PAKISTANI EX-PRIME MINISTER IMRAN KHAN SETS OUT ECONOMIC RESCUE PLAN AT RALLY
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan led a rally in the eastern city of Lahore in the early hours of Sunday, setting out his ideas to revive the country’s spiraling economy and accusing the government of lacking a rescue plan. The International Monetary Fund has delayed a $6 billion bailout over Pakistan’s failure to meet the terms of a 2019 deal. The government blames that failure on Khan, now the opposition leader. Khan spoke to thousands of party supporters on a damp night in Lahore from a bulletproof box perched atop a shipping container. In his address, at the Minar-e-Pakistan landmark, the former cricketer railed against the government and challenged it to come forward with a rescue plan to bring the country out of its many economic difficulties. “We need surgery to correct the governance system of this country, for which ensuring rule of law is a must,” he said. “To reduce the current account deficit, we have to encourage our overseas Pakistanis to invest in the country.” Khan’s plan focuses on boosting revenue through foreign exchange and investment, widening the tax network, and anti-money laundering initiatives. He also outlined steps to promote agriculture, tourism, a housing finance scheme, a health card program, and small- and medium-sized industries. Khan said direct foreign investments from Pakistanis overseas would help the country to avoid going cap in hand to the IMF for help. He told the crowds, who waited hours to hear him speak, that the net worth of 18,000 Pakistani-Americans in the US is $200 billion and the net worth of the top 10 Pakistani-American businessmen is $25 billion. “And (still) we are bowing before the IMF to get a $6 billion deal.” He said the main problems plaguing Pakistan’s economy are foreign debt, a current account deficit, reduced exports, pressure on the rupee and tax evasion. Local authorities warned Khan not to hold a public rally in view of a possible terrorist attack. The security alert said militants from a banned outfit had reached Lahore and could target the public gathering or the security personnel deployed there. The 70-year-old politician, who was ousted as prime minister in a no-confidence motion last April and is campaigning for early elections, blames the government for being part of a “regime change operation” against him. The government denies the allegation. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is struggling to maintain economic and political stability amid dwindling foreign exchange reserves and the aftermath of last summer’s record-breaking floods, which killed 1,739 people and destroyed millions of homes. The floods caused more than $30 billion in damages. He is also dealing with militant violence, which has increased since November when the Pakistani Taliban ended a cease-fire with government forces. Sharif criticized Khan in a tweet Sunday, saying he has “always been about grandstanding and rhetoric” and that Pakistan’s current political, governance, and economic challenges have their roots in his failed policies.
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REMEMBERING YOU IN HEAVEN
I want to remember your face so that when I meet you in heaven, I can recognize you and thank you once again.” When Indian billionaire Ratanji Tata was asked by the radio presenter in a telephone interview: “Sir, what do you remember when you got the happiest in life”? Ratanji Tata said: “I have gone through four stages of happiness in life, and I finally understood the meaning of true happiness.” The first stage was to accumulate wealth and resources. But at this stage I didn’t get the happiness I wanted. Then came the second stage of collecting valuables and items. But I realized that the effect of this thing is also temporary and the luster of precious things does not last long. Then came the third phase of getting a big project. That was when I had 95% of the diesel supply in India and Africa. I was also the owner of the largest steel factory in India and Asia. But even here I did not get the happiness that I had imagined. The fourth step was when a friend of mine asked me to buy a wheelchair for some disabled children. About 200 children. At the behest of a friend, I immediately bought a wheelchair. But the friend insisted that I go with him and hand over the wheelchairs to the children. I got ready and went with him. There I gave these children this wheel chair with my own hands. I saw a strange glow of happiness on the faces of these children. I saw them all sitting in wheelchairs, walking and having fun. It was as if they had reached a picnic spot, where they were sharing a winning gift. I felt real happiness inside me. When I decided to leave, one of the kids grabbed my leg. I tried to slowly release my legs, but the child looked at my face and held my legs tight. I leaned over and asked the child: “do you need anything else?” The answer this kid gave me not only shocked me but also completely changed my outlook towards life. This child said: “I want to remember your face so that when I meet you in heaven, I can recognize you and thank you once again.”
