georgiatoday | "Yes to Europe! No to Russian law!" rally underway near Parliament (15.04.24)
The rally at the Parliament - "No Russian Law" has been ongoing since the morning, in parallel with the discussion of the draft law "On transparency of foreign influence".

euronews | Mass brawl breaks out in Georgian parliament over controversial media law (15.04.24)
The legislation under debate will compel media and non-commercial organisations to register as being under foreign influence if they receive more than 20% of their budget from abroad.

[...]
When von der Leyen became the surprise president in 2019 following an agreement between Macron and then German Chancellor Angela Merkel, she vowed to transform the institution into a "geopolitical commission." But she may have sunk her own chances, a separate official said, by over-politicizing her role.
[...]
"The commission presidency is there to defend the general interest, so it must not be over-politicized," Macron said in Brussels last month. "Which, it has to be said, was not at all the case with this outgoing commission." A spokesperson from Macron's office declined to comment.

There's broad consensus that a decision won't be made until after the June 9 European election, when EU leaders will hash out who will fill the top posts, including for the European Council, the parliament and the foreign policy service. That process is a complicated, back-room negotiation, which weighs geographical balance and, more importantly, which political parties are entitled [!] to the most consequential [sic] roles.

Save the date: "Macron will give a broad policy speech at the Sorbonne on Thursday", 25 April

Regardless of Macron's maneuvering, von der Leyen is still the clear favorite [FKA spitzenkandidat] since she's the lead candidate for the center-right European People's Party [EPP], which is expected to handily win the most votes in June. Traditionally, that means an EPP candidate would get the commission role.
[...]
EU leaders are scheduled to meet on June 17 to discuss the reshuffle, just a week after the election. Even if von der Leyen is picked by the leaders at the summit, where no consensus is required [?], she would still face a difficult confirmation vote at the parliament, which must agree by absolute majority. In 2019, von der Leyen was elected president by only nine votes. And given the expected increase in support for the hard-right [EPP] parties, her margins will be even tighter this year.

archive EPP: March ELECTION 2024, G7 ECON & FIN value chain, sweeping treaty reform 2023, power to the councils 2022, "pragmatic federalism", December 2021 grandpa energy

This Year Should Be the Time to Take Steps to Make Our Victory Over Russian Terror Real—the President at the Three Seas Summit

... The Alliance should not be afraid of its own existence and its own rules. Ukraine believes it is historically correct that the Baltic Sea region has finally received a historic chance for reliable security after Finland and Sweden joined NATO. The Black Sea region needs the same security. As a democratic nation committed to our shared values, Ukraine deserves to be invited to join NATO. We are grateful to every state for bilateral security agreements that support us in the time before we join NATO. Today we have signed the ninth such agreement with Latvia. And I urge all the leaders of the Three Seas Initiative to sign such agreements with Ukraine. And we have to work on strategic tasks. Putin wants to destroy Ukraine and the freedom of all nations in our region, and he sees no alternatives. Similarly, we should not look for alternatives to our security—Ukraine needs an invitation to join NATO. Only you can make it realistic this year. Without our Ukrainian strength, the strength of the whole Europe will not be complete, and together, gradually integrating, we can really protect each other from Russian revanchism....

[...]
How did you get to Ukraine and in which block?
It was a little easier for me than for others. Back in 2021, we left the unit for a training mission to the Yavoriv training ground in Ukraine. And I worked with these people there, established contacts. When the war started, they were going to leave for Kiev. And the fact that I knew their company commanders, the battalion headquarters, the battalion commander—I agreed that I would go with them.
That is, it was a linear unit, it was not some kind of volunteer battalion?
This is a special forces battalion. (214. Separate special battalion of the OPFOR, a unit formed in 2016 from participants of the anti-terrorist operation-ed.).
[...]

writes the publication European Truth, calling the deputies present at the meeting.

"A long-time MEP, former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt from the Renew faction proposed removing the approval of the European Council budget from the agenda until the member states can find the seven Patriot systems that Ukraine now urgently needs. Verhofstadt recalled the words of the head of European diplomacy that European countries have hundreds of Patriot systems, when Ukraine needs seven, " the article says.

euactiv Below the radar

Case in point: The announcement that two dozen German soldiers arrived in Vilnius on Monday, with a further 150 due to join them later this year, barely made headlines outside Lithuania...."This is the first time that we have permanently stationed such a unit outside of Germany," German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in Berlin at a farewell ceremony for the vanguard of Germany's Lithuanian brigade, according to German news agency dpa. Pistorius called it "an important day for the German army".

["Two senior Biden administration"] officials discussed the findings as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China this month for talks.

ChatGPT CNN | China is giving Russia significant support to expand weapons manufacturing as Ukraine war continues, US officials say
Just this week Gen. Chris Cavoli, the commander of US European Command, told lawmakers that Russia has been "quite successful" at reconstituting its military since it invaded Ukraine more than 2 years ago, and its capacity has largely "grown back" to what it was before the invasion. US officials are now making clear that China is largely responsible for that rapid build-up.

Blinken is scheduled to travel next week to the Group of 7 foreign ministers meeting in Capri, Italy, where he's expected to raise concerns about China's growing indirect support for Russia as Moscow revamps its military and looks to consolidate recent gains in Ukraine.

dni.gov | Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community (05.02.24)
An ambitious but anxious China, a confrontational Russia, some regional powers, such as Iran, and more capable non-state actors are challenging longstanding rules of the international system as well as U.S. primacy within it.

[...]

At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang of the State Council, Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz will pay an official visit to China from April 14 to 16. At the invitation of Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Central African Republic Sylvie Baïpo-Témon will pay an official visit to China from April 14 to 16.
[...]

NUCLEAR EMERGENCY IN POLAND AFTER RUSSIAN KH-47 KINDŽAL SUPERSONIC MISSILE ATTACK. 17 billion cubic meters of natural gas blown up near Lviv

UKRAINE: Ukraine is "finished" from an energy point of view: 17 billion cubic meters of natural gas were blown up from an underground... pic.twitter.com/mBkGiTu4Ys

— Peacemaker (@peacemaket71) April 12, 2024

Ukraine condemns Iran's attack on Israel using "Shahed" drones and missiles. We in Ukraine know very well the horror of similar attacks by Russia, which uses the same "Shahed" drones and Russian missiles, the same tactics of mass air strikes.

Every effort must be made to prevent...

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 14, 2024

Try to act surprised.

