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What diplomacy? Here are 36 countries the US has bullied this week
It’s been a busy few days for American diplomacy, with three dozen nations ending up at the receiving end of threats, ultimatums and sanctions this week alone. And it’s only Friday. [...]
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‘Washington is telling Ankara: NATO will not rescue you in Syria’
By adopting terms for a cessation of hostilities together with Russia, the US showed Turkey it is not going to support Ankara’s efforts to send troops into Syria and NATO won’t come to rescue them later, former US diplomat Jim Jatras told RT. How confident can we be that this new agreement will hold?   [...]
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Turkey to Consider Buying Russian Warplanes If US Refuses to Supply F-35 – Report
The United States earlier threatened to remove Turkey from it's F-35 program after Ankara refused to scrap a deal with Russia to buy Moscow's cutting-edge S-400 missile systems, which Washington claimed could compromise US-made aircraft. [...]
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‘Pentagon needs Russia as the next big enemy’ – retired US Air Force officer
The Pentagon is pointing fingers in advance because it is unhappy with having the brakes put on some of the things it wanted to do in Syria, Karen Kwiatkowski, a retired US Air force Lieutenant Colonel, told RT. he relationship between Russia and the US has often been very strained but recently [...]
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US discontent over Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400s is ‘sign of true competition’
The US has punished Turkey for buying Russian air defense systems by cutting it from the F-35 program. The rationale behind the move is speculative, and Ankara’s example may prompt other US allies to buy Russian, experts told RT. [...]
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Austria is not Germany’s ‘distribution hub’ for refugees – Chancellor Faymann
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann has blamed Germany's open door policy as well as a lack of cooperation between EU member states on the refugee crisis and has said that Austria will no longer be a ‘distribution hub’ for refugees. [...]
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‘Gambler Trump plays poker while China plays chess’, thinking a few moves ahead
The Trump administration is putting the US on a dangerous course by not assessing the long-term risks in the ongoing trade war with China, analysts told RT as tensions flare between the world's biggest economies. [...]
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Russian MoD: Bellingcat’s Probe Into MH17 Crash Distorts Objective Facts
The so-called Bellingcat investigative journalist group’s publications on MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine distort objective facts and should not be taken seriously, the Russian Defense Ministry’s press service said Monday. [...]
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‘US concerned about our good ties with Europe’: Cosmonaut says pressure forced ESA to ditch Soyuz
The European Space Agency’s decision to replace Russian launch vehicles with those made in the US was forced upon Europeans by their big “ally,” a Russian cosmonaut has said, noting that the US was jealous of the cooperation. [...]
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Rogue Domestic Ops? Pentagon Admits It Flew Military Spy Drones Over US
In a troubling sign of domestic operations by the US military, the Pentagon has admitted to flying spy drones over the continental United States during the past decade. Human rights activists have long questioned the ethical implications of Washington’s drone use. [...]
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‘Historical humanitarian action’: Prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine completed
Planes with former detainees landed in Moscow and Kiev, concluding the long-awaited prisoner swap. The action was hailed as the first step in mending the ‘dead-end’ relations between the neighbors and was praised internationally. [...]
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American ISIS fighter arrested in Iraq after ‘mistaking it for Turkish border’ – reports
An Islamic State fighter from the US was arrested in Iraq after emerging from territory controlled by the militant group in Syria, a local commander told Kurdish media. The man reportedly mistook the area for the Turkish border. A local commander told Kurdish news outlet Rudaw that the arrested man was 27-year-old Muhammad Jamal Amin, a Virginia-born US citizen of a Palestinian father and an Ir [...]
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US Acts as Aggressive ‘Rogue State’ by Sanctioning Russia’s Jet Fuel Supply Chain to Syria – Pundit
The US Treasury Department designated a Russian maritime company, three Sovfracht directors and five vessels for an alleged scheme to evade sanctions to facilitate the delivery of jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria. [...]
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‘Agents of Destruction’: How CIA Helped Create Islamist Frankenstein
Washington and its allies created the Islamist Frankenstein with their own hands: over the decades radical Muslim 'agents of destruction' have formed the belt of instability which stretches across the MENA region to Central Asia and beyond. But how did it all begin? Back in December 1979 the USSR deployed a limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan in response to repeated requests from [...]
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Trump approves $4.5 million in aid to ‘White Helmets’ in Syria
US President Donald Trump has authorized $4.5 million in aid to the so-called Syrian Civil Defense (SCD), aka “White Helmets,” calling their work “important and highly valued.” The group’s critics point to its terrorist ties. “Over the course of the 8-year conflict in Syria, the SCD has rescued more than 115,000 people, including many ethnic and religious minorities,” the White House [...]
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Kerry Says Cooperation With Russia Serves US Strategic Interests
The cooperation with Russia serves the strategic interests of the United States, Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday. Earlier this week, US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin. [...]
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Russians donate €1 MILLION in less than 24 hours in a bid to save Venice, as the city recovers from 3rd wave in a week
When Italy asked the world to help restore Venice after the worst flood in decades, some Russians didn’t waste time – donating one million euros in less than a day, the Italian ambassador to Russia has revealed. Italy's Pasquale Terracciano said that donations were made by “wealthy” individuals whose identities were not named. [...]
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The Clinton Myth and the Strange Case of Donald Trump
Republicans are known for forming opinions “unencumbered by the thought process,” as Tom and Ray, the Car Guys, used to say. They have problems with facts too. Democrats are supposed to be better at such things, but many, maybe most, of them have a similar problem. [...]
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‘A Hidden Life’ is the story of a farmer who resisted Hitler – NOT a metaphor for anti-Trump Resistance
‘A Hidden Life’ by Terrence Malick celebrates an Austrian farmer’s Christian principled opposition to Hitler, and any attempts to draw a parallel between the movie and anti-Trump resistance are myopic at best. The new film is the true story of Franz Jagerstatter, a Catholic farmer in Austria who is conscripted into the German Army during WWII and must choose between his conscience, and pledg [...]
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France Coaxes Foreign Streetwalkers to Move On With Residence Permits
French authorities plan to provide foreign prostitutes with six month residence permits in a bid to help them escape the sex trade, according to media reports. Foreign prostitutes in France will be offered six month residence permits if they agree to participate in "the exit program," something that is thought will help sex workers escape the trade, media reports said. [...]
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Gabbard Blasts Trump Over Soleimani Killing, Demands Immediate Pullout of US Troops From Iraq, Syria
The Hawaii congresswoman and Democratic presidential candidate, who deployed to Iraq during her service with the US Army National Guard, has repeatedly warned that a conflict with Iran would be “far more devastating” to the US than its Iraq campaign. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has issued a series of statements slamming President Trump for the drone strike which killed senior Iranian Revolutio [...]
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Pope Francis Takes On ‘Just War’ Theory
The Catholic Church, which over the centuries has blessed many dreadful wars, is shifting to an anti-war position favored by Pope Francis and more in line with Jesus’s teachings, writes ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller. Pope Francis is on a roll. He has already roiled the waters of Western thinking on economics and society by touching on the dangers of Western capitalism drifting into sociall [...]
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