Ukraine, Russia react to controversial US minerals sharing deal + Trump administration notifies Congress of proposal to sell Ukraine $50m or more of ‘defense articles’

Ukraine, Russia react to controversial US minerals sharing deal

The draft published by lawmakers does not include any explicit U.S. security guarantees — long one of Kyiv’s primary demands. However, the agreement “guarantees new deliveries of American weapons, including air defense systems — their cost will be credited to a joint fund,” according to Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Related:

The U.S.-Ukraine Mineral Deal: What We Know

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USAid employees told to destroy classified documents, email shows

USAid employees told to destroy classified documents, email shows

USAid’s office of the inspector general last year announced that it had initiated an investigation on agency oversight of Musk’s Starlink terminals being sent to and used by the government of Ukraine.

Related:

U.S.A.I.D. Official Orders Employees to Shred or Burn Classified and Personnel Records

In a volatile cabinet meeting at the White House last Thursday, Mr. Rubio vented his anger at Mr. Musk for the eradication of the aid agency.

On Monday, Mr. Rubio announced on social media that officials had canceled 5,200 aid agency contracts, or 83 percent of the total. The remaining 1,000 will be managed by the State Department, he said. And he thanked Mr. Musk’s team.

The State Department has not released details of the remaining 1,000 contracts.

Several hundred employees of U.S.A.I.D. will probably be absorbed into the State Department, aid agency officials say.

PH: Stratbase, CIPE (NED), and the Belt and Road Initiative

07-31-2024: If it’s bad business, it’s bad for the Philippines (archived)

Our organization, the Stratbase ADR Institute, received an award from the prestigious Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), one of the four core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, DC. We were recognized for our research, advocacy, and strategic communication on four infrastructure projects entered into by the Philippines, during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, under the Belt and Road Initiative of China.

The Philippines has currently withdrawn from the Belt and Road Initiative and the current administration has been careful to consider other partners aside from China.

Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit is the president of the Stratbase ADR Institute.

Just like the National Endowment for Democracy, CIPE has been scrubbing their website. Search for the Philippines and click on the results. Most of the links are missing.

Related:

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Young Americans recount moments angrily rebuking anti-China politician at a forum

A video capturing a few passionate young Americans confronting a former senior White House official Matthew Pottinger and being forcefully removed from the venue has recently made a splash across social media platforms in China and the US. According to José Vega, the 25-year-old American who was being dragged out of the venue violently, Pottinger made inflammatory remarks accusing China of instigating a potential World War III during his speech at a forum on security issues relating to the Taiwan Straits recently held in New York. Outraged by these false allegations, José and his friends Simon Miller and Robert Castle felt compelled to speak out against Pottinger’s divisive rhetoric. 

Young Americans recount moments angrily rebuking anti-China politician at a forum

Previously:

Hahaha

Donors to Bob Menendez Legal Defense Linked to ex-Terror Group

Disclosure: it’s a reprint of an article by Eli Clifton from The Responsible Statecraft and The Intercept. If you have a problem with that, this is for you.

Donors to Bob Menendez Legal Defense Linked to ex-Terror Group (archived)

Much of the cash in the fund — he has raised over $400,000 — comes from sources one might anticipate. New Jersey and New York donors with various business and political interests in his home state, including the real estate firm led by Jared Kushner’s family, have given the fund money. There are, however, many lesser-known donors. One is Ahmad Moeinimanesh, an electronic engineer from Northern California. Another is Hossein Afshari, also from California.

Related:

Iranian exiles, DC lobbyists and the campaign to delist the MEK

The Iranian American Community of Northern California. It paid $400,000 over the past year to a Washington lobby group, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, to work on Capitol Hill to work for the removal of the MEK from the list of foreign terrorist organisations. The company assigned several former members of Congress to the account. The IACNC has also organised events in support of unbanning the MEK with appearances by Ros-Lehtinen and other prominent members of Congress as well as former White House officials.

Its director, Ahmad Moeinimanesh, has made personal financial donations to Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the chair of the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee even though her congressional district is on the other side of the country in Florida, as well as to her reelection committee. She has accepted more than $20,000 in political contributions from activists who support the MEK’s delisting.

The IACNC’s registered address is at a photocopying shop in Albany, California, owned by Behnam Mirabdal who has made financial donations to Ros-Lehtinen and Dana Rohrabacher, a subcommittee chairman who is among the most vigorous proponents of unbanning the MEK.

The American mainstream media suppresses the assassination of six US advisors by the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK)

Biden administration tells Congress it intends to sell Turkey F-16s after Erdogan approved Sweden’s NATO membership

Biden administration tells Congress it intends to sell Turkey F-16s after Erdogan approved Sweden’s NATO membership

During a trip to Turkey in February 2023, Blinken met with Erdogan, who stressed the need for the US to give Turkey the F-16s before he would approve Sweden’s membership into the alliance. Blinken, in turn, told the Turkish president multiple times that members of Congress would not approve the sale of jets until Turkey allowed Sweden to join NATO.

Deep Dive into the 2020 Guyanese Election & Venezuela-Guyana Border Dispute

Regarding the recent ICJ ruling (presided over by former State Department employee, Judge Joan Donoghue) on the Venezuela-Guyana border dispute and the 2020 Guyanese general election: I have come to the conclusion, based on my research, that the USG—along with the UK Foreign Office and Canada—interfered in the 2020 election, in order that their favored candidate (Irfaan Ali of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic) would become President, and that disputed territory, of Essequibo, rightfully belongs to Venezuela.

Research:

Part 2 (Rough Draft):

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