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Rhondda Records is with you every day bringing the news ------- that gives a view of world events different to the mainstream media or social media!
Except Sundays - our day of rest.
Journalist:To end war ------
prosecute UK, US officials
who wage(d) it illegally
October 22nd, 10:12pm (PressTV)
The world must finally put an end to the impunity of war
criminals, by holding US and UK officials responsible
for launching the illegal war on Iraq, done without
the approval of the UN Security Council, and
prosecuting them --- under the Nuremberg
principles, US journalist Don DeBar said.
DeBar made the remarks in an interview with Press TV while
commenting on a report which has revealed that the British
military inquiries into abuse against Iraqi nationals... have
been closed without a single prosecution being brought,
even though the credibility of many "shocking and
shameful incidents" during the war in the Middle
Eastern country, have been confirmed.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement
this week that the Service Police Legacy Investigations,
which was looking at claims of abuse in Iraq, had now
"officially closed its doors."
In March 2003, the US and Britain invaded Iraq in blatant
violation of international law and under the pretext of
finding WMDs; but no such weapons were ever
discovered in Iraq.
More than one million Iraqis were killed - as the result of
the US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq
--- according to the California-based investigative
organization, Project Censored.
The US war in Iraq cost US taxpayers $1.7 trillion with
an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, according to a study called Costs of War Project --- by the Watson Institute for
International Studies at Brown University.
DeBar told Press TV that the Iraq war
was illegal from the very beginning.
"It is illegal for a nation to make war on another nation if it
does not have the approval of the UN Security Council, if
any of those nations are signatories to the original UN
Charter. And it’s been adopted - that happened with
the US, as a charter member of the UN -- and it was
approved by the US Senate in the 1940s.
Consequently, the US involvement in Iraq from the beginning, and the UK involvement in Iraq from the beginning, was illegal,” he said.
“And under the Nuremberg standards, which would then
apply, each and every death consequent – intentional
or not - to either US or UK military action there, or
condoning of the US action there, by the media
or public officials, or any act facilitating that,
is an individual war crime. And, by the way,
there’s a death penalty for that,” the
journalist noted.
“No one will prosecute these people. That’s why I started
with the word impunity. And we might bookend with that
because that’s the problem. And until the world puts an
end to that impunity, until the world sees the major
contradiction in all international relations, is US,
UK, and EU imperialism, then it’s going to
continue until this eats our species,”
he stated.
A damning White House memo had revealed details of the
so-called “deal in blood” forged by former British Prime
Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush
over the Iraq war.
The document, titled “Secret... Memorandum for the
President”, was sent by then-US Secretary of State
Colin Powell to President Bush on March 28th, 2002, a week before Bush’s summit with Blair at his Crawford ranch in Texas.
The sensational memo, revealed that Blair had agreed to
support the war a year before the invasion even started
while publicly, the British prime minister was working to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
The document also disclosed that Blair agreed to act as a
spin doctor for Bush and convince a skeptical public that
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass
Destruction, which actually did not exist.
In response, Bush would flatter Blair and give the
impression that London was not Washington’s
poodle but an equal partner in the
“special relationship.”
Powell told Bush that Blair “will be with us” on the
Iraq war, and assured the president that “"the UK
will follow our lead in the Middle East."
Blair has always denied the claim that he and Bush
signed a deal “in blood”, at Crawford, to launch a
war against Iraq that began on March 20th, 2003,
that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
The Powell memo, however, showed how Blair and
Bush secretly prepared the Iraq war plot behind
closed doors at Crawford.
Powell told Bush: “He will present to you the strategic,
tactical and public affairs lines, that he believes will
strengthen global support for our common cause.”
People hold up a banner as they protest
against Israel at the entrance of the
International Criminal Court.
Several Palestinians Injured, including Children,
in Israeli Raid on Tubas, North of Occupied
West Bank
September 13th, 4:11pm
(al Manar)
Several Palestinians, including children, were injured on
Saturday during an Israeli military raid on the city of
Tubas, north of the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its crews treated
6 cases, including two people assaulted by Israeli
forces and four children .....who suffered from
tear gas inhalation.
Raids by Israeli occupation forces have been frequent in
the occupied West Bank. Such incursions often involve
the storming of residential neighbourhoods, the use
of live ammunition and tear gas, and have resulted
in repeated injuries and detentions... among
its residents.
Since the beginning of the year, Tubas has witnessed a series
of military raids that have led to casualties, detentions, and
damage to property -- part of a broader escalation across
the West Bank.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian man was shot and injured by Israeli
occupation forces on Saturday in the town of al-Ram, north
of occupied Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its crews in Ramallah
treated a 57-year-old man who was shot in the leg with
live ammunition, before transferring him to hospital.
Local sources reported that Israeli occupation forces chased
several workers near the Israeli segregation wall --- and
opened fire at them, injuring one.
Israeli colonists assaulted a Palestinian man on Saturday
while he was driving his public vehicle along the road
connecting Ramallah and Nablus.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
_____________________________________
Lebanese ArmyIntercepts Vessel
Attempting Illegal Departure
from Territorial Waters
September 13th, 3:11pm
(al Manar)
The Lebanese Army Command announced: that a naval
operation successfully intercepted the vessel Hawk III
as it attempted to leave Lebanese territorial
waters, illegally.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the army stated that
the interception operation came at the direction of the
competent judiciary - and based on intelligence
information about the ship’s movements.
A unit from the Marine Commando Regiment, in coordination
with the Lebanese Navy and Air Force, pursued the ship
and stopped it approximately 30 nautical miles off
the Lebanese coast.
Source: NNA
_________________________________
Israeli Violations of Lebanese
Sovereignty --------- Persist
September 13th, 3:10pm
(al Manar)
The Israeli enemy continued on Saturday --- violating
Lebanese sovereignty and the ceasefire agreement
based on the UN Resolution 1701.
In this regard, the Zionist occupation forces carried out a
detonation in the barrens near the destroyed mosque in
Adaisseh border town, South Lebanon.
Al-Manar reporter indicated that Israeli gliders dropped bombs
on the vicinity of the Old Square and a house in Kfarkila
border town as well as the outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab
border town, in southern Lebanon.
