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Mon, 08 Nov 2021
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Gold Bar

Under Putin's strategy Russia continues stocking up on gold

Gold Bars
© Pavel Lisitsyn / Sputnik
The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) is increasing the country's gold reserves to meet a goal set by President Vladimir Putin to make Russia less vulnerable to geopolitical risks.

As of November, Russia had 1,801 tons of gold accounting for 17.3 percent of all reserves. Russia is the sixth largest gold owner after the United States, Germany, Italy, France, and China.

"Under the instruction by President Putin, the Bank of Russia has been implementing the program of increasing the absolute share of gold in the gold and currency reserves of Russia for many years," First Deputy Chairman of the Russian regulator Sergey Shvetsov said last week at a conference on precious metals in Moscow.

Since Putin's election as president, Russian gold reserves have increased more than 500 percent from 343 tons, according to Gold.org data.

Attention

UN General Assembly calls on Israel to withdraw from Syrian Golan: Munzer says Syria's sovereignty over Golan is non-negotiable

Munzer Munzer
UN General Assembly on Thursday called on the Israeli occupation to withdraw from the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of June 4th, 1967 in line with UN Security council relevant resolutions.

The Assembly adopted a resolution entitled "the Syrian Golan," submitted to it under the title "the State in the Middle East."

The Assembly condemned Israel's non-abidance by UNSC resolution No.497 issued in 1981, affirming that Israel's decision, released on December 14th, 1981, to impose its laws and administration on Golan is null and void.

Earlier, Acting Chargé d'affaires of Syria's permanent delegation to the UN Munzer Munzer said that Israel still ignores international resolutions and refuses to give back the occupied Syrian Golan to Syria.

Star of David

Syria intercepts Israeli missile attack from Lebanese air space, al-Mazzeh airport hit

Damascus airport hit
© realrussiatoday.com
Israeli strike on military airport near Damascus.
According to earlier reports, Israel has launched a number of airstrikes targeting Syria's territory from Lebanese airspace.

Several Israeli ground-to-surface missiles have been intercepted by Syrian forces, while a number of others caused material damage in the area south of Damascus, the Syrian Al-Ikhbariya TV channel reported.

The missiles hit an ammunition depot of the Syrian army at 0:30 local time (22:30 GMT on Friday), causing explosions in the area between the towns of Kiswah (Kesweh) and Sahnaya, Arab outlet Al-Masdar News earlier reported citing its sources. However, a spokeswoman for the Israel Defense Forces refused to comment on the situation when asked by Sputnik.

Some videos that emerged on social media are claiming to show the moment when the Israeli missiles were intercepted by Syrian Air Defense. [see below]

As for Israeli and Syrian bilateral relations, both of them have attacked each other on numerous occasions over the disputed Golan Heights, which were partly seized by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967. The latest IDF attack on Syria occurred in September 2017, when the IDF attacked Syrian Arab Army forces in the province of Hama.
israeli hit damascus airport
© ogn.news

Comment: Without Daesh as the interface, Israel has to do its own dirty work. How long will Israel's transgressions go unaddressed before they trigger a wider conflict?

According to The Times of Israel:
Syria's state run news agency and local media outlets attributed the airstrikes on the al-Mazzeh airport to the Israel Defense Forces. The IDF, which doesn't comment on foreign reports of military operations, refused to confirm the reports.

State news agency SANA said Israel had launched the missiles from Israeli-held territory north of the Sea of Galilee.

"At 3:00 a.m., the Israeli enemy fired several surface-to-surface missiles from inside occupied territory," the state news agency SANA said, citing a military source. The report said the Israeli missiles caused a large fire but no injuries or deaths.

The regime source also threatened "repercussions" against Israel over the strikes.

The Syrian military source called the alleged missile attack against the Mazzeh airbase part of "desperate attempts by the Israeli enemy to support terrorist groups and raise their low morale."

There were no immediate reports of injuries from the strikes.

An AFP correspondent heard several explosions and saw a large fire inside military airport, with smoke ​visible across the capital. Videos posted online purporting to show Friday's attack showed several massive fires, with sirens wailing in the background.

The report of Israeli military action was the first in over a month. The last incident also involved an attack on the Mazzeh airbase. In early December Syrian state media reported that the IDF fired missiles from within "occupied" territory at an important Syrian regime airbase outside Damascus.

Officials in Jerusalem have said they take action to stop the transfer of advanced weapons to terror groups; over a dozen strikes inside Syria have been attributed to Israel.

The presence of Russian anti-aircraft batteries in Syria have reportedly complicated Israeli action in the war-torn country over the last year, with reports of missiles launched at targets inside Syria from Israeli or Lebanese territory.




Info

US embassy to stay in Tel Aviv as White House shuts down rumors of imminent Jerusalem move

US Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel
© US government
The State Department has shut down rumors of an imminent transfer of the United States Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, however officials have yet to announce whether the waiver to keep the embassy in Tel Aviv would be signed by U.S. President Donald Trump by the required time, Dec. 4.

Moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would suggest a shift in long-standing U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. does not recognize Jerusalem as either Israeli or Palestinian territory. However, the U.S. choosing to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, would suggest the United States has shifted that policy, de facto recognizing Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem.

The city's sovereignty is an essential issue between the two powers, as both imagine Jerusalem working as the their state capital in the future.

