Hezbollah Leader Gives Speech About Israel
On Friday Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a much anticipated speech in southern Lebanon. This is the first time that Nasrallah has spoken publicly since the Hamas attacks on October the 7th. It was preceded by a series of well publicised teaser trailers. This speech is hugely important, as Hezbollah are closely allied with Hamas and are committed to the destruction of Israel. Moreover, Nasrallah's speech comes just a few days after Houthi rebels, who are allied with Iran and in control of much of Yemen, declared war on Israel and fired missiles parts of the South anti-Israel sentiment has been rapidly rising across the Middle East, as Israel's assault on Gaza and Israeli rhetoric has escalated, and there's already been an uptick in missiles fired between the IDF and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Unsurprisingly then, the big question was whether Nasrallah would declare that Hezbollah would follow suit and declare war on Israel. Nasrallah started his speech by paying his respects to those that have died fighting for Lebanon and for Hezbollah. He went on to thank the pro-Palestine protests around the world. However, when it came to declarations of war, Nasrallah decided to stay away. He did say that a big event is needed to shake Israel and its supporters in Washington and London. However, he didn't say anything more on this. So it looks that at least in the near future, any escalation from Hezbollah doesn't look likely.
Trump's Son in Court
This week has been another dramatic week for US President Donald Trump. As is well known, the former president's legal calendar is looking hectic at the moment, with him facing legal challenges from everything from fraud to election interference. This week, though, it was the fraud case that got Trump and his family in the headlines. The former president's sons, Donald, Junior and Eric, were asked by prosecutors whether they had any knowledge of financial statements relating to the Trump family business. Prosecutors alleged that the Trump Organization had overvalued their assets in order to obtain more favorable loans and other benefits. Before the trial began, the judge ruled that the Trumps had fraudulently manipulated financial statements. The trial is looking at what consequences those involved might face. Donald Jr was asked to take the stand because as part of his role in the family company, he had to sign off documents each year attesting that the financial statements are accurate. Eric was asked to take the stand because prosecutors allege he had influence over some of the values contained within these financial statements. For their part, both Donald Jr and Eric deny involvement in the accounting practices that landed the organization in court.
Blinken in Tel Aviv
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv to urge the Israeli government to accept a humanitarian pause in Gaza, while Biden and the rest of the US have been pretty absolutist in their support for Israel. International pressure for some sort of truce or humanitarian pause has grown in recent weeks, as Israel continues to bomb Gaza and escalate its ground offensive. Thousands of Palestinians have died in the fighting so far, and casualties look set to increase. Unfortunately for Blinken and Biden, a humanitarian pause still seems unlikely, both because the Israeli government has made clear that it thinks that Hamas would only use a pause in the fighting to consolidate its defensive positions and because Hamas itself doesn't seem that interested. In a pause with a Hamas representative telling Lebanese state television in late October that they plan to repeat the October 7th attacks until Israel is abolished.
Strom Ciaran Hits Europe
Storm Ciaran has swept across Europe this week, with it hitting some countries harder than others. For Italy, the rain produced floods that swept across Tuscany. The floods have been so devastating that it swept away cars, forced people to seek shelter on roofs and has sadly killed at least five people. Currently, it's not known how many people are missing. Some residents have evacuated from their homes to the Channel Island of Jersey. The governor of Tuscany has described the current storm as unprecedented in the past 100 years.
@resonator This was my cross-post in the informationwar community, but still thanks you for 1.5 years of continuous support mate.