whose greatest fear is the liberation of the south and a later demand by the central government of Syria for the return of the Israeli occupied Golan heights. The seven years of war imposed on Syria helped to form local groups of trained and experienced fighters who are now part of the "axis of the Resistance", the most highly feared by Israel.

This will prompt Tel Aviv officials - not willing to give back the occupied territory to Syria - to embark on a new military adventure to "feel the pulse" and test the reaction of the "axis of resistance". This is inevitable - especially after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah himself announced new rules of engagement (ROE) laid down after the recent Israeli attack on Syrian army positions.

Sayyed Nasrallah's personal announcement of the new ROE is worth consideration: it is he who has stated the number, type and quantity (55) of rockets and missiles launched on the occupied Golan heights and the Israeli targets launched against them. This has meaningful connotations because it uses a language understood by Israel, which has experienced Hezbollah for 36 years of conflict on different fronts and styles of response. As usual, Sayyed Nasrallah does not take shortcuts and does not push Israel out of control in his first response steps: he warns first, means what he says, and hits after warning.
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Bell

Republicans challenge Twitter, Facebook on anti-conservative bias


RT
Fri, 25 May 2018 07:44 UTC
Twitter button
© Thomas White/Reuters
The GOP and Trump 2020 campaign have called on social media giants to prove that their platforms are not biased against conservatives. Facebook and Twitter have been accused of suppressing right-wing users.

"We are alarmed by numerous allegations that Facebook has blocked content from conservative journalists and groups, and Twitter has hidden such content from conservative users' followers," says the letter sent Thursday by the Republican National Committee and President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale, addressed personally to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
We won't tolerate bias toward conservatives or @realDonaldTrump supporters. We're standing up for you and demanding answers. @GOPChairwoman and I have sent the following letter to @facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and @Twitter's @jack Dorsey. #StopTheBiaspic.twitter.com/Poz0Dne9i7

- Brad Parscale (@parscale) May 24, 2018
Both social media platforms have announced a crackdown on "fake news" and "Russian bots" in recent months, under mounting pressure from Congress and the media seeking an explanation for Hillary Clinton's defeat in the 2016 presidential election.
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Rocket

Russian S-500: World leader in air defense

Paul Antonopoulos
Fort Russ News
Fri, 25 May 2018 15:05 UTC
S-500 Promotey system
© Sputnik/ Valeriy Melnikov
According to expert Viktor Baranets for Military Watch Magazine, the start of production of Russia's S-500 air defense systems will mark a significant milestone for Russia and its partners.

In Baranets' words, the goal behind developing and producing the S-500 is to meet new threats which require modernizing Russia's anti-missile defense arsenal. Taking into account that Western countries are betting on the development of intercontinental and hypersonic ballistic missiles, finalizing the development of the S-500 is a strategic task.

According to Baranets, even the US still cannot create anti-aircraft systems capable of matching Russia's.

"Regarding the development of the anti-aircraft system, Russia is firmly the global leader. Whatever efforts the Americans make to create something similar to our S-300 system, [...] they have achieved nothing. The Patriot systems, because of their tactical and technical characteristics, are far behind in comparison to the S-300s, nor do they compare to the S-400s, much less the the S-500s," the analyst said.
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Chess

Putin to Europe: Let's talk rules on cyberwarfare


RT
Fri, 25 May 2018 11:46 UTC
Putin Macron
© Grigory Dukor / ReutersRussian President Vladimir Putin (R) and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron attend a news conference after the talks in St. Petersburg, Russia May 24, 2018.
Nations that don't like being the targets of cyberwarfare have the incentive to work on common rules of cyberspace the same way rules for nuclear weapons were negotiated, said the Russian president.

Vladimir Putin made the comparison in response to a journalist's question about the latest accusation in the US that Russia used its cyber capabilities to interfere with the 2016 election during a joint conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.

"This is what I can say about cyberattacks or war of words in the press and other issues. Action always causes reaction. Always. If one does not want to get a reaction he does not like, rules for actions need to be set," he said. "When the humanity invented nuclear weapons, everyone realized how dangerous it is and agreed on rules, which were aimed at preventing a tragedy. It's obvious that cyber now is a most important field affecting millions of people. Let's agree on how we work in it."

Comment: Also see:

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Question

Can Trump lawfully investigate his investigators?

Andrew Napolitano
The Unz Review
Fri, 25 May 2018 11:46 UTC
Trump Mueller
© salon.com
This past weekend, President Donald Trump suggested that his presidential campaign may have been the victim of spies or moles who were FBI informants or undercover agents. He demanded an investigation to get to the bottom of the matter.

At the same time that the president was fuming over this, Republican congressional leaders were fuming about the reluctance of senior officials at the Department of Justice and the FBI to turn over documents that might reveal political origins of the current criminal investigation of the president by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Can the president intercede in a federal criminal investigation of which he himself is a subject? Can Congress intercede in a DOJ criminal investigation? Here is the back story.
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Chess

N. Korea still wants peace with US, ready to talk 'any time, any way'


RT
Fri, 25 May 2018 11:46 UTC
Kim Jong Un
© KCNA / ReutersNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un
The decision by US President Donald Trump to cancel the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is "not in line with the world's wishes," the government in Pyongyang has announced.

Kim has made the "utmost efforts" to hold a summit with Trump, said the North Korean first vice minister for foreign affairs, Kim Kye-gwan, according to the state news agency KCNA. The meeting between two leaders was scheduled for June 12 in Singapore.

Pyongyang is "still willing to resolve issues with the United States," the official said, holding onto the hope that the meeting could still be rescheduled.

Comment: Trump claims he's still willing to talk but is leaving the 'military option' open. The New York Times reports:
Mr. Trump said later that the meeting, which had been scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, could still happen, and North Korea issued a strikingly conciliatory response, saying it hoped Mr. Trump would reconsider.

But Mr. Trump also renewed talk of military action against the North and vowed to keep pressing economic sanctions, guaranteeing that for now, at least, his unlikely courtship of Mr. Kim will give way to a more familiar cycle of threats and tension.


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Penis Pump

Macron addresses "dear Putin" and Russia's "irreplaceable role in solving international problems", meanwhile France's businesses make billion dollar deals


RT
Thu, 24 May 2018 18:21 UTC
Putin and Macron
© REUTERS / Stephane De Sakutin/Pool
Russia is irreplaceable in international relations, including in the Middle East, French President Emmanuel Macron said at a joint media conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.

While delivering a lyrical speech that lasted over 20 minutes, starting with the long history of Franco-Russian ties, Macron underlined that France is an independent country and that dialogue with Russia is a "manifestation of this independent position."

"I am perfectly aware of Russia's irreplaceable role in solving international problems," he said after several hours of talks with Putin, where the two discussed Syria and the Iran nuclear deal among other international issues in which both countries are taking an active part.


Comment: Duplicitous Macron says after joining the renewed illegal Western bombing of Syria when Russia had already routed US-backed ISIS, initiated a peace deal and was in the process of rehabilitating the country.


Comment: You've got to hand it to Putin, he can handle the slipperiest of snakes with ease. And in the end, the world is pivoting away from the collapsing US empire, and Russia and China are ready to accommodate any willing country with mutually beneficial partnerships: For more, check out SOTT radio's:

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