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Argentine President Macri announces deal with IMF, imposition of austerity measures

Frank Sellers
The Duran
Tue, 15 May 2018 13:07 UTC
Argentina protest IMF
Argentina appears to be on the road to getting the IMF treatment 2.0, and the people are taking to the streets over it..Radio Havanna reports:
Thousands of Argentineans marched in Buenos Aires on Thursday against the economic policies of the administration of Mauricio Macri and an announced deal with the IMF, the International Monetary Fund. Organizers of the protest said that the government will undoubtedly worsen the economic situation in the country and put in danger Argentina's peso currency.

Under a driving rain, protesters from progressive organizations and unions carried banners and waved flags. Secretary-General of the Association of State Workers, Hugo Godoy, sounded defiant as he spoke out against the government policies. He said: "To the workers: they will not stop us, nor the storm and because we workers are not going to to permit this Congress to accept the interference of the International Monetary Fund, the increase of tariffs or the labor reform. We are going to fight until the end so that those infamous resolutions of the government of Macri are turned back. The workers have a memory. We know that policies like these led us to hell and we will not allow it."

Macri and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde announced on Tuesday they were opening talks for a financing deal after Argentina's peso currency touched a new low of 23.5 to the dollar, despite tighter fiscal measures and hiking interest rates up to 40 percent in Latin America's third-largest economy.

On Wednesday, the Treasury Ministry announced it would seek a "stand-by deal" from the IMF, a type of financing that would likely require more conditions and orthodox policy reforms than a Flexible Credit Line (FCL), such as the more so-called stable economies of Mexico and Colombia have.
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Newspaper

Soros Foundation leaves Hungary for Berlin citing 'repression' of civil society


Sputnik
Tue, 15 May 2018 13:01 UTC
George Soros
© AP Photo / Kin Cheung
Earlier, the Hungarian government had expressed their opposition to the activities of billionaire George Soros and his organizations, accusing them of meddling in the country's internal affairs.

According to reports, George Soros' Open Society Foundations will close their office in the Hungarian capital and move to Berlin.

Comment:

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Rocket

Hassan Nasrallah: 'Hezbollah will strike heart of Israel if it continues crossing red lines'


RT
Tue, 15 May 2018 10:15 UTC
Activists of al-Quds Liberation Movement
© Zahid Hussein / ReutersActivists of al-Quds Liberation Movement
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah has warned Tel Aviv against crossing any more "red lines," claiming that the latest Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in Syria already triggered an "entirely new" stage of the confrontation.

"An entirely new phase" of armed resistance against Israel began last week, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, noted on Monday night, claiming that some 55 missiles - including some "heavy" ones - were fired into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last Wednesday evening.

While stopping short of confirming or denying if Hezbollah was involved in the attacks on the Golan Heights, Nasrallah did note that "this is just one form of retaliation for the continuous Israeli aggression against Syria."

Comment: See also:

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Rocket

Bolton wants North Korea's nukes shipped to US in exchange for "security assurances"


RT
Tue, 15 May 2018 08:13 UTC
Y-12 complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
© National Nuclear Security Administration / ReutersY-12 complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
President Donald Trump's national security adviser wants North Korea to ship all of its nuclear weapons to a US lab in Tennessee, to make sure Kim Jong-un follows through on his promise to dismantle the program.

North Korea's nuclear weapons should be dismantled and sent to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee if Kim wants to see a relaxation of sanctions, John Bolton said during an interview on ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday.

"I think the implementation of this decision means getting rid of all the nuclear weapons, dismantling them, taking them to Oak Ridge", said Bolton. "It means getting rid of the uranium enrichment and plutonium processing capabilities. It means addressing the ballistic missile issue. A lot of things like that."
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Info

New Armenian leader Pashinian assures Putin 'strategic partnership' with Russia not in doubt


RFE/RL
Mon, 14 May 2018 22:37 UTC
pashinian putin
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for what he called Moscow's "balanced position" amid the political upheaval that brought him to power in Yerevan, and reassured the Kremlin that the "strategic alliance" between the countries is not in doubt.

