All kinds of X posts at the link from Fox News’s Eric Daugherty, with Bill Essayli and Gavin Newsom exchanging barbs. Walz got nuthin' on Newsom.
Minnesota, California, Illinois, New York State — those will be in contention for Most Dollars for Fraud, I imagine. Which states are competing for the second tier beyond New Jersey, dear Reader?
[California Globe] "California is the epicenter of Fraud, and the federal government under the leadership of @AGPamBondi has begun providing accountability to taxpaying citizens. More to come!," Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California announced on X today.
Fox News is reporting that Officials seized a man’s $125,000 Range Rover and Los Angeles mansion, after he was arrested for allegedly stealing millions in taxpayer funds meant to house and feed the homeless in Los Angeles. Alexander Soofer has been charged with wire fraud.
Soofer stole approximately $23 million, Fox reported.
They’ll get some of that back and halt payments to the man, and a year from now the budget will be that much less unbalanced. Another step toward that trillion dollar savings Elon Musk anticipated.
Soofer was contracted with the city and county of Los Angeles, to house and feed up to 600 homeless people. But instead, spent millions on a luxurious life.
Eric Daugherty posted to X:
"Governor Gavin Newsom’s California just got CAUGHT in MASSIVE homelessness fraud, dishing tens of millions of dollars to a fraudster who used taxpayer funds to ’live a luxurious life.’ HE IS NOT THE ONLY ONE. MORE fraud investigations are ongoing. The Trump DOJ confirms he spent the money on: — $125K Land Rover — Mansion — Second home in Greece — Luxury vacations — Designer clothes — Private schools — California is the fraud capital of America. We need mass audits and arrests."
Absolutely no information about the driver or what he was shouting, and photos of his face are deliberately blurred as of noon. So could be brakes needing repair or it could be Sudden Jihad Syndrome. Hopefully at some point all will be revealed.
[DM] A man screamed at police as he was hauled out of Detroit Metro Airport after crashing through the check-in area.
The crash happened around 7:30pm local time on Friday, according to airport officials.
Video of the aftermath showed the car had come to rest inside the McNamara Terminal, the largest terminal at the airport.
A witness who spoke to WXYZ-TV said they heard a loud noise as the car plowed through the entrance and slammed into a Delta Air Lines counter.
Footage also emerged on social media which showed a man exiting the vehicle and yelling, it remains unclear what he said.
Police and TSA agents responded to the situation quickly, bystanders said. The man, who was wearing a black Detroit Lions jersey, was taken into custody by a horde of officers.
'The response was so quick thank God with the cops and TSA and everybody,' Ali Khalifa, who was traveling and saw the incident, told WXYZ-TV. 'That all happened in seconds.'
Six people were treated at the scene by firefighters with the Wayne County Airport Authority Fire Department.
Delta Air Lines told CBS News that no injuries were reported, though three of its employees were checked out by emergency personnel after coming in contact with debris from the crash.
There is no definitive cause for the crash yet. The name of the driver also has not been released.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
01/24/2026 19:57 Comments ||
Top||
#2
In the pix of the smashed doorway, it looks like there are two stainless steel bollards out front, presumably to keep vehicles out. Perhaps there is a bit too much space between them.
[ZeroHedge] While every new weather model run (alphabet soup of acronyms) shows slight adjustments in who gets the most freezing rain (ice) and snowfall❄️ there is little doubt about the aftermath of the massive ice storm: hazardous cold like January 21, 1985 when the United States 🇺🇸 average low temperature sunk to 4°F.
Many of these record lows are still standing.
⚠️You should be prepared for extended power outages with subzero temperatures outdoors. Think about where you can go, what you can do, and who needs even more help to survive this week ahead. This is not hype or a joke.
Let's dig in (or out) of this Winter Storm that is actually 2 waves of moisture that finally consolidate into a rather powerful Nor'easter.
If you're younger than 40 years old, then you may be experiencing the worst winter weather of your lifetime depending upon where you are over the next 10-14 days.
A massive "slug of moisture" will stream out of the subtropical Pacific and then the Gulf of Mexico to combine into an "atmospheric river". Normally that would be heavy rain and maybe snowfall where the air is below freezing.
Not this time -- we will have extremely cold Arctic air flooding southward: and the atmospheric river will go up and over the more dense cold air near the surface. When the warmer subtropical moisture falls through the : it turns to snow or freezing rain or sleet.
