Before getting started on print, the groundwork is again being laid for another false flag chemical attack to be pinned on Assad. Regime change is the goal, and nothing will deter them.
Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, added Monday on Twitter: ‘‘Any further attacks done to the people of Syria will be blamed on Asaad, but also on Russia & Iran who support him killing his own people.’’
Oh, so no matter what the evidence -- or lack thereof -- the U.S. government will also blame Iran and Russia.
Man, this WWII is gonna be good!
Of course, Syria maintained it hadn’t used chemical weapons and blamed opposition fighters for stockpiling the chemicals. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the toxic agents were released when a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons arsenal and munitions factory.
Sad thing is, that is the likely truth as Syria had its weapons removed (no, they didn't hide any or start production again, either. OPCW confirmed and monitors) and Russia is right.
Then there was this: Bahrain says Qatar is escalating Persian Gulf crisis
With all do respect, I'm not interested in what the puppets in Bahrain have to say.
So that's how we lead into the daily BS shoveled forth by the BG:
Brazil’s crisis deepens as president accused of corruption
That didn't make print, either, but was previewed on the website.
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"A Swedish man kidnapped by Islamic militants in northern Mali nearly six years ago has been released from captivity, the Swedish government confirmed Monday. Johan Gustafsson, 42, had been on a motorcyle tour through Africa. In Syria on Monday....."
And in a separate development in Iraq....
"Pakistan leader orders inquiry as fuel tanker death toll reaches 157" New York Times June 26, 2017
ISLAMABAD — The death toll from a fireball that consumed an overturned fuel truck in eastern Pakistan has reached 157, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered a high-level inquiry Monday into what caused such a severe loss of life.
The blaze in Punjab province, which also left at least 127 injured, has cast a pall of grief over Eid al-Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and has raised stark questions about road safety and law enforcement.
Hundreds of people, including women and children, had ignored police warnings and swarmed around an overturned tanker early Sunday in the town of Ahmadpur East. They were using bottles, buckets, and pots to collect fuel gushing from the vehicle when the site was engulfed in an enormous fireball.
Sharif cut short a private visit to London and returned to Pakistan on Monday, visiting survivors at a hospital in Bahawalpur.
“We will get to the bottom of this matter,” he said during a televised news briefing.
He said that investigators would look into whether the vehicle had been roadworthy and whether government agencies had failed to enforce regulations.
That's where my BG print put out the fire. Web version let it burn.
The cause of the fire was still being determined, officials said, but based on several witness accounts, they were leaning toward the possibility that it had started when someone in the crowd had tossed a lit cigarette.
??????
There were contradictory reports about why so many people had rushed to the truck to collect fuel.
Saleemullah, 40, who survived the fire unhurt, said that he had been awakened by his wife early Sunday and told about an announcement from a nearby mosque that alerted people to the overturning of a tanker about a third of a mile from his home.
“My wife said, ‘Go and get fuel for your motorbike,’ as others in the neighborhood were doing so,” said Saleemullah, who goes by only one name. “People were collecting the fuel in anything they could use. Some motorbike riders were even using their helmets.”
The fire erupted suddenly, Saleemullah said. “I was standing at a distance and jumped backward when I saw the flame,” he added. Many people jumped into a nearby waterway when the fire broke out, he said.
Government officials disputed that announcements had been made through mosque loudspeakers.
“It is unverified, mostly hearsay,” said Salman Sufi, an aide to the Punjab chief minister.
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Trump set to meet premier of India amid high hopes" by Avantika Chilkoti New York Times June 26, 2017
Well, my print copy was by Matthew Pennington of the AP, and then there is a double team effort with Catherine Lucey.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — With Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India set to meet President Donald Trump on Monday for the first time, many Indians in communities like this one have had high hopes for the relationship between the two leaders — both of whom swept to power as media-savvy political outsiders pledging to revive their national economies.
