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Kurdish President Barzani offers to postpone independence vote under certain conditions


Sputnik
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 15:15 UTC
Massoud Barzani
© AP Photo/ SAFIN HAMEDIraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani.
Negotiations over the controversial referendum vote for a fully autonomous Kurdistan in northern Iraq are heating up as its September 25 date draws near.

Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani made a vow Wednesday to scrap the upcoming vote on the condition that the international community promise, in exchange, to accept the results of a future vote.

"Such guarantees should be first from the Iraqi government and the Iraqi parliament," Barzani told the Arshaq al-Awsat newspaper. Next, he would seek "the guarantee of the United States and the international coalition as well as European Union and the United Nations."

The vote for a fully autonomous Kurdistan has been met with protests from Baghdad, Washington and Ankara.
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US-led forces confirm 'unintentional killing' of 61 more civilians in Iraq and Syria


RT
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 14:30 UTC
Smoke rises from an air strike in the Old City of Mosul
© Alaa Al-Marjani / ReutersSmoke rises from an air strike in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq July 9, 2017.
The US-led coalition fighting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has confirmed another 61 "unintentional civilian deaths" caused by its strikes in Iraq and Syria, raising the number of civilians it has acknowledged killing since 2014 to at least 685.

The coalition said in a statement, released on Friday, that during the month of July, it had investigated 37 reports of civilian casualties. "[of these] 13 were accessed to be credible resulting in 61 unintentional civilian deaths."

The coalition is currently investigating a total of 455 reports of civilian casualties caused by its artillery or air strikes, the statement said.

It has acknowledged at least 685 civilian deaths caused by its operations since August 2014.

"To date, based on information available, CJTF-OIR [Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve] assesses that, it is more likely than not, at least 685 civilians have been unintentionally killed by Coalition strikes since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve," the statement said, noting that the coalition takes all reports of civilian casualties "seriously and assesses all reports as thoroughly as possible."


Comment: Perhaps not seriously enough: 'Destruction, not liberation': US-led coalition spares no civilian lives in Raqqa siege

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HAL9000

Putin to Russian children on Knowledge Day: 'Whoever leads in AI will rule the world'


RT
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 14:27 UTC
Vladimir Putin
© Alexei Druzhinin / Sputnik
Vladimir Putin spoke with students about science in an open lesson on September 1, the start of the school year in Russia. He told them that "the future belongs to artificial intelligence," and whoever masters it first will rule the world.

"Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world," Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

However, the president said he would not like to see anyone "monopolize" the field.

"If we become leaders in this area, we will share this know-how with the entire world, the same way we share our nuclear technologies today," he told students from across Russia via satellite link-up, speaking from the Yaroslavl region.
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Dollars

Putin: Russia and BRICS to counter 'excessive domination' of certain few reserve currencies


RT
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 14:07 UTC
BRICS Summit
© Jason Lee / Reuters
Russia wants to promote economic cooperation within the BRICS format. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, there has been a number of practical achievements in the work of the five-nation bloc.

BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

In an open letter published ahead of the 9th BRICS Summit in China, Putin expressed confidence the BRICS countries will continue to act against protectionism and new barriers to global trade.

"We value the BRICS countries' consensus on this issue, which allows us to more consistently advocate the foundations of an open, equal and mutually beneficial multilateral trade system and to strengthen the role of the WTO as the key regulator in international trade," wrote Putin.

He added that Russia shares the BRICS countries' concerns over the "unfairness of the global financial and economic architecture, which does not give due regard to the growing weight of the emerging economies."
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Info

WSJ reports White House to block Russian ownership in major American oil company


RT
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 14:02 UTC
Citgo gas station
© Eduardo Munoz / Reuters
US President Donald Trump's administration wants to prevent Russian oil major Rosneft's takeover of Venezuela-owned American firm Citgo, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Citgo accounts for about five percent of US crude oil refining capacity. The Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has offered nearly half of Citgo's shares to the Russian oil major as collateral for a $1.5 billion loan.

According to the paper, the White House regards the deal as a threat to the national interests of the United States.

A second senior US official told the WSJ the Treasury "will ensure that the national security of the US is protected and if it gets to that, I'm sure a very thorough review will be conducted by that panel." He was referring to the law that gives the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US the right to block foreign investments if they are considered as a potential threat to the country's security.

Rosneft is included in the US list of sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.
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Attention

Putin's concern on N. Korea crisis: Tensions 'balancing on brink of large-scale conflict'


RT
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 13:56 UTC
Vladimir Putin
© Aleksey Nikolskyi / Sputnik
Attempts to pressure North Korea into stopping its nuclear missile program through sanctions are "misguided and futile," Russian President Vladimir Putin warned, adding that threats and provocations would only add more fuel to the fire.

