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China, Russia, Iran To Hold Nuclear Talks In Beijing After Tehran Snubbed Trump Offer

At a moment that Iran’s stocks of uranium are coming very close to nuclear weapons-grade, and as the Trump White House has resumed its ‘maximum pressure’ policy on Iran, China is set to host a meeting in Beijing with Russia and Iran.

Friday’s scheduled summit in Beijing will focus on the Iranian “nuclear issue” – according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement, involving both nations’ deputy foreign ministers.

China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair the meeting, the statement described. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei confirmed that topping the agenda will be “developments related to the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions.”

The UN atomic watchdog IAEA has recently warned that Tehran “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity. The Iranians are within reach of achieving weapons-grade level of roughly 90% – if they desire to pursue it.

“China has said it supports Iran in safeguarding its legitimate rights and calling for an early resumption of the Iranian nuclear talks,” Reuters has reported.

Late last week President Trump said he sent a formal letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader urging the restart of fresh nuclear talks, which the Iranians have scoffed at. The letter is still said to be en route via the UAE ambassador – after Iran initially said it never received such a letter.

Iranian leaders have several times since last week explained that they can’t trust any dialogue or deal with Washington after it pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal in 2018 (under the first Trump administration).

Meanwhile, China, Iran and Russia are growing more cooperative on the military front, having held the “Maritime Security Belt 2025” joint naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz this week.

“For two days, the crews of the warships conducted both daytime and nighttime live-fire exercises, using heavy machine guns and small arms to engage targets simulating unmanned boats and aerial drones of a mock adversary,” a Russian statement said.

BREAKING:
After flexing military muscle near Iran. China, Russia, and Iran are now taking their alliance to the next level.
The trio is set to hold high-stakes nuclear talks in Beijing this Friday, with Iran’s nuclear program at the center of global attention. pic.twitter.com/Rkq4fOi6Y3
— Current Report (@Currentreport1) March 12, 2025
But interestingly, Trump has recently floated the idea that Russia could mediate an updated Iran nuclear deal. Moscow appears to have expressed openness, but is unlikely to ever demand that Tehran give up its program.

The Iranians have long been insistent it is only for peaceful nuclear energy purposes, however. The Ayatollah chimed in again on this point Wednesday, issuing the following on X:

If we had wanted to build nuclear weapons, the US wouldn’t have been able to stop us. The fact that we neither possess nor seek nuclear weapons is because we ourselves don’t want to.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) March 12, 2025
The Friday trilateral Beijing meeting will in a sense be a gathering of countries which are all sanctioned or are…

As Germany Debates Conscription, ‘Gender Equality’ Means Women Should Be Drafted To Fight (& Die) For Their Country

Via Remix News,

Waves of TikTok club-going Ukrainian women mowed down by first-person drones, arms missing, legs missing, battlefields littered by female corpses as far as the eye can see. In a “gender equal” world, this would be the brutal and terrifying reality on the ground in the Ukraine war. That is unfortunately the reality that men are facing every single day.

Historical grievances from women — less pay for the same work, even lacking the right to vote — pale in comparison to the issue of forced conscription, which dates back to our origins as a tribal species. Men mostly had no choice but to pick up a spear or gun when the call came, or face imprisonment, execution or even torture. On the battlefield, men died violent, horrifying deaths.

In fact, the issue of conscription, and the imbalance between the genders, is becoming increasingly relevant across the world. As women demand the benefits of equality, equal pay for instance, they mostly have no desire to experience the negatives of equality, especially when it comes to combat operations.

The issue is now being debated in the German press as the country grapples with potentially reintroducing conscription under the new CDU and SPD government.

Arguably, progressive and liberal Germany makes gender equality even more of an issue than mostly conservative Ukraine, so if conscription is instated in Germany once again, women should not only be drafted, but they should also be drafted in equal numbers for front-line combat positions.