In a string of storefronts here in “Little India” that pay tribute to Hindu deities, Yogi Patel, 52, runs the Laxmi Pan Center, which is named after the goddess of wealth and sells a betel nut breath freshener. He has lived in the United States for 32 years and is a strong supporter of Trump.
“Trump is doing the right thing. He’s doing good for U.S. citizens and America,” he said, switching between English and Hindi to explain that he grew up in Gujarat, the state that Modi led as chief minister before the 2014 election. “And I am from both countries.”
But as Trump has tried to crack down on immigration and withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement, singling India out as a country that has gained unfairly from the accord, the meeting of the two leaders with nationalist leanings and sizable social media followings has taken on a more complicated tone for others in the Indian diaspora.
Trump is “a little bit unpredictable,” said Vasudev Patel, who voted for Trump and is the president of the Overseas Friends of Bharatiya Janata Party, USA, Modi’s party. “Nobody knows when he will make what comment. And the next day he will say he didn’t say that. He’s like an Indian politician.”
Of the roughly 3 million people of Indian descent in the United States, 65 percent are Democrats or lean Democratic, according to a 2012 survey by the Pew Research Center. But on both sides of the debate, political analysts say last year’s election has ignited a wave of political engagement among Indians in the United States, and that is also driving interest in this week’s meeting.
“Most immigrants who come are really trying to make a life for themselves and their families. They’re really concerned about the mortgage on the house, the papers to get their green card, family back at home,” said Devesh Kapur, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and an author of “The Other One Percent: Indians in America.”
Is that is all that is left from the Native American tribes? 1%?
“This has now become a wake-up call that they cannot stand as aloof,” he added.
The diaspora in the United States sees itself as a wealthy and powerful segment of the population, with Indian-born business leaders, including Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Google’s Sundar Pichai, rising to prominence in recent years.
The median income of an Indian-American household is $88,000, well above the $49,800 average for the United States as a whole, according to the Pew survey. And 38 percent of Indian-Americans have advanced degrees, compared with just 10 percent of the rest of the U.S. population.
“Indian-Americans or Indians here are politically active,” said Tanvi Madan, the head of the India Project at the Brookings Institution. “They are in the policy space. They have integrated in a substantial way. You see them on prime-time television shows and in sports.”
Both Modi and Trump have made efforts to woo the migrant community.
Weeks before the election last year, Trump visited another Indian community in New Jersey, where he proclaimed that the two countries would be “best friends.” Modi, once barred from the United States on allegations surrounding the deaths of hundreds of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, held a rally for 19,000 people at Madison Square Garden on his first trip to the United States shortly after taking office.
I'm sure I could find what I wrote at the time, but Trump should get along with him just fine.
The Indian prime minister’s meeting with the diaspora on Sunday in Washington was relatively low key.
Those in the crowd, like Srujal Parikh, the executive vice president at the Federation of Indian Associations, were eager to voice specific concerns before Modi’s visit to the White House.
Some are concerned about the relationship between the two countries after Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement. Others want the prime minister to address the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant comments and its tough stance on visas for skilled workers.
“I myself am an immigrant, so I always think this country is built on immigration,” said Parikh, a Democrat. “These are the people that bring the country up or down.”
“We must be talking about the immigration issue. We must be talking about how they can make a bridge between the two countries.” (STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL MATERIAL FOLLOWS.) Tensions ran particularly high this year when two Indian engineers were shot, one fatally, at a Kansas bar. The white suspect was indicted on federal hate crime charges.
That I remember.
Rai Das, 24, who works at a small Indian restaurant in Little India, talks of feeling scared lately while walking the streets of New York.
“There is some sort of wave going on,” said Das, who moved to the United States two years ago to study data analysis. “I don’t know why, but people are discriminating.”
Yet Kiran Sethi, 52, the owner of Reema Jewelers across the street from the restaurant, was so torn by last year’s vote that she did not cast a ballot, despite being a Democratic supporter in the past. She believes the new administration will do more to create jobs for her two daughters, who earned college degrees in the United States and are looking for work.
