Syria - Russia: Putin adds diplomatic strand to bolster Syrian air strikes

Russian President Vladimir Putin has gone on the diplomatic offensive as Moscow’s jets continue to pound anti-government positions in Syria.

Putin held meetings with the Saudi defence minister as the Kremlin seeks a political solution to the violence in Syria.

The Western-backed opposition group echoed again over the weekend that Russian air raids would undermine efforts to reach a settlement.

Putin disagrees, speaking on Russian state television he said: “The active phase of our job in Syria will be limited to coincide with the offensive operations by the Syrian army. Our task is to stabilise the legal government and create the right conditions for reaching a political compromise.”

He added that Russian troops would not be deployed in Syria:“No we are not going to do that and our Syrian friends know it.”

Read more: Putin adds diplomatic strand to bolster Syrian air strikes | euronews, world news

European Wind Farms: Houston Texas based RigNet wins major contract for European wind farm infrastructure development

Off-Shore Windparks

The Houston, Texas's based RigNet TSI has been awarded a multi-million EURO contract to deliver communications systems and infrastructure for a high-voltage transmission platform in an offshore wind farm located in the German sector of the North Sea.
 
The award of this contract by a leading UK-based offshore contractor continues RigNet’s long-term success in the delivery of integrated telecommunications and operations support systems for a diverse range of applications and industries.

“As modern wind farms grow in scale and move farther offshore, they begin to resemble deepwater drilling operations in terms of complexity and technology requirements,” said Mark Slaughter, RigNet’s CEO and President. “Through our TSI business unit, RigNet applies its significant track record for offshore performance to help these renewable energy developments meet safety and production targets.”

RigNet TSI’s scope of work includes the integration and delivery of critical facility communications infrastructure, including Structured Cabling, Local Area Network (LAN), Wireless LAN (WLAN), Telephony, Public Address / General Alarm (PAGA), Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), Access Control (ACS), Meteorological Systems, Navigation and Lifeboat Radio support for the platforms.

RigNet TSI is a leading global Provider of managed remote communications, telecoms systems integration and collaborative applications dedicated to the oil and gas industry, focusing on offshore and onshore drilling rigs, energy production facilities and energy maritime vessels. RigNet is based in Houston, Texas.

Read more: RigNet wins Telecoms EPC contract for European wind farm infrastructure development

US Economy: Record Global Sell-Off of U.S. Debt Could Trigger Economic Collapse

Foreign governments buy U.S. debt because of the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency – the American economy has long been viewed as a safe place to invest. That's why the amount of U.S. debt held by foreign nations has increased more than six-fold since 2001.

But that's all changing now – events that could spark a U.S. economic collapse are already underway…

The Wall Street Journal revealed recently that China – the largest holder of U.S. investments – is ridding itself of its U.S. government bonds at the fastest rate in history.

In fact, a global sell-off of epic proportion is taking place.

Central banks in China, Russia, Brazil, and Taiwan are selling U.S. government bonds at such a pace that it's caused the most dramatic shift in the $12.8 trillion Treasury market since the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

Foreign official net sales of U.S. Treasury debt maturing in at least one year hit $123 billion in the 12 months ended in July, according to Deutsche Bank Securities Chief International Economist Torsten Slok, reported WSJ. That's the biggest decline since data started to be collected in 1978.

By contrast, foreign central banks purchased $27 billion of U.S. notes and bonds in the prior 12-month period.

Foreign central bankers' massive offloading of U.S. debt sends this dangerous signal…

Read more: WARNING: Record Global Sell-Off of U.S. Debt Could Trigger Economic Collapse

Turkey: Manhunt begins in Turkey for authors of nation’s worst-ever terrorist atrocity | euronews, world news

Turkey is reeling from its worst-ever terrorist attack, which left 95 people dead and nearly 250 injured, 48 seriously.

Eyewitnesses say two suicide bombers attacked a peace rally held by the progressive HDP party, which supports the Kurds, but this has not been confirmed. No-one has yet claimed responsibility.

