Missile escalation. Sanctions escalation. Orban betrayed. EU targets China. Sarkozy in prison
Topic 1854

Trump throws Orban under the bus, as he rides escalation escalator
The Duran: Episode 2368

No More Trump Illusions, War Till Victory; US Sanctions Russia Oil Pressures India; Pokrovsk
Topic 1710

The Duran: Episode 961
France's Marine Le Pen Acquitted in Case Over Violating Hate Speech Laws
https://sputniknews.com/europe/202105041082797685-frances-marine-le-pen-acquitted-in-case-over-violating-hate-speech-laws/

By Alexander Mercouris

We are soon approaching the first anniversary of the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s Baathist government in Syria.

Assad himself and his family are in exile somewhere in Russia, probably in Moscow. As widely reported in the media the man whose Jihadi militia overthrew him and who is now Syria’s interim President - Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, aka ‘Abu Mohammad al-Julani - also recently visited Moscow where he had a very friendly meeting with Assad’s friend and erstwhile protector President Putin of Russia. The Kremlin has published the opening comments Putin and al-Sharaa made at the start of the meeting http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/78213.

Most of the commentary about al-Sharaa’s visit to Moscow has centred on the future of the Russian bases. Here I will briefly state my own view, which is that most commentary is getting this topic the wrong way round, assuming that it is the Russians who want to remain, whereas the reality is that it is al-Sharaa who is trying to persuade the ...

China produces about 44 million tons of aluminum each year. The United States produces less than 700 thousand. On paper, that means China can recover around 110 thousand tons of rare earths from by-products annually, while the U.S. might reach 1,700 tons. The gap is two orders of magnitude.
This isn’t just about mining capacity. It’s about the industrial ecosystem. China’s vast aluminum output generates a steady flow of by-products that can be refined at scale. The United States, after decades of deindustrialization, no longer has that upstream base. Without it, even advanced technology has nothing to work with.

China has cheap, stable energy from hydro, nuclear, solar, and wind, connected by ultra-high-voltage transmission lines that move power across entire regions. Industrial parks and chemical plants sit right next to power hubs. That keeps energy costs predictable and logistics simple.
The United States doesn’t have that. Its electricity market is fragmented, expensive, and ...