World Politics

[python]

got agrin when just watching an american intellectual answering the question of the trt anchor, 'what do you think of the us blaming their withdrawal from the un human rights council on the human rights abusers ?'

-'the council just got rid of 1 of its biggest human rights abusers' :lol:

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Re:

got agrin when just watching an american intellectual answering the question of the trt anchor, 'what do you think of the us blaming their withdrawal from the un human rights council on the human rights abusers ?'

-'the council just got rid of 1 of its biggest human rights abusers' :lol:

Who supports the other biggest human rights abuser.....Israel :surprised:

 

[Robert5091]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...exiles-that-trump-will-bring-down-iran-regime

The collapse of Iran’s Islamic regime “is around the corner,” and the U.S. will keep increasing sanctions until it happens, President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani told an exiled Iranian opposition group.
...
Speaking to the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, [MEK] or People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, a group that for years was on the U.S.’s terrorism list, Giuliani said European nations and former President Barack Obama had appeased the Islamic regime and said “Trump doesn’t turn his back on freedom fighters.”

“This government is about to collapse, and this is the time to turn on the pressure,” Giuliani told a crowd of about 1,000 flag-waving MEK followers. “Thank God my president turned his back on that very dangerous nuclear deal with Iran. We are not going to do business with the world’s top sponsor of terrorism.”
...
Also on the podium on Saturday were former U.S. House Speaker and informal Trump adviser Newt Gingrich, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, two former French foreign ministers, and five members of the British Parliament.

The annual meeting is hosted by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which considers itself a sort of parliament in exile but is dominated by the MEK. NCRI leader Maryam Rajavi spoke before Giuliani, and said recent economic protests in Iran were signs the regime is near to collapse. The NCRI says it supports a democratic Iran with separation of religion and state.

Giuliani has spoken at MEK events for almost a decade. Trump’s current National Security Adviser John Bolton has attended their events in the past, as has James Jones, who held the same post under Obama.

There's a strange deja vu feeling about politicians teaming up with Middle Eastern exiles to call for regime change ...

 

[python]

while waiting for the sweden-england game to commence, i flipped thru my usual sample of international tv channels.

as i let known, my latest focus is the trade war CONSEQUENCES unleashed by the us. just heard a very interesting comment from a cgtn commentator (an american economist iirc royce almond ?). he said appr. this:

'china cant afford NOT responding. it must fight back hard and impose a MAXIMUM pain on the us. otherwise it will find itself in the same trouble and subdue like Japan ...... when the us imposed harsh tariffs on the Japanese exports some decades ago'. japan was recovering for 20 years...the tariffs are NOT about the trade deficit, BUT about trying to contain china from becoming the #1"

interesting. i was thinking about many parallels but not about japan he also said the us business community is bound to stop the trump madness at some point as the us self hurt will become obvious and intolerable...this guy is an american !

 

[python]

under the trump threats and ultimatums, the western companies, left unprotected by their mouthy and cowardly govts, are existing iran... and how is iran reacting ?

their threat of closing the hormuz strait in response to the american promise of zeroing the iranian crude exports, should not be taken seriously. they cant and they wont since it's the equivalent of a declaration of war...but to shift their business east to those who take pleasure in defying the us arrogance, is already taking place. last weak there were a series of meeting with china, which - in a typical eastern manner - the details are NOT revealed.

but the just ended meet of the supreme leader advisor with putin was made public and clearly serves to show a finger to trump 3 days before their face-to-face summit. vlad is as 'scared' as the eruo cowards and he acts it

Khamenei adviser says Russia to replace Western investors

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/07/iran-russia-velayati-putin-visit-investment-jcpoa-oil.html#ixzz5L7Wz7aeC

 

[python]

putin and trump are meeting in a matter of hours...the news outlets speculate widely on what they will talk about or conclude. i find it amazing that ANYONE would try to take seriously ANYTHING trump said, much less to try to read into it... he just called the eu 'a foe' and some euro media already speculate how he is going to conclude a secret deal with putin to fork europe over...mental midgets.

a commentator on DW said that putin needs the meeting to ...'end russia isolation'. who is isolated ? putin after the football worlds or trump after declaring trade wars and exiting treaties ? the talking heads are empty.

the most rational speculation is that they may come to some common ground on syria where iran and israel may start a big war if not cooled off. both need to declare a victory after the meet. so, i can also see some aftermath empty declarations re. the north korea issues.

trump just cant do much bargaining with the russophobic congress over his neck and putin wont give much w/o a concrete commitment from the us..

it will be largely another trump show he loves to bask in ....