And that's the better segment of the population! What are all the kids with worthless degrees going to do? Retail?
“When I see them sitting at home for six months, I feel their pain,” said Sethi, adding that Indian-Americans are a “well respected” part of American society. “Do you know how hard we work? We try our best that our kids go to school and get a good education.”
This week’s meeting could rest mostly on personal rapport. The two men may seem to have a lot in common, but Modi’s asceticism stands in stark contrast to Trump’s flamboyant style.
Still, both leaders ushered in the meeting by posting on Twitter. As he landed in the United States, Modi tweeted his thanks to the president for his “warm personal welcome,” while Trump referred to the Indian leader as a “true friend.”
From his pan shop in Little India, Patel remained optimistic.
“Their mindset is the same,” he said, batting away concerns as he took an oversize stick of sugar cane to the juicer. “Modi does good for India, and he’s thinking of the public there. And Trump is the same here.”
So what military moves are coming in the Indian sphere?
--more--"
"Trump meets India leader for talks on defense, trade" by Matthew Pennington Associated Press June 27, 2017
WASHINGTON — President Trump welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India to the White House Monday for their first meeting, in which personal chemistry as much as policy could set the tone for future relations.
The leaders of the world’s two largest democracies are looking to expand ties on defense and fighting terrorism, but strains are likely on trade.
Hours before Modi’s arrival, the State Department imposed sanctions on the Pakistan-based leader of the main rebel group that fights against Indian control in the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir. India hailed the move.
Uh-huh.
Trump has so far focused on outreach to China, India’s strategic rival, as he looks to Beijing to rein in nuclear-armed North Korea. But Washington and New Delhi share concerns about China’s rise as a military power.
Yeah, he's jerking them around and they don't like it.
The Trump administration says it wants to provide India the kind of defense technology it provides to the closest US allies. In a concrete indication of that, the United States is set to offer a $2 billion sale of US-made unarmed drones to help in surveillance of the Indian Ocean.
The MIIC is loving this guy!
Although Modi’s two-day Washington visit, which began Sunday, is lower key than his previous three trips to the United States since he took office in 2014, there will be plenty opportunity for face time with Trump.
After their talks, Modi and Trump made statements in the Rose Garden.
Trump said both the United Sates and India have been affected by the ‘‘evils of terrorism,’’ adding that the countries will work together to “destroy radical Islamic terrorism.’’
There he goes again.
Modi also had dinner with the president and first lady — the first dinner Trump has hosted for a foreign dignitary at the White House, although he has hosted the leaders of Japan and China at his resort in Florida.
Before going to the White House, Modi met separately with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
Trump and Modi share a populist streak and a knack for social media, but their economic nationalist agendas could clash. While Trump champions the idea of ‘‘America First’’ and wants to stop the migration of jobs overseas, Modi has his own drive to boost manufacturing at home, dubbed ‘‘Make in India.’’
India is among the nations singled out by the Trump administration for their trade surpluses with the United States, and it is also reviewing a visa program used heavily by skilled Indian workers.
Both sides want better market access. The United States is seeking stronger Indian protection of intellectual property rights, reductions in tariffs, and narrowing of the $30 billion trade deficit. India has its own concerns, including regulatory barriers faced by its producers of generic medicinal drugs.
Next month, Trump plans to meet President Vladimir Putin of Russia when the two are in Germany for a multinational summit. But the idea is exposing deep divisions within the administration on the best way to approach Moscow in the midst of an ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the US elections.
The Congressional investigative committees are already forming.
Many administration officials believe the United States needs to maintain its distance from Russia at such a sensitive time — and interact only with great caution, but Trump and some others within his administration have been pressing for a full bilateral meeting.
What does Jared say?
He’s calling for media access and all the typical protocol associated with such sessions, even as officials within the State Department and National Security Council urge more restraint, according to a current and a former administration official.
