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US threatening to okay annexation if Palestinians don't resume negotiations


Time of Israel
Fri, 06 Mar 2020 10:17 UTC
David Friedman
© David Azagury/US Embassy Jerusalem
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman (2nd-L) at the northern West Bank settlement of Ariel on February 24, 2020.
Senior White House officials were quoted Thursday by an Israeli television network as saying that they intended to green-light Israeli annexation of swaths of West Bank land within months if the Palestinians don't return to the negotiating table.

According to Channel 13, the sources said they intend to go ahead with the implementation of the peace plan unveiled earlier this year by US President Donald Trump's administration.

They reportedly stressed that this would happen even if fourth successive Knesset elections are called following another deadlocked vote this week. They added that both contenders for the premiership, the incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu and challenger Benny Gantz, know that Trump's presidency marks a unique opportunity.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Up

Final Israeli election results: Netanyahu fails to reach Parliamentary majority for third time


Sputnik
Thu, 05 Mar 2020 17:41 UTC
Israel election
© AP Photo / Oded Balilty
The preliminary results in Monday's elections showed that Likud won 35 seats in the Knesset, followed by the Blue and White coalition with 32. This is the third time in less than a year that neither party has managed to win a clear majority.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party appears to be the largest party, the country's election results indicate, Haaretz reported.

However, the votes show that the Netanyahu-led bloc failed to secure a 61-seat majority to form a government and was closely followed by Benny Gantz's Kahol Lavan party, reports say.

The Netanyahu-led bloc won 58 seats, followed by Ganz's bloc with 55. Likud remains at 36 seats, as does Kahol Lavan with 33, and the Joint List with 15.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

US to sell Pegasus tanker jets to Israel, allowing its fighters to reach Iran's territory

Tim Korso
Sputnik
Thu, 05 Mar 2020 05:20 UTC
pegasus
© Wikipedia / Ken Fielding
Tel Aviv repeatedly threatened that it would take any necessary steps to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. In turn, Tehran repeatedly denied seeking to build them, despite declaring the destruction of Israel as one of its goals.

The US State Department has greenlit the sale of eight KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft to Israel along with spare parts and supporting equipment for $2.4 billion. If the deal passes the US Congress, Tel Aviv can expect to receive its first jets in 2023.

The State Department also noted that the aerial tankers will not only boost Israel's national security posture, but will also be of great help to the US itself.
"[This sale] supports the foreign policy and national security of the United States by allowing Israel to provide a redundant capability to U.S. assets within the region, potentially freeing US assets for use elsewhere during times of war", the State Department announced.
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Magnify

Iraq's Hezbollah accuses high-ranking officials of working with US to assassinate Qassem Soleimani


Al Masdar News
Thu, 05 Mar 2020 05:02 UTC

Comment: Although the following claim is that it was the Iraqis who colluded with the Americans to off Soleimani, it's hard to imagine this happening without the Iranians knowing...


Qassem Soleimani
© Press Office of Iranian Supreme Leader/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani
Kata'ib Hezbollah in Iraq hinted at the involvement of high-ranking officials in the assassination of the commander of the Quds Force, Major-General Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, on January 3rd.

In a statement, Kata'ib Hezbollah accused "one of the ministers in Iraq with the intelligence chief of assisting in the killing of Soleimani and Al-Mohandis," and expressed its readiness to provide evidence to the former prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, exclusively.

They said in statement posted on their official website, "There is no doubt that Al-Kazemi (intelligence chief) was involved in the killing of the leaders," adding that "this historical crime was done with the knowledge of one of the three ministers that facilitated this cowardly act."

Comment: Kata'ib Hezbollah's suspicions are well-founded. Iran's response to the assassination was very... 'stage-managed', shall we say: much fiery rhetoric but not much in the way of a surprise counter-attack against the US. It remains to be seen what if any evidence this organization will present to the former Iraqi PM and perhaps make public, but in the meantime, we note that the issue has become very quiet since the world apparently stood 'on the brink of WW3' back in early January. Additionally, the Iranians have said nada about the downing of the Ukraine Airlines plane, which seemed pretty obviously, to us, to have been the result of its air defense system being tricked into doing so.

It's as if the Iranian leadership just wanted it all to... die down and go away.

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Russian Flag

'We're beating the competition & outperforming everyone' - Putin on Russia's state-of-the-art nuclear technology

Jonny Tickle
RT
Thu, 05 Mar 2020 04:54 UTC
Floating nuclear power plant
© Ruptly
Floating nuclear power plant
They say there are two Russias, the one in many Western minds - think "a gas station masquerading as a country" - and the real deal, where 146 million people live, which is often at the cutting edge of technology.

When it comes to nuclear power, Russia is undoubtedly one of the world's leaders and, according to President Vladimir Putin, such investment is paying off. Speaking to the TASS news agency, he said that Russia is trouncing the competition in the field.

"In the high-tech sector and the nuclear industry, we have been making great strides," Putin said. "We're beating the competition, we've outperformed everyone. We're the world's largest manufacturer of nuclear units for power plants. Not weapons, this is state-of-the-art technology."