...The law passed by legislators on Thursday addresses the issue of mobilization more broadly, and includes provisions that lawmakers said were aimed at making the conscription process more transparent and equitable. The full text [English translation?] of the law was not immediately available. But perhaps as important as what was included in the legislation is what was cut out—particularly a timeline for when conscripted soldiers will be demobilized.

as.cornell.edu | Ukraine's mobilization bill sign of 'desperation' and 'rationalization' (11.04.24)

[...]
The British military intelligence agency said in a statement on Wednesday that the Kremlin was seeking to recruit 400,000 people in 2024 to sustain its forces in Ukraine. Russia's annual springtime conscription drive is expected to bring another 150,000 soldiers between the ages of 18 [FALSE] to 30 to its ranks who are less likely to serve in combat roles, the British agency said....

MILITARY RECORDS
The bill would oblige Ukrainian men between 18 and 60 years of age to update their personal data with the military authorities, allowing draft offices to see more easily who can be called up in any given region....

strana | The military told how they relate to the abolition of demobilization in the law adopted by the Rada (14.04.24)
Odessa

WATERED-DOWN PUNISHMENTS
The bill would ban people from driving vehicles if they do not abide by the mobilisation rules....

NY Yella Cake | In Ukraine's West, Draft Dodgers Run, and Swim, to Avoid the War (15.04.24)
Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania

DEMOBILIZATION
The bill does not set any time limit for wartime military service, meaning that soldiers who have been fighting since the February 2022 beginning of the full-scale invasion still have no sense of when they will be demobilised....

MILITARY REGISTRATION FOR UKRAINIANS ABROAD
Martial law prohibits men of military age from going abroad and there is no procedure for calling up Ukrainian men who are abroad....

yahoo! | Official advises Ukrainians to take Russian passports in occupied territories until liberation (30.04.23)
Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets

government.nl | Rights of third-country nationals from Ukraine after temporary protection ends (24.03.24)

eu.eot.su | Crowds of Ukrainians rush to get international passports due to mobilization law (14.04.24)
Warsaw, Prague

PERKS FOR VOLUNTEER FIGHTERS
The bill proposes offering financial perks for people who volunteer to fight in the army and sign an army contract....

pravda.com.ua| Zelensk* on changes to law on mobilisation: It will help military leadership (11.04.24)
The president stressed that "any person who breached mobilisation regulations, was of conscription age, and engaged in draft evasion or other infractions against the relevant law was already violating existing legislation ... There are some changes to certain regulations that will help the military leadership. Vacations, improved rotations, etc," Zelensk* said.

OTHER PROVISIONS
The bill would abolish mandatory conscription for Ukrainian men aged 18 or older, and replace it with basic military training for all men starting from September 2025. One new provision in the bill would allow people who have been convicted and given a suspended sentence to serve in the army....

Source: National Police of Ukraine [META]; Ukrinform

Quote: "Thanks to our cooperation with German law enforcement agencies in documenting the Russian war crimes, specifically the deportation and forced displacement of Ukrainian children, the location of 161 Ukrainian children in Germany who were being sought as forcibly displaced to temporarily occupied territories or deported to Russia and Belarus has been established."

["]Details["]: He also noted that Kyiv is counting on its partners' assistance in bringing Russian war criminals to justice both in Ukrainian and foreign courts, and the military-political leadership in the International Criminal Court and special tribunals.

The airport came under the attack of the US-made MGM-140 ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles. The first explosion sounded at about 3:40 a.m. Moscow time and the attack lasted about an hour.

The were reportedly launched in two waves from the Ukrainian-controlled areas in the Kherson region. According to some sources close to the Russian military, in total, 12 ATACMS were used in the attack. The first wave of strikes reportedly involved seven missiles, apparently with cluster warheads, and at least five more missiles were launched in the second wave. There were no reports about the interception of any missiles. The Russian military is yet to officially comment on the attack.

Brexit import charges may mean rise in food prices, say trade groups | The Guardian |

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the fees of up to £145, which come into force on 30 April, will pay for border inspections and improve biosecurity by preventing the import of plant and animal diseases into the UK. The charges apply to imports entering the UK and transits entering and leaving.

Leaked documents show the Foreign Office has shortlisted more countries to which to deport migrants, as the < wipes tears > Safety of Rwanda Bill is set to receive royal assent

Britain has entered talks to replicate the Rwanda migrant deportation scheme with Armenia, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica, and Botswana, according to leaked documents that reveal the government's extensive search for another third-country deal.

Several South American countries including Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Brazil, and Colombia have also been approached but were viewed as less likely to be interested in what the government describes as a "third-country asylum processing deal".

A list of African countries including Cape Verde, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Angola, and Sierra Leone were put on a reserve list that would be approached if other targets failed.

Other African countries including Morocco, Tunisia, Namibia, and The Gambia "explicitly declined" to enter technical discussions.

ChatGPT | China is a threat to Europe's gunpowder supply, defense boss warns, 18 Apr

In an interview with POLITICO, Saab CEO Micael Johansson called on governments to cut environmental rules to make it easier for companies to diversify their supply chains for critical < wipes tears > military components.

dual-use: sulfur, potassium nitrate (fertilizer), CO₂ (charcoal), possibly nitrocellulose (gun "cotton" or wood pulp)

Beijing plays a key role in supplying EU countries with the raw materials they need for their defense industries, even though China is also providing vital support to Vladimir Putin's war machine in Ukraine.
[...]

googlish: maaseuduntulevaisuus.fi | 40 000 truck cargo block went underground and disappeared - trade journal: the Suspicion of the cooked pulp and scorched heat (06.04.24)

While lead times and prices for some components have improved, Johansson told POLITICO that the European defense industry still faced "bottlenecks", especially on "powder and nitrocellulose to create powder".

"The risk of China sort of disconnecting the deliveries of nitrocellulose to do powder in Europe ... would be detrimental."

On Wednesday, 10 April, Kyiv School of Economics hosted a meeting with Daleep Singh, United States Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics. In this capacity, he coordinates the administration's policymaking process for a range of issues at the intersection of economic policy and national security.
[...]

neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu | Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine meets in Kyiv, confirms unwavering support to Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction (11.04.24)
This ninth meeting, brought together Ukraine, the G7 countries as well as the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, as well as observers from Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Belgium, Finland, and Switzerland. It was co-chaired by European Commission Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Gert Jan Koopman, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko, and the US Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh...Since February 2024, it expanded to four additional members, namely the Republic of Korea, The Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Furthermore, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Belgium, and Finland, as well as Switzerland are observers. International Financial Institutions [IFIO] and Organisations, namely the European Investment Bank [EIB], the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development [EBRD], the International Monetary Fund [IMF], the World Bank [WB], the Council of Europe Development Bank [CEDB], the International Finance Corporation [IFC] and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] also participate in the ["]platform["].

