[IsraelTimes] Israeli troops reportedly shot and severely injured a young girl, causing her to lose her eyesight, during a West Bank raid on Tuesday.
Eight-year-old Jannat al-Matur was shot by an Israeli sniper through a window while at her home in Sa’ir, north of Hebron, her father told Palestinian media.
The sniper’s bullet grazed the girl’s head and shrapnel from the gunfire hit her face, leaving her blind.
Al-Matur’s father says that she will need to undergo surgery to restore her eyesight. She is currently in stable condition.
“Within an instant, I found myself covered in blood, bleeding and I didn’t know what happened to me,” said the child to Palestinian outlets while in the hospital.
[IsraelTimes] Yechiel Leiter tells US Jewish leaders Israel will start sharing ‘truth’ about Qatar after having to ‘suck it up’ for captives’ sake, says Turkey stoking tensions on Temple Mount
Israel’s envoy to the United States accused Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of violating the US-brokered peace deal between Jerusalem and Cairo, profiting from the desperation of Paleostinians seeking to flee 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 and duplicitously operating to benefit Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... Ambassador Yechiel Leiter made the allegations during a Zoom meeting on January 28 with the executives of major American Jewish organizations, a recording of which was obtained Friday by The Times of Israel.
The comments castigating Egypt and its leader were quite out of the ordinary, particularly since the start of the Gaza war, during which Jerusalem has sought to maintain a working relationship with Cairo. Egypt is serving as one of the mediators between Israel and Hamas in order to secure the release of Israeli hostages seized by the Paleostinian terror group during its October 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war.
Ties between Israel and Egypt have been frosty since Netanyahu returned to power in December 2022, and the premier has not spoken to Sissi since the start of the fighting in Gaza, as Cairo has fumed over what it feels has been Jerusalem’s efforts to move Gazooks into the Sinai Peninsula.
While Egypt has rejected the idea outright — and has stuck to this position in recent weeks as US President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... has doubled down on the idea as part of his own Gaza takeover plan — it has sought assurances from Israel that those who leave the Strip will be allowed to return, a senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel. Such an assurance has yet to come, further straining the strategic relationship.
Leiter raised his qualms with Egypt during a briefing with the Conference of President of Major American Jewish Organizations, the first such meeting he has held with the umbrella group since arriving in Washington last month.
Netanyahu appointed Leiter to replace former US ambassador to Israel Michael Herzog, a more moderate figure who was tasked with weathering Israel-US ties during the Biden administration.
Leiter is more closely aligned with the Israeli right and settlement movement in particular, holding views that might not have been received well by the previous administration but are far more welcome under a Republican-controlled White House and Congress.
His criticism in the recent Zoom briefing extended from Egypt 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... — another key mediator — to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... , intermixed with remarks expressing pride about what he described as the increasingly normalized Israeli presence in the West Bank, all a reflection of the shift in Israel’s tone in Washington owing to its new embassy chief and the new American administration.
Shortly after this report was published, the Conference of Presidents published the full recording of the virtual meeting.
"Egypt is in very serious violation of our peace agreement in the Sinai. This is an issue that is going to come to the fore because it’s not tolerable," Leiter told the American Jewish leaders.
"We have bases being built that can only be used for offensive operations, for offensive weapons — that’s a clear violation," Leiter said. "For a long time, it’s been shunted aside, and this continues. This is going to be an issue that we’re going to put on the table very soon and very emphatically."
Footage purportedly shot from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in recent weeks shows a massive build-up of troops and tanks.
The show of force is reportedly aimed at signaling Cairo’s disapproval over Israel’s continued control over the Philadelphi Corridor border strip between Gaza and Egypt — itself a violation of the peace treaty that the two countries signed in 1979, according to Egypt. The troop build-up is also said to signal Egypt’s willingness to use force against Israel to prevent the displacement of Gazooks into the Sinai Peninsula.
Leiter went on to accuse Sissi of "playing both sides of the equation" vis-à-vis Hamas, despite the Egyptian government being massively at odds with the Hamas-linked Moslem Brüderbund.
Nonetheless, the Israeli envoy argued that Egypt will be more likely to cooperate with Israel against Hamas if Jerusalem succeeds in "decisively defeating" the terror group in Gaza.
Leiter was asked about Israel’s efforts to plan for the post-war management of Gaza, an issue that has exposed Jerusalem to significant criticism, particularly from the Biden administration, which argued that Israel’s failure to advance a viable alternative to Hamas allowed the terror group to repeatedly refill vacuums created when the IDF shifted operations in the Strip.
Leiter echoed the argument of Netanyahu, who has maintained that no such planning can take place until Hamas is out of the picture, as no other governing body would be willing to enter Gaza until then.
The new Israeli ambassador said Egypt would likely be part of governance efforts in Gaza along with 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 the UAE, though all three countries have repeatedly conditioned their participation on Israel allowing the Paleostinian Authority to play a role as part of a pathway to a future two-state solution, a framework Israel rejects.
Still, Leiter insisted the "day after" Gaza conversations "are going on. The only way they can be successful is that we don’t talk about them publicly."
"There’s going to be a situation in Gaza where either everybody’s going to try to go back to October 6 — and we’re not going to let it happen. We need an extensive buffer [zone].... Or the international community and we can think out of the box and create a situation where people live in dignity and self-worth," Leiter said, appearing to reference Trump’s calls for Gaza’s entire population to be relocated to Egypt, Jordan and other countries.
Asked specifically about Trump’s call to remove all of Gaza’s population, Leiter responded, "I don’t know if it’s an initiative, but certainly the president is calling attention to the fact that countries all over the world are taking bordering refugees." The briefing took place about a week before Trump announced that he also wants the US to "take over" Gaza and lead the Strip’s reconstruction.
Pointing to the country of Chad, a country poorer than Egypt that has taken in refugees from neighboring Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... , Leiter said it is "unconscionable that Egypt wouldn’t entertain the possibility of at least temporarily housing some of the refugees."
He said members of Sissi’s family are running a travel agency that has charged Gazooks tens of thousands of dollars to flee the war-torn Strip through Egypt.
Roughly 100,000 Gazooks have succeeded in fleeing the Strip through such schemes, but the vast majority have been unable to leave, whether they want to or not.
Leiter said Egypt’s border with Gaza should at least be temporarily reopened in order to provide those who want to leave the ability to do so. Sissi, in the past has retorted that Israel should house refugees in the Negev Desert if it is so intent on clearing the Strip.
A spokesperson for Egypt’s embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
’SPEAKING THE TRUTH ABOUT QATAR AND TURKEY’
The new Israeli envoy also doubled down during the Zoom call on criticism he first made about Qatar during a Fox News interview several days earlier.
"We have to start talking about Qatar. The game that they’re playing — buying everybody out and then buying quiet and buying toleration for their support of terror is just not tenable," Leiter said.
"We have to call their bluff and say... ’Yes, you’re supporting faculties and universities around the country. You’re also supporting terror organizations.’ That doesn’t hold water... The first thing is to speak truth to their financial power," he continued.
Qatar’s Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Doha already hit out at Leiter for such comments during the Fox News interview.
Ambassador, it is unfortunate that you do not mention that Qatar’s past humanitarian assistance to the Gaza population was entirely coordinated with Israel.
Critics of Doha, including many in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner circle, have pointed to its close ties with Hamas and transfer of funds to Gaza that allowed the terror group to prioritize building up its arsenal to attack Israel.
Qatar, in turn, has argued that Israel — and the US — lobbied aggressively for Doha to make such payments in order to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Netanyahu, himself, defended those payments in an interview with Time magazine last year. This week, Hebrew media revealed that one of Netanyahu’s aides did PR work on behalf of Doha, as did other aides ahead of the 2022 World Cup in the Gulf country.
Leiter then turned his criticism to Turkey, arguing that Ankara has become "verbally belligerent" toward Israel and has allowed "Hamas leaders and other Moslem Brüderbund contingents to operate from Ottoman Turkish territory."
He also accused Ankara of funding organizations that have sought to exacerbate tensions on Jerusalem’s flashpoint Temple Mount.
Turkey’s Embassy in Washington could not be reached for comment.
"It was difficult [to criticize Qatar until now] because Qatar played a role in the release of the hostages... we had to — in very diplomatic language — suck it up. Nevertheless, we’re going to start talking about the truth behind the role Qatar and Turkey are playing," Leiter said.
PROSPECTS FOR SAUDI NORMALIZATION, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE
Commenting on the potential for a Saudi normalization agreement, he acknowledged that the sides are not on the brink of a deal, but are still closer than they have ever been.
That assessment came several days before Riyadh issued a style='border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;border-bottom-color:gray;' title='fiery'>fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... statement against Netanyahu, who proposed on a Fox News interview that Saudi Arabia should house Paleostinians from Gaza. The Gulf kingdom has doubled down on its refusal to normalize ties with Israel without the establishment of a Paleostinian state.
Leiter said an Israeli defeat of Hamas would advance the initiative while admitting that the "perception of the United States withdrawing from the Middle East complicates that [effort] a bit."
"On the one hand, [the Trump administration] wants to see normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia take place. On the other hand, there’s talk about pulling troops out here, pulling troops out there. How is that [US] guarantee of [Gulf allies’] security going to take place?" he posited.
Responding to a question about Israel’s presence in the West Bank, Leiter said it has become far less controversial than it once was.
"There are 600,000 people living in Judea and Samaria. That’s also a statement of success of Israeli governments — that we have a right for this land and that it’s Judea, that it’s Samaria," he said, referring to the territory by its biblical name.
He reflected on the Trump administration’s recent decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. "There’s importance in a name, Judea was Judea long, long before there was a West Bank — about 3,000 years [before]. Let’s bear that in mind and use the proper name."
Contrary to Gaza, where he appeared to back calls to at least temporarily relocate the population of two million, Leiter argued that the roughly three million Paleostinians in the West Bank are here to stay.
"There’s going to have to be some sort of solution to living together, some sort of reconciliation in order to create a modicum of de facto coexistence, even if it’s not a permanent and enduring one," said Leiter, who in the past has lobbied in favor of annexing the West Bank without specifying whether Paleostinians would be able to receive equal rights to Israelis in the territory. "Whether it’s a local autonomy or broader autonomy plan that [former prime minister] Menachem Begin advanced, we’ll see."
Leiter also drew a parallel between the archaeological tunnels Israel has dug underneath the Western Wall to unearth new findings from Jewish history and the tunnels Hamas dug under Gaza in order to keep Israeli hostages, demonstrating the civilizational divide between our concept of humanity and theirs."
The envoy maintained that Israel does not view PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....> as a "solution."
The Netanyahu government has long likened Abbas to the Hamas terror group, taking issue with his payments to security prisoners and the families of slain bully boyz — a policy that Ramallah reformed this week. The Trump administration tepidly welcomed the move, while Jerusalem dismissed it entirely.
Leiter also made a point of stressing his desire to "rebuild bipartisan support for Israel," a goal that’s now been stated by several Israeli envoys upon taking up their posts in the US.
Leiter said he plans to try and engage with all parts of the political divide amid concerns over waning support for Israel among young evangelical Christians and young progressives.
He maintained that his background in academia will be an asset as he looks to visit college campuses, which have been rocked over the past year by pro-Paleostinian protests against Israel over the war in Gaza and the administration’s handling of antisemitism linked to the unrest.
#1
Qatar has served as a home and political nexus for the international Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan al-Muslimun) for more than half a century. Qatar's ruling al-Thani family are ineluctably tied to the MB. Likewise, after being expelled from Egypt the MB moved its center of operation to Turkey, and has been active there for more than twenty years. That the USA plays kissy-face with its leaders demonstrates a purposeful ignorance of those nations' objectives. Ironically, Washington also plays kissy-face with MB entities in the USA, as does Ireland, the U.K, Luxembourg and Germany.
#5
OK, to clarify my point.
When this latest round of events kicked off, I think el-Sissi (and pretty much everyone else) that there would be another round of bloodletting, and nothing much would be solved. The Palestinians (as such) are famous for never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
But then the IDF took down the fortress of Gaza, whacked the leaders, and decided, for a change of pace, to smear Hezbollah into a greasy spot.
Iran was blocked from intervening, and then forced to sit by while all their work went up in smoke.
Then with the US election results, would you have believed the the US Pres could threaten Hamas, and actual have them start to cough up hostages?
Abdel has got to be a little bewilderd at this point.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/15/2025 20:35
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#6
He and his allies are suffering from loss of tunnel smuggling across Philadelphi corridor. Fuck him
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2025 21:29
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🚨BREAKING: President Trump and Doug Burgum announce they are opening 625 million acres of offshore territory for drilling, reversing Biden’s last-minute ban before he left office. pic.twitter.com/Fl2kh3K0db
#3
...It's 28 cents/gal here in SC, and it was a good-sized jump when we got there - but it's got to be said that the politicians actually explained the how/why, and kept their word on keeping the money going to highway repair.
[Military.com h/t Red State] The Army is repurposing more than half of the money it collects from junior enlisted soldiers for food, according to data reviewed by Military.com. The numbers suggest that a large portion of those funds are not going toward feeding soldiers, a diversion of resources coming at a time when troops increasingly struggle to find nutritious food on base.
The money is collected in what amounts to a tax on troops -- taken from their Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) payments, roughly $460 per month that is automatically deducted from the paychecks of service members who live in barracks and is intended to help cover food costs.
At Fort Stewart, Georgia, for example, soldiers contributed $17 million, but the base spent just $2.1 million -- redirecting 87% of the funds. Schofield Barracks in Hawaii collected $14.5 million but used only $5.3 million, meaning 63% of the money was used elsewhere.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/15/2025
09:23 ||
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#1
Someone needs to be court-martialed and jailed for that.
#2
This happened in boot camp and later. The money was to,pay for food and uniforms. (1962…..)
Posted by: Old Salty ||
02/15/2025 10:13
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If they simply calculated number of personnel x BAS per installation, it is bogus. Married enlisted and officers get their BAS directly in their pay check. Single junior enlisted who live in the barracks get a meal card for the consolidated dining facilities and don't even see BAS. BAS and quarters allowance are not part of basic pay. GAO for generations has argued that it should be, but Congress bulks because it would then be calculated into the pay and subsequently in to the retirement pay. Same goes for special pay for qualifications.
#4
This makes no sense to me. When a soldier gets BAS he is expected to pay for his meals. Soldiers that live in the barracks do not get BAS, so how is it now deducted from their pay? Either this is fake, or they are really bad at explaining how funds are allocated for dining facilities.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/15/2025 11:41
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#5
BTW, back in the 80s-90s, the number crunchers wanted more teeth less tail in force structure. So they cut the old mess hall personnel (cooks, etc), and contracted it out. Well contractors try to pay the minimum, so if you leave the house for any reason, you see all the fast food outlets with "Now Hiring" signs out front. Add in that most military installations are not adjacent to major metro areas (the boonies for things that go bang and boom a lot), and your pool of available manpower is in the micro level. Those people have to have a place to stay and get their class 1 supply too. Contracting personnel play the lowest bidder game rather than best bidder and consider the additional costs of getting local civilian labor that can sustain operations. Hint - its obviously not what the local fast food establishments offer.
#6
To #3 - I thought the original Red State article had more details than what I posted from the Miltary.com article. But what I scanned there went over my head.
Maybe it should be a target for DOGE.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/15/2025 14:53
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Ref #5: Closing the mess halls was a slippery slope.
[Red State] Perhaps COVID showed us that we really don’t know what is happening abroad, and we are better off assuring proper R&D here in the States. If these tariffs ultimately are enacted, I think it’s time we stop relying on other countries to provide medications for Americans and bring the manufacturing home. It would ensure national security and make sure proper regulations are followed.
President Trump has said he wants to cut red tape and allow manufacturing here. There is no reason why incentives can’t be given to generic companies to allow for the majority of drugs to be made here, which can then allow us to be an exporter. The health of Americans is a high priority for President Trump and newly confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. If serious, this is a sure way to ensure Americans remain healthy and ensure we know what we are truly ingesting.
[Verge] HT to Pixy Musa at AOSHQ. Fauxcahontas hardest hit
Around 20 technologists at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were fired on Thursday evening, gutting a team that specialized in understanding Big Tech’s entrance into financial products, three sources familiar with the matter tell The Verge.
It follows an earlier round of layoffs of mostly contractors and probationary employees on Tuesday, as reported by Wired, representing the latest cuts to an agency with oversight over a field that one of Elon Musk’s companies is trying to enter. Musk, who now leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has announced plans for his company X to enter the payments business, which is an area the CFPB oversees for potential consumer harm.
In a copy of a termination letter obtained by The Verge, the CFPB acting chief human capital officer Adam Martinez references President Donald Trump’s executive order instructing the Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency to help cull the federal workforce. Around 7 PM Eastern Time on Thursday, members of the technology team received the termination notices in their personal emails. One member of the team — who like others in this story spoke on background to candidly share their experiences — said the email didn’t come until about 20 minutes after they noticed they were locked out of Teams and Outlook on their work phone.
"We can’t investigate firms or supervise firms if we don’t understand the technology we’re investigating."
"The people on this team were the kind of senior people — sometimes at Big Tech firms, sometimes at premier universities — that hiring teams fight tooth and nail over," says Erie Meyer, who served as chief technologist at the CFPB during the Biden administration. Meyer resigned last Friday, surprised that as a political appointee, new top officials hadn’t asked for her resignation already. She was again surprised to learn that emails to her former colleagues announcing their termination on Thursday still copied her now-defunct work email.
Meyer, who previously worked at the Federal Trade Commission and before that co-founded the US Digital Service — the group that Trump has refashioned into DOGE — hired technologists to the CFPB that could embed across the agency and lend their expertise in everything from research to enforcement. "When I arrived at the bureau, it became immediately clear that Big Tech’s expansion into consumer financial products and services was a trend we needed to be extremely careful to address before it became a crisis," she says. "We can’t investigate firms or supervise firms if we don’t understand the technology we’re investigating."
