World Politics

[Robert5091]

Seems there is an internal conflict in Iran over the nuclear deal -

Iran split over talks with Europe to save nuclear deal

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/or...poa-europe-talks-velayati-zarif-mogherin.html

 

[King Boonen]

That's hardly news, hard-line Iranians have wanted out since before it was signed.

 

[aphronesis]

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/05/17/an-affront-to-history-giro-ditalias-sport-washing-of-israeli-apartheid/

 

[python]

just heard on deutche welle news that europe is imposing a blocking statute on the euro companies that bans them complying with the us sanctions...i have a hard time understanding the practical implications of the statement, if any, but i like the tone of the european unity, if only a symbolic gesture.

will stay tuned...

 

[djpbaltimore]

Re:

This is not good news -
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44150762

The Ebola outbreak in Congo has spread from the countryside into a city, prompting fears that the disease will be increasingly difficult to control.

Health Minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga confirmed a case in Mbandaka, a city of a million people about 130km (80 miles) from the area where the first cases were confirmed earlier this month.

The city is a major transportation hub with routes to the capital Kinshasa.

Forty-two people have now been infected and 23 people are known to have died.

The really interesting thing will be whether the vaccine developed and tested after the last outbreak will protect against this new viral strain. Also, Trump had some of his more asinine policy suggestions about Ebola when he was a private citizen. I can't wait to see what he does now that he is in the oval office.

My take is that this looks like a hotter strain than the last one, so is more likely to burn itself out and not be a long term issue even if the vaccine is ineffective.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/05/17/an-affront-to-history-giro-ditalias-sport-washing-of-israeli-apartheid/

If the eventual winner of this Giro would criticize the organisation, that'd send a very strong signal. I'm hoping for the impossible I guess.

 

[aphronesis]

Re: Re:

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/05/17/an-affront-to-history-giro-ditalias-sport-washing-of-israeli-apartheid/

If the eventual winner of this Giro would criticize the organisation, that'd send a very strong signal. I'm hoping for the impossible I guess.

Seems unlikely.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n10/henry-siegman/the-two-state-solution-an-autopsy-?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=4010+US%2FAUS&utm_content=usca_nonsubs_issue

 

[King Boonen]

Re: Re:

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/05/17/an-affront-to-history-giro-ditalias-sport-washing-of-israeli-apartheid/

If the eventual winner of this Giro would criticize the organisation, that'd send a very strong signal. I'm hoping for the impossible I guess.

It might help, but I doubt it will happen and I'm not sure anyone would take any notice.

 

[python]

somewhat surprising, the dw reports that merkel undertook an unplanned flyer to meet vlad today. they are said to be meeting right now without any interpreters or support personnel (both speak each others tongue fluently). there should be a press-conference in a couple of hours to be aired live by dw...

what's the urgency ? we'll find out soon enough, but it seems saving the iranian nuclear deal would be one of the priorities. they must be are looking for common position to stand to the us sanctions. i dont know how russia, besides the formal declarations of support, can alleviate the us ultimatums to the eu. then, perhaps, they are getting together to deflect another american ultimatum - of sanctioning the north gas pipeline that germany had staunchly supported so far ?? theie economics minister did not mince words this morning when defending the pipeline...

i hope, but seriously doubt, that germany is capable of an assertive, independent foreign policy YET, unless, of course, it is about browbeating little fish like greece

 

[python]

it is funny how vane and worthless the western msm could be...at the top of the hour just tuned in to france24 for a load of hot news...and saw the royal wedding i could care less YESTERDAY, much less TODAY. disappointed, I turned to DW...same royal crap but in german.

i'd normally then turn to aljazeera, but decided to check the chinese cgtn.

finally the REAL BIG NEWS - china and the us seem to have agreed to avoid a trade war after 2 days of intense negotiations. no details, just general statements on either side. included were the chinese plea to protect the intellectual property.

i say, my barely relevant experiences in chinatown make me wish you good luck, mr. trump.

 

[Robert5091]

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5266074,00.html

Iran's Mohammad Javad Zarif says European political support to preserve 2015 nuclear accord is 'not sufficient' after US pulls out of deal; EU leaders say they want to preserve deal since the 'agreement works'; new credit lines for Tehran, increased energy cooperation and implementing EU laws to block European companies from caving in to US sanctions are considered by EU to keep Tehran in nuclear accord.

