JHCO: 25 aid trucks carrying aid supplies cross into Gaza
25 of the 60 trucks have crossed, Shibli stated, noting the ongoing Israeli obstacles and settler attacks.
Shibli confirmed that the JHCO is continuing to prepare a new convoy of 60 trucks, out of 180 planned for dispatch this week.
He told Al-Mamlaka that diplomatic efforts are continuing with the occupation to coordinate the passage of the largest possible number of trucks into the Strip.
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Turkey to start providing Syria with natural gas on August 2
Ammon News - Turkey will start providing Syria with natural gas from August 2, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told state-owned Anadolu news agency on Wednesday, adding Azerbaijan would also be involved in the exports running through Turkey's Kilis province. During a visit to Damascus in May, Turkish Energy Minister Bayraktar had said Turkey would provide Syria with 2 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually, in addition to 1,000 megawatts of electricity. He had said this month that Azerbaijan's SOCAR may be a partner in the project as well. On Wednesday, he said the natural gas provision would help Syria address its electricity needs as well, adding this would be used as fuel in electricity production at Syria's existing power plants. "We made a swap agreement with Azerbaijan, and the gas that will come from Azerbaijan will be exported to Aleppo, Syria, via Kilis," he said, adding Qatar would also be involved in this in terms of financing, and that ministers from the three countries would mark the start of the gas flow in a ceremony on Saturday. "With the 6 million cubic metres of gas that we are planning to send there, we will be able to realise 1,200 megawatts of electricity production," he added.
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When grand buildings signal institutional decay
Ammon News - PRINCETON — Central-bank independence, one of the late twentieth century's most consequential policy revolutions, led to a decline in inflation rates around the world. Today, however, the foundations of that institutional paradigm are eroding, particularly in the very countries that once epitomized it: the United Kingdom and the United States. While US President Donald Trump's attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have been unusually abusive, tensions between the Fed and the White House are nothing new, especially when national security dominates the political agenda. During the Korean War, President Harry Truman pushed the Fed to keep interest rates low to help finance defense spending. President Richard Nixon openly bullied the hapless Fed Chair Arthur Burns, and even Ronald Reagan made no secret of his frustration with Paul Volcker's tight monetary policies. In the aftermath of the Cold War, the so-called 'peace dividend' and a much-improved fiscal position made US economic policymaking relatively harmonious. But today, persistent deficits and the prospect of a new Cold War with China have reignited the fundamental tension between the executive branch and the Fed. Trump's relentless barrage of insults directed at Powell, calling him a 'numbskull,' a 'stubborn mule,' and 'always too late' – adds a particularly pungent flavor to the relationship. His latest target is the cost of the ongoing renovation of the Fed's Washington headquarters, denouncing the 'palatial' project as needlessly extravagant and wildly over budget. Trump's new line of attack echoes a classic observation by British satirist C. Northcote Parkinson. Writing in the 1950s, Parkinson noted that lavish new headquarters often signal institutional decline. As he put it, 'a perfection of planned layout is achieved only by institutions on the point of collapse.' To illustrate his 'law of buildings,' Parkinson cited the example of Louis XIV, who moved his court to Versailles in 1682, just as France was reeling from a string of military defeats. He also pointed to the interwar League of Nations, which began construction of its bombastic Palais des Nations in Geneva in 1929 – at the onset of the Great Depression – and completed it in 1938, by which point the League had become irrelevant. Trump's new line of attack echoes a classic observation by British satirist C. Northcote Parkinson. Writing in the 1950s, Parkinson noted that lavish new headquarters often signal institutional decline. As he put it, 'a perfection of planned layout is achieved only by institutions on the point of collapse.' To illustrate his 'law of buildings,' Parkinson cited the example of Louis XIV, who moved his court to Versailles in 1682, just as France was reeling from a string of military defeats. He also pointed to the interwar League of Nations, which began construction of its bombastic Palais des Nations in Geneva in 1929, at the onset of the Great Depression – and completed it in 1938, by which