Some advisers have recommended that the president instead do either a quick, informal ‘‘pull-aside’’ on the sidelines of the summit, or that the US and Russian delegations hold ‘‘strategic stability talks,’’ which typically don’t involve the presidents. The officials spoke anonymously to discuss private policy discussions.
The contrasting views underscore differing views within the administration on overall Russia policy, and Trump’s eagerness to develop a working relationship with Russia despite the ongoing investigations.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Monday that ‘‘the protocol side of it is secondary.’’ The two leaders will be attending the same event in the same place at the same time, Peskov said, so ‘‘in any case there will be a chance to meet.’’
There are potential benefits to a meeting with Putin. A face-to-face meeting can humanize the two sides and often removes some of the intrigue involved in impersonal, telephone communication.
The pre$$ soft on Putin now?
There are big risks, though. Trump is known to veer off script, creating the possibility for a high-stakes diplomatic blunder.
He can also stay on message.
--more--"
President Trump and India’s Narendra Modi share a populist streak but their economic agendas could clash (Alex Brandon/Associated Press).
What the double-team effort added:
"Trump welcomes India’s Modi at White House for first meeting" by Matthew Pennington and Catherine Lucey Associated Press June 26, 2017
WASHINGTON — Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Wilson Center, predicted that Wednesday’s summit would be a ‘‘no-frills, let’s get acquainted affair’’ whose outcomes, from their body language to the post-meeting joint statement, will offer clues about the future of U.S.-India relations.
‘‘For Trump, the personal is political,’’ said Atman Trivedi, an Asia specialist at Hills & Company consultancy.
Ashok Sajjanhar, a former Indian diplomat, said that India is hopeful but apprehensive. ‘‘Modi’s effort during the visit would be to get Trump strategically engaged with India — to get him to see the India-U.S. partnership as a win-win for both countries,’’ Sajjanhar said.
On fighting terrorism, Kugelman said the two leaders have a similar worldview — that ‘‘it needs to be destroyed wherever it rears its murderous head.’’
Then I wish their intelligence agencies would stop creating them.
He said the designation of Syed Salahuddin, leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen militant group, as a ‘‘global terrorist’’ shows that Washington is willing to work closely with New Delhi on terrorism-related matters although it remains to be seen if that signals a tougher policy toward Pakistan. India accuses Pakistan-based militants of launching attacks on its soil.
Like they are preparing you for such a thing, which means Pakistan -- and its nukes -- will be on the side of Russia, China, Iran, and Turkey.
Honestly, I'm not liking the match-ups when I see it's the U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Europe on the other side. We gonna lose.
Modi will also want to learn about the administration strategy to stabilize Afghanistan, where India has committed $3 billion in aid since 2001.
Oh, yeah, that place.
Climate change could be a contentious issue. New Delhi was irked by Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris accord, and his claim that India had made its participation contingent on receiving billions in foreign aid. India denies that and says it will continue to be part of the accord, regardless of U.S. participation.....
PFFFFFFFFFT!
President Donald Trump (right) met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday (EPA).
Trump looks like he just passed gas!
--more--"
**********************
China landslide site evacuated over concerns of second slide
China paroles imprisoned Nobel laureate to allow cancer treatment
Wait until you see how they are going to pay for it.
"Carmakers may end up shouldering the bulk of the costs of replacing the estimated 100 million defective air bags made by Takata Corp. after the company filed for the biggest postwar bankruptcy by a Japanese manufacturer. Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., and Nissan Motor Co. on Monday issued separate statements saying they may not be reimbursed for the majority of their recall-related claims by Takata, which earlier filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States and Japan."
Btw, looks like I was wrong about Park Gun-hye.
**********************
"75 UK buildings tested for fire safety, and all fail" by Dan Bilefsky New York Times June 26, 2017
LONDON — On Monday, the maker of the cladding tiles, Arconic, said it was pulling the product worldwide from use on tall buildings. The company is the US-based successor to Alcoa.
Then WTF is going on? All this attention on a structure still standing from the pre$$ raises my suspicions when so many other tower fires are one and done. Now we are told this stuff is on buildings all over the world?
