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Leo Varadkar becomes Ireland's youngest ever PM (and he's gay, and the son of Indian immigrants)

Henry McDonald
The Guardian
Wed, 14 Jun 2017 09:12 UTC
The 38-year-old politician will replace outgoing taoiseach Enda Kenny after winning Fine Gael leadership contest
leo varadkar
The son of an Indian immigrant who came out as gay in 2015 will be the next Irish prime minister, after he was voted leader of the country's main governing party.

Leo Varadkar's victory in the Fine Gael leadership contest on Friday, which took place after outgoing PM Enda Kenny announced his resignation last month, marks another significant step forward for equality in the country, after 2015's gay marriage referendum.

As well as becoming Ireland's first gay prime minister, Varadkar, 38, will also become the country's youngest leader, and the first from an ethnic minority background. His position will be confirmed later this month when parliament resumes after a break.

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Bullseye

Because Russia: Comey's Senate Intelligence Committee testimony - and his Big lies of omission

Mike Whitney
Counterpunch
Tue, 13 Jun 2017 00:00 UTC
Comey lies
"The Democrats are not fighting Trump over his assault on health care, his attacks on immigrants, his militaristic bullying around the world, or even his status as a minority president who can claim no mandate after losing the popular vote. Instead, they have chosen to attack Trump, the most right-wing president in US history, from the right, denouncing him as insufficiently committed to a military confrontation with Russia."

— Patrick Martin, "The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming", World Socialist Web Site
Donald Trump is not the target of an FBI investigation.

Donald Trump has never been the target of an FBI investigation.

The FBI is not investigating Trump for collusion, improper relations with a foreign government, treason or any of the other ridiculous things he's been falsely accused of in the fake media. In fact, the FBI is not investigating him at all.

Comment: See also:

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Info

Why the scapegoat of Russian meddling in the British election has not been invoked - yet

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Thu, 15 Jun 2017 00:00 UTC
Corbyn
© Isabel Infantes / Agence France-Presse

The reason there has been no Russiagate style claims of Russian meddling in the British election is because unlike Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen, Jeremy Corbyn is challenging the neoliberal establishment from the left rather than the right.

Since the shock outcome of the general election in Britain last week one dog has rather surprisingly failed to bark and a number of people are asking why?

That dog is the allegation of Russian meddling in the election.

That allegation has been made - to a massive degree - about last year's US Presidential election, about last year's British Brexit referendum, about this year's French election, and about the German election which is pending later this year.

However no-one has made it in relation to the British election and some people are wondering why?
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Attention

President Sisi allegedly threatens to break relations with Turkey

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Thu, 15 Jun 2017 23:10 UTC
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Egypt's relations with Turkey may go from frosty to frozen.

Reports have surfaced claiming that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has called for the Saudi led boycott of Qatar to be extended to Turkey. The remarks allegedly came during Sisi's meeting last week with King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, a state which many consider to be a prototypical puppet regime of Saudi Arabia.

These reports come as Egypt's Parliament approved the effective sale of two Red Sea Egyptian islands to Saudi Arabia, a move which has proved deeply controversial for many Egyptians, but one which demonstrates the economic ties Egypt is building with Saudi, ties that it does not have on the other Muslim countries who have taken a strong line over Qatar.

While Sisi has not confirmed these remarks in a public statement, it is not difficult to believe. Turkey like Qatar supported the Muslim Brotherhood which briefly and controversially ruled Egypt under President Morsi between 2012 and 2013.
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Radar

Russia may deploy early warning Arctic radar station due to proximity of US nuclear subs


RT
Thu, 15 Jun 2017 23:01 UTC
Russian Arctic military
© Ministry of defence of the Russian Federation / Sputnik
Moscow is considering the deployment of additional elements of the early warning system, including a radar station in its Arctic territory, said Viktor Ozerov, the head of the Russian Federal Assembly's Defense Committee.
"The early warning system has already been built, but I think that its additional elements should be deployed there [in the Arctic]," Ozerov told RIA Novosti.

The senator said he was talking about a radar station as well as ground, air and space surveillance systems.
Ozerov addressed the issue after Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his Q&A session earlier Thursday that Russia must have a warning system in the Arctic due to the presence of US nuclear submarines in the area.
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Bizarro Earth

What in the world is happening in Venezuela?

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
Wed, 14 Jun 2017 21:11 UTC
Painting of Venezuela crises
© The Anti Media
As Venezuela continues to burn, Western media outlets are also aflame with reports of the brutal crackdown on protesters, the oppression by the Venezuelan government, and the dire straits of the Venezuelan economy. According to these outlets, the reason Venezuela is in the condition it finds itself in today is simple - a refusal to embrace "Western" democracy and free trade neoliberalism as well as the inherent corruption of oppressive rulers like Chavez and now Maduro.

