[FoxNews] Mohammed Hasan Abdellatif Albana, who is on the terror watchlist, was captured near the northern border of Lynden, Washington
Federal authorities believe a Jordanian migrant caught trying to enter the U.S. through its northern border is a terrorist, according to ICE Enforcement Removal Operations in Seattle.
Mohammed Hasan Abdellatif Albana, 41, was captured near the northern border of Lynden, Washington, the agency said in a Wednesday blurb. It is unclear when or where he snuck into the country.
A U.S. immigration official identified Albana as a "known or suspected terrorist," the agency said.
Albana was sent back to Jordan on November 15 after immigration proceedings, per the agency.
"ERO Seattle is committed to the removal of noncitizens who pose a risk to the national security of the U.S. Our officers perform these removals dutifully as a part of a federal law enforcement effort to protect Pacific Northwest Communities," said ERO Seattle Field Office Director Drew H. Bostock.
During the Biden administration, Border Patrol agents have intercepted 300 migrants colonists whose names appear on the terror watchlist crossing the country's northern and southern borders, per Customs and Border Patrol data.
"Under the Biden-Harris Administration, of the more than 250 illegal aliens on the terrorist watchlist who were encountered by Border Patrol at the southwest border between fiscal years 2021 and 2023, DHS has released into American communities at least 99, with at least 34 others in DHS custody but not yet removed from the United States," the report by Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, a copy of which was first obtained by Fox News Digital, says.
The staff interim report also found that immigration judges granted bond to at least 27 migrants colonists on the watchlist who entered illegally, and that Border Patrol has encountered tens of thousands of migrants colonists from countries that could present national security risks — including 2,134 Afghan nationals, 33,347 Chinese nationals, 541 Iranian nationals, 520 Syrian nationals, and 3,104 Uzbek nationals.
"That does not include the untold numbers of potential Lions of Islam that evaded Border Patrol to enter the United States as part of nearly 2 million ’gotaways’ since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration," the report says.
The report, citing information provided to committee staff in June, also found that Border Patrol had encountered migrants colonists on the terror watchlist from 36 different countries -- including places with active terror presences. Those countries include Afghanistan, Iraq, 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... , Pakistain, Somalia, Syria, Tajikistan and 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... .
#1
Our borders, once again, "appear" to be, being guarded.
Now that MAGA has taken control, and we are moving back to a nation ruled by law and not by a Perverse Social Agenda.
Note: There still are the DC Swamp hold-outs we'll have to address, for their constitutional crimes, over the next 120 days.
BUT! Now we must face the fact, the last 4 years of OPEN BORDERS, has already let it 10's of 1,000's that intend to do America serious harm.
The clean-up process will take years to root out these Democrat Party invited Internal Terrorists.
With each of the likely numerous internal terrorist attacks, we now face over the next 4 years.
The blame rests solely with the Left, the Democrats and liberals for the Open Borders Agenda.
Katz warns Lebanon that if ceasefire fails Israel won’t limit strikes to Hezbollah
[IsraelTimes] Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a warning to the Lebanese government, says that if the ceasefire with Hezbollah collapses, “there will no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon,” and Israel will not see a separation between the terror group and the country.
“We will work with all our might to enforce all the understandings of the ceasefire agreement, and we show maximum response and zero tolerance,” Katz says during a visit to the northern border.
“Yesterday was the first test, [Hezbollah] shooting at Mount Dov. We reacted strongly and this is exactly what we will do, and we will not allow Hezbollah to return to the old methods they had, such as the tent that was set up [by Hezbollah on the border several years ago] and not attacked,” he says.
Katz says that Lebanon must “authorize the Lebanese army to enforce their part, to keep Hezbollah away beyond the Litani [River] and to dismantle all the infrastructure.”
“If they don’t do it and this whole agreement collapses then the reality will be very clear. First of all, if we return to war we will act strongly, we will go deeper, and the most important thing they need to know, that there will be no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon,” he continues.
“If until now we have distinguished between the state of Lebanon and Hezbollah, and between Beirut as a whole and [its southern suburb, a Hezbollah stronghold] Dahiyeh, which we have struck very hard, this will no longer be [the case],” Katz warns.
According to the military, Jumaa was a “key” figure in the relationship between the Syrian Army and Hezbollah, enabling weapons to be transferred to the terror group in Lebanon via Syria.
“The Syrian regime supports Hezbollah and allows the organization to exploit it for the transfer of weapons to Lebanon,” the IDF says.
The military says that Jumaa, as part of his role as Hezbollah’s liaison with the Syrian Army, “assisted in the transfer of weapons from the Syrians to Hezbollah,” including during the recent conflict.
Jumaa was also “in close contact” with senior Syrian government officials, the IDF says.
A veteran Hezbollah operative, the military says Jumaa held various positions in the terror group including in Syria.
He previously was the head of Hezbollah’s intelligence in the Khiam area of southern Lebanon, and later head of operations in Damascus. In recent years he was appointed as the liaison with the Syrian army.
The IDF adds that “his elimination is a blow” to Hezbollah’s entrenchment in Syria and the terror group’s ability to rearm.
The military says troops of the 810th “Mountains” Regional Brigade, alongside combat engineers and the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, carried out a raid in the Mount Dov area in recent weeks, “as part of the defensive effort to destroy tunnels of the Hezbollah terror organization in the enemy’s staging grounds.”
The soldiers found and explored several underground sites belonging to Hezbollah, and seized weapons and equipment in them.
The IDF says that this past week, combat engineers “demolished all of the findings and underground infrastructures, and neutralized all the threats in this area.”
[IsraelTimes] The IDF says that a recent series of strikes carried out by the 990th Reserve Artillery Regiment in the central Gaza Strip killed numerous Hamas operatives including at least seven who participated in the October 7 onslaught.
The artillery unit is part of the 99th Division, which took responsibility for the Netzarim Corridor area last month.
The IDF names the October 7 Hamas terrorists who were killed in the recent strikes as: Abd al-Razak, a Nukhba Force operative and an engineering specialist in the Central Camps Brigade; Marzouk Alhor; Abd Abu Awd Yusri; Omar Abu Abdullah; Ahmed Zahad, a Nukhba operative; and Maad Abu Gharbua.
The army says that the division’s 179th Reserve Armored Brigade and 551st Reserve Paratroopers Brigade carried out several raids in the Netzarim Corridor area, during which buildings used by Hamas were demolished.
Numerous weapons were also located during the raids, the IDF adds.
[IsraelTimes] The Lebanese army is looking for more recruits as it beefs up its presence in southern Lebanon after the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire went into effect last week.
Lebanon’s army kept to the sidelines during the nearly 14-month conflict.
During an initial 60-day truce, thousands of Lebanese troops are supposed to deploy in southern Lebanon, where UN peacekeepers also have a presence. Hezbollah forces are to pull back from areas near the border as Israel withdraws its ground forces.
The army says those interested in joining up have a one-month period to apply, starting Tuesday.
The Lebanese army has about 80,000 troops, with around 5,000 of them deployed in the south.
[IsraelTimes] The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) says five ambulances donated by the United Arab Emirates to international aid organizations operating in Gaza entered the Strip last night.
“The ambulances were deployed to ensure the continued provision of medical care to residents of the Gaza Strip and to facilitate the transfer of patients to operational hospitals within the region,” COGAT says.
According to COGAT, since the start of the war, it has facilitated the entry of over 120 ambulances donated by various countries to Gaza.
[IsraelTimes] The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) says that some 780 aid trucks are awaiting collection on the Gazan side of the Karem Shalom crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, after just 43 were collected yesterday by international organizations.
On Sunday, the UN agency for Palestinians said it was pausing the delivery of aid through Kerem Shalom because of looting by armed gangs in Gaza.
According to COGAT, a total of 138 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday, carrying food, medical supplies, shelter equipment, water purification equipment, and flour for bakeries.
COGAT says 37 of the trucks entered via the Erez Crossing in the Strip’s north, 33 entered via Gate 96 in the center, and 43 were collected from Kerem Shalom in the south.
The Israeli military has said that attacking convoys and stealing aid is an ongoing problem in Gaza. COGAT has said convoys are attacked by Hamas terrorists and known crime families.
[IsraelTimes] German authorities have arrested a Lebanese man accused of being a member of Hezbollah and working for groups controlled by the Lebanese terror organization in Germany.
Federal prosecutors say the suspect, identified only as Fadel R. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested today in the Hannover region. The man is suspected of membership in a foreign terrorist organization and is not accused of direct involvement in any violence.
Prosecutors say he joined Hezbollah in the summer of 2008 or earlier and took part in leadership training courses in Lebanon. From 2009, he allegedly had leadership duties in two groups controlled by Hezbollah in the Hannover area, organizing appearances by preachers close to the terrorists.
According to prosecutors, he was briefly a correspondent for a Hezbollah media outlet in 2017 and was tasked with coordinating building work at a mosque.
Germany is a staunch ally of Israel. It is also home to a Lebanese immigrant community of more than 100,000.
[IsraelTimes] At a special cabinet meeting in the northern coastal city of Nahariya, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanks US President-elect Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... for writing on social media that "there will be all hell to pay" if hostages held by forces of Evil 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... aren’t released by his inauguration on January 20.
"It is a very strong statement," says Netanyahu at the opening of the meeting, "which makes it clear that there is one party responsible for this situation — and that is Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... . Hamas must release the hostages."
Trump, continues Netanyahu, "put the emphasis in the right place — on Hamas, and not on the Israeli government, as is customary in some places."
Protesters and some hostage families blame Netanyahu for not doing enough to reach a deal with Hamas to get the hostages out of Gaza.
"We will continue to do everything to release them, and whoever harms them will be killed," he threatens.
On the fragile ceasefire with Hezbollah, Netanyahu repeats the warning that the war with Hezbollah is not over.
"We are committed to a ceasefire, but we will also not tolerate violations of the ceasefire by the other side," he says, a day after Hezbollah fired mortar shells at northern Israel and the IDF struck over 20 sites 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... "I also say here in the clearest terms: We will not return to the situation that was on October 6, [2023]," he promises, referring to the day before the current multifront war began with Hamas’s onslaught on southern Israel.
"The north will be calm, the north will prosper, the north will flourish, and the north will be safe," says Netanyahu.
"It's springtime For Stroessner
And Paraguay..."
[IsraelTimes] Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña will fulfill a campaign promise next week and reopen the country’s embassy in Jerusalem, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana announces.
Peña will address the Knesset on Wednesday morning next week, followed by a special Knesset ceremony with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Ohana and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.
The official opening of the embassy will take place the following Thursday in Har Hotzvim in the capital.
Most countries do not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and base their embassies in Tel Aviv, often opening smaller consulates in Jerusalem.
Currently, five countries — the US, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo and Papua New Guinea — have embassies in Jerusalem.
In 2018, Paraguay’s outgoing president Horacio Cartes announced that his country would open an embassy in Jerusalem, following similar moves by the US and Guatemala.
But the embassy was moved back to Tel Aviv after just five months by Cartes’s successor Abdo Benitez, who said he hadn’t been consulted in the original decision and indicated that it harmed efforts to maintain a more neutral approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Netanyahu fumed at the decision and moved to have Israel’s embassy in Asunción closed in retaliation.
In September, Israel reopened its embassy in Paraguay.
[IsraelTimes] The US is concerned by a New York Times report saying that the IDF has significantly bolstered its presence in Gaza, constructing several dozen new military bases in and around the Netzarim Corridor in the Strip’s center in recent months.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel says during a press briefing that if the reporting is accurate, the IDF’s actions “certainly would be inconsistent” with US policy regarding the “day after” in Gaza, which opposes any reduction to Gaza’s territory, the continued military control of the Strip by Israel and the forced displacement of Palestinians from their homes.
Patel notes that the reporting has not been corroborated by Israel and he says he’ll leave it to Jerusalem to comment further on the matter.
[IsraelTimes] The US is “outraged” by the reported IDF killing of a Save the Children aid worker in Gaza’s Khan Younis and is seeking more information from Israel on the incident that took place over the weekend, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel says.
“Humanitarian workers must be protected so they can safely deliver aid… The IDF needs to provide additional information about this incident,” Patel says when asked about the incident during a press briefing.
He declines to draw any conclusions regarding what happened until more information is gathered. “But broadly, we urge Israel to thoroughly and transparently investigate actions like these, and take appropriate action in their system, including ensuring accountability for any violations within their system.”
Save the Children said its staffer, Ahmad Faisal Isleem Al-Qadi, was killed in an IDF airstrike on Saturday.
#2
Noting the headline.
[Harris-]Biden administration is outraged and concerned" It kinda indicates the Puppet Master(s) are running the WH, not the "elected" installed President and VP.
The fact the Puppet Master(s) are likely very upset gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
It is clear the US National Socialist / Democrat party sees Israel is longer playing, nor seeking, the facade of a temporary peace with groups of Terrorists funded by IRAN.
A Terrorist group that basically just adopts a new name every few years and uses Gaza as base of operations, to rain death down on Israel. Always killing 10xx more non-combatants (women and children) than military.
A Terrorist group sworn to DEATH TO (anyone not of Islam) and that has NEVER honored 1 peace agreement.
To the IDF
Your job is not done until the threat to peace is addressed at its very roots.
That’s nice, gentlemen. But perhaps before you order the coffee and pastries you should check the Zeitgeist — the world is rapidly changing with the return of Donald Trump to the White House. Ideas enthusiastically supported by the [Harris-]Biden administration are anathema to the newcomers, who clearly do not hesitate to make their displeasure known. Not to mention the probability that French President Macron may no longer be in office by then. President Marine Le Pen is more likely to align with President Trump than with her predecessor.
[IsraelTimes] French President Emmanuel Macron announces that he and Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will co-chair a conference on the establishment of a Palestinian state in June.
“We have decided to co-chair a conference for the two states in June next year,” Macron says, referring to Israel and a potential Palestinian state.
“In the coming months, together we will multiply and combine our diplomatic initiatives to bring everyone along this path,” he adds.
Responding to a question on whether France will recognize a Palestinian state, the French president says he will do so “at the right moment” and at a time “when it triggers reciprocal movements of recognition.”
“We want to involve several other partners and allies, both European and non-European, who are ready to move in this direction but who are waiting for France,” he adds.
Macron says the aim is to “trigger a movement of recognition in favor of Israel,” which he says could “provide answers in terms of security for Israel and convince people that the two-state solution is a solution that is relevant for Israel.”
Saudi Arabia appeared close to a deal to normalize relations with Israel as part of a package that would include security guarantees from the United States, prior to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack which has sparked nearly 14 months of war in Gaza and elsewhere.