"The situation on the Korean Peninsula, where tensions have grown recently, is balancing on the brink of a large-scale conflict. Russia believes that the policy of putting pressure on Pyongyang to stop its nuclear missile program is misguided and futile," Putin, who is due to attend a summit of the BRICS nations in China next week, wrote ahead of his trip.

"The region's problems should only be settled through a direct dialogue of all the parties concerned without any preconditions. Provocations, pressure and militarist and insulting rhetoric are a dead-end road," he noted.

Russia and China have created a roadmap for a settlement on the Korean Peninsula that is designed to promote the gradual easing of tensions and the creation of a mechanism for lasting peace and security, the Russian leader added.
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Attention

'Destruction, not liberation': US-led coalition spares no civilian lives in Raqqa siege


RT
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 12:22 UTC
Raqqa civilians
© Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
The US-led coalition's bombing campaign is responsible for most civilian deaths inside ISIS-controlled Raqqa, a local journalist told RT, providing a rare look inside the devastated city, where the UN says residents are paying an "unacceptable" price.

SDF militants, supported by the US-led coalition, launched the offensive in Raqqa province in November last year. In June, the fighting progressed towards the Islamic State-besieged city, the de facto capital of the self-proclaimed terrorist caliphate.

According to UN estimates made public Wednesday, around 25,000 civilians are still trapped in Raqqa, and are being slaughtered in the crossfire between the sides in the ongoing battle. The UN estimates that some 27 civilians are killed in Raqqa daily.
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Bad Guys

Syrian rebel defector from At-Tanf says his US-trained unit sold arms to ISIS


RT
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 12:14 UTC
Syrian soldier
© Rodi Said
Not only were the US-backed 'moderate' militants in southern Syria never meant to fight ISIS, but their commanders actually traded US-made weapons and ammunition to terrorists, a rebel defector claimed in an interview with Rossiya-24.

Asaad As-Salem says he defected from the US-backed Maghawir al-Thawra group stationed at the At-Tanf base in southern Syria, and surrendered to Syrian government forces. Along with a number of other militants and their families, they escaped At-Tanf and currently reside in a refugee camp near Damascus.

The former militant told Rossiya-24 correspondent Eugeniy Poddubny that he served as a chief security officer at the base, and that he and his men joined the US-backed rebel group to fight Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists.

Their US and Norwegian instructors, stationed at the base, taught the militants to fire US-made weapons, trained mortar squads and conducted courses on accident-free driving on the battlefield.
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Arrow Up

UN confirms Iran remains in full compliance with 2015 nuclear deal


RFE/RL
Thu, 31 Aug 2017 22:09 UTC
Iranian women form a human chain, at the Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility
© Mohsen Shandiz / Getty ImagesIranian women form a human chain, at the Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility, to support Iran's nuclear program, just outside the city of Isfahan, south of Tehran.
The United Nations atomic watchdog says Iran remains in compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal with the United States and five other world powers.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in a confidential quarterly report seen by news agencies on August 31, said Iran's stock of low-enriched uranium and its enrichment level were within limits set by the accord.

The 2015 deal with the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia put limits on Iran's nuclear program in return for the easing of economic sanctions against the country.

The latest report was the third since the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump on January 20.

Trump has called the nuclear agreement, reached under President Barack Obama, "the worst deal ever negotiated."

Comment: Inside sources tell us Nikki Haley cried herself to sleep after hearing the news. It's never a good day when the people you hate refuse to give you an excuse to bomb them.

See also: Nikki Haley makes fool of herself at UN again - NYT lies to cover up her failure to change UNIFIL mandate in Lebanon

The IAEA has also responded to U.S. calls for inspection of Iranian military sites, saying they don't believe it's necessary, since they have no reason to believe the Iranians are doing anything wrong there. (The U.S. provided no evidence to justify the inspections.) "We're not going to visit a military site like Parchin just to send a political signal," an anonymous IAEA official told Reuters.

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Map

Outgoing US general Townsend: 'Lines agreed to' with Russia for final push against ISIS in Syria


RT
Thu, 31 Aug 2017 22:01 UTC
US Major General Stephen Townsend
© Brendan Smialowski / AFPUS Major General Stephen Townsend
The US and Russia have agreed on zones of operation around the Euphrates river in Syria, where different forces are going after ISIS, according to the outgoing commander of the US-led coalition fighting the terrorist group.

"We have lines that are agreed to," General Stephen Townsend, commander of Operation Inherent Resolve, said during a news conference on Thursday. It was Townsend's last briefing from Baghdad, as he prepared to hand over command to General Paul Funk of the 3rd Armored Corps.

"We've established some measures south of Raqqa. Those measures extend to the east," he said when asked about the "deconfliction" between US-backed forces and Russian-backed Syrian government troops in the middle Euphrates River Valley (MERV).

The measures "have held since mid-June, and we haven't had friction," Townsend stated, adding that discussions were held on Wednesday to make sure the forces didn't trip over each other as they advanced on Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group.
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