Total Snowfall Amounts (NOAA Blend of Models -- trust this b/c it includes the ECMWF or Euro flagship model) may be an underestimate (!)
A massive "slug of moisture" will stream out of the subtropical Pacific and then the Gulf of Mexico to combine into an "atmospheric river". Normally that would be heavy rain and maybe snowfall where the air is below freezing.
Not this time -- we will have extremely cold Arctic air flooding southward: and the atmospheric river will go up and over the more dense cold air near the surface. When the warmer subtropical moisture falls through the : it turns to snow or freezing rain or sleet.
Total Snowfall Amounts (NOAA Blend of Models -- trust this b/c it includes the ECMWF or Euro flagship model) may be an underestimate (!)
And so on. The polar vortex is predicted to send three blasts of cold air over the next week — details at the link.
#9
Raised as a military brat I am use snow & ice. It is these never been out the south Southerners that are in a panic and the problem. Plus it's happening on a Sat Club night. So all the drunks will add to it.
As the country braces for a major winter storm this weekend, heart health experts have shared warnings of the physical strain shoveling can take — particularly for older adults.
A 2025 Mayo Clinic review found that just 10 minutes of heavy snow shoveling can push the heart to about 97% of its maximum rate. Exposure to cold air was also found to increase blood pressure and reduce coronary blood flow.
#15
A balmy 1 F with the wind chill. Snow is supposed to start around 9 am tomorrow and they are predicting 12"-18" which is a bit more then normal for a CT winter, but hardly unheard of either. I suppose it's a bad sign when Thursday was 45 F and it felt like a pleasant spring day.
Feel bad for the retail employees at the food /Target/home improvement/Walmart stores today, they may even have to work hard!
#17
On the other hand, I went to work in downtown Chicago in late January, 1977. At 6:30 am, the radio reported -29 F with a wind chill of -75. My train from the NW suburbs was two minutes late.
It's frozen in my memory.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/24/2026 12:22 Comments ||
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#18
Newsom might still be the governor of my state but at least I have 60 some degrees, heading for 70. We had a little rain yesterday but today it's quite nice outside.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/24/2026 13:20 Comments ||
Top||
#19
Shoveling snow could pose dangerous health risk for one group, experts warn
So true, Skidmark. The very nice lady across the street when I was a child lost two husbands in a row to shoveling Buffalo snow. The third husband got a snow blower and paid kids to do the work.
We have modern, curved push shovels that look like snowplow blades instead of the old-fashioned flat, square things we all grew up with. And we approach it as meditation rather than aerobic exercise. I love shoveling snow as it’s falling at night.
[FoxNews] Under Secretary apologizes to service members removed under the Biden administration's COVID vaccine mandate
The Department of the Navy issued an apology letter Friday to former military personnel "unjustly removed" from service because of the COVID vaccine mandate during the Biden administration.
Under Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao emphasized that the Department of War is committed to "righting past wrongs" and welcoming back former service members who were dismissed during the pandemic.
"To the sailors and marines who were wrongfully discharged during COVID, we failed you," Hung said in a video posted on X. "We will never allow this to happen again, not on my watch. We are ready for you to come back, and we want to correct your records."
Cao, the Department of the Navy’s chief operating and chief management officer, overseeing roughly one million Navy, Marine Corps and civilian personnel, acknowledged the impact of the mandate on those it forced out.
"We are righting this wrong and it starts with this formal letter of apology," he said.
President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14184 shortly after returning to office last January, directing federal agencies to identify service members affected by the former vaccine requirement and take steps to reinstate them or restore certain benefits.
The order applies to former members of the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Space Force and Coast Guard who were discharged solely for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.
The former secretary of defense mandated in 2021 that all service members receive the COVID-19 vaccine, a policy that was rescinded in 2023.
"The military unjustly discharged those who refused the vaccine, regardless of the years of service given to our Nation, after failing to grant many of them an exemption that they should have received," Trump's executive order states.
The Department of War issued guidance to all the secretaries of military departments to contact former service members with information about potential reinstatement and to correct their discharge records.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 8,000 service members were separated after the Biden administration’s Department of Defense issued the vaccination mandate.
"It is unconscionable that thousands of former Service members who held true to their personal and religious convictions were not just separated, but separated with general (under honorable conditions), rather than honorable, discharge characterizations," Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a December memo. "While many have applied for and received relief from our Military Department review boards, I believe the onus is on us to make this right."
Hegseth said he directed a proactive review of personnel records to identify individuals involuntarily discharged solely for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine and facilitate appropriate discharge upgrades.
#1
The CDC board that rubber stamped the transition from experimental drug to regular drug, the SecDef, the service secretaries and the senior officers who imposed the mandatory jab should all be facing 'crimes against humanity'. The Nuremberg Code says "The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential".
As it should?
[JTN] The priority is a change from President Donald Trump's first administration, which labeled China as a serious challenger in an era of “great power competition," and the focus on China was supported by the Biden administration in 2022.
The National Defense Strategy document is considered a foundational document for the Pentagon and explains how the Defense Department will follow the guidance of the National Security Strategy, according to Breaking Defense.
The new document still prioritizes deterring China in the Indo-Pacific region, but through strength instead of confrontation, and it comes after defending the homeland. The report also said the U.S. will increase burden-sharing with U.S. Allies and Supercharge the U.S. Defense Industrial Base.
[FoxNews] New document focuses on 'burden-sharing' by allies in other parts of the world as well
The Pentagon said in an unclassified national defense strategy document titled "Restoring peace through strength for a new golden age of America" on Friday, that it plans to shift more of the responsibility of deterring North Korea to South Korea.
The U.S. would take a "more limited" role in keeping North Korea in line, the Pentagon said in the document obtained by Fox News Digital.
"With its powerful military, supported by high defense spending, a robust defense industry, and mandatory conscription, South Korea is capable of taking primary responsibility for deterring North Korea with critical but more limited U.S. support," the document said.
It added, "South Korea also has the will to do so, given that it faces a direct and clear threat from North Korea. This shift in the balance of responsibility is consistent with America’s interest in updating U.S. force posture on the Korean Peninsula. In this way, we can ensure a stronger and more mutually beneficial alliance relationship that is better aligned with America’s defense priorities, thereby setting conditions for lasting peace."
The new policy plan on North Korea followed similar strategies for other parts of the world, with the wide-ranging document adding that the department will "no longer be distracted by interventionism, endless wars, regime change, and nation building. Instead, we will put our people’s practical concrete interests first."
The document clarified the policy doesn’t mean "isolationism," but rather a "strategic approach to the threats our nation faces."
Further down it added, "We will insist our allies and partners do their part and lend them a helping hand when they step up."
This year, South Korea raised its military budget by 7.5% while around 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed there in defense of North Korea.
#2
For real. About f'ing time. As for the South Koreans, I think they are more capable of doing that unlike the Euros.
Posted by: chris ||
01/24/2026 5:53 Comments ||
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#3
In the Korean War the bulk of the casualties were borne by the South Korean army. Since then the South Korean army has been far larger than the UN contingent. The only difference has been that the US has backed them up with nukes. American forces in South Korea have been drawing down for a long while. If they're talking 'primary' role, I'd take that as South Korea attaining nuclear capabilities.
#7
I recall people saying here that South Korea has long been frustrated because America held them back from firmly spanking their northern cousins on numerous occasions. Life may shortly become more interesting, now that Pesident Trump is taking a step back…
#9
According to my dad, who did 3 Nam tours.
ROK's Marines scared the $hit out of VietCong and NVA's. Having a rep of not wanting to bother with prisoners.
CEO Jassy attributes cuts to company culture, not financial or AI reasons
Layoffs represent nearly 10% of Amazon's corporate workforce
Amazon (AMZN.O), is planning a second round of job cuts next week as part of its broader goal of trimming some 30,000 corporate workers, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The company in October cut some 14,000 white-collar jobs, about half of the 30,000 target first reported by Reuters. The total this time is expected to be roughly the same as last year and could begin as soon as Tuesday, the people said, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss Amazon’s plans.
Jobs in the company's Amazon Web Services, retail, Prime Video and human resources, known as People Experience and Technology, units are slated to be affected, the people said, though the full scope was unclear. The people cautioned that the details of Amazon's plans could change.
The Seattle online retailer tied the October round of job cuts to the rise of artificial intelligence software, saying in an internal letter that “this generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before.”
Idiotic to plan to overthrow the government with so few.
[IsraelTimes] Alleged members, including 3 linked to far-right party AfD, are accused of stockpiling military equipment to ‘cleanse’ east German region and establish neo-Nazi state there
Eight alleged members of a German far-right turban group dubbed the "Saxonian Separatists" went on trial Friday in the eastern city of Dresden.
The men, aged between 22 and 26, face charges including membership in a terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit treason. According to prosecutors, its members believed German society was on the brink of collapse and plotted to violent mostly peacefully conquer part of the eastern German state of Saxony to create a new neo-Nazi ...adherents of a philosophy that was seen even at the time as pure evil, which makes them either consciously purely evil, or attention-seeking ratbags. Pick one, or both.... state.
The defendants are accused of having stockpiled weapons and military equipment, conducted paramilitary training and made plans to "cleanse" the area of ethnic minorities and political opponents. Prosecutors said the group — whose initials SS match those of Adolf Hitler ...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days, sometimes every few hour if it's an election year, as a politician somebody doesn't like... ’s paramilitary organization the Schutzstaffel — had procured fatigues, combat helmets, gas masks and bullet-proof vests.
According to prosecutors, the group was founded in February 2020 with roughly 20 members in total, motivated by "racist, antisemitic and in part apocalyptic ideas."
They were arrested in November 2024 during a series of police raids in eastern Germany, neighboring Poland and in Austria.
Three of the defendants had been active in local politics with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), an anti-immigration party that is especially strong in the ex-communist east of Germany.
The German domestic security service said after the arrests that some of the right-wing forces of Evil were linked to groups active online and "glorify the actions of well-known right-wing terrorists" such as Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik.
#1
Up against the wall, CRUDE EXPLETIVE DELETED.
History proves these incredibly dangerous movements must be stopped at the beginning, or not at all. That's why the Miami Nazis were so alarming, they revealed the sickness has spread and not one of them is in jail yet, or is likely to be. I suppose we'll have to wait for another Bondi beach tragedy to take action.
#3
Antifa: Your Furious Furby,
From Hasbro! He's modeled on Herbie,
Who speaks fluent Farbish
And spins like a darvish--
No, hora! Fedora! No, derby!
Posted by: Bob Whusosing8177 ||
01/24/2026 16:03 Comments ||
Top||
#4
must be stopped at the beginning, or not at all.
My read on history is that if they aren’t nipped in the bud fairly early, they can be stopped at great cost later. Look at ISIS in Iraq and Syria, for a perfect example.
But neo-Nazis are such losers that they never get past grandiose plans to actually do something. I see no indication that white supremacists (and Black supremacists as well) are any better at moving beyond big talk and some bullying to actual conquest. Conquest takes discipline, large numbers, and supplies. ISIS had large numbers, enough supplies to get started, and a justified reputation for viciousness. They derived from Al Qaeda in Iraq, which took the locals’ daughters for wives and sons for servants and pleasure, but also from time to time baked babies into a casserole that they served to the its parents for for the shock value.
[Breitbart] Patel forced out field office leaders and other senior agents connected to the two criminal investigations of Trump, including the special agent in charge in Atlanta, the acting assistant director in charge of the New York field office, and the former special agent in charge in New Orleans who had recently moved on to another job, MS Now reported and two senior administration officials confirmed to Breitbart News.
As many as six agents in Miami were forced out over their connection to the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago, conducted by over 30 agents accompanied by CNN cameras.
“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar- A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump said at the time. “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”
The agents also searched Melania Trump’s Mar-a-Lago wardrobe, leading to widespread condemnation of the agents for searching through the former supermodel’s panty drawer.
FBI emails declassified in December 2025 revealed that officials had expressed concern about a lack of probable cause for the 2022 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, but the operation proceeded in spite of that after officials in Biden’s Justice Department provided legal cover.
Other agents fired were involved in the widespread “Arctic Frost” investigation of Trump.
Patel scorched “corrupt” FBI agents involved in the lawfare Thursday, revealing the agents had commissioned a self-congratulatory trophy for their efforts, characterized by the establishment media at the time as certain to keep Trump either out of the White House or off the ballot entirely, if not in jail.
“People ask why I said the old FBI was a diseased temple. This is what corruption looks like when it thinks no one is watching: A self-awarded trophy celebrating Arctic Frost, made by FBI officials,” Patel posted on X, along with a photo of the trophy. “I disbanded CR-15 and removed the corrupt actors involved. So when legacy media cries that President Trump’s FBI fired people and made sweeping changes, I have one response: You’re damn right we did.”
"The Biden-era FBI made more than $100,000 in payments to informants who were members of an anonymous group of tech sleuths known as the "Sedition Hunters" to gather and analyze video evidence in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and Arctic Frost probes despite the group’s significant anti-Trump fervor and known ties to foreigners, according to memos reviewed by Just the News.
The payments are due to be disclosed by FBI Director Kash Patel to Congress along with acknowledged concerns that the Christopher Wray-run bureau’s approval of certain members of the Sedition Hunters as confidential human sources may have violated bureau policies in the Domestic Investigation and Operations Guide (DIOG) concerning informant bias, informant secrecy, foreign influence, and contracting transparency, officials said.
The Biden-era FBI made more than $100,000 in payments to informants who were members of an anonymous group of tech sleuths known as the "Sedition Hunters" to gather and analyze video evidence in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and Arctic Frost probes despite the group’s significant anti-Trump fervor and known ties to foreigners, according to memos reviewed by Just the News.
The payments are due to be disclosed by FBI Director Kash Patel to Congress along with acknowledged concerns that the Christopher Wray-run bureau’s approval of certain members of the Sedition Hunters as confidential human sources may have violated bureau policies in the Domestic Investigation and Operations Guide (DIOG) concerning informant bias, informant secrecy, foreign influence, and contracting transparency, officials said.
Government officials said group members were first engaged in January 2021, just days after the Capitol riot, to assist making arrests in the January 6 case by identifying potential defendants using facial recognition software. The group members received at least $150,000 in payments for that work and other work related to the Arctic Frost probe into whether Trump supporters violated the law by promoting alternate electors to be considered for the certification of the 2020 election.
Biden-era FBI knew paid foreigners were using spyware to identify J6 arrestees
One of the earliest emails from the FBI’s Washington field office that oversaw that work showed the FBI was clearly aware the group had foreign connections and may actually be using software from overseas to identify American citizens for arrest, according to a copy of the email reviewed by Just the News.
The late January 2021 email from the FBI's Washington field office stated that “we have a sedition hunter from the United Kingdom running facial recognition software” with the tipster telling the bureau that this UK-based so-called sedition hunter “just found this possible match” to an alleged January 6 suspect a few minutes prior, sharing the picture with the FBI."
#2
It seems as if it should not have taken a year for an investigation bureau to identify and fire these clowns. I guess it matches their inability to discover the theft of over half of our budget through corruption and various welfare scams.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/24/2026 9:59 Comments ||
Top||
#3
^ It's about building an airtight case, be it a criminal case or justifying firing an employee that may face strict and biased judicial scrutiny.
I suspect much of the work has to be done without alerting the potential target and anyone who might leak it to the press or others on the left.
Some of this may be timed to happen during the late summer or early fall as we get close to the mid term elections.
And yes, I would like to see more arrests now too.
[Breitbart] Vice President JD Vance announced on Friday that the Trump administration has executed a “historic expansion” of the Mexico City Policy to block the promotion of abortion abroad.
Vance made the announcement at the 53rd annual March for Life in Washington, DC, marking his second time speaking at the largest annual human rights demonstration in the world. The vice president said the expansion of the Mexico City Policy will now include “blocking every international non-governmental organization that performs or promotes abortion abroad from receiving a dollar of U.S. money.”
“Now we’re expanding this policy to protect life, to combat DEI, and the radical gender ideologies that prey on our children,” he told a crowd of thousands of attendees at the National Mall.
Vance, who recently announced that he and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, are expecting their fourth child, said the expansion will also cover every non-military foreign assistance that America sends.
“All in all, we have expanded the Mexico City Policy about three times as big as it was before,” he said. “And we’re proud of it because we believe in fighting for life.”
The Mexico City Policy was first introduced by the Reagan administration to block U.S. taxpayer dollars from supporting foreign organizations that perform or actively promote abortion in other nations. The rule has been rescinded by every Democrat president, only for every Republican president to subsequently reinstate it.
President Donald Trump is no different, reinstating the policy during his first term and in his second term after the rabidly pro-abortion Biden administration revoked the rule.
President Trump signed an executive order reinstating the policy last year on the same day as the 52nd annual March for Life.
This year’s March for Life Rally theme is “Life is a Gift.” The first March for Life occurred in 1974, a year after the Supreme Court issued its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which invented the constitutional “right” to abortion. In June of 2022, the Supreme Court overturned that decision in the Dobbs case and returned the issue of abortion to individual states and their elected representatives.
