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Journalist: To end war ------

prosecute UK, US officials

who wage(d) it illegally


October 22nd, 10:12pm (PressTV)


 


The world must finally put an end to the impunity of war


 criminals, by holding US and UK officials responsible 


for launching the illegal war on Iraq, done without


 the approval of the UN Security Council, and 


prosecuting them --- under the Nuremberg 


principles, US journalist Don DeBar said.


 


DeBar made the remarks in an interview with Press TV while


commenting on a report which has revealed that the British


military inquiries into abuse against Iraqi nationals... have


been closed without a single prosecution being brought,


even though the credibility of many "shocking and 


shameful incidents" during the war in the Middle 


Eastern country, have been confirmed.


 


British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement 


this week that the Service Police Legacy Investigations, 


which was looking at claims of abuse in Iraq, had now 


"officially closed its doors."


 


In March 2003, the US and Britain invaded Iraq in blatant


 violation of international law and under the pretext of 


finding WMDs; but no such weapons were ever 


discovered in Iraq.


 


More than one million Iraqis were killed - as the result of


 the US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq


--- according to the California-based investigative 


organization, Project Censored.


 


The US war in Iraq cost US taxpayers $1.7 trillion with


 an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war
veterans, 
expenses that could grow to more than
$6 trillion over the
 next four decades counting
interest, according to a study
 called Costs of
War Project  ---  by the Watson Institute for 


International Studies at Brown University.


 


DeBar told Press TV that the Iraq war 


was illegal from the very beginning.


 


"It is illegal for a nation to make war on another nation if it 


does not have the approval of the UN Security Council, if 


any of those nations are signatories to the original UN 


Charter. And it’s been adopted - that happened with 


the US, as a charter member of the UN -- and it was 


approved by the US Senate in the 1940s.

Consequently, 
the US involvement in Iraq from
the beginning, and 
the UK involvement in Iraq
from the beginning, 
was illegal,” he said.


 


“And under the Nuremberg standards, which would then


 apply, each and every death consequent – intentional 


or not - to either US or UK military action there, or 


condoning of the US action there, by the media 


or public officials, or any act facilitating that, 


is an individual war crime. And, by the way,


 there’s a death penalty for that,” the 


journalist noted.


 


“No one will prosecute these people. That’s why I started


 with the word impunity. And we might bookend with that


 because that’s the problem. And until the world puts an


 end to that impunity, until the world sees the major 


contradiction in all international relations, is US, 


UK, and EU imperialism, then it’s going to 


continue until this eats our species,” 


he stated.


 


A damning White House memo had revealed details of the


 so-called “deal in blood” forged by former British Prime


 Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush


 over the Iraq war.


 


The document, titled “Secret... Memorandum for the


 President”, was sent by then-US Secretary of State 


Colin Powell to President Bush on March 28th,
2002, 
a week before Bush’s summit with Blair
at his 
Crawford ranch in Texas.


 


The sensational memo, revealed that Blair had agreed to


 support the war a year before the invasion even started


 while publicly, the British prime minister was working
to
 find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.


 


The document also disclosed that Blair agreed to act as a


 spin doctor for Bush and convince a skeptical public that 


Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass


 Destruction, which actually did not exist.


 


In response, Bush would flatter Blair and give the 


impression that London was not Washington’s 


poodle but an equal partner in the


 “special relationship.”


 


Powell told Bush that Blair “will be with us” on the 


Iraq war, and assured the president that “"the UK 


will follow our lead in the Middle East."


 


Blair has always denied the claim that he and Bush 


signed a deal “in blood”, at Crawford, to launch a 


war against Iraq that began on March 20th, 2003, 


that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.


 


The Powell memo, however, showed how Blair and 


Bush secretly prepared the Iraq war plot behind 


closed doors at Crawford.


 


Powell told Bush: “He will present to you the strategic, 


tactical and public affairs lines, that he believes will 


strengthen global support for our common cause.”


 


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

People hold up a banner as they protest 

against Israel at the entrance of the 

International Criminal Court. 










40-plus Palestinians killed in Israeli 


attacks on 100s of residential 


buildings in N Gaza: Report


November 3rd, 2:16am


 (PressTV)


 


The Gaza Strip’s Government Media Office says more 


than 40 Palestinians -- including many women and 


children, have been killed during Israeli attacks 


on hundreds of residential buildings in the 


northern part of the coastal sliver.


 


The fatalities have occurred over the space of just 48 


hours, the office reported in a statement on Saturday.


 


The Israeli military has bombed and destroyed 254 


residential structures... at the Nuseirat Refugee 


Camp in northern Gaza, throughout the period, 


deploying internationally banned ammunition 


from warplanes and tanks, it noted.


 


“Explosive barrels were planted among citizens’ 


homes and detonated remotely,” the 


statement said.


 


“The occupation.... also used missiles with immense 


destructive power against homes,” the office said,


 noting that the projectiles, which were “mostly


 covered with asbestos... and zinc sheets,”


 reduced the targets..... “to rubble, in an 


unimaginable humanitarian disaster.”


 


The office further denounced the regime’s allies,


 including the United States, the UK, Germany, 


and France, as countries that are “complicit


 --- in the ongoing genocide,” holding them 


fully responsible for the continuation 


of the regime’s atrocities.


 


The most recent victims of the aggression are among 


the 43,300-plus Palestinians, who have been killed


 as a result of the regime’s October 2023-present 


genocidal war on entire Gaza. Women and 


children comprise the majority of 


the victims.


 


“We demand that the international community, and all 


international organizations exert maximum pressure 


on the Israeli occupation to stop its crimes against 


humanity ------ and end the genocidal war against 


defenseless civilians in the Gaza Strip,”


 the statement concluded.


 


 


 


_____________________________________


 


 


 


Two more Israeli forces 


killed in northern Gaza: 


Reports


November 2nd, 10:06pm


 (PressTV)


 


Israeli media outlets have reported the death of two 


more Israeli forces in the northern part of the Gaza 


Strip, where the Israeli military is facing 


increasingly stiff resistance.


 


Reporting on Saturday, the outlets said the forces


 belonged to the military’s Givati Brigade --- an 


infantry force, adding that another trooper 


was seriously injured in confrontations 


with Palestinian resistance fighters.


 


The fatalities occurred after the troops entered 


a booby-trapped house in the city of Jabalia.


 


The structure lies near a residential building that was 


blown up following the intrusion of a group of Israeli 


troops, resulting in the death of four of the forces 


earlier this week.


 


The Israeli military itself has admitted that four of its 


forces had been wounded across Gaza over the 


past 24 hours.


 


A day earlier --- fighters with the armed wing of the 


Palestinian resistance movement Hamas released 


a statement --- announcing their killing and 


wounding of as many as fifteen Israeli 


troops - during a complex operation 


in northern Gaza.


 


Palestinians have stepped up their resistance 


operations in the face of intensified Israeli 


aggression in northern Gaza that has 


claimed the lives of more than 


1,000 people over the 


past weeks.


 


Announcing the death toll, Mahmoud Basal, Gaza’s


 chief of civil defense, recently said, “The 


occupation deliberately destroys more 


than one building in each airstrike 


to cause the highest number 


of martyrs.”


 


A Gazan official says the Israeli regime’s intensified 


attacks on the northern part of the coastal sliver 


has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, mostly 


women and children, so far.


 


The fatalities are among the 43,300-plus Palestinians,


 who have been killed --- as a result of the Israeli 


regime’s October 2023-present genocidal war 


on the territory. Women and children 


comprise the majority of 


the victims.


 


 


 


_______________________________


 


 


 


Israeli Enemy Continues War on 


Lebanon, Targeting Akkar


 for the First Time


November 2nd, 9:40pm


(al Manar)


 


The barbaric Zionist war on Lebanon continued on


 Saturday, launching numerous air raids on the 


South, Bekaa, Beirut and the North. 


 


The aggression so far has left 2,968 martyrs and 


13,319 injuries, according to the latest toll 


released by the health ministry.


 


In details, an Israeli warplane raided Haris town in 


Tyre City, leaving casualties. Other Zionist air 


raids targeted the town of Halousiya and 


the outskirts of the town of Qana.


 


Zionist drone attacks also targeted the vicinity of 


Hiram Hospital and the area between Al-Humairi 


and Maaroub.


 


The Zionist air force.. raided the area between 


Al-maslakh and Al-Salihiya neighbourhoods...


in the city of Nabatieh, leaving two martyrs. 



An Israeli drone also carried out a raid 


with a guided missile, targeting the 


eastern town of Zawtar.


 


The Israeli war jets also raided Germash crossing 


in Hermel City on the borders between Lebanon 


and Syria. An Israeli air raid also targeted 


Mashghara town in Western Bekaa 


with no casualties reported.


 


Akkar was targeted for the first time by the Israeli war


 on Lebanon. One air raid targeted Mount Akroum, 


while another one hit the area between 


Al-Nassoub and Halwas.


 


On the other hand, the Islamic Resistance continued 


attacking the Israeli occupation forces in the border 


villages - in addition to the Zionist military bases 


and settlements.


 


 


Source: Al-Manar English Website


 


 


_____________________________________


 


 


 


US embassy in Beirut blocks Iraq-


Lebanon humanitarian air bridge


November 2nd, 8pm


 (PressTV)


 


The US embassy in Beirut - has blocked the


 establishment of a humanitarian air bridge 


between Iraq and Lebanon, insisting that 


any consignment of humanitarian aid 


destined for those displaced as a 


result of the - ongoing - Israeli 


military offensive, must be  


delivered via Jordan “for


 inspection first.”


 


According to a report by the Lebanese Al Akhbar 


Arabic-language newspaper.. Washington.. 


reportedly also threatened - to slap more 


sanctions against Lebanon's flag carrier, 


Middle East Airlines (MEA), if its planes 


were used to transport those wounded 


by the explosion of thousands of hand


-held pagers and walkie-talkies -- in 


terror attacks by Israel.


 


Furthermore, the US embassy in Lebanon, receives a 


“daily manifesto” of all passengers traveling through 


Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport... from the 


International Air Transport Association (IATA).


 


Iraq became one of the top providers of humanitarian 


aid - via land - to Lebanon, since the Israeli military 


invaded southern Lebanon at the start of October.


 


Nevertheless, Israel's destruction --- of the main road 


linking Lebanon to Syria has hampered those efforts. 


 


Al Akhbar reported that the US embassy is behind 


“mysterious” road works in the coastal Dbayeh 


area north of Beirut.... noting -- that the 


development comes as Washington 


continues to meddle in Beirut's 


internal politics. 


 


 “[Bulldozers] began at the beginning of the aggression 


to open a passage between the sea road adjacent to


 the [Lebanese Armed Forces'] Al-Fuhoud barracks,


 in Dbayeh and the sea …... After some residents 


became suspicious of these works and asked 


the army about their nature, the military 


institution denied any knowledge of 


the matter,” the report read.


 


Lebanon's Ministry of Public Works and Transport, has 


denied any knowledge about the construction, which 


the daily newspaper says is being undertaken at the 


request of the US embassy --- under the “implicit 


approval” of the Lebanese army's command to 


allegedly “prepare for the evacuation” of 


US citizens.


 


Last month, local media reported that the US embassy


 in Lebanon has been in talks with their local allies to 


ignite an “internal uprising” that would help the Tel 


Aviv regime achieve its war goals.


 


At least 71 people were killed and 169 wounded 


in Israeli airstrikes on Friday, according to 


Lebanon’s Health Ministry.


 


The total number of deaths from Israeli attacks 


in Lebanon since October 2023 now stands at 


2,968, with 13,319 people wounded.


 


 


_______________________________________


 


 


 


Israel plans to displace Palestinians 


in occupied West Bank: Senior 


Hamas official


November 2nd, 7:50pm


 (PressTV)


 


A senior official with the Palestinian resistance 


movement Hamas has warned of Israel’s plans 


to annex the West Bank & drive Palestinians 


out of their villages, as the regime’s troops 


continue their deadly raids on the 


occupied territory.


 


“We warn --- of the grave danger posed by the plans, led 


by the extremist occupation regime and illegal settler 


groups to displace the residents of Palestinian 


villages in the occupied West Bank,” 


Mahmoud Mardawi said, in a 


statement on Saturday. 


 


He went on to say that the Israeli regime’s current 


actions in different areas across the West Bank -


 constitute a “serious plan --- targeting the


Palestinian presence” in the 


occupied territory.


 


Mardawi further noted that the occupying regime 


“seeks to alter the demographic reality -- and 


complete its West Bank annexation plan, 


which has already resulted in the 


seizure of thousands of acres 


of Palestinian land... over 


the years.”


 


The latest development came after Israel's far-right 


minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the full 


annexation of the West Bank and the 


Gaza Strip - earlier this week.


 


Speaking at a recent summit in occupied al-Quds, 


hosted by Israel for a US evangelical audience 


on Monday, Smotrich asserted that Israel 


should unequivocally declare - there 


would be no Palestinian state.


 


Smotrich, who has a history of making outrage-inciting


 comments and provoking Palestinians, repeated his 


proposal of expanding Israeli settlements within 


the West Bank and other occupied territories.


 


Israel has ramped up its aggression against 


Palestinians across the West Bank since 


October 7 last year --- when it launched 


a genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.


 


Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and 


thousands of others injured by Israeli settlers 


or troops across the occupied territory 


since the onset of the war.


 


There has also been a sharp increase in violent 


assaults by extremist Jewish settlers across


 the West Bank.


 


More than 700,000 Israelis live in over 230 


settlements built since the 1967 Israeli 


occupation of the West Bank and 


East al-Quds.


 


The international community --- views the 


settlements as illegal under international 


law and the Geneva Conventions, due to 


their construction on occupied territory.


 


 


 


_____________________________________




 Israeli Commandos Kidnap 

Lebanese Civil Naval 

Officer from Batroun

November 2nd, 5:38pm

(al Manar)

 

Marking a new Israeli aggression and violation of 

Lebanon’s sovereignty, a Zionist naval force 

landed in the northern Lebanese coastal 

town of Batroun early on Friday and 

captured one person, a security 

source said.

 

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said 

security forces were investigating the incident.

 

Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali 

Hamieh indicated that the kidnapped Imad Amhaz 

is a civilian naval officer.

 

He said: “The kidnapping of Amhaz -- took place 100 

metres from his place of residence. If it is proven 

that the kidnapping took place via a naval 

landing, where is the implementation 

of Resolution 1701?”

 

Hamieh stressed that communication is underway 

with UNIFIL, as “the Lebanese coast is monitored 

by the peace-keeping forces, periodically, from 

Naqoura to Arida.”

 

The Zionist force “went with all its weapons 

and equipment to a chalet near the beach, 

kidnapping a Lebanese man… and sailing 

away into the open sea on a speedboat,”

 the NNA said.

 

Media reports indicated that the Israeli operation 

was likely coordinated with the German navy 

monitoring the Lebanese coasts, in the 

context of the implementation of 

the UN Resolution 1701.

 

Hezbollah Media Relations issued a statement to deny

the allegations promoted by Al-Arabiya TV Channel, 

reiterating that the Resistance Party does not 

have sources (or close sources).

 

Hezbollah affirmed that it reflects its stances in clear 

statements and may never give confidential data to 

media outlets involved in the Zionist propaganda 

against the Resistance.

 

For his part, MP Jamil Al-Sayyed indicated that the

 Zionist naval attack reflects a sample of the 

situation that the enemy and its allies 

want to impose on Lebanon.

 

They want Lebanon to be -- without 

protection, deterrence, and dignity.

 

 

Source: Al-Manar English Website

 

 

_____________________________________

 

 

 

Hezbollah Long-Range Missiles, Drones 

Strike Israeli Occupation Settlements

 and Military Bases

November 2nd, 4:42pm

(al Manar)

 

The Islamic Resistance continued on Saturday its 

fierce confrontation with the Israeli occupation 

army waging a destructive war on Lebanon. 

 

The Zionist enemy has so far failed to achieve any 

ground achievement in the border area between 

Lebanon and occupied Palestine - granting the 

air force criminals all the chance to carry out 

more raids on several Lebanese areas.

 

Hezbollah Military Media issued a long series of 

statements detailing the Resistance attacks 

and their outcomes.

 

Statement One

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people -- and within the 

framework of the “Khaibar” operations series, and in 

response to the enemy’s assaults and massacres --- 

and in answer to the call of “Labbeik ya Nasrallah” 

[Here I am, at your service O Nasrallah], the 

Islamic Resistance fighters, bombarded the 

Glilot base, affiliated with the 8200 Military 

Intelligence Unit, in the suburbs of Tel 

Aviv using a qualitative missile 

barrage at 2:30 am --- on 

Saturday, 02-11-2024.

 

Statement Two

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the 

framework of the warning issued by the Islamic 

Resistance to several northern settlements, 

the Islamic Resistance fighters bombarded 

the Sha’al settlement with a missile 

barrage on the morning of 

Saturday, 2-11-2024.

 

Statement Three

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the 

framework of the warning issued by the Islamic 

Resistance to several northern settlements, 

the Islamic Resistance fighters bombarded 

Dalton settlement with a missile barrage 

on the morning of Saturday, 2-11-2024.

 

Statement Four

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the 

framework of the warning issued by the Islamic 

Resistance to several northern settlements, 

the Islamic Resistance fighters bombarded 

Yesud HaMa’ala settlement with a missile 

barrage on the morning of Saturday, 

2-11-2024.

 

Statement Five

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the 

framework of the warning issued by the Islamic 

Resistance to several northern settlements, 

the Islamic Resistance fighters bombarded 

Bar-Yohai (Sapir|”Al-Safsaf”) settlement 

with a missile barrage on the morning 

of Saturday, 2-11-2024.

 

Statement Six

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the

 framework of the warning issued by the Islamic

 Resistance to several northern settlements, 

the Islamic Resistance fighters bombarded 

Birya (north of Safed) settlement with a 

missile barrage on the morning of 

Saturday, 2-11-2024.

 

Statement Seven

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the fighters of 

the Islamic Resistance targeted, at 9:30 AM on

 Saturday, November 2, 2024, the Krayot area 

north of Haifa with a missile barrage.

 

Statement Eight

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people... and within the 

framework of the Khaibar operations series --- and in
response to the assaults and massacres committed

by the Zionist enemy ------ and answering the call of 

“Labbeik ya Nasrallah” [Here I am at your service
O Nasrallah], the Islamic Resistance 
launched
an aerial operation ----- with 
a squadron of
assault drones on 
Palmachim Air Base
(which 
contains a military research 

centre and radar...... for the Hetz
[Arrow] system) -- 
south of Tel
Aviv
11:15 am on Saturday, 

2-11-2024, accurately 

hitting its targets.