An estimated 4,000 residents of the more than 800 apartments in the Chalcots Estate were advised to leave their homes after the Grenfell Tower inferno, but at least 100 residents refused to budge, even as local officials were knocking on their doors and urging them to get out.
One of the residents, Roger Evans, 51, who works in film production, has lived for three years at Taplow, one of the towers in the Chalcots Estate.
He said Monday that security staff members at the building had tried to block him from entering his apartment, that the council was threatening legal action if residents refused to leave and that an “occupied” sign had been put on the outside of his apartment.
“The whole exercise has been a massive knee-jerk overreaction,” he said, standing outside the tower block, as some residents rushed in and out to remove their belongings. “They could just do the work quietly around us. People have been displaced, they don’t know how long for, and are angry. I am refusing to go and I have no intention of going until necessary.”
He raises good points, and perhaps it is all an exercise to see how pliable the British people are to forced migrations and the rest. Are there FEMA camps in Britain? V for Vendetta? What terror horror is soon to be visited upon England?
Bibiche Kiala, 35, a resident of Dorney, another of the towers, said the sudden order to evacuate had left many residents shaken and upset, including those with children. She said she had been staying with a friend.
“They came and knocked on the door and told us that the building had the same cladding as Grenfell,” Kiala said. “People are scared. Most wanted to leave but some wanted to stay. They haven’t yet told us when we can come back. They said it could take four weeks.”
At least they didn't kick it in.
The United States, a world leader in fire safety standards, forbids the application of the sort of highly flammable materials used on Grenfell Tower. But under the regulatory system in force in Britain, builders and property owners faced less strict restrictions and may have wrapped hundreds of buildings in the potentially risky cladding.
John McDonnell, the opposition Labour Party’s spokesman on economic issues, said those killed in Grenfell Tower had been “murdered” by “political decisions” made over recent decades.
As many across the political spectrum have criticized the regulatory shortcomings that may have led to the Grenfell fire, members of the insurance industry have said they warned the government about the risks of flammable cladding just a month before it happened.....
It is a criminal government; however, thankfully they are absolved of all crimes in the West.
--more--"
The first charge is neglect, the second would be bribery:
"British leader reaches deal she needs to govern" by Steven Erlanger New York Times June 26, 2017
LONDON — Without the support of the Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, Prime Minister Theresa May risked losing a vote of confidence, which would have opened the way for the opposition Labor Party to try to form a minority government of its own.
The two parties agree on most things, including Britain’s exit from the European Union, and the Democratic Unionists are eager to keep Jeremy Corbyn of the Labor Party from being prime minister, given his past sympathies for the Irish Catholic Sinn Fein party and the Irish Republican Army.
With DUP support, she will now have an effective working majority in the 650-seat House of Commons of 13 — given that Sinn Fein does not take up the seven seats it won and the speaker of the House and his two deputies do not vote.
The terms of the agreement are still vague, beyond the extra funding for the province over the five-year term of the Parliament, if it lasts that long. Such deals with smaller parties, which are short of a formal coalition, have proved fragile in the past. And May’s position is extremely weak, both in her party, which was shocked by her failure, and in the country.
What would you call it?
There is continuing speculation the Conservatives may choose to replace her as prime minister as early as October.
A changing of the guard?
Some Conservatives, like John Major, a former prime minister, had urged May to manage a minority government without the DUP. Their fear was a formal deal would violate the British government’s vow of neutrality in Northern Ireland, where the DUP and Sinn Fein are at odds over continuing a power-sharing agreement.
Wasn't that a while ago?
Opposition parties said the pact was “shoddy” (the Liberal Democrats) and “grubby” (both Labor and the Scottish National Party) and called for its details to be publicized.
Labor’s deputy leader, John McDonnell, said: “Let’s call this grubby deal what it is: This is a straightforward political bribe to desperately prop up Theresa May in office.”
