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Attention

Has the Skripal poisoning case become a British hostage scenario?

Finian Cunningham
The Strategic Culture Foundation
Mon, 09 Apr 2018 16:23 UTC
british flag brick wall
The British denial of a visitor visa to a Skripal family relative from Russia is fueling concern that the whole affair is far more sinister than what the British government and media have been claiming.

Far from the Skripal father and daughter being the alleged victims of a Russian assassination plot, it now seems increasingly apparent that they are being held against their will by Britain's authorities. In short, hostages of the British state.

From the outset of the alleged poisoning incident in Salisbury on March 4, the official British narrative has been pocked suspiciously with inconsistencies. The lightning-fast rush to judgment by the British government - within days - to blame the Kremlin for "a brazen murder attempt" was perhaps the main giveaway that the narrative was following a script and foregone conclusion to incriminate Russia.

Comment:

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Bad Guys

Trump is cleaning house, enabling war

Danny Sjursen
Tom TomDispatch.com
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 17:41 UTC
John Bolton
© Raw Story
John Bolton
His appointment was a genuine Bolton from the blue (so to speak). After all, everyone knew that former U.N. Ambassador (and Fox News commentator) John Bolton couldn't be chosen for a major post in the Trump administration. No, not because of his outlandish views on war-making, or his responsibility for helping launch an invasion of Iraq that would result in possibly a million deaths over these last 14 years, or the uprooting of millions more, or the destruction of some of Iraq's great cities, or the unsettling of vast regions of the Middle East, or the spread of outlandish terror groups, or even his yet more outlandish insistence that such an invasion was the right thing to do, or because, as TomDispatch regular U.S. Army Major Danny Sjursen reports today, he's likely to do it all over again in Iran (or elsewhere), but because of his mustache. Donald Trump reportedly rejected Bolton back in 2016 as a possible secretary of state because he simply didn't look the part. He didn't seem to the president-elect like someone who came from central casting, as did say Marine Corps General James ("Mad Dog") Mattis. And it was assumed that Trump would pass over Bolton again when it came to replacing Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, his national security adviser.
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Jet1

India and Russia: Major defence deals in focus

Ananth Shreyas
Financial Epxress
Mon, 02 Apr 2018 18:15 UTC
russia anti aircraft S-400 Triumf
© Reuters
Russia's S-400 Triumf, a multifunctional medium and long-range anti-aircraft weapon system (AAMS)
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to take up the S-400 Triumf deal for India during her visit to Russia between April 3rd to April 5th. This is a key deal for India to step up its defence preparedness and deterrence capabilities. The S-400 Triumf deal might be the primary agenda of the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during this visit to Moscow. The first agreement to look into the contract to procure the S-400 Triumf, a multifunctional medium and long-range anti-aircraft weapon system (AAMS), was signed between India and Russia in 2016. China was actually the first buyer of the S-400 Triumf. India, which is now likely to seal the deal with Russia at an estimated cost of Rs 40,000 crore, wishes to procure this anti-aircraft weapon system to reduce the threat along China and Pakistan borders.

Comment: The Russian way: doing business, making friends, and turning friends into allies.

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People

UN: 700,000 Syrians displaced by fighting in 2018


PressTV
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 20:09 UTC
Displaced Syrian families
© AFP
Displaced Syrian families arrive at a checkpoint at Abu al-Duhur crossing to return from militant-held areas in Syria's northern province of Idlib to their villages in government-controlled territory in Idlib on April 4, 2018
Some 700,000 people have been displaced in fighting across Syria in the first months of 2018, a regional United Nations official has announced.

Panos Moumtzis, the UN's regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria's crisis, said in a statement on Tuesday that fighting across Syria was forcing more and more people from their homes, warning that the massive displacement was posing more complicated humanitarian problems to the Syrians.
"I am deeply concerned about the continuing massive displacement of close to 700,000 Syrians since the beginning of the year due to ongoing hostilities in the country," Moumtzis said.
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Bad Guys

Scottish National Party slammed over educational guidelines banning 'offensive' phrases like 'British values' in the classroom

Virgina Hale
Breitbart
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 17:33 UTC
classroom children
© Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
The Scottish National Party (SNP) has been slammed over guidance which claims that supposedly "offensive" terminology like "British values" could inspire terror attacks.

"The concept [of British values] can cause offence and could play into the hands of groups who seek to assert that there is an inherent conflict between being British and being Muslim", Scottish teachers have been told. Defending the move, a spokesman said using the "wrong" words in the classroom could "amplify the rhetoric used by terrorists and violent extremists."

UK Security Minister Ben Wallace accused Education Scotland of "putting PC [politically correct] politics before children's safety" when the directive - which stresses the "importance of using appropriate and accurate" terms when discussing terror - came to light at the weekend.
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Attention

FTC officials say Facebook could face record fines for mishandling private data

Craig Timberg and Tony Romm
The Washington Post
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 17:42 UTC
facebook
© Richard Drew/Associated Press
Facebook's disclosure last week that its search tools were used to collect data on most of its 2.2 billion users could potentially trigger record fines and create new legal vulnerability for not having prevented risks to user data, said three former federal officials.

