Follow up to the Harvard brief in this round up from early February, where our hero was named Shabbos Kestenbaum.
[IsraelTimes] Harvard University has settled a high-profile lawsuit by an Orthodox Jewish student who accused the Ivy League school of ignoring antisemitism on campus.
Alexander Kestenbaum, who is known as Shabbos, and Harvard jointly agreed to end the case, according to a dismissal notice filed on Thursday in Boston federal court.
Settlement terms are not disclosed. Lawyers for Kestenbaum do not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The settlement came four months after Harvard promised additional protection for Jewish students, as it resolved two lawsuits claiming it was a hotbed of rampant antisemitism.
Both lawsuits were among many accusing universities of encouraging antisemitism after the Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... -led October 7, 2023, terror onslaught in southern Israel, which sparked the ongoing 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... war and led to pro-Paleostinian protests on many American campuses.
Jewish students say Harvard tolerated their being maligned as "murderers" and subjected to viral attacks, and accused the university of hiring professors who promoted anti-Jewish violence and spread antisemitic propaganda.
The lawsuits were brought by Students Against Antisemitism, and by Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education and the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.
Kestenbaum was a plaintiff in the Students Against Antisemitism lawsuit, but did not settle at the time.
He graduated from Harvard Divinity School last year and has become a growing voice in a Republican-led campaign to root out antisemitism in major American universities.
Harvard is one of the chief targets of that campaign, and US President Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... ’s administration has frozen or terminated more than $2.6 billion of the university’s federal grants and contracts in recent weeks.
[IsraelTimes] A Georgetown University scholar from India who was arrested in the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign college students is released from immigration detention after a federal judge’s ruling.
Badar Khan Suri will go home to his family in Virginia while he awaits the outcome of his petition against the Trump administration for wrongful arrest and detention in violation of the First Amendment and other constitutional rights. He is also facing deportation proceedings in an immigration court in Texas.
“Justice delayed is justice denied,” Khan Suri tells reporters after his release from a detention facility in Alvarado, near Dallas. “It took two months, but I’m extremely thankful that finally I’m free.”
Khan Suri was arrested by masked, plain-clothed officers on the evening of March 17 outside his apartment complex in Arlington, Virginia. He was then put on a plane to Louisiana and later to a detention center in Texas.
Khan Suri’s attorneys say he and his wife, Mapheze Saleh, have been targeted because Saleh’s father worked with the Hamas-backed Gazan government for more than a decade, but before terror group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Trump administration has said that it revoked Khan Suri’s visa because of his social media posts and his wife’s connection to Gaza as a Palestinian American. They accused him of supporting Hamas, which the US has designated as a terrorist organization.
According to the US government, Khan Suri has undisputed family ties to the terrorist organization, which he “euphemistically refers to as ‘the government of Gaza.’” But the American Civil Liberties Union has said that Khan Suri hardly knew the father, Ahmed Yousef.
Is that the Ahmed Yousef described in the Rantburg archives in 2009 as Hamas's chief political adviser, and spelt Ahmed Yusef in 2011 described as Hamas’s deputy foreign minister? With that kind of a connection, it doesn’t matter that they’re not BFFs.
Islamic Jihad confirms five members killed by Israeli forces in Tamun
[IsraelTimes] The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group announces the deaths of five members who were killed by Israeli commandos in the West Bank this morning. Troops of the Duvdevan unit had encircled a house in Tamun where the gunmen were holed up, and exchanged fire with them, killing five and detaining one, according to the IDF.
Islamic Jihad names its slain terror operatives as Saher Basharat, Ibrahim Odeh, Reza Odeh, Islam Odeh and Wadih Odeh.
IDF troops killed at least five Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank town of Tamun this morning, while Border Police officers detained two prominent terror operatives in the nearby town of Tubas, the military says.
In Tamun, commandos of the Duvdevan unit exchanged fire with a group of gunmen holed up in a building, according to military sources. Five gunmen were killed, and one suspect was detained. The troops also located several assault rifles and other military equipment, the military says.
Meanwhile, in Tubas, police say undercover Border Police officers raided an apartment where the head of a local terror network was hiding, following intelligence of his whereabouts provided by the Shin Bet. The commander and another prominent operative were detained, police say, adding that the pair worked to arm other operatives and were planning terror attacks.
The officers seized six assault rifles, a handgun, four grenades, and other military equipment during the raid, police add.
IDF troops are exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen during operations in the West Bank town of Tamun, according to a military official and Palestinian media.
Other military operations are being carried out this morning in Tubas and Barta’a, where forces have located weapons, the official says.
The IDF is also searching for the Palestinian terrorist who carried out last night’s deadly shooting attack.
According to the ministry, a vehicle that arrived from the direction of Beersheba was stopped by a security guard. During the screening, the car accelerated while the guard had his upper body inside the window of the car.
The guard was lightly injured and the car fled back toward Beersheba, it adds.
The murderer of pregnant mother -of-three Tzeela Gez, shot to death as her husband was driving to the hospital to deliver their fourth child.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF believes that yesterday’s deadly shooting attack in the West Bank was carried out by a sole terrorist, who opened fire from the side of the road on motorists. Because of this assessment, the IDF says it is reorganizing its deployment near Bruchin and working to defoliate the area from which the gunfire was carried out.
The IDF continues to surround the nearby Palestinian towns of Bruqin and Kafr ad-Dik, amid the manhunt for the terrorist.
During efforts to save Gez’s life, doctors performed an emergency C-section to deliver her baby. The newborn boy — the couple’s fourth child — is in serious but stable condition.
“A couple of parents were driving to the happiest moment that a parent can experience and the wife is killed on the way. It’s a horrific incident,” Ben Yosef says.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF releases dramatic footage of combat medics treating and evacuating wounded soldiers during an exchange of fire in the Gaza Strip, at some point during the war.
The video is released as the Medical Corps provides new data on its activities amid the fighting.
The Medical Corps reports that some 7,400 wounded soldiers have been treated during the ground offensive in Gaza.
On average, according to the Medical Corps, senior medics reach wounded soldiers within four minutes during the fighting.
In terms of how long it takes to bring wounded soldiers from Gaza to hospitals in Israel, the Medical Corps says that via helicopter, it stands at 51 minutes on average, and with ground vehicles, at 61 minutes.
Additionally, the corps says over 1,000 mental health officers have been operating since the beginning of the war, and have entered Gaza and Lebanon 80 times to meet with troops.
[IsraelTimes] The top commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, tells US President Donald Trump that the Iranian nation considers him the “murderer” of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
That’s like trying to insult an American by calling him a cowboy. Total insult FAIL.
Soleimani was the commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force. He was killed in Iraq in a drone strike on January 3, 2020, ordered by Trump during his first term in office.
Trump had said earlier that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Tehran.
The times they are a-changing…We’re reaching a tipping point with regard to public demands for Jew hate. People will still hate, which is their right. But now that there is a serious financial and career cost, thanks to President Trump and his team, the haters are recalculating.
[IsraelTimes] City says Queens site can’t require members to affirm ‘political and ideological viewpoints’; group’s ‘statement of values’ also stands against antisemitism
Organizers of a community garden in Ridgewood in the New York borough of Queens that required members to oppose Zionism may now lose their city license.
Applicants to the Sunset Community Garden were asked to sign a "statement of values" that included opposition to Zionism, antisemitism and "nationalist and/or racist beliefs."
In an April 16 letter, the New York City Parks Department informed leaders of the garden that the statement had violated guidelines. The department told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the application "required prospective members to affirm the group’s political and ideological viewpoints," and added, "Such litmus tests as a barrier to membership are not permitted, regardless of the ideological content."
The garden had also gotten into a dispute with the city over the installation of a memorial for Cecilia Gentili, an activist for the rights of transgender people and hookersprostituteswhores sex workers ...used to be called hookers, prostitutes, or whores. The oldest profession was legal (though not always unregulated) for thousands and perhaps even millions of years. That never has made it something most people want their daughters doing... "We’ve been working with the Sunset Community Garden group since September 2024 to address several violations," said Chris Clark, a press officer for NYC Parks, in an emailed statement. "Unfortunately, the group has not abided by the rules upheld by every other GreenThumb community garden even after Parks met with them and repeatedly offered solutions. As these issues have not been addressed, we have moved to terminate the license agreement."
Clark said the termination had "nothing to do with members’ political beliefs or gender expression, but rather the repeated refusal by group leadership to address outstanding issues."
If the license is revoked, the garden will remain open and will be managed under new operators.
The garden also faced scrutiny last September when local residents complained about the group’s anti-Israel, pro-Paleostinian activism, which included a a teach-in with the "Poppies 4 Paleostine" project and "Free Paleostine" poster-making events, according to the New York Post.
Last week, the Poppies 4 Paleostine Instagram page posted a list of demands for the NYC Parks Department related to the dispute over the Gentili memorial.
The group asked the city to "prevent predatory tactics" and allow "clear due process for advocacy when gardens face harassment from GreenThumb [the city’s community garden program], Parks, elected officials, or other bad-faith actors (including racist, Zionist, transphobic, or otherwise oppressive forces)."
"In repeated efforts to collaborate with GreenThumb, we’ve faced deliberate obstruction: unclear communication, harassment, threats, and ever-shifting demands that have now escalated to the erasure of community agreements," said Poppies for Paleostine in the post. "This isn’t negligence -— it’s a pattern of suppression. We refuse to let them bury our collective work under bureaucratic violence."
One garden member, Nastazia Kielar, told the Gothamist web site that many in her community "see Zionism as a form of colonization still," and that the garden was being treated unfairly.
The group told the Hell Gate site that complaints about the garden gained steam in a private Facebook group called "Zionist Brooklyn."
"They’re calling New York Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue’s office to complain about us and alleging that we are teaching children to hate Jewish people," a garden member identified only as Dana told Hell Gate. "It’s a weird witch-hunt type thing that’s happening -— the anti-woke mob, essentially."
[IsraelTimes] Jewish group says Facets theater ‘shut down a perspective, denied shared humanity, and excluded Jews’ after it axed ‘Bring the Family Home,’ a movie about US campus antisemitism
A reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ...home of Al Capone, the Chicago Black Sox, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel... theater canceled an advance screening of "Bring the Family Home," a documentary about campus antisemitism, four hours before its showtime, citing "the safety and well-being of our community."
Rami Even-Esh, an Israeli-American Jewish rapper who uses the stage name Kosha Dillz, created the still-unfinished documentary about his music and life on college campuses after Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... ’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel in which invaders killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages to GazooThe screening was also to feature a panel discussion with Kosha Dillz and Michael Kaminsky, a Jewish student who was assaulted last November in an alleged hate crime at the nearby DePaul university.
But before Tuesday’s screening could take place, Facets, an independent cinema in Chicago, canceled it. The theater announced the decision in a since-deleted post on Instagram that night that began with the sentence, "We are firmly not an antisemitic organization."
It cited statements by the filmmaker, though it did not detail what they said.
"Based on the public posts made by Kosha Dillz and the overall tone surrounding the event, we determined that proceeding would not align with our values or our responsibility to protect the safety and well-being of our community," the statement said. "We reject antisemitism in all forms — just as we reject Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... , anti-Paleostinian racism, and any form of hate or dehumanization."
Kosha Dillz said that they had offered to provide security measures for the screening, but Facets declined.
"We are now hostages to a new form of bigotry that is called exclusion," he said in a statement. "It will bar us from intellectual spaces that we would normally attend such as facets."
The Chicago Jewish Alliance, which helped organize the screening, lambasted the decision, writing in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Facets’ website says it "expands perspectives and affirms a shared humanity through inclusive engagement with film."
"Cancelling a documentary film about the challenges with creating discourse about a difficult topic made by an Israeli filmmaker should have fit squarely within this mission," the CJA statement said. "Instead, Facets shut down a perspective, denied shared humanity, and excluded Jews."
CJA said that it had chosen Facets as the venue for the event because it had shown "No Other Land," the Academy Award-winning documentary about Israeli demolition of a Paleostinian West Bank village, and felt "Bring the Family Home" would "expand perspectives" at the theater.
The American Jewish Committee’s Chicago regional office also decried the cancellation, writing on Instagram that Jewish student voices "have a right to be heard."
Following the cancellation, CJA rescheduled the screening at the Wilmette Theater in suburban Chicago.
#2
Well, let's see what Wilmette does. It's a WEF town if ever there were one and we're thoroughly left with ultra-lib Jan Schakowsky as our congress-critter. Yes, we're strongly Jewish, but equally strongly anti-Israel. Should be an interesting week or so.
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#3
strongly Jewish, but equally strongly anti-Israel.
So parochial they obsess about the Holocaust, which their ancestors avoided by having come to America a generation earlier, and so are completely unaware that had Israel existed then there would have been a refuge for the Jews that needed it, instead of them being unwanted everywhere, and so trapped for the concentration camps. The difference between IQ and wisdom underlined and in neon lights.
A generation ago they loved Israel for the drama of Leon Uris’s Exodus, the romance of the kibbutzes, and the Golda Meir’s labour socialist government.
What about increasing American domestic production?
[IsraelTimes] Dollar still facing pressure over uncertainty surrounding Trump tariffs, while equity markets were generally lower Thursday
Oil prices tumbled on Thursday after US President Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... said the United States was close to making a deal on Iran’s nuclear program, which could pave the way for increased crude supplies.
The dollar continued to face pressure amid uncertainty over tariffs, while equity markets were largely lower.
"Traders focused on the prospect of a US-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... nuclear deal, which could see economic sanctions lifted on the latter and potentially lead to greater supplies of oil," noted Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
Trump’s remarks came after Iran held its fourth round of talks with the US administration, which has said it wishes to avoid a threatened military strike on Tehran’s contested nuclear program.
Both main crude contracts plunged more than three percent in value on hopes that US sanctions on Iran might be lifted as part of the deal.
That could, in turn, increase the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s oil exports.
In European equities trading, London’s stock market edged up as official data showed Britannia’s economy grew more than expected in the first quarter — before UK business tax hikes and US tariffs took effect.
Wall Street’s three main indices opened lower following a warning by Walmart of price hikes due to US tariffs that dampened sentiment, with the Dow shedding 0.4 percent.
Shares in Walmart slumped 4.7% after the company reported first-quarter revenue growth of 2.5%, which narrowly missed analyst expectations.
Profits came in at $4.5 billion, down 12.1% from the year-ago level but topping analyst expectations.
However,
ars longa, vita brevis... Walmart’s CEO warned of higher prices due to tariffs, welcoming a de-escalation of Trump’s trade war with China but saying the levies remain too high for the retailer to absorb.
"We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible, but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure," Chief Executive Doug McMillon told investors.
Meanwhile,
...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake... investors awaited fresh developments in trade talks, with countries looking to reach deals to avoid Trump’s tariff blitz.
With excitement from the China-US detente fading, markets are seeking new catalysts.
Stock markets have surged past the levels seen before Trump’s April 2 "Liberation Day" bombshell that hit countries worldwide with US tariffs.
After figures on Tuesday showed US inflation came in a little below forecasts in April, wholesale price data released on Thursday showed they unexpectedly fell 0.5% in April due largely to a sharp drop in services costs.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said the data showed a sharp drop in wholesale machinery and vehicle sales.
"That suggests wholesalers were likely absorbing some tariff impacts, which is good for the end customer but not necessarily for earnings," he said.
April retail sales data, also released Thursday, came in nearly flat.
The 0.1% gain was significantly down from March’s revised growth of 1.7%, as buyers earlier sought to get ahead of Trump’s sweeping new tariffs, many of which took effect in April.
However,
ars longa, vita brevis... analysts have pointed out that the real impact of tariffs would not be seen until May’s figures are released and warned that there were still plenty of bumps in the road ahead.
We’ll see whether the Trump lovers or the Trump haters will be right, and how much money the realists and cynics make because they can ignore how they feel about the populist president.
[IsraelTimes] Arab sources tell ToI Trump envoy currently working to coax Hamas to release smaller number of hostages than Israel has been demanding, hoping to meet parties halfway
Since hostage talks between Israel and Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... resumed in Doha on Wednesday, US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff has told other mediators that Washington doesn’t plan to force Israel to end the war in Gazoo amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s staunch refusal to do so, two Arab officials told The Times of Israel on Thursday.
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 had hoped the US would move in this direction, given comments from President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... and other top aides about their desire to end the war following Hamas’s Monday release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander.
Netanyahu has insisted on only agreeing to a temporary ceasefire of roughly 45 days, which would begin with Hamas releasing about 10 hostages. During that time, he told Witkoff that Israel is prepared to hold talks on a permanent end to the war, without committing to such a result up front, the first Arab official said.
