Puppet MastersS


Eye 1

Poroshenko approves 1-year sanctions against 5 Russian state banks


Sputnik
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 14:58 UTC
Russian banks Kiev Ukraine radicals neo Nazi
© AP Photo/ Sergei Chuzavkov
Ukraine's president has endorsed sanctions against five subsidiaries of Russian state banks.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has approved the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine's proposal to impose one-year sanctions on five subsidiaries of Russian state banks on Thursday.

"Poroshenko put into effect the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine's March 15, 2017, decision 'On the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)' for a number of legal entities," a statement on the president's website reads.

Comment: Poroshenko has also legitimized the UkroNazi blockade of Donbass. As Sputnik reports:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko approved the decision of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council on the termination of cargo transportation with Donbass areas not controlled by Kiev, according to a decree published Thursday.

"Implement the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of March 15, 2017 'On urgent additional measures to counter hybrid threats to Ukraine's national security'," the document said.
As Alexander Mercouris of the Duran notes both these moves are counter-productive; closing and sanctioning banks for ideological reasons while the economy is suffering is ridiculous, and imposing a blockade on Donbass will only quicken their pivot towards Russia.

In the beginning of March a new ceasefire regime was announced in Eastern Ukraine. Deputy Defense Minister Eduard Basurin stated that it would only hold as long as Ukraine was able to control the radicals. These recent developments, coupled with oligarchs vying for power in Kiev, reveal a power vacuum that radicals can use to advance their, and their sponsors', psychotic agendas:
In that case then that would suggest that Poroshenko's authority as Ukraine's President is seeping away, and that he is no longer fully in control, just as the Russian military move on Pristina in June 1999 during the Kosovo conflict, made without any order from Boris Yeltsin, was a clear sign that his authority as Russia's President was seeping away.


Read More...
Info

China expands construction works in disputed South China Sea reefs - reports


RT
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 15:10 UTC
South China Sea construction
© Planet Labs / ReutersPart of the Paracel Islands group in the South China Sea, on February 15, 2017 (L) and on March 6, 2017
China has allegedly begun fresh construction work on one of the South China Sea islets, new satellite images show. According to an assessment of the imagery, China might be building a new large port on the disputed Paracel Islands.

The photos, taken on March 6 by the satellite imaging company Planet Labs, presumably show land clearing and the early stages of construction work for what might become a military harbor on North Island, according to Reuters. Building work on the new facility is believed to have been set back by a typhoon last year.

Comment:

Read More...
Chart Bar

Trump releases his first budget blueprint: Here are the winners and losers

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 15:00 UTC
Donald Trump
© epa
Update: echoing comments made by Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the top House Democrat said that the Trump budget proposal is "dead on arrival."

Today at 7am, Trump released his "skinny budget", his administration's first federal budget blueprint revealing the President's plan to dramatically reduce the size of the government. As previewed last night, the document calls for deep cuts at departments and agencies that would eliminate entire programs and slash the size of the federal workforce. It also proposes a $54 billion increase in defense spending, which the White House says will be offset by the other cuts.

"This is the 'America First' budget," said White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, a former South Carolina congressman who made a name for himself as a spending hawk before Trump plucked him for his Cabinet, adding that "if he said it in the campaign, it's in the budget."
Read More...
Snakes in Suits

Chilcot 2.0? Another Iraq War investingation could be launched if new facts emerge, say MPs


RT
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 14:46 UTC
Tony Blair
© SOLO / Global Look Press via ZUMA PressFormer British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
If new evidence comes to light on the legality of the 2003 war in Iraq it could be used to justify a further inquiry into the conflict, according to an influential parliamentary committee.

Members of the Public Administration Committee said on Wednesday that the 2016 Chilcot Inquiry had failed to "provide closure" on the war which had left an "indelible scar" on UK politics.

In a new assessment of the 2-million-word report by Sir John Chilcot and his panel, the committee made a number of recommendations.

These include looking at ways the six year investigation could have been sped up, how the "culture of challenge" in government could be improved and how the National Security Council (NSC) could be given more powers.

