[ToloNews] The United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Security Council sanctions committee has announced a 23-day travel exemption for Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy prime minister for economic affairs.
In a statement, the committee said that the purpose of this exemption is for Baradar’s travel to Doha for medical treatment.
Pray for sepsis.
The Security Council’s statement mentions that this exemption has been issued under resolution 1988 and is valid from February 9 to March 3, 2025.
The UN Security Council sanctions committee stated: "On 7 February 2025, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) approved a travel ban exemption for Abdul Ghani Baradar Abdul Ahmad Turk (TAi.024) regarding his visit to Doha, State of 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... , from 9 February 2025 to 3 March 2025 for medical treatment."
"If Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar’s travel is for medical purposes, I hope it also has a political aspect to help Afghanistan emerge from economic and political isolation," said Zalmai Afghanyar, a political analyst.
The statement also mentioned that a three-day travel exemption to Russia has been granted to the head of Afghanistan’s Central Bank.
The committee added that this exemption was granted for his visit to Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation, to participate in the Ural Cybersecurity in Finance Forum, scheduled from February 19 to 21.
"For Afghanistan’s economic growth and to bring the country out of isolation, Mr. Baradar and his colleagues should take steps during this trip," said Samim Shamsi, another political analyst.
Previously, the UN Security Council sanctions committee had also issued travel exemptions this year for three officials of the Islamic Emirate, including the acting ministers of interior, foreign affairs, and Hajj and religious affairs.
What’s the point of sanctions if exemptions are issued every time one of them wants to go somewhere?
[Garowe] More than a dozen members of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group, including senior figures, were killed in a coordinated assault by UAE Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in Somalia's Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... region, local military sources reported Sunday.
The initial strike hit the Xankookib caves near Dhasan, obliterating an ISIS weapons stockpile and multiple vehicles, resulting in several krazed killer deaths, the Puntland Counterterrorism Unit confirmed. This operation was executed in cooperation with Puntland's security forces by the United Arab Emirates.
A subsequent attack targeted ISIS fighters in the Darar-Madoobe area of the Calmiskaad mountains, where additional transport vehicles and weapons were destroyed.
This series of strikes follows US airstrikes earlier this month on February 1, which took out 14 ISIS operatives, among them Ahmed Maeleninine, known for his roles in recruitment, financing, and planning attacks abroad.
The airstrikes underscore the persistent campaign against ISIS in Puntland, with the UAE and U.S. providing air support to local forces maintaining their efforts to dismantle the group's presence in the area.
[ShabelleMedia] A joint military operation between the Federal Government of Somalia and the U.S. Africa Command (US AFRICOM) was carried out earlier today in the mountainous areas of Calmiskaad in the Bari region of Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... , targeting ISIS (ISIS) holy warriors.
The operation was strategically planned and is part of ongoing efforts to combat the hard boy group, with the Puntland Darawish forces playing a key role in eliminating ISIS from the region.
The operation is still ongoing, and an assessment of the casualties inflicted on ISIS forces is underway. Authorities have stated that a full report with detailed information on the operation will be released once it concludes.
The Somali Federal Government, in collaboration with its U.S. partners, has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening efforts against the terrorist groups al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... and ISIS, focusing on ensuring national security and stability.
This operation highlights the continued military efforts in Somalia to eradicate hard boy groups that pose a significant threat to the country and the broader Horn of Africa region.
[Rudaw] The Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) announced on Sunday that American forces delivered a second batch of humanitarian aid to displaced persons from areas northwest of the enclave.
The head of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) office for internally displaced persons and refugees, Sheikhmous Ahmed, confirmed that "the relief supplies were delivered by American forces." He added that "this is the second batch of aid provided" by US troops with the aim of supporting displaced persons from Afrin, Shahba, and Tal Rifaat.
In 2018, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... and allied Syrian militias seized Afrin from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which serves as the backbone of Rojava’s de facto army, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The offensive led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Kurds from Rojava, many of whom sought refuge in the nearby Shahba region. Later, the Ottoman Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) forces attacked SDF posts in Shahba and captured the area, prompting further displacement to other Kurdish-controlled regions.
The new batch of American aid includes baby formula, clothing, detergents and medical supplies, which will be distributed to shelter centers housing the displaced persons in Raqqa and Tabqa, according to Ahmed.
In a statement posted on X on Sunday, the SDF emphasized that the aid "will help alleviate the suffering of those displaced," stressing "the importance of sustained support for the region to ensure stability and promote development, which is essential for preventing the resurgence of [the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... ] ISIS."
Recent changes in US policy have posed challenges for the Kurdish-led administration in Rojava, particularly regarding the distribution of humanitarian aid. The suspension of foreign aid by the Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... administration has impacted essential services in camps like al-Hol, raising concerns over security and the return of ISIS.
Of note, the al-Hol camp in northeast Syria’s Hasaka province is home to some 40,000 residents with ties to ISIS, who have been held there since the group's defeat in Syria in 2019.
French President Emmanuel Macron urged Syria's interim government on Thursday to work with the US-led coalition against bully boy groups, emphasizing the need to integrate the SDF into Syria's transitional process. Macron also called for substantial aid to rebuild Syria, amid uncertainties over the future of US military support.
[Rudaw] The United States military announced early Monday that its forces killed a bigwig of an al-Qaeda affiliated group in a precision Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... in northwest Syria.
"On Feb. 15, US Central Command (CENTCOM) Forces conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria targeting and killing a senior finance and logistics officer in the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an al-Qaeda affiliate," CENTCOM said in a statement, but did not identify the target.
Hurras al-Din, or Guardians of Religion, broke away from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS) in 2018. HTS led the Syrian rebel coalition that toppled Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... ’s regime and established a transitional government.
The two groups have vied for influence and territory, with HTS periodically arresting Hurras al-Din members, particularly in 2020. Efforts have been made to reconcile their differences.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britannia-based war monitor, said the strike killed two Hurras al-Din leaders — Abdulrahman al-Libi and Fadl al-Libi.
Libyans? They’re a bit far from home, but not much is happening back in the Oulde Sod.
According to the Observatory, the strike targeted a car in the village of Urum al-Jawz in Idlib province.
CENTCOM, which oversees American troops in the Middle East, has carried out several strikes against Hurras al-Din members and leaders, viewing the group as a threat to its allies and American presence in the region.
CENTCOM said the strike was part of an ongoing effort "to disrupt and degrade efforts by holy warriors to plan, organize, and conduct attacks" against American personnel and allies.
"We will continue to relentlessly pursue holy warriors in order to defend our homeland, and U.S., allied, and partner personnel in the region," said CENTCOM commander General Michael Erik Kurilla.
In late January, an American strike killed another senior Hurras al-Din operative in northwest Syria, identified as Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir.
[PJMedia] Readers were shocked when we reported that USAID had paid Taliban ...the once and current oppressors of Afghanistan... and Al Qaeda terrorists. Now we've found out how they moved the money.
In the story "USAID Pays the Terrorists Who Kill Us," I wrote:
The U.S. State Department and USAID pay millions of dollars per week to the Taliban, the bin Laden family leading the group, and the Haqqani terror network. Remember those guys? Didn't we wage a 20-year-long war to get rid of them ...???
...We left Afghanistan, left behind billions of dollars in equipment, the strategically important Bagram Air Base, and all the biometric data of our Afghani supporters who put their lives on the line to help our efforts to get the Taliban and the murderous Moslems they were hiding from us. So, of course, when 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... , Tony Blinken, and Jake Sullivan had us bug out in disgrace, they left the Taliban a ready-made kill list of our allies.
Former CIA targeter and DoD employee Sarah Adams has reported that the bin Laden, Mullah Mohammad Blinky Omar ...a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality. Died of an unspecified ailment in a Pak hospital... , and Taliban families have intermarried. Paying the Taliban is paying al-Qaeda. That wasn't the plan when U.S. troops went into Afghanistan 20 years ago to get the late Osama bin Laden ...... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones...... and his al-Qaeda terror cell, which brought down the World Trade Center Towers.
After the Biden administration left Afghanistan in shame on Aug. 30, 2021, somehow, inexplicably, the U.S. government, through USAID, began to pay off the same people who tried to kill us.
According to the Horowitz Freedom Center's Daniel Greenfield, USAID laundered $1.7 billion to the Taliban through a series of banks, accounts, shell organizations, and other entities. USAID says it had no idea. You make the call after you see how Greenfield connected the banking dots.
The UN flew the currency to Afghanistan and deposited it in an unnamed 'private' bank.
Then it paid NGOs on the ground who converted the money into the Taliban's Afghani currency at an exchange rate set by the Taliban.
— Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately" (@Sultanknish) February 13, 2025
In November 2022, the bag men for the Afghanistan Bank crowed over the stacks of cash that fell off the back of a plane.
There was $40 million in this shipment, according to Google Translate.
Greenfield reported at Front Page Magazine that the $40 million "on the tarmac was part of a much larger scheme under which USAID and the State Department provided over $1.7 billion in funding to the U.N., which then shipped $2.9 billion in cash to Afghanistan."
Greenfield reports the money from USAID was laundered through the U.N., turned into hundreds of dollar bills at a New York bank that kept the Afghanistan bank accounts, and then put in shrink-wrapped bags on pallets and sent to the terrorists. That money, in turn, was put into private Afghanistan banks since, at the time, normal banking with the Taliban was operational. That money was then doled out to USAID-approved NGOs.
The money was to go to humanitarian causes, according to an Inspector General's report, but as we've since learned, the Taliban, and by extension, al-Qaeda, sit on the boards of all the NGOs in Afghanistan, so "humanitarian aid" is funneled to terror training camps and other non-humanitarian needs, according to Adams. I'll just bet they'll rebuild the schools for girls they destroyed any minute now.
"USAID claimed it didn't send money to the Taliban because it put the money in UN accounts it didn't control," Greenfield reported. "UN claimed it didn't send the cash to the Taliban, just put it in a private bank and the NGOs did business with the Taliban when they converted dollars to Afghani," he says. Greenfield reported that the Biden administration "sent both dollars and Afghanis to the Taliban."
The conclusion is that this was no mistake and no misunderstanding. This was an intentional act by the Biden administration to funnel money to the Taliban.
And here's the dirty payoff. "The Biden admin funded the entire Taliban economy by not only printing money for them, but sending them the dollars to exchange for Afghanis that the Taliban used to make the Afghani into a top currency. The dollars gave the Taliban control over Afghanistan," he writes.
Not only did we cede the country, but we also paid the Taliban off to take it over, and we bugged out in shame.
This sounds similar to how Biden hid his millions of shakedown dollars from Russia ($3.5 mil), Ukraine ($6.5 mil), Romania ($3 mil), China ($8 mil), and Kazakhstan ($142,300 for Hunter to buy a car). It makes you wonder if Biden got a Taliban kickback, doesn't it?
[FreeBeacon] Centro CSO head Carlos Montes cofounded the Brown Berets, a paramilitary-style organization modeled after the Black Panthers
The primary organization behind the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests that swept through Los Angeles last week is headed by Carlos Montes, a longtime left-wing radical who cofounded a holy warrior group, has praised terrorists, and has faced several FBI and police investigations.
In the late 1960s, Montes cofounded the Brown Berets, a paramilitary-style organization modeled after the Black Panthers that emerged during the Chicano movement. He was later accused of starting fires at a Los Angeles hotel where then-Gov. Ronald Reagan was speaking and had his home raided as part of a federal investigation seeking potential ties to terrorist organizations. While charges didn’t stick, Montes has been a staunch proponent of radical leftist movements for decades and has pushed pro-Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... sentiment.
More recently, Centro Community Service Organization (CSO), under Montes’s leadership, has been the primary organizer behind the protests that gripped Los Angeles following President Donald Trump ...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election. Then he beat Kamala while dodging bullets... 's swearing in, a Washington Free Beacon review of social media posts found.
"Join plans for J20 rally: Legalization for All, No Deportations, Women and Reproductive Rights & Stand with Paleostine!" Montes wrote on Facebook advertising an Inauguration Day protest. Several left-wing organizations endorsed the protest, including Unión del Barrio, a radical left-wing holy warrior group offering "self-defense" training to combat ICE raids, the Free Beacon has reported.
Centro CSO organized more intense protests between Jan. 31 to Feb. 9 as Trump's deportations began to take shape. Left-wing activists blocked major roads and highways, engaged in acts of felony vandalism, assaulted coppers, and a teenager was even stabbed.
Such protests are par for the course for Montes. On his personal website, the Centro CSO chief touts his leadership within the Brown Berets, where he served as a minister of information, and boasts about working alongside major figures in the Marxist-Leninist Black Panthers holy warrior group.
Montes "worked to forge alliances with the Black Panther Party and supported the Free Huey Newton political prisoner’s campaign. Worked with Bunchy Carter and John Huggins of the Black Panther LA Chapter and established Black and Brown relations," his website reads.
In 1970, Montes went "underground" due to "heavy repression and threats"—until Los Angeles police arrested him in 1977, according to his website. He was among a group of Chicano murderous Moslems accused of starting fires in a Los Angeles hotel as Reagan was giving a speech in 1969—one year before Montes went into hiding. He was ultimately found not guilty.
In 2011, Los Angeles police descended on Montes’s home in an early morning raid. They had a warrant to search through his computer, phones, and other devices as well as look for guns—illegal for him to own because of a felony conviction for throwing a soda can at a police officer during a 1969 protest.
Montes claimed that when he was put in the back of a squad car, a plainclothes FBI agent asked him about the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO)—a Marxist-Leninist organization working to "build a new, revolutionary, communist party" in the United States.
The raid was apparently part of an FBI investigation into the FRSO’s Anti-War Committee, Los Angeles Magazine reported. The bureau launched the probe after two FRSO members told an undercover informant that the committee raised money for two designated terrorist organizations: the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine (PFLP) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FARC or FARC-EP, is either a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization or a drug cartel based in Colombia. It claims to represent the rural poor in a struggle against Colombia's wealthier classes, and opposes United States influence in Colombia, neo-imperialism, monopolization of natural resources by multinational corporations, and the usual raft of complaints. It funds itself principally through ransom kidnappings, taxation of the drug trade, extortion, shakedowns, and donations. It has lately begun calling itself Bolivarian and is greatly admired by Venezuela's President-for-Life Chavez, who seemingly fantasizes about living in the woods and kidnapping people himself. He provides FARC with safe areas along the border. .Montes claimed the B.O. regime’s FBI investigation was part of an effort to suppress and harass legitimate protesters.
