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Psychopaths! Israeli lawmakers legalize imprisonment of Palestinian 'child terrorists' as young as 12


RT
Wed, 03 Aug 2016 23:25 UTC
Palestinian child
© Ammar Awad/Reuters
Israeli lawmakers have legalized the imprisonment of Palestinian minors as young as 12 in case they are accused of grave crimes such as acts of terrorism against the state of Israel. The so-called Youth Bill has already faced criticism at home and abroad.

In a ruling which saw 32 voting in favor, 16 against, and one abstention vote, the Youth Bill, which will "allow the authorities to imprison a minor convicted of serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder or manslaughter even if he or she is under the age of 14, passed its second and third readings," the Knesset said in a statement.

Violence between Palestinian youths and the Israeli police, soldiers, as well as civilians has skyrocketed in the last 10 months. Ongoing scuffles that erupted last October, have since resulted in the deaths of at least 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.

Overall, according to the Israeli mission to the UN, Palestinians youths were responsible for 47 "acts of terrorism" committed in the same timeframe, using a knife, gun or car-ramming tactics. In response, Israel intensified its security and retaliatory methods, killing some 219 Palestinians.
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Dollars

Ukraine resumes payments to Russia for nuclear fuel


RT
Wed, 03 Aug 2016 02:20 UTC
nuclear fuel
© Aleksandr Kondratuk / Sputnik
Russia's state nuclear corporation has agreed to continue disposing of Ukraine's spent nuclear fuel after the resumption of payments. Rosatom halted operations in May after Kiev blocked the accounts of Ukraine's state company Energoatom.

"Everything has resumed. Ukraine started paying six weeks ago. But the dates for spent nuclear fuel imports have shifted," said a source in Rosatom. He added that despite the delay they will try to fulfill the annual plan for deliveries to Russia. The first shipment is expected in August with UkraIn March, Kiev seized Energoaine paying market price.

In March, Kiev seized Energoatom's accounts and property worth $8 billion, blocking the operation of the largest power generating company in Ukraine. "Our partners at Energoatom are absolutely reasonable people. They understand you have to pay for goods and services. But the government there has blocked all accounts," said Rosatom's fuel subsidiary TVEL Vice-President Aleksey Grigoryev.

The authorities regard the company's debts as fictitious, and were used to finance the ousted President Viktor Yanukovich's campaign. Now, the accounts have been unfrozen, but the case hasn't been closed. Ukraine has been trying to diversify from Russian nuclear fuel by expanding cooperation with US-based Westinghouse. However, nuclear experts have warned Westinghouse fuel is incompatible with Ukraine's ageing ex-Soviet reactors and may result in a nuclear meltdown.
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Stock Down

Republic of Congo falls into default amid cheap crude prices


RT
Wed, 03 Aug 2016 15:47 UTC
Republic of Congo
© Jiro Ose / ReutersA man walks past empty market stalls in Republic of Congo's capital of Brazzaville
Plunging oil prices have forced the Republic of Congo to skip a $478 million payment for bonds due at the end of June. As the one-month grace period has passed, the country is officially in default on its debt. The country sometimes referred to as Congo-Brazzaville to differ from its neighbor the Democratic Republic of Congo, had its sovereign credit rating downgraded by S&P to 'SD/D' (selective default).

"We are therefore lowering our long- and short-term foreign currency sovereign credit ratings on the Republic of Congo to 'SD/D' (selective default) from 'B-/B', indicating that the Republic of Congo has defaulted on some of its foreign currency obligations," said a statement from the rating agency. "If and when the Republic of Congo cures the payment default on the notes, we will revise our ratings on the sovereign debt depending on our assessment of residual litigation risk, access to international debt markets, and the sovereign's overall credit profile," added the agency.

According to S&P, the 'SD/D' mark does not carry an outlook because it displays a condition, default, and not a forward-looking opinion of default probability. S&P added the Republic of Congo faces balanced risks, specifically on its local currency debt. In 2014, oil production made up about 70 percent of the country's total revenue. Crude prices have plummeted from $114 per barrel in mid-July 2014 to slightly over $40 in August 2016. The yield on the bond, which was issued as part of its London Club debt restructuring in 2007, has grown to 9.5 percent, according to Bloomberg data.
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Crusader

U.S. foreign policy comes full circle: Al Qaeda shoots down Russian helicopters like it did in Afghanistan

Ulson Gunnar
New Eastern Outlook
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 01:41 UTC
downed russian heli
The recent downing of a Russian Mi-8 helicopter and the death of all 5 on board over Al Qaeda-held Idlib province in Syria, represents the unenviable full circle US rhetoric has made surrounding both the Syrian conflict, and the wider "War on Terror."