Miguel Arias Canete, European commissioner for energy and climate, said Tehran wanted the 28-nation bloc to act fast to preserve its oil trade with Iran, and to consider making direct euro-denominated payments for Iranian oil to Iran's central bank, bypassing the US financial system.
....
"The contradictions in the words of European authorities are suspicious. We hope that our government officials will be able to secure the necessary guarantees in their negotiations, as one cannot rely on those who vacillate and speak contradictory words," IRNA quoted Ali Akbar Velayati as saying.

The German newspaper Welt am Sonntag cited an unnamed senior EU official as saying there were also discussions about a possible new pact between Iran and world powers that would cover the same ground as the 2015 deal but with some additions to appease the United States.

These could include provisions to address US concerns over Iran's ballistic missile program and Tehran's support of armed groups in the Middle East, the source said.

 

[King Boonen]

I see the US has vowed to learn no lessons from Carthage, Versailles or UNSC resolution 661...

 

[python]

Re:

I see the US has vowed to learn no lessons from Carthage, Versailles or UNSC resolution 661...

according to the sister politics thread, 'the us' should be replaced with 'trump' and trump only (of course considering an occasional dissident voice)..still, i'd use your term, though, under trump the us foreign policy reached a new level of arrogance, hypocrisy and rudeness.

regarding the precedents, particularly the one i hilited, if i follow, they may not apply. at least in a direct parallel way.

mainly owning to the fact that very domestically fractured govts comprising the decision-making eu states struggling to achieve a consensus within a very fractured eu org. that is, a de facto 28-head euro monster CANT arrive at a workable, sovereign - much less biting and effective - answer to the us diktat. the still formal allies like germany and france are too invested in the consensus decision making (both domestically and within the eu) to effectively oppose the us aggression.

i have a sense that if NOT trump personally, than his smartest advisers, have THE calculus i described in mind :sad:

all the unfair us advantages like the us dollar status, the leadership within the imf/world bank, the un host nation and - much more significant - military dominance (including the occupation of some major nations like germany and japan) are the trump cards. pun not intended.

some major ball, which aren't available by the very gender of the eu main actors, are needed. no Margarets nor de gaulls are visible in europe. forget about a dude like Churchill.

 

[Merckx index]

Pompeo has announced twelve new demands of Iran if it wants to avoid "the strongest sanctions in history" (I know who cooked up that phrase). Only three or four of the demands have to do with the nuclear program, e.g., stop enrichment, and ballistic missile program. Most of the other demands involve military operations (e.g., withdraw all forces currently in Syria; end all support for terrorists). Also, release all U.S. and other foreign citizens currently held.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/mike-pompeo-speech-12-demands-iran-180521151737787.html

 

[python]

..feels like the trump-kim meeting wont happen. basis ? just a got feeling after reading about the us unilateral and militant demands. if the meeting is not halfway, my sense - there is no use in expecting a fool facing you, even if he is the head of a hermit state.

 

[djpbaltimore]

I don't think the summit will happen. Just a hunch.... but I got a feeling after seeing it blasted all over the news yesterday that a meeting was becoming less likely.

You are not going to a meeting like this to negotiate. If there is no tangible deal agreed to before the meeting, there is no meeting. Even Trump's people know that (I think).

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Re:

I don't think the summit will happen. Just a hunch.... but I got a feeling after seeing it blasted all over the news yesterday that a meeting was becoming less likely.

You are not going to a meeting like this to negotiate. If there is no tangible deal agreed to before the meeting, there is no meeting. Even Trump's people know that (I think).

But not the dummass in the WH..he wants to be seen as the 'strong man'(he even said he admires Kim during the campaign), Duerte, Mao, other fascists and racists...it's a photo op along with his silly demands against Iran..Kim sees that and thinks Libya and Iran..and should tell donnie to gofookhimself.

Trump also reassured Kim Jong Un the North Korean leader would remain in power if he abandons his nuclear weapons program, but warned Kim that North Korea could be "decimated" if he refuses to strike a deal with the US.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/963452/North-Korea-latest-donald-trump-iran-nuclear-deal-south-korea-expert-negotiator

brilliant negotiator..not really

 

[aphronesis]

https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2018/05/11/adam-shatz/the-drift-towards-war/?utm_source=LRB+blog+email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20180522+blog&utm_content=usca_nonsubs_blog

 

[aphronesis]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/23/laws-slaves-nature-humans-rights-environment-amazon?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

 

[python]

interesting how a news, when delivered by a western source (even the one i still tune to -the reuters in this case) can NOT just spin but completely miss or distort the very substance of an important news...

the case in point is the recent iraqi elections and the possible huge implications..

