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Javad Zarif: 'There will be no war in Gulf region,' in spite of the wishes of Trump's Team B


RT
Sat, 18 May 2019 14:59 UTC
Javad Zarif
© Press TV
Iranian FM Mohammad Javad Zarif
Armed conflict will not break out because nobody has any "illusions" about seriously going against Iran, the nation's foreign minister said amid the recent escalation with Washington and its regional allies.

"There will be no war because neither we want a war, nor has anyone the idea or illusion that it can confront Iran in the region," Mohammad Javad Zarif told IRNA on Saturday, during a trip to Beijing.

However, there are people in President Donald Trump's circle that "look for pretexts" to steer the country into a war with Iran, even if Trump personally does not want that to happen, the minister said. Zarif had earlier warned about the designs of the foreign policy hardliners from what he dubbed as 'B Team,' which includes Trump's national security advisor, John Bolton.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

FM Adel al-Jubeir: Saudi Arabia is ready to confront Iran with 'all strength and determination'


RT
Sun, 19 May 2019 01:54 UTC
Jubeir
© middleeasteye.net
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir
Riyadh will confront Tehran with "all strength and determination" if need be, the Kingdom's FM warned after the crown prince received a call from Washington in which the sides discussed ways to ensure regional "security."

Tehran seeks to destabilize the entire region, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir stated, urging the international community to intervene and stop it before it is too late. Claiming that Riyadh wants nothing but peace, the minister announced that the Kingdom stands ready to respond with full force against its arch rival if "the other side chooses war."

Earlier on Saturday, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in which the sides discussed developments in the region and joint "efforts to enhance security and stability."

King Salman meanwhile asked Arab leaders to attend an emergency summit in Mecca on May 30 to discuss attacks against the oil sector, which have with little proof been pinned on Iran.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

German intel pleads caution in working with Austrian counterparts 'because bad Russia'


RT
Sat, 18 May 2019 16:41 UTC
Thomas Haldenwang
© 3 Thomas Haldenwang, REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Thomas Haldenwang
The head of the German domestic security agency, the BfV, has told the parliament he sees "considerable risks" in intelligence cooperation with neighboring Austria, according to Die Welt. And it is all about Russia again.

On the heels of a scandal involving Austria's now-former Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache and a supposed "Russian oligarch's niece," the German Welt am Sonntag weekly ran another story, also digging out the 'bad Russia' narrative.

According to the paper, the president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) - Germany's domestic security agency - Thomas Haldenwang, told the parliament's intelligence oversight committee this week about his distrust of the Austrian security services.

Haldenwang said he sees "considerable risks" in cooperating with Austria in the field of security, particularly in sharing confidential data, as it might be "misused" or worse - end up in Russian hands. He did not elaborate on what prompted him to take that view.

Comment: See also:
Austrian govt in the crosshairs as German media releases video of sting operation implicating Vice-Chancellor for 'meeting with Russians'

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X

Salvini: 'All decent people' oppose 'damaging' Russia sanctions, 'resolves nothing'


RT
Sun, 19 May 2019 07:26 UTC
Matteo Salvini
© Salvini Reuters/Alessandro Garofalo
Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini
EU sanctions targeting Russia don't work and "all decent people" support removing them, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said ahead of next week's European Parliamentary elections.

"I continue to believe that we don't need sanctions. The issue of their removal unites all decent people,"Salvini told Sputnik new agency after holding a major rally that included leaders of 11 right-wing European parties in Milan on Saturday.

The leader of the right-wing League party argued that the economic warfare between the EU and Russia has "caused damage and resolved nothing. If a tool does not work, it is removed," he added. Salvini stressed that much would depend on the outcome of the upcoming elections, including whether it would be possible to repeal the anti-Russia restrictions.

Polls show that Salvini's right-wing alliance, Europe of Nations and Freedom, is expected to become one of the largest blocs in the next EU parliament. The political group "will perform a historic feat to pass from the 8th place in Europe to third or maybe second," National Rally leader Marine Le Pen predicted while speaking at the Milan rally.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Yemeni official claims Yemeni pullout from UN-watched ports is a 'fake move'


Sputnik
Sat, 18 May 2019 17:00 UTC
Hamzah Alkamaly • Houthis
© Twitter/UrduPoint.com
Hamzah Alkamaly • Houthis
Hamzah Alkamaly, the Yemeni deputy minister for youth and sports, said that he regarded the withdrawal of Houthi forces from the three strategic Yemeni ports under a close watch of the United Nations as a "fake" move, while UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths only attempted to present it as progress.

