USA- Iran talks “futile” says Iran
Iran says nuclear talks with US futile 9MSN News, February 8, 2013
American proposals for direct talks with Iran are pointless while
Washington is “holding a gun” to the country through sanctions, Iran’s
supreme leader says, quashing a possible breakthrough in contacts with
the West over the nuclear standoff.
The message from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all
major decisions in Iran, has been reiterated by Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a news conference in Cairo.
Their dismissal of one-on-one dialogue raises the stakes when wider
negotiations between Iran and world powers, including the United
States, resume this
month…..http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/02/08/06/01/iran-says-nuclear-talks-with-us-futile
Niger gets a poor deal from AREVA’s uranium mining
In Niger, New Disputes Over French Uranium Extraction International Business Times, 6 Feb 13, “....no wonder Paris sent its own special security forces to Niger this week to protect a French-operated uranium mine there.
But mineral resources have long been a touchy subject in Niger, and the extra security has generated some controversy as to whether foreign investors have dealt a fair hand to the country’s 16 million people.
“Uranium is really a crucial point of contention,” said Leonardo A. Villalón, an associate professor at the University of Florida and expert on the Sahel, the band of semi-arid land just south of the Sahara Desert. “The notion of exactly who benefits from the resource is the central question of political economy in Niger.”….. President Mahamadou Issoufou suggested on Sunday that Nigeriens are getting the short end of the stick…..
The exact details regarding Areva’s current dealings with Niger are murky. …. Areva did not respond to requests for comment regarding its current agreement with the Nigerien administration….. http://www.ibtimes.com/niger-new-disputes-over-french-uranium-extraction-1064546
Even Australia might fight for its uranium companies Paladin and Rio Tinto
What have interested Australian companies, or the Australian government, done to address these concerns?…….
what should we make of Australian Defence Force chief General David Hurley’s alarming indication that there might be a role for the ADF in protecting “Australian interests” in Africa?
Multinational miners: magnanimous or malevolent? Kellie Tranter – lawyer and Humna Rights Activist, FEBRUARY 1, 2013 BY KELLIE TRANTER “……..Malawi “…….Minister Carr praised the work of Australian mining company Paladin, referring to its strong corporate social responsibility. Paladin operates Malawi’s biggest uranium mine, the Kayelekera.
In June 2008, The Bench Marks Foundation released a report ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and the Mining Sector in Southern Africa’ which suggested that when Paladin struck its deal with the Malawi government to mine uranium, it was agreed that it would get a 100% capital write off, a reduction in corporate tax from 30% to 27.5% and a scrapping of the 10% resource rent tax. Paladin was also to be exempt from the standard 17.5% import VAT or duty and a royalty rate reduced from 5% to 1.5% in the first three years and 3% thereafter.
Now Malawi’s opposition party, the People’s Transformation Movement (PETRA), have given the Malawi Government a 14 day ultimatum to explain why the Kayelekera deal cannot be renegotiated. However, there are reports that the agreement with the previous government (of late President Mutharika, a former World Bank economist) includes a clause that the government will not take any action that will seriously change the financial aspects of the project for the period of 10 years. Residents are also concerned that the Malawi Government retains only a 15% equity in Paladin (Africa) Limited (PAL) a subsidiary of Paladin and has given “breathing space” on taxes for 10 years. Continue reading
Sweden in no hurry to press charges against Julian Assange
With Assange in Diplomatic Limbo, Sweden in No Rush to Press Rape Charges , 01 February 2013 By Alissa Bohling, Truthout | News Analysis With Julian Assange remaining in diplomatic limbo in London, Sweden refuses his offer for an interview, leading some to suspect they are not anxious to pursue allegations of rape that have been lodged against him……
In an October 2012 letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder, they asked the Department of Justice to give its word that Assange will not be extradited, subject to indefinite detention or prosecution under the Espionage Act for the activities of WikiLeaks, but with no response, he and his Swedish accusers remain in legal limbo, calling into question whether Assange’s civil liberties and the women’s right to take their accusations through the criminal justice process can both be upheld. Continue reading
Urgent need for USA to adopt a new strategy with Iran, as Nixon did with China
The U.S. needs a completely different approach to Iran By Flynt and Hillary Leveret Reuters, JANUARY 31, 2013 As Washington and its great power partners prepare for more nuclear negotiations with Iran, the Obama administration and policy elites across the political spectrum talk as if America is basically in control of the situation. Sanctions, we are told, are inflicting ever-rising hardship on Iran’s economy. Either Tehran will surrender to U.S. demands that it stop enriching uranium or, at some point, the American military will destroy Iranian nuclear installations.
This is a dangerous delusion, grounded in persistent American illusions about Middle Eastern reality. Because of failed wars-cum-occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan; a war on terror that has turned Muslim societies ever more firmly against U.S. policy; and de facto support for open-ended Israeli occupation of Arab populations, America’s position in the region is in free fall.