A general election looms on November 1, and this atrocity could change the course of the campaign. The prime minister went to hospitals in Ankara overwhelmed with the victims, and soon after spoke to the nation, naming his government’s main suspects.

“We will continue our investigation regarding this attack. At the moment, potential groups that can carry out such an attack are obvious: ISIL, the PKK, and the Leftist MLKP and DHKP-C,” said Ahmet Davutoglu.

The HDP’s leader Selahattin Demirtas had few doubts that the government was to blame for the attack, either by negligence or design, an accusation Davutoglu slammed as a “provocation”.

For his ruling AK party the HDP is the force stopping it from getting an absolute majority, and in this climate it may enable the AKP to scare voters to the polls in its favour. But for the moment all campaigning has been suspended.

Read more: Manhunt begins in Turkey for authors of nation’s worst-ever terrorist atrocity | euronews, world news

The Netherlands has sixth richest population in the world - by Parvinder Marwaha

People in the Netherlands have been ranked sixth in a listing of the world’s richest countries, by net assets per capita, according to this year's Allianz Global Wealth Report.

Compared with 2014, the Netherlands increased its wealth per capita from 71.430 to 78.063 euros per person, placing the country sixth globally, with Switzerland taking first place with 138.710.

In addition, the world’s top 10 rich list includes three other western European countries: the UK (86.230), Belgium (84.770) and Sweden (82.920).

In the Netherlands, gross financial assets grew from last year by as much as 12,3 percent, driven by a strong increase in insurance and pension assets. The growth in net financial assets was even more exceptional: 21,6 percent.

Allianz Global Wealth Report

Top 10 countries' wealth per capita in 2015
Rank    Country    Net assets in euros

1    Switzerland    157.446
2    USA    138.714
3    UK    86.233
4    Belgium    84.771
5    Sweden    82.925
6    The Netherlands    78.063
7    Canada    76.508
8    Japan    73.547
9    Singapore    73.328
10    Taiwan    72.636

People in the Netherlands have been ranked sixth in a listing of the world’s richest countries, by net assets per capita, according to this year's Allianz Global Wealth Report.
Compared with 2014, the Netherlands increased its wealth per capita from 71.430 to 78.063 euros per person, placing the country sixth globally, with Switzerland taking first place with 138.710.
In addition, the world’s top 10 rich list includes three other western European countries: the UK (86.230), Belgium (84.770) and Sweden (82.920).
In the Netherlands, gross financial assets grew from last year by as much as 12,3 percent, driven by a strong increase in insurance and pension assets. The growth in net financial assets was even more exceptional: 21,6 percent.
- See more at: http://www.iamexpat.nl/read-and-discuss/expat-page/news/netherlands-sixth-richest-population-in-world#sthash.TM4auYCy.dpuf

Read more: The Netherlands has sixth richest population in the world

Turkey train station bombings kill dozens in Ankara

Two powerful bombs exploded at a peace rally near the main train station in Ankara on Saturday morning, killing at least 95 people and wounding 246 others in the deadliest attack in the Turkish capital in recent memory.

The number of casualties announced late Saturday by the prime minster's officer was lower than the figures given earlier by the Turkish Medical Association. That agency said 97 people had died and more than 400 were wounded. 

Read more: Turkey train station bombings kill dozens in Ankara - CNN.com

Syria: Pentagon Ends Program to Train Syrian Rebels, - by im Miklaszewski, Erik Ortiz and Laura Saravia - NBC News

 The Pentagon on Friday announced it was ending its failed $500 million program to "train and equip" Syrian rebels and replacing it with a far less ambitious plan, defense officials said.

