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Fruits of Western imperialism: Images of starving children show the horrors of US/Saudi war against Yemen

yemen starving children
© Abduljabbar Zeyad / Reuters
A woman rests on a bed next to her malnourished son at a hospital in the Red Sea port city of Houdieda, Yemen Setember 9, 2016
The horrors of Yemen's civil war have been encapsulated by photographs showing a toddler suffering from severe malnutrition. UNICEF estimates that 320,000 children are facing starvation, while over two million youngsters need urgent assistance.

The images, which were captured by a Reuters photographer, show the six-year-old boy Salim Musabih sitting on a bed beside his mother. His bones and ribcage stick out from under his skin as he sits in just his nappy.

starving yemen children
© Abduljabbar Zeyad / Reuters
A malnourished boy lies on a bed at a hospital in the Red Sea port city of Houdieda, Yemen September 9, 2016
In another photograph, which was taken in the port city of Al-Hudaydah, the toddler's arm is so thin that he is able to wrap his lips around it. The size of a fly on his left arm in comparison to the size of the limb itself also portrays just how dire his condition is.

"They came from a destroyed area where there is no food, pure water or infrastructure. They were starving, the only food they had was from the sea," hospital volunteer Ibrahim Al Kalee told UAE's 7days newspaper.

Nuke

Bushehr-2: Russia and Iran to begin construction on nuclear plant on September 10

The power plant will be built under the new project II+, which received the EUR certificate

Reactor building
© AP Photo/Vahid Salemi
Reactor building of the Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, 2006
Moscow and Tehran are set to launch the construction of the second stage of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant on September 10, the ASE company said in a statement on Tuesday.

ASE is an engineering company within Russian state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom.

Comment: See also: Iran and Russia agree to start building two new nuclear power plants this month

Update: Iran and Russia lay foundation stone of Bushehr 2
At the groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, the director general of Russia's state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, Sergei Kirienko, said:

"The construction of the first reactor proved that Russia always fulfills its obligations to foreign partners, regardless of the changes in the political climate."

The cost of the Bushehr 2 project is estimated at $10 billion. Its implementation is planned to take 10 years.
Iran launches 2 more units at Bushehr
At a ceremony with Russian representatives in attendance, Iran has inaugurated the second and third units of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.

Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), delivered the keynote address at the Saturday event in the southern city of Bushehr.

"We are going to launch the construction of two new power plant units at the nuclear power plant of Bushehr."

The construction of the units, Salehi said, would help Iran meet its energy needs, economize on natural energy resources by saving the country "22 million barrels of oil," and prevent the spread of "14 million tons of pollutants" into the air.

Iran's First Vice President Ishaq Jahangiri was also present at the event. Also attending the inauguration was Sergey Vladilenovich Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation.

"Meeting energy needs is the prelude to economic development," said Jahangiri, who reminded that the country needed to produce 5,000 more megawatts of electricity each year so it could meet its energy demands.

Jahangiri also stated that Iran's right to construction of power plants was based upon peaceful application of nuclear energy, which has been enshrined in the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plant of Action (JCPOA).



Snakes in Suits

Ambassadorships for sale: Hacked DNC files reveal big donors rewarded with diplomatic posts

us embassy
© Andrew Winning / Reuters
United States embassy in central London
Hacker 'Guccifer 2.0' has offered support for allegations that Democrats rewarded big donors and fund-raisers with plum diplomatic posts, by releasing a donor list from November 2008, when current VP candidate Tim Kaine chaired the DNC.

Among the 500 megabytes of data released Tuesday was the document titled "11-26-08 NFC Members Raised," listing the names and addresses of some 100,000 Democratic National Committee donors. Cross-referencing the top donors' names revealed that they were later appointed to ambassador posts and other government jobs.

A third or more of US ambassadors are not career diplomats but political appointees. President Barack Obama came under criticism in 2013 after appointing several big campaign donors to prestigious diplomatic posts. Most recently the US ambassador to Hungary made headlines with some rather un-diplomatic remarks; Caroline Bell had been a TV producer before raising $2 million for the DNC.


