Weapons company Raytheon continues to be the winner in the Ukraine war, with new $1.2 billion surface-to-air missile contract .
Raytheon wins $1.2 billion surface-to-air missile order for Ukraine, By Jen Judson, Defense News, 1 Dec 22
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army awarded Raytheon Missiles and Defense a contract worth as much as $1.2 billion to deliver six National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System batteries for Ukraine.
The contract is part of the fifth Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package and includes training and logistical support to Ukraine’s military and security forces, the Army said in a a Nov. 30 statement.
Raytheon, the world’s second-largest defense contractor, won a contract in August to deliver to NASAMS batteries to Ukraine as part of the third USAI package. The new contract is a follow-on…………………
The work to award Raytheon a contract was led by the Army’s Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space, along with others across the Defense Department.
Ukraine has requested an integrated air and missile defense system that the U.S. and other allies are striving to fulfill. The system would be made up of short-range, low-altitude systems; medium-range, medium-altitude systems; and long-range, high-altitude systems that together would neutralize the threat of Russian aircraft and missiles.
Ukrainian forces had been using Russian-made SA-6 and SA-8 air defenses. In addition to NASAMS, the country also asked for Cold War-era Hawk systems – a medium-range, medium-altitude system, that’s considered to still be effective. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2022/12/01/raytheon-wins-12-billion-surface-to-air-missile-order-for-ukraine
Misleading claims about the supposed recycling of nuclear wastes
EPZ, the operator of the Borssele nuclear power plant, has long claimed
that they recycle “95 percent” of their nuclear fuel, and that only “5
percent” remains as nuclear waste.
Following a complaint by Laka, the Board
of Appeals of the Dutch Advertising Authority, ruled yesterday that these
are misleading environmental advertisement claims. In its ruling, the board
blames EPZ all the more because theses misleading claims appear on EPZ’s
website under the header “Environment & Health”, where “unsuspecting
visitors should expect accurate and balanced information about nuclear fuel
and nuclear waste.
Laka 1st Dec 2022
UK Funding subsidy to French firm EDF, for the £26bn Hinkley Point C nuclear plant even if it does not start operating until 2036
EDF has secured 14 years of funding for the UK’s upcoming nuclear plant
Hinkley Point C in case of the risk of further delays. The French energy
giant has agreed a new contract ensuring its funding even if it does not
start operating until 2036.
EDF confirmed to City A.M. the project is still
on course for completion in 2027, following an approximately two year delay
driven by the pandemic and supply chain disruptions. It is also roughly 45
per cent over budget – having initially been projected to cost £18bn, but
now expected to be priced at £26bn.
The new subsidy contract still includes
clauses in the former deal, which was set to expire just three years
earlier in 2033. This includes stipulations such as shortened payments to
EDF if Hinkley Point C fails to start generating power by May 2029.
If the plant is up and running by that date, EDF receives a guaranteed £92.50 per
megawatt hour for its electricity for the first 35 years of its life. The
latest deal instead reflects a renegotiated settlement between the UK and
China, with the Government paying CGN a £100m exit fee from the next
project – Sizewell C.
City AM 1st Dec 2022
https://www.cityam.com/edf-secures-further-funding-for-hinkley-point-c-in-new-settlement/
Vladimir Putin open to talks on Ukraine if West accepts Moscow’s demands
ABC News 3 Dec 22
Russian President Vladimir Putin is “open to negotiations” on Ukraine but the West must accept Moscow’s demands, the Kremlin says, a day after US President Joe Biden said he was willing to talk with the Russian leader.
Key points:
- The Kremlin says the US’s refusal to recognise annexed territory in Ukraine as Russian was hindering a search for ways to end the war
- The IAEA wants to establish a protective zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which has been repeatedly shelled over the last few months
- An investigation into whether the Moscow branch of the Orthodox church is entitled to operate in Kyiv is underway
Speaking after talks on Thursday at the White House with French President Emmanuel Macron, Mr Biden said he was ready to speak with Mr Putin “if in fact there is an interest in him deciding he’s looking for a way to end the war”, adding the Russian leader “hasn’t done that yet”.
