Puppet MastersS


Blue Planet

United Russia reelects PM Medvedev as leader


RT
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 23:49 UTC
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at the 16th congress of the United Russia all-Russian political party in Moscow
© Dmitry Astakhov / SputnikRussian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at the 16th congress of the United Russia all-Russian political party in Moscow
Dmitry Medvedev has been reelected as chairman of parliamentary majority party United Russia. Other senior leaders of the party also retained their posts and State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin joined its Supreme Council.

Boris Gryzlov was reelected as head of United Russia's Supreme Council and Sergey Neverov remains as chairman of its General Council. Former State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin, who currently heads Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), remains in the Supreme Council.

In his speech before the party congress, Medvedev called United Russia "the president's main political resource" and emphasized the importance developing the party's regional branches. To facilitate this, he proposed increasing the representation of regional groups in the General Council from the current 20 percent up to 30 percent.
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Newspaper

Spicer spars with media over 'always negative' reporting


RT
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 23:32 UTC
Press Secretary Sean Spicer
Press Secretary Sean Spicer
White House press secretary Sean Spicer held his first regularly scheduled press briefing, answering questions from White House journalists for the first time, and offering a more conciliatory note than his previous appearance in the briefing room.

"I was going to start with a recap of the inauguration, but I think we've covered that pretty well," Spicer joked as he walked in, referring to a spat from over the weekend. The new press secretary also kidded about emailing Obama spokesman John Earnest to say that he could "keep his title" as journalists' favorite press secretary "at least for a few days."
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Arrow Up

'New level' Syrian govt & opposition talks in Astana tense but promising - Russian envoy


RT
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 18:33 UTC
Participants of Syria peace talks attend a meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan January 23, 2017
© Mukhtar Kholdorbekov / ReutersParticipants of Syria peace talks attend a meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan January 23, 2017
The Syrian government and rebels have taken a new "sensible" path in negotiations, said Russia's representative in the Kazakh capital, Astana. He predicted a "good outcome" for the two-day peace conference, while admitting that direct talks remain unlikely.

"The first day of the talks was relatively fruitful," the Russian president's special envoy to Syria, Aleksandr Lavrentiev, told journalists on Monday evening. "It is notable the opening happened not only in the presence of the three country guarantors of the December 29 ceasefire [Russia, Turkey and Iran] but also in the presence of the representative of the UN Secretary-General Staffan de Mistura and the US Ambassador to Kazakhstan, as well as in the presence of the delegations of Syrian government and Syrian armed opposition."

"I think that it is an important and symbolic step which gives hope for a new [qualitative] level in the negotiation process," Lavrentiev added.
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Arrow Up

Hungary PM Viktor Oban praises Trump's inaugural address as signalling end to US oppression


Daily Mail
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 17:10 UTC
Viktor Orban
© Szilard Koszticsak/MTI via APHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban addresses Lamfalussy Lectures Conference organized by the Hungarian central bank, the National Bank of Hungary, in a hotel in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Jan. 23, 2017.
President Donald Trump's position that all countries have the right to put their own interests first was the key phrase of his inaugural address, the prime minister of Hungary said Monday.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban interpreted Trump's statement as "the end of multilateralism" and as permission for Hungary to also put itself in first place.

Trump said in his inaugural address that Washington "will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world."

"But we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first," Trump said Friday. "We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example."

Orban, an early supporter of Trump who has praised his immigration policies, said that the West was undergoing a "change of character" and that Trump's phrase was essential to understand what was ahead for the world.
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Propaganda

After decrying fake news, journalists are still bringing on fake news

Sean Davis
The Federalist
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 21:48 UTC
bust of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr.
After spending weeks bemoaning the rise of "fake news," journalists have chosen to double down with fake news of their own.

