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Kim Jong-un wants to produce more rocket engines and warhead tips after US lauds Pyongyang's restraint


RT
Wed, 23 Aug 2017 17:56 UTC
Kim Jong-un
© KCNA / ReutersNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un smiles during a visit to the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defense Science August 23, 2017.
North Korea is set to increase production of solid-fuel rocket engines and warhead tips, state media report. The US has just praised the North for refraining from provocations amid drills in the region with ally South Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered production to be boosted while inspecting a chemical institute on Wednesday, KCNA state media and Rodong Sinmun report. He wants the facility "to produce more solid-fuel rocket engines and rocket warhead tips by further expanding engine production process and the production capacity of rocket warhead tips and engine jets," according to North Korean media, citing Kim Jong-un.

The media released photos of Kim visiting the plant and examining the manufacturing process. Some pictures reportedly feature "one or possibly two new missiles," according to AP. After analyzing the diagrams hanging on a wall behind the leader, the agency reported that they were related to the Pukguksong-3 missile, "which appears to be the latest in its Pukguksong, or Polaris, series." The other rocket "was harder to discern, though it carried a 'Hwasong,' or Mars, designation," AP reports.
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Bulb

Russia's concern over American eavesdropping leads to plans to minimize foreign internet exchange points


RT
Wed, 23 Aug 2017 17:55 UTC
ethernet cords
© Daniel Schoenen / Global Look Press
The Russian government plans to take steps to minimize the flow of internet traffic through foreign-based exchange points in order to prevent sensitive data from falling into the hands of US intelligence agencies, Vedomosti newspaper reports.

Vedomosti quoted unnamed sources in the Russian government and presidential administration as saying there are plans to prevent internet service providers and communications companies from channeling web traffic from Russia through foreign-based internet exchange points (IXPs).

The main reason according to the sources is the danger that sensitive data could be decoded and studied by US intelligence agencies such as the National Security Administration (NSA), which has several centers for electronic surveillance throughout Europe.

Though US intelligence agencies may state that the objectives of surveillance involve fighting terrorism and other forms of extremism, it is still possible that in the process they also obtain information concerning bank transfers, official correspondences, and other sensitive data from Russian officials, the sources say.
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Stock Down

Trump's government shutdown threat rattles the markets

Chuck Mikolajczak, Doina Chiacu
Reuters
Wed, 23 Aug 2017 10:38 UTC
Capitol ceiling open
© Creators.com/Bokbluster.com
President Donald Trump's threat to shut down the U.S. government to secure funding for a wall along the Mexican border rattled markets on Wednesday and cast a shadow over coming efforts in Congress to agree to raise the country's debt ceiling and pass spending bills.

Wall Street analysts estimate Congress has just 12 working days when it returns from its summer recess on Sept. 5 to raise the debt ceiling before the U.S. Treasury exhausts the last of its options to remain current on all of the federal government's obligations.

With that deadline looming in early October and Trump raising the prospect of a government shutdown in a speech on Tuesday evening if Congress does not agree to fund the wall, U.S. stocks and the dollar weakened, and investors pivoted to the safety of U.S. Treasury securities on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 0.3 percent, the S&P 500 dropped 0.25 percent and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.32 percent. The benchmark S&P also fell below its 50-day moving average again on Wednesday, a key level it has struggled to maintain since falling below on Aug. 10.

Credit ratings agency Fitch said on Wednesday that if the debt ceiling is not raised in a timely manner, it would review the U.S. sovereign debt rating, which is its measure of confidence in the soundness of the U.S. economy.

Comment: That pesky debt ceiling crunch is always high in drama, diluted in effect.

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Beaker

Is the Pentagon manufacturing biological bombs against Europe?


Oriental Review
Mon, 21 Aug 2017 00:00 UTC
setting up biolab ukraine
© ehs.wustl.eduStockpiling bacteriological weapons, Ukraine.
The media in Europe rarely mention the increasing outbreaks of dangerous diseases in Ukraine. No one has mentioned it except for UNICEF's representative in Ukraine, Giovanna Barberis, and a few Ukrainian TV stations. But meanwhile, the problem in that country has reached catastrophic proportions.

