Puppet MastersS


Attention

Pakistan military warns India against full-scale war over Kashmir

Pakistani soldiers with injured victim
© AFPPakistani soldiers shift an injured victim from a passenger bus hit in cross-border shelling, at a military hospital in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on November 23.
Pakistani air force chief Marshal Sohail Aman has warned neighboring India against escalating the dispute over Kashmir, a contested Himalayan territory, into full-scale war.

Aman's warning on November 24 comes amid soaring tensions between the two countries over Kashmir.

"We are not worked about India at all, it is better if they show some restraint," Aman said.

He said that if India escalated the crisis, Pakistani troops would "know full well how to deal with them."

Comment: The fight over Kashmir has been one of the longest ongoing battles in the world and seems to have no end in sight.


Dollar

NATO chief urges EU military to cough up cash to maintain bond with US under Trump

Nato
NATO's chief has urged alliance members to cough up the cash needed to secure the "transatlantic bond" that the US president-elect has threatened to cut, unless members contribute the required two percent of their GDP to the common "defense" goal.

During his campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly slammed NATO, calling the alliance "obsolete." The Republican also suggested that under his administration, the US may refuse to come to the aid of NATO allies unless they "pay their bills" and "fulfill their obligations."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke with Trump over the phone last week, after which "progress has been made on fairer burden-sharing."

While no details were made public about Friday's conversation, this Wednesday, Stoltenberg urged NATO members to follow the British example and contribute 2 percent of their GDP to the military alliance.

Following the talks with UK Prime Minister Theresa May, the NATO Secretary General underlined the importance of the "transatlantic bond."

"Mr. Stoltenberg noted that the UK is leading by example on defense spending, investing over 2 percent of GDP on defense," NATO said in a statement.

Comment: See also: State Department lies: NATO force on Russian border 'not a threat in any way'


Attention

Afghan authorities warned US military twice about possible insider attack at Bagram

view of Bagram Airfield
© Omar Sobhani / ReutersA view of Bagram Airfield.
Afghan authorities warned the US military at least twice that a Bagram airbase worker could be planning an attack, officials told Reuters. The warnings were made in the year prior to an assault which killed four people and injured at least 15 others.

In addition to the warnings, Afghan government and security officials said they also asked Western forces to share information about local employees at the NATO airbase, in order to check for "suspicious people among them." However, they were refused.

When asked about the request for information sharing, NATO spokesman Captain William Salvin said the alliance's forces "routinely partner with ANDSF [Afghan National Defense and Security Forces] on all elements of security."

"We maintain a strong, day-to-day working relationship with our Afghan counterparts but due to operational security we do not get into specifics about what is shared," he said.

Comment: More on the Bagram airbase attack:


Propaganda

Media falsely spins Trump's climate comments in NYT interview

Trump
Trump correctly cited the Climategate scandal: 'They say they have science on one side but then they also have those horrible emails that were sent between scientists...Terrible. Where they got caught, you know, so you see that and you say, what's this all about.'

Climate Depot Analysis

The media spin on President Elect Donald J. Trump's sit down with the New York Times on November 22, can only be described as dishonest. Trump appears to soften stance on climate change & Donald Trump backflips on climate change & Trump on climate change in major U-turn

The 'fake news' that Trump had somehow moderated or changed his "global warming" views was not supported by the full transcript of the meeting.

Heartland Institute President Joe Bast had this to say about the full transcript of Trump's meeting: "This is reassuring. The Left wants to drive wedges between Trump and his base by spinning anything he says as "retreating from campaign promises." But expressing nuance and avoiding confrontation with determined foes who buy ink by the barrel is not retreating." The Heartland Institute released their skeptical 2015 climate report featuring 4,000 peer-reviewed articles debunking the UN IPCC claims.

No Entry

No prospects for future favors: Clinton Foundation slush fund dries up

Clinton Foundation
© Getty Images
Perhaps the biggest hit Hillary Clinton got after she lost the US election to Donald Trump was having her side business, known as the Clinton Foundation, lose all its purpose.

Now that Hillary and Bill hold no power or sway in Washington, there is very little reason for any countries, corporations, or billionaires to donate any money to the Clinton Foundation.

The Clinton's have no more services to sell of any value...and thus no one is buying into the foundation.

Philanthropy experts told CNBC...
"Because neither Clinton will occupy a prominent role in government in the immediate future—curtailing the willingness of at least some big donors to try and curry favor with the foundation by writing large checks."

"Because Hillary Clinton is no longer seen as a president in waiting, contributors may look elsewhere and the foundation may have to rethink its scope and priorities."
The Clinton Foundation refused to respond to numerous requests from CNBC for comment.