Private Dajana Bartczewski, left, puts camouflage paint on the face of an unidentified male soldier during an exercise by German Bundeswehr soldiers from the “Generalfeldmarschall-Rommel-Kaserne” barracks in Augustdorf, western Germany, 200 kms (125 miles) northeast of Duesseldorf, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2001. It was the first time since the beginning of 2001 that female soldiers joined a military exercise in combat units and were permitted to handle weapons. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

One German commentator for Welt, a female writer, Marie-Luise Goldmann, would likely agree with this position, writing:

“One question is central to the discussions about the reintroduction of conscription: Should it also apply to women? In addition to pragmatic reasons, there are also moral ones. After all, sparing women is not fair.

Anyone who talks about the reintroduction of conscription cannot – to paraphrase Max Horkheimer – remain silent about gender equality. After Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg suspended conscription in 2011 after 55 years, German politicians are now once again calling on the government to discuss the abolition of the principle of voluntary service. This is intended to counteract the shortage of personnel in the Bundeswehr in an increasingly uncertain world situation.

But who should conscription apply to? Again only to men or now also to women? A simple majority in the Bundestag is enough to reinstate conscription under Article 12a. To make conscription compulsory for women, however, the Basic Law would have to be changed, which would require a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag and…

Trump Will Likely Have To Cut A Deal With Pakistan If He’s Serious About His Afghan Plans

Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

Geographic reasons make this a practical necessity if he wants to restore the US’ military presence at Bagram Airbase and/or return some of the equipment that Biden left there during the withdrawal.

Trump surprised many when he recently declared that he wants to restore the US’ military presence at Afghanistan’s Bagram Airbase and return some of the equipment that Biden left during the withdrawal. 

He justified the first on the basis that it’s just one hour away from where China makes (likely meaning bases) its nuclear weapons and claimed that it now allegedly occupies Bagram.

The second, meanwhile, was justified due to the dangers presented by the Taliban selling this equipment to other groups.

Trump also expressed frustration that the US is allegedly spending billions of dollars each year helping to keep Afghanistan afloat. 

Even if he successfully leverages foreign aid in advance of these interconnected military-strategic goals, which might be counterproductive if China replaces lost American support to entrench its influence in Afghanistan, then he’ll still likely have to cut a deal with Pakistan. 

That’s because the most viable way for the US to access Afghanistan is from its traditional partner’s airspace and roads.

The problem though is that a growing number of issues have begun to beset their partnership. These include the US’ preference for India as its top regional partner in recent years, criticism of a military court’s conviction of 25 civilians a few months ago in connection with unrest over Imran Khan’s scandalous jailing, and newfound concerns about the true intentions of its long-range missile program. Pakistan is also disappointed that the US hasn’t taken its side over the Taliban amidst their tensions.

While it’s possible that Pakistan’s de facto military regime might literally sell out their nation’s abovementioned interests to let the US transit across its territory en route to Afghanistan if Trump reaches a deal with the Taliban, which is itself easier said than done, that can’t be taken for granted. They might very well bargain hard on some issues in order to receive more than just pecuniary benefits. This could take the form of demanding more military equipment and an end to alleged US meddling.

The first could be manipulated to create the optics of the US rebalancing its relations with India for the purpose of provoking an overreaction from the latter’s decisionmakers or media, while the second could silence criticism of Imran Khan’s scandalous jailing and relieve pressure on its missile program. Of course, another possibility exists, and it’s that Trump doesn’t negotiate fairly with Pakistan but instead ramps up pressure upon it and then promises to reverse what was just added in exchange for what he wants.

That could be accomplished via more official attention being paid to Imran Khan’s case in parallel with threatening the curtailment of existing military aid and sanctions over its missile program. All that would change if Pakistan capitulated to this newfound comprehensive pressure campaign is that the intensity would simply revert back to what it once was…

Ukraine Has Agreed To Enter Truce Negotiations With Moscow: Rubio

Update(1745ET): Coming out of the Jeddah talks with the Ukrainian delegation, which lasted over eight hours, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued a statement hailing that Kiev has agreed to enter negotiations with Russia to end the war.

