[IsraelTimes] After a weeks-long investigation, police and Shin Bet confirm that last month’s stabbing of an elderly Jerusalem resident was a terror attack.
After the court lifted a gag order this morning on the investigation’s details, police say that the attacker had already been acquainted with the victim, a 74-year-old woman, while working as a cleaner in her building.
Police arrested the suspect, a 60-year-old resident of East Jerusalem’s Silwan neighborhood, for questioning a few hours after the attack, which took place in the city’s downtown.
He appeared in court earlier today as prosecutors request to extend his detention and plan to file an indictment against him in the coming days.
According to police, the attacker visited the victim’s home the evening prior as part of a repair service, and left the same evening after telling her that he needed screws in order to fix the problem.
The next morning, the attacker returned to the apartment and attempted to strangle the elderly woman to death. Upon realizing he forgot his walking stick at the scene, the attacker returned to find that his victim was still alive. He then took a knife from a nearby drawer and began to stab her multiple times.
After she called her daughter, police and emergency responders arrived at the scene and transported the elderly victim, conscious but at death's door, to the hospital.
Police say that the suspect stole the victim’s jewelry and sold it to a shop in East Jerusalem, before fleeing to the West Bank.
According to Ynet, the suspect told police in his interrogation that he decided to kill the woman "because of what is happening in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... "The Israel Police and the Shin Bet will continue to work with all security forces to thwart terrorism and arrest holy warriors wherever they may be, in order to protect the citizens of the State of Israel," say police.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF says troops of the 810th “Mountains” Regional Brigade operating on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon located several caches of weapons.
During “targeted raids,” the IDF says, the troops searched military buildings and strategic positions in the Hermon area, where they found and destroyed mines, explosive devices, anti-tank missiles, rockets, and launchers.
The IDF says its operations inside Syria, in a UN buffer zone, are aimed at strengthening defenses on the border to protect the residents of the Israeli Golan Heights.
[IsraelTimes] Several Palestinians were spotted by the military climbing over Israel’s security barrier with the West Bank near the IDF’s Central Command base in northern Jerusalem.
The IDF says that after scanning the area, no suspects infiltrated the base.
At least two of the suspects were reportedly detained outside the base, while several others fled.
[IsraelTimes] Police have blocked a planned rally in the north demanding an end to the war, for reasons that include expected speeches featuring “incitement” and “weakening the security forces.”
According to Haaretz, the far-left Communist Party of Israel (Maki) filed a request to hold a three-kilometer march in the Arab city of Sakhnin, urging an end to the war and a stronger fight against violent crime in the Arab community.
However, police refused to authorize the demonstration since Israel is in a state of war, since the road where it was set to take place is used by emergency army vehicles and is close to “sensitive security sites,” since intelligence indicated more than the requested 1,000 people were set to attend, and since no municipal approval was presented.
In addition, the police letter stated that “police have material indicating expected speeches of an inciting nature that weakens the security forces.”
It warned the organizers that they would be criminally liable if the protest ended up going ahead.
[IsraelTimes] Following last week’s IDF operation at Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital, in which forces said they arrested 240 terror suspects, a report claims that 60 of the detainees received treatment in Israeli hospitals following their arrest.
Channel 12 news reports that 60 members of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups required medical attention that couldn’t be given at the Sde Teiman detention facility, since its field hospital was closed in October citing a low number of patients.
Citing unnamed sources in the healthcare system, the network says that the terror suspects were taken to hospitals including Ichilov in Tel Aviv, Barzilai in Ashkelon, Assuta in Ashdod, Wolfson in Holon, and Shaare Zedek in Jerusalem.
It quotes an unnamed health official as reiterating past warnings that the closure of the field hospital would cause terrorists to get treatment at hospitals around the country — presumably posing security risks and potentially leading to public criticism — adding that this “could have been avoided” and calling for a designated facility.
Sydney. Again. Another suburb with a large Jewish community and multiple Jewish communal facilities. No one just vandalises a car with a racist slogan. It is the product of endless incitement, demonisation and a belief that such attitudes are freely permitted, even celebrated. pic.twitter.com/KPxRTpf1bK
[IsraelTimes] North Korea ...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche... fired a ballistic missile that flew 1,100 kilometers (685 miles) before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, South Korea’s military says, extending its heightened weapons testing activities into 2025 weeks before Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... returns as US president.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff say the missile was fired from an area near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and that the launch preparations were detected in advance by the US and South Korean militaries. It denounces the launch as a provocation that poses a serious threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
The joint chiefs say the military is strengthening its surveillance and defense posture in preparation for possible additional launches and sharing information on the missile with the United States and Japan.
The launch came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm... was visiting Seoul for talks with South Korean allies over the North Korean nuclear threat and other issues.
Blinken’s visit comes amid political turmoil in South Korea following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law decree and subsequent impeachment by parliament last month, which experts say puts the country at a disadvantage in getting a steady footing with Trump ahead of his return to the White House.
[IsraelTimes] Channel 12 cites ‘Maj. Nun’ as writing that while IDF was preparing for worst-case scenario of 4 simultaneous incursions from Gaza, Hamas was planning a far more significant attack
An assessment from a senior Israeli intelligence officer in August 2023 warning that Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... was readying for a large-scale attack was suppressed and not passed on to senior military brass in the months prior to the Paleostinian terror group’s brutal October 7, 2023, massacre, according to a Saturday evening report.
According to Channel 12, a senior Israel Defense Forces official named only by his first initial as "Maj. Nun" wrote the assessment that there had been a change in the feasibility of war with Hamas, based on dire warnings from two counterintelligence officers from the military’s 8200 signals intelligence unit, as he was leaving his role in August last year.
The report said that in the presentation, Nun had warned that while intelligence indicated that Hamas was preparing for a very broad operation, the IDF was readying only for a scenario of up to four simultaneous incursions from the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip.
He wrote that the intelligence indicated that "several basic assumptions" should be challenged, according to the report, and suggested resuming monitoring Hamas’s elite Nukhba force. It was the Nukhba force that led thousands of Paleostinian bandidosbully boyz across the border into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages amid many acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Unit 8200, one of the IDF units pointed to as playing a role in the failure to prevent October 7, reportedly stopped listening in to the handheld radios of Hamas operatives in Gaza around a year before the onslaught because it was seen as a "waste of effort."
Nun was reportedly the officer responsible for presenting a document obtained by Unit 8200 in April 2022 setting out Hamas’s plans for what proved to be the October 7 invasion and slaughter in southern Israel.
The existence of the document, which Israeli military intelligence codenamed "Jericho Walls," was first reported by the Kan broadcaster and detailed by The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... in November 2023.
As reported by Hebrew media last year, it was not seen by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi before the October 7 attack. It was also not seen by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-defense minister Yoav Gallant, or the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
According to the timeline laid out by Channel 12 on Saturday, the IDF chief was briefed on Hamas’s military training drills in September 2023, but Nun’s warnings were left out of the presentation.
Instead, the warnings were assessed by the bigwig’s commanding officer, named in the report as "Lt. Gen. Alef," as warning of a "pompous and unrealistic scenario." He ordered Nun’s successor to create a new document on Hamas training preparations to present to Halevi that did not mention the "Jericho Walls" plan.
According to the reports, the 40-page "Jericho Walls" plan laid out almost exactly how Hamas eventually wound up carrying out the attack.
The Times wrote: "The document called for a barrage of rockets at the outset of the attack, drones to knock out the security cameras and automated machine guns along the border, and button men to pour into Israel en masse in paragliders, on cycle of violences and on foot — all of which happened on Oct. 7."
Israeli intelligence officers who did see the plan reportedly determined that the terror group was incapable of carrying out an assault of such a large scope — or possibly unwilling — and dismissed concerns about it.
Saturday night’s report was the latest in a long series of revelations that began emerging soon after October 7 about intelligence material in Israel’s hands pointing to the looming Hamas invasion that was ignored, dismissed, or misinterpreted. The TV channel said its report was compiled under military censorship limitations.
Last month, the IDF chief instructed the military to "accelerate the timetables" for the conclusion of its investigations into the October 7 onslaught, to meet a January 31 deadline set by Defense Minister Israel Katz.
The government has refused to appoint a state commission of inquiry and has opposed any probes that could include looking at political failures surrounding the devastating surprise attack, its lead-up, and its aftermath.
The attack sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, which has also seen fighting on several other fronts as well against Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... — which backs Hamas — and its various other proxy groups in the region.
[IsraelTimes] Organization is currently dealing with at least 43,000 missing people in ‘massive task’ that may fail in some cases, urges de facto leaders to preserve evidence
Determining the fate of those who went missing during Syria’s civil war will be a massive task likely to take years, the president of the International Committee for the Red Thingy said on Saturday.
"Identifying the missing and informing the families about their fate is going to be a huge challenge," ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric told AFP in an interview.
The fate of tens of thousands of detainees and missing people remains one of the most harrowing legacies of the conflict that started in 2011 when then-president Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... ’s forces brutally repressed anti-government protests.
Many are believed to have been buried in mass graves after being tortured in Syria’s jails during a war that has killed more than half a million people.
Thousands have been released since Islamist-led rebels ousted Assad last month, but many Syrians are still looking for traces of relatives and friends who went missing.
Spoljaric said the ICRC was working with the caretaker authorities, non-governmental organizations and the Syrian Red Islamic Thingy to collect data to give families answers as soon as possible.
But "the task is enormous," she said in the interview late Saturday.
"It will take years to get clarity and to be able to inform everybody concerned. And there will be cases we will never (be able) to identify," she added.
"Until recently, we’ve been following up on 35,000 cases, and since we established a new hotline in December, we are adding another 8,000 requests," Spoljaric said.
"But that is just potentially a portion of the numbers."
Spoljaric said the ICRC was offering the new authorities to "work with us to build the necessary institution and institutional capacities to manage the available data and to protect and gather what... needs to be collected."
Human Rights Watch last month urged the new Syrian authorities to "secure, collect and safeguard evidence, including from mass grave sites and government records... that will be vital in future criminal trials."
The rights group also called for cooperation with the ICRC, which could "provide critical expertise" to help safeguard the records and clarify the fate of missing people.
Spoljaric said: "We cannot exclude that data is going to be lost. But we need to work quickly to preserve what exists and to store it centrally to be able to follow up on the individual cases."
More than half a century of brutal rule by the Assad family came to a sudden end in early December after a rapid rebel offensive swept across Syria and took the capital Damascus.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britannia-based war monitor, says more than 100,000 people have died in detention from torture or dire health conditions across Syria since 2011.
[IsraelTimes] Requests for naturalization hit an all-time high as communities warm to the idea. While future trends are unpredictable, developments in Syria will have a huge impact
Against the backdrop of the wars in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... and Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel... , the fall of the Assad regime, and the tragic death of 12 Druze children in Majdal Shams in a Hezbollah rocket attack, the number of Druze residents applying for Israeli citizenship in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights might be a reflection of local sentiment — and perhaps also of attitudes on the nearby Syrian side of the volatile border.
Data obtained by Shomrim reveals that the number of citizenship applications in the Israeli Golan Heights remains at a historic high. Over 20 percent of Golan Druze hold Israeli citizenship, more than double than at the turn of the millennium.
The statistics were obtained from the Population and Immigration Authority thanks to a request filed through the Movement for Freedom of Information, an Israeli NGO that works to promote governmental transparency.
Israel captured much of the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six Day War; the post-war borders zig-zagged between Druze villages, cutting families and communities off from one another. When Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, it offered all residents Israeli citizenship, though only a small minority took it up. Recently, though, that number has grown.
THE STATS
Druze naturalizations peaked in 2022, when 438 citizenship requests were submitted, of which 419 were approved. In 2023, applications dipped slightly to 406, of which 389 were granted, and in the first 11 months of 2024, there were 352 requests, of which 318 were approved. Assuming the trend continued through the end of the year, 2024 likely ended with a similar number of requests as 2023.
Looking at the broader picture, over the past three years (2022-2024), Israel approved 1,126 citizenship requests from Druze in the Israeli Golan Heights, compared to just 539 in the five-year period between 2017 and 2021.
Based on data from the Population and Immigration Authority, approximately 6,000 of the over 29,000 Druze residents in the Golan Heights — about 20.45% — currently hold Israeli citizenship. Compared to 2022, this is an increase of around 3.6% of the total Druze community in the area. Part of this increase is the result of more applications being submitted and part is the result of couples with Israeli citizenship having children.
COMPLEX HISTORY
While applying for Israeli citizenship has not been a rarity in the Druze community for many years, it is still something of a controversial issue. While there are no longer boycotts organized against those who apply for Israeli citizenship, as was the case for many years, it is still hard to find anyone willing to talk openly about their decision — and even within families, there is much secrecy surrounding the issue.
For the vast majority of the time since Israel occupied the Golan Heights, the Druze residents were fiercely loyal to the Syrian regime, for many and varied reasons, chief among which was the possibility that the territory could be returned to Syrian control as part of a peace treaty with Israel. The Assad regime — first under Hafez Assad and then his son, Bashar — ensured that Damascus’s relations with the Druze community in the Golan remained strong, in part by offering them generous financial incentives, such as importing massive quantities of apples from the Golan, subsidizing university studies in Syria for young Druze men and women and allowing family visits between the Israeli and Syrian Golan.
Despite the efforts of the Syrian regime, however, the attractiveness of these incentives wore off over the years. This led to a decline in agriculture in the Golan, while other economic sectors such as tourism and construction grew, strengthening the community’s ties with Israel. Moreover, the Syrian civil war made studying in Damascus a less attractive option and interfered with family visits.
This process, accompanied by a consistent increase in the number of requests for Israeli citizenship, unfolded to a large extent behind the scenes — at least until the issue was brought to the fore by the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... onslaught on southern Israel and a number of subsequent events.
For example, in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas invasion, Druze local authorities in the Golan set up armed rapid-response teams to defend their communities. In so doing, they openly cooperated with the IDF and the State of Israel, notwithstanding the heavy symbolism of working with the Israeli military and government. Another critical moment was the Hezbollah rocket attack that killed 12 children on a soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, which provoked massive anger toward the Assad regime — Hezbollah’s ally — as well as an expectation that Israel would take decisive action against those responsible for the tragedy.
THE SYRIAN EFFECT
Dr. Salim Brik, a researcher on Arab society and a political science lecturer at Haifa University and the Open University, believes that the main reason for the upward trend in citizenship requests is the assessment within the Druze community that Syria will not assume control of the Golan Heights any time soon. Another reason, he argues, is the demise of the once-fierce opposition within the community to taking Israeli citizenship and the absence of social sanctions for doing so. Now, he says, the issue of applying for Israeli citizenship is seen as a personal choice.
Dr. Yusri Hazran, a research fellow and senior lecturer at Shalem College, sees things differently. He says that there are four main reasons why Druze residents of the Golan Heights apply for Israeli citizenship: the ongoing decline in the political protest against Israel; the absence of an alternative to Israeli rule, coupled with the fresh understanding that Assad’s successors in Syria are bad news for the Druze community; integration into the Israeli economy; and a desire to study in Israeli academic institutions.
