US - AUSTRALIAN MILITARY CO-OP - DONE DEAL ACCORD

US, Australia sign military cooperation accord By AFP | AP Published about 2 hours ago SYDNEY: The US and Australia signed an agreement on Tuesday that will allow the two countries’ militaries to train and work better together as US Marines and airmen deploy in and out of the country. “This long-term agreement will broaden and deepen our alliance’s contributions to regional security,” US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Tuesday. He described the US-Australia alliance as the “bedrock” for stability in the Asia-Pacific region. Hagel spoke during a press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry and their Australian counterparts, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Defence Minister David Johnston, at the conclusion of annual Australia-US strategic talks. Kerry praised Australia as “a vital partner in so many different endeavors. [That's what he says to all the 'girls'.] “When President Barack Obama visited Australia in 2011, he fuelled tensions with China, Australia’s biggest trading partner, by announcing that up to 2,500 US Marines would rotate through a joint military training hub in the northern Australian city of Darwin. The Marines conduct humanitarian and military exercises with Australian forces. Since 2011, the number of Marines there has grown from about 250 to more than 1,100 now. Australian Defence Minister David Johnston said the northern territory looks forward to the Marine presence growing to the 2,500 limit. Adm Sam Locklear, who heads US Pacific Command, told reporters on Monday that there is no timeline for the increase to 2,500. The 2,500, said Locklear, is the size of a Marine air/ground task force unit, which “gives us the best flexibility to partner with” Australia and other allies in the region. One US official said it will take several years to reach the full 2,500-troop level. US REASSURES CHINA: The United States stressed on Tuesday it welcomes the rise of China and wants to work constructively with Beijing as it signed a deal to deploy 2,500 Marines to Australia as part of its “rebalance” to Asia. China bristled when the agreement to deploy Marines to the northern city of Darwin was first announced by President Barack Obama in 2011. [...] “Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop earlier defended the deal to bring US Marines and Air Force personnel to the Northern Territory, denying it was aimed at China which is embroiled in maritime disputes with neighbours. “That’s not what it is directed to do at all. It’s about working closely with the United States to ensure that we can work on regional peace and security,” she told a radio programme. “The United States is rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific so it’s ways we can work together to support economic development as well as security and peace. “After the talks Bishop, who also hosted US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, said the discussions were broad — ranging from tensions on the Korean peninsula to the crisis in Ukraine and to conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Gaza and Afghanistan. http://www.dawn.com/news/1124996/us-australia-sign-military-cooperation-accord

This is about the US moving to line up control in the Asia Pacific region.

Australia hasn't exactly got a choice, so any defence deal is a done deal.

Why bother with a 2,500 limit? 

'Work on regional peace and security' means having the capability of challenging somebody in the region with a big stick, otherwise why would anybody give a stuff what Bishop and Hagel have to say on the region.

So this isn't all about hand-holding, partnership and peace promotion.

'Scanalous' John Kerry phone tap news

What's the bet that the 'John Kerry's phone calls tapped' news is just a diversion ... you know, focus on the scandal instead of what's going on.

Or am I getting all weird now?  LOL

Russia and India and the US

Russia and India Report Article Time for India to stand by Russia Both countries would benefit if Russian companies were given a red carpet to operate in India, especially in infrastructure projects. August 1, 2014 Ajay Kamalakaran  It was quite obvious that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in India this week, was trying hard to ‘persuade’ External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the Indian government to take a hard line against Russia in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. It’s for good measure that there is now a government in New Delhi that is actually bothered about Indian national interest and not following an agenda that is being set by Washington. [LOL ... that last bit definitely sounds true.  See WTO & food security.] ... China is a country that America has realised can never be swayed in its direction. Its size and growing influence give the world’s second largest economy enough confidence to not be bullied by the West, basically making it a lost cause for Washington.  India on the other hand is a key for American designs to divide the world into what it classifies as good guys and bad guys. Although Barack Obama initially seemed less confrontational and much more of a dove than his predecessor, he does his Nobel Peace Prize a disservice.  [LOL.  Yep.] ... The very fact that the West is trying to isolate Russia is a good opportunity for Russian companies to expand their cooperation with both India and Indian companies, especially in infrastructure projects. This is the best time to welcome Russian investment in India and offer tax breaks and preferential agreements for Russian businesses. It would be a winning formula for both countries. There is also some talk about trading in national currencies, but here India and Russia need to exercise a lot of caution. There were a lot of complaints from both sides about the way the old rupee-rouble trade was conducted and things threatened to boil over in the early 1990s over the exact evaluation. It may be better to wait and watch how Russia and China are able to trade in roubles and yuan, before replicating the example in trade with India. Many major economies would like to reduce their dependence on the dollar but this has to be done in a practical and planned manner. China’s overt support for Russia has not led to any serious repercussions from the West, simply because America and its allies are afraid of doing anything that would cause mutual and irreparable damage. The same would apply for India, which is now too big and strategically important to risk ‘losing.’ This is precisely why greater cooperation amongst the BRICS nations is making those trying to protect the existing world order nervous. Greater Indo-Russian engagement and cooperation, both bilaterally and in multilateral setups like the BRICS, is one of the keys to a new global order: one that is not dominated by a war-hungry superpower. Extracts only Source - Russia and India Report - here.

