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Rogue state: Can Israel be expelled from UN?

Netanyahu Israel United Nations UN flag
The conditions of membership in the U.N. are specified in the U.N. Charter. Specifically, "Articles 5 and 6 of the Charter of the United Nations deal respectively with suspension of rights and privileges of membership, and with expulsion from the United Nations." But the operative part is Article 6, which reads:
"A Member of the United Nations which has persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the Organization by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council."
Israel certainly qualifies, but the United States Government, which is controlled by the anti-Shia and anti-Iran alliance between Israel's Government providing the anti-Iran lobbyists and propagandists, and the Saudi Government providing the anti-Iran bribe-money, won't allow that. Consequently, no matter how violative of the U.N. Charter Israel is, it cannot be expelled.

The United States Government likewise is routinely violating the U.N. Charter and cannot be expelled, because this very Government is on the U.N.'s own Security Council as one of the five permanent members: it would veto its own expulsion.

Arrow Up

Italy's new PM vows immediate implementation of stricter asylum laws and moving budget away from EU control

Guideppe Conte
© Reuters
Guideppe Conte addresses the media for the first time in his new role.
Giuseppe Conte has vowed quick reforms after being confirmed as prime minister by Italy's President Sergio Mattarella, following months of grueling talks that have put the Euroskeptic Five Star Movement-Lega coalition in charge.

"This will be the government of change," said the former law professor and lawyer at the traditional maiden speech at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, where he was summoned on Wednesday afternoon after his compromise candidacy was announced last week.

Conte, 53, said he would immediately begin implementing stricter asylum requirements and negotiate a loosening Italy's budget, away from Brussels' spending requirements, describing himself as "defense lawyer for the Italian people."

Comment: It remains to be seen how the bureaucrats in the EU and the corrupt Western establishment will react but if Greece and Hungary (and Poland and Czech Republic and basically any EU country wishing for some autonomy) are anything to go by, Italy may have a struggle up ahead:


Chess

Israeli parliament submits new legislation to support 'independent Kurdistan'

Israeli and Kurdish flags on people's back
A year has passed since the Iraqi Kurds held an illegal and unconstitutional referendum backed by Israel for the creation of a Kurdish state. Now Israel might officially supply aid thanks to a piece of legislation that has been submitted to the Israeli parliament.

Israeli parliamentarians have held discussions on ways to help Kurds build their own state in Syria, Iraq and Turkey. According to one of Israel's radio stations, the legislation in question was submitted to the Knesset by two Israeli right-wing parties, Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu. The radio quoted Yoav Kish as saying that backing the Kurdish minorities living in these countries (all of which are extremely hostile to Israel) now might be directly in the hands of the Israeli state.

"There is a reason why Israel was the first to publicly congratulate the "independence" of the Kurds in northern Iraq," Kish added.

Jet2

Israel brags it's the first to use faulty US F-35s to attack in Middle East, but it doesn't specify who it's attacking

Israeli Air Force F-35 fighter jet
© Amir Cohen / Reuters
FILE PHOTO An Israeli Air Force F-35 fighter jet flies during an aerial demonstration at the Hatzerim Airbase. December 27, 2017
Israel, which has conducted several air raids in neighboring Syria, now brags it is the first country to use the US-made F-35 in combat to "attack" targets in the Middle East. It did not specify the targets.

"We are flying the F-35 all over the Middle East. It had become part of our operational capabilities," Israel Air Force Commander Major-General Amikam Norkin said at the AF Senior Air Force Conference in Herzilya on Tuesday.

Norkin further stated that "We are the first to attack using the F-35 in the Middle East and have already attacked twice on different fronts." The Israeli Air Force chief, however, left out the part about which targets were actually hit by the jets, though Tel Aviv recently launched a massive attack inside war-ravaged neighbor Syria. It has also been blamed for a number of similar attacks, though weaker in scale. This has only fueled tensions in the region, triggering a fierce reaction from Damascus.

Comment: Genocidal, war-hungry and arrogant Israel allying itself with similar delusional and demented minds in the failing US empire is leading them both to the precipice of their ultimate downfall: Also check out SOTT radio's:


Airplane

Potential Syrian gov't convoy travels to Ankara

Syrianair Ilyushin Il-76T
A Russian plane made a special trip from Damascus on Wednesday for the Turkish capital of Ankara, Yoruk Isik of the Bosphorous Observer reported.

"Rossiya Special Flight Detachment Ilyushin Il -62 #RA86561 flew from Moscow Chkalovsky to Damascus, stayed for 6 hours, left Syria and flew to Esenboğa Ankara 30 min ago 17:46GMT/20:46local," Isik reported.


