Antony "Sa'b" Blinken

The recent diplomatic gesture by the United States involved dispatching their Singer Secretary of State to perform "Rockin' in the Free World" at a bar in Kyiv.

Despite the song's "happy" refrain, Neil Young originally composed it as a critique of George H.W. Bush's policies:


"There's a lot of people sayin' we'd be better off dead.
Don't feel like Satan, but I am to them," refers to Ayatollah Khomeini's labeling of the United States as the "Great Satan. ""

The lyrics delve into the economic hardships experienced by America's working class and the "crack epidemic" (affecting Zelensky according to some rumors):

"I see a woman in the night
With a baby in her hand
There's an old street light (near a garbage can)
Near a garbage can (near a garbage can)
And now she put the kid away, and she's gone to get a hit
"

For some, this might seem like an unlucky song choice, but the scenario echoes the tale of Al-Ameen and Al-Ma'moun's power struggle following their father Haroon Al-Rasheed's death.

When Al-Ameen's forces were crumbling and under siege in Baghdad, he implored his uncle during a serene night of truce to bring him a signer. His uncle presented a servant named "Sa'b" (meaning difficult). Asked to sing, she commenced with a verse that laments:

"This is the fate of one pursued, his dwellings and chambers laid to waste."

The uncle reacted vehemently, demanding she sing something else. Her subsequent verse proved equally ominous:
"No stauncher supporter than Kulaib could be found
Yet, despite his fortune, he was left bathed in blood."

The uncle later recounted: "Our skins crawled with dread upon hearing this," presaging his nephew's demise, which tragically came to pass.

[ST]

Israeli media YNET:

An Egyptian source told the Qatari newspaper "Al-Arabi Al-Jadid" that "Egypt has not yet filed a request to join South Africa's lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, due to difficult technical legal requirements."

According to him, the Egyptian announcement about joining the lawsuit, "sent a harsh message to the Israeli government following the actions in Rafah, which violate the Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement, and at the same time sent a reassuring message to Egyptians who are angry that Cairo is not responding to Israel's actions."

[AI]