It was the United States who first created and used Al Qaeda in Afghanistan in the 1980s to down Russian aircraft and to fight Russian troops. After successfully pushing Russia out of Afghanistan and plunging it into a sociopolitical dark age, the US went on to claiming to be victimized by the monster they themselves created, perhaps most spectacularly on September 11, 2001. Today, the US finds itself back to now fully using Al Qaeda to fight a proxy war against Russia, this time in Syria.

Russian Helicopter Was on Humanitarian Mission Over Al Qaeda Territory

The Russian Mi-8 helicopter was conducting humanitarian operations. This is not according to only Russian or Syrian sources, but even opposition sources including UK-based anti-Syrian government proponent Rami Abdulrahman who refers to himself as the "Syrian Observatory for Human Rights" (SOHR).

The New York Times in its article, "Russian Military Helicopter Is Shot Down in Syria, Killing 5," would report that:
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Bomb

New deterrence (threat?): US to upgrade nuclear bomb


RT
Tue, 02 Aug 2016 15:47 UTC
B-2 Spirit Bomber
© ReutersB-2 Spirit Bomber drops a B61-11 "Bunker Buster"
The National Nuclear Security Administration has given the go-ahead for work on upgrading the B61 airborne nuclear bomb, as the Pentagon is eager to embark on a multi-billion-dollar scheme to improve the US nuclear arsenal. The decision taken by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) authorized the program to enter a post-engineering phase, which comes after four years of work. This now means that the first upgraded bombs are set to roll out by 2020.

The B61 has been the principal US airborne nuclear bomb since 1968, when the first version was commissioned. With some of the modifications being canceled over the years and others withdrawn from use, only models 3,4,7,11 and 12 are currently in active service.

"Reaching this next phase of the B61-12 LEP is a major achievement for NNSA and the exceptionally talented scientists and engineers whose work underpins this vital national security mission," NNSA Administrator Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz (Ret.) said in a statement. "Currently, the B61 contains the oldest components in the US arsenal. This LEP (life extension program) will add at least an additional 20 years to the life of the system," he added.

The Obama administration has embarked on a plan to try and modernize the US nuclear weapons arsenal, which is expected to cost around $355 billion by 2023. However, critics say that this figure could rise to over $1 trillion in the future.


Comment: In other words, 'end-of-the-world stakes' poker...tick tock, tick tock. So far, one player.

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Magnify

Pakistan to investigate network of Gulen-linked schools at Turkey's request


Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Wed, 03 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC
Cavusoglu and Aziz
© nation.com.pkTurkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Foreign Policy Chief Sartaj Aziz
Pakistan says it will investigate a network of schools in the country that Turkey has asked to be shut down due to its ties to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric that Ankara blames for last month's failed coup.

But Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan's foreign policy chief, refused to agree to close the schools after holding talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Islamabad on August 2. Cavusoglu said he expressed the hope in his discussions that schools linked to Fethullah Gulen and his religious movement, which he called a "terrorist group," would be closed.

Gulen has condemned the coup and denied any involvement in the July 15 attempt by a Turkish military faction to take power. More than 230 people were killed in the coup attempt.

There are some 11,000 students studying at 25 schools and colleges in Pakistan run by Gulen's organization. Some 900 Pakistanis work at the schools.

"I am studying here for the last 10 years," a female student at one such school told RFE/RL. "I don't know Gulen and did not hear even the name in all those years." Teachers said they would resent any plan to shut down the schools.

Gulen's organization operates schools in 160 countries around the world.

Kyrgyzstan rebuked Turkey last week for calling on the Kyrgyz government to shut down Gulen schools.

Comment: Intensity of intent: Cavusoglu dangled incentives to Pakistan's Sartaj Aziz to shut down the Gulen school network by offering a free trade agreement promise, reminders of Turkish cooperation in the past regarding Kashmir, a deepening of bilateral relations, more high level exchanges, an intensified cooperative fight against terrorism, and an upgraded economic partnership. While Aziz may have been agreeable to all of the above, he cautiously only committed to investigate.

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Oscar

Palestinians in Israel under attack, Bibi's actions louder than his fake words and false sentiments

Jonathan Cook
Jonathan Cook
Mon, 01 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC
Fence Palestine
© AP Photo/Bernat ArmangueDivided and conquered.
Was it meant as an epic parody or an insult to his audience's intelligence? It was hard to tell. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to social media to apologise for last year's notorious election-day comment, when he warned that "the Arabs are coming out to vote in droves" - a reference to the fifth of Israel's population who are Palestinian.

