North Korea must be ready to ‘occupy’ South – Kim

Pyongyang considers Seoul to be its “most harmful and unchangeable enemy,” the leader has said

Pyongyang must be prepared to seize South Korean territory in the event of an “emergency,” North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said.

In a speech marking the 76th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean Army on Friday, Kim praised the military for “firmly protecting the sovereignty and dignity of the country” from “imperialist military threats, blackmail, and the risk of war.”

Commenting on the increasingly tense relations with Seoul, the North Korean leader said his country has “summarized the history of our people’s division and confrontation and defined [South] Korean puppets as the most harmful and unchangeable enemy” of Pyongyang.

Against this backdrop, Kim stated that in the event of an “emergency,” North Korean policymakers had “made a national decision to occupy and pacify [South Korean] territory.”

The warning comes after the North Korean leader ruled out reunification between Pyongyang and Seoul in late December, arguing that the two neighbors adhere to diametrically opposed principles. Last month, Kim also called on the national parliament to label South Korea the “number one hostile country.”

Pyongyang and Seoul never signed a peace treaty after the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which divided the peninsula, and tensions remain high. In recent months, North Korea has conducted numerous missile launches while criticizing its southern neighbor for holding joint military drills with the US, which has some 30,000 troops stationed on the peninsula.

Citing US officials, the New York Times reported in January that Washington is worried that North Korea could “take some form of lethal military action” against Seoul. The paper’s sources, however, doubted that Pyongyang would risk anything resembling a full-scale attack.

https://www.rt.com/news/592193-north-korea-ready-occupy-south/

Rockefellers behind Biden’s new LNG exports ban – WSJ

The US president last month paused approvals for gas export terminals, citing climate-change reasons

Charities controlled by members of the Rockefeller family and billionaire donors were behind a successful campaign to pressure US President Joe Biden into suspending new approvals of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, the Wall Street Journal reported this week, citing its sources.

People familiar with the matter told the newspaper that the Rockefellers, along with other wealthy donors, including former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, have provided millions of dollars in recent years to environmental groups campaigning against fossil-fuel projects, including LNG terminals that have been proposed on the Gulf Coast.

Biden ordered a pause on approvals for LNG exports from new projects in the country on January 26, citing their potential contribution to climate change. The move, which was welcomed by climate activists, could delay decisions on new plants until after the November 5 US presidential election. “They got our attention,” a senior Biden administration official said about the activists’ efforts, describing the campaign as intense, according to the WSJ.

However, many large producers have vocally opposed the move, emphasizing that LNG plays a vital role in the energy transition. The controversial decision has also sparked anger among Republicans in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Lawmakers said the halt inevitably weakens global energy security and undermines Washington’s efforts to help the EU reduce reliance on Russian energy.

https://www.rt.com/business/592181-us-biden-lng-export-rockefellers/

The Fed Says Its Record Losses Don’t Matter

The Federal Reserve recently disclosed its preliminary income and expenses for 2023, revealing an unprecedented $114.3 billion in operational losses. Somewhat surprisingly, Fed officials seem unconcerned about this financial performance. Their lack of concern may be even more worrisome than the losses themselves. Like any financial institution, the Fed receives revenue from the financial assets it holds and it must pay interest on its financial liabilities. Arguably, the last round of QE played a role in setting up current Fed losses.

One key aspect of the Federal Reserve Act is its obligation to remit its profits to the US Treasury. When the Fed experiences losses, however, it doesn’t lead to the Treasury cutting a check. Instead, the Fed issues an IOU known as “deferred assets,” essentially monetizing its own deficits. Moving forward, the Fed will use future profits to offset these deferred assets before resuming regular remittances to the Treasury.

The Federal Reserve, in response to these record losses, asserts that a “deferred asset has no implications for the Federal Reserve’s conduct of monetary policy or its ability to meet its financial obligations.” The first statement, that deferred assets have no implications on the execution of monetary policy, is questionable. The second statement, that it has no bearing on the Fed meeting its financial obligations, is redundant.