Recognition by Saudi Arabia would be a landmark moment in the acceptance of Israel as the kingdom is the guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites. But it has conditioned the move on Israel agreeing to a pathway toward a Palestinian state — a nonstarter for the current hardline government.
[IsraelTimes] US forces conducted a self-defense strike today in the vicinity of Mission Support Site Euphrates, a US base in eastern Syria, against three truck-mounted multiple rocket launchers, a T-64 tank and mortars that Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder says presented “a clear and imminent threat” to US troops.
The strike occurred after rockets and mortars were fired and landed in the vicinity of the base, Ryder says. The Pentagon is still assessing who was responsible for the attacks — there are both Iranian-backed militias and Syrian military forces that operate in the area.
Ryder says the attack is not connected to the offensive that is ongoing in Aleppo, where Syrian jihadi-led rebels have advanced and taken over the city.
The US has about 900 troops in Syria to conduct missions to counter the Islamic State group.
[WashingtonFreeBeacon] President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Old, boring, a plagiarist, fond of hair sniffing and grabbing the protruding parts of women, and not whatcha call brilliant.... and his senior aides are hailing a ceasefire they brokered 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... last week as a potential breakthrough for Middle East peace. But Israeli leaders see the truce as a way to get through the final days of Biden's presidency so Israel can finish the war with its genocidal enemies.
In the Rose Garden on Tuesday, Biden announced the 60-day ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. He said the deal, which went into effect early Wednesday and has so far held, "heralds a new start for Lebanon" and "brings us closer to realizing the affirmative agenda that I’ve been pushing forward during my entire presidency: a vision for the future of the Middle East where it’s at peace and prosperous and integrated across borders."
"I believe this agenda remains possible," Biden continued, vowing to use the final 54 days of his presidency to try to end Israel’s war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , normalize Israel-Saudi relations, and secure a "credible pathway for a Paleostinian state."
According to current and former Israeli officials, however, Israel's government agreed to the ceasefire largely to appease and move on from the Biden administration. President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States... will be back in the White House when the 60-day deadline for troop withdrawals comes around, and they expect he will support a strong response to any violation of the deal as well as Israeli action against Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... , a Hezbollah ally and fellow Iran-backed terrorist group.
"It’s not for no reason that we insisted on 60 days," Ohad Tal, a member of Israel’s parliamentary defense committee from the governing Religious Zionism party, told the Washington Free Beacon.
The ceasefire agreement provides "zero" security benefits to Israel in Lebanon, Tal said, noting that the Lebanese Army and international peacekeepers have abjectly failed to enforce Resolution 1701 for the past 18 years. He said pressure from the Biden administration was the "main reason" Israeli leaders nonetheless got behind the deal.
"It’s a bad deal," Tal said. "But it’s a bad deal that we had to sign under the circumstances, and that had everything to do with the current administration in America."
Hours before Biden trumpeted the ceasefire agreement at the White House, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the deal as something like a tactical pause in Israel’s nearly 14-month war with the Iranian axis, which seeks Israel's destruction. He said the deal would allow the military to rest, rearm, and "focus on the Iranian threat" and "our sacred mission" to bring home the 101 hostages still held hostage in Gaza. He emphasized that his government would not hesitate to "renew the war," as it did following the ceasefire with Hamas last November.
"The length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon. If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack," Netanyahu said. "Believe in our determination, believe in our path, in our commitment to victory."
Netanyahu also suggested that the Biden administration had put pressure on Israel to agree to the ceasefire by withholding weapons shipments.
"I say it openly, it is no secret that there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries," he said, echoing explicit criticisms he made of the administration in a speech to politicians last month. "These delays will be resolved soon. We will receive supplies of advanced weaponry that will keep our soldiers safe and give us more strike force to complete our mission."
Two current and three former Israeli officials confirmed to the Free Beacon Hebrew media reports that the Biden administration has slowed wartime weapons deliveries to Israel, including a recent hold up of 139 armored bulldozers on which soldiers rely to clear explosives and terrorist hideouts in Lebanon and Gaza.
After the start of the ceasefire on Wednesday, the Biden administration leaked that it was advancing a $680 million weapons package to Israel. U.S. officials anonymously said the development was unconnected to the Israeli government's cooperation with the truce. The administration has long denied withholding weapons from Israel, aside from one shipment of 2,000 pound bombs that Biden has publicly suspended since March.
Yes, but we know they lie. See, for instance, Hunter Biden.
Another a factor in Israeli leaders' approval of the ceasefire agreement were concerns that the Biden administration would otherwise facilitate a U.N. Security Council resolution harmful to Israel, according to the current and former officials. Tal said the Israeli government learned "that the State Department was already working to arrange a resolution against Israel in the Security Council."
Israel’s Channel 14 news reported late last month that Netanyahu privately told critics of the then-emerging ceasefire agreement that it was better to "postpone the end" of the war by two months as part of the deal than to have the Security Council force an end to the fighting, which he said was a "real danger."
Amir Avivi, a former senior Israeli military official who has advised Netanyahu during the war, told the Free Beacon that the prime minister feared a repeat of the final weeks of Barack Obama’s presidency, which saw the United States abstain from a U.N. National Security Council resolution that rejected any Israeli presence in the "occupied Palestinian territory" of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
"I heard Netanyahu speak many times about how traumatic and complicated it was to deal with Obama’s decision," Avivi said. "I think one of Netanyahu’s top priorities right now is to make sure the current U.S. administration ends without that kind of drama. So Netanyahu negotiated this temporary ceasefire, and if it works, OK, and if not, then there will be a change of administration, and Israel will be in a position to decide what to do."
Senior Israeli and U.S. officials told reporters in separate briefings last week that the Biden administration did not explicitly threaten to sanction Israel in relation to the ceasefire talks. A State Department spokeswoman dodged the Free Beacon's questions about the subject by email, saying only: "Our goal was to reach an enduring diplomatic resolution that will enable civilians to safely return to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line. We achieved that with the close (and ongoing) communication of our Israeli and Lebanese counterparts."
The Prime Minister's Office and the White House declined to comment.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Israeli troops have 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where they have been carrying out operations for two months to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure near the border. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army, with U.S. and French support, must move into the area to enforce U.N. Resolution 1701, which bars Hezbollah from keeping arms and terrorist infrastructure south of the Litani River. The Biden administration separately guaranteed Israel's right to respond to violations of the deal.
Kobi Michael, a former senior Israeli military intelligence official, told the Free Beacon that Israeli leaders approved the ceasefire agreement with the expectation that it will never be fully implemented. He said "the working assumption" in Jerusalem is that Hezbollah will try to rearm, the Lebanese government will fail to prevent the terrorist group from doing so, and Trump will "agree with us that the ceasefire has been violated and we must be free to continue operating in Lebanon."
A senior U.S. official told reporters on Tuesday that Netanyahu initiated the successful final push for a ceasefire in Lebanon as a "gift" to Trump, confirming a report last month by the Washington Post. But the current and former Israeli officials downplayed claims that Netanyahu feels pressure to end the war before Trump takes office on Jan. 20. They agreed that the government’s approval of the truce is better understood as part of an Israeli effort to set the stage for an airstrike on Iran's nuclear weapons program, with U.S. backing or ideally participation.
According to Avivi, Israel has mostly disabled Iran's "proxies and air defenses" and has lately ramped up domestic weapons production and other preparations for such a strike.
"Israel’s challenge is to convince President Trump that we are handing him Iran on a silver platter," Avivi said, before directly addressing the incoming Trump administration. "All the hard work is done. Just bring the strategic bombers, and let’s get it over with. It’s one airstrike."
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/04/2024
12:22 ||
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[11166 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
Hunter has some serious mental issues. He seems tho think people will literally buy his sh*t.
[WXII 12] Targeted killing
The CEO of UnitedHealthcare was shot and killed in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning, a law enforcement official tells CNN.
Brian Thompson was walking toward the New York Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, dressed in a suit and tie, to attend UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference being held in the ballroom.
A gunman, who investigators tell CNN was masked in the sub-freezing temperatures, waited for about 10 minutes before Thompson’s arrival, before opening fire from 20 feet away shooting multiple times, striking Thompson.
The gunman fled, cutting through an alleyway and hopping on to a bicycle, the official told CNN. Investigators are continuing to canvas the area. Police currently believe that the suspect fled into Central Park.
The 50-year-old executive was shot in the chest. Responding emergency workers took him to Mount Sinai West in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead, according to the NYPD.
“We are deeply saddened by this morning’s events in the area and our thoughts are with all affected by the tragedy. Additional questions should be directed to the New York Police Department,” a New York Hilton Midtown spokesperson told CNN.
Details on the circumstances are not immediately clear, but investigators say it appears to be a targeted shooting. No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, the NYPD said. Police are expected to provide a briefing on the incident later this morning.
CNN has reached out to UnitedHealthcare for comment.
Thompson was named chief executive officer for UnitedHealthcare in April 2021. UnitedHealthcare is part of UnitedHealth Group, ranked fifth in the Fortune 500, according to the company.
UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, abruptly ended its scheduled conference Wednesday morning, citing “a very serious medical situation with one of our team members.” The company did not comment further.
The suspect was described as a white male wearing a cream-colored jacket, black face mask, and black and white sneakers. Officials said he was carrying a gray backpack.
Witnesses told The Post the suspect had been spotted near the vicinity of the hotel, on 6th Avenue, milling around.
Sources said the shooter wasn’t a guest at the hotel but it is unclear if he had other business there.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/04/2024
09:56 ||
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[11213 views]
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#1
Strange target for an assassination. Maybe a jealous husband? Somehow I have a feeling this is going an a Netflix crime show.
#7
"Reminder: The Medicare Open Enrollment period ends December 7th. This is what can happen to you without a Medicare Advantage Plan"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/04/2024 12:20
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#8
Someone overreacting to a health insurance claim or proposed treatment being denied?
That would be my first guess. But then, some of the investors might be unhappy about the way the company is being run and chose this option instead of a proxy battle. It does sound like a cold, calculated hit and not just random New York street crime.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/04/2024 12:41
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#13
1 media report said there were 3 spent casings and 3 live rounds found at the scene. It appears the gun malfunctioned and shooter had to tap rack bang a few times. Prolly due to suppressor and wrong ammo. Lowers likelihood of a pro hit IMHO. Committed - yes. Professional - ugh...
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
12/04/2024 14:42
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#16
#13
reduced backpressure caused cyclic failure, meaning he shooter didn't have experience shooting that specific weapon silenced, not the mark of a professional hitter.
#21
Someone overreacting to a health insurance claim or proposed treatment being denied
Well, I’m the past five years over two million Americans were killed by mandated substandard medical practice and withholding of treatment. I think it’s kind of obvious they want to send a message to everyone in the enabling bureaucracy to keep their mouth shut.
[Epoch Times] The Chinese communist regime’s infiltration of Korean politics and culture is extensive, deep, and not well known, according to experts.
A martial law order from South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has again put communist influence in the country under the spotlight.
For the first time in nearly four decades, the South Korean leader invoked the authority, accusing the opposing Democratic Party of aligning with communist North Korea. He revoked martial law hours later after parliament voted to lift the order.
"I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order," Yoon said in a late-night address on Dec. 3.
He said the political opposition, which dominates the national assembly, was "paralyzing the judiciary by intimidating judges and impeaching a large number of prosecutors" and causing dysfunction in other government sectors as well.
Lee Jae-myung, who has likened himself to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and leads the opposition party, has taken a more friendly stance toward the Chinese regime even as Yoon has tried to steer his country closer to the United States and reverse the country’s yearslong trend of appeasing Beijing.
[DESMOINESREGISTER] Sanitation contractor for Sioux City pork plant fined for using child labor
For the second time in less than a year, a sanitation contractor for Seaboard Triumph Foods LLC in Sioux City was found to employ children doing dangerous work at the pork processing plant.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa approved a consent order and judgment Nov. 27 with Qvest LLC. Under terms of the agreement, Qvest must pay $171,919 in child labor civil money penalties, hire a third-party to review and implement company policies to prevent the employment of children and establish a process for reporting concerns about the illegal employment of children.
In an emailed statement, Seaboard Triumph Foods (STF) said that none of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) filings included their company. It said it has not contracted with Qvest, "who had express contractual requirements to follow all labor laws," for more than a year.
"STF did not employ any of the alleged individuals and has no evidence that any underage individuals accessed the plant," the statement said.
The statement, which quotes former head of DOL's Wage and Hour Division and current Seaboard counsel Paul DeCamp, also pointed out that employers across the country are struggling with the problem of people, including minors, being able to obtain jobs through fraudulent identification documents sophisticated enough to fool even the federal government's E-Verify system.
"Businesses are victimized by this fraud," DeCamp said in the statement.
"Safety, ethical practices and compliance with regulations and industry standards are of paramount importance to STF. We expect the same from our vendors and partners, and we will not tolerate any vendor's use of underage labor within our facility, and will also take measures to prevent fraud against our company," the statement said.
Qvest did not respond to emails seeking comment.
Federal law forbids children under age 18 from being employed in dangerous jobs common in meat and poultry slaughtering, processing, rendering and packing operations.
A DOL investigation determined that 11 children had been employed during the night shift and were using corrosive cleaners to clean head splitters, jaw pullers, bandsaws, neck clippers and other equipment within the facility. The DOL did not provide ages of the child workers.
Earlier this year, the federal court levied nearly $650,000 in penalties against Fayette Janitorial Services of Somerville, Tennessee, after hiring 24 children, some as young as 13, to clean dangerous equipment at Seaboard Triumph.
Seaboard Triumph announced in February it was cancelling its contracts with Fayette after the DOL investigation found the children working in the plant and sought a court injunction to stop it. Fayette had taken over the sanitation duties from Qvest in September 2023 and rehired some of the children that Qvest previously employed, according to a DOL new release.
Seaboard Triumph contracted with Qvest for cleaning services from 2019 until September 2023, when it hired Fayette.
JBS USA announced in April 2023 that it would start its own sanitation service at its meatpacking facilities including Marshalltown, cutting ties with Packers Sanitation Services, Inc., (PSSI) after it admitted employing approximately 100 children at several JBS plants throughout the Midwest and was fined $1.5 million.
PSSI admitted having workers ages 13 to 17 clean 13 slaughterhouses, although none were in Iowa.