Thought this was worth reading.  It's extracts only.  Complete article @ link provided.

Spot on about a couple of things.

Need to learn about currency trading, as I don't know anything at all about that.

Anyway, it was a good read.  :)

GAZA - Disarmament of Hamas

Kerry: Truce Deal 'Must Lead to the Disarmament of Hamas' US, EU, UN pressure builds to accept internationally-mediated truce deal, despite heavy rocket fire on Israel. By AFP and Arutz Sheva Staff First Publish: 7/28/2014, 8:19 PM US Secretary of State John Kerry Monday said that international efforts to reach agreement on a truce between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza must lead to the disarmament of Hamas. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183443

Somehow I can't see Hamas agreeing to disarmament, and I've only just begun watching politics.

GAZA - John Kerry - Outrageous Proposition

Krauthammer: Kerry is undermining Israeli-Gaza peace talks Published July 28, 2014 ... Krauthammer, a syndicated columnist and a Fox News contributor, said Kerry has caused "wreckage" by intervening. ... Kerry spent Saturday in Paris meeting with several European diplomats and the foreign ministers of Qatar and Turkey, who are negotiating on behalf of Hamas, hoping to establish an immediate cease fire in the ongoing conflict. Krauthammer said Kerry returned from the negotiations as essentially Hamas’ lawyer, and the plan Kerry supported “would have given Hamas all of its demands.” "(Kerry) hands Israel a proposition that is so outrageous that the cabinet votes 19-0 against it," he said. "Israeli cabinets have never voted 19-0 on whether the sun rises in the east. It was unbelievable." http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/07/28/krauthammer-kerry-is-undermining-israeli-gaza-peace-talks/?cmpid=cmty_twitter_fn

John Kerry the 'Hamas lawyer'?  

I don't think so.

Kerry's 'outrageous' proposal plays right into Israeli hands.  

It's a round of High Fives.

John Kerry does the 'full Ginsburg'

Carl P. Leubsdorf:  Kerry makes the most of Ukraine July 24, 2014 Appearing on all five Sunday morning television news shows has become a familiar practice since the term “full Ginsburg” was coined after the first person to accomplish the feat, Monica Lewinsky’s lawyer William Ginsburg, in 1998. Obama administration officials have increasingly employed the practice — notably Secretary of State John Kerry, who last weekend became the second person, after Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, to complete a second “full Ginsburg.” But where Ginsburg’s main impact was to get his name applied to the tactic, Kerry has sought to restore the Sunday shows as major platforms for making news, rather than a forum for repeating past positions and policy conflicts. In September, he used his five TV appearances to disclose that the administration had positive proof that Syria had used the neurotoxin sarin against its civilians. On Sunday, he presented an explicit and convincing case that Russia had supplied the weapon its Ukrainian allies used to shoot down a Malaysian Airlines commercial plane. These appearances were a major part of the secretary of state’s ongoing effort to strengthen both the U.S. voice around the world — and his own — as President Barack Obama’s main spokesman on international issues. In the process, he is also playing a far more public role than his predecessor, Hillary Clinton, who preferred a low-key, diplomatic approach to improve the U.S. image abroad. That may be one reason a Politico poll this week gave her mediocre ratings as secretary of state, along with the fact that, for 18 months, the main publicity surrounding her four years concerned Republican charges that inadequate security in Benghazi was responsible for the death of four Americans. Clinton also had little use for the Sunday morning platform, though it can easily provide news to dominate the headlines and network newscasts on a day where news tends to be spontaneous, rather than planned. “I have to confess, here in public, going on the Sunday shows is not my favorite thing to do,” Clinton told a congressional committee in explaining, perhaps speciously, why she deferred to then U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice on the weekend after the Benghazi terrorism attack. “There are other things I prefer to do on Sunday mornings. … And I did feel strongly that we had a lot to manage, that I had to respond to, and that that should be my priority.” Kerry, however, has eagerly pursued the public pulpit, which often focuses on issues with which he has spent years dealing as a longtime member and later chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee.

