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FULL TITLE: China's Chilling 'Social Credit System' Is Straight Out of Dystopian Sci-Fi, And It's Already Switched On Like Black Mirror. Totally like Black Mirror. It's been in the pipeline for years: a sprawling, technological mass surveillance network the likes of which the world has never seen. And it's already been switched on. China's "Social Credit System" – which is expected to be fully operational by 2020 – doesn't just monitor the nation's almost 1.4 billion citizens. It's also designed to control and coerce them, in a gigantic social engineering experiment that some have called the "gamification of trust". That's...

President Trump spoke at a campaign rally for the midterm elections in Las Vegas last night, urging everyone there to vote in November saying: "America is winning again, because we are putting America first again". Trump urged votes for Republicans saying: "We need to have more Republicans in office."...... There was a restitution hearing in Las Vegas yesterday in connection with the Bunkerville Standoff case for Todd Engel, convicted in May 2017 and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Engel came to the defense of the Bundy Ranch in Nevada in April 2014..... The latest from the lawyer for the...

Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma said the company can no longer meet its promise to create 1 million jobs in the United States due to trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, China's Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday. Ma has already warned that the trade war between the world's two largest economies could last decades and that China should focus exports on the "Silk Road" trade route, citing Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe. Ma met President Donald Trump two years ago and laid out the Chinese e-commerce giant's plan to bring one million small U.S. businesses onto its platform to sell to...

As the latest salvos were fired in the growing trade war between the United States and China, concerns continue to mount in the business community about how just how long the conflict might endure. Alibaba group founder and China’s richest man Jack Ma recently spoke to an investor summit in Hangzhou, China regarding his thoughts on the direction the trade war may take. In his speech, Ma said the trade war was “going to be a mess,” and that regarding its potential duration it could last for “maybe 20 years.” Ma went on to compare the current trade dispute...

Eighty-five years ago, on July 20, 1933, a concordat defining the legal position of the Catholic Church in the Third Reich was signed by Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII) and German vice chancellor Franz von Papen. The Reischskonkordat was then ratified by the Nazi-dominated German parliament some six weeks later, on September 10. Pope Pius XI, under whose authority Cardinal Pacelli had negotiated this treaty, was under no illusions about German National Socialism; he detested its racial ideology. And unlike some Vatican diplomats who seem to have imagined that the Third Reich would be...

President Donald Trump showed he's willing to wield a big stick in trade by levying tariffs on $200 billion more in Chinese goods, starting next week. Will this lead to a trade war without end, or bring China to the table for talks? We've been on the record as being anti-tariff. However, as has been noted numerous times, Trump has used tariffs, and the threat of tariffs, as a way to lower overall trade barriers. At least, that's what the White House maintains, and we see no reason not to believe it. But it goes deeper than that. As the...

The US-China trade war has rapidly intensified after the two economic superpowers recently imposed tariffs on more than $360billion of goods.

If North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was searching for the perfect propaganda set piece, something designed to show his people that he's a strong leader pushing inexorably for the long-delayed, long-promised prosperity they deserve, then visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in might be providing him with a unique opportunity. Moon believes that his deep engagement with North Korea is crucial after last year's fears of war, when Washington reacted with fury to a torrent of ever-more-powerful North Korean weapons tests. He argues better ties with North Korea will help South Koreans, and the region, by settling the standoff over...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Tuesday that his summit last June with President Donald Trump has provided geopolitical stability and that he expects more progress in talks between his nation and Washington. Kim's comments, first reported by Reuters, were made at the start of a three-day summit at which Kim is meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang, the pair's third meeting of the year. Kim also credited Moon with making the “historic” summit in Singapore possible. “Thanks to that, the political situation in the region has stabilized and I expect more advanced results,” Kim told...

BEIJING – China on Tuesday announced a tariff increase on $60 billion of U.S. products in response to President Donald Trump’s latest duty increase in a dispute over Beijing’s technology policy. The announcement followed a warning by an American business group that a “downward spiral” in their conflict appeared certain following Trump’s penalties on $200 billion of Chinese goods. The Finance Ministry said it was going ahead with plans announced in August for the increases of 10 percent and 5 percent on 5,207 types of U.S. goods. A list released last month included coffee, honey and industrial chemicals. Please see...

