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Russia waiting out the storm: US infighting on Sessions hampers mending ties

Vladimir Isachenkov
AP
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 17:32 UTC
Matryoshkas wooden doll of Donald Trump
© AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko
As the drama over Attorney General Jeff Sessions plays out in Washington, the Kremlin is watching with a mixture of frustration and regret how the uproar is blocking progress on pressing issues on the U.S.-Russian agenda.

Despite the dashed hopes for a quick thaw, however, Moscow is voicing its readiness to wait as long as it takes.

Donald Trump had come into office expressing admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and hoping to mend ties with Moscow, which have sunk to the lowest point since the Cold War over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and other disputes.
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Red Flag

No oversight: Oil and gas companies no longer required to report emissions data to the EPA


RT
Sat, 04 Mar 2017 17:09 UTC
Scott Pruitt
© Joshua Roberts / ReutersScott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
As his first move as administrator of the EPA, Scott Pruitt has ended an Obama-era request for oil and gas companies to provide the agency with information on greenhouse gas emissions.

Last November, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it would request and gather information from 15,000 oil and gas companies under the Clean Air Act to "assist the Administrator of EPA in developing emissions standards for oil and gas facilities."

On Thursday, the EPA announced that those oil and gas companies will no longer be required to submit information about their greenhouse gas emissions to the agency.

In a press release, Pruitt said that he would assess the need for gathering such information, but said that the withdrawal from the Information Collection Request (IRC) would be effective immediately.

"By taking this step, EPA is signaling that we take these concerns seriously and are committed to strengthening our partnership with the states," Pruitt said. "Today's action will reduce burdens on businesses while we take a closer look at the need for additional information from this industry."
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Attention

Trump wiretap is the real election scandal - Russian hack is the cover-up

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Sat, 04 Mar 2017 17:00 UTC
Obama Trump
© AP Photo/Saul Loeb/Pool
President Trump reveals Obama administration had his office in Trump Tower wiretapped during the election, though nothing illegal was found.

The swirling battle in Washington over President Trump's desire for a detente with Russia has just taken a dramatic twist with President Trump's disclosure in an extraordinary series of tweets that back in October - just before the election - US President Obama had Trump's office in Trump Tower tapped.

The President has also disclosed that a court initially refused Obama's request for a warrant to have Trump Tower tapped, though a renewed request was later granted.

This means that the wiretap was legal, and that the Obama administration presented some evidence to the court, which the court accepted, that there were legitimate grounds for the wiretap. In the event the wiretap found nothing.
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Map

Syrian army creates buffer zone between Kurds and Turkish military west of Manbij


Sputnik
Sat, 04 Mar 2017 17:00 UTC
Syrian army tanks
© AFP 2016/ George OURFALIAN
The Manbij Military Council has agreed to hand over areas to the west of the strategically important city in the Aleppo province to the Syrian Arab Army as part of a Russia-sponsored deal that will help to create a buffer zone between the Turkish military and the Kurds and allow the Syrian Democratic Forces to focus on the Raqqa offensive.

"The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have reached a deal with Russia to cede control over areas and settlements to the west of Manbij along the contact line with the Operation Euphrates Shield forces to the Syrian Arab Army," the Manbij Military Council said in a statement, released on March 2. A day later, Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, chief of the Russian General Staff Main Operational Directorate, confirmed this information.

Comment: Note the US was not involved in this peaceful action by Russia: Pentagon says US operations in Syria unaffected as Russia moves convoys to Manbij as reports indicate the US plans in Manbij to deter the Turkish army may now be in question: US reportedly sets up military base to protect Kurdish/SDF stronghold in Manbij

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Briefcase

A matter of Britain's national interest: Boris Johnson will head to Moscow for a meeting with Sergey Lavrov


RT
Sat, 04 Mar 2017 17:01 UTC
Boris Johnson
© Global Look Press via ZUMA PressBoris Johnson
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will visit Moscow in the coming weeks to meet his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, the UK Foreign Office reported.

Johnson and Lavrov will discuss the strained bilateral relations between the UK and Russia, as well as matters of international politics, including the crises in Syria and Ukraine, a spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said.

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Pharoah

CIA-Linked Washington Post Suffers Complete Nervous Breakdown

Riley Waggaman
Russia Insider
Sat, 04 Mar 2017 00:00 UTC
scary links
It all makes sense now...
The schizophrenic Washington Post "finds" connections between random people and Vladimir Putin

The best anti-Russia propaganda is so reasonable that you almost want the article or news segment or whatever to twist the knife in just a bit deeper for good measure.

You're supposed to start with a nice, general, meaningless statement such as "Putin is a strong leader — but is he a good leader?"

And then of course by the end of the piece you're convinced that the only way to save humanity is by dropping several hydrogen bombs on Moscow.