“Today, we’ve made an offer that the Ukrainians have accepted, which is to enter into a ceasefire and into immediate negotiations to end this conflict in a way that’s enduring and sustainable,” Rubio stated.

The 30-Day ceasefire aspect which was announced earlier appears designed to jump-start direct talks – with the intent that the guns would go silent to allow for talks to begin in earnest. It appears akin to a ‘freeze’ of the front lines of the conflict (something which Putin is likely to reject, seeing in in a possible ploy for Ukraine to rearm and regroup).

Rubio explained before reporters:

The offer is to stop the shooting. The goal here is the only way out – to end this war is to negotiate out of it.  There’s no military solution to this war.  The solution to this war and the way to end it and to achieve the President’s objective of peace is to negotiate. 

But before you can negotiate you have to stop shooting at each other, and that’s what the President has wanted to see, and that’s what – that’s the commitment we got today from the Ukrainian side, their willingness to do that.  Obviously, now that will be delivered to the Russians. 

On communicating the plan to Russia, Rubio said “It’ll be delivered to them directly through multiple channels, meaning not only will they obviously see it – we’ve – it’ll be communicated to them through our diplomatic channels, through conversations, and other methods.  But they’ll obviously be well aware.”

“And our hope is that the Russians will say yes, that they will also agree, so the shooting will stop, the killing will stop, the dying will stop, and the talks can begin about how to end this war permanently in a way that’s acceptable and enduring for both sides,” the US top diplomat added.

* * *

An apparent breakthrough in Jedda talks between the US and Ukraine, as the United States has announced it “will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.”

The Zelensky government has also “expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation,” the statement said.
Via Reuters

“The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace,” it added. This comes after a reported over eight hour-long meeting between the US and Ukrainian delegations in the Saudi port city on Tuesday. No doubt, the Ukrainians came hat in hand, ready to please Trump after relations had fallen off a cliff with the Zelensky Oval Office confrontation earlier this month.

Shortly before the announced US-Ukraine…

UK Government Preparing For More Riots This Summer

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,

The UK government is already preparing for the potential of more riots this summer by making available hundreds of extra prison cells.

Following last year’s riots in response to the Southport attack, the government made an example out of those involved, including by imprisoning people who had merely posted offensive comments on social media as well as “inaccurate information” about the attack.

Given that prisons were already overcrowded, measures were activated that saw some existing prisoners, including ones locked up for violent crimes, released after serving just 40% of their sentence to make room for thought criminals.

Despite there being no actual intelligence concerning more riots in the upcoming months, the government appears to be expecting them anyway.

“Hundreds of extra makeshift cells and newly refurbished cells will be in use by the end of this year,” reports the Guardian.

According to the justice minister, James Timpson, prison capacity needs to be available without the need to enact emergency measures like early release.

“We need to be prepared for the capacity that would be needed if we had the riots, the civil disobedience, [we saw] in the summer. We’re clear there are no more emergency measures to do. We just need to make sure we use all of the operational levers we have,” he said.

As we previously highlighted, Professor David Betz, a top academic who has advised both the US and UK governments, warned recently that the UK is “explosively configured” for mass civil unrest.

Betz said that the government is undergoing a “destruction of legitimacy” as a result of increasing anger at their inability to defend the border from a deluge of illegal immigrants, in addition to their inability to protect children from grooming gangs.

“If you want to create domestic turmoil in a society, then what the British government has been doing is almost textbook exactly what you would do,” said the professor.

Betz said that the situation is now “too far gone” and that a national eruption which will outstrip last summer’s riots is likely to happen within 5 years.

*  *  *

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Tyler Durden
Tue, 03/11/2025 – 07:20…

Can Vladimir Putin Be Negotiated With?

Via The Libertarian Institute

As President Donald Trump attempts to engage with Russia to end the conflict in Ukraine, supporters of the proxy war in Washington, Europe, and Ukraine claim that President Vladimir Putin is an evil dictator who cannot be trusted. The implication is that talking with the Kremlin is equivalent to surrender for Kiev because Putin wants all of Ukraine, and will use any pause in fighting to gear up for the next invasion.