Casualties were reported on Friday as the Israeli enemy carried
out more attacks in south Lebanon in violation of the ceasefire
that ended the brutal Israeli 66-day war on Lebanon ---- in
late 2024.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
______________________________________
“Erased from the Registry” --- Israeli
Bombardment Wipes Out Families,
Kills Dozens Across Gaza
September 13th, 2:10pm
(al Manar)
A relentless wave of Israeli airstrikes, shelling, and gunfire has
pummeled Gaza from north to south, killing and wounding
civilians at aid points and in their homes, with rescue
teams reporting entire families lost ----- beneath
the rubble.
Gaza ......endured another 24 hours of intense and widespread
aggression as Israeli occupation forces launched attacks on
multiple fronts, targeting residential neighbourhoods and
humanitarian aid points and resulting in numerous
martyrs and injuries.
The Israeli aggression - was most concentrated in Gaza City, where
residents faced a multi-pronged attack. Israeli warplanes targeted
homes around the Yarmouk neighbourhood in the city centre and
launched strikes to the northwest. Simultaneously, an Apache
attack helicopter fired missiles into a city neighbourhood --
and Israeli gunboats shelled western areas from the sea.
Tragedy at an Aid Point and Beneath the Rubble
The human cost - was starkly detailed by Al-Awda Hospital in Gaza,
which reported receiving two bodies and nine injuries ---- after the Israeli occupation shelled a crowd of civilians at a humanitarian aid distribution point in the Netzarim area, south of Wadi Gaza.
In western Gaza, civil defense teams recovered the bodies of an
entire family, from under the rubble of their home. The al-Hosari
family home --- located near the Abu Halima station in the Shati
refugee camp was completely destroyed by an Israeli airstrike.
Rescue workers, who had responded to calls for survivors,
confirmed that all family members inside were killed,
“thus erasing a new family from the civil registry,
as a result of the crimes of genocide.”
Expanding Operations and a High-Profile Assassination
The aggression was not confined to the north. In the central Gaza
Strip, heavy gunfire was reported around Netzarim, while in the
south, the city of Khan Younis ---- was also hit by airstrikes.
One strike claimed the life of Brigadier General Jasser
al-Mashoukhi, the former director of the Rafah
Governorate Police.
Further illustrating the expanding ground operations, the Israeli
army detonated a third booby-trapped robot east of the Sheikh
Radwan neighbourhood in northern Gaza, a tactic used to
destroy structures and tunnel networks.
Source: Agencies (translated
and edited by Al-Manar
English Website)
__________________________________________
Mossad pulls back from planned
ground raid on Hamas leaders
in Qatar: Report
September 13th, 11:33am
(PressTV)
Israeli spy agency Mossad has reportedly shelved plans
for a ground invasion targeting Hamas in Qatar, a plan
it had drawn up in recent weeks to use agents on
the ground to assassinate the resistance
group's leaders.
The Israeli regime on Tuesday attacked a residential area
in the Qatari capital, Doha, targeting Hamas’s leadership.
The attack was unsuccessful. Top Hamas leaders, who were
meeting to discuss a Gaza ceasefire proposal, survived the
attack. However, five members of the Gaza-based
resistance group and a Qatari security officer
were killed.
The Washington Post, in a report on Friday, citing two unnamed
Israelis familiar with the matter, revealed that the Mossad
director, David Barnea, opposed killing the Hamas
officials in Qatar partly because such an action
could rupture the relationship he and his
agency had cultivated with the Qataris.
Qatar had been hosting Hamas and serving as a key mediator
in ceasefire talks between Hamas and the Israeli regime.
Benjamin Netanyahu needs to be 'brought to justice': Qatari PM
In January, Barnea reaffirmed the spy agency’s commitment to
targeting “those responsible for the October 2023” operation
led by Hamas; however, he took issue with the timing of it.
While Israeli officials broadly agree that all Hamas leaders —
including those abroad — should eventually be killed,
many, including Barnea and Israeli Chief of Staff
Eyal Zamir, questioned whether this was the
right moment.
At the time, Hamas leaders were gathered in Qatar discussing
a ceasefire proposal at the request of the Israelis and the US,
which aimed to free 48 remaining Israeli captives in
exchange for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Nitzan Alon, the senior Israeli military officer responsible for
captive negotiations, was excluded from a Monday meeting
discussing the attack on Doha. Israeli leaders assumed he
would oppose a strike that endangered the captives’ lives.
An Israeli official familiar with internal dissent
questioned Netanyahu’s decision.
“We can get them - in one, two, or four years from now,
and the Mossad knows how to do it,” the official said.
“Why do it now?”
“Barnea was known as someone who thought the Qatari
mediation had value, and you don’t burn the Qatari
mediators or the mediation channel,” said
David Makovsky, a senior fellow at the
Washington Institute.
However, Netanyahu “may have made up his mind that he’s
going into Gaza City, believing the very latest negotiating
proposal by the US and Israel on the [captive] release
was getting zero traction from Hamas.”
Makovsky added, “If this is the case, Netanyahu may have
viewed the negotiating track as an unhelpful constraint
on taking action on the ground.”
This internal disagreement influenced how the attack was
conducted and its chances of success, reflecting a
broader conflict of interest within Israel’s
security establishment.
Nevertheless, the airstrike failed to achieve its main goal of
killing senior leaders. Instead, Hamas reported that five of
its officials, along with a Qatari officer, were killed. A
source familiar with the Tuesday attack said,
“Israel did not get who they wanted.”
Analysts note that a faction of Israeli decision-makers
supporting Netanyahu — including Strategic Affairs
Minister Ron Dermer and minister of military
affairs Israel Katz — had lost patience
with negotiations.
They say that the strike was justified by a rare opportunity
to hit top Hamas leaders in one place, and in response to
recent Hamas retaliatory operations in occupied al-Quds
that killed six Israeli settlers and an ambush in Gaza
that killed four Israeli soldiers.
Hamas: US complicit in Doha attack on truce negotiators
Hamas has held the United States accountable - for aiding
and abetting the Zionist regime’s attempt to assassinate
members of the resistance movement’s negotiating
delegation in the Qatari capital Doha.
___________________________________________
Charlie Kirk feared pro-Israeli forces
before assassination: Report
September 13th, 11:32am
(PressTV)
Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist and co-founder of
Turning Point USA (TPUSA), had been frightened by the
pro-Israeli forces before his assassination.
Kirk, 31, a staunch supporter of US President Donald Trump,
was shot and killed on Wednesday at Utah Valley University
during an outdoor “Prove Me Wrong” debate attended by
roughly 3,000 people.