[FoxNews] Housing authorities have 30 days to verify citizenship or face sanctions after audit flags nearly 200,000 cases
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ordered all public housing authorities and owners receiving department-funded housing Friday to verify tenant citizenship and eligibility after an audit conducted with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) flagged tens of thousands of deceased and ineligible tenants nationwide.
HUD said the audit identified nearly 200,000 tenants requiring eligibility verification, including nearly 25,000 deceased tenants and nearly 6,000 ineligible non-American tenants across federally funded housing programs.
Under the directive, HUD said all public housing authorities and participating owners have 30 days to take corrective action or face potential sanctions.
HUD said the review was conducted in coordination with DHS and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which operates the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system, and was aimed at ensuring compliance with existing federal law.
"We will leave no stone unturned," HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement. "We are proud to collaborate with DHS to execute on the president’s agenda of rooting out abuse of taxpayer-funded resources. Ineligible non-citizens have no place to receive welfare benefits. With this new directive and audit, HUD is putting new processes in place to safeguard taxpayer resources and put the American people first."
HUD Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing Ben Hobbs said the verification effort is intended to ensure limited housing resources are directed to eligible households.
"Today’s action to verify the immigration eligibility of all HUD-assisted households is a major step forward to ensure we put American families first and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse," Hobbs said.
HUD said the directive follows a letter sent last month reminding housing authorities and owners of their legal obligations under Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 and President Trump’s Executive Order 14218, which requires verification of citizenship and immigration status prior to admission to HUD-assisted housing.
As part of that effort, Turner and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem previously signed an "American Housing Programs for American Citizens" memorandum of understanding aimed at preventing what HUD described as the misappropriation of taxpayer dollars under federal housing programs.
HUD said the agreement led to the first-ever upload of all HUD Section 8 and Section 9 tenant files into the SAVE system to verify immigration status.
The department said the directive applies to all HUD-funded housing nationwide and is focused on eligibility verification and program integrity.
DHS and USCIS did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for further comment.
[IsraelTimes] Rescue law is aimed at hauling Lebanon out of its worst financial crisis on record and giving depositors access to savings frozen for six years
The International Monetary Fund has demanded amendments to a draft rescue law aimed at hauling Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... out of its worst financial crisis on record and giving depositors access to savings frozen for six years, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said.
The "financial gap" law is part of a series of reform measures required by the IMF in order to access its funding and aims to allocate the losses from Lebanon’s 2019 crash between the state, the central bank, commercial banks and depositors.
Salam told Rooters the IMF wants clearer provisions in the hierarchy of claims, which is a core element of the draft legislation designed to determine how losses are allocated.
"We want to engage with the IMF. We want to improve. This is a draft law," Salam said in an interview at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos.
"They wanted the hierarchy of claims to be clearer. The talks are all positive," Salam added.
In 2022, the government put losses from the financial crisis at about $70 billion, a figure that analysts and economists forecast is now likely to be higher.
Salam stressed that Lebanon is still pushing for a long-delayed IMF program, but warned the clock is ticking as the country has already been placed on a financial ’grey list’ and risks falling onto the ’black list’ if reforms stall further.
"We want an IMF program, and we want to continue our discussions until we get there," he said, adding: "International pressure is real ... The longer we delay, the more people’s money will evaporate."
The draft law, which was passed by Salam’s government in December, is under parliamentary review. It aims to give depositors a guaranteed path to recovering their funds, restart bank lending, and end a financial crisis that has left nearly a million accounts frozen and confidence in the system shattered.
The roadmap would repay depositors up to $100,000 over four years, starting with smaller accounts, while launching forensic audits to determine losses and responsibility.
Lebanese Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, who is driving the reform push with Salam, told Rooters it was essential to salvage a hollowed-out banking system, and to stop the country from sliding deeper into its cash‑only, paralyzed economy.
The aim, Jaber said, is to give depositors clarity after years of uncertainty and to end a system that has crippled Lebanon’s international standing.
He framed the law as part of a broader reckoning: the first time a Lebanese government has confronted a combined collapse of the banking sector, the central bank and the state treasury.
Financial reforms have been repeatedly derailed by political and private vested interests over the last six years, and Jaber said the responsibility now lies with politicians.
Failure to act, he said, would leave Lebanon trapped in "a deep, dark tunnel" with no way back to a functioning system.
"Lebanon has become a cash economy, and the real question is whether we want to stay on the grey list, or sleepwalk into a black list," Jaber added.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days, sometimes every few hour if it's an election year, as a politician somebody doesn't like...
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