 

[Robert5091]

Whilst Donnie & Putin chat,

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5310680,00.html
9 Syrian soldiers said killed in Aleppo strike blamed on Israel -
Nine soldiers from among Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces—six Syrians and three others whose nationality was not made known—were reportedly killed in an attack attributed to Israel in Aleppo on Sunday night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday.

The IDF said in a statement last Thursday that it hit three targets the night before in retaliation for an incursion on Wednesday of a Syrian drone which was shot down over northern Israel.

"The IDF holds the Syrian regime accountable for the actions carried out in its territory and warns it from further action against Israeli forces," the Israeli statement said at the time.

On Friday, Israel fired a Patriot missile at a UAV approaching its border from Syria, the second such an incident that week.

 

[movingtarget]

Iran in trouble

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/20/desperate-to-find-a-way-out-iran-edges-towards-precipice

 

[python]

the us continuing it's exceptionally arrogant foreign policy now via the threats and ultimatums to its nato ally...

a quick disclaimer is due here. i am the last person, as can be easily deduced from my several posts, to defend erdogan. but, i must admit, he has a point in his latest spat with the us...

very specifically and briefly...yesterday pence threatened turkey with the armageddon, IF they dont free some american pastor that a turkish court accused of spying and terrorism. in a major nod to trump, the american christ's servant was yesterday released from the prison to a home arrest. one would think that america would appreciate the turkish step. far from. it is now the thump himself threatening the armageddon for turkey.

to make the long story short, turkey had long offered to exchange the pastor for a guy the turkish justice had been long seeking in connection to the military coup of 2016 - the gulen dude. they accuse him of no less than masterminding the coup...the us had dragged its feet both under the obama and thump. if obama auspiciously referred to the us justice system as the only one capable of deciding, the thump just said, 'fork you erdo, the turkish dude is not goona be exchanged for the pastorr...and btw, give him to us. or else.
that is: another ultimatum to another ally over a matter that ultimately a court has to decide.

this is no longer a unilateral, but a most naked and arrogant extortion with a gun to the ally's head.

unsurprisingly, turkey - i just read - rejected the ultimatum. it is now very interesting to see what happens next.
i had posted about the several latest turkey-american spats wondering what exactly has erdogan got to be so 'stubborn'.

we are about to find out very soon. his options are diverse - from admitting he has a smaller dijk (like he did with vlad when the rus imposed economic hardship on turkey for the downed fighter) to threatening america with the expulsion from the injerlik airbase to leaving nato...btw, erdogan is now at the brics summit in s. africa hand shaking with vlad and the chinese prez seeking to join the anti-western block.

 

[Robert5091]

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018...central-african-republic-180731203838288.html

Three Russian journalists have been killed in the Central African Republic (CAR), Russia's foreign ministry and their news outlet have said, in what local authorities said was an ambush by unidentified attackers.

Russian online news organisation Investigation Control Centre (TsUR) said in a Facebook post on Tuesday the three reporters - identified as Orhan Dzhemal, Alexander Rastorguyev and Kirill Radchenko - were in the country on assignment.

The journalists had been investigating the activities of the so-called Wagner group, an organisation of private military contractors.
...
Following the report of their deaths, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who finances TsUR and is one of Russia's richest men, as well as a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said: "The crew were working in cooperation with my project ... on an investigation into Russian private mercenaries, in particular the Wagner group.

"These were brave men who were not prepared simply to collect documentary material, but wanted to 'feel' it in the palms of their hands," a statement on Khodorkovsky's website read.