"The Druze see their mother country disintegrating with the fall of the Assad regime and they are looking for an anchor," he says, pointing to the rapid-response teams as a significant example of the change. "I believe that the upward trend in citizenship requests will continue. I can’t think of anything that would change the graph in the coming years. On the contrary, I estimate that a further increase is expected."
All of the researchers with whom Shomrim spoke were of the opinion that the fall of the Assad regime was a moment of historic significance for the Druze and will have a long-term effect on their naturalization. Whether or not the new regime is less oppressive and whether this will change the trend remains to be seen.
Dr. Tayer Abu Salah is an international relations researcher and the head of the Golan Association for the Development of Arab Villages who lives in Majdal Shams. He says that the number of naturalizations surprised him — but only because he expected them to be higher. Based on his familiarity with the community, he explains that in recent weeks the Druze have been analyzing events in Syria and hoping for positive developments. What unfolds on the Syrian front will have a massive impact on their future in general and on the naturalization issue in particular.
Asked what the Druze community’s considerations are when analyzing the Syrian situation, Abu Salah mentions regional alliances which will become reality under pressure from US President-elect Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... , moderate comments from Syria’s new leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, and Israel’s record of withdrawing from territory it captured during the Six Day War.
"If what happens in Syria is positive, it will have a positive impact on the Golan — and vice versa," says Abu Salah. "In any case, it must be pointed out that, even after 57 years of Israeli occupation, most of the Druze community in the Golan is still loyal to their country of birth, which is Syria."
[IsraelTimes] None of the cases have yielded arrests; after latest incident in Brazil, Israel said to set up joint desk to assess, respond to legal threats to traveling ex-troops
The Foreign Ministry knows of at least twelve cases in which complaints have been filed abroad against Israel Defense Forces soldiers accusing them of war crimes in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , Channel 12 news reported Sunday, amid reports of Israelis being urged to leave various countries to avoid potential prosecution, including in Brazil on Sunday.
Such complaints have been filed in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Belgium, the Netherlands, Serbia, Ireland and Cyprus, the report said, citing figures presented in a ministerial meeting. According to the Haaretz daily, the list also includes South Africa and La Belle France.
Channel 12 noted that in most cases, the complaints did not result in an investigation, and in none of them was anyone arrested, though is said the Brazil incident had come close to becoming a diplomatic crisis.
The network reported that during the same ministerial meeting Sunday, data was presented showing that in the second half of 2024, physical antisemitic attacks rose by 104 percent, while online antisemitic cases rose by 63%. The meeting’s objective was reportedly to devise procedures for dealing with cases similar to Sunday’s Brazil case.
Meanwhile,
...back at the comedy club, Boogie ducked another tomato... Haaretz reported Sunday that a joint desk has been set up by the Military Advocate General, the Foreign Ministry, the National Security Council, and the Shin Bet to assess legal threats to soldiers abroad.
The reports come amid a campaign by the Hind Rajab Foundation, a nonprofit based in Belgium, to identify Israeli soldiers who have published videos to social media in which they commit, claim to have committed, or appear to endorse committing potential war crimes, and to file complaints against the soldiers on that basis.
The organization, which proclaims that it is "devoted to ending Israeli impunity and achieving justice for Hind Rajab and all the victims of the Gaza Genocide," is named after six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed in Gaza in February. Her death was blamed on the IDF, but an initial probe conducted by the army said that there were no troops in the area at the time.
An Israel Defense Forces soldier who survived Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... ’s massacre at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, hurriedly ended his vacation in Brazil on Sunday morning after the country’s Federal Court ordered police to open a war crimes investigation on him, according to Brazilian media.
He was being investigated under suspicion that he was involved "in the destruction of a residential building in the Gaza Strip while using explosives outside of combat" in November, the Brazilian Metrópoles news outlet reported.
The Foreign Ministry said that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar had ordered the ministry’s Consular Section and the embassy in Brazil to contact the man and his family, who "accompanied him throughout the event until his swift and safe departure from Brazil."
"The Foreign Ministry draws the attention of Israelis to posts on social media about their military service, and to the fact that anti-Israeli elements may exploit these posts to initiate futile legal proceedings against them," the Foreign Ministry added.
"The State of Israel is dealing today with an organized campaign by pro-Paleostinian organizations that are trying to gather materials that soldiers have posted over the course of the war, and to use them to try to have those soldiers arrested," explained Israeli Ambassador to Brazil Daniel Zonshine to Channel 12 on Sunday.
Yuval Kaplinski, former head of the International Division of the State Attorney’s Office, told the network: "If a soldier posts a video in which you see destroyed houses, or posts [a video of] a demolition of houses, and he says: ’We’re going to blow up all the houses in Gaza, and kill civilians, and settle there, and destroy all of Gaza and all the Gazooks,’ he is, essentially, declaring that he is carrying out a war crime."
More about the IDF soldier who narrowly escaped from Brazil can be read here.
[IsraelTimes] Official from terror group demands weeklong truce to get info, but Israel unlikely to agree; Smotrich reportedly tells hostages’ families he won’t agree to ‘pay a price for bodies’
Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... was said Sunday evening to have agreed with Israel on a list of 34 hostages to be released in the first phase of a potential ceasefire deal, but the Paleostinian terror group was refusing to detail who of them was alive, according to multiple reports citing Hamas and Israeli officials.
After a Hamas official was cited by the Rooters news agency as claiming the terror group had supplied such a list, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office quickly denied it and said that "as of now, Hamas has not given a list of hostages."
Rooters later said the Hamas official had provided the outlet a copy of the list showing the names of 34 hostages it agreed to set free in any possible ceasefire deal with Israel. However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... the agency didn’t say whose names were on it.
Several subsequent reports appeared to clear up the contradiction between the versions given by Hamas and Israel, saying that rather than supplying a list of names, Hamas had indicated that a list of 34 names sent by Jerusalem several months ago was acceptable to it, but that Israel viewed the information as incomplete and not allowing further progress.
The Walla news site reported, citing an unnamed senior Israeli official, that Hamas had approved the list in exchange for an "appropriate price" — meaning the number of Paleostinian security prisoners to be freed as part of the deal — but refused to say who was alive and who wasn’t, making it impossible to determine which price would be appropriate.
The AFP news agency reported similar details, quoting an unnamed Hamas official who demanded a weeklong truce in order for the terror group to determine who on the list was alive.
"Hamas has agreed to release 34 Israeli prisoners from a list presented by Israel as part of the first phase of a prisoner exchange deal," the official said, adding however that Hamas needed time to determine their condition.
"Hamas has agreed to release the 34 prisoners, whether alive or dead," the official said. "However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... the group needs a week of calm to communicate with the captors and identify those who are alive and those who are dead."
Israel is highly unlikely to agree to halt the fighting for a week without a finalized deal.
Negotiators are looking to achieve a halt to the 15-month-old war, together with the release of 100 hostages still held captive by Gazook terror groups.
The first phase of a three-stage potential deal would reportedly see 23 female and older captives go free in the first stage, in addition to 11 men under the age of 50 who are believed to be in poor health, including civilians Avera Mengistu and Hisham a-Sayed who have been held in the Strip for around a decade.
As of last week, Hamas had been reported to be refusing to release 12 of those 34 hostages, deeming any man between the ages of 18 and 50 a "soldier."
The Hamas official who spoke to Rooters on Sunday insisted that any deal was contingent upon the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... and a permanent ceasefire, claiming that there had been no progress from the Israeli side in this regard.
Netanyahu has insisted throughout multiple rounds of failed negotiations that Israel will not commit to a complete end to the war and has said that the fight against Hamas will resume at the conclusion of any deal that is reached.
Multiple reports said Sunday that White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk was already in Doha, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... for the negotiations, adding that Mosssd ...... chief David Barnea was expected to head there as well. Channel 12 news said Barnea would arrive on Monday or Tuesday.
Netanyahu has held a series of security discussions in recent days on the hostage talks, with Channel 12 reporting that Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer were all in attendance.
The network added that Israel is aiming for US President-elect Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... ’s inauguration on January 20 as the target deadline for an agreement.
The Walla and Axios news sites reported Sunday that Dermer is expected to travel to the US this week to meet bigwigs from the White House and Trump’s incoming administration.
The Saudi al-Hadath news outlet reported, citing sources from the Israeli delegation to Qatar, that Jerusalem could agree to grant Hamas leaders immunity and refrain from targeting them abroad if the group agrees to relinquish its governance of the Gaza Strip and move abroad.
The report added that in place of the terror group, Gaza would be controlled by "an independent Paleostinian body," the report stated, in coordination with the international community. An international peacekeeping force, similar to UNIFIL in Leb ...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?... , would be established in this scenario and the US would be responsible for overseeing the implementation of such an agreement.
’THERE WAS NO NEGLECT’
At a meeting attended by some hostages’ relatives last week, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told the families that he disagrees with the assertion that the government neglected its duty to Israeli citizens on October 7, 2023, during the Hamas-led onslaught that killed over 1,200 and resulted in the kidnapping of 251 hostages, sparking the war.
"There was no neglect. The State of Israel did not neglect," said Smotrich, according to Channel 12, which added that the hostages’ relatives were stunned by his statement.
A hostage’s family member rejected the minister’s assertion, saying: "What do you mean? My daughter was abandoned by the State of Israel. She was kidnapped from within the state’s territory."
However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... Smotrich pushed back, insisting that "there was no abandonment here. The State of Israel did not abandon."
Smotrich was also said to have asserted that he would not agree to any deal to return the bodies of slain hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, with the outlet quoting the far-right minister as saying: "I don’t intend to pay a price for bodies. No terrorist will be returned for a body. They will be brought back in operations."
Ninety-six of the 251 hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the October 7 assault remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 38 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
[IsraelTimes] Saudi daily al-Sharq publishes what it says is the list of the 34 hostages to be freed in the first phase of a potential hostage-ceasefire deal.
Hamas has refused to say who on the list is alive.
According to the report, an official from the terror group says it will take around a week to determine the condition of each of the hostages.
The list includes two children, 10 women, 11 older men and 11 men aged under 50.
The outlet says the following individuals would be released if a deal were to be reached.
Romi Gonen
Emily Damari
Arbel Yehud
Doron Steinbrecher
Ariel Bibas
Kfir Bibas
Shiri Silberman Bibas
Liri Albag
Karina Ariev
Agam Berger
Danielle Gilboa
Naama Levy
Ohad Ben-Ami
Gad Moshe Moses
Keith Siegel
Ofer Calderon
Eli Sharabi
Itzhak Elgaret
Shlomo Mansur
Ohad Yahalomi
Yousef Yousef Alziadna
Oded Lifshitz
Idan Tsachi
Hisham Eli Said
Yarden Bibas
Sagui Dekel-Chen
Iair Horn
Omer Wenkert
Alexander Troufanov
Eliya Cohen
Or Levy
Avera Mengistu
Tal Shoham
Omer Shem-Tov
#1
HAMAS leadership, what is still left of it, no longer has direct hostage control. It is more likely various splinter groups and PA/GAZA civilians are holding the hostages.
So basically we could see a PR stunt of 20 coffins at the exchange. Then days to determine if the bodies really
are or were the 10-7 hostages.
Tit for tat with IDF punishment — it’s unfortunately the only way to ram the lesson home, since nothing kinder has worked.
[IsraelTimes] The High Court of Justice rules unanimously that the state is not obligated to release for burial the bodies of slain terrorists who are Israeli citizens, in light of the state’s position that it may want to exchange those bodies in the framework of an agreement for the return of Israeli hostages and dead being held by Hamas in Gaza.
Six petitions were filed last year to the court against the state by relatives of the slain gunnies arguing that the cabinet’s decision to not release the bodies of their relatives was unlawful, was taken without legal authority, and did "severe and blatant harm" to the dignity of the dead and of their families.
The state argued that negotiations for the release of Israeli hostages and the dead being held by Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... are "dynamic" and are at a sensitive stage, and that at present "it is not possible to rule out that holding the bodies of these gunnies will be needed for the purpose of [bringing back] the captives and missing."
Hardline conservative justice David Mintz, who penned the opinion for the three-justice panel, wrote that the court has "the most limited scope" for intervening in government decisions relating to security decisions, and that such intervention is reserved for extreme situations.
Mintz also writes that the military commander has the authority under a 1945 regulation to withhold the release of the bodies of terrorists, and that the court previously ruled in September last year that this applied to Israeli citizens as well.
The judge concluded that the decision not to release the bodies by the government "is a temporary and time-limited decision which is reviewed from time to time by the Cabinet," and that in light of the "current security reality, the ongoing negotiations and their dynamic nature... we did not find that there was any room for our intervention."
Small numbers, but infinitely more than zero. And despite Haredi rabbis insisting that none of their boys should join up because it seduces them away from the faith.
[IsraelTimes] Military hails ‘significant milestone,’ says another 100 older Haredi men join Hasmonean Brigade’s first reservist company.
#2
Easy enough to tie the long locks back in a low ponytail. God doesn’t require them to wear the hair down — that’s just fashionable in their social circle.
[DAILYMAIL.CO.UK] Justin Trudeau ...hereditary prime minister of the Great White North... resigned as the Canadian Prime Minister on Monday to cap off a spectacular fall from grace just days before Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... enters office.
The move came after weeks of pressure from his colleagues in Canada's Liberal Party amid a significant, and growing, rift over how to handle relations with Trump in his second term.
Trump announced on social media after his reelection a plan to introduce a 25 percent tariff on goods from Canada, which led Trudeau into a frenzy to try and clean-up his relationship with the U.S. president-elect before he is sworn into office later this month.
The day after unveiling the idea, Trudeau, 53, immediately flew down to Mar-a-Lago to do damage control.
During that meeting, reports emerged detailing how Trudeau pleaded with Trump not to impose the tariffs and claimed it would kill Canada's economy.
To this, Trump suggested that the northern neighbors could become America's 51st state, and in following weeks mocked the Canadian leader by calling him Governor Trudeau.
The reason Trump wants to impose tariffs on Canada is to pressure Ottawa to do more to secure the border and stop leaking illegal immigrants colonists into the U.S.
#7
I read that he has to hold the election by some time in October, though he can bring it forward. So it’s conceivable that he’ll delay as long as possible in the hope of a change in voter sentiment — he was elected three times in a row, after all, even if the last one left his party without a majority, if I understand correctly.
#9
I don't want the US taking over Canada at the moment. I keep seeing my late former Canadian former secretary saying something like "Every time I get out, they pull me back in..."
#10
Trudeau is being forced out by his own party. He will step down from PM as soon as his party picks a replacement. No one likes him. He has no friends.
Posted by: Difar Dave ||
01/06/2025 17:55
Comments ||
Top||
[Breitbart] An alleged intruder was shot and killed around 2 a.m. Friday after confronting an armed homeowner in Englewood, Ohio.
WHIO reported that the alleged intruder, 43-year-old Matthew Culham, after being heard making noises in the backyard.