Unfortunately, many alternative media outlets are aflame with much the same rhetoric, glorifying the "democracy" protesters and the Venezuelan "opposition" while similarly blaming the oppressive Venezuelan government and socialism for the country's ills. While Venezuela has its problems - economic and governmental - the narrative being peddled by both the mainstream and alternative media outlets are the same. Another similarity between the two is that they also neglect to address many of the causes of Venezuela's economic issues and the real cause of the protests which have been taking place all over the country for the past few years.
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Cardboard Box

A new financial crisis has already arrived In Europe

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Mon, 12 Jun 2017 00:00 UTC
EU Financial collapse
Did you know that the sixth largest bank in Spain failed in spectacular fashion just a few days ago? Many are comparing the sudden implosion of Banco Popular to the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, and EU regulators hastily arranged a sale of the failed bank to Santander in order to avoid a full scale financial panic. Sadly, most Americans have no idea that a new financial crisis is starting to play out over in Europe, because most Americans only care about what is going on in America. But we should be paying attention, because the EU is the second largest economy on the entire planet, and the euro is the second most used currency on the entire planet. The U.S. financial system is already teetering on the brink of disaster, and this new financial crisis in Europe could turn out to be enough to push us over the edge.

If EU regulators had not arranged a "forced sale" of Banco Popular to Santander, we would probably be witnessing panic on a scale that we haven't seen since 2008 in Europe right about now. The following comes from the Telegraph...
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Attention

Just how serious was Russia's 'probing' of the US election system?


Washington's Blog
Tue, 13 Jun 2017 00:00 UTC
S of L, US
© www.softpanorama.orgWill Uncle Sam ever recover?
NSA contractor Reality Winner allegedly leaked documents showing that Russia probed U.S. election systems days before the 2016 presidential election.

How big a crisis is this?

Washington's Blog asked Bill Binney, the NSA executive who created the agency's mass surveillance program for digital information, who served as the senior technical director within the agency, who managed six thousand NSA employees, the 36-year NSA veteran widely regarded as a "legend" within the agency and the NSA's best-ever analyst and code-breaker, who mapped out the Soviet command-and-control structure before anyone else knew how, and so predicted Soviet invasions before they happened ("in the 1970s, he decrypted the Soviet Union's command system, which provided the US and its allies with real-time surveillance of all Soviet troop movements and Russian atomic weapons").

Binney told us:
If you think about this article [the story by the Intercept], and assume it's true, then hacking a few days before the election is a little late if they really wanted to influence the voting.

To me, this sounds more like fishing for information to find out as much as they could about the democratic party much like the Chinese did hacking the OPM [U.S. Office of Personnel Management] files. I'm sure the Chinese found more use for the data they got then the Russians did on the Democratic party because Hillary did not win.

Comment: See also: Was Russia probing the US electoral systems?

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Pistol

Philippines: 100+ bodies on streets of ISIS-occupied Marwawi City


RT
Thu, 15 Jun 2017 12:59 UTC
Marawi
© Romero Ranoco/ReutersSmoke comes from burning building as government troops continue assault against insurgents from the Maute group.
A Philippine politician claims that residents fleeing Marawi City have seen at least 100 bodies "scattered" in the streets following weeks of intense fighting between militants linked to the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and government forces.

Recounting the testimony of people who recently escaped the besieged city, Zia Alonto Adiong, the Governor of the province Lanao del Sur, said scores of bodies are in an area which saw heavy gunfire.



"Dead bodies, at least 100, scattered around the encounter area," Adiong told reporters, according to Reuters. The army previously said that 290 people have been killed, including 206 militants, 58 soldiers and 26 civilians.

Adiong, who is helping rescue and relief efforts, had earlier claimed that up to 1,000 dead bodies were seen by the fleeing residents. He subsequently revised that number.

The politician also said that starvation has led residents to eat cardboard boxes.
"It's heartbreaking. It's almost unbelievable to think that people are living this way," Adiong told AFP.

Comment: The battle in Marawi is currently viewed as a stalemate and the rebels are proving their determination to 'hold and capture' similar to IS in Mosul, Iraq. US troops are on the ground near Marawi City providing technical support, but are not permitted involvement in fighting the militants. See also:

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Stock Up

Putin: Recession over, Russia now experiencing period of growth


RT
Thu, 15 Jun 2017 12:22 UTC
hand banks domino
© Gwen Sung/CNNMoneyReversing the economic domino effect.
The recession in the Russian economy is over and the record-low inflation will fall further to 4 percent this year, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday during his annual televised news conference.

Answering a question on whether the economic crisis in Russia is over, Putin said that objective data show the country has overcome it. "We have moved to a period of growth," Putin said, adding that "we've witnessed growth for three consecutive quarters."

According to the Russian president, industrial production and the volume of non-energy exports is also on the rise. Putin added that fixed capital investment is currently growing faster than the economy in general.
"The economy grew 0.7 percent in four months [January to April 2017], while investment into fixed capital grew 2.3 percent... it means the basis has been laid for growth in the near future," said Putin. He also noted the growth of Russia's foreign exchange reserves. "We started last year with $368 billion and finished it at the level of $378 billion. This year they stand at $405 billion," he said.
Russian Economic Development Minister Maksim Oreshkin said earlier the economy will grow 2 percent this year, with GDP returning to sustainable growth.


Comment: Economic growth in spite of Western sanctions proves Putin's prediction that sanctions on Russia would ultimately be ineffective.

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