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RT 'flattered' to be centerpiece of Emmanuel Macron's French presidential campaign


RT
Sun, 05 Mar 2017 17:04 UTC
Emmanuel Macron displays his program
© Christian Hartmann / ReutersEmmanuel Macron displays his program, Paris, France, March 2, 2017.
Emmanuel Macron's team has accused RT and Sputnik of spreading "false information" in the run-up to the French presidential election, once again providing no proof and prompting RT's editor-in-chief to speculate if his campaign is based solely on anti-Russia lies.

"It's quite flattering, that Macron's team keep building their election campaign exclusively on lies about RT and Sputnik. That's not comme il faut, but amusing," Margarita Simonyan said.

The new accusations from the French presidential candidate's aide Mounir Mahjoubi came earlier on Saturday in an interview aired on Sky News.
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Info

Pyongyang warns US will 'pay dearly' if it puts N. Korea back on terrorism sponsors blacklist


RT
Sat, 04 Mar 2017 16:57 UTC
North Korean soldier lifts a flag
© Damir Sagolj / Reuters / Reuters
North Korea has warned Washington against re-including it in the State Sponsors of Terrorism blacklist, a move the US is reportedly considering over Pyongyang's alleged involvement in the assassination of the half-brother of Kim Jong-un in Malaysia.

"The US will keenly realize how dearly it has to pay for its groundless accusations against the dignified DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea]," a statement from a spokesman for the foreign ministry said, as cited by KCNA state news agency.

The spokesman added that "gone are the days never to return when the US could stigmatize at random to oppress those countries incurring its displeasure, while having the world under its control."

"The US is seeking to label the DPRK a 'sponsor of terrorism' though it has nothing in common with it. This cannot be construed otherwise than an expression of inveterate [repugnance] and hostile attitude towards it."
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Piggy Bank

U.S. budget director confirms plans for 'dramatic' cut in foreign aid


RFE/RL
Sun, 05 Mar 2017 16:42 UTC
USAID logo
© Temir Sydykbekov
The U.S. budget director has confirmed that the Trump administration will propose "fairly dramatic" reductions in U.S. foreign aid when it submits its fiscal 2018 budget later this month.

"We are going to propose to reduce foreign aid, and we are going to propose to spend that money here," Mick Mulvaney, the White House Office of Management Budget director, told Fox News on March 4.

Mulvaney said the reductions in foreign aid would be "fairly dramatic."

The cuts in foreign aid would help fund a proposed increase in the U.S. military budget, Mulvaney added. The current annual Pentagon budget is about $603 billion.
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Magnify

More evidence mounts backing Trump's claim that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Sun, 05 Mar 2017 00:00 UTC
Trump and Obama

Obama spokesman's statement does not deny the existence of wiretaps on Trump Tower, only that Obama did not approve them.

Former deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications for Barack Obama came to Obama's defense in the latest chapter of the unfolding Trump - Obama wiretap saga.

Rhodes made the claim that...
"No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you."
Rhodes then said "only a liar" could make the case that Obama wire tapped Trump Tower ahead of the US election.

The person dishing out misleading facts is not President Trump, but Obama loyalist Ben Rhodes.

Comment:

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Info

Erdogan compares German policy of blocking rallies of Turks to Nazis acts


RT
Sun, 05 Mar 2017 15:59 UTC
Supporters of Turkish President Erdogan
© Thilo Schmuelgen / Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has slammed the German government, saying that its actions aimed at blocking rallies of Turkish nationals in Germany were 'no different to those of the Nazi period.'

"Germany, you have no relation whatsoever to democracy and you should know that your current actions are no different to those of Nazi period. When we say that, they get disturbed. Why are you disturbed?" he was quoted by Reuters as saying at a rally in Istanbul on Sunday.

The Turkish leader's comments follow the decision of the small German town of Gaggenau to withdraw the permit for Thursday's rally, organized by the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD), a group close to Erdogan.

Comment: Fellow NATO members getting along just fine it seems.

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Fire

Scores of ISIS bodies and burning gas fields: RT visits battleground outside Palmyra (Update)


RT
Sat, 04 Mar 2017 22:04 UTC
Syria burning gas well
© RT
RT's crew has traveled to the mountains overlooking Palmyra - where the battle for the iconic Syrian city was decided - and witnessed scores of Islamic State fighter's bodies and burning oil and gas fields set alight by the retreating terrorists.

"The battle for Palmyra really didn't take place in the city itself, the bulk of the fighting was in the mountains overlooking the city," RT's Lizzie Phelan said from the Hayyan gas fields outside the ancient city.

