[IsraelTimes] An advance team of US military personnel and initial components necessary to operate the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) arrived in Israel yesterday, Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder says in a statement.
Additional US military personnel and THAAD battery components will continue to arrive in Israel over the coming days, Ryder says.
The air defense battery will be fully operational capable in the near future, but an exact timeline will not be discussed due to security concerns, Ryder adds.
“The deployment of the THAAD battery to Israel underscores the United States’ commitment to the defense of Israel and to defend Americans in Israel from any ballistic missile attacks by Iran,” he says.
#2
I've seen comments on "X" that unless Israel waits until after the US election to hit back at Iran then Biden will not give them support. That's why US help is only slowly flowing in, Hezb is being dealt with a bit first and all the rest of the strange jazz we have been seeing.
[KhaamaPress] British media reported on Monday that the UK government has decided to relocate hundreds of former Afghan commandos and their families who are eligible for resettlement. These individuals had previously been denied asylum by the former UK government.
The Sunday Times reported that around 500 members of the former Afghan special forces are eligible for resettlement in the UK, as they were on the British government’s payroll and effectively employed by them under British regulations.
According to the BBC, after the fall of the previous Afghan government, the asylum requests of about 2,000 former Afghan commandos, known as "Triple-S" units, were rejected for migration to the UK.
These units were formed, funded, and managed by the British government.
Luke Pollard, the parliamentary undersecretary at the British Ministry of Defence, told the House of Commons that a ministry review found that the UK government directly employed some of the Afghan commandos.
The previous Conservative government had told Parliament that the UK did not directly employ these forces. However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... Pollard confirmed on Monday that this information was incorrect. He said around 2,000 previously rejected asylum requests from Afghan commandos are now under reconsideration.
He added that 25% of the previously rejected applications have now been approved, and efforts are underway to relocate these individuals and their families to the UK.
Pollard also emphasized that the previous government did not reject the Afghan commandos’ requests out of ill intent but rather due to a lack of timely access to proper information and records about these forces.
However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... Pollard clarified that the review of applications does not guarantee that all members of the Triple-S units will be eligible for resettlement, as some applications are still under review.
A joint investigation by The Independent, Lighthouse Reports, and Sky News revealed that dozens of former Afghan commandos who closely collaborated with British forces were tortured, and some were killed after the fall of Kabul.
The decision to reconsider asylum requests marks a significant shift in the UK government’s approach to Afghan commandos. While many have been approved for resettlement, the process remains complex, with some applications still under review.
The situation underscores the dire circumstances faced by these former allies and the urgent need for international assistance.
#2
I guess they were hoping they would all die first.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
10/16/2024 8:13
Comments ||
Top||
#3
No muslim migration means nonto this, too
See how foreign wars contaminate everything?
Resettle in a Muslim country there are 56 to choose from, try indonesia or near-by Pakistan
[KhaamaPress] Pak customs officials have reported the seizure of a cache of U.S.-origin weapons left behind in Afghanistan at the Torkham border.
On Tuesday, October 15, Pak media outlet News International reported that Muhammad Umar Jan, head of Torkham Customs, revealed in a presser that officials intercepted a coal truck from Afghanistan after receiving credible intelligence.
According to officials, the vehicle was carrying 15 M4 rifles, 170 magazines, and over 5,100 rounds of ammunition. The estimated value of these weapons is 35 million Pak rupees, equivalent to more than $126,000.
Pak customs authorities have also released images of the seized weapons. The discovery adds to growing concerns about cross-border arms trafficking.
MediaLine further reported that Pak officials suspect these weapons were meant to be delivered to groups, including the Tehrik-e-Taliban ...Arabic for students... Pakistain (TTP). Authorities have detained the driver and an accomplice, and they have been moved to an undisclosed location for interrogation.
A Pak customs official told MediaLine that the seized arsenal included assault rifles, pistols, night-vision equipment, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and other modern weaponry.
This significant weapons seizure occurred just one day before Islamabad’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference.
It was described as a major anti-terrorism operation. Past incidents have also involved the capture of U.S. weapons from Pak Talibs, raising concerns about the use of leftover American arms from Afghanistan in attacks on Pakistain.
It is worth mentioning that a year after the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... member countries had handed over $7.2 billion worth of weapons and military equipment to Afghanistan’s security institutions during their mission.
The cross-border smuggling of U.S.-made weapons from Afghanistan to Pakistain continues to be a significant concern for Pak authorities. Despite Taliban assurances of no threats to neighboring countries, such incidents highlight the security risks posed by the leftover military equipment in the region, with Death Eater groups exploiting these resources for violent mostly peaceful activities.
[ToloNews] The Ministry of Interior has dismissed the claims made by Pakistani officials regarding arms smuggling from Afghanistan to Pakistan, saying that the weapons that entered Pakistan through Torkham are not linked to the Islamic Emirate.
Abdul Mateen Qani, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, told TOLOnews that the weapons under the control of the Islamic Emirate’s security and defense forces are secure and kept in storage facilities.
"The incident involving arms smuggling allegedly through Torkham to the neighboring country is not related to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The weapons held by the Islamic Emirate's security and defense forces are completely secure and stored in national depots, with no unauthorized access," he said.
Qani further noted that arms smuggling exists in all countries and it is possible that such weapons are purchased in black markets in other countries and then smuggled elsewhere.
Earlier, some Pakistani customs officials had claimed that a portion of American weapons and ammunition left behind in Afghanistan, worth over $126,000, had been discovered and confiscated at Torkham.
A Pakistani media report quoting a customs intelligence official of the country, wrote: “The confiscated arsenal includes M4 high assault rifles, magazines, pistols, night vision instruments, and other modern weapons including thousands of rounds.”
[KhaamaPress] According to findings from Politico, Spiegel, and other media outlets, Afghan and Syrian refugees in Ottoman Turkish deportation centers have been subjected to abuse and mistreatment. Just preparing them for the Islamic Love and Tenderness™ they'll receive back home
These reports indicate that while the centers were funded by the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , European officials have ignored the poor conditions within them.
The media findings reveal that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... , using resources and equipment provided by the European Union, has deported hundreds of thousands of Afghan and Syrian refugees.
At least €213 million from the EU budget was spent to construct and renovate 30 deportation centers in Turkey. Refugees in these centers face overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, abuse, and torture.
Many Afghan and Syrian refugees are reportedly forced, often violent mostly peacefully, to sign documents for their "voluntary" return.
Refugees have reported being beaten and held in freezing rooms for up to 12 hours. They also claim that Ottoman Turkish authorities have ignored their basic human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... Investigations show that these refugees have little to no access to legal counsel or contact with their families.
Despite widespread evidence of human rights violations in Ottoman Turkish deportation centers, senior European Union officials have repeatedly overlooked these issues.
The situation for Afghan refugees in Turkey is dire, with reports of torture, harassment, and serious human rights abuses adding to their struggles.
Amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, these refugees face an uncertain future, lacking proper protection and enduring harsh treatment in Ottoman Turkish detention facilities.
[Garowe] The al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... group lost several strategic villages in central regions on Monday, military officials said, noting the progress made in securing several frontlines and districts from the bad boys, who are fighting to topple the government.
Sweeping operations conducted by the Somali National Army (SNA) with backing from Maawisley militia helped secure the villages, officials said, adding that the government troops will remain in the region to protect innocent civilians.
Reports from military sources indicate that the force took control of villages in the area and pushed away al-Shabaab bad boys. The bandidosDeath Eaters fled towards parts of the Harardhere district, where they have frequently attacked innocent civilians.
The operations took place in the areas of Barag Hurdaye, Gal Dhagaweyne, and Tawar Mooge villages in the Mudug region, reports indicate. This was the first major victory by the forces while working with the militia after the joint operations were momentarily halted.
Since June 2024, the teams have jointly recaptured several towns and villages in central Somalia, further reaffirming the successes on the battlefields. The joint operations were activated by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who had declared total war against al-Shabaab.
There is active repatriation of locals displaced by the bad boys, with the military also extending Amnesty to those willing to defect from the group. al-Shabaab has lost several fighters in the process since the operations against them kicked off in 2022.
[Garowe] Senior US officials are weary of the conflict between Somalia and Æthiopia over access to the Red Sea, which has preoccupied Mogadishu for the last nine months after Addis Ababa made its occupation intentions public.
Æthiopia has signed a deal with Somaliland ...Republic of Somaliland is an unrecognised sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as a de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden with approximately 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic. Under the Siad Barre regime, Somaliadestroyed ninety percent of Hargeisa Per international law, once you're in, you gotta stay in, no matter how bad it smells.... , a breakaway region of Somalia, which if implemented, would see it getting 20 kilometers of the Red Sea for construction of a military base and port in exchange for recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state.
The move has angered Somalia, which accuses Æthiopia of annexation plans and infringement of its territorial integrity and illusory sovereignty. Consequently, Somalia has signed a military agreement with Egypt, further worsening tensions in the Horn of Africa.
And U.S. officials and their Western allies worry Somalia is so preoccupied with its quarrel with Æthiopia that it has allowed al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... to regain territory and momentum it had lost. Before this conflict, the government of Somalia had declared total war against al-Shabaab bad boys.
Within two years, significant progress was recorded in central and southern regions, where the group lost traditional bases after military operations. Thousands of the gunnies were killed while others voluntarily surrendered to the government.
Further, the government of Somalia was able to identify various sources of al-Shabaab income, blocking quite much of what suffocated the group’s ability to operate. Such gains now risk suffering huge fate, following the emerging conflict in the region, officials in the State Department said.
Egypt—furious over a giant Grand Renaissance Dam Æthiopia built on the Blue Nile—has joined Somalia’s camp and last month delivered a shipload of artillery and antitank weapons to Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital.
The U.S., which has 450 commandos and other defense personnel stationed in Somalia to advise local troops Danab fighting al-Shabaab and Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... , is concerned that the entry of Egypt would further complicate the fight against al-Shabaab, Wallstreet Journal reports.
Somalia maintains that Egypt will take charge of the new mission dubbed the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Support and Stabilization Mission (AUSSOM) which is set to replace the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) within the next three months.
Æthiopia has traditionally helped in peacekeeping missions in Somalia and its troops are credited for the liberation of many strategic towns across the country. But Somalia says it is fed up with Æthiopia, insisting that it remains 'unwelcome' in the peacekeeping mission.
There is a divided option over Egypt's increasing involvement in Somalia's tussles with Æthiopia. Uganda, one of the countries whose support towards fighting al-Shabaab remains invaluable, questioned the intentions of Cairo, given its long absence from the Stabilization teams.
Somalia has reduced operations against al-Shabaab, with the US now saying the conflict with Æthiopia is partly to blame. For instance, the second phase of operations against al-Shabaab in southern regions was halted under unknown circumstances despite earlier plans.
The al-Shabaab has been waging attacks recently, targeting various military installations across Somalia. Over the weekend, the group targeted one of the bases under the command of the Æthiopian National Defense Forces.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had previously noted the negative impact of Æthiopia's desires to expand territory and exert influence in the Horn of Africa, admitting that such plans would trigger the resurgence of the al-Shabaab group, which had lost ground.
[ShabelleMedia] In a fierce nighttime engagement on the outskirts of Wajid district, in Somalia’s Bakool region, government forces successfully repelled an assault by al-Shabaab ... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia attempting to metastasize into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and similar places, all ofwhich have enough problems without them... bad boys, maintaining control over the contested area.
The conflict erupted after al-Shabaab initiated the attack with artillery fire targeting the 60th Division base of the Somali army, leading to a direct confrontation.
Although the battle’s darkness and the ongoing nature of the operations obscure the full extent of casualties, Somali military officials confirmed they thwarted the bad boys’ advance, with the strategic sites remaining under government control.
Following the clash, the military presence in Wajid has been intensified, with troops conducting extensive sweeps for any remaining al-Shabaab fighters who participated in the assault. The situation as of now is reported to be stable, with no further festivities reported.
[Rudaw] At least four suspected Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) members, including an "important leader," were killed in an Iraqi Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... in Kirkuk province, the army said on Tuesday, with Baghdad tightening the noose around jihadist remnants in the country.
"The brave Air Falcons carried out two successful airstrikes by F-16 aircraft at 1:30 am last night in the Laylan area within the Kirkuk Operations Command sector," the army’s Security Media Cell said in a statement.
The bodies of four suspected ISIS hard boys, including an "important leader," were found by Iraqi counterterrorism forces at 5:00 am upon arriving at the site, the cell added.
"The operation also resulted in the destruction of weapons, communications devices, and logistical materials, and the search process is still ongoing," according to the army.
The strike in territories disputed between the federal Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is the latest in an ongoing effort to rid the country of ISIS cells, in areas where a security vacuum allows them to operate. Despite its territorial defeat, ISIS has continued to pose security threats in Iraq through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, particularly in the disputed territories that stretch across several provinces including Diyala, Salahaddin, Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... and Nineveh.
Last week, an Iraqi airstrike in disputed territories in Salahaddin province killed at least six ISIS members.
In late August, a joint operation by the Iraqi army and US forces in the western Anbar province killed 16 ISIS hard boys, and the US military later said that the operation killed four ISIS leaders.
Earlier this month, the Iraqi army announced that over 100 ISIS members have been killed since the beginning of the year.
[IsraelTimes] After Oct. 7, Iranians shifted focus from US and UAE, as half their assaults in war’s first 9 months targeted Israeli firms; Tehran also ran social media influence campaigns
Israel has become the top target of Iranian cyber attacks since the start of 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... war last year, while Tehran had focused primarily on the United States before the conflict, Microsoft said Tuesday.
"Following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... war, 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... surged its cyber, influence, and cyber-enabled influence operations against Israel," Microsoft said in an annual report, referring to the massive Hamas attack on Israel that opened the conflict.
"From October 7, 2023, to July 2024, nearly half of the Iranian operations Microsoft observed targeted Israeli companies," said the Microsoft Digital Defense Report.
From July to October 2023, only 10 percent of Iranian cyber attacks had targeted Israel, while 35% aimed at American entities and 20% at the United Arab Emirates, according to the US software giant.
Since the war started, Iran has launched numerous social media operations with the aim of destabilizing Israel.
"Within two days of Hamas’s attack on Israel, Iran stood up several new influence operations," Microsoft said.
An account called "Tears of War" impersonated Israeli activists critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of a crisis over scores of hostages taken by Hamas, according to the report.
An account called "KarMa," created by an Iranian intelligence unit, claimed to represent Israelis calling for Netanyahu’s resignation.
Iran also began impersonating partners after the war started, Microsoft said.
Iranian services created a Telegram account using the logo of the military wing of Hamas to spread false messages about the hostages in Gaza and threaten Israelis, Microsoft said. It was not clear if Iran acted with Hamas’s consent, it added.
"Iranian groups also expanded their cyber-enabled influence operations beyond Israel, with a focus on undermining international political, military, and economic support for Israel’s military operations," the report said.
In June, Israel’s cyber defense chief Gaby Portnoy warned that Iranian cyber aggression is "an international problem, not only an Israeli one, and therefore the solution needs to be international."
Portnoy called for a joint international front not only in defense, but also for building a deterrence, and "charging together a price from Iran for the world damage they cause."
The following month, the Israel Defense Forces reported that its cloud computing network had faced over three billion attacks since the war started.
Last month, several digital security experts told The Times of Israel that even if a ceasefire is reached in the war, Iranian cyber attacks will likely continue.
The fighting in Gaza has also brought the yearslong shadow war between Israel and Iran onto the open battlefield. Iran has launched two barrages of rockets directly at Israel as it battles against Iran’s proxy, the Hezbollah terror group in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... . The day after the Hamas attack, Hezbollah began attacking along Israel’s northern border.
[IsraelTimes] The Arab American Political Action Committee says it will not endorse Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican former President Donald Trump in the upcoming election, citing what it calls their “blind support” for Israel.
The November 5 election will mark the first time AAPAC has chosen not to endorse a candidate since the group’s 1998 inception. It usually endorses Democrats.
“Both candidates have endorsed genocide in Gaza and war in Lebanon,” AAPAC says in a statement. “We simply cannot give our votes to either Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump, who blindly support the criminal Israeli government.”
#5
there are a fair number of pro Israel Arab Christians and even Arab Muslims in the the USA but they are intimidated because the other side is vicious
also a very large number of anti Mullah muslims in the USA, perhaps over 400k in the Los Angeles area, where they sometimes call themselves Tehrangeles
They are also intimidated because the regime has kidnapped and/or killed a few of them
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
10/16/2024 15:27
Comments ||
Top||
[IsraelTimes] Israeli authorities arrest and charge eight terror operatives accused of involvement in the incident, as well as an East Jerusalem resident who allegedly transported the bomber
An attempted suicide kaboom attack in Tel Aviv several months ago was planned and carried out under the supervision of the Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... terror group’s headquarters in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... , the Shin Bet and Israel Police said on Tuesday.
In a joint statement, the two agencies said they arrested and charged eight people accused of planning and carrying out the attack, as well as another person accused of transporting the jacket wallah from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.
The incident, which took place August 18, saw a man walk down a street in south Tel Aviv wearing a backpack holding a bomb, which then went kaboom!, killing the terrorist instantly and moderately wounding a passerby.
If the bomb had not gone off outdoors, authorities said at the time, "it would have caused vast damage and multiple casualties."
According to a statement from police and the Shin Bet, the attempted attack was carried out by Jaafar Muna, a Hamas operative from the West Bank city of Nablus.
He worked together with other terror operatives there, who maintained contact throughout the planning process with Abada Bilal, a bigwig at Hamas headquarters in Turkey, who directed the operation, the statement said.
One of the operatives traveled several times to Turkey, receiving funding and explosives training from Hamas members there, the investigation revealed.
Over the course of the investigation, carried out in cooperation with the Central Investigations Unit of the Tel Aviv District Police, Shin Bet agents seized two ready-to-use TATP
…also known as Mother of Satan, whether because it is so volatile it often explodes spontaneously while being mixed up in the bathtub of your mother, or because it is so powerful…
bombs weighing about 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds), as well as about 4 kilograms of TATP meant for additional attacks inside Israeli territory.
Hamas has called for a renewal of suicide kabooms, a tactic that killed hundreds of Israelis during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s but has become rare in the decades since following the construction of a security barrier around the West Bank.
The security agency also seized some NIS 111,000 ($29,600) that had been transferred from Hamas’s headquarters in Turkey.
According to the statement, military prosecutors were set to file an indictment on terrorism charges on Tuesday against eight people accused of involvement in the attack.
Another person — a resident of Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem — has also been indicted. It was not immediately clear whether he is an Israeli citizen. According to Channel 12, some of the people charged in connection with the attack were Arab Israelis; the others were Paleostinians.