However, history disproves that assertion. For Moscow, the war was never about seizing Ukrainian territory or attempting to reconstitute the USSR, but pushing back on NATO expansion after the bloc threatened to add Kiev as a member.

Before the invasion and in the early months of the war, Putin made serious offers to both Washington and Kiev to allow eastern and southern Ukraine to remain under Kiev’s control if the country agreed not to join NATO.

The Joe Biden administration outright refused to negotiate on those terms, even if they were acceptable to Kiev. Preventing those talks from occurring first provoked the Russian invasion, then prevented it from ending within a few months.

As Scott Horton explains in the following excerpt from his latest book, Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine, there were talks in Istanbul, Turkey that nearly ended with conflict within two months.

A Ukrainian negotiator explained the dialogue was “completely successful” and could have allowed the war to come to an end by April 2022. But Western leaders like then-United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not want peace, and pressed Kiev to fight.

You can own a signed copy of Provoked by making a contribution to The Libertarian Institute’s fundraiser.

* * *

US, UK Prevent Peace

Early indications that Russia and Ukraine could achieve a quick negotiated solution soon gave way to the reality that the Biden administration was instead determined to drag out the war to “weaken Russia.”

One day after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, State Department spokesman Ned Price was asked about the proposed terms to begin negotiations. Though an innocent third person might have assumed that achieving a ceasefire and early end to the fighting would be the highest priority, Price made it clear this was not the case with the American administration. “Those are not the conditions for real diplomacy,” he said.

As Secretary Blinken confirmed in October 2022, the only time he had spoken to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov since February 15, 2022, nine days before the invasion, was over the release of the basketball player Brittney Griner, who had been convicted of bringing a THC vape pen into the country. Otherwise, the policy was “Do not engage.”

Two days after the war began, Zelensky said he wanted to negotiate. “We are not afraid to talk to Russia. We are not afraid to say everything about security guarantees for our state. We are not afraid to talk about neutral status. We are not in NATO now.” But he said the main question was “what security guarantees will we have? And…

Zelensky Must Prepare Elections, Cede Territory To End The War: Trump Admin

The Trump White House wants Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to begin planning elections or else consider stepping down as a condition for the resumption of US military aid and intelligence sharing, a fresh NBC report reveals. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also said Monday that Ukraine must cede territory.

Ukraine “would have to make concessions over land that Russia had taken since 2014 as part of any agreement to end the war,” The NY Times reports. “The most important thing that we have to leave here with is a strong sense that Ukraine is prepared to do difficult things, like the Russians are going to have to do difficult things, to end this conflict or at least pause it in some way, shape or form,” Rubio told reporters as he flew from the US to Jeddah – as quoted in multiple outlets.

American and Ukrainian officials are meeting in Saudi Arabia. The question of elections in Ukraine, which have been canceled indefinitely under martial law, has moved to the forefront also as pressure is still on for Kiev to sign the minerals deal.

“As President Trump demonstrated by reading President Zelenskyy’s message at the joint session, the Ukrainians have made positive movement. With meetings in Saudi this coming week, we look forward to hearing more positive movement that will hopefully ultimately end this brutal war and bloodshed,” White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said this weekend when asked about Trump’s requirements.
Via The Hill

Rubio in Riyadh has further explained, “The important point in this meeting is to establish clearly their intentions, their desire, as they’ve said publicly now numerous times, to reach a point where peace is possible,” Rubio said of Tuesday’s delegation meeting with the Ukrainians. “And then we’ll have to determine how far they are from the Russian position, which we don’t know yet either. And then once you understand where both sides truly are, it gives you a sense of how big the divide is and how hard it’s going to be.”

There’s widespread acknowledgement in Washington that Ukrainian forces will never be able to pry the four annexed territories in the east back from Russia.