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UNITED STATES INFLUENCE OVER SA
The collapse of U.S. influence over Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom’s new alliances with China and Iran are painful emblems of the abject failure of the Neocon strategy of maintaining U.S. global hegemony with aggressive projections of military power. China has displaced the American Empire by deftly projecting, instead, economic power. Over the past decade, our country has spent trillions bombing roads, ports, bridges, and airports. China spent the equivalent building the same across the development world. The Ukraine war is the final collapse of the Neocon’s short-lived “American Century.” The Neocon projects in Iraq and Ukraine have cost $8.1 trillion, hollowed out our middle class, made a laughingstock of U.S. military power and moral authority, pushed China and Russia into an invincible alliance, destroyed the dollar as the global currency, cost millions of lives and done nothing to advance democracy or win friendships or influence.
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HARVARD UNIVERSITY OFFERING FREE ONLINE COURSES FOR PAKISTANI STUDENTS
By Amna Malik
Harvard University’s free online courses are the best opportunity for students, teachers, professors, mid-career professionals, IT experts, doctors, or any individual from all over the world to study the Harvard courses for free. This splendid free Harvard program is an outstanding chance for individuals to get a mark of Harvard in their CVs and to make their credentials more appealing and worthy for any existing or upcoming career opportunity. Free Harvard Online courses are designed to push the boundaries of human knowledge and to promote the best level of education for all Pakistani students. The free online courses Pakistani students at Harvard University are diverse when it comes to the fields these courses cover. These short online courses encompass almost every field and every genre of human knowledge whether it is science, humanities, literature, history, or any known subject. So there are high chances for everyone to get a break to study from Harvard for free as one can easily grab the subject of one’s own interest from these Harvard short courses. It has been the biggest achievement of Harvard University since its inception and it has remained sincerely devoted to enhancing excellence in teaching, learning, and research.The Harvard faculty’s online free lectures are available to individuals worldwide with the collaboration of Edex to make a difference in learning abilities globally. Harvard was established in 1636 and is the oldest higher education institute in the US comprising more than 360,000 Harvard alumni in the world. It has always been a dream for every student to become part of this prestigious institute, however, there are many aspects like financial or territorial which become hindrances in students’ quest to come to Harvard for study. These online free courses opportunity presents themselves for the desiring students as a dream come true. Harvard’s free online courses open new horizons and vistas of knowledge for the students. Fortunately, no IELTS/TOEFL or any other language proficiency certificate is required for these Harvard University courses. The top-class professors and mentors from Harvard University give lectures in these online free courses. Moreover, the process of getting admission is so simple and so easy that everyone can have access to these Harvard courses without any difficulty. Furthermore, the Harvard courses come up with an opportunity to get a verified course completion certificate from the university in compliance with the student’s own choice. In addition to the variety of courses, it has also been made accessible to the students in alignment with their own time of choice. So, this kind of free study opportunity in the USA is not a chance to be missed at any cost.
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LATEST REVELATIONS ABOUT THE PULWAMA ATTACK VINDICATE PAKISTAN
The latest revelations made by Mr. Satya Pal Malik, the so-called former Governor of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), have once again vindicated Pakistan’s stance on the Pulwama Attack of February 2019. His disclosures demonstrate how the Indian leadership has habitually used the bogey of terrorism from Pakistan to advance its sham victimhood narrative and the Hindutva agenda, clearly for domestic political gains. We hope that the international community would take cognizance of the latest revelations and see through India’s propaganda campaign against Pakistan driven by selfish political considerations and based on lies and deceit. India must answer the questions raised in the latest revelations. It is time India be held accountable for the actions that imperiled regional peace in the aftermath of Pulwama attack. Pakistan, for its part, will continue to counter India’s false narrative, and act firmly and responsibly in the face of different provocations.
