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OPEC oil cut agreement clashes with end of US waivers on Iranian oil, 'hard to imagine how market will react' - Putin


RT
Sat, 27 Apr 2019 13:26 UTC
iran oil
© FILE PHOTO REUTERS / Raheb Homavandi
It's hard to foresee how US efforts to bring Iranian oil exports to zero will play out in future, Vladimir Putin admitted, saying OPEC members should live up to their obligation to keep output as low as possible if it comes true.

Russia has an agreement with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut their output by 1.2 million barrels per day, which remains in effect until July of this year, Putin said. But the US waivers - which gave a host of countries an exemption from the existing anti-Iran sanctions - expire much earlier, he reminded.

"I don't imagine how the global energy market will react to that."

In November, the US re-imposed sanctions on Iran's energy, shipbuilding and banking sectors in a bid to deprive Tehran of its main sources of revenue. But it simultaneously issued waivers to China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Turkey - the main importers of Iranian crude - so that they can find alternative vendors of oil.

Comment: The US, being completely unprincipled will, if they can't coerce the Saudi's into breaking the deal, do whatever it needs to do to maintain some semblance of control, even if that means, yet again, extending the waivers. After all, they were shamelessly importing Venezuela's oil while threatening other nations with sanctions for doing the same, and, at the same time, failing to overthrow the government there: What sanctions? US imports of Venezuelan oil surge five-fold

See also:

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Document

So, whatever happened to the Swedish warrant?

Craig Murray
craigmurray.org.uk
Sat, 27 Apr 2019 10:24 UTC
Assange
© Reuters/Daniel Tapia
If the Swedish allegations against Julian Assange were genuine and not simply a ruse to arrest him for extradition to the United States, where is the arrest warrant now from Sweden and what are the charges?

Only the more minor allegation has passed the statute of limitations deadline. The major allegation, equivalent to rape, is still well within limits. Sweden has had seven years to complete the investigation and prepare the case. It is over two years since they interviewed Julian Assange in the Ecuadorean Embassy. They have had years and years to collect all the evidence and prepare the charges.

So where, Swedish prosecutors, are your charges? Where is your arrest warrant?

Julian Assange has never been charged with anything in Sweden. He was merely "wanted for questioning", a fact the MSM repeatedly failed to make clear. It is now undeniably plain that there was never the slightest intention of charging him with anything in Sweden. All those Blairite MPs who seek to dodge the glaring issue of freedom of the media to publish whistleblower material revealing government crimes, by hiding behind trumped-up sexual allegations, are left looking pretty stupid.

Comment: See also:

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X

'What you're doing is insincere': Angry volunteer says Trudeau's virtue signalling delayed sandbagging amid Ottawa flooding


Global News
Sat, 27 Apr 2019 10:57 UTC
volunteer berates trudeau
© Global News
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was confronted by an unidentified man who accused him and his people of blocking the roads and slowing down sandbagging operations on Saturday - though his office later said that traffic had not been blocked.

The confrontation came as the prime minister picked up a shovel Saturday to lend a hand with sandbagging efforts, as he and his two sons visited a west-end Ottawa community hit hard by rising flood waters.

Trudeau was briefed by officials in charge of the fight against the flood at a community centre before filling sandbags and thanking those who came to the aid of local residents.

Comment: Silly of this volunteer to assume efforts to save property was more important than Trudeau's virtue signalling. Nothing stands in the way of the Prime Minister's photo op!

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Eye 1

Who checks the fact-checkers? Facebook leaves verification to groups funded by Soros, Omidyar and US Congress


RT
Sun, 28 Apr 2019 09:52 UTC
soros facebook
© Reuters / Ruben Sprich | AFP / Manjunath Kiran
Georges Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund Management
In its crusade against 'fake news', Facebook has vowed to fight for impartiality. However, when it comes to fact-checking, it seems to rely on sources, which have links to the US government, and renowned political meddlers.

For more than two years, the social media giant has been seeking to convince the public that it does its best to take a stand against malicious disinformation spread through its network and presented a whole bunch of instruments aimed at revealing and countering false narratives.

It appears, though, that Facebook heavily relies on decisions taken by some third-parties in its 'anti-disinformation' policy.

Submissions from the so-called fact-checkers - alongside some feedback from users - seem to be the primary source on which Facebook relies when saying a post is 'false'.
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Blue Planet

Why Kim really sought out Putin

Bertil Lintner
Asia Times
Sat, 27 Apr 2019 12:00 UTC
kim putin
© AFP/ Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un prior to their talks at the Far Eastern Federal University campus on Russky island in the far-eastern Russian port of Vladivostok on April 25, 2019.
Kim-Putin summit leveraged the two sides storied history and modern economic ties to put Moscow in the middle of denuclearization talks

When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived at the Russian far eastern city of Vladivostok on April 25, he was bound to find a more sympathetic ear from president Vladimir Putin than he could ever expect from US president Donald Trump.

