ROME (Sputnik) – On July 30, in response to a fresh coup in Niger, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suspended all financial aid, froze rebels’ assets and imposed a ban on commercial flights to and from the country, as well as closed all borders. Nigeria, Niger’s southern neighbor, cut electricity supply to the nation.
EU Pleased Sanctions Cause Food, Medicine Shortages in Niger, Special Envoy Says
Video via Wongel Zelalem
Citing a recent McCarthyite smear piece by The New York Times, Senator Marco Rubio published a letter on Wednesday that he’d sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for the investigation of American leftist antiwar groups, claiming they are “tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and operating with impunity in the United States.”
New York Times Helps Marco Rubio Push Persecution Of Antiwar Leftists
Time to troll Rubio, with Bible verses, on Twitter/X again!
Previously:
McCarthyism Is Back: Together We Can Stop It
Chinese-American worker and activist arrested for advocating for peace between US and China
In another provocative move directed at Beijing, former Japanese prime minister and virulent anti-China hawk Taro Aso recently visited Taiwan for three days. He met with senior government officials, including President Tsai Ing-wen and declared that Japan, the US and Taiwan should ramp up plans for war with mainland China.
Former Japanese prime minister provocatively visits Taiwan
Related:
China strongly condemns Japanese politician’s visit to Taiwan: FM spokesperson
Biden has maintained many of Trump’s sanctions against Cuba. He must fulfill his promise to reverse Trump’s actions.
Cuba Says Biden Applies Blockade Even More Aggressively Than His Predecessors
Why Is the Biden Administration Rewarding Elliott Abrams?
The United States owes other nations something different, something new. Democracy is in peril at home and abroad partly because of the impunity that keeps Abrams employed. Though his latest role may be somewhat ceremonial, his appointment is out of step with the demands of our time. There should be consequences for someone like Elliott Abrams. At minimum, it ought to be possible to fail out of public service, but for that to happen, we have to change the way we define failure. The massacre in El Mozote was one such failing — not a regrettable historical footnote but a catastrophic atrocity that indicts the administration Abrams served. His reward must be ignominy. The world deserves nothing less.
Previously:
Biden Nominates Elliott Abrams to Public Diplomacy Commission
Abrams led the Trump administration’s failed regime change effort in Venezuela and covered up atrocities in Latin American in the 1980s
Biden Nominates Elliott Abrams to Public Diplomacy Commission
Waiting to see if Abrams’ nomination is resisted as much as it was back when Trump nominated him! ☠️
Related:
Like a bad Pennywise, Elliott Abrams could bring a taste of Iran-Contra to Venezuela
The House of Representatives is discussing a move that would effectively amount to an act of war if carried out: a naval blockade on China.
House Republicans Propose The Study Of An Oil Naval Blockade Of China
The following is outdated, especially considering the problems with the US Navy’s LCS ships, but I thought that the bold quote was interesting. I highly doubt that Russia would ever submit to the US!
Related:
[2013] Stranglehold: The Context, Conduct and Consequences of an American Naval Blockade of China
In short, Russia would not only be China’s best hope of overcoming an American blockade, but it would also be the United States’ key to closing China’s transit route through Central Asia and preventing China’s two neighboring oil producers from supplying it with petroleum. In an American blockade of China, Russia’s importance as a swing state cannot be overstated, as is borne out by the observation that “no blockade of China in history has succeeded without Russian acquiescence.”
Editor’s Note:
US would rather see the world end than lose its supremacy
The recent developments in East Asia, such as the détente between South Korea and Japan, South Korea’s increasing hostility toward China, and the talk of a liaison office of NATO in Tokyo, have raised alert of observers, as the US escalates confrontation with China. What are the obstacles for East Asia to maintain peace? Global Times (GT) reporter Wang Wenwen discussed these issues with K.J. Noh (Noh), a US-based journalist, political analyst, writer and educator specializing in the geopolitics and political economy of the Asia-Pacific region. He is a member of Veterans for Peace and Pivot to Peace.
The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) just published a study about:
The Human Consequences of Economic Sanctions.
The results are as any observer of such acts would expect. Sanctions are used too broadly. They hardly ever serve their supposed original purpose and do not reach their aims. They hurt the poor more than the supposedly targeted leaders of this or that country.
‘Nearly A Third Of The World Economy Is Now Subject To Sanctions’
The United States seized an Iranian oil tanker just days before Tehran detained a tanker carrying American cargo in the Gulf of Oman, Reuters reported on Saturday.
US seized Iranian tanker days before Tehran captured US ship
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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