Poroshenko Signs Law Abrogating the Treaty of Friendship with Russia

KIEV, Ukraine – The Ukrainian president, Pyotr Poroshenko, announced on Monday that the law abolishing the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Russia and Ukraine was signed and will come into effect from April 1, 2019.

The president made the announcement on his Twitter account.

In September, Poroshenko approved the decision of the National Security and Defense Council for the termination of the treaty. Kiev commented on that occasion that it was not the denunciation of the agreement but of the decision not to extend it.

Moscow described the decision of Kiev as a destructive step and lamented the break.

The Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Russia and Ukraine was signed in Kiev on 31 May 1997. The 10-year document entered into force on 1 April 1999 with an automatic extension for a further 10 years if there is no objection.

The document is essential for bilateral relations between countries and provides for a strategic partnership.

Meanwhile, the National Bank of Ukraine spent $125 million to insure the exchange rate in the country in the first 3 days after the imposition of martial law in the country in response to the incident in the Kerch Strait.

The information was disclosed by the bank’s president, Yakiv Smolii, on Sunday.

On November 26, the Ukrainian parliament supported the initiative of Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko to impose martial law in 10 regions of the east of the country.

The measure was a response to the incident in the Kerch Strait where three Ukrainian ships were detained by Russia after illegally crossing Russian territorial waters.

“A certain exaltation in the first three days after the imposition of martial law was quickly replaced by the strengthening of the hryvnia [Ukrainian currency] at the end of the week. The National Bank softened the fluctuations of foreign exchange interventions. To support the exchange rate, about $125 million was spent on reservations between November 26 and 30,” Smolii told VoxUkraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Kerch Strait incident was a provocation prepared as a pretext to introduce martial law in the Ukraine. Putin also said that the provocation could be linked to Poroshenko’s low popularity and the approach of the presidential elections of 2019, whose campaign began in December.

https://www.fort-russ.com/2018/12/poroshenko-signs-law-abrogating-the-treaty-of-friendship-with-russia/

>>4247500

Colombia Cracks Down On Child Sex Trafficking Network Run By Israelis

Group of Israelis are suspected of running a child sex trafficking network in Colombia. According to a report by the Times of Israel the number of suspects is 14, while Haaretz claims it is 12.

The office of Colombia’s attorney general said eight of the suspects have been arrested, including six Israelis.

The video shows Colombian police carry out an arrest at one of the locations:

The alleged sex trafficking ring provided Israeli tourists with “tourism packages” which included prostitutes, some of whom were minors, who received between 200,000 pesos ($63) to 400,000 pesos ($126) in return for sexual services.

Colombian authorities said that Israeli tourists would stay at hotels and take yacht trips and go to private parties with drugs and alcohol, in which women and minors were offered as “sex slaves.”

The members of the trafficking ring will be charged with murder, conspiracy, human trafficking, trafficking in minors, drug manufacturing, providing prostitution services and money laundering. All of the suspects were wanted by international police agency Interpol on suspicion of pimping and soliciting minors for prostitution.

Authorities raided a number of properties including a spa in Santa Marta, a hostel in Bogota, and a building known as “Casa Medellin.” The suspects were arrested in a number of locations around the country, and property worth around $45,000 was seized as part of the investigation.

The Colombian Attorney General posted a video on Twitter claiming that it showed properties owned by the trafficking ring.

Colombian media reported that the leader of the ring is an Israeli named Mor Zohar, while one of the arrested is a Colombian police officer.

The attorney general’s office said 150 billion pesos ($47.3 million) of property has been seized during the investigation, including hotels, hostels and other tourism related businesses.

The investigation into the trafficking ring has been happening since June 2016, when an Israeli citizen – Shai Azran was murdered in Medellin. The prime suspect of the murder was Assi Ben-Mosh, a 44-yaer-old Israeli who has operated in Colombia since 2009. He was arrested in the Netherlands in 2003 on suspicions of leading an international drug trafficking network.

Authorities tracked Ben-Mosh’s activities in Colombia and found that he was the owner of a hotel in Santa Marta, Hotel Benjamin, that offered the “tourism packages.” He together with Zohar also allegedly organized parties at which drugs and sex services were sold.

Police in Colombia arrested 18 people in a raid on Hotel Benjamin hostel in Cartagena in July. The suspects are accused of running a sex ring, recruiting young girls from Colombia and Venezuela and forcing them to work as sex slaves.

