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US has no evidence of Syrian use of sarin gas, Mattis says

sarin gas syria
The U.S. has no evidence to confirm reports from aid groups and others that the Syrian government has used the deadly chemical sarin on its citizens, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday.

"We have other reports from the battlefield from people who claim it's been used," Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon. "We do not have evidence of it."

He said he was not rebutting the reports.

"We're looking for evidence of it, since clearly we are dealing with the Assad regime that has used denial and deceit to hide their outlaw actions," Mattis said.

Comment: The US government and its media knew all along there was no evidence of Assad using sarin gas against the Syrian people. But that did not stop the information war waged in the name of US dominance. Now that the truth has reached the mainstream, it still does not matter. Lies upon lies have led an hysterisized American population into a bizarre world where truth is the enemy.


Bad Guys

Bolivia's parliament approves bill on snap presidential election, Anez rejects amnesty for Morales

Jeanine Áñez Bolivia
© REUTERS / Carlos Garcia Rawlins
The Bolivian parliament's Chamber of Deputies has voted in favor of holding new general elections, the lower house said in a Twitter post.

"The Chamber of Deputies unanimously voted to approve the bill on a special and transitional period for holding general elections," the tweet read, according to TASS.

The document was earlier approved by Bolivia's Senate. Now it will be sent to Interim President Jeanine Anez for signature. The bill said that new judges of Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal and regional commissions are to be appointed and the election should be held as soon as possible.

The presidential election in Bolivia was held on October 20. According to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Evo Morales who was the head of state at that time won in the first round. His main competitor, Carlos Mesa, stated that he does not recognize Morales' victory in the first round.

Bad Guys

Swedish court rejects appeal by Russia's Gazprom in gas transit dispute with Ukraine's Naftogaz

Gazprom
© Gazprom
Sweden's Svea Court of Appeal on Wednesday upheld an earlier arbitration decision forcing Russian energy major Gazprom to pay Ukraine's Naftogaz $2.56 billion in an ongoing gas transit dispute.

"Today's decision means that the court has rejected Gazprom's claim, and the decision of the arbitration cannot be canceled. Apart from that, the court has not detected any procedural violations," said the ruling. It has noted that the decision cannot be appealed.

The existing agreement for Russian gas transit through Ukraine to Europe expires next year, but the talks have stalled. Last week, Gazprom offered to extend the existing agreement or sign a new deal for one year, taking into consideration the forecast for the European Union's gas demand.

Network

Russian-British trade growing, expected to reach $15 billion this year

London bride
© Pixabay / E. Dichtl
The volume of trade between the UK and Russia may rise eight percent in 2019 compared to last year, the Russian Trade Representative to the UK announced at a business forum in London.

The growth of trade turnover between the two countries has been more rapid this year, Boris Abramov said on Wednesday, when the 5th Russian-British Business Forum (RBBF) opened at the Queen Elizabeth II Center.

"We expect the volume of trade to reach $15 billion by the end of 2019," he stated as cited by TASS. He added that in the first nine months of this year Russia's non-resource exports to the UK jumped 22 percent, while last year this figure stood at eight percent.

Comment: We can expect to see continuing economic growth between the two countries. The UK will be the first European country to integrate Russia's cross-border payment system MIR, which was created out of the sanctions imposed by the US.


Stock Up

Russia's national payment system MIR to expand in Europe


Comment: The IRONY if Russia's MIR - a 'forced innovation' due to US sanctions - winds up taking market share from VISA/Mastercard in Europe!


Russia MIR payment
© Sputnik / Mikhail Voskresenskiy
MIR payment system, developed by Russia in response to Western sanctions, is set to hit the European market. It will launch a pilot project at the Russian-British business forum in London on Wednesday.

PayXpert will become the unique acquirer of MIR cards in Europe, and the UK will be the first country where the system will operate, according to one of the organizers of the business event, the Roscongress Foundation.

"The launch of our joint project with PayXpert is the first and foremost step in the development of MIR acquiring in Europe, which will lay the foundation for new promising trends in the foreign expansion of Russian payment cards," said CEO of the MIR payment system Vladimir Komlev.

Chess

Turkey won't support anti-Russia military plan until NATO recognizes Kurdish YPG as terrorists

Turkey and NATO flags
© BELGA / AFP
Turkey is refusing to back a NATO defense plan for the Baltics and Poland until the alliance offers Ankara more political support for its fight against Kurdish YPG militia in northern Syria, four senior alliance sources said.

Ankara has told its NATO envoy not to sign off on the plan and is taking a tough line in meetings and in private conversations, demanding the alliance recognize the YPG as terrorists in the formal wording, the sources said.

Turkey's NATO delegation was not immediately available for comment. Turkey's defense and foreign ministries did not respond to requests for comment.

Bulb

Schiff hits the fan: First House Democrat publicly opposes impeachment

Rep. Brenda Lawrence
With public support for impeachment waning and the risk of a potentially disastrous Senate trial looming, House Democrats have suffered their first impeachment defection after Rep. Brenda Lawrence of Michigan said she no longer supports the effort.

"We are so close to an election. I will tell you, sitting here knowing how divided this country is, I don't see the value of taking him out of office," said Lawrence, who instead favors censuring President Trump over allegations that he withheld military aid in Ukraine for self-serving purposes, according to the Washington Examiner.