The Grayzone reported on Friday that Kirk had refused to
accept money from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and was frightened of a reprisal by
pro-Israel forces before his assassination.
The media outlet cited a Trump insider and longtime friend
of Kirk who told The Grayzone how the late conservative
leader’s turning point on Israeli influence in the US
government ..had triggered a private backlash
from Netanyahu’s allies against him.
Kirk’s longtime friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity
also over fear of reprisal, said the backlash had left the
avid pro-Trump loyalist both angry and fearful, adding
that this fear....... had spread within the Trump
administration - after an apparent Israeli
spying operation was uncovered by
intelligence sources.
According to Kirk’s longtime friend, earlier this year
the late influencer had not accepted a massive
new infusion of money by Netanyahu into
his TPUSA organization.
Kirk believed Netanyahu was trying to scare him into
silence ....as he began to publicly question Israel’s
overwhelming power inside the US government.
The source told The Grayzone that Kirk had come to
hate the “bully” Netanyahu in the past weeks.
Kirk - was disgusted by the amount of influence wielded by
the Israeli regime’s leader inside the Trump administration.
Netanyahu sought to personally dictate the president’s
decisions & weaponized Israeli assets like billionaire
donor Miriam Adelson to keep the White House
firmly under the Zionists’ thumb, it said,
citing Kirk’s friend... who also enjoyed
access to Trump and his inner circle.
Kirk had even warned Trump of the Israeli influence last June
when he advised the president against bombing Iran for Tel
Aviv’s sake. “Charlie was the only person who did that,”
the source said, recalling how Trump “barked at him”
in response, and angrily ended the discussion.
The unnamed source who talked to The Grayzone pointed out
that Kirk had reached the conclusion that Trump had fallen
under the control of the Israeli regime and was being led
by Tel Aviv into a series of disastrous conflicts --- that
would be bad for America.
Before his death, because his defiance of the Zionists, Kirk
had become the target of a sustained private campaign of
intimidation and free-floating fury by wealthy & powerful
allies of Netanyahu ------- figures he described in an
interview as Jewish “leaders” & “stakeholders.”
“He was afraid of them,” the source emphasized. “He was
being told what you’re not allowed to do, and it was
driving him crazy.”
Kirk’s friend recalled that the late youth leader was not only
alienated by the hostile nature of their interactions, but
“frightened” by the backlash of his defying Netanyahu.
According to his longtime friend, Kirk’s resentment of
Netanyahu and the Israel lobby was spreading within
Trump’s inner circle. In fact, they said, the president
himself was terrified of Netanyahu’s wrath ------ and
feared the consequences of defying him.
During the past year, the Trump insider was told by contacts
in the White House that the Secret Service had caught the
Israeli regime personnel placing electronic devices on its
emergency response vehicles on 2 separate occasions.
While The Grayzone was unable to confirm the story with the
Secret Service or the White House, such an incident would
not have been unprecedented. Indeed, according to a
report in Politico citing 3 former senior US officials,
a cellphone spying device was placed by Israeli
agents --- “near the White House and other
sensitive locations around Washington”
toward the end of Trump’s first term
in 2019.
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson recounted a similar
incident in his memoir, writing that his security team found
a listening device in his bathroom, soon after Netanyahu
used his personal toilet.
The reports that the Israeli leader ordered the assassination
of Kirk is so strong that Netanyahu was compelled to
explicitly deny that the Tel Aviv regime was behind
the killing.
Four days before the assassination, frustration among pro-Israel
commentators bubbled over in public during a Fox News
interview in which the Israelis’ premier influencer
in the United States, Ben Shapiro, launched a
chilling attack on Kirk without naming him.
“The problem with a ‘big tent’ is that you may end up with
many clowns inside,” Shapiro told Fox host and fellow
Zionist gatekeeper Mark Levin ...in an apparent
critique of TPUSA.
“Just because you’re saying somebody votes Republican —
that doesn’t mean that they ought to be the preacher at
the front of the church, they’re not the person that
ought to be leading the movement, if they are
spending all day, criticizing the president of
the United States as ‘covering up a Mossad
rape ring’ or ‘being a tool of the Israelis for
hitting an Iranian nuclear facility.’”
When Kirk took his usual place at the “front of the church”
four days later --- he was cut down by a sniper’s bullet.
Within 24 hours of Kirk’s death, Shapiro announced
that he --- would be launching his own campus
speaking tour, vowing to take Kirk’s place.
_____________________________________
Yemen Strikes ---- Deep into ‘Israel’
with Advanced Hypersonic Missile
September 13th, 9:09am
(al Manar)
Yemeni forces have launched a new missile attack using
a hypersonic ballistic missile of the Palestine-2 type,
with a cluster warhead, targeting several sensitive
targets in occupied Yafa.
The Yemeni Armed Forces announced a major new operation
on Saturday, confirming a successful missile strike on
sensitive Israeli sites in the occupied city of Yafa.
The attack, which they say forced Israeli
settlers to flee to shelters, marks a
continued expansion... of their
campaign against Israel.
Precision Strike with Advanced Weaponry
According to a detailed statement by YAF spokesperson
Brigadier General, Yahya Saree, the operation involved
a cutting-edge Palestine 2 hypersonic ballistic missile
equipped with multiple warheads. The missile was
launched at strategic targets within the densely
populated Tel Aviv area.
“The strike successfully achieved its objectives,”
Saree stated, though the Israeli authorities have
not immediately confirmed the attack or
any damage.
A Response to Genocide and Starvation
The military framed the bold long-range strike, as a direct
retaliation for the Israeli genocide and starvation against
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as well as recent Israeli
airstrikes on Yemeni territory.
Reaffirming their unwavering commitment, the YAF vowed that
these operations would persist “in support of the Palestinian
people… until the Israeli aggression stops and the siege on
the Gaza Strip is lifted.” The statement also praised the
steadfast Yemeni people for their support, asserting
that continued Israeli aggression would not
weaken their resolve.
Escalating Campaign Against Israeli Targets
This latest attack is part of a rapidly intensifying campaign.
Just two days prior, on Thursday, the YAF announced two
other high-level operations:
A Palestine 2 hypersonic missile - targeted a
military site in the occupied al-Naqab region.
A separate drone operation saw three UAVs launched; two
targeted Ramon Airport near Eilat (Umm al-Rashrash)
and a third hit another military target in al-Naqab.
Israeli media reported explosions and activated sirens
in Eilat that day, claiming air defenses had intercepted
a drone from Yemen.
Source: Al-Manar and agencies
Over 1,300 Artists Pledge Boycott
of Israeli Film Institutions ----
as Gaza War Escalates
September 9th, 5:58am
(teleSUR)
More than 1,300 artists, among them Mark Ruffalo, Riz
Ahmed, and Tilda Swinton, have pledged to cut ties
with Israeli film institutions accused of complicity
in violations against Palestinians.
More than 1,300 artists, including high-profile Hollywood actors
and filmmakers, have pledged to withdraw from Israeli film
institutions accused of supporting violations against
Palestinians, as Israel’s war on Gaza enters its
23rd month.
The initiative, announced Monday, brings together figures such
as Olivia Colman, Ayo Edebiri, Mark Ruffalo, Riz Ahmed, Tilda
Swinton, and Javier Bardem. Their statement condemned
what they called the “unrelenting horror” in Gaza, where
Israeli attacks have killed over 64,000 Palestinians and
devastated most of the enclave.
“Inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid who refused
to screen their films in apartheid South Africa, we pledge not
to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film
institutions – including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and
production companies – that are implicated in genocide and
apartheid against the Palestinian people,” the
declaration read.
The signatories defined complicity as “whitewashing or justifying
genocide and apartheid, and/or partnering with the government
committing them.” The pledge also cited International Court
of Justice findings that the genocide case against Israel is
legally plausible -------- and reaffirmed the illegality of the
occupation of Palestinian territory.
Human rights groups, academics, and UN experts have repeatedly
accused Israel of committing genocide, one of the gravest war
crimes defined by the United Nations as acts carried out “with
intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical,
racial or religious group.”
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mike Lerner described the initiative
as a “non-violent tool” to challenge impunity. “It is the
responsibility of every independently minded artist
to use whatever powers of expression they
possess to support the global resistance
to overcome this horror,” he said.
The boycott reflects a shift within an industry long known for
pro-Israel narratives. Hollywood.. once produced films such
as the 1960 feature Exodus that glorified Israel’s founding,
and has frequently embedded positive references to the
country in mainstream productions. Yet recent years
have seen actors and directors, openly criticize
Israeli policies, often at a professional cost.
In 2023, Susan Sarandon, who signed the current pledge, was
dropped by her talent agency after attending a Palestine
solidarity rally. Actress Melissa Barrera, another
signatory, lost her role in the Scream franchise
following social media posts critical of Israel.
At the same time, Palestinian stories are gaining visibility. In
March, the Israeli-Palestinian co-production No Other Land,
documenting the destruction of Masafer Yatta in the
occupied West Bank, won the Academy Award for
best documentary feature. In September, The
Voice of Hind Rajab — recounting the final
calls of a five-year-old Palestinian girl..
before she and her family were killed
by Israeli forces — received a 23-
minute standing ovation at the
Venice Film Festival.
The artists’ statement concluded: “As filmmakers, actors, film
industry workers, and institutions, we recognise the power
of cinema to shape perceptions. In this urgent moment of
crisis, where many of our governments are enabling the
carnage in Gaza, we must do everything we can, to
address complicity in that unrelenting horror.”
The collective action -- adds cultural weight to mounting calls for
accountability, as artists mobilize their influence to challenge
Israel’s conduct in Gaza and spotlight Palestinian voices on
the global stage.
_________________________________________
Spain to ban ships, planes
carrying arms for Israel
over Gaza genocide
September 8th, 11am
(PressTV)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced
new measures aimed at mounting pressure on the
Israeli regime to halt its ongoing genocide of
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Sanchez said on Monday that Madrid aims to heap pressure
on the Tel Aviv regime --- by banning ships and planes
carrying weapons for Israel and transporting fuel
from calling at Spanish ports or entering
Spanish airspace.
In addition, Madrid will increase aid to the Palestinian Authority
and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) by €10 million, & commit
€150 million in additional humanitarian aid for Gaza in 2026.
Madrid will also impose an embargo on goods made in Israeli
settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Sanchez said in a televised speech on Monday, that these
measures are aimed at stopping “the genocide in Gaza,
pursuing its perpetrators and supporting the
Palestinian population.”
“What Israel is doing is not defending itself, it is
exterminating a defenseless population,”
Sanchez declared.
He said he hoped the new measures --- would serve to add
pressure on Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu,
“to alleviate some of the suffering that the Palestinian
population is enduring.”
“We know these measures will not be enough to put an end
to the war crimes ---- but we hope they serve to apply
pressure to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and alleviate the suffering of the
Palestinian people.”
Sanchez warned --- that Madid will ban anyone
who has participated directly in the genocide
of Palestinians in Gaza from entering
the country.
The Spanish prime minister said Madrid will continue to try
its best to stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza. “Spain
alone cannot stop the war, but that doesn’t mean
we can’t try.”
US ambassador calls Israeli genocide
in Gaza 'heaven vs. hell' battle
The US ambassador to Israel has described the genocide in
Gaza as a “battle of the ages” and a “heaven vs. hell” battle.
The United States has been the main supplier of direct and
indirect aid to the Israeli genocide in Gaza --- supplying Tel
Aviv with funds, arms, ammunition and diplomatic support.
The US ambassador to Israel has even gone as far as justifying
the Gaza genocide as a holy war against Muslims. The top
American diplomat in the occupied Palestinian land
resonates Crusades-era remarks, claiming it is
the spiritual duty of a pious Christian to join
in the conflict, likening it to a “heaven
vs. hell” battle.
Since Tel Aviv launched the genocide... in October 2023,
some 64,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children,
have been killed.
Netanyahu, who faces an international arrest warrant
for the Gaza genocide and numerous war crimes and
crimes against humanity ------ claims that he is
''eradicating terrorists''.
_________________________________________________
Scottish Parliament Backs
Full Boycott of Israel
Over Gaza War
September 5th, 7:02am
(teleSUR)
The Scottish Parliament has approved a sweeping
boycott of Israel and related companies,
combining sanctions ---- with new
humanitarian commitments
for Gaza.
The Scottish Parliament has voted to impose an immediate
and total boycott of Israel and companies linked to its
military campaign in Gaza, underscoring a rare
parliamentary stand in Europe against the
ongoing war.
The motion, introduced by the Scottish Green Party, was
approved with 62 votes in favour and 31 against. Many
Labour and Liberal Democrat members abstained (sic)
while the Scottish Conservatives opposed it.
