La Guaria early in the night 31/01/2024

SOURCES FOR SKY NEWS ARABIA: AMERICAN STRIKES AGAINST PRO-IRANIAN MILITIAS MAY BEGIN WITHIN HOURS

مصادر لسكاي نيوز عربية: الضربات الأميركية ضد الميليشيات الموالية لإيران قد تبدأ في غضون ساعات - سكاي نيوز عربية-عاجل ...

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 BREAKING: The U.S. bombing campaign against Iranian targets across Syria and Iraq is expected to begin within 48 hours – WSJ quoting Pentagon Officials

@Middle_East_Spectator

Digitel, one the most important Tele-Com corp in Venezuela was hacked. it's unclear the reasons. however apparently 70% of user's data was exposed and also CEO business personal data

Among the data they exposed is that of the politician Henrique Capriles, who has a telephone line with this operator.

The company reacted by temporarily blocking its servers to prevent any attack and restore the security of its system.

🛠The company's technical and security team is working to resolve the incident, as reported in a statement.

The blocking of the servers did not affect the communication of customers, who were able to continue enjoying the voice and data service.

However, other tools such as credit recharge, information and customer service were interrupted .

Specialized journalist Fran Monroy described it as the "largest computer attack in Venezuela's history" for this sector.

Just in case. Huawei and Alcatel is with them [Digitel]

🇮🇷Iran's Oil Exports Surge by 50% in 2023

In 2023, Iran witnessed a remarkable surge in its oil export shipments, averaging 1.3 million barrels per day. This figure represents a substantial increase of nearly 50% compared to the previous year and marks the highest export rate in the past five years.

Kpler reports that China emerges as the primary recipient of Iran's oil exports, while other consumer nations contribute only minimally to the total export volume.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Iran's overall crude oil production for the year reached 2.99 million barrels per day, indicating an increment of 0.44 million barrels per day from the preceding year.

These statistics corroborate earlier media speculations and official statements from the Iranian government, highlighting a significant upsurge in both oil production and exports throughout 2023, despite the enduring constraints of stringent US sanctions.

#Iran #oil #export
@songofoil

🇹🇷 TURKISH LIRA PER US DOLLAR

1ST JANUARY, 2020: 5.9

1ST JANUARY, 2021: 7.4

1ST JANUARY, 2022: 13.1

1ST JANUARY, 2023: 18.6

NOW: 30.5 ...

⚖️ 🇮🇱 'Netanyahu must be removed, top former Israeli national security officials say'

🔶️ More than 40 senior former Israeli national security officials, celebrated scientists and prominent business leaders have sent a letter to Israel’s president and speaker of parliament demanding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be removed from office for posing what they say is an “existential” threat to the country.

🔶️ The signatories on the letter include four former directors of Israel’s foreign and domestic security services, two former heads of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and three Nobel Prize winners.

🔶️ The letter blasts the coalition Netanyahu assembled to form the most right-wing government ever in Israel, along with his highly controversial efforts to overhaul Israel’s judiciary that they say led to security lapses that resulted in the October 7 attacks, the deadliest day in Israel’s history.

🔶️ Netanyahu’s popularity has fallen dramatically since starting his sixth term as prime minister, just over a year ago. Critics have blasted his judicial reform efforts – which threatened to trigger a constitutional crisis and divided the country, with months of massive, regular demonstrations.

🔶️ Among the 43 signatories are former IDF chiefs Moshe Ya’alon and Dan Halutz, Tamir Pardo and Danny Yatom, who ran the Mossad intelligence agency, and Nadav Argaman and Yaakov Peri, who were directors of the domestic security service, Shin Bet.

🔶️ It concludes with a plea to the Israeli president and Knesset speaker to replace the prime minister, as well as a warning: “The Israeli nation and Jewish history will not forgive you if you don’t fulfill your utmost national responsibility.”

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/26/middleeast/netanyahu-letter-israel-national-security-intl/index.html

🇺🇸 ❌️ 🇸🇾 The U.S began conducting airstrikes on Iran-backed positions in Iraq and Syria on Friday, according to four Defense Department officials, the first of what officials expect to be multiple rounds of retaliatory actions following the deaths of three U.S. soldiers in Jordan this week.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/02/us-strikes-militant-positions-in-iraq-and-syria-in-response-to-deadly-drone-attack-in-jordan-00139410

📢 🇺🇸 🇮🇷 Statement From Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin: "This is the start of our response. The President has directed additional actions to hold the IRGC and affiliated militias accountable for their attacks on U.S. and Coalition Forces"

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3665642/statement-from-secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iii-on-us-strikes-in-iraq-an

📎 Faytuks

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇶/🇸🇾 What we know about the U.S. strikes in Iraq and Syria:

- The strikes started in Eastern Syria around 23:30 local time. These initial strikes were likely carried out by the Royal Jordan Air Force, which took part in the attacks in coordination with the U.S. per WSJ.