From Imagination to Realization

Let's talk about how we realize this future—specifically, how we catalyze a virtuous cycle of investment, innovation, growth, reform, democracy, and Western integration.

The first step is to UNLOCK THE VALUE of Russian sovereign assets frozen within our jurisdictions for the benefit of Ukraine. International law is clear on this point. Russia must pay for the damage it has caused in Ukraine. And it is not for Russia to decide if or when that happens.

FT |  Examining the wrinkles of the Russian assets set-off plan (12.04.24)
As a matter of law, the legal gap between freezing and seizing assets is big enough to have stopped the Biden administration and the other G7 nations that hold frozen Russian assets from making that transfer. And in that legal logjam we have been stuck for the past two years....

Every G7 leader has agreed that Russian sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain immobilized until Russia pays for the damage its war has caused. We welcome the EU's recent decision to ensure that revenues from Russia's immobilized sovereign assets are used for Ukraine's benefit. We are working closely with our G7 partners to explore how we can maximize the impact of these revenues—both current and future—for the benefit of Ukraine today, not only for the direct financial benefit it would provide, but also for the signal it will send to Putin: we will not fatigue, and you will not outlast us.

...The answer, BDS [Lee Buchheit, Hugo Dixon, and Daleep Singh]  argue, lies in finding a technique that merges the right of set-off with Ukraine's legal claim [to reparations from] Russia. The BDS proposal is that the G7 nations make a joint loan to Ukraine for, say, $300bn—roughly the value of the frozen assets. Ukraine backs the borrowing by using its [claim] to reparations from Russia as collateral.

When Ukraine obtains a judgment against Russia, perhaps by a tribunal set up by the G7 and Ukraine, Russia won't pay (and will question the validity of the tribunal). A properly structured loan could relieve Ukraine from its debt [to the G7] by allowing it to assign its reparation [claime] to its [G7] creditors. At that point, the creditors, including the US, will possess both frozen ["immobilised"] Russian assets and a claim against Russia. Voila, set off....

Second, Ukraine and its public and private creditors must work together to agree on debt restructuring.

...The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act [FSIA] sets out the rules for protecting foreign states' property from judicial process. Foreign central bank deposits in US bank accounts enjoy protection: A court cannot touch that money as long as it belongs to the central bank and is used for normal banking purposes. There are, however, ways of moving money out of a bank account without going through the courts. Set-off allows a bank automatically to collect money that an account owner owes it. At least one US court has allowed a domestic bank to collect a debt owed to it by a foreign state by setting it off against money it held on behalf of that state's central bank....

[...]

< wipes tears >

ChatGPT | Londongrad forever? Why the UK may never seize Russian assets

[INCONTINENCE ALERT]

FT | Slash tax on profits from Russia's frozen assets, US urges allies, 20 Apr
"Maximise every euro from immobilised reserves to aid Ukraine, says Biden adviser Daleep Singh"

[...]
At the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington this past week, U.S. officials pushed reluctant Europeans to use some of the $280 billion in Russian central bank reserves that the allies froze in the war's opening hours.

Schedule: Opening Press Conference speaker, Ajay Banga, Presiden, World Bank Group ...

[...]
At the IMF and World Bank meetings, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen met with her European counterparts in hopes of hammering out a compromise.
[...]
European finance ministers also fear that confiscating the Russian central bank assets could trigger a flight of global capital from the continent, according to Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University professor who served as chief of the financial studies division at the IMF.
[...]
Even if European reluctance can be overcome, the details of utilizing Russian funds are vexing. The Belgian prime minister [d/b/a D. Cameron d/b/a J. Borrell d/b/a Rasmussen & Yermak] last month floated the idea of raising money for Ukraine by issuing bonds that would pay investors interest with profits from the Russian assets.

archive "a transaction that is taxed at a rate of 25% in Belgium" (13.03.24)

The United States has pushed the idea of having the G-7 nations join to arrange a syndicated loan, which would be backed by Ukraine's reparation claims against Russia. Each proposal involves complex legal and financial questions.
[...]
"You should not take the passage of this bill as evidence that the U.S. obligations to Ukraine are over. Ukraine has no certainty even for 2025," said Hlib Vyshlinsky, executive director of the Center for Economic Strategy, a Ukrainian think tank. "It will need further support to prevail in this war."
[...]

The U.S. is drafting sanctions that threaten to cut some Chinese banks off from the global financial system, arming Washington's top envoy with diplomatic leverage [sic] that officials hope will stop Beijing's commercial support of Russia's military production, according to people familiar with the matter.

But as Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Beijing on Tuesday, the question is whether even the threat of the U.S. using one of its most potent tools of financial coercion can put a dent in complex and burgeoning trade between Beijing and Moscow that has allowed the Kremlin to rebuild a military badly < wipes tears> mauled by more than two years of fighting in Ukraine.

archive Sun Tzu said: in Munich Security Conference 2023, another level of escaltion in Last Throes of European Economic Clout, A War of Lasting Attrition in Joe's Fuck the EU, Stoltenberg Talking Ammo in One Year In Review,
Ukraine's 'Invisible Crisis'

[...]
The West now worries Russia could win against Ukraine in a war of attrition, particularly if allies don't cannot mobilize their own industries to match Russian production.

archive EU raises bar for punishing countries

[...]
U.S. officials say targeting banks with sanctions is an escalatory option in case the diplomatic overtures fail to persuade Beijing to curb its exports. U.S. officials have ramped up pressure coercion on Beijing in recent weeks in private meetings and calls, warning that Washington is ready to take action against Chinese financial institutions handling trade in such dual-use goods.
[...]
"Payment chains are slowly being rebuilt," [Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center fellow Alexandra] Prokopenko said. "Both Russians and Chinese are constantly adapting to the new conditions."
[...]

archive messaging systems in Ruble and Yuan

Trade in some of the most critical dual-use goods for Russia's military surged after Xi's meeting with Putin in March last year, according to a recent analysis published [22.04.24] by the Center for Strategic and International Studies [CSIS], a Washington-based think tank.

Back in Stock? The State of Russia's Defense Industry after Two Years of the War (62 pp)
Part I: The State of Russian Weapons Systems in 2023
Part II: Russia's Evolving Import Diversification Efforts
Part III: Existing Russian Military Industrial Drawbacks
Part IV: Russia's Strategy in Ukraine in 2024
Conclusion and Recommendations
"A recent report by the Yermak-McFaul [!] International Working Group on Russian Sanctions outlines other measures feasible in the short term to reduce Russia's oil revenues, including strengthening enforcement, and implementing an initial downward ratchet in the price caps as well as completing the EU embargo [sic] on Russian hydrocarbons."

