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Yoda

Putin's year-end Q&A session: US election, Syria, Ambassador's assassination and more


RT
Fri, 23 Dec 2016 16:35 UTC
putin
© Sergei Karpukhin / ReutersRussian President Vladimir Putin attends his annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow, Russia, December 23, 2016
Allegations of personal involvement in the Democrats' electoral defeats in the US, the threat of a nuclear arms race, and the potential for a Syria ceasefire - all of these were among the issues that came up at Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual media conference.

This year was Putin's 15th question and answer session with journalists from Russia and leading international outlets. As in the past, it focused on domestic economic and political problems, but journalists also asked about Russia's role in global affairs.

Democrats should learn to lose with grace

Putin reiterated his denial of interfering with the US presidential election, saying that the Democratic Party just wanted to blame all their failures on somebody else.

"The Democratic Party lost not only the presidential election, but also elections in the Congress, where the Republicans now have a majority. Was that my doing too?" the Russian president asked. "Everything points to systematic problems in the current administration."

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Handcuffs

Germany arrests two men suspected of plotting mall terrorism attack


RT
Fri, 23 Dec 2016 15:53 UTC
shopping center in Oberhausen, Germany
© Woeiman / YouTube
German authorities have arrested two brothers from Kosovo on suspicion of planning an attack on a shopping center in northwestern Germany, police revealed.

"The 28- and 31-year-old brothers born in Kosovo are suspected of having prepared a possible attack in the shopping center in Oberhausen," Essen police said in a statement.

The two suspects were detained early Friday morning following a special forces raid on their residence. Authorities said that they are now in the process of determining "how far preparations had been made and whether other persons were involved."
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Ice Cube

Moscow says dialogue with U.S. 'frozen;' no quick thaw expected


Radio Free Europe
Thu, 22 Dec 2016 15:58 UTC
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
The Kremlin's spokesman said that dialogue with the United States is currently "frozen" and that Moscow does not expect a quick thaw of ties when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

"Almost every level of dialogue with the United States is frozen," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia's Mir TV in remarks published on December 21. "We don't communicate with one another, or we do so minimally."

Peskov said the Kremlin does not expect Trump to quickly change two things that Russia has criticized: NATO's enlargement and stepped-up presence in eastern Europe, and sanctions imposed over Moscow's aggression in Ukraine.

Comment: The PTB in the United States will use all their power to sabotage any dialogue to normalize relations between Russia and the US.

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Stock Down

Obummer: Majority of jobs created during Obama Admin. part-time or temp, 1 million fewer people working steady jobs since 2008


RT
Fri, 23 Dec 2016 15:32 UTC
obama
© Kevin Lamarque / Reuters / Reuters
President Barack Obama has termed his efforts to combat unemployment and slow economic growth a success. However, Princeton and Harvard economists found that the majority of new jobs were in contract or part-time positions.

Jobs that come with access to healthcare, vacation time, the occasional sick day and Social Security and Medicare taxes paid through employers have declined under Obama's presidency. One-million fewer people are working steady jobs than they were at the beginning of the recession, according to a study authored by Lawrence Katz at Harvard University and Alan Krueger at Princeton University.

While the Obama administration is prone to citing the 10 million jobs added to the economy over the past eight years, 95 percent of those are temporary, contractual jobs or part-time employment. Part-time employers are not obligated to provide any benefits for their employees, so when an employee gets sick they can either go to work or lose that day's wages.

In addition, contractual employment has grown. The study found that young workers represented the largest growth of contractors who frequently do not receive any kind of benefits, even when they are working full-time. The issue is particularly frustrating to employees in the entertainment industry where media conglomerates like Viacom rely on freelancers for long periods of time without offering benefits, an arrangement frequently referred to as "permalance."
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Wall Street

Deutsche Bank agrees to $7.2bn settlement with US government


RT
Fri, 23 Dec 2016 15:32 UTC
headquarters of Germany's Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt
© Kai Pfaffenbach / ReutersA placard reading "This is your day" is seen on a lamp post next to the headquarters of Germany's largest business bank, Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt.
Shares of Deutsche Bank gained over two percent after the German bank reached an agreement with the US government over mortgage-backed securities sales. The $7.2 billion penalty is far lower that the $14 billion the US had initially demanded.

Under the settlement terms, Deutsche Bank will pay a $3.1 billion civil monetary penalty and provide $4.1 billion in consumer relief in the United States.

According to Deutsche, the agreement with the US is not final, and there could be no assurance the sides would agree on the final documentation.

"The financial consequences, if any, of the consumer relief, are subject to the final terms of the settlement, and are not currently expected to have a material impact on 2016 financial results," the bank said in a statement.
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Caesar

'Losers always look for someone to blame': Putin slams claim that Russia hacked US elections

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Fri, 23 Dec 2016 12:52 UTC
Vladimir Putin
© Sputnik/ Michael KlimentyevVladimir Putin
Once again Putin has one-upped Obama, showing how a true statesmen and diplomat behaves.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding his traditional end-of-year Q&A marathon session.

Over 1,400 journalists are in attendance at this year's event, free to ask a variety of questions to the Russian President.

Comment: The entire Q&A press conference:



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Eye 1

5 things to consider about the Berlin terror attack

Elena Troyanova
The Duran
Fri, 23 Dec 2016 12:41 UTC
Merkel Berlin
© Daily Express
As the investigation and manhunt for the truck driver continue, here are five things to consider.