War Whore

Western aggression: Sweden announces it will permanently keep troops on strategic island near Russian border

swedish soldiers
© Reuters
The Swedish military has announced that troops training on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, not far from Russia, will remain there permanently. Officials said "external factors" prompted the order for some 150 soldiers to stay on the island.

"The armed forces [now] ... have joint permanent groups and troops on Gotland. Gotland is one of our military strategic areas in Sweden ... Gotland needs ... to increase their operational capacity, and allow troops to practice and work in the field," the Swedish Armed Forces cited Supreme Commander Micael Byden as saying on its website.

Byden later told Swedish broadcaster SVT that "external factors in the world have deteriorated over time and it means I have made a decision about a permanent presence and that we put the battle group here earlier."

Some 150 soldiers currently training on Gotland received orders on Wednesday morning to remain on the island.

"We have to look realistically at the situation in the world. The armed forces are now taking their responsibility, and demonstrating that with increased military capability we are taking responsibility for the country's sovereignty," Byden added.

Chess

Gazprom receives permission to begin construction on Turkish Stream pipeline

Stream pipeline
Translated by J. Arnoldski

Through diplomatic channels, Gazprom has received the first permission from Turkish authorities to construct the offshore section of the Turkish Stream pipeline, the company's report says.

A week earlier, Gazprom reported that it had received the "first permits to realize Turkish Stream" but did not specify the documents. In December 2011, Turkey gave permission for the construction of South Stream in its territorial waters. On June 22nd, 2015, Turkey also gave permission for engineering surveys for Turkish Stream. Later, however, such permits were withdrawn due to the serious deterioration of Russian-Turkish relations. Thanks to the improvement of relations since summer this year, Gazprom has resumed active work on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.

Comment: See also:


Light Sabers

Duterte: Philippines will pursue policies independent of US, looks to acquire arms from China and Russia

dingy
© Erik De Castro / Reuters
The Philippines will pursue "independent" foreign and military policies separate from US interests in the region, the country's president said, announcing that in order to avoid any confrontations with China he would halt joint Filipino navy patrols with the US.

The Asian country may now also look toward China and Russia in order to acquire new weapons so that it can improve its capabilities tackling insurgencies and terrorism in the country.

In April, the Filipino navy began joint South China Sea naval patrols with the US to respond to China building artificial islands over disputed reefs.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been openly critical of American security policies, announced in a televised speech Tuesday, before military officers in Manila, a 'paradigm shift' in the country's dealing with allies.

"We are not cutting our alliances - military (alliances) as well. But certainly, we will follow an independent posture and independent foreign policy," Duterte said.

The first step for the Philippines is to opt out of US-led patrols of the South China Sea because the country does "not want trouble," the president said announcing that his navy "will not join any expedition of patrolling the seas... because I do not want my country to be involved in a hostile act."

Comment: See also:


Dollars

The clean-up continues: Russian "anti-corruption" boss arrested - $120mn cash found in flat, alleged to have €300mn in Swiss banks

russia anitcorruption boss investigated
© Eugene Odinokov / Sputnik
Acting head of the T Department of the Central Anti-Corruption Board (Guebipk) of the Russian Interior Ministry Dmitry Zakharchenko suspected of bribery at the Moscow Presnenksky Court where the investigators' motion on his arrest is examined.
About €300 million ($336 million) was found in Swiss bank accounts of the father of Russia's anti-corruption agency head, media reports. The news comes days after police arrested Dmitry Zakharchenko and found over $122 million in cash at his Moscow home.

Law enforcement agencies found documents about the accounts of offshore firms registered in the name of Zakharchenko's father Viktor, according to a source speaking to Rosbalt news agency.

"Six bank accounts like this were found mostly at Rothschild Bank and the Dresdner Bank, with each having between €45 million and €47 million. This is more than €300 million," the source added.

