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US-South Korean naval drills reportedly include rehearsal of assassinating Kim Jong-un


RT
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 17:50 UTC
USS Ronald Reagan
© Mike Blake / Reuters
Joint US-South Korea naval drills will involve the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and will see both militaries rehearse strategies to kill North Korean leaders in the event of attacks by Pyongyang, a Defense Ministry official has said.

The Invincible Spirit naval exercises, which started on Monday, will run for six days and will see drills take place in the Sea of Japan and Yellow Sea.


Comment: They just had exercises in August called Ulchi Freedom Guardian: N. Korea threatens US to stop S. Korean military exercises


A South Korean defense spokesperson said in a statement the drills will involve ship-to-ground and submarine-to-ground cruise missile exercises with average flight ranges of up to 1,000km.

The exercises are taking place amid reports North Korea is preparing to test a sixth nuclear bomb or another long-range missile.

Comment: South Korea should be careful who its friends are: Tension grows between North and South Korea: US Empire is the real enemy of both

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Nuke

Queen of war Hillary's axis of evil

Pepe Escobar
Sputnik News
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 17:52 UTC
Rotten Clinton
© Reuters/Joshua Lott/FilesU.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) places her hand over her heart during the National Anthem at the 30th annual Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa, in this September 16, 2007 file photo.
Let's cut to the chase; Hillary Clinton is ready to go to war against Russia in Syria - with inbuilt, potentially terrifying, thermonuclear consequences.

Anticipating an outcome of the US presidential election as a remix of the 1972 Nixon landslide, Hillary has also coined, George "Dubya" Bush-style, a remixed axis of evil: Russia, Iran and "the Assad regime".

That's not even counting China, which, via "aggression" in the South China Sea, will also feature as a certified foe for the Founding Mother of the pivot to Asia.

And if all that was not worrying enough, Turkey now seems on the path to join the axis.

President Putin and President Erdogan met in Istanbul. Moscow positioned itself as ready to develop large-scale military-technical cooperation with Ankara.

That includes, of course, the $20 billion, Rosatom-built, four-reactor Akkuyu nuclear power plant. And the drive to "speed up the work" on Turkish Stream - which will de facto strengthen even more Russia's position in the European gas market, bypassing Ukraine for good, while sealing Ankara's position as a key East-West energy crossroads.

In addition, both Moscow and Ankara back UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura's position that "moderate rebels" (the Beltway's terminology) holding eastern Aleppo hostage must be eradicated.

The geopolitical game-changer is self-evident. As much as Erdogan may be a whirling political dervish, impossible to fathom and trust, while Putin is a master of the strategic long game, Moscow's and Ankara's interests tend to converge in the New Great Game; and that spells out closer integration in the dawn of the Eurasian Century.

Quite a cup of hemlock for Hillary Clinton, who has already equated Putin with Hitler.
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Bomb

Thailand police hint possible bomb attack on tourist spots


RT
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 10:06 UTC
Thailand police
© Reuters
Thai authorities have hinted that Bangkok, one of the major tourist destinations in the country, may be the target of some terrorist groups. The report comes following attacks in August which left several dead, including holiday-makers. Information that an armed group was plotting an attack in a province near the Thai capital was released by Thawip Netniyom, chief of Thailand's National Security Council, on Tuesday.

"Why target Bangkok? They [the attackers] probably want to make an impact," Netniyom said, as cited by Thai media. He added that the Thai deputy prime minister "instructed security agencies [to] closely track and monitor anything unusual including things used to prepare bombs and cars." Netniyom, however, did not release details on the group which was allegedly planning the attack.

Thai Police also said they were on high alert in the capital. "I have ordered all police under my supervision in the area around Bangkok to monitor news, investigate and gather intelligence on groups who could come in and cause trouble," said Police Lieutenant General Charnthep Sesawet, acting chief of Provincial Police Region 1.

