Puppet MastersS


Dollars

Chinese banks halt cash flow to North Korea


RT
Fri, 04 Mar 2016 15:06 UTC
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
© KCNA / Reuters
The four largest Chinese banks have stopped yuan and dollar cash transfers to North Korea, reports the Japanese newspaper Tokyo Shimbun.

The reported measure is part of rising international pressure on Pyongyang following its latest nuclear test and rocket launch earlier this year.

Last month, several Chinese banks reportedly froze suspended cash deposits and transfer services for accounts held by North Koreans.

Media reports, Beijing blocked money transfers to North Korea via China's state-run banks, including Bank of China, Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank and Agricultural Bank.

Washington has accused North Korea of using banned ballistic missile technology during military exercises in January and February. Pyongyang has denied the charge.
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Attention

Spanish police seize 20,000 battle uniforms bound for ISIS, Al-Nusra Front


RT
Fri, 04 Mar 2016 14:19 UTC
Spain uniform smuggling
Spanish police have confiscated 20,000 battle uniforms destined for jihadists of the Middle East, likely Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front. The uniforms were prepared for dispatch in three containers under the guise of second-hand clothes.

The Interior Ministry believes that the "roughly 20,000 military uniforms and accessories" confiscated, bound for destinations controlled by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front in Syria and Iraq would enable terrorists to "equip an entire army," it said in the statement.

"The containers which carried the military uniforms were declared as secondhand clothes so as not to raise suspicions and be able to pass different customs inspections without any difficulty," the statement said.
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Handcuffs

Brazil Operation Car Wash Petrobras scandal: Former president Lula detained


BBC
Fri, 04 Mar 2016 13:52 UTC
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
© Reuters
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been detained as part of a huge fraud inquiry into the state oil company Petrobras.

The former president's house was raided by federal police agents and he was brought in for questioning.

Lula, who left office in 2011, has denied allegations of corruption.

The long-running inquiry, known as Operation Car Wash, is probing accusations of corruption and money laundering at Petrobras.

Dozens of executives and politicians have been arrested or are under investigation on suspicion of overcharging contracts with Petrobras and using part of the money to pay for bribes and electoral campaigns.

Police said they had evidence that Lula, 70, received illicit benefits from the kickback scheme.
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Red Flag

Plan B component: Attack Syria from Lebanon with Saudi and Turkish help


Moon of Alabama
Wed, 02 Mar 2016 05:09 UTC
plan b
© disquietreservations.blogspot.comThe writing is on the wall.
We yesterday described what looks like a Turkish-Saudi plan to raise a Salafi-Sunni militia in north Lebanon to then attack nearby Syrian regions held by the Syrian government. Such a new front of the conflict in Syria would necessarily involve fighting in Lebanon as the Lebanese Shia Hizbollah movement is actively supporting the Syrian government. The plot would destabilize Lebanon, probably throwing it back into the brutal times of the Lebanese civil war. There was no confirmation of such a plot yesterday, just several signs for it like the ship with weapons from Turkey that was caught by the Greek coastguard on its way to north Lebanon.

The existence of such a plan was confirmed today. We still cannot say for sure that the plot is part of a U.S. "Plan B" to achieve a violent "regime change" in Syria, but we know that the U.S. is informed about the plan. In his Washington Post column today the unofficial CIA spokesperson David Ignatius writes about the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman:
The young Saudi has sometimes been more bold than wise, as in his war in Yemen, his decision to break diplomatic relations with Iran and his new effort to destabilize a Hezbollah-dominated Lebanon.
Syria is not mentioned in that part of the Ignatius column but any capable Sunni militia in Lebanon, created from Salafist groups in Tripoli and Syrian Sunni refugees in Lebanese camps, would extend itself into Syria and become a threat to the government held western Syria. Ignatius, as surely also the U.S. government, was informed by the Saudis themselves. The above quoted paragraph continues:
But his role as a change agent is unmistakable. He "wants to transition Saudi Arabia very quickly," said Adel al-Toraifi, the Saudi information minister, who's just 36 himself, in a visit to Washington last week.
My hunch is that this plan is too bold to have grown solely in the minds of the Turkish and Saudi regimes. The U.S. is likely not only informed about it but deeply involved. The possibility of such a plan to counter the recent Syrian and Russian successes on the battlefield was first mentioned in a piece published in early February by the Washington Institute, a think tank founded and funded by the Israel lobby.

