Some time ago, Lavrov stated the anglo west had launched (hybrid) war on Russia. He said we accept the challenge. To me, the main result from the recent BRICS meeting was the announcement of a new international currency being formed based on a basket of commodities. A large chunk of world GDP in BRICS. Countries have already began trade with national currencies. Many US dollars will be going home to roost. US will be lucky if it does not break into several sections with the economic destruction and resulting political destruction that is heading its way. -Peter AU1
Big stuff going on right now. BRICS is organizing, and it’s putting its collective power behind changing the world’s currency, and thus the economic balance of power in the world. The preamble to the meeting is further down in this article. It’s a must read. This is what is REALLY going on.
But today, aside from this geopolitical stuff, I want to squeeze in some humanity. And nothing quite points to our shared humanity is how we treat other species. As such, I have placed a number of (hopefully) positive videos about cats, and dogs that I hope will help explore our sense of humanity, and why it is so very important to be a STO sentience.
As well as a mix of other things…
From Bad to Worse
Jack Whittaker didn’t need to win the lottery; the West Virginian was a wealthy and successful businessman in the construction industry. But, in 2002, he won the then-largest jackpot in the Powerball multi-state lottery. His prize was worth around $315 million, but he opted to take the one-off cash payment option that left him with over $113 million after taxes.
Whittaker was kind-hearted and well-meaning as he pledged 10% of his winnings to Christian charities and set up the Jack Whittaker Foundation to distribute food and clothing to the needy in rural West Virginia. He also rewarded the man who worked in the store where Whittaker had bought the winning ticket and threw handfuls of cash from his new sports car around the neighborhood.
Then things started to go bad. In 2003, someone stole over $500,000 that Whittaker had left in his car in the parking lot of a strip club. Not a good look Whittaker, but things kept going from bad to worse.
Next, his teenage granddaughter, Brandi, was lavished with cash and gifts, but in 2004, the body of Brandi’s eighteen-year-old boyfriend was found in Whittaker’s home. The boy had taken a cocktail of drugs leading to his death. Later that year, Brandi went missing, and her body turned up dumped on a friend’s property. She had been taking drugs, but the cause of death wasn’t clear, and authorities filed no charges.
Unfortunately, Jack had problems with gambling, and his uninsured house burned to the ground. He died in 2020.
Little Kittens Found Underneath The Floor But A Foul Odor Fills The Room..?
We begin with this little story about a foul odor beneath the floorboards in a kindergarten.
Did Obama really say that “the Earth can’t substain 1.4 billion Chinese having the same living standard as American and Australian, so we can’t allow China to be rich”, as many Chinese claimed?
Yes, it’s possible.
I didn’t find it on google, so had to search in Baidu. Here is what I tracked and finally found:
“If over a billion Chinese citizens have the same living patterns as Australians and Americans do right now, then all of us are in for a very miserable time. The planet just can’t sustain it…”
It is said this happened on an interview in an Australian TV program “The 7.30 Report”, April 14th, 2010.
Keep in mind that really no one wants to have a life that like Americans have, except the ignorant, the destitute, and of course, Americans.
Wine and other funny comix…
There’s some real truths here.
Yup. Accurate
Exile on Main Street: the Sound of the Unipolar World Fading Away
.
The future world order, already in progress, will be formed by strong sovereign states. The ship has sailed. There’s no turning back.
Let’s cut to the chase and roll in the Putin Top Ten of the New Era, announced by the Russian President live at the St. Petersburg forum for both the Global North and South.
The era of the unipolar world is over.
The rupture with the West is irreversible and definitive. No pressure from the West will change it.
Russia has renewed its sovereignty. Reinforcement of political and economic sovereignty is an absolute priority.
The EU has completely lost its political sovereignty. The current crisis shows the EU is not ready to play the role of an independent, sovereign actor. It’s just en ensemble of American vassals deprived of any politico-military sovereignty.
Sovereignty cannot be partial. Either you’re a sovereign or a colony.
Hunger in the poorest nations will be on the conscience of the West and euro-democracy.
Russia will supply grains to the poorer nations in Africa and the Middle East.
Russia will invest in internal economic development and reorientation of trade towards nations independent of the U.S.
The future world order, already in progress, will be formed by strong sovereign states.
The ship has sailed. There’s no turning back.
How does it feel, for the collective West, to be caught in such a crossfire hurricane? Well, it gets more devastating when we add to the new roadmap the latest on the energy front.
Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, in St. Petersburg, stressed that the global economic crisis is gaining momentum not because of sanctions, but exacerbated by them; Europe “commits energy suicide” by sanctioning Russia; sanctions against Russia have done away with the much lauded “green transition”, as that is no longer needed to manipulate markets; and Russia, with its vast energy potential, “is the Noah’s Ark of the world economy.”
For his part Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller could not be more scathing on the sharp decline in the gas flow to the EU due to Siemens’ refusal and/or incapacity to repair the Nord Stream 1 pumping engine: “Well, of course, Gazprom was forced to reduce the volume of gas supplies to Europe by 20%+. But you know, prices have increased not by 20%+, but by several times! Therefore, I’m sorry if I say that we don’t feel offended by anyone, we are not particularly concerned by this situation.”
If this pain dial overdrive was not enough to hurl the collective West – or NATOstan – into Terminal Hysteria, then Putin’s sharp comment on possibly allowing Mr. Sarmat to present his business card to “decision-making centers in Kiev”, those that are ordering the current shelling and killing of civilians in Donetsk, definitely did the trick:
“As for the red lines, let me keep them to myself, because this will mean quite tough actions on the decision-making centers. But this is an area that shouldn’t be disclosed to people outside the military-political leadership of the country. Those who deserve appropriate actions on our part should draw a conclusion for themselves – what they may face if they cross the line.”
Baby please, stop breaking down
Alastair Crooke has masterfully outlined how the collective West’s zugzwang leaves it lumbering around, dazed and confused. Now let’s examine the state of play on the opposite side of the chessboard, focusing on the BRICS summit this Thursday in Beijing.
As much as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) and ASEAN, now it’s time for a reinvigorated BRICS to step up its game. In conjunction, these are the key organizations/instruments that will be carving the pathways towards the post-unipolar era.
Both China and India (which between them were the largest economies in the world for centuries before the brief Western colonial interregnum) are already close and getting closer to “the Noah’s Ark of the world economy”.
The G20 – hostages of the Michael Hudson-defined FIRE scam that is the core of the financialized neoliberal casino – is slowly fading away, while a potential new G8 ramps up: and that is directly connected to BRICS expansion, one of the key themes of this week’s summit. An expanded BRICS with a parallel G8 configuration is bound to easily overtake the Western-centric one in importance as well as GDP by purchasing power parity (PPP).
BRICS in 2021 already added Bangladesh, Egypt, the UAE and Uruguay to its New Development Bank (NDB). In May, at Foreign Ministry-level debates, Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Thailand were added to the 5 BRICS members. Leaders of some of these nations will be connected to the Beijing summit.
BRICS plays a completely different game from the G20. They aim for the grassroots, and it’s all about slowly “building trust” – a very Chinese concept. They are creating an independent Credit Rating Agency – away from the Anglo-American racket – and deepening a Currency Reserves Arrangement. The NDB – including its regional offices in India and South Africa – has been involved in hundreds of projects. Time will tell: one day the NDB will make the World Bank superfluous.
Comparisons between BRICS and the Quad, a U.S. concoction, are silly. Quad is just another crude mechanism to contain China. Yet there’s no question India treads on tightrope walker territory, as it’s a member of both BRICS and Quad, and made a vastly misguided decision to walk out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) – the largest free trade deal on the planet – opting instead to adhere to the American pie-in-the-sky Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
Yet India, long term, skillfully guided by Russia, is being steered to find essential common ground with China in several key issues.
BRICS, especially in its expanded BRICS+ version, is bound to increase cooperation on building truly stable supply chains, and a settlement mechanism for resources and raw material trade, which inevitably has to be based in local currencies. Then the path will be open for the Holy Grail: a BRICS payment system as a credible alternative to the weaponized U.S. dollar and SWIFT.
Meanwhile, a torrent of bilateral investments from both China and India in the manufacturing and services sector around their neighbors is bound to lift up smaller players in both Southeast Asia and South Asia: think Cambodia and Bangladesh as important cogs in a vast supply wheel.
Yaroslav Lissovolik had already proposed a BEAMS concept as the core of this BRICS integration drive, uniting “the key regional integration initiatives of BRICS economies such as BIMSTEC, EAEU, the ASEAN-China free trade agreement, Mercosur and SADC/SACU.”
It’s only (BRICS) rock’n roll
Now Beijing seems eager to promote “an inclusive format for dialogue spanning all the main regions of the Global South via aggregating the regional integration platforms in Eurasia, Africa and Latin America. Going forward this format may be further expanded to include other regional integration blocks from Eurasia, such as the GCC, EAEU and others.”
Lissovolik notes how the ideal path from now on should be “the greater inclusivity of BRICS via the BRICS+ framework that allows smaller economies that are the regional partners of BRICS to have a say in the new global governance framework.”
Before he addressed the St. Petersburg forum on video, President Xi called Putin personally to say, among other things, that he’s got China’s back on all “sovereignty and security” themes. They also, inevitably, discussed the relevance of BRICS as a key platform towards the multipolar world.
Meanwhile, the collective West plunges deeper into the maelstrom. A massive national demonstration of trade unions this past Monday paralyzed Brussels – the capital of the EU and NATO – as 80,000 people expressed their anger at the rising and rising cost of living; called for elites to “spend money on salaries, not on weapons”; and yelled in unison “Stop NATO.”
It’s zugzwang all over again. The EU’s “direct losses”, as Putin stressed, provoked by the sanctions hysteria, “could exceed $400 billion a year”. Russia’s energy earnings have hit record levels. The ruble is at a 7-year high against the euro.
It’s a blast that arguably the most powerful cultural artifact of the entire Cold War – and Western supremacy – era, the perennial Rolling Stones, is currently on tour across a “caught in a crossfire hurricane” EU. On every show they play, for the first time live, one of their early classics: ‘Out of Time’.
Sounds much like a requiem. So let’s all sing, “Baby baby baby / you’re out of time”, as one Vladimir “it’s a gas, gas, gas” Putin and his sidekick Dmitry “Under My Thumb” Medvedev seem to be the guys really getting their rocks off. It’s only (BRICS) rock’n roll, but we like it.