Hamas has flatly rejected this framework, arguing that it had already agreed to release hostages during a January truce deal that was supposed to see Israel hold talks regarding a permanent end to the war,
…yes, but then Hamas again played stupid games, obviating the agreement…
however, Netanyahu then refused to enter such negotiations and ended up resuming the IDF’s offensive in Gaza on March 18.
Accordingly, Hamas has insisted on an up-front Israeli commitment to end the war before it releases additional hostages. It also issued a statement on Thursday, warning of harm to the talks if Israel doesn’t end its nearly two-and-a-half-month-long blockade on aid entering Gaza. Israel has accused Hamas of stealing much of the aid that was previously brought in.
Due to both sides’ intransigence, Witkoff has offered a proposal that tries to meet the sides halfway — one that would see the release of a smaller number of hostages in exchange for a weekslong truce, the two Arab officials said. The Trump envoy has also tried to assure Hamas through mediators that the US will make sure that this time Israel does enter talks regarding the terms of a permanent ceasefire.
The Arab officials said the sides remain far apart, but that the American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators were still looking to push them toward a compromise over the coming days.
Israel has pledged to launch a major military operation to reoccupy and hold onto the entire Strip if Hamas doesn’t accept its proposal for a temporary ceasefire by the time Trump wraps up his Mideast trip on Friday.
But Arab mediators hope that the US will convince Israel to at least hold off on the operation for several more days, as they wait to determine the results of a Tuesday IDF strike targeting Hamas’s Gaza leader, Muhammad Sinwar. Scores of civilians were also reportedly killed, according to Hamas-linked health officials in Gaza.
Israeli officials have characterized Sinwar as a major obstacle in previous negotiations and hope that his elimination will lead Hamas to compromise. But Israeli optimism that Sinwar was indeed killed has begun to wane, according to the second Arab official who was briefed on the matter.
Arab leaders were also slated to gather for a summit in Baghdad on Saturday that will focus on Gaza, and were hoping that the Israeli offensive wouldn’t be launched during that confab, the second Arab official added.
While they continue to follow Witkoff’s lead in the negotiations, Qatar and Egypt believe the strategy should be to push the sides toward a permanent end to the war, the first Arab official said.
Hamas has already agreed to forgo governing control over the Strip, and at least five Arab countries are still prepared to take part in the post-war management of Gaza in what they argue would lead to the gradual disarmament of Hamas, the Arab official said, acknowledging that it would require an invitation from the Paleostinian Authority, which Netanyahu has refused to accommodate.
If the creation of a political horizon for the Paleostinians is absent, demands for permanent Hamas disarmament would not be met, the Arab official asserted.
Witkoff largely agrees with the Arab approach and told hostages’ families last week that the Netanyahu government’s plan to massively expand the war will not be effective, according to a source present for the discussion. Given that the Arab/Witkoff approach will definitely not work for Israel, Israel's war will perforce continue until the Arab parties choose to be more flexible.
When he was pressed during another meeting with families on Tuesday on why the US was not then willing to force Netanyahu to end the war, Witkoff responded, "We’re not the Israeli government...The Israeli government is a sovereign government. They can’t tell us what to do, and we can’t tell them what to do," according to a recording of the meeting obtained by Haaretz.
Witkoff’s office did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Hamas has proposed releasing all of the hostages at once in exchange for an end to the war, but Netanyahu has rejected this trade, arguing that it would leave Hamas in power.
Successive polls have indicated that the premier is out of step with the majority of Israelis, who back such a framework. But Netanyahu is also facing pressure from his far-right coalition partners, who have threatened to collapse the government if he were to end the war in exchange for the remaining 58 hostages, between 20 and 23 of whom are believed to still be alive.
Or possibly Bibi is a wily politician with his own ideas of what must be, threading between the raucus demands of parties both internal and external in a determined effort to guarantee that Israel both survives and thrives in her very dangerous neighbourhood.
[IsraelTimes] Meeting said held recently in Azerbaijan between IDF Operations Directorate chief, Syrian and Turkish officials; Jerusalem reportedly open to border deal, normalized relations
Israel has been holding secret talks with Syrian officials in recent days, including on the possibility of the new regime joining the Abraham Accords, according to a report Thursday, a day after US President Trump invited new Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to join the accords and normalize ties with Israel.
The talks are being mediated by the United Arab Emirates, Channel 12 news said, also referring to unspecified wider regional moves being advanced by the United Arab Emirates. A Haaretz report, by contrast, said the talks were being mediated by 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... and had been going on for months.
Sharaa confirmed last week that security-related talks were being held through mediators, though he did not comment on potential diplomatic relations.
Channel 12 said one meeting was held in recent days in Azerbaijan, where Israel was represented by the chief of the IDF Operations Directorate, Maj. Gen. Oded Basyuk. He met with representatives from the new Syrian government, with Ottoman Turkish representatives also present, the report said.
Trump on Wednesday urged Sharaa to join the Abraham Accords, as the two leaders met in Riyadh for the first direct talks between leaders of the countries in 25 years.
Trump later told news hounds that Sharaa backs such a move. "I told [Sharaa], I hope you’re going to join [the Abraham Accords] once you’re straightened out, and he said yes," Trump told news hounds aboard Air Force One. "But they have a lot of work to do."
Israel views Trump’s lifting of sanctions on Syria favorably, albeit while maintaining a high level of caution, and isn’t ruling out the possibility of influencing the shaping of the northern border and future relations between the two countries, Channel 12 added.
Israel’s recent views on Syria contrast with its previous position, the report noted, which was to dismiss the prospect of constructive interaction with Sharaa, a former leader in Syria’s local al-Qaeda branch, having been branded a terrorist by Jerusalem.
Now, Channel 12 claimed, Israel does see the possibility of Syria exiting the so-called axis of evil overseen by Iran, and even of it coming under the US aegis. It even views such potential progress as possibly enabling a positive shift in Israel-The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... ties, according to the report.
Washington and Gulf countries are seeking to pull Syria away from Iranian influence, the London Times reported earlier this week. Tehran, sworn to Israel’s destruction, propped up the former regime of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... throughout the bloody Syrian civil war.
Turkey, meanwhile, has been growing its footprint in Syria and backed rebel groups aligned with Sharaa during the civil war.
Israel had cautioned against swift recognition of the new government in Syria, expressing deep skepticism about Sharaa — who until recently had a $10 million bounty on his head from the US — after his Islamist-led rebel coalition toppled Assad’s regime in December.
Rooters reported in February that Israel, which has vowed to protect the Syrian Druze, whose coreligionists reside throughout northern Israel, has lobbied the US to keep Syria decentralized and isolated.
Israeli military operations in Syria have persisted since Assad’s ouster, with Israel bombing what it says are military targets tied to the former regime across the country, and ground forces currently stationed in a number of outposts near the border with the Golan Heights.
[IsraelTimes] Singer, a survivor of the Nova festival massacre, says she managed to spot in the crowd the friends she made in the roadside bomb shelter, and ‘it gave me so much strength’.
Israel’s Yuval Raphael advanced to the grand final of the 2025 Eurovision following her performance in Thursday night’s semifinal.
The 24-year-old from Ra’anana, a survivor of the October 7 Nova music festival massacre, turned in a strong performance of her emotional ballad, “New Day Will Rise,” in front of the crowd in Basel, Switzerland.
While those in the arena said a smattering of boos could be heard during her performance, only cheers could be heard on the live TV broadcast. There were also only a small number of Palestinian flags visible in the audience, despite fears of a strong presence.
During her performance, Raphael ascended a staircase in an enormous chandelier and stood on a balcony that Israeli producers said was meant to be a “symbolic nod” to the famed image of Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl on a balcony in Basel during the Fifth Zionist Congress in 1901.
It also could refer to the hostages going up the stairs out of the Hamas tunnels, among the wartime images the Israeli candidate is forbidden to mention lest she politicize her entry to the competition.
After exiting the stage, Raphael said she somehow spotted in the crowd her fellow survivors from the roadside bomb shelter where she hid under dead bodies for hours on October 7 until she was rescued.
“I looked to the side, I said hi to the crowd, and I spotted my friends from the shelter,” Raphael said in a video shared by the Kan public broadcaster. “Suddenly I saw my best friend waving, way up high, and somehow I spotted them, I was in shock. It gave me so much strength.”
Raphael qualified on Thursday along with Lithuania, Denmark, Malta, Latvia, Armenia, Austria, Greece, Luxembourg and Finland.
She will compete during Saturday night’s grand final against those acts and the qualifiers from Tuesday’s semifinal — Iceland, Poland, Estonia, Sweden, Ukraine, Portugal, Norway, San Marino, Albania and the Netherlands — plus the Eurovision “Big Five,” the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and last year’s winner, Switzerland.
The full results of the semifinals — which are based solely on a public vote — are only released by producers after the grand final.
Unlike the semifinals, the results of the grand final will be based on a 50/50 mix of the televote and the jury vote — in which professional juries from all 37 participating countries pick their favorites.
Small dueling pro-Israel and anti-Israel protests were held in Basel on Thursday evening, and a larger anti-Israel protest is slated for Saturday night, though efforts appear to pale in comparison to demonstrations last year in Malmo, Sweden.
[IsraelTimes] Key organizations paused cooperation with International Criminal Court, chief prosecutor Karim Khan lost email access; US measures response to arrest warrants issued for Israeli leaders
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has lost access to his email, and his bank accounts have been frozen.
The Hague-based court’s American staffers have been told that if they travel to the US they risk arrest.
Some non-governmental organizations have stopped working with the ICC and the leaders of one won’t even reply to emails from court officials.
Those are just some of the hurdles facing court staff since US President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... in February slapped sanctions on its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, according to interviews with current and former ICC officials, international lawyers and human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. advocates.
The sanctions will "prevent victims from getting access to justice," warned Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.
Trump sanctioned the court after a panel of ICC judges in November issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his then-defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The US and Israel are not members of the court.
Judges found there was reason to believe that the pair may have committed war crimes by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeting civilians in Israel’s campaign against the Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... terror group 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... — charges Israeli officials deny.
Israel says it goes to great lengths to avoid harming civilians as it targets Hamas and other terror groups who have built a warren of fortified tunnels under Gaza and routinely use civilian infrastructure like schools and hospitals as command centers and to carry out attacks.
Staffers and allies of the ICC said the sanctions have made it increasingly difficult for the tribunal to conduct basic tasks, let alone seek justice for victims of war crimes or genocide.
A spokesperson for the ICC and for Khan declined to comment. In February, ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane said that the sanctions "constitute serious attacks against the Court’s States Parties, the rule of law based international order and millions of victims."
ORDER TARGETS CHIEF PROSECUTOR
The February order bans Khan and other non-Americans among the ICC’s 900 staff members from entering the United States. It also threatens any person, institution or company with fines and prison time if they provide Khan with "financial, material, or technological support."
The sanctions are hampering work on a broad array of investigations, not just the one into Israel’s leaders.
The ICC, for example, had been investigating atrocities in Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... and had issued arrest warrants for former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir ...Former President-for-Life of Sudan. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself head cheese. He fell out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. He was overthrown by popular consent in 2019. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it... on charges that include genocide. That probe has ground to a halt even as reports mount of new atrocities in Sudan, according to an attorney representing an ICC prosecutor who is fighting the sanctions in US courts. The prosecutor, Eric Iverson, filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking protection from the sanctions.
Her client "cannot do, what I would describe as, basic lawyer functions," said Allison Miller, who is representing Iverson in the suit.
American staffers at the organization, like Iverson, have been warned by its attorneys that they risk arrest if they return home to visit family, according to ICC officials. Six bigwigs have left the court over concerns about sanctions.
One reason the court has been hamstrung is that it relies heavily on contractors and non-governmental organizations. Those businesses and groups have curtailed work on behalf of the court because they were concerned about being targeted by US authorities, according to current and former ICC staffers.
Microsoft, for example, cancelled Khan’s email address, forcing the prosecutor to move to Proton Mail, a Swiss email provider, ICC staffers said. His bank accounts in his home country of the United Kingdom have been blocked.
Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.
Staffers at a non-governmental organization that plays an integral role in the court’s efforts to gather evidence and find witnesses said the group has transferred money out of US bank accounts because they fear it might be seized by the Trump administration.
Senior leadership at two other US-based human rights organizations told the AP that their groups have stopped working with the ICC. A senior staffer at one told the AP that employees have even stopped replying to emails from court officials out of fear of triggering a response from the Trump administration.
The cumulative effect of such actions has led ICC staffers to openly wonder whether the organization can survive the Trump administration, according to ICC officials who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
Said one such official: "It’s hard to see how the court makes it through the next four years."
TRUMP ALLEGED ICC’S ACTIONS WERE BASELESS
Trump, a staunch supporter of Netanyahu, issued his sanctions order shortly after retaking office, accusing the ICC of "illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel." Washington says the court has no jurisdiction over Israel.
Trump’s order said the ICC’s "actions against Israel and the United States set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel, including active service members of the Armed Forces." He said the court’s "malign conduct" threatens "the illusory sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States Government."
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Netanyahu has dismissed the ICC’s allegations as "absurd," and Israel’s Knesset is considering legislation that would make providing evidence to the court a crime.
Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led turbans stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 as hostages to Gaza. Of those, 57, over half of whom are believed dead, are still in captivity, plus the body of a soldier held for the past decade.
COPING WITH DARK HUMOR
Inside the court, staffers have been coping with dark humor, joking about how they cannot even loan Khan a pen or risk appearing on the US radar.
This is not the first time the ICC has drawn Trump’s ire. In 2020, the former Trump administration sanctioned Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, and one of her deputies over the court’s investigation into alleged crimes committed in Afghanistan while the United States military was operating in the country.
US president Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Joe's wife and daughter weren't killed by a drunk driver. He didn't graduate with three or even two degrees, wasn't in the top half of his law class, and his daddy didn't come home from a hard day's work in the mines and play football with the guys. The NAACP hasn't endorsed him every time he's run.... rescinded the sanctions when he took office several months later.
Three lawsuits are now pending from US court staff and consultants against the Trump administration, arguing that the sanctions infringe on their freedom of expression. Earlier this week Iverson, the lawyer investigating genocide in Sudan, won temporary protection from prosecution but if other US citizens at the court want a similar assurance, they would have to bring their own complaint.
Meanwhile,
...back at the abandoned silver mine, a triangular dorsal fin appeared in the water. Then another... the court is facing an increasing lack of cooperation from countries normally considered to be its staunchest supporters.
The ICC has no enforcement apparatus of its own and relies on member states. In the last year, three countries — including two in the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... — have refused to execute warrants issued by the court.
The renewed assault from the Trump administration comes as the court was already facing internal challenges. Last year, just weeks before Khan announced he was requesting arrest warrants for the Israeli officials, two court staff reported the British barrister had harassed a female aide, according to reporting by the News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
Khan has categorically denied the accusations that he groped and tried to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship. A United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... investigation is underway, and Khan has since been accused of retaliating against staff who supported the woman, including demoting several people he felt were critical of him.
[IsraelTimes] Committee to Protect Journalists says phenomenon ‘vastly underreported’ due to reporters’ fear of coming forward; journalists self-censoring rather than reporting on dissent
Gazook journalists face beatings and threats while covering anti-Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... protests and dissent in the Strip, forcing them to self-censor to ensure their safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported Thursday.
The media watchdog lamented that the phenomenon has been "vastly underreported," noting that the Paleostinian Journalists’ Syndicate, the Paleostinian journalists’ union, does not publicize the testimonies they compile of Hamas attacks on news hounds over fear of reprisals.
Gazook Tawfiq Abu Jarad told CPJ that he complied with a Hamas security agent’s warning not to cover a women’s anti-war protest on April 27 in Beit Lahiya, adding that the agent told him he would be "responsible" if his wife took part in the rally.
Jarad recounted that he was beaten and questioned in November 2023 by Hamas operatives in Rafah, who alleged he was "covering events 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 calling for a coup."
"I have not covered any recent demonstrations," said Abu Jarad, who works for the Ramallah-based Sawt al-Hurriya radio station. "Ramallah Morning Zoo™" for your drive-time pleasure
The news hound filed a complaint to PJS over the intimidation, which slammed Hamas’s infringement on press freedom.
Since late March, sporadic protests against the terror group, which has been the de facto government of Gaza for almost two decades, have taken place in the Strip, despite reports of Hamas attempting to detain and harm demonstrators, and counter to claims by the terror group that the protests are merely anti-war. Many of the protests have occurred in Beit Lahiya.
Before the war, anti-Hamas protests were also relatively rare events, and were often suppressed violent mostly peacefully by the terror group.
CPJ said the journalists’ union, limited by the hesitancy of Gaza journalists to speak up publicly, only published the testimony of one other Gaza journalist, Ibrahim Muhareb, who was brutally assaulted last year by men claiming to be plain-clothed Hamas coppers.