“The U.S. Department of Labor is determined to end the illegal employment of children in our nation’s workplaces,” DOL regional solicitor Christine Z. Heri said in a news release. “We are committed to using all strategies to stop and prevent unlawful child labor and holding all employers legally responsible for their actions. Children should never be hired to perform dangerous and prohibited tasks.”
In fiscal year 2024, the DOL concluded 736 investigations uncovering child labor violations that affected 4,030 children, and assessed employers more than $15.1 million in penalties for violating federal child labor laws, an 89 percent increase since 2023.
[Jpost] A few days prior to the EJAC report that revealed date on 2,061 anti-Jewish incidents since October 7 2023, the Australian parliament held an inquiry on campus antisemitism.
Anti-Jewish incidents in Australia rose by 316% since October 7 compared to the previous 12-month period, according to an Executive Council of Australian Jewry report.
The ECAJ Report on Anti-Jewish Incidents in Australia 2024, published on Sunday, reported that from October 1, 2023, until September 30, 2024, 2,062 anti-Jewish incidents were logged by community security groups, local Jewish organizations, and the ECAJ. In the preceding comparable 12-month period in 2023, there had been 495 anti-Jewish incidents, according to the group’s data.
Australia saw 65 anti-Jewish physical assaults in the year, according to ECAJ, including that of a 44-year-old Jewish man who was called a “Jew dog” and gang beaten by three men in a Sydney Park on October 28, 2023, leaving him hospitalized with two black eyes, a concussion, and four fractures to his spine.
In another incident, an identifiably Jewish boy was called a “dirty Jew” and slapped in the face by a group of teens in Perth in October 2023. In the previous 12-month period, there had only been anti-Jewish physical assaults in the country.
Thirty percent of the year’s incidents were of verbal abuse and harassment, many of which called for the death of the Jews as a people. Among these 622 incidents the November 6 2023 incident in which occupants of a vehicle shouted “kill the Jews” at a group of visibly Jewish people at a Melbourne pro-Israel rally.
In the same city, on December 7, 2023, an identifiably Jewish resident was approached by a man who yelled at him “F*** Jews. F*** you, Jew. We’re gonna get you all.” ECAJ recorded separately the 283 threatening messages and statements, such as an October 11 2023 bomb threat conveyed through Instagram direct messages warning a Melbourne synagogue “We will blow your building up and cut your heads off soon. Gas a Jew.”
ECAJ recorded 29 incidents of vandalism and 393 incidents of graffiti in 2024. The data classified all malicious damage and destruction to property as vandalism, with EJAC providing the March 22 example of a Melbourne synagogue window being smashed with rocks.
Graffiti recorded in the report often involved pen, paint, or engravings calling for violence against Jews or references to the Holocaust. The home of a New South Wales rabbi was graffitied on November 10, 2023, with the words “kill the Jews.”
The most common classification of anti-Jewish incidents included antisemitic materials and chants. There were 670 incidents involving posters, placards, stickers, and protest chants in Australia in 2024. Outside the Sydney Opera House on October 9, a mob reportedly chanted “F*** the Jews,” “Where’s the Jews,” and “Gas the Jews!”The Australian states most impacted by the rise of antisemitic violence, according to ECAJ’s data, were Victoria and New South Wales, with 905 and 795 anti-Jewish incidents respectively.
ECAJ did not include anti-Israel incidents in the data unless there was a clear element of Jewish people or sites being targeted for their identity, there were clear calls or acts of violence or used classic antisemitic tropes.
INQUIRY ON ANTISEMITISM
On Friday, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights held an inquiry on antisemitism at Australian universities. The purpose of the inquiry was to explore the prevalence of antisemitic activity at academic institutions and their policies and practices for addressing this problem. The committee followed an October Senate inquiry into the issue.
EJAC submitted their opinion to the inquiry, warning that before the senate inquiry, universities had failed to properly address antisemitism and the concerns of students, downplaying complaints, tolerating disruptions even if they included antisemitic rhetoric, and offering ineffective security and support. Since the initial Senate inquiry, EJAC said there had been “modest” improvements but they still were receiving reports of escalating violent rhetoric on campuses.
The Jewish organization called on Australian universities to take greater accountability for antisemitic conduct by publishing reports on incidents. EJAC asserted that part of the problem was that universities had no framework for identifying antisemitism and called for the widespread adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.
The EJAC submission laid out 10 recommendations, contending that there was a need for more expansive complaint systems, university training on antisemitism, the establishment of a racist incident database and hotline, and that there be a legal requirement for sources of funding to be disclosed by academic institutions.
University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor and President Prof. Mark Scott acknowledged to the committee that the institution didn’t “get everything right” the previous year, and noted that there were differing views on their response to events such as the campus encampment protest. Scott said the university had held an independent review of policies, and endorsed actions taken by the campus to create strict protest guidelines and update their complaints system.
“We have already made a significant number of changes to our policies, procedures, and practices,” Scott said in his opening statement. “Those changes have a particular focus on addressing antisemitism and the experiences of our Jewish students and staff and, in addressing cultural bias of every kind, we believe they benefit the whole university community.”
[JPost] In the United States, 37% aged 14-18 sympathize with an enemy actively working to murder as many Jews as possible and publicly vowing the destruction of Israel.
Israel and the Jewish people have a serious perception problem – that fact is known to all who care. Yet, in this case, the bigger and less-known problem is one of self-perception.
In the United States, a significant percentage of young Jews are sympathizing with Hamas. Some 37% aged 14-18 sympathize with an enemy actively working to murder as many Jews as possible and publicly vowing the destruction of Israel.
The phenomenon is so befuddling it takes time to set in. I had to read the headline several times because I thought it was a typo or an editorial mistake. I ran to the study commissioned by the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry.
How can young Jews come to such an obtuse conclusion? The issue further complicating this puzzling fact is that out of the 662 young people studied between June 16 and July 23, 2024, 80% of them had visited Israel at least once. The study reveals an even more troubling reality, specifically regarding 14-year-olds.
In the 14-year-old group, 60% felt sympathy for Hamas. As they get older the sympathy numbers drop. For 18-year-olds, the Hamas sympathy rating is 10%. According to the study, 60% of the youth sympathize with the Palestinian cause.
These are very significant findings. Maybe the study is wrong. If the findings are correct, the entire premise of focusing on Israel education has been mistaken – totally mistaken.
The working assumption was that a solution to the floundering future of young Jews was sending them to Israel: that seeing Israel with their own eyes was a solution. According to this study, however, it is not. Those studied saw the “real Israel” and they left prepped to criticize Israel. And they did not stop there but actually joined the Hamas side.
Some will retort that 94% of the teens “feel a connection to Israel,” and 94% want to foster a deeper connection to Israel through education.
Those youth who were studied in the US who sympathized with Hamas are casting their lot with the murderers of Jews and Israelis. It is absurd.
However, when you look at those who went on Birthright trips, the numbers tell a different story.
The Principle behind Birthright was to get Jewish youth to Israel. Once there, they cannot help but be moved into a transformative relationship with the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Sounds perfect.
Mega-donors Bronfman, Steinhardt, and Adelson, as well as the Israeli taxpayers, contributed tens of millions of dollars, all in the hope that bringing young Jews to Israel will help reinvigorate the Jewish people. They were investing in the future.
The very first trip took place in 1999. At first, the target group of Jewish youth was ages 18-26. They then raised the upper limit to 32.
Most studies on Birthright show that participants are 16% more likely to marry Jews than non-participants. And they are more committed to the Jewish community, Jewish learning, and Israel.
HOW DO WE MAKE SENSE OF THIS NEW STUDY?
Maybe because these young people are more familiar with Israel, they are closer to Israel and hence more likely to criticize Israel.
Some might say that it is criticism out of love of Israel. Remember, that is how former US president Barack Obama would couch his scathing attacks against Israel – masquerading as a friend.
Or maybe it is a Haaretz-like style of criticism: that their hatred for a certain dimension of Israel is so vitriolic that it colors every aspect of how they view the Jewish state. Israel’s leaders are so bereft of morality that everything they do is tainted with evil.
They disagree with the policies of Israel. The study showed that more than 60% believe that Israel is perpetrating a genocide on the Palestinians.
SO, HOW DO WE SOLVE THIS CRITICAL ISSUE?
Start blasting out activities for 14-18 year olds. Create programs, games, activities, movies, music, computer games, shows, YouTube videos, and social media campaigns. Send emissaries, teams, acting, dancing, and singing troupes, sports teams, and exchanges.
Hire hundreds, if not thousands, of people to make, produce, and curate material for the internet and social media geared at 14-18-year-olds.
Hire hundreds of social media influencers to push and promote creative material. Keep producing and keep making new creative content.
Aggressively campaign about Israel. Be cutting edge. This should primarily be fun, entertaining programming, but it should also have a nuanced educational objective.
What I am proposing is not easy, nor is it inexpensive. However, this is the only way that we can solve this problem by nipping it in the bud.
#3
Respectfully, this is moronic and counterproductive.
The Islamists have slowly patiently infiltrated Western culture for decades. Decades. D e c a d e s .
Seduction is patient.
Seduction is gentle.
Seduction is subtle.
Islamists have 1400 years of experience wooing/threatening entire populations.
If Israel does what is suggested in this article, it will be perceived as forced, as clumsy, as needy, as insecure. Nothing could be less attractive. Nothing could be more repulsive.
#4
This is the spirit of "Islam is Peace" and "Enduring Freedom" rather than "Infinite Justice."
To a large extent George W. Bush really is to blame for this.
As for countering this, why not start with teaching what the founder of the MB, of which Hamas is a branch said in a mission statement:
It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.
Hassan al-Banna
[ZeroHedge] The Philippine military deployed a navy ship and air force planes to shadow a Russian submarine, which passed through the South China Sea off the country's western coast last week, a security official told AFP. One official said the navy was surprised to see the vessel because it was a "very unique submarine."
The Russian UFA 490 submarine identified itself about 80 miles from the Philippines coast in response to a navy two-way radio inquiry, saying it was en route home to Russia's eastern city of Vladivostok after joining an exercise with the Malaysian navy, Jonathan Malaya, assistant director-general of the National Security Council, said.
The submarine, like other foreign ships, has the right of "innocent passage" in the country's exclusive economic zone but it still sparked concern when it was spotted on Thursday about 80 nautical miles off the Philippine province of Mindoro, Malaya said.
Roy Vincent Trinidad, spokesman for the navy in the South China Sea, said the incident is "not alarming."
"But we were surprised because this is a very unique submarine," he told AFP. The 74-metre (243-foot) long vessel is armed with a missile system that has a range of 12,000 kilometers (7,450 miles), according to Russia's state-run TASS news agency.
The submarine was sighted after it surfaced due to weather-related conditions, Malaya said.
According to the Naval Technology website, Kilo-class submarines are considered to be “one of the quietest diesel submarines in the world." With a crew of 52, the Kilo is designed for anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface-ship warfare, and for general reconnaissance and patrol missions. It first entered service with the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
The Kilo-class submarines can also detect other submarines at a range “three to four times greater than it can be detected itself.”
Exported widely in several continents, nine countries operate the 65 Kilo-class subs currently in service, GMA News reports. Among these are China and Vietnam. According to the US Naval Institute, Kilo-class submarines have six 21-inch bow torpedo tubes that can launch torpedoes or naval mines. It can carry a maximum of 18 torpedoes or 24 naval mines.
The 2,300-ton warship was designed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and the initial design progressed to Project 636 called the Improved Kilo or Kilo II submarine in 1990.
The US Naval Institute also said many Kilo-class submarines can launch the Kalibr family of missiles from their torpedo tubes for long-range land attack (3M-14) or antiship (3M-54) operations.
Kilo-class subs have a hull-mounted sonar suite, an underwater sensor capability that can be used in a wide range of operational missions.
According to the USNI, Russia’s Improved Kilo II–class submarines first conducted long-range attacks against Islamic State targets in Syria in 2015. It has also been used to attack Ukraine since the 2022 war.
According to the National Security Council, the Russian attack sub (UFA 490) was seen traveling on the surface 80 nautical miles west off the Occidental Mindoro coast on November 28 and eventually left in the afternoon.
* * *
"All of that is very concerning," President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told reporters when asked about the submarine. "Any intrusion into the West Philippine Sea, of our EEZ, of our baselines is very worrisome. So, yes, it's just another one."
Marcos used the Philippine name for the South China Sea, where his country plus Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and other coastal states have faced an increasingly aggressive China, which claims the busy waterway virtually in its entirety.
An alarming spike in territorial confrontations, particularly between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces, starting last year has prompted closer surveillance by the United States and other Western governments of the key global trade route.
The Philippines coast guard said Monday that a Chinese military helicopter flew close to fishing boats manned by Filipinos in a "dangerous act of harassment" last week at Iroquois Reef, a disputed fishing area in the South China Sea.
Two Philippine coast guard patrol ships have been deployed to the area to protect Filipino fishermen, coast guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said. There was no immediate comment from Chinese officials.
As "60 Minutes" reported recently, tensions have escalated precariously in the waters off the western coast of the Philippines where an international tribunal ruled the Philippines has exclusive economic rights. But China claims almost all of the South China Sea, one of the world's most vital waterways through which more than $3 trillion in goods flow each year.
Meanwhile, China and Russia have expanded military and defense ties since Moscow ordered troops into Ukraine nearly three years ago, and joint exercises involving the Russian and Chinese militaries have ramped up recently. Last week, South Korea's military said it scrambled fighter jets as five Chinese and six Russian military planes flew through its air defense zone.
In September, the U.S. military moved about 130 soldiers along with mobile rocket launchers to a desolate island in the Aleutian chain of western Alaska amid a recent increase in Russian military planes and vessels approaching American territory. Eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels, including two submarines, had recently come close to Alaska as Russia and China conducted joint military drills.
#3
Unfamiliar with the Kilo capabilities;
I seem to remember that WWII diesel subs etc. across the board had fits during poor nighttime weather - surface and roll with the weather to vent/recharge, or submerge for a safer ride but not do the needed vent/recharge.
That said, it is hard to imagine a Cold War era Sub being forced to surface because of weather unless they had already been pushed to limits.
I guess, they didn't do an emergency breech and sink a fishing vessel.
[ZeroHedge] In the old ranchlands of South Texas, dormant uranium mines are coming back online. A collection of new ones hope to start production soon, extracting radioactive fuel from the region's shallow aquifers. Many more may follow.
These mines are the leading edge of what government and industry leaders in Texas hope will be a nuclear renaissance, as America's latent nuclear sector begins to stir again.
