U.S. delays arms shipments to Israel amid Rafah tensions

Source: Washington Post

The Biden administration is delaying the sale of at least two arms shipments to Israel amid mounting concern about the country’s plan to expand a military operation in southern Gaza that could dramatically increase the conflict’s death toll, said four people familiar with the matter.

The White House and State Department declined to explain the decision, but it is the first known instance of a delay in U.S. arms transfers since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack into Israel that killed more than 1,200 people.

Since then, the United States has surged tens of thousands of bombs and missiles to its ally even as huge swaths of Gaza have been turned to rubble and the death toll among Palestinians has ballooned to more than 34,000, many of them women and children, according to local health authorities.

President Biden has described the bombing as “indiscriminate,” but he has been reluctant to leverage weapons transfers to try to force a change in Israel’s behavior.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/07/biden-delays-weapons-israel-rafah/

Palestinians scramble for safety recently as Israel pounds sealed-off Gaza Strip.

President Biden has described the bombing as “indiscriminate” - and is now is delaying the sale of at least two arms shipments to Israel amid mounting concern over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Cesar Luis Menotti, who led Argentina to its first World Cup in 1978, dies aged 85

The World Cup winning coach César Luis Menotti, who led Argentina to the title in 1978, has died at the age of 85, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) said on Sunday.

Born in Rosario to Italian-Argentine parents in 1938, Menotti, who played for Rosario Central, Boca Juniors and Brazil's Santos, began his coaching career at Newell’s Old Boys and won the Argentine championship with Huracán in 1973 - before taking over as head coach of the Argentine national team in 1974.

“The Argentine Football Association regrets to announce with great sadness the death of César Luis Menotti, current director of the national teams and former World Cup winning coach of Argentina. Farewell, Flaco querido ('dear Slim'),” the governing body said in a statement.

Menotti, who left the national side after the 1982 World Cup, went on to coach Barcelona, where he guided the side to Copa del Rey success in 1983.

He retired from coaching in 2007, and mostly maintained a low profile despite his well-known left-wing views - a skill which helped him navigate the country's fascist last dictatorship during the late 1970s.

At: https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/may/05/world-cup-winning-argentina-coach-cesar-luis-menotti-dies-aged-85

Famed Argentine football coach César Luis Menotti holds the iconic World Cup after leading the national team to victory in 1978.

Menotti's death is being mourned across Argentina's highly-polarized political and social spectrum - adding sorrow to what has already been the most difficult economic year since at least the 2001-02 collapse.

Paul Auster, American author of The New York Trilogy, dies aged 77

Source: The Guardian

Paul Auster, the author of 34 books including the acclaimed New York Trilogy, has died aged 77.

The author died on Tuesday due to complications from lung cancer, his friend and fellow author Jacki Lyden confirmed to the Guardian.

Auster became known for his “highly stylised, quirkily riddlesome postmodernist fiction in which narrators are rarely other than unreliable and the bedrock of plot is continually shifting,” the novelist Joyce Carol Oates wrote in 2010.

His stories often play with themes of coincidence, chance and fate. Many of his protagonists are writers themselves, and his body of work is self-referential, with characters from early novels appearing again in later ones.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/may/01/paul-auster-dies-aged-77-death-american-author-new-york-trilogy

Famed New York novelist Paul Auster, 1947-2024.

He “established one of the most distinctive niches in contemporary literature,” wrote critic Michael Dirda in 2008.

“His narrative voice is as hypnotic as that of the Ancient Mariner. Start one of his books and by page two you cannot choose but hear.”

Argentina's Mileise: University chancellors warn Milei that money will only last until May

The problem afflicting Argentina's universities is easy enough to understand: despite annual inflation at 288%, their budgets for 2024 will be the same as in 2023 - reflecting deep budget cuts under the new, far-right Javier Milei administration.

Although the intention of increasing operating budgets by 65% was discussed, government officials continue to refuse to confirm the emergency hike.

Some universities have declared an economic emergency - restricting the number of students per course, moving out of rental offices, suspending the purchase of inputs, services and equipment or digging into their savings.

The University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine - whose teaching hospital cares for 1,000 mostly indigent patients daily - shut off lights to most of its buildings this week after its budget was cut by 26% in nominal terms, and 80% in real terms.

The neighboring School of Dentistry has reportedly run out of supplies for its graduate students.

“This was complicated by the fact that on Monday, we suffered the theft of computers,” Dean Pablo Rodríguez lamented. “This was due to these measures” - referring to the partial blackout.

