Germany Tells EU to Prepare Countermeasures Against US Sanctions (Source globalresearch.ca) The German government has again weighed in with strong criticism of the latest US sanctions bill. The latest comments have come from German Economics Minister Brigitte Zypries, who is  trump-russia-germany”  reported by Reuters to have said the following: We consider this as being against international law, plain and simple. Of course we don’t want a trade war. But it is important the European Commission now looks into countermeasures. These are exceptionally strong words coming from the Economics Minister of the country which is the US’s most important ally. To be clear this doctrine has never had any legal basis and is in fact contrary to international law exactly as Brigitte Zypries says. However the US is passionately committed to it, and its allies have up to now passively cooperated with it. However by going against the fundamental economic interests of its own allies the US has now provoked the most powerful of them – Germany – to contest it publicly. I would add that a suggestion from the German Economics Minister to the European Commission to look at countermeasures against the US sanctions is all but an order from Germany to the European Commission that it do just that. There is a political dimension to this strong German position. Germany has parliamentary elections later this year, and with German public opinion majority-germans-against-russia-sanctions/” strongly opposing the latest US sanctions neither of the two parties that make up the ruling coalition – the SPD or the CDU – will want to look like they are backing down before the US on this issue. Brigitte Zypries is from the SPD, which appears to be positioning itself as the champion of German national interests against the US sanctions bill. Merkel and the CDU will not want to be put in a position where they appear to be conceding this role to the SPD.

Putin: US must cut diplomatic staff in Russia by 755 (Source theguardian.com) President Vladimir Putin said the United States would have to cut its diplomatic staff in Russia by 755 people and that world russia” Russia could consider imposing additional measures against the US as a response to new sanctions approved by Congress. Moscow ordered the US on Friday to cut hundreds of diplomatic staff and said it would seize two US diplomatic properties after the House of Representatives and the Senate approved new sanctions on Russia. A US State Department official said on Sunday Russia’s decision was “regrettable” and that it was now weighing its options. “This is a regrettable and uncalled for act,” the official said. “We are assessing the impact of such a limitation and how we will respond to it.”
Putin said in an interview with Vesti TV released on Sunday that the US would have to cut its diplomatic and technical staff by 755 people by 1 September. “Because more than 1,000 workers – diplomats and support staff – were working and are still working in Russia, 755 must stop their activity in the Russian Federation,” he said.

Iran, US trade blame over naval incident (Source Aljazeera.com)
United States have accused each other’s naval forces of provocative maneuvers in the Gulf that culminated in a US helicopter firing warning flares at Iranian vessels. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement carried by local self” media on Saturday that the USS Nimitz, accompanied by another US warship and a helicopter, on Friday afternoon behaved in an “unprofessional and provocative” way while “being monitored by the Guards’ frigates”. The statement said the unprovoked incident took place near Iran’s Resalat oil and gas platform in the Gulf. The Guards “ignored the unconventional move by the US ships and continued their mission, after which the super carrier and its warship left the area,” the statement added. Later on Saturday, the US Navy said in a statement its ships were on a routine patrol when an American helicopter “observed several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval vessels approaching US naval forces at a high rate of speed”. “US naval forces attempted to establish communications, with no response from the Iranian vessels,” it added. “Shortly thereafter, at a safe distance, the US helicopter deployed flares, after which the Iranian vessels halted their approach.”

US fires Minuteman ballistic missile from California across the Pacific days after North Korea successfully completed a test of their own (Source dailymail.co.uk) Minuteman III missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Nuclear-capable weapon was successfully fired at 2.10am local time August 2 2017. It comes after North Korea carried out a second successful test of its own ICBM. Experts believe Kim Jong-un’s regime is now capable of ranging most of the United States, but may lack technology to bring warhead back down. The US Air Force has successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile just days after North Korea tested its latest rocket which could potentially hit NYC. An unarmed Minuteman III missile was fired from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base at 2.10am local time on Wednesday. The Air Force Global Strike Command said a single re-entry vehicle traveled roughly 4,200 miles across the Pacific Ocean where it struck a target in the Kwajalein Atoll.

North Korea says missile test shows all US within range (Source bbc.com) North Korea has hailed as a success its latest test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), describing it as a “stern warning” for the US. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the test proved that the entire US was within striking range, state media reported. However, experts say many of North Korea’s missiles cannot accurately hit targets. The launch came three weeks after North Korea’s first ICBM test. The Pentagon said the latest missile was launched at 23:41 (15:41 GMT) from an arms plant in Jagang province in the north of the country. North Korea said the ICBM flew for just over 47 minutes and reached an altitude of 3,724km (2,300 miles).
It is unusual for North Korea to launch a missile at night – the significance is as yet unclear. This is the first missile fired from Jagang province, indicating a previously-unknown launch site is operational. The test was condemned by the US and North Korea’s neighbours. US President Donald Trump called it “only the latest reckless and dangerous action by the North Korean regime”.
South Korea said it was concerned the North may have made “a significant advancement in technology”, adding that the missile test was “unique in its time and place of launch”. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the threat to his country’s security was “grave and real”. China also condemned the missile test but urged “all parties concerned” to exercise restraint “and avoid intensifying tensions”

Historic Shift in Geopolitical Alignments: India and Pakistan Join Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) (Source globalresearch.ca)
On June 9, both India and Pakistan became simultaneously members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian economic, political and mutual security organization largely dominated China and Russia. While the SCO with headquarters in Beijing is not officially a “military alliance”, it nonetheless serves as a geopolitical and strategic “counterweight” to US-NATO and its allies. It also plays a significant role in the development of  Eurasian trade, e.g. in support of China’s Belt and Road initiative, oil and gas pipeline corridors linking SCO member states, etc.
In the course of the last few years, the SCO has extended its cooperation in military affairs and intelligence. War games were held under the auspices of the SCO.
The members of  the SCO include China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Pakistan and India are now full members since June 9, 2017. Iran is an Observer Member slated to shortly become a full member.
The SCO now encompasses an extensive region which now comprises approximately half of the World’s population.

US makes exceptions for North Korea travel ban (Source abcnews.go.com) The State Department has announced it will allow four categories of Americans to apply for an exemption after it bars most citizens from traveling to North Korea starting next month. The ban will go into effect on Sept. 1 and will make it a felony to use a U.S. passport to travel to North Korea. The ban comes after American student world  Otto Warmbier was arrested and imprisoned for 17 months in North Korea, during which time he went into a coma. Wambier US/otto-warmbier-american-student-detained-north-korea-17 died on June 19, shortly after being returned to the U.S. The four categories of people exempt from the ban are journalists traveling to cover North Korea, American  /news/world/american-red-cross.htm”Red Cross or International Committee of the Red Cross employees on official business, other aid workers with “compelling humanitarian considerations” and anyone else whose trip “is otherwise in the national interest.” Waivers will be valid for one round trip to the country. The State Department estimates 100 people will apply for the waivers. The department posted its official notice of the policy in the Federal Register today, which means that there are now 21 days for the public to comment on it and 30 days until it may be implemented.