The question of Crimea will be something Moscow will also never budge on – and Kiev is likely more willing at this point to give up any future claims on it, which has been the historic home of Russian naval power on the Black Sea.

As for elections, Zelensky’s term in office expired in May 2024, and Ukrainian parliament has recently reaffirmed the Constitutionality of Zelensky’s mandate as leader of the country during wartime. However, Trump last month called him a ‘dictator’ who canceled elections, and even long before that called him the “world’s greatest salesman” as he received hundreds of billions from the US and Western allies.

Below are the key lines from the Sunday NBC report:

Trump wants the deal, which would give the United States a stake in Ukraine’s mineral resources, signed. But he also…

Greenland Elections: US, Denmark, Or Independence?

Via RF/ERL,

Greenland’s upcoming elections have gained global attention after former U.S. President Donald Trump expressed interest in acquiring the territory.

While most Greenlanders favor independence, they rely heavily on Denmark for economic support.

Three of the five political parties support independence, but the path to full sovereignty requires a deal with Denmark, a Greenland-wide referendum, and approval from the Danish parliament.

Normally the elections for the 31-member Inatsisartut, the parliament of Greenland, would get scant attention. 

The world’s biggest island, with a population of just 60,000, is rarely in the news.

That changed in January, when incoming US President Donald Trump expressed an interest in taking control of the strategically located and resource-rich territory.

The move sent shockwaves throughout Europe, notably for fellow NATO ally Denmark, to which Greenland in fact belongs. 

(While Copenhagen oversees foreign and monetary policy, Greenlanders control most domestic issues.)

That has meant all eyes will now be on the March 11 elections, called by Greenland’s prime minister, Mute Egede, after Trump’s pronouncements. 

And while regular domestic issues are part of the election campaign, the overriding issue is clear: Go American, stay Danish, or aim for independence?

To be clear, most Greenlanders don’t want to become American, and none of the five parties in parliament is advocating for it. Along with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Egede has made clear that Greenland — which is an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark — is not for sale and that only Greenlanders can decide its future. 

Interestingly, the parliament recently passed a law banning both anonymous and foreign donations in the election campaign.

But what if an offer they can’t refuse comes their way? 

The United States first expressed an interest in the island in the 19th century, and the territory is actually closer to North America than the European continent. Greenland’s security is already guaranteed by virtue of an US air base in the north.

And the Arctic is certainly not off-limits for the major powers. 

Both China and Russia are active in the region, not only for the region’s lucrative rare earth materials but also due to warmer temperatures melting sea ice and opening up lucrative trade routes. 

Even if the island doesn’t become American anytime soon, there could be some sort of free trade or association deal with Washington in the future.

Then again, the Greenlanders can be a conservative bunch. 

Where others may see lucrative business opportunities, many of them see a homeland that should be preserved. Only two mines currently exist in Greenland, and the last election, in 2021, was dominated by the popular decision to limit oil and gas exploration and ban the mining of uranium.

It is here where Denmark comes into the picture. 

Three of the five political parties want independence from Denmark, including Prime Minister Egede’s left-wing Community of the People party, which finished first four years ago and is likely to finish on top again.

The same is true for the ruling party’s current coalition partner, the social-democrat Forward party, which aims to finish second. The liberal Democrats party, which prefers to remain in a union…

Beijing’s ‘Panama Strategy’ Is Global

Authored by James Gorrie via The Epoch Times,

What’s behind the Trump administration’s interest in revisiting the Panama Canal Treaty?

Plenty.

Although Panama technically owns the canal, China operates ports at both ends of it. This gives Beijing the opportunity to militarize its control over it with dual-use infrastructure, potentially positioning it to deny access to the critical waterway, particularly to the United States.

Today, China is the canal’s second-largest customer, behind only the United States. Some believe that Beijing’s influence has already led to disproportionately higher transit costs for the United States and that it violates Panama’s neutrality policy that was negotiated by a treaty with the United States in 1978.

