(Text-only) Rhondda Records Home Page

Cuba ------- an international symbol of

independence, says foreign minister

Havana, September 3rd, 12:24pn

(Prensa Latina)

History has turned Cuba into an international symbol

of independence, rebellion against oppression and

injustice, and solidarity; values that are still in

full force today, said the Foreign Minister,

Bruno Rodríguez.

"We believe that Cuba is not alone, that the Cuban cause

awakens great international solidarity," the foreign

minister said on the Cuba Análisis podcast.

Rodríguez expressed confidence that the international

community will prevent any military adventure by the

US against the island and force an end to policies

that also cause deaths, such as the brutal

energy siege --- or the prohibition of

essential goods from reaching

the country.

He added that there is a well-established international criterion

of rejection of this policy of hostility, expressed not only in the

annual vote on the resolution --- that calls on Washington to

unconditionally end the blockade, but also in numerous

demonstrations around the planet and within the

U.S. territory itself.

He stressed that Cuba can speak with absolute freedom, apply

a totally independent foreign policy, and is often recognized

for directly expressing issues that concern the majority

of UN members.

This was the case last July, when the issue was discussed outside

the ordinary calendar and representatives from all regions made

numerous speeches against a military adventure on the

island, while demanding an end to the energy siege.

The diplomat warned - that if a superpower is allowed to blockade

and try to destroy a small sovereign nation to change its political

system, it would be creating the conditions for the same thing

to happen against any state in the world.

For this reason, he maintained his conviction that humanity needs

a broad consensus of wills ---- to stop the deterioration of the

international order, which is leading the world towards a

situation that was believed to have been overcome

many years ago: the conquests, looting, and the

proliferation of extremely lethal weapons.

Regarding the recent report entitled "Cuba, the capital of

communism of the 21st century," Rodríguez denounced:

that the document, which he described as mendacious

and ridiculous -------- combines false statements, and

manipulations with an extraordinary lack of rigour.

Behind this text, he warned, there is a very serious purpose: to

justify a military aggression against Cuba, to try to legitimize

collective punishment and the crime of genocide ------ and to

resort to repression against U.S. civil society organizations.

The foreign minister reflected that, despite the temporary shifts

to the right, there is a favourable historical accumulation... for

progressive and social movements.

He stressed that no political situation or ephemeral government

will be able to break Cuba's deep ties with the peoples of Latin

America and the Caribbean; links that --- he assured --- will

continue to develop in a positive way.

____________________________________________

Lawyers seek to drop US charges

against Venezuelan leader

on immunity grounds

September 3rd, 11:14am

(PressTV)

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are

escorted, as they head towards the Daniel Patrick Moynihan US

Courthouse in Manhattan for an initial appearance to face US

federal charges at Downtown Manhattan Heliport, in New

York City, US, January 5, 2026. (Photo: Reuters)

Lawyers for the abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro

and his wife, Cilia Flores, have filed motions to dismiss the US

government's fabricated charges, arguing that their clients

possess absolute sovereign immunity and that their

detention has no legal basis.

In documents filed in a Manhattan federal court on Wednesday,

the defense team asked the judge to throw out the draconian

drug trafficking indictment.

They argued that the US has no legal jurisdiction over the

legitimate head of state and first lady of a sovereign

foreign nation.

“No American court has ever presided over the criminal trial of a

foreign leader who was recognized by their own country as the

sitting head of state at the time the charges were brought,”

the lawyers wrote.

"That is not an accident of history. It reflects a rule older than the

common law: heads of state are exempt from the criminal

process of any national court - but their own.”

The defense further argued that even if the US refuses to recognize

his sovereign immunity as Head of State, the case must still be

dismissed because Maduro -------- is entitled to conduct-based

sovereign immunity for actions taken in his official capacity.

Maduro and Flores are scheduled to face trial on the fabricated drug

trafficking charges on June 1. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has set

oral arguments for November 17 regarding the motions to

dismiss the illegal indictment.

Political observers and analysts view the Trump administration's

move to forcibly remove the democratically elected president

as an illegal coup aimed at regime change.

The ultimate goal, they argue, is to gain full control over Venezuela

to plunder its abundant energy wealth and natural resources.

