Hands off ‘our hemisphere’ or Venezuela pays the price: US Senator warns Russia

The US staked a claim on half the world, as Senate Armed Services Committee chair Jim Inhofe said Washington might have to intervene in Venezuela if Russia dares set up a military base not just there, but “in our hemisphere.”

“I think that it could happen,” Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) told a group of reporters on Tuesday. “You’ve got a guy down there that is killing everybody. You could have him put together a base that Russia would have on our hemisphere. And if those things happen, it may be to the point where we’ll have to intervene with troops and respond.”

Should Russia dare encroach on the US’ neck of the woods, Inhofe said: “we have to take whatever action necessary to stop them from doing that.”

As opposition leader Juan Guaido vies for power, the Russian government has stuck by President Nicolas Maduro. Russia has not, however, promised military aid to Maduro, and Russian diplomat Alexander Shchetinin said on Monday that Venezuela has not requested military aid from Moscow.

After Guaido declared himself interim president of Venezuela last month, US President Donald Trump immediately recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. Since then, the US has pledged humanitarian aid to Guaido, called on Venezuela’s military to support him, and slapped Maduro’s government with fresh economic sanctions. Maduro has denounced Washington’s sponsorship of Guaido as a “vile” coup attempt but nevertheless called for talks with the opposition leader. The US has outright rejected taking part in any discussions with Maduro.

The US has stopped short of deploying troops to Venezuela, despite Trump and national security adviser John Bolton both saying the option is “on the table.” Speaking on Tuesday, Inhofe agreed and suggested that Trump could launch a military operation in Venezuela without Congressional authorization.

“I don’t think it’s necessary,” he said. “If there is a threat that reaches the threshold of the president having the ability, the constitutional ability of deploying troops, then that’s an unknown. We don’t know right now.”

https://www.rt.com/news/451383-venezuela-military-intervention-russia/

Scientology Squashes Scientology & The Aftermath Episode About Danny Masterson Rape Charges

Scientology doesn't have the power it used to. There was a time when whistleblowers, members who had escaped, cult education advocates and anyone who tried to raise awareness about the evils and excesses of the Church of Scientology was considered "fair game" to use some Hubbardian jargon. "Fair Game" meaning, no holds barred as far as shutting up the "Suppressive Person" in question. With Scientology's star on the wane, they don't have the finances or connections they used to, but seeing as A&E has shelved a prospective episode of Leah Remini's Scientology and the Aftermath, it appears the cult still has a bit of its old sway.

Back in 2017, we covered the case of That 70's Show's Danny Masterson who was accused of several sexual assaults in the wake of the first flushes of the #MeToo movement. Leah Remini had previously speculated that Scientology was working with the LAPD to convince it to drop the investigation. Despite that, after the fifth rape allegation, Netflix dropped Danny from their show The Ranch. Apparently at Netflix when it comes to serious sexual abuse allegations, it's the fifth time that's the charm.

Remini filmed an episode about Danny Masterson and the potential Scientology coverup that was protecting him back in 2017. That episode never aired. Initially, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office had asked for a delay because airing the episode could have a negative effect on their investigation.

https://thegoldwater.com/news/43965-Scientology-Squashes-Scientology-The-Aftermath-Episode-About-Danny-Masterson-Rape-Charges

New book claims 80 percent of Vatican priests are gay

A French journalist reveals a 'startling account of corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of the Vatican'

An explosive new book claiming that the majority of Vatican clerics are gay is scheduled to be released on the same day that Pope Francis' sex abuse summit is set to begin in Vatican City.

The 570-page manuscript titled, "In the Closet of the Vatican," written by French journalist Frederick Martel, alleges that 80 percent of the priests working at the Vatican are gay, although not all are sexually active.

Martel, who spent four years researching, reveals in his book, an unspoken code with "one rule of thumb being that the more homophobic the cleric was, the more likely he was to be gay," The Guardian reported.

The book is a "startling account of corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of the Vatican," according to its publisher Bloomsbury.

What are some of the book's claims?

