Puppet MastersS


Bomb

Death on every corner: RT takes a look behind ISIS bomb-making industry in Sirte, Libya


RT
Thu, 08 Sep 2016 08:26 UTC
Bomb making
© Hani Amara / ReutersSmoke rises following what witnesses said was an air strike during a battle between Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government and Islamic State militants in Sirte, Libya September 7, 2016.
On the frontline of the battle with jihadists in the Libyan town of Sirte, unexploded mortars and booby traps left by behind by Islamic State terrorists await unwatchful victims on every corner, RT's William Whiteman reports from the ground.

While the jihadists have already been forced out of most neighborhoods, they have left a perilous legacy behind in Sirte, where explosive devices masked as innocent-looking objects are scattered throughout the city.

One such object shown to Whiteman by the locals was a mannequin "dressed" in a loose shirt with a flower-themed blanket on its knees. The deadly device was hidden in another blanket that was wrapped around its head.

That didn't prove to be the most intricate trap Whiteman encountered on the freshly liberated territory, however. When the RT crew's car stopped at the site of an unexploded mortar sticking halfway out in the middle of the road, Whiteman discovered another explosive device hidden in a traffic cone nearby.

"Knowing that the advancing Libyans would want to mark the unexploded projectile out in the road, Islamic State rigged this nearby traffic cone with a bomb," Whiteman said.

Comment: See also: RT journalist crew dodges ISIS suicide car bomb attack on Libyan battlefield

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Laptop

British intel deletes 1000 'extremist' sites weekly - can't keep up with output


RT
Thu, 08 Sep 2016 21:28 UTC
isis facebook youtube
© Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Extremist material is spreading online at such a fast rate, UK security services are unable to keep up, Home Secretary Amber Rudd has admitted.

The new minister blamed US tech giants Google, Facebook and Twitter for not doing enough to stop terrorists uploading propaganda to the internet.

Social media companies have previously defended their efforts in the online war on terror, insisting they are removing extremist content when it is discovered.

Rudd was grilled by Parliament's Home Affairs Committee on Wednesday about how US internet firms could be made to do more in the battle against extremist propaganda.

Comment: Must be tough for MI6 to spend all that time putting up all that content, only to have to take it down again! Luckily, Facebook and Twitter et al. are slow enough complying that those who 'need' to see it do so, and they provide a nice fall guy.

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Piggy Bank

SOTT Exclusive: Ukraine cries foul over Nord Stream-2 while Russia outmaneuvers US in economic war

Shane LaChance
Sott.net
Thu, 08 Sep 2016 19:45 UTC
Nord Stream-2 pipeline
© WikipediaNord Stream 2 pipeline
Andrey Kobolev, the CEO of Ukraine's national oil and gas company Naftogaz, is apparently irate that Kiev's hostile behavior towards their natural partners in Russia could bring consequences. In an interview with the BBC, Kobolev spoke against the development of the Nord Stream-2 pipeline, saying it will have a harmful impact on Ukraine and Europe. "We are trying to show to our European counterparts that it will not only negatively affect us, it will also have a negative effect on the whole of Central and Eastern Europe in terms of gas prices."

It appears Kobolev is backtracking from a statement he made to Ukrainian media just a few months ago saying Europe would be just fine without Russian gas. "There is a model that shows that even if Gazprom completely stops gas supplies to Europe, Europe will substitute them. There will be problems in Eastern Europe, but there still will be substitution," the Naftogaz CEO said.

Now that Ukraine is faced with the reality of losing close to $2 billion in transit fees once Nord Stream-2 goes operational, Kobolev is singing a different tune. Kiev not only has trouble dealing with reality, it also fails to understand that its unnatural and asinine alignment with the U.S. is at the root of its problems.
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Biohazard

Anti-Russian propaganda crusade: U.S. to maintain nuclear 'first strike' policy

Andre Damon
World Socialist Web Site
Wed, 07 Sep 2016 21:08 UTC
US nukes
© Global Research
On Tuesday, the New York Times published as its front-page lead article a piece, written by longtime military/intelligence insider David Sanger, reporting internal White House discussions that the Obama administration is planning on maintaining the United States' "first strike" nuclear weapons policy.

