>>23879189

'Existential threat': Israel to seize, auction Armenian properties in al-Quds

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) says the centuries-old community of Armenian Christians in the Old City of al-Quds is facing an existential threat as the Israeli regime attempts to forcibly expropriate their properties.

Anca made the remarks in a post on X on Wednesday, saying “Israel is set to tax, seize and auction off properties that have been owned for centuries" by Armenian Christian Patriarchate in al-Quds.

“This illegal action represents a direct threat to the survival of the 1,700+ year old Armenian Christian Quarter and all the diverse faith-based communities" of the holy city, it added.

Israel is set to tax, seize and auction off properties that have been owned for centuries by Jerusalem's Armenian Christian Patriarchate - a direct threat to the survival of the 1,700+ year old Armenian Christian Quarter and all the faith-based communities of the Holy Land. pic.twitter.com/QlWU7yIc3r

— ANCA (@ANCA_DC) February 18, 2025

The Armenian Patriarchate in al-Quds has issued an urgent statement, calling on Israeli authorities to intervene immediately to prevent the foreclosure process on its properties and protect the Christian presence in the city.

The Patriarchate is now facing a legal dispute over an alleged municipal tax debt from 1994. It argues that the debt was imposed arbitrarily by a municipal official without proper legal proceedings.

Despite multiple petitions, the municipality in al-Quds has ignored due process and refused to review the validity of the claim.

If the foreclosure moves forward, it could set a dangerous precedent, potentially threatening other Christian religious institutions in the occupied territories.

The move is also seen as unjust, given that the municipality itself owes the Patriarchate millions in unpaid rent.

The issue was initially meant to be resolved through a committee established under Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018, but the municipality has proceeded unilaterally.

The Patriarchate is located in the Old City of al-Quds in the Armenian Quarter which comprises one-sixth of the old city and occupies the entire southwest corner of the town.

Members of the small minority community of Armenians in al-Quds say they are fearful about their future in the holy city, as Israeli settlers continue to vandalize cemeteries and places of worship, with the support of the occupying regime.

Since the most right-wing Israeli cabinet came to power in 2022, incidents against Christians in al-Quds have reportedly become more violent and common. At the beginning of 2023, 30 Christian graves at the Protestant Mount Zion Cemetery were desecrated.

In the Armenian Quarter, vandals spray-painted “Death to Arabs, Christians and Armenians,” on the walls.

Victims of these incidents say the Israeli police do little to arrest and punish the attackers most of the time.

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2025/02/19/743096/Palestine-Israel-ANCA-Armenian-Christians-al-Quds-face-threat-municipality-foreclosure-properties-tax-seize

>>23879322

>Tenks Fren!

>>23879189

>>23879475

two moar weeks

>>23879189

Donald Trump writes to Israel's president requesting pardon of Benjamin Netanyahu from corruption charges

Donald Trump has taken the extraordinary step of writing to Israel's President Isaac Herzog, calling on him to pardon Benjamin Netanyahu of long-standing corruption charges.

In an undated letter released by Mr Herzog's office, Mr Trump said he respected Israel's independent judicial system.

But he argued the case against Mr Netanyahu was a "political, unjustified prosecution".

Mr Trump said Mr Netanyahu was a "formidable and decisive War Time Prime Minister, and is now leading Israel into a time of peace" after "terribly difficult times of the last three years".

"Now that we have achieved these unprecedented successes, and are keeping Hamas in check, it is time to let Bibi unite Israel by pardoning him, and ending that lawfare once and for all," Mr Trump wrote.

A piece of paper with english text has the white house logo at the top and is signed Donald Trump at the bottom

Mr Herzog said he held Mr Trump in the highest regard.

But in a statement, he added that anyone seeking a presidential pardon must "submit a formal request in accordance with the established procedures".

Mr Netanyahu posted a note on social media hours later that did not mention the letter explicitly, but thanked Mr Trump for his "incredible support".

"As usual, you get right to the point and call it like it is," he wrote.

"I look forward to continuing our partnership to bolster security and expand peace."

It is not the first time Mr Trump has criticised the corruption charges against Mr Netanyahu.

He called upon Mr Herzog to pardon the Israeli prime minister during a speech to the Knesset last month, saying "who the hell cares" about the allegations Mr Netanyahu accepted gifts including cigars and champagne from wealthy benefactors.

"This man is a good man right here," Mr Trump said, referring to Mr Netanyahu while looking towards Mr Herzog.

