by Owen | 1906, 10 Nov 23 | Economy, Foreign Affairs | 0 Comments
The UK economy failed to grow between July and September, figures show, after a succession of interest rate rises.
The chancellor said higher rates were hitting growth, but added that the economy had performed better than expected this year.
Forecasters suggest the economy is set to be stagnant for several months yet.
Last week, the Bank of England said the UK was likely to see zero growth until 2025, although it is expected to avoid a recession.
by Owen | 0739, 10 Nov 23 | Culture, Foreign Affairs | 1 Comment
Ever so slowly, some people (not enough people) are admitting how immigration policies shape their countries – for good or bad. In this case, bad. Germany has been allowing in swaths of immigrants from countries with cultures that are incongruent with Western civilization. There are consequences for that.
There was outrage when one group, subsequently disbanded by government, appeared to be celebrating the Hamas atrocities of 7 October on the streets of Berlin.
Felix Klein, the government’s Commissioner for Jewish life in Germany, says it has become apparent that there is a big problem in Germany’s integration policy.
“It is problematic when it turns into antisemitic and anti-Israel hate where people shout ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free’ – which would deny Israel’s right to exist.”
by Owen | 1818, 8 Nov 23 | Foreign Affairs, Military | 3 Comments
The U.S. military on Wednesday said American warplanes struck a weapons storage facility in eastern Syria that officials said was being used by Iran-backed militants responsible for dozens of drone and rocket attacks against American troops in the region over the last three weeks.
It was the second such strike in the past two weeks.
“Today, at President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces conducted a self-defense strike on a facility in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. “This strike was conducted by two U.S. F-15s against a weapons storage facility. This precision self-defense strike is a response to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by IRGC-Quds Force affiliates. The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests.
“The United States is fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities. We urge against any escalation. U.S. personnel will continue to conduct counter-ISIS missions in Iraq and Syria,” he said.
“Between October 17 and November 7 … U.S. forces have been attacked at least 40 times,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Tuesday.
by Owen | 0741, 7 Nov 23 | Foreign Affairs | 0 Comments
Yes, we are supporting one dictator over another in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said presidential elections will not be held in the country next year, saying that it would be “irresponsible” to do so during the ongoing war.
“We all understand that now, in wartime, when there are many challenges, it is utterly irresponsible to engage in topics related to an election in such a frivolous manner,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation on Monday.
Prior to the war, Ukraine’s presidential elections were scheduled for March 2024, but the country’s constitution mandates that they cannot go ahead until any declaration of martial law is lifted, which is unlikely to happen in the near future. Ukraine was due to hold a parliamentary election in October.
by Owen | 1902, 4 Nov 23 | Culture, Foreign Affairs | 0 Comments
One might notice that the protestors in D.C right now are chanting some of the same things as those in Tehran.
TEHRAN, Iran — Thousands of Iranians gathered on the streets Saturday to mark the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” They condemned Washington’s support of Israel as it strikes the Gaza Strip in its war against Hamas.
[…]
In a statement published on behalf of the protesters at the end of the commemoration, they called for an “immediate cease-fire” in Gaza and warned the U.S., Britain, and France that the crisis might expand in the region. The statement ended with a vow that Iranians would stand by Palestine “until final victory.”
by Owen | 1904, 3 Nov 23 | Crime, Culture, Foreign Affairs | 0 Comments
CNN —
Pablo Escobar’s notorious “cocaine hippos” are facing a cull, according to a statement from Colombia’s minister of environment and sustainable development Thursday.
The herd, which the Colombian government said currently stands at 169 animals, has rapidly reproduced from the original population of one male and three females the drug kingpin owned as part of his private collection of exotic creatures.
