US Ukraine Mineral Deal- Shades of Iraqi reconstruction scandal- US to provide security & the Trump admin connection to Iraq’s post-war reconstruction scandal

US Ukraine Mineral Deal- Shades of Iraqi reconstruction scandal- US to provide security

Elbridge Colby and Keith Kellogg both served in the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq in 2003 under Paul Bremer and are now part of the Trump administration. The CPA, which acted as the transitional government overseeing post-war reconstruction in Iraq, faced significant criticism for its mishandling of reconstruction funds. Over $8 billion allocated for Iraq’s rebuilding remains unaccounted for, including more than $1.6 billion in cash that was discovered in a basement in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, Chinese companies are actively engaged in constructing a wide range of infrastructure projects, including housing units, universities, commercial centers, schools, health facilities, and power stations. They have also played a key role in developing the Nasiriya airport.

Sources:

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A Wave of Pessimism

Una oleada de pesimismo (Google Translate)

“Keep calm. Hasty emotions are unnecessary today,” wrote yesterday Mykhailo Podolyak, one of the most belligerent members of the Ukrainian government, reacting to the wave of pessimism and, at times, hysteria that spread across the European continent throughout the day yesterday, focusing on analyzing the implications of the telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump and the subsequent statements by the president of the United States. “The Trump-Putin conversation reduces tension, but at the expense of Ukraine,” stated the British BBC before the political spin managed to create a continental crisis from an initial conversation whose only agreement is to continue talking. Because despite the adjectives that are being used to describe the contact between the two presidents or the way in which it occurred, the result of the call was the mutual reaffirmation of the importance of peace and the implementation of the mechanisms to schedule a meeting between the two leaders, which will presumably be in Saudi Arabia, and begin a negotiation process.

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USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier collides with Turkish merchant vessel near Egypt

What’s Going on With Shipping?

The USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, collided with a Turkish merchant vessel Besiktas-M near Egypt late Wednesday, the U.S. Navy confirmed Thursday.

The Besiktas-M, a Panama-flagged bulk carrier, is owned by Istanbul-based Black Hawk Shipping Ltd. and operated by Synergy Ship Management Turkiye Pte. Ltd. also based in Türkiye.

USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier collides with Turkish merchant vessel near Egypt

Related:

UPDATED: USS Harry S. Truman Collides with Merchant Vessel in Mediterranean Sea

The last known collision between a carrier and a merchant ship was on July 22, 2004, when USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) collided with a small dhow in the Persian Gulf during the night helicopter operations. The commander of the carrier was relieved after an initial investigation.