Puppet MastersS


Chess

China-N.Korea spat over nukes described as 'tactical and short-lived' by Russian experts


Sputnik
Mon, 08 May 2017 18:08 UTC
North Korea polaris missile
© AP Photo/ Korea News Service via APNorth Korea polaris missile
A series of articles in Chinese media which said that North Korea's nuclear forces pose a threat to China's national interests invited angry backlash from Pyongyang.

The official Central News Agency warned that Beijing "should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK's patience," by joining US attempts to force North Korea to scrap its nuclear and missile program.

The testy statement followed a series of commentaries and editorials in the Chinese media criticizing Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program and calling to cut off oil supplies if the North proceeded with its nuclear tests.

In a clear sign of its displeasure, China has suspended all coal imports from North Korea.

North Korea's direct criticism of Beijing is all the more surprising since China accounts for a hefty 90 percent of North Korea's foreign trade and almost 100 percent of the country's oil imports.
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Network

Beijing offers to rename economic corridor hoping to woo India into One Belt, One Road initiative


Sputnik
Mon, 08 May 2017 18:03 UTC
Beijing's Golden Bridge of Silk Road
© AP Photo/ Andy WongBeijing's Golden Bridge of Silk Road
China has offered to rename its ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to allay Indian concerns that the project recognizes Pakistan's claims on territory which India claims as its own.

Chinese envoy to India Luo Zhaohui made the suggestion while speaking at the state-run think tank United Service Institutions, China.

"China and India have had successful experience of delinking sovereignty disputes with bilateral relations before. In history, we have had close cooperation along the ancient Silk Road. Why shouldn't...support this kind of cooperation today. In a word, China is sincere in its intention to cooperate with India on the One Belt One Road (OBOR), as it is good for both of us," Zhaohui said.

"On the diplomatic front, India has put forward the Act East Policy, Spice Route etc and a number of regional connectivity initiatives as well as vigorously pushed forward the BIMSTEC. As close neighbors, China and India could be natural partners in connectivity and the OBOR," Zhaohui further added.
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Heart - Black

Human rights activist: World rewards Saudi Arabia despite its crimes against women


RT
Mon, 08 May 2017 16:51 UTC
saudi women
© Faisal Al Nasser / Reuters
Saudi women who attempt to flee Saudi Arabia are at great risk of being returned, possibly being punished by death, Moudi Aljohani, Saudi human rights activist, told RT America's Manila Chan.

Saudi Arabia prohibits its women from working, obtaining an education or marrying without the permission of a male. Nevertheless, last month the country was elected to join a UN women's rights commission to international outcry.

Recently, the world was made aware of the case of a 24-year-old Saudi female, Dina Ali Lasloom, who was seeking asylum in Australia when she was stopped during a layover in the Philippines and forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia.

According to reports, Lasloom was forcibly returned to Riyadh from Manila by two men said to be family members. Human Rights Watch has requested that Saudi officials provide details on the current status and well-being of the young woman.
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Snakes in Suits

Hawkish John McCain slams Tillerson over prioritizing US interests instead of values


Sputnik
Mon, 08 May 2017 19:17 UTC
Senator John McCain
© AP Photo/ Evan VucciSenator John McCain
On Wednesday, Tillerson stated in remarks to State Department employees that under some circumstances, conditioning national security efforts on someone adopting US values impedes the country's national security goals.

"We make policy to serve our interests, which are not related to our values," McCain wrote in The New York Times, referring to Tillerson's rhetoric. "So, if you happen to be in the way of our forging relationships with your oppressors that could serve our security and economic interests, good luck to you. You're on your own."

McCain argued that human rights must remain a priority for the US foreign policy agenda because the United States is "the country with a conscience," and because to ignore the oppression of others around the world only serves to invite their resentment.
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Eye 2

Killary hails Macron victory, lashes out (again) at media


RT
Mon, 08 May 2017 17:14 UTC
hillary clinton
© Shannon Stapleton / ReutersFormer U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton has tweeted her support for Emmanuel Macron winning the French presidential elections, whilst taking an apparent dig at the media.

"Victory for Macron, for France, the EU, & the world," Clinton said, expressing her support for Macron's defeat of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. "Defeat to those interfering w/democracy."

Clinton implied efforts to interfere with the French election had failed, likely referencing the release of hacked Macron emails two days before the election.

"(But the media says I can't talk about that)," she added.