Mr Biden has not spoken directly with Mr Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
In March, Mr Biden branded Mr Putin a “butcher” who “cannot stay in power”.
In Moscow’s first public response to Mr Biden’s overture, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “The president of the Russian Federation has always been, is and remains open to negotiations in order to ensure our interests.”
Mr Peskov said the US refusal to recognise annexed territory in Ukraine as Russian was hindering a search for ways to end the war.
Moscow has previously sought sweeping security guarantees, including a reversal of NATO’s eastern enlargement………………………………….. more https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-02/russia-open-to-talks-on-ukraine-if-west-accepts-moscows-demands/101730102
Australian PM Anthony Albanese urges US government to end pursuit of Julian Assange
Prime minister says he raised Wikileaks co-founder’s case with US representatives recently and will continue to push for it to be ‘brought to a close’
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/nov/30/australian-prime-minister-anthony-albanese-us-government-julian-assange-wikileaks Daniel Hurst 30 Nov 22
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says he has personally urged the US government to end its pursuit of Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange.
In his most in-depth comments about the diplomatically sensitive issue in months, Albanese said he had raised the Assange case “recently in meetings” with US representatives and he vowed to continue to press for it to be brought to a close.
Assange, an Australian citizen, remains in Belmarsh prison in London as he fights a US attempt to extradite him to face charges in connection with the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars as well as diplomatic cables.
Albanese was responding to a parliamentary question from the independent MP Monique Ryan, who said public-interest journalism was “essential to democracy” and declared that Assange’s freedom “will only come from political intervention”.
Ryan asked: “Will the government intervene to bring Mr Assange home?”
The prime minister acknowledged the case was “an issue of great interest to many Australians and of interest to people across this chamber”.
“The government will continue to act in a diplomatic way, but can I assure the member … that I have raised this personally with representatives of the United States government,” the Labor leader told parliament on Wednesday.
“My position is clear and has been made clear to the US administration – that it is time that this matter be brought to a close.”
He did not state explicitly whether he had raised it with the US president, Joe Biden, or with other US representatives such as the ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, with whom he also met recently.
Albanese’s most recent meeting with Biden was in Bali, Indonesia, two weeks ago.
Albanese contrasted Assange’s legal situation with that of the former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who was released in 2017 when Barack Obama commuted her 35-year military prison sentence for leaking the information.
Albanese said he did not have sympathy for Assange’s actions “on a whole range of matters”, but he asked: “What is the point of this continuing this legal action which could be caught up now for many years into the future?”
The UK’s minister for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, and its high commissioner to Australia, Vicki Treadell, were in the audience in the House of Representatives during Albanese’s comments.
When he was the leader of the opposition, Albanese spoke out against the ongoing pursuit of Assange, declaring “enough is enough”.
But since being sworn in as prime minister, Albanese has indicated he would pursue quiet diplomacy, saying: “My position is that not all foreign affairs is best done with the loudhailer.”
The White House has previously said Assange was facing an “ongoing criminal case” and Biden was “committed to an independent Department of Justice”.
“Unparalleled in world:” AEMO maps route to “hours and days” of 100 pct renewables — RenewEconomy
AEMO lays out engineering task to allow Australia’s main grid to operate on 100 pct renewables, first for half hour periods and then for hours or days at a time. The post “Unparalleled in world:” AEMO maps route to “hours and days” of 100 pct renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.
