Quick notes: Kurd slaughter | RCEP bait...

• Kurds may be wiped out before Turkey sanctions happen: “Reestablish safe zones to protect Kurds and prevent the reemergence of ISIS before it’s too late”.

Among the dirty little secrets of how Turkey wages war in Syria is that it’s not just Turkish soldiers poring over the border. It’s also allied rebels whose behavior isn’t so different from ISIS. This horrific video shows how they kill Kurds: https://t.co/iZTbeSxvwc via @NYTimes

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) October 12, 2019




• 'You are leaving us to be slaughtered': Military leader of Syrian Kurds tells US

Not long ago, Kurdish female fighters were dancing in Raqqa after defeating ISIS. Today, America is allowing Turkey to attack and kill these same, incredibly brave women & their families. #KurdsBetrayedByTrump or more accurately, betrayed by America. pic.twitter.com/1jkclGXryL

— Godfrey64 #FBPE (@Godfrey642) October 10, 2019




• Did we betray the Kurds for Trump Towers?: Donald Trump's longtime business connections in Turkey back in the spotlight

Thank you Prime Minister Erdogan for joining us yesterday to celebrate the launch of #TrumpTowers Istanbul!

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) April 20, 2012


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I repeat. Reports indicate Turks visited Pakistani nuclear weapons sites last year. Turks want nuclear weapons.
Turkish President Erdogan will visit Pakistan on Oct 23 to cement relations & to extend full support to Pakistan’s stance on the Kashmir issue. https://t.co/xCZdjwFdV5

— Lawrence Sellin (@LawrenceSellin) October 12, 2019




• India rejects RCEP e-commerce chapter: Acceptance would have prevented it from implementing the rules on data localisation. . . . “No Party shall require a covered person to use or locate computing facilities in that Party’s territory as a condition for conducting business in that territory,” reads the wording in the draft chapter.



• Swadeshi Jagran Manch Is Right: The RCEP is not for India. Very often, we get into bad deals because of the fear of being left out in the cold. In theory, FTAs are good for everybody; in practice, they are often tilted towards manufacturing powers to the detriment of services powers. India has a huge trade deficit of over $50 billion with China precisely because of this. We export only low-value added products, while we import higher-value products, and our services industry has been kept out substantially through non-tariff barriers.
  
  FTAs are not an either/or option for us. We can substitute FTAs with bilateral deals that are renegotiable based on actual results over the coming years. These can later be converted to FTAs once the benefits are seen as two-way.



• Xi in Nepal with promises and pressure: China has been pressuring Nepal to sign an extradition treaty, one that leaves Tibetans fleeing Chinese oppression via Nepal with less hope of escape.



• Affordable EV? Tata Nexon EV gives India an affordable domestic-brand electric car



• Women transform rural Vellore: How an army of women in Vellore resurrected a river that once served as their lifeline




• US sanctions Gupta family over widespread corruption: Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh Gupta immigrated to South Africa (from Uttar Pradesh) in the 1990s, and due in large part to their generous donations to a political party and their reportedly close relationship with former South African President Jacob Zuma, their business interests expanded. The family has been implicated in several corrupt schemes in South Africa, allegedly stealing hundreds of millions of dollars through illegal deals with the South African govt, obfuscated by a shadowy network of shell companies and associates linked to the family.