Alkamaly, who was also part of the government delegation at the talks with opposition in Sweden, said:
"The problem is that what happened in Al Hudaydah is not a real step, it is a fake step that we cannot count on. Houthis did not until the final moment withdraw from the ports, the three ports that were mentioned in the Stockholm agreement. Houthis until this moment are escalating [situation] in Al Hudaydah and other cities. They are not convinced with peace until now, and the government of Yemen believes that this step is not a real step, it is just a maneouver that the Houthis did before the meeting of the UN Security Council on May 15."
According to Alkamaly, the UN chief's special envoy is trying to picture the Houthi withdrawal from Yemen's Red Sea ports as an important step.
"He [Griffiths] is not balanced anymore, he wants to misinterpret, he wants to make any step prove that [the situation in Yemeni ports] is actually an improvement, which is not right. Until now we did not achieve anything ... despite they claim to withdraw from Al Hudaydah, which is not true."
Alkamaly noted that, in his point of view, Griffiths was not facilitating the peace process in the crisis-affected nation and, on the contrary, was "trying to deal with Houthis as if they are really implementing something."

Comment: See also:

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Snakes in Suits

Salvini interview: The EU 'without common values and goals won't last long'


Sputnik
Sun, 19 May 2019 12:14 UTC
Matteo Salvini
© AP/Antonio Calanni
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini
On Saturday, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini led a rally of right-wing leaders in Milan ahead of the European Parliament elections, which will be held across all EU nations on 23-26 May. He promised to free Europe from Brussels' "illegal occupation."

Salvini, who is also the leader of Italy's right-wing League party, was joined by prominent nationalist leaders from across Europe including Marine Le Pen of France's National Rally party; Jörg Meuthen, head of the Alternative for Germany party (AfD); and Geert Wilders of the Netherlands' Freedom Party, among others. The rally for unity shows that Euroskeptic parties have joined forces ahead of the European vote and want to shake up the EU.

Before the rally, he paid a visit to the National Assembly of one of the main agricultural organizations in the country - Confagricoltura, where he discussed issues relating to the agriculture of Italy and the tax system but didn't mention sanctions against Russia. Russia's counter-sanctions targeting agricultural imports had hit Italian farmers among the hardest. Sputnik spoke to Salvini on the sidelines of the event.
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Chess

Spain withdraws warship from US military build-up in Gulf amid tensions with Iran


France 24
Tue, 14 May 2019 19:00 UTC
Spanish frigate
© AFP
Spanish frigate the Mendez Nunez (centre) had been accompanying the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (left), the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (R) on military exercises before it was recalled Navy Office of Information
Spain has recalled a frigate accompanying a US aircraft carrier to the Middle East because of rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, the defence ministry said Tuesday.

"For the moment the frigate Mendez Nunez has left the combat group of the USS Abraham Lincoln," a ministry spokesman told AFP, confirming a report in the Spanish daily El Pais.

"It's a temporary withdrawal, decided by Defence Minister Margarita Robles, as long as the American aircraft carrier is in this zone," the spokesman added.
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Bad Guys

Jim Comey's own words justify Bill Barr's review

Kevin R. Brock
The Hill
Sun, 19 May 2019 18:02 UTC
AG Barr
© Greg Nash
Attorney General William Barr has just blitzed former FBI Director James Comey on third down and there's a feeling a sack is imminent.

Barr's tasking of U.S. Attorney John Durham to review the "origins" of the FBI's counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign becomes the third examination of Comey and his special team, joining efforts by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz and U.S. Attorney John Huber.

This is an entirely appropriate response to the fearful possibility that the FBI was misused by its past leadership for political purposes.

Comment: The FBI has acted in illegitimate and illegal ways for all its existence. It's just that at this point in time the rats have grown to such an extent that they are being seen out in the daylight.

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Attention

Barr's investigator John Durham has experience in exposing Mueller's corrupt character in 1990's mafia probe

S. Noble
Independent Sentinel
Tue, 14 May 2019 17:47 UTC
John Durham

John Durham: His probe aims "to better understand the intelligence that flowed from the C.I.A. to the F.B.I. in the summer of 2016," as the New York Times put it.
Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham was appointed to investigate the origins of the Russia-Trump probe. Apparently, he has been on the job for weeks.

Durham is the perfect investigator for the job by all accounts and he had experience with Robert Mueller in the Whitey Bulger case. He did not side with Mueller and Mueller's agents suffered the consequences of Mueller's, some would say, corrupt leadership.

THE WHITEY BULGER CASE

Back in the late 1990s, there were "allegations that FBI informants James 'Whitey' Bulger and Stephen 'The Rifleman' Flemmi had corrupted their handlers.
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Document

White House to introduce sweeping overhaul of immigration system

Gregg Re, John Roberts
Fox News
Thu, 16 May 2019 17:33 UTC
immigration
The White House is set to unveil a sweeping new plan that would radically transform the makeup of immigrants in the United States, ending the visa lottery program and implementing a comprehensive merit-based admissions procedure, three senior administration officials told Fox News on Wednesday.

The move would more than quadruple the number of immigrants admitted because of their work-related skills, while dramatically slashing the number of immigrants admitted because of family ties. Currently, approximately 12 percent of immigrants are admitted based on employment and skills, while 66 percent are admitted based on family connections.

Those percentages, under the new plan, would shift to 57 percent and 33 percent, respectively. Ten percent of immigrants would be admitted on humanitarian or other grounds, but the plan would end the visa lottery program.
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