The announcement shines a spotlight on Hamas’s operations in Turkey, which has been an outspoken supporter of the terror group since its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, when snuffies killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages, starting the ongoing war.
"The findings of this investigation clearly indicate the establishment of Hamas headquarters in Turkey and their extensive efforts abroad to incite violence and carry out bombings in Israel," the Shin Bet and Israel Police said in their statement Tuesday.
Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... ’s embrace of Hamas, and his frequent comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler ...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days, sometimes every few hour if it's an election year, as a politician somebody doesn't like... , have worsened already fraught relations between Israel and Turkey, which were once cordial allies.
[IsraelTimes] Volunteer medic shoots attacker dead; doctor who stopped to help wounded is also injured; Ben Gvir says private gun ownership helped prevent worse attack
A policeman was killed and four people were maimed when a terrorist opened fire along the Route 4 highway north of the coastal city of Ashdod Tuesday.
The victim was identified as First Sgt. Adir Kadosh, 33. He was critically maimed in the attack, and died of his injuries on the way to the hospital, medical officials and police said.
Reports in Hebrew and Arabic media identified the terrorist as 28-year-old Muhammad Dardouna, who entered Israel illegally from the West Bank. According to the reports, Dardouna was originally from Jabaliya, 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, but resided in the West Bank after moving there several years ago.
Assuta Medical Center said it was treating an individual who was moderately hurt by pieces of his car window that were shattered by gunfire, and two others who were lightly hurt, including a doctor who stopped his car to treat the injured and was hit by another car.
Another injured person was taken to Kaplan Medical Center.
An initial probe found that Dardouna approached the road by foot, police said. Citing the Central District Police Commander, Channel 12 reported that he approached the police car stationed at the side of the road after the officers noticed him walking and called him over for a security check.
He then fired at Kadosh and injured the additional four people before he was shot by a Magen David Adom ambulance service volunteer who happened to be at the scene.
"I was driving and I saw a person with a gun standing on the road," the volunteer told the Kan public broadcaster. "At first I thought it was a policeman, and then he fired a few shots at me. I ducked, and immediately after that I jumped out of my car, drew my gun, and shot him."
The road was reopened after traffic was temporarily halted immediately after the attack.
An eyewitness to the attack told Channel 12 that he was driving when he saw the attacker spray bullets in every direction.
"I began to flee. I didn’t understand what was going on. Suddenly, someone got out of their vehicle and fired at him," the witness said.
In a statement, the Israel Police said Kadosh was supposed to be getting married in November.
He joined the Israel Police in 2013, after completing his military service in the Border Police and served in the traffic division since 2022. He is survived by his parents and two siblings.
In a post on Instagram, Israeli model and influencer Nataly Dadon shared that she was supposed to have officiated Kadosh’s marriage to his partner Edi Levy.
"Less than a month ago, we were sitting in the living room writing points for the vows," she wrote. "how we waited for this, how excited I was with both of you."
The Aguda-The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel sent condolences to Levy, and said that Kadosh was "a person loved by all who knew him."
The incident is the latest in a string of deadly deadly attacks as Jewish Israelis mark the High Holidays.
Last Wednesday, a man was killed in a terror-stabbing rampage in Hadera.
Days earlier, Sgt. Shira Suslik, 19, a Border Police officer, was killed by a gunman at the central bus station in Beersheba. Ten other people were maimed in the attack.
Earlier this month, seven people were killed and at least eight were maimed in a shooting and stabbing attack in Jaffa, one of the deadliest terror attacks in Israel in recent years.
In a statement, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s office said a greater disaster was averted on Tuesday due to the minister’s easing of private gun ownership restrictions, adding that the civilian who shot the attacker had received his private gun three months earlier.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF, Israel Police and Shin Bet issue a joint statement saying they have thwarted a pair of terror attacks in the West Bank.
In one incident, a suspect with a pistol and a rifle was arrested near the northern West Bank settlement of Reihan.
In the second, Israeli forces operating in the Palestinian city of Jenin exchanged fire with a suspect who the army says was planning on carrying out an imminent terror attack.
No Israeli troops were injured in either incident, the army adds.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] California cops who have trialed Teslas ahead of the state's ban on gas and diesel vehicles have revealed they are 'nearly unusable' for police departments.
Gov. Gavin Newsom mandated in September 2020 that all vehicles sold in California be zero emission by 2035.
Since then, a number of local municipalities have implemented their own goals to convert their fleet of gas-powered cars to electric vehicles.
But the police chiefs who have purchased Teslas say the design of the cars is detrimental to police operations.
Among the California police departments that have tried using Teslas was the Ukiah Police Department, the largest municipal police force in Mendocino County.
There, Police Chief Cedrick Crook requested the City Council approve the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, which is the company's sedan, on August 7, 2024.
That purchase totaled nearly $150,000 between the cost of the cars and $35,000 in modifications to make the Teslas patrol-ready, Crook told the San Francisco Gate.
He said the vehicles needed the standard emergency lights, sirens, radio, antenna, push bar, partition and gun rack, but the Teslas also needed to be upgraded with ballistic panels to toughen it up for the streets.
The problem is that there is only one modification shop for Teslas in the state: Unplugged Performance in Hawthorne, which is about 500 miles south of Ukiah.
Store employees said it would take months to make all the modifications necessary to make the vehicles patrol-ready.
Adding to the issues with the cars, only two Tesla Supercharger stations have been installed in the city over the past two years. It remains unclear how officers would be charging the electric vehicles, Crook said.
He noted that police are often required to transport suspects, witnesses or victims to trials or court dates, which could be far away, and if detectives were driving a Tesla, Crook said they would have to spend time at an unsecured public charging station while protecting the person.
Police Chief Cedrick Crook requested the City Council approve the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, which is the company's sedan, on August 7, 2024
Hey Pete, how about a media release?
[FoxWeather] Within hours of Helene's passage, Norfolk Southern crews swiftly mobilized along the hardest-hit areas along their Salisbury-Morristown line which suffered extensive damage. Over 21,000 feet of track were washed out, and thousands more were damaged by scour, fill failures and slides. Multiple bridges were also damaged.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/16/2024 17:30
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Pete won't be there in months.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/16/2024 18:51
Comments ||
Top||
#3
I understand he is busy with a trip to Ibiza to discuss trains, and look into whether the Baltimore Bridge Collision was the result of a bad Dutch Rudder.
#2
Precise really doesn't work in convincing people to alter their behavior. Bombing the *&^% out of Germany and Japan turned two countries with a long history of militarism into the least nations seeking solutions by conflict.
[Forbes] For at least the sixth time in eight months, Russian troops gathered out in the open for training or inspection within range of Ukraine’s American-made artillery rockets. And for at least the sixth time in eight months, Ukrainian batteries hit the assembled Russians with rockets packed with hundreds of grenade-sized submunitions—inflicting terrible carnage.
The most recent strike apparently took place this week, at an outdoor gun range in Zaporizhzhia Oblast in southern Ukraine. A Ukrainian surveillance drone observed around 15 Russian soldiers practicing with their weapons—and passed along the coordinates to elements of the 27th Rocket Artillery Brigade, the Ukrainian army's sole unit operating American-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems launchers.
The wheeled HIMARS opened fire with at least one M30/31 rocket packing 400 grenade-sized bomblets. The first rocket scored a direct hit. The drone observed at least one bomblet exploding directly where a Russian trainee was standing. The death toll could be catastrophic for the targeted unit.
"Cluster munitions are prohibited for those nations that ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted in Dublin, Ireland, in May 2008. The Convention entered into force and became binding international law upon ratifying states on 1 August 2010"
[AmricanThinker] A recent report shows that the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump were facilitated by unacceptable misconduct and unprofessional behavior by employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Secret Service (USSS) stemming from deep-seated politicization within these agencies.
The increasing politicization of the U.S. government and its institutions has become a pressing concern in many media. Conservative pundits have been sounding the alarm about that issue since at least 2016, when the FBI plot against Donald Trump was initially dismissed as a conspiracy theory. Now, after it became clear that the Democrat party has weaponized the Department of Justice to destroy Trump’s presidential campaign, it turned out the "conspirators" were telling nothing but truth.
New information released by Empower Oversight (EO), a respected American civil rights watchdog, proves that the FBI high ranking employees became way too supportive of the Democrat party. A September 19 letter from EO president Tristan Leavitt to Jim Jordan, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, exposes mistreatment, and even the firing of agents because of their conservative political views.
WHAT IS THE LETTER ABOUT?
It is a real story of a certain Marcus Allen, a highly professional and decorated FBI employee, who had his security clearance suspended and was later fired because of his conservative stance and doubts about whether the bureau acted properly during the Black Lives Matter and January 6 incidents.
WHO ENABLED THE MISCONDUCT TO HAPPEN?
According to the EO investigation, a dramatic change in the FBI leadership back in 2021 allowed some agents, specifically those with pro-Democrat sentiments, to experience a skyrocketing growth in their career. The letter reads that unnamed witnesses describe these agents as deeply anti-conservative. One of them, a certain Jeffrey Veltri, previously the Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) of the New Orleans field office, was later promoted to the Section Chief of Security Integrity and Investigation Section (SIIS). Another employee, Dena Perkins, serving as Assistant Section Chief of SIIS from 2018, worked together with Veltri and reportedly played a significant role in Allen’s case.
MR. ALLEN’S CASE IN DETAIL
On September 29, 2021, Mr. Allen made protected whistleblower disclosures about the FBI’s alleged misconduct in connection with the January 6 incident; when Mr. Veltri learned about it, he launched an investigation to affect Mr. Allen’s security clearance. Witnesses claim the whole process was retaliatory to punish the employee for his political views. Moreover, the paperwork was done with severe violation of the chain of command, the Law and the U.S. Constitution.
Besides, Mr. Veltri’s investigators learned that Mr. Allen refused to take a then-mandatory COVID jab. Even though mandatory vaccination was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in late January 2022, Mr. Allen’s refusal turned into "extremist and potentially dangerous behavior" in a report on his political preferences, which is absolutely baseless and incorrect.
As ASC of SIIS, Perkins put a lot of effort to hinder transparency when investigating the FBI’s own personnel. Moreover, the Insider Threat Office initially found no threat in Allen’s activity, but sometime between November and December 2021 that report was altered and projected as a threat because of his stance on the FBI’s actions and the U.S. administration.
All these actions taken by Veltri and Perkins led to Allen’s clearance suspension. Later in 2022, Mr. Allen was fired because he was (falsely) accused of disloyalty to the United States.
THE ’TRUMP QUESTIONNAIRE’
The Empower Oversight investigation sheds light on numerous facts of retaliation measures taken against FBI agents by mid-tier and top-tier leadership. It also contradicts testimonies made by the bureau’s director, Christopher Wray, in Congress about alleged abuse and retaliation policies based on employees’ political views. It was also disclosed that a so-called "Trump questionnaire" actually existed and was widely used to determine loyalty of personnel to the FBI, which translated to allegiance to the Democrat party. In July 2024, it was suggested in Congress that Veltri and Perkins were behind that form.
DISTURBING REVELATIONS OF FBI AND US SECRET SERVICE FAILURES IN TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS
Why is there so much focus on the story? This is actually a pretext to better understand the following document presented on September 23 by a ranking member of the U.S. Senate, Kentucky’s Rand Paul. The Initial Findings Report on the failures of the USSS regarding the assassination attempts on former president Donald J. Trump reveals some very shocking details.
First, before the July 13 Butler rally the USSS refused to send its sniper units to protect Trump. Second, that assassination attempt could have been prevented if the USSS had allocated additional Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) assets as was requested by the Trump team. The existing C-UAS device began operating only 40 minutes after the shooter Crooks flew his drone over the event.
And last but not the least. On July 10 the USSS Pittsburgh Office requested the FBI to report on any intelligence related to Trump and his July 13 rally in Butler, PA, but there was no response. At the same time Mr. Paul’s report says that "USSS Lead Advance Agent was told that ’credible intelligence’ existed of a threat" but she never mentioned that in a security planning document. Given the specific kind of work of both the FBI and the USSS, it is highly likely that the bureau was aware of a heightened threat risk, but kept silent because of the pro-Democrat views of its high-ranking agents.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FBI PRO-DEMOCRAT ABUSERS?
Now let’s return to the EO investigation. One of those responsible for excess politicization in the FBI, Mr. Veltri, was promoted to Special Agent in Charge in the Miami Field Office earlier this year and now leads the FBI’s investigation into the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Fortunately, both assassination attempts failed. But the evidence gathered by the EO investigation and the U.S. Congressional Committee proves that it is politicized, and therefore the mostly unprofessional approach of both the FBI and the USSS enabled those wrongdoings to occur. Given all the facts, one can hardly be sure that the investigation led by Mr. Veltri’s team would be professional and unprejudiced.
The state of affairs in the U.S. government, built and encouraged by the Biden-Harris administration, is unacceptable. There should be no difference whether it is Trump or another president, a Republican or a Democrat. It is an American citizen, so his or her rights must be respected and the job must be done properly.
Posted by: Joe of the Jungle ||
10/16/2024
06:45 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11181 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
At this point both orgs need to be shutdown, everybody laid off for good and new organizations created with "CLEAN" people.
#3
"FBI Fudges Violent Crime Stats To Hide 55 Percent Rise Under Biden-Harris Administration
While the FBI claims that serious violent crime has fallen by 5.8 percent since Biden took office, the NCVS numbers show total violent crime has risen by 55.4 percent."
#4
#3- Kamala’s ad says she never pursued investigations by first asking if they were a Democrat or Republican. Gee, maybe the FBI didn’t get the memo.
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
10/16/2024 15:43
Comments ||
Top||
[TheBlaze] A top adviser in the Harris-Walz presidential campaign admitted that the lead reported in the media for Vice President Kamala Harris was fake.
David Plouffe made the revealing comments on the "Pod Save America" podcast over the weekend.
"So I know for all of us that want to see Kamala Harris win, we wish there was an easy pathway — that pathway does not exist. This is basically going to come down to, you know, history would suggest it’s not going to come down to several thousand votes in seven states, but it’s going to come down to a very narrow margin," Plouffe said.
#4
He is giving a rosy outlook. If he gave the truth, his career would be over. The reality of their situation is that Kamala will be too loaded to make a coherent concession speech so it will just sound as nonsensical as all her other speeches.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/16/2024 12:28
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Difficult to hide she is absolutely dissolving in real time, and Tim Spaz becomes more insufferable every time he pops in with the very real chance that a story about his younger days around younger boys may get out.
Barry out there, trying to mansplain. Michelle rolling out Grandma THOT and The Tranny Five. Both negatives.
What do they have left, a grand slam with Brett Baier? He hasn't been anything since Hannity's mind went vegan.
The contrast is staggering and undeniable. Trump is all over the map doing wild shit every day. They brought in their best relief pitcher Madame Haggard to watch Vance get his, and he hits it 600' to past the center field fence, where it then lands touching the boccino.
#6
BTW, anyone check if the shotgun given to Tim Spaz had a plug to limit capacity to 3? I understand that is a law when hunting Pheasant in Minnesota?
Also, I was at a store a while back and a dude from Minnesota asked if he had to provide proof of ownership to purchase and then possess ammunition - is that a Minnesota law thing or was he surprised to be visiting The American Sector?
#8
When what democrats are doing to Black Americans is too far for DaKlan.
'We were fine with it all, then Barack went on TV, calling himself a male role model, and Black Men should put up with Harris and shut up, we were like, wow, that's pretty degrading, let's cut them some slack this cycle.'
#9
'I didn't understand the movie Roots until I saw Obama tell Black Men to get back in the shed and vote for the generational slave owner descendant. Lord, I've been wrong. *sobs*'
#10
Ruh roh.
I came across someone today who also follows news but in a different route than I, seems to think:
That those who have never heard of Walz until recently and had him sized up shortly as someone who likes to diddy boys may want to start considering the winnings payment method.
Unsubstantiated rumor, and from a person who would embrace such a rumor faster than I, but *if* it is an open secret behind the wall of silence, then that would explain why that ticket is too toxic for even DaKlan.
#13
^ Watched it. Clusterfuck for her. They should release complete transcripts and video, start-to-finish, just to rub CBS's nose in their shit-reputation.
I was pleasantly surprised Baier did such an exceptional job in (Harris-Staff-Shortened) time
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/16/2024 21:46
Comments ||
Top||
[FOX] A mysterious fleet of drones entered restricted airspace and swarmed a U.S. military base along the Virginia coast for 17 days late last year, stumping the Pentagon, according to a new report.
For several nights last December, U.S. military personnel reported witnessing a fleet of unknown unmanned aircraft breach restricted airspace over a stretch of land at Langley Air Force Base along Virginia's shore, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
The drones would start to arrive about 45 minutes to an hour after sunset each night, one official reportedly told U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly, who joined several other officers responsible for the country's most advanced jet fighters, including F-22 Raptors, on a squadron rooftop.
Kelly described the first drone he saw as roughly 20 feet long and flying at more than 100 miles an hour, at an altitude of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feet. As many as a dozen or more drones followed, flying across Chesapeake Bay, and then traveling toward Norfolk, Virginia, and through a space overlooking the base for the Navy’s SEAL Team Six and Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval port, according to the Journal.
#2
And then having gotten use to them, their operators one day will strike. It's what the Egyptians did in practicing for crossing the Suez. The Israelis were put in a mindset that it was just another training run. Someone needs to send the chain of command notice of what happen to Gen. Short and Adm. Kimmel at Pearl Harbor.
[Wirepoints] Presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump is in Chicago Tuesday for his latest campaign stop. While neither Chicago nor Illinois is in play this election, count on him to hit Chicago’s leadership hard for their many self-inflicted crises when he addresses the Economic Club of Chicago.
Trump has been highly critical of Chicago in the past, calling crime in the city "embarrassing to us as a nation" and "worse than some of the places...in the Middle East where you have wars going on." He’s also decried its migrant policies: "New York City and Chicago play the Sanctuary City card, where criminals are protected..."
His rhetoric on Chicago can often be nasty and over the top, but it’s not wrong. Too many Chicagoans experience the high-crime, low-literacy, high-tax, low-opportunity version of Chicago — which we detail below — and which Trump is likely to point at. But because it’s Trump talking, expect the media and connected class to deflect or even deny that the city’s problems exist.
Their denials should anger many of the ordinary Chicagoans who live with the impact of these problems every day. There are the residents who feel threatened living in the nation’s long-running homicide capital — polls show nearly two-thirds of Chicagoans don’t feel safe from crime. There are the black residents who’ve made their voices heard in multiple hearings, frustrated by the attention and billions in financial and healthcare resources directed towards the city’s illegal immigrants. And there are parents who feel their children’s education is secondary to the extreme demands of the Chicago Teachers Union — one reason why 110,000 black children have fled the public school system since 2000.
