Puppet MastersS


Quenelle

Pusillanimous Obama ignores Saudi human rights record in meeting with King Abdullah


RT
Sat, 29 Mar 2014 11:08 UTC
Saudi King Abdullah received U.S. President Barack Obama in Riyadh
© AFPSaudi King Abdullah received U.S. President Barack Obama in Riyadh on Friday and they shared stories about their common interests concerning wealth, torture and repression to mention a few.
Despite mounting concern over human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, the subject was not introduced in a meeting between US President Barack Obama and Saudi King Abdullah on Friday, according to a US official.

In a meeting at the 89-year-old king's lavish residence at Rawdat Khuraim, northeast of the capital, Riyadh, Obama and Abdullah met for more than two hours. Much of the conversation focused on Iran and Syria, leaving no time to raise human rights issues, Reuters quoted an official as saying.

"Today, given the extent of time they spent on Iran and Syria, they didn't get to a number of issues, and it wasn't just human rights," the official said.

Human rights groups had urged Obama to mention a controversial new anti-terror law in the Saudi kingdom that any act that undermines the security of the state may be treated as an act of terrorism. The legislation comes as Saudi leaders look to increase their grip on power following the "Arab Spring" that swept away many autocratic regimes in 2011.

"The new law is draconian in spirit and letter, and there is every reason to fear that the authorities will easily and eagerly use it against peaceful dissidents," said Adam Coogle, a researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Comment: Saudi Arabia was free to invade Bahrain and quell uprising there without a comment from the Western powers. In Saudi Arabia, there is capital punishment, no gay rights, no rights for women, not even a shadow of democracy and repression and torture of political opponents are widespread. Compare that to how Russia is treated and you get an idea to what extent the asylum has been taken over by the inmates.

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Gear

U.S. terror charges: Bin Laden's son-in-law found guilty of conspiring to kill Americans


RT
Wed, 26 Mar 2014 15:52 UTC
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© Reuters/Jane RosenbergAn artist sketch shows Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a militant who appeared in videos as a spokesman for al Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 attacks, appearing at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan March 8, 2013.
A Kuwaiti man considered to be a senior adviser to former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found guilty by jury Wednesday morning in New York City of conspiring to kill Americans.

The man, 48-year-old cleric Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Federal prosecutors for the United States government argued at trial that Ghaith worked within the top ranks of the terror group and assumed the role of a spokesman of sorts, appearing in propaganda videotapes released in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks orchestrated by Al-Qaeda.

Ghaith admitted on trial to being summoned personally by bin Laden in June of 2011, and later took the Al-Qaeda leader's daughter as an additional wife several years after 9/11. In the interim he appeared in videos released by the organization, including one where he warned Americans that "the storm of airplanes will not abate."

''The defendant committed himself to Al-Qaeda's conspiracy to kill Americans, and he worked to drive other people to that conspiracy," Assistant US Attorney John Cronan said during closing arguments on Monday, the Boston Globe reported.

Comment:
Myth of Osama bin Laden
Was Osama Bin Laden a CIA asset named Tim Osman?

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Red Flag

Russia not isolated: Gazprom plans to sign contract with China by June


The Voice of Russia
Thu, 27 Mar 2014 20:07 UTC
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© Voice of Russia
Gazprom might conclude negotiations on gas supplies with China by June, the Russian gas giant's deputy CEO, Valery Golubev said on Thursday.

"We and the Russian government are holding negotiations with Chinese partners. The price formula, volumes have been determined and, perhaps, in the next month or two we'll come to certainty," Golubev said at an international oil and gas forum in Irkutsk.

He added that Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller is expected to visit China within this timeframe. Golubev said the issue of shipping gas to China from the Kovykta and Chayanda fields is being considered.

"On the price, there is no certainty yet with China," he said. It was reported earlier that Russian leaders are scheduled to visit China on May 20 and a contract could be signed then. Russia and China have already been negotiating for ten years on the price of gas supplies, but have still not managed to reach an agreement.
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Bizarro Earth

Arab summit refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state


RT
Wed, 26 Mar 2014 19:42 UTC
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© AFP Photo / Yasser Al-Zayyat
The Arab League has refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, backing Palestine's stance on the issue. The demand by Israel threatened to destabilize US-Palestinian peace talks, according to Arab leaders.

