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Trump's chief trade negotiator threatens to sink NAFTA


RT
Tue, 06 Mar 2018 11:46 UTC
Robert Lighthizer Chrystia Freeland Ildefonso Guajard
© Edgard Garrido / ReutersUS Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer leaves the room next to Canadian FM Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, March 5, 2018
President Donald Trump's chief trade negotiator has threatened to scupper the free trade deal with Canada and Mexico if no changes are made. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said bilateral accords could replace it.

On Monday, Lighthizer warned that time was running "very short" for the talks in Mexico City to finalize changes to the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). "We would prefer a three-way tripartite agreement," he said, but: "If that proves impossible, we are prepared to move on a bilateral basis."

The Washington envoy held out exemptions from the looming tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent imported aluminum, which are set to be formally announced this week, as an incentive for the two neighboring countries to agree on a new deal.

Comment: Further reading:

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Info

Theresa May becomes an unintentional comedian during train wreck Brexit address (VIDEO)


RT
Tue, 06 Mar 2018 09:22 UTC
Theresa May
© Frank Augstein / Reuters
You can forgive Labour MPs for trying to make the most of having to sit through yet another Theresa May Brexit speech. The opposition benches laughed and jeered the PM as she rehashed the platitudes from her Mansion House talk.

Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow was forced to reign in rowdy politicians during UK Prime Minister Theresa May's statement. Despite Bercow's call for order, the UK PM was still met with laughs, cheers, and jeers throughout her now-familiar spiel.

May, who is often accused of making obscure, lightweight comments on Brexit, attempted to make at least one thing clear: a bespoke trade agreement with the EU is not "cherry-picking." After May's address drew laughter from Labour MPs, she paused to allow time for the brief anarchy to die down.

Comment: Wasn't Theresa May supposed to be getting the boot?

See also:

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Pirates

UK's billions in arms deals to Saudi Arabia make it "utterly complicit in the destruction of Yemen" (VIDEO)


RT
Mon, 05 Mar 2018 12:00 UTC
yemen
Yemen
The UK's arms deals with Saudi Arabia make it "utterly complicit in the destruction of Yemen," according to Campaign Against Arms Trade's (CAAT) Andrew Smith. The activist was speaking on RT's Going Underground.

The government has signed off on billions of pounds worth of arms deals with Saudi Arabia, one of the UK's largest weapons importers. The kingdom is leading the coalition that is conducting an air-and-sea campaign against Houthi forces in Yemen. The fighting has led to 10,000 deaths and left millions more in need of humanitarian aid.


Comment: The UK is doing much more than arms deals: UK secretly training Saudi troops for war on Yemen, 'against Geneva conventions'


The relationship is such that the kingdom's powerful 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman will visit the UK on March 7. Bin Salman's visit, which will also include being entertained by the royals in Windsor, is expected to be the precursor for further UK-Saudi arms deals.

Comment: With the war on Yemen still ongoing, the causality count is likely to be much higher.

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Vader

'Operational pause, but US airstrikes in the area are continuing': Turkish offensive in Syria's Afrin forces US to halt anti-ISIS battle


RT
Tue, 06 Mar 2018 09:11 UTC
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters
© Goran Tomasevic / ReutersSyrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters
Some US-aligned militias have switched their priorities to battle the Turkish-led offensive in Afrin instead of fighting ISIS terrorists, the Pentagon said, announcing a "pause" in ground operations in eastern Syria.

On January 20, Turkey, with the help of the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA), launched Operation Olive Branch, a massive cross-border operation to clear Kurdish militias and remnants of jihadist fighters from Afrin, Syria. For over a month, the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the backbone of which is formed by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), have split their efforts between battling the Turkish incursion and supporting the US agenda in northern Syria.

On Monday, the Pentagon spokesman Colonel Robert Manning acknowledged that the Turkish offensive had affected the US-led fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists on the ground, effectively leading to an "operational pause."

Ground operations against Islamic State in the Euphrates River Valley have been temporarily suspended, Manning told reporters, stressing, however, that US airstrikes in the area are continuing.