Increasingly mobilized publics will not tolerate continuation of such policies. If, in this climate, the United States launches another war to disarm yet another Middle Eastern country of weapons of mass destruction it does not have, the blowback against American interests will be disastrous. Nonetheless, that is where our current strategy – negotiating on terms that could not possibly interest Iran while escalating covert operations, cyber-attacks, and economic warfare against it – leads. Continue reading
France wants to hang on to control of uranium resources in Mali
beneath
the deserts in Northern Mali and Eastern Niger, territory now
exclusively claimed by the nomadic Tuareg tribes, exists the world’s
third largest uranium reserves as well as substantial oil reserves.
“Paris has cultivated the dependency
of their former colonies by hand-picking weak regimes that gave them
access to resources,”
Is the French Invasion of Mali tied to a Colonial War for Uranium? By
Saeed Shabazz Global Research, January 30, 2013 There is still
confusion in UN corridors concerning France’s military intervention in
Northern Mali, which began on Jan. 11 with air strikes against the
so-called Islamist camps moving closer to the capital city of Bamako. Continue reading
A realistic plan for negotiations with Iran
Devil Is in the Details for Iran Nuclear Deal Anti War.com by Jasmin Ramsey, January 26,2013 After a year of fruitless negotiations that are expected to resume soon, Iranian and U.S. experts are urging both sides to show more flexibility and make more concessions on its nuclear programme.
A letter written this month by seven former Iranian parliamentarians now living in exile urges Iran and the P5+1 – the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – to pursue a “win-win outcome” by incorporating four points into an agreement.
The letter states that Iran should be able to enrich uranium up to five percent for peaceful purposes; Iran should be given fuel for its medical and scientific research reactors if it halts its enrichment of 20 percent uranium and allows the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to control its existing stockpile; Iran should implement the Additional Protocol as a “confidence-building measure”; and Iran should be provided with a timetable for the lifting of sanctions if it halts its 20 percent uranium enrichment.
“The proposal reminds us that there is in fact a reasonable solution to this confrontation, one that satisfies each side’s core interests and removes any need for war,” Stephen Walt, a Harvard international relations professor, told IPS. “The only question is whether leaders in Washington and Tehran will be smart and far-sighted enough to seize it.”…… http://original.antiwar.com/ramsey/2013/01/25/devil-is-in-the-details-for-iran-nuclear-deal/
North Korea ups the nuclear ante
Defiant North Korea ups nuclear rhetoric,SMH, January 24, 2013 Flavia Krause-jackson and Sangwon Yoon NORTH Korea vowed to boost its nuclear capability after the United Nations Security Council, including its ally China, imposed new sanctions against the totalitarian state for last month’s rocket launch
Denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula is impossible,” North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. ”We will take physical response measures to expand and bolster the quality of our sovereign military power – including our nuclear deterrence.”
The Security Council on Tuesday unanimously agreed to measures that build on a series of travel bans and asset freezes. The US-drafted resolution imposes sanctions on North Korea’s space agency, targets the illicit smuggling of sensitive items and updates a list of nuclear and ballistic missile technology prohibited for transfer in or out of the country……. The most significant aspect of the UN vote may be political, with China siding against its ally and neighbouring communist regime in the world body for the first time in four years.
North Korea has ignored repeated calls to abandon its nuclear weapons program and to also stop test launches to develop long-range ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear warheads.
Re-colonisation of Africa in grab for uranium and other resources
it’s a uranium issue and how France needs uranium there. And Mali is a big producer of uranium. There are resources there. So, I think France – this is very clear – has economic reasons.
‘Al-Qaeda threat used by NATO as smoke screen for re-colonization of Northern Africa’, RT 21 Jan 13, The UK is providing logistical air assistance, while the United States is providing surveillance and other intelligence help.
Washington also announced it will supply transport planes for French forces and consider sending refueling tankers for French warplanes.
Canada has joined with the allies to support the on-going military intervention by dispatching a heavy-lift military transport. The country is also making an indirect contribution by training counter-terrorism operatives in neighboring Niger.
Italy is ready to offer logistical support for air operations, but it will not be joining French troops on the ground. The country’s defense Minister Giampaolo Di Paola told the Senate on Wednesday that Italy’s offer was confined to air operations only.
Journalist Neil Clark told RT he believed economic reasons were behind every single western military adventure of the last 30 years – and Mali was no different. Continue reading
In the West’s grab for resources, it’s convenient to blame Al Qaeda
RT: Africa has plenty of untapped natural resources. Which countries appear most interested in securing and possibly expanding their interests there? And how could those interests clash?
NC: Very possibly, because I think obviously France from Mr. Hollande’s point of view – their economy is in a very bad state in France – and I think that he is hoping that a successful intervention in Mali would boost his popularity ratings back home. So, it’s a uranium issue and how France needs uranium there. And Mali is a big producer of uranium.
the west wants resources, the west wants to get control of resources in this region
‘Al-Qaeda threat used by NATO as smoke screen for re-colonization of Northern Africa’, RT 21 Jan 13,
The UK is providing logistical air assistance, while the United States is providing surveillance and other intelligence help. Continue reading
In Mali – a war for grabbing resources – especially uranium
Uranium: encouraging signs and exploration in full swing. Exploration is currently being carried out by several companies with clear indications of deposits of uranium in Mali. Uranium potential is located in the Falea area which covers 150 km² of the Falea- North Guinea basin, a Neoproterozoic sedimentary basin marked by significant radiometric anomalies. Uranium potential in Falea is thought to be 5000 tonnes. The Kidal Project, in the north eastern part of Mali, with an area of 19,930 km2, the project covers a large crystalline geological province known as L’Adrar Des Iforas. Uranium potential in the Samit deposit, Gao region alone is thought to be 200 tonnes.