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Red Flag

Tulsi Gabbard calls out 'very real' Hinduphobia in US, gets branded 'fascist' as if to prove her point


RT
Fri, 06 Mar 2020 04:42 UTC
tulsi
© REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the sole remaining woman in the Democratic presidential primaries, has been accused of "fascism" and pressured to drop out of the race after she shared a post about hatred of Hindus in the US.

"Unfortunately, Hinduphobia is very real," Gabbard tweeted on Thursday, saying she experienced it directly both in her congressional and presidential campaigns. "Sadly, our political leaders [and] media not only tolerate it, but foment it," she added.

By way of example, she retweeted someone quoting a Facebook post about a confrontation with an Uber driver accusing Indians of murdering Muslims during the recent unrest in New Delhi.
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Chess

Erdogan loses the battle, but the war is far from over

The Saker
The Unz Review
Thu, 05 Mar 2020 04:31 UTC
Idlib

New Map of Idlib with Security Corridor
Following 6 hours of grueling negotiations, including direct negotiations between Putin and Erdogan, the parties have finally agreed to the following:
  1. A ceasefire will begin at midnight.
  2. Russia and Turkey will jointly patrol the M4 highway (M5 now belongs to Damascus). A 6km buffer zone will have to be created and enforced on each side of M4 by the March 15th (see map above)
  3. Both parties have reaffirmed their commitment to Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
  4. Both parties have reaffirmed their commitment to a create the conditions for a return of the refugees.
  5. Both parties have reaffirmed that this conflict has no military solution.
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Putin

Protect Putin from Covid-19: Kremlin's new mission as epidemic spreads worldwide

Jonny Tickle
RT
Wed, 04 Mar 2020 04:23 UTC
kremlin
© Sputnik / Natalia Seliverstova; REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng
He's known for his tough-guy image and 'action man' stunts, like facing down a tiger and flying a motorized hang glider, but even Russia's President Vladimir Putin isn't immune to coronavirus fears.

His spokesman has revealed that the Kremlin is taking extra steps to protect the President from Covid-19, lest the nation's first citizen be struck down by the ailment.

"Everything that is necessary to prevent the coronavirus from entering the president's proximity is being done." Dmitry Peskov said, "In fact, the [measures we are taking] are ordinary preventive hygiene measures that can be taken by all citizens of Russia."

Comment: Putin has also brought up the issue of false stories about the extent of coronavirus in Russia being spread from abroad as part of another anti-Russian disinformation campaign:
"In regards to [distribution] of provocative stories, the FSB reports that they are mainly organized abroad, but this unfortunately always [is blamed] on us," Putin said.
Putin makes it clear that the purpose of spreading fake news is about creating panic among the populace. That being said, Moscow is still being vigilant, putting the country on high alert over the coronavirus threat, imposing mandatory self-quarantines, and workplace health checks.

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Red Flag

Massive brawl erupts In Turkish parliament after Erdogan blamed for troop deaths

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Thu, 05 Mar 2020 04:15 UTC
Erdogan funeral
© AP
Erdogan attends funeral of troops killed in Idlib last week
Starting Tuesday Turkey's parliament began a closed session on the situation in Idlib province, where Erdogan's military adventurism to protect al-Qaeda linked factions coming under Russian-Syrian air power is resulting in mounting Turkish troop casualties and the potential for escalation with the Russians, not to mention a new 'state of war' footing with Damascus.

Near daily new dead and wounded have been reported after 34 Turkish soldiers were killed on Feb. 27 in an airstrike blamed by Ankara on Syria — but widely believed to have been carried out by Russia.

Underscoring the mounting domestic anger and divide over Erdogan's getting the Turkish Army more deeply bogged down in northwest Syria — after he days ago declared a large military offensive against pro-Assad forces — a large brawl erupted in parliament Wednesday after an MP lashed out at President Erdogan over his reckless Syria policy.

"Video footage of the fist fight was captured and released to the public by several channels after the closed parliamentary session," Mideast news site Al Masdar reported of the dramatic footage which captured the fight.

Comment: And anyone with half a brain in Turkey realizes that Erdogan is not only wildly escalating tensions with Syria, but close to completely alienating Russia - the country that has not only saved Erdogan's political and mortal a**, but helps keep Turkey's economy afloat.

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Bullseye

Top GOP Senator Ron Johnson seeks subpoena for witness related to probe into Ukraine and Biden

Catherine Herridge
CBS News
Thu, 05 Mar 2020 21:38 UTC
ron johnson

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)
The top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee is seeking to subpoena a witness tied to the investigation of Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian energy firm where Hunter Biden, son of Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, sat on its board, according to a letter obtained by CBS News.

Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin sent a letter to committee members Sunday informing them of his intent to schedule a meeting during which they would consider a subpoena to Andrii Telizhenko, a former consultant for the U.S.-based government affairs firm Blue Star, for documents related to his work there. Blue Star "was a U.S. representative" for Burisma, Johnson said.

Telizhenko is a former Ukrainian diplomat at the center of claims Ukraine interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

Comment: Lee Stranahan of Sputnik's Faultlines radio show was early on the story, andhad some interesting conversations with Telizhenko over 18 months ago. Telizhenko has been trying to get his story out for a long time, but the MSM has been ignoring him:


Rudy Giuliani has also been doing his part to bring Telizhenko's information to light:




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