"Hey, I have an idea, Mr president. Why don't you give him a pardon?"

The US president has also previously called the trial a "witch-hunt" on social media.

"I don't think they treat him very well," Mr Trump told US network CBS last month.

"He's under trial for some things, and I don't think they treat him well.

"We'll be involved in that to help him out a little bit, because I think that's very unfair."

Mr Netanyahu was indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in 2019 — all of which he denies.

His trial began in 2020, and since December last year he has been spending a few hours a day, two to three times a week, giving evidence in the case.

Mr Netanyahu's political opponents pounced on the letter in a bid to explain Israeli legal processes.

"Reminder, Israeli law stipulates that the first condition for receiving a pardon is an admission of guilt and an expression of remorse for the actions," Opposition Leader Yair Lapis said in a post on social media platform X.

In recent weeks, debate as to whether there could or should be a legislative fix to end the trial has been whipped into a frenzy.

Some of the prime minister's backers have echoed his own sentiments, accusing the "deep state" of being out to get him.

"The fabricated and despicable indictments against Prime Minister Netanyahu have long since become an indictment against the prosecution, whose slander and crimes are exposed in court every day," National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted on X.

"A pardon in this case is the right and urgent thing to do.

"President Herzog, listen to President Trump!"

Another opposition politician, Yair Golan, posted that Mr Netanyahu could not accept a pardon if he continued insisting the charges against him were baseless.

"If he's struggling to run a country and a trial at the same time — he should resign," he said.

[read moar at]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-12/donald-trump-letter-israel-president-pardon-benjamin-netanyahu/106003278

>>23879189

European officials consider pooling dollars to lessen Fed reliance after Trump shocks

Nov 13 (Reuters) - European financial stability officials are debating whether to create an alternative to Federal Reserve funding backstops by pooling dollars held by non-U.S. central banks in a bid to reduce their reliance on the U.S. under the Trump administration, five officials familiar with the matter said.

The talks, reported here for the first time, are a reaction to policies under U.S. President Donald Trump that have upended long-standing ties, put the Fed's independence in doubt and underlined the dominant role the U.S. plays in global finance.

The Fed's facilities lend dollars to other central banks and function as a lifeline during bouts of market stress, ensuring global financial stability is maintained.

Interviews with more than a dozen European central banking and supervisory officials show that they worry the facilities could be weaponized by the Trump administration.

Two of the people said concerns peaked around April, when Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs on imports sent shockwaves through the global financial system and exposed weakness in banks' funding plans.

Worries have since ebbed, in part due to Fed assurances, the people said. Chair Jerome Powell told a European Central Bank-hosted conference in July that the U.S. central bank has no plans to change how it offers dollar liquidity to other official entities.

Kush Desai, a White House spokesman, said Trump had "repeatedly affirmed his commitment to maintaining the strength and power" of the dollar.

ECB and Fed spokespeople declined to comment.

DOLLAR POOLING HAS LIMITATIONS

Some of the sources said that pooling dollar reserves would face practical difficulties and may not be viable.

Nevertheless, talks are ongoing at staff rather than top ECB policymaker level and involve central banks in the euro zone and outside the bloc, said four of the officials, who have direct knowledge of the matter.

One said some national central banks in the region are pushing for it.

Reuters could not establish whether central banks outside Europe were also involved in talks.

Other countries have already tried pooling resources.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) along with China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea combined resources to assist member countries under the Chiang Mai Initiative.

Asked in July about concerns stemming from possible fragmentation in finance, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda pointed to the initiative, which began operating in 2014 and has since grown to $240 billion.

"It would be important to keep trying a multi-layered approach to things like swap lines. Doing something similar, or continuing to do something similar, would be important," he said.

The Bank of Japan was not immediately available to comment.

In Europe, however, several officials said their initial analysis on the viability of pooling has not been encouraging.

While non-U.S. central banks have hundreds of billions of dollars in cash combined, this does not compare with the Fed's near-bottomless pockets as issuer of the world's reserve currency.

Pooling could help deal with bouts of instability but is unlikely to be enough to contain broad market turbulence, they said, while any attempt to pool reserves would also face logistical and political challenges.

1/2

>>23879544

2/2

One top central banker said any hint from the Fed on discontinuing the swaps could itself lead to broad stress in the global financial system.

In such a situation it would be hard for a central bank to defend offering its dollar reserves to another party, the official said.