The "training" part of the program — which managed to field only "four or five" Syrian rebels into the battle against ISIS at a $50 million price tag — has been halted, according to senior defense officials
.
Instead of combat training for the rebels, they will now be used as "enablers" to identify ISIS targets on the ground for U.S. and coalition airstrikes. They will also be advised on how to interact with U.S. military "at a distance," and there will be no American forces on the ground in Syria

The "equip" part of the program, which provided small arms, ammunition and vehicles, will be dramatically reduced to providing weapons to some 5,000 friendly moderate Syrian rebels to carry on the fight against both ISIS and presumably, the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Read more: Pentagon Ends Program to Train Syrian Rebels, Starts Revamped Initiative - NBC News

France - Tourism: visitors to France complain unable to pay with local credit card at most French toll roads

French toll roads not user friendly for tourists

If you are touring France by car, you could be in for a big surprise, specially when using one of their overpriced toll roads, and need to pay for the toll.

The shock will not only come for the high cost of the toll, but also when you want to use your  "home bank" credit card to pay  for the toll, and finding out it won't work. 
Basically the French want you to pay with cash, which is quite inconvenient, because it requires you to carry a large amount of cash with you, which in general is not always a safe thing to do. 

France is quite different in that respect to most other countries in Europe were foreign credit cards are widely accepted with  the exception of the Netherlands, where non-European credit cards are also often frowned upon.

EU-Digest

Migrant crisis: EU to begin seizing smugglers' boats

The EU is beginning a new operation in the southern Mediterranean to intercept boats smuggling migrants.

Under Operation Sophia, naval vessels will be able to board, search, seize and divert vessels suspected of being used for people smuggling.

Until now, the EU has focused on surveillance and rescue operations.

So far this year, more than 130,000 migrants and refugees have crossed to Europe from the north African coast. More than 2,700 have drowned.

However, many more migrants and refugees - mainly Syrians fleeing the country's civil war - are taking a different route. They are crossing overland into Turkey, before a short journey by sea to European Union member

Read more: Migrant crisis: EU to begin seizing smugglers' boats - BBC News

US-Turkey: How Turkey Fell Out of Favor - by Soner Cagaptay

When I came to Washington in 2002, the Department of Defense was among Turkey’s best friends inside the U.S. government
.
The Pentagon considered Turkey a staunch ally and uniformed U.S. personnel had a deep affection for Turkey, going back to U.S.-Turkish cooperation in the Cold War and in the Balkans in the 1990s.

Today, the Pentagon has, for the most part, lost its fondness for Turkey. This change is a result of America’s shifting sense of Turkey’s identity and role in the NATO alliance.

The transformation of Turkey’s standing in the eyes of the U.S. military is due to Turkish and American dynamics.

Following the September 11 attacks, the U.S. government, including the military, became preoccupied with identifying moderate Muslim allies.

Turkey benefited from this endeavor as the ruling pro-Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) won the elections in 2002, taking office on a platform of moderation.

The AKP upset its potential allies in Washington, however, when it refused to help Washington in the 2003 Iraq War.

Raed more: United States: How Turkey Fell Out of Favor - The Globalist

EU-US Safe Harbor Pact. European court invalidates EU-US Safe Harbor pact - by Peter Sayer

The Safe Harbor agreement on which many businesses rely for the transatlantic transfer of personal data is invalid, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled

While the decision will affect companies like Facebook and Google, it is bad news for small and medium-size companies transferring data from the EU to the U.S., said Mike Weston, CEO of data science consultancy Profusion.

"American companies are going to have to restructure how they manage, store and use data in Europe and this will take a lot of time and money," he said.

The CJEU  provided a summary of the ruling, the full text of which will be published later.

Note EU-Digest: Good move - but the obvious question is what will the US do with all the information they have already collected about and on EU Citizens ?

Read more: European court invalidates EU-US Safe Harbor pact | Computerworld

Syria: NATO rejects Russia explanation on Turkish air space - but what is really behind this?

NATO on Tuesday rejected Moscow's explanation that its warplanes had violated alliance member Turkey's air space by mistake and said Russia was sending more ground troops to Syria and building up its naval presence.

With Russia extending its air strikes to include the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he was losing patience with Russian violations of his country's air space.

"An attack on Turkey means an attack on NATO," Erdogan warned at a Brussels news conference.

