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Year: 2023

Freedom Caucus warns GOP leaders against spending ‘agreement’ with Dems as shutdown deadline looms

Freedom Caucus warns GOP leaders against spending ‘agreement’ with Dems as shutdown deadline looms

The House Freedom Caucus is accusing Democrats of trying to blow past already agreed upon spending levels to fund the government next year and is urging Republican leadership not to follow suit.  In a statement sent to Fox News Digital just before the New Year, the ultra-conservative group pointed out that the U.S. national debt is “rapidly approaching” $34 trillion. That is more than $100,000 per American, according to the national debt clock. “Unfortunately, members of the House and Senate have done little to force a course correction from this calamity. Indeed, many have been party to it,” the group said. “Worse yet, we are extremely troubled that House Republican leadership is considering an agreement with Democrats to spend even higher than the modest $1.59 trillion statutory cap set six months ago by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and to obscure the actual spending numbers with more shady side deals and accounting tricks. This is totally unacceptable.” SENATE HAS ONLY PASSED 3 OUT OF 12 SPENDING BILLS AS DEADLINE LOOMS The bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), borne from negotiations to raise the debt limit led by President Biden and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., would set next year’s funding levels at a topline of $1.59 trillion. However, Congress is able to approve additional funding if it’s deemed an “emergency.” A handshake agreement made at the time would also allow for roughly $69 billion in additional non-defense spending.  WHERE NO CONGRESS HAS GONE BEFORE: FACING GALACTIC-SCALE FISCAL CLIFF AND BORDER SECURITY THREATS Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., signaled earlier this month that he is opposed to deals exceeding the $1.59 trillion cap in the FRA. “What we also agreed to was what’s written in the law, and that’s the [FRA] topline. The Senate has been projecting and writing well above that to, I don’t know, billions of dollars. That’s not what the law says,” Johnson said at a December 12 press conference. “I came in as the new speaker and I said, again, as the rule of law team, we’re going to follow the law. So that’s where negotiations stand.” But the details are still up in the air right now, with the House having left for the holidays on December 15 without publicly revealing a commitment to a specific topline number.  “As Congress negotiates FY 2024 government funding, Republicans must truly reduce programmatic spending year-over-year from the enacted FY 2023 level, and end the use of disingenuous gimmicks to conceal from Americans the real spending harm being perpetrated by their elected representatives,” the Freedom Caucus said on Friday. HOUSE LEAVES FOR THE YEAR WITH CRITICAL BATTLES STILL ON HORIZON “Anything less represents more failure and suffering for the American people. Republicans promised millions of voters that we would fight to change the status quo, and it is long past time to deliver.” Under a short-term plan enacted by Johnson to buy lawmakers more time to negotiate, current government funding levels expire under two separate deadlines – January 17 for some agencies and February 2 for others. The GOP-controlled House and Democrat-held Senate will have to strike a deal for fiscal year 2024 or at least another short-term extension by then, or they will risk plunging the government into a partial shutdown.

New Hampshire casino faces shutdown following alleged COVID-19 relief fund fraud by state senator

New Hampshire casino faces shutdown following alleged COVID-19 relief fund fraud by state senator