WDTN noted the boyfriend and girlfriend who reside in the house called 911, with the girlfriend telling the dispatcher her boyfriend was retrieving a firearm. As the call continued, the dispatcher heard three shots ring out.
Police arrived to find Culham lying dead in the yard.
Englewood Police Chief Corey Follick believe the boyfriend was investigating the strange noises when Culham allegedly charged him.
Follick said, "Most burglars, if they determine that a home is occupied, once they’re detected, they normally flee the area...[but] this subject stayed on their property and confronted the homeowner when he was out double-checking to see what all may have been damaged or stolen from his property or who the person was on his property."
[Breitbart] Three Israelis were killed in a terrorist shooting attack Monday near Kdumim in the north of the West Bank, Israel’s ambulance service reported.
The attack involved gunmen opening fire on vehicles, including a passenger bus.
The Magen David Adom rescue service said those killed included two women in their 60s and a man in his 40s.
According to Reuters, Israeli Army Radio said the military had imposed a cordon around all villages in the area to search for the suspects, who it believes have fled to a nearby Palestinian village.
"Paramedics have confirmed the deaths of three victims, including two women and a man," Magen David Adom said, while the military reported troops were "pursuing the terrorists" who carried out the attack near the village of Al-Funduq.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/06/2025
10:49 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11170 views]
Top|| File under:
[FoxNews] The House and Senate will meet on Monday in a Joint Session of Congress to certify the results of the 2024 presidential vote.
The Capitol riot and contretemps over certification of the 2020 presidential election converted the quadrennial, often sleepy affair of certifying the Electoral College into a full-blown national security event. Congressional security officials began erecting 10-foot-high fencing around the outer perimeter of the Capitol complex over the past few days. Some of the fences extend beyond the usual "Capitol Square" which includes the Capitol building itself. One such fence was all the way around the outer boundaries of the Russell Senate Park.
One of the great ironies in the American political system is that the person who lost the race for the presidency often presides over their own defeat. In this case, Vice President Harris. Harris remains the vice president until Jan. 20. That also means she continues as president of the Senate.
Others have performed this onerous task of certifying their own defeat. Future President Richard Nixon was vice president when he lost to President John F. Kennedy in 1960. Nixon then certified JFK as the winner in January 1961. Former Vice President Al Gore ...Former Vice President, Nobel Prize winner, Global Warming prophet and speculator, and crazed sex poodle... ceded his election to President George W. Bush after the disputed 2000 election and tumult over which candidate actually won Florida. Gore was then at the Capitol to seal Bush’s victory in January 2001.
#4
One of the great ironies in the American political system is that the person who lost the race for the presidency often presides over their own defeat.
It's not an irony, it is a ritual and symbol of the peaceful transition of power that is a hallmark of our system of government. And yes, I'm glad she lost.
[RedState] Asshole will need to prepare for depositions
The Department of Justice official who pushed for the armed raid on Mar-a-Lago, which ended up with documents that were available for the asking and a chance to riffle through Melania's underwear drawer, has retired. Jay Bratt, a 30-plus-year veteran of the Department of Justice, has tendered his resignation, saying staying on "wasn't worth it."
But three sources familiar with the move described it to SpyTalk as a significant and even chilling event previewing a potential exodus of seasoned government lawyers and FBI agents who fear the wrath of Pam Bondi, Trump ’s pick for attorney general, Kash Patel, his intended nominee for FBI Director, and their expected army of MAGA loyalists in line to fill out top posts.
"They’re forcing him out. There isn’t any doubt that, like [FBI Director Chris] Wray, he’s leaving to get ahead of the axe," said one former Justice official who attended a farewell party for Bratt at the Justice Department’s seventh floor media center on Friday.
According to the report, Bratt, a senior executive service member, expected to be fired by incoming Attorney General Pam Bondi, and he would face a long-running and expensive "wrongful dismissal" lawsuit to be allowed to retire a la Andrew McCabe.
According to books and reporting on the issue, the FBI did not want to conduct a SWAT-style raid with shoot-to-kill orders on Mar-a-Lago, but Bratt insisted; see The Battle Over Raiding Mar-a-Lago: Some FBI Officials Were Concerned About the DOJ's Ultimate Goal.
After obtaining evidence that Trump employees at Mar-a-Lago may have been moving boxes that hadn’t been returned, Bratt later pushed for a warrant to search the president’s home—a move that was resisted by Steven D’Antuono, the top FBI agent overseeing the case, who viewed the Justice prosecutor as being overly "aggressive," according to Where Tyranny Begins: The Justice Department, the FBI and the War on Democracy, a book by veteran journalist David Rhode. But D’Antuono’s objections were overruled by senior FBI officials, resulting in the August 2022 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago that recovered another 102 documents with classified markings. The search enraged Trump and put both Bratt and FBI Director Wray in the cross-hairs of the former president and his lawyers.
Bratt was also credibly accused of pressuring the attorney of Trump's Mar-a-Lago valet into getting his client to testify against Trump in exchange for a federal judgeship.
In addition, Stanley Woodward, a lawyer representing Walt Nauta, a co-defendant in your classified documents case against President Trump, accused you of improperly pressuring him by implying that the Biden Administration would look more favorably on Mr. Woodward’s candidacy for a judgeship if his client cooperated with the Office of the Special Counsel.10 According to Mr. Woodward, you advised him that you "wouldn’t want [him] to do anything to mess that up," in reference to Mr. Woodward’s judgeship application, and your desire to turn his client into a government cooperator.
Somehow, we're all supposed to be concerned about the mass exodus of "seasoned government lawyers and FBI agents" who engaged in lawfare against President Trump and members of his 2017-2021 team. They could have learned a valuable life lesson by watching the HBO series "The Wire" before engaging in political warfare against the once and future president.
The more people who resign, the less drama will take place, and more slots can be filled with people who just want to do their jobs and have no interest in eliminating political figures or engaging in a soft coup against the White House.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/06/2025
05:30 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11159 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
Guess his preemptive pardon didn't come through.
[IsraelNationalNews] Liri Albag, one of five female IDF soldiers still being held hostage in Gaza, was the subject of Hamas’s most recently released video. The video of Liri alive was filmed on Jan. 1. Available online on pro-Hamas websites, it shows the 19-year-old in emotional distress, shaking at times, as she begged for her life.
The hostages have been held in Gaza for 457 days. And the question of why they are still there, why has Israel been unable to bring them home, gets asked with increased frustration and alarm every day from all quarters.
On Saturday, we received an answer to that question. Shortly after news broke of the release of the video of Liri Albag, The New York Times published an interview with outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken. Blinken said that Hamas has refused to agree to release the hostages in exchange for a ceasefire for two reasons.
In his words, "There have been two major impediments, and they both go to what drives Hamas. One has been whenever there has been public daylight between the United States and Israel and the perception that pressure was growing on Israel, we’ve seen it: Hamas has pulled back from agreeing to a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
...Under harsh questioning from the Times’ anti-Israel reporter Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Blinken revealed that U.S. pressure on Israel began immediately after Oct. 7, 2023, and became a central feature of U.S. policy in relation to the war from its very earliest days. From the outset, the provision of unlimited supplies to Gaza—euphemistically referred to as humanitarian aid—has been the constant focus of U.S. pressure on Israel.
Almost immediately after the Oct. 7 invasion, then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a siege of Gaza. The move was self-explanatory. The Gazans had taken 256 Israelis hostage to Gaza. So long as they weren’t released, Gaza would remain under siege. Siege warfare has long been considered one of the most humane, least destructive forms of warfare, and it is legal under the laws of war.
The Biden administration would have none of it. Blinken described how he compelled Israel to resupply Hamas from day one of the war.
...Blinken also admitted that the reason that the 100 hostages are still in Gaza is that Hamas perceives the administration as pressuring Israel to capitulate to Hamas. I'm sure there are appropriate Vietnamese & Pashtun sayings.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective ||
01/06/2025
02:12 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11145 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
I am glad she is alive. I believe that Trump has a plan.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/06/2025 14:07
Comments ||
Top||
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Mexico's drug cartels are using homeless people as human guinea pigs to test experimental cocktails of fentanyl — with deadly consequences.
Gang members visit camps in northwest Mexico and offer broke addicts sums of around $30 to try an injection of their latest fentanyl concoction — and then watch to see what happens next.
The gangsters, who visit such camps on a daily basis, use their cell phones to document the reactions to their powerful synthetic opioids, an investigation by The New York Times shows.
Homeless camp resident Pedro López Camacho is among those who took the money, and the needle, several times. He survived but says he watched others take their last breaths after getting a shot.
'When it's really strong, it knocks you out or kills you,' he said. 'The people here died.'
The testing on human guinea pigs marks the latest phase in an opioid abuse crisis that began in the US in the late 1990s and saw overdose deaths spiral, climbing at times by more than 30 percent a year.
Fatalities peaked in the US at more than 110,000 in 2022, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Deaths fell back to 97,000 in the 12-month period ending in June 2024.
The shift is attributed to greater public awareness of the dangers of fentanyl, more addiction treatment, the availability of opioid reversal drugs — and because so many addiction-prone people have already perished.
Even so, the fatality rate remains shockingly high, and president-elect Donald Trump has said he'd 'like to end the drug epidemic' by battling the multi-billion dollar cartels bringing drugs into the US.
He's vowed to crack down on fentanyl smugglers, secure the US-Mexico border, execute drug dealers and pressure China into halting the export of the pre-cursor chemicals in fentanyl. His incoming administration's border czar, Tom Homan, a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief, has threatened military action against Mexican cartels and the 'full might of the United States special operations to take them out.'
The gang members who test new variations of fentanyl on the impoverished show how the groups are adapting to a fast-changing environment and how far they will go to dominate the US market.
Global efforts to crack down on synthetic opioids have in recent months made it harder for them to source the chemical compounds needed to produce fentanyl. The original source, China, has restricted exports of raw ingredients, pushing gang bosses to devise new and risky ways to maintain fentanyl production and potency.
They've started mixing the drug with a wider range of additives — including animal sedatives and other potent anesthetics. To test their results, the criminals who make the fentanyl for the cartels, known as cooks, say they inject their experimental cocktails into humans as well as chickens and rabbits. If the rabbits survive beyond 90 seconds, the drug is seen as too weak to be sold in the US.
After raiding cartel labs, officials have described finding dead animals used for testing among the drug-making gear.
'They experiment in the style of Dr. Death,' Renato Sales, a former national security commissioner in Mexico, told The Times.
'It's to see the potency of the substance.'
Cooks described trying out unusual drugs — including oral anesthetics and canine sedatives — in the quest for a viable fentanyl mixer. The labs are haphazard. Cooks mix up vats of chemicals using rudimentary gear, exposing themselves to toxic substances that have left some hallucinating, retching, passed out and even dead.
The cartel cooks of Sinaloa State are credited with introducing xylazine, an animal tranquilizer known on the street as 'Tranq,' to the US drug market. It's often mixed with fentanyl into a deadly cocktail.
'You inject this into a hen, and if it takes between a minute and a minute and a half to die, that means it came out really good,' a cook told the paper.
'If it doesn't die or takes too long to die, we'll add xylazine.'
Experts say that more potent combinations net more money for the cartels. Caleb Banta-Green, a research professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, called it a 'wild west of experimentation.'
The cartels are recruiting university chemistry students as their cooks. One student hired by the cartel revealed that to test new cocktails, the group brought in drug users living on the street and injected them with synthetic opioids. No one has died, said the student, but some were left convulsing and foaming at the mouth.
US health chiefs have recently started warning about a drug 100 times more potent than fentanyl that's claimed lives across 37 states in recent years.
The drug, called carfentanil, is a derivative of fentanyl that was designed to tranquilize elephants.
It's the most potent commercial opioid on the market.
There were 513 overdoses from carfentanil between January 2021 and June 2024, hitting states like Florida and West Virginia the hardest, says a CDC report from December.
It comes in powder, paper, tablet, patch and spray form, and can be inhaled, ingested or absorbed through the skin.
In it's powdered form, the drug mimics cocaine or heroin, and is often mixed into other illegal drugs like xylazine or counterfeit pills.
The groundwork for the US fentanyl epidemic was laid more than 20 years ago, with aggressive over-prescribing of the synthetic opioid oxycodone.
[FoxNews] The New Jersey Education Association called the test requirement a 'barrier' for educators.
Teachers in New Jersey will no longer be required to pass a basic reading, writing and mathematics test to be eligible for public schools, according to a new law.
Act 1669, which was signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy, D., in June, went into effect on Wednesday at the start of the new year. The law aims to tackle teacher shortages in the state by removing what the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), a teachers’ union, called a "barrier" to certification in 2023.
The law states, "[T]he State Board of Education shall not require a candidate seeking a certificate of eligibility, a certificate of eligibility with advanced standing, a provisional certificate, or a standard instructional certificate to complete a Commissioner of Education-approved test of basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills including, but not limited to, the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators test, in order to obtain a certificate of eligibility, a certificate of eligibility with advanced standing, a provisional certificate, or a standard instructional certificate."
The Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators test is used by over 40 states and territories in the country and includes questions on English and mathematics as well as basic questions on specific subjects.
"We need more teachers. This is the best way to get them," Democratic state Sen. Jim Beach argued when the bill was passed. "Sure, they're morons, but they fill a position"
Actually, you don't. You need more union members. If you don't have those who can pass basic reading and writing skill tests then there is no longer a need for 'public' education. Start printing the vouchers for parents who actually care about their children getting an education.
#4
Sorry to hear that, Skidmark. Back in my day we built project boards with wiring, relays, magnets, buzzers, lights and switches (using 6V batteries for power), and this was in the 8th grade.
By High School we were almost blowing stuff up.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/06/2025 9:12
Comments ||
Top||
#5
By High School we were almost blowing stuff up.
AKA: Homework. Tennis ball cannons were the gateway drug
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/06/2025 10:17
Comments ||
Top||
#6
I think they're looking more for babysitters...
Posted by: no mo uro ||
01/06/2025 11:26
Comments ||
Top||
#8
This may be a good thing for New Jersey. I see it as an opportunity to increase the number of teachers AND reduce the homeless population. As a side benefit, more teachers means more political power for the teacher's union.
"But what about the kids?", you say. They weren't learning squat anyway. Only about 50% of the NJ kids are proficient in reading, 40% in math, and less than 30% in science. Not exactly fodder for the future. Unless we are talking a Soylent Green(tm) is People future.
#9
I don’t think the initiative will have much impact on the competence of teachers in affluent schools. I think they likely have trouble staffing up folks in places like Newark. This is authorization to just use warm bodies. The performance levels are already so low there that I can’t see there being a resulting measurable drop in tests scores.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/06/2025 14:00
Comments ||
Top||
#10
they likely have trouble staffing up folks in places like Newark
[Conscience Events] Crimes Against Humanity Tour USA — A series of full day seminar events have been hosted in 9 cities across the United States from April 23rd, 2022 to October 1st, 2022 featuring depositions by ex-military officials, medical and legal professionals including:
Richard M Fleming, PhD, MD, JD: Nuclear Cardiologist with 55 years of research, lawyer.
