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On November 19 a Bahamas flag vessel (the Galaxy Leader) was hijacked in the Red Sea; this was done in retaliation against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The perpetrators are a Yemeni Rebel group called Houthis, who have vowed to target all ships owned by Israelis or flying the Israeli flag in the Red Sea. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that out of the 25 crew members, none of them are Israeli, rather they are Bulgarians, Filipinos, Mexicans, and Ukrainians. The vessel sails under the flag of the Bahamas and is owned by a company in the Isle of Man. A satellite image, taken Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. local time, shows the Galaxy Leader in the anchorage of Al-Hudaydah, Yemen. The ship arrived in the port on Monday morning. Credit...The New York Times, Source: Planet Labs Who are the Houthis? The Houthi group, officially called Ansar Allah (“supporters of God”) are a politically based, Islamist armed organisation that originated from the Yemeni Government of Saada in the late 1990s. Under the leadership of Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, the group's slogan became: “God is great, death to the US, death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory to Islam ”. In late 2014, the region of Sanaa was seized by the Houthi Rebels who subsequently established control over north Yemen and other densely populated areas in the region. Why is this hijacking symbolic? The Houthis are part of an “Axis of Resistance” that is backed by Iran; the Houthis have shown support to the Palestinians since the Hamas attack of October 7. General Yahya Saree (military spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi rebels) has blamed Israel for the Middle East’s instability and said that the Houthis will continue to attack “until the Israeli aggression stops”. Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi has said that the militia was monitoring and will continue to monitor the Red Sea for Israeli-owned tonnage, sailing with or without Israeli flags; he further expressed that “our eyes are open to constant monitoring and searching for any Israeli ship”. Even though “The enemy relies on camouflage in its movement in the Red Sea [...] and did not dare to raise Israeli flags on its ships, […] also turning off identification devices.” Al-Houthi said his forces would “search and verify the ships that belong to him [Israel], and we will not hesitate to target them, and let everyone know that they should be afraid”. What are the Israeli affiliations of the vessel? Various media outlets have reported that the Ultimate Beneficial Owner of the ship is the Israeli businessman Abraham “Rami” Ungar. Mr Ungar is the owner and founder of Ray Car Carriers Ltd and one of the 100 richest people in Israel and has a net worth of about $3.2 billion, according to Forbes Israel. It is clear that given the Houthis ideology and the ownership of the vessel, the Israel-Hamas War is spreading to other sectors and countries, targeting innocent Israeli nationals in this conflict. So far it seems as though everyone on board is safe and they have been ‘welcomed’ into Yemen by the Houthis and the Commander of the Yemeni Navy. Who knows how this may escalate after the ceasefire? Nevertheless, currently, it seems to have made no difference as another two Israeli-owned vessels have been targeted via violent and drone attacks. The Houthis consider this to be a victory for themselves considering they removed the Bahamas flag and replaced it with multiple Palestinian and Yemeni flags. Continuing in this disrespectful fashion the Houthis are seen to be dancing upon the deck of the ship and have made it a ‘tourist attraction’ with locals queuing up to take selfies from fishing boats. Further crises On Sunday, another Israeli-linked commercial ship (Central Park) was attacked. This attack seems once again to have been carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebel forces, further exemplifying the heightened risk to ships sailing in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait. The latest attack, confirmed by US officials, was on a Commercial Tanker, which is owned and operated by Zodiac Maritime and run by the Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer. The tanker sailed from the Moroccan port of Safi and passed through the Suez Canal on 22 November. It was boarded by 8 unidentified gunmen travelling on two boats in the Gulf of Aden. Whilst the unidentified gunmen boarded the ship, the 22 crew members are believed to have retreated to the ship’s secure citadel for safety. Fortunately, at midnight (G.M.T), a U.S. Navy warship responded to the distress call from the commercial tanker and the vessel is now safe, U.S. officials declared on Sunday.

