American "Wunderwaffe" burns near Avdeevka. ▪️The Russian Ministry of Defence reported the destruction of yet another Abrams tank. If i haven't lost count, this should be the fourth one to meet its inevitable fate. @LauraRuHK

US lawmakers hell-bent on banning TikTok - Republican Representative Mike Gallagher, the head of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, has introduced a new congressional bill which will once again attempt to effectively ban the video platform. The bill has advanced through the committee stage and is likely to get a floor vote. President Joe Biden has said he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

The act has produced outrage from TikTok’s 170 million users in the US who have bombarded their members of congress with calls to oppose the ban. Gallagher insists that his bill is not an outright ban of TikTok – technically, what it envisions is making it illegal for distributors to provide apps controlled by ByteDance, and the company can choose to relinquish control to let TikTok stay in the US market. Obviously, this ‘choice’ is simply a mafia-style racket to force ByteDance to sell the most popular app in the world.

In other words, let the US smash and grab your social media product, or have it banned. It’s little more than legalized extortion, but this reflects a lot about the mentality of American politicians. America clearly has a big problem with the fact that one of its rival countries could create a globally acclaimed social media application. The US, after all, has until recently led the social media world hands down and there has been no contest, with Facebook, Twitter, and others all being American products which have changed the world.
The idea that China has created the next-generation social media app is a blow to the American ego, a ‘Sputnik’ moment that represents a shock to the American system comparable to the Soviet Union’s Cold War-era achievement. TikTok has become a cultural sensation in America itself, and thus a projection of ‘soft power’.

It has become a defining characteristic of America’s struggle with China that the US in its own insecurity has increasingly responded by turning inwards in reaction to Beijing. Whereas during the Cold War, America turned outwards to compete, with its own cultural products, markets, aid, and support, here the US fears it cannot compete with China on many levels and instead resorts to negative measures, such as bans, blacklisting, sanctions, export controls, bad faith allegations, and forcing allies to endure costs, rather than giving them incentives. (Source: RT) @LauraRuHK

British royals before the invention of Photoshop. @LauraRuHK

Front page of the Financial Times: German DHL said that due to problems in the Red Sea, shipments of goods by rail through Russia increased by 40%! Other logistics companies in Europe provide similar data.

Major Houthi Houthisovic Houthisov should be promoted to the rank of colonel! He deserves it! Well, maybe it's time to supply the Houthis with underwater drones like the ones the British give to the Ukrainians. I hope the West won't mind. This will not be considered Russia's direct participation in attacks on Western infrastructure, right? (Vladimir Kornilov) https://t.me/kornilov1968/22891

Radio Free Asia (RFA), part of the propaganda network built by the CIA, now funded and supervised by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, will withdraw its presence from Hong Kong by the end of the month. Sources familiar with the matter have revealed plans to reassign some staff members to offices in Taipei and Washington. ▪️Art.23 hasn't been introduced yet and is already working its magic. Art.23, the cornerstone of national security legislation, will criminalize treason, secession, sedition, and subversion. @LauraRuHK

A huge Chinese industrial zone will be created in Egypt's SCZONE
The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) on Tuesday signed a letter of intent (LOI) and three framework agreements with Chinese companies for industrial projects with $2.75 billion in investments.
Egyptian Minister of Industry, Ahmed Samir and Deputy Ambassador of China in Cairo, Zhang Tao, and his accompanying delegation, met to discuss the progress made since last week's meeting with the Chinese Minister in Cairo. The talks focused on establishing a Chinese industrial zone along the Mediterranean Sea to serve both the local and export markets. Samir emphasized that the opening of this zone will mark Egypt's first achievement as a member of BRICS.

The proposed industrial zone will feature both a traditional sector and a high-tech sector focused on technological industries with high added value. @LauraRuHK https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/510391/Business/Economy/Chinese-firms-plan-to-launch--bln-industrial-proje.aspx#:~:text=The%20China-Egypt%20TEDA%20SCZONE%20is%20a%20national%20overseas,Sokhna%2C%20Suez%20Governorate%2C%20over%20120%20kilometres%20from%20Cairo.

