How is the US presidential election shaping up?
Donald Trump is the favourite to become the Republican candidate and face Joe Biden in the presidential election. Campaigning is under way for the United States presidential election, and a repeat contest is expected between President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump. Biden is the oldest candidate in US history, and Trump is facing a series of criminal trials. So who do American voters want in the White House? And how might the world react? Presenter: Adrian Finighan Guests: Arshad Hasan – Democratic Party political strategist Leslie Vinjamuri – Director of the US and Americas Programme, Chatham House Trita Parsi – executive vice president at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft Adblock test (Why?)
Palestine enter Asian Cup 2023 knockouts with emphatic win over Hong Kong
Doha, Qatar – Palestine started their last group match of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 with their hopes of qualifying for the next round hanging by a thread, but ended it with an emphatic 3-0 win over Hong Kong and by sealing a last-16 spot. The compact Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium turned into a Palestinian den on Tuesday night as the Fedayeen roared into the knockout stage of the tournament. When the last two games of group C got under way at 6pm, Palestine were trailing Iran, who had sealed their spot as group leaders, and second-placed United Arab Emirates (UAE) on points and goal difference. Palestine’s supporters were hopeful but not entirely confident of securing a result that would bring them in contention for a last-16 spot. At full-time, they were in a state of disbelief at how their team turned their fortunes around. Some, like Linah al-Fatah, had faith in their team. “It says a lot about our determination, self-belief and faith in God [as Palestinian people] that we have bounced back in the tournament in this manner,” she told Al Jazeera after the match. According to Palestine’s captain Musab Al-Battat, it was a performance that showed the world that his team is among the best in the continent. “We wanted to deliver a message to the world that we have a right to participate in every major football tournament, and not just for the sake of participation, but to show our skills,” Al-Battats aid in his passionate post-match news conference. “We deserve to be here.” PALESTINE 🇵🇸 is in the #AsianCup2023 Round of 16 Their first ever win in the AFC Asian Cup secures them a spot in the next round #HayyaAsia pic.twitter.com/Thn5ioVGPN — AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 (@Qatar2023en) January 23, 2024 The captain said his team came into the tournament with a “clear objective” of putting a smile on the faces of their supporters. The supporters, in turn, helped the players pick themselves up after a crushing defeat in their opening match against Iran nine days ago. Their second match, against the UAE, saw an improved performance that was vociferously backed by a partisan crowd. Last week’s 1-1 draw against their regional rivals was the stepping stone in their progress and the win against Hong Kong sealed their reputation as a team that cannot be brushed aside. For their part, Hong Kong began the match brightly as their group of 500 travelling supporters made their presence felt from the one stand that they occupied. Dressed in red and carrying their banners from all the way back home, the fans arrived and settled in long before kickoff and before the local Palestinian supporters took their seats. However, once the match kicked off it was clear that their team was under pressure. FT | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong, China 0️⃣-3️⃣ Palestine 🇵🇸 Palestine produce a remarkable performance and book their place in the Round of 16!#AsianCup2023 | #HayyaAsia | #HKGvPLE pic.twitter.com/2NVO5B4Vjj — #AsianCup2023 (@afcasiancup) January 23, 2024 Palestine relentlessly attacked the Hong Kong goal with a strong forward line, and reaped the reward with three goals. Every Palestinian attack was backed with a crescendo of noise. Different groups of Palestinian fans took turns in chanting pro-Palestine slogans and calling for freedom. Their captain, Al-Battat, acknowledged the support after the match. “The thousands of fans in Qatar and the millions of displaced Palestinians around the world are our number one motivation,” he said with a steely look. His team are nearly certain to face hosts, holders and favourites Qatar in their round-of-16 tie. The prospect may be daunting but if there is one thing Palestine have shown in the 12 days of this tournament and the 109 days of the war in Gaza, they will not give up without a fight. “We have faced every challenge with determination and we are not going to stop now.” For their Gaza-born defender Mahmoud Saleh, the full-time whistle brought a gush of emotions. The number five fell to the ground and buried his face in the grass as he cried uncontrollably. When he was finally pulled up on his feet by his teammates, Saleh pulled his shirt over his face as he sobbed. Saleh is one of the few players from Gaza who are part of the current squad, and has spoken of the difficulties of playing and training while not being able to hear about his family’s safety amid the war. The win gives Saleh, Al-Battat and their teammates another chance of ensuring the Palestinian anthem is played in the stadium, the Palestinian flag is waved by thousands and the Palestinian spirit is displayed for the world to see. Adblock test (Why?)