In recent months, the Washington Post and Times had published reports that President Obama had considered formally adopting a policy of not using nuclear weapons unless the US was attacked by such weapons first.

On July 10, The Washington Post reported, "The Obama administration is determined to use its final six months in office to take a series of executive actions to advance the nuclear agenda the president has advocated since his college days," including the possible adoption of a "no first use" policy.

But Tuesday's report in the Times declared that Obama "appears likely to abandon the proposal after top national security advisers argued" that it would "embolden Russia and China."

The move takes place amidst a series of US provocations against both countries, including the deployment of thousands of troops on Russia's border in Eastern Europe and ongoing "freedom of navigation" operations in the South China Sea. In their statements to the Times, White House and military officials were sending a clear signal that it will abide no scaling back of the US threat to kill millions of people to facilitate its geopolitical aims.
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Target

Iranian security and IRGC forces disband Saudi-affiliated terrorist cell


FARS News Agency
Thu, 08 Sep 2016 20:56 UTC
Iranian security forces
Iranian intelligence and security forces dismantled a team of 12 terrorists sent by Saudi Arabia and certain trans-regional states to foment insecurity inside the country.

The terrorist team which was equipped with light and semi-heavy weapons and intended to carryout sabotage acts inside Iran was disbanded in the Western bordering areas of Sardasht city on Wednesday night through cooperation with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) forces.

Reports said earlier on Wednesday that ten terrorists of the outlawed Democrat Party were also killed in armed clashes with the Iranian border guards in the Western province of Kurdistan.

The terrorists who were trying to sneak into the country through the Western Iranian borders in the village of Baneh and Khalfi in Sardasht region, sought to foment insecurity in Iran's Kurdistan province.
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Bad Guys

ISIL withdraws from al-Bab City in Aleppo ahead of SDF advance


FARS News Agency
Thu, 08 Sep 2016 20:48 UTC
ISIL militant
ISIL terrorists evacuated their headquarters in the city of al-Bab in Syria's Aleppo province on Thursday, media reported.

"Dozens of ISIL military vehicles have left al-Bab carrying weapons and militants. They headed to the nearby town of Khafsa East of al-Bab city," local media activist Nasim Babi told ARA News.

Informed sources in al-Bab reported that major ISIL headquarters in the city were seen empty on Thursday.

The evacuated ISIL headquarters in al-Bab included the Sharia Court, al-Hisba police department, jihadi training camps and weapons' storage centers.
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Brick Wall

'Largest project': Israel starts building underground wall along Gaza border to counter Hamas tunnels


RT
Thu, 08 Sep 2016 20:36 UTC
Israeli soldier guarding construction
© Mussa Qawasma / Reuters
The Israel Defense Force (IDF) has started work on a massive underground concrete wall along the Gaza Strip border to prevent Hamas militants from digging tunnels into Israeli territory and using them in their attacks, Israeli officials say.

Israeli defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to AP that the construction of the barrier began several weeks ago. They also said that the wall is expected to stretch along the entire Israeli border with Gaza, which is about 60 kilometers long.

The officials also said that the concrete wall will reach dozens of meters below ground. However, construction only entered its initial phase and could take years, they added, as reported by AP.

Comment: Israel will build underground wall beneath Gaza border to thwart Hamas tunnels

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Chess

Evading the requirements: Delayed meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu


PressTV
Tue, 06 Sep 2016 18:10 UTC
Mahmoud Abbas
© AFPPolish President Andrzej Duda (C-R) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (C-L) inspect an honor guard during an official welcoming ceremony in the courtyard of the presidential palace in Warsaw on September 6, 2016
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which had been proposed by Russia, has been delayed and will not be held for now.