If you thought the results of the 2016 election would cause members of the news media to do a bit of soul-searching about the tenor of their coverage, you were wrong. If you thought they might want to understand why their hysterical attempts to take down Donald Trump were all for naught, you were mistaken. And if you thought they were interested in understanding why media trust numbers just hit record lows, you were delusional.

After spending weeks post-election complaining about the rise of so-called fake news and attributing Hillary Clinton's loss to its proliferation, a large number of members of the esteemed fourth estate decided that what America needed wasn't less fake news, but a different kind of fake news. The kind of fake news that confirms their own biases and calls into question the credibility of those they oppose.
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Info

Bolivian president reshuffles cabinet replacing half of ministers


Sputnik
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 21:25 UTC
Evo Morales
© REUTERS/ Freddy Zarco/Bolivian Presidency
President of Bolivia Evo Morales formed a new Cabinet, replacing half of the ministers, which was aimed at providing opportunities for the new generations of Bolivian political leaders, media reported Monday.

According to TeleSur TV channel, Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca, who has been the ministry's head for 11 years, reportedly retains his post.

"We have ensured social stability, which in its turn provides political stability, which guarantees economic growth... Thank you very much for helping to create a new Bolivia for future generations," Morales said, addressing the new Cabinet.

On January 18, the Bolivian Cabinet submitted a traditional collective resignation, prior to the ratification or change for the next 12 months.

Comment: Let's see if the Trump administration will leave Bolivia alone:

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Radar

First US drone strikes on Trump's watch hit Al-Qaeda in Yemen and ISIS


RT
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 21:19 UTC
US drone
© U.S. Air Force / Bobbi Zapka / Reuters
US drones have killed five Al-Qaeda operatives in central Yemen, the first such operation after Donald Trump was inaugurated as president. The US-led coalition against Islamic State continued bombing in Syria and Iraq as well.

The "targeted drone strikes" took place in the town of Bayda, in the eponymous governorate in south-central Yemen, according to US Navy Captain Jeff Davis, spokesman for the Pentagon.

"AQAP remains a significant threat to the region and the United States," Davis said, referring to the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terrorist group's branch operating in Yemen.
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Info

Warship diplomacy: Chinese naval fleet tours Gulf in bid to build ties


RT
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 21:02 UTC
Chinese warship
© CCTV+ / Facebook
Three Chinese military vessels have docked in Doha, Qatar, as China seeks to match its economic power with a more prominent international role.

The Chinese fleet, comprising Harbin, a destroyer, Handan, a frigate, and Dongpinghu, a supply ship, was welcomed with an honor ceremony in the Qatari capital at the start of a 5-day visit on Saturday.

"During the visit, naval officers from the two countries will exchange views to enhance friendship and further learn from each other," said Bai Yaoping, commander of the 24th escort fleet told the Chinese state channel CCTV.
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Newspaper

CBS runs a fake news story on RT - here's the truth

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 19:36 UTC
Russia Today
© Sputnik/ Igorь Rusak
I sometimes wonder if those slandering RT have ever bothered to watch any of RT's programming.

CBS has run a factually false and philosophically inane hit piece on RT.

Writing under the headline, "Vladimir Putin's English-language international mouthpiece", I knew the story wasn't going to be anything but more of the same asinine absurdities I have heard time after time.
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Dollar

Trump meets with American manufacturers, promises to cut taxes & regulations, big border tax for those who don't build in US

Roberta Rampton
Reuters / Yahoo News
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 17:52 UTC
trump
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty
U.S. President Donald Trump met with a dozen American manufacturers at the White House on Monday, pledging to slash regulations and cut corporate taxes, but warning them he would impose taxes on imports if they move production outside the country.

Trump, who took office on Friday, promised to bring manufacturing plants back to the United States - an issue he said helped him win the Nov. 8 election - and has not hesitated to call out by name companies that he thinks should bring outsourced production back home.

He asked the group of chief executives from companies including Ford, Dell Technologies, Tesla and others to make recommendations in 30 days to stimulate manufacturing, Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris told reporters.

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