Charles Rixey: Ex Weapons of Mass Destruction military chief.
Dr. Kevin McCairn: 25 year veteran of clinical neuroscience.
Dr. Andrew G. Huff: Ex vice president of EcoHealth Alliance.
Dr. Johanna Deinert: German board certified Medical Doctor.
Steve Kirsch: Founder of the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation.
Jennifer Bridges: Registered nurse who filed law suits regarding forced vaccination of employees.
Attorney Tom Renz: Founder of Ohio Stands Up
The aim of the 9-city seminar tour was to present evidence of crimes against humanity to the public while rallying support for a national call for legal criminal action against the perpetrators via the 10Letters of Indictments Campaign. For details about the 9-city Crimes Against Humanity Tour, click on Past Events.
Plan of Action — USA
The 10Letters of Indictments Campaign — A nationwide online campaign that simplifies the process for American citizens to send letters of indictments to state officials (Attorney Generals and Governors) across the United States of America. More than ten thousand letters have been sent urging officials to honor their oaths, to serve and protect their constituents by convening grand juries to investigate the evidence, and hold those responsible for their crimes against Americans and humanity.
An explosion caused by a police munition is seen while supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump riot in front of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021
[GP] A prosecutor in New Orleans has taken his own life just days after the city was hit by a massive terror attack carried out by a homegrown Islamist radical.
As WVUE reported Sunday, Orleans Parish Assistant District Attorney Ian Kersting was discovered dead Saturday around 9 p.m. via suicide inside the offices of District Attorney Jason Williams’ staff according to authorities. His cause of death was an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
Police said emergency medical services arrived at 619 South White St., the DA’s office building, but Kersting was already deceased. He was just 34-years-old.
Williams’ office released the following statement:
Two hours long, so you know what to do, dear Reader. If you’re in today’s snow belt, enjoy staying inside.
[TuckerCarlsonNework] Permanent Washington is trying to prevent Tulsi Gabbard from becoming Director of National Intelligence. Bernard Hudson ran counterterrorism at CIA, and says the country needs her.
[DailyWire] "President Biden's action today (I think Biden's action was on 3 January) is shameful and corrupt," said U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt. "He gave a political payback to a union boss out of touch with his members while harming our company's future, our workers, and our national security."
Burritt said that Biden refused to meet with the company to "learn the facts."
"The Chinese Communist Party leaders in Beijing are dancing in the streets," Burritt said. "We needed a President who knows how to get the best deal for America and work hard to make it happen. Make no mistake: this investment is what guarantees a great future for U.S. Steel, our employees, our communities, and our country. We intend to fight President Biden's political corruption."
----------------------------
FWIW, Nippon Steel is a publicly traded company (NISTF) on the OTC. US Steel is also publicly traded (X) on the NYSE. Maybe it is anti competitive but I can't see what the national security issue is as both companies are owned by the general public
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
01/06/2025
00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11156 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I'm certain the CEO and Board were due bonuses in the deal.
#4
I used to work for a company that used to use some imported Nippon steel to manufacture parts for Japanese customers in the US. Their quality was much better than similar product manufactured by Repulican and Copperweld Steel, a French company. US Steel is a large producer, but no longer the largest steel producer in the US. Japan is an ally. I think the purchase would have brought needed change to US Steel. Japan is not China.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/06/2025 13:50
Comments ||
Top||
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:57 Official summary of the Office for Documentation of War Crimes of Ukraine from 00:00 05.01.2025 to 00:00 06.01.2025.
A total of 24 facts of armed attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
There were reports of a teenager being injured.
DAMAGED:
Two residential buildings,
One car,
One civil infrastructure facility.
A total of 24 armed attacks in the Gorlovka direction.
A total of 79 units of various ammunition were fired.
21:40 "Kursk Counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine 2.0": the enemy abandoned battalions with tanks to the slaughter
Today, at 9 a.m., the enemy began an offensive in the direction of Berdin – Bolshoye Soldatskoye.
In several waves, the Ukrainian Armed Forces deployed about 25 units of military equipment (including five tanks) and about two infantry battalions.
The enemy chose the villages of Berdin and Novostonitsky as their target, not reaching the highway (Sudzha - Kursk) to Bolshoe Soldatskoye.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces' armored vehicles made about 20 trips, transporting infantry across the fields to the plantings, where they gathered and rushed into battle.
FPVs were also active, meeting columns of equipment and then hunting for scattering infantry.
By the end of the day, the bulk of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' armored vehicles had been destroyed or damaged.
The occupiers' assault groups have also been largely routed. Fighters from the Akhmat Special Forces, the 2nd Special Forces Brigade, and the 30th Guards Regiment Sever are clearing the Berdino area.
Several small groups of Ukrainian Armed Forces have taken up positions in the plantings, having found themselves in a semi-cauldron; they are now being hunted.
During the fighting, one engineering vehicle, five tanks, up to 15 armored vehicles, up to three infantry fighting vehicles were destroyed. The first day of the crazy counteroffensive is already several kilometers from the enemy breakthrough area, but more on that in the next report.
20:35 "Brave" en masse are being destroyed equipment and infantry of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, breaking through to Pokrovsk
Scouts of the "Center" group of forces are actively destroying the manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Krasnoarmeysk direction.
19:20 Telegram channel "Colonelcassad"
A Ka-52 attack helicopter hits Ukrainian Armed Forces armored vehicles in the area of the village of Berdin, –video.
18:20 Russian Ministry of Defense:
In the period from 15:00 to 18:00 Moscow time, air defense systems on dutydestroyedfour Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles: three UAVs over the territory of the Belgorod region and one over the territory of the Kursk region.
17:20 Russian Ministry of Defense:
An FPV drone crew from the North group of troops destroyed a Ukrainian Armed Forces pickup truck in the Khar'kov region, –video.
16:32 On the Kursk Frontare burning enemy tanks: Russian army destroys armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The "North" group of troops burns Ukrainian Armed Forces tanks near Malaya Loknya and in neighboring areas in the Kursk border region.
15:49 "Lancet" against the self-propelled gun "Krab", -video.
A crew of the Lancet loitering munition from the North group of forces destroyed a Krab self-propelled artillery unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the border area of the Kursk region.
13:20 From 10:00 to 12:00 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed five Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles: three UAVs over the territory of the Belgorod region and two over the territory of the Kursk region.
11:29 Leopard was torn to pieces by Russian birds near Kurakhovo, –video.
Footage of the destruction of a German Leopard 2A4 tank west of Kurakhovo by two FPV drones; after the second strike, the armored vehicle's ammunition detonated, tearing it apart.
10:31 Telegram channel "WarGonzo":
Frontline report for the morning of 05.01.2025
Zaporizhzhya Front. Russian troopscontinueto be active in several areas of the front, but it is impossible to talk about a full-scale offensive. The battles are local in nature, and most often, have a positional character.
Donetsk Front. Russian troops have completed the cleanup of Kurakhovo, which is confirmed by objective control footage with the Russian flag on the westernmost outskirts of the city. The Russian Armed Forces continue to advance on the flanks of the city. To the northwest of Kurakhovo, the settlement of Petrovpavlovka has been liberated, and fighting for Slavyanka continues. In Dzerzhinsk, Russian troops continue to conduct assault operations, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces are putting up fierce resistance.
Chasovoyarsk direction. Without significant changes in the LBS. The RF Armed Forces will most likely make an attempt to finally dislodge the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the plant's territory in the coming days.
Kursk Region. No significant changes. Russian troops continue to attempt to dislodge the occupiers from their positions. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are actively counterattacking.
9:35 Soldiers of the special forces unit "Grachi" and the 5th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade raised the Russian flag on the westernmost outskirts of the town of Kurakhovo.
Soldiers from the 346th Special Forces Brigade of the Southern Military District and the 5th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade raised the flag on the westernmost outskirts of the city of Kurakhovo after completing the cleanup.
9:10 Crew of the Night Hunter stopped rotation of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the border area of the Kursk region.
8:18 Kursk region. Advance of the Russian army 05.01
Fighting with new strength are being conducted in the area of the settlement of Leonidovo. Another enemy sabotage and reconnaissance group has been eliminated.
The advance of our troops in various areas forces the enemy to throw in new forces and use NATO reserve equipment.
8:05 Russian Ministry of Defense:
During the past night, air defense systems on dutydestroyed61 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles. 37 UAVs were destroyed over the territory of the Rostov region, 20 over the territory of the Bryansk region, two over the territory of the Voronezh region, one over the territory of the Belgorod region and one over the territory of the Oryol region.
Hattip to an anonymous poster who unfortunately didn’t provide a link with his headline, so I did my best.
[Click2Houston] Investigators say the compound has never been used in a U.S. or European attack
Federal Sherlocks say Shamsud-Din Jabbar used a very rare explosive compound in two IEDs he placed in the area where he later rammed a truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers, killing 14.
The rare compound has never been used in a U.S. terror attack or incident and has never been used in a European attack.
Over the last two days, Sherlocks have searched the Houston ...a city in Texas, named after Sam Houston, who would drop deader than he is now if he could see how it turned out... -area trailer owned by Jabbar.
The searches of Jabbar’s home have yielded what authorities described as "bomb-making materials" and "precursor chemicals," they say he used to make the two functional bombs.
Investigators tell NBC News’ Tom Winter they’re working now to find out how Jabbar knew about the compound and how he went about making it.
Those two IEDs never went off. The FBI said Friday that Jabbar intended to use a transmitter to detonate them. That transmitter was found inside the F150 truck. The transmitter and two guns connected to Jabbar are being taken to an FBI laboratory for testing, along with some clothing and shell casings from the truck.
Jabbar had rented an AirBNB before the attack. The FBI confirmed on Friday that he "set a small fire in the hallway and strategically placed accelerants throughout the house in his effort to destroy it and other evidence of his crime." After Jabbar left the home, the fire fizzled out before spreading to other rooms. That allowed Sherlocks to recover evidence, including pre-cursors for bomb-making material and what appeared to be a silencer for a rifle that the FBI said was privately made.
The FBI said Friday they’d received almost 1,000 tips.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) personnel from across the country continue to work diligently to further this investigation and evaluate evidence, interview victims and witnesses, and analyze tips related to the New Orleans Bourbon Street attack. Two days into the investigation, the FBI has received almost 1,000 tips, and leads have been sent to FBI field offices across the country for investigation.
As of Thursday, January 2, 2025, all evidence recovery along Bourbon Street and at a short-term rental home on Mandeville Street in New Orleans used by subject Shamsud-Din Jabbar has been completed. At the Mandeville Street location, bomb-making materials—which were rendered safe—and other items were found and collected for further processing. FBI special agents located similar materials at the search of Jabbar’s home on Crescent Peak Drive in Houston, Texas.
On January 1, at 5:18 a.m. CST, the New Orleans Fire Department (NOFD) responded to a fire at the Mandeville Street location after the attack on Bourbon Street. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) has determined that Jabbar was the only person who could have had access to the residence when the fire was set. ATF also determined that Jabbar set a small fire in the hallway and strategically placed accelerants throughout the house in his effort to destroy it and other evidence of his crime. After Jabbar left the residence, the fire burned to a point that it extinguished itself prior to spreading to other rooms. The ATF investigation revealed that when the NOFD arrived at the scene, the fire was smoldering, allowing for the recovery of evidence, including pre-cursors for bomb-making material and a privately made device suspected of being a silencer for a rifle.
Evidence collected from multiple sites are being evaluated to further the investigation. The FBI assesses that, during his attack on Bourbon Street, Jabbar intended to use a transmitter, which was found in the F150 truck, to detonate the two IEDs he placed on Bourbon Street. The transmitter, along with two firearms connected to Jabbar, is being transported to the FBI Laboratory for additional testing, as well as clothing and shell casings from the truck. FBI personnel are also evaluating terabytes worth of video and other data collected by street cameras monitored by the New Orleans Real Time Crime Center.
How the FBI responds after they’ve embarrassed themselves:
The FBI continues to surge resources from across the country to assist the New Orleans Field Office. In addition to FBI special agents and personnel based in Louisiana, more than 200 additional personnel have been brought in to assist in this investigation in order to process evidence, support victims, and investigate leads and tips. Personnel support includes, but is not limited to, special agents, victim specialists, evidence technicians, specially trained crisis management personnel, and intelligence analysts.
FBI victim specialists and special agents continue to interview survivors and witnesses. As of January 3, the FBI has identified 35 known injured individuals. The number of injured is expected to rise in the coming days as additional people either take themselves to hospitals with injuries or ask for assistance from the FBI.
The man who rammed a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans had suspected bomb-making materials at his home and reserved the vehicle used in the deadly attack more than six weeks earlier, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press on Friday.
The FBI investigation also revealed that Jabbar purchased a cooler in Vidor, Texas, hours before the attack and gun oil from a store in Sulphur, Louisiana, the officials said. Authorities also determined Jabbar booked his rental of the pickup truck on Nov. 14, suggesting he may have been plotting the attack for more than six weeks.
Authorities on Friday were still investigating Jabbar’s motives and how he carried out the attack. They say he exited the crashed truck wearing a ballistic vest and helmet and fired at police, wounding at least two officers before he was fatally shot by officers returning fire.
Thirteen people remained hospitalized. Eight people were in intensive care at University Medical Center New Orleans, spokesperson Carolina Giepert said.
According to a Saturday report by The New York Times, friends and family noticed that Jabbar, a decorated US Army veteran with a $120,000-a-year job as a “senior solutions specialist” at Deloitte, had become more conservative over the last year in his religious outlook.
But those close to him told the newspaper they were entirely unaware of his radicalization, and could not say exactly when it had happened.
Jabbar, an African-American Texas native whose father, originally a Baptist, converted to Islam, grew up in a “largely secular” family, some of whom continued to attend a Baptist church even after his father’s conversion, according to relatives.
According to a half-brother, Jabbar loved school as a child and got good grades. After high school, however, he lost a scholarship at the University of Houston due to heavy partying and drinking that compromised his studies.
Not everyone can handle the wild life without losing focus.
In 2007, Jabbar enlisted in the US Army, working in human resources and information technology, and achieving the rank of staff sergeant before his deployment to Afghanistan. He was awarded a Global War on Terrorism service medal, and was even featured by the Army in a 2013 Facebook post, drawing a proud comment from his mother, The Times noted.
Jabbar reportedly told family members he was grateful for his military service. Relatives told The Times that the army “gave [Jabbar] some discipline” and “grounded him.”
After the military, Jabbar studied at Georgia State University. There, one friend said, he showed a growing interest in Islam. But no one reported any signs of extremism. Following his studies, he returned to Texas and began his white-collar professional career.
In recent years, the paper reported, Jabbar began suffering severe financial problems, especially following his divorce from his third wife in 2021, due to subsequent alimony payments and child support for his two daughters and son.
Jabbar’s family and ex-wives told The Times that his behavior became more concerning and erratic over the last year. They said they thought that it was due to the stress from his financial troubles and divorce, but was also connected to stress over global affairs, and was influenced by his religious views. At the time, one previous ex-wife and her husband limited his contact with their children.
