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'Hypocrisy': China furious at Macron for Hong Kong riots jibe despite France experiencing 48TH week of Yellow Vest protests

Romina McGuinness
Express, UK
Tue, 08 Oct 2019 19:10 UTC
Hong Kong black bloc
© The Yomiuri Shimbun
A radical protester throws a molotov cocktail at a government building in Hong Kong on Sept. 15, 2019.
CHINA's embassy in Paris on Monday excoriated "hypocritical" French and European comments about the anti-government protests in Hong Kong, telling France to show more empathy in light of its own battle against rioters. Four months of violent protests have plunged Hong kong into its worst social crisis in decades and posed the biggest challenge to the government in Beijing.

"We express our deep dissatisfaction and our profound contempt for the hypocrisy of the European statement and the darkness of the intentions of some vis-à-vis China," the embassy said in a statement posted on its website. "The European Union has publicly glorified the rioters' abuses and has flouted the Hong Kong police's self-defence measures to defend their lives against their aggressors. This is both criminal and dangerous," the embassy continued. "If our police force - the pillar of social order and guarantor of citizens' safety - were to collapse under the battering of these odious attacks, Hong Kong would sink into irremediable chaos. Is that what European leaders want?" the embassy added.

When asked last week to react after Hong Kong police fired live bullets at demonstrators, France's foreign ministry referred to a statement from the European Union.

Comment: The protests in Hong Kong are being actively supported by foreign powers in a blatant attempt to take advantage of the genuine complaints of the people, to sow dissent and to smear and disrupt mainland China, what's Macron's excuse? The Yellow Vest protests have been ongoing for 48 weeks and have enjoyed the support of a large majority of French citizens, the same can't be said for the increasingly violent minority in Hong Kong.

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Attention

Trump to Ankara: 'Fully prepared to destroy economy', raise tariffs, scrap trade deal, sanction officials


RT
Mon, 14 Oct 2019 20:07 UTC
Trump
© Getty Images
US President Donald Trump
Accusing Turkey of endangering civilians and threatening peace and security with its Syrian operation, US President Donald Trump has announced upcoming tariffs and sanctions against Turkish officials and economy.

"Turkey's action is precipitating a humanitarian crisis and setting conditions for possible war crimes," Trump said on Monday, announcing the upcoming measures against Ankara.

In addition to an executive order sanctioning current and former officials involved in "destabilizing actions in northeast Syria," Trump said he would raise tariffs on Turkish steel to 50 percent, and immediately stop the negotiations over a trade deal valued at $100 billion.
[For full statement, go here.]

Comment: This is Trump's response to the criticism he has received for "abandoning the Kurds." It lets him appear tough and take the "correct" moral stance - by threatening to ensure that Turkey behaves in a way the critics of the withdrawal would prefer. By promising a response, he can still be perceived as a man of action, and not one who is simply picking up and hightailing it out of Syria. He's essentially siding with the critics of the withdrawal by focusing attention on the party both sides can agree is guilty - Turkey - leaving his critics stuck in the position of kind of having to agree with him. Ironically, because of Russia's mediation, those same folks - who have been cheerleading for the Kurds - are now in a position to also side with Assad, who has taken up the mantle of their protector. Must be a cause for some mighty cognitive dissonance.

See also:

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Smiley

High-level trolling? Greta Thunberg could be a Russian puppet, climate skeptic AfD


RT
Tue, 15 Oct 2019 00:00 UTC
Greta Thunburg
© Reuters / Rick Wilking
An Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) MEP has written to the European Commission to request a probe into whether Greta Thunberg's eco movement could represent a "hybrid threat" to Europe and be "financed and steered" by Russia.

In the written question to the Commission, Jörg Meuthen notes that he has been "following with interest" the measures being taken by Europe to "avert hybrid threats." He describes hybrid threats as being designed to "influence decision-making, to weaken societies and undermine unity."

But could we really be looking at yet another of the Kremlin's many feared discord-sowing tentacles wearing the doomsaying teen activist as a sock puppet?

Comment: See also:

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Sheriff

Die or ask the Syrian government to take them in: The Kurdish militias simply have no other options

Mikhail Khodarenok
RT
Tue, 15 Oct 2019 19:12 UTC
Syrian army
© Reuters / SANA
Locals greet Syrian army soldiers in the town of Ain Issa, Syria.
Tensions in eastern Syria are flaring, after Turkey launched its military operation in the country's north-east. As Turks and their proxies advance, Kurds retreat, defending themselves - possibly right into the arms of Damascus.

