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Turkey to maintain ban on German visits to Incirlik base until Berlin takes 'positive steps' in relations


RT
Wed, 31 May 2017 15:05 UTC
Incirlik airbase
© Umit Bektas / ReutersUS Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter jets are pictured at Incirlik airbase in the southern city of Adana, Turkey, in this December 11, 2015
German lawmakers won't be allowed to visit the Incirlik base hosting German troops until Berlin takes some "positive steps" toward Ankara, the Turkish Foreign Minister said.

"It is not possible to open the Incirlik base for a visit, but we might reconsider the decision in the future if we see positive steps from Germany," Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a joint press conference with the foreign minister of Gabon on Tuesday, as reported by Turkey's Daily Sabah newspaper.

He went on to accuse Germany of "supporting everything that is against Turkey" as he explained the reasons for the ban. The minister also called Germany's "way of handling Turkey... troubling."
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Pirates

France uses anti-terrorism measures to curb peaceful protests, restrict rights and freedoms


RT
Wed, 31 May 2017 14:58 UTC
France riot police
© Benoit Tessier / ReutersFrench CRS riot police use tear gas against French high school and university students, Paris March 31, 2016.
France has deployed anti-terrorist measures within a state of emergency to curb peaceful protests, Amnesty International says. It adds that emergency laws were used not to protect civilians after the 2015 Paris attacks, but to restrict their human rights.

The report, titled 'A right not a threat: Disproportionate restrictions on demonstrations under the State of Emergency in France', was released by the human rights group on Wednesday.

"The multiple restrictions on public protest are an egregious example of the use of an emergency measure in pursuit of objectives unconnected with the specific purpose for which the current state of emergency was declared and extended; namely, preventing further violent attacks on the general population," the report said.
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Info

Turkey blasts US arming Kurds in Syria as 'extremely dangerous'


RT
Wed, 31 May 2017 14:51 UTC
Kurdish fighters
© Rodi Said / Reuters
The US' decision to arm Kurdish fighters in Syria is an "extremely dangerous" mistake that should be reversed, Turkey's foreign minister has said. Earlier on Tuesday, the US announced that it was starting to deliver weapons to the Syrian Kurdish militia.

"Such steps are extremely dangerous for Syria's unity and territorial integrity," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the media on Wednesday.

"If we are looking for stability in Syria, we should row back from those mistakes," he told a press conference, while speaking alongside his Slovenian counterpart, Karl Erjavec.

Comment: Plus the US has no legal mandate to do anything in Syria.

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Light Saber

Duterte's campaign against drugs is also fighting terrorism

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Wed, 31 May 2017 14:45 UTC
Teroristička banda na Filipinima i “Plan Goldberg” za svrgavanje predsjednika Dutertea
The west provides the money, ISIS reaps the profits, the drugs are feed to terrorists, the terrorists slaughter innocent people. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte gets this. Why doesn't the west?

What would it take for you to strap a bomb to your body and blow yourself and anyone and anything around you into a million little pieces? One cannot be compensated for such an activity, so in this sense, all the gold of Croesus would not be at all meaningful.

Furthermore, all great religious texts forbid such an act. True, one could simply lie about what these texts say to a young, stupid and desperate individual, but this would still only account for an infinitesimally small number of suicide bombers.
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Info

How Putin squashed arrogant Macron

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 31 May 2017 14:14 UTC
Putin and Macron in Versailles
Russian President Putin dismissed French President Macron's claims during Putin's visit to France that the only hope for Russia is to align with Europe.

The Kremlin has published the complete text of the brief but highly illuminating press conference which followed the Macron-Putin summit in Versailles.

I have previously expressed bafflement as to why Macron invited Putin to a summit meeting at all given that the extraordinarily hard line against Russia which he seems intent on following. The text of the press conference provides the answer, and it shows how delusional and arrogant Europe's leaders including Macron have become.

It turns out that Macron's purpose was nothing less than the grandiose one of "educating" Putin on why Russia needs to align itself with Europe in order to 'modernize', which means reversing the domestic and foreign policy line it has been following since the crisis of 1998 of pursuing building its own 'sovereign democracy' and of aligning with China.

