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Researcher & writer based in Hong Kong. Former academic. Longform articles archived at https://lauraruggeri.substack.com and https://laura-ruggeri.medium.com. Email: lauraru852@yandex.ru
Christopher Harborne, the man who bribed Boris Johnson in 2022 is the largest single shareholder in QinetiQ, a UK defence company that secured an £80m government contract in 2023. The company is a major government contractor and was once part of the MoD before it was privatised and floated on the stock exchange in 2006. Like many defence companies, it has seen its profits skyrocket thanks to the war in Ukraine. Boris Johnson actively discouraged Ukrainian officials from pursuing a potential peace deal with Russia, urging them instead to continue fighting. Johnson’s role in sabotaging Russia-Ukraine peace talks is well-known, and so is his corruption. @LauraRuHK 👉 This article is dated 19 January 2023 https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/boris-johnson-christopher-harborne-donation-mod-contract-80m/ 👉 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/oct/10/the-1m-man-why-did-boris-johnson-take-his-donor-to-ukraine @LauraRuHK
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Beijing is hosting the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women. In an era where Western excesses have often dominated the discourse on women's rights, China is emerging as a counterbalance by promoting a sensible, non-confrontational approach rooted in harmony, practicality, and global cooperation. This shift moves away from the radicalism that has sometimes characterized Western feminism, emphasizing instead context-specific solutions that resonate with diverse cultures. As Global South feminists advocate, women's rights must incorporate approaches like Islamic feminism or Indigenous frameworks, ensuring equity for everybody, not just the privileged few. A key demonstration of this vision comes next week, when President Xi Jinping attends and delivers a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women. This event underscores China's commitment to collaborating with the international community to advance women's development worldwide, aligning with broader principles of shared prosperity and mutual respect. China's role in this arena is not new. In 1995, it hosted the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, where the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted—a pivotal milestone that continues to guide global efforts toward gender equality. Over the ensuing decades, China has achieved remarkable progress in enhancing women's wellbeing, including expanded access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, alongside policies promoting work-life balance and poverty alleviation targeted at women. By hosting the upcoming Global Leaders' Meeting on Women, China exemplifies its Global Governance Initiative in practice, adapting to an evolving international landscape where multilateralism and inclusive dialogue replace divisive ideologies. This approach not only highlights China's domestic successes but also positions it as a bridge for South-South cooperation, fostering gender agendas that respect sovereignty and cultural diversity. In doing so, it invites a reevaluation of how women's rights can be pursued through unity rather than confrontation, and empowerment that lifts all societies. @LauraRuHK
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North Korea has demonstrated the latest Hwasongpho-20 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at a military parade in Pyongyang in honor of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports.
Hwasongpho-20 ICBMs have became the most powerful nuclear strategic weapon system of North Korea. The latest weapons reflect "the far-sightedness, resolute decision, iron faith and boundless devotion" of the party, which have laid the foundation of the arms industry and "brought about epochal miracles" in the field of the defense industry to protect the dignity and tranquility of North Korea and its people, KCNA adds.
Photo Credit: KCNA
Trump Escalates US-China Tensions Over Rare Earth Controls
Today Donald Trump publicly threatened "massive" tariff hikes on Chinese goods and canceled his expected meeting with Xi Jinping at the upcoming APEC summit in South Korea (October 31). Beijing had never confirmed the Xi-Trump meeting. ▪️Trump complained on social media about what he characterized as "China's plans to hold the global economy hostage" after Beijing expanded its rare earth element export controls on Thursday.
China, which dominates over 90% of global rare earth processing, added five new elements and refining technologies to its restricted list, requiring foreign producers using Chinese materials to comply with Beijing's rules. These controls are a direct response to U.S. sanctions and tariffs, that is countermeasures against unilateralist and protectionist actions that disrupt global supply chains.