"In the Closet," exposes the "celibacy of priests, the condemnation of the use of contraceptives, countless cases of sexual abuse, the resignation of Benedict XVI, misogyny among the clergy, the dramatic fall in Europe of the number of vocations to the priesthood, the plotting against Pope Francis – all these issues are clouded in mystery and secrecy," Bloomsbury wrote on its website.

Martel claims that some gay priests have accepted their sexuality, while others have lived double lives while hiding their relationships with men or seeking high-risk encounters with male prostitutes. Still, others remain in denial about their homosexuality.

The book describes "a clerical culture of secrecy which starts in junior seminaries and continues right up to the Vatican itself."

However, it doesn't conflate the sexual of abuse of children with the homosexuality of the clerics.

Who did Martel interview for the book?

Martel reportedly completed 1,500 interviews with dozens of cardinals, bishops, monsignors, papal ambassadors or diplomatic officials, Swiss guards, and more than 200 priests and seminarians.

The author, who's openly gay, also spent about a week each month in Rome while conducting his research. He sometimes stayed in residences inside the Vatican or on Holy See property, according to the Catholic website, The Tablet.

What else?

The book is set to be released Feb. 21, in eight languages and across 20 countries.

The Vatican said its main aim of the summit Feb. 21-24 is to guarantee that bishops around the world "clearly understand what they need to do to prevent and combat the worldwide problem of the sexual abuse of minors."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/book-claims-80-percent-vatican-priests-gay

This is a long held plan written in the the protocols of Zion to normalize Gay lifestyle then blend in pedophilia! Sick fucks, PEDOS

US Charges Air Force Counterintelligence Agent With Spying, Committing Cybercrimes For Iran

A former US Air Force counterintelligence agent with access to top secret national defense information was charged with spying for Iran after she defected to the Islamic Republic and helped it target her former colleagues, according to a seven-count indictment made public on Wednesday (see below).

According to prosecutors, Monica Elfriede Witt a.k.a. Fatemah Zahra, a.k.a. Narges Witt gave the Iranians the code name and mission of a secret Pentagon program which involved American intelligence operations, reports the New York Times.

According to the indictment, she was working with members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The elite paramilitary group is known to carry out terrorist operations around the globe and has been sanctioned by the American government.

Prosecutors described how Ms. Witt provided a copy of her biography and job history in August 2013 to a person with ties to Iran’s intelligence services. That same month, she moved to Iran and, while living there, officials provided her with housing and computer equipment. Prosecutors said that she searched Facebook accounts for Americans and created “target packages” for Iran against American counterintelligence officials. -New York Times

Witt conducted research "for the purpose of creating target packages against U.S. counterintelligence agents, and did create such packages in order to enable the Government of Iran to target U.S. counterintelligence agents," alleges the indictment, which adds that she filmed anti-American propaganda in Iran.

Witt worked for the Air Force between 1997 and 2008, before working as a contractor. She was deployed to locations throughout the Middle East as a counterintelligence officer, and had access to ongoing counterintelligence operations - including the real names of intelligence assets and the identities of American officials connected to their recruitment.

Witt is also believed to have been part of a "cyber conspiracy," which "did obtain computer and online infrastructure, including virtual private servers, email accounts, and social media accounts, and used htis infrastructure to communicate with each other, to contact targets, and to transmit spearphishing emails and malware."

She was last believed to be in either Afghanistan or Tajikistan in July 2013, where she was working as an English teacher, according to the FBI. Witt may have also traveled to the United Arab Emirates or Iran - where she had previously traveled on at least two other occasions, according to the agency.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-13/air-force-counterintelligence-agent-charged-spying-iran

State Proposes Bill to Treat Gold and Silver as Money to Directly Fight Federal Reserve Monopoly

Lawmakers have proposed a bill that will directly undermine the Federal Reserve's monopoly on money by treating gold and silver as legal tender.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TAC) – Bills introduced in the Tennessee legislature would define gold and silver specie as legal tender and eliminate sales taxes levied on it. Passage of these bills would pave the way for Tennessee residents to use gold and silver in everyday transactions, a foundational step for the people to undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money.

