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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) caused a stir in recent weeks with the announcement of its newly constructed headquarters "for you and for future generations." The building features a design pattern eerily reminiscent of the Nazi "SS" lightning bolts.
The Nazi imagery comes in the footsteps of Germany leading the massive Anaconda War Games. Involving over 30,000 NATO troops, the drills will take place in Poland on the 75th anniversary of the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
The provocation is the single largest buildup of foreign troops in Poland since World War II, and is also the first time German soldiers have been stationed in the Eastern European nation since the fall of the Nazi regime.
© AFP/Getty ImagesAlbrini was filmed on CCTV travelling to Paris two days before the massacre, which killed 130 people, in November
Mohamed Abrini, 31, is facing terrorism charges after he was spotted at Brussels Airport with two of the suicide bombers in March. He was dubbed 'the man in the hat' as he was wearing a white jacket and a dark-coloured hat, while he pushed a trolley through the terminal. He was also filmed on CCTV travelling to Paris two days before the massacre, which killed 130 people, in November.
Abrini, from Belgium, has been helping British officers with intelligence on potential terrorist attacks and jihadists in the UK, according to the Sunday Times. A Supergrass is a police informer who implicates a large number of people, in return for immunity from prosecution, a more lenient sentence or new identity.
Belgian authorities have reportedly been asking questions to Abrini on behalf of British police.
Comment: Why is Albrini helping UK police, when he is being held in Belgium? Why not help Belgian police? Would the Belgians 'turn' him, then call in the Brits to take over? Is he also doing the same for the Belgians? Or was he an informant all along?
© REUTERS/ Presidency-Peace Office/Handout via Reuters
Russia welcomes the ceasefire deal between Colombian authorities and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and believes this agreement is a decisive step toward a final peace treaty, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.
"We consider the signing of this important document by Colombian President J. Santos and FARC leader T. Jimenez to be a decisive, historical step on the path to signing a final peace agreement in the near future, which will put an end to five decades of armed conflict," the ministry said in a statement.
Russia is ready to provide "any necessary assistance," including through the UN Security Council, the ministry said.
On Thursday, Colombia's government and the FARC group signed a ceasefire deal at an official ceremony held in Havana.
Comment: The dirty war in Colombia is just one of many funded and fueled by Western interests and intelligence agencies. For the British role in creating and supporting the culture of torture, rape, and death squads, see SOTT Radio Network's interview with T. J. Coles: Behind the Headlines: Britain's Secret Wars: Interview with T.J. Coles
More on the deal, from Katehon:
Terms of the agreement
According to the agreement, after 180 days the rebels would have to completely disarm and return to civilian life, and ordinary soldiers can expect full amnesty. However, for those who have committed serious crimes, there will be a tribunal procedure. It is likely that because of this part, the insurgents will be forced to flee to the forests or to create an autonomous structure, which will refuse to submit to the current leadership of the FARC.
History of conflict
FARC was established in 1964 as the military wing of the local Communist Party. In its ranks are up to 20,000 people. The group acts mostly in remote mountainous areas, carrying out attacks on public infrastructure. FARC is also are suspected of having links to drug cartels. During the years of conflict, which is the longest in Latin America, more than 200,000 people have been killed in Colombia.
© Remo Casilli / Reuters A general view of the Italian Senate is seen during a debate in Rome, Italy.
The resolution lists a set of recommendations to the Italian government on key issues that will be raised at the EU summit on June 28-29. Among other things it commits the government "to argue that the sanctions against Russia will not be renewed automatically," according to the Italian Senate session records.
Drafted by the deputy head of the senate and national coordinator of the Northern League, Roberto Calderoli, the resolution also mentions migrants and refugees issue as well as the situation around the UK leaving the EU following a referendum.
Earlier, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi also raised his voice against the automatic renewal of the anti-Russian sanctions.
© Sergey Guneev / Sputnik
The Russian gas giant is "open for dialogue" on the Turkish Stream project, which would run along the bottom of the Black Sea, Gazprom spokesperson Sergey Kupriyanov told Interfax on Monday.
In 2014, Gazprom and Turkey's Botas signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of Turkish Stream.
Comment: Born from the ashes of South Stream (which Russia cancelled after EU treachery), Turkish Stream would have been a boon for Turkey (and Greece). But it too was cancelled after Turkish treachery. Now its prospects are once again on the rise. However, despite official statements and press coverage, the new Turkish PM is back-pedalling, denying that Erdogan apologized. It's hard to see what he hopes to gain for Turkey by doing so. Russia is essentially saying, "If you're polite, things will go well for you." But perhaps there are 'hidden' conditions; for example, something to do with Turkey's ongoing support for ISIS. With a renewed Syrian Army offensive in Aleppo (along with U.S./SDF offensives) threatening to defeat Turkey's proxies, it would be best for Turkey to capitulate, resume relations with Russia, and back away from their Syrian intervention. The only question is whether or not they'll do the sane thing.