Now that expertise has been ravaged from the agency in one night, and the agency’s former technologists fear that consumer complaints will go unanswered, and companies will be able to get away with shady practices by obscuring them with technical complexity. "Most investigations have some elements of technology, whether it’s an algorithm, a model, some sort of AI, or just data systems," says one former member of the technology team. "They will claim that it’s too burdensome, or it’s not possible to produce the data ... And having someone at the table who understands the databases, who understands the technology at hand is really crucial to being able to push back."
The CFPB technologists’ backgrounds in the private sector also helped them understand where to look for information in technical systems, says another former staffer. "When you’re a regulatory agency of 1,500 people trying to find out information about hundreds of companies, and each company is ten times your size, the amount of information that is conceivably there, and the techniques available to shroud the useful evidence are so enormous, that having the specific experience of developing the kind of technology that you’re investigating means that you can get the evidence more quickly, you can understand what it means very efficiently, " they say. "And, you can push back if a big company tries to steamroll an investigation or tries to misrepresent what is actually happening to consumers."
This is especially helpful when it comes to looking at tech firms, which have entered the financial services sector and often already have a vast array of data on users that could potentially be combined with their spending habits. "I would say a single one of these Big Tech firms is bigger than the top five big banks combined," Meyer says. The CFPB has managed to take on some of these massive companies. It fined Apple and Goldman Sachs $89 million for allegedly misleading iPhone consumers about interest-free payment options and sued Zelle and the three banks that own it for allegedly enabling more than $870 million in consumer fraud.
DOGE HAS GAINED AN UNUSUAL LEVEL OF ACCESS TO AGENCY DATA
In the course of investigating, the CFPB collects vast amounts of information on companies, which now may be at risk of being accessed by DOGE staff. A recent lawsuit by a federal workers’ union claims that Trump administration official Russell Vought demanded DOGE be given access to non-classified systems at the agency. This level of access is unusual and concerning, a source told The Verge, noting that even senior officials at the agency would typically have to provide a business justification to access data held by the agency.
What kind of information does the CFPB maintain? A document provided to congressional staffers briefed on the CFPB this week notes that the agency has information on enforcement actions and investigations, as well as market research that could include business plans. If that data is accessed without appropriate guardrails, the document warns, it could create unfair competitive advantages for a company like Musk’s X, which plans to move into payments services. The information would include sensitive consumer data, regulatory compliance information on other financial institutions, and insider information that could be used unfairly, the document notes. The White House has insisted that Musk would step back from any work that presented a conflict of interest, but his business dealings are so vast that X’s payments project presents just one example of how his interests could intertwine with the agencies DOGE is trimming down.
When the CFPB collects confidential information during an investigation, companies provide it with the understanding it won’t be shared publicly, says one of the former staffers. "Absolutely there is information that we have that would be beneficial to someone who might be launching a company in the payment space," they say.
Consumers will also likely feel the hit, now that former staffers say the portal for consumer complaints is likely not being monitored anymore. The agency would receive complaints when consumers were locked out of their bank accounts after data breaches, for example, and could often get their issues addressed within days, the former staffer says. "There is nowhere else" for consumers to go, they say. "They could potentially go to the state attorney generals, but they just don’t have the same capacity."
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2025
08:54 ||
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[11144 views]
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#1
There is no where else for consumers to go now that this agency that no consumer knew about was closed.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/15/2025 13:19
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[ABC 11 h/t Red State] When you walk into the construction training facility at Mountain Heritage High School in Burnsville, it looks and sounds like any other carpentry class -- until you realize what the students there are actually working on.
"It makes me feel very proud knowing that I am able to help and change someone's life that is in need through not only school but building and just helping out those that can't really help themselves," said Croix Silver, a senior at the high school.
Silver and classmate Hensley England are both seniors in Jeremy Dotts' honors carpentry class and part of a new initiative aimed at helping their hometown get back on its feet in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
"I just wanted to go out and help others and this a great opportunity to do that," England said.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/15/2025
08:46 ||
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Taking lessons from the Amish.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/15/2025 13:32
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[Epoch Times] A federal judge on Feb. 14 rejected an emergency bid by eight inspectors general fired by the Trump administration to have their jobs restored.
District Judge of the District of Columbia Ana Reyes forced the attorney for the inspectors general to drop the request for a temporary restraining order during a virtual hearing, opting instead for an expedited schedule to hear their request for a preliminary injunction. The complaint will proceed at a regular pace, however.
Reyes expressed frustration that the plaintiff’s counsel, Seth Waxman, filed suit on Feb. 12 for the order requesting emergency same-day relief, which would have included backpay 21 days after the firings occurred, stating that her court’s staff was already overwhelmed with scores of other temporary restraining order requests. Giggle
Addressing the written complaint arguing the plaintiffs faced reputational damage, Reyes proposed that a 30-day return to the office with a written reason why they were unfit for their jobs could actually cause even more reputational harm than what was already given.
All the public knows is that they were fired without cause, she said. There was no harm to their reputation because no cause, say of incompetence, was given, and such a termination could be seen as preferable. Much easier to get a job in a blue state with the 'without cause' firing. Maybe the complainers will reconsider their suit.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/15/2025
08:29 ||
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Judging from the way the suit was constructed, it sounds like somebody told the plaintiffs' lawyers that the fix was in... only it wasn't.
#2
The complaint will proceed at regular pace.
The judge said, "You weren't doing anything anyway, so you can continue to not do anything."
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/15/2025 9:11
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#3
Winning!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/15/2025 11:48
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#4
This is like going through your partners phone messages and seeing they were blatantly cheating. They're all upset about your actions not their cheating.
[Epoch Times] President Donald Trump on Feb. 14 signed an executive order barring funding to universities and schools with COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
The order, detailed in a fact sheet provided by the White House, will prohibit all federal funding to any schools that implement COVID-19 vaccine mandates and directs the secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services to issue compliance guidelines and plans to end existing mandates. The secretaries will also create a report of non-compliant institutions and a process for blocking funds from supporting any that impose mandates. That'll take a while to implement. Perhaps the threat will motivate some, following a lengthy period of screeching, and perhaps a judicial injunction.
The institutions affected include educational service agencies, state education agencies, local education agencies, elementary schools, secondary schools, or any institutions of higher education that require students to receive COVID-19 vaccines to attend in-person educational programs.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/15/2025
08:20 ||
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#1
It should be all vaccines.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/15/2025 13:33
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#3
It is, other than Hillsdale. Pretty sure Hillsdale has no vaccine mandate.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/15/2025 14:24
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#4
Why do we even have in-person high schools and colleges in 2025?
Almost anything that's worth learning can be learned via The Great Courses, etc.
Not everything but almost anything.
[PJMedia] The International Organization for Migration is the primary human smuggling organization that the United Nations uses to shuffle weaponized humans ("migrants") around the geopolitical chess board to destabilize nation-states and dilute their cultures.
It’s the UPS We Love Logistics™ of human trafficking, operating under the guise of humanitarianism.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a United Nations related organization working in the field of migration. The organization implements operational assistance programmes for migrants, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrant workers...
The organization's global mandate includes assistance to migrants, including migrant workers, refugees and internally displaced persons. This broad mandate of the organization has earned it praise for flexibility in crisis situations, but also criticism for legal accountability in protection issues...
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), IOM is one of the central actors in humanitarian aid within the UN system, especially in the context of displacement. IOM's main aid measures include shelter, protection, the provision of basic medical and sanitary care, life safety, coordination, telecommunications and logistics.
It just got wrecked by a single glorious stroke of the executive pen — a stroke that any other president for the past sixty years since the USAID monstrosity was Frankensteined into existence but didn’t. Hell of a good start
#5
I think we must have by now, assembled the puppet masters of USAID. They were as you may recall, first on the list of DOGE things to do. I would offer the feckless silence of a complicit Congress and the signatures of "51 intelligence professionals" as corroborating evidence.
#7
Waiting for a reckoning / reconciliation regarding Congresscritters becoming multimillionaires on a roughly 200K/year salary. Frugal? I think not. A few hundred rocks that need need NEED to be turned over.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
02/15/2025 7:32
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#8
If a NGO shuts down because of the 90 freeze, it's not a non-governmental organization.
#9
Don't forget, the judicial resistance is delaying cutoff long enough to tap out these accounts and bury the evidence of them and other, as yet undiscovered, slush funds.
#10
Is it any wonder that DoD has failed every audit?
From the looks of things now, they passed audit by not having an audit.
In case anyone thought it was bullshit, some dude was crying about how his wife isn't getting her $1million to teach Afghan women about modern western art. Rumors confirmed.
[IsraelTimes] Large bags of captagon pills found in village of Qusair, where residents return after more than a decade of civil war
In a desolate area of Syria where the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah once held sway, security forces shot open the gates to an abandoned building and found a defunct drug factory.
Syria’s new authorities launched a security campaign last week around Qusair at the porous Lebanese border, cracking down on drug and weapons smugglers.
They have also accused Hezbollah, which for years propped up former Syrian President Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... , of firing at them in festivities in the weeks since his ouster.
"We’ve begun to comb factories used by Hezbollah and remnants of the defunct regime," said Major Nadim Madkhana, who heads Syria’s border security force in Homs province near 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?... Before Syria’s war erupted in 2011, Syrians and Lebanese lived side by side in the border area — a mostly tribal region long renowned for smuggling.
In April 2013, Hezbollah announced it was fighting alongside Assad’s forces and leading battles in the Qusair area, a rebel stronghold at the time.
After weeks of battles that displaced thousands of Syrians, Hezbollah seized control of the area, establishing bases and weapons depots and digging tunnels — which Israel repeatedly targeted in subsequent years.
Hezbollah’s support for Assad was as much an act of loyalty for its fellow member of the "axis of resistance" as it was a necessity for its own survival, with Syria acting as its weapons conduit from Iran.
"Under the defunct regime, this area was an economic lifeline for Hezbollah and drug and arms traders traffickers," Madkhana said.
In the building raided by Syrian border security, AFP correspondents saw large bags of captagon pills — a potent synthetic drug mass-produced under Assad that sparked an addiction crisis in the region.
Both the sanctions-hit ousted government and Hezbollah, which is proscribed as a terrorist organization by many countries, have faced accusations of using the captagon trade to finance themselves.
In the months leading up to Assad’s December 8 ouster, Hezbollah pulled many of its combatants back to Lebanon to fight an all-out war with Israel.
But it was only after his overthrow that it rushed the majority of its forces and allies out of the country.
Attesting to the speed of the pullout, plates of food were left to rot in the kitchen of one facility.
DRUG TRAFFICKERS
Snow-speckled dirt tracks leading to the facilities still bear marks left by barricades that smugglers had set up "to delay our advance," Madkhana said.
In recent days, Syrian forces have clashed with "Hezbollah loyalists and regime remnants" in the area, some of them armed with rocket launchers, he added.
Charred vehicles lay by the side of the road near damaged luxury villas built by narcos, residents of the area told AFP.
Hezbollah provided cover for Lebanese and Syrian smugglers operating at the border, the residents said.
After more than five decades of rule by the Assad family, the rebels that once fought the ousted president’s army are now running the country, and that has had a knock-on effect on neighboring Lebanon.
Earlier this week, Madkhana told AFP that Syrian forces had started coordinating with the Lebanese army at the border.
Last week, the Lebanese army said it was responding to incoming fire from across the Syrian border.
Syria shares a 330-kilometer (205-mile) border with Lebanon that lacks any official demarcation, making it ideal turf for smugglers.
’BANNED FROM RETURNING’
Since Assad’s ouster, Syrians displaced during the war have started returning home to Qusair.
After spending almost half of his life as a refugee in northern Lebanon, Hassan Amer, 21, was thrilled to return.
"I was young when I left, I don’t know much about Qusair," he said, painting the walls of his house with help from neighbors and families.
"We returned the day after the regime fell," he said, beaming with pride.
Hezbollah "took over Qusair and made it theirs while its people were banned from returning," he said, adding that schools and public institutions had been turned into bases.
In 2019, Hezbollah said residents of Qusair could return home, citing a decision by Assad’s government.
Mohammed Nasser, 22, and his mother were among the lucky ones allowed back in 2021.
"My elderly grandfather was alone here... and I was under 18," he said, meaning he was not yet due for conscription.
His father stayed in Lebanon, fearing arrest.
For years, Nasser’s family and a couple of others were the only Syrians living in the area, he said, while Lebanese "loyal to Hezbollah lived in the less-damaged houses."
Nasser’s 84-year-old grandfather, also named Mohammed, recalled the day Assad and his family fled.
"On liberation day, they fled... and the town’s people came back at night, before sunrise, to the sound of the call to prayer," he said.
[Politico via MSN, trying to retain some cred] Whoops Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought two criminal cases against President Donald Trump, received $140,000 in pro bono legal services from a prominent Washington law firm before he resigned last month.
Covington & Burling provided the legal representation, according to a disclosure POLITICO obtained that Smith submitted Jan. 10 in connection with his departure from the Justice Department.
A spokesperson for Covington declined comment. Two of the Covington lawyers representing Smith, Peter Koski and Lanny Breuer, did not respond to messages seeking comment.
It’s not clear precisely why Smith sought outside legal advice, but Trump repeatedly railed against Smith and his team, vowing to fire them and sometimes appearing to call for them to be criminally prosecuted.
“They ought to throw Deranged Jack Smith and his Thug Prosecutors in jail,” Trump wrote in a social media post in 2023, shortly after Smith filed a new indictment in the case charging Trump with illegally retaining classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and conspiring to obstruct the investigation into their handling.
Earlier this month, in her first day on the job, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive decrying the “weaponization” of the Justice Department under the Biden administration and setting up a “working group” to investigate the phenomenon.
Although no criminal, civil or legal ethics probe of Smith’s actions has been announced by the department, she specifically instructed the working group to examine “Weaponization by Special Counsel Jack Smith and his staff who spent more than $50 million targeting President Trump, and the prosecutors and law enforcement personnel who participated in the unprecedented raid on President Trump's home.”
Covington’s representation of Smith was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
In President Joe Biden’s final days in office, there was widespread speculation about whether Biden might pardon Smith and his team. Biden eventually issued preemptive pardons for members of the House Jan. 6 Committee, former National Institutes of Health Director Anthony Fauci and former Joint Chiefs Chair Mark Milley.
However, no pardon for DOJ prosecutors was ever issued.
Smith has ties to several prominent lawyers at Covington, the law firm with the largest presence in D.C.
Breuer, Covington’s vice chair, served as head of the Justice Department’s criminal division from 2009 to 2013 and recruited Smith to take the pivotal post of chief of the department’s Public Integrity Section back in 2010.
Breuer has repeatedly defended Smith in interviews in recent years. “Jack is not political at all,” Breuer told the New York Times shortly after Smith was named special counsel in 2022. “He is straight down the middle.”
Covington is also home to a number of other prominent Justice Department officials, including President Barack Obama’s first attorney general, Eric Holder. Another Covington partner, Alan Vinegrad, was the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York during part of Smith’s tenure there and assigned him to prosecute a prominent police abuse case.
The Justice Department appears to have approved Smith’s request under an Office of Government Ethics regulation issued in 2023 that allows government employees to set up legal defense funds or take such services for free if the work is related to “the employee's past or current official position” or to a position on a presidential campaign or transition team. The rule says such arrangements must be cleared by an agency ethics official and reported on an employee’s financial disclosure.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2025
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#1
Now the Investigators, their supporters, and Funders need to be investigated and exposed.
The US Citizens should know the names of those that attempted a Political COUP and suspension of Civil & Legal Rights between 2016-2024.
#3
Investigate who you want. Release the findings. The pardons restrict who can be charged not investigated. The court of public opinion will do nicely. As the libs say..."The process IS the punishment"
AfD leader Alice Weidel announces that, if elected, within the first 100 days she will completely close Germany's borders, cancel the vast majority of subsidies for asylum seekers, and carry out unprecedented mass deportation.
#2
^You don't understand the nature of EUropean elections - it's a test for the People. If they fail the test, then they have to take it again - until they get it right.
#4
^Try thinking of the current US Democratic party as a wing of the EUropean Globalist (Elitist) faith* - and you'll be surprised how many confusing things become unconfused.
US Vice President JD Vance met on Friday in Munich with the leader of Germany’s far-right AfD, his office confirmed, after endorsing the party as a political partner — a stance Berlin dismissed as unwelcome election interference.
An official in Vance’s office did not provide further details of the meeting, but said that Vance met with leaders of all of Germany’s major political parties, according to the pool report.
A spokesperson for AfD leader Alice Weidel confirmed the meeting, saying the two met at Vance’s hotel for about 30 minutes and discussed the Ukraine war, German domestic policy and freedom of speech.
The anti-immigration AfD, currently polling at around 20% ahead of the February 23 general election, has pariah status among other major political parties in a country with a taboo about far-right politics because of its Nazi past.
In a policy dubbed the "firewall," parties have formed a consensus not to work with the AfD, which is under surveillance by the German domestic intelligence service.
In an apparent reference to the catchword, Vance said: "Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There’s no room for firewalls."
"No voter on this continent went to the ballot box to open the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants colonists," Vance also said, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
In an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio due to be broadcast on Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Vance’s remarks as highly unusual, adding that Germany had a firewall against extreme right-wing parties for a good reason, citing Germany’s past under National Socialism.
Germany’s defense minister on Friday rebuffed Vance’s criticism of German and European political powers as unacceptable.
"This democracy was just called into question by the US vice president, not just the German democracy but that of Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... as a whole," Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
"If I understand him correctly, he compares the condition of Europe with what prevails in some authoritarian regimes...this is not acceptable," he added.
Conservative leader Friedrich Merz, whom polls show is likely to be Germany’s next chancellor, was accused by rivals last month of breaking the firewall by initiating parliamentary motions that relied on AfD support. But he, too, has ruled out forming a government with the far-right party.
Earlier on Friday, a German government spokesperson said Vance should not interfere in Germany’s election when asked about a Wall Street Journal report in which Vance was quoted as saying he would urge German politicians to work with all parties, including the AfD.
"I don’t think it is right for foreigners, including those from friendly foreign countries, to interfere so intensively in an election campaign in the middle of an election period," the German government spokesperson said at a presser.
Billionaire US businessman Elon Musk, the biggest donor to President 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... ’s election effort and now head of Trump’s task force to cut US government spending, has publicly backed the AfD.
’NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN’
In his address to the conference, Vance launched a withering attack against European policies on immigration, populist parties and free speech, echoing Trump whom he called Washington’s "new sheriff in town."
Vance stressed that Europe must "step up" in managing its own security, a key bone of contention. But he mostly lambasted the EU’s members on culture war issues.
"There is a new sheriff in town under Donald Trump’s leadership," said Vance in a speech that stunned the room.
Vance slammed EU "commissars" for stifling free expression and charged that "across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat."
Trump, speaking in Washington, doubled down on Vance’s attack on traditional US allies.
"I heard his speech. He talked about freedom of speech. And I think it’s true in Europe," the president told news hounds at the White House. "They’re losing their wonderful right of freedom of speech.
"And he talked about immigration, and Europe has a big immigration problem."
Vance’s speech — which focused on key themes of Trump’s election campaign — was a combative broadside at a time of transatlantic discord over defense, trade and Ukraine. It overshadowed discussions on the latter issue in particular, as the prospect of peace talks had been expected to dominate the annual conference after a call between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... this week.
The US vice president, however, barely mentioned Russia or Ukraine in his speech to the gathering. He said the threat to Europe that worried him most was not Russia or China but what he called a retreat from fundamental values of protecting free speech — as well as immigration, which he said was "out of control" in Europe.
Trump’s call with Putin alarmed European governments, which have tried to isolate the Russian president since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and fear they could be cut out of peace talks that would have repercussions for their own security.
Vance, who met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Munich on Friday, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview before the conference that Trump could use several tools — economic and military — for leverage with Putin.
Vance’s front man, William Martin, later took issue with the newspaper’s interpretation that the vice president had been threatening Russia.
PEACE TALKS
Zelensky said at the Munich conference that he would talk to Putin only once Ukraine had agreed on a common plan with Trump and European leaders.
Vance and Zelensky declined to give details of what they discussed in Munich but the Ukrainian president reiterated that his country needs "real security guarantees."
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned against any attempt to impose a peace deal on Ukraine.
"A sham peace — over the heads of Ukrainians and Europeans — would gain nothing," she said. "A sham peace would not bring lasting security, neither for the people in Ukraine nor for us in Europe or the United States."
Russia now holds about 20% of Ukraine nearly three years after launching a full-scale invasion, saying Kyiv’s pursuit of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... membership posed an existential threat. Ukraine and the West call Russia’s action an imperialist land grab.
Vance also repeated Trump’s demand that Europe do more to safeguard its own defense so Washington can focus on other regions, particularly the Indo-Pacific.
"In the future, we think Europe is going to have to take a bigger role in its own security," he said in a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Vance was "absolutely right" about the need for Europe "stepping up" and doing more for its own defense. "We have to grow up in that sense and spend much more," Rutte said.
At the conference, several European leaders echoed his comments, saying Europe would step up its defense spending but also needed to discuss with Washington a gradual phasing-out of its support.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025
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#1
If Europe in general and the UK in specific no longer give a damn about *true* democracy, including rights of free speech, association, and assembly, I no longer care if Putin ends up ruling them. Such an outcome would be preferable to Islamic rule.
#2
All of the West has self-orientalized over the last years.
All Western countries have become more and more similar to Russia, China and the Islamic world to different degrees.
This trend being reversed in the US will hopefully also trigger changes in Europe and the non European Western nations.
Dragging people to jail for quoting a USVP risks drawing the international public's attention to a 'justice' system that would do such a thing.
The German political class reacted in a disappointing way. They either remained silent or whined like the East German leadership did after Reagan's "Tear down this wall." speech.
Freedom of speech is not a luxury, it is Western civilization's superior error detection and correction system.
Without freedom of speech we will be lead to slaughter, deaf and dumb.
#3
The Eastern Roman Empire lasted hundreds of years after the fall of Rome and the Western Roman Empire. It would have probably lasted longer had not Justinian not exhausted the resources of the East trying to recover the lands of the West, leaving it vulnerable to the first Islamic invasion. Just saying.
#9
Whoever wrote that speech, fantastic. Well delivered, too.
Something, something, UK law enforcement threatening arrest of anyone who noticed the murderer of the Swifty children is African even had someone arrested in Pakistan IIRC, EU MP bragging about cancelling elections, Germany talking up banning a political party because they will be leading the polls.
This is not the Europe where I live.
I think that is exactly what we need to talk about.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/15/2025 10:58
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#11
Byzantium fell because it rotted from within due to arrogance and corruption. The nobles were too busy arguing over the meaning of words while the populace abandoned it. Despite the bravery of the Venetians it was a done deal.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/15/2025 11:13
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#12
Of course you must keep confidences, European Conservative. Clearly there was a great deal of anger in the room during and after the speech. and NATO must be feeling rather whipsawed, going from the demands of President Trump to those of the Biden administration to President Trump again. I will only say, as I did in the previous thread, that I imagine you found the conference yesterday interesting. Here’s hoping the major parties actually act, rather than being content yet again to have said all the right things after the Mr. Noori smashed his car into the crowd.
#13
We, America's soldiers, fought and died in every European war. We were in Bosnia years before any other European nation went in. JD is spot on, not one more drop of American blood for the self righteous Euro's the generally despise us until they need our treasure and blood. Fuck them...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/15/2025 11:48
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#15
NATO must be feeling rather whipsawed, going from the demands of President Trump to those of the Biden administration to President Trump again.
Symptoms of bipolar disorder. Not good. I'm feeling a bit whipsawed myself. The only solution I can offer is for everybody to start treating Democrats as the pariah party.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 11:52
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#16
Migration is one thing, collaboration with the AfD something completely different. I just want to say that there were some of the staunchest transatlanticist people in the room, including the highest ranking members of my party.
We don't understand how Vance could visit Dachau, with the usual "Never Again" proclamations, and then go on to recommend us to open up to a party that thinks the Holocaust is a "bird shit" in German history.
And no, the AfD doesn't suffer suppression or a free speech problem. Their leaders are invited to just about any German TV talk show, they can freely express their opinions and you can vote for them just fine.
I expect Merz to be chancellor in March. He worked for major U.S. companies and is not a lightweight like Scholz. We'll see. Our freedom of speech is not in any danger. Our freedom is, because of Putin's aggression.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/15/2025 12:07
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#17
"A sham peace — over the heads of Ukrainians and Europeans — would gain nothing," she said. "A sham peace would not bring lasting security, neither for the people in Ukraine nor for us in Europe or the United States."
It's a sham of a war. It's naked aggression, its imperialism by the Western powers who don't even have the guts to put their own troops on the line. They thought Putin was so weak that he would knuckle under and allow NATO into Ukraine. They thought he would give up Crimea. But they miscalculated, plain and simple, just like Napoleon and Hitler. Putin knew better than to believe they would stop at Ukraine.
They can try to put a fig leaf on it with the claim of fighting for democracy but that's a lie. The CIA engineered the Maidan coup in 2014 that deposed Ukraine's democratically elected president. WTF were Victoria Nuland and the CIA doing in Kiev? How democratic was that?
Then Zelensky canceled Ukraine's scheduled election last March. So much for democracy. The Ukrainian people have no say in the matter. They are compelled to fight a war whether they like it or not. That's not democracy. That's not security. It's a lie.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 12:20
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#18
How much traction, how many followers, would AfD have gained without millions of Africans and Middle Easterners flooding into Germany?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 12:25
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#19
"Zelensky canceled Ukraine's scheduled election last March. So much for democracy."
"Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law” (2015) prohibits the holding of elections during martial law and the Electoral Code of Ukraine (2019) ordains suspension of all elections during such period. This is not an arbitrary political decision but a constitutionally viable solution aimed at ensuring stability in times of crisis. The law prevents governance from collapsing into uncertainty while the country is under extreme conditions."
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/15/2025 12:50
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#20
"How much traction, how many followers, would AfD have gained without millions of Africans and Middle Easterners flooding into Germany?"
A problem the new government will have to tackle, but without the AfD.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/15/2025 12:59
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#21
Ensure stability? That's a fig leaf for dictators. War is the most important matter anybody is ever likely to face. If you can't vote on war, your country is not stable, you are not secure, you are not free, you do not live in a democracy, your country is not worth fighting for.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 13:07
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#22
In America, we had elections during all of our wars. That's why Lyndon Johnson did not seek another term in office in 1968. The people of this country were so unhappy with his conduct of the Vietnam War that he was afraid to go before the electorate.
Maybe the people think their war is just but they have no faith in their government to wage it. What do they do then? Wait for defeat? That's not what the British did with Neville Chamberlain.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 13:20
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#23
@18 The AfD would have disintegrated in 2015 without Merkel's flooding.
However other non-establishment parties would have been founded and would have had some success.
Russia wants to take over all of Europe and end the US as a global power.
Putin has been an exploratory aggressor since the 200x years. He even dared and got away with deploying a radiological weapon on the territory of a Western nuclear power.
Anyone who wants to appease Russia will have to give away more than Ukraine.
The US will have to forfeit her right to have the US navy freely navigate international waters.
@16 Our freedom of speech is not in any danger.
Distribution of cartoons critical of the Greens results in criminal prosecution. Even if the result is an acquittal, this is unacceptable harassment and intimidation.
In the olden days freedom of speech enjoyed far greater protection.
"Soldaten sind Mörder! / Soldiers are murderers", "Tötet Helmut Kohl! / Kill Helmut Kohl!" was legally protected speech and didn't cause any societal ostracism either.
FTR I disagreed and disagree with both statements.
@20 A problem the new government will have to tackle, but without the AfD.
Center right parties could, in principle easily and devastatingly attack the AfD.
Point out that leading AfD politicians and affiliates (e.g. Chrupalla, Krah, Max Otte) are supporters of totalitarian Islam and the subjugation of Westerners to Sharia.
Taking a principled stance against totalitarianism should be in the DNA of the CDU/CSU/FDP but after Merkel that doesn't seem to be the case any longer.
And neither the U.S. nor the UK were under partly foreign occupation, with millions of people not being able to vote. Elections in Ukraine with daily bombings? The UK only had elections in July 1945 when the war in Europa had already ended.
Btw German Basic Law §115h has this:
(3) The Bundestag may not be dissolved for the duration of the state of defense.
i.e. no elections.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/15/2025 14:30
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#28
What I hear from the Germans is carrion men groaning for burial.
It's over for them. And we don't care.
Posted by: Regular joe ||
02/15/2025 14:53
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#29
Re freedom of speech in Germany:
In a poll posing the question "Do you feel that you can express your political opinion freely in Germany today, or is it better to be cautious?” 78% responded in the affirmative in 1990 whereas in 2023/2024 this decreased to 40% and 47% of the respondents. (Link in German)
#30
Abraham Lincoln ran against McClellan, his fired general in 1864 during our Civil War. During WWII, I think the only major change was that we let women have their own baseball league, even the slutty ones based on Madonna’s character. I understand we weren’t occupied during WWII, other than Kiska and Attu. Not sure why those two islands would have been considered a bigger red line than getting our troops slaughtered in the Philippines which was a protectorate that might as well have been a colony at the time.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/15/2025 15:02
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#34
In its 2017 election manifesto, AfD asserted that the presence of Muslims in Germany was a threat to the country: “Islam does not belong in Germany. The AfD sees the spread of Islam and the presence of over 5 million Muslims, whose numbers are constantly growing, as a great danger to our state, our society and our system of values.”[2]
AfD members were exposed as participants in a November 2023 secret meeting of far-right extremists in Potsdam, including Austrian neo-Nazi Martin Sellner, who discussed a mass deportation plan for foreigners and "non-assimilated" Germans, as part of AfD’s strategy should it be elected to govern Germany.
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Why would any sane German oppose those positions?
#36
Personally, I think we need to conquer them and make them a managed territory. Place the whole of Western Europe under military Governance, including Great Britain. Then ethnically cleanse the whole continent and British Isles.
#37
May have to get in line.
Macron recently went on a pandercast with a young muslim who has a history of calling for an islamic France and to use it as a tool to expand islam.
#4
the news industry (now completely corrupted into a global mind-fucking operation) . . .
Yes, they do fuck with some minds.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 12:45
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#5
“The nature of the NGO scams is to have a cause that sounds philanthropic, like ‘Save the Orphans of Sadville’ and then they pocket the money and zero actual orphans are helped.” — Elon Musk
I am reminded of the homeless scam in California. Newsom could tell you all about it...if he was honest.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 12:46
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Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2025
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[11147 views]
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#1
She's a "fundamentally non-serious choice".
One day we will stop catering to those who check two or more of the preferences boxes, and instead insist on competent leadership. Gooder and harder, New York.
#10
watch it with the sound off and you can smell the FAFO
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2025 7:57
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#11
^I did, and she looks terrified. No wonder she's raging!
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/15/2025 8:52
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#12
Her downfall will be most delicious - pair nicely with that '03 Chateau Potelle I've been saving for just such an occasion.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/15/2025 9:54
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#13
#10
Good call frank. I watched it with no sound. That is the face of real fear. Short bursty sentences. Rapid eye blinks. quivery mouth. My first thought was it looked like she was about to burst into tears. How delicious!
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2025 11:37
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#16
Someone hand me a glass of her tears. I will mix it with Jack, a little toxic masculinity, Ice and toast her loss! Too bad we cant drink from the skulls of our enemies any more...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/15/2025 11:51
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#17
Would not work in her case. Solid bone matter.
#19
As a general, she ought to be able to recognize a rout. Even Baghdad Bob recognized it was bugout time in the end.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/15/2025 13:27
Comments ||
Top||
#20
The burst-transmission speech pattern, repetitive, rapid, finger scolding, and eye movement are a dead give-away of how much she is feeling pressured. My guess is a lot of the senior political management of NY State has communicated their angry reaction to the money stoppage she has caused.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22.18 The Ukrainian Air Force hit a Russian stronghold near the village of Yelizavetovka in the Kursk region, from which drones were launched to attack Ukrainian defenders in the Sumy region. The General Staff reported this on February 14, publishing a corresponding video .
20.13 The total losses of Russian troops in the Kursk region exceeded 48 thousand, of which about 20 thousand were killed. This was reported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky on Friday, February 14.
19.00 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has begun a meeting with US Vice President Jay D. Vance in Munich. This was reported by the press secretary of the head of the Ukrainian state, Serhiy Nikiforov.
18.46 Saudi Arabia supported the idea of holding a meeting between the leaders of the United States and Russia to advance negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine. This was reported by the Kingdom's Foreign Ministry.
18.37 Russian troops are advancing on the right bank of the Oskol River and continue to consolidate their positions in the area of Dvurechnaya and Novomlinsk. This is reported by DeepState.
17.52 Operators of the 413th Raid SSS Battalion detected and carried out a precise strike on the Strela-10 SAM system (9K35/SA-13 Gopher). This was reported by the Unmanned Systems Forces, which published a video . The Strela-10 SAM system is a Russian short-range anti-aircraft missile system designed to cover units and parts of ground forces from helicopters and UAVs.
17.44 The Security Service and the National Police detained new arsonists who were operating in the Odessa region on orders from Russian special services. The suspects were six students aged 13 to 15. This was reported by the SBU press service on Friday, February 14.
13:29 Russian troops have struck the Zaporizhia region. As a result of the enemy attack, two people are known to have died. This was reported by the head of the Zaporizhia OVA on Friday, February 14.
13:16 The Security Service has detained six Russian henchmen who, posing as activists, called for the overthrow of the constitutional order in Ukraine. They created fake organizations, spread Kremlin narratives, and promised conscripts a "reservation" from mobilization. This was reported by the SBU press service on Friday, February 14.
13:15 Fighters from the Voron unmanned systems battalion from the 100th separate mechanized brigade destroyed a Russian 2S4 Tyulpan mortar.
"This time, the battalion's fighters targeted a "fat target" - a 2S4 Tyulpan self-propelled mortar," the OSGV Khortytsia statement says.
Thanks to the precise drop, the enemy mortar was destroyed.
12:59 Over the three years of war, Western donors have provided Ukraine with €267 billion in aid, almost half of which is military. Despite the steady flow of funding, the overall level of support remains low compared to the donors' economic capabilities. This is stated in the new Ukraine Support Tracker report prepared by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
11:22 As a result of the strike on Friday night by a Russian drone on the Shelter facility above power unit No. 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the resulting fire, the integrity of the outer shell was damaged. This was reported by the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate (SNRIU).
11:14 At night, Russian troops dropped two guided aerial bombs on civilian infrastructure in the Khotyn community of the Sumy region, and later attacked a recreation center in Sumy with a drone.
As a result of the attack by the Russians, three men, aged 45, 55 and 56, and a 47-year-old woman were injured. The hospital premises, private homes and outbuildings were damaged.
10:35 Soldiers of the 25th separate airborne Sicheslav brigade of the Airborne assault troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Pokrovsky direction captured nine Russian soldiers with the help of a drone.
10:20 Counterintelligence of the Security Service detained an FSB agent in Mykolaiv - a 35-year-old repeat offender who was adjusting Russian airstrikes on the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the city.