- U.S. strikes in Syria and Iraq started at approximately 00:00 local time (4pm EST) and lasted for about 30 minutes.

- B-1 bombers that took off directly from the U.S. participated in the bombings alongside U.S. fighter jets.

- They struck 3 facilities in Iraq and 4 in Syria, using 125 precision munitions to strike 85 specified targets within those 7 facilities.

- The U.S. informed the Iraqi government before the strikes took place.

- Most of the targets had already been completely evacuated, leading to a preliminary toll of 13 deaths and mostly material damage to the facilities.

@Middle_East_Spectator

✈️ 🇺🇸 🇸🇾 The United States was waiting on favorable weather to hit Iran-backed militia targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three U.S. service members, officials said - NBC

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/live-blog/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-rcna136897

📎 Faytuks

🇸🇻 Gangsters in El Salvador are terrified of strongman Nayib Bukele

He protects citizens from crime. But who will protect them from him?

On February 4th El Salvador is holding elections. Mr Bukele is constitutionally barred from standing for a second term. Yet he is standing, having confected a Putinesque workaround to dodge term limits. And he is certain to win, having brought peace to a country previously terrorised by criminal gangs. He is one of the most popular leaders in the world. Many politicians in the region wonder if they should emulate him.

Mr Bukele has also used his crusade for public order as an excuse to move towards authoritarianism. He has used soldiers to intimidate lawmakers. He has purged and packed the judiciary. He has imposed a “temporary” state of emergency, which keeps being extended. Journalists face prison if they report on the gang crackdown in a way that “creates panic”. Election rules have been tweaked to give the ruling party an advantage. The powers Mr Bukele has amassed are enough to cow the press, the judiciary and his opponents. When re-elected, he will no doubt continue to dismantle checks and balances. If, one day, Salvadoreans tire of him, they may find it hard to remove him. And he is only 42.

One lesson is that politicians who respect the rule of law must take street-level crime seriously or risk being outflanked by strongmen. Mr Bukele warns that if the opposition were to win, they would “let all the gangsters free”, as one campaign ad put it.

The best way to reduce gang violence in Latin America would be to legalise drugs everywhere, removing the largest prize over which gangsters fight. This would not be a panacea—the gangs in El Salvador made their money largely from extortion. And it is not going to happen soon—the United States would make life unpleasant for any country that tried it.

So leaders who care about civil liberties must do the hard, patient work of figuring out how to fight crime without trampling on them. That means training police better to investigate crimes, and speeding up trials so suspects don’t spend years in cells awaiting their day in court, during which they may be recruited by gangs. It does not mean using the army as cops.

📝 The Rothschilds want to legalise every hardcore drug to ”fight the cartels”.

🗄 Archive

🔗 https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/02/02/gangsters-in-el-salvador-are-terrified-of-strongman-nayib-bukele

🇪🇺🪫 The West’s humiliating electric car climbdown has begun - Ambitious plans for an electrification-led industrial revolution are in full-scale retreat

France’s President Macron had a plan to make millions of electric vehicles a year. Chancellor Scholz planned to put 15 million on Germany’s roads by 2030. President Biden trumped the lot with a $174bn (£138bn) plan to make the US the world leader. Even Boris Johnson – remember him – had a £1bn plan to beef up our charging network.

Rewind only a couple of years, and almost every president or prime minister was making electric vehicles the cornerstone of an industrial strategy. And yet, this week we have learned that Renault is abandoning plans to separately list its electric vehicle (EV) and software business, while Volvo is winding down its Polestar electric sports car subsidiary.

In reality, amid an onslaught of Chinese competition, and falling sales, the West’s electric vehicle dream is quickly unravelling – and we need to relearn all the lessons in why grand, state-led industrial strategies never work.

It looks like all those “well-paid green jobs” are going to take a little longer to arrive than anyone anticipated. As for the payback on huge sums various governments have “invested” in the industry, it looks like the returns on that money will take a while to come through as well.

There is nothing wrong with EVs themselves. They are often great as run-arounds for dense urban environments, and as long as the raw materials are sourced correctly, and the chargers are not powered by coal-burning generators, they are probably a little better for the environment than the petrol version.

If people want them, then that’s great. The trouble with the industry right now is that demand is falling because the vehicles cost far more than anyone expected, and what market there is will be captured by Chinese manufacturers such as BYD that can make vehicles far more cheaply than anyone in the West can. The result? A lot of government money will be wasted.

🗄 Archive

🔗 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/02/02/west-humiliating-electric-car-climbdown-begun/