Chili Mac and Cheese
This almost-instant main dish combines the flavors of two favorite comfort foods. Taco-flavored cheese and mild chilis add an extra kick without too much spice.
Sky High to Rock Bottom
We can’t know what would have happened if Edwards had won just enough money to turn his life around, but he won a lot.
David Lee Edwards was a connected armed robber who had spent one-third of his 46 years in prison. Broke and unemployed, he borrowed some cash from a friend to pay a utility bill. Unfortunately, Edwards had some change left over that he spent on a pizza and a couple of lottery tickets. He won $27 million.
At a press conference, Edwards swore that he would turn his life around and look after his daughter. Yet, he immediately began spending money left and right. His mansion in Florida was full of expensive gadgets, and his body was full of expensive drugs.
Edwards supported his and his wife’s increasing dependence on drugs. He also paid for his friend’s drugs and funerals if they overdosed. Edwards did spoil his daughter, but by 2006, he and his wife were living in a storage unit surrounded by drug paraphernalia and their own body waste.
Mrs. Edwards left him; he died penniless in a hospice in Kentucky. He was 58.
Cute Cat Enjoys 60°C Sauna Everyday
A nice cute little video to put a smile on your face.
So accurate
Maureen O’Connor
Maureen O’Connor, a native of San Diego, California, rose through the local political ranks to become the city’s first female mayor from 1986 to 1992. At the time, she was married to Robert O. Peterson—the founder of the Jack in the Box fast-food chain.
When her husband died in 1994, O’Connor’s personal fortune stood somewhere between $40 and $50 million. In the cutthroat world of politics, all successful politicians are big risk-takers. O’Connor was a political winner, but she was a loser when she began to gamble in casinos.
O’Connor lost around $13 million in casinos.
She misappropriated over $2 million from her husband’s charitable foundation, which she immediately spent playing video poker.
To raise more cash to fund her gambling, she liquidated all her savings and took out second and third mortgages on her home. She attempted to pay off her debts but found herself charged with wire fraud.
She attributed her gambling addiction to a brain tumor. In 2015, a judge formally dropped all charges against her.
Consider how the American media treats China
All in process…
1. Classification: People divided into “us & them”
2. Symbolization: People FORCED to identify themselves
3. Discrimination: People begin to face systemic discrimination
4. Dehumanization: People are equated with animals, vermin or diseases
5. Organization: Gov’t creates specific groups (police/military) to enforce policies
6. Polarization: Gov’t creates propaganda to turn public against target group
7. Preparation: Official action to remove/relocate people
8. Persecution: Beginning of murders, theft of property, trial massacres
9. Extermination: Wholesale elimination of target group. It’s not considered “extermination” or murder because target group are NOT considered human
10. Denial: Gov’t denies it has committed any crime
Norway
Supreme Court Overturns NY’s Concealed Carry Law, Expanding Gun Rights
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a New York law that regulated who is allowed to carry a concealed weapon in public, expanding gun rights nationwide.
In a 6-3 decision by the court’s conservative majority, the justices ruled that requiring people to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in order to get a license to carry one in public violated the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms.”
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority that the Constitution protects “an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”
In a dissent joined by his liberal colleagues, Justice Stephen Breyer focused on the toll taken by gun violence. “Since the start of this year alone (2022), there have already been 277 reported mass shootings—an average of more than one per day,“ Breyer wrote.
The decision expected to ultimately allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of the nation’s largest cities — including New York, Los Angeles and Boston — and elsewhere. About a quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling, the high court’s first major gun decision in more than a decade.
Bat Cat
Abandoned Cat Became A Monk And Promised Buddha She Won’t Eat Meat
Another cute kitty video.
WTF?
Moderna and Pfizer Vaccines more dangerous than Covid
The numbers are coming in.
Stanford, UCLA, Louisiana study says that serious adverse effects from Moderna and Pfizer Vaccines exceed the risk reduction of serious adverse effects from Covid.
The excess risk of serious adverse events of special interest surpassed the risk reduction for COVID-19 hospitalization relative to the placebo group in both Pfizer and Moderna trials (2.3 and 6.4 per 10,000 participants, respectively).
SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS “ROE V. WADE” – No federal constitutional Right to Abortion
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, holding that there is no federal constitutional right to an abortion. Widespread protests, maybe even riots and social upheaval, are expected beginning today, as the supporters of the right to kill babies, go on a rampage.
The opinion is the most consequential Supreme Court decision in decades and will transform the landscape of women’s reproductive health in America.
Going forward, abortion rights will be determined by states, unless Congress acts.
Already, nearly half of the states have or will pass laws that ban abortion while others have enacted strict measures regulating the procedure.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his majority opinion. “Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”
A Fall from Grace
Eike Batista is not a rags-to-riches story since Batista’s father had been the Minister of Mines and Energy in two previous Brazilian governments. It was natural that Eike Batista made his living in mining, gas, and oil with his family background. It was then a logical step to finance large-scale infrastructure projects that would support his other concerns.
At the beginning of 2012, Batista had a net worth of around $35 billion—this meant that he was the seventh wealthiest person in the world. Unfortunately, he didn’t last long in the world’s top ten. By the summer of 2013, his wealth stood at $200 million and, a year later, had fallen to minus $1 billion.
There were various reasons for this dramatic drop, but not all of them were Batista’s fault. A general downturn in the precious metals industry, underperforming assets, and poor decisions played a part. But the biggest fall from grace may be that Batista is facing 30 years in jail for bribing the governor of Rio de Janeiro.
So why should Batista never have become rich? The answer is simple. A capitalist economy relies on the operation of free markets that depend on trust. Someone who builds a business empire built on sand warps the economy, destroys confidence, and wipes out the investments that pay people’s pensions.
Supreme Court Overturns NY’s Concealed Carry Law, Expanding Gun Rights
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a New York law that regulated who is allowed to carry a concealed weapon in public, expanding gun rights nationwide.
In a 6-3 decision by the court’s conservative majority, the justices ruled that requiring people to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in order to get a license to carry one in public violated the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms.”
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority that the Constitution protects “an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”
In a dissent joined by his liberal colleagues, Justice Stephen Breyer focused on the toll taken by gun violence. “Since the start of this year alone (2022), there have already been 277 reported mass shootings—an average of more than one per day,“ Breyer wrote.
The decision expected to ultimately allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of the nation’s largest cities — including New York, Los Angeles and Boston — and elsewhere. About a quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling, the high court’s first major gun decision in more than a decade.
Harvey Norman declares bankruptcy after going whole month without government handout
A Warning About The Coming Shortages Of Diesel Fuel, Diesel Exhaust Fluid And Diesel Engine Oil
What I am about to share with you is a developing situation, and I hope to share more once the facts become clearer. It appears that a very serious diesel crisis is coming in the months ahead, and that will have a dramatic impact on our economy. As you will see below, we are being warned that there will be shortages of diesel fuel, diesel exhaust fluid and diesel engine oil. Most diesel vehicles require all three in order to run, and so a serious shortage of any of them would be a major disaster. Needless to say, simultaneous shortages of all three could potentially be catastrophic. Most Americans don’t spend much time thinking about diesel, but without it our supply chains collapse and we don’t have a functioning economy. In a recent Time Magazine article discussing the coming diesel fuel shortage, we are told that “the U.S. economy runs on diesel”…
Though most consumers shake their heads at the cost of gasoline and complain about the cost of filling up their car tanks, what they really should be worried about is the price of diesel. The U.S. economy runs on diesel. It’s what powers the container ships that bring goods from Asia and the trucks that collect goods from the ports and bring them to warehouses and then to your home. The farmers who grow the food you eat put diesel in their tractors to plow the fields, and the workers that bring construction equipment to build your home put diesel in their trucks.
Since January, supplies of diesel fuel have been steadily getting tighter.
As supplies have gotten tighter, prices have skyrocketed. The average price of a gallon of diesel fuel hit $5.50 a gallon in early May, and it has remained above that level ever since.
One of the biggest reasons for the supply crunch is a serious lack of refining capacity. Back in 1980, the U.S. had twice as many refineries…
There are also fewer refineries, which process crude oil into diesel and other products, in the U.S. than were just a few years ago. There are just 124 now operating, down from twice as many in 1980, and down from 139 in 2016, according to the U.S. Energy Information Association. The northeast region is particularly spare, with just seven refineries today, down from 27 in 1982.
There have already been some temporary outages of diesel fuel at a few locations around the country, and we are being warned that disruptions are likely to intensify during the summer months.
But the good news is that we aren’t going to run out of diesel fuel. It may become a lot more expensive, and there may be painful temporary shortages, but we won’t run out of it.
Unfortunately, the crisis that we are facing with diesel exhaust fluid is potentially much more serious.
If you have just been skimming this article, this is the part where you need to start really paying attention.
Newsweek is telling us that the United States “could soon experience a severe shortage of diesel exhaust fluid”…
The U.S. could soon experience a severe shortage of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), impacting U.S. drivers already hit with soaring fuel prices. DEF is a solution made up of urea and de-ionized water that is needed for almost everything that runs on diesel. It reduces harmful gases being released into the atmosphere and works by converting nitrogen oxide produced by diesel engines into nitrogen and steam.
If you have a diesel vehicle that was sold in the United States after 2010, your vehicle could technically run without DEF, but in most cases your vehicle will simply not let you start it if the DEF tank is dry…
Can we call it a DEF jam? Everything is in short supply as supply chains continue to unlink. The latest commodity reportedly hit is DEF, or the blue diesel exhaust fluid that every diesel sold in the U.S. after 2010 needs to cut emissions. This means that every diesel truck, diesel RV, SUV, and car owner will likely have to look harder, and pay more for, DEF. A diesel engine can technically run without DEF, but your diesel vehicle likely won’t let you start it if the DEF tank is empty.
A lack of urea is the biggest reason for the growing shortage of DEF.
The United States is one of the largest importers of urea in the world, and Russia and China are two of the largest exporters. In previous years that wasn’t a problem, but now the war in Ukraine has dramatically changed things…
A major portion of our urea comes from Europe, and because of the war in Ukraine we’re seeing a shortage of it, according to Newsweek. Russia is one of the world’s major exporters of it. China, too, is a major exporter of it, and it has suspended exports. Weather, too, has caused supply chain disruptions. Since it’s also a major component in fertilizers, there’s intense competition for urea.