In their first meeting since Pashinian was voted in by parliament on May 8 after leading weeks of antigovernment protests in the South Caucasus country, Putin wished him success and said he hoped that bilateral ties "will develop just as steadily as they have up to now."

The warm tone of the May 14 meeting on the sidelines of a summit of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi was in line with previous comments by Putin and Pashinian, who has repeatedly said that Armenia will not turn its back on Russia -- a far larger and more powerful country that has a major military base in the smaller nation.

Speaking to Putin with reporters present at the start of the meeting, Pashinian said that "the strategic-alliance relations between Armenia and Russia" required "no discussion." He added that "there is a consensus on this issue in Armenia. I think that nobody in our country has or will cast doubt on the strategic importance of Armenian-Russian relations."

Comment: In other words, not a Maidan. See also: Armenia isn't undergoing a color revolution - Armenians are just fed up with Sargsyan

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Arrow Down

Israeli minister compares killing unarmed Palestinian protesters to killing Nazis


RT
Mon, 14 May 2018 21:23 UTC
Gilad Erdan
Gilan Erdan, reprehensible human being.
Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan appeared to liken Palestinians killed in ongoing border protests to Nazi casualties in World War II when he tweeted about the death toll in Gaza.

Erdan said the number of Palestinians killed at Monday's protest "doesn't indicate anything - just as the number of Nazis who died in the world war doesn't make Nazism something you can explain or understand."

The sixth week of the Great Return March protests has been the most deadly, with 52 fatalities reported so far on Monday. Erdan placed the blame for the deaths solely on Hamas, which is in power in Gaza.


Comment: This is what happens when you give three-year-olds nuclear weapons: "But mommy, he MADE me murder him."


"All responsibility for the bloodshed lies with the leaders of Hamas, who, with Nazi anger, endlessly shed blood to erase from people's memories their own failures in the management of the Gaza Strip. Here it is, the truth." he said.


Comment: Erdan, everything you dislike isn't a Nazi. Seriously.

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Cut

Flashback Pakistan 'suspends military & intel ties' with US after Trump's aid cuts


RT
Wed, 10 Jan 2018 17:14 UTC
Pakistani cadets
© RIZWAN TABASSUM / AFPPakistani cadets parade in Karachi, December 25, 2017
Islamabad is suspending military ties and intelligence sharing with the US, the Pakistani defense minister said, following accusations and aid cuts by President Donald Trump.

Speaking at a public event set up by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) on Tuesday, Defense Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan told the gathering that "there is also a wide field of intelligence cooperation and defense cooperation which we have suspended," according to the Pakistan Tribune.

He did not go into specifics but said the suspension of military and intelligence ties comes on the heels of a recent announcement by US President Donald Trump that Washington was going to curb aid flows to Pakistan.

"Now all veils are off... It is time for a courteous yet ruthlessly candid dialogue between Pakistan and the United States," Khan said.

Comment: See also: The friction is still there: US imposes travel ban on Pakistani officials and family members - Pakistan reciprocates in tit-for-tat ban of their own

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X

US imposes travel ban on Pakistani officials and family members - Pakistan reciprocates in tit-for-tat ban of their own

Wajid Ali Syed
thenews.com.pk
Fri, 11 May 2018 21:00 UTC
pakistan flag
As the proposed travel restrictions on Pakistani diplomats at its embassy here and other consulate offices across America come into force from today (Friday), the State Department has extended the ban on officials and has included their immediate members of the family as well.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry confirmed to The News that the travel restrictions cover two-tier officials station in the US bearing visa categories of A1, and A2 and also the members of their families, including children. "Over 250 Pakistani individuals altogether might get affected by this ban," he said.

The Trump administration communicated to the Pakistani government last month that its officials working in the US could face restrictions in their travel movement if similar limitations on American diplomats in Pakistan were not eased up. According to the warning sent by the State Department, the Pakistani diplomatic staff would need permission at least five days ahead from US authorities if they need to travel outside of the imposed 25 miles radius.

The warning also says if the officials do not hear back from the US authorities within five days, their request should be considered as denied.