In the town of Izmail (the Odessa region) in the summer of 2016 an outbreak of a mysterious intestinal infection hit the children of that city especially hard. Over 400 kids were hospitalized, literally within a single 24-hour period. The cause of the outbreak has not been identified. That same year Ukraine was "struck" by a bizarre epidemic of swine flu, leading to SARS. In late 2016 the European Union instituted a six-month ban on chicken imports from anywhere in Ukraine, after avian-flu infections were documented in the Kherson region. And an inexplicable epidemic of botulism (from eating contaminated fish, leading to muscle spasms, suffocation, and death) has been ongoing this year. Medical institutions had no antitoxin available, and so several dozen Ukrainian citizens died in agonizing pain.

It doesn't look like anyone in either Ukraine or Europe is investigating the sources of these infections. Today we will try to figure out why this is happening.

Comment: A diabolical plan with deadly effects should it be launched towards a particular population with complementary DNA markers. This is pure insanity. And, with the melting pot of cultures and genetics, the USA will likely have its ability to purge whole segments of its own population as well.

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Dollars

Just throw money at it: Boris Johnson pledges cash to stabilize lawless Libya


RT
Wed, 23 Aug 2017 17:43 UTC
Libyan rebel fighter
© Zohra Bensemra / ReutersLibyan rebel fighter fire their weapons during a fight for the final push to flush out Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Abu Salim district in Tripoli August 25, 2011.
Britain has vowed to bring stability to war-torn Libya - six years after helping to topple the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and throwing the country into chaotic militia rule.

Every day, aid organizations report widespread torture, murder, terror, and corruption in the North African state, despite NATO's 'peacemaking' campaign in 2011.

Once again, purporting to know more about Libya than the Libyans do, Britain has vowed to help out, as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson revealed a multi-million pound aid package.

Johnson met with Libyan Prime Minister Fayyez Al-Serraj in Tripoli on Wednesday to talk about what a UK cash intervention would look like.

However, Al-Serraj has little control outside Tripoli, with massive swathes of the country under militant rule.
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Magnify

Examining the Princess Diana conspiracies that just won't die

Tom Sykes
Daily Beast
Sat, 29 Jul 2017 12:01 UTC
Princess Di
© TIM GRAHAM/GETTY
With the 20th anniversary of her death approaching, the rumors of dark forces conspiring to kill Diana, Princess of Wales, have far from abated. Twenty years ago this month, Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris' Pont de L'Alma tunnel.

Her death was the subject of an exhaustive inquiry in the British courts, which ultimately concluded that Diana's "unlawful death" was caused by the reckless driving of limousine driver Henri Paul and the paparazzi pursuing Diana and Dodi Fayed through the streets of Paris.

The inquest heard that the driver, Henri Paul, was driving at an excessive speed and had five times the legal limit for driving of alcohol in his system. It was also also suggested that Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, may have survived the crash if they had been wearing seatbelts.

Over the years, the findings of the inquiry have been presented as the definitive answer to Diana's death. However, the official explanations have notably failed to convince an army of Diana conspiracy theorists who believe that the death was actually engineered by the British establishment, and that the malfeasance was then covered up. The reasons for the suspicion are not hard to fathom, starting with motive.

Comment: The truth about this tragedy may never be admitted; thus a narrative was set. But examination of the circumstances suggests a different story that for twenty years hasn't subsided, been dissolved, nor laid to rest. Had she lived, given the public's devotion, Diana would have been a pivotal bridge to the Muslim world, an inconvenient connection that could not be allowed. Her death reveals the monarchy.

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X

'Storming visit' a dud: Netanyahu rants, Putin ignores

Samer Hussein, translator
Fort Russ
Wed, 23 Aug 2017 00:00 UTC
Net and Put
© HaaretzNetanyahu and Putin, before and after.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has launched a scathing attack on Iran, saying it threatens existence of Israel in the region, after meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in the city of Sochi.

Netanyahu, who arrived in the company of Mossad chiefs and members of the National Security Council, launched multiple verbal attacks on Iran, accusing it of continuing to threaten the existence of the State of Israel, namely by supporting "terrorist organizations" and developing a nuclear program.

"The situation in the Middle East is now very dynamic and Iran is making tremendous efforts to strengthen its presence in Syria, which is a threat to Israel, the Middle East, and I believe the whole world too", Netanyahu said.