In the heart of South America, a new president has been elected in a country crippled with economic crises and desperate for a revival of its collapsing and highly indebted economy. On the 19th of November 2023, Argentina voted in a right-wing, libertarian and economist Javier Milei to serve as the country’s new president for the next 4 years: a landslide victory over Sergio Massa, the country’s left leaning Minister of the economy. Javier Milei will assume the presidency on the 10th of December this year. Only emerging into the world of politics since 2021, Milei has won over the people of Argentina with his anarcho-capitalist ideals, with an impressive 56% of the votes. The president elect has been given the nickname “El Loco” in the media because of his outbursts and aggressive rhetoric, claiming he seeks counsel from his dogs and leading election campaigns holding a chainsaw - to symbolize how he aims to “slice up” the Argentinian government and the central bank. He rose to fame after 2018, when he was invited to various TV shows not just to talk about economics, but to entertain audiences. Often being compared to former US President Trump and former Brazilian President Bolsonaro, they closely share their populist, right wing views and are all monumental supporters of each other. Milei has pledged radical reforms that he wants to pass, all targeted around reviving the economy. With a current inflation rate of more than 140% and the value of the peso steadily decreasing, eliminating public deficit, scraping taxes and regulations for businesses and abolishing the central bank of Argentina stand at the very top of his political agenda! However, the anarcho-capitalist does not want to stop there. Dollarisation of the economy is his controversial solution to fight and control the raging inflation rate. This idea has been acclaimed by many, but has faced harsh criticisms at the same time, as Argentina doesn’t have nearly enough dollars in its central bank and this proposal comes with great risk for such a large country. Growing fear that he will not have enough support in congress to pass these reforms may also stand in the way of his dream of this great Argentinian recovery. The staggering inflation rate in Argentina in the last 30 years. There is great speculation about how an economist like Milei, with no prior experience in politics and with his rockstar persona, managed to rise to power so quickly. Leading in the polls throughout this election campaign and coming first in the primary elections in August emphasise how he has easily managed to charm the people of Argentina. But why is support for his far-right views so widespread? With an inflation rate that may hit 200% by the end of this year, the peso currency is rapidly erasing the real value of peoples’ salaries and savings, leaving the country in a state of utter desperation. Argentina also owes by far the most to the International Monetary Fund with a current outstanding loan of $44 billion. With 40% of Argentinians living in poverty, it seems to them that Milei is their last hope, the vote of absolute urgency. With his promises to break down the government system that has failed them and left them in this despairing situation, along with his inflammatory, burn-it-all-down rhetoric, “El Loco” has managed to win over the support of the large number of people who want completely different policies and agendas from all the previous politicians and governments. On the matter of social issues, Javier Milei has very similar ideas to former US President Trump. Loosening gun control is a subject he firmly supports, as he believes that every Argentinian should have access to weapons. The populist also stands against climate change, calling it a “lie of socialism” and is against gay rights, but holds an extremely controversial view of favoring the sale of human organs. The crucial issue of abortion is where his libertarianism suddenly ends, as he has spoken about repealing the legalization of abortion in Argentina, which was only achieved in 2020. Milei holds a reputation of being very publicly critical of opponents and labelling them as “leftists,” even calling Pope Francis a “filthy leftist” – a comment which sparked international outrage. In the geopolitical arena, Milei’s election is a fantastic outcome for the United States, as he has proven to be very pro-America. However, America may prove to be a great ally for the new Argentinian government too, as it is in their best interest to help Milei economically, replacing the increasing influence of China and Russia in the region. Javier Milei has been characterized by his pledges for economic prosperity and fiscal responsibility. But Argentinians have heard these prelection promises many times before and the critical question remains: will Milei successfully pass the necessary reforms needed to stabilize an economy and country that have suffered immensely for decades? We will soon see if he has what it takes to withstand the pressures inherited by government.

Thanksgiving is one of the most important holidays in the US. It is a celebration of the harvest and other blessings of the past year. It is not affiliated with any religion, therefore it is respected and celebrated by all Americans. This holiday's roots go back to 1621 to the first English colonists (Pilgrims), who gave thanks with blessing and praying, feasts, drinks, and various games and races. The holiday continues its traditions throughout the current day. It is the busiest travel time for families to unite and spend this holiday together. Right after Thanksgiving, the 4th Thursday of November, the unofficial Christmas/ holiday season kicks in, the season of shopping, joy, and festivities. Often, Americans opt to do their shopping in advance and get in the holiday spirits. Many retailers operate based on this phenomenon and build their strategies to benefit from this trend. This is not just a recent occurrence as the history of the busiest shopping day goes back to 1950. Back then, in Philadelphia, many