Daily Archives: 2. Januar 2017


02.01.2017 - 23:53 [ Rudaw ]

Iran oil minister to visit Baghdad to discuss KRG-Iran pipeline

According to Fars News Agency, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh is expected to arrive in Baghdad on an official visit next week to discuss a range of topics with his counterpart Abdul Jabbar Allibi, notably the future of the oil market, the role of Tehran and Iraq in OPEC, and a proposed pipeline to export Kurdish crude to international buyers through his country.

02.01.2017 - 23:49 [ ABC ]

3 People Arrested in Dakota Access Pipeline Stadium Protest

Three people are in custody Monday awaiting formal charges after two Dakota Access pipeline protesters rappelled from the roof of the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis to hang a banner during the Minnesota Vikings‘ season finale against the Chicago Bears.

02.01.2017 - 20:53 [ Consortium News ]

US Intel Vets Dispute Russia Hacking Claims

(12.12.2016) We have gone through the various claims about hacking. For us, it is child’s play to dismiss them. The email disclosures in question are the result of a leak, not a hack. Here’s the difference between leaking and hacking:

Leak: When someone physically takes data out of an organization and gives it to some other person or organization, as Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning did.

Hack: When someone in a remote location electronically penetrates operating systems, firewalls or any other cyber-protection system and then extracts data.

All signs point to leaking, not hacking. If hacking were involved, the National Security Agency would know it – and know both sender and recipient.

02.01.2017 - 20:35 [ The Globe and Mail ]

It’s time to confront the exploitation of B.C.’s environment

Do we really need a bitumen pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific, a massive dam on the Peace River, or to log the last old-growth trees?

Should a shipping port in the Fraser delta be expanded if it puts at risk mudflats depended on by nearly one million shorebirds?

Is it okay that the Fraser River’s salmon run is a faint reflection of what it once was? Or that mountain caribou are going extinct in B.C. because of habitat loss?

02.01.2017 - 19:58 [ Keep Talking Greece ]

In 7th year of austerity, Greece’s hospitals have turned into “Danger zones”

It is not a secret and it is not new that public hospitals in Greece collapse. The first budget cuts imposed with the first bailout agreement affected the public health. Seven years later, the situation goes from bad to worse in fast speed. The austerity freezing of hiring (1:7) ended up in severe shortages in medical and paramedical personnel. The sharp expenditure cuts deprive hospitals of spare parts and essential material. KTG reported many times in the past about the situation in Greece’s hospitals, the deficiencies in personnel and material, incl bed sheets, the never ending bureaucracy.

02.01.2017 - 14:53 [ Radio Utopie ]

Die Vorher-Nachher Analyse

Das einzige effektive und zielführende Mittel Parteien, Funktionäre und deren tatsächliche Politik zu identifizieren ist relativ einfach anzuwenden. Ein simpler Vergleich zwischen dem Status von „Vorher“ und „Nachher“ zeigt deren Relevanz oder Irrelevanz, Produktivität oder Kontraproduktivität. Oder schlicht das Ausmaß deren Betruges.

Die wichtigsten Parameter bei der Analyse. Es zählen Ergebnisse, nicht Gerede:

02.01.2017 - 14:51 [ Süddeutsche ]

Bundesregierung plant Ausnahmen für Flüchtlinge beim Mindestlohn

Für Flüchtlinge und Zuwanderer, die sich für die Anerkennung ihres ausländisches Berufsabschlusses in Deutschland nachqualifizieren, soll in dieser Zeit kein Mindestlohn gelten. Dies geht aus einem gemeinsamen Papier des Bundesarbeits-, Bundesfinanz- und Bundesbildungsministeriums hervor, das der Süddeutschen Zeitung vorliegt.

02.01.2017 - 14:48 [ Al-Monitor ]

Turkey closes coup commission as key questions linger

(28.12.2016) Representatives of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) insisted that Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar and head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Hakan Fidan be summoned to answer questions about the afternoon of July 15 and the momentous night that followed. But though the two were at the heart of the events, the AKP members rejected the demand.