“Unparalleled in world:” AEMO maps route to “hours and days” of 100 pct renewables — RenewEconomy
Bowen says Australia poised to beat 2030 climate target, as emissions plateau — RenewEconomy
Federal Labor says it is on track to achieve or even beat its 43% emissions reduction by 2030, after a one-third improvement since Coalition was dumped. The post Bowen says Australia poised to beat 2030 climate target, as emissions plateau appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Bowen says Australia poised to beat 2030 climate target, as emissions plateau — RenewEconomy
Landmark connection deal allows battery to be added to biggest wind farm in NSW — RenewEconomy
CWP gets approval for the first big battery to be retrofitted to an existing wind or solar farm with the same connection point. It’s a big deal. The post Landmark connection deal allows battery to be added to biggest wind farm in NSW appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Landmark connection deal allows battery to be added to biggest wind farm in NSW — RenewEconomy
Rio Tinto plans another two large solar farms and 200MWh battery storage in Pilbara — RenewEconomy
Rio Tinto kick starts $3 billion renewable plan in Pilbara with two 100MW solar farms and 200MWh of battery storage. The post Rio Tinto plans another two large solar farms and 200MWh battery storage in Pilbara appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Rio Tinto plans another two large solar farms and 200MWh battery storage in Pilbara — RenewEconomy
Can Australia make solar panels? Renewable manufacturing to share $3bn in new funding — RenewEconomy
New National Reconstruction Fund to allocate up to $3 billion to support manufacturing of wind, solar, battery and hydrogen components in Australia. The post Can Australia make solar panels? Renewable manufacturing to share $3bn in new funding appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Can Australia make solar panels? Renewable manufacturing to share $3bn in new funding — RenewEconomy
November 30 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “Vehicle-To-Grid Solutions Could Open Fast Lane To Net-Zero Future” • MIT Research published in Energy Advances shows that as the number of EVs rises, the collective fleet’s batteries might function as a cost-effective, large-scale energy source. This could have significant effects on the energy transition, both for EVs and for the grid. [CleanTechnica] V2G […]
November 30 Energy News — geoharvey
Mining lobby tricks government with its big taxpayer fairytale, swaps Deloitte for EY
https://michaelwest.com.au/mining-lobby-tricks-government-with-its-big-taxpayer-fairytale-swaps-deloitte-for-ey/by Callum Foote | Nov 29, 2022 |
The Minerals Council of Australia has duped Energy Minister Madeleine King into repeating its highly inflated claims of how much taxes its mostly foreign multinationals members pay. Callum Foote reports on an $85 billion PR scam.
The Minister for Energy, Madeline King, has repeated claims from mining lobby group, Minerals Council of Australia, that the mining industry made payments of $43.2 billion in company tax and royalties to Australian governments in in a speech given at the NT Resources Week conference. The figures were repeated on ABC Radio without question.
As revealed here last year, Big Four consulting firm Deloitte used to do the misleading report for the mining lobby. This year it is another Big Four firm, Ernst & Young. The EY report, has – like Deloitte’s previous work – failed to disclose that up to 60% of the tax that they claim the mining industry pays is returned in the form of GST refunds.
They have included GST paid but not refunded, which is massively misleading. The false claims come at a critical time for the mining and energy sectors which are reaping record profits, partially at the expense of energy customers, and the minerals lobby is threatening a public campaign against the government if efforts are made to increase taxes and royalties.
The big GST swindle
The tax numbers produced by EY are derived from the ATO’s Corporate Tax Transparency data and, while their methodology differs somewhat from that of Deloitte’s last year, the report still fails to disclose the GST refund the minerals industry enjoys.
The report avoids mentioning that the mining industry, as an exporting industry, legitimately receives a huge GST refund every year.
A different set of ATO data, the Taxation statistics 2019-20 reveals that over $7.5 billion was refunded to the mining industry as a whole in 2019-20 which is the latest year that data is available.
Over the last decade years, almost $85 billion have been returned to the mining industry through GST refunds, which equals 55.7% of the $152 billion in company tax paid by the industry as a whole.
In the accounting profession, company taxes are regarded as deriving from company revenue. That is, income from a business comes in, costs such as wages are paid which leaves gross profit upon which company tax is paid. Taxes like GST and PAYG are *collected* for the government, not *paid* by the company.
According to forensic accountant Jeff Knapp “GST doesn’t come through the revenue of the company into profit, which would be ‘company tax’. It is collected from customers, just as PAYG is collected from employees”. These taxes are not paid by a company, they are collected, for government, on behalf of a company.
