International News Roundup 12 July 2024
Global Arms Trade, Corporate Fascism and imminent WW3
Let’s talk about who is really in charge of the western regimes …
We have witnessed for the last four years an incognizant old war criminal being paraded around portrayed as the commander in chief of the USA like we are blind fools.
Joe Biden’s another gaffe, introduces Zelensky as President Putin | Janta Ka Reporter
Jill Biden Congratulates Joe For His Debate Performance 🥦
The powers that be behind the scenes are laughing in our faces with our so called elections. The western leaders are selected not elected. They get more brazen as time goes on and now with the genocide in Gaza the mask has been completely ripped off. Yet, they still stand there smirking laughing in our faces as they repeat the same old tired lines about freedom and democracy.
Understanding how utterly futile faith in our representative form of government(s) is when our "representatives" are simply handed policy by established think-tanks funded by a combine of billion-dollar multinational corporations is the first step in devising viable solutions to correcting this enormous imbalance of power.
Naming Names: Your Real Government
When dark deeds unfold, point the finger in this direction.
Clinton Turns to Naked Corporate-Fascism
JP Morgan, Exxon, Boeing, Among State Department's New Advisers.
BlackRock is more than you imagine
A virtually unregulated investment cartel now wields more political and financial influence than “Biden” and most governments on this planet.
The firm BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, invests a staggering $9 trillion in client funds worldwide, a sum more than twice the annual GDP of the Federal Republic of Germany. This colossus sits at the top of the global corporate ownership pyramid, including in China most recently. Since 1988, the company has positioned itself to de facto control the Federal Reserve, most of the Wall Street megabanks including Goldman Sachs, the Great Reset of the Davos World Economic Forum, the Biden Administration, and, if left unchecked, the economic future of our world. BlackRock is the epitome of what Mussolini called corporatism, where an unelected corporate elite dictates from the top down to the population.
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There is a seamless interface that links the UN Agenda 2030 with the Great Reset of the World Economic Forum in Davos and the nascent economic policies of the Biden Administration. That interface is BlackRock.
Team Biden and BlackRock
By now it should be clear to anyone who bothers to look that the person claiming to be the US president, 78-year-old Joe Biden, is not making any decisions. He even has difficulty reading a teleprompter or answering prepared questions from friendly media without confusing Syria and Libya or even whether he is president. He is being micromanaged by a group of manipulators to maintain a scripted “image” of a president while others make the policy behind the scenes. He is eerily reminiscent of the character in Peter Sellers’ 1979 film, Chauncey Gardiner, in Being There.
What is less public are the key people running Biden Inc.’s economic policy. They are simply called BlackRock. Much as Goldman Sachs ran economic policy under Obama and also Trump, BlackRock is now playing that key role. The deal was apparently sealed in January 2019 when Joe Biden, the then-candidate and long-shot chance to beat Trump, went to meet Larry Fink in New York, who reportedly told him, “working-class Joe,” that, “I’m here to help.”
Now as president in one of his first appointments, Biden named Brian Deese director of the National Economic Council, the president’s top economic policy adviser. One of the first Presidential Executive Orders dealt with economic and climate policy. That’s not surprising, as Deese came from Fink’s BlackRock, where he was Global Head of Sustainable Investing.
Prior to joining BlackRock, Deese held senior economic roles under Obama, including replacing John Podesta as senior adviser to the president, where he worked alongside Valerie Jarrett. Under Obama, Deese played a key role in negotiating the Paris Accords on Global Warming.
The only winners from the military alliance’s spending policy are weapons manufacturers, concludes a briefing authored by the Transnational Institute and several nonprofits.
The militaries of North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries emitted an estimated 233 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2023, a sharp uptick that exacerbates climate breakdown and serves only to enrich weapons manufacturers, according to a briefing issued Monday by the Transnational Institute, a research and advocacy organization, and several other nonprofits.
The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade
Based on the book The Shadow World, this feature length documentary reveals the shocking realities of the multi-billion dollar global arms trade, through whistleblowers, investigators, prosecutors, and military insiders.
Defense Sector Summary (USA)
Although the defense sector contributes far less money to politicians than many other sectors, it is one of the most powerful in politics. The sector includes defense aerospace, defense electronics and other miscellaneous defense companies.
OpenSecrets panel on defense industry influence explores barriers to transparency and reforms
On June 25, experts in U.S. military spending discussed problems around transparency and accountability in the U.S. arms trade. The virtual panel was moderated by OpenSecrets Senior Researcher Dan Auble, who leads an OpenSecrets project aimed at illuminating the defense industry’s political influence.
