"Nobody evens knows what the rules of the rules-based international order are."
Russia's next move, keeps collective west guessing - YouTube - The Duran yesterday
Last part of the discussion is the keeper. Starts at the 21:49 minute mark with analysis of seizing Russian assets.
******
Establishing full control over Soledar makes it possible to cut off the supply routes of Ukrainian militants in Artemovsk [Bakhmut], and then block and take into the "cauldron" the enemy units remaining in it, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
05:39
Intel Slava Z
On the evening of January 12, the liberation of Soledar was completed, which is important for the continuation of successful offensive operations - the Russian Ministry of Defense.
05:47
Intel Slava Z
Over the past three days, more than 700 Ukrainian servicemen and over 300 units of weapons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been destroyed in the Soledar area — Russian Defense Ministry05:58
Indian town rapidly sinking, space agency warns — RT World News - January 13
"Subsidence has affected Joshimath for some time, with the impact magnified by the depletion of groundwater for irrigation and the rapid development of infrastructure, including the construction of hydropower plants ..."
A report by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) released on Wednesday detailed changes detected by satellite observation of Joshimath, revealing that a rapid subsidence event had taken place sometime between December 27, 2022 and January 8, 2023.
The region's chief minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, ordered a mass evacuation after a 603 buildings in the town were found to have deep cracks.
Recorded elevation changes varied between 1 and 5.4cm, the data shows. ISRO observations over the past year have detected a slow subsidence of up to 9cm over a period of nine months, the report said.
Joshimath is located in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand on the slope of a hill and is a popular destination for pilgrims and tourists who visit the areas many temples.
However, the settlement sits atop inherently fragile Himalayan geology and a treacherous environment. Thousands of people have been killed over decades by natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, flash floods, and avalanches. The Uttarakhand floods in February 2021 alone claimed over 80 lives.
Subsidence has affected Joshimath for some time, with the impact magnified by the depletion of groundwater for irrigation and the rapid development of infrastructure, including the construction of hydropower plants, according to scientists.
[END REPORT]
*********
India’s Neighbours Ready to Embrace the Rupee | Indian Rupee Goes Global - YouTube - 3:42 minutes
Introduction to the report:
De-dollarization became the buzzword after Russia became the first overseas country to settle trade with India in rupees. After all, it's the US dollar that currently exercises hegemony in global trade. And de-dollarisation, effectively, seeks to counter this precise overreliance. Moscow junked the dollar and brought smaller nations like Tajikistan, Cuba, and Sudan on board as well. Now, it's India's immediate neighbors that are eyeing using the Indian rupee for trade, boosting New Delhi's Neighborhood First policy. And this is no mean feat. As a result, the Indian rupee is fast emerging as a plausible alternative to settling global trade. [...]
********
Public-health experts are sounding the alarm about a new Omicron variant dubbed XBB that is rapidly spreading across the Northeast U.S. Some studies suggest it is as different from the original Covid strain from Wuhan as the 2003 SARS virus. Should Americans be worried?
It isn’t clear that XBB is any more lethal than other variants, but its mutations enable it to evade antibodies from prior infection and vaccines as well as existing monoclonal antibody treatments. Growing evidence also suggests that repeated vaccinations may make people more susceptible to XBB and could be fueling the virus’s rapid evolution.[...]
That's as much of the article as you can read for free. Eventually free sources will pick up on the WSJ ruminations, which are not new but in this case quite specific -- and coming from a top mainstream news publication.
Meanwhile, it seems mainstream medicine continues full support for Covid vaccines; for example:
Have a nice day.
********
Maiden voyage of World's Biggest Containership | YouTube
Mega Transports: Biggest Containership | Engineering Documentary
It is the largest heavy load transport on earth! The maiden voyage of the biggest containership of all times.
When the first ship of the brand-new OOCL-fleet gets underway, more cargo is moved at one time than anywhere else in the world and never before.
At 21,100 TEU capacity, the vessel is the largest ever ordered to date. 400 meters long and about as wide as a football field (58.8 meters).
These mega-cargo ships will not only be able to load more cargo than ever before, they will also be equipped with a number of high-class energy-saving systems.
This Episode shows the maiden voyage of the OOCL HONG KONG. Everything happens for the first time: the captain, the pilots and the harbour crew have never before manoeuvred a giant ship like this. Berthing, loading, steering: risky manoeuvres, which have never been tested [in real time] before.
Once berthed, the cargo loading pushes everyone involved to the limit -- crew, crane operators and the lashing team. A loading procedure like this, with additional containers on top of the so-far known stacking limit, has only been theoretically discussed, but never tested in real life.
Balancing the ship, moving and securing the stunning mass of containers is a task that does not allow even the slightest mistake.
The route from Shanghai to Rotterdam, with stop in Singapore, brings constant challenges: pirate areas, onboard emergency drills and the navigation through the narrow waters of the Suez Canal. All of this happens under incredibly high pressure of time.
Will the world’s largest container ship stay on schedule on its maiden voyage?
