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Russia's banking system completed SWIFT alternative


RT
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 13:29 UTC
Russian SWIFT alternative
© Natalia Seliverstova / Sputnik
If the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is shut down in Russia, the country's banking system will not crash, according to Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina. Russia has a substitute. "There were threats that we can be disconnected from SWIFT. We have finished working on our own payment system, and if something happens, all operations in SWIFT format will work inside the country. We have created an alternative," Nabiullina said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

She also added that 90 percent of ATMs in Russia are ready to accept the Mir payment system, a domestic version of Visa and MasterCard. Izvestia daily reported that as of January 2016, 330 Russian banks had been connected to the SWIFT alternative, the system for transfer of financial messages (SPFS). In 2014 and 2015, when the crisis in relations between Russia and the West were at their peak over Crimea and eastern Ukraine, some Western politicians urged disconnecting Russia from SWIFT. In November 2015, Nabiullina said the SPFS was close to being completed.

The central bank's website says the system was established "as an alternative channel for interbank cooperation with the aim of ensuring the guaranteed and uninterrupted provision of services for the transmission of electronic messages on financial transactions." At present, the system has some drawbacks. It doesn't work from 9pm to 5am Moscow time and costs up to five cents per wire transfer, which is regarded expensive.

Comment: Since Russia has been forced to create an alternative to SWIFT, it invited its BRICS partners to participate, and that is what is happening.
See also:

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Star of David

What's the true nature of Russian-Israeli relations in Syria?

Andrew Korybko
The Duran
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 12:32 UTC
putin_netanyahu
Claims which draw on a comment of Syria's UN ambassador Bashar Jaafari that Russia has threatened to shoot down Israeli aircraft bombing Syria are completely wrong and misunderstand the nature of Russia's relationship with both Israel and Syria. Russia has taken on no commitment to defend Syria from Israel, and has no wish to jeopardise its very good relations with Israel by threatening to do so.

A lot of speculation is swirling around nowadays concerning the words of Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari in relation to Israel's illegal and aggressive airstrikes against the Syrian Arab Army near Palmyra last weekend.

Many people are interpreting Jaafari's comment as conveying the idea that President Putin supposedly issued a threat to the new Israeli Ambassador, who was unprecedentedly summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs just a day after presenting his credentials.

Before diving into what he really meant and why people are so confused, let's take a look at Jaafari's exact words.

Comment: Further reading:

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Георгиевская ленточка

Donetsk coal is now rolling to Russia, Donbass blockade to cost Kiev 3.3 billion € in lost revenue and 75,000 jobs


Fort Russ
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 12:26 UTC
Armed Donetsk miner illustration
© Rosiya na vsegdaArmed Donetsk miner.
- Sputnik France, translated by Tom Winter -

Shipments of coal to Russia have begun, Alexander Zakharchenko, President of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk, told reporters. This, following on the heels of the commercial blockade of Donbass organized by Ukrainian radicals at the end of January.

After the Ukrainian radicals imposed their rail blockade on Donbass, the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) took up the delivery of this fuel to Russia Tuesday [March 14].

"Let us remember, where did this production used to go? It went to Russia," said Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the republic. "Yes, it's a tough process that will take up to three months. But today, the first 95 cars are gone. This is a test lot."
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Dollars

Austria doubles cash offer for migrants to voluntarily leave country


RT
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 12:20 UTC
crowd of migrants
© Leonhard Foeger / ReutersMigrants run towards the Austrian border from Hegyeshalom, Hungary
As part of a campaign to speed up the repatriation of around 50,000 asylum seekers, Vienna said it would double the amount of money paid to migrants who voluntarily return home.

They would be paid €1,000 ($1,080) to leave the country instead of the €500 previously offered.

Austria's Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said the plan is primarily targeting "those who are not likely to be granted the right to long-term residence."

The payment offer is currently only available to the first 1,000 interested people who have already filed an asylum application.
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Satellite

Washington's little known spy agency: The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)

Stephen Lendman
Global Research
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 11:15 UTC
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
© Global Research
US spying is institutionalized - on anyone, anywhere for any reason or none at all.

Invented national security threats, targeting dissent and whistleblowers, along with challenging press freedom undermine fundamental rights.

In Palko v. Connecticut (1937), the Supreme Court called
"(f)reedom of thought the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom."
In Texas v. Johnson (1989), Justice William Brennan, writing for the majority, said
"if there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable."