The network is suspected of operating in a number of cities in Colombia, including the capital Bogota, Medellin, Cartagena and Santa Marta.

https://southfront.org/colombia-cracks-down-on-child-sex-trafficking-network-run-by-israelis/

>>4247531

Gatekeeper

Controlled op

Execs At Michael Bloomberg’s Company Expected To Be Arrested For Fraud

The Manhattan district attorney’s office and New York state police are expected to arrest several senior executives in former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s finance company on fraud charges Tuesday, The New York Times reported.

The executives are expected to be a part of a larger arrest of roughly a dozen senior executives spanning several companies involved in New York real estate and development. The district attorney’s office launched a new investigation into New York’s $62 billion construction industry, including the construction and facilities department of Bloomberg L.P., in 2017.

Investigators uncovered a pay-to-play scheme in which subcontractors and vendors doing work on Bloomberg company offices would offer bribes and kickbacks to Bloomberg executives. In exchange, the Bloomberg executives would pay more for the work done, defrauding Bloomberg L.P. for millions.

Investigators found no evidence Bloomberg was aware of the alleged fraud.

Bloomberg’s charity group Bloomberg Philanthropies did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.The New York district attorney’s office put together a Construction Fraud Task Force in 2015 to investigate fraud in New York’s construction industry.

Bloomberg is a potential 2020 contender to challenge President Donald Trump. Bloomberg, a Democrat, has been at the forefront of pushing legislation and policies to combat climate change.

Bloomberg has criticized Trump for the president’s morals and character, saying at former President George H.W. Bush’s funeral, “What was unique about George H.W. Bush was his honesty, his morals — his elegance, if you will. And I think unfortunately you contrast it with what we have in the White House now where the current president doesn’t seem to have any feeling of sacrifice for the good of the country. And maybe that’s one of the real differences.”

https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/10/michael-bloomberg-fraud-new-york/

Hungarian fugitive wanted for theft and assault removed by ICE to home country

NEWARK, NJ — A 38-year-old Hungarian citizen, wanted in his home country for the offenses of theft and assault with a firearm, was removed from the United States on Thursday, December 6th, by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). ICE-ERO Officers turned Imre RACZ over to Hungarian authorities at the Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport.

RACZ entered the United States as a visitor on June 10, 2016, through Miami International Airport in Miami, FL. He overstayed his authorized admission of 90 days, under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

On October 10, 2018, RACZ was arrested outside his residence in Lakewood, NJ by ICE ERO officers. On the same date, ICE issued a Final Administrative Removal Order.

“This individual’s crime history in his home country shows that he is a dangerous person who warranted removal from the community and the U.S.,” said John Tsoukaris Field Office Director for ICE ERO Newark.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/hungarian-fugitive-wanted-theft-and-assault-removed-ice-home-country

Infrastructure Bill May Stall as Democrats Demand Climate Measures

Tying infrastructure bill to climate change will be ‘dead on arrival,’ says expert

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump signaled that infrastructure could be a key area of focus next year, which has been a priority for Democrats for decades. Democratic congressional leaders, however, are coming up with legislative demands that may impede Trump’s much-hoped for infrastructure reform.

In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) calls for “massive” spending on renewable energy, as a condition for approving Trump’s infrastructure plan.

“If the president wanted to earn Democratic support in the Senate, any infrastructure bill would have to include policies and funding that help transition our country to a clean-energy economy and mitigate the risks the United States already faces from climate change,” he wrote.

Schumer also lists the types of policies Democrats expect to see in an infrastructure bill. He calls for “massive investments” in climate resiliency and renewable energy, especially in technologies such as battery storage.

“We should provide permanent tax credits for clean-energy production and storage, electric vehicles, and energy- efficient homes,” he continues.

He also pushes for measures to “reduce the release of methane pollution from domestic energy production” and cut “the amount of carbon we release into the atmosphere.”

These requests mean imposing considerable costs on American taxpayers, according to Nicolas Loris, an economist and environmental policy expert at The Heritage Foundation.

“Introducing climate into an infrastructure package only creates more division among members of Congress,” he said. “It’s been pretty clear that ever since cap-and-trade legislation failed there’s been no real appetite to move any big climate bill because of the cost and the negligible climate benefit that you would get from it.”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/infrastructure-bill-may-stall-as-democrats-demand-climate-measures_2735284.html

>>4247946

Where they always did!

Rights Groups Demand Israel Stop Arming neo-Nazis in Ukraine

Human rights activists petition the court to cease Israeli arms exports to Ukraine since some of these weapons reach neo-Nazi elements in Ukraine’s security forces

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/rights-groups-demand-israel-stop-arming-neo-nazis-in-the-ukraine-1.6248727