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Russia to make voting in election available to Russian citizens in Ukraine despite Kiev restrictions


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:53 UTC
Maria Zakharova Russia FM
© Alexey Kudenko / ReutersRussian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova at a briefing on current foreign policy issues.
Russia will open ballot stations in its diplomatic offices in Ukraine despite Kiev's refusal to cooperate in securing the safety of Russian citizens attending Sunday's parliamentary polls, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said.

"The ballot stations on Ukrainian territory will be opened in the Russian embassy and in our Consulate-Generals," Zakharova told reporters on Thursday. She emphasized that as the diplomatic offices are recognized as Russian territory by international conventions, there was no way for Kiev authorities to obstruct the voting process. Zakharova also noted that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had assured Russia it would monitor the process and report any violations.

On the past weekend, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko instructed the country's Foreign Ministry to inform Moscow that it was impossible to hold Russian elections on Ukrainian territory. The step was taken soon after the Russian Foreign Ministry had asked the Ukrainian authorities to ensure the safety of any citizens visiting the Russian embassy in Kiev and consular offices in Odessa, Kharkov and Lvov in order to participate in the parliamentary elections on Sunday September 18.
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Snakes in Suits

If at first you don't succeed: Britain to keep Russia sanctions despite own defense committee finding them ineffective


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:50 UTC
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with British Prime Minister Theresa May
© Alexei Druzhinin / Reuters
Britain is determined to push on with sanctions against Russia despite a Defence Committee report finding the measures mostly affect civilians and have no impact on the country's military infrastructure.

The government response to the 'Russia: Implications for UK defence and security' report was published on Thursday. The UK said it is keen to see the current sanctions "roll over" into the next year.

While the committee agreed the sanctions should continue, it found "their effects are felt most keenly by the Russian public and they have not reduced Russian military investment and expansion."
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Treasure Chest

Staggering cost of US post-9/11 wars approaching $5 trillion


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:44 UTC
U.S. Army soldiers from the 2nd Platoon, B battery 2-8 field artillery
© Baz Ratner / Reuters
The US spent $4.79 trillion on wars in the Middle East and on the 'War on Terror' after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, a new report estimated.

The report by the Cost of War Project, which is run by Brown University's Watson Institute, counted the total budgetary cost of the wars America waged in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Syria as well as on counter-terrorism.

The $4.79 trillion figure includes future obligations to spend budgetary money through 2053, estimated future spending on veterans, interest already paid for money borrowed for the war effort and other relevant expenditures. This is $300 billion higher than what the project reported in 2015.
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Star of David

Palestinian-Israeli peace talks revived? Bibi places call to Putin


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 13:15 UTC
Purin netanyahu Israel Palestine
© Maxim Shipenkov / ReutersRussian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has called Russian President to discuss the situation in the Middle East, as well as "various" aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, including the possible resumption of direct talks between the sides.

"The sides exchanged opinions on the current situation in the Middle East. Various aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement were discussed, including a possible return to direct Palestinian-Israeli dialog. Further diplomatic contacts on different levels have been ensured," read a statement from the Kremlin press service.

The phone talks were initiated by the Israeli side and took place on Thursday night. The talks are a significant step in recent negotiations aimed at restarting the process of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement. The sides are considering a return to direct dialog.

Comment: It's noteworthy that Netanyahu is the one who initiated the call. It's pretty clear that Israel has no real intentions of settling with the Palestinians, so the overtures to Russia have other motives. Israel has always needed a patron, and sees the Empire that has supported it up to now is failing. Russia is the new candidate. However, Bibi may find he can't turn Russian policy as easily as he could in the U.S., and securing Russia's favor may involve more concessions than he realizes. Stay tuned!

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Info

Intel on potential ISIS terror plot against UK and German mission in Ankara, British embassy still closed


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:40 UTC
The Turkish capital's biggest mosque Kocatepe is pictured in Ankara, Turkey
© Umit Bektas / Reuters The Turkish capital's biggest mosque Kocatepe is pictured in Ankara, Turkey.
Four people were detained during an investigation into a possible Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) threat against the British and German embassies in the Turkish capital. The British embassy in Ankara has been closed for security reasons Friday.

The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced on its website late Thursday that the British embassy in Ankara had been closed for security reasons. The German embassy also said it was only opening for limited operations on Friday.

