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Cloud Grey

Philippines: President Duterte ignores UN chief amid 'War on Drugs' abuse criticism


RT
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 07:15 UTC
Duterte
© Inquirer/Lyn Rillon"The Punisher" is now "The Snubber"
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has refused to meet the UN secretary-general. Earlier he threatened to leave the UN after it criticized his controversial 'War on Drugs', which has claimed some 2,400 lives since Duterte came to power.

Ban Ki-moon requested to meet Duterte during a summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Laos next week, but the president's office said it could not happen due to scheduling conflict, Reuters reported. A UN official told the agency that it was "basically unheard of" for a leader to be too busy to meet the secretary-general. Duterte's spokesman Ernesto Abella said his boss had "his own reasons for not meeting up with some leaders," but would not elaborate.

Last week UN experts criticized the Philippines for a wave of extrajudicial executions and killings amid the president's War on Drugs, which was a key point of his electoral platform. The president responded by calling the UN "silly" and threatening to withdraw the Philippines from it, a statement that was later retracted by his Foreign Ministry.

Duterte's tough and controversial methods of cracking down on narcotic trade stem from his 22 years as mayor of the City of Davao, which earned him nickname 'the Punisher' - after the vigilante anti-hero character of Marvel comics books.

Comment: See also:

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Dominoes

France, Germany: Pro Russia or US?

Pavil Shipilin
Russia Insider
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 00:00 UTC
Merkel, Hollande, Steinmeier
© www.huffingtonpost.comMerkel, Hollande and Steinmeier: Give up or give in?
The presidential candidates in Germany and France must promise their voters they will be friends with the Kremlin. Lately François Hollande said he was sorry about the deterioration of relations with Russia. A little earlier Frank-Walter Steinmeier curtsied in our direction for the twentieth time. And Nicolas Sarkozy's pro-Russian attitude is legendary.

Though symbolic, this is all just election rhetoric. But today we have a unique chance to discover the public mood in Europe.There is another topic besides the normalization of relations with Russia, which the future leaders of Germany and France - major states that will define European policy after Brexit - are struggling with. It's the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) - a trade agreement with the USA that is driving a stake in Eurasia's European peninsula.

TTIP completes the legal boundaries of the 'golden billion' that already have their own army (NATO), their fences and money (the Bretton Woods Agreement), a stranglehold on the rest of the world. The question is whether Europeans want to live inside these boundaries that resemble a golden cage or not. Because once TTIP is signed, they can forget about the sovereignty of Europe's democracies.

Comment: Chipping away at TAFTA, TTIP and restoring relations with Russia -- maybe the EU will wake up regarding NATO as well?

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Cards

Migration crisis 2.0: Erdogan holds the aces, Merkel flounders

Brian MacDonald
RT
Wed, 31 Aug 2016 15:16 UTC
Ace Erdogan
© www.benzilla.com
This year, the European Union's controversial migrant deal with Turkey enabled the bloc to avoid to a repeat of the summer 2015 migrant crisis. But it might have merely been the calm before a new storm.

Turkey is angry that Germany's European Commissioner has labelled its EU accession bid "unrealistic" while Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains in power. In reality, however, this latest imbroglio has little to do with the Turkish President himself. Erdogan's presence is merely a convenient excuse for the fact that EU nations will never accept Ankara as a full member. And this has huge implications for the stability of Europe.

In the summer of 2015, the EU endured a migrant crisis which threatened to kibosh the Schengen agreement and also strained unity between the east and west of the alliance. Some pundits even suggested the entire project could unravel if the scenes were repeated this year.

This potential disaster was avoided by some fevered politicking by Angela Merkel. The German Chancellor struck a deal with Erdogan where Brussels agreed to transfer €6 billion to Turkey over four years, in exchange for allowing the bloc to deport migrants who do not qualify for asylum in Greece back to Turkey. The sweetener was an EU pledge to finally allow Turks visa-free travel in the Schengen area. This was important because it allowed Ankara to sell the deal domestically.

Comment: Choices for Merkel are slim to none. There is no winning hand.

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Caesar

Corbyn criticizes Britain's after-work drinking culture, saying it discriminates against women and mothers


RT
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 19:33 UTC
corbyn drinking
© Reuters
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has criticized Britain's after-work drinking culture, which he claims discriminates against women and mothers.