Without enough DEF, our economy is going to be in for a world of hurt.
Meanwhile, Mike Adams is reporting on the growing shortages of diesel engine oil that are starting to happen all over the nation…
Retailers, customers and distributors are all reporting shortages in diesel engine oil. This is not an imaginary problem, it is a real problem that is so far entirely ignored by the corporate media.
Apparently there are some diesel engine oil additives that are in extremely short supply, and one industry insider is telling us that this problem isn’t going to be resolved any time soon.
So what this means is that people are going to start running out of diesel engine oil.
In fact, it is already being reported that the trains in Sri Lanka will soon have to completely shut down because of a lack of diesel engine oil…
Sri Lanka Railways said that it will NOT be possible to operate trains in the future due to the lack of engine oil. A senior official at Sri Lanka Railways said that the current level of engine oil would only last for another two months. That’s in line with the warning we’re hearing in the states: About 8 weeks of diesel engine oil remaining in the pipeline.
Just solving one of the shortages that I have described in this article will not be enough.
As I noted in the opening paragraph, a diesel vehicle requires diesel fuel, diesel exhaust fluid and diesel engine oil in order to operate.
You need all three.
This is a story that I will be following very closely. Needless to say, there are enormous implications for our supply chains and for our economy as a whole if solutions cannot be found.
XIV BRICS Summit Beijing Declaration
This is a VERY IMPORTANT document. This is the preamble. It defines the new, new world order; a unipolar world. - MM
Preamble
1. We,the Leaders of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa held the XIV BRICS Summit under the theme “Foster High-quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development” on 23-24 June 2022.
2. We recall that in the past 16 years, upholding the BRICS spirit featuring mutual respect and understanding, equality, solidarity, openness, inclusiveness, and consensus, BRICS countries have strengthened mutual trust,deepened intra-BRICS mutually beneficial cooperation,and closer people-to-people exchanges, which has led to a series of significant outcomes. We reiterate the importance of further enhancing BRICS solidarity and cooperation based on our common interests and key priorities, to further strengthen our strategic partnership.
3. We are glad to note that despite the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges, BRICS countries in 2022 have jointly continued enhancing solidarity and deepening cooperation on, inter alia, economy, peace and security, people-to-people exchanges, public health, and sustainable development by holding a series of meetings and activities, and contributed to tangible outcomes of BRICS cooperation.
4. We welcome the High-level Dialogue on Global Development at this Summit as a testimony to the open and inclusive nature of BRICS Partnership including BRICS Outreach/BRICS Plus cooperation. We look forward to the Dialogue injecting new impetus to strengthen international cooperation and solidarity on implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Strengthening and Reforming Global Governance
5. We reiterate our commitment to multilateralism through upholding international law, including the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations as its indispensable cornerstone, and to the central role of the United Nations in an international system in which sovereign states cooperate to maintain peace and security, advance sustainable development, ensure the promotion and protection of democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, and promoting cooperation based on the spirit of mutual respect, justice and equality.
6. Recalling the BRICS Joint Statement on Strengthening and Reforming the Multilateral System adopted by our Foreign Ministers in 2021 and the principles outlined therein, we agree that the task of strengthening and reforming multilateral system encompasses the following:
-
- Making instruments of global governance more inclusive, representative and participatory to facilitate greater and more meaningful participation of developing and least developed countries, especially in Africa, in global decision-making processes and structures and make it better attuned to contemporary realities;
- Being based on inclusive consultation and collaboration for the benefit of all, while respecting sovereign independence, equality, mutual legitimate interests and concerns to make the multilateral organizations more responsive,effective,transparent and credible;
- Making multilateral organizations more responsive, effective, transparent, democratic, objective, action-oriented, solution-oriented and credible, so as to promote cooperation in building international relations based on the norms and principles of international law, and the spirit of mutual respect, justice, equality, mutual beneficial cooperation and realities of the contemporary world;
-
- Using innovative and inclusive solutions, including digital and technological tools to promote sustainable development and facilitate affordable and equitable access to global public goods for all;
- Strengthening capacities of individual States and international organizations to better respond to new and emerging, traditional and non-traditional challenges, including those emanating from terrorism, money laundering, cyber-realm, infodemics and fake news;
- Promoting international and regional peace and security, social and economic development, and preserve nature’s balance with people-centered international cooperation at its core.
7. We recall the UNGA Resolution 75/1 and reiterate the call for reforms of the principal organs of the United Nations. We recommit to instill new life in the discussions on reform of the UN Security Council and continue the work to revitalize the General Assembly and strengthen the Economic and Social Council. We recall the 2005 World Summit Outcome document and reaffirm the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, with a view to making it more representative, effective and efficient, and to increase the representation of the developing countries so that it can adequately respond to global challenges. China and Russia reiterated the importance they attach to the status and role of Brazil, India and South Africa in international affairs and supported their aspiration to play a greater role in the UN.
8. We appreciate the role of India and Brazil as members of the UN Security Council for 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 respectively. The presence of four BRICS countries in the UN Security Council provides an opportunity to further enhance the weight of our dialogue on issue of international peace and security and for continued cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including through regular exchanges amongst our permanent Mission to the United Nations and in other international fora.
9. We reiterate the need for all countries to cooperate in promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms under the principles of equality and mutual respect. We agree to continue to treat all human rights including the right to development in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis. We agree to strengthen cooperation on issues of common interests both within BRICS and in multilateral fora including the United Nations General Assembly and Human Rights Council, taking into account the necessity to promote, protect and fulfil human rights in a non-selective, non-politicised and constructive manner and without double standards. We call for the respect of democracy and human rights. In this regard, we underline that they should be implemented on the level of global governance as well as at national level. We reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the promotion and protection of democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all with the aim to build a brighter shared future for the international community based on mutually beneficial cooperation.
10. We stress that global economic governance is of critical importance for countries to ensure sustainable development and recall further our support for broadening and strengthening the participation of emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs) in the international economic decision-making and norm-setting processes. We reiterate our support for G20’s leading role in global economic governance and underline that G20 shall remain intact and respond to current global challenges. We call upon the international community to foster partnerships while underlining that it is imperative to strengthen macro-policy coordination in driving the world economy out of the crisis and shaping a strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive post-pandemic economic recovery. We urge major developed countries to adopt responsible economic policies, while managing policy spillovers, to avoid severe impacts on developing countries.
11. We reaffirm our support for an open, transparent, inclusive, non-discriminatory and rules-based multilateral trading system,as embodied in the World Trade Organization(WTO). We will engage constructively to pursue the necessary WTO reform to build an open world economy that supports trade and development, preserve the pre-eminent role of the WTO for setting global trade rules and governance, supporting inclusive development and promoting the rights and interests of its members, including developing members and LDCs. We recognize that special and differential treatment as established in WTO rules is a tool to facilitate the achievement of WTO objectives with respect to economic growth and development. We call upon all WTO members to avoid unilateral and protectionist measures that run counter to the spirit and rules of the WTO. We emphasize the top priority and urgency of launching the selection process of the Appellate Body members to restore the binding two-tier multilateral dispute settlement mechanism. We agree that the Appellate Body crisis should be resolved without further delay and should not be linked with other issues. We endorse BRICS Statement on Strengthening the Multilateral Trading System and Reforming the WTO. We commend the successful conclusion of MC12 that underscores the value of multilateralism. We encourage WTO members to sustain momentum and achieve further meaningful outcomes by MC13.
12. We reaffirm our commitment to maintaining a strong and effective Global Financial Safety Net with a quota-based and adequately resourced IMF at its center. We call for the timely and successful completion of the 16th General Review of Quotas by 15 December 2023, to reduce the IMF’s reliance on temporary resources, to address under-representation of emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs) for their meaningful engagement in the governance of IMF and protect the voice and quota shares of the poorest and smallest members. We welcome progress on voluntary channeling of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) from countries with strong external positions to support countries most in need, as well as the IMF’s decision to establish the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST). We look forward to early operationalization of the RST.
13. We note that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused serious shock and hardship to humanity, unbalanced recovery is aggravating inequality across the world, the global growth momentum has weakened, and the economic prospects have declined. We are concerned that global development is suffering from severe disruption, including the widening North-South development gap, divergent recovery trajectories, pre-existing developmental fault-lines and a technological divide. This is posing huge challenges to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as economic and health scarring, particularly for EMDCs, is projected to persist beyond the current pandemic. We urge major developed countries to adopt responsible economic policies, while managing policy spillovers, to avoid severe impacts on developing countries. We encourage multilateral financial institutions and international organizations to play a constructive role in building global consensus on economic policies and preventing systemic risks of economic disruption and financial fragmentation. We welcome the actions to accelerate the progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Working in Solidarity to Combat COVID-19
14. We reiterate that it was imperative to ensure the availability of safe, efficacious, accessible and affordable diagnostics, medicines, vaccines and essential medical products to people from different countries especially developing countries, and equitable distribution of vaccines and expeditious vaccination, to fill the immunization gap globally. We support the leading role of the WHO in combating the pandemic, as well as acknowledge initiatives such as the COVAX and the ACT-A. We recognize the importance of the discussions in the WTO on relevant IP waiver proposals, as well as capacity building and strengthening local production of vaccines and other health tools, especially in developing countries. We stress the need to continue to strengthen the cooperation on testing methods, therapeutic, research, production and recognition of vaccines, the research on their efficacy and safety in light of new variants of COVID-19 virus and recognition of national document of vaccination against COVID-19 and respective testing, especially for purpose of international travel.
15. We reaffirm our commitment to multilateralism and continue to support World Health Organization (WHO) to play the leading role in the global health governance, while supporting other UN relevant agencies’ activities. The BRICS countries will strengthen technical multilateral cooperation aimed at enhancing capacities in the fields of responding to major public health emergencies, Universal Health Coverage (UHC), vaccine research and development, prevention & therapeutic health care and digital health systems. We agree to deepen existing cooperation through establishing closer cooperation ties among BRICS health institutions and exploring opportunities for joint collaborative projects in the health sector.
