#foreign minister of germany

[tomorrowusa]

Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock replies to Putin’s declaration of a pseudo-ceasefire.

Direkt am, Frau Ministerin!   👍🏼🇩🇪

Putin’s Russian Christmas “ceasefire” is at best a public relations stunt and at worst a ploy to resupply his sordid troops with ammunition and military hardware.

Putin’s so-called Christmas ceasefire, explained

Putin could stop this war at any moment by simply getting out of Ukraine. Remember that this is an unprovoked invasion of a peaceful neighbor in violation of international law. Putin has no fucking business in Ukraine. Ukrainians are fighting for their existence, Russians are fighting for Putin’s ego.

Putin doesn’t care the least about saving lives. That includes Russian lives; over 100,000 Russians have been killed since February 24th. He continues to send poorly trained conscripts and mercenary convicts to Ukraine where they specialize in committing atrocities.

[xtruss]

Playing Victim

— Liu Rui | July 09, 2023

Illustration: Liu Rui/Global Times

Lying Not To Make America 'Great Again'

— Published: 07 March 2020 | Pang Xinhua | Sunday July 09, 2023

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attends a daily briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 7, 2018. /Xinhua

"I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole… we had entire training courses." This is a line from a speech made by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Texas.

Following a burst of laughter from the audience as a response to that line, Pompeo hastened to add: "It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment."

If lying, cheating and stealing do not sound outrageous for someone working at the CIA, what makes it less sensible though is that after becoming Secretary of State, Pompeo has done little to change what he's learned from those "training courses," but carried the practice even further.

His attacks on China are exact proof of that. At all times and in all places, Pompeo never forgets to lash out at China, using nothing other than lying and cheating as his weapon.

For example, he alleged that Chinese investments in Africa pose a risk to the sovereignty of African states, pushing them into a debt trap and breeding corruption and dependency. He criticized China's Xinjiang policies by claiming that China is "trying to erase Muslim culture and religion" and also noted that China is an unreliable partner that spreads chaos in Latin America. While in Munich, he accused China of encroaching on the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. And in many other places, he said Huawei is dangerous and a "Trojan horse for Chinese intelligence".

Trump's campaign slogan was "Make America Great Again," but what his Secretary of State has done so far makes people look at it with disbelief.

"A Slip of the Foot You May Soon Recover, But a Slip of the Tongue You May Never Get Over." — Benjamin Franklin

First, lying undermines the foundation of international relations. The concept of bonafide in international law, meaning good faith, is a universally recognized principle that underpins the formation and fulfillment of international legal obligations and lays the bedrock for international exchanges.

Playing the role of foreign minister, the U.S. secretary of state is, supposedly, responsible for promoting relations between the U.S. and other states. However, Pompeo, on top of his lack of good faith and integrity, is also a habitual liar that is bent on stoking up conflicts around the world. He is exactly the one who is hindering the U.S. from getting along with other countries.

Currently, the U.S. relations are strained not only with world powers such as China and Russia, but its relations with almost all its allies including Britain, Germany, France are also tainted by constant discordance. Pompeo, the chief U.S. diplomat, is undeniably responsible for that. Given such an international environment, how could America be great again?

Second, Pompeo has poisoned America's international trade environment. In international relations, politics and economy are two sides of the same coin. In the Munich Security Conference, Pompeo, on the one hand, blatantly sold his lie that "the West is winning," and on the other hand, he aggressively pressured its Western allies in issues related to Huawei's 5G network, threatening sanctions on Nord Stream 2, a natural gas pipeline project involving Germany. No wonder Donald Tusk, former president of the European Council, once made the sharp remark that "With friends like that [i.e. America] who needs enemies?"

Pompeo recently made a three-nation trip to Africa. In the face of numerous China-Africa cooperation projects and facts, he even denigrated China's aid to Africa as "empty promises." African leaders categorically refuted his nonsense.