In November 2017, Khodorkovsky, who lives outside Russia, started funding an investigative outlet focused on Russian corruption. The media organisation, called Dossier Center, focuses mostly on submissions and leaks by anonymous sources.

BBC on Wagner Group https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43167697

Edit - more info -
https://www.dw.com/en/russian-journalists-killed-in-central-african-republic/a-44903350

Russia's ties to CAR

Russia has taken on a more visible role in CAR since December last year, when Russia received United Nations authorization to provide the beleaguered African nation with weapons and training.

The UN exempted Russia's weapons delivery to CAR from an embargo it had imposed in 2013, in an effort to support the weakened central government and its military.

The UK, France and the US voiced concern over the move and demanded that weapons be restricted to light arms and that Russia provide traceability to prevent them from being sold on the black market.

A UN panel of experts had warned on Tuesday that Russia's weapons supply had led to an arms race in the rampantly unstable CAR, with rebels turning to traffickers in Sudan for fresh gun shipments.

In addition to the arms deal, Russia is also believed to have signed a range of agreements with President Faustin-Archange Touadera, including a deal for his own security.

CAR plunged into violence after longtime leader Francois Bozize, a Christian, was overthrown in 2013 by a mainly Muslim rebel alliance. His successor Touadera, whose government is supported by a UN force of 13,000 troops, controls little of the country beyond the capital Bangui.

The rest of CAR is held by 15 militias, many of which claim to represent Christian or Muslim communities. They frequently clash over natural resources and revenue.

 

[Robert5091]

Morer on Russia, CAR, dead journalists and diamonds -
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-08-04/russia-in-africa-death-diamonds-and-intrigue

Back in March, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Russia was working with the government of Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera to explore the country’s natural resources on a concession basis. At the same time, the ministry said, Russia had sent weapons along with five military and 170 civilian instructors to train the nation's military forces. The African country, home to warring Christian and Muslim groups, is under a United Nations-imposed arms embargo, but Russia obtained an official dispensation, arguing that the weapons – 5,200 Kalashnikov submachine guns and smaller numbers of handguns, grenade launchers and other hardware – were for the UN-supported regime.

The mining concessions and the “civilian instructors,” however, appear to be more closely linked than the Foreign Ministry let on. Africa Intelligence, a Paris-based investigative and research outfit, reported in July that the government of the Central African Republic had begun extracting diamonds on an alluvial site not far from the capital, Bangui, with the help of a company called Lobaye Invest. The company, according to Africa Intelligence, is a subsidiary of the St. Petersburg firm M Invest, founded by Prigozhin. Africa Intelligence reported that Wagner fighters were delivering mining equipment to the site in armored trucks. At the same time, Touadera’s Russian advisers are helping the president negotiate a truce with various groups that used to be part of the Muslim rebel movement, Seleka.

This is a business model Wagner has reportedly used in Syria, where it lends its private troops to the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad, and in return receives a share of revenues from the oil wells and refineries the troops recover from regime opponents. In February, Wagner mercenaries clashed with U.S. troops while trying to seize a refinery and suffered major losses.

Like Syrian oil, Central African Republic diamonds are a commodity on which no ordinary business can get its hands. In the 1960s, the country exported half a million carats of diamonds a year, a volume that would make it the seventh-biggest exporter in the world today. Unlike neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, which specializes in industrial diamonds, Central African Republic diamonds are mostly gem-quality. But the enormous economic potential of the industry was undermined by civil strife and government greed. A lot of diamonds are still extracted illegally and smuggled out of the country, and there’s a partial ban on diamond exports.

Another of the country's major resources is gold, and the three Russian reporters died while trying to drive out to a gold mine, apparently to check on Russian presence there. The circumstances of their death are still unclear: The driver of their vehicle, who survived, keeps changing his testimony. But even though the journalists didn’t live to tell their story, they were known well enough in Russia to turn attention to Wagner. Dzhemal was one of Russia’s top war reporters, known for his intrepid coverage of the Russian operation against Georgia in 2008 and the Libyan conflict of 2011, in which he nearly lost a leg. Rastorguev was a documentary filmmaker known for his bold experiments, which often included giving a camera to subjects to record their daily lives. He was one of the two creators of The Term, the essential documentary depiction of the 2011-2012 political protests in Russia.

