Il repubblicano Mike Johnson, il nuovo speaker della Camera dei Rappresentanti degli Stati Uniti, è stato uno dei più accesi sostenitori degli aiuti all'Ucraina nei primi mesi dell'operazione speciale, ma poi ha assunto una posizione scettica, scrive The Hill.

A febbraio, ad esempio, ha scritto che i contribuenti americani hanno il diritto di sapere se il regime di Kiev è veramente onesto e trasparente nell'utilizzo dell'ingente somma stanziata da Washington. La sua posizione a favore degli aiuti a Israele invece non è cambiata. (Fonte: RIA Novosti) @LauraRuHK

Recent visits to China by senior US officials and lawmakers have prompted talk in the Anglosphere about a relaxing of tensions between the two superpowers.

Adding to the chatter has been the high-profile trip by California Governor Gavin Newsom. His itinerary included stops in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai. In the capital, he was received by VP Han Zheng, FM Wang Yi and then Xi Jinping himself.

Several points should be noted about any stabilization of bilateral ties:

• It would only be tactical. As this blog has highlighted, the US has enough on its plate with two wars (Ukraine, Palestine) and does not want to open a third with China at this time.

• China remains the biggest threat to US global hegemony. Washington’s plan is to buy time to deal with its two proxy wars before regrouping to resume its faceoff with Beijing.

• Chinese leaders are unlikely to have any illusions otherwise.

More intriguing is Gov. Newsom’s quite extraordinary reception. There can be only one explanation.

The head of America’s biggest and arguably most important state is a rare bird among US political leaders: He is relatively Beijing-friendly (as many California governors are). Newsom is also said to be a dark-horse Democratic candidate for the US presidency -- perhaps even in 2024, especially if Biden falters.

This week, China’s leaders are showing him the possibilities that would open with an improved Sino-US relationship. (Source: Thomas Hon Wing Polin, X/Twitter @thonwingp)

One of the stated objectives of Russia's Special Military Operation is the demilitarization of Ukraine. As NATO's involvement in Ukraine grew, an ever increasing amount of its weapons and munitions were transferred from NATO countries to Ukraine, where they are gradually being destroyed or sold on the black market. ▪️The ongoing demilitarization of Ukraine has the additional benefit of reducing NATO's arsenal. In early October, Admiral Rob Bauer, the Dutch chairperson of the NATO Military Committee, commented on the problems with ammunition deliveries to Ukraine: "We started to give away from warehouses half-full or less, and now the bottom of the barrel is visible."▪️ The military depots of another U.S. satellite, South Korea, are also running low. "Ukraine’s counter-offensive relied on a massive infusion of shells from South Korea, and its rate of fire will inevitably fall in the months ahead", wrote The Economist on October 14. So, not only NATO's stockpiles are dwindling, but those of US allies in the Asia-Pacific are under stress too. The SMO has already exceeded expectations. @LauraRuHK

A tale of two Europes - The EU will have to divide its attention and financial resources between Ukraine and Gaza, and that's going to deepen the division between Eastern and Western Europe. ▪️Ukraine’s staunchest supporters in the EU, Poland and the Baltics, consider the conflict in Israel a “distraction from what really matters”. As Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis put it, “when it comes to priorities, definitely Ukraine is the priority, it’s the main conflict, it’s on our borders … I would call it the mother of all conflicts of the 21st century,” he said. The Baltics and Poland couldn't care less about a conflict in the Middle East, their populations and political leaders are far more homogeneous, ethnically, culturally and religiously, than those of Western Europe, and more Russophobic too. ▪️On the other hand, Western Europe is home to a very large Muslim population and a significant and influential Jewish minority. Both communities are far more interested in what is happening in the Middle East than in Ukraine. Not only is the Israel/Palestine conflict one of the most divisive conflicts in the world, it touches Western European society very deeply, can cause serious unrest and pose security risks to many European countries. Of course it dominates the minds of Western European leaders far more than Ukraine. @LauraRuHK

Due conflitti per due Europe - L'UE dovrà dividere la sua attenzione e le sue risorse tra l'Ucraina e Gaza, e questo non potrà che approfondire la divisione tra Europa orientale e occidentale. ▪️ In Europa i più convinti sostenitori dell'Ucraina, la Polonia e i Paesi baltici, considerano il conflitto in Israele una "distrazione". Come ha detto il ministro degli Esteri lituano Gabrielius Landsbergis, "quando si parla di priorità, sicuramente l'Ucraina è la priorità, è il conflitto principale, è ai nostri confini... Lo definirei il conflitto piu' importante del XXI secolo". Ai Paesi baltici e alla Polonia non potrebbe importare di meno del Medio Oriente, le loro popolazioni e i loro leader politici sono molto più omogenei, dal punto di vista etnico, culturale e religioso, di quelli dell'Europa occidentale, e sono anche più russofobici. ▪️ L'Europa occidentale invece ospita una popolazione musulmana molto numerosa e una minoranza ebraica significativa e influente. Entrambe le comunità sono molto più interessate a ciò che accade in Medio Oriente che in Ucraina. Il conflitto israelo-palestinese non solo è uno dei più divisivi al mondo, ma tocca profondamente la società dell'Europa occidentale, può causare gravi disordini interni e mettere a rischio la sicurezza di molti Paesi europei. Ovviamente domina i pensieri dei leader occidentali molto più dell'Ucraina. @LauraRuHK