 

Statement Nine

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people - and within the 

framework of the Khaibar operations series --- and in 

response to the assaults & massacres committed by 

the Zionist enemy and answering the call of “Labbeik 

ya Nasrallah” [Here I am, at your service O Nasrallah]

-- the Islamic Resistance targeted the Zvulun Military 

Industries Base north of Haifa with a qualitative 

missile barrage at 11:05 am on Saturday, 

02-11-2024.

 

Statement Ten

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic 

Resistance targeted, for the second time, Zvulun 

Military Industries Base north of Haifa with a 

missile barrage at 12:45 pm on Saturday, 

02-11-2024.

 

Statement 11

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people -- the Islamic 

Resistance targeted a gathering of ‘Israeli’ enemy 

forces east of Maroun Al-Ras ---- with a missile 

barrage at 12:30 pm on Saturday, 02-11-2024.

 

Statement 12

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people -- the Islamic 

Resistance targeted a gathering of ‘Israeli’ enemy 

forces in Al-Malkiya settlement -- with a missile 

barrage at 12:30 pm on Saturday, 02-11-2024.

 

Statement 13

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people -- the Islamic 

Resistance targeted a gathering of ‘Israeli’ enemy 

forces north of the occupied city of Safad with 

a missile barrage at 12:30 pm on Saturday, 

02-11-2024.

 

Statement 14

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people ---- the Islamic 

Resistance targeted a gathering of “Israeli” enemy 

forces in Bar-Yohai (Sapir |”Al-Safsaf”) settlement 

with a missile barrage at 12:30 pm on Saturday, 

2-11-2024.

 

Statement 15

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic 

Resistance bombarded the occupied Safad city 

with a missile barrage at 1:30 pm on Saturday,

 2-11-2024.

 

Statement 16

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people --- and as part 

of the Khaybar operations - responding to the call
“Labbayk Ya Nasr Allah,” the Islamic Resistance 

launched an aerial attack with a swarm of 

assault drones -- at 8:00 AM on Saturday, 

November 2, 2024, targeting the Ramat 

David base and airport, hitting its 

targets accurately.

 

Statement 17

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people, and within the 

framework of the Khaibar operations series, and in 

response to the call of “Labbeik ya Nasrallah” 

[Here I am, at your service O Nasrallah], the 

Islamic Resistance targeted the Glilot base 

of the 8200 Military Intelligence Unit in the 

suburbs of Tel Aviv with an assault drone 

at 7:45 am on Saturday, 02-11-2024, 

hitting its target accurately.

 

Statement 18

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic 

Resistance launched an aerial attack with a 

squadron of assault drones on Shraga base 

north of the occupied city of Akka at 

7:45 am on Saturday, 02-11-2024, 

accurately hitting its targets.

 

Statement 19

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people ---- the Islamic 

Resistance fighters targeted, for the first time, the 

Regional Logistics Regiment at the “Misgav” base
northeast of the city of Haifa --- with a missile 

barrage at 2:00 pm on Saturday, 02-11-2024.

 

Statement 20

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic 

Resistance fighters targeted ELTA Military 

Industries company northeast of Haifa 

city with a missile barrage at 2:00 pm 

on Saturday, 02-11-2024.

 

Statement 21

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people ----- the Islamic 

Resistance fighters targeted a gathering of “Israeli” 

enemy soldiers at “Tal Al-Khazan” on the outskirts 

of Houla town with a missile barrage at 02:30 pm 

on Saturday, 02-11-2024.

 

Statement 22

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people ----- the Islamic 

Resistance fighters targeted a gathering of “Israeli” 

enemy soldiers --- at Jal Al-Deir site opposite the 

town of Maroun Al-Ras with a missile barrage 

at 04:00 pm on Saturday, 02-11-2024.

 

Statement 23

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people ------- the Islamic 

Resistance fighters targeted the Sanat Chin Base (a 

logistical base belonging to the Northern Region
Command) north of the occupied city of Akka 

[Acre] with a large missile barrage, at 

04:00 pm on Saturday, 02-11-2024.

 

Statement 24

 

In defense of Lebanon and its people, while monitoring 

an armoured “Israeli” force --- attempting to advance 

towards the town of Houla at 3:30 PM on Saturday, 

November 2nd, 2024 - the fighters of the Islamic 

Resistance targeted it with two guided missiles, 

hitting two military bulldozers at the front of the

 force, leading to their destruction and burning,

 killing and injuring those inside, and forcing 

the force to withdraw.

 

Statement 25

 

The Islamic Resistance fired three missile barrages at

an Israeli armoured force after it had withdrawn from 

Houla town, inflicting confirmed hits at 3:30 PM on 

Saturday, November 2, 2024.

 

Hezbollah Military Media also released:

 

1, Footage of the Islamic Resistance targeting 

the Ramim barracks belonging to the “Israeli” 

enemy army at the southern Lebanese border.

 

 

2. Footage of the Islamic Resistance targeting the

 Glilot base belonging to the “Israeli” army north 

of Tel Aviv (occupied Jaffa) with “Nasr 2” 

missiles and kamikaze drones.

 

 

Source: Al-Manar English Website

 

 

_______________________________

 

 

Gaza Under Siege: Israel’s
Relentless 
Assault on
Palestinian Lives

November 2nd, 3pm

(al Manar)

 

As the Israeli military’s aggression against the

 besieged Gaza Strip continues unabated, a 

devastating toll is being extracted on the 

Palestinian people. 

 

In the central Gaza region --- five Palestinians were 

martyred and many more were injured in the latest 

Israeli bombardment of several homes in Nuseirat 

refugee camp. Palestinian media outlets reported 

the arrival of three martyrs and a number of 

wounded individuals at al-Awda Hospital -

after Israeli occupation forces shelled 

the Al-Assar family’s residence, in 

Nuseirat’s Camp 5.

 

The violence did not stop there, as Israeli drones

unleashed heavy fire on the al-Daawa school, 

located N. east of the Nuseirat refugee camp. 

 

Simultaneously, Israeli airstrikes pounded the 

northwestern area of the camp. Further east, 

in the town of Deir al-Balah ------ an Israeli 

airstrike targeted the Wadi al-Salqa area. 

 

The onslaught also claimed the life of a 

woman in the al-Rahma neighbourhood, 

to the west of a new camp, in Nuseirat, 

as rescue teams were unable to reach 

her - due to Israeli obstruction.

 

The cruelty of the Israeli occupation forces -- knows no

 bounds, as they even deliberately targeted emergency

 medical crews who were in the process of recovering 

the bodies of those killed and treating the injured in

 the northern area of the Nuseirat camp. 

 

This callous disregard for human life is a chilling 

reminder of the daily horrors faced by the 

Palestinian people under the relentless

Israeli assault.

 

In northern Gaza, the situation is equally dire, as the 

Israeli occupation tightens its stranglehold on the 

region for the 29th consecutive day. The people 

of Beit Lahia and the Jabalia refugee camp are 

being suffocated, starved, and massacred by 

the Israeli forces. 

 

A recent large-scale attack on the Beit Lahia project 

claimed the lives of 117 Palestinians, the majority 

of whom were women and children.

 

 The few survivors of the Abu Nasr family confirmed 

that this attack was carried out without any prior 

warning, further underscoring the complete 

disregard for Palestinian lives by the 

Israeli occupation.

 

 

Source: Agencies (edited and translated 

by Al-Manar English Website)

 

 

______________________________________




Japan --- examining formal recognition 

of Palestinian state, says ambassador

November 2nd, 11:03am

 (PressTV)

 

Japanese Ambassador for Palestinian Affairs and 

Representative of Japan to Palestine, Yoichi 

Nakashima, says his country is studying 

the possibility of formally recognizing 

the State of Palestine in order to 

achieve peace and stability 

in West Asia.

 

“The international community is convinced that there is 

no solution except for the [so-called] existence of two 

nations Palestine and Israel,” Nakashima said in an 

interview with the “With the Editor-in-Chief” 

program broadcast on Palestine TV 

on Friday.

 

He stressed that unilateral Israeli measures hinder 

the establishment of an independent sovereign 

Palestinian state.

 

Nakashima said the relationship between Palestine 

and Japan is age-old, ongoing and always evolving, 

emphasizing that Palestinians are living in very 

difficult circumstances... and that the 

international community, and donor 

countries are constantly following 

up on these conditions.

 

Israel, he said, is targeting international organizations, 

especially the United Nations Relief and Works 

Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near 

East (UNRWA) and its employees, under 

flimsy pretexts.. in order to obtain 

political goals.

 

Nakashima also said Japan - as one of the largest 

donors to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees,

is making every effort --- along with partner 

countries, to support the work of UNRWA

 and its relief operations for the 

Palestinian people.

 

Regarding the decision of the International Court of 

Justice (ICJ) to refer the resolution to end the 

Israeli occupation to the General Assembly 

for a vote...  the Japanese ambassador 

stated that Tokyo supports the move 

--- and respects all decisions of 

international organizations 

as well as principles of 

international law.

 

He touched on Israeli crimes against Palestinian 

prisoners and its violation of all international 

charters and resolutions --- stressing that 

Japan is following up on the conditions 

of the inmates and that the ICJ is the 

legal body whose decisions must 

be adhered to by everyone 

without exception.

 

“We stand with Palestine in the necessity of returning 

the funds that Israel is withholding so that it can 

provide services to Palestinian citizens... and 

achieve financial stability,” Nakashima said.

 

The diplomat said demonstrations taking place around 

the world are natural reactions to the unfolding Israeli 

atrocities in the besieged Gaza Strip and occupied 

West Bank.

 

“The scenes of killing and destruction in Palestine 

touch the hearts of the Japanese because they 

have suffered from wars in the past,” the 

ambassador said.

 

Back in July, former Japanese foreign minister 

Yoko Kamikawa, said Tokyo is considering 

plans to formally recognise the State of 

Palestine, and that her government 

supports the purported two-state 

solution -- to the decades-long 

Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

 

The Palestinians hope to establish an independent 

state of their own in the Gaza Strip and West 

Bank, with East al-Quds as its capital.

 

Israel occupied East al-Quds during the 1967 Arab-

Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, 

claiming all of al-Quds as its “eternal and 

undivided” capital ------ in a move never 

recognized by the international 

community.

 

 

___________________________________

 

  

Leader: US and Israel will definitely

 receive ‘teeth-breaking response’

November 2nd, 11am

 (PressTV)

 

Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali 

Khamenei, has warned the US and Israel, that they 

will definitely receive a crushing response, for 

their atrocities.

 

“The enemies, both the US and the Zionist regime, 

should know that they will definitely receive a 

teeth-breaking response for what they are 

doing against Iran and the resistance 

front,” he said in a meeting with 

students on Saturday.

 

Iranian officials have pledged to avenge Israel’s act of 

aggression targeting two Iranian border cities, Ilam 

and Khuzestan, as well as central Tehran, in the 

early hours of October 26.

 

"This is not merely a matter of revenge, but a logical 

action -- an approach aligned with religion, ethics, 

and the Sharia, in accordance with international
regulations,"
 Ayatollah Khamenei said.

 

The Leader made the statements, during the occasion 

to mark the US embassy takeover by Iranian students 

on November 4, 1979, known as the National Day of 

the Fight against Global Arrogance.

 

“We are certainly doing everything necessary to 

prepare the Iranian nation to stand against 

arrogance, whether in terms of military 

readiness, armaments, or political 

actions, and thank God, our 

officials are currently 

engaged in this” -

the Leader said.

 

The overall movement of the Iranian people and the 

country’s officials, he said, is “definitely and justly 

aimed at confronting global arrogance and the 

criminal apparatus that rules today’s world 

order. Rest assured, there will be no 

negligence in this regard.”

 

“The Iranian people - and the country’s officials - will 

not hesitate or neglect this course. Rest assured.”

 

He also referenced the US embassy takeover, saying it 

was not merely a site for diplomatic and intelligence 

activity, but rather, the headquarters of plotting to 

destroy the Islamic Revolution.

 

Iranian students took over the embassy in Tehran, also 

known in Iran as the “Den of Espionage,” less than a 

year after the Islamic Revolution toppled the US-

backed Pahlavi dictatorship in 1979.  

 

Every year, on the 13th day of the Iranian month of 

Aban, the Iranian nation, particularly the students, 

commemorate the event by staging rallies across 

the country, calling on all Muslims and freedom-

seeking nations to resist against arrogant 

powers ---- and not to succumb to 

their bullying.

 

“For the Iranian nation -- inspired by Islamic teachings --

standing up against oppression, is a duty. Confronting 

arrogance, is a duty. Arrogance - means the 

comprehensive economic, military and 

cultural domination - and the 

humiliation - of nations,” 

Ayatollah Khamenei 

noted.

 

He added that the Iranian people had been humiliated 

for years and, therefore, will certainly continue their 

struggle against global arrogance.

 

Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized that the Iranian 

nation's rational, wise, and logical movement, 

aligned with human, Islamic, and 

international principles in 

confronting arrogance, 

must continue.

 

“The continuation of the Iranian nation’s path in 

confronting arrogance requires knowledge,

 thought, technology, and a roadmap,”

 the Leader said.

 

Ayatollah Khamenei also touched on the longstanding
US enmity toward the Iranian nation, saying, “The 

effort of historians who distort facts is to claim 

that the conflict between Iran and the United 

States began on November 4, 1979. This is 

a lie. The Americans clashed with the 

Iranian nation from the very start of 

the Revolution - even from years 

before - doing everything they 

could - against the

Iranian nation.”

 

“American involvement and efforts in Iran were 

extensive, even before August 19th, 1953,” he

said, referring to the CIA-orchestrated coup 

in Iran that overthrew the democratically 

elected government of Dr. 

Mohammad Mosaddeq.

 

“However, the clearest evidence --- was on August 19th. 

A national, popular government was in power in Iran, 

but the Americans entered the field, betraying the 

trust.. of a government that had naively trusted 

them. They overthrew that government --- and 

established the oppressive rule of the Shah. 

For many years the Iranian nation directly 

experienced America’s enmity.”

 

He said that the Americans staged a coup in Iran, set 

up SAVAK in the 1950s, and established a centre of 

torture and pressure on fighters and freedom-

seekers. So many young people, faithful 

individuals, and freedom-lovers, were 

either killed, mutilated, or tortured

by SAVAK’s criminal agents

— the so-called Shah’s 

intelligence agency, 

he added.

 

SAVAK was established in 1957 with the assistance of
the US’s CIA --- and Israel’s Mossad. The agency was 

vested with far-ranging powers - to use torture 

against those who expressed dissent 

against the West-backed 

Pahlavi regime.

 

 

_____________________________________

 


Israeli reservist killed in Lebanon

 ‘happily’ slaughtered women 

and children in Gaza

November 2nd, 10:27am  

by Alireza Akbari

(PressTV)

 

Shuva'el Ben Natan, an Israeli reservist involved in the 

killings of Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied 

West Bank for years, was neutralized during 

combat in southern Lebanon last week.

 

He had been dispatched to southern Lebanon from

 Gaza after the Israeli regime announced the 

“ground invasion” ...of southern Lebanon 

recently, which has proved a complete

 disaster for the regime.

 

After failing to achieve its key military objectives in the 

Gaza Strip after one year of a genocidal war, that has 

claimed nearly 43,300 lives so far, the Israeli regime 

ordered a “ground invasion” of southern Lebanon 

early last month --- despite warnings from the 

Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.

 

Despite its attempts, the Tel Aviv regime has not 

succeeded in breaching the Lebanese border, 

facing strong resilience from the Lebanese-

based resistance, Hezbollah.   

 

According to Israeli media, including Yedioth Ahronoth, 

around 50,000 Israeli troops as part of five military 

divisions and reserve brigades have failed to 

occupy even one Lebanese village or town

- in more than a month - while losing 

hundreds of soldiers to Lebanese 

resistance operations in 

the process.

 

One of them is Ben Natan, who had the blood 

of many Palestinian children on his hands.

 

Just after the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war 

against Palestinians in Gaza in October last year, a 

hate-spewing military reservist killed 40-year-old 

Bilal Salah, a Palestinian olive harvester in the 

village of Sawiya, located south of Nablus 

in the occupied West Bank.

 

He also participated in the burning of several 

Palestinian villages - destroying homes and 

vehicles in the occupied region, according 

to eyewitness reports.

 

After that, he was deployed to the besieged coastal 

Palestinian territory at a time when hospitals and 

schools were being indiscriminately bombarded 

and civilians killed in cold blood -- in 

broad daylight.

 

He engaged in horrendous war crimes in Gaza, where 

he was involved in setting fire to homes and killing 

Palestinians, including women and children, 

without regard for human life.

 

The extent of his brutality became alarmingly evident 

during his funeral, where his brother Uriyah and 

friends openly recounted his war crimes and 

expressed a desire for "revenge."

 

Their speeches - were subsequently interpreted - as 

explicit admissions of the slain reservist’s heinous 

atrocities committed against Palestinian civilians, 

emphasizing his direct involvement in war crimes.

 

This disturbing portrayal - garnered widespread 

attention as the video of the funeral circulated 

online, igniting outrage and condemnation 

among netizens.

 

During Ben Natan's funeral, his brother 

Uriyah delivered a ''eulogy'' that 

shocked many in attendance.

 

"You entered Gaza to revenge as much as possible, 

women, children - everyone you saw - as many 

people as possible, that’s what you wanted,” 

he exclaimed, referring to his brother’s 

main motive.

 

“And on this day, a year after Simchat Torah, when we

 thought we would massacre the enemy, massacre 

them all, drive them out of the land, we are here 

at your funeral… the entire nation of Israel will 

have the opportunity to avenge your revenge

 - blood revenge, not the revenge of burning 

houses, not the revenge of burning trees, 

not the revenge of burning cars, but 

the revenge of blood you spilt.”

 

Uriyah’s words laid bare the chilling extent to which the

 concept of “massacre” has taken root in the mindset 

of Israeli settlers ---- reflecting a deeply ingrained 

ideology that glorifies violence and vengeance.

 

Ben Natan's father also mourned his son by reminiscing

 about their shared experiences, recalling how they 

would patrol together while shooting at 

Palestinians who threw stones, 

describing their aim: to 

“control and blow 

them up from 

a distance.”

 

During the eulogy, that further exposed Ben Natan's war 

crimes, an Israeli soldier referenced Ben Natan, saying,

“You were the happiest and most optimistic and

 frivolous person in the platoon. We saw it 

for the first time in Gaza, when you -

unauthorizedly - burnt a house... 

just to lift the atmosphere.”

