Link: https://www.rt.com/news/439246-russian-mod-israeli-f-16-hid/

Data captured by Russia’s S-400 system proves Israeli jets were responsible for the downing of the Russian plane, the Defense Ministry said, adding that the Syrian missile changed its course shortly before hitting the Il-20.

Data gleaned from the S-400 air defense system deployed at the Russian Khmeimim air base in Syria’s Latakia province has revealed that the Syrian anti-air missile was, in fact, targeting an Israeli F-16 jet before it abruptly altered its course and eventually hit the Russian aircraft. This, and the position of all the aircraft at the moment of the September 17 incident, proves that an Israeli jet was de facto using the larger Il-20 as a cover, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov told journalists at Monday's news briefing.

Link: https://www.rt.com/business/438098-apple-production-asia-trump/

Apple’s Asian suppliers are facing a sell-off in their stocks Monday after US President Donald Trump tweeted that the Californian company should move its production back to America.

Shares in the Chinese-based suppliers Luxshare Precision, Shenzhen Sunway Communication and Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing all plunged as much as 10 percent. Taiwan, camera lens-maker Largan Precision fell almost 8 percent, Foxconn, a major manufacturer of Apple products, plunged 3.4 percent, while assembler Pegatron lost nearly 4 percent. Apple is worried that a new round of Trump’s tariffs against China, on a further $267 billion of goods , will result in a price hike of its products. Trump tweeted “Apple prices may increase because of the massive Tariffs we may be imposing on China – but there is an easy solution where there would be ZERO tax, and indeed a tax incentive. Make your products in the United States instead of China.”

Apple manufactures some parts in the US.

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/438010-pension-reform-protests-navalny-arrests/

Countrywide protests against raising of the pension age, organized by supporters of opposition figure Aleksey Navalny, have ended in calls to disperse and mass detentions from the police. The pension reform law, passed by the Duma in July, will see the working age eventually extended by five years – to 65 for men, and 60 for women. Multiple surveys conducted by leading pollsters during the summer showed 9 out of 10 Russians oppose the legislation.

Since the first reading of the law was approved, Vladimir Putin’s personal ratings have fallen by double digits, and the president proposed softening the terms of the reform in a televised address last week

Link: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2012/11/moneygram-fined-100-million-for-wire-fraud/

U.S. Justice Department announced that MoneyGram International had agreed to pay a $100 million fine and admit to criminally aiding and abetting wire fraud. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania brought conspiracy, fraud and money laundering charges against 28 former MoneyGram agents.”

“MoneyGram has 293,000 agent locations in 197 countries and territories,” “more than twice the locations of McDonald’s, Starbucks, Subway and Wal-Mart combined.” The company has settled a bevy of other fraud-related lawsuits, including a case in 2008 with 43 U.S. states, and an $18 million fraud case brought in 2009 by the Federal Trade Commission.

Link: https://www.defendevropa.org/2018/heritage-identity/15000-white-south-africans-to-be-given-asylum-in-russia/

Following Australia’s offer of fast tracking visas for White South African farmers in April, Russia has now agreed to take 15,000 Boers. The decision by the Russian government to allow the immigration follows the well documented troubles in South Africa, where White farmers are being attacked or killed in an attempt by the ANC to reclaim land. In Australia, The Boers are already making a successful home for themselves in and around Perth.

The reason for Russia being an ideal country for the newcomers is they can help with the agricultural economy in the South. With the families having a background in farming, and Russia, being vast, needs help in this area. The first of the migrants have already reached Russia and been warmly welcomed by locals.

Link: https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/67845/venezuela-in-chaos-after-maduro-announces-massive-95-devaluation-new-fx-rate-tied-to.html

Chaos and confusion erupted across Venezuela, and most stores were shuttered on Saturday, after president Nicolas Maduro announced that the government would enact a massive currency devaluation, implement a new minimum wage, hike taxes, and also raise gasoline prices for most citizens even as the country struggles with the greatest hyperinflation on record, surpassing even that of the Weimar Republic.

As a result of the enacted actions, the new version of the bolivar will be pegged to the value of the state cryptocurrency, the etro, which according to Bloomberg amounts to a 95% devaluation of the official rate, and will trade in line with where the black market was; the government will also raise the minimum wage more than 3,000 percent, which works out to about $30 a month.

Link: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-20/student-loans-are-starting-bite-economy

Student loans are now the second-largest category of household debt in America, topping $1.4 trillion and trailing only mortgages at $9 trillion. The average student loan payment is $351. Tack that on to average rents and you’re pushing $1,800.

