The Daily Chronicles are snippets of the most important news across the world for this and each day as it rolls in – as such, this thread is non-structured with the latest news on top. This rough theme from the previous Daily Chronicles continues:  Empire Strikes Back.

Sunday, March 19

Go and take a look at Andrei Martyanov’s blog list.  We are there.  I will send him a thank-you now.

http://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/

Saturday, March 18

I’ve talked to Yemeni reporter @narrabyee 46 times in the last 8 years, since USA switched sides in the terror war there. Today I heard him laugh.

The war is over.

— Scott Horton (@scotthortonshow) March 17, 2023

It is interesting to read the comments to this tweet.

Friday, March 17

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin. No need to explain WHERE this paper should be used🧻.

— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) March 17, 2023

https://tass.com/world/1590457

https://sputniknews.com/20230317/moscow-lambasts-icc-arrest-order-against-president-putin-as-null-and-void-1108515184.html

(I don’t have a written comment and my spoken comments scare the cat! Only, can we close down the school for idiots in our world?   It is also not a ‘mistake’ that the ICC declares this gross and insulting stupidity just before Xi Jinping’s visit.  What is also clear is that the ICC has just killed itself.)

Friday, March 17

Looks like Credit Suisse is the next bank going down. https://sputniknews.com/20230317/credit-suisse-collapse-was-inevitable-after-years-of-mismanagement-insider-says-1108509185.html

Friday, March 17

Visits:

1) President Xi Jinping will visit Russia March 20-22 – Kremlin Announcement

2) At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Federative Republic of Brazil will pay a state visit to China from March 26 to 31.

China’s holdings of US Treasury debt dropped to $859.4 billion in January, declining for the sixth straight month and falling below $1 trillion.

Thursday, March 16

I enjoyed this Scott Ritter.  He has a good way of explaining things from the US perspective and I also enjoyed the frustrated adult language.

Thursday, March 16

A good and detailed account of the attempts to open a second front against Russia in Georgia.

Dare Call It A Coup? CIA Front Threatens Color Revolution in Georgia

Thursday, March 16

Russia’S Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has replied to Graham by saying that an attack on a Russian aircraft in neutral airspace would be “a declaration of war.” https://t.co/BQf8eh7ejp

— Russia Unplugged (@UnpluggedRus) March 16, 2023

Thursday, March 16

The US dollar share of global trade payments through SWIFT is 45%. The last time that I looked at these statistics, it was 51%, so, a great improvement for the rest of the world.

The internationalization of Yuan in trade — along with Ruble and perhaps a BRICS currency — will be revolutionary. It will change geopolitics as we know it.

Thursday, March 16

From the Sirius Report:

Currently, there is relative calm in Yemen. It remains tense and not without sporadic acts of violence. An official truce is within grasp. Hopefully this can be achieved very soon and then the war is ended. Saudi and Iran, the ball is in your court. Make it happen.

Roman Polyanskiy (Russian First Secretary to the UN)

We can call the situation on the ground in Yemen relatively calm. Even without an official truce, there has been no relapse into a full-scale armed confrontation. We do hope that this quiet period will last and will not be disturbed by another spiral of tension.

Let’s keep sending positive vibes!  It will be wonderful if this war can be over and done with and Yemen can rebuild.

Wednesday, March 15 (The Ides of March is upon us.  Who is Ceasar in modern times?).

There are tremendous rumors around the take-down of the US Drone over the Black Sea.   The formal Russian position is this:

💬Anatoly Antonov: 🇺🇸 MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle that was moving deliberately and provocatively towards 🇷🇺 territory with its transponders turned off violated the boundaries of the temporary airspace regime established for the special military operationhttps://t.co/Q0BA6k3r3Q pic.twitter.com/9iVmtG7kG9

— Russian Embassy in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) March 15, 2023

Having initially accused Russia of shooting it down, the US story is now that it dumped fuel over the drone before bumping into its propellor.  The Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, told media that the drone was flying within a Russian zone with its transponder (location signal) off.  Leaving the State Dept, he posed the question – how would the US react if a Russian drone came close to New York or San Francisco? He said that Moscow considers the incident with an American UAV over the Black Sea as a provocation.

So, we have our next ‘balloon’ story and it is being milked in the US just as they milked the balloon.

Wednesday, March 15

The Pakistani coup government is still trying to jail Imran Kahn.

An interview by Sky News with Kahn.

https://t.me/DonbassDevushka/48520

Tear Gas, Water Cannon Deployed As Imran Khan Supporters Protect Leader from Arrest.  Wednesday morning saw PTI supporters and 🇵🇰 police continue to clash outside the ex-PM’s residence.  Inside, Khan was busy giving interviews to media outlets, calling the latest developments part of the “London plan” to “finish all cases against Nawaz Sharif.”   Due to safety concerns, Khan is refusing to attend a court hearing in Islamabad, however he said if there is a surety for safe passage given, he will appear there on Saturday. (Reuters)

Wednesday, March 15

China Announces Joint Naval Drills with Russia & Iran in the Gulf of Oman March 15-19

Tthe Chinese PLA Navy sending the guided missile destroyer Nanning: Chinese Defense Ministry

Wednesday, March 15

Syrian President’s Motorcade in Central Moscow – Bashar al-Assad will meet with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday

I received a note that this link, originally from RT-India, is not available everywhere, so, this is the content:  https://www.sana.sy/en/?p=303529

Wednesday, March 15

International Criminal Court to Open War Crimes Cases Against Russia over Ukraine But Can’t Enforce Arrests

In the first set of charges since it launched a probe in March 2022, the Hague-based court will seek arrest warrants against several individuals accused of allegedly abducting children and targeting civilian infrastructure. (NYT citing sources).  The warrants, however, are unlikely to lead to arrests as Moscow – which denies the allegations – is not party to the Rome Statute which founded the ICC.

Wednesday, March 15

US Secretary Of State Visits Ethiopia And Niger To Refashion Relations.  Antony Blinken follows in Lavrov’s footsteps.  We sure will receive some entertaining video from African leaders with Blinken.

Wednesday, March 15

Dmitry Peskov’s briefing this morning, in summary:

Russian-US Relations Are At Their Lowest Point — Kremlin

Key points from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s daily briefing:

▪️President Putin was informed about the incident involving the US drone

▪️The Russian Defense Ministry’s statement regarding the UAV is exhaustive; there is nothing else to add to it

▪️Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will discuss Syrian-Turkish relations on Wednesday

▪️The president plans to discuss bilateral relations between Syria and Russia

▪️Relations between Russia and the US are at their lowest point – however, Moscow does not refuse constructive dialogue