Numerous grade schools in Buenos Aires and elsewhere have suffered a wave of similar thefts recently.

Unfit

When the Milei administration took office in December, academics called for a 300% increase in this year's public university budgets - which last year received an already-modest 1.4 trillion pesos ($4.5 billion at the time) in federal funds for 55 universities with 2 million students between them.

Milei vetoed the request - though he later signed an agreement with Denmark to buy 24 Reagan-era F-16s (at $338 million a piece - excluding weaponry) that even war-torn Ukraine deemed unfit.

Many in academia say that unless the situation changes, they will not be able to guarantee classes beyond April or May.

The University of Buenos Aires - the nation's largest, and often ranked among the best in Latin America - “will have to close or not provide the functions we usually provide” Chancellor Ricardo Gelpi warned.

Students, faculty and supporters are planning a massive march on Tuesday to protest the funding crisis.

At: https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/milei-in-conflict-with-universities-chancellors-warn-money-will-only-last-til-may.phtml

Argentina's Mileise: yearly inflation soars to 288% - the highest in the world

Inflation in Argentina is now running at 287.9%, figures released on Friday afternoon by the government’s INDEC statistics bureau showed.

The number, 9.7 points higher than February’s, indicates that Argentina’s runaway price hikes remain the worst in the world.

Monthly inflation cooled to 11% in March, a two-point drop from February, according to the report. The number marks the third monthly decrease in a row after it hit 25.5% in December, the highest since February 1991.

Cumulative inflation since far-right President Javier Milei was elected in November has surpassed 90%, in four months.

The biggest monthly increase was in education, which was driven up 52.7% by the rise in private school fees - pushing hundreds of thousands of middle-class families into the already-strained public school system.

It was followed by telecommunications, up 15.9% mainly due to phone and internet bills. Then came housing, up 13.3% off the back of rising electricity bills.

“The recession, the drop in revenues, and the drop in sales are the reasons behind the lower [monthly] rate,” said Sebastián Menescaldi, associate director of EcoGo consultancy, adding that it was “not good news.”

Argentine consumers and businesses have since been walloped by utility rate hikes averaging 200% for electricity, and 300% for gas - which analysts believe might push April inflation to up to 20% monthly.

At: https://buenosairesherald.com/economics/argentinas-yearly-inflation-soars-to-288

A popular Argentine meme ridicules far-right President Javier Milei after he asserted this week that "prices are falling like a piano" after consulting a Bot account that purportedly measured prices at Jumbo - a Chilean-owned supermarket chain popular in Argentina.

The administrator of the Bot account promptly revealed that it was an unofficial "social experiment that never analyzed prices."

A doubling in annual inflation rates since October - the month before Milei was elected - to 288%, has pushed an estimated 6 million Argentines into poverty just as of January.

And massive utility rate hikes of 200 to 300% in April have triggered a wave of small business closures and layoffs.

Seeking Washington's support, Argentina's Milei buys aging F-16s his bankrupt country can't use

Argentine Defense Minister Luis Petri signed an agreement this morning in Buenos Aires with his Danish counterpart, Troels Lund Poulsen, for the purchase of 24 aging F-16 aircraft for the Air Force.

With the agreement, the far-right Javier Milei administration seeks to reaffirm its "alignment" with the United States - at a time when draconian austerity measures at home have paralyzed federal public works, revenue sharing, and even federal aid to the country's burgeoning soup kitchens.

The reequipment of the country's sorely underequipped air force had been suspended since a $2 billion deal with right-wing President Mauricio Macri was scuttled by British pressure in 2017 - prompting the resignation of then-Argentine Ambassador to the U.S. Martín Lousteau.

Macri's center-left successor, Alberto Fernández, later entered into talks with China for the purchase of 15 Chengdu JF-17 combat aircraft - seen as a preferable alternative by many in the Argentine Air Force due not only to the considerable savings; but also to the fact the JF-17s would be new (rather than 1980s-era F-16s), and exempt from U.K. vetoes on British parts and equipment.

But the potential purchase of the JF-17s had been staunchly objected to by Washington - and CIA Director Williams Burns flew to Buenos Aires this week to congratulate Milei for, according to administration sources, "having nothing to do with China."

The deal is the largest between the U.S. and Argentina since a 1994 order of 36 A4M Skyhawk jet attack planes by the similarly "pro-Washington Consensus" Carlos Menem administration.