Before the start of the full-scale war, the man was serving a sentence for serious crimes in a correctional facility in Kherson. After the city was captured, the occupiers transferred the prisoner to one of the colonies in Russia, where he was recruited by a career FSB officer.
On instructions from the Russians, the agent arrived in Nikolaev via third countries and later began carrying out the enemy’s tasks.
9:45 The International Atomic Energy Agency has shown a photo of the aftermath of the strike on the shelter at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. They noted that the incident occurred at about 1:50 on February 14.
"At around 01:50, the IAEA team at the Chernobyl site heard an explosion from the New Safe Confinement, which protects the remains of reactor No. 4 of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant, causing a fire. They were told that a UAV had crashed into the roof of the NSC," the statement said.
The aftermath of the Russian strike on the Chernobyl shelter. Photo: IAEA
9:40 A Russian attack drone with a high-explosive warhead hit the shelter of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. This was reported by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The shelter was damaged by this drone, the fire has already been extinguished. "Currently, the radiation background has not increased, and this is constantly monitored. According to initial estimates, the damage to the shelter is significant," the president said.
8:55 At night, Russian troops attacked Ukraine with 133 Shahed-type attack drones and various types of drone imitators. 73 drones were destroyed, another 58 were lost (without negative consequences).
The attack affected Kyiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Odessa and Kharkiv regions.
7:25 As of February 14, 2025, the total combat losses of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine amounted to approximately 855,480 people (+1200 per day).
5:23 In 2024, Russia produced and repaired more than 1,500 tanks and 2,800 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers. This allowed it to compensate for last year's losses of armored vehicles. However, the Russian Federation may face a shortage of spare parts and technical difficulties in the future. This is evidenced by an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War.
3:54 In its daily report, published on its Telegram channel on the night of February 14, the DeepState analytical project reported on the advance of Russian invaders in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.
(IsraelTimes] Dual national tells US president ‘you are the reason I am home alive’; released captive Or Levy visits Hostages Square, days after release from Hamas captivity: ‘Hope dies last’
Recently released hostage Keith Siegel issued a video statement on Friday thanking US President Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... for his administration’s work in securing his release as part of the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... , and asked him to ensure that the agreement remains intact until all the remaining captives are freed.
"My name is Keith Siegel and I’m a 65-year-old American citizen. I love country music and I love pancakes on Saturday morning, but that was my previous life," he said in English in the video statement, with a yellow ribbon pinned to his sweatshirt.
"Since February 1, I am a newly released Hamas hostage. I’m a survivor. I was held for 484 days in unimaginable conditions. Every single day felt like it could be my last," Siegel said.
"President Trump, you are the reason I am home alive," he continued. "You are the reason I was reunited with my beloved wife, four children and five grandchildren."
Siegel said that while held 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... he "lived in constant fear, fear for my life and my personal safety.
"I was starved and I was tortured, both physically and emotionally," he said.
Israeli-American citizen Keith Siegel, who was released from Hamas captivity two weeks ago after being held captive for 484 days, recorded a video message for President Trump:
Siegel said that when the fighting between Israel and Hamas intensified, his captors treated him even worse than they usually did.
"Terrorists kicked me, spat on me and held me with no water, no light, no air to breathe," he said.
Appealing to Trump, Siegel said that his "leadership, power and authority are necessary to enforce the ceasefire and put an end to the unnecessary daily dangers to the lives of innocent hostages and civilians."
"I trust in your strength and leadership Mr. President," he said. "The helpless hostages in the dark, cold tunnels in Gaza also trust you. Please bring them home."
Also on Friday, released hostage Or Levy visited Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, six days after he was freed from Hamas captivity. Levy said in a statement that he was visiting the focal point of the efforts to secure the release of those held in Gaza despite resistance from his family and doctors. Levy was released on Saturday along with Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami. The three men were frail and emaciated as a result of their ill-treatment.
"It’s been a week now, a week since I was reborn," said Levy. "I’m trying to process what happened during the 491 days I missed, trying to understand what transpired in our country during that time."
He said that during his captivity in Gaza, he didn’t know whether or not his wife Eynav was still alive. Eynav Levy was killed in the roadside shelter near the Nova rave, where the couple had fled during the rocket onslaught on the morning of October 7, 2023, while Or was taken captive.
"It was such devastating news I received when I returned, but I promised her every day while I was there that I would stay strong for her and for the greatest gift she gave me in life — Mogi," says Levy, referring to their three-year-old son, Almog, who was raised by grandparents and other family members while he was held in Gaza.
Of the activism at Hostages Square, Levy said it was important for him to "understand everything you’ve done and continue to do, to see the work that is far from taken for granted."
"I may be here, but I still have many brothers and sisters in the hell of Gaza, and their time is running out," he said.
"Alon and Eliya, I’m waiting for you," says Levy, referring to Alon Ohel and Eliya Cohen, who were held with him and fellow released hostage Eli Sharabi, whose wife and two daughters were killed on October 7. "Bring them all back! Now! Whatever it takes."
[IsraelTimes] Channel 12 publishes new testimony from the female hostages released last month, along with another testimony from released hostages about the conditions under which remaining male captives are being held.
One of the female hostages was held in the home of a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative and was tasked with taking care of his children.
Another female hostage was held with a family. The father was married to several women and was very violent toward the hostage, treating her like a maid. One of the man’s wives grew close to the female hostage staying by them and would try to protect her, even offering to do chores in her place.
The female hostages said that their captors began feeding them in the lead-up to their release. For four days leading up to that day, the captors had the hostages practice the “speech” they’d give during their propaganda release ceremony.
As for the hostages still in captivity, testimony from those who have returned reveals that one of them heard about one of his relatives being killed over the radio.
Another hostage has been shackled by his legs since his abduction and has been subjected to terrible physical abuse.
Another hostage was beaten so badly at one point that he lost consciousness, and his fellow hostages thought he was dead.
Unlike some of the other hostages who have been released, many of those still being held have not been given access to a radio or TV or the outside world.
They are told by the captors that no one in Israel is fighting for their release. One of the hostages still being held was told that his wife had moved on and that he has no one to come back to.
[IsraelTimes] Egyptian plan would see terror group Hamas sidelined in governance of coastal enclave; issue to be discussed at end of month in Riyadh
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... is spearheading urgent Arab efforts to develop a plan for 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... ’s future as a counter to US President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... ’s ambition for a Middle East riviera cleared of its Paleostinian inhabitants, 10 sources told Rooters.
Draft ideas will be discussed at a meeting in Riyadh this month of countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Proposals may involve a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and a deal to sideline Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... , five of the people said.
This month?? Gentlemen, we’re on Trump time now — you need to figure it out in days, or he’ll drive past you to his new reality. Look at what’s been happening back home, while the Democrats and the RINOs prepared holding actions for the usual first hundred days.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies were aghast at Trump’s plan to permanently "clean out" all Paleostinians from Gaza and resettle most of them in Jordan and Egypt, an idea immediately rejected by Cairo and Amman and seen in most of the region as deeply destabilizing.
What kind of evil is it to demand that 1.5 million people stay locked in for years in the midst of rubble and asbestos dust and overflowing poo ponds, regularly being blown up by by leftover munitions in every single building and falling through holes in the ground into the remnants of 500 miles of Hamas tunnels? They should all be ashamed of themselves.
The dismay in Saudi Arabia was aggravated, sources said, because the plan would nix the kingdom’s demand for a clear path to Paleostinian statehood as a condition to normalize ties with Israel — something that would also pave the way for an ambitious military pact between Riyadh and Washington, shoring up the kingdom’s defenses against Iran.
Riyadh has been demanding that since the 1990s. Once upon a time Israel would have been willing to trade just about anything for peace, but they don’t need that anymore, especially not from Saudi Arabia. Timing, as they say, is everything .
Rooters spoke to 15 sources in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and elsewhere to build a picture of the hurried efforts by Arab states to pull together existing proposals into a new plan they can sell to the US president — even potentially calling it a "Trump plan" to win his approval.
Because he is so shallow and narcissistic that such a blatant ploy will definitely fool him into falling for a tissue of a farrago of a fluffy bit of nothingness. Honestly, guys, if you’re going be manipulative, it’s really best not to tell the reporters so that the whole world finds out. Do you really think that President Trump does not read newspapers?
All the sources declined to be identified because the issue involves international or domestic sensitivities and they were not authorized to speak in public.
I’ll bet.
One Arab government source said at least four proposals had already been drafted for Gaza’s future, with an Egyptian proposal emerging as central to the Arab push for an alternative to Trump’s idea.
At least they got to the brainstorming stage…
THE EGYPTIAN PROPOSAL
The latest Egyptian proposal involves forming a national Paleostinian committee to govern Gaza without Hamas involvement, international participation in reconstruction without displacing Paleostinians abroad, and movement toward a two-state solution, three Egyptian security sources said.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Paleostinian representatives will review and discuss the plan in Riyadh before it is presented at a scheduled Arab summit on February 27, the Arab government source said.
The role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ...Crown Prince and modernizer of Saudi Arabia as of 2016. The Turks hate him, so he must be all right, despite the occasional brutal murder of Qatar-owned journalists... , widely known as MBS, is shaping up to be key.
"We are telling the Americans we have a plan that works. Our meeting with MBS is going to be critical. He is taking the lead," a Jordanian official said.
The crown prince had a warm relationship with the first Trump administration and is increasingly central to Arab ties with the United States during the new Trump era.
Long a major regional partner of the United States, the crown prince is expanding Saudi Arabia’s relationship through business and global power politics.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is holding a conference in Miami this month, which Rooters revealed Trump is expected to attend. Riyadh is also expected to host his upcoming talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... to try to end the Ukraine war.
The White House did not respond to several requests for comment on this story.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... , speaking on Thursday, referred to the coming Arab meeting, saying: "Right now the only plan — they don’t like it — but the only plan is the Trump plan. So if they’ve got a better plan, now’s the time to present it."
Spokespeople for Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE and Israel did not immediately respond to Rooters requests for comment.
BUFFER ZONE
Clear plans for Gaza’s post-war future have already proven hard to develop, as they require positions on contentious debates regarding the territory’s internal governance, security management, funding and reconstruction.
Israel has already rejected any role for Hamas or the Paleostinian Authority in governing Gaza or ensuring security there. Arab countries and the United States have said they do not want to put troops on the ground to do that.
Gulf states, which have historically paid for reconstruction in Gaza, have said they do not want to do so this time without guarantees that Israel will not again destroy what they build. Israel is unlikely to make guarantees that prevent it from acting against threats from the territory.
Jordan’s King Abdullah emphasized to Trump on Monday at their meeting in the White House that he was working with Saudi Arabia and Egypt on a Gaza plan that would work, a Jordanian official said.
Anything to not have to take in significant numbers of Gazans, right, Your Majesty?
In televised comments after the meeting, Abdullah said the countries would review an Egyptian plan and "we will be in Saudi Arabia to discuss how we can work with the president and the United States."
Rooters could not immediately reach Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi for comment. After Abdullah’s meeting with Trump, Safadi said: "We are now working on crystallizing the Arab plan."
Initial proposals shared by the three Egyptian security sources relating to reconstruction and financing appear to be in advanced stages.
A buffer zone and physical barrier would be erected to prevent tunnels from being built across Gaza’s border with Egypt. As soon as the rubble is removed, 20 areas will be established as temporary living zones. Around 50 Egyptian and other foreign companies would be brought in to carry out the work.
Financing would involve international and Gulf money, a regional source with knowledge of the matter said. A potential fund could be named the Trump Fund for Reconstruction, an Arab government official said.
However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... the most difficult issues regarding Gaza’s governance and internal security remain to be decided, the official said.
Forcing Hamas out of any role in Gaza would be critical, said the Arab official and the three Egyptian sources.
Hamas has previously said it is willing to cede government in Gaza to a national committee, but it would want a role in choosing its members and would not accept the deployment of any ground forces without its consent. Israel will be loath to agree to such terms.
The three Egyptian sources said that while nothing in the plan was very new, they believed it was good enough to change Trump’s mind and that it could be imposed on Hamas and the Paleostinian Authority under the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase.... ’NOT PLEASED’
Saudi annoyance over Gaza had already been building before Trump’s announcement.
The kingdom had repeatedly said normalization with Israel was conditional on a path to creating a Paleostinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
That stance hardened as Saudi public anger grew at the destruction and death in Gaza in the war brought on by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel. Thousands of Hamas-led bandidosfaceless myrmidons invaded southern Israel and slaughtered some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, amid horrific acts of brutality. They kidnapped 251 people, 73 of whom are still held captive in Gaza.
In November, the crown prince publicly accused Israel of genocide during an Islamic summit and doubled down on the need for a two-state solution. Frustration was running high in the kingdom over the ongoing war, two regional intelligence sources said.
Washington appeared ready to ignore Riyadh’s demand for two states. The day before his Gaza announcement, Trump was asked whether a normalization deal could proceed without a two-state solution. He said: "Saudi Arabia is going to be very helpful."
Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, had held meetings in Riyadh in late January. Two senior diplomats said Witkoff laid out a three-month timeline for the normalization process.
But Saudi frustration quickly turned into surprise and then anger when Trump announced his Gaza idea. "He is not pleased," a source close to the Saudi royal court said of Prince Mohammed’s reaction.
The level of anger was quickly evident in state media broadcasts — which analysts say are often a measure of official Saudi viewpoints — with television news reports personally excoriating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"They are outraged," said Aziz Alghashian, a Saudi analyst familiar with official thinking, describing the mood among senior Saudi officials. "This is outrageous. More than frustration, this is on another level."
Many experts say Trump may be using an old bargaining ploy from his diplomatic playbook, setting out an extreme position as an opening gambit for negotiations. During his first term, he often issued what were widely seen as over-the-top foreign policy pronouncements, many of which never came to fruition.
Still, it has complicated the normalization talks.
Former Saudi intelligence head Prince Turki al-Faisal, who holds no current role in the government, said in a CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... interview last week that if Trump visited Riyadh, "I’m sure he will get an earful from the leadership here."
Asked if he could see any prospect of normalization talks advancing with Israel, he said: "Not at all."
Not that his opinion matters, since he and his entire generation were forcefully put out to pasture by MBS. But if he is right, then things will continue in the subrosa way they’ve been for a couple of decades, normalized in all but name. Because there will be no Palestinian state in this generation — not after 10/7 and all that followed in both Palestinian territories.
[IsraelTimes] A ceasefire has enabled some Gazans to go back to their ruined homes without fear of Israeli airstrikes, but they have returned to a severe water crisis.
“We returned here and found no pumps, no wells. We did not find buildings or houses,” says 50-year-old farmer Bassel Rajab, a resident of the northern town of Beit Lahiya.
“We came and set up tents to shelter in, but there is no water. We don’t have water, we are suffering.”
Drinking, cooking and washing are a luxury in Gaza, 16 months after the start of the war between Israel and the Hamas terror group.
Rajab says he sometimes walks 16 kilometers (10 miles) in the hope of taking a shower in Gaza City.
Some Palestinians have dug wells in areas near the sea, or rely on salty tap water from Gaza’s only aquifer, contaminated with seawater and sewage.
The Palestinian Water Authority estimates that it will cost $2.7 billion to repair the water and sanitation sectors.
Palestinians were already facing a severe water crisis as well as shortages of food, fuel and medicine before the wells were destroyed in the war.
The Palestinian Water Authority says in a statement on its website that 208 out of 306 wells had been knocked out of service during the war and a further 39 were partially out of service.
#3
Hamas has previously said it is willing to cede government in Gaza to a national committee, but it would want a role in choosing its members and would not accept the deployment of any ground forces without its consent.
You're not in any position to dictate terms and demands
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2025 7:55
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Lots of fine points and positions for all factions to argue over, but the Big Takeaway is that the topic of discussion is "What To Do With The Paleostinians?" I don't think that conversation has been possible since 1948 or so, yet here we are.
[IsraelTimes] WaPo claims Jerusalem wants to ‘seize the moment,’ seeks DC’s backing but willing to attack alone; says Israel already has US bunker busters to penetrate underground facilities
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President 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... have discussed a variety of ways in which the US could support Israel in a potential attack on Iran’s nuclear program, the Washington Post reported Friday, amid a series of indications that Jerusalem could be planning a strike in the coming months in a bid to take down Tehran’s regime.
Citing Israeli and US officials, senior Washington Post columnist David Ignatius asserted that unless diplomatic pressure forces 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 abandon its nuclear facilities, Israel is prepared to destroy them "with or without US support."
"Israel wants to seize the moment," Ignatius wrote, citing American and Israeli officials: "If Iran won’t agree to a Libya-style abandonment of its nuclear facilities, Israel is prepared to bomb those facilities — with or without US support, the officials said."
Accordingly, the Post reported that Netanyahu and Trump discussed several options for US backing of a potential Israeli strike, ranging from military intelligence and refueling to political support, during their meetings in Washington last week.
The analyst asserted that the US has already provided Israel with the bunker-busting munitions it would need to penetrate Iran’s underground nuclear facilities and damage centrifuges built deep in mountainous terrain in Fordow, near Qom.
In contrast, CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... on Thursday cited Pentagon reports noting Israel would still need American assistance to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities, including mid-air refueling and the ordinances required to penetrate deep underground. The report said Israel was thought to be pursuing a "broader goal" of regime change in Tehran.
It’s known that Israel has bunker-busting munitions but it is unclear if they would be sufficient to severely damage or destroy Iran’s underground nuclear sites.
Trump said last week that he would prefer to make a deal with Iran rather than "bombing the hell out of it," adding that Israel would not carry out a strike if there were an agreement with Iran.