Muhareb, a freelance photographer who was working from a tent outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, said he was set upon by agents and suffered deep head wounds in the attack.
"When I tried to contact a police officer in charge of journalists’ affairs, they tried to dismantle my tent. When I resisted, they began assaulting me, by kicking me," he said.
"I tried to speak to them calmly, but they began to beat me even more severely. They suddenly struck me with an instrument, causing me to lose consciousness, and blood flowed from my head," he added. "Some colleagues tried to intervene, but they prevented them, literally telling them that ’the spy and the journalist are one and the same.'"
Muharab said that other journalists eventually managed to pull him away and took him to receive medical attention.
Mohammed Abu Aoun, a correspondent for Fatah-linked Awda TV, told CPJ he was set on by Hamas security agents in 2024 while interviewing a woman in Deir al-Balah who began insulting Hamas’s leaders.
"The officers immediately took me to an unknown location and beat me," he told the watchdog.
CPJ cited several other journalists who were prevented from covering certain events, but did not consent to their stories going public.
Ismail al-Thawabta, the director general of Gaza’s Hamas-run Government Media Office, claimed to have received no complaints over intimidation regarding media coverage of the rallies, or any such measures from security agents in response to CPJ’s queries.
Thawabta also claimed that Hamas has "fully opened the field" and ensured journalists could safely and freely cover events in Gaza.
PJS’ head Nasser Abu Bakr told the committee that Hamas’s regime commits "major violations" against press freedoms, including "summonses, interrogations, phone calls, threats, sometimes beatings and arrests, to harassment, publication bans, interference with content, and surveillance."
Deputy PJS head Tahseen al-Astal said that journalists do not want to go public about their problems, feeling such stories would "pivot eyes from the war in Gaza."
"Most journalists have begun to practice self-censorship in their writing to avoid any problems with security," he added.
CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah expressed alarm over the "threats, assaults and intimidation" experienced by Gazook journalists.
"Hamas must end its repression of the press and be held accountable for these violations. Journalists must be free to report without fear of violence, harassment, or retaliation."
Throughout the war, the CPJ has mainly condemned the Israeli military for attacks endangering journalists in Gaza. In February, it said 2024 was the deadliest for journalists in recent history, with at least 124 news hounds killed — and Israel responsible for nearly 70 percent of that total.
Shortly after the report was released, the Israel Defense Forces responded by insisting that it does not intentionally target journalists in the Gaza Strip, while noting that many on the list are members of terror groups.
[IsraelTimes] Despite official condemnation, deadly assaults on Damascus nightlife by regime loyalists add to mounting concern that Islamist rulers will not make good on promises of tolerance
On April 29, around 20 gunnies stormed into Layila al-Sharq, a popular nightclub near central Damascus. According to reports, the men began attacking patrons, sending them fleeing into the night.
In video of the incident, scores of frenzied clubgoers can be seen trying to escape the scene as the attackers shove and beat them.
Six days later, three button men entered the al-Karawan nightclub, located some three blocks away, and began shooting, killing a young woman employed by the club as a dancer and wounding two others.
In both instances, the attackers were wearing clothes identifying them as members of the new Syrian regime’s security forces.
The assaults have sent a chill through the cosmopolitan capital, compounding fears that personal freedoms could shrink under the rule of the Islamists who ousted former leader Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... from power last year.
"People are scared," a Syrian told The Times of Israel via WhatsApp, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered... due to security concerns. "Damascus is almost empty in the evenings now, and that’s not normal. The button men entered the restaurant and opened fire indiscriminately. These are restaurants that have operated for years."
For decades — even during Syria’s 14-year civil war — restaurants, nightclubs, and bars have operated in Damascus, offering the capital’s largely secular population, including its sizable Christian community, places to drink, dance and mingle.
After Assad’s fall in early December, clubs, bars and other nightlife spots briefly shut down. Though they quickly reopened, the owners told Arab and international media they feared operating under an bad boy Islamist regime.
The new Syrian leadership responded quickly to the attacks on the nightclubs. Damascus Governor Maher Marwan, who was appointed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa after the fall of the Assad regime, condemned the attacks. Marwan, who is considered close to al-Sharaa, had previously served with the rebel administration in Idlib for over a decade.
The Syrian Interior Ministry announced within days that members of the Syrian security forces had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack on Layila al-Sharq.
But the button men behind the more serious attack on al-Karawan remain on the lam. Syrian police who arrived on scene following the attack were too late to catch the shooters, according to a regime TV station. No arrests have been announced.
Some Damascenes see the Islamist regime as unwilling to truly crack down on violent mostly peaceful fundamentalists within their ranks.
"The government claims these are rogue fighters," a resident of the capital said. "But if you’re really a government trying to build a non-Islamist state, you need to arrest people like this. The jihadists want to shut down all alcohol-serving venues and restaurants in Damascus."
SECTS AND VIOLENCE
The nightclub attacks are only the latest of a series of violent mostly peaceful attacks by regime-linked figures that have cast doubt on the new leadership’s commitment to multicultural tolerance.
Despite emerging from the al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... s, Sharaa and his allies have attempted to portray themselves as moderates under whom women and ethnic and religious minorities will be protected.
Those proclamations were put to the test on Christmas eve just weeks after Sharaa took power, as masked men set fire to a Christmas tree in the Christian-majority city of al-Suqaylabiyah in central Syria on December 24. Other attacks on churches were also reported around the holiday.
Some Christians protested, but Christmas ceremonies mostly went ahead as planned and the events swiftly faded from the public eye.
In March, however, regime fighters from the country’s Sunni majority began slaughtering members of the country’s Alawite minority in Dire Revenge for an attempted attack on security forces by Assad loyalists. Some 1,700 people, mostly unarmed civilians, were reported killed in the ensuing massacres, with many viewing the bloodletting as a display of the new leadership’s true intentions.
A commission of inquiry ordered by Sharaa is expected to submit its findings in the coming months, but doubts remain about whether any higher-ups will be held accountable.
Sharaa referenced the massacre during a May 7 meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, portraying it as an expected result of decades of oppression under the Alawite Assad family, which had privileged some members of the community.
"We know that the post-revolution and postwar period is difficult," Sharaa said. "Sectarianism was used as a weapon against Syrians for 45 years... In recent months, we’ve seen a tragic example of gunnies exploiting this situation."
In recent weeks, the approximately 600,000-strong Druze community has also found itself in the crosshairs. Armed Druze and Sunni factions have clashed in recent weeks in what appears to be a religiously motivated conflict, with Druze reporting civilians being targeted and killed.
Israel, home to its own sizable Druze community, stepped in on April 30, carrying out a dronezap on what it said was a gathering of bad boy fighters who had attacked Druze civilians and were preparing to kill more members of the community. Jerusalem described it as a "warning strike."
Several maimed Druze from Syria have also been allowed into Israel for medical treatment.
NEW SYRIA, OLD PROBLEMS
These groups were forced to coexist under the dictatorship of the Assad dynasty — first Hafez al-Assad, then his son Bashar, who was tossed in December 2024 — a dramatic change that risks reawakening old demons and threatens the safety of the entire country.
Seeking reintegration Syria into the international community and financial support to rebuild the country after years of war, Sharaa has courted closer ties with both the West and moderate Arab states, projecting internal stability and a commitment to Western values of tolerance and protection for minorities.
In February, he launched a national dialogue in which a vision for a "New Syria" was drafted. The conference emphasized liberty as a foundational societal value, alongside freedom of opinion and expression.
Women’s rights were highlighted, as well as protections for children, support for the disabled, and the development of the younger generation.
The conference also called for the elimination of all forms of discrimination based on race, religion, or belief, and for equal opportunity for all.
By Middle Eastern standards, Syria represents something of a melting pot, featuring a diverse mix of ethnic and religious communities.
According to the CIA World Factbook, only 50% of Syria’s population is ethnically Arab; the rest are groups like Druze and Kurds.
Religiously, about 74% are Sunni Moslems, with the remainder being Shiites, Christians, Alawites, and others, though nothing remains of a once-large Jewish community.
Forced into a single border by history, the groups have maintained a sometimes-uneasy stasis for the last century, much of it under the iron-fisted dictatorship of the Assad family.
Unshackled from their brutal rule, Syria is still vulnerable to new paroxysms of interethnic and interreligious fighting. Though there have not been any more attacks on nightclubs, unrest of all sorts remains a daily risk — whether due to violent mostly peaceful regime actions against civilians or festivities among various religious and ethnic groups.
With each new attack on minorities or symbols of liberalism, skepticism will continue to mount over whether the jihadist fundamentalists newly in charge will hold the country together by keeping it true to the inclusive vision for the New Syria, or by returning to the oppressive ways of their predecessors.
[NYP] FBI Director Kash Patel announced Friday that the bureau is leaving its longtime headquarters in the J. Edgar Hoover Building and would transfer 1,500 employees to locations around the country.
"This FBI is leaving the Hoover building because this building is unsafe for our workforce," Patel told Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo in an interview.
"We want the American men and women to know if you’re going to come work at the premier law enforcement agency in the world, we’re going to give you a building that’s commensurate with that, and that’s not this place."
"So we are taking 1,500 of those folks and moving them out. Every state is getting a plus-up. And I think when we do things like that, we inspire folks in America to become intel analysts and agents and say we want to work at the FBI because we want to fight violent crime and we want to be sent out into the country to do it."
He added: "in the next 3, 6, 9 months we’re going to be doing that hard."
Courtesy of Fred:
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
🚨 #BREAKING: Kash Patel announces he is SHUTTING DOWN the FBI Headquarters in DC
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/16/2025 12:20
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#3
There's more than 1500 FBI employees in the DC area. What's gonna happen with them? So I'm guessing FBI gets there Greenbelt Office? That's what I am reading.
Remember when DC politicians got mixed up with N.Virginia Fairfax prostitutes - honey pots - when FBI was trying to secure funding for their new location. Once funded, the prostitute stories disappeared.
#4
11,000 FBI employees in the 50 mile radius around Washington, DC, per Director Patel in the tweeted video. Only 1500 being moved out in this first iteration, separate from those already being sent on temporary assignments or long business trips across the country and all over the world as they pursue their cases.
#5
Patel is closing the FBI headquarters, which is on Pennsylvania Avenue. There is also an FBI field office, on 4th St NW. A high school classmate was stationed there before he retired.
[DarkReading] The spyware company must pay the tech giant $168 million in punitive and compensatory damages after a 2019 attack targeting 1,400 devices.
In a lawsuit spanning more than five years, Meta has finally come out the victor, winning nearly $168 million in damages yesterday from NSO Group, an Israeli cyber-intelligence company.
The verdict is something of a milestone, as this may be one of the few times, if not the first, that a spyware vendor is being held accountable for its actions in court.
"Today, the jury's decision to force NSO, a notorious foreign spyware merchant, to pay damages is a critical deterrent to this malicious industry against their illegal acts aimed at American companies and the privacy and security of the people we serve," said Meta, which owns WhatsApp, in a statement.
A LONG WIN IN THE MAKING
In May 2019, the Israeli firm used WhatsApp servers to distribute Pegasus spyware to roughly 1,400 cellular devices, some of which belonged to journalists and activists, through a zero-day vulnerability found in the messaging service's systems.
And then it gets technical. I don’t even know what most of those letter combinations mean.
[FoxBusiness] First US presidential visit to UAE in 17 years yields major investments in American manufacturing and technology
President Donald Trump facilitated over $200 billion in commercial deals between the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during his historic visit to the Middle Eastern country, according to the White House.
Several deals were made, including securing a $14.5 billion commitment from Etihad Airways to invest in 28 American-manufactured aircraft from Boeing and GE Aerospace.
Emirates Global Aluminum is also investing $4 billion to develop a primary aluminum smelter project in Oklahoma, and Holtec International and IHC Industrial Holding Company plan to build a fleet of small modular reactors in Michigan.
Qualcomm is also investing in a global engineering center in Abu Dhabi which will "focus on AI, data centers, and industrial [internet of things]," according to the White House.
"RTX is [also] partnering with Emirates Global Aluminum and the UAE’s Tawazun Council on a pioneering Gallium project that will help secure and stabilize the United States' critical mineral supply chain," the statement added.
"By diversifying sources of this essential input for semiconductors and defense technologies, the partnership strengthens America's supply security, supports high-tech manufacturing, and creates jobs across the U.S. critical minerals and defense industrial base."
In a statement, the White House said that Trump "continues to advance the interests of the American people, enhancing market access for American exporters to strengthen our economic and national security."
"These deals will significantly expand investment in the United States and U.S. market access in the United Arab Emirates," the statement added.
The deals came after the UAE pledged a $1.4 trillion investment in the U.S. economy over the next ten years. The investment money would go to AI infrastructure, semiconductor, energy and American manufacturing initiatives.
Trump is the first U.S. president to visit the UAE in 17 years, following President George W. Bush's trip in 2008. On Thursday, the president told reporters that it was "an honor to be here."
"The last four days have been really amazing, and they have been amazing," Trump said. "But it shows you where a country can go."
[FoxBusiness] NYPD removed beds and padlocked door at 'disgusting' establishment where prostitutes openly solicited across from elementary schools
A well-known local brothel near two schools in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's red-light district has been shut down by the NYPD after months of advocacy by local leaders who say the progressive lawmaker did nothing to help them close it.
Nicknamed the "bodega brothel" by locals, the establishment was operating on the second floor of a local bodega just off the Roosevelt Avenue strip in Queens, where prostitutes are known for openly soliciting sex on sidewalks, local Democratic district leader Hiram Monserrate told Fox News Digital.
Video from inside the brothel reveals five cramped, makeshift rooms divided by wooden panels and shower curtains, each just large enough to hold a bed.
The bodega is located across the street from two public schools, and students have been forced to walk past the sex workers outside the brothel on their way to and from class for months. An hour before Ocasio-Cortez’s town hall earlier this month, Fox News Digital observed children walking by with their parents as three women stood outside.
On Monday, the NYPD removed the beds from the brothel and padlocked its makeshift wooden door.
Monserrate, who led the campaign to shutter the location, stood outside and praised the police for acting.
"The shutting down of the ‘bodega brothel’ was long overdue, but it finally got done," said Monserrate, who also toured the brothel and described the sleazy state of the quarters.
"This place is clearly unsightly and unsanitary, and, quite frankly, disgusting," said Monserrate, a former Democratic state senator and council member who said he organized four separate rallies to close down the brothel.
Monserrate said he and local groups have called on Ocasio-Cortez and other elected officials to advocate for the shuttering of the brothels, but few have helped.
"AOC did not play a role at all," said Monserrate, who was chased out of a local square in October because he opposed protesters advocating for prostitution to be allowed in the neighborhood.
Ramses Frías, a local Republican city council candidate, also said Ocasio-Cortez never attended a demonstration.
"It took the people to come together and rally against this bodega brothel," Frias said.
Ocasio-Cortez’s office told Fox News Digital it is not commenting on the closure.
Monserrate said the area is plagued by prostitutes, many working at the behest of migrant gangs like the 18th Street Gang
…more formally the ruthless 18th Street Gang, also known as “Barrio 18,” it’s one of the largest youth gangs in the Western Hemisphere…
and Tren de Aragua. He has called on the FBI to intervene along Roosevelt Avenue, citing drug trafficking, illegal gun sales, identity theft and violent crimes. He said he has yet to receive a response, adding his sources have identified at least 20 brothels in the area.
In October, New York City Mayor Eric Adams launched a sweeping police crackdown with more than 200 police and state troopers descending on the area.
The NYPD told Fox News Digital last month that the clampdown, known as Operation Restore Roosevelt, had resulted in a 37% year-to-date drop in crime in the Roosevelt Avenue zone with more than 1,800 arrests and more than 15,000 summonses.
Police did not say if any arrests were made in relation to the shuttering of the location Monday.
The New York City Department of Buildings said the location was issued a partial vacate order in December, but Monserrate said it had been used for illicit purposes ever since then.
Monserrate said the operation Monday was helpful, but many of the problems in the neighborhood still linger.
"While we are grateful to the NYPD, the NYC Buildings Department and the mayor's office, we also understand that there is still much to do until we stabilize this community and make it safer and better for all," Monserrate said. "We will continue to rally, call for more brothels to be closed and shine a light on the failed policies that our community has borne the brunt of."
[Breitbart] On Thursday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “The Hill,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA)
…correction: that’s D-CA-blatant liar…
blamed the lack of building permits issued in the recovery from the fires in Los Angeles on a lack of federal money from “an administration that doesn’t like California.” And L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is “working as quickly as she can to get rid of the red tape with city hall, in city hall, trying to accelerate applications.”
I suppose there must be a few simpletons in California who’d believe that much arrant nonsense.