CSIS said the number of shipments of key dual-use goods, including helicopter parts, navigational equipment, and the machines used to craft precision parts for weapons and aircraft jumped from just a few thousand a month to nearly 30,000 a month.
[...]

[...]
Within the G-7, a complicated compromise may be starting to emerge. The U.S. has proposed that the group front-load [sic] 10 years of profits—essentially interest payments on matured assets [sic]—from the frozen funds. That money would act as collateral for a bond issued by a special-purpose vehicle [encore!] set up by the G-7 to raise money for Ukraine. G-7 countries would guarantee [Ukraine'] debt [to G-7 "investors"].

Europeans have their own plan to use the interest [sic] generated by frozen Russian assets [sic] to pay for weapons and reconstruction for Ukraine. That is likely to go ahead soon, although EU officials say Europe could join the U.S. plan in 2025. Discussions are still at an early stage.
[...]
Initially, U.S. officials also worried that confiscating [sic] Russian assets could backfire against Washington and allies such as Israel [?!]. The U.S. has since argued that only directly affected countries, such as Ukraine's main backers [sic], whose security is threatened and who are paying for < wipes tears > some of Kyiv's defense, would be < wipes tears > entitled to confiscate ["seized"?] assets.

Bart Szewczyk [PhD], an associate [hahaha] at U.S. law firm Covington who previously advised the European Commission and worked at the ICJ, said that Berlin's concerns about setting a precedent for reparations cases were unwarranted. "The logic behind countermeasures [sic] clearly applies only to current and ongoing violations of international law, rather than those that occurred 80 years ago," he said.

The Netherlands, Ukraine, and the European Commission will co-host the international conference 'Restoring Justice for Ukraine' in The Hague.

This Tuesday, the Netherlands will organise the 'Restoring Justice for Ukraine' conference, alongside Ukraine and the @EU_Commission. Different ministers will gather to discuss our long-term efforts to counter impunity and to compensate victims. [_link] 2/2

— Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇳🇱 (@DutchMFA) March 31, 2024

Conference On Alleged Russian War Crimes In Ukraine Opens In The Hague

Western officials will gather in The Hague on April 2 to discuss efforts to prosecute alleged Russian war crimes committed by its forces during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The international conference, Restoring Justice for Ukraine, is being organized by The Netherlands, Ukraine, and the European Commission, the top executive body of the EU.

Foreign and justice ministers, along with officials from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the EU judicial authority Eurojust are expected to discuss the fight against impunity as well as compensation for victims.

• Eurojust and the war in Ukraine
• International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine

A bit lopsided, isn't it? What happened with decades of war crimes by Western partners and today specifically Israel and the Gaza massacre of civilians, documented for the world to see. War crimes from the year 2014 - critical year for Ukraine and Syria too - yet to see bold action from the US and NATO partners. Triple Hypocrisy history will not forgive, nor forget.

Have a peaceful cultural summer

The Democratic Party and other opposition parties prevailed, crushing Yoon's conservative People Power Party (PPP). With the opposition retaining a firm grip on the National Assembly, Yoon is likely to lose a lot of steam for governance in the second half of his presidency....That gives the Democratic Party and its satellite party a combined total of 175 seats, and the PPP and its satellite party 108 seats. The minor Green Justice Party won no seats at all.

17 Apr recap: "the worst showing of any ruling party since the country enacted its constitution in 1948"

Lawmakers at the national level serve four-year terms in Korea, meaning the 22nd National Assembly will be in place until Yoon leaves office.

[...]
KIM: Park Geun-hye's impeachment and conviction was seen as a democratic win at the time—but now it seems like we're stuck in a loop of non-stop prosecution of the opposition party. What have the political implications been like since her sentencing?PARK: What happened afterward is pretty unique and pretty wild. What it did was it
< wipes tears > legalized politics. Not legalized as in going from illegal to legal, but legalized as in politics became sort of < wipes tears > lawfare. It became more about, Did you break the law? Did you not? Can you prove this in court? Can you not?

And the people who are the most powerful in this lawfare are the prosecutors legislators. What ended up happening is that the Prosecutor General—Yoon Suk Yeol—the most powerful prosecutor of them all, became the president on the strength of that. He became a political star first by prosecuting Park Geun-hye.

archive an appropriate punishment (07.04.18)

[...]
On a very ground level, I have been feeling—just because I do a lot of work and business in Korea—you can sense it from government officials [politicians?]that they're freaking terrified to do anything outside of the manual [law?], and everything they do is extremely defensive. Korean government used to be a very, very efficient thing [eNTitY ?!] relative to other governments.

4 yrs ago,  4 yrs ago, 8 yrs ago, 10 yrs ago, 12 yrs ago, 14 yrs ago, etc

Now it's still more efficient than other governments, but you can feel that the gears are slowing down a little and a lot of it is the fact that even minor officials are completely terrified of doing something that is outside of the manual and potentially prosecuted for some reason or another.
[...]
The other thing that happened is that Yoon Suk Yeol is also afraid of the same thing happening to him.

After judgment day from voters, Yoon shrugs off calls for change (17.04.24)

So the other side of the coin is that you end up having an administration that never compromises and never admits any fault. And I think you really see that in the aftermath of the Itaweon disasters, which was this really unbelievably awful thing. And what happens is nobody apologizes, nobody resigns.
[...]

Park [Young-sun] served as minister under the former liberal president, while Yang [Jung-chul] is known as one of Moon's closest confidants.

The reports come as Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, presidential chief of staff Lee Kwan-sup and most senior presidential secretaries have submitted their resignations to take responsibility for the ruling party's crushing defeat in last week's parliamentary elections...

April 19: Voting begins

April 26: Phase Two

May 7: Phase Three

May 13: Phase Four

May 20: Phase Five

May 25: Phase Six

June 1: Phase Seven

June 4: Votes counted nationwide, results announced

[...]
"There were no legitimate grounds for the Burkinabe authorities' decision. We can only deplore it," French foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said

On December 1, four French officials were arrested, charged and imprisoned in Ouagadougou, according to a French source.

The Burkinabe authorities said they were intelligence agents but the French source said they were < wipes tears > IT support staff. The four are now under house arrest, according to Burkina security sources.
[...]

#FranklySpeaking: With a ceasefire, could @UNICEF could avert a humanitarian catastrophe in #Gaza? This is what spokesperson @1james_elder had to say | Full episode: [_link] pic.twitter.com/TWivvpEAiD

— Arab News (@arabnews) March 31, 2024

On the day new data is out on famine in #GAZA, the Israeli Authorities deny my entry to Gaza.

