Puppet MastersS


Rocket

Tit for tat: Seoul unveils missiles that may pre-emptively strike North Korea


RT
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 13:23 UTC
South Korea's Hyunmoo Missile II
© Reuters
South Korea has released dramatic footage of a missile test, conducted last week, showing the launch of two missiles, one with a 310-mile (500km) range and the other with a 500-mile (800km) range, which may counter North Korea.

The tests were the last ones before the deployment of the missiles, South Korea's state-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD) said, as cited by Yonhap news agency.

The ADD said the missiles will serve as key elements in South Korea's pre-emptive strike scheme.

"Our military has the missile capability with top-level precision and power to strike any place in North Korea if necessary," the ADD said. "It will greatly reinforce missile forces and power down the road as well."
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Attention

Tell us what you really think: Outrage after Japanese Deputy PM says Hitler had 'right motives'


RT
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 13:15 UTC
Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso
© Alessandro Bianchi / ReutersJapanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso
Japan's deputy prime minister, Taro Aso, is in hot water after suggesting Adolf Hitler might have had "the right motives." He was criticized both at home and abroad, with the US-based Simon Wiesenthal Center saying the remarks were "downright dangerous."

"I don't question your motives (to be a politician). But the results are important. Hitler, who killed millions of people, was no good, even if his motives were right," Aso told a meeting of his faction of the governing Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a global human rights organization which confronts anti-Semitism, hate and terrorism, said Aso's comments could spoil Japan's reputation.

"This is just the latest of a troubling list of 'misstatements' and [they] are downright dangerous," the center's head, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, said in a statement on Tuesday.

"These words damage Japan's reputation at the very time when all Americans want to show their solidarity with Japan, our sister democracy and ally, following the missile launch from Kim Jong-un's North Korea," he added.
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Jet2

Not again! At least 28 civilians killed in US airstrike in Afghanistan


Sputnik
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 13:00 UTC
Afghan national army soldiers
© REUTERS/ Omar Sobhani
The US air forces have once again waged an airstrike in Afghanistan, leaving victims and injuries, local media reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources.

At least 28 civilians, including women and children, were killed in an US airstrike in Afghanistan's eastern province of Logar, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to the Pajhwok news agency, the airstrike hit a residential building in the province's city of Pol-e Alam.

The information on the airstrike was confirmed by a spokesman of the province's governor, according to the outlet.

Comment: Afghans are getting pounded again: Thirteen civilians killed in Afghan Air Force strikes targeting Taliban

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Rocket

US Navy test: Intercepts medium-range ballistic missile off Hawaii coast


Sputnik
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 12:46 UTC
USS John Paul Jones
© CCO
A day after the latest North Korean missile launch, the US military test-intercepted a ballistic missile off the Hawaii coast.

The US Missile Defense Agency said it had conducted jointly with the US Navy soldiers missile defense flight test, intercepting a medium-range ballistic missile target off the coast of Hawaii.

"The Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Navy sailors aboard the USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a complex missile defense flight test, resulting in the intercept of a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) target using Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) guided missiles during a test off the coast of Hawaii today," the statement read.
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Info

Stop with the theatrics: Lavrov responds to Netanyahu's claim of Iran allegedly aiming to attack Israel


Sputnik
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 12:42 UTC
Sergei Lavrov
© Sputnik/ Irina Kalashnikova
The Russian foreign minister commented on Prime Minister Netanyahu's claim accusing Iran of preparing to attack Israel.

Russia does not have any information that anyone is preparing an attack on Israel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

"We do not have any information that someone is preparing an attack on Israel," Lavrov told a press conference.
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Info

Theresa May doesn't rule out military and cyberattacks on North Korea


RT
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 12:19 UTC
Pedestrians walk past a TV set showing news about North Korea's missile launch
© Kim Kyung-Hoon / ReutersPedestrians walk past a TV set showing news about North Korea's missile launch in Tokyo, Japan, August 29, 2017.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has condemned North Korea's ballistic missile test over Japan and refused to rule out using cyber warfare, or even taking part in military action.

May arrived in Japan on Wednesday morning in the midst of an escalating crisis over Pyongyang's latest missile launch and will have discussions with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about what can be done.

"We will be redoubling our efforts with our international partners to put pressure on North Korea to stop these illegal activities," May told reporters en route to Tokyo.

She urged China to intervene more vigorously in curbing North Korea's missile ambitions, calling Beijing "the key" to defusing tensions.

"China has, I think, a very key role to play in terms of the pressure it can bring," May said.

"I have said this to President Xi. Others have as well. We think that China has a role to play and we'd encourage China to do everything it can to bring pressure on North Korea to stop this."


Comment: May acts like the rest of the West: putting the blame of the tensions on China. Convenient, of course, but not exactly grounded in objective reality.