Britain's effective veto of its military parts or equipment to Argentina, however, rendered the Skyhawks largely useless - a fate many in Argentina's Air Force fear for the $338 million F-16s.

At: https://www-pagina12-com-ar.translate.goog/724479-el-gobierno-no-tiene-plata-para-comedores-pero-le-compra-avi?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Argentine Defense Minister Luis Petri and his Danish counterpart, Troels Lund Poulsen, sign an agreement this morning for the purchase of 24 aging F-16 aircraft for Argentina's depleted Air Force.

The far-right Javier Milei administration rushed the agreement - bypassing congressional approval - in a bid to secure Washington's support for his increasingly unpopular and draconian 4 month-old administration.

The charm offensive rested less on the purchase of the F-16s - rendered nearly useless by U.K. vetoes on any British-sourced parts or equipment - as by the cancellation of talks to buy Chinese-made JF-17 aircraft, which are less costly and are not subject to British restrictions.

A record devaluation, and deep cuts to social programs, public works and other domestic needs, have meanwhile pushed an estimated 6 million into poverty just as of January - to a record 57.4%.

Armed men assault Argentine human rights activist in 'political' attack

An activist with the human rights group H.I.J.O.S. was tied, beaten and sexually assaulted in a “political” attack at her home, the organization has reported.

Two men allegedly broke into the activist’s home in Buenos Aires and waited to attack her when she returned, holding her at gunpoint and threatening to kill her.

“We haven’t come to rob you, we’ve come to kill you,” they reportedly told her. “They’re paying us for this.”

“This attempt on her life is a political attack, motivated by her human rights and feminist activism. Nothing of value was taken, they only took folders with information about our group,” the organization wrote in a statement.

The organization added that the assailants painted “VLLC” on the wall, the acronym for far-right President Javier Milei’s libertarian slogan viva la libertad, carajo ("long live freedom, dammit" ).

Milei, Vice President Victoria Villarruel, Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, and Defense Minister Luis Petri have all downplayed and/or rationalized the crimes of Argentina’s last dictatorship (1976-83).

Petri yesterday met with relatives of some of those convicted, and lauded the atrocities outright.

At: https://buenosairesherald.com/human-rights/armed-men-assault-activist-in-political-attack-rights-group-reports

Members of the Argentine human rights group H.I.J.O.S. joins a demonstration commemorating the 40th anniversary of the fascist, 1976 coup in 2016.

An H.I.J.O.S. activist was brutally attacked in her home in Buenos Aires recently - an attack which comes on the heels on a mounting social media campaign on the part of the far-right Javier Milei administration to demonize opponents in general and activists in particular.

The attack comes day before the March 24th anniversary of the coup - which in Argentina is commemorated as the Day Memory, Truth, and Justice.

The group (Sons and Daughters for Identity and Justice Against Forgetfulness and Silence) has spearheaded efforts to locate and prosecute dictatorship-era torturers and other perpetrators of the country's 1970s-era Dirty War.

Over 1,100 have been convicted since former President Néstor Kirchner - widely hated by the Argentine right - lifted their immunity from prosecution in 2003.

As Argentina's Milei marks 100 days in office, economic "Mileise" pushes down approval

A report published by Argentine pollster Zuban Córdoba shows a collapse of economic expectations, an accelerated deterioration of personal and family finances - and of both job and personal approval for President Javier Milei just three months into his far-right presidency.

The study, “The Economy in the Milei Era,” was carried out between March 7 and 9, based on 1,500 polled nationwide, with a margin of error of 2.5%, with Computer Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) methodology.

Milei's job approval has plummeted to 42%, with a 57% disapproval according to the study.

This marks a record low figure this early in any administration since democracy returned in 1983: center-left President Alberto Fernández (2019-23) enjoyed an 80% approval three months in, and right-wing President Mauricio Macri (2015-19), 60% - about average for all Argentine presidents at the 90-100 day point.

Milei's "personal" approval is down to similar levels - another difference with his predecessors, who often enjoyed higher personal than job approval.

Confidence man

Some 55.4% now believe the country is going in the wrong direction, compared to 42.4% who think the opposite. The figure is a reversal from last December: then, 54.3% believed in the course set by the self-styled libertarian while only 43.5% disbelieved.

Consumer confidence, published monthly by the right-leaning Torcuato di Tella University, likewise plunged from 47.5 in November, to 36 in February.

