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Fri, 05 Nov 2021
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Nuke

Pakistani PM Kahn says he'd give up nukes if India reciprocated - 'Nuclear war is not an option'

Khan, missiles
© Reuters
Pakistani nuclear-capable surface-to-air ballistic missiles • Pakistani Prime Minister Khan
In a stunning statement, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan said that he would be willing to give up his nation's nuclear weapons if its rival India vowed to do the same. He also urged New Delhi to come to the negotiating table.

When asked by Fox News' Bret Baier if India offered to relinquish it nuclear arsenal, would Pakistan, Khan answered with an emphatic "yes. Because nuclear war is not an option. And between Pakistan and India, the idea of nuclear war is actually self-destruction, because we have two and a half thousand-mile border," Khan said.

The Pakistani PM added that the recent escalation in tensions between the two nuclear rivals, following sporadic outbreaks of violence in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack, was unnecessary.

Khan said he had asked US President Donald Trump to mediate between the two regional powers over the Kashmir issue, which Khan said was the only reason for which, over the past "70 years that we have not be able to act like civilized neighbors." Khan played down India's fiery response to reports of potential talks mediated by the US, in which New Delhi insisted that negotiations could only take place bilaterally. He instead urged India's government to come to the table.

"We're talking about 1.3 billion people on this Earth. Imagine the dividends of peace if somehow that issue could be resolved."


People

Federal judge affirms North Carolina transgender people may use restroom of their gender identity in public buildings

NC bathroom bill
© AP Photo/Jonathan Drew, File
In a June 25, 2018 file photo, plaintiff Joaquin Carcano, center, addresses reporters after a hearing in Winston-Salem, N.C., on their lawsuit challenging the law that replaced North Carolina's "bathroom bill." A federal judge approved a legal settlement Tuesday, July 23, 2019 affirming transgender people’s right to use restrooms matching their gender identity in many North Carolina public buildings.
A federal judge approved a legal settlement Tuesday affirming transgender people's right to use restrooms matching their gender identity in many North Carolina public buildings.

The consent decree between the state's Democratic governor and transgender plaintiffs covers numerous state-owned buildings including facilities run by executive branch agencies that oversee the environment, transportation and Medicaid, among others. In return, the plaintiffs have agreed to drop pending legal action against the governor and other defendants.

The agreement was signed by Judge Thomas Schroeder after a three-year legal battle challenging North Carolina's so-called bathroom bill and the law that replaced it.

Jet3

Russian & Chinese bombers make 'first' joint patrol in Asia-Pacific region

russian bomber Tu-95MS
© Russian Defense Ministry
Russian Defense Ministry has released footage of its Tu-95MS bombers accompanied by the Chinese military, saying it is a first-of-its-kind joint patrol of their long-range aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region.

In the video, the Tu-95MS strategic bombers are seen taking off at an undisclosed airfield inside Russia. They approach a rendezvous point, meeting with two Chinese Xian H-6 bombers.

Comment: Reuters is there to stir the pot, reporting :
Japan's military scrambled fighter aircraft to intercept Russian and Chinese planes, it said on Tuesday, including an observation jet at which South Korean forces fired warning shots after it entered airspace over an island claimed by both Seoul and Tokyo.

Japan, like South Korea, identified two Chinese H-6 bombers and two Russian TU-95 bombers flying over the strait between the countries.

In addition, there was a Russian A-50 observation plane at which South Korea had fired warning shots after it passed close to the island it controls, known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan.

Japan regularly scrambles fighters to intercept Chinese and Russian aircraft that fly close to its territory, with 999 such intercepts in the twelve months that ended on March 31.



Bad Guys

Turkey meets with US to establish YPG-free safe zone in Syria

Turkish YPG
© AFP 2019/ Delil Souleiman
Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and US Syria Envoy James Jeffrey held talks in Ankara to discuss the establishment of a safe zone in Syria east to the Euphrates river that would be free from PKK and YPG, whom Ankara views as a single organization and considers to be terrorists, the Turkish Defence Ministry said.

Jeffrey is currently in Ankara for a two-day official visit to discuss settlement of the Syrian crisis and fight against the Daesh* terrorist organization.

Star of David

Israeli forces celebrate blowing up a Palestinian house on video - and Western press and liberals ignore it

isreali military

Video of Israeli forces celebrating blowing up Palestinian house
Yesterday, Palestinian sources tweeted out a video of Israeli security forces cheering as they blew up a house in occupied Jerusalem, during the operation to demolish a dozen Palestinian buildings close to Israel's security wall.

The video has been confirmed as footage taken by a Palestinian of an Israel Defense Forces officer (masked), and two Border Policemen cheering after blowing up a house in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sur Bahir.

The video has been widely shared on "Arab" media, the Times of Israel notes (and by Russian media too), and the IDF issued a "mild rebuke" of the celebration but noted: "the video was shot in the context of satisfaction with the success of the mission after many hours of hard work on the ground."

Bullseye

The Japan-Korea trade dispute debunks anti-Chinese narratives

japan korea trade
On July 1, Japanese government announced it would impose restrictions on the sale of special chemicals to the Republic of Korea (ROK) that are required for use in its massive semiconductor industry. It took effect on July 4. It is claiming that this is due to some companies illegally re-exporting these materials to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in violation of international sanctions

Seoul, however, is convinced that it's in retaliation for its demand that Japanese companies pay restitution to the forced laborers that it abused during World War II. Observers all across the world are very worried that this dispute could further disrupt the global supply chain of high-tech products that has already been somewhat destabilized by the U.S.' trade war against China.

Comment: See also:


Chart Pie

Ukrainian election analysis: Green and blue win for peace, Nazi and Chrystia Freeland red suffers bitter defeat

ukraine election map
The new Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of the Ukraine, elected on Sunday, will have an overwhelming national mandate to negotiate peace terms to end the five-year civil war.

Sluha Narodu ("Servant of the People"), the party of President Volodymyr Zelensky, having won more than 43% of the votes countrywide, will now command majorities of both the party-list and the single-constituency seats in the new parliament; 253 seats altogether out of 422, or a "mono-coalition" as the party is calling the result, or as the hostile Ukrainian media term it, "a landslide [which] has never occurred in the contemporary history of Ukraine and it is more typical for post-Soviet Asian dictatorships."

This beats earlier pollster predictions that Zelensky would be forced into a coalition with Holos ("The Voice"), a US-invented spoiler organization of Lvov region (Galicia) led by pop singer, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk. He ended up with less than 6% of the national votes, fewer than forecast. Holos has proved to be neither the voice of youth, nor an organization without oligarch support (it was backed by Victor Pinchuk), nor a political party at all.

Polling better than predicted was the Donbass (Donetsk, Lugansk regions) party, Opposition Platform led by Victor Medvedchuk, which ended up with 13% nationally; 48% in Lugansk; 42% in Donetsk; 24% in Odessa; and 19% in Nikolaev. If the additional votes of the eastern Opposition Bloc of Boris Kolesnikov and Vadim Novinsky are counted with Medvedchuk's aggregate, together they have drawn majorities of 53% to 54%, putting Zelensky's party in the east in a minority.

This is the first time democracy has defeated a US Government-installed putsch and junta in Europe since the election of Andreas Papandreou's Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in 1982.

Comment: Moon of Alabama adds the following points of background and analysis:
Zelensky wants to end the war in the east. He plans to work for better relations with Russia. His main domestic promise is to end the corruption throughout the government. But the parliament, still under control of the Maidan fascists, opposed him. Zelensky relieved the parliament and called for early elections. ...

Some allege that Zelensky is under influence of the oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. But so far there is little evidence to provide that.

The party which came in second is pro-Russian and won the majority vote in the east. It is controlled by Viktor Medvedchuk. Oliver Stone, in his recent interview with Vladimir Putin, discusses Medvedchuk's position on nationality with the Russian president. Putin rejects Medvedchuk claim that Russians in Ukraine belong to a Ukrainian nation. He sees all Russian people as part of one nationality.

Peter Porosheko and Yulia Tymoshenko lead the parties on the third and fourth place. They are themselves oligarchs. The populist Vakarchuk in the fifth place is backed by billionaire Viktor Pinchuk, the son-in-law of ex-President Leonid Kuchma.
...
Zelensky will likely try to move the country back to a balanced positions between the 'west' and Russia. With the large mandate he got and a secure majority in parliament he should have all the necessary means to achieve that.

But the 'west' is unlikely to let him do that. The U.S. wants to designate the Ukraine as a "major non-NATO ally" and use it against Russia.
There have already been warnings of a "third Maidan" if Zelensky crosses any "red lines". For example:
Foreign Policy Issues:
  • delaying, sabotaging, or rejecting the strategic course for EU and NATO membership; reducing political dialogue and destroying bilateral institutional mechanisms for cooperation with European and Euro-Atlantic partners
  • initiating any actions that might contribute to the reduction or lifting of sanctions against the aggressor state by Ukraine's international partners
  • attempting to review any actions aimed at supporting international solidarity for Ukraine, restoring our territorial integrity, guaranteeing security and protecting the rights of all persons that have suffered from Russian aggression
...
National Identity: Language, Education, Culture
  • attempting to review the language law [i.e. the bans on Russian]
  • attempting to review the law on education
  • attempting to review the law on de-communization and condemnation of totalitarian crimes of the past
  • implementing any actions aimed at undermining or discrediting the Orthodox Church of Ukraine or supporting the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine



War Whore

Kabul demands explanation for Trump's 'wipe Afghanistan off the face of the Earth' comments

trump
© Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times
Kabul is urgently seeking clarification of President Trump's comments in which he said he could win the Afghan war in a week by wiping the country off "the face of the Earth."

Trump made the remarks during an Oval Office meeting with Imran Khan, the prime minister of Pakistan, sparking outrage in Afghanistan where many are angry at the role of outside powers in determining their future.

Kabul's presidential palace issued a statement on Tuesday morning seeking an urgent explanation.

"The Afghan nation has not and will never allow any foreign power to determine its fate," it said.

Boat

Own goal: Shipping industry mulls ditching UK-flagged vessels for China after tit-for-tat seizures in Strait of Hormuz

boat tanker gun
© REUTERS / Iran, Mizan News Agency/WANA
Scores of tankers transit through the Strait of Hormuz each day, and shippers are looking for ways to safeguard the oil trade in the wake of tit-for-tat tanker detentions between Iran and the UK.

China may emerge as an unexpected beneficiary of the mounting tensions in the Persian Gulf, after Iran detained a British-flagged oil tanker in a key waterway for oil transit.

British maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global believes that the shipping industry "was not really prepared" for this situation, and that shipping companies are now starting to look for alternatives to using British-flagged vessels in the region.

"Normally it's the British-flagged, US-flagged and Saudi-interest vessels that are the most likely to be targeted," Philip Diacon, head of Dryad Global, told AFP news agency.

Diacon said most of his clients were now looking to register their ships under the flag of China, Iran's strategic ally. "We are starting to see talk of moving to Chinese-flagged vessels," he noted.

Over 18 million barrels of crude oil pass through the Strait of Hormuz each day - a third of all oil shipped by sea and a fifth of the world's supply - and won't stop, however volatile the political situation.

"Oil will continue to flow," Diacon highlighted. "The Iranians have no interests in disrupting other nations."

Comment: For Hunt and the rest of the British leadership, seizing tankers is only illegal when Iran does it. But acting as a lackey for the Americans has its downside. Too bad incompetents don't think ahead.


Light Sabers

Trump says he prefers Pakistani reporters in the Oval Office in latest attack on US media

trump
© Reuters / Jonathan Ernst
Donald Trump has taken another swipe at the US media, saying he's happy to see Pakistani reporters in the Oval Office because he "liked them much better" than the usual American press pool.

Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to the White House apparently came with an added bonus for the US president: the presence of non-American journalists in the Oval Office - a break from the routine which Trump apparently very much enjoyed.