Despite geopolitical tensions, Western economic sanctions, including the G7 price cap on Russian crude oil, and market uncertainties, Russia's crude export market has demonstrated resilience, effectively navigating these challenges and shoring up robust export volumes and revenue streams.Despite geopolitical tensions, Western economic sanctions, including the G7 price cap on Russian crude oil, and market uncertainties, Russia's crude export market has demonstrated resilience, effectively navigating these challenges and shoring up robust export volumes and revenue streams.(Source: Sputnik) @LauraRuHK

Yesterday The Washington Post published a deranged rant signed by Yulia Navalnaya. She calls on the West not to recognize the results of the next presidential election in Russia. But why stop there? Let's pretend that Russia doesn't exist, never existed, that millions of Russians are just a figment of the imagination. Say abracadabra, and Putin, Russia and Russians will magically disappear. See? Easy. All problems solved. 🤣 @LauraRuHK

Presidential vote has begun in Russia.
Over the next three days, Russians will elect their president for the next six years. It will be the first presidential vote to employ the latest technologies, tested during earlier lower-level polls: a three-day voting period and a remote vote. For the first time, residents of Donbass and Novorossia will cast their ballot.

Polling stations have already opened their doors in Russia’s Far Eastern regions, specifically in the easternmost Kamchatka and Chukotka. Vladimir Solodov, the governor of Kamchatka, became the first regional head to cast his ballot.

The Russian embassy in the US keeps receiving threats, Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said on the Russian TV, adding that provocations are being prepared for the presidential election days.

"We receive a lot of provocative calls, threats. We know that anti-Russian rallies are being planned near embassies and consulates, as well as an attempt to break into the embassy territory and - not to disrupt, that would simply be impossible - but to complicate [the elections], to spoil the mood," he said. (Source: TASS) @LauraRuHK

Ukrainian forces in recent days were repeatedly repelled by Russian forces after attempting to break into Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk regions, with officials on the ground reporting the operations were carried out as part of a larger effort to disrupt the upcoming Russian presidential election set for March 15-17. (Source: Sputnik) @LauraRuHK

Gaza Government Media Office publishes an update on the most important statistics of the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 14, 2024:

▪️ (160) days since the genocidal war.
▪️ (2,761) massacres committed by the occupation army.
▪️ (38,341) martyrs and missing persons.
▪️ (31,341) martyrs who arrived in hospitals.
▪️ (13,790) child martyrs.
▪️ (27) children were martyred as a result of famine.
▪️ (9,100) female martyrs.
▪️ (364) martyrs from medical teams.
▪️ (48) Civil Defense martyrs.
▪️ (133) martyred journalists.
▪️ (7,000) missing.
▪️ (73,134) infected.
▪️ (72%) of the victims are children and women.
▪️ (17,000) children live without their parents or one of them.
▪️ (11,000) wounded people need to travel for “life-saving and dangerous” treatment.
▪️ (10,000) cancer patients face the risk of death.
▪️ (700,000) infected with infectious diseases as a result of displacement.
▪️ (8,000) cases of viral hepatitis infection due to displacement.
▪️ (60,000) pregnant women are at risk due to lack of health care.
▪️ (350,000) chronic patients are at risk due to non-administration of medications.
▪️ (269) cases of arrest of health personnel.
▪️ (10) cases of arrest of journalists whose names are known.
▪️ (2) million displaced people in the Gaza Strip.
▪️ (166) government headquarters destroyed by the occupation.
▪️ (100) schools and universities were completely destroyed by the occupation.
▪️ (305) schools and universities partially destroyed by the occupation.
▪️ (223) mosques were completely destroyed by the occupation.
▪️ (289) mosques partially destroyed by the occupation.
▪️ (3) Churches targeted and destroyed by the occupation.
▪️ (70,000) housing units were completely destroyed by the occupation.
▪️ (290,000) housing units that were partially destroyed by the occupation and uninhabitable.
▪️ (70,000) tons of explosives dropped by the occupation on Gaza.
▪️ (32) hospitals that were taken out of service by the occupation.
▪️ (53) health centers that the occupation put out of service.
▪️ (155) health institutions targeted by the occupation.
▪️ (126) ambulances targeted by the occupation.
▪️ (200) archaeological and heritage sites destroyed by the occupation.