He has not been reluctant to tackle the more intractable international issues, like the generations-long Israeli-Palestinian dispute, the bloody and complicated Syrian civil war and the Russian effort to destabilize Ukraine both politically and militarily. Kerry’s high-profile efforts have not been trouble-free. On Sunday, he stirred a flap by making what appeared to be very candid comments about the Israeli effort to destroy the Hamas terrorism infrastructure in Gaza in a cellphone conversation that he didn’t realize microphones were picking up. “It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation,” he twice said, apparently referring to Israeli statements its efforts would be limited. A few minutes later, on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked if he was “upset that the Israelis are going too far.” “It’s very difficult in these situations,” Kerry replied. “I reacted, obviously, in a way that anybody does in respect to young children and civilians.” Kerry is no stranger to such situations. Some months back, his offhand comment about Syria’s chemical weapons resulted in the Russians suggesting international talks. Kerry’s increasingly high-profile role has coincided with speculation about whether his predecessor, Clinton, will seek the presidency in 2016 and, if she doesn’t, who should be the Democratic nominee. Besides Vice President Joe Biden, there have been sporadic suggestions that Kerry, who came within 118,000 Ohio votes of winning in 2004, would be a strong candidate. But he made clear in a CNN interview last February that once was enough for him. “I’m out of politics,” Kerry told CNN’s Jake Tapper. Besides, judging from his first 18 months, his day job will keep him pretty busy through 2016. Source - Tallahassee Democrat - here.

Cool.  Now I know what the 'full Ginsburg' is.  Kinda.  LOL

Jack/Jacob Lew and John Kerry have been lobbying for anti-Russian economic sanctions (briefly mentioned here), so that's probably what the media round was about.

Jacob Lew and the Obama administration are also having a go at 'unpatriotic' international mergers:

rising number of U.S. companies using international mergers to relocate their headquarters overseas in an effort to avoid paying U.S. corporate taxes. [here]

Lew calls these 'inversions' which:

“hollow out the U.S. corporate income tax base.” [as above, here]

Reference made in the article to expected call for 'economic patriotism'. 

Who would have guessed there was such a thing in a free market economy in the land of the free etc?

I don't understand the significance of Kerry's 'pinpoint' phone call.  It doesn't sound particularly controversial to me, so I don't understand why this keeps coming up in media like it's some big deal rebuke or something, when it's not.

Doubt Clinton will be in the running for Pres, but Kerry might be despite what he says.

The 'news-making' stuff is interesting.  Politicians appear to set the news agenda on the day.

GAZA - Update

Fears grow Hezbollah could join Hamas fight against Israel after Kerry peace effort fails The Washington Times Wednesday, July 23, 2014 Hamas rejected Secretary of State John F. Kerry’s call for a cease-fire amid concerns that an agreement won’t be reached before other parties are drawn into its conflict with Israel. A new jihadi media outlet called Al Fawaris released a video Wednesday calling on Gazans to endure the military operation. Its message said victory looms and that Muslims all over the world support them. While Hamas is using tactics favored by Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Islamist group has not shown signs of entering the conflict. Analysts say Hezbollah, which has offered words of support for Hamas, is fully occupied with Syria’s civil war. “Right now, Hezbollah has way too much invested in the Syrian conflict to provoke an unnecessarily destructive war with Israel,” said Daniel Nisman, president of the Levantine Group, a geopolitical risk and research group based in Tel Aviv. The Middle East Media Research Institute’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor published a report with a video featuring jihadi cleric Abu hareth Al-Maqdisi, who said he and his fighters in Syria want to join the battle in Gaza. “True, we are fighting in Syria, but our heart yearns to arrive and fight the sons and brothers of the apes and pigs [the Jews],” the institute reported Al-Maqdisi as saying. The jihadi cleric said Gazans must be patient and wait for either victory or martyrdom, and that Allah will soon send “extraordinary soldiers who will fight and defeat the Jews.” Mr. Kerry reported progress in indirect negotiations, and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called for a temporary truce to allow humanitarian relief into Gaza. But Mr. Meshaal said his group would keep fighting Israel and would not agree to a more lasting cease-fire without a full negotiation of terms. “We need the calm for a few hours to evacuate the wounded and assist in the relief. This means a real truce backed by a real relief program offered to the people of Gaza,” Mr. Meshaal said at a news conference in Qatar.

