Russia Threatens Military Response For NATO Inviting Montenegro (Source valuewalk.om) With the world standing at the brink of a nuclear war over a NATO member state shooting down a Russian fighter jet, NATO has picked the most untimely moment to invite Montenegro to become its 29th member. The formal invitation from NATO triggered a furious response in Russia, the foreign ministry of which has already threatened the Alliance with “confrontation,” according to AFP. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday that NATO’s expansion to the east “of course cannot but lead to reciprocal actions from the east, that is from the Russian side, in the interests of providing security and supporting the parity of our interests,” according to the French news agency. Putin himself has not yet commented on NATO’s latest move, but his response could be devastating for NATO and the world as a whole, in case the Russian President musters up the courage to use nuclear weapons. NATO’s invitation for Montenegro to join the Alliance comes at the most inopportune time, with Moscow still considering its every option of how to respond to Turkey downing the Russian warplane last week. With many analysts saying Putin is “likely” to opt for a nuclear confrontation with NATO, one thing is certain: NATO’s invitation to Montenegro will not go unnoticed. “This sort of initiative has the real potential to bring about confrontation. It will not promote peace and stability in the Balkans nor in Europe in general,” the Russian foreign ministry warned, and added that “it will only further complicate relations between Russia and NATO.”

Putin Rails Against the US – and Asks Oligarchs to Bring Their Money Home (Source The Fiscal Times)

In a wide-ranging speech to Russia’s Federal Assembly, roughly the equivalent of the State of the Union address in the U.S., President Vladimir Putin blamed the United States for the current turmoil in the Middle East, insulted the leadership of Turkey and announced that he has extended by six month an amnesty period that allows criminals and oligarchs to bring wealth hidden overseas back to Russia. Putin delivered his remarks in a week that has been marked by an increasingly tense war of words between Russia and Turkey, follow the decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to order the downing of a Russian bomber that reportedly strayed into Turkish airspace for 17 seconds during operations on the Syrian border. Officials from the Russian Ministry of Defense gave a major press conference in which they claimed to present proof that the terror group ISIS has been earning millions of dollars a day shipping oil stolen from Iraq and Syria into Turkey for resale abroad. Further, the Kremlin alleged that Erdogan and his family are personally involved. The Turkish president angrily denied all the accusations, but Putin repeated them, with the additional suggestion that Erdogan and other Turkish leaders were being subjected to some sort of divine punishment that has impaired their judgment. Speaking of the decision to shoot down the plane, which resulted in the death of one of its pilots as well as a marine killed in a rescue attempt, he said, “We will never forget their collusion with terrorists. We have always deemed betrayal the worst and most shameful thing to do, and that will never change. I would like them to remember this – those in Turkey who shot our pilots in the back, those hypocrites who tried to justify their actions and cover up for terrorists.

APPLE BOSS: NEXT GENERATION OF CHILDREN ‘WILL NOT KNOW WHAT MONEY IS’ (Source London Telegraph) The next generation of children born in Britain “will not know what money is”, the boss of Apple has predicted. Tim Cook, the chief executive of technology giant, forecast the death of cash by the time current university students have a family. Cash is still used for more than half of payments by consumers, according to Payments UK, the industry body, but its popularity is falling as people switch to cards and smartphone apps such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet. Answering questions from students at Trinity College Dublin, Mr Cook said: “Your kids will not know what money is.” In an outspoken address, he also vowed to deepen his fight against the so-called snooper’s charter. Mr Cook reiterated comments made to The Telegraph this week, stating that his company was commitment to full protection of customers’ data from hackers.

