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Cuba introduces new banknotes 


to facilitate banking operations


Havana, September 16th, 12:11am


 (Prensa Latina) 


 


Banknotes of 10,000 and 20,000 pesos will circulate from today 


in Cuba, as part of the measures aimed at facilitating banking 


operations and adapting monetary denominations to the 


current conditions of the economy.


 


The president of the Central Bank of Cuba, Juana Lilia Delgado, 


said yesterday on the television program Mesa Redonda, that 


these new banknotes complete the announced modification 


of the monetary cone of the Caribbean nation.


 


He explained that the 10,000-peso bill bears the image of 


the heroine Haydee Santamaría, while the 20,000-peso 


bill features the image of Vilma Espín.


 


The official said that the transformations planned for the Cuban 


banking and financial system are progressing gradually, with 


an implementation schedule that seeks to move towards a 


safe, modern, agile and efficient system, capable of 


contributing to economic recovery and responding 


more quickly - and with greater quality - to the 


needs of its customers.


 


According to Delgado, the BCC grouped the transformations of 


the financial system.... into two initial fronts: the opening and 


capitalization of the banking system, aimed at increasing 


the capital of institutions and expanding participation 


of various actors; and credit, savings and financing, 


aimed at strengthening the capacity of the banks 


to lend, raise resources ------ and improve 


financial intermediation.


 


The other two fronts ------ comprise innovation, payments and new 


service channels, with an emphasis on digital transformation to 


achieve more agile and accessible operations; and the foreign 


exchange market and remittances, focused on reorganizing 


these processes within the national financial system.


 


The set of measures is part of a gradual process that seeks to 


modify the structure and operation of the Caribbean nation's 


banking system, expand its capacities, incorporate new 


actors and technologies, diversify financial services 


and strengthen its link ---- with the needs of the 


economy and the population.





_______________________________________________________






  Trump’s Venezuela Oil Deal..... 

Doesn’t Add Up. Here's Why


September 4th, 9:19pm GMT


(Pravda.En)




Donald Trump has called his Venezuela agreement the “biggest 


oil deal in world history.” He promises control over 65B barrels, 


cheaper gasoline, a refilled Strategic Petroleum Reserve and 


a century of US energy dominance—all at “zero cost” to 


the US.


 


Every part of that sales pitch has.. a problem.


 


The 65B-barrel figure assumes that operators can recover around 


20% of the oil underground. Venezuela’s fields have historically 


achieved recovery rates of only 6–8%. A realistic estimate 


may therefore be closer to 20B barrels.


 


Much of it is extremely heavy crude from the Orinoco Belt. Producing 


and processing it requires dilutents, new wells, pipelines, upgrading 


facilities and specialized refineries. Trump is counting difficult oil 


in the ground, as if it were gasoline ready for delivery.


 


Venezuela ...currently produces around 1.2M barrels per day, down 


from roughly 3M in the late 1990s. Caracas says at least $100B in 


investment may be needed to raise output to just 1.5M barrels 


per day. Even that modest increase would take years and 


barely register in a global market consuming more than 


100M barrels daily.


 


The promised investment has yet to appear. Exxon previously called 


Venezuela “uninvestable” ------ while other major producers remain 


cautious. Chevron has committed $7B, but its plan runs during 


2031. Washington has placed its grand $100B reconstruction 


scheme around North American Blue Energy Partners, a far 


smaller Barbados-based operator expected to raise the 


money from private investors.


 


Those investors must also ignore the legal mess. The White House 


claims NABEP received 100-year concessions over 17 fields. 


Venezuela’s hydrocarbons law provides initial terms of up 


to 25 years, with extensions capped - at another 15. 


There was no competitive auction, and a future 


Venezuelan government could challenge
the
 entire arrangement.


 


Trump’s plan for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is equally flimsy. 


