US-Saudi Relations: U.S. sanctions 17 for role in hideous murder of Saudi journalist Khashoggi - a US smokescreen to protect business interests with Saudis?

Khashoggi murder:  Business as usual between US and Saudi Arabia

The U.S. Treasury will announce today 11/15/2018 sanctions on 17 Saudis for their role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a source familiar with the administration's plans.

Those to be sanctioned include Saud al-Qahtani, a former top aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as the Saudi Consul General Mohammed Alotaibi, the source said.

The sanctions will be implemented under the Global Magnitsky Act, which imposes sanctions over human rights abuses, the source said.

Among others facing sanctions are Maher Mutreb, an aide to Qahtani who has appeared in photographs with Prince Mohammed on official visits this year to the United States and Europe.

Note EU-Digest: The US sanctions announced by the Trump Administration are an indication the US Administration "has accepted the confusing explanations and statements" about the hideous murder of Saudi journalist Khashoggi by the Saudi Government in the Saudi Istanbul consulate", and as such concludes, "case closed and business as usual",  between the US and Saudi Arabia . 

U.S. sanctions 17 for role in killing of Saudi journalist Khashoggi

The Netherlands: Dutch hit back at "over - tourism"

Not Disneyland': Dutch hit back at 'over-tourism' -

Read more at;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46194330

USA: The Mueller Probe: Mueller seeking more details on Nigel Farage, key Russia inquiry target says

Robert Mueller is seeking more information about Nigel Farage for his investigation into Russian interference in US politics, according to a target of the inquiry who expects to be criminally charged.

Jerome Corsi, a conservative author, said prosecutors working for Mueller questioned him about Farage, the key campaigner behind Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, two weeks ago in Washington.

Corsi said investigators for the special counsel also pressed him for information on Ted Malloch, a London-based American academic with ties to Farage, who informally advised Donald Trump and was interviewed by FBI agents earlier this year.

“They asked about both Nigel and Ted Malloch, I can affirm that they did,” Corsi told the Guardian on Tuesday. “But I’m really not going into detail because I respect the special counsel and the legal process.”

Mueller’s interest in Farage comes amid questions in the UK about whether Russia attempted to influence the June 2016 vote to leave the European Union, and Brexit’s most vocal political supporters.

Note EU-Digest: Nigel Farage - the King of the British Brexit drama is now also eyed by the Mueller investigation, in particular, as it relates to his connection with the Russians and Donald Trump. 

Once again we see how dangerous populism is to basic human rights values, whether it comes from Donald Trump, Marian LePen, Nigel Farage, Geert Wilders, Jörg Haider ,Jair Bolsonaro, Victor Orban, Lech Kaczyński, and the list goes on and on.

 Populism is a fast growing danger and must be stopped, before it destroys humanity..

Read more: Mueller seeking more details on Nigel Farage, key Russia inquiry target says

Alwaleed bin Talal, Bankruptcy, Donald Trump, Involvement, Prince Mohammad bin Salmanm, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Trump Bailout, USA

Donald Trump's relations with the Saudi Kingdom are extensive

Donald Trump claimed on Twitter recently that he has no “financial interests in Saudi Arabia.” But his financial ties to the kingdom go back a very long way.

In 1991, Donald J. Trump was a mid-tier real estate developer with $900 million in debt, a collapsing casino business, and a name perhaps best known for a headline-dominating split with his wife Ivana. 

With his empire at risk of falling apart, Trump was searching for cash everywhere; his father even illegally bought $3.35 million worth of casino chips and never gambled them, to help Trump make a massive bond payment a year earlier.

A helpful burst of cash from a Saudi prince eased some tension with his creditors. Alwaleed bin Talal bought Trump’s yacht for somewhere between $18 million and $20 million (reports vary). 

It wasn’t a great bit of business for Trump—he had bought it from the Sultan of Brunei three years earlier for a reported $29 million.

In 1995, Trump was still in deep trouble—and Alwaleed swooped in again. The prince, who calls himself the “Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia,” took over Trump’s 51% stake in his beloved New York Plaza hotel. As a result, Trump’s creditors forgave $125 million of his debt.

Alwaleed, who was one of several royals to be detained by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in 2017, is deemed the world’s 74th richest man by Bloomberg, and owns stakes in companies like Apple, Snapchat, Twitter and Citigroup.

As late as 2015, Trump was still happy to boast about his connections with Saudi Arabia. Speaking at a rally in Alabama, he bragged: “Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”

Read more: A Saudi prince helped save Trump from bankruptcy—twice — Quartz

France: World War I commemoration: Macron rebukes nationalism at commemoration = by David Jackson

Bells tolled across France and Europe on Sunday as President Donald Trump and other global leaders gathered to honor the dead of World War I and heed its harsh lessons to prevent conflicts.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has criticized Trump's "America First" foreign policy, decried excessive "nationalism" at the root of World War I and successive conflicts.

"Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism," Macron told a gathering of world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Trump. “Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism by saying, ‘Our interest first, who cares about the others?’ "

Hosting an event to mark the centennial of the armistice that ended World War I, Macron told fellow leaders they have a "huge responsibility" to defeat modern forces that threaten a "legacy of peace" from the two world wars of the past century.

"I know there are old demons coming back to the surface," the French president said. "They are ready to wreak chaos and death."

Macron did not refer specifically to Trump, who occasionally frowned during the speech.

Trump did not respond to Macron publicly. 

During a speech later Sunday at a World War I-era cemetery, Trump praised the French leader for hosting the event he called "very beautiful" and "well done."

In defending "America First," Trump has often said the United States needs to address its own needs. air."

Read more: France -World War I commemoration: Macron rebukes nationalism at commemoration

European Unity: Leaders of France and Germany in poignant show of unity 100 years after WW1- by Michaela Cabrera

One hundred years after the guns of World War One fell silent, the leaders of France and Germany held hands and rested their heads against one another in a poignant ceremony to mark the signing of the Armistice peace agreement.

President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel inspected troops from a joint Franco-German Brigade before unveiling a plaque paying tribute to the reconciliation and renewed friendship between the foes of two world wars.

More than 3 million French and German troops were among an estimated 10 million soldiers who died in the Great War of 1914-1918. Much of the heaviest fighting was in trenches in northern France and Belgium.

Read more: Leaders of France and Germany in poignant show of unity 100 years after WW1

Middle East: Saudi Arabia: total hypocrisy around Khashoggu murder by Saudi Arabia and the governments who are supplying the Saudi Arabia government with weapons

Jamal Khashoggi murder: Turkey 'shared Khashoggi tapes' with Saudi, US -

Read more:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46162759