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© Tatyana Makeyeva / ReutersBritish embassy in Moscow, Russia
The ministry also handed a note of protest to the UK envoy over London's "provocative actions." The tit-for-tat measures by Moscow come amid a whirlwind campaign launched by London over the poisoning of Russian ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury earlier in March.
Top UK officials, including Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, promptly pinned the blame on Moscow, claiming that a military-grade nerve agent called A-234 (also known as 'Novichok') was used in the incident.
On Friday, the Russian FM summoned the heads of diplomatic missions from countries that had either already expelled or decided to expel Russian diplomats "in solidarity" with the UK over the Skripal case. All of them were handed notes of protest.
© Associated PressOn May 29, 2002, Director Mueller announced a new set of 10 priorities for the FBI and discussed the reorganization of the Bureau in response to the 9/11 attacks. Really?
Sixteen years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we still don't know what happened. How did a ragtag bunch of hijackers, armed only with box cutters, manage to gain control of those airliners? How did they get into the United States to begin with? Who supported them while they were here? Why didn't law enforcement - which had plenty of clues as to what they were up to - stop them? Prior to the attacks, our government spent billions on "anti-terrorist" programs designed to prevent precisely what occurred on September 11, 2001 - yet Mohammed Atta and his accomplices managed to slip through the cracks. How?
While some in our government may have at least partial knowledge, the American public doesn't know the answers to these questions.
What we do know, however, is that our lives were changed forever: propelled into a war without end, the United States launched attacks on Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere that are still ongoing. Thousands of Americans and an untold number of Afghans, Iraqis, and others - hundreds of thousands - have so far perished in what our generals tell us will be a "generational" conflict with no discernible end in sight.
Comment:
- Lawsuit: Saudi Arabia suspected of funding a 'dry run' 2 years prior to 9/11 attacks
- Widow of 9/11 victim letter to Trump: Saudis should be held accountable for 'role in murdering 3,000'
- With friends like these: Saudis demand US court reject lawsuit showing they funded 9/11
- Navy widow first to sue Saudi Arabia over 9/11 attacks, hundreds more set to follow
- About time! 800 families file lawsuit against Saudi Arabia for role in 9/11
- Dancing Israelis on 9/11 points to the real criminals of that day: 'Our purpose was to document the event'
- The Real Bogeyman: To What Extent Was Mossad Involved in the Events Leading to 9/11?
- Israeli involvement in 9/11: The Israeli military aircraft company tied to 9/11
- Is the Saudi 9/11 story part of the deception?
- It takes a psychopathic village: The pathocratic agents, military personnel and politicians who helped facilitate and cover-up 9/11 (VIDEOS)
© XinhuaPHOTO: Reports said Kim Jong-un and his wife visited China from Sunday until Wednesday
Comparing Socialism With Chinese Characteristics For A New Era With Modern Juche
Xi Jinping offered warm words comparing the economic and social strides China has taken according to Xi Jinping Thought with the DPRK's generally under-reported economic expansion, infrastructural boom and social improvements made under the leadership of Kim Jong-un. In spite of sanctions the DPRK economy has widely expanded in recent years.
According to the official Chinese report of the meeting, Xi Jinping proposed the following four steps to further enhance bilateral relations:
© GettyLord Falconer (left) called Tony Blair within minutes of David Kelly's body being found, claims new book
The claim was a major plank of the former Prime Minister's argument to join the USA in an invasion of the country.
The case has sparked a number of conspiracy theories that Dr Kelly was murdered by the intelligence services.
Now in his new book, An Inconvenient Death - How The Establishment Covered Up The David Kelly Affair, Mr Goslett investigates the actions of the Government after Dr Kelly, 59, was found dead at Harrowdown Hill, two miles from his home in Southmoor, Oxfordshire, on July 18 2003.
© Rentv.ruSaif al-Islam Gaddafi
As a result, after seven years in shadow, Libya has come back into the spotlight.
The last breaking news about Libya was the murder of Muammar Gaddafi.
Gaddafi had to die...
And not only because Libya has oil. Gaddafi had too many ambitions, gold and water. And also oil.
His ambitions helped him to turn the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (this is how Libya was called under Gaddafi) into a successful socially-oriented state, where the doll was 900 Libyan dinars, while one liter of petrol cost just 0.18 LYD.
Gaddafi was the first to move away from USD and EUR. At that time, neither Russia nor China could afford that. In 2010, Gaddafi suggested establishing a united African state, where 200 million people would use a single currency - the gold dinar. Africa welcomed that idea, unlike Europe and the United States.
It was Gaddafi who carried out Great Man-made River (GMMR), a $28bn project to pump drinking water from Nubia to the north of Libya. That project made Libya much worthier. And no single European or U.S. company was involved in it - only Dong Ah Construction from South Korea and ENKA from Turkey.
On Sept 1, 2010, when launching one more pipeline of GMMR, Gaddafi said that that achievement would certainly annoy the United States. And he was right: on Feb 15, 2011, a revolt in Benghazi grew into a civil war and cost Gaddafi his life.