The reserve held around 294M barrels in late August -- against an 


authorized capacity of 714M. The State Department has secured 


20% of NABEP’s future production at cost - but first the company 


must find investors, rebuild the fields and produce the oil. That 


will not refill hundreds of millions of missing barrels..........


 anytime soon.


 


Cheaper gasoline is another campaign fantasy. Oil prices respond to 


actual daily supply, not century-long claims over difficult reserves. 


Any meaningful new Venezuelan output will arrive years after 


the midterms Trump wants to influence.


 


The administration has confused ownership paperwork with an 


operating oil industry. A Pentagon stake, board vetoes and 


purchase rights may give Washington control on paper. 


They cannot repair pipelines, provide electricity, 


raise $100B or ---- force heavy crude out of 


neglected fields.


 


Trump staged the victory ceremony before securing the 


financing, settling the law, or producing a single 


additional barrel.


 


Washington’s empire of plunder - celebrated the robbery 


before discovering that its loot existed largely on paper.


 


 


Source: Telegram "newrulesgeo"


 


 










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
















































 

 


 Bodies recovered from Gaza rubble

 raise Israeli war crimes concerns: 

UN rights chief

September 16th, 5:44pm

 (PressTV)

 

The recovery of numerous bodies, including the remains of entire 

families ....from buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes in Gaza 

has raised fresh concerns - over violations of international 

humanitarian law, the UN’s top human rights official says.

 

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on 

Tuesday that excavations at sites devastated by Israeli 

strikes were uncovering the remains of entire families, 

with women and children making up the majority of 

the victims.

 

“It is heartbreaking that the loved ones of those missing for 

so long are only now having their worst fears confirmed,” 

Turk said in a statement.

 

He stated that the discoveries rekindled apprehensions articulated 

in a 2024 United Nations report --- which determined that Israeli 

military strikes targeting residential structures and additional 

civilian locations throughout the initial phases of the 

genocidal war may have constituted violations 

of international humanitarian law.

 

Turk expressed concern that the recovered remains might represent 

merely “the tip of the iceberg,” emphasizing that extensive portions 

of Gaza had been reduced to rubble through Israeli aerial bombing

 or subsequent demolition and clearance initiatives.

 

He said that Israel continues to raze certain Gaza neighbourhoods 

where military personnel remain stationed, stating that bulldozing 

activities are being conducted “without regard for the deceased 

beneath the debris.”

 

Turk called for the provision of comprehensive access to all regions 

of Gaza for international investigators, emphasizing the necessity 

to safeguard evidence ....in connection with the ongoing judicial 

proceedings that scrutinize actions undertaken throughout the 

genocidal war.

 

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN rights office for the Occupied 

Palestinian Territory, stated that Israeli limitations on 

materials such as DNA testing kits and heavy 

excavation equipment are obstructing the 

recovery and identification operations.

 

“The collective impact of Israel’s conduct is making any 

systematic, large-scale search, recovery, and 

identification work nearly impossible,” 

Sunghay told a Geneva press 

briefing on Tuesday.

 

He emphasized that Palestinian teams were at times 

compelled to excavate through debris, with bare 

hands and without protective equipment 

or machinery.

 

The Palestinian Centre for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared 

Persons has condemned the Israeli regime’s unauthorized 

clearance of debris ---- across the Gaza Strip.

 

According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, over 630 bodies 

and human remains... have been recovered from beneath 

collapsed buildings across Gaza since November 2025.

 

Palestinian authorities estimate that the remains of more than 

8,000 individuals have not yet been recovered and continue 

to be buried beneath the rubble.

 

Earlier this month, the Palestinian Centre for Missing and Forcibly 

Disappeared Persons formally denounced the Israeli regime's 

unilateral clearance of debris across the Gaza Strip, 

describing the initiative as a "moral execution" 

of numerous missing Palestinians whose 

bodies lie beneath the wreckage.

 

On September 6, the centre again, articulated profound 

apprehension and vigorous denunciation regarding 

systematic Israeli activities to dismantle and 

remove debris from Gaza's devastated 

residential areas.