"We express our total rejection of the call to consider Israel as a Jewish state," said the declaration, issued at the close of the two-day long meeting which has been taking place in Kuwait City. The leaders also criticized "the continuation of settlements, Judaization of Jerusalem and attacks in its Muslim and Christian shrines and changing its demographics and geography."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the necessity for Israel to be recognized as a Jewish state is at the forefront of the peace talks. He states that both Palestinian Arab dismissals of the plans are the "root of the conflict".

Palestinians recognized Israel at the beginning of the peace talks some two decades ago. However, Netanyahu wants the Palestinian Authority to recognize Israel as a "national homeland" - a move which would obliterate the right of return for Palestinians.
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Brick Wall

Hegemonious US desperate to isolate Russia on all fronts

Pepe Escobar
RT
Fri, 28 Mar 2014 15:38 UTC
G7 summit in The Hague
© AFP Photo / Jerry LampenA G7 flag waving kaffeeklatch at the official residence of the Dutch prime minister in The Hague on March 24, 2014 on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS).
The Obama administration is taking no prisoners trying to "isolate" Russia on all possible fronts - with negligible results so far.

Here I outlined some reasons why Asia won't isolate Russia. And here some reasons why the EU cannot afford to isolate Russia. Yet the Obama administration is relentless, and bound to keep attacking on three major fronts - the G20, Iran and Syria.

First, the G20. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop threw a balloon, speculating that Russia and President Vladimir Putin could be barred from the G20 summit in Brisbane in November.

The reaction of the other four BRICS member-nations was swift: "The custodianship of the G20 belongs to all member-states equally and no one member-state can unilaterally determine its nature and character."

US-subservient Australia had to shut up. For now.

The BRICS, not by accident, are the key developing world alliance inside the G20, which actually discusses what matters in international relations. The G7 - which 'expelled' Russia from its upcoming meeting in Sochi, transferred to Brussels - is just a self-important talk shop.
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Display

RT Breaking the Set - Training African warlords, lethal air pollution and spotting psychopathy

breakingtheset
youtube.com
Fri, 28 Mar 2014 14:12 UTC
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On this episode of Breaking the Set, Abby Martin remarks on the US Military's increased efforts in the manhunt for Ugandan war-lord Joseph Kony, raising questions about the US' larger role in Africa, citing reports of US military activity in nearly every country on the continent. Abby then talks about a new World Health Organization report on the lethality of air pollution, which killed 7 million people worldwide in 2012, and is most dangerous in developing countries like India and China. Abby then speaks with BTS producer, Manuel Rapalo, about the top characteristics of sociopathy, and which professions attract these types of individuals. BTS wraps up the show with an exclusive interview with former NASA Astronaut and ISS Commander, Leroy Chiao, about US-Russian cooperation in space, life on other words and the reality of the film 'Gravity'.

Source: RT
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Sherlock

Live by way of deception, die by way of deception? Berezovsky death: Police say suicide, family say murder, coroner records 'open verdict'


Russia Today
Thu, 27 Mar 2014 13:43 UTC
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© AFP Photo / Andrew CowieBoris Berezovsky leaves London's
The coroner has pronounced an 'open verdict' on the death of fallen tycoon Boris Berezovsky, after a two day hearing during which "contradictory" evidence was heard.

"I am not saying Mr Berezovsky took his own life, I am not saying Mr Berezovsky was unlawfully killed. What I am saying is that the burden of proof sets such a high standard it is impossible for me to say,"Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford told a Windsor court.

Inquests held into potentially suspicious deaths require definitive evidence that the deceased took their own life, meaning that thousands of suicides each year are recorded as 'open verdicts'.

Nonetheless, the testimonies heard in front of the court painted a contrasting picture of the last moments of the life of the exiled former Kremlin power-broker, who died on March 23 last year.

