Eric Worrall writes: The imminent climate summit in New York is rapidly turning into an utter embarrassment for President Obama and UN Secretary General Bank Ki-Moon, in addition to becoming a bit of a punishment round for national deputy leaders.

Aussie PM Tony Abbott today defended his decision not to hop on an earlier flight to America, so he could attend the UN climate conference in New York, because he has more important matters to attend to, such as running the country.

Tony Abbott defends skipping UN climate change summit in New York

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also indicated they likely won't attend the summit.

Top Leaders From China, India to Skip UN Climate Change Summit

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has indicated he will not be attending

Stephen Harper to skip UN Climate Summit, attend dinner instead

Even Angela Merkel, President of über green Germany, will not be attending the UN climate summit.

Merkel Snubs New York "Ban Ki-Moon" Climate Conference! ... "Burying The Global Climate Agreement"!

If Vladimir Putin and Gazprom finalize their grand plan to expand into the Chinese energy market, the European Union will be left literally in the cold. After years of trying to reduce Gazprom's presence in Europe, the European Commission may see Gazprom leaving of its own desire. Such a scenario will not be pleasant for their European consumers.

Speaking at the building site of the Power of Siberia pipeline, Vladimir Putin outlined his strategy for the future of Russian natural gas exports.

"After we create a network of gas pipelines here, in the Far East and Siberia, we'll have the possibility to unite the European part of the gas pipeline system with its eastern counterpart and, from the standpoint of export possibilities and expanding the geography of the country's gas infrastructure development, this will give us big advantages in rechanneling gas flows, depending on the world market situation - either to send more gas to the West or to achieve a greater effect to the East," the Russian President said.

"Rechanneling gas exports" is a worst-case scenario for the European Union. For years, Brussels has been making life difficult for Gazprom by constantly demanding price cuts and introducing discriminatory rules and regulations aimed at reducing Gazprom's influence in Europe. The European Commission proved that it doesn't shy away from using political blackmail against governments willing to cooperate with the Russian energy giant. The crusade against Gazprom's South Stream project, led by America's Russophobe-in-chief, Senator John McCain and supported by Europe's unelected bureaucracy, is the best proof that Europe is not willing to settle for honest, long-term cooperation with Russia. Brussels has been using its status as the biggest buyer of Russian gas to gain maximum leverage over Gazprom. This situation is about to change.

"First of all, we are thinking about our own interests and development goals," Russian President Vladimir Putin says

Russia will not pressure the West with sanctions but will pursue its own interests, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

The introduction of protective measures is not caused by the striving to punish our partners, Putin said. "First of all, we are thinking about our own interests and development goals," he added.

Putin believes that the Western countries that adopted sanctions against Russia in fact defied the principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"The sanctions imposed on Russia are nothing but a departure from the basic WTO principles by some of our partners," Putin said at a meeting of the State Council on Thursday. "They violate the principle of all countries' equal access to the markets of goods and services. They ignore the most favored nation status in trade and the principle of fair and free competition."

"All this is being done in a politicized way, without any observance of WTO rules," he said. "In fact, a group of Western countries has unilaterally taken the liberty of 'deleting' these and some other WTO principles for Russia, which is on the list of the world's six largest economies," the president noted.

He's that and much more. He's a world class diplomat. He shames his Western counterparts.

They're more secretaries of war than foreign affairs. They urge waging one after another. Lavrov goes all-out for peace. He does so in all conflict zones. Wars settle nothing. They assure more conflicts.

Lavrov addressed his colleagues at the September 15 Paris International Conference on Peace and Security in Iraq. He said in part: "Russia consistently stands for the continued independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq."

"We strongly support the advancement of inclusive political process with a view to ensuring accord among all the political groups and ethno-confessional groups in that country."

ISIL/ISIS, the Islamic State (IS) terrorists threaten Iraq's future. "They bring death and destruction to neighboring Syria... (T)hey openly declare(d) their intention to" head the entire Middle East toward the abyss of religious wars.

They want their ways imposed on others. They tolerate no opposition. They violate fundamental Islamic principles. They're polar opposite IS extremism. They teach love, not hate. Peace, not violence. Charity, not selfishness. Tolerance, not terrorism.