Highlighting the complete lack of legal grounds for his detention,

Maduro, 63, and his wife have been held in a Brooklyn jail since

US special forces abducted them from their home in Caracas

during a middle-of-the-night raid in early January.

The extrajudicial kidnapping and subsequent transfer to the New

York facility have been widely condemned as a blatant violation

of international law and Venezuelan sovereignty.

Separate motions filed on Wednesday for Flores argued that she is

equally exempt from US prosecution. Her legal team stated that

her immunity is “an attribute of Venezuela’s sovereignty, and

only Venezuela may surrender it.”

Meanwhile, Maduro “vehemently denies the allegations against him,”

his lawyers affirmed, noting that “if this case were to proceed to

trial, it would be apparent that he has been falsely accused.”

US prosecutors claim Maduro is responsible for smuggling

thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States

by colluding with Venezuelan officials and

criminal syndicates.

Both Maduro and Flores....... have

pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Image: People hold up a banner as they protest against Israel at the entrance of the International Criminal Court.

Iran VP: announces major shift in

defense doctrine - and warns of

'dark months' for US economy

September 3rd, 1:47pm

(PressTV)

First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref has announced a

fundamental shift in Iran's defense doctrine, warning that

future responses to US aggression will be "asymmetric"

and "multi-layered," while cautioning US citizens to

prepare for severe economic disruptions.

In a message posted on X, Aref declared that the recent wave

of US military attacks on Iranian soil has permanently altered

Tehran's security equations.

"The new crimes committed by the United States against the

Iranian nation have changed our security equations and

defense doctrine," Aref wrote. "From now on, our

response will be 'asymmetric,' 'multi-layered,'

and 'security-depriving for the aggressor.'"

The first vice president issued a warning directed at

the US public and the broader US economy.

"Americans should start thinking about stockpiling gasoline and

fuel," Aref stated. "Dark months await the American economy."

The shift in Iran's defense strategy comes in the wake of a series

of US airstrikes late Tuesday night - that targeted civilian areas

and non-military infrastructure..... across several Iranian
provinces, including Hormozgan, Khuzestan,
Sistan-Baluchestan, and Kerman.

The most horrific incident occurred in the village of Kouhestak

in Sirik County, Hormozgan Province, where a US missile

struck a wedding celebration.

The massacre martyred and wounded more than 70 people,

the vast majority of whom were women and children.

After campaigning on a promise of no new wars, and then

promising that the war on Iran would only last a few

weeks, US President Donald Trump’s attack on

Iran has now entered its 7th month.

Aref’s warning arrives as the US and its allies are already

reeling from a severe energy crisis ---- triggered by the
very war Washington initiated.

Since Iran imposed wartime restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz

in late February, the US public ------- has endured skyrocketing

gasoline prices.

However, a more crippling "diesel shock"

is now threatening the US supply chain.

According to energy analysts, the spread between diesel

and crude oil prices in the United States has now

surpassed $100.

Strangled West Asian oil exports, compounded by declining

global refinery capacities, have created a deepening

diesel supply ''crunch'' that threatens to

disproportionately devastate -- the

economies and the agricultural

sectors of several US states.

The economic blowback is also severely impacting Washington's

European allies. As the US escalates its strikes against Iran,

European benchmark natural gas futures have surged

to their highest levels since January 2023.

Dutch front-month futures recently jumped nearly 6 percent

to €73.95 ($85.62) per megawatt-hour, surpassing earlier

wartime peaks.

Traders are now pricing in a prolonged disruption to liquefied

natural gas (LNG) shipping from West Asia, sparking panic

over severe energy shortages just ahead of the critical

European winter heating season.

_____________________________________

Israel ...will expel Palestinians from Gaza

‘by any means’ with Trump’s green light:

War minister

September 3rd, 9:43am

(PressTV)

The Israeli minister of military affairs says the occupying regime

will forcibly expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip by every way

possible as soon as US President Donald Trump gives the green

light to the scheme.

Speaking at a conference hosted by Israeli news site Ynet

and newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday, Israel

Katz claimed that the mass expulsion of Palestinians

from Gaza remains the “only solution”.

“In the end, there is no real solution for Gaza without this

migration,” Katz said, noting that the Tel Aviv regime

“is organized and prepared to get them out – by

sea, by air, by any means.”