‘NO PART IN THIS COMMUNITY’
Around this time, Jabbar moved to a largely-Muslim neighborhood of mobile homes, located north of Houston, where neighbors described him as a recluse. Congregants at two nearby mosques told The Times they had never seen him attend prayers.
“He wasn’t a member of this congregation, he wasn’t someone that used to come here, and he had no part in this community whatsoever,” said Mohammed Khan, a member of the Bilal Mosque, the closest to his home.
The mosque has drawn attention since the attack, as video surfaced of a guest delivering a presentation that blamed Jews for persistent antisemitism.
Worshipers at the other nearby mosque also said they had never seen Jabbar, with one congregant saying he’d been part of the community since 2008 and had never seen the attacker before.
After the Israel-Hamas war broke out in late 2023 — when the Hamas terror group attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages — Jabbar seemed upset with the violence, according to his half-brother.
“He didn’t like it — he said it was genocide on both sides, inhumane,” the half-brother reported.
NOTICEABLE SHIFT
Over the subsequent year, the veteran reportedly grew noticeably more austere in his religious outlook, growing out his beard and expressing his disapproval of partying and drinking, according to his half-brother.
Around this time, he also began posting audio recordings to the website SoundCloud, espousing conservative religious beliefs, such as warning that music — which some streams of Islam consider forbidden — has the power to lure people “into the things that God had made forbidden to us,” such as alcohol and drugs.
In that recording, from early 2024, Jabbar suggested a link between the release of a recent rap album and a wave of murders in his neighborhood, and said that “the voice of Satan spreading among Prophet Muhammad’s followers, peace be upon him, is a sign of the end times.”
But it is still not clear to investigators when Jabbar came to endorse violence as part of his religious beliefs, The Times reported — though he appears to have “liked” on his SoundCloud account some recordings by others that expressed views used by extremist groups to justify killing non-Muslims.
In the weeks before the attack, relatives said Jabbar didn’t mention any plans to go to New Orleans, though some neighbors told The Times he had said that he was moving there when his lease in Houston came to an end.
In addition, the publication reported, Jabbar seemingly prepared for the trip via an out-of-office reply for his work email, which said he would be taking personal time off.
In which the FBI contradicts itself again. Perhaps it would be better to speak in likelihoods rather than absolutes…
[NBCnews] The attacker wore the glasses to record video as he rode a bicycle through the French Quarter during a trip before the Bourbon Street attack, the FBI said. The glasses weren't recording during the actual incident.
The New Orleans terrorist attacker visited the city twice in the weeks before the attack and recorded video of the area using Meta smart glasses, the FBI revealed Sunday.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, stayed at a rental home in New Orleans at the end of October and again in November, just weeks before his attack on Bourbon Street, which killed 14 people. He wore the smart glasses to record video as he rode a bicycle through the French Quarter, Lyonel Myrthil, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said Sunday.
“Meta glasses appear to look like regular glasses, but they allow a user to record videos and photos hand-free,” Myrthil said. “They also allow the user to potentially livestream through their video.”
Jabbar wore the glasses during his New Year’s Day attack, but they were not activated for a livestream, Myrthil said. There was no indication Jabbar was recording the attack at all, though the glasses were found on him.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told NBC News that the company is “in touch with law enforcement on this matter.”
The FBI posted a compilation of the clips online, one of which includes Jabbar testing the glasses in a mirror and security clips of him in the area before the truck attack. The FBI blurred images of bystanders.
Video showed Jabbar placing one improvised explosive device in a cooler at Bourbon and St. Peter streets at 1:53 a.m., which was moved later by unidentified people.
“From what we’ve observed so far — what we’ve gathered through our investigation — is that they were unwitting individuals who move the cooler from location to location without knowledge of what is in the cooler,” Myrthil said.
Jabbar placed another explosive roughly 30 minutes later in a different “bucket-type cooler,” authorities said.
Two firearms were also recovered, a semiautomatic pistol and a rifle. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found the .308-caliber rifle was purchased in a private sale in Arlington, Texas, on Nov. 19.
The contradiction:
The explosive material recovered at Jabbar’s home in Houston resembles common explosives such as RDX, which are widely available in the United States, Joshua Jackson, the special agent in charge of the ATF’s New Orleans field division, said at Sunday’s news conference.
Federal authorities initially said Friday that field tests detected a rare explosive compound, R-Salt, in the two homemade bombs in New Orleans and in the home where Jabbar stayed. R-Salt is a very rare compound that has not been used before in terrorist attacks in the United States or Europe.
Jackson said the FBI will conduct additional testing of the explosive compound found in New Orleans. He said officials believe additional tests in an FBI lab will show that the explosive compound is, in fact, pure RDX.
The device itself was not unique in design, and Jabbar’s use of an electric match instead of a proper detonator indicated his inexperience with explosives, Jackson said.
Jabbar, a Texas-born U.S. citizen and an Army veteran, said in videos posted online that he “joined ISIS earlier this year.” He acted alone during the New Year’s Day attack, the FBI said, and does not appear to have any U.S.-based accomplices.
Myrthil told reporters Sunday that the FBI is still investigating any of Jabbar’s associates, both domestic and abroad. A subject of further inquiry is a trip Jabbar made to Cairo in 2023 and another trip to Canada roughly a week after his return.
Interesting. Nice transparency, guys, truly.
”Our agents are getting answers as to where he went, who he met with and how those trips may or may not tie into his actions here in our city in New Orleans,” Myrthil said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/06/2025
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11162 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
the fire fizzled out before spreading to other rooms
Curious. The Las Vegas VBIED was a truckload of fireworks. One guy couldn't start a fire with accelerant but could make a 'rare' bomb. The other had a career which occasioned explosives.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] On the enemy's offensive in the Kursk region.
1. As expected, it began before January 20. There are battles in the direction of Bolshoy Soldatskoye to the northeast of Sudzha.
2. The direction of the main attack is not yet completely clear, so far it looks like the enemy has chosen the option of trying to expand the salient in the Kursk region, instead of attacking the Bryansk region. In the next couple of days, this will become clear.
3. It should also become clear how well our General Staff has uncovered the enemy's preparations and prepared appropriate countermeasures.
The online broadcast of the fighting, as usual, is on Telegram - https://t.me/boris_rozhin (if you are interested, subscribe)
1. As usual, the enemy closely links active offensive actions with IPSO operations, which conduct active measures (AM) designed to sow panic and uncertainty in a short period of time.
2. A massive injection of various rumors and speculations is carried out through social networks, targeting both the military and the civilian population.
3. The most profitable for IPSO employees are the first 24-72 hours of offensive actions, when the main wave of injections is carried out. After this, information flows are taken under stricter control and the effectiveness of injections drops many times over.
4. In the next couple of days, be especially attentive to the information received and perceived, especially from unverified sources. The enemy's information and psychological warfare structures were also preparing for offensive actions, just like the assault brigades. Therefore, "prepared information" will be introduced into action, depending on the course and outcome of offensive actions.
“In the Kursk region, in the area of the village of Berdin, the Russian army destroyed military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the publication says.
Earlier, Regnum news agency reported that Russian military personnel had defeated an assault group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which was attempting to launch a counterattack in the Kursk region. The enemy unit was attacked by artillery and aircraft of the Russian Sever group. As a result of the actions of the Russian Armed Forces, two tanks, a barrier vehicle, and seven armored vehicles with Ukrainian troops were destroyed.
More from korrespondent.net DeepState Announces Analysts Claim Hostile Offensive in Kursk Region.
Earlier it was reported that the Defense Forces attacked Russians in the Kursk region from several directions.
In the Kursk region, Russian troops are conducting an offensive on Malaya Loknya, Sverdlikovo and Leonidovka. This was reported by DeepState analysts on Sunday, January 5.
In parallel with this, assault operations by the Defense Forces continue.
"We will refrain from commenting for now. We must wait for the result, because the fighting continues. The only question is what kind of fugitive blogger-fugitive from Spain announces counter-offensive actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces 48 hours in advance, indicating the exact location of the assault and almost the exact time," the statement says.
Analysts note that the enemy continues to fill the information vacuum with footage of the destruction of Ukrainian equipment north of Martynovka.
"The enemy's media is building a sense of victory and attributing to itself many times greater merits. Although the Russian has not been able to reflect its own territory in Kursk for the sixth time. We recommend not to succumb to emotional swings on our part, and not to go to enemy resources for information," DeepState added.
Recall that earlier it was reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked Russians in the Kursk region in several directions. The head of the Presidential Office Andrei Yermak confirmed the intensification of military actions in the Kursk region of Russia. Subsequently, the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region.
▪Today, starting at 9 a.m., the enemy began an offensive in the direction of Berdyn - Bolshoe Soldatskoye.
▪The enemy chose the settlements of Berdyn and Novostonitsky as their target, not reaching the highway (Sudzha - Kursk) to Bolshoe Soldatskoye.
▪The Ukrainian Armed Forces armored vehicles made about 20 trips, transporting infantry across the fields to the plantings, where they accumulated and rushed into battle.
▪The Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers advancing on a clear day were met by our UAV operators, artillerymen and tank crews, seriously thinning out the occupiers.
▪But the Ukrainian Armed Forces militants managed to break through due to the mass and the fighting began on the outskirts of the Berdyn farm, and then near the settlement of Novostonitsky.
▪Due to the quick, suicidal rush of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, even our drone operators and mortar crews had to enter the battle.
▪Our tanks in the fields and right in the village were shooting at the Ukrainian infantry abandoned by their armored vehicles.
▪FPVs were also active, meeting vehicle columns and then hunting for the fleeing infantry.
▪By the end of the day, the bulk of the Ukrainian armored vehicles were destroyed or knocked out.
▪The occupiers' assault groups were also mostly routed. The fighters of the Akhmat Special Forces (Chechens)
, the 2nd Special Forces Brigade and the 30th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment Sever are clearing the Berdino area.
▪Several small groups of Ukrainian Armed Forces that were caught in a semi-cauldron are in the forests and dug in, and are now being hunted.
▪The first day of the mad counteroffensive has essentially ended in failure, but it is expected that the enemy may continue to introduce and spend reserves, throwing them into battle on this, and possibly on neighboring sections of the front.
▪Meanwhile, the Russian army itself is actively advancing literally a few kilometers from the enemy's breakthrough, but more on that in the next report.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Kirill Velesov
[REGNUM] From the materials collected “hot on the heels” of the death of Izvestia freelance correspondent Alexander Martemyanov, it follows that the Ukrainian Armed Forces could have struck the car with the journalists by prior agreement and for reasons of ideological hatred.
The investigation materials note that investigators see a common criminal intent in the shelling of Gorlovka and the attack on the car with media workers.
Alexander became another victim of the war that the Kiev regime declared on Russian journalists. A Ukrainian FPV drone took his life on January 4, when the journalist was returning from Gorlovka, where, fulfilling his professional and human duty, he was preparing a report on yet another shelling of this long-suffering city by Ukrainian troops.
Four more of his colleagues from RIA Novosti and the publication "Bloknot Donetsk" were injured, fortunately, lightly. The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case under Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Murder and attempted murder of two or more persons").
THE DANGER STILL EXISTS
The length of the Donetsk-Gorlovka highway, where the tragedy occurred, is 60 kilometers. In peacetime, minibuses on good asphalt, which was typical for most roads in Donbass, could get from one city to another in 50 minutes. But with the start of the active phase of hostilities, everything that moves along this road became a target for Ukrainian artillerymen and drone operators.
If after the liberation of Avdiivka and Ocheretino a year ago the enemy was pushed back from the capital of the DPR, and the front line is inexorably moving in a westerly direction, approaching the borders of the Dnepropetrovsk region, then Gorlovka, located north of Donetsk, still remains a frontline city.
The Russian army is currently fighting in the center of Dzerzhinsk, which was renamed Toretsk during the Ukrainian occupation. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have created a fortified area there, which seems to hang over Gorlovka from the northwest. The distance between the cities in a straight line is only 15 kilometers. From there, Gorlovka is still within range of enemy artillery and UAVs.
The aftermath of one of these attacks, which was carried out with cluster munitions, was supposed to become Alexander’s next journalistic work.
When the front line passed through Avdiivka, up to ten cars could be destroyed on the highway per day, Izvestia military correspondent Dmitry Astrakhan told Regnum. Now the situation has improved a little, including after the liberation of the village of Novgorodskoye or, as it was called in Ukraine, New York. But enemy drones still reach the highway at extreme distances.
Yet, despite the fact that a trip along it sometimes turns into a deadly quest, the Donetsk-Gorlovka highway remains the shortest route for communication with the capital's center: a trip to Yenakiyevo is too big a detour.
TERROR VERSUS TRUTH
The tactics of artillery terror and drone strikes on fire trucks, ambulances and civilian vehicles are a long-established Ukrainian practice. And yet, the case with the Russian correspondents is indicative.
In fact, in Ukraine, Russian journalists — “information weapons” — have been equated to “ordinary” since 2016. That is, everyone who works in Russian media is not a journalist for the Ukrainian military, but a legitimate military target.
“There is information that bonuses are paid for the destruction of a Russian film crew, just like for destroyed armored vehicles,” explains Dmitry Astrakhan.
For strikes, Ukrainians have long been using drones created using 3D printing technologies. They are capable of flying at a speed of 80-90 km/h, carrying a sufficient amount of explosives. Components for such kamikaze drones can be freely purchased on marketplaces.
According to the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin, Alexander Martemyanov gave his life so that people knew the truth.
After the journalist's death, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, assured that all those guilty of crimes against representatives of the Russian media will be identified and punished.
REPELLING AN ATTACK IN THE KURSK BORDER AREA
Almost simultaneously with the next wave of terrorist attacks on Gorlovka and the highway that connects it with Donetsk, a group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region attempted to counterattack the advancing units of the Russian Armed Forces.
On the morning of January 5, two tanks, 12 armored vehicles, and an assault group attacked the Berdin farm. Mine clearing vehicles cleared their way through the minefields. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the attackers came under attack from Russian aviation and artillery. The enemy lost ten armored vehicles, including both tanks.
Over the course of a day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 340 soldiers, four tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles, four armored personnel carriers, 12 armored combat vehicles, a barrier clearing vehicle, 20 cars, and five mortars in the Kursk direction.
Russian military continue their offensive in the areas of 15 settlements in the region: Darino, Kurilovka, Nizhny Klin, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Alexandria, Leonidovo, Nikolskoye, Kozachya Loknya, Malaya Loknya, Makhnovka, Melovaya, Staraya Sorochina, Novaya Sorochina, Russkoye Porechny and Sudzha.
Overall, the Kursk adventure has cost the Ukrainian Armed Forces command 49,000 troops and 273 tanks since the beginning of August. It is possible that the current attempt to advance is connected with the upcoming inauguration of Donald Trump in the United States and an attempt to bargain for better positions in possible negotiations.
