China Wants Australia To Stop Seeking US Protection

(Li Yang’s article from The GLOBAL TIMES on 19 November 2017.)

A Chinese cartoon from the Global Times.

Fictitious ‘China threat’ underlines Australia’s fear of being abandoned by US: In Australian Strategic Policy Institute's new paper - "Australia's management of strategic risk in the new era" - authors Paul Dibb and Richard Brabin-Smith blast China over its military build-up and use of military coercion, and regard the country as Australia's top would-be aggressor.

The report might not represent the views of the Australian government, but given the two authors' background as former senior defense officials, it indeed moves Canberra's increasing misgivings about China to the forefront.

Australia never lacks such reports, which disregard China's reputation and enhanced economic cooperation. Thanks to Australian strategists, the "China threat" is now a household term in Australia. An article in The Australian commented, a "big contribution of the two old strategists is to counter the hysterical pre-emptive kowtowing of Australia's China lobby." Let's look at its underlying rationale.

China Behind Zimbabwe Coup & Mugabe’s Downfall?

(Staff article from The NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA on 17 November 2017.)

General Chiwenga was in China just four days before his coup.

Suspicion falls on China as a key player behind the Zimbabwe coup and overthrow of Robert Mugabe: THERE appears to be a shadowy hand behind the coup unfolding in Zimbabwe. And, for once, it’s not the CIA. This time Beijing may be pulling the strings.

CHINA has been quietly building up its presence in Africa now for decades. Recently, this culminated in the completion of its first overseas military base in Djibouti. But one of its earliest ventures was Zimbabwe. And that interest has only grown.

Now, the online news service Zimbabwe Independent is drawing attention to how this week’s military takeover appears to be benefiting one particular vested interest: Beijing.

Rex Tillerson Met General MAH First Then Suu Kyi

(Antoni Slodkowski’s article from The REUTERS on 15 November 2017.)

US Secretary of State meeting Burmese General.

NAYPYITAW (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on Wednesday for a credible investigation into reports of human rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims committed by Myanmar’s security forces after a meeting with its civilian and military leaders.

More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since late August, driven out by a military counter-insurgency clearance operation in Buddhist-majority Myanmar’s Rakhine State. A top U.N. official has described the military’s actions as a textbook case of “ethnic cleansing”.

“We’re deeply concerned by credible reports of widespread atrocities committed by Myanmar’s security forces and by vigilantes who were unrestrained by the security forces during the recent violence in Rakhine State,” Tillerson told a joint news conference with Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of a civilian administration that is less than two years old and shares power with the military.

Nine-year-old Girls In Iraq Are Forced To Marry By Law

(Isabelle Gerretsen’s article from The IB TIMES on 14 November 2017.)

Mohammad had sex with 9-yr old.

Nine-year-old girls in Iraq could be forced to marry under new Muslim laws: The bill includes provisions that would legalise marital rape and child marriage and ban Muslims from marrying non-Muslims.

Human rights activists are warning that a new Iraqi law could legalise marriage for children as young as nine and set women's rights back 50 years. They are calling on Iraqi ministers to withdraw a draft of the Jafaari Personal Status Law which would allow Muslim clerics to have control over marriage contracts.

The legislation is based on the Shia principles of the Jaafari school of jurisprudence, which was founded by the sixth Shia Imam, Jaafar al-Sadiq. The 2014 version of the bill, which was approved by Iraq's Council of Ministers, includes provisions that would legalise marital rape, ban Muslims from marrying non-Muslims and allow nine-year-old children to marry.

Coup In Zimbabwe: Mugabe & Wife Grace Detained

(MacDonald Dzirutwe’s article from The HUFTPOST on 14 November 2017.)

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe’s military seized power early on Wednesday targeting “criminals” around President Robert Mugabe but gave assurances on national television that the 93-year-old leader and his family were “safe and sound”.