© news.forexlive.com"Don't see Austria nor the Dutch..." "Not spotting Denmark either but I could be wrong!"
The nine-page memo comes after the British voted in a referendum to leave the EU, a decision which the document describes as a loss of "not only a member state, but a host of history, tradition and experience" that the UK has shared with Europe throughout the last decades.
In the joint paper, Ayrault and Steinmeier allegedly wrote that both "Germany and France have a responsibility to strengthen solidarity and cohesion within the European Union" despite "different degrees of ambition towards further integration among the member states."
The document, which the Polish broadcaster claimed was a bombshell plan to create a "super-state" led by a Paris-Berlin alliance, proposed closer cooperation on internal and external security, the migrant crisis, as well as a change in the EU's fiscal and economic policy. "The EU will in future be more active in crisis management," the memo reportedly said, proposing to introduce the "European Security Compact" - a number of military means able to deal with emerging crises, including a deployable high-readiness forces, developing common military spending plans as well as investing in conflict prevention.
Comment: The EU is scrambling with its new and obvious vulnerabilities. While the waters are now murky, it will be interesting to watch and see what strategies will be put into play and who will benefit.
© www.rt.com"Down to a two-star flag, are we?"
Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty sets out how an EU country might voluntarily leave the union. The wording is vague, almost as if the drafters thought it unlikely it would ever come into play. Now, it is the subject of a dispute between EU leaders desperate for certainty in the wake of the Brexit vote, and Brexiters in the UK playing for time.
Article 50 says: "Any member state may decide to withdraw from the union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements." It specifies that a leaver should notify the European council of its intention, negotiate a deal on its withdrawal and establish legal grounds for a future relationship with the EU.
On the European side, the agreement needs a qualified majority of member states and consent of the European parliament.
The only real quantifiable detail in the article is a provision that gives negotiators two years from the date of article 50 notification to conclude new arrangements. Failure to do so results in the exiting state falling out of the EU with no new provisions in place, unless every one of the remaining EU states agrees to extend the negotiations. No country has ever invoked article 50 - yet.
Comment: Well, thank the EU for Article 50! It is so simple it hardly matters, except for how long it will take to actually define it into practical usefulness, tying up parliament for years. Not lost on those countries who want to depart will be the difficulty of actual exit and how it ultimately affects Britain.
© Sputnik / Reuters
"The phone conversation between President Putin and President Erdogan will take place tomorrow [on Wednesday], initiated by Russia," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.
On Monday, Erdogan sent a letter to President Putin to offer his apologies for the death of a Russian pilot who was killed when his jet was downed over the Syrian-Turkish border. "The head of the Turkish state expressed his deep sympathy and condolences to the relatives of the deceased Russian pilot and said 'sorry,'" Peskov said.
Comment: Erdogan is of course a fair-weather 'friend'. He's a shameless opportunist, yet Putin has a broader interest in establishing stability among the chaos and is ever willing to leave the door open to reason and rationality. The United States has made it a point to keep tensions high between Moscow and Ankara, so these latest moves will be interesting to watch unfold.
See:
- Turkey PM denies apology to Russia over downed jet
- Israel eyes immense economic gains after resumption of relations with Turkey
- A little piece of hell freezes over: Erdogan apologizes to Putin for murdering Russian pilot, calls Russia 'friend, strategic partner'
- Gazprom ready to restart Turkish Stream dialogue after Erdogan apology
Never to let a good crisis go to waste, EU officials and German / French politicians are floating around the blueprints for what will eventually become an EU superstate.
Think of it as a United States of Europe, where all member nations will turn over their entire sovereignty to the unelected elites in Brussels.
This means no national armies, no local laws, no central banks, no member state fiscal control. Everything will be under the control of Juncker, Tusk, and the globalist cabal they diligently serve.
Is the UK lucky it got out when it did? You bet!
We were certain that the EU superstate was the ultimate plan in play for the European Union, but the Brexit seems to have accelerated its implementation, confirming what many of us at The Duran already knew...that instead of reforming, Brussels leadership (under the tutelage of the US) would double down on a tighter, more integrated EU.
Comment: The new NATO HQ design's eery resemblance to the Nazi SS lightning bolts might easily be laughed off as coincidental until... all the other historical parallels between Nazi Germany's behavior towards Russia during WWII are seen next to NATO's behavior towards Russia today. And that isn't even taking into account the US's support of real Nazis in Ukraine and the racist atrocities they commit towards those who culturally identify with Russia.