16. We welcome the convening of the BRICS High-Level Forum on Traditional Medicine.
17. We stress that BRICS countries should be better prepared for COVID-19 and future public health emergencies, and enhance exchanges and cooperation on public health emergency alert, pandemic prevention preparedness and response, and best practices in medical treatment. We welcome the virtual launch of the BRICS Vaccine Research and Development Center and commend the “Initiative on Strengthening Vaccine Cooperation and Jointly Building a Defensive Line against Pandemic”. We welcome the participation of other countries, especially EMDCs, in the Center to upgrade capacity for controlling and preventing infectious diseases. We support and emphasize the urgent need for the establishment of the BRICS Integrated Early Warning System for preventing mass infectious diseases risks in accordance with the International Health Regulations (2005) and the WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, and emphasize that BRICS countries should jointly take proactive and effective measures to prevent and reduce the risk of cross-border transmission of infectious diseases and contribute to improving global health.
18. We support continuing to hold the BRICS TB Research Network Meetings, which will contribute to achieving the WHO goal of ending TB by 2030. We support the early signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Regulation of Medical Products for Human Use among our drug regulatory authorities and welcome the holding of a BRICS Seminar of Officials and Experts in Population Development in the second half of 2022.
19. We call on international agencies and philanthropists to procure vaccines and boosters from manufacturers in developing countries, including in Africa, to ensure that the manufacturing capabilities being developed are retained. This is critical to build health system resilience and preparedness for emerging variants and any future health emergencies including pandemics. In this context access to diagnostics and therapeutics is essential to adopt quality and affordable medical countermeasures and develop overall surveillance capabilities.
Safeguarding Peace and Security
20. We welcome the BRICS Joint Statement on “Strengthen BRICS Solidarity and Cooperation, Respond to New Features and Challenges in International Situation” adopted by our Foreign Ministers on 19 May 2022, and the 12th Meeting of BRICS National Security Advisers and High Representatives on National Security, held on 15 June 2022, and commend their fruitful discussions on various strategic issues.
21. We commit to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States, stress our commitment to the peaceful resolution of differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation, support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of crises.
22. We have discussed the situation in Ukraine and recall our national positions as expressed at the appropriate fora, namely the UNSC and UNGA. We support talks between Russia and Ukraine. We have also discussed our concerns over the humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine and expressed our support to efforts of the UN Secretary-General, UN Agencies and ICRC to provide humanitarian assistance in accordance with the basic principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality established in UN General Assembly resolution 46/182.
23. We strongly support a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan while emphasizing the respect for its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, national unity and non-interference in its internal affairs. We emphasize the need for all sides to encourage the Afghanistan authorities to achieve national reconciliation through dialogue and negotiation, and to establish a broad-based and inclusive and representative political structure. We reaffirm the significance of relevant UNSC resolutions. We emphasize that the Afghan territory not to be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan to finance terrorist acts, and reiterate the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan. We call on the Afghanistan authorities to work towards combating drug-related crime to free Afghanistan from the scourge of drugs. We stress the need to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people and to safeguard the fundamental rights of all Afghans, including women, children, and different ethnic groups.
24. We reiterate the need to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through peaceful and diplomatic means in accordance with the international law, and stress the importance of preserving the JCPOA and the UNSCR 2231 to international non-proliferation as well as wider peace and stability and hope for success of diplomatic efforts towards the resumption of the JCPOA.
25. We express our support for negotiations in bilateral and multilateral formats to resolve all issues pertaining to the Korean Peninsula, including its complete denuclearization, and maintaining peace and stability in Northeast Asia. We reaffirm the commitment to a comprehensive peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation.
26. We reaffirm our commitment to a peaceful and prosperous Middle East and North Africa. We stress the importance of addressing development and security challenges in the region. We call on the international community to support efforts aimed at the stability and peace in the region.
27. We commend efforts of African countries, the African Union and sub-regional organizations to address regional challenges, including maintaining peace and security, post conflict reconstruction as well as development efforts, and call for continued support by the international community to them. We emphasize the collaboration of AU and UN in accordance with the UN Charter.
28. We call for continued efforts to strengthen the system of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation treaties and agreements and to preserve its integrity for maintaining global stability and international peace and security, and stressed further the need to maintain the effectiveness and efficiency as well as the consensus-based nature of the relevant multilateral instruments in the field of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control.
29. We call for strengthening the system of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation, including the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (BTWC) and the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (CWC), and for preserving their integrity and effectiveness to maintain global stability and international peace and security. We underline the need to comply with and strengthen the BTWC, including by adopting a legally binding Protocol to the Convention that provides for, inter alia, an efficient verification mechanism. We reassert our support for ensuring the long-term sustainability of outer space activities and prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS) and of its weaponization, including through negotiations to adopt a relevant legally binding multilateral instrument. We recognize the value of the updated Draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects (PPWT) submitted to the Conference on Disarmament in 2014. We stress that practical Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures (TCBMs), may also contribute to PAROS.
30. We reaffirm our commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons and stress our strong commitment to nuclear disarmament and our support to the work on this subject during the session of 2022 of the Conference on Disarmament. We note the Joint Statement of the Leaders of the People’s Republic of China, the French Republic, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races on 3 January 2022, in particular the affirmation that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.
31. We reaffirm our commitment to the promotion of an open, secure, stable, accessible and peaceful ICT-environment, underscored the importance of enhancing common understandings and intensifying cooperation in the use of ICTs and Internet. We support the leading role of the United Nations in promoting constructive dialogue on ensuring ICT-security, including within the UN Open-Ended Working Group on security of and in the use of ICTs 2021-2025, and developing a universal legal framework in this realm. We call for a comprehensive, balanced, objective approach to the development and security of ICT products and systems. We underscore the importance of establishing legal frameworks of cooperation among BRICS countries on ensuring security in the use of ICTs. We also acknowledge the need to advance practical intra-BRICS cooperation through implementation of the BRICS Roadmap of Practical Cooperation on ensuring security in the use of ICTs and the activities of the BRICS Working Group on security in the use of ICTs.
32. We, while emphasizing the formidable potential of the ICTs for growth and development, recognize new associated possibilities they bring for criminal activities and threats, and expressed concern over the rising level and complexity of criminal misuse of ICTs. We welcome the ongoing work in the UN Open-Ended Ad Hoc Committee of Experts to elaborate a comprehensive international convention on countering the use of ICTs for criminal purposes and reaffirm our commitment to cooperating in the implementation of the mandate adopted by the UN General Assembly resolution 75/282.
33. We express strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations whenever, wherever and by whomsoever committed. We recognize the threat emanating from terrorism, extremism conducive to terrorism and radicalization. We are committed to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including the cross-border movement of terrorists, and terrorism financing networks and safe havens. We reiterate that terrorism should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to contribute further to the global efforts of preventing and countering the threat of terrorism on the basis of respect for international law, in particular the Charter of the United Nations, and human rights, emphasizing that States have the primary responsibility in combating terrorism with the United Nations continuing to play central and coordinating role in this area. We also stress the need for a comprehensive and balanced approach of the whole international community to effectively curb the terrorist activities, which pose a serious threat, including in the present-day pandemic environment. We reject double standards in countering terrorism and extremism conducive to terrorism. We call for an expeditious finalization and adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism within the UN framework and for launching multilateral negotiations on an international convention for the suppression of acts of chemical and biological terrorism, at the Conference of Disarmament. We welcome the outcomes of the Seventh BRICS Counter-Terrorism Working Group Plenary Meeting and its five Subgroup Meetings. We commend the Chair for hosting the Seminar on Targeted Financial Sanctions Related to Terrorism and Terrorist Financing, and look forward to organization of the Seminar on Strengthening Counter-Terrorism Capacity Building in Developing Countries, and the BRICS Police Training Program. We also look forward to further deepening counter-terrorism cooperation.
34. We look forward to further deepening counter-terrorism cooperation and reaffirm the sole authority of the UN Security Council for imposing sanctions and call for further consolidation and strengthening of the working methods of UN Security Council Sanctions Committees to ensure their effectiveness, responsiveness and transparency, while avoiding politicization of any of their proceedings including listing proposals objectively on evidence-based criteria.
35. We reaffirm our commitment to strengthening international cooperation against corruption. While respecting the legal systems of our respective countries, we are committed to strengthening experience sharing and practical cooperation on issues related to anti-corruption law enforcement, including on pursuit of economic and corruption offenders, on mutual legal assistance in civil and administrative matters, and on asset recovery. We welcome the BRICS Initiative on Denial of Safe Haven to Corruption. We will further strengthen anti-corruption capacity building through education and training programs and enhance anti-corruption exchanges and cooperation within multilateral frameworks. We welcome the first BRICS Anti-corruption Ministerial Meeting.
36. We are concerned about the serious drug situation in the world and reiterate our commitment to the existing international drug control mechanism underpinned by the three United Nations Drug Control Conventions and the various political commitments. We appreciate BRICS Anti-Drug Working Group’s active role in combating transnational drug trafficking and promoting global drug governance and will further strengthen drug control cooperation.
Promoting Economic Recovery
37. We recognize the important role of BRICS countries working together to deal with risks and challenges to the world economy in achieving global recovery and sustainable development. We reaffirm our commitment to continuing to enhance macro-economic policy coordination, deepen economic practical cooperation, and work to realize strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive post-COVID economic recovery. We emphasize the importance of continued implementation of the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership 2025 in all relevant ministerial tracks and working groups.
38. We recognize the dynamism of the digital economy in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 and enabling global economic recovery. We also recognize the positive role that trade and investment can play in promoting sustainable development, national and regional industrialization, the transition towards sustainable consumption and production patterns. We take note of China’s hosting the “Buy BRICS” online promotion event and endorse the BRICS Digital Economy Partnership Framework, BRICS Initiative on Trade and Investment for Sustainable Development and BRICS Initiative on Enhancing Cooperation on Supply Chains. We recognize the challenges facing trade and investment development in the digital era and acknowledge that BRICS members are at different levels of digital development, and thus recognize the need to address respective challenges including the digital divide. We welcome the establishment of the Digital Economy Working Group by upgrading the E-commerce Working Group. We also agree to promote consumer protection in e-commerce by advancing the implementation of BRICS Framework for Consumer Protection in E-commerce. We reaffirm that openness, efficiency, stability, transparency, reliability and resilience of the global, regional and national production and supply chains are crucial in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling economic recovery challenges and boosting international trade and investment. We encourage cooperation among BRICS countries to enhance the interconnectivity of supply chains and promote trade and investment flows. We agree to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in trade in services and engagement of BRICS national focal points, as established in the BRICS Framework for Cooperation on Trade in Services, with the BRICS Business Council with the aim to promote implementation of BRICS Trade in Services Cooperation Roadmap and relevant documents including the BRICS Framework for cooperation in Trade in Professional Services. We take note of the proposal of the Chair to establish the BRICS Trade in Services Network (BTSN) and will continue discussions.