▪️Trump's tantrum marked the sharpest US-China rift in four months, potentially unraveling a fragile trade truce achieved through earlier diplomacy. The announcement triggered immediate global market turmoil: S&P 500 dropped 2%, its largest single-day decline since April and investors rushed to safe havens like gold.
The U.S. dollar weakened against major currencies.
▪️Tensions had been simmering, with recent U.S. actions including proposals to ban Chinese airlines from Russian overflights to the U.S. Meanwhile the Federal Communications Commission said that major U.S. online retail websites have removed millions of listings for Chinese electronics.
China has repeatedly urged Washington to drop unilateral trade barriers it views as harmful to global commerce.
▪️In response to the U.S.'s unilateral decision to impose additional port service fees on vessels owned or operated by Chinese enterprises, effective October 14, 2025. China has introduced a reciprocal measure, announcing a special port service fee targeting vessels linked to the U.S.
@LauraRuHK
Eurasian leaders have signed a landmark agreement creating the “CIS Plus” format, during the CIS summit in Dushanbe — The summit was attended by the heads of state of member countries Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and by the Secretary General of the CIS, Sergey Lebedev, who has been re-elected for three years.
A key outcome of the summit was the creation of a new cooperative framework, the ‘Commonwealth of Independent States Plus’ (CIS+), aimed at broadening the CIS’s engagement with external states and international organizations. The initial step in its implementation was granting observer status to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) within the CIS. Furthermore, the leaders decided to transfer the CIS Presidency for 2026 to Turkmenistan, establishing the future agenda and priorities for the Commonwealth.
During the meeting, the heads of state approved a package of important documents in the field of security. They regulate cooperation in the field of countering terrorism and extremism, border security, military cooperation, and energy security. @LauraRuHK
And the Nobel Peace Prize goes to someone who ticks all the usual boxes: US asset and Zionist. ▪️The leader of the pro-American opposition in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado, certainly didn't need the money...she comes from a large oligarchic family that previously controlled the entire steel industry in the country.
And through her NGO Súmate, Machado regularly received funding from the American USAID and NED.
@LauraRuHK
The evolving global order, the strategic importance of the Caspian region, and the increased activities by Western countries in the post-Soviet space demand attention. Geographical inter-connectedness gives the five littoral states (Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) of this closed body of water the opportunity of increasing their cooperation in order to tackle regional challenges without external interference. Established in August 2019, the Caspian Five serves as a platform to foster collaboration and multilateral economic dialogue among member states
The Caspian Five’s recent high-level naval talks in St Petersburg, chaired by Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Admiral Alexander Moiseyev, stressed the importance of maintaining exclusive control over Caspian Sea security by the littoral states. This principle has never been more critical.
@LauraRuHK
Nel Bonilla debunks the myth of U.S. retreat
What many people still refuse to see, whether because it comforts them or because they do not follow the doctrinal thread, is that the United States’ and its transatlantic partners’ ruling elites are not “retreating” from Asia, Europe, Eurasia, or any other theater of strategic significance. If anything, the opposite is true: elites in Washington, Brussels, and other Western capitals are in what can best be described as panic-management mode, and their chosen response is to double down: globally, persistently, and through infrastructure rather than visible mass mobilization (even though the latter might flourish, too).
This is a process written into the operational architecture the Pentagon is actively building. The Army Unified Network Plan 2.0 spells it out plainly at the outset: the initial AUNP (2021) was designed to remedy the shift in the character of war from episodic and regional to transregional and global. The updated plan continues on that trajectory, insisting on a data-centric, unified network as the backbone of future operations. In other words: the Army is building the plumbing for planetary power projection, the global skeleton upon which multi-domain pressure can be continuously applied. (See Army Unified Network Plan 2.0.)
“The initial AUNP (2021) was published… to address network gaps associated with the changing character of war from episodic and regional to transregional and global.”