The resolution calls on both the Scottish and UK governments
to adopt boycotts, divestment strategies and sanctions
targeting Israel and businesses deemed complicit
in its actions.
The measure was supported by the Scottish Greens and the
Scottish National Party (SNP), and included an amendment
from External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson, calling
for recognition of an independent Palestinian state.
Green MSP Patrick Harvie, who tabled the motion, said he
hoped the vote would influence broader European debate.
“Palestinians are starving and being massacred daily, as
part of a campaign of collective punishment and ethnic
cleansing. It is our duty to act,” he told The National.
First Minister John Swinney pledged concrete steps alongside
the boycott, announcing that Scotland will block public
funding to companies supplying arms to Israel. He
also committed £400,000 to the “Gaza HOPES
Field Preparation Centre” in Scotland, to
support the establishment of a rapid-
deployment field hospital for Gaza.
“We are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe of historic
proportions,” Swinney said. “The world.. cannot wait for a definitive judicial ruling to act. A genocide is taking place and recognizing that reality, comes with the
responsibility to act. The people of Scotland --- expect no less.”
Following the vote, the Palestinian flag was raised
outside St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh, in a
symbolic act of solidarity.
Since October 2023, Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed
64,231 Palestinians and injured 161,583, the majority
women and children, according to figures cited in
the debate.
By adopting a full boycott and pledging humanitarian
support, Scotland has placed itself among the first
European governments --- taking direct political
action against Israel’s war in Gaza.
Source: HispanTV
The world and her daughter are calling for a boycott of the genocidal colonial apartheid state of Israel.
Place yourself on the right side of joy and sorrow by joining the world's boycott - say ''no'' to evil!
Today,September 13th, in 1903,
Alberta Christine Williams King,
teacher, civil rights organizer,
choir leader, church organist
and worker for peace...
is born.
In addition to the choir ---- Alberta would also serve as
the organizer and president of the Ebenezer Women's
Committee from 1950 to 1962.
Outside of her work at Ebenezer, King was the organist for
the Women's Auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention
from 1950 to 1962. She was also active in the YWCA, the
National Association for the Advancement of Coloured
People (NAACP), and the Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom.
Best known as the wife of Martin Luther King Sr.; and as the
mother of Martin Luther King Jr., and also the grandmother
of Martin Luther King III, she was shot and killed six years
after the assassination of her son, Martin Luther King Jr.
The murder happened as she sat at the organ in the Ebenezer
Baptist Church in Atlanta. Again, through an act of violence,
there ended a life - that was totally nonviolent, a life that
was thoroughly spiritual -- a life that reflected love for
all persons and unselfish service to humankind.
Once more, the indomitable faith of the King family
was tested and again love prevailed amid sadness.
The Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr., struck by the violent
deaths of his two sons and by the tragic death of his
wife Alberta, said at her funeral service on July 3rd:
“I cannot hate any human.”
Keir Hardie - Britain's first Labour MP - opposedWorld War One.
His namesake is stammering his way in the opposite direction.
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ROGER WATERS TO MUSICIANS:- "BOYCOTT ISRAEL"
Roger Waters formerly of Pink Floyd, in an open letter, calls on his fellow musicians --- to boycott the Zionist Israeli regime and follow the example of the cultural boycott against the ex S. African Apartheid regime.
“Given the inability or unwillingness of our governments [to act] …. I write to you now, my brothers and sisters … to ask you to join with me, & thousands of other artists around the world, to declare a cultural boycott on Israel,” Roger Waters says in his letter.
Waters says the Zionist regime has been found guilty of major breaches of human rights and international law by international organizations, UN officials and the International Court of Justice.
He touches on two such cases, saying the regime has been identified as perpetrating the “crime of Apartheid”, including in a statement on March 9th, 2012 by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the “crime of ethnic cleansing” including in East Jerusalem (al-Quds).
Waters adds that he has been a member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against the Israeli regime’s occupation of the Palestinian lands and Tel Aviv’s violations of Palestinian human rights for 7 years, and now wants other musicians to also join the anti-Israeli front.
“Please join me and all our brothers and sisters in global civil society in proclaiming our rejection of Apartheid in Israel & occupied Palestine, by pledging not to perform or exhibit in Israel or accept any award or funding from any institution linked to the government of Israel, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.”
The former Pink Floyd Musician also says he has recently faced a boycott by the US media after his November 29th, 2012 address at the UN on behalf of the Russell Tribunal.
In the address, he sought accountability for the Zionist regime’s violations of the international law and the lack of United Nations resolve that prevents the Palestinian people from achieving their inalienable rights, especially the right of self-determination.
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AT THE FACTORY
Tickets from
www.wegottickets.com/thefactory
www.ticketweb.co.uk
browse venues in Wales
www.ticketlineuk.com
02920 230130
Cash tickets from:
The Factory, Porth Instrumental Music, Penygraig Spillers Records, Cardiff
Indulge in a delicious cake and a cup of tea while enjoying music and sing-along songs from fantastic Welsh musicians.
Ticket information:
The Cultural Services Booking & Information Line:
08000 147 111 or book online at
www.rct-arts.co.ukÂÂ
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Mid Rhondda Modelling Club...
7pm - 9pm
Tonyrefail Comprehensive School Mid Rhondda Modelling Club
has been running for over 30 years.
We meet on a regular basis
& enjoy making models for display.
We encourage both Gentlemen
and Ladies to attend, and also young people aged 12+.
However, Young people under 16, must be accompanied by an adult.
Ticket information
£1 contribution every week. Under 16's free
Telephone Mr. Davies on 01443 686658
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Comedy In The Laughter Lounge
The Park & Dare Theatre, Treorchy.
COMEDY IN THE LAUGHTER LOUNGE
Join us once a month in the intimate setting of the Laughter Lounge for some top notch comedy with some of the biggest and brightest rising comedians on the circuit.
Laugh? You'll snort like a pig!
Hilarious - TimeOut.
www.rct-arts.co.uk
Rhondda Records exists to express the Rhondda's vision --- when it was confident, powerful, caring, and socialist.
A Rhondda very aware of the media's poisonous tricks -- how they con working class people into attacking each other, or racial groups, or, often, even their best allies and friends... instead of seeing their real enemies:--- an elite who hate the very idea that working people can think, create, or achieve a fairer society.
