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Who's afraid of Sebastian Kurz? UN human rights commissioner calls new Austrian government 'dangerous'

Chris Tomlinson
Breitbart
Wed, 20 Dec 2017 18:35 UTC
kurz strache
© JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images
United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has slammed the new Austrian conservative-populist coalition government claiming their right-wing policies are "dangerous."

Al Hussein said he was "very worried" about the implications for the rest of Europe after the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the populist Freedom Party (FPÖ) formed a new government earlier this week Kronen Zeitung reports.

The UN official called the coalition a "dangerous development in the political life of Europe," and said he was particularly concerned with the new hardline migrant policies endorsed by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

He also slammed Kurz, saying the new Chancellor had "moved sharply to the right on the question of immigration and the rights of migrants in order to secure votes from the camp of the Freedom Party of Heinz-Christian Strache and thus win the Chancellery."

"We have to be very careful about whether there is an imitation effect for other politicians in Europe," Al Hussein said and warned, "The extreme right should think very carefully about where it leads its countries and the continent in general."

Comment: Hussein and others like him are "possibility-blind" when it comes to the migrant crisis. For them, there are only two options: completely open borders regardless of the consequences, and "Hitler!" That's nonsense. When circumstances shift too far to the Left and in the direction of too much chaos, it's natural for a right-shift to balance things out and try to regain some of the pre-chaos order. Of course, that can go horribly wrong (concentration camps, gas chambers, gulag, etc.). But there's no indication that's where Austria is heading. Immigration controls and cultural integration are not evil. They're actually fairly normal policies and practices. See also:

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Megaphone

'Mr. Trump, money can't buy democratic will' - Erdogan on Jerusalem UN vote


RT
Thu, 21 Dec 2017 19:35 UTC
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
© Depo Photos / Global Look PressTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Donald Trump that he "cannot buy Turkey's democratic will," referring to the upcoming UN vote on the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

"I hope and expect the United States won't get the result it expects from there (the UN General Assembly) and the world will give a very good lesson to the United States," Erdogan said during a speech in Ankara, as quoted by Reuters.

Earlier on Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Washington's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital was "wrong and unacceptable." He accused the US of resorting to threats because it is isolated in its stance.

Comment: Washington's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital was "wrong and unacceptable," Ankara has said, accusing the US of threatening countries that might vote against the move at a meeting of the UN General Assembly.
"We expect strong support at the UN vote, but we see that the United States, which was left alone, is now resorting to threats. No honorable, dignified country would bow down to this pressure," said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu before leaving Istanbul with his Palestinian counterpart for the emergency meeting in New York on Thursday.
See also: 'Very good lesson to the US' as 128 countries vote in favor of UN, calling to withdraw the Jerusalem decision

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Bullseye

'Poroshenko must decide whether he wants to be president or an oligarch' - German officials warn Kiev over rampant corruption


RT
Thu, 21 Dec 2017 18:27 UTC
poroshenko
© Christian Hartmann / Reuters
German officials have voiced concern over the "rampant corruption" in Ukraine, warning Kiev that its reluctance to fight the scourge and attempts to curb the powers of an anti-graft unit could cost the country financial aid.

EU and German officials are expected to visit Ukraine next week to personally emphasize the "seriousness of the situation," the BILD newspaper reported Monday. There, however, has been no official confirmation of the upcoming visit yet.

"Petro Poroshenko must decide whether he wants to be president or an oligarch - a country or money," Angela Merkel's CDU foreign policy chief Norbert Rottgen told BILD. He emphasized that Ukraine must take "decisive steps against rampant corruption," starting "with the leadership of the state."

Rottgen referred to Poroshenko's campaign promise made in 2014 - to sell his chocolate giant Roshen if elected president. After three and a half years, the company is still in his possession, while the oligarch-president reportedly acquired new lucrative assets.
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Yoda

'Very good lesson to the US' as 128 countries vote in favor of UN, calling to withdraw the Jerusalem decision


RT
Thu, 21 Dec 2017 19:06 UTC
Jerusalem
© Global Look PressJerusalem
The UN General Assembly has overwhelming adopted a resolution calling on the US to reverse its decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. One hundred and twenty-eight countries voted in favor of the motion.

Nine states voted against the UN resolution and 35 nations abstained.

The outcome of the UNGA vote was hailed as a "victory" by Palestine. "We will continue our efforts in the United Nations and at all international forums to put an end to this occupation and to establish our Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital," Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudainah said.
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Map

Russia, China finalizing deal on easing visa-free travel for tourist groups


TASS
Thu, 21 Dec 2017 18:16 UTC
Chinese tourists
Russia and China are finalizing a new agreement on visa-free travel, Russia's Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov told Russian reporters on Wednesday. According to him, the parties may reduce to three the minimum number of tourists in a group travelling without visas.

"We are nearly done with the work on a new agreement on visa-free travel. It is a very convenient way to travel. Discussions are underway but chances are that the minimum number of tourists in a group will be reduced," he said.

"The minimum number of members of a tourist group is currently five. But if a family travels, it is usually three people. So if we come to an agreement, the number will be reduced to three, which will particularly facilitate family tourism," the Russian ambassador noted.