Comment: As the terrorists' defense collapses in the Syrian region of Eastern Ghouta, Washington has increased its diplomatic acivity blaiming and shaming the Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance for combating terrorist groups [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), Ahrar al-Sham and others] in the area.
White House Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on March 4 that Moscow had ingored the terms of the UN resolution on a ceasefire in Syria causing deaths among civilians in Eastern Ghouta. However, Sanders forgot to mention that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other militant groups linked to it and cooperating with it closely are exlcuded from the terms of the ceasefire.

Leonid Slutsky, a chairman of the Russian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, said that Sanders' statement "is another unproven lie not backed by any facts."

"The US takes advantage of the principle of Joseph Goebbels, a German Nazi politician and propaganda minister of the Third Reich, who said that if a lie is big enough, people will eventually come to believe it," the politician said, according to the Russian state-run media outlet TASS. "The true US goal in this situation is shaking off its own responsibility for the deaths among the civilian population killed by terrorists of the Islamic State (outlawed in Russia), and the US played a role in its creation."
The Russian foreign minister on Monday said that Western states are demonstrating a lack of negotiability by their stance on the Syrian crisis, as their actions on the ground are in violation of UNSC Resolution 2401.
"The major clause of this resolution requires that all - I emphasize, all - the parties to the Syrian conflict agree on a ceasefire in order to provide at least a 30-day pause for delivery of humanitarian aid," Lavrov said at a press conference in Namibia, adding that Damascus is being pressured to stop its military operation despite it targeting al-Nusra Front militants who are not covered by the truce regime.

He went on to say Russia has mounting evidence that "Western partners, especially the United States, would like to take the heat off al-Nusra Front, which has now changed its name - but this does not mean it has changed its nature - and save it, in case they decide to return to plan 'B,' which is to change the regime in Damascus."
Newly-released satellite images display ISIS convoys move freely under the US-led coalition watch to fight the Syrian forces in eastern Syria.
The images, taken from the 3rd of December 2017, show scores of ISIS militants moving in their technical vehicles from Raqqa to Deir Ezzor countryside, where they arrived at Hajin and Gharanij towns (200km away from Raqqa) to fight the Syrian Army troops.

This - according to sources - was done following a clandestine deal made between the US and the terror group.

ISIS-convoys
© Zen Adra | AMNISIS convoys
ISIS convoys
© Zen Adra | AMNISIS convoys


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Arrow Up

'The outcomes are not disappointing': Kim Jong-un reaches 'satisfactory agreement' with South Korean delegation


RT
Tue, 06 Mar 2018 08:19 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
The leader of North Korea hosted a dinner with the delegation from Seoul which, according to state media, proceeded in a "compatriotic and sincere atmosphere" and laid the ground for versatile dialogue and cooperation.

Hearing the intention of President Moon Jae In for a summit from the special envoy of the south side, [Kim Jong-un] exchanged views and made a satisfactory agreement," North Korea's official KCNA news agency reported on Tuesday. However, no further details of the "agreement" were provided.

Kim Jong-un also reportedly reaffirmed his "firm will to vigorously advance the north-south relations and write a new history of national reunification," and instructed relevant authorities to "rapidly take practical steps" to accelerate the talks.

The sides also emphasized the importance of the new momentum in national reconciliation that was achieved during the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

Comment: See also:

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Handcuffs

Getting away from Mueller: 'Crazy' Trump aide refuses subpoena on TV


RT
Tue, 06 Mar 2018 00:55 UTC
Sam Nunberg
© MSNBC screenshotFormer Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg appeared on multiple cable channels
Is he crazy, or crazy like a fox? One-time Trump aide Sam Nunberg went on every major network to declare that he would not comply with a subpoena by special counsel Robert Mueller, leaving Washington insiders confused.

A grand jury subpoena demands Nunberg's appearance on Friday this week, and seeks documents he has related to the Trump campaign, including emails, correspondence, invoices, telephone logs, calendars and "records of any kind" with nine other people. Mueller is investigating allegations that President Donald Trump and his campaign somehow "colluded" with Russia during the 2016 election.

In response, Nunberg opened up to the Washington Post, Fox News, CNN and MSNBC - to proclaim he will not comply.

