Puppet MastersS


Dollar Gold

Detained Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal negotiating settlement terms for his release


RT
Sun, 14 Jan 2018 20:05 UTC
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal
© Faisal Al Nasser / ReutersSaudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the wealthiest people in the world, is negotiating settlement terms with the country's government, Reuters reports. The billionaire was held amid a massive anti-corruption purge.

The grandson of the first Saudi king, who has been labelled the "Arabian Warren Buffett," owns the renowned Kingdom Holding Company. He was arrested in November last year during a large-scale Saudi corruption crackdown. Dozens of Saudi princes and other top government officials were detained following the creation of new anti-corruption committee chaired by Saudi strongman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"He offered a certain figure but it doesn't meet the figure required from him, and the attorney general hasn't approved it," a senior Saudi official, whose name was not disclosed under government briefing rules, was cited by Reuters on Sunday.

Comment: See also:

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2 + 2 = 4

Putin: Communist ideology is similar to Christianity


Sputnik
Sun, 14 Jan 2018 20:44 UTC
rally in Russia
© Sputnik/ Evgeny Biyatov
"Faith has always accompanied us, it strengthened when our country, our people faced particularly difficult times," Putin said in an interview for the documentary film "Valaam," a clip from which was broadcast by the Russia 1 TV channel.

"There were such severe years of militant atheism [during the Soviet period] when priests were killed, churches were destroyed. But at the same time a new religion was being created - Communist ideology, which is very similar to Christianity, in fact. Freedom, equality, brotherhood, justice - all of this is enshrined in the Holy Scripture, it's all there. And what about the Code of the Builders of Communism? This is a sublimation, it's really just a primitive excerpt from the Bible, nothing new was invented," the president said.
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Chess

UK's Corbyn: Relations with the US not 'most important'


RT
Sun, 14 Jan 2018 19:46 UTC
Trump and Theresa May
© John Macdougall / Reuters
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has questioned the value of Britain's 'special relationship' with the US, suggesting Washington is not actually the UK's 'most important ally,' while criticizing Trump's 'endless offensive remarks.'

Corbyn cast doubt on the existence of a close bond between the two states, vaunted since wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill first used the phrase "a special relationship" back in 1946. Asked Sunday whether the relationship with the US was Britain's most important, Corbyn said: "No. I think there are many important relationships."

The others include China, India, the EU and international organizations, such as the UN, Corbyn told ITV's Peston on Sunday show.
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Jet5

Israel's continual bombing of Syria exacerbates tensions and threatens dangerous escalation

Darius Shahtahmasebi
MintPress News
Fri, 12 Jan 2018 00:00 UTC
Israeli airstrike in Syria
© AP/SANADamaged buildings wrecked by an Israeli airstrike are seen in Damascus, Syria, May 5, 2013.
Israel has hit Syrian territory over 100 times since the conflict began in 2011.

The Syrian Army is alleging that Israeli jets struck positions dozens of times within Syria early Tuesday morning in the al-Qutayfa area east of Damascus.

According to a statement by Syria's General Command, the Syrian government's air defenses not only intercepted all of the missiles Israel fired, but it even managed to counter strike one of the Israeli jets, the Jerusalem Post reports.

While the strike is unconfirmed on the Israeli side, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the recent assault during a lunch with NATO ambassadors in Jerusalem, according to the Post.

"We have a long-standing policy to prevent the transfer of game-changing weapons to Hezbollah from Syrian territory. This policy has not changed. We back it up as necessary with action," he said.

Comment: See also:

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Sherlock

Battle over N. Korea quote: Trump says 'I would,' WSJ says 'I do'


RT
Sun, 14 Jan 2018 16:54 UTC
trump and Kim Jong Un
© Lucas Jackson / Reuters
Donald Trump is calling out the Wall Street Journal for misquoting him on his relationship with North Korea, with the US President insisting that he really said, 'I'd probably have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un.'

In tweets, Trump accused the outlet of creating 'Fake News' over his interview, adding that he believed the WSJ knew what he meant and intentionally misquoted him.

Comment: Has any other president in the US's history had their every word so thoroughly scrutinized?