Link: https://www.rt.com/business/436364-south-africa-land-sale/

South Africa’s white farmers have been desperately trying to sell their lands at record pace ahead of planned government land seizures, according to a local farmer’s union. However, there are no buyers. Investors in South Africa are worried that the economy would contract the way it did in Zimbabwe under President Robert Mugabe, who also seized land from whites. The country’s economy hasn’t recovered since then, with inflation reaching 89.7 sextillion percent during the peak of the crisis, according to some estimates.

Link: https://www.rt.com/business/431389-land-confiscation-zimbabwe-africa/

The South African economy and the nation's food production could collapse if the government seizes land from white farmers and redistributes it to black citizens, a local race relations organization has told RT.

The move, approved by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) earlier this year, is aimed at redistribution of wealth and "radical economic transformation." The government is reportedly planning to put an end to what they call the legacy of apartheid, where nearly 95 percent of the South African wealth was kept in the hands of 10 percent of its white population. "Banks have surety bonds on farms to the value of 180 billion rand. If the farms are expropriated without compensation the whole banking sector will collapse, And with that the economy," the body's spokesman told RT.

Link: https://www.rt.com/politics/436357-liberal-project-new-world/

Russian Upper House chair Valentina Matviyenko says the liberal project of a ‘new world order’ has failed because liberals have abandoned many of their original ideas and have become repulsive for the general public.

“Liberalism in the form that it achieved in the United States, a considerable part of the European Union, and some other Western nations, not only lacks attractiveness for a considerable part of humanity, it frightens and repulses the people,” Matviyenko said in a recent interview with International Affairs magazine. The senator added modern liberalism has lost many of the principles it was originally based on – including humanism, freedom of speech, and tolerance. She said that these principles have been replaced with the suppression of traditional values, replacing truthful information with ‘fake news’, and increasing intolerance to differing opinions, especially in politics.

Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45242786

Brazil is sending troops and extra police to the border town of Pacaraima where Venezuelan migrant camps were attacked and set ablaze.

President Michel Temer held an emergency meeting on Sunday as regional tensions rose over the numbers fleeing crisis-hit Venezuela.

In Ecuador, desperate Venezuelans were reported to be crossing the border in defiance of new entry requirements.

Hundreds were stranded on Saturday when Ecuador brought in new rules requiring Venezuelans crossing from Colombia to have valid passports rather than just identity cards.

Most of the migrants are heading south to join family members in Peru and Chile.

They are seeking a better life amid a worsening political and economic crisis in Venezuela that has led to soaring inflation and chronic shortages of food and medicines.

In Pacaraima on Saturday, several migrant encampments were attacked by angry residents following reports that a local restaurant owner had been badly beaten by Venezuelans.

Link: http://www.pravdareport.com/news/science/tech/09-08-2018/141373-russia_robotic_tank-0/?utm_referrer=last_news_list

The working title of the project is "Storm". The main goal of the new machine is to reduce human losses under the conditions of urban warfare. It was said that the new machine would be able to withstand rocket-propelled grenades and mine explosions. With all of its massive and thick armour, the new tank will have a relatively high level of manoeuvrability. The combat robot will be able to attack live targets in a 360 degree radius without damaging buildings. The robotic system is to be equipped with a fire system to strike pre-adjusted targets, so the tank could shoot accurately even under conditions of a smoke screen, torrential downpour, a blizzard, etc.

Link: http://www.orrazz.com/2018/08/chile-has-become-first-south-american.html

The new legislation, approved by Congress and enacted by President Sebastián Piñera, gives small shops two years to adapt to a total ban.
.
Scientists say plastic pollution has a devastating impact on marine wildlife and affects the health of humans.

Mr Piñera said the new rules were a great step for a cleaner Chile.
"We want to go from a throwaway culture, where everything is used and chucked away, to the healthy culture of recycling," he said.

"There are 7.6 billion inhabitants in the world. We can't continue polluting as if each one of us owned the Earth."

The legislation was proposed by his predecessor, Michelle Bachelet, who banned the use of plastic bags in Chile's Patagonia region.

Several other countries have also been taking steps to combat plastic pollution.
In January, Panama approved legislation curbing the commercial use of plastic bags.

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/435687-us-cargo-ship-soybeans-china/

. A US cargo ship carrying $20 million worth of soybeans has been circling in the ocean for a month because it was unlucky to arrive a few hours after tariffs kicked in.

The Peak Pegasus cargo ship, owned by JPMorgan Asset Management, left Seattle for China June 8. arriving five hours after Beijing's tariffs on US goods kicked in on July 6. As a result, it has now found itself drifting in circles in the Yellow Sea costing the owner of the cargo – agricultural commodity trading house Louis Dreyfus $12,500 a day to charter the ship; $400,000 in extra costs.