European officials are also considering other measures to improve resiliency, including increasing scrutiny of lenders.

This includes asking banks for plans to source dollars in other markets such as Asia and the Middle East, and stress testing the lenders, two euro zone banking executives said.

One of the officials involved in the discussions said the question of how to build resiliency without relying on the U.S. is raised at each meeting between central banks.

The officials requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions.

NOT 'FIRST ORDER' WORRY, BUT WORST-CASE SCENARIO

Dollar demand tends to spike during times of market stress, and shortages can worsen the problem.

The Fed's facilities not only help alleviate that, they also serve wider U.S. interests.

By providing dollars, the Fed ensures that bouts of instability abroad do not turn into full-blown financial crises that could then also engulf the United States.

Usage of the facilities peaked at $449 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

At a meeting of the ECB's policymaking Governing Council a few months ago, Klaas Knot, the then-head of the Dutch central bank, raised the question of reliance on the swap lines as part of "a laundry list" of potential risks, an official with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Knot was also head of the Financial Stability Board, an international body, at the time. The matter has not come up since at the Council, the official said.

An FSB spokesperson declined to comment.

An ECB supervisor said while it is monitoring dollar liquidity, the loss of swaps is not a "first-order worry".

Nevertheless, the debate on finding an alternative has continued among European officials tasked with ensuring financial stability, including at the ECB and several central banks, five sources with direct knowledge of the talks said.

One said they are concerned about what happens when Powell's term ends in May. Trump has said he could select the next chair by the end of this year.

One of the sources said European officials "need to consider the worst-case scenario".

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/european-officials-consider-pooling-dollars-lessen-fed-reliance-after-trump-2025-11-13/

>>23879528

>>23879538

>Better be fake news!

>>23879492

that's some weapons-grade denial you got going on there

FAIR WARNING: the longer you stay hooked on hopium, the more brutal the crash will be

>>23879555

spin-team six has sent in the highest ranking spin doctor

>>23879567

>>23879189

The Chinese have figured out that the Trump they supported is gone. That is why they reneged on their promise to the fake “Trump” that they would buy US farm products

“China imported no soybeans from the U.S. in September, the first time since November 2018 that shipments fell to zero.”

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-imports-no-us-soybeans-september-first-time-seven-years-2025-10-20/?taid=68f61e6b0fc27f0001fbede7&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

>>23879654

>THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

GTFOH rabbi

>>23879664

>https://twitter.com/i/status/1991452231544246420

notable af

>>23879189

The “Trump” administration admits they are not trying to identify anyone aboard boats it accuses of sending drugs to the U.S. before bombing the vessels.

Pentagon Admits It Has No Idea Who’s on “Drug Boats” Being Bombed

A Democratic lawmaker revealed the shocking detail after a Pentagon briefing for members of Congress.

The Trump administration has admitted that they are not trying to identify anyone aboard boats they accuse of sending drugs to the U.S. before bombing the vessels.

Speaking to CNN Thursday, Democratic Representative Sara Jacobs said she was told in a Pentagon briefing “that they do not need to positively identify individuals on the vessel to do the strikes” and that was part of the reason why the administration has not sought to detain or prosecute the survivors of the strikes, “because they could not satisfy the evidentiary burden.”

As far as the legal justification the White House is using to blow up boats in the waters surrounding Latin America, that information has only been available to select Republicans.

“There’s nothing that we heard in there that changes my assessment that this is completely illegal, that it is unlawful and even if Congress authorized it, it would still be illegal because there are extrajudicial killings where we have no evidence,” Jacobs said, adding that she was told that the only drug targeted in the strikes so far was cocaine, which Pentagon officials called “a facilitating drug of fentanyl.”

The U.S. has killed at least 61 people in more than a dozen airstrikes on boats in the western hemisphere that it claims are smuggling drugs and are part of “designated terrorist organizations.” The attacks have prompted criticism from countries in the region, including Colombia, Venezuela, and Mexico, and several of the people killed in the strikes have been identified as fishermen.

Even some Republicans in Congress, such as Representative Mike Turner and Senator Rand Paul, have expressed misgivings about the strikes, with Paul calling them “extrajudicial killings.” Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth seem to be planning to go even further, with the president bragging that he wants to begin strikes on land and Hegseth moving 14 percent of the U.S. Navy fleet to the Caribbean Sea. It seems that a war has been declared in all but name.

https://newrepublic.com/post/202502/pentagon-id-people-drug-boats