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'We didn't hide behind any aircraft': Israel insists its jets not to blame for downing Russian Il-20


RT
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 14:38 UTC
Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft.
© Sergey Pivovarov / Reuters / File
A Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft.
Israel says its jets were not to blame for the downing of the Russian Il-20 during an air raid in Syria, and that Moscow has been presented with "thorough" evidence. This conflicts with a Russian military timeline of the incident.

"The IAF (Israeli Air Force) did not hide behind any aircraft and... the Israeli aircraft were in Israeli airspace at the time of the downing of the Russian plane," the IDF tweeted on Sunday.

The Israeli military also insisted that "the deconfliction mechanism [with the Russian forces] operated in the relevant timeframe."

"The safety and wellbeing of the Russian troops who operate in Syria are a focal component in every approval of any activity by senior officials in the IDF and in Israel," it added.

Comment: See also:

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Fire

Germany mulls over the "absolutely ridiculous" option of expensive and unreliable US gas


RT
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 17:47 UTC
bench snow
© Getty
Washington is fiercely fighting for Germany's energy market, trying to sell more of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the country, and to wrestle one of the biggest energy consumers away from Russian energy giant Gazprom.

Germany currently gets around 60 of its natural gas imports from Russia. Berlin has been sharply criticized by US President Donald Trump for being a "captive to Russia." In an attempt to push American LNG to German consumers, the White House threatened to sanction European companies for participating in the Gazprom-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.

Earlier this week, US Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette announced ambitious plans to enter the German energy market in the near future. "US liquefied natural gas is coming to Germany," he said, as quoted by German media. "The question is not if, but when."

RT talked to energy experts to get to the bottom of the issue.

Comment: Any politician who would choose to force its people to pay extortionate prices for the same product, and from a less reliable supplier, is playing with fire:

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Light Sabers

'Remedy the mistake or bear the consequences': China threatens US over sanctions on military - UPDATE


RT
Fri, 21 Sep 2018 17:24 UTC
chinese soldiers
© Nicolas Asfouri / AFP
Beijing has threatened that Washington will face "consequences" if it doesn't withdraw the recent batch of sanctions against China over military cooperation with Russia.

China's Foreign Ministry did not mince words, saying Washington should immediately correct its "mistakes" before it's too late or face the consequences for the decision.

"We strongly call on the US to remedy the mistake and cancel the sanctions. Otherwise, the US has to bear the consequences," spokesperson Geng Shuang said as cited by Chinese media.

The Trump administration slapped China's Equipment Development Department - the country's leading arms acquisition body - with penalties on Thursday. Beijing's decision to purchase Russian Su-35 fighter jets and S-400 surface-to-air missile system drew Washington's ire. The US stressed that Moscow is in fact is the "ultimate target" of the restrictions.

Comment: UPDATE Sept 22: Not to be outdone, Trump has fired back with his characteristic bluster, vowing to impose even more tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing dares to retaliate:
"We're going to go $200 billion at 25 percent on Chinese made goods. And we will come back with more if they retaliate. We have a lot more to come back with," Trump told a packed rally in Missouri for Republican Senate candidate Josh Hawley.

"We are cracking down on the unfair trade practices of China... We have rebuilt China. We have given them such wealth. And we are changing it," Trump told the cheering crowd. "So we charged 25 percent on $50 billion worth of merchandise tariffs coming in. And then they said, 'We're going to do the same thing'. And I've said: 'That is okay. We have far more bullets'."


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Snakes in Suits

'11th Hour ambush': How Feinstein and fellow Dems are conspiring to destroy Kavanaugh

Paul Sperry
New York Post
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 16:30 UTC
Dianne Feinstein and Brett Kavanaugh
© Getty
Dianne Feinstein and Brett Kavanaugh
Democrat leaders and their liberal aides, along with professional agitators, are all intermingled and conspiring together to achieve the same objective - in this case, to spike the confirmation of President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.

Hill Republicans claim Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein engineered the knee-capping of Kavanaugh from both inside and outside Congress - and they have a strong case, though Feinstein insists she merely dealt cards she was handed.

For starters, they argue that Feinstein, who is the top Democrat on the Senate committee vetting Kavanaugh, orchestrated an "11th-hour ambush" of the conservative nod by withholding a letter from the committee's Republican majority alleging sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh until the day the panel was preparing to take a vote to confirm him - almost two months after receiving the letter and well after the vetting and hearing process.

"You chose to sit on the allegations until a politically opportune moment," a furious Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) scolded Feinstein in a letter dated Sept. 19.


Comment: The Kavanugh accusations: It's a set-up


Comment: Tucker Carlson: Dems using Ford fiasco to delay Kavanaugh confirmation past deadline - not to get to the truth

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Jet5

Israel 'crossed the line' in Russian Il-20 plane crash incident - Russian Defense Ministry


RT
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 09:03 UTC
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Russian Chief of General Staff, Valery Gerasimov
© Yuri Kadobnov / Reuters
FILE PHOTO: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Russian Chief of General Staff, Valery Gerasimov
Israel must understand that some lines 'cannot be crossed' and any exacerbation of relations with Russia could be detrimental to the entire fragile balance of power in the Middle East, experts and political observers told RT.