Quenelle

"Illegal colonial occupier": Mauritius blasts UK as it skips UN deadline to return Chagos Islands housing US airbase

US B-2 Spirit bomber
© Reuters / US Department of Defense
A file photo of a US B-2 Spirit bomber refueling at Diego Garcia
The UK missed a UN deadline to vacate its Indian Ocean islands, the largest of which hosts an American airbase, garnering some strong words from its former colony Mauritius, which sold them to London for £3m back in the day.

Pravind Jugnauth, the Prime Minister of Mauritius, has branded the United Kingdom an "illegal colonial occupier" after the six-month deadline to surrender control over the Chagos Islands passed on Friday.

In May, the UN General Assembly voted by an overwhelming majority (116-to-6) for a resolution demanding that the islands be handed over to Mauritius. Earlier, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) made history by declaring the Chagos archipelago illegally occupied by the British.

Comment: See also: Spain refuels Russian ships despite NATO pressure, says UK has to leave Gibraltar


Snakes in Suits

State department releases detailed accounts of Biden-Ukraine corruption

Hunter and Joe Biden
© David McNew | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Hunter Biden and Joe Biden
A liberal watchdog group's attempt to nail Rudy Giuliani has backfired in spectacular fashion after their FOIA request resulted in the US State Department releasing detailed accusations of corruption against the Bidens - based on interviews with former Ukrainian officials who were in charge of the investigations.

Responding to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit from the group American Oversight, the State Department on Friday night released almost 100 pages of records detailing efforts by Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to investigate corruption, which include contacts with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) earlier this year.

While American Oversight's 'gotcha' is that Giuliani had "multiple contacts" with Mike Pompeo and others while investigating Ukraine corruption, they completely ignore interview notes containing detailed allegations by former Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin - who Joe Biden had fired, as well as his successor, prosecutor general Yuriy Lutsenko - who "believes Mr. Viktor Shokin the former Prosecutor General is honest."

Comment: See also:


Eye 1

Pompeo contradicts US policy and international law on Israeli settlements, dozens of Palestinians injured during clashes, alleged rockets from Gaza leads to air raids from Israel

palestine
© REUTERS / MOHAMAD TOROKMAN
Dozens of Palestinians were injured during clashes with the Israeli military in the West Bank after protests in response to the United States' decision to recognize Israeli settlements in the territory began on Tuesday, media reported.

Earlier in the day, media reported that the president of the Palestinian Fatah movement, Mahmoud Abbas, made the call and was joined by other factions, urging Palestinians to join the "Day of Rage" protest against the US position on settlements.

According to the Palestinian WAFA news outlet, dozens of Palestinians suffered from tear gas and rubber bullets used by the Israeli military during the protests in some cities of the West Bank.

Comment: Sputnik reports on the :
rocket gaza
© AP Photo / Ariel Schalit
Sirens went off in Gaza Strip and Sderot, Israeli Defence Forces reported on their twitter page on Tuesday.

Following the sirens, two launches from Gaza Strip at Israeli territory were identified, according to the IDF. The military added the Iron Dome air defence system managed to intercept one projectile.

"2 rockets were just fired from #Gaza at Israeli civilians. 1 rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome Aerial Defense System," the IDF wrote on its Twitter page.

There is a video that reportedly captures the incident circulating social media.


This month, border tensions escalated again. They were triggered by Israel's killing of Baha Abu al-Atta, a top commander from Palestine's Islamic Jihad group in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian militants fired multiple rockets toward Israel, while the latter responded with aerial attacks.
More from Sputnik:
Israeli aircraft conducted airstrikes on targets west of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and in Khanyounis, in the north of the territory, early Wednesday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tweeted Wednesday morning that the airstrikes were in response to rocket fire from Gaza earlier in the day.

"In response to the rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli civilians earlier tonight, our fighter jets just struck a number of Hamas terror targets in #Gaza," the IDF said. "Hamas will bear the consequences for actions against Israeli civilians."


Yemeni news channel Masirah TV reported multiple strikes were conducted near Ein Goliath after midnight Wednesday.


Palestinian journalist Diaa Mahmoud claimed to have heard sounds of an airstrike conducted west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.


Social media footage allegedly from the scene shows a portion of the strike.


An alarm activated in the Ashkelon Regional Council prior to the reported Israeli Air Force strike was identified by the Israel Defense Forces as non-rocket fire. The Ashkelon Municipality later announced that no projectile fell into the city, reported The Jerusalem Post.
On Tuesday, two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, activating the Israeli Iron Dome air defense system. The recent attack conducted by the Israeli Air Force is viewed as a response to the earlier rocket fire from Gaza, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to "respond firmly to any attack."
"If anyone in Gaza thinks he can raise his head after Operation Black Belt - he is seriously mistaken. We will respond firmly to any attack against us and continue to maintain Israel's security on all fronts," Netanyahu said in a translated Twitter post.


Though this exchange of fire renews violence that had previously calmed between Gaza and Israel, the latter carried out several strikes against dozens of targets, including warehouses and reconnaissance sites, in Syria last week.
See also: