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Fri, 05 Nov 2021
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Bad Guys

With an eye towards regime change in Iran, US escalates tensions further with new sanctions

Rouhani
Last Wednesday, the US slammed fresh sanctions on Iran's mining industry to apparently push Iran's economy into an even deeper recession, hoping for this situation to erupt into a large-scale labour discontentment, which might become, as many in Washington hope, a pivotal point leading to an overthrow of the Iranian regime. For example, one of the areas targeted is the production/export of iron ore. In 2018, Iran exported 14m tonnes of ore. Iran's export in this sector were expected to increase to 20m in 2019, but the US sanctions are likely to bring this export significantly down. Another sector targeted is mineral production and export. Iran has about 37 billion tonnes of proven mineral reserves and 57 billion tonnes of potential reserves, worth 800 billion dollars. Iran exported over 57 million tonnes of mineral products worth more than 9.2 billion dollars during the fiscal year to March. But new US sanctions are likely to adversely affect exports in this sector also.

Low export means low production, which means all sorts of problems with regards to the labour and the factories. With factories not working/shutting down and the labourer not able to earn their wages, a labour unrest can take place and spread across the country, causing a massive political crisis and/or an uprising against the Iranian regime. This is the essence of US policies vis-à-vis Iran: regime change. The US withdrawal from the Iran nuke-deal; imposition of sanctions and declaration of the revolutionary guards as a 'terrorist force' have all produced conditions for yet another military conflict in the Middle East.

Stop

China's state-linked news outlet warns Beijing 'seriously considering' ban on rare-earth exports to US

rare earth Lianyungang China
© Global Look Press
Excavator carries rare earth at Lianyungang dock, China
Beijing is considering a ban on exports of rare earth metals to the US, editor-in-chief of Chinese state-linked outlet Global Times has tweeted, warning it may not be the last retaliatory move by China as the trade war escalates.

Reports that China may resort to the embargo have been circulating for weeks. If implemented, the move could be really harmful to Washington as there are almost no alternative sources for the elements that are used in a wide range of industries from high-tech to the military.

"Based on what I know, China is seriously considering restricting rare earth exports to the US. China may also take other countermeasures in the future," Hu Xijin tweeted on Tuesday.

Comment: Are Rare Earth Metals China's Ultimate Weapon?
The question is how serious would it impact the US economy were China to ban exports of rare earths to the USA? Short answer, very serious.

In addition to its use in most electronic devices such as smart phones or laptops, rare earth minerals are absolutely essential to the Pentagon and the US military forces. According to Breaking Defense newsletter, rare earth components are essential for such major weapons systems as the nuclear-powered SSN-774 Virginia-class fast attack submarine; the DDG-51 Aegis destroyer; the F-35 Joint Strike fighter among others. They note that "Rare earths are also essential to precision-guided munitions, lasers, satellite communications, radar, sonar and other military equipment, added a 2013 Congressional Research Service report."



Bad Guys

Totalitarianism: Riga government detains and deports editor-in chief of Sputnik Lithuania

Radio Sputnik
© Nina Zotina / RIA Novosti
Sputnik Lithuania senior editor Marat Kasem told Sputnik by phone on Tuesday that he had been detained in Vilnius upon arrival at the airport while on a business trip.

He explained that he'd been "detained with the wording 'threat to national security'" and "banned from entering the country for five years."

Following the incident at Vilnius Airport, Russia's Permanent Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said that the detention of Sputnik Lithuania editor-in-chief Marat Kasem in Vilnius airport was a gross violation of media rights.

Comment: Sputnik Lithuania is probably the only outlet broadcasting reality-based information in that statelet.

NATO approves!


Bad Guys

Austrian corruption scandal involving 'niece of Russian oligarch' outed as Bosnian student paid to set up honey trap

Heinz-Christian Strache Johann Gudenus
© AFP / Spiegel and Sueddeutsche Zeitung
Heinz-Christian Strache and party member Johann Gudenus meet with the woman in Ibiza
The 'Russian oligarch's niece' at the center of the corruption scandal that brought down the Austrian government was actually a Bosnian student paid to set up the then-vice-chancellor, an Austrian tabloid claims.

Austria's government collapsed on Monday after a no-confidence motion in parliament ousted Chancellor Sebastian Kurz from power. The scandal began two weeks earlier, however, when German media published a secretly recorded video showing former vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache discussing an illicit deal with a woman purporting to be the niece of a Russian tycoon.

Light Saber

18 Ways Julian Assange Changed the World

Julian assange, assange press freedom
© Frank Augstein / AP
Nearly every government on our third rock from the sun despises the man for bringing transparency to the process of ruling the unwashed masses.
Julian Assange is a dick. It's important you understand that.

Assange and WikiLeaks revealed the American military's war crimes, the American government's corruption and the American corporate media's pathetic servile flattery to the power elite. So, if you're a member of our ruling class, you would view those as textbook examples of dickery.

In a moment I'm going to list all the ways Julian Assange changed the world by being a dick.