A New Hampshire casino owned by a former state senator accused of buying luxury cars with a fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief loan will be shut down Jan. 1 but allowed to reopen in six months if sold to a new owner, the state lottery commission said in a decision made public Thursday The commission tried in August to permanently revoke Andy Sanborn’s gaming operator’s license, but he appealed the decision and requested a hearing before an independent examiner. That hearing was held earlier this month, and a decision was issued Wednesday. Sanborn, a Republican from Bedford, owns the Concord Casino within The Draft Sports Bar and Grill in Concord and was seeking to open a much larger charitable gaming venue a few miles away. But the commission argued that his license should be revoked because he improperly obtained federal funds, misrepresented how he spent the money, paid himself large sums as rent and failed to keep accurate records overall. FORMER NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE SENATOR ACCUSED OF USING COVID-19 RELIEF FUNDS TO BUY LUXURY CARS According to the investigation, Sanborn fraudulently obtained $844,000 in funding from the Small Business Administration between December 2021 and February 2022. Casinos and charitable gaming facilities weren’t eligible for such loans, but Sanborn omitted his business name, “Concord Casino,” from his application and listed his primary business activity as “miscellaneous services,” officials said. He’s accused of spending $181,000 on two Porsche race cars and $80,000 on a Ferrari for his wife. Sanborn also paid himself more than $183,000 for what he characterized as rent for his Concord properties, investigators said. In his ruling, hearings examiner Michael King said it was not within his purview to determine if the loan application was fraudulent, but said filing it with “clear false and/or misleading information” was enough to suspend his license because such action “undermines the public confidence in charitable gaming.” He also rejected Sanborn’s claim that the cars were not purchased with the loan, saying there was a “straight line” from the receipt of the loan to the purchase of the vehicles. And he noted that none of the cars were American made, which violates the terms of the loan. GOP TARGETS BILLIONS IN COVID FRAUD WITH NEW BILL: ‘GREATEST HEIST OF AMERICAN TAXPAYER DOLLARS IN HISTORY’ Revocation of the license was not appropriate, King said, because other license holders had been given opportunities to sell their businesses prior to suspensions or revocations. Sanborn, who did not attend the hearing because he was at a medical appointment, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. His lawyer had argued that the state’s entire case was built on a sloppy investigation and unproven allegations about the COVID-19 relief loan. At the time the allegations were announced in August, officials said federal authorities had been notified and that the state had begun a criminal investigation.

Beyond Maghazi: What controversial weapons has Israel used in Gaza war?

Beyond Maghazi: What controversial weapons has Israel used in Gaza war?