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“It is in secret when some of the worst human rights abuses occur, and where U.S. complicity and civilian harm via its support for predatory governments has been most acute,” he said. “Historically, and as events over the past several years and certainly over the last several months have shown, that rhetorical commitments to human rights are not a sufficient safeguard against poor human rights practices and arms transfers.”
Transparency is especially important for U.S. weapons deals since the U.S. is the largest player in the international arms market, by a significant margin, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The U.S. accounts for 42% of arms sales, and sells 282% more than France, which is the second largest arms dealer in the world.
US continues to provide military aid to Israel despite civilian casualties in Gaza
Congress approved $17 billion in military aid to Israel under $95 billion foreign military assistance package in April
Italy exported "weapons and ammunition" to Israel after October 7 - foreign trade stats reveal
[This article is the first part of Italian weapons in Gaza, a series of investigations into Italian arms sales to Israel in the context of the ongoing onslaught on the Strip].
Between October and November 2023, Italy exported to Israel "weapons and ammunition" worth €817,536 ($885,964): €233,025 in October and €584,511 in November. The Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) certified this through its data on foreign trade, which was most recently updated in mid-February 2024.
Although modest if compared with other contexts, these figures contradict the Italian government led by right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which has repeatedly stated that it has "suspended" and "blocked" the export of weapons to Tel Aviv since 7 October 2023.
The Revolving Door OpenSecrets
Although the influence powerhouses that line Washington's K Street are just a few miles from the U.S. Capitol building, the most direct path between the two doesn't necessarily involve public transportation. Instead, it's through a door—a revolving door that shuffles former federal employees into jobs as lobbyists, consultants and strategists just as the door pulls former hired guns into government careers.
While officials in the executive branch, Congress and senior congressional staffers spin in and out of the private and public sectors, so too does privilege, power, access and, of course, money.
Use the search options to discover which public relations firms have signed up former White House employees, which lobbyists have brought their interests with them to the powerful appropriations committees, which interests are employing former members of Congress to lobby on their behalf...and much more.
Lloyd Austin
Dept of Defense, Secretary of Defense
Lloyd Austin became the first Black secretary of defense after the Senate confirmed him to the post on Jan. 22, 2022. Austin served in the U.S. Army from 1975 to 2012. During his stint as head of U.S. Forces in Iraq, Austin reportedly befriended President Joe Biden's son, Beau. Austin was then nominated to become the Army's vice chief of staff. Just a year later, then-President Barack Obama tapped Austin to head up U.S. Central Command.
After the election of former President Donald Trump in 2016, Austin left the public sector and assumed positions on the corporate boards of steel manufacturing giant Nucor Corporation, Tenet Healthcare and United Technologies, which merged with defense contractor Raytheon Company in 2020. The merged corporation, Raytheon Technologies, is among the top five top lobbying spenders in the defense sector and spent almost $11 million on lobbying in 2020. Austin earned seven figures from the defense companies. Austin stepped down from all three board positions following his nomination in 2020. Prior to joining the Biden administration, Austin worked alongside fellow cabinet member Antony Blinken at Pine Island Capital Partners, a private equity firm investing in defense companies that touted its access to Washington.
all articles can be read in full at corresponding link
Palestine
Live Updates Uncensored
In Arabic (translation available) Direct Uncensored Updates from Gaza
just a side note this a Palestinian who was kidnapped and used as bait in the tunnels by israel
Must Read/View 👇
Israeli fragmentation bombs cause horrific injuries to Gaza children
Six volunteer doctors who worked at Gaza's European and al-Aqsa hospitals over the past three months said that a majority of their operations involved children struck by small pieces of shrapnel. These fragments create minimal entry wounds but cause extensive internal damage.
"Children are more vulnerable to any penetrating injury because they have smaller bodies. Their vital parts are smaller and easier to disrupt... The artery that feeds the leg, the femoral artery, is only the thickness of a noodle in a small child. It’s very, very small. So repairing it and keeping the kid’s limb attached to them is very difficult."
"X-rays showed demolished bones with a pinhole wound on one side, a pinhole on the other, and a bone that looks like a tractor trailer drove over it. The children we operated on, most of them had these small entrance and exit points," noted Perlmutter, who had worked at the European hospital.