 

The statement not only highlighted Ben Natan's 

barbaric behaviour, but also underscored the
normalization of violence within Israeli 

military circles, as well as the 

settler population.

 

Ben Natan’s barbaric mindset, exposed during his

 funeral, sheds light on his affiliations with the 

Hilltop Youth which is a far-right Jewish 

settler movement in the occupied 

West Bank... led by the Israeli 

minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

 

This group is recognized as one of the most radical 

factions associated with Israeli settler extremism.

 

Emerging in the early 2000s... the Hilltop Youth is a 

loosely organized collective primarily composed of 

young, extremist Israeli settlers who are driven by 

the belief that establishing illegal outposts on the 

forcibly seized Palestinian land... is a religious 

obligation.

 

Bilal Salah, an olive farmer, was killed by Ben Natan 

while he was picking olives in his farm in the village 

of al-Sawiya, occupied West Bank, in October 2023. 

 

The group's ideology, revolves around expanding 

the Jewish presence in the occupied West Bank, 

an initiative aimed at fulfilling their aspiration 

for a "Greater Israel."

 

Their activities are marked by violent attacks against 

Palestinian civilians, the destruction of property, and

 instances of verbal harassment, contributing to the 

ongoing cycle of tension and conflict in the region.

 

In a poignant reflection on Ben Natan’s funeral, 

Lebanese Islamic scholar Sayyid Hussain 

Makke took to X (formerly Twitter) to 

express a powerful sentiment.

 

He emphasized that, despite the immense suffering 

endured by him and many others in Lebanon amid 

the ongoing massacres --- there is no desire for 

"revenge" against Israeli women and children.

 

“Despite having lost so many loved ones --- and despite 

my father being abducted by Israel as a teenager, and 

despite all the suffering inflicted upon us personally 

since I was born, and despite being displaced with 

my family right now - and after having our whole 

village destroyed - neither I nor anyone I know 

has ever wished 'revenge' on Israeli women 

and children,” he wrote.

 

His remarks highlighted a stark contrast 

to the narratives perpetuated by the

settlers’ extremist ideology.

 

 

__________________________________________

 

 

 

At least 19 Israelis injured in 

Hezbollah’s fresh missile, 

drone operations

November 2nd, 9:01am

 (PressTV)

 

At least 19 Israelis have been injured in a missile 

attack by the Lebanese resistance movement, 

Hezbollah on the central occupied territories, 

amid the regime’s daily aggression on 

southern Lebanon.

 

The Israeli police said 19 people in the town of Tira 

in the Sharon region were injured after the military 

reported the launch of “three projectiles from 

Lebanon” early on Saturday.

 

Israeli media cited the occupation army as saying that 

around 15 rockets were fired from Lebanon and 

triggered sirens across northern Israel.

 

Some five rockets fired at the Upper Galilee were 

mostly intercepted, reports said, adding that 

some 10 rockets were also fired at the 

Haifa Bay area and Galileae.. with 

the military claiming, that some 

were intercepted while others

 fell in open areas.

 

Separately, two rockets fired from Lebanon at the 

northern Golan Heights struck open areas, 

according to the Israeli military.

 

Hezbollah also announced that it had launched 

rockets at an Israeli intelligence base near 

Tel Aviv in the early hours of the day.

 

The Lebanese resistance group said in a statement 

that its fighters “fired at 2:30 a.m. (0030 GMT) a 

salvo of rockets at the Glilot base of the 8200 

military intelligence unit in the suburbs 

of Tel Aviv.”

 

Hezbollah also said it had launched several drones 

from Lebanon at northern Israel, setting off sirens 

in the Haifa area, for about half an hour.

 

The Israeli military said one of the drones was shot 

down ..and another drone impacted a factory 

building in an industrial zone near Nahariya, 

providing no further details on the extent 

of damage and possible casualties.

 

The resistance media reported that Hezbollah’s drones

 had penetrated large areas in the north and the sirens 

were activated in the Ramat David area, southeast 

of Haifa.

 

On Friday, the Lebanese resistance movement carried 

out fresh retaliatory operations against Israel, 

targeting several settlements and military 

positions of the regime.

 

The Lebanese resistance group says the attacks are in

 response to Israeli strikes against Lebanese towns 

and civilians.

 

Israel has been carrying out bloody acts of terror 

and aggression - across Lebanon - after 

the occupying regime unleashed its 

genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

 

At least 2,865 people have been killed and 13,047 

others injured in Israeli attacks on Lebanon 

since early October last year, according 

to the country’s health ministry.

 

In late September -- the regime assassinated Sayyed 

Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Lebanese resistance 

movement Hezbollah, in a strike in southern Beirut.

 

Since then, Hezbollah has increased its retaliatory 

attacks against Israeli targets and vowed to 

continue its fight in support of Gaza and 

Palestine, and in defense of Lebanon.

 

 

___________________________________

 

 

 

Ynet: With 50,000 troops... Israel unable 

to ‘capture a single village’ in Lebanon

November 2nd, 8:32am

(PressTV) 

 

The Israeli military has, so far, failed to “capture even a 

single village” in southern Lebanon despite deploying 

over 50,000 soldiers for the ground invasion of 

Lebanon, an Israeli paper has lamented. 

 

“After a month of ground operations.. involving five
divisions and reserve brigades, exceeding 50,000
troops ----- three times the force used in the July 

2006 war, Israel has been unable to establish a 

presence in southern Lebanon,” the Hebrew-

language daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

 

“Despite support from firepower and air support, 

the Israeli military still hasn’t managed to take

...a single village in southern Lebanon.”

 

The report attributed the failure of the Israeli forces,

to Hezbollah’s “effective tactical strategies,” which
include multiple defensive lines ------ equipped with 

munitions capable of accurately targeting Israeli 

armoured vehicles, tanks, and soldiers.

 

Additionally, it noted the Israeli army’s difficulties in 

mapping Hezbollah’s positions and countering the 

threat posed by small, hard-to-detect drones.

 

Hezbollah issued a statement on Friday, saying that in 

the past 45 days, it had destroyed a large number of 

Israel’s military vehicles, including 42 Merkava 

tanks, 4 military bulldozers, 2 Hummer 

vehicles, 1 armoured vehicle, and

 1 troop carrier.

 

More than 95 Israeli officers and soldiers have been 

killed and 900 others wounded since the regime 

started its ground invasion against Lebanon, 

the statement added.

 

Resistance fighters also downed three 

Hermes-450 and two Hermes-900 

drones.

 

In an interview... Colonel Jack Neriya, a former advisor 

to Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, explained that 

Hezbollah fighters -- are deliberately allowing Israeli 

forces to advance, only to trap them in ambushes. 

This tactic has created a dire situation for Israeli 

troops..... including elite units, like Golani and 

other commandos, he said.

 

Neriya also warned that the human cost of any 

advance for Israeli forces could be severe, 

potentially surpassing “Israel’s” total 

casualties since the late 1940s.

 

Since October 2023, Israel has killed over 2,700 people 

in Lebanon. Most of them have lost their lives in the 

past month amid the intensified airstrikes and 

ground offensive.

 

 

_____________________________________

 

 

 

50 children among 84 people killed in 

‘brutal massacres’ by Israel in Gaza

November 2nd, 3:30 am

 (PressTV)

 

Two Israeli attacks on residential buildings in northern 

Gaza, have killed 84 Palestinians, including more than 

50 children, Gaza’s Government Media Office has said.

 

“The Israeli occupation army commits two brutal 

massacres by bombing residential buildings 

...belonging to the Shalayel and Ghandour

families in the northern Gaza Strip ------ 

resulting in more than 170 civilians 

being affected... with 84 martyrs 

including over 50 children, and 

dozens missing and injured,” 

the Government Media 

Office said on Friday.

 

It said 84 people were “massacred” as no civil defense

 crews, medical services or other relief services were 

available in the area --- amid an Israeli siege and
continuing bombardment.

 

“These crimes come - as the occupation army targets 

civilian families in residential buildings populated by 

civilians and displaced individuals, consisting of 

several storeys," the statement said. 

 

"This coincides --- with the absence of civil defense 

teams, medical services, or relief teams, as they 

have been targeted & rendered non-operational 

by the ‘Israeli’ occupation for almost a month. 

These crimes ---- also coincide with the 

collapse of the health system in 

northern Gaza -- with hospitals 

destroyed and out of service,”

 it added. 

 

The buildings belonged to the Shalayel 

and al-Ghandour families, it said.

 

The Gaza government called on the international 

community to uphold its obligation to protect 

civilians, adding that: it holds Israel and its 

allies – the US, France, the UK & Germany

 – responsible for the ongoing “genocide”

 in Gaza.

 

“We call on the international community ------ and 

international and UN organizations, to urgently 

and immediately fulfill their humanitarian role 

and duty - to protect civilians and safeguard 

hospitals and health institutions,” the 

statement said.

 

"We also reiterate our demand -- for the entry of surgical 

medical teams and ambulances and the restoration of 

civil defense operations to save lives, as its targeting 

constitutes a crime against humanity --- which the 

international community, regrettably, remains 

silent about,” it added. 

 

Hamas has denounced the global silence on “ethnic

 cleansing” in the besieged Gaza Strip after Israel’s 

bombing of Kamal Adwan Hospital.

 

Entire Gaza population “at imminent risk of dying'

 

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society 

(PRCS) said it was evacuating patients from the

al-Awda and Indonesian hospitals in northern 

Gaza amid the ongoing Israeli siege.

 

The Palestinian group evacuated 21 patients in 

coordination with the International Committee 

of the Red Cross, it said on X.

 

The UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee 

earlier warned --- that the situation in 

northern Gaza is “apocalyptic.”

 

It said that its entire population --- is “at imminent 

risk of dying from disease, famine and violence.”

 

Israel ------ unleashed a genocidal Gaza onslaught on 

October 7, 2023, after Hamas-led resistance groups 

carried out a surprise operation against the 

usurping entity in retaliation for its 

intensified atrocities against 

the Palestinian people.

 

So far, the occupying regime has killed at least 43,259

 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 

101,827 others in the besieged Gaza, according to 

the latest official tally.

 

In its brutal aggression, Israel has deliberately targeted 

buildings and tents sheltering displaced Palestinians 

and committed war crimes.

 

 

 

______________________________

 

 

 

Haunted houses on Halloween fall 

on a year of genocide in Gaza

November 2nd, 3:04am

by Rachel Hamdoun

Press TV, New York

 

Halloween is a night when Americans and many others 

go trick-or-treating and dress up in spooky costumes. 

 

Yet, in Gaza and Lebanon, people live through real 

horror every day under relentless Israeli attacks. 

 

As they endure this nightmare, they ask the world: do 

you want to know what Halloween feels like for us? 

 

________________________________________



 

 Iraqi Resistance Strikes Back 

in Brazen Operation against 

Israeli Targets

November 2nd, 12:06am

(al Manar)

 

The Iraqi Resistance has once again demonstrated its

 unwavering commitment to the liberation of Palestine 

& support for the people of Lebanon through a series 

of drone attacks targeting vital Israeli infrastructure 

across the occupied territories.

 

According to the Resistance’s statements, this latest

 operation is a direct response to the ongoing Israeli 

aggression and massacres perpetrated against the 

civilian population, including vulnerable women, 

children, and the elderly.

 

Employing advanced one-way attack drones, the Iraqi 

fighters carried out a total of seven long-range strikes

 ------ hitting a diverse array of strategic sites in the

 northern, central, and southern regions of the 

occupied lands.

 

Two of these operations were focused on the occupied 

Syrian Golan --- an area of critical importance to the 

Israeli regime. The remaining strikes were spread 

throughout the northern occupied territories --- 

often referred to as al-Jalil, where two vital 

targets were successfully engaged.

 

Further south, the Resistance also targeted sites in the

 occupied Umm al-Rashrash, or Eilat, region - along the 

Red Sea coast. The final two operations struck at 

the heart of the central occupied territories ---

demonstrating the Resistance’s ability.... to
reach 
deep into the enemy’s strongholds. 

 

In the face of the relentless Israeli onslaught against

 the people of Palestine and Lebanon ----- the Iraqi 

Resistance, has vowed to continue escalating 

these operations, making it clear that their 

unwavering solidarity and support will 

not waver, in the struggle for

 liberation and justice.

 

Source: Agencies (edited and translated 

by Al-Manar English Website)

 








Image: No thanks to Israeli goods App
























The "No Thanks" application's logo

 

Google reinstates app that 

helps boycott Israel-linked

 companies

December 5th, 9:15pm

(PressTV)

 

Google has reinstated a mobile phone application that helps

 people identify and potentially avoid the products that

 have been made by companies that are linked to the 

Israeli regime.

 

"No Thanks" allows customers to scan products'

 barcodes and be notified if they have been 

made by Israeli-linked companies.

 

The new version's description says, "Our app simplifies 

the process of scanning barcodes and searching for 

products that are listed for the boycott movement."

 

A version designed for Apple products has reportedly 

been developed ----- and is currently ''under review''.


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 



UK’s Barclays divests from weapons 

company Elbit, deals new blow 

to Israel

October 31st, 4:25pm

 (PressTV)

 

One of Britain's largest and oldest banks, Barclays, has 

divested from Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems 

amid the genocide in Gaza, dealing a new blow to 

the Zionist entity's crumbling economy.

 

Media reports said on Thursday that the bank sold all 

of its shares of Elbit Systems ---- the Israeli regime’s

 largest weapons and munitions manufacturing firm.

 

After dumping the 16,345 shares Barclays owned in 

May, worth over $3,400,000 --- now Barclays had no 

holdings in Elbit Systems, according to the latest 

US Securities and Exchange Commission 

(SEC) filings.

 

The London-based bank ----- which had been targeted in 

May by pro-Palestinian activists disrupting the British

 bank's annual shareholders' meeting, has been 

rebuked for providing financial aid to firms 

that produce military equipment used 

by the Israeli forces in the 

Gaza genocide.

 

Since October 2023, the Israeli forces have killed more 

than 43,163 Palestinians, mostly women and children

----- prompting activists in the UK to undertake 

54 protest actions against Barclays 

premises, nationwide.

 

Protests against Barclays' financial aid to the Israeli 

weapons manufacturer included smashing windows 

and spraying red paint symbolizing Palestinians’ 

blood at the bank's nationwide branches, many 

of these actions, put Barclays sites out of 

operation for weeks ------ actions which 

sought to raise the costs associated 

with investing in the Israeli firm.

 

Following the nationwide protests, Barclays said it 

would “cease any relationship” with entities that 

“evidence” proved were producing 

internationally-banned 

cluster bombs.

 

In the meantime, the Israeli regime has sold billions of

 dollars worth of debt to finance its widening budget 

deficit caused by its war on Gaza and Lebanon, 

including a record $8 billion international 

bond sale in March, according to the

 Financial Times.

 

US credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings, declared that 

it kept a negative outlook - about Israel’s economic 

prospects, downgrading the regime’s credit rating.

 

“In addition to human losses, could result in significant 

additional military spending, destruction of infra-

structure and more sustained damage to 

economic activity and investment, 

leading to a further deterioration 

of Israel’s credit metrics,” 

Fitch added. 

 

The downgrade highlights the negative financial 

impact of the ongoing Israeli war on West Asia.

 

As the economy in Israel crumbled, the momentum 

downward was given a boost when Iran executed 

Operation True Promise II. The Israeli regime has

 suffered --- not only a huge military setback but 

now faced; more jitters and withdrawals from 

investment, including increasing migration 

out of the occupied lands.


 

























Image: Mahmud of Ghazni's Birth Day



 

Today, November the 2nd, in 971,

 

Mahmud of Ghazni,

 

Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire,

 

is born.

 

Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin - usually known

as Mahmud of Ghazni, or Mahmud Ghaznavi - ruled 

the Ghaznavid Empire, from 998 to 1030. 

 

During his reign, and in medieval sources, he is 

known by his honorific title, Yamin al-Dawla,

 ('Right Hand of the State'). 

 

At the time of his death... his kingdom had been 

transformed into an extensive military empire 

-- which ran from northwestern Iran proper, 

to the Punjab in the Indian subcontinent, 

Khwarazm in Transoxiana, and Makran.

 

 

A captured monarch, Majdu’d-Dawlah, was 

brought into the presence of the Sultan.. 

and an interesting dialogue took place 

between them. 

 

“Have you read the Shahndmah and the 

Ta’nkhu’t-Tabari?” asked the Sultan. 

 

“Yes”, answered Majdu’d-Dawlah. 

 

“But your conduct was not like one who had 

read them. And do you play chess?” asked

the imperious catechiser. 

 

“Yes”, replied the other. 

 

“Did you ever see one king .....approach the other 

king in a game of chess?” continued the Sultan. 

 

“No”, was the brief reply of the fallen monarch.

 

“What induced you then” was the swift rejoinder

of Sultan Mahmud --- “to call to your kingdom, 

one who is superior to you in power?” 

 

The unfortunate prince hung his head in confusion. 

Maj du’d-Dawlah and his son Abu Dulaf, were sent 

as prisoners, to India.  









 

TORIES ARE STRIPPING & PRIVATIZING
the NHS 
--- Taking 
Away OUR RIGHTS:.

Since 2022 - OAPs and you
have to have ear-syringing
done ''privately'' and this
is just one example.




___________________________________________________________




 

Police in Britain need ‘significant 

overhaul,’ inquiry says, amid

 run of scandals

February 29th, 3:31pm

 (PressTV)

 

Police in Britain need “a significant overhaul,” an inquiry 

says, against the backdrop of the case of an officer 

who committed rape and murder in 2021.

 

Officer Wayne Couzens was off duty in March that 

year when he forced Sarah Everard, in her 30s,

 from London, into his car, using his police 

credentials. Couzens raped and 

murdered her, later.

 

Attorney Elish Angiolini, who led the two-stage inquiry, 

said on Thursday the investigation had found a total 

of eight similar incidents reported before the

tragic death of Everard. She was a 

marketing professional.

 

The police department, the inquiry said, had failed 

on multiple occasions to recognize indicators 

of Couzens’ unsuitability for the role of 

an officer.

 

“Wayne Couzens was never fit to be a police officer,”

 Angiolini said. “And without a significant overhaul 

----- there is nothing to stop another Couzens 

operating in plain sight.”

 

Couzens, the inquiry showed, had allegedly
committed
 a very serious sexual assault
against a child ---- 
before his policing
career began.

 

“Now is the time for change,” Attorney Angiolini said. 