Texas is currently developing a host of high-tech industries that require enormous amounts of electricity, from crypto-currency mines and artificial intelligence to hydrogen production and seawater desalination. Now, powerful interests in the state are pushing to power it with next-generation nuclear reactors.
"We can make Texas the nuclear capital of the world," said Reed Clay, president of the Texas Nuclear Alliance, former chief operating officer for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's office and former senior counsel to the Texas Office of Attorney General. "There's a huge opportunity."
Clay owns a lobbying firm with heavyweight clients that include SpaceX, Dow Chemical and the Texas Blockchain Council, among many others. He launched the Texas Nuclear Association in 2022 and formed the Texas Nuclear Caucus during the 2023 state legislative session to advance bills supportive of the nuclear industry.
The efforts come amid a national resurgence of interest in nuclear power, which can provide large amounts of energy without the carbon emissions that warm the planet. And it can do so with reliable consistency that wind and solar power generation lack. But it carries a small risk of catastrophic failure and requires uranium from mines that can threaten rural aquifers.
In South Texas, groundwater management officials have fought for almost 15 years against a planned uranium mine. Administrative law judges have ruled in their favor twice, finding potential for groundwater contamination. But in both cases those judges were overruled by the state's main environmental regulator, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Now local leaders fear mining at the site appears poised to begin soon as momentum gathers behind America's nuclear resurgence.
In October, Google announced the purchase of six small nuclear reactors to power its data centers by 2035. Amazon did the same shortly thereafter, and Microsoft has said it will pay to restart the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania to power its facilities. Last month, President Joe Biden announced a goal to triple U.S. nuclear capacity by 2050. American companies are racing to license and manufacture new models of nuclear reactors.
"It's kind of an unprecedented time in nuclear," said James Walker, a nuclear physicist and co-founder of New York-based NANO Nuclear Energy Inc., a startup developing small-scale "microreactors" for commercial deployment around 2031.
The industry's re-emergence stems from two main causes, he said: towering tech industry energy demands and the war in Ukraine.
Previously, the U.S. relied on enriched uranium from decommissioned Russian weapons to fuel its existing power plants and military vessels. When war interrupted that supply in 2022, American authorities urgently began to rekindle domestic uranium mining and enrichment.
"The Department of Energy at the moment is trying to build back a lot of the infrastructure that atrophied," Walker said. "A lot of those uranium deposits in Texas have become very economical, which means a lot of investment will go back into those sites."
In May, the White House created a working group to develop guidelines for deployment of new nuclear power projects. In June, the Department of Energy announced $900 million in funding for small, next-generation reactors. And in September, it announced a $1.5 billion loan to restart a nuclear power plant in Michigan, which it called "a first of a kind effort."
"There's an urgent desire to find zero-carbon energy sources that aren't intermittent like renewables," said Colin Leyden, Texas state director of the Environmental Defense Fund. "There aren't a lot of options, and nuclear is one."
Wind and solar will remain the cheapest energy sources, Leyden said, and a buildout of nuclear power would likely accelerate the retirement of coal plants.
The U.S. hasn't built a nuclear reactor in 30 years, spooked by a handful of disasters. In contrast, China has grown its nuclear power generation capacity almost 900 percent in the last 20 years, according to the World Nuclear Association, and currently has 30 reactors under construction.
Last year, Abbott ordered the state's Public Utility Commission to produce a report "outlining how Texas will become the national leader in using advanced nuclear energy." According to the report, which was issued in November, new nuclear reactors would most likely be built in ports and industrial complexes to power large industrial operations and enable further expansion.
"The Ports and their associated industries, like Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), carbon capture facilities, hydrogen facilities and cruise terminals, need additional generation sources," the report said. Advanced nuclear reactors "offer Texas' Ports a unique opportunity to enable continued growth."
In the Permian Basin, the report said, reactors could power oil production as well as purification of oilfield wastewater "for useful purposes." Or they could power clusters of data centers in Central and North Texas.
Already, Dow Chemical has announced plans to install four small reactors at its Seadrift plastics and chemical plant on a rural stretch of the middle Texas coast, which it calls the first grid-scale nuclear reactor for an industrial site in North America.
"I think the vast majority of these nuclear power plants are going to be for things like industrial use," said Cyrus Reed, a longtime environmental lobbyist in the Texas Capitol and conservation director for the state's Sierra Club chapter. "A lot of large industries have corporate goals of being low carbon or no carbon, so this could fill in a niche for them."
The PUC report made seven recommendations for the creation of public entities, programs and funds to support the development of a Texas nuclear industry. During next year's state legislative session, legislators in the Nuclear Caucus will seek to make them law.
"It's going to be a great opportunity for energy investment in Texas," said Stephen Perkins, Texas-based chief operating officer of the American Conservation Coalition, a conservative environmental policy group. "We're really going to be pushing hard for [state legislators] to take that seriously."
However, Texas won't likely see its first new commercial reactor come online for at least five years. Before a buildout of power plants, there will be a boom at the uranium mines, as the U.S. seeks to reestablish domestic production and enrichment of uranium for nuclear fuel.
#1
If we close all the coal plants, where will we get fly ash for concrete?
Fly ash makes concrete resistant to penetration by road salts, which destroys reinforcing steel. A dose of fly ash reduces concrete permeability many-fold.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/04/2024 12:39
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#2
You'll get the fly ash from steel mills, who will still have to use coked coal in steel production. Usually anthracite (it's cleaner).
Posted by: ed in texas ||
12/04/2024 15:44
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#3
^ There are many coal waste dumpsites around the country. I don't know if there has been a good census of them but I suspect the amount of coal ash in them is huge.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/04/2024 15:44
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[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Pete Hegseth has spent the last two days on Capitol Hill defending himself against reporters confronting him about past controversies as he seeks to shore up support for his confirmation in the next administration.
Donald Trump's pick to lead the Defense Department is battling a tricky confirmation after past allegations of sexual misconduct and excessive drinking have resurfaced.
He is also dealing with fallout after past comments that women shouldn't hold military combat roles as he tries to win Senate support.
On Tuesday, Hegseth snapped at his ex-colleague Fox News reporter Aishah Hasnie when she pressed him about his position on women service members.
'A lot of folks have been up in arms about those comments that you made about women in combat. Do you want to just address it really quickly? How do you feel about the women in combat?' Hasnie asked.
'We have amazing women who serve in our military. Amazing women,' he deflected.
Hasnie pressed: 'Do you think they should be in combat?'
'I think they're already in combat,' Hegseth shot back during the tense exchange.
Last I looked, eggs were up to $6 a dozen. No idea what sperm goes for these days.
Goofing aside, the relative cost is a biological fact.
The other inconvenient truth is that humans are sexually dimorphic with boy humans being, on average, bigger/stronger/faster that girl humans. If you look at sports records as an example, world class women athletes generally perform at or below the level of high school boys.
It used to be that the military was one place where you did not lie to yourself because your delusions about the world would get you killed. There are war-fighting roles for women but combat is not one of them. I hope we get this sorted out before we pay a huge price.
Like the man said, the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but it's a good way to bet.
#6
Sometimes female soldiers will find themselves in battle, and so should be trained and drilled — 10/7/2023 in southern Israel being a perfect example of both female soldier fighting successes and failures — but for a lot of reasons it’s better if in general they’re the tail rather than the tip of the spear.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The FBI has launched an investigation into mysterious glowing lights that have been spotted over New Jersey for the last few weeks. "We're planning on a raid on Mar-A-Lago"
Eyewitnesses reported unexplained 'car-sized' drones over the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster and the Picatinny Arsenal Military Base in Rockaway, among other locations throughout northern New Jersey.
Video footage revealed the drones featured green and red lights on their wings and multiple eyewitness described them as large as a small car.
However, the flying objects are larger than drones used by hobbyists, raising questions about their proximity to those specific locations.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was first alerted about the strange activity in Morris County, where the military base is located, on November 18, but sights also surfaced in nearby Menham, Chester and Morristown.
The drone flights have alarmed residents throughout northern New Jersey, who said that they only appear at night and hover above their homes daily, remaining active for hours at a time.
The sightings have gained attention on social media, prompting speculation about where the drones came from and what they are doing.
'False flag alien invasion. That’s what they want, to induce fear,' one person posted on X.
Others suggested the drones are being used to spy on President-elect Donald Trump, who has been known to vacation at his Bedminster golf club and typically flies into Morristown Airport.
Trump was the target of a failed Iranian assassination attempt in November.
Farhad Shakeri, 51, was revealed to have admitted to orchestrating the terrifying scheme which was thwarted by the FBI and involved three alleged hitmen who were hired by the feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to carry out a hit on the president-elect.
And earlier last month, Chinese spies were said to have hacked the smartphones of Trumps' lawyer and campaign staff.
The attacks have raised concerns about America's adversaries spying on the president-elect.
On November 22, the FAA banned drone flights over the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster until December 6, and the Picatinny Arsenal Military Base in Rockaway until December 26.
'We look into all reports of unauthorized drone operations and investigate when appropriate,' the FAA said in a statement.
The agency also noted that drone operators who endanger aircraft of pedestrians could be fined up to $75,000 and lose their drone operators' pilot certificates.
Days later, the FBI confirmed they were investigating the drone activity.
The digital news site NJ.com spoke with Eric Kowal, a spokesman for Picatinny Arsenal, who said it is illegal to fly drones over the base without prior authorization. But he does not believe the drones pose an immediate threat.
'From our standpoint we're not alarming our residents and employees,' he said.
'The FBI are the experts on the threat. We don't believe there to be a threat at this juncture.'
New Jersians are 'unnerved' by the incidents, telling reporters that they have seen drones hovering near their homes for hours at a time, sometimes in groups.
Walsh stated that he has seen up to eight drones at once.
#5
There's a lot of man carrying drones being developed. a quick search resulted in too many different drones being developed to serve as 'air taxi' and people/cargo carriers ti list.
My guess id that the golf course is an ideal place to test when it's closed.
[Breitbart] On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CNN NewsNight,” host Abby Phillip openly wondered what President Joe Biden is doing since “he’s still the President right now. And there’s a lot going on in the world” and yet Biden seems to be absent.
While discussing the many crises around the world, Phillip stated, [relevant remarks begin around 31:20] “[C]an I ask a question? Where is President Biden?”
CNN Senior Political Commentator and former Bush official Scott Jennings responded, “Great question.”
She added, “I know, like, physically, he is on the continent of Africa. But where is he? And let me just play, he was asked about South Korea today by reporters while he was traveling. This is what he said.”
She then played video of Biden responding to a question on South Korea by stating, “I’m just getting briefed on it.”
Later in the segment, Phillip said that “It’s not unusual…for the lame-duck presidents, they have to kind of play that game. But he’s still the President right now. And there’s a lot going on in the world.”
She further stated that “it has been so notable that the President has not been out front, speaking to the American public about any number of things, domestic and foreign.”
#3
I watched when Airforce One landed and his speech. It was hard to watch. He had to be led around and helped up 2 steps. He kept mumbling and go very confused trying to get the words out. He called Angola a city and got very mixed up trying to correct himself. I almost felt bad for him.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/04/2024 12:08
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[Federalist] President Joe Biden didn’t pardon Hunter because he’s a loving father who thinks his drug addict son was treated unfairly by the Justice Department. He pardoned Hunter to help cover up his own crimes, just as he’ll likely pardon other members of his family before he leaves office in January. He’s trying to protect himself, and this is one of the only ways he has left to do it.
After all, President Biden is the one at the center of the influence-peddling and bribery schemes that Hunter ran while Biden was vice president. Joe, not Hunter, was the one being bribed. It was his influence, not Hunter’s, that was being purchased by Ukrainian oligarchs and Chinese businessmen, both during and after Biden was vice president. There’s no Biden family business without "the big guy." Focusing on Hunter’s crimes, and his pardon, is a distraction from the far more serious crimes his father committed.
Even Hunter’s prosecution wasn’t really about him or his misdeeds. The tax and gun charges were about protecting him from being indicted for more serious charges that would have implicated the president and forced him to answer questions about his involvement in Hunter’s overseas business deals. That’s why Special Counsel David Weiss never indicted the younger Biden for failing to register as a foreign agent, allowing the statute of limitations to expire on that and other serious crimes, and then trying to engineer a sweetheart plea deal that would have granted him blanket immunity — immunity he’s now gotten from his father in the form of a pardon that covers a jaw-dropping eleven years.
Why did Weiss do this? Because Hunter’s real tax crimes stem from failing to disclose the tens of millions he and his family raked in from the Biden family’s overseas influence-peddling operations in Ukraine and China. Weiss scrupulously avoided any investigation into those business dealings, and the tax fraud that resulted from them, because such an investigation would have obviously implicated President Biden.
#1
Given JB's lack of Mental planning. I have to feel it is far more than JB seeking to CYA his ass.
Besides, Hunter can now be called to testify, as who was involved in the DC pay to play game now with immunity.
So the question becomes.
Does an Epstein or Seth Rich solution await Hunter and others, because of their inter-trusted circle knowledge of the LSD 2019-2024 Coup?
#2
I expect more pardons for those involved in the family enterprise including Joe himself. I don’t expect him to cover all the clowns involved in other Dem political shenanigans. They burned that bridge when they took Joe off the ballot.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/04/2024 4:36
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#3
I read somewhere that Dr. Jill really pushed Joe for the pardon over the previous weekend. Apparently she's a fierce advocate for her stepson, and I imagine the president no longer has the ability to withstand her arguments.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/04/2024 12:52
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#6
Jill knows Jojo needs to remain in office to have the power to exercise the pardons for the rest of the family and unnamed co-conspirators before 20 January. Conversely, I wonder if the 25th amendment by the cabinet may already be prepared by the Obama minions as a counter-force to Jojo's increasingly suspect behaviors, the only deterrence to that being the rapid final confirmation by the campaign of Kamala's really suspect behaviors and unfathomable incompetence?
It seems we are a nation adrift with a senile fool using the national checkbook like a drunken sailor while his wife splurges on senseless travel and cheezy Christmas decorations, a government on full bureaucratic auto-pilot, and a number two who scares the crap out of even the most rabid partisan progressive should she actually ever be given real Presidential power.
Thank God Trump is already being considered the de-facto President by foreign allies and adversaries alike, but this opportunity window for the next month and a half is very troubling, especially for those in our own government who want to leave wreckage everywhere as Trump takes over.
[ALJAZEERA] Israeli quadcopter drones have bombed Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, the fifth attack by Israel's military on the medical facility in recent weeks.
Al Jazeera's correspondent on the ground reports a ''surge'' in Israeli strikes on Gaza City where the al-Ahli hospital is struggling to deal with mass casualties.