"Everyone thinks Israel, with our help or our approval, will go in and bomb the hell out of them. I would prefer that not happen. I’d much rather see a deal with Iran where we can do a deal — supervise, check it, inspect it and then blow it up or just make sure that there is no more nuclear," he told Fox News.
Amid the war 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... , sparked by the Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... terror group’s October 7, 2023 massacre, Iran has twice fired massive missile and drone barrages at Israel, which were largely thwarted by air defenses, in cooperation with the US and its regional allies.
Israel responded with two rounds of strikes on Iran, the second of which, in October, destroyed much of the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s air defense systems as well as some key military facilities while demonstrating Israel’s ability to operate uninhibited over Iranian airspace. It has been widely reported that at the time, then-US president Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created ... by the — you know — you know, the thing... urged Israel against hitting nuclear sites.
The Thursday CNN report quoted a former senior Biden official as saying that Israel had wanted to go further, with officials on multiple occasions trying to convince the US to carry out additional strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities to take advantage of the momentum.
While the Biden administration was said to have been open to the idea, the discussions reportedly came to a halt when Trump won the US presidential elections in November.
Sources quoted by CNN said that a decision was made not to carry out preemptive military strikes during the transition period, though US and Israeli officials agreed that they would respond if Iran moved to advance its nuclear weapons program.
At the same time, it has been previously reported that Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer left a November meeting with then-president-elect Trump believing he would either support an Israeli military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities or direct a US strike on those sites himself.
Iran, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, insists its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes. However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA has said that Iran is currently enriching uranium to levels that have no civilian use, and the country has obstructed international inspectors seeking to visit its facilities.
In addition, The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported earlier this month that American intelligence indicates a covert team of Iranian scientists was exploring ways to quickly develop a nuclear weapon if the country’s leadership decided to pursue one.
The US intelligence assessments that Israel is considering strikes on Iran’s nuclear program this year were first reported by The Wall Street Journal earlier this week.
Some Israeli officials have indicated a desire to hit Iran, seeing a ripe opportunity given the damage Israel has inflicted on Iran and its proxies since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, when the Paleostinian terror group Hamas led a devastating invasion of southern Israel that left 1,200 people dead and 251 kidnapped, mostly civilians.
The next day, Iran-backed Hezbollah in Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... began attacking across Israel’s northern border. As Israel battled Hamas in Gaza and responded to Hezbollah’s rocket fire, Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s rebels also began firing drones and ballistic missiles at Israel.
In September, Israel launched a major campaign against Hezbollah, decimating the terror group’s leadership and depleting its fighting abilities. A ceasefire was reached at the end of November. Hezbollah was long seen as a deterrent to an Israeli strike on Iran due to the threat of its massive missile arsenal, but the war left it with greatly diminished capabilities.
Meanwhile,
...back at the abandoned silver mine, the water was up to Jack's neck and still rising. And then he smelled the smoke... Israel bombed the Houthi rebels in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... — demonstrating its ability to strike even further than Iran — and in Syria, the Iran-aligned Assad regime was ousted by rebels who have since courted the West.
A three-phase hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect last month and is currently in its initial stage, with at least three of the remaining 73 abductees held in Gaza due to be released on Saturday.
[IsraelTimes] Military says fighter jets hit terror group’s weapons storage sites and rocket launchers, which were operated in ‘blatant violation’ of agreements, as row emerges over withdrawal deadline
The Israel Defense Forces carried out Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in southern 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?... late Thursday night, saying it targeted Hezbollah terror group facilities.
The sites hit by fighter jets were used by Iran-backed Hezbollah to store weapons and launchers and had "posed a direct threat to the Israeli home front," the military said.
The strikes took place near the towns of Yohmor, Deir Siryan, Yater, and Zibqin in southern Lebanon, according to local reports.
According to the IDF, Hezbollah activity at the sites "constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon."
The strikes came at the same time that pro-Hezbollah protesters — some hundreds, according to local reports cited in Hebrew media — clashed with the Lebanese army in Beirut, after aviation authorities reportedly informed an Iranian passenger flight that it would not be permitted to land in Lebanon, after the IDF said 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... was using such flights to smuggle cash to Hezbollah.
They also came amid clashing statements about the IDF’s future in southern Lebanon.
Israel said Thursday it would remain in five key points past the deadline for withdrawal stipulated by a November ceasefire agreement, and the US signaled support for the move. However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians... — a Hezbollah ally — said that he and the country’s president and prime minister all opposed any lingering Israeli presence.
Under the deal, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in the south alongside United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period, which was extended until February 18. Iran-backed Hezbollah was also meant to leave its positions in the south, near the Israeli border, over that period.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Israel is entitled to act against immediate threats posed by Hezbollah but must forward complaints about longer-term threats to an oversight committee composed of representatives from the US, La Belle France, Lebanon, and the international observer force UNIFIL.
[NewsMax] The military is increasing its surveillance of Mexican drug cartels to collect intelligence to determine how to best counter their activities, the top general overseeing troops in North America said on Thursday.
"We have also increased some uniquely military capabilities that will get after... the cartels, which are driving the illegal migration, and that is primarily through airborne ISR to get more information on those and figure out how we can counter their actions," said Air Force General Gregory Guillot, head of U.S. Northern Command.
Asked if he would need a carrier strike group in the waters between the United States and Mexico, Guillot said: "I will need significant increased maritime presence in cooperation with the Coast Guard."
[IsraelTimes] Dekel-Chen to meet his daughter for first time; Horn’s brother, kidnapped while visiting for Simchat Torah, not on list for 1st phase
The Prime Minister’s Office announced on Friday that it had received the names of three male hostages — Sagui Dekel Chen, Sasha Troufanov and Iair Horn — slated for release from captivity 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... on Saturday, as part of the sixth hostage-prisoner exchange under the ongoing ceasefire agreement with the Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... terror group.
Hamas notified Israel of the identities of the three hostages set to be released via Egyptian 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... i mediators, having backed down on Thursday from a threat to delay the next release of captives. Hamas had accused Israel earlier in the week of failing to meet its aid obligations under the truce. Israel had rejected the charge and threatened to resume the war.
In a statement welcoming the announcement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum noted the "shocking footage of hostage survivors" released last week and "the latest signs of life" that relatives of captives still held in Gaza have received recently from Israelis freed under the truce deal.
"We must reach a comprehensive and immediate agreement, without gaps or delays, to return all hostages — the living for rehabilitation and the dear departed for proper burial," the forum said in a statement.
Israel had in recent days appeared to endorse US President Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... ’s demand that all hostages be freed promptly, rather than just the three set for the next release, but was vague on the matter.
Jerusalem is reportedly still pushing for further live hostages to be released in the upcoming days, but a senior Arab official told The Times of Israel on Thursday that it was unlikely the terror group would deviate from the original timeframe of the agreement.
Three hostages released by Hamas last weekend — Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami — came back gaunt, malnourished and suffering from serious health issues.
The release of the next three hostages, who were all kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, was expected to begin on Saturday morning, though the timing had not been confirmed as of Friday night.
TROUFANOV WAS ABDUCTED WITH HIS FAMILY, HIS FATHER WAS KILLED
Russian-Israeli citizen Troufanov, 29, was taken hostage along with three members of his family — grandmother Irena Tati, mother Yelena (Lena) and his girlfriend Sapir Cohen — from their home in the Gaza border community. His father Vitaly Troufanov was killed during the onslaught.
Hamas released the three women in November 2023 as part of a week-long truce.
Yelena Troufanov arrived on Friday at the site where she will be reunited with her son. She became observant over the past year, and came to the location near the Gaza border a day early to avoid traveling on the Sabbath.
"I ask you all to light Shabbat candles with joy," she said in footage posted to social media. "Make a wish that all our hostages come home soon, and that there will be peace, quiet and calm in the land of Israel for the nation of Israel."
According to a biography released by his family, Sasha Troufanov works as an engineer in Amazon’s cloud division. His family immigrated to Israel from the Soviet Union 25 years ago.
Moscow has pushed for Troufanov’s release multiple times since he was kidnapped, including since the January ceasefire was announced.
The Russian-Israeli is being held by 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... terror group, which indicated it had agreed to the release.
Sapir Cohen recounted seeing armed holy warriors seize a bleeding Sasha on October 7, whose last words to her were "No, no." In May 2024, Paleostinian Islamic Jihad released a video of Sasha, followed by another in November 2024, after his second birthday in captivity.
Another propaganda video was released on Friday night which showed Troufanov walking on the coast of the Gaza Strip, as well as fishing. He is also seen writing a note, apparently thanking his captors, something Hamas and Islamic Jihad have forced hostages to do before releasing them. The Troufanov family asked Israeli media not to publish the video or stills from it.
The last two Israeli hostages to be released from Gaza by the PIJ, Arbel Yehoud and Gadi Mozes, were handed over to the Red Thingy in an uncontrolled and dangerous event outside the destroyed home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, surrounded by hundreds of masked button men and large, seething crowds.
Israel has warned strongly against such an event recurring.
Hebrew media reported that the three men were expected to be handed over in at least two different locations on Saturday — Troufanov from Khan Younis and Dekel-Chen and Horn, who are being held by Hamas, from one or two other locations in Gaza.
DEKEL-CHEN CONFRONTED THE TERRORISTS
US-Israeli citizen Dekel-Chen, 36, saw Hamas-led title='terrorists '>holy warriors entering Nir Oz and was among the first to raise the alarm. He was last heard from at 9:30 a.m. on October 7, 2023, according to his father, Connecticut-born Jonathan Dekel-Chen, a Hebrew University professor who also lives at Nir Oz.
Sagui was working in the kibbutz’s machine shop when the attack began, his family said. After ensuring his wife and children was safely in their home’s secure room, he confronted the holy warriors and was taken captive.
Sagui’s mother, Neomit, was taken captive along with her neighbors in an electric cart that was headed toward Gaza when an IDF helicopter shot at the holy warriors and driver. Neomit, injured, made her way back toward the kibbutz, and was eventually rescued and evacuated.
His then-pregnant wife Avital and two young daughters also survived the massacre in Nir Oz. His third daughter, Shachar, born two months later, celebrated her first birthday in December without her father.
"There’s no way for us to know if he’s even aware that his wife and two — now three — daughters survived the massacre at Nir Oz," the hostage’s father told The Times last month. "I think that alone must be torture."
According to a biography provided by his family, Sagui is a social and business entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of the Bikurim Youth Village and an avid tennis player. Friends and family know him as creative, honest, and humble.
IAIR HORN, ABDUCTED ALONG WITH HIS BROTHER
Argentinian-Israel citizen Horn, 46, was also kidnapped from his home on October 7, as Hamas holy warriors swarmed through the kibbutz, killing or kidnapping a quarter of the southern community’s residents.
His younger brother, Eitan Horn, 38, who was visiting from Kfar Saba for the holiday weekend, was also kidnapped and is still held in Gaza. He is not on the list of "humanitarian" cases — women, children, elderly individuals and the infirm — slated for release in the first stage of the ceasefire.
According to a biography provided by his family, Iair is known for organizing Purim parties and managing the kibbutz pub, and is an avid fan of Hapoel Beersheba football club. Friends and family describe him as someone who loves life and is deeply connected to his family and kibbutz community.
Following the announcement of the three civilian hostages set to be freed, the Hamas prisoners’ media office said Israel would release 369 Paleostinian prisoners on Saturday as part of the exchange, including 36 serving life sentences.
The remaining 333 prisoners slated were detained in Gaza after October 7, over the course of the war.
As of Friday, under the terms of the ceasefire that went into effect last month, 17 hostages are still slated to be released under the deal’s first stage, nine of whom are believed to still be alive.
Recent weeks have seen the terror group release 16 Israelis and five Thai hostages under the arrangement, which also requires Israel to free some 2,000 Paleostinian security prisoners, including hundreds of holy warriors serving life sentences and lengthy terms for attacks.
But serious doubts remain over subsequent stages of the deal, which have yet to be negotiated.
Seventy-three of the 251 hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
The vast majority, 333 people, are “prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after October 7,” the group says.
Among the most prominent of those set to be released is Ahmed Barghouti, 48, a close aide of Fatah chief and Second Intifada terror leader Marwan Barghouti, who was arrested alongside Marwan Barghouti in 2002.
Ahmed Barghouti has been serving 13 life sentences for carrying out a series of terror attacks during the Second Intifada that killed 12 Israelis. He is reportedly set to be deported abroad via Egypt.
#4
Israeli prisons are overflowing with captured bad guys, who have each contributed heavily to their intelligence files about themselves and their web of connections. Partial emptying in preparation for the next round of collections is necessary, since the death penalty is not on the table.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Denis Davydov
[REGNUM] On the night of February 14, on the eve of the Munich Security Conference, a strike drone with a high-explosive warhead hit the Shelter facility above the destroyed fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The first to report this was, of course, Volodymyr Zelensky, who very clearly formulated the meaning of what happened:
"Ukraine built this shelter together with other countries of Europe and the world, together with America - with all who want real security for people. The only state in the world that can attack such objects, occupy the territory of nuclear power plants and conduct military operations without taking into account the consequences at all is today's Russia. And this is a terrorist threat to the entire world," he said.
That is why all day Friday Ukrainian experts excitedly discuss “why does Russia need this now”, rejoicing at how excited all the participants of the meeting in Munich are. And the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sybiga even held an urgent meeting with the Director General of the IAEA, at the same time reminding about the Ukrainian claims to the Zaporizhzhya NPP. Thus, there is no doubt that psychological pressure is being exerted on the high contracting parties.
What actually happened at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, what are the possible consequences and who benefits from the drone attack - explains IA Regnum.
CONFINEMENT
The fourth block of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, where an explosion occurred in 1986 with subsequent radiation contamination of vast territories, was isolated that same year using the Shelter object. From May to November, 400 thousand cubic meters of concrete mixture were poured and 7 thousand tons of metal structures were installed.
Between 1996 and 2007, the sarcophagus was further reinforced, but remained leaky, and immediately after the work was completed, construction of the New Safe Confinement began. Funds were allocated for it by 28 donor countries, including the United States, France, Canada, and Germany, and the work was carried out by the French contractor NOVARKA. The giant 100-meter-high arch was pushed onto the old shelter in 2016, and was put into operation three years later.
The thickness of the structure is 10 meters, it consists of 19 substructures, the main one being a protective structure with a special double casing. The project also provides for special foundations, western and eastern end walls, non-standard bridge cranes, a multifunctional ventilation system, a technological complex with sections for decontamination, fragmentation and packaging of radioactive materials, etc.
In addition, the station's territory contains a centralized storage facility for spent nuclear fuel (CSSF), built by the American company Holtec International. And from the point of view of the effectiveness of strikes of any kind, it is the CSSF that poses a greater danger than the arch.
RADIATION THREAT
The confinement structure can withstand temperatures ranging from minus 43 to plus 45 degrees, a tornado with a wind speed of 254–332 km/h, and a magnitude 6 earthquake. The outer shell of the arch is designed to withstand impact loads; it is water- and air-tight.
The explosion of a landmine is certainly not included in the list of these threats, but it did not cause any significant damage. A hole appeared in the structure's casing, a small fire broke out, which was quickly extinguished, and there was no critical damage, as can be seen in the publicly available photos from the scene.
"Right now, the radiation background both on the territory of the facility and in the exclusion zone is within the norm," the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reports, but it could not be otherwise. Since, as already stated, the arch is the third layer of protection, and the destroyed reactor itself and the nuclear fuel located in it are filled with tons of concrete.
The interior of the dome was not damaged, which has already been confirmed by the IAEA, especially since it was installed on a cast concrete base of the technological rooms. But even in an undamaged form, the confinement is not a 100% guarantee of safety. Only the construction of a hermetic shell that completely isolates the station destroyed by the explosion from the environment can ensure it.
Overall, in 2016, when the new protective structure was erected on top of the old sarcophagus, radiation levels around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant dropped by 3-4 times and now amount to 1.2 microsieverts per hour. In the neighboring city of Pripyat, radiation levels in some places can reach 0.9 μSv/hour, but usually do not exceed the natural background radiation level of 0.3 μSv/hour.
In most of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, the radiation background corresponds to the natural one, with the exception of a few “spots” whose locations are known.
WHO BENEFITS?
The main message of the Kiev regime, judging by Zelensky's statement, is that "Putin does not want peace." The Chernobyl nuclear power plant here serves as a symbol of the unification of international efforts, which are opposed by the evil Kremlin. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called on partners to impose sanctions against Russia in the nuclear industry.
During a daily briefing, the Russian president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov denied the possible involvement of the Russian military in the incident. "There can be no talk of any strikes being carried out on nuclear infrastructure facilities. Therefore, any claims that this was the case are not true. Most likely, this is another provocation and manipulation," he said.
Thus, when Ukrainian and foreign media use the phrase "Russian drone", this can be understood as "Russian-made equipment". But who carried out the strike and for what purpose is a second question, and the answer to it is completely obvious, since the event fits organically into a repeatedly tested scheme. Starting with the events on the Maidan in 2014, as soon as there is movement towards a peaceful settlement, some terrible tragedy immediately occurs.
During street protests in Kyiv, these were "brutal beatings" and kidnappings of activists, and then the famous shooting of protesters by unknown snipers. In 2014, the downing of the Malaysian Boeing, in 2015, the death of people near Volnovakha, in 2022, the staging of a "mass murder in Bucha", and a year later, the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station dam with the flooding of huge territories and a missile strike on the market in Kostiantynivka, in 2024, a strike on the building of the Okhmatdet children's hospital, etc.
Now, at the very beginning of the process of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, the trump card of the nuclear threat has been thrown down.
