Daily Chronicles

The Daily Chronicles are snippets of the most important news across the world for this and each day as it rolls in – as such, this thread is non-structured with the latest news on top.

Jul 26

Kremlin spokesman Peskov says US and its Western allies tried preventing countries from attending Africa-Russia summit

🗣 Yes, there is indeed a reduction in the number of participating heads of state, this is due to their schedule, as well as the overt and brazen intervention of US, France and other states through their diplomatic missions in African countries in order to prevent their participation in our summit, all of this will in no way affect its quality – Peskov.

Jul 26

Sinéad O’ Connor died, way too soon.  Difficult circumstances around her life, but as an artist she was one of a kind.

I enjoyed her more simple Irish Folk and traditional songs – This one is a rebel song.  Óró is a cheer, while sé do bheatha ‘bhaile means “welcome home”, or  “your birthright is back home” and tells the story of Gráinne Mhaol (sometimes known as Grace O’Malley),chieftain of the Ó Máille clan in the west of Ireland. She is a well-known historical figure in 16th-century Irish history, and is sometimes known as ‘The Sea Queen of Connacht’, one of the most famous female sea-raiders of all time fighting against the english occupiers.

-Oro, Se Do Bheatha ‘Bhaile (Live)

Jul 26

In a little-remarked move, the Biden administration announced (https://www.state.gov/on-the-retirement-of-deputy-secretary-sherman/) Monday that Victoria Nuland will take over as the acting second-in-command at the State Department. She replaces Wendy Sherman, who plans to retire at the end of this week.

Nuland’s appointment will be a boon for Russia hawks who want to turn up the heat on the Kremlin. But, for those who favor a negotiated end to the conflict in Ukraine, a promotion for the notoriously “undiplomatic diplomat (https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/18/the-undiplomatic-diplomat/)” will be a bitter pill.

Jul 26

Whereas this summit has its focus, it looks to me like an ideal preparation for BRICS next month. It starts tomorrow and people are arriving as we speak.

Vladimir Putin to meet personally with each of 17 African leaders coming to Russia–Africa Summit — Aide to Russian President

Other important topics following a briefing by Yury Ushakov, Aide to the Russian President:

▪️ As of today, 49 out of the 54 countries on the continent have confirmed their participation in the Second Russia–Africa Summit.

▪️ 27 countries that have confirmed their participation in the Summit will be represented at the level of heads of state and high-ranking officials.

▪️ All leaders of leading regional organizations in Africa will be present at the Russia–Africa Summit.

▪️ On 26 July, Vladimir Putin will have a conversation with the President of the New Development Bank of BRICS.

▪️ On July 28, Vladimir Putin will meet with a group of leaders from African countries.

▪️ At the Summit, the President will assess the system of international relations and share initiatives and prospects for relations between Russia and Africa.

▪️ The participation of Africans in the Summit confirms their desire to strengthen ties, regardless of any circumstances.

Jul 25

From RT India Channel:

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang REMOVED – Will be Replaced by Wang Yi (Chinese Media).  It comes after the former FM had been out of sight for weeks.

Qin Gang, who has not been seen in public since June, has been removed as the country’s foreign minister, state broadcaster CCTV reports. The abrupt announcement of Qin’s removal came after weeks of speculation about his fate.

CCTV’s short statement said Wang Yi, who outranks Qin and serves as Xi’s top foreign policy aide, is the new foreign minister.

Despite rumors circulating on social media and among foreign diplomats, Beijing has remained vague about Qin’s status and whereabouts, attributing his prolonged absence to unspecified “health reasons” since early July.

Nobody knows why – but rumors are flying that he was compromised.  I would not be surprised because the US spokespeople just lately have been cackling that they are re-establishing their spy networks in China – these networks fell apart when payment could not be made any longer as China cracked down.

Jul 25

A Russian delegation headed by Shoigu will visit North Korea on July 25-27 to take part in celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the Korean people’s victory in the 1950-1953 war, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

(Take that NATO!)

Jul 24

The BRICS summit in August is shaping up to be huge.

Jul 24

From the Russian MoD:  A business call?

Detachment of Chinese Navy warships arrives in Vladivostok on business call

▫️ The host ship of the visit – the Pacific Fleet’s large anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs, destroyers Qiqihar and Guiyang, patrol ships Zaozhuang and Rizhao- moored at the main fleet berth in the centre of Primorye’s capital. The integrated supply ship Taihu anchored at Vladivostok’s inner roadstead.

▫️ The State Flags of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China were hoisted at the berth, the anthems of the two countries were sounded. Traditionally, girls in Russian national costumes presented bread and salt to the guests.

▫️ Speaking at the solemn meeting on the occasion of the arrival of the PLAN ships detachment to Vladivostok, the Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet Vice Admiral Denis Berezovskiy greeted the Chinese sailors and congratulated them on the successful completion of the ‘North/Interaction – 2023’ naval exercise.