Official Moscow was quick to deny any responsibility for the journalists’ death. Maria Zakharova, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said they’d neglected the official channels, and pointed out that the presence of Russian “civilian instructors” in the Central African Republic was no secret. That, however, is probably disingenuous. There have been reports in the regional media that there are many more Russians in the Central African Republic than the 170 that the Foreign Ministry has mentioned. Nor has Russia admitted a connection between the “instructors” and mineral concessions.

 

[python]

in connection with the latest american pressure on turkey, erdogan today had said some crucial things that may or may not be reflective of his real intentions...frankly, i dont trust this dude yet he NEVER resorted to the verbal statements of this significance to the us built, dominated and, yes, manipulated military alliance...

'we may consider new friends and allies if the us treats us the way it does'...

who are the potential new fiends and allies ? the immediate logic suggests china and russia but may include ANY of the states currently under the american economic and trade warfare.

translated into plain english, he hinted at quitting the nato. it would be a big biggy. what's then ? we'll have to see, but i hope erdogan knows how to plan a couple of moves ahead.i am sure, the russian chess players are hard at work as i type.

to be frank, i'd find it refreshing if turkey banned the us from its country, the black sea and thus a huge chunk of the middle east.
----
i've been to a local music event and back and the post is still on the top...decided to add my latest thought.

very few in the us if ANYONE remember or know that the cuban missile crisis started with turkey. that is, because turkey succumbed to the us bullying of locating the american nukes aimed at russia on its territory. nikita decided to reciprocate in cuba and drove america nuts. this is a fact of history NOT taught in the freest of the freest public schools nor entertained in the freest of the freest media

such an option may NEVER upset russia anymore if the us behaves it does

 

[Robert5091]

Only in South America - politics, cash and passion! (I feel a TV mini-series coming on ...)
https://www.axios.com/kirchner-in-c...cks-ebf9a82d-ae5a-4d65-b531-026a15415011.html

Former Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner testified in court yesterday in relation to the biggest corruption scandal uncovered in years in her country, which could land her in prison.

Why it matters: Kirchner is accused of leading a criminal enterprise to steal hundreds of millions from public infrastructure contracts. She's the latest big name in Latin American politics to be implicated in a kickback scandal.

The scandal was exposed when Hilda Horowitz, the former lover of a driver tasked with transporting bags of cash from bribes paid by construction companies, told a judge about the operation after a sour break up.
The driver, Oscar Centeno, filled notebooks for years with details of every trip to pick up the money, which would eventually end up in the hands of people close to former president Néstor Kirchner, Kirchner’s deceased husband and predecessor.
The notebooks arrived secretly to the newsroom of La Nación, one of Argentina’s biggest newspapers, which confirmed the whole operation. Since then, most of the construction moguls involved have agreed to cooperate, hoping for lighter sentences.

Their information has exposed a massive operation where companies would fix public biddings with the government, charge far above market value, and illegally pay back a portion to public officials as bribes and for campaign funding.

 

[Robert5091]

Re:

in connection with the latest american pressure on turkey, erdogan today had said some crucial things that may or may not be reflective of his real intentions...frankly, i dont trust this dude yet he NEVER resorted to the verbal statements of this significance to the us built, dominated and, yes, manipulated military alliance...

'we may consider new friends and allies if the us treats us the way it does'...

who are the potential new fiends and allies ? the immediate logic suggests china and russia but may include ANY of the states currently under the american economic and trade warfare.

translated into plain english, he hinted at quitting the nato. it would be a big biggy. what's then ? we'll have to see, but i hope erdogan knows how to plan a couple of moves ahead.i am sure, the russian chess players are hard at work as i type.

to be frank, i'd find it refreshing if turkey banned the us from its country, the black sea and thus a huge chunk of the middle east.
----
i've been to a local music event and back and the post is still on the top...decided to add my latest thought.