Islam, Christianity and Judaism have common roots. Who'd know it in today's US-manipulated climate of hate, fear and belligerence.

Who'd understand when America wages war on Islam at home and abroad. Who'd imagine IS is a US creation. Who'd think it trains, arms, funds and directs its fighters. Who'd guess they're used to topple independent governments. Who'd suspect Western claims are propaganda. Truth is systematically buried. Big Lies repeat ad nauseam.

Dozens of radicals threw sound and smoke grenades as they surrounded Kiev's presidential building. The radical Right Sector leader threatened Ukraine's president with same fate as Yanukovich, criticizing the law giving special status to eastern regions.

Around 300 angry protesters wore masks and shouted nationalistic slogans as they tried to break through a police barrier. They carried red and black flags belonging to the radical Right Sector group.

The aggressive crowd was demanding that President Petro Poroshenko veto a bill that was passed by parliament earlier this Tuesday.

The new law gives special status to eastern regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, as well as amnesty to those who were fighting against government forces.

That particular status will also see early local election carried out this December and allow the use of the Russian language as an official one.

In the meantime, the leader of the radical Right Sector Dmitry Yarosh described the law as "anti-national" on his Facebook page.

Secretary of State John Kerry finished his weekend tour of the Middle East, arriving in Paris to participate in an international conference on Iraq's security. The primary destination of the head of the U.S. Department of State was Saudi Arabia, where he met in Jeddah with representatives of the Arab countries (members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt and Jordan) and Turkey, to persuade them to join the coalition established by the United States to fight "Islamic State," while, in reality, to restore the "anti-Syrian alliance" comprised of NATO and conservative Arab regimes.

Naturally, the key participant in the talks was Saudi Arabia, as the current spiritual leader of the Sunni world and the richest country in the region, prepared to finance plans for the overthrow of the regime of Bashar al-Assad. On the agenda was the issue of ending supplies to ISIL from Turkey and Jordan, as well as the prevention of financial support reaching the terrorists from abroad. The United States would also like to see Arab governments use their media for outreach. First and foremost, this would be popular TV networks "Al-Jazeera" and "Al-Arabiya," financed by Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, respectively.


Before flying to Saudi Arabia, Kerry visited Baghdad and Amman. Jordan's King Abdullah II said at the end of the visit by the Secretary of State that he is ready to join the coalition, while stressing that "but the main problem of the Middle East is Israeli occupation of Palestinian land."

Kerry's talks took place shortly after President Obama's declaration of his intent to "weaken and destroy" IS in both Iraq and Syria. A senior State Department official involved in the negotiations noted that the meetings are being hosted by the Saudis. According to this official, this is significant not only because of the size and economic influence of Saudi Arabia, "but also because of its religious significance for Sunnis." Overcoming the differences between Sunnis and Shiites in the region and in Iraq is an crucial part of improving the effectiveness of the coalition, as the majority of the fighters of "Islamic State" are Sunnis, and the new government in Baghdad Shiite-led, supported by Iran.

As later became clear, John Kerry pushed on participants in the Jeddah meeting the idea that the coalition might require enhanced presence of military bases in the region and overflight rights for military aircraft carrying out strikes against "Islamic State." The Secretary also called for increased efforts to combat funding of extremist groups by individuals and private Islamic charities, since financial supervision in Kuwait and Qatar is extremely weak. Kerry put special emphasis on ending oil smuggling by "Islamic State" across the Jordanian and Turkish borders. Here, however, certain complexities arise, since IS sells oil and gas products from oil fields and refining facilities in controlled areas to companies owned by the two countries at almost 50% of the world price, allowing Jordanians and Turks to do pretty good business, and IG to earn at least three million. dollars per day. Therefore, as we learned, Washington will carry out "more focused work" with these countries over the next few weeks.

The House on Wednesday approved President Obama's plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels to counter the growing threat of the Islamic State organization, even though lawmakers in both parties remain deeply skeptical about its chances for success.

