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N. Korea presses Trump to make a bold move to revive diplomacy

Hyung-Jin Kim
Stars and Stripes
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 00:00 UTC
Kim/Trump
© KCNA/Korean News Service/AP
N. Korean Leader Kim Jong-un • US President Donald Trump
North Korea said Friday it wants President Donald Trump to make a "wise option and bold decision" to produce a breakthrough in stalled nuclear diplomacy, in an escalation of pressure on the U.S. ahead of an expected resumption of talks.

The statement by Foreign Ministry adviser Kim Kye Gwan came days after Trump said another meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "could happen soon" without elaborating.

Kim Kye Gwan says he doubts another summit could make any breakthrough because of what he describes as prevailing opinions in Washington that North Korea must first disarm before getting major concessions and that U.S.-led sanctions brought the North to a negotiating table.

He accused the U.S. of not acting to implement a joint statement issued after the first summit between Kim and Trump in Singapore last year. He said North Korea, for its part, made "sincere efforts" to build mutual trust and carry out the Singapore statement, citing the repatriation of three American detainees and U.S. war remains.
"But I came to know that President Trump is different from his predecessors in political sense and decision while watching his approach to the DPRK, so I would like to place my hope on President Trump's wise option and bold decision.

"I and the DPRK Foreign Ministry will follow the future moves of the U.S."
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Bullseye

Unacceptable! US' latest sanctions go to Russian firm it claims provides jet fuel to Syria


Sputnik
Thu, 26 Sep 2019 18:00 UTC
Russian Foreign Ministry
© Sputnik/Maksim Blinov
Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow
Earlier in the day, the US Treasury announced that it has imposed new sanctions on Russia for facilitating the delivery of jet fuel to Russian forces operating in the Arab Republic.

The Russian Foreign Ministry slammed on Thursday new US sanctions against a Moscow-based company and several individuals over alleged fuel delivery to Syria.

"This, apparently, is a continuation of the old American policy, based on unilateral sanctions, which we consider absolutely unacceptable," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin told reporters.

Earlier in the day, the US Treasury Department said in a press release that it has designated three Russian nationals, one entity and five vessels over their alleged role in providing jet fuel to Russia's forces in Syria.
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Arrow Down

Winning friends: US imposes sanctions on Raul Castro and his children for supporting Venezuelan government


RT
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 10:57 UTC
Nicolas Maduro, Raul Castro
© REUTERS/Stringer
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (L) and Cuba's former President Raul Castro, in Havana, Cuba, July 17, 2018.
Doubling down on its campaign for regime change in Caracas, the US has announced sanctions on Cuban leader Raul Castro and his four children, for alleged human rights violations in support of the Venezuelan government.

As First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, Castro is in charge of a system that arbitrarily holds over 100 political prisoners, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday.

In his capacity as First Secretary of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, Castro is "responsible for Cuba's actions to prop up the former Maduro regime in Venezuela through violence, intimidation and repression," Pompeo said in a statement, accusing the Cuban leader of being "complicit in undermining Venezuela's democracy and triggering the hemisphere's largest humanitarian crisis."


Comment: Pure projection - the only ones 'undermining' democracy in Venezuela are the US and it puppets.


Comment:

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Chess

Japan signs deal with EU to link Asia to counter China's OBOR

Robin Emmott
Reuters
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 18:42 UTC
Abe Juncker

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
The European Union and Japan signed an infrastructure deal on Friday to coordinate transport, energy and digital projects linking Europe and Asia, seeking an alternative to Chinese largesse that has raised suspicion in Brussels and Tokyo.

The accord, signed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, formalizes Japan's involvement in a new EU-Asia "connectivity" plan that is set to be backed by a 60 billion euro ($65.48 billion) EU guarantee fund, development banks and private investors.


Comment: Eat dirt, European peoples made to bail out Western banks in '08! The EU is sitting on a pile of cash...


"Whether it be a single road or a single port, when the EU and Japan undertake something, we are able to build sustainable, rules-based connectivity from the Indo-Pacific to the Western Balkans and Africa," Abe told an EU-Asia forum in Brussels.