Citing unspecified “surveys,” he also alleged that 80 percent

of Palestinians living in Gaza want to leave the besieged

Palestinian territory.

He further said that Trump’s approval was crucial -------- to

convince other countries to accept Palestinian refugees.

“What’s delaying it (the plan) is that the accepting countries

want US support,” he added. “Every country that is willing

wants American backing.”

Meanwhile, Katz said that the plot to force Palestinians off

their land still remains under discussion and was merely

“frozen” by Trump due to pressure from Arab states.

“The plan hasn’t been canceled; it is being discussed all the

time, even now, and I think there is no other solution for

everyone’s good,” he pointed out.

Asked when he thinks the plan could be enacted, the Israeli

minister said it would be “when it becomes clear that

Hamas is not fulfilling its commitment” under the

US plan for Gaza.

“Then we will get a green light to advance militarily, territorially,

and in other areas as well,” he went on to say.

At the start of his second presidential term, Trump called for

forcibly removing all two million Palestinians from the Gaza

Strip and placing the territory under US control, in what

legal scholars denounced as a war crime under the

Geneva Conventions.

Trump walked back the idea after strong pushback,

including from Palestine ---- and Egypt.

US Senator Chris Van Hollen said he had earlier warned that

Israel is planning to ethnically cleanse Gaza after visiting

the blockaded territory’s border with Egypt.

Now, Katz “confirmed that’s the goal,” he wrote

in an X post. “We must ---- end our complicity.”

The Israeli war minister is “admitting, completely and brazenly,”

that Israel’s official policy “is ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” said

H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United

Services Institute in the UK. “But somehow.... we are

expected to take seriously those who say it is not.”

Israel unleashed a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on October 7,

2023, after Hamas carried out an historic operation against the

usurping entity --- in retaliation for the regime’s intensified

atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Two years later, Israel accepted a Gaza ceasefire deal,
after its failure to achieve its declared objectives of
eliminating Hamas and freeing all captives.

Since then, however, the criminal regime --- has kept conducting

attacks on Gaza in violation of the truce, killing at least 73,470

people and injuring 174,540 others in the besieged territory

over the past almost three years.

Today, September 3, is

Victory over Japan Day in China.

Victory over Japan Day in China, is celebrated annually on
September 3 ------ to commemorate the end of the Second

Sino-Japanese War and China's triumph in World War II.

Victory over Japan Day ---- officially known as the Victory Day of the

Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression,

marks the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1931–1945) and

China's role in the global fight against fascism.

Japan declared unconditional surrender, on August 15, 1945, but the

formal signing of the surrender document occurred on September 2,

1945, aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. China's representative

General Xu Yongchang signed on behalf of the Republic of China,

officially ending the war.

The next day, September 3, was designated as Victory Day,

with nationwide celebrations and flags flown across China.

In 1951, the Nationalist government formally established

September 3 as the annual Victory Day.

The holiday commemorates the tremendous sacrifices of the

Chinese people, who suffered over 35 million military and

civilian deaths, and recognizes China's pivotal role in

defeating Japanese militarism and contributing to

the global victory over fascism.

It also serves as a reminder of the importance of peace

and vigilance against aggression, reflecting China's

commitment to defending human dignity and

world peace.

Victory over Japan Day is observed with official ceremonies,

military parades, and public memorials. For example, the

80th anniversary in 2025 included a grand gathering in

Tian'anmen Square, where President Xi Jinping

delivered a keynote speech, a military parade

was held....... and medals were awarded to

veterans and families of the deceased.

Other commemorative activities - include thematic
exhibitions, symposiums with participants from
Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas,
as well as memorial ceremonies for
events like the Nanjing Massacre
and the September 18 Incident.

These events emphasize historical memory, honour the

sacrifices of the past, and promote the value of peace.

The day is a statutory holiday, and traditionally, flags are flown,

and public events are organized -- to honour the victory and

educate citizens about the war's historical significance.

Military parades are held periodically, often coinciding with
major anniversaries, to showcase national pride and
military strength.

Victory over Japan Day remains a symbol of national resilience,

remembrance, and the pursuit of peace, ensuring that the

sacrifices of the past are not forgotten and that the

lessons of history continue to guide the present

and future.

