Puppet MastersS


Question

What is BRICS member India really up to? Modi's long game

Pepe Escobar
RT
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 15:36 UTC
Modi India BRICS
© Ivan Sekretarev / ReutersIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
You may have never heard of LEMOA. In Global South terms, LEMOA (Logistics Exchange Memorandum Agreement) is quite a big thing, signed in late August by Indian Defense Minister Mohan Parrikar and Pentagon supremo Ash Carter.

As Carter spun it four months before the signing, LEMOA rules that US forces "may" be deployed to India under special circumstances. Essentially, Delhi will allow Washington to refuel and keep contingents and equipment in Indian bases - but only in case of war.

In theory, India is not offering the US any permanent military base. Yet considering the Pentagon's track record that may of course change in a flash.

No wonder Indian nationalists were outraged - insisting there is no strategic gain out of this gambit, especially for a nation that is very proud of being one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

The cozying up to the Pentagon happens just a few months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi - who had been denied a US visa for nearly a decade - addressed a joint meeting of Congress in a blaze of glory, declaring that India and the US are natural allies" and calling for a closer partnership.
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Snakes in Suits

US renews sanctions and keeps blockade on Cuba despite UN vote


teleSUR
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 15:19 UTC
US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro
© Carlos Barria/ ReutersArrest this man.
U.S. President Barack Obama renewed on Tuesday for another year the Trading with the Enemy Act, extending the economic blockade originally imposed on Cuba more than 50 years ago.

"I hereby determine that the continuation for one year of the exercise of those authorities with respect to Cuba is in the national interest of the United States," Obama said in a statement.


Comment: Backstabbing lying idiot.


The restrictions will remain in effect until Sept. 14, 2017.

In Dec. 2014, Obama announced the normalization of relations with Cuba after more than 50 years of hostilities. The two countries reopened their respective embassies in July 2015, but the blockade remains in effect.

Comment: Looks like the US wants to keep Cuba poor in hopes it won't be able to turn to Russia or China but will have the exact opposite affect. Good grief, just normalize relations and be helpful to Cuba and make new friends!

Fidel: Internationalist, anti-imperialist, anti-apartheid hero of the revolution

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MIB

FBI agents posing as AP journalists OK in 2007, but not anymore


RT
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 14:43 UTC
FBI agents
© Keith Bedford / Reuters
The FBI didn't violate its own policies in 2007, when an agent impersonated an AP journalist while entrapping a high school teen in a bomb threat case, the inspector-general probe found. However, new policies have been instituted since.


Comment: Yea right like a new policy going to stop them. The FBI has a long history of deception.

The disclosure of the agent's impersonation caused an uproar among the press, prompted a lawsuit, and led to policy changes.

A report by the Justice Department's inspector general, released Thursday, said the FBI recently put in place new policies meaning top-level approval is required before agents can pose as journalists. It called the changes an "important improvement" over past practices.
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Calendar

Russia to make voting in election available to Russian citizens in Ukraine despite Kiev restrictions


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:53 UTC
Maria Zakharova Russia FM
© Alexey Kudenko / ReutersRussian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova at a briefing on current foreign policy issues.
Russia will open ballot stations in its diplomatic offices in Ukraine despite Kiev's refusal to cooperate in securing the safety of Russian citizens attending Sunday's parliamentary polls, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said.

"The ballot stations on Ukrainian territory will be opened in the Russian embassy and in our Consulate-Generals," Zakharova told reporters on Thursday. She emphasized that as the diplomatic offices are recognized as Russian territory by international conventions, there was no way for Kiev authorities to obstruct the voting process. Zakharova also noted that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had assured Russia it would monitor the process and report any violations.

On the past weekend, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko instructed the country's Foreign Ministry to inform Moscow that it was impossible to hold Russian elections on Ukrainian territory. The step was taken soon after the Russian Foreign Ministry had asked the Ukrainian authorities to ensure the safety of any citizens visiting the Russian embassy in Kiev and consular offices in Odessa, Kharkov and Lvov in order to participate in the parliamentary elections on Sunday September 18.
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Snakes in Suits

If at first you don't succeed: Britain to keep Russia sanctions despite own defense committee finding them ineffective


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:50 UTC
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with British Prime Minister Theresa May
© Alexei Druzhinin / Reuters
Britain is determined to push on with sanctions against Russia despite a Defence Committee report finding the measures mostly affect civilians and have no impact on the country's military infrastructure.

The government response to the 'Russia: Implications for UK defence and security' report was published on Thursday. The UK said it is keen to see the current sanctions "roll over" into the next year.

