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US-Supported Kiev Aggression on Donbass Escalated
by Stephen Lendman
Kiev junta officials want war, not peace. They want illegitimate fascist rule hardened - with no recognized democratic pockets. Local autonomy is strictly forbidden despite mandated under Minsk ceasefire terms.
Rebel fighters continue showing good faith efforts for peace and stability. Despite obvious threats, they'll withdraw heavy weapons from frontline positions - in place to deter junta aggression.
A statement was issued saying "(t)o show our commitment to the Minsk agreements, we are ready to make the next step towards peace. For that, (we'll) pull back our units with tanks and armored vehicles, equipped with weapons under 100mm calibre, to at least three kilometres (1.9 miles) from the front line."
The Night Watchman
THE NIGHT WATCHMAN
Paul Craig RobertsV
Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert.Congress said, “Someone may steal from it at night.” So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.\
Then Congress said, “How does the watchman do his job without instruction?”So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies. Then Congress said, “How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?”So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One was to do the studies and one was to write the reports.
EU Visa-Slams Ukrainians After February 2014 Ukrainian Coup
Eric Zuesse
Although the coup in Ukraine in February 2014 was allegedly done in order to get Ukraine into the European Union (because the overthrown President Viktor Yanukovych had just before declined the EU’s offer for Ukraine to join the EU), European countries are now denying Ukrainians visas even more than they had been doing before the coup and its follow-on Association Agreement with the EU.
Ukraine’s independent European Integration website headlined on July 21st, “The Percentage of Refusals Increased,” and reported that, “Of the 22 countries in the Schengen area [the countries where visas are not required], 16 increased the percentage of refusals of entrance to Ukrainians as compared to the year 2013,” which was the final year prior to the coup.
Furthermore: “Switzerland and Finland denied visas to Ukrainians at a rate three times higher than in 2013, and Spain, Portugal, Greece and Sweden denied visas almost twice as much as in 2013.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin “admitted: Some consulates deliberately do not give visas to Ukrainians, even when they are eligible."The same website had reported on June 26th that they were informed, “Most of the people who are affected by this live outside Kiev and the other major cities. … I fear it will lead to increased numbers of forged papers from those areas.”
Troika Bandits Want More from Greece
by Stephen Lendman
The devil in Brussels, Frankfurt and Washington wants its due. Everything gotten so far from Greek self-mutilation isn’t enough.
Loan sharks of last resort operate this way - by their own rules with no deviations. Who knows how many more pounds of flesh they’ll demand - all they can get until Greece is entirely pillaged and economically destroyed, its people left in greater duress than already, on their own.
On Monday, talks began in Athens to clear remaining hurdles before Troika officials release any bailout funds. They demand more.
Saudis Keep Bombing Yemen After Declaring 5-Day Halt
by Stephen Lendman
Four months of US-orchestrated, Saudi-led terror bombing along with imported takfiri terrorists and other pro-Western elements waging ground war left thousands of Yemenis dead (mostly civilians deliberately targeted), many more thousands wounded, and an unprecedented humanitarian disaster, according to ICRC officials.
Last week, Riyadh announced a five-day humanitarian ceasefire beginning Sunday night local time - while it continues blocking most aid from entering the country. Its goal along with Washington’s is starving Yemenis into submission. So-called humanitarian pauses are farcical when announced - thinly veiled PR stunts fooling no one. Nothing on the ground changes. Saudi-led aggression continues.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Implies EU Membership Might Be Impossible
Eric Zuesse
Ukraine’s Euro-Integration website headlined on July 25th, “Klimkin: ‘If Ukraine Won’t Be an EU Member Within 5 Years, We Won’t Ever’,” and reported that, "Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin claims that if Kiev is required to wait 5 years before applying for membership in the EU, Ukraine’s joining will be postponed indefinitely.” He says, “If we are forced to wait till 2020 to apply, it won’t work even if we are forced to wait another 25 years.”
Klimkin is quoted as saying that the longer Ukraine waits for membership, the less likely Ukraine’s ultimate membership will be, because “The EU won’t be the same 20 years from now; it will have undergone major changes.” He seems to be suggesting that the EU is a moving target, and that it’s getting farther from Ukraine, not nearer, with each year that passes.
$1.5 Quadrillion Time Bomb
by Stephen Lendman
When investing becomes gambling, bad endings follow. The next credit crunch could make 2008-09 look mild by comparison. Bank of International Settlements(BIS) data show around $700 trillion in global derivatives.
Along with credit default swaps and other exotic instruments, the total notional derivatives value is about $1.5 quadrillion - about 20% more than in 2008, beyond what anyone can conceive, let alone control if unexpected turmoil strikes. The late Bob Chapman predicted it. So does Paul Craig Roberts. It could “destroy Western civilization,” he believes. Financial deregulation turned Wall Street into a casino with no rules except unrestrained making money. Catastrophic failure awaits. It’s just a matter of time.
Hamas: No free information on missing Israelis
By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Palestine
Israel has finally officially
acknowledged that two Israelis were being held in the Gaza Strip, presumably in Hamas's custody.
Israel had hoped that Hamas would disclose information on the matter, which would help Israel repatriate the two men in return for a non-costly price or at no price at all.
But Hamas has acted smartly by remaining tight-lipped on the matter for the past 12 months.
Hamas should continue this wise policy as giving free information of any kind to Israel would be self-defeating and immensely harmful for the Palestinian cause, especially the cause of thousands of Palestinian political prisoners and resistance detainees languishing in Israeli jails and detention camps.
Greece and the European Union: First as Tragedy, Second as Farce, Thirdly as Vassal State
James Petras
Introduction
The Greek people’s efforts to end the economic depression, recover their sovereignty and reverse the regressive socio-economic policies, which have drastically reduced living standards, have been thrice denied.
First, the denial came as tragedy: When the Greek majority elected Syriza to government and their debts increased, the economy plunged further into depression and unemployment and poverty soared. The Greek people voted for Syriza believing its promises of ‘a new course’. Immediately following their victory, Syriza reneged on their promise to restore sovereignty – and end the subjugation of the Greek people to the economic dictates of overseas bankers, bureaucrats and political oligarchs. Instead Syriza kept Greece in the oligarchical imperialist bloc, portraying the European Union as an association of independent sovereign countries. What began as a great victory of the Greek people turned into a tragic strategic retreat. From their first day in office, Syriza led the Greek people down the blind alley of total submission to the German empire.
Israel Attacks Islam’s Third Holiest Site
by Stephen Lendman
Nothing is too outrageous for rogue states run by racist criminals. Cold-blooded murder, vicious assaults, mass arrests and imprisonments for political reasons, torture and other forms of abuse are institutionalized practices.
Israel gives Judaism a bad name. More proof came Sunday morning. Soldiers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque, firing tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at nonviolent worshipers to clear way for extremist Jews to access Islam’s third holiest site where they don’t belong. Israel has no shortage of synagogues for worshipers to pray any day of the year for any reason. Forcibly entering a Muslim holy place with plenty of supportive military muscle constitutes a criminal act.
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