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Russia likely to sign deal to supply India with S-400 air defense system this year


RT
Thu, 26 Apr 2018 13:49 UTC
S-400 air defense systems
© Alexey Malgavko / SputnikRussian S-400 air defense systems
The long-awaited deal to supply Russian S-400 air defense systems to India will likely be signed this year, as the sides only have to agree on the price now, Russia's Military-Technical Cooperation Service (FSMTC) said.

"At the moment, all the technical issues are already discussed and agreed upon. It only remains to find common ground regarding the price and conduct the necessary procedures," FSMTC head Dmitry Shugaev told Interfax. "I think that this year will get to the point of signing the relevant contract papers."

The $5.5 billion agreement to supply S-400 was reached on the state level between Moscow and New Delhi back in 2016, but a specific contract has not been signed yet. Earlier, FSMTC deputy head Vladimir Drozhzhov assured that "there's no talk of refusing the supplies" by the Indian side.
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Bullseye

China releases human rights report listing 'severe democracy flaws' in US


RT
Thu, 26 Apr 2018 13:33 UTC
china flag
© Thomas Lovelock / Reuters
China has published a report listing the woes of American democracy, including human rights, interventions and discrimination, in response to a scathing paper published by the US State Department.

The "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2017" report, released by the Information Office of China's State Council on Tuesday, is a response to the US State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. The US review, issued on April 20, labeled the governments of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as "morally reprehensible" and "forces of instability" that "violate human rights of those within their borders on a daily basis."

Now China is pointing to America's own poor human rights record, both at home and abroad.

"Looking back on 2017, those with even the slightest sense of justice can see that the United States' own human rights record is, as usual, notorious for its misdeeds, and continues to worsen," the report states, noting that Washington is in no position to play the role of a self-professed "human rights judge."
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Megaphone

Pro-establishment bias at MSNBC - former journalists speak out

Danielle Ryan
RT
Mon, 23 Apr 2018 15:28 UTC
MSNBC
© Alex Wong / AFP
It looks like we can add yet another name to the list of journalists that MSNBC has pushed out or fired for refusing to toe the establishment line: Ed Schultz.

Schultz, whose new home is at RT, recently gave an interview to the National Review's Jamie Weinstein. During the interview, Schultz, who had been mostly quiet about his firing from MSNBC, let loose on the channel.

"There was more oversight and more direction given to me on content at MSNBC than there ever has been here at RT - and I think it's very sad that that story is not getting out," Schultz said. "Many times I was told what to lead with on MSNBC - many times I was told what I was not going to do."

Schultz called MSNBC president Phil Griffin a "watchdog" unlike anything he has experienced since leaving the channel. Asked if Griffin personally told him what to say or what angle to take on a story, Schultz said that had "often" been the case.

Schultz went on to tell Weinstein a particularly disturbing story about MSNBC's refusal to cover former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders seriously. According to Schultz, five minutes before he was due to cover Sanders' announcement that he would run for president, Griffin called him up and told him not to report on it.

Comment: See also: Propaganda in action: Out of top 100 news outlets in US, not a single one questioned Syrian attack

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Eye 2

Danish inventor sentenced to life in prison for torture & murder of Kim Wall


RT
Thu, 26 Apr 2018 13:17 UTC
Kim Wall
© FacebookKim Wall
Danish inventor Peter Madsen has been sentenced to life without parole for the murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall on his submarine last year.

Prosecutors said that Madsen planned to kill the 30 year old by either suffocation or cutting her throat. Wall disappeared after she visited Madsen onboard his homemade submarine to conduct an interview in August last year. Her dismembered remains were found at sea 11 days later.
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Beaker

Russian scientist who invented nerve agent that allegedly poisoned spy in UK is hit by car

Jimmy Nsubuga
Metro
Wed, 25 Apr 2018 12:33 UTC
Vladimir Uglev 1
© east2west newsVladimir Uglev was hit by a car near his home
Vladimir Uglev, 71, was struck at a pedestrian crossing near his home, which is close to the Black Sea resort of Anapa.

He suffered injuries to his head, arms and legs, after apparently jumping on to the bumper and crashing through the windscreen when trying to avoid getting under the wheels of the vehicle.

Uglev was strong enough to talk following the crash after undergoing an MRI for his head injuries.

'I noticed that the car was going fast, not slowing down ahead of the crossing,' he said.

'I started to run and nearly reached the end of the crossing, when the car "got" me.'

Comment: Uglev was one of those claiming that A-234 was used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Naturally, the Russian embassy in the UK was skeptical. From a recent press release:
Q: Can you comment on the recent statements by Mr Vladimir Uglev claiming to be a "Novichok" inventor and saying he is sure that A-234 was used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal?

A: Yesterday we learned from the BBC that the self-proclaimed inventor of the so-called "Novichok" Mr Vladimir Uglev was sure that the Skripals had been poisoned with A-234. He comes to this conclusion "from all the spectrum data [he] was sent recently".

This is quite an extraordinary statement. It essentially means that a private citizen has been provided with the information that the Russian Side has not been able to obtain from the British authorities for weeks.

By the way, earlier, statements based on access to "intelligence data" were made by Mr Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, the former commanding officer of the UK's chemical regiment.