And this is indeed a terrorist act, which in fact “once again demonstrates cruelty and indifference to human lives.” Because for the Kyiv regime, any means to continue the war and maintain its power are acceptable and permissible – regardless of any consequences.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Victor Lavrinenko
[REGNUM] The number one crime news of February was the brutal murder in Samara, where the former mayor of the city, Viktor Tarkhov, and his wife were dismembered by their own granddaughter, Ekaterina. But this tragedy had a long backstory: Ekaterina's father and mother were also hardened criminals.
A 30-year-long family gangster saga ends in a bloody finale. If this material fell into the hands of a talented screenwriter and director, the final product would be something between "The Brigade" and "The Silence of the Lambs."
"RED DIRECTOR"
Viktor Aleksandrovich Tarkhov, whose life was tragically cut short some time ago (not yet established by the investigation), was well known to the residents of Samara. Here, in the then Soviet Kuibyshev, he was born. Here, as they say, he had a long career. Here, from 2006 to 2010, he held the post of mayor. And here he met his terrible death.
After studying at the local polytechnic to become an engineer, Tarkhov went into industry, getting a job at the Sintezspirt plant in 1971. Ten years later, he headed the enterprise, and then moved up the ranks, becoming the general director of the Kuibyshevorgsintez production association.
At the end of the Soviet era, Tarkhov first entered politics.
In 1990–1991, he already headed the Kuibyshev Regional Executive Committee, thus becoming the last Soviet head of what is now the Samara Region. But since Tarkhov did not express unequivocal support for Boris Yeltsin in August 1991, he was removed from his post after the victory over the State Emergency Committee.
The ups and downs have given Tarkhov a unique outlook on life.
"I've been through this more than once and I've already taken a philosophical approach. Today I'm a director - for the team I'm a king, God and military commander, and in two hours I'm not a director, and everyone is already talking about me in the past tense," Viktor Aleksandrovich shared.
Having lost power in the region, he, like many other former "red directors" who found themselves in the new post-Soviet world, did not disappear. In 1992, he became the director of the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery, and since 1994, Tarkhov has been the first and senior vice president of OAO NK YUKOS, a company founded by a well-known current foreign agent. Subsequently, Viktor Aleksandrovich managed to work as the chairman of the board of directors of Omskshina, a member of the board of directors of Samaraagrobank, and vice president of OAO Group Alliance.
At the same time, Tarkhov did not abandon his political ambitions: in 2000, he took second place in the elections for governor of the Samara region, and in 2001, he was elected as a deputy of the regional Duma. During those years, Tarkhov changed political parties one after another: "Opora Rossii", "Rodina", "Russian Party of Life", "A Just Russia". And in 2006, he took the post of mayor of Samara, defeating the previous mayor, Georgy Limansky.
The election campaign was marked by a scandal that occurred during the televised debates. The host was Vladimir Solovyov, who was invited from Moscow and did not skimp on harsh expressions addressed to Tarkhov. After the broadcast, the latter filed a lawsuit against Solovyov for 10 million rubles for insults. A year and a half later, the court of first instance ruled to collect 70 thousand rubles from the defendant.
Residents of Samara remember the time of Tarkhov's "reign" with mixed feelings. Publicist and State Duma deputy Mikhail Matveyev says of that period: " The oligarchs divided the city. All key positions in the administration were occupied by people from one or another business structure."
In turn, journalist Vitaly Papilkin, who during Viktor Aleksandrovich's mayoralty fervently criticized him, now speaks of him as a "decent man", admitting nevertheless that "in politics and business processes in Tarkhov's circle, everything was really not smooth". According to Papilkin, Tarkhov was " such a simple, kind, harmless, even a little eccentric guy ".
The history of Tarkhov's mayoralty is quite typical. He had some success in the sphere of housing and communal services, landscaping and development of communication networks, but numerous scandals dispelled his popularity. Viktor Aleksandrovich lost the 2010 elections.
After leaving politics, Tarkhov returned to business. Together with partners, he created a network of gas stations, which he then successfully sold. At various times, Viktor Aleksandrovich had shares in a number of companies, mainly associated with the oil industry and small aviation. In 2021, he was seriously ill with COVID.
On January 3, 2025, Viktor Tarkhov turned 77 years old. It is not yet known whether the former mayor of Samara managed to celebrate his birthday or was killed earlier. The news of the death of the ex-mayor and his wife spread on the evening of February 5. The investigation has not yet determined how exactly he and his wife lost their lives. Only irrefutable evidence has been collected that this was the work of a person close to them.
THE CUTTER
Among the scandals that accompanied Tarkhov's term, his family connections occupy a special place. In 2009, at one of the mayor's press conferences, an episode occurred: Vitaly Papilkin asked why he ignored his open letter with accusations of connections to local organized crime groups. The journalist especially emphasized the contacts of the mayor's daughter, Lyudmila Tarkhova. The journalist was not allowed to finish, citing the fact that the time of the press conference was strictly limited. Then Papilkin threw a shoe at Tarkhov, but missed and was quickly escorted out of the audience.
The question was indeed provocative. It is difficult to judge how fair the accusations made by Papilkin were, whether Tarkova's partners were involved in an organized crime group or whether all this was part of a local political struggle. But one family connection of the Tarkhovs with crime cannot be denied, because the father of the Samara dismemberer Ekaterina Tarkhova is a certain Sergey Loginov - a person no less remarkable than her grandfather, the mayor.
However, according to some sources, Loginov is in fact only Ekaterina's stepfather, and the real father of this woman is Konstantin Shcherbakov, who was a member of one of the Samara organized crime groups and was killed in 2001. But even if this is so, everywhere and always Ekaterina was perceived as the daughter of Loginov, known to Samara residents by the nickname Lord.
In 1986, Sergei Loginov took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, for which he was even awarded a state award. His fate could have been completely different: in other times, determined young people who proved themselves in the service of the Fatherland made careers as soldiers, rescuers, or crime fighters. But the hard times that came with the collapse of the USSR led Loginov and tens of thousands of others like him down a crooked path.
In the small satellite town of Samara, Novokuibyshevsk, Sergei Loginov became friends with Konstantin Berkut, who later became known in Samara as the head of a large organized crime group. Many further details were collected in the book "Bandit Samara" by Samara blogger Oleg Ivanets, published in 2015.
Berkut and Loginov started with petty racketeering, and spent their free time together. One day at a disco, Loginov met a young beauty named Lyuda. It is difficult to say now whether the romantic feeling that arose was sincere, or whether it was because Lyudmila turned out to be the daughter of the director of the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery, Viktor Tarkhov.
In 1994, Loginov received his first term. He was found guilty of receiving stolen goods and using a false document. After his release in 1997, he married Lyudmila Tarkhova.
Rumor has it that it was the fact that his father-in-law headed a major oil refinery that prompted Loginov to start "cutting in" - that is, stealing oil from pipelines. Subsequently, there was no shortage of evil tongues claiming that Tarkhov was helping his son-in-law in the criminal business - but these rumors remained just rumors.
Samara Oblast has long been a leader in this type of crime due to the presence of a large number of enterprises specializing in oil refining. In recent years, the police have significantly reduced the number of such thefts, but have not completely stopped this trade.
Oleg Ivanets notes that since the beginning of the 21st century, it has become impossible for criminals to "protect" illegal businesses because they have disappeared. So they have started doing it themselves: oil taps, counterfeit alcohol and medicines, theft of spare parts...
TO A REAL INDIAN....
In 2003, Berkut was shot dead. And Loginov, nicknamed Lord in the criminal world, took a prominent place in the organized crime group, which was a branch of a larger structure known to residents of the region as "Indeitsy".
According to one version, the group got its name because of the "brothers" who were members of it, who loved Jeep Grand Cherokee cars. This "tribe" specialized in "oil taps".
"All the cutters began to be classified as "Indeitsy". But they were members of different organized crime groups, yes, sometimes friendly ones," says Ivanets.
For a long time, Loginov-Lord was one of the largest oil cutters in Samara. Observers noted that although Lord had ceased to have a direct connection with the Tarkhov family, he quietly engaged in criminal oil business for most of Viktor Aleksandrovich's mayoral period. True - and again a coincidence - before her father took the mayor's seat, Lyudmila Tarkhova divorced Lord.
The tappers were spreading out. Illegal pipelines were laid deep underground, underground oil storage facilities were disguised as farms or existing oil depots with convenient logistics were purchased for these purposes. Moreover, Loginov even managed to obtain classified information that allowed him to avoid being seen by special technical means designed to detect illegal taps.
In the fall of 2006, law enforcement officers managed to identify two points from which Lord carried out his activities. However, the criminal case was suspended.
In December 2008, Lord organized an illegal oil diversion near Turgenevka on a section of the Nizhnevartovsk-Kurgan-Kuibyshev main pipeline, which belonged to OAO Privolzhsknefteprovod.
But this business lasted only a month and a half - Loginov's people, who secretly drained the oil, were arrested. During these month and a half, they drained 5.6 thousand tons of raw materials, causing damage of 21.2 million rubles. The cashed profit from the thefts amounted to about 10 million.
Loginov learned that the crime was being investigated personally by the deputy head of the economic security service of the FSB Directorate for the Samara Region. It got to the point that Lord personally demanded that this FSB officer drop the case - and, having received a refusal, decided to get rid of the principled officer.
The bandits approached the matter creatively. They hired a contractor who agreed to put a capsule of poison under the mat of the FSB officer's car for a million rubles. It was assumed that the car owner would step on the capsule, crush it and be poisoned by the toxic fumes.
However, the plan was not implemented in time.
In February 2010, Loginov was detained on suspicion of illegally storing RGD-5 and F-1 grenades, as well as a revolver - all of which were found in Lyudmila Tarkhova's car. After that, the man confessed to preparing the murder. In the summer of 2010, Lord was sentenced to two years in prison for illegally storing weapons and explosives. Then a trial was held on the case of illegal oil taps - for this, Loginov was sentenced to six years in prison. And in April 2011, he was given 10 years in prison for attempting to poison a law enforcement officer.
Now, according to some reports, he is free again.
HUSBAND AND WIFE ARE ONE SATAN
Lord's ex-wife Lyudmila Tarkhova was no stranger to all sorts of scams, which, however, she managed with varying success. A family friend said about one of these cases : "She screwed everyone. That's the picture in their family."
But in 2020, the picture in the family became even brighter.
According to the investigation, Lyudmila got her hands on some information concerning the private life of the deputy of the Samara Regional Duma, Alexander Mileev - in the city, he is known not only as a politician, but also as a businessman. Allegedly, on the hard drive that Lyudmila Tarkhova got her hands on, there were several audio and video recordings, photographs and documents. Among them were some "unpleasant recordings of sex between two men". However, according to witnesses, these were fakes: they were unable to identify the heroes of the video.
The woman reportedly valued the information contained on these media at 200 million rubles. She gave the deputy a choice: buy them or see the incriminating evidence on the media. Mileev personally met with Tarkhova several times, and by July 2021, he had agreed with her on the terms of the transfer of funds.
And immediately after Lyudmila Viktorovna received the money, she was detained by FSB officers.
Tarkhova did not admit guilt. She insisted that she was simply repaying a debt that, according to her, Aleksandr Mileev owed to Viktor Tarkhov, her father. Lyudmila assured the investigator that her father himself had entrusted her with receiving the debt from Mileev and even issued her a corresponding receipt. And she allegedly used information about the deputy's private life only as an incentive for him to finally decide to part with the money.
The court spent several months sorting out the details of this complicated case: Mileev himself, former State Duma deputy Yevgeny Serper, and top officials of the Samara region were invited to testify. The defendant's mother also spoke at the hearings, but Viktor Tarkhov was unable to come to court. Moreover, during the preliminary investigation, he refused to be confronted with the victim.
In mid-December 2022, the hearings entered their final stage. During the debate, the prosecution requested 11 years of imprisonment for Lyudmila Tarkhova. The court ultimately reduced the sentence to seven years in a general regime penal colony.
It is noteworthy that Lyudmila Viktorovna came to the announcement of the verdict on December 19 with her daughter Ekaterina. And at the beginning of 2025, the court recognized Lyudmila Tarkhova, for the first time in her life, not as a fraudster, but as a victim. This time, her daughter was the accused. History is silent about the feelings this woman experienced when she learned how her parents died.
"THE MOST VILE GIRL"
According to people familiar with the Tarkhov family, as a child, Ekaterina received almost everything a child could wish for - and at the same time, she had an extremely capricious character.
The second often follows the first. Some childhood deprivation, allowing the child to work for the things she wants, is one of the greatest gifts a parent can give.
Now that her name has thundered throughout Russia, many have doubts that Ekaterina, no matter what she was, was capable of the cold-blooded murder of her own grandparents. After all, her grandmother Natalya Ivanovna, Viktor Tarkhov's wife, was a gentle, kind person who loved both her daughter and granddaughter very much.
However, Samara resident Natalya Pristenkova, who is familiar with this family, assures: of course she could!
"She's a disgusting girl. I crossed paths with her when she was still in high school, she was about 16 then. Even then she drank, partied, smoked, looked at everyone like they were sh*t. The only value for her was money, expensive clothes and jewelry. The teachers were horrified by her, her classmates once organized a flash mob and wrote in their essays: "I dream that Katya Tarkhova would die," - said Pristenkova.
If we are to believe her, it was already clear then that Ekaterina “would grow up to be a monster, as will happen with any child who is not cared for, and whose upbringing is replaced by an immeasurable amount of money.”
Apparently, it was precisely because little Katya was never denied anything that her main interest in life became elite consumption: branded jewelry, luxurious fur coats and expensive apartments.
But, apparently, while the girl was growing up, the family's wealth was declining. The grandfather gradually retired from business (although shares in businesses continued to bring in income), the father went to prison for a long time, and the mother followed him in search of money.
It cannot be said that Tarkhova Jr. herself did not try to earn money. According to her friends, Ekaterina was not averse to prostitution and sold drugs, but she herself became addicted to them and even underwent treatment for drug addiction for a time.
Having cured her addiction, Ekaterina married an Israeli citizen named Belsky. In 2018, the couple had a son, but family life did not work out. Perhaps because it became difficult for the husband to withstand his wife's character and demands. The couple divorced, and Ekaterina and her son returned to Russia.
She did not find a job and lived on the support of her grandparents. She became hooked on drugs again. Viktor and Natalya Tarkhov, already fully understanding what their granddaughter was like, tried to have her declared partially incapacitated. They did not give her the alimony money she received from her ex-husband. The grandmother controlled all of her granddaughter's funds, and she raised her great-grandson.
Apparently, Ekaterina increasingly clashed with her grandparents and eventually decided to physically eliminate them. The method of murder itself remains a mystery: most of the remains of the murdered have not yet been found, and Belskaya herself flatly refused to talk to the investigation.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SOKOLOV IS RESTING
In the fall of 2019, Russia was shocked by a terrible crime. Oleg Sokolov, an associate professor at St. Petersburg State University, killed student Anastasia Yeshchenko, his common-law wife. Trying to get rid of the body, Sokolov began sawing the corpse with a hacksaw. To overcome his disgust and fear, he drank large doses of alcohol in the process.
When the criminal tried to throw the backpack with the dead woman's severed hands into the water, he himself fell into the river, after which he was detained on the spot. Sokolov was let down by the fact that his psyche could not withstand the horror of what was happening.
Ekaterina Belskaya, however, controlled herself 100%. She prepared for the crime in advance: she bought a construction saw, canisters with chemicals and plastic containers - the purchases are confirmed by data from her bank account. During the inspection of the victims' apartment, it was established that the premises had been treated with a chemical alkali solution. The decisive evidence was the body parts of Viktor and Natalia Tarkhov found in the apartment.
The couple was last seen in early January: CCTV cameras installed in their building on Vilonovskaya Street recorded them entering the entrance. Soon, Ekaterina showed up at her grandfather's apartment with large black bags. After a while, she took them out already filled and approached a taxi waiting for her. The moment she took out the bags was captured on video. There is also a recording of her pulling a barrel out of the apartment. A version has emerged that preserved bodies were stored in the barrels for a whole month.
The accused's phone made it possible to track where and when she called a taxi, where the cars stopped. It became clear that the granddaughter scattered the packaged body parts into garbage containers in different parts of the city. From there they ended up in the city dump. More than a hectare of the Preobrazhenka landfill was examined in search of evidence; the search continues.
During the crime, Ekaterina demonstrated inhuman calm. After the murder, she spent several weeks writing messages to relatives and friends on behalf of her grandfather and grandmother. In this way, Ekaterina imitated the life of her already dead family members, and spent the time she gained on selling the property of Viktor and Natalia Tarkhov. Greed let her down. Having crudely forged documents, she tried to seize her grandfather's share in one of the oil refineries, but the employees sensed something was wrong and raised the alarm.
On February 3, Belskaya was detained. Ekaterina told the police officers who came to her that her grandparents were in Moscow and called a lawyer friend. But this did not help her: the woman was taken to a pretrial detention center.
At the time of the mother's arrest, her son, a six-year-old boy, was in the apartment. The Tarkhovs' phones and documents were also found there. The woman was charged with double murder. She still refuses to testify.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:57 Official summary of the Office for Documentation of War Crimes of Ukraine from 00:00 02/14/2025 to 00:00 02/15/2025.
A total of 31 facts of armed attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
There were reports of one civilian being killed and four injured.
DAMAGED:
Residential building,
Car,
city bus routes No. 101 and No. 2.
A total of 31 armed attacks in the Gorlovka direction.
A total of 88 units of various ammunition were fired.
19:20 Engineers of the "Center" group demining road sections and adjacent territories of the settlement of Gorlovka, DPR.
18:20 Attack and reconnaissance drone "Molniya-2" has increased flight range and load capacity, compared to quadcopters, and even beginners quickly master the simple controls, so the Molniya-2 is the Kalashnikov assault rifle among drones - simple, mass-produced and effective.
18:00 From 16:00 to 17:30 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the territory of the Belgorod region.