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GOVERNMENT TO DIVERT CHEAP GAS FROM POWER PLANTS TO HOMES
Syed Irfan Raza
The government has decided to stop the supply of cheap natural gas to power producers who are selling power to the national grid at exorbitant rates, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik said on Friday. Speaking at a press conference, he said the Cabinet Committee on Energy had decided to end ‘exploitation’ by some power companies by “stopping supply to the rich and providing cheap gas to the public at large”. The policy would encourage competition among companies, which would lead to competitive prices for consumers, he said. “Landlords and building owners would also no longer be able to exploit tenants by forcing them to pay high energy bills for privately supplied energy resources,” the minister added. Mr Malik also revealed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had announced the establishment of a refinery that would cost between $10 and $14 billion. The minister was hopeful that the new refinery would create jobs and reduce Pakistan’s dependence on imported fuel. It will also help boost the country’s economy by increasing energy production and reduce the cost of production for industries, he said Mr Malik said the government was actively working on a new energy policy that would focus on creating energy from LPG, LNG, and solar resources.
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PEACE WITH NEIGHBOURS
Separately, addressing the passing-out parade of cadets at the PAF Academy Asghar Khan in Risalpur, PM Shehbaz said that Pakistan was a peace-loving nation and wished to maintain friendly ties with all countries, especially its neighbours. “However, our desire for peace must not be misunderstood as weakness,” he said, adding that there could be no peace in South Asia without a just and fair settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in line with the UN resolutions and the aspirations of Kashmir people. He praised the role of the armed forces, including the air force, police and intelligence community, in neutralizing threats to national security Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz will head to the UK to attend the coronation of Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla on May 6, the Foreign Office said on Friday. A day earlier, he is expected to participate in an event for Commonwealth leaders in London and will hold bilateral meetings with leaders participating in the celebrations. Source: Dawn News.
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THREE SOLDIERS MARTYRED, SEVEN ‘MILITANTS’ KILLED IN KP ATTACK
By Ghulam Mursalin Marwat & Umer Farooq
- Suicide bomber on bike blows himself up near army compound
- New militant group claims responsibility
The Pakistan Army confirmed on Friday that militants targeted security forces in three overnight attacks in the Lakki Marwat district, triggering shoot-outs in which three soldiers were martyred and seven militants were killed. In the first attack, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up near a security forces camp, located in the Government Postgraduate College, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. The attack was followed by a fierce exchange of fire in which soldiers killed four militants. The two other incidents took place in the district’s Amir Kalam and Tajbi Khel areas, during which another three militants, including key militant commander Musa Khan, were gunned down, the military’s media wing said, adding that weapons and ammunition were seized from their possession. Tehreek-i-Jihad Pakistan, a militant group that surfaced for the first time, has claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement issued by the organisation’s spokesman, Mulla Mohammad Qasim. Reuters also cited a report by an intelligence agency that identified the new, little-known militant group as being involved in the attacks, though the report couldn’t be immediately confirmed. The attacks were reported on Thursday night, but there was no official word from military or security agencies regarding the incidents or the number of casualties then. ISPR said soldiers repulsed all the attacks, which took place within a short span of time. The three martyred soldiers were identified as Naib Subedar Taj Mir, 40, resident of Nowshera district; Havaldar Zakir Ahmed, 38, from Abbottabad; and Sepoy Abid Hussain, 29, from Dera Ismail Khan district. “Sanitisation of the areas is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area. Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” the military said. On Friday, Lakki Marwat DPO Ashfaq Khan examined the area of gunfight and directed the police officials to be vigilant and tighten security across the district, particularly at important installations. The bloodshed in Lakki Marwat came after the military declared a new offensive against militants amid a resurgence of attacks in recent months, including a Peshawar mosque bombing that killed scores of 100 people in February. The militant attacks across the country, especially in KP and Balochistan, have been on the rise since the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November. Source: Dawn News.
