Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

Polish President unveils plan to become European hub for US gas


RT
Thu, 06 Jul 2017 14:30 UTC
LNG ship
© Agencja Gazeta / Reuters
A month after the first US tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) arrived in Poland, Polish President Andrzej Duda has unveiled an ambitious plan to make the country a pan-European energy hub able to distribute gas across the EU.
"Can we become a hub through which American LNG gas will flow to central Europe? I am convinced the answer is 'yes'," Duda told journalists after a meeting with US President Donald Trump.
The Polish president stressed the issue is under the framework of Three Seas Initiative - an alliance of a dozen eastern and central European nations that border the Adriatic, Baltic and Black seas.

Last month, Poland received the first shipment of LNG from the US. As a group, the countries aim to diversify energy supplies, reducing their dependence on oil and gas provided by Russia.
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Info

Ukraine's last legitimate President Yanukovych speaks out in defense of his security services

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Thu, 06 Jul 2017 14:23 UTC
Ukraine Security Services
Viktor Yanukovych is a flawed man and behaved cowardly in 2014. His security services by contrast were impeccable in their standards of professionalism against tremendous odds. Now their former President is trying to clear their name.

The legacy of Viktor Yanukovych is a deeply controversial one. Viktor Yanukovych was the last legitimate President of Ukraine who was illegally overthrown in a western backed coup in February of 2014. Prior to that, Yanukovych was seen by many as a unifying candidate, the best choice of a bad lot who could hold the fragility of Ukraine's totally artificial borders together in spite of tremendous historical odds.

In many ways Yanukovych never got the chance to be the unity candidate he pledged to be. He was constantly being undermined by sectarian forces including neo-Nazi elements who could not tolerate a man who preached tolerance and practiced it, however limply. When the latent fascist elements in the historic Galacia region knew that the US and EU would back them, they came out of the woodwork and pounced. They began to launch an insurrection which led to a coup, in popular lore it is known as The Maidan or Euromaidan.
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Green Light

France plans to end sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2040


RT
Thu, 06 Jul 2017 14:25 UTC
car Eiffel Tower
France has announced it will end the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles in less than 25 years. The country plans to meet its targets under the Paris climate accord, new Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot announced Thursday.

"We are announcing the end of the sale of gasoline and diesel cars by 2040," he said.

Hulot did not specify if this would mean a ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars. Neither did he explain how the ban would be introduced or whether it would include hybrid vehicles.

The minister said the target would impose a "heavy" burden on local carmakers. Leading French producers Renault and PSA, the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars, are partly owned by the state.
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Snakes in Suits

Tony Blair lied to the public about Iraq invasion - Chilcot


RT
Thu, 06 Jul 2017 14:02 UTC
Sir John Chilcot
© Reuters
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair failed to "be straight" with the public about his decision to join the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Sir John Chilcot said, exactly one year since he published his damning report into Britain's role in the conflict.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the 12-volume report was published, Chilcot said Blair's testimony to the inquiry was "emotionally truthful," but the Labour leader had failed to act on the basis of facts.

Comment:

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Light Sabers

Trump warns N. Korea to face repercussions after "very, very bad behavior" of missile launch


RT
Thu, 06 Jul 2017 14:21 UTC
trump
© Saul Loeb / AFP
US President Donald Trump has pledged that North Korea will face repercussions over its recent ballistic missile launch, also calling on other nations to confront Pyongyang's "very, very bad behavior."

"It's a shame they're behaving this way - they're behaving in a very, very dangerous manner and something will have to be done about it," Trump said in a news conference Thursday with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

"As far as North Korea is concerned, I don't know. We will see what happens," he added. "I have some pretty severe things that we are thinking about. That doesn't mean we are going to do it. I don't draw red lines."

Earlier on Thursday, Moscow dismissed the US-led calls at the UN Security Council to step up sanctions. Moscow and Beijing urged Washington for more "creative" diplomacy.
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Briefcase

Italian government to nationalize bank Monte dei Paschi, will dispose of $32.5 B in bad loans

Colleen Barry
ABC News
Wed, 05 Jul 2017 13:32 UTC
Monte Dei Paschi di Siena bank Milan Italy
© AP / Luca Bruno"Monte Dei Paschi di Siena" bank branch in Milan, Italy. Italy's finance minister said Tuesday, July 4, 2017, the plan to restructure the struggling bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena will provide "a credible future'' for the institution, while ensuring stability to the Italian banking sector.
In a bid to end years of struggles, the Italian government is taking control of bank Monte dei Paschi under a relaunch plan agreed by European officials that includes the disposal of a massive 28.6 billion euros ($32.5 billion) in bad loans.

In detailing the plan Wednesday, CEO Marco Morelli said that ridding the bank of the load of soured loans was "the most relevant issue" in the European Commission's approval this week of the rescue plan.