Most of the charges against Montes were dropped, but he pleaded no contest to a felony perjury charge stemming from a firearms violation: He had falsely sworn that he’d never been convicted of a felony while buying a shotgun. He was sentenced to three years probation and 180 hours of community service.
Despite his arrests, Montes has been a consistent champion of left-wing causes. His website claims he "participated in solidarity with the El Salvadorian revolutionary struggle" in 1992 and formed an activist group in Cuba. He backed the 1994 armed Zapatista uprising in Mexico, though it isn’t clear what support he gave. Montes joined socialist celebrations in Nicaragua in 2022 and in Venezuela
...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeded places like Honduras and El Salvador. A significant proportion of the populace refugeed to Colombia and points south... in 2023.
In the late 1990s, Montes assumed control over the Los Angeles activist group, Community Service Organization, and reorganized it into Centro CSO. He’s used the group to organize protests against law enforcement, to push "full legalization" for illegal immigrants colonists, and to bring "an end to ICE repression." Centro CSO has committed to organizing "for the rights of the undocumented, quality public education, and supporting, in solidarity, other communities seeking social justice."
While the group is not a legally established nonprofit, it does solicit donations. A recent GoFundMe page lists Montes as the beneficiary of the nearly $9,000 raised.
Centro CSO was a driving organizer behind nearly a dozen highly disruptive anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles last week, the Free Beacon’s review found. While the Legalization For All Network made the formal call to action, the group’s website listed Centro CSO as the only Los Angeles organizer.
"STOP ATTACKS ON IMMIGRANTS!! WEEK OF ACTION 1/31-2/9," read a Legalization For All Instagram post that listed Centro CSO as a collaborator. "Join chapters of the L4A Network in holding protests and other actions from coast to coast to fight back against Trump’s racist executive orders and demand no more deportations!!!"
Some protests encouraged students from local schools to walk out of their classes, while others were supported by FRSO, which Montes is a member of. FRSO’s Los Angeles chapter frequently credited Centro CSO for the demonstrations, including the major Feb. 2 protest in which thousands of protesters shut down the 101 Freeway and clashed with law enforcement before dispersing in the evening.
"Tens of thousands of Chicanos hit the streets of Los Angeles to demand an end to the attacks on Raza! They want an end to deportations! They want Migra out of our barrios!" Centro CSO wrote on Instagram that day.
While ICE has not conducted any targeted operations in Los Angeles since Trump took office, the agency is scheduled to conduct a "large scale" deportation raid in the city by the end of February, according to an internal government document reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. ICE has focused on removing dangerous aliens with criminal records, resulting in 11,000 arrests as of Monday.
Montes and Centro CSO have also participated in dozens of anti-Israel demonstrations, including pro-Hamas protests. In the wake of the terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Centro CSO announced that it stood "in complete solidarity with the Paleostinian people in their resistance against Israel."
"We in Centro CSO in Boyle Heights and our sister chapter, CSO Orange County unequivocally stand in solidarity with our Paleostinian brothers, sisters and families in their resistance against apartheid and occupation by Israel," Centro CSO wrote in an Oct. 25, 2023, statement. "We support the resistance against the genocidal regime that has dispossessed Paleostinians for 75 years."
On the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, Centro CSO organized a protest celebrating the massacre and blamed Israel for committing "genocide." Photos and video of the event consistently showed Montes as a leading figure at the protest.
"This October marks one year of since Israel’s Zionist genocide in Paleostine. Join us in the streets of Boyle Heights to stand against the Zionist occupation that has been backed by the U.S. and stand in solidarity with Paleostinians!" the group wrote on Instagram.
Earlier, in 2017, Montes posted an article to his Facebook page praising the PFLP, including its secretary general, Ahmad Sa’adat, and Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, the PFLP leader responsible for the 2001 murder of Israeli minister Rehavam Ze'evi
Centro CSO did not respond to a request for comment. Montes directed an inquiry to a representative, who reacted to a Free Beacon text with a heart emoji.
[IsraelTimes] Lebanese state media says Israeli fire kills woman near border, military says troops opened fire to disperse approaching suspects; source says IDF ‘unaware’ woman was killed
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed Sunday it had carried out Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s deep 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.... , saying it targeted Hezbollah facilities where activity by the terror group was identified.
The Hezbollah targets included rocket launchers and other weapons, according to the military.
"The activity of terror operatives at these sites is a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon," the IDF said.
Lebanon’s state media said Israeli aircraft carried out three strikes in the Beqaa Valley in the country’s east.
It came two days ahead of a deadline in a fragile ceasefire that ended the war in Lebanon for Israeli forces to pull out of the country’s south — a deadline Israel has indicated it will not fully meet.
"Enemy warplanes carried out two strikes on the outskirts of the town of Harbata and a third strike on the town of Halbata," in the north of the Bekaa Valley, the official National News Agency said.
Harbata is located some 100 kilometers from the border with Israel.
Lebanese media also reported that a woman was killed and several others were maimed by Israeli gunfire in the south Lebanon town of Houla, close to the border with Israel.
The IDF said it identified dozens of suspects gathering in Houla, several of whom breached a Lebanese army barrier and approached Israeli soldiers.
The troops opened fire to disperse the suspects, and after some refused to do so, the IDF said it began an "arrest procedure," which normally includes firing toward a suspect’s legs.
Several suspects were also detained amid the incident and were being questioned, the military added.
A military source told The Times of Israel that the IDF was unaware of claims that a civilian woman was killed in the area.
Lebanon’s official news agency reported that the IDF detained three civilians in the town.
The IDF has repeatedly warned Lebanese citizens not to approach areas where troops are still deployed in southern Lebanon amid the ongoing ceasefire.
The military is set to withdraw from most areas in south Lebanon where troops are still deployed on February 18, while reportedly remaining in five strategic positions.
Under the deal, Lebanon’s military is to deploy in the south alongside United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdraws. Israel has said the Lebanese army has not effectively deployed in south Lebanon, as the terms of the ceasefire said it would, and is not preventing Hezbollah from reorganizing.
Hezbollah is supposed to pull back north of the Litani River — about 20 miles from the border — and dismantle any remaining terrorist infrastructure in the south.
Hezbollah’s chief said Sunday it was the Lebanese government’s responsibility to ensure the Israeli army withdraws from the country in accordance with the agreement.
"Israel must fully withdraw on February 18, it has no excuse," Hezbollah’s Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... said in a televised address.
"It is the responsibility of the Lebanese state" to exert every effort "to make Israel withdraw," he added.
The terror group began to carry out near-daily attacks on Israel, unprovoked, on October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed group Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking 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... Israel sent forces into Lebanon in September, in a bid to end the terror group’s persistent rocket fire, which had displaced some 60,000 northerners. The two-month ground and air campaign ended with the November ceasefire, after much of Hezbollah’s leadership had been killed and its capabilities curtailed.
[OneIndia] India's recent troop disengagement with China in eastern Ladakh offers a slight diplomatic opening, according to foreign policy expert C Raja Mohan. However, he emphasised that significant challenges persist. Mohan highlighted the importance of India enhancing its relationship with the US to boost technological and economic growth. Despite some easing, such as resumed flights and visas, 50,000 troops still face each other, and a $100 billion trade deficit remains.
India and China have announced measures to mend ties, including resuming the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and restoring direct flights. These steps aim to normalise relations following troop disengagement in eastern Ladakh. The announcements came after talks between Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong in Beijing. Mohan noted that while military disengagement has occurred, de-escalation is yet to be achieved.
[IsraelTimes] Medical officials warn that the hostages left in Gaza may face life-changing and permanent disabilities, with information from freed captives suggesting that Alon Ohel is in danger of losing his sight.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, there are indications that Ohel, 24, who has been held by terrorists in Gaza since October 7, 2023, has shrapnel in one eye and can only see shadows out of it.
Medical officials who are in close contact with Ohel’s family tell the outlet that testimonies from freed captives indicate that he is danger of losing sight in both eyes due to his untreated injuries and ill-treatment.
Last week, his mother Idit Ohel issued a heartrending plea for his release, saying she had been told that he is being held starving in chains in a Hamas tunnel and has multiple untreated injuries.
“He has shrapnel in his eye, he has shrapnel in his shoulder, he has shrapnel in his arm. Alon was bound in chains, this entire time, and he had almost no food — at most one pita a day, over a very, very, very long time, more than a year,” the anguished mother told Channel 12.
[OneIndia] The United States has sent back 104 illegal Indians on US military aircraft which landed in Amritsar on Wednesday as the Trump administration cracks down on illegal immigration. The deportees, hailing from multiple states including Haryana, Gujarat
...where rioting seems to be a traditional passtime... , Punjab ...1. Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2. A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3. A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots
.... , Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Chandigarh, had entered the US illegally using what is commonly referred to as the 'donkey route.'
Among the deportees, Jaspal Singh spoke about the manner in which the illegal immigrants colonists were brought back to India. He said that they were handcuffed and had their legs chained throughout the journey, with restraints removed only upon arrival in India.
Speaking to ANI, he said, "... I was lied to that I would be sent legally but I was sent by 'donkey' route... I faced a lot of difficulties on the way. Now that I am back here, I will work here... I crossed the border with difficulty... I reached there in 8 months... I was placed in durance vile Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! at the US border for 20 days and then I was sent back... Our hands and feet were chained and we were told that we were being sent back to India. It took us 40 hours to reach Amritsar Airport... Everyone was chained except for the children... Now we will do farming here. The local MLA has said that the government will help us. We request the government to help us in getting our money back. We were lied to and sent illegally via donkey route..."
WHAT IS 'DONKEY ROUTE'?
The 'donkey route,' also known as 'dunki,' is a term used to describe the complex and unauthorized pathways migrants colonists take to reach countries like the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia, according to a report in Business Insider. Well, the term has its roots in the Punjabi language. It comes from an idiom meaning "to hop from place to place.".
HOW THE ROUTE WORKS
Initial Departure: Many migrants colonists start their journey with tourist visas to Schengen countries in Europe, allowing them to travel freely across multiple nations.
Facilitation by Agents: 'Consultants' provide forged documents and guidance on entering the countries illegally.
Transit Through Multiple Countries: Migrants pass through various countries, including West Asian nations like the UAE, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... , and Azerbaijan, before heading towards Central and South America.
Final Leg: The most dangerous part involves crossing the Guatemala-Mexico border, where migrants colonists often travel hundreds of kilometres on foot or hidden in vehicles, facing harsh conditions and the constant threat of arrest.
If caught, the illegal migrants colonists face months-long detention upon reaching their destination, only to be eventually sent back.
[OneIndia] India's Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, announced on Friday that the United States has notified the Indian government about 487 people of Indian origin who are facing possible deportation.
According to Misri, these individuals are reported to be in the US without proper documentation. The foreign secretary confirmed that the Indian government is working closely with the Trump administration to ensure the safe return of these individuals.
Misri stated that the Indian government is in touch with US authorities to resolve the issues related to these individuals and is closely monitoring the situation.
Regarding the standard operating procedure used by US authorities for deporting immigrants, Misri said that the Indian government is aware that these procedures have been in place for a long time.
He’s got it entirely backward, but that’s only to be expected. The learning curve will be uncomfortable.
[IsraelTimes] Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi tells the head of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder that the establishment of a Palestinian state is “the only guarantee” for lasting peace in the Middle East.
During his meeting with Lauder in Cairo, Sissi calls for starting the reconstruction of war-battered Gaza “without displacing its residents from their land,” according to a statement from his office.
Long years without water, plumbing, or electricity, asbestos-riddled dust, the floors falling into the broken tunnels, and the walls wired with Hamas antipersonnel mines - how much does hate the Gazans to force them to remain in such surroundings?
The Egyptian leader’s remarks come as Arab countries are scrambling to come up with an alternative to a controversial plan floated by US President Donald Trump to take over Gaza, redevelop the coastal territory and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Trump’s proposal envisages permanently resettling Gaza’s Palestinian residents elsewhere, including Egypt and Jordan, drawing widespread condemnation from Arab and world leaders.
“The establishment of a Palestinian state… is the only guarantee to achieve lasting peace,” Sissi tells Lauder.
According to the Egyptian presidency statement, Lauder praised Egypt’s “wise efforts” to restore stability in the region.
The leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are set to met in Riyadh on Thursday to discuss Trump’s proposal, ahead of an emergency Arab League summit in Cairo a week later to discuss the same issue.
[IsraelTimes] Despite reports predicting he would go free in yesterday’s prisoner release as part of the hostage deal, detained Gaza hospital director Hussam Abu Safiya remains in Israeli custody, according to his lawyers. What is his Nom De Guerre?
The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, a Gaza-based Palestinian rights group representing Abu Safiya, says that Israeli authorities issued an order last week to detain the doctor without charges under a 2002 law dealing with unlawful combatants.
The decision comes after Abu Safiya’s lawyer visited him in Ofer Prison and claimed his client had been subjected to “torture and ill-treatment, including being held in solitary confinement for more than 20 days,” the group says in a statement.
Although Hebrew media reports claimed that Abu Safiya was one of the 333 Gazans slated for release yesterday, his name did not appear on the list distributed by Palestinian prisoners’ organizations.
Israel detained Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, along with nearly 240 others during a raid on the medical facility in December 2024, alleging that Hamas was using it as a command center.
The military said it suspects Abu Safiya of being a Hamas member.
In its current form, the Unlawful Combatants Law permits high-ranking IDF officers to issue a temporary detention order against an inmate whose release could harm state security. The order must be ratified by a civilian court within 45 days, upon which it can last for up to six months before being renewed.