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INDIA, RUSSIA AGREE TO BOOST DEFENCE TIES
India and Russia agreed to strengthen their defence partnership in talks between their defence ministers on Friday, the Indian government said, amid worries in New Delhi that the war in Ukraine was hurting its own military supplies from Moscow. Rajnath Singh and Sergei Shoigu held talks on the side-lines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers’ gathering in New Delhi. “They acknowledged the unique, long-lasting and time-tested relationship between India and Russia,” the statement said. They “expressed satisfaction over the continued trust and mutual respect between the two countries, particularly in defence and reiterated their commitment towards strengthening the partnership,” it said, without elaborating. India, the world’s largest arms importer, depends on Russia for nearly half its military supplies, and has bought fighter jets, tanks, nuclear submarines and an aircraft carrier over the decades. But the war in Ukraine has held up supplies of Russian spares critical for India to maintain its tank and fighter jet fleets and delayed the delivery of Russian air defence systems. India has refused to publicly blame Russia for the war in Ukraine and has increased its trade with Moscow to a record high, driven largely by the import of Russian oil. Several Western leaders have criticised India’s proximity to Russia as they try to isolate Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. New Delhi says it defending its interests in buying Russian oil and has pushed for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Moscow, which faces an expected counter-offensive by Ukrainian forces in the coming weeks, hosted the defence ministers of Iran, Syria and Turkiye on Tuesday and Shoigu also held talks with China’s defence minister on April 18.
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24 INDIAN CREW ON OIL TANKER SEIZED BY IRAN, SAYS OPERATOR
A US-bound oil tanker seized by Iran off the coast of Oman was carrying 24 Indian crew, the vessel’s operator said on Friday, adding it was working to secure their release. Previous incidents show that crew caught up in similar incidents are in “no danger”, Advantage Tankers said, after the tanker was seized on Thursday. The Marshall Islands-flagged Advantage Sweet was being taken by Iran’s navy to an unnamed port because of an “international dispute”, the operator said in a statement. “Advantage Sweet is currently being escorted by the Iranian Navy to a port on the basis of an international dispute,” Advantage Tankers said in the statement. “Similar experiences show that crew members of vessels taken under such circumstances are in no danger,” it said, adding that the company was “in close touch with all the appropriate authorities to obtain the release of the crew and vessel”. Iran said it had crashed into one of its vessels, leaving two Iranian crew members missing and injuring several others. The Islamic republic has yet to issue any details on the status or nationality of any other crew involved. The US Navy demanded the ship’s immediate release, slamming Iran’s “continued harassment” in Gulf waters.
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CHINA SLAMS US, S. KOREA FOR MENTIONING TAIWAN IN ‘WASHINGTON DECLARATION’
China and Russia have expressed concern over the “Washington Declaration” signed by the United States and South Korea earlier this week, with Beijing conveying its “strong dissatisfaction” to Seoul over the mention of “need for peace and stability” in the waters around Taiwan. a foreign ministry statement said on Friday. The Russian foreign ministry said the agreement would destabilise the region and the wider world. Liu Jinsong, director general of the Chinese foreign ministry’s Asian affairs department, met South Korean embassy minister Kang Sang-wook in Beijing on Thursday evening to emphasise China’s stance on Taiwan and urged Seoul to adhere to the One-China principle, the ministry said. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is on a six-day visit to the United States, during which Yoon and President Joe Biden held talks that covered tensions between China and Taiwan and Chinese military activities in the South China Sea. In a joint statement, the two presidents stressed the need for “peace in the Taiwan Strait” and said they opposed “any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific, including through unlawful maritime claims, the militarisation of reclaimed features, and coercive activities”. In Moscow, Russia’s foreign ministry criticised the mention of cooperation in the nuclear energy sector in the declaration, saying that it would spark an arms race. The United States pledged to give South Korea more insight into its nuclear planning, while Seoul promised not to seek nuclear weapons itself in an agreement both sides said was aimed against North Korea. Russia has repeatedly railed against what it sees as the United States growing military presence across Asia. “This development is clearly destabilising in nature and will have serious negative consequences for regional security, impacting on global stability,” Russia’s foreign ministry said. Moscow said Washington’s and Nato’s drive for “decisive military superiority” would “bring nothing but escalating tensions”. Washington has accused Moscow of nuclear sabre-rattling over various statements from Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, since the start of the Ukraine war that Russia would be prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend its “territorial integrity”. At a joint news conference with President Joe Biden after signing the Washington declaration, South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol said the agreement was aimed at strengthening his country’s defences in the face of Pyongyang’s rapidly advancing nuclear weapons programme.