Note EU-Digest: This all is starting to look like a prepared scenario. Act one: Netanyahu goes to Russia and has meetings with Putin : Act two: Putin goes to UN and on the sidelines has a one on one meeting with Obama.. Act three: Russia starts bombing targets in Syria. The only unknown in this scenario is President Erdogan of Turkey - but in reality he is probably being used as a sideline "prop" by the powers in play, who have all come to the conclusion that Erdogan's idea of toppling Assad is destabilizing the Middle East even further, but except for Russia,  can not say so openly.

Given the actual political developments in Turkey it also seems likely the US does not see Turkey as a reliable partner anymore unless Erdogan is toppled in the upcoming election and replaced by a more secure and less autocratic democratic regime.  


Read more: NATO rejects Russia explanation on Turkish air space | Reuters

Insurance Industry: 3 Options for Rental Car Insurance in Europe

Renting a car for your vacation in Europe is just the first step in planning a road trip. Now you have to make some key decisions: whether to buy rental car insurance and, if so, whether to purchase a specialty policy or get insurance at the car rental counter.

If you are traveling to Europe and renting a car, you have three main insurance options for your trip.

1. Free coverage through your credit card

2. Stand-alone insurance policies

3. Buying at the rental car counter

Insure-Digest

Middle East Inside A Mid-East Coup: A Closer Look At The Russia-Iran Power Play

Earlier, we ventured to characterize the breakdown of Washington’s strategy in Syria as the worst US foreign policy blunder since Vietnam.

To be sure, that’s a bold claim, but it’s supported by the sheer number of missteps, bad outcomes, and outright absurdities that have developed in the Mid-East as a result of the effort to oust Bashar al-Assad.

At the most basic level, the support provided by Washington, Riyadh, and Doha for the various Sunni extremist groups battling for control of Syria has created a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions.

 Hundreds of thousands of people are dead and millions are displaced. As tragic as the situation already is, the conditions are ripe for it to get even worse if the move by Brussels to force recalcitrant EU countries into accepting a migrant quota system they are opposed to ends up triggering a dangerous bout of xenophobia in the Balkans.

Washington’s move to train and arm the Syrian opposition has of course also led directly to the creation of a group of black flag-waving jihadists that have taken the term “extremists” to a whole new level on the way to producing a series of slickly-produced videos depicting the murder of Westerners. 

This same group is now stomping around between Syria and Iraq wreaking havoc on civilians and committing acts so heinous that even al-Qaeda has condemned them.

Of course the outright chaos the West has managed to create in Syria has now come full circle, providing Iran and Russia with a unique opportunity to tip the scales and seize power in the Mid-East.

What's important to understand here, is that this isn’t confined to Syria

Read more: Inside A Mid-East Coup: A Closer Look At The Russia-Iran Power Play | Zero Hedge

Russia in Syria: Chinese J-15 fighter jets to join Russian air campaign against Isis?

In a bid to strengthen the Russian air campaign, another Syrian ally -- China -- is now planning to deploy Shenyang J-15, a carrier-based fighter aircraft, in Syria..

Several reports have stated that Beijing has agreed to join the Russian air campaign. The development has come mere days after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a UN Security Council meeting that the world can no longer afford to stand by and look on with folded arms but must also not "arbitrarily interfere" in the Syrian crisis.

The Israeli military and intelligence news website DEBKAfile has now claimed that the Chinese are preparing to join Russia. The Jerusalem-based news website noted that the "J-15 warplanes will take off from the Chinese Liaoning-CV-16 aircraft carrier, which reached Syrian shores on 26 September.

Read more: Russia in Syria: Chinese J-15 fighter jets to join Russian air campaign against I\\\

EU Privacy Laws: Top EU court backs student in landmark Facebook privacy case

Europe's highest court has ruled in favor of an Austrian law student who claims a trans-Atlantic data protection agreement doesn't adequately protect consumers.

The case, which cites data Facebook allegedly provides to US intelligence agencies, has far-reaching implications for tech companies doing business in Europe.