Host Blake Burman asked, “I saw a stat in your hometown…your district is between Altadena and the Pacific Palisades, basically, I saw this, Congresswoman, L.A. wildfire recovery efforts in 2025, about 12,000 estimated damaged properties, eight building permits issued so far. It’s been about 125 days or so. And when you look at the numbers, I don’t know how that’s the case. Can you explain how that’s the case and if that’s acceptable right now with what’s going on in your backyard?”
Kamlager-Dove answered, “When we get our money. So, Donald Trump, give us our money.”
Kamlager-Dove answered, “It’s not acceptable. It is not acceptable that we have FEMA offices that are shutting down and FEMA workers that are being terminated that are not able to help my state.”
Burman then cut in to ask, “So, is it — are you suggesting it’s Trump’s fault, or?”
Kamlager-Dove responded, “He should send us the money. We need the money.”
Burman then cut in to ask, “What about Karen Bass’ performance?”
Kamlager-Dove answered, “Karen Bass, I think, has been doing very well in talking to Los Angelinos, being out, working as quickly as she can to get rid of the red tape with city hall, in city hall, trying to accelerate applications. She’s been doing all of that.”
Burman followed up, “So, when does that number pick up?”
Kamlager-Dove answered, “When we get our money. So, Donald Trump, give us our money, because you know what? There are red voters and blue voters and independent voters who lost their homes, and California, like North Carolina and other states, deserve[s] our disaster relief.”
Burman clarified, “So, if I hear you correctly, you think the money has to come from the federal government, and then that picks up? Nothing on Newsom or Mayor Bass?”
Kamlager-Dove responded, “I think they’re doing the best they can with what they have. And the fact of the matter is, we have not been given what we deserve, what is warranted, because we’re battling an administration that doesn’t like California.”
#4
^ These little control-freak Democrats and bureaucrats are relishing the opportunity to dictate rebuilding plans. I.E: smaller building footprints with less parking, electric only (no natural gas hookups), EV charging outlets, ....
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/16/2025 13:31
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#5
Divert funds from your monorail grift.
Posted by: Regular joe ||
05/16/2025 14:02
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#6
Strictly blame casting.
Didn't I hear something about no permit issued until lot is cleared?
And IIUC, no FEMA loans until the damaged property is removed. Yes, that is backwards, but has always been that way, probably because concern people will take the money and split town? Don't know, but that's what they sound like, give us the money and pomiseez it will all (snicker) go to the victims.
So it sounds to me like the bottleneck is scraping the property due to traffic and disposal regulations, which is Ghana Bass and Gov Grease'em, who could suspend said regulations and provide a state backed loan to those who have filed intent to rebuild, who could use that money to clean the property, and transfer the now accessed FEMA loan to the state backed loan.
But they haven't. Because they are twats. It's not that the administration hates California, it's that it hates them.
#7
Somewhere inside the democrat power centers of SoCal, there is a clear understanding that a drawn out process will make thousands of property owners sell their burned-out homes for far less than they are worth to get out from under mortgages and tax/mechanics liens while they pay for temporary housing that is bankrupting them. There is a lot of money to be made and spreading around incentives to bureaucrats, witting or not, helps make that possible.
[Breitbart] The Ethiopian Finance Ministry announced on Tuesday that a two-day investment conference in Addis Ababa produced $1.7 billion dollars in investment deals, most of them from Chinese companies.
Reuters summarized the most prominent announcements from the Invest In Ethiopia 2025 conference:
The deals signed include a planned $500 million investment by Hua Ye Mining Processing Company in minerals exploration and processing, and the development of a special economic zone focused on minerals, the ministry said.
Another $600 million will come from Sequoia Mining & Processing Plc to develop coal mining projects, while another $360 million will come from Hainan Drinda New Energy Technology to build a solar cell manufacturing plant.
Another $250 million will come from CSI Solar, also for solar energy development, the ministry said.
The Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), the government agency which organized the forum, did not provide a timetable for when these projects would begin.
The Finance Ministry celebrated the Invest In Ethiopia 2025 conference as a “significant step in the country’s drive to attract foreign investment and foster private sector growth.”
Ethiopia is often seen as synonymous with poverty and starvation, but as the EIC eagerly points out, it actually holds enormous mineral wealth. Everything from gold and gems, to coal, iron, nickel, and phosphates can be mined from Ethiopian soil. Ethiopia boasts one of the oldest and most detailed geological survey operations in Africa.
One of Ethiopia’s challenges is that none of its riches were extensively mined until recently, except for gold, which became such a dominant product that it distorted the entire mining industry. Gold mining absorbed most of the country’s skilled workforce and most of its foreign investment. When the gold mines were booming, the industry had a habit of growing careless with its money. When the value of gold dropped, the entire Ethiopian economy sank with it.
Then there was the painful problem of political instability and tribal violence, which has kicked the legs out from beneath Ethiopian industry every time it tried to stand tall. Decades of unrest began when the government began shifting from an agrarian economy to industrialization and big cities in the early 1990s.
Ethiopia’s brutal Tigray War, from 2020 to 2022, drew in many ethnic groups, as well as neighboring Eritrea. Credible allegations of atrocities were leveled against all parties to the conflict.
The Tigray War was only the latest of Ethiopia’s devastating conflicts, and it is not entirely over. Ethiopia’s desperate central government recruited numerous tribal militias to help it battle the Tigray insurgents. When the Tigray conflict ended, the government told its allies to disarm, but they refused — and now thousands of people are once again being displaced by a violent insurgency.
Such unstable environments do not easily attract foreign investors, even when the ground is full of buried treasure. One of the major goals of this week’s investment forum was to convince outside companies their mines and energy projects would be safe.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched an ambitious post-civil war reform program last year, including extensive privatization of stagnant state industries, stabilization of Ethiopia’s wildly inflated currency, and more capital made available to foreign buyers.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was sufficiently impressed with Abiy’s reforms to extend $3.4 billion in credit last year. In April, Ethiopia succeeded in restructuring $8.4 billion of its debt, securing more time to make payments. The government hopes massive foreign investment to develop Ethiopia’s mineral resources will provide the income it needs to manage its older debts and satisfy the IMF.
Chinese companies accounted for about $1.1 billion of the $1.7 billion in deals flowing from the recent investment forum. China now makes about half of the foreign direct investments in Ethiopia.
This is not necessarily good news for the Ethiopians, as China’s ventures have been criticized for exploiting the local workforce, and a government hungry for big foreign money is not the most receptive audience for complaints from its abused citizens. On the other hand, some Ethiopians are outspokenly grateful for China’s investments, and they appreciate Beijing’s reluctance to criticize their government for using whatever force is necessary to suppress insurrections.
[BBC] Last week, 46-year-old Charl Kleinhaus was living on his family farm in Mpumalanga province Eastern Transvaal, South Africa. With its scenic beauty, wildlife and deep canyons, it's known as "the place where the sun rises".
His new home - for now - is a budget hotel near an American highway.
He and dozens of other white South Africans were moved to the US under President Donald Trump's controversial policy to protect them from the discrimination he alleges they are facing - an accusation that South Africa rejects.
Mr Kleinhaus defends the US president, telling the BBC he left his homeland after receiving death threats in WhatsApp messages.
"I had to leave a five-bedroom house, which I will lose now," Mr Kleinhaus tells the BBC, adding that he also left behind his car, his dogs and even his mother. "I didn't come here for fun," he adds.
The contrast in homes couldn't be more stark. But for Mr Kleinhaus, his situation in Buffalo, New York, is already a better one. "My children are safe," says Mr Kleinhaus, whose wife died in a road accident in 2006.
The status of white South African farmers has long been a rallying cry on the right and far-right of American politics.
Trump and his close ally, South Africa-born billionaire Elon Musk, have even argued that there has been a "genocide" of white farmers in South Africa - a claim that has been widely discredited.
[American Greatness] For decades, Americans have watched as federal involvement in education expanded, ballooning into a behemoth bureaucracy that imposes top-down mandates while divorcing parents from their rightful role as the primary educators of their children, while failing to achieve academic success for students. If we are serious about fixing our children’s education, we must restore parental authority and end federal control of education.
America’s Founding Fathers never intended for Washington, D.C., to dictate how children in Kansas or Kentucky learn to read, write, and think. Education was, and should be, a local and parental matter. President Donald Trump rightly stated in Executive Order 13985, Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping, "The experiment of controlling American education through federal programs and dollars...has plainly failed our children, our teachers, and our families." That failure is clearly documented by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often referred to as "The Nation’s Report Card." Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, NAEP scores had stagnated or declined. Today, nearly 40% of fourth graders read below basic level, despite record federal funding. Billions of taxpayer dollars have produced declining literacy.
[TownHall] Imagine any business in America boasting in its annual report about killing hundreds of thousands of human beings. In addition to this bizarre self-congratulation, this same profiteer, which regularly touts its main mission of human elimination, annually celebrates being heavily funded by taxpayers to the tune of nearly a billion dollars.
That business is Planned Parenthood. And it’s finally facing the reckoning that has been decades in the making. The Republican-led Congress has advanced a bill to defund the abortion giant.
Days ago, Planned Parenthood released its latest annual report, revealing that it’s slaughtered 402,230 people. Yes, people. Every human is a person; every person is a human. It’s really that simple. And we know from science, that a new human being is created at the moment of fertilization. Not only did the nation’s activist arm of the Democratic Party kill more people than ever before in its history, but it also received more money from American taxpayers in the process: $792.2 million! That’s nearly $100 million more than the previous year.
Abortion is their big moneymaker. It’s what they fight for. It brings in over 60% of their ’Health Services Revenue." And each year, it enables a huge profit. In 2023, it was $179 million. In 2024, it was $27.4 million (lessened, no doubt, by the massive $69.5 million in 2023-2024 election spending as well as considerable increases in salary, advertising, public policy, and public relations expenses to the tune of over $258 million). Meanwhile, primary medical services at Planned Parenthood have been plummeting for decades. In the last 20 years, breast cancer exams plunged 79% from 921,541 in 2004 to 191,197 in 2024. Keep in mind, an organization with $3.1 billion in assets only provides manual exams; women aren’t worth purchasing a single mammogram machine. Pap Tests have plummeted nearly 70%. Prenatal care, which is less than 0.1% of their total services, is down 57%.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] ZSU deters Russian attacks in southern and eastern Ukraine.
A third of the enemy attacks are concentrated in the Pokrovsky direction. Eight combat clashes are currently ongoing there.
Since the beginning of the current day, there have been 73 combat clashes between the Ukrainian army and the Russian invaders on the front. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in an operational report as of 16:00 on Thursday, May 15.
Thus, in the Kharkov direction, our soldiers repelled five enemy attacks in the areas of Vovchansk, Glubokoe and in the direction of Vysokaya Yaruga and Kudiyevka.
In the Kupyansk direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are repelling two assaults towards Peschanoye and in the Kruglyakovka area.
In the Liman direction, the invading army carried out eight attacks near Redkodub, Kolodyazev and in the directions of Novoplatonovka, Novy Mir, Zelenaya Dolina. Two of them are still ongoing.
In the Seversky direction, the occupying forces are trying to advance near Belogorovka, Grigoryevka and Verkhnekamyansky. One battle is still ongoing.
In the Kramatorsk direction, the occupiers advanced four times in the areas of Chasovy Yar and Kurdyumovka. Two clashes continue.
In the Toretsk direction, one assault was repelled in the Toretsk area.
In the Pokrovsk direction, the Russians organized 27 attacks near the settlements of Malinovka, Mirolyubovka, Elizavetovka, Lisovka, Novosergeevka, Udachnoye, Novoaleksandrovka, Andreyevka and in the directions of Zorya, Staraya Nikolaevka. The defense forces repelled 19 enemy assaults, and eight more clashes are still ongoing.
In the Novopavlovsk direction, the enemy attempted to break through the defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces 11 times in the areas of the settlements of Bogatyr, Konstantinopol, Privolnoye and Volnoye Pole. Seven combat clashes are still ongoing.
In the Orekhov direction, our defenders repelled two assaults in the areas of Malye Shcherbaki and Stepovoye.
In the Kursk direction, eight armed clashes have occurred since the beginning of the day, four of which are ongoing.
Let us recall that on May 14, 168 combat clashes took place on the front in 24 hours, almost half of which were in the Pokrovsky direction.
The Russian army lost more than 1,200 fighters killed and wounded. The total number of losses of the Russian Federation is approaching 1 million people.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 occurred in the central Turkish province of Konya. This was reported on May 15 by the TRTHaber TV channel with reference to the Turkish rescue agency.
The epicenter of the earthquake, which occurred at 15:46 Moscow time, was in the area of the city of Kulu, 100 km from Ankara. The earthquake's source was at a depth of 18.73 km.
It is specified that the tremors were also felt in the nearby provinces and especially in the capital of Turkey. The Ukrainian delegation and the head of the Kiev regime, Volodymyr Zelensky, are currently there.
[FoxNews] Dozens of drones that traipsed over Langley Air Force base in late 2023 revealed an astonishing oversight: Military officials did not believe they had the authority to shoot down the unmanned vehicles over the U.S. homeland.
A new bipartisan bill, known as the COUNTER Act, seeks to rectify that, offering more bases the opportunity to become a "covered facility," or one that has the authority to shoot down drones that encroach on their airspace.
The new bill has broad bipartisan and bicameral support, giving it a greater chance of becoming law. It’s led by Armed Services Committee members Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Kirsten Gillibrand
...Machine non-entity selected to become the successor to Hillary Clinton as Senatrix-for-Life from Noo Yawk. She ran for the Dem presidential nomination in 2020. She has no observable principles, will apparently say anything to anyone, and seemingly lacks any personality of her own.... , D-N.Y., in the Senate, and companion legislation is being introduced by August Pfluger, R-Texas, and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., in the House.
Currently, only half of the 360 domestic U.S. bases are considered "covered facilities" that are allowed to engage with unidentified drones. The legislation expands the narrow definition of a covered facility under current statute to allow all military facilities that have a well-defined perimeter to apply for approval that allows them to engage with drones.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The enemy is actively accumulating forces for a large-scale attack on Ukraine, US officials tell reporters.
Against the backdrop of peace talks in Turkey, the Russian army is preparing a new offensive in Ukraine, foreign media outlets report, citing American officials.
Moreover, as the Defense Forces Command states, the enemy has already begun the summer campaign, hiding behind statements about negotiations. More details – later in the story.
ACCUMULATION OF FORCES
The Financial Times was the first to report on the possible offensive on May 13. Citing undisclosed Ukrainian intelligence officials, the outlet said Russia appeared to be preparing a major offensive, moving troops to key positions on the front.
The FT also cited data from OSINT community DeepState that Russian forces have seized more territory in the east of Donetsk this week, particularly around the cities of Pokrovsk and Toretsk, which are hotbeds of fighting.
CNN made a similar statement today . Two American officials familiar with the latest U.S. assessments told reporters that Russia is amassing forces on the front lines for a new offensive. Moscow's goal remains unchanged: to seize more Ukrainian territory. A broader attack is likely expected in eastern Ukraine, the media outlet notes.
"Putin will try to seize any land he can get, all the way to the outskirts of Kyiv. The Russians will do everything they can to get everything they can," the second U.S. official added in comments to the channel.
THE SITUATION ON THE FRONT LINES
The preparations come amid a serious shortage of Ukrainian troops on the battlefield. U.S. assessments suggest that Ukraine’s drone capabilities and the effectiveness of its minefields are a significant deterrent to Russia, despite its significant manpower advantage – both in eastern Ukraine and in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops still hold a foothold.
Russia is also facing difficulties in raising the necessary number of troops as both sides continue their war of attrition, CNN notes.
Additionally, the first official told CNN that there is no indication that North Korea is currently capable of significantly increasing its military presence in Ukraine after losing thousands of soldiers in the fighting.
However, for weeks, U.S. assessments have shown little change in Russia's military goals, which still include seizing most of Ukrainian territory, even as the Donald Trump administration calls on the Kremlin to agree to a 30-day cease-fire and begin meaningful peace talks.
START OF THE SUMMER OFFENSIVE
CNN previously reported that surveillance footage has shown Ukrainian forces for weeks that Russia is moving significant troops and equipment to positions just a few dozen kilometers from the front line.
The Kharkov task force also confirms this information. Moreover, the Russians are building up their forces, and the summer offensive campaign has actually already begun.
"The occupiers are currently building up their forces. In fact, the enemy's summer offensive operation has begun, so I would not count on a ceasefire in the near future," said Pavel Shamshin, a representative of the Kharkov operational-tactical group of troops, on the air of the telethon.
According to him, the situation is especially tense in the area of the settlement Liptsy in the Kharkiv region. There, the Russians have launched an assault with armored vehicles, including tanks. Motorcycles and infantry are also attacking.
The situation is also difficult in the area of the village of Dvurechnaya near the Oskol River: the occupiers are transferring infantry to the right bank. The Russian army has been tasked with expanding the bridgehead to Kupyansk from the north.