Comment: More Killary hubris. Why does she think her opinions on the French election result even matter?

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Info

Major shifts in Trump policies are happening behind the scenes

Jim Dean
New Eastern Outlook
Mon, 08 May 2017 15:52 UTC
S-400 missile system
"Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime." ― Ernest Hemingway
Trump has learned the hard way that Reality TV Show blustering is not only an unsuitable demeanor for a President, but a disaster in foreign policy. A new reality is emerging publicly, very slowly like an iceberg in fog, where 90% of what is going on is beneath the surface. We have been digging deep at Veterans Today to find out what is happening. Here it is.

The Trump administration, after the sea-launched missile attack on Syria, has suffered a number of reverses, starting with the Pentagon finding the attack unsupportable. Last week Trump agreed, with pressure from the generals, to end all personal involvement in Iraq and Syria. All American forces decisions for those two areas will now be made at the Pentagon.

There is a silver lining in this for Trump. If a disaster happens in either place, he can blame it on the generals. This is part of another shift going on with Trump, "layering himself up" by delegating decision authority so that mistakes can be dealt with by firing people - something Trump has a proven talent at, and maybe his only talent.
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Monkey Wrench

As mainstream media cheers Macron's win, reactions across Europe are much more sobering


RT
Mon, 08 May 2017 15:53 UTC
Macron
© Thomas Samson / Reuters
While the mainstream media is presenting Emmanuel Macron's 66 percent win as a landslide victory for democracy, the actual range of reactions in France and across Europe appears to be more sobering, pointing to divisions in society and hostility between political camps.

The outgoing French president, Francois Hollande, who is the record holder of the all-time presidential lowest approval rating in France of 4 percent, has "warmly congratulated" Macron on his victory. Former Socialist PM Manuel Valls celebrated the 80 percent voter approval of Macron in his constituency of Ville d'Evry.

However, many French politicians were disappointed with the outcome of the election for a number of reasons.

"We have a president who is weak," Raquel Garrido, spokesperson for the movement La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), created to promote the candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, said. Garrido added that Macron got "many votes for want of something better."
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Quenelle

Tory MPs could face criminal charges ahead of May's snap elections


RT
Mon, 08 May 2017 15:27 UTC
Theresa May
Prime Minister Theresa May's hopes of winning a landslide majority in the general election may be in peril, as dozens of Tory MPs could face criminal charges ahead of the June 8 poll.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is expected to announce whether a number of Conservative MPs will be charged over an alleged election expenses scandal from 2015 before the snap election.

Last year, more than 30 people were accused of recording expenses incorrectly as national rather than local spending two years ago. This number includes as many as 20 Conservative MPs and a raft of election agents. The exact numbers are yet to be confirmed by the CPS.

Comment: Further reading: Trails of 'dark money' lead from banking giant HSBC to the Tories

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Pirates

UN orders Britain to 'take more refugees from war-torn countries'


RT
Mon, 08 May 2017 15:01 UTC
London UK Britain immigrant refugee
© Ognen Teofilovski / Reuters
The United Nations (UN) is urging Prime Minister Theresa May's government and the country's leading opposition parties to pledge to take in more refugees from war-torn areas amid the largest human displacement since WWII.

Writing in the Times, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, the UNHCR representative to the UK, said Britain should "do the right thing" to support vulnerable people fleeing persecution from their home country and take in 10,000 more refugees on top of those it has already pledge to resettle.

"This would be a meaningful but realistic increase over the existing commitment, made in 2015, to receive 20,000 Syrians and 3,000 children at risk by 2020, welcome though that is," he said.
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Bad Guys

Trump hates radical Islam, except when it comes to Saudi Arabia

Danielle Ryan
RT
Mon, 08 May 2017 15:01 UTC
trump saudis
Dinner with the devil.
It's hard to fully capture the irony — not to mention sheer repulsiveness — of Donald Trump's decision to make Saudi Arabia the first stop on his inaugural foreign trip as US president.

The decision marks yet another rapid rhetorical turnaround for Trump. Candidate Trump was not a fan of the Saudi kingdom. In fact, he was not shy at all about calling Riyadh out in ways that his political opponents dared not dream of.

In early 2016, he asked the hosts on Fox & Friends: "Who blew up the World Trade Center? It wasn't the Iraqis, it was Saudi — take a look at Saudi Arabia, open the documents."
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