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Turkey repatriates gold from US, bid to ditch dollar


RT
Fri, 20 Apr 2018 10:43 UTC
Gold bars
© Jochen Tack/Global Look Press
Ankara has decided to bring back all its gold stored in the US Federal Reserve, according to Turkish media. In recent years, Turkey repatriated 220 tons of gold from abroad, and 28.7 tons was brought back from the US last year.

Turkey's gold reserves are estimated at 564 tons and are worth about $20 billion, Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak reported. This makes Ankara the 11th largest gold holder, behind the Netherlands and ahead of India. The reports come at a time when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken a tough stance against the US currency.

This week he criticized dollar loans and said that international loans should be given in gold instead. "Why do we make all loans in dollars? Let's use another currency. I suggest that the loans should be made based on gold," Erdoğan said during a speech at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Istanbul on April 16, according to Hurriyet.

"With the dollar the world is always under exchange rate pressure. We should save states and nations from this exchange rate pressure. Gold has never been a tool of oppression throughout history," he added.

On April 11, the Turkish lira hit a record low against the dollar. Turkey is among several countries which have been moving gold from the US. The wave began in 2012, when Venezuela announced it was repatriating 160 tons of gold, valued at around $9 billion. Germany's Bundesbank then demanded 300 tons be returned, with the Fed saying it would take seven years to do so. The Netherlands has also repatriated 122.5 tons of gold.

Comment: The gold standard is almost upon us, as the dollar wanes and the US Federal Reserve becomes obsolete. The return of gold deposits will therefore be drawn out as long as possible.

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Snakes in Suits

Most Excellent! Fans jump Keanu Reeves' gate, but he refused to call cops, invited them in for beer instead

Matt Agorist
Free Thought Project
Sat, 21 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC
Keanu Reeves
The Matrix movie series was one of the most revolutionary works of art to ever come out of Hollywood. Its pro-humanity, anti-authoritarian message instantly made it a classic and it has since become the subject of internet memes and (red pill) movements alike. At the center of this silver-screen revolution is Keanu Reeves whose real-life heroism makes his role as Neo that much more incredible.

Reeves has managed to distance himself from the dark side of Hollywood and it's been easy for him, simply because he has a huge heart. Reeves has been spotted all over the place-not in photo opportunity pr stunts-but in real-life scenarios being a genuinely good person.

One scenario in particular is getting some attention after a woman posted her amazing story about Reeves on Facebook and backed it up with photos.

This story begins as Chris Johnston was visiting California to watch her boyfriend Ned play in a softball tournament. However, because Johnston was such a huge Keanu Reeves fan, she decided to blow off the tournament and instead go see the home of Reeves.

Comment: See also: Excellent! 10 times Keanu Reeves was caught being a real-life superhero

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Quenelle

SWIFT is neutral and will defy US if pressured to cut Russia off says CEO

Dmitry Sudakov
Russia Insider
Sat, 21 Apr 2018 18:50 UTC
us russia flag badge barbed wire
The SWIFT system, which ensures the transfer of financial messages between all banks of the world, will not disconnect Russia despite Western sanctions. In the political conflict between Russia and the West, SWIFT takes a neutral position, SWIFT CEO Gottfried Leibbrandt said.

The SWIFT system will thus stay neutral in the conflict between Russia and the West and will not disconnect the country from the system of financial payments because of the sanctions, CEO Gottfried Leibbrandt said at the SWIFT business forum in Moscow, RBC reports.

"The question of disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT financial reporting system is not worth it, and our position remains unchanged: we are a neutral party that provides for the interconnection of users and whose purpose is to service the global financial industry," Mr. Leibbrandt said.

Comment: Since Russia has already set up an alternative, one Russian tech giant firm has just voluntarily left SWIFT, and that blocking Russia could anger the profitable emerging markets as well as Western financial institutions, and China, the worlds strongest economy, it's simple business sense to defy the less-profitable and failing empire:

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Attention

Israeli snipers shoot 15-year-old child in the head, bringing Gaza death toll to 39

Robert Inlakesh
Al Masdar News
Sat, 21 Apr 2018 20:46 UTC
15 year old Palestinian, murdered by Israeli Sniper fire near the Gaza border

15 year old Palestinian, murdered by Israeli Sniper fire near the Gaza border
Four Palestinians have been killed and 650 others injured, as Israel violently responds to the fourth week of peaceful Friday demonstrations, taking place across the Gaza Strip.

