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NIKK....I only report...I do not stand by pretty much any media news I post. This news was on the twitter site of GEROMAN (Austria/Syria

New on MoA: Russia The passage is closed and a number of ships are bunched up on both sides.Blocks Ukrainian Navy From Militarizing Sea of Azov

Russia Blocks Ukrainian Navy From Militarizing The Sea of Azov
The Ukrainian government under the oligarch Petro Poroshenko is in election campaign mode. That is one reason why it is launching new provocations against Russia. Yesterday Ukrainian forces occupied a town within the neutral zone between the government controlled part and the rebel held Donetsk area. Today the Ukrainian navy sent a tug and two small gun boats, recently acquired from the U.S. Coast Guard, to pass through the Kerch Strait into the Sea of Azov.
When the ships entered Russian waters without announcing their intent, a Russian coast guard ship rammed and damaged the tug. The two gun boats escaped but did not pass the strait. The pictures show the melee at sea.
With Crimea back in Russian hands the Kerch Strait is solely Russian territory. The Treaty on the Legal Status of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, signed in 2003 by Russia and the Ukraine, provides that military ship entry into the sea is only allowed with mutual consent. Ukraine disputes the status of the sea in an arbitration court. (For a legal discussion of the case see 1, 2, 3.)
The Ukrainian government, urged on by the U.S., wants to establish a new military harbor in the Sea of Azov. Two of its navy ships, a rescue vessel and a tug, passed through the street on September 23. In October the Russian government warned that it will not allow any further militarization of the sea. Some U.S. hawks even want NATO ships to enter the Sea of Azov. The Sea of Azov has a maximum depth of 7 meters. Typical U.S. frigates have a draft of 10+ meters. What NATO or U.S. ship could even go there? As Russia firmly controls the sole entry point into the sea and can easily attack any ship in the Sea of Azov from within its borders the idea is incredibly stupid.
The Kerch Strait is now blocked by a large cargo ship the Russians anchored under the new Kerch bridge.

The passage is closed and a number of ships are bunched up on both sides.The passage is closed and a number of ships are bunched up on both sides.
The Ukrainian provocation may well be aimed to sour the meeting between President Trump and Putin that is planned for November 30 during the G20 summit in Argentina. It should be more careful. It is quite possible that Russia will block commercial traffic to the Ukrainian port of Mariupol over any further incident. The big loser of this useless provocation would then again be the Ukraine.

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French President Emmanuel Macron expressed hope on Sunday that the information about the Saturday chlorine gas attack on the Syrian city of Aleppo will be sent to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and everyone responsible for the incident will be identified.
“France condemns any use of chemical weapons and hopes that those who disclosed information about their use will send it to the international agency in the Hague so that the fact of the use of chemical weapons could be confirmed and those responsible could be found,” Macron said speaking at the EU summit in Brussels.
The president also pointed out that France had not enough information about the chemical attack on Aleppo yet.
“Concerning reports about the attack and the use of chemical weapons, we do not have clear and sufficient information to comment on the information provided by Russia,” Macron said.
The French leader added that he was closely following the situation in Syria and expressed readiness to discuss it not only with other EU states, but also with other countries.Macron’s comments come after Saturday reports that militants fired chlorine-filled shells at two neighborhoods of Aleppo — al-Khalidiye and Al Zahraa — along with the Nile Street.
People were hospitalized with asphyxiation and other symptoms typical for poisoning.According to local media reports, 107 civilians have been hospitalized.
Militants launch chemical weapon attack on Aleppo in Syria, huge casualties.

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Five warships spearhead by the US aircraft carrier “Harry Truman”, entered the Mediterranean sea, and on its way to the Syrian coast, The Russian MiGnews reported.
The US warships include the “USS Farragut (DDG-99), USS Forrest Sherman (DDG-98), USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) and USS Normandy (CG-60) ). according to the website.
According to MiGnews, the US warships group will arrive at the Syrian coast to join the French reconnaissance ship “Dupuy de Lome”.
Harry Truman returned to the Mediterranean after a month spent off the coast of Norway, where she participated in large-scale NATO maneuvers and was the first US carrier to cross the Arctic Circle WHITHIN the last 30 years.

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Over 100,000 People Participate In Fuel Prices Protests Across France. Violence Breaks In Paris

On the evening of November 24th, more than 100,000 people took part in protests against high fuel prices in France.
They were largely peaceful, with the exception of Paris, where approximately 8,000 demonstrators gathered. The protest turned violent at the Champs Elysées when protesters attempted to pass a police cordon around sensitive sites.
About 5,000 protesters had converged on the avenue. Dozens of people were arrested after clashing with police. Organizers of the “yellow vest” movement claimed that the latest protests are “act two” in their campaign. Named after their distinctive high-visibility attire, the protesters oppose an increase in fuel duty on diesel. They accuse President Emmanuel Macron of abandoning “the little people.”
Five thousand policemen were deployed in the Paris area. They set up metal barriers around the Champs Élysées to stop protesters from reaching buildings such as the President’s office and the national assembly.
Most demonstrators insisted that they were peaceful. However, some tried to break through the police cordon. They lit fires, tore down street signs, erected barricades, pulled up paving stones and threw them at police while shouting slogans against President Emmanuel Macron. The chaos continued into late afternoon. But by the evening police had cleared most of the area.
According to officials, 19 people were injured, 4 of them were police officers.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner accused protesters of being influenced by the leader of the far-right National Rally party, “Today, the far right has mobilized,” Castaner told reporters. “The security forces perfectly anticipated this situation.”
“The right to protest cannot go beyond the respect of the fundamental law of our country,” he added.
Around France the other protests had little violence, in total 130 arrests were made and there were minor clashes between protesters and authorities.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the violent protests that brought Central Paris to a halt.
“Thank you to all our law enforcement, for their courage and professionalism. Shame on all the people who assaulted them,” Macron tweeted. “Shame to those who voluntarily assaulted citizens and reporters. Shame on those who tried to intimidate our elected.”
A protest organizer labeled the events a “civil war.”
“The objective was to unite everybody here in Paris. I am disappointed because it wasn’t meant to be like this,” Thierry Paul Valette, one of the organizers, said.
Besides concerns over spiraling fuel prices, the protests also reflect long-running tensions between the metropolitan elite and rural poor.
The general increase in fuel prices is caused by a leap in the wholesale price of crude oil. Protesters are, however, not aiming their anger at OPEC for reducing oil production, or at the Trump administration for enforcing unilateral sanctions on Iran’s oil exports. The anger is aimed at Macron, who is also extending many environmental policies which were implemented under his predecessor, François Hollande. Macron blamed world oil prices for three-quarters of the price rise. He also said more tax on fossil fuels was needed to fund renewable energy investments.