point the League had become irrelevant. Central banking offers several telling examples. In the 1930s, the then-privately owned Bank of England undertook a major reconstruction, designed by the architect Herbert Baker. The project, completed in 1939, coincided with the Bank's loss of credibility following its policy failures during the Great Depression. By 1946, its critics had succeeded in nationalizing it. Similarly, the German government built a new headquarters for the Reichsbank between 1933 and 1938, just as the institution was being transformed into an instrument of government spending and rearmament. By contrast, the most independent central banks of the postwar era occupy modest buildings: the Swiss National Bank remains in its original quarters, while the German Bundesbank still operates from an unattractive Brutalist structure built in the 1960s. The European Central Bank broke with that tradition. Its striking Frankfurt headquarters – designed by the architectural firm Coop Himmelb(l)au and completed in 2014 – was intended to embody 'transparency, communication, efficiency, and stability.' But a year later, the ECB launched a major quantitative easing (QE) program with little transparency, rendering the gleaming new building a symbolic substitute for policy effectiveness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, central banks around the world pursued QE, triggering a renewed surge in asset purchases. This significantly expanded their balance sheets and set the stage for structural challenges, particularly in the UK and the US: having taken on large amounts of long-term debt, central banks became vulnerable to substantial losses when interest rates rose. This risk can be managed through a formal government guarantee, as in the UK, where the Treasury explicitly covers the BOE's portfolio losses. Alternatively, it can be addressed through an implicit understanding, as in the US, where it is universally assumed that the Fed will never be allowed to fail. At the same time, government deficits widened, prompting a shift toward short-term debt and leading to a sharp rise in servicing costs. In the US, interest payments on the national debt increased from $223 billion in 2015 to $345 billion in 2020. This figure is projected to exceed $1 trillion in 2026 – surpassing even the defense budget. The UK's numbers are similarly striking, with £110 billion ($147 billion) of the £143 billion total borrowing requirement allocated to servicing existing debt. Governments and central banks thus find themselves increasingly interdependent, undermining the notion of true policy autonomy. The US, where the codependence between the government and the Fed lies at the heart of today's policy malaise, is a prime example. In this regard, Trump's aggressive rhetoric is likely a preview of how future administrations may behave. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent highlighted these tensions when he calledfor an inquiry into the 'entire Federal Reserve institution.' In a post on X, he warned that the Fed's policy autonomy 'is threatened by persistent mandate creep into areas beyond its core mission.' The phrase 'mandate creep' is another way of describing the entanglement between monetary and fiscal authorities, both operating within the constraints of a single, increasingly burdened government balance sheet. Bessent's remarks, while historically accurate, offered no path forward short of aggressive fiscal consolidation – a politically implausible solution. Architecture offers a symbolic lens through which to view the evolving relationship between governments and central banks. Notably, while the Trump administration criticizes the scale and opulence of the Fed's renovation, it is also planning a costly construction agenda of its own. One of Trump's first acts upon returning to the White House was to call for the redesign of federal buildings to 'respect regional, traditional, and classical architectural heritage,' aiming to 'uplift and beautify public spaces and ennoble the United States and our system of self-government.' Is the federal government, then, falling prey to Parkinson's law? Should the obsession with neoclassical architecture be seen as a sign that the administration has entered its late-Louis XIV phase, characterized by extravagance and fiscal peril? All signs point in that direction. Harold James is Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University. A specialist on German economic history and on globalization, he is a co-author of The Euro and The Battle of Ideas, and the author of The Creation and Destruction of Value: The Globalization Cycle, Krupp: A History of the Legendary German Firm, Making the European Monetary Union, The War of Words, and, most recently, Seven Crashes: The Economic Crises That Shaped Globalisation (Yale University Press, 2023). Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2025.