Sen. Steve Southerland (R-Morristown) introduced Senate Bill 978 (SB978) on Feb. 6. Rep. Rick Eldridge (R-Morristown) introduced the House companion bill (HB1323) the same day. Titled the Tennessee Legal Tender Act, the legislation would make gold and silver legal tender in the state, meaning it would be recognized as a medium of exchange for the payment of debts and taxes. Practically speaking, gold and silver specie would be treated as money, putting it on par with Federal Reserve notes in Tennessee.

Specie legal tender would be defined as:

(1) Specie coin issued by the United States government at any time; and

(2) Any other specie that a court of competent jurisdiction, by final and unappealable order, rules to be within state authority to make or designate as legal tender.

By allowing the court to designate additional specie to be used as legal tender, Tennessee could free its citizens from potential supply constraints imposed by the use of only United States minted gold and silver coin. More importantly, the people of the state of Tennessee would be able to define what specie is considered constitutional tender, further distancing themselves from potential control of their competing currency by Washington D.C.

SB978/HB1323 would also repeal the state sales tax on gold or silver specie.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/lawmakers-bill-money/

>>5157281

95 may be light on too! I'd say it's a prerequisite to getting the role

‘I am not a puppet’: EU war of words erupts as Italian PM rejects Verhofstadt’s claims

Italian PM Giuseppe Conte has hit back at claims made by a chief EU lawmaker that he is a “puppet” of his country’s coalition party leaders, after declaring the bloc had “lost contact” with its people.

The EU Parliament witnessed ill-tempered exchanges between Conte, who was making his debut speech, and leading MEPs. Guy Verhofstadt addressed the PM, saying that he regrets Italy has gone from being a big defender of Europe “to the back of the line."

Bemoaning what he sees as the “political degeneration of Italy,” Verhofstadt accused Conte of being a “puppet” of the Five Star Movement’s Luigi Di Maio and the Northern League’s Matteo Salvini. He also claimed that Italy, at times, “behaves in an anti-European way, openly spiteful against other member states.”

The senior Belgian MEP later suggested on social media that Italy is being unduly influenced by Russian President Vladimir Putin, causing EU division on the issue of Nicolas Maduro’s legitimacy as president of Venezuela.

https://www.rt.com/news/451365-conte-verhofstadt-puppet-eu/

Ginsburg’s Health Raises Frightening History Of Incapacity And Disability On The Supreme Court

Fervid speculation as to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s well-being was set off in December when the Supreme Court abruptly announced that she was being treated for lung cancer.

Though a positive prognosis has since allayed the worst fears of Ginsburg’s admirers, her continued struggles broach important but little-discussed questions about judicial fitness in an era when unprecedented longevity often entails sudden declines in mental and physical faculties.

Those questions are hardly theoretical: The modern history of the Supreme Court is replete with examples of real or perceived incapacity among the justices, who alone decide when to leave active service.

Ginsburg had two cancerous nodules removed from her lungs at the Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center in December 2018, in a procedure called a pulmonary lobectomy. The cancerous growths were discovered when Ginsburg was hospitalized for rib fractures resulting from a fall in her chambers at the high court.

Doctors have since pronounced Ginsburg in excellent health, telling reporters there are no indications of remaining disease following her December surgery. The justice was reportedly seen for the first time since the procedure at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington on Feb. 4 for an event honoring her life and professional accomplishments. She may return to the bench as soon as Feb. 19, when the Court will hear a new round of cases.

Incapacity can take many forms, which are not triggered by physical disease or advanced age, as has occurred with Ginsburg. Such was the case of Justice Charles Whittaker, the 56-year-old Kansan that President Dwight Eisenhower elevated to the high court in 1957, whose travails were thoroughly documented in Professor David Garrow’s 2000 article in the University of Chicago Law Review “Mental Decrepitude on the U.S. Supreme Court”.

Whittaker suffered from intense bouts of depression and anxiety, and the attendant strain seriously impeded his professional abilities. The high court’s tremendous workload immediately triggered those complexes. His colleague, Justice Harold Burton, observed that Whittaker very nearly suffered a nervous breakdown just 10 weeks after taking the bench.

Whittaker’s deterioration continued in fits and starts in the years that followed, according to Garrow’s research. A worsening crisis climaxed in February 1962 as the Court contemplated a landmark gerrymandering case, Baker v. Carr. Amid the mounting pressure of those deliberations, the justice retreated to the seclusion of a Wisconsin cabin.