Comment: 'Rules-based', as in 'the rules-based international order', as in the status quo of Western hegemony. This is a dig at Russia, China and others, who supposedly 'play dirty' by not being warmongering effete freaks.


Comment: Japan isn't just opposing China in the development of international infrastructure; it has also just upgraded China as a threat to Japan's national security:

From Fort Russ:
Japan has updated its list of national security threats and puts China ahead of North Korea.

The Japanese government has warned of China's growing military power and says the Asian giant has become a greater threat to national security than North Korea.

Japan has raised its military spending by 10% over the past seven years to counter the military advances of Beijing and Pyongyang. The budget was used to develop and deploy defenses against North Korean missiles, which can carry nuclear warheads, according to the tabloid Express.
This is obviously an attempt at an 'encirclement strategy' to 'contain China/Russia'.

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Rocket

Notice that, Alaska? Russia's Pacific Fleet fires Oniks supersonic cruise missile from region in Far East


RT
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 15:15 UTC
Russian Oniks cruise missile
© Russian Defense Ministry
On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry released footage of a new test firing of the Bastion/Oniks combo, which for the first time took place in Chukotka, a large region in the Far East which is defended by the Russian Navy’s Pacific Fleet.
A coastal defence system deployed in Russia's Far East has for the first time fired the Oniks cruise missile, developed to pierce the anti-missile capabilities of US Navy warships.

Oniks has a ramjet engine capable of boosting its speed to Mach 2, making it difficult to intercept, and has a range of up to 600km (373 miles). The anti-ship weapon is usually deployed on Russian Navy ships, but can also be fired by the mobile launchers of the Bastion coastal defense system.

On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry released footage of a new test firing of the Bastion/Oniks combo, which for the first time took place in Chukotka, a large region in the Far East which is defended by the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet.


Comment:

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Bulb

Pakistani PM: US wasted billions in Afghanistan while China developed infrastructure - and now New York has bumpy roads


RT
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 18:15 UTC
New York road construction
© AFP / Jewel Samad
Road maintenance labourers work on a street in New York City on October 10, 2017.
Pakistan's prime minister served up some bitter truths during an interview with MSNBC, noting that US taxpayer dollars would have been better spent on fixing America's infrastructure, as opposed to squandering them in Afghanistan.

Asked what advice he had given US President Donald Trump on the seemingly endless war in Afghanistan, Imran Khan told the co-hosts of Morning Joe that the conflict would go on for "another 19 years" if the United States doesn't push for peace.


"If I was an American I would ask - at least $1.5 trillion has been spent in Afghanistan, what have we achieved in this?" he said, adding that his visit to the United States to attend the UN General Assembly made it clear to him that the money spent to prop up Kabul should have remained at home.
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Bad Guys

PBS sponsors Saudi propaganda on the Crown Prince and the murder of US journalist Jamal Khashoggi


Sputnik
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 17:20 UTC
Saudi Crown Prince
© AP Photo/ Saudi Press Agency
Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist of Saudi descent, was killed in what Riyadh called "a rogue operation" in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, having last been seen there on 2 October last year as he was obtaining the documents he needed to get married.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's comments will for the first time appear in a PBS documentary on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year as a result of a "rogue operation" in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Frontline PBS reported.

According to the media outlet, in an apparently off-camera exchange with PBS's Martin Smith, the prince, who is not shown in the documentary preview video, said that he "gets all the responsibility" because "it happened under my watch".
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Roses

RIP Jacques Chirac. His 'no' to 2003 Iraq war stirred Francophobia when the West only wanted 'yes' men

Neil Clark
RT
Thu, 26 Sep 2019 17:16 UTC
Jacques Chirac
© Reuters
Former French President Jacques Chirac
The death of former French President Jacques Chirac should remind us how the architects of the Iraq War, who stress their 'pro-European' credentials today, peddled crude Francophobia sixteen years ago.

