© Unknown
President Trump obviously either didn't get the list of "things not to say when in the presence of the world's financial elite" or just didn't care. My guess is the latter.
Puppet Masters
President Trump obviously either didn't get the list of "things not to say when in the presence of the world's financial elite" or just didn't care. My guess is the latter.
© Staff/Reuters
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were charged with funneling foreign money into federal and state campaigns. They pleaded not guilty.
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were charged with funneling foreign money into federal and state campaigns. They pleaded not guilty.
The Florida businessman, whose family moved to the United States from the Soviet Union when he was a child, has said he was part of a multipronged effort led by former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani (R) to help President Trump's reelection campaign and damage a political opponent, former vice president Joe Biden.
Parnas has said he and his associate Igor Fruman used their deep knowledge of a Ukrainian government known for functioning on secret inside deals — a reputation it is trying to change — to support Giuliani's efforts. The two face federal charges over alleged campaign finance violations.
The trove of communications released in recent days from Parnas reveal a frantic schedule of meetings, telephone calls and mobile phone messages over the past year.
Comment: Giuliani has contradicted Parnas' assertions of working with him in Ukraine:
© Dominika Zarzycka / ZUMAPRESS.com via GlobalLookPress
File photo
File photo
The move comes some three and a half years after the referendum in which a narrow majority voted for the UK to leave the EU, having joined in 1973. The referendum sparked a tumultuous period in British politics including the resignations of two Tory prime ministers and two general elections.
Earlier on Wednesday, the House of Commons overturned changes made to the legislation by the House of Lords which would have included protections for child refugees following Britain's exit from the EU. The House of Lords later passed the legislation without pushing the proposed changes.
Comment: Now there's just the stickier issue of actually leaving the EU:
- The story of the UK general election is not Brexit, it's the coming break-up of Britain
- Someone Meddled in the UK Election & It Wasn't Russia
- Still Confused About Brexit? It's Actually Pretty Simple...
- Brexit Has Exposed The Rotten Foundations of Britain's Political System
IMF warns of new 'Great Depression', Russia ahead of the curve due to increased cash & gold reserves
© Sputnik / Alexei Druzhinin
FILE PHOTO: Vladimir Putin at Central Depository of Bank of Russia
FILE PHOTO: Vladimir Putin at Central Depository of Bank of Russia
Kristalina Georgieva isn't any sort of conspiracy theorist; she's the head of the International Monetary Fund. And when she warns that the global economy risks another "Great Depression," you would think everyone would listen.
But the Western reaction to her statement last week has been muted, with plenty of media outlets leaving it 'buried in the mainstream'. Or simply ignoring the story.
For instance, rudimentary Google searches suggest neither the Financial Times nor the Economist have covered her comments at all. If so, it's ethically questionable but also understandable, in a cynical sense, given their complete attachment to the doctrine of Neo-liberal economics.
Comment: The US and its allies will have to face reality eventually:
- Last-ditch attempt to stop Nord Stream 2: US Senate passes $740 BILLION Pentagon budget that includes Russian pipeline sanctions
- Paul Krugman: US wildly unprepared for imminent recession
- World economy is sleepwalking into a new financial crisis - Former BoE boss Mervyn King
- 'Something's amiss': Risk of recession increasing, markets similar to last year's before the collapse - Morgan Stanley
- If banks are celebrating 'record high stocks' why are they slashing nearly 80,000 jobs?
© Erin Schaff/The New York Times
Senator Mitch McConnell, prior to the start of impeachment trial against President Trump.
Senator Mitch McConnell, prior to the start of impeachment trial against President Trump.
The Republican majority had voted down several amendments proposed by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to subpoena documents and call witnesses.
The vote came just before 2 a.m. Wednesday after Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., one of the House impeachment managers, suggested that senators were voting for a "cover-up," which drew sharp responses from the president's legal counsel.
Chief Justice John Roberts admonished House managers and Trump's counsel "in equal terms to remember that they are addressing the world's greatest deliberative body. I do think those addressing the Senate should remember where they are."
© Reuters/Mohamed Azakir
Beirut, Lebanon
Beirut, Lebanon
Hundreds were injured this weekend during violent clashes which pitted protesters against security forces in Beirut as Lebanon further slips into civil unrest, underpinned by calls for a complete institutional overhaul.
Months into an uprising which sought to unite a country otherwise defined along ethnic and sectarian lines, Lebanon - and more so its capital are now centre stage for violent confrontations between a system characterised by an antiquated neo-colonial worldview and the hopes of a people wishing to redefine their identity through national unity and cohesion.