"I Was The CIA Director. We Lied, We Cheated, We Stole…………………. We Had Entire Training Courses." — Mike Pompeo

As the second largest economy in the world, China has contributed over 30 percent to global growth for 13 consecutive years. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, China's imports and exports to the U.S. totaled 3.73 trillion Yuan in 2019. The two countries are economically complementary, with China being the third largest market for U.S. exports of goods and services. With its economy deeply intertwined with that of China, the U.S. would hardly achieve significant economic growth without trading with China.

However, Pompeo still clings to the Cold War mentality and keeps throwing mud at China, or even demonizing China, seriously damaging the trade relations between the two countries.

Today, globalization is intensifying the division of labor around the world. How could America be great again without the contribution made by its global trade partners including China?

Confucius, A Sage in Ancient China, said: "If a Person Lacks Trustworthiness, I Don't Know What He/She Can Be Good For."

Third, lying runs counter to American cultural traditions, upending the world's perception of the U.S. culture. In the U.S., lying and cheating are offenses. For people across the world, the image of the hard-working Uncle Sam is widely associated with America.

After the Cold War, as the only global superpower, the U. S. has gained its cultural dominance in the world. Integrity, being part of the American culture, is also one of the most important virtues shared by nations worldwide. Benjamin Franklin once said: "A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over." Confucius, a sage in ancient China, also said: "If a person lacks trustworthiness, I don't know what s/he can be good for." What the Chinese people believe is: "Be true to your words and be resolute in your action."

As the Chief U.S. Diplomat, Pompeo spews lies at will. How could he be trusted by anyone who has dealings with him?

As a State of Ceremonies, China attaches great importance to diplomatic etiquette. Thanks to Pompeo's repeated lies, China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the following statement at the Munich Conference: "I'd only like to say that all his accusations against China are lies. They are not true. But if the U.S. was the accused, then all this would be true."

More Than A Century Ago:

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln Said: "You Can Fool All the People Some of the Time and Some of the People All the Time, But You Cannot Fool all the People all the Time."

Hope Pompeo, whose lies have repeatedly fallen flat across the world, could one day realize that ‘Lying Will Not Make America Great Again.’

[niveditaabaidya]

Hungarian FM Arrives In Moscow For Energy Supply Talks. #hungary #canada...

[prowlingeagles]

G7 foreign ministers' meets in Germany, issue joint statement on range of international issues

G7 foreign ministers’ meets in Germany, issue joint statement on range of international issues

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly with G7 foreign ministers in Münster, Germany after their meeting.   By Adetokunbo Fakeye   The G7 foreign ministers after their meeting in Münster gave a joint statement on a range of international issues, which include Russia’s war against Ukraine. The group agreed to uphold the rules-based international order and to protect the rights of all, including the…

[7amaspayrollmanager]

I should stop but u know what's really bothering me is that there are people online going "these protests are not helping you're not helping the people of gaza at all with your boycotts they're meaningless" and like linking the website to some peace group in tel Aviv like "these are REAL activists who are making change" and its like- the people of gaza the medics, the journalists, every day people that I follow asked us to protest. And have said that it warms their hearts when they see the protests on their phones with whatever little connection they have. To zionists, the people of Gaza genuinely are not even active voices in the struggle unless they can exploit them if they direct their frustrations towards Hamas as they're starving bc of Israel's siege. That's how awful they are

There is a page on instagram that should have more followers and its @gaza_coalition and its a group of gazans running the page and one of their latest posts is asking people around the world to protest on new years eve. This is late but I'm still going to post this because I am really sick of people just assuming that the hours and effort that palestinians and allies in cities around the world are putting into organizing protests and boycotts for the people of Gaza "don't actually care for Palestinians." As a palestinian get fucked this has been the greatest solidarity we have ever seen on a global stage and the people of gaza need boycotts, need the protests, need the direct action

ID/ Direct your efforts towards organizing demonstrations on New Years Eve, demonstrate in front of American embassies, key decision-making centres, and establishments of involved actors and entities to exert pressure on the United States, its allies, and all those complicit in the ongoing massacres in Gaza.