North Korea's relationship with Russia is as old as the Pyongyang regime itself, and Kim's visit for talks with Putin was more than just a snub to Trump after an unpropitious meeting between the two leaders in Hanoi in February.

At that time, Trump demanded a complete denuclearization of North Korea before any sanctions could be lifted, while Kim wanted the US to end all such punitive measures before his country would begin to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) arsenal.

In principle, Russia is also in favor of a denuclearized Korean peninsula, as outlined in foreign policy concept document signed by Putin in November 2016. Moreover, Russia has direct, justifiable reasons to be wary of North Korea's ballistic missile tests.

Comment: See also:

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Snakes in Suits

China hawks grieve in their era of discontent, see Belt & Road as culmination of 'decades-long war' against the U.S.

Christopher Scott
Asia Times
Fri, 26 Apr 2019 12:00 UTC
committee present danger

"China, China, China, China, China...!!!"
As world leaders descended on Beijing to consult on building out much-needed infrastructure around the globe, a group of Trump administration allies and some of the United States' biggest China critics gathered at the St Regis Hotel in New York to air their grievances on the current state of affairs.

The meeting of the revived Committee on the Present Danger, an effort borrowing its name from a Cold War-era organization, saw a curious mixture - at times from the same speaker - of alarmist rhetoric and confidence that China was doomed to fail of its own flaws.

Largely absent from the event was a call for the US to form a grand strategy to compete with China's Belt and Road Initiative. The global infrastructure investment push is being showcased in Beijing during three days of events, contrasting the atmosphere of rivalry on display in New York with one of cooperation.

Comment: That lack of insight/honesty among all-too-many of its intellectuals is America's core problem. Statistically, the most murderous regime of the 21st century is, by a mile... the USA.

If it's not Russia, it's China, because the US could never admit that it's collapsing under the weight of its own corruption:

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Russian Flag

Russian envoy assures Israel that Iranian forces in Syria continue to remain 50 miles away from border

Anastasia Levchenko
Sputnik
Sat, 27 Apr 2019 23:13 UTC
israel soldiers golan heights
© Reuters / Ronen Zvulun
Israeli soldiers look at the Syrian side of the Israel-Syria border on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Israel July 7, 2018
Iranian forces in Syria remain around 80 kilometers (50 miles) away from the border with Israel despite Washington's statement that it recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev told Sputnik in an interview.

"We have reached agreement with our Iranian friends that certain units that have been there [at the Syrian border with Israel] in order to ensure security of the southern de-escalation zone will be transferred to a safe distance, from 75 to 80 kilometers. They fulfill their promises," Lavrentyev said, when asked if Trump's statement had triggered the approaching of Iranian forces to the border.

In July 2018, Iran agreed, due to the Russian mediation, to move its units present in Syria away from the border with Israel by 85 kilometers, which significantly reduced Israeli concerns, according to the presidential envoy. The recent statement by US President Donald Trump on the US recognition of the Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, disputed between Israel and Syria, could have made Tehran change its decision and approach again the border with the disputed strategic plateau.

Comment: Some history of the previous summit meeting:

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Blue Planet

The second Belt and Road forum: A transformation of the world economic order

Matthew Ehret
Sott.net
Sat, 27 Apr 2019 22:21 UTC
From April 25-27 Beijing will host a second international forum on the Belt and Road Initiative, and it won't be a small deal...

belt road forum 2019

37 world leaders attended this year's Belt and Road Forum outside Beijing, China
The four weeks preceding this event have seen an incredible surge of nations and institutions joining the BRI framework beginning with Italy's Memorandum of Understanding as the first G7 nation in March, followed soon thereafter by Luxembourg and Switzerland. Weeks later, China won another victory by consolidating billions in infrastructure deals with the 16+1 Central and Eastern European Nations who have signed onto the BRI. This particular forum was especially important as it saw Greece join the alliance changing the name to the 17+1 group. Greece's official participation in this bloc extended the group beyond its nominal "central and eastern" geographical limits and the importance of Greece- whose Port of Piraeus and emerging rail infrastructure funded by China provide a key bridge in the Maritime New Silk Road to Europe.

If that wasn't enough, China participated in the April 9-10 International Arctic Forum in Russia whereby the first treaty was signed between Russia and China on scientific cooperation in the Arctic, and sweeping agreements were made around Chinese-Russian infrastructure development on a policy which has become known as the "Polar Silk Road"- again extending the limits of the BRI beyond its "east-west framework". Just as the Arctic conference was ending, an unprecedented Canadian Arctic Policy Report was publicized calling for a transformation of Canada's Arctic doctrine towards a pro-development orientation in response to the "changing geopolitical rules" initiated by Russia and China.
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Blue Planet

World Leaders Gather For Second 'Belt And Road' Forum in Beijing


CCTV
Fri, 26 Apr 2019 20:04 UTC
putin xi BRI 2019
© Xinhua/Wang Ye
Chinese President Xi Jinping, his wife Peng Liyuan and guests of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation attend a banquet in Beijing, China, April 26, 2019.
With the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) taking place in Beijing, leaders around the globe are speaking highly of the initiative and voicing their expectations for the gathering.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a reference to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was initiated by China in 2013 with the aim of enhancing all-around connectivity through infrastructure construction, exploring new driving forces for world economic growth, and building a new platform for world economic cooperation.