-Famine is imminent in the northern Gaza Strip, expected to arrive between now and May.
- Two million people= the entire population of Gaza is facing crisis levels of food insecurity...

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) March 18, 2024

The renewed binding order from the @ICJ yesterday is a stark reminder that the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is man made + worsening.
It can however still be reversed.

The order calls on the State of Israel to cooperate with the United Nations to...

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) March 29, 2024

Staggering. The number of children reported killed in just over 4 months in #Gaza is higher than the number of children killed in 4 years of wars around the world combined.

This war is a war on children. It is a war on their childhood and their future.#ceasefireNow for the... pic.twitter.com/tYwSNHecpy

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) March 12, 2024

It said the measures would apply to the export of products from 54 different categories, including iron, marble, steel, cement, aluminium, brick, fertilizer, construction equipment and products, aviation fuel, and more.

"This decision will remain in place until Israel, under its obligations emanating from international law, urgently declares a ceasefire in Gaza and allows the unhindered flow of sufficient humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip," it said.

Shortly after the Israel-Hamas war started, Turkey and Israel pulled back their ambassadors. Tuesday's move is the first significant measure taken by Ankara against Israel since the start of the conflict. President Tayyip Erdogan has faced growing criticism over his government's commercial ties to Israel.

hurriyetdailynews | US troops head to region as fears grow of Gaza war's spread (13.04.24)
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,634 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.

Police detained dozens of protestors demanding an end to the trade with Israel in Istanbul on Saturday. Authorities suspended two police officers involved in the incident, as the government works to restore popular support after a thumping opposition win in March 31 local elections.

Responding to the developments, Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz ordered the Economic Division of his ministry "to prepare an extensive list of products that Israel will prevent Turkey [?!] from exporting to Israel," his office said in a statement.

"Turkey is unilaterally violating the trade agreements with Israel, and Israel will take all necessary measures against it," the statement said. In addition, Israel will "appeal to pro-Israel countries and organizations in the US to stop investments in Turkey and prevent the import of products from Turkey."

Israel will 'pay' for Gaza atrocities, Erdoğan tells Abbas (12.04.24)
"The president has underlined that all means, including the U.N. Security Council resolution, must be deployed for a cease-fire. Israel needs to be fought with full solidarity,"  Communications Director Fahrettin Altun told Turkish state broadcaster TRT Haber. Separately, the communications director condemned an Israeli airstrike targeting a TRT crew in Gaza, saying the international community "must not stay silent in the face of such attacks "which embolden Israel."

[...]
The Turkish leader also repeatedly attacked Israel on the campaign trail ahead of local elections held on March 31. His party nevertheless suffered a significant defeat, losing control of many cities, especially to the Islam-based Yeniden Refah (New Welfare) Party. The party, which won seats in the Turkish parliament last year after allying with Erdogan's AKP, fielded its own candidates in the March elections, with its leader Fatih Erbakan attacking Erdogan for maintaining Turkish trade with Israel despite the war in Gaza.

Prof. Elise Brezis, head of the Azrieli Center for Economic Policy at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, explained the extent of the importance of Turkish exports to Israel. She told The Media Line that Turkish exports to Israel were $6.8 billion in 2022 and $4.6 Billion in 2023, while total imports [from] Israel are $110 billion.
[...]
Dr. Lucrezia Leon Savasta, a Middle East and Eurasian expert, told The Media Line that she doubts a comprehensive ban will be implemented immediately. Instead, she sees Turkey's public announcement as a political move to pressure Israel and get more countries to join.

trtworld | Türkiye reaches a record-high share in global exports in 2023 (11.04.24)
Türkiye's exports in 2023 hit a record high of $255.8 billion, ticking up 0.6 percent from the previous year.

"Except for July, our trade gap shrank annually in the last seven months of 2023," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan explained. Adding that Türkiye aims to boost its goods and services exports in 2024 to over $375 billion, the country has "more than enough power to achieve this target," he said.

[...]
"Let's just focus on the fact that, very smartly, did not say that they would stop the import of goods from Israel," she said, noting that in 2022 [!], Israel was among the top 5 countries from where Turkey was importing refined petroleum.

trtworld | Türkiye debunks "false" claims of providing fuel to Israeli military (09.04.24)
The Combating Disinformation Centre of Türkiye confirms that the fuel in question is jet fuel purchased for Israeli passenger aircraft at airports in Turkish territory and has no connection with Israeli military aircraft.

That is why she says a total ban is not sustainable for the Turkish government. "The country is facing a sort of internal fragmentation. See the last elections, and how Erdogan lost major cities, and when the economy comes to be touched negatively, general discontent grows. It can be dangerous for the central government," she asserted. In addition, she notes that Turkey is very "money-oriented," and its decision-making is usually very well economically calculated. "It is difficult to think that they will make a decision that might harm their economic status. The elites would not allow this to happen," she asserted.

The Corps announced launching the strikes in a statement on Saturday night.

"In response to the Zionist regime's numerous crimes, including the attack on the consular section of Iran's Embassy in Damascus and the martyrdom of a number of our country's commanders and military advisors in Syria, the IRGC's Aerospace Division launched tens of missiles and drones against certain targets inside the occupied territories," the statement read.

axios | Iran launched drone attack on Israel, U.S. and Israeli officials say

It's unclear what the targets are.

Iran launched attack drones from its territory towards Israeli territory, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement. Hagari said the IDF is implementing a defense plan together with U.S. Central Command and other partners in the region to intercept the drones before they reach Israel.

Meanwhile... 'Dozens' of rockets fired at Israel from Lebanon (12.04.24)
Hezbollah fighters targeted "enemy artillery positions... with dozens of Katyusha rockets" the group said in a statement, adding it was "in response to the enemy's attacks on... southern villages and civilian homes." The Israeli army said "approximately 40 launches were identified crossing from Lebanese territory, some of which were intercepted."

A senior Israeli official says the Iranian attack includes "hundreds of attack drones."

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson in a statement said the White House is in "constant communication with Israeli officials as well as other partners and allies."

"This attack is likely to unfold over a number of hours. President Biden has been clear: our support for Israel's security is ironclad," the statement said.

presstv.ir | Iran launches retaliatory strikes against Israel following some IDF reports

The strikes were launched on Saturday night, with some reports saying that the Islamic Republic launched a number of attack drones towards the occupied territories.

Iran has not officially acknowledged retaliatory strikes yet.

Reuters news agency reported that the Islamic Republic has not yet launched missiles in its retaliatory military action against the occupying regime, adding that there is likelihood of it targeting the occupied city of Haifa and the occupied territories' coastline with "ballistic missiles" in the coming hours.