The lawyer urged -- “all those in authority in every 

police force in the country to read this report 

and take immediate action.”

 

“Given the known under-reporting of sexual offences,

 I believe --- there may be even more victims of 

Couzens’ offending.”

 

In a statement released on Thursday, Everard’s parents 

and siblings said they hope the “significant findings”

 announced in the first part of the inquiry could

 lead to changes to keep other women safe.

 

“We believe that Sarah died because he was a 

police officer --- she would never have got
into 
a stranger’s car.”

 

“As a family, the inquiry has helped us, not just 

because of its significant findings, but 

because its implementation, made 

us feel Sarah’s life was valued 

and her memory honoured.”

 

The investigation into Couzens generated a major 

purge... which led to more findings in the police 

force, including a cop who had committed 

24 rapes.

 

Mark Rowley, the Commissioner of Police of the 

Metropolis, initiated the purge. “The scale of

 the change that is needed inevitably 

means.. it will take time,” the

 London police chief said.

 

In December 2023, over 1,100 police officers 

across England and Wales were under 

investigation for sexual or 

domestic abuse. 

 

Those serving with the Metropolitan police had the

bleakest record, with 657 individuals accused 

of sexual or domestic abuse --- or both.

 





++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++




United Nations Universal Declaration on Bioethics and 

Human Rights, Article 6 - Consent: Any preventive, 

diagnostic and therapeutic medical intervention 

is only to be carried out with the prior, free and 

informed consent of the person concerned. 


Article 3 - Human dignity and human rights: 

The interests and the welfare of the 

individual should have priority over 

the sole interest of science 

or society.




VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV




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,
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


– Sign the petition in support of
Jeremy Corbyn, if you agree:

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/a-vote-
of-confidence-in-jeremy-corbyn-after-brexit



_______________________________________




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.




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


CHILCOT REPORT:
SOME MAIN POINTS:

1)  "Military action was not a last resort".

2) UK government "undermined the
authority"
of the UN security council.


3) Weapons of Mass Destruction presented
 "with a certainty that was not justified".

4) UK forces were "ill-prepared".

5a) "The government failed to
achieve its stated objectives."


5b) Post-war planning: Blair "should
 have known what might happen".

6) Chilcot says Blair also "overlooked the
 threat the invasion would pose to Britain."

____________________________________

Blair to Face Law

The former prime minister has been put on notice
 by families of dead servicemen, that he will face
 legal action, for his part in the illegal Iraq war.

They are being crowd-funded now, and
have raised so much money, that Blair
is
probably heading for a big fall...


Shadow Commons leader Paul Flynn:
the Iraq Inquiry's findings are an "utter
 condemnation" of his terrible decision
 --- and his prosecution should now be
given "serious consideration".

Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond:
"I would like to see Blair investigated by
the
International Criminal Court (ICC),
for
the crime of a war of aggression,
and
face parliamentary action to
stop
him holding public office
ever again."

A former British ambassador to the UN:
 "The UK was pushed into entering
this
military action, too early."

Stop the War Coalition Convener Ms German:
“This is an incredibly damning report for Tony Blair.
It will not call for legal sanctions, but it says that
Blair is culpable for the war, in many ways.

“He needs to be driven out of public life. He is
still part of the Labour Party. We need to make
 sure that truth & justice prevails. There must
 be legal action against Blair, & he should no
 longer be considered fit for any office.”

CND general secretary Kate Hudson:
 “The report shows that Tony Blair had
no respect for cabinet procedure, no
respect for Parliament, & no respect
for international law.

“Chilcot reveals the evidence that must now be
 used to bring Tony Blair to justice. This is our
 demand. Only when justice is served, can we
prevent disasters like the Iraq war from ever
happening again.”

 Iraqi journalist Juma al-Quraishi:
"Everyone who took part in the war against Iraq
should be condemned, either Britain, or others."

Baghdad resident Ali al-Saraji:
"Ex-UK prime minister, Tony Blair, destroyed
 our country. From 2003, to now, our country
has been the scene of destruction, killing,
massacres, explosions and sectarianism."

A defiant Blair refuses to accept accusations
 from service families that he was wrong and
reckless, and he insists that he would make
 the decision again, 'come what may'.

 Families of some of the 179 military personnel
 killed in Iraq, say the former PM is "a terrorist".


____________________________________



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.



Figures released by The Office for National Statistics
(ONS) reveal that UK pensioners are 4th worst off....
out of all of the countries in the European Union.

_______________________________________






Survey Finds UK
Failing on Childcare


September 13th, 11:13am (FNA)






Tens of thousands of working parents said the government


 is failing them with inadequate childcare policies that leave


 them financially crippled, stymied in their careers and 


desperate for radical change, according to a 


major survey.


 


The survey of more than 20,000 working parents, which was 


shared with the Guardian and involved more than a dozen 


organisations, found that 96% believed ministers were 


not doing enough to support parents with the cost 


and availability of childcare while 97% said 


childcare in the UK was too expensive.


 


One-third of parents said they paid more for childcare than 


their rent or mortgage. This proportion rose to 38% for 


both those in full-time work or were single parents, 


and to 47% of respondents from a black ethnic 


background.


 


The survey comes before a debate on childcare in parliament 


on Monday that was triggered after over 100,000 parents 


signed a petition calling for an independent review of 


childcare funding and affordability.


 


According to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-


operation and Development, the UK has the third most 


expensive childcare system in the world, behind only 


Slovakia and Switzerland; a full-time place costs 


£12,376 a year on average.


 


Research by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) found that 


between 2008 and 2016 the cost of a one-year-old child’s 


nursery provision grew four times faster than wages in 


England. In London, it was more than 7 times faster.


 


Warnings that the early years sector is at risk of collapse have 


been largely ignored and morale is low: research by Nursery 


World, found that one in 10 childcare workers, is living


 in poverty.


 


Justine Roberts, the chief executive of the online forum Mumsnet, 


said, “This is a problem that’s been hiding in plain sight for years,


 and parents know exactly how badly they’re being failed. The 


government must not ignore the misery and stress this 


issue causes for parents across the whole country.”


 


The survey found that people who were struggling the most were 


on the lowest incomes, on universal credit, were single parents,


 had disabilities or had a black ethnic background. One in three 


parents with a household income of less than £20,000 has had 


to cut back on essential food or housing as a direct result of 


childcare bills, while four in 10 single parents have had to


 use credit cards to pay for essential items.


 


Ninety-two percent of parents said the cost of childcare had 


affected their standard of living, while 50% said the cost was 


completely unaffordable or had resulted in a substantial 


impact. Ninety-four percent of parents who changed their 


working patterns after having children... said childcare 


costs were a factor in the decision.


 


The survey also revealed how heavily parents relied on family 


for childcare – while 75% used private nurseries for childcare,


 56% of parents said they relied on grandparents for help. 


Overall, the survey found 99% of all respondents agreed 


that childcare should be recognised as a vital part of the


 UK’s economic and social infrastructure.


 


Joeli Brearley, the founder of the charity Pregnant Then Screwed, 


said, “All we want from the government is transparency. The cost 


of childcare continues to increase, forcing more parents out of 


their jobs, and the quality of our early years settings decrease, 


which will have serious long-term consequences for all of us.


 We don’t believe the government has a grasp of how big the 


issue is... and the impact it is having on families and


 the economy.”


 


The survey was produced and distributed by.. Mumsnet, Pregnant 


Then Screwed, the TUC, the Fawcett Society, the Women’s Budget 


Group, Gingerbread, Working Families, the Fatherhood Institute, 


Maternity Action, Music Football Fatherhood, Mother Pukka, 


Tova Leigh, Black Mums Upfront, the Young Women’s Trust 


and Cathy Reay (That Single Mum).


 


The data, which was not weighted, was collected from 20,046 parents


 in the UK with at least one child aged 18 or under, carried out 


between 20 July and 31 August 2021 – with 97% of the


respondents being women.


 


It presented compelling evidence, that lack of access to childcare 


was preventing progress on gender equality. Only 16% of women 


said childcare had not affected their seniority or income at work, 


compared with 42% of men. Of the female respondents, 83% 


said childcare costs and availability affected mothers more 


than fathers; 41% of male respondents said it affected 


parents equally. Two-thirds of female respondents 


reduced their hours after having a baby,


 compared with 26% of men.


 


Felicia Willow, the chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said, 


“Our government cannot drop the ball on this – it’s clear that 


a lack of access to childcare is stopping women both going 


to work and progressing at work.”


 


The survey also suggested the government’s flagship shared 


parental leave policy was a particular failure; only 17% of 


respondents said it was useful for their family.


 


Ros Bragg, the director of Maternity Action, said, “The deeply 


flawed shared parental leave has been about as helpful to 


working parents as a chocolate teapot. Take-up rate 


among eligible families is now less than 4% in its 


fifth year of operation. It’s clear that we need to 


start again.”


 


Elliott Rae, the founder of Music Football Fatherhood, said...


“Extortionate childcare costs reinforce traditional gendered


parenting roles and make it difficult for dads to have 


flexibility in their work and be fully active and 


engaged fathers.”


 


The survey suggested that respondents wanted to see a radical


 overhaul of the childcare system: 90% of all parents supported 


at least three months of “use-it-or-lose-it” parental leave for 


fathers, paid at at least minimum wage level, while 94% 


believed subsidised childcare should start from the 


end of paid maternity leave.


 


Frances O’Grady, the TUC secretary general, said, “We don’t 


want tinkering around the edges. Our broken parental leave 


system is in need of a complete overhaul.”


 


The Department for Education said parents’ ability to claim 30


 “free” hours a week during term time for three- and four-year


-olds could save them up to £5,000 a year and the number of


 childcare places offered by providers was stable.


 


A spokesperson said early years providers had been given 


financial support during the pandemic, and the government 


had invested £3.5bln yearly in childcare since 2018, adding,


 “We’re making millions more available through our 


recovery fund to level up children’s early 


outcomes, raising the quality of early 


education even further.”


 


 


_____________________________________







Watchdog Finds UK Police 

Tasering Children and
Mentally ill People

August 25th, 1:37pm (FNA)

 

Police must be trained to use Tasers only when “absolutely 

necessary”, a watchdog said, after a review found the

weapons were being used against children and

mentally ill people.

 

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) reviewed 

around 100 of the most serious cases involving Tasers in 

England and Wales, including 16 where people died, The 

Independent reported.

 

Inquests found that the use of Taser contributed to four 

of those deaths, and inquiries are ongoing in others, 

including the killing of former footballer, Dalian 

Atkinson, by PC Benjamin Monk.

 

Last year, a coroner who examined the death of 30-year-old 

father Marc Cole, warned that “future deaths will occur,

unless action is taken”, but the Home Office rejected 

his call for a review of the physical effects of Tasers.

 

The IOPC said they had been used on people with underlying 

health problems, including epilepsy and heart conditions, 

and that, in some cases – including three where people 

died – officers had suspected they were “feigning 

being unwell”.

 

A report published on Wednesday also raised concerns about 

the “increasing use of Tasers on children and vulnerable 

people with mental health, drug and alcohol issues”.

 

The review warned that police had used the weapons in 

unsafe locations, and had not always considered the 

“risk of injury”, properly.

 

In a quarter of the cases examined, Tasers had been wrongly 

used to make people “comply with instructions”, and in a

third, officers had missed opportunities to de-escalate 

situations.

 

The IOPC said that current Taser use was threatening public 

trust in the police, especially over the disproportionate use 

against Black men.

 

IOPC director general Michael Lockwood stated, “Tasers are 

available to more officers than ever before, but engagement 

with communities has highlighted a stark difference 

between their expectations about when a Taser 

should be used, and the situations in which a

Taser can be used, under current national 

guidance, particularly on those who 

are vulnerable.

 

“Police forces must be able to explain this clearly, or risk

further eroding public confidence,” Lockwood added.

 

Lockwood said that although Tasers were a valuable tool 

for protecting both the public and police officers... 

independent scrutiny must ensure that they
are 
used appropriately.

 

“Clearer national guidance on the circumstances in which Tasers

should and should not be used - and better training - will improve 

officer safety, as well as give the public reassurance that Tasers

are being used, only when absolutely necessary,” he added.

 

“Police forces must be able to justify to the public the 

circumstances in which a Taser is deployed, 

particularly when children and vulnerable 

people are involved. Forces must also 

respond to the disproportionate use 

of Tasers against Black people,” 

he said.

 

The IOPC made 17 recommendations, including improvements 

to police guidance and training, the scrutiny and monitoring 

of Taser use and data and research.

 

The Inquest charity said they do not go far enough and called for

“systemic change”, saying Tasers were dangerous weapons, 

that had resulted in serious injury and death.

 

“They are increasingly used, as a first, not last resort,” added 

Director Deborah Coles, adding, “Ultimately to prevent further 

deaths and harm, we must look beyond policing and redirect 

resources into community, health, welfare and 

specialist services.”

 

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of 

Policing announced research on racial disproportionality in 

police use of Tasers last year.

 

A National Taser Stakeholder Advisory Group in this area has 

also been set up, and there are new conflict management 

guidelines and training proposals.

 

The NPCC said the IOPC’s review only covered 0.1 percent of

all Taser use, because so few cases had been referred to 

the watchdog.

 

Home Office figures record Taser use if the weapons are 

drawn, used to plant a red target dot on a suspect, or 

fired. In 86 percent of recorded Taser incidents, 

they are not fired.

 

Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi, the national police lead on 

Tasers, said work was already underway... to make

 improvements.

 

“Focusing on these smaller number of cases missed an 

opportunity to consider Taser use more broadly and, 

unfortunately, has resulted in recommendations 

which are mostly out of date and not based
on
 the realities of policing,” she added.

 

“Policing is not easy and in many violent situations I believe 

Taser is a viable, less lethal option for officers, between 

using a baton and the lethal force of a gun. Taser has 

a critical place in protecting the public and our 

officers,” she said.

 

The IOPC said it could only investigate “the most serious 

and sensitive cases” because of its remit, and aimed to 

contribute to the growing evidence base around 

Taser use.

 

The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners said
it 
would act as a bridge between police forces and the
public, 
to ensure concerns were addressed.

 

The watchdog also uncovered evidence that some officers made

inappropriate comments, including derogatory remarks, during 

these incidents, in an analysis of 101 investigations involving 

Tasers, between 2015 and 2020.

 

Some 60 percent of Black people involved in Taser discharges 

were subjected to continuous discharges of more than five 

seconds, compared with 29 percent of White people.

 

The longest length of continuous use, was 67 seconds.


 


_________________________________


 


Watchdog Finds UK Police

 Failing to Impose Orders 

on Men Accused of Abuse

August 24th, 12:05pm (FNA)

 

Police are failing to impose restraining orders
or 
bail conditions on men accused of rape,

domestic abuse, harassment and 

stalking, a watchdog found --- 

placing women and girls at

 increased risk of harm.

 

A police super-complaint, submitted by the Centre

 for Women’s Justice (CWJ), raised concerns that 

police were failing to use protective measures
in 
cases involving violence against women
and 
girls, The Guardian reported.

 

A joint investigation between HM Inspectorate of 

Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, the 

Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), 

and the College of Policing found there was
lack of understanding in police forces of 
how and/or when to use such protective 

measures, which could lead to women
and girls being 
harmed, or victims 

being less likely to report crime 

in the future.

 

However, the CWJ expressed disappointment that 

the recommendations did not go far enough.

 

Nogah Ofer, a solicitor at the CWJ, stated, “The super-

complaint recommendations are welcome. However, 

they do not get to grips with the severity of the 

problem, or go far enough to ensure that 

police forces make real changes 

in practice."

 

 “Some recommendations, require improved data-gathering,

 and tell chief constables in general terms to prioritise and 

monitor use of orders, but there is a lack of specifics and 

no discussion of under-resourcing, which is the elephant 

in the room. We fear that in five years’ time the situation 

will not be much different to today,” Ofer added.

 

The report made several recommendations, including that 

chief constables should ensure their officers understand 

all the protective measures available & the Home Office 

and Ministry of Justice should intensify and accelerate 

their consideration of creating a bespoke offence, of 

breaching pre-charge bail.

 

The director general of the IOPC, Michael Lockwood, said: 

“Police have a key role in protecting vulnerable people 

and this super-complaint has highlighted clear gaps 

where improvements must be made in protecting 

vulnerable women and girls."

 

“The right training, support, guidance... and leadership, is 

critical to police using protective measures to help keep 

women and girls safe from harm," Lockwood added.

 

“However, this is a community-wide issue and one that 

needs not just a policing response, but a response 

from the whole criminal justice sector, non-

government organisations and others," 

he said.

 

“More than ever, we need a consistent approach to 

stopping appalling crimes of violence against 

women and girls, from occurring in the
first 
place,” Lockwood added.

 
[Rhondda Records adds:

 Damned if you do, and damned if you
don't... think, change, and improve!!!]



________________________________




UK head teacher prompts outrage, 

heated debate -- after revealing her 

school ban on ‘sexist’ expressions

 like ‘boys and girls’

April 29th, (RT)

 

UK head teacher prompts outrage, heated debate 

after revealing her school ban on ‘sexist’ 

expressions like ‘boys and girls’.

 

A UK primary school headmistress has kicked off a storm 

after revealing that she has instructed her teachers not to

 use a number of “sexist” phrases, including ‘let’s go, 

guys’ and ‘boys and girls’.

 

Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson, who heads the Anderton Park 

primary school in Birmingham, told the Good Morning 

Britain show on Thursday that students as young as 

three are taught to reject the use of the banned

 expressions by holding up posters.

 

The program – which has stoked fierce debate among 

parents – rewards the two students who flag the ‘best’

 instances of such usage with certificates at the end 

of the week.

 

“If our boys and girls grow up and in school we don’t 

challenge this sexist language and boys are told, 

‘man up’, ‘grow a pair’ and ‘boys don’t cry’, it’s 

very damaging for them...abusers later on 

potentially, or bullies, will also use this 

fear,” Hewitt-Clarkson said.

 

“Fear is the biggest weapon that abusers have and if 

boys are told, ‘boys don't get scared’, ‘boys don’t talk 

about their feelings’, then where are they going to go 

when they are afraid and they are frightened?” 

she added.

 

“Fast forward a little bit to when the children are older

 just to see why this is so important because it’s a tiny

 part of a huge jigsaw,” said Hewitt-Clarkson, who had 

previously said that there was a thread tying tragic 

outcomes like the murder of Sarah Everard to 

casual ‘banter’ and the examples adults set.

 

When asked how the school handled the resulting issues

 in addressing students in a classroom setting, Hewitt-

Clarkson said that the preferred greeting should be 

“good morning everyone” since that does not 

create a gender divide and includes people 

who might not identify as either sex.