02.01.2017 - 14:48 [ Huffington Post ]

Why did Erdoğan ask Parliamentary Probe Commission to terminate its mission on coup attempt?

(12.12.2016) At 4.20 pm, Hakan Fidan, secret service czar, has a telephone call with the Deputy Chief of Staff. At 4.30, he talks, over the phone again, with the top general of Turkish Army, Hulusi Akar. Fidan sends his deputy to the army headquarters at 6 pm. And, he goes to visit Akar at 6.30 pm.

What happened between 6.30 pm and 10 pm – when the coup attempt started – is more or less blank. What did Fidan and Akar talk about?

02.01.2017 - 10:51 [ Rick Sterling / Consortiumnews ]

The War Against Alternative Information

The U.S. establishment is not content simply to have domination over the media narratives on critical foreign policy issues, such as Syria, Ukraine and Russia. It wants total domination. Thus we now have the “Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act” that President Obama signed into law on Dec. 23 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2017, setting aside $160 million to combat any “propaganda” that challenges Official Washington’s version of reality.

02.01.2017 - 10:22 [ The Intercept ]

U.S. Special Operations Numbers Surge in Africa’s Shadow Wars

The majority of African governments that hosted deployments of U.S. commandos in 2016 have seen their own security forces cited for human rights abuses by the U.S. State Department, including Algeria, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Tanzania, among others.

02.01.2017 - 10:20 [ allAfrica ]

Eritrea: President Isaias Sends Message to Foreign Leaders

President Isaias stressed that the main purpose of the sanctions was to deflect international attention from the occupation of sovereign Eritrean territories and thereby corner Eritrea from advocating its legitimate rights.

02.01.2017 - 10:05 [ Keep Talking Greece ]

Greek New Year Shock: Special Consumption Fees skyrocket fuel and goods prices

The First day of the New Year was kind of relaxed, the majority of the Greek households spent it with family and friends around a festive lunch table. On Monday, January 2nd… here comes the soberness: Unjust hikes in fuel, cigarettes, coffee, landlines and internet. Unjust because the hikes in fuel will increase the cost of production and transport of goods and will affect everyone.

02.01.2017 - 10:00 [ Jenapolis ]

Wie Stadtgrün Lebensqualität und Zusammenhalt stärken kann

„Inzwischen lebt fast ein Drittel der Menschen in Deutschland in Großstädten. Grünflächen schützen das Klima und bieten Raum für Erholung, Bewegung und Naturerfahrung“, sagt BBSR-Direktor Harald Herrmann. „Sie bringen Menschen zusammen, sind aber nicht immer gerecht in der Stadt verteilt. Vor allem in sozial benachteiligten und hochverdichteten Quartieren gibt es oft zu wenige Parks und Grünlagen. Stadtgrün ist kein ‚nice to have‘. Es ist ein Muss, um Lebensqualität und sozialen Zusammenhalt der Stadtgesellschaft zu stärken“, so Herrmann.

02.01.2017 - 09:42 [ World Socialist Web Site ]

US Army, German Bundeswehr dispatch thousands of troops to Eastern Europe

A massive deployment of US and NATO troops to Poland and the Baltic states is underway. According to a December 30 statement by the German Bundeswehr (Armed Forces) Press and Information Centre, “As part of the NATO operation ‘Atlantic Resolve,’ three US transport ships are expected in Bremerhaven in the first week of January.”

02.01.2017 - 09:31 [ Portal amerika21.de ]

Gesetzesprojekt für kleinbäuerliche Rechte in Kolumbien gestoppt

Dass dieses Projekt zugunsten der Kleinbauern in einem Moment gestoppt wurde, wo das Land über Frieden spricht und die Frage von Recht auf Land und Territorium besonders virulent ist, sei für den weiteren Friedensprozess kein gutes Zeichen, so Castillo nach der Abstimmung.