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State Duma speaker: Trump and Putin have close positions on key issues


RT
Sun, 13 Nov 2016 18:35 UTC
Trump Putin
© Mike Segar, Sergei Karpukhin / ReutersU.S. President Donald Trump, Russia's President Vladimir Putin
The US and Russian leaders have never had such similar positions on the key issues of world politics as Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump, Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Russian parliament, said.

"Putin and Trump have numerous common points and shared views," Volodin told Russian NTV Channel in an interview published Sunday.

Volodin expressed hope for improvement in US-Russian relations, but also called for caution saying that Trump is yet to make practical steps towards rapprochement with Russia and show that his statements were not just empty promises.

"If Trump brings his promises to life, it will radically change the situation. We have only seen Trump as a candidate but we are yet to see what [kind of] president he will be," the Duma speaker said.

He stressed that "restoring trust and respect" should be a primary goal in relations between the two countries, adding that the actions of previous US administrations have brought them to a historic low.
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Post-It Note

Leaked memo: UK govt seeks to utilize Trump's 'instincts' and openness to 'outside influence'


RT
Sun, 13 Nov 2016 14:59 UTC
10 Downing St
© Dylan Martinez / Reuters
A leaked telegram by the British ambassador, sent to Whitehall just hours after Donald Trump's victory, suggested that his openness to "outside influence" be utilized for the sake of UK interests, and his "extreme ideas" be tamed.

In a memo cited by the Sunday Times, British ambassador to the US Sir Kim Darroch said UK diplomats have already laid the groundwork to guide the President-elect's foreign policy in a way more favorable for London.

Donald Trump "is above all an outsider and unknown quantity, whose campaign pronouncements may reveal his instincts, but will surely evolve and, particularly, be open to outside influence if pitched right," Sir Kim wrote.

"Having, we believe, built better relationships with his team than have the rest of the Washington diplomatic corps, we should be well placed to do this," he said.

The assessment may seem embarrassing, but not entirely disconnected from reality. During the Trump campaign, critics lambasted his simplistic vision of international affairs, while others argued that his bluntness would derail negotiations on pressing issues like Israeli-Palestinian settlement or the nuclear deal with Iran.
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Eye 1

Russian spies and America's reality TV election

Finian Cunningham
Sputnik
Sat, 12 Nov 2016 01:38 UTC
Trump and Obama
© REUTERS/ Kevin Lamarque
After months of mudslinging and vitriol, US President-elect Donald Trump was greeted this week by a chummy President Obama with a cozy fireside seat at the White House.

Some media outlets sniped at Trump's surprise election calling him the "first reality TV star to become president". In truth, the whole US political system seems to be a reality TV show.

In the weeks up to polling day on November 8, Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton and large sections of the US media were denouncing Trump as a "Russian stooge". Trump's alleged friendliness towards Russian President Vladimir Putin was said to be proof that the Republican candidate was a "Kremlin agent". The Kremlin rejected the accusations as fatuous, pointing out that there was not a scintilla of evidence.
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Passport

ISIS training militants to pass themselves off as asylum-seeking refugees, says German Intelligence source


RT
Sun, 13 Nov 2016 01:39 UTC
migrant check
© Dominic Ebenbichler / Reuters
Islamic State specifically trains militants to camouflage themselves as ordinary refugees and pass necessary application procedures to be granted asylum in European countries, according to sources in German intelligence.

The terrorist group is teaching militants methods of infiltrating Europe as refugees while not attracting attention from law enforcement agencies, according to a Die Welt report citing Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND).

In particular, the training is focused on creating the impression of a "classical" asylum seeker in case of interrogation by police officers or questions from fellow migrants, the BND said, choosing not to elaborate on the topic.

Though brief and without details, the newspaper's article sheds some light on Islamic State's (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL) tactics for sending terrorists to European countries, deemed a legitimate target by jihadists.

Previous media reports suggested that IS militants tried to blend in with the crowd to go to Europe, and succeeded in some cases, but training future infiltrators in counter-interrogation tactics was not known about until now.

Comment: Hot air? Cover story for future false flags?

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Chart Pie

Italexit? Italy referendum result could send shockwaves through markets and further shake European Union

Simon Osborne
Express
Sat, 12 Nov 2016 10:10 UTC
Italexit
THE EU's days might be numbered with Italy about to vote on a referendum which could send shockwaves across the continent.

Analysts believe the outcome of the ballot on constitutional reform could have massive global implications.

With many European leaders already coming under severe pressure from anti-EU parties ahead of elections next year the significance of the Italian result is huge.

Defeat for Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi could lead to even deeper social turmoil in countries already struggling with austerity, immigration problems and a growing contempt for Brussels.

