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Germany is 'committing suicide' by not allowing Erdogan to speak to Turks during G20 summit

Erdogan and Merkel
© Tobias Schwarz / Reuters
Germany is "committing suicide" by not letting him speak to Turks during the G20 summit, Turkey's president has charged. Recep Tayyip Erdogan also says he will continue to view Germany as a terrorist haven until it surrenders alleged Fethullah Gulen supporters.

"Germany must correct this mistake. We need each other," Erdogan told Die Zeit weekly in an exclusive interview.

Erdogan said that he personally did not have any problems with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and would meet her during the G20 summit, scheduled for July 7-8. However, the Turkish president would continue to consider Germany as a state providing a safe haven for "terrorists," unless Berlin surrenders all alleged supporters of his arch-nemesis Fethullah Gulen, and other individuals accused of various crimes by the Turkish government.

"I have asked Merkel that they be handed over to Turkey. Why did not they return them?" Erdogan asked.

Snakes in Suits

Don't look now: Obama still thinks he's the president

Barack Obama
Far from bowing out gracefully, Barack Obama apparently intends to carry right on being the commander-in-chief.

Talk about not being able to move on.

It's been over 5 months since the 44th and possibly most useless US president ever to hold the office, vacated the White House.

But since then, Barack Hussein Obama has kept up a busy schedule of public addresses and meetings with world leaders.

In other words, Obama has gone right on acting as the US head-of-state. No more and no less.

Snakes in Suits

No surprise: Saudi FM announces Qatar boycott to remain until Arab states' demands met

Doha, Qatar
© Naseem Zeitoon / Reuters
The four Arab nations embroiled in a diplomatic crisis with Qatar have dismissed Doha's response to their demands as "not serious," and have pledged to continue to keep the Gulf state under political and economic sanctions until it changes its policies.

Foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have released statements following a meeting in Cairo on Wednesday, after the latest deadline they had set to Qatar expired on Tuesday night.

Speaking to reporters, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said that Qatar's response to the four Arab states' list of demands, which was passed on via intermediary Kuwait on Monday, was "generally negative" and failed to "lay the foundation for Qatar's reversal of the policies it pursues."

Shukri also accused Qatar of failing "to realize the gravity of the situation," AP reported.

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Putin and Trump will finally meet: Here's why Russia and America can't get along

Putin and Trump
© Reuters
So, at last, it's happening. On Friday, almost six months after assuming office, Donald Trump will have his first meeting with Vladimir Putin. Instead of a summit, it's snatched minutes on the G20 sidelines. Testament to the current anti-Russia hysteria in America.

In January, at his maiden news conference as president, Trump mentioned seven times how it would be "positive,""good" and even "great" if America "could get along with Russia." At the time, there was much bewilderment concerning his stances toward China, the European Union and the Arab World. But on Russia, he was notably consistent. He accepted the United States was partly to blame for dismal bilateral relations and insisted Washington would need Moscow's help to wipe out ISIS.

Since then, China's Xi Jinping, Britain's Theresa May, Germany's Angela Merkel, Japan's Shinzo Abe, among others, have visited the Oval Office and Trump will be in Paris later this month to meet Emmanuel Macron. In addition, the president has visited Saudi Arabia and Israel and met all the NATO heads of state in Brussels.

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Donald Trump lands in Poland as Russian Duma Deputy proposes cutting ties over Soviet war memorials destruction

Soviet war memorial in Poland
Donald Trump will revel in a country whose political elites want to desecrate and destroy Soviet war memorials.

A Deputy of the Russian State Duma, Nikolay Kharitonov of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, has proposed that Russia should sever all diplomatic and trading ties with Poland after the Polish Sejm (parliament) passed into a law, a bill proposing that Poland demolish the Soviet war memorials which dot the country as a tribute to the fallen soldiers of the Soviet Army who fought to liberate Poland from the fascist German conquerors.