Thatcher said her proudest achievement was Blair and New Labour - who parachuted in careerists and expenses fiddlers - to stop local Labour members having a say, and who made genuine socialist MPs leave the Labour party in disgust and many members and voters to despair... and the young to stop voting.
Jeremy Corbyn was always attacked because he was trying to reverse all that New Labour corruption --- that's why membership was flooding in all over the UK.
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Get Involved!
– If you feel you’ve been ‘purged’, take this online survey:
– Request all your own data that the Labour Party holds on you:
http://www.labour.org.uk/pages/privacy
_______________________________________
IF - YOU THINK you HAVE BEEN UNFAIRLY BARRED:
“Any member who is suspended & intends to appeal the decision should throw in a ‘Subject Access Request in accordance with the Data Protection Act’ --- for ALL data that the Labour Party hold on them.
The Labour Party are Data Controllers and therefore have to, by law, provide you with all material/information they hold on you.”
If anyone is in contact with anyone who was barred from voting --- please can you pass this info on:
The Labour leadership election was under the jurisdiction of the electoral reform services.
If you were unfairly deprived of your vote you can call them on 0208 365 8909 and lodge your complaint, and inform them of your Data Protection request.
https://www.electoralreform.co.uk
The notification letters barring new members did not give a clear reason, or information on how to appeal, so Vox Political suggests that anyone in this situation, could also contact Liz Davies here: http://www.whycantivote.com
She is a barrister --- who can advise members on what to do.
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PONCY LABOUR MPS PROBLEM?
A huge drop in working-class Labour MPs, caused a massive drop in support among voters with similar backgrounds, reveals research seeking to explain why support has dwindled in the party’s heartlands.
The study says past leaders like Kinnock and Blair made a concerted effort to pick “more and more middle-class candidates to run for office, during the 80s and 90s, as part of an effort to rebrand” -- which had initial successes at the ballot box.
But this “conscious electoral strategy” stored up problems, as working-class voters who initially, just didn’t vote in response, now seek an alternative.
The solution?Trust each constituency to put forward its own candidates, and don't impose ‘party-approved’ choices who can't do the job.
Now, unfortunately, there are "entryist" MPs who, for decades, have been groomed by CIA cold war relic organisations -- like the Atlantic Council -- and are now trying to misdirect the Labour Party towards cuts, a militarised police, and a US war agenda... - and their anti-Corbyn slant is hobbling Labour.
‘How Can I Deselect My Labour MP?’ A Short Guide to Reselection and Democratic Accountability by Eric Sim, excellent free advice here:
http://novaramedia.com/2016/07/13/how-can-i- deselect-my-labour-mp-a-short-guide-to- reselection-and-democratic-accountability/ CHRIS BRYANT - SUPPORT THE MEMBERS' LEADERSHIP CHOICE & POLICIES - OR GO!
Chris Bryant, the Rhondda's dodgy MP, was on TV -- as soon as the PLP coup started -- telling us that Jeremy MUST go, because it was the ONLY way to act in the Labour Party's interest...
Chris Bryant's voting record: from TheyWorkForYou.com
On Tuition Fees:
On 27 Jan 2004: Chris Bryant voted in favour of university tuition fees increasing from £1,125 per year, to up to £3,000 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted to allow university tuition fees to increase from £1,125 per year, to up to £3,000 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted for the introduction of variable university tuition fees (top-up fees) of up to £3,000 per year in place of the previous fixed fee of £1,250 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted to allow university tuition fees to increase from £1,125 per year to up to £3,000 per year, and to make other changes to higher education funding and regulation arrangements.
On 14 Sep 2004: Chris Bryant voted against: the immediate abolition of all tuition fees, the re-introduction of maintenance grants of up to £2,000 for students from low-income homes, and changes to the country's higher education system.
On 14 Sep 2004: Chris Bryant voted to reject the Liberal Democrat policy of abolition of tuition fees.
On 25 May 2016: Chris Bryant was absent for a vote on Queen's Speech - Forcing Schools to Become Academies - Further Rises in University Tuition Fees
On Human Rights:
Consistently voted for introducing ID cards
Almost always voted for requiring the mass retention of information about communications
Generally voted for mass surveillance of people’s communications and activities
On the Environment:
Generally voted against greater regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract shale gas
On Special Interests:
Almost always voted against limits on success fees paid to lawyers in no-win no fee cases
Generally voted against a statutory register of lobbyists
On War or Peace:
Generally voted for use of UK military forces in combat operations overseas
Consistently voted for the Iraq war
Consistently voted against an investigation into the Iraq war
Generally voted for replacing Trident with a new nuclear weapons system
On 2 Dec 2015: Voted to support UK airstrikes in Syria [without UN authorisation]
On 2 Dec 2015: Voted to support UK airstrikes in Syria [without UN authorisation]
On Independence:
Generally voted for more EU integration
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Chris Bryant Labour MP From Wikipedia
(aka 1962-1986: Mr Christopher John Bryant 1986-1991: The Reverend Christopher John Bryant, 1991-2001: Mr Christopher John Bryant, 2001-: Mr Christopher John Bryant MP.)
Born in Cardiff, to a Scottish mother & a Welsh father, Bryant grew up in Cardiff, Wales (where his father worked for 5 years), and Cheltenham.
He was educated at Cheltenham College, an independent school for boys in the spa town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, where he was captain of the school swimming team, and Mansfield College at the University of Oxford, where he graduated in 1983, with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English. This was later promoted to a Master of Arts degree (MA (Oxon)), as per tradition.
After completing his first degree, Bryant began training to be a priest in the Church of England at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, in Oxfordshire. There, he obtained a degree in theology.
Although a member of the Conservative Party, and an elected office-holder in the Oxford University Conservative Association, he joined the Labour Party in 1986, after leaving Oxford.
He was ordained deacon in 1986 and priest in 1987. He served as a Curate at the Church of All Saints, High Wycombe, from 1986 to 1989; then as a Youth Chaplain in Peterborough, as well as travelling in Latin America.
In 1991 Bryant left the ordained ministry, after deciding that being gay and being a priest, were incompatible. Statements made by Richard Harries, then Bishop of Oxford, also influenced his decision.
After leaving the priesthood in 1991, Bryant worked as the election agent to the Holborn and St Pancras Constituency Labour Party, where he helped Frank Dobson hold his seat in the 1992 general election.
