Puppet MastersS


Attention

UN Security Council unanimously passes resolution on monitoring Aleppo evacuations


RT
Mon, 19 Dec 2016 14:37 UTC
Rebel fighters and civilians wait to be evacuated from a rebel-held sector of eastern Aleppo
© Abdalrhman Ismail / ReutersRebel fighters and civilians wait to be evacuated from a rebel-held sector of eastern Aleppo, Syria December 17, 2016.
The UN Security Council has unanimously passed a resolution requiring the monitoring of evacuations from Aleppo.

The resolution, initially drafted by France, was originally called a "disaster" by Russia's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin.

However, Moscow and Paris came to an agreement on the text after more than three hours of closed-door consultations by the Council on Sunday.

The resolution asked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "to take urgent steps to make arrangements, including security arrangements in consultation with interested parties, to allow the observation by the United Nations and other relevant institutions of the well-being of civilians... inside the eastern districts of the city of Aleppo."
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Attention

Honest news anchor Ben Swann destroys CIA Russia hack claims in under 5 minutes

Claire Bernish
The Free Thought Project
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 14:19 UTC
american flag matrix
© Chris Dionte Walker
When unnamed officials with the CIA recently claimed Russia hacked the U.S. presidential election, but failed to provide any evidence, suspicions immediately circulated that the allegation constituted a fabrication — particularly as left-leaning corporate media unquestioningly parroted the story.

This, after the Washington Post first tried — and miserably failed — to convince the U.S. populace professional Russian propagandists were running nearly every alternative and independent media outlet, and had plotted to smear Hillary Clinton to ensure Donald Trump's victory.

In tandem with the ratcheting up of anti-Russia propaganda by the left political and media establishment has been the equally laughable war on putative fake news, because — according to Clintonite Democrats and a smattering of Republicans — fake news also helped Trump win.
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Safe

Ukraine nationalizes Kolomoisky's PrivatBank that holds 36% of all domestic deposits

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Mon, 19 Dec 2016 14:03 UTC
branch of Privatbank
© Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters
It was just a few short days ago, on Wednesday of last week, that Ukraine's largest lender, PrivatBank, said that reports it will be nationalized were "attempts to create panic and destabilize the political situation in the country."

Local media, quoted by Reuters, speculated that Privatbank, which is part-owned by one of Ukraine's richest men, billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky, could be privatized if it does not meet a year-end deadline for Ukraine banks to reach a capital ratio requirement agreed under an International Monetary Fund bailout program. However, what made Privatbank unique, is that with some $6 billion in private deposits - or 36.5% of Ukrainian banks' total - it puts America's own TBTF banks to shame: the bank is an absolute giant which controls nearly half of the local banking sector.

On Wednesady, the bank's deputy chairman reaffirmed that there was nothing to worry about and said its customers had received phone calls and messages telling them the bank would be taken under state control due to a failure to meet the required capitalization level. "Exploiting the ignorance of citizens about nationalization, they stir up panic," Oleg Gorokhovsky said, without saying who was behind the reports.

Comment: More on Priat and Kolomoisky:

PrivatBank belongs to a Ukrainian tycoon Igor Kolomoisky who's worth $1.3 billion according to Forbes.

After Crimeans voted to rejoin Russia in a referendum in 2014, the bank refused to return deposits of 200,000 Crimeans. The peninsula has been selling Kolomoisky's Crimean assets to compensate the depositors.

PrivatBank was founded in 1992 and holds a third of all deposits in the country.

In August, the Pechersk Regional Court in Kiev accused officials of Privatbank of embezzling 19 billion hryvnia (about 765 million dollars) which had been allocated to refinancing.

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Bad Guys

Iraqi intelligence claims ISIS leader Baghdadi still in Mosul


The New Arab
Mon, 19 Dec 2016 11:00 UTC
Operations to liberate Mosul from Islamic State group militants began in October
© AFPOperations to liberate Mosul from Islamic State group militants began in October; Date of publication: 17 December, 2016
Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is currently hiding underground around the besieged city, an Iraqi counter-terrorism official has claimed.

Baghdadi likely remained in the city, and is currently hiding in an underground bunker, Maj. Gen. Fadhil Jalil Barwari said, adding that Iraqi intelligence cannot pin-point his exact location.

This comes after reports from activists and the Iraqi army's press service that Baghdadi had fled the city, with rumours claiming that he had relocated to IS de facto capital in the city of Raqqa, across the Syrian border.

