Puppet MastersS


Attention

Ex-nuclear deal negotiator sent to Iranian jail on spying charges


RT
Mon, 09 Oct 2017 19:39 UTC
Rouhani/Esfahyani
© RFE/RLPresident Hassan Rohani • Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani
The Iranian judiciary has confirmed a five-year prison sentence for a Canadian-Iranian member of its nuclear negotiation team "convicted on charges of spying for two [unspecified] foreign intelligence services."

"Mr Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani... was among some who were accused of spying and providing information for foreigners and had links with two espionage services," judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie told reporters, AFP reported. Ejeie did not mention any secondary nationality in his statements.

Esfahyani faced multiple allegations of spying, allegedly on behalf of the British government, which were publicly denied by Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi in October 2016, AFP said. However, the investigation appears to have remained open, culminating in Esfahani's initial conviction in May and his final conviction this week following an appeal, the Iranian Tasnim News Agency reports.

"The court sentenced him to five years in prison and the verdict is final," Ejeie said.

Esfahani has a background in finance and oversaw the implementation of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in 2015.
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Snakes in Suits

Erbil, Baghdad agree to lift Anti-Kurdish sanctions, de-escalate tensions


Sputnik
Sun, 08 Oct 2017 04:08 UTC
Barzani
© AFP 2017/ SAFIN HAMEDKurdish Regional Government President Masoud Barzani
Kurdish Regional Government President Masoud Barzani and Iraqi Vice Presidents Osama Nujaify and Ayad Allawi agreed to de-escalate the tensions over the recent Kurdish autonomy independence referendum, local media reported.

The parties decided Saturday to engage in a dialogue and hold meetings between Iraqi political parties in the near future, the Kurdistan 24 broadcaster reported, citing Fuad Hussein, the Chief of Staff to the Kurdistan Region Presidency. Hussein added that three politicians had also agreed on "lifting all sanctions on the Kurdistan Region."

On September 25, more than 90 percent of voters taking part in the referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan backed the region's independence from Baghdad. Iraqi authorities declared the referendum illegal, and stressed that they would not engage in negotiations with the local authorities following the announcement of the vote's results, while the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority suspended all international flights to and from Erbil and Sulaymaniyah airports.

Comment: The referendum vote has not given the Kurds the international nor regional support they seek. Talks and negotiation are their best option. Barzani, by rushing the vote, did not heed warnings, nor place the Kurds in a favorable trajectory toward an autonomous state.

According to Sputnik:
Speaker of Iraq's parliament Salim Jabouri is headed to the city of Erbil to meet with the leader of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani, media reported Sunday
See also:

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Info

'War on coal is over': EPA scraps Obama's 2015 Clean Power Plan


RT
Mon, 09 Oct 2017 16:45 UTC
Coal mines
© Jim Urquhart / ReutersDump trucks haul coal and sediment at the Black Butte coal mine outside Rock Springs, Wyoming, U.S.
The Trump administration has put another nail in the coffin of former President Barack Obama's climate change legacy by withdrawing from the 2015 Clean Power Plan intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"Regulatory power should not be used by any regulatory body to pick winners and losers," said the head of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt Monday, announcing he will sign a new rule rescinding the Obama-era plan. The Clean Power Plan was designed to prompt a shift away from coal-fired power and toward cleaner energy sources, like natural gas, wind and solar.

"The war on coal is over," Pruitt declared in Hazard, Kentucky, echoing President Donald Trump's campaign promise to support the American coal industry.

While the coal miners celebrated the news, the administration's critics blasted the decision.

Comment: See also: Trump revokes Obama climate change rules, declares end to 'war on coal'

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Info

Syrian war updates: Elite brigade deployed to Golan Heights, ISIS evacuating as Syrian Army advances


Al-Masdar / Fars News Agency
Mon, 09 Oct 2017 19:28 UTC
syrian army
The elite 42nd Brigade (Ghiath Forces) of the 4th Mechanized Division were recently deployed from the eastern suburbs of Damascus to the Damascus-Golan Heights border.

According to a military source in Damascus, most of the Syrian Army's 42nd Brigade was moved out of the Jobar suburb in east Damascus to the Beit Jinn pocket at the border of the Golan Heights.

Since their recent deployment to the Beit Jinn pocket, the Syrian Army's 42nd Brigade has retaken several areas, including much of the northern farms and hilltops.
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Smiley

Rolling with the punches: Venezuela's Maduro thanks Trump for making him famous, giving him so much attention


RT
Mon, 09 Oct 2017 19:10 UTC
maduro
© Reuters
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has teased US President Donald Trump, his fierce opponent, with a message of thanks for making him famous with constant criticism.

"He has made me famous around the world. Every time he mentions me, they love me more," Maduro said on Venezuelan state TV, as cited by Reuters. He added that it's an honor for him to be talked about so much by the leader of the US "empire."

"That means I'm doing something right," Maduro said, cheerfully.

Trump has lashed out at Maduro and his ruling Socialist Party so often that he has "become the head of the Venezuelan opposition,"the Venezuelan president said.
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Display

Assange reminds people: "Almost all terror plots are created by the FBI"

Jack Burns
The Free Thought Project
Mon, 09 Oct 2017 18:23 UTC
assange terror tweet
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange weighed in on last Sunday night's deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas, and he pointed out that the FBI has a sordid history of targeting mentally ill and emotionally unstable individuals.

"Almost all 'terror' plots are created by the FBI as part of its business model," Assange wrote.


Arguably one of the world's most respected journalists, whom members of the federal government want to label a spy, Assange linked his comments to a Business Insider story written by Caroline Simone titled, "The FBI is 'manufacturing terrorism cases' on a greater scale than ever before." Simone wrote an echo piece from the New York Times which indicated that 67% of terrorism criminal cases also involved evidence provided by undercover FBI agents.

Comment: See also:

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Eye 2

Protecting the official narrative: YouTube removing independent media coverage of Las Vegas shooting

Mike Adams
Natural News
Fri, 06 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
MSM News, fake news
If you've been wondering whether the official story of how events transpired in the Las Vegas shooting was actually based in truth, wonder no more: YouTube has taken a bold move to shut down all independent media video coverage of the Mandalay Bay Massacre in a last ditch, desperate attempt to control the narrative.

According to the Wall Street Journal, YouTube search results were causing "debunked claims" about the Las Vegas massacre to rise to the top of some search results, and this annoyed Google to the point of taking swift action to censor those sources. According to the WSJ:

For example, the fifth result when searching "Las Vegas shooting" on YouTube late Tuesday yielded a video titled "Proof Las Vegas Shooting Was a FALSE FLAG attack-Shooter on 4th Floor." The video said there were multiple shooters in Sunday's mass shooting, a claim dismissed by law enforcement. Posted by a channel called the End Times News Report, it amassed more than 1.1 million views in about 27 hours.

Comment: For FULL coverage of the shooting and continuing updates and analyses, see:

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Dollar

Google suddenly discovers it too sold questionable "Russia ads" on YouTube, Gmail, DoubleClick

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Mon, 09 Oct 2017 17:41 UTC
eirc schmidt
© REUTERS/Shannon StapletonGoogle Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt speaks on his book "How Google Works" at Columbia University in New York, Oct. 30, 2014.
Update (Noon ET): In an emailed statement, Google confirmed that it found $100,000 worth of questionable ads and said it's working with researchers and "other companies" on investigating abuse of its systems.

* * *

Et tu, Google?

For the first time since Sen. Mark Warner began questioning whether Silicon Valley tech giants have been "doing enough" to root out and expose examples of alleged Russian interference in the November 2016 election, Google has reportedly discovered that Russia-linked operatives deceptively purchased tens of thousands of dollars' worth of advertising on YouTube, as well as advertising associated with Google search, Gmail and the company's DoubleClick ad network, according to the Washington Post. Google operates the largest advertising platform in the world, and YouTube is the world's largest video-advertising platform.

According to WaPo, Google's discovery is "significant" because the advertisements in question do not appear to be from the same Kremlin-affiliated troll farm that bought ads on Facebook, which the paper says suggests that Kremlin disinformation efforts were much broader than lawmakers and Silicon Valley had believed.

Comment: Remember this:
Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google's parent company Alphabet, wanted to be "head outside advisor" to the Hillary Clinton campaign, according to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in an email released by WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks has continued to reveal Schmidt's cozy relationship with the Clinton campaign. In a previously leaked email, a memo showed that Schmidt was working directly with the Clinton campaign on setting up various backend features to their website.


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Bullseye

Nasrallah: U.S. supports ISIS, keeps it from being destroyed


PressTV
Sun, 08 Oct 2017 17:34 UTC
nasrallah
The secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah says the United States does not want Daesh Takfiri group to be destroyed and is providing Takfiri terrorists with assistance through its bases in Syria.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah made the remarks while delivering a speech at a ceremony held in al-Ain town in North Bekaa region to commemorate two martyred members of the resistance movement.

The ceremony was held after Hezbollah commander, Ali al-Hadi al-Asheq, and Hezbollah fighter, Mohammad Nasserdine, were killed, along with five other fighters, while fighting the Takfiri terrorists in Syria last week.
"It is only the United States, which does not let Daesh be totally annihilated," Nasrallah said in his speech.
The Hezbollah leader added that the US was helping Daesh through its base in Syrian city of Raqqah and also through a base it runs near Syria's border with Jordan where Daesh terrorists are trained.
"US Air Force does not allow the Syrian army and resistance groups to advance toward positions occupied by Daesh," he added.
Stressing the need to continue the ongoing fight against Daesh despite efforts made by the US, Nasrallah said, "If we do not continue the war against Daesh, the Takfiri group will hit again and resume its campaign of massacre and terror."

Comment: Nasrallah also had this to say recently: Nasrallah's warning to Jews in Israel: 'Flee before its destruction, Zionism is our common enemy'

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Info

Washington suspends all non-immigrant visa services in Turkey after US consulate employee's arrest


RT
Mon, 09 Oct 2017 19:05 UTC
U.S. Embassy in Ankara
© Umit Bektas / ReutersGeneral view of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara
The US Embassy in Turkey has announced it is suspending "all non-immigrant visa services at all US diplomatic facilities," citing security reasons.

In its announcement Sunday, the embassy said the decision was based on Washington's need to "reassess the commitment of government of Turkey to the security of US mission and personnel."

The measure was "forced" by "recent events," the statement added, saying it will be effective immediately.

Comment: The Turkish authorities said they are suspending all non-immigrant visa services provided by the Turkish mission facilities based in Washington as a countermeasure to a similar decision by the US announced just hours before.
"Recent events have forced the Turkish government to reassess the commitment of the government of the United States to the security of Turkish mission facilities and personnel," Turkey's Washington embassy said in a statement Sunday.

The statement effectively mirrors the one by issued by Washington less than 24 hours previously. The US restricted its visa services in Turkey in response to the arrest of an employee of the US General Consulate in Istanbul, Metin Topuz, a Turkish citizen, earlier in the week.
See also: Turkey arrests U.S. consulate employee on suspicion of links to Gulen coup plot

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