French Govt. getting called out on their FF and having to defend themselves

The Strasbourg shooting, which claimed three lives on Tuesday night, was not a secret government ploy to undermine the mass protests gripping France for weeks, contrary to rumors online, a senior official has said.

Secretary of State for the Interior Ministry Laurent Nuñez said he was “outraged” by claims that the attack in Strasbourg may benefit the government in its struggle against the so-called Yellow Vest movement.

.@LaurentNunez, secrétaire d'État auprès du ministre de l'Intérieur : "Je suis indigné […] on est clairement dans les thèses complotistes" #le79inter#Giletsjaunes#Strasbourgpic.twitter.com/b1AMJDEjIj

— France Inter (@franceinter) December 12, 2018

“I don’t understand how anybody could imagine this… We should call it for what it is – such ideas are obviously coming from conspiracy theorists,” he told the media.

According to tweets and other remarks, such conspiracy theories flourish among the ranks of the ‘Yellow Vests’. And this is yet another proof. Saying such things is, frankly speaking, disgraceful.

In the wake of the shooting, all mass gatherings had been banned in Strasbourg by the government. No restrictions were placed on public events in other parts of France though.

The Yellow Vests or Gilets Jaunes is the movement which stemmed from opposition to the French government’s economic reforms. They took the name after the safety clothing of motorists, adopted as a symbol of resistance to a hike in fuel tax, the move that turned brewing discontent into mass protests in mid-November.

This month, the mass protests escalated into clashes with riot police and mass vandalism on a scale unseen for years in France. Their demands also changed, as they started calling for the resignation of the government, possibly fueled by limited economic concessions combined with a heavy-handed police response to the protests.

The shooting in Strasbourg’s old city left two people dead and 14 injured in an apparent act of terrorism targeting people visiting a Christmas market. The shooter was identified as a local man, who had been placed on the police watch list over possible radicalization. He is believed to have been arrested and searched prior to the attack in connection with a homicide-robbery case.

https://www.rt.com/news/446248-strasbourg-shooting-yellow-vests-conspiracy/

https://metro.co.uk/2018/12/12/googles-ceo-asked-frazzledrip-videos-truth-behind-8235924/

Did President Trump just win the trade war?

Stocks futures exploded higher Wednesday morning following a report in the Wall Street Journal claiming that China is planning to increase access to its domestic market. If accurate, this would constitute a major concession in the trade war and address one of the Trump Administration's biggest complaints about the inherent unfairness of China's "Made in China 2025" policy.

Of course, the Trump Administration will likely remain skeptical - at least at first - as WSJ reports that China likely won't go as far as the US would like.

The revision is also likely to be treated with skepticism in the U.S. Officials in the Trump administration have called Made in China 2025 a threat to fair competition, saying it encourages state subsidies for domestic companies and forces technology transfer from foreign partners. Some U.S. officials are likely to see the changes as more cosmetic than real.

Stock futures climbed on the news as investors now have good reason to believe that Wednesday's session won't be a re-run of Tuesday.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-12/giant-trade-war-concession-china-prepares-replace-made-china-2025