Most of these problems have been inflicted by the city’s political class. They’ve stopped prosecuting many criminals. Most students aren’t taught to read or do math proficiently. Fiscal failures have the city, CPS and the regional transit authority all stuck with near one-billion-dollar deficits. And all of that mess is wrapped up in endemic political corruption, of which former Ald. Ed Burke and former House Speaker Mike Madigan are just the latest examples.
Chicagoans’ concerns have merit, and the failures of the city’s politicians deserve to be discussed. If the Economic Club of Chicago was to have an open, honest conversation about the city with Trump, here are five key goals that should get deeper attention:
1. Start arresting, prosecuting and sentencing again. Protect victims, make crime criminal.
If not, Chicago will likely continue to lead the nation in total homicides as it has for the last 12 years. If this year’s murder trend stays on track, it will be 13 years in a row. Overall violent crime will also continue to threaten Chicagoans. Through August of this year, violent crimes were running at a six-year high, over and above the jump in violent crimes last year.
[270ToWin] It will take 270 electoral votes to win the 2024 presidential election. Click states on this interactive map to create your own 2024 election forecast. Create a specific match-up by clicking the party and/or names near the electoral vote counter. Use the buttons below the map to share your forecast or embed it into a web page.
[IsraelTimes] Firms including Elbit, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries will compete to produce effective technology to detect, intercept drones
Since the world’s nations are trying to persuade each other to cut Israel off from weapons, Israel is turning to domestic production. The world’s nations may yet realize that driving The Innovation Nation to innovate in their sandboxes may not have been the brightest idea for their own domestic producers. Who now remembers the impact on the invading Arab armies of the Davidka and other little Israeli toys?
The government has turned to the defense industry to bolster the military’s ability to intercept aerial drones launched by 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... or by its proxy terror groups, including Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... ’s Hezbollah.
The Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it had launched a competition among eight large and small companies.
"After analyzing the trial results, the Defense Ministry will select several technologies to enter an accelerated development and production process. This aims to deploy new operational capabilities within months," it said.
In addition to missiles, rockets and an array of other arms, Iran, Hezbollah and others have used drones in attacks on Israel, a weapon that has proven tough to counter.
On Sunday, a Hezbollah drone struck the Israel Defense Forces’ Golani Brigade training base near Binyamina, killing four soldiers and injuring dozens, after it eluded Israeli air defense radars.
The unmanned aerial vehicle, laden with explosives, evaded Israel’s multilayered air-defense system and slammed into a mess hall at a military training camp deep inside Israel.
Over the past year of drone and rocket attacks from Iran-supported terrorist organizations in Lebanon, 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... and Iraq, several drones have succeeded in hitting targets before they could be detected.
Last week, two soldiers were killed when a drone from Iraq hit a base in the Golan Heights, and another drone hit a retirement home with no injuries.
Drones were also used to kick off Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... ’s mass invasion and onslaught of October 7, 2023, successfully disabling electronic monitoring systems along the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... border.
"The UAV threat is a multi-arena threat originating from Iran, which supplies UAVs to Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq, and even launches them itself," said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
"We must concentrate the national effort... to produce operational solutions quickly."
The ministry’s director general, Eyal Zamir, said it had already invested hundreds of millions of shekels in such capabilities.
Those participating include Israel’s top defense firms — Elbit Systems, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries.
Over the years, Israel has built up its aerial defense array to provide broad protection against short-range rocket fire and medium- and long-range missiles, although experts caution that it is not airtight. While the system has taken down drones repeatedly, many have penetrated Israel’s airspace and sidestepped its defenses, in some cases with deadly results.
Drones are harder to detect than rockets or missiles because they fly slowly and often include plastic components, having a weaker thermal footprint with radar systems than powerful rockets and missiles. The trajectory is also harder to track. Drones can have roundabout flight paths, can come from any direction, fly lower to the ground and — because they are much smaller than rockets — can be mistaken for birds.
[IsraelTimes] Experts warn air defenses could be ‘stretched’ if Iran reacts to anticipated Israeli retaliatory strike against it, or if Hezbollah goes all out
Israel is encountering a potential shortage of rocket and missile interceptors in its air defense array amid the yearlong war in Gaza and Lebanon, and as it prepares for a possible escalating conflict with Iran, according to a British report Tuesday.
Citing experts and former military officials, the Financial Times said that Washington is assisting the Jewish state in addressing the matter, in particular through its promise to send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system (THAAD), but Jerusalem could increasingly find itself needing to decide which targets it wants to prioritize defending.
“Israel’s munitions issue is serious,” Dana Stroul, an ex-US defense official, said. “If Iran responds to an Israel attack, and Hezbollah joins in too, Israel’s air defenses will be stretched.”
She added that supplies were not unlimited and that Washington could not keep up its ongoing supply of both Ukraine and Israel at the same pace.
Boaz Levy, CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries, which produces missile interceptors, added: “Some of our lines are working 24 hours, seven days a week. Our goal is to meet all our obligations.”
Israel’s multi-layered system includes the Iron Dome, used to shoot down short-range missiles; David’s Sling, used to intercept medium-range missiles; and the Arrow system, which is designed to intercept long-range ballistic missiles.
Since Hamas sparked the ongoing war with its October 7 onslaught last year, over 20,000 rockets and missiles have been fired at Israel from Gaza and Lebanon, according to military figures, with air defenses successfully downing the bulk of the projectiles that were headed to populated areas.
Israel has warded off two Iranian missile attacks — one in April and another, more intense one in October when the Islamic Republic fired 180 ballistic missiles at the country — with the help of the US and its regional allies. Israel has vowed to respond to the October attack in a time and manner of its choosing, which may spark an even more aggressive reaction by Tehran and its proxies.
[BBC] It’s when dark falls over Bucha that the witches come out, because that’s when the Russian attack drones start swarming.
The Witches of Bucha, as they call themselves, are a volunteer air defence unit made up almost entirely of women, now helping to protect Ukraine’s skies as more and more men are sent to the frontlines.
There are more drones to shoot down, too, often launched from Russia in waves to overwhelm the main defences ahead of a missile strike.
The night-time shifts allow the women to combine their work defending their country with day jobs as teachers, doctors - there’s even a manicurist.
Many say it’s a way of overcoming the powerlessness they felt when Russian forces occupied Bucha region at the start of the full-scale invasion.
The horror stories of those weeks – including of killing, torture and abduction – only began to emerge after Ukrainian forces freed the area at the end of March 2022.
AIR RAIDS AND ANCIENT WEAPONS
“I’m 51, I weigh 100kg, I can’t run. I thought they’d send me packing, but they took me on!” Valentyna recalls, a veterinarian who signed up with the drone-busters this summer and now goes by the callsign Valkyrie.
She talks about friends deployed to the front, and others who’ve died in the fighting, as part of what brought her to this role.
“I can do this work. The kit’s heavy, but we women can do it.”
Valentyna gets to demonstrate that a few hours later as an air alert is activated across the region.
Her unit scramble from their base in the woods, and we follow their pick-up truck through the darkness as it bumps towards the middle of a field. The team of four jump out to begin mounting their weapons.
The machine-guns are from another era: two Maxims made in 1939, ammunition boxes stamped with red stars from Soviet days.
Serhiy, the only man on the team, has to pour in bottled water by hand as a coolant.
This is all that’s available: Ukraine’s best kit is at the frontline, and it is constantly asking its allies for more.
But the ancient weapons are impeccably maintained and the Witches say they’ve downed three drones since the summer.
There’s no public data on the total number of volunteer units – or how many women are involved. But as Russia sends drones packed with explosives almost every night, they help form an extra shield around big towns and cities.
From the Witches’ position in a field, Yulia tracks two drones on her tablet. They’re over the neighbouring region, so there's no imminent danger for Bucha, but the machine guns will stay in place until the alert ends.
NO MEN LEFT
The volunteers’ commander is a big bear of a man, just back from Pokrovsk in the eastern Donbas region where the fighting is fiercest.
“There are fireworks, non-stop," is how Andriy Verlaty describes it there, with a smile.
He used to have around 200 men operating mobile air defence units in the Bucha region and patrolling during the nightly curfew, many of them unfit for full military service.
Then Ukraine overhauled its mobilisation law, in urgent need of more soldiers, and many of the colonel’s crew suddenly found themselves eligible for the frontline.
“About 90% of my men ended up in the army and another 10% hid, scattering like rats. We were left with barely anyone,” Col Verlaty says bluntly. “Just men with no legs, or half a skull missing.”
He had a choice: to fill the roles with men below mobilisation age, or recruit women.
“At first it was like a joke: ‘Let’s take women!’ There wasn’t much trust in them, in the armed forces. But that has really changed,” he says.
TAKING BACK CONTROL
The Witches spend their weekends undergoing a broader military training. On the day we visit, it’s their first lesson on storming a building. They practice in the ruins of a farm outhouse, poking rifles round empty doorways before edging warily past.
Some manage to look more convincing than others, but the women’s commitment and focus is clear – because their reasons for doing this are deep and personal.
“I remember the occupation. I remember the horror. I remember the screams of my own child,” Valentyna tells me, through small sighs. “I remember the dead bodies, when we were fleeing.”
Her family escaped Bucha past burned out tanks, dead soldiers and civilians. At one Russian checkpoint she says a soldier made them wind down the car window, then put a gun to her son’s head.
She is filled with quiet fury.
That’s also why Valentyna refuses to stop believing in Ukraine’s victory, despite the gloom that has settled over much of her country after almost 1,000 days of full-scale war.
“Life has changed, all our plans have been torn apart. But I’m here to help speed up the end of this war. As our girls here say, it won’t end without us.”
#2
They keep recycling this Witches of Bucha story. Every year since Ghost of Kiev, at some point during the year, Left Wing media will run this UKR feel good story.
Their catch phrase is: It's scary - but so's giving birth.
[WashingtonFreeBeacon] Samidoun, an arm of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, props up anti-Israel campus activism.
The U.S. Department of Treasury, in a joint action with the Canadian government, sanctioned the Samidoun Paleostinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and one of its leaders for providing material support to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine (PFLP), a terrorist organization that participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... terrorist attack. The move likely spells trouble for Samidoun's U.S. collaborators, which include student activists and a major left-wing activist network, experts told the Washington Free Beacon.
The sanctions, unveiled on Tuesday, describe Samidoun as "a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine (PFLP) terrorist organization." They mark the most severe action to date against the group, cutting off its ability to fundraise across North America.
All U.S. citizens are now barred from doing business with Samidoun, and the group must forfeit any properties held in the country. That could prove costly for the U.S. activist groups that have embraced it.
Samidoun, for example, has maintained a strong relationship with anti-Israel student groups, most notably Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which invited Samidoun to teach a March lecture on "Paleostinian resistance" and the "fight for liberation." During the event, Samidoun leaders Charlotte Kates and her husband, Khaled Barakat, explicitly endorsed terrorism against Jews. The United States also slapped sanctions on Barakat for engaging in "fundraising and recruitment" efforts for the PFLP's "terrorist activity against Israel."
Samidoun, as a legal subsidiary of the left-wing nonprofit Alliance for Global Justice, is also part of an American dark money network funded by progressive billionaires, the Free Beacon reported last year. Liberal dark money behemoths such as the New Venture Fund, the Tides Center, and the Tides Foundation gave the alliance more than $9 million in 2021.
The new sanctions leveled against Samidoun should put those groups on notice, said Anne Herzberg, a human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... lawyer and NGO Monitor legal adviser.
"Despite the well-known PFLP connections and its activities, Samidoun was embraced by universities, faculty, student groups, and activist organizations," Herzberg told the Free Beacon. "As such, it is possible these groups and individuals may also bear liability for material support for terrorism."
"They are certainly on notice going forward that any cooperation with Samidoun or its leader Khaled Barakat could lead to serious sanctions and criminal penalties."
Samidoun and the Alliance for Global Justice did not respond to a request for comment.
The PFLP, a notorious terrorist organization known for hijacking and opening fire on commercial airplanes in the late 1960s and early '70s, "uses Samidoun to maintain fundraising operations in both Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... and North America," according to the Treasury Department, which maintains that Samidoun is effectively controlled by the terror group and acts as its proxy in countries where the PFLP is banned.
"Samidoun serves as a front for the group in countries where the PFLP is declared a terrorist organization," according to the designation published by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. "While the organization ostensibly supports Paleostinian prisoners and their family members, in practice Samidoun provides financial support to the sanctioned PFLP."
The United States also applied fresh sanctions on Barakat, a Canadian citizen and PFLP member who serves as part of the terror group’s foreign leadership. In Canada, Samidoun is now designated as a "terrorist entity" under the country’s criminal code, which also prohibits it from engaging in fundraising activity.
One senior U.S. official briefed on the matter said further action is likely to disrupt Samidoun’s funding networks and cut off the PFLP’s access to cash.
"We will continue to track and target them—and it doesn’t end with today’s announcement," said the official, who spoke on background to discuss future punitive measures. "We will target their funding sources and international financial channels to ensure they are blocked from accessing their blood stained money. Creating a sham charity to whitewash palling around with Death Eaters like the PFLP will not save you from being designated by the United States and our allies."
Samidoun has long backed anti-Israel activism at Columbia, regularly promoting student protests and statements online. Students at Columbia have displayed pro-PFLP Samidoun signs and recently joined a violent mostly peaceful protest on the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7 that featured a Samidoun flag with the caption "Long live Oct. 7th." Both Columbia Students for Justice in Paleostine and Samidoun endorsed the march.
Asked whether Columbia would take any steps to prevent Samidoun from affiliating with its students, a spokeswoman pointed the Free Beacon to a Wednesday statement from interim president Katrina Armstrong saying that "calls for violence have no place at Columbia." Asked whether Columbia would take action against Samidoun-affiliated students, the spokeswoman did not respond.
The organization has supported similar activism on other college campuses, frequently advertising protests online and encouraging participants to "escalate," including at the University of Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, Berkeley, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, George Washington University, the City University of New York, and the City College of New York.
Samidoun’s protest materials have been spotted at Princeton University, New York University, and Rutgers University.
The PFLP, which has also taken part in the fight against Israel in Gaza, was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US in October 1997 and October 2001, respectively.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Earth's magnetosphere may "sway" due to solar activity, the Phobos weather center reported on October 15.
"The Earth will pass through a stream of fast solar wind. The first signs of this in the form of weak disturbances in the geomagnetic field have already been noted in the middle of today," the report says.
Experts note that a weak magnetic storm is expected on Wednesday.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on October 8, the leading specialist of the Phobos weather center, Mikhail Leus, reported a strong magnetic storm on Earth.
On October 2 and 3, two powerful flares of the maximum class X–X7.1 and X9 were recorded on the Sun, and at that time, spot group No. 3842 was located near the Sun-Earth line, due to which two clouds of solar plasma ejected by the flares should have reached the Earth and caused strong and prolonged magnetic storms on it.
On October 10, scientists warned of the approach of the largest magnetic storm in six months to the Earth. One of its consequences was the northern lights, which were observed by residents of Russia, among others.
While conducting Anti-Terror Operations in the Jabalia Area of the Northern Gaza Strip, Elements of the 401st Brigade were Attacked by Terrorists hiding within a Building which was previously used as a UNRWA Clinic. The Terrorists were Eliminated by a Drone Strike, with several… pic.twitter.com/DlGhteVRFI
"I am suspending Citadel..."
[Regnum] Ukrainian formations that invaded the border areas of the Kursk region were ordered to prepare to retreat to the territory controlled by the Kiev regime. This was reported on October 15 by Ukrainian blogger Anatoly Shariy.
“Ukrainian units in the Kursk region have received orders to be ready to withdraw to Ukrainian territory,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
At the same time, Shariy did not specify any details and did not name his sources.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, earlier on October 15, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine complained about the difficult situation for Ukrainian militants along the entire line of combat contact. According to its data, the largest number of clashes are currently taking place in the Kurakhovo direction.
Later that day, it became known that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had lost a total of over 23,100 fighters since the attack on the Kursk region border in early August. During this time, Ukrainian formations also lost 158 tanks, 72 infantry fighting vehicles, 100 armored personnel carriers, 918 armored combat vehicles, 632 cars and a large amount of other military equipment in the Kursk direction.
#2
It was fun while it lasted. Certainly a great PR victory.
I think it went on longer than expected because the Rus basically blew the whole thing off by letting the local second string forces deal with the problem, rather than pulling people from the main fronts. The Ukrs did well playing hit & run through the countryside, but needed more men & equipment to either press on or dig in.
[Gallup] Trust in political and civic institutions highest for local and state governments, lowest for media and Congress.
Americans continue to register record-low trust in the mass media, with 31% expressing a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly,” similar to last year’s 32%. Americans’ trust in the media -- such as newspapers, television and radio -- first fell to 32% in 2016 and did so again last year.
For the third consecutive year, more U.S. adults have no trust at all in the media (36%) than trust it a great deal or fair amount. Another 33% of Americans express “not very much” confidence.
Gallup first asked this question in 1972 and has measured it in most years since 1997. In three readings in the 1970s, trust ranged from 68% to 72%, yet by Gallup’s next readings in the late 1990s and early 2000s, smaller majorities of 51% to 55% trusted the news media. The latest findings are from a poll conducted Sept. 3-15, which includes Gallup’s annual update on trust in the media and other civic and political entities in the U.S.
As has been the case historically, partisans have different levels of confidence in the media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly. Currently, 54% of Democrats, 27% of independents and 12% of Republicans say they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media. Independents’ trust matches the record low in 2022, while Democrats’ and Republicans’ are statistically similar to their historical low points.
Over the past two decades, significant gaps in trust have also emerged by age. An analysis by age groups using aggregated data to increase sample sizes shows a 17-percentage-point gap in trust between the oldest Americans (those aged 65 and older) and those under age 50 -- 43% vs. 26%, respectively.
Young Democrats trust the media far less than older Democrats do: 31% of Democrats aged 18 to 29 versus 74% of those aged 65 and older have a great deal or fair amount of confidence.
… live with the constant fear that your child will be attacked on her way to school, your apartment complex will be taken over by illegals, or you will be the victim of a vioIent crime. VOTE WISELY!
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2024
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11172 views]
Top|| File under: Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
#1
From population replacement to outright invasion/occupation. Can't wait to see what comes next!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
10/16/2024 8:49
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Animal shelters are encorage to send their excess animals also. As FEMA is low on emergency funds.
[Breitbart] President Joe Biden’s deputies have allocated roughly $750 million to settle thousands of diverse migrants in North Carolina communities since 2021.
The spending shows the administration’s preference for migration while many Americans in North Carolina lacked decent jobs, homes, and schools. The preference continues even after the Hurricane Helene disaster killed hundreds and wrecked myriad communities around Ashville.