During the business trip, which will last until 27 July, the Chinese sailors will be received by the Commander of the Pacific Fleet Admiral Victor Liina. The guests will tour the sights of Primorsky region’s capital and take part in sports competitions together with Russian sailors.

Jul 24

We’re having a Michael Hudson feast.  Even if you have no interest in economics, I would highly recommend taking a read through Michael’s work.  In each presentation, you can take a listen to the video, or the transcript.  I read and listen to those hand in hand.  He hits the perverted magic of current economics on the nose and this is a vector of imperialism that very few have the depth of knowledge and thinking to deal with!  With all the talk about alternative economic systems being planned, that are fair and just for all the inhabitants of our blue marble, this is essential knowledge.

Jul 23

This is industrial-level lying.  I have no words – Blinken knows he is lying .. he stammers over the wrong words.  Did you know that Ukraine has already taken back around 50% of its territory?  This folks, is a stain on the US people.  They are going to try to lie their way out of their war. I have no words.

Jul 23

Putin & Lukashenko.  Sites are beginning to publish and write down the discussion as it happens.  Old Man Luka is comical.

Lukashenko: I want to start with the work of the AFU. Yesterday was a tough day, according to our data. Fortunately, it ended decently. More than 15 leopards have been destroyed and more than 20 Bradleys. For one fight! This, in my opinion, never happened.
Putin: It was.
Lukashenko: Foreign.
Putin: Foreign, perhaps, so many were not destroyed in one day. It’s just that units fully equipped with foreign equipment operated from that side.
Lukashenko: So it is possible to estimate how many AFU soldiers were killed, if so much equipment was destroyed. According to US estimates, since the beginning of the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost 26k people.
Putin: More.
Lukashenko: Yesterday shows that the war is waged by the entire NATO bloc. There are a lot of mercenaries and strategic reserves are already being deployed. This thoughtless policy of throwing untrained people and mercenaries into hell will lead to nothing.
Putin: It’s a failure.
Lukashenko: Yeah, they failed! No results.
Putin: As for foreign mercenaries, they also suffer significant losses. Because of stupidity. In any case, the public of the countries whose governments send soldiers to the war zone, the public of these countries should also know what is really happening. And we will bring this information to the people so that they evaluate the actions of their rulers, their direct involvement in the war.
Lukashenko said that “Wagnerians” began to strain him, because they want to go to the West: “We will go on an excursion to Warsaw, to Rzeszow”, they say.
“I keep them in the central part of Belarus, as agreed, I would not like to relocate them there, because their moods are bad. And, we must pay tribute, they know what is happening around the Union State. Well, it’s just a stroke,” he noted.

Jul 23

Nat South continues her work on the use of maritime drones (Black Sea) and while she has not done the write-up, you can get the extensive infographic from her Livejournal.  This may still be somewhat ‘niche’ information today but with the exploding growth of drones in all aspects of our lives, it will not stay niche for long.

Here’s the first part of the latest project, I should say iteration of a long-standing project on the use of maritime drones in the #BlackSea region #USV #UUV

https://natsouth.livejournal.com/41414.html

A larger downloadable version is available at the link

The next part will be an article on countermeasures.

Have a good weekend all!

Jul 23

The upcoming BRICS summit in Johannesburg in August will be the largest meeting of heads of state and government of the Global South in recent years. There are 70 invited Heads of State including the leaders of 54 African countries.  It is clear that this BRICS is taking aim at the Group of 77 which is a United Nations Grouping.  Russia from their State Duma announced a few days ago that they are thinking of leaving the WHO as this organization does not do what it is supposed to do.  Slowly, very slowly, we see the multi-national UN groupings (all of them now very Western focused), being whittled away.

The Group of 77 is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries in the United Nations, which provides the means for the countries of the South to articulate and promote their collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues within the United Nations system, and promote South-South cooperation for development.

There will be discussion on alternative currencies in whatever form, possibly in the closed Heads of State meetings, but please do not expect an announcement of a ‘gold-backed BRICS currency’.   My certainty here comes from Jaishankar, Lavrov quoted discussion and not announcement, Nabiullina and other functionaries of the Russian Central Bank, Putin and Xi who stated at the last SCO meeting that the infrastructure is not ready and both of them called for new banks that can handle the infrastructure and commentary by the main Sherpa Anil Sooklal).

Jul 23

A somewhat longer but still short Ukraine update here:  https://sovereignista.com/2023/07/23/a-short-ukraine-update/

Jul 22

Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation

(22 July 2023)

https://t.me/mod_russia_en/8534

▫️According to confirmed information, on 6 July, as a result of a group strike with long-range, sea-based precision weapons on the territory of the National Army Academy in Lvov, a large number of Polish and German mercenaries stationed there have been destroyed.