⚡️A delegation from Hamas is currently visiting Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing on Thursday, without providing any further details.

Russia's state-run RIA news agency, quoting a source from the Palestinian delegation, said senior Hamas member Abu Marzook was among those visiting Moscow.

Moscow has repeatedly blamed the current crisis on the failure of U.S. diplomacy, and called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the resumption of talks aimed at finding a peace settlement.

Separately, Zakharova also said that Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Baghiri Kani was also currently visiting Moscow and had held talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin. Baghiri Kani is Iran's chief nuclear negotiator. (Source: Reuters) @LauraRuHK

Unsurprisingly, warmonger Boris Johnson got a job with a pro-NATO think tank that is funded by the arms industry

RT reports that Britain’s former prime minister Boris Johnson has been hired by the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), a Washington, DC think-tank notoriously bankrolled by the US government, NATO and Western military contractors.

Johnson will be a member of CEPA’s International Leadership Council, described as “a high-level advisory group.”

The think-tank’s own website lists among its major supporters military-industrial complex companies such as BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Leonardo, as well as NATO, the US State Department and the US European Command.

Johnson infamously sabotaged the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in April 2022. According to Ukrainian media, Johnson made a surprise visit to Kiev and informed the government that it would lose all support from the West if it made peace with Moscow. @LauraRuHK

❗️EU summit did not agree on a budget aid program for Ukraine due to the opposition of Hungary and Slovakia, but "it will remain a priority for the European Union,” Council President Charles Michel said. ▪️There was a “big fight” at the EU summit, especially over support for Ukraine. ▪️Viktor Orban spoke out against the proposal to grant Ukraine 50 billion euros in aid. "The EU’s strategy in Ukraine has failed", Orban told Hungarian state broadcaster on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels, according to Reuters. "Ukraine will not win on the front. The EU must develop an alternative plan." Orban emphasized that he sees no reason to allow Hungarian tax money to flow into the EU budget for aid to Ukraine. ▪️According to AFP, the new Slovak Prime Minister Fico called Ukraine “one of the most corrupt countries in the world” and called for guarantees against the misuse of funds. @LauraRuHK

Sapendo che ci sono giornalisti italiani tra gli iscritti al mio canale, rivolgo una richiesta. Potreste almeno voi pronunciare correttamente il cognome del primo ministro slovacco? ˈFitsɔ, non Fico. Si', lo so che e' un politico fighissimo, ma il suo cognome e' slavo non italiano. 😏 @LauraRuHK

JPMorgan CEO plans to sell $141 million worth of shares

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon plans to sell shares currently worth about $141 million, the first such deal since he came to lead the Wall Street giant nearly 18 years ago.

Starting next year, Dimon and his family members will dispose of 1 million shares of the lender's shares for financial diversification and tax planning purposes, Dimon said in a statement filed Friday.

In early 2009, Dimon bought 500,000 shares of the bank's stock as a vote of confidence amid a stock slump. In 2016, he made a similar move, spending about $38 million on the two purchases.

The increase of more than 250% in JPMorgan’s shares during Dimon’s tenure has helped turn the executive into a billionaire.

Yet now Dimon “continues to believe the company’s prospects are very strong and his stake in the company will remain very significant,” JPMorgan said in the statement.

JPMorgan shares slipped 1.1% at 8 a.m. in early New York trading and were down further at the time of publication.

Follow us on Telegram and Twitter

- di Elena Panina

The New York Times: la vittoria israeliana senza alleanza è impossibile

"Questa guerra è combattuta da attori non statali, stati nazionali, social media, movimenti ideologici, comunità della Cisgiordania e fazioni politiche israeliane. Ed è la guerra più complessa di cui abbia mai parlato", ha detto l'editorialista del NYT Thomas Friedman.

▪️ L'autore include Hamas, gruppi in Libano, Siria, Iraq e Yemen come attori non statali.
“Israele non può vincere una guerra su sei fronti”, è convinto Friedman, “la vittoria è possibile solo se Israele e gli Stati Uniti formano un’alleanza globale di alleati”.