The state of play

Turkish forces are targeting two areas, Ras al-Ayn and Tel Abyad. They have inched forward 10-15 km into Syrian territory towards Ras al-Ayn and are up to 30 km inside Syria on the way to Tel Abyad. They have even set up a foothold mid-way. The Turkish army wants to block the strategic M4 highway along the Turkish border, which links Syria's economic capital Aleppo with its administrative center, Al-Hasakah, in the country's north-east.

Turkey has deployed commandos, special ops forces, tanks and artillery. Its forces on the ground, all part of Operation Peace Spring, include 14,000 troops, 120 tanks, 230 armored combat vehicles and 240 artillery pieces.

Comment: See also:

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Caesar

Russia's Balanced Diplomacy in Middle East on Rise as US War Policy Crashes

Finian Cunningham
RT
Tue, 15 Oct 2019 20:45 UTC
Putin saudi arabia
© Reuters / Bandar Algaloud / Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia's King Salman attend a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 14, 2019
The timing is not merely coincidental. The shambolic policymaking of the Trump administration has thrown the Middle East into further chaos, while countries are increasingly viewing Russia as a source of stability.

The high respect afforded to Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit this week to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates speaks of a new geopolitical reality in the region. Both countries are traditional US allies, but it is Russia that appears to be the one held in more regard.


Comment: Check out how the Emirates welcomed Putin today:



Russia's pragmatic policy of "talking with everyone" sees it maintaining good relations with a host of nations, notwithstanding that several of these nations are among themselves either estranged or implacable enemies. Putin is hosted by the Saudi and Emirati monarchs despite the fact that Moscow has a growing alliance with Iran - the perceived Shia nemesis of the Sunni potentates in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
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Fire

Victory or fire: The plan for Hong Kong

Tom Luongo
Gold Goats 'N Guns
Mon, 14 Oct 2019 00:00 UTC
ProtestersHK
© Unknown
It's become quite clear to me that the situation in Hong Kong is now about regime change through economic terrorism. What started as peaceful protests against an extradition law and worry over reunification with China has morphed into an ugly and vicious assault on the city's economic future.

These are being perpetrated by the so-called "Black Bloc," roving bands of mask-wearing, police-tactic defying vandals attacking randomly around the city to disrupt people going to work.

Pepe Escobar has been doing exemplary work in recent months covering the ins and outs of Asian politics. His latest article covers the "Black Bloc," their tactics and who's likely behind them in Hong Kong:
"More likely to be informed is Hong Kong garment and media tycoon Jimmy Lai, billionaire publisher of the pro-democracy Apple Daily, the city's Chinese Communist Party critic-in-chief and highly visible interlocutor of official Washington, DC, notables such as US Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and ex-National Security Council head John Bolton.

"On September 6, before the onset of the deranged vandalism and violence that have defined Hong Kong "pro-democracy protests" over the past several weeks, Lai spoke with Bloomberg TV's Stephen Engle from his Kowloon home.

"He pronounced himself convinced that - if protests turned violent China would have no choice but to send People's Armed Police units from Shenzen into Hong Kong to put down unrest.

"That," he said on Bloomberg TV, "will be a repeat of the Tiananmen Square massacre and that will bring in the whole world against China..... Hong Kong will be done, and ... China will be done, too."
Jimmy Lai is telling you what the strategy is here. The goal is to thoroughly undermine China's standing on the world stage and raise that of the U.S. This is economic warfare, it's a hybrid war tactic. And the soldiers are radicalized kids in uniforms bonking old men on the heads with sticks and taunting cops.
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Propaganda

NYT has been 'duped by spooks and terrorists' - Russian military corrects flaws in report on hospital bombings


RT
Mon, 14 Oct 2019 14:39 UTC
field hospital
© AFP/George Durfalian
Rebel shelled field hospital in Furqan neighborhood of Aleppo, 2016.
A damning report by the New York Times, which accused Russia of bombing four UN-protected hospitals in Syria, is a product of misinformation by Western intelligence services and jihadists, the Russian military said.

On Sunday, the leading US newspaper said it had irrefutable proof that Russian warplanes had bombed four sites in Syria, which it knew to be locations of civilian hospitals. The accusation stems from analysis of social media, interviews with witnesses, data provided by local plane spotters and records of communications of the Russian military deployed in Syria. The bombings, which happened on May 5 and 6, are just a faction [sic fraction] of attacks on civilian infrastructure, for which Moscow carries responsibility, the newspaper alleged.

Responding to the accusation on Monday, the Russian military said Times report was flawed for several reasons, including failure to explain that Idlib Governorate, where the four alleged bombings took place, lives under rule of brutal jihadists. That detail affects the entire narrative, indicating its flawed sourcing.