Jet4

Russian state corporation Rostec: China will get 10 Russian Su-35 fighter jets this year as part of $2.5bn deal

A Sukhoi SU-35 fighter jet
© Johannes Eisele / AFP
A Sukhoi SU-35 fighter jet
Beijing has so far received 14 Russian Sukhoi Su-35 multipurpose fighter jets, Russian state corporation Rostec said. Ten more jets are to be handed over to China this year.

The $2.5bn contract for the delivery of a total of 24 long-range 4++ generation super-maneuverable aircraft was signed between Rostec and the Chinese government in November 2015. Four Su-35s were previously delivered to China in 2016, and 10 more were shipped in 2017.

Beijing will receive 10 more fighter jets this year, as was earlier defined in the contract, Interfax reports, citing a statement by the company at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which is being held from May 24 to 26.

Comment: See also: China signs contract with Russia to buy 24 Su-35 fighter jets


Snakes in Suits

What else is new? Israeli government minister tells EU to 'Go to a thousand, thousand hells' over calls to probe Gaza border violence

Yuval Steinitz

Israel's Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz
Unhappy about EU calls to probe alleged Israeli police brutality against activists protesting the bloodshed on the Gaza border, Israel's Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said the EU could go "to a thousand thousand hells."

Steinitz was giving an interview to a local radio station when he said of the EU, "Let them go to a thousand thousand hells," as cited by Haaretz. His response followed the EU's call for a "swift investigation" into the Israeli police's violent crackdown on protesters in Haifa last Friday. They had been criticising the State of Israel for the high death toll at the border with Gaza.

The protests resulted in the serious injury of Jafar Farah, director of the Haifa-based NGO Mossawa, which champions the rights of Israeli-Arabs.

The Israeli minister said he wished to send "to hell the European Union which doesn't really represent the European nations."

Comment: The world of people who care about the going ons in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere are quite used to being told to go to hell by Israel (in word if not in deed) for many decades now. Hell will probably freeze over before any internationally recognized probe unequivocally calls Israel's psychopathic behavior illegal or criminal. So don't you worry, Steinitz.


War Whore

US-led strike hits Syrian government military targets in Syria

F-15E Strike Eagles
© US Air Force/Senior Airman Matthew Bruch/Handout / Reuters
FILE PHOTO: A pair of US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles
US-led coalition warplanes have bombed several Syrian army positions in the eastern Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor, state media outlet SANA reports, citing a military source.

The attack took place shortly after midnight on Thursday. SANA reported that the US-led coalition aircraft inflicted limited material damage and no casualties. The airstrikes, which hit near the city of Al-Bukamal, were reportedly coordinated with anti-government militants.

Earlier, Lebanon's Hezbollah group, an ally of the Syrian forces in the fight with Islamic State (IS, former ISIS/ISIL) said the coalition jets targeted two Syrian army outposts, including an energy installation near the Iraqi border.

Comment: Stay tuned for updates on this limited and symbolic but utterly idiotic show of force from the Americans.


Cookies

Yulia Skripal finally appears after 11 weeks - Tells world to leave her alone in pre-recorded message

yulia skripal
© Reuters
Yulia Skripal gave a single press conference on May 23, 2018, before disappearing again.
Yulia Skripal has said she wishes to return to Russia "in the longer term" despite the nerve agent attack on her and her father Sergei, which she described as life-changing.

In her first appearance since being discharged from hospital, Yulia said that she had flown to London on 3 March to visit her father, something she had done regularly in the past. The Skripals were found a day later in a comatose condition on a park bench in the centre of Salisbury.

"After 20 days in a coma, I woke to the news that we had both been poisoned," she said. "I still find it hard to come to terms that both of us were attacked. We are so lucky to both have survived this attempted assassination.

"Our recovery has been slow and extremely painful. The fact that a nerve agent was used to do this is shocking. I don't want to describe the details, but the physical treatment was invasive, painful and depressing."


Comment: A pre-recorded statement for select media outlets? Given the paucity of information and the pile of questions surrounding what happened, there's something rather totalitarian about that...

The Skripal Affair remains as murky as ever. And the British authorities' behavior is, frankly, Soviet.


Attention

Promises, promises: Trump vows to guarantee safety of Kim Jong-un if he pursues denuclearization

Kim Jong-un
© KCNA / Reuters
Washington will guarantee the "safety" of Kim Jong-un if he pursues denuclearization, US President Donald Trump said, promising it would make the North Korean leader "happy" and his country "rich."

Striking a deal on denuclearization during the expected June 12 Trump-Kim summit would be very beneficial for Pyongyang, and would pave the way to "make North Korea great," President Trump said on Tuesday while meeting his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, at the White House.

"He will be safe, he will be happy, his country will be rich," Trump said. "Kim will be extremely happy if it works out."


Comment: Considering Washington's well-deserved reputation for duplicity, Kim would be well advised to take anything Trump promises with a huge grain of salt.