"Let him arrest me," Nunberg said. "Mr. Mueller should understand I am not going in on Friday."
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Star of David

Third associate of Netanyahu's signs state witness deal in corruption investigation


The National
Mon, 05 Mar 2018 22:39 UTC
Nir Hefetz corruption investigation Netanyahu
© AP Photo/Ariel SchalitNir Hefetz, a longtime media adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to testify against the prime minister in a burgeoning corruption case, becoming the third former aide to turn against the Israeli leader in a series of scandals and casting a shadow over a high-profile visit to the White House.
An ex-aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signed a state witness deal in a corruption probe linked to his former boss, Israeli media reported on Monday, dealing a new setback to the leader.

News of the agreement broke ahead of Mr Netanyahu's meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House later on Monday.

The widely reported agreement between Israeli authorities and Nir Hefetz, a former spokesman for the Netanyahu family, comes as corruption investigations into the prime minister intensify.

Israeli police provided no details on the reported agreement. Mr Hefetz would be the third Netanyahu associate to sign a state witness deal in recent months.

Comment: If this corruption investigation actually proves to be Netanyahu's undoing, it will be richly deserved.

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Star of David

Israel accused of illegally spraying toxic herbicides on Palestinian farmlands, destroying crops and contaminating water supply

Rachel Blevins
The Free Thought Project
Mon, 05 Mar 2018 23:50 UTC
israel sprays toxic herbicides palestinian farms
Israel is being accused of destroying Palestinian crops by spraying excessive toxic herbicides that damaged both their food and water supply.
Israel is being accused of illegally spraying toxic herbicides on Palestinian farmlands along the border between the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories, causing significant damage to Palestine's agricultural crops.

Nearly 2 million Palestinians live on the Gaza Strip, which has been officially occupied by Israel since 2007. While Israel claimed that it was just using its planes to get rid of weeds and extra grass along the border with Palestinian territory, Palestinian officials have criticized the interference.

"These chemicals cause damage to agricultural crops and harm farmlands. Israel has no right to spray herbicides on Palestinian farmlands," Nizar al-Wahedi of the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry told the Anadolu Agency.

Comment: Gaza is little more than an open-air prison where the 'only democracy in the Middle East' has succeeded in creating conditions that could rival the worst of concentration camps:

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Star of David

The lies Israel's 'moral' army must tell itself

Jonathan Cook
The National
Mon, 05 Mar 2018 22:51 UTC
IDF soldiers checkpoint West bank
© Hazem Bader / Agence France-PresseIsraeli soldiers at a temporary checkpoint in the occupied West Bank.
It is has been a very bad week for those claiming Israel has the most moral army in the world. Here's a small sample of abuses of Palestinians in recent days in which the Israeli army was caught lying: a child horrifically injured by soldiers was arrested and terrified into signing a false confession that he was hurt in a bicycle accident. A man who, it was claimed, had died of tear-gas inhalation was actually shot at point-blank range, then savagely beaten by a mob of soldiers and left to die. Soldiers threw a tear gas canister at a Palestinian couple, baby in arms, as they fled for safety during a military invasion of their village.

In the early 2000s, at the dawn of the social media revolution, Israelis used to dismiss filmed evidence of brutality by their soldiers as fakery. It was what they called "Pallywood" - a conflation of Palestinian and Hollywood.

In truth, however, it was the Israeli military, not the Palestinians, that needed to manufacture a more convenient version of reality.
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X

'A rich tradition': Kremlin points out US meddling in elections can be seen around the world


TASS
Mon, 05 Mar 2018 22:05 UTC
Russian ballot box elections
© Sergei Malgavko/TASS
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has redirected a question about meddling attempts in the electoral process in Russia to the Foreign Ministry. By the same token, he remarked that Washington had what he described as a "rich tradition" of interfering in elections in other countries, including Russia.

"As you may know, this question should be addressed to the Foreign Ministry. Apparently it would be not appropriate for us to comment on a Foreign Ministry statement," Peskov explained.

"That the United States has a rich tradition of meddling in the internal affairs and electoral processes in many countries throughout the world, including our country, is not a secret for anyone. This was acknowledged by the Americans themselves."

Comment: Russia, as well as every other country, has the right to protect itself from covert US imperialism.

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