very few in the us if ANYONE remember or know that the cuban missile crisis started with turkey. that is, because turkey succumbed to the us bullying of locating the american nukes aimed at russia on its territory. nikita decided to reciprocate in cuba and drove america nuts. this is a fact of history NOT taught in the freest of the freest public schools nor entertained in the freest of the freest media

such an option may NEVER upset russia anymore if the us behaves it does

The whole Cuba/Turkey "non-connection connection" described at https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//nsa/cuba_mis_cri/moment.htm

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Re:

[quote="python

who are the potential new fiends and allies ? the immediate logic suggests china and russia but may include ANY of the states currently under the american economic and trade warfare.

translated into plain english, he hinted at quitting the nato. it would be a big biggy. what's then ? we'll have to see, but i hope erdogan knows how to plan a couple of moves ahead.i am sure, the russian chess players are hard at work as i type.

to be frank, i'd find it refreshing if turkey banned the us from its country, the black sea and thus a huge chunk of the middle east.

All this over a revolutionary in a Turkish prison.

trump wants to do the same thing to those who oppose HIM on a daily basis in the US...

I wouldn't be a bit surprised Erdogan left NATO, snuggled up to Russia..told all US forces to pack their bags and get out. The map shows what a YUGE problem that would be for the US, considering Turkey's location and the middle east. The Black Sea would be even more a Russian 'lake'..

 

[Beech Mtn]

"US Proposes N. Korea Ship 50% of Warheads to UK"
http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/news_view.htm?lang=e&Seq_Code=138682


Reunions tomorrow for a small percentage of the separated families. So many of them dying off without ever getting to see their relatives again.

 

[Robert5091]

‘Socialist Hellhole’ :lol:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ole-struggles-to-keep-up-with-booming-tourism

“I don’t think the tourists realize how hardcore cycling in Copenhagen is,” said Christian Vas, a 38-year-old Hungarian waiter who drives a typical Christiania cargo bike and who made the city his home four years ago.

Aurimas Mul, a 30-year-old business owner, notes that tourists are easy to spot on their rented bikes, so the trick is “to keep your distance, especially when I ride my racing bike.”

 

[42x16ss]

Rupert Murdoch has just overseen another successful regime change here in Australia.

Within a week of arriving there were grumblings against the current Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull led by ridiculous editorials from his various gutter rags.

A few days later, a spill was called by a strongly conservative faction led by human rights abuser Peter Dutton (google the name if you don’t believe me).

Today former Treasurer and Hillsong devotee and Christian Fundamentalist Scott Morrison has been chosen by the LNP. He’s very conservative, believes in trickle down economics, placing children in camps, cuts to public health care and pensions, less regulation for banks (despite an ongoing Royal Commission showing flagrant disregard) and denies climate change, backing mining companies and increased use of fossil fuels, especially coal.

This country needs to stop this unhealthy obsession with all that’s American.

 

[python]

a few random news on the us bullying failures its partners world-wide...Only verifiable and documented facts here.

- the main trump failure this week was NOT his former lawyer agreeing to pyss on him, but that china flat out rejected all trade ultimatums at the just finished 2-day meeting in washington. to remind, yesterday the us introduced another batch of tariffs on the Chinese worth $16 billion to receive an instant (according to cgtn it took exactly 60 seconds officially) slap back worth $16 bills on the us goods. the chinese added a knife twist - included were the lng and crude in the sanctioned goods, the products america long prioritized for export...they said russia will replace america. much closer, cheaper and free of headaches....

- bad news for trump/america from europe too. yesterday the eu officially announced an aid package for iran. while the sum is small for now, it is an eff u message symptomatic of what is still to come...and what's to come ? the fm of germany announced 2 days ago that europe should work on its own SWIFT financial institution to once and for ever bypass the $$. the eu commission, while not commenting officially, looks favorably on the idea. china and russia already created such systems exactly b/c washington abuses its $$ privileges....long live $$$