Thailand was rocked by a series of bomb blasts in August. At least one person was killed and 23 more injured, including foreign tourists, after two explosions rocked the tourist hotspot of Hua Hin. British, German, Dutch, Austrian, and Italian citizens were among the victims. There was also a string of explosions in the Thai resort towns of Surat Thani province. At least four people were killed and many injured in the new spate of violence. One explosive device was defused by police in Phuket.


Comment: Thailand has its share of civilian factions, political groups and criminal syndicates at odds with the dictatorship in Thailand. Whether it is homegrown insurgency, domestic dispute or foreign-prodded unrest, any of these might create an excuse for the West to intervene and further its goal to encircle Russia and China. Meanwhile, China provides an influx of 8M tourists per year supporting its interest in making Thailand their vassal state. Increasing tensions in Thailand lend to speculation that there could be another layer of manipulation agitating beneath the surface.

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Star of David

Undercover Israeli forces detain children playing in West Bank refugee camp


Sputnik
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 17:25 UTC
Israel seperation wall
© AFP 2016/ Thomas Coex
The Israeli army and police have staged a large scale detention campaign across the West Bank, reports claim.

Reports in the Palestinian media say that 64 people, including 12 children, were arrested in a series of raids by the Israeli Defense Force. In Aida Refugee Camp near Bethlehem, Israeli security officials disguised themselves as Palestinians, to carry out the detention of eight children. They have been identified as Amir Ismael Elayan, Izz al-Din Badwan, Mohammad Wahid Qaraqe, Adam Mohammad Darwish, Mohammad Nasser Darwish, Abd al-fatah Abu Shera, Daoud Raed Sharara and Yousif Mohammad Jawarish.
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Info

BRICS free trade area proposed by China


BRICS Post
Mon, 10 Oct 2016 17:07 UTC
BRICS Summit in Goa
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Sunday a free trade area would be "a significant form of cooperation" between BRICS nations.

By setting up a free trade area, BRICS countries would be able to remove tariff and non-tariff barriers, give play to their comparative advantages, and advance trade and investment liberalization between them, MOC spokesperson Shen Danyang said at a press briefing.

The official comments came ahead of the 8th BRICS Summit in Goa, India where the five leaders will hold discussions on increasing intra-BRICS trade and investment.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson noted that China has not formally raised the issue for an upcoming BRICS meeting, but many experts have proposed a free trade area.
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Chess

Lavrov: Reagan created al-Qaeda and Bush Jr. created Daesh. Will Obama be remembered as ensuring the sucess of al-Nusra?


Sputnik
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 16:37 UTC
lavrov
© Sputnik
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow does not see any signs that the US is fighting the Al-Nusra terrorist group in Syria.

Moscow "doesn't see any facts that the US is seriously battling Al-Nusra [now known as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham]," Lavrov said in an interview to Channel One Russia on Sunday. He said that American fighter jets return to their air bases with unspent ammunition. The jets make a lot of flights but their efficiency is very low, about 15-20%. Washington even called on Moscow to cease bombing runs in Aleppo, because "there are also allegedly representatives of the "moderate opposition," who are surrounded and have nowhere to go except to Al-Nusra," he said.

These calls are suspicious, the minister said. According to Lavrov, Washington officials ask, "So don't touch Al-Nusra, because it is not humane in relation to the normal guys, and we will fight Al-Nusra later." But "this 'later' never comes. They promised to separate these normal guys from Al-Nusra back in February," he added. At the same time, Lavrov said that the US Secretary of State John Kerry denied any "hidden intention to preserve this terrorist organization and to bring it out from under the strikes in order to make it the main force to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad at some point."

"Under the pressure of such conversations the Americans declared that they killed one of the Nusra Front leaders," he said claiming that it was "a separate, isolated case" that does not reflect the real US policy. "After the administration of Ronald Reagan created al-Qaeda, and the administration of George W. Bush created Daesh we would not like the administration of Barack Obama to go down in history as the one which reinforced and ensured the success of another terrorist organization called Nusra Front," the minister continued. However, "Obama has repeatedly told Russian President Vladimir Putin that he stands for a political solution to the crisis," Lavrov said.