Comment: No point for pay to play: Australia halts all Clinton Foundation funding


Attention

Fresh unrest in Hong Kong due to strained relations with China

hong kong cops
The political situation in Hong Kong (more precisely in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China) has once again fallen under the influence of another "autumn escalation".

One of the most large-scale protests was a mass rally of thousands of students in September-October 2014, which was coined the Umbrella Movement by the Western media. It's almost a year later and new riots, albeit significantly less serious ones, have taken place.

As in 2014-2015, the nature of this stage of political turbulence in Hong Kong is the same. In general, it can be described with the slogan "the price you have to pay for the transition period".

This concerns the difficulties of actual implementing the beautiful concept "One Country - Two Systems" created by Beijing when preparing to regain control over Hong Kong from Great Britain in 1997. Later, this concept was tested out for the possible (hypothetical and elusive) return of the lost province of Taiwan to the bosom of the Motherland.

The procedure of transferring Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China was provided for by the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed in 1984 during a visit of the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to China. The strained relations between Beijing and Hong Kong are entirely based on events that preceded the handover.

It's important to remember that in the mid-19th century, Hong Kong was under the control of Great Britain following the so-called Opium Wars (which can be considered a "crime against humanity" by today's standards). The following 150 years, Hong Kong formed a community of citizens that were very different from the citizens in modern-day China both in terms of mentality and living standards. Today, the latter is perhaps the major factor, which determines the mood of Hong Kong's population.

Footprints

British politician Farage to meet Trump camp as he plans 'permanent move' to US

Farage
UKIP's Nigel Farage is reportedly planning to travel to the US next month to meet with Donald Trump's transition team, having already been the first British politician to meet the president-elect after his shock victory.

The visit to Washington DC will be seen as a fresh bid to undermine Prime Minister Theresa May, who is still yet to meet the president-elect. Farage has repeatedly offered himself up as an intermediary between May and Trump, to which Downing Street has declined.

In December, Farage will again meet the team who are preparing for Trump's move to the White House in January, according to the Independent. It is not known what they plan to discuss.

Trump and Farage have grown especially close in recent months. Farage was the first foreign politician to visit the president-elect. On Monday, Trump caused a political storm when he tweeted Farage would do a "great job" if he were the UK's ambassador to the US.

The move by Farage to further ingratiate himself with the Trump camp may cause alarm for Downing Street, which has said there would be "no third party" in Britain's relationship with the United States.

Comment: See also: UK MP Nigel Farage hits back at UK establishment in Breitbart piece


Megaphone

Duterte sends a strong message: 'I owe you nothing,' opening Philippines to foreign investment

Duterte
© Mariana Bazo / ReutersPhilippine President Rodrigo Duterte
The populist Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has pledged to open up the economy to foreign businesses to tackle graft and protectionism.

"The only way for the deliverance of this country is to remove it from the clutches of the few people who hold the power and money," Duterte told a news conference.

"I do not owe you anything, that's precisely why I was avoiding you during the last election. I am not trying to destroy you. You have the advantage, you're here already, be content with that. But let us open everything."

Foreign businesses have complained they can't get access to some sectors like telecoms and utilities in the 100 million Filipino market due to red tape or obstruction from local monopolies.

Comment: See also:
  • Duterte to Putin at APEC summit: Western nations start wars they are scared to fight themselves
  • Duterte may withdraw Philippines from 'useless' ICC, as did Russia



Info

Irish court names Mikhail Khodorkovsky potential suspect in €100mn fraud

Mikhail Khodorkovsky
© Vasily Prokopenko / SputnikMikhail Khodorkovsky
Former Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a potential suspect in an ongoing money-laundering investigation over €100 million, frozen in Irish-domiciled funds for over five years, the Irish Times reports citing the Dublin District Court.

The investigation is being conducted by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation (GBFI), a specialized division of Ireland's national police force, the Garda Síochána, which investigates "fraud-related crime involving complex issues of criminal law or procedure."

The district court is being asked to unfreeze over €100 million (US$106 million) under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, the newspaper reports.

Brick Wall

Mexican cement company GCC offers to build Trump his border wall

U.S.-Mexico border wall
© Jose Luis Gonzalez / ReutersU.S. workers build a section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall at Sunland Park, U.S. opposite the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, November 9, 2016.
A leading Mexican cement manufacturer has offered to help President-elect Donald Trump build his more than 1,000 mile long "big, beautiful, powerful' wall along the US-Mexican southern border.

"We can't be choosy," Enrique Escalante, Chief Executive Officer of Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) said in an interview with Reuters. "We're an important producer in that area and we have to respect our clients on both sides of the border."

Trump spent over a year telling voters he wanted to build a wall as protection against illegal immigrants from Mexico which he accused of not "sending their best" but rapists and drug traffickers.

A wall along the southern border between Mexico and the United States, would have to be 2,000 miles long, according to projections by the Government Accountability Office.