 

It cautioned that the initiative constitutes an intentional effort 

to eliminate the forensic evidence required to determine the 

fate of missing Palestinians.

 

The centre stated -- that the work does not constitute a 

humanitarian endeavour aimed at recovering victims. 

Rather, it represents an effort ---- to obliterate the 

remains of their bodies.

 

A report by the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor issued last month 

maintained that the removal of debris from Gaza could be an 

attempt at demographic engineering and erasing evidence 

of the genocide.

 

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, launched in October 2023, 

has generated around 61 million tons of wreckage and 

debris .........that could take seven years to clear, 

according to the UN.

 

Israel's military onslaught in Gaza has claimed the lives 

of more than 73,790 Palestinians, according to the 

territory's health authorities.

 

 

_______________________________________________



Iran warns: AI could become

the apparatus of ‘invisible 

dictatorship’ ---- amid its

growing use in warfare

September 16th, 9:57am

 (PressTV)

 

Iran’s minister of science, research and technology has warned 

that artificial intelligence --- could turn control over data into 

control over people and create an “invisible dictatorship,” 

raising concerns over its use in warfare.

 

Addressing UNESCO’s 2026 Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial 

Intelligence (GFEAI 2026) in Riyadh, on Wednesday, Hossein 

Simaee Sarraf stressed that technology is not neutral and 

warned that AI could be used as a means of oppression.

 

“Artificial intelligence does not act fairly by itself,” Simaee 

remarked, adding that algorithms can sometimes destroy 

more than they create --- and platforms can become 

sources of harm instead of development.

 

He also cautioned that even surveillance must have limits, noting 

that greater oversight of governments and those in power is 

desirable, but monitoring ordinary citizens’ behaviour, 

relationships and intentions could create an 

“invisible dictatorship.”

 

“Today, data is being used in actions that violate human rights 

and even lead to the killing of children,” the minister noted, 

questioning whether AI platforms and technology 

developers should bear responsibility for 

how their systems are used.

 

Simaee pointed out that AI can also be used “to identify 

and precisely target human beings with missiles,” 

raising serious ethical questions over its 

military applications.

 

Referring to the attack on a school in southern Iran by the US 

using AI --- which resulted in the martyrdom of 168 students 

and teachers, Simaee highlighted that the issue requires 

deep consideration and urgent solutions.

 

The minister further cautioned that AI could widen existing 

inequalities, noting that an ethical framework should not 

only prevent harm, but also guarantee equal access to 

the technology.

 

“Technology --- must serve humanity, and artificial intelligence must 

expand human freedom, rather than restrict it,” Simaee stressed, 

calling on developing countries ---- to build AI systems suited to 

their own languages and cultures.

 

The AI-assisted attack on an Iranian elementary school during the 

US-Israeli aggression did not breach Anthropic’s “red lines,” 

the company’s CEO says.

 

His warnings come as AI-assisted warfare has increasingly 

featured in Tel Aviv and Washington’s military operations.

 

Investigations suggest that Israel has extensively used the digital 

tools Lavender and the Gospel to identify and target Palestinians 

in Gaza, where the regime has killed more than 73,000 people 

and wounded 173,000 others.

 

Reports have also linked AI-assisted surveillance and targeting 

technologies to the regime’s military aggression in Lebanon, 

where its forces have killed 4,383 people and wounded 

12,406 others.

 

Furthermore... during the US-Israeli aggression against Iran, several 

AI platforms developed by major technology companies, including 

Microsoft, Apple and Amazon, were combined with satellite 

imagery, radar, drone and communications data to create 

a battlefield picture and support targeting decisions.

 

He underscored that the region’s most important priority is now 

an end to unilateral coercive measures and the establishment 

of peace, describing sanctions as “unethical” and peace and 

security as an ethical necessity.