GLOBAL CALL FOR SOLIDARITY PROTESTING GENOCIDE ON NEW YEAR'S EVE CEASEFIRE NOW OPEN THE RAFAH CROSSING AND LIFT THE BRUTAL SIEGE IMPOSED ON GAZA

After an excruciating 82-day period marred by a genocidal war targeting the Palestinians in Gaza, the Security Council issued a hollow resolution, stripped of any substantive reference to an urgently needed ceasefire, succumbing to American pressure and veto. This cowardly act not only granted lsrael the audacity to persist in its slaughter of Gaza's populace, but it also exposed a reprehensible collusion within the Arab and international community.

Consequently, we vehemently refuse to accept the celebration of the New Year while cannons persist in obliterating families, maiming and killing innocent children. We call to mobilize our collective strength on this momentous occasion, transforming it into a global protest against the unrelenting massacres and their supporters. Since the initial moments of this aggression, the United States, along with its allies in Israel, has fiercely rejected any prospects of a ceasefire.

Many governments have conspired against reaching a ceasefire, perpetuating their historically hostile policies towards Palestinian rights. This culmination of tyranny was exemplified by the article by the Foreign Ministers of Germany and Britain, characterised by insufferable conceit and a gross distortion of facts. The cessation of aggression and the very notion of a ceasefire are derided as a "blow to peace," as if this imaginary concept can only be achieved at the expense of the lives and dignity of our martyred children.

For a brighter future, humanity must unite in the face of this rampant tyranny, a relentless affront to the sanctity of life and the principles of justice.

End ID

[sayruq]

Israel’s Channel 12 revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fears that the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague will issue orders to arrest him and other officials due to violations in the war on Gaza. The channel revealed that an urgent discussion took place on Tuesday at the Prime Minister’s Office that has remained confidential until now, in which worrying scenarios and serious concerns emerged that would allow the issuance of international arrest warrants from ICC in The Hague against senior Israeli officials, security leaders and politicians, including Netanyahu himself. It reported that the highest political and legal elite in Israel were present at the discussion.

The channel confirmed that Netanyahu asked the British and German foreign ministers during their visit to Israel to intervene to prevent the issuance of arrest warrants by the ICC. It explained that Tel Aviv has obtained information and messages indicating the possibility of such orders being issued on a large scale and that they may be issued at the end of next month. Channel 12 reported that the discussions raised the issue of the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and the statements made by several countries that Israel is violating international law, as well as treating the civilian population in the Gaza Strip in a manner that violates the Fourth Geneva Convention. At the end of the discussion, a decision was made to take some last-minute urgent measures with the ICC and influential political parties to prevent the issuance of arrest warrants.

[dcoglobalnews]

GERMANY SIGNS DEAL TO RETURN BENIN BRONZES TO NIGERIA

Germany signed an agreement on Friday to begin sending hundreds of Benin bronzes back to the Federal Government, rubber-stamping the biggest effort yet by a European country to return the looted artworks.Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Culture Minister Claudia Roth signed the deal with their Nigerian counterparts in Berlin after Germany first announced that it would begin returning the…

[timesofocean]

Kaliningrad at center of new crisis between Russia and West

New Post has been published on https://www.timesofocean.com/kaliningrad-at-center-of-new-crisis-between-russia-and-west/

Kaliningrad at center of new crisis between Russia and West

Moscow (The Times Groupe)- Kaliningrad, an exclave of Russia located in the Baltic Sea and separated from the country by Lithuania, Latvia, and Belarus, has caused a new regional crisis.

As the war in Ukraine rages on after four months, Lithuania’s decision to block the transit of certain goods on the EU sanctions list to Kaliningrad has once again brought Russia and the West face to face.

Kaliningrad is accessible to Russia by rail over Lithuania, but the region surrounded by NATO members has been at the center of recent discussions.

Additionally, Kaliningrad is the only Russian port on the Baltic that remains ice-free throughout the year, making it a strategic and military asset for the country.

Since the end of World War II, Kaliningrad has been a remote Russian province. Before World War II, Kaliningrad was part of Germany.

At present, Russia has nuclear-capable missiles deployed in an area of 223 square kilometers (86 square miles).

Lithuania blocked the transit of these goods to Kaliningrad, prompting Russia to warn that it would respond severely.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said last week that Vilnius was not acting independently, noting the European Commission’s guidance regarding sanctions in place since June 17.

Under NATO protection, Lithuania is enforcing sanctions on coal, metal, construction, and technology materials.

Moscow also criticized the semi-exclave’s rail transit restrictions from Russia.

As a result, the US offered support to Lithuania, saying that an attack on one NATO member would be considered an attack on all members.

The majority of rail transit between Russia and Kaliningrad passes through Belarus and Lithuania.

Since Russia’s war in Ukraine began on Feb. 24, the EU has imposed six sets of sanctions on Moscow.

These packages include a ban on oil and coal imports as well as luxury goods exports in order to target, among others, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Additionally, they prohibit Russian and Belarusian banks from using SWIFT.

[probablyasocialecologist]

South Africa's foreign minister says her country's citizens who fight in the Israeli armed forces or alongside them in Gaza will be arrested when they return home, deepening the rift between the nations after South Africa lay accusations of genocide against Israel at the United Nations' top court. Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor made the comment earlier this week at a Palestinian solidarity event attended by officials from South Africa's ruling African National Congress party. She also encouraged people to protest outside the embassies of what she called the “five primary supporters” of Israel and its military action in Gaza. She didn’t name them but almost certainly was referring to the United States, the U.K. and Germany among others. “I have already issued a statement alerting those who are South African and are fighting alongside or in the Israeli Defense Forces: We are ready. When you come home, we are going to arrest you,” Pandor said, to rapturous applause from the audience.

[don-lichterman]

French Foreign Minister to Meet Ukraine President on Monday | World News

French Foreign Minister to Meet Ukraine President on Monday | World News

PARIS (Reuters) – French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna will meet Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv later on Monday to express France’s solidarity with Ukraine and offer more support for the country, said the French foreign affairs ministry. Colonna’s trip to Ukraine comes amid criticism from some diplomats and political analysts that France is not doing enough to support…

[zvaigzdelasas]

7 Jul 23

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10 Jul 23

Laos voices concern over the announcement and the possible use of cluster munitions - Vientiane Times

11 Jul 23

[niveditaabaidya]

French Foreign Minister Visits Odesa .#tanks #finland #europe #eu #norwa...

[magz]

March 5 to March 7, 2024 update from Let's Talk Palestine (instagram channel)

March 5

• 97 Palestinians killed, 123 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours

• Israeli forces recapture 2 Palestinian women who were previously released in the November hostage exchange deal — total 11 Palestinian women and children recaptured since their release, a clear violation of the agreement

​​• WHO: 1 in 6 children under age of 2 is “acutely malnourished” in north Gaza; 16+ kids killed by starvation in past week. Israel continues to block entry & distribution of aid + attacks aid convoys & aid seekers attempting to receive what little aid reaches the north

• Journalist Mohamad Salama killed by Israeli strike in Deir el-Balah; 133 journalists killed in Gaza since Oct 7

​​🇦🇺 Australian lawyers refer Australian PM to ICC for “accessory to genocide in Gaza”, citing the halt of UNRWA funds, military aid to Israel & deploying Australian troops

• Israeli airstrike on home in southern Lebanon killed a Hezbollah fighter and 2 family members amid rising Hezbollah-Israel tensions

March 6

• 86 Palestinians killed, 113 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours

🇺🇳 UNRWA accuses Israel of detaining & torturing its staff to extract false confessions on ties to Hamas. The unpublished UNRWA report details multiple incidents of abuse incl. torture, sexual abuse & deprivation of basic needs

🇺🇸 Washington Post: US quietly approved 100+ foreign military sales to Israel since Oct 7, disclosed in a classified congress briefing. The sales bypassed public scrutiny as their value didn’t meet the threshold requiring congressional notification, yet in total they amount to a “massive transfer of firepower”

• 20 Palestinians killed by starvation from malnutrition & dehydration, while Israel continues to block aid + attacking aid seekers, injuring 8 in Gaza City

🇨🇦 Canada was meant to announce its reinstatement of funding to UNRWA on March 6, but last minute decided to cancel the press conference. Leaving this decision unconfirmed. Canada was originally planned to announce they would resume UNRWA funding with a scheduled payment of $25m for April. Canada was one of the first countries that followed the US in halting funding due to the unsupported allegations made by Israel in January.