After Escobar’s death in 1993, authorities relocated most of the other animals in the collection, but not the hippos – because they were too difficult to transport. Free from any natural predator, the rising population poses an environmental challenge. If “strong measures” are not taken to control them, the population could boom to “1,000 individuals by 2035,” the statement said.
by Owen | 1849, 3 Nov 23 | Culture, Foreign Affairs | 0 Comments
Of course, any owner can and should do what compels them, but the neither should they be expected to use their businesses as a platform for advocacy. It feels unseemly for the media to pester them about this.
Houston’s Jewish-owned restaurants, as well as Palestinian restaurateurs, face a conundrum in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks and the onslaught of news surrounding the recent atrocities: Do they publicly show support for Israel, or Palestine, or is it too political for customers? In some cases, they’re also contemplating safety concerns, as officials say they would increase patrols around Jewish and religious institutions in the city.
by Owen | 2036, 1 Nov 23 | Culture, Foreign Affairs | 0 Comments
This is the kind of murderous depravity we usually only see in urban America.
A Hamas terrorist told an Israel Securities Authority (ISA) official he and another man shot and killed crying children who were inside a safe room, until the sounds could no longer be heard, while acknowledging he entered the house simply to kill.
In a video posted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, the Hamas terrorist is seen wearing prison garb while sitting in a chair with an Israeli flag behind him.
[…]
The ISA official then asked the Hamas terrorist if he entered the house as an order to kill from Hamas, and he nodded.
He was also asked what the difference between him and ISIS are, and told the official there was no difference, based on videos he was shown of Hamas spreading terror.
by Owen | 1936, 1 Nov 23 | Foreign Affairs, Politics | 1 Comment
We’re going to end up with Americans on the ground in Gaza.
Talks are underway to establish a multinational force in Gaza after Israel uproots Hamas, two senators confirmed Wednesday, the clearest sign yet that the U.S. and its partners are seriously weighing deploying foreign troops to the enclave.
Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told POLITICO that there’s early, closed-door diplomacy over establishing a peacekeeping force in Gaza, though it was not likely to include American troops.
[…]
Bloomberg News first reported that the United States and Israel were in discussions about establishing a peacekeeping force to maintain order in the enclave. In a statement to Bloomberg, NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson denied that “sending U.S. troops” to be part of the coalition was under discussion.
by Owen | 2034, 29 Oct 23 | Foreign Affairs | 3 Comments
Yes. More of this. I’m sick of the omnibus approach to governing. Take each issue as a standalone bill. The war in Ukraine is completely different than that in Israel. Different causes. Different consequences. Different combatants. They should not be linked.
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are increasingly split over whether to tie foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel together in one congressional package, revealing the significant hurdles any new military assistance legislation or foreign aid has in Congress.
House Republicans are teed up to push through standalone legislation providing assistance to Israel sometime this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
While there are “lots of things going on around the world,” Johnson said, “what’s happening in Israel takes the immediate attention.”
A top House Republican, Rep. R-Texas, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told “Fox News Sunday” he also thought Israel and Ukraine aid should be taken up in separate packages.
“I think what we want to do is really because the need is so urgent now in Israel, is to start with Israel first … as a separate measure,” McCaul said.
by Owen | 1801, 26 Oct 23 | Foreign Affairs, Politics | 0 Comments
This is the surest sign yet that Xi is going to swap out Newsom for Biden before the election.
BANGKOK (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom had a surprise meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday after being warmly welcomed by other senior leaders in a display of friendliness that stands in sharp contrast to the dialogue between the United States and China in recent years.
The governor is on a weeklong tour of China, where he plans to push for climate cooperation. Newsom’s trip as governor, once considered routine, is drawing attention as it comes after years of heightening tensions between the U.S. and China.
“I’m here in expectation, as you suggest, of turning the page, of renewing our friendship and reengaging (on) foundational and fundamental issues that will determine our collective faith in the future,” Newsom said in brief opening remarks ahead of his meeting with Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, earlier in the day.
by Owen | 2156, 23 Oct 23 | Foreign Affairs, Politics | 2 Comments
If our border were secure, this wouldn’t be as much of a concern. As it is, it’s a huge effing deal.