39. We congratulate New Development Bank (NDB) on its relocation to its permanent headquarters building in Shanghai as well as the opening of NDB’s regional office in India. We welcome the decisions on admission of four new members to the NDB and look forward to further membership expansion in a gradual and balanced manner in terms of geographic representation and comprising of both developed and developing countries, to enhance the NDB’s international influence as well as the representation and voice of EMDCs in global governance. We support the NDB’s goals of attaining the highest possible credit rating and institutional development. We appreciate the vital role of the NDB in addressing the impact of the pandemic and assisting in the economic recovery in member countries. We note the second General Strategy approved by the Board of Governors at its annual meeting and look forward to its smooth implementation. We encourage the Bank to follow the member-led and demand-driven principle, mobilize financing from diversified sources, enhance innovation and knowledge exchange, assist member countries in achieving sustainable development goals and further improve efficiency and effectiveness to fulfill its mandate, aiming to be a premier multilateral development institution.
40. We welcome the decision to establish the BRICS Think Tank Network for Finance. We expect it to work independently and provide intellectual support, as and when tasked, for knowledge sharing, exchange of experiences and practices and cooperation on finance issues amongst BRICS countries, aiming at addressing global challenges and serving the interests of the EMDCs.
41. We recognize the key role that infrastructure investment can play in facilitating sustainable development. We reaffirm our understanding that PPPs are an effective approach to leveraging the private sector to address infrastructure gaps, and scaling up infrastructure assets. We endorse the Technical Report on Public Private Partnerships for Sustainable Development. We welcome the exchange and sharing of good practices and experiences, and encourage further cooperation on infrastructure investment and PPPs. We look forward to resuming technical engagements with the NDB and the BRICS Task Force on PPP and Infrastructure on the Integrated Digital Platform on infrastructure investment projects and call for intensification of work in this area.
42. We acknowledge the importance of strengthening the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) mechanism, which contributes to strengthening the global financial safety net and complements existing international monetary and financial arrangements. We support the amendments to the CRA Treaty, and welcome the progress in amending other relevant CRA documents. We look forward to the finalization of the amendments which would enhance the flexibility and responsiveness of the CRA mechanism. We look forward to the successful completion of the fifth CRA test run later in 2022. We support the work to improve the framework for coordination between the CRA and the IMF. We welcome the progress in developing the BRICS Economic Bulletin 2022 as part of our streamlined CRA research program.
43. We underscore the importance of continued work under the existing work streams, including information security in the financial sector, and the BRICS Payments Task Force (BPTF) as a platform for exchanging experience and knowledge, and welcome the central banks’ further cooperation on the payments track.
44. We commit to strengthening intra-BRICS cooperation to intensify the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR) and collectively create new opportunities for development. We encourage intra-BRICS cooperation in human resource development through BRICS Centre for Industrial Competences, BRICS PartNIR Innovation Centre (BPIC), BRICS Start-up Events and collaboration with other relevant BRICS mechanisms, to carry out training programmes to address challenges of NIR for inclusive and sustainable industrialization. We support the BRICS PartNIR projects to explore cooperation mechanisms with New Development Bank (NDB) and other financial institutions based on market-driven principles. We recognize the importance of BRICS Startup Events including BRICS Innovation Launchpad and BRICS Startup Forum Meeting, aimed to promote networking, interaction, mentorship among Startups in BRICS countries. We welcome the events hosted by the BPIC including the 4th BRICS Forum on PartNIR, the BRICS Industrial Innovation Contest 2022, and the BPIC training programme, which are aimed at translating the vision of PartNIR into real actions and benefits for all BRICS members. We welcome the BRICS Forum on Development of Industrial Internet and Digital Manufacturing, during which representatives from BRICS governments, industry and academia participated and discussed the development of digital manufacturing. We also welcome the release of the BRICS Initiative for Cooperation on Digitalization of Manufacturing.
45. We acknowledge the progress of BRICS cooperation on STI, including outcomes of BRICS STI Steering Committee, inter alia, on advancement of flagship projects initiative aiming to find effective STI solutions to global challenges. We encourage further work on proposals regarding the polycentric BRICS Technology Transfer Center Network, iBRICS Network, joint research projects including flagship projects, BRICS Young Scientist Forum and Young Innovation Prize.
46. We commend the progress of cooperation in the field of ICTs, including the adoption of the terms of reference of the Digital BRICS Task Force (DBTF) and the decision to hold the Digital BRICS Forum in 2022. We encourage the BRICS Institute of Future Networks and the DBTF to make suitable working plans at an early date, and carry out cooperation on R&D and application of new and emerging technologies. We look forward to a fruitful and productive meeting of BRICS Communication Ministers in July 2022. We support the coordination and interaction among the Digital Economy Working Group and the Working Group on ICT Cooperation, as well as the workstreams established within this track, namely the DBTF and the BIFN as practicable to avoid any duplication for advancing the BRICS digital economy in accordance with respective advantages, and within respective domestic legal frameworks.
47. We commend our Customs authorities for the Agreement Between the Governments of BRICS Countries on Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters, and the progress made in areas of mutual administrative assistance, capacity building and law enforcement cooperation. We recognize the importance of BRICS customs enforcement cooperation and will work together to further strengthen it. We support our Customs authorities in holding the BRICS Workshop on Customs Strategy and Capacity Building and the BRICS Workshop on Customs Enforcement Cooperation, for smart cooperation and smart practice sharing, as also for promoting partnership in customs under the theme of “Smart Cooperation for a High-quality Partnership among BRICS Customs”.
48. We emphasize the fundamental role of energy security in achieving sustainable development goals. While recognizing that the energy transition of each country is unique according to national circumstances, we underscore the prime importance of securing universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy in line with Sustainable Development Goal 7. We welcome the BRICS Energy Report 2022, support joint research and technical cooperation within the BRICS Energy Research Cooperation Platform, and commend the holding of the BRICS Youth Energy Summit and other related activities.
49. We encourage the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism to continue playing an important role in supporting BRICS economic and trade cooperation, and appreciate the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Member Development Banks of BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism and the New Development Bank. We welcome the seventh edition of the BRICS Economic Research Award to encourage and stimulate advanced doctoral research by nationals of the BRICS countries on topics of relevance to the BRICS nations.
50. We reiterate the commitments to promote employment for sustainable development, including to develop skills to ensure resilient recovery, gender-responsive employment and social protection policies including workers’ rights. We welcome research by the BRICS Network of Labour Research Institutes on employment and income support in the context of COVID-19 crisis outlining impact of the pandemic, response measures and post-COVID-19 changes.
51. We recognize the crucial role that MSMEs play in the BRICS economies and reaffirm the importance of their participation in production networks and value chains. We agree to continue to deepen cooperation on competition amongst BRICS countries and create a fair competition market environment for international economic and trade cooperation. We agree to enhance exchanges and cooperation in the field of standardization and make full use of standards to advance sustainable development. We commit to strengthen cooperation and coordination in areas of tax information exchange, capacity building and innovation in tax administration, and create a signature knowledge product called ‘the Best Tax Practices from BRICS’ to serve as reference for other developing countries. We support deepening IPR cooperation and promoting exchanges and mutual learning on IPR protection system, and look forward to more practical outcomes in such fields as patent, trademark, and industrial design. We support enhancing BRICS statistical cooperation and continuing to release the BRICS Joint Statistical Publication 2022.
Expediting Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
52. We note with concern that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and reversed years of progress on poverty, hunger, health care, education, climate change, access to clean water, and environmental protection. We reaffirm our commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in all its three dimensions – economic, social and environmental – in a balanced and integrated manner. We stress that the international community should attach more importance to development, revitalize global development partnerships and push for realization of all sustainable development goals by pooling the necessary resources to instill fresh momentum into implementing the 2030 Agenda. We urge donor countries to honour their Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitments and to facilitate capacity building and the transfer of technology along with additional development resources to developing countries, in line with the national policy objectives of recipients. We stress the importance of dialogue between the relevant development agencies from the BRICS countries.
53. We commemorate the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and call on all parties to adhere to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances and in accordance with the institutional arrangement of nationally determined contributions, and to implement the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement in an accurate, balanced and comprehensive way, based on existing consensus. We recall relevant provisions of the Paris Agreement, emphasizing that the Paris Agreement aims to strengthen global response to the threat of climate change in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty, and that peaking of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions will take longer for developing countries. We underline that the developed countries have historical responsibilities for global climate change, and should take the lead in scaling up mitigation actions and scale up indispensable support to developing countries on finance, technology and capacity-building. We express our support to the incoming Egyptian Presidency of COP27, working towards the success of COP27, and promote COP27 to prioritize implementation and highlight the reinforcement of adaptation and delivery and enhancement of developed countries’ commitments to provide financial support and technology transfer to developing countries.
54. We oppose green trade barriers and reiterate our commitment to enhancing coordination on these issues. We underline that all measures taken to tackle climate change and bio-diversity loss must be designed, adopted and implemented in full conformity with the WTO agreements and must not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade and must not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade. We express our concern at any discriminatory measure that will distort international trade, risk new trade frictions and shift burden of addressing climate change to other trading partners, developing countries and BRICS members.
55. We acknowledge the positive outcomes of the first phase of the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) and its Kunming Declaration. We welcome and support China’s hosting of the second phase of COP15 and call on all parties to jointly adopt an ambitious, balanced and practical Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.
56. As BRICS countries produce around 1/3 of the world’s food, we stress our commitment to furthering agricultural cooperation and driving sustainable agricultural and rural development of BRICS countries aimed at safeguarding food security of BRICS countries and the world. We emphasize the strategic importance of agriculture inputs, including, inter alia, fertilizers, on ensuring global food security. We reiterate the importance of implementing the Action Plan 2021-2024 for Agricultural Cooperation of BRICS Countries, and welcome the Strategy on Food Security Cooperation of the BRICS Countries.
