„Drones re launched by sabotage groups operating in russia“
„They re designed to undermine the faith in russias security“
„The claim of 600km is generated by ukrops chanels to increase the propoganda element.“
So the huge heavy monster drone attacked Engels has been launched by sabotage groups inside Russia?
Yeah right dream on ))))))

Posted by: Ćevapčići | Dec 29 2022 17:59 utc | 4

Kidnapped Venezuelan envoy Alex Saab lost the first round of his legal battle in a Florida courtroom when the judge ruled that he had no diplomatic immunity, in part because Venezuela’s government is not “legitimate”. Analysis of this and other questionable assertions regarding international protocols which inform this ruling:
https://orinocotribune.com/us-justice-system-trashes-diplomatic-immunity-rules-against-alex-saab-defense-working-on-appeal/
Saab’s legal team will appeal. The case represents a window to the actual functioning of the “rules-based order”.

Posted by: jayc | Dec 29 2022 18:56 utc | 6

Posted by: Ćevapčići | Dec 29 2022 19:34 utc | 7
> Vucic is a traitor!
Aw c’mon man, reuse kvachkes from your yummy moniker to render the name of Our President properly!

Posted by: hopehely | Dec 29 2022 19:44 utc | 8

US RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft in close call with Chinese J-11 jet.
https://twitter.com/ConflictsW/status/1608534623184908288
That’s a trade I would gladly takes as the Chinese and proceed to blame the heck out of the US air force.

Posted by: unimperator | Dec 29 2022 20:09 utc | 10

@ 9
from the BBC, some jokes from CIA’s Haines:

“One of their main narratives is that the United States is provoking this conflict, and that Nato and Ukraine are setting the conditions and threatening Russia and that sort of forced them into this position,” she told Sir Jeremy.
“Authoritarian states have this kind of asymmetric advantage where they’re effectively controlling the information to their populations.” . . .here

. . .as if the western media has all sorts of opinions, anti-Russia, pro-Russia, neutral. . .NOT. It’s fully controlled here Avril, just ask Assange. Meanwhile Haines is echoing her neighbors over at State regarding naughty foreigners and their “disinformation.”

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 29 2022 20:50 utc | 12

Re:
“indian punchline from yesterday –
Russia, Iran open a trade route heralding a bloc
Posted by: james | Dec 29 2022 17:06 utc | 1”
***
Read my former professor Kent Calder’s 2019 book, “Super Continent: The Logic of Eurasian Integration” (Stanford University Press). For TL;DR folks, Columbia prof and Sinologist Andrew Nathan’s brief review/summary of the book, in FA, follows:
“This book is the definitive statement of Calder’s long-standing thesis that technological and economic changes are integrating the Eurasian “super continent,” as foreseen over a century ago by the British strategist Halford Mackinder. Beneath the churn of political events, this integration is driven not only by the familiar dynamics of globalization but also by such less noted factors as the growing efficiency of transport logistics and the digitization of customs procedures. U.S. pressure on China and Russia is pushing the two countries together, and complementary economic strengths are drawing Germany closer to China. China is promoting integration through its Belt and Road Initiative, seeking to aid its giant state-owned enterprises, which are desperate to reach beyond their saturated home market. Integration could be slowed by an economic crisis or an ethnoreligious conflict in China or by ambivalence in other countries about Chinese influence, but it would take a cataclysm to stop it. Calder thinks that China will seek not U.S.-style hegemony but a new kind of influence in which the benefits of integration are more widely distributed among countries, which he labels “distributive globalism.” If so, he recommends that the United States cooperate with countries such as India and Japan, and even to some extent with China, to promote pluralism within the zone of Chinese influence.”

Posted by: Yashuo | Dec 29 2022 21:37 utc | 14

Andrew Nathan’s brief review/summary of the book, in FA:
“China is promoting integration through its Belt and Road Initiative”
The “Road” part of BRI is pretty much dead: it was based largely on a link between PRC and EU via the RF, and that link is gone, as a consequence of the boycotts of the RF. The PRC are trying to replace it with a link via a more southern route, e.g. Kazakhstan-Caspian-Azerbajan-Turkey, or the ancient “Silk Road”, Iran-Iraq-Syria, but it is a lot more difficult. They are also trying the “shortcuts” via the ports of Sittwe (Myanmar) and Gwadar (Pakistan) and may try the neighbouring port of Chahbahar (Iran), but while the avoid the route via Malacca, they have other issues (and the USA Navy still control the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Cape route and Gibraltar).
“Calder thinks that China will seek not U.S.-style hegemony but a new kind of influence in which the benefits of integration are more widely distributed among countries, which he labels “distributive globalism.” If so, he recommends that the United States cooperate”
Why would the USA elites cooperate in distributing the benefits of globalism from themselves to other countries? They will oppose that by any means for as long as they can. “Winners do whatever it takes”.
“with countries such as India and Japan, and even to some extent with China, to promote pluralism within the zone of Chinese influence.”
My impression is that currently the USA elites have chosen to contain (surround, isolate, breakup) the PRC, recreating the split between the first-world (the “golden billion”), the second-world (RF, PRC and allies, this time with PRC as the leading state), and the third-world, mostly as before USA-aligned, by hook or by crook.