The claims made by MCA CEO Tania Constable regarding the amount of tax paid by her industry have been used to defend against calls for higher mining taxes: “A new tax on Australian mining companies would seriously undermine our international competitiveness, resulting in jobs losses across the country and devastating many communities which rely on mining,” she said.
The Minerals Council refused to defend its claims when approached, numerous times, for comment about its members receiving GST refunds and the misleading nature of the report.
EY has been contacted for a comment, along with the MCA and Minister for Energy.
Running the line
Compared to last year’s report, this year’s has received far less attention. In 2021, Australia’s major media organisations, News Corp and Nine Entertainment were duped by the mining lobby’s false claims about its contribution to Australia.
This year, it’s mainly the industry outlets such as Mirage News, Australian Mining and Mining Magazine that have repeated the claims.
It should be noted that Deloitte’s report considers only the minerals industry, excluding oil and gas from its analysis. This is important because gas corporations are presently the most profitable of all minerals thanks to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and soaring energy prices. This sector is notorious for tax avoidance and dollar-for-dollar avoids more tax than any other sector. The PRRT, a tax which was designed to capture more of this wealth, is regarded as a failed tax.
GST data for the minerals industry is only available for four years between 2015 and 2018. During this period, GST refunds to the minerals industry averaged year-on-year 60% of the company tax total, compared to the mining industry’s overall 61%. In 2018 the figure was higher, with minerals at 36% to mining’s 32%.
So why have royalties and company tax been singled out?
It appears the report was intended from its inception to provide an exaggerated view of the contribution of the minerals industry to Australian governments to ward off attempts to increase taxes.
First commissioned in 2014 under MCA’s then-CEO Brendan Pearson – who has been more recently employed in the Prime Minister’s office – Deloitte’s report was used as proof in an argument that supported the MRRT being repealed.
Pearson said the report “underlines that we are paying an effective tax rate above 40 per cent, when you combine the tax rate and the royalties”.
Royalties and taxes are two entirely separate concepts and to conflate the two is misleading. However, it is a well-worn strategy used by the mining industry to make it appear as though they are paying a higher tax rate than they really are.
Brendan Pearson was forced out as CEO of the Mineral Council in 2017, when BHP took issue with his pro-coal, anti-Paris Agreement lobbying. BHP threatened to review its membership with the MCA, with Rio Tinto signalling it would do likewise if Pearson did not step down.
Pearson, landed on his feet taking up a senior advisory role regarding international trade and investment in former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s office in 2019.
BHP and Rio Tinto, who are the MCA’s largest members, declined to be interviewed for this story.
Australian and more nuclear news -week to 29 November
Some bits of good news: The coming culture peace. Good News on Tuberculosis in Tanzania, Crime in the United Kingdom, and Forests in Nepal.
Coronavirus. Omicron variant now prevalent – more infectious but fewer severe sases.
Climate. COP27 was disappointing, but 2022 remains an historic year for international climate policy. 1.5C warming threshold to be passed in 9 years as emissions hit record high
Nuclear. The two main issues are the danger of nuclear war, sparking from the Ukraine conflict, and the drive for small nuclear reactors simultaneously with the news that their true costs are astronomic. I can only ponder on whether Kamala Harris really has any brain – as she’s off and away trying to sell USA’s small nuclear reactors to poorer “Third World” countries.
AUSTRALIA.
- What caused the Anthony Albanese China change? Better advisors?
- Defence Minister Richard Marles delighted to welcome American nuclear-powered Virginia Class fast-attack submarine.
- Upurli Upurli people say no to uranium mining at Mulga Rock, Western Australia.
- Nukes Corp Australia carries on.
- Australia’s debt to the world greater given our ‘real’ carbon emissions. This case has made legal history’: young Australians just won a human rights case against an enormous coal mine
ARTS and CULTURE Russia’s former southern capital renounces its past: How Ukraine is destroying its heritage.
CLIMATE. It’s high time to defuse the military carbon bomb. No country has the solution to nuclear waste. Nuclear is no preventer of global heating – in fact, it’s quite the reverse. New Talking Points delivers all the reasons why small modular reactors have no role to play for climate change. “Environmental Social and Corporate governance” – EDF and the nuclear lobby try to trick the world with fake “green” credentials.
