News and media

🇵🇼 🇺🇸 🇨🇳 U.S. weighs stationing Patriot air defense systems in Palau 🔷️ Island's president calls for 'peace through strength' as China tensions mount 🔷️ The U.S. and Palau are discussing the permanent deployment of advanced missile defense systems in the Pacific island nation, Palau President Surangel Whipps told Nikkei, part of Washington's efforts to check China's influence in the region. 🔷️ Palau has become an increasingly important partner for the U.S. military due to its strategic location between the U.S. territory of Guam and the Philippines. https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Defense/U.S.-weighs-stationing-Patriot-air-defense-systems-in-Palau https://archive.ph/r77fv

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-prepares-nationwide-drills-nuclear-war-scenario-1830815

https://twitter.com/gulftoday/status/1707760832602354127?s=19

🇷🇺⚡️Russian President Vladimir Putin announces the Autumn Conscription.

https://defendingtherepublic.substack.com/p/good-news-friday-092923-771

The subpoenas have gone out for Hunter Biden and James Biden's bank records. Joe Biden is next. Revelations from the impeachment inquiry and new evidence of Biden's corruption: https://technofog.substack.com/p/the-biden-impeachment-begins

Trump vs. A Corrupt Political Establishment Democracy under assault. READ MORE: https://spectator.org/trump-vs-a-corrupt-political-establishment/

Paris 2024 Paralympics: Russian para-athletes will be allowed to compete after IPC vote Russian para-athletes will be allowed to compete at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris after the International Paralympic Committee votes against a full ban. 📰 READ MORE... PUBLISHED via @BBCWorldoffl .

Rina Sawayama: 'Therapy made me realise I was groomed at 17' - BBC News ▶️ View on YouTube Published via @BBCWorldoffl .

Eswatini election: The vote in a kingdom where parties are banned Voting is under way in Eswatini, but in Africa's last absolute monarchy, MPs have little power. 📰 READ MORE... PUBLISHED via @BBCWorldoffl .

Ukraine frontline: Soldiers dig trenches under fear of Russian snipers | BBC Newsnight ▶️ View on YouTube Published via @BBCWorldoffl .

Debt forgiveness: UBS is in talks with the Mozambican government to forgive as much as $100 million of debt as part of a settlement over Credit Suisse’s role in a financing scandal in the African nation. https://bloom.bg/3PD8RGB South Africa-Kenya climate stance divide: Kenyan President William Ruto is preaching self-reliance and investment, while South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa is extending the begging bowl and chastising the rich world. Read more: https://bloom.bg/3PzMMcg Coup bonds: The coup in Gabon that ousted a key French ally in Africa shook up bond investors by destabilizing one of the region’s few international borrowers. https://bloom.bg/456MizP Sign up for our twice-weekly newsletter on where sub-Saharan Africa stands now — and where it’s headed at https://bloom.bg/3OsOf3y. Next Africa publishes every Tuesday and Friday.

As the Paris Fashion Week unfolds this week, pressure is growing for brands like Dior to do more to recognize the highly skilled artisans in Mumbai and suppliers elsewhere — the hidden hands shaping red carpet looks for Cannes and the Met Gala, and gowns worn by celebrities. https://trib.al/95yNLyc Looking for insightful commentary and in-depth analyses on India? Sign up here [ https://bloom.bg/3qEX2rh ] for our weekly newsletter to stay updated with the latest reportage on billionaires and businesses behind its rise.

Diplomatic row: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his Indian counterpart as tensions between two of Washington’s key allies, Canada and India, grow over the killing of a Sikh leader. https://tinyurl.com/mr2weuww New hire: Ambani's JioCinema plans to appoint former Google general manager as CEO, sources say, leading the streaming service's efforts to broaden its reach among mobile customers. https://tinyurl.com/5es8yucz Falling beer sales: Vietnam’s sluggish economy is hitting many where it hurts the most: their thirst for beer. https://tinyurl.com/ycxjtcd3

Kyiv is set to host Western officials and international arms manufacturers for a forum aimed at increasing weapons production inside Ukraine, as the country struggles to get its requests for advanced weaponry filled. Follow our updates on the war in Ukraine. A looming U.S. government shutdown is likely to affect the training of Ukrainian pilots who are in the U.S. to learn to fly F-16 fighter jets, potentially causing delays, the Pentagon said. Read more. Residents of Izium, in northeastern Ukraine, are struggling to overcome the devastation of Russian occupation, which lasted from March to September 2022. Despite promises to rebuild ruined cities, the Russian brutality still feels fresh. Read more.

