*ANGLO AMERICAN - STATEMENT ON POSSIBLE OFFER FOR ANGLO AMERICAN

Catching up on the new forecasts from Ireland’s Department of Finance. I note that net debt is expected to fall from €181bn at end-2023 to €141bn (40% of national income) by end-2027. On that basis, 🇮🇪 will soon have one of the strongest balance sheets in the developed world.

Was a bit worried about the replies to this but apparently all you guys want is for us to play football for Ireland 😂

Important but overlooked: Mike Johnson explicitly says he's acting on Ukraine because believes what our intel agencies say about the awful consequences of abandoning it.

That's a striking rebuke to MAGA's lies about the 'deep state' and the war. 1/

Link:
newrepublic.com/article/180808…

Lowest CON % ever recorded in 45 years of Ipsos polling, a record last broken in the previous poll.

It looks like Mike Johnson might finally be seeing the truth.

Weapons to Ukraine are the right choice.

You learn something new every day. I have just read that Amazon has grown its fleet of robots from 200,000 in 2019 to 750,000 today. #AMZN

Let no-one tell you what Johnson and House Republicans are pulling over Ukraine is just cosmetic. This is bad for America, bad for NATO, and *devastating* for Ukraine.

Global Arms Sales
(2010-2023)

The weekend Financial Times covers some stark data on Japan’s demographic challenges, with only 11.4% of its population aged under 15 and 29.1% over 65. In contrast, Ireland’s demographics are unusually strong for a developed country, with 19.2% of the population under 15 and 15.3% over 65.

NEW: The composition of the ongoing Iranian attack on Israel is similar to that of strikes that Russia has repeatedly conducted against Ukraine in efforts to determine the optimal package to penetrate Western-style air- and missile defenses. 🧵(1/8)

The bravery and skill of RNLI in rescuing a child from the sea off Dun Laoghaire was incredible. Thank you to the three volunteers who spoke to me and all the rescue services who helped them. Article is free to read. gary hayes Niamh Stephenson
Dun Laoghaire Coast Guard
thecurrency.news/articles/14680…

More science adding to the weight of evidence that new market rental accommodation helps the affordability and availability of rental homes - in this instance, in Helsinki.
Anti-supply people: please actually read this (& related) research before opining!
ideas.repec.org/p/fer/wpaper/1…

Interesting to see that Ireland’s ISEQ index achieved a record close of 10,147 earlier this week. The high water mark during the Celtic Tiger period was 9,981 in February 2007, with the post-Tiger trough weighing in at 1,916 in March 2009. Timing is everything! Euronext Dublin

In Europe and elsewhere there is a cargo cult aspect to analysis of US military strength that obsesses over formidable looking SOF and high end strike capabilities while ignoring how the real foundations of US power in naval assets, pre-positioning, logistics are rotting away

It remains a mystery as to why we continue to have a housing crisis

I’m delighted to finally get my hands on a copy of this today.

I see that Carrisbrook House in Ballsbridge is finally coming down, having been in situ for only a fraction of the time of its far more elegant neighbours.

This is a really interesting graphic about how the Tory vote is evaporating and where the votes are going: