🇬🇪 Georgia unrest part of West’s strategy of using Russia’s neighbors as pawns in hybrid war – expert

💬 “They [the US] want to add the situation in the South Caucasus to the broader Ukrainian issue rather than address it locally,” Caucasus politics expert Stanislav Tarasov told Sputnik, commenting on US State Dept. spokesperson Matthew Miller’s warning of “further consequences” for Georgia after Saturday’s parliamentary elections.

“They want to create a whole package of conflict situations: Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine, and to play these games like a grandmaster across multiple boards, yielding somewhere while hitting out somewhere else. Giving in on Georgia, they can harden their position on Ukraine, or vice versa,” he added.

Tarasov believes Georgia may face increased Western pressure, including sanctions, if the Georgian Dream-led government maintains its independent stance on foreign and domestic policies, notably pragmatic relations with Russia and socially conservative policies criticized by the EU and US.

“They can’t send in the armed forces or some expeditionary corps. First, they feed them with some investments, then they impose sanctions; first they open a visa regime; then they impose bans, and so on and so forth…This is the primitive scheme in the American version of colonial rule being implemented in relation to Georgia,” the observer said.

Tarasov argues that with the ruling Georgian Dream party having won 54% of the vote, the opposition's fraud claims are less about overthrowing the government and more about pressuring it to include opposition members in a coalition to "erode" it from within.

“In this case, the plot is aimed not so much at destabilizing the domestic situation, but forcing Georgian Dream to accept the idea of a coalition,” Tarasov said. Once inside, the opposition can block certain policies, such as projects like the North-South Transport Corridor that would allow Tbilisi to escape the West’s political and economic grip entirely.

“The Americans understand that they cannot hold Georgia, but they can destabilize the situation in the region through it. That’s what they’re doing – it’s a holding operation,” the observer summed up.

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How Israel's ban of UNRWA could worsen already acute humanitarian crisis in Gaza

The Israeli parliament has barred the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from operating in Israel and dramatically curtailed its activities in occupied Gaza.

UNRWA provided education, health care, relief and social services, infrastructure and camp improvement, microfinance and emergency response to Palestinians.

🔸 The Israeli laws targeting UNRWA have set a dangerous precedent and violates international law, the agency's commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini stated.

🔸 UN Secretary-General António Guterres has stressed that "there is no alternative to UNRWA."

🔸 Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain condemned Israel's legislation in a joint statement on Monday. The UK, Germany and the EU leadership expressed "grave concerns". US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US is "deeply" concerned. Turkiye stated that "Israel aims to destroy the two-state solution" by banning UNRWA.

🔸 The Gaza Strip has a population of approximately 2.1 million people, including 1.7 million Palestine Refugees. Gazans depend on educational, healthcare and other assistance provided by UNRWA during the war. Roughly 1.2 million Palestinians in Gaza depend on UNRWA's food aid.

🔸 Humanitarian aid comes to Gaza through crossings which are now under control of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Israel will no longer issue permits for UNRWA to enter the region. UNRWA is the main UN agency working in the strip.

🔸 According to the UN's October report, over 1.8 million people across Gaza are presently experiencing "high levels of acute food insecurity", including nearly 133,000 people facing "catastrophic food insecurity." At least 1.9 million people across the Gaza Strip are internally displaced. Only 17 out of 35 medical facilities are partially functioning in Gaza, while others have been destroyed. The UNRWA ban will further exacerbate the Gaza humanitarian crisis, the UN warns.

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Next stop Skynet? Pentagon eyes plans to entrust nuclear weapons to AI

The Pentagon is “exploring all possible technologies, techniques, and methods to assist with the modernization of our N3 [Nuclear Command, Control & Communications] capabilities,” STRATCOM chief Anthony J. Cotton said at a conference in Omaha, Nebraska, on Monday.