The biggest hurdle to complete denuclearization is related to security guarantees. Kim has always viewed a nuclear capability as a means of ensuring that he will retain power and that his family’s ruling dynasty would continue in perpetuity. The last thing he would want is to give up the only means of retaining power if he wasn’t absolutely certain that neither South Korea nor the U.S. wouldn’t take advantage of his denuclearization to invade and change the ruling North Korean regime. Another obstacle could also become an asset: China. In past years, Beijing has used North Korean belligerence and unpredictability...

The United States' commitment to global development does not look good compared with that of other wealthy countries — and it's likely to get worse. According to an annual index released Tuesday by the Center for Global Development that ranks 27 of the world's wealthiest countries, the U.S. scored dead last on foreign aid contributions and quality — despite being the largest donor in dollar amount. That's because in 2017, it allocated a mere 0.18 percent of its gross national income for development assistance. That is well short of the 0.7 percent that wealthy countries have committed to strive for...

In a controversial move, China and the Vatican are preparing to sign a landmark deal this month allowing each side a voice in choosing the church's bishops in China, reports the Wall Street Journal. The details: Pope Francis will recognize excommunicated Chinese bishops that were approved without the Vatican's green light, and China will acknowledge the Pope as leader of the nation's Catholics and allow the Vatican a voice in bishop selection moving forward. The deal comes with controversy as China's current regime is largely atheist and authoritarian. The agreement is also seen as China recognizing religious autonomy — something...

President Trump just took the latest escalatory move in a trade war the United States and China are vigorously waging as either a proxy for a shooting war, or a run-up to one. The outcome of the trade confrontation, and the lessons it teaches, will greatly influence the likelihood of actual conflict in the future. It is essential that we win this one in order to deter a real one. The psychological dynamics at play in the trade dispute are the same as would apply in a kinetic conflict. As important as the parties’ actual strengths and vulnerabilities are their...

The fundamental problem facing the global trading system today is that since the turn of the century China has behaved like an outlaw at the center of world commerce. China has, through theft and forced taking, grabbed U.S. intellectual property worth hundreds of billions of dollars each year. This has, with justification, been called the biggest theft in history.

There is Breaking News from Syria overnight with 15 Russian servicemen dead after their plane was shot down by Syrian air defenses during a sudden Israeli air attack. Russia's Defense Ministry says 4 Israeli F-16's used the larger Russian IL-20 plane as a decoy for their attack on the northern Syrian city of Latakia. Russia says it reserves the right to an "adequate response".... US UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is in a knot accusing Russia of "cheating" on North Korea sanctions. Haley spoke at the UN Security Council yesterday..... South Korea's President Moon Jae In arrived in North Korea today...

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived in North Korea on Tuesday for his third and possibly most challenging summit yet with leader Kim Jong Un in which he hopes to break an impasse in talks with the United States over the North's denuclearization and breathe energy into his own efforts to expand and improve relations between the Koreas. In what are by now familiar images of the two Korean leaders hugging and exchanging warm smiles, Kim greeted Moon at Pyongyang's airport. They walked together past cheering crowds and a military honor guard, and then drove...

A disagreement between Chinese tourists and a hostel in Stockholm over check-in time has turned into a diplomatic spat between China and Sweden, after Beijing criticised Sweden for violating the human rights of Chinese citizens. [snip] Bizarre video footage posted online shows police carrying the group outside, while the son yells in English: “This is killing. This is killing.” Another clip shows the three lying on the ground crying loudly while the mother wails in Chinese: “Save me.” [snip] “I broke down and lost my mind,” Zeng said. “I was not able to think whether it was appropriate or not....

“It will be a lot of money coming into the coffers of the United States of America," Trump said of the tariffs. "A lot of money coming in, but you’ll be seeing what we’re doing right after close of business today." Trump made the announcement to reporters in the Roosevelt Room. The administration has repeatedly said the tariffs are needed to address China's policies, which it claims are predatory and cannot be tolerated. "We can't do that anymore," Trump told reporters. Trump has already enacted tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods and has threatened tariffs on a further $200...

A few new books are coming out as Fall releases and I fully expect headlines like the one above to be frequent as the authors head out on book tours. Case in point: former Secretary of State John Kerry. Both President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded to Kerry’s admission of meeting with leaders of other countries and advising them to wait out Trump’s time in office. Needless to say, they rightfully called out Kerry for unprecedented behavior. So, Kerry has begun to personally attack President Trump in a schoolyard bully type of way.Though it may be...