At least 36 Palestinians have been killed and almost 100 wounded in Israeli attacks across Gaza over the most recent 24-hour reporting period, the war-torn enclave's Ministry of Health reports.
Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon have killed at least 12 people, threatening to scuttle a shaky ceasefire with Hezbollah that went into effect last week.
Israel's genocide in Gaza has killed at least 44,502 Palestinians and wounded 105,454 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day, and more than 200 were taken captive.
In Lebanon, at least 3,961 people have been killed and 16,520 wounded in Israeli attacks since the war on Gaza began.
[ALJAZEERA] President Yoon Suk-yeol says he will lift a martial law order after the South Korean parliament passed a motion requiring it be lifted.
In an unannounced live address earlier, Yoon said the imposition of martial law was aimed at safeguarding a ''liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea's communist forces and to eliminate antistate elements''.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2024
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[ConservativeDailyNews] Daily Caller News Foundation co-founder Tucker Carlson released a video on social media Tuesday from Moscow, revealing how the U.S. government has not only severed all communication ties with Russia but also prevented Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from interviewing with Carlson and his team.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated last month after President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles on Nov. 17 for strikes inside Russia. In a video posted to X, Carlson told viewers how U.S. involvement in the conflict has brought everyone closer to a nuclear confrontation since he last interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin in February.
"In that time, just a few weeks ago, the Biden administration, American military personnel launched missiles into mainland Russia and killed at least a dozen Russian soldiers. So we are, unbeknownst to most Americans, in a hot war with Russia, an undeclared war, a war you did not vote for and that most Americans don’t want, but it is ongoing," Carlson said. "Because of that war, because of the fact that the U.S. military is killing Russians in Russia right now, we are closer to nuclear war than at any time in history, far closer than we were during the Cuban Missile Crisis."
Carlson went on to highlight how, despite believing that someone in Washington, D.C., was behind the push toward nuclear war, he had uncovered that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had cut off "all contact" between Russia and the United States.
"We felt there must be someone behind the scenes in Washington working to make sure that this conflict doesn’t become a nuclear holocaust. But we found out that no, in fact, there is nobody. Tony Blinken, the current secretary of state, cut off all contact between the U.S. and Russian governments. There is no back channel. There is no conversation. There hasn’t been for more than two years," Carlson said.
"Meanwhile, most Americans have no access to any perspective other than that granted to them by NBC News and The New York Times. They don’t know how close we are. They don’t know the Russian perspective," Carlson said. "We’ve been trying for over a year to get that perspective out to American news consumers."
Carlson also noted that he had been attempting for over a year to interview Zelenskyy but had been "thwarted" by the U.S. government’s involvement.
"The American embassy in Kiev, which our tax dollars pay for, told the Zelenskyy government, ’No, you may not do the interview.’ You can talk to CNN. You can’t talk to us. So we’ve been unable to speak to him," Carlson said.
"So we came back to Moscow yesterday to interview the foreign minister of Russia, Sergei Lavrov, the longest serving foreign minister in the world ... and ask him, where exactly are we? Are we headed toward an unprecedented conflict between Russia and the United States? Is there any way to peel Russia back from the east, from the sphere of China, back in to the west? Is that alliance permanent? Does the election of Donald Trump mean an end to this war, which is reshaping the world, the U.S. economy, the global economy and risking the life of every person on this planet? Is that possible? We just walked out of that interview," Carlson added. "It’s absolutely fascinating."
Talks of nuclear war surfaced after Biden authorized the use of U.S. long-range missiles for Ukraine, with Putin warning Ukraine about the potential use of new hypersonic missiles to target government or official buildings in Kyiv. Despite the signaling from Putin, U.S. intelligence sources allegedly told Reuters in late November that the decision to allow Ukraine the use of U.S. missiles has not increased the risk of nuclear war.
On Monday, Blinken headed back to Europe for what is likely his final high-level NATO meeting to discuss "priorities for transatlantic security, including supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion, deepening cooperation with NATO’s southern partners in the Middle East, North Africa, and Sahel regions, and preparing for the upcoming summit at The Hague," the Associated Press reported.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Olesya Orlenko
[REGNUM] The latest news from Africa once again proves that France is rapidly losing its position on the continent. This process is expressed both in the reduction of the deployment points and capabilities of the French army, and in the diplomatic relations of Paris with the former colonies. One of the most important roles in these issues is played by questions of historical memory. How do its participants assess this process and how do they see its further development?
The defense cooperation agreements with France, which the Chadian government recently announced it would end, were signed in 1976. They were amended in 2019 to include a statement about Chad’s right to review its strategic partnership policy.
On November 28, 2024, Chad's government spokesman and foreign minister Abderaman Koulamalla announced that, due to this circumstance, the country was asking for the end of the French military presence on its territory. Now, about 1,000 French troops serving in Chad must go home, and the military bases will be closed.
The French media do not hide the fact that this news took France by surprise. After all, it was made a few hours after the departure of Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot from Chad. The head of the French Foreign Ministry met with Minister Koulamalla, as well as with President Mahamat Idriss Déby.
Neither said a word about their plans, although Chad called the decision "carefully thought out." The French side was apparently so stunned that it could not decide on an official response for a long time. And later it only announced that Chad's decision was "taken into account."
The French military presence in Chad was one of the most solid and extensive. It was there that the forces involved in military actions on the continent were concentrated, in particular in Operation Barkhane. After the loss of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, Chad was the last stronghold of France in the Sahel.
But the severity of the blow does not end there.
Almost at the same time, bad news for France came from Senegal. On November 28, Le Monde published an interview with President Bassir Diomai Fay, in which he also stated that the French military presence in his country was inappropriate.
"What country can have foreign troops on its territory and still claim independence? France does not allow this for itself, so it should not impose this on other countries," said the head of Senegal. According to him, the state has the right to choose its partners and build mutually beneficial relations based on the principles of respect.
Respect is a major theme in Faye's interview on the 80th anniversary of the tragic event that took place in Senegal due to France's fault.
During the Battle of France in May–June 1940, conscripts from Senegal—the so-called riflemen—and people from other African colonies served in the French army. They, along with all the other soldiers, were captured by the Germans after the defeat of the French army. The black soldiers were then separated from the whites and placed in frontstalags located in France. They remained there for the entire period of Nazi occupation. Moreover, since 1943, the camps were guarded by the French themselves.
After the release of former prisoners of war from Africa, it was decided to send them back to their homeland. After several years of imprisonment, former prisoners, as a rule, had no means of subsistence. Therefore, the new French government provided the released prisoners with a certain amount as a relocation allowance. However, it was not paid to blacks. And the conditions in the barracks, where they were kept before further transit to Africa, were often no less harsh than in the camps.
Even in continental France, the Senegalese protested by refusing to leave until they were paid the amount owed. The authorities recognized their right to these payments and promised to resolve the issue.
The problem arose again in Senegal, in the Thiarois camp, where soldiers released from Nazi captivity were taken. The former prisoners of war did not want to leave the camp without receiving what they had been promised.
The French officers decided to teach the recalcitrants a lesson. At dawn on December 1, 1944, the military surrounded the camp territory, announced an emergency wake-up call and assembly on the central square, and ordered an immediate evacuation. And upon hearing indignant cries, they opened fire on those gathered with machine guns.
Modern researchers believe that about 400 people died at the hands of the French. France, which was still fighting Nazi Germany at the time, did everything to conceal what happened. Many documents related to the case were falsified. 35 black participants in those events were tried in March 1945 for "rebellion."
Until the late 1990s, the French authorities did not remember this event and also did everything they could to prevent the dissemination of this information in absolutely all spheres, including culture. Rethinking the role of black soldiers in the First and Second World Wars began only after 2000.
However, the fact of the murder of the Senegalese shooters by the French was officially acknowledged only by President François Hollande in a speech given during the events at the Thiarois cemetery in 2012. On November 28, 2024, in a letter from Emmanuel Macron dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the tragedy, France's responsibility for the "murder" was mentioned. An important step, according to the President of Senegal, but insufficient for reconciliation on the basis of conflicts related to historical memory.
Faye expressed hope that France's subsequent actions would be a logical continuation of the statements made.
Meanwhile, at a ceremony on December 1, he announced the construction of a memorial complex on the territory of the Tjarua camp, as well as the inclusion of the study of the tragedy that occurred there in the school curriculum.
Recent events have become another reason for French journalists and experts to note the extremely low level of analysis and knowledge about Africa in the public space and among specialists. The reluctance to evaluate the changes that have occurred in French-speaking African countries, the inability to create an attractive image for young people lead to their ever greater distance from the former metropolis.
Meanwhile, the strategic value of the continent is becoming increasingly clear.
Of course, we are talking about Russia. Propaganda media talk about Africa as a "front of a new war" between the West and the Russians. More reasonable experts note that in the strategic, economic and cultural spheres, different countries compete on the Black Continent, including European ones: the USA, China, Turkey, Hungary and others.
Africa is currently diversifying its partnerships and pursuing a policy of maximum openness. Of course, the domestic agenda in each country also plays an important role. For example, Chad's decision can be explained, among other things, by the presidential elections scheduled for December 29, 2024. The decision to withdraw foreign troops was enthusiastically received by the population.
French experts warn that more and more African countries will demand that France stop interfering in their internal affairs and respect their sovereignty.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Two skyscraper-sized asteroids will fly past Earth on December 3 and 4, and NASA is monitoring their approach, Newsweek reports.
Asteroids 447 755 (2007 JX2) and (2020 XR) formed in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Although they are classified as potentially hazardous by NASA, they pose no threat to the planet.
According to experts, the size of the first asteroid is 402.3 meters, the second - 387.7 meters. The celestial bodies are comparable in size to the Empire State Building in New York, the height of which, without taking into account the spire, is 381 meters.
The object 2007 JX2 will approach the Earth at a distance of 5.5 million kilometers, and 2020 XR at a distance of 2.2 million kilometers, the material says.
As reported by IA Regnum, asteroid 2024 PT5, nicknamed the second Moon, will continue to approach the Earth until January. It follows the planet for several months. At the beginning of 2025, the distance to it will decrease to 1.8 million kilometers, after which the celestial body, under the influence of the Sun's gravity, will begin to move deeper into the Solar System. The asteroid will approach the Earth again in 2055.
[IsraelTimes] US vows to keep targeting ‘shadow fleet’ facilitating petroleum trade; 500,000-750,000 metric tons of fuel oil diverted from Iraqi plants each month to benefit Iran, proxies
The Biden administration on Tuesday ramped up its sanctions on Iran, targeting 35 entities and vessels that it said transported illicit Iranian petroleum to foreign markets as part of what the US Treasury Department called Tehran’s "shadow fleet."
The sanctions build on those previously imposed on October 11 and came in response to Iran’s October 1 ballistic missile attack on Israel and to its announced nuclear escalations, the US Department of Treasury said in a statement.
"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... continues to funnel revenues from its petroleum trade toward the development of its nuclear program, proliferation of its ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology, and sponsorship of its regional terrorist proxies, risking further destabilizing the region," Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith said in a statement.
"The United States remains committed to disrupting the shadow fleet of vessels and operators that facilitate these illicit activities, using the full range of our tools and authorities," Smith added.
Such sanctions target key sectors of Iran’s economy with the aim of denying the government funds to support its nuclear and missile programs. The move generally prohibits any US individuals or entities from conducting any business with the targets and freezes any US-held assets.
While the latest sanctions seek to further restrict the export of Iranian oil and fuel, five sources with knowledge of the matter told Rooters that a sophisticated fuel oil smuggling network that some experts believe generates at least $1 billion a year for Iran and its proxies has flourished in Iraq since Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... i took office in 2022.
The operation exploits a government policy under which Iraq allocates fuel oil to asphalt plants at heavily subsidized prices and involves a network of companies, groups and individuals in Iraq, Iran and Gulf states, according to the five people and three Western intelligence reports, two from August this year and one which was undated.
Under the scheme, anywhere from 500,000 to 750,000 metric tons of heavy fuel oil (HFO), including high sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) — equivalent to 3.4 million to 5 million barrels of oil — is diverted from the plants each month and exported, mostly to Asia, two of the sources said.
The extent of the fuel oil smuggling since Sudani came to power and the involvement of multiple entities within Iraq in the illicit trade have not previously been reported.
Iranian and Iraqi officials did not respond to detailed requests for comment about the findings in the Rooters story.
Iran views its neighbor and ally Iraq as an economic lung and wields considerable military, political and economic influence there through the powerful Shiite militias and political parties it backs. It also sources hard currency from Iraq through exports and avoids US sanctions via its banking system, Iraqi and US officials say.
While Baghdad has been delicately balancing its role as an ally of both Washington and Tehran for years, with President-elect Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... expected to take a hard line on Iran’s attempts to skirt US sanctions, its activities in neighboring Iraq are expected to come under increasing scrutiny.
Of the two main routes the fuel oil takes out of Iraq, one involves blending it with similar product from Iran and passing it off as purely Iraqi, helping Tehran evade tough US sanctions on energy exports, said the five sources, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The other involves exporting the fuel oil that was originally meant for the subsidy program using forged documentation to mask its origins.
Iran benefits directly from the first route. Iranian fuel oil typically sells at a discount due to sanctions but it can sell it for a higher price if it is passed off as Iraqi. The second route, meanwhile, benefits the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq that control the smuggling scheme.
Three sources estimated how much both routes were bringing in based on assumptions about the volumes traded and relative prices. Their estimates ranged from $1 billion a year to over $3 billion.
The illicit trade potentially puts Iraqi institutions and officials at risk of US sanctions for helping Iran and some Iraqi officials are concerned a Trump administration could target them, the three sources said.
However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat... Iraqi leaders rely heavily on the support of influential Iranian-backed Shiite groups to stay in power, making it difficult for them to crack down on illicit activities, such as the fuel oil smuggling, the sources said.
Sudani’s office did not respond to requests for comment about the trade, the risk of sanctions or government attempts to curb the business.
ON WASHINGTON’S RADAR
The lucrative smuggling and its links to Iran and individuals under US sanctions are already on Washington’s radar. The subject came up in discussions between US officials and Sudani when the Iraqi prime minister visited the United States in September, one of the sources said.
Asked by Rooters whether smuggling had been raised, a State Department official said: "While we do not comment on specific discussions, we can affirm the Department has emphasized with our Iraqi counterparts the harms of illicit trade and our support for bringing oil transparently to market."
The US Treasury did not respond to questions about the fuel oil trade or whether Iraqi entities and officials were at risk of sanctions.
