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Court papers: Raiders of Spain's N. Korean embassy offered stolen docs to FBI, used 'Trump' alias


RT
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 00:16 UTC
FBI files secret
© Bill of Rights Defense Committee/KJN
The leader of a self-described dissident group that attacked the staff of the North Korean Embassy in Madrid, stealing troves of documents, fled to the US and offered the files to the FBI, court papers say.

A group of 10 men raided the North Korean Embassy in Madrid on February 22. The intruders bound and gagged staff, placed hoods over their heads and interrogated the chief of the mission before escaping with hard drives, flash drives and documents.

Adrian Hong Chang
© South China Morning Post
Adrian Hong Chang
A 14-page summary of the case, which is being investigated by Spanish police, sheds light on details of the brazen attack and on the identity of the perpetrators. The document, seen by El Pais and a number of other outlets, identifies the leader of the gang as Adrian Hong Chang, a US resident and Mexican national.

The court documents suggest that the crime was carefully plotted by Hong Chang, who had stocked up on combat knives, mock pistols, tactical flashlights, balaclavas, and handcuffs in preparation for the assault. Moreover, Hong Chang got to know the head of the North Korean mission, So Yun Sok, before the attack. The gang leader posed as a potential investor in the North Korean economy during their previous encounter, El Pais reported, citing court documents.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Ron Paul: Dems 'caught red-handed lying' on Trump-Russia, nothing learned 'they just march on'


RT
Tue, 26 Mar 2019 21:20 UTC
TrumpMuelPutin
© The Ghion Journal
With Republicans blocking Democrat calls to release Robert Mueller's full report, former Congressman Ron Paul told RT that the Democratic party needs to own up to peddling the 'Russian collusion' lie and move on.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report cleared Trump of colluding with Russia to win the 2016 election and found insufficient evidence to accuse him of obstructing almost two-year probe. In the days since the report's release, top Democrats have called for the public release of the full report, and for the underlying evidence, which Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said "may be even more important to the truth than the report itself"

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) blocked a measure by Schumer to release the report on Monday, arguing that the Justice Department needs more time to work out what can and cannot be released. Attorney General William Barr stated that he will release as much of the report as possible, "consistent with applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies."

Paul told RT:
"[Democrats have] been caught red-handed, lying through their teeth, and now they're just going on and on. You think that they would just have a little bit of common sense..but they just march on. They've been lying for two and a half years and they're going to continue to lie."
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Arrow Up

BRI connection to complement Africa's continental free trade


CGTN
Tue, 26 Mar 2019 21:38 UTC
tanker at dock
© Unknown
The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will complement the growth of Africa's continental free trade and link Africa's huge market to the rest of the world, a Djibouti official said Monday.

On the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, chairman of Djibouti Ports and Free Zone Authority, Aboubaker Omar Hadi, said:
"I am expecting more movements of goods, infrastructure development from the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation slated for April in Beijing, as well as stronger interconnection between Africa and the rest of the world,"
Projects involving cooperation with China that include the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway and the Doraleh Multi-Purpose Port and international free trade zone are helping the East African country promote trade in Africa as well as distribution across the East African region, said Hadi.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

Israel has plans to triple Golan Heights population to create a Jewish majority


Sputnik
Tue, 26 Mar 2019 22:00 UTC
Israeli bombing Syria
© Reuters/Ronen Zvulun
Israel will be working to triple the population of the Golan Heights in the coming years in order to form a Jewish majority in the region, Dimi Apartsev, the mayor of the local town of Qatsrin, told Sputnik on Tuesday. Speaking about Israel's demographic plans in the region for the coming 10-15 years, Apartsev said:
"The population of the Golan Heights will increase to about 150,000 people. This means that the Jewish population is likely to increase to 100,000 people, while the Druze population will rise to 50,000... Of course, the recognition of Israel's sovereignty [over the Golan] will open up new prospects in terms of foreign investment."
The Qatsrin mayor added that he expected to bring the population of his city alone to 50,000 people from the current 8,500 inhabitants.

The mayor added that he hoped that the US decision would help dispel the doubts of the foreign business community regarding projects in the Golan Heights and help fight against international boycott campaigns, urging investors to refrain from dealing with the occupied territories.