Why is Israel sending Palestinian taxes to Norway?
On Sunday, Israel approved a plan to send taxes earmarked for Gaza to Norway instead of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Since November, taxes that would ordinarily be sent to Gaza have been frozen by the Israeli government. Under the terms of a deal reached in the 1990s, Israel collects tax on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the PA pending the approval of the Ministry of Finance. While the PA was ousted from the Gaza Strip in 2007, many of its public sector employees in the enclave kept their jobs and continued to be paid with transferred tax revenues. Weeks after the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, Israel took the decision to withhold payments earmarked for those employees in the Gaza Strip on the grounds that they could fall into the hands of Hamas. Now, Israel says it will instead send the frozen funds to Norway. “The frozen funds will not be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, but will remain in the hands of a third country,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement released on Sunday. Why does Israel control Palestinian tax revenue? The system by which taxes and customs duties are collected by Israel on behalf of the PA and transferred to the authority on a monthly basis was agreed in a 1994 accord. Known as the Paris Protocol, the accord was meant to manage the economic relationship between Israel and the Palestinian territories it occupied until a final peace settlement was reached between the two states. Approved in the wake of the optimism generated by the Oslo Accords, which were publicly ratified by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the White House in September 1993, this protocol was supposed to end within five years. However, 30 years later, the financial settlement continues to give the Israeli state what the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has called “a disproportionate influence on the collection of Palestinian fiscal revenue, leading to deficiencies in the structure and collection of customs duties resulting from direct and indirect importing into Palestine”. How much money is Israel withholding? The tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the PA amount to around $188m each month, and account for 64 percent of the authority’s total revenue. A large portion of this is used to pay the salaries of the estimated 150,000 PA employees working in the West Bank and Gaza, despite it having no jurisdiction over the Strip. On November 3, the Israel security cabinet voted to withhold a total of $275m in Palestinian tax revenues, including cash collected for prior months that was still with Tel Aviv. “The PA is not clear about how much of the tax revenues go to Gaza – it’s a black box,” Rabeh Morrar, director of research at the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute-MAS, told Al Jazeera. “Sometimes they say 30 percent, sometimes 40, sometimes 50.” Under terms set by Israel’s cabinet on Sunday, the monthly tax revenue previously allocated to PA staff in Gaza will instead be transferred to a Norwegian-based trust account. However, that money cannot be released by the fund to pay workers in Gaza without permission from Israel. The only member of the Israeli government to oppose plans to send the funds to Norway was far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who insisted that the initiative “does not guarantee that the money will not reach the Nazis from Gaza”. How does Israel exercise ‘disproportionate influence’ over the PA? The Israeli state has often used its control of the PA’s tax revenues as a means to blackmail and punish the authority. In January 2023, for instance, the newly-formed Israeli government – seen as the most far-right coalition government in the country’s history – decided to withhold $39m in tax revenues from the PA following the authority’s decision to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule on the legality of Israel’s decades-long occupation. “Israeli blackmailing of our tax revenues will not stop us from continuing our political and diplomatic struggle,” said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh at the time after Israel’s security cabinet had earlier described the PA’s ICJ move as a “decision to wage political and legal war against the State of Israel”. What effect has Israel’s withdrawal of public money had on Palestine? “The PA owes billions in internal debt to local banks, hospitals, medical companies and the private sector,” said Morrar. “There are also debts [owed], for example, for privately owned buildings rented out by the government. They have not been able to pay those back.” In 2021, the PA’s financial crisis, exacerbated by Israel’s periodic refusal to pay the PA its total tax revenue share pre-October 7, prompted it to reduce all salaries by 25 percent. Since November, when Israel decided to freeze funds earmarked for Gaza, the PA has refused to accept any money at all in protest. Against the backdrop of Israel’s continued bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 25,000 Palestinians since October 7, and as a result of its decision to refuse Israel’s terms, the PA has not been able to pay employee salaries for a month and a half. While some reports have emerged that the PA may be about to relent and agree to receive partial payments from Israel, which would release some much-needed funds to many of its cash-strapped staff, the occupied West Bank remains at the mercy of Israeli diktats. Indeed, Israel suspended the work permits of some 130,000 day workers from the occupied West Bank after the war began. And a total of 355 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, including in occupied East Jerusalem, by Israeli forces and Israeli settlers since October 7. Adblock test (Why?)
