🇨🇳🏭 With the easing of infrastructural investment in China, what to do with this much steel capacity?

If only there’s an event that we could conduct to better utilize all that capacity…

War is the easiest way to spend yourself out of a slump.

🔗 ZhaoDaShuai

🇺🇸🇮🇷 U.S. naval assets in the Middle East — new map

• ~30% of U.S. Navy fleet en route or in theater
• Guided-missile sub USS Georgia left Crete
• ABE CSG days away

Iranian attack against Israel delayed to allow time for a ceasefire deal & will take place at a later date (NYT)

U.S. force posture today in the Middle East is similar to the surge following the October 2023 attack:

Tehran appears to be allowing mediators time to pursue cease-fire talks: NYT

• By Friday, Israeli intelligence had assessed that Hezbollah and Iran had lowered the level of alertness in their rocket and missile units, according to five Israeli officials.

• Israel now believes the Iranian-led response — already apparently delayed several times — will take place at a later date.

• The officials have cautioned that their assessments are rapidly changing given the fluidity of events. Intelligence has been sparse and changes frequently, and Iran and Hezbollah are known to be constantly assessing the situation.

Supercarrier USS Abraham Lincoln steaming toward the Middle East from the Indo-Pacific, transited the Strait of Malacca & entered the Indian Ocean today, 16 August.

The Wasp ARG is still ripping donuts in the eastern Med, most recently operating northwest of Cyprus.

USS Georgia (SSGN 729) departed Crete, Greece, on/around 15 August.

Ceasefire updates from a senior U.S. official in Doha today on background:

- Put down a final bridging proposal on every issue
- Most constructive 48 hours in many months
- Package is basically there & now in the end game
- Aim to close out this process next week once & for all

U.S. warns of “cataclysmic consequences” should Iran attack Israel.

🧵 Ian Ellis

👎🕊🇺🇦🇷🇺 — 🇺🇸 The Washington Post | Ukraine’s offensive derails secret efforts for partial cease-fire with Russia, officials say | The warring countries were set to hold indirect talks in Qatar on an agreement to halt strikes on energy and power infrastructure, according to officials | August 17, 2024:

"KYIV — Ukraine and Russia were set to send delegations to Doha this month to negotiate a landmark agreement halting strikes on energy and power infrastructure on both sides, diplomats and officials familiar with the discussions said, in what would have amounted to a partial cease-fire and offered a reprieve for both countries.

But the indirect talks, with the Qataris serving as mediators and meeting separately with the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, were derailed by Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region last week, according to the officials. The possible agreement and planned summit have not been previously reported.

(...)

A diplomat briefed on the talks said Russian officials postponed their meeting with Qatari officials after Ukraine’s incursion into western Russia. Moscow’s delegation described it as “an escalation,” the diplomat said, adding that Kyiv did not warn Doha about its cross-border offensive."

🗄 Archive

🔗 Source:

🇦🇿🤝🇨🇳🇷🇺 — 🇷🇺 Russian media TASS on Telegram:

Azerbaijan would like to join BRICS, the republic's ambassador to Moscow Polad Bulbul oglu told TASS.

https://news.1rj.ru/str/tass_agency/266976

🇺🇸🇮🇱✈️🚫 — 📰 Israel Hayom: American Airlines suspends flights to Israel until April 2025

➡️ All American Airlines flights have been removed from booking systems until April 2025, travel agents have informed Israel Hayom. We attempted to receive a response from the company's Israeli representatives, but none has been received so far.

➡️ While all US-based airlines have currently halted their flights to Israel, some continued operations during the Swords of Iron War for a time. American Airlines, meanwhile, has not resumed flights to Israel since the conflict began.

➡️ Israel Hayom contacted the American Airlines reservation center, where we tried to book a flight for December, a month during which the airline was expected to operate in Israel. According to their latest announcement, the airline had planned to resume flights to Israel at the end of October.

🔗 Link
https://archive.is/nVbfo

🇮🇱💣❗️ — Over the past minutes, Israeli media reported that a major explosion, likely from a car bomb attack, took place in Central Tel Aviv!

A report was received about an explosion in a car on Derech Lod Street in Tel Aviv.
As a result of the explosion, a man was critically injured and pronounced dead at the scene. Police forces are at the scene, the circumstances of the incident are under investigation

https://news.1rj.ru/str/newss/195693