This week, federal officials are offering a $750 fast-track loan to each victim of the hurricane disaster.
The migration spending was tracked by a pseudo-anonymous researcher who runs the RandoLand.us website.
The biggest project in North Carolina is a $536 million program to operate an 800-bed refugee reception center in Greensboro, N.C. That funding comes through a government department created to help American families and children, dubbed the “Administration for Children and Families” (ACF). The ACF is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The website reports additional spending for refugees in North Carolina:
Over $221 million in primary grant awards have been issued during the Biden Administration for refugee aid and assistance services to be performed in North Carolina. These grants were issued to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and to various religious and non-religious non-profit organizations.
More than “200 subgrants were issued with these funds throughout the state to local governments,” the site said, adding:
Non-profit ACF grantees in North Carolina provide comprehensive aid to refugees, including furnished apartments, assistance obtaining Social Security cards, enrollment in welfare benefits and health care, food, legal services, and employment services. Extended case management services are provided through two main ACF programs:
In 2024, these programs delivered 3,462 more migrants into North Carolina, according to an end-of-year report by a non-profit group, the Refugee Processing Center. The population included 413 people from Venezuela, 574 people from the Congo, 302 people from Burma, and 317 people from Afghanistan — all of whom must be expensively educated, trained, and supported to help them avoid poverty in Americans’ society.
The spending documented by RandoLand is only for refugees, not the many other categories of migrants now being welcomed by Biden’s deputies, the website operator told Breitbart News:
Just in the Department of Health and Human Services, I’ve got a database of about $30 billion in spending since 2021, and then another $10 billion … from the Department of State. That’s just a few different buckets of money right there. Once I start looking into other buckets, I can’t imagine how much I’m going to find in those.
The Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, also spent at least $700 million to help move, house, and feed migrants in 2024.
The federal spending accounts used by RandoLand do not show tax breaks for migrants, the distribution of government-backed loans to selected migrants, nor the elite philanthropy given to migrants that would otherwise go to American kids.
The data also ignores the flow of aid money to migrants via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, as well as the various healthcare, training, and education programs.
Rough day for BBC News.. Even they cannot believe how closely coordinated the @UN and Hezbollah were in building infrastructure to fire missiles at Israelis. | @UNIFIL_ 🚀pic.twitter.com/kEFyNILu9D
[NYPOST] ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform that has collected millions of dollars for Kamala Harris What can be, unburdened by what has been , has been named in a bombshell racketeering lawsuit by a Wisconsin Republican strategist who alleges his identity was stolen to make at least 385 fraudulent donations to left-wing causes — including to the Harris Victory Fund.
Mark Block, former chief of staff to Republican 2012 presidential candidate Herman Cain ...the personable but seemingly horny former Godfather's Pizza CEO who coulda been a contenda... , alleges that a total of $884.38 given in his name and without his knowledge between May and October was designed to circumvent federal election law and may be part of a larger scam involving tens of thousands of unwitting donors.
The individual donations were all under $200, meaning that they did not have to be reported to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
[NYPOST] Elon Musk is working miracles with rockets, but a bunch of Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, apparatchiks want to stop his launches because of... his tweets.
The immigrant genius stunned the world Sunday as his SpaceX landed a reusable Starship booster back on the launchpad.
This is a huge tech advance, bringing launch costs down by a factor of ten and advancing space exploration and exploitation by decades.
Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch shot Ike through the elbow. Take that, Ike! he yelled...... the California Coastal Commission just rejected the Space Force's request for more frequent SpaceX launches on the Golden State's Central Coast by a vote of six to four, with some of the ''nays'' specifically citing Musk's political speech.
This, by the way, follows the Biden Justice Department's suit against SpaceX for allegedly discriminating against asylum seekers in hiring, as well as the Biden Federal Communications Commission canceling a $900 million contract with Musk's Starlink to provide rural high-speed internet.
(Then again, Musk did it for free, at least temporarily, to help Hurricane Helene victims.)
Ayn Rand must be spinning in her grave... or laughing at how so-called "progressives" spurn actual progress when driven by a truly independent mind.
Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch shot Ike through the elbow. Take that, Ike! he yelled...... bet on Musk to beat the Lilliputians: Expect him to launch the first manned mission to Mars from Texas, which has the good sense to welcome him and all his businesses.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2024
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11151 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Rand would expect nothing less from them. Or from him. "Judge and prepare to be judged."
#2
SpaceX should tell the Air Force "No further launches from Vandenburg. At all."
Posted by: ed in texas ||
10/16/2024 8:25
Comments ||
Top||
#3
The only thing they're really protecting is themselves. They're angry at Musk for not throwing his intellect and wealth behind their idiot Kamala, and they're abusing their power to punish him. Now, Musk is vowing to sue the commission for violating his First Amendment rights, claiming his words have nothing to do with his rocket launches, like Saturday's record breaker.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/16/2024 11:03
Comments ||
Top||
If burning US flags is OK then so is burning Palestinian flags , Iranian flags, Yemenite flags, Afghan flags etc.
If "Death to America" is fine then so is "Death to Iran, Palestine etc".
The reaction of the establishment commentariat to pro-Western demonstrations using the language of the left to convey a non-leftist message would be interesting.
[BREITBART] Where were Haiti's elite anti-gang police on October 3 when more than 88 Haitians were being murdered by gangs in a rural town?
Hard to find, except for in New York where former anti-gang cops are working in low-wage Bidenomics jobs because President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. The man who made Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter look competent, if only by comparison.... 's migration chief gave them visas to fill jobs in Biden's economy.
The U.S. Department of State's ''2024 Trafficking in Persons Report: Haiti,'' admitted:
Law enforcement experienced a significant reduction in its [9,000 person] workforce as coppers fled the country; media reported 3,000 coppers departed Haiti since 2022, the majority of whom anecdotally left on the U.S. government's [visa] processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuela
...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeded places like Honduras and El Salvador. A significant proportion of the populace refugeed to Colombia and points south... ns, a humanitarian parole program [created by Biden's border chief, Alejandro Mayorkas] that included Haitians as of January 2023.
The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... described the aftermath of the Mayorkas-enabled massacre at the town of Pont-Sond :
When Ms. [Bertide] Horace, who was about 10 miles away in the city of Saint-Marc, arrived with heavily armed coppers four hours later as the sun was rising, she said the streets of the town were strewed with bodies.
''People were coming out of hiding and trying to flee,'' she said in an interview. ''It was total panic.'' The maimed, she added, were walking around ''begging for help.''
The violence, perpetrated by a gang called the Gran Grif, left at least 88 people, including 10 gang members, dead, the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... said.
[NYPOST] The lead counsel for a public inquiry into the 2018 death of a British woman poisoned by a Soviet-developed nerve agent said Monday that there was enough poison in the vial she unwittingly opened to kill thousands of people.
Dawn Sturgess and her partner collapsed after they came into contact with a discarded perfume bottle containing the nerve agent Novichok in the southwest England town of Amesbury.
She had sprayed the contents of the bottle on her wrist and died days later. Her partner survived.
''The evidence will suggest that this bottle — which we shall hear contained enough poison to kill thousands of people — must earlier have been left somewhere in a public place creating the obvious risk that someone would find it and take it home,'' lead counsel Andrew O'Connor said.
Their exposure came four months after a former Russian intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter were sickened by Novichok in an attack in the nearby city of Salisbury.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2024
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11149 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
She had sprayed the contents of the bottle on her wrist and died days later.
Poisoning by a nerve agent leads to constriction of pupils, profuse salivation, convulsions, and involuntary urination and defecation, with the first symptoms appearing in seconds after exposure. Death by asphyxiation or cardiac arrest may follow in minutes due to the loss of the body's control over respiratory and other muscles.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The commander of the assault unit of the Wagner group, Mikhail Prikhodko, call sign Michael, died in Mali while carrying out a combat mission. This was reported on the evening of October 14 by the Telegram channel "Razgruzka Wagnera".
According to the channel, Prikhodko, at the head of a rapid response group, moved to help his fellow soldiers who were surrounded by terrorists and died in battle. Thanks in part to his actions, the group managed to break out of the encirclement, disperse and completely eliminate the militants.
"Despite the incessant fire of the enemy, Michael acted calmly and professionally, personally killing eight militants. Unfortunately, the wounds he received during the battle were incompatible with life," the statement said.
The channel's author notes that Prikhodko will be awarded the star of the Hero of the Wagner group.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, from July 22 to 27, Wagner Group fighters and Malian military personnel fought fierce battles with militants in the area of the settlement of Tin-Zoutine in the north of the country. The Russians and their Malian allies suffered losses after falling into an ambush set up by Tuareg separatists from the Coordination Movement of Azawad (CMA) and the jihadist group Al-Qaeda in the Sahel (JNIM, a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation). On October 9, the head of the Commonwealth of Officers for International Security (COIS) Alexander Ivanov reported that the bodies of the fallen fighters had been returned to their homeland.
Follow up to this story of their conviction a month ago.
[KavkazUzel] A Belgian court has sentenced a Chechen native and his wife to lengthy prison terms for preparing a terrorist attack. Two other defendants were given suspended sentences and another was acquitted. The authorities in Belgium and other European countries are not fighting religious radicals effectively enough.
True.
They pose as politicians, but in reality they are imposing radical ideas on members of the Chechen diaspora. Meanwhile, the courts are handing out excessively lenient sentences to some of them, noted analysts from European countries interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", in May 2023, the Belgian prosecutor's office announced the arrest of seven supporters of the "Islamic State", suspected of preparing a terrorist attack. Among the suspects are natives of Chechnya. On September 10, it became known that four supporters of ISIS* were convicted in Bruges. The leader of the group, a native of Chechnya, Abubakar S., was sentenced to 15 years, and his wife was sentenced to eight years in prison. Two more members of the group received suspended sentences, including Abubakar S.'s brother.
Belgium has one of the largest Chechen diasporas in Europe, according to an article published on the "Caucasian Knot" entitled "How to go to Europe and obtain refugee status."
BELGIAN COURT REVEALS DETAILS OF CRIMINAL CASE
The defense of Abubakar S., a native of Chechnya, convicted in Belgium for belonging to a terrorist group and preparing a terrorist act, has appealed the verdict, his lawyer, Dens Piteryan, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. He declined to comment further.
Earlier, the Belgian publication Dhnet.be reported that the defense attorney at the first instance "admitted his client's Islamic radicalization," but disputed that he had attempted to commit a terrorist attack.
A representative of the press service of the Belgian courts, Peter Katthoor, confirmed to the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" that the decision of the court of first instance in Bruges regarding Abubakar S. has been appealed by the lawyer. Katthoor refrained from making any other comments, suggesting to study the verdict. He noted that the date of the appeal hearing is still unknown.
A "Caucasian Knot" correspondent studied the first instance court's verdict regarding Abubakar S. and translated it.
The case file mentions five defendants, their names are not given, the defendants are designated by numbers. The last of them, defendant No. 5, is named in the verdict as a supporter of ISIS, but he himself was not convicted of wanting to participate in terrorist attacks or disseminating ISIS propaganda, and was therefore acquitted.
Accused #4 was found guilty of producing and distributing IS propaganda content, although he did not express any intention to participate in the attack. He received a suspended sentence and was also fined €10,000. Accused #3 was sentenced to the same punishment.
The third defendant, according to the case materials, "played an active role in disseminating propaganda and recruiting supporters, exchanging propaganda content with the first defendant."
Another defendant is called a "couch potato," although the investigation has allowed that he could have committed the crime. "By spreading propaganda, inciting supporters (even if this only happens online), convincing people of his ideology, he participates in the activities of this terrorist group, realizing that in this way he contributes to the crimes committed by this group," the verdict says.
The case file shows that Abubakar S. is the main defendant. "A man with Russian citizenship, born in 1998," the verdict says. The case file also states that defendant No. 2 is his wife. "A woman with Russian citizenship, born in 1989, they entered into a "religious marriage," the verdict says. She claimed that she planned to apply for political asylum in Belgium, but had not done so at the time of her arrest. The doctor who examined her diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder, but ruled out a mental disorder, as he had with her husband.
The verdict does not say that it concerns ethnic Chechens, but this is clear from its content. Thus, Abubakar S. "in a wiretapped conversation with his wife on April 2, 2023, expressed concerns that when he commits an attack, it will have negative consequences for the entire Chechen community." Therefore, Abubakar S. intended to cut off all contacts with the Chechen diaspora two to three months before the attack, the verdict says. A better solution would have been to not fucking do it.
In addition, Abubakar S. and his wife discussed in intercepted conversations "the Chechen emirs who took the oath [to ISIS] and went to Syria. "They also planned to send their children back to their homeland in Chechnya using forged documents, but they failed to implement this," the document says.
Abubakar S. was found to be particularly dangerous to society and subject to long-term isolation. The court in Bruges took into account his previous convictions. "His criminal record includes three criminal cases, two of which are related to theft. He spent a year in prison," the verdict states.
The document also states, citing data from the Belgian intelligence services, that defendant No. 1 (his initials are ASM. A Belgian court press officer also named him Abubakar S.) "attempted to enter ISIS territory in 2017-2018."
Investigators established surveillance and monitored social media pages and, based on the investigation, established through wiretapping of telephones that the first and second defendants had sworn allegiance to ISIS* and that there had been various alarming conversations between the first and second defendants related to ISIS, the verdict states.
The case used the findings of an Islamic scholar. In particular, he examined the question of what the oath of allegiance to the caliph means and came to the conclusion that it was specifically about ISIS, as well as the specific intention of the married couple to commit a terrorist attack in order to be recognized as "soldiers of the caliph." During the investigation, Abubakar S. admitted that if an ISIS* terrorist attack had been committed, he would have taken responsibility. The second convicted person, Abubakar S.'s wife, initially denied knowing about her husband's plans, but phone monitoring data and video recordings confirm that both swore an oath to ISIS*. The oath was taken remotely via video.
On September 21, 2023, the doctor involved in the trial concluded that the first defendant did not suffer from a mental disorder. During the second examination, he showed a tendency towards sadism. He is confident in his rightness, especially in his negative attitude towards the West, against which, in his opinion, violence is justified. The defendant openly states his geopolitical views and position, which is a positive moment, but he does not allow doubts about his rightness and does not show empathy, the doctor noted.
According to the case file, in one of the Telegram channels, the first defendant stated that he planned to carry out two attacks in the same city. They also discussed killing several soldiers to replenish their arsenal of weapons. It was decided not to carry out an attack in Brussels, since the first defendant did not know the city well and there had already been terrorist attacks there. The first defendant also asked the group how many weapons they would receive, and they discussed grenades that they were going to throw at the attack sites, in particular, at a nightclub, which would have led to numerous victims, the verdict states.
The document also mentions chat messages in which there are talks about attacks using explosives. On April 1, 2023, the first and second defendants discussed a place where they could commit jihad. The attack on Brussels airport was discussed.
The main evidence for the prosecution was the circumstances of the preparation of the weapons. According to the investigation, defendant No. 1 rented a garage in which he intended to store weapons. He also carefully planned the attack. During a conversation with an undercover officer, he immediately announced the search for a weapon with which it would be possible to hit the largest number of victims. During subsequent conversations, Abubakar S. informed the security officer of his intention to commit two terrorist attacks in Antwerp by a group of five people. When the police came to the conclusion that real preparations for a terrorist attack were underway, arrests were made on May 4, the day the weapons were handed over.
Analysts point out to Belgian authorities that the fight against radicals is insufficient
The husband and wife, who were convicted of preparing a terrorist attack, have lived in Belgium for a long time, noted Belgian resident and refugee from Chechnya Fatima Margieva, who represents the Swiss NGO "Woman for Peace in the World".
"I've been living in Belgium for 16 years, and this has never happened before. The court gave suspended sentences and released people - how is that possible if there were such serious charges? The "leader's brother" got off with a suspended sentence and a fine. How could they even get into a NATO building in the center of Europe to carry out a terrorist attack there?" she told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
She called for not using the cliche of "radicalizing Chechen youth". "If we talk about youth, that they are being radicalized, that they are being drawn into all this, then this is not true. <…> We all meet with young people, try to explain to them, so such accusations cannot be made indiscriminately. I know that now the majority of young people are interested in education, integration, sports, and learning languages. Many people from the Chechen diaspora participated in the recent Paris Olympics. In the teams of Austria, Germany, Albania, and Denmark. It is a shame that the media pay attention to the ethnic origin of people only when it comes to terrorists," Margieva said.
One of the members of the Chechen diaspora in Europe harshly criticized those convicted of preparing a terrorist attack. "If they detained someone for such a crime, they were right to give them a sentence. They didn't give them enough. You can't break the law, especially under such articles. They gave a person shelter, a roof over their head, the opportunity to earn money and study, and in response such meanness on their part is a very serious crime," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on condition of anonymity.
Statements by Chechen authorities may influence the radicalization of young people abroad. In addition, flirting with radical Islam by Chechen elders in exile is unacceptable, said Ibrahim Nikarho, an activist of the Chechen Democratic Party living in Austria.
"Belgium did a good job in preventing this terrorist attack. But overall, I think that both Belgium and other European countries are fighting the consequences. Once people are recruited, and once a person openly begins preparing a terrorist attack, some actions begin. But the authorities are still missing the process of turning a person into a terrorist," Nikarho told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
In France, Great Britain and Belgium there are Islamist groups who call themselves politicians but advocate the establishment of Sharia, he continued. "Unfortunately, the United Force and the government of the CRI do not clearly condemn all these political Islamist efforts... the elders, instead of clearly condemning this, are actually sending them a signal: "We are politicians, you can hide behind us." Of course, this can influence young minds, who can perceive this as approval. After the fall of the Emirate* and ISIS*, sobering up has begun to occur in the Chechen émigré community," the analyst noted.
However, then activists appeared who first gained popularity on the theme "Kadyrov is bad", and then began to talk about the need for Sharia, Nikarho noted. He stated that such ideas destroy the Chechen diaspora, and therefore they must be fought. "95% become radicalized in Russian, which they can read, on the Internet. Maybe 5% listen to Chechen and Dagestani mullahs," the analyst said.
The official authorities of Chechnya also influence the mood among Chechen emigrants, he continued. "Previously, Islam was not put on display in Chechnya. Weddings, funerals, and other important events in personal life were held according to Islamic rites, and that was it. But since the introduction of radical Islam, Sufi Islam, traditional for Chechnya, has also entered the competition on the topic of "who is the best Muslim here," Ibrahim Nikarho pointed out.
French journalist, former hostage of ISIS, author of books on radical ideas Nicolas Henin said that the number of ethnic Chechens in radical circles has been increasing since 2019. "But they were there before, in particular in the Alsace-Lorraine-Champagne-Ardennes region.