This sentence reframes how we must interpret every subsequent policy and procurement decision. It explains why, even in the face of acute industrial shortfalls, shortages of artillery, munitions production bottlenecks, workforce and supply-chain constraints, the strategy does not pivot to a retrenchment or a domestic fix (even though these are added to the already developed theaters). Instead, policy choices sink money and political capital into networks, sensors, data fabrics, and command-clouds that allow small, dispersed, and often low-cost elements (drones, sensors, software, decoys) to be recomposed into lethal effects across domains and theaters. This is the logic of so-called Mosaic Warfare in practice: not mass, but composability; not mobilization, but continuous pressure.
What does that mean in political-economic terms? It means we are witnessing the construction of a planet-scale infrastructure for permanent pressure, an architecture intended to slow, frustrate, and ultimately prevent autonomous industrial and political development across large parts of the world. The logic is simple, if brutal: make rival states and regional coalitions constantly defend, constantly disperse, constantly invest in countermeasures; force them to drain resources into redundancy and resilience rather than into the social and industrial reproduction that builds durable sovereignty.
This could also be considered a spatial fix, in David Harvey’s sense. Instead of confronting the deeper social and economic causes of Western (capitalism-driven) relative decline, deindustrialization, inequality, loss of domestic productive capacity, ruling elites pursue a technological and infrastructural workaround. They channel finance into the continuous maintenance and upgrade of a global coercive architecture: networks, bases, domes, logistics hubs, secure clouds, and persistent partner environments. It is a regime of pressure designed to preserve a hierarchic distribution of power and resources which also aims at materially destroying infrastructure to rebuild it.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has called recent unrest in the country’s “fifth foreign-backed revolution attempt” and vowed to take all measures to prevent a sixth. ▪️The Georgian government has developed significant expertise in countering attempts to overthrow it, acquiring valuable insights that merit dissemination. Georgia should share its findings and best practices with other nations facing similar attempts. @LauraRuHK
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"Russian" drone sightings have largely replaced UFO sightings. No alien abductions have been reported yet, but keep the faith! 😅 @LauraRuHK
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Prioritizing your country's national interests over Ukraine's leads to electoral success. Voter turnout reached an estimated 68 percent, the highest since 1998.
@LauraRuHK
My flu vaccine: wakame seaweed, shitake mushrooms, potatoes, spring onions, ginger, chilli pepper, garlic (a lot!), soy sauce, sesame oil.
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Reuters: The Trump Administration's desire to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine may not be viable because current inventories are committed to the U.S. Navy and other uses. @LauraRuHK
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And here is Pushkin's poem "The Borodino anniversary" which the Russian president quoted after delivering his speech. Pushkin in it directly addressed and warned the European powers that interfered in a Slavic dispute.
Its message couldn't be clearer.
https://poetrue.com/verse/ru/PUSHKIN_Alexander/borodino_anniversary
EU leaders are seeking partners in crime to steal Russian assets - Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever said on Thursday he asked other European Union leaders to give guarantees they would share the risks if frozen Russian assets held in his country were used to finance loans to Ukraine.
Belgium, home to Euroclear—the financial institution holding most of these assets—fears that transferring the funds to Ukraine could spark a wave of lawsuits from their owners.
"There's no free money. There are always consequences," De Wever said.
Meanwhile Germany, France and Italy are urging Japan and the US to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine, just as Europe is now seeking to do. The European Central Bank fears using Russian assets could undermine the global credibility of the euro — but these countries believe that concern could be allayed if Washington and Tokyo were to take similar action.
@LauraRuHK
Dancing nurses were never about the morale of healthcare workers or stress relief. They were a test, a sorting mechanism, revealing who would accept the contradictions and who would resist them. These videos on TikTok, which appeared simultaneously across all continents while governments declared medical emergencies, represented something unprecedented in the history of propaganda: the authorities showed that they could make populations accept two mutually exclusive realities at the same time.