Propaganda

MSM drops another empty "bombshell" Russiagate story

Trump Flynn
Yup, it's another one of those days. News comes out that seems Russiagate-related, multiple terms trend on Twitter about it, the people who've risen to fame and fortune selling this baseless conspiracy theory to the world have a massive online parade acting as though this proves everything they've been saying, my social media notifications get flooded with a bunch of "HAHAHA I BET YOU FEEL STUPID NOW" comments... and then the facts come out and it's nothing.

But if you try to point out evidence that suggests that nothing about this new "bombshell" report is what Russiagaters are claiming it is, they try to shout you down and make fun of you so you'll shut up. If you want to skip this last step you have to wait 24 to 48 hours until their feeding frenzy wears off.

Happens every single time, without exception.

Question

The Kremlin's "America-Gate"? Will Russia's Parliament block U.S. media from the Duma

An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." Déjà Vu.The concept goes back to Mesopotamia and Hammurabi's Code, a collection of 282 laws inscribed on a stone pillar .

Hammurabi’s Code
Hammurabi ruled the Babylonian Empire from 1791-1750 B.C. The "eye for an eye" concept was used as legal justification and as an instrument of imperial conquest. Under the Roman Empire it was called Lex Talionis. "A Retaliation authorized by Law." And that is precisely what both the U.S. and now Russia are doing.

It is a dangerous game. What will be the outcome? The collapse of US-Russia relations potentially spells disaster.

Briefcase

Trump lawyer: Nothing in Michael Flynn's guilty plea implicates Trump in any wrong doing

Michael Flynn Ty Cobb
© AP Photo/Susan Walsh
"The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year," President Trump's lawyer, Ty Cobb, said.
President Trump's lawyer, Ty Cobb, said Friday that the guilty plea entered by former national security adviser Michael Flynn does not implicate Trump or any other administration official in wrongdoing.

"Today, Michael Flynn, a former National Security Advisor at the White House for 25 days during the Trump administration, and a former Obama administration official, entered a guilty plea to a single count of making a false statement to the FBI," Cobb said in a statement circulated to reporters.

"The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year," Cobb said. "Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn."

Flynn pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of lying to FBI agents about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. in December 2016.

Comment: Of course it doesn't implicate Trump or the administration. The FBI had cleared Flynn of any "collusion" last year. He was basically doing his job, and for that he got lynched. But they aren't done with him yet. See:

The real reason why Mueller is indicting Flynn (it isn't the Russians)
Flynn legal team goes mum on Mueller investigation, cuts WH out of loop
Another leak: Mueller reportedly has enough evidence to bring charges against Flynn


Megaphone

Pelosi wants Nevada Democrat to resign over sexual misconduct claim

Ruben Kihuen
© Associated Press
U.S. Rep. Ruben Kihuen, D-Nev., speaks, with former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid in the background.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has called on a Nevada Democratic congressman to resign following allegations of sexual harassment.

BuzzFeed News reported Friday that the female finance director for U.S. Rep. Ruben Kihuen's 2016 election campaign left her job after he allegedly made repeated sexual advances toward her.

"Across the nation, in every industry, brave women are coming forward to share stories of harassment that must be heard," Pelosi wrote.

"In Congress, no one should face sexual harassment in order to work in an office or in a campaign. The young woman's documented account is convincing, and I commend her for the courage it took to come forward.

"In light of these upsetting allegations, Congressman Kihuen should resign."

Kihuen was believed to be a rising star in the party and flipped a district in Nevada last cycle from Republican to Democrat. He is also a DREAMer.

Comment: Why the sudden change of heart Pelosi? You believed in due process for Conyers at one point. Not that you actually care.


Stormtrooper

San Bernardino mass shooting: 3 white gunmen, 2 unlikely culprits, and 1 saving grace


Comment: We're re-running this article because today - Saturday, December 2nd, 2017 - marks the two-year anniversary of the San Bernardino mass shooting. Notice how many elements this bloody event had in common with US mass shootings that have occurred since then...


Bernardino shooting

'Hands up, don't shoot' - Employees at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, are marched out of buildings following the massacre that took place there on Wednesday December 2nd, 2015
Another day, another massacre of innocents in the US of A. 14 people were shot to death during a mass shooting on December 2nd at the Inland Regional Center in the city of San Bernardino, California, about 100km east of Los Angeles. Another 21 people were wounded in what was the worst mass shooting since the Sandy Hook massacre in December 2012.

Another turkey shoot

At 11am local time last Wednesday, masked gunmen - initially reported as a team of three - "dressed head-to-toe in black tactical gear and vests stuffed with ammunition magazines", entered one of the three main buildings on the site and made their way to the conference room, where staff for the county's Department of Public Health were enjoying a Christmas office party. From the moment they opened fire, the shooting reportedly lasted 5-8 minutes, during which the gunmen "never said a word" and fired about 75 rounds into the group of unarmed civilians, with eyewitnesses saying they paused only to reload their weapons.

The sight of heavily-armed police officers swarming the Regional Center was apparently so familiar to employees there that they initially thought they were witnessing "another active shooter drill". Indeed, according to the LA Times, active shooter drills take place there every "every month or so". Watch as employees remark upon how realistic this latest 'drill' appears, completely oblivious to the fact that some of their colleagues nearby have been shot to death:


Comment: See also this update published 28 Dec 2015:

Mystery second car chase following the San Bernardino mass shooting


Arrow Down

Revenge porn takes down House Representative Joe Barton

Rep. Joe Barton

Rep. Joe Barton
Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) will not seek another term, he announced on Thursday. Barton had served in the House of Representatives since 1985.

Earlier this month, a nude photo of Barton was shared on the internet by a woman with whom he had previously had a consensual relationship with. Barton divorced his second wife in 2015.