(2023-12-12). Brutally Unrealistic | Scott Ritter. thealtworld.com Scott Ritter is a former Marine intelligence officer who served in the former Soviet Union, implementing arms control agreements, and on the staff of General Norman Schwartzkopf during the Gulf War, where he played a critical role in the hunt for Iraqi SCUD missiles. | From 1991 until 1998, Mr. Ritter served as a Chief Inspector for the United Nations in Iraq, leading the search for Iraq's proscribed weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Ritter was a vocal critic of the American decision to go to war with Iraq. | His new book, Disarmament in the Time of Perestroika: Arms Control and the End of the Soviet Union, is his…
(2023-12-12). US troops are occupying Syria's oil fields. Congress refuses to withdraw them. geopoliticaleconomy.com 
The US military has illegally occupied Syrian sovereign territory since 2014, preventing Damascus from accessing its own oil and wheat fields. The Senate voted 13-84, rejecting a resolution to withdraw US troops.
(2023-12-12). US troops are occupying Syria's oil fields. Congress refuses to withdraw them. geopoliticaleconomy.substack.com 
Subscribe now The US military has occupied Syrian sovereign territory since 2014, preventing Damascus from accessing its own oil and wheat fields. A top Pentagon official has acknowledged that Washington's strategy is to starve Syria's central government of revenue it needs to rebuild, after a decade of war fueled by foreign powers devastated the country. …
(2023-12-12). In the Caucasus, the U.S. Priority Is Fossil Fuels, Not Armenians. fpif.org
(2023-12-12). TikTok seeks reentry into Indonesia via Tokopedia stake. ecns.cn Short-video app TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, announced on Monday it will take a controlling stake in Tokopedia, an e-commerce unit of Indonesia's biggest internet and tech firm PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia.
(2023-12-11). TikTok seeks reentry into Indonesia via Tokopedia stake. ecns.cn Short-video app TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, announced on Monday it will take a controlling stake in Tokopedia, an e-commerce unit of Indonesia's biggest internet and tech firm PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia.
(2023-12-12). Land back, not greenwashing! Indigenous protesters denounce COP28. workers.org 
This past week, bourgeois politicians have been gathering in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), for the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28). The choice of venue is apt. Dubai is a luxury playground for billionaires, maintained by the superexploited labor of migrant workers, many of whom helped build the . . . |
(2023-12-12). Egypt elections marred by voter intimidation and bribes as Sisi prepares for third term. middleeasteye.net 
Egypt elections marred by voter intimidation and bribes as Sisi prepares for third term | Workers and low-income citizens report being coerced into voting for the incumbent president who is expected to be re-elected for another six years | Tue, 12/12/2023 – 14: 40 | An Egyptian woman casts her vote at a polling station in the Zamalek district of Egypt's capital Cairo during the preside…
(2023-12-12). Swiss police arrest alleged gunman in twin killings case. geo.tv 
The victims have been identified: as a 34-year-old woman and a 41-year-old man…
(2023-12-12). Ret. Col. Ann Wright Unmasks the Truth in Arms Transfer Debate. pressenza.com By Melissa Garriga | While various briefers and delegates presented conflicting perspectives, CODEPINK member Ann Wright, a retired United States Army colonel and former diplomat, took a different stance. As a civil society representative, she introduced herself as a concerned citizen and taxpayer who resigned from the U.S. Government in 2003 in protest against the Iraq War. | Wright emphasized her opposition to the continued supply of weapons, asserting that it only serves to prolong conflicts. The United States and its European allies have provided tens of billions of dollars in aid to support Ukraine over the…
(2023-12-12). Concerns raised over Japan fund for Ukraine. ecns.cn Experts have expressed concern over Japan's new support plan for Ukraine, arguing that it reflects Japan's increasingly aggressive military buildup and desire for a greater role on the international stage.
(2023-12-11). Lee hails competitive HK vote. ecns.cn More than 1.19 million people voted in Sunday's election, the first since Hong Kong reformed its District Council system.
(2023-12-12). Asia lags behind pre-pandemic levels of food security, UN food agency says. peoplesworld.org 
Hunger remains a chronic problem in Asia, with 55 million more people undernourished in 2022 than before the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations' Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says in its latest assessment of food security in the region. Most of those living without enough to eat are in South Asia, and women tend to …
(2023-12-12). A Conversation with Claudia Junghyun Kim, Author of Base Towns: Local Contestation of the U.S. Military in Korea and Japan. asia-pacificresearch.com
(2023-12-12). The hidden death toll of flooding in Bangladesh sends a dark signal about climate and health. peoplesworld.org 
In the summer of 2022, one of the worst monsoons on record turned swaths of Bangladesh, a low-lying country in South Asia, into huge, muddy lakes. When the brunt of the flooding finally eased, at least 141 people had died and millions of others throughout the region had been injured, impoverished, or displaced. The sheer scale of the destruction …
(2023-12-12). Largest offshore wind power project in Bay Area is now at full capacity. ecns.cn The largest offshore wind power project in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with an annual electricity generation capacity of more than 3 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), starts full-capacity production on Tuesday.
