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Trump unveils economic advisory team: Carl Icahn turns down invite

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Fri, 05 Aug 2016 19:13 UTC
Trumps economic advisory team
Earlier today Donald Trump, who despite lagging Hillary badly in the most recent polls, remains perceived as the presidential candidate who is better equipped to do a "better job on the economy"...

Poll on presidential economy
... even though a majority believes that Hillary is "more qualified" to be president (suggesting that to Americans the economy is not really a core part of the presidential mandate) unveiled his all-male economic team which in addition to boasting 6 guys named Steve, also includes billionaire hedge fund manager, John Paulson, to help guide the GOP presidential candidate's economic policy.


Comment: You mean that Paulson guy who blackmailed Congress for money to get out of the 2008 financial crises?


The 13-member group, whose average member has a net worth in the high double-digit million, features several longtime Trump business associates but only one academic economist, Peter Navarro of the University of California-Irvine. He specializes in trade with China, which Trump has made the centerpiece economic policy of his campaign.
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Bad Guys

'Jihadist' headed Italy people trafficking gang


France 24
Fri, 05 Aug 2016 08:46 UTC
Italy migrants
© AFP/File
Italian authorities said Friday they had broken up a people trafficking gang based near Naples headed by a Tunisian national they suspect of jihadist links.

The alleged gang leader's suspected backing for radical Islamism was uncovered during an investigation into the group's provision of false job contracts from local textile factories to enable illegal immigrants from North Africa to obtain work permits, a statement from the ROS police special operations unit said.

Arrest warrants have been issued for eight suspects. They included the Tunisian, who was said to have become radicalised in the last year and to have praised the recent terror attacks on Paris on social media.

Further details of the operation were to be released at a press conference later Friday.
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Star of David

The enemy of my friend may certainly be my friend: Israel accepts billions from the US, but maintains ties with al-Nusra

Richard Silverstein
Mint Press News
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 18:36 UTC
Members of al Qaeda’s Nusra Front near al-Zahra village, north of Aleppo city
Members of al Qaeda’s Nusra Front carry their weapons as they sit in a trench near al-Zahra village, north of Aleppo city, November 25, 2014.
Late last month, Jabhat al-Nusra (the Nusra Front), al-Qaida's Syrian arm, announced that it was severing ties with al-Qaida and renaming itself Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (the Front for the Conquest of Syria).

In a video, the group's leader, Abu Mohamed al-Jolani, explained that the group's association with al-Qaida permitted the outside powers intervening in the Syrian conflict to label it as an Islamic terrorist group.

The Guardian quoted al-Jolani as saying that the name change is intended "to remove the excuse used by the international community - spearheaded by America and Russia - to bombard and displace Muslims in the Levant: that they are targeting al-Nusra Front, which is associated with al-Qaida."

He further explained that the new policy was an attempt to have the group removed from international terror lists and to allow it to be perceived as a more acceptable alternative to its main competitor, Daesh (an Arabic acronym for the terrorist group known as ISIS or ISIL in the West).
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Stock Up

Russian and Turkish economy ministers holding final talks for trade revival


Sputnik
Fri, 05 Aug 2016 17:02 UTC
Russia Turkey trade talks
© Evgeny Biyatov/SputnikTurkish Economic Affairs Minister and his Russian counterpart are going to hold a meeting on restoring bilateral economic ties between the two countries on Friday
Turkish Economic Affairs Minister Nihat Zeybekci and Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev are set to hold the final consultations on restoring bilateral economic ties between the two countries on Friday.

Ankara and Moscow ended seven months of tensions in late June when Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had written a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, apologizing for the downing of a Russian Su-24 attack aircraftby a Turkish jet in November 2015 over Syria and extending his condolences to the family of the pilot killed in the incident.

By apologizing for the incident, Ankara fulfilled Moscow's condition for restoring the long-term partnership between the two countries. Putin subsequently lifted the ban on charter flights to Turkey and instructed the government to negotiate a revival of trade with Ankara.

On July 22, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on the restoring of the Russian-Turkish economic cooperation commission's work. Moscow is bringing back the talks with Turkey regarding a program of bilateral cooperation until 2020.

Comment: Washington's neocon thinktanks must be going nuts.

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Attention

Feigned surprise: Staunch American supporters of Syrian rebels suddenly shocked to realize they have been radical terrorists the whole time

b
Moon of Alabama
Fri, 05 Aug 2016 17:49 UTC
robert ford
Robert "can't believe they're not terrorists!" Ford
Anti-Assad luminaries in the United States suddenly play surprised that their beloved "moderate" insurgents are a bunch of racist and sectarian head choppers. But this was obvious as even the very first demonstrations against the Syrian government in March/April 2011 were driven by sectarianism. Countless members of minorities in Syria have since been murdered by "western" and Gulf-supported "moderate rebels".

Why do these anti-Syrian "experts", who supported the genocidal insurgents, suddenly find that abhorrent?

Comment: They know who they've been dealing with. The U.S. has been doing the same thing (dealing with radical terrorist death squads) all over the world for decades and calling them "moderates". If Ford and Landis are really shocked, it's a testament to their idiocy.



