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US still paying White Helmets despite $200mn freeze for Syria's aid in recovery, State Dept confirms


RT
Fri, 20 Apr 2018 16:29 UTC
White Helmets
© Mohamad Abazeed / AFP
As the US is reviewing funding aimed at helping war-ravaged Syria rebuild, it's not neglecting the White Helmets - a controversial militant-linked group instrumental to the media campaign against Assad and Russia.

At a Thursday press briefing, journalists asked US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert for an update on the late-March freeze of $200 million earmarked for the recovery of Syria - and if that means Washington will be withholding payments to the White Helmets.

Nauert opened her response with a gushing comment about the organization. "We recognize and appreciate and are very grateful for all the work that the White Helmets continues to do on behalf of the people of their country and on behalf of the US Government and all the coalition forces. They're doing incredible work in rescuing in some cases, and in other cases it's recovery efforts. They're an incredible group of individuals," she said.

Moreover, she said she "just exchanged emails with them the other day." Finally cornered into giving a direct answer, she said "As far as I'm aware, all of the work still continues. Peoples' bills are still being paid."

Comment: See also:

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Info

Russian FM Lavrov: After US-led strikes, Russia has 'no moral barriers' on S-300 deliveries to Syria


RT
Fri, 20 Apr 2018 17:49 UTC
An S-300PS air defense system
© Vladislav Belogrud / SputnikAn S-300PS air defense system
Following the US-led bombardment of Syria last week over an alleged chemical attack by Damascus, Russia says it has no reason to not supply its S-300 missile system to Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

Moscow agreed with its international partners about 10 years ago to not deliver the S-300 to Damascus. "We took into consideration their argument that this would destabilize the situation, despite the missile systems being a purely defensive system," Lavrov said in an interview to RIA Novosti.

But given the latest spiraling of the crisis - in particular the use of the alleged Douma chemical attack as pre-text for striking Syria - things may take a U-turn. While around a decade ago, Moscow "heeded"the calls of its partners and put the deliveries on hold, the Russian foreign minister said it now has "no such moral obligation."

Comment: And who, pray tell, is this primarily directed against? Israel. Syrian S-300s will mean Israel will no longer be able to violate Syrian airspace or even fire missiles from across the border. And if there's one thing Israel hates, it is not being able to unilaterally attack its neighbors: Israeli Defense Minister Lieberman claims right of 'total freedom of action' in Syrian airspace

Several cargo ships that arrived to Syria's Tartus from Russia were unloaded under the guise of smokescreen.
Several cargo ships entered the Syrian port of Tartus, where the Russian naval base is located. It is believed that the vessels have arrived from the Russian port of Novorossiysk, but nothing is known about the cargo that the ships are carrying on board, news.com.au reports with reference to sources in Syria.

It was said that the ships were unloaded secretly, under the guise of a smokescreen. In addition, there was special gas sprayed in the unloading area of the port to jam satellite and UAV tracking systems.

The Russian ships may have delivered military hardware to Syria, for example, S-300 air defense systems and other arms. Russia promised to supply air defenses complexes to the Syrian government after the recent missile attack that the Western coalition conducted on the country on April 14.
See also: Russian General Staff: Russia mulls supplying S-300 missile systems to Syria after US-led strikes

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Георгиевская ленточка

Russian Foreign Ministry: Skripals poisoning 'highly likely' staged by British intelligence


RT
Fri, 20 Apr 2018 16:36 UTC
hazmat suits Sergey Skripal
© Ben Stansall / Agence France-PresseAll a big show? Salisbury, southern England, March 8, 2018
The UK's behavior after the Skripal incident suggests that the attack was organized by the British spy agencies or was at least beneficial for them, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

"It was highly likely that the false-flag incident with the poisoning of the Russian citizens in Salisbury was beneficial for, or perhaps organized by, the British intelligence services in order to mar Russia and its political leadership," Zakharova told a news conference in Moscow on Thursday, markedly using the same phrase regarding probability as London officials and their allies.

Comment: What's sauce for the goose . . . the Brits certainly are acting as if they have something to hide.

