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SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: Weekly Mayhem Roundup: Olympic hi-jinks, the German terror, Turkish delight, election madness, and the Russian connection!


Sott.net
Sun, 31 Jul 2016 16:00 UTC
A combination photo shows U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (L) and Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump (R)
© Reuters/Lucy Nicholson (L) and Jim Urquhart/File Photos
As the world spirals into unprecedented depths of madness, it's hard to keep track of everything that's going on. This past week or so has been a doozy, and today on Behind the Headlines, we tried our best to cover it all: the political cultural warfare banning Russian athletes from the Rio Olympics, the latest on the Turkish clean-out of fifth-column 'opposition', the recent spate of terror attacks in France and "terror" attacks in Germany, the outbreak of "non-terror terror" incidents practically everywhere, 'terror management theory', the information war against the Syrian siege of Aleppo, a hopeless U.S. election, and the 'Russian Connection'. Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments.

Running Time: 02:17:12

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Gold Seal

Pepe Escobar: America's choice of president is between a full spectrum dominatrix and an off spectrum narcissus

Pepe Escobar
Sputnik
Sun, 31 Jul 2016 15:20 UTC
trump hillary
© AFP
History can be a damned good screenwriter - currently presenting an excruciatingly agonizing, do-or-die choice ("Love trumps hate" vs. "Lock her up!") not only to US voters but also to the whole planet, which will be affected, directly and indirectly, by this choice.

On one side we have a populist over-the-top billionaire pop Narcissus, a.k.a. "cheeto-faced ferret-wearing shitgibbon" (thank you, Scotland) and reality TV con artist peddling himself as the one and only cure to a post-Mad Max American dystopia.

On the other side we have what storyteller and Explainer-in-Chief Bill "In the Spring of 1971, I met a girl" Clinton described as the ultimate workaholic do-gooder chick who also happens to be an Exceptionalist neoliberalcon dedicated to making the world safe for all sorts of dodgy, vested interests, from Wall Street to the industrial-military-intelligence-security-media complex and Israeli-firsters AIPAC.

No less than sixty-eight percent - and counting - of Americans, surveyed earlier this week, don't trust the girl who melted Clinton's heart in the spring of 1971. And as it stands - still not counting the Democratic National Convention bump - the pop Narcissus, against all odds, is ahead.
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Jet4

India wants to upgrade Su-30MKI fleet to Russian 'Super Sukhoi' fighter Jets


sputnik news
Sat, 30 Jul 2016 00:00 UTC
Super Sukhoi jet
© AP Photo/ Alexander Zemlianichenko
New Delhi and Moscow near an $8 billion deal to upgrade the fearsome Su-30MKI fighter jet into the Super Sukhoi, but the deal does not threaten the joint Indo-Russia fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) program.

Negotiations between New Delhi and Moscow have ramped up with India planning to upgrade 194 warplanes to become fifth-generation Sukhoi SU-30MKI fighter jets at a cost of more than $8 billion, Defense News reported this week.

Defense News quoted an anonymous senior official at India's Ministry of Defense who said, "A Russian team was in New Delhi earlier this month to discuss [the] upgrade plan with India, which will be finalized in the next four to six months."
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Airplane

India seeks U.S. help in locating missing AN-32 air force jet

Daniel Uria
UPI
Sat, 30 Jul 2016 00:00 UTC
Indian Air force AN-32
© Toproh/WikipediaIndia Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said the government is seeking help from the United States in the search for a missing Air Force AN-32 aircraft, similar to the one seen here, which mysteriously disappeared on July 22 while carrying 29 passengers. Parrikar said the country is looking to determine whether the U.S. satellites had picked up any signal before the plane disappeared. He also assured the plane was fit to fly and ruled out any chance of sabotage.
India's government announced it is seeking U.S. help from in locating the countrys air's force's AN-32 aircraft, which mysteriously disappeared on July 22.

Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said the government is looking to determine whether the U.S. satellites picked up signals before the plane, which was carrying 29 passengers, disappeared.

"At the time of disappearance, the aircraft was on secondary/passive radar and there was no SOS or transmission of any frequency. It just disappeared so that is the worrying part," Parrikar said, according to Times of India.

"It is total blank. There was not even a single signal recorded," he said. "That is the reason we are contacting American defense forces to ascertain whether their satellites picked up any signal."

Comment: See also:
India steps up search for missing military plane

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Magnify

Europe's five undeclared nuclear states - Are Russia and Iran the targets?

Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research
Sat, 30 Jul 2016 01:41 UTC
nuclear weapons
This article was originally published by Global Research in February 2010 under the title: Europe's Five "Undeclared Nuclear Weapons States".

The media, politicians and scientists have remained silent. The focus was persistently on Iran's nonexistent nuclear weapons.

Amply documented, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Turkey are in possession of nuclear weapons which are deployed under national command against Russia, Iran and the Middle.

In recent developments, following the failed July 2016 military coup, the media has reported on Turkey's nuclear weapons stored and deployed at the Incirlik base.
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Pistol

Czech President Milos Zeman calls to expand weapon accessibility for citizens amid terrorist threat


Sputnik
Sun, 31 Jul 2016 15:16 UTC
Czech President Milos Zeman
© AP Photo/ Cliff Owen
Czech citizens should have more possibilities to purchase weapons amid the increased terrorist threat in Europe, Czech President Milos Zeman said Sunday.