Putin, however, did not respond to Netanyahu's comments about Iran's role in Syria. He did not respond about his threats of a possible unilateral military action to prevent the Iranian presence in Syria, either.

Comment: The visit was nothing more than an international embarrassment for the whining, egomaniacal, Israeli tyrant.

See also: Bibi to bend Putin's ear on Iranian aggression

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Stock Up

Wall Street banks sued again for conspiring to control the market

Pam Martens, Russ Martens
Wall Street on Parade
Tue, 22 Aug 2017 00:00 UTC
Fat Cat
© Project SyndicateThe Banker's Swipe
As summer draws to a close and the Wall Street titans enjoy the last of their lazy long weekends in the Hamptons, summering next door to the army of lawyers that keep them out of jail, it's a curious time to be reading about a major new lawsuit that has the potential to shake Wall Streeters right down to their Gucci loafers. The charges include conspiracy to restrain trade in violation of the Sherman Act and unjust enrichment in a $1.7 trillion market.

Since the Senate hearings of the early 1930s, which examined the Wall Street practices and conspiracies that led to the 1929-1932 stock market collapse and Great Depression, there have been rumblings that Wall Street's system for lending stock for traders to short is a viper's nest of ripoffs. Now two major law firms, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Cohen Milstein are suing six of the largest Wall Street banks, alleging that they illegally colluded in this market. The defendants are the usual suspects: JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS and their stock lending units. (The only surprise here is that Citigroup is not named.)

You know there's some high minded legal talent involved when the lawsuit quotes Tolstoy. The plaintiffs' lawyers tell the Federal Court:
"To paraphrase Tolstoy, all efficient markets resemble one another, but each inefficient market is inefficient in its own way. This case concerns a market variously called the 'stock loan,' 'stock lending,' or 'securities lending' market. It is one of the largest and most important financial markets that exists in the world today. Unlike many other financial markets, the stock loan market has not evolved to reflect the ways in which modern technology can facilitate efficient and transparent electronic trading. Instead, the stock loan market remains an inefficient, antiquated, and opaque over-the-counter ('OTC') trading market dominated by large dealer banks, principally the Prime Broker Defendants. These banks have structured the market in such a way that they take a large cut of nearly every stock loan trade that is made. This arrangement is good for the Prime Broker Defendants. But it is bad for virtually everyone else, including the class members in this case."
The plaintiffs in the case thus far are the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System, the Orange County Employees Retirement System, and the Sonoma County Employees' Retirement Association. The lawsuit is seeking class action status in order to represent others similarly harmed.

For the rest of the article, go here.
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Info

Pakistan fires back at US for making it a 'scapegoat' for Afghan failures


RT
Wed, 23 Aug 2017 17:34 UTC
US soldiers
© Munir uz Zaman / AFP
Pakistan has hit out at Donald Trump's allegations it is sheltering terrorists, made as the US leader announced a new Afghanistan strategy. Islamabad says Washington is making it a "scapegoat" for its own failures.

On Monday, Trump presented a new strategy for Afghanistan at the US Army's Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. During his speech, the US leader criticized Pakistan by saying it has "safe havens" for terrorists. Trump added that the US is running out of patience and wants to see more commitment to peace from the Pakistani government.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later followed Trump's line, saying aid to Pakistan might be reviewed, as well as Islamabad's status as a major non-NATO ally.

"The amount of aid and military assistance we give them, their status as non-NATO alliance partner - all of that can be put on the table," he said.
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Snakes in Suits

Egypt's FM cancels meeting with Kushner after US cuts nearly $100 million in aid


RT
Wed, 23 Aug 2017 17:27 UTC
Jared Kushner
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner and the rest of the US delegation's meeting with the Egyptian Foreign Minister has been cancelled in what may be a response to the cutting of aid from Washington.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry was due to meet Kushner and his team on Wednesday in Cairo, but the sit-down was called off at the last minute after the Americans had already arrived.

On Tuesday, the US government cut almost $100 million in military and financial aid to Egypt, one of its biggest recipients, and delayed nearly $200 million more on the grounds that the Egyptian government was not doing enough to address the human rights situation in the country, US officials told media.

In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that the decision to cut aid was "a misjudgment of the nature of the strategic relations that binds the two countries over decades, and reflects the lack of understanding of the importance of supporting the stability and success of Egypt."
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