In "journalism" this is known as "mission accomplished".

All competent propaganda artists know this and that's why none of them work for the CIA-linked Washington Post. It's a newspaper run by deeply troubled, unhinged paranoids.

Comment: The observations made in this article would be hilarious if they were not so utterly and horrifically true.

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Radar

US to deploy more Delta Force and SEALs for Middle East covert ops


RT
Sat, 04 Mar 2017 16:35 UTC
Members of the U.S. Army Special Forces
© Mohammed Salem / ReutersMembers of the U.S. Army Special Forces provide training for Iraqi fighters from Hashid Shaabi at Makhmur camp in Iraq.
US Special Forces teams, including Delta Force and Navy SEALs, are likely to see more missions in the Middle East, as the Pentagon is reportedly preparing new deployments to the region, according to ABC, citing security officials.

Though not announced publicly, new deployments of Delta Force and Navy SEALs operators to Iraq, Syria, and the Horn of Africa are underway, US defense officials told ABC News on Friday. Some sources in the military said the troops welcome the Trump administration's tough stance on combating terrorism.

"We don't know for sure what will happen, but the boys really think we're going to see a lot of action on this deployment - because of the new administration," said one unnamed member of a Special Forces unit that recently deployed overseas.
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Vader

US never respected the One China Policy - the bid to encircle China means it never will

Ulson Gunnar
New Eastern Outlook
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 17:42 UTC
trump china magazine cover
The US has reiterated its alleged commitment to honoring the "One China" policy under which it is recognized there is only one Chinese government. The policy exists in direct reference to Taiwan and its status as a break-away province from Beijing's authority.

The BBC's article, "Trump agrees to honour 'One China' policy despite threats," would report that:
US President Donald Trump has climbed down on past threats and agreed to honour the so-called "One China" policy.

He backed the long-standing agreement during a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the White House said.

The One China policy states that there is only one Chinese government.

Mr Trump broke with diplomatic norms in December, by accepting a call from the president of Taiwan, considered a breakaway province by China.
Despite US assurances that it still honors this policy, the policy itself is a result of direct US meddling in China's internal affairs before, during and following World War 2. Taiwan's break-away status, bolstered by military forces consisting of almost exclusively US weaponry, is just one part of a much larger strategy maintained by Washington for decades aimed at encircling, containing and ultimately controlling China in a bid to maintain US hegemony across all of Asia-Pacific.

Comment: Good will gesture by China?

China: Trump receives trademark protection, rights to his brand

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Attention

Why Libya's cry for justice must be heard

John Wight
RT
Sat, 04 Mar 2017 16:05 UTC
Sergei Lavrov (R) meets with Fayez Seraj
© Sergei Karpukhin / ReutersRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) meets with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Seraj in Moscow, Russia, March 2, 2017.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's meeting in Moscow with Fayez al-Sarraj, prime minister of the Government of National Accord of Libya, reminds us that security and stability has yet to be restored in the war-torn country.

Though it may have slipped off the radar of global consciousness, Libya's central importance when it comes to a region that has been mired in conflict and chaos over the past few years cannot be overstated. The country's destruction and societal collapse will forever stand as a withering indictment of Western foreign policy towards the region and NATO's role, not as a defender of democracy, peace, and stability, but as an instrument of Western imperial power. The savage murder of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi at the hands of a NATO-supported mob in October 2011 was a ghastly and despicable crime, one that stands in comparison with the legal lynching of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2006.

This is without factoring in the refugee crisis that erupted in the wake of Gaddafi's overthrow, the worst such crisis the world has seen since the end of World War II. It involved untold thousands of men, women, and children attempting a perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), over 5,000 perished in 2016 alone while attempting to cross the Mediterranean, evidence that this ongoing human catastrophe shows no signs of improving.

Comment: More on the Libyan crises:

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Briefcase

Pakistan summit sees ten nations pledge to fight terrorism, work for prosperity


RFE/RL
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 16:07 UTC
pakistan Iran ministers
© Agence France-PressePakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (right) met with Iranian President Hassan Rohani (left) at the 10-nation Economic Cooperation Organization summit in Islamabad
A regional economic summit in Pakistan has concluded with 10 nations pledging to collectively fight the "challenge of terrorism" and push for greater collaboration on trade, energy, and infrastructure.

Islamabad hosted the day-long Economic Cooperation Organization summit on March 1.

"There has never been a more opportune time to realize our dreams of connectivity for regional prosperity," said Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Comment: Regional economic coordination makes much more sense. The US will have to get over not being able to dictate everything. These mid-level partnerships may help push the interfering neocons out of the region. That being said Erdogan's vision creating a neo-Ottoman empire (headed by Erdogan Turkey of course) make make things rough going.

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