Whittaker returned to the capital three weeks later, distraught and considering suicide. He was admitted to Walter Reed Hospital on March 6. Chief Justice Earl Warren and a panel of doctors entreated Whittaker to retire, which he did on March 28, having served two months as a justice despite total psychiatric collapse.

He left judicial service a diminished figure, having managed just eight majority opinions in his five years as a justice, a trifling figure for a prodigious court.

https://dailycaller.com/2019/02/12/supreme-court-ginsburg-incapacity/

Local Jewish Leaders Staged Intervention with Ilhan Omar in 2018: ‘Very Troubled by the Answers We Received’

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) hit back Wednesday at President Donald Trump’s call Tuesday for her to resign from Congress or quit the House Foreign Affairs Committee over her antisemitic rhetoric.

Omar, who apologized Monday at the behest of Democratic leaders, claimed that the president had “trafficked in hate” his “whole life,” while she had “learned from people impacted by my words.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/02/13/local-jewish-leaders-staged-intervention-with-ilhan-omar-in-2018-very-troubled-by-the-answers-we-received/

Who the fuck cares JEWbart wtf

EU adds Saudi Arabia to list of nations considered hotbeds of terrorist financing

The European Commission has included Saudi Arabia in a list of nations seen as threats because of their unwillingness — or inability — to crack down on terrorism financing and money laundering. The US has condemned the list.

Riyadh is part of a blacklist comprised of 23 nations in total, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Panama, and even US territories such as Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

The proposal awaits approval by the European Parliament and the 28 member states, with opposition against the list voiced by France and the UK.

The Saudis have long been accused of directly and indirectly supporting jihadists and terrorist organizations operating across the globe. In the United States, Riyadh has faced accusations of having ties with the Saudi nationals suspected of carrying out the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The US Treasury Department has condemned the list. In a statement, the Treasury claimed that the EU included the states on a "cursory" basis, and did not give them adequate time to challenge their inclusion. The Treasury said it does not expect US financial institutions to take the list into account when implementing their own anti-money laundering and terrorist financing policies.

EU-Saudi relations have deteriorated following the grisly murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October. In recent months, Denmark, Norway, and Germany have suspended arms exports to Riyadh, citing the country’s troubling human rights record and its bloody war against the Houthis in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s top military spenders – and the largest buyer of US-made weapons. In contrast to Washington’s European allies, US President Donald Trump has remained unapologetic about his country’s lucrative relationship with Riyadh.

However, a CNN report revealed this month that much of the “beautiful military equipment” that Trump sold to the Saudis ended up in the hands of Al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Yemen – an eyebrow-raising realization that may have even contributed to the EU’s decision to place Saudi Arabia on its blacklist.

https://www.rt.com/news/451384-saudi-arabia-eu-terrorist-list/

Look in the mirror EU and what about the terrorist state of Israel???

Mexican Police Chief Gets 25 Years for Aiding Cartel Massacre in Border State

A small town police chief in the northern border state of Coahuila will spend 25 years in prison for his role in the kidnapping of a man who was “forcibly disappeared” by Los Zetas and never heard from again.

At the time of the kidnapping, Los Zetas were carrying out widespread exterminations throughout the rural communities in Coahuila, which led to at least 380 murdered and incinerated victims. The campaign became known as the Allende Massacre.

This week, a Coahuila state district judge sentenced Edgar Rodriguez Villa to 25-years in prison on various charges connected to the kidnapping and likely murder of a local businessman from Nava, Coahuila. According to the Coahuila Attorney General’s Office, Rodriguez was the head of the municipal police in on September 29, 2011, when two officers kidnapped the businessman and turned him over to Los Zetas. According to prosecutors, Rodriguez worked for the criminal organization and helped protect Los Zetas from exposure.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/02/13/mexican-police-chief-gets-25-years-for-aiding-cartel-massacre-in-border-state/

AIPAC launches fundraising campaign on back of Ilhan Omar’s ‘anti-Semitic’ tweets

Pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC is apparently trying to cash in on the controversy caused by Ilhan Omar’s tweets in which she slammed the overbearing power the Israeli lobby has on US lawmakers. But some say it’s an ill-timed effort.