What we witnessed was not traditional propaganda aimed at persuasion, but something more akin to what abuse experts recognize as gaslighting on a large scale. The psychological mechanism was elegant in its cruelty: it presented citizens with an apparent contradiction—hospitals that were both overcrowded and empty enough for choreographed routines—and then punished them socially for noticing it.
This essay explores how this technique fits into the broader context of psychological warfare
The dancing-nurses were a test for the distortion of reality. Once populations accepted this initial contradiction, they were prepared for more: each accepted absurdity weakened the public’s ability to trust their own observations.
This technique seems to draw inspiration from what Michael Hoffman calls “method disclosure“ — the practice of cryptocracy revealing its activities in plain sight, knowing that public inaction in the face of such a revelation produces a discouraging effect. The message becomes: “We can show you the contradiction between our words and our actions, and you will do nothing. You will accept both the lie and the evidence of it.” It is a form of ritual humiliation that works not through concealment, but through unabashed display. Almost four years later, we can see how this enterprise created precedents that persist.
The effectiveness of Patriot air defense systems in Ukraine has dropped from 42% to 6%.
This was reported by the Ukrainian TV channel "Espresso" citing former Deputy Chief of the General Staff Igor Romanenko. /channel/rian_ru/321543
🤡Macron has reappointed 🤡Lecornu as prime minister just four days after his resignation. The French don't want either, the EU-US military-industrial complex relies on both to approve the budget. @LauraRuHK
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A different, critical take on the 22nd annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. Biljana Vankovska, representing the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, captures not only the mood of Valdai but also her concerns about "embracing disorder as the new rationality".
https://biljanavankovska.substack.com/p/the-elephant-in-the-valdai-club
Beijing criticised the Trump administration’s proposal to ban Chinese airlines from using Russian airspace on US routes, warning that Washington’s policies could hurt American businesses.
US transport regulators proposed the ban on Thursday in a bid to eliminate what they described as an unfair advantage enjoyed by Chinese carriers flying shorter, cheaper routes via Russia.
The Chinese foreign ministry said such restrictions would be detrimental to people-to-people exchanges with the United States, and urged Washington to reconsider its own policies instead of unjustifiably suppressing others and burdening global consumers. (Source: SCMP) @LauraRuHK
Fyodor Lukyanov, research director of the Valdai International Discussion Club, is well-positioned to comment on this year’s theme: he moderated “The Polycentric World: Instructions for Use” session with the participation of Vladimir Putin. In an article published by RT, he writes:
Instructions for Use – was not a metaphor for a machine but a manual for coexistence in the new age. The task is no longer to restore order but to navigate disorder – systematically, without panic or dogma. As Putin noted, we are entering “a long period of searching, often moving by trial and error.” This search must be guided, not chaotic.
What distinguishes Valdai from Western forums like Davos or Munich is precisely this realism. There is no pretense of a moral monopoly, no talk of ‘the rules-based order’. Instead, it accepts that no single civilization, not even Western civilization which long dominated, holds the key to the 21st century. The old map no longer fits the terrain.
The Valdai meetings once felt like a polite duel between Russia and the West. Today, that dynamic has vanished. Delegates from Asia, Africa, and Latin America now fill the halls, and their concerns – from technological sovereignty to food security – are treated as central, not peripheral. The ‘global majority’ is no longer an audience; it is the chorus.
The West’s ideological fervor – its need to moralize every conflict – has become its weakness. Russia’s stance, by contrast, is pragmatic, even stoic: The recognition that the world is too complex for binary thinking, that each civilization must now define its own path.
The world’s leading powers, both old and rising, are groping toward a balance – one defined not by domination, but by coexistence. The new era, messy and multipolar, may yet be freer. If only the old empires can learn to calm down.
At the second Russia-Central Asia summit currently held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Vladimir Putin discussed plans to integrate transport corridors and logistics projects into a unified system, while announcing Moscow’s readiness to participate in energy projects in the region. TASS has compiled key statements from the Russian president:
▪️Russian investments in Central Asia total $20 billion, but this is deemed insufficient: “Russia is one of the leading investors in the economies of the region’s countries. The total volume of Russian investments exceeds $20 billion, but I believe this is not enough.”