(2023-12-12). India calls for ensuring democratic access to AI technology. plenglish.com New Delhi, Dec 12 (Prensa Latina) Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Summit on Tuesday with a call to ensure democratic access to technology and turn it into a multiplier for inclusiveness.
(2023-12-12). US Veto of Ceasefire Resolution Reflects Its Colonial View on Whose Lives Matter. truthout.org In 1996, CBS journalist Lesley Stahl asked then-U.S. Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright about the deaths caused by U.S. economic sanctions on Iraq. "We have heard that half a million [Iraqi] children have died. I mean, that is more children than died in Hiroshima," Stahl said. "And, you know, is the price worth it?" "I think that is a very hard choice," Albright replied after some… |
(2023-12-11). Season II of series on classics quoted by Xi aired in Vietnam. ecns.cn The Vietnamese edition of the second season of Classics Quoted by Xi Jinping was launched in Vietnam on Monday.
(2023-12-12). Nabih asks Lebanon to take responsability for presidential Vaccum. plenglish.com Beirut, Dec 12 (Prensa Latina) The president of the Parliament Nabih Berri called today in Lebanon to assume a national responsibility and to hasten to elect the president of the Republic as a fundamental element for the regular functioning of the state institutions.
(2023-12-12). Malaysia's East Coast Rail Link starts track laying. ecns.cn The track laying of Malaysian East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), a mega railway project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), was launched on Monday, according to Xinhua News Agency.
(2023-12-12). Tracks laid for Malaysia's mega rail project. ecns.cn The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), a mega rail project in Malaysia being built by a Chinese company has seen its first tracks being laid on Monday.
(2023-12-12). There Is No Such Thing as a Good Book: On "The Art of Libromancy" publicbooks.org "I do not think bookselling is an art. I think it is a job."
(2023-12-12). Story of woman who quit more than 600 work-related social media groups goes viral. ecns.cn The story of a woman who left a high-stress job to find solace and relaxation in her ancestral village has become a hot topic on the Chinese internet.
(2023-12-12). Texas Woman Flees State to Get Abortion as State Supreme Court Rules Against Her. truthout.org A week after asking a court to grant her an emergency abortion upon learning that her fetus has a fatal condition, Texas woman Kate Cox has been forced to flee the state to obtain the procedure, the group representing her in court announced shortly before the state Supreme Court ruled against her on Monday. At the end of last month, 31-year-old Cox was told that her fetus has Trisomy 18… |
(2023-12-11). Xi's Vietnam visit set to elevate ties. ecns.cn President Xi Jinping's state visit to Vietnam has fueled high expectations that Beijing and Hanoi will further elevate their relationship, boost cooperation in various sectors and strengthen their long-lasting traditional friendship.
(2023-12-12). Turkey: Old friend of Erdogan falls from grace after punching a referee. middleeasteye.net 
(2023-12-12). Full text of Xi's article on Vietnamese newspaper. ecns.cn
(2023-12-12). Xi says to exchange views on overarching, strategic issues with Vietnamese leaders. ecns.cn Xi Jinping said Tuesday that he expects to have an in-depth exchange of views with Vietnamese leaders on the overarching and strategic issues critical to the direction of the relations of the two Parties and two countries.
(2023-12-12). Food Safari in Yunnan | Xujiadu, Yiliang. ecns.cn Nanpan River is winding and long. Yunnan-Vietnam Railway stretches along the river. Xujiadu is located at the junction there. Panjiang Restaurant is beside the river, near the rail. After more than 40 years, the restaurant still retains a lot of its old-day charm.
(2023-12-12). Mass protests continue in Pakistan's Balochistan province over extra-judicial killings and other state crimes. wsws.org The immediate trigger for the protests was last month's extra-judicial killing of 24 year-old Balaach Mola Bakhsh by state security forces.
(2023-12-12). Ataque contra base militar en Pakistán deja 29 muertos. telesurtv.net El grupo insurgente talibán Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), a través de de su portavoz, Mulla Qasim, reivindicó el atentado y aseguró que uno de sus miembros se inmoló dentro de la base.
(2023-12-12). Anulan condena contra el exprimer ministro de Pakistán, Nawaz Sharif. telesurtv.net El Tribunal de Islamabad en la reciente revisión encontró que el tribunal previo no contaba con pruebas suficientes para imponer la condena, por lo que dictó a favor de Sharif.
(2023-12-12). Ejército de ocupación asesina a joven palestino en Cisjordania. telesurtv.net El occiso fue identificado como Fouad Imad Abahreh, de 36 años quien recibió una herida de bala en el muslo.