UK legislators call for comprehensive

arms embargo, settlement trade ban

on Israel

July 27th, 6:06am

(PressTV)

A coalition of 80 British lawmakers and peers has called on

newly appointed British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, to

impose sanctions on Israel -- including a comprehensive

arms embargo and a ban on trade that supports illegal

settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In a letter, spearheaded by MP Kim Johnson, they urged the

government to “decisively change its stance to uphold the

rights of the Palestinian people and to prevent Israel’s

continued violation of international law.”

It also called on the government to acknowledge the UN

Independent Commission of Inquiry report, which

validated Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Alongside recognition of the UN finding, the lawmakers urged

the government to fully enforce the International Court of

Justice' advisory opinion, delivered on July 19, 2024.

It holds that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories

is unlawful, that Israel should put an end to that occupation,

desist from creating new settlements, and evacuate those

already established.

“The previous administration ---- has willfully ignored the rulings of

international courts. It has still failed to issue a formal response

to the July 2024 International Court of Justice judgment

- which requires Britain to cease all actions that aid or

assist [Israel’s] grave violations of international law,”

the letter read.

It added, “Now is the opportunity for this government and for you,

as the new Prime Minister, to truly turn a new page.”

The letter bore the signatures of prominent legislators,

including Diane Abbott, Jeremy Corbyn, Baroness

Jenny Jones, and Baroness Warsi.

In an op-ed for Labour Outlook, Johnson stated that Palestine

has emerged as the “defining test” of the Labour Party’s

commitment to the notion --- that international law

applies to all.

“If we condemn violations in one part of the world while excusing

or ignoring them elsewhere, we undermine the very rules-based

international order that Britain claims to defend,” she said.

“Burnham tells us --- he has a plan to renew confidence in Labour. If

that renewal is to mean anything, it must begin by making a clean

break with the failures of Starmerism on Palestine. If we are truly

serious about turning the page, there could be no clearer place

to begin,” Johnson noted.

The letter is supported by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which

has been advocating for Burnham to distance himself from former

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s disgraceful legacy by implementing

extensive sanctions against Israel - comprising a complete arms

embargo, a cessation - of all military collaboration &
diplomatic support - and a total ban on all trade.

Rhondda Records exists to express the Rhondda's
vision --- when it was confident, powerful, caring,
and socialist.

A Rhondda very aware of the media's poisonous
tricks -- how they con working class people into
attacking each other, or racial groups, or, often,
even their best allies and friends... instead of
seeing their real enemies:--- an elite who hate
the very idea that working people can think,
create, or achieve a fairer society.

Thatcher said her proudest achievement was
Blair and New Labour - who parachuted in
careerists and expenses fiddlers - to stop
local Labour members having a say, and
who made genuine socialist MPs leave
the Labour party in disgust and many
members and voters to despair...
and the young to stop voting.

Jeremy Corbyn was always attacked because
he was trying to reverse all that New Labour
corruption --- that's why membership was
flooding in all over the UK.

______________________________________

Get Involved!

– If you feel you’ve been ‘purged’,
take this online survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/857YMDK

or this one:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc0du5YuhPZ8ahI
oxC_b6pvBprmGA4XFdG-0r2dOVYyc4UNFg/viewform?c=0&w=1

– Request all your own data that
the Labour Party holds on you:

http://www.labour.org.uk/pages/privacy

_______________________________________

IF - YOU THINK you HAVE
BEEN UNFAIRLY BARRED:

“Any member who is suspended & intends
to appeal the decision should throw in a
‘Subject Access Request in accordance
with the Data Protection Act’ --- for ALL
data that the Labour Party hold on them.

The Labour Party are Data Controllers and
therefore have to, by law, provide you with
all material/information they hold on you.”

If anyone is in contact with anyone who
was barred from voting --- please can
you pass this info on:

The Labour leadership election was under the
jurisdiction of the electoral reform services.

If you were unfairly deprived of your vote you
can call them on 0208 365 8909 and lodge
your complaint, and inform them of your
Data Protection request.

https://www.electoralreform.co.uk

The notification letters barring new members
did not give a clear reason, or information on
how to appeal, so Vox Political suggests that
anyone in this situation, could also contact
Liz Davies here: http://www.whycantivote.com

She is a barrister --- who can
advise members on what to do.

