EU diplomats and think tank officials have been contacting former US President Donald Trump’s associates to figure out whether he would pull the US out of NATO if he returns to the White House, the New York Times reported on Friday.

With less than a year to go until the 2024 US presidential elections, Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee and is leading President Joe Biden in most polls. A host of former Trump administration officials and anti-Trump pundits have claimed in recent weeks that a second Trump presidency would herald the collapse of NATO, and that panic has reportedly spread to the EU.

“European ambassadors and think tank officials have been making pilgrimages to associates of Mr. Trump to inquire about his intentions,” the New York Times reported, citing anonymous sources. These officials included Finland’s ambassador to the US, Mikko Hautala, who the newspaper said “reached out directly to Mr. Trump and sought to persuade him of his country’s value to NATO as a new member.”

Venezuela and Guyana are due to hold a high-level meeting in the coming days to discuss sovereignty over the oil-rich region, after the decades-old border dispute has been recently rehashed.

The meeting will be held on Thursday in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Caribbean country's Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves announced. Brazilian President  Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will attend, at the request of the two quarreling countries.

 Attacks by Iranian-backed terrorists against U.S. forces in the Middle East increased late this week as U.S. officials have grown frustrated by President Joe Biden’s lack of a forceful response to deter future attacks.

 Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) suffered a blowout defeat Saturday night in Houston’s mayoral runoff election against Texas Sen. John Whitmire (D-15).

The Philippine coast guard said on Sunday that a Chinese coast guard vessel assaulted three Philippine boats in the South China Sea with water cannons, and collided with one vessel, causing engine damage. 

This latest confrontation between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the disputed waters of the South China Sea took place near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, where the Philippines maintains a small outpost on a grounded navy ship. 

Philippine navy-operated supply boats with a Philippine coast guard escort were on a supply mission to deliver food and other supplies to troops stationed on the shoal. 

The Chinese coast guard said Philippine boat "deliberately" collided with their ship after ignoring several warnings.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Saturday said he appreciated the US veto at the UN Security Council, which blocked a call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Israel will continue the war against Hamas, said Netanyahu, as the military pressed up with relentless bombardments in Gaza. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).

Former President Donald Trump told partygoers at a New York Young Republican Club event that the indictments against him have 'opened Pandora's box' and that Joe Biden should 'be very careful what you wish for'. 

Talking at Saturday evening's event Trump told a crowd chanting his name that Biden has 'opened up a Pandora's box that will never let our country be the same. 

'I can only say to Joe: Be very careful what you wish for, but you have done is a terrible thing,' former president Trump said in his speech.

The event was hosted at Cipriani's flagship location on New York City's Wall Street where roughly a thousand guests gathered, including notable Republicans Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz. 

'I am being indicted for you. These are not indictments in the traditional sense. These are Biden indictments against their political opponent,' Trump told the event. 

Defense attorneys have coined the term “January 6 Jurisprudence” to describe the treatment received by the more than 1,200 defendants arrested so far in connection with the events of Jan. 6, 2021. This carve-out legal system involves the unprecedented and possibly unlawful use of a corporate evidence-tampering statute; excessive prison sentences and indefinite periods of pretrial incarceration; and the designation of nonviolent offenses as federal crimes of terrorism.

A universal feature is the requirement that a Jan. 6 defendant, usually a supporter of Donald Trump, face trial in Washington, D.C., a city overwhelmingly populated by Democrats. Federal judges have denied every change of venue motion filed in Jan. 6 cases, arguing those who protested at the Capitol can get a fair trial in the nation’s capital.

The results so far appear to contradict the court’s collective conclusion. Court records show the jury selection process has repeatedly revealed a strong degree of bias against anyone tied to Jan. 6. At least 130 defendants have been convicted at trial – not one has been acquitted by a jury – and hundreds have been sentenced to prison time ranging from seven days to 22 years. Defense lawyers say this track record helps explain why the vast majority of defendants have opted for a plea deal rather than go to trial.

This is the same environment that now awaits the former president as he prepares to stand trial in Washington on March 4, 2024 for election interference, in addition to an array of criminal and civil cases against him elsewhere.

In a surprising turn of events, the Dow Industrials achieved a new 52-week high this week, creating a buzz on Wall Street. However, beneath the surface, a Dow Theory non-confirmation has emerged as Dow Transports experienced a -1.6% decline.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen ordered diplomatic passports to be issued to powerful members of his Likud party who have the ability to influence where he is ranked on the party's slate in a future Knesset election, Haaretz has learned.

The step was taken against the advice of professional staff at the ministry who expressed the view that the recipients were not appropriate to receive diplomatic passports. Cohen also ordered a diplomatic passport for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's son Yair, even though he doesn't meet the normal criteria.

Cathie Wood’s ARKK Innovation fund reminds me of the Ark scene from Raiders Of The Lost Ark. “It’s beautiful” proclaims Belloch. Before it turns ugly and kills everyone.

Yes, the ARKK Innovation Fund, managed by Cathie Wood, is high risk (beta = 2.28) and low alpha (excess return) fund with a negative alpha of -0.376. Now, true the standard error of the alpha is larger than the point estimate of alpha, meaning that it is not significants. Bottom like: lots of systematic risk, little or no excess return.

"Guess we're not dead yet."

There have long been accusations saying Israel's military is seeking to push Gazans en masse into Sinai...

House Republicans are digging in with their demands to link aid to Ukraine to permanent changes to U.S. border policy.

Which will of course hurt the poor the most...

Unexpected SOFR spikes reveal financial plumbing issues linked to the Fed's balance sheet reduction and regulatory scrutiny. China's money markets show distress amid economic challenges.

The Senate on Thursday voted down a resolution that would have directed President Biden to withdraw all US troops from Syria, where US forces have come under frequent attack in response to President Biden’s support for Israel’s Gaza onslaught.

The bill failed in a vote of 13-84 and received support from seven Democrats, five Republicans, and one Independent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT). The resolution was introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who argued the US occupation of eastern Syria risks a major regional war.

“Keeping 900 US troops in Syria does nothing to advance American security. Rather, our intervention puts those servicemembers at grave risk by providing an enticing target for Iranian-backed militias,” Paul said.

In 1996, a nest of American-born imperialists revolving around Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Richard Perle created a new think tank called “The Project for a New American Century.”

While the principled aim of the think tank ultimately hinged on a new “Pearl Harbor moment” that would justify a new era of regime-change wars in the Middle East, a secondary but equally important part of the formula involved the dominance of “Greater Israel” Likud fanatics then taking power over the murdered body of Yitzhak Rabin.

It was toward the start of the new regime of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Richard Perle wrote the report“Clean Break: A Strategy for Securing the Realm,” which outlined a series of goals that would govern the strategic vision of Washington and Tel Aviv for the next two decades. It called for:

• Canceling the foundations for the Oslo Accords that threatened to bring about a climate of peace through economic cooperation in the Middle East under a two-state solution
• Launching a new doctrine of “right of hot pursuit” justifying armed incursions into Palestinian territories
• Inducing the United States to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq
• Armed incursions into Lebanon and possible strikes against Syria and Iran