1) Merkel's reaction

A horrendous terror attack on a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday evening left 12 people dead and 48 injured. Chancellor Merkel, however, only addressed the public next day, some 15 hours after the tragic event. She was 'appalled, shocked and deeply sad about what happened at Breitscheidplatz'. Merkel admitted that she had 'no easy answer as to how we can live with what happened'. She also outlined that: 'it would be particularly unbearable for all of us if it were confirmed that an asylum-seeker had committed this crime.'

Comment: Further reading: Intentional? 'Catalog of blunders' reveals how Berlin terrorist was left free to kill

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Caesar

The Battle for Aleppo is over: Syrian Army declares Victory, claims 'full control' of city

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Fri, 23 Dec 2016 12:30 UTC
aleppo syrian army
© REUTERS/ SANA
Syrian troops in Aleppo celebrate as Syrian army formally declares victory.

Following the evacuation of the last remaining Jihadis from Aleppo earlier today, the Syrian army has formally declared victory and has announced that the entirety of the city is under its control.

The official Syrian news agency SANA is carrying extracts from the statement declaring victory, which has just been issued by the Syrian army

Comment: Further reading: Putin held a meeting with Defense Minister Shoigu, who informed the president of the details of the operation:
The operation to liberate Aleppo was conducted in two stages.

The first stage was to liberate 115 districts, close to 82,000 square kilometres. Over this time, 7 humanitarian corridors were opened, enabling close to 110,000 people to leave the city, and 9,000 fighters laid down their arms. Most of them were amnestied in accordance with President Assad's decision.

The second stage unfolded in the southern part of east Aleppo. This involved imposing a ceasefire since December 15 in order to carry out a massive humanitarian operation that saw the withdrawal from the city of radical fighters, together with their families, of women and children. This stage made it possible for us, together with our Turkish and Iranian colleagues and our colleagues from the Syrian authorities, of course, to organise the departure from the city of nearly 34,000 people over these days. Most of them, 14,000, are men, but there are also 8,500 children and a similar number of women.

A large group of Russian Armed Forces officers worked on this operation round the clock, monitoring all of the departure routes with the help of drones, and also web cameras at the entry and exit points. Seven command posts were set up in order to monitor the entire route the departing fighters and their family members travelled. The operation involved nearly 300 buses and 400 ambulances (380 ambulances, to be exact).

We tried to involve in this work all the groups present in the area: UN representatives and the various international organisations. The International Red Cross and the World Health Organisation were of greatest help during the operation, with close to 60 specialists taking part.

The next equally important part has to do with mine clearing operations. In order to provide safe passage through these corridors we had to clear a number of areas of the mines planted by the militants. This was quite challenging considering the weather.

The operation is complete, and I cannot fail to mention that it was carried out at your instruction and in close contact with our colleagues from Turkey and Iran.

This should be followed by the next stage. In our opinion, we are close to reaching an agreement on a complete ceasefire across Syria.
...
Many people are returning to the other part of the city. Our specialists are working with their Syrian colleagues. In many neighbourhoods power and water supplies have been restored and humanitarian aid is being delivered. Unfortunately, while we have everything it takes to ensure this much talked-about humanitarian access, we do not see any willingness to do so.

I would like to conclude, Mr President, by saying that we sent a military police battalion there last night to ensure order in the liberated areas.

This ends my report.
In other words, E. Aleppo had around 153,000 people in it (western media, governments, and the UN had thrown out the figure of 250,000-300,000 for years). As many as 24,000 of these were fighters. Counting their families, about 1/3 of the people in Aleppo were either fighters or their family members and supporters. In other words, over two thirds of the city chose Assad and the legitimate government over the jihadist rebels and their Western/Gulf State sponsors.

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Cross

Pope Francis: Malicious resistance to reforms in Vatican 'inspired by devil'


RT
Thu, 22 Dec 2016 23:41 UTC
Pope Francis speaks during the traditional greetings to the Roman Curia in the Sala Clementina (Clementine Hall) of the Apostolic Palace, at the Vatican, December 22, 2016.
© Gregorio Borgia / Reuters Pope Francis speaks during the traditional greetings to the Roman Curia in the Sala Clementina (Clementine Hall) of the Apostolic Palace, at the Vatican, December 22, 2016.
In his annual Christmas speech, Pope Francis slammed Vatican officials for pushing back against reforms that the pontiff has been pushing forward since 2013, saying that those taking part in "malicious resistance" have been inspired by the devil.

"The absence of reaction is a sign of death! Consequently, the good cases of resistance - and even those not quite so good - are necessary and merit being listened to, welcomed and their expression encouraged," Pope Francis said Thursday, addressing the Roman Curia.

"There are also cases of malicious resistance, which spring up in misguided minds and come to the fore when the devil inspires ill intentions (often cloaked in sheep's clothing),"the pontiff added.


Comment: The Vatican approves International Association of Exorcists


"The reform does not have an aesthetical end to make the Curia more beautiful; it cannot be understood as a sort of face-lift or applying makeup to beautify the elderly curial body, nor plastic surgery to remove wrinkles," he continued.

Comment: See also:

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Quenelle - Golden

French political scientist nominates Putin for the Nobel Peace Prize - The only person who is fighting against terrorism for real


Sputnik
Fri, 23 Dec 2016 10:39 UTC
Vladimir Putin
© Sputnik/ Michael KlimentyevVladimir Putin
Head of French Center for Political and International Relations (CFPA) Fabien Baussart said Tuesday that he had officially nominated Russian President Vladimir Putin for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Baussart said that Putin was the only person who is fighting against terrorism for real and, thus, deserving the prize.

"As the CFPA head, I officially proposed the candidacy by sending a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee saying that, in my opinion, President Vladimir Putin could get the Nobel Peace Prize as a reward for his peacemaking efforts," Baussart told RIA Novosti.
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