The soybean saga comes after Beijing imposed duties on $34 billion in US goods, in response to Trump's imposing of tariffs on Chinese goods. The dispute escalated Wednesday, with Washington announcing new $16 billion wave of tariffs would take effect August 23. Responding to that announcement, China imposed 25 percent tariffs on another 333 US products, scheduled to take effect August 23. If the ship were to offload the soybeans now, it would face a 25 percent tariff, adding $6 million to the cost of bringing them into China. Another soybean ship, the Star Jennifer, has also been hanging around the waters for a fortnight.

Link: https://www.theepochtimes.com/more-than-100-large-wildfires-in-us-as-new-blazes-erupt_2621909.html

Six large new wildfires erupted in the United States, pushing the number of major active blazes nationwide to over 100, with more expected to break out sparked by lightning strikes on bone-dry terrain, authorities said on Aug. 11.

More than 30,000 personnel, including firefighters from across the United States and nearly 140 from Australia and New Zealand, were battling the blazes that have consumed more than 1.6 million acres. The fires have scorched states from Washington to New Mexico, with California among the hardest hit. 3,500 firefighters are battling the Mendocino Complex Fire, which has burned 328,226 acres (132,828 hectares) as of Aug. 11, and was the largest fire on record in California.

Link: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-12/furious-rant-erdogan-lashes-out-trump-we-see-same-youre-playing-we-dare-you

In the wake of the U.S. doubling tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum on Friday which sent the Turkish lira and capital markets into free fall, Erdogan wrote a Friday New York Times op-ed cataloging his grievances and threatening to walk away from the decades-old alliance. "Failure to reverse this trend of unilateralism and disrespect will require us to start looking for new friends and allies," he wrote. Trump tweeted his "analysis" of the situation: "Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!"

Ibrahim Kalin, Erdogan’s spokesman, said that the U.S. is "facing the risk of completely losing Turkey."

ERDOGAN: THEY'RE TRYING W/ MONEY WHAT THEY COULDN'T DO IN COUP

Turkey can "respond to those who started a trade war against the entire world and included our country in it by gravitating towards new co-operations, new alliances" i.e. China and Russia (which earlier today said it was considering dropping the US dollar altogether in oil trade

Link: https://sputniknews.com/latam/201808091067063791-ecuador-emergency-venezuela-refugees/

The government of Ecuador on Wednesday introduced a state of emergency in three provinces of the country due to the influx of refugees from Venezuela, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry said. According to the European Parliament, over 2 million people have left Venezuela since 2014.

Link: https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/67719/fbi-warns-of-unlimited-atm-cashout.html

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is warning banks that cybercriminals are preparing to carry out a highly choreographed, global fraud scheme known as an “ATM cash-out,” in which crooks hack a bank or payment card processor and use cloned cards at cash machines around the world to fraudulently withdraw millions of dollars in just a few hours.

Link: https://www.rt.com/business/435817-russia-sell-us-treasuries-sanctions/

Moscow will continue selling off its holdings of US Treasury securities in response to the new penalties Washington is ready to introduce against Russia in the near future, according to Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

The minister added that the government will stick to the plan of moving away from the US dollar for international trade, as it recently proved to be a “risky” payment method. In 2010, Russia was among the top-10 holders of US debt at over $176 billion. Central Bank of Russia dumped 84 percent of its remaining holdings of US Treasury securities due to concerns about a wide range of risks, including financial, economic and geopolitical. The country’s holdings declined from $96.1 billion in March to just $14.9 billion in May.

Link: https://www.rt.com/politics/435818-product-chemical-synthesis-russian/

A Russian lawmaker has proposed banning the naming of foodstuffs made with excessive artificial components after traditional products such as “sausage” or “lemonade.”

MP Vitaly Milonov of the majority United Russia party addressed the Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov in an open letter, insisting the state must toughen rules on product naming in the food industry to prevent false advertising and cheating of customers by dishonest producers. The MP claimed Russian stores were offering customers “processed meat products” that have no relation to actual meat; the soft drink and fruit juice industry with “ imported brands of drinks that are pure chemically-synthesized products that inflict heavy damage to human health.

To rectify the situation, the government must introduce new, stricter rules on product naming, the lawmaker said.If some so-called sausage has less than 50 percent of meat in it, this product cannot be named sausage and must be called ‘imitation of a sausage product,’ he wrote.

“It is not correct when a cocktail of harmful chemicals is called lemonade. This product should also be named in line with its composition – a chemically synthesized drink – and we must mention the possible harmful effects of such drinks on their labels.” Milonov stated. Russian lawmakers have previously proposed to restrict the sales of potentially-harmful foods, especially the so-called junk food promoted by major international corporations.