Comment: See also:

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Mr. Potato

US bluster: Trump to Russia: 'Get out' of Venezuela


RFE/RL
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 19:05 UTC
Guaido wife trump Fabiana Rosales venezuela
© Saul Loeb /Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
President Donald Trump meets with Fabiana Rosales, the wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, at the White House on March 27, 2019.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called on Russia to withdraw its troops from Venezuela and warned that "all options" were open to achieve that.

"Russia has to get out," Trump told reporters on March 27 in the Oval Office, where he met with Fabiana Rosales, the wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, recognized by the United States and more than 50 other countries as the South American country's interim president.

Two Russian military planes landed outside Venezuela's capital, Caracas, on March 23, carrying nearly 100 Russian military personnel.

Comment: Bluff and bluster. Just as with Syria, Russia is in Venezuela at the invitation of Maduro, head of Venezuela's legitimate government. Unlike the US, Russia does not turn its back on its friends.

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Quenelle

'Interim president' Juan Guaido gets appropriate welcome: Motorcade ATTACKED by angry mob


RT
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 17:37 UTC
Juan Guaido
© Reuters / Ivan Alvarado
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido
A car escorting Venezuela's self-proclaimed president was ambushed by a group of displeased citizens, a short clip appears to show. Washington has rushed to blame Nicolas Maduro for the attack.

The 10-second video, published by a local television channel, shows a car belonging to Juan Guaido's retinue sitting at a traffic light, when suddenly a man rushes the automobile and attempts to open the driver-side door. The door was locked, but there was more in store for Guaido's convoy: a group of bystanders began to pelt the car with projectiles.

Comment: Yup. The ordinary Venezuelans really love him. Who does support Guaido's instalment as 'president'? Craig Murry sums up the citizenry who favor Guaido:

Vultures of Caracas
rich guaido supporters
We are frequently told that people in Venezuela have no food, clothing or toilet paper, and that popular discontent with the left wing government is driven by real hunger. There are elements of truth in this story, though the causes of economic dislocation are far more complex than the media would have us believe.

But I ask you to look at this photo of supporters of CIA poster-boy, the West's puppet unelected "President" Juan Guaido, taken at a Guaido rally in Caracas two days ago and published yesterday in security services house journal The Guardian. Please take a really close look at the photo. Blow it up as big as you can. Scan individual people in the crowd, one-by-one.

These are not the poor and most certainly not the starving. As it chances I have a great deal of life experience working amongst seriously deprived, hungry and despairing people. I know the gaunt face of want and the desperate glance of need. Look at these Guaido supporters, one-by-one-by-one. This designer spectacled, well-coiffed, elegantly dressed, sleekly jowled group does not know hunger. This group does not know want. This is a proper right wing gathering, a gathering of the nicely off section of society. This is a group of those who have corruptly been siphoning Venezuela's great wealth for decades and who want to make sure the gravy train flows properly in their direction again. It is, in short, a group of exactly the kind of people you would expect to support a CIA coup.


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Briefcase

Seventh Integrity Initiative leak reveals £10mn in UK govt funding for 'network of NGOs' to combat Russia


RT
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 17:37 UTC
london
© Reuters / Neil Hall
A seventh batch of Integrity Initiative leaks has been dumped by hackers, revealing British government plans to build an umbrella network of organizations across Europe focused exclusively on countering 'Russian disinformation.'

Hackers, claiming to be linked to the Anonymous collective, have been dumping batches of Integrity Initiative (II) documents online since November 2018, gradually uncovering a major UK government-funded project which secretly conducted Europe-wide anti-Russia influence campaigns while posing as a simple disinformation-fighting charity. Earlier leaks led the II to make their public Twitter account temporarily private and to completely wipe their website pending an "investigation" into the situation.

NGOs under umbrella of government grants

The latest batch reveals a UK-funded program called the EXPOSE Network, which aimed to "upskill" existing "counter-disinformation" organizations by offering grants and training, while their activities would then be coordinated with the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to "ensure effectiveness."