UN expert says Gaza might already be in famine
NewsFeed People are using animal feed for food in Gaza, where one UN expert says a famine could already be happening because of Israel’s war and destruction of the food system. Published On 23 Jan 202423 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Blinken hails Ivory Coast fight against armed groups on West Africa tour
The US diplomat is on a four-nation tour after months of being occupied by the Middle East crisis. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday praised the Ivory Coast for choosing a less militarised approach to security during his four-nation tour to rally African democracies as crises engulf the region. In the capital Abidjan, the top United States diplomat hailed the Ivory Coast’s stand against last year’s coup in Niger and its approach of “building security together” by investing economically to combat rebel violence in northern areas bordering Mali and Burkina Faso. “I have to applaud the approach that’s been taken by Cote d’Ivoire – working with communities, listening to communities, making sure that their security forces understand the needs, the concerns of communities,” Blinken said alongside the Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara. “I think that can serve as a very powerful model for other countries.” The Ivory Coast has not experienced a major armed attack in two years, despite being bordered by Sahel countries fighting insecurity. Blinken nonetheless promised to boost cooperation on the ground with the Ivory Coast, largely the training of security forces. He said the US would provide an additional $45m to West African nations as part of a plan to battle instability, bringing total funding under the year-old programme to nearly $300m. Ouattara, a veteran leader who has won US praise for consolidating democracy, expressed appreciation for the US assistance and voiced alarm over a spate of coups in West Africa. “Like the United States, we are very committed to democracy and justice,” he said, promising that his government would do “everything possible to improve people’s day-to-day lives.” Blinken met with Ouattara before heading to Abuja to see Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, elected last year on a platform of economic reforms. Both West African nations have largely stood by the US – as has another key partner, Kenya – despite unease in much of the continent over the Western focus on arming Ukraine and, more recently, US support for Israel’s war with Hamas. Their stance stands in contrast with another heavyweight, South Africa, which the US has accused of allowing arms shipments to Russia and which most recently annoyed Washington by bringing a genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice. On this trip, Blinken will visit another Southern African country – Angola, which is playing a vital role in mediation to end unrest in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. And on Monday, he stopped in Cape Verde, a long-standing partner of the US. Blinken has sought to showcase a softer side during his trip. On Monday, he attended a football match in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations between Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea, when his hosts gifted him an Ivorian orange jersey bearing his name. Blinken, who has been occupied by the Middle East crisis, is making his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa in 10 months. On his last visit to the region, he travelled to Niger to bolster elected President Mohamed Bazoum. Four months later, the army deposed Bazoum. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia unleashes mass air strikes on Ukraine
Russian missile attacks have targeted the Ukrainian cities Kyiv and Kharkiv, killing several people, wounding dozens and damaging residential buildings, officials say. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 20 people were injured, including a 13-year-old boy. Residential infrastructure was damaged in at least four districts. In Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, four people were killed and at least 40 wounded. An entire section of a multistorey residential building was destroyed, trapping an unknown number of people. At least one person has been killed and another wounded in a Russian missile strike on Dnipropetrovsk region’s Pavlohrad city, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. With the front line largely bogged down in eastern Ukraine, Moscow and Kyiv continue to swap air strikes. Recent Russian attacks have tried to find gaps in Ukraine’s defences, using large numbers of missiles and drones in an apparent effort to saturate air defence systems. On Sunday, Moscow-installed officials reported that Ukrainian shelling killed 27 people on the outskirts of the Russian-occupied eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov labelled the attack a “monstrous terrorist act”. The Ukrainian military, however, denied it had anything to do with the attack. It has not been possible to verify either side’s claims. Adblock test (Why?)