17:05 Calculation of 122mm D-30 howitzers of the Dnepr group of forces destroyed camouflaged command posts with Ukrainian Armed Forces manpower on the right bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region – video.
16:40 The Ukrainian brigade, which has been artillery attack Donetsk and Gorlovka with MLRS for the past few weeks, "ticketed" not far from Kramatorsk.
16:05 Zaporizhzhya direction. Rabotino area. Struck UAV control center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
15:25 Servicemen of the “South” group of forces are destroying military equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Donetsk direction using FPV strike drones, –video.
14:00 From 10.50 to 13.30 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed six Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles:
three UAVs over the territory of the Belgorod region,
two over the territory of the Kursk region and
one over the territory of the Voronezh region.
13:32 Units of the "Center" group of forces released the settlements of Zelenoe Pole and Dachnoe of the Donetsk People's Republic.
12:30 Armed Forces of Ukraine inflicted a strike on the Polohovsky municipal district in the Zaporizhia region.
As a result of the Banderite attack, a man born in 1961 was injured. He received a shrapnel wound to the thigh and received medical assistance.
11:35 Calculation of FPV drones of the Rubicon center struck a vehicle with Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel in the Ugledar direction.
10:45 Calculations of the 122mm BM-21 MLRS "Grad" of the Airborne Forces artillery brigade destroyed accumulation of Ukrainian Armed Forces manpower in the border areas of the Kursk region.
10:05 Combat work of units of the 40th Naval Infantry Brigade of the Pacific Fleet in the Kursk border area, –video
9:38 VFU inflicted 15 artillery strikes on Zaporizhzhya TPP
Ukrainian militants launched 15 artillery strikes on the Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant. There were no casualties, but power supply was disrupted in part of Energodar, said Acting Mayor of Energodar Maksym Pukhov.
8:35 Servicemen of the 810th Separate Guards Naval Infantry Brigade destroyed military equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the border area of the Kursk region.
8:20 Frontline report for the morning of 14.02.2025, –CARDS.
Zaporizhzhya Front. Positional battles continue in the direction. Long-range weapons are actively working. There are no serious changes in the LBS.
Donetsk Front. Here, Russian troops continue to develop their offensive on Constantinople, having advanced in Andreyevka. The occupied lines are being cleared. Also, the Russian Armed Forces are pushing the enemy back in the Dachnoye area towards the settlement of Ulakly.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding the line, making it as difficult as possible for our troops to advance. In the Pokrovsky sector, advances are reported in the settlement of Zaporozhye, as well as the liberation of Zelenoye Pole, which, together with the recent liberation of Vodyanoye Vtoroye, provides access to Tarasovka.
Chasovoyarsk direction. Heavy urban fighting continues here. The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to actively use kamikaze drones, which complicates the logistics of our troops. Long-range weapons of the Russian Armed Forces are actively targeting Ukrainian positions.
Kursk Region. Here, the Russian Armed Forces continue to put pressure on the enemy's defense in several areas, but no serious advances have been recorded in the last 24 hours.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces periodically try to counterattack, but to no avail. However, the Ukrainians continue to bring in fresh forces to the area, which may indicate that they are preparing another attempt to break through deep into our territory.
7:15 During the past night, air defense systems on duty intercepted and 50 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed:
41 UAVs over the territory of the Belgorod region,
5 UAVs over the territory of the Voronezh region and
four UAVs over the territory of the Rostov region.
Linked article is available only through a VPN
[EngMilRu] From 8 to 14 February, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out 14 group strikes with high-precision weapons and strike unmanned aerial vehicles to hit gas and power infrastructure that support the work of the Ukrainian defence industry, as well as the facilities of the Ukrainian defence industry.
In addition, strikes were delivered at AFU ammunition and POL depots, infrastructure of military airfields, assembly workshops, UAV storage facilities and training sites for drone pilots, as well as temporary deployment areas of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
During the week, the Sever Group of Forces continued to rout AFU units in Kursk region.
Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, and artillery fire hit manpower and hardware of one heavy mechanised brigade, four mechanised brigades, one tank brigade, one air assault brigade of the AFU, one naval infantry brigade, and three territorial defence brigades.
In Kharkov direction, Russian troops inflicted fire damage on AFU units of one motorised infantry brigade, one air assault brigade of the AFU, one National Guard brigade, and two territorial defence brigades.
During the week, more than 2,590 troops, 18 tanks, and 110 armoured fighting vehicles of the enemy have been neutralised in the area of responsibility of the Sever Group of Forces. In total, 147 motor vehicles, 39 field artillery guns, and four ammunition depots were neutralised.
The Zapad Group's units improved the situation along the front line and inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of four mechanised brigades, one airborne brigade, one mountain assault brigade, and one assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and two territorial defence brigades.
The enemy sustained losses of more than 1,480 troops, seven tanks, 25 armoured fighting vehicles, including 11 foreign-made ones. Moreover, 23 motor vehicles, 35 field artillery guns, 10 electronic warfare stations, and 21 ammunition depots were neutralised.
The Yug Group's units improved the tactical situation and liberated Orekhovo-Vasilevka and Dachnoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
The Group's units inflicted fire damage on five mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, one assault brigade, and one airmobile brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, one naval infantry brigade, and two territorial defence brigades.
In this direction, the AFU has lost up to 1,325 troops, 10 armoured fighting vehicles, 18 motor vehicles, and 17 field artillery guns, including five Western-made guns. Three field ammunition depots were destroyed.
The Tsentr Group's units continued their advance to the depths of the enemy's defence and liberated the settlements of Dzerzhinsk, Yasenovoye, Vodyanoye Vtoroye and Zelenoye Pole (Donetsk People's Republic).
Strikes were delivered at units of six mechanised brigades, two jaeger brigades, one airmobile brigade, one naval infantry brigade, two National Guard brigades, and the Lyut Brigade of the National Police of Ukraine.
The AFU losses amounted to more than 3,730 troops, three tanks, including a German-made Leopard tank, and 26 armoured fighting vehicles. Thirty-six motor vehicles and 26 field artillery guns were neutralised, including seven Western-made guns.
Units of the Vostok Group of Forces continued advancing into the depth of enemy defences. They inflicted fire damage on one tank brigade, five mechanised brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, one naval infantry brigade, and two territorial defence brigades.
The enemy has lost more than 1,005 troops, three tanks, including one German-made Leopard tank, two armoured fighting vehicles, 26 motor vehicles, and 33 field artillery guns, including 12 NATO-made guns. Two electronic warfare stations were destroyed.
The Dnepr Group's units inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of one mechanised brigade, one infantry brigade of the AFU, and two territorial defence brigades.
The AFU losses amounted to more than 440 troops, one tank, three armoured fighting vehicles, 40 motor vehicles, and 10 field artillery guns. Eight electronic warfare stations and 13 ammunition depots were neutralised.
Over the past week, air defence systems have shot down one JDAM and 28 HIMARS MLRS projectiles, 11 French-made Hammer aerial bombs, one Uragan MLRS projectile, as well as 725 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
Over the past week, 24 Ukrainian servicemen have surrendered on the line of contact.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 653 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 43,342 unmanned aerial vehicles, 594 anti-aircraft missile systems, 21,450 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,517 MLRS combat vehicles, 21,721 field artillery guns and mortars, and 31,674 units of support military vehicles of the enemy have been neutralised.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise AFU formations on the territory of Kursk region.
In the course of offensive actions, the Sever Group's units inflicted fire damage on formations of two tank brigades, one heavy mechanised brigade, five mechanised brigades, one assault, three air assault brigades, one naval infantry brigade, one assault brigade, one territorial defence brigade, and three assault regiments of the AFU near Gogolevka, Goncharovka, Guyevo, Zaoleshenka, Kolmakov, Kositsa, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Malaya Loknya, Nikolsky, Oleshnya, Sverdlikovo, and Sudzha. Two counter-attacks launched by enemy units were repelled.
Operational-tactical, army aviation and artillery fire hit enemy manpower and hardware close to Viktorovka, Zazulevka, Kazachya Loknya, Kubatkin, Loknya, Martynovka, Makhnovka, Melovoy, Nikolayevka, Nikolsky, Oleshnya, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, Yuzhny, as well as Basovka, Belodody, Veselovka, Zhuravka, and Obody in Sumy region.
Over the past 24 hours, the AFU losses amounted to more than 290 troops, one infantry fighting vehicle, two armoured personnel carriers, five armoured fighting vehicles, 14 motor vehicles, four artillery guns, four mortars, one anti-aircraft missile system and one bridge launcher, as well as three UAV command posts and one ammunition depot.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk direction, the AFU losses amounted to more than 60,500 troops, 363 tanks, 264 infantry fighting vehicles, 215 armoured personnel carriers, 1,872 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,974 motor vehicles, 439 artillery guns, 48 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 21 anti-aircraft missile launchers, eight transport-loading vehicles, 108 EW stations, 15 counter-battery warfare radars, six air defence radars, 42 units of engineering and other materiel, including 18 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, three bridge launchers as well as ten armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The practice of sending defendants and accused persons to the SVO zone creates a sense of impunity and increases the risks for women who are subjected to domestic violence, human rights activists are sure. In their opinion, the family of Kristina Kokova, who was killed in Chechnya, may face resistance if they demand punishment.
As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, a resident of Bachi-Yurt, Ruslan Umayev, accused of murdering Kristina Kokova's daughter-in-law, went to the military operation zone. He confessed to the murder and stated that he did it because of the girl's immoral behavior, human rights activists reported.
Saida Sirazhudinova, President of the Center for the Study of Global Issues of Modernity and Regional Problems "Caucasus. World. Development", Aida Mirmaksumova, Head of the "Fathers and Daughters" Project, and Amina Lorsanova, a lawyer at the "Vaifond" Center, assessed the practice of defendants in domestic violence and "honor killings" leaving for a military operation.
The understanding that one can kill and remain unpunished increases the risks for women in the region, says Saida Sirazhudinova.
"Any evidence that one can remain unpunished exacerbates the risks for women and reinforces the understanding that one can kill a woman and not be held accountable. Of course, this will not reduce the number of 'honor killings'. This is such a closed and private topic. As a rule, criminals are covered up. Now they will cover up the strong, but not all. Some people need to be sent to fight. Criminals are a target group for recruitment," she told the "Caucasian Knot."
Women only seek help in extreme cases. They protect the family's reputation
According to her, women in Chechnya generally do not seek help.
"Women only seek help as a last resort. They protect the family's reputation. Reporting violence means putting yourself at risk. The worst thing that happens is that they play on feelings. On the daughter's feelings. Sometimes girls seek help, and then they get a call saying that someone close to them cannot survive if she leaves. And she pushes her interests aside, sacrificing everything. Even worse is that they play on the mother's feelings. This is a problem of terrifying scale and depth, traumatizing forever. As in this case, women have their children taken away, they are manipulated, pressured. And there is no help from anyone. Yes, there is the "Caucasus without a Mother" project, it is a group, they help. But not everyone has the courage to ask for help and defend themselves," she noted.
According to the human rights activist, only public outcry can help Christina’s mother achieve justice.
"This is a gross violation of the rights of relatives to justice. When a crime is committed, the victim wants nothing more than to punish the criminal as severely as possible. Although all existing terms are too soft a price for life. And relatives are deprived of this too. This is a terrible trauma. Relatives can turn to the press. Unfortunately, now the only thing that can be done is publicity," she advised.
In a situation where local authorities ignore appeals from relatives of victims of violence, and federal institutions do nothing, it is difficult to achieve significant results, she notes.
"There are very few alternative ways to protect women in Chechnya. Women are accused of "immoral behavior" and the perpetrators are acquitted. As for helping women, everything depends on the situation and the family. There are families that can support and protect. There are those who are ready to kill, and not necessarily even for the sake of reputation. There can be many reasons, and immorality is easy to attribute. Running away is difficult, but sometimes it is important to save life. It is better when they consult and contact human rights activists beforehand. Because when I worked with "honor killings", it was clearly evident that many were simply without help and protection, and made fatal mistakes. We have already seen how the human rights group "Marem", despite pressure, saved girls. There are many activists and organizations. We will never refuse at least advice and warn against mistakes," she emphasized.
The practice of sending defendants to the SVO zone will lead to new cases of "honor killings", believes Aida Mirmaksumova.
"I heard this story, I did not go into details, but, in fact, no details are needed, considering that murderers, rapists, drug addicts and other criminals may not even sit out their sentences, but immediately declare their desire to take part in the SVO. People are afraid of losing their freedom, and here they will supposedly have freedom. At the same time, of course, everyone thinks that they will not be killed. The practice of sending the accused to the SVO zone has become a way to avoid responsibility. Does this practice encourage further "honor killings"? In fact, this practice encourages not only "honor killings", but all crimes. They already understand that yes, I did it, I committed a crime, but I will not go to prison, I will go and supposedly remain in imaginary freedom," she told the "Caucasian Knot".
Mistrust is the most common reason that prevents women in Chechnya from seeking help, she believes.
"The very first thing is mistrust. Mistrust of the government, mistrust of law enforcement agencies. In addition, law enforcement agencies in such traditional regions as Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, and the Caucasus as a whole are not considered to be entirely traditional. And people would rather turn to a mullah for help than to a government agency. There is no trust in the government and law enforcement agencies as part of this government. There are also cultural barriers, when, for example, it is better not to air dirty linen in public. Yes, we have all been taught this since childhood, that you cannot air dirty linen in public. That is why if they beat you, endure it, keep quiet, you can complain to your mother, but you cannot complain to the police, because you are disgracing the family. Naturally, a woman who asked for help not only from her family, but also contacted the police, she aired dirty linen in public, and therefore, disgraced the family," she said.
In her opinion, in order for the accused to serve their prison sentences, it is necessary to repeal the law that allows them to be sent to the SVO.
"It seems to me that this is the only option, because now there are no other options for the guilty to sit in prison and not be sent to the SVO," she said.
According to her, human rights defenders have become an alternative for protecting victims of violence, since local authorities ignore their requests and federal institutions do nothing.
"Only a human rights defender is the last chance that remains for women. These are human rights defenders who act according to the letter of the law, but listen to women. They certainly take into account local traditions, but do not rely on them when protecting women. And, naturally, we do not rely on any traditions. We take into account the specifics of the region, but we never pay attention to traditions. If a woman asks for help, if the family cannot protect, if the local authorities cannot protect, federal institutions do nothing, while the alternative, as the only way to salvation, remains, of course, the institution of human rights defenders, which still operates in the country, although it is not always safe," she said.
Escape from the country is the most extreme option. From the country - when neither the family helps, nor the federal authorities help, nor the regional ones, no one
According to her, sometimes women have no choice but to leave the region or country to protect themselves.
"When there is a threat to life, you have to flee. If there is a real threat to life after a person has not been isolated, I mean some higher authorities, like law enforcement agencies, and he continues to threaten the life of a woman, her children, her peace and well-being, then, naturally, you need to get up and leave. Or try to somehow fence him off from yourself. If that doesn't work, then fleeing the region is, of course, also an option. Fleeing the country is the most extreme option. From the country - this is when neither the family helps, nor the federal authorities help, nor the regional ones, no one. And so you are left alone with this . And you need to save yourself, sometimes with children. Then, of course, it is already an escape from the country, yes. Now, under the sanctions, it is not always easy to get a visa, but it is possible. At least while you are waiting for a visa, human rights activists have the opportunity to hide you somewhere," she advised.
The practice of sending defendants to the SVO zone reduces the possibility of prosecution for crimes against women in Chechnya, believes Amina Lorsanova.
"This is a very common practice. We have cases, we even know prisoners who were serving time for various crimes. And they were sent to . By the way, one of those whom I personally knew is no longer alive. He hoped that they would remove his term, but he died there. It's not even just about crimes against women. In general, crimes against women are not a terrible crime for Kadyrov's security forces. Killing a woman, robbing or something like that is not as scary for them as if a person was serving a sentence for some kind of disagreement on a fabricated case for political and religious reasons. That's what's scary for them. Killing a woman is not such a tragedy for them," she told the "Caucasian Knot."
According to her, if a woman or her family does not have any connections, then it is almost impossible to achieve justice.
"If violence against a woman is committed by people who are somehow connected to structures, then usually it happens with impunity. In other ordinary situations, a person can get some kind of term, if these are people outside of politics, so to speak, ordinary residents of Chechnya. But, as we see, these people are now being used to send them to Ukraine. That is, they are offered either to sit in prison or to go there," she noted.
Various methods are used to pressure victims of violence in Chechnya.
"In the Caucasus, the problem is that a woman does not dare to leave her family, even when there is violence, so as not to be separated from her children, for example. Because there is such a culture of honor, when a woman leaves, her children are usually taken away. As for Chechnya specifically, there they usually involve someone from the authorities, they contact them. And it happens that a woman simply finds herself in a situation where she cannot leave this family, she has to endure everything. There is both psychological and physical violence. But domestic violence is not only a problem in Chechnya, it happens in any city in Russia. For example, an abuser, a narcissist manipulates a woman in various ways. It's just that in Chechnya they usually also use their connections, and the woman, knowing that if she leaves, she simply will not have the opportunity to fight in any way, endures. Although in the present time, more and more women decide . And I would even say that domestic violence has decreased compared to what it was before. Today, women are getting divorced, as if It wasn't difficult. And the children aren't always taken away. But there is still a fairly large percentage of domestic violence," she said.
She notes that every year there are fewer cultural and legal barriers preventing women in Chechnya from seeking help for domestic violence.
