Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

Kerry says extremists from Pakistan preventing peace in South Asia


RFE/RL
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 14:23 UTC
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
© AFP
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called on Pakistan to eliminate "sanctuaries" for extremist groups that he said are preventing peace in the region.

On the second day of a visit to India on August 31, Kerry said that despite some progress in recent months, Pakistan needs to fight harder against militants hiding within its borders.

"It is clear that Pakistan has work to do in order to push harder against its indigenous groups that are engaged in extremist activities," including the Taliban-linked Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba, Kerry said.

"They must work with us to help clear the sanctuaries of bad actors who are affecting not only relations between Pakistan and India but also our ability to achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan," he added.


Comment: In alignment with US and NATO.


"In fairness, the Pakistanis have suffered greatly from terrorism in their own country," Kerry added. "All of us need to be supportive...of how difficult it is."

Comment: Kerry has the gall to press Pakistan when it is the US foreign policy failure that created the mess in the first place.

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Treasure Chest

Positive progress: Russia's Eastern Economic Forum to attract over $15bn in investment


RT
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 13:49 UTC
Eastern Economic Forum
© Alexandr Kryazhev / Sputnik
Developing the Far East is one of the key priorities of Russian domestic policy. On Friday, President Putin opens the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok - which in Russian means "Master of the East".

The main focus will be luring businesses willing to invest in Russia's Far East. To date, there are 130 agreements totaling one trillion rubles ($15.3 billion) ready to be signed at the forum.

"In a year, we expect to double that," said Aleksandr Galushka, who heads the ministry developing Russia's far eastern regions.

The forum will host businesses from Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore, Germany and other countries. Among the confirmed participants are the heads of 240 Russian and 207 foreign companies. The key guest will be the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
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Stock Up

Russia prepares for its 2nd Eastern Economic Forum


Sputnik
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 13:35 UTC
Eastern Economic Forum Putin speech
First Eastern Economic Forum
The Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), an investment platform aimed at the development of Russia's Far East region, is set to be held on September 2-3 on Russky Island off the eastern city of Vladivostok.

The EEF was established in May 19, 2015, after Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed that the event be held annually. The forum has three stated objectives. The first being to strengthen ties between the international investment community, Russian businesses, as well as federal, regional and local authorities.

The forum also aims to provide a comprehensive expert assessment of the Russian Far East's economic potential and to enhance the competitiveness and investment appeal of the region in Russia and internationally.

The forum's other main objective is to present new investment and business conditions, such as priority development areas, the Vladivostok Free Port, and government support for promising investment projects to the market.

Comment: Further reading: Who's behind the campaign to blame Putin for everything?

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Info

Path to global ban? Last US manufacturer ends production of cluster bombs due to reduced orders


RT
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 13:34 UTC
US fighter bomber jet
© Technical Sgt. Michael Ammons / Reuters
The sole American manufacturer of cluster bombs has stopped production following pressure from international rights groups, which say the US-made munitions, deemed inhuman and indiscriminate, were used by the Saudi military during airstrikes in Yemen.

Textron Systems, a Rhode Island-based company, has decided to stop manufacturing the controversial weapon, citing "regulatory scrutiny" and "reduced orders for the internationally banned munitions," Foreign Policy reported on Wednesday.

The decision reportedly abides by a White House order issued last May that canceled the delivery of Textron-made CBU-105 cluster bombs to the Saudi Arabian military. The kingdom's air force had consistently used the munitions in its strikes on Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen which resulted in multiple civilian casualties due to the indiscriminate nature of the bomb.
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Quenelle

'We will liberate all of Aleppo': Syrian Army wages fierce battle against US-backed extremists


Sputnik
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 13:18 UTC
Syrian Army
© AhluBayt News AgencySyrian Army continues to free their country from US-backed extremists
Syrian Army fighters and people's militia on Wednesday liberated half of the territory of the air force school south of Aleppo. A RIA Novosti correspondent witnessed the fierce battle to liberate the city from the terrorists.

Action-packed Morning

According to the correspondent it was noticeable that the officers and commanders of the people' militia were in a bad mood.

That was due to the fact that for over two weeks, the battle at the frontlines of the air force school had been unmoving, with little progress.

The terrorists held the school just 500 meters away. There at the forefront, constant bombing and shooting could be heard but the Syrian Army did not have enough soldiers to storm the place and liberate it completely.

"The enemy is showing fierce resistance, we need ammunition and to send in the APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) to pick up the wounded," the voice of the officer was heard shouting into the receiver, the correspondent reported.

Comment: Further reading:
The fighting in Aleppo, which the rebels call 'The Great Battle of Aleppo', is not in stalemate. The rebel counter-offensive has stalled leading to a battle of attrition the rebels cannot afford.