Macron sought to do this by conjuring up the supposed example of Russia's Westernizing tsar, Peter the Great.

Comment: For different take on Putin's visit with Macron: Macron's 'fake news' swipe belies his French-Russian relations ambition

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Info

Macron's 'fake news' swipe belies his French-Russian relations ambition

Finian Cunningham
RT
Tue, 30 May 2017 13:54 UTC
Emmanuel Macron (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin
© Stephane De Sakutin / Reuters
The fact Russian President Vladimir Putin was the first foreign head of state invited by newly elected French leader Emmanuel Macron speaks volumes of a desire to reset frayed relations between the two countries.

Their meeting began with a cordial handshake and continued in the same vein for most of their subsequent joint news conference. It was only at the end that Macron slipped into an acrimonious tirade, accusing Russian news media of acting as fake news outlets against his election campaign.

That wobble aside, the overall thrust was the new French president having an ambitious eye on a bigger priority - "strengthening partnership with Russia."

Comment: On the other hand, about Macron's domestic policy: President Emmanuel Macron: Will reverse five decades of working-class power

For different take on Putin's visit with Macron: How Putin squashed arrogant Macron

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Music

Saudi Grand Mufti slams preachers who approve of music & singing


RT
Wed, 31 May 2017 13:49 UTC
Arabic drum
© Caren Firouz / Reuters
The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh, said that the Muslim preachers who have been recently approving singing and listening to music by worshipers were being insubordinate, local media report.

Abdul Aziz Al ash-Sheikh said that such "recalcitrant" preachers went against their own convictions, by changing their stance after decades of banning music.

The Grand Mufti also criticized preachers who used fictional stories in their sermons and in advising their flock.

"We have the book of God (the Koran), it's enough and there is no need for such fairy tales," he said, as cited by Okaz daily.
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Wolf

Macron says RT correspondents brave bombs, bullets and tear gas - but still not 'real' journalists


RT
Tue, 30 May 2017 18:04 UTC
RT journalists
© RTClockwise from top left: RT reporters William Whiteman, Maria Finoshina, Middle East bureau chief Paula Slier, reporter Murad Gazdiev.
In his latest attack on RT, French President Emmanuel Macron said the news outlet's correspondents were not "real journalists." Some of the people he dismissed as non-professionals deliver reports while under threat from bombs and bullets.

Macron, who stonewalled RT during his election campaign, justified his attitude by accusing the channel of spreading falsehoods about him. He failed to provide any examples, however.

"They didn't act like the media, like journalists. They behaved like deceitful propaganda," Macron told a media conference on Monday, following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I have always had an exemplary relationship with foreign journalists, but they have to be real journalists."
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Info

OPEC, Russia and other producers propose curbing oil inventories to five-year average


RT
Wed, 31 May 2017 13:26 UTC
Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih and OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo
© ReutersRussian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih and OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo gather ahead of a meeting in Moscow, Russia, May 31, 2017.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-members are committed to reducing global oil inventories to a five-year average, said Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih in Moscow on Wednesday.

The goal could be reached in the very near future, he said at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Aleksandr Novak.

Russian and Saudi energy ministers also said cooperation between the countries in the oil markets would continue after the current joint oil output agreement expires in March 2018.

"It is necessary to work out new framework principles for continued steady cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC even after the expiration of the Vienna agreements," said Novak.
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Info

Duterte reverses and now insists he 'will not talk to terrorists' on clashes in south Philippines


RT
Wed, 31 May 2017 13:13 UTC
Rodrigo Duterte
© AFP
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte insists he will not talk with the terrorists fighting his country's military and occupying parts of a city in its south, saying he is determined to drive Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) off the islands.

"I will not talk to the terrorists," Duterte said during a speech he gave to the military in Davao City on Wednesday, as quoted by Reuters.

The statement represents a turn-around for Duterte, who urged the Maute rebels to speak with him just last week.

A total of 129 people - 89 militants, 19 civilians, and 21 government soldiers - have been killed in the Philippines' southern city of Marawi since IS-linked Maute rebels took control of parts of it last week, military spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla told AP.
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