[GatewayPundit] Elon Musk’s DOGE Team Uncovers Over 25 Million People Ages 100+ in Social Security Database, Some Older Than the Constitution: “There are a Lot of Vampires Collecting Social Security”
Elon Musk’s DOGE team has unearthed jaw-dropping irregularity from the U.S. Social Security database.
The numbers are truly mind-boggling: over 25 million Americans registered aged 100 and older, with some purportedly older than the U.S. Constitution itself.
Late Sunday night, Musk tweeted a staggering claim accompanied by a table of ages, suggesting that the Social Security Administration might be paying out benefits to “vampires.”
“According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the ‘death’ field set to FALSE. Maybe Twilight is real, and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,” Musk quipped.
According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE!
Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/ltb06VX98Z
As of 2024, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that approximately 101,000 Americans are aged 100 and older, representing about 0.03% of the total U.S. population.
This group, known as centenarians, is projected to more than quadruple over the next three decades, reaching around 422,000 by 2054, according to the Pew Research Center.
Individuals aged 110 and above are referred to as supercentenarians, a subgroup that is exceedingly rare. As of February 2025, the Gerontology Research Group reported that 136 Americans belong to this category.
Currently, the oldest living American is Naomi Whitehead, born on September 26, 1910, in Georgia, making her 114 years old. The longest-lived person in U.S. history is Sarah Knauss, who lived to be 119 years and 97 days, passing away on December 30, 1999.
#1
I probably mentioned this story previously but years ago my daughter had a part-time job at Panera. A young immigrant working there said he had 3 jobs but technically he was only permitted to have one based on his immigration status. So he had 3 different SSA #. Sooner or later he was going to figure out how to milk the system in multiple states and addresses.
#3
64 million more people in the database than the current population of the US AND those who have died since the system was organized in the 1930's. And how did ANYONE manage to file for social security with an age of over 300???
#4
Wouldn’t it be lovely if it turns out, once the data base is cleaned up, Social Security isn’t about to go broke after all? I’m less sanguine about Medicare, but even so.
#5
Direct deposit into a joint checking account held by the dead beneficiary and his/her spouse, son, daughter, former business partner, whatever or whoever. SS just keeps depositing that money month after month...
But, hey, what if there is a secret society of people who have figured out how to live that long?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/17/2025 13:18
Comments ||
Top||
#6
...that how the Japanese were regarded as the longest living population. Relatives weren't reporting deaths to keep the pension money flowing.
They're not even counting the number of people who the government has extended benefits to who never paid into the system.
#11
Running sanity checks on a database is 1st year community college data processing. Same with checking a list of the recently deceased against the voter registration roles. Seems like something auditors would insist on, at least in the private sector.
Things that went wrong:
1) High winds on the drop zone scattered the formation and blew them off the LZ
2) Planes dropped too near buildings and structures
3) Poor training for the paratroopers
#4
Turn into the wind with a dash one bravo. I recall watching the leader of my stick on our second jump at Bennington, running with the wind, his nose was under his left eye
[VDH on AG] Democrats seem stuck in a cycle of rage and resistance, recycling failed anti-Trump tactics while losing ground with voters and donors alike.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/17/2025
08:57 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11156 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
Not yet - lots of kneejerk reaction but they're watching closely to see what works. I assume Antifa/BLM/Illegal/unemployed bureaucrat riots are in the planning stage.
#8
#6 - Mao and Stalin. That's getting into the Left's own territory. Outside the zombies and npc who's going to believe a billionaire capitalists ranks among them?
#3
The legislation that established the office in question was signed by the President in, I think, the 1970s and amendments also signed by the President were passed in the 1980s, 1990s and subsequently.
The legislation says the Special Counsel can only be fired for a finding of inefficiency, malfeasance of neglect of duty (which have not been alleged).
To uphold the firing, the court would have to determine that the law itself was unconstitutional despite the cooperation between Congress and the President in developing and strengthening the law over several decades.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/17/2025 16:12
Comments ||
Top||
#4
despite the cooperation between Congress and the President in developing and strengthening the law over several decades.
There was lots of that with regard to Separate But Equal before the US Supreme Court ruled the entire principle was unconstitutional. Precedents as an argument is only lasts until the underlying principle faces the critical Constitutional challenge.
but the Special Counsel legislation was specifically designed to curb the power of the executive branch unlike the doctrine of separate but equal
notably, there are laws that delegate tariff and warpower authority to the President, passed by Congress and signed by the President, that seem to explicitly violate the separation of powers doctrine -- if the special counsel legislation is unconstitutional I have a hard time understanding how the tariff and warpowers legislation isn't also unconstitutional, but of course that will have to wait a legal challenge
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/17/2025 17:14
Comments ||
Top||
[FoxNews] Designating Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations is the first honest step Washington has taken on this issue in decades
On President Donald J. Trump’s first day in office, he issued an executive order designating human and drug trafficking cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).
This week, the other shoe is expected to drop, as the State Department under Secretary Marco Rubio names names, designating six Mexican cartels as FTOs.
Official Washington has long peddled the comfortable fiction that Mexico is an honest partner in the fight against drugs and human trafficking. This myth persists, despite decades of overwhelming evidence that the Mexican government is at best willfully negligent, and at worst, in active collusion with the criminal networks destroying lives on both sides of the border – cartels that Trump just called out by name.
Trump has put a forceful end to this lie. Trump’s action exposes the inconvenient truth: Mexico, first under former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and his Morena Party and now with President Claudia Sheinbaum, is no peer ally. It is a state deeply compromised by cartel corruption and control.
While Washington elites fret over diplomacy and stability, tens of thousands of Americans are dying from fentanyl poisoning every year. This crisis is directly fueled by cartels operating with impunity in Mexico and with material, financial and intelligence support from China.
#1
What about the comfortable fiction that none of our own politicians have succumbed to plata o plomo?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/17/2025 13:27
Comments ||
Top||
#2
The key to understanding Mexico is to realize that what we call the Mexican government is just largest of the cartels vying for influence and power.
[FoxNews] Ignacio Castillo Contreras, 22, was charged with residential burglary and interfering with a radio frequency licensed to a government entity
A Chilean national was arrested in Texas after a burglary, during which he was able to interfere with arresting officers' communications by using a radio jamming device.
Ignacio Castillo Contreras, 22, was charged with residential burglary and interfering with a radio frequency licensed to a government entity in connection with the incident on Feb. 8, according to West University Place Police.
During his probable cause hearing, Contreras said he is not a U.S. citizen and has only been in Houston for a couple of months, Fox 26 reported. He said he was living in a hotel.
Police said officers discovered a radio frequency jamming device in Contreras' backpack after he broke into a home in the 6400 block of Sewanee Avenue.
Officers within the vicinity of the device were unable to properly use their body-worn cameras and key fobs to lock and unlock patrol vehicles, court documents show. They were also unable to communicate through police-issued hand-held radio devices.
"A radio frequency tracking device sends a lot of signals very high intense signals around you," tech expert Juan Guevara Torres said, according to Fox 26. "It blocks signals from going to point A to point B."
In my opinion, as a tech expert, I can tell you that whoever did this has some tactical knowledge on how to use this device and where to place them," Torres continued.
Former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Contreras' ability "to jam up the local police officers who were responding to the calls their radios key fobs getting into their car and body cams makes it a dangerous situation for law enforcement," according to Fox 26.
"If you imagine an ordinary criminal committing a crime with a radio frequency jamming device, now add to that someone with real bad intent who wants to harm a lot of people like a terrorist, a mass murderer, and it gets scary quick," Ogg said.
#2
Sounds like this might be related to why border agents will stop wearing body cams: Townhall
a post on the website Reddit claimed that the app BLE Radar uses Bluetooth to scan for low-energy devices. This includes phones, smartwatches, and speakers. Apparently, this can also track CBP body cameras from a distance of 100 yards and can also trigger improvised explosive devices
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/17/2025 18:42
Comments ||
Top||
[MSN-Times of India] In a scene that has captured international attention, the chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen, was visibly moved to tears during the closing remarks of the 61st MSC event. This emotional display followed a speech by US Vice President JD Vance, in which he delivered a scathing critique of European leaders, likening them to Communist 'Commissars' and questioning the decline of free speech in Europe.
Vance’s speech on Friday provoked a significant emotional reaction from attendees, including Heusgen, who has served as MSC chairman since 2022. The conference, traditionally a platform for dialogue between transatlantic allies, experienced a moment of palpable tension as Heusgen reflected on the impact of Vance’s words. “With (convenor of the MSC) Ewald von Kleist, this conference started as a transatlantic conference, but after the speech by Vice President Vance on Friday, we must fear that our common value base is not so common anymore,” Heusgen remarked, his voice breaking with emotion.
This incident comes at a time when US-European relations are under strain, with Vance’s address highlighting deep-seated concerns regarding freedom of speech, political correctness, and the handling of migration policies within the European Union. His comments have sparked wider debate on the shared values and priorities between the US and Europe, particularly in the context of ongoing geopolitical tensions.
The emotional response from Heusgen, who is typically known for his composed demeanour, underscores the seriousness with which European leaders are taking the criticisms from across the Atlantic. Social media reactions have been swift, with some questioning the stability and credibility of current European governance, while others have pointed out the irony of European leaders’ past reactions to US political figures, particularly former President Donald Trump’s warnings about reliance on Russian energy.
The Munich Security Conference, traditionally a forum for fostering cooperation, has thus become a focal point for illustrating the current frictions in US-Europe relations. As the conference concluded, the incident left many reflecting on the future of transatlantic alliances and the unity of democratic values that once seemed unshakeable.
The implications of Vance’s speech, coupled with Heusgen’s emotional reaction, continue to ripple through political circles, with discussions now centred not only on the critique of European leadership but also on the broader consequences for international security and cooperation. As the world watches, the incident at the MSC serves as a poignant reminder of the challenges ahead in maintaining a united front against global threats.
#6
If Starmer thinks Trump will back him up on this one he's sadly mistaken. Trump has never forgotten the Christopher Steel "Russia, Russia, Russia," BS.
[ZH] The western public has been hearing a lot about "genocide" in recent years, from the genocide of indigenous peoples, to the genocide of Palestinians to the genocide of trans people. The demand is that these concerns be taken seriously whether they are realistic or exaggerated, that reparations be distributed and that refugees be taken in by the millions. The underlying narrative is always the same - "White colonialism" is the ultimate culprit behind every social injustice in the world and marginalized minorities are perpetual victims that require protection.
But what happens when white people are the minority under attack?
That's a question that's simply not acceptable according to the establishment media, and any suggestion that such a thing is possible is treated as an act of xenophobia. White people can never be considered a "marginalized minority". This is the conundrum the western public often encounters when the issue of South Africa is broached.
The country's well known history of segregation and Apartheid, which was dismantled from 1990 to 1993, is publicized and dramatized constantly in the media and by Hollywood. However, the aftermath is barely discussed.
Nelson Mandela, a member of the South African Communist Party and a co-founder of the terrorist group "uMkhonto we Sizwe" in 1961, was elected the first black president of the nation in 1994 and rebranded as a civil rights hero akin to Martin Luther King. After a honeymoon period of around ten years the country's economy went into a steady spiral. Unemployment has now exploded to over 30%.... [Took 'em long enough to 'scramble'.]
#10
For some perspective on South Africa (and many other things), may I recommend https://www.kimdutoit.com/
Kim, like Elon Musk, is from South Africa. (Kim is not quite as successful as Elon.)
#12
Probably shouldn’t settle them in Minnesota or Michigan. There’s room in Wyoming.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/17/2025 19:38
Comments ||
Top||
#13
*Anecdotal*
We have a harvest season out here in Ag Land, many people hire what are called Custom Cutters. Basically, a land owner subs out the harvest cutting, usually wheat or such.
Many times they have employees who are from other Ag Centric Cultures: Saskatchewan/Manitoba, Australia, South Africa - it's like a 'Gap Year', as USA calls it, but instead of jet setting party destinations they go do a harvest working from South Texas to North as crops ripen.
Every single South Africa Euro Descendant youngster who have came through, that I've met, were polite, spoke well English, and built like a wire suspension bridge.
Update from the Times of Israel at 12:50 p.m. ET: Hamas confirms that Mohammed Shaheen, Hamas chief of operations in Lebanon was killed in the drone strike, adding:
The terror group called him a commander.
Hamas has a significant presence in Lebanon and is allied with the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group. Both are backed by Iran.
[AFRICANEWS] Thailand's military announced that 260 individuals, believed to have been trafficked and forced to work in online scam centers, will be repatriated after being rescued from Myanmar. This operation is part of a renewed crackdown on scam centers operating across Southeast Asia.
A video from the Thai army showed a boat carrying the rescued individuals arriving in Tak province, located on Thailand's border with Myanmar, on Thursday. Thai media reports indicated that the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, a Myanmar ethnic militia controlling the area where the workers were held, played a key role in their liberation and transport to the border.
Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos—countries sharing borders with Thailand—have become notorious for harboring criminal syndicates. These groups are believed to have forced hundreds of thousands of people into participating in various online scams, including fake romantic schemes, fraudulent investment opportunities, and illegal gambling operations.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2025
03:19 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11155 views]
Top|| File under: Human Trafficking
Reuters writes that the USA has sent a list of 11 questions divided into 6 categories to European governments that it needs answered before Washington enters into peace negotiations with Russia:
1. What do you view as a Europe-backed security guarantee or assurance that would serve as a sufficient deterrent to Russia while also ensuring this conflict ends with an enduring peace settlement?
2) Which European and/or third countries do you believe could or would participate in such an arrangement?
Are there any countries you believe would be indispensable?
Would your country be willing to deploy its troops to Ukraine as part of a peace settlement?
3. If third country military forces were to be deployed to Ukraine as part of a peace arrangement, what would you consider to be the necessary size of such a European-led force?
How and where would these forces be deployed and for how long?
4. What actions do U.S. allies and partners need to be prepared to take if Russia attacks these forces?
5. What, if any, U.S. support requirements would your government consider necessary for its participation in these security arrangements?
