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US senators request Pentagon to fully disclose its role in Saudi-led war in Yemen


RT
Sat, 16 Jun 2018 12:56 UTC
Saudi-led coalition forces
© Nabil Hassan / AFP
Three US senators have called on the Pentagon to immediately reveal the extent of US military support to the Saudi-led Arab coalition that launched an attack on Hodeidah, a key port city and last humanitarian lifeline in Yemen.

"We call on you to immediately disclose the full extent of the US military role in the Saudi-led war against Yemen's Houthis, including the use of special operations forces; disclose any role that the Pentagon is currently performing, has been asked to perform, or is considering performing regarding an attack on the port of Hodeida," says the letter sent to Defense Secretary James Mattis on Friday, and signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut)

Sanders, Lee and Murphy also asked Mattis to "issue a public declaration opposing this impending assault," and restate the Trump administration's position that Saudi Arabia and other participants in the conflict "should accept an immediate ceasefire and move toward a political settlement."

Comment: It is good to see some senators doing their job. Hopefully this request will be taken seriously.

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Handcuffs

Federal judge sends Paul Manafort to jail to await criminal trial


RT
Sat, 16 Jun 2018 12:18 UTC
Paul Manafort
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.
A federal judge has revoked bail conditions for Trump's ex-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. The decision means he will await his criminal trial for allegedly tampering with witnesses in the Russian investigation while in jail.

US District Judge Amy Berman made the decision after prosecutors working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the Russia probe, alleged that Manafort and one of his associates had tried to tamper with witnesses in the case, US media reports.

Mueller filed a third amended indictment against Manafort last week, alleging that he and Russian-Ukrainian businessman Konstantin Kilimnik attempted to persuade potential witnesses not to testify against them.

Comment: Looks like Mueller's twisting the screws in order to make Manafort more 'cooperative'. Reuters reports:
Hours after Manafort's bail was revoked on Friday, Mueller's office told the court it would introduce evidence at trial that Manafort sought to circumvent Ukrainian public procurement law by masking the size of payments to a U.S. law firm that wrote a report aimed at discrediting Yanukovych's chief political rival.

A June 8 indictment accused Manafort and a longtime aide, Konstantin Kilimnik, with tampering with witnesses about their past lobbying for Ukraine. Kilimnik, whom Mueller's office says has ties to Russian intelligence, could not be reached for comment.

The indictment accused them of attempting to call, text and send encrypted messages starting in February to two people from a political discussion group - the so-called Hapsburg Group - that worked with Manafort to promote Ukraine's interests in a bid to sway their testimony.

Manafort's lawyers have argued that the evidence suggesting he tampered with witnesses is thin.

Mueller's filing said he may also introduce evidence showing that Manafort falsely represented business expenses on his tax returns and that Manafort, his business partner Richard Gates and Kilimnik structured loans between Cypriot companies they controlled to avoid recognizing those funds as taxable income.

Legal experts say Mueller wants to keep applying pressure on Manafort to plead guilty and assist prosecutors as Gates did and is cooperating with the probe after cutting a plea deal.

"Either he can double down in his resolve to fight it or it's the last straw and it breaks his will and he decides to work out a plea bargain," Michael Zeldin, a former federal prosecutor, told Reuters.
Further reading: In lieu of collusion, Mueller adds obstruction to Manafort indictment, charges Kiev businessman

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Snakes in Suits

DOJ report accuses Comey of 'usurping authority' in order to protect Clinton


RT
Sat, 16 Jun 2018 12:18 UTC
Clinton Comey
Former FBI Director James Comey "usurped authority" and made a "serious error of judgment" in handling the Hillary Clinton email probe in 2016, says the newly published report by the Department of Justice inspector general.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz's document contains criticism of Comey, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and several FBI employees involved in the Clinton email probe, known as "Midyear Exam."

Comey's announcement that no charges will be filed against Clinton in July 2016 usurped Lynch's authority and went against FBI policy, while his October 2016 announcement the FBI had found additional emails and reopened the investigation likewise violated policy and represented a "serious error of judgment." Comey is also accused of using personal email to conduct FBI business.

Comment: Trump called Comey the ringleader of a 'den of thieves' when being interviewed about the DOJ report:


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Snakes in Suits

How two shameless UK Conservative MPs blocked a law to ban upskirting - By 'out talking' the bill

Adam Bienkov
UK Business Insider
Sat, 16 Jun 2018 07:58 UTC
Christopher Chope and Philip Davies Parliament
© Parliament
Christopher Chope and Philip Davies
A cross-party bill to make the taking of photos up women's skirts a criminal offence has been blocked by two Conservative MPs.

The bill, which is backed by both the government and opposition parties, seeks to make upskirting a criminal offence punishable by up to two years in prison.

However, two Tory MPs, Philip Davies and Christopher Chope, spent several hours on Friday speaking in the House of Commons in a successful attempt to talk out the bill.

Under archaic parliamentary rules, MPs are able to block bills brought forward by backbench MPs on Friday sessions if the debate extends beyond 2.30pm

Comment: For more on how UK parliament really works:





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Stock Down

Russia strikes back against US in global trade war: Dumps half its US Treasury bonds in one month


RT
Sat, 16 Jun 2018 08:17 UTC
US Treasury Department in Washington DC
© Alexey Agarishev / Sputnik
US Treasury Department in Washington DC
Russia has held a major selloff of US Treasury bonds, dumping some $47bn-worth of papers and momentarily dropping six places on a list of major foreign holders of US securities, recently released statistics for April have shown.