So far, 39 Palestinians have been brutally executed in by the Israeli military in Gaza, since the beginning of the 'Great Return March'.

Four Palestinians have been killed and 650 others injured

Comment: UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov called for an investigation into the killing of the 15-year old, describing it as outrageous and adding that it "fuels anger and breeds more killing."
Palestinian medical sources said the teenager was standing with a group around 100-150 meters from the border when he was shot, while Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said all responsibility rests with Hamas.


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Attention

11 y.o. old girl raped and killed during Indian wedding; attacker returns to the party like nothing happened

Phoebe Southworth
Daily Mail
Fri, 20 Apr 2018 18:35 UTC
Asifa Bano

Asifa Bano, who was kidnapped, gang raped and murdered in the Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir this month.
An 11-year-old girl was raped and bludgeoned to death at a wedding before her attacker reportedly rejoined the celebrations covered in her blood.

Suspect Uttam Sahu, 24, is accused of luring the child away from the party in the Indian district of Kabirdham in Chhattisgarh late on Wednesday night.

After promising to get her a cold drink, he took her 1.5km away near to a dark and deserted spot near a stream, it is claimed.

There he raped her and bludgeoned her to death with a cement brick before abandoning her half-naked body, police say.

An investigator said he didn't bother covering his tracks, returning to the wedding and partying as if nothing had happened with her blood fresh on his shirt.
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X

BlaqOUT: White people banned from LGBTQ event at UC Riverside

John Patrick
Washington Examiner
Thu, 19 Apr 2018 12:01 UTC
UC Riverside

Unfortunately for UC Riverside, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits “discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.”
California's taxpayer-subsidized University of California, Riverside campus is set to host a segregated LGBTQ conference at the end of this month.

BlaqOUT, the event in question, is a two day conference designed for people who identify as "Black/African American or of African descent that also identify as Same Gender Loving, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning or somewhere on the LGBT spectrum," according to the event page.

While it's relatively common to encounter on-campus events emphasizing or celebrating certain cultural groups or traditions, it is unheard of to deny someone admission to an event simply because they have a different skin color. Remarkably, this scenario appears to be exactly what BlaqOUT organizers are focused on establishing, as is explicitly listed in the event FAQ's.

"Can other people of color, white people and/or straight people attend?"

Comment: See also: Why the American left fears and hates Dr. Jordan Peterson

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Star of David

Palestinians die not because Israeli soldiers disobey orders but because they follow them

Ben White
Middle East Eye
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 18:23 UTC
israeli soldiers
© Agence France-Presse
Israeli snipers shoot at unarmed protesters with live fire, enjoying the open support of senior political and military leaders
The Israeli army has made it quite clear that top brass orders for snipers allow live ammunition to be directed at Palestinian protesters

It is now over a week since an Israeli sniper shot and killed Palestinian journalist Yaser Murtaja, as he covered the ongoing "Great Return March" protests in the occupied Gaza Strip. Incredibly, at the time of writing, the Israeli military has still not offered any explanation of why he was shot.

The killing of Murtaja has prompted widespread condemnation. He is, however, just one of 35 Palestinians killed - including three children - by Israeli forces since 30 March, with a further 1,500 protesters shot by Israeli live fire (see these AP reports).

Comment: The Israeli regime is clearly insane. They act according a reality they have created. And Palestinian pay with their lives.

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Beaker

20 more Skripal questions: The lady and the curiously absent suspect

Rob Slane
The Blogmire
Fri, 20 Apr 2018 18:30 UTC
Salisburystreet
© Andrew Parsons/ Global Look Press
Zizzi restaurant where the Skripals dined, Salisbury, UK
Okay, so I'm up to 70 questions so far on this case (here, here and here), and here come another 20. Most of these are focused on Yulia Skripal, but there are also a number of questions at the end relating to the main character in the case, who so far seems to have been almost entirely forgotten. Let's just call him or her or them "A. Suspect", and note that so far he or she or they have been curiously conspicuous by their absence.