The Volchansk direction also remains hot, where assault operations take place daily.
The military man recalled that Moscow has never kept its promises to cease fire.
"I wouldn't go into detail about what they say on the other side. When we deal with Russians, we need to understand several things. Russians always lie in the public space. If they don't lie, they manipulate. If they don't manipulate, they're going to lie. We must perceive all their statements in this way," Shamshin explained.
The military man believes that simulating negotiations is a common tool of the invaders.
"Everyone saw the delegates they sent to the negotiations in Istanbul. They are some kind of no-names, and I don't think it's worth taking this seriously," Shamshin added.
[PUBLISH.TWITTER] Innocent until proven guilty. We can wait for the full panoply of the law.
According to CIA: Nine U.S. Senators and twelve Representatives are currently under criminal investigation for allegedly accepting foreign lobbying kickbacks. All of these corrupt politicians are Dems.
Should they be required to resign immediately?
— Tulsi Gabbard Intelligence Report (@TulsiGabbardDNI) May 14, 2025
Congress critters need to back off. Foreign money kickbacks and related activities are an exclusive Klingon domain.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2025
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#1
Meanwhile, what stocks made it into Nancy Pelosi's portfolio this week ?
#4
/\ I'd put money on that one. While we're at it, can someone please run the traps on the late Jeffrey Epstein's unexplained wealth and more recently, Hunter Biden's 60 +/- trips abroad on USG aircraft ?
#6
Seems like an awfully low number. Maybe those are only the ones charged. No real corroborating info. If this is a chargeable offense, how did the Biden’s skate?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/16/2025 10:58
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#7
Currently 53 Republican and 45 Democratic senators (with 2 "independents"). Drop 9 Democratic senators and they only have 36. With a few defections a 2/3 majority vote is within reach. Except the RINOs and independents will ensure it isn't. Well - we can always dream . . .
Subtract 9 Democratic senators from the voting quorum and you start getting close to a solid majority
#8
Dems have new kleptocrats stacked in chutes like McDonalds used to do with hamburgers. Removing one leads to another of the same quality.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/16/2025 12:16
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#9
^
Depends on the State. If Gov is a D, a new appointee will almost certainly be a D. Last I checked there were about 23 Govs who were a D and the rest were R.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/16/2025 12:20
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#10
Several states have special elections instead of governor appointments. There’s also the possibility that this report will work as well as John Durham taking down the DC establishment.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/16/2025 13:52
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[NAHARNET] Israeli drones on Thursday dropped percussion bombs on the destroyed school in the southern town of al-Dhayra and on a home in the southern border town of Kfar Kila.
An Israeli attack had at dawn targeted a prefabricated room in the southern town of Adaisseh, following three Apache helicopter strikes on a prefabricated home belonging to an NGO in the southern town of Houla.
Israel has continued to launch strikes on Leb ...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... despite the November 27 truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.
Under the deal, Hezbollah was to pull back its fighters north of Lebanon's Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south.
Israel was to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems "strategic".
Lebanon says it has respected its ceasefire commitments and has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw all its troops.
[PUNCHNG] Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed has confirmed that over 60 bandidos were killed during the recent attack on Mansur Village in Alkaleri Local Government Area.
The incident, which occurred two weeks ago, also claimed the lives of vigilantes and civilians.
During a condolence visit to the affected village on Thursday, Governor Mohammed revealed that 21 people from the community bit the dust in the bandidos' attack, including 13 vigilante members and 10 civilians.
He described the incident as a serious security challenge but noted that the attackers also suffered heavy losses due to the bravery of the combined security forces.
''As they inflicted serious loss on us, over 60 of them died too in the fierce battle. So the loss is not only that our people have been killed. Our security forces also decimated over 60 of them. This shows the chivalry and courage of our people. Despite their superior firepower, we were able to contain them through these young and able-bodied vigilantes and security agencies,'' he stated.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Two vessels sank on the Lena River in the Zhatai backwater of Yakutia. Footage of the incident was shared on May 15 by the Yakutsk-Sakha Information Agency (YSIA).
Preliminary, the ship was thrown into tow due to ice movement. The second vessel was without fuel and crew, and was being prepared for disposal. No casualties were reported.
A working group from the government of Yakutia went to the scene of the incident: Minister of Civil Defense and Public Safety Dmitry Lepchikov, Acting Minister of Transport and Road Facilities Anatoly Potapov, and Deputy Minister of Ecology, Nature Management and Forestry Anatoly Alekseev.
It was previously noted that the ice drift on the Lena River reached the Kangalassy microdistrict in Yakutsk. A sharp increase in the water level in the river has also been recorded.
I can't imagine a statement more intended to anger the Russians.
[Regnum] The United States of America won World War II. This was stated by US President Donald Trump on May 15.
"They celebrated in Russia, they celebrated in France, except for us. We didn't celebrate. But we won this war. Without our help, they (other participants in the conflict. - Ed.) would have spoken German and maybe a little Japanese," the American leader emphasized during a speech to troops at the Al Udeid Air Base.
He also added that the United States won World War I as well.
Earlier, on May 1, the American leader proclaimed November 11 as Victory Day in World War I and May 8 as Victory Day in World War II on his social network Truth Social. According to Trump, the United States won both wars, having put in more effort than anyone else in the world. He also added that the country did not celebrate these achievements because there were no leaders who knew how to organize it.
In January, he said that " Russia helped the US " win World War II, losing 60 million people. Although the US opened a second front only in 1944, and the USSR's losses, according to official data, are estimated at about 27 million people.
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the words of the head of the White House, recalled that it was the Soviet Union that bore the brunt of the fight against fascism and the people of the USSR paid the heaviest price for it. The military actions in which millions of people died took place on another continent for the United States. At the same time, Russia remembers the help of the United States.
The Kremlin spokesman stressed that the number of victims announced by Trump does not correspond to official data, but expressed hope that Americans will share the joy of celebrating the 80th anniversary of Victory.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, recalled that former US President Franklin Roosevelt personally pointed out the decisive contribution of the USSR to the victory in World War II.
[PUNCHNG] Some soldiers are reportedly fleeing back to their villages following Monday's attack by Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... bully boyz on a military base in Marte, Borno State, which claimed the lives of five personnel.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that suspected Boko Haram holy warriors invaded the forward operating base in the early hours of Monday, overpowering soldiers on duty, looting weapons, and escaping with military vehicles.
Multiple military sources, speaking on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity for lack of authorisation, said some of the soldiers who witnessed the attack had abandoned their posts and returned to their hometowns.
''After the operation, they burnt everything. They destroyed all our facilities and carted away arms. They even left with our Commanding Officer's vehicle. All the new cycle of violences issued to us—they took them too,'' one of the sources said.
''Some soldiers have dumped their arms, saying they're no longer interested. They're returning to their villages. One of them, whom we call Dangwari, is among those who left.''
Another source alleged that the attack was made possible by betrayal from within.
''A civilian Joint Task Force member, someone we trusted, sold us out. He led the holy warriors to our camp. His name is Sharu. He was close to our adjutant and considered part of the team,'' he said.
He added that residents in surrounding communities had fled to safer areas such as Dikwa, Lukumani, and Mafa, fearing further attacks.
''The holy warriors might advance again if they detect low military presence in this region,'' he warned.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2025
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According to testimony, Jeffries was a recurring guest of honor at covert "Communist Party Freak Offs," themed around exaggerated communist nostalgia.
Sources familiar with the investigation say the parties began with theatrical,… pic.twitter.com/mAJiciLNwO
— AmericanPapaBear (@AmericaPapaBear) May 15, 2025
…began with theatrical, and controversial acts, including staged flag burning performances meant to lampoon Cold War hysteria. Diddy claimed Jeffries often insisted on the presence of young Hispanic male performers costumed as flamboyant versions of Fidel Castro, complete with glitter covered fatigues and choreographed cigar routines.
This is going to get way more crazy before it’s all over!
Source: Newsmax True or false, don't expect anything to ever come of it.
Very unusual and massive bombing in Gaza right now - the IDF is using artillery, airstrikes, and naval forces on a wide and relentless scale. Tanks are advancing as well. Something tells me we're witnessing the beginning of Operation "Gideon's Swords." Pray for our heroes.
#3
They’re delusional, DayGlo. But let them think they’re winning, so long as the jihadis keep dying and their buildings, tunnels, and war matériel continue to be destroyed. Either they’ll figure it out, or the entire Gaza strip will be rubble 20 meters deep.
#4
#2 From their p.o.v., they are winning -- at the U.N., in Spain, in Norway, in Ireland, in France, in England, at UCLA Columbia Harvard etc
Winning nada. These who have a pathological hatred of Jews (and, usually, of humanity in general) are merely more open about it.
Now, lets see them rebuilding without uncle Sugar.
#5
Wars are about imposing your will upon your enemy.
Right now, Hamas has imposed its will on Israel and the rest of the wotld much more than Israel has.
Right now,
Hamas has sacrificed zero money;
Hamas has sacrificed zero land;
Hamas leadership resides safe and secure in Qatar.
I don't think they'd be delusional to conclude, therefore, that they're winning.
Time will tell.
#8
Hamas has sacrificed zero money;
Hamas has sacrificed zero land;
Hamas leadership resides safe and secure in Qatar.
The billions Hamas spent to create hundreds of miles of war tunnels, wasted.
The tens or hundreds of millions Hamas spent on war matériel, wasted.
The small safe zones where Gazans now live crowded together, while the rest of Gaza is bulldozed and patrolled by the IDF — along Gaza’s borders , the military zones cutting Gaza in thirds and cutting them off from the border with Egypt.
The claimed 52,000 dead Gazans, 70% of whom are fighting age males, including almost all of those involved in leading the 10/7 massacre.
Yes, the leaders are living in luxury in Turkey and wherever in the Arabian peninsula they’ve parked themselves with their vast wealth stolen from funds donated to improve the situation in Gaza. And those leaders never cared about the people they pretend are theirs, whose suffering they engineered from the beginning as a weapon against Israel, just as the PLO/PA did before them, and the Arab nations and too much of the world before that. But that expat situation could also be thought of as premature exile — and also a happy hunting ground for Mossad, as has been noticed from time to time.
#9
"Wars are about imposing your will upon your enemy."
Escalatory violence is the tool you use to impose your will. But when that fails. You should fight wars like you fight cancer in which you want it removed from the planet.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics:
[ColonelCassad] FSB officers conducted a special operation to detain Telegram channel admins who were engaged in propaganda of Nazism and terrorism in Telegram. In total, 57 people were detained in 81 regions of the Russian Federation. Some of those detained turned out to be connected with Ukrainian special services.
Anonymity on the Internet is an illusory thing. When necessary, everyone is perfectly identified, found and dragged to the police station for a heart-to-heart talk.
OFFICIAL FROM THE "BLOODY KGB".
The FSB, together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Investigative Committee and the Russian National Guard, carried out "preventive and preventive measures aimed at preventing the spread of the ideology of violence, mass murder and suicide among young people" in 81 Russian regions, according to a report from the FSB Public Relations Center received by RBC.
As a result, law enforcement officers stopped the activities of 57 administrators of channels and chats in Telegram who were spreading neo-Nazi and terrorist ideology.
"Correspondence with Ukrainian curators was found in the detainees' communication devices, containing instructions on how to conduct sabotage and terrorist activities, and the production and use of means of terror. Investigative bodies are making procedural decisions," the FSB said.
According to the report, preventive measures were also taken against 305 minors "who fell under the influence of foreign moderators promoting destructive ideology."
In addition, six people involved in preparing armed attacks on educational institutions in Moscow and Tyumen, as well as violent actions in Kemerovo, Rostov-on-Don and Yoshkar-Ola were detained. During searches at their places of residence, components for making homemade explosive and incendiary devices, bladed weapons, plans for preparing armed attacks, symbols and propaganda materials of neo-Nazi and terrorist organizations were seized, the FSB Public Relations Center reports.
So the LSD leadership has in as much said the Black Community has FAILED despite all the $$ Trillions of Government support it has already received? Therefore we should DUMP more $$$$ on them.
Which most likely the Elite will acquire over a short period of time as they spend it.
Now ask who makes up the Elite demographically?
BTW: My Dads people came here as indentured servants in 1894 and have nothing to do with US pre-1866 issues. Why should I or my offspring paid for something done before we arrived. If the LSD's are going to do this for votes (as usual). Then lets tag ONLY those that owned a slave 150+ years ago...I wonder how many Democrats and modern day Elite bloodlines that would Bankrupt?
#9
On the Balance Sheet: Identify societal costs for black society dysfunction (crime, single parenthood, welfare, etc) as a debit. I'd bet they'd owe us non-POC money
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/16/2025 11:43
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#10
Some estimate human life has existed on the African sub-continent for at least 80,000 years. Obviously much progress has been made.
#13
..I missed the point where nihilists enrich themselves in the process. Materialistic aggrandizement is something I don't associate with the term. my bad.
#14
"Then lets tag ONLY those that owned a slave 150+ years ago"
IIRC, one of Kamala's ancestors owned slaves - maybe not in the US.
Also, there were BLACK slave owners. Do they pay reparations?
[NAHARNET] Parliament on Thursday approved an urgent draft law doubling the penalty of illegal shooting into the air, which was proposed by MP Ashraf Baydoun.
The development comes days after dozens of people were arrested for firing into the air during the country's municipal elections.
Celebratory gunfire that erupted Sunday in the wake of north Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... 's municipal elections had maimed several people, including LBCI news hound Nada Andraous, and a child who was critically maimed.
The army meanwhile issued a statement announcing the arrest of 35 people suspected of firing in the air after the elections. It also said that it seized arms and ammunition and that are efforts were underway to arrest more suspects.
Whether it's joy, political passion or grief, for many Lebanese, there's only one way to show it: by lifting a gun and firing off rounds into the air.
But the deadly practice, a tradition in many Arab countries, has been largely condemned in recent years following a spate of deaths and serious injuries in incidents involving indiscriminate gunfire.
Officially, celebratory gunfire is illegal in Lebanon, where firearm ownership remains widespread more than three decades after the end of its 1975-1990 civil war.
A 1959 law stated "anyone firing in residential areas or in a crowd, whether their gun is licensed or not" faces up to three years in prison or a fine.
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[ALLAFRICA] A member of the House of Representatives from Zamfara State, Aminu Jaji, has decried the "terrifying insecurity" in his constituency, narrating how "bandidos fed newborn twins to their dogs."
He painted a harrowing picture of "how bandidos attacked, committed mass kidnapping, their crass lawlessness," which have left the communities in his constituency devastated and many residents displaced.
This came as the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Richard Montgomery, expressed concern over the current insecurity in the country, blaming the situation on the spillover effects from the Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas... , particularly Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... and Niger.
Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth had turned a paler shade of blue. Star-A-Star had struck again... the Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, General Christopher Musa, said that the military is more determined than ever to go after all snuffies to restore peace and stability in the country.
Jaji, who previously chaired the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, said, "Over 200 attacks have been recorded in communities across Kaura Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State alone, including Dayo, Banga, Gabaki, Korea and Madura."
The politician, who was briefing newsmen at the National Assembly, said: "Just two days ago, 60 people were kidnapped in Banga. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of N30 million. Out of those kidnapped, 10 were killed, and the fate of the remaining 50 hang in the balance."
The politician lamented that while leaders often make lofty promises, little is done in practice.
"We gave assurances that if our party came to power, insecurity will become history. Unfortunately, the reality today is different," he said, adding, "Many communities have been turned into ghost towns due to persistent attacks.
WATCH: Minnesota Democrats say they'll fight for state healthcare program for illegal immigrants "until the very end," claim Republicans don't care if people die.
Budget deal announced this morning between Gov. Walz (a Democrat) and legislative leaders ends MinnesotaCare… pic.twitter.com/LHMmyk9JMn
#8
I once brought my kindergarten age kid into the ER. She had some kind of syndrome when she would throw up until she became dehydrated enough to need an IV and then she would be fine. Sometimes we would get discharged without the IV and then have to come back dehydrated enough for an IV. I got frustrated so the next time I tested her with my wive’s glucose monitor until I was sure that we would be admitted because the drive to Walnut Creek was like 45 minutes. Evidently, the information that your kid tested a 30 on a glucose meter at home gets you head of the line privileges. BTW, it also gets you yelled at.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/16/2025 11:08
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#9
Hose raw honey would have helped both problems.
[IsraelTimes] No injuries reported as sirens sound in Israel for third day in a row; Trump says US could ‘go back on the offensive’ if Houthis resume attacks despite ceasefire
A ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... was successfully intercepted by air defenses Thursday evening, the military said.
A large chunk of debris from the intercepted missile landed in the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut.
No injuries were reported.