 

Simaee also noted that Iran enjoys capable universities, 

researchers, knowledge-based companies and 

specialized institutions, stressing that these 

capacities should be brought together 

through greater cooperation, data 

sharing.... and the joint use 

of infrastructure.

 

















































Image: Wilfred Burchett's Birth Day








Today, September 16th, in 1911,

 

Wilfred Graham Burchett,

 

an honest journalist,

 

is born.

 

Burchett began his career in journalism in 1940 when he obtained 

accreditation with the Australian Associated Press, to report on 

the revolt against the Vichy French in the South Pacific colony 

of New Caledonia. He recounted his experiences in his book 

- 'Pacific Treasure Island: New Caledonia'.

 

Historian Beverly Smith, said that Pacific Treasure Island describes 

Burchett's view of "the way in which Australian culture and mores, 

as they emerged from the pioneers' experience... could develop in 

harmony with those of the liberated peoples in neighbouring Asia".

 

Burchett  was wounded while reporting on Britain's campaign in 

Burma. He also covered the US advance in the Pacific under 

General Douglas MacArthur.

 

Hiroshima

 

Burchett was in Okinawa when he heard on the radio that 

"the world’s first A-bomb had been dropped on a place 

called Hiroshima".

 

He was the first Western journalist to visit Hiroshima, after the atom 

bomb was dropped, arriving alone by train on September 2, the day 

of the formal surrender of Japan, after a thirty-hour train
trip ---- in breach of MacArthur's orders.

 

During his reporting, he ran into a press junket organised by 

Tex McCrary for promoting the US Army Air Force and later

 referred to the group as "housetrained reporters" 

participating in a "cover-up".

 

His Morse code dispatch was printed on the front page of the 

Daily Express newspaper in London on 5 September 1945. 

Entitled "The Atomic Plague" ---- and with the subtitle 

"I Write This as a Warning to the World", it began:

 

''In Hiroshima, 30 days after the first atomic bomb destroyed the 

city and shook the world, people are still dying, mysteriously 

and horribly – people who were uninjured by the cataclysm 

– from an unknown something which I can only describe 

as atomic plague. Hiroshima does not look like a 

bombed city. It looks as if a monster steam-

roller had passed over it, and squashed it 

out of existence. I write these facts as 

dispassionately as I can in the hope

that they will act as a warning to 

the world.''

 

MacArthur had imposed restrictions on journalists' access to 

bombed cities - and had censored reports of the destruction 

caused by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Civilian 

casualties were downplayed and the deadly lingering 

effects of radiation were dismissed.

 

The New York Times published a front-page story with the headline 

'No radioactivity in Hiroshima ruin'. Military censors suppressed a 

25,000 word story about the bombing of Nagasaki submitted by 

George Weller of the Chicago Daily News.

 

Burchett's report was the first in the Western media to mention 

the effects of radiation and nuclear fallout and was, therefore,

 a major embarrassment for the US military.

 

Burchett lost his press accreditation and was ordered to leave 

Japan, although this order was later withdrawn. His camera,
containing photos of Hiroshima, was confiscated while he 

was documenting persistent illness at a Tokyo hospital. 

The film was sent to Washington - and classified as 

''secret'' - before being released..... in 1968.

 

Burchett wrote about his experiences

 in his book, 'Shadows of Hiroshima'.

 

Burchett returned to Australia in 1950 and campaigned against 

Robert Menzies’ bill to ban the Communist Party. In 1951, 

Burchett travelled to the People's Republic of China as 

a foreign correspondent for the French communist 

newspaper L'Humanité. 

 

After six months in China, he wrote 'China's Feet Unbound', which 

supported the new Chinese government of Mao Zedong.  In July 

1951, he and UK journalist Alan Winnington... made their way 

to North Korea, to cover the Panmunjom Peace Talks. 

 

Burchett investigated - and confirmed - claims by the North Korean 

government that the US had used Germ warfare in the Korean War. 