US sanctions on Iran are chiefly in response to its nuclear program and its support for groups across the Middle East that the US sees as terrorist organizations, including Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , Hezbollah 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... and the Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... .
The Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia has ordered that District Attorney Fani Willis hand over all communications she had with special counsel Jack Smith and the defunct January 6 Committee to Judicial Watch, which sued Willis under the Open Records Act (ORA).
The court granted the default judgment motion brought forth by Judicial Watch, which stated that Willis had been served with the lawsuit in March 2024, but by May when Judicial Watch asked the court to declare default judgment, Willis had still "not filed an answer" despite it being due "30 days after service."
The order centers around the deadline in which Willis had to respond, with Willis being served on March 11 and a return of service being filed two days later. However, the latter document did not appear on the court’s electronic docket. In April the court, "believing that Defendant had not yet been served," filed an order directing Judicial Watch to serve the defendant, who refiled the return that showed Willis had been served on March 11.
Willis claimed that "she relied on the Court’s 15 April 2024 Order directing Plaintiff to serve her and so did not immediately file an answer because of her 'understanding that service had not been perfected,’" and that the court’s April 15 filing required the plaintiffs to serve her for a second time, the plaintiffs had not yet done so, and that she was therefore not required to respond yet.
"The Court finds Defendant is in default and has been since 11 April 2024. As already mentioned, it is undisputed that Defendant was served on 11 March 2024 and that Plaintiff filed the return of service on 13 March 2024. While it is true that that return did not immediately appear on the Court’s electronic docket, this delay does not change the fact that Plaintiff filed it -- and that it was stamped as received by the Clerk -- on 13 March 2024. Because the return was filed within five days of service, Defendant was required to answer within thirty days of service, which would have been 10 April 2024," the court order stated.
"Lest any of this appear unfair to Defendant -- who arguably was without notice that Plaintiff had filed the return of service on 13 March 2024 until 15 April 2024 when Plaintiff again filed it and the Clerk caused the original 13 March filing to appear in the docket -- Defendant could have opened her default as a matter of right on 15 April 2024 or soon thereafter, as she remained well within the fifteen-day grace period established by O.C.G.A. § 9-11-55(a). Moreover, even had she delayed and filed her motion to open default outside the fifteen-day statutory grace period, Defendant would have had a compelling case for opening her default on any of the three statutory grounds."
The order added, "But Defendant did none of that: she never moved to open default on any basis (not even during the period when she could have opened default as a matter of right), she never paid costs, and she never offered up a meritorious defense," and said that the plaintiffs are entitled to default judgment "as if every item and paragraph of the complaint were supported by proper and sufficient evidence
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/04/2024
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] In particular, in Kursk region our defenders have repelled 17 attacks by the invaders today, nine combat clashes are ongoing.
The enemy does not stop trying to advance deep into Ukrainian territory. At present, the enemy has attacked the positions of the defense forces 125 times. It is most active in the Kurakhovsky and Pokrovsky directions, where it has carried out almost half of all attacks. This was reported in the General Staff report on Tuesday, December 3.
Today, in the Kharkov direction, Russian terrorists near Vovchansk, Glubokoe and in the direction of Kazachya Lopan tried to carry out offensive actions five times, and were rebuffed. Enemy aviation struck with UABs at Odnorobovka, Vysokaya Yaruga and Glubokoe.
Once the enemy attacked our positions in the Kupyansk direction. Ukrainian defenders repelled the enemy assault near Kolesnikovka.
In the Liman direction, enemy units continue to attack in the areas of the settlements of Pervomayskoye, Novoyegorovka, Grekovka, Yampolevka and Terny. Since the beginning of the day, Ukrainian soldiers have already repelled four out of eight enemy attacks in this direction. The fighting continues.
There have been two enemy attacks in the Toretsk direction at the moment. The enemy is active in the Toretsk area. Our defenders are giving a worthy rebuff, one attack has been stopped, the battle continues.
In the Pokrovsk direction, since the beginning of the day, the occupiers have already carried out 28 attacks on the positions of our defenders in the areas of Mirolyubovka, Lisovka, Luch, Dachenskoye, Mlechnoye and Novopustynka. The defense forces, holding back the hostile onslaught, repelled 24 enemy attacks. Four combat clashes continue. The enemy dropped aerial bombs on Mirnograd.
The hottest part of the situation today is in the Kurakhovsky direction, where there are currently 30 combat clashes, the invaders are actively trying to advance in the areas of Solntsevka, Zarya, Dalny, Kurakhovoye, Yelizavetovka and Gannovka. Thirteen combat clashes are still ongoing. Ulakly and Dachnoye have come under attack from Russian UABs.
In the Vremivsk direction, the invaders launched an offensive against the positions of Ukrainian troops 14 times near Konstantinopolskoye, Sukhi Yal, Razdolnoye and Novodarovka; two clashes are still ongoing.
The enemy carried out offensive operations in the areas of Rabotino, Novodanilovka and Novoandreyevka in the Orekhov direction, one battle continues.
In the Dnieper direction, the occupiers made five unsuccessful attempts to attack the positions of Ukrainian troops.
In Kursk region, our defenders repelled 17 attacks by invaders today, nine combat clashes continue.
While in other areas, no significant changes have been noted at present.
Let us recall that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky reported on the situation at the front, the situation in the Kurakhovsky and Pokrovsky directions remains difficult, there are good results in defense in the Zaporizhzhya direction.
Earlier, the National Security and Defense Council stated that the Russian army is preparing for offensive actions in the Zaporizhia region, but there is no threat to Zaporizhia.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The group that carried out attacks on synagogues and Orthodox churches in Derbent and Makhachkala included 11 people, some of whom deny their guilt, claiming that they gave their initial testimony under torture.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", on June 23, on the Day of the Holy Trinity, which is one of the main Christian holidays, militants attacked synagogues and Orthodox churches in Derbent and Makhachkala. As a result, at least 22 people were killed and 46 were injured.
According to Kavkaz Uzel, they did this for ISIS.
Investigators believe that the group whose members carried out the attacks was created by the son of the head of the Sergokalinsky District, Magomed Omarov. "Kavkazsky Uzel" has prepared reports "The Main Thing About the Participants in the Attacks in Makhachkala and Derbent" and "Attacks on Churches, Synagogues, and Security Forces in Dagestan."
According to investigators, the organized group that carried out attacks on synagogues and Orthodox churches in Dagestan included 11 people. They planned to attack synagogues in Makhachkala and Derbent simultaneously in two groups of three people.
3+3=6. What were the other five doing?
Magomed Kagirov was supposed to join the militants, but then he did not participate in the terrorist attacks. After the militants were eliminated, Kagirov was arrested, Kommersant reported on December 1, citing the Investigative Committee.
According to the investigation, six members of the group were actively preparing for attacks from May to the first half of June. They were trained in shooting, made bottles with Molotov cocktails, stored weapons, ammunition and explosive devices. Five accomplices - Magomedovs with the same last name, who were not related to each other
“This is my brother, Daryl. And this is my other brother, Daryl.”
- in the apartment of one of them in Makhachkala, security forces found an anti-tank grenade launcher, a Kalashnikov assault rifle with cartridges, three grenades, a detonator and explosives.
Another defendant, Magomed Magomedov, was found in the village of Sergokala with a grenade, 42 rounds of ammunition, and a homemade bomb. His fellow villager Khalid Magomedov had a Makarov pistol, a grenade, 24 rounds of ammunition for a pistol, and 13 rounds of ammunition for a machine gun. Makhachkala resident Zaur was found with a traumatic pistol, more than 250 rounds of ammunition for various types of weapons, a grenade, an optical sight, two silencers, and six magazines for machine guns.
On July 2, all three were arrested. They were charged with preparing a terrorist attack, illegal trafficking of weapons, ammunition and explosives. According to the source, none of them admits guilt, all three claim that the weapons, ammunition and explosives were planted on them.
Khalid Magomedov stated that he was in fact detained not in early July in Makhachkala, but on June 26 in Vidnoye, Moscow Region, when he and his colleagues were returning from work to a dormitory in Khimki. Magomedov said that the FSB officers told him the names of the militants, and he told them that he knew them all, since the Kagirovs were his second cousins, and the rest were fellow villagers. Magomedov complained that the security forces initially filed a report on him for hooliganism and promised to let him go, but two days later they took him to Dagestan, and that they forced him to testify by beating him.
He was also allegedly forced to make a video recording of his oath of allegiance to Osman Omarov, and then dropped off on a road in Makhachkala. Magomedov said he knew nothing about the preparation of terrorist attacks.
According to the case materials, Zaur Magomedov has two higher educations and previously worked as the CEO of a construction company in Makhachkala. Khalid Magomedov has one higher education and worked as an asphalt paver at JSC CDS Filial SU 450. Magomed Magomedov said that he is disabled and therefore does not work. The investigation demanded that the arrest period of all defendants be extended, and the court extended their detention until March 2, 2025.
Zaur Magomedov's lawyer Magomed Musayev stated that his client had lived in the Moscow region for three years before his arrest, that he had his own construction company and that he had never been to Dagestan. "I don't know how he could have planned anything in Makhachkala," the lawyer said.
Khalid Magomedov's lawyer Igor Dyukin emphasized that his client also worked in Moscow for three years and that he had not traveled to his native village since April 30.
Recall that veterans of the special services interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" earlier stated that the militant attacks could have been prevented if the security forces had guarded religious sites more carefully and paid more attention to preventive work, but the security of religious sites in the republic was strengthened only the day after the militant attacks.
The attacks occurred because of government miscalculations that did not pay enough attention to countering terrorism, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov said in July.
On June 24, the head of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, announced that Magomed Omarov, whose two sons and nephew participated in the militant attack, had been dismissed from his post as head of the Sergokalinsky District. On June 25, Melikov announced an investigation into the personal files of officials and deputies.
The attacks in Derbent and Makhachkala were the first armed incidents in the republic in more than a year. At the same time, a number of incidents related to attacks on religious figures and religious buildings had occurred in Dagestan earlier.
[IsraelTimes] Report shows letter sent to tech giant’s executives raised concerns Project Nimbus deal with Israeli government could lead to ‘the facilitation of human rights violations’
Officials at Google are reportedly worried that the company’s contract with Israel, which includes services for the Defense Ministry and Shin Bet, could potentially enable Israeli human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... violations of Paleostinians, and damage the reputation of the company.
According to a Tuesday report in The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... , officials at the US tech giant addressed concerns in documents sent to executives that the deal with the Israeli government could cause damage to the company.
The Times quoted one document as saying that officials warned executives that "Google Cloud services could be used for, or linked to, the facilitation of human rights violations, including Israeli activity in the West Bank."
The officials also warned of reputational harm that could come with association with the Israeli government.
In 2021, the tech giant unveiled Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion deal between itself, the Israeli government, and Amazon to provide AI and cloud services that are also used by the IDF.
The project enables Israeli cabinet ministries and other entities to transfer servers and services into cloud data centers provided locally.
The government contract with Google and Amazon for the services is for an initial seven years, with an option to extend it for a total of 23 years. After the first seven years, Israel will be able to add other suppliers or halt work with the current ones.
In May, hundreds of current and former Google employees staged a protest at the tech company’s annual developer conference in Mountain View, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, calling for ties with Israel to be severed over the war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... The protesters chained themselves together near the entrance to the conference, forcing attendees to be redirected to a different entrance, and carried a large banner reading, "Google stop fueling genocide."
"What you will not be hearing from today’s speakers is that right now, as I stand here before you, the state of Israel is using Google technology to execute history’s first AI-powered genocide," one of the protesters was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
The protesters contended that the system is being lethally deployed in the Gaza war — an allegation Google refutes and which the protesters have provided no evidence for.
In April, Google announced that it had fired 28 employees for staging "disruptive" sit-in protests at the company’s offices in New York and California to demonstrate against Project Nimbus.
Tuesday’s report in the Times showed that concerns within Google over Project Nimbus are not limited to the rank and file, and that higher-ups and executives are worried about the reputational damage of working directly with the Israeli government, as well as fears that their cloud systems could be used in the "facilitation of human rights violations."
[IsraelTimes] Suspects, all of them Hamas members, targeted near Palestinian village of Aqabah; troops raid scene, seize weapons following strike
An Israeli dronezap in the northern West Bank on Tuesday morning killed three Paleostinian button men whom the IDF and Shin Bet said were planning an "imminent terror attack."
The three, members of Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... , were struck near the Paleostinian village of Aqabah in the Jordan Valley.
Following the strike, the IDF said troops raided the area and seized four weapons.
While the IDF said it had killed three button men, the Paleostinian Authority health ministry confirmed that two people were killed in the strike, and said that a third had been moderately maimed.
In a statement, Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades confirmed that two of its operatives had been killed near Aqabah, and vowed to keep fighting against Israeli forces "until victory and liberation."
The PA health ministry said that the maimed gunman and the bodies of the two killed in the strike were taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Tubas.
It said that the IDF then carried out a raid on hospital grounds, and charged that troops had broken in, fired shots, and said they were seen "assaulting staff and patients, and arresting a number of them."
The Paleostinian Authority’s official WAFA news agency said that among those briefly detained was Dr. Mahmoud Ghanam, the head of the hospital’s emergency department. It said that five other medical workers were also detained, including the hospital’s general manager.
The IDF denied the claim in a statement to AFP, saying that an army unit had been "dispatched to collect the bodies and operated in the area of the Ottoman Turkish hospital in Tubas," but that "they did not enter the hospital."
An AFP correspondent in Tubas confirmed that armored vehicles were seen stationed near the hospital and soldiers deployed around it.
Since the Hamas onslaught, Israeli troops have arrested some 5,250 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,050 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the PA health ministry, some 800 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were button men killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or forces of Evil carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 41 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in festivities with terror operatives in the West Bank.
[IsraelTimes] Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation claims Col. Moshe Tetro implemented policy of starvation as head of COGAT in Gaza; IDF rejects allegations, says ‘Tetro is highly respected’
A pro-Paleostinian, anti-Israel group in Belgium reportedly filed a complaint to the Belgian government against Israel’s new military attaché in Brussels, accusing him of war crimes.