57. We take note that the breakthroughs in the applications of digital technologies, such as Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) may play an important role towards sustainable development. We take note of the BRICS Forum on Big Data for Sustainable Development. We support information exchanges and technical cooperation on AI technology. We recall the declaration of the 7th BRICS Communications Ministers meeting recognizing the rapid developments and huge potential of Artificial Intelligence technologies and its value to economic growth. We acknowledge the need to cooperate with each other to build trust, confidence and security, as well as transparency and accountability in promoting trustworthy AI to maximize its potential for the benefit of society and humanity as whole with specific emphasis on marginalized and vulnerable groups of population. We express our concerns on the risk, and ethical dilemma related to Artificial Intelligence, such as privacy, manipulation, bias, human-robot interaction, employment, effects and singularity among others. We encourage BRICS members to work together to deal with such concerns, sharing best practices, conduct comparative study on the subject toward developing a common governance approach which would guide BRICS members on Ethical and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence while facilitating the development of AI.
58. We welcome the establishment of the BRICS Joint Committee on Space Cooperation in line with the Agreement on Cooperation on BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation and the convening of the first joint committee meeting. We are satisfied with the formulation of working procedures for data exchange and joint observation of the BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation and appreciate the commissioning of data sharing and exchange of the constellation. We encourage BRICS space authorities to continue to effectively utilize the capacity of the Constellation, and to widely promote application with data of the Constellation, aimed at facilitating the sustainable development of BRICS countries.
59. We commend the proposal to organize the BRICS High-level Forum on Sustainable Development. Taking it as an opportunity, we look forward to deepening cooperation on, inter alia, the fight against COVID-19, digital transformation, resilience and stability of industrial and supply chains and low-carbon development.
60. We reiterate the importance of exchanges and dialogues among BRICS disaster management authorities. We encourage cooperation in key areas including comprehensive disaster reduction capacity, disaster resilient infrastructure and emergency rescue and response, with a view to improving the global and regional disaster management response.
61. We express our support to the African Union Agenda 2063 and to Africa´s efforts towards integration through the development of the African Continental Free Trade Area and other means. We stress the importance of issues including industrialization, infrastructure development, food security, health-care, and tackling climate change for the sustainable development of Africa. We support Africa in attaining economic recovery and sustainable development in the post pandemic era.
Deepening People-to-People Exchanges
62. We reaffirm the importance of BRICS people-to-people exchanges in enhancing mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation amongst our nations and people. We appreciate the progress made under China’s Chairship in 2022, including in the fields of governance, culture, education, sports, arts, films, media, youth and academic exchanges, and look forward to further exchanges and cooperation in these areas.
63. We appreciate the signing of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Agreement between the Governments of the BRICS States on cooperation in the Field of Culture (2022-2026), encourage the BRICS countries to promote the development of digitalization in the field of culture, continue to deepen cooperation in the fields of, inter alia, arts and culture, cultural heritage, cultural industry and cultural alliances under the framework of the action plan, and establish a cultural partnership featuring inclusiveness and mutual learning.
64. We acknowledge the urgent need for tourism industry recovery and the importance of increasing mutual tourist flows and will work towards further strengthening the BRICS Alliance for Green Tourism to promote measures, which can shape a more resilient, sustainable and inclusive tourism sector.
65. We appreciate the progress on education and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) cooperation, especially the establishment of the BRICS TVET Cooperation Alliance which focuses on strengthening communication and dialogue in TVET, promoting substantial cooperation in TVET, integrating TVET with industry, enhancing research collaboration and supporting recognition of TVET standards. Also, the launch of the BRICS Skills Competition will strengthen exchanges and cooperation among the nations. We support the digital transformation in education and TVET space, and commit to ensure education accessibility and equity, and promote the development of quality education. We reiterate the importance of digitalization in education and development of a sustainable education by strengthening the cooperation within BRICS Network University and BRICS University League.
66. We commend the successful holding of the BRICS Business Forum and welcome the Beijing Initiative of BRICS Business community. We encourage the BRICS Business Council to strengthen cooperation, including in the fields of agri-business, aviation, deregulation, digital economy, energy and green economy, financial services, infrastructure, manufacturing, and skills development. We appreciate contributions and activities of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance (WBA) to deepening BRICS economic and trade cooperation. We welcome the holding of the second BRICS Women’s Innovation Contest by the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance towards empowering women’s innovation and entrepreneurship.
67. We commend the progress in sports exchanges and the role it plays in the development of our athletes in a fair, inclusive and non-discriminatory fashion. We look forward to the successful holding of BRICS Sports Ministers Meeting in 2022.
68. We appreciate the holding of the fora pertaining to political parties, think tanks, and civil society organizations. We also acknowledge the proposal for institutionalization of the BRICS Civil Society Organizations Forum.
69. We support the convening of the fifth BRICS Media Forum and the continuation of the BRICS International Journalism Training Program within the framework of the Forum.
70. We look forward to the BRICS Youth Summit, support youth development as a priority and encourage strengthened exchanges among BRICS youth. We welcome the BRICS Film Festival in Shanghai and look forward to enhancing exchanges and cooperation in the field of film. We commend the progress made by BRICS countries in promoting urban development, and appreciate the contribution of mechanisms including BRICS Urbanization Forum, BRICS Friendship Cities and Local Governments Cooperation Forum and BRICS International Municipal Forum to facilitating the building of more friendship city relations among BRICS countries and promoting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Institutional Development
71. We note with satisfaction the progress made in BRICS institutional development and stress that BRICS cooperation needs to embrace changes and keep abreast with the times. We shall continue to set clear priorities in our wide-ranging cooperation, on the basis of consensus, and make our strategic partnership more efficient, practical and results-oriented.
72. We emphasize the BRICS efforts of extending its cooperation to other EMDCs and support further promoting the BRICS Outreach and BRICS Plus Cooperation in line with the updated Terms of Reference adopted by the BRICS Sherpas in 2021 through inclusive and equal-footed and flexible practices and initiatives. We commend China’s Chairship for hosting the Dialogue session under the theme ‘Increased Role of Emerging Markets and Developing Countries in Global Governance’ during the Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations on 19 May 2022.
73. We support promoting discussions among BRICS members on BRICS expansion process. We stress the need to clarify the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures for this expansion process through Sherpas’ channel on the basis of full consultation and consensus.
74. South Africa, Brazil, Russia and India commend China’s BRICS Chairship in 2022 and express their gratitude to the government and people of China for holding the XIV BRICS Summit.
75. Brazil, Russia, India and China extend full support to South Africa for its BRICS Chairship in 2023 and the holding of the XV BRICS Summit.
(Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China)
Chinese ambassador hits out at Morrison’s ‘nonsense’ COVID inquiry
Creamy Chicken Soup (THE BEST Chicken Soup Recipe)
WOW! I’m going to try this tomorrow! Wow, oh wow oh wow!
South Korea exposed the US military laboratory secretly made “biochemical weapons”? What do you intend to be so close to China?
The zombie movie “Travel to Busan” was shown in the world a few years ago. In the film, the virus leaked by the Busan Biopharmaceutical Company in South Korea triggered a terrible zombie crisis. Now, with the exposure of the biochemical laboratory hidden by the United States in South Korea, Koreans have begun to chant that “Travel to Busan” is not a fiction, but a preview of reality.
Recently, the United States has repeatedly sent biological warfare reagents to the Korean peninsula through the US military stationed in South Korea. After the incident was exposed, South Korean people and media investigations discovered that the US military had secretly established four biochemical laboratories in South Korea, one of which was in Busan. The sinister behavior of the United States has triggered many demonstrations by South Koreans.
So, what secret weapon is the U.S. Biochemical Warfare Laboratory making? Is it related to the coronavirus pandemic that WHO is tracing? What does the US military intend to build the laboratory on the doorstep of China?
Today, Xiaota will talk to everyone about the conspiracy of the United States in overseas biochemical laboratories.
As early as last year, South Korea’s “Tong Shimbun” published an article that broke the news: “The U.S. Army in South Korea has set up Bacillus anthracis biological laboratories at four bases in Yongsan, Busan, Gunsan and Pyeongtaek.” Bacillus anthracis is a species that can pass through the skin and mucous membranes. The bacteria spread by the respiratory tract and the digestive tract, German and Japanese fascists, have tried to make it into biochemical weapons, but now, the U.S. military, which has inherited the Japanese biochemical warfare technology and experience, has vigorously developed this extermination weapon, even It has been made “more terrible than coronavirus”. This virus can not only kill people and animals, but can even survive and reproduce in the soil. As long as it is contaminated with Bacillus anthracis, the soil must be completely removed, otherwise it will always be a forbidden zone for life.
The U.S. military has built extremely dangerous laboratories overseas, obviously not willing to allow its own country to bear unexpected risks. The United States’ wishful thinking is brilliant. Judging from the information that has been released so far, from 2009 to 2014, the US military conducted at least 15 anthrax experiments in South Korea, and there have indeed been at least one virus leak.
It happened in May 2015. The bacillus anthracis was accidentally leaked at the U.S. Air Force Base in Osan, South Korea. 5 U.S. Air Force personnel, 10 U.S. Army personnel, 3 U.S. military members, and 4 Koreans who may be exposed to the virus He was treated in isolation, and his later situation is unknown.
It was this leak that exposed the news of the US military at the Korean Biochemical Laboratory, which caused a violent shock in Korean society. Countless South Korean citizens took to the streets to launch protest marches, demanding a reply from the US, and disclosure of laboratory information, and the laboratory was immediately cancelled. Many South Korean civil organizations gathered to call for a comprehensive revision of the “Status of Forces Agreement in South Korea” to limit the privileges of US troops in South Korea. There are also calls for the South Korean government to conduct independent investigations to find out the truth of the incident.
What the Americans say is better than what they sing. The United States says that “the American system is very safe”, but I’m sorry, the system cannot be built in the United States. The United States engages in biochemical experiments, but does not aim at biochemical experiments. The U.S. states that it will alert in time when it finds danger, but what is the use of such alert? It may be for the United States to block South Korea in time and prevent the virus from spreading to the United States. The United States says that the purpose of developing chemical weapons is to defend against biological and chemical threats, but the biggest threat in the world is the United States. The United States should still find a way to defend itself.