🔑 Rating Actions in Foreign Currency on September 28, 2023 Fitch Ratings: 🇱🇰affirmed Sri Lanka at 'RD' without outlook.

🇺🇸US Treasury Securities 📉Yield Curve UST 2Y YTM: 5.04% (⬇️6 bp) UST 5Y YTM: 4.62% (⬇️5 bp) UST 10Y YTM: 4.59% (⬇️2 bp) UST 30Y YTM: 4.71% (⬇️2 bp) The U.S. Treasury on Thursday released new guidance on energy efficient home tax credits worth up to $5,000 per dwelling, showing that for builders to receive the full amount, the homes must be fully capable of supporting solar power, electric heat pumps, electric vehicles and other efficiency enhancements. (Reuters)

American Nightmare Instead of American Dream There are tens of thousands illegal immigrants in NYC and thousands more are arriving each week. That’s the irony: this is the same New York that proudly boasted of being a sanctuary for those who enter the county illegally. This is the same New York that votes overwhelmingly Democratic But the WH doesn’t give a fiddler's fart: the Biden administration is slashing through environmental protection rules and worries about policing and the health of illegal immigrants as it rushes to erect a tent city housing up to 7,500 migrants on a national park site in NYC The site also lacks the infrastructure to supply the camp w/ basic needs such as water, but Biden doesn’t have a task of making people survive – it’s much more important just to show the electorate, u’re fighting a migrant crisis #USA #NYC #Crisis #FindTruth @uinhurricane

Hunter Biden Takes the Game to Republicans Hunter Biden is conducting an aggressive counteroffensive against Republican critics who have accused him and his sleepy father of influence peddling and illegally profiting from the elder Biden’s position as VP in the Obama administration The latest legal salvo in his counterattack was a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday accusing Rudolph W. Giuliani and attorney Bob Costello of computer fraud and violating his privacy in releasing information found on a laptop the first son had left at a Delaware repair shop It bears noting that Hunter doesn’t acknowledge in the lawsuit that the laptop was his, but does say that some of the data “obtained, copied and proceeded to hack into” belonged to him #USA #Biden #FindTruth @uinhurricane

U.K. to Leave ECHR After Suella Braverman, U.K. home secretary, raised the idea of Britain leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if it held up the Rwanda policy in Washington on Tuesday, she has been authorized by Rishi Sunak to float the prospect of leaving the ECHR as a “warning shot” to the Strasbourg court not to block Rwanda flights Withdrawal from the Convention will finally allow Sunak's cabinet to legally disregard human rights and freedoms and stop making excuses, incl. for the crimes of its colonial past #UK #Braverman #ECHR #FindTruth @uinhurricane

BREAKING! NYC Faces “Unmitigated Crisis” A new National Republican Congressional Committee video points out the influx of illegal immigrants, showing scenes from the border but also from New York streets The narrator asks: “Who’s to blame? Ask New Yorkers.” The video also attacks Mayor Eric Adams for cutting back on overtime pay for the police, fire, sanitation and corrections departments in order to pay for the immigrants. “It’s extreme. And Democrats run the other way when asked to step up,” the narrator says Extreme Dems: 🛑 Refuse to secure the border 🏙 Let migrants overrun NYC 🏫 Turn public schools into migrant shelters 🚔 Defund the police to pay for migrant care 🚧 Pretend their open-border agenda didn't cause this crisis in the first place #USA #FindTruth @uinhurricane

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with TASS News Agency (Moscow, September 28, 2023) Key talking points: • When starting to circulate provocative rumours like this, the West is obviously testing us for willingness to accept its terms, and they are not particularly subtle about it. They want to take a break for a few months without signing any agreement except a temporary ceasefire in order to gain time and pump more weapons into Ukraine. • They cannot reproach us for lack of good will. <...> We are ready to come to terms, taking into account the realities on the ground, and based on our well-known position. It is also imperative to take into account our security interests and prevent the creation of a hostile Nazi regime on our borders. • Historically, geographically, and geopolitically, it is not possible to lose Russia in the sense of completely disregarding its interests in the South Caucasus. However, some leaders in Yerevan are expressing such hopes openly. • We have never had a negative attitude toward the Georgian people. We genuinely love them, just like we love all the South Caucasus nations. <...> We saw that the current government in Tbilisi is interested in normalising relations, at least in the interests of ordinary citizens. • We don’t have unfriendly athletes, citizens, or even countries. There are unfriendly governments that have temporarily come to power in some countries whose people have always had good and friendly relations with us. Read in full