Israel's Channel 12 confirmed that the regime had been attacked, claiming that Iran launched tens of drones towards the occupied territories.

i24news.tv | IDF confirms Iran launched drone attack toward Israel | LIVE UPDATES
IDF twitter loops. No damage reports.

Trump posts bizarre solar eclipse ad - with his head blocking out the sun, plunging US into darkness | The Independent |

During the August 2017 total solar eclipse, the then-president went viral when he ignored all eclipse safety recommendations by gazing directly at the sun with his naked eyes

Have a peaceful cultural summer

[...]
Johnson told Republicans Tuesday morning that combining the bills into one package would force the Senate to consider everything the House passes, Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said.

"So you can't cherry-pick it, and say, `Yee-haw, there goes Ukraine,' and the rest of them get the usual sentence of death from the Senate leadership," Amodei, a senior appropriator, said.  

The process of merging separate bills into one package after each measure has passed the House separately is known in procedural parlance as a "MIRV" rule. Normally, that's an acronym for multiple independently targetable re[-]entry vehicle, or a ballistic missile that carries multiple warheads.

The effect is similar on the Senate; after House passage of each bill, the rule, if adopted, provides that they all be attached to the same underlying vehicle before being transmitted to the Senate. House leaders have employed this tool at least 14 times since the mid-1990s, such as one notable attempt in 2000 to attach a small-business tax cut measure to legislation that would increase the minimum wage....

[...]
Appropriators released three separate bills for Ukraine, Israel, Indo-Pacific allies, and the domestic submarine industrial [TikTok ?] base totaling $95.3 billion.

"Johnson, R-La., in a text message Wednesday morning to GOP conference members, said a fourth bill would be posted later in the day. It would include measures to seize frozen Russian assets, force the divestiture of the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, and impose sanctions on Russia, China and Iran, among other things."

The contents are similar to the Senate-passed version, with $60.8 billion for the Ukraine war effort, and nearly $26.4 billion [!] in military aid to Israel and humanitarian assistance for Gaza. A third bill, totaling $8.1 billion, would provide nearly $4 billion in security assistance to Taiwan and other regional allies along with money to replenish depleted U.S. stocks, $3.3 billion for submarine infrastructure and more. But there's a key difference: roughly $9.5 billion in economic aid to Ukraine would be structured as a loan, with repayment terms set by the president.

"in a new twist, Johnson also said he would move an additional bill, handled under a separate rule, to toughen security measures at the southern U.S. border. He said the bill would contain the 'core components' of HR 2, which passed the House last year over solid Democratic opposition."

The repayment requirement could be waived on an installment plan, with up to 50 percent of the loans forgiven shortly after the November elections, and the remainder starting in 2026. But Congress would get a shot to override any presidential waiver with a resolution of disapproval that's subject to expedited procedures, with debate limited to 10 hours in the Senate and no amendments.
[...]

[...]
Anadolu Agency: The US vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding Palestine's full membership at the UN. Twelve member states including China voted in favor but the resolution couldn't be passed because of US veto. What's China's comment about the US veto and the outcome of the vote? 

Lin Jian: China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations has fully stated our position in his explanation of vote. An independent State of Palestine has been a long-cherished dream for generations of Palestinians. Full UN membership for Palestine is a crucial step in this historic process. Palestine first submitted a membership application as early as 2011. It was US opposition then that the Council's action was put on hold. Thirteen years later, It was again US veto that denied Palestine full UN membership and shattered the decades-long dream of the Palestinian people. History and people of the world will not forget this unconscionable act. 
[...]
China Daily: We noted that recently the US has kept hyping up the issue of China's "overcapacity". Do you have any further comment on the issue of "overcapacity"?

Lin Jian: Blaming China for "overcapacity" is not new. Years ago, the US accused China of "overcapacity" for exporting many high-quality, low-cost products. Now it is sticking the label of "overcapacity" to China's export of new energy products. The US exports 80 percent of its chips, especially advanced chips and is a large exporter of pork and agricultural products. Is that "overcapacity" according to US logic? In fact, the ratio of export to production for Chinese new energy vehicle is far lower than that of Germany, Japan and the ROK. This is certainly not "dumping extra products into the global market". "overcapacity" may look like an economic issue, but truth is, the US is using it to hit Chinese industries and give the US itself an unfair advantage in market competition. It's another example of US economic coercion and bullying.
[...]

The $95.3 billion supplemental spending measure passed under an unusual procedure in which lawmakers voted on four separate bills that were then put together into one vehicle, replacing the text of a similar Senate-passed bill that came over from that chamber two months ago.

Lastly, the House voted 360-58 to pass a "sidecar" package consisting of some measures related to the foreign aid bills, such as authorizing the seizure of about $5 billion in frozen Russian assets for distribution to Ukraine and toughening sanctions on Russia, Iran and China.

H.R.8038, 21st Century Peace through Strength Act [ROLL CALL 360-58]

That measure would also force the divestiture [sic] of Chinese-owned TikTok or the social media app would be banned in the U.S., and ban data brokers from selling Americans' personal information to countries such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea or organizations controlled by those governments.

Here's what the bill would do:
• Place sanctions on ports and refineries that receive and process Iranian oil.
• Place sanctions on anyone involved in activity covered under the UN missile embargo on Iran that lapsed last year or in the supply or sale of Iran's missiles and drones.
• Further restrict the export of goods and technology of US origin to Iran.
• Empower the executive branch to seize and transfer frozen Russian assets held in the US to Ukraine.
• Give TikTok's Chinese parent, ByteDance, nine months to sell the social media company or it would be banned from US app stores.

...Secretary of Stalking Antony Blinken's trip to Beijing this coming week will spotlight how this strategy is holding firm almost five months later, despite unresolved issues and global conflicts threatening to break the relationship apart at any moment.

"We believe that intense competition requires intense diplomacy on a range of issues, and in-depth, face-to-face diplomacy is particularly important to managing tensions," a senior administration official told reporters in a call Friday, previewing Blinken's trip.

"The Secretary will make clear that the United States intends to responsibly manage our competition with the PRC [People's Republic of China]." ...

Tesla is to cut the price of some of its cars in an effort to combat declining sales and growing competition. Prices will be reduced in Germany—Tesla's biggest European market—and elsewhere in Europe as well as the Middle East and Africa, the company has revealed. In Germany, the cost of the Model 3 rear wheel drive will fall from  €42,990 to €40,990 [$45,770-$43,641].
[...]