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Pirates

Political murders rise in Mexico as over 82 candidates killed since election season began in September

Breck Dumas
The Blaze
Thu, 19 Apr 2018 04:58 UTC
Mexican elections 2018
© Francisco Robles/AFP/GettyPoliticians and candidates in Mexico fear for their lives as political murders continue to rise. Since Mexico's election season began in September, at least 82 candidates and politicians have been murdered.
Since Mexico's election season began in September, at least 82 candidates and politicians have been murdered, according to Reuters and security consulting firm Etellekt.

Most of the slain were local candidates, and most were shot to death in unsolved murders.

Given the power of Mexico's drug cartels, it's unsurprising that the victims of these assassinations come from an array of political parties. Experts believe that gangs are behind the killings in an effort to intimidate lawmakers - and further infiltrate the government with politicians who are corruptible and will show them favor.

"Criminal gangs want to be sure that in the next government, they can maintain their power networks, which is why they are increasing attacks," Vincente Sanchez, a professor of public administration at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana, told The Daily Mail.

Comment: Even ordinary citizens live in fear as drug cartels and splinter gangs have turned Mexico into one of the most dangerous countries in Latin America:

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Hiliter

Flashback Uranium One scandal: 7 explosive facts the MSM has already confirmed

Jerome Hudson
Breitbart
Fri, 20 Oct 2017 15:38 UTC
Bill and Hillary Clinton
© Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images
Hillary Clinton claimed on Monday that the Uranium One scandal engulfing herself and the Obama administration has all been "debunked."

"It's the same baloney they've been peddling for years, and there's been no credible evidence by anyone," said Clinton.

At issue: why Hillary Clinton's State Department approved the transfer of 20 percent of all U.S. uranium to Putin's Russia and why nine foreign investors in the deal funneled $145 million to Hillary Clinton's foundation.

Far from being "debunked," several mainstream media outlets have confirmed key facts related to the Uranium One scandal-a story first broken by Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Peter Schweizer in his New York Times bestselling book, Clinton Cash.

Comment: See also: 7 Uranium One facts every American should know

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Snakes in Suits

May facing renewed allegations of 'misleading Parliament', denies responsibility for plight of Windrush immigrants

Omar Baggili
RT
Fri, 20 Apr 2018 07:30 UTC
Theresa May
© Reuters
Theresa May is facing renewed accusations of "misleading Parliament" after wrongly blaming the last Labour government for overseeing the destruction of thousands of landing cards belonging to the Windrush generation of immigrants.

RT looks at the current scandal, and asks whether the prime minister has misled Parliament before.

Windrush landing cards debacle

In Parliament on Wednesday, the PM denied any personal responsibility for the scandal that has left thousands of Caribbean migrants fearing for their right to remain in a country whose government had invited them to become British citizens after the Second World War.

In a fiery exchange at PMQ's, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn asked the PM: "Yesterday, we learned in 2010 the Home Office destroyed the landing cards for a generation of Commonwealth citizens and so have told people, 'we can't find you in our system'. Did the prime minister, the then-home secretary, sign off that decision?"

May replied: "No, the decision to destroy the landing cards was taken in 2009 under a Labour government."

Comment: For more background on the Windrush scandal: The Windrush generation and why decades later the UK government slyly tried to deport them

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Bandaid

Hold the cheers on US/North Korea summit, says Stephen Lendman

Stephen Lendman
Stephen Lendman's Blog
Thu, 19 Apr 2018 14:23 UTC
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un greets Chung Eui-yong, head of the presidential National Security Office
© The Presidential Blue House/Yonhap via / ReutersNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un greets Chung Eui-yong, head of the presidential National Security Office, in Pyongyang, North Korea, March 6, 2018
A US summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may or may not happen, Trump saying:

"If we don't think it's going to be successful, we won't have it... If I think that if it's a meeting that is not going to be fruitful we're not going to go. If the meeting when I'm there is not fruitful, I will respectfully leave the meeting," adding:

"Just because North Korea is responding to dialogue, there should be no reward. Maximum pressure should be maintained," above all, demanding the DPRK "denuclearizes."

Ahead of a possible Kim/Trump summit, an April 27 inter-Korean one will be the first since 2007, only the third one since the peninsula was divided post-WW II.