Secret Kremlin Data “Accidentally Leaked”: Russia’s New Nuclear Submarine Weapons System (Source RT) The Kremlin has confirmed “some secret data” was accidentally leaked when Russian TV stations broadcast material apparently showing blueprints from a nuclear torpedo, designed to be used against enemy coastal installations. During President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with military officials in Sochi, where the development of Russia’s military capabilities were being discussed, a number of TV crews were able to capture footage of a paper that was certainly not meant for public viewing. The presentation slide titled “Ocean Multipurpose System: Status-6” showed some drawings of a new nuclear submarine weapons system. It is apparently designed to bypass NATO radars and any existing missile defense systems, while also causing heavy damage to “important economic facilities” along the enemy’s coastal regions. The footnote to the slide stated that Status-6 is intended to cause “assured unacceptable damage” to an adversary force. Its detonation “in the area of the enemy coast” would result in “extensive zones of radioactive contamination” that would ensure that the region would not be used for “military, economic, business or other activity” for a “long time.” According to the blurred information provided in the slide, the system represents a massive torpedo, designated as “self-propelled underwater vehicle,” with a range of up to 10 thousand kilometers and capable of operating at a depth of up to 1,000 meters. It remains unclear if such a system is indeed being developed or the slide was presented as just one of the options the Russian military could hypothetically offer. However, according to the leaked paper, the weapons system could be developed by the Rubin design bureau for marine engineering, and may potentially be delivered using nuclear-powered “Project 09852” and “Project 09851” submarines.

IMF PREPARED TO BLESS YUAN AS RESERVE CURRENCY (Source blacklistednews.com)

The IMF has given Chinese officials strong signals in meetings that the yuan is likely to win inclusion in the current review of the Special Drawing Rights, the fund’s unit of account, said three people who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. Chinese officials are so confident of winning approval that they have begun preparing statements to celebrate the decision, according to two people. At least $1 trillion of global reserves will convert to Chinese assets if the yuan joins the IMF’s reserve basket, according to Standard Chartered Plc and AXA Investment Managers. While the SDR is not technically a currency, it gives IMF member countries who hold it the right to obtain any of the currencies in the basket to meet balance-of-payments needs. The equivalent of about $280 billion in SDRs were created and allocated to members as of September, compared with about $11.3 trillion in global reserve assets. SDR status is significant as “a seal of approval” from the IMF that the yuan is indeed an internationalized currency, AXA analysts said in May. The yuan can get a potential weighting of about 13 percent, according to an estimate by Bank of America Merrill Lynch in March. HSBC Holdings Plc said in an April note that the yuan’s share could be 14 percent, reflecting China’s importance in global exports.

Putin Signs Military Cooperation Agreement with King Abdullah (Source globalresearch.ca)

Sputnik News, RT International, the Jordan Times and Reuters said Russian and Jordanian officials agreed to establish a “special working mechanism” to share information on counterterrorism operations in Syria. “Under an agreement between His Majesty King Abdullah II and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, the militaries of the two countries have agreed to coordinate their actions, including military aircraft missions over the Syrian territory,” Sergey Lavrov explained. He urged other nations to join their coalition against a common enemy. Jordan’s communications minister Mohammad Momani said “military cooperation…between (both countries) concerns southern Syria and aims to ensure security of the Kingdom’s northern frontier.”

“Jordan remains an active member of the international coalition fighting the Da’esh terror group.” Coordination between both countries isn’t new, he added. It’s been developing for some time at all levels.Reuters said “Moscow’s deal with Jordan could mark a shift in the alliances engaged in the Syria conflict.” Jordan’s ambassador to Moscow Aiad al-Majali said establishing a “special working mechanism” to share information on Syrian operations increases military cooperation between both countries to an unprecedented level.

Sophisticated Electronic Warfare Gives Russia The Edge (Source valuewalk.com) It is becoming quite a common theme for the drones flown by the international conflict-monitoring group Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to experience problems. Every time they enter the southeastern parts of Ukraine, the drones bump into the same problem: on-the-ground Russian troops jam them into virtual blindness. However, all this should not come as a huge surprise considering that for years, the Russian army has been performing extensive research on making full use of EW when it comes to having the edge over the enemy. Equipment such as the Krasukha04, which jams radar and aircraft, has been used perfectly during operations in Ukraine and Syria, leading American military officials to admit that they’re scrambling to catch up with the Russians. According to the commander of U.S. Army units in Europe, Lt. General Ben Hodges, Russia’s EW capabilities in Ukraine are “eye-watering,” while Ronald Pontius, deputy to Army Cyber Command Chief Lt. Gen. Edward Cardon, once said, “You can’t but come to the conclusion that we’re not making progress at the pace the threat demands.”