Specifically, which short-term and long-term resources do you think will be required from the U.S.?
6. What additional capabilities, equipment and maintenance sustainment options is your government prepared to provide to Ukraine to improve its negotiating hand and increase pressure on Russia?
What more is your government prepared to do to increase its sanctions on Russia, including more strictly enforcing sanctions and better targeting third countries enabling Russia globally?
Posted by: 3dc ||
02/17/2025
00:46 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11143 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
I can confirm that videos from this channel were recommended to me in anonymous / not logged in mode frequently before the election if I searched something about China.
"China is A**hole!" and those siding with China shouldn't be trusted. That includes some who are, IMHO undeservedly, darlings of the right, like e.g. Orban.
#2
I watched through to the end and ... pretty much as he describes, nothing. No links to any of his other content. None at all. Instead, a bunch of other bland/generic stuff I have no interest in pursuing.
Posted by: Chicago Lurker ||
02/17/2025 8:27
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Well since YouDamnTube won't let me see anything without signing in and giving a them a lot of info I damn well won't, I include them on the same list as the CCP.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[LB] The number of enemy assaults doubled.
by Ivanna Kapustianska
The 1089th day of the Russian Federation's large-scale armed aggression against Ukraine has begun. In total, 261 combat clashes were recorded over the past 24 hours.
This is stated in the morning briefing of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to updated information, yesterday the enemy carried out 59 air strikes on the positions of Ukrainian units and settlements, dropping 88 CABs. In addition, it carried out over four thousand attacks, 211 of them from multiple rocket launcher systems, and used 1,385 kamikaze drones to destroy them.
The aggressor carried out airstrikes, in particular in the areas of the settlements of Ivolzhanske, Kyyanytsia, Dovga Balka, Krasne Pershe, Nova Balka, Pokrovsk, Oleksiivka, Rozlyv, Hulyaipole, Zaliznychne, Verkhnya Tersa, and Kopany.
Over the past day, the Defense Forces' aviation, missile forces, and artillery have struck six areas of concentration of the occupant's personnel, weapons, and military equipment.
In the Kharkiv direction, the enemy stormed the positions of our troops five times in the areas of Vovchansk, Tykhy, and in the direction of Kozacha Lopan.
The defense forces repelled enemy assault actions near Dvorichnaya, Petropavlivka, Stepovaya Novoselivka, Kolisnykivka, Lozovaya, and in the direction of Novoosynovoye in the Kupyansky direction, where 39 attacks by the invaders occurred in a day.
Over the past day, the enemy attacked 27 times in the Lyman direction. They tried to penetrate our defenses near the settlements of Zeleny Hay, Novoyehorivka, Hrekivka, Kolodyazi, Yampolivka, Terny, Torske, and Dibrova.
Ten enemy assaults were repelled by Ukrainian defenders in the Siversky direction, the occupiers tried to advance in the areas of Verkhnyokamyansky and Ivano-Daryivka.
In the Kramatorsk direction, the invaders attacked 29 times in the areas of Predtechyny, Stupochy, Bila Hora, and in the area of Chasovy Yar.
Nineteen attacks were carried out by the enemy in the Toretsk direction in the areas of the settlements of Toretsk, Diliyivka, and Krymske.
In the Pokrovsky direction, our defenders stopped 71 attacks by the aggressor in the areas of the settlements of Zelene Pole, Tarasivka, Vodyane Druge, Myrolyubivka, Yelizavetivka, Promyn, Lysivka, Dachenske, Shevchenko, Pishchane, Kotlyne, Nadiivka, Andriivka, and Udachne.
The defense forces repelled 25 enemy attacks in the Novopavlivka direction. The occupiers tried to advance near the settlements of Zelenivka, Rozlyv, Novyi Komar, Novosilka, and Velyka Novosilka.
In the Orikhiv direction, the invaders twice attacked the positions of our defenders in the direction of Novoandreyevka.
The Russians made eight fruitless attempts to advance in the Dnieper direction.
Over the past day, 15 clashes took place in the Kursk direction, the enemy launched 33 air strikes, dropping 49 guided bombs, and carried out 332 artillery attacks, including 11 from multiple launch rocket systems.
The invaders did not conduct active offensive operations in the Hulyaipil direction.
No signs of the formation of enemy offensive groups were detected in the Volyn and Polissya directions.
Our soldiers inflict significant losses on the occupation forces in manpower and equipment, and actively undermine the enemy's offensive potential in the rear.
In total, the losses of the Russian invaders last day amounted to 1,730 people. Ukrainian soldiers also neutralized five tanks, 84 armored combat vehicles, 11 artillery systems, 36 operational-tactical UAVs, 77 vehicles and two units of special equipment of the invaders.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] On the night of February 16, an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.6 occurred in the Pacific Ocean near the coast of the Southern Kuril Islands, reported Elena Semenova, head of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk seismic station.
"An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.6 occurred on the night of February 16. The epicenter of the tremors was in the Pacific Ocean, 101 kilometers south of the uninhabited Kuril island of Simushir," RIA Novosti quotes her as saying.
Semenova specified that the source was located at a depth of 62 kilometers. There was no information about the earthquake's perceptibility, and no tsunami threat was announced.
Earlier, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7, registered on the night of February 15 on the border of Mongolia and the Altai Republic. The tremor was recorded 26 kilometers from the village of Kosh-Agach. The depth of the source was 10 kilometers. In the village of Kupchegen, Ongudaysky District, minor damage to the plaster in a school was found, and in Kosh-Agach, short-term power outages were noted.
An earthquake occurred in the Poltava region. This was reported on February 16 by the main center of special control of Ukraine.
It will be specified that the seismic event was registered at night in the area of the village of Brailki in the Poltava district, it was the second in the region in a month. The magnitude was 3.1.
"The source of the earthquake is located at a depth of 2 km. According to the classification of earthquakes, it is considered imperceptible," the center said in a message on the social network Facebook (an organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation; it belongs to the Meta company, which is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation).
As reported by the Regnum news agency, an earthquake occurred in Poltava on February 1. Eyewitnesses noted that the tremors were felt in several areas of the city. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.67 on February 1.
On September 16 last year, Ukrainian media reported an earthquake in Odessa. Information about tremors also came from Chisinau.
[CanadaFreePress] The suspect allegedly identifies as transgender
An 18-year-old girl, who allegedly wrote about identifying as a male and had a “shrine” to mass killers, was arrested and charged this week for allegedly planning a mass school shooting at Mooresville High School in Indiana.
The student, a female who allegedly identifies as a “transgender male,” was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and felony intimidation after one of her friends sent information to the FBI’s Sandy Hook tipline.
Bless the friend who did the hard thing, and thus prevented much worse.
The tipster stated that a friend was planning on carrying out a mass shooting and had access to an AR-15 rifle, according to police.
After the tip came in, the FBI tracked down disturbing messages the student allegedly sent under the name “Jamie” on social media platforms Snapchat and Discord. The messages detailed plans for a mass shooting along with photos of a bulletproof vest and AR-15 rifles. In one of the messages, Jamie wrote that she had been planning the school shooting for a year.
According to investigators, the student spoke with a school counselor on Tuesday and disclosed that she was sexually attracted to the 19-year-old shooter who killed 17 people and wounded 17 more at Parkland High School in Florida in 2018.
In 2022, the student was hit by a suspected drunk driver while walking to the bus stop. The crash fractured her skull, broke her femur and arm, and caused two brain contusions, according to a report from WRTV. She allegedly told investigators that she was teased about the accident. “[She] found out later that the male who struck her with his vehicle, committed suicide. She felt like she killed him, but she knows she did not. She blamed herself for him killing himself,” the arrest affidavit states.
The student sought mental health help when she was a freshman, but a school official told police that her father did not allow her to continue receiving mental health assistance. Shortly after the student turned 18 last year, she signed herself up for mental health assistance.
Authorities executed a search warrant at her home, where she lives with her father. During their search, authorities said they found “a collage” on the wall of multiple mass shooters and found three notebooks belonging to the student.
“Each notebook depicted swastikas, the words ‘kill,’ ‘bang,’ ‘I hate you all DIE DIE DIE’ among other obscenities,” the arrest affidavit stated.
According to police, one of the student’s notebook entries — dated December 16, 2024 — stated, “My name is Dex I am eighteen years old. Born on October 26th 2006. I currently live with my father, my mother passed away. I am aslo [sic] a transgender male. I have a lot of homicidal thoughts.”
A January 9, 2025, entry read, “I am death, destroyer of worlds.” A few days later, the writer penned, “These thoughts wont stop. I want to hurt others. All of the time! I want to hurt others. I wish people around me knew about my bad thoughts. I love violence.”
The student is being held without bond at the Morgan County Jail, WTHR reported.
#5
Seems like a common thread. Hate who you are (often in terms of your sex), then decide it's not your fault, it's "their" fault, so you punish them.
In this case an early article said her father didn't believe in shrinks so she probably wasn't on SSRI's.
Also note she was run down by a drunk driver about three years ago; not sure if she had mental problems before hand, but she did take some head damage.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] A number of counterattacks by Ukrainian forces in the Pokrovsk direction had some success, the Khortitsa Joint Forces Group stated.
The Ukrainian Defense Forces have driven the Russian army out of the village of Peschanoye, three kilometers from Pokrovsk. This was reported on February 16 by Viktor Tregubov, spokesman for the Khortitsa operational-strategic group of troops, on the Kiev TV channel.
"The low counterattack of the Ukrainian forces had a certain success. In particular, it has already been reported and we can already talk about the liberation of the village of Peschanoye. This is about 5 km south of Pokrovsk. Also, Russian troops were pushed out of some other nearby settlements," he said.
The speaker noted that a “certain turning point” had occurred in the Pokrovsky direction.
"The Russians had very serious intentions to semi-encircle the city of Pokrovsk. But they suffered serious losses in this direction last month. This month, they were also, let's say, stopped and even pushed back in some populated areas," added Tregubov.
Earlier, in the OSGV Khortitsa, when asked about the successes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Pokrovsky Front, they stated that they would report on this only after the complete liberation of populated areas.
According to Bild information published on February 13, the Ukrainian Defense Forces carried out their first counterattack in a year in the Donetsk region near the city of Pokrovsk.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title
[Korrespondent] 16.51 Senior officials from the United States and Russia will meet next week in Saudi Arabia to pave the way for a potential summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin before the end of the month, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.
16.10 President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russian drone strike on the thermal power plant in Nikolaev, which left more than 100 thousand people without heating, shows the unwillingness of Russians to restore peace.
15.33 Defense forces have routed a column of Russian marines who advanced under red flags to storm a minefield under a shower of Ukrainian drones in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation. This was reported by the 47th separate mechanized brigade Magura.
15:11 French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed on Sunday that French President Emmanuel Macron will hold an emergency summit of European leaders on Monday to discuss the situation in Ukraine and European security, Le Figaro reported.
14.58 During the week from February 10 to 16, Ukraine's air defense shot down more than 852 enemy air attack vehicles. The list of destroyed enemy objects included six Iskander ballistic missiles, an Kh-101 cruise missile, and hundreds of UAVs.
14.58 During the week from February 10 to 16, Ukraine's air defense shot down more than 852 enemy air attack vehicles. The list of destroyed enemy objects included six Iskander ballistic missiles, an Kh-101 cruise missile, and hundreds of UAVs.
14:46 President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia in its current state needs a war to retain power, and it confirms its desire to continue fighting by shelling Ukraine every day.
According to the head of state, Ukraine, together with Europe, the United States and other partners, is capable of ending this war with a just and lasting peace.
13.45 The Ukrainian Armed Forces have driven the Russian army out of the village of Peschanoye, three kilometers from Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region. According to Viktor Tregubov, spokesman for the Khortitsa operational-strategic group of forces, a number of counterattacks by Ukrainian forces in the Pokrovsk direction have had "certain success."
12:55 Due to a night attack by Russian drones, 46 thousand subscribers in Nikolaev were left without heating. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal emphasized that Russian troops targeted the city's thermal power plant.
12:15 Ukrainian marines repelled an enemy assault in the Pokrovsk direction, destroying armored vehicles and infantry. This was reported by the press service of the operational-strategic group of forces Khortytsia.
10.03 A fire broke out in Sumy Oblast as a result of a nighttime strike by the Russian Federation. This was reported by the State Emergency Service. After the strike, the fire engulfed the roof of a non-residential building in the Verkhnesyvorotskaya community of Sumy District.
9.16 On the night of February 16, Russian troops sent 143 Shahed-type attack UAVs, drone imitators and two ballistic missiles (towards Odessa region) to Ukrainian territory. This was reported by the Air Force Command.
It is known that 95 UAVs were destroyed in ten regions. Another 46 enemy drone imitators were lost without negative consequences.
8.06 Over the past 24 hours, 261 combat clashes were recorded at the front. The Defense Forces hit six areas of concentration of personnel, weapons and military equipment of the Russians. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the morning report.
The largest number of attacks by Russians were recorded in the Pokrovsk (71) and Kupyansk (39) directions.
7.51 On the night of February 16, Russian troops carried out a massive attack on Nikolaev, as a result of which a critical infrastructure facility was damaged and a 64-year-old man was wounded, said the head of the Nikolaev OVA Vitaly Kim.
The head of the region added that as a result of falling debris and the blast wave, five apartment buildings, four stores, a food establishment and office premises were also damaged.
7.35 Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed 1,730 occupiers, and the enemy's total combat losses from February 24, 2022 to February 16, 2025 amounted to approximately 858,390 people. This was reported by the General Staff.
4.28 The Russian offensive to the south and southwest of Pokrovsk has slowed down over the past two weeks. The Russian command may prioritize offensive operations in the spring and summer of 2025 on Konstantinovka, the southernmost point of Ukraine's defense line in the Donetsk region. This is stated in a report by the American Institute for the Study of War.
2.35 Russian aggressors attacked Nikolaev with "shaheds" on the night before February 16. As a result of the drone raid, a fire was recorded and at least one casualty is known. This was reported by the head of the Nikolaev OVA Vitaly Kim and the mayor of Nikolaev Alexander Senkevich.
