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Iraqi prime minister to open Al Qaim border crossing with Syria


Sputnik
Sat, 28 Sep 2019 18:29 UTC
iraq soldier flag
© Associated Press/Bram Janssen
A member of the Iraqi federal police wears an Iraqi flag around his shoulders before going to battle against the Islamic State group
Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abd Al-Mahdi authorized the major Al Qaim crossing at the Syrian border to be opened on Monday, a representative of the Iraqi border crossing authority said Saturday.

"Prime Minister Adil Abd Al-Mahdi agreed to open Al Qaim checkpoint at the Syrian border on Monday, 30 September", Alaeddin Qaisi said, quoted by the Alsumaria broadcaster.

Al Qaim, also referred to as Al Bukamal (Al Bukamal-Qa'im) Al-Qa'im, located in the western province of Anbar, was one of the last liberated areas during the Iraqi military operation against the Daesh terrorist group in 2017.

Comment: Liberated jointly by the Syrian and Iraqi forces in 2017 re-opening the Al Bukamal-Qa'im corridor is another step to normalizing life in both countries after the nightmare of ISIS.

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Star of David

Netanyahu, Gantz will both have shots at forming new Israeli government - failure means ANOTHER election


Sputnik
Sat, 28 Sep 2019 17:31 UTC
Netanyahu Gantz
© Kobi Gideon / GPO / File
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz.
The Prime Minister was given 28 days with a possible 14-day extension to form a government, but Israeli media suggest he won't wait that long. There are still options to overcome the political deadlock, but party leaders have expressed little interest in pursuing them.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will most likely announce as soon as next week that he is unable to form a government, which will bring Israel closer to a third national election. Both Channel 12 and Channel 13 have reported that, despite having 28 days to try to muster a Knesset majority (and 14 more days if an extension is needed), Netanyahu will return his mandate to President Reuven Rivlin as soon as the festival of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) is over, according to The Times of Israel.

Comment: Netanyahu has been a festering sore of scandal and corruption in Israeli politics for years: On the other hand, Gantz is no prize, but the Palestinian Joint List coalition has held their nose and thrown in with Blue and White:

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Fire

Trump's critics & backers trade blows as Washington hunkers down for impeachment fight - 'This is war'


RT
Sat, 28 Sep 2019 17:03 UTC
pelosi impeach Trump
With impeachment the talk of the town in Washington, President Donald Trump's most fierce critics and defenders are squaring off, reacting to a Democratic initiative to remove him from office over an alleged abuse of power.

On Tuesday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said the House was "moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry," unifying ongoing investigations in six congressional committees under the umbrella of an impeachment probe. Citing a July phone call between President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, Pelosi argued that the president abused his authority and broke the law by directing Zelensky to reopen an investigation into the overseas business dealings of former vice president Joe Biden's son, Hunter. The transcript of the call, however, failed to show any nefarious quid-pro-quo as alleged by Trump's opponents.

Comment: Giuliani laid out the Ukraine situation vis a vis Trump almost four months ago:



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Attention

Yemen's Houthis claim 'senior Saudi officers' among captured or killed in major operation near Najran


RT
Sat, 28 Sep 2019 17:04 UTC
Houthi fighters
© Reuters / Khaled Abdullah
Houthi fighters.
Houthis have launched a major operation against Saudi forces near the kingdom's southern region of Najran, capturing or killing a significant number of troops, their spokesman said. Riyadh has yet to confirm or deny the claim.

In a televised address on Saturday, the group's spokesman said they'd inflicted heavy losses on the Saudi forces, capturing several high-ranking officers and a large cache of weaponry, including armored vehicles. He also claimed several hundreds of Saudi troops, including some high-ranking officers, have been killed or taken prisoner by the Houthis.


Comment: This is a pretty major victory for the Houthis if true. The Saudis can't say they weren't warned...

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USA

GOP Rep. Aderholt: Biden 'out of the picture' — 'consensus' among House members is Elizabeth Warren will be Dem nominee

Jeff Poor
Breitbart
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 17:03 UTC
Elizabeth Warren
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Allegations of President Donald Trump improperly exerting pressure on the Ukraine government for an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden and the heightened specter of Trump's impeachment have dominated political headlines in recent days.

During an appearance on Huntsville, AL radio's WVNN during an appearance in Washington, D.C. at the Federation for American Immigration Reform's (FAIR) Hold Their Feet to the Fire annual radio event, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) discussed the possible motivations of the renewed push against Trump as it pertained to Ukraine.

"I think they're trying to make the president look bad," Aderholt said. "That's one aspect of it - but also trying to appease their Democrat base on the other side. Now what is going to be interesting, I think, is see what in the next few days and next couple of weeks what we see this does to Biden because Biden is all wrapped up in this whole thing and his son Hunter. So, I don't know how that's going to have an impact."
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TV

Germany's state funded broadcaster broke law with coverage inciting Moscow protesters to "come out" - Russian commission


RFE/RL
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 12:49 UTC
deutsche welle
A Russian parliamentary commission says German state-funded broadcaster Deutsche Welle violated the law with its coverage of protests this summer, and that lawmakers will continue to investigate other media outlets, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, on similar possible legal breaches.