Abbas made the announcement during a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, in Warsaw on Tuesday.

Abbas added that he had agreed to a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet Netanyahu in Moscow on September 9 and planned to travel to the Russian capital directly from Warsaw.

"Unfortunately, yesterday in Jerusalem President Putin's representative and ... Netanyahu's representative held a meeting and ... Netanyahu's representative proposed to postpone the meeting for later, "the Palestinian president said, adding, "So the meeting will not happen, but I am ready and I declare again that I will go to any meeting."

Comment: See also: Putin offers to host Palestine talks in Moscow - Netanyahu 'considering it'

The Russian Foreign Ministry responded, with Mikhail Bogdanov telling Sputnik the following: "We are grateful to the head of the Palestinian Authority Abbas for his agreement in principle with President Putin's proposal. We continue to maintain contacts and to consult with both parties to reach an agreement on the form, content and date of the meeting."

Update (September 7): Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, that the meeting of Palestinian and Israeli leaders Abbas and Netanyahu "is not on the agenda".

Update (September 8): Still no date for a meeting set, but Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said today "that Moscow had heard from the offices of the Palestinian president and the Israeli premier that the pair agreed to meet in the Russian capital, Moscow, but added that it was not clear when the meeting would take place."

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Dollar

Extension of full-spectrum dominance: Why you should be paying attention to America's quiet war on cash

Shaun Bradley
AntiMedia
Tue, 06 Sep 2016 19:17 UTC
War on Cash
Government campaigns of intimidation — like the wars on drugs, terror, and poverty — have been used to extort the public for decades. Despite the previous failures of institutional "wars," a new war on cash is being waged that threatens freedom in a more subversive way than ever before.

Banks and governments around the world are cracking down on the use of paper money, and in turn, eliminating any anonymity left in the current system. Through strict rules on cash transactions and civil asset forfeiture laws, for example, the system has already instituted penalties for using cash. But as payments evolve into a purely digital network, the consequences of this new paradigm are being brought into the spotlight.

The ability to track, record, and mediate transactions of all individuals is a power dictators throughout history could have only dreamed of. Those who value privacy are turning to alternatives like cash, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals, but these directly threaten central bank dominance. This ongoing tug-of-war in financial innovation will determine whether we enter an age of individual empowerment or centralized enslavement.

As mundane as it may seem, the main reason for this push to go cashless is directly tied to what world central banks are doing to prop up their economies. The manipulation of interests rates to zero or even negative has left central banks no ammunition to fight off the next recession. Without the ability to cut interest rates even further, stimulating economic growth is nearly impossible.

Comment: Although the terms full-spectrum dominance and total information awareness have not been in the spotlight over the last few years, the push to eliminate physical cash and have a cashless society can be seen to be an extension to have full control of information on and control of the spending habits of societies that go this route and to dominate said populations via this control. Without physical cash, with the exception of precious metals and possibly cryptocurrencies, which TPTB are sure to have plans to subvert and control, there are few barriers to the tyrannical and power hungry psychopaths in power from installing their twisted vision of the future where they decide who has money and who doesn't, who lives and who dies with a few keystrokes.

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SOTT Logo S

SOTT News Snapshot: September 8, 2016 edition


Sott.net
Thu, 08 Sep 2016 14:58 UTC
belarus russia flag paralympcs
© SputnikBelarusian Andrey Fomachkin carries a Russian flag during the opening ceremonies of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on September 7.
PolitRussia's Ruslan Ostashko has an interesting take on Putin's recent interview with Bloomberg, pointing out that John Micklethwait, Bloomberg's chief editor and the man who conducted the interview, is a card-carrying member of the Western elite, being a long-time Bilderberg club participant. This may explain why Putin seems to have treated him as an "expert" rather than just a journalist, and may explain the line of force of not only the questions, but also Putin's answers. Recommended watching:


(You can read coverage of the interview on SOTT here, here, here, here, and read the full transcript here.)
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