Both countries are in talks to formally declare an end to the 1950s war, replacing an uneasy armistice, an important agreement if concluded.

Comment: Trump is trying to play the Art of the Deal again - but this is not a business transaction. It is politics and it involves nuclear weapons, the only guarantee that North Korea has that it will not go Iraq or Libya's way.

See also:

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Bug

Flashback Hillary and Obama at the center of the web

J Marsolo
American Thinker
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 13:56 UTC
HillaryObama
© CNN.com
Each day we learn about more corruption that occurred during the Obama administration. We know about the lies of Benghazi, the use of the IRS to target conservative groups, and the lies about Fast and Furious. It has been forgotten as old news, and was ignored by the mainstream media.

We learned about Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe's wife taking over $700,000 in campaign contributions from Clinton's money man, Terry McCauliffe, for a minor state office. McCabe has been forced to resign, which is a discharge in employment law, presumably because of his involvement in the $700,000 coupled with the FISA warrant to spy on Trump associates, his meetings with FBI agents Peter Strzok and Linda Page, his role in whitewashing the investigation of Hillary's email scandal, and the expected IG report.

We learned that Comey wrote the exoneration letter before he interviewed Hillary and other witnesses, how the letter was edited to remove Obama's name as the recipient of Hillary's emails from her unsecure email system, and how the letter was changed from "grossly negligent," which is in the statute, to "extremely careless."

We learned that the unverified Steele "dossier," paid for by Hillary, was most likely used in the application to get a FISA warrant to spy on Trump associates.

Comment: True, but ultimately Obama and Hillary were protected because they served the agenda of what is known as the Deep State

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Light Sabers

About time! GOP issues criminal referrals for Comey, Clinton, Lynch & McCabe

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 20 Apr 2018 11:53 UTC
Lynch Comey Clinton Strzok
Eleven GOP members of Congress led by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) have written a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Attorney John Huber, and FBI Director Christopher Wray - asking them to investigate former FBI Director James Comey, Hillary Clinton and others - including FBI lovebirds Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, for a laundry list of potential crimes surrounding the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Recall that Sessions paired special prosecutor John Huber with DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz - falling short of a second Special Counsel, but empowering Horowitz to fully investigate allegations of FBI FISA abuse with subpoena power and other methods he was formerly unable to utilize.

Comment: One would think such a major development in the 'Russiagate' narrative would warrant some mainstream coverage. But, as Ray McGovern notes:
With no attention from corporate media, the referral was sent to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah John Huber. Sessions appointed Huber months ago to assist DOJ Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz. By most accounts, Horowitz is doing a thoroughly professional job. As IG, however, Horowitz lacks the authority to prosecute; he needs a U.S. Attorney for that. And this has to be disturbing to the alleged perps.

This is no law-school case-study exercise, no arcane disputation over the fine points of this or that law. Rather, as we say in the inner-city, "It has now hit the fan." Criminal referrals can lead to serious jail time. Granted, the upper-crust luminaries criminally "referred" enjoy very powerful support. And that will come especially from the mainstream media, which will find it hard to retool and switch from Russia-gate to the much more delicate and much less welcome "FBI-gate."


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War Whore

Macron's 'super precise' strike: 12 French missiles launched at Syria, many fail to fire


RT
Fri, 20 Apr 2018 11:53 UTC
french rafale jet scalp cruise missile
© mbda-systems.comFrench Rafale jet with a Storm-Shadow / SCALP cruise missile
The French Navy had to use a backup warship to fire three cruise missiles at Syria after a planned barrage failed to launch. The airborne missiles had issues, too, with at least one of the ten failing to fire properly.

France took part last Friday night in the US-led missile attack against Syria over an alleged chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma. The French contribution to the "punishment" of the Syrian government for what may have well been a fabrication, was relatively small: three naval versions of MBDA's Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles and nine airborne missiles of the same model, launched by five Rafale fighter jets. Apparently, not everything went as planned.

Comment: Further reading: F.UK.US Airstrikes in Syria an 'Own Goal' for US - Joe Quinn on PressTV

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