Vasily Piskarev, chairman of the Commission on Foreign Interference in Russia's Internal Affairs, said on September 27 that parliament will now ask the Foreign Ministry to consider revoking Deutsche Welle's accreditation to operate in the country.

The case specifically noted that Deutsche Welle's Russian service wrote in a tweet on July 27 "Moscow Come Out!" which the commission said was an attempt to influence the internal affairs of Russia.


Comment: Appearing to incite people to "come out" and protest - bearing in mind they aren't quoting anyone - is fairly underhand. Had Russia done similar there would be an uproar.


"While acting on the territory of Russia, Deutsche Welle has violated laws, many laws," Piskarev said.

"We decided that the designated bodies must provide a response to these violations," he added.

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

'The masks are off': 'Occupier' US openly sided with terrorists with new sanctions - Moscow


RT
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 01:41 UTC
Aleppo
© REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Members of Jaish al-Islam in the town of Soussian in Aleppo countryside, Syria September 23, 2018.
By blacklisting a shipping company and five vessels for supplying the Russian military battling terrorists in Syria with fuel, the US has come out as a sponsor of militants there, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.

Three Russian individuals, five vessels and a shipping company were sanctioned by Washington for their alleged role in "a sanctions evasion scheme to facilitate the delivery of jet fuel to Russian forces operating in Syria," the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) reported Thursday.

Maritime Assistance LLC was designated for serving as "a front" for another shipping firm, Sovfracht, blacklisted by the US back in September 2016 over its operations in Crimea, after the peninsula reunited with Russia. The three Russians are senior Sovracht executives, who were allegedly in charge of Maritime Assistance LLC's operations.

Comment: As detailed in the article Leaked Docs Reveal US And Saudi Arabia Supplying Terrorists in Yemen - Serbia files (Part 3) it has been proven beyond a doubt that the US in league with its allies have been directly supplying terrorists. This most recent event further proves that they're also doing all they can to shield their proxy army from inevitable justice being meted out by Russia and its allies.

See also:

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People

Don't rock the boat: The selective use of identity politics to maintain the status quo

Neil Clark
RT
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 14:31 UTC
Warren, Gabbard, Omar
© REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson; Gretchen Ertl; Mary F. Calvert
Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi Gabbard and Ilhan Omar
Identity politics is shamelessly exploited by pro-war western Establishments to promote certain candidates, but only those who promote the 'right' elite-friendly policy stances.

She's the first from her ethnic background to make it to Congress, and the first of her religion too. And of course, she's a woman as well. Now you might have thought that those PC hipsters and Inside the Tent self-proclaimed 'feminists' who championed 'Hillary for President' not so long ago, and were telling us what a huge advance it would be for women around the globe for the US to have its first female president, would be falling over themselves to endorse Tulsi Gabbard, who not only has the right sex, but ticks other diversity boxes too.

But guess what? They're not. Far from it. A lot of these people have been at the forefront of those attacking Tulsi. They not only don't want her as President, they don't want her in debates either. All of a sudden ticking gender, race and religious boxes isn't so important. Gabbard once met Assad, and that puts her out of it.
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Smoking

Russia's Emergency Ministry bans smoking on apartment balconies

Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC News
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 14:47 UTC
Russian woman smoking on balcony
© Getty Images (file photo)
Russian smokers have been left gasping after the emergencies ministry announced that smoking on the balconies of apartment blocks would be banned under new fire regulations.

Under the new rules, "open fire" is prohibited on apartment balconies, as well as in the living areas of dormitories and hotels.

Lighting matches and smoking are both classed as open fire, officials say. Barbecuing kebabs and lighting candles will also be banned, reports say.

There was initial confusion as to whether smoking was included in the ban, with one tobacco industry official insisting that the new rules were all about "alcoholics who grill shish kebabs on the balcony".
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Attention

Erdogan vows to continue purchasing oil and natural gas from Iran despite US sanctions


The Times of Israel
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 15:18 UTC
Turkish leader says 'impossible' to sever all energy ties with Tehran over reimposed American sanctions
erdogan
© Don Emmert / AFP
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York, September 24, 2019.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Ankara would continue to purchase oil and natural gas from Iran despite US sanctions, in comments published on Friday.

The United States reimposed sanctions on Iran after pulling out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, and says it aims to reduce Tehran's energy sales to zero.

"It is impossible for us to cancel relations with Iran with regards to oil and natural gas. We will continue to buy our natural gas from there," Erdogan told Turkish reporters before leaving New York where he was attending the UN General Assembly.

Despite this vow, Erdogan admitted Turkey faced difficulty in purchasing oil since the private sector "pulled back because of US threats," NTV broadcaster reported.

Comment: See also: The Russia-Turkey-Iran triangle is gaining traction

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