1.32 Sounds of explosions were heard in Nikolaev on the night of February 16. This was reported by the publication SuspilneNikolaev on its Telegram channel.
[IsraelTimes] Political official says issue to be discussed, after Hamas briefly balked at releasing hostages and claimed Israel violated truce by barring bulldozers, trailers from Strip
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly did not give approval for the entry of mobile homes and heavy equipment into the 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 during Saturday night’s security consultations, in a potential breach of the ceasefire deal with Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... "Following a security consultation chaired by the prime minister, it was decided that the issue of trailers will be discussed in the coming days," the Kan public broadcaster quoted a political official as saying. "Israel is fully coordinating with the United States."
According to reports, the ceasefire and hostage release agreement explicitly states that supplies and equipment can be brought in to Gaza to establish at least 60,000 temporary living facilities. The details of the deal have not been published in full.
Images last week showed mobile homes and earthmoving equipment waiting at the Rafah Border Crossing from Egypt.
Last week, the Hamas terror group protested that Israel was blocking their entry and said that talks to get the ceasefire-hostage deal back on track had included discussions on a number of specific items, including such homes and equipment.
Following a week of uncertainty in the wake of the announcement, which prompted 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... to suggest Israel issue an ultimatum and demand the release of all hostages, Hamas and its ally 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... released three hostages Saturday, in accordance with the original agreement, and Israel released some 369 security inmates in return.
The apparent refusal by the premier to approve the entry of the equipment to the Strip comes as Netanyahu reportedly wants to extend the ongoing first phase of the deal beyond the designated 42 days, which are set to end on March 1, and secure the freedom of more hostages as part of phase one, including more hostages Israel now knows are in poor health.
The premier reportedly wants Israel’s negotiators to argue to the 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 and Egyptian mediators, with US support, that it’s also in the interests of Hamas to extend phase one, and thus the current ceasefire, since phase two has not been finalized and the war would resume if no agreement is reached on phase two.
Netanyahu has thus far refused to allow Israel’s negotiators to engage in talks on the agreement’s second phase, which would see the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for a permanent end to the war.
[GreyDynamics] In-Q-Tel (IQT) is a legally independent, investment capital nonprofit organisation that was conceptualised and chartered by the CIA, with which it still has contracts. IQT invests in startup companies worldwide that develop technology that is considered advantageous to the US intelligence community’s mission. Since the advent of In-Q-Tel, other entities, like the U.S. Army, have followed suit and created investment companies that straddle the public-private sector divide.
1.3 History
The origins of the venture capitalist firm lie in the CIA’s broad discretionary spending powers, as established by the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949, just two years after that Agency’s founding.
The CIA established In-Q-Tel in 1999. Norman Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin, served as In-Q-Tel’s first leader. One of the reasons IQT was founded is that the CIA felt that it would keep up with emerging technologies more effectively if it outsourced some of its research and development. Although the organisation was originally US focused, it has expanded its scope of investment internationally. It focuses on connecting the intelligence and defense communities to the private sector where R&D is occurring naturally.
1.4 Similar Organizations
Since the advent of In-Q-Tel, different organizations have taken inspiration and begun their own investment firms. For example, The U.S. Army started its own venture initiative called OnPoint Technologies in 2002. NASA charted Red Planet Capital which also invests in up and coming technologies.
2 IN-Q-TEL AS AN ORGANISATION
2.1 Business Structure
Although In-Q-Tel is a legally independent company, it is directly funded by the CIA’s budget for the Directorate of Science and Technology. IQT is given a yearly budget with which they can make equity investments in private sector firms. The IQT Interface Center (QIC) works to bridge the gap between the CIA and IQT. QIC communicates needs or problems to IQT, which then leverages its place in the private sector to try to find solutions.
IQT typically makes between twelve and fifteen yearly investments, ranging in value from half a million to three million US dollars. In-Q-Tel, like many investment firms, functions as a board observer in the companies in which it invests. This allows IQT to have direct access to information about the company and the products they are investing in. In-Q-Tel also retains the right to pull out of investments. As a nonprofit organization, any incidental gains are directed back into IQT operations.
In-Q-Tel has a presence in Singapore, London, Sydney, and Munich. These offices allow the organisation to invest in companies on the ground outside of the US, as well as collaborate with the intelligence communities of these countries. These offices benefit both U.S. interests and those of allied partners.
A crowd of civilians celebrated the arrival of M23 rebels in Bukavu's city centre with chants and cheers.
It is the second regional capital city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... that the rebels have taken since early January, when they launched a lightning-speed offensive on Goma in neighbouring North Kivu.
M23 marched south into Bukavu on Saturday, although conflicting reports initially made it difficult to confirm the extent of its advance.
They seemingly encountered little to no resistance.
Congolese soldiers and allied troops from Burundi had reportedly retreated from Bukavu's military bases on Friday, the same day that M23 took control of a regional airport around 30 kilometres outside of Bukavu.
Reports emerged of sporadic gunfire and the looting of a World Food Programme depot and supermarkets in Bukavu.
Despite the chaotic scenes, most streets of the city were actually deserted for hours as residents hid in their homes from looters and the rebels.
Faced with the growing risk of a regional war, the international community has stepped up its calls for deescalation and a ceasefire.
António Guterres ...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years... , Secretary-General of the UN, reiterated during an African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... summit on Saturday to " avoid a regional escalation at all costs."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2025
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11158 views]
Top|| File under: M23
[IsraelTimes] Military says it fired on men approaching troops east of Rafah, again warns Gazans to stay away from soldiers still deployed as per truce deal; 2nd strike was warning to car near soldiers
The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out a pair of dronezaps in 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 on Sunday — one targeting a group of button men who were approaching Israeli forces in one area and the other as a warning when a car drove near soldiers in another.
Paleostinian media reported that the first dronezap killed three Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... coppers east of the city of Rafah in the southern Strip, which the terror group called "a serious violation" of the ceasefire in effect since January 19.
"The IDF continues to call on Gazooks to obey the IDF instructions and not approach the forces deployed to the area," the Israeli military said.
The Hamas-controlled interior ministry in Gaza said it "condemns this crime and calls upon the mediators and the international community to compel the occupation to stop targeting the police force, which is a civil apparatus."
It claimed the coppers were deployed in the area to secure the entry of aid trucks into Gaza.
Hamas, in its own response, said "The treacherous firing carried out by a Zionist drone this morning east of Rafah city, targeting police elements tasked with securing the entry of aid... is considered a serious violation of the ceasefire agreement."
Later in the day, the IDF confirmed carrying out another dronezap that had been reported in Paleostinian media, saying it was a warning after suspects in a vehicle tried to drive to the Strip’s north via an unapproved route, in violation of the ceasefire.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Separately, the IDF said it fired warning shots in several areas of Gaza when Paleostinian suspects approached areas where troops were deployed.
Amid the ongoing ceasefire, the military has carried out several dronezaps as warnings after Paleostinians have attempted to drive to the Strip’s north via unapproved routes. Northbound vehicular traffic is only permitted on the Salah a-Din road, where a private security company is inspecting cars heading to northern Gaza to ensure Hamas, the terror group that rules the Strip, is not using the vehicles to move weapons and fighters.
Meanwhile,
...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout Montefiore's foot was still stuck and the hound had completely soaked his uniform with slobber... the IDF said it foiled an attempt to smuggle an assault rifle into Israel from Egypt using a drone.
Again? How dull.
The drone had been identified as crossing the border from Egypt into Israel, and troops dispatched to the scene shot it down. The soldiers found that the drone was ferrying a rifle and ammunition, according to the IDF.
In recent months there have been frequent attempts to bring weapons over the Egypt border using drones.
The incidents came amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas reached in January after some 15 months of fighting sparked by the terror group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel, when Death Eaters killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
Israeli troops have so far withdrawn from much of the Strip, including the Netzarim Corridor, which separates the north and south of the enclave. The IDF is still stationed along the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, along the Gaza-Egypt border.
The deal does not require Israel to begin withdrawing from that area until the end of the ceasefire’s ongoing first phase.
Hamas and its ally 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... on Saturday released three hostages, and Israel released hundreds of Paleostinian security prisoners, in accordance with the deal.
Hamas had said last Monday it would delay the release, prompting US President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... to suggest Israel issue an ultimatum and demand the release of all hostages.
The terror group accused Israel of violating the truce, including by not allowing mobile homes and earthmoving equipment into the rubble-strewn Strip.
Despite images of those materials lined up outside the Rafah Border Crossing into southern Gaza late last week, Hebrew media reported Sunday morning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not approved the entry of the materials into the Paleostinian enclave.
Netanyahu has thus far refused to allow Israel’s negotiators to engage in talks on the agreement’s second phase, which would see the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for a permanent end to the war.
[IsraelTimes] With Trump’s support, PM says, Israel ‘can and will finish the job’ against Iran; Rubio says all hostages must be released – ‘It is not optional’ – and ‘Hamas must be eradicated’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... "are working in full cooperation and coordination" on Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , the premier said on Sunday alongside 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... "We have a common strategy and we can’t always share details of this strategy with the public," Netanyahu said, "including when the gates of hell will be open, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released, until the last one of them."
Netanyahu made the comments to the press after meeting with Rubio in his office in Jerusalem.
Last week, Trump suggested that if all of the hostages were not freed by Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... by midday Saturday, the ceasefire should be abandoned and "let hell break out."
Hamas released three living male hostages on Saturday, as required by the deal, after having said on Monday that it was suspending hostage releases until further notice.
Netanyahu convened his security cabinet Saturday night to decide on next steps, but gave no indication in statements about what Israel will do.
Contradictory Israeli statements after Trump’s comments last week threatened a return to war if "our hostages" and "all of them" weren’t released. Another message said nine hostages had to be released "in the coming days," referring to the number of captives known to be alive who at that point had yet to be released under the current ceasefire phase.
Trump said Saturday it was up to Israel to decide how to respond to Hamas missing his deadline. Israel, he wrote on his TruthSocial platform, must decide "what they will do about the 12:00 O’CLOCK, TODAY, DEADLINE imposed on the release of ALL HOSTAGES."
"The United States will back the decision they make!"
Alongside Rubio on Sunday, Netanyahu promised that Israel will achieve its war goals of toppling Hamas, bringing back all the hostages, and making sure Gaza doesn’t pose a threat to Israel in the future.
He added that America’s "unequivocal support" will help Israel achieve these goals faster.
Rubio told the press gathered in the Prime Minister’s Office that Trump is "a man that speaks clearly and unambiguously, who makes clear his views on issues."
The first issue Trump has been clear on, said Rubio, is that the "hostages need to come home, they need to be released."
"That must happen. It’s not optional."
Later Sunday, Rubio told President Isaac Herzog that Trump is "strongly and deeply committed" to the return of "every single hostage" being held in Gaza, and won’t rest "until all of them are home."
Rubio added in his appearance with Netanyahu that Trump "has been very clear that Hamas cannot continue as a government or military force, and frankly as long as it stands as a force that can govern, as a force that can administer, or as a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible."
"It must be eradicated, it must be eliminated," Rubio declared.
Hamas and Israel are currently implementing the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire, and negotiations have yet to begin for the second phase. Israel has not sent negotiators with a mandate to advance such talks, despite being required to do so under the deal’s terms.
The second phase is expected to cover the release of the remaining hostages and include discussions on a permanent end to the war.
Rubio and Netanyahu also discussed Trump’s controversial vision for the future of Gaza. While Netanyahu was at the White House earlier this month, and on numerous occasions since, Trump has called for the permanent relocation of all Gazooks, and for the US to rebuild the war-torn territory.
Some US officials have since sought to paint the plan as a temporary relocation, but Trump has not.
Netanyahu said he spoke with Rubio about Trump’s "bold vision for Gaza, for Gaza’s future, and how we can work together to ensure that future becomes a reality."
Rubio also praised the plan as "something that is new, something that frankly took courage and vision in order to outline. It may have surprised and shocked many, but what cannot continue is the same cycle to repeat over and over again and wind up in the exact same place."
Apart from Herzog, Rubio also on Sunday met hostages’ families, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.
FINISHING THE JOB ON IRAN
Netanyahu said none of the issues discussed on Sunday were more important than Iran.
"Israel and America stand shoulder to shoulder in countering the threat of Iran," he said at his joint appearance with Rubio. "We agree that the ayatollahs must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons. We also agreed that Iran’s aggression in the region has to be rolled back."
He boasted that Israeli military operations have badly weakened the Iranian axis in the region. With Trump’s support, said Netanyahu, "we can and will finish the job."
Rubio also talked tough on Iran, saying the Islamic Theocratic Republic is overwhelmingly responsible for the problems plaguing the Middle East.
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... "is the greatest single force of instability in the region," he argued, saying it is "behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilizing activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for millions of people" throughout the region.
When he speaks of Iran, Rubio stressed, he is referring to the regime. And the people of Iran, he said, "are victims of that regime."
Violence in Gaza, the West Bank, Leb ...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... , Syria, and Iraq "all have behind them one common theme — Iran. And that must be addressed," Rubio said.
A nuclear Iran "can never happen," he said, adding that Trump has been very clear on that issue as well.
The US intelligence community recently presented assessments that Israel is considering strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, and that the attacks could come this year, according to the Washington Post.
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 two also discussed the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, which Netanyahu said Israel had triggered through its weakening of the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.
"If any other force in Syria today believes that Israel will permit other hostile forces to use Syria as a base" for attacks on Israel, said Netanyahu, "they are gravely mistaken."
"Israel will act to prevent any threat from emerging in southwest Syria," he pledged.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was appointed interim president last week, is a former jihadist rebel leader who headed the hard boyz who toppled president Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... in December. He has begun making international trips to shore up support in the region.
Replacing one destabilizing force for another is not a positive development.
Rubio said in Jerusalem that "replacing one destabilizing force for another is not a positive development. And that is something we will watch very carefully."
They also discussed Lebanon, Netanyahu said. "Israel is committed to the ceasefire and the understandings we reached in November, and expects the government of Lebanon to be equally committed."