--more--"
Speaking of grubby garbage:
"Garbage piles mount in Athens as heat wave looms" Associated Press June 26, 2017
ATHENS — With a heat wave expected later this week, Greece’s government on Monday failed to persuade striking garbage collectors to return to work after a 10-day protest left huge piles of trash around Athens.
It's breaking over here, and that is not a good combination.
Striking workers scuffled with riot police in central Athens outside the stuttered entrance of the Interior Ministry building, where a union delegation presented its demands.
Nikos Trikas, leader of the municipal workers’ union, said the strike would continue at least until Thursday, with more protests planned on that day.
‘‘The government rejected our demands in three minutes. They have taken their decisions and will allow private contractors to participate in garbage collection,’’ Trikas told the Associated Press, surrounded by dozens of striking workers wearing orange caps to shield themselves from the sun.
He said his union would formally request a meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Thursday.
‘‘Basically, they are selling us out, and 10,000 [municipal] workers have no idea what their future will be.’’
Government officials accused the union representatives of abruptly ending the talks.
Temperatures are forecast to reach 42 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit) in Athens by the end of the week, prompting a public health agency to issue a warning over the continuing strike.
‘‘The continued accumulation of garbage . . . combined with high temperatures poses a risk to public health,’’ the state-run Center for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Despite the strike, municipal crews agreed to collect some garbage in busy tourist areas, outside hospitals, and at intersections where tumbling piles of trash were slowing traffic.
Scabs!
Later Monday, the government is due to submit draft legislation to parliament to renew job contracts for thousands municipal garbage works.
Striking unions are demanding that government fulfill commitments to provide permanent jobs for long-term contract workers — an action that could breach strict budget obligations set out under Greece’s international bailout agreements.
Bankers always win.
Greece has been repeatedly criticized by the European Union for its heavy reliance on open landfills and low rates of recycling, and has been fined on many occasions for failing to close illegal dump sites.
That's what the web version dumped on you.
--more--"
Also see:
"Perrier opened a new production line at its plant in the south of France last month that speeds the process of filling green, teardrop-shaped bottles with bubbling mineral water for shipment around the world. Now the brand’s owner, Nestle SA, is further ramping up production, planning its biggest factory upgrade since it acquired Perrier a quarter-century ago. By sticking with the French brand through the tumultuous years that followed a 1990 safety scandal, Nestle offers a riposte to Dan Loeb, whose activist hedge fund Third Point has disclosed a $3.5 billion stake in Nestle, saying the food giant should boost profits by casting aside underperforming businesses. Perrier’s popularity in the 1980s made it the liquid equivalent of a mint-green Lacoste polo shirt: the perfect statement of the times, but desperately out of fashion a few years later when yuppie tastes moved on. Perrier all but disappeared from Riviera terraces after the discovery of the carcinogen benzene in some bottles. Now it’s being embraced by millennial hipsters, and Nestle sees a bright future for the brand as it targets growth in Asia and among consumers seeking an upmarket alternative to soda....."
Even the brief talking point about water is for the elites.
"BMW said Monday that it will invest an additional $600 million to expand its South Carolina plant, creating 1,000 jobs over the next four years. CEO Harald Krueger’s announcement coincided with the German automaker’s celebration of 25 years of manufacturing in the state. BMW, which has already invested $7 billion in South Carolina, also unveiled its 2018 BMW X3, a compact sports vehicle expected to be available in November. It will be built at the plant in Greer alongside the BMW X4, X5 and X6. The expansion will boost its workforce to more than 10,000 people. BMW will separately invest $200 million over five years on workforce training, Krueger said. The company touts the South Carolina plant as its largest worldwide, producing more than 411,000 X models last year. About 70 percent of BMWs made there are exported. Last year, the automaker reached a milestone when its 2 millionth BMW was exported from the Charleston port."
Call it the Trump effect.
Related: Google said to face $1.2 billion antitrust fine, but battle with Europe looms
Going to leave what is going on in Spain buried.
Same with the football stuff (all is forgiven); only golf and baseball from now on.