Supreme Court allows federal agents to cut razor wire at US-Mexico border
Ruling seen as win for Biden administration amid dispute with Texas over ‘inhumane’ fence that has injured migrants. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that Border Patrol agents may resume cutting a razor wire fence that Texas installed on its border with Mexico to deter migrants and asylum seekers from entering the country. The 5-4 ruling on Monday was a victory for the administration of US President Joe Biden, issued in the midst of an ongoing legal battle that saw a federal appeals court force agents to stop cutting the fence last month. For more than two years, the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has sought to bar migrants and asylum seekers from entering the US, unspooling razor wire that extends over 46km (30 miles) of its border with Mexico along the banks of the Rio Grande river and has left people injured and bloodied. Border control has historically been the legal domain of the federal government. The US Department of Justice argues that the fence has sown chaos, impeding it from carrying out controls along the border. “Texas’s political stunts, like placing razor wire near the border, simply make it harder and more dangerous for front-line personnel to do their jobs,” White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez said. Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott’s spokesperson, said the absence of razor wire and other deterrents encourages people to risk unsafe crossings and makes the job of Texas border personnel more difficult. “This case is ongoing, and Governor Abbott will continue fighting to defend Texas’s property and its constitutional authority to secure the border,” he said. Court battle The fencing at issue in the dispute was installed on private property along the Rio Grande by the Texas National Guard. Texas sued the Biden administration in October, asserting that US Customs and Border Protection agents had no right to cut fencing that it said had been erected with the permission of landowners. In November, US District Judge Alia Moses criticised the administration for failing to stem migration but said the federal government enjoyed “sovereign immunity” protecting it from civil lawsuits and criminal prosecution. A federal appeals court later granted Texas’s request to block federal agents from “damaging, destroying or otherwise interfering with” the razor-wire fencing while the case played out. Lawyers for the Biden administration this year requested it be lifted, arguing there was no indication the wire had stopped migrants from entering the US. They said the new barriers also prevented border agents from monitoring and responding to emergencies. The fence has been criticised by Mexican officials as a violation of international law. Texas’s border with Mexico spans 1,930km (1,200 miles) in total. Operation Lone Star The fence is part of a wider state effort to take control of Texas’s borders. Operation Lone Star, launched in 2021 with significant public support, pushes the legal boundaries of what a state can do to control immigration. The operation, which has cost more than $4.5bn so far, also includes a floating barrier installed in the Rio Grande. Democratic legislators Sylvia Garcia and Joaquin Castro, both members of the US Congress from Texas, last year decried the “barbaric” string of buoys, which are linked with “chainsaw devices” to stop crossings. Everyone needs to see what I saw in Eagle Pass today. Clothing stuck on razor wire where families got trapped. Chainsaw devices in the middle of buoys. Land seized from US citizens. Operation Lone Star is barbaric — and @GovAbbott is making border communities collateral damage. pic.twitter.com/PzKyZGWfds — Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) August 8, 2023 As the number of people crossing the US-Mexico border continues to surge, the Texas operation has become a flashpoint in immigration policy with critics decrying the “inhumane” measures. Abbott has used the fentanyl crisis to justify his measures, citing a rise in drug smuggling. While Republicans have criticised the Biden administration for the rising numbers, there is also pressure from within the Democratic Party. Politicians like New York City Mayor Eric Adams are slamming the president for not doing more to address irregular immigration as his city struggles to provide housing and other services for the new arrivals. Former President Donald Trump, whom Abbot has backed to be the Republican candidate in November’s presidential election, has made immigration a key plank of his bid to retake the White House. Adblock test (Why?)