However, he said any permanent cease-fire could be reached only if Israel ends its siege and could be implemented only after full negotiations. More than 680 Palestinians and 34 Israelis have been killed since fighting began in early July. Already hurt by mass tourism cancellations, Israel faced increased economic pressure after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration took the rare step Tuesday of banning flights to Tel Aviv and renewed the order Wednesday. Many other foreign carriers, on heightened alert after a Malaysian airliner was shot down over a combat zone in Ukraine last week, followed suit. Israeli carriers continued to operate. “Hamas’ success in closing the Israeli airspace is a great victory for the resistance, a terrible failure for Israel that wrecks the image of Israeli deterrence,” said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. The Tel Aviv stock exchange and shekel were flat, with traders showing little concern about the flight stoppages. Mr. Kerry landed at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, despite the flight bans, and met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and a grim-faced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said indirect talks had made some progress but returned later to Egypt, which shares a border with Gaza and has mediated with Hamas. “We have certainly made some steps forward. There is still work to be done,” said Mr. Kerry, whose most recent efforts at peace negotiations between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Abbas broke down in April. Mr. Kerry has been working through Mr. Abbas, Egypt and other regional proxies because the U.S., like Israel, shuns Hamas as a terrorist group. Hamas brushed off the U.S. diplomat’s appeal, saying it would not hold fire without making gains. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said there was “a strong possibility” that Israel was committing war crimes in Gaza, where most Palestinian casualties have been civilians. She also condemned indiscriminate Islamist rocket fire out of Gaza. The U.N. Human Rights Council said it would launch an international inquiry into suspected violations. Israel dismissed the threat. “Get lost,” Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said on her Facebook page in response to the investigation. SOURCE - Washington Times - here.

A very interesting update.

GAZA - John Kerry in Israel - Peace Talks

Yahoo News ... so far killed 649 Palestinians and 31 Israelis, with neither Israel nor Hamas showing willingness to end hostilities, despite days of diplomatic efforts to coax them into a truce. - Possible war crimes - [...] In Geneva, UN rights chief Navi Pillay said Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip could amount to war crimes, while also condemning indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas. "There seems to be a strong possibility that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes," Pillay told an emergency session on Israel's Gaza offensive at the UN Human Rights Council, citing attacks that have killed Palestinian civilians, including children. She added that Israeli children and other civilians also had a right to live without constant fear of rocket attacks. Despite appeals from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for both sides to "stop fighting", Israel has insisted it would keep up its punishing campaign until it smashes cross-border tunnels used by Gaza militants to attack the Jewish state. After touching down in Tel Aviv at 0800 GMT, Kerry set off for Jerusalem where he was to meet visiting Ban before travelling straight to the West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, a State Department official said. He was later to return to Tel Aviv for talks at the defence ministry with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official said. He was expected to return to Cairo in the evening. [...] police confirming they had arrested 800 Arab Israelis and another 295 people in east Jerusalem in the past three weeks. Source - Yahoo News - undated  - here.

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COMMENT


Somehow I don't think there will be any action taken whatever the UN says.

Kerry trying to make peace with Palestinians is strange when he's a firm Israel supporter.

Mahmud Abbas is the official recognised go-to; but I think Hamas government is separate to him.

Peace talks must be awkward.

GAZA - Death Toll

GAZA

DEATH TOLL:   above 300

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon - seeking to broker truce.

Obama has supported Israel's right to defend itself against Gaza rocket fire

ISRAEL - land, sea, air and ground offensive

HAMAS - [Palestinian Islamist de facto government in Gaza (following landslide parliamentary election win)]

HAMAS - Remains defiant "as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas travelled to Egypt and Turkey for truce talks". [Mahmud Abbas - PLO Chairman & President of State of Palestine [wikipedia]]

Total death toll to 307 Palestinians and 2 Israelis.
2,250 Palestinians and several Israelis have been injured.