The recent fighting in and around southern Aleppo has attracted an enormous amount of attention, with those fascinated by military affairs now familiar with places like the apartment building complex 1070, the cement factory, Al-Ramousseh roundabout, the "artillery base" (actually a complex of military schools and technical colleges) etc. Scholars of the fighting in Stalingrad in 1942 will be very familiar with this sort of thing.

Here's what you need to know about 'The Great Battle of Aleppo'


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War Whore

FBI warns Trump and Clinton staffers to beware of "foreign spies" in US

Mike Levine
ABC
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 13:10 UTC
Američki FBI
© Michael Sohn
Be careful when you're meeting new people in the nation's capital and elsewhere, because you could be a prime target for foreign spies.

That's the warning FBI agents gave to presidential campaign staffers Wednesday during two separate security briefings in Washington, D.C., according to sources.

While the briefings were portrayed as routine, they come amid increasingly aggressive efforts by foreign governments to access U.S. secrets and potentially influence upcoming elections here.

Wednesday's unclassified briefings were held just blocks from the White House, in the building shared by rival transition teams for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the sources said.

An FBI official described the sessions as voluntary "awareness briefings" provided to "low-level staffers" of the two major-party campaigns every presidential election cycle.

Each briefing Wednesday - a morning session for the Trump team and a later one for the Clinton team - lasted about an hour, ABC News was told.

One campaign source said FBI agents laid out a "standard best practices briefing," emphasizing it was "not precipitated by any particular [or known] threat."

Comment: The mainstream media never missing a chance to bash Russia and Putin.

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Gold Coins

Signs of more trouble? Deutsche Bank refuses delivery of physical gold upon demand

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 13:11 UTC
Gold ingots
© Sputnik/ Pavel Lisitsyn
While the trading world was focused on the latest news involving Deutsche Bank, namely that the troubled German bank had been contemplating a merger with Germany's other mega-bank, Commerzbank as part of a strategy to sell all or part of a key business to speed up its flagging overhaul, a more troubling report emerged in a German gold analysis website, according to which Deutsche Bank was unable to satisfy a gold delivery request when asked to do so by a client of Germany's Xetra-Gold service.

But first, what is Xetra-Gold?

According to its website, the publicly traded company "provides investors with an efficient instrument to participate in the performance of the gold market. Xetra-Gold's combination of features - cost-efficient trading and the right for physical delivery of gold - makes it an attractive product."
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Eiffel Tower

Marine Le Pen: 'Anything but Hillary Clinton' - she would bring "war," "devastation" and "instability"

David Wright
CNN
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 12:46 UTC
Marine Le Pen
© AP Photo/ Jacques Brinon
Marine Le Pen, the leader of the right-wing French political party National Front, praised Donald Trump on Wednesday and said that "for France, anything is better than Hillary Clinton."

In an exclusive interview with CNN's Hala Gorani, Le Pen compared herself to Trump, observing that both of them have waged iconoclastic campaigns against their country's political "establishment."

"We are similar because we are not part of the establishment, we are not part of the system, and we do not depend on anybody and we don't take orders from anyone," she said.

Le Pen also went after Clinton, saying the former secretary of state would bring "war," "devastation" and "instability" as president."For France, anything is better than Hillary Clinton. Anything but Hillary Clinton. Because I think Hillary Clinton means war. Hillary Clinton means devastation.
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Jet3

US slow to provide 'agreed' air cover to Turkish and FSA forces attacked by ISIS


RT
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 12:42 UTC
U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons
© U.S. Air Force / Reuters
The US-led coalition did not provide previously-agreed air support to Turkish forces and Free Syrian Army rebels when they were attacked by Islamic State militants outside the city of Jarablus in northern Syria, losing several troops wounded in action.

A Free Syrian Army (FSA) unit and Turkish troops came under heavy machine gun fire from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in a village located nearby Jarablus on Tuesday evening, Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday.

Taking heavy enemy fire, Turkish air forward observers requested immediate support from the NATO airbase at Incirlik, from which the US-led coalition's aircraft operate. The agency's report also said that some US aircraft were already airborne for a regular patrolling mission.
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Snakes in Suits

UN and US finds Israel's retroactive approval of illegal settlements 'particularly troubling' but nothing will be done to stop it


RT
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 12:28 UTC
Jewish settlement
© Musa AL-Shaer / AFP
Washington has criticized Israel's announced settlement expansion in the occupied territories, once again stressing that increased construction activity jeopardizes the two-state solution between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

The Civil Administration's High Planning Committee on Wednesday went on to approve the development of 234 housing units for the elderly in Elkana Jewish settlement, south of Nablus city. In addition, Israel also approved the erection of 21 units in Givat Ze'ev, in East Jerusalem and 31 housing units in Beit Arie, central West Bank.

Furthermore, the committee retroactively approved 179 housing units in Beit Arie which have already been built without permits.

Comment: Nazi Germany Redivivus: Israel's plan to retool occupation includes color-coding 'good' and 'bad' Palestinians

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