From 1993, he was Local Government officer for the Labour Party; he lived in Hackney and was elected to Hackney Borough Council in 1993, serving until 1998. He became Chair of the Christian Socialist Movement.
He is both a member of the Labour Friends of Israel and Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East. From 1994 to 1996 he was London manager of the leader-grooming "charity", Common Purpose.
He was Labour candidate for Wycombe, in the 1997 general election (he lost by 2,370 votes), and Head of European Affairs for the BBC, from 1998.
His selection for the very safe Labour seat of Rhondda, South Wales in 2000, shocked many people given Bryant's background – gay, an ex- Anglican vicar, and someone who was a Tory, while studying at Oxford, and a member now, of the Henry Jackson Society 'think tank' --- described by The Guardian newspaper as 'neoconservative'. It is pro-US, pro-NATO and pro-military intervention, as well as being fundamentally anti-socialist.
Fifty-two people applied for the candidature and a local councillor was hot favourite to win, before Bryant was parachuted in.
In 2004, a photograph of Mr Bryant in his underpants, which he had posted to a gay dating website, was published in 'papers.
When an interviewer suggested he was a 'disgrace to the Rhondda', he replied: "They can't get rid of me."
His pay, allowances and some expenses:
The basic annual salary for an MP, from April 1st, 2016 is £74,962. MPs also get expenses: to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having some- where to live in London, plus, in their constituency and travelling between Parliament and their constituency.
His MP's expenses story:
Chris Bryant changed second home twice to claim £20,000: the deputy leader of the House of Commons, "flipped" his second home twice, in 2 years, allowing him to claim almost £20,000 for renovations and fees.
Chris Bryant, MP for the Rhondda, split over £92,000 of expenses between 3 properties in Wales and London --- within five years.
In 2004, he attempted to claim £58,000 to overhaul his second home in Wales, after allegedly complaining that properties in his constituency were "terrace or mine owners' houses".
Mr Bryant, a former Church of England clergyman, wanted the money for a new bathroom & kitchen, and to demolish his conservatory. He'd bought the detached house for £97,500, under a year earlier.
He submitted a claim to the Commons fees office for £58,493.26 --- almost 3 times the annual maximum. He noted that the claim exceeded his allowance.
His alleged justification was disclosed... in correspondence between Commons officials. By email, an official wrote: "He had problems finding a suitable property because in the Rhondda there is a choice mainly of terraced property or mine owners' houses." When approached by the Daily Telegraph, Mr Bryant said: "I have never said or thought anything of the sort".
In all, he successfully claimed over £13,000 for renovations, repairs & appliances, in 2004. Along with other bills, his annual claim was £20,902.
In April 2005, he flipped his expenses to his flat in west London, which he bought for £400,000 in April 2002. He also claimed £630 a month for mortgage interest, along with other bills. After claiming over £3,600 over 3 months, he sold the flat in July 2005 for £477,000.
Mr Bryant used his profits to buy a more expensive flat in west London, which was valued at £670,000. He immediately flipped his second home expenses there, claiming almost £6,400 in stamp duty, legal fees and mortgage fees, incurred in the purchase.
He then began claiming interest of £1,000 a month on the mortgage. He also claimed a further £6,000 a year for the flat's service charge and ground rent.
In all, he claimed £92, 415 in second home expenses, from 2004 to 2009.
Mr Bryant said at the time: "I moved flat in London, so as to be closer to Parliament."
Research by Channel 4 News in 2015 found that at least 46 MPs had this kind of system in place – a move one Labour backbencher described as “a new fiddle”. Channel 4 reported then:
“Our investigation found that many of the MPs bought their London properties with the help of the taxpayer, when a previous expenses system allowed them to claim back mortgage payments. But when those claims were banned, following the expenses scandal, they switched to letting out their properties, in some cases for up to £3,000 a month. They then started claiming expenses for rent and hotels in the capital.”
Among those identified was Chris Bryant, shadow leader of the House of Commons. He had already bought a penthouse in London back in 2005 and claimed around £1,000 a month in mortgage claims under the old system.
But after the expenses scandal, he started renting the property out. It’s since been advertised by estate agents as having a private lift and a porter, with rent at about £3,000 a month. Meanwhile, Bryant moved into a new flat;- claiming his own rent on expenses.
Russian/Scottish scientists hail long-range secure quantum communication system.
A group of scientists from ITMO University in Saint Petersburg, Russia, has developed a new approach to constructing quantum communication systems for secure data exchange.
The experimental device based on the results of the research is capable of transmitting single-photon quantum signals across distances of 250 klmtrs or more, which is on par with its cutting edge analogues, the ITMO press-service says.
"Now researchers are on a mission -- to create a fully-fledged quantum cryptographic system, that will generate & distribute quantum keys and transmit useful data simultaneously", ITMO says.
Information security is becoming more and more of a critical issue not only for large companies, banks and defense enterprises but even for small businesses and individual users.
But the data encryption algorithms we currently use for protecting our data are imperfect - in the long-term, their logic can be cracked. Regardless of how complex and intricate the algorithm is, getting around it, is just a matter of time.
Unlike algorithm-based encryption, systems that protect information, by making use of fundamental laws of quantum physics, can make data transmission totally immune to hacker attacks, in the future.
Information in a quantum channel is carried by single photons that change irreversibly if an eavesdropper tries to intercept them. The legitimate users will instantly know about any kind of intervention.
Researchers at the Quantum Information Centre of the International Institute of Photonics and Optical Information Technology at ITMO Uni., Russia, along with their colleagues from the Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, have devised a new way to generate and distribute, quantum bits.
This makes it possible to share quantum signals --- via optical fibres --- 250 kilometres in distance.
"To transmit quantum signals, we use the so- called side frequencies," says Artur Gleim, head of the Quantum Information Centre, at ITMO University,
"This unique approach gives us a number of advantages -- such as a considerable simplification of the device architecture and the large pass-through capacity of the quantum channel. In terms of bit rate and operating distances, our system is comparable to absolute champions in the field of quantum communications."
According to Robert Collins, research associate at the Institute of Photonics & Quantum Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, and one of the authors of the study, this may become a pivotal point for the whole field of quantum communication and cryptography:
"Down the track, this new approach can enable smooth coexistence of numerous data streams with different wavelengths in one single optical cable. On top of it, these quantum streams can be fed into the already existing fibre optic lines --- along with conventional communications."
The research paper is published in the Optics Express journal.