 

During his investigation, he observed "clusters of flies and fleas on 

the snow-covered hillsides", which the North Korean military said 

were infected with bubonic plague. In his 1953 book about the 

Korean war, 'This Monstrous War', he wrote:

 

''My main interest in the camps --- was to interview American airmen. 

The testimony of those who admitted to taking part in germ warfare 

has already been published. I talked to all of these airmen at length 

and on several occasions. I am convinced that the statements they 

made are accurate and were made of their own free will.''

 

The US military's Far Eastern Command (FEC), wanted to silence 

Burchett by "exfiltrating" him from North Korea but its request 

to the Australian government for permission, which included 

a $100,000 inducement (over $1,000,000 in 2022 dollars), 

was turned down. 

 

Instead, the FEC established a smear campaign against 

Burchett --------- backed by the Australian government.

 

On 21 December 1951, Burchett achieved a major scoop 

by interviewing the most senior United Nations POW, 

US General William F. Dean, and organising for 

photographs of Dean to be taken.

 

The US claimed that Dean had been killed by the North Koreans 

and intended using his ''death'', as leverage in negotiations 

with the North Koreans. It was angry that Burchett 

reported that he was alive.

 

In his autobiography Dean entitled a chapter "My Friend Wilfred 

Burchett" and wrote "I like Burchett and am grateful to him". 

He expressed thanks, for Burchett's "special kindness" in

improving his conditions, communicating with his family, 

and giving him an "accurate" briefing on the war.

 

In 1956, Burchett arrived in Moscow as a correspondent. 

For the next six years he reported on Soviet advances 

in science and the rebuilding of the post-war Soviet

economy. In one dispatch Burchett wrote:

 

"A new humanism is at work in the Soviet Union - which makes 

that peddled in the West look shoddy - for it starts right down 

in the grass roots of Soviet society; its all-embracing sweep 

leaves behind no underprivileged".

 

In 1962 ----- Burchett began writing on the war in Vietnam ----- from 

the North Vietnamese perspective. Beginning in November 1963, 

Burchett spent six months in southern Vietnam with Viet Cong 

guerrillas, staying in their fortified hamlets and travelling 

underground in their network of narrow tunnels.

 

After US President Kennedy increased the funding for the war in 

Vietnam, Burchett wrote: "No peasants anywhere in the world 

had so many dollars per capita lavished on their extermination".

 

He described Ho Chi Minh as "the greatest man I’ve ever met, with 

all the modesty and simplicity that goes with human greatness".

 

He described Saigon as "a seething cauldron in which hissed 

and bubbled a witches' brew of rival French and American 

imperialisms, spiced with feudal warlordism and fascist 

despotism" and decried the regime of South Vietnam 

under Ngo Dinh Diem as "an Asian neo-fascism no 

less dangerous for world peace, than European 

fascism" was during the 1930s.

 

Bertrand Russell wrote that "If any one man is responsible 

for alerting Western opinion to the struggle of the people 

of Vietnam, it is Wilfred Burchett".

 

Burchett published numerous books 

about Vietnam and the war.

 

After hearing of Portugal's Carnation Revolution of 25 April in 1974, 

Burchett took the first aeroplane from Paris to Lisbon --- and spent 

months interviewing members of the military, fishermen, farmers,

 and people in charge of cooperatives, which served as a source

 for the book "The Captains’ Coup". 

 

This book would remain unpublished in English until 2025, its 

manuscript being considered lost for years then found at the 

National Library of Australia by Daniela Melo and Timothy 

Dale Walker, but was published in Portuguese, in 1975, 

under the title ----- "Portugal depois da revolução dos 

capitães" ("Portugal after the Captains' Revolution").

 

Burchett visited Phnom Penh in May 1979, and wrote in The 

Guardian about the desperate situation in Cambodia. The 

Phnom Penh government ...drew up a list of required

emergency relief which Burchett took to London, 

where he read it out at an all-party meeting 

in the House of Commons. 