Comment: As expected, Pakistan has responded:
Pakistan on Friday slapped reciprocal travel restrictions on U.S. diplomats stationed in Pakistani cities, a tit-for-tat move that is likely to put further strain on already icy relations between the two former allies in the so-called war on terror, officials and local media reported.

The move came hours after the Trump administration imposed a ban on the movement of Pakistan diplomats stationed in the U.S., forcing them to stay within 40 kilometers (25 miles) of the cities where they are posted.
...
According to a Foreign Ministry notification, U.S. diplomats will now face similar travel restrictions in Pakistan. Also, they will no longer enjoy special treatment at the airport or in general.

Apart from that, the diplomats will be unable to use tinted glass on their official vehicles or use diplomatic registration plates on their private vehicles.

All diplomatic cargo will be strictly checked at the airports, and U.S. diplomats will be unable to use biometrically unverified cellphone sims, according to the notification.

Moreover, U.S. diplomats will need a non-objection certificate from the Interior Ministry before renting any property, local broadcaster ARY News reported.


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Question

Has America gone rogue?

Andrew J. Bacevich
Spectator USA
Wed, 09 May 2018 01:11 UTC
NetTrumpBinS
© Pinterest/Unknown/KJNThe company we keep...
How the abandonment of the Iran nuclear deal could mark the start of a Saudi-American-Israeli axis.

For the past year or so, in speaking to groups, I've ventured to suggest that Donald Trump will ultimately rank among the least consequential presidents in U.S. history. I did not intend that to be a laugh line.

Trump, I argued, was likely to end up being to the 21st century what James Buchanan was to the 19th and Warren G. Harding to the 20th - someone who, after occupying the White House for a time, departed and left nary a trace. In the end, Trump's defining traits - vulgarity, meanness, self-absorption, and apparently compulsive dishonesty - would count for little in the scales of history. So I believed.

Let me confess that I have now begun to entertain second thoughts. Trump's abrogation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the so-called Iran deal, easily qualifies as the most consequential decision of his administration. For once bluster is matched by action. Trump appears intent on making his mark after all.

In reaching this decision, Trump ignored the advice - make that, pleas - of traditional U.S. allies such as France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Instead, the president chose to heed the counsel of his new friends Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Viewed from this perspective, May 8, 2018 marks the inauguration of a Saudi-American-Israeli axis and a major realignment of U.S. strategic relationships.

Comment: Do we find it just a bit unsettling that the perpetrator-countries of 9/11 are uniting?

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Bad Guys

'Gruesome propaganda attempt': White House blames Hamas for Gaza deaths, Israel is to blame


RT
Mon, 14 May 2018 20:30 UTC
Palestinians
© Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / ReutersMourners carry the body of a Palestinian killed during a protest at the Israel-Gaza border, May 14, 2018.
The White House has accused Hamas of "gruesome propaganda" after Israeli forces killed over 50 Palestinians on the border between Gaza and Israel, as the US celebrated the transfer of its embassy to Jerusalem.

This is a "gruesome and unfortunate propaganda attempt" on part of Hamas, deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah told reporters on Monday, adding that Israel has the "right to defend itself."

"We believe that Hamas as an organization is engaged in cynical action leading to these deaths," Shah added.

Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, is the democratically elected government of the Gaza strip. Israel considers it a terrorist organization.

Comment: See also: 'This is state terror': Foes & allies criticize Israel's heavy handed force in wake of embassy move Funny, we've never heard the U.S. say this in response to allegations that the Syrians killed civilians in their war on al-Qaeda, for example in the alleged Douma chemical weapons attack:
This is a "gruesome and unfortunate propaganda attempt" on part of al-Qaeda, deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah told reporters on Monday, adding that Syria has the "right to defend itself."

"We believe that al-Qaeda as an organization is engaged in cynical action leading to these deaths," Shah added.
The difference, of course, is that it would be true in reference to Syria. It is not true in reference to Israel. Killing children and journalists with sniper fire, and hitting unarmed protesters in the knees with exploding rounds, is not "defending" oneself.

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