Against the backdrop of the loss of major cities in Donbass, the Ukrainian armed forces are trying to demonstrate at least some activity by organizing shelling of civilians and killing journalists.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 20.57 Russian military shelled populated areas of the Kherson region using artillery, mortars and drones. This was reported by the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office on Sunday, January 5.
16.27 The situation on the combat line remains tense. Ukrainian defenders continue to actively counteract the Russian aggressor, inflicting losses on it in manpower and equipment. In total, 106 combat clashes have occurred since the beginning of the day. This was noted in the General Staff report on Sunday, January 5.
15.09 On January 5, Russian troops struck Kharkiv with a Molniya drone. There is no information about casualties yet. This was reported by Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov on Sunday, January 5.
14.10 The Russian Ministry of Defense has acknowledged the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region, which began on the morning of January 5.
In the latest report, the Russians indicated that Ukrainian fighters "carried out a counterattack by an assault group consisting of two tanks, a roadblock vehicle, and twelve combat armored vehicles with troops in the direction of the Berdin farm."
13.13 In Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region, a 43-year-old man was killed and a 40-year-old woman was injured as a result of shelling. Five-story buildings, garages and cars were damaged in the city.
12:56 Over the course of a week, Russian troops launched almost 50 missiles, about 740 guided aerial bombs and more than 630 kamikaze drones containing more than 50,000 sanctioned components at Ukrainian territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported.
Last night, Ukraine was attacked by 103 "shaheeds", which used 8,755 foreign-made components.
12:20 Air defense forces are operating in the Kiev region. The region is being attacked by Russian drones.
11.56 In December, the Ukrainian Defense Forces hit more than 54,000 enemy targets with drones. Almost half of this result – 49% – was achieved by kamikaze drones. This was reported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrsky.
11.35 The Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked Russians in the Kursk region from several directions. This was reported by the head of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, Andrey Kovalenko.
"The Russians in the Kursk region are very worried because they were attacked from several directions and this came as a surprise to them. The defense forces are working," he wrote on Telegram.
The head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak reported on the successes of Ukrainian forces on Russian territory. "Kursk region, good news, Russia is getting what it deserves," he noted.
11:22 In the Zaporizhia district of the Zaporizhia region, an enemy UAV hit an energy infrastructure facility. There were no casualties.
10:55 Ukrainian intelligence officers eliminated the chief of staff of the Storm.Ossetia battalion (an assault unit within the 429th motorized rifle regiment of the Russian Armed Forces) in the Zaporizhia region.
On the Vasilyevka-Tokmak highway in the Zaporizhzhya region, soldiers from the FPV crew of the active operations unit GUR Kraken were eliminated by Sergei Melnikov (call sign Kama) and his driver.
9:56 At night, the Russian army launched 103 UAVs at Ukraine. Air defense forces shot down 61 targets, another 42 were lost. Air defense operated in Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr and Khmelnytskyi regions. No hits were recorded.
9.38 ATESH partisans have reconnoitred a Russian arsenal with missiles and satellites in the Tambov region. An agent has penetrated the territory of the 28th arsenal of the Russian Aerospace Forces near the settlement of Znamenka-1 in the Tambov region and conducted reconnaissance of the said facility.
The unit carries out tasks related to the storage and maintenance of operating and dismantled space equipment.
8.55 Russian troops have advanced in Toretsk and five other settlements in Donetsk Oblast. This was reported by the analytical project DeepState.
"The enemy has advanced in Kurakhovo, Toretsk, Shevchenko, near Dalnoye, Vozdvizhenka and Baranovka," the report says.
8.29 Over the past 24 hours, 179 combat clashes have been recorded at the front. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The hottest yesterday was in the Pokrovsk direction - the defenders stopped 45 offensive actions of the Russians.
7.25 As of January 5, the total combat losses of Russian troops on Ukrainian territory amounted to approximately 796,490 people (1,730 per day).
05.30 Russian troops have recently been using less armored vehicles during assaults on active sections of the front. This is likely due to significant losses of equipment and the depletion of Soviet reserves. Now the occupiers are increasingly going on assaults on foot, or riding scooters, motorcycles and quad bikes. Such tactics could further slow down the occupiers' advance, according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
01:00 Russian Telegram channels report drone attacks on the Millerovo military airfield, as well as on Taganrog in the Rostov region of the Russian Federation. A large number of explosions are reported in both places.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The General Staff informed about the situation at the front.
The Ukrainian Defense Forces continue their operation in the Kursk region, at the moment 44 combat clashes are known, 35 of them have already been completed. The fighting continues.
As of the evening of January 5, there had already been 177 combat clashes on the front. This was also noted in the General Staff report on Sunday. A busy day.
The enemy launched a missile attack with two missiles, 52 airstrikes (77 KAB), used 930 kamikaze drones to destroy them. It carried out more than 4,200 attacks on our troop positions and populated areas.
In the Kharkov direction, Ukrainian soldiers are repelling two enemy attacks near Vovchansk.
In the Kupyansk direction, the enemy attempted to advance four times during the day near Novaya Kruglyakovka, Lozovaya and Sinkovka. All enemy attacks have already been repelled.
In the Liman direction, the invading army attacked 12 times in the areas of Nadiya, Tverdokhlebovoy, Zarechny, Novosergeevka and Pervomaysky. Three attacks are still ongoing.
In the Seversky direction, our troops repelled one enemy attack in the Belogorovka area.
In the Kramatorsk direction, enemy activity resulted in four combat clashes near Chasovy Yar, Stupochki and Predtechino. The battle is currently ongoing.
In the Toretsk direction, seven combat clashes continue near Toretsk and Shcherbinovka; our defenders have stopped five enemy assaults in the areas of Toretsk and Krymsk.
The enemy has tried to penetrate our defenses in the Pokrovsk direction 50 times. Since the beginning of the day, the occupiers have attacked in the areas of the settlements of Elizavetovka, Vozdvizhenka, Mirolyubovka, Luch, Lisovka, Novy Trud, Peschanoye, Solenoye, Novovasilovka, Novozavetovka and Yasenovo. Thirty-one enemy offensive actions have been stopped by the Defense Forces, 19 attacks are still ongoing.
According to preliminary information, today our soldiers neutralized 300 occupiers in this direction, 130 of them irretrievably. One tank, four infantry fighting vehicles, six vehicles of the occupiers, one artillery system and 10 UAVs were destroyed. Two artillery systems, a vehicle and an enemy tank were also damaged.
In the Kurakhovsky direction, the enemy attacked our positions near Slavyanka, Petrovpavlovka, Kurakhovo and Dachnoye. At present, Ukrainian soldiers have repelled 22 enemy attacks, and three more clashes are ongoing.
In the Vremevsky direction, our troops repelled 13 enemy attacks near the settlements of Yantarnoye, Novy Komar, Novodarovka and in the direction of Constantinople, units of the Defense Forces repelled five of them, eight combat contacts are still ongoing.
In the Dnieper direction, the Russian invaders attacked our positions once. They received a tough rebuff and suffered losses.
The Ukrainian Defense Forces continue their operation in the Kursk region, at the moment 44 combat clashes are known, 35 of them have already been completed. The fighting continues.
While in other areas there were no significant changes.
The General Staff noted the soldiers of the 68th Separate Jaeger Brigade named after Oleksa Dovbush, the 14th Operational Brigade named after Ivan Bohun and the 425th separate assault battalion Skala for their effective and professional combat work, who effectively destroy the enemy and inflict damage on him and his equipment.
Let us recall that from February 24, 2022 to January 5, 2025, the total combat losses of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine amounted to approximately 796,490 people (+1,730 per day).
Let us add that two Ukrainian servicemen from the assault group of the 79th Airborne Assault Brigade captured 14 Russian soldiers.
[LI] Thanks for admitting reality, asshole. Nice archive pic
Noted Columnist Caroline Glick: "Blinken himself has devoted most of his energies to pressuring and castigating Israel."
U.S. Secretary of State Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Saturday made a stunning admission explaining how U.S. pressure on Israel emboldened the terrorist group Hamas and made it toughen its stance on the issue of hostage release.
Whenever there was open disagreement between the U.S. and Israel, Hamas backtracked on hostage release, the outgoing secretary of state acknowledged.
"Whenever there has been public daylight between the United States and Israel and the perception that pressure was growing on Israel," he said an interview with The New York Times. "[W]e’ve seen it: Hamas has pulled back from agreeing to a ceasefire and the release of hostages."
In NYT interview, SecState Blinken acknowledges that Hamas pulled back from agreements in ceasefire-hostage deal talks whenever there was there was “public daylight” and a perception that “pressure was growing on Israel” by the U.S. pic.twitter.com/QMaWLvCy16
Blinken’s shocking admission was met with sharp criticism in the Israeli press. The newspaper Israel Hayom commented: "Now, as the hostage release deal nears completion, the cat is out of the bag," In an interview with The New York Times, acknowledged the damage that American pressure on Israel caused to the hostage release efforts."
Noting Blinken’s own role in weakening Israel’s negotiating position, prominent Israeli author and commentator Caroline Glick wrote that "Blinken himself has devoted most of his energies to pressuring and castigating Israel."
Glick commented in her Sunday’s column for the Jewish New Syndicate (JNS):
The hostages have been held in Gaza for 457 days. And the question of why they are still there, why has Israel been unable to bring them home, gets asked with increased frustration and alarm every day from all quarters.
On Saturday, we received an answer to that question. Shortly after news broke of the release of the video of Liri Albag, The New York Times published an interview with outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken. Blinken said that Hamas has refused to agree to release the hostages in exchange for a ceasefire for two reasons.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/06/2025
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11142 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
Israel confirmed that it eliminated a commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad who participated in the massacre of October 7. Saad Said Zaki Dahnon, who served as deputy chief of the terrorist group's rocket division, was hit in recent Israeli operations north of the Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced this Sunday that they eliminated a commander of the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... (PIJ) who participated in the onslaught of October 7, 2023.
This is Saad Said Zaki Dahnon, the commander of a PIJ company and deputy head of the rocket division of the terrorist group north of the Paleostinian coastal enclave, according to the IDF.
The IDF detailed that Dahnon was hit during recent operations in Jabaliya, dying in hand-to-hand combat with Givati Brigade troops.
The Israeli army claimed that Dahnon had infiltrated the country and participated in the October 7 attack, in addition to being involved in multiple attacks against IDF troops in the Beit Lahiya area.
In a video released by the IDF, Dahnon and another terrorist are seen covering themselves with blankets and trying to approach the Israeli troops under the cover of darkness and rain.
The IDF reported that the PIJ commander was shot down, while the second operation surrendered to the troops, which can be seen in the images released by the military.
The second agent was carrying an bomb and was transferred to Israel to be interrogated, the IDF concluded.
A pair of Israeli drone strikes hit Hamas operatives inside the Gaza Strip’s designated humanitarian zone, the Israel Defense Forces said Sunday.
The strikes came after a weekend of intense Israeli bombing of terror targets in the Palestinian coastal enclave that, according to unverified reports from officials in the Hamas-controlled territory, killed over 80 people.
A drone strike was carried out against a group of Hamas operatives at a command center in the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, the IDF said. The compound, in the Khan Younis area of the humanitarian zone, was used by the Hamas operatives to plan and carry out attacks against troops in Gaza and against Israel, the military said.
Gaza medics said the compound was a police station and that five people were killed. Last week, Hamas said the IDF killed its chief of police and his deputy in a strike also in the zone.
The IDF said a separate strike in the Deir al-Balah area of the humanitarian zone targeted a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative who had carried out previous attacks from the area.
In both strikes, the IDF said it took steps to mitigate civilian harm. Israel accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian shelters, civilian buildings, and the civilian population as human shields.
The humanitarian zone is located in the al-Mawasi area on the southern Strip’s coast, the western neighborhoods of Khan Younis, and central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah. The size of the zone has changed multiple times, amid evolving IDF operations against the Hamas terror group.
Meanwhile, a soldier in the Givati Brigade’s Tzabar battalion was seriously wounded in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday. According to an IDF probe, the soldier was injured when a brick fell on his head during “operational activity.” He was taken to a hospital in Israel for treatment.
Rescuers in the Hamas-controlled Strip said that at least 23 people were killed in strikes on Sunday. The figures, which cannot be verified, do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
An air strike on a house in northern Gaza’s Sheikh Radwan area killed at least 11 people according to the Hamas-run Civil Defense agency’s spokesman Mahmud Bassal. He said the victims included women and children.
“Rescuers are still searching for five people trapped under the rubble of the house,” he said, adding his crew members were using “bare hands” in the effort.
The Palestinian Authority’s official news agency WAFA later reported that a young girl was rescued from the rubble of the building.
Health officials also said an airstrike killed five people in a house in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, while another airstrike killed four others in Jabalia in the northern edge of the enclave, where Israeli forces have been operating for three months.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said a total of 88 people were killed over the previous 24 hours.
The IDF said over 100 targets were struck in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, killing dozens of Hamas operatives. The strikes were carried out by the Israeli Air Force in a joint effort with the Southern Command, following intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Shin Bet security agency.
Additionally, the IDF said it struck several rocket-launching sites in Gaza over the weekend.
Renewed fire from Gaza has repeatedly triggered air raid sirens in Israeli communities near the Strip in recent days. Rocket fire had become less frequent as the war dragged on but has intensified since late December as Israel continues a three-month major land and air offensive in the territory’s north.
The recent escalation coincides with ongoing indirect negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal that has eluded the sides since November 2023. Mediators Qatar, Egypt, and the United States have tried for months to strike a deal to end the war and secure the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The latest effort comes just days before Donald Trump takes office as US president on January 20.
Kan cited a Palestinian source familiar with the developments as saying the next two days are critical, and that there is a preference to reach a partial deal rather than a full agreement, with Hamas fearing the situation could change once Trump is installed. The Republican, who has backed Israel in the war, has repeatedly warned of serious consequences if the hostages are not released by his inauguration.
Linked article is available only through a VPN
[EngMilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Kharkov direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces hit formations of one mechanised brigade of the AFU and two territorial defence brigades close to Volchansk, Olkhovatka, Zarubinka, and Liptsy (Kharkov region).
The AFU losses were up to 40 troops, one 152mm D-20 gun, and two 122mm D-30 howitzers. One ammunition depot was destroyed.
The Zapad Group of Forces' units improved the situation along the front line, inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of two mechanised brigades, one assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, one territorial defence brigade close to Dvurechnaya, Zapadnoye, Podoly, Kolesnikovka, Lozovaya, Zagryzovo (Kharkov region), and Torskoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
Four counter-attacks of AFU assault detachments were repelled. The AFU losses were up to 450 troops, two infantry fighting vehicles, one Kozak armoured fighting vehicle, ten pickup trucks, five 122mm D-30 howitzers, one UK-made 105mm L-119 gun as well as one U.S.-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, one M113 armoured personnel carrier, 105mm M101 and two M-119 combat vehicles. One Khortitsa electronic warfare station was eliminated.