Graphic content. What the collective West corrupt media will never show, this is daily, this is a genocide, this is an abomination. It is called Palestinian holocaust, it is called Zionist genocide, it is called US backed imperialism. Ten year old girl with her face peeled off.
Israel has ceased the right to exist.
Dozens murdered by IOF in Tal al-Hawa, Gaza City: Civil Defense
More atrocities committed by the Israeli occupation forces were exposed following their withdrawal from areas in Tal al-Hawa and al-Sina'a Street, west of Gaza City, where they had been present for approximately seven days.
This was revealed amid "Israel's" ongoing aggression across all parts of the Strip for the 280th consecutive day.
Charred bodies and burned houses
Gaza's Civil Defense has confirmed that the situation in the Tal al-Hawa and al-Sina’a area is now extremely dire and tragic following the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces to Street 8, as rescue crews are actively engaged in retrieving the bodies of martyrs from the area.
Civil Defense crews anticipated that all residents who were in Tal al-Hawa and al-Sina'a were martyred following the Israeli raid. They reported discovering the bodies of martyrs scattered and charred in the streets and inside destroyed houses that were burned down in the area.
The crews found about 60 martyrs in the al-Sina'a and Tal al-Hawa areas after the occupation withdrew, saying that the occupation killed Palestinians attempting to get food supplies.
Settler attacks escalate against Christians in occupied al-Quds
The streets of the Old City of occupied al-Quds have seen a rise in ongoing violations and attacks by settlers and Israeli occupation forces against Christians.
Hamas: We've shown flexibility in talks, Netanyahu obstructing deal
Hamas says Netanyahu's attempts to add new demands, which were not included in any of the previous proposals, confirm he is looking for ways to obstruct the agreement.
News highlights on week 40 of Israel's genocide in Gaza, with Ali Abunimah
Yemen
US-UK warplanes renew aggression on Yemen, target Hodeidah airport
The American-British aggression has carried out 3 airstrikes on Hodeidah International Airport in Yemen, just hours before major demonstrations are set to take place in the governorate.
Hundreds of thousands of Yemeni volunteers ready for combat: Al-Houthi
The brutal and savage Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip for the past 10 months represents a "real and serious test" for all of humanity, stressed the leader of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
In a speech on Thursday, Sayyed al-Houthi considered that silence regarding the crime of genocide in Gaza means that human societies are wasting existence, human dignity, and the right to life.
He emphasized that what the Israeli occupation is committing is a violation of everything, based on a false and offensive view of human societies.
Sayyed al-Houthi underlined that the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza should awaken the human conscience and the individuals' sense of responsibility.
The Yemeni leader pointed out that solidarity movements with the Palestinian people in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere were driven by human conscience.
He considered that student movements and protests condemning what is happening in Gaza are part of singling out those who still possess and adhere to human conscience.
According to Sayyed al-Houthi, the tragedy of the Palestinian people has had a significant impact on raising awareness and getting rid of all the covers that the Israeli occupation had plagued the peoples with, especially in the United States and Europe.
The leader of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement added that the injustice in Palestine and the Israeli crimes have had a resonating impact in raising awareness within societies "where the doctrine of glorifying Zionism has been deeply rooted for centuries."
He lamented as "dangerous" the fact that there are some sides who underestimate what is happening in Palestine, collaborate with the enemy, and play a destabilizing role to weaken and subjugate the nation.
Meanwhile, Sayyed al-Houthi said the United States and other supporters of the Israeli occupation are betting on the weariness and silence of the peoples, affirming that despite this, pro-Palestine protests in the West continue.
He pointed out that the Americans have labeled pro-Palestine protests a war crime for which individuals are held accountable, tried, and punished.
'Israel' kills with American tools
The Yemeni leader said that displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are targeted with large American smart bombs usually used in confrontations with major armies, highlighting that the Israeli occupation forces are targeting the displaced in areas they claim are "safe", always leading them into a trap.
Don't count on the American
(sorry no subtitles)
Saudi Arabia's Economic Endgame: Perils of Ignoring Leader's Warnings
The US-Saudi aggression and its mercenaries have not been content with their actions over the past nine years, imposing blockades and futile wars on Yemen, under the approval of the American, British, and Israeli lights. Instead, they have embarked on foolish, insane steps aimed at starving and economically hitting the Yemeni people, leading in turn to a comprehensive and devastating war on the Saudi economy, and a global oil crisis. Sayyed Abdulmalik Al-Houthi's recent equation of economic deterrence, articulated in his speech marking the new Hijri year 1446, reaffirmed that Yemen will respond to every Saudi move with an equivalent step.