71.6% say there now worse off since Milei took office, with only 5.4% saying they are better off - figures which underscore the effects of a 114% devaluation in December that has triggered a near-doubling in consumer prices and a jump in poverty rates from already-high 44.7% to 57.4% just as of January.

69% also say they no longer know what expenses to cut to make ends meet and 53% fear losing their job - a fear that was statistically minor under Fernández.

And perhaps most worrisome for the irascible Milei, 51.7% now blame his administration for the current crisis with 46% still blaming Fernández, 41% believing it to be a “worthwhile sacrifice,” and only 24% agreeing that “politicians are now paying the price of austerity” - undercutting three key administration talking points.

This is a dramatic reversal from December, when only 32% blamed the (then-new) Milei administration, and 49% blamed Fernández - with the country then evenly split (47% each) as to whether politicians or society at large was “now paying the price.”

At: https://www-pagina12-com-ar.translate.goog/721641-milei-desaprobado-sobre-todo-por-la-economia?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Left-wing demonstrators protest yesterday against deep cuts to social program under the far-right Javier Milei administration, as well as against sharply lower living standards generally since Milei was elected in November.

The latter crisis is gaining resonance even among Argentina's traditionally right-leaning middle class - with 71.6% saying they are now worse off, and that society - not politicians, as Milei often claims - are bearing the brunt of the current crisis.

Argentina downgraded to Selective Default by S&P on Milei debt swap

Argentina’s local debt was slapped with a downgrade to selective default by S&P Global Ratings Wednesday after the government pushed investors into exchanging bonds for new notes with later maturities.

The ratings company cut the local credit rating to SD from CCC-, citing what it called a distressed debt swap “tantamount to default” in a statement.

President Javier Milei’s government launched an exchange of around $65 billion of peso-denominated securities due in 2024 for new bonds maturing next year through 2028.

Creditors holding about 77% of the instruments agreed to the deal.

At: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-13/argentina-downgraded-to-selective-default-by-s-p-on-debt-swap?embedded-checkout=true

IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath and Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo shake hands in Buenos Aires last month.

Far-right President Javier Milei made slashing Argentina's $27 billion budget deficit last year to "zero" a central campaign promise to both voters and the IMF - but has largely resorted to gimmicks such as budget sequester decrees (mainly at the expense of provinces) and deferring interest payments.

The latter move cost Argentina a downgrade to "Selective Default" by S&P yesterday.

Argentina's Milei likes tweet calling for vice president's hanging

Political wrangling in Argentina over far-right President Javier Milei's far-reaching deregulation "mega decree" took a troubling turn today after Milei liked a tweet by a supporter calling for the "hanging" of Vice President Victoria Villarruel.

The tweet, published earlier today, stated that "Villarruel went all in at the casino. She took took it upon herself to let them vote on the decree" - in reference to news of the failure of Villarruel's push to further defer debate in the Senate over Milei's Decree 70/2023, after 10 weeks of procedural delays on her part.

"It won't pass," the tweet concluded, "and she should be hanged in the Plaza" (the square facing the Casa Rosada presidential offices).

The tweet was posted by "TDM" - one of a small army of social media trolls known to regularly post inflammatory and often bigoted messages in favor of Milei and against his critics. The account and all its activity were taken down later today - though screenshots of the "hanging" post, and Milei's like, are widely available.

Argentina's constitution requires that presidential decrees be debated in congress within 10 days of their issuance - a deadline now exceeded by over two months.

The decree is likely to be rejected in the Senate - much as the "Omnibus bill" was rejected in the Lower House on February 6.

Consumer prices have jumped 72% since Milei took office three months ago and devalued the currency by half overnight - triggering a sharp fall in retail sales, a deep recession, and a wave of layoffs.

At: https://www-pagina12-com-ar.translate.goog/720733-la-furia-de-milei-con-villarruel-el-ataque-de-los-trolls-y-e?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Argentine President Javier Milei and Vice President Victoria Villarruel during Milei's address to Congress on its opening session (akin to a State of the Union address) on March 1st.

Milei's liking of a tweet today calling for her "hanging" has dramatized their increasingly fraught relationship - as well as the growing amounts of time he devotes to social media.

Besides being to the right of Milei on issues such as the role of the armed forces, Villarruel is said to be close to former President Mauricio Macri - who was instrumental is sealing an alliance between his right-wing coalition and Milei's far-right party, and who reportedly prefers she take over the reins from the increasingly erratic Milei.