The three former officials, all of whom were at the Federal Trade Commission during the privacy investigation that led to a 2011 consent decree with Facebook, said the company's latest mishap may violate the decree's provisions requiring the implementation of a privacy program.

The language was written to require Facebook to identify and address emerging threats to user privacy as its business practices changed over the 20-year term of the consent decree, said David Vladeck, who was head of the FTC's bureau of consumer protection when the decree was drafted and signed by Facebook. That meant the company was required to limit its sharing of user data and prevent outsiders from improperly gaining access, he said.

Comment: The liberal-led hysteria is now consuming their own leaders, but then that's been true of all the hysterical waves of modern times.

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Info

FSB chief Aleksandr Bortnikov: Russian special services thwarted 6 terrorist attacks in 2018


RT
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 19:25 UTC
The divers of the National Guard's special task force unit
© Ramil Sitdikov / Sputnik
The divers of the National Guard's special task force unit emerge from under the ice and destroy indicated enemy with special weapons and imitation devices during combat training in the Moscow Region
Russian special services prevented six terrorist attacks in the first three months of 2018, FSB Director Aleksandr Bortnikov said at Tuesday's session of Russia's National Counter-Terrorism Committee.

"Three terrorist crimes were committed [in Russia] in the first quarter of 2018 - in the republic of Dagestan, in Khabarovsk Territory and in Sakhalin Region. Six terrorist attacks were stopped at the preparatory stages. Activities of 12 underground terrorist cells were cut short," said the director of the Federal Security Service and the chair of the National Counter-Terrorism Committee.

Bortnikov noted that at least three of the thwarted attacks - in Ingushetia, Bashkiria and Saratov Region - were planned to take place during the March 18 presidential elections.

Comment: See also:

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Passport

Two-thirds of 'child refugees' in UK claiming asylum are actually adults

Ian Drury
The Daily Mail
Mon, 09 Apr 2018 16:41 UTC
UK airport arrival sign
Official report reveals almost 3,000 people claiming to be unaccompanied minors apply for asylum in a year

Nearly two-thirds of 'child' refugees who were questioned about their real age after coming to Britain were found to be adults, an official report has found.

In one year, 65 per cent of asylum seekers assessed after claiming to be juveniles were judged to be over 18.

The report, by immigration watchdog David Bolt, revealed that the Home Office received 2,952 asylum applications from unaccompanied children in the year to June last year.

Out of these there were 705 age disputes - around a quarter of the total - where officials suspected the individual was lying about their age. Of these, 618 cases were resolved and 402 - or 65 per cent - were found to be adults.

Comment:

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Dollar

China has weapons aplenty to prevail in US trade war

Hu Weijia
Global Times
Sun, 08 Apr 2018 16:44 UTC
china usa eeuu
© AP Photo/ Andy Wong
If a trade war is escalated by the US, the Chinese authorities will take all necessary measures to minimize the losses for Chinese companies and individuals. Nonetheless, the US, the world's largest economy with a GDP of approximately $19 trillion, has less endurance for a full-blown trade war.

China does not want a trade war with the US, which is one of its most important trade partners. But if US President Donald Trump starts a trade war, China will fight to the end to defend its interests.

If unfair action is taken by the US, China has various tools to use as countermeasures. Meanwhile, China is expected to be fully prepared for the escalation of trade friction by strengthening its ability to safeguard Chinese entities targeted by the US.

In an all-out trade war, offense and defense are equally important to winning.

The Trump administration said it will impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports ranging from industrial robots and electric vehicles to locomotives and jet engines. If this measure is carried out, China can provide export-promoting subsidies for companies that export goods on the list.

Comment: See also: Trade wars: Trump claims Jinping 'will take down' barriers harming US economy

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TV

Ready for war: The mood of Russian experts on prime time TV

The Saker
The Saker Blog
Sun, 08 Apr 2018 15:12 UTC
Moscow
© Christian Charisius / Global Look Press
People walking across Red Square in Moscow, Russia, 30 November 2017.
I just spend about 2 hour listening to a TV debate of Russian experts about what to do about the USA. Here are a few interesting interesting points.

1) They all agreed that the AngloZionist (of course, they used the words "USA" or "Western countries") was only going to further escalate and that the only way to stop this is to deliberately bring the world right up to the point were a full-scale US-Russian war was imminent or even locally started. They said that it was fundamentally wrong for Russia to reply with just words against Western actions.

2) Interestingly, there also was a consensus that even a full-scale US attack on Syria would be too late to change the situation on the ground, that it was way too late for that.

3) Another interesting conclusion was that the only really question for Russia is whether Russia would be better off delaying this maximal crisis or accelerating the events and making everything happen sooner. There was no consensus on that.

Comment: If this reflects the mood of the Russians masses, then they have come to accept the inevitability of a military confrontation with the West, because the AngloZionists, as the Saker calls them, will not quit their bullying. While they are overwhelmingly in support of their own government, the US population remains internally divided. How would the moral factor change the outcome of a hot war between Russia and NATO?

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