The closures reportedly occurred following intelligence about a potential IS threat against the missions, according to the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency.
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Wall Street

Lehman moment? Deutsche Bank shares tank after CEO rejects $14 billion DOJ settlement

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:18 UTC
Statue in front of Deutsche Bank
© Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters
As reported last night, things for Germany's largest, and most troubled lender, Deutsche Bank went from bad to worse when just a few weeks after the EU slapped Apple with a $14 billion bill for "back taxes," the U.S. Department of Justice responded in kind with a $14 billion fine of its own to Deutsche Bank to settle an outstanding probe into the company's trading of mortgage-backed securities during the financial crisis. Making matters hostile, in a statement on Friday morning, the German bank's CEO rejected the opening settlement claim and said that he "has no intent to settle these potential civil claims anywhere near the number cited", adding that "the negotiations are only just beginning. The bank expects that they will lead to an outcome similar to those of peer banks which have settled at materially lower amounts."

Maybe, but the market is not so sure, and after opening for trading minutes ago, Deutsche Bank stock tanked a whopping 8% on news of the DOJ's $14 billion proposed settlement, once again approaching its all time lows.
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Eye 1

Pentagon sources leak details of Russian-US deal in Syria


South Front
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 12:54 UTC
Pentagon
On Thursday, the United States Department of State announced that it will not share the full text of a recent deal with Russia on a truce in Syria.
"It does deal with sensitive issues that we believe, if made public, could potentially be misused to misinterpreted or used by — I know Secretary [John] Kerry talked about the spoilers or would-be spoilers of this," spokesman for the US State Department, Mark Toner, said.
Toner added that if the text is published, it may put 'opposition groups' at risk, implying that possibly their names and locations are specified there. Considering these 'opposition' guys are mixed with Al Qaeda (Jabhat Al Nusra & Co), it becomes obvious why the United States aviods publishing of the agreement's text.
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Arrow Down

Merkel's conservatives brace themselves for 'humiliating' Berlin election rout

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 12:54 UTC
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
© AP Photo/ Markus Schreiber
Two weeks ago we reported that chancellor Angela Merkel was facing humiliation, political defeat in in an election in her home state. Sure enough, she lost by a wide margin, with the anti-immigrant AfD party soaring in the first shock result of the current political cycle. That, however, was only the beginning because as Reuters writes today, still reeling from the state election rout, Angela Merkel's conservatives "are bracing for further losses in the Berlin city vote on Sunday."

Following the CDU's disastrous performance in the election in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Merkel's home state, which pushed Merkel's party into an unprecedented third place by the AfD, her conservative CSU allies in Bavaria have blamed Merkel personally and demanded a migrant cap, which she rejects. Polls show the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) may be able to drop Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) as coalition partners in the capital's assembly.

Meanwhile, with the ruling coalition in shambles as a result of Merkel's widely unpopular immigration policies, the AfD, which has won seats in nine of Germany's 16 states, has soared by successfully playing on immigration concerns, validated most recently on Wednesday night by the violence between locals and refugees in the German town of Bautzen.

Comment: Further reading: Who is hunting Angela Merkel with 'rapefugee' hysteria? US network war against the German government

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Blackbox

Corruption investigators raid home of Bank of Greece Governor

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 12:54 UTC
tsipras obama
© Yannis Behrakis Reuters
Investigators carried out surprise raids on the company offices of the spouse of Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras, as well as the couple's home, as part of a probe into the mismanagement of state funding for the Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Bank of Greece rejected the proposed candidates for the governing council of state lender, Attica Bank.

After this decision, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras, and his wife Stavroula Nikolopoulou, were victims of a government raid.

Investigators carried out surprise raids on the company offices of Stavroula Nikolopoulou, and a surprise raid on the couple's home, as part of a probe into the alleged mismanagement of state funding for the Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO).

Comment: Yannis Stournaras was the Greek Finance Minister who, back in 2012, 'gushed' that carving up and selling the country's institutions was his 'top priority'. But of course that's not 'corruption' that's just business.

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Airplane

Russian arms producer challenges media distortion of its MH17 crash inquiry


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 12:37 UTC
MH17 crash inquiry
Russian arms producer Almaz-Antey says Western media distorted, mixed up and unduly rejected the conclusions of its investigation into the the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash in 2014, according to a document obtained by a Russian media outlet.

Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper obtained an alleged statement from Almaz Antey, the producer of the BUK air defense system, believed to have been used to down the plane. The document accused Western media, including British citizen-journalist outfit Bellingcat, of trying to manipulate the public opinion and mixing up facts to discredit Almaz Antey's investigation.

Comment: Western media continues with it's distortions and downright lies.

See also: How Western media hides war crimes from the public

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