-an attempt by bolton to bully his russian counterpart via sanctions yesterday (at a geneva meeting) into accepting several us ultimatums failed too. the russian refused to sigh a joint statement and stand next to bolton at a post-meet presser. bolton was alone pedaling his failure as 'firmness on russia' to placate his boss' domestic critics...moreover, one of the bolton boastful mouthfuls clearly indicated that russia and iran are in a coordinated strategic confrontation to america in syria. since china already publicly stated in will certainly ignore the illegal sanctions on iran, it is rather clear the american exit from a nuclear deal was stupid. i mean no benefit for the us national interest but for the arrogant zionist lobby

- the attempts to compel Philippines to buy the us f-16 utterly failed as their prez declared today he had enough of the us 'humiliating my country'

among the peanut news the american pressure failure on turkey is well known...to it just was added south africa that rebuked trump for his interference into their domestic affairs.

how many friends will america save/lose before trump is out ?

 

[Beech Mtn]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/...ing-to-act-on-mccarricks-abuse-reports-81797?

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Re:

a few random news on the us bullying failures its partners world-wide...Only verifiable and documented facts here.

- the main trump failure this week was NOT his former lawyer agreeing to pyss on him, but that china flat out rejected all trade ultimatums at the just finished 2-day meeting in washington. to remind, yesterday the us introduced another batch of tariffs on the Chinese worth $16 billion to receive an instant (according to cgtn it took exactly 60 seconds officially) slap back worth $16 bills on the us goods. the chinese added a knife twist - included were the lng and crude in the sanctioned goods, the products america long prioritized for export...they said russia will replace america. much closer, cheaper and free of headaches....

- bad news for trump/america from europe too. yesterday the eu officially announced an aid package for iran. while the sum is small for now, it is an eff u message symptomatic of what is still to come...and what's to come ? the fm of germany announced 2 days ago that europe should work on its own SWIFT financial institution to once and for ever bypass the $$. the eu commission, while not commenting officially, looks favorably on the idea. china and russia already created such systems exactly b/c washington abuses its $$ privileges....long live $$$

-an attempt by bolton to bully his russian counterpart via sanctions yesterday (at a geneva meeting) into accepting several us ultimatums failed too. the russian refused to sigh a joint statement and stand next to bolton at a post-meet presser. bolton was alone pedaling his failure as 'firmness on russia' to placate his boss' domestic critics...moreover, one of the bolton boastful mouthfuls clearly indicated that russia and iran are in a coordinated strategic confrontation to america in syria. since china already publicly stated in will certainly ignore the illegal sanctions on iran, it is rather clear the american exit from a nuclear deal was stupid. i mean no benefit for the us national interest but for the arrogant zionist lobby

- the attempts to compel Philippines to buy the us f-16 utterly failed as their prez declared today he had enough of the us 'humiliating my country'

among the peanut news the american pressure failure on turkey is well known...to it just was added south africa that rebuked trump for his interference into their domestic affairs.

how many friends will america save/lose before trump is out ?

Does the US have any friends now? trump has pissed on friends and foes alike(except Russia, putin and trump have a bro-mance)..he really is a dope, trump, he needs to go...

 

[Unchained]

Iran asks for help from the world to stop American sanctions....NAFTA gets an update that does almost nothing...except leave Canada out..Trump tells the world that three problems on his to do list can be negotiated in " a day or so"..Leaders globally wish McCain a fond farewell..Trump decides to go w the crowd and say a nice thing or two...

 

[python]

imo, unchained, you're one of the more open-minded americans here...

yet, it's rather symptomatic how your info about the subjects you mentioned - iran, nafta, mccain - are influenced by relying on (my speculation) mostly american main stream media. which, i keep stressing THIS, is largely misinformed about a bigger world. wittingly or not.

about iran.... they are much more then asking for help. the 'punished iran' is just too much a narrative the american bipartisan media WANTS you to buy. b/c it promotes american omnipotence so pleasant to an american joe's ego or insecurity. the reality is quite different. sure, the sanctions are biting and hurting BUT iran is not 'asking' but is vehemently belligerent and optimistic for good reasons. 1st, china essentially pledged to eff the trump iran's sanctions. 2nd, of all the eu cowards, it is now germany (i am pleased and amazed) that leads the very serious anti-american efforts to defeat the sanctions. google their fm statements. 3d, vlad, as is his usual, is overtly and covertly taking care of the iran business. literally. russia is helping in all sorts of ways...from setting 'gray' companies and banks to bypass the dollar, to secretly importing their crude and gas (at a discount of course) and selling it as a russian commodity etc etc...not to mention the direct un support (why do you think iran is suing the us in the un court ???) that virtually guarantees the paralysis of the unsc if trump attempts to use it.

