US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Reached Ahead Of Midnight Deadline

Update 4: In a joint statement by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, the new trilateral trade deal will be known as U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement, or USMCA. The new trade agreement with Mexico means "freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth."

"Today, Canada and the United States reached an agreement, alongside Mexico, on a new, modernized trade agreement for the 21st Century: the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

USMCA will give our workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in our region.

It will strengthen the middle class, and create good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people who call North America home.

We look forward to further deepening our close economic ties when this new agreement enters into force.

We would like to thank Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo for his close collaboration over the past 13 months."

Key aspects of the new deal (via Bloomberg):

USMCA will include new provisions on unfair trade practices, according to U.S. officials.

Agreement includes new market access for farmers, including dairy

U.S. reaches deal with Canada, Mexico on car tariffs

Allows for pact to be signed by leaders at end of November

No agreement on Canada steel, aluminum at this point

USMCA includes rules on financial services, intellectual property

It has stronger labor provisions to level playing fields between partner countries; will incentivize more automobile production in the U.S.

The Mexican Economy Minister has just delivered the new NAFTA text to the Senate.

"It's a good day for Canada," said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the meeting wrapped up just over an hour after it started.

And with that, he said he would talk to reporters Monday.

The peso and the loonie are extending gains on the final headlines.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-30/canada-pm-trudeau-calls-10pm-cabinet-meeting-nafta-deal-announcement-imminent

S-300 vs S-400: How Capable Are Syria’s New Air Defences Compared to Russia's Own?

The S-300PMU-2 is a huge leap for Syria yet dating to 1997 still a way behind from what Russia has now

With reports indicating that Russia has delivered the first S-300PMU-2 batteries to the Syrian armed forces, the new weapons system is set to revolutionise Syria’s air defence capabilities and provide a much needed deterrent to hostile powers - namely Israel and the Western Bloc, from launching strikes on Syrian territory. W

hile far more capable than the S-200, a system received in the 1980s which dates back to 1967, and surpassing the capabilities of Western analogues such as the Patriot, the S-300PMU-2 is still dated relative to the capabilities of the latest Russian and Chinese weapons platforms such as the S-300V4, S-400 and HQ-9B - having entered service in 1997.

https://russia-insider.com/en/s-300-vs-s-400-how-capable-are-syrias-new-air-defences-compared-russias-own/ri24916

EU: Politicizing The Internet

Even before such EU-wide legislation, similar ostensible "anti-terror legislation" in France, for example, is being used as a political tool against political opponents and to limit unwanted free speech.

In France, simply spreading information about ISIS atrocities is now considered "incitement to terrorism". It is this kind of legislation, it seems, that the European Commission now wishes to impose on all of the European Union.

Social media giants – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Microsoft, Google+ and Instagram – act as voluntary censors on behalf of the European Union.

The European Commission states that it is specifically interested in funding projects that focus on the "development of technology and innovative web tools preventing and countering illegal hate speech online and supporting data collection", and studies that analyze "the spread of racist and xenophobic hate speech in different Member States…"

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-30/eu-politicizing-internet