Catastrophic Effects and Major Losses:
In this regard, economic expert Salim al-Ja'adbi views Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi's warning to the Saudi regime as explicit, a direct response to economic measures undertaken by mercenaries in recent weeks. These include demands to relocate banks from the capital Sana'a to occupied Aden, the blockade on Sana'a International Airport, Yemeni airlines, arbitrary measures against Yemeni airlines, and attempts to close the port of Hodeidah.
He believes the Saudi regime must realize that the economic deterrence equation laid out by Sayyed, targeting "banks with banks and ports with ports," signifies a comprehensive war that could end trillions of dollars and devastate its economy. Given that Saudi Arabia is a financial market housing three trillion dollars, this equates to three thousand billion dollars.
He asserts that if the Saudi regime engages in aggression against Yemen alongside the Americans, it will pose a serious danger to itself. This is critical for Saudi Arabia, a financial market with a stock exchange and many contributing financial companies, which would suffer catastrophic consequences. This would also have a disastrous international financial reputation and lead to credit deflation, especially within international credit agencies. It would result in the flight of capital, both domestic and foreign investments, causing catastrophic effects and significant losses to the Saudi economy.
Sayyed Abdulmalik Highlights Military Operations Against US, UK, and Israeli Ships, Failure to Stop Them
This week, the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out operations with 10 ballistic and cruise missiles, bringing the total number of targeted ships linked to Israel, the US, and the UK to 166 since the beginning of the operations.
Syria/Lebanon
Hezbollah Decimates Israeli Military, Espionage Sites as Retaliatory Strikes Continue Apace
Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement says it has targeted the Israeli military forces and equipment in the northern part of the occupied Palestinian territories during fresh pro-Palestinian operations.
The group announced carrying out two such operations in a statement on Friday.
Iran/Iraq
Iran rejects “unfounded allegations” by US on Yemen
TEHRAN, Jul. 12 (MNA) – Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Amir-Saeed Iravani has written a letter to the UN Secretary General and the UN Security Council chief refuting unfounded allegations against the country.
“Once again, the Islamic Republic of Iran unequivocally and strongly rejects these unfounded allegations,” the letter said. “Iran regards these allegations as nothing more than a political agenda by the United States to cover up and legitimize its ongoing acts of aggression against Yemen's sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The full text of the letter follows:
Africa
Viral Ibrahim Traore Speech
North America
Blinken, F-16s over Ukraine skies. Orban to visit Trump. Russiagate 5.0. Clooney wants Biden out
NATO SUMMIT: Collectively Losing Their Minds
Soon after Russia entered Ukraine, the Pentagon corrected Antony Blinken for saying Kiev would get NATO fighter jets. Blinken was applauded at the NATO summit yesterday for saying F-16s would soon arrive in Ukraine. What changed? asks Joe Lauria.
World War 3? US official’s dangerous plan with joke on territorial integrity | Janta Ka Reporter
Did Biden just release his pledged delegates to vote their conscience at the DNC? 🥦
Baltimore bridge survivor demands reparations, responsibility 🔗
Central/South America
Venezuela: Colombian Paramilitaries Warn of Right-Wing Opposition Plot to Assassinate Maduro 🔗
Europe
Spanish Prime Minister exposes American hypocrisy on Gaza on American soil | Janta Ka Reporter
New UK PM praises Biden’s mental state amid series of gaffes 🤡
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says that President Joe Biden appeared mentally sharp and was "in really good form" following their meeting at the NATO summit.
France's arrest of pro-Palestinian political scientist draws backlash
Police investigating suitcases with human remains on famous UK bridge 🔗
Asia/Australia/Oceania
Seeing China as NATO's imaginary enemy will only backfire on the 'Cold War vestige' itself
Russian envoy to OPCW: Kiev regime violates the OPCW flagrantly by using toxic chemicals
The Hague, SANA- Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Vladimir Tarabrin, declared that the Ukrainian regime flagrantly violates the Chemical Weapons Convention by using integrated chemical warfare components against the Russian army.