The BRI has created a new dimension for the development of the world economy, and its long-term strategic plan is unusual, said President Ueli Maurer of the Swiss Confederation.

The Swiss president believed that globalization is the key to successful global development, and to achieve globalization, infrastructure construction at various levels would be indispensable.

Comment: 37 leaders attended this year's forum, up from the 29 who attended the inaugural forum in 2017. Most were leaders of Asian countries, but 10 European and 4 African leaders also attended. $64 billion in trade deals were made, although the focus, as before, was on long-term strategic planning for the development and transformation of global infrastructure.

The guest of honor was, you guessed it - Vladimir Putin - who received an honorary doctorate from Tsinghua University and held two full-cabinet bilateral meetings with Xi Jinping.


Remarking on Chinese-Russian annual trade turnover reaching $108 billion in 2018 - which succeeded the target of $100 billion - Putin said:
"It would be no exaggeration to say that our countries have approached this anniversary with relations the best they have been in their entire history. This is the result of meticulous and successful work over the past thirty years."
Here's the transcript of Xi's keynote speech at the forum. And here's Putin's.

Putin's press conference at the forum, where he answered a range of questions about current events:


The US, continuing its self-isolation on the global stage, didn't even bother to send a low-level representative this year.

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Eye 2

More posturing: House Oversight Dem threatens jail for Trump officials who don't comply with subpoenas

Aris Folley
The Hill
Fri, 26 Apr 2019 18:23 UTC
Rep. Gerry Connolly t
© CNN
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.)
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, on Thursday warned that the investigative body "will use any and all power in our command" - including incarceration - should White House officials refuse to comply with congressional subpoenas to testify as the panel ramps up its wide-ranging investigation into the Trump administration.

"We're going to resist, and if a subpoena is issued and you're told you must testify, we will back that up," Connolly said during an interview with CNN host Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room.

"And we will use any and all power in our command to make sure it's backed up - whether that's a contempt citation, whether that's going to court and getting that citation enforced, whether it's fines, whether it's possible incarceration," he continued. "We will go to the max to enforce the constitutional role of the legislative branch of government."

Comment: Apparently there are differing opinions on whether the Executive branch has the power to ignore subpoenas.
It's a prerogative of the executive branch and President Donald Trump to ignore congressional subpoenas, as it is the only branch that has prosecutorial power, Sen. Mike Lee said Wednesday.

"This has been litigated figuratively and literally over the course of many decades, with Republican and Democratic administrations, against Republican and Democratic congresses," the Utah Republican told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "Only the executive branch has a prosecutorial power, and as part of that, to have an attorney general or Justice Department willing to bring an action to support a subpoena."
While newly appointed Judge Kavanaugh said otherwise:
Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's second Supreme Court pick, told senators Thursday a sitting president must comply with a judge's orders.

Democratic senators have peppered him for hours this week with questions related to what they see as Trump's desire to ignore any coming subpoenas or court orders. Both could come as the result of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller's Russia election meddling probe or criminal cases in federal or state court.

Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., was the latest to do so Thursday.

But Kavanaugh disputed Durbin's notion that he has said a sitting president has the "final word" on whether to comply to a judge's orders. Rather, the nominee told him if a court order is aimed at a chief executive, that direction "is the final word."
In any case, it seems that Trump has dug in:
"We're fighting all the subpoenas," Mr. Trump told reporters outside the White House. "These aren't, like, impartial people. The Democrats are trying to win 2020."

[...]

Mr. Trump's flurry of moves this week to block multiple congressional investigations signaled a new phase of constitutional friction that could redefine long-murky boundaries of Congress's power to conduct oversight of the executive branch - and the power of presidents to keep government affairs secret from lawmakers.

Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Mr. Trump cited the end of the special counsel investigation to declare he had been investigated enough. "I thought after two years we'd be finished with it," he said. "No. Now the House goes and starts subpoenas." He added, "I say it's enough."

[...]

And on Twitter, Mr. Trump offered a novel idea for pushing back against any impeachment proceedings if House Democrats tried to move forward with them: He would get the Supreme Court to order them to stop.

"If the partisan Dems ever tried to Impeach, I would first head to the U.S. Supreme Court," Mr. Trump wrote over two posts. "Not only are there no 'High Crimes and Misdemeanors,' there are no Crimes by me at all."


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