An Israeli official on Thursday acknowledged that the country’s military had used inappropriate munitions during an attack on the Maghazi refugee camp that killed at least 90 people earlier this week. The official said that Israel’s military would investigate what happened. But while little is known about the specific munitions used in Maghazi, this is far from the first time that Israel’s army has faced criticism over the alleged or confirmed use of controversial weapons in its war on Gaza. Israel has said its goal is to “completely eliminate” Hamas, which attacked southern Israel on October 7, but the reality on the ground has been the elimination of generations of Palestinians and their entire neighbourhoods. Israel’s war has killed more than 21,300 Palestinians, including at least 8,200 children, in Gaza. Another 7,000 people are missing, presumably buried under the rubble of the 313,000-plus homes that have collapsed from Israeli warfare. Al Jazeera looks at some of the weapons that have been used in Israel’s “indiscriminate” bombardment of the Gaza Strip: Dumb bombs The term ‘dumb bombs’ refers to munitions that are not guided, but are free to fall and destroy wherever they land. Earlier this month, CNN reported that nearly half of the Israeli munitions used on Gaza have been “dumb bombs”, citing research by the United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Somewhere between 40-45 percent of the munitions Israel has dropped on Gaza have been unguided, but these munitions are less accurate and carry a greater risk of inflicting civilian casualties. Marc Garlasco, a former war crimes investigator for the United Nations, called the US intelligence assessment “shocking”. “The revelation [that] almost half of all bombs dropped on Gaza by Israel are unguided dumb bombs completely undercuts their claim of minimising civilian harm,” Garlasco wrote on social media. Other reports have said Israel has regularly used powerful bombs in the densely populated Strip, despite the increased risk of civilian casualties. Bunker buster bombs Generously provided to Israel for its war on Gaza by its friend the United States, BLU-109 bombs are designed to penetrate hardened structures before exploding. The bombs can carry a warhead weighing more than 900kg (1984 pounds) and have previously been used by the US in conflicts including the war in Afghanistan. “Many people are now questioning in Congress whether continuing to give these “bunker bombs” is a good idea and also calling for more transparency,” Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro said. This level of weaponry has been used by the US before, but mainly in open areas. To do so in a densely populated area can only lead to one thing – high casualties. US arms to Israel since the start of the war have also included 15,000 bombs and 57,000 (155mm) artillery shells. And there’s more: 5,000 unguided MK-82 bombs, more than 5,400 MK-84 bombs, and about 1,000 GBU-39 small-diameter bombs. JDAMs There are also about 3,000 Joint Direct Attack Munitions or JDAMs – a guidance kit that uses GPS to turn unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions, effectively making the dumb bombs “smart”. However, their effectiveness depends on the quality of intelligence received. “If the intelligence is faulty, even the most accurate weapon will hit the wrong target,” Elijah Magnier, a military analyst covering conflicts in the Middle East, told Al Jazeera. An Amnesty International investigation released earlier this month found that the Israeli military used US-made JDAMs to bomb two homes in Gaza in October, killing 43 members of two families. In other cases, weapon functionality is also crucial, as technical malfunctions can cause smart bombs to miss their targets, and human error during the targeting process can lead to the misidentification of marks. “In various conflicts, there have been reports of secondary strikes occurring shortly after an initial strike, hitting rescue workers and civilians rushing to help the wounded, significantly increasing civilian casualties,” Magnier said. Earlier in the war Israel used smart bombs in Gaza as part of a broader military strategy “aimed at accurately targeting militant infrastructure to achieve military objectives” Magnier said, but “with no attempt to limit civilian casualties and infrastructure damage”. “The effectiveness of these weapons in achieving strategic objectives without causing disproportionate harm is impossible”, Magnier added. “The principle of distinction, a cornerstone of [international humanitarian] law, requires the invading Israeli army to always distinguish between combatants and military targets on the one hand, and civilians and civilian objects on the other and to target only the former.” White phosphorus Use of the colourless chemical weapon is restricted under international humanitarian law, with conditions that it must never be fired at, or in close proximity to, a populated civilian area or civilian infrastructure. However, evidence of its use by Israel in the war on Gaza was reported by Human Rights Watch (HRW) early in the conflict. Highly combustible, it can cause fires and smoke to spread quickly. “Airbursting white phosphorus spreads the substance over a wide area, depending on the altitude of the burst, and it exposes more civilians and infrastructures than a localised ground burst,” Ahmed Benchemsi, communications director for HRW’s Middle East and North Africa Division, told Al Jazeera. Last month a doctor from al-Shifa Hospital told the Toronto Star he had seen patients with deep wounds, with “third and fourth-degree burns, and the skin tissue is impregnated with black particles and most of the skin thickness and all the layers underneath are burned down to the bone”. Dr Ahmed Mokhallalati said these weren’t phosphorus burns, “but a combination of some kind of incendiary bomb wave and other components”, feeding into claims that Israel also uses war to test unknown weapons. But what makes white phosphorous even more dangerous, said Nada Majdalani, the Ramallah-based Palestine director for EcoPeace Middle East, is the presence of rain in the air. “As Gaza enters the rainy season, we expect the rain to fall as acid rain, contaminated with white phosphorus,” Majdalani said. People who use plastic sheets to collect rainwater to drink directly, amid a shortage of drinking water, could

Turkey arrests ISIL suspects as detention drive continues

Turkey arrests ISIL suspects as detention drive continues

The suspects were allegedly planning to carry out attacks on synagogues and churches. Turkey has announced it has detained dozens of people suspected of having ties to the ISIL (ISIS) armed group. At least 29 suspects were arrested in “Operation Heroes-37” on Friday, news agencies reported. The detentions come amid a drive by Turkey’s security forces ahead of New Year festivities, although some also view it as part of a political push ahead of local elections. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on social media platform X that the detentions had thwarted planned attacks on churches and synagogues in Istanbul. DEAŞ Terör Örgütüne yönelik İstanbul merkezli 9️⃣ ilde düzenlenen “KAHRAMANLAR-37” Operasyonunda 2️⃣9️⃣ Şahıs Yakalandı❗️Terör Örgütleri ve onların İş Birlikçileriyle mücadelemiz kararlılıkla devam edecek❗️❌MİT Başkanlığı ile Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü İstihbarat Başkanlığı ve… pic.twitter.com/xfu2gbrKT1 — Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) December 29, 2023 According to Turkish state news agency Anadolu, the suspects included three alleged senior ISIL fighters. It added that plans also included an attack on the Iraqi Embassy in Ankara. Despite the group having been largely defeated, some ISIL fighters remain in hiding in remote areas of Syria and Iraq, from which they continue to carry out attacks. Turkey continues to be targeted and has been hit by a string of deadly bombings. An attack in Istanbul on January 1, 2017 killed 39 people in a nightclub during New Year celebrations. [embedded content] The detentions come a week after police rounded up 304 suspected ISIL fighters in simultaneous raids across Turkey, in what is seen as a security sweep leading up to the New Year festivities. Turkish authorities have also ramped up operations against Kurdish fighters in recent weeks, after they detonated a bomb near government buildings in Ankara on October 1. “For the peace, unity and solidarity of our nation, we will not tolerate any terrorists,” Yerlikaya said on X. “We will continue our fight uninterruptedly with the superior efforts of our security forces.” However, there is also suspicion that the drive may also be influenced by upcoming local elections in March. Analysts say that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is keen to win back control of Istanbul, Ankara and other major economic hubs that his AK Party has lost. Adblock test (Why?)