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Briefcase

DOJ unseals 11-charge indictment regarding Uranium One scandal

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Sun, 14 Jan 2018 18:27 UTC
Lambert Uranium One
Mark Lambert
The Department of Justice unsealed an 11-count indictment on Friday to a former DoD intelligence analyst-turned uranium transportation executive who stands accused of a bribery and money laundering scheme involving a Russian nuclear official connected to the Uranium One deal.

The indictment corroborates a November report by The Hill that an FBI mole deeply embedded in the Russian uranium industry had gathered extensive evidence of the scheme.

Mark Lambert, 54, of Mount Airy, Maryland, was charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to commit wire fraud, seven counts of violating the FCPA, two counts of wire fraud and one count of international promotion money laundering.
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Chart Bar

Federal government still in a deficit despite collecting record income taxes

Terence P. Jeffrey
CNS News
Fri, 12 Jan 2018 18:25 UTC
2018 income taxes
The federal government collected record individual-income-tax revenues through the first quarter of fiscal 2018 (October through December), according to the new Monthly Treasury Statement. This was the last quarter before the new tax-cut law signed by President Donald Trump on Dec. 22 took effect.

Despite taking in record individual-income-tax revenues, the federal government ran a deficit of approximately $225 billion during the quarter.

The Treasury collected a record $390,847,000,000 in individual income taxes in October through December, according to the Treasury statement. That was $30,568,380,000 more than the $360,278,620,000 that the Treasury collected (in constant December 2017 dollars) in individual income taxes in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 (which ran from October through December of 2016).
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War Whore

Collected evidence that DOJ and FBI colluded with Fusion GPS on "Operation Trump"

sundance
The Conservative Treehouse
Thu, 11 Jan 2018 17:04 UTC
Following the released transcript of Fusion-GPS Co-Founder Glenn Simpson's testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee by Senator Dianne Feinstein, several media outlets have begun questioning the relationship between the FBI investigators, Glenn Simpson and dossier author Christopher Steele.

What we have discovered highlights the answer to those relationship questions; and also answers a host of other questions, including: Did the FBI pay Christopher Steele? Yes, but now how media has stated. Was the FBI connected to the creation of the Steele Dossier? Yes, but again, not the way the media is currently outlining.
russian dossier extended
The motive within the FBI/DOJ surveillance of the 2016 campaign of Donald Trump is simple. However, to understand how they did it - the story becomes more complex. Some key background understanding is necessary.
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USA

Hypocrisy abounds: 7 times Trump critics called Russia a 's***hole' & worse, and no one cared


RT
Sun, 14 Jan 2018 17:48 UTC
McCain and Obama
© Reuters7 times Trump critics called Russia a ‘s***hole’ & worse, and no one cared
Former US President Barack Obama and Senator John McCain would never stoop so low as to insult other countries - would they?
Donald Trump's remarks on "s***hole countries" roused a righteous high-mindedness in his detractors. But a perusal of their own past quotes suggest they are quite capable of similar words - when one particular state is involved.

John McCain, Republican senator

On Trump: "Respect for the God-given dignity of every human being, no matter their race, ethnicity or other circumstances of their birth, is the essence of American patriotism. To believe otherwise is to oppose the very idea of America."

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Info

Russia may discuss possible exit from OPEC deal

Zainab Calcuttawala
Oilprice.com
Fri, 12 Jan 2018 17:45 UTC
Alexander Novak
Russia may be on its way out of the OPEC output reduction deal, according to the country's Energy Minister, Alexander Novak.

Reuters reports that Novak might discuss the country's potential exit from the pact in Oman next week. Russia had vowed to cut output by 300,000 barrels per day under the agreement as part of a group of non-OPEC producers who elected to coordinate the bloc's market stabilization initiative.

"We see that the market is becoming balanced. We see that the market surplus is decreasing, but the market is not completely balanced yet and, of course, we need to continue monitoring the situation," Novak said. Russian oil majors have been complaining about the deal and how it is creating stumbling blocks on the road towards the industry's expansion plans.

Comment: Not to mention the move away from the 'petrodollar' for oil prices:

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