March 7

🚨 SOUTH AFRICA URGENT ICJ REQUEST

South Africa has once again requested the ICJ for additional emergency measures against Israel, urging the Court “to do what is within its power to save Palestinians in Gaza from genocidal starvation.” Its previous request was denied by the Court.

This was prompted by the harrowing deterioration in Gaza since the original measures in January. Using powerful language, South Africa highlights to the Court that “Palestinian children are starving to death as a direct result of the deliberate acts and omissions of Israel.”

Underscoring that Israel is “massacring desperate, starving Palestinians seeking to obtain food for their slowly dying children,” referencing the ‘flour massacre’ that killed 118 Palestinians and injured 760.

South Africa concluded by saying it “fears this Application may be the last opportunity that this Court shall have to save the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

Read the full request here:

https://tinyurl.com/mmy9rvfx

March 7, part 2

• 83 Palestinians killed, 143 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours

🇳🇴 Norway issues official advice against any trade or business with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which risks contributing to violations of international law. This was prompted by Israel’s recent approval of permits for 3,500 new units in 3 settlements in the West Bank, the first since Oct 7. This has faced global condemnation incl. from close allies like the US & Germany + many Arab countries

• 60,000 pregnant women in Gaza suffer from dehydration, malnutrition & lack of healthcare; 5,000 women give birth every month in Gaza in extremely unsafe & unhealthy conditions

🇪🇺 EU Foreign Minister says they will probe into Israel’s compliance with human rights obligations stipulated in EU-Israel trade deal following requests from Spain & Ireland

🇪🇸🇶🇦 Spain to send $22 million + $25 million from Qatar in extra funding to UNRWA

• Israel granted access to only 6/24 aid operations to north Gaza last month

[coochiequeens]

A 22 year old woman who was about to graduate with a degree in engineering is now dead because her ex couldn't accept that the relationship was over.

Gino Cecchettin, hugging his daughter Elena, attends a torchlit procession in Vigonovo, near Venice, northern Italy, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, after the police found the body of his other daughter Giulia, reportedly with multiple stab wounds and wrapped in plastic on Saturday in a ditch near Venice. Police in Germany over the weekend arrested Filippo Turetta, 21, who had been on the run since Nov. 11, when he was last seen arguing with Giulia Cecchettin. (Lucrezia Granzetti/LaPresse via AP)

The Associated Press

ROME -- Italy has erupted in outrage over the death of a young woman, allegedly at the hands of her possessive ex-boyfriend, with the Italian premier vowing to crack down further on gender-based violence that has claimed the lives of more than 50 women so far this year.

Police in Germany over the weekend arrested Filippo Turetta, who had been on the run since Nov. 11, when he was last seen fighting with 22-year-old Giulia Cecchettin, hitting her in a physical attack that was captured by roadside video cameras.

Cecchettin's body, reportedly with multiple stab wounds, was found wrapped in plastic on Saturday in a ditch near Lake Barcis, in the province of Pordenone north of Venice.

Italian newspapers had been consumed with the search for them both, given multiple reports from friends and family that Turetta had refused to accept Cecchettin's decision to end the relationship. Cecchettin’s sister, Elena, said she had been concerned about Turetta’s possessiveness of her sister but never imagined he could hurt her.

Police in the eastern German city of Halle said Sunday that they had detained a 21-year-old Italian man who was wanted by police in Italy after his car broke down on the A9 highway in the south of the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Italian news reports said police road cameras had traced Turetta’s black Fiat Punto as he drove on mountain roads through northern Italy, into Austria and then Germany.

Italian state-run radio network RAI said Turetta had agreed to be extradited, and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he was expected back in Italy within days. Venice's chief prosecutor, Bruno Cherchi, suggested Monday it might take longer and urged patience so the investigation can complete its course without external pressure.

The fate of Cecchettin, who had been due to graduate university Thursday with a degree in engineering, had dominated news reports for a week and led to an outpouring of anger when her body was finally found. Even Turetta's parents attended a candlelit vigil for her, and RAI led its main evening news program Sunday with a backdrop made up of portraits of all the women killed in Italy this year.