The left-wing politician said the tradition of going for a 'man pint' after work benefited "men who don't feel the need to be at home" with their families, while discriminating against women who want to look after their children.

Corbyn's remarks have caused controversy among some, who accuse him of assuming women are more likely to be responsible for childcare.

He made the comments in a speech on Labour policies for women, during which he promised to set up a Women's Advisory Board within the party. Although he did not call for a national ban on "early-evening socialization," he did suggest it should come to an end.
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Chess

Iran, Afghanistan join forces to deter creation of 'Islamic Caliphate'


Sputnik
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 11:59 UTC
Zarif and Rabbani
© newsok.comIran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, and Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, right.
Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani has paid an official visit to Iran to discuss a raft of hot-button issues, including closer security cooperation and a joint fight against terrorism. During his talks in Tehran with his Iranian colleague Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Afghan foreign minister said that a stable and secure Afghanistan was a strategically important factor in bilateral relations, and prioritized regular consultations and information exchanges between the two countries.

Meanwhile, the security situation in Afghanistan keeps worsening with the eastern districts of Paktia province being besieged by Taliban and Daesh terrorists, and the strategic Khanabad district in the country's northwestern Kunduz province changing hands in continuous firefights between government forces and jihadist terrorists. The situation in western Afghanistan is equally worrisome with anti-Iranian Daesh forces posing a serious threat to Tehran, which is now recruiting local Afghan refugees to fight the terrorist organization.

In an interview with Sputnik, Iranian political analyst Pirmohammad Mollazehi underscored the all-importance of closer security exchanges between Iran and Afghanistan. "A stable Afghanistan holds the key to stability and peace in this whole region. The country is being threatened by the Taliban, which is trying to put entire regions under their control, and by Daesh which, faced with a potential defeat in Syria and Iraq, could set its sights on Afghanistan, thus posing a serious threat also to Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan," Pirmohammad Mollazehi said.

He also said that the Daesh terrorists' main goal is to establish an "Islamic Caliphate" that would spread from Russia's North Caucasus all the way to India. Fully aware of this, Tehran and Kabul must work closer together to restore peace and security in the war-torn Afghanistan.

Comment: It is only through cooperation and like-mindedness that coordinated action can be taken, issues resolved, threats dissolved. A territorial liaison of Iran and Afghanistan may well produce the necessary impetus to lessen and hopefully negate the threats by Daesh and its dream of an Islamic Caliphate, and, by the way, send the bill to the US, UK and Israel. They deserve it.

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Rocket

S. Korea won't turn THAAD anti-missiles against 'third countries'


RT
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 05:24 UTC
Thaad s korea
© mda.mil
The deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on the Korean peninsula is not aimed against any third country, but rather serves as a deterrent against a potential nuclear threat from Pyongyang, the South Korean president said. The planned deployment of the advanced THAAD anti-missile system, announced by South Korea in July, has forced Russia and China to voice concerns over the system's perceived threat to their national security.

Seoul, however, continues to defend the system's positioning on its soil as a "defensive measure" against North Korea, which has carried out its fourth nuclear test and more than 10 ballistic missile tests this year - all of which have been condemned by the UN and the international community.

Speaking to Sputnik, South Korean President Park Geun-hye stressed once again that Seoul is ready to offer any clarification on the THAAD deployment, stressing that the system is not aimed at Russia. "So far, the Korean government has faithfully explained our basic position to the Russian government. If Moscow feels that there is a need for additional explanation, the Korean government will continue to communicate closely in the days to come,"Park said.

"There is no reason, nor practical benefit, for the THAAD system to target any third country, and the Korean government does not have any such intentions or plans," she said, answering a question on whether the system could damage Moscow-Seoul relations. Park noted that she plans to discuss the tense situation on the Korean Peninsula with Russian President Vladimir Putin during her participation in the two-day Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, in hopes to achieve better cooperation and find a solution to the "serious threat" posed by Pyongyang.