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SPAIN, PORTUGAL SMASH HEAT RECORDS FOR APRIL 29, 2023
Mainland Spain and Portugal have broken temperature records for April, officials said on Friday, as both nations wilt in an unusually early heatwave that has raised the risk of wildfires. The mercury hit 38.8 degrees Celsius in the airport in Spain’s southern city of Cordoba on Thursday, beating a previous record of 38.6C in the eastern city of Elche, national weather office AEMET said. This “provisional data” must still be confirmed, a process that can take several days, a spokesperson for the agency said. The highest temperature for all of Spain in the month of April, however, was recorded in 2013 in the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa when the mercury hit 40.2C. In neighbouring Portugal, temperatures in the central town of Mora reached 36.9C on Thursday, breaking the record of 36C set in April 1945 in the north-eastern town of Pinhao, weather agency IPMA said. While temperatures started dropping in Portugal on Friday, the scorching heat persisted in much of Spain with the mercury reaching 36C in Cordoba. The unusually early heatwave has been driven by a mass of very hot and dry air coming from Africa. The scorching temperatures have prompted warnings about the high risk of wildfires and worsened drought conditions that have already led some farmers in Spain not to sow seeds this year. The Spanish government said it would launch its forest fire monitoring campaign on Friday, a month and a half earlier than usual due to the early arrival of scorching temperatures.
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CENSUS EXTENDED TILL MAY 15
By Mubarak Zeb Khan
To address concerns over the exercise of digital census, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) after a detailed briefing to ministers, lawmakers and leaders of political parties on Friday decided in principle to extend digital census for another 15 days. PBS spokesperson Sarwar Gondal told Dawn the digital census, previously scheduled to conclude on April 30, would be extended till May 15. To work out an operation plan during the extended days, he said, the bureau would hold a meeting with chief secretaries on Saturday (today). “We will present the request of the political parties in a meeting of census monitoring committee,” he added. Need for the extension was felt after it emerged during the exercise that Karachi and Lahore populations showed little increase since the 2017 census. The PBS at the briefing requested political parties to identify the areas that had not been covered by census teams. Mr Sarwar said the bureau would need another 15 days to finalise data before submitting it to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) by June. An official announcement issued after the meeting showed that 237.448 million individuals had been counted in all the four provinces, an increase of 29.768 million since 2017 when the tally was 207.68m. So far, 54.138m people have been counted in Sindh, 116.442m in Punjab, 39.315m in KP and 19.713m in Balochistan. Meanwhile, a joint meeting of Balochistan lawmakers and representatives of political parties from Quetta discussed the process of census in Quetta and its preliminary results. The participants demanded that the census be conducted again in the provincial capital and the exercise should be extended for two months. They said that census results had shown that Balochistan’s population had increased by more than seven million while that of Quetta had decreased by 500,000, which they claimed was part of a plan. Saleem Shahid in Quetta also contributed to this report.
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EMBASSIES IN RIYADH, TEHRAN TO OPEN ‘WITHIN DAYS’
Saudi Arabia and Iran will open embassies in each other’s capitals “within days,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Friday, as the relationship between the two regional rivals warms up after years of hostility. Speaking at a news conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut, Amirabdollahian did not give specific dates for the reopening of the embassies. The countries agreed to restore relations in March. The Iranian and Saudi embassies in the respective countries have been closed since 2016. The relationship started deteriorating in 2015 following the intervention of Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the Yemen war, after the Iran-aligned Houthi movement toppled the Saudi-backed government and seized control of the capital Sanaa. Saudi Arabia accused Iran of providing weapons to the Houthis who attacked Saudi cities with armed drones and ballistic missiles. In 2019, Riyadh accused Tehran of being responsible for an attack targeting Aramco oil facilities, which resulted in stopping half of its oil production. Iran denied those accusations. The tension between the two regional rivals has fueled conflicts across the region, including the Syrian civil war. Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed last month to end their diplomatic raw and restore diplomatic missions under a deal brokered by China. “During the last phone call between the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia on Eidul Fitr, we agreed to work in the next coming days on the reopening of the Iranian and Saudi embassies in Tehran and Riyadh,” Amirabdollahian said, according to the official Arabic translation. Amirabdollahian was speaking at the end of his visit to Lebanon in which he met with Lebanese officials including Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. When asked about a visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Damascus, Amirabdollahian confirmed it, saying there was a “programme” put in place for “the near future” without indicating a specific timeframe. The visit will be the first by an Iranian president to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since war broke out in Syria in 2011. With military help and economic support from both Iran and Russia, Assad was able to turn the tide of the conflict and regain control of most of his country.
