Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

Yemeni President Hadi refuses to adopt peace plan proposed by UN


Sputnik
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 18:35 UTC
Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi
© AP Photo/ Jason DeCrowYemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi gave a letter to UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed with a government's denial to adopt a peace plan proposed by the United Nations, local media reported on Thursday.

The letter was given during a meeting between Hadi and Ahmed that took place in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, the Saba news agency reported.

The president also thanked the UN envoy for his efforts, adding that the government is ready to take part in the peace process. The plan implied retirement of Hadi and his vice-president in exchange for Shia Houthi rebels' withdrawal from the seized territories.

Comment: Of course Hadi would reject the plan since he has support from Saudi Arabia and Western nations.

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Info

Aleppo Offensive: Syrian army advancing, terrorists fleeing

J. Arnoldski (translator)
RusVesna / Fort Russ
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 18:22 UTC
The Syrian army and its allies are continuing their victorious offensive in Aleppo.

"The strategically important Sheikh-Said district has been taken by troops following fierce clashes with militants during a special operation in the south of the city," Hezbolla's press service reports in addition to publishing new, updated maps:
aleppo

Comment: Yesterday the Red Cross began sending employees into the liberated areas of Aleppo, to assess the situation, deliver aid, and help in reuniting disconnected families split up during their escape from the militants. The UN is negotiating to bring aid to the city, but still says "security guarantees" have not been received. The UK Foreign Office says the UN is waiting for "Assad's permission". But a diplomatic source close to the International Syria Support Group's task forces in Geneva told RIA Novosti "nothing prevents the United Nations from delivering relief to the north-eastern regions of Aleppo, liberated from the militants, since Castello road is free and safe. The issue requires coordination with the Syrian government which is willing to cooperate with the United Nations."

The State Department was typically mendacious: "With continued violence taking place in Aleppo, it is difficult to trust Russia's assertions that the path to providing aid in Aleppo is safe and secure for deliveries." Basically, the U.S. was only interested in the welfare of Aleppans while they were under the control of terrorists. Now that many have been liberated, the U.S. is not so keen on helping them. Lavrov's biting commentary:
Meanwhile, our military and the Emergencies Ministry are sending humanitarian aid and mobile hospitals. These hospitals with physicians, necessary drugs and equipment are being deployed in the east of Aleppo. So instead of whining about the fact that the residents of eastern Aleppo cannot get help we are engaged in concrete actions. We hope that international organizations, including the United Nations, will follow our example.
According to the Russian reconciliation center, 6,020 people (including 3,113 children) escaped the areas still controlled by the militants yesterday. Now that many of the terrorists' fortified positions are broken, civilians have finally been able to flee to safety.

A source in the city says life in the Hanano district is already returning to normal:
"Repair crews have already arrived in the area to assess the damage. Public utilities expect to establish a fresh water supply and restore a supply of electricity within a few days. Civilians are full of determination to start everything with a clean slate despite of a dire state of property," the source said.


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Rocket

Russia Hermes-K ATGM missiles arrived in Syria: Weapon terrorists should fear

Andrei Akulov
Strategic Culture Foundation
Sat, 26 Nov 2016 18:18 UTC
Russia Hermes-K ATGM missiles
© bastion-karpenko
Russia's military operation in Syria has been in the focus of world media ever since it was launched in late September, 2015. It was the first time the Russian Federation's military saw real combat while operating far from home. The anti-terrorist campaign is unparalleled in terms of complexity. It also provides a unique opportunity to test the brand new cutting-edge weapons systems on the battlefield.

Helicopters play the role of working horses in Syria operating around the clock to protect the infrastructure, save people while conducting search and rescue operations and striking the enemy targets with great accuracy. These rotorcraft are irreplaceable. Russia's defense industry has come up with new formidable weapons to make helicopters more powerful on the battlefield. The Hermes-K is a good example. It has just arrived in Syria to display its unique performance capabilities.

The Ka-52K Katran attack helicopters based on the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier deployed near Syria's coastline will conduct first tests of Russia's latest superweapon - the Hermes-K extreme-range anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system developed by the well-known worldwide Tula Instrument Design Bureau.
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Attention

UN reports Mosul civilians running low on water and food while ISIS stages public executions


RT
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 17:47 UTC
Displaced people in Mosul
© Alaa Al-Marjani / ReutersDisplaced people who fled the clashes walk past iraqi security forces vehicles during a battle with Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, November 30, 2016.
The UN has sounded the alarm over the dire humanitarian situation and terrorist atrocities being endured by the residents of Mosul, Iraq, who have been cut off from water by fighting and threatened with death by Islamic State militants if they flee.

"The situation in eastern Mosul city close to the front lines remains fraught with danger for civilians. Mortar and gunfire continue to claim lives. The limited supplies of food and water are running out, amid concerning reports of food insecurity emerging from the city," the UN humanitarian coordinator's office said on Wednesday.

As many as 650,000 people, or some 40 percent of the city's population, had their water supplies cut when a pipeline was destroyed in the fighting, an Iraqi official told Reuters. Food has been running low as well.
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Bulb

Putin wants Russian budget less dependent on oil, solve underlying economy problems


RT
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 14:38 UTC
Russia
© Maxim Shemetov / Reuters
In his key annual speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin focused on sustainable economic growth based on domestic innovation that would help wean the country's budget off energy.

"I ask the government to consider issues on improving mechanisms that could ensure sustainable budget and finances, as well as the fulfillment of all our obligations, regardless of the external factors, including the prices of hydrocarbons," Putin said on Thursday in his annual Federal Assembly address.

