Recall that an ex-spy and his daughter were attacked in a British park with a view to killing at least the ex-spy.  The weapon used was a nerve gas that’s only made in Russia.  The investigation itself is pointing strongly at Moscow as the instigator of the murder attempt; although the investigation is not complete.  Now Russia is refusing to cooperate in the investigation unless certain conditions are met.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow would only cooperate with the UK’s investigation into the nerve-agent poisoning of a former spy if London supplied the substance in question and opened up the probe to Russian officials.

Supplying a sample of the nerve agent—which use just incidentally also poisoned roughly 20 other folks associated with the discovery of the two victims, their transport to a hospital, and their treatment, thereby illustrating the indiscriminate nature of the attack—would be entirely reasonable.

That last, though, opening the investigation to the Russians should be unacceptable to the Brits for a couple of reasons.  One is that the Russians are unlikely to cooperate with, much less support, the investigation in any serious way regardless of any sharing by British investigators.

The larger reason, though, is that the opening would only provide Putin with another avenue for spying on Great Britain.

Republic of Korea’s envoy trip to northern Korea has produced a Baby Kim promise to play nice with the RoK and to talk with us about nuclear weapons.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised to not use nuclear or conventional weapons against South Korea and expressed willingness to hold talks with the United States on denuclearization, Seoul said on Tuesday after a rare two-day visit to Pyongyang.

The Hermit Kingdom added that it’s willing to give up its nuclear weapons if military threats against North Korea subsides….

RoK National Security Director Chung Eui-yong said after his safe return to Seoul

The North side clearly affirmed its commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and said it would have no reason to possess nuclear weapons should the safety of its regime be guaranteed and military threats against North Korea removed[.]

We believe Baby Kim because he’s never lied to us before, and northern Korea always kept its past commitments to stop their nuclear weapons programs and never attacked RoK assets and islands without provocation.  Nor have they ever threatened Japan (which just happens to be an ally of ours) by flying ICBMs over its home islands.

Too, with northern Korea as close as it is to getting nuclear warheads onto its missiles, this…promise…from Baby Kim couldn’t possibly be just another attempt at distraction until they finish the task.  Not at all.

No, everything’s jake.

Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in wants the US to “lower the threshold for dialogue” so that “dialog” with northern Korea can begin.  Adding offensiveness to the foolishness, Moon didn’t even suggest this to us; he said it to People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping via a meeting with an envoy of Xi’s.

No.  The onus is on northern Korea to “lower the threshold.”  Until Baby Kim agrees to discuss—seriously discuss, not just engage in idle chit-chat—the dissolution of his nuclear weapons program and of his nuclear weapons, there is no basis for dialog.

Full stop.

The US is concerned about People’s Republic of China’s cell phone company, Huawei, and the threat it poses to our national security, through an ability to use its equipment to conduct espionage and to shut down our communications networks, were it to get a significant foothold in our cell phone network, whether via its cell phones or its network equipment—its routers, switches, and cell-tower gear.  The concern stems from Huawei’s relationship with the PRC government, which makes the company an arm of that government.

The British government, on the other hand, is embracing Huawei with open arms, even as it seeks ever more intimate economic ties with the PRC.  Brit intel has warned the government of these risks, but the government has said to pay no mind.  After all, in answer to the concerns, Huawei set up and funds a lab that tests its equipment.

30 people with UK security clearances disassemble Huawei equipment and evaluate hardware and software for security vulnerabilities. Huawei funds and operates the lab, and the staff are Huawei employees. Overseeing the operation is a board composed of mostly senior British intelligence and government officials, as well as three Huawei representatives.

Does anyone seriously expect that “senior British officials,” as isolated from the actual work as they are, will be able effectively to oversee the “evaluations?”

The wolf is minding the flock. How braindead is that?