In videos released last week in English and Hebrew, Mr Netanyahu urged Palestinian citizens to become more active in public life. They needed to "work in droves, study in droves, thrive in droves," he said. "I am proud of the role Arabs play in Israel's success".

Pointedly, Ayman Odeh, head of the Palestinian-dominated Joint List party, noted that 100,000 Bedouin citizens could not watch the video because Israel denies their communities electricity, internet connections and all other services.


Comment: Unbelievable...literally and totally. Netanyahu sat there, spewed platitudes, praises and promises for a people he despises, persecutes at every turn and murders with alarming regularity. That he did it with such ease exemplifies a purely psychopathic nature devoid of empathy and humanity, hellbent on influencing and managing global perception, and completely convinced he can get away with it.

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Yoda

Russia creating coalition with Gulf countries to help solve Syria crisis - will Saudis join?


Sputnik
Wed, 03 Aug 2016 20:05 UTC
putin
© Sputnik/ Alexei Druzhinin
Russia stands a pretty good chance of attracting the Gulf Cooperation Council countries' support while resolving the Syrian crisis. For its part, Riyadh has signaled recently that it is interested in building close relations with Moscow regardless of a difference of opinion on the Syrian crisis.

Russia's charm offensive launched by President Vladimir Putin in the Gulf back in 2012 has borne fruit, according to Samuel Ramani, a DPhil candidate in International Relations at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford.

"Through stronger investment linkages and diplomatic overtures, Russia has attempted to carve out a more prominent geopolitical role in the Persian Gulf... Stronger relations between Moscow and Saudi Arabia's closest allies have caused some GCC [the Gulf Cooperation Council] countries to be more receptive to Russia's calls for a political solution in Syria. Saudi Arabia's fear of being isolated from the Arab world's consensus could cause Riyadh to eventually soften its belligerent anti-Assad approach and diplomatically reengage with Russia," Ramani writes in his article for The National Interest.

According to the British academic, the dire prognoses that Russo-Gulf relations would tremendously deteriorate in the wake of Moscow's involvement in Syria have been proven wrong.
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Che Guevara

Not mincing words: Erdogan determined to smash NATO secret army Gladio involved in attempted Turkish coup


Sputnik
Wed, 03 Aug 2016 19:43 UTC
erdogan
© AFP 2016/ STR / TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS OFFICE
According to Turkish media reports, there was a secret NATO structure involved in the attempted coup that took place in Turkey on July 15, German newspaper Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten wrote.

The media source, referring to reports of Turkish media, wrote that this structure has primarily been used by the British and Americans to influence political events in Turkey.

The newspaper also noted that Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim cleric, who was accused by the Turkish government of plotting the coup, could also be a part of this structure.

"If one wants to again create relationship of trust with the Western institutions, Gladio [clandestine NATO structure] in Turkey must be eliminated as it already was in several Western countries" Turkish journalist Ozcan Tikit wrote for newspaper Habertürk.


Comment: Really? Which ones? Everywhere we look in the West, all heads bow to Washington and London.

Inquiring minds would like to know!


Comment: It really does look like Turkey is going to go through with this.

For background on Operation Gladio, see:

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Gold Seal

The attempt to ban Team Russia from the Olympics could be a big mistake

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 03 Aug 2016 18:56 UTC
Maria Kuchina
© REUTERSMaria Kuchina of Russia kisses her gold medal as she poses on the podium after the women's high jump event during the 15th IAAF World Championships at the National Stadium in Beijing, China, August 30, 2015.
Amidst all the discussion of the Russian Olympic Doping scandal, one point which has not been made is that those who have tried to use the scandal to expel Russia from the Rio Olympics and from the Olympic movement have made a colossal mistake.

Anyone who spends any time in Russia quickly learns two things: that Russians take sport very seriously and that they take great pride in their country's success in it. I suspect that those who were behind the campaign know this perfectly well and pressed their campaign in the knowledge that being expelled from the Olympics would be something that to Russians would really hurt.

If so then then they have made a huge mistake. Not only did the campaign ultimately fail in its plan to get Russia expelled from the Olympic movement. It has made the Russians very angry as they have watched their national team and their athletes - sporting heroes for many Russians - abused and humiliated in the most cruel and unfair way.
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