"Hezbollah must be disarmed," he said, "and Israel would prefer the Lebanese army does that job," but Israel will do what it must.
Hezbollah is required under the ceasefire agreement with Israel to vacate southern Lebanon. Israel was given 60 days, until January 26, to withdraw from the area. The withdrawal deadline was extended, with Beirut’s approval, to February 18. Israel is reportedly seeking to stay longer in some areas of south Lebanon.
Regarding Lebanon, Rubio said that Israeli and US goals are aligned and the same: "A strong Lebanese state that can take on and disarm Hezbollah."
Netanyahu says he and Rubio also discussed hostile international institutions, including the UN General Assembly, UN Human Rights Council, and the ICJ and ICC in The Hague. He says they discussed coordinating efforts to counter lawfare against the US and Israel, to neutralize this threat "once and for all."
[IsraelTimes] Gustavo Petro, who cut ties with Israel after accusing it of genocide, calls for release of Israeli-Colombian hostage as tribute to country’s ‘solidarity with Palestinians’
Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Friday posted footage of himself in 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... holding a picture of Israel replaced with a Paleostinian state, and called for the release of Colombian-Israeli Elkana Bohbot, who is held hostage by Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... 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... , as a "tribute to Colombia and its solidarity with the Paleostinian people."
The video was taken during Petro’s visit to Doha’s Thumama Medical Center, where he met with hospitalized Gazook children, whom he referred to as survivors of genocide, in a post welcoming the recent sign of life from Bohbot.
In the video, a child gives Petro a picture that shows the outlines of Mandatory Paleostine from before 1948 — Israel’s borders, with the West Bank and Gaza but without the Golan Heights — framed in a checkered pattern reminiscent of a Paleostinian keffiyeh. Inside the borders is a large key — a well-known symbol among Paleostinian refugees, many of whom kept the key from their ancestral homes.
Petro, whose government cut ties with Israel in May amid the war in Gaza, can be seen smiling as he clutches the picture, flanked with children, in front of a Qatari flag.
The Colombian president recounted his visit to the hospital in a post on the sign of life that came from Bohbot.
The 35-year-old was snatched from the Re’im-area Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led forces of Evil stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
"We hope for his prompt release," wrote Petro. "His freedom is a tribute to Colombia and to its solidarity with the Paleostinian people. I hope that his united family can travel to Colombia."
Bohbot was one of a reported 12 hostages for whom Israel received a sign of life last week following the release of captivity survivors Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy as part of the month-old Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, which Qatar helped mediate.
Their release was the fifth in the deal’s ongoing first phase, which comprises women, children, civilian men over 50 and those deemed "humanitarian cases." Bohbot is slated for release only in the deal’s second phase, which would see Hamas release all remaining living hostages. Israel has not committed to the second phase.
Writing about the sign of life from Bohbot, Petro said he had met in his office with the hostage’s young son Uriel, whom he wished "very happy days."
"May the children’s pain recede," added Petro.
He proceeded to describe his tour of the Doha hospital, where he had met with Gazook children and "embraced their broken and mending bodies."
"I looked into their eyes and saw hope in them," said Petro. "The hope of the world after a genocide."
Petro said he and the Colombian ambassador to Qatar, who is "descended from a Paleostinian father," were working to bring Gazook children to Colombia for medical treatment.
"The reconstruction of Gaza will not be a matter of bricks, roads or real estate," said Petro. "Fundamentally, it is the reconstruction of the social fabric of a people, of an ancestral culture."
Though Petro did not mention Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... , the comment was apparently a rebuke of the US president’s plan to oust Gaza’s residents and rebuild the Strip as a "riviera of the Middle East."
"Humanity cannot ostracize a people after a genocide," said Petro. "Gaza is Paleostine, period."
Colombia followed neighboring Bolivia last May in ending longstanding ties with Israel. Petro had for months assailed Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group, which rules Gaza, likening it to the Holocaust and drawing accusations of antisemitism from Jerusalem. Bogotá also supports South Africa’s case in the International Court Justice accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza — a charge Israel has angrily rejected.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:57 Official summary of the Office for Documentation of War Crimes of Ukraine from 00:00 02/16/2025 to 00:00 02/17/2025.
A total of 22 facts of armed attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Information was received about the injuries of four civilians, including a teenager born in 2016.
DAMAGED:
Three residential buildings,
Two cars,
Three civil infrastructure facilities.
A total of 22 armed attacks in the Gorlovka direction.
A total of 71 units of various ammunition were fired.
21:54 Footage released of strikes with "Geraniums" on the Nikolaevskaya thermal power plant tonight.
According to the mayor of Nikolaev, as a result of the strike, the power generation capacity at the thermal power plant was completely destroyed.
21:26 From 19:50 to 20:45 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed nine Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles:
Six UAVs over the waters of the Sea of Azov and
Three over the territory of the Krasnodar Territory.
19:38 Russian army advances in Shcherbinovka –MAP
19:34 RF Armed Forces are moving forward on the western bank of the Oskol.
The total area of the bridgehead increased by another 10 square kilometers.
19:29 Russian attack aircraft advance into Chasov Yar –MAP
19:11 Around 18:40 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of Kursk region.
18:40 During the course of fierce battles, our airborne units routed the enemy, who outnumbered them, and released Sverdlikovo.
From the settlement there is a direct road to Sudzha, the liberation of which will complete the defeat of the occupiers.
18:25 Three civilians died as a result of an attack by a Ukrainian Armed Forces drone on a moving vehicle in the village of Grafovka in the Belgorod region.
17:03 Around 16:00 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of the Belgorod region.
17:00 In the area of the village of Verovka (northeast of Kherson) Russian drone operators destroyed an AN/TPQ-37 counterbattery radar station of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
16:41 Reconnaissance unit of the North group of forces with the help of UAVs revealed movement of a combat armored vehicle of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the border area of the Kursk region.
The detected target was quickly destroyed using the Lancet loitering munition.
14:58 Russian army mopped up the territory between Dachny and Ulakly west of Kurakhovo.
14:31 Advance to the west of Velikaya Novosyolka
The Russian Armed Forces have broken into the settlement of Novosyolka. There are reports that half of the village is under our control.
From Novosyolka to the border of the Dnepropetrovsk region is about eight kilometers.
14:27 Column of the Vostok Group of Forces broke into Novosyolka –MAP
14:19 Fighters of the "West" group of forces destroyed take-off points for the Baba Yaga-type hexacopter and the control point for the Ukrainian Armed Forces' unmanned aerial vehicles.
12:44 Russian assault units entered Novocheretovatoye. Heavy fighting is underway in the village itself –MAP
12:33 Around 11:30 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of Kursk region.
12:32 Soldiers of the engineering and sapper battalion of the Aleyskaya Brigade are conducting mining flanks during offensive actions of Russian assault units, in order to avoid attacks from the rear.
12:12 Around 11:20 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of the Belgorod region.
11:58 Airborne Forces fighters liberated Sverdlikovo in Kursk region –MAP
11:06 In the border area, the operator of the UAV GV "Sever" discovered a T-72 tank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces that fell into a hole left by an exploding shell.
11:03 Rapid response teams of the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army of the West Forces Group counter UAVs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, carrying on 24-hour combat duty in the SVO zone.
The units' tasks include countering attacks by enemy FPV drones, covering the movement of military equipment, and reinforcing air surveillance posts and checkpoints in the event of a threat of enemy UAV use.
10:00 Calculation of FPV drones of the Rubicon Center struck armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kupyansk direction.
09:59 Our troops started simultaneous assault actions in the villages of Constantinople and Ulakly
At the moment, the southeastern part of Ulakly is controlled by our troops.
In Constantinople, fighting is taking place on the eastern outskirts of the village.
09:54 In the Kursk border area, UAV operators of the GV "Sever" actively interfere Ukrainian military to hold positions on Russian soil, destroying them with precise VOG drops. VOG is a 40mm grenade, typically fired from a launcher, or from an under the rifle barrel launcher. In this case, the Russians apparently have devised a way to drop VOGs on top of Ukrainian troops. 08:42 FPV operator GV "North" with the help of a kamikaze drone on fiber optics inflicted fire damage to a Ukrainian Armed Forces SUV in the border area.
07:20 During the past night, air defense systems on duty destroyed one Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of the Kursk region.
06:35 Anti-aircraft gunners daily cover units, places of concentration of personnel and equipment from enemy reconnaissance and attack UAVs, and also conduct a visual search for air objects in specified sectors.
05:02 Calculations of strike UAVs on fiber optics of the 40th Separate Guards Naval Infantry Brigade as part of the "North" group detect and are destroying Ukrainian Armed Forces equipment in the border area of Kursk region.
Linked article is available only through a VPN
[EngMilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Kharkov direction, the units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted damage on manpower and materiel of an air assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a national guard brigade close to Volchansk (Kharkov region).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 30 troops, an armoured personnel carrier, two motor vehicles, and an artillery gun.
Units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation. Russian troops hit manpower and materiel of six mechanised brigades, a tank brigade, an assault brigade, an air assault brigade, a mountain assault brigade of the AFU, two territorial defence brigades near Zagoruikovka, Boguslavka, Figolevka, Petropavlovka, Kutkovka, Kupyansk, Monachinovka, Kolodeznoye (Kharkov region), Drobyshevo, and Yampolovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses amounted to more than 165 troops, four armoured fighting vehicles, six motor vehicles, and three field artillery guns including two foreign-made pieces.
The Yug Group of Forces improved the tactical situation along the front line. The Group's units engaged formations of to two mechanised brigades, an infantry brigade, an airmobile brigade of the AFU, a naval infantry brigade and a territorial defence brigade near Serebryanka, Pereyezdnoye, Dolgaya Balka, Kleban Byk, Konstantinovka, Chasov Yar, Ulakly (Donetsk People's Republic), and Belogorovka (Lugansk People's Republic).
The AFU losses amounted to more than 180 troops, four pickup trucks, and an electronic warfare station. Two depots of ammunition and logistics were neutralised.
The Tsentr Group of Forces' units improved the situation along the front line. Russian formations damaged manpower and materiel of three mechanised brigades, an airmobile brigade, an air assault brigade, two jaeger brigades, an assault brigade, an assault regiment of the AFU, and a national guard brigade near Kotlino, Krasnoarmeysk, Peschanoye, Andreyevka, Uspenovka, Ulyanovka, Zverevo, Udachnoye, and Novoaleksandrovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The enemy lost up to 475 troops, a U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier,a UK-made Mastiff armoured vehicle, eight motor vehicles, and four field artillery guns.
Units of the Vostok Group of Forces continued advancing into the depth of enemy defences. Four mechanised brigades, an air assault brigade of the AFU, a naval infantry brigade, and two territorial defence brigades were hit near Razliv, Burlatskoye, Komar, Novoselka, Konstantiopol (Donetsk People's Republic), and Gulyaypole (Zaporozhye region).
The enemy losses amounted to more than 155 troops, a tank, an armoured fighting vehicle, a motor vehicle, and five field artillery guns.
The units of the Dnepr Group of Forces defeated formations of three coastal defence brigades of the AFU and a territorial defence brigade close to Kamenskoye (Zaporozhye region), Dneprovskoye, Ponyatovka, Verovka, and Kachkarovka (Kherson region).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 20 troops and five motor vehicles. One materiel depot was destroyed.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack UAVs, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have engaged the infrastructure of military airfields, assembly workshop of unmanned aerial vehicles, an energy facility supporting the Ukranian Defence industry enterprises as well as clusters of enemy manpower and hardware in 141 areas.
Air defence systems shot down two U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles and 50 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 653 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 43,522 unmanned aerial vehicles, 594 anti-aircraft missile systems, 21,473 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,517 MLRS combat vehicles, 21,756 field artillery guns and mortars, and 31,726 units of support military vehicles 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 of Forces inflicted fire damage on formations of two tank brigades, a heavy mechanised brigade, five mechanised brigades, an assault brigade, three air assault brigades, a naval infantry brigade, a territorial defence brigade, and three assault regiments of the AFU near Viktorovka, Guyevo, Kazachya Loknya, Kolmakov, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Makhnovka, Nikolskiy, Rubanshchina, and Sverdlikovo. Three enemy counter-attacks were repelled.
Operational-Tactical and Army Aviation, and Artillery strikes engaged AFU manpower and hardware close to Gogolevka, Goncharovka, Loknya, Malaya Loknya, Mirny, Sudzha, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye as well as Basovka, Belovody, Veselovka, Zhuravka, Kiyanitsa, Obody, and Yunakovka in Sumy region.
Within the past 24 hours, the AFU losses amounted to more than 230 troops, two tanks, five infantry fighting vehicles including a U.S.-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, three armoured personnel carriers, seven armoured fighting vehicles, eight motor vehicles, a self-propelled artillery system, an artillery gun, and five UAV command posts.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk direction, the AFU losses amounted to more than 61,010 troops, 365 tanks, 273 infantry fighting vehicles, 219 armoured personnel carriers, 1,886 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,994 motor vehicles, 441 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, 109 EW stations, 15 counter-battery warfare radars, six air defence radars, 48 units of engineering and other materiel, including 18 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, five bridge launchers as well as 14 armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
[AFRICANEWS] Former Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth has been arrested and is facing money laundering charges, the state-run Financial Crimes Commission said early on Sunday.
It said he was taken into custody following searches by detectives from the commission at different locations, including at his residence.
Commission spokesperson, Ibrahim Rossaye said they found and seized cash to the value of $2.4 million dollars from a business linked to him.
The former prime minister's lawyer, said on Sunday his client has been provisionally charged and has denied the allegations. No, no! Certainly not!
Jugnauth was prime minister from 2017 until November last year when his Militant Socialist Movement suffered a crushing defeat in the general elections.
Following the polls, new Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam announced a public finances audit.
Days previously, he had questioned the accuracy of some government data compiled by the previous administration.
Last month, the country's former central bank governor was detained and released on bail after being charged with conspiracy to commit fraud.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2025
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11138 views]
Top|| File under:
[IsraelTimes] Over 16 months after Sasha Troufanov was abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023, global retail platform for the first time publicly acknowledges he worked on Amazon Web Services team
Global retail giant Amazon on Saturday finally broke its silence about a Russian-Israeli employee who was kidnapped by Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... on October 7, 2023.
In a message to Amazon employees upon the release of Sasha Troufanov on Saturday morning, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy for the first time acknowledged Troufanov’s role in the company.
Troufanov, 29, was released from Hamas captivity along with Sagui Dekel-Chen and Iair Horn as part of phase one of a mediated ceasefire-hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas. He was informed upon his release that his father was murdered during the Paleostinian terror group’s brutal October 7 attack, and burst into tears at the news.
Troufanov had been working at Amazon Web Services as an electrical engineer at the time of his capture. The company has faced criticism for declining to acknowledge that an employee was taken hostage by Hamas.
In a letter published after Troufanov returned to Israel, Jassy told employees that he was "incredibly relieved" that Troufanov had been released from captivity, and that Amazon had been silently acting on his behalf.
"Since we learned of Sasha and his family’s abduction, we’ve had a dedicated team working behind the scenes with experts to support efforts to secure their release and to ensure that we did the right thing for them and their safety," Jassy wrote. This included "painfully not commenting publicly for fear that we would negatively impact their ability to be released or how they were treated in captivity," he added.
Troufanov, now 29, was visiting his family at Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel when he, his mother, his grandmother, and his girlfriend were taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023. His father was killed by forces of Evil in the attack.
Troufanov’s mother, grandmother, and girlfriend were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023. Troufanov was released on Saturday after 498 days.
"It’s been an extremely trying time for everybody who knows and cares for Sasha — a lot of angst and feelings of helplessness," wrote Amazon’s 57-year-old Jewish CEO. "But, it can’t approach what Sasha and his family have been through, and we will continue to support them and do everything we can to help them heal."
Some 1,200 people were murdered and 251 taken captive, mostly civilians, when thousands of Hamas-led forces of Evil burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea on October 7, 2023.
Seventy of the 251 hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 remain 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... , including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
[IsraelTimes] Association for Civil Rights in Israel calls proposed legislation, which will also block groups from filing lawsuits in Israel, ‘a direct assault on Israel’s democracy’
The Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Sunday voted in support of a bill that would levy massive taxes on NGOs — nongovernment organizations — funded by foreign governments, and erode their right to file lawsuits in Israeli courts.
The bill, sponsored by Likud MK Ariel Kallner, would allow the government to tax foreign government donations to domestic nonprofits at a rate of 80 percent while also stipulating that courts need not consider petitions by groups "primarily financed by a foreign political entity."
If passed into law, the legislation would apply to NGOs that do not also receive Israeli state funding. The finance minister, with the approval of the Knesset Finance Committee, would be allowed to exempt organizations from the new rules "in special circumstances."
The bill would likely block human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... organizations from being able to operate in Israel and the West Bank, as many of them rely on funding from foreign governments.
Human rights groups — such as B’Tselem, Breaking the Silence, and the New Israel Fund — have long been targeted by the Israeli right and even the political center over their focus on alleged Israeli human rights abuses against the Paleostinians.
"The purpose of this bill is to reduce the indirect influence of foreign governments and political entities on the State of Israel. This influence is manifested, among other things, in direct financial support for nonprofit organizations in Israel, which act as agents of change on behalf of these entities," the bill’s explanatory notes state.
The bill argues that such external funding "goes beyond the limits of the democratic framework and harms the illusory sovereignty and independence" of Israel.
If two countries have a dispute, "they must try to convince each other through diplomatic means, dialogue and negotiation between counterparts, but not through financing change agents and organizations whose purpose is to lead change from within in favor of the aforementioned foreign interests," it adds.
Following the Ministerial Committee’s vote on Sunday, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel accused the government of attacking liberal civil society groups while leaving right-wing organizations untouched.
"This proposed legislation is a direct assault on Israel’s democracy and part of the ongoing judicial coup. It represents a systematic attack on all institutions that check government power, and specifically targets human rights organizations working to protect minorities in Israel and Paleostinians in the occupied territories," Noa Sattath, ACRI’s executive director, told The Times of Israel.
"The selective taxation targets only foreign state funding from Israel’s closest allies — including the United States and European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... member states — who support democracy, human rights, and minority protection. Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth ordered the space pirate fleet to attack Zemblonia... right-wing organizations relying on private donations remain unaffected, and the finance minister has discretionary power to exempt certain organizations while those receiving state funding are automatically excluded."
A previous version of the bill was shelved amid an international uproar nearly two years ago.
That proposal, also sponsored by Kallner, did not touch on NGOs’ legal standing but mandated that any nonprofit group that engaged in public advocacy two years before or after receiving a donation from a foreign government would lose its status as a public institution and would no longer be eligible for tax exemptions, and in addition would be hit with a 65 percent income tax.
The Biden administration aggressively lobbied both publicly and behind the scenes against the bill alongside nearly a dozen countries in Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... that give millions of dollars a year to various civil society organizations operating in Israel and the West Bank, particularly ones that seek to promote the conditions necessary for a future peace agreement between Israel and the Paleostinians.
This led to the bill being pulled from the Ministerial Committee on Legislation in May 2023. Likud sources said at the time that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was responsible for the decision to withdraw the bill. The premier was said to be reluctant to advance the ally-angering legislation while still waiting for a coveted invite to the White House, among other diplomatic considerations.
The Biden administration wanted USAID, the State Department, and who knows who else to donate government funds to Israeli NGOs that would support Progressive projects and politics, no matter the preferences of the local population and government.
Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth ordered the space pirate fleet to attack Zemblonia... in a letter to Elon Musk, who leads the Trump administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency, Otzma Yehudit politician Yitzhak Kroizer stated on Sunday that the US government had previously used "American funds to exert improper influence in Israeli affairs" — specifically citing the now-defunct V15 organization.
"It is evident that American funds have been improperly allocated in Israel, throughout the Middle East, and indeed across the globe. Given your recent efforts to ensure greater transparency and accountability, I respectfully request access to available information regarding subsidies and grants provided to non-governmental organizations, media outlets, and individual journalists operating in Israel," Kroizer wrote.
"Publicly available sources already indicate that USAID and other U.S. government agencies have allocated millions of dollars to these entities within a relatively short period of time. The misuse of foreign funds in Israel, particularly in ways that undermine national interests and the democratic process, is a matter of the utmost concern," he continued. He also asked for a meeting to discuss the matter.
In the 2015 elections, the US-funded V15 organization was accused by Likud of inappropriate political meddling for its ostensible efforts to unseat Netanyahu by encouraging center-left voters to go vote on election day. The state comptroller cleared the organization of any campaign law violations.
In 2017, the Knesset passed the so-called V15 law, which aims to prevent wealthy donors from using political organizations to bypass election funding laws.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] At least 48 people were killed in a collapse at an illegal gold mine in Mali, West Africa, on February 15. The incident was reported by the AFP agency.
The emergency occurred on the surface of a mine where a Chinese company had previously worked. The dead were mostly women, the publication notes.
According to local police, such incidents occur frequently in the region due to the large number of cases of “illegal exploitation of mines.”
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Negotiations on Ukraine with the participation of the Russian official delegation are to take place on February 18 in the capital of Saudi Arabia — Riyadh. This information was received by Kommersant.
The United States will be represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
According to unconfirmed reports, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov may be present at the negotiations.
As reported by Regnum News Agency, on February 14, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the head of the Kyiv regime, Volodymyr Zelensky, announced that he was planning to visit Saudi Arabia in the near future, where negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict would take place. He emphasized that he would not hold meetings with the Russian delegation, and did not plan to participate in negotiations with the American side.
On the evening of February 16, Zelensky flew to the United Arab Emirates, accompanied by his wife Elena. In his Telegram channel, Zelensky noted that the delegation plans to discuss the release of Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners, investments, and economic partnership.
Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Presidents Vladimir Putin and Trump discussed the Ukrainian conflict in their telephone conversation, among other things, and agreed that it could be resolved through peaceful negotiations. The Russian President stressed the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict.
After speaking with Putin, Trump called Zelensky and later noted that Ukraine is unlikely to return to the 1991 borders. The US President also stated that the issue of Ukraine joining NATO should be removed from consideration.
Putin previously noted that in order to begin negotiations, Ukraine must officially renounce its intentions to join NATO, carry out demilitarization and denazification, declare a neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear status, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces must leave the territories of the regions that returned to Russia in 2022.
More from regnum.ru Poland has laid claim to participation in the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine
The large funds allocated by Poland for military purposes give it the right to participate in decision-making on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. This was stated on February 16 by the head of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski.
“We have been allocating 2% [of GDP to defense spending] for 20 years, and recently significantly more, which gives us the right to speak out and seek participation in decision-making circles [on Ukraine],” he explained to journalists.
This is how Sikorsky answered journalists’ questions about the prospects for resolving the Ukrainian conflict.
As reported by Regnum News Agency, on February 3, US President Donald Trump demanded that Europe increase its spending on financing Ukraine. According to him, Europe should "equalize" the volume of support provided to Ukraine with investments from the US.
According to German political scientist Alexander Rahr, a serious conflict could begin between the US and Europe due to Brussels' demands to provide the EU representative with a seat at the negotiating table on Ukraine. The expert clarified that Trump does not plan to invite European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen or her deputy Kaja Kallas to talks with the Russian president.
Europe is losing in Ukraine, and this is not just a military defeat, it is a strategic fiasco. Those who pay but do not defend their interests should not be surprised when others decide the future. The fate of Europe and Ukraine will be decided by Russia and the United States, wrote the German newspaper Handelsblatt.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on February 16 that after the start of Russian-American negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, Ukraine and the EU countries will be included in them.
Actually, that's what we're talking about. Globalists see negotiations as a way to prepare for the next war, since there is no guarantee that this one cannot be extended indefinitely. Therefore, one of the main goals of our diplomacy should be precisely to prevent the use of Ukraine to prepare for a new war of the West against the Russian Federation.
Without solving this problem, stopping this war in order to start a new one at a time convenient for the West is pointless. We are talking precisely about solving one of the key tasks of the Central Military District by military and diplomatic means, which Putin voiced at the very beginning of the war.
Of course, this issue will be resolved with the United States.
In future negotiations on the Ukrainian issue, Russia will take into account Ukraine's lack of sovereignty and its unwillingness to answer for its words. Says Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin (same article):
Well, in the conditions of the absence of legitimate power in Ukraine and the de facto establishment of a terrorist dictatorship there with the abolition of elections and human rights, such an approach is not surprising.
In its current form, Ukraine, of course, cannot be a subject of negotiations.
The policy of the West, at the moment, is "war to the last Ukrainian", as General Kellogg directly stated yesterday.
#1
According to insiders, US President Donald Trump has received an attractive offer from Russian President Vladimir Putin: Putin will be given the whole of Ukraine, while the US will receive Canada and Greenland in return.
“That's the art of the deal,” Trump is said to have proudly declared to insiders after the phone call with Putin. ”Greenland and Canada together have over 12 million square kilometers, while Ukraine has only 600,000 square kilometers.”
The deal is to be finalized as agreed next week: after Russia has brought the entire territory of Ukraine under its control by Tuesday evening at the latest, Greenland and Canada are to open their borders to US soldiers within 24 hours at Putin's behest.
The only thing still being negotiated is whether Putin will throw in the Panama Canal as a bonus or not.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/17/2025 7:11
Comments ||
Top||
#2
^
Any bets the MSM & I-SM go crazy, reporting
"... sources close to Trump say..."
Then the $$$$ for comment pundant's are lined up and complaining all by Noon. That Trump could have done a better deal or impeached.
#4
I think the meaning of EC's comment is that Trump has no authority to hand Ukraine over to Putin. That's true, of course. But without American money and weapons, nobody else, not even Starmer, will have much to say about it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/17/2025 13:38
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Historical note - the leader of South Korea refused to sign the cease fire agreement. Of course his military were totally dependent upon US/UN contributions.
[IsraelTimes] Muhammad Zalbani convicted of aggravated murder for fatal stabbing, at age 13, of Staff Sgt. Asil Sawaed, who died from blood loss en route to hospital after Jerusalem attack
The Jerusalem District Court on Sunday sentenced a Paleostinian minor to 18 years in prison for the killing of a Border Police officer in 2023.
The presiding judges found Muhammad Zalbani,
…more fully Muhammad Bassel Fathi Zalbani of the Shuafat Refugee Camp…
who fatally stabbed Staff Sgt. Asil Sawaed during an East Jerusalem checkpoint inspection two years ago, guilty of aggravated murder. The assailant was 13 years old at the time.
According to the verdict, Zalbani found a knife in his aunt’s house in the Shuafat camp and took it with him on a bus that passes through the nearby checkpoint.
The teen sat at the back of the bus, with the knife near his leg to be able to draw it quickly, and waited for security forces to board for a routine inspection of the passengers.
As Sawaed approached the back of the bus, Zalbani got up from his seat and began to stab Sawaed repeatedly in the neck and head, per the verdict.
A civilian security officer who boarded the bus with Sawaed shot up Zalbani, but accidentally hit the maimed border cop in the thigh.
Sawaed died on the way to the hospital due to excessive bleeding.
"There is no doubt that the defendant’s actions brought about, in an indirect manner, the shooting of the dear departed by the security guard," the court said in its ruling.
Sawaed, 22, grew up in the northern Bedouin village of Hussniyya and was one of seven siblings. He was serving as a noncommissioned officer in the Border Police after completing his mandatory service.
I can feel the spirit of Dron protectively hovering over the proceedings, no matter where the rest of him might be occupied. ;-)
[IsraelTimes] Economy Minister Nir Barkat says visit to New Delhi marks ‘breakthrough’ to advance a trade agreement, as Trump pushes vision of connecting India, Europe, and the US through Israel
Israel and India are seeking to sign a long-touted free trade agreement as early as this year, with US President Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... revamping plans for a proposed US-India trade corridor through Israel.