Maria Paola Toschi, global market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management told CNBC: "The upcoming Italian referendum this December may create volatility across markets as the year draws to a close."
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Attention

Bulgarian PM resigns as pro-Russia general easily wins presidency


RFE/RL
Sun, 13 Nov 2016 01:33 UTC
Rumen Radev
© AFPRumen Radev, candidate of the opposition Socialists, attends a news conference, in Sofia on November 6.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has announced his resignation after his presidential nominee apparently suffered a crushing defeat in a runoff against a Moscow-friendly general backed by the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party.

The center-right prime minister told reporters after the vote on November 13 that he would formally hand in his resignation on November 14 or 15, because "the results clearly show that the ruling coalition no longer holds the majority."

Borisov's resignation is likely to trigger early elections in the spring of 2017 and risks plunging the NATO-member and EU-member country into renewed political turmoil just two years after Borisov took office for his second term.

Projections show that former Bulgarian Air Force chief and political novice Rumen Radev won nearly 60 percent of the vote on November 13.
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Info

Kremlin continues work with Obama on Syrian settlement before Trump takes office


Sputnik
Mon, 14 Nov 2016 01:27 UTC
Children in Aleppo, Syria
© Sputnik/ Mikhael Alaeddin
Russia will continue its contacts with the administration of incumbent US President Barack Obama on settlement of the ongoing Syrian crisis and will not wait until the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday.

The work on settlement of the Syrian crisis has to go on, because events in the war-torn country are developing "rapidly," Peskov said in an interview with the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. "At the moment the United States have an incumbent president and he will be in office for two more months. For example the events in Syria are developing so rapidly that no one could afford a two-month pause. That's why the work will go on," he said.
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Info

UKIP's Farage meets with Trump: 'He will be a good president'


RT
Mon, 14 Nov 2016 01:15 UTC
trump and farage
© Carlo Allegri / ReutersDonald Trump shakes hands with Nigel Farage at a campaign rally in Jackson, Mississippi, US, August 24, 2016.
British UKIP leader Nigel Farage fully endorsed the choice of Americans in electing Donald Trump. He was the first UK politician to meet with the president-elect on Saturday, saying Trump was "full of good ideas" and will be a "good president."

The leader of the UK Independence Party has been an ardent Trump supporter throughout his campaign, even visiting the Republican convention in Cleveland this summer to endorse the 70-year-old's candidacy.

One of the chief engineers behind Brexit referendum, Nigel Farage, has reportedly been working as a consultant for the Trump campaign over the last few months and even delivered speeches in the United States in support of the billionaire entrepreneur.

On Saturday the two politicians discussed "freedom and winning" as Farage visited the Republican in New York at Trump Tower, Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to Donald Trump confirmed.
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Jet1

Al-Qaeda films US aircraft over Syria: Is Russia-US alliance strengthening as promised by Trump?

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Mon, 14 Nov 2016 00:00 UTC
Donald Trump and General Michael T. Flynn
As Donald Trump and his chief military adviser General Michael T. Flynn talk about joint operations with Russia against ISIS and Al-Qaeda in Syria and Iraq, Al-Qaeda releases a video showing US aircraft circling its territory.

Hours after Donald Trump confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that he remains committed to his policy of working together with Russia to defeat ISIS and the other Jihadi terrorist groups in Syria, there are the first possible signs that the US military is starting to respond to the policy of the future Commander-in-Chief.

Step News, an Al-Qaeda connected media agency, has released a video showing two aircraft circling over Al-Qaeda controlled territory in Syria's southern Idlib province.
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Dollar

Trump will not take 'one dollar' of $400k presidential salary

Siobhan Fenton
Independent, UK
Sat, 12 Nov 2016 00:12 UTC
Donald Trump
© Getty Images
Donald Trump has said he will not accept a salary for being president when he is in the White House. Prior to his election victory, Mr Trump has insisted he will not "take even one dollar" of the $400,000 presidential salary.

Speaking at an event in September last year, he told a crowd in New Hampshire: "The first thing I'm going to do is tell you that if I'm elected president, I'm accepting no salary, okay? That's not a big deal for me."

He reiterated the claims in a Twitter Q&A later that month. When a follower asked: "Will you forgo the presidential salary if elected?" To which he replied: "As far as the salary is concerned - I won't take even one dollar. I am totally giving up my salary if I become president."

During his campaign, the Republican politician made much of his claims that as a millionaire business mogul he is not bound to the bidding of financial backers. Mr Trump is worth an estimated net $3.7 billion, according to Forbes.

Previous wealthy presidents have donated their salaries to charity after deeming it is not financially necessary for them to take it as personal income. Herbert Hoover and John F Kennedy both reportedly donated the money to charity.
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