Soldiers and armored vehicles blocked roads to the main government offices, parliament and the courts in central Harare, while taxis ferried commuters to work nearby, a Reuters witness said.

“We are only targeting criminals around him (Mugabe) who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice,” Zimbabwe Major General SB Moyo, Chief of Staff Logistics, said on television. “As soon as we have accomplished our mission, we expect that the situation will return to normalcy.”

Half America Have Hypertension: Phermas’ Gold Mine

(Deena Beasley’s article from The REUTERS on 14 November 2017.)

(Reuters) - Tighter blood pressure guidelines from U.S. heart organizations mean millions more people need to make lifestyle changes, or start taking medication, in order to avoid cardiovascular problems.

Americans with blood pressure of 130/80 or higher should be treated, down from the previous trigger of 140/90, according to new guidelines announced on Monday by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology. The guidelines do not change the definition of normal blood pressure as 120/80 or lower.

At the new cutoff, around 46 percent, or more than 103 million, of American adults are considered to have high blood pressure, compared with an estimated 72 million under the previous guidelines in place since 2003. High blood pressure accounts for the second-largest number of preventable heart disease and stroke deaths in the United States, second only to smoking.

France Hunting Down ISIS French Jihadis In Iraq

(Bethan McKernan's article from The INDEPENDENT UK on 30 May 2017.)

Rachid Kassim: one of tops targeted by French special forces.

France is ‘hunting down its citizens who joined Isis’ without trial in Iraq: Up to 30 French nationals allegedly targeted by Iraqi troops after identification from French special forces to ensure they ‘don’t return home’.

France is allegedly providing crucial intelligence information to Iraqi ground forces fighting Isis in order to target and exterminate French nationals who have joined the jihadist organisation, it has emerged.

An investigation by the Wall Street Journal found that French special forces have allegedly enlisted the help of Iraqi units to ensure that French nationals fighting in the country do not escape to pose a terror threat on their return home. Photographs, alibis and location coordinates gathered from surveillance drones and radio interception intel have been provided to assist in the hunt, the WSJ reported.

What Rohingya Cleansing? Burmese Politically Incorrect

(Betsy Woodruff’s article from The DAILY BEAST on 13 November 2017.)

The Burmese government is engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing that has displaced more than 600,000 Rohingya civilians from their homes. Burmese military forces have burned dozens of Rohingya villages, raped women and girls, and murdered scores of people, according to an October report from Amnesty International.

The government’s brutality against the predominantly Muslim ethnic minority has drawn condemnation from the United Nations, the international human rights community, and the U.S. State Department. But in US far-right media, it’s a different story. Some of the most influential figures of the far right have helped amplify voices that incite violence, and have even suggested that the Rohingya had it coming.

On Sept. 6, Ann Coulter retweeted a video from Voice of Europe, a right-wing account. “Monk: Muslims want to make Myanmar an Islamic country and they are destroying Buddhism. They breed rapidly,” the tweet read.

Crude Oil Flowing Through New China-Burma Pipeline

(Manny Salvacion’s article from The YIBADA NEWS on 24 April 2017.)

New Myanmar Oil Pipeline Seen to Reduce China’s Reliance on US-Influenced Oil Supply: The opening of the new Myanmar oil pipeline, which stretches 770 kilometers from Kyaukpyu in western Myanmar to China's border, is expected to reduce China's reliance on oil supplies that pass through U.S.-influenced sea lanes, giving the country greater energy security.

A report by asia.nikkei.com said that the Myanmar pipeline can carry up to 22 million tons of crude oil a year, which is nearly equal to 6 percent of China's total oil imports last year. The crude oil that will be transported through the pipeline will be processed in refineries in Chongqing and Kunming.

The pipeline was a joint venture between state-owned China National Petroleum and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, with the Chinese partner having the majority stake. China National Petroleum said that the 140,000 tons of oil unloaded from Azerbaijan from the first tanker began on the same day that the pipeline opened.