Militants associated with the Israel-Hamas war “may potentially be encountered at the southwest border,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in San Diego recently warned in an internal intelligence notice.
“[I]ndividuals inspired by, or reacting to, the current Israel-Hamas conflict may attempt travel to or from the area of hostilities in the Middle east via circuituous transit across the Southwest border,” reads the notice, sent Friday, in part.
The intel document shows various insignias worn by Hamas, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. It informs CBP personnel to be vigilant for military-age men wearing military gear and traveling alone at the border.
CBP intelligence offices regularly generate reports on potential threats to border security. Naming particular groups may indicate that officials have specific intelligence based on the severity of potential threats outside the U.S.
by Owen | 2143, 23 Oct 23 | Foreign Affairs, Military | 0 Comments
We’re drifting into a hot war.
The Defense Department ratcheted up its rhetoric against Iran on Monday, saying it will hold Tehran ultimately responsible for a spate of recent drone and rocket attacks on American troops in the Middle East.
While the Pentagon does not have information that the government of Iran “explicitly ordered” the attacks on U.S. forces in the past week, the groups responsible for the incidents are backed by Tehran, DOD spokesperson Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters on Monday.
A number of U.S. troops were injured during the attacks, which spanned several days and bases in Iraq and Syria, and an American contractor died of a cardiac episode while running from a false alarm at al Asad air base in Iraq.
“By virtue of the fact that they are supported by Iran, we will ultimately hold Iran responsible,” Ryder said.
by Owen | 2116, 20 Oct 23 | Economy, Foreign Affairs, Politics | 1 Comment
His policies seem to hate Americans.
With little fanfare, the Biden administration on Oct. 18 eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, which should allow the beleaguered socialist nation to export more oil to the United States and to global markets. Venezuela is one of the world’s most oil-rich countries, but incompetent, repressive dictators and US sanctions have wrecked much of the industry and left it pumping a fraction of its potential.
The Biden administration says the sanctions relief is aimed at cajoling Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro into holding free-ish elections next year. The deal has a six-month shelf life and can either be extended or canceled, based on whether Maduro seems to be abiding by the terms.
But there’s good reason to think the Biden administration cares about oil supplies at least as much as the prospect for democracy in Latin America. Research firm ClearView Energy Partners thinks Venezuela is one of four sources of additional oil the Biden administration has been trying to draw on to the market for the last several months. Two other sources — Iran and Saudi Arabia — may now be off the table due to the mushrooming war between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas. The fourth source is Russian crude, via relaxed enforcement of a US-led price cap scheme that went into effect last December.
by Owen | 2116, 19 Oct 23 | Foreign Affairs, Politics | 1 Comment
What the hell was that? A mess of false equivocations, pan handling, and calling Americans bigots.
His speech aimed to draw a link between the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel and he urged Congress to take action and pass an aid package supporting both nations.
Biden didn’t actually say how much he was seeking in extra funding, but is expected to be asking for $100bn.
Notable quotes from his speech include:
“Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: they both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy.”
“If we don’t stop Putin’s appetite for power and control in Ukraine he won’t limit himself to Ukraine.”
by Owen | 2159, 16 Oct 23 | Foreign Affairs, Politics | 9 Comments
Having our bumbling dementia-ridden president meet personally with foreign leaders will only embolden our enemies and worry our allies. This will not got well.
President Joe Biden’s decision to visit Israel caps a week of intense US diplomacy aimed at shoring up its closest Middle East ally and trying to prevent Israel’s war with Hamas from spreading to the region.
The Americans are worried that the audacity of the Hamas attack and the ferocity of the Israeli counter-offensive could spark violence in the West Bank and beyond.
The president will be joining his Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who’s been on a frantic swing through the Middle East. Mr Blinken has stressed full US support for a forceful response to the deadly Hamas raid, which killed more than 1,400 Israelis.