The 48-minute documentary, published February 2020, gives the audience a front-row seat to an amazing ship's journey.
********
The quote is from Buffalo’s no stranger to snow. Why was the storm so deadly? - The Washington Post - December 27, 2022. (Access to the report at WaPo is free; it's also published here: Buffalo’s no stranger to snow. Why was the storm so deadly? (msn.com)
We've seen the pattern before in other types of natural disasters that were worsened by poorly conceived attempts at preparedness. (Remember this?)
But what WaPo reporters Brianna Sacks and Emily Wax-Thibodeaux learned about Buffalo's preparations for a historic blizzard is perfectly symbolic of how Europe got into such a jam this year. Governments did projections of the impacts of making financial war on Russia but overlooked so many factors they were left wide open to a series of disasters.
So, in addition to the number of lives it took, a snowstorm in America serves as a warning about the limitations of projections and the dire consequences of snubbing common sense.
********
The Duran's report today includes a brief review of the fighting in Bakhmut but focuses on Russian preparations for large-scale war with NATO.
Russian military prepares for conflict with neocons and NATO - YouTube
See also today's report from The New Atlas; Brian Berletic analyzes the Pentagon's woefully inadequate military aid to Ukraine:
Pentagon's "End-of-Year" Wishlist for Ukraine's Military Falls Far Short - YouTube
********
He'll be back. He's a lorry (truck) driver, delivering between New Delhi and Leh, in India. His route takes him along the Manali-Leh highway. I've never before seen a film about the road journey, which is probably the most consistently treacherous anywhere. Also the most beautiful -- otherworldly in parts. Seeing something of the journey helps put things in perspective.
Can't believe I made the journey once -- and that was before the Indian military widened and upgraded the road, which had been built only for single-file military jeep traffic. You may trust I took a plane out of Leh when it was time to leave. Once by road was more than enough for me.
Best driving advice is from a lorry driver in the film who allows his apprentice to get into the driver's seat and take the wheel during a stretch of the road: "When you sit here you have to be submissive and pray to the gods."
If you say you don't believe in gods -- by the time you're on that road an hour, you will. I think even monotheists pray to the gods on that road.
The view of the U.S. dollar as the sure refuge was the one thing shoring up the dollar no matter how much debt the U.S. piled up. Now the view has changed. One chapter in world history has closed. Another now opens.
Canadian scholar Gregory Chin explains how American policies boxed in their own currency. That part of his discussion is in Part 2 starting at the 21:00 mark.
Chin's talk, titled The Renminbi and the Making of an International Currency, given for the London School of Economics, starts at the 8:24 mark after the introduction. The talk is followed by a Q&A session.
Granular discussion among three expert analysts with Gonzalo Lira moderating while chain-smoking. (He's still in Kharkov. The building next to where he's staying was bombed some days ago.) After about the first 20 minutes the discussion expands to other regions in Ukraine but keeps returning to Bakhmut.
Dima (Military Summary Channel) thinks Marinka is more important than Bakhmut for the Russians; he explains his reasoning starting at the 50:30 mark; debate and discussion follows. Basically he's saying that the Ukrainians need to be ejected from Donetsk as the top priority.
We may have been looking in the wrong direction -- at the yuan (technically Renminbi) and asking whether it could rival or even replace the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency.
Six hours ago from India's Firstpost, 4:46 minutes:
Part of the story is not new. See this five-minute report from India's WION on July 12:
Gravitas: RBI announces rupee mechanism for foreign trade - YouTube
"The Reserve Bank of India has rolled out a system to settle international trade transactions in the Indian rupee instead of the dollar. How does the rupee trade work? How will it impact India's trade relations? Palki Sharma tells you."
But as Firstpost indicates, several policies and global trade/financial trends are suddenly converging and moving fast to propel the rupee to an important reserve currency status. This is something nobody could have predicted.
********
Posted 90 minutes ago; Brian Berletic throws in a war update:
Scott Ritter explains to Judge Napolitano what will happen if White House sends Patriots. Live:
Russia Targets Kyiv with More Drones - Scott Ritter - YouTube
"No longer possible to pretend that Ukraine is winning the war." The Duran's war sitrep within the last hour:
Odessa blackouts. Ukraine situation crashing as Russian missile strikes continue - YouTube
Meanwhile:
MoA - U.S. To Send More Wunderwaffen to Ukraine (moonofalabama.org)
********
Scott Ritter has been warning of this in the strongest possible terms ever since I've been listening to him talk about the Ukraine conflict. In this discussion today he starts by analyzing Vladimir Putin's words on December 9 about Russia's changing view of preemptive nuclear attack. Next Scott mentions Angela Merkel's frightening confession, and how this contributes to the growing nuclear standoff. From there he answers a range of questions.
See also MoA - When False Claims Are News - Russia, India, Nukes (moonofalabama.org) - December 13
This just in from Brian Berletic:
*********
End of Dollar Dominance: China Begins Global Dedollarisation Campaign? | China Arab Summit - YouTube - FirstPost (India) December 12
But it's complicated:
China Looks To Expand Use Of Yuan In Energy Deals | OilPrice.com
- Summary
- China is looking to increase the use of its currency, the Yuan in oil and gas deals with the Middle East.
- While Chinese currency has made inroads in global trade, the yuan accounts for just 2.7% of the market versus the dollar at 41%.
- Experts have warned that China’s efforts to open up its capital markets could end up having an unintended consequence--an even weaker yuan.
What about India? Again, it's complicated:
Shift from the petrodollar imminent as India, others ditch US Dollar (theexchange.africa) - March 19
Indian refiners pay dollars for Russian oil after dirham attempts fail | Reuters - September 28
- Summary
- Russian oil traders asked some Indian refiners to pay in dirhams
- Dubai's Mashreq Bank declined to settle in dirhams - sources
- Mashreq Bank, U.S. Treasury declined to comment
- India's UCO Bank to soon set up rupee account for Gazprombank
They're going to keep trying, with the yuan as spearhead. It will be slow going but now we're seeing earnest efforts to establish an African common currency:
Death of the dollar, what’s in it for Africa - The Exchange ("Africa's Investment Gateway"
[BEGIN REPORT]
BY NJENGA HAKEENAH ON MARCH 31, 2020The US accounted for 15.2 per cent of the global GDP after adjusting for purchasing power parity (PPP) in 2018. This share is expected to decrease to 13.86 per cent by 2024.
While the US still commands a sizeable amount of the world’s business, there seems to be a new order coming up where the nation will be relegated in terms of not only business but influence in a new world where the dollar will cease being the common currency.
How soon this happens is still not known but the signs are there and they have been with us for a while.
Already, China, Russia and Pakistan are laying out plans to start conducting bilateral trade and investment while issuing bonds in local and national currencies instead of the US dollar.
The eight-member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) are to finalise a road map introducing a system of mutual settlement of national currencies.
Other SCO members include India, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan while observer countries Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia are looking to become regular members of the SCO.
With the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, it seems that the world is realigning itself to a new way of doing business.
As it is, the Chinese economy is already controlling a huge chunk of the global business and with the markets now more integrated and interlinked, any shock affecting China now has far greater consequences for the world economy. We have seen it with the coronavirus pandemic and it could only get more interesting to watch.
According to the UN-FAO, the supply shocks due to morbidity and mortality and the containment efforts that restrict mobility and higher costs of doing business due to restricted supply chains and a tightening of credit will affect economies leading to a reduction of economic growth.
This March, the OECD cut its forecast for global economic growth in 2020 from 2.9 per cent to 2.4 per cent, which would be the lowest level since the financial crisis a decade ago. It warned that a prolonged and more intensive coronavirus epidemic could even halve this figure to a mere 1.5 per cent.
Globally, the demand will also fall due to higher uncertainty, increased precautionary behaviour, containment efforts and rising financial costs that reduce the ability to spend.
For Africa, things could be even harder since there is also a significant devaluation of the exchange rate with respect to the US dollar. This will also affect the import-dependent countries most of which are in Africa.
But with the realigning, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will come in handy by injecting new momentum and moving the region from stagnation. For decades, the continent has been regarded as one of the poorest and least dynamic economies in the world. This is despite the wealth it has in terms of natural resources and human capital.
With the operationalisation of the AfCFTA in July this year, Africa, just like the rest of the world could be heading into a future of common ground in regard to trade and commerce. By breaking the cross border policies which have stymied intra-regional growth, the economic limitations could be coming to end as the continent liberalises cross-country travel and trade.
The continent is yet to have a common currency like the European Union but efforts by the various economic blocks have been seeking ways of introducing a common currency that could level the playing ground for the member countries.
In East Africa, for instance, the major benefits of a monetary union are the reduction of transaction costs, economies of international reserves, the elimination of exchange rate risk and region-wide price harmonization.
However, the region will take longer to establish a common currency since the 2024 deadline for a monetary union and the common currency is not attainable. The region has fallen behind in setting up the East African Monetary Institute (EAMI) which could be the basis of a common currency. Without the relevant institutions like the EAMI to support a single currency, it is almost impossible to have the region come up with an agreement on a currency.
But West Africa has already forged ahead with the agreement to ditch their monetary sovereignty this year and introduce the ECO, the region’s new common currency.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) 15 member countries have agreed on the ECO which brings 380 million citizens together under a common monetary framework. Nigeria, Africa’s economic powerhouse is a member of the ECOWAS and with this newly formed currency, the project for a single currency in Africa is now closer than ever.
With autonomy, many countries and regions globally will seek more independence from the US dollar which will give them more say on loans and driving concessions.
With China already controlling a large portion of the global economy, it is now a matter of when and not if the world shifts from reliance on the greenback.
[END REPORT]
*******
Update on the Belt and Road Initiative:
The Belt and Road; As the West Slumbers, China Advances - YouTube - Tomorrow's World Viewpoint - December 9
Yuan for Saudi oil
Saudi Arabia ditches dollar - YouTube - TFI Global (India) December 11
********
