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Karachi's mayor-elect Waseem Akhtar to run city 'via video link from prison'


RT
Thu, 25 Aug 2016 14:47 UTC
Waseem Akhtar
© Akhtar Soomro / Reuters
Waseem Akhtar, mayor nominee of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) political party, gestures while speaking to members of the media (unseen) after the ballot for mayor outside the Municipal Corporation Building in Karachi, Pakistan, August 24, 2016.
Waseem Akhtar, the mayor-elect of Karachi, has promised to run Pakistan's biggest and richest city from his prison cell via a "video link," according to his lawyer. Akhtar was detained last month on suspicion of aiding alleged militants.

Akhtar is a member of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which has ruled the port city of Karachi for decades.

Authorities do not expect to release Akhtar before August 30, when he is scheduled to take his oath. Thus, Akhtar's plan is to run the city from prison, with prison guards arranging all his visits.

"He will open an office in jail and via video link he will conduct council sessions," Reuters quoted Akhtar's lawyer, Mahfooz Yar Khan, as saying. "He can run Karachi via video link for five years."

MQM has reportedly asked the prison to make sure Akhtar has a "well-furnished office" during his time in prison as well as have police escorts for meetings outside the jail.

Comment: Maybe Killary can do the same thing?

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Document

AP report on Clinton Foundation donors meeting with the war harpy finally published, after 3 years of stonewalling from Corrupt Hillary


Yahoo! News / AP
Tue, 23 Aug 2016 14:26 UTC
More than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money — either personally or through companies or groups — to the Clinton Foundation. It's an extraordinary proportion indicating her possible ethics challenges if elected president.

At least 85 of 154 people from private interests who met or had phone conversations scheduled with Clinton while she led the State Department donated to her family charity or pledged commitments to its international programs, according to a review of State Department calendars released so far to The Associated Press. Combined, the 85 donors contributed as much as $156 million. At least 40 donated more than $100,000 each, and 20 gave more than $1 million.

Donors who were granted time with Clinton included an internationally known economist who asked for her help as the Bangladesh government pressured him to resign from a nonprofit bank he ran; a Wall Street executive who sought Clinton's help with a visa problem; and Estee Lauder executives who were listed as meeting with Clinton while her department worked with the firm's corporate charity to counter gender-based violence in South Africa.
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Book

Russia to introduce nationwide blacklists of ex-officials sacked over 'loss of trust'


RT
Thu, 25 Aug 2016 14:39 UTC
Man with briefcase
© Ekaterina Shtukina / Sputnik
The Russian Government has approved an initiative to create a register of former officials who have lost their posts due to "loss of trust" in order to prevent them from re-entering state service.

At present, civil servants dismissed for unethical behavior can avoid the consequences, as the reason for their termination is not listed in their "labor book" - a personal record book that Russians keep throughout their careers in which their employers enter the details of their work history.

By introducing a nationwide register, state agencies would be able to avoid hiring people with tarnished reputations. The proposal stipulates that municipal officials and people working in courts who are fired for "loss of trust" be put on a blacklist, which is to be made available on a special internet portal dedicated to civil service.
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Jet5

Germany mulls withdrawing jets from Incirlik airbase amid souring ties with Turkey


RT
Thu, 25 Aug 2016 14:33 UTC
German Tornado jet
© Tobias Schwarz / Reuters
German MPs are reportedly considering withdrawing six Tornado aircraft from Turkey's Incirlik airbase if Ankara continues to deny them access to the German troops deployed there amid escalating tensions between the two NATO allies.

The Bundeswehr is evaluating several options, which include moving six Tornado reconnaissance jets and refueling aircraft from Incirlik to Jordanian or Cypriot air bases, Spiegel magazine reported on Thursday, citing military sources.

The warplanes regularly fly combat missions to support the US-led coalition's air campaign against Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL) in neighboring Iraq and Syria.
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Bad Guys

Increasing the fear and paranoia: France to deploy 3k troops, prepare students for terror attacks on school


RT
Thu, 25 Aug 2016 12:38 UTC
French soldier
© Charles Platiau / Reuters
France will deploy around 3,000 reserve troops to provide security to schools, education and security ministers have announced. Anti-terror drills aimed at preparing students for potential attacks will also be ramped up.

Around 12 million French students are preparing to head back to school on September 1, but the government is also making plans of its own. Those plans are aimed at protecting pupils and preparing them for possible attacks on their schools.

All students aged 13-14 will be adding basic life-saving measures to their portfolio of skills, in case they need to provide assistance to classmates in a worse-case scenario. Right now, only 30 percent of students are trained, Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said in a Wednesday press conference, according to AP.

Around 500 school administrators will also be trained each year at the national gendarme training center to manage crisis centers and act as liaisons with security officials.

Vallaud-Belkacem said during the press conference that the new plans are "not about ceding to panic or paranoia," but conceded that "the threat is high, it is real."

