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• The Air Defender 23 exercise starting next week will see 10,000 participants and 250 aircraft from 25 nations respond to a simulated attack on a NATO member country. 
• The United States alone is sending 2,000 U.S. Air National Guard personnel and about 100 aircraft to take part in the June 12-23 training maneuvres.

Germany is hosting NATO's biggest ever air exercise over Europe next week with 250 planes from member countries simulating the alliance's response to an attack on Europe. The exercise could cause some disruption to civilian flight schedules and create extra noise. READ MORE : https://www.euronews.com/2023/06/07/g...

  

Germany prepares to host NATO's biggest ever air exercise over Europe

German air force chief Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz briefs the media during a news conference on the Air Defender exercise in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, June 7, 2023   -  Copyright  Markus Schreiber/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved

By Euronews  with AFP, AP  •  Updated: 07/06/2023 - 16:03

Germany is hosting NATO's biggest ever air exercise over Europe next week with 250 planes from member countries simulating the alliance's response to an attack on Europe. The exercise could cause some disruption to civilian flight schedules and create extra noise.

Germany is preparing to host the biggest air deployment exercise in NATO's history, a show of force intended to impress allies and potential adversaries such as Russia, German and American officials said Wednesday.

The Air Defender 23 exercise starting next week will see 10,000 participants and 250 aircraft from 25 nations respond to a simulated attack on a NATO member country. The United States alone is sending 2,000 U.S. Air National Guard personnel and about 100 aircraft to take part in the June 12-23 training maneuvres.

US Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann, left, and US Air National Guard Director Lieutenant General Michael A. Loh, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, June 7, 2023Markus Schreiber/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved

"It will demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt the agility and the swiftness of our allied force in NATO as a first responder," US Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmannshe said.

"I would be pretty surprised if any world leader was not taking note of what this shows in terms of the spirit of this alliance, which means the strength of this alliance." 

"And that includes Mr Putin," she added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

• Germany’s military has warned the huge air force drill will have an impact on people using civil airlines in Europe.

Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, of the German Air Force, explained: “I know there could be restrictions on civil air traffic. On the issue of aircraft noise, we have a higher intensity, of course, where we’re going to be flying.”

• While the exercise was planned for several years, Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has jolted NATO into preparing in earnest for the possibility of an attack on its territory. Sweden, which is hoping to join the alliance, and Japan are also taking part in the exercise.

"We are showing that NATO territory is our red line, that we are prepared to defend every centimetre of this territory," Lt. Gen. Gerhartz said. 

"But we won't, for example, conduct any flights toward Kaliningrad. So this is intended to be defensive."

Kaliningrad is a Russian exclave located on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania.

Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh, director of the US Air National Guard, said the exercise goes beyond deterrence.

"It's about the readiness of our force. It's about coordination, not just within NATO, but with our other allies and partners outside of NATO," he said.

Loh said the exercise would be an opportunity for younger US airmen, many of whom have mainly gotten experience serving in the Middle East, to build relationships with allies in Europe and prepare for a different military scenario.

"So this is about now establishing what it means to go against a great power, in a great power competition," he said.

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SHOCKING NUMBERS: OECD Sees Weak, Inflation-Plagued Global Recovery..."but, it's not a recession"

 

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli says the world faces slow growth, but "it's not a recession," as she discusses the organization's forecast of 2.7% global growth this year. She speaks on "Bloomberg Surveillance."

OECD: Global Recovery faces a "Long, Un-Winding Road" ...China is expected to see the sharpest positive shift in growth between 2022 and 2023 of any G20 economy,

China is expected to see the sharpest positive shift in growth between 2022 and 2023 of any G20 economy, largely on account of the lifting of the government's "zero-COVID" policy. China's GDP growth is projected to rise to 5.4 percent in 2023, the report said.

OECD raises 2023 world GDP growth forecast to 2.7%

Updated 17:41, 07-Jun-2023

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Mathias Cormann and OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli present the organisation's updated global economic outlook, in Paris, on June 7, 2023. /CFP

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) slightly nudged up its 2023 world GDP growth forecast to 2.7 percent on Wednesday, as inflation eased and China's reopening provided a boost to the global economy, but warned that global recovery faces a "long unwinding road."

The global economy has begun to improve, as lower energy prices are easing the strain on household budgets, business and consumer sentiment are recovering, and China's restart has provided a boost to global activity, according to the OECD's latest twice-a-year outlook report.

The OECD forecasts an economic expansion of 2.7 percent for the year globally, up from a 2.6-percent projection in its previous report in March.

China is expected to see the sharpest positive shift in growth between 2022 and 2023 of any G20 economy, largely on account of the lifting of the government's "zero-COVID" policy. China's GDP growth is projected to rise to 5.4 percent in 2023, the report said.