The source described the amounts on the Swiss accounts as being "colossal," while the authorities are trying to find out where the money came from.

"It's clear that we are not only talking about money from Nota-Bank, as it was previously perceived," the source mentioned.

NOTA-Bank had its license revoked by the Russian Central Bank in November.

Propaganda

Propaganda Alert! "Experts" claim North Korea has enough uranium for 20 nukes this year

Kim Jong-un
© REUTERS/ Kyodo/via REUTERS
North Korea could have material for 20 nuclear bombs by the end of this year experts have revealed as the defiant South threatens annihilation if one missile is fired towards it.

The secretive state detonated a nuclear bomb "twice of the size of Hiroshima" last week and announced it could produce more warheads "any time we desire".

Friday's explosion was the fifth and biggest test carried out since dictator Kim Jong-un came to power in 2011. In response South Korean president Park Geun-hye vowed it would annihilate the state the "very second the North fires even one nuke at us".

She has also pledged to continue the construction of a nuclear shield, which it is hoped would shoot down missiles before they reached the South.

Just days before the test South Korean military forces warned they will destroy the North's capital with "ballistic missiles and high-explosives" if they detected any sign of a nuclear attack.

Comment: What is apparently lost on this "journalist" is that the actions of North Korea are in response to US provocation:


Bulb

Former NATO Commander: US can solve conflicts by cooperating with China, Iran, and Russia

James Stavridis
© AP Photo/ Alik Keplicz
The best hope of avoiding armed conflict between the United States and China in the South China Sea, and with Iran in the Persian Gulf, is through economic engagement, US Naval Institute chairman and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis told Sputnik.

"Over time, the interconnection of the [US and Chinese] economies will hopefully prevent actual combat from taking place," Stavridis, a retired US Navy admiral, said. The US Navy's operations chief, Admiral John Richardson, traveled to China in July to meet with his counterpart in the naval arm of the People's Liberation Army, Admiral Wu Shengli. "

China and the United States have a largely productive diplomatic and economic relationship, but the Chinese activities in the South China Sea, including building artificial islands and pressuring neighbors about ownership of the water space, creates tensions not only in East Asia but between the US and China," Stavridis said. "There is also competition in cyberspace."

In August, speedboats operated by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy harassed US warships, and on Saturday the Iranian Air Defense Force threatened to shoot down a US Navy P-8 Poseidon and an EP-3 Aries surveillance aircraft that were patrolling 13 miles off the Iranian coast.

Network

UK government departments suffer 9,000 data security breaches in just 1 year

hacker data breach
© Pawel Kopczynski / Reuters
Personal data security was breached nearly 9,000 times in UK government departments in one year, according to a damning report from the National Audit Office (NAO).

The watchdog revealed the 17 largest departments recorded 8,995 data breaches in 2014-15, but that only 14 were reported to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was the worst offender, with 6,041 breaches and just three reported to the ICO. Almost all of those not reported were "minor" breaches that "potentially had an impact on customers but were not managed centrally by the department."

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had 2,801 breaches and also reported just three to the ICO.

Under the Data Protection Act, Whitehall departments can decide which personal data breaches to report to the ICO. However, the NAO said it was impossible to determine how serious the thousands of incidents not disclosed to the commissioner were.

Comment: The 'new approach' seems to be to create yet another government bureaucratic behemoth.

RT:
"The new cyber agency of UK spy center GCHQ is gearing up to build a 'great firewall' to block malicious sites used for hostile cyber attacks and combat cybercrime.

The flagship DNS filtering program will involve automating defenses against unsophisticated but high-volume cyber attacks, the head of the new National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Ciaran Martin, told a conference in Washington, DC.

The program, which is currently being trialed on public sector IT networks, is aimed primarily at protecting government sites and the infrastructure of industries important to national security, such as power and transport."
But they'll try to make a few quid on the side too. Gotta love capitalism.
"However, it will also be offered to consumers and major IT companies such as BT, Sky and Virgin Media on an opt-in basis."