 

He said that the governments in both Vietnam and Cambodia had 

assured him that relief would be welcome --- and that "a great 

many human beings are starving - and need your help". 

 

The UK government did nothing in response to Burchett's request 

since the newly elected government of Margaret Thatcher had 

joined the US strangulation of Vietnam -- which continued for 

18+ years... after Vietnam had beaten the US in their war...

and cut all food aid to Vietnam and Cambodia. 

 

However, Jim Howard, a technical officer for Oxfam was 

at the meeting and was moved to arrange for the first 

significant Western relief to Cambodia.

 

In 1955, Burchett's British passport had ''gone missing,'' 

believed stolen, and the Australian Government 

refused to issue a replacement and asked 

the British to do the same.

 

He again requested an Australian passport in 1960 and 1965 

but was denied both times. A further request in July 1968 

was rejected by prime minister John Gorton.

 

 For many years Burchett held a Vietnamese laissez-passer 

which grew so large due to the additional pages that 

needed to be added each time he travelled, that 

Burchett said he needed an attache case 

to carry it. 

 

While Burchett was attending a conference in Cuba, Fidel Castro 

learned about his passport problem, and issued him with a 

Cuban passport. Matters came to a head in 1969 when 

Burchett was refused entry into Australia to attend 

his father's funeral. 

 

The following year his brother Clive died, and Burchett flew to 

Brisbane in a privately chartered light plane as the Gorton 

government had threatened commercial airlines with 

steep penalties for flying Burchett into the country.

 

He was allowed entry, triggering a media sensation. 

 

In 1972, an Australian passport was finally issued to Burchett 

by the incoming Whitlam government which said there was 

no evidence to justify its continued denial. Writing in The 

Australian, Greg Lockhart described the previous 

governments' actions as "a remarkable breach 

of the human rights of an Australian citizen" - 

in which it "simply exiled him for 17 years".

 

In 2011 -- Vietnam celebrated Burchett's 100th birthday 

with an exhibition in the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Hanoi.

 

He had written of the French and US policy:

 

''The Vietnamese must be made to feel 

that they are racial inferiors, with no 

right to a national identity.''










‘War criminal promotion tactics’
: Adidas

 faces boycott calls ---- over campaign 

featuring an Israeli trooper

September 4th, 9:45pm

 (PressTV)

 

Calls for a boycott of Adidas are growing after the sportswear 

company featured an Israeli trooper in a global campaign.

 

The campaign has prompted criticism from pro-Palestine 

organizations and activists --- because of the trooper 

Shaliv Biton’s participation in the Israeli regime’s 

bloodletting in Gaza.

 

The campaign has been rolled out in Adidas stores, 

including its outlets in the occupied territories.

 

Biton took part in an Israeli assault in Gaza in 2021 that 

claimed the lives of more than 200 Palestinians and 

destroyed numerous buildings.

 

Critics have reminded Biton’s military background and his 

social media activity. He has shared photographs and 

videos of himself and other Israeli forces in Gaza, 

including footage of troops singing and dancing, 

while his profile also contains images of him 

carrying weapons.

 

Sports journalist Leyla Hamed criticized Adidas’ choice of 

campaign representative, arguing that the company 

chose to bank on Biton’s having lost a leg, while 

it should have considered the wider context 

of limb loss in Gaza.

 

“Gaza has the highest per capita rate of child amputees in the world.

 More than 5,000 traumatic limb amputations have been estimated 

since October 2023, as a result of Israeli attacks carried out by 

soldiers like the one Adidas chose to model for them,” 

she wrote on X.

 

US-based political commentator and activist Guy Christensen also 

condemned the campaign, writing, “Actually disgusting when you 

know kids in Gaza who might not ever get to walk again.” He

 subsequently called for a boycott of Adidas.

 

Another activist denounced the company for 

associating itself with the Israeli military.