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Umbrella

Flashback Trump visits flood-stricken Louisiana - Clinton can't be bothered going - Obama still playing golf


RT
Fri, 19 Aug 2016 16:02 UTC
trump louisiana
© Max Becherer/AP Trump hands out kids' toys at an emergency shelter in southern Louisiana
With at least 13 people dead and some 40,000 homes damaged by flooding in Louisiana, the Red Cross has called the resulting devastation the worst US disaster since the 2012 Hurricane Sandy. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is visiting the state.

The Red Cross said Thursday that it has served about 100,000 meals and snacks at shelters housing flood victims in several Louisiana parishes reeling from record rainfall that began about a week ago, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. The relief organization said that it expects to spend about $30 million amid flood recovery efforts, adding that Louisiana flooding in the past week has triggered the largest Red Cross response in the US since Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

"Thousands of people in Louisiana have lost everything they own and need our help now," said Brad Kieserman, the Red Cross' vice president of disaster services operations and logistics, according to CNN. At least 13 people have died in the flooding, while an estimated 40,000 homes have suffered at least some damage. More than 30,000 residents and 1,400 pets have been assisted in vacating flooded areas by the US Coast Guard, National Guard, emergency responders, and others.

Comment: Hillary posted something on Facebook about the situation in Louisiana, while Obama is happy on holidays at Martha's Vineyard.

Meanwhile the Clinton campaign is going on and on about their imaginary 'Trump-Putin bromance'. Say what you want about Trump but, with this photo-op, he may just have won the 2016 US presidential elections.

One woman told Trump, "We knew you'd be here!" A man teared up with thankfulness.

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Footprints

Democrat IT staffer Hina Alvi, wife of arrested Imran Awan, lawyers up after fleeing the U.S. for Pakistan

Todd Shepherd
Washington Examiner
Tue, 29 Aug 2017 23:42 UTC
Imran Awan wife Hina Alvi DNC scandal
Alvi is married to Imran Awan, who also worked as a House Democrat IT aide to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and others.
A former Democrat tech staffer who is being investigated by the FBI and Capitol Police now has an attorney to represent her against charges of conspiracy and bank fraud, even though she has fled the country and the FBI believes she may never return.

The staffer, Hina Alvi may also have crucial knowledge about an ongoing scandal involving the theft of sensitive computer systems from House Democrats.

Court documents show defense attorney Nikki Lotze of the law firm Lotze Mosley LLP will represent Alvi against charges handed up by a grand jury indictment on Aug. 17. Alvi is married to Imran Awan, who also worked as a House Democrat IT aide to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and others.

The filing appears to show Alvi and Awan will use different attorneys. According to several media reports, Awan is represented by Chris Gowen, a long-time associate of former President Bill Clinton.

Lotze did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
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Bomb

Israel threatens to carry out military strikes on Assad's palace in Damascus - Media


South Front
Tue, 29 Aug 2017 00:00 UTC
Israeli Air force plane
© Unknown
Israel is ready to carry out military strikes on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's palace in Damascus if Iran continues expanding its influence in Syria, Al-Jadida newspaper reported citing an anonymous senior Israeli official.

The same report argued that Israel warned that if serious changes didn't happen in the region, Tel Aviv will make all efforts to undermine the ceasefire deal reached by the United States and Russia.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

North Korea claims latest missile test a 'prelude to containing Guam'


RT
Tue, 29 Aug 2017 22:24 UTC
north Korean missile
North Korea has announced that its latest test of Hwasong-12 missile, observed by the country's leader Kim Jong-un, was a successful demonstration of Pyongyang's determination to counter any potential threat stemming from the US' joint drills with South Korea.

"This ballistic rocket launch drill... is the first step in military operations on the Pacific Ocean conducted by our troops and will be a meaningful prelude to containing Guam Island," the North's official KCNA news agency quoted Kim as saying.

Comment: If North Korea's goal is to use 'fire, fury and fear' to prevent the country from becoming another Iraq, then one can see how Pyongyang benefits from keeping tensions high. It seems Japan was put on notice with these latest missile tests:
Shortly after North Korea launched another missile towards Japan, residents were awakened to blaring sirens, emergency text messages and instructions broadcast over loudspeakers, sending some running for shelter.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan's northern Hokkaido Island into the sea on Tuesday morning, which prompted the Japanese government to trigger its "J-Alert" warning system. [...]

Earlier this month, North Korea said it was finalizing a plan to launch four Hwasong-12 missiles over Japan and into waters around the tiny island of Guam, which hosts 7,000 U.S. military personnel on two main bases and has a population of 160,000.
Japanese Defense officials have since confirmed that the missile could reach Guam:
Japanese defence officials today chillingly confirmed the missile launched over Hokkaido could have reached Guam.

Defence minister Itsunori Onodera said: "The flight range of the missile amounted to 5,000 kilometers [3,107 miles.] Obviously, a missile of that type could reach Guam."
Further reading:

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