"It's not that bad, actually. If these are ordinary people, not connected with the authorities, an ordinary domestic conflict or violence, a woman wants to leave or go to court, then such cases exist. And in fact, it should be noted that judges and the Sharia Committee on Family Law, they sided with the woman. And there are many such cases. But it is precisely the cultural barriers - this is when, for example, the girl's family does not want to conflict with her husband's family or does not want her to return home. But in our time, these cultural barriers are decreasing, because today women are given more freedom, the opportunity to choose. And there are a lot of divorces in Chechnya and the Caucasus in general. That is, these cultural barriers are becoming weaker and weaker," she said.
We do not see any opportunities for this family to achieve the truth when it comes to Kadyrov’s structures.
In this story, Christina's relatives, unfortunately, will not be able to achieve justice, because the authorities have already intervened in this process.
"In the worst case, this family will be pressured to stop this investigation and their attempts to achieve justice. We do not see any opportunities for this family to achieve justice when it comes to Kadyrov's structures. Maybe it would work out in another place, but here, unfortunately, there is absolutely no law. And especially in the North Caucasus, especially in the Chechen Republic. Therefore, I do not see any chance for this family to achieve a result," she said.
#1
When all of the "important" people become fervent about human rights, all of them--including free speech, assembly, the right of non-incrimanation, the right to remain silent, etc, I will THEN start to give a damn what happens elsewhere.
Until then, this is just another example of people stupidly charging into areas where *nothing* can be guaranteed and where things happen.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The Ukrainian Defense Forces are holding back the Russian occupiers' offensive. Terrorists continue to destroy Ukrainian cities and villages with air and artillery strikes.
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Defense Forces are taking measures to prevent the enemy from advancing deep into Ukrainian territory. To date, 72 combat clashes have occurred.
Today, the communities of the settlements of Klyusy, Zarichchea in Chernihiv region; Oleksandrivka, Velyka Berizka, Sydorivka, Korenyok, Porozok, Popivka, Zarichne, Luhivka, Studenok, Novovasylivka, Rudak in Sumy region; and Vidrozhdenivske in Kharkiv region were affected by enemy artillery and mortar fire. An air strike was carried out on the settlement of Myropylske in Sumy region.
In the Kharkiv direction, the enemy launched air strikes with unguided missiles on Vovchanske Khutor.
In the Kupyansk direction, Russian occupiers once attacked the positions of the Defense Forces in the Zagryzove area.
In the Lyman direction, the invading army carried out five attacks on Ukrainian positions near the settlements of Novoserhiivka, Zelenyy Hai, Bohuslavka, Hrekivka, and Kolodyazi during the day. Two clashes are still ongoing.
The occupying forces continue to look for weak spots in our defenses near Bilogorivka, Verkhnokamyanske and Hryhorivka in the Siversky direction . The defense forces successfully repelled one enemy attack, two clashes are still ongoing.
In the Kramatorsk direction, Ukrainian defenders repelled one assault by Russian invaders, two attacks are continuing, the enemy is trying to break through in the Chasovy Yar area.
In the Toretsk direction, five clashes were successfully repelled by the Defense Forces, and three more enemy assault actions in the areas of the settlements of Toretsk, Krymske, and Shcherbynivka are still ongoing.
In the Pokrovsky direction, the Russian invaders made 23 attempts to push our defenders from the occupied positions in the areas of the settlements of Zelene Pole, Elizavetivka, Promin, Lysivka, Novopavlivka, Uspenivka, Novotroitske, Bogdanivka, Andriivka, Dachne and Shevchenko. The defense forces are holding back the onslaught and have repelled twenty enemy attacks, three clashes are still ongoing.
In the Novopavlivske direction, the enemy tried 12 times to break through the defenses of our defenders in the areas of the settlements of Konstantinopol and Burlatske. Fighting continues.
In the Hulyaipol direction, the enemy launched an air strike with five guided bombs on Hulyaipol.
The enemy did not conduct any active actions in the Orikhiv and Prydniprov directions today.
In the Kursk direction, 11 clashes have occurred since the beginning of the day, four of which are still ongoing.
In addition, the enemy carried out 19 air strikes, dropping 25 guided bombs. In the remaining directions, there were no significant changes.
[Regnum] The number of people injured in the car crash into a crowd of protesters in Munich has risen to 36. This was announced by Deputy Chief of the Munich Police Department Christian Huber at a press conference.
“At present, we are talking about 36 victims about whom we have information,” he said.
He also specified that two people were seriously injured, and eight more were moderately injured. At the same time, according to Huber, the number of victims as a result of the incident may increase.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on February 13, a Smart car drove into a crowd of people in the center of Munich. The incident occurred at about 10:00 (12:00 Moscow time) during street protests in the city. Some eyewitnesses said that the driver had run over the car intentionally. Police officers broke the car's window to detain the suspect.
The Bild newspaper, citing informed sources, reported that the driver of the car that rammed the crowd was an Afghan citizen. And according to the Spiegel newspaper, the 24-year-old suspect moved to Germany from Afghanistan in 2016, after which he regularly published posts with Islamist content.
Later, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Hermann also reported that the driver of the car that rammed the crowd had previously requested asylum in Germany and was denied. However, the Afghan citizen still had the opportunity to be in Germany. The head of the local department clarified that the suspect had not previously been associated with committing acts of violence, but had been involved in shoplifting and drug crimes.
Paraphrasing the machine translation: Nius.de has photos of Afghan bodybuilder Farhad N., 24, and his beloved Mini Cooper, reporting that he came to Germany from Italy at the end of 2016, requesting asylum, but his application was rejected in September 2017. Some time later he received a “tolerance”, preventing him from being deported, and eventually he found a job as a security guard for Ralph Lauren in Munich. He was also a competition bodybuilder, posting videos of his workouts accompanied by Moslem songs, and photos of his medals and himself with the “Tawhid finger” extended, also in designer clothing and expensive carsfor his 33,000 TikTok followers and 68,000 Instagram followers. His neighbours described him as a friendly and helpful young man who recently underwent “Blitzradikalisierung“, Sudden Jihad Syndrome. He followed and shared from at least two TikTok sites that carry Moslem religious content, and had recently described himself as Islamist on social media. He is also connected to false identity documents and drug offenses, but previous reports if shoplifting are incorrect.
This was the second automobile attack on innocent bystanders in public since Magdgeburg in December, when the Saudi migrant Taleb al-Abdulmohsen drove a rented BMW into a Christmas market crowd, killing 6 and injuring 299. To this terrible tally comes the knife attacks in Mannheim, Solingen and Aschaffenburg. This singular and exceedingly rare category of crime — which has become a symbol for the decay in domestic security associated with mass migration — presently claims a nine-month toll in Germany of 12 dead and 343 maimed. The latest attack is additionally poignant, because it follows the Green and Social Democrat blockade of a bill to restrict migration in the Bundestag on 31 January. Among other things, the left parties withheld their votes because Alternative fur Deutschland supported the legislation.
Noori fits what is by now a well-established pattern: He is a native Afghan who came to Germany in 2016 with the rest of the Merkel wave; he was known to the police for theft and drug offences; after the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees rejected his asylum application, he received a visa of tolerated stay anyway.
Like al-Abdulmohsen, the Christmas market attacker, Noori also had a large social media presence, with 68,000 followers on Instagram and another 33,000 on TikTok. On Instagram one finds pictures he posted last year of himself standing next to the Mini Cooper used in today’s attack:
Noori was primarily a competitive bodybuilder, but he was also a pious Moslem; Der Spiegel notes that some of his final social media posts contain "Islamist content," which seems to be a reference to TikTok posts like this one. In apparent video of his arrest this morning, Noori can be heard shouting "God is great" over and over:
What will happen now is the very same thing that happened after all of these other attacks. Politicians will tell us that these events are unacceptable and that Germany must enact grave changes to prevent them in future. Then there will be renewed marches to celebrate diversity and oppose "the right," because the most important victims of migrants colonists attackers are of course all the peaceful Moslems they did not attack. Around this time we will be warned against over-generalising and overreacting, and then the story will slip from the headlines until the next time.
UPDATE: Some additional details have come to light. Noori’s asylum application was rejected in 2017, a year after his arrival. He became an illegal resident in 2020, but received his visa of toleration sometime thereafter. Some of his (now-deleted) Instagram posts show that he worked as store security for Ralph Lauren in Munich. He was known to the authorities for document forgery, among other crimes.
#6
I can confirm the full name Farhad Noori. The German Generalbundesanwalt has taken over the investigations, so it's clearly seen as a terrorist act. Psychological problems don't seem to be relevant.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/15/2025 6:55
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#7
@Crusader
It wasn't a crowd of "Green protestors" but a labor dispute demonstration (city cleaners fighting for better salaries which are actually warranted in expensive Munich.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/15/2025 6:57
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#8
I can confirm
Thank you, European Conservative. That’s very useful indeed.
I imagine you found the conference yesterday interesting. Here’s hoping the major parties actually act after the election, rather than being content yet again to have said all the right things.
#12
Under Afghan tradition, Frank G, first unbelievers and then even members of the wrong clan have no rights whatsoever, only delayed execution for which they must pay jizya.
As I understand it, there were several waves of Moslem conquest across the Indian subcontinent, and each after the first ignored the Moslem faith of the previous conquerers, treating them as equally unbeliever as the Hindus, Buddhists, etc.
[Jpost] "What you call Palestine is the land of Israel," Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa'ar told a journalist at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
The journalist, who is from Nablus, had asked Sa'ar about the process of removing Hamas from Gaza and the West Bank.
"We have an enemy who has never abandoned the path of incitement. Unfortunately, the Palestinians are more interested in destroying Israel than building themselves," Sa'ar added.
"One of the goals of the war is to return all the hostages. Every hostage we bring back brings us closer to realizing this goal," he said.
Posted by: Grom the Affective ||
02/15/2025
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
I try to tell anyone who isn't aware of history to seek out an Encyclopedia from the 1960s. Choose the volume for the letter "P".
There are no references to "Palestine" in 75% of them. The other 25% refer only to "Palestine" being a "territory", and there were zero references to it being any sort of sovereign entity.
The last 60 years of "Palestinians" have been a complete made up bunch of....leftist claptrap.
[Ynet] Secret KGB documents reveal just how deeply involved the Soviet Union was in the spilling of Israeli blood. The Russian spy agency provided Palestinian terror organizations with funds, training and arms, running agents like 'Krotov' - aka Mahmoud Abbas, 'Aref' - or Yasser Arafat, and 'Nationalist,' who was behind several plane hijackings long before 9/11.
A Convoy containing the Deputy Head of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), has been attacked by Hezbollah Supporters near Beirut International Airport, with at least one Vehicle being burned and several UNIFIL Staff Members being injured before the Lebanese Army… pic.twitter.com/kDEQtYRO69
A crowd of Hezbollah supporters has set UNIFIL vehicles on fire near Beirut Airport and are now beating up UN soldiers at the scene pic.twitter.com/yWcEG6TGkJ
No, Israel didn’t bomb Lebanon. Hezbollah terrorists decided to burn down the city after the Lebanese government blocked an Iranian regime airplane from landing in the country.
Remember this next time Hezbollah terrorists cry wolf after they provoke Israel… pic.twitter.com/xSFwLbmljM
The outgoing deputy commander of UNIFIL was injured Friday, the international peacekeeping force said, after a convoy taking troops to the Beirut airport was attacked amid pro-Hezbollah demonstrations in the area.Supporters of the Hezbollah terror group have blocked the road to the country’s only airport for two consecutive nights over a decision barring two Iranian planes from landing in the Lebanese capital. The decision came after the Israel Defense Forces said 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... was smuggling cash to Hezbollah via civilian flights.
According to Saudi-owned network al-Arabiya, the three-car UNIFIL convoy was assaulted by young men who beat officers, stole equipment and burned at least one vehicle.
In a statement, UNIFIL demanded a full and immediate investigation by Lebanese authorities and for all perpetrators to be brought to justice.
"We are shocked by this outrageous attack on peacekeepers who have been serving to restore security and stability to south Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... during a difficult time," said the UN peacekeeping force. "Attacks on peacekeepers are flagrant violations of international law and may amount to war crime."
"Peacekeepers continue to work to restore security and stability in south Lebanon in accordance with our mandate under Security Council Resolution 1701," the statement added, referring to the UN decision ending the 2006 Second Lebanon War that requires Hezbollah to pull its fighters north of the Litani River.
The statement did not name the injured deputy commander, a post held since 2022 by Maj. Gen. Chok Bahadur Dhakal, of Nepal, who was set to leave the country after completing his mission when the convoy was attacked.
The Lebanese military vowed to take "firm action to prevent any breach of public order and arrest troublemakers" in "several areas, particularly the area around the airport."
The incident underscored tensions in Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s new government, which includes Hezbollah as a minor member.
Hezbollah and its allies appeared to be scrambling to distance themselves from Friday’s attack. Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV said in a statement posted on its social media accounts that "unruly elements caused chaos with suspicious objectives on the Beirut airport road."
The fellow Shi’ite Amal Movement of Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians... , a Hezbollah ally who secured the terror group a place in the government, said in a statement that "the attack on UNIFIL is an attack on southern Lebanon" and called for the army and security forces to pursue the perpetrators. "Except for Hezbollah, they're cool. Look at someone else"
The United States condemned the attack, saying it was"reportedly by a group of Hezbollah supporters."
Salam, the former top judge at the International Court of Justice, was tapped for premier by Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, whose election last month, with the backing of Washington, Riyadh and Gay Paree, ended a two-year impasse.
Aoun had previously served as head of the Lebanese Armed Forces. Upon accession to the presidency, he vowed to uphold the state’s monopoly on arms — a thinly veiled threat against Hezbollah’s extensive arsenal. The Iran-backed terror group was the only armed force not to surrender its weapons to the state after Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990.
In retaliation for what it described as Israel’s illegal threat, Tehran on Friday blocked Lebanese planes from landing in Iran, stranding dozens of homebound Lebanese.
Throughout the nearly 14-month war with Hezbollah, which ended with a November 27 ceasefire, Israel has repeatedly accused the terrorist organization of using Lebanon’s only airport to smuggle arms from Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2025
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#1
Something comes to mind about lying down with dogs...I can't remember the rest.
[IsraelTimes] Agam Berger, Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Karina Ariev tell Halevi of attack on Nahal Oz post, 15 months of captivity; chief of staff: ‘It was wrong to have not taken [your warnings] seriously’
In a meeting on Friday morning, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi apologized to four recently released hostage soldiers for their warnings not being treated seriously before the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... attack, as well as for their long captivity.
Halevi met with Agam Berger, Liri Albag, Naama Levy and Karina Ariev, who were released from Hamas captivity after some 15 months. The fifth surveillance soldier released from Hamas captivity, Daniella Gilboa, was not present at the meeting.
"It was wrong to have not taken you seriously, you were amazing soldiers, I apologize for what you experienced in captivity," Halevi said to the soldiers, according to leaked remarks.
For months before Hamas’s onslaught, female surveillance soldiers reported signs of suspicious activity along 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... border, situated less than a mile from them. No action was taken by the more senior officers who received the reports, and the information was disregarded as unimportant by intelligence officials.
IDF female surveillance soldiers, referred to in Hebrew as tatzpitaniyot, belong to the Combat Intelligence Collection Array under the Border Defense Corps and operate along the country’s borders, as well as throughout the West Bank.
The surveillance soldiers are referred to by many as "the eyes of the army" as they provide real-time intelligence information to soldiers in the field, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
For weeks before Hamas’s October 7 onslaught — when thousands of bully boyz streamed over the border, killed some 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians, and kidnapped some 251 more — surveillance soldiers reported signs of activity along the tumultuous Gaza border.
The soldiers’ reports included information on Hamas operatives conducting training sessions multiple times a day, digging holes and placing explosives along the border. Soldiers believe sexism played a part in the fact that their warnings were not heeded.
During the meeting on Friday, the four soldiers told Halevi what they went through in Hamas captivity, as well as what happened during the October 7 onslaught when they were kidnapped from the Nahal Oz army post.
Halevi told the four that they had excelled in their role as observers and correctly warned of what could happen. He told them they were "amazing and commendable" soldiers.
The chief of staff also told them that the military would fully investigate what happened on October 7, and that they should "be partners in the investigation" by providing testimony.
"I want you to know that the entire IDF worked very hard to bring back the hostages, to return you, it continues to work. Soldiers dreamed of freeing you," Halevi told the soldiers.
"I know about the very high-quality work of the surveillance soldiers, even those who are unfortunately not with us, who did outstanding work," he said.
"In the investigations, we looked into the effect of your work on what happened, and there are things we learned that should change.
"From me personally and in the name of the commanders in the IDF, I am very sorry for everything you have been through, it’s our responsibility, and we can’t go back and change. We are very focused on learning so that this will not recur.
"From what you have told me now, I understand that you, with superior heroism, have dealt with unimaginable difficulty, both during captivity and in the way you were during the release," Halevi added.
The five released hostage soldiers were among seven female troops kidnapped from the Nahal Oz base during the Hamas-led massacre. Levy, Ariev, Albag and Gilboa were released on January 25 and Berger was released five days later.
One of the kidnapped surveillance soldiers, Ori Megidish, was rescued alive weeks after the onslaught, and the body of another, Noa Marciano, was recovered after she was murdered in captivity.
Fifteen surveillance soldiers were killed out of a total of 52 troops killed at the base on the day.
Separately on Friday, Halevi met with relatives of a soldier killed in November alongside a civilian archaeologist who was brought into southern Leb ...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade.... without official authorization.
The IDF chief took responsibility for the incident in which Sgt. Gur Kehati was killed in the meeting.
Halevi will resign from the military on March 5 over the military’s failure to prevent Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.
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.
...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...
District Judge of the District of Columbia Ana Reyes forced the attorney for the inspectors general to drop the request for a temporary restraining order during a virtual hearing, opting instead for an expedited schedule to hear their request for a preliminary injunction.
...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?...
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...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...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...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?...
..always the voice of sweet reason...
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