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Critical mass achieved: Why the world can no longer ignore Palestine
I rarely visit Rome without stopping at the Campo de' Fiori to pay homage to Giordano Bruno, an Italian philosopher who, in 1600, was brutally burned at the stake by the Roman Inquisition. His crime was daring to challenge entrenched dogmas and to think freely about God and the infinite nature of the universe. As I stood beneath his imposing statue, a strange ruckus suddenly erupted, growing louder as a sizable group of protesters drew closer. Dozens of people of all ages banged on pots and pans with fervent urgency. Following the initial shock and subsequent confusion, it became clear that the protest was an urgent attempt to awaken people to the horrific famine unfolding in Gaza. In no time, more people spontaneously joined in, some clapping, having arrived unprepared with their own tools for protest. Waiters from the square's osterie instinctively began to bang their hands on anything that could generate sound, adding to the growing clamor. The square stood momentarily still, pulsating with the collective noise before the protesters marched on to another square, their numbers visibly swelling with each step. In the bustling streets of Rome, Palestinian flags were conspicuously the only foreign flags to occupy public spaces. They hung from light poles, were glued onto street signs or flew proudly atop balconies. No other country, no other conflict, no other cause has permeated public spaces as profoundly as that of Palestine. Though this phenomenon is not entirely new, the ongoing Israeli war and genocide in Gaza has undeniably amplified this solidarity, pushing it fiercely beyond the traditional confines of class, ideology and political lines. Yet, no other space in Italy can truly be compared to Naples. Palestinian symbols are everywhere, permeating the city's fabric as if Palestine is the paramount political concern for the entire region's populace. What was particularly fascinating about the solidarity with Palestinians in this vibrant city was not merely the sheer volume of graffiti, posters and flags, but the very specific references made to Palestinian martyrs, prisoners and movements. Pictures of Walid Daqqa, Shireen Abu Akleh and Khader Adnan, alongside precise demands tailored to what would have been considered, outside of Palestine, largely unfamiliar specifics to a global audience, were prominently displayed. How did Naples become so intricately attuned to the Palestinian discourse to this extent? This vital question resonates far beyond Italy, applying to numerous cities across the world. Notably, this major shift in the deeper understanding of the Palestinian struggle and the widespread embrace of the Palestinian people is unfolding, despite the pervasive and unrelenting media bias in favor of Israel and the persistent intimidation by Western governments of pro-Palestinian activists. In politics, critical mass is achieved when an idea, initially championed by a minority group, decisively transforms into a mainstream issue. This crucial shift allows it to overcome tokenism and begins to exert real and tangible influence in the public sphere. In many societies around the world, the Palestinian cause has already attained that critical mass. In others, where government crackdowns still stifle the debate at its very roots, organic growth nevertheless continues, thus promising an inevitable and fundamental change as well. And this is precisely the haunting fear of numerous Israelis, especially within their political and intellectual classes. Writing in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on July 25, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak sounded the alarm once more. 'The Zionist vision is collapsing,' he wrote, adding that Israel is 'stuck in a 'war of deception' in Gaza.' Though Israel's pervasive Hasbara machine is relentlessly striving to stave off the surging flood of sympathy with Palestine and the rising tide of rage against Israeli alleged war crimes, for now its focus remains intently fixed on complicating the extermination of Gaza, even at the high price of global condemnation and outrage. When the war is finally over, however, Israel will undoubtedly exert its utmost efforts, employing numerous creative new ways to once more demonize the Palestinians and elevate itself—its so-called democracy and the 'right to defend itself.' Due to the growing international credibility of the Palestinian voice, Israel is already resorting to using Palestinians who indirectly defend Israel by faulting Gaza and attempting to play the role of the victim for 'both sides.' This insidious tactic is poised to grow exponentially in the future, as it aims directly at creating profound confusion and turning Palestinians against each other. Palestinians, Arabs and all supporters of justice worldwide must urgently seize this critical opportunity to decisively defeat the Israeli Hasbara for good. They must not allow Israel's lies and deceit to once more define the discourse on Palestine on the global stage. This war must be fiercely fought everywhere, and not a single space must be conceded—neither a parliament, a university, a sports event or a street corner. Giordano Bruno endured a most horrific and painful death, yet he never abandoned his profound beliefs. In the Palestine solidarity movement, we too must not waver from the struggle for Palestinian freedom and the accountability of war criminals, regardless of the time, energy or resources required. Now that Palestine has finally become the uncontested global cause, total unity is paramount to ensure the march toward freedom continues, so that the Gaza genocide becomes the final, agonizing chapter of the Palestinian tragedy. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is 'Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out'. His other books include 'My Father was a Freedom Fighter' and 'The Last Earth'. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA)
