Turkey demands Sweden and Finland sell out Kurds as price for joining NATO
France24, 11/4–Turkey will not formally approve Finland and Sweden's membership of NATO until the two countries take the necessary "steps" Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg Friday. Ankara has accused the two Nordic nations of providing a safe haven for outlawed Kurdish militants it deems "terrorists" and held back on ratifying their NATO membership despite an agreement in June.

Finland and Sweden dropped decades of military non-alignment and scrambled to become NATO members in May, after Russia invaded Ukraine. But Erdogan threatened to block their bids and sought concessions, leading to a deal in June between Turkey, Finland and Sweden that included provisions on extraditions and sharing information. All 30 NATO member states except Turkey and Hungary have ratified the accession of Sweden and Finland. New members to the alliance require unanimous approval.

European capitalists have no choice but to turn to Gulf states for survival
Der Spiegel, 11/11–Three-and-a-half trillion dollars, an unfathomable sum, are set to flow into the coffers of the six Gulf states in the next five years should the prices for oil and gas remain as high as they are today – a gift from Vladimir Putin. Because Europe is no longer interested in importing energy from Russia, oil from Saudi Arabia and natural gas from Qatar have become the focus, no matter how high the price.

At a time when the West is suffering and China is showing economic vulnerability, the economies on the Gulf see nothing but a bright future and their optimism is boundless.

Qatar and Iran are sitting on the largest natural gas repositories on the planet, while Saudi Arabia is home to the second-largest oil reserves. And it doesn’t end with oil and gas. The energy source of the future is hydrogen, produced with solar and wind. The deserts of the Arabian Peninsula offer perfect conditions for such renewable energy sources. Ultimately, more hydrogen may be exported from the Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the future than oil is today. Germany promises to be a primary destination.

Israel moves closer to becoming an officially fascist state
New York Times, 11/13–The Jewish settlement in the city of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, where a few hundred Orthodox Jews live amid some 200,000 Palestinians, has long been seen as a bastion of the far-right settler movement — on the fringes of Israeli society. But after the Israeli election this month, an alliance of far-right parties, led by the Religious Zionism party reflecting the views of radical settlers, became the third-largest political force in Israel. The alliance, which also included the ultranationalist Jewish Power party, garnered more than 88 percent of the votes from the settlers in Hebron. The alliance is now poised to become a key pillar of the coalition being put together by the right-wing prime minister-designate, Benjamin Netanyahu… Religious Zionism’s supporters hope the alliance will use its leverage to [apply]…Jewish sovereignty in parts of the West Bank, a territory the Palestinians claim for a future state and that Religious Zionism considers to be part of Greater Israel and refers to by the biblical names of Judea and Samaria.

Religious Zionists have reached the top ranks of the security establishment and the police have made up a disproportionate number of the graduates of the military’s officers’ school…and have developed an increasingly influential voice in the Israeli news media and culture.

U.S. deploying B-52s to encircle China
Reuters, 10/31–The United States is planning to deploy up to six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to an air base in northern Australia, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday, amid heightened tensions with China. Dedicated facilities for the bombers will be set up at the Royal Australian Air Force's remote Tindal base…Last year, the United States, Britain and Australia created a security deal that will provide Australia with the technology to deploy nuclear-powered submarines, riling China…This year, the U.S. deployed four B-52s to its Andersen Air Force base in Guam, a U.S. island territory in the Western Pacific.