Posted by: Blissex | Dec 29 2022 22:34 utc | 16

The German Greens have descended to this:

The Russian news agency TASS has published an analysis of the German government’s energy policy, which contains interesting facts and addresses interesting topics. For example, the fact that the planned German LNG terminas can only replace just under half of the gas that recently came to Germany via Nord Stream 1 is hardly discussed in the German media. This does not even include the fact that Germany has also purchased gas via the Yamal pipeline, which runs through Belarus and Poland to Germany, and has not been supplying gas for almost a year because Poland has blocked it. And it is not included that Nord Stream 2 was built to meet the expected increase in demand for gas, which is needed, for example, for the electricity for the electric cars that are massively advertised.
This raises the question of how the missing electricity should be produced in the future. And at reasonable prices.
The fact that the LNG terminals are also extremely dirty is not discussed in the German media. For example, the floating terminal, which just opened off Wilhelmshaven, will discharge 178 million cubic meters of toxic substances, including chlorine and other chemicals, into the North Sea.
But the Greens are very enthusiastic about it. And they prefer to conceal this from their voters.

https://www.anti-spiegel.ru/2022/wie-die-deutsche-regierung-ohne-russisches-gas-auskommen-will/
How they hate the Russians…:(

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 29 2022 22:59 utc | 18

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Dec 29 2022 22:41 utc | 17
«How does coal from Kazakhstan and western Siberia find its way to China (or to central Europe)? Railroads.»
“The problem remains that *currently* transport of goods by rail is ten times more expensive, end-to-end, than by ship.”
Indeed some railroad transport can be done economically. There have been trains from Wuhan to Brest to Duisburg, for example, but these have become impossible:
https://railway-news.com/db-cr-deepen-relationship/
«from Russia to northern Iran, with Tehran and Tabriz, Caspian + rail combination is a winner, and perhaps it makes a sufficient shortcut that it could be a winner for Russian-Indian trade»
The big deal the USA elites want to stop is PRC-EU trade, not RF-IU trade. For the latter the obvious route would be to Chabahar,
«ship through Black Sea, Turkish straights, Mediterranean, Suez Canal, Red Sea, Arabian Sea replaced by train/barge to Astrakhan, ship to Iran, train to Persian Gulf or Arabian Sea.»
All these are controlled by the USA Navy etc.

Posted by: Blissex | Dec 29 2022 23:16 utc | 20

China explores the china shop and treads warily:

Three islands in the Persian Gulf
During the widely-publicized visit, a joint statement by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and China sparked controversy in Iran as it touched on the country’s proverbial red lines.
Among other sensitive issues, the statement appeared to support the UAE’s long-standing demand for the “resolution of the dispute” over the three Persian Gulf islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa, much to the chagrin of Tehran.
The statement also emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation to “ensure the peaceful nature of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program,” called on Iran to “maintain the non-proliferation regime,” and stressed “respect for the principles of good-neighborliness and non-interference in the internal affairs of states.”
The statement was loaded – diplomatically speaking – with language normally attributable to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) attitudes toward Iran, and experts wondered whether Beijing had even read it before signing off.
The GCC, led by Saudi Arabia, has a long-running feud with the Islamic Republic, mostly rooted in geopolitical rivalry, but China’s apparent endorsement of the six-member bloc’s hostile stance towards Iran was not taken lightly in Tehran.
Iran responds
Without missing a beat, Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian countered that the disputed islands are “inseparable parts of the pure land of Iran and belong to this motherland forever,” in a 10 December retort.
He also emphasized that the Islamic Republic will not allow any country to disrespect its territorial integrity, in a tweet posted in Chinese and clearly directed at Beijing.
Mohammad Jamshidi, the deputy chief of staff for political affairs at the Iranian president’s office, was more blunt in his reaction the same day, minus the usual diplomatic niceties.
“A reminder to colleagues in Beijing. While Saudi along with the US backed ISIS/Al-Qaeda in Syria and brutalized Yemen, Iran fought terrorist groups to restore regional stability and security and to prevent the spread of insecurity toward both the east and the west,” he wrote on Twitter.

From the Cradle.
https://thecradle.co/Article/Analysis/19857

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 29 2022 23:37 utc | 22

apologies for the formatting, just children and trash was supposed to be black

Posted by: glupi | Dec 30 2022 0:09 utc | 24

@25 “They will never run out of ammunition, …”
But they may run out of enthusiasm. For Russia this conflict is existential. For the US/NATO it’s about ‘freedom and democracy’ or whatever slogan the MSM can come up with to keep the population interested.