In a document, said to be a copy of the fundraising email, that has circulated on social media, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) accused Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar of perpetuating “old anti-Semitic stereotypes” by suggesting that Washington sides with Israel “only because of Jewish money.”

“Aside from being offensive, divisive and ill-informed, the congresswoman’s assentation are plain wrong,” the letter reads.

AIPAC stated that it was proud that it enjoys support across the aisles and called on its members to help it bolster “bipartisan efforts in support of the shared values” with a donation of $25, $50, $100 or more, according to Haaretz.

While the lobbying group cannot contribute directly to the campaigns of US politicians, it is said to have spent over $3.5 million in 2018 for various pro-Israeli causes.

AIPAC, which has received free publicity due to Omar’s controversy, apparently did not hesitate to seize the chance to raise even more funds. However, the quick response was slammed by some as proof of Omar’s point, as well as being poorly timed. One commenter called the campaign “an uncharacteristically tone deaf move” from the otherwise “media-savvy” AIPAC.

https://www.rt.com/usa/451351-aipac-omar-fundraising-campaign/

PM Abdul-Mahdi says no foreign bases will be accepted on Iraqi soil

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi had told the visiting US defense chief that his country will accept no foreign military bases on its soil, just as it will not take dictates from outsiders.

In a meeting with Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan in Baghdad on Tuesday, Abdul-Mahdi said that Iraq-US relations must be based on the “basic agreements” existing between the two sides, which merely deal with fighting terrorism and training Iraqi forces, and “nothing else,” the Iraqi News reported.

Iraq makes “independent” decisions and will not be influenced by foreign pressure or dictates, he noted, reiterating Baghdad’s objection to the presence of foreign military bases on Iraqi territory.

Abdul-Mahdi also hailed Iraq’s achievements in restoring stability after defeating the Daesh terrorist group, and urged international support for the ongoing reconstruction process.

The premier said Iraq was open to enhanced cooperation and relations with Arab and regional states in line with national interests.

Back in 2014, Daesh launched a campaign of attacks and vicious acts of bloodshed that resulted in Iraq losing a third of its territory. Iraqi army soldiers and allied fighters fought back fiercely until they managed to recapture the lost territory three years later.

In December 2017, Iraq finally declared the end of Daesh reign of terror, thanks to Iran’s military advisory support.

The US, however, has kept up its military presence in the Arab country.

President Donald Trump sparked a wave of condemnations in Iraq earlier this month, when he said he intended to keep US troops there to keep a close eye on Iran.

Reacting to those remarks days later, Abdul-Mahdi insisted that his country could in no way be used for action against others. Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani also rejected propositions that Iraq would serve as a launching pad to harm other countries.

The American president also raised the ire of Iraqis by making a surprise visit in late December to US forces deployed to Anbar Province, with no stop in Baghdad. The move prompted calls for the expulsion of US troops.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/02/13/588441/Iraq-Adil-Abdul-Mahdi-foreign-bases

$2.2M in Meth Seized at Texas Border Port of Entry, Say Feds

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers intercepted more than $2.2 million in methamphetamine at the Laredo Colombia-Solidarity International Bridge over the weekend. Officials said they seized the illegal substance described as a “significant amount of hard narcotics” while conducting enforcement operations.

On Saturday, CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers assigned to this Laredo Sector Port of Entry checkpoint observed undisclosed anomalies with a 2017 Dodge Journey at their inspection station. Officers referred the driver, a 22-year-old male Mexican citizen, for a secondary examination. According to the CBP, the unidentified man resided in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Officers then performed non-intrusive imaging of the SUV and utilized a K-9 officer trained to detect drugs for further inspection. Subsequently, CBP officers discovered 18 packages of the alleged meth hidden inside the vehicle. Authorities determined the bundles weighed a total of 100 pounds and had an estimated street value of $2,201,954.

“I commend the officers for their keen observational skills and interviewing techniques which played a key role in this interception,” said Port Director Albert Flores of the Laredo Port of Entry, in a prepared statement. “The narcotics that were seized today are the kind that have been devastating the most vulnerable members of our communities and our nation.”