The president pointed out other problems, including lack of investment, high tech, professional labor resources and competitiveness, as major reasons behind slow GDP growth.

He ordered the government to develop a plan which will allow the Russian economy to grow at a faster rate than the world average by 2020.

Comment: See also: IMF's Lagarde sees Russian economy heading toward sustainable growth

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Info

Sarah Palin being considered for secretary of Veterans Affairs

Rebecca Savransky
The Hill
Wed, 30 Nov 2016 17:33 UTC
Palin and Trump
© Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) is under consideration to serve as the secretary of Veterans Affairs in Donald Trump's administration, ABC News reported Wednesday.

A Palin aide told ABC News that Palin told Trump transition officials in recent days that she feels "as though the megaphone I have been provided can be used in a productive and positive way to help those desperately in need."

Palin posted the ABC News article saying she was under consideration for the VA position to her Facebook page on Wednesday.

She also shared a post from her son-in-law, Dakota Meyer, a Medal of Honor recipient, that touted her support for the country's troops.

"We should be grateful we'll soon have a commander-in-chief who will champion our vets and honor the promises our nation made," Palin wrote in the post she shared on Facebook.

Comment: It was pretty much a given that Palin would gain a place in Trump's cabinet, given her support for Trump throughout the campaign. Let's just hope that all those rumors of her being secretary state prove to be just rumors!

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Handcuffs

Russia ready to try & convict detained Russian pilot if U.S. extradites him


RT
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 17:28 UTC
Yaroshenko
© Alexander Vilf / SputnikAntiMaidan movement members rally in front of the US Embassy in Moscow to support Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who is serving a sentence in the US.
If the US grants Russia's request to handover of Konstantin Yaroshenko, the former pilot will face trial and a possible prison sentence in accordance with Russian laws, the Foreign Ministry's Plenipotentiary for Human Rights has told reporters.

"If we were not ready to fulfill all provisions of the convention [the 1983 Strasbourg Convention on Prisoner Transfer] we would not send the request. The request has been sent and this means that we are ready to do anything ordered by this document to get our citizen back into his home country," Konstantin Dolgov said in an interview with Izvestia daily. "The ball is in the US court and practical measures will be taken after we receive a reply from the US side," he added.

Dolgov also told journalists that the Foreign Ministry had received a preliminary reply from the US Justice Department, informing it that the issue of Yaroshenko's handover was being considered.
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Stop

Swedish Foreign Ministry's paranoid fear of Russian nuclear weapons


Sputnik
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 18:06 UTC
Mobile launcher 'Yars' missile system on the territory of Teykovo air defence missile formation in Ivanovo region
© Sputnik/ Sergey PyatakovMobile launcher 'Yars' missile system on the territory of Teykovo air defence missile formation in Ivanovo region
Russian nuclear weapons have been singled out as "especially alarming" for the safety of Sweden and its vicinity, according to internal documents by the Swedish Foreign Ministry, which the tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet got hold of. The documents denote the Russian nuclear weapons as an alarming feature of the exacerbating security in the Baltic Sea Region, alongside Russia's "aggressive" rhetoric.

It is noted that Sweden will continue its engagement in the processes of nuclear disarmament. Among other things, nuclear weapons states should "lower the readiness levels of their arsenals." Sweden is also poised to participate in future UN negotiations advocating a total ban on nuclear weapons. Additionally, Sweden is expected to engage Russia at the official level by means of dialogue with the Department for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (NIS) under the Foreign Ministry.

Despite the fact that the leaked documents specifically evaluate the risk of a nuclear attack against Sweden as extremely unlikely, they nevertheless fail to completely rule out crises and incidents involving the use of military force. In the documents by the Foreign Ministry, Sweden is advised to steer clear of "rhetorical escalation" considering the situation in the Baltic Sea Region, where the war of words may contribute to public fears. All in all, Sweden's attitude towards Russia must be characterized by "firmness, coolness and calmness."

"This is very interesting. Western Europe is very vulnerable to nuclear pressure from Putin, yet few Western governments have raised this topic publicly," Tomas Ries, a researcher at the National Defense College, told Aftonbladet.
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Eiffel Tower

Election in France: Fillon set to beat Le Pen as poll shows 66% support


RT
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 16:51 UTC
Francois Fillon, former French prime minister
© Philippe Wojazer / ReutersFrancois Fillon, former French prime minister and member of Les Republicains political party.
Francois Fillon looks likely to triumph over Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election runoff in May, with 66 percent of vote shown as going to the center-right candidate, the latest opinion poll by the Elabe Institute shows.

The survey indicated that Fillon (Les Republicains) and Le Pen (Front National) will take the lead after the first round of voting in April, and will get to the runoff. In the later ballot, scheduled for May, Fillon looks very likely to get 66 percent of the vote, while Le Pen is to receive 34 percent.

The survey shows that third place would go to the independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, economy minister in current President Francois Hollande's government and an investment banker, while the far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon comes in fourth.
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Light Saber

'We don't want confrontation, we're not seeking enemies': Memorable quotes from Putin's annual address


RT
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 14:52 UTC
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his Annual Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly at the Kremlin's St. George Hall.


President Vladimir Putin has delivered an annual address to the Federal Assembly, which is considered to be his main speech of the year. Apart from addressing domestic issues, he also touched upon the topic of Russia's international policies.

On peaceful cooperation:
Putin quote confrontation
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