Firstly, the impact on market expectations is paramount for the effectiveness of monetary policy. Sustained Federal Reserve deficits leading to deferred assets could sow seeds of doubt among the public regarding the Fed’s future actions. While doubts may not come from the Fed itself, they could come from Congress, which may push for the Fed to return to financial stability and resume contributions to the Treasury. Such doubts would have a precedent in the Fed’s increasing involvement in fiscal policy since 2008. The Fed’s recent history jeopardizes the perception that it is independent, which is a crucial element for the effectiveness of monetary policy.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2024-02-09/fed-says-its-record-losses-dont-matter

Israel Backing Off Hostage Talks, Draws Up Civilian Evacuation Plans For Rafah Assault

Prospects for a new Israel-Hamas ceasefire are fading fast, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week slammed Hamas' "delusional" demands. Key among these was a call for total withdrawal of Israeli military forces from the Gaza Strip.

But a new Times of Israel report says that Israeli negotiators are not seeking to come up with new terms for a deal, but are instead trying to pressure Hamas to withdraw the "delusional" terms.

"The main target now is to create pressure from the Americans and other countries on Qatar, and from there on Hamas, in addition to the military pressure, to bring them down from their delusional demands," said an official cited in the report.

Starting Wednesday Hamas presented its more detailed response to the Israeli plan. It outlined a 135-day ceasefire during which time all hostages would go free in stages, and Israel would withdraw its forces. Below are the proposed stages:

Phase one: A 45-day pause in fighting during which all Israeli women hostages, males under 19, the elderly and sick would be exchanged for Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails. Israeli forces would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza and the reconstruction of hospitals and refugee camps would begin

Phase two: Remaining male Israeli hostages would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and Israeli forces leave Gaza completely

Phase three: Both sides would exchange remains and bodies

Some 1,500 Palestinians would be released from Israeli jails, which includes a third of these serving life sentences for heinous crimes like murder and assassinations.

As of Thursday the White House said that negotiations were still ongoing, which suggests the Biden administration is still holding out hope that an agreement can be reached, despite Netanyahu having clearly rejected the above while saying there was "no solution besides total victory."

According to more from the Thursday Times of Israel report, "The US, along with mediators Egypt and Qatar, has continued to push for a hostage release agreement that would be accompanied by a truce, with a Hamas delegation arriving in Cairo Thursday for negotiations." Additionally, "Egypt pressured Israel to also send representatives but Jerusalem refused to do so, according to Channel 12 news.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/israel-backing-hostage-talks-draws-civilian-evacuation-options-rafah-assault

Protestors at Columbia University Call Out Hillary Clinton as “War Criminal” — “America Will Never Forgive You! You Will Burn!”

https://twitter.com/JosBtrigga/status/1716558460702118231

Venezuela Deploys Tanks, Armored Carriers To Guyana Border

After constant jawboning for over two months, Venezuela is now backing up its threats to annex part of oil-rich Guyana and secure access to some of the world’s largest oil deposits by "moving light tanks, missile-equipped patrol boats and armored carriers to the two countries’ border", the WSJ reported noting that this is set to rapidly turn into a new security headache for the administration of the now officially senile US president.

The deployment, which was visible in satellite images made public Friday and in videos recently posted by Venezuela’s military on social media, is a "major escalation" in Caracas’s attempts to obtain some leverage over its neighbor’s newfound energy reserves, even though any military confrontation will result in an international response that promptly ousts Maduro. It comes despite a written agreement reached in December between the Venezuelan dictator and Guyanese President Irfaan Ali that denounced the use of force and called for a commission to address territorial disputes.

According to the WSJ, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, using satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies and shared exclusively with the Journal, found that in late 2023 and January Venezuela moved armored vehicles and what appear to be light tanks to Anacoco Island on the Cuyuni River just yards from Guyana. Construction work is also taking place, signaling the expansion of a base there.