Posted by: dh | Dec 30 2022 0:31 utc | 26

Several references to US “control” of the high seas and key shipping routes.
Several avenues of response. One concerns theory versus practice.
For instance, for the US Navy to intercept a Russian ship (or 3rd country flagged ship whose last port of lading was in Russia) transporting grain/goods/fertilizer/arms whatever to, say, India, would constitute quite a dramatic escalation of hostilities, and would allow Russia to say, “well, two can play at that game”. So I don’t see it happening anytime soon, but with the “crazies in the basement” now in the White House, you never know. Anything’s possible with that lot.
No one’s claiming that maritime transport isn’t still dominant. At over 80% global market share of goods trade by volume (higher for developing countries), it clearly is. But the gradual increase in non-oceans based multi-modal transport for goods and fuels (oil/pipeline gas) within/across Eurasia, together with new routes such as the Northern Sea Route, will continue to grow.
Nation-states are concerned with security of all kinds, including food security, energy security, and bio-security. They are also concerned with their sovereignty (simply put, acting in accordance with their perceived national interests without being bullied and threatened with sanctions, or their goods being intercepted/sunk in the high seas, or central bank funds/gold being confiscated). So they will move to on-shore to the extent they can, become more efficient re: food/agriculture, move towards more regional trade and “friend-shoring” and “near-shoring”, develop more robust and independent payments and clearing systems, invest more in biodefense/biosecurity, among many other things.
Using/creating new land and non-ocean maritime transportation routes is but one of a number of specific, concrete actions (real, measurable outcomes: reduction of # of days to transport from 45 to 25 (St. Pete to Mumbai) in this regard. One should not look at this in isolation, but think of it as one incremental action. Over the next 75-80 years, there could be hundreds/thousands of such actions across sectors/domains that aid a country in enhancing its security and sovereignty. The leadership of each individual country will determine what combination of actions serves its interests the best.

Posted by: Yashuo | Dec 30 2022 0:39 utc | 28

Peter AU1 | Dec 29 2022 17:25 utc | 55 (previous thread)
Amusing anecdote ~ (pertaining to abandoned liquorice allsorts IFV littering Ukraine) and the ubiquitous challenges of maintenance of all large machinery…
Tagline:
“Mate saves 20k, I get a packet of peanuts and all is good.
Thanks Peter. You old “monkey(wrench)”….Needed a chuckle.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Dec 30 2022 0:44 utc | 30

@22 uncle tungsten | Dec 29 2022 23:37 utc
Thank you for that story. Lots of treading softly in that china shop, and nothing broken it appears. China “corrected” its “mistake” says Tehran.
I must say when I read the statement initially it seemed like a lot of fawning on Saudi Arabia by China. Hard to understand, except as a supreme effort to bring KSA over to the Chinese side – but you would think bin Salman would already be straining at the leash to do that anyway.
In attempting, perhaps, not to ruffle proud feathers in KSA, Xi stirred up hornets in Iran. One hopes it will be all better.
~~
On China, the Global South has published a machine translation that reads very well from a Russian analyst detailing in many ways the resolve and readiness of China to go to war as the situation warrants:
Pentagon theorists predict scenarios
The title is misleading, since the article merely opens with a synopsis of the latest RAND view, before moving on to the real meat: the readiness of China, different from but equal to that of Russia, if push comes to shove. As I commented over there, these are aspects of China’s position and policy that desperately need to be understood better by westerners.

Posted by: Grieved | Dec 30 2022 0:55 utc | 32

Republicofscotland | Dec 29 2022 19:49 utc | 9
The BBC UK’s GCHQ head Jeremy Fleming “guest” [can you be a guest in a property you own???] and US intelligence head Avril Haines…
Was cited also in the previous thread..
“…they say they managed to fool the west on the war narrative, but not The Rest”.
Yeah, but they didn’t “fool” the West.
They played us as fools, but they “won” the war narrative by a totalitarian blockout of any and all, even slightly competing information so severe it’d make Stalin blush.
“The Rest” remained “unfooled” because they had access to more information options… Turkey, for instance. Africa. China. Central Asia.
Ironically and laughably….. it’s probably the Russian Joe Public who have the most complete and varied information buffet.
Western media is not blockaded from them….. they can access CNN, see firsthand Lindsay Graham calling for the assassination of Putin and annihilation of the Russian state…
Entrenched Soviet cynicism means Putin knows his best strategy is to speak the truth…. transparency and a good facsimile of honesty in a politician is so shocking … it’s almost unprecedented.. even revolutionary..

Posted by: Melaleuca | Dec 30 2022 1:07 utc | 34

Boy! Am I thrilled?! I’ve just seen my first UFO a few minutes before midday today AEDST. It’s bright and sunny with no clouds. The UFO took the form of two very bright, very white lights about the same distance apart, and configuration as if aircraft had a white headlight and tail light. However, neither light changed intensity from aproach to departure. There was an old biplane in the sky when the UFO appeared, flying a similar course but much higher and faster. And silent.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 30 2022 1:35 utc | 36

And the annual photo of Rod Stewart’s family finally showed up! I was starting to get worried.

Posted by: dh | Dec 30 2022 1:47 utc | 38