In addition to training students and staff stepping up to the plate, security forces have been ordered to be particularly vigilant around schools, and some 3,000 gendarme reservists will be deployed to provide reinforcement for local authorities, including police, Reuters reported.
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Megaphone

Turkey condemns Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Gaza Strip

Diyar Guldogan and Satuk Bugra Kutlugu
Anadolu Agency
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 13:24 UTC
turkey building
The Turkish Foreign Ministry Monday strongly condemned Israel's disproportionate attacks in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

"The attacks, which caused injuries to innocent Palestinian civilians, are not acceptable regardless of their grounds," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said Israel's "hostile attitude" had interrupted the peace process as well as a period of inactivity.

"Normalizing ties with Israel does not mean that we will keep silent in the face of attacks against the Palestinian people," it added, referring to ties recently restored after a break of six years.

It said Turkey will continue to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people against Israeli action that violates international law and offends the conscience.
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Wall Street

That will be the day: Trump says Brexit vote sets example for US to go against international bankers - Farage speech at Mississippi rally (VIDEO)


Sputnik
Thu, 25 Aug 2016 12:26 UTC
Donald Trump
© Flickr/ Gage Skidmore
Anti-EU campaigner Nigel Farage and the UK Brexit vote set an example for the United States to follow in breaking free of multinational corporations and a world without borders, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told a rally in Jackson in the US state of Mississippi.

"On June 23, the people of Britain voted to declare their independence from international government," Trump said on Wednesday night. "They voted to break away from rule by large corporations and media executives who believe in a world without borders... The same thing is happening in America."
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Wolf

Biden's Balkan visit: Serbia at the geopolitical crossroad

Stephen Karganovic
The Saker
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 02:22 UTC
Biden visit serbia EU Nato
© Beta
US Vice President Joe Biden welcomed by Serbian officials at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport. Photo:
US Vice President Joseph Biden just completed a "three day visit to Serbia." The phrase in quotes is the spin Serbia's puppet government in Belgrade puts on it. He actually spent only a couple of hours in Belgrade, just enough to deliver instructions. From there he flew off to Prishtina to spend the bulk of his time on Serbian territory in the NATO occupied province of Kosovo with his real friends, who were put in charge as a result of the 1999 aggression against Yugoslavia.

It is assumed that Biden's visit will be the last to the Balkans by a senior Obama Administration official, so it may be of more than passing policy significance. What kind of message did Biden bring to Serbia and the occupied province of Kosovo?

There is no reliable way of answering that question other than by observing carefully Serbian government's moves in the visit's wake, which should give us the necessary clues. Official statements make it clear that the overall purpose of the visit was to strong-arm the Serbian government into accelerating its alignment with NATO and EU, which are practically synonymous. Explicit (and rather ominous) reference was made to Serbia's standardization of arms and equipment with NATO. Another important "unfinished business" item was to put the final touches on Serbia's abandonment of NATO-occupied Kosovo. Next month, for no discernible reason other than an otherwise empty, symbolic gesture of Western-mandated "regional cooperation," the Serbian cabinet will hold a joint session with not only its counterparts from Albania, but also with officials of break-away Kosovo, who will attend as a government entity even though Kosovo is legally a part of Serbia. Needless to say, the agenda of "regional cooperation" and strict adherence to Biden's injunctions must prevail, and the separatists will not be arrested by the Serbian authorities for treason at this meeting.

Comment: Some last minute housekeeping in preparation for Killary's coronation?

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Mr. Potato

Unhinged ex-Pentagon official calls for 'rolling no-fly' line in Syria


Sputnik
Thu, 25 Aug 2016 01:12 UTC
jet sky
© AFP 2016/ ARIS MESSINIS
The United States should issue a rolling "no-fly" line in Syria to prevent accidents between US and Syrian forces, former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Steven Bucci told Sputnik.

Department of Defense Press Secretary Peter Cook said at a press briefing earlier this week that the United States is prepared to communicate directly with the Syrian government to avoid another situation like the Syrian Air Force conducting airstrikes near ground forces close to Hasakah.

"The United States should issue a rolling 'no fly' line and tell [Syrian President Bashar] Assad that any aircraft that enters such an area will be shot down and that any 'accidental' air strikes on Allied forces or those supported by the allies will prompt a retaliation," Bucci said on Wednesday.

Comment: Imagine Russian special forces land in the US. Russian jets appear over the States, bombing targets it says contain terrorists. Russian officials then call for a "no fly" line and tell President Obama that any American aircraft that enters such an area will be shot down and that any "accidental" airstrikes on Russian forces will prompt a retaliation. You'd think the world went slightly mad, no? Well, it already is, because that is essentially what is happening in Syria.





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Wine

Ukraine celebrates 25 years of economic collapse

Eduard Popov
Fort Russ
Wed, 24 Aug 2016 23:08 UTC
Ukraine market
On August 24th, Ukraine celebrates independence day. Supposedly on this day in 1991, Ukraine declared its independence. But even the date is rather controversial: up until the abolition of the USSR in December 1991, Ukraine legally remained part of the union state. The near end of the existence of the USSR was the Ukrainian referendum of December 1st, 1991 in which the majority of participants voted for independence. Finally, there were the Belovezh Accords, a declaration by the presidents of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus on December 8th, 1991.

The validity of both acts is questionable from a legal point of view but, nevertheless, it was from this point on that the existence of an independent Ukraine came into existence. I propose that we briefly estimate the economic results of Ukraine's 25 years of independence.
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