Of course, these allegations can not be verified. But if we are to believe them, it looks like the British authorities share highly confidential data with private individuals. This is another gross violation of the OPCW rules. We have asked the FCO to confirm or deny this, and to provide us access to the files that these gentlemen refer to.
See also: Keep Calm & Blame Russia: RT Documentary on Inconvenient Facts in Skripal Saga

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Handcuffs

Police reportedly arrest 'Golden State Killer' after 40 years, identify him as ex-cop


RT
Thu, 26 Apr 2018 12:18 UTC
police line crime scene
© Max Whittaker / Reuters
Police in California have arrested a man believed to be the notorious "Golden State Killer," who was allegedly responsible for 12 homicides, 45 rapes and 120 home invasions in the 1970s and 1980s.

Former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was arrested on two counts of murder by Sacramento police on Wednesday morning, reported NBC News.

Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert and Sheriff Scott Jones announced the arrest at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, revealing a little bit more information about the arrest and investigation.

Comment: The LA Times reports more on what led to the arrest:
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., 72, a former police officer, was charged with eight counts of murder.

Throughout Wednesday, authorities scoured his beige, single-story home in Citrus Heights, removing two cars, a boat and a motorcycle from the garage.

Four initial charges are for the slaying of two married couples - Brian and Kate Maggiore, who were killed in Rancho Cordova in 1978; and Lyman and Charlene Smith, who were killed in Ventura in 1980.

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said the task force had been conducting surveillance on DeAngelo and secretly retrieved his DNA from a discarded item, such as a soda can. The DNA matched the samples left by the killer. Authorities would not say how they initially came to see him as a potential suspect.

Sean Ragan, special agent in charge of the FBI's Sacramento office, said DeAngelo was a police officer decades ago, first in Exeter, Calif., near Visalia, and then in Auburn, near Sacramento. "The time frame of the crimes supports that the suspect was a police officer when he committed some of these crimes," Ragan said.

A front page article in the Auburn Journal dated August 29, 1979, says DeAngelo was dismissed from his position as an Auburn policeman for stealing a can of dog repellent and a hammer from a Sacramento drugstore.


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Camera

Hostility toward journalists rising worldwide, Reporters Without Borders


Yahoo!
Wed, 25 Apr 2018 00:01 UTC
press vest
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders says hostility toward journalists is growing worldwide, often encouraged by political leaders - even in democratic countries.

The group's annual global index of media freedom released Wednesday found an overall rise in animosity toward reporters and a drop in freedoms, notably in former Soviet states but also in countries from the U.S. to the Philippines.


Comment: Note the failure to mention Israel, the most egregious recent example. Despite being clearly marked, the IDF recently shot six journalists during Gaza protests. Wonder how Reporters Without Borders missed that one.

See:

The group says many democratically elected leaders "no longer see the media as part of democracy's essential underpinning," singling out U.S. President Donald Trump for his media-bashing. It also notes the recent killings of reporters in EU members Slovakia and Malta.

Comment: So this was simply a backhanded cheap-shot against Trump, more or less, despite the fact that the media have admitted Trump is 'not shy' about talking to press, and is more accessible than Obama. If they'd widen their search, Reporters Without Borders might actually find much of the hostility towards journalists is currently coming from mainstream media outlets and tech platforms.

See also:

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Arrow Down

New Zealand now adds prostitution to list of 'employment opportunities' for immigrants


RT
Thu, 26 Apr 2018 12:18 UTC
prostitute prostitution
© RapidEye / Getty Images
Migrants hoping to start a new life in New Zealand can now add a new skill to their visa applications. Under a new plan, would-be immigrants can claim points as skilled sex workers and escorts.

The skill is regarded as providing social companionship in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) list.

In order to meet the criteria of a highly qualified sex worker, would-be migrants will be expected to have ANZSCO skill level 5. The requirements issued by ANZSCO also include compulsory secondary education.
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Rose

SOTT Focus: Flemish Priest Father Daniël Maes Living In Syria Exposes The Truth The Western Press Ignores

Bahar Azizi
Sott.net
Wed, 25 Apr 2018 13:11 UTC
father daniel maes
Father Daniël Maes
Living in Syria in the sixth-century-old Mar Yakub monastery in the city of Qara, 90 kilometers north of the capital Damascus, Flemish Father Daniël Maes has been a witness to the invasion of western-backed terrorists since the very beginning. To this day, he and his friends continue to help the Syrian people by not only helping them directly, but also by spreading the truth about what is truly going on in the country.
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Meteor

Nibiru 'fear porn' prophets are profiting from the apocalypse on YouTube

Jasper Hamill
Metro
Mon, 23 Apr 2018 18:39 UTC
Youtube Nibiru
The world spectacularly failed to end again this week when a mysterious death planet did not show up in the sky and spark a biblical apocalypse.

But you can be assured that the no-show of Nibiru will not silence the dozens of crackpots and conspiracy theorists who make a living from claiming the apocalypse is nigh.

We have discovered that so-called Planet X 'investigators' are earning tens of thousands of pounds a year from the false claim that a mysterious hidden world is about to reappear and wipe out humanity.

Comment: The above article seems to be implying that YouTube should be demonetizing accounts that talk about Nibiru, Planet X or the like. This seems a little extreme. While it's true that these sorts of conspiracy theories can do harm, and the whole Nibiru thing is so wrapped up in nonsense there's little true knowledge to be found in these videos, where is the line for what's acceptable and what isn't, and who gets to decide where that line is drawn? If YouTube truly tried to purge its platform of all non-truths, there'd likely be little left to watch.

See also:

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