In an evolved and fully realized society, the oligarchy would see Assange as a dangerous criminal (which they do), and the average working men and women would view him as justice personified (which they don't). We would celebrate him even as the mass media told us to hope for his downfall-like a Batman or a Robin Hood or an Ozzy Osbourne (the early years, not the cleaning-dog-turds-off-his-carpet years).

But we are not evolved and this is not Gotham City and average Americans don't root for the truth. Many Americans cheer for Assange's imprisonment. They believe the corporate plutocratic talking points and yearn for the days when we no longer have to hear about our country's crimes against humanity or our bankers' crimes against the economy. Subconsciously they must believe that a life in which we're tirelessly exploited by rich villains and know all about it thanks to the exhaustive efforts of an eccentric Australian is worse than one in which we're tirelessly exploited by rich villains yet know nothing about it.

"Ignorance is bliss" is the meditative mantra of the United States of America.

Comment: Real journalists react to Assange Espionage Act charges: 'Modern fascism is breaking cover'


Network

Iran ready for talks with regional states, but US has lost their seat at the table

Mousavi

Noting Iran's proposal for signing a non-aggression pact with regional countries, FM spokesman Mousavi said there is currently no prospect for talks with US.
"The Persian Gulf littoral states are among the most important neighboring countries for Iran; therefore, what foreign minister Zarif has put forward- i.e. the non-aggression pact- is not a new topic," Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said in a news conference on Tuesday.

"Iran does not want to be in an insecure and stressful region," he underlined.

Iran, in the past years, has always reiterated its readiness to sign a non-aggression pact with regional countries in a bid to build trust and confidence, and help eliminate concerns originating from other countries' fear-inducing tactics. Most recently, Foreign Minister Zarif in a meeting with Iraqi President Barham Salih in Baghdad on Saturday repeated the suggestion to Persian Gulf states to sign a non-aggression pact. The move was praised by Russian FM Sergey Lavrov as the first step to reduce regional tensions.

Monkey Wrench

Stench of CIA: Food and fuel ships coming to Venezuela are being sabotaged

State oil company PDVSA's gas station
© Reuters / Ivan Alvarado
State oil company PDVSA's gas station in Caracas
Ships carrying food and fuel intended for Venezuela have been sabotaged to prevent them from reaching their destination, President Nicolas Maduro has said, labeling the acts "torture to the economic body of the country."

Vessels carrying food "were sabotaged and did not leave the ports where they were going to leave," said Maduro during Monday's meeting with party leaders in Caracas. He added that ten boats carrying fuel were also sabotaged.

At a meeting of the United Socialist Party which leads, Maduro also drew a link between the alleged acts of sabotage at sea and the international sanctions against Venezuela, spearheaded by US administration.

During the last 5 months of imperial aggression, we have endured financial persecutions, sabotage and coup skirmishes," Maduro tweeted from his English-language Twitter account.

Comment: Sabotage of a targeted country's infrastructure is a classic tactic made by the CIA, especially in Venezuela: See also:


People

'Unaccompanied minor' age assessments based on appearance for migrants ruled unlawful in UK

UK migrants
© Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images
Asylum seeker age assessments based on physical appearance and outward behaviour are unlawful, UK judges have said.

Government guidelines allowing authorities to treat such migrants as adults if their physical appearance and/or demeanour "very strongly suggests that they are significantly over 18 years of age" are not legitimate and risk "children being unlawfully detained", according to a new ruling.

Asserting that assessing the age of a person based on their appearance and demeanour was "an inexact science", judges ruled by two to one on Thursday that the Home Office guidelines should be scrapped.

Lord Justice Underhill said: "In the absence of guidance as to the width of the margin of error there is inevitably a real risk that immigration officers will place too much trust in their own assessment that a particular young person is 'significantly' over 18."

Comment: So, adult migrants can identify as children and be accepted as such just because they say so. This will no doubt stir resentment and distrust among UK citizens, which seems to be the underlying purpose.


Newspaper

Witch-hunt: Democrats claim victory as Trump gets battered in court

pelosi impeach Trump
President Trump took a beating in federal court last week, losing a pair of lawsuits aimed at hindering House Democrats' investigations into him and his administration.

The decisions indicated that Trump will ultimately lose the fights: Both judges in the subpoena cases issued their rulings swiftly and decisively, underscoring the weakness of Trump's legal arguments.

The lawsuits were likely intended as Trump's attempt to delay Congress from being able to obtain the documents, taking advantage of the slow pace of the court system while keeping an eye on getting the cases up to the Supreme Court.

Gift

China's Huawei plans to promote smart cities in Africa

Eko Atlantic City in Nigeria 1
© ekopearltowers.com
Eko Atlantic City in Nigeria
The world's second largest continent, Africa, is experiencing one of the fastest urbanization rates globally and Huawei wants to be a part of it, according to Adam Lane, senior director of public affairs at Huawei Technologies.

He told Xinhua News that Huawei is keen to boost environmental sustainability on the continent. African cities can adopt modern technology in the area of water and energy use, communications, security and safety improvement, explained Lane.

"Huawei is currently in talks with a number of African cities to promote the concept of smart cities," he said during the Business Leaders Dialogue in Nairobi, Kenya.