Comment: From Sputnik, 14/10/2019: Hospital allegedly 'destroyed' in Syria is well-protected terrorist bunker
The New York Times previously claimed that the Russian Air Forces had bombed several hospitals in Syria back in May. The newspaper said that local journalists had filmed the bombing and proved the incident via a radio recording of a ground controller giving the coordinates of the facility to the pilots.

The Russian Ministry of Defence stated on Monday that the "bomb-destroyed" hospital in Syria mentioned in the NYT reports was actually a terrorist base in a cave, adding that 80 journalists saw it.

The Russian military representative pointed out that "the hospital for civilians" was located in an area far from settlements in an "isolated cave", where medics couldn't have upheld any standards for treating injured people.

According to Gen. Major Igor Konashenkov, the media fell for another disinformation stunt, propagated by the British intelligence services, masked as news from "activists".

He also dismissed claims about "eavesdropped" dialogue between pilots and ground controllers, stressing that the military does not use open radio channels to transmit coordinates.


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Star of David

Israel to force its own Bedouin citizens into refugee camps


adalah.org
Thu, 10 Oct 2019 00:00 UTC
Bedouin community
© Mati Milstein
A general view of a Bedouin community located in the Naqab (Negev) desert.
Israel plans 'urgent' forced displacement of tens of thousands of Bedouin citizens from unrecognized villages in Naqab (Negev) desert into refugee or displacement camps to make way for military and other development projects, without offering any permanent housing solutions.

Israel is taking the first steps towards establishing desert refugee or displacement camps designed to hold tens of thousands of Bedouin citizens whom it plans to "urgently" displace from their homes in unrecognized villages across the Naqab (Negev) desert - without offering them any permanent and just housing solutions.

Israel's Southern District Planning and Building Committee convened on Sunday, 6 October 2019, to discuss two plans - 652-0767921 and 624-0765792 - "Temporary Residential and Public Building Solutions for the Bedouin Population in the Negev."

The plans are intended "to provide temporary housing solutions for the unregulated Bedouin population, in cases where the population is urgently required to move from their living sites before permanent buildings are established" (emphasis added). Once approved, the plans would enable the "temporary" structures to remain for a period of up to six years.

In January 2019, Israel's Bedouin Development and Settlement Authority announced a plan for the forced displacement of 36,000 Bedouin citizens to make way for "economic projects" and the expansion of live-fire training areas for the Israeli military.

Comment: The Bedouins, an indigenous Palestinian Arab minority, have occupied the Naqab desert since the 7th Century with settlements dating back to the 16th Century, claiming 600,000 dunums (200,000 acres), or less than 5% of the total area of the Naqab. Considered a demographic and geo-political threat by the State of Israel, they are referred to by the Israeli government as "squatters" and "illegal trespassers" who are stealing State land. -Adalah, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel

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Arrow Down

Vatican: Pope's security chief steps down over financial leak scandal


Sputnik
Mon, 14 Oct 2019 23:49 UTC
Pope Francis
© Sputnik/Vladimir Astapkovich
Pope Francis in Vatican, Rome
The Vatican was shaken by a new scandal two weeks ago after the Italian magazine L'Espresso published its internal police flyer signed by Pope Francis' chief bodyguard Domenico Giani. It identified five staffers who were suspended following a raid on two Vatican offices amid a reported probe into one of the Holy See's estate deals.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation tendered by Domenico Giani, the Commander of the Vatican Gendarmerie, over the now-infamous leak concerning the investigation into alleged irregularities surrounding a real estate deal involving the Holy See. The Vatican's Press Office released a statement on Monday, saying the pontiff "expressed his appreciation to the commander for his gesture."

It specifies that the 57-year-old police chief "bears no personal responsibility in the unfolding of the events," but resigned "out of love for the Church and faithfulness to Peter's Successor." The resignation is said to assure "the proper serenity to the ongoing investigation". The statement reads:
"Pope Francis also recalled Domenico Giani's twenty years of unquestionable fidelity and loyalty and underlined how, by offering an outstanding witness in many parts of the world, Commander Giani was able to establish and guarantee a lasting atmosphere of ease and security around the Holy Father."

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

US eyes Russia's Arctic waters like a delusional creepy stalker


RT
Tue, 15 Oct 2019 18:37 UTC
Arctic
© Sputnik / Alexander Kovalev
The United States intends to deprive Russia of its right to the Northern Sea Route (NSR) which lies in Arctic waters and within Russia's Exclusive Economic Zone.

That's according to media reports, saying Washington believes that the NSR should be open to the entire world community, and not only to Russia.

"The current US political elite has "suddenly" forgotten Article 234 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which guarantees Russia the right to the North Sea (because it is in the inland waters of this country), and which also recognizes Canada's right to passage northwest of this sea route,"'wrote Pecat magazine's journalist Zoran Milosevic.
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