Berezovsky's longtime bodyguard Avi Navama painted a picture of a man devastated by the loss of his last-chance 2012 court case against Roman Abramovich, which likely bankrupted him, and forced him to move to his ex-wife's mansion. Navama described Berezovsky as a "shell of a man" who would often ask strangers about tips for committing suicide in his final months.
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Snakes in Suits

YouTube ban: Turkish officials conspire to stage Syria attack to provoke war


RT
Fri, 28 Mar 2014 06:52 UTC
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© FP Photo / Adem AltanTurkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
"I'll make up a cause of war by ordering a missile attack on Turkey." This leaked conversation is coming back to haunt the highest echelons of the Turkish government as it plans a provocation in Syria, while scrambling to contain social media internally.

The leaked audiotapes that reveal Turkey's highest ministers staging an anti-Assad military intervention in Syria, have already caused YouTube to be shut down in the country, as well as leading to fevered accusations of treachery and betrayal of Turkey's political interests - "a declaration of war," as Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu put it.

This is of course after intelligence chief Hakan Fidan suggested seizing the opportunity to secure Turkish intervention in the Syrian conflict - a war that has already claimed 140,000 lives, and counting. In the conversation, Davutoğlu is heard saying that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sees any attack as an "opportunity" to increase troop presence in Syria, where it has staunchly supported the anti-Assad rebels.

Below is a transcript of that conversation in full. The video can be found below.
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Info

G7 kaffeeklatsch meets in The Hague without Russia for the first time since 1998

Julian Borger and Nicholas Watt
The Guardian
Mon, 24 Mar 2014 19:15 UTC
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© Breitbart
Western countries and Japan have suspended their 16-year collaboration with Russia in the G8 group in response to the annexation of Crimea and have threatened sweeping sanctions in the event of any Russian military moves in the region.

The move, a clear and deliberate break from the post-Soviet status quo, was intended to underline Russian isolation. Leaders from the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan met in The Hague as the G7 for the first time since Russian was brought into the group in 1998 to seal east-west co-operation and lay the cold war to rest.

The G7 leaders issued a joint statement, under the title of the Hague Declaration,saying they would not attend a planned G8 summit in Sochi in June but would instead convene without Russia in Brussels. The group's foreign ministers would also boycott a planned G8 meeting in Moscow in April. The declaration said Russia's actions were not consistent with the "shared beliefs and shared responsibilities" that had made the formation of the G8 possible.

As Russian troops appeared to mass on Ukraine's eastern border, the G7 statement hinted at much broader sanctions if Russia made further expansionist moves.
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Quenelle

'Bishop of bling' resigns after spending £26m in Church funds to renovate his home


UK Independent
Fri, 28 Mar 2014 07:09 UTC
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"Bishop bling" representin' da katolic chuch: Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst!
A disgraced German bishop, who resigned over his misuse of Church funds, spent €213,000 (£176,000) on an ornamental fish tank.

The extravagant purchase was just one item listed in a report into Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst's spending.

The leadership of Germany's Catholic Church on Wednesday published the 108-page document detailing the Bishop of Limburg's renovation of his headquarters.

It revealed that the 54-year-old, dubbed the "bishop of bling", had poured at least €31 million(£26 million) of Church funds into his residence - more than five times the originally estimated cost of €5.5 million (£4.5 million).

This included €1.73 million (£1.4 million) on bronze window frames, €171,000 (£141,000) on a spiral staircase and €1.17 million (£966,000) on décor and artwork.

Comment: German bishop spends £26m of Church (read public) funds to renovate his home, resigns, and, when he's outed, is "punished" by being moved "elsewhere".

Response from the all new cool and groovy "my middle name's 'austerity'" Pope Francis?
"Pope Francis asked the (fleeced) flock in Limburg to accept the decision "with docility" and to work towards the restoration of a "climate of charity and reconciliation".
That's right, forget the outrage, just make with the "docility" sheeple, and don't forget to redouble your efforts to be more "charitable". IOW, suck it up losers! But keep praying and maybe the psycho pedo priests will all magically disappear.

Francie's not worried though, he knows that when he's done being his popeyness, he'll immediately get a job at the IMF.

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