Take it from the soup throwers, COP’s a cop-out. Fears that oil exporters will control the next COP climate summit. The COP27 promise to fund climate help for poor countries – will it really be kept? The Amazon forest is reaching a tipping point and starting to collapse
CIVIL LIBERTIES. Videos showing execution of Russian POWs in Ukraine are authentic.
ECONOMICS.
- Jobs. New Mexico’s revolving nuclear door: top environment officials sell out to nuclear weapons lab.
- The projected cost of new nuclear power has risen by fourfold since 2008 – and it is still rising. Costs of NuScam’s Small Modular Nuclear Reactors revised upwards – yet again! Small Modular Nuclear Reactor cost overruns: the same old problems haunt new nuclear in Utah. Ineos corporation to join Rolls Royce’s messy consortium, to push for Small Nuclear Reactors in the Great British Nuclear Swindle. UK government underestimated the cost to the public of Regulated Asset Base financing of nuclear power.
- U.S. Nuclear Reactors Among the Oldest in the World. A billion down the drain for Diablo.
- Marketing: B1 USA Vice-President For the Nuclear Industry Kamala Harris on a marketing jaunt for NuScam’s Small Nuclear Reactors to Southeast Asia. Kamala Harris, nuclear saleswoman extraordinaire, touting small nuclear reactors to Thailand.
ENERGY. EDF Delays Restart of Three Nuclear Reactors as Winter Hits. Amongst alternative energy sources, nuclear power’s prospects are not good.
HISTORY. France opens archives related to nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific.
INDIGENOUS ISSUES. The consequences of nuclear imperialism and colonialism.
LEGAL. Nuclear Industry Liability under the Paris Convention. Legal challenge to UK nuclear plan by groups Stop Sizewell C and Together Against Sizewell C (TASC), and others. Mayor of Ukraine’s second-largest city fined for speaking Russian.
MEDIA. ‘Publishing is not a crime’: media groups urge US to drop Julian Assange charges.The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine remains under Russian control, despite media reports.
NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. Nuclear power no solution for Canada’s North West Territory . Putin touts Russia’s ‘Arctic power’ with new nuclear icebreaker. NuScam’s Utah small nuclear reactor project in doubt – needs $billions of tax-payer support. World’s Biggest Nuclear-Fusion Project Faces Delays as Component Cracks.
OPPOSITION TO NUCLEAR. The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) strongly opposes new Bradwell nuclear proposal.
POLITICS.
- Middle East investors and French developers for Sizewell C nuclear station to be paid by “an extra tax” on UK public’s bills ? Rolls-Royce calls for formal funding talks over small nuclear plants.
- USA government forks out a $billion to keep uneconomic Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant going. USA’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) cleverly worded so it could be a bonanza for small nuclear plant developers.
- Lawmaker says Filipinos will be ‘guinea pigs’ in nuclear pact with US.
POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY.
- Could the Minsk II agreement Have Prevented the War in Ukraine? Merkel explains why she wasn’t surprised by Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Washington’s Iron Curtain in Ukraine.
- Philippines to be America’s nuclear guinea-pig for experimental small modular nuclear reactors.
- Finland’s Fortum turns to U.S. in bid to replace Russian nuclear fuel.
- ‘Dangerous rhetoric’ stoking nuclear tensions: UN chief. Future war: NATO holds 75-nation planning session in Berlin. China, Russia and the bomb — IPPNW peace and health blog .
- Zelensky trapped by Moscow and Washington.
- Iran Media Looks Beyond Nuclear Deal As Negotiations ‘Fail’. Iran ‘not optimistic’ about nuclear deal revival talks.
- The coming Sinophobic calamity. Pandora’s box of nuclear progress.
RADIATION. Protecting kids from electromagnetic radiation in school and at home.
SAFETY. Nuclear Guinea Pigs: NRC’s Licensing of Experimental Nuclear Plants . Threat of Possible Nuclear Accident at Zaporizhzhia Sends Tensions Rising. U.N. Supplied Qatar With Tech to ‘Prevent Nuclear Security Incident’ at 2022 World Cup. Electricity production at Olkiluoto 3 reactor delayed until 2023..