French-Algerian Islamic scholar, journalist and writer Mohammed Sifaoui noted that many ethnic Chechens do not integrate into society because of the language barrier. After ISIS was defeated in Syria and Iraq, the terrorists changed tactics and targeted, in particular, the recruitment of young people already living in Europe, as well as the Caucasus. And so they were able to recruit new members, in particular, from the Chechen diaspora, he noted.
"The Muslim community is not homogeneous in Europe. Moderate Muslims, non-practicing Muslims, Muslims of different movements - everyone, except those who support the radicals, trusts European institutions, European civil society and the sentences handed down accordingly. Therefore, this sentence will only cause indignation among those whose opinions have been formed in advance and who cannot be persuaded by anything," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
Sifaoui believes that the EU countries' fight against terrorism is effective, but noted that its causes are not being eliminated. "Schools and mosques that openly call for hatred of the West have not been closed. Because there is democracy here, and one can express one's opinion up to a certain point. Where this line between opinion and violence lies is a question that has not yet been resolved," the analyst said.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Denis Davydov
[REGNUM] Sixty-five years ago, on October 15, 1959, in Munich, KGB agent Bohdan Stashinsky, a native of an impeccable nationalist family, liquidated Stepan Bandera. He shot him in the face with a cyanide charge (by the way, the weapon - a double-barreled device with levers - was invented by the Germans), as he had previously successfully done the same with one of the leaders of the "Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists"* Lev Rebet.
On the occasion of the event, one can hear that in this way the in absentia sentence of the Supreme Court of the USSR was executed. But this is a fabrication, since the Criminal Procedure Code of that time did not provide for such a thing, and the authors themselves are confused about what year this trial took place.
In fact, the liquidation of Bandera was part of the ongoing work, since he was largely responsible for subversive activities on the territory of the USSR, including with the participation of foreign intelligence services.
For example, the group of British MI6 saboteurs sent to the territory of the Ukrainian SSR in 1951 included Myron Matvieiko, the head of the OUN* Security Service and Bandera's confidant. He even personally went to London to see him off: one of Matvieiko's tasks was to lead the UPA**. But in the end, he simply sold everyone out for an apartment in Kiev.
Modern ideological Banderites like to claim that the Soviet government was afraid of the "prophet", that he is a great thinker and mentor, that Banderite ideas have not lost their relevance. However, all this does not correspond to reality.
A terrorist who rose to prominence through personal cruelty, he was determined to fight without a clear and worthy goal all his life. He easily changed masters, believing that he could somehow manipulate them. And his entire biography serves as confirmation that anyone who takes this path will get their cyanide.
STEFAN'S FAIRIES
When the city of Stryi in Lviv Oblast was attacked in March of this year, local media immediately assumed that they were "actually" aiming not at the gas storage facility, but at the gymnasium where the great man Stepan Bandera studied. After all, as is well known, the museum of the commander-in-chief of the "Ukrainian Insurgent Army"* Roman Shukhevych in Belogorshcha had already been destroyed, and the university building where Bandera studied to be an agronomist had also been damaged.
"Symbolic and cynical. A war for our history," said Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi. But, as usual, there is a nuance.
The Stryi Gymnasium (which belonged to the region called Małopolska Wschodnia - "Eastern Lesser Poland") was a Polish educational institution for the local indigenous population and was called "Ruska Bursa". Poles did not study there, but nevertheless, education was predominantly in Polish, according to the current regulations. Moreover, it was paid.
The cost of this particular educational institution is unknown, but in the Kremenets Theological Seminary, built on the model of classical gymnasiums, tuition cost 240 zlotys a year - the cost of two good cows. Food in the city cost 40-50 zlotys a month, and textbooks also cost money.
It was good that little Stefan (that was his real name) had well-off grandparents who ran a large farm. There he and his brothers worked off their investments during the "ferias" - even the word "vacation" in his memoirs is written in the Polish style.
Well, the atmosphere in the seminary was so-so. The nationally conscious students, to whom our boy belonged, were brainwashed by their parents and older comrades, setting them up to fight the Polish state. And they, as best they could, did dirty tricks on the teaching staff and did dirty tricks at official events.
In the third grade, Bandera (his last name translates from Polish as "banner" or "flag") joined "Plast" - an analogue of scouts, where brains were thoroughly washed, which they still successfully do to this day. So by the age of 13, he had already been detained by the police several times, including for illegally crossing the border - his choice was made then.
At 18, Stefan Banner successfully passed the "matura", "egzamin maturalny" - the exam for the school-leaving certificate, but he could no longer leave Poland to study. The police department had a folder on him, and the energetic boy was not given a passport. So he had to go "to the field" to his dad to throw manure, and the following year he entered the agronomy department of the Lviv Polytechnic in the city of Dubliany.
Thus, from the point of view of a Western Ukrainian patriot, this entire early history of the future "providnyk" should look like a chronicle of suffering and oppression from cruel Poland. He fought it from his earliest days, accustoming himself to future trials: he trained himself to drive needles under these very nails in case of torture and strangled cats in front of his classmates "to strengthen his will."
And when he grew up a little, he deliberately became a terrorist.
BANDERA ON THE WIRE
In the book by Wojciech Sleszynski "Concentration Camp in Bereza Kartuska 1934-1939" there is a cartoon depicting Ukrainians with a knife and a bomb, having the following dialogue:
- Well, our separatist dreams have finally come true! The OUN* has always tried to fence itself off from the Poles... at least with barbed wire.
- Yes, but who would have thought that it would happen so soon and in such conditions!
Ukrainian publicists like to talk about how "conscious Ukrainians" were sent to the camp. But they never remember that the decision to create it followed the third day after the murder of Polish Minister of Internal Affairs Bronislaw Pieracki by Grigory Matseiko, a militant from the "Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists", on June 15, 1934.
A 25-year-old graduate of the agronomy department of the Lviv Higher Polytechnic School, the future leader of the OUN*, Bandera, participated in organizing the assassination attempt. The militants' unexpectedly provocative behavior during the Warsaw and Lviv trials gave them serious publicity. A real boom began in Western Ukrainian cities and villages, and the OUN* turned into the most authoritative and numerous political-terrorist organization.
However, the "attentat" was an amateur activity of radically minded youth and eventually led to a split in the organization. The fact is that literally in January 1934, the cooperation of the nationalists with the German Gestapo was formalized - an order was signed, according to which the OUN* was subordinated to it as a special department.
The tasks were simple and clear - to work against Poland, since Germany had already begun preparations for the imminent occupation of Europe. And it willingly used the nationalists as a cheap and always ready-to-action weapon in its interests. But they did not plan to murder Minister Pieracki, since they had just signed a treaty on peace and good neighborly relations with Poland, and they were angry. That is why the Polish authorities managed to put the organizers in jail - Germany extradited some of them.
Nevertheless, the terrorist organization continued to exist and gained strength, which became the reason for the murder of the head of the OUN* - the authoritative Yevhen Konovalets. And when his brother-in-law and fellow captive Andriy Melnyk took over the organization, the young and impudent offspring, who lived in Western Ukrainian lands, unlike the leadership, chose Stepan Bandera as their leader.
He formed a new governing body, the Revolutionary Leadership, noting “unsatisfactory leadership and the rejection of nationalist methods of work.” Bandera and his supporters declared Melnyk incapable of leading the “national struggle for the independence of Ukraine,” accusing him of pandering to provocateurs, slowness, and inability to use the situation to wage an active struggle against the USSR, and also forbade his supporters from holding any actions on behalf of the OUN*.
The Banderites and Melnykites finally fell out in 1941, but the dispute was not ideological in nature: they killed each other by the hundreds simply because each considered himself a more correct nationalist, and denied the other side the right to call himself by the proud name of Owenite.
IN THE SERVICE OF THE FUHRER
On June 30, 1941, when the Act of Renewal of the Ukrainian State was proclaimed in Lviv, containing piercing words about a joint movement together with Germany and under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, Bandera's Owenites actively joined in the construction of the "new order", exterminating Jews, and through the "Ukrainian People's Self-Defense" units they joined in the work of the auxiliary police. Melnyk's OUN* went further east with the Germans, forming local authorities in the occupied territory.
However, the nationalists had big plans for themselves, and the central idea of the Bandera concept was the physical extermination of everything they considered wrong. In this, it was in complete harmony with the German ideas of racial superiority and "subhumans" - Western Ukrainian nationalism, German Nazism and Italian fascism were related ideologies. Which, in general, the fathers of the OUN* never hid.
This is how the commander of the partisan unit, Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel Anton Brinsky (Uncle Petya) told about it :
"Their "kureni" were located along the railways and closer to the cities to support the fascist garrisons and prevent the partisans from approaching the railways. In the name of "Ukraine for the Ukrainians" they incited national hatred, calling for the total extermination of all people of non-Ukrainian origin (except, of course, the Germans). Moving from words to deeds, they killed civilians, burned Polish farms, caught Jews who had escaped from the ghetto. The Poles had already repeatedly asked us for help, and I had to allocate part of our forces to protect the Polish population..."
Both Brinsky, who worked for the General Staff's intelligence department, and Mikhail Naumov, who reported to the Ukrainian headquarters of the partisan movement, and other commanders reported something similar: the Germans had agreed with the nationalists on a joint fight not only against the partisans, but also against the approaching Red Army.
For this purpose, the UPA, created in early 1943, had to fill the partisan territory with its "boyivkas" and clear the areas between the Western Bug and Styr of partisans. The local auxiliary police of Volyn and Polesia were disbanded and merged with the UPA, and "militiamen" were drawn from Galicia.
The second circumstance is the task of decisively clearing Volyn of Poles, essentially genocide. This also suited the Germans completely, since the diverse Polish underground was very determined. So the Western Ukrainian nationalists always served the Nazis honestly, as they promised, and they had "Ukraine" only within the framework of the Hitlerite Reich and the new order.
In modern Ukrainian historiography, evidence that the Owenites “also fought Nazism” is considered to be an episode from the life of the “providnik”: in 1941, the Germans placed him under house arrest, and then (from early 1942 to September 1944) held him in the Sachsenhausen camp.
However, Stepan Andreevich, while in Sachsenhausen, had meetings with his wife, conceived a child, and at the same time calmly discussed business issues of the OUN* management. After his release in October 1944, Bandera had a conversation with the head of the SS Main Directorate Gottlob Berger regarding the "understanding" between the leadership of the Reich and the OUN (b)*.
“Providnyk” was offered to work under the auspices of the Fuhrer – to head the Ukrainian National Committee.
Bandera put forward counter-conditions: he would not submit to the “competing firm” represented by Andrey Vlasov and his “Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia,” and the Germans would finally recognize the “Act of the Revival of the Ukrainian State” proclaimed back in 1941. The Germans failed to reach an agreement with Bandera, and according to one version, they simply left him alone.
However, judging by the testimony of Abwehr officer Siegfried Müller, successful collaboration continued, and in December 1944, the former "prisoner of Sachsenhausen" consulted saboteurs from Abwehrkommando-202 in Krakow. And the two Bandera brothers, Vasily and Alexander, who are now considered "victims of Auschwitz", were killed by Poles held there - they knew this name well from the high-profile trial of the murder of Pieracki.
So the “seer” managed to bring even his own brothers to the brink of death.
After the war, he easily went into service with the Americans and the British, tried to promote the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, a coordinating center for anti-communist organizations of emigrants from the USSR and other camp countries, and made plans to return and "lead the fight." Only they did the same to him as he had done in his time: the young and daring organized another split in the OUN*, pushing the leader into the background. And the new masters quickly lost interest in him.
He accepted his death quite deservedly, as retribution for everything he had done since his youth. And the fact that in Ukraine they decided to make Bandera an analogue of Lenin, sticking him on every corner, is due to impotence: they simply couldn’t find anyone better. And the figure of the “great man” looks even more shameful against the backdrop of great events, where he was just a pawn that the players wouldn’t mind trading away.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 19:15 Russian Armed Forces launched a missile strike on a Ukrainian Armed Forces facility in Ivanopol (Kramatorsk district in the DPR)
Today, at about 17:00, Russian troops launched a pinpoint missile strike on a military infrastructure facility on the territory of the Ivanopol comprehensive school; the building was used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to accommodate personnel and store military equipment.
19:05 The moment five Iskander-M ballistic missiles landed on the Nikolaev armored plant –video.
18:22 The Russian Armed Forces have made significant progress in three sections of the Vrem'evsky direction in the Zaporizhia region and may disrupt the logistics of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the region, said Vladimir Rogov.
18:20 Servicemen of the "West" group torn off rotation of the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Khar'kov region.
Servicemen of the reconnaissance unit of the "West" group of troops in the Khar'kov region, using a UAV in the area of a forest belt, detected the movement of a pickup truck with Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel heading to positions for the rotation of personnel.
The scouts made a covert march from the rear area to the front line to carry out a combat mission. Having waited for the right moment, the combat UAV operator destroyed a pickup truck of the Ukrainian Armed Forces militants with several precise hits, disrupting the rotation.
18:00 An Inokhodets missile "torn apart" a Ukrainian Armed Forces tank in the Kursk border area. It failed to hide in the forest from our drone –video.
17:50 The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced a difficult situation along the entire front line. The largest number of clashes were recorded in the Kurakhovo direction in the areas of the DPR controlled by Kyiv.
17:45 The Ukrainian Armed Forces units that invaded the Kursk region are preparing to retreat to Ukrainian territory. This was reported by Ukrainian blogger Anatoly Shariy.
17:42 Fighters of the "West" military group in the Khar'kov region destroyed pickup truck of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and disrupted the enemy's rotation, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
17:00 A strike was carried out on enemy targets in Konstantinovka (occupied part of the DPR)
16:35 A bombing strike was carried out on enemy targets in Khar'kov.
16:22 Russian forces have made a breakthrough in the last month and are already two kilometers from the city of Kurakhovo in the DPR, German journalist Julian Röpke said.
"The fighting near Kurakhovo is becoming increasingly serious. We see a major breakthrough that has been made here. [Russian troops] have advanced about 6-7 kilometers in the last month. It is a very narrow strip, like a snake, along which they are moving toward Kurakhovo. <…> In early October, they made a breakthrough, capturing the village of Ostrovskoye and reaching the shores of the Kurakhovo Reservoir. Now they are only two kilometers from the city," Repke said.
15:11 On frames objective control of missile strikes on the position of Leopard tanks of the 21st Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the settlement of Vodolaghi (north of the city of Sumy).
14:19 In the Krasnoarmeysk direction, Russian troops disrupted the rotation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Snipers of the Russian Armed Forces identified an enemy group that was preparing a rotation. Having destroyed observation posts and some of the enemy personnel, the rotation was disrupted, wrote the Paratrooper's Diary.
This work allowed the assault units to advance and take control of new territories in the area.
14:00 Armed Forces of Ukraine lowered activity on one of the sections of the contact line in the Rabotino area of the Zaporizhia region, Russian tank crews are in full control of the situation, reported the tank platoon commander with the call sign "Boxer".
13:54 The main statements from the Russian Ministry of Defense on the situation in the Kursk direction:
During the fighting, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 23,000 soldiers;
Russian troops repelled eight counterattacks in one day and continued their offensive operations;
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 200 people and four armored vehicles in one day.
13:41 The Russian army is advancing in the Ugledar and Kurakhovo directions, developing the offensive on Bogoyavlenka and enveloping Kurakhovo. The advance of the Russian Armed Forces is also confirmed by enemy military resources.
Ugledar direction: to the south and southwest of Zolotaya Niva and north of Novodonetske, Russian troops advanced along forest belts in a section up to 3.77 km wide. West of Vodyanoye and north of the ventilation shaft of the Yuzhno-Donbasskaya No. 3 mine, they advanced along the southern edge of the Dobrovolskaya gully in a section up to 2.92 km wide;
Kurakhovsky direction: with the support of armored vehicles, we are “pressing” Katerinovka from the south and southeast, reported the Military Correspondents of the Russian Spring.
13:34 Destruction of enemy armored vehicles (presumably two MT-LBs) by artillerymen from the 2nd Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade in the Seversky direction.
13:27 Results of night strikes on Ukrainian Armed Forces facilities on Ukrainian territory: October 14–15, 2024.
On the night of October 14-15, 2024, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a series of high-precision strikes on key objects of the enemy's military infrastructure in the Nikolaev, Sumy, Chernihiv, Cherkasy and Kirovohrad regions. The operations were carried out using Geran-2 attack drones, Iskander-M operational-tactical missile systems and Kh-59/69 guided air missiles. These strikes are aimed at disrupting the supply and repair of Western military equipment, as well as weakening the firepower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Nikolaev (02:15 - 02:40, 15.10.2024) : the attack targeted the Nikolaev armored plant, where work was underway to restore and repair Western-made armored vehicles. At the time of the strike, the plant's workshops contained Leopard and Challenger tanks, VAB armored personnel carriers, and AMX-10 light tanks, which are actively used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the front lines. The strike with five missiles resulted in the partial destruction of two production workshops and a fire covering an area of ??more than 600 square meters.
Given the presence of equipment at the facility, the strike caused significant damage to the enemy's repair capabilities. Interrupting the cycle of repairing combat vehicles could reduce the density of armored units on the front line.
Koshary, Sumy Oblast (04:12, 15.10.2024) : A missile strike destroyed a HIMARS MLRS launcher, which had previously been used to shell Russian territory on numerous occasions. This is not the first such launcher destroyed in this area in recent months, indicating a concentration of this type of weapon in this sector to fire at border areas.
The destruction of the launcher could seriously weaken the Ukrainian Armed Forces' ability to continue artillery attack Russian territory and complicate counter-battery operations in this area.
Atyusha, Chernihiv Oblast (04:07, 15.10.2024) : A strike on a hangar on the outskirts of Atyusha destroyed a loading and reloading vehicle and about 30 rounds of ammunition for a HIMARS installation. The facility was used as a maintenance point for the preparation and support of the installations.
A strike on this target will significantly reduce the operational capabilities of Ukrainian artillery units using HIMARS, which will likely reduce the intensity of artillery artillery attack in the area.
Cherkassy and Alexandria : Reports of explosions in the Cherkassy and Alexandria area continue to come in, but there is currently no precise information on the results of the strikes.
12:55 Summary of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the progress of the special military operation (as of October 15, 2024)
Units of the North group of forces in the Liptsov and Volchansk directions inflicted defeat on formations of the 57th Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the 113th Territorial Defense Brigade in the areas of the settlements of Volchansk and Velyki Prokhody in the Khar'kov region.
