"MSCI just announced it is adding Microstrategy, Pure Storage and Emcor to MSCI ACWI Index along w/ a bunch of other adds/drops. Pretty big deal as ACWI has a little over $4T benchmarked to it. Popular with institutions."

- Eric Balchunas

❗Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has been put into an induced coma. His condition is critical, the Slovak Interior Minister said.
Earlier, there were reports that Fico had been successfully operated on and was in stable condition — they were not confirmed. His internal organs are damaged.
Pray for Robert.
@eurasianchoice

🇺🇸🇳🇮 U.S. announces new sanctions against Nicaragua

The Biden administration announced new sanctions and other restrictions on Nicaragua Wednesday, aiming to curb migration to the U.S. southern border and penalize the country for alleged human rights abuses and its close ties to Russia.

Some of the actions against the country are being taken to address "significant concern about the government of Nicaragua and its continued repression of the people of Nicaragua and their exploitation of migrants," a senior administration official told reporters.

🔎 Source
#US #Nicaragua

☠️ Blood Meridian

🇫🇷 ❌️ 🇳🇨 France deploys army at New Caledonia ports, airport; state of emergency imposed after riots

📎 FRANCE 24

🇦🇷☢️
A thief broke into a nuclear medicine company and stole radioactive material in Saavedra, Buenos Aires

The company detailed that the stolen content dates from a “Type A” package that contained “a source of “Iodine 131” (I-131) used in nuclear medicine, with an activity of 40 mCi at the time of the theft and with a rate estimated radiation dose on contact of 800 mSv/h.

The box with said material was found in a garbage container in Chacarita but without the material, the person who found the box claims to have touched the box and was placed under isolation.

🇸🇾🇸🇦 The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman, met today with Syrian President Bashar Assad, in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, as part of the 33rd Arab Summit.

🚩 @ResistanceTrench

🇨🇳 ❌️ 🇮🇱 China is burning all its bridges with Israel

⬛️ Desire to be seen as champion of Global South drives policy tilt

🔶️ Ma Xinmin, a Foreign Ministry legal department official, set out Beijing's stance at an International Court of Justice hearing in February: "In pursuit of the right to self-determination, the Palestinian people's use of force to resist foreign oppression and to complete the establishment of an independent state is an inalienable right well founded in international law." Last month, Beijing even hosted a Hamas delegation.

🔶️ Through the fighting since October, Beijing has put all blame on Israel, while Chinese social media platforms like Weibo and WeChat have suddenly filled with antisemitism. Noting this, Aaron Keyak, the Biden administration's deputy envoy on antisemitism, observed in January, "Because we know the Chinese internet is not free, that's a conscious decision by the Chinese government to allow that kind of rhetoric to be greatly increased."

🔶️ Similarly, when Iran sent a unprecedented volley of missiles and drones toward Israel last month, Beijing referred to it as an "act of self-defense" in response to an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus. Speaking to his Iranian counterpart after the attack on Israel, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, "Iran can handle the situation well."

🔶️ China's stance appears to reflect both a desire to position itself as a viable alternative to the U.S. and the heretofore American-led order and its economic interests as the world's largest oil importer. China's growing clout in the Middle East includes not only a strengthening strategic partnership with Iran, but close ties with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states.

🔶️ Jerusalem has quietly signaled its disgruntlement with Beijing's approach. In late October, Israel signed on to a joint statement of concern with more than 50 other governments about alleged Chinese crimes against humanity in its predominantly Muslim Xinjiang region. Last month, an Israeli parliamentary delegation visited Taiwan and met with President Tsai Ing-wen who commented, "Bilateral interactions have recently been very close."

https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/China-is-burning-all-its-bridges-with-Israel