Read more: Europe - Top EU court backs student in landmark Facebook privacy case - France 24

US Economy: US jobs growth stumbles, fueling economy fears

American employers shied away from hiring over the past two months and wages fell in September.
What one analyst describes as “a pig of a report” could fuel fears that the Chinese-led economic slowdown is stifling the US recovery.

Payrolls outside of farming rose by 142,000 last month and August figures were revised sharply lower to show only 136,000 jobs added that month, the Labor Department said on Friday.

Economists had expected more than 200,000 new jobs to be created in September.

The figures represent the smallest two-month gain in employment in over a year.

Job growth should have been enough to push the unemployment rate down, but it held steady at 5.1 percent.

Read more: US jobs growth stumbles, fueling economy fears | euronews, economy

Refugee Crises: EU, Turkey agree on refugee action plan

Brussels and Ankara have set up an action plan on regulating the flow of refugees to Europe, according to media reports. New camps and coordinated border controls are the cornerstones of the plan

Read more: EU, Turkey agree on refugee action plan: reports | News | DW.COM | 04.10.2015

Dutch love democracy, dislike politics - by Graeme Kidd

Roughly 93 percent of the Netherlands thinks that democracy is the best possible form of government, and 95 percent think it is important to live in a democratically governed nation, a new survey from the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) revealed. Released on Friday, the report also found that 73 percent of people living in the country have a negative view of politics there.

“The main reasons put forward for dissatisfaction were that politicians do not listen and simply do what they want, that citizens have too little say and that politicians talk too much and act too little; or else they were dissatisfied with current policy at the time of the survey,” the research noted. Citizens are wanting to have a greater say through more public debate and the collection of public opinion information about democracy itself.

The SCP quoted one 30-year-old man as saying, “Generally Democracy as a state form works well, it is unfortunately the politicians that make a mess of it.”

Some 22 percent support more direct democracy where people vote on many referenda as oppose to representative politics, with 45 percent wanting to vote on a selection of referenda chosen by elected representatives. “This would seem to suggest that at least a proportion of the Dutch public see direct democracy mainly as a way of adding to or improving representative democracy rather than as an alternative to it,” the report noted.

The research was carried out by Dr. Diana den Ridder and Prof. Paul Dekker, and published under the title, “More Democracy, Less Politics?” The report was commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relation to gauge the perception of the Dutch public into democracy and politics.

They also found that while people in the Netherlands deeply value equal treatment by the courts, opinion is divided about whether or not that exists. At the same time, 90 percent value both a free press and freedom to oppose government, with 70 percent saying they are satisfied with both.

Read more: Dutch love democracy, dislike politics - NL Times

Spain: Catalans among the pigeons - 51.7% of Catalans voted “no” to independence

Catalonia's election proved a personal triumph for regional president Artur Mas, whose separatist Together for Yes platform was a clear winner though it fell short of an absolute majority in Barcelona‘s parliament.

Barring last minute warfare amongst the component parts of a platform that included his centre-right Catalan Democratic Convergence party, the left-wing Catalan Republican Left and a varied array of independent separatists, Mr Mas will continue to head the regional government of this wealthy corner of north-east Spain.

That was the easy part. Watched intently by other fervent separatist movements around Europe, Mr Mas now plans to follow the “roadmap” to independence that brought this disparate group together for the election—a poll that he billed as a plebiscite on separation from Spain. With the backing of the far-left Popular Unity Candidacy, the separatists have a comfortable parliamentary majority.

But Catalonia's unequal voting system, which favours less-populated rural areas, means this majority was won with fewer than 50% of votes. When looked at as a plebiscite, the result changes. In fact, 51.7% of Catalans voted “no” to independence.

That will make life tricky for Mr Mas as he bids for international support. The roadmap foresees negotiations with Madrid that could prevent a unilateral declaration of independence scheduled for Spring 2017. But Spain must conduct a general election before the end of the year. Only then will we know how Madrid plans to handle the situation

Read more: Daily chart: Catalans among the pigeons | The Economist