BREAKING: Mass arrests under the Terrorism Act in Trafalgar Square, as hundreds defy the ban on Palestine Action. The police are knowingly unlawfully arresting peaceful protestors for holding placards which say: "I oppose genocide - I support Palestine Action"

Fed to loosen capital requirements for big US banks ft.trib.al/mzgmZfw

NEW: 🇺🇸The head of NATO Mark Rutte "NATO is a platform for the United States to project power on the world stage."

Pete Hegseth said this was "the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since WWII" (which is false, but that's beside the point), so I decided to look at what happened in WW2 and... this might surprise no-one: turns out the Nazis were more humane than the Americans. Probably the most abject part here is that the warship had many survivors - 32 to be precise (apnews.com/article/sri-lanka…) - and the U.S. made zero effort to rescue them, despite it being required by the laws of naval warfare and simply being the honorable thing to do. It took little Sri-Lanka, with its very modest means - especially compared to the $1 trillion US defense budget - to do the honorable thing and launch a (successful) rescue operation. Even the literal Nazis, during WW2, rescued the survivors of ships their U-boats sank. It was considered a matter of basic honor. The history of this is actually interesting: the Nazis rescued survivors all the way until the so-called Laconia Incident in 1942 (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconi…). The Laconia was a British troopship sunk by U-156, a German U-boat, off the West African coast. Right after the sinking, the Nazis immediately began rescuing over 400 survivors, broadcasting - as was common practice - in plain English their position on open radio channels to all Allied powers nearby, so they wouldn't get attacked during the rescue. That's when a US B-24 "Liberator" bomber attacked the submarine anyway, even though all the rescued survivors were on its foredeck. The B-24 killed dozens of Laconia's survivors with bombs and strafing attacks, forcing U-156 to cast into the sea the remaining survivors that she had rescued and crash dive to avoid being destroyed. The American B-24 pilots mistakenly reported they had sunk U-156, and were awarded medals for bravery... This event completely changed Nazi policy on this matter: Karl Dönitz, commander of the U-boat fleet, issued the "Laconiarefehl" - the Laconia Order - forbidding U-boats from rescuing survivors, because the risk to the submarine was now too high. In other words, the Americans during WW2 essentially forced the Nazis to abandon survivors - from the allied side (!) - at sea. Dönitz at least had an excuse.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Iran: Today more than ever, it is essential to remember that one can be against a hateful regime, as is the case with the Iranian regime, as is the whole of Spanish society, and at the same time be against an unjustified, dangerous military intervention outside of international law. That one must be against a war initiated without the authorization of the United States Congress or the United Nations Security Council and, as I have said before, one that violates international law. And that there is always room for a negotiated solution, instead of being dragged along by the devastation of arms as the only possible way out. Therefore, I would like once again, as we have done since the beginning, to appeal for immediate de-escalation, for full respect for international law in all the conflicts we are unfortunately suffering, and for the urgency of resuming dialogue as soon as possible. That is where Spain will be, and that is where I believe the whole of the European Union should be.

🇨🇦 Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told the World Economic Forum at Davos that the U.S.-led “rules-based international order” is finished and “will not return.” “For decades, countries like Canada benefited from what was called the rules-based international order,” Carney said. “We joined its institutions. We praised its principles. We benefited from its predictability.” But, he added, “we knew the story… was partially false.” “The strongest would exempt themselves when convenient,” Carney said, arguing that “trade rules were enforced asymmetrically,” and “international law applied with varying rigor depending on the identity of the accused or its victim.” “We participated in the rituals. And we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality.” That “pleasant fiction,” he states, no longer works. The new world is one where economic integration and financial infrastructure are openly used by hegemons—hinting at the United States—as “weapons” for “economic coercion.” Carney rejected reliance on bilateral deals with dominant powers. “When we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness,” he said. “This is not sovereignty. It is the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination.” Instead, he called for “values-based realism,” urging middle powers to act together and build a third path that is not a “world of fortresses,” but partnerships with partners with shared standards. If you are not at the table,” Carney said, “you are on the menu.” His remarks were met with a rare standing ovation in the room. Full speech below.