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FIRST BATCH OF PAKISTANIS REPATRIATED FROM WAR-TORN SUDAN
The first batch of Pakistanis evacuated from embattled Sudan returned to the homeland on Friday. Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, while giving an update on the evacuation of Pakistani nationals in Sudan, said an aircraft carrying 149 Pakistani nationals evacuated from Sudan arrived in Karachi on Friday morning. “Two other flights carrying around 200 Pakistanis are expected to arrive later today. One of them originated from Port Sudan and the other from Jeddah to bring back Pakistanis who had earlier been evacuated there,” she said. Ms. Baloch said the evacuation of Pakistanis from a difficult security situation in Sudan had been made possible by a robust inter-agency process led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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THE EMPIRE IS IMPLODING
Reportedly compiled by Sir Agha Khan
- Raytheon Director dies in plane crash
- Classified Pentagon Ukraine and ME docs leaked
- Saudi openly divorces USA and ties nuptials with Iran and China
- De-dollarization trade agreements signed
- Taiwan strait controlled by China
- Yemen war coming to an end
- Israel overwhelmed by Hezbollah and Hamas
- Regime change in Pakistan about to be reversed
- Syria welcomed back into the Arab states
- Russia almost done in Bakhmut, nearing victory
- Belarus getting tactical nukes
- France slowly getting kicked out of African states
- Honduras breaks ties with Taiwan, adopts one China policy
- Leaked Jan 6th video shows Biden government lying to American people
- Iran getting SU-35s, countering Israeli aggression
- Azerbaijan cucking, unable to war over NK due to Iranian resistance
- China domestic chip manufacturing advancing rapidly
- American banking system on brink of collapse
- UAE considering reducing ties with Israel due to Al-Aqsa violations
- Mass-protesting in France, Macron struggling to keep control
- Sy Hersh release another bombshell piece on America’s bombing of Nordstreamb
- Erdogan and Turkey getting more aggressive after US ambassador meets opposition leaders
- UK engulfed in cost of living crisis, food and fuel becoming inaccessible to many
- Brazil re-orienting policy to achieve BRICs+ dominance
- SWIFT system alternative developed by Russia-Iran, increasing being adopted
- An unusual increase in train derailments, factory explosions, chemical spills, and contamination events across the USA (due to maintenance issues AND foreign state operations)
- Russian warship docking in SA ports for the first time in many years, indicating Saudi moving towards eastern nations to provide its defenses
- AMLO in Mexico nationalizing key energy and oil industries despite protests from Washington, this is in the backdrop of increasing anti-American sentiment from Mexico
- Malaysia in discussion with China to develop a new ‘AM Fund’, an alternative to the neo-liberal and much criticized IMF potentially allowing many countries to escape America’s debt trap
- Demand for Zimbabwe’s gold coins skyrocketing, following calls by African leaders to stop using the USD as a primary currency. Potentially the first of many steps leading to the creation of an African-led financial structure.
- Iran enriching uranium to a level of 83.7%, bringing them closer to acquiring nuclear weapons and potentially causing key Israeli allies in the region to withdraw support for an Israeli military attack on Iran
- Vassal states, such as France, begin to speak up against the Empire and its blackmail: Macron says “Europe has become more dependent on the United States in recent years, but it must strengthen its strategic autonomy and not depend on the extraterritoriality of the dollar.”
- Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Brazil considering the creation of a ‘OPEC for lithium’, in order to control market prices and eliminate the role and influence of Western companies in the global lithium market.