Puppet MastersS


Radar

Syrian and Russian Air Force heavily pound ISIS in Deir ez Zour as locals burn its 'police' headquarters

SANA - translated by Samer Hussein
Fort Russ News
Wed, 23 Aug 2017 13:29 UTC
Russian air force
Syrian Air Force and artillery units carried out series of intense strikes against ISIS positions in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ez Zour on Wednesday.

According to the field reports, several ISIS gatherings were destroyed in the surrounding areas of Liwa'a Al Tamim, Al Panorama, the villages of Al Masrab, Al Kharita, Al Shmaitiyeh, Ein Buo, Jumma, Ayyash and Al Baghiliyeh, and in the neighborhoods of Al Oummal and Al Orfi in Deir Ez Zour city, killing scores of the terrorists and destroying their machine-gun-equipped vehicles.

In the neighborhood of Al Orfi, army units destroyed a 30m long and 4m deep tunnel, which was used by ISIS terrorists in Deir Ez Zour.
Read More...
Info

Trump reiterates he'll probably kill US trade pact with Canada and Mexico


RT
Wed, 23 Aug 2017 12:58 UTC
US-Canada border
© Lyle Stafford / Reuters
US President Donald Trump has warned he might scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada as the sides can't compromise on the 23-year-old pact.

"Personally, I don't think we can make a deal. I think we'll probably end up terminating NAFTA at some point," Trump said at a political rally in Phoenix, Arizona.

He suggested a termination might help jump-start the negotiations, saying "I personally don't think you can make a deal without a termination."

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray tweeted after Trump's comments: "No surprises: we're already in a negotiation. Mexico will remain at the table with serenity, firmness and with the national interest ahead."
Read More...
Info

Moscow 'preparing inevitable response' as Washington hits Russians with new sanctions over N. Korea


RT
Wed, 23 Aug 2017 12:07 UTC
Moscow
© Maksim Blinov / Sputnik
Moscow has fired back at the latest round of US sanctions targeting Russian interests, as Washington blacklisted one Russian company and four individuals for their alleged dealings with North Korea.

On Tuesday, the US Treasury revealed it had imposed sanctions on 16 Russian and Chinese nationals and companies for their alleged dealings with North Korea. The Treasury claims the sanctions are in line with the internationally agreed measures against North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programs. The companies are accused of working with blacklisted individuals, helping develop the North Korean energy sector, help it place workers abroad or move money from abroad. As a result, their US assets are frozen and Americans are forbidden from doing business with them.

"It is unacceptable for individuals and companies in China, Russia, and elsewhere to enable North Korea to generate income used to develop weapons of mass destruction and destabilize the region," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

"We are taking actions consistent with UN sanctions to show that there are consequences for defying sanctions and providing support to North Korea, and to deter this activity in the future."
Read More...
Newspaper

US Needs Russia, China Despite Differences on Afghan Solution - US Congressman


Sputnik
Tue, 22 Aug 2017 00:00 UTC
Xi Jinping and Putin
© Sputnik/ Michael Klimentyev
The United States needs the support of Russia, China and regional partners to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan despite the countries' differences, US Congressman Scott Taylor said in an interview on Tuesday.

Trump understands the importance of looking at a bigger picture, taking into consideration the impact of Russia, China and other countries on regional stabilization efforts, Taylor added.

Comment: 'Recipe for disaster': Ron Paul speaks about Trump's Afghanistan policy turn

Read More...
Snakes in Suits

'Recipe for disaster': Ron Paul speaks about Trump's Afghanistan policy turn


RT
Tue, 22 Aug 2017 21:33 UTC
Ron Paul
© Joe Skipper / Reuters
US President Donald Trump's plans to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan risk alienating his base and are unlikely to win him any favor with the Washington establishment, says a prominent former member of Congress.

In an interview with RT, former Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul questioned Trump's contradictory approach to foreign policy.

"Even if he flip-flops and goes along with the neocons, which it looks like he has, he's not going to win them over. The people who support McCain and Graham and Rubio aren't going to support him," Paul told RT, naming the senators from Arizona, South Carolina and Florida known for being foreign policy hawks. "I think he loses in a political way, he loses some of the support from his base."
Read More...
Propaganda

Alleged Confidential UN report claims North Korea shipments to Syria chemical arms agency intercepted but no details given

Michelle Nichols
Reuters
Mon, 21 Aug 2017 21:22 UTC
Kim Jong Un
© KCNA / Reuters
Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for the country's chemical weapons program were intercepted in the past six months, according to a confidential United Nations report on North Korea sanctions violations.

The report by a panel of independent U.N. experts, which was submitted to the U.N. Security Council earlier this month and seen by Reuters on Monday, gave no details on when or where the interdictions occurred or what the shipments contained.


Comment: Of course there are no details, just release a headline demonizing both Syria and North Korea is sufficient for the propaganda objectives.


"The panel is investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and the DPRK (North Korea)," the experts wrote in the 37-page report.

"Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria. Another Member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria," according to the report.
Read More...
Attention

Top military commander: New US forces could arrive in Afghanistan within days


RT
Tue, 22 Aug 2017 21:04 UTC
US soldiers
© Omar Sobhani / Reuters
A high-ranking US military commander for the Middle East has announced that in a matter of days or a few weeks additional US troops could be deployed to Afghanistan, following President Trump's speech on a new strategy in the region.

The first new deployments of American military personnel will happen "pretty quickly," Gen. Joseph Votel told reporters on Tuesday, as quoted by AP.

