Puppet MastersS


Star of David

Israeli navy kidnaps six Palestinians off Gaza coast


Days of Palestine
Tue, 16 May 2017 12:57 UTC
Israel Navy kidnap Palestine
Last night, the security sources said that the Israeli occupation navy kidnapped the fisherman Mohamed Baker, 22, his cousins Abdullah, 20, and Mohamed Said, 27.
Israeli occupation navy kidnapped six Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza coast during less than 12 hours; three at night and three in the morning.

Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli occupation nay opened fire on the Palestinian fishermen fishing off the northern Gaza coast in the early morning. No casualties were reported.

However, security sources later on reported that the Israeli navy had kidnapped three fishermen during the operation.

Comment: Further reading: Israel threatens to pass bill legalizing apartheid, debate begins on declaring Israel a solely Jewish state

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Bad Guys

Merkel 'set for re-election' after surprise victory in German elections

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Tue, 16 May 2017 12:44 UTC
Angela Merkel
© Michael Dalder / Reuters
Merkel's victory in the state election in North Rhine Westphalia crushes the challenge from the SPD's Martin Schulz and dooms the hopes of reform of Emmanuel Macron.

Angela Merkel's CDU party has a won a surprise victory in the state election in North Rhine Westphalia setting the scene for what now looks like her inevitable re-election in four months time.

The CDU's victory by a convincing margin in North Rhine Westphalia is a bitter blow to the SPD. North Rhine Westphalia is Germany's most populous state and is the SPD's traditional heartland state. It is also the state where Martin Schulz - the SPD's Chancellor designate - was born. Moreover the leader of the local SPD Hannelore Kraft was a well regarded local politician who is widely admitted to have outshone during the state election her CDU rival Armin Laschet.
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Chess

Tories accused of stealing ideas from UKIP & Labour


RT
Tue, 16 May 2017 12:44 UTC
UKUP Tories LAbour
© Oli Scarff / AFP
Officials of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) have accused Theresa May's Conservative Party of stealing their proposals, while vowing that the party will not be irrelevant after Brexit.

Patrick O'Flynn, UKIP's economic spokesman, mocked the Tories by urging them to "steal another policy" from the Euroskeptics' manifesto.

"We could, I think, be forgiven for finding it galling that the ever-pragmatic Tory party has lately donned so many of our clothes,"O'Flynn added.
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Blue Planet

Game changer for the global economy: China widens its Silk Road to the world

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Sat, 13 May 2017 04:27 UTC
OBOR, china one belt one road

Beijing hopes its top-level two-day Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, starting this Sunday, will be a game-changer for globalization

Let's cut to the chase. China's new 'Silk Road' initiative is the only large-scale, multilateral development project that the 21st century has seen so far.

There is no counter-offer from the West.

Which is why the two-day Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, starting this Sunday in Beijing, is being set up as a game-changer for the global economy. Here the initiative looks likely to switch to Mark II mode, accelerating into what President Xi Jinping dubbed, at Davos in January, "inclusive globalization."


Comment:

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Network

Win-win partnerships: Alibaba's Jack Ma sees 'One Belt One Road' strategy as uniquely effective and inclusive globalization


RT
Mon, 15 May 2017 10:31 UTC
Alibaba founder Jack Ma
© GettyAlibaba founder Jack Ma
China's ambitious investment project, part of its 'One Belt, One Road' strategy, is uniquely effective and inclusive, according to a Chinese billionaire and Alibaba founder Jack Ma.

"The greatest difference between the Belt and Road Initiative and general globalization lies in the inclusion of young people, women, smaller enterprises and developing countries. It aims to reach more people. This is both a responsibility and an opportunity," the billionaire said in an interview with the People's Daily on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

The Alibaba founder praised the vision of Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying the project was an excellent opportunity for individuals and countries.

Comment: Further reading:

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Arrow Down

Hong Kong rejects asylum applications of refugees who helped Snowden escape in 2013


RT
Mon, 15 May 2017 10:49 UTC
refugees hiding Snowden Hong Kong
© Bobby Yip / Reuters
Hong Kong has rejected the asylum applications of seven refugees who helped hide NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden during his time in the city in 2013. Their lawyer believes the decision was linked to Snowden's case and was, in fact, made long ago.

The asylum-seekers are Ajith Pushpakumara, a former soldier from Sri Lanka, as well as a family of four from the same country, including Supun Thilina Kellapatha, his wife Nadeeka Dilrukshi Nonis, and their two children. Also at risk of deportation is Vanessa Mae Rodel, a Filipino woman who has a Hong Kong-born daughter, according to the South China Morning Post.

The ruling of Hong of Kong's Immigration Department to reject their cases was "completely unreasonable," said Robert Tibbo, a Canadian lawyer representing the refugees, who added that the decision included many "factual errors." He also accused the authorities of deliberately trying to force his clients out of the city.

Comment: Snowden escaped the clutches of U.S. with help from Hong Kong asylum seekers

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Radar

US-led coalition raids in Syria kill 26 civilians

Breakingnews.sy - translated by Samer Hussein
Fort Russ
Mon, 15 May 2017 00:00 UTC
US-led raids
At least 26 people were killed during the US-led anti-ISIS coalition air raids in the eastern countryiside of the Syrian province of Raqqah. 20 were reportedly injured.

According to local sources, the incident occurred in the village of Aakerchi, where coalition aircrafts targeted three vehicles that were transporting workers, employed in the agricultural sector.

26 people, including 24 female workers and 2 male drivers, were killed during the raids. 19 other female workers and a third driver fortunately managed to survive the assault.
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Recycle

President Trump, toss your Generals' war escalation plans in the trash

Ron Paul
Ron Paul Institute
Mon, 15 May 2017 21:52 UTC
American war
By the end of this month, Defense Secretary James Mattis and National Security Advisor HR McMaster will deliver to President Trump their plans for military escalations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. President Trump would be wise to rip the plans up and send his national security team back to the drawing board - or replace them. There is no way another "surge" in Afghanistan and Iraq (plus a new one in Syria) puts America first. There is no way doing the same thing over again will succeed any better than it did the last time.

Near the tenth anniversary of the US war on Afghanistan - seven years ago - I went to the Floor of Congress to point out that the war makes no sense. The original authorization had little to do with eliminating the Taliban. It was a resolution to retaliate against those who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001. From what we know now, the government of Saudi Arabia had far more to do with the financing and planning of 9/11 than did the Taliban. But we're still pumping money into that lost cause. We are still killing Afghanis and in so doing creating the next generation of terrorists.
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Question

Trump and the big picture - is it all bad?

Scott Adams
Scott Adams Blog
Mon, 15 May 2017 20:27 UTC
Trump quote Russia
© RT
Let's take a look at the things that are going well for President Trump, and the things that are not, and see if there is a pattern. Here I will include topics that are not necessarily the president's accomplishments or faults. I'll simply describe the current state of things.
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Map

Carving out 'Kurdistan' is the new US end game in Syria

Andrew Korybko
The Duran
Mon, 15 May 2017 21:28 UTC
Syrian kurds
As one regional war ends, another conflict may begin.

The War on Syria has taken many twists and turns over the past six years, but the conventional part of the campaign seems to be drawing to an end. Russia's anti-terrorist intervention turned the tables on the "moderate opposition rebels" and forever precluded any chance that they'd succeed in violently toppling the democratically elected and legitimate government of President Assad. The militant promotion of regime change is no longer in the cards for Syria, and great advances have been made on the anti-terrorist front against Daesh, but that doesn't mean that the US isn't still a danger to the Arab Republic.
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