His chequered record in office is redeemed on account of one important action, the way he refused to support the illegal US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

It's worth remembering the wave of neocon-induced Francophobia that Chirac's opposition to war unleashed. The French were labelled 'cheese-eating surrender monkeys.' French fries were renamed 'freedom fries.' Racegoers in Britain were encouraged to boo French-trained horses at the racetrack. The Economist in October 2002 said, by way of condemnation, 'So far Russia and France have been all too ready to explore any option but war.' The utter scoundrels!

For French people living in the US and UK, and for Francophiles like myself, it was a difficult time.

Comment: Chirac did indeed have a chequered record as a politician, but he stood tall in the events that mattered. France has lost a great politician and now must make due with the idiot Macron.

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Rocket

How Russia protects its bases in Syria from terrorist drone attacks (someone let Saudi Arabia know)

Paul Antonopoulos
Fort Russ News
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 17:17 UTC
S-400 missile system and Pantsir-S1 air defense system
© Sputnik
S-400 missile system and Pantsir-S1 air defense system seen at Khmeimim airbase
The commander of the Russian anti-aircraft missile regiment based at Syria's Hmeymim airfield said to Sputnik about the protection of the air base as well as the naval base in the port of Tartus from air strikes by militants.

According to the commander, the task of the regiment is to protect Hmeymim Air Base and Tartus port facilities from drones and rockets, as well as tactical aviation and cruise missiles.

"Here a staggered air defense system was created, which includes S-400 long range systems and Tor-M2 and Pantsir-S1 short range systems," he said.

The commander emphasized that thanks to these means the military has the ability to destroy all types of air targets at depths of 20 to 250 kilometers.

Detect and eliminate

The commander also highlighted the Tor-M2 and Pantsir-S1 air defense systems by adding details.


"They effectively deal with the task of destroying small unmanned aerial vehicles, which have a small actual dispersal surface, as well as high-speed projectiles from actively used industrial and craft multiple rocket launch systems by the militants," he said.
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Attention

India claims Pakistan has "created entire industry of terror", frustrated by India's move on Kashmir and Jammu provinces


NDTV
Wed, 25 Sep 2019 16:26 UTC
S Jaishankar India Pakistan kashmir
© Dr. S Jaishanker/Twitter
S Jaishankar emphasised provisions in the Constitution which gave J&K special status were temporary
India has no problem talking to Pakistan, but it has a problem talking to "Terroristan", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in New York today, asserting that Islamabad has created an entire industry of terrorism to deal with the Kashmir issue.

Mr Jaishankar, addressing a New York audience at cultural organization Asia Society, said when India decided to revoke Article 370 and bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, it drew a reaction from Pakistan.

Pakistan downgraded diplomatic relations with India and also sent back Indian High Commissioner after New Delhi revoked the 'temporary special status' given to Jammu and Kashmir on August 5.

Comment: RT adds Pakistan's perspective:
Speaking at a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke in grave terms about the situation in Kashmir and warned of the chances for a new war with India, Pakistan's longtime regional rival.

"I came out to New York only because I felt that unless we highlight what is going on in Kashmir, the world is not going to know," the PM said, adding that the dispute over the region creates "a potential that two nuclear-armed countries could come face-to-face."

"This is the time for the world to act, before this goes too far, because this is the first time after the Cuban [missile] crisis that two nuclear-armed countries" would square off on the world stage, he said.

India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir, one in 1947 soon after the partition of India, and another in 1965. Pakistan currently controls a strip of the territory on its western extremity.

In August, the Indian government moved to revoke Kashmir's special autonomous status, dispatching thousands of soldiers to the region in preparation for unrest which was expected following the decision. While many observers have sounded the alarm over potential abuses of Kashmir's Muslim majority, New Delhi argues the move was necessary in order to fully integrate the region into India and to bring about economic development.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated the decision as "historic," arguing it would cut down on local corruption and "nepotism," and allow Kashmiris to "elect [their] representatives in a transparent way.
Since India has made such a decisive move towards the US and the West in general, China is even more concerned to retain strong relations with Pakistan as a geopolitical counterweight. For those unfamiliar with the roots of the India-Pakistan dispute, James Corbett provides a good summary here: The crisis in Kashmir

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