Pressure on Netanyahu amid row over Israel’s plan for ‘day after’ Gaza war

Pressure on Netanyahu amid row over Israel’s plan for ‘day after’ Gaza war

As Israeli military pounds Gaza and conducts raids in occupied West Bank, Hamas says no deal on captives until ‘aggression’ stops. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces growing pressure from his right-wing coalition government amid sharp disagreements over the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is nearing its 90th day with no end in sight to the war or a deal for a pause in hostilities. Netanyahu cancelled a meeting of Israel’s war cabinet on Thursday night that was meant to discuss the plan for the “day after” the war after fierce opposition to the meeting from far-right members of the coalition. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of the ultranationalist Jewish Power party said the subject was outside of the war cabinet’s mandate. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist party announced it was holding its own meeting in protest over his exclusion from the discussion. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are in the larger security cabinet but are not part of the war cabinet, whose main members are Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and opposition leader Benny Gantz. “[Smotrich] didn’t want that discussion [on the day after] to take place,” Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said on Friday. “He is very much against the Palestinian Authority [PA] having any rule in Gaza post the war.” Under such pressure, Netanyahu decided the war cabinet would not discuss the issue, which will now be taken up by the security cabinet on Tuesday. The United States has suggested the PA should rule over Gaza after Israel achieves its stated goal of eliminating Hamas, whose October 7 assault on southern Israel triggered the war. “Netanyahu cancelled the war cabinet, worried it would fracture his coalition, fracture his government and put his position as prime minister at risk,” Fisher said. The war cabinet was also meant to “discuss a deal with Hamas – negotiated by the Americans, the Qataris and the Egyptians – about exchanging captives for Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails”, our correspondent added. [embedded content] ‘Between a rock and a hard place’ Ahmed Helal, the Middle East and North Africa director at Global Counsel, told Al Jazeera the cancellation of the war cabinet meeting had been a “long time coming” as the military establishment and political elite have grown further apart. “The military elite has grown increasingly uncomfortable over the past 10 years, and they’re not pacifists by any means – they are not doves. But they understand what is strategically important for Israel, and they have been pushing against the overly militarist ambitions of the civilian government,” Helal said. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to make another trip to the Middle East next week to discuss the Gaza war, in which the Israeli military has killed more than 21,000 people in Gaza alone. The revised death toll from Hamas’s attack on Israel stands at 1,139. The top US diplomat is likely to face regional Arab allies increasingly pushing for a ceasefire, Natali Tocci, director of the Italian think tank Istituto Affari Internazionali, told Al Jazeera. “At the moment, we don’t see the US actually putting pressure on Israel for a ceasefire,” Tocci said. “However, as that Egyptian role is actually increasing … in calling for a ceasefire, Blinken will basically find himself in between a rock and a hard place.” Egypt, which borders the Gaza Strip, has taken more of a leading role in pushing for a ceasefire, including introducing a plan to end the fighting. It includes captive and prisoner exchanges between Israel and Hamas. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said on Thursday that the group will not release more Israeli captives without a “complete and full ceasing of aggressive activities against our people through negotiations that are aligned with our people’s interest”. A Hamas delegation is to visit Cairo on Friday to consider the Egyptian plan to end the war, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported, citing a Hamas official. Adblock test (Why?)