'Garbage Time'

The balance of power.

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1. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and a top Hezbollah leader vowed yesterday to increase the intensity of their cross-border attacks, raising fears that the renewed conflict could escalate into all-out war. The Hezbollah official, the deputy secretary-general Naim Qassem, said the Lebanese militia had entered “a new stage” of open warfare against Israel, while Mr. Netanyahu said his nation would take “whatever action is necessary” to diminish the threat posed by its adversary. The statements came after a tumultuous week of hostilities. Early on Sunday, Hezbollah launched about 150 rockets, cruise missiles and drones, according to the Israeli military, targeting what appeared to be the deepest areas it has hit in Israel since the group began firing on it in October, a day after Hamas-led forces attacked southern Israel. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have been engaging in tit-for-tat attacks. (Source: nytimes.com)

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2. Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of strikes on southern Lebanon on Monday morning, stepping up its bombardment as the army warned civilians to evacuate and said it would continue to target sites where it believed Hizbollah was storing weapons. The string of strikes, which sent towers of smoke and fire rising across the hills of southern Lebanon, followed US warnings to Israel against taking steps that could result in an all-out war with the Lebanese militant group. “We advise civilians from Lebanese villages located in and next to buildings and areas used by Hezbollah for military purposes, such as those used to store weapons, to immediately move out of harm’s way,” said IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. (Sources: ft.com, nytimes.com)

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3. Embattled German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dodged a bullet yesterday as his Social Democrats (SPD) held off the far right in a key regional election in the eastern state of Brandenburg. The victory gives Scholz, who is struggling to hold his fractious three-party coalition together, a reprieve — at least for the time being. His approval ratings have hit record lows, and he was even asked not to campaign in Brandenburg due to his unpopularity with voters. The SPD finished first in Brandenburg, according to preliminary projections, with 30.9 percent of the vote, followed by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) with 29.2 percent. A new populist-leftist party known as the BSW came in third with a stunning 13.5 percent. The center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), who lead national polls by a substantial margin, placed fourth with 12.1 percent. (Sources: politico.eu, tagesschau.de)

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4. Eurointelligence:

The media tells us that the SPD won the elections in the east German state of Brandenburg, but they are hiding the really important news: that Sahra Wagenholds holds the balance of power. It is no longer possible in east Germany for centrist parties to form a coalition amongst each other. They now rely on Germany's most outspoken opponents of weapons deliveries for Ukraine to secure parliamentary majorities.  (Source: eurointelligence.com)