Photojournalist Motaz Azaiza evacuates from Gaza
His coverage was often raw, unfiltered videos about the civilian impact of Israeli air strikes. Photojournalist Motaz Azaiza, who has been documenting the impact of the war in the Gaza Strip, has left the enclave and headed to Qatar. Azaiza announced on Instagram on Tuesday that he was leaving the besieged strip before boarding a Qatari military airplane at Egypt’s El Arish International Airport. However, it is unclear how he was able to leave Gaza or why he has evacuated. “This is the last time you will see me with this heavy, stinky [press] vest. I decided to evacuate today. … Hopefully soon I’ll jump back and help to build Gaza again,” Azaiza said in a video. So, I had to evacuate for a lot of reasons you all know some of it but not all of it. Thank you all Pray for Gaza. pic.twitter.com/sIqULe9d5V — MoTaz (@azaizamotaz9) January 23, 2024 The 24-year-old Palestinian captured the attention of millions globally as he filmed himself in a press vest and helmet to document conditions during Israel’s war, which has killed more than 25,000 people in Gaza. Israel launched its offensive after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,139 people and taking more than 200 people captive. Azaiza’s coverage often took the form of raw, unfiltered videos about injured children or families crushed under rubble in the aftermath of Israeli air strikes. He said he has had to “evacuate for a lot of reasons you all know some of it but not all of it”. In his post, he was seen on a video about to board a grey plane emblazoned with the words “Qatar Emiri Air Force”. “First video outside Gaza,” he said in one clip, revealing that it was his first time on a plane. “Heading to Qatar.” He also shared a video of the inside of the plane as it landed in Doha. Since the start of the war, the photojournalist has amassed millions of followers across multiple platforms. His Instagram following has grown from about 27,500 to 18.25 million in the more than 100 days since October 7, according to an assessment of social media analytics by Al Jazeera. His Facebook account grew from a similar starting point to nearly 500,000 followers. He now has one million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter. As well as his social media posts, Azaiza has produced content for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA). Social media users thanked Azaiza for his coverage of the war, many saluting him as a hero. “Thank you for everything you have done, you have moved mountains , what you have done in the last 100 days people can’t do in their whole lifetime. You were a pivotal voice in showing the world the Israeli atrocities in Gaza. Wishing you well and safety,” one user said on X. Thank you for everything you have done, you have moved mountains , what you have done in the last 100 days people can’t do in their whole lifetime . You were a pivotal voice in showing the world the Israeli atrocities in Gaza . Wishing you well and safety ✊🏻🇵🇸 — Abla #FreePalestine (@falstinya1948) January 23, 2024 “I’m so glad you had the opportunity to get out, God willing, YOU WILL RETURN TO A FREE PALESTINE,” wrote another. “We love you so deeply,” American musician Kehlani wrote, adding, “Thank you for your humanity.” “Frame that vest. It’s the armor of one of history’s greatest heroes,” comedian Sammy Obeid said. Adblock test (Why?)