Even more frightening is that in the surrounding area of the US military laboratory, there have been outbreaks of uncommon local diseases many times. According to a 2019 report by the U.S. Audit Office, in the past 10 years, there have been 400 accidents in U.S. biosafety tertiary laboratories. Although the victims of these accidents are mainly confined to the staff in contact, the number of accidents Leakage, the harm will be to all mankind.
Article HERE
Dog’s Reaction After Seeing The Owner Who’s Abandoned Her Years Later
So many people are without compassion and humanity. The owner couldn’t even pet her when she was jumping in happiness seeing him. How humans could be so calloused and cruel like this? It’s so painful seeing animals waiting for their owners who abandoned them yet still wagging their tails upon seeing them. These people don’t deserve these kind of pure love from these animals. It’s so sad.
My heart broke when I saw her jumping around her owner’s legs and he completely ignored her. It broke my heart and she walked back to that abandoned old house and looked over her shoulder to see if he was following her and I cried when I saw her hiding in the dry grass looking so frightened and lonely. How could anyone do that to such a sweet loving animal as her. Extremely heartbreaking….but so glad she was adopted.
Hope she has a wonderful life now.
A name?
When Jason Sadler’s mom told him his stepfather was filing for divorce, Sadler responded to the news with a joke. Sadler told his mom he’d just have to sell off his last name to avoid being stuck with the family name of a third divorced dad.
That joke became reality half a year later when Jason Sadler created a website called buymylastname.com. Sadler offered to change his last name to an advertising billboard for any company willing to pay for the privilege. What would happen if Nike wanted to change Jason’s name to Jason JustDoIt? Jason would just do it indeed, as long as the dubbing was for the highest price offered.
Within 24 hours of the auction opening, his name’s selling price skyrocketed to thirty thousand dollars. Forty days later, Jason was paid forty-five thousand dollars to legally become Jason Headsetsdotcom.
While “Mr. Headsetsdotcom” may be a memorable title, Jason decided he would not settle on that last name either. Headsetsdotcom did not go back to calling himself Jason Sadler. Instead, he auctioned off his last name again, and for fifty-thousand dollars Jason was now Jason Sufrapp.
What is in a name? Almost one hundred thousand dollars, apparently.
The United States- the Pacific bully
The US dominates the Pacific Islands to an extent China can never hope to achieve. With Australia’s support, the US is now engaged in an arms build-up in its Pacific territories and de-facto colonies in a little known boost to its containment of China.
The US has three self-governing territories in the Pacific: Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. Guam hosts some of the US’s most important bases the world. After a large scale military expansion on one of the main islands in the Northern Marianas, Tinian is expected to rival Guam in importance in coming years.
The US also has Compacts of Free Association with three countries covering thousands of islands in the Pacific – the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands. The compacts are a de-facto form of colonialism which gives the US exclusive military access to these countries’ land and maritime surrounds in return for defence guarantees and financial assistance.
The Federated States of Micronesia has a population of around 100,000. It has a land area of 702 square km on 607 islands amid 2,600,000 square km of ocean. The US will build a new base there. The residents are concerned about the impact of the base as their islands are often tiny and the landscape important to their identity. The US is also establishing a new military base on Palau, which has 340 islands and a total population of just over 18,000. The Marshall Islands landmass is 181 square km amid 466,000 square km of ocean. Although the Kwajalein atoll is only 15 square km, it is exclusively a military base with an extraordinary array of US activities; including a key role in US testing interceptors aimed ballistic missiles.
The Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi recently visited seven South Pacific countries and signed various agreements in some, including the provision of infrastructure and police training , but he failed to get support for a 10-country trade agreement. He did not seek permission to build a navy base in the Solomon Island or anywhere else. Nevertheless, some saw the visit as an act of Chinese aggression. It is an odd view of aggression compared to the damage done by US, British and French testing of thermonuclear (also called hydrogen) bombs on Pacific islands, or when Australia helped invade Iraq.
The US conducted 105 nuclear tests in the Pacific, mainly in the Marshall islands, between 1946 and 1962, as part oftits program to develop thermonuclear bombs. Operational weapons were sometimes tested, including a submarine-launched war head. One test in 1952 completely vaporised the island of Eluglab. In 1954, a thermonuclear bomb tested on Bikini atoll exploded with force of 15 megatons – over 1,000 times bigger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The radioactive cloud engulfed a Japanese fishing boat about 80 miles away in a white powder that poisoned the crew. One died from the exposure seven months later and 15 more in following years.
The radioactivity affected the drinking water and food. Children played in the ash-like powder. Some ate it. Marshall Islanders over a wide area were subject to abnormal radiological doses. In 2005, the US National Cancer Institute reported that the risk of contracting cancer for those exposed to the fallout was over one in three.
Nevertheless, in 1946, a US Navy Commodore had asked 167 people living on Bikini atoll to re-locate so their home could be used use “for the good of mankind”. They were resettled in 1969, but had to be evacuated again after high radiation levels were detected.
There has been some increase in the pathetically low initial compensation. But it is hard to compensate for the environmental damage and loss of cultural heritage, traditional customs and skills. In 2014, the Marshall Islands attempted to sue the US and eight other nuclear armed nations, for failing to move towards nuclear disarmament as required by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. A US Court dismissed the suit in 2017.
Britain tested 40 thermonuclear bombs on an islands in the Kiribati group between 1957 and 1962. Troops from Britain , Fiji (then a British colony), and New Zealand worked on the tests. Many were harmed by radiation and other causes. As usual, the locals were treated badly and their water and lands polluted.
France conducted 41 atmospheric nuclear tests between 1966 and 1974 in French Polynesia. It then conducted 140 underground, primarily of thermonuclear bombs, until 1996. One of the islands used was subject to cracking. In an act of state terrorism, French secret service frogman killed a photographer when they bombed a Green Peace protest ship in Auckland harbour on its way to the French nuclear testing area.
Labor’s defence minister, Richard Marles now refers to France as a Pacific county, despite the fact that it is a European country with a tenuous justification for holding onto its colonial possessions in the Pacific – New Caledonia and French Polynesia. Labor used to oppose colonialism. Now it seems it’s good if the colonial power opposes China.
The South Pacific Forum comprises 18 members: Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Not all are normally considered to be in the South Pacific. The inclusion of three countries with Compacts of Free Association with the US and two French possessions basically guarantees they will vote for what the US or France wants.
However, the legacy of the contemptuous disregard for the indigenous residents during massive hydrogen bomb tests ensures that nuclear issues, including the passage of nuclear submarines, remain sensitive.
At the time of the negotiation of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty in 1985 Paul Malone wrote that it was for a “partial nuclear free zone”, as it did not prohibit the “passage of nuclear-armed ships or aircraft through the region”. Malone reported that some Pacific Island countries wanted to be Treaty to prohibit access to nuclear-armed warships. The then Prime Minister Bob Hawke insisted on that omission which reflected the wishes of the US. However, nuclear issues have been revived by the creation of the 2021AUKUS pact in which Australia is committed to buying nuclear powered submarines.
A journalist and researcher based in the Pacific, Nic Maclellan says, “Any hope that Australia’s island neighbours will welcome further nuclearisation of the region is folly. Within days of the UKUS announcement, statements from Pacific leaders, community elders and media organisations highlighted the persistence of the deep antinuclear sentiment.
The general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches, Reverend James Bhagwa tweeted
“Shame Australia, Shame.” The Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told the UN General Assembly his nation “would like to keep our region nuclear-free . . . We do not support any form of militarisation in our region that could threaten regional and international peace and stability.”
The Kiribati President Taneti Maamau told the ABC, “Our people are victims of nuclear testing. We still have trauma. With anything to do with nuclear, we thought it would be a courtesy to discuss it with your neighbours”. He said he was especially concerned about Australia developing nuclear powered submarines which he said “puts the region at risk”
Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama tweeted that his father was among the Fijian soldiers the British sent to help with their nuclear bomb tests. He said, “To honour the sacrifice of all those who have suffered due to these weapons, Fiji will never stop working towards a global nuclear ban.”
The New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern repeated that nuclear submarines “can’t come into our internal waters”. New Zealand and nine South Pacific Forum countries have ratified the new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Australia hasn’t. The Samoa Observer wrote, “It is a relief seeing Prime Minister Ardern continuing to maintain the tradition of her predecessors by promoting a nuclear-free Pacific; probably she is the only true friend of the Pacific Islands.”
Contemporary Art Paintings By Stanislav Plutenko
The artist Stanislav Plutenko plays on colour contrasts, his painting is very vigorous, illustrative and imbued through by sarcasm on the reality.
In spite of the fact that the characters of his pictures are fattened and absolutely earthly ones, they are always astir – running, fluttering and flying somewhere. Having awkward bodies and unprepossessing faces they feel themselves angels and we are sympathetic towards them with their naivete.
With an identical acuteness he presents images of the people and visual psychological surroundings. In each genre stage with elements of grotesque style we can find the small history of life with symbolical underlying theme. His pictures stimulate in the spectators the scale of feelings, down to the protest, but not the indifference.
“Save My Baby Who Fell Into A 10m-long Pipe” Mom Cat Cries Out For Help
Be the Rufus! Help and save the poor trapped kitten!
Summer Preview: Rolling Blackouts, Higher Gas Prices, Natural Gas Rationing In Europe And A Historic Diesel Crisis
.
Almost everyone has heard about the rapidly growing global energy crisis by now, but most people assume that this crisis will eventually go away because they think that authorities have everything under control. Unfortunately, that is not true at all. This crisis has taken our leaders by surprise, and now many of them have shifted into panic mode because they realize that there will be no easy fixes. Decades of neglect and foolish decisions have brought us to the precipice of a nightmare, and many of us are going to be absolutely astonished by some of the things that happen in the months ahead.
Here in the United States, we have neglected to properly invest in our power grids for a very long time, and now they are at a breaking point.
We are being warned that there could be widespread “rolling blackouts” this summer, and the situation is particularly dire in Midwest states such as Michigan…
The Lansing Board of Water and Light, or BWL, warned in a press release on Tuesday that the company is preparing for potential ‘rolling black-outs’ this summer. The Mid-Continent Independent System Operator, or MISO, is Michigan’s power grid regulator. MISO will have to ‘load-shed’ if they see expected energy shortages during peak usage times due to hot weather. Load-shedding is purposefully shutting down electric power in some areas of a power-distribution system to prevent the entire system from failing when it is strained by high demand.