"Neither we nor the Chinese are ready to waive visas yet," Denisov said. "But visa restrictions could be eased further, and we could also use the opportunities that we already have," he stressed.

Comment: Once bitter rivals, Russia and China are growing closer than ever. Some call it an entente, but while it may not have the prestige of an official alliance, it amounts to that in all but name. And U.S. idiocracy is only pushing it closer to being official. See also: Russia and China hold joint air defense drills preparing for surprise attack

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Vader

Trump threatens to cut aid to UN members who don't vote with US over Jerusalem move


RT
Thu, 21 Dec 2017 17:58 UTC
trump
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
President Donald Trump has threatened to cut aid to UN member states who vote against US at the upcoming UN General Assembly on the issue of Washington's Jerusalem move. He said the US will save "billions" in the process.

His threats come ahead of the rare emergency special session of the UNGA scheduled for Thursday. Arab and Muslim countries requested the meeting after the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to rescind Trump's declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Trump went ahead with his controversial declaration earlier this month despite multiple warnings against doing so, drawing international condemnation and stirring protests from Muslims worldwide.

"They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we're watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We'll save a lot. We don't care,"Trump told reporters at the White House.

On Tuesday, the US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, sent a warning letter to the member states, saying the US president will take the voting choices on his landmark Jerusalem decision "personally."

Comment: The US acts like it has a big stick that it can use to hurt its so-called "allies", but clearly they aren't scaring anyone.

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Light Sabers

Poland's president signs controversial judicial reforms package into law, ignoring EU sanctions warnings


RT
Thu, 21 Dec 2017 17:46 UTC
Andrzej Duda
© Kacper Pempel / ReutersPoland's President Andrzej Duda
Poland's president Andrzej Duda has signed a controversial judicial reform package into law, hours after the European Commission triggered the so-called "nuclear option," opening an unprecedented sanctions procedure.

If backed by EU leaders, the Article 7 mechanism could see Warsaw being punished with financial sanctions or the loss of voting rights. The measure, which was activated for the first time since the foundation of the bloc, is aimed to counter Poland's alleged violations of democratic values with the reforms in question. Duda put his signature to the bills, which he initially partly drafted, AP reported citing the president's spokesman, Krzysztof Lapinski.

Announcing his decision, the Polish president defended the changes, saying it would see the country's justice system become more democratic. Having referred to US legal practice, in which judges to America's Supreme Court are nominated by the president and approved by Senate, Duda said it was unfair to interfere with changes aimed at making judges more accountable to politicians in Poland.

Since its initial drafts, the bills that seek to allow the government more control over the courts had been much improved, he claimed. Article 7 was not directly mentioned in the speech.

To declare "a clear risk of serious breach of the rule of law" that would involve sanctions against one of its member states, including the loss of voting rights in the EU Council, Brussels must get unanimous approval from the rest of the members. However, Hungary has already made clear it would oppose any such move.
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War Whore

Pentagon confirms 'multiple ground ops and 120+ strikes' in Yemen


RT
Thu, 21 Dec 2017 15:19 UTC
graffiti wall in Sanaa, Yemen
© Khaled Abdullah / ReutersA man walks past a graffiti, denouncing strikes by U.S. drones in Yemen, painted on a wall in Sanaa, Yemen on November 13, 2014.
The Pentagon has disclosed that it carried out "multiple ground operations" in Yemen this year. The confirmation sheds new light on largely covert US military activities in the region.

US forces have conducted "multiple ground operations and more than 120 strikes in 2017," according to a statement released by US Central Command in Tampa, Florida. The US military hopes to prevent Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) from using Yemen "as a hub for terrorist recruiting, training and base of operations to export terror worldwide," the statement reads.
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Snakes in Suits

The problems with Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe

Daniel John Sobieski
American Thinker
Thu, 21 Dec 2017 14:06 UTC
Trump Mueller McCabe
As Fox News has reported, Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe has rescheduled his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee with the Justice Department telling the network that it was due to a "routine scheduling error." More likely it is due to the need for everyone to get their stories straight as the details of the fix that was in for Hillary Clinton are being, er... unmasked and the details of the deep state coup against President Trump bubble to the surface from the depths of the swamp:
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Snakes in Suits

US media claims Obama 'protected Hezbollah' to secure nuclear deal with Iran

Seraphim Hanisch
The Duran
Thu, 21 Dec 2017 14:06 UTC
Obama Iran Hezbollah
Growing scandal in US as even liberal media report claims Obama blocked probe into illegal drug trafficking by Hezbollah

Politico Magazine has run what appears to be a blockbuster scoop.

This story claims in detail that former President Obama worked with Hezbollah in an effort to block a probe into the group's trafficking of cocaine into the US. This story runs about 14,000 words.

Comment: These are significant charges levied at the Hezbollah organization and, as usual, the evidence is 'thin' indeed. It's likely that, if a portion of these allegations are true, the investigation was cancelled because it was a much more Western conspiracy than we're being led to believe.

Further reading:

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