The "West" group of forces occupied more advantageous lines and positions, defeated the manpower and equipment of the 14th, 53rd, 63rd, 77th Mechanized and 3rd Assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the populated areas of Petrovpavlivka, Berestovoye in the Khar'kov region, Grigorovka in the Donetsk People's Republic and Chervona Dibrova in the Luhansk People's Republic. Four counterattacks of assault groups of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were repelled.
The servicemen of the "Southern" group of troops continued to advance into the depths of the enemy's defense, inflicted defeat on the formations of the 24th, 30th, 33rd Mechanized and 5th Assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of the settlements of Katerynivka, Zaliznyanske, Minkovka and Antonovka of the Donetsk People's Republic. They repelled three counterattacks by units of the 28th, 46th Mechanized and 81st Airmobile brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Units of the "Center" group of forces improved the position along the forward edge, defeated the manpower and equipment of the 110th Mechanized, 142nd, 152nd Motorized Infantry brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the 38th Naval Infantry Brigade, the 109th Territorial Defense Brigade and the 14th National Guard Brigade in the areas of the settlements of Dimitrov, Nikolaevka, Novodmitrovka, Selidovo, Druzhba and Sukhaya Balka of the Donetsk People's Republic. Two counterattacks of assault groups of the 100th Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were repelled.
Fighters of the "East" group of forces occupied more advantageous positions, inflicted losses on the manpower and equipment of the 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the 21st Brigade of the National Guard in the areas of the settlements of Velyka Novosyolka and Oktyabr of the Donetsk People's Republic.
Units of the Dnepr group of forces inflicted losses on formations of the 35th Naval Infantry Brigade and the 124th Territorial Defense Brigade in the areas of the settlements of Stepnoye in the Zaporizhia region and Antonovka in the Kherson region.
Operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces groups inflicted damage on concentrations of enemy manpower and military equipment in 129 areas.
Air defense systems shot down a French-made Hammer guided bomb and 43 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles.
12:15 Artillerymen from Buryatia they didn't allow itUkrainian Armed Forces formations will consolidate their positions near Ugledar.
The main task of the artillerymen is to prevent the retreating units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from digging in new positions in the forest belts in the Vrem'evsky section of the South Donetsk direction.
11:27 Mi-28NM crew destroyed personnel and equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the border area of ??the Kursk region.
11:14 The Russian Armed Forces have made significant advances along the Kaslagach River from the liberated Zolotaya Niva towards Velikaya Novoselka.
11:12 Russian Armed Forces strike targets in Ochakov and Nikolaev.
11:02 The Ukrainian Armed Forces front in the Kursk direction may collapse within a month. The enemy has suffered very serious losses, Alaudinov said.
The settlements that have been taken by Russian units today give confidence that the enemy “will be forced to flee, or may end up in a cauldron,” the commander of the Akhmat special forces noted on the air of the Soloviev Live TV channel.
10:50 "Solntsepek" rocket artillery system destroyed the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of responsibility of the "Southern" group -video.
10:36 Explosions thundered in Odessa, the Ukrainian publication Novosti.Live reported.
10:25 Russian Armed Forces strike enemy targets in Odessa.
10:24 Russian military stopped all attempts by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to land troops on the Kinburn Spit in the Kherson region, said the senator from the region, Konstantin Basyuk.
10:21 On the Russian Armed Forces' advance into the DPR:
– One of the road junctions south of Chasy Yar came under the control of the Russian Armed Forces;
– The Russian Armed Forces have advanced to the east of liberated Levadnoye. There is also an advance towards Novodarovka and Rivnepol (Vremyevskiy salient);
– The control zone in the Zolotaya Niva area and north of Ugledar has been expanded.
09:41 “Covering” enemy positions in Dobrovolye/Bogoyavlenka with FABs –video.
09:19 More than two-thirds of the territory of the city of Dzerzhinsk (Toretsk) in the DPR has already been liberated, the Russian Armed Forces are advancing, driving the enemy out of high-rise buildings, - DPR head Denis Pushilin.
09:09 Russian Armed Forces advance in Volchansk and attack in the Kupyansk area – American Institute for the Study of War.
After a series of assaults in the north of Khar'kov region, Russian troops were able to advance in Vovchansk. The Russian Armed Forces also continue to attack Ukrainian Armed Forces positions to the southwest of the city, in the Staritsa area.
In addition, Russian military personnel are not abandoning their attempts to capture new territories in the Kupyansk direction.
08:11 Snipers of the "Center" group of forces destroyed Ukrainian Armed Forces observers and disrupted the rotation of infantry in the Krasnoarmeysk direction in the DPR –video.
08:08 Crew of a nomadic 120mm mortar of the Russian Armed Forces destroyed a stronghold of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the right bank of the Dnieper, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
08:07 Russian Armed Forces advanced near Nevsky, Vodyanoye, Zolotoy Niva, Priyutnoye and Toretsk.
08:04 Russian Armed Forces struck targets in Nikolaev, Sumy Oblast and the occupied part of Zaporizhia Oblast at night
08:01 Tankers of the "North" troop group in the border area of the Kursk region provide support for motorized rifle and assault units, destroying strongholds, military equipment and enemy manpower.
Article Linked Is Available Only Via VPN.
[EngMilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Liptsy and Volchansk directions, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on formations on the 57th Motorised Infantry Brigade of the AFU and 113th Territorial Defence Brigade near Volchansk and Velikiye Prokhody (Kharkov region).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 30 troops, two motor vehicles, and one field ammunition depot.
Units of the Zapad Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 14th, 53rd, 63rd, 77th Mechanised brigades, and 3rd Assault Brigade of the AFU near Petropavlovka, Berestovoye (Kharkov region), Grigorovka (Donetsk People's Republic), and Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic).
Four counterattacks launched by AFU assault detachments were repelled. The AFU losses amounted to up to 300 troops, one tank, two motor vehicles, and two 122mm D-30 howitzers. Two ammunition depots were wiped out.
Units of the Yug Group of Forces continued advancing to the depth of the enemy's defences and inflicted losses on formations of the 24th, 30th, 33rd Mechanised brigades, and 5th Assault Brigade of the AFU near Katerinovka, Zaliznyanskoye, Minkovka, and Antonovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Three counter-attacks launched by units of AFU 28th, 46th Mechanised brigades, and 81st Airmobile Brigade were repelled. The AFU losses amounted to up to 590 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, two motor vehicles, one U.S.-made 155mm M-777 howitzer, one 122mm D-30 howitzer, and one U.S.-made 105mm M-119 howitzer.
Units of the Tsentr Group of Forces improved the tactical situation along the front line and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 110th Mechanised Brigade, 142nd, 152nd Motorised Infantry brigades of the AFU, 38th Marine Brigade, 109th Territorial Defence Brigade, and 14th National Guard Brigade near Dimitrov, Nikolayevka, Novodmitrovka, Selidovo, Druzhba, and Sukhaya Balka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Two counter-attacks launched by assault detachments of the AFU 100th Mechanised Brigade were repelled. The AFU losses amounted to up to 500 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, two motor vehicles, one 122mm D-30 howitzer, and one 100mm Rapira anti-tank gun.
Units of the Vostok Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 58th Motorised Infantry Brigade of the AFU and 21st National Guard Brigade near Velikaya Novosyolka and Oktyabr (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 95 troops, one armoured personnel carrier, four motor vehicles, and one 155mm Bogdana self-propelled artillery system.
Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted losses on formations of the 35thNavalInfantry Brigade and 124th Territorial Defence Brigade near Stepnoye (Zaporozhye region) and Antonovka (Kherson region).
The AFU losses amounted to more than 60 troops and two motor vehicles. One ammunition depot was destroyed.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, and Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces engaged AFU manpower clusters and hardware in 129 areas during the day.
Air defence units shot down one French-made Hammer guided aviation bomb and 43 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 646 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 33,648 unmanned aerial vehicles, 582 anti-aircraft missile systems, 18,629 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,472 MLRS combat vehicles, 16,186 field artillery guns and mortars, and 27,265 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of Kursk region.
Units of the Sever Group of Forces continued offensive operations and inflicted losses on formations of the 22nd, 41st, 47th, 115th Mechanised brigades, 17th Tank Brigade, 82nd, 95th Air Assault brigades, 36th Naval Infantry Brigade, 103rd, and 129th Territorial defence brigades of the AFU near Lyubimovka, Malaya Loknya, Novy Put, Novoivanovka, and Plyokhovo.
In addition, over the past 24 hours, units of the Sever Group of Forces repelled eight enemy counter-attacks in the direction of Zeleny Shlyakh, Nizhny Klin, Novoivanovka, and Russkaya Konopelka. As a result, the AFU losses amounted to up to 90 troops, one Stryker armoured personnel carrier, and two motor vehicles.
Army Aviation and artillery strikes inflicted losses on manpower clusters and hardware of the 22nd, 41st, 47th, 61st, 115th Mechanised brigades, 17th Tank Brigade, 80th, 82nd, 95th Air Assault brigades, 36th Naval Infantry Brigade, 1st, 17th National Guard brigades, 103rd, 112th, and 129th Territorial Defence brigades of the AFU near Bogdanovka, Bondarevka, Daryino, Knyazhy Pervy, Kruglenkoye, Kolmakov, Lyubimovka, Loknya, Martynovka, Makhnovka, Melovoy, Novy Put, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Plyokhovo, Pravda, Rubanshchina, Sverdlikovo, Staraya Sorochina, and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye.
Operational-Tactical Aviation and Missile Troops delivered strikes at concentration areas in Sumy region and reserves of the 21st, 41st, 47th, 115th Mechanised brigades, 95th Air Assault Brigade, 101st, 103rd, 107th, and 129th Territorial Defence brigades near Belovody, Budivelnoye, Zhuravka, Zarutskoye, Katerinovka, Pavlovka, Rozsoshy, Trostyanets, Shalygino, Chernevoye, and Ulanovo.
Over the past 24 hours, the AFU losses amounted to more than 200 troops, four units of hardware, namely, one tank, one armoured fighting vehicle, and two armoured personnel carriers, including one U.S.-made Stryker armoured personnel carrier as well as three mortars, one 122mm BM-21 Grad MLRS launcher, and two motor vehicles.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the enemy lost more than 23,150 troops, 158 tanks, 72 infantry fighting vehicles, 100 armoured personnel carriers, 918 armoured fighting vehicles, 632 motor vehicles, 189 artillery guns, 37 MLRS launchers, including nine of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, nine anti-aircraft missile launchers, five transport-loading vehicles, 48 EW stations, nine counterbattery warfare radars, three air defence systems, 22 pieces of engineering and other equipment, including 13 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, and three armoured recovery vehicles.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 20:58 Zelensky will present his "victory plan" at the European Council on Thursday, October 17. European Council President Charles Michel said he invited the Ukrainian president to the EU summit for this purpose.
19:23 A decision has been made in the Kharkiv region on the mandatory evacuation of the entire civilian population from the Kupyansk direction, said the head of the OVA Oleg Sinegubov. In particular, the population of Kupyansk and three other communities located closer to the front line are subject to evacuation. "The military situation is currently worsening. We cannot ensure the heating season, electricity, or humanitarian aid there because the enemy is shelling critical infrastructure," Sinegubov explained. According to him, the Russians have approached the Oskol River and may soon try to force it.
19:11 The situation at the front is difficult, but the Defense Forces are holding their positions and "continuing to implement the assigned tasks" in the Kursk region, Zelensky said in an evening video address. The president also announced new contracts in Ukrainian defense production, in particular for the production of drones, electronic warfare, and artillery.
18:37 Russians shelled the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region throughout the day; a pregnant woman and a four-year-old child were wounded in the Marganets community, reported the head of the OVA, Serhiy Lysak.
17:46 In the US, both Democrats and Republicans are demanding that Zelensky lower the mobilization age, said adviser to the head of the President's Office Serhiy Leshchenko: "I can confirm: American politicians from both parties are pressuring President Zelensky on the issue of why Ukraine is not mobilizing those aged 18 to 25... The partners' argument is this: when the US was in Vietnam, they were drafted from the age of 19. Therefore, the Americans are hinting: Western weapons alone are not enough, mobilization from the age of 18 is needed. President Zelensky did not push through and continues to convince politicians from both parties to provide weapons without changing the draft age."
17:00 Zelensky reported that he held a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Headquarters on energy and winterization. In particular, they discussed all levels of energy infrastructure protection: engineering, electronic warfare, and air defense forces. "Our aviation will take an active part. We also decided to strengthen air defense in border and frontline regions. The Ministry of Internal Affairs presented a plan for responding to shelling and promptly repairing damage. Work continues on creating a dispersed network of cogeneration units," the president said.
16:51 Suspilne reports, citing sources, that 18 North Korean servicemen have already fled from their positions on the border of the Bryansk and Kursk regions, 7 km from the state border with Ukraine. Russian military personnel are trying to hide this information from the high command.
16:44 Due to a budget deficit, France will not fulfill its initial plan for military aid to Ukraine this year, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said: "We will exceed 2 billion euros, but will not reach 3 billion euros."
16:35 The agreement on a "comprehensive strategic partnership" between Russia and the DPRK envisages the provision of mutual military assistance "in the event of aggression," said Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Andrei Rudenko.
16:08 The number of cases of execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian troops increased in 2024, Prosecutor General Andrei Kostin said in an interview with the Belgian publication La Libre: "We can prove that these cases are not isolated incidents, but an organized and targeted policy. For example, we have an audio recording in which a Russian officer orders his troops not to take prisoners on the battlefield, but to kill Ukrainians."
15:57 The Cabinet of Ministers has authorized the processing of explosive objects using mobile complexes directly at demining sites. It is assumed that this will allow obtaining valuable processed products for the needs of the Defense Forces.
15:32 The government has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Digital Transformation to implement a pilot project for the recruitment of Ukrainian citizens in electronic form over the course of two years. It is envisaged that Ukrainian citizens aged 18 to 55 can participate in the project. Recruitment takes place electronically: a person chooses a military unit and specialty and submits an application for military service under a contract through Diia.
14:26 Russia is forming a battalion of North Korean citizens based on the Buryat brigade, Liga reports, citing a source in military intelligence. The estimated number of personnel in this battalion is 3,000 people. It is being formed on the basis of the 11th separate airborne assault brigade of the Russian Armed Forces. The military is currently being provided with small arms and ammunition. Intelligence admits that the battalion may be involved in combat missions near Sudzha and Kursk.
13:49 The Ground Forces reported the appointment of former MP, Lieutenant Oleh Lyashko to the post of commander of the unmanned systems battalion of the 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade. The appointment is connected with his successes in this area. Thus, the 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade claims that Lyashko has proven himself in the best possible way during his two years of service in this brigade.
13:18 Politico writes that the Persian Gulf countries do not support the EU's position on the war in Ukraine. The publication cites a draft joint statement following tomorrow's summit of the leaders of the two regions in Brussels. In particular, the Persian Gulf countries have abandoned the wording on ending material aid to the Russian Federation, bypassing sanctions, and condemning Iranian military supplies. At the same time, the parties intend to jointly condemn the massive missile strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, although Russia is not directly mentioned in the document.
12:07 Ukraine is preparing for massive Russian attacks on the energy sector with the start of the heating season, said the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Litvinenko. At the same time, he added that the Ukrainian energy sector has already demonstrated its ability to implement innovative solutions during the war, and Russia's intentions to destroy the Ukrainian economy are not achieving their goal.
11:59 Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen has spoken of "real fatigue" in the West over the war in Ukraine: "It is real, and it is growing." According to Valtonen, some Western officials have begun to privately discuss ways to end the fire.
11:08 In Nikolaev, the number of those wounded as a result of the Russian attack overnight has risen to 23, reported the head of the OVA, Vitaly Kim.
10:31 The SBU reported that it had detained a traitor who, during the battle for Chasiv Yar, directed Russian artillery at his brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The FSB agent turned out to be a 22-year-old operator of unmanned systems of one of the combat brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which holds the defense in the Kramatorsk direction. Counterintelligence exposed the traitor in advance, thus preventing enemy strikes on the locations of Ukrainian troops. The offender is in custody, he faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
09:43 Zelensky has been taking his so-called "victory plan" - a set of steps to end the war in Ukraine - to the US and Western Europe, and is now finally ready to show it to Ukrainians. On October 16, the president will address parliament, where he will likely present his plan. For more details, see the article "Victory Plan" Will Be Shown to Everyone: New Details .
08:56 In Berislav, Kherson region, two people were injured as a result of morning attacks by Russian UAVs, OVA reported. Over the previous day, four people were killed and six were injured as a result of Russian shelling in the region.
08:42 Air defense destroyed 12 out of 17 attack UAVs in Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Chernihiv, Kirovohrad and Cherkasy regions at night, the Air Force reported. Four more enemy drones were lost, one remains in the air, combat operations continue. In addition, at night, the Russian Federation struck Mykolaiv region with seven S-300/400 anti-aircraft guided missiles from the territory of Crimea and two Kh-59 guided air missiles in Chernihiv and Sumy regions.
08:30 In Donetsk region on October 14 as a result of Russian shelling five people were wounded: three in Shakhtarskoye, one each in Zakotnoye and Reznikovka, reported the head of the OVA Vadim Filashkin.
07:57 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of October 15:
personnel - about 671,400 (+1210) people,
tanks - 8988 (+13),
combat armored vehicles - 17,939 (+44),
artillery systems - 19,430 (+9),
MLRS - 1231 (+0),
air defense systems - 978 (+0),
aircraft - 369 (+0),
helicopters - 329 (+0),
Operational-tactical level UAVs - 17,019 (+10),
cruise missiles - 2620 (+1),
ships/boats - 28 (+0),
submarines - 1 (+0),
automotive equipment and tank trucks - 26,654 (+32),
special equipment - 3441 (+4).
07:29 At night, Russians attacked Nikolaev - according to preliminary information, with S-300 missiles, said OVA head Vitaly Kim. An infrastructure facility, a restaurant complex, shopping pavilions, residential buildings were damaged, firefighting continues. As a result of the shelling, one person was killed, 16 were injured.
Germany “will not be ashamed” to assist Israel in attacking terrorists, announced the Foreign Minister in the Berlin Parliament. Germany will continue to send weapons to Israel. pic.twitter.com/WuXqyhr3ai
We’re getting very mixed messages. Yes, Germany will continue sending weapons, but they’re slow-walking deliveries because they’re concerned that Israel is committing war crimes, and anyway the weapons they aren’t sending are still in development and aren’t yet being produced — so how much is real and how much is propagandizing by one side or the other?
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2024
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11148 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
[HotAir] Yes. In response to our previous posting about headshots on Paleo kids. Pics at link
I am not a ballistics expert and don't play one on TV. I didn't even sleep in a Holiday Inn Express, so what I write here is based entirely on the analysis of others.
But I am pretty sure they are right, given the balance of the evidence and the provenance of the opinion piece published by the New York Times.