Leading a large business delegation to New Delhi last week, Economy Minister Nir Barkat, said that the visit marked "a breakthrough in the economic relations between Israel and India."
"The largest business delegation ever sent from Israel is proof of our commitment to deepening economic ties, expanding Israeli exports, and opening the Indian market to groundbreaking Israeli technologies," said Barkat. "Cooperation between our nations will drive economic growth, strengthen mutual investments, and create new jobs in both countries."
The rapprochement comes during the same week Trump continued a push from his predecessor Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. The very model of probity.... to build a rail and shipping corridor linking India with the Middle East, Europe, and the US — an ambitious project aimed at fostering economic growth and political cooperation.
During a meeting at the White House with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, Trump announced that the two leaders "agreed to work together to help build one of the greatest trade routes in all of history."
"It will run from India to Israel to Italia and onward to the US, connecting our partners, roads, railways, and undersea cables," Trump said.
"This is the big idea: creating a connection from India, through Israel, to Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... and all the way to the US, according to Trump’s vision," an Israeli government official told The Times of Israel. "This is why we will sign a new trade agreement with India."
"This is why there is a major rapprochement between Israel and India, and this is why we sent the delegation," the official said.
Last week’s business delegation to New Delhi included over 100 Israeli companies, in the areas of cybersecurity, smart agriculture, renewable energy, digital health, water technologies, AI, and big data. The participating companies held over 600 business meetings and engaged with hundreds of Indian business leaders to foster economic partnerships, expand mutual investments, and strengthen bilateral ties. During the visit, the delegation met with Indian business giants such as TATA group, Nasscom, and GMR, and participated in the India Energy Week.
"Israel’s capabilities in innovation and security are extraordinary, and the technology demonstrated in ’Operation Beepers’ [a reference to Israel’s clandestine operation on the Hezbollah terror group in September] is truly inspiring and unique — we want it here too," said India’s Commerce & Industry Ministry, Piyush Goyal. "There are immense opportunities for collaboration between Israel and India, which will lead to significant geopolitical and economic achievements in the region."
During a business forum meeting in New Delhi attended by the Israeli delegation led by Barkat, Goyal announced that he would lead a business delegation of hundreds of Indian executives to Israel in 2025. The delegation will focus on expanding investments in Israeli companies, advancing technological collaborations, and promoting key sectors, such as water technologies, cybersecurity, healthcare, and advanced agriculture.
In 2024, bilateral trade volume between Israel and India reached $5 billion, which included $2.5 billion in Israeli exports, $1 billion in diamond trade, and $1.5 billion in imports from India to Israel.
Bilateral ties between Israel and India go beyond diamonds. Israel is the fourth largest supplier of military hardware to India. Cooperation agreements have also multiplied in the fields of water systems, agriculture, health, and solar energy.
[IsraelTimes] Peacekeeping force’s deputy chief said wounded in pro-Hezbollah riot after Lebanon’s refusal to let planes land, which official says followed US warning that Israel would down them
Hezbollah on Sunday condemned a Friday attack on a UNIFIL convoy in Beirut that the international peacekeeping force said had maimed its outgoing deputy commander en route to the Beirut airport.
Assailing Israel’s alleged interference, the Tehran-backed terror group also demanded Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... reverse its decision to stop Iranian flights from landing at the Rafik Hariri International Airport. A Lebanese security source said the ban had followed a private warning from the White House that Israel would target the airport should the plane land.
Lebanon’s decision, which 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... responded to in kind, followed Israel’s public warning on Thursday that Tehran was using civilian planes to smuggle cash for Hezbollah to rebuild itself, in violation of the November 27 ceasefire agreement between Israel and the terror group. Throughout nearly 14 months of war until the ceasefire, Israel had repeatedly accused Hezbollah of using Lebanon’s only airport to smuggle in supplies from Iran.
The refusal to let Iranian planes land in Beirut sparked pro-Hezbollah riots, during which the UNIFIL general’s car was torched. Lebanese authorities have detained more than 25 people as part of an investigation into the attack, which the US State Department said was carried out "reportedly by a group of Hezbollah supporters."
In a statement Sunday, Hezbollah condemned the incident and said it "affirms its firm rejection of any targeting of [UNIFIL] as well as any harm to public and private property."
The condemnation came at the end of a message assailing the Lebanese military for attacking what Hezbollah described as "a peaceful movement and a civilized expression of popular opposition to unjustified submission to foreign dictates."
"The protesters were surprised when some Lebanese army personnel launched tear gas canisters toward them," said the terror group, adding that it "calls on the army leadership to open an urgent investigation into this condemned attack."
Hezbollah urged Lebanon’s government to "assume its responsibility in protecting the peaceful protesters."
The terror group also demanded the government "reverse its decision to prevent Iranian planes from landing at Beirut Airport, and take serious measures to prevent the Israeli enemy from imposing its dictates and violating national illusory sovereignty."
On Sunday, a Lebanese security source told AFP Washington had warned Beirut that Israel could shoot down two Iranian flights to Lebanon, one on Thursday and another on Friday.
Under the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, Israel is entitled to carry out attacks against imminent threats by the terror group.
The source who spoke to AFP said that Israel conveyed to Lebanon on Thursday, via the US, that "it would target the airport if the Iranian plane landed in Lebanon."
"The American side told the Lebanese side that Israel was serious about its threat," said the source, adding that Lebanon’s public works and transport ministry then refused clearance for the flight after consulting the prime minister and president.
The message was passed on to Iran before the flight took off, said the source.
Another flight was also barred from taking off from Iran on Friday, which prompted the Hezbollah supporters to block the road to Lebanon’s only airport.
Lebanon’s new Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, whose government includes Hezbollah as a minor member, said Saturday that "the security of Beirut airport takes precedence over any other consideration."
"And the safety of travelers as well as the safety of Lebanese citizens are elements on which we will not compromise," he said.
Salam, a former top judge at the International Court of Justice, was tapped for premier by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun last month. His election, with the backing of Gay Paree, Riyadh and Washington, ended a two-year impasse.
Previously the commander of Lebanon’s military, Aoun has vowed to maintain a state monopoly on arms — a thinly veiled threat against Hezbollah’s extensive arsenal. The terror group was the only Lebanese militia not to surrender its arms to the state when the country’s 15-year civil war ended in 1990.
Hezbollah is required under the ceasefire agreement with Israel to vacate southern Lebanon. Israel was given 60 days, until January 26, to withdraw from the area. The withdrawal deadline was extended, with Beirut’s approval, to February 18. Israel is reportedly seeking to stay longer in some areas of south Lebanon.
Israel invaded Lebanon in September, in a bid to end the terror group’s persistent rocket fire, which had displaced some 60,000 northerners. The terror group’s near-daily attacks began, unprovoked, on October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed group Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking 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...
February 13, 2025
[OneIndia] Pak forces faced significant losses on Wednesday after the Indian Army responded strongly to unprovoked firing across the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district, Jammu and Kashmir ...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there.... . This incident followed a ceasefire breach by Pakistain in the Krishna Ghati sector, occurring a day after two Indian soldiers, including a Captain, were killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) near the LoC in Akhnoor sector, Jammu district.
The ceasefire breach involved Pak troops initiating unprovoked gunfire on a forward post in the Tarkundi area along the LoC. This prompted a robust response from the Indian Army, leading to heavy casualties for the opposing forces. However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... exact figures were not disclosed, and the Indian Army neither confirmed nor denied these reports.
INCREASED TENSIONS ALONG THE LOC
The situation along the LoC has become tense due to increased hostile activities from across the border over the past week. This was the first ceasefire violation of the year and marked the fourth cross-border incident within five days. On Monday, a soldier was shot while manning a forward post in Kalal area of Nowshera sector, Rajouri district.
In another incident on February 8, an Army patrol came under terrorist fire from a forest across the LoC in Rajouri's Keri sector. The murderous Moslems appeared to be waiting for an opportunity to infiltrate into Indian territory. Earlier, during the night of February 4 and 5, a landmine explosion reportedly caused casualties among murderous Moslems attempting to cross into India from across the LoC in Krishna Ghati sector.
SECURITY MEASURES AND MILITARY RESPONSE
A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of the Indian Army sustained minor injuries after accidentally stepping on a landmine in the same sector. The JCO, hailing from Mendhar, was part of a patrol monitoring the LoC to prevent terrorist infiltration. The injured officer was promptly evacuated to a military hospital for treatment.
[ZeroHedge] Bright MLS, one of the largest multiple listing services in the US, just recently cautioned real estate agents and industry professionals: A toxic mix of a "new Presidential administration and higher-than-expected mortgage rates contributed to a slow start to the 2025 housing market" across the Washington, DC, metro area, plus surrounding counties in Northern Virginia and Maryland. Now, the floodgates have opened—active listings are soaring, and jobless claims are spiking across the region, as the writing's on the wall: an economic downturn is just ahead for the federal bureaucracy as 'DC Swamp' draining accelerates.
Let's start with the DC housing market and surrounding area trends.
Bright MLS' latest monthly housing report for the Mid-Atlantic residential market, covering market trends through January, revealed a significant increase in active listings compared to the same period last year.
While a rise in listings is typical during a presidential transition year—especially ahead of the spring selling season—the region's heavy concentration of federal workers is a major cause for concern in the era of President Trump and Elon Musk's DOGE. That's because, as of last week, Trump had already slashed 275,000 federal jobs.
Last month, local residential markets in Washington, DC, and surrounding counties in Northern Virginia and Maryland, saw a sharp increase in active listings, averaging 22.8%. Notably, Falls Church City, Virginia, experienced a 78.6% surge, followed by a 68.8% jump in Fairfax City, a 50.5% increase in Alexandria City, and a 33.5% uptick in Montgomery County, Maryland. These markets have a high concentration of federal workers, many of whom have spent their entire careers in the government without little to no experience in the private sector.
The flood of active listings across the DC-Maryland-North Central Virginia areas occured when borrowing costs are at elevated levels. Data from Bright MLS' T3 Home Demand Index shows that February has so far been "Slow" and/or "limited."
In other words, a supply imbalance across the DC region could drive housing prices lower.
Six months from now the poor darlings will be desperate for any offer, never mind a good one.
Housing market softness comes as President Trump and Musk's DOGE eliminated 275,000 federal workers. This includes 75,000 who accepted the buyout and 200,000 workers on probation—those who have been in their roles for less than a year or, in some cases, up to two years.
So far, Labor Department figures not adjusted for seasonal factors show that 4,000 workers in DC have already filed for unemployment insurance.
Meanwhile, in Maryland, swamp draining by Trump and DOGE could push the state on a crash course to a "deep recession" because of the already dire fiscal situation produced by far-left Democratic lawmakers, including Gov. Wes Moore.
A large asset management company that operates in the region told us weeks ago that the financial situation in Maryland is so dire that they don't even recommend the state's muni bonds to their clients - and have instructed some clients to leave the state because of tax hike fears.
What may unfold is an economic downturn that could rip through the unaccountable federal bureaucracy in the DC Swamp that won't get a bailout this time from taxpayers.
In November, the median home in the nation’s capital was worth $699,000, according to Redfin.
By February, the median home value dropped 20 percent, bringing the price down to $560,000.
TKL found there are now nearly 8,000 homes listed for sale in the Washington, DC metro area, and almost half of them have been put on the market in the last 30 days.
There has also been a surge in new listings of homes over $1 million. According to TKL, there are 525 listings worth $1 million and 44 listings worth $5 million, suggesting DOGE layoffs could affect people in high-profile jobs.
Redfin agents in Washington, DC, reported that return-to-office mandates and uncertainty for federal workers have caused a listing surge.
#11
@5
"Fire them all, hire back the ones we authentically need. I'm OK with this."
I prefer not to run my company this way. But then again, I KNOW who I need.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/17/2025 10:03
Comments ||
Top||
#12
There's a certain "Baby with the bathwater" uneasiness involved. Of course, that leads back to 1950's thinking that the gov't could actually get stuff done. FEMA kind of takes the air out of that one.
#13
#4,5 There was a case in Tel Aviv U. where an entire department in Medical faculty was abolished for a day (nullifies tenure) and then all the personel - bar one - were rehaired with full restitution.
Yes. And you are not in a hostile takeover situation, where a large but unknown proportion of the staff have for nearly a decade been actively acting to undermine your orders while lying to you and your C Suite by omission and commission.
#16
I prefer not to run my company this way. But then again, I KNOW who I need.
If you run a for profit business, you must know who you need and who you don't or else you won't profit. Unfortunately, our federal government is not like that. They just tax and borrow to support all their bloat and corruption. It's high time we put a stop to it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/17/2025 12:42
Comments ||
Top||
#17
And again, having worked in the private sector and having experienced layoffs, I sympathize with people who lose their job. But we can't keep people on the payroll if their services are no longer required. That's wasteful. We can't people on the payroll if they are incompetent, refuse to do their jobs or actively undermine the policies of elected office holders. And I don't see any reason why government workers should never fear that they might lose their job. Without that fear there is no accountability and, as a taxpayer, I demand accountability.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/17/2025 12:58
Comments ||
Top||
#18
In the biggest house recession in 2007/2008 the one area that never saw a drop in housing prices was Arlington VA. Looks like Karma is visiting Arlington VA.
#19
As you consider the human, sympathetic side of what is happening in the DC area, take a look at this and consider the role those folks historically and collectively played in saddling YOU and you grand-kids with this mess!
#25
This reminds me of what happened to many IBMers in 1993, when IBM laid off 60000. The Hudson Valley was particularly hard hit - there were 3 sites in the valley.
When I started in 1969, they bragged that IBM hadn't laid people off even during the Depression.
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.
...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...
...
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...
...46th president of the U.S. 
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
..always the voice of sweet reason...
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
An 18-year-old girl, who allegedly wrote about identifying as a male and had a “shrine” to mass killers, was arrested and charged this week for allegedly planning a mass school shooting at Mooresville High School in Indiana.
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka 
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
..always the voice of sweet reason...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...46th president of the U.S. The very model of probity....
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it 