The Yug Group of Forces' units improved the tactical situation and defeated formations of one motorised infantry brigade, two mechanised brigades, one airmobile brigade, and one infantry brigade of the AFU near Yantarnoye, Kirovo, Dalneye, Orekhovo-Vasilevka, Seversk, Grigorovka, Chasov Yar, and Kurakhovo (Donetsk People's Republic).
Two counter-attacks launched by enemy assault detachments were repelled. The AFU losses were up to 230 troops and one pickup truck.
The Tsentr Group of Forces' units continued to advance into the depths of enemy defences, inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of four mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, one jaeger brigade, one airmobile brigade, one assault battalion, one naval infantry brigade, two territorial defence brigades, and two national guard brigades close to Shcherbinovka, Peschanoye, Novoaleksandrovka, Novoolenovka, Slavyanka, Novovasilevka, Dzerzhinsk, Lysovka, Dachenskoye, Zelyonoye, Ukrainka, Shevchenko, and Vozdvizhenka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Ten AFU counter-attacks were repelled. The AFU losses were more than 410 troops, two German-made Leopard tanks, one infantry fighting vehicle, three U.S.-made M-113 armoured personnel carriers, three pickup trucks, one 152mm Msta-B howitzer, two 152mm D-20 guns, and one 122mm 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.
Units of the Vostok Group of Forces continued advancing to the depth of enemy defences and inflicted losses on formations of two mechanised brigades of the AFU, one naval infantry brigade, and three territorial defence brigades near Zelyonoye Pole, Neskuchnoye, Novy Komar, and Velikaya Novosyolka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Two enemy counter-attacks were repelled. The AFU losses were up to 150 troops, one U.S.-made MaxxPro armoured fighting vehicle, four motor vehicles, one Polish-made 155mm Krab self-propelled artillery system, one 152mm D-20 gun, and one 122mm D-30 howitzer.
Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces captured more advantageous lines, defeated manpower and hardware of two infantry brigades of the AFU, two territorial defence brigades, and one national guard brigade close to Ponyatovka, Nikolskoye, and Antonovka (Kherson region).
The AFU losses were up to 80 troops, one U.S.-made M-113 armoured personnel carrier, eight motor vehicles, one 152mm Msta-B howitzer, and one 152mm D-20 gun.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have engaged the infrastructure of military airfields as well as clusters of enemy manpower and military hardware in 137 areas.
Fighter aviation of Russian Aerospace Forces shot down one MiG-29 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force.
Air defence units shot down three French-made Hammer guided aerial bombs, one U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectile, and 174 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 652 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 39,453 unmanned aerial vehicles, 590 anti-aircraft missile systems, 20,234 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,506 MLRS combat vehicles, 20,207 field artillery guns and mortars, and 29,883 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of Kursk region.
During the offensive, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on formations of four mechanised brigades, four air assault brigades, one naval infantry brigade, five territorial defence formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Daryino, Kurilovka, Nizhny Klin, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Aleksandriya, Leonidovo, Nikolskoye, Kozachaya Loknya, Malaya Loknya, Makhnovka, Melovaya, Staraya Sorochina, Novaya Sorochina, Russkoye Porechnoye, and Sudzha. Two counter-attacks launched by AFU assault detachments were repelled.
At around 9 a.m. Moscow time, in order to stop the offensive by the Russian troops in Kursk direction, the enemy launched a counterattack by an assault detachment consisting of two tanks, one counterobstacle vehicle, and 12 armoured fighting vehicles with paratroopers toward Berdin area. Artillery and aviation of the Sever Group of Forces defeated one AFU assault detachment. Two tanks, one counterobstacle vehicle, and seven armoured fighting vehicles were neutralised. The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation and artillery inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of the enemy near Guyevo, Kruglenkoye, Martynovka, Lebedevka, Sverdlikovo, Zamostye, Viktorovka, Mikhailovka, Lokinskaya as well as Yunakovka, Belovody, Zhuravka, Vodolagi, Miropolye, and Basovka in Sumy region.
Over the course of the day, the AFU losses were over 340 troops, four tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles, four armoured personnel carriers, 12 armoured fighting vehicles, 20 motor vehicles, and five mortars.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the AFU losses amounted to more than 49,010 troops, 273 tanks, 209 infantry fighting vehicles, 153 armoured personnel carriers, 1,461 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,407 motor vehicles, 340 artillery guns, 44 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 16 anti-aircraft missile launchers, seven transport-loading vehicles, 88 EW stations, 13 counter-battery warfare radars, four air defence radars, 28 units of engineering and other materiel, including 14 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, seven armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
⚠️ During the operation in Maithalun near Jenin,Palestinian terrorist Hassan Rabia fired on Israeli border police 🇮🇱 while attempting to escape and was killed in retaliation. An explosives manufacturing laboratory also destroyed.#MiddleEast#Gaza#hamas#Hezbollah#غزة#حماسpic.twitter.com/u63yelI3wm
Two handguns were found on his body, police say. At Rabia’a’s home, the military says troops seized a hunting rifle, pipe bombs, gun parts, and NIS 96,000 in cash.
Also at Rabia’a’s property, the IDF says troops found an explosives manufacturing lab, which was then demolished.
In a separate operation overnight, the IDF says it seized 20 handguns in a vehicle stopped by troops near Nablus. Nineteen wanted Paleostinians were also detained by troops overnight, the military says.
[IsraelTimes] Budget Committee says tens of thousands of uncovered documents, microfilms have ‘high relevance rate’ of Nazi ties; ombudsperson cites bank file dealing with looted Jewish assets
An investigation by a US Senate panel has found that troubled investment bank Credit Suisse concealed information during previous inquiries into Nazi-controlled bank accounts during World War II.
Tens of thousands of documents discovered during an ongoing examination have provided new proof of the existence of account holders linked to the Nazis, the Senate Budget Committee said in a statement released Saturday.
The bank did not reveal the existence of these accounts during previous investigations, notably in the 1990s, the committee said.
Credit Suisse, now a subsidiary of investment bank UBS, agreed in 1998 to take part in a $1.25 billion settlement of lawsuits brought by Holocaust survivors, but it has been accused of not being completely open about its past dealings with Nazis.
The Senate committee said Saturday that one set of newly discovered files, including 3,600 physical documents and 40,000 microfilms, was found to have a "high relevance rate" of Nazi connections.
It said the revelations stem from an interim report by former prosecutor Neil Barofsky, who was fired as an "independent ombudsperson" by the bank in 2022 after being pressed to limit his investigative work.
Barofsky was reinstated in the role in 2023 "as a result of the Committee’s investigation," and after UBS’s takeover of Credit Suisse.
In a letter to the panel released Saturday, Barofsky noted the "extraordinary level of cooperation that Credit Suisse, under the leadership of UBS, has provided" since he rejoined the company.
But he said Credit Suisse had yet to share all the information it held.
The Barofsky team has discovered, among other things, accounts controlled by high-ranking SS officers, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In his letter, Barofsky highlighted "especially noteworthy" discoveries from a Credit Suisse research department.
"Numerous client files in the sample are marked with a stamp stating ’Amerikanische schwarze Liste’ — meaning ’American Black List’ — a list maintained by the Allies of individuals and companies that were directly financed by, or were known to regularly trade with, Axis powers," he wrote.
"One file bearing this stamp relates to an entity that was involved in selling looted Jewish assets."
Contacted by AFP, UBS said it was committed to providing a complete record of the former Nazi-linked accounts in Credit Suisse’s predecessor banks.
It said it would provide Barofsky with all necessary assistance in his work to shed light "on this tragic period."
[RedState] A daring Israeli commando raid deep into Bashar Assad's Syria in early September not only destroyed an Iranian factory producing missiles for Hezbollah to shoot into Israel, it may have been a test of a concept that puts all of Iran's nuclear facilities at risk.
On the night of September 8-9, a 120-man unit of elite Israeli Air Force Shaldag commandos in CH-53 attacked the underground factory in the Masyaf area of Syria, west of Hama, using a combination of landing and fast roping.
This is a video of US Marines fast roping from the same type of helicopter used in the Israeli operation.
See video at link with dramatic footage and even more dramatic music.
The site lies more than 125 miles north of the Israeli border and some 30 miles from Syria’s western coastline. The CH-53s flew in from the Mediterranean to evade Syria's air defense system; as the CH-53 has a range of about 430 miles, aerial refueling was required. The video is a 3-D model of the target site and gives perspective to the scope of the mission and the difficulties accomplishing it.
Because the last Iranian missile factory in Syria was smashed flat by an Israeli airstrike in 2017, the Iranians built this one to be bombproof.
The destruction of that site, as well as other IDF strikes in Syria targeting weapon shipments to Hezbollah, led Iran to rethink its strategy, according to the military, and to establish a new underground facility that would be safe from Israeli strikes.
The site that Iran constructed was 70-130 meters (230-430 foot) underground and thus virtually impossible to destroy from the air.
Iranian digging into the mountain at the research center began in late 2017. The IDF said it had intelligence on the facility from the moment construction began.
...
The facility was built in the shape of a horseshoe, with one entrance on the side of the mountain for raw materials and an exit nearby for the completed missiles. A third entrance adjacent to those two was used for logistics and to reach offices inside the facility. The office section also connected to the manufacturing section inside.
Along the horseshoe were at least 16 rooms housing the production line for the missiles, from planetary mixers for the rocket fuel to missile body construction and paint rooms.
The facility was not yet completely active when Israel launched its operation against it, but according to the military, it was at the final stages of being declared operational by Iran. At least two missiles had been successfully manufactured as part of testing, and rocket engines were already being mass produced.
The raid was reported at the time in Syrian opposition media and picked up by some Western outlets, but the details were only revealed this week.
Reports of a Sunday night attack began to emerge earlier in the week, including one by Syria TV, an opposition news site, which said that Israeli forces landed by slipping down ropes from hovering helicopters.
Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute think tank, who has closely monitored developments at the site based on people in Syria and abroad and local news reports, said the Israeli raid was directed at a factory inside a mountain that develops missiles and rockets.
That facility, he said, is controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, and is part of a larger military complex that is managed by Assad’s regime in Syria.
Israel has accused Iran of using a scientific research center in military sites near Masyaf to develop weapons and missiles intended for its aligned regional militias, including Hezbollah, analysts say.
The Israelis also revealed a surprising level of tactics, techniques, and procedures that were either a blunder or calculated to send a message.
The first of the CH-53 "Yasur" helicopters landed close to the entrance, dropping off several Shaldag commandos, while another two choppers simultaneously landed at another position in the area overlooking the science center. The fourth helicopter waited behind for several minutes before landing where the first one had, dropping off additional troops.
The four helicopters then flew away to other positions in the area, where they landed and waited for over two hours for the 100 commandos to carry out their mission.
The 20 Unit 669 members, still on board the choppers, were to spring into action if any of the commandos were wounded. The plan was to treat any wounded soldiers, but not to leave until the end of the mission. Therefore, Unit 669 brought along additional medical equipment to act as a makeshift hospital in the event of an injury.
At the facility, a first team of commandos began to secure the area while a second team advanced toward the entrance, killing two guards. Another team set up on a nearby hill, from which they flew a small drone to observe the raid and eliminate anyone approaching the facility.
...
One of the central challenges of the mission was getting through the heavy duty doors at the entrance to the underground site. According to officers who participated in the planning and the mission itself, this was no easy task.
At the mission’s 50-minute mark, the first team of commandos managed to break through one of the entrances — the one used for logistics and to reach the offices. The soldiers entered the site and reached the two production entrances — the horseshoe — opening them using forklifts that were inside the facility. The IDF had known in advance that the facility had such equipment, and had sent some of the commandos participating in the raid to get forklift certification.
At the same time, another team of commandos carrying explosives arrived at the entrances. The troops had brought a quad bike with them in one of the choppers to enable them to quickly move to and through the facility to plant the explosives.
Some 50 commandos then moved along the facility’s production line, attaching bombs to all of the equipment, and especially the three planetary mixers. The other 50 waited outside and continued to keep the area clear by scanning the area and firing at threats.
At the same time, fighter jets continued to pound the surrounding region to prevent dozens of people identified on the ground — apparently Syrian soldiers — from approaching. In all, 49 munitions were used by IAF aircraft during the raid.
After the commandos had rigged up all the explosives — around 300 kilograms’ (660 pounds’) worth — to a remote detonator planted at the entrance to the site, all 100 evacuated to the initial landing site. The helicopters flew in from their waiting positions, picking up the soldiers after two and a half hours on the ground.
So why the big media rollout on a raid that happened three months ago? I think the first reason is to impress the locals with Israeli military capabilities. This media event, in addition to the happenings on the ground, goes a long way toward undoing any damage to the psychological dominance Israel has established over its enemies since 1948 by the October 7. 2023 massacre of Israeli civilians. The second reason is to send a message to the Iranians that you can't dig a facility deep enough to get away from the IDF if they want you.
The attack at Masyaf looked a lot like a rehearsal for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. In the aftermath of the rout of Assad's forces and the fall of the Ba'athist regime, Israel carried out a punishing campaign of air attacks on Syrian radar, fighter bases, and air defense sites. So much so that it is fair to say that Syria is incapable of knowing who is using its airspace, much less contesting that usage; see Israel Bombs Syria's Military Capability and Infrastructure Flat to Send a Message to Iran.
[Bee] RED BLUFF, CA — As people ring in the new year by taking on resolutions meant to improve their lives, local wife and mother Karen Moore took it upon herself to graciously announce a number of resolutions for her husband so he wouldn't have to.
"He never makes New Year's resolutions," she said. "But I know that deep down he really wants to be a better person for me — I mean himself."
Karen's husband, Tim, is now resolved to lose 30 pounds, take the kids to school everyday, make more money, take a romantic trip to Cancun [with her?]
, learn to salsa dance, and buy new curtains for the house. All for his benefit.
"New Year's resolutions are hard, but I know he can do it," Mrs. Moore said. "He has no choice."
When asked to comment, Tim's wife helpfully spoke for him, noting that Tim was "very happy" to have so many New Year's resolutions to work so hard on and that he was "very excited" about all the salads he would be eating.
At publishing time, Karen Moore had already failed her New Year's resolution to stop being so controlling.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/06/2025
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11143 views]
Top|| File under:
[NY Post] 5 yr old? Was she dressed "provocatively" ?? Beat him
An illegal Guatemalan immigrant is charged with twice molesting a 5-year-old girl inside the garage and bathroom of her family’s Florida home, according to reports.
Nicolas Jose Francisco, 25, was hit with two counts of sexual battery of a child under 12 on Friday and ordered held without bail in Palm Beach County, Fox affiliate WFLX-TV News reported.
Francisco, who had been working for the young victim’s family for about a year, told cops he touched the girl "by mistake both times" — and claimed that the girl’s family only accused him of the horrific crime because he "was an undocumented immigrant," the outlet said.
Jibby Ciric, a senior director at the Center of Child Counseling, told WFLX the excuse isn’t surprising.
"We deal with that in unfortunately many instances," Ciric said. "They often try to normalize and diminish the effects of what they have done."