Sirens had sounded across central Israel and the Jerusalem area. Preceding the sirens by some three minutes, an early warning was issued to residents, alerting civilians of the long-range missile attack via a push notification on their phones.
This is the third day in a row in which a Houthi-launched missile reached Israeli airspace and was intercepted.
In addition, on Tuesday, a ballistic missile launched from Yemen, apparently aimed at Israel, fell short far from the country. A missile fired from Yemen also fell short on Monday, according to an Israeli defense source.
The missile attack coincides with US President Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... ’s visit to the Gulf. Trump announced earlier in May that he reached a ceasefire with Yemen’s Houthis that would halt attacks on US vessels, though the Houthis vowed to continue attacking Israel.
Trump said Thursday during a visit to 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... that the US would "go back on the offensive" if the Houthis breach the deal.
"We’re dealing with the Houthis, and that was, I think, very successful. But maybe tomorrow an attack will be made, in which case we go back on the offensive," Trump said.
Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... 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, the Houthis have launched 34 ballistic missiles and at least 10 drones at Israel. Several of the missiles have fallen short.
[PUNCHNG] South Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... 's government on Thursday denied that President Salva Kiir had died, following online speculation.
The long-serving 73-year-old leader has long been dogged by rumours of ill health.
But he has been pictured in recent months meeting visiting dignitaries and ordering a series of dramatic government reshuffles.
He has also moved decisively against his long-time rival and the current first vice-president, Riek Machar, placing him under house arrest and detaining several of his allies.
Late Wednesday, reports began emerging on social media, claiming that Kiir had, in the words of one Kenyan personality, ''kicked the bucket.'' "He's pining for the Sudanese fjords"
South Sudan's foreign ministry issued a statement the following day, saying it ''categorically and strongly denies the false and malicious reports circulating on social media claiming that His Excellency President Salva Kiir Mayardit has passed away.''
The posts were ''entirely baseless and irresponsible rumours fabricated by enemies of peace, development, nation building, and stability,'' it added.
It comes as South Sudan faces another bout of insecurity, with festivities between forces aligned with Kiir and Machar breaking out in several areas around the country, raising fears of renewed civil war.
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#1
The British united the south, creating three geographic regions; western, eastern and south. The only problem was that while the British could separate the tribal enmity South Sudan unification cannot.
Posted by: Albert McCoy9505 ||
05/16/2025 1:41
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[X] Chris Brown, the American musician, was arrested on Thursday at The Lowry Hotel in Manchester for an alleged assault on a music producer using a tequila bottle at a London nightclub in February 2023.
Only two years later? Talk about the mills of justice grinding slowly…
He is currently held on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. This arrest occurred shortly after Brown publicly supported another artist, Tory Lanez, with the message 'Free Tory'. I have no idea who Chris Brown is, but I suppose this might be significant to someone. Purveyor of jungle music... "King of Hip Hop", beater of Rihanna
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[PUNCHNG] A civil society group, Prayer and Support for the Nigerian Armed Forces and other Security Agencies, has praised the military's bravery in the recent terrorist attack on a military base in Malam-Fatori, Borno State.
The PUNCH reported that the attack claimed the lives of at least five soldiers.
In a statement signed by its convener, Mary Fatile, on Thursday, the group described the Sunday night attack as a cowardly act of terrorism.
The group added that the incident was a grim reminder of the persistent threat posed by insurgent groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province.
[FoxNews] The top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts is threatening arrests for those who obstruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, calling recent interference in her state "disturbing."
The warning from Leah Foley, the U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, comes days after a tense video emerged of a crowd reacting to an ICE operation in Worcester.
"The interference with ICE operations around Massachusetts has been disturbing, to say the least. This conduct poses significant public and officer safety risks. It is conduct that should be vilified rather than glorified," Foley said in a statement.
"I will not stand idly by if any public official, public safety officer, organization or private citizen acts in a manner that criminally obstructs or impedes ICE operations. The United States Attorney’s Office, along with our federal partners, will investigate any violations of federal law and pursue charges that are warranted by such activity," she added.
[PUNCHNG] Suspected Gunmen have kidnapped a first-class traditional ruler, Oba James Dada Ogunyanda throwing the entire Yagba West Local Government Area into pandemonium.
The abduction of the monarch took place in the early hours of Thursday our correspondent gathered.
Speaking to our correspondent an eyewitness said, ''A group of heavily gunnies stormed the monarch's palace in Okoloke, a serene community in Yagba West Local Government Area, at around 2:00 a.m. The assailants overpowered palace guards and forcefully whisked the king away to an unknown location.''
The kidnappers have yet to make contact nor issued any ransom demands, deepening anxiety among residents, relatives, and members of the royal household.
The ugly development made concerned citizens gather around the palace, offering prayers and urging authorities to act quickly. The abduction has sent shockwaves across Okun land.
The Kogi State Police Command has confirmed the incident and announced that an investigation is underway. A joint task force comprising security personnel and local vigilantes has also begun a manhunt to locate and rescue the monarch.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] Trilateral talks with the participation of representatives of Russia, Ukraine and Turkey will be held in Istanbul on Friday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry reported.
"Tomorrow there will be another series of meetings in different formats. These are the United States, Ukraine, Turkey. Also on the agenda are trilateral talks between the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Turkey," TASS quotes a source from the Turkish Foreign Ministry as saying.
According to the source, it is not yet clear whether the meeting will take place in a four-party format with the participation of the United States, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the Turkish agency Anadolu wrote earlier that a meeting of delegations from Russia, Ukraine, the United States and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan could take place on Friday.
The talks in Istanbul were scheduled for May 15.
The Russian negotiating team, led by Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, has been in Istanbul since Thursday morning. The head of the Kiev regime, Volodymyr Zelensky, only announced in the afternoon that he would send a delegation to the talks, stating that its main goal was to achieve a ceasefire. The negotiators will be led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
Medinsky stressed that Russia sees the upcoming dialogue in Istanbul as a continuation of the peace process that was interrupted in 2022 by Ukraine. Moscow intends to achieve long-term peace and eliminate the main causes of the conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in March that he was ready to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, but for this to happen, a number of nuances must be taken into account. There are questions about who will monitor the ceasefire and whether the Ukrainian military is ready to follow Kiev's orders, he noted.
[RIA] Russia will be expecting the Ukrainian side, which is due to arrive for the meeting in Istanbul, tomorrow from 10 a.m., Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky told reporters.
"Tomorrow morning, literally from 10 am, we will be waiting for the Ukrainian side, which should arrive for the meeting," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously proposed that Ukraine resume direct talks without preconditions in Istanbul on May 15. The head of state did not rule out that the parties could reach a ceasefire agreement during the talks. As the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov stated, Russia is determined to seriously search for ways to achieve a long-term peaceful settlement. According to him, the goals of the proposed talks with Ukraine are to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and ensure Russia's interests.
An informed source told RIA Novosti that the negotiations between the delegations of the Russian Federation and Ukraine are expected to take place in the same place as in 2022 - in the working office of the administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the center of Istanbul.
The Russian delegation is headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. It also includes Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Galuzin, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Igor Kostyukov, and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.
According to the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov, the Russian delegation has been in Istanbul since the morning and is waiting for the representatives of Ukraine.
Medinsky said in Istanbul that the Russian official delegation was approved by Putin's order and has all the necessary competencies and powers to conduct negotiations. The Russian delegation is set on a constructive mood, on finding possible solutions and points of contact, and the task of direct negotiations with the Ukrainian side is to sooner or later establish long-term peace by eliminating the basic root causes of the conflict, Medinsky said.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The US Air Force will soon receive the world's first sixth-generation fighter jet, the F-47. This was announced on May 15 by US President Donald Trump.
Speaking to US troops at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the White House chief said he did not know why the plane was given that designation and called the fighter "incredible."
According to Trump, the United States is also considering the possibility of modernizing the fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet currently in service with the American army.
"I think we'll call it the F-55. It'll be a twin-engine airplane. I like twin engines. Sorry to say that. But it makes sense, right?" he added.
As reported by IA Regnum, on March 21, Trump said that the US has been testing the sixth-generation F-47 fighter jet for five years, which will be the "most lethal aircraft." According to him, stealth technology will make the new aircraft virtually invisible to radar.
The US President also announced the transfer of the contract for the development of the fighter under the NGAD (Next-Generation Air Dominance — F-47) program to Boeing, the development and production of the new product will cost at least 20 billion dollars. The cost of the aircraft themselves is expected to reach approximately 300 million dollars per product.
On March 24, the head of the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, Alexander Mikhailov, told the Regnum news agency that Trump's statements about the F-47 tests reflect more of a desire to get political PR than military-technical sense. According to the expert, the drawn multimedia flight of the sixth-generation fighter does not mean anything, since it would be worthwhile to first see such a fighter take off and demonstrate its aerobatics.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] As US President Donald Trump embarks on his first foreign tour of the Middle East, passions are running high in Israel. Tel Aviv is preparing for a “final strike” on the Gaza Strip, intending to finally defeat the Palestinian Hamas.
However, while the Israeli Prime Minister's office is choosing the directions for attacks, blows are being dealt to the image of Israel itself. And, paradoxically, they are being dealt by official Washington.
The policies of Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet do not find support from Trump. The White House increasingly pushes the Israelis aside, reducing their participation in the American Middle East party to symbolic, thereby cooling the ardor of Israeli "hawks".
CONTOURS OF A QUARREL
The first signs of a rift emerged back in April, when Trump, caught up in the “tariff wars,” refused to make concessions to Israel.
Even Tel Aviv’s promises to provide “absolutely favorable” treatment for American capital and to abolish import duties on goods from the States did not help.
Bilateral relations were also damaged by US attempts to conduct direct negotiations with Hamas without the participation of the Israelis in March and May 2025.
In the latter case, Washington even managed to push through the release of one of the hostages with American citizenship. Tel Aviv was among the last to learn about the deal.
In addition, Trump has at least several times categorically prohibited the Israelis from striking Iranian territory. It has also forbidden the hunting of Iranian military advisers in third countries, for fear that this would sink the American-Iranian peaceful nuclear negotiations.
And then the US even agreed to a truce with the Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthis, leaving official Tel Aviv alone with the problem.
Even the talks on the possible normalization of relations between the new Syrian regime and Israel within the framework of the Abraham Accords took place in Riyadh without the direct participation of the Israelis. Trump formulated and voiced the roadmap single-handedly.
This is in stark contrast to the model of interaction with another candidate for reconciliation, Saudi Arabia, where Washington's rhetoric and position were determined with an eye to Tel Aviv's interests.
The Israeli opposition press
…which is most of it, including the Times of Israel…
is eager to fuel rumors of a quarrel between the allies. The publications complain that Israel has "no other proven allies" and that the coalition government's desire to stick to its guns could damage the Jewish state's defense capability and international standing.
Others go even further and predict that Trump is preparing to recognize Palestinian statehood “purely to spite” the Israeli right.
DISSATISFIED OFFICERS
As expected, opposition forces have come into motion in the wake of the cooling in US-Israeli relations. First and foremost, the retired military men opposing Netanyahu – the so-called “generals’ opposition.”
They are trying to convert the West’s discontent into political points and draw Washington’s attention to the fact that there are still “forces capable of reaching an agreement” within the country.
For example, the public movement “Commanders for Israel’s Security,” which unites over 550 retired Israeli military personnel, intelligence officers, and diplomats, recently sent an open letter to the American president, calling on him “not to listen to Netanyahu’s statements.”
In addition, the former security officials stressed that “the time for diplomacy is long overdue” because “the war in Gaza no longer serves Israel’s national goals” and undermines its achievements.
Among those who signed the document were heavyweights Danny Yatom (former chief of Mossad intelligence) and former chief of the General Staff Matan Vilnai.
The main points of the open letter quite clearly illustrate the desire of the opposition parliamentary forces (as well as the security bloc as a whole) to shift responsibility for the possible failure in Gaza onto the prime minister’s office.
And to remove from the attack military figures (Yoav Galant, Benny Gantz and others) who participated in the development and implementation of Operation Iron Swords against Hamas, but due to disagreements with Netanyahu became his critics.
At the same time, the opposition in uniform is trying to present itself as a force that tried in every way to dissuade the government from the Palestinian adventure and even called on the world arbiters – Trump – for help.
In the long term, this will make it possible to play on the nationwide fatigue from the fighting in Gaza and greatly increase the ratings of opposition parties, opening the way for them to power.
NEW THROW
However, even simultaneous pressure from within and without, apparently, cannot shake the Prime Minister's office's confidence in a quick victory over Hamas. Netanyahu is preparing for a new "cobra strike" in Gaza, promising the final defeat of the Palestinian movement.
The Israeli hunt for Hamas leaders also shows that the stakes are higher than ever. For example, a few days before the announced offensive, Israeli aircraft carried out several strikes on the city of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip. The target of the attack was reportedly the underground headquarters of the movement's leader, Mohammed Sinwar, where a meeting of key Palestinian functionaries was taking place that day.
The Israeli leadership hoped to use a pinpoint attack to decapitate and demoralize the movement in the face of an imminent offensive.
It is especially noteworthy that the attack on Khan Yunis was carried out in violation of the behind-the-scenes agreements between Tel Aviv and Hamas on a “silence regime” during meetings in Doha and Cairo, which jeopardized the entire further negotiation process.
On the other hand, Netanyahu's plan is doubted even by his allies. The previous "last throws" and liquidations of key commanders (Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and others) led to nothing.
Almost of the Hamas leadership involved in 10/7 are now dead. Since Hamas is determined to continue to war — with intermittent hudnas — until Israel is finally conquered, the war will continue despite the objections of Bibi’s detractors and enemies, both external and internal, until either Israel is conquered or Hamas is gone. The question for the Israelis is whether Hamas will be evicted from Gaza or killed off.
Hamas has always quickly restored its combat capability
…no — Iran has historically restored Hamas’s combat capability via Egypt. But this time Israel controls the border between Gaza and Egypt…
and even managed to inflict economic and image damage on Tel Aviv and draw other Palestinian factions into the conflict.
The “final defeat of Hamas” announced by the authorities each time turned into a demonstration of inflated expectations, but was smoothed out thanks to Washington’s support.
Now, in the absence of clear support from the United States, it will be more difficult to hide the failure.
Trump will clearly not miss the chance to point out to his “younger brothers” their mistakes and incorrect assessment of their capabilities. And his attacks will be picked up and multiplied many times over by the opposition, for which the failure in Gaza will be an excellent chance to split the right-wing coalition.
And in this case, Netanyahu may well have to pay for his miscalculations with his seat as prime minister.
This assumes any of the other Israeli politicians is politically savvy enough pull together a viable coalition. That’s where they keep falling down on the job.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 21:06 Crew of the 152mm 2S19 Msta-S self-propelled gun of the Vostok group of forces destroyed artillery position of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the South Donetsk direction. 20:36 During the operation to liberate Mirolyubovka, assault units of the 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Center group, after a powerful artillery barrage and airstrikes on enemy fortifications broke through to enemy positions.
The enemy was forced to retreat, having suffered serious losses in manpower and equipment.
19:57 Servicemen of the 29th Guards Combined Arms Army of the "East" group of forces are smashing positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the settlement of Bogatyr in the South Donetsk direction.
18:53 Calculations of air cover for assault units of the "West" group using FPV drones destroyed three Baba Yaga-type attack drones of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
17:40 Units of the 5th Army of the "East" group of forces liberated the settlement of Volnoye Pole in the South Donetsk direction –MAP.
16:42 Ka-52M crew struck a command post and launch site for Ukrainian Armed Forces drones in the area of responsibility of the Center group of forces.
15:10 Crews of 152mm 2S19 self-propelled howitzers "Msta-S" and towed 152mm howitzers "Msta-B" of the "North" group destroyed UAV launch points, mortar crews and enemy manpower in the Khar'kov direction.
15:05 Destruction of the 142nd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine using FAB-1500 in the city of Pokrovsk, –video.
14:19 Sappers of the "Center" group of troops continue to destroy mines and unexploded ordnance in liberated settlements in the Krasnoarmeysk direction.
13:15 Servicemen of the assault units of the 67th Motorized Rifle Division of the 25th Combined Arms Army of the "West" group of forces participated in active offensive actions. After the liberation of Torskoye from Ukrainian formations, our assault troops installed flags of the Russian Federation in the settlement.
12:31 Summary of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of the special military operation as of May 15, 2025
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to conduct a special military operation.
Units of the North group of forces inflicted losses on concentrations of manpower and equipment of the mechanized, airborne assault brigades, two assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and two territorial defense brigades in the areas of the settlements of Ryzhevka, Atynskoye, Iskriskovshchina, Bunyakino, Belopolye and Bessalovka in the Sumy region.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost over 165 servicemen, three combat armored vehicles, 11 cars and six field artillery guns. Two electronic warfare stations were destroyed.