The Trump administration believes that the treaty has already been broken, so U.S. action is justified. It also believes that Beijing’s de facto control over the Panama Canal poses a direct threat to U.S. economic, military, and geopolitical interests in the region and the world.

The administration is correct in its assessment.

The ‘Panama Strategy’ Goes Global

In the larger picture, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has deepened its presence and influence in Latin America, as it has in many strategic areas around the globe. The BRI, also known as “One Belt, One Road,” is a global infrastructure and investment scheme to insert Chinese money, influence, and personnel into nations worldwide by building needed infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports, and energy pipelines.

BRI participation typically weakens foreign governments by leaving them deep in debt to Beijing, resulting to some degree in a loss of sovereignty or control over Chinese-built ports and other infrastructure.

Panama’s relinquishment of economic control of the canal to Beijing is a great example of the CCP’s overarching strategy. Its “Panama Strategy” is a systematic way of gaining control over the world’s strategic waterways, shipping lanes, and ports.

This strategy’s main elements involve establishing a global naval presence, extending influence through its BRI deals, and building military sites and artificial islands in key locations around the world. The goal is to expand the Chinese regime’s power in order to overturn the U.S.-led global trading system and its open shipping lanes policy. The Panama Canal isn’t the first, but it is one of many strategic waterways that China controls through either infrastructure investments, or a military presence through its BRI program, or with both.

Beijing’s Big Board Game

For Beijing, the most critical area is the South China Sea. With about $3 trillion worth of trade (one-third of global shipping) passing through it annually, China has built artificial islands and military installations in the region to assert its dominance. Of course, this poses a direct challenge to U.S. security guarantees to nations in the region, from Taiwan to South Korea and Japan. This has led to rising tensions with neighboring countries and global powers, especially with the United States and Taiwan.

The Strait of Malacca is another narrow passage for global trade with a heavy Chinese naval commercial presence established through the BRI. With 60 percent of its…

China Hits Canada With Retaliatory Tariffs On Farm And Food Products

In the latest salvo of the second global trade war, on Saturday, China announced retaliatory tariffs on some Canadian farm and food imports, after Canada imposed duties in October on Chinese-made electric vehicles and steel and aluminum products.

Additional 100% tariffs will be imposed on Canadian rapeseed oil, oil cakes and peas, and additional 25% tariffs will apply to pork and some seafood imports. The new duties become effective March 20, according to a statement by the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council.

China said it was responding to “discriminatory” tariffs of 100% on electric vehicles and 25% on steel and aluminium that Ottawa announced in August, which followed similar actions by the US.

China is an important market for Canadian rapeseed, a crop also known as canola. China bought $3.5bn worth of Canadian canola products, including oil and seeds, making it the largest market behind the US, according to the Canola Council of Canada trade group.

The duties come in retaliation for Ottawa imposing tariffs against Chinese imports in October, including a 100% surtax on all Chinese-made EVs and 25% on steel and aluminum imports.

“Despite China’s repeated opposition and dissuasion, Canada has taken unilateral restrictive measures on electric vehicles, steel, aluminum and other products imported from China without investigation, undermining China-Canada economic and trade relations,” read the statement by the customs authorities.

The decision to impose retaliatory duties comes after an “anti-discrimination probe, which found out that Canada’s restrictive measures against some Chinese products have disrupted normal trade order and harmed the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” it added.

Canada announced tariffs on Chinese goods last August following similar duties being imposed by the U.S. and the European Union against Chinese-made EVs and other products. The Western governments – and certainly Trump – say China’s subsidies give its industry an unfair advantage.

Canadian outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused China of “not playing by the same rules” when he announced the tariffs on Chinese EVs and metals in August. Carmaking is one of Canada’s most important manufacturing sectors, with plants supplying the US market.

The tariffs add to global trade tensions already high, with rounds of tariff announcements by the United States, China, Canada and Mexico. This week, Trump backtracked on his threat to impose sweeping 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico and Canada but maintained the possibility of the measures being imposed in April.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 03/09/2025 – 17:07…