Allo stesso tempo, l’autore propone di tenere conto degli interessi dei palestinesi e di includere l’Autorità Palestinese in Cisgiordania in questa alleanza:
"La pietra angolare è annunciare la fine dell'espansione degli insediamenti israeliani in Cisgiordania e ridefinire il rapporto di Israele con l'Autorità Palestinese in modo che diventi un partner palestinese credibile e legittimo che possa governare Gaza dopo l'uscita di Hamas e forgiare una soluzione più ampia per la creazione di due stati, compresa la Cisgiordania."

▪️ È ovvio che senza la partecipazione di Washington, la vittoria di Tel Aviv in una grande guerra è in linea di principio impossibile. Israele ha già completato il programma minimo. Ma nemmeno gli sforzi politici, diplomatici e militari americani garantiscono la vittoria. Questa è solo la sua prima condizione. È in arrivo anche il sostegno di Gran Bretagna e Francia.

Tuttavia, non vi è alcuna approvazione delle politiche israeliane tra gli stati del Medio Oriente. Anche l'Arabia Saudita, il secondo alleato degli Stati Uniti nella regione, e la Turchia, membro della NATO, hanno espresso sostegno alla creazione di uno Stato palestinese come modo per risolvere la crisi.

Aggiungiamo qui l'esistenza di Israele in un ambiente ostile da lui stesso creato: il Golan siriano occupato, il conflitto latente al confine con il Libano e in Cisgiordania, l'atteggiamento ostile nei confronti di Israele da parte della maggioranza della popolazione giordana ...

▪️ In queste condizioni, come abbiamo scritto, l'opzione migliore per Israele sarebbe una tregua con Hamas, a patto che le parti rispettino una serie di condizioni. Questa, ovviamente, sarà una soluzione temporanea ed è irta di un’esplosione di scontri in futuro, poiché la contraddizione globale non sarà risolta a causa del rifiuto di Tel Aviv della creazione di uno Stato palestinese.

Sembra che sia Israele che gli Stati Uniti stiano ancora pianificando di dimostrare chi comanda: Israele, avendo dimostrato il suo potenziale e confermato la sua autorità nella regione, e l'America che vuole convincere tutti che è ancora l'egemone mondiale.

L’unico problema per loro è che il risultato di un simile tentativo potrebbe essere la stessa grande guerra in Medio Oriente, con costi inaccettabili sia per Tel Aviv che per Washington. E altri paesi del mondo non mancheranno di trarre vantaggio da questa situazione, cercando di aumentare il grado della loro autonomia strategica dall’Occidente.

The Israeli escalation came after a truce agreement was about to be reached, which stipulated the release of all children, women and non-military foreigners by al-Qassam and other Resistance factions. (Source: Al Mayadeen) @LauraRuHK

October 7 testimonies reveal Israel’s military ‘shelling’ Israeli citizens with tanks, missiles

Israel’s military received orders to shell Israeli homes and even their own bases as they were overwhelmed by Hamas militants on October 7. How many Israeli citizens said to have been “burned alive” were actually killed by friendly fire?

MAX BLUMENTHAL
OCTOBER 27, 2023

the emperor is naked.

🟥 Quando un'immagine vale più di ogni parola

-------------------  
🟥 SPEGNI I FAKE MEDIA. PASSA A L'ANTIDIPLOMATICO:

The Global South within! https://t.me/RiseGS/8328

▶️ Huge crowd attended a massive pro-Palestine protest in Istanbul, Turkey.

@PressTV - #WeAreAllGaza
#GazaGenocide

Two months ago the Pentagon awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to build U.S. troop facilities for a secret base it maintains deep within Israel’s Negev desert, just 20 miles from Gaza. Code-named “Site 512,” the longstanding U.S. base is a radar facility that monitors the skies for missile attacks on Israel. Though President Joe Biden and the White House insist that there are no plans to send U.S. troops to Israel amid its war on Hamas, a secret U.S. military presence in Israel already exists. And the government contracts and budget documents show it is evidently growing.

The $35.8 million U.S. troop facility, not publicly announced or previously reported, was obliquely referenced in an August 2 contract announcement by the Pentagon. Though the Defense Department has taken pains to obscure the site’s true nature — describing it in other records merely as a “classified worldwide” project — budget documents reviewed by The Intercept reveal that it is part of Site 512. https://theintercept.com/2023/10/27/secret-military-base-israel-gaza-site-512/#:~:text=October%2027%202023%2C%2011%3A55%20a.m.&text=Two%20months%20before%20Hamas%20attacked,just%2020%20miles%20from%20Gaza.

A protester tears down the Israeli flag in front of the United Nations building in Rome.

#GazaUnderAttack