However, the global economic forecast is still below the 2022 growth rate of 3.3 percent, the lowest annual rate since the 2008-2009 global financial crisis with the exception of the pandemic-hit year of 2020, the report showed.

The organization warned the upturn remains fragile and risks are tilted to the downside, noting the uncertainty over the evolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the persistence of inflation.

"The global economy is turning a corner but faces a long road ahead to attain strong and sustainable growth," OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli wrote in the OECD's report."

Mega-Donor Harlan Crow Faces Possible Subpoena over gifts providing luxury travel and engaging in private real estate deals with Clarence Thomas and his family,

Wyden Says Subpoena Possible for Billionaire Harlan Crow

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5 hours ago — "It comes as little surprise that Mr. Crow is doubling down on bogus legal ... Mega-donor faces new Senate subpoena threat over gifts to Clarence Thomas.

A powerful Senate Democrat has threatened to send a subpoena to conservative megadonor Harlan Crow, who provided luxury travel and engaged in private real estate deals with Clarence Thomas and his family, escalating tension between democrats and Crow over his relationship with the Supreme Court justice.

Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, reacting to the latest letter from Crow’s lawyer declining to offer details on his relationship with Thomas, made the suggestion of a subpoena Tuesday.

The Oregon Democrat said he has begun “productive discussions” on next steps to compel answers from Crow, “including by subpoena.”

It’s the first time Wyden has said specifically that a subpoena is under consideration.

“This is exactly why the Finance Committee is pursuing this matter as part of its broader review of gift and estate tax practices of ultra-high net worth individuals,” Wyden said...

The Wyden statement was triggered after Crow’s attorney, Michael Bopp, told Durbin late Monday that he would meet with staff of that committee to discuss its questions regarding the interactions between his client and Thomas.

But Bopp reiterated his claims that the committee does not have the authority to investigate the relationship between the two men. . ."

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Senator Ron Wyden, chair of finance panel, warns of ‘next steps’ to compel testimony of Harlan Crow about supreme court justice 

"The Democratic chair of the Senate finance committee has reiterated his threat to subpoena Harlan Crow, the Republican mega-donor whose gifts to the supreme court justice Clarence Thomas are the source of scandal.

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In a statement Ron Wyden of Oregon accused Crow of “doubling down on bogus legal theories as he continues to stonewall basic questions about his gifts to Clarence Thomas and his family.

“Vague, carefully-worded assurance that everything is on the level [are] simply not good enough … I’ve already begun productive discussions with the finance committee on next steps to compel answers to our questions from Mr Crow, including by subpoena, and those discussions will continue,” Wyden said.

Wyden was responding to a letter from Crow’s lawyer, Michael Bopp, sent late last week in answer to Wyden’s demand for a list of gifts.

• ProPublica has detailed gifts from Crow to Thomas including luxury travel and resort stays, a property purchase and the paying of school fees.

Thomas did not declare most such gifts. He has said he was advised he did not have to but would do so in future.

Crow has claimed not to have discussed politics or business before the court with Thomas or with his wife, the far-right activist Ginni Thomas.

• The Guardian has shown Crow has had business before the court during his friendship with Thomas.

Democrats and activists have called for Thomas to resign or be impeached – the former vastly unlikely, the latter a political non-starter.

In his letter to Wyden, Bopp said the Senate finance committee had “fail[ed] to establish a valid justification for [its] impermissible legislative tax audit of a private citizen”.

Wyden responded after news of another letter, in which Bopp said that though he had “concerns” about senators’ attempts to investigate his client, he was willing to have a “discussion” with staffers for the Senate judiciary committee.

The chair of that panel, Dick Durbin of Illinois, and his fellow Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, a committee member from Rhode Island, responded strongly.

“Harlan Crow doesn’t call the shots here,” they said. “He is not a branch – nor even a member – of government and cannot claim the protections and privileges of one.

“The Senate judiciary committee has clearly established oversight and legislative authority to assess and address the ethical crisis facing the court. All options are on the table moving forward.”

Whitehouse and other senators have rejected arguments that they lack the constitutional authority to investigate the supreme court.

Supreme court justices are nominally subject to the same ethics rules as all other federal judges. In practice, however, they govern themselves.

Judicial record undermines Clarence Thomas defence in luxury gifts scandal

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Attempts to investigate Thomas and Crow have also been blocked by the chief justice of the supreme court, John Roberts, who said he would not voluntarily appear before the judiciary committee.

On Tuesday, the president of the pressure group Accountable.US, Kyle Herrig, said: “It was Justice Thomas’s decades-long improper financial relationship with billionaire benefactor Harlan Crow that sparked the supreme court corruption crisis in the first place.”

“It’s no surprise that Crow continues to believe he and Justice Thomas exist above congressional oversight and above the law – but they don’t.

“Chief Justice Roberts has abdicated his responsibility to clean up his court, forcing Congress to step in. Whether by Roberts or Congress, we need accountability and reform now.”