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MIB

Nusra Front has bodies of killed Russian pilots from downed helicopter


Sputnik
Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:42 UTC
Russian helicopter bodies
© AFP 2016/ Mohamed al-Bakour
Russian Mi-8 helicopter crew bodies are held by the terrorist group in southeastern Aleppo region, a source close to the Aleppo militia command said Friday. The bodies of the crew from the Russian Mi-8 helicopter downed in Syria are held by the Jabhat Fatah al Sham group (previously known as Nusra Front, banned in Russia) in southeastern Aleppo region, a source close to the Aleppo militia command said Friday.

"The Russians' bodies are with the Nusra Front...two or three bodies are held by the terrorists," the source told RIA Novosti.

The Mi-8 tragedy took place in the neighboring province of Idlib that has been controlled by the Army of Conquest (Jaish al-Fatah), an umbrella organization that includes al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham and other Syrian rebels who are fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad and establish a caliphate.

Russia launched its humanitarian operation in Aleppo on July 28. Three humanitarian corridors were opened in the city surrounded by Damascus-led forces, but held by radical groups. Moscow has pledged to deliver food and provide medical assistance to locals. Approximately 14 tons of humanitarian aid were delivered in the first three days of the operation.
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Light Saber

Greek Prime Minister calls for southern alliance against brutal EU austerity policies


RT
Fri, 05 Aug 2016 12:56 UTC
greek flag
© Yannis Behrakis / Reuters
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has invited the heads of Southern European countries to discuss a new alliance against the EU's tough austerity policy.

A conference is expected to be held in Athens on September 9 attended by France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, and Malta. The talks will continue during Tsipras' visit to Rome, where he plans to attend a meeting of European Socialists.

The meeting of the Southern countries will focus on the "common" challenges facing the EU, including austerity, fiscal measures and migration.

In April, Tsipras and the newly-elected Prime Minister of Portugal, leftist Antonio Costa signed a joint declaration, calling for an end to austerity policies.
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Chess

Turkish envoy to Russia assures Moscow that they are still 'special partners'


Sputnik
Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:34 UTC
Turkey ambassador Yardim erdogan Putin
© Sputnik/ Michael KlimentyevNovember 19, 2014. From left: Turkish Ambassador Umit Yardim, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov during the ceremony of presenting credentials from new foreign ambassadors in the Grand Kremlin Palace's Alexander Hall
Turkish Ambassador to Russia Umit Yardim said that the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in St. Petersburg "will give additional impetus not only on the Turkish Stream project, but all areas of our cooperation."

It is unacceptable to ignore or forget the fact that Moscow and Ankara have been and remain special partners, Turkish Ambassador to Russia Umit Yardim said Friday.

"Even in the face of political rollback, Turkey remains a special country for Russia, just as Russia is for Turkey," Yardim told RIA Novosti in an interview, adding that "ignoring this fact, forgetting about it is unacceptable."

Upcoming discussions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan's on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project may give impetus to implementing this and other energy projects, according to Umit Yardim.

"At the moment, the parties have not started the formal part, the signing of documents. I do not know in what context the Turkish Stream will be discussed on August 9, but of course energy issues and these projects will be discussed," Yardim told RIA Novosti in an interview.

The diplomat voiced confidence that the meeting between the two leaders in St. Petersburg "will give additional impetus not only on the Turkish Stream project, but all areas of our cooperation."
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Info

Erdogan explains why he wrote an apology letter to Putin


Sputnik
Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:41 UTC
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
© AP Photo/ Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Press Service
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan explained why he wrote an apologetic letter to Vladimir Putin and made the first move to help fix the relations between Ankara and Moscow.

The Turkish leader explained that the relations between the two countries are extremely important for the entire region, and so the crisis sparked by the downing of a Russian warplane in Syrian airspace had to be resolved no matter what.

"An undesirable incident involving an aircraft occurred between Russia and Turkey. The negative consequences of this incident lasted for eight months. We then wrote a letter and offered to put an end to this process, because relations between Turkey and Russia are very important for the region. The problem had to be solved. We also expressed our condolences for what happened and received a positive answer," Erdogan told Turkish national public broadcaster TRT.
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Bomb

Kosovo parliament hit with grenade shortly after EU-supported border deal reached


Radio Free Europe
Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:05 UTC
Kosovo parliament bomb
Police said an explosive device, possibly a rocket-propelled grenade, hit the Kosovo parliament building late on August 4.
Police say Kosovo's parliament was hit with an explosive device late on August 4, causing damage to the building but no injuries. Kosovo media reported that two motorcyclists fired a rocket-propelled grenade as they drove near the parliament building. The downtown area was sealed off as police investigated.

The blast comes amid tensions over a border demarcation deal that the government has reached with Montenegro. Earlier on August 4, the government ratified the deal and sent it to parliament. Lawmakers are expected to vote on it next week. The deal sets the boundary between the two countries and is backed by the United States and European Union.

Adopting a the deal is a precondition for Kosovo to get a visa-free travel regime to the EU's Schengen zone as other countries in the region received in 2010, including Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Opposition parties and some members of the governing coalition are vehemently against the deal, however, saying it hands over 8,000 hectares of Kosovo land to Montenegro. Since last year the opposition has used tear-gas canisters inside parliament and clashed with police outside in an attempt to scuttle the deal.
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