At its heart, Lebanon's crisis is a great institutional shakedown of a system which, by the very nature of its structure, can no longer sustain the aspiration of its people - who do not wish to be boxed in on account of their faith, origins or even the expectations foreign powers may still hold in regards to their assumed political alliances.
© AP/Office of the Iranian Presidency
Iran President Hassan Rouhani
Iran President Hassan Rouhani
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has stated that Tehran would never look to obtain an atomic weapon, with or without the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), according to his website President.Ir.
"We have never sought nuclear weapons [...]. With or without the nuclear deal we will never seek nuclear weapon [...]. The European powers will be responsible for the consequences of violating the pact."The statement comes a week after Rouhani rejected a proposal for a new "Trump deal" to resolve a nuclear spat as a "strange" offer, blaming the US President for his failure to deliver on promises.
Comment: Sputnik, 22/1/2020: Zarif clarifies warning on exit from non-proliferation treaty
On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi clarified Foreign Minister Javad Zarif's recent statement on the possibility of Tehran's exit from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the NPT.
"What Zarif stated in the Parliament was a part of provisions of a letter penned by the [Iranian] President Rouhani to the heads of 4+1 Group in May 2019 on announcing Iran's reducing of its commitments."
Rouhani warned that Iran will leave the NPT if the European Union (EU) takes Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council (UNSC)".
The Russian Foreign Ministry, in turn, said that the fact that Iran has abandoned its limitations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) does not present any threat of nuclear weapons proliferation since the Islamic Republic has maintained contact with the IAEA.
© Reuters Ammar Awad
Leader of Blue and White Party Benny Gantz
Leader of Blue and White Party Benny Gantz
"We see this strip of land as an inseparable part of the State of Israel," Gantz said on a tour of the region, highlighting the Jordan Valley's strategic location as "Israel's eastern defensive barrier in any future conflict."
Gantz added that while Netanyahu seeks to unilaterally annex the Jordan Valley, which accounts for one-third of the occupied West Bank, he would do so "in coordination with the international community."
With the exception of the current US administration, the consensus among the international community is that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal.
Gantz went on to say he was "looking forward" to the release of U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan, saying "I hope that President Trump will hurry and release his plan."
Comment: Sputnik, 21/1/2020: Change of mind or tactic? Gantz 'hopes Trump releases peace plan soon'
Previously, Benny Gantz had opposed the publication of Trump's peace plan during the campaign, describing it as 'outright intervention' in the Israeli election.See also:
Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to annex the Jordan Valley after he is re-elected and a new cabinet is formed. He claimed he would have achieved this goal already if not for the attorney general's ruling that his transition government does not currently have the authority to do so.
Israelis will go to the polls on 2 March.
- Israel's countdown: Annex Jordan Valley, overthrow Jordan's king, Jordan becomes the new Palestine
- Rogue state: Netanyahu begs for just 6 months more as PM so he can annex Jordan Valley
- Apartheid accomplished: The 'deal of the century' is a ploy and annexation is the new reality
- Israel freezes Jordan Valley annexation bid after ICC war crimes probe decision
- Due to Israeli water theft, agriculture in Jordan Valley on verge of collapse
© KY3
US President Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump
The list of countries is not yet final and could be changed, but nations under consideration for new restrictions include Belarus, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania, according to two people familiar with the matter.
A draft being considered by the Trump administration would place immigration restrictions on the additional seven countries, but not necessarily completely ban all citizens of those nations from entering the United States. The restrictions could apply only to certain government officials, for instance, or certain types of visas.
Nonetheless, any new restrictions are likely to strain ties with the affected countries, some of which assist the U.S. on issues like fighting terrorism, and some of which Washington has been trying to court for strategic reasons.
© AP/Ariel Schalit
Israeli F-35
Israeli F-35
Deep in the Negev desert of southern Israel lies the Shimon Peres Nuclear Research Center, also called the Dimona reactor, the center of Israel's nuclear research and weapons programs. While its location isn't exactly top secret, it's impossible for civilians to get close to it; the Israel Defense Forces have even been known to shoot down their own planes when they don't have permission to fly over Dimona.
However, while one Israeli Air Force F-35I "Adir" stealth fighter flying over Dimona on Monday wasn't at risk of being shot down, it did drop its ghostly act for about 20 minutes when it turned on a publicly viewable transponder signal, causing it to appear on civilian radars.
Comment: See also from Matthew Ehret:
Restoring Glass-Steagall (without the Green New Deal) is the only way to avoid complete economic collapse