Organizations named in the proposal for the project included the UK-based Bellingcat, the Prague-based European Values think tank, and the Digital Forensic Research Lab (a project of the arms-manufacturer-funded Atlantic Council). The hackers claim it was these groups and a couple of others which were among the "most eager" to receive nearly £10 million ($13.2 million) in potential government funding, which would be dished out over three years between the summer of 2018 and March 2021.

Comment: More on II:

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Dollars

Hedge fund returns $300million investment from Saudi Arabia following murder of Jamal Khashoggi

Nishant Kumar and Dinesh Nair
Bloomberg
Tue, 26 Mar 2019 17:35 UTC
Jamal Khashoggi
© Jehan Alfarra/Middle East Monitor
Jamal Khashoggi
A hedge fund has told investors it returned money to Saudi Arabia following the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The move is a rare rebuke to one of the world's most influential investors. Pharo Management (UK) LLP in December gave back about $300 million that it had previously managed for the kingdom's central bank Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, known as SAMA, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is confidential.

Guillaume Fonkenell, 54, who founded Pharo, told some investors in January that the decision was made to uphold its principles due to concerns about Khashoggi's death at the hands of government agents last year, the person said.

The move highlights lingering disquiet about Saudi Arabia's human rights record under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose ambitious plans for economic redevelopment have been overshadowed by allegations since October that he engineered the writer's brutal killing in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate. The heir to Saudi Arabia's throne, who is often referred to as MBS, still has the crucial support of President Donald Trump, and most Wall Street firms and a number of nations have chosen to continue doing business with the wealthy kingdom despite widespread condemnation of the murder.

Saudi authorities deny the prince played any role in Khashoggi's death.

A spokesman for Pharo, which managed $9.7 billion at the end of January, declined to comment. A representative for SAMA, which acts as the custodian of the kingdom's foreign reserves, didn't respond to several calls and emailed requests for comment.
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Megaphone

Italy's critics are jealous of its China deal, says Rome's lead negotiator

Sarah Zheng and Liu Zhen
South China Morning Post
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 17:27 UTC
Michele Geraci
© boaoforum.org
Michele Geraci, undersecretary of state at Italy's ministry of economic development, says at least two other European countries are expected soon to join China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”
Italy has got an edge over other European nations by signing up first to China's "Belt and Road Initiative" and it may be making some of them "jealous", the Italian politician who pushed for his country's involvement said on Tuesday.

Michele Geraci, undersecretary of state at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, said at least two other European countries were expected to follow Italy, which last week became the first G7 nation to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the transcontinental infrastructure initiative with China.

"All the other countries will follow Italy and sign an MOU, and I can give you two names, but I won't - they are in the pipeline," Geraci said at the Boao Forum for Asia in China's southern Hainan province. "In reality, all European countries want to be part of the belt and road."

Italy agreed to join the initiative while it hosted a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, despite warnings by the United States and some European countries that it risked being a debt trap with questionable infrastructure project standards. Washington has branded the belt and road scheme a "vanity project".
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Blue Planet

The EU bows to 'systemic rival' China

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:00 UTC
merkel xi macron juncker
© AFP/Thibault Camus
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (L), Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on March 26, 2019.
Let's start with the essential background for the meeting in Paris on Tuesday between Chinese President Xi Jinping and three EU heavyweights - French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President of the European Commission (EC) Jean-Claude Juncker.

As imperfect as these figures may be, economic growth for the past 10 years after the 2008 financial crisis - which was a made in the West phenomenon - do tell an enlightening story.

China's growth: 139%. India's growth: 96%. the US' growth: 34%. EU growth: a negative 2%.


Comment: And the true rate of growth in the US is up for question.


French mainstream media, controlled by a rarified group of oligarchs, spun a risible narrative that Macron "imposed" this four-way meeting on Xi to press on him the new EC strategy aiming to "clarify" Chinese ambiguity in relation to the New Silk Roads, or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

As I previously reported, the EC now brands China a "systemic rival," and seems to have realized that Beijing is an "economic competitor in search of technological leadership." And that may translate as a threat to European values and norms.

Xi had just come from Rome - where the populist, eurosceptic Lega, Five Stars coalition government became the first G7 nation to sign a partnership with the BRI, igniting massive sparks of Atlanticist fear.

Comment: See also:

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