on nafta...most international observers have no idea what are the specifics of the mexico trump 'agreements'. for a good reason. except the boastful trump tweets, nothing was released officially. nafta may be dead but only when canada will say so. it had said NOTHING. no comments. i doubt that their pm is going to take a blow on the nose from an arrogant *** like trump. canada is NOT in a dominant position but it can as a spoiler... it can hurt america too - from trade to military cooperation.

on mccain. 1st off, the absolute majority of chinese and indians have no effing idea who the fork the senator was. They are half of the world's population. as developing countries and former western colonies (china's is more complex) their media and govts are making sure a deceased warmonger remains a nobody...the several western govts that give mccain some ink, are far from impressed by an unrepentant militant. if you could receive the euro news in their own lingos, you'd get my point :sad:

-------------
an update. just heard on the cgtn, that canada has reacted to scrapping the nafta. canada sent a delegation to washington some hours ago. they officially said the natfta is not valid w/o canada and that the 10 conditions expressed earlier remain their negotiating stance...my speculation - trump has got some carrots to induce canada and canada has got some sticks to soften trump. we'll hear the details soon enough, but it is not likely to resemble a tweet if it's serious.

 

[Unchained]

Python..I am in need of your help..my grasp on my own language is tough as you can see from my writings..and financially I don't get daily rags from world wide publishers so I will try and be general and you can be specific..If I were to read Canadian papers or websites both in English and French...would they not write that the US, Mexico and Canada were in an agreement called NAFTA and that Trump trashed it and turned it on it's head..? Would a Dutch or Belgian paper not say something similar to French and English papers that Trump tossed relationships out the window on climate and arms deals negotiated by our world wide allies? That the UN is in a state of unrest from Trump's insults and tap dancing about issues?
In Iran and surrounding areas would those Arabic sites and papers not say that Trump's choice of embassy locations didn't cause problems? Would a paper in written in Spanish not say that Trump's race bate comments almost daily are regrettable..? or am I uninformed..? Are the soy beans ignored by China really not a problem because Trump has my account number and can write subsidy checks to those impacted? When Germany wrote about being controlled..or not as Trump claimed was my Hessen dialect lacking?
Iran and the world had agreements w the US...those are facts not alternative ones..Trump has tossed everything...in any language...and on every station other than Fox and Infowars Trump is a clown...that is not lost on me...the guy has even changed the way lower our flag to push his insults ...lots of these things don't need volume on a radio or TV broadcast to get context..Trump is on video saying that Manafort got a raw deal..I saw that in Spanish also...and one thing left out of US broadcasts and papers for the most part is Mexican political processes..after election you are not sworn in until December so Trump's hurry to settle NAFTA is also about Mexico..if Trump had waited@10 days nothing could be done until December..they have outgoing President as a lame duck for @6 months by design....Trump had to make a deal because AMLO can't by law..
another tidbit covered in Mexico and I have seen or heard in US coverage...@$15 dollar an hour wage!! Trump has a tiny provision that some of the jobs making aerospace and car parts be $15 bucks an hour (the peso is at @18 for 1 dollar)..that is funny on many levels..first it's way more than an ordinary Mexican gets paid..secondly in the US the median house price is $189,000...it's @$650,000 here in San Diego so saying 15 an hour is a great American wage..is a joke on both sides of the border and in any language...or from any news outlet...

 

[Robert5091]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45337091

French fishermen have been accused of throwing insults, rocks and smoke bombs at their British rivals in the English Channel in a vicious scrap over scallops.

The clash happened around 12 nautical miles (22km) off the Normandy coast, near the Bay of Seine.

I remember the "Cod War" and now we have the "Scallop War" ...