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Eye 2

A federal judge has ordered unredacted Clinton emails to be reviewed in court, despite State Dept. resistance


RT
Sat, 30 Sep 2017 12:59 UTC
Killary
© Brendan McDermid / ReutersFormer U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
A federal judge has ordered a review of unredacted Hillary Clinton emails relating to her use of a private server while US Secretary of State. The State Department has also been ordered to argue why it shouldn't have to investigate the emails.

In a case brought by conservative watchdog, Judicial Watch, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered the personal review of redacted material from emails "discussing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of iPads and iPhones during her tenure at the State Department," Judicial Watch said.

Thirteen sealed documents must be presented to the court in their entirety for a video-recorded [private] review by November 6, Judge Kollar-Kotelly said, according to court documents.

The order stems from a lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch following the government's refusal to respond to a March 2015 Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request. The group has filed multiple FOIA requests and lawsuits in its investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state.

Comment: See also: Mystery dump: State Department releases over 6 thousand of Hillary Clinton documents

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Network

The bond of war and peace between Germany and Russia could lead to a new partnership

Finian Cunningham
Sputnik
Thu, 28 Sep 2017 15:11 UTC
putin merkel
© REUTERS/ Kai Pfaffenbach
No other countries on the Eurasian continent suffered so much from war than Germany and Russia. But perhaps out of this mutually painful experience of horror and loss, the two powerhouses can in partnership forge a new geopolitical direction.

A new direction that would turn simmering conflict and saber-rattling into plowshares in order to cultivate international peace and prosperity.

Nazi Germany's aggression towards the Soviet Union inflicted at least 27 million deaths during the 1941-45 war; Germany was likewise laid to ruins, with up to six million of its military personnel - some 90 percent of its total war losses - killed by the resurgent Soviet forces.

Death, disease, destitution and mass starvation scarred both nations. More than any other country, Russia and Germany know the full horror and suffering of war. Therefore, it is incumbent on both to do everything to ensure that such violence should never be repeated.
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Dollar Gold

'The price of luxury': Health secretary Price resigns amid criticism of travel on private jets


RT
Sat, 30 Sep 2017 14:22 UTC
Price Trump
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters / File photoU.S. President Donald Trump (R) sits beside U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tom Price (L)
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price has offered his resignation amid a growing scandal around his use of private planes. President Donald Trump intends to designate the acting assistant secretary for health to fill his position.

The White House issued a statement Friday, which said that Trump accepted Price's resignation and intends to designate acting assistant secretary for health Don Wright to serve as the acting secretary effective at 11:59 pm.

On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that he was "looking into" Price's use of charter planes, adding that he was "not happy about it." When asked if he would fire Price, Trump said: "We'll see."

Trump told reporters that he was going to make a decision on Price on Friday, adding that he was "disappointed" by the wasteful spending.

"I was disappointed because I didn't like it cosmetically or otherwise," Trump said. "This is an administration that saves hundreds of millions of dollars on renegotiating things."

The total cost of Price's overseas trips have cost taxpayers more than $1 million since May, according to Politico.

Comment: White House tells Cabinet no more private planes after Price scandal

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War Whore

Under Trump illegal immigrant arrests up, but deportations down


RT
Fri, 29 Sep 2017 14:16 UTC
ICE deportation
© John Moore / Getty Image/ File photoA man is detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Los Angeles, California.
President Donald Trump is on track to deport fewer illegal immigrants this year than were expelled from the country at the same point last year under the Obama administration, government documents show.

The latest statistics show that as of September 9, three weeks before the end of fiscal year 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has deported 211,068 individuals, the Washington Post reported. This falls short of the 240,255 people who were deported in fiscal year 2016, under former President Barack Obama.

On the other hand, ICE agents have made 43 percent more arrests since Trump took office in January, in comparison to the same period last year. Many of the arrests involve people with no prior criminal charges.

ICE arrested some 28,000 "non-criminal immigration violators" between January 22 and September 2, according to the agency's records. This represents almost a threefold increase over the same period in 2016.

The perception of tougher enforcement by the Trump administration appears be a deterrent to illegal border crossings. Following Trump's inauguration, the number of people crossing the US border from Mexico illegally has declined dramatically.
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Info

Wheeling and dealing: Trouble brewing in the House of Saud

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Fri, 29 Sep 2017 13:52 UTC
King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
© AFP / Saudi Royal Palace
Suddenly, the ideological matrix of all strands of Salafi-jihadism is being hailed by the West as a model of progress - because Saudi women will finally be allowed to drive. Only next year. Only some women. And still subject to many restrictions.