SECRETS and LIES. Ukraine quietly abolishes corruption oversight rule. Ukrainian city names street after Nazi collaborator.
WASTES. Confusion over nuclear wastes from small modular reactors. Estonian public concerned about radioactive waste from planned nuclear power plant. Uniting to oppose Japanese plan to dump nuclear waste in Pacific. UK’s costly struggle to deal with dead nuclear submarines.
WAR and CONFLICT. US ‘success’ is Ukraine’s disaster. Republished from 2019 Maligned in Western Media, Donbass Forces are defending their future from Ukrainian shelling. China Prevented Transfer Of Polish MiG-29 Fighter Jets To Ukraine; Kept Russia Away From Nuclear Escalation.
WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES.
- US Arms Dealing Is Out of Control. A new nuclear weapons delivery system is the last thing the US needs. U.S. speeds up plans to store upgraded nukes in Europe.
- USA hurrying to replace its weapons stocks, after sending so much to Ukraine. Most NATO members have run out of weapons for Ukraine – NYT.
- Nuclear weapons convoys through Lancashire and parked close to primary school.
- ‘Deliberate ambiguity’: Israel’s nuclear weapons are greatest threat to Middle East.
- Kim Jong Un Emphasizes Nuclear Development as North Korea’s ‘Ultimate Goal’.
UK GOVERNMENT DEPLOYED 15 STAFF ON SECRET OPERATION TO SEIZE JULIAN ASSANGE
New information raises further concerns about the politicisation of the WikiLeaks founder’s legal case.
https://declassifieduk.org/uk-government-deployed-15-staff-on-secret-operation-to-seize-julian-assange/ MATT KENNARD, 28 NOVEMBER 2022
- Assange had been granted asylum by a friendly country to avoid persecution by the US government for his journalistic activities
- But Home Office had eight staff, and the Cabinet Office had seven, working on secret police operation to arrest Assange
- Ministry of Justice, which controls England’s courts and prisons, refuses to say if its staff were involved in operation
- Foreign Office refuses to say if its premises were used
The British government assigned at least 15 people to the secret operation to seize Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, new information shows.
The WikiLeaks founder was given political asylum by Ecuador in 2012, but was never allowed safe passage out of Britain to avoid persecution by the US government.
The Australian journalist has been in Belmarsh maximum security prison for the past three and a half years and faces a potential 175-year sentence after the UK High Court greenlighted his extradition to the US in December 2021.
‘Pelican’ was the secret Metropolitan Police operation to seize Assange from his asylum, which eventually occurred in April 2019. Asylum is a right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The operation’s existence was only revealed in the memoirs of former foreign minister Sir Alan Duncan which were published last year. The UK government routinely blocks, or obfuscates its answers to, information requests about the Assange case.
But the Cabinet Office recently told parliament it had seven officials working on Operation Pelican. The department’s role is to “support the Prime Minister and ensure the effective running of government”, but it also has national security and intelligence functions.
It is not immediately clear why the Cabinet Office would have so many personnel working on a police operation of this kind. Asked about their role, the Cabinet Office said these seven officials “liaised” with the Metropolitan Police on the operation.
The Home Office, meanwhile, told parliament it had eight officials working on Pelican. The Home Office oversees MI5 and the head of the department has to sign off extraditions to most foreign countries. Then home secretary Priti Patel ordered Assange’s extradition to the US in June.
‘Disproportionate cost’
Other government ministries refused to say if they had staff working on Pelican, including the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
The MoJ is in charge of courts in England and Wales, where Assange’s extradition case is currently deciding whether to hear an appeal. It is also in control of its prisons, including Belmarsh maximum security jail where Assange is incarcerated.
When asked if any of its staff were assigned to Pelican, the MoJ claimed: “The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.”