Comment: Plan B - real or disinformation? Whatever the truth of that, it is apparent that the Israel/US/SA/Turkey and friends will not be satisfied just munching Syria up into pieces. The whole region has become a feeding ground for pathological regimes such as Israel and the US. (The fact is...neither of them belong there. A couple million refugees do!)

FYI: April, 2015: Lebanon received the first installment of French military equipment under a four-year plan to help the Lebanese army in its "battle against militants" from neighboring Syria (Syrian-supporting Hezbollah). The $3B plan was paid for by SA and included seven years of training for recruits. The West is "helping" Lebanon with its "security and stability:" so it doesn't "slip into chaos." Catch the drift: You're either with us or you're against us. With this bribe, we thee wed. Abstain? We will decimate you just like...well, pick one...

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Document

Martland Act targets Afghan sexual abuse claims

Rebecca Kheel
The Hill
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 02:03 UTC
Afghani soldiers
© Getty Images
Sexual abuse on U.S. military bases — domestic and foreign — would be expressly banned under a bill slated to be introduced Thursday in the House.

"The bill makes it the official policy of the United States that sex abuse of any kind by an American or foreign national is not permitted," said Joe Kasper, chief of staff for Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who plans to introduce the bill. "Surprisingly, there is nothing that currently exists" that says this.

The bill is in response to allegations that a Pentagon policy encouraged American troops to look the other way when Afghan police and militia officials sexually assaulted children. U.S. troops were allegedly punished when they did report the abuse.

The Pentagon's inspector general is in the process of investigating the allegations. Defense Department officials have repeatedly denied any such policy exists.

Comment: Does "any United States military installation" include Gitmo and the Pentagon?

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Eye 2

Is Lebanon next on the imperial hit list?

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 00:00 UTC
Lebanon
The imperialist agenda of NATO has been suffering significant setbacks in Syria over recent months as the SAA - with the help of the Russians, the Iranians, and Hezbollah - has been steadily defeating terrorist forces and liberating areas previously held by them. A steady stream of victories in the two weeks leading up to the bad faith ceasefire agreement, encouraged by Western powers and agreed to by Russia, has also served to drive yet another nail into the coffin of the morale of the NATO terrorist proxies.

Clearly, the United States, NATO, the GCC, Israel, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia are all beginning to realize that it is much harder to defeat a united front, particularly when the unity is between regional and international power players like Iran and Russia. Thus, the most reasonable strategy (aside from abandoning immoral and unwise imperialist adventures) is to break up that united front both on the diplomatic and on the military plane.

An attempt has already been made to disrupt the Lebanese government by means of a color revolution some months ago. However, recent reports have revealed a possible plan by Turkey and Saudi Arabia (in concert with the rest of the anti-Syrian powers) to open up a second front of terrorist destabilization in northern Lebanon. The result of such a plan would not only be to increase instability on southwestern Syrian borders and eliminate a friendly state (or at least a non-hostile one) from any positive diplomatic or state-to-state action between Syria and Lebanon but it would also draw Hezbollah back into the Lebanese borders and out of the fight in Syria.
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Chess

Iran's brilliant trade connections with Eurasia starkly contrast Saudi-Turkish moves to destroy

F. William Engdahl
New Eastern Outlook
Tue, 01 Mar 2016 00:00 UTC
Iran
If the intent of the Obama Iran strategy was to woo the great Persian nation to the West in a complex geopolitical game, and turn her against Russia, China and the emerging Eurasian Century being constructed around China's One Belt, One Road project, it is emerging as another colossal failure. The newly-sanction-free Iran, far from becoming a pawn of NATO intrigues, is making rapid and brilliant moves to connect with her Eurasian neighbors. What a contrast to the Saudi-Turkish moves to connect with murder, rape and destruction in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and beyond in the name of Allah and oil.