granted, i no longer follow iraq as closely as few years back or as i still follow syria, meaning i just read headlines of my trusted rss w/o looking for alternatives. so what stuck in my mind was a reuters article, titled that iran was the biggest loser in the iraqi election

that did not jive all that well with my memory.. the winner in 2018, the sadr movement, is headed by a fiery shiah cleric who was at the head of the iraqi resistance to american invasion and occupation. moreover, iran was at the time blamed by the us for training, arming and inspiring the sadr anti-american militia. so, per reuters, sadr turned on to iran - the hand that supposedly fed him ???

to make the long story short, i just listened to an interview with a sadr politician on trt. he destroyed the reuters narrative.

indeed he said, his faction is looking to limit ALL foreign meddling in the iraqi affairs. i guess, technically it implies iran, though he did not mention iran specifically. BUT he went into an emotional and long denunciation of illegal american occupation of iraq and how his faction is going to put an end to it. he did EXCLUDE using force or the demand for the immediate american expulsion.

now i know to trust the reuters headlines even less than i already do...

 

[Merckx index]

An international team of investigators say they have uncovered hard evidence that a Russian military missile system fired the missile that shot down flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014. All 298 people onboard were killed.

In 2016, investigators announced they had evidence that the BUK system involved in the incident had crossed the border into eastern Ukraine from Russia and returned after the plane had been shot down.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/24/mh17-downed-by-russian-military-missile-system-say-investigators

I didn't know this investigation was still going on after four years.

Those North Koreans are pretty sharp. They call Mike Pence a "political dummy". Pence said if NK leadership didn't do what it was told, it would end up like Kaddafi. Master diplomacy at work.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Re:

An international team of investigators say they have uncovered hard evidence that a Russian military missile system fired the missile that shot down flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014. All 298 people onboard were killed.

In 2016, investigators announced they had evidence that the BUK system involved in the incident had crossed the border into eastern Ukraine from Russia and returned after the plane had been shot down.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/24/mh17-downed-by-russian-military-missile-system-say-investigators

I didn't know this investigation was still going on after four years.

Those North Koreans are pretty sharp. They call Mike Pence a "political dummy". Pence said if NK leadership didn't do what it was told, it would end up like Kaddafi. Master diplomacy at work.

KIM right on the $..trump's 'team' filled with dummies, led by the head dummy...trump blames his cancellation on KIM..'decimated', 'Libya model', 'fire and fury', 'my nuke button bigger than your'...oh well, there goes that Nobel... :lol:

"It will be proper for [Pence] to know even a little bit about the current state of global affairs and to sense to a certain degree the trends in dialogue and the climate of détente," Choe said on Thursday, implying that the U.S. politician should have refrained from Libya comparisons following Bolton's episode.

 

[python]

Re:

22 May 2018 10:49...a day BEFORE either trump or norkors publicly hinted at the meeting difficulties...

]..feels like the trump-kim meeting wont happen. basis ? just a got feeling after reading about the us unilateral and militant demands. if the meeting is not halfway, my sense - there is no use in expecting a fool facing you, even if he is the head of a hermit state.

it was a simple common sense vibe...dont feel particularly proud of being right. a man refusing to stick his neck in a trump noose after he was hinted (at least 3 times !) he could be assassinated by his own folks if he does not give in..it was NOT a a rocket science.

the pundits may spin it many ways, but i view it as a chinese lesson in subtlety and a dis-invitation to the chief twitterer for bad manners...and perhaps for trying to 'punish' china in public.

very stupid indeed. now let's see how iran is going to humiliate trump in response to another set of idiotic demands.

 

[python]

macron is in russia now for...i understand 2-3 days.

Officially, for an economic forum but in reality to attempt to swing vlad to some 'european position' vis-a-vis the us/iran, ukraine, syria etc...he and vlad had just finished a presser. i watched it live on france 24.

trying to cut through the diplomatic fluff, which was curious, b/c the macron introduction was 4 times the vlads (40min vs 10), i had arrived at an opinion - it was a failure of the french diplomacy.

why ? b/c unlike the trump hugging and kissing during his recent visit to washington, vlad, judging by the answers to the reporters questions, told the lil napoleon to fork himself...if he came to extract concessions w/o being ready to meet in the middle.

again, it is my immediate impression... b/c instead of the signed or agreed upon hard deals they talked of diplomatic niceties, the state dinner menu and other utterly useless crap.

macron is a loser that europe should stay away from. not that there is ANYONE in europe more credible atm.

all good news for the trump hacks.

 

[movingtarget]

Russian journalist murdered

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/29/russian-journalist-arkady-babchenko-shot-dead-in-kiev