While the committee agreed the sanctions should continue, it found "their effects are felt most keenly by the Russian public and they have not reduced Russian military investment and expansion."
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Treasure Chest

Staggering cost of US post-9/11 wars approaching $5 trillion


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:44 UTC
U.S. Army soldiers from the 2nd Platoon, B battery 2-8 field artillery
© Baz Ratner / Reuters
The US spent $4.79 trillion on wars in the Middle East and on the 'War on Terror' after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, a new report estimated.

The report by the Cost of War Project, which is run by Brown University's Watson Institute, counted the total budgetary cost of the wars America waged in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Syria as well as on counter-terrorism.

The $4.79 trillion figure includes future obligations to spend budgetary money through 2053, estimated future spending on veterans, interest already paid for money borrowed for the war effort and other relevant expenditures. This is $300 billion higher than what the project reported in 2015.
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Star of David

Palestinian-Israeli peace talks revived? Bibi places call to Putin


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 13:15 UTC
Purin netanyahu Israel Palestine
© Maxim Shipenkov / ReutersRussian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has called Russian President to discuss the situation in the Middle East, as well as "various" aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, including the possible resumption of direct talks between the sides.

"The sides exchanged opinions on the current situation in the Middle East. Various aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement were discussed, including a possible return to direct Palestinian-Israeli dialog. Further diplomatic contacts on different levels have been ensured," read a statement from the Kremlin press service.

The phone talks were initiated by the Israeli side and took place on Thursday night. The talks are a significant step in recent negotiations aimed at restarting the process of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement. The sides are considering a return to direct dialog.

Comment: It's noteworthy that Netanyahu is the one who initiated the call. It's pretty clear that Israel has no real intentions of settling with the Palestinians, so the overtures to Russia have other motives. Israel has always needed a patron, and sees the Empire that has supported it up to now is failing. Russia is the new candidate. However, Bibi may find he can't turn Russian policy as easily as he could in the U.S., and securing Russia's favor may involve more concessions than he realizes. Stay tuned!

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Info

Intel on potential ISIS terror plot against UK and German mission in Ankara, British embassy still closed


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:40 UTC
The Turkish capital's biggest mosque Kocatepe is pictured in Ankara, Turkey
© Umit Bektas / Reuters The Turkish capital's biggest mosque Kocatepe is pictured in Ankara, Turkey.
Four people were detained during an investigation into a possible Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) threat against the British and German embassies in the Turkish capital. The British embassy in Ankara has been closed for security reasons Friday.

The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced on its website late Thursday that the British embassy in Ankara had been closed for security reasons. The German embassy also said it was only opening for limited operations on Friday.

The closures reportedly occurred following intelligence about a potential IS threat against the missions, according to the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency.
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Wall Street

Lehman moment? Deutsche Bank shares tank after CEO rejects $14 billion DOJ settlement

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:18 UTC
Statue in front of Deutsche Bank
© Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters
As reported last night, things for Germany's largest, and most troubled lender, Deutsche Bank went from bad to worse when just a few weeks after the EU slapped Apple with a $14 billion bill for "back taxes," the U.S. Department of Justice responded in kind with a $14 billion fine of its own to Deutsche Bank to settle an outstanding probe into the company's trading of mortgage-backed securities during the financial crisis. Making matters hostile, in a statement on Friday morning, the German bank's CEO rejected the opening settlement claim and said that he "has no intent to settle these potential civil claims anywhere near the number cited", adding that "the negotiations are only just beginning. The bank expects that they will lead to an outcome similar to those of peer banks which have settled at materially lower amounts."

Maybe, but the market is not so sure, and after opening for trading minutes ago, Deutsche Bank stock tanked a whopping 8% on news of the DOJ's $14 billion proposed settlement, once again approaching its all time lows.
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Eye 1

Pentagon sources leak details of Russian-US deal in Syria


South Front
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 12:54 UTC
Pentagon
On Thursday, the United States Department of State announced that it will not share the full text of a recent deal with Russia on a truce in Syria.
"It does deal with sensitive issues that we believe, if made public, could potentially be misused to misinterpreted or used by — I know Secretary [John] Kerry talked about the spoilers or would-be spoilers of this," spokesman for the US State Department, Mark Toner, said.
Toner added that if the text is published, it may put 'opposition groups' at risk, implying that possibly their names and locations are specified there. Considering these 'opposition' guys are mixed with Al Qaeda (Jabhat Al Nusra & Co), it becomes obvious why the United States aviods publishing of the agreement's text.
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