**************************************

PONCY LABOUR MPS PROBLEM?

A huge drop in working-class Labour MPs,
caused a massive drop in support among
voters with similar backgrounds, reveals
research seeking to explain why support
has dwindled in the party’s heartlands.

The study says past leaders like Kinnock
and Blair made a concerted effort to pick
“more and more middle-class candidates
to run for office, during the 80s and 90s,
as part of an effort to rebrand” -- which
had initial successes at the ballot box.

But this “conscious electoral strategy”
stored up problems, as working-class
voters who initially, just didn’t vote in
response, now seek an alternative.

The solution? Trust each constituency to put
forward its own candidates, and don't impose
‘party-approved’ choices who can't do the job.

Now, unfortunately, there are "entryist" MPs who, for
decades, have been groomed by CIA cold war relic
organisations -- like the Atlantic Council -- and are
now trying to misdirect the Labour Party towards
cuts, a militarised police, and a US war agenda...
- and their anti-Corbyn slant is hobbling Labour.

‘How Can I Deselect My Labour MP?’ A Short Guide
to Reselection and Democratic Accountability
by Eric Sim, excellent free advice here:

http://novaramedia.com/2016/07/13/how-can-i-
deselect-my-labour-mp-a-short-guide-to-
reselection-and-democratic-accountability/

CHRIS BRYANT - SUPPORT THE MEMBERS'
LEADERSHIP CHOICE & POLICIES - OR GO!

Chris Bryant, the Rhondda's dodgy MP,
was on TV -- as soon as the PLP coup
started -- telling us that Jeremy MUST
go, because it was the ONLY way to
act in the Labour Party's interest...

Chris Bryant's voting record:
from TheyWorkForYou.com

On Tuition Fees:

On 27 Jan 2004:
Chris Bryant voted in favour of university tuition
fees increasing from £1,125 per year, to up to
£3,000 per year.

On 31 Mar 2004:
Chris Bryant voted to allow university tuition fees
to increase from £1,125 per year, to up to £3,000
per year.

On 31 Mar 2004:
Chris Bryant voted for the introduction of variable
university tuition fees (top-up fees) of up to £3,000
per year in place of the previous fixed fee of £1,250
per year.

On 31 Mar 2004:
Chris Bryant voted to allow university tuition fees
to increase from £1,125 per year to up to £3,000
per year, and to make other changes to higher
education funding and regulation arrangements.

On 14 Sep 2004:
Chris Bryant voted against: the immediate abolition
of all tuition fees, the re-introduction of maintenance
grants of up to £2,000 for students from low-income
homes, and changes to the country's higher
education system.

On 14 Sep 2004:
Chris Bryant voted to reject the Liberal
Democrat policy of abolition of tuition fees.

On 25 May 2016:
Chris Bryant was absent for a vote on Queen's
Speech - Forcing Schools to Become Academies
- Further Rises in University Tuition Fees

On Human Rights:

Consistently voted for introducing ID cards

Almost always voted for requiring the mass
retention of information about communications

Generally voted for mass surveillance of
people’s communications and activities

On the Environment:

Generally voted against greater regulation
of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract
shale gas

On Special Interests:

Almost always voted against limits
on success fees paid to lawyers in
no-win no fee cases

Generally voted against a
statutory register of lobbyists

On War or Peace:

Generally voted for use of UK military
forces in combat operations overseas

Consistently voted for the Iraq war

Consistently voted against an
investigation into the Iraq war

Generally voted for replacing Trident
with a new nuclear weapons system

On 2 Dec 2015:
Voted to support UK airstrikes in Syria
[without UN authorisation]

On 2 Dec 2015:
Voted to support UK airstrikes in Syria
[without UN authorisation]

On Independence:

Generally voted for more EU integration

____________________________

Chris Bryant Labour MP
From Wikipedia

(aka 1962-1986: Mr Christopher John Bryant
1986-1991: The Reverend Christopher John
Bryant, 1991-2001: Mr Christopher John
Bryant, 2001-: Mr Christopher John
Bryant MP.)