Comment: There could be some hope for Libya, after all - assuming that Saif Gaddafi defends his father's ideals for the country, and that Khalifa Haftar does not double-cross him. There would also be some divine justice if Libya ends up establishing a better relationship with Russia than with the West, as the article suggest. But lets not get ahead of ourselves; many dirty tricks are sure to still come Libya's way. See:
- Libya: US launches airstrike, kills Al-Qaeda chief
- CIA operative Khalifa Haftar continues war crimes in Libya, threatens Toubou tribe
- It's official: Gaddafi's son is running for Libya's presidency
- Reality Check: Obama and Clinton to blame for slave trade in Libya?
- Where did Libya's money go? Millions of 'frozen funds' went to unknown beneficiaries in Belgium
© Unknown/KJN
Yulia Skripal no longer in critical condition, say Salisbury doctors
The condition of Yulia Skripal, who was poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury along with her father, is improving rapidly, doctors have said. Salisbury NHS foundation trust said on Thursday the 33-year-old was no longer in a critical condition, describing her medical state as stable. Christine Blanshard, medical director for Salisbury district hospital, said: "I'm pleased to be able to report an improvement in the condition of Yulia Skripal. She has responded well to treatment but continues to receive expert clinical care 24 hours a day." Her father's condition is still described by the hospital as critical but stable.Only yesterday the Skripals chances to survive was claimed to be 1 out of 99. Nerve agents are deadly weapons. A dose of ten milligram of the U.S. developed VX nerve agent will kill 50% of those exposed to it. The 'Novichok' agents are said to be several times more deadly than VX.
It seems less and less likely that the British government claim about 'Novichok' poisoning is actually true. Way more likely are other explanations, for example food poisoning or an allergic shock soon after eating out at a fish restaurant.
The claims of a nerve agent and 'Novichok' seem to have been taken from the script of the British-American spy drama Strike Back (clip) which recently ran on British and U.S. TV. The sole purpose of the 'Novichok' drama is to implicate and damage Russia.
© Zero HedgeUS Representative, Hawaii's 2nd District, Democrat Tulsi Gabbard
Like so many of my fellow veterans who served in Iraq, I witnessed the cost of war firsthand during my 12-month tour in 2005. This was a major motivation for me to offer to serve in Congress - so that I could do everything possible to prevent our country from making such disastrous and costly foreign policy decisions again. The cost of such wars are borne by US troops who are put into harm's way, who make the ultimate sacrifice, and those who come home with both visible and invisible wounds. It is borne by the American people, whose taxpayer dollars are spent by the trillions on these counterproductive regime change wars, and the inevitable nation-building that follows, while our communities languish with failing infrastructure, resource-strapped schools, and too many who still lack access to quality healthcare. Yet, the Washington interventionist foreign policy establishment, which has persisted through both Democrat and Republican administrations, remains unmoved by the costly and counterproductive failures of Iraq, Libya, and Syria, and they continue increasing the drumbeat of war.
© Peter Nicholls / ReutersEquadorian Embassy
"This is about a war on freedom of speech; this man is being denied the most basic right - freedom of speech. It's part of a wider war. The wider war is against known enemies, and Russia is one of them, China is another," investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker John Pilger said.
Earlier this week, the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where Assange has been holed up since 2012, cut off all communications for the WikiLeaks founder, blocking his internet access and not allowing any visitors. A source close to WikiLeaks told RT that Ecuador cut Assange's internet due to his tweet about the arrest of former Catalan leader Carlos Puigdemont in Germany.
Pilger argued that the way the Western media - instead of doing its job, blindly sided with the official narrative - framed the events in Salisbury is another instance in the same global propaganda effort. "It's part of the propaganda war that the attack in Salisbury represents. Here we have Russian diplomats being expelled all over the world on the basis of no evidence."
Watch RT's full interview with John Pilger on YouTube:
Comment: Propaganda has been in play for many decades, but the current level has broken the mold. The PTB are systematically destroying what is left of real and honorable journalism, restricting and censoring information and punishing outlets that genuinely report the news.
© Alex Wong/Getty ImagesAG Jeff Sessions
In a letter to leaders of the House and Senate judiciary and oversight committees on Thursday, Sessions named US attorney John Huber of Utah as the federal prosecutor tasked with probing the FBI's investigations into Hillary Clinton and the bureau's alleged abuse of surveillance to spy on a Trump campaign adviser.
"I am confident that Mr. Huber's review will include a full, complete, and objective evaluation of these matters in a manner that is consistent with the law and the facts," Sessions wrote.
The letter comes a day after the announcement that the DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz would be looking into the FBI's "relationship and communications" with the confidential source in relation to the bureau's application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).
Comment: See also:
- Trump calls for independent special investigator for Clinton crimes after FBI and DOJ "whitewash"
- Republicans call on Sessions to set up second special counsel to investigate Obama and Killary actions during '16 election
- Sessions might appoint 2nd special prosecutor to investigate possible crimes in growing scandals
- Case for and against an FBI/DOJ special counsel investigation
Comment: What a cynical and arrogant entity the US government has become.