💬 “AI will enhance our decision-making capabilities,” Cotton said, touting AI systems’ power to “inform us faster and more efficiently,” and provide leaders with more “decision space” in an emergency. “Our adversaries must know that our nuclear command and control and other capabilities that provide decision advantage are at the ready 24/7, 365, and cannot be compromised or defeated.”

Listing potential “risks” associated with AI in strategic defense, including compromised data, inaccurate algorithms, “cascading effects of AI models,” and “emergent and unexpected behaviors,” Cotton nevertheless touted IT and AI “superiority” as keys “for more effective integration of conventional and nuclear capabilities.” Instead, he said, keeping humans “in the loop” should allow STRATCOM to “maximize the adoption of these capabilities and maintain an edge over our adversaries.”

Cotton’s comments read like something straight out of a dystopian sci-fi story, including James Cameron’s Terminator movies, in which fictional arms contractor Cyberdyne Systems creates AI entrusted with control over strategic defense, only to become self-aware and launch a global thermonuclear war to try to wipe out humanity.

Dangers associated with entrusting military decision-making to AI have been made clear even in recent conventional wars, with Israel’s use of the Lavender AI system to hunt for Hamas fighters featuring a gruesome casualties approval algorithm allowing “hundreds” of civilians to be killed to eliminate one military target. 

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From strategic partnership to enhanced trade: How have Russian-North Korean relations evolved?

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui is scheduled to arrive in Moscow on October 30 for discussions with Russian officials. This visit is part of a strategic dialogue established by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un during their June meeting. How have ties between Russia and North Korea developed in recent months?

Diplomatic relations and strategic partnership

🔸 In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin embarked on a two-day visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), during which he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un formalized their alliance by signing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty.

🔸 A key section of the pact stipulates that “if one of the parties finds itself at war due to an armed attack by one or more countries, the other party will immediately provide it with military assistance by all means at its disposal.”

🔸 Russia's lower house ratified the strategic treaty during a plenary session on October 24.

Military and technological cooperation

🔸 Moscow has extended an offer of assistance to Pyongyang in developing its satellite program. Both parties are dedicated to enhancing trade and technological collaboration, which includes "joint research in fields like space, biology, peaceful nuclear energy, artificial intelligence, and information technology."

Trade and economic relations

🔸 Trade turnover between Russia and North Korea soared ninefold in 2023, reaching $34.4 million, as reported by Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov. During his visit to Pyongyang, President Putin highlighted that trade has further increased by 54% in the first five months of 2024.

🔸 Russia's exports to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) feature a range of products, including agricultural goods, cereals, wheat flour, corn, vegetable oil, confectionery, mineral fuels, distillation products, and pharmaceuticals.

🔸 In exchange, Russia imports chemical products, machinery, metals, and textiles from North Korea.

🔸 In November 2023, the Russian-Korean Intergovernmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation convened to discuss collaborative efforts in geological exploration for various metals and offshore hydrocarbon resources. Among the promising projects is the construction of a road bridge across the Tumen River, enhancing connectivity along the Russia-DPRK border.

Humanitarian and cultural collaboration

🔸 Both countries intend to enhance their humanitarian cooperation by focusing on key areas such as transportation and communication infrastructure, education, healthcare, sports, culture, and mutual tourism, along with cultural exchanges.

🔸 Additionally, they are exploring alternative mutual settlement mechanisms that “are not controlled by the West,” according to an article Putin wrote ahead of his June visit to the DPRK.

Sanctions and international policy

🔸 Moscow has expressed its support for revising the indefinite sanctions regime against North Korea that was originally imposed by the UN Security Council.

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A box of election ballots and other documents was found near freeway exit 11 in Cutler Bay, Florida.

The finder took them to the police, where they have been secured.

The source of the papers and motives are still unknown.

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The South African Ministry of Defense says it is expecting a friendly visit to Pretoria from a group of Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft, including the Tu-160.

The arrival will include Il-62, An-124, and Tu-160 strategic bomber aircraft.

It is noted that these aircraft will be landing on the African continent for the first time, specifically at the South African Air Force base Waterkloof in Pretoria.

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