The Italian government will inject 5.4 billion euros into the bank, giving it a 70-percent stake, as part of a total boost of 8.1 billion euros. Under the deal, the government must exit within five years.

The Monte dei Paschi rescue comes just a week after the government announced plans to save two small Veneto banks where thousands of savers have lost billions of euros.


Comment: Italy to pay up to €17bn to rescue two failing Venetian banks


Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Wednesday that the moves had "removed impediments to growth. We are putting the worst behind us."
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Radar

Zakharova: Terrorists in Syria to stage chemical provocations to justify US strikes


Sputnik
Thu, 06 Jul 2017 14:13 UTC
Deir ez-Zor bombing
© Sputnik/ Mikhail Voskresenskiy
According to information in the possession of Russian Foreign Ministry, terrorists in Syria are planning to stage chemical provocations in order to justify US strikes on government forces, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during her weekly presser on Thursday.

Russia believes terrorists in Syria plan to stage chemical attacks in order to justify US airstrikes against the Syrian military, Zakharova said.

"According to information available [to us], Syrian terrorist groups plan staged provocative actions with the use of chemical poison gases to justify US strikes against the positions of the Syrian government forces," Zakharova told a weekly briefing.
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Snakes in Suits

Deluded Australia would stand by US if N. Korea launched nuclear weapon in its direction


RT
Thu, 06 Jul 2017 14:00 UTC
North Korea missile test
© KCNA / Reuters
Australia's deputy PM suggested Canberra would join military action against North Korea if Pyongyang were to fire a nuclear warhead at the US. He also has "sympathy" for calls to enforce trade sanctions against those doing business with the DPRK.

"No one should ever go too far in testing the resolve of the United States of America," Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce told Sky News.

"If North Korea was to deliver a warhead into the United States of America then the ANZUS alliance would be called in," he added, referring to the Australia, New Zealand, and United States Security Treaty.


Comment: Now why on earth would North Korea do that? They are not looking to annihilate themselves. They are purely in defensive mode.


Comment: Canberra better get up to speed on the disintegration of a uni-polar world order: Putin and Xi's message to Trump: US unipolar world is over

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Arrow Up

Tillerson: The US is open to working with Russia, establish no-fly zones in Syria


Sputnik
Thu, 06 Jul 2017 03:25 UTC
Tillerson
© CNN.comSecretary of State Rex Tillerson
The United States and Russia have the potential to appropriately coordinate in Syria to bring stability and serve mutual security interests in the region, and that the United States is willing to cooperate with Russia, according to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
"The United States and Russia certainly have unresolved differences on a number of issues, but we have the potential to appropriately coordinate in Syria in order to produce stability and serve our mutual security interests," Tillerson stated on Wednesday.

"The United States is prepared to explore the possibility of establishing with Russia joint mechanisms for ensuring stability, including no-fly zones, on the ground ceasefire observers, and coordinated delivery of humanitarian assistance," Tillerson said.
At the same time, the Secretary of State urged forces of the Syrian government and the US-led Coalition against the Daesh terror group (banned in Russia) to accept agreed de-escalation boundaries to avoid conflict, the State Department said in a statement.
"We call upon all parties, including the Syrian government and its allies, Syrian opposition forces, and Coalition forces carrying out the battle to defeat [Daesh], to avoid conflict with one another and adhere to agreed geographical boundaries for military de-confliction and protocols for de-escalation," the statement said on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, the State Department said leaders of the 72-member Global Coalition to Defeat IS will hold in-depth talks on Wednesday on how to accelerate the effort to defeat the Islamic State in the few areas it still holds in Iraq and Syria, as well as maximize global pressure on its branches, affiliates and networks.

Comment: Is this an example of 'when all else fails, cooperate'? Or, is this the administration finally edging its way into a multilateral posture-in-common in order to create a united way forward between sides in this horrendous conflict? The desire seems to be there, but stuff has been said before...

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Attention

Putin and Xi's message to Trump: US unipolar world is over

Finian Cunningham
RT
Wed, 05 Jul 2017 13:44 UTC
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin
© Michael Klimentyev / SputnikJuly 4, 2017. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, during a joint news conference following a meeting.
The US' strategy has been to isolate Russia internationally. Evidently, it is Washington that is becoming more isolated on the global stage. This week in the run-up to the G20 summit in Germany, the reverse in fortunes could not be more glaring.

While North Korea was openly defying Washington with a breakthrough ballistic missile test, and US President Donald Trump was embroiled in his usual juvenile tweeting antics, Russia and China's leaders were proudly consolidating their strategic alliance for a new multipolar global order.

Western media won't acknowledge as much, but the meeting this week in Moscow between Putin and Xi Jinping was of historical importance. We are witnessing a global transition in power. And for the common good.
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