Speaking to the media traveling with him to Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon military official, who spent last weekend in Afghanistan, estimated that the deployment might happen within days, or a few weeks. New troops should be ready to fight as soon as possible, he said.

"What's most important for us now is to get some capabilities in to have an impact on the current fighting season."
Read More...
Cult

UNICEF: Boko Haram have used 83 children as suicide bombers so far this year


RT
Tue, 22 Aug 2017 20:59 UTC
Nigerian soldier
© Afolabi Sotunde / Reuters
Boko Haram has dramatically increased the use of children in suicide bomb attacks on civilians in Nigeria, UNICEF reported Tuesday.

There has been a four-fold increase in the use of weaponized children as part of the Islamist insurgency which has ravaged the country's northeast for eight years, UNICEF said in a statement.

So far this year, 83 children have been used as "human bombs," the majority of whom were girls.

Such attacks are used to sow fear among the population, especially of children who have been released, rescued or escaped from Boko Haram or similar Islamist terrorist groups.

"There is an extraordinary level of tension obviously in these communities and... people are afraid of children who have been victimized in this absolutely appalling way," UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado said, as cited by VOA News.

"There are instances of children being ostracized by their communities and worse. Terrible things are happening to children after already horrific things have happened to them," she added.
Read More...
Jet3

Toothless UN 'deeply concerned' about US-led Raqqa airstrikes that reportedly killed dozens of civilians


RT
Tue, 22 Aug 2017 20:53 UTC
US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet
© Ryan U. Kledzik / Reuters
The UN has expressed "deep concerns" over the mounting number of civilian casualties in Raqqa inflicted by US-led coalition airstrikes, condemning "any attack directed against civilians or civilian infrastructure."

"Our humanitarian colleagues tell us they are deeply concerned by unconfirmed reports of a high number of civilians killed by airstrike in Raqqa city over the last 24 hours," Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, told reporters at a daily briefing Tuesday.

"In recent days and weeks scores of civilians have reportedly been killed and injured in Raqqa due to airstrikes and shelling and up to 25 thousand people remain trapped in the city," Dujarric said.
Read More...
Info

Treasury slaps sanctions on Chinese, Russian entities and individuals over North Korea - Update: China furious

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 22 Aug 2017 16:56 UTC
Steven Mnuchin
© Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
In a move that is certain to infuriate China further and result in another deterioration in diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing, moments ago the United States slapped both Chinese and Russian entities and individuals with new sanctions in the Trump administration's escalating attempts to pressure North Korea to relent and stop its nuclear program and occasional missile launches.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said it would target 10 entities and six individuals who help already sanctioned people who aid North Korea's missile program or "deal in the North Korean energy trade." The U.S. also aims to sanction people and groups that allow North Korean entities to access the U.S. financial system or helps its exportation of workers, according to the Treasury:
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 10 entities and six individuals in response to North Korea's ongoing development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), violations of United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolutions, and attempted evasion of U.S. sanctions. Today's sanctions target third-country companies and individuals that (1) assist already-designated persons who support North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, (2) deal in the North Korean energy trade, (3) facilitate its exportation of workers, and (4) enable sanctioned North Korean entities to access the U.S. and international financial systems.
As a result of the latest action, "any property or interests in property of the designated persons in the possession or control of U.S. persons or within the United States must be blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them."

Comment: Update: A Furious China Responds To Latest Sanctions: Demands "U.S. Immediately Correct Its Mistake" Or Suffer Retaliation
Less than 4 hours ago, the US Treasury announced that in the the latest set of actions targeting North Korea's "WMD program", among the entities sanctioned would be several Chinese and Russian companies and individuals. We said that "what this latest round of sanctions will achieve, is to further anger Beijing and the local population." Well, we didn't even have to wait all day for China to respond on the next morning as it traditionally does, and according to Reuters citing an embassy spokesman, Beijing was so furious with the US "provocation" it scrapped its own protocol of waiting during a "cooldown" period, and instead ripped right back, "urging" the U.S. to "immediately correct its mistake"' of sanctioning Chinese firms over North Korea, to avoid impact on bilateral cooperation.

Since the US will not "correct its mistake", either "immediately" or at any time, China will have no choice but to escalate, in the process making any credible diplomacy involving North Korea impossible, forcing" America's hand when it comes to North Korea, now that the diplomatic option is out of the picture.

And virtually assuring that there is no hope for a diplomatic resolution of the North Korean crisis, earlier today a North Korean envoy to a UN disarmament forum refused to negotiate its nuclear program, accusing the US and South Korea of using joint military drills to carry out "an aggressive war scenario" and "a secret operation" against the North's leadership.

"The DPRK will never place its self-defense nuclear deterrence on the negotiating table or step back from the path it took to bolster the national nuclear force," a North Korean diplomat stated at the UN disarmament forum in Geneva, as cited by Reuters.

A North Korean envoy to a UN disarmament forum has refused to negotiate its nuclear program, accusing the US and South Korea of using joint military drills to carry out "an aggressive war scenario" and "a secret operation" against the North's leadership.

"The DPRK will never place its self-defense nuclear deterrence on the negotiating table or step back from the path it took to bolster the national nuclear force," a North Korean diplomat stated at the UN disarmament forum in Geneva, as cited by Reuters.

The comment follow a statement by the state-run KCNA news agency on Monday according to which "the situation on the Korean Peninsula has plunged into a critical phase due to the reckless north-targeted war racket of the war maniacs." Meanwhile, Pyongyang has again threatened to strike the US base in Guam, which it earlier promised to attack if "provoked" by Washington.


Read More...