1. Both Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were admitted to Salisbury District Hospital (SDH) on 4th March 2018 and were said to have been in a coma in the weeks that followed. During this time, what actions were taken by the Hospital Trust to inform their next of kin of their condition - particularly Mr Skripal's 90-year-old mother (and of course Yulia's grandmother) -, and to keep them updated throughout their illness?

2. According to reports on 28th March, both Mr Skripal and his daughter were in a critical condition, and it was even suggested that the likelihood of either of them surviving was so remote that a judgement might be needed to make the "politically-sensitive decision over whether to maintain life support" for them. Yet just eight days later, on 5th April, it emerged that Yulia Skripal had contacted her cousin, Viktoria, by telephone, and that she had repeatedly stressed that "everything is fine" and "everyone is fine", including her father, who she said was "having a sleep". This suggests that the two of them had recovered a good while before the phone call. On what dates did the two of them regain consciousness?

3. The telephone conversation, which was recorded by Viktoria and played on Russian television, was the first public information that both Yulia and her father were no longer in a "critical condition". Why was this information not made public before her phone call was aired?

Comment: Slane's previous writing on the Skripal case:

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Biohazard

Novichock creator: Poison could've been produced anywhere


RFE/RL
Fri, 20 Apr 2018 18:21 UTC
skripal house
© Toby Melville / Reuters
The world will most likely never know the precise origins of the deadly nerve agent used to poison former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in the English city of Salisbury last month, says a former Russian chemical engineer who worked on developing the Novichok family of poisons.

"Imagine that you have the corpse of a murder victim," chemist Vladimir Uglyov told Current Time TV, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA. "The criminal has left clues, including fingerprints. But you don't have those fingerprints in your database. That means you can only identify the killer if you catch him."

The source of the poison used in the Skripal case, Uglyov said, is almost certainly "some beaker standing in some safe in some city in some country."

British officials and allied governments have blamed Moscow for the March 4 poisoning of the Skripals, which has prompted sanctions and diplomatic expulsions and threatens to further harm relations between Russia and the West. Moscow has maintained its innocence.

Although Uglyov believes U.K. authorities' assertion that a nerve agent called A-234 was used against the Skripals, he said he is puzzled by the lack of the basic symptoms of A-234 poisoning -- uncontrollable urination and defecation. Such symptoms, he said, should appear if a person is exposed to something approaching half the median lethal dose.

"Maybe the dose was too small, as happened to me," he said.
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Star of David

MSF teams in Gaza observe unusually severe and devastating gunshot injuries inflicted by IDF snipers


Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
Thu, 19 Apr 2018 17:44 UTC
Médecins Sans Frontières gaza injuries
© Laurie Bonnaud/Médecins Sans Frontières
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Thierry Saucier operates on the leg of an injured patient in Alqsa Hospital in Gaza.
Since 1 April, MSF teams in Gaza, Palestine, have provided post-operative care to more than 500 people injured by gunshots during the March of Return demonstrations. The number of patients treated in our clinics over the last three weeks is more than the number we treated throughout all of 2014, when Israel's military Operation Protective Edge was launched over the Gaza strip. MSF medical staff report receiving patients with devastating injuries of an unusual severity, which are extremely complex to treat. The injuries sustained by patients will leave most with serious, long-term physical disabilities.

Medical teams in Gaza's hospitals prepare to face a possible new influx of wounded this Friday in the latest of the March of Return demonstrations. MSF surgeons in Gaza report devastating gunshot wounds among hundreds of people injured during the protests over recent weeks. The huge majority of patients - mainly young men, but also some women and children - have unusually severe wounds to the lower extremities. MSF medical teams note the injuries include an extreme level of destruction to bones and soft tissue, and large exit wounds that can be the size of a fist.

Comment: Let it be noted that deliberately causing catastrophic injury and death to Palestinians is official Israeli policy.

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