Comment: As usual, Lavrov nails it. The US has long been in the business of creating terrorism and ensuring its success.

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Stock Down

OPEC chief says cartel lost $1 trillion in revenue due to oil price bust

Tsvetana Paraskova
Oilprice.com
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 16:03 UTC
Secretary General of Opec Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo (C), poses with Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih (R) and OPEC President Qatar's Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada
© Ramzi Boudina / Reuters Secretary General of Opec Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo (C), poses with Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih (R) and OPEC President Qatar's Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada at the 15th International Energy Forum Ministerial in Algiers,Algeria September 27, 2016.
Due to the slump in oil prices, OPEC producers have lost more than US$1 trillion in revenues over the past three years, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo has told reporters in Washington DC.

Investments in the oil industry shrank more than 26 percent last year and are projected to drop by another 22 percent this year, Barkindo said on the sidelines of meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in the U.S. capital.

The estimates for 2017 are also "looking very bleak," Nigeria's The Nation quoted Barkindo as saying. For the first time in recent memory, OPEC is not only facing three years in a row of low crude prices, but also declining capex, especially in the upstream business, according to the OPEC official.

Most experts, analysts and agencies, including the IMF and the World Bank, failed to predict correctly how long it would take the market to rebalance, Barkindo noted.

Comment: The proposed oil output freeze in increasingly coming under question as oil output increases: Oil price falls as OPEC production hits record in September

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Info

Russia ready to join OPEC oil production freeze but Rosneft has doubts


Sputnik
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 16:12 UTC
Oil drilling rig
© REUTERS/ Sergei Karpukhin
Russia is ready to join the oil production freeze as part of the efforts to stabilize the global oil market and supports the decisions adopted by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Tuesday.

OPEC agreed in late September to cut its oil production for the first time in eight years. The output ceiling was set at 32.5-33 million barrels a day. Further details of the deal are due to be unveiled at the group's meeting in November.

"At this point, the freeze or even the reduction is the most reasonable way to re-balance the market in order to reduce the volatility risks for all of us...which could have a negative impact on the current market situation, especially on investments in the sector," Novak said addressing the World Energy Congress in Istanbul. "We, in turn, are ready to join the freeze as we already stated in January and confirmed our readiness in April," Novak stressed.
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Stock Up

Oil price falls as OPEC production hits record in September

Irina Slav
Oilprice.com
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 16:26 UTC
Oil production facility
The International Energy Agency reported today that crude oil output in OPEC reached a new record of 33.64 million barrels per day, causing crude oil prices to tick back down after they reached a one-year high on Russian President Putin's announcement that the oil giant would join freeze talks with OPEC.

Oil supply went up by 600,000 bpd globally in September, with non-OPEC supply rising by half a million barrels daily thanks to output increases in Russia and Kazakhstan.

World daily production in the reported month reached 97.2 million barrels, a 200,000-bpd increase on September 2015.

The IEA noted that OPEC was the main contributor to this annual growth.
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TV

CNN reporter caught on air coaching presidential debate focus group

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Mon, 10 Oct 2016 16:23 UTC
cnn coaching
Make no mistake about it, Hillary Clinton and her elite backers control the mainstream media narrative. However, the illusion of an unbiased press is quickly falling apart as multiple leaked emails, and now, a video from last night's debate on CNN shows.

During a brief clip, which has now been posted to YouTube, CNN forgot to kill reporter Pamela Brown's mic when they cut away. As the camera cuts back to the allegedly 'unbiased' debate focus group, Brown can be heard speaking to the group under her breath.

"America is great, because we're good," Brown whispers to the group in an obvious attempt to coach their answers.

Once Brown realizes she is back on air, she quickly asks a participant in the focus group what anti-Trump argument from Clinton impressed her most. Having just been told what to say by Brown, the participant quickly regurgitated her canned response, adding her own adaptation for good measure.

Comment: Sure.

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