The War on Mali What You Should Know: An Eldorado of Uranium, Gold, Petroleum, Strategic Minerals SPY GhanaBy 4thmedia.org R. Teichman, News Beacon Ireland, 17 Jan 13
The French government has stated that: …… We have one goal. To ensure that when we leave, when we end our intervention, Mali is safe, has legitimate authorities, an electoral process and there are no more terrorists threatening its territory.” [1]
So this is the official narrative of France and those who support it. And of course this is what is widely reported by the mainstrem media.
France is supported by other NATO members. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta confirmed that the US was providing intelligence to French forces in Mali. [2] Canada, Belgium, Denmark and Germany have also publicly backed the French incursion, pledging logistical support in the crackdown on the rebels. [3]
If we are to believe this narrative we are misled again about the real reasons. A look at Mali’s natural resources reveals what this is really about. Continue reading
It’s the uranium, stupid! France’s war in Mali
Although Niger has been France’s primary uranium trading partner in the region, investors are currently estimating 5,200 tonnes of untapped uranium sources in Mali, making the requirements of a favourable government and a suppressed civil society all the more urgent.
The curbs on civil liberties in the West which the so-called War on Terror forces upon citizens is part of the same struggle that activists in West Africa are fighting against uranium mining corporations
Blood for Uranium: France’s Mali intervention has little to do with terrorism http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/blood-uranium-frances-mali-intervention-terrorism/ Adam Elliott-Cooper looks at the geo-strategic and economic interests shaping the current French intervention in Mali. 17 Jan 13, France opened 2013 with a series of airstrikes on Northern Mali to prevent “the establishment of a terrorist state”. At the time of writing, 11 civilians (including two children) have been killed, and according to the UN, an estimated 30,000 have been displaced. The morbid irony of the France’s leaders bombing people in order to prevent a “terrorist state” appears to be lost on them, but this may be due to their eyes being on something far more important – Mali’s economy. (Picture: Activists in Niger protesting uranium mining company AREVA) Continue reading
Russia to make $squillions out of its nuclear sales to India
India-Russia nuclear ambitions and mounting tensions in Sri Lanka,
Daily Mirror, by Dulip Jayawardena, 08 JANUARY 2013
KUNDANKULAM NUCLEAR POWER PLANT “……. the Russian President
Vladimir Putin paid a stand –alone visit to India on December 25 ,2012
for 15 hours to sign an agreement to collaborate to construct another
16 to 18 nuclear energy plants in India of 1000 MW each. At present
prices the total cost of these plants is a staggering US $ 45 billion! Continue reading
UK’s Hinkley Point nuclear plans could be derailed by France’s probe into EDF
Reports: EDF inquiry could disrupt UK nuclear plans Financial Times suggests investigation could complicate strike price negotiations and unsettle investors
BusinessGreen 03 Jan 2013 The UK’s ambitions for a new fleet of nuclear reactors could be disrupted by a French government probe into state-owned generator EDF, whose UK arm is currently in negotiations to build a £14bn nuclear plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
The formal inquiry established in the last days of 2012 is billed as an industry-wide investigation, but French media are reporting it is specifically focused on EDF and its relationships with China.
The Financial Times said yesterday that the inquiry casts doubt over the future of EDF chief executive Henri Proglio, who has been unable to replicate the close relationship he enjoyed with former President Nicolas Sarkozy with his successor, François Hollande. , observers are concerned the probe could have a knock-on effect on EDF’s stance towards building a new reactor at Hinkley Point, especially if the French government decides it should not take the risk of subsidising UK energy consumers. Any shift in EDF’s position would further complicate ongoing negotiations with the UK government over the level of subsidy, or strike price, that will be provided to support the Hinkley Point plant.
Last year, it was reported EDF Energy was looking for a payment of between £100 per megawatt hour (MWh) and £140/MWh to go ahead with the plant and that a final investment decision had been delayed from the end of 2012 to April 2013….. http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2233578/reports-edf-inquiry-could-disrupt-uk-nuclear-plans
Big nuclear powers not really motivated towards a diplomatic solution regarding Iran’s nuclear program
‘No real determination in P5+1 to resolve Iran nuclear issue’
http://presstv.com/detail/2013/01/02/281467/no-real-will-to-solve-ncase-in-p51/
An Iranian lawmaker says the P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia,
and the United States plus Germany — lacks the determination to
resolve Iran’s nuclear issue. Continue reading
1 This Month
10 June – Assessing Canada’s Investments in Small Modular Nuclear Reactors – https://zoom.us/meeting/register/IiqHA5feRhaEBycOLNTJlA#/registration
Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
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