Yes, but your enemies will be watching, and will just destroy the next one, too.
[IsraelTimes] Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran’s enemies may be able to strike the country’s nuclear facilities but cannot deprive it of its ability to build new ones.
He makes the comments after reports in the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal said that US intelligence believes Israel is likely to launch a preemptive attack on Iran’s nuclear program in the coming months.
Such an attack would set back Iran’s nuclear program by weeks or months while escalating tension in the region and risking a wider conflict, according to multiple intelligence reports from the end of the Biden administration and start of the Trump administration, the Washington Post reported.
The most comprehensive of the intelligence reports came in early January and was produced by the intelligence directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Post said.
It warned that Israel was likely to attempt an attack on Iran’s Fordo and Natanz nuclear facilities.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli security forces say they foiled terror attacks planned by two Israeli citizens.
Police and Shin Bet agents arrested two young men, aged 18-21, from Arab Israeli towns Qalansawe and Zemer on suspicion of plotting attacks against soldiers and civilians, spokespeople for the agencies say in a joint statement.
The suspects reportedly expressed support for Hamas following the October 7 massacre and devised plans to shoot at a military facility as well as carry out a “car-ramming and shooting attack targeting IDF soldiers or civilians.”
The statement adds that one of the suspects “acquired materials to produce Molotov cocktails and conducted experiments to manufacture explosives for an attack on a bus transporting IDF soldiers.”
Police say that the Central District Attorney’s Office has filed a declaration of intent to prosecute the two men, and will indict them later today.
According to Palestinian media reports, the rocket launched from Gaza a short while ago struck the Nuseirat area in the Strip’s center, killing a 14-year-old boy.
Footage posted online purports to show the launch.
[IsraelTimes] The US is attempting to pressure Cairo into accepting President Donald Trump’s vision for the postwar Gaza Strip and the relocation of Palestinians to Egypt, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reports.
Citing Egyptian sources in Washington, the London-based news outlet alleges that the Pentagon recently warned Egyptian military officials that it may begin restricting military aid if Cairo doesn’t fall in line and accept Trump’s plan.
In particular, the sources say that supplies needed for routine maintenance and spare weapons parts could be on the chopping block.
Trump first suggested on January 25 that Egypt and Jordan should take in Palestinians from Gaza. In the days that followed, he proposed a US takeover of Gaza and a potential permanent displacement of Palestinians from the enclave with no right of return.
He has continued to insist that both Jordan and Egypt will come around, although the Egyptian foreign ministry said earlier this week that it plans to present an alternative vision for the reconstruction of Gaza that ensures Palestinians remain on their land.
[IsraelTimes] The US House Committee on Education and the Workforce denounces Columbia for its handling of anti-Israel protesters and demands the university turn over disciplinary records for the activists.
The 6-page letter addressed to the university leadership says that the university promised students, faculty and Congress that it would address campus antisemitism, but has failed to do so.
“Columbia’s continued failure to address the pervasive antisemitism that persists on campus is untenable, particularly given that the university receives billions in federal funding,” the letter says.
The letter cites campus disturbances last year, such as protesters’’ takeover of a campus building in the spring, and incidents this semester including the disruption of an Israeli professor’s class.
The committee accuses Columbia of failing to properly discipline those responsible, creating a “hostile environment for members of Columbia’s Jewish communities.”
The letter demands Columbia turn over disciplinary records by the end of this month for 11 different protest incidents that took place between April and January.
The House committee has grilled the heads of Columbia and other top universities over anti-Israel activism for more than a year. The Trump administration has put further pressure on universities since taking office.
Columbia has repeatedly condemned protest activities that violate campus rules in recent weeks, and disciplined some students, including for the disruption of the Israeli professor’s class.
[IsraelTimes] The Jewish Majority releases first poll on community’s attitudes toward campus protests, anti-Zionism; leading demographer questions its methodology
A new initiative aims to collect data on the majority views of American Jews to counter Jewish activist groups that espouse less popular positions on issues such as anti-Zionism, support for Israel and university protests.
The Jewish Majority, based in Washington, DC, launched in September and released its first batch of data on Wednesday, said founder Jonathan Schulman.
"We’ve seen for a long time a coordinated effort of groups claiming to speak as Jews in the name of Jews," Schulman said. "The Jewish Majority was actually founded to help make sure that the majority opinions, the majority views of the Jewish community are also being heard."
"People who are claiming to speak in the name of the Jewish people that actually represent very fringe views, we want to provide a counterweight," said Schulman, who was a longtime staffer for AIPAC before leaving to found the Jewish Majority.
Schulman pointed to Jewish activists who have participated in anti-Israel protest activities, such as blocking transportation. The activists sometimes bear Jewish religious signifiers such as shofars. The survey released on Wednesday was framed as a rebuttal to the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace.
"You look at the mainstream media coverage, and often the story was ’Jews opposing Israel,’" Schulman said. "To most people, they can’t distinguish between what is a fringe group that represents almost nobody and what is actually the position of the Jewish community."
Schulman said the group has secured funding but declined to discuss details. He said he is planning to hire more staff, and the group will focus on research to "demonstrate where the Jewish community is."
A Jewish student at Columbia University, for example, when asked about the campus chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, which plays a prominent role in protests, could cite Jewish Majority data indicating that the group is not representative of the majority view in the Jewish community.
The poll released on Wednesday found that 70% of American Jews believe anti-Zionism is antisemitic by definition, and three-quarters of respondents said last year’s anti-Israel campus protests were antisemitic. A majority opposed protest tactics, including blocking traffic, protesting the homes of government officials, and wearing masks to conceal identity.
The survey also found widespread support for, or membership in, mainstream US Jewish groups. For the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish National Fund, 79% were supportive or members; 74% for the American Jewish Committee