In Venezuela’s Atlantic port of Güiria, the country deployed between Jan. 18 and Jan. 22 at least three Iranian-made Peykaap III antiship guided-missile patrol boats, as is visible in the satellite images used by CSIS, the Washington think tank. The regime’s military set up two Russian-built Buk M2E antiaircraft systems in Güiria on Jan. 31, almost 400 miles east of their usual position near Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. And a small coast-guard post in Punta Barima, 50 miles from Guyana-controlled Essequibo, is being revamped into a naval and air base.

Those deployments are within easy reach of the Stabroek oil block run by Exxon and its partners, Chevron

and China’s Cnooc, off the coast of Guyana, where production has soared to 645,000 barrels of crude a day, not far off what Venezuela produces.

The deployment and increasingly bellicose language from Caracas has come as Guyana emerges as one of the world’s hottest energy frontiers following offshore oil discoveries by an Exxon Mobil-led consortium. The former British colony, population 800,000, has a defense force of only 3,000 service members, pushing the government to work more closely with the U.S. to enhance its defensive capabilities.

Confirmation of the military deployment comes one day after Venezuela said it would respond in a “forceful” way to Exxon’s plans to drill in the disputed Essequibo region off the coast of Guyana.

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said that Exxon’s plan to drill exploration wells in the region will be met with a “proportional, forceful and rightful response,” according to a post on social-media platform X. Padrino said the area is a “maritime space that rightfully belongs to Venezuela.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/venezuela-deploys-tanks-armored-carriers-guyana-border

Report: Israel Backing Off on Hostage Talks After Rejecting Hamas’s Latest Offer

An Israeli official said Israel would not offer a counter-proposal

Israel is backing off from Qatari and Egyptian-mediated hostage talks with Hamas after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the Palestinian group’s latest proposal, The Times of Israel reported on Thursday.

An Israeli official told the Times that instead of offering a counter-proposal, Israel will try to get the US to apply pressure on Qatar, although Doha has insisted it’s only a mediator and cannot control Hamas.

“The main target now is to create pressure from the Americans and other countries on Qatar, and from there on Hamas, in addition to the military pressure, to bring them down from their delusional demands,” the Israeli official said.

Hamas’s proposal involved a 135-day ceasefire in three phases. Throughout the three phases, Hamas would release all remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel freeing thousands of Palestinian prisoners. The goal would be to establish a permanent ceasefire by the end of the 135 days.

Netanyahu immediately rejected the proposal and said there was “no solution besides total victory.” He made the comments after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was in the region to work toward a hostage deal, but he left with nothing to show for his visit.

Now, Netanyahu is threatening that Israeli troops will attack the southern Gaza city of Rafah next, where more than one million displaced Palestinians are sheltering. Israeli forces bombed areas of Rafah on Thursday as US officials cautioned against an assault on the city.

The State Department said for Israel to conduct an operation in Rafah without a plan to protect civilians would be a “disaster.” But there’s no sign the Biden administration is really pressuring Israel to change its plans since the US continues to provide unconditional military and political support.

The Israeli slaughter has killed nearly 28,000 Palestinians, including over 11,500 children. As the Israeli military operations drag on, many more could die of starvation and disease caused by the siege.

https://news.antiwar.com/2024/02/08/report-israel-backing-off-on-hostage-talks-after-rejecting-hamass-latest-offer/

Hunter Biden's Pal Devon Archer Requests Sentence Reduction, Citing 'Flip On The Biden Family'

Archer's attorney argues that there was an error in the initial calculation of his sentence and that his cooperation in investigations involving the Biden family warrants a further reduction. Archer, who worked closely with Hunter Biden on foreign business dealings during Joe Biden's vice presidency, provided explosive testimony to the House Oversight Committee implicating President Biden in his son's overseas relationships.

https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/1055852-hunter-biden-s-pal-devon-archer-requests-sentence-reduction-citing-flip-on-the-biden-family?utm_source=alert-GI

Spin city