At issue is a piece published by the Times in which 65 medical personnel who have worked in Gaza during the Israeli operation accuse soldiers of deliberately targeting Gazan children, shooting them in the head. There are lurid stories and X-ray images that purport to show bullets lodged in the head and neck of children.
Those X-rays appear to be--according to doctors and ballistics experts--totally fake. And even I, a layman, can call bulls**t on them due to obvious problems that a 10-year-old can spot.
Look at the linked photos in the above tweet, and you will immediately notice a few things: there are no entry or exit wounds, despite the claim that a military rifle supposedly shot these children with a bullet designed to penetrate armor. The bullets show no deformation and appear to have been placed under the body.
I could be wrong, but lots of people in the law enforcement, military, and forensics fields have pointed these facts out. People have also done experiments using the same weapon and bullets on models, and there is no way that any of these children would have survived as claimed or that images of the wounds would appear that way on any type of medical images.
It's not one or two people who are trying to debunk the claims being made in the pages of the Times; it seems to be everybody with any knowledge of ballistics or gunshot wounds piling on.
The Times begs to differ but offers nothing more than an assurance that their robust fact-checking operation didn't let anything get past them. They have "layers and layers" of fact-checkers, just like Dan Rather did, so nothing gets past them!
Snipers scoff at the images and the stories because they know the effects of military bullets striking heads. The bullets almost certainly would pass through the head, causing massive trauma in both the brain and the exit wound.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/16/2024
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11153 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
They're all Hoaxes.
Better question, Has the NYT ever published the truth?
#5
Leaving aside the lack of entrance/exit wounds, something I noticed, purely from an imaging perspective, is that the x-rays show a lot of fine anatomical detail, but the outlines of the bullets had a bad case of the "jaggies" - a sign of image-processing bumfoolery.
#7
I stopped in to see which NYT story was passable as truth. Apparently, none, it is a story requiring a suspension of belief greater than thinking The Acolyte earned a second season.
[X] Spontaneous combustion? Allah’s will made manifest? Inshallah maintenance? It could not possibly be Israel, because Bibi was said to have agreed — under duress, mind — not to attack nuclear or oil sites.
[IsraelTimes] Letter from Blinken and Austin lists series of demands, including allowing 350 trucks daily into Strip, ensuring north Gaza isn’t ‘isolated’; deadline falls days after US election
How about first emptying the Hamas warehouses, stuffed to the rafters with stolen aid, that they have been selling to the starving residents for hundreds of millions of dollars? But no, the Harris-Biden administration prefers to posture before the Jew-hating contingent of the voting public and hinder in every way Israel’s ability to defend herself from those who would again and again water the land with Jewish blood until there are none left to bleed.
The White House has warned Israel it has one month to implement significant improvements to the humanitarian situation 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... or jeopardize the continued supply of US weapons, noting that humanitarian assistance entering the Strip has plummeted in recent months.
In a Sunday letter to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, obtained by The Times of Israel on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm... and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin lamented that the past several months have seen a significant deterioration in the amount of aid entering Gaza.
The top US officials said such developments call into question Israel’s commitment to not restrict the entry of aid into Gaza and that it is using US weapons in line with international law.
That written commitment was provided last March in order to ensure Israel’s compliance with a National Security Memorandum (NSM) issued by Biden in February. The memo applies to all recipients of US security assistance.
The letter was sent just weeks before the November 5 US presidential election; but its November 13 deadline would ostensibly mitigate some of the political fallout, given that US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. The man who made Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter look competent, if only by comparison.... will be a lame duck when deciding whether Israel has taken the necessary steps to ensure compliance with the NSM.
An Israeli official in Washington later told The Times of Israel that Jerusalem was reviewing the latter. "Israel takes this matter seriously and intends to address the concerns raised in this letter with our American counterparts," the official said.
While Israel implemented a series of provisions to improve the flow of aid into Gaza after promising to do so in the spring, "the amount of aid delivered has [since] dropped by more than 50 percent," Blinken and Austin wrote, adding that the amount of aid that entered Gaza in September was the lowest of any month during the past year.
"To reverse the downward humanitarian trajectory and consistent with its assurances to us, Israel must — starting now and within 30 days — act on the following concrete measures," they wrote.
"Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for US policy under NSM-20 and relevant US law," the letter stated.
The February NSM required recipients of US security aid to provide assurances that they would not use it to violate human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... or restrict humanitarian aid in areas where US weapons are being used.
Failure to adhere to the memo’s terms would place the administration in violation of US law, thereby jeopardizing continued offensive weapon shipments to the country in question.
The memo did not single out any specific country but was issued amid increasing calls by progressive politicians in the US to condition aid to Israel due to concerns over its military operations in Gaza. Those were triggered by the October 7 attacks in which Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... -led forces of Evil murdered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 251.
The memo also required Blinken to periodically update Congress on aid recipients’ adherence to its terms.
Last May, Blinken provided Congress with the first of such updates, informing politicians that it was reasonable to assess that Israel had used some US-supplied weapons in a manner that was inconsistent with international law. However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... the secretary of state noted that Israel’s assurances that it would comply with the memo were "credible" and that there was not yet sufficient proof that Israel had violated those commitments.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed the letter during a briefing later Tuesday but said it was a private correspondence that Washington hadn’t planned to publicize, hinting that Israeli officials were behind its release.
The demands from Blinken and Austin focused on three categories: Increasing the supply of humanitarian aid by the start of winter; facilitating the aid delivery route through Jordan; and ending the "isolation" of northern Gaza.
Regarding the first category, the pair of Biden cabinet members said Israel must enable the entry of at least 350 aid trucks into Gaza each day through all four major crossings controlled by the IDF.
Blinken and Austin also urged implementing "adequate" pauses in the IDF’s fighting to enable humanitarian operations and allow Paleostinians in the Mawasi coastal humanitarian zone to move inland before the winter. They noted that "multiple evacuation orders have forced 1.7 million people" to seek refuge in the area.
Regarding aid from Jordan, the US urged reinstating a minimum of 50 to 100 commercial trucks per day, after the number fell significantly in recent months.
As for northern Gaza, the pair of Biden aides urged Israel to clarify that there is no government policy to forcibly evacuate civilians from this part of the Strip and ensure that aid groups have continued access to the area.
Earlier this month, the IDF issued evacuation orders for the northern city of Jabaliya and surrounding areas, as it works to prevent the resurgence of Hamas. The operations have alarmed humanitarian agencies and governments abroad who fear Israel is adopting a policy recommended by several former Israeli generals, which calls for north Gaza to be cleared of civilians and for remaining combatants to be put under siege until they surrender.
Israel has denied trying to implement this policy. It also rejects accusations of hampering aid supplies.
COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees aid distribution in Gaza, posted on social media over the weekend that there are currently five bakeries producing 1.3 million pita breads per day in northern Gaza.
Toward the end of the letter, Blinken and Austin expressed their concern over legislation recently advanced in the Knesset aimed at barring the UNRWA relief agency for Paleostinian refugees and their descendants from operating in Israel.
The pair said they recognize Israel’s concerns over some UNRWA members’ ties to Hamas and involvement in the October 7 onslaught, and that Hamas is "misusing" the UN organization’s facilities.
However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... the "enactment of such restrictions would devastate the Gaza humanitarian response at this critical moment and deny vital educational and social services to tens of thousands of Paleostinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which could have implications under relevant US law and policy."
As part of a law passed earlier this year, the US is barred from funding UNRWA until March 2025, though the White House said last month that it backs the restoration of that aid "with appropriate safeguards."
The pair also noted reports of abuse against Paleostinian detainees and urged to allow them to be visited by the International Committee of the Red Thingy.
Blinken and Austin ended the letter by stressing the need for establishing a new channel through which the US and Israel can discuss "civilian harm incidents."
"Our engagements to date have not produced the necessary outcomes. We ask that the initial virtual meeting of this channel be held by the end of October," the pair wrote.
The month after the memorandum was issued earlier this year, the US deemed Israel to be in compliance with its criteria.
Last week, Miller said at a press briefing that the idea had always been for "ongoing assessment" and that though the administration has not concluded that Israel is blocking the delivery of aid, "it is urgent that they [Israel] correct the situation and allow humanitarian aid to get in."
However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... US officials have more recently sounded the alarm over the growing humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza, amid reports from the UN’s World Food Programme a few days ago that no assistance had entered that part of the Strip in nearly two weeks. Limited aid has since been renewed.
During a call Sunday between Gallant and Austin, the US defense secretary "raised the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and stressed that steps must be taken to address it," according to a Pentagon readout.
The same day, US Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris It is time for us to do what we have been doing. And that time is every day called on Israel to do more to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid into northern Gaza.
"Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected," she tweeted from her VP account on X.
Responding to the letter from Blinken and Austin, the pro-Israel AIPAC lobby group slammed the Biden administration for warning US military assistance could be limited if Israel doesn’t implement its demands.
"Threatening to cut off American support for Israel as it confronts 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... and its proxies on seven fronts weakens our ally, undermines American interests, and sends a dangerous message to our common enemies about US support for our democratic allies," AIPAC wrote on X, asserting that Israel has taken steps to address the crisis under difficult conditions.
The ongoing war has already previously upset military aid to Israel. Since earlier this year, the Biden administration has withheld the delivery of a shipment to heavy bombs to Israel over concerns they would be used in densely populated areas.
Israel subsequently tailored its operations to account for the administration’s concerns of mass civilian casualties and the two allies worked to patch up their differences.
Asked about the letter that the Biden administration sent to Israel earlier this week in which it warned that continued US security assistance will be at risk if Jerusalem doesn’t address the Gaza humanitarian crisis in 30 days, White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre stresses that the message is similar to one that Washington sent in April, which Israel responded to constructively.
She reiterates at a press briefing that the timing of the letter had to do with the major drop in aid over the past several months.
From more Israel Times liveblog posts — because Rantburg’s code only allows one kink per comment: And then they told the UN Security Council they’re just ensuring Israel doesn’t have a policy of starving north Gaza. Because while President Biden looooooves Israel (he does, you guys — stop laughing!), he thinks Bibi Netanyahu and those surrounding him are all the kinds of untrustworthy evil.
“The Government of Israel has said that this is not their policy, that food and other essential supplies will not be cut off, and we will be watching to see that Israel’s actions on the ground match this statement,” American Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said today.
[NYPOST] Cult hero Nedd Brockmann's gruelling 1600-kilometer charity run is part of a broader trend of men ''repackaging mental health as mental toughness'', according to a writer who suggests the ''blokeification of mental fitness'' is ''just toxic masculinity
...the liberal concept (the science is settled!) that men are knuckle dragging bastards who spend all their time watching football, drinking beer, burping, farting, and thumping their women. This doesn't apply if the men are girls transitioning to boys, or boys transitioning to girls, or either transitioning to sheep... rebranded''.
Conceding her ''unpopular opinion'' was ''going to upset some people'', author and journalist Jill Stark stressed that Brockmann had done an ''admirable job'' raising money to combat homelessness and ''should be applauded''.
But she explained there had ''always been something that troubles me about the philosophy he espouses and the message he's sending about what it means to be 'mentally strong'''.
''It's a uniquely masculine approach to wellbeing that is less self-care and more self-flagellation,'' she wrote on Instagram.
''In this world view, the more gruelling the challenge, and the more performative the suffering, the more psychologically robust you are. It's part of a growing trend in recent years of men repackaging mental health as mental toughness.''
Stark said extreme endurance runs, ice baths, paleo diets, biohacking and ''raw-dogging'' long-haul flights were ''just some of the things men are doing in the name of self-improvement''.
''Is this really an example of 'mind over matter'? Or is the blokeification of mental fitness just toxic masculinity rebranded?'' she asked.
Stark, author of High Sobriety and When You're Not OK, laid out her thoughts about why she was ''disturbed by this modern brand of male wellness'' in her Patreon subscriber newsletter.
Brockmann, 25, kicked off his ''Nedd's Uncomfortable Challenge'' at Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre on October 3 with the goal of running 1000 miles (1610 kilometres) to raise money for homelessness charity We Are Mobilise.
In his latest effort, Brockmann was seeking to break the 1000-mile world record of 10 days, 10 hours, 30 minutes and 36 seconds, set by Greek ultra-marathon runner Yiannis Kouros in 1988.
It would have required him to run 403 laps of the 400-metre track per day for 10 days, finishing by 3am on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2024
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11168 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
You must under no circumstances think for yourself.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
10/16/2024 8:17
Comments ||
Top||
#2
She should stick with her area of expertise, you know, When You're Not OK.
#4
It’s America’s Toxic heritage that bothers her.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/16/2024 12:39
Comments ||
Top||
#5
The mentally upset have had 4 years to pleas their case with a near monopoly in entertainment, media, business leadership, and politics.
And what do we have for it? Disney, Bud Light, Kamala Harris, and this bint?
Seriously, this guy could be raising money for free nudey mags for kindergartners, which by the way the mentally depressed education complex, and I'd still be like, 1.6k km is still impressive, and Karen has to try and take a piss on it because she can't help but a box of wine with her pills. Because Make America Healthy Again strikes the nerve of people who don't want that.
Set of basic free weights a mat and routine, disconnecting from the web at least an hour before bed, getting off the fast food, reading an actual paper book with a plot which requires at least a little effort, an easy to get into but hard to master hobby, would do so much for so many people.
Especially guys, who are getting it from the cat ladies and male feminist allies from all angles. Like to watch the team play on Sunday? Well now your beer wants you to cut off your dick and the announcers when they aren't talking about how pretty the scoring dance is, are arguing about whether Taylor Swift's butthole smells like roses or hibiscus.
[NYPOST] In a symbolic display of anger, North Korea ...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche... on Tuesday blew up the northern section of unused roads that once linked it with the South, with the rivals exchanging threats days after the North claimed that its rival flew drones over its capital Pyongyang.
The roads' choreographed demolition underlines North Korea's growing anger against South Korea's conservative government.
North Korean leader Kim Pudge Jong-un ...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished... has vowed to sever relations with South Korea and abandon the goal of achieving peaceful Korean unification.
Observers say it's unlikely Kim will launch a preemptive, large-scale attack on South Korea because of fear that an almost certain massive retaliation by the more superior forces of the United States and South Korea would threaten Pyongyang's survival.
In response to the earth-shattering kabooms, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said its military fired within southern sections of the border as it bolstered its readiness and surveillance posture.
The statement did not give details, but the move could have been an attempt to avert cross-border fire by North Korea. It wasn't immediately known whether North Korea responded.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2024
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11165 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#1
That'll show them!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/16/2024 10:57
Comments ||
Top||
#2
I'm sure the south is quaking. North Korea just had half of an engineering platoon in Kursk desert and surrender to the Ukrainians.
#3
There was a time when seismic sensors were in place to detect Tunnel digging and drilling. There should be some good 3D mapping data from the shock waves.
[Breitbart] The socialist dictatorship of Venezuela has sent 14 tons of food, medicine, and other humanitarian aid to Lebanon as a gesture against Israel’s self-defense operations following the October 7, 2023, Hamas slaughter.
Very symbolic. How many would that feed for a week? For a month?
Venezuela under dictator Nicolás Maduro has vocally supported Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Iranian terror state against Israel, holding “anti-Zionist” rallies and accusing Israel of “genocide.” The alleged humanitarian aid package follows an expansion of Israeli self-defense activities in the past two months in Lebanon targeting the leaders of Hezbollah, who Maduro for decades has maintained close ties with.
Shipping 14 tons of humanitarian aid out of Venezuela became an eye-catching international display given the country’s status as one of the world’s most impoverished. Once Latin America’s wealthiest state, following the election of socialist tyrant Hugo Chávez in 1999, the oil-rich state deteriorated rapidly as socialists plundered its coffers, forced its most educated population into prison or exile, and neglected the upkeep of its top industries. Venezuela’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell 73 percent in the past decade.
The collapse of Venezuela’s economy has led 8 million Venezuelans to flee the country – a migrant crisis comparable only to the war-torn states of Syria and Ukraine – and recent studies suggest over half of Venezuelans, at least, live in poverty. The Maduro regime stopped tracking poverty data in 2015, at a time of acute crisis in the country in which pervasive, involuntary weight loss became commonly referred to as the “Maduro diet.”
It is not clear at press time if the “aid” that Maduro sent to Lebanon came out of supplies initially reserved for Venezuelan citizens.
VTV, the state propaganda broadcaster, reported on Saturday that Maduro’s top diplomat, Yván Gil, had supervised the shipping of 14 tons of food, medicine, and other aid to Lebanon and Syria “for the populations attacked by Israeli Zionism.”
“As a gesture of solidarity and support towards the brotherly peoples, Venezuela remains firm in its commitment to back the Middle East nations in their struggle for peace and self-determination,” Gil said in a post on the communications application Telegram. Gil’s underling for Middle East issues, Tatiana Pugh, reportedly said that Venezuela’s aid was necessary to combat the “massacres” allegedly committed by Israel.
“Tons of food, medicine and basic necessities sent by the Bolivarian people and government have arrived in Damascus for the brothers and sisters of Lebanon affected by the bombardment of the terrorist state of Israel,” Gil proclaimed.
The approval of humanitarian aid in general is an abrupt shift for the Venezuelan dictatorship. At the peak of the humanitarian crisis in the country, some of Maduro’s top henchmen discouraged Venezuelans from accepting humanitarian aid from other countries, particularly the United States, falsely claiming it was poisoned.
“Something that should alarm us as a people is that the humanitarian aid comes contaminated and poisoned,” Maduro’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez scandalously claimed in 2019, as the administration of President Donald Trump shipped tons of food to the Colombian-Venezuelan border. “It is carcinogenic. Several scientific studies have proven that the … United States is looking to poison our people with chemicals. We could call them biological weapons.”
In reality, Maduro’s “aid” to his people is the food often contaminated and unsafe to eat. The regime feeds its poor – and manipulates their behavior – through an aid distribution system known as the “Local Committees for Supply and Production” (CLAP, by its Spanish-language initials). CLAP boxes are highly subsidized packages often containing cooking oil, rice, flour, and other food basics. While starving Venezuelan citizens often compete for the regime’s favor to get priority access to the boxes, they have for years been known to contain rotten food, including insect-laden rice, expired sardine cans, and other unsafe items.
Gil did not specify if the food sent to Lebanon came from Maduro’s CLAP box supply.
The United Nations recently estimated that over 80 percent of Venezuelans currently live in poverty, and over half – 53 percent – live in extreme poverty, unable to afford a basic monthly supply of food. A study by Venezuela’s Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) in March found similarly that over half of Venezuelans lived in poverty in 2023, and about half lived in “multidimensional poverty,” including lack of access to health and education.