CBP officers arrested the driver, seized the vehicle and the meth, and then, turned the case over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) special agents for further investigation and prosecution.

A few weeks ago, the Laredo Sector Border Patrol Colombia-Solidarity International Bridge station confiscated more than $750,000 in illegal narcotics believed to be heroin during a secondary inspection of a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan hauling a 2018 utility trailer, according to CBP. On January 26, officers found 21 packages of the contraband substance in the trailer during a canine earch and non-intrusive imaging inspection. Federal officials said the trailer held 28 pounds of heroin worth approximately $752,400. CBP took custody of the minivan and handed the case over to ICE-HSI for further investigation.

In December, Breitbart News reported Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents seized more than $2.3 million in narcotics during checkpoint inspections only days apart. On December 15, agents referred two Mexican nationals, a driver and his passenger, in a Dodge Ram truck for a secondary examination. Officials discovered 14 bundles of suspected drugs wrapped in cellophane and black tape and concealed in the vehicle’s spare tire. The substances tested positive for cocaine and weighed 34 pounds. It held an estimated street value of $1,093,440. Agents arrested the Mexican citizens on drug smuggling charges. Two days earlier, Laredo Sector Border Patrol officers stationed at the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge apprehended two Mexican women in a Chevrolet Silverado pickup following a secondary inspection in which agents found three sealed buckets in the truck. They contained 94 pounds of meth and estimated to be worth $1,322,848.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/02/13/2-2m-in-meth-seized-at-texas-border-port-of-entry-say-feds/

US-led Coalition Is Establishing Permanent Base In Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian Border Triangle – Report

The US-led coalition is working to establish a permanent military base in southwestern Iraq, near the country’s border with both Syria and Jordan, the Iraqi al-Maalomah news outlet reported on February 13 citing a source in the province of al-Anbar.

“Vehicles loaded with military equipment came from Jordan to Iraq to establish a fixed American military base to observe these areas,” the source said.

According to the source, U.S. forces are already moving freely in the triangle between Syrian, Iraq and Jordan. However, they are now planning to establish a permanent base equipped with advanced surveillance systems.

The US-led coalition has been trying to expand its military presence in western Iraq, especially near the border with Syria, since last year. In November, a commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) revealed that the coalition is trying to occupy the H3 airbase, known as Abu Rida al-Baldaui, in western al-Anbar.

This recent expansion of U.S. forces in western Iraq along border with Syria can be linked to President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria. Earlier this month, Trump openly said that his country is planning to stay in Iraq in order to “watch” Iran’s actions in the region.

https://southfront.org/us-led-coalition-is-establishing-permanent-base-in-syrian-iraqi-jordanian-border-triangle-report/

In Hebron, Israel Removes the Last Restraint on Its Settlers’ Reign of Terror

You might imagine that a report by a multinational observer force documenting a 20-year reign of terror by Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers against Palestinians, in a city under occupation, would provoke condemnation from European and US politicians.

But you would be wrong. The leaking in December of the report on conditions in the city of Hebron, home to 200,000 Palestinians, barely caused a ripple.

About 40,000 separate cases of abuse had been quietly recorded since 1997 by dozens of monitors from Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Italy and Turkey. Some incidents constituted war crimes.

Exposure of the confidential report has now provided the pretext for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to expel the international observers. He shuttered their mission in Hebron this month, in apparent violation of Israel’s obligations under the 25-year-old Oslo peace accords.

Israel hopes once again to draw a veil over its violent colonisation of the heart of the West Bank’s largest Palestinian city. The process of clearing tens of thousands of inhabitants from central Hebron is already well advanced.

Any chance of rousing the international community into even minimal protest was stamped out by the US last week. It blocked a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council expressing “regret” at Israel’s decision, and on Friday added that ending the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) was an “internal matter” for Israel.

The TIPH was established in 1997 after a diplomatic protocol split the city into two zones, controlled separately by Israel and a Palestinian Authority created by the Oslo accords.

The “temporary” in its name was a reference to the expected five-year duration of the Oslo process. The need for TIPH, most assumed, would vanish when Israel ended the occupation and a Palestinian state was built in its place.