 

Journalist Nana Akua, who was also part of the show, 

called the move “absolutely ridiculous” and warned

 that “we’re creating a generation of wallflower kids 

who are listening for an offence.”

 

Noting that the “context of language” was important, 

Akua told Hewitt-Clarkson her “energy is in the 

wrong place.”

 

Social media users were divided on the school’s emphasis

 on gender identity and inclusion with as many supporters

 defending the program as important as there were critics

 who called it unnecessary.

 

Describing it as “absolutely ridiculous”, one person, a p

rimary school teacher, tweeted, “Let kids be kids. They 

grow up too fast as it is.”

 

Another user, identifying herself as an academic, said 

Hewitt-Clarkson was right since “we do segment” 

others based on lessons learned early on.

 

A number of users suggested she stick to teaching 

students “reading, writing, arithmetic and also how 

to be kind” instead of “any of this other stuff.”

 

The majority of users agreed with the need to “phase 

out” some phrases like ‘man up’ and ‘grow a pair’ but 

called for “balance and some common sense”. Some

 also expressed concern about the long-term effects 

of the program.

 

But some denounced the program as evidence 

of “brainwashing” and “stifling freedom of 

speech” in schools, while others said the 

problem lay with the English language,

which doesn't use gender.

 

Tweeter: The problem is English Language. 

Only English and Turkish do not assign 
gendered pronoun & cases in discourse.
English denotes 
everything as Male with
few 
satisfactory gender neutral alternatives,

Learning non-gendered language early is 

the best solution and avoids confusion

 

If you like this story, share it with a friend!

 

 

_____________________________________



UN hits out at UK decision
to 
cut family planning aid
from 
£154 million to £23m

April 29th, 2:39pm (PressTV)

 

 

The UK faces criticism from a UN agency, over
the 
government's decision to cut aid for family 

planning by 85 percent.

 

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has 

launched a scathing attack on the UK’s decision
to 
cut family planning aid from £154 million to 

£23m this year, warning that women and 

girls around the world, will suffer as

 a result.

 

The aid cut, which indicates a reduction by 85% 

could have helped prevent “250,000 maternal 

and child deaths.”

 

Prior to this decision, Britain was the biggest 

donor to the initiative, run by the UNFPA.

 

UNFPA provides contraception and maternal health 

medicine to millions of women in some of the world's

 poorest nations, as well as training maternal health 

staff and promoting efforts to prevent child 

marriage, unintended pregnancies and 

unsafe abortions.

 

Natalia Kanem, UNFPA executive director, accused 

Britain of “stepping away from its commitments at 

a time when inequalities are deepening and 

international solidarity is needed more 

than ever.”

 

She branded UK government’s decision as “devastating” 

& said that "with the now-withdrawn £130m, the UNFPA

 Supplies Partnership would have helped prevent around

 250,000 maternal and child deaths, 14.6 million

 unintended pregnancies and 4.3 million 

unsafe abortions.”

 

Kanem said the UN agency “deeply regrets” the UK’s 

decision, before adding that - upon slashing funds -

“women and girls suffer, especially the poor, those 

living in remote, underserved communities and 

those living through humanitarian crises.”

 

In response to a UN statement on Thursday, Liz Sugg, 

the former Foreign Office minister, who resigned in 

protest of the cuts, said that Britain's withdrawal 

of financial funding for the women's health 

organization was a "double hit on the 

world's poorest."

 

“This is money the UK committed to in the UN chamber, 

signed an agreement and now we’re walking away from 

it – it’s pretty unheard of," Sugg told the BBC Radio 4 

Today program on Thursday.

 

The UK declared this year that it would reduce its total 

foreign aid budget from 0.7 percent to 0.5 percent of 

national income, a £4 billion cut.

 

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he did

 not recognize the figures, but admitted no area was

 immune to cuts.

 

The move has triggered an outcry from charities and aid

organizations that argue it will harm poor communities 

already reeling from COVID-19 and could also hamper

efforts to curb climate change.

 

UKAid has long been a cover for the government’s foreign

policy deployment in the poorer countries and its drastic

aid cuts happen, even as the British military and 

intelligence services step up their activities in

the subject countries.

 

The UK’s retreatment from its financial commitments 

comes after other world powers’ increase their aid 

spending to the poorest, because their need is 

increasing, given the global health crisis.




__________________________






UK: Domestic Abuse Victims 

‘Forced to Sell Homes or Rack

 Up Debt to Get Justice’

April 28th 5:08pm (FNA)




Domestic abuse victims who can’t get legal aid

 are being forced to sell their homes or rack up 

debts, to bring perpetrators to justice,

 campaigners warned.

 

New legislation introduced in January eradicated 

the cap -- previously used -- when determining 

eligibility, but charities say domestic abuse 

survivors are still being refused help, due 

to owning their home, The Independent 

reported.

 

Experts say victims who cannot afford legal representation 

are being forced to face their abusive former partners 

alone in court, due to the changes not being
properly 
rolled out.

 

The warning flies in the face of a December 2020 High Court 

ruling that stopped a legal loophole that blocked a domestic 

abuse survivor who was a single mother from obtaining 

legal aid, despite her only having £28 in her bank 

account. Legal aid helps people pay for legal 

advice and representation in court.

 

Lola, a domestic abuse survivor, said she reapplied for legal 

aid twice after learning the law had changed but has been

 rejected both times, due to owning her home.

 

The 36-year-old, who is unemployed and struggling for money, 

added, “I was also rejected before the law change. I meet all 

the criteria, except for the fact I own my house."

 

“They asked: ‘Why haven’t you got a loan out? and ‘Why haven’t

 you asked friends and family?’ The process is re-traumatising.

 But my ex has got full legal aid," she added.

 

“He manipulated a professional by saying he had suffered 

domestic abuse from me and got them to write this down 

in a letter, which he then used to apply for legal aid. You 

don’t need any proof for this. He’s taking me to court 

for nothing,” she said.

 

Lola, who has had two restraining orders against her ex-

partner, said she qualifies for free school meal vouchers.

 

“I have to represent myself alone in court,” she said, adding, 

“I’m not legally trained. It's the most triggering, traumatising

 experience. He has a barrister. They talk to me like I’m the 

lowest form of humanity. Like I’m scum. He’s got an 

endless pit of my money to keep taking me to 

court. It’s like I’m his plaything.”

 

Lola criticised the legal aid agency which gave her ex money 

for not even checking if there were legal proceedings or a 

restraining order against him - adding it should be 

standard practice.

 

She warned the “injustice” of the situation was “so huge” it 

means she is “consumed by anger” every day, and warned

an individual as dangerous as her ex-partner, who refuses 

to pay child maintenance, should not be granted “all that 

power” in the courts.

 

Lola, who is being supported by domestic abuse charity 

Women’s Aid, recalled the abuse suffered during her

 relationship.

 

“It was never physical,” she said, adding, “But it was getting 

to that point. It was emotional and financial abuse. He 

starting reading up on conspiracy theories and 

taking an interest in flat earth theories. He 

completely lost his grip on reality.”

 

Lola said he would regularly scream at her in front of their son 

for trivial issues such as leaving lights on and constantly 

ringing her when she was at home due to his 

“possessive nature”.

 

She said her son is keen to do school activities but she has 

had to request grants from charities to afford them — 

adding she is terrified she won’t be able to “afford 

to let him pursue his passions”. Money set aside

 for her son’s future is being spent on solicitors 

and barristers, she said.

 

“I’m in a horror film,” Lola said, adding, “This man has got all 

his support. He is hunting me down. I’m going from room to 

room and there is no escape. He was bad enough but now

 the legal aid is abetting him to do this to me.”

 

Refuge found 1,780 women seeking help – more than a third of 

the total – had faced economic abuse from their partner. On 

average, the mistreatment, which includes being denied 

access to money or a bank account, as well as having 

debt placed in their name, lasted more than six years.

 

Charlotte Proudman, a family law barrister, told The Independent 

she had referred domestic abuse survivors to solicitors since

 the changes were in introduced but they had nevertheless 

not been eligible for legal aid.

 

Dr Proudman added, “Solicitors have said it hasn't come into 

force. On the ground, it is not happening. The legal aid 

agency might be refusing because they own 

properties, which defies logic and law."

 

“There is one woman in particular, who because she owns half 

of the family home, they have said she is not eligible for legal 

aid even though she is on benefits. She is a domestic abuse 

victim. It is awful," Dr Proudman said.

 

“If victims haven't got any money to seek protection through 

courts, it leaves them in a vulnerable situation, unable to 

escape abusive partners and seek court protection. 

Such as, orders which block the abusers 

contacting them or approaching them 

in person,” she said.

 

Dr Proudman warned women who are not legally trained do 

not know how to “navigate” the legal system - with victims 

of domestic abuse being particularly scared to face their 

abuser in court alone.

 

“It is a process of them being re-traumatised without the 

protection of a lawyer to speak on their behalf,” she said, 

adding, “An abuser can continue abuse by taking them 

back to court as a way of continuing harassment and

 stalking them.”

 

Legal aid for domestic abuse victims needs to be non-means

 tested and universally available for all irrespective of their

 finances with no delays, she added.

 

“Sometimes it can take weeks to get a legal aid agency to 

decide if they are going to get funding,” Proudman said, 

adding, “In that time serious physical or psychological 

harm could have been caused.”

 

Olive Craig, senior legal officer at Rights of Women, a 

leading women’s legal rights charity, told The 

Independent recent changes to legal aid are 

“applied inconsistently and do not go far 

enough to address the many problems

 presented by the legal aid means test”.

 

She added, “We expect the government’s long overdue review 

of the means test to address those deficiencies and ensure 

access to justice for all.”

 

While Lucy Hadley, of Women's Aid, said they have been 

“disappointed” to learn domestic abuse victims who 

own their own homes are still being blocked from 

getting legal aid, in spite of the High Court’s

 key ruling.

 

She demanded the legal aid means test to be completely 

axed for domestic abuse survivors to make sure “no 

woman who needs to access legal advice and 

representation when escaping an abuser 

is barred from justice“.

 

The Home Office has been contacted for comment.

 

 

____________________________





UK breakup? Welsh
independence

 more popular
than ever

April 8th, 8:56pm  (Press TV)

 

New polls suggest that support for Welsh independence 

from the UK is at an all time high. This has created fear 

in Downing Street, over the real threat of a Kingdom 

breakup, with the Welsh parliament elections on 

the way. 

 

The idea of a Welsh breakaway from the United 

Kingdom is high on the agenda, ahead of this 

year's Welsh elections.

 

With the country’s biggest pro-independence party 

Plaid Cymru, pledging to secure a vote on Welsh 

independence within the next five years.

 

The idea of Wales going alone has traditionally been 

an obscure viewpoint, however, since Brexit, public 

support for an independence vote has skyrocketed.

 

One poll conducted this year actually suggested that 

Welsh support for independence, could be as high 

as 39 percent, that would be the highest level 

ever recorded.

 

No.10 has reportedly become very aware of the growing 

anti-Westminster sentiment outside of England, and are

 drawing up plans to counter the trend.

 

The Welsh elections are taking place in May. Plaid Cymru 

have been recording great successes in past votes, and

 hopes are high of major gains.

 

Although support for independence is not yet near a 

majority view, Westminster’s poor handling of the 

coronavirus crisis, and the negative effects 

Brexit has had for Wales, appears to have 

created greater belief in the virtues of 

self-government. With Scotland also 

pushing hard for a UK divorce... 

No.10’s concerns are growing

 as fast as Welsh patriotism.

 

 

____________________________



 

Hello darkness my old friend
...Peter Mandelson is back 

advising Labour, why not 

just go the whole hog & 
bring back Tony Blair?

by Chris Sweeney

February 15th (RT)

 

Chris Sweeney is an author and columnist who has written 

for newspapers such as The Times, Daily Express, The 

Sun and Daily Record, along with several international-

selling magazines. Follow him on Twitter
@Writes_Sweeney

 

 

Keir Starmer is so devoid of original ideas he is bringing back 

the Prince of Darkness to help him crowbar his way into 

Number 10, but if the plan is Blair 2.0, why settle for an 

impersonator when the original is still available?

 

Lord Peter Mandelson is not a name that will resonate beyond

 the UK, but he is one of Britain’s most infamous spin doctors. 

The type of character who has seemingly exerted an extended

 sphere of influence without it ever being clear exactly what he 

does. He arrived into the Labour Party in 1985 and it’s now 

been revealed he is still pulling strings today, 36 years later.

 

Tony Blair adored his style but some of the left-wing union 

devotees had no time for the man who became known as 

‘The Prince of Darkness’. So, to appease them, and to 

keep his involvement in Blair’s leadership campaign 

secret, he was issued a code name – 'Bobby'. 

 

Since then, he’s inhabited a range of roles; minister without 

portfolio, secretary of state for Northern Ireland, European

 commissioner, business secretary --- and then Baron 

Mandelson as he entered the House of Lords. After 

Blair left - and was replaced by Gordon Brown - 

Mandelson retained an iron-grip on the levers 

of power. In that period, he was a member of 

35 cabinet committees, and some referred 

to him as the “unelected prime minister.”

 

Mandelson likes a frontman, a lead singer to shield him while 

he writes the lyrics. So it’s business as usual now that’s he 

back in alongside current Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. 

There is only a decade or so in age between the two, but

 the level of experience in the dark arts of politics, is 

heavily tipped in Mandelson’s favour. The notoriety

 is why he chooses to remain in the shadows, as a 

lot of voters detest him. He represents the back-

room dealmaking and media manipulation that

 turns so many off politics.

 

Mandelson is like a lightning rod, he takes the surge and 

allows his ‘stooge’ to carry on. He ended up in the public 

court of shame, for spending a New Year’s Eve, on Paul 

Allen’s yacht, while Microsoft was at the centre of an 

EU investigation.

 

Another yacht trip got him in hot water, this time,
with 
oligarch Oleg Deripaska, as Mandelson had
been 
part of a decision to cut aluminium tariffs.
At the 
time, Deripaska owned United Company
Rusal, 
one of the world’s biggest producers of
the metal.

 

Mandelson was also friendly with Jeffery Epstein,

 and has been pictured with the disgraced financier. 

 

So for Keir Starmer to bring in a man with that amount of 

baggage, proves how desperate he must be. Starmer 

replaced Jeremy Corbyn - the most socialist main-

stream figure seen in British politics for decades - 

but has as yet done nothing of substance. He's a 

more centrist figure, but Boris has that sewn up:

 he won the last election, with an affirming 80-

seat majority. The so-called Red Wall, fell to 

the Conservatives, proving that the working 

class heartlands, no longer had faith in 

their old ally Labour. And still there’s 

no spark or idea from Labour, to 

turn that around.

 

Since Blair left office, the party hasn’t won an election. Their

 last victory was in 2005 and before Blair led them to victory

 in 1997 they hadn’t won an election since 1974. Blair is the 

only person who has led the Labour Party to victory in the 

last 47 years, and it seems they’ve simply decided to 

revert to what worked then and hope it does now.

 

So welcome back Mandelson, who is right in his sweet spot, 

without an official position but is there to “broaden the party’s

 appeal.” It seems a redundant mission, as you’re asking 

Mandelson to recreate the old magic. For that, he needs 

his protege and the man who brought those ideas to life

 – Blair. Why bother trying to copy him, when he is still 

out there, sitting around not doing very much? Blair 

has been quite vocal and made quite a few public 

interjections into the Covid-19 effort. It was his 

idea to stagger the two vaccine doses, which 

Britain and other countries are now 

actually doing. 

 

If Labour's desperation is so great they need to face facts. 

Starmer is keen to paint himself as a paragon of the good 

and just. He created a big spectacle over the investigation

 into anti-Semitism within Labour and also fired a member 

of his shadow cabinet for making a remark that was

 judged to slight the Jewish faith.  

 

Starmer’s previous profession was as a barrister where he 

worked on human rights cases before becoming a QC and 

the Director of Public Prosecutions. He also spoke out 

and protested against the Iraq war. 

 

Yes, the same war that Blair led Britain into, after years of 

working with Mandelson. So if Starmer is so willing to 

embrace Mandelson, is he really as principled and 

motivated by integrity as he’d like to have us think?

 

All of this also reflects an extremely depressing facet to 

British politics. The country has suffered the most 

deaths in Europe due to incompetent leadership.

 

The list of ludicrous decisions has been recounted many

 times and if the opposition cannot muster up a feasible 

counter after all these months, they really are 

beyond hope.

 

The vaccination rollout is the only thing Boris has handled 

well, but it won’t erase the number of families left to rue the 

unnecessary loss of loved ones. There is also the much-

covered resurgence in support for independence in 

Scotland and a growing movement in Wales. Brexit 

was another shambles, with a deal agreed days 

before everything went into meltdown. How is it 

possible that an allegedly well-run, professional, 

perceptive political party ,can’t muster up a 

credible opposition?

 

Winding the clock back 20 years and hoping that the same 

things will work is, in my view, a fantasy. Society and 

attitudes have changed, there was no social media 

in 1997 and simply looking plausible and playing

 'Things Can Only Get Better' on a loop isn’t 

going to win you 80+ seats. But let us 

suppose, for a minute, that it might, 

if the Labour party & it’s leadership 

really believe that’s their greatest 

hope and the best plan they have 

for the British people is New 

Labour 2.0, then why isn’t 

Blair involved?

 

Starmer talks a bit like him, has a similar presence, they were 

even both barristers before entering politics, but trying to 

‘out Blair’ Blair is futile. If Starmer isn't able to lead and 

create his own vision, then why did he put himself
up 
for the job? Trying to get Peter Mandelson to 

Svengali you into some sort of Blair tribute act
is never going to work. As Queen fans
 know,
Adam Lambert, is no substitute for 

Freddie Mercury.

 

Step up or step aside, don’t be a down-
market 
copy of your predecessor.

 

Think your friends would be interested? 

 

Share this story!

 

 

_________________________________






Boris Defends Bully Patel
but Not Pensioners –
 His
Govt is Morally Repugnant

by Tommy Sheridan

22/11/2020  (Source - Sputnik)





Anyone surprised by BoJo’s decision to condone shameful bullying at

 the heart of his government and order a “square” of defence be formed

 “around the prittster” after he decided to keep Priti Patel in his cabinet

 despite her being found guilty of breaching the Ministerial Code and

 bullying, has plainly been sleeping over the past eleven months.




That period has exposed the rancid hypocrisy, corruption, cronyism, 

and lack of integrity which characterises Johnson and the Tories 

under his leadership.