Born in Cardiff, to a Scottish mother & a Welsh
father, Bryant grew up in Cardiff, Wales (where
his father worked for 5 years), and Cheltenham.

He was educated at Cheltenham College, an
independent school for boys in the spa town
of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, where he
was captain of the school swimming team,
and Mansfield College at the University of
Oxford, where he graduated in 1983, with
a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English.
This was later promoted to a Master of
Arts degree (MA (Oxon)), as per tradition.

After completing his first degree, Bryant began
training to be a priest in the Church of England
at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, in Oxfordshire.
There, he obtained a degree in theology.

Although a member of the Conservative
Party, and an elected office-holder in the
Oxford University Conservative Association,
he joined the Labour Party in 1986, after
leaving Oxford.

He was ordained deacon in 1986 and priest in
1987. He served as a Curate at the Church of
All Saints, High Wycombe, from 1986 to 1989;
then as a Youth Chaplain in Peterborough,
as well as travelling in Latin America.

In 1991 Bryant left the ordained ministry, after
deciding that being gay and being a priest,
were incompatible. Statements made by
Richard Harries, then Bishop of Oxford,
also influenced his decision.

After leaving the priesthood in 1991, Bryant
worked as the election agent to the Holborn
and St Pancras Constituency Labour Party,
where he helped Frank Dobson hold his seat
in the 1992 general election.

From 1993, he was Local Government officer
for the Labour Party; he lived in Hackney and
was elected to Hackney Borough Council in
1993, serving until 1998. He became Chair of
the Christian Socialist Movement.

He is both a member of the Labour Friends
of Israel and Labour Friends of Palestine &
the Middle East. From 1994 to 1996 he was
London manager of the leader-grooming
"charity", Common Purpose.

He was Labour candidate for Wycombe, in the
1997 general election (he lost by 2,370 votes),
and Head of European Affairs for the BBC,
from 1998.

His selection for the very safe Labour seat of
Rhondda, South Wales in 2000, shocked many
people given Bryant's background – gay, an ex-
Anglican vicar, and someone who was a Tory,
while studying at Oxford, and a member now,
of the Henry Jackson Society 'think tank' ---
described by The Guardian newspaper as
'neoconservative'. It is pro-US, pro-NATO
and pro-military intervention, as well as
being fundamentally anti-socialist.

Fifty-two people applied for the candidature
and a local councillor was hot favourite to
win, before Bryant was parachuted in.

In 2004, a photograph of Mr Bryant in his
underpants, which he had posted to a gay
dating website, was published in 'papers.

When an interviewer suggested he was
a 'disgrace to the Rhondda', he replied:
"They can't get rid of me."

His pay, allowances and some expenses:

The basic annual salary for an MP, from
April 1st, 2016 is £74,962. MPs also get
expenses: to cover the costs of running
an office, employing staff, having some-
where to live in London, plus, in their
constituency and travelling between
Parliament and their constituency.

His MP's expenses story:

Chris Bryant changed second home
twice to claim £20,000: the deputy
leader of the House of Commons,
"flipped" his second home twice,
in 2 years, allowing him to claim
almost £20,000 for renovations
and fees.

Chris Bryant, MP for the Rhondda, split over
£92,000 of expenses between 3 properties
in Wales and London --- within five years.

In 2004, he attempted to claim £58,000 to
overhaul his second home in Wales, after
allegedly complaining that properties in
his constituency were "terrace or mine
owners' houses".

Mr Bryant, a former Church of England clergyman,
wanted the money for a new bathroom & kitchen,
and to demolish his conservatory. He'd bought the
detached house for £97,500, under a year earlier.

He submitted a claim to the Commons fees office for
£58,493.26 --- almost 3 times the annual maximum.
He noted that the claim exceeded his allowance.

His alleged justification was disclosed... in
correspondence between Commons officials.
By email, an official wrote: "He had problems
finding a suitable property because in the
Rhondda there is a choice mainly of terraced
property or mine owners' houses." When
approached by the Daily Telegraph,
Mr Bryant said: "I have never said
or thought anything of the sort".

In all, he successfully claimed over £13,000
for renovations, repairs & appliances, in 2004.
Along with other bills, his annual claim was
£20,902.