📊In total, 4,990 foreign militants have been killed during the special military operation. In addition, 4,910 mercenaries escaped from the battlefield leaving the territory of Ukraine.

▫️The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will continue the targeted destruction of foreign mercenaries on the territory of Ukraine.

▫️The AFU continued unsuccessful attempts to conduct offensive actions in Donetsk, Krasny Liman, South Donetsk, and Zaporozhye directions.

Jul 22

The SMO continues and a little later we will see what the last 24 hours brought.  The Westoids are feverishly discussing what to do and subtext, how to get out.  The current reason given for Ukraine losing badly is the minefields.  They are the problem in the last few days of Western reporting.

Following dueling front page WaPo/NYT stories on the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, the pro-war UK Telegram forecasts a “devastating defeat” for the West

But with the arms industry and Beltway bandits making out so well, negotiations would be extremely premature pic.twitter.com/THpIkUmSmG

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) July 20, 2023

We are seeing more and more Western reporting stating that the Ukrainian ‘counteroffensive’ is failing.  Their magic is gone.  The narrative is thin and sour.    https://t.me/EurasianChoice/28428

We may see another iconic moment such as helicopters on the roof of the US Embassy in Kiev.   Yet, the battles and killings continue.  RIA Novosti’s War Correspondent, Rostislav Zhuravlev,  has been killed by Ukrainian shelling in the SMO Operation Zone – RIA

Meanwhile Mr Putin and Sergei Naryshkin in the Russian Security Council meeting discussed the Lublin Triangle, a Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian security initiative where there are plans to deploy troops in the Western part of Ukraine – the overall end of war looting is now appearing on the horizon.

Ramifications on the hard stop of the grain deal are still circling out, but it is mainly made up of feverish accusations against Russia.  In the meantime, alternative routes for delivery will be discussed and agreed to at the Second Summit of the Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum.  As reported in the last Daily Chronicles, bribery, arm-twisting and threats from the westoids to the Africans are in full swing.

There is little real news, but sure a lot of talking is happening at this time.  The progress in China is spectacular and in my hopper is a Here Comes China column which will be posted today.  Some positive development news is overdue.

On the African situation, Mr P posted this song, older than the mountains really, but very apt for this moment – Did you ever have to make up your mind …

In his book, The Asian 21st Century, Kishore Mahbubani (Mahbubani), a former diplomat who served as Singapore’s permanent representative to the United Nations and president of the UN Security Council, pointed out the biggest thing happening in the world yet no Western media would talk about it – the arrival of the Asian century. In an exclusive interview with Global Times (GT) reporters Li Aixin, Qian Jiayin and Yu Jincui, Mahbubani shared his insights on why he believes the American century is over, the Asian century is coming, and how the US has focused on the wrong “battlefields.” The China-US contest will not be in military dimension; it will be in economic dimension, Mahbubani said.

GT: In the book The Asian 21st Century, you pointed out that we will see the end of the era of Western domination and the Asian renaissance. What impact will the emergence of the Asia Century bring to the world geopolitical game? And will the impact, in turn, affect the Asian renaissance?

Mahbubani: There is an interesting story about this book, The Asian 21st Century. When it came out as an open-access book in English language in January 2022, the publisher expected only 20,000 downloads of the book. Instead, now there have been over 3 million downloads in 160 countries. So you can see the big gap between 20,000 and 3 million.

Why have there been 3 million downloads of the book? The simple answer is that most people around the world understand that this 21st century will be the Asian century. But they find that they cannot get information on it, because the Western media refuses to accept the fact that the 21st century will be the Asian century. So they always keep telling you stories – why Asia is failing; why China’s economic growth is over; why the Asians will keep fighting each other. They’ll only give you negative stories about Asia without trying to explain why it is that the fastest growing economies in the world over the last 20-30 years have been in Asia; how it is that in the year 2000, the US Gross National Product (GNP) was in nominal market terms eight times bigger than China’s, but now it’s only around 1.5 times bigger and China’s economy could become larger than that of the US. Even the ASEAN countries have done very well. In the year 2000, Japan’s economy was eight times the size of ASEAN economies. But by last year, it’s only 1.5 times larger, and ASEAN could become bigger than Japan.

These are examples of how there’s a phenomenal growth taking place in Asia. I think this will continue. The good news is that the countries in the Global South understand this, Africans understand this, the Latin Americans understand this. To some extent, some Europeans understand it. I think France and Germany understand it.

There is resistance in the US. The US would like to believe that the 20th century was the American century, the 21st century should also be the American century, but that’s very unrealistic, because the 20th century was exceptional.

In 1950, US GNP was almost 50 percent of the world’s GNP, now it is closer to 20 percent. The American century is over, and the Asian century is coming.

The rest is here: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202307/1294857.shtml