Tag: geopolitics

Around 90% of Iran’s oil exports go to China — Ken Cao

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Around 90% of Iran’s oil exports go to China. Why? It’s cheap and it can be settled in RMB, bypassing the U.S. dollar system entirely.

Iran gets yuan, then spends most of it buying Chinese machinery, electronics, and industrial goods. The money flows right back to Beijing.

Much of that Iranian crude even enters China labeled as “Malaysian blended oil.” On paper, it’s Malaysia. In reality, it’s Iran.

To dodge U.S. sanctions, China keeps its major banks away from the deals. Instead, transactions are routed through smaller institutions like Kunlun Bank — controlled by CNPC and based in Xinjiang.

It’s a sanctions workaround, a currency experiment, and a geopolitical lifeline all rolled into one.

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This is surely a major piece of the war with Iran puzzle. ABN

Following a Court Ruling, The Government of Panama Has Taken Back Control Over Both Entrances to the Panama Canal – Cancelled Chinese Contracts

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The highest court in Panama has nulled the ‘Chinese’ contract for the operation of both entrance ports on the Panama Canal.  The Panamanian government took back control and assigned operations to APM Terminals, a subsidiary of the Danish group A.P. Moller-Maersk.

The state takeover comes after a 14-month long saga begun by President Trump who reasserted American interests in the hemisphere and rejected the concept of allowing China to have strategic control over such vital North American infrastructure.

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Many nations: ‘Express their strongest condemnation and gravest concern regarding the statements issued by the United States Ambassador to Israel, in which he indicated acceptance of Israel’s exercise of control over lands belonging to Arab countries, including the occupied West Bank’

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The foreign ministries of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Bahrain, the General Secretariats of the Gulf Cooperation Council for Arab States, the League of Arab States, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation express their strongest condemnation and gravest concern regarding the statements issued by the United States Ambassador to Israel, in which he indicated acceptance of Israel’s exercise of control over lands belonging to Arab countries, including the occupied West Bank.

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Exclusive: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere

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  • Launch planned for last week was delayed
  • Portal team includes former DOGE member Coristine
  • Officials discussed including a VPN function

WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department is developing an online portal that will enable people in Europe and elsewhere to see content banned by their governments including alleged hate speech and terrorist propaganda, a move Washington views as a way to counter censorship, three sources familiar with the plan said.

The site will be hosted at “freedom.gov,” the sources said. One source said officials had discussed including a virtual private network function to make a user’s traffic appear to originate in the U.S. and added that user activity on the site will not be tracked.

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Link to actual in-progress website: FREEDOM IS COMING: Information is power. Reclaim your human right to free expression. Get ready.

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This is wonderful on many levels and also because it will hold USA to its own highest standards. Hope it happens. ABN

Andrew is arrested and held in custody on his birthday after dramatic police raid on his home at Sandringham amid probe into Epstein files

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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has today been arrested on his 66th birthday and is in custody after a raid on his new Sandringham home.

Thames Valley Police held the eighth in line to the British throne on suspicion of misconduct in public office this morning.

The Daily Mail was the first to reveal plain-clothes police, carried in six unmarked vehicles, had arrived at Wood Farm, where Andrew now lives, at 8am this morning. 

A convoy including at least two royal Land Rovers linked to Andrew was photographed leaving the estate less than an hour later. His arrest was confirmed at 10.08am.

For the past ten days, detectives have been probing his conduct as a trade envoy for the UK after emails in the Epstein Files suggested he shared confidential information with his paedophile friend, including reports of his official visits and potential investment opportunities.

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Tucker Carlson ‘DETAINED’ in Israel: Journalist ‘dragged into interrogation room’ as explosive interview sparks diplomatic firestorm

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Conservative podcasting titan Tucker Carlson said he and his staff were detained in Israel on Wednesday following an interview with Donald Trump‘s ambassador to the country.  

The former Fox News host flew into Tel Aviv for a sit-down with Mike Huckabee, who challenged Carlson to speak to him directly following an online spat about the country’s treatment of Christians.

Carlson, who also frequently criticizes Israel for its military actions in Gaza, took Huckabee up on his offer.

But as critics and pro-Israel activists began piling on Carlson for purportedly not leaving the airport during his brief visit, he revealed that he was met with hostility in the Middle Eastern country.

Carlson told the Daily Mail exclusively that shortly after the interview, Israeli officials confiscated his passport and hauled off his executive producer to an interrogation room. 

‘Men who identified themselves as airport security took our passports, hauled our executive producer into a side room and then demanded to know what we spoke to Ambassador Huckabee about,’ Carlson told the Daily Mail. 

‘It was bizarre. We’re now out of the country.’ 

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The irony. But almost everything in the Abrahamic sects is ironically out of whack. Maybe God is sending a message. I hope Carlson was not exposed to the Havana Syndrome. Doing this to Carlson sort of pulls the rug out from under Huckabee. What is Israel trying to accomplish by insulting Huckabee’s guest and, by extension, Huckabee himself? Kirk’s public assassination seems to have been a very loud warning. Ofc, that has zero connection to this but overt public harassment, murder and disrespect always is performative. Maybe Israel wants Carlson to have a big audience for the Huckabee interview. As they used to say, no press is bad press. Hard to figure this one out. ABN

Halftime Wars: TPUSA vs The NFL | Candace Ep 304

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UPDATE: At some point in this video, Candace says something very interesting and significant: She says Charlie Kirk convinced Trump not to go to war with Iran but to only bomb its nuclear facilities; and this victory was taken by Netanyahu as a defeat of his far more belligerent position and his control of Trump. What the nuances of that debate are will probably never be known. What I had thought was the case was Kirk had failed to convince Trump to not bomb Iran at all. If Candace is right, this is a major piece of information because it adds to the motivation to murder Charlie, and especially in such a nasty way in public. Ofc, I am not saying Bibi did it but Israel’s loss of control over Trump may have inspired someone to act with ferocious vengeance against Charlie. ABN