In April 2005, he flipped his expenses to his flat in
west London, which he bought for £400,000 in April
2002. He also claimed £630 a month for mortgage
interest, along with other bills. After claiming over
£3,600 over 3 months, he sold the flat in July 2005
for £477,000.

Mr Bryant used his profits to buy a more expensive
flat in west London, which was valued at £670,000.
He immediately flipped his second home expenses
there, claiming almost £6,400 in stamp duty, legal
fees and mortgage fees, incurred in the purchase.

He then began claiming interest of £1,000 a month
on the mortgage. He also claimed a further £6,000
a year for the flat's service charge and ground rent.

In all, he claimed £92, 415 in second
home expenses, from 2004 to 2009.

Mr Bryant said at the time: "I moved flat in
London, so as to be closer to Parliament."

Research by Channel 4 News in 2015 found that
at least 46 MPs had this kind of system in place
– a move one Labour backbencher described as
“a new fiddle”. Channel 4 reported then:

“Our investigation found that many of the MPs
bought their London properties with the help of
the taxpayer, when a previous expenses system
allowed them to claim back mortgage payments.
But when those claims were banned, following
the expenses scandal, they switched to letting
out their properties, in some cases for up to
£3,000 a month. They then started claiming
expenses for rent and hotels in the capital.”

Among those identified was Chris Bryant, shadow
leader of the House of Commons. He had already
bought a penthouse in London back in 2005 and
claimed around £1,000 a month in mortgage
claims under the old system.

But after the expenses scandal, he started renting
the property out. It’s since been advertised by estate
agents as having a private lift and a porter, with rent
at about £3,000 a month. Meanwhile, Bryant moved
into a new flat;- claiming his own rent on expenses.

Russian/Scottish scientists hail long-range
secure quantum communication system.

A group of scientists from ITMO University
in Saint Petersburg, Russia, has developed
a new approach to constructing quantum
communication systems for secure data
exchange.

The experimental device based on the results of the
research is capable of transmitting single-photon
quantum signals across distances of 250 klmtrs
or more, which is on par with its cutting edge
analogues, the ITMO press-service says.

"Now researchers are on a mission -- to create
a fully-fledged quantum cryptographic system,
that will generate & distribute quantum keys
and transmit useful data simultaneously",
ITMO says.

Information security is becoming more and more
of a critical issue not only for large companies,
banks and defense enterprises but even for
small businesses and individual users.

But the data encryption algorithms we currently
use for protecting our data are imperfect - in the
long-term, their logic can be cracked. Regardless
of how complex and intricate the algorithm is,
getting around it, is just a matter of time.

Unlike algorithm-based encryption, systems
that protect information, by making use of
fundamental laws of quantum physics, can
make data transmission totally immune to
hacker attacks, in the future.

Information in a quantum channel is carried
by single photons that change irreversibly
if an eavesdropper tries to intercept them.
The legitimate users will instantly know
about any kind of intervention.

Researchers at the Quantum Information Centre
of the International Institute of Photonics and
Optical Information Technology at ITMO Uni.,
Russia, along with their colleagues from the
Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, have
devised a new way to generate and
distribute, quantum bits.

This makes it possible to share quantum signals
--- via optical fibres --- 250 kilometres in distance.

"To transmit quantum signals, we use the so-
called side frequencies," says Artur Gleim,
head of the Quantum Information Centre,
at ITMO University,

"This unique approach gives us a number
of advantages -- such as a considerable
simplification of the device architecture
and the large pass-through capacity of
the quantum channel. In terms of bit rate
and operating distances, our system is
comparable to absolute champions in
the field of quantum communications."

According to Robert Collins, research associate
at the Institute of Photonics & Quantum Sciences
at Heriot-Watt University, and one of the authors
of the study, this may become a pivotal point for
the whole field of quantum communication and
cryptography:

"Down the track, this new approach can enable
smooth coexistence of numerous data streams
with different wavelengths in one single optical
cable. On top of it, these quantum streams can
be fed into the already existing fibre optic lines
--- along with conventional communications."

The research paper is published
in the Optics Express journal.

Scottish universities are to be
congratulated for their strong
& growing links with Chinese
and Russian universities....

What a shame, that Wales is
lying low --- with academics
too scared to break from
US military research.