https://archive.is/XzZ9S

https://english.news.cn/20240905/e898a78004754f229763ad2bb5be7aa3/c.html

"Israel" has, since its attacks on Lebanon in 2006 and those on Gaza in 2008 and 2014, used a new nuclear weapon, one which kills with a high temperature radiation flash and with neutrons. ...

"Israel" and the USA (at least) have developed what is almost certainly a mini-neutron bomb. "Israel" is using it in Gaza. And may be using it in Lebanon (again).

China to give Africa $50 billion over next three years!

Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday pledged over $50 billion in financing for Africa over the next three years, promising to deepen cooperation in infrastructure and trade with the continent as he addressed Beijing's biggest summit since the pandemic. More than 50 African leaders and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres are attending this week's China Africa forum, according to state media. African leaders already secured this week a plethora of deals for greater cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, mining, trade and energy. Addressing the leaders at the forum's opening ceremony in Beijing's ornate Great Hall of the People on Thursday morning, Xi hailed ties with the continent as in their "best period in history". "China is ready to deepen cooperation with African countries in industry, agriculture, infrastructure, trade and investment," he said. "Over the next three years, the Chinese government is willing to provide financial support amounting to 360 billion yuan ($50.7 billion)," Xi said. Over half of that will be in credit, he said, with $11 billion "in various types of assistance" as well as $10 billion through encouraging Chinese firms to invest. He also promised to help "create at least one million jobs for Africa".

Deals and pledges

China, the world's number two economy, is Africa's largest trading partner and has sought to tap the continent's vast troves of natural resources including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals. It has also furnished African countries with billions in loans that have helped build much-needed infrastructure but sometimes stoked controversy by saddling governments with huge debts. Analysts say that Beijing's largesse towards Africa is being recalibrated in the face of economic trouble at home and that geopolitical concerns over a growing tussle with the United States may increasingly be driving policy. But bilateral meetings held on the sidelines of the summit delivered a slew of pledges on greater cooperation in projects from railway to solar panels to avocados. Following meetings on Wednesday, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said he had overseen a deal between the country's state-owned power company ZESCO and Beijing's PowerChina to expand the use of rooftop solar panels in his country. Nigeria -- one of Beijing's biggest debtors on the continent -- and China inked a joint statement agreeing to "deepen cooperation" in infrastructure, including "transportation, ports and free trade zones".

Expanding transport links

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, in turn, obtained a commitment from Xi to push for new progress on a long-stalled railway connecting his country to neighbouring Zambia. That project -- which Zambian media has said Beijing has pledged $1 billion towards -- is aimed at expanding transport links in the resource-rich eastern part of the continent. Zimbabwe also won promises from Beijing on deeper cooperation in "agriculture, mining, environmentally friendly traditional and new energy (and) transportation infrastructure", according to a joint statement by the two countries. The southern African nation and Beijing also agreed to sign a deal that would allow the export of fresh Zimbabwean avocados to China, the joint statement said. And Kenyan leader William Ruto said Xi had promised to open up China's markets to agricultural products from his country. The two sides agreed to work together on the expansion of the country's Standard Gauge Railway -- built with finance from Exim Bank of China -- which connects the capital Nairobi with the port city of Mombasa. And Ruto also secured a pledge for greater cooperation with China on the Rironi-Mau Summit-Malaba motorway, which Kenyan media has said is expected to cost $1.2 billion. Ruto last year asked China for a $1 billion loan and the restructuring of existing debt to complete other stalled construction projects. The country now owes China more than $8 billion.

Text of the article:

*Raytheon Technology Corp. (RTX) has been assessed a $200 million fine for violating export laws involving exchanging information on U.S. combat aircraft with prohibited countries. The laws are associated with the International Traffic in Arm Regulations. According to the U.S. State Department, RTX is guilty of improperly classifying and controlling exports of defense articles, including classified material.

Sensitive information on the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning II, and B-2 Spirit bomber was mistakenly made available to Russia, China, and Iran.

According to a Reuters report, RTX voluntarily disclosed its errors. At a July 25 earnings call with investors, the company said it had earmarked $1 billion to resolve three separate legal issues that it said were primarily identified during the integration of firms Rockwell Collins and Raytheon/United Technologies into RTX in April 2020.

According to a U.S. State Department document released last week, one of the transgressions involved providing Chinese nationals in Shanghai with information that was more sensitive than RTX employees realized on “an aluminum display housing component of the F-22 Raptor Fighter Aircraft.”

On the earnings call, RTX told investors, "As part of the resolution of each of these three matters, we will be required to retain independent compliance monitors over the three-year term of the agreements." Half of the fine will be spent to fund a remedial compliance program.*

Own take:

First of all, hahahahaha!! This is what you get for being such a free market fundamentalist shithole that you leave war production in the hands of the private sector! Also China wins again by doing absolutely nothing lol

I think this punishment is extremely lenient considering this could be viewed as treason. It's barely .012% of their market cap, so it's like a speeding ticket for a normal person. Also it mentions they are having three other violations at the same time, so this is apparently a regular occurrence. In my opinion, this just goes to show how deep the US government is in the pocket of these companies.

(archive link)

The US government has confiscated an airplane reportedly used by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, claiming it violates Washington’s sanctions against Caracas, CNN reported on Monday.

The US has charged Maduro with drug trafficking and refused to recognize his victory in the last two Venezuelan presidential elections.

“Seizing the foreign head of state’s plane is unheard-of for criminal matters. We’re sending a clear message here that no one is above the law, no one is above the reach of US sanctions,” an unnamed Washington official told CNN, which first reported the story on Monday.

According to CNN, the plane is worth around $13 million and was seized in cooperation with Dominican authorities.

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