U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA ... to shelter those fleeing.

• 47,000 Gazans seeking sanctuary with the agency.
• 20,000 displaced people received World Food Programme emergency food rations and food vouchers to more than
• 85,000 people estimated to require emergency assistance, as result of Israel ground offensive.

70% Gaza power outage (electricity lines from Israel were damaged)...
 

• Ground operation:  

Israel aim to "destroy Hamas network of tunnels which are used for cross-border attacks on southern Israel".

• Netanyahu (Israel) ...  admitted there was "no guarantee of 100 percent success."

"French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Abbas had urged Paris to ask Hamas allies Qatar and Turkey to pressure the group into accepting a ceasefire."

"Hamas has rejected Egyptian proposals for a truce:

1. demanding an easing of a harsh Gaza blockade imposed by Israel in 2006; and
2. the release of Palestinian prisoners."

BLOGGER SUMMARY and QUOTE SOURCE - 

Gaza Toll Passes 300 as U.N.'s Ban Heads to Region
by Naharnet Newsdesk  - 
Lebanon - here.

-------------------------------------------------------------
OTHER

HAMAS - is a 'Palestinian Sunni Islamic organisation'  

Declared terrorist organisation by Israel, Jordan, US, EU & US western allies, Japan

COUNTRIES OPPOSED to terrorist designation:  

• Iran
• Russia
• Turkey
• China; and 
• 'many Arab nations' 

2006-onwards - Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip

HAMAS -

 'won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Parliament in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections and defeated the Fatah political organization in a series of violent clashes.'

FATAH - largest faction of PLO multi-party confederation.

INTERESTING ASIDE:

'Fatah wanted US Secretary of State John Kerry prosecuted before the International Criminal Court for allegedly having threatened the life of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.' [wikipedia]

US Secretary of State John Kerry recently threatened PA President Mahmoud Abbas that he would meet the same fate as his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, if he turned down Washington’s proposals for peace with Israel, a Palestinian source was quoted Sunday as saying.  [The Jerusalem Post - Feb 2014 - here.]

According to Jerusalem Post's source, Kerry's proposals for the region were met with 'shock and rejection' and the proposals allegedly involved:

creating large settlement blocs where 80% of the settlers would be gathered under Israeli sovereignty. [The Jerusalem Post - Feb 2014 - here.]

John Kerry's brother, politician Cameron Kerry (US Democrats...US Secretary of Commerce), described the US Secretary of State's position as follows:

Today, his determined work on Middle East peace is informed by an abiding sense of the need to secure Israel as a home for the Jewish people. For years since that first visit, he has engaged passionately with a wide variety of leaders in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, and across the region to understand the way to peace. He also maintained a 100-percent pro-Israel voting record during his nearly three decades in the US senate.

It is this deep involvement that has led to the conviction that Israel's long-term security requires a two-state solution – ... Israel cannot sustain occupation of the West Bank and remain both democratic and Jewish. ...

Prime Minister Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Lieberman, and Ambassador Dermer were courageous in their defense of my brother’s motives. We can all debate the effectiveness of security measures, the delineation of borders, arrangements for East Jerusalem, and other real issues among the parties, but there is no truth and no good that can come by calling into question John Kerry's good faith toward his own heritage. Israel and the Jewish people deserve better than that.  [YNet News - here.]

HAMAS, if I understand correctly, look to Tayyip Erdoğan's Turkish government, as a model government.

Religious and secular balance sought ... but unknown if this aim is universal or if it will prevail.

Alleged that Saudi Arabia has been an early financial supporter of HAMAS.

HAMAS

• 540-million-dollar government budget for 2010 

• 90% coming from "undisclosed" foreign aid

said to include funding from -

• Iran; and 
• Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

 'Due to the Gaza blockade, Hamas still faces a financial crisis." [wikipedia] 



Criticisms of HAMAS - wikipedia - here.



[source - wikipedia - where not otherwise stated]
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COMMENT

Spent a while checking out the info regarding this region and I'm still not really all that clear.

CHINA: Xi says confrontation between US and China would be disastrous for both countries

 ARTICLE: Online International News Network - here.