Comment: The concern by Russia and China has to do with the capabilities of the THAAD which do not match the needs of deterrence regarding N. Korean aggression. THAAD, Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, utilizes an altitude range and long trajectory, much higher and farther than the N. Korean system, meaning if it needed to be used against N. Korea, it would miss its targets. THAAD is incapable of intercepting Rodong and Scud missiles targeting South Korea as the DPRK missiles travel at an altitude of 20-30 km. The U.S. anti-missile system is designed to shoot down missiles at a much higher altitude of 40-150 km. However, any threat from China or Russia would be able to be met by THAAD's specifications. The US knew this, S. Korea apparently didn't.

See also:

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Handcuffs

Belgium: Arrest of 'watch list' Frenchman, laptop photos of Brussels airport prior to March attack


RT
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 15:01 UTC
Brussels Zaventem airport, shattered windows from explosions
© Ed Vidal/Reuters
The laptop of a French citizen arrested in Belgium has been found to contain pictures of Brussels Zaventem Airport taken before the terrorist attacks there in March, local media revealed. The man, identified as Omar B, 24, a resident of the Val-de-Marne deportment in central France, was arrested in Brussels Zaventem Airport on Wednesday, French TV channel M6 Info reports.

The suspect was wearing an electronic bracelet, apparently because he was on the "Fiche S" list, an indicator used by France to flag those considered to be a threat to national security. Those on the list are not arrested, but are thoroughly monitored by the authorities.

Omar B, who has been using the alias 'Scarface', was reportedly distantly connected to those who attacked Paris back in November 2015. He was also convicted of a number of petty crimes, according to M6 info.
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Jet2

Chinese J-20 stealth fighter allegedly spotted near Indian border


Sputnik
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 19:21 UTC
Chinese J-20 Stealth Fighter
© Flickr/ Times Asi
This development is significant as it comes just days after China warned India against deploying the supersonic BrahMos missile in the same region.

China's most formidable stealth fighter J-20 has been spotted near the border with India. Images of the J-20 positioned at the Daochenge Yading airport in the high altitude Tibetan Autonomous Perfecture which lies to the east of India's north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh first surfaced on social media.

On the deployment of the BrahMos missile, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson said, "We hope the Indian side can do more for peace and stability in the border region, rather than the contrary."
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Star of David

Mass incarceration: Twice as many Palestinians comprise Israeli prisons than Jews


RT
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 19:21 UTC
palestinian arrested
© Mohamad Torokman / ReutersPalestinian policemen detain a demonstrator during a protest in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, in front of the United Nations headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah August 22, 2016
More than double the proportion of Israel's general prison population comprise of Palestinian and other non-Jewish inmates, a freedom of information request has revealed.

The Israeli Prisons Service (IPS) stated that out of 20,568 inmates, just 5,659 are Jewish and 12,397 are Arabs.

Another 2,512 prisoners are classified as "other," which includes asylum seekers being held in detention camps and other non-Israelis who are not of Jewish or Arab backgrounds.

The figures, which were obtained by +972 Mag's Noam Rotem, emphasizes the high rates of Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons.

For those underage, IPS claims it has 281 prisoners. One hundred are Jewish, 160 Palestinian, and 21 "others".

However, according to human rights group B'Tselem, 511 minors are in Israeli custody, which would make the proportion of Jewish juveniles in prisons a mere 13 percent.
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Gift

Selling imperialist propaganda in an anti-imperialist wrapper doesn't make it any less imperialistic

Catte
OffGuardian
Wed, 31 Aug 2016 18:18 UTC
imperialist sock puppet
As we predicted a few weeks ago, the Washington war party seems to have seized the initiative from the "lame duck" Obama administration over Syria and is currently pushing hard for a direct confrontation with the Syrian Arab Army, and possibly with Russia. Extreme anti-Assad hate porn has been saturating the press in what looks very much like a bid to "normalise the unthinkable" and prep us for a major war.

So, why are Counterpunch and the Socialist Worker choosing such a time to present a piece on Syria by Ashley Smith that reads like a briefing from the Clinton campaign or Kagan's Foreign Policy Initiative?

We aren't going to leap on a bandwagon and accuse Counterpunch or the SW of discreditable intentions. Counterpunch in particular has been a source of hugely valuable anti-imperialist commentary for very many years and it would be incredibly arrogant for we newcomers not to give it every respect for that. But what are they thinking here?
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