Russia has always managed to keep a neutral, "even-handed" position amid all of the ongoing perturbations in the Middle East as it seeks to keep good relations with all major regional players, including Israel, Turkey and Iran, Gideon Levy, a columnist at the Israeli Haaretz newspaper, told RT. Israel in particular has nothing to complain about in its relations with Moscow, which has always taken Tel Aviv's interests into account, he added.

However, with its careless behaviour, which led to the downing of a Russian plane in Syria, as Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman put it, Israel "has crossed the line of civilized relations."
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MIB

The Deep State puts Trump between a rock and a hard place

Michael Goodwin
New York Post
Sat, 22 Sep 2018 21:01 UTC
Donald Trump american flag
© AP
Donald Trump
President Trump is not generally given to understatement, but he soft-pedaled problems at the Department of Justice. There is, he said Friday, a "lingering stench" there.

A "stench" doesn't describe the situation. A snake pit is more like it.

The report by The New York Times that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein plotted to remove Trump, either by wearing a wire or invoking the 25th Amendment, cements forever the fact that there was and still is a deep state centered in the nation's top law-enforcement agency. This was a plot by power-mad individuals who aimed to overturn the 2016 election and thwart the will of voters.
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SOTT Logo Radio

NewsReal: Israeli-French Deception Downs Russian Spy Plane Off Syria, US Escalates 'Regime Change' Against Iran


Sott.net
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 16:00 UTC
NewsReal Russian plane Syria
Israel has finally been called to the carpet by Russia over its deceitful actions last week that led to the accidental downing of a Russian IL-20 reconnaissance plane off the coast of Latakia in western Syria that killed 14 of its servicemen. This week on NewsReal with Joe & Niall, they discuss the incident in the context of last week's surprise announcement of a Turkish-Russian plan to deal with 'the Idlib cauldron' jointly.

Also, a bloody terror attack in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran on Saturday underscored the urgency that renewed sanctions bring to that country's predicament: is 'regime change' imminent? And will the US/Israel 'go for the jugular' in the course of generating socio-economic upheaval in yet another country, they believe, is 'ripe for democracy'?


Live audio broadcast this Sunday 23rd September from 16:00 UTC / 12:00 EST / 18:00 CET. Video podcast available here later.

Running Time: 01:39:14

Download: MP3

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Map

Uganda: Profiling US meddling across Africa

Tony Cartalucci
New Eastern Outlook
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 14:39 UTC
Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine
© AFP
Musician turned politician Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine (centre), waves to his supporters in a suburb of Kampala on June 29, 2017.
While China builds roads, rail, pipelines, airports, seaports, and factories across Africa, the United States finds itself resigned to selling weapons and stirring up conflicts between and within African states to disrupt the rise of the continent independent of Western hegemony.

Part of stirring up conflict involves political subversion. In Uganda, the US is propping up an opposition leader who even at the most basic, superficial level fails to conceal his allegiance to and dependence on Washington.

Comment: For more on America's 'adventures' in Africa:

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Info

Japanese refiners stop buying Iran oil ahead of sanctions

Irina Slav
Oilprice.com
Thu, 20 Sep 2018 14:29 UTC
Oil well
© Daniel Becerril / Reuters
Japanese refiners have stopped buying Iranian crude ahead of the November 4 deadline set by Washington to all countries doing business with Iran before economic sanctions return. Reuters quoted today the head of the Petroleum Association of Japan as saying, "It is my view that each firm is taking the same stance and temporarily suspending (the loading) and watching the situation carefully."

Japan is one of Iran's largest oil importers, but it is also the United States' staunchest ally in Asia-and the combination of the two has not worked to Tokyo's advantage. While the government has been trying to secure a waiver from the U.S. State Department, the Japanese economy seems to be dependent enough on U.S. lending to make local refiners extra-cautious.

Reuters confirmed the sentiment by noting many Japanese refiners had resigned themselves to the reality that they must stop importing Iranian crude and instead, look for feedstock elsewhere. Iran currently accounts for 5 percent of Japan's crude oil intake, and as per PAJ's chief, Takashi Tsukioka, Tokyo will try to maintain a good relationship with Tehran despite the sanctions. How realistic this is remains to be seen.
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Dollars

Russia's largest energy companies preparing to substitute petrodollar in settlements


RT
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 14:21 UTC
Dollar and oil graphic
© Comstock / Getty Images
Oil firm Surgutneftegas has joined a list of Russian energy companies that are ready to get rid of the US dollar in favor of the euro and other currencies in international settlements, Reuters reports.

According to a message sent by Surgutneftegas to one of its customers, the oil company wants to "avoid any possible problems with payment in USD," the news agency reports. "We do not comment on our commercial activity," replied the company, Russia's fourth largest by output.

The reported move comes in line with the recent comments from the Kremlin. Last month, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Russia could reject the greenback in oil trade.

"It is not ruled out. We have significantly reduced our investments in US assets. In fact, the dollar, which was considered the global currency, becomes a risky instrument for settlements," he told Russian TV.

Comment: The banking elite surely will not be happy with this state of affairs.

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