What's certain is that the timing of the announcement - which comes after years of liberal American pressure - was calculated with precision, arriving only a few days before House of Saud capo King Salman drops in for a chat at Trump's White House. The soft power move was coordinated by the 32-year-old Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, a.k.a. MBS, the Destroyer of Yemen; the king merely added his signature.

The diversionary tactic masks serious trouble in the court. A Gulf business source with intimate knowledge of the House of Saud, having held a number of personal meetings with members, told Asia Times that "the Fahd, Nayef, and Abdullah families, the descendants of King Abdulaziz al Saud and his wife Hassa bin Ahmed al-Sudairi, are forming an alliance against the ascendancy to the Kingship of the Crown Prince."
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Question

Mystery dump: State Department releases over 6 thousand of Hillary Clinton documents


RT
Sat, 30 Sep 2017 04:28 UTC
Clinton
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Without much fanfare, the State Department has released over 6,000 documents related to Hillary Clinton's time as Secretary of State, prompting speculation that it might contain explosive revelations.

The State Department's Reading Room website contains 301 pages, with 20 entries each, of emails released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) rulings.

Since there was no official announcement of the data dump, conservative pundits that noticed it quickly began speculating that the cache contained compromising information about Clinton's tenure at the State Department, during which she used a private email server located at one of her residences.

Comment: See also: Obama was responsible for the decision to exonerate Killary, not Comey

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Dollars

White House tells Cabinet no more private planes after Price scandal


RT
Sat, 30 Sep 2017 13:25 UTC
us dollars
© Daniel Becerril / Reuters
After Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned over his use of charter planes, the White House issued new ethics guidelines to Cabinet members, saying they owe it to taxpayers to use government funds appropriately.

On Friday, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Mick Mulvaney sent out a memo to Trump administration officials on the rules for using government funds for travel.

Mulvaney reminded department heads that they are "public servants" and that money spent comes from the taxpayer. He further outlined current guidelines that need to be followed.

"All travel on Government-owned, rented, leased, or chartered aircraft... shall require prior approval from the White House Chief of Staff," Mulvaney said, with exceptions outlined in Circular A-126.
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Snakes in Suits

DHS peek-a-boo: Russia didn't scan election systems, but 'may have' looked to break in


RT
Fri, 29 Sep 2017 13:15 UTC
US voter
© Chris Keane / Reuters
Even though hackers from the Russian government didn't directly scan election systems in 21 US states, that doesn't mean Moscow wasn't looking to break in, the Department of Homeland Security said after complaints about inaccurate reporting.

On Thursday, DHS Spokesman Scott McConnell declined to discuss the specific states the department was alluding to. He said that hackers searched for vulnerabilities to exploit in other government computer systems connected to an "unspecified" number of states, in an attempt to breach election systems, AP reported.

The other networks were usually connected to to the election systems, or shared similarities, McConnell said.
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Info

Moscow points out US airstrikes on civilians and other 'chronic mistakes' led to humanitarian disaster in Raqqa


RT
Fri, 29 Sep 2017 13:06 UTC
A view of a damaged site is seen in Raqqa
© Rodi Said / ReutersA view of a damaged site is seen in Raqqa.
Repeated targeting mistakes by the US-led coalition have caused deaths as well as widespread destruction to Syrian civilian infrastructure, while a lack of aid and evacuation corridors has led to a humanitarian disaster in Raqqa, a senior Russian diplomat has said.

"We are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe in Raqqa (as we previously saw in Iraqi Mosul)," said Oleg Syromolotov, who supervises counterterrorism cooperation with other nations for the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"It was caused by the lack of effective effort to deliver humanitarian aid and to create corridors for the evacuation of civilian population, not to mention the multiple 'chronic' mistakes of the US Air Force, including airstrikes hitting civilian sites," Syromolotov told RIA Novosti.
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X

US urges no travel to Cuba and cuts embassy staff by more than half


RT
Fri, 29 Sep 2017 13:00 UTC
An exterior view of the U.S. Embassy is seen in Havana, Cuba
© Alexandre Meneghini / ReutersAn exterior view of the U.S. Embassy is seen in Havana, Cuba.
The US State Department is expected to announce that it is pulling the majority of its staff out of its embassy in Havana, while warning Americans against travel to Cuba due to 'health attacks' on diplomats, according to officials.

"Until the Government of Cuba can ensure the safety of our diplomats in Cuba, our Embassy will be reduced to emergency personnel in order to minimize the number of diplomats at risk of exposure to harm," said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in statement on Friday.

The embassy in Havana will lose roughly 60 percent of its US staff and will stop processing visas indefinitely, American officials told AP on Friday.

"US embassy personnel are most at risk but . . . the American public traveling in Cuba might also be at risk as well," a senior State Department official told reporters Friday morning.
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