As a result of active actions by units of the West military group, the settlement of Torskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic was liberated.
Defeat was inflicted on formations of three mechanized, airmobile, assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a territorial defense brigade and a national guard brigade in the areas of the settlements of Podliman, Druzhelyubovka, Olgovka, Andreyevka, Kupyansk, Palamarevka, Nechvolodovka in the Khar'kov region and Raigorodok in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 240 servicemen, two armored combat vehicles, including a US-made M-113 armored personnel carrier, 11 vehicles, four artillery pieces, and three ammunition depots.
The units of the "Southern" group of troops occupied more advantageous lines and positions. They defeated the manpower and equipment of two mechanized and mountain assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Seversk, Fedorovka, Verolyubovka, Konstantinovka, Ivanopolye, Pleshcheyevka, Grigorovka and Chasov Yar of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The enemy lost up to 245 servicemen, a tank, five armored combat vehicles, including a US-made M-113 armored personnel carrier, eight cars, and five field artillery pieces. Two electronic warfare stations and an ammunition depot were destroyed.
The settlement of Novoaleksandrivka in the Donetsk People's Republic has been liberated by decisive actions of units of the "Center" group of forces.
The formations of the mechanized, assault, and ranger brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the naval infantry brigade were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Razino, Novoolenovka, Novaya Poltavka, Dimitrov and Petrovskoye of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The enemy's losses amounted to over 515 servicemen, six armored combat vehicles, 10 cars and three artillery pieces.
Units of the "East" group of forces continued to advance into the depths of the enemy's defense. They defeated the manpower and equipment of two mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a territorial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Bogatyr, Volnoye Pole of the Donetsk People's Republic, Temirovka, Chervone in the Zaporizhia region and Berezove in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost over 160 servicemen, three armored combat vehicles, four cars, two field artillery pieces and an electronic warfare station.
Units of the Dnepr group of forces defeated formations of two mechanized brigades, three coastal defense brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a naval infantry brigade and three territorial defense brigades in the areas of the settlements of Shcherbaki, Mala Tokmachka, Novodanilovka, Kamenskoye in the Zaporizhia region, Nikolaevka, Antonovka and Ponyatovka in the Kherson region.
Up to 75 servicemen, three vehicles, an artillery piece and an electronic warfare station were destroyed.
Operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the groups of troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation inflicted damage on infrastructure facilities of military airfields, ammunition depots, as well as temporary deployment points of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and foreign mercenaries in 149 districts.
The Black Sea Fleet destroyed an unmanned boat in the Black Sea.
Air defense systems shot down eight US-made JDAM guided aerial bombs and 169 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, the following have been destroyed:
662 aircraft,
283 helicopters,
57,275 unmanned aerial vehicles,
605 anti-aircraft missile systems,
23,339 tanks and other armored combat vehicles,
1,563 multiple launch rocket system combat vehicles,
24,911 field artillery pieces and mortars,
35,489 units of special military vehicles.
12:07 As a result of active actions by units of the West military group released settlements of Torskoye and Novoaleksandrivka of the Donetsk People's Republic.
10:56 In the border forest areas in the north of the Sumy district of the Ukrainian region of the same name, Russian intelligence attacked enemy dugout.
The coordinates were transmitted to the UAV operators for fire destruction, who destroyed the target with an anti-tank mine dropped from the copter.
10:18 Rubicon Center specialists continue to defeat unmanned aerial vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the special military operation.
09:27 Druzhkovskoye direction
Units of the South Group of Forces continue their offensive and have made significant progress north of Kalinovo.
The enemy positions north of Krutaya ravine were taken and units of the 20th Motorized Rifle Division reached Gnatovka and Zarya from the west.
Our units advanced into the plantings north of Alexandropol and northeast of Novoyelenovka (Novoolenovka) in the direction of Yablonovka (Yablonovka).
The battles for Pravdovka (Staraya Nikolaevka) and Romanovka continue
. 09:07 Tankers of the "Center" group destroyed Ukrainian Armed Forces positions in the Krasnoarmeysk direction
07:34 Changes to map over the past 24 hours:
Advance north of Novoyelenovka➡️
Mikhaylovka has been liberated
Expansion of the control zone in the village of Bogatyr
Adjustment of the control zone in our favor in the area of Popovka and Grafovka
Russian Armed Forces approached the Zarya settlement
Advance in the Shevchenko area
Control zone west of Novoyelenovka has been expanded
Advance between Kalinovo and Sukha Balka
Expansion of the control zone north of Kotlyarovka
07:09 During the past night, air defense systems on duty destroyed two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the airplane type over the territories of the Rostov and Belgorod regions.
06:05 The crews of the 152mm Giatsint-B guns of the Dnepr force group accuratelythey beaton objects of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The Muftiate and the Council of Chechens of Dagestan agreed to resolve the issue of demolishing the mosque in Leninaul according to Sharia norms. The requirement to build a mosque on the site of the demolished one was called not a norm of Islam, but simply a local tradition by Islamic scholars.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", in Leninaul, Kazbekovsky District, Dagestan, despite agreements with the authorities, a Chechen mosque built in the 19th century was demolished, village residents stated in a video message. The plot of land in Leninaul, where, according to representatives of the Chechen community, the 19th century mosque was located, was sold at auction to a representative of the Avar community, who transferred it for the construction of a mosque. The authorities did not find any documents in the archives about the ownership of this plot by the Chechens, the administration of the Kazbekovsky District stated. There are many unclear points in the story of the demolition of the mosque in Leninaul, but the decision to demolish it was hasty and provoked interethnic tension, commentators pointed out, drawing attention to the lack of reaction to the statement of the Chechen Accords from the Chechen authorities.
The problem that arose as a result of the demolition of the mosque in Leninaul will be resolved in accordance with Sharia norms, the head of the Public Council of Chechens of Dagestan, Arbi Batyrsultanov, told a correspondent for the “Caucasian Knot”.
"This is a mosque from the end of the 19th century. There are different dates, but the fact remains that the mosque was built before the revolution. Then, as old-timers of this area told me, the mosque was turned into a store by the Soviet authorities in 1926. It was reconstructed into a store. In 1944, we were expelled from there and when we returned home, the store continued to operate there. Then this building became a mosque again, people were able to perform prayers there again. Our people took part in auctions for a long time to buy this plot, but such conditions were created that they could not buy it out," he said.
The Aukhovsky district, where the Chechens-Akkintsy lived compactly, was liquidated in 1944 after Stalin's deportation of the Chechens and Ingush. In the northwestern part of the district's territory, the Novolaksky District was formed, this part was populated by Laks from the mountainous part of Dagestan, and the southeastern part of the district was transferred to the neighboring Kazbekovsky District together with the villages of Yurt-Aukh and Aktash-Aukh and populated by Avars from the neighboring village. Thirteen years later, in 1957, the Akkin Chechens, like the rest of the deported Vainakh peoples, were allowed to return to their historical homeland.
Recently, the Council of Chechens of Dagestan began to receive reports that the mosque was being destroyed.
"We went there with three people from our council. We had a two-hour conversation there with a representative of the Dagestan Muslim Spiritual Directorate and local authorities. The result of the meeting was that we agreed that the destruction of the mosque would be suspended, we would provide evidence that it was indeed a mosque, and we would make a final decision in the muftiate. But on the same day, after the night prayer, the mosque was completely demolished," he said.
We hope that a mosque will stand in the same place again. This mosque is a memory of those Chechens who were expelled from there and then returned
According to him, after the demolition of the mosque, there was a risk of conflict in the village. "A situation arose where we could lose control. However, we categorically called on everyone not to take steps that could disrupt our relations. And negotiations began again. Our council has a reconciliation committee, and they negotiated with the muftiate. A certain process was underway and yesterday evening a final decision was made that this issue would be considered and resolved in accordance with Sharia norms and laws. The truth will be established in this way. And we hope that a mosque will stand in the same place again. This mosque is a memory of those Chechens who were expelled from there and then returned," he emphasized.
Batyrsultanov also reported that the demolished mosque was not the only one in the village.
"There are two mosques in Leninaul, an old one and a relatively new one, built near this mosque that was demolished. All residents of Leninaul went to the demolished mosque without any distinction. By the way, there is a rule in Islam that if a mosque is destroyed, a new one should be built in its place. So there will be discussions for about a month and then a decision will be made," he said.
The Kazbekovsky District administration declined to provide additional comments.
Islamic scholars have called the demand to build a mosque on the site of a demolished one a tradition
The Islamic scholars interviewed by the “Caucasian Knot” are not familiar with the Islamic norm that requires the construction of a new mosque on the site of a demolished one.
"I have never encountered such an approach in Islamic literature in my practice. There is no such specific norm in Islam. But I believe that we are talking about a certain tradition that has developed over a long period of time in the places where they speak of this norm. Perhaps there were such traditions among the inhabitants of this territory that if a mosque is suddenly destroyed, then a new one is built in its place. Hence this interpretation," Leonid Syukiyainen, a professor at the Higher School of Economics and a specialist in comparative law and Islamic law, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
Wherever numerically significant Muslim communities live more or less compactly, their own traditions and customs are formed, which are passed down through generations, expanding the geography
According to him, such a tradition can be passed down from generation to generation and can expand its geography over time.
"Customs and traditions in Muslim societies are quite strong. What they say reflects these traditions. Wherever there are more or less compactly significant Muslim communities, their own traditions and customs are formed, which are passed on through generations, expanding the geography. This is a local tradition that they transmit," he explained.
An Islamic scholar and Caucasus expert who wished to remain anonymous confirmed that there is no such norm in Islam.
"I would say that this is a tradition, not a norm in Islam. I have not come across such a norm in Islam, according to which, if a mosque is destroyed, a new one must be built in its place. We are dealing with a tradition that has developed over the centuries," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
This tradition also has the following explanation, says the expert.
"In the 90s, in Dagestani villages they simply took various premises, for example, the management of a state farm, and made a mosque. It happened in different ways. In many regions, mosque buildings were not originally built for mosques. But in some cases, residents say that this is a very old mosque. And it is difficult to find sources that would answer the question of what kind of building it is. In any case, there is definitely no such norm, but there is a certain adat that residents of Leninaul refer to," he said.
[FoxNews] Joe Don Baker, the actor known for starring in "Walking Tall" and three James Bond movies, has died. He was 89.
Baker died on May 7, according to an obituary shared by his family on Tuesday. No cause of death was announced.
"Joe Don was a beacon of kindness and generosity," the obituary read. "His intellectual curiosity made him a voracious reader, inspiring a great love of nature and animals, particularly cats. Throughout his life, Joe Don touched many lives with his warmth and compassion, leaving an indelible mark on everyone fortunate enough to know him."
Born on Feb. 12, 1936, Baker spent his early years in Groesbeck, Texas, and attended North Texas State College. After graduating with a degree in business administration, he served in the U.S. Army for two years before moving to New York to pursue an acting career.
According to his obituary, Baker studied at the Actors Studio and launched his career in theater before moving to Los Angeles. He made his onscreen debut in a 1965 episode of the crime drama "Honey West" and his first foray into film was an appearance in 1967’s "Cool Hand Luke."
Baker went on to appear in dozens of TV shows and movies over his nearly five-decade career. He is best known for his starring role as Sheriff Buford Pusser in the hit 1973 crime thriller "Walking Tall." He also appeared as a character actor in three different James Bond movies, including 1987’s "The Living Daylights" starring Thomas Dalton, 1995’s "GoldenEye" and 1997’s "Tomorrow Never Dies" opposite Pierce Brosnan.
The actor had other notable roles in "Mitchell," "Charlie Varrick" "The Natural," "Fletch," "Mars Attacks!," "Reality Bites" and Martin Scorsese’s "Cape Fear" remake.
On the small screen, Baker starred as the titular NYPD detective on the crime thriller series "Eischeid" and made appearances on shows including "Gunsmoke," "Lancer," "Edge of Darkness," "Mission: Impossible" and "In the Heat of the Night."
Baker earned a BAFTA nomination for best actor for his performance in the British miniseries "Edge of Darkness." The actor made his final on-screen appearance in 2012's "Mud," starring Matthew McConaughey, before retiring that year.
According to his obituary, Baker was married for 11 years but did not have children. His obituary noted that the actor is "survived by relations in his native Groesbeck, who will forever cherish his memory. He is mourned by a small but very close circle of friends who will miss him eternally."
Romania has 24 hours to save the country from a Russian-backed kleptocrat seeking to reverse all the progress that brought them out of decades of brutal repression.
"Life in freedom or death! everyone shouts. Let's vote! Go Nicușor! Long live Romania!" pic.twitter.com/LpT4zh6cq2
Israel disagrees. Under the circumstances, Hamas would be wise, or at least prudent, to close the deal Israel demands as soon as possible, lest Israel make things even more uncomfortable kinetic in pursuit of their non-negotiable demands: all the hostages returned, including bodies; Hamas disarmed and expelled; peace, not ceasefire; and a new Gaza government that does not include the Palestinian Authority.
[GEO.TV] Paleostinian movement Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... on Thursday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of undermining mediation efforts for a hostage release and ceasefire deal by carrying out military operations 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... "War criminal Netanyahu undermines mediation efforts through deliberate military escalation, showing indifference to his captives, endangering their lives," Hamas said in a statement referring to hostages held in the Paleostinian territory.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2025
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[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Former FBI director James Comey is under investigation for implying President Donald Trump 'should be assassinated.'
Comey uploaded a cryptic picture on his Instagram account on Thursday afternoon, which featured an assortment of shells arranged to spell out: '86 47.'
That specific combination of numbers has been linked to the assassination of Trump and a 'quiet resistance.'
The number 86 is considered slang for 'to kill or murder' within some circles, in an apparent reference to a standard sized grave being eight feet long and six feet deep.
Trump is the 47th president, so some anti-Trump groups use the two numbers together to indicate that Trump should be assassinated.
Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem exploded at Comey on X within hours of the post, amid mounting fury from MAGA loyalists.
'Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey just called for the assassination of President Trump,' she wrote.
'DHS and Secret Service is investigating this threat and will respond appropriately.'
Comey swiftly deleted the Instagram photo, but not before it was seized upon and shared widely among right-wing X accounts.
Trump's son Don Jr. weighed in on Thursday, expressing shock over the post.
He wrote: Just James Comey causally [sic] calling for my dad to be murdered. This is who the Dem-Media worships. Demented!'
Trump ally and newly appointed FBI chief Kash Patel also addressed the scandal, writing: 'We are aware of the recent social media post by former FBI Director James Comey, directed at President Trump.
'We are in communication with the Secret Service and Director Curran. Primary jurisdiction is with SS on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support.'
Comey issued a statement on Thursday night insisting it was an honest mistake and he did not understand the connotations of the message.
'I posted a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,' he wrote.
'I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.'
If he were serious instead of lying through his teeth, he’d be dumber than a box of hair. Instead he’s trying to gaslight more than half the country while winking in solidarity at the other half. But it’s been that way for a while — remember when that rodeo cowboy in the Obama mask was arrested, while plays and books about successful plots to assassinate Republican presidents starting with George W. Bush have been applauded and awarded industry prizes?
#3
OK - Contrarian view here - 86'd has always meant "throw someone out", not off him. Comey has a right to say "throw Trump out of office" which is what anyone who isn't looking to be offended would think 86 means in this case. OTOH Comey IS a mega-putz.
#9
ref #3 above -I despise the guy for the Clinton BS on classified document handling. But I also think Comey felt 86'd was about getting rid of someone, not murder. It was common parlance in 80's and 90's as a euphemism for thrown out (usually from a bar or social setting for obnoxious or annoying behavior).
#10
Very strange that an adult would resort to junior high school type pranks.
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
05/16/2025 15:45
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#11
I understand that number sequence is a tag line for people who are making for real threats, and it isn't obscure it just isn't making the news of course, so this would be him signing onto that movement.
#12
#9 You might be right. But it is the perfect excuse for the Trump crowd to detain him and perhaps set him up for lying to a federal agent. If so I hope they are successful.
[Daily Mail, where America get its news] Both NATO and Russia scrambled warplanes in a dramatic clash above the Baltic after a major standoff over a tanker in Vladimir Putin's shadow fleet.
Estonian forces sought to board the 'Gabon-flagged' oil tanker Jaguar using a patrol vessel and helicopter, as well as a surveillance watercraft.
The Russian-bound ship is suspected of being used by Moscow as part of its shadow fleet to avoid international sanctions.
It was sanctioned by Britain on Friday.
NATO aircraft - including Polish MiG-29s - were scrambled as the vessel refused to cooperate.
Russia also deployed a Su-35S fighter jet which allegedly violated Estonian airspace as it sought to provide cover for the fleeing Jaguar.