▪️Logistics integration: All transport corridors and logistics projects in Russia and Central Asia could be combined into a single system: “The key task is developing the North-South and East-West main routes passing through our territories, as well as constructing new transcontinental corridors. In the future, all these and other Eurasian logistics projects could be integrated into a single network with modern electronic and transport services.”
▪️Energy projects: Russia is prepared to assist Central Asia in building nuclear and hydroelectric power plants and to participate in other energy initiatives: “Russian companies are ready to contribute to the construction of new hydroelectric power plants and projects aimed at ensuring the safe operation of water and energy infrastructure, as well as the prudent use of water resources and transboundary rivers.”
▪️Technology sharing: Russia is ready to share modern technologies with Central Asia, including digitalization of management: “And here, I believe you will agree, we have something to offer.”
▪️International cooperation: Russia and Central Asian countries “share common or similar approaches to key issues on the regional and global agenda, coordinating positions at the United Nations and in other multilateral formats.”
@LauraRuHK
The Hudson Institute is very concerned about the erosion of the dollar's status and considers BRICS the main threat to the monetary dominance that has anchored American influence since the 1970s. Analyst Zineb Riboua writes:
China leads this challenge by pushing Gulf oil producers to settle portions of their sales in yuan. Meanwhile, Huawei’s role in shaping regional telecom standards could enable China to establish alternative payment and data pathways to skirt Western oversight. And Beijing has encouraged sovereign wealth funds in Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, and Doha to invest in yuan-denominated platforms, digital currencies, and blockchain-based trade systems.
Russia and Iran are also undermining the dominance of the dollar in the region. For instance, Russia conducts transactions with Iran in rubles and Iranian rials, reducing exposure to US sanctions. Iran, for its part, sustains its economy through barter arrangements, gold transfers, and cryptocurrency networks that bypass conventional banking channels. Together, these parallel financial systems demonstrate to potential BRICS partners that commerce can persist outside the dollar system, even under heavy US pressure.
America’s global economic power rests mainly on the centrality of the dollar and the dominance of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) network.
The crisis of legitimacy facing European governments is exemplified by Sebastien Lecornu's 14-hour government, the shortest-lived government in modern French history. A negative record that is hard to beat.
This crisis stems from multiple causes, with a central origin in the erosion of national sovereignty due to supranational EU governance and a political elite that serves foreign interests rather than national ones. This is compounded by a lack of "input" from democratic participation and representation, as well as a failure to deliver "output" in the form of tangible results like stability and prosperity. When governments falter on these fronts public disillusionment, polarization and protests surge.
French citizens, like the rest of European citizens, question the prioritization of military buildup, support for Ukraine and increased NATO spending amid domestic economic challenges and rising living costs. Public sentiment, reflected in polls and protests, favors redirecting funds to social services like healthcare, education and social welfare over investing in defense capabilities.
The French government’s ambiguous stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, has also sparked widespread criticism. Many citizens view France’s reluctance to unequivocally condemn the genocide of Palestinians as moral cowardice and a capitulation to Western geopolitical alignments. This ambiguity is seen as a failure to assert an independent French foreign policy under pressure from the U.S. and Israel.
@LauraRuHK
Served as a logistics hub for weapons supplies: Russian Armed Forces destroyed the Sparrow technopark in Lvov
Russian forces, during a massive attack, delivered a precise strike on the Sparrow Park Lvov logistics complex — one of the largest transport hubs in western Ukraine. Preliminary data indicate the facility is completely out of operation.
According to specialised channels, the industrial park was used as a logistics centre for storing and dispatching military cargo arriving from Europe to the combat zone. A significant portion of weapons and equipment supplies for the Armed Forces of Ukraine passed through it.