Premier Giorgia Melon i expressed outrage at Italy’s long history of violence against women by their partners or ex-partners, saying it has appeared to be getting worse recently. She cited data from the Interior Ministry saying of the 102 women killed in Italy this year up to Nov. 12, 53 died at the hands of their partners or former partners.

“Every single woman killed because she is ‘guilty’ of being free is an aberration that cannot be tolerated and that drives me to continue on the path taken to stop this barbarity,” she said in a statement on social media.

A government-backed bill that has already passed the lower Chamber of Deputies and is coming to the Senate later this month would boost preventative measures to protect victims of gender-based violence.

In addition, the Interior Ministry urged all schools to hold a minute of silence on Tuesday in honor of Cecchettin “and all abused women and victims of violence.” An organization of Italian university rectors, meanwhile, vowed to launch initiatives to make students more aware of gender-based violence.

The aim, the group said, was to “promote respect of the person and halt violence against women” through education that fosters a culture of respect and responsibility.

[international-writing]

Intelligence agencies 101: MI6

Dashing spies and deadly agents, from James Bond to Alex Rider and George Smiley. We have all heard of British Intelligence, but just how much do you know about MI6?

1.- It is the oldest secret service in the world.

If we want to get technical, spies have been working for the British crown since 1569, thanks to Queen Elizabeth I and her Secretary of State, Sir Francis Walsingham. But for now, we'll focus on the contemporary Secret Service.

Hear me out, back in 1909 in the midst of what we call the "armed peace", things were getting anything but peaceful. Countries developed and accumulated weapons like it was a sport, and most of them were unsatisfied with the territories they owned. Germany was going all Queen and screaming "I Want It All", which made the rest of the European countries slightly concerned by its imperialistic ambitions.

Britain was the first to grow paranoid and so Prime Minister Asquith decided to have the Committee of Imperial Defence, create a Secret Service Bureau.

However, it is worth mentioning that the existence of the agency wasn't formally acknowledged until 1994, under the Intelligence Services Act, and even though everyone had known about it for ages.

2.- They have very... diverse tasks

Officially, MI6 is tasked with the collection, analysis, and adequate distribution of foreign intelligence (it is a common misconception that MI6 also handles national affairs, that's what its counterpart MI5 is for).

Now, note that I said "officially", and that is because unofficially (it is kind of very illegal), MI6 has been known to carry out espionage activity overseas. But you already knew that, didn't you? Otherwise, why would you be here?

3.- Roles

As described by the SIS itself, there are several roles within the organisation:

Intelligence officers: Must be UK nationals of at least 18, with no drug use and pass a very intrusive security clearance. The jobs are divided into the following subcategories:

Operational Managers: planning and managing intelligence collection operations.

Targeters: turning information (data) into human intelligence operations.

Officers: link to Whitehall (government) as well as validating and testing intelligence.

Case Officers: managing and building relationships with agents.

Operational Data Analysts: Must be UK nationals of at least 18, with no drug use and pass a very intrusive security clearance. Tech abilities are a must. Training course lasts 2 years.

Tech Network Area: Must be UK nationals of at least 18, with no drug use and pass a very intrusive security clearance. Skills in: GoLang, gRPC, Protobuf, Kubernetes & Docker Python, Java, C#, C, C++, and React (+Redux).

Language Specialists: Must be UK nationals of at least 18, with no drug use and pass a very intrusive security clearance. Russian, Arabic and Mandarin linguists are the most solicited, followed by translators.

4.- Their alphabet is a bit jumbled up

Anyone that has ever seen or read any 007 material knows that M is the head of MI6, whether that be Judy Dench, Bernard Lee or Ralph Fiennes.

But what if I told you that the head of MI6 is actually a certain C?

Back when the Secret Service Bureau was created, a 50-year-old Royal Navy officer called Mansfield Cumming (and dubbed "C") was chosen to head the Foreign Section.

5.- MI6 or SIS?