Belgium’s Phlegmish-language De Morgen newspaper reported on Tuesday that the Brussels-based Hind Rajab Foundation
…named after a six year old child who died in Gaza City, for which the organization blames the IDF. The foundation is a project launched in two months ago by the March 30 Movement, itself named in memory of the Palestinian general strike on that date in 1976 in the West Bank against the Israeli government, since referred to as Land Day. Both groups are lawfare boiler rooms generating endless laswsuits against Israelis and those who support Israel in Western Europe and elsewhere, and between times propagandizing against Israel using the currently fashionable far left shibboleths. The March 30 appear to be the work of lawyer Haroon Raza, and appeared on the scene at the end of 2023…
claimed that in his previous position, Col. Moshe Tetro was responsible for implementing a policy of starvation 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... Other foreign news outlets reported that the pro-Paleostinian organization also referred Tetro to the International Criminal Court, which filed arrest warrants for Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Tetro previously served as head of COGAT’s Coordination and Liaison Administration to Gaza, the IDF unit responsible for coordinating aid into the Strip.
"Here we are dealing with a key figure in the implementation of Israeli policy toward hospitals and the strategy of famine and thirst as a weapon of war," Dyab Abou Jahjah, chairman of the Hind Rajab Foundation, told De Morgen.
Israel denies accusations of limiting aid to Gaza and says shortages are due to the inability of international organizations to distribute aid and looting by Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... and armed gangs.
Israeli Ambassador to Belgium Idit Rosenzweig-Abu told De Morgen that Israel rejects the accusations. "Israel acts according to international law," she said.
She also said Tetro is a decorated and respected officer and noted that Belgium had no problem accepting him as military attaché.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, an Israeli source said that the Hind Rajab Foundation is "obsessive" and has filed "dozens of complaints against officers in The Hague, Brussels, and other places around the world. The head of the organization, Diab Abu Gajjah, is Lebanese, and has previously justified the September 11 attacks."
The source added that Israel’s military attaché has diplomatic immunity in Belgium.
The IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit said that "Colonel Moshe Tetro is a highly respected and distinguished officer," and that "as with every mission and assignment, the IDF takes all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of its personnel and officers."
"The IDF strongly rejects allegations of war crimes and reiterates that the IDF’s activities are carried out in accordance with the instructions of the political echelon and in compliance with international law," the military added.
Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations that a policy of starvation is being implemented in Gaza, claiming it has allowed hundreds of thousands of tons of aid, including food, into the enclave.
[IsraelTimes] Proposal calls for nonpartisan panel to administer Strip, and for all crossings into territory to return to pre-October 2023 operations
Paleostinian terror group Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... and the Paleostinian Authority’s Fatah party have agreed to create a committee to jointly administer postwar 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... , negotiators from both sides said Tuesday.
Under the plan, which needs the approval of PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....> , the committee would be composed of 10-15 nonpartisan figures with authority on matters related to the economy, education, health, humanitarian aid, and reconstruction, according to a draft of the proposal seen by AFP.
It is unclear if Israel would agree to the deal being formulated.
Not really unclear, no.
Israel rejects any role for Hamas in Gaza after the war the terror group started last year, and has also said it does not trust Abbas’s PA to run the enclave.
Actually, crystal clear would be a better description.
Following talks in Cairo brokered by Egypt, the two rival factions agreed the committee would administer the Paleostinian side of the Rafah checkpoint on the border with Egypt — the territory’s only crossing not shared with Israel.
That’s nice, boys. Maybe you should try mumblety-peg instead
The Rafah Crossing, a major conduit for humanitarian aid into Gaza, has been closed since Israel captured it in May, with Egyptian authorities refusing to cooperate with Israeli forces on keeping the gateway open.
That’s because Egypt doesn’t want any of those icky Gazans polluting their pristine environs, while Israel doesn’t want more weapons smuggled across the border to Hamas, even if President al-Sisi’s nephew has been making bank on the project.
Fatah’s delegation, led by central party committee member Azzam al-Ahmad, was to return to Ramallah on Tuesday to seek Abbas’s final approval, negotiators from both sides told AFP.
The Hamas delegation was headed by politburo member Khalil al-Hayya.
The London-based pan-Arab news site al-Araby al-Jadeed also said it had seen a copy of the document and reported the agreement lays out plans to establish a committee to administer the Strip, "reporting to the Paleostinian government" based in the West Bank.
The document has six sections, the first of which stresses preserving "the unity" of Paleostinian territories according to the pre-1967 borders, the report said. The second deals with strengthening "communication between the Paleostinian government in the West Bank and the committee in Gaza."
Other sections deal with determining that the committee would act according to the Paleostinian political system and would not bring about a separation between the Gaza Strip and other Paleostinian territories. The committee is to continue its work until "the reasons that led to its formation are eliminated," general elections are held, "or another formula agreed upon nationally is adopted."
The committee will only begin its work after border crossings into Gaza return to operating as before October 2023 and the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt is reopened according to a 2005 agreement that put its operation in the hands of Egypt and the Paleostinian Authority, under the supervision of the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , the report said.
A final formula for the plan also requires ratification by all Paleostinian factions at a meeting that would again be held in Cairo, al-Arabiya reported.
On Monday, Egypt’s foreign minister said that Fatah and Hamas representatives were in Cairo for talks seeking to bring postwar Gaza under the full control of the Fatah-dominated PA.
#2
per the article, ", the committee would be composed of 10-15 nonpartisan figures with authority on matters related to the economy, education, health, humanitarian aid, and reconstruction...."
what about security - that's the most important matter, if you don't have security you can't do any of these things -- if Hamas provides security, it is just a disaster, if Fatah provides security it is a disaster of a different kind
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/04/2024 9:54
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#3
OK. Let them have their little committee. But Bibi should assign one of his generals to be Governor of Gaza and the committee must answer to the governor. The occupation should continue indefinitely. No more tunnels. No more Iranian weapons. No more hate speech in the mosques or on TV.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/04/2024 12:33
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[KavkazUzel] The first hearing on the Makhachkala riots case took place in the Kochubeevsky District Court of Stavropol Krai. Four defendants are accused of participating in mass riots and violating transport safety regulations.
As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, there are 27 criminal cases in the courts of Kuban and Stavropol regarding the riots in Makhachkala against 129 defendants, the Prosecutor General's Office reported in October. On November 29, the Industrial Court of Stavropol began to consider the case against three residents of Dagestan.
The first court hearing was held in the Kochubeevsky District Court of the Stavropol Territory regarding four residents of the Republic of Dagestan who were charged in a criminal case regarding the riots at the Makhachkala airport, the Telegram channel "Pearl of the South" reported today.
As indicated in the case file on the court's website, Radzhab Mutayev, Magomed Magomedbekov, Shamil Mugutdinov, Murtazali Murtazaliev are accused of participating in mass riots (Part 2 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), violating transport safety requirements (Part 3 of Article 263.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The case was submitted to the court on September 24, but the hearings were postponed three times due to the failure to deliver the defendant.
As reported by the " Caucasian Knot ", the Armavir City Court sentenced the defendants in the case of the riots at the Makhachkala airport Anvarbek Atayev, Islam Ibragimov, Magomed Omaraskhabov, Rabadan Radzhabov and Salik Ramazanov to terms ranging from six years, four months to nine years. The court issued a harsh sentence without evidence of the defendants' guilt, said the lawyers and relatives of the convicted. The defense appealed the sentence, but the appellate court upheld it on November 25. The defense intends to appeal the sentence in the cassation court. The decision of the appellate court showed that the remaining sentences will also be harsh, said the head of the Public Monitoring Commission of Dagestan Shamil Khadulaev.
140 people are in custody in criminal cases related to the riots at Uytash airport, 1,200 people have been brought to administrative responsibility, Dagestan Interior Minister Abdurashid Magomedov said on July 9.
Goodness. The authorities seem to be suggesting extreme displeasure with the wannabe pogrammists.
The accused claim that they were at the airport but did not take part in the riots, Dagestan POC Chairman Shamil Khadulaev said on June 13. On February 17, relatives of the participants in the riots at Makhachkala airport appealed to Putin with a request for leniency
What happened at Uytash airport and how the investigation is proceeding is described in the "Caucasian Knot" report " The Case of the Pogrom at Makhachkala Airport".
Let us recall that from October 26 to 29, 2023, mass anti-Semitic actions took place in three republics of the North Caucasus. In Cherkessk, the protesters demanded that visitors from Israel not be allowed in, and in Nalchik, a cultural center was set on fire.
Not every choice will turn out to be as good as they look on paper. Let us be grateful this one was noticed so quickly, and chose to withdraw from consideration before it got ugly.
[Ay Pee] Chad Chronister, Donald Trump’s pick to run the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Tuesday he was withdrawing his name from consideration, becoming the second person selected by the president-elect to bow out quickly after being nominated for a position requiring Senate confirmation.
Sheriff Chronister, the top law enforcement officer in Hillsborough County, Florida, said in a post on X that he was backing away from the opportunity, which he called "the honor of a lifetime."
Indeed it was.
"Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration," Chronister wrote. He did not elaborate, and Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Chronister follows former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first pick to serve as attorney general, in withdrawing his name for a post in the administration. Gaetz withdrew following scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer.
Trump’s pick of Chronister for the DEA job drew backlash from conservatives, who raised concerns over his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic and his saying that his office "does not engage in federal immigration enforcement activities."
[X]
I am from Tampa Bay, Florida. I have followed Chad Chronister's career and people are asking me why he is a bad pick to be head of DEA. Conservatives here do not support Chronister. Chronister is a woke and weak Democrat plant and will backstab President Trump. He cannot be… pic.twitter.com/AfGxiFXvIc
… He cannot be trusted! Here are some of the reasons:
His office promotes transgendering teens by participating in the Tampa Pride event and created a liaison office for transgenders and other pride affiliates.
https://teamhcso.com/News/PressRelease/73a66208-1b05-41ae-ae29-8a1f6a6daf26/21-107
https://facebook.com/watch/?v=925517718290244
Chronister expanded his office's DEI programs and has been a major proponent of anti-white male discrimination by removing merit as a primary role of advancement, turning to race and gender-based hiring and promotion policies.
https://tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/hillsborough-sheriffs-office-recruitment-effort-focuses-on-diversity/2247981/
In March of 2020, he arrested a local pastor who kept his church open during Covid. The pastor spent $100k to upgrade his church's air and filtration system, making his church safe for those who wish to attend services. Nonetheless, Chronister arrested him and held a press conference touting the arrest.
https://teamhcso.com/News/PressRelease/bea53702-e647-4b0b-af34-38cbb31f6224/20-091
He is a big Democrat donor. He gave money to Democrats Barack Obama, Mayor Jane Castor, Congresswoman Kathy Castor, Congressman Charlie Crist and the DNC.
https://tampafp.com/ingram-eight-reasons-to-think-twice-about-voting-for-chad-chronister-for-sheriff/
Chronister is weak on crime. He released a criminal with 35 priors who then went out shortly after his release and murdered someone.
https://tampafp.com/ingram-eight-reasons-to-think-twice-about-voting-for-chad-chronister-for-sheriff/
He was weak during the BLM riots, having his deputies stand down as rioters destroyed property, including a gate at the county jail. His office was generally slow to respond during the BLM riots, when other sheriff's offices around the state were out in full force.
https://x.com/ByJoshSolomon/status/1277041420713549825
He supports Red Flag Gun Confiscation and has used the policy many times.
https://teamhcso.com/News/PressRelease/5df6be01-c30e-4e23-9139-a9310aaf8a99/20-070
https://casemine.com/judgement/us/6142161b372b700f1b4eb0af
https://unicourt.com/case/fl-hil-hillsborough-county-sheriffs-office-vs-gonzalez-carlos-javier-jr-1128584
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/04/2024
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#1
Seems like an odd pick for DJT based on his policies. It’s been implied that Bondi recommended him. If true, that does not bode well for the DOJ pick.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/04/2024 4:31
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#2
Everyone gets put through the Kobayashi Maru. We are no exception.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
12/04/2024 9:28
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#3
Meh. The philosophy seems to be "You hire them, you fire them."
Trump needs to get past this and aim long term.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
12/04/2024 9:31
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#4
A tough, honest county sheriff, someone who hasn't been corrupted in DC, might be just what the DEA needs. But it sounds like this particular sheriff was not the guy.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/04/2024 12:57
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Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 19:47 The Italian government is preparing the 10th package of military aid for Ukraine. This was reported by Reuters, citing sources. It is noted that the new aid package will probably be approved by the end of this month. As is known, since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Italy has already approved nine aid packages for Ukraine, including two air defense systems known as SAMP/T.
19:10 The Verkhovna Rada supported in the first reading a bill according to which citizens in Ukraine will automatically register for military service upon reaching the age of 17. This was reported on December 3 by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. According to Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, young people no longer need to go to the TCC or undergo a medical examination. They will only need to undergo identification in Reserve+, after which the application itself will generate a military registration document.
17:55 NATO should help Ukraine, but sending the Alliance's troops to Ukraine would mean its entry into the war, Luxembourg Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Xavier Bethel said.
"Troops on the battlefield mean war. It is terrible that things continue as they are, but we said that there should be no war between NATO and Russia," he said.
17:36 In the Kherson region, Russians dropped explosives from a drone, there is a victim and a wounded person. In Berislav, a 43-year-old woman died. In Antonovka, a 54-year-old civilian man was wounded.
17:25 Russian troops struck Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast. A woman was killed, a man and a three-month-old boy were injured. This was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office. The baby was diagnosed with mine-explosive and craniocerebral injuries and a concussion.
16:01 On December 3, President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, where they discussed orders for the production of drones, missiles and artillery, as well as the protection of energy infrastructure.
15:15 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called on NATO countries to provide an additional 20 air defense systems to protect energy infrastructure in winter.
"Ukraine urgently needs at least 20 additional air defense systems such as HAWK, NASAMS or IRIS-T. This will help avoid blackouts," he stressed.
14:00 Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky reported on the situation at the front, the situation in the Kurakhovsky and Pokrovsky directions remains difficult, there are good results in defense in the Zaporizhzhya direction. This was reported by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"Report of Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky. General situation on the front, defense of our positions. Kurakhovskoye and Pokrovskoye directions remain the most difficult. I am grateful to each unit that is destroying the occupier and holding back the Russian advance," he said.
Zelensky added that "there are good defensive results in the Zaporizhzhya direction."
13:05 The partners hear Ukraine's calls for NATO membership and do not back down from their plans, but at the December meeting of the Alliance they have a different goal. This was stated by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
"In the coming days, we will focus on what to do to help Ukraine now... The meeting (of Alliance ministers - ed.) will focus on ensuring that when Ukraine decides to start negotiations, it can do so from a position of strength," he said.
12:59 NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte responded to the launch of the Oreshnik missile on the Dnieper, assuring that the Russians' brazen attack will not deter allies in their support for Ukraine.
