🌐🚢 $35 billion. BILLION. In a few days. When you look at trade statistics sometimes you forget that there are physical ships moving the physical goods. Inflation is coming back folks.

📎 Philip Pilkington

🚢 🇮🇱 🇾🇪 "Israel's Eliat Port, due to the attacks has suffered an 80% drop in revenue after the Houthi blockade. Looks like the Houthis are getting what they wanted..."

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231219-israel-revenue-from-eilat-port-drops-by-80-due-to-houthi-red-sea-attacks/

📎 AyazK

📝 🌍 🚢 Dawn of a new era

@CIG_telegram

📢 🇺🇸 🇾🇪 The US and its allies are considering possible military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen - Bloomberg

🔶️ Planning is underway for actions intended to cripple the Houthis’ ability to target commercial ships, according to four people familiar with the matter

🔶️ Saudis are among those worried about provoking a wider war 🇸🇦

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-19/us-weighs-whether-to-attack-houthis-beyond-defensive-task-force

📎 Faytuks

Venezuela activates oil business units in an area disputed with Guyana, intensifying the dispute over the Esequibo.

https://cutt.ly/CBAN50VTR

⚓️ 🇺🇸 🇾🇪 The Washington Examiner reports that the United States and the United Kingdom have moved sensitive air and naval assets near Yemen. These movements indicate preparation for possible strikes against Houthi forces in that country.

🔶️ The Washington Examiner is not disclosing the identity of the military forces now positioned closer to Yemen, but they include both strike and supporting platforms the deployment of which has not publicly been disclosed

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/new-force-movements-suggest-us-and-uk-strikes-against-houthis-increasingly-likely

📎 Faytuks

🇵🇱🏳️‍🌈 Poland to Fast-Track Gay Marriage?

Poland’s new Europhile government may be poised to fast-track the legalisation of same-sex marriage following a legal diktat from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The Strasbourg-based ECHR issued their verdict on Tuesday, declaring that current Polish statutes, which recognize marriage as between a man and a woman, violate the “right to respect for private and family life” outlined under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in a six-to-one decision.

The ECHR, which is often accused of being a technocratic body used to impose socially liberal values on European nation-states, made the decision in response to a challenge by five same-sex couples.

This is not the first time the ECHR has been accused of meddling in the affairs of sovereign nations around LGBT issues. In 2010, the Court was instrumental in strongarming the Italian government into recognising same sex partnerships with the similarly worded Oliari v. Italy case.

The ruling on same-sex partnerships heralded by this week’s ECHR decision could be the opening salvo in a range of liberal policies to be enacted under the new Tusk government. The newly installed PM has said LGBT recognition would be a major symbolic victory over the old PiS regime despite Tusk having minimised abortion and other social issues during the campaign trail.

🔗 https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/poland-to-fastrack-gay-marriage/

🇲🇾 ❌️ 🇮🇱 Malaysia has banned Israeli ships from docking in their ports and passing through their waters.

🔶️ "This sanction is a response to Israel’s actions that disregard the basic humanitarian principles and violate international law through the ongoing massacre and continuous cruelty against the Palestinian people.”

✒️ Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim

📎 MintPress News

— 🇮🇱 Ben-Gvir: 'Now is the time for decisions' (regarding war against Hezbollah) - Twitter

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇾🇪 NEW: Today, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff will present several options to President Biden for military action against the Houthis in Yemen - Informed Sources

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇵🇸 NEW: Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian met with Hamas' political chief Ismael Haniyeh in Doha

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇨🇳/🇹🇼/🇺🇸 BREAKING: Chinese President Xi Jinping recently informed Biden that Beijing will reunify Taiwan with mainland China, but the timing has not yet been decided, according to U.S. Officials - NBC

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇱/🇾🇪 Leader of Ansarullah, Abdul Malik Badr Al-Deen Al-Houthi: 'Since the very beginning we have been wishing for a direct war against the U.S. and Israel, this is a beloved thing for us and we have been dreaming of it, to fight them directly instead of fighting their mercenaries'

@Middle_East_Spectator

🇾🇪🇺🇸⚡Seyyed Badruldeen: If the US attacks our country, we will target American battleships with our missiles.

🚩 @ResistanceTrench

🇾🇪🇺🇸⚡Seyyed Badruldeen: If the Americans want to fight our people, they will face a harsher situation than what they faced in Afghanistan and Vietnam.

🚩 @ResistanceTrench