suburban people and tourists came to watch an important Army-Navy football game held on Saturdays. The large crowds overflowed the streets, overwhelmed the retailers, and became a large risk and burden for the local police. Violent attacks and shoplifting were the main themes of that day and registered in history with a negative tone. The new spin of Black Friday came in 1980 and 1990. Retailers and merchants realized that the Friday after Thanksgiving was a day that boosted their sales to the point that “red” (marked as negative) losses for the year turned into “black” (or positive) profits within a day. This is what granted the Friday after Thanksgiving the well-known name of “Black Friday.” Many stores open their doors at midnight to let dedicated shoppers get the best deals. People were camping in front of the stores for hours to be the first in and get the desired items at discounted prices to be later wrapped and put under the tree. Building on this momentum, the one-day shopping extravaganza extended through the full weekend, becoming a three-day shopping bonanza. In 2005 the retailers realized that online shopping is equally important and extended the Thanksgiving weekend until Monday. And that’s how Cyber Monday was born. By 2017 Americans spent $6.6 billion shopping online on Cyber Monday as compared to $7.9 billion spent shopping in stores and online on Black Friday. At a mere glance, stats from 2022 prove that Black Friday sales are one of the biggest shopping events in the US. There were over 196.7 million shoppers in the US that spent $65.3 billion on shopping. Most of the sales were done in-person, in-store, as only $9.12 billion was made online. Interestingly, over-the-phone orders are becoming more popular in contributing to the Black Friday extravaganza; about 47% of sales were made on mobile phones. It is estimated that on average, the Americans saved 24% by shopping on Black Friday. The 2023 shopping frenzy of Black Friday is expected to continue injecting billions of dollars into the consumer sector of the economy. The jaw-dropping discounts, and online and in-store promotions combined with massive crowds contribute to the businesses operating in red to shift the profitability into positive, for the year. The shopping spree not only impacts retailers but also provides additional job opportunities, additional workforce demand, and longer hours. All of this reduces unemployment rates in the end. The Black Friday of 2023 is just around the corner on November 24th, some retailers are starting promotions and great deals much sooner to take the full benefit of the current economy. They are anticipating that increased inflation and rising interest rates may impact the discretionary budget of the customer. It gets tighter. By offering big discounts the stores may be impacting their profitability however, they still opt to do so as they don’t want the customer to go elsewhere. Even though Black Friday originated in the US, in recent years the shopping bonanza has been gaining interest internationally and has been extended to the following countries: Australia, Canada, UK, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Poland, Italy, Greece, New Zealand, India, Norway, Sweden, France, Spain, Brazil, and Mexico. This day extended to a four-day bonanza brings a very welcomed economic effect, so let’s support the on-going tradition that brings happiness during the holiday season and boosts the economy.

Throughout history, nearly every century has witnessed the exile, persecution, and massacre of the Jewish people. This tragic pattern has hopefully, for the last time, culminated in the 21st century. The massacre led by Hamas that occurred on October 7th, 2023, is widely known to be a debate of morality, justification, and Zionism. Other than the Second World War, it is not widely known by the general public that the Jews have been thrown around, exiled, and martyred for multiple millennia. Please note that this will be a summary of how Jews have endured pain and suffering and is not an in-depth analysis. In the subsequent text, I will discuss the non-westernised ideological views of the Palestinians. Western media religiously virtue signals, presents one-sided narratives that overlook the origin of anger and hate coming from the Middle East and, most importantly, ignore the fact that ideological ego does not only emanate from the West. After the death of King Solomon in 931 BC, the United Monarchy was split into the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. In 722 BC, the Assyrians invaded the Kingdom of Israel. The remaining population fled to the Kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem. The Assyrians controlled the region for a century until 612 BC when the Babylonians overthrew the Assyrian empire. In 586 BC, Babylon conquered Judea. King Solomon's temple was demolished, and the Jews were then exiled to Babylon In 538 BC, Babylon fell to the Persian Achaemenid empire—the new king, Cyrus the Great, decreed freedom to Subjugated nations. The Jews in Babylon returned to Judah, where they rebuilt the city and organised the foundations of Jewish culture with their reconstruction of Solomon's temple and the writing of the Torah, part of the Jewish bible. Maccabean Revolt: Two centuries later, Alexander the Great of Macedonia made a conquest of the Achaemenid empire. After his success, due to the death of Alexander, the empire was divided among his generals into various Hellenic kingdoms. Following the incorporation of Judea into the Seleucid kingdom in 198 BC, the rupturing relations between the religious and hellinized Jews emerged. This was a time of spiritual struggle as the Jewish populations split. To conclude this revolt, The Seleucid Empire defeated the Ptolemies and took control of all Judea. Under the reign of King Antiochus IV, the second temple, built on the ruin of Solomons's temple, was desecrated due to the set up of the pagan altar to Zeus. In 165 BC, the religion-driven revolt against the Seleucid empire and the Hellenistic impact on Jewish life had started. The revolt's success led to the establishment of the Jewish independent rule. A century later, the Romans conquered the region in the Hasmonean dynasty, triggering two significant revolts. The Great Revolt from the year 66-73 resulted in the destruction of the Second Temple and the downfall of Jerusalem walls, except for the western wall. The second major revolt from 132-135 led to the massive Jewish depopulation, as 580,000 Jews were slaughtered in battle. After destroying the second temple in Jerusalem, as explained before, a large part of the Jewish population was either exiled or killed. In the area of present-day Israel, Judea, 25% of the Jewish population was exterminated, and close to 10% was enslaved. They became a minority in their own founding land. Most fled to Mesopotamia, the modern-day Iraq, and the rest fled to the Mediterranean (Southeastern Spain, southern France, southern Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey). The Jews began to head north and by the year 300, Jews had become established in Northern France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia) and northern Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco). 3 million Jews settled into most parts of the Roman empire, except Britain which rarely ever had a large Jewish population until the later years. By the year 312, Constantine granted the official religion of the Roman Empire to be Christian. Jews began to be treated poorly, their discrimination was written into laws, they were prohibited from intermarrying with Christians, holding high positions in the government. Converting to Judaism was illegal. The years 700-1200 under the Islamic empire was the golden era for Jews; they were tolerated and accepted under Islamic rule. They were excluded from military service along with Christians and had the right to rule their own court of law. Along with a guarantee of safety for their property, Jews were treated as human beings and flourished as a result of this. The Islamic empire consisted of present day Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Western Russia, Northern Africa, Europe, Spain, Sicily, Sardinia, and the Saudi Arabian Peninsula. As an effect of their integration with the Arab civilization, Jews became the key academics under Islamic rule. Arabs and Jews have mutual respect and live together in peace. Jews living in feudal Europe during the same time period were prosperous. Pope Gregory I (590-604) the Great forbade the forcible conversion of Jews. Charlemagne (742-814) and Theodoric the Great (454-526) invited Jews to live in their kingdoms. The underlying truth is that this was encouraged for Economic reasons. Due to Christianity forbidding the lending of money with interest, the Jews became the money lenders and were valuable as the merchants and financiers of Christian Europe. The end of Feudalism became the negative recurrence of the Jews. The church began to become less tolerant of religious freedom, and Jews began to lose their economic roles in society. The Crusades fought to liberate the Holy Land and create a Christian Shrine out of Jerusalem. Many Jews fled east towards the areas of present-day Spain, France, and Germany to Poland and Lithuania.

Australia's prominent port operator, DP World Australia, has successfully restored its operations following a cyber-attack that crippled its facilities in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth over the weekend. From Friday to Monday morning, the cyber-attack disrupted container terminals, affecting approximately 40% of the goods entering and leaving the country. Despite this significant setback, the outage did not impact the supply of goods to major Australian supermarkets. Following successful tests of critical systems overnight, DP World Australia, a subsidiary of the state-owned DP World in Dubai, declared that its ports were back in operation at 9:00 local time. The company is a vital component of Australia's logistics network, handling a significant amount of the country's trade. In an effort to stop more illegal access to its network, DP World Australia disconnected its ports from the World Wide Web on Friday as a result of the cyberattack. Nonetheless, vehicles were unable to deliver cargo to and from the impacted locations as a result of this action, which disrupted the flow of containers. Although DP World Australia noted that the incident's investigation and remediation work are ongoing and anticipated to last for some time, the restart of port operations is a positive milestone. According to Darren Goldie, the government's coordinator for cyber-security, the operator was making "good progress" in getting its websites back up and running on Monday. The hackers that carried out the cyberattack are still unknown, though. Deliveries to customers have been delayed by industrial action, which presents DP World Australia with a dual issue. Through the Maritime Union of Australia, workers who have been on 24-hour strikes and refusing to unload trucks since October are discussing wage hikes. It is anticipated that the industrial action will last until November 20, which heightens worries about possible supply chain disruptions. Major retail chains in Australia, such as Woolworths and Coles, are keeping a careful eye on the issue despite these obstacles. Woolworths has assured consumers that its Christmas product line has already arrived in Australia and that it does not foresee any immediate effects. Since late 2022, Australia has seen an increase in cyberattacks, which prompted the government to announce measures to update cybersecurity regulations. Next week, the government is anticipated to unveil details of proposed regulations designed to strengthen corporate reporting obligations and improve cooperation in the fight against cyberattacks. Recent occurrences have brought to light how susceptible critical infrastructure is to cyberattacks and how important it is to have strong cybersecurity defenses against ever-changing threats.

Vivek Ramaswamy is a 38 year old, 2nd-generation immigrant running for President as a Republican. He has caught the eyes of many, especially 'MAGA' Republicans for his anti-war and anti-corruption stance alongside his dynamic 'trump-esque' debate style. Vivek has no experience in politics but rather spent his entire life working as an entrepreneur and author. From a young age, Vivek was very ambitious graduating at the top of his class and going to Harvard and Yale. He later worked in Biotech and investing. Entering the race with less than 1% support, Vivek peaked at 11% after the first debate but has fallen closer to 6% among Republican voters. Despite his small share in polls, Vivek has a unique advantage that places him closer to the Presidency than all other candidates - excluding Trump who is leading with a staggering 60%. "President Trump, I believe, was the best President of the 21st century." His ideological similarity to Trump, similar stance in corruption and war and his vocal support of Trump has made experts believe that Vivek probably will be picked as Vice President for Trump. However, Vivek himself has many times mentioned that he isn't interested in "Plan B" and that he believes he can win. Vivek Speaking about the situation of the US Recently Vivek has been clashing with Nikki Haley on the debate floor calling her a "Warhawk", "Neocon" and "corrupt". Vivek's policy revolves around being anti-corruption and anti-deepstate therefore shutting down agencies and reforming them, fighting against congressional insider trading while also ensuring that government officials do not have links with companies and are not allowed to join high positions of companies they collaborated with after they retire. from politics. In addition, Vivek is a raging anti-war supporter and has criticized anyone who supports sending military aid, money and even soldiers to countries such as Israel and Ukraine. Overall, Vivek is full of controversial views and is socially very conservative but due to his young age, immigrant status, refreshing views in foreign policy and anti-corruption stance many young people from both parties have joined together in supporting him.

After the “Red Wave” of 2022 disappointingly manifested into the “Red Trickle” for the Republicans, their control over Congress has been unstable, to say the least. Democrats gained one seat in the Senate, and Republicans crawled to a House majority with a four-seat margin after the midterms. The person who will be Speaker of the House has been a widely debated topic for Republicans, as one would need to please such a contradicting set of values to please all of the voters, a near impossible task. After 15 rounds of voting, the most since the Civil War - signifying the incoherency of the current party - Kevin McCarthy was finally elected as Speaker. But in less than nine months, he was removed from the Speaker position leaving the seat empty for three weeks. A short while later, Republican Rep. Mike Johnson, a more right-wing, Trump-aligned Republican was elected as the Speaker of the House. Mike Johnson after being elected as Speaker In terms of Congressional experience, Rep. Mike Johnson has only been serving as a House representative for seven years, a lot shorter than McCarthy’s 16 years served before becoming Speaker or Pelosi’s 20 years in Congress before becoming Speaker. This may hurt Republicans in Congress as many members said that they knew very little about Johnson, with some Republican Senators saying that they never even met him. With fewer connections in Congress, it is usually harder to get the votes needed to pass vital legislation. However, in contrast to McCarthy, Johnson was able to create the much-needed Republican unity within the House by providing a voice for everyone's concerns. Being able to secure all Republican votes in the Speaker election, Johnson stated that he’s going for an “aggressive schedule” to swiftly pass legislation while the Republican unity still lasts. In the first vote under John’s leadership, a bipartisan resolution supporting Israel was passed with a tally of 412 to 10. Congress passing the resolution supporting Israel Concerningly though, as a more right-wing Republican, Mike Johnson’s first few years in politics had him as an opponent of both abortion and legal equality for LGBTQIA+ people, which aligned with the views of Donald Trump and endeared Johnson. Johnson also emailed House Republicans in an effort to obtain signatures for a Texan lawsuit, which looked to invalidate electoral college votes from the 2020 election. Johnson also agrees with Trump on the issue of illegal immigration, stating that the immigration crisis “is the true existential threat to the country”. This has raised concern for the long term stability for the longevity of the party. With all of that in mind, it is hard to guess how the Republican House will go under this new leadership. With a looming government shutdown still on the horizon and the 2024 presidential election not that far away, it is vital for Trump or any other Republican presidential nominee that unity lasts between the moderate and right-wing members of the party. While Johnson has provided an authoritative voice for the party, his personal ideologies could jeopardise stability.

Russia's presidential elections are scheduled to be held in March 2024. The country's electoral law provides a two-round election seeing that no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes in the first round. The winner of the election will be inaugurated early in May, beginning their 6-year presidential term. Reuters reports that Vladimir Putin appears to have made up his mind to run in the March 2024 election. However, he has not yet announced whether he will. Putin, who took over the presidency from Boris Yeltsin on 31 December 1999, has already served as president for longer than any other Russian leader since Joseph Stalin. He won the 2018 election by gaining 77% of the vote, winning reelection for his second consecutive and fourth overall term in office. With Putin's United Russia having consolidated control over most institutions in Russia, rigging an election is not a challenge. Nevertheless, that might not even be necessary for the party since Putin himself is still very popular amongst the Russian people according to many sources. Due to the lack of transparency it is hard to know about the legitimacy of his approval ratings and the election but it is certain that if needed, United Russia has the political infrastructure to decide election results. For Putin, considering that he is a candidate, elections are a "standard procedure": with the support of the state, the state media, and almost no public dissent in the political mainstream, he is bound to win. According to polls, he is already enjoying confidence ratings of 80% from the Russian people. President Putin at a rally speaking about the 'special military operation' Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said in September that if Putin decided to run: "No one would be able to take him on." Most sources support that the decision has been taken and that it will be announced along with the official announcement of the election. The Kremlin has also dismissed reports that 71-year-old Putin is not in good health as misinformation spread by the West. If Putin is to be re-elected, he will be 77 years old by the end of his term. So far 4 other individuals have announced their candidacy but have not yet submitted documents to the Central Election Commission which according to Russian law, they can do only after the Federation Council officially calls the election. More specifically, out of the 4 current candidates, one is the Captain of the Russian Naval Infantry (aka Russian Marines), Ivan Otrakovski, and the second significant individual is Igor Girgin, the Minister of Defense of the Donetsk People's Republic.

After decades of turbulent relations between Israelis and Palestinians, tensions rapidly escalated in the conflict when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on the 7th of October of 2023. Havoc ensued when Hamas fired over 5000 rockets from the Gaza strip into Southern Israel and gunmen violated Israel’s sovereignty by infiltrating towns and areas near the Gaza strip, slaughtering civilians and taking hostages. The deadly assault led to over 1400 casualties and 240 kidnappings of Israelis by the militant group. This included a massive ambush at an Israeli music festival, where over 250 people were brutally massacred. Hamas (who are considered a terrorist organisation by the US and EU) launched the most deadly attack on Israel in decades. Since the shocking events that took place on that day, Israel officially declared war to retaliate against the surprised attack by Hamas. With the initiation of operation “Swords of Iron,” Israel has shut its two crossings with Gaza, blocking supply lines of necessities into the Gaza Strip, including food, water, fuel, electricity and medical supplies. An intense bombing campaign of the Gaza strip the past weeks, with the aim of striking Hamas military bases and destroying their operations, has also taken place. The Israeli government has stated that they have successfully killed a Hamas commander and dozens of fighters. However, there has been a heavy price on the civilian population of Gaza, who are in urgent need of basic necessities, as many have been injured and the UN Health Agency reports that 1.5 million people out of the 2 million located in the Gaza Strip have been displaced by the air strikes. Nearly 700,000 Palestinians are being accommodated in UN camps located throughout Gaza, but even there, there is barely availability of emergency supplies. While Israel states that all air strikes are precisely targeting Hamas activities and networks, Hamas-run authorities claim that the only outcome has been the deaths of almost 9,000 Palestinians that live in Gaza, with the catastrophe specifically having a devastating death toll of almost 4,000 children too. Israeli airstrikes have led to major destruction in civilian neighborhoods and massive casualties. Recently, there has been an intensified international call for a ceasefire (from many countries including China, Russia, Egypt and Jordan) on humanitarian grounds. While the UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution calling for “an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce,” the US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution supporting a ceasefire and Israel has swiftly dismissed any talks of such a truce. The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, is currently on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East to discuss the situation and try to deescalate the conflict. While the US has claimed that a ceasefire would benefit the military operations of Hamas, they are strongly pushing for a humanitarian pause in the fighting in Gaza, to allow immediate aid to enter immediately. There is an alarming shortage of necessities in the Gaza Strip, including fuel which is needed for generators that power hospitals. Meanwhile, Israel has responded that there will be no discussion of a pause in its offensive until the 240 hostages (including Israeli soldiers, civilians and foreigners) are released. Hamas has suggested an exchange of the hostages for 6,000 Palestinians currently being held in Israeli prisons. The militant group have continued to escalate the conflict, having fired over 8000 rockets on Israel since the 7th of October, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Map of Gaza bordering Israel and Egypt With the opening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt for a limited evacuation of the 31st of October, dozens of seriously injured Palestinians and hundreds of foreign passport holders have managed to escape. Being the only exit point which is not controlled by Israel, the Rafah border has become Gaza’s lifeline, as it plays a vital role in supplying all humanitarian aid to the territory.

She uncovered key drivers of gender differences in the labour market. Women are grossly underrepresented in the global labour market, and when they do work, they earn less than men. Claudia Goldin USA labour economist, collected more than 200 years of data from the United States, which she used to analyse the way and the reason that exist how and why gender gaps in earnings and employment rates have changed over time. Claudia Goldin found out that women's labour force participation did not show an upward trend over this entire period, but instead formed a U-shaped curve. Married women's labour force participation declined with the transition from an agrarian to an industrial society in the early 19th century, but then increased with the growth of the service sector in the early 20th century. Goldin explained this pattern as the result of structural change and evolving social norms regarding women’s responsibilities for the home and family. In the twentieth century, women have achieved higher educational level, and in most high-income countries it is now substantially higher than that of men. Despite economic growth and the increasing proportion of working women in the 20th century, the income gap between women and men barely closed over a long period of time. According to Goldin, part of the explanation lies in the fact that educational decisions that affect lifelong career opportunities are made at a relatively young age and their expectations are influenced by previous generations, such as their mothers who did not return to work until the children were grown. Historically, much of the gender gap in earnings could be explained by differences in education and occupational choice. Goldin has shown, however, that most of this earnings gap today exists between women and men in the same occupation and that it largely emerges with the birth of the first child. Her findings extend well beyond the borders of the United States, and similar patterns have been observed in many other countries. “Understanding the role of women in the labour is important for society. Thanks to Claudia Goldin’s ground breaking research, we now know much more about the underlying factors and which barriers may need to be addressed in the future,” Says Jakob Svensson, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences. Her research gives us a better understanding of the labour markets of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Claudia Goldin, born 1946 in New York, NY, USA. PhD 1972 from University of Chicago, IL, USA. Professor at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Since the Hamas incursion into southern Israel from Gaza on the 7th of October, the Israeli government has been trying to rally international support, receiving backing from the United States, the United Kingdom and most of the European Union, among other world leaders. Most of whom have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. Hamas is an Iranian-funded group and are the governing body of the Gaza Strip. It is one of the world's most densely populated areas, with 2.3 million people living in a mere 362-square-kilometre strip of territory. Israel has since started a fierce bombing campaign, with 6000 bombs dropped in the first six days, more than the US dropped on Afghanistan in all of 2019. But what has been the message from Arab states and the reply from Israel? The foreign ministers of nations in the Arab League have prompted Israel to rethink and cease their “unjust decision to cut electricity supply and water to Gaza” on top of their devastating air offensive. A ground invasion of the Gaza Strip is in the early stages as of writing. IDF tanks moving south along the Gazan coast, towards Gaza City. Yemeni rebels have fired ballistic and cruise missiles as well as having launched drones north, up the Red Sea intent on striking southern Israel. Most were intercepted by air-defense technology. The Houthi rebel group, also militarily backed by Iran, launched these attacks from Sanaa, Yemen, more than 1,600km away. According to the time of writing, these assaults happened only a few hours ago. To the north in Lebanon, the people have protested and the government has expressed their sympathy for the Palestinian people, although not wanting another war with Israel. A large political party, Hezbollah, who have their own militia, also backed by Iran, have since been conducting small skirmishes across the border with Israeli forces. The Israelis have since responded with bombings of positions Hezbollah and Palestinian groups hold in Southern Lebanon. This has, however, been the case for the past few years. Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu has warned Hezbollah with the statement: "It would make the mistake of its life including itself in the current conflict." In Syria, Assad’s Russian and Iranian-supported government forces have been hit by Israeli strikes, with Moscow calling them “unacceptable”. Tensions are growing in the Syrian Israeli-occupied territory of Golan Heights, with clashes occurring regularly. Israel has put both airports in the country, in the cities of Damascus and Aleppo, out of action, twice, within two weeks. Their reasoning is they want to halt Iranian supplies and troop movements within the country. In the Gulf, Qatar has taken the role of mediator, mainly on the issue of 200 Israeli hostages taken. However neutral they may claim to be, the emir has still stated Israel should not be granted the “free license to kill”. Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has declared “The kingdom continues to stand by the Palestinian people in their pursuit of their legitimate rights[...]” defying the USA pro-Israel narrative. The United Arab Emirates has condemned civilian casualties on both sides and controversially announced the conflict would not “impact economic agreements" with Israel.

Starting from the spring of 2022 to the mid-autumn of 2023, around 131,000 immigrants have arrived in New York City. Many came through the US-Mexico border with hopes to find shelter, safety, and jobs to better their lives. Many incoming immigrants claim asylum, escaping not only difficulties they faced in their own countries like economic downfalls, corruption, and human trafficking, but also political persecution, harassment, and threats to their lives. Their main objective is to stay in the US and avoid deportation until they are legalized and ready to establish a new life. With these massive amounts of people flooding into US cities, New York officials responded by providing food and shelter, and assistance to obtain work permits by immigrants arriving in the city. However, many of the immigrants are unable to begin work for various reasons such as language barrier, lack of skills, or even the six months waiting time requirement to obtain a work permit. United States - Mexico Border Overrun by Immigrants New York is one of the ten states that is considered a sanctuary state. These states provide support for refugees and immigrants. They have the right-to-shelter rules, meaning that these states must provide housing to people who need it. The local law enforcement does not assist the federal immigration officers to identify, capture and deport immigrants. However, it doesn’t mean that the local law enforcement will stay in a way or prevent the federal immigration agents from doing their job. The other states that have a sanctuary status are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. The main point of entry for many migrants remains the southern border. Between the years 1990 and 2006, roughly one million illegal crossings per year were registered by the US-Mexico Border Patrol. In 2022 alone, the Border Patrol confirmed 2.2 million people illegally crossed the southern border, a record high. From October 2022 through September 2023, 1.6 million illegal immigrants entered the US territory. Texas cities bordering Mexico via Rio Grande River are overflooded with high numbers of migrants. Most recently, within only two days about 28,000 people crossed the Rio Grande River. Cities in Texas declare a state of emergency and are asking for help and intervention from the US Government. Other states that report high numbers of illegal migrants are Florida, Arizona, and North Carolina. Citizens of Mexico and Central America are primary migrating nations, followed by citizens from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Haiti. Over 54,000 migrants came from the Northern Triangle countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. While awaiting affirmative action from the Government, the governors of the states that have been mostly impacted by the high migrant population have initiated special operation programs that centered around protecting the borders of their states and controlling the number of migrants. For example, Texas Governor, Gregg Abbott, along with the Texas Public Safety and National Guard Departments, intensified efforts on securing the border to stop illegal migration and halt smuggling drugs and illegal substances to Texas. The Governor organized busing of nearly 52,000 migrants from Texas to other areas: Washington DC, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, and Los Angeles. Similar busing actions were taken by the Governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, and Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis. Hoping to bring more attention to the southern border crisis, Gov. DeSantis has also extended his efforts to relocate migrants by flying forty-eight of them to prestigious Martha’s Vineyard, MA, a summer residence to many high-profile politicians. Lingering on public parking lots and McDonald’s buildings upon arrival, the migrants were given a shelter at the military base of Joint Base on Cape Cod. Cities with high influx of migrants feel financial, room and board, and municipal burden, as it becomes very costly to provide shelter and appropriate care for continuously increasing numbers of new arrivals. Cities like New York became overwhelmed with providing shelter to asylum-seekers, who have no legal rights, and no work permits to perform any jobs for the first six months after they apply for asylum. Mayor Eric Adams is asking for speeding up the process of approving working permits for migrants. This will allow them to work legally in the US and start generating income to support themselves and their families. In the meantime, the New York City government has spent close to $1.5 billion during the past twelve months on proper housing, food, and other services under the right-to-shelter rule. While city officials stated that they are running out of room for more immigrants, Mayor Adams believes that there will be around $12 billion in additional costs associated with covering migrants services for just the next three fiscal years. The mayor has gone to the federal government asking for more funds to be able to support these immigrants in his city. Mayor Adams claims “[...] that President Biden has ‘failed’ the city by not doing more.” New York is struggling to keep up with its housing situation and Mayor Adams encourages immigrants to search for different cities to settle in. While waiting for a response, the city is now instituting the process of applying for living space in the designated Roosevelt Hotel for all shelter seeking and new migrants. The Roosevelt Hotel itself became one of the primary centers for immigrants. However, since the space is limited, a high number of immigrants have been sleeping on the streets in cardboard boxes awaiting their turn to secure a place in the Roosevelt Hotel. Mayor Adams claims there is no way that the situation will get better anytime soon. Other states face similar situations. States like California and Massachusetts allow immigrants to apply for drivers’ licenses, receive in-state free tuition at colleges, and obtain other benefits. While local authorities cooperate with the federal government and provide support to the immigrants, the US citizens raise an important concern. Over 70% of surveyed Americans stated that illegal immigration becomes a significant risk to US national security. This immigration crisis is getting out of control and the US Congress still has not come to a conclusion on how to address immigration challenges. Congress leaves the major decisions to be made by courts and the executive branch. Hopefully the immigration reform will be finalized ahead of the US presidential election of 2024.