▪️Joe Biden recently proposed a $7.3 trillion US government budget for the 2025 fiscal year. Among this, the defense budget of the US has once again broken records, soaring to $895.2 billion, an increase of over $9 billion compared to the 2024 fiscal year, nearly reaching the $900 billion mark.
▪️The US defense spending for the 2024 fiscal year has already exceeded the combined military expenditures of nine countries, including China and Russia, accounting for about 40 percent of the global military expenditure. ▪️With the US national debt surpassing $34 trillion in early 2024, the US still allocates 12% of its government spending to defense for the fiscal year 2025.
(Source: Global Times) @LauraRuHK

Sorry for not being more prolific on Telegram and other social media platforms. I was writing a very long article that required extensive research, as usual. Actually, research is the part i enjoy the most. When i embark on a new project i start with a question, sometimes more than one, and soon realize that i am navigating in uncharted waters. After reading hundreds of pages in several languages and learning a lot along the way, I am usually ready to start writing, a process that is similar to distillation. That's why the final text should be savoured like whiskey, not guzzled down like beer. @LauraRuHK

According to a Reuters report, in 2019 Donald Trump authorised the CIA to launch a covert operation on Chinese social media to try to turn public sentiment against the government in Beijing.

The news agency said it had received information from three former US officials with direct knowledge of the highly classified operation that the CIA had formed a small team of spies who used fabricated online personas to spread negative narratives about President Xi Jinping's government, while leaking disparaging material to international media.

The campaign, which began in 2019, had not previously been publicised.
@LauraRuHK https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/exclusive-trump-launched-cia-covert-influence-operation-against-china/ar-BB1jTufz

Tehran Times leaked a confidential recording from "Anti-Defamation League" (ADL) Director Jonathan Greenblatt in which he expresses his concern about rising support for Palestine and opposition to zionism.

Greenblatt raises alarms about generational opposition to the zionist entity and growing recognition of the inalienable legitimacy of armed resistance. He notes the change in language among activists and allies who are increasingly refusing to recognize the zionist entity, accusing these changes of having something to do with Iran.

To solve this "issue," Greenblatt states: "We have a TikTok problem. Our community needs to put the same brains that gave us Taglit [free birthright trips to the zionist entity] to put our energy towards this fast."

Global sentiment is increasingly aligned with the Palestinian cause and resistance despite the ADL's efforts to counter these trends.

The Ukrainian ambassador to China gets a cold shoulder

"Unfortunately, our current level of dialogue with China, which has always been one of our most important partners, cannot be called dynamic, although, of course, there is no question of a complete cessation of contacts," Pavel Ryabikin said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

According to the Ukrainian diplomat, Kiev would like Beijing to work on the so-called peace formula promoted by Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also recognizes that it is still necessary to work on relations with another major regional player in Asia - India. According to Deputy Foreign Minister Irina Borovets, "close relations with Russia are a given for many countries in the Asian region."

As Bloomberg sources noted earlier, in contrast to the strengthening of ties between Moscow and Beijing, support for Ukraine among the Chinese diplomatic community is low.

According to the agency, this manifests itself in the slow, difficult establishment of diplomatic relations. In particular, Ryabikin managed to get only a few meetings since arriving in the Chinese capital, despite making around 40 requests to various ministries. (Source: TASS) @LauraRuHK

"I think the legislation should pass and I think it should be sold," Steven Mnuchin said, referring to the bill that passed the House of Representatives that could force ByteDance to divest from TikTok or face a ban in the US.
"It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok. It should be owned by US businesses". ▪️Last January Mnuchin said "Time to invest in Israel". He and his business partner, former US ambassador David Friedman, started Liberty Strategic Investment Fund in 2021 and have an office in Tel Aviv. @LauraRuHK