The news comes after the world's largest EV maker [not TSLA] cut around a third off the price of its "Full Self Driving" system—which is not a self-drive [FKA "autonomous vehicle"] which means drivers must remain alert and be ready to intervene—to $8,000 (€7,505) from $12,000 (€11,258).
[...]
Tesla also took $2,000 off the prices of three of its five models in the United States, the Model Y, a small SUV which is Tesla's most popular model and the top-selling electric vehicle in the US, and also of the Models X and S, its older and more expensive models.
[...]
The company has been struggling with falling sales and an increasing biennial price war cuts in the market for EVs, especially against Chinese competitors [in China]. There are reports that CEO Elon Musk's personal reputation $56B value pricing also plays a role in how the company is perceived.

Below is the number of initial filings for unemployment insurance.

How is this statistically possible?

Five of the last six weeks, the exact same number.

Effectively the same number in the last 11 weeks, except for the holiday weeks (President's Day and Easter).
---
Consider... pic.twitter.com/vZbWWC7DRr

— Jim Bianco (@biancoresearch) April 18, 2024

Secretary Antony Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia April 29-30 to meet with regional partners. The Secretary will discuss ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of hostages and how it is Hamas that is standing between the Palestinian people and a ceasefire.
[...]

GCC (FTA 1981): AE, BH, KW, OM, QA, SA

The Secretary will participate in a Ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] to advance coordination on regional security.  At the World Economic Forum's [WEF] special meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth, and Energy for Development, the Secretary will coordinate with our partners to ensure continued progress on climate change mitigation and the global energy transition.

thehill | Blinken to travel to Saudi Arabia to discuss cease-fire efforts, 27 Apr

...Apart from discussions about a cease-fire in Gaza, Blinken will talk about the increased delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the "importance" of it being "sustained."...

defense.gov | U.S. Begins Construction on Temporary Pier to Deliver Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, 25 Apr

Construction of the pier is expected to be completed in early May. Once completed, it will initially facilitate the delivery of an estimated 90 truckloads of international aid into Gaza and scale to up to 150 truckloads once fully operational. The beginning of construction marks a significant milestone following President Joe Biden's call for the military to conduct the emergency operation during his State of the Union Address last month.

Soldiers from the Army's 7th Transportation Brigade at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, and sailors from Naval Beach Group 1 at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, California, were tapped to deploy the Defense Department's Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore capability, or JLOTS.
[...]

Reps. Michelle Steel, R-Calif., and Joseph D. Morelle, D-N.Y., plan to introduce legislation that would leave in place a more generous deduction aimed at encouraging companies to keep intellectual property such as patents and trademarks in the U.S., rather than abroad. A draft of the measure was shared with CQ Roll Call ahead of the formal introduction.

The provision has caught the interest of some heavy hitters in the private sector, including aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co.; defense contractor RTX Corp., formerly known as Raytheon Technologies; biotech company Genentech Inc.; and Google Client Services LLC.

Absent congressional action, the deduction for foreign-derived intangible income—known as FDII, pronounced "fih-dee" in tax circles—would shrink at the end of 2025, but not fully expire. President Joe Biden proposed eliminating the deduction, which effectively lowers the tax rate for foreign-derived income, as part of his fiscal 2025 budget proposal.

DICTION CORNER foreign-derived intangible income
proceeds (money) from the sales of products related to intellectual property (IP)
reference
Journal of Accountancy, "Understanding the FDII deduction" (01.02.19)

In the spirit of increasing the U.S. tax system's competitiveness, Congress added Sec. 250 to the Internal Revenue Code and with it the FDII deduction, which provides an incentive to domestic corporations in the form of a lower tax rate on income derived from tangible and intangible products and services in foreign markets. As a result, a corporation can claim a 37.5% deduction, which results in a permanent tax benefit and 13.125% effective tax rate, as compared with a 21% corporate rate, for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2017, and before Jan. 1, 2026, after which the deduction is reduced to 21.875%, resulting in an effective tax rate of 16.406%.

The FDII deduction is available to domestic enTITIes across a broad range of industries that are taxed as C corporations. This includes U.S.-based companies and non-U.S. companies doing business in the United States.

The House Administration Committee has approved the use of ChatGPT, the popular artificial intelligence (AI) powered computer programmed chatbot application, for some of its staffers, the panel revealed in a new report. The committee approved the use of ChatGPT Plus [01.02.23], a paid subscription plan for the chatbot, for "a cross-section of CHA committee staff" and held an initial training on the tool, according to the report on AI strategy and implementation in the House.

archive RollCall "Fireside" Chat software products (06.08.22)

[...]
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who leads the chamber's bipartisan working group on AI, held several AI insight forums to inform potential legislation late last year, and the House announced a bipartisan task force on AI in February. However, Congress still has yet to pass legislation.

whitehouse.gov | Remarks by President Biden at the IBEW Construction and Maintenance Conference (19.04.24)
...You know, since the 1930s—and I have to admit to you, in my early days in the Senate, I didn't realize this law said it would—the law that established the rights of a union to organize back in the `30s—well, that law said—a little piece in it no one paid much attention to.

The law said that when the federal government spends taxpayers' dollars, it has to—it has to buy American products with it and it has to use American labor. But that was honored in a—in the exception. The vast majority of the presidents didn't do it, and the last guy didn't even know it.  (Laughter.)  A lot of things he doesn't know.  (Applause.)
[...]
Through my American Rescue Plan, I also enacted the Butch Lewis Act, the most pro-labor union worker law for retirees in 50 years. (Applause.) All we're doing is protecting pensions for thousands of IBEW workers and others. The idea made—they made it hard for you to get it done is just—it blows my mind. But we made it happen, while my predecessor never lifted a finger to do hel-—any help.  A matter of fact, he lifted a finger—he put a thumb on it.
[..]
Today, I can announce that the IBEW plant in southern Ohio has already produced the first 200 pounds of that powerful enriched uranium—the first ever—first ever made in America. And it's on track to produce nearly a ton by the end of the year, enough to power 100,000 homes in this country.
[...]
We're giving tax breaks that are five-times greater to projects that are prevailing—providing a prevailing wage. If you don't provide a prevailing wage, you don't get the tax break. And we use registered apprenticeships to train their workers....

U.S. production of uranium concentrate (U3O8) in the fourth quarter of 2023 totaled 12,653 pounds U3O8. This quarter's total uranium production occurred at four facilities, three in Wyoming (Nichols Ranch ISR Project, Lost Creek Project, and Smith Ranch-Highland Operation) and one in Nebraska (Crowe Butte Operation).

Trump's good day in the Supreme Court came even as the justices appeared likely to reject his most extreme position: blanket ["absolute"] presidential immunity from prosecution for anything potentially falling inside the "outer perimeter" of his duties.