At that time UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson also claimed that western intelligence sources had indicated that Baghdadi was no longer in Mosul.


Comment: British Foreign Secretary: ISIS leader fled Mosul as Iraqi forces stormed city


Speaking on Friday, Barwari, head of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Bureau, said that the IS chief - who has a $25 million US levied bounty on his head - remained in the vicinity of Mosul.


Comment: US raises bounty for Islamic State leader Baghdadi's head to $25 million


"We believe he is now in Biaj, west of Mosul, hiding in an underground bunker. He changes his location all the time, and he also changes his appearance," said Barwari, adding that as Baghdadi was detained by Iraqi authorities ten years ago Iraqi forces "have enough information to track him".
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Propaganda

Not-a-surprise dept: 'Two Chicago ordinary moms' behind #StandWithAleppo revealed to be professional propagandists


Sputnik
Mon, 19 Dec 2016 10:05 UTC
People walk past a billboard depicting Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at Saadallah al-Jabri Square, in the government controlled area of Aleppo, Syria December 17, 2016
© REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki People walk past a billboard depicting Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at Saadallah al-Jabri Square, in the government controlled area of Aleppo, Syria December 17, 2016

In the run-up to eastern Aleppo's liberation by the Syrian army last week, #StandWithAleppo was turned into an extremely popular Twitter hashtag, users joining the Western mainstream media in condemning the Syrian government and accusing it of committing war crimes in the city. In spite of numerous stories, photos and video materials by alternative media showing that the city's residents were actually mostly relieved by their liberation, the hashtag has effectively become a rallying cry for the anti-Assad, anti-Russian narrative pushed by the mainstream media and Western governments.

But as one very observant Twitter user searching for the origin story behind the viral #StandWithAleppo campaign has since discovered, Becky Carroll and Wendy Widom, the "two ordinary moms" who launched the campaign, are anything but ordinary.

The Chicago Tribune, which interviewed the two women in October, described Carroll as a strategic affairs consultant who "decided it was time to do something" to help the suffering people of the city.

But there's a twist. According to her website, Carroll runs C-Strategies LLC, a Chicago-based consulting firm with extensive experience in the public sector. In fact, the site's 'about us' section says Carrol was the National Director of the Women for Obama Campaign during his 2008 presidential campaign, and later served as CEO of Chicago Forward, a Super PAC that raised millions of dollars for Chicago Mayor and former Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's mayoral reelection campaign.

​As for Wendy Widom, she's a self-described social media editor for CBS Chicago, part of a broadcast television network whose recent coverage of the situation in Aleppo features the kinds of bias to be expected from mainstream media sources.
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Jet3

Russian MoD: All 39 aboard military plane that crash-landed in Russia's Yakutia alive


RT
Mon, 19 Dec 2016 08:27 UTC
An Il-18 aircraft
© Vitaliy Belousov / SputnikAn Il-18 aircraft
The Russian Defense Ministry has said that all passengers and crew members survived the crash-landing of the IL-18 plane, and 16 people were injured, as cited by Interfax news agency.

Previous reports put the number of survivors at at least five.

"As a result of the incident, all passengers and crew members are alive. 16 people were severely wounded. They have been evacuated to the hospitals in Tiksi by search and rescue helicopters," the ministry's statement read, as cited by RIA Novosti.

"According to the report from the scene, the plane crash landed today at 4:45 [local time] 30 kilometers from Tiksi Airport. The aircraft was carrying out a scheduled flight from Kansk Airfield," the ministry added.

The crash-landing was caused by a severe gusting side wind, according to preliminary data provided by local authorities and cited by RIA Novosti news agency.

Comment: Flight data recorders recovered by experts at the site of the Il-18 plane that crash-landed in Siberia will be sent to a laboratory for inspections, the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday.
The ministry confirmed earlier that the aircraft was carrying 32 servicemen and seven crew members on a routine flight when it crash-landed off the Tiksi airfield in the Sakha Republic. It said four search and rescue helicopters have transported the victims to the local hospital for treatment.

"A special Russian Defense Ministry commission is working at the site of the Il-18 emergency landing, whose experts demounted and recovered on-board recorders for delivery to a specialized laboratory and their inspection," the ministry said.