“the Ukrainian regime, which is suffering from failure on the battlefield, is ready to commit any crimes, including carrying out the use of toxic chemicals and integrated chemical warfare components against the Russian armed forces, all with the blessing of the Western countries that support it” Sputnik quoted Tarabrin as saying before the 106th Session of the OPWC Executive Council
Tarabrin stressed that the supply of toxic chemicals to Ukraine by the United States during the military conflict is a violation of Article I of the Chemical Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Fedaa al-Rahai
NATO, Jordan agree to open NATO liaison office in Amman
Master of Mendacity and the Prince of Profligacy, His Highness, Pygmy King ‘Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Wild applause)
At the 2024 NATO Summit in Washington, D.C., allies agreed on an action plan for a stronger, more strategic, and result-oriented approach to their southern neighbors, highlighting the developing regional and global security picture. NATO claims this is a committed approach to increasing engagement and cooperation with its Middle Eastern and North African allies, including announcing the opening of its first liaison office in the region, in Amman, Jordan.
NATO cites the decision as recognizing what it calls Jordan's crucial position as a "beacon of stability" in both regional and global contexts. 🤡
China: Illegally grounded Philippine military vessel main cause of damage to Ren’ai Jiao coral reefs
China Review News: On July 8, South China Sea Ecological Center and South China Sea Development Research Institute of China’s Ministry of Natural Resources released a Survey Report on the Damage to Coral Reef Ecosystem by Illegally Grounded Military Vessel at Ren’ai Jiao. The report mentioned that the Philippine warship has gravely damaged the diversity, stability, and sustainability of the coral reef system. It’s reported that in a statement released yesterday, National Task Force—West Philippines Sea said it’s China who has been found to have caused irreparable damage to corals in the South China Sea. What’s China’s response?
Lin Jian: Ren’ai Jiao is part of China’s Nansha Qundao. China attaches great importance to the protection of the coral reef system of Nansha Qundao and the surrounding marine environment of its islands and reefs, and has taken effective measures in this regard. The report makes it clear that the Philippines’ illegally grounded military vessel and relevant human activities are primarily responsible for the damage to Ren’ai Jiao’s coral reef ecosystem. This is a conclusion based on facts and scientific investigations. We continue to ask the Philippines to remove the illegally grounded warship at Ren’ai Jiao to stop damaging the ecosystem at Ren’ai Jiao. As I just said, China attaches great importance to the protection of the coral reef system of Nansha Qundao and the surrounding marine environment of its islands and reefs, and has taken effective measures in this regard. You might have seen the Investigation and Assessment Report on Marine Ecology and Environment Status of Huangyan Dao just released by relevant government agencies, which is another example of how serious China is about looking after the ecological environment of Huangyan Dao area. The results of the investigation and assessment showed an excellent environmental quality of Huangyan Dao area, which speaks to China’s effort and effectiveness in protecting the marine ecosystem.
No, israel Does Not Have the Right to Self-Defense In International Law Against Occupied Palestinian Territory
By : Noura Erakat A state cannot simultaneously exercise control over territory it occupies and militarily attack that territory on the claim that it is “foreign” and poses an exogenous national security threat. In doing precisely that, Israel is asserting rights that may be consistent with colonial domination but simply do not exist under international …
First, I hope everyone takes the time to view
"The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade" either here or on YouTube. It truly is an eye opener.
https://youtu.be/YFTUoQ39SJA
Second, here is a perfect example of what this post is about. I admire this young leader and hope he is well protected from the powers that be.
"President Traore Slams France For Using Terrorists in Benin to Destabilize Burkina Faso"
https://youtu.be/bu1LrCW0JKw
Carina - first of all, your comments, your on-point analysis, are just brilliant. And this International News Roundup provides a stunning wealth of insights and information via the included links and stories. I must confess that the information you provide us access to, from Naming Names: Your Real Government, to Black Rock, to Inside the Global Arms Trade, and the rest, present a chilling, disconcerting, absolutely frightening analysis of the extent to which we are deeply ensnared by the "combine of billion-dollar multinational corporations" that you referred to - to a degree that most of us can not even imagine. It's mind-blowing, and depressing. Their level of control and influence over global policy-making and manipulation makes it clear that the wars, coups, atrocities, misinformation, genocides and conflicts are just deliberately-facilitated byproducts of their monstrously self-serving efforts. It takes true courage and conviction to not just simply wilt under the horror of these realities and sink into utter despair. It is said that information is power - and your incredible dissemination of such vital truth is certainly fulfilling the prerequisite for being able to even contemplate the necessary changes that are urgently in order. What a noble service you are providing, Carina. We are in your debt, because the forces of evil are overwhelming almost beyond belief. Words can hardly convey my gratitude for your efforts and my admiration of your heroic work.