11:35 The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) at the National Security and Defense Council Andriy Kovalenko said that the Russian army is preparing for offensive actions in the Zaporizhia region, but there is no threat to the city of Zaporizhia. According to him, when speaking about the Zaporizhia direction, it is important not to confuse the Zaporizhia region and Zaporizhia.
10:46 Ukrainian forces are fighting for control over part of the Kursk region, repelling continuous attacks by the Russians. The fighting here is reaching peak intensity, according to a CNN report.
10:32 The Security Service detained two underage Russian agents who were involved in terrorist activities by enemy special services. On November 28, the perpetrators committed a terrorist attack in the Vyshgorod district of the Kyiv region.
On instructions from Russian special services, they detonated a homemade explosive device near the building of the local police department. No one was hurt in the incident. Both terrorists were exposed "hot on the heels." The perpetrators turned out to be two 14-year-old boys whom the Russians recruited remotely through Telegram channels looking for quick money.
9:45 Air defense forces worked in the Kiev region at night - there are destroyed targets. No critical or residential infrastructure was hit, there were no casualties.
In one of the settlements, damage was recorded to four private houses, a gas pipe, two cars and a fence.
9:25 On the night of December 3, Russian troops attacked Ukraine with 28 Shahed attack UAVs and other types of drones. Air defense forces shot down 22 enemy UAVs in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Odessa, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
08:41 Russian aggressors struck an energy facility in the Rivne region during a raid using kamikaze drones last night, December 3. "All relevant services" are working at the scene.
08:27 NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned Donald Trump that the United States will face a "terrible threat" from China, Iran and North Korea if Ukraine is forced to make concessions to end the war with Russia.
07:44 Special Operations Forces (SOF) fighters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out another successful raid on enemy positions in Kursk region. As a result, almost twenty Russian soldiers were eliminated and eight more were captured.
07:26 NATO foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Tuesday, December 3. On the eve of this meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said that inviting our country to the Alliance would eliminate one of Russia's main arguments in waging the war, namely, preventing Ukraine from joining NATO. However, the bloc's members are unlikely to listen to Kiev and provide an invitation after the meeting.
00:30 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied Western media reports about losses in the war, allegedly 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed, and noted that the losses are significantly less.
Russia appears to be withdrawing key naval assets from its strategic Mediterranean base at Tartus, Syria.
On December 2, 2024, the Russian auxiliary ship Yelnya departed from Tartus, with reports indicating that two frigates, another auxiliary vessel, and a submarine have also left the port.
The move comes amidst rapid changes in the Syrian Civil War. Forces opposing the Assad regime, a long-standing Russian ally, have gained momentum and are advancing toward Damascus. While Moscow has not officially commented on the redeployment, analysts suggest the withdrawal may reflect growing concerns about the stability of the Assad government and the security of Russian military assets.
Naval analyst Droxford Maritime remarked on social media platform X, “There is a realistic possibility that this movement is directly tied to the deteriorating situation in Syria.” He highlighted the importance of Yelnya, a Project 160 Altay-class oiler, noting that it plays a critical role in sustaining Russia’s Mediterranean operations.
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[EngMilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Kharkov direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on formations of the 95th Air Assault Brigade of the AFU and 13th National Guard Brigade near Neskuchnoye and Slatino (Kharkov region).
The AFU losses amounted to more than 40 troops, two motor vehicles, and one 122mm 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.
Units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 44th Mechanised Brigade, 25th Airborne Brigade of the AFU, and 115th Territorial Defence Brigade near Kupyansk, Lozovaya (Kharkov region), and Ivanovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Eleven counterattacks launched by assault detachments of the 1st, 4th National Guard brigades, and 113th Territorial Defence Brigade were repelled.
The AFU losses amounted to up to 460 troops, two motor vehicles, one 122mm D-30 howitzer, and two U.S.-made 105mm M-119 guns.
One Anklav-N electronic warfare station and three field ammunition depots were destroyed.
As a result of decisive actions, units of the Yug Group of Forces liberated Romanovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Losses were inflicted on formations of the 46th Airmobile Brigade, 79th Air Assault Brigade of the AFU, and 37th Naval Infantry Brigade near Konstantinovka, Dachnoye, and Slavyansk (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 370 troops, one infantry fighting vehicle, five motor vehicles, and one electronic warfare station. One field ammunition depot was destroyed.
Units of the Tsentr Group of Forces improved the tactical situation along the front line and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 59th Mechanised Brigade of the AFU, 38th Naval Infantry Brigade, and 14th National Guard Brigade near Shevchenko, Grodovka, and Dimitrov (Donetsk People's Republic).
Twelve counteattacks launched by assault detachments of the 42nd, 100th Mechanised brigades, 56th Motorised Infantry Brigade, 71st Jaeger Brigade of the AFU, and 35th Naval Infantry Brigade were repelled.
The AFU losses amounted to more than 555 troops, four armoured fighting vehicles, five motor vehicles, one 152mm Msta-B gun, and two 122mm D-30 howitzers.
As a result of active offensive operations, units of the Vostok Group of Forces liberated Novodarovka (Zaporozhye region).
Losses were inflicted on formations of the 33rd Mechanised Brigade of the AFU, 127th and 241st Territorial Defence brigades near Razliv, Komar, and Oktyabr (Donetsk People's Republic). Two counterattacks launched by AFU assault detachments were repelled.
The AFU losses amounted to up to 155 troops, one tank, four armoured fighting vehicles, five motor vehicles, and one 152mm 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system.
Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 124th and 126th Territorial Defence brigades near Molodezhnoye and Nikolskoye (Kherson region).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 60 troops and three motor vehicles.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, and Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces struck power objects ensuring operation of Ukrainian defence industry enterprises, infrastructure of military airfields, as well as engaged manpower and hardware clusters of the enemy in 142 areas.
Air defence units shot down 40 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles, including four outside the special military operation zone.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 649 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 37,122 unmanned aerial vehicles, 586 anti-aircraft missile systems, 19,600 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,497 MLRS combat vehicles, 18,897 field artillery guns and mortars, and 28,957 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
Units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on formations of the 21st, 41st, 44th, 47th Mechanised brigades, 17th Heavy Mechanised Brigade, 5th Tank Brigade, 80th, 82nd, 95th Air Assault brigades, 112th and 129th Territorial Defence brigades of the AFU near Aleksandriya, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Leonidovo, Malaya Loknya, Martynovka, Nizhny Klin, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Nikolsky, Novoivanovka, Plyokhovo, Sverdlikovo, and Yuzhny.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation and artillery inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the enemy near Agronom, Guyevo, Makhovka, Novaya Sorochina, Staraya Sorochina, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye as well as Basovka, Belovody, Veselovka, Vodolagi, Zhuravka, and Obody in Sumy region.
Over the past 24 hours, the AFU losses amounted to more than 300 troops. Two tanks, four infantry fighting vehicles, including two U.S.-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, 17 armoured fighting vehicles, 14 motor vehicles, three artillery guns, and six mortars.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the AFU losses amounted to more than 37,655 troops, 228 tanks, 165 infantry fighting vehicles, 123 armoured personnel carriers, 1,223 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,079 motor vehicles, 308 artillery guns, 40 MLRS launchers, including 11 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 13 anti-aircraft missile launchers, seven transport-loading vehicles, 70 EW stations, 13 counter-battery warfare radars, four air defence radars, 27 units of engineering and other materiel, including 13 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, six armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
BREAKING: Federal authorities will announce charges today against a Chinese illegal immigrant living in Southern California who they allege was shipping large amounts of weapons, ammunition, and military tech to North Korea at the direction of North Korean government officials.… pic.twitter.com/PDCbdHZexM
According to the now unsealed federal affidavit, SHENGHUA WEN, who has been living in Ontario, California, successfully exported at least two shipments of firearms and ammunition to North Korea by concealing the items in shipping containers that were shipped from Long Beach, CA, through Hong Kong, China, to North Korea.
In August, federal agents also seized from his home a Serstech Arx mkII Pharma device (chemical threat identification device) and an ANDRE Deluxe Near-Field Detection device (a handheld broadband receiver that detects known, unknown, illegal, disruptive, or interfering transmissions, used for locating hidden eavesdropping devices. Feds say he admitted he planned to send both to the North Korean military.
In September, federal agents seized from a van outside his home 50,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition that he admitted he planned to send to NK at the direction of NK officials. Feds say as an illegal immigrant, WEN is prohibited from having any guns or ammo.
Feds say WEN used encrypted messaging app Wickr to communicate w/ the North Korean government officials, and that they wired him $2 million to purchase weapons for them.
WEN told Feds he purchased most of the firearms he sent to NK in Texas and then drove them to California on three separate trips.
Feds say WEN also stated that NK government officials directed him to buy U.S. civilian plane engines for the NK military, which would be used to help develop the NK military drone program, and that the NK officials wanted him to obtain military uniforms for the NK military which would be used to disguise their soldiers in a surprise attack on South Korea.
Agents also recovered images from WEN’s phone sent between him and other co conspirators, regarding weapons and items he intended to ship to North Korea, including a STAR SAFIRE, (FLIR product).
More details to come at DOJ/US Attorney press conference in LA at 12:30ET.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:57 Official summary of the DPR Representative Office in the JCCC from 00:00 03.12.2024 to 00:00 04.12.2024.
Seven facts of armed attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded by the DPR Representative Office in the JCCC over the past 24 hours.
There were reports of two civilians being killed and one civilian being injured.
DAMAGED:
One car,
Five residential buildings,
One civil infrastructure facility.
Seven artillery attacks in the Gorlovka direction.
A total of 18 units of various ammunition were fired.
23:30 Russian fighters burn another German Leopard in the SVO zone – video.
19:54 Russian artillerymen leave no chance for the enemy: mortarmen of the Vostok group stopped counterattack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
A crew of a 240mm 2S4 self-propelled mortar "Tulip" with aimed fire hit a group of motorized infantry of Ukrainian troops that was trying to attack the positions of Russian attack aircraft.
As a result of the coordinated actions of artillerymen and attack aircraft, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 50 servicemen, seven vehicles and three armored combat vehicles.
18:39 Their strong point is surprise: Metis ATGM crews destroyed accumulation of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel in the Orekhov direction. Zaporizhia region.
"We work with Metis, Fagot, Kornet, with all the combat equipment that we have in service. Our targets are always different: sometimes it's enemy manpower, sometimes it's enemy equipment," says an ATGM operator with the call sign "Arbat" about his work.
17:52 Russian Defense Ministry officially confirmed liberation of Novodarovka in the Zaporizhia region and Romanovka in the DPR.
The liberation of Romanovka, located eight kilometers south of Kurakhovo, brings it closer to encirclement, allowing our soldiers to reduce the southern Kurakhovo pocket of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The liberation of Novodarovka accelerates the process of encirclement of the large logistics and administrative center of Velikaya Novosyolka.
16:47 Air support.
Mi-28NM crew as part of a mixed tactical group struck armored vehicles and personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the border area of the Kursk region.
15:43 Su-35S crews are on combat duty in the border areas of the Kursk region, –video.
The purpose of combat duty in the air is to provide cover in a given area of operations for bomber and attack aircraft, as well as army aviation helicopters, when carrying out air strikes on military facilities and equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
13:54 Rocket artillery of Tula paratroopers covered concentration of Ukrainian Armed Forces infantry.
Crews of 122mm BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket systems of the Tula Guards Airborne Forces destroyed enemy infantry in the border area of the Kursk region.
11:41 Another destroyed Swedish CV-90 IFV, –video.
Several of these had already been destroyed earlier and several had fallen into the hands of the Russian army as trophies.
10:54 Rubicon drone driverscontinueclear the Kursk direction of Ukrainian Armed Forces vehicles.
Reconnaissance UAVs of the Test Center for Advanced Unmanned Technologies of the Russian Ministry of Defense "Rubicon" discovered vehicles in a forest belt that were transporting Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen.
The FPV drone crew destroyed the car.
9:47 Telegram channel «WarGonzo»:
Frontline report for the morning of 03.12.2024:
- Zaporizhzhya Front. The battles in the area are mainly positional in nature. Without significant changes in the LBS.
– Donetsk Front. Here, the Russian Armed Forces continue to develop their offensive in several directions. Around Velyka Novosyolka, Russian troops continue to improve their positions, encircling the settlement from the north and south. Urban fighting continues in Kurakhovo, the Ukrainian garrison is forced to retreat further and further west.
There are reports of our troops advancing in the area of the settlement of Zheltoye in the Pokrovsk direction. In Dzerzhinsk, Russian troops expanded their zone of control in the area of ??the waste heaps of the Tsentralnaya mine.
- Chasov Yar direction. Fighting continues in Chasov Yar and on the flanks. No significant changes in the LBS have been recorded over the past 24 hours.
- Kursk region. Fierce counter-battles continue here. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are putting up stubborn resistance and conducting counter-attacks, which, however, do not bring them any advances, but greatly complicate the work of the Russian Armed Forces.
8:10 "Yuzhnye" discovered an enemy UAV control point with a crew, a "Starlink" station, a booster antenna and a field warehouse of ammunition, -video.
All of the above was destroyed by targeted artillery strikes.
8:05 Night launches: 220mm BM-27 Uragan MLRS crews of the Zapad group destroy strongholds, positions and manpower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, –video.
[DefenceBlog] Turkish-backed rebel and opposition forces, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), are making significant territorial gains in northwestern Syria, advancing deeper into the Latakia Governorate.
The advance, which began as part of a broader offensive this week, has brought rebel units to within approximately 20 miles of Russia’s Khmeimim Air Base, a key strategic asset for Moscow along the Mediterranean coast.
Early yesterday morning, rebel forces, which include HTS and other allied factions, reached the town of Qalaat Al Madiq, located northwest of Hama. The town, which lies in a strategically important area that bridges the western coastal regions and the rest of northwestern Syria, fell into rebel hands after a swift advance that overwhelmed Syrian regime defenses.
As the rebel forces continue their westward push, they increasingly threaten Khmeimim Air Base, a critical Russian foothold in Syria that has played a pivotal role in supporting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The base, located just 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) from the advancing rebel lines, serves as a major hub for Russia’s air operations in the region and is integral to maintaining Moscow’s influence in Syria and the broader Middle East.
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.
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...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 well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
It's springtime
[WXII 12] 
For the first time in nearly four decades, the South Korean leader invoked the authority, accusing the opposing Democratic Party of aligning with communist North Korea. He revoked martial law hours later after parliament voted to lift the order.
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
[PM]
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
