Dun dun.
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C’mon, let’s go to stoning…
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Forces Brisbane to be in every Grand Final.
And Michael Christian won’t turn up.
Colombia going up in flames with forest fires, international help sought
I recommend Vengeance on Varos.
Iranian backed group killed 3 US soldiers and wounded 28. Until now the Us has been avoiding large escalation against Iran as no troops had been killed, despite dozens of attacks.
This is likely to result in a severe response.
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Noone does a protest and blockade like the French do. 
.
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It’s almost as if Iran are deliberately luring the ‘West’ into a larger scale conflict. The momentum around the world to destroy western values and civilisation seems to be gathering pace in its many forms and ways. War in this region just being a large and highly dangerous example.
South Korean protests would eclipse the French, IMHO.
Some sifting through the circumstances, including whether the US troops were targeted. Conjecture that it was Hezbollah trying to intercept a US drone.
There’s a lot of actors currently flexing their muscles with the belief that the opponent will not respond. One miscalculation and things can snowball.
Escalation management is a very very real issue right now in the world.
Whenever I see someone talking about dismantling the military industrial complex, my reaction is “awwww honey… that’s soooo cute”.
We are arguably in this position because the western democracies are internally fractured and have slashed military spending too heavily. The peace dividend that most of us have lived our entire adult lives in has probably come to an end.
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A very real issue right now is that if The US hits Iran hard, they can close the gulf strait and isolate the oil supply. That would cause a massive rise in global oil prices 8 months out from a Presidential election.
Real factor.
I agree. There’s lots of complexity. Each actor has their motives. However, at least to me, there’s a growing sense that activism and disgruntled minorities across the world are causing a slow but steady tide of momentum against the values and ways of life of the countries they live. Each country has unique gripes and grievances, the protests continue to build in noise and number.
The broader world order tussle you note I think is a key driver. A sense that the West, weaker and tired, are reluctant to confront the rise of dissidents around the world, are giving oxygen to their efforts.
It’s not as simple as confront them all with aggression. The situations delicate and dangerous as you say. I’m glad I’m not navigating the course!
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Can’t see the US going “big” in retaliation.
Reckon we will se some smaller targets picked off though and some small forces incursions.
If I was a high ranking Revolutionary Guard I’d consider hiding for a bit because I reckon a couple of them might be assassinated in retaliation
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Some were killed in Syria, allegedly by Israel
Oh, there will be more. Might not be today or next week but it will happen.
Iraq condemned US attacks a few weeks back on Iran backed paramilitary in Iraq.
Iraq and US are now engaged in talks on the withdrawal of US troops.
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Tough times for Argentina ahead, let’s hope it will be worth it for them.
Argentina mega reform bill set to pass in Congress, government says
January 31, 20244:21 AM GMT+11Updated 7 hours ago
Argentina’s President Javier Milei
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Argentina’s government said on Tuesday that it was confident its sprawling economic reform bill, known as the “omnibus bill”, would gain approval in Congress after it made concessions removing some divisive sections from the legislation.
The bill is a central plank in libertarian President Javier Milei’s aims to overhaul the South American country’s economy that is buckling under high debt loads, inflation running at over 200% and myriad capital controls to protect the peso.
“There should now be no obstacle for the law to be approved,” presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said in a daily press conference on Tuesday. “As we understand it is going to get approved, with the first half of that this week.”
Milei took office in December after a divisive campaign in which he pledged a “chainsaw” plan to slash back the size of the state and cut spending with an austerity drive he argues is necessary to put the country’s finances back on a firm footing.
That has gone down well with markets and investors, including major creditor the International Monetary Fund (IMF), though he has warned of tough months ahead for regular Argentines with a likely economic contraction this year.
The omnibus bill - a major part of Milei’s reform plan - is expected to be debated in the lower house of Congress on Wednesday after the government yanked the key fiscal section following opposition to tax hikes and pension reforms.
While marking a significant concession by the government – which still intends to push those fiscal plans separately – the move was seen as likely to help avoid the bill failing in Congress where Milei only has minority support.
That helped the S&P Merval (.MERV), opens new tab stock index edge up 1% on Tuesday, with sovereign bonds very slightly up on average.
The government still faces a major challenge to meet pledges for a zero deficit this year, while turning around an expected economic contraction estimated by the IMF at 2.8%.