The move to express “solidarity” with Lebanese Hezbollah, the target of the Israeli operation, follows decades of attempts by Chávez and, later, Maduro to forge close ties to the jihadist terror organization. In 2015, Spanish journalist Emili Blasco revealed that Chávez sent Maduro, then Venezuela’s foreign minister, to Damascus, Syria, in 2007 to meet with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and discuss “drug trafficking, money laundering, [and] the distribution of arms and issuing of passports … to terrorists.” The distribution of authentic Venezuelan passports to Hezbollah terrorists with no clear ties to Venezuela was reportedly administered through a Hezbollah terrorist known as Ghazi Nasr al Din.
By 2017, a former official in Venezuela’s passport distribution office revealed that the country had issued at least 10,000 passports to Syrian, Iranian, and other Middle Eastern nationals who did not appear to in any way qualify for a Venezuelan passport. It is unclear how many of these were members of Hezbollah or any other Iran-backed jihadist terrorist organization.
Sure, but it was a nice little fundraiser for a country that was then already well on its way to bankruptcy.
[IsraelTimes] Military releases interrogation footage suggesting dissension among terror group’s ranks; Lebanon PM says he received reassurances from US that Israel will reduce strikes in Beirut
The IDF said on Tuesday that it had nabbed three members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces after discovering them in a shaft underneath a building in southern Lebanon, amid the ground offensive against the Lebanese terror group. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said that troops from the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion discovered the Radwan operatives “entrenched” in the shaft “alongside many weapons and equipment needed for a long stay.”
The IDF did not say when the Hezbollah operatives were captured, and there was no immediate announcement from the Lebanese terror group on the matter.
The military also published a video clip of an alleged Radwan operative being interrogated about the terror group’s plans in southern Lebanon and the current state of its operations. It was unclear whether the suspect in the video was one of the three that the IDF said it arrested.
In the video, he painted a picture of chaos within Hezbollah at large and the Radwan forces in particular. Several days before being discovered, he said, an airstrike in the vicinity had cut his contact with a nearby cell of four operatives. Then, the three men he had been stationed with fled, leaving him alone.
“The village was emptied,” he said. He added that the regional commander and his deputy both abandoned their posts before the fighters did, speculating that they did so because “they had conflicts among themselves.”
Pressed on the matter by the interrogator, the Radwan fighter posited that those who fled had “little faith,” having chosen to join Hezbollah for the money rather than ideology.
“Of course, they were scared of Israel,” he acknowledged.
The interrogator then turned his attention to a different topic.
“What was the Radwan Force’s goal over the last period?” he asked.
Pausing momentarily before answering, the operative responded that the first objective was to respond to any strikes that came their way. The second long-term goal was “to perhaps push forward to the Galilee.”
“To enter Israel?” the interrogator asked, receiving an answer in the affirmative.
“That was the plan if there was fighting.”
The remark on a plan to invade the Galilee was consistent with briefings from the army in recent weeks in which they revealed that days after Hamas’s October 7 mass onslaught in southern Israel, thousands of terrorists had been positioned near the Lebanon border in a plan to storm the Galilee and unleash similar carnage there.
Pivoting suddenly, the interrogator once more demanded to know why those stationed in the south — supposedly in preparation for an anticipated invasion of Israel — had all seemingly fled.
“After the assassination of Hassan [Nasrallah], I didn’t see any of them,” the operative responded, referring to the massive strikes in Beirut on September 27 in which the Hezbollah leader was killed.
The capture of Hezbollah forces have not been common. On Sunday, the military announced for the first time since the ground offensive began it had captured a Hezbollah fighter in an underground bunker.
Hezbollah has been badly hit over the last month, starting with sabotage attacks that saw pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to terror operatives explode in two waves on September 17 and 18, killing at least 39 people and injuring thousands more. The attack has been widely blamed on Israel, despite it staying silent on the matter. Days later, Israel launched a major offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah on September 23 with the aim of allowing residents of northern Israel to return to homes they had been forced to evacuate during a year of cross-border rocket fire from Lebanon.
The attacks on northern Israel over the last year have resulted in the deaths of 28 civilians. In addition, 38 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon late last month.
Across the border, the Lebanese government has said that strikes have killed at least 2,309 people in Lebanon over the last year, mainly in the last few weeks. The number includes at least 960 Hezbollah terrorists the IDF said it had killed in the last year but likely includes many more as the numbers of slain Hezbollah members have not been consistently updated since Israel ramped up operations against it.
Speaking Tuesday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Hezbollah was hiding the number of fighters killed by Israel.
“This indicates that it is in distress and that we need to intensify our efforts against the terror group,” he was quoted saying in a statement issued by the IDF.
A graphic released by the military showed how it has eliminated almost all of Hezbollah’s top brass.
The IDF also confirmed on Tuesday that it had killed a top commander in Hezbollah’s aerial unit who was responsible for launching drones at Israel for both intelligence-gathering and attack purposes. The strike several days ago in Nabatieh took out Khader Al-Abed Bahja, head of the northern Litani region of the aerial unit, the army said. The news came two days after a drone struck an IDF training base, killing four soldiers and injuring dozens more. The IDF did not say, however, whether Bahja’s unit was tied to that attack.
US PUSHING FOR ISRAEL TO LIMIT BEIRUT STRIKES
Attempting to counter the image of an organization that has been splintered b Nasrallah’s assassination, Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem warned in a speech Tuesday that the only solution to the current war would be a ceasefire, and claimed that his terror group would not be defeated.
“Since the Israeli enemy targeted all of Lebanon, we have the right from a defensive position to target any place” in Israel, “whether the center, the north or the south,” Qassem said.
“I am telling the Israeli home front: The solution is a ceasefire… the resistance (Hezbollah) will not be defeated because this is its land,” he added, claiming that the Iran-backed terror group had adopted a new calculation so that Israel feels “pain.”
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati also raised the matter of a ceasefire on Tuesday. In a statement distributed by his office, Mikati said that he had received guarantees from the US that Israeli strikes in Beirut would be reduced, appearing to confirm recent Hebrew media reports that pressure from President Joe Biden had led to an agreement by Israel to cut back on strikes in the Lebanese capital.
While Israeli officials have vehemently denied agreeing to such a demand,
…one can imagine…
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that the US did indeed raise concerns over the bombing campaign in Beirut, and warned that Washington would continue to watch very carefully.
“We’ve told Israel very directly that we oppose their near-daily strikes here in densely populated areas in Beirut,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said in a separate briefing.
“We understand that they’re conducting targeted operations designed to go after Hezbollah infrastructure, and we recognize that they have a right to do that, but they also have a commensurate responsibility to do it in a way that doesn’t threaten the lives of civilians, UN peacekeepers or members of the Lebanese armed forces who have suffered some casualties here,” Kirby said. “It’s unacceptable, and we’ve pressed the Israelis for more details about that.”
”Yes, they have the right in theory, but in practice we do not permit it.”
Israel has not struck the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh, since late last week after hitting the area on a near-nightly basis for several weeks in attacks targeting Hezbollah operatives which the Lebanese health ministry said also killed scores of people not connected to the terror group.
Mikati did not provide further details on the assurances he had received from the US on the matter, but said that Washington was “serious about pressuring Israel to reach a ceasefire.”
Clearly. Washington has Jew-haters to appease before the election.
He told AFP on Tuesday that international efforts were still underway to reach a ceasefire that would put an end to the year-long hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which began when the terror group started launching attacks following the October 7, 2023, terror onslaught carried out by Hamas in southern Israel.
He reiterated his previously pledged commitment to implement UN Resolution 1701, which calls for the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers to be the only armed forces deployed south of the Litani river.
“Currently we have 4,500 soldiers in south Lebanon, and we wish to add to them between 7,000 and 11,000,” Mikati said, adding that his cash-strapped government would start by recruiting an additional 1,500 troops, and that as soon as any ceasefire is agreed they would move in soldiers from elsewhere in Lebanon.
“The Lebanese state is ready to impose its sovereignty over all of Lebanese territory,” he said.
Riiiiight.
‘WE ENTERED A WAR WHICH IS NOT FOR US’
While Israeli strikes have been concentrated mostly on south and east Lebanon, in addition to the capital, a deadly strike in northern Lebanon on Monday raised fears of a widening conflict. Israel said the strike, which was reported to have killed 22 people, struck a Hezbollah target. The United Nations nevertheless called for an independent investigation.
The strike was carried out in Aito, a village in the country’s Christian heartland, far from Hezbollah’s main area of influence. As rescue workers rummaged through the debris on Tuesday, they found the body of a child, and later a small leg and other remains that they put together in a white bag. The Lebanese military watched as a bulldozer cleared heaps of twisted steel, destroyed olive trees, and crushed rocks. Speaking to AFP in the aftermath of the strike, a resident of the village blamed Hezbollah for dragging Lebanon into a war it didn’t want.
“We entered a war which is not for us, we are all bearing its consequences,” she said.
DEMINING ACTIVITY IN GOLAN MAY INDICATE WIDENING FRONT
In what may be an indication that Israel is seeking to expand its ground operations against Hezbollah whilst bolstering defenses, security sources and analysts said its troops have cleared landmines and established new barriers on the frontier between the Golan Heights and a demilitarized strip bordering Syria. The move suggests Israel may seek to strike Hezbollah for the first time from further east along Lebanon’s border, at the same time creating a secure area from which it can freely reconnoiter the terror group and prevent infiltration, the sources said.
While demining activity has been reported, sources who spoke to Reuters — including a Syrian soldier stationed in south Syria, a Lebanese security official and a UN peacekeeping official — revealed additional unreported details that showed Israel was moving the fence separating the DMZ toward the Syrian side and digging more fortifications in the area.
From the Times of Israel liveblog, posted at midnight Wednesday ET. Israel did reduce the frequency of attacks on Beirut…
An Israeli strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, Reuters witnesses say, after days of the area being spared strikes. Reuters witnesses heard a blast and saw a plume of smoke. It came after an evacuation order by the Israeli military for a building in the area.
#عاجل ‼️ انذار عاجل جديد إلى سكان الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا المتواجدين في المبنى المحدد في الخارطة والواقع في حارة حريك
🔴أنتم متواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع على مدى الزمني القريب 🔴من أجل سلامتكم وسلامة أبناء عائلتكم عليكم اخلاء هذا… pic.twitter.com/cigjAse6iL
In a statement, the military says troops have engaged in face-to-face combat with Hezbollah fighters and have also targeted them in airstrikes carried out by the Israeli Air Force. Israeli soldiers have discovered rocket launchers, mortars, grenades, anti-tank missiles and other weaponry aimed at northern Israeli towns, the IDF says.
Over the past day, Israeli airstrikes have struck “more than 140 Hezbollah terror targets in more than 50 areas in Lebanon,” including those directed by ground troops, the military adds.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] Ukrainian Armed Forces Contain Russian Attacks in Eastern and Southern Ukraine.
The Russians carried out most of the attacks in the Kurakhovsky direction. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are currently repelling 14 assaults.
Since the beginning of the day, there have already been 96 combat clashes in 10 directions. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a report as of 16:00 on Tuesday, October 15.
"The situation on the combat line remains difficult. The Ukrainian Defense Forces are directing their efforts to disrupt the offensive plans of the Russian aggressor and destroying its personnel and equipment," the statement said.
Thus, in the Kharkov direction, the Russians unsuccessfully stormed the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of Volchansk and Staritsa.
In the Kupyansk direction, the enemy attacked 18 times near Kucherovka, Novoosinove, Grushevka, Peschanoye, Glushkovka, Lozovaya, Kruglyakovka and Vishnevoye. 11 clashes are still ongoing.
In the Liman direction, the invaders carried out 13 assaults near Grekovka, Makeyevka, Nevsky, Zarechny and Torsky. Nine combat clashes have ended, four more are ongoing.
In the Kramatorsk direction, two attacks were repelled in the area of Kalinovka and Predtechino.
In the Toretsk direction, seven enemy assaults took place in the area of Toretsk, Dachny and Shcherbinovka. All of them were stopped.
In the Pokrovsky direction, the occupiers carried out 14 attacks near Novotroitskoye, Mirolyubovka, Luch, Krasny Yar, Selidovo and Krutoy Yar. The defense forces repelled 11 enemy attacks, three combat clashes are ongoing.
In the Kurakhovsky direction, the invaders attacked 30 times in the direction of Kremennaya Balka, Novodmitrovka, Tsukurino, Novoselidovka, Georgievka, Konstantinovka, Antonovka and Katerinovka. 16 attempts by the occupiers to advance have already been repelled.
In the Vremevsky direction, one armed clash occurred near Razdolnoye.
In the Orekhov direction, the Russians attacked in vain near Malaya Tokmachka.
Also, once the enemy stormed the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Dnieper direction.
Let us recall that on October 14, more than 1,200 Russians were "minus" at the front. The total losses of the Russian Federation since the beginning of the war have exceeded more than 670 thousand people.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The price of Brent crude oil futures for December delivery fell below $75 per barrel during trading on the London ICE exchange for the first time since October 2. This follows from the trading platform data on October 15.
As of 08:03 Moscow time, the price of Brent crude oil fell by 3.33% and amounted to $74.88 per barrel.
At the same time, by 08:18 the price of Brent oil decreased to $74.54 (-3.77%). At the same time, the futures for WTI oil fell by 3.82%, to $71.01 per barrel.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on September 30, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak stated that Russia will withstand any reduction in oil prices. According to him, the dependence of the domestic economy on hydrocarbons is decreasing.
The Russian Deputy Prime Minister specified that the events taking place in the Middle East definitely influence the energy market. At the same time, according to Novak, everything will eventually return to normal.
[FoxNews] Johnson posted his own footage of the CBS interview on social media
House Speaker Mike Johnson accused CBS News of cutting critical key answers he gave during a "Face the Nation" appearance on Sunday as the embattled network still faces backlash over airing two different answers Vice President Kamala Harris gave to the same question.
While TV news organizations cut or trim pre-taped interviews for time on a regular basis, the process is supposed to be done with journalistic integrity that doesn’t strip critical context or give the appearance an answer could have been given at a different stage of the interview. CBS News has faced scrutiny in recent days for airing a longwinded answer Harris gave when promoting a recent "60 Minutes" interview, but cutting the poorly received answer when the show aired in primetime, instead showing a different response.
"CBS has been under fire for selectively editing their interviews to PROMOTE Democrats and UNDERMINE Republicans. Yesterday, they chose to cut FIVE important minutes out of my nearly 15 minute interview. You can be the judge as to why," Johnson posted on X before providing examples.
"I recently traveled to NC and victims of Hurricane Helene told me nearly two weeks after landfall, the Biden-Harris Administration had STILL not provided them with all the resources they desperately needed," Johnson added. "But CBS selectively edited OUT ENTIRELY this first-hand perspective."
Johnson, whose staff appears to have filmed the interview separately, then shared side-by-side video of what CBS aired compared to his entire answer. Moderator Margaret Brennan asked the House speaker about hurricane relief funds.
In the version that aired on CBS, Johnson said that the Biden-Harris administration has "obligated some funds, but they’ve only distributed two percent."
"The rescue and recovery effort is still going on, and then we address the rest of it," Johnson said in the answer that aired on CBS. The entire exchange was roughly 11 seconds.
But Johnson’s own footage, which he posted to social media, shows him providing a much more thorough answer.
"So they’ve obligated some funds, but they’ve only distributed two percent. When I was there on the ground, and you should go, I mean bring the cameras and talk to the people there, they’ll tell you. Don’t take a politician’s word for this, or the administration’s word for this, talk to people there on the ground. They had not been provided the resources, almost two weeks after the storm, that they desperately needed. And when I saw there, 13 days post the storm hitting that state, people are still being rescued… stuck in the higher elevations and the mountains because the roads are down… they need every available resource and all-hands on deck. The rescue and recovery effort is still going on, and then we address the rest of it," Johnson said in the more thorough answer that wasn’t shown in full on CBS.
Johnson then shared another one of his "receipts" to reveal CBS’ editing job.
"Apparently, CBS also doesn't want you to hear about Virginia Gov. Youngkin, who is trying to clean the state's voter rolls so non-American citizens can't vote there. We need more states doing this, but the Biden-Harris Administration is SUING VIRGINIA and trying to STOP it," Johnson wrote on X to caption another side-by-side video.
In the second clip, Johnson and Brennan have a brief disagreement over non-citizens voting in federal elections.
In the version that aired on CBS, Johnson is heard saying, "Here’s the problem, there is a number of states that are not requiring proof of citizenship when illegals or non-citizens register to vote. We know that’s happening... everybody should want the law to be followed."
But a much more thorough answer was left on the cutting room floor.
"Here’s the problem, there is a number of states that are not requiring proof of citizenship when illegals or non-citizens register to vote. We know that’s happening. Look, Glenn Youngkin in Virginia… he issued an executive order to clean up the voting rules heading into the election. Look, less than 30 days out, a couple of days ago, the Biden administration Department of Justice… sued the governor and the commonwealth of Virginia to try to prevent them from cleaning up their voter rules. See, that kind of thing creates a lot of doubt and concerns in the minds of the American people. Why would they do that? Everybody should want the law to be followed," Johnson said in the clip that didn’t air in full on CBS.
Johnson then posted a third example.
"The Biden-Harris Admin let millions of illegal aliens in our country. So, the House passed the SAVE Act to ensure only American citizens vote in American elections. CBS edited that out and focused on 2020 instead of immediate threats to election integrity," he posted on X to caption the side-by-side video.
Footage recorded by Johnson’s team shows that a lengthy response he gave was edited out by CBS.
CBS News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CBS News has been under fire after Harris’ lengthy "word salad" answer that was aired on the Oct. 6 episode of "Face the Nation" to promote the "60 Minutes" sit-down was edited out of the primetime edition of the show that aired Monday, Oct. 7.
CBS has faced pressure to release the transcript, or unedited video, as many question whether Harris’ widely mocked answer was simply cut for time or removed to help the Democratic presidential nominee.
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.
...Arabic for 
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
...Republic of Somaliland is an unrecognised sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as a de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden with approximately 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic. Under the Siad Barre regime, Somaliadestroyed ninety percent of Hargeisa Per international law, once you're in, you gotta stay in, no matter how bad it smells....
... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia attempting to metastasize into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and similar places, all ofwhich have enough problems without them...
...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days, sometimes every few hour if it's an election year, as a politician somebody doesn't like...
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
[Breitbart] President Joe Biden’s deputies have allocated roughly $750 million to settle thousands of diverse migrants in North Carolina communities since 2021.
[NYPOST] Elon Musk is working miracles with rockets, but a bunch of 
...46th president of the U.S. The man who made Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter look competent, if only by comparison....
...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm...
...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche...