World

Xi says US-China confrontation would be 'disaster’

Dated: 2014-07-10
Beijing: Confrontation with the US would be a "disaster", Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday said as he called for mutual respect between the two nations. Mr Xi's comments came at an annual China-US dialogue held in Beijing.

Diplomats are expected to discuss China's currency, North Korea and tensions in the South China Sea. The US delegation is led by Secretary of State John Kerry, who in his opening remarks said that the US was not seeking to "contain" China. 

Mr Xi said the two countries' interests were now "more than ever interconnected", with much to gain from co-operation.

"China-US confrontation, to the two countries and the world, would definitely be a disaster," he said. "We should mutually respect and treat each other equally, and respect the other's sovereignty and territorial integrity and respect each other's choice on the path of development." 

Kerry, meanwhile, said the US did "not seek to contain China" and urged Beijing not to "interpret it as an overall strategy" when the US differed from China on certain issues.

US President Barack Obama also said in a statement that the US "welcomes the emergence of a stable, peaceful, and prosperous China".

"We remain determined to ensure that co-operation defines the overall relationship," he said. But US leaders have also called on China to do its part in maintaining stability in Asia.

Mr Kerry said the US welcomed a China that "contributes to the stability and development of the region and chooses to play a responsible role in world affairs".

The talks come with China locked in bitter disputes with several neighbours in the region, notably Vietnam and the Philippines, over claims in the South China Sea.

In turn, the US has stepped up joint military exercises with the Philippines and its military presence there, a move over which China has raised concerns. One of the latest exercises was conducted in the South China Sea near disputed waters two weeks ago.

Increased anti-Japan rhetoric has also come from China in recent weeks, following a decision by the Japanese cabinet to reinterpret the constitution, giving the Japanese military greater latitude to fight overseas.

Both countries claim a string of islands in the East China Sea and ties are severely strained over this issue.

The US and China have also had disagreements in recent months, particularly over cyber-attacks. In May, US authorities charged five Chinese military officers with hacking into American businesses.
Beijing has vigorously denied the charges, accusing the US of launching cyber-attacks against China.

END article
--------------------------------------

COMMENT

In this blog poster's opinion, general coverage from various sources, of the US-China talks, comes across as friendlier than it would seem at first glance.

When the poster first read China's remark (yesterday in some other report) that confrontation between US and China would be disastrous for both countries, the poster took that to mean that China is squaring up to the US and that behind all the diplomacy there's a steeliness.

Bear in mind US is conducting military exercises in the disputed waters (much like it is in Russia's backyard, the Black Sea), so the poster takes this to be a flexing of muscles and an attempt at maybe intimidation of the opponent (although the Russians put it as the US-NATO (in their case) putting 'pressure' on).

China also reminds the US of the need to respect each other's sovereignty in equal relations etc.  Again, the poster took that as:  hey, respect China's sovereignty.

Perhaps as a new political watcher, I'm reading too much into these statements.

Kerry conveys that:

the US was not seeking to "contain" China. 

but what is actually happening, the Asia-Pacific alliances that are 'iron clad' and even the Philippine ally's assertion that the US is surrounding China (Fox News article), would indicate that perhaps the US wishes to do just that in the region.


As a novice political watcher, the poster perhaps reads too much into what's said and what's done.

Anyway, catch-ups in relation to US-China and Philippines are complete.

[cross-tagged to Ukraine, Russia, US-Nato]

WEST BANK & GAZA: action hots up

John Kerry, US Secretary of State is currently in China for the 'annual US-China dialogue'.

The Hill is running a story of Kerry in phone talks to 'deescalate' crisis in Gaza.
 ---------------------------------

Kerry does damage control as rockets fly

 ...
On Wednesday, Israel's Defense Forces said that it had hit 160 terrorist targets in Gaza overnight. Reports have said at least 44 people died in those attacks.

Rockets launched into Israel, meanwhile, were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome system on Wednesday near parts of Tel Aviv. Several missiles launched from Gaza a day earlier reportedly exploded in Jerusalem — about 50 miles north of Gaza. No casualties in Israel were reported.
 ...
 Violence between the two sides has dramatically escalated over the last two weeks after the bodies of three kidnapped Israeli teenagers were found and a Palestinian teen was killed in an attack that was thought to be retaliatory.

Israel has mobilized 40,000 reservists to send to the West Bank and Gaza border for an expanded operation. Israeli President Shimon Peres has suggested a ground operation might happen soon.
...

FULL article here.