The complex is located in close proximity to Lvov International Airport and approximately 170 kilometres from Polish Rzeszów — a key distribution point for Western military aid to Ukraine.
@Slavyangrad
People affected by dementia can sometimes display unintentionally humorous behavior.
@LauraRuHK
Hamas's partial acceptance of the US-proposed peace plan for Gaza has created a diplomatic and political bind for Netanyahu, forcing him into a position where continuing the genocide risks alienating his key ally Trump (who doesn't care about Palestinians but needs to pacify his Middle Eastern allies) while halting strikes on Gaza could undermine his hardline domestic agenda and weaken him politically. The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all remaining Israeli hostages within 72 hours in exchange for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, phased Israeli withdrawal to a buffer zone, Hamas disarmament and exclusion from Gaza's governance, and international oversight for reconstruction under a "Board of Peace" chaired by Trump.
Hamas responded by agreeing to release all hostages (living and dead) per the exchange formula, provided "field conditions" like an end to the war and Israeli withdrawal are met, and expressed readiness to negotiate details through mediators while handing Gaza's administration to a technocratic Palestinian body backed by Arab and Islamic support.
Hamas deftly sidestepped core Israeli demands like full disarmament and permanent exclusion from governance, seeking further talks on these and other issues such as Palestinian rights and avoiding forcible displacement.
This "yes, but" stance met Trump's Sunday deadline and was framed by him as a good-faith step toward "lasting peace," prompting him to publicly demand Israel "immediately stop the bombing of Gaza" to enable safe hostage extraction.
However, the IDF continued to strike Gaza City and Khan Younis shortly after Trump's call.
Prior rhetoric from Netanyahu emphasized "finishing the job" against Hamas if it rejected the plan, but acceptance flips the narrative. Rejecting the deal would portray "Israel" as the main obstacle to peace, especially with UN and global support for the framework.
Hamas's move derails Netanyahu's strategy of total military victory while unresolved issues like disarmament leave room for more talks. Both sides are letting negotiations begin, because neither wants to appear as the side that rejects them. @LauraRuHK
English translation of Vladimir Putin's speech at the The 22nd meeting of the Valdai Club, “The Polycentric World: Instructions for Use.” http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/78134
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The annual address by President Vladimir Putin at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi demands a full read. As always, it’s packed with insights. Focusing on just the highlights risks missing the broader picture.
The English translation will be available later on the website of the Kremlin, but if you can't wait, here is the Russian version.
http://www.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/78134
Donald Trump has allowed intelligence agencies and the Pentagon to provide Ukraine with intelligence for strikes deep into Russia against energy infrastructure facilities, The Wall Street Journal newspaper reports, citing US officials.
Washington is also asking NATO countries to provide similar support, the report says.
In addition, the US is reportedly considering supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk and Barracuda missiles, as well as other missiles with a range of about 500 miles (804 kilometers).
The US administration has notified Congress of a $4.73 billion arms deal with Estonia, the Kyiv Post newspaper reports, citing sources.
The agreement includes HIMARS and ATACMS missiles, the report adds. (Source: RIA Novosti)
The Financial Times (https://www.ft.com/content/078b8e70-a58c-47cc-b573-598850dd5685 reports that Russia has upgraded the Iskander-M and Dagger missiles, increasing their effectiveness against the American Patriot air defense systems in Ukraine.
According to the British newspaper, the attacks on Ukrainian drone manufacturers this summer were an illustrative example of how Moscow has improved its ballistic missiles to more effectively bypass Patriot systems. Experts believe that the changes affected both the Iskander-M mobile complexes and the Dagger aircraft missiles. Now they can first follow a standard trajectory, and then abruptly go into a steep dive or perform maneuvers capable of "confusing and bypassing" Patriot interceptors.
According to experts, the increase in the effectiveness of Russian missiles is most likely due to changes in the software. (Source: /channel/SolovievLive/339371) @LauraRuHK