 

“The German sportswear brand Adidas is using Zionist war 

criminals from the "Israel" army, who lost a foot while 

invading Gaza..... to promote their new single-foot 

sneakers. More than 4,000 Palestinian children 

have been amputated by "Israel's" bombs, 

but Adidas and other millionaire 

multinationals ignore them,” 

the activist wrote on X.

 

Other critics similarly condemned Adidas 

for associating itself with genocide 

and apartheid.

 

Earlier this year, the NGO Humanity & Inclusion reported that 

between 70 and 80 percent of patients admitted to the 12 

hospitals that were still partially functioning in Gaza... 

had lost limbs or suffered spinal cord injuries.

 

UNICEF estimated in January 2024 that about 1,000 children 

in Gaza had lost one or both legs, equivalent at the time to 

approximately 10 children losing a limb each day during 

Israeli bombardments. The figure is believed to have

 risen since then.

 

The shortage of medical supplies and the continuing blockade of 

Gaza have also complicated the treatment and rehabilitation of 

amputees. Healthcare workers have resorted to producing 

homemade prosthetics as temporary aids for people 

who have lost limbs.... while waiting for access 

to appropriate prosthetic devices.

 

 

______________________________________

 


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.



Image: No thanks to Israeli goods App

The world and her daughter are calling for a boycott
of the genocidal colonial apartheid state of Israel.

Place yourself on the right side of joy and sorrow
by joining the world's boycott - say ''no'' to evil!




ROGER WATERS
TO MUSICIANS:-
"BOYCOTT ISRAEL"


Roger Waters formerly of Pink Floyd, in an open letter,
 calls on his fellow musicians --- to boycott the Zionist
Israeli regime and follow the example of the cultural
boycott against the ex S. African Apartheid regime.

“Given the inability or unwillingness of our governments
 [to act] …. I write to you now, my brothers and sisters …
 to ask you to join with me, & thousands of other artists
 around the world, to declare a cultural boycott
on Israel,” 
Roger Waters says in his letter.

Waters says the Zionist regime has been found guilty of
 major breaches of human rights and international law
 by international organizations, UN officials and the
International Court of Justice.


He touches on two such cases, saying the regime has been
 identified as perpetrating the “crime of Apartheid”, including
 in a statement on March 9th, 2012 by the UN Committee on
the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the “crime of
ethnic cleansing” including in East Jerusalem (al-Quds).

Waters adds that he has been a member of the Boycott,
 Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against the
 Israeli regime’s occupation of the Palestinian lands and
 Tel Aviv’s violations of Palestinian human rights for 7
 years, and now wants other musicians to also join
the
anti-Israeli front.


“Please join me and all our brothers and sisters in global
 civil society in proclaiming our rejection of Apartheid in
 Israel & occupied Palestine, by pledging not to perform
 or exhibit in Israel or accept any award or funding from
 any institution linked to the government of Israel, until
 such time as Israel complies with international law
and
universal principles of human rights.” 


The former Pink Floyd Musician also says he has recently
 faced a boycott by the US media after his November 29th,
 2012 address at the UN on behalf of the Russell Tribunal.

In the address, he sought accountability for the Zionist
 regime’s violations of the international law and the lack
 of United Nations resolve that prevents the Palestinian
 people from achieving their inalienable rights,
especially 
the right of self-determination.



____________________




AT THE FACTORY


Tickets from


www.wegottickets.com/thefactory

www.ticketweb.co.uk

browse venues in Wales

www.ticketlineuk.com

02920 230130

Cash tickets from:

The Factory, Porth
Instrumental Music, Penygraig
Spillers Records, Cardiff


For more details visit


www.factoryporth.com
www.facebook.com/TheFactoryVenue
Twitter @TheFactoryPorth
01443 687080


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



Daytime Delights...

Starts at 1pm

The Parc & Dare, Treorchy


Lunchtime Concerts in the Lounge Bar.


Indulge in a delicious cake and a cup of tea
while enjoying music and sing-along songs
from fantastic Welsh musicians.