In dramatic video, the plane belonging to NATO-member Poland was seen tailing the Russian Su-35 over the Gulf of Finland, which is part of the Baltic Sea.
In separate footage, a Russian voice on the bridge of the tanker accused the Estonians of being 'clowns' as they tried and failed to board the vessel.
The standoff comes as Putin was a no-show in Istanbul for peace talks with Ukraine on Thursday, prompting criticism that the Russian leader was not serious about ending the three-year-long conflict.
The tanker ultimately anchored near Gogland Island in the eastern Baltic Sea.
Footage shows the high drama in one of the most tense regions in the world amid disputes between Russia and NATO over Ukraine.
'This is how we're greeted with helicopters,' said a voice -apparently Russian - on the tanker.
'They're demanding we anchor.'
A message is heard saying: 'This is Estonian warship Papa 6732.
'Your request will be denied.
'Follow my instructions. Immediately change course to 105. Over.'
A voice from the tanker in Hindi says: 'That looks like our drone in front….'
A Russian voice demands: 'Go on, hit it running….'
Referring to the Estonians, he says: 'What a bunch of clowns!'
The Estonian vessel comes close to the tanker seeking to swerve it to the right.
An Estonian A139 helicopter and an M-28 Skytruck plane of the Estonian defence forces were then seen circling the vessel.
Boasting a success against the West, pro-Kremlin news outlet Izvestia reported: 'Despite this show of force, the Estonian authorities were unable to stop the vessel.
'The Jaguar ultimately reached Gogland Island …. a Russian-controlled territory in the Gulf [of Finland], and resumed its route to Primorsk'.
Russian outlet News-Pravda reported, 'Sailors from the Baltic Republic [Estonia] twice tried to land troops from a helicopter.'
After the extraordinary clash, NATO state Estonia summoned the Russian Chargé d'Affaires in Tallinn, Lenar Salimullin, who was handed a note of protest, accusing the Putin warplane of violating the republic's airspace.
‘From Estonia's point of view, this is a very serious and regrettable incident that is in no way unacceptable,' said Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna.
He demanded that Russia 'must face tougher, faster sanctions' .
The tanker had been near Naissaar Island, off Tallinn, when the Estonian Navy communicated with it by radio at 1530 GMT on Tuesday, said Commander Ivo Vark.
It was sailing 'without a nationality' and Estonia 'had an obligation to verify the vessel's documents and legal status', he said.
'The vessel denied cooperation and continued its journey toward Russia... given the vessel's lack of nationality, the use of force, including boarding the vessel, was deemed unnecessary.'
Estonia escorted it until the vessel reached Russian waters.
Estonia's Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said the ship was sent from Estonian to Russian territorial waters to prevent a threat to his country's critical infrastructure.
'The issue was the ship's flag state, and our most important goal was to ensure the security of critical infrastructure. This was achieved,' he claimed.
The 800-ft long Jaguar is a crude oil tanker reportedly sailing under the flag of Gabon.
The Equasis database suggested the ship changed its name and flag state at the beginning of February.
According to this data its name is now Argent and its flag state is Guinea-Bissau.
Putin uses a vast network of non-Russian tankers - called a shadow fleet - to avoid oil sanctions.
The stand-off over the Baltic Sea today come a day after satellite images emerged showing a build up of Russian forces just miles from the Finnish border, with evidence that Moscow has been establishing troop accommodation, aircraft infrastructure and other new facilities at key military bases.
Signs that Moscow is sending weapons and troops to the area come following claims, including from Finland's Prime Minister and German intelligence, that Putin is gearing up for a lengthy conflict with the West.
A Finnish government report cited in news outlet Iltalehti in December states that Helsinki considers an attack on Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Baltic states to be a possibility.
'Russia is strengthening its military presence and activities in its northwestern direction in all operational environments as quickly as possible,' the report warns.
NATO sources who spoke to the newspaper reportedly said that Moscow has been rehearsing an attack on the bloc's eastern flank and outlined a threat assessment of where could be targeted.
A coordinated attack involving a number of Russian units could simultaneously strike the Norwegian coast, Finland's south and Lapland region, the Swedish island of Gotland and even break into Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the sources are quoted as saying.
But experts have suggested that Putin is more likely to opt for small-scale attacks, designed to cause chaos within NATO as it would be forced to grapple over whether to honour its mutual defence pact or allow Russia to take territory to avoid a full-scale European war.
It also comes as Putin sent aides and deputy ministers to hold peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey today.
The Russian leader on Sunday proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky had said he would be waiting for the Kremlin leader.
But after keeping the world guessing for days about Putin's plans, the Kremlin late on Wednesday named a lower-level delegation that did not include the president and was described by Kyiv's European allies as a snub.
It was unclear how Ukraine - which has so far not publicly committed to send anyone to talks in Istanbul or to name a delegation - would respond.
Zelensky - who has said he will not speak to anyone on the Russian side except Putin - would make a decision about the talks after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan later on Thursday in Ankara.
There was confusion in Istanbul, where reporters were gathered near the Dolmabahce palace that the Russians had specified as the talks venue.
A Ukrainian official said there had been no agreement on when talks might begin.
Turkish officials have given no information on the time or location, but Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he hoped the talks would open a new chapter.
The Ukrainian leader had goaded Putin earlier this week by questioning if he was brave enough to show up.
The Kremlin says Putin - who is also under threat of even tighter European sanctions to 'suffocate' Russia's economy - does not respond to ultimatums.
Putin's initial proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kickstarted by US President Donald Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the devastating war swiftly.
The Trump administration in recent weeks indicated that it might walk away from the peace effort if there was no tangible progress soon.
Trump had pressed for Putin and Zelensky to meet in Istanbul but said Thursday he wasn't surprised that Putin was a no-show.
He brushed off Putin's decision to not take part in the talks.
'I didn't think it was possible for Putin to go if I'm not there,' Trump said during a roundtable in Doha, Qatar
The US and Western European leaders have threatened Russia with further sanctions if there is no progress in halting the fighting.
#4
If Estonians and Poles think they can interfere with shipping in international waters, what makes them any different from the Houthis?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/16/2025 12:57
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#5
Ah, er, arrrgh, that robust Russian repartee...
"Argent calling! All canines on hunt
For a bear, you are, every one, runt,
And political science
Demands your alliance
Be known from this moment as 'FRONT!'"
Too easy, maybe, for y'all, as ABEL a crew of acronym solvers as ever sailed the seven seas. Or at least the 4Cs. Though possibly not the CCCP's.
Secretary Pete Buttigieg was too busy working out the details of chest feeding his adopted child to do anything about the known problem, so it festered. Thank goodness the Trump administration is finally working on it, which means will gets lots more of these stories until the new system is slotted into place.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating how pilots flying into Denver International Airport temporarily lost contact with air traffic controllers on Monday.
The FAA told FOX Business that part of the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) experienced a loss of communications for approximately 90 seconds around 1:50 p.m. local time on Monday after both transmitters that cover a segment of airspace went down.
Sources told Denver7 that as many as 20 pilots were unable to speak with ATC. However, the FAA said the controllers used another frequency to relay instructions to pilots and that the aircraft remained safely separated. Controllers used another frequency to relay instructions to pilots, and there were no impacts to operations, the FAA added.
According to its website, the Denver ARTCC covers approximately 285,000 square miles of airspace over some or all of the following states: Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana.
The air traffic control system has been under immense pressure for years, given the persisting staffing shortages, outdated technology and underinvestment in critical infrastructure. These shortfalls have come into focus in recent weeks as New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport, the second-busiest airport in the New York airport system, had back-to-back outages within a two-week period, each lasting about 90 seconds.
Air traffic controllers at the FAA facility in Philadelphia lost radar and radio communications while directing planes to Newark at the end of April and for a second time in May. Air traffic controllers at the Philadelphia TRACON facility work on Newark arrivals and departures.
Aside from the longstanding issues with the air traffic control system, Newark's challenges have been further strained by ongoing construction at the airport, which leaves it temporarily operating with only one of two parallel runways.
In a previous statement to FOX Business, the FAA acknowledged that the "antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our workforce."
Following the first outage at Newark, the FAA began working to improve the reliability of operations at the airport, including accelerating technological and logistical improvements and increasing controller staffing.
It began slowing arrivals and departures at the airport to account for staffing and technology issues at the Philadelphia TRACON facility.
In the meantime, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and acting Administrator Chris Rocheleau announced a slew of initiatives to improve operations in Newark and build an all-new, state-of-the-art air traffic control system.
Among their objectives, Duffy and Rocheleau are looking to add three new high-bandwidth telecommunications connections between the New York-based STARS and Philadelphia TRACON, which they believe will improve speed, reliability and redundancy.
STARS is an FAA system that processes radar data for Newark and is based in New York. Telecommunications lines feed this data from New York to the Philadelphia TRACON.
Duffy projected that building an all-new, state-of-the-art air traffic control system will take three to four years.
#2
Very high paying government jobs go unfilled for a reason. Unlike many civilian job recruitment standards, Air Traffic Control standards cannot be significantly lowered to permit the recruitment of DEI hires. Therefore, government mandated DEI hiring percentages cannot be achieved.
The consequence appears to be a nationwide shortage of Air Traffic Control personnel. Some things can simply not be faked. Successful completion of the challenging Air Traffic Control school appears to be one of them.
#3
I wouldn't be surprised if those who couldn't cut it in ATC, but are still good enough DEI hires, get put in GTC, and the demographic audit is an umbrella Tower Personnel type category.
Or there's the hire who checks more boxes than a tic tac toe game, and xer is put on an important sounding station which is just a closed system computer which simulates something important, requiring input and the occasional alert,
"Captain, sensors indicate a shortage of blinker fluid in units 18 through 24 on runway 18, condition 8, which requires your notification and response."
"Very well Scarlet Shutterfly, transfer 4 mikes of fluid type B4 from units 25 and 27, enhance, and make notice if the temperature exceeds plus minus 2 degrees on the y axis. Fabulous work, you are a valuable member of this organization."
And everyone else is snickering like when Dad sends the 10 year old into the auto parts store for headlight lubricant.
#4
I wouldn't be surprised if those who couldn't cut it in ATC, but are still good enough DEI hires, get put in GTC, and the demographic audit is an umbrella Tower Personnel type category.
How would you like to be a member of our HR team? You can always attempt the course again at some future date.
#5
Hadn’t the previous administration flat out forbidden qualified wrong-category applicants even from being allowed to test? I seem to recall one of he first things the new secretary did was put out a call for those people to please reapply as soon as can be managed.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Federal Security Service showed a video recording of the detention of people who were preparing attacks, including on schools.
The FSB conducted raids in 81 regions. Six people, including one woman, were detained. Security forces conducted raids in private and apartment buildings.
Weapons, including firearms, components for making homemade bombs, and symbols of terrorist organizations were confiscated from the detainees. On one of the laptops, security forces found a video recording of a terrorist attack.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the FSB established that the detainees were involved in preparing armed attacks on educational institutions in Moscow and Tyumen. They were also involved in preparing violent actions in Kemerovo, Rostov-on-Don and Yoshkar-Ola.
[GEO.TV] Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 84 people, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as indirect ceasefire talks continue in Qatar.
At least 50 people were killed in Israeli attacks on northern Gaza, including in Jabalia refugee camp, since the early hours of Wednesday, according to medical sources.
[IsraelTimes] Army says man who raised funds for Hamas military operations killed in an airstrike last week
A Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... operative responsible for raising funds for the terror group’s military wing was killed in an Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... last week, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet announced Thursday, as the military pounded the Gazoo Strip with strikes it said hit numerous terror targets.
Paleostinian media reported that bombings had killed at least 115 Paleostinians, citing medical sources. The figures could not be independently verified and did not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The IDF said it had struck over 130 terror targets in the Strip over the past 48 hours. The targets included rocket launchers, cells of operatives, and buildings used by terror groups to plan attacks on forces, the military said.
Ground troops also killed several operatives and destroyed Hamas infrastructure in both northern and southern Gaza, the IDF added.
According to the military, fundraiser Jasser Hussein Ali Shamieh "was responsible for the transfer of tens of millions of dollars to Hamas’s military wing."
"These funds were used to build up the force of the military wing, pay Hamas terrorist salaries and fund the terror organization," the IDF said, adding that the money also "enabled the continuation of fighting and the sustainability of Hamas’s brigades in northern Gaza."
Shamieh himself previously served as a battalion commander in Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade, the military said.
In recent days, the IDF has been gearing up for a planned major offensive in the Gaza Strip, which officials said would be launched if no hostage deal is reached with Hamas by the end of US President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... ’s visit to the region on Friday.
Hamas said in a statement that Israel was making a "desperate attempt to negotiate under the cover of fire" as indirect ceasefire talks continue through Trump envoys and Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i and Egyptian mediators in Doha, Rooters reported.
Amir Selha, a 43-year-old Paleostinian from north Gaza, told AFP Thursday morning he heard "intense Israeli shelling all night."
"Tank shells are striking around the clock, and the area is packed with people and tents," he said.
He added that in the early morning, Israeli army drones dropped leaflets in his neighborhood, warning residents to move south. Most Gazooks have been displaced at least once during 19 months of war between Israel and Hamas.
Israel carried out the latest strikes on the day Paleostinians commemorate the "Nakba," or catastrophe, the Arabic term used for the exodus and expulsion of some 700,000 Paleostinians during Israel’s War of Independence against invading Arab armies in 1948.
With most of the 2.3 million people in Gaza
…or whatever the real number is — possibly as much as 1.5 million before 10/7, possibly a good deal less…
internally displaced, some residents of the tiny enclave say suffering is greater now than at that time.
“What we are experiencing now is even worse than the Nakba of 1948,” Ahmed Hamad, a Palestinian in Gaza City who has been displaced multiple times, told Reuters.
“The truth is, we live in a constant state of violence and displacement. Wherever we go, we face attacks. Death surrounds us everywhere.”
Your ruling government started a war. Until the war ends, your environment will be warlike. If you don’t like it, make your government return the hostages and surrender.
Palestinian health officials
…ie Hamas big turbans…
told Reuters the Israeli attacks had escalated since Trump started his visit on Tuesday to the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which many Palestinians had hoped he would use to push for a truce.
The latest strikes follow attacks on Gaza on Wednesday that killed at least 80 people, Hamas health officials claimed.
The IDF on Tuesday carried out a massive airstrike targeting an underground command compound below the European Hospital where Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Muhammad Sinwar, was believed to be sheltering. The IDF has since bombed the area several times, in an apparent attempt to prevent anyone from approaching the tunnel beneath the medical center. The IDF has not yet confirmed whether Sinwar, the younger brother of former Hamas leader and October 7 terror mastermind Yahya Sinwar, was killed in the strike.
[NAHARNET] Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... leader Samir Geagea ....Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005.... on Thursday pointed out that U.S. President Donald Trump ...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down... 's visit to Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... and the political steps decided ''prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is the right path leading to a Paleostinian state."
"After the (Axis of) Defiance advocates and those who claim to be a resistance -- through their actions, behavior and ideas -- transformed Israel into a giant in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia's policy has returned Israel to its normal size,'' Geagea added.
He added that he believes that "the current scene emanating from Saudi Arabia is the right path to resolving the region's problems, foremost among them the Paleostinian issue."
"The time of using the Paleostinian cause as a pretext and hiding behind it to control Arab capitals, overthrow regimes or replace one ruler with another is over,'' Geagea said.
''May the Defiance advocates in Leb ...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... learn from everything that is happening in the region at the present time, cease their transgressions and surrender their weapons to the state so that we may have a real and effective state that can begin the process of development and reconstruction, and so that Lebanon may return to its former glory, not only as the Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... of the East, but as a shining beacon of knowledge, culture, civilization and progress in the East and West alike," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2025
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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.
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...used to be called hookers, prostitutes, or whores. The 
..always the voice of sweet reason...
...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 
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
[TownHall] Imagine any business in America boasting in its annual report about killing hundreds of thousands of human beings. In addition to this bizarre self-congratulation, this same profiteer, which regularly touts its main mission of human elimination, annually celebrates being heavily funded by taxpayers to the tune of nearly a billion dollars. 
...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
[PUNCHNG] 
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
[X] Chris Brown, the American musician, was arrested on Thursday at The Lowry Hotel in Manchester for an alleged assault on a music producer using a tequila bottle at a London nightclub in February 2023.
[PUNCHNG] A civil society group, Prayer and Support for the Nigerian Armed Forces and other Security Agencies, has praised the military's bravery in the recent terrorist attack on a military base in 
The top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts is threatening arrests for those who obstruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, calling recent interference in her state "disturbing." 
[PUNCHNG] Suspected Gunmen have 
[Regnum] Trilateral talks with the participation of representatives of Russia, Ukraine and Turkey will be held in Istanbul on Friday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry reported.
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