According to WPEC-TV News, the girl was first interviewed about the abuse by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Children and Families on Dec. 13.
She told investigators that Francisco called her into the garage and "touched her flower."
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office questioned Nicolas Jose Nicolas on Thursday after a 5-year-old girl reported that he molested her. Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
In the second incident she said the suspect took her to the bathroom, where he allegedly exposed himself and touched her again, according to the outlet.
The young victim reportedly was shaking and broke into tears while recounting the assault.
Cops questioned Francisco about the allegations on Thursday, and he was arraigned on Friday.
Welby had announced in November that he would resign after an independent investigation into the late John Smyth, a prominent attorney who the report said sexually, psychologically and physically abused about 30 boys and young men in the United Kingdom and 85 in Africa from the 1970s until his death in 2018.
China appears to be cultivating the Iran nexus. Ensuring future oil deliveries?
[NewsMax] U.S. intelligence officials said Chinese-made weapons are being supplied to Houthi rebels in exchange for safe passage of Chinese vessels through the Red Sea, i24NEWS reported.
According to diplomatic sources, Houthi representatives visited China during the summer and fall and might have met with high-ranking Chinese officials. The militant group is reportedly planning to use Chinese parts to manufacture hundreds of cruise missiles capable of targeting Persian Gulf states.
Oil in and weapons out. Got it.
Since September, the United States has attempted diplomatic intervention, providing Beijing with detailed information about Chinese companies involved in the arms supply chain. China's apparent inaction has prompted Washington to consider more aggressive measures.
U.S. officials are now threatening joint action with Israel to isolate Chinese trading networks from the global financial system.
This development comes as the Houthis attempt to solidify control over one of the world's most strategic maritime corridors.
The ongoing maritime crisis has already disrupted global shipping routes and raised concerns about regional security.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2025
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11156 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
#1
How did these items arrive in Houthistan? Transporter beams from the Middle Kingdom?
#5
How about eliminating all docking facilities in Houthi-held territory? It's not as if the Houthis have already been waging maritime war against most world shipping, i.e. "piracy"
#6
I wonder what passes for "advanced components" in the minds of journalists. Fleming valves? Discrete transistors? Those little black plastic chips that look like bugs?
Nowadays, an off-the-shelf Raspberry Pi fits in your hand and is 4 times faster than the Cray-1, an old-school super computer that was so big they made it into furniture.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/06/2025 12:48
Comments ||
Top||
#8
Somehow I recall that this is exactly what we have a US Navy ARG with a maritime infantry (USMC) striking force to deal with? Wouldn't take long to eliminate the problem.
Heck, imagine the smile if the Navy still had an Iowa Class BB which just sailed off the coast and ignored the mosquito bites of the drones because it had armor to protect the ship from the plunging fire of IJN battleship 14 inch guns, and delivered a few 16 inch salvo;s to the annoying sites!
#11
How did these items arrive in Houthistan? Transporter beams from the Middle Kingdom?
They were probably unloaded at the Chinese base in Djibouti (you know, the one with the big underground storage area) and from there they could be shipped over to Yemen by helicopter.
#14
The US, China, France and Japan (!) all have bases in Djibouti. Plus Blackwater, Wagner and a few other PMC's. That's a live locale. If any of the interested parties actually desired to get up close and personal with one another it'd be easy to arrange. Clearly - none of them have that intention.
#17
You don't need to be a Houthi to hang out in Djibouti,
The cool kids are already there.
From your favorite PMC, to those guys with letters three,
It's a rootin' tootin' shoot 'em up affair.
El Salvador's government has mobilized over 5,000 soldiers and 500 PNC officers to encircle a northern town after a police officer was killed there by gang members pic.twitter.com/5WJcgVKu0m
#6
Now the liberals will try to rebrand Freeland as principled. She is possibly worse than Justin.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/06/2025 14:01
Comments ||
Top||
#7
I saw a video where Trudeau was on a skiing trip. He was confronted by a constituent. She said to him: "Why don't you just leave. You suck." I'll go along with her comment. Good riddance.
[IsraelTimes] Ahmed al-Sharaa is hoping to convince the world that he’s left his jihadist past behind, but FM Gideon Sa’ar and other senior officials are not persuaded.
As Syria’s new government strives to gain international legitimacy after overthrowing the Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... regime, Western countries seem open to giving a chance to the government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... group.
At the same time, Israel is focused on making sure its allies don’t give a free pass to a man who led a brutal jihadist organization.
"It’s too early to believe this rebrand," an Israeli official told The Times of Israel.
On Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock became the most senior Western diplomats to visit the Syrian capital since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Assad last month.
The two diplomats warned Sharaa that the transfer of power must be peaceful and inclusive. "This requires a political dialogue involving all ethnic and religious groups, involving men and equally women," said Baerbock. "Sure, sure. Whatever. Give us money"
She also told Sharaa that the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... stood ready to support the transition in Syria but cautioned that "Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... will not finance new Islamist structures."
Barrot met with Christian leaders in the country to discuss the transition toward a democratic Syria.
In Israel, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is leading an effort to press the world to treat Sharaa’s government with extreme suspicion, while warning that European countries are too eager to overlook any potential problematic aspects of the new government in order to send back the millions of refugees who have fled the fighting since 2011.
"The world is talking about ’an orderly change of government in Syria,'" he told a conference last month. "But it’s not like a new government that today controls all of Syria was democratically elected.
"This is a terrorist gang that was previously in Idlib and took over the capital Damascus and other areas. The world would very much like to see them as a new and stable government because the countries want to return the refugees on their territory to Syria. But that’s not the case."
Sa’ar argued that minorities like Alawites, Kurds, and Christians are threatened by Sharaa’s new government.
"This is an Islamist government that will try to achieve unified control over all of Syria," he said.
Also last month, Sa’ar’s deputy Sharren Haskel accused Sharaa of being "a wolf in [sheep’s] clothes."
Speaking at a presser, Haskel held up a photo collage of Sharaa, showing his past as a member of various jihadist organizations.
"It is important to avoid falling for the attempt to whitewash jihadist [groups] in Syria. We know who they are and their true nature, even if they change their names, and we understand how dangerous they are to the West," said Haskel.
Sharaa, now Syria’s de facto leader, joined al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2003, where he was captured by US troops. After his release, he created the jihadist al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front to fight against Assad in Syria.
The US State Department designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, and placed a $10 million bounty on his head four years later. Sharaa eventually broke his organization’s ties with al-Qaeda, and since 2017 has been working to present HTS as a moderate organization focused on governance and toppling Assad.
The US removed the bounty in December amid an attempt to improve relations with the new Syrian leadership.
Since coming to power in December, Sharaa has preached religious coexistence and promised not to enforce strict adherence to Islamic fundamental principles. He also traded his military garb for suits, and dropped his nom de guerre, Abu Muhammad al-Julani.
Israeli leaders besides the foreign minister have also been warning against too readily buying into Sharaa’s ostensible transformation.
During a visit to the recently captured peak of Mount Hermon, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that the new Syrian rulers "pretend to present a moderate image, but belong to the most extreme Islamic sects."
Meanwhile,
...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter wished he had thought to pack sun block... Arab diplomats have hurried to Damascus to meet Sharaa. After a sit-down in late December, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi expressed support for "a government that represents all spectrums in Syria," as well as for "the drafting of a new constitution," according to official Jordanian TV.
"We agree to support the Syrian people in rebuilding their state," he was quoted as saying, adding that "the Arab countries agree to support Syria at this stage without any external interference."
Senior officials from Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... and Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... have also been to Damascus to meet Sharaa.
Ukraine too has rushed to reset ties after the fall of Assad, who allied himself closely with Russia. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met Sharaa last week, and President Volodymyr Zelensky sent 500 tons of grain to Syria and said Kyiv could contribute to stabilizing the country.
Though HTS leaders celebrated the devastating Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, the new Syrian leadership stresses that it is not interested in a fight with Israel.
Sharaa said that his new regime is "committed to the 1974 agreement and we are prepared to return the UN [monitors]," referring to peacekeeping forces that manned the demilitarized zone alongside Syrian troops.
"We do not want any conflict, whether with Israel or anyone else, and we will not let Syria be used as a launchpad for attacks. The Syrian people need a break, and the strikes must end and Israel has to pull back to its previous positions," Sharaa told The Times of London earlier this month.
The new governor of Damascus has also emphasized that the newly installed government wants to have cordial relations with Israel. "We have no fear toward Israel, and our problem is not with Israel," Maher Marwan told NPR last month. "There exists a people who want coexistence. They want peace. They don’t want disputes."
"And we don’t want to meddle in anything that will threaten Israel’s security or any other country’s security," he said. "We want peace, and we cannot be an opponent to Israel or an opponent to anyone."
Israel has also signaled its desire to have "correct ties" with the new regime, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in early December. But "if this regime allows Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... to reestablish itself in Syria, or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or attacks us, we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price from it."
[IsraelTimes] The Biden administration plans to announce Monday that it will ease restrictions on US humanitarian aid for Syria, speeding delivery of basic supplies without lifting sanctions that restrict other assistance to the new government in Damascus, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The step, approved by the administration over the weekend, authorizes the Treasury Department to issue waivers to aid groups and companies providing essentials such as water, electricity and other humanitarian supplies, the WSJ reports, citing officials.
“Go ahead and give ‘em money, guys. Don’t worry that some of them are evil, or that President Trump will have a different policy in two weeks.”
#1
I would like to see a stop to the flow of US government direct and indirect payments into Ukraine, Afghanistan and Iran. No need to set up a new flow into Syria.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/06/2025 14:12
Comments ||
Top||
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Rebels from the Shiite Ansar Allah movement (Houthis) launched a rocket attack on the Orot Rabin power plant near the city of Haifa in northern Israel. This was reported on January 5 by the military spokesman for the Yemeni organization, Yahya Saria.
"The [Houthi] armed forces attacked the Orot Rabin power plant south of Haifa using a Palestine-2 hypersonic ballistic missile," he said in a statement distributed by Al-Masirah TV channel.
The military spokesman for the movement specified that the strike was carried out in support of the Gaza Strip. In addition, he added that the Houthis' military capabilities are "constantly evolving."
And a perfectly fitting support of the failing Hamas movement it is, too.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on January 3, the Ansar Allah movement also reported a missile strike on a power plant. The attack targeted a facility east of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. In addition, the Houthis reported using drones to strike a "military target" located in the said settlement.
On January 1, the Ansar Allah movement reported the destruction of a US-made MQ-9 Reaper drone over Yemen. According to Yahya Sariyya, the drone was in the airspace of Marib province.
On December 28, the Houthis reported that they had attacked the Nevatim air force base in the Negev Desert in southern Israel with a Palestine-2 hypersonic missile.
Gazan refugees are rioting at a taxpayer-funded hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
In August, Malaysia brought in 41 chronically ill Gazans for treatment & 86 of their relatives from Gaza (via Egypt). They are now setting fires & vandalizing the hotel. Malaysians are furious… pic.twitter.com/wOdfTY5VMW
The Hezbollah's capabilities have been fully restored, making it ready to face any attack. #Hezbollah is now stronger, tougher than steel, and more powerful than ever. pic.twitter.com/rcTEnNsFWc
#Hezbollah chief says that not only has the resistance not weakened, it has become further strengthened and will be taught to future generations, adding that the resistance has high morals despite the wounds.
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]Let us wish lots of deaths on both sides.
Make not mistake about this. Clashes along the #Syria'n/Lebanese border between #Hezbollah and the new Syrian security forces are all about Hezbollah losing their narcotics trade and arms supplies as well as #Iran's continuing provocations to destabilize the region.#Israel… pic.twitter.com/6dJhE5AcO4
[IsraelTimes] Iran's arrest of the Italian journalist has all the hallmarks of a cautionary tale for the useful idiots of the West
Cecilia Sala, the intrepid Italian journalist who boarded a flight to Tehran with all the enthusiasm of Alice stepping into her Persian Wonderland, is now seeing the Iranian rabbit hole for what it truly is—a dark, damp cell with fewer whimsical creatures and more Revolutionary Guards.
Sala’s Iranian adventure was not the typical tale of starry-eyed, keffiyeh-clad correspondents storming Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... in solidarity with the local terrorists. No, Sala’s approach was far subtler. Her criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s perennial Voldemort in left-wing circles, rested on the notion that Bibi’s "far-right" extremism had somehow pushed Israel into isolation. After all, she once mused on her podcast that Israel’s isolation was simply Netanyahu’s isolation. A profound observation that might now seem a tad less profound from behind Iranian prison bars.
Before embarking on this enlightening journey, Sala expressed her deep affection for Iran, describing it as the country she "missed the most," presumably after a Gay Pareeian café ran out of oat milk. Reflecting on her time away, Sala noted that Tehran had been bombed by Israeli jets for the first time in history. In her wisdom, she deduced that Netanyahu’s bombast was impeding the winds of Iranian reform — as if the Ayatollahs were just a nudge away from installing rainbow pedestrian crossings and hosting drag brunches.
Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian, Sala declared, was a reformist. The same Pezeshkian who dons the uniform of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) like it’s haute couture, condemned America as "terrorist," and described shooting down drones as a delightful pastime. In Sala’s world, slipping on an IRGC jacket is merely a quirky fashion statement. Perhaps a "hot girl summer" trend for the reformist-at-heart.
While in Tehran, Sala channeled her inner Jane Austen, podcasting about Iranian patriarchy and interviewing dissident comedians, blissfully unaware that she was dining with Revolutionary Guard grandees like Hossein Kanaani. For nearly half a century, Kanaani helped orchestrate militias across the Middle East—a charming dinner companion if ever there was one.
But Sala’s luck ran out when Tehran police detained her, roughly two days after Italia and the US arrested a pair of Iranian operatives. Coincidence? Hardly. Sala, it seems, stumbled straight into a diplomatic tit-for-tat—a curious byproduct of regimes that consider "press freedom" an oxymoron.
She now has ample time to reflect. Perhaps in solitary confinement, she’ll have a moment of clarity, realizing that "far-right" Netanyahu isn’t tossing journalists into cells, and that the real threat to press freedom does not wear a Likud pin.
This ordeal has all the hallmarks of a cautionary tale for the "useful idiots" (copyright: Bibi) of the West. Like turkeys enthusiastically marching for Thanksgiving, Sala may come to miss Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... a little less after sampling its hospitality. One imagines her sitting on the prison floor, longing for the relative oppression of Tel Aviv’s beachfront cafes.
And if she ever pens a memoir about her stay, it may be: "Eat, Pray, Don’t Leave the Hotel."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
Despoiler of Deraa...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
......
...hereditary prime minister of the Great White North...
...Former Vice President, Nobel Prize winner, Global Warming prophet and speculator, and crazed sex poodle...
...a city in Texas, named after Sam Houston, who would drop deader than he is now if he could see how it turned out...
[LI] 
[Bee] RED BLUFF, CA — As people ring in the new year by taking on resolutions meant to improve their lives, local wife and mother Karen Moore took it upon herself to graciously announce a number of resolutions for her husband so he wouldn't have to.
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