The mountains have become a "graveyard" for Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) fighter, she noted.

"We've seen this whole area littered with scores of bodies of IS fighters. Many of them dismembered by artillery fire," but even more killed by gunshot wounds, Phelan added.

Comment:

Update: RT filmed the battlefield which is littered with destroyed ISIS tanks and bodies of slain Islamists, some in their teens:



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Stormtrooper

Pelosi stumbles after being asked if she's ever met with Russians (VIDEO)

Kyle Olson
The American Mirror
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 15:11 UTC
After Nancy Pelosi accused Republicans of "splitting hairs" over Jeff Sessions' reported meetings with the Russian ambassador, she did the very same thing when she was asked a similar question.

"You've been in Congress a little bit and you're in leadership, have you ever met with the Russian ambassador?" Politico reporter Jake Sherman asked Pelosi on Friday.

After an awkwardly long silence, Pelosi answered, "Not with this Russian ambassador, no," before quickly trying to move on.

"Is it normal to meet with ambassadors?" Sherman asked.

"Yeah," Pelosi responded.


Comment: Stones and glass houses . . . .

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Jet3

Syrian jet flying reconnaissance mission crashes in Turkey, pilot recovered says was shot down


Sputnik
Sun, 05 Mar 2017 15:03 UTC
Syrian Army Mig-23 jet
© Sputnik/ Mikhail Voskresenskiy
The Syrian army lost contact with a jet performing a reconnaissance mission near the Turkish border, local media said Saturday.

Earlier in the day, fighters from Syria's Ahrar al Sham Islamist extremist group claimed to have shot down a Syrian government MiG-21 fighter jet over the Syrian province of Idlib. Syrian government sources later reportedly confirmed that contact had been lost with a low-flying plane over Idlib, but said this was due to technical difficulties.

Contact with the jet was lost and the military is now searching for the pilot, who had ejected, the SANA news agency reported, citing a military source.
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Passport

Ecuador: Assange must leave London embassy, but we'll try to find him a safe home

Jim Wyss
Miami Herald
Sun, 05 Mar 2017 14:56 UTC
Julian Assange
© Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated PressIn this Feb. 5, 2016 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks from the balcony of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.
WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange may be able to keep a diplomatic safe haven after all.

Guillermo Lasso, the front-runner in Ecuador's presidential election, says he intends to evict Assange from that country's London embassy if he wins the April 2 runoff against ruling party candidate Lenín Moreno.

But he also said he will work with other governments to find Assange a new home — which may keep the controversial free-speech advocate from being extradited.

"We will ask Mr. Assange, very politely, to leave our embassy, in absolute compliance with international conventions and protocols," Lasso said in an email exchange with the Miami Herald. However, "we vow to take all the steps necessary so that another embassy will take him in and protect his rights."

Even if another government were willing to provide Assange shelter, it's unclear how he would be transferred. In the five years since he's been holed up in the embassy, the Rafael Correa administration hasn't been able to figure out how to move him to Ecuador, amid heavy police scrutiny in London.


Comment: The saga of Julian Assange

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Snakes in Suits

Saudi Arabia's Southeast Asia terror tour

Tony Cartalucci
New Eastern Outlook
Sun, 05 Mar 2017 14:37 UTC
Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Saudi Arabia's king, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, has recently undertaken a sweeping tour of Southeast Asia in what the media and analysts are claiming is a bid to firm up economic and political ties with Muslim-majority nations in the region.

However, both the media and analysts are sidestepping or entirely omitting the role Saudi Arabia has played in fueling global terrorism, extraterritorial geopolitical meddling, and even divisive and terroristic activities the notorious state sponsor of terrorism has been implicated in across the planet including within Southeast Asia itself.

German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) in an article titled, "Saudi King Salman's Southeast Asia trip affirms Muslim friendship," would report:
The Saudi monarch's rare month-long trip takes him to strategically important nations in the economically fast-growing region, with which Riyadh wants to deepen commercial engagement and socio-political ties.
DW would also report that:
Salman's visit to the Southeast Asian countries also underscores cooperative and mutually reinforcing ties between Muslim-majority countries and affirms the Islamic credentials as well as image of the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia...
However, Saudi Arabia indisputably represents perhaps the greatest danger to Islam on Earth. The brand of politicized religion propagated by Saudi Arabia both within its borders and well beyond them known as Wahhabism was initially created and is still used today to establish, maintain, and expand Saudi political influence behind a tenuous veil of religion.

Comment: And the Suadi king is bringing a large haul of luggage: Saudi King to haul 509 tons of cargo in visit to Indonesia

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