Kharitonov stated:
"Our address must include such measures as severing diplomatic ties today before nighttime, recalling our ambassador and sending away the Polish one and also closing all types of trade with Poland".

2 + 2 = 4

Sott Editorial: Conspiracy Theories in the Internet Age

Conspiracy theory
After the gas attacks in Syria, on April 4th this year, I had a conversation with a work colleague about the news. Whilst talking, it quickly became apparent that we were not going to agree on the cause of the incident, the true culprits, what the reaction was going to be and what it should be, so I politely disengaged from the conversation.

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Kim Jong-un gets what he wants: Analyses of the Russian-Chinese joint statement on Korean conflict

Kim Jong-un
Joint Russian-Chinese statement on Korean conflict recognizes North Korea's 'justified concerns', opposes military action, and effectively rules out across-the-board sanctions.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has now published the complete text of the Russian-Chinese joint statement on the Korean conflict.

Since this document is not easy to find, I set out the full text with the key points highlighted.

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Kazakhstan and US sign defense cooperation plan for 2018-2022

Astana
© Sputnik/ Aleksey Babushkin
The US and Kazakhstan have signed bilateral defense cooperation plan for the years 2018-2022, the press service of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said Wednesday in a statement.

Bilateral consultations between representatives of the defense ministries of Kazakhstan and the United States were held in Washington, followed by signing of a new five-year cooperation plan for the years 2018-2022, the press service of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said Wednesday in a statement.
"During the meeting, current and prospective issues of military cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United States were discussed, another five-year military cooperation plan for the years 2018-2022 was signed, defining areas of cooperation for the coming five-year period," the statement reads.

Comment: So now that this defense deal has been signed, maybe the terrorist attacks will not be needed? What's going on in Kazakhstan? Violent attacks break years of peace and quiet - UPDATE


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Merkel takes aim at flawed US foreign policy ahead of G20 meeting with Trump

Angela Merkel
© Edgard Garrido
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Berlin can no longer rely on the US when it comes to the UN, the Middle East, or European security. Her comments come ahead of a planned meeting with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

Merkel first said in May that Europe needs to take its fate in its own hands, stating that "the times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out..."

When asked by German weekly Die Zeit if she would stand by those words today, Merkel answered in the affirmative, specifically mentioning the US.
"Yes, exactly that way. It is, for example, open whether we can and should in the future rely on the US investing so much as it has so far in the United Nations' work, in Middle East policy, in European security policy, or in peace missions in Africa," Reuters reported.

Snakes in Suits

Top BBC journalist Landale rejects job offer from May to be government's head of communications

Theresa May BBC
© BBC
Two BBC journalists are in line to become Prime Minister Theresa May's new head of communications. However, James Landale, the corporation's former deputy political editor, has turned down the offer.

Following in the footsteps of her predecessor, David Cameron, May is looking to the state broadcaster to poach her next head of communications. The vacancy opened up after Katie Perrior resigned in April when May called the snap election.

Robbie Gibb, who handles the BBC's coverage of Westminster, is one of the candidates for the position.

Landale was also in the running. However, on Wednesday morning he tweeted: "Parish news: I was asked if I would consider a job at No10. Nice to be asked but have decided not to apply. Have great job at BBC."

Cameron's coms director was Craig Oliver, who rose to fame after revamping the BBC's News at Ten show and covering the 2010 general election.

He was the successor of former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who was forced to resign after being implicated in a phone-hacking scandal.

During the election campaign, May was assisted by chiefs of staff Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy. They both resigned over the poor handling of May's election campaign.

At the time of his resignation, Timothy took responsibility for the party's embarrassing performance. He specifically took the blame for a U-turn on the social care plan in the Tory manifesto. The plan, branded the 'dementia tax,' alienated the party's core voters and ministers who were not briefed on the policy.

Another contender is thought to be Chris Wilkins, May's director of strategy, although he is not believed to be keen on taking the job permanently.