Priti Patel was accused of disgraceful conduct and bullying while an 

employment Minister under Theresa May in 2015, behaviour which 

drove a female civil servant to attempt suicide on at least two 

occasions and ended with a Department of Work & Pensions

 pay-out of £25,000 in April 2017 to avoid the scrutiny of an 

Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal, harassment, 

discrimination, and victimisation.




Patel the Bully Became Patel the Liar




Patel was then moved to the role of International Secretary only to be

 found out as a devious liar whom May had to sack after her deliberate

 misleading of the PM and Parliament over secret meetings with Israeli 

officials, business representatives and lobbyists was exposed. She

 lied and was caught. She had to go.




Being a dishonest bully presented no barrier to Boris Johnson’s 

cabinet however and he appointed Patel as his Home Secretary 

in July 2019 after he became Tory leader.




Within weeks the top civil servant in the Home Office, Sir Philip Rutnam, 

felt compelled to warn her about her conduct and lack of respect for 

staff before eventually resigning from his post at the end of February

 this year in a move which caused shock waves in the civil service 

and government. He accused Patel of lying about a “vicious” 

campaign orchestrated against him and creating a climate 

of fear in her department.




Patel Investigation Handicapped from the Outset




A high-level investigation was reluctantly ordered into the allegations

 made by Rutnam, and he vowed to pursue a constructive dismissal 

claim against the government which is yet to be concluded. It is 

increasingly clear that the investigation has been less than 

rigorous as the senior civil servant appointed to conduct 

it was refused access to Rutnman despite him being the 

best equipped to inform the investigation. 




However the report that was compiled was laid on Johnson’s desk 

in April and he refused to act on it for months before recently 

contacting the author, Sir Alex Allan, and leaning on him to 

water down the conclusions. Despite the limited access to 

witnesses the investigation still found Priti Patel "shouted 

and swore" at staff in actions "that can be described 

as bullying" and that she had indeed breached the 

Ministerial Code which is normally an automatic 

resignation offence.




The fact Sir Alex Allan, former chair of the prestigious Joint 

Intelligence Committee, chose to resign rather than alter his

 report to save Patel’s reputation is admirable, but the full 

report is being kept secret. It must be revealed in full and 

the fact it was severely handicapped by the barring of 

access to Rutman’s input must also be highlighted.




Johnson Willing to Protect Patel
but not Pensioners in Care Homes


Patel was ordered to issue an apology on camera on Friday but all

 it did was rub salt in the wounds of the campaign against bullying

 as she smugly smirked and smiled when she claimed to have no

 knowledge of bullying but apologised anyway. Please watch and

 remember - her conduct drove a lowly paid civil servant to 

attempt suicide on two occasions and compelled a very 

senior civil servant to resign. The lack of contrition for 

her actions and empathy for her victims is truly

 frightening.




If Johnson and his Tory gang of millionaires and spivs showed an iota 

of the concern and commitment to defend elderly care residents as

they have shown to defend lying bully Patel at least 20,000 lives 

could have been saved. A shocking report compiled by Amnesty

 International last month received very little media attention but 

condemned the Tory Covid19 response as a dereliction of duty 

and care towards elderly citizens.




Read the document and understand just how complicit this Tory

 government is in the deaths of thousands of senior citizens. It 

presents evidence that the government’s policy of herd immunity

 was responsible for mass murder. The government was entirely 

aware of the probable outcome of their policy and went ahead

 regardless of the risk to thousands of lives.




The report, “As if expendable: The UK government’s failure to protect 

older people in care homes during the Covid-19 pandemic”, details 

how, between March 2 and June 12, 18,562 residents of care homes

 in England died with COVID-19. The vast majority (18,168) were 

aged 65 and over, representing almost 40 percent of all deaths 

involving the virus in England during this time frame. Of these, 

76 percent (13,844 deaths) occurred within care homes for

 the elderly.




During this brief period, 28,186 “excess deaths” were recorded

 in English care homes, a 46 percent increase in comparison 

with the same period over previous years.




Amnesty conclude that the Tory government together with its 

agencies at national and local level have “taken decisions and 

adopted policies during the Covid-19 pandemic that have directly

 violated the human rights of older residents of care homes in

 England—notably their right to life, their right to health, and 

their right to non-discrimination”.




The report argues that the decisions and policies of the Tory

 government “impacted the rights of care home residents to 

private and family life, and may have violated their right not 

to be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment”.




Johnson was determined to “form a square around the prittster”

 to defend his lying bully Patel at the Home Office but didn’t lift a 

finger to defend thousands of pensioners in care homes. That is

 the warped and putrid priorities which define this government.




A Litany of Government Failures but No Resignations


Their top advisor broke lockdown rules but there was no resignation.




They have been caught awarding contracts worth over £20 billion of 

public money without proper scrutiny or tendering processes to

 friends of senior Tories and companies known to donate to the 

Tory party and no one has resigned.




The UK government’s late response to Covid-19 and failure to 

impose lockdown measures caused the unnecessary deaths 

of 20,000 --- but no one resigned from government.


International law will be broken because of the government’s

 Internal Market Bill --- but no one resigns.




The Johnson government backs bullies, liars, public contract 

cheats and international law breaking. It is morally repugnant 

and thoroughly incompetent. No wonder Scotland is so keen 

to break away as soon as possible.






_________________________________________________












Report: Patients Discharged from 

UK Hospitals without COVID Test
Results

October 28th, 2020 (FNA)




Almost half of hospital patients have been discharged 

without receiving the results of their coronavirus test 

– including some patients who were sent to care 

homes, new research revealed.




Independent national patient body Healthwatch England 

said it had learned many patients were discharged from 

hospitals between March and August this year without 

proper assessments with many vulnerable people sent 

home without medication, equipment or the care they 

needed, The Independent reported.




At the start of the pandemic thousands of patients were 

discharged to care homes as NHS England instructed 

hospitals to free up 15,000 beds ahead of the first 

wave of coronavirus.




Approximately 25,000 patients were sent to care homes 

with some not tested, sparking fears this helped seed 

care homes with the virus. There have been around 

16,000 care home deaths linked to COVID-19.




According to a survey of almost 600 discharged patients 

and interviews with 60 NHS staff, Healthwatch England 

said it had found serious flaws with the way hospitals 

had followed NHS England’s instructions.




In joint research with the British Red Cross, shared with 

The Independent, it found that 44 percent of patients were 

discharged without knowing the result of their corona-

virus test - including some to care homes.




It said, “Despite the policy stating that all patients 

discharged to a care home should be tested for 

COVID-19, we found that 26 percent of our 

survey respondents who were discharged 

to a care home were not tested.”




While the numbers involved were small, only 13 out of 50 

patients, the report added that this was “still a significant 

proportion of people who were required to be tested 

but did not receive one”.




Healthwatch added that while patients going to care homes 

must have the results available and shared with the home

it was still not national policy to test everyone being 

discharged. It argued this should now be an 

''ambition'' for the government.




Its report also raises concerns about the wider care 

of vulnerable patients sent home from hospital.




88 percent of patients reported having care needs 

after being discharged that have still not been met.  




82 per cent did not receive a visit or any

assessment from a health professional




Almost one in five of those who did not 

receive a visit, reported unmet needs.




In total 45 percent of people with a disability and 

20 percent of people with a long-term condition 

had support needs that were not being met, 

following their discharge.  




Healthwatch England criticised the national discharge 

policy put in place by NHS bosses, as “confusing” in 

places which it said may have contributed to some 

patients missing out on the care they needed.




Robert Francis QC, chair of Healthwatch England, said, 

“In March, hospitals were asked to discharge patients 

with little or no notice and the speed with which this 

took place was important, but led to mistakes."




“We do not want to detract from the heroic efforts of
t
hose on the frontline, who often put themselves at 

great risk to care for their patients, but services 

and system leaders have now had more time 

to prepare," he said.




“It’s essential that we learn from what people have 

shared with us about the impact that a poorly 

handled discharge can have on them and 

their loved ones. Taking action now will 

not only reduce the risk to patients but 

will also help improve the way people 

leave hospital in the future,” he added.




The British Red Cross and Healthwatch England said 

assessments for patients needed to be prioritised.




They also called for discharge checklists to make 

sure patients were asked if they needed help with 

transport and equipment.




Other recommendations included making sure carers 

and patients had a single contact for support, which 

was already national policy but still not fully adopted.




The report also said community services needed 

to be boosted, to cope with increased demands.




British Red Cross Chief Executive Mike Adamson said, 

“We’ve seen first-hand the huge efforts made to 

improve the discharge process for patients and 

their families. However, we also know, despite 

good intentions and hard work, there are still 

barriers to making the ideals of discharge 

policy a reality."




“The Red Cross has been bearing witness to these 

issues for years, and we hope that the increased 

urgency of the situation will bring lasting change. 

Many of the people we support are older or more 

vulnerable, & fall into the higher-risk categories

 for COVID-19," Adamson said.




“Simple interventions, like getting equipment and 

medicine delivered, or follow-up visits, can make 

the difference between a good recovery or some-

one regressing to the point of readmission - 

precisely at the time we want people to 

stay well, and stay at home,” he said.




Professor Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, 

said, “There has long been a wide consensus about the 

benefits for patients of being able to return home as 

soon as their specialist hospital care is complete, 

and it is good that delays have been reduced in 

recent times. While this is a very small snap-

shot survey, local hospitals will want* (sic) 

to take account of the points it makes.”




 (*No they won't!)





_________________________________________



 



By backing housing charity’s
‘Jewish only’ rule, 
UK court drops
the ball. Aren’t we all equal in Britain?

by Chris Sweeney October 17th, 2020 (Source: RT)





A small legal challenge has turned into a precedent-

setting case about whether someone in today’s 

Britain can be prioritised or denied housing on 

the basis of their religion.The law isn’t always 

right and it’s not just people who can be 

taken hostage.




In a disgraceful decision deemed legitimate by the UK’s

 highest court, a single mother with four children was 

refused social housing – because she wasn’t a Jew.




It’s that simple. 




The charity Agudas Israel Housing Association (AIHA) 

owns 470 houses in the London borough of Hackney.

 Local authorities promised, in October 2017, the 

next available home to the woman and her kids, 

two of whom are autistic.




AIHA refused to hand over the keys to any 

of its SIX four-bedroom, unoccupied flats.




Their argument was it makes offers “only to members 

of the Orthodox Jewish community.” As Britain is a 

secular nation, the woman’s legal team found this 

claim astonishing and argued it had the same 

sentiment as the ‘No Dogs, No Blacks, No Irish’ 

signs that were once displayed in some pubs. 




Lord Sales stated the charity’s use of positive discrimination 

was lawful, under the Equality Act 2010, in order to correct 

the disadvantage faced by the community. The issue 

apparently was not racism, but discrimination on 

the grounds of religious observance. The court 

considered the “widespread and increasing 

overt antisemitism in our society.”




Intolerance or hate speech of any form is unacceptable. 

But it’s hard to believe the courts and public reaction 

would have been the same, if this had been Islam or 

a group of Pashtuns from the Iranian border region.




Jewish affairs are treated differently. There's a 'kid gloves' 

approach and they’re deemed to be culturally valuable, 

while other communities are sometimes dismissed as 

interlopers. AIHA’s founder Ita Cymerman-Symons, 

speaking last year about the legal action, offered 

the view: “Which non-Jewish person, honestly 

speaking, wants to live in the midst of a 

building full of Haredi men with all the 

beards, and all the chanting on a 

Friday night and all the children?”




A homeless single mother with four children 

for one, along with many others.




Plenty of people in social housing endure noisy neighbours, 

potent cooking smells and screaming kids. But isn’t that 

wonderful? Diversity and living cheek by jowl with 

people who see, think and believe different
things 
to you.




That’s a rich learning experience for anyone.




The fallacy of the AIHA’s superiority complex of viewing 

Orthodox Jews above others is, every public service is 

available to their members. And, of the charity’s 2019 

income of £105,710, the sum of £39,716 came from 

British government grants. They won’t be stone-

walled at hospital or refused entry on a bus, so 

why should they be allowed to create their 

small-minded kingdom with impunity?




These Jewish community leaders seem to be shutting out 

anyone who doesn’t align with their beliefs. It’s unhealthy 

and depressing, especially in a multicultural metropolis 

like London.




The judgement also referenced issues that Orthodox Jews 

don’t like to live outside of the Stamford Hill area and they 

tend to be poorer than the wider Jewish community. Many 

of us would prefer not to live outside of the millionaire’s 

playgrounds of Kensington, Knightsbridge and Mayfair – 

but we tend to be poorer, so can’t afford it. That doesn’t 

mean the courts would support us founding the 

Republic of Poverty Housing Association, and 

letting us administer who can move in.




Even if we concede that Orthodox Jews appear to support 

AIHA’s ghetto-isation, aren’t the courts supposed to rule 

for the greater good? It makes no sense to encourage 

people to live in self-imposed enclaves. How are they 

going to progress in life, or do they never plan to 

leave the streets around their homes?




There’s also a wider impact of the judgement. It raises the 

hackles of the population. It hacks away at the concept of 

respecting every other citizen. The far-right will jump on 

this and sadly there’s no defence. It will birth more 

discontentment and raise tensions. 




The law lords have dropped the ball, because they are the 

highest court in the land, they had the chance to set a 

precedent. They seem to have been influenced by 

Jewish sensitivity, that labels anyone who 

disagrees with the faith an anti-Semite.

 It’s hard to see how justice, fairness, 

compassion and understanding are 

applicable. But superiority, tokenism 

and favouritism have been advanced.




Why?




Well one of the court’s final points was AIHA was "a small 

housing provider, but similar discrimination by a larger one 

might not be allowed.”




We’re all equal, right?




Chris Sweeney is an author and columnist who has 

written for newspapers such as The Times, Daily 

Express, The Sun and Daily Record, along with 

several international-selling magazines. Follow 

him on Twitter @Writes_Sweeney





______________________________________






Brits should be ashamed of the casual cruelty 

we show towards over-60s, and shrugging it 

off as ‘banter’, does nothing to excuse it.

by Damian Wilson

9th October, 2020





Two-thirds of UK over-60s say they have been abused in 

public because of their age, with a fifth saying insults 

come from within their own families. It seems the 

idea that we should ‘respect our elders’, is no 

longer in fashion.





We live in a society where everyone just loves to talk 

about ‘respect.’  Even primary school children are 

indoctrinated with the concept, told they are due 

it by right and can demand it from others, if it’s 

not forthcoming. It’s all one-way traffic.





That’s why, as they grow older, and insist on enforcing 

their entitlement, it becomes increasingly evident that 

while they assume that right is a given for them, they 

actually don’t give a toss about it applying to 

anyone else.





Every now and then, research will put this into sharp relief, 

as is shown in the results of a survey undertaken by the 

University of the Third Age (u3a). The study found that 

the more senior members of society, basically those 

aged 60 and over, are frequently insulted by younger 

people, and they don’t like it.





Clueless Millennials, Zoomers and even Gen X’ers told the 

u3a pollsters that they don’t mean anything by slinging 

ageist insults, they were simply being “friendly” and 

the name-calling was just “banter.” Everyone 

does it.





The growing tendency of young people to airily dismiss their 

elders as over the hill old fogeys, and to even insult them in 

public because of their age, is not ‘banter,’ it’s insulting 

and rude.





The misuse of ‘bants’ as a term is one of modern life’s 

great irritations, because while young people have 

co-opted the word to (mis)represent the sort of 

behaviour that borders on bullying, with a thin 

coating of vicious humour, they are 

deeply mistaken.





Banter, in its traditional form, is an exchange between 

two people, a battle of wits, a game of intellectual 

ping-pong, like those nerdy folk on Channel 4 panel 

shows. Usually, those engaging in banter finish 

their jousting with a smug, self-congratulatory 

smile. It’s showing off, it’s proving how clever

you are. It’s not calling someone an old fart 

and shoving them out of the way.





Where’s the give and take, or clever verbal sparring, in 

a teenager shouting at an elderly woman in the street, 

“You dozy old biddy, move it!”. Or standing behind a 

chap of a certain age at a shop checkout, as he 

searches for his wallet and complaining,
“C’mon 
grandpa, hurry up!”?





That’s not banter. That’s something completely different. 





A new sort of passive-aggressive behaviour combined 

with name-calling, is increasingly common among 

young Brits these days, thinking that getting one 

over another person is some sort of achievement 

proving their superiority, particularly if it
belittles 
their victim as a result.





Of those surveyed, 63 per cent of over 60s said they 

had been verbally abused in public, with an ageist 

insult, while others had also noticed an increase 

in insults on television (65 per cent) social media

(33 per cent) and even from their own family 

(21 per cent).





My 11-year-old  thinks it’s funny to call me a ”boomer” 

when I can’t find the TV remote. She has a very clear 

idea of what the insult suggests, even if she’s 

actually out of range by a few years. I’m 56 -- 

so borderline Gen X’er, thank you very much.





Unfortunately for me, British families in general 

are not the sort of multi-generational dynasties, 

such as in Italy or India,  in which patriarchs 

& matriarchs, are given lifelong roles at the 

head of their family and afforded a respect 

that other members ignore at their peril.





Break the rules in one of these families, cause offence 

to an elder, and you will bring down the wrath of 

generations upon your head, face humiliation 

and even ostracisation. There is a sense of 

honour woven into the fabric of the family. 

These families are, sadly, not common 

amongst the British.





So most kids and young adults have no hesitation 

in freely hurling abuse at someone they consider 

a geriatric, past it, a fuddy duddy, over the hill, a 

fogey, a crone, an old dear, a codger, a biddy or 

a fossil, which by the way, are those insults 

most frequently employed, according to u3a.





This sort of casual cruelty, and the disregard 

it displays towards our seniors, is hugely 

disrespectful & we should be ashamed 

that it’s so widely accepted as nothing 

out of the ordinary.





We’re all guilty here. Causing offence like this should 

provoke more concern than it does, because it is an 

unwelcome sign of a breakdown in social and family 

hierarchies. Ignoring the concepts of seniority and 

wisdom --- we treat human beings like any other 

consumable, in our consumer-driven world ---

with a finite shelf-life & built-in obsolescence.





Many people feel no qualms about calling out an older 

person, in public, to remind them their time is up as a 

useful contributor to society and they need to shift 

it or risk being steamrolled by those behind them. 

While maybe not articulated quite like that as a 

traffic queue forms behind an elderly motorist 

showing excessive caution at a road junction, 

that, sadly, is often the underlying sentiment 

and we should be ashamed.