In just one month, Russia proceeded to sell $47.4 billion out of the $96.1 billion the country had in US treasury bonds in March. The latest statistics released by the US Treasury Department on Friday showed that, in April, Russia had only $48.7bn in American assets, occupying 22nd place on the list of "major foreign holders of Treasury securities."

Comment: Frank Sellers in the The Duran writes:
Maybe they've decided that US debt is a bad investment, and therefore decided to invest that capital elsewhere, or perhaps they intend to help it along in a slight inflation. Meanwhile, China and Japan hold the largest amount of US debt, and they are both presently on the receiving end of US trade tariffs, as Trump initiates his global trade war. China, however, gets the special status of an international villain, along with Russia, Iran, and Venezuela.
With the ditching of the petrodollar, trade wars, US sanctions and epic debt levels, one wonders how much more the US economy can take: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Trump Ditches Europe, Europe Bluffs, Russia and China Carry on With Eurasian Integration



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Better Earth

Possible meeting between Putin and Trump at NATO summit in Brussels


TASS
Sat, 16 Jun 2018 09:54 UTC
US President Donald Trump
© AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
US President Donald Trump
Earlier, Trump told reporters that 'it's possible' he would meet with Putin this summer

US President Donald Trump is expected to hold a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Europe in July, The Washington Post said, citing "a senior administration official and two diplomats familiar with his schedule."

"President Trump is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month while he is in Europe for a NATO summit," the newspaper wrote. "In a nod to those plans, Trump told reporters on Friday that 'it's possible' he would meet with Putin this summer," The Washington Post added. NATO is expected to hold a summit in Brussels on July 11-12.

Comment: See also:

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War Whore

FBI shelved probe into Clinton emails found on Weiner laptop to focus on phony Russiagate scandal - DOJ report


RT
Fri, 15 Jun 2018 23:23 UTC
Anthony Weiner
© Lucas Jackson / Reuters
Former U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner
The FBI's inquiry into hundreds of thousands of emails found on a laptop belonging to former Congressman Anthony Weiner may have been improperly shelved to focus on the agency's Russia investigation, a DOJ report states.

A review of the FBI's investigations into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server by the DOJ inspector general concluded that federal investigators failed to "take immediate action on the Weiner laptop" due in part to a decision to "prioritize" the investigation into claims that Donald Trump "colluded" with Russia.

The FBI leadership waited nearly a month after receiving initial information about the laptop to reopen the investigation and notifying Congress about it, the IG report shows.

Comment:

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Passport

Angela Merkel's political near-death experience in Bavarian brawl over migrants

Matthew Karnitschnig
Politico
Fri, 15 Jun 2018 23:08 UTC
merkel depressed
© Bernd von Jutrczenka/Agence France-Presse/Getty
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refusal to endorse a plan by her Bavarian interior minister to turn back some refugees at the German border set the stage for showdown
Fight over migration risks toppling chancellor's alliance - and her government.

After years of cautious sparring, Angela Merkel's standoff with her party's Bavarian partners over refugee policy escalated into a bare-knuckled brawl on Thursday, threatening both the stability of Germany's grand coalition and the conservative bloc that has been the bedrock of its political establishment for decades.

Merkel's refusal to endorse a plan by her Bavarian interior minister to turn back some refugees at the German border set the stage for a showdown that, barring a last-minute compromise, could bring down her government.

Comment:

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Bullseye

Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán says it plainly: 'Population replacement underway in Europe, speculators like George Soros hope to profit from its ruination'

Jack Montgomery
Breitbart
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
George Soros
© AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Hungary's Viktor Orbán has warned that another "high tide" of mass migration is approaching, and that financial speculators like George Soros hope to profit from the "ruination of Europe" via that mass migration.

In a Kossuth Radio discussion on the growing flood of illegal migrants into Balkan countries just outside the European Union - Bosnia has seen arrivals surge by 600 to 700 per cent in recent months - Prime Minister Orbán warned Europe was "seeing signs of a new migration wave, of a rising tide following a low tide; it's rising now, and this poses a challenge."

"We've managed to ensure that now every migrant knows that they shouldn't follow the path marked by the signpost pointing to Hungary," he said, referring to the robust border wall he built at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, and the anti-illegal immigration 'Stop Soros' legislative package currently passing through the Hungarian parliament.

Comment: Orban and others are right about this. But it goes way beyond just Soros.

See: The Truth Perspective: Weapons of Mass Migration: Interview with Michael Springmann on Europe's Migrant Crisis

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Evil Rays

Why does the mainstream media hate Trump's triumph?

Jon Gaunt
Sputnik
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 18:04 UTC
Trump Kim Jong-un walk
© REUTERS / Pool via Reuters
The mainstream media, and the BBC, in particular, seem to hate Donald Trump more than Kim Jong-un.

They are attempting, through pursed lips, to characterize Donald Trump's achievement in North Korea as a pyrrhic victory when it is actually a major personal triumph for the American president.

Why can they not acknowledge that, whether you love him or loathe him, he has brought Kim Jong-un to the table? Remember also that Kim was described by the liberal media hero, Obama, as the US' biggest and most dangerous problem.

But now, due to Trump's efforts and personality, Kim is at that table and it looks more likely than ever that we will get the nukes out of the area and peace in the region. Surely that is something to celebrate and be welcomed as indeed leaders from Russia, China, Japan and South Korea have acknowledged?

But no, the liberal media, personified by the BBC, Sky News and CNN, will never let the facts get in the way of a good smear story or alter the false narrative they have built of Trump.

The reason for this, of course, is that they hate Trump perhaps even more than they do the "dictator" he is calming down.

Comment: So far, Trump still manages to keep everyone guessing - is he a 'rogue agent' or simply another tool in the deep state game? If there is anything that he is, it is unpredictable. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy the show. See also:

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