Comment:

Read More...
TV

Watching too much TV: Nikki Haley says 'never trust Russia'


RT
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 14:54 UTC
Nikki Haley
© Luiz Rampelotto / EuropaNewswire / Global Look Press
Nikki Haley, the new Washington envoy to the UN, has slammed Russia and spoken out in favor of President Trump's travel ban in her first interview in the new role.

"Take it seriously. We cannot trust Russia. We should never trust Russia," she told NBC News' Matt Lauer.

Haley also backed President Donald Trump's ban on issuing visas to travelers from six majority-Muslim countries, saying, "It's not a Muslim ban. I will never support a Muslim ban. I don't think we should ever ban anyone based on their religion. That is un-American. It is not good."
Read More...
Info

Putin: Russia-Turkey relations returning to 'mutually beneficial track'


Sputnik
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 14:48 UTC
Putin and Erdogan
© AP Photo/ Alexander Zemlianichenko
Russia's relations with Turkey are confidently returning to normal, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

"Relations with Turkey are confidently returning to a normal mutually beneficial track," Putin said at a ceremony receiving the credentials of 18 new ambassadors to Russia.

At the beginning of 2016, Russia imposed a number of restrictive measures, including a ban on food and flowers imports, on Turkey in response to the downing of a Russian military aircraft by a Turkish fighter jet in Syria on November 24, 2015.
Read More...
Star of David

Puppets for Israel: White House proposes $3.1billion to support Israel's security in 2018


Sputnik
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 14:37 UTC
Whitehouse
© AFP/Paul J. Richards
The White House is proposing to allocate $3.1 billion to Israel in 2018 to support the country's security and abilities to defend itself, budget's blueprint said Thursday.

"Provides $3.1 billion to meet the security assistance commitment to Israel, currently at an all-time high; ensuring that Israel has the ability to defend itself from threats and maintain its Qualitative Military Edge," the document said.

Comment: A good place for Trump to start cutting funds would be the apartheid State of Israel.

Read More...
Info

Yahoo hack: Kremlin says Russia's FSB not involved in cyberattacks, deflection from Vault 7 leaks


RT
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 14:39 UTC
Russian hacker bear
© Flickr/ Sunny Ripert
Official Russian agencies, including the Federal Security Service (FSB), have nothing to do with cyberattacks, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said responding to the US Justice Department's charging of two FSB officers over a data breach at Yahoo.

"We have repeatedly stated that there can be absolutely no question of any official involvement of any Russian agency, including the FSB, in any unlawful actions in cyberspace," Peskov said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the US Justice Department announced that two FSB officers and two Russian hackers are being charged over a mega data breach at Yahoo with criminal offenses, including computer hacking and economic espionage.
Read More...
Jet3

If Japan sends Izumo warship to South China Sea China will retaliate


Sputnik
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 14:31 UTC
battleship
© REUTERS/ Kim Kyung-Hoon
China will take the necessary response measures if Japan sends its largest warship, the Izumo helicopter carrier, on a three-month tour to the South China Sea, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Thursday at a briefing.

Earlier this week, media reports emerged that Japan planned to send the Izumo on a tour with stops in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka in order to test the ship's capabilities before joining the Malabar joint maneuvers with India and the United States.
Read More...
Attention

Turkey partially blocks NATO projects including political events and military drills


RT
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 14:27 UTC
Turkey and NATO flags
© BELGA / AFP
Ankara has partially blocked its participation in some NATO projects, including political events and military drills, amid a diplomatic row over the cancellation of Turkish rallies in several European countries.

A spokeswoman for Ankara's mission to the military alliance said on Thursday that Turkey's withdrawal is only aimed at Austria. Last year Vienna led calls for the European Union to end Turkey's EU accession talks over Ankara's response to a failed coup. Turkish referendum rallies have been canceled in Austria.

"There have been some tensions with Austria and a resulting blockage. It is, however, only targeted at Austria, the other partners are not targeted at all," Fatma Pasaoglu, spokeswoman for Turkey's mission to NATO in Brussels, said, as cited by Reuters.
Read More...