But most often, we’re not. We’re just annoyed at 

the inconvenience that someone older than us,

is causing to ourselves. Nearly 10 years ago, 

Age UK made a study of ageism & identified

it as the most widely experienced form of 

discrimination across Europe, affecting 

164 million senior citizens at that time.





Nothing much has changed in the UK in this regard 

since 2011, it seems. And if the latest study is 

anything to go by, things have become 

even worse. 





Damian Wilson is a UK journalist, ex-Fleet Street 

editor, financial industry consultant and political 

communications special advisor in the UK & EU.





The statements, views and opinions expressed in 

this column are solely those of the author and do 

not necessarily represent those of RT.






__________________________________________







 Figures Reveal 17,000 Elderly People in UK 

Forced to Sell Home to Pay for Care Costs 

in Just One Year

October 5th, 2020 (Fars news agency)





More than 17,000 pensioners were forced to sell their homes 

to pay for social care last year, research by Money Mail reveals.



The shocking figure means that 330 elderly residents each 

week are taking the desperate step despite Prime Minister 

Boris Johnson’s promise to fix the social care funding crisis.





The calculations reveal the scale of the emergency, showing 

that the numbers forced to sell their hard-won homes have 

soared 45 percent since 2000.





Last night campaigners called for urgent action and 

demanded a "national fund" to pay for social care.





Morgan Vine, of charity Independent Age, said, "The 

pandemic is not a reason not to act – it is the reason 

why action has never been more vital."





On his first day in No 10 in July 2019, Johnson vowed to 

make social care a priority and end the crisis "once and 

for all".





But he has since admitted action would be delayed and 

the coronavirus crisis has made immediate reform a 

remote possibility.





The cost of residential care has risen dramatically 

and now stands at more than £33,000 a year.





Anyone with more than £23,250 in funds, including their 

house value, is denied state help, leaving thousands 

having to sell their homes to pay soaring care bills.





The Daily Mail has campaigned to end this injustice 

for the families of those with dementia, as well as 

other patients.





MoneyMail’s calculations, verified by Independent Age, 

are based on Department of Health data indicating that 

30 percent of those who pay for their residential care 

have to sell their homes.





The total was produced by comparing the numbers of 

self-funders in care provided by analysts Laing Buisson.





The research assumes the average stay is two-and-a-half 

years, as concluded in a study by the Personal Social 

Services Research Unit and Bupa.





It means around 350,000 elderly people are estimated to 

have sold their homes to pay for residential care since 1999.





Caroline Abrahams, director at charity Age UK, said, "When 

the threat from coronavirus finally recedes, Age UK will 

certainly be holding the Government to account on its 

promise to fix social care. The obvious solution is for 

us all to pay into a national fund, like we do with 

the NHS."





She added" |Most people dread the idea of having to sell 

the family home to pay their care bills and the fact that 

this is the reality for substantial numbers is very sad."





Vine, head of policy at Independent Age, said, "These latest 

figures are a timely reminder of the need to fix the funding 

crisis that has plagued the social care system for decades, 

long before COVID-19.





"When taking office, the Prime Minister promised to solve 

the crisis, including preventing people from having to sell 

their homes to pay for care," Vine said, adding, ‘Although 

he couldn’t have predicted the challenges we now face, 

we can all predict the long-term consequences of failing 

to keep his promise."





Liz Kendall, Labour’s social care spokesman, said, "The 

Prime Minister said, on the steps to Downing Street, that 

he has a plan to fix the crisis in social care and that no 

one should have to sell their homes to pay for their care."





"Yet we have seen neither sight nor sound of 

any long-term plan for reform," Kendall said.





"This must be an absolute top priority for the Government. 

People who have worked hard and saved all their life have 

seen their savings wiped out," Kendall added.





A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said, 

"We have committed to end the injustice that some people

have to sell their homes to finance care whilst others don’t. 

We know there is a need for a long-term solution and are 

looking at proposals."






_____________________________________________________






UK’s chief scientific adviser has
£600,000
 of shares in vaccine
maker contracted by govt
– reports

 


UK Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance reportedly 

holds a bonus of tens of thousands of shares in a pharma 

giant developing a Covid-19 vaccine for the government. 

Yet, London says there is no conflict of interest.




Vallance, who also chairs the government’s expert advisory 

panel on vaccines, appears to have retained over 43,000 

shares in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) – a UK-based 

multinational pharmaceutical company – 

worth £600,000, The Telegraph reports.




The shareholding appears to be the legacy of his previous 

job as the head of research and development at the very 

same company. Over his tenure from 2012 to 2018, 

Vallance accumulated a total of 404,201 GSK 

shares worth a whopping £6.1 million in his 

hands, according to the British media.




However, he sold more than £5 million worth of shares 

after being appointed to the government. GSK, mean-

while, has entered the global race to provide the world 

with a vaccine against coronavirus – alongside some 

20 other drug manufacturers and research centres. 

The endeavour might prove quite lucrative, should 

the company succeed.



The pharma giant working together with another drug 

manufacturer – Sanofi – has already struck deals with 

the UK and the US governments to supply them with 

a Covid-19 vaccine in case its efforts are fruitful. 

The contract would see GSK providing as many 

as 60 million doses to the UK and 100 million 

doses to the US. Washington has already 

reportedly paid the two companies 

£1.65 million to accelerate 

their efforts.



Since it received the government contracts, GSK’s 

share price rose by some two percent. Vallance 

has meanwhile been busy ensuring that the UK 

would get enough vaccine doses - if GSK is 

successful and contributing to the vaccine 

development efforts.




Earlier this week, he said that the first doses could 

be ready as early as by the end of this year, 

warning, however, that the first half of 2021

 would be a more realistic prospect.The 

revelations sparked suspicions of a 

potential conflict of interest.




However, Health Secretary Matt Hancock denied the 

possibility of this. “No, there are rules around these 

kinds of things and I'm sure that Sir Patrick has 

been fully advised by them,” he told LBC Radio. 

“If you know Sir Patrick Vallance as I do, any 

suggestion that he is doing anything other 

than his level best to try and tackle this 

virus is wrong,” he added.



A government spokesman confirmed that Vallance holds 

a deferred share bonus that would mature in April 2021 

without revealing its exact value. The spokesman also 

said that “appropriate steps were taken to manage the 

government chief scientific adviser’s (GCSA) interests 

in line with advice provided at the time.”




He added that the chief scientific adviser also has “no input”

 into the commercial decisions on vaccine procurement, 

which are taken by the government following a “robust” 

approval regime.




The developments come as the UK braces for a second wave 

of coronavirus. The number of new cases is on the rise once 

again and some places in the UK witness it increasing at a 

pace not seen since the peak of the epidemic in spring.




More than 6,100 people were confirmed to have contracted 

the disease overnight and Hancock said that up to 10,000 

people might get ill a day. The situation prompted London 

to introduce a new set of restrictions, which according to 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson might stay in place for up
to 
six months.



Some companies, including the British-Swedish AstraZeneca 

are, meanwhile, seeking emergency approval for their 

vaccines from the relevant regulators.




(originally appeared in RT.)



________________________________________________________






UN probes UK's
disabled rights violations


The UN is to send a delegation to the UK
as part of an inquiry into the “grave and
systematic violations” of the rights of
disabled people --- allegedly taking
place under London’s austerity
measures.

 A visit of the UN Committee Rights of Persons
with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is taking place at
the request of the campaign group, 'Disabled
People Against Cuts' using a legal mechanism
 known as the Optional Protocol. The request
was made at the start of 2012. Britain is the
first country to face a high-level inquiry by
 the UN committee.

“This is the first time any country has been
investigated by the UN using the Optional
 Protocol so it will be, if nothing else, a very
 historic event,” Linda Burnip, co-founder of
 Disabled People Against Cuts says, adding
that the process is “long and arduous,”
with strict rules for proof of any claims.

News of the investigation was leaked
back in September. UN inquiries are
usually "confidential", but UNCRPD
confirmed it would be visiting the
UK, after the revelation.

“The inquiry follows a string of scandals
involving disabled people in the UK,
including a rise in hate crimes, which
have been overlooked by police and
 the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS),”
 former director of prosecutions, Lord
 Kenneth MacDonald, says.

Disabled people have been affected
by cuts, nine times more than most
other citizens, according to a report
by the Centre for Welfare Reform,
 in 2013.


__________________________



AND WHERE IS WALES' BLOSSOMING...?

Imagine the Rhondda using wind and sun energy
to create new rate and rent free business units,
  that encourage new enterprising companies,
which pay well and market under a "brand"
with a superb reputation for quality.

Everything to help hitting the ground running,
with hot-desking, science, and agriculture,
  to employ our youth.




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.


China sent 30 missions
 into space in 2017
- a record!

January 4th, 2017 !!!

China conducted 30 space launch missions in 2017 
--- a record-breaking number in
 the country's
space history, said China Aero-
space
Science &Technology Corporation.


Long March-5 and Long March-7 rockets are
used
to carry out most space missions,
the China News Service reported.


Long March-5 is China's largest carrier rocket. The
successful test launch of the vehicle in November,
 in S. China's Hainan Province, has paved the way
for space station construction, analysts said.

Wang Yu, the general director of the Long March-5
 program, said 2017 was a critical year for China's
 new generation of carrier rockets - and Long
March-5 rockets carried Chang'e-5 probe to
space. The probe has landed on the moon,

 collected samples and returned to Earth.

On the other hand, Long March-7, the more powerful
 version of Long March-2, sent China's 1st cargo
 spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into space, in the first
half
of 2017, according to Wang Zhaoyao,
director of
China Manned Space
Engineering Office.

Tianzhou-1
docked with Tiangong-2 space lab
conducting experiments on propellant
supplements.


China conducted 22 launch missions in 2016 and 19
 in 2015. The country successfully tested its Long
 March-7 rocket in June 2016, and has gradually
 shifted to new generation rockets that reduce
the
use of toxic rocket fuels.


China released several white papers on its space
 activities, announcing plans to soft land Chang'
e-5
on the moon, by the end of 2017, and launch
its
first Mars probe, by 2020.


After Chang'e-5, China would launch Chang'e-4
 lunar probe in about 2018 to achieve mankind's
 first soft landing on the far side of the moon - 
and conduct in situ and roving detection and
 relay communications at Earth-moon L2 point.

The white paper also said that iover the next 5
years, China would provide space & aviation
-
related services to countries involved in the

One Belt and One Road initiative -- such as
satellite communications, navigation and
weather forecasting analysis.

It has now, in 2021, done so.

Image: BRICS




US expert views BRICS as testbed
for new kind of global governance
27/8/2017


 
Xinhua - The BRICS bloc grouping Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa serves as "a testbed" for a "sharing governance" of
 global affairs, a leading US expert said.

"BRICS makes that kind of contribution to the world governance
by providing diversity," said Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chair of the
Kuhn Foundation, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"I think it would be a mistake, given the nature of humanity, to
have only one organization like the United Nations... " he said,
 adding that a diversity of structures seems to be what makes
 the most sense over time in global governance, since there is
 no perfection.

"It engages them (BRICS nations) to be a sort of hub for broader
 global interaction," Kuhn said, "So Brazil is in South America.
 South Africa is obviously in southern Africa. These become
vehicles to engage more of the world, so that's all positive."

The longtime China observer noted that a greater participation
of the five major emerging economies with "very different
 characteristics" also strengthens momentum for a multi-
polar world, which is crucial for promoting world stability.

"I am all for the key countries, whether judged economically,
 or through other mechanisms, to have greater participation
 in (global) organizations," Kuhn said.

The BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), which is intended
 to focus on infrastructure and sustainable development
projects, stands as a good example, showing "what a
new kind of world governance would look like," he said.

"Everybody has equal voting power. So that's a good sign,"
 he added, referring to the NDB'S distinctive feature -- the
absolutely just distribution of votes between members,
 different from the quota system of other international
 financial institutions, based on the role of a certain
 member.

Although with the overwhelmingly largest economy in BRICS,
 China "does not use that power in an aggressive way to take
 control" of the NDB, he noted, "I think that's a good signal.
 And China's doing it because it wants this greater
participation in international affairs."

All BRICS countries should have "a greater say" in the
international financial activity of the World Bank and
 the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he said.

In the World Bank, the BRICS countries, home to 42.6 percent
 of the global population and nearly half of the world's foreign
 exchange reserves, have a total of only 13% of voting rights,
 while the United States alone, holds 15 percent.

The IMF agreed in 2010 to give emerging economies a greater
vote in decision-making, but the reform has been blocked by
 the United States, despite the fact that more than 140
countries have approved it.

"These should be adjusted... that's just not aligned
 with today's world, in the same way," he said.

Since the first foreign ministers' meeting in 2006, BRICS countries
have seen ten years of rapid expansion in trade and economies.
 
They currently account for nearly a quarter of the world economy
 and contributed more than half of global economic growth in 2016.

The 9th annual summit of the bloc, scheduled for Sept. 3rd-5th, in
Xiamen City of southeast China's Fujian Province, is expected to
 produce a declaration that lays out both the progress BRICS has
made so far and its vision of future cooperation.

A "BRICS Plus" mode, is expected to expand the bloc's partnership
-- especially with developing countries -- providing opportunities for
other economies and injecting impetus into economic globalization,
and will help make it a leading platform for South-South cooperation.


_____________________________________________________




West shocked at success
of Russian economy
- despite sanctions
August 14th, 2017
 Fort Russ News - KtovKurse
translated by Inessa Sinchougova

Despite the sanctions and the fall in oil prices,
the Russian economy has grown at its fastest
pace since the third quarter of 2012, German
'paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung states.

According to Rosstat, the growth rate of economic
development in the second quarter of this year by
 2.5%, exceeded similar indicators in 2016. Since
the end of last year, the country's GDP has
 increased again, which wasn't observed
 for seven quarters, before.

According to analysts interviewed, monthly indicators
of economic activity, suggest a recovery of Russia's
 economy on a broad basis. "There was a sharp rise
in construction and industry," commented Rosstat's
data to Capital Economics research company.

Growth was also observed in the sphere of trade. At the
 same time, it was noted that agriculture is the only
sector of the economy that has not yet fully
recovered. This area in the 2nd quarter,
 showed a decline.

In general, however, GDP growth during the second quarter
was lower than the government's forecast (2.7%), the news-
paper stated.

Sanctions taught Russia to count "on oneself", in the
development of its own industries, small, & medium-
sized businesses.

The representative of the Institute of Contemporary
Development, Nikita Maslenikov, agrees that Russia's
economy has already adapted to the imposed external
constraints and the latest US sanctions will not have
a significant impact. In his opinion, because of these
sanctions, Russia will lose only "a few tenths" of
the annual rate of its GDP growth.


_________________________________________



Donetsk revives local bus
 manufacturing industry
August 11th, 2017
 Fort Russ News - DNR News
 by Inessa Sinchougova

The Head of the Donetsk Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko,
paid a working visit to the state enterprise Donetskgormash,
 where the first Donbass buses have been assembled. The
plant was also visited by the Deputy Chair of the Council of
Ministers of the DPR, Alexander Timofeev, and the Acting
 President. Minister of Industry & Trade, Alexey Granovsky.

The managers of the enterprise conducted a tour of the
 plant, where Zakharchenko got acquainted with the
 technological characteristics of the "Donbass" bus
- and the stages of its assembly. The Republic's
demand for city and suburban needs for 2017,
 is about 400 units, due to a lack of transport
options because of the conflict.
 
_______________________________________________



Russia plans to abolish preferences
 to foreign aircraft makers from
2019 - deputy PM
August 6th

Dmitry Rogozin said that a plan of replacing all
foreign aircraft by Russian-made analogues
 has already been drafted and submitted
to President Vladimir Putin

TASS - Russia plans to begin abolishing preferences to
foreign aircraft manufacturers from 2019, to regain
control over the domestic civil aircraft market,
 Russian Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin said
 on Sunday.

"Today, we produce 30 planes a year, which is 25 less
 than Airbus or Boeing but by 2025 we plan to already
manufacture 110 planes a year," he said in an
 interview with the Sunday evening news
 roundup on Rossiya-1 tv channel.

 "As production of domestic aircraft increases - we
will abolish the privileges foreign aircraft-makers
are enjoying, say, from 2019."

According to official statistics cited by Rogpzin, Russia
 strongly depends on foreign aircraft manufacturers.
 Thus, in his words, it has bought 367 foreign-made
  planes since 2013. Apart from that, he noted that
 big funds are spent to lease foreign planes.

 "Being dependent on foreign aircraft makers, we spend
 and pay abroad some 470 billion rubles (7.83 billion US
 dollars) a year. It is an insult to the nation, an insult to
our aviation power and we couldn't stand such a state
 of things any longer," he said, adding that it was the
 reason to encourage the development and
 production of new Russian aircraft,
 including the MC-21 and Sukhoi
Superjet 100 planes.

The deputy prime minister said that a plan of replacing
all foreign aircraft by Russian-made analogues, has
already been drafted and submitted to President
Vladimir Putin.

"We will regain this market. If we did it in the defense
 sector, we can do it in the civil sector as well," he
stressed.

___________________________________________



BRICS countries strike fatal
 blow on US dollar supremacy
August 4th 2017
 
The United States has declared a war of sanctions
on Russia and continues putting trade pressure on
 China. It is not ruled out that the USA will restrict
supplies of steel products from China. In return,
Moscow and Beijing intend to abolish the US
dollar in settlements within the scope of
the BRICS organization. The move will
mark the end of the era of undivided
 financial domination of the United
States of America, in the world.

As soon as the US Congress adopted a package of
 new sanctions against Russia, the Deputy Foreign
Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov
 issued a formidable warning to Washington.

"US sanctions against Russia will only encourage
 Russia to create an alternative economic system,
in which dollars will not be needed," the Russian
 diplomat said.

Interestingly, the statement was made on the eve
 of the two-day summit of BRICS trade ministers,
which opened on August 1, 2017 in Shanghai.
This organization, which includes Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa,
becomes a powerful counterweight
 to the Group of Seven.

Today, the BRICS countries account for 26% of the
Earth's territory, 42% of its population (almost
three billion people) and 27% of world GDP.

According to experts' forecasts, the share
 of BRICS countries will account for more
than 40% of world GDP, by 2050.

However, BRICS trade ministers chose
not to put the horse before the cart.

Russia's Minister for Economic Development Maxim
 Oreshkin stated that BRICS countries, in particular
 Russia and China, may switch to settlements in
national currencies already in the near future.
The minister also said that trade turnover
 between Russia and China may reach
$200 billion by 2020.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the Shanghai summit,
the ministers discussed opportunities for creating a
 new monetary system to exclude the use of the US
dollar. In 2015, President Vladimir Putin said that
Russia was opting for settlements in national
 currencies and has created currency pools
with several countries.