Trump v. US
audio | transcript (193 pp)

said in a March 11 interview on CNBC, "I would not allow countries to go off the dollar because when we lose that standard, that will be like losing a revolutionary war. That will be a hit to our country."

concluded that too many Americans didn't know what "Bidenomics" meant and because inflation has proven stubbornly high, the slogan became synonymous with an economy that, despite several strong metrics, many Americans fear is headed in the wrong direction.

will continue to use TikTok to reach out to voters—despite the president enacting a law Wednesday that could see the social media app banned in a matter of months. That timeline could also be pushed back by legal challenges, which TikTok has already threatened in response to the new law. Hours after Biden signed the bill, his 2024 campaign posted a new video on its TikTok page that featured Biden ridiculing former President Donald Trump for thinking "windmills cause cancer." The "bidenhq" account has more than 300,000 followers and has posted more than 100 videos since it launched in February.

and at least 80 protesters were arrested at Washington University in St. Louis during a pro-Palestinian demonstration Saturday. It is unclear if Stein will face any charges.

China publishes world's first high-definition lunar geologic atlas, 21 Apr

Since 2012, Ouyang Ziyuan and Liu Jianzhong have led a team of scientists and cartographers from relevant research institutions in compiling this atlas. With a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the origin and evolution of the moon, the team compiled the atlas based on scientific exploration data gained from China's Chang'e lunar exploration program and other research results from both Chinese and international missions, Liu said.
[...]
"The world has witnessed significant progress in the field of lunar exploration and scientific research over the past decades, which has greatly improved our understanding of the moon. However, the lunar geologic maps published during the Apollo era have not been changed for about half a century, and are still being used for lunar geological research. With the improvements of lunar geologic studies, those old maps can no longer meet the needs of future scientific research and lunar exploration," said Liu Jianzhong, a senior researcher from the Institute of Geochemistry, CAS.
[...]
This atlas set has been integrated into the digital lunar cloud platform [database] built by Chinese scientists, and will serve lunar scientific research, science education, as well as landing site selection, lunar resource exploration and path planning for China's future lunar exploration projects, Liu said.

He mentioned that China's upcoming Chang'e-6 mission [May 2024] is expected to collect samples in the Apollo Basin within the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon, which means materials ejected from ancient terrain may be collected in the process. "Our map can provide a macroscopic geologic background to improve the purpose and efficiency of the sample research," Liu explained.

The compilation of this map was an immense task, which required the organization and cooperation of many well-informed researchers over many years to be able to achieve a consistent and complete result, commented Gregory Michael, a senior scientist from the Free University of Berlin in Germany.

euractiv | New packaging rules set to become law despite Commission objections (18.93.24)
For households, the most visible change brought by the new law will be the harmonisation of deposit return schemes for plastic bottles and cans. Countries like Italy and Spain, which currently do not have deposit return schemes, will have to adopt them by 2029 to achieve the 90% target for returns of plastic bottles and drink cans. From 2030, fruit and vegetables may no longer be wrapped in single-use plastic, nor may luggage be plastic-wrapped at airports. Plastic sauce cachets will also be banned, while their paper counterparts will be permitted.

China's largest auto show, or 2024 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, which kicked off in Beijing on Thursday, has regained global attention. Global players such as Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz are signaling their entry into NEVs on a large scale, highlighting their confidence in the Chinese market.

1. Collective Efforts from Participating Automakers Make Global Brands Shine Side by Side
117 global premieres (including 30 global premieres by multinational companies) and 41 concept cars will be showcased. There will be 278 NEV models on the stage...
2. Significant Trends of Internationalization and Intelligence of Component Enterprises
centralized exhibition of automotive components, electronics and systems, and new energy and intelligent connected vehicles. Auto China 2024 has attracted nearly 500 well-known domestic and foreign component enterprises and tech companies from 13 countries and regions...

A total of 44 models from the Volkswagen Group's brands are on display at the ongoing show, 11 of which are making their debuts, according to information that Volkswagen Group shared with the Global Times. Among the total, there are 18 NEV models.

Toyota Exhibiting at Beijing Motor Show 2024

Mercedes-Benz brought 21 new models to the show, including the world's first pure electric G-Class off-road vehicle. Maybach's first mass-produced pure electric model, the Maybach EQS pure electric sport utility vehicle, hit the Chinese market at the show.

Kia underlines credentials as a leading 'EV brand' at 2024 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition

Volkswagen Group said that it is focusing on its local development capacities and its partnerships with local tech companies and manufacturers such as Horizon Robotics, Thundersoft and XPENG.

"We are accelerating our electric offensive with additional products for new segments. In this way, we are taking advantage of opportunities in the rapidly growing e-market," Ralf Brandstätter, board member for the China region and CEO of Volkswagen Group China, told the Global Times.

In Shanghai, Blinken reportedly raised "concerns over China's trade policies and non-market economic practices." He described Chinese policies as "unfair" and demanded "a level playing field for US workers and firms operating in China." ...[China Foreign Affairs University prof] Li noted, "If Blinken is here to issue an ultimatum to China, we will not give in to him and will not compromise on our core issues."

Public health missing in action - "COVID shatters decades of global health progress, slashing life expectancy" [_link]

— Prof Deborah Lupton Master of Public Health, PhD (@DALupton) April 8, 2024

This story is part of a series, "Fighting 'Forever Chemicals': Women face pervasive PFAS risks."
[...]
A January 2022 Toxicology review published by [NIH group leader Suzanne] Fenton's research team notes that "menstruation appears to be a crucial route of elimination for many PFAS" and potentially explains up to 30 percent of the discrepancy between male and female PFAS blood levels.

"Since 90-99 percent of PFAS in the blood are bound to serum albumin, menstrual bleeding may prove an important elimination pathway for these persistent substances," the authors stated.
[...]
The vast majority of Americans have at least some PFAS in their bloodstream. A widely cited study published in 2015 from the Centers for Disease Control [CDC] and Prevention found that 97 percent of Americans have these substances in their blood.
[...]
Nonetheless, Fenton stressed that "because some PFAS accumulate in tissues, this route is unlikely to rid the body of PFAS."
[...]
"Similarly, if you regularly donate blood you can get rid of some of your body burden of the environmental chemicals like the PFAS," she added.
[...]

i appreciate that in addition to his words making me feel insane he appears to be wandering in the woods and there's some kind of weird fairytale music playing https://t.co/FWiz70Fhzn

— hil (@plume__) April 22, 2024

* signifies casual sexual availability among US persons of the millennial and Z generations