Scottish universities are to be congratulated for their strong & growing links with Chinese and Russian universities....
What a shame, that Wales is lying low --- with academics too scared to break from US military research.
KILLING THE ELDERLY BY CLOSING CARE HOMES
Did you know that each time a local authority
closes a care home for the elderly, within 8
months, around half the residents are dead?
Campaigners liken the cuts and their effect to euthanasia of the UK's elderly. What to do?
We can start by urging our MPs to sign EDM 2251:
EDM 2251: The contents
This House notes with deep concern the worsening crisis for elderly care as growing numbers of local authority and private care homes face closure
Acknowledges concerns that the loss of elderly people's care homes causes fear, anxiety and, in many cases, a higher mortality rate, when vulnerable, elderly people are forced to leave their homes
Further notes that the Southern Cross crisis will increase needs for local authority care
And therefore calls on the government to hold a public inquiry into the deaths after closures, of local authority care homes, and impose a moratorium on the closure of local authority care homes, until that inquiry publishes its results, to ensure that vulnerable, elderly people's lives are not put at further risk.
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MAKING THE CONNECTION IN WALES
Households across three more English areas will be able to access superfast broadband in the latest phase of a Government scheme to connect rural homes and businesses.
The £50 million funding package for Devon and Somerset (£30 million), Norfolk (£15 million) and Wiltshire (£4 million) will aid the roll- out of superfast broadband services unable to be reached by the market alone.
Areas will also receive financial support from their local authorities and private investors, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport says.
So it's Broadband Heaven for England...
and crapola for Wales' broadband - the
slowest, worst Broadband in the UK !!!
Lib Dems in Scotland might have received a pummeling for Clegg and his betrayals, yet, in Scotland, their campaign centred on it becoming the "most connected country in Europe," to massively boost their economy.
In Wales, which political party is now willing to put into practice scientists' recommendations: that Wales' hilly topography requires establishing
free 'wireless' broadband?
It could connect the people of Rhondda and the world, boosting Wales' economic regeneration, like no other move.Wireless technology is now supplying free broadband to an entire island off New Zealand's coast.
Come on; if New Zealand can do it - so can we !!!
Western China has embraced "green-mode development" - with painful changes from which, Wales could well learn.
Eastern China has seen fast growth and urban mess. The West, a mining and agricultural area, has not.
Xi'an Chan-ba Ecological District, is a model for reclaiming old mining areas.
It took six hard years, but now Xi'an is showing the world how best to change, by turning a badly polluted rubbish landfill site, into an all new environment-friendly development.
As China's economic focus moves from east to west, it's using the lessons learned during 30 or more years of rapid industrial development.
The green way for China's west, is to combine green industrialization & green urbanization.
The western region's strategy is to adopt effective energy-saving and environmental protection technologies... AND to extend its industry through science and products unique to China's West, together with strong vertical growth in agriculture and all its ancilliary economic & professional spin-offs.
In undertaking this industrial revolution, the western region will keep a sharp eye out - to avoid all polluting non-sustainable industries.
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A BIG DROP OF HONEY !!!
Spring is beekeeping and honey-processing season in Yunnan province, in China.
Waves of bees flit across vast fields of flowers.
Local beekeepers and many from other places, such as Sichuan and Fujian provinces - set up their base in tents among the rapeseed farms.
The 430,000 hectares of rapeseed blooms in Luoping attract myriads of bees, which produce 15 - 20 million tons of honey a year.
Local people now look to brand their county as a honey production base & increase sales to outside markets.
Luoping Tianyuanmiyu Bee Industry Co Chair, Zhu Hongkun, founded his enterprise in 2009.
It mainly produces honey, propolis and propolis powder.
His company works with 270 plus beekeepers, who each earn 80,000 yuan a year on average.
Some earn 200,000 yuan annually, Zhu says.
Who says beauty endowed by nature isn't worth a fortune?
The whole of the uplands of south Wales could be as beautiful & productive, if used wisely!
CHINA's PREMIER POINTS WAY FORWARD
As the Tories threaten a "bonfire of the Quangos", perhaps Wales should take note. Now extracting all our mineral wealth has been stopped (apart from sand and rock) we find ourselves "in" the 1st World of the UK, but with a 3rd World economy, only just kept going by quangos which promise much... but deliver little... and rely on weak public support.
We could WAKE UP & understand that we either do something, or stay as begging bowl cases.
China's premier points the way forward for Wales:
"Industrial restructuring is the key... only by developing energy-efficient, indigenous innovative and high value added products can our companies and economy, achieve sustainable development."
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WHILE FRANCE, GREECE, IRELAND, ETC, STRUGGLE TO STOP THE PENSION AGE RISING HIGHER AND HIGHER...
An online survey on qq.com, a popular Chinese news portal, finds that 91% of its over 800,000 respondents, are against raising the current official Chinese retirement age.
745,123 of those surveyed say they oppose raising retirement ages -- 72,456 support it.
China's scholars & the public have been debating whether to raise the retirement age, for the past few years, but the issue rose to prominence after remarks by an official.
Wang Xiaochu, the official vice minister of the Ministry of Human Resources & Social Security, said at a press conference that the government was "studying the matter"...
The retirement age in China is generally set at 60 for men and 50-55 for women.
Wow! Bet you didn't know that !!!
FARMING AND SCIENCE COULD REGENERATE WALES
A new UN General Assembly report warns "vast areas" of cultivated land are lost each year, and that this could lead to unrest.
The report says up to 30 million hectares, an area the size of Italy, is lost each year to environmental degradation, industry & urbanization - the growth of cities - and all because of speculative building and greed.
The UN special rapporteur Olivier De Schutter, gives the example of eastern Africa, where the amount of cultivated land has declined by half --- in just one generation! "
As rural populations grow and competition with large industrial units increases, plots cultivated by smallholders are shrinking year after year," says De Schutter.
"Farmers are often relegated to soils that are arid, hilly or without irrigation."
The UN officer also mentions India as another example, where the average landholding fell from 2.6 hectares in 1960 to 1.4 hectares in 2000. A cut of nearly half in 40 years!
He says 500 million small farmers suffer from hunger, partly because their right to land is being violated. The expert warns of the devastating consequences, as foreign investors compete for larger and larger areas of the world's land for "their" agriculture.
Rhondda Records says Wales could rebuild its new economy by basing it on a fresh approach to high-value added products, using science and agriculture... such as the Altzeim project in Gwent.