Officially, the agency's current name (adopted in 1920) is Secret Intelligence Service, hence the acronym SIS, but it wasn't always that. We've established that it started its days as the Secret Service Bureau, and during WWI, the agency joined forces with Military Intelligence, even going as far as to adopt the cover name "MI1(c)".

The agency continued to acquire several names throughout the years, such as "Foreign Intelligence Service", "Secret Service", "Special Intelligence Service" and even "C's organisation". It wasn't until WWII started, that the name MI6 was adopted, in reference to the agency being "section six" of Military Intelligence.

And I truly do hate to be the bearer of bad news but... the name MI6, as cool as it sounds, is no longer in use. Writers and journalists still use that name, but those within the organisation just call it SIS nowadays.

6.- They are fond of their traditions

Remember our dear Commander Mansfield? Well, turns out he started a thing. The man used to sign his letters in green ink and always with the letter "C" a tradition that proved to be sticky enough to be passed down to every single Chief afterwards. Another tradition worth mentioning, is that of calling intelligence reports "CX reports", which... you guessed it, is still done to this day.

7.- Special friends

On 1949, the SIS began a formal collaboration with the CIA, even though the agency had already helped to train their predecessor's personnel, the U.S. Office of Strategic Services.

Even the CIA has admitted that the MI6 has provided them with some of the most valuable information of all time, including information that helped during the Cuban Missile Crisis and key elements to the capture of Osama Bin Laden.

I hope this will be of some use to your future writings and do feel free to submit an ask if you happen to have a specific question regarding British intelligence, or any other International Relations subject!

Yours truly,

–The Internationalist

[leftistfeminista]

'I Won't Stop Until Israel Admits Its Ties With the Pinochet Regime'

Lily Traubman, who immigrated to Israel in the 1970s, hopes the documents she is trying to get from the Defense Ministry and the Foreign Ministry may even contain information on her father's killers.

A year ago there were headlines when four women filed a suit for sexual abuse they suffered in prison during the Pinochet period. They demanded that the abuse be recognized as a political crime and that their torturers be brought to trial. Were such attacks something that was directed from above?

Of course. Have you heard of “La Venda Sexy”? It was a detention center where people were tortured. The name actually means “Sexy Blindfold,” because the detainees’ eyes were covered the whole time and they were subjected to sexual abuse.

All the detainees were blindfolded the whole time?

Yes. They were arrested, blindfolded and put into a room, together, with their eyes covered. Then they were tortured. Most of the female detainees were raped and underwent sexual abuse. A girlfriend of mine was held there but was not raped. She told me she’d felt fortunate, but then came New Year’s and she was raped. They’d kept her for the holiday.

Venda Sexy was truly awful. They had dogs that were trained to rape women, and they would force spouses and family members to watch the rape. More and more testimonies about these abuses come out all the time.

And throughout this whole period, Israel, under prime ministers Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin and Shimon Peres, maintained excellent relations with Chile. The two countries supported each other in the United Nations and signed bilateral agreements. Army Chief of Staff Mordechai Gur visited Chile in 1978, as did Deputy Prime Minister David Levy in 1982. Both met with Pinochet.

Pinochet was even invited to the synagogue in Santiago on Yom Kippur. Other presidents were not invited.

The documents declassified by the Americans also contain references to arms deals with Israel. Secretary of State George Shultz noted in a 1984 document that Britain, France, Israel and Germany were Chile’s arms suppliers.

All the weapons of the Chilean police and army were Israeli. In Chile I went around with a photograph of my brother in uniform. At checkpoints and in searches I would take out the picture and tell them that this was my brother, who was an officer in the IDF – even though he was a regular soldier – and that did the trick. The Chilean army greatly admired the Israeli army. When Pinochet wanted to visit Israel, he threatened that if he were not received here he would cancel a large arms deal. No dictator in the world, however bad he may be, can exist without international support. The dictatorship in Chile lasted as long as it did because there were countries that supported it, and Israel was one of them.

Israel describes itself as “the state of the Jewish people,” but there are about 20 missing Jews in Chile who were murdered during that period, while Israeli governments and the military maintained close ties with Chile, accorded it legitimization in international forums and provided aid and training to its military and intelligence units.