"Thomas Jefferson said "(w)hat country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance." Free speech and other fundamental rights "cannot be limited without being lost."
Former US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall stressed:
"(a)bove all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression (regardless of its) ideas...subject matter (or) content....Our people are guaranteed the right to express any thought, free from government censorship" - along with having all other constitutional protections.
Unaccountable spying on Americans reflects police state rule, operating lawlessly, watching everyone to assure unchallenged control, wanting unacceptable ideas suppressed.

Comment: See also: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency: The 'transparent' spy organization you probably never heard of

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Map

FBI lies about extent of facial recognition program; unfettered access to photos in 18 states

Joshua Kopstein
Vocativ
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 16:25 UTC
Facial recognition software
© Getty Images
Lawmakers express anger and horror over the agency's face recognition system, which now has unfettered accesses to ID photos in 18 states

The FBI took fire from privacy advocates and members of Congress Wednesday over how it characterizes its face recognition program, which has allowed agents to access and algorithmically match the photos of tens of millions of Americans — including innocent people who have never been charged with a crime.

At a hearing convened by the House of Representatives' government oversight committee, experts and lawmakers pressed an FBI representative on the agency's misrepresentation of the program's scope, as well as its refusal to audit the accuracy of systems responsible for matching vast databases of photos with criminal suspects.

FBI spokesperson Kimberly Del Greco responded to several questions with statements that contradict what is currently known about the scope and capabilities of the agency's face recognition programs.

"The only information the FBI has and have collected in our database are criminal mugshot photos," Del Greco stated, when asked by committee chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) whether the FBI was collecting or storing photos of innocent people from other sources, like social media. "We do not have any other photos in our repository."

"That's not true," Chaffetz replied.
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Radar

Beijing warns US over B-1 bomber flying over East China Sea


Sputnik
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:44 UTC
US B-1 bomber
© AP Photo/ Osama Faisal
China's People's Liberation Army is not warmly embracing a US Air Force B-1 Bomber flying through international airspace over the East China Sea.

The PLA put the US on notice Wednesday after issuing a warning to the Pentagon for sending a military aircraft over the disputed East China Sea, a pair of US officials told Fox News. The East China Sea is bordered by Shanghai to the west, South Korea to the North, and Japan to the east. A US military official confirmed the presence of the B-1 near South Korea while corroborating the report that Chinese officials let the US Air Force know that Beijing was not pleased with the mission.
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Map

Syrian army gaining upper hand in Damascus fighting

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:22 UTC
Damascus, Syria
Syrian troops inflict heavy losses on Jihadis after driving back attack on Damascus.

Latest reports from the fighting in eastern Damascus say that the Syrian army has successfully recovered all the strong points captured by the Jihadis in their attack of yesterday.

In particular the Syrian troops have recaptured the 'Fabric Factory' - captured by the Jihadis yesterday - which is a lynchpin of Syrian defenses in the area.
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Attention

Over 100 NATO military vehicles arrive in Estonia as part of 'biggest deployment since Cold War'


RT
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:15 UTC
British tanks and military vehicles
© Raul Mee / AFPBritish tanks and military vehicles are unloaded at the port Estonian of Paldiski on March 22, 2017.
Scores of tanks, self-propelled artillery guns and other military hardware have started to arrive in Estonia from the UK and Germany, in what the UK defense minister has called the largest deployment in Eastern Europe since the Cold War.

The first of hundreds of UK military vehicles have arrived in Estonia on Wednesday, delivered by a ferry from ports in Britain and Germany, the UK Ministry of Defence reported.

The heavy military equipment - Challenger 2 tanks, Terrier, Titan and Trojan armored battlefield engineer vehicles as well as Warrior infantry fighting vehicles - will be moved from an Estonian port to a military base in Tapa, the ministry statement said.
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Pistol

Cop among four dead in Wisconsin shooting rampage


RT
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 08:58 UTC
Wisconsin shooting
© Dino Corvino / Twitter
One shooter killed four people across three crime scenes in three small Wisconsin towns before being taken into custody following a standoff with a SWAT team. A police officer is among the dead.

Some questions remain following press conferences with Marathon County police, who declined to release the names of those killed. Just before 12:30pm Wednesday, police responded to a "domestic situation" at Marathon Savings Bank, and then about 30 minutes later, they returned to the bank to find two people shot. The suspect had since fled the scene, WAOW reported.
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