The vote placed Congress one step closer to authorizing the third significant U.S. military operation in Iraq in the past quarter century, and it put lawmakers on record approving U.S. engagement in the years-long Syrian civil war. It delivered Obama much-needed domestic political support as he seeks an international coalition to combat the growing threat of Islamist terrorism in the Middle East.

But the tally - 273 to 156 - also revealed widespread misgivings in both parties about the plan's chances of success, even among lawmakers who voted in favor of it.

Obama's proposal was opposed by more than 40 percent of Democrats, many of whom are concerned that new U.S. military operations in the Middle East could fester for several years with no clear strategy or definition of success.

Republicans provided the lion's share of support, but many are worried that Obama's plans are too limited. One top GOP leader suggested that Congress could give the president blanket military authority, even if Obama doesn't want it, when lawmakers hold a much broader debate after the November elections about the fight against Islamist militants.

In an extremely rare move, the US Navy removed a ship's top three commanding officers from their posts while it is at sea. The Navy is conducting an investigation into the command climate aboard the USS James E. Williams (DDG-95).

Cmdr. Curtis B. Calloway was relieved as commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer, along with Executive Officer (XO) Cmdr. Ed Handley and Command Master Chief Travis Biswell. The three posts make up the leadership aboard the Williams, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been underway since May 30.

Calloway was removed on Tuesday by Capt. Anthony L. Simmons, the deputy commodore of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 2, who "will remain in command pending the completion of a DESRON 2 command-directed investigation into the command climate aboard James E. Williams," the Navy said in a statement.

The military did not provide any details or explanation into the problems with the "command climate" that the three men created on board.

"Removing the three positions - commander, XO and CMC - almost all at once is exceedingly rare," the US Naval Institute (USNI) reported.

[A] crash is coming, and it may be terrific. .... The vicious circle will get in full swing and the result will be a serious business depression. There may be a stampede for selling which will exceed anything that the Stock Exchange has ever witnessed. Wise are those investors who now get out of debt.

The above words could easily have been stated by me or another of the (very) few others who currently predict the coming of crashes in the markets.

But they were not. The statements above were made by investor Roger Babson at a speech at the Annual Business Conference in Massachusetts on 5^th September, 1929.

Mr. Babson's prediction was not a sudden one. In fact, he had been making the same prediction for the previous two years, although he, in September of 1929, felt the crash was much closer.

News of his speech reached Wall Street by mid-afternoon, causing the market to retreat about 3%. The sudden decline was named the "Babson Break."

The reaction from business insiders was immediate. Rather than respond by saying, "Thanks for the warning - we'll proceed cautiously," Wall Street vilified him. The Chicago Tribune published numerous rebuffs from a host of economists and Wall Street leaders. Even Mr. Babson's patriotism was taken into question for making so rash a projection. Noted economist Professor Irving Fisher stated emphatically, "There may be a recession in stock prices, but not anything in the nature of a crash." He and many others repeatedly soothed investors, advising them that a resumption in the boom was imminent. Financier Bernard Baruch famously cabled Winston Churchill, "Financial storm definitely passed." Even President Herbert Hoover assured Americans that the market was sound.

There are no political motives in the case of businessman Vladimir Yevtushenkov, says the Russian president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov.

It's "incorrect" and "absurd" to try to "paint the Yevtushenkov case in any political colors," Peskov told RIA Novosti.

Billionaire Yevtushenkov is accused of money laundering and has been placed under house arrest, official representative of Russian Investigative Committee Vladimir Markin said on Tuesday.

"It goes without saying that, understanding the possibility of a temporary negative impact on markets, the president counts on all the questions being answered by the investigators as a result of necessary investigative action, regardless of names, surnames and the status," Peskov said, reminding the journalists that one mustn't presume someone's guilt, it must be proven in court.


Shares in Yevtushenkov's holding Sistema AFK, one of the biggest in Russia, have been steadily falling after the news of his house arrest - on average by over 30 percent.

"The investigators had enough evidence to suggest that Evtushenkov is involved in legalizing property, acquired by criminal means, on a massive scale. Due to this, he has been accused. The chosen pre-trial restriction is two months' house arrest," Markin stated.

The start of the investigation caused a wave of response, from former businessmen to politicians.