It is unclear why the Home Office, a bigger department with more staff, could answer such a question, but the MoJ could not. There is no obvious reason why the MoJ would have staff assigned to Pelican, so revelations that it did would cause embarrassment for the government.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office told parliament it had no staff “directly assigned” to Pelican, but refused to say if people working on the operation were located on its premises.
‘Julian Assange’s Special Brexit Team’
Sir Alan Duncan, foreign minister for the Americas from 2016-19, was the key UK official in the diplomatic negotiations between the UK and Ecuador to get Assange out of the embassy. In his memoirs he wrote that he watched a live-feed of Assange’s arrest from the Operations Room at the top of the Foreign Office alongside Pelican personnel.
After Assange had been imprisoned in Belmarsh, Duncan had a drinks party at his office for the Pelican team. “I gave them each a signed photo which we took in the Ops Room on the day, with a caption saying ‘Julian Assange’s Special Brexit Team 11th April 2019’”, he wrote.
Ecuador’s president from 2007-17, Rafael Correa, recently told Declassified he granted Assange asylum because the Australian journalist “didn’t have any possibility of a fair legal process in the United States.”
He added that the UK government “tried to deal with us like a subordinate country.”
In September 2021, 30 former US officials went on the record to reveal a CIA plot to “kill or kidnap” Assange in London. In case of Assange leaving the embassy, the article noted, “US officials asked their British counterparts to do the shooting if gunfire was required, and the British agreed, according to a former senior administration official.”
These assurances most likely came from the Home Office.
Upurli Upurli people say no to uranium mining at Mulga Rock, Western Australia
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/upurli-upurli-people-say-no-uranium-mining-mulga-rock—
Sam Wainwright, Perth, November 28, 2022
Nuclear Free WA protested outside Deep Yellow’s annual general meeting on November 25 against the company’s plans to mine uranium at Mulga Rock, north west of Kalgoorlie. The Upurli Upurli traditional owners absolutely oppose it.
Deep Yellow holds the only uranium deposit in Western Australia. This was the company’s first AGM following its merger in August with Vimy Resources.
Mia Pepper, Nuclear Free Campaigner at the Conservation Council of WA (CCWA), who has been tracking the mine plans for more than 10 years, said it faces more opposition than ever.
Deep Yellow does not have “any agreement with the Native Title claim groups” and “it doesn’t have the finance”, she said.
It has just started a third Definitive Feasibility Study into the beleaguered project, expected to be completed mid-2024. The latest project delay casts further doubt on the future of the site, campaigners said.
“Deep Yellow is the only company beating the uranium drum in Western Australia and even their own executive team has been clear they have no intention to mine at the current uranium price,” Pepper said.
“For a company with a highly speculative business model, no operating mines, many regulatory hurdles still to clear, and a sizeable pricing disincentive, it’s astounding that shareholders would endorse the proposed remuneration package for the Deep Yellow executive team, with the CEO alone receiving over $1 million,” she continued
First Nations communities have been continuing their protests.
WA Greens Legislative Council member Brad Pettitt read a statement in parliament on November 17 on behalf of Upurli Upurli and Spinifex women.
“We are Upurli Upurli and Spinifex women and we are writing because we face the unprecedented threat of uranium mining at Mulga Rock, east of Kalgoorlie … We have been saying no to uranium mining at Mulga Rock for a long time”
Their statement also detailed concerns about Deep Yellow’s executive who held senior roles in companies responsible for the destruction of Juukan Gorge, as well as several incidents of environmental pollution, industrial relations controversies and workplace fatalities at uranium mines in Malawi and Namibia.
The CCWA is delivering a WA Uranium Free Charter to WA MPs. It demands they “review and remove any approval for uranium mining at Mulga Rock” as well as withdraw the approvals of the stalled proposed uranium mines at Kintyre, Yeelirrie and Wiluna.
.
1 This month
4 November – Will AUKUS keep us safe – at what cost?
the Commissioners of the AUKUS Public Inquiry present their findings at the National Press Club of Australia in Canberra. iview.abc.net.au/show/national-press-club-address
Submissions to the federal government’s new draft framework close on the 13th November 2026.
Australians deserve the truth
about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