But he is also trying to mitigate the civilian casualties in Gaza, the enclave that is governed by the Palestinian militant group. Israel has already killed nearly 3,000 Palestinians in relentless airstrikes, and blocked food, water and electricity to Gaza, plunging it into a humanitarian crisis.
by Owen | 2116, 15 Oct 23 | Foreign Affairs | 0 Comments
Yeah, things tend to get a little uncomfortable when you voice support for monsters who flew into towns to rape grandmas and behead babies. Funny that.
After the statement was released, Jewish student groups pushed back and accused them of supporting the Hamas attack. Students in the pro-Palestinian groups have denied those claims and said the statement was misinterpreted.
“This is the most tense campus has ever been by far,” Hejir Rashidzadeh, a Harvard law student, told ABC News.
[…]
Students alleged to be in those student groups are now facing intense backlash on campus and online. Students in pro-Palestinian groups and in the Jewish community at Harvard told ABC News they are feeling scared and isolated.
[…]
“Imagine feeling like the place that you’re from is going to get wiped off the map. I feel certain that in a week I’m going to wake up and it’s going to be that Gaza has been flattened and that there is nothing left. I can’t breathe. I can’t see.”
The Palestinians attacked across the border into Israel. When you are the aggressor, you can’t whine when someone punches back.
by Owen | 1210, 12 Oct 23 | Foreign Affairs | 0 Comments
Asked by a reporter about graphic photos, Blinken says that what they show is “beyond what anyone would want to imagine. Babies riddled with bullets, young people burned alive… It’s simply depravity in the worst imaginable way.”
He’s then asked about the situation in Gaza.
He repeats a line said by President Biden in his speech earlier this week.
“Hamas continues to use civilians as human shields”, Blinken says, stressing the perspective that Hamas has been intentionally putting civilians in harm’s way.
Around 1,400 have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched retaliatory air strikes.
Blinken says he’s spoken to Israeli officials about options to provide civilians safe passage who want to get out of Gaza.
Personally, this monstrosity has pushed me to the point of “never again.” And to make it never happen again, Hamas, Hezbollah, and anyone who supports them needs to be bulldozed into the sea. The world community is offering a way out for innocents. If they don’t take it, then we have to understand that they support the butchering of babies. To hell with them all. Literally.
This time, we are seeing many people who usually mouth platitudes about restraint and a two-state solution taking a much, much firmer stance against terrorist barbarism. Will it hold? One can hope…
by Owen | 2104, 10 Oct 23 | Foreign Affairs | 0 Comments
Mr Ben Zion said Hamas gunmen who killed families, including babies, were “just a jihad machine to kill everybody, [people] without weapons, without nothing, just normal citizens that want to take their breakfast and that’s all.”
Some of the victims, he said, were decapitated.
“They killed them and cut some of their heads, it’s a dreadful thing to see… and we must remember who is the enemy, and what our mission is, [for] justice where there is a right side and all the world needs to be behind us.”
Another officer pointed to a bloodied purple sleeping bag. A swollen toe poked out. He said the woman underneath had been killed and decapitated in her front garden.
by Owen | 1918, 9 Oct 23 | Culture, Foreign Affairs | 6 Comments
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the United Nations to take immediate action against the continued “Israeli aggression” toward Palestinians.
Abbas made the remarks on a phone call with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, according to the state news agency WAFA.
Abbas called on the UN to “immediately intervene to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip,” WAFA reported on Monday.
The Palestinian president emphasized the urgent need for medical and relief aid in Gaza, drawing attention to the looming humanitarian crisis. He urged the UN to “uphold its responsibilities as recognized by international legitimacy and ensure protection for the Palestinian people.”
Iran/Hamas has a clear strategy.
Whining to the UN is an intermediate step between steps 2 and 3 to give step three more perceived legitimacy.
Iran/Hamas’ attack was a clear war crime and utterly barbarous behavior. I hope Israel pushes Hamas into the sea.