While Oslo put the PA formally in charge of densely populated regions of the occupied territories, Israel was effectively given a free hand in Hebron to entrench its belligerent hold on Palestinian life.

Several hundred extremist Jewish settlers have gradually expanded their illegal enclave in the city centre, backed by more than 1,000 Israeli soldiers. Many Palestinian residents have been forced out while the rest are all but imprisoned in their homes.

TIPH faced an impossible task from the outset: to “maintain normal life” for Hebron’s Palestinians in the face of Israel’s structural violence.

Until the report was leaked, its documentation of Israel’s takeover of Hebron and the settlers’ violent attacks had remained private, shared only among the states participating in the task force.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/hebron-israel-removes-last-restraint-settlers-reign-terror/5668517

Clicking on terrorist propaganda even once could mean 15 years in prison under new law

Anyone who views terrorist propaganda once online can be jailed for up to 15 years under new laws that have sparked human rights concerns.

MPs had urged the government to scrap plans to criminalise viewing “information useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”, which goes further than much-used laws that made physically collecting, downloading or disseminating the material illegal.

A United Nations inspector accused the government of straying towards “thought crime” with the proposal, which originally stated that people would have to access propaganda “on three or more different occasions” to commit a terror offence.

But the benchmark was removed from the draft law, meaning a single click is now illegal.

Journalists, academic researchers or people who had “no reason to believe” they were accessing terrorist propaganda are exempt.

Security officials have told The Independent that discretion will be exercised and the law will help prosecute extremists in cases where other offences cannot be proven, or to prevent radicalisation.

A report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights said the offence “is a breach of the right to receive information and risks criminalising legitimate research and curiosity”.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/terrorist-propaganda-website-online-prison-sentence-uk-isis-a8776226.html

Lavrov says he did not discuss INF Treaty with Pompeo

SOCHI, February 13. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he did not discuss the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty during a phone conversation on Tuesday with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

"The issue of the INF Treaty was not mentioned during the conversation with Mike Pompeo," Lavrov told reporters on Wednesday. "When our colleagues are ripe, we will be ready to hold a professional, specific and non-politicized dialogue. Mike Pompeo did not touch on this issue yesterday, this means that the Americans are not ripe now."

On Tuesday, at the initiative of the US side Lavrov and Pompeo held a phone conversation to discuss the situation in Venezuela and Syria. The top diplomats also discussed the US plans to impose further sanctions on Russia in connection with the Skripal poisoning case. Lavrov noted that this move would worsen the situation in bilateral ties and the atmosphere on the international arena.

http://tass.com/politics/1044421

US Encourages, Covers Up Ukraine’s Provocations - Russia's UN Envoy

The United States encourages provocations by Ukraine and then covers them up, including the recent naval incident in the Kerch Strait, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia told the UN Security Council.

"Same for the United States — this is the real ‘puppet-master’ behind the entire ‘Maidan theater’ who now encourages and covers up any provocation of Kiev, including the recent one in the Black Sea, willingly delivers arms to the country and pushes it toward [taking] reckless steps," Nebenzia said on Tuesday.

Nebenzia pointed out Ukraine is sabotaging the Minsk agreements and Western countries cover up Kiev’s actions.

"Today, to our regret, there is all the reason to say that Kiev comprehensively and consciously ignores and sabotages the Minsk agreements and our Western partners cover up for all of its unlawful acts," Nebenzia said.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council convened to discuss the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, particularly in the Donbas region as well as to address the implementation of the Minsk agreement. Under the accord, the parties to the conflict should commit to the withdrawal of weapons.

The conflict in Donbass started in 2014 when the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, which had refused to recognize the new government in Kiev that came to power after what they considered to be a coup.

In 2015, a ceasefire deal was signed in Minsk following talks brokered by the leaders of the so-called Normandy group comprising of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine. Sporadic fighting has continued in Donbas and the situation there remains tense as both sides accuse the other of violating the ceasefire.

https://sputniknews.com/russia/201902131072366802-us-encourages-covers-up-ukraine-provocations-russia-un-envoy/