Fukushima Fallout: Throwing Radioactive Caution to the Wind – and Sea (Source RT) In the aftermath of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power meltdown following the tsunami of March 11, 2011, the international community has totally failed in keeping the public properly informed and protected from the fallout. Scientists and environmental officials continue to express concern, even now, at the unusual events and wonder about the causes. At the same time, the media present the facts, but fail to make any connection whatsoever to the ongoing state of affairs stemming from the tragic 2011 events at Fukushima. Seabird die-off reported around Kodiak, Alaska: A September 2015 audio report from Robin Corcoran, biologist from the Kodiak Wildlife National Refuge, confirms local reports that “emaciated” bird carcasses are washing up on Kodiak Island shores. Julia Parish, speaking on behalf of the University of Washington’s Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team, states that the spikes in deaths are two to three times higher than normal. Josh Saranpaa of the Wildlife Center of the North Coast was quoted as saying, “Every bird we’re seeing is starving to death. It’s pretty bad.” Saranpaa added, “When you see so many starving, something is not quite right out there.” The warming ocean and the toxic algae bloom are offered as possible explanations for the die-offs. Warming oceans, it is explained, cause the fish to swim deeper than the birds can dive while the toxic algae bloom runs from California straight up to Alasak. Parish concludes that it has been a really “odd” year with multiple regional scale events. She says that there is not much that researchers can do except wait and watch.

Report: Russians Hacked Dow Jones for Stock Tips (Source Newser) Citing interviews with four anonymous sources, Bloomberg reports Russian hackers broke into Dow Jones & Co. servers a year or so ago and stole stock information before it was public. Dow Jones, which is part of News Corp and owns the Wall Street Journal, claims it’s unaware of any such hack, despite the FBI confirming the incident to both Bloomberg and CNBC. “We are looking into whether there is any truth whatsoever to this report by a competitor news organization,” Dow Jones says in a statement released to CNBC. The FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission have spent months trying to figure out how hackers could profit from what they stole, concluding they were likely looking for stock tips contained in embargoed information and unpublished stories, Bloomberg reports. Dow Jones admitted to another cybersecurity breach last week in which hackers tried to get contact and payment information from around 3,500 customers. According to Bloomberg’s sources, this new hack is more serious than the one Dow Jones addressed publicly. It’s unclear if the two incidents are related.

Jerusalem Chaos Is a Warning of Things to Come (Source globalresearch.ca) Among Palestinians and Israelis, the recent upsurge in violence has been variously described as the children’s, lone-wolf, Jerusalem and smartphone intifadas. Each describes a distinguishing feature of this round of clashes. The steady erosion of Fatah and Hamas’ authority during the post-Oslo years, as the Palestinian factions proved incapable of protecting their people from the structural violence of the occupation, has driven Palestine’s orphaned children to the streets, armed with stones. The growing hopelessness and sense of abandonment have led a few so-called “lone wolves” to vent their fury on Israelis with improvised weapons such as knives, screwdrivers and cars. These attacks have attracted the most publicity, becoming the equivalent of the second intifada’s suicide bomber. But they serve chiefly as a barometer of Palestinian despair. Jerusalem is the centre of events, with the Palestinians’ only unifying symbol, Al Aqsa mosque, at its heart. For Palestinians, the incremental takeover of the compound – and the West’s indifference – is like watching the mass dispossession of 1948 play out again in slow motion. In addition, Jerusalem is the main fault line. Israel’s illegal annexation of the city has left Palestinians there in an extreme form of isolation – indefinitely stateless and supremely vulnerable. Israel has little but stopgap measures to defend against the protests. Its intelligence agencies cannot predict the lone wolf, its guns cannot deter the knife, its military might cannot subdue the craving for justice and dignity. Strangely, in the face of all this, there are signs of a parallel breakdown of order and leadership on the Israeli side. Lynch mobs of Jews patrol Jerusalem and Israeli cities, calling out “Death to the Arabs!” A jittery soldier causes pandemonium by firing his rifle in a train carriage after a bogus terror alert. An Israeli Jew stabs another because he looks “Arab”. Meanwhile, politicians and police commanders stoke the fear. They call for citizens to take the law into their own hands. Palestinian workers are banned from Jewish towns. Israeli supermarkets remove knives from shelves, while 8,000 Israelis queue up for guns in the first 24 hours after permit rules are eased. Some of this reflects a hysteria, a heightened sense of victimhood among Israelis, fuelled by the knife attack videos. But the mood dates to before the current upheavals.