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Book

Russian UN envoy: UNSC agrees 'good text' for resolution on Aleppo, voting to be held Monday


RT
Mon, 19 Dec 2016 08:39 UTC
Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, center, raises his hand to cast a vote to veto
© AP Photo/ Bebeto Matthews Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, center, raises his hand to cast a vote to veto
The UN Security Council has agreed a "good text" of a resolution on Aleppo evacuation monitoring, Russia's UN envoy told journalists. That comes after Russia's promise to veto the French resolution and its putting forward a rival draft.

The voting on the new version of the document is scheduled for Monday, Vitaly Churkin said.

The US ambassador to the UN believes the resolution will be passed unanimously.

"We expect to vote unanimously for this text tomorrow at 9am (1400 GMT)," Samantha Power told reporters after a three-hour closed door meeting, according to Reuters.

The French-drafted resolution for placing the Aleppo evacuation under the supervision of the UN is "dangerous and impossible to implement," Russia's ambassador to the UN said earlier, promising to veto the initiative and put some new proposals on the table instead.

Comment: See also: Russian UN envoy: French draft resolution on UN supervision of Aleppo evacuation 'dangerous'

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Einstein

Mattis to Trump: Beer, cigarettes work better than waterboarding

Richard Sisk
Military.com
Wed, 23 Nov 2016 18:48 UTC

Trump_Mattis
© AP/Carolyn KasterPresident-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis as he leaves Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J., Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016.
Retired Gen. James Mattis "surprised" President-elect Donald Trump by suggesting that he rethink his position on waterboarding, telling him that "beer and cigarettes" were a better alternative in terror suspect interrogations.

Trump said that the advice from Mattis, a front-runner for the defense secretary post in a Trump administration, would weigh heavily on whether he will go forward with campaign pledges to bring back waterboarding and torture in interrogations by the military and the CIA.

In his meeting last week with the man he calls "Mad Dog Mattis," Trump said he asked, "What do you think of waterboarding? He said -- I was surprised -- he said, 'I've never found it to be useful.' "

Trump said Mattis told him, " 'I've always found, give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and I do better with that than I do with torture.' "

Trump said he was not entirely convinced. "I'm not saying it changed my mind. Look, we have people that are chopping off heads and drowning people in steel cages, and we're not allowed to waterboard. But I'll tell you what, I was impressed by that answer" from Mattis.

Trump called Mattis "a very respected guy. In fact, I met with a number of other generals. They say he's the finest there is. He is being seriously, seriously considered for secretary of defense."

"I think it's time, maybe it's time for a general," Trump said, although Mattis, if he accepted the nomination, would need a waiver from Congress on the seven-year rule against military officers taking cabinet posts.
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Info

Lebanon finally forms new government

Leila Bassam, Lisa Barrington and Angus McDowall
Reuters
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 22:12 UTC
Lebanon's President Michel Aoun (C) meets with Prime minister-designate Saad al-Hariri (R) and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri
© Dalati Nohra/Handout via ReutersLebanon's President Michel Aoun (C) meets with Prime minister-designate Saad al-Hariri (R) and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon December 18, 2016.
Lebanon's President, Michel Aoun, and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri have formed a new government of 30 ministers drawn from most sides of the country's political spectrum and from all of its religious sects, the cabinet office said on Sunday.

"Today a new government was formed," said Hariri, after the announcement.

Aoun, an ally of the Shi'ite group Hezbollah which dominates the country's politics, was elected president by members of parliament in October, after more than two years without anyone occupying Lebanon's highest office of state.

His election was partly the result of a political deal under which he would ask Hariri, a former political opponent, to be prime minister. However, some leading Lebanese politicians did not support the deal, contributing to Hariri's delay in being able to form a government.
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Attention

As Mosul battle enters third month IS shows no sign of weakening


Christian Today
Sat, 17 Dec 2016 00:01 UTC
Mosul
© ReutersMosul and its surrounding areas have seen intensified violence since an offensive to retake the city was launched on October 17.
Islamic State fighters have stepped up counterattacks on Iraqi forces in Mosul amid bad weather as the U.S.-backed offensive to capture their last major city stronghold in Iraq enters its third month.

With cloudy skies hampering coalition air surveillance, the militants carried out attacks in three districts of eastern Mosul, al-Quds, Ta'mim and al-Nur, over the past four days, residents and security officials said on Friday.

"We heard clashes and explosions and then somebody shouting on the loudspeaker of the mosque 'Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, the Islamic State is staying'," said a Ta'mim resident.

Comment: See also:

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