One week after Chinese President Xi Jinping's historic visit to post-sanctions Iran, where the two countries signed major trade agreements including bringing Iran fully into the emerging strategic New Economic Silk Road and Maritime Road blueprint, China launched a new maritime shipping route to Iran. Two days before that, the first freight train departed China for the Islamic Republic.

Anyone who has experienced the industriousness of the Chinese, once they define a major goal, will not be surprised. Still, it shows the strategic priority Beiing is giving to integrate Iran, a centuries-long ally of China going back to the ancient Silk Road, into its unfolding Eurasian economic space. Events to flesh out Iran's integration into the Eurasian One Belt, One Road are moving on both sides very rapidly. Clearly, at the next annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization annual meeting later this year, Teheran will also be invited to full membership status in that organization now that sanctions are lifted as well, firming a growing political and economic bond with the nations of Eurasia following years of sanctions and isolation.

Comment:

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Bomb

Show will go on: Why it does not matter who replaces Obama as President


Sputnik News
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 01:31 UTC
Military helicopters
© AFP / Joseph Eid
According to John W. Whitehead, US attorney and author and founder of The Rutherford Institute, American politics is not about Republicans and Democrats, nor is it about healthcare, abortion, higher taxes, free college tuition, or other "buzzwords."
"Politics today is about one thing and one thing only: maintaining the status quo between the Controllers (the politicians, the bureaucrats, and the corporate elite) and the Controlled (the taxpayers)," Whitehead writes in his article for The Rutherford Institute website.
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Magnify

US State Department: Turkey must prevent terrorists' benefitting from oil trade, spoils of war


RT
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 12:58 UTC
tankers in flames
© beforeitsnews.comA burning reminder: Turkish government facilitates terrorists.
Ankara must take strong measures to prevent terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria from benefiting from illegal oil trade, hostages and antiquities, the US Department of State has said in a report. Turkey's rapid economic growth - combined with the country's commercial relationships and geographical proximity to unstable conflict-plagued areas like Iraq, Syria and Crimea - makes it "vulnerable to money laundering and terrorist finance risks," the US Department of State said in a report on narcotics, money laundering and financial crimes. The report stated that in addition to drug trafficking, other key sources of laundered funds range from tax evasion to kidnapping.

"Terrorism financing is present, particularly in the form of cash flows across Turkey's southern border into Syria; and terrorist organizations with suspected involvement in narcotics trafficking and other illicit activities are present in Turkey. Turkey's nonprofit sector remains vulnerable to terrorism financing. Recent conflicts at the southern border of Turkey have increased the risks for additional sources of terrorism financing and money laundering attached to human trafficking and oil and antiquities smuggling from the region to Europe."

According to the report, money laundering methods in Turkey include "large scale cross-border smuggling of currency; bank transfers into and out of the country; trade fraud; and the purchase of high-value items such as real estate, gold, and luxury automobiles." Turkish-based traffickers usually transfer money via couriers (the underground banking system), and bank transfers to pay narcotics suppliers in Pakistan or Afghanistan. Funds are often transferred to accounts in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries.

Comment: We must remember that the US lies like a Turkish rug to hide the bare cold truths underneath, which is that the US is using Turkey as its cover to supply ISIS while hoping no one can see through it.

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Nuke

Kim Jong-un orders North Korea nuclear weapons to be placed on alert


Sputnik
Thu, 03 Mar 2016 22:46 UTC
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
© REUTERS/ KCNA
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reportedly ordered all of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons to be placed on full alert, citing the need to be ready "at any time."

The announcement came as Kim Jong-un attended a test-firing of a new multiple rocket launcher, urging the military to "promptly" deploy the weapons system that can hit major military targets in South Korea.

According to the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea will also revise its military posture to address threats on a "pre-emptive basis."

Comment: Hope there are no 'accidents'.

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