Iran executes 2022 protester for murder
Human rights advocates criticise Mohammad Ghobadlou’s conviction, saying he did not get a fair trial. Iran has executed a man who ran over and killed a policeman, and injured five other people, during nationwide protests in 2022. Mohammad Ghobadlou was executed on Tuesday after being found guilty of the killing during mass protests two years ago, according to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency. However, human rights advocates criticised his conviction, saying he did not get a fair trial. “After being upheld by the Supreme Court, the death penalty against defendant Mohammad Ghobadlou has been implemented early this morning,” Mizan reported. The policeman was killed amid the huge protests that followed the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman who was arrested for violating Iran’s strict dress code for women. Ghobadlou was initially sentenced to death in November 2022 after being convicted of “corruption on earth” for attacking police in Tehran with a car. The Supreme Court granted him a stay of execution in February 2023, and later ordered consideration of his mental health, according to Mehr news agency. Mizan reported on Tuesday that the Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence, which was carried out under Iran’s Islamic law of retribution. Hundreds died during the 2022 protests, including dozens of security personnel, and thousands were arrested over what officials labelled as foreign-instigated “riots”. Ghobadlou is the eighth person executed after being convicted of murder or other violence against security forces during the demonstrations. ‘Unfair sham trials’ However, human rights group Amnesty International said the 22-year-old’s right to a fair trial was violated, and his bipolar condition was not taken into consideration by the judicial system. “Ghobadlou received two death sentences after grossly unfair sham trials marred by torture-tainted ‘confessions’ and failure to order rigorous mental health assessments despite his mental disability,” Amnesty said. However, Mizan said claims of mental disability were wrong. Ghobadlou, it noted, had allegedly rejected the suggestion during his trial. Earlier this month, dozens of people, including Ghobadlou’s family, demonstrated in front of a prison in the Iranian city of Karaj against his sentencing as well as that of another young man. “My child is sick, he has a medical file, but they don’t want to accept,” Ghobadlou’s mother shouted in one video of the event at that time, which was verified by Al Jazeera. Iran executes more people per year than any other country except China, according to Amnesty, and usually does so by hanging. Adblock test (Why?)
Turkey’s parliament set to vote on Sweden’s NATO bid this week: Reports
Turkey endorsed Finland’s membership bid in April but, along with Hungary, has kept Sweden waiting. The Turkish parliament is set to debate Sweden’s NATO membership bid after months of delays that have strained Ankara’s ties with its Western allies, with a vote expected this week. The debate in the Grand National Assembly is due to take place on Tuesday, state media reported, with a vote likely the same day. The AFP news agency reported that the vote could be held on Thursday. Turkey’s ratification would leave Hungary as the last holdout in an accession process that Sweden and its neighbour Finland began in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago. However, on Tuesday, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he had invited his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, for a visit to negotiate his country joining the military alliance. Today I sent an invitation letter to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson @SwedishPM for a visit to Hungary to negotiate on Sweden’s NATO accession. — Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) January 23, 2024 Finland became the 31st member of the alliance last April. Its membership roughly doubled the length of NATO’s border with Russia and substantially strengthened the defences of three small Baltic nations that joined the bloc following the Soviet Union’s collapse. Sweden and Finland pursued a policy of military non-alignment during the Cold War era confrontation between Russia and the United States. However, Russia’s invasion of its western neighbour set off Europe’s biggest and most brutal land battle since World War II, upturning geopolitical calculations. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s resistance to Sweden’s NATO accession reflected his more nuanced stance towards Moscow. Ankara has profited from maintaining – and even expanding – trade with Russia while at the same time supplying Ukraine with drones and other essential arms. Erdogan has also been one of the few NATO leaders to hold regular meetings and phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Turkish media reported that Putin could make his first wartime visit to Turkey next month. US fighter jets Erdogan’s objections to Sweden’s bid initially focused on Stockholm’s perceived acceptance of Kurdish groups that Ankara views as “terrorists”. Sweden has responded by tightening its antiterrorism legislation and taking other security steps demanded by Erdogan over the members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which the European Union and the United States also list as a “terrorist” group. Sweden and NATO members Finland, Canada and the Netherlands also took steps to relax Turkey’s arms export policies. The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee approved the Swedish bid last month after Erdogan forwarded it to parliament in October. However, Erdogan has since demanded that Washington follow through on its pledge to deliver a batch of F-16 fighter jets for Turkey’s ageing air force. Erdogan last month discussed his demands by telephone with US President Joe Biden. US officials argued that Turkey’s request could win the required congressional approval if Sweden’s NATO accession goes through – a position reaffirmed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a visit to Istanbul this month. “We have not parsed words about how ready we are for Sweden to formally join the alliance,” said US Department of State deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel after news emerged that Turkey was finally ready to ratify the Swedish candidacy. “We have long felt that [Sweden] has met its commitment and we look forward to this process moving forward.” Adblock test (Why?)