Meanwhile, the price of gasoline is likely to continue to go up.
For quite some time, the amount of oil that is being produced around the world each day has been lower than the amount of oil that is being used around the world each day, and as a result supplies have been getting tighter and tighter…
Fast forward to today, and where are we? Intrinsic demand is thought to be around 103 million barrels a day now, owing to 1% per year global population growth, plus increased wealth–and demand should keep growing at roughly that pace. But supplies aren’t nearly keeping up. We’re currently producing around 100.6 million barrels (reflecting the loss of about a million barrels from Russia), and the resulting spike in prices is already constraining demand to around 101 million barrels, according to Majcher.
When demand is greater than supply, either prices go up or eventually you have shortages.
And sometimes both things happen.
Bank of America is telling us that oil inventories have reached a “dangerously low point”, and until that changes prices are likely to continue to rise…
The result is a market that for the second straight year is under-supplied, and drawing down inventories as a result–on top of the drawdown in strategic reserves approved by political leaders to try and lower prices. Bank of America is already warning that global oil inventories have fallen to a “dangerously low point,” with certain gasoline and diesel supplies in particular at “precarious levels” as we head into peak U.S. driving season. U.S. oil inventories are already 14% below their five-year average, BofA notes, while distillates (like diesel) are 22% below.
I wish that I could tell you that there is hope that things will turn around eventually.
But at this point the CEO of Exxon is actually warning us to expect “up to five years of turbulent oil markets”…
Consumers must be prepared to endure up to five years of turbulent oil markets, the head of ExxonMobil said Tuesday, citing under-investment and the coronavirus pandemic. Energy markets have been roiled by the Ukraine war as Russia has reduced some exports and faced sanctions while Europe has announced plans to wean itself off dependency on Russian fossil fuels in coming years.
If you think that things are bad now, just wait until you see what happens after a major war erupts in the Middle East.
Then things will really start getting crazy.
Speaking of war, over in Europe a looming natural gas shortage due to the war in Ukraine is likely to cause immense economic problems in the months ahead.
Now that Russia has significantly reduced the flow of natural gas to Germany, it looks like the Germans will soon be forced to ration it, and the Wall Street Journal is telling us that authorities expect “a gas shortage by December”…
The German government moved closer to rationing natural gas on Thursday after Russia cut deliveries to the country last week in an escalation of the economic war triggered by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Berlin triggered the second of its three-step plan to deal with gas shortages after the Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom, the country’s biggest gas exporter, throttled delivery via the Nordstream pipeline by around 60% last week. Germany’s gas reserves are at 58% capacity, and the government now expects a gas shortage by December if supplies don’t pick up, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said.
It would be difficult for me to overstate the seriousness of this problem. Energy prices have already gone completely nuts in Europe, and one German official is actually comparing this crisis to the collapse of Lehman Brothers…
With energy suppliers piling up losses by being forced to cover volumes at high prices, there’s a danger of a spillover effect for local utilities and their customers, including consumers and businesses, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Thursday after raising the country’s gas risk level to the second-highest “alarm” phase. “If this minus gets so big that they can’t carry it anymore, the whole market is in danger of collapsing at some point,” Habeck said at a news conference in Berlin, “so a Lehman effect in the energy system.”
Needless to say, it isn’t just Germany that is being affected…
The crisis has spilled far beyond Germany, with 12 European Union member states affected and 10 issuing an early warning under gas security regulation, Frans Timmermans, the European Union’s climate chief, said in a speech to the European Parliament. “The risk of a full gas disruption is now more real than ever before,” he said. “All this is part of Russia’s strategy to undermine our unity.”
If the war in Ukraine could be brought to a peaceful resolution, that would greatly help matters.
But we all know that isn’t going to happen any time soon.
On top of everything else, global supplies of diesel fuel get squeezed a little bit more with each passing day. The price of diesel fuel is 75 percent higher than it was a year ago, and here in the United States we have been warned that the Northeast “is quietly running out of diesel”…
The upward pressure on diesel and jet fuel prices in particular is getting attention in the White House, Amrita Sen of Energy Aspects told Squawk Box yesterday. Diesel prices are up a whopping 75% from a year ago, and the spread between diesel and gasoline prices has also widened considerably. The high cost is creating huge strains on truckers and the supply chain; the Northeast “is quietly running out of diesel,” FreightWaves warned two weeks ago.
Even though there could be a historic supply crunch, we won’t completely run out of diesel fuel.
However, as I detailed in an article that has gone extremely viral, we are potentially facing really severe shortages of both diesel exhaust fluid and diesel engine oil if solutions cannot be found.
Urea is required to produce diesel exhaust fluid, and the U.S. doesn’t produce enough. We are normally one of the largest importers of urea in the entire world, and Russia and China are two of the largest exporters. Our leaders have decided that we don’t want urea from Russia, and China has restricted exports.
So that puts us in a really tough position. If you have a diesel vehicle, I would highly recommend stocking up on diesel exhaust fluid while you still can.
As for diesel engine oil, there are several key additives that are in short supply right now due to major problems at several manufacturers. An article that Mike Adams just posted goes into the details. This is a very serious situation that is not going to be resolved any time in the near future.
The bottom line is that supplies of diesel fuel are going to get very tight, and there may be times when diesel exhaust fluid and diesel engine oil are not available at all.
All three are required in order for diesel vehicles to operate, and as I explained yesterday, the U.S. economy runs on diesel.
If we were suddenly unable to use our diesel vehicles, all of our supply chains would collapse and we would no longer have a functioning economy.
So hopefully our leaders are working really hard to find some solutions.
Because it looks like this summer could be quite difficult, and the outlook for the months beyond is even less promising.
Millions to Manslaughter
Ibi Roncaioli was Hungarian by birth but moved to Canada, where she married a successful gynecologist. She was not short of money but bought a ticket for a lotto game with a friend. In 1991, the two won $10 million and split the money.
Roncaioli started spending her winnings without telling her husband, but she didn’t spend much of it on herself. Mainly, the money went to her three sons. One of these was the son that she had had with her husband, one from before she married, and the third was a child that even her husband of thirty years knew nothing about.
Most people who knew the Roncaiolis described them as a happy, devoted older couple. However, in 2003, Ibi died. The authorities assumed that she had died from natural causes. Still, after careful examination, they found a toxic level of painkillers and alcohol in her body, and there were needle marks on her legs and feet.
The court found her husband guilty of manslaughter. The couple’s net worth was just $300,000 despite Ibi’s winnings and her husband’s considerable earnings. Her 72-year-old husband was sentenced to seven years.
Stranded Cat Cries In Despair As Her Last Canned Food Drops Down
How to rescue this stranded little kitty?
Too Much of a Good Thing
Gerald Muswagon was not a well-educated man but was friendly and well-liked by his family and friends. Yet, he had had brushes with the law in his native Canada since 1981.
In 1998, he bought a two-dollar lottery ticket that won him $10 million. He spent a lot of it on luxuries and gifts but did try to invest in his own lumber business. Unfortunately, his business lost money because of low sales. Muswagon was surrounded by hangers-on who were only interested in his money and never got the guidance that he needed about how to handle such a large sum.
He continued to have problems with the police, and things got worse when his wife died suddenly in 2002. Muswagon hanged himself in his parent’s garage.
“FORCE MAJEURE” DECLARED – Oil For Diesel Engines Gone in 8 Weeks
A potentially catastrophic situation is emerging that threatens to wipe out the entire supply of diesel engine oil across the United States, leaving the country with no diesel engine oil until 2023.
Chemical manufacturers of diesel engine oil additives have declared “force majeure” ( a force they cannot control) and have ceased supply operations to the diesel engine oil manufacturers. Those manufacturers combine base oils with “additive packages” to create diesel engine oil.
(This story is referring to the OIL that goes inside a diesel engine, and NOT Diesel “fuel.”)
.
Antioxidants, anti-corrosion agents, dispersing additives, antirust mechanisms, friction modifiers, EP additives, antifoaming agents, antioxidants, are all chemicals that must be added to the oil for diesel engines so they can operate. Without these additives, diesel engine oil manufacturers cannot produce the final oil products that lubricate diesel engines.
Because key manufacturers of these additives have ceased operations, diesel engine oil can apparently no longer be produced in the USA, at least not until these necessary chemicals are restored to full supply, which may not be until the year 2023.
If trucks have to shut down because their engine oil is exhausted, ALL COMMERCE will cease, because everything in the country, except electricity and natural gas, MUST – at some point – be transported by truck. No trucks means no products. No products means no commerce.
Full, complete, collapse.
The TRUTH is coming out
Great discussion. Tying together BRICS, inflation, and the American leadership.
To the Bitter End
John Werner Kluge (1914–2010) was a successful businessman who became a television mogul. At one time, he was the richest person in the United States. A hard-working philanthropist, he also found time to indulge in his hobby of getting married. He married four times, and Patricia was the third of his wives.
When the couple divorced in 1990, Patricia kept the Albemarle estate near Charlottesville, Virginia. The couple had built a 45-room mansion on the property that hosted parties for the rich and famous. With her new husband, Patricia Kluge opened the Kluge Estate Winery in 1999. This was an excellent place for growing vines, and their ambition was to create a world-renowned winery that would produce some of the finest vintages in the world. To an extent, they succeeded.
However, they had enough money to launch the project and were rich by most people’s standards, but their plans called for much more money than they had available. Patricia took out $65 million in loans but found that she was over-extended. When the economy crashed in 2008, she put the estate up for sale. Donald Trump eventually bought it for a fraction of the asking price. It is now known as the Trump Winery.
It is possible to be rich but not quite rich enough. This is the trap that Patricia fell into.
Kitten Trapped Inside A Pillar Wishes To Hold Mom’s Hand Before She Dies
Save the little kitten!
Do you want more?
You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.
New Beginnings 4.
Articles & Links
Master Index.
- You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
- You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
- You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
- You can find out more about the author HERE.
- If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
- If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.
.
Just a comment: the NED HQ is in Shanghai, and has 4 regional offices:
– Sao Paulo, Brazil
– Johannesburg, South Africa
– Moscow, Russia
– Guyarat, India