Ticket information:

The Cultural Services Booking & Information Line:

08000 147 111
or book online at

www.rct-arts.co.uk 


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



Mid Rhondda Modelling Club...


7pm - 9pm


Tonyrefail Comprehensive School
Mid Rhondda Modelling Club

has been running for over 30 years.

We meet on a regular basis

& enjoy making models for display.

We encourage both Gentlemen

and Ladies to attend,
and also young people aged 12+.

However, Young people under 16,
must be accompanied by an adult.



Ticket information

£1 contribution every week. Under 16's free


Telephone Mr. Davies on 01443 686658



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



 Comedy In The Laughter Lounge


The Park & Dare Theatre, Treorchy.


COMEDY IN THE LAUGHTER LOUNGE


Join us once a month in the intimate setting
of the Laughter Lounge for some
top notch comedy with some of the
biggest and brightest

rising comedians on the circuit.

Laugh? You'll snort like a pig!



Hilarious - TimeOut.



www.rct-arts.co.uk







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
or 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_b6pvBprm
GA4XFdG-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 at: 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...

- their anti-Corbyn slant is still 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 & 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 the Queen's
Speech - Forcing Schools to Become Academies
- and 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), & 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
& 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 said:
"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 & 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
taxpayers, when a previous expenses system
 let them claim back the mortgage payments.
But when those claims were banned, after
 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 porter, with rent
 at about £3,000 a month. Meantime, Bryant moved
  into a new flat claiming his own rent on expenses.


Image: Russian scientists and Scottish ones



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.


Image: BRICS

Image: March 26 London anti cuts demo




KILLING THE ELDERLY BY CLOSING CARE HOMES


Did you know that each time a local authority

closes a care home for the elderly, within 8

months, around half the residents are dead?

Campaigners liken the cuts and their effect
to euthanasia of the UK's elderly.
What to do?


We can start by urging our MPs to sign EDM 2251:

EDM 2251: The contents


This House notes with deep concern the worsening
crisis for elderly care as growing numbers of local
authority and private care homes face closure

Acknowledges concerns that the loss of elderly
people's care homes causes fear, anxiety and,
in many cases, a higher mortality rate, when
vulnerable, elderly people are forced to
leave their homes

Further notes that the Southern Cross crisis
will increase needs for local authority care

And therefore calls on the government to
hold a public inquiry into the deaths after
closures, of local authority care homes,
and impose a moratorium on the closure
of local authority care homes, until that
inquiry publishes its results, to ensure
that vulnerable, elderly people's lives
are not put at further risk.


Image: unemployment in Wales


FARMING AND SCIENCE

COULD REGENERATE WALES



A new UN General Assembly report warns
"vast areas" of cultivated land are lost each
year, and that this could lead to unrest.

 The report says up to 30 million hectares,
 an area the size of Italy, is lost each year
to environmental degradation, industry &
 urbanization - the growth of cities - and all
because of speculative building and greed.

 The UN special rapporteur Olivier De Schutter,
 gives the example of eastern Africa, where
the
amount of cultivated land has declined
by half ---
in just one generation! "


As rural populations grow and competition
with
large industrial units increases, plots
cultivated
by smallholders are shrinking
year after year,"
says De Schutter.


 "Farmers are often relegated to soils that
are arid,
hilly or without irrigation."


 The UN officer also mentions India as another
example,
where the average landholding fell
from 2.6 hectares
in 1960 to 1.4 hectares in
2000. A cut of nearly half
in 40 years!


He says 500 million small farmers suffer
from hunger, partly because their right to
land
is being violated.


The expert warns of the devastating
consequences,
as foreign investors
compete for larger and larger areas of
the
world's land for "their" agriculture.


 Rhondda Records says Wales could rebuild
its new
economy by basing it on a fresh
approach to high-value
added products,
using science and agriculture... such as

 the Altzeim project in Gwent.

 What have we got to lose?




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