Today, not only does Russia need to abjure the dollar -
 the country needs to ensure financial independence
 from the West. BRICS countries have coordinated
 basic principles of the New Development Bank's
work, which is seen as a counterbalance to the
 World Bank, in which it is the US who sets the
 rules of the game.

In addition, Russia considers the possibility of
 setting up a separate payment system similar
 to SWIFT.

More than 300 Russian banks have switched to an
alternative to SWIFT - the system known as SPFS
 (System for Transfer of Financial Messages).

Elvira Nabiullina, Chairwoman of the Central Bank of
 Russia, said: "Threats were voiced that Russia could
 be cut off from SWIFT. We have completed the work
 on our own payment system, and --- if something
happens --- all operations in SWIFT format will
work inside the country."

One of the main conditions for switching to settlements
in national currencies, is the stability of the national
currencies of the BRICS members. The Russian
ruble exchange rate may decrease due to
relatively low world oil prices (within
$52 per barrel).

The unstable exchange rates of national currencies, is
not the only obstacle to abjure the US dollar in mutual
settlements. BRICS countries account for only 10%
of global trade. Therefore, the alliance needs to
increase its indicators of mutual trade.

Moscow and Beijing have already introduced mutual
settlements in yuans. Russia's Central Bank has
opened its first foreign office in Beijing.

Thus, the war of sanctions against Russia consolidates
 and boosts relations between Russia, China and other
BRICS members.
 
Aydin Mehtiyev

Pravda.Ru


__________________________________________________





China to continue to be key
 driver of global growth -
IMF chief economist
July 24th, 2017
 
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday,
 revised upwards, China's growth forecast for 2017
 and 2018...  to 6.7% and 6.4%, respectively.

China's growth will continue to be a key driver for a
 (firming) recovery of the world economy, the chief
economist of the International Monetary Fund
 (IMF) said on Monday.

The updated World Economic Outlook report published
by the IMF on Monday, which came days after China
 posted a stronger-than-expected second quarterly
 performance, Is a reflection of a solid first quarter,
 underpinned by previous policy easing and supply
-side reforms, including efforts to reduce excess
capacity in the industrial sector, according to
the IMF.

"We have seen very strong growth and, especially
beyond our update, the second quarter's figure of
6.9& is also above expectation. So clearly growth
 is proceeding at pace," Obstfeld said.

"Strong Chinese growth drives growth, particularly
in the Asia region, but also throughout the world,"
Obstfeld added, noting that China is a big
contributor to overall growth, and has
a very large spillover effect, on the
world's economy.

(Source - Xinhua)

____________________________________________




EU warns US of ‘unintended
consequences’ over fresh
anti-Russia sanctions
Saturday July 22nd, at 10:34pm

The EU has warned the US over “unintended consequences”
which may result from imposing more sanctions on Russia.

The European Commission released a statement on Saturday,
warning that imposing new sanctions against Russia without
coordination with the G7 countries, may have "wide and
indiscriminate" "unintended consequences."

The statement was released after Republicans & Democrats
 in the US Congress, reached a deal which could result in
 further anti-Russia sanctions.

Germany has already announced that it may engage in
 retaliatory moves, if the US sanctions German firms
 involved in the construction of a new Baltic pipe-
line for Russian gas.

"We understand that the Russia/Iran sanctions bill is
driven primarily by domestic considerations," read
the statement, in reference to last month's bill
passed by the US Senate.

"As we have said repeatedly, it is important that any
possible new measures are coordinated between
international partners to maintain unity among
 partners on the sanctions that have been
# underpinning the efforts for a full
 implementation of the Minsk
 Agreements," it added.

The economic sanctions against Moscow were
originally introduced in March 2014, after the
 strategic Black Sea peninsula of Crimea
 rejoined Russia after a referendum.

Since then, the EU, the US and some other Western
countries have imposed several rounds of sanctions
against Russia over accusations that Moscow has
 been involved in the deadly crisis in Ukraine,
which has so far killed over 10,000 people.
The Kremlin has, however, strongly
 rejected the accusations.

Ukraine’s armed conflict broke out when Kiev
launched military operations to crack down
on pro-Russia anti-US coup forces in the
eastern sector of the country.

In September 2014, the government in Kiev and the
pro-Russia anti-US coup forces signed a ceasefire
 agreement in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, in a
 bid to halt the clashes in Ukraine’s eastern regions.

The warring sides also inked another truce deal,
 dubbed Minsk II, in February 2015, under the
supervision of Russia, Germany and France.

"Sanctions are at their most effective when they are
 coordinated. Currently our sanctions regimes are
coordinated. As a result their impact on the ground
 is increased and through coordination we are able
 to avoid surprises, manage any potential impact
 on our own economic operators, and address
 collectively, efforts to circumvent such
 measures. Unilateral measures would
 undermine this," it notes.

(Source - PressTv)

________________________________________________



Africa has potential to have e-commerce
 bigger than EU and US: stresses Jack Ma
 July 22nd 2017

Chinese billionaire entrepreneur Jack Ma on Friday
advised African youth entrepreneurs to think out
of the box and create a bigger e-commerce on
 the continent.

He made the remarks while delivering his keynote
 address at the inauguration of the YouthConnekt
Africa Summit, in the Rwandan capital Kigali,
which focuses on promoting job creation
through entrepreneurship and skills
development with Africa's youth.

"Africa is the home & solution for the inclusive economy
the world needs. Think big, and think about the future.
You have great potential: the future of e-commerce
in Africa, is bigger than for Europe & the US," said
Ma, founder of China's e-commerce giant, Alibaba.

"Think big for the future. It took me 18 years to build
e-commerce, but it could take you 5 to 8 years to
build e-commerce in Africa, since the continent
has already laid a conducive environment for
 you to thrive," said the special advisor of the
 United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD).

He said that African entrepreneurs should learn from
 failure. "Africa has to get used to failure. If you can't,
then how can you succeed?"

The three-day summit is organized by the government
of Rwanda, the United Nations Conference on Trade
 and Development (UNCTAD) and UNDP. The summit,
 from July the 19th to the 21st, is dubbed:
 "Realizing Africa's Youth Potential."

It has attracted more than 3,000 participants including
top executives from multinational companies, leaders
of civil society organizations, Africa's development
partners, members of the academia, and youth
 entrepreneurs from 90 countries across Africa
 and beyond, to interact & discuss enhancing
 the potential of youth in Africa, according
 to the organizers.

At the summit, Ma announced four projects to support
 African entrepreneurs, African young people and the
efforts of conservation in Africa.

The four projects are:

 supporting 200 African entrepreneurs
over the next five years;

working with universities and governments
to develop training programs for African
young people on e-commerce and
cloud computing;

setting up a conservation award
for conservation rangers;

 and donating 10 million US dollars to establish
 a young entrepreneurs development fund.

(Source: Xinhua)

_________________________________________



EU trying to solve its problems
by targeting Iran and others'
steel
exports with huge
law-breaking duties
July 19th, 2017

The European Union is targeting Iran’s hot-rolled
 steel --- planning to hit imports from the country
with punitive trade tariffs. 

According to a document cited in the European
media, the European Commission is proposing
duties of up to 23 percent for steel from Iran's
Mobarakeh Steel Co.

European steel lobby group Eurofer is at the centre
 of the campaign and has forced Europe’s trade
 policy oversight European Commission,
to intervene and check imports.

Brazil, Russia & Ukraine, are the other countries
the Commission is planning to target with duties
of up to 33%.   

There is no immediate reaction to the plan from
 the countries being targeted. In June, China
reacted furiously after the European Union
set duties of up to 35.9 percent on
Chinese hot-rolled steel.

Eurofer says Iranian exports to Europe have leapt
 to more than 1 million tonnes annually, accusing
Mobarakeh of "trade distorting measures."

Mobarakeh Steel Co is Iran’s largest steel
producer with 7.2 million tonnes per year. 

Europe’s tough stance, including its more than 40
 restrictive measures, aimed at aiding European
 steel producers --- has sparked accusations of
protectionism by international steel exporters.

The bloc’s steel producers have been pressuring
the European leaders to copy the US’s draconian
 regulations, including levies of more than 500%
 on steel imports, in some cases.

Steelmakers across Europe are faced with mass
 redundancies because of their high energy costs.
Their leaders say 320,000 jobs in the European
 steel industry, are ''at risk from imports''.

Steel is the second biggest industry in the world
after oil and gas. The commodity was Iran's
 largest export item after oil, gas and petro-
chemicals last year, partly because of
 the slump in domestic construction.

The country has been boosting steel production,
targeting an output plateau of 55 million tonnes
per year by 2015.

Iran enjoys an advantage because production
costs at the majority of its steelworks are
 internationally competitive, because of
 low energy prices in the country.

It exported 4 million tonnes of steel last year,
according to director of the Iranian Mines and
 Mining Industries Development & Renovation
 Organization (IMIDRO), Mehdi Karbasian.

Currently, the nation produces 16 million tonnes,
 which is 1% of the world total. A statement on
IMIDRO’s website says exports are expected
to hit 20-25 million tonnes by 2025.

Steel is a strategic commodity for the country of
80 million, which has the Middle East’s biggest
carmaker. It is also key to Iran's massive oil
and gas industry, transportation network,
water supply, urban centres and
mammoth construction sector.

Last month, Austria said it had allocated a credit
line of 1 billion euros for a major steel production
 project in southern Iran.

(Source - PressTv)

_____________________________________________


Russia China Trade B(l)ooming
July 1st, 2017


China's General Administration of Customs states that
China-Russia trade grew 33.7% in the first five months
 of this year, to 223.1 billion yuan ($32.8 billion).


(Source - Xinhua)


______________________________________________



AIIB approves membership of

Argentina, Madagascar, Tonga
June 17th 2017
 
Xinhua - The China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment
 Bank (AIIB) on Friday approved the memberships of
Argentina, the Republic of Madagascar and the
Kingdom of Tonga at its second annual
meeting of governors.

The AIIB's board of governors adopted resolutions approving
the three applicants to join the bank at the second annual
meeting, which kicked off earlier in the day in South
 Korea's southern resort island of Jeju.

The first meeting was held in Beijing last year.

The approved applicants included one regional prospective
member, Tonga, and two non-regional members, Argentina
and Madagascar.

"Well-integrated infrastructure and enhanced connectivity
between Asia and the rest of the world has far-reaching
benefits for the global economy," said AIIB President
 Jin Liqun.

Tonga was well known as the friendly islands in the South
 Pacific, while Argentina and Madagascar are important
 economies in South America and Africa each, said Jin.

The AIIB chief expressed his anticipation of the role the
 3 new members will play, once they fully join the bank.

The three prospective members will officially join the AIIB
 once they complete the required domestic processes and
 deposit the first installment of capital with the bank.

Shares allocated to the new prospective members come
 from the bank's existing pool of unallocated shares.

"Since launching only 18 months ago, the bank has
welcomed 23 new members from around the
world," said Sir Danny Alexander, vice
president and corporate secretary
at the AIIB.

The vice chief said interest in the AIIB remained high and
that the bank's door remained open to the new members
that will be joining later this year.

Officially launched in January 2016, the Beijing-based AIIB
 is a multilateral development bank initiated by China and
supported by a wide range of countries and regions,
which will provide financing for infrastructure
 improvement in Asia.

The international infrastructure bank owned about 100 billion
 US dollars of subscribed capital, including some 20 billion
dollars in paid-in capital.

This year's annual meeting gathered about 2,000
participants, including delegations of founding
members and the new members, international
organizations and academia...  as well as
 businessmen, financiers and journalists.

The attendees included over 20 finance ministers
of approved AIIB members, according to South
Korea's finance ministry.

The second annual meeting was held under the theme of
"Sustainable Infrastructure," seeking strategic directions
 of the international infrastructure bank and making
major decisions on the bank's management.


________________________________________________



Israel’s economy heading
for disaster, experts warn
May 29th, 2017

A report released by the Taub Center for Social Policy
 Studies in Israel shows the country has the highest
poverty rates among OECD countries --- and faces
 “worrisome trends” that could have disastrous
 effects on its growing population.

According to the Picture of the Nation 2017 report,
with Israel’s aging population and rising costs
 across the board, its “current sources of
 economic growth are not sustainable.”

The country ranks 22nd out of 34 of the OECD
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development) regarding GDP and takes 24th
 spot within the market income poverty rate.

Among developed countries, Israel has the highest
 percentage of its population below the poverty line.

“The past year has seen a decline in unemployment
 and a large rise in GDP,” however, “unfortunately, it
appears that this positive trend will not continue
 and new sources of growth must be found,”
 said the report.

The Taub Center described Israel’s 4% GDP
 growth as an “outlier and not a trend.”

A separate report which was released earlier this month
 by the Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic Research
 looked at economic trends in the whole 69-year history
 of the country. It concluded the economy shows deep-
seated and long-term shortcomings that threaten to
weaken the army and constitute an “existential
threat” to the country’s future.

In terms of GDP, Israel has been falling further and further
 behind the G7 average since the mid-1970s, with a more
 than threefold increase having developed in the gap
between them. This, says the report, “reflects a
steadily widening disparity between what an
employed person living in Israel can attain
 and what that person could attain in the
 countries that are pulling away
 from Israel.”

Professor Dan Ben-David, founder and chair of the
Shoresh Institution and co-author of the report,
warned if Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu
“continues to ignore the future” the
 country could face a catastrophe
 of massive proportions.

Netanyahu has recently held some meetings with Israeli
 media outlets, claiming the reports do not reflect “what
 the public feels.”

“It's an industry of despair. Where they see unemployment,
I see full employment. Where they see an economy in ruin,
 I see a flourishing economy. Where they see traffic jams,
I see junctions, trains, and bridges. Where they see a
crumbling state nearing collapse, I see Israel as a
 rising global power,” he was cited as saying
 by the Times of Israel.

(Source - RT)

________________________________________





'Finance Curse'
Scheduled to Tighten
 Its Grip on UK Significantly by 2022
May 2nd 2017, at 8:01pm

The UK Trades Union Congress (TUC) has published projections
 suggesting the UK economy will be highly unbalanced by 2022
– economic activity heavily skewed towards London, and the
wider economy dependent on finance. The Tax Justice
Network (TJN) has said such a development would be
a symptom of the UK's "Finance Curse."

In all, the TUC forecasts S. East England will produce 40.1 percent
 of the UK's gross domestic product by 2022, of which London will
 provide 25 percent (or 62.5 percent of the South East's total
 economic share). This represents a rise of 2.5 percentage
 points from 2015, and over seven percent from 1997.

The Congress projects the most significant falls in the share of the
 economy come in 2022 and will be suffered in Yorkshire (dropping
0.5 percentage points to just 6.1 percent), the North West (down 0.4
 to nine percent%) and Scotland (falling 0.4 to 7.2 percent).

Given the importance of the City of London's offshore financial centre
 to the region, the Tax Justice Network believes the TUC's forecasts
are a vivid demonstration of the "Finance Curse" in action —
organization directors John Christensen and Nicholas Shaxson
 argue the City of London has been a major contributing factor
to the dramatic decline in British manufacturing since the
1970s, and the impoverishment of non-South East
 regions of the country.

The emphasis on finance in the UK has, they believe, resulted in flows
of foreign capital into the UK going straight to the City, for the purpose
 of mergers and acquisitions and real estate purchases rather than
 investment. Moreover, it has produced a "brain drain" effect in
many industries, with upper tier university graduates being
 enticed by finance, and eschewing other valuable sectors
 of the economy.

The UK's bloated financial sector has also helped to disguise the
damage the industry itself has caused, by smoothing over
 declining wages and falling levels of employment, via
borrowing. When downturns and recessions occur,
 the long-term damage inflicted on other sectors
 of the economy by a myopic national focus on
 finance are revealed — but those sectors are
 harder to resuscitate than finance, and may
 end up being irrecoverable.

(source - Sputnik)

_________________________________________





European Union demands
UK must repay Fraud cash

March 8th 2017

 The European Office of Struggle against Fraud (OLAF)
demanded today that the United Kingdom pay for two
billion euros of customs fraud.

An official report adds that the claim is due to the fact
 that London ignored, for years, this type of practice,
 above all, in the importation of textiles and Chinese
 shoes, thereby affecting the community budget.

The text says this protest is regardless of Brexit
 or a British exit from the European Union (EU),
scheduled to become a reality this month.

Research carried out from 2013 to 2016, revealed
 a customs fraud of expanded reach --- carried out
by a group of criminal gangs, who systematically
 declared lower values for the imported products.

According to OLAF, the United Kingdom was the main
 centre of that fraudulent trade. Other countries of the
 European Union fought against that problem, while
 the illegal business grew in the British isles.

In that period, that practice inflicted losses on the EU
 of one billion 987 million euros, concludes the probe.
 The customs tariffs are one of the main sources of
financing the EU budget.

OLAF launches severe accusations against the United
 Kingdom and assures that, for years, authorities were
 alerted about the losses, without doing anything to
 prevent them, or open investigations on this issue.

(source - Prensa Latina)

__________________________________



China Usurps US As Germany’s
 Biggest Trade Partner
25/2/2017 at 03:36

China has taken another step in global economic
 dominance: becoming Germany’s most significant
 international trading partner: a place the US had.

Germany sent and received with China, goods and
 services worth approximately $180 billion in 2016,
 according to recent Federal Statistics Office data.
France was Germany’s second-largest trade ally,
 while the US ranked third.

 In 2015, the US enjoyed a brief stint as Germany’s
 top trade partner, a spot occupied by France, for
 the previous half-century.

Optimism among exporters in China, the world’s
 third-largest economy, is “rising further,” says
Clemens Faust, of Ifo Institute for Economic
 Research, a Munich-based think tank.

(source - Sputnik)

_____________________________




Politician: European-style reforms
to degrade Ukraine’s economy
 January 23rd
   
Ukraine’s economy has been degrading as its
 dependence on commodity exports grows as
a result of "European-style reforms", leader
of the Ukrainian Choice public movement,
 Viktor Medvedchuk said Monday, in
a LiveJournal post.

"Rather than developing innovations to achieve
 a technological breakthrough, we have been
witnessing destruction of the country’s high
 tech industries. In 2013, the share of various
 machines, equipment and transport vehicles
in our exports was 16.3%, but, in 2014, it
 dropped to 13.2% and to 12.1% in 2015.
 During the first 11 months of 2016, this
share fell to 11.6%," he elaborated.