The president added that those in possession of guns would have to get used to protecting themselves instead of keeping weapons at home.

"Earlier I spoke against possession of large amounts of weapon [by the citizens]. After those [terrorist] attacks, I do not think so any more," Zeman said in an interview with the Czech Blesk newspaper.

Europe has been pushed to urgently and extensively boost its safety and security measures over the past months amid a wave of deadly attacks that has occurred in Europe, including a truck running over a crowd in France's Nice and a suicide bombing near an open-air music festival in German Ansbach.
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Blackbox

US backed NGO Human Rights Watch calls on Iraqi government to keep Shiite militias out of Mosul even though US government approves


Sputnik
Sun, 31 Jul 2016 14:25 UTC
Mosque in Mosul
© AP
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Sunday urged the Iraqi government to exclude Shia militias with a significant record of human rights abuses from the planned liberation of Mosul from the Daesh terrorist group.

Militia organizations belonging to the Shia Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which include the Badr Brigades and the Hezbollah Brigades, as well as other groups, have taken part in killings, disappearances, torture and destruction against Sunni civilians without any effort on the part of the government to punish or investigate the abuses, HRW said in a statement.

Earlier in July, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the decision to allow Shia miltias belonging to the PMF join the regular army in the upcoming campaign to recapture Mosul from Daesh. The decision has been backed by the United States.

Comment: The use of psychological operations, false narratives and deception by the American government is standard operating procedure

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Propaganda

German court bans Erdogan's speech broadcast at supporters rally in Cologne


Sputnik
Sun, 31 Jul 2016 13:43 UTC
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
© REUTERS/ Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Palace
The German Federal Constitutional Court banned broadcasting of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's speech at a rally to be held in Cologne on Sunday in support of the Turkish government after the recent coup attempt, local media reported.

According to Deutsche Welle, the German Federal Constitutional Court upheld the decision of the Munster court declaring that broadcasting of the presidential speech from abroad running contrary to the German legislation.

Up to 30,000 people are expected to partake in demonstrations against the putschists while Erdogan's opponents are likely to hold their own rally, the broadcaster added.

On July 15, a faction in Turkish armed forces attempted a coup which was thwarted the next day.

Comment: So what is different here versus the West's condemnation of Erdogan's media crackdown?

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Ambulance

Anti-Russian propaganda in action: "Last hospital in Aleppo destroyed" for umpteenth time

b
Moon of Alabama
Sun, 31 Jul 2016 13:02 UTC
babies
© Ismael AbdulrahmanRemember Saddam's incubator babies? Well, the same propaganda techniques are being used against the Russians and Syrians...
Doctors in the shattered suburbs of eastern Aleppo appealed for help last night after Syrian government warplanes destroyed the area's last children's hospital.
Jets bomb last children's hospital in rebel-held Aleppo - June 10 2016 - Palestinian.com
Three weeks after the "last children's hospital" in east Aleppo was destroyed in a bomb attack, the "last children's hospital" in Aleppo was destroyed in a bomb attack.
Four new-born babies were killed after a recent triple airstrike hit besieged Aleppo's last children's hospital, Middle East Eye can reveal.
EXCLUSIVE: Four babies killed in attack on Aleppo's 'last children's hospital' - July 31 2016, Middle East Eye
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A Russian airstrike reportedly knocked out of service the last major hospital in rebel-held northern Aleppo out of commission last week, killing a doctor, a patient and wounding dozens more.

The Andan Charitable Hospital, founded in early 2013, had specialists from all fields on staff, from orthopedic surgeons to dermatologists, ...
First responder: Last major north Aleppo hospital destroyed by Russian airstrike - February 3 2016 - Syria direct
Four months after the "last hospital" in Andan (also transliterated as Anadan) was destroyed in a bomb attack, the "last hospital" in Andan was destroyed in a bomb attack.
Anadan Hospital hit by Air Strike in Northern Aleppo at approximately 11pm Damascus time on July 30, 2016. The hospital was the last operating in Western Rural Aleppo. UOSSM supports the Anadan Hospital with medicine and supplies.
Anadan Hospital Just Hit By Air Strike, Northern Aleppo - July 30 2016 - Reliefweb
Could there be something fishy with all these reports about "hospitals destroyed in Russian air attacks"?
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Info

Erdogan claims U.S.-based cleric a pawn backed by a 'mastermind'

Yesim Dikmen
Reuters
Sat, 30 Jul 2016 12:30 UTC
Fethullah Gulen
© Reuters/Charles Mostoller
The U.S.-based Muslim cleric blamed by Turkey for orchestrating a failed coup this month is a pawn backed by a "mastermind", President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday, hinting that greater powers were behind the attempted putsch.

Erdogan often refers to a "mastermind" in his speeches, a reference widely seen as an allusion to the West in general and the United States more specifically.

The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in the self-imposed exile in the United States for years, has denied any involvement in the failed coup of July 15-16.

Conspiracy theories have flourished in Turkey since the attempted coup, with one pro-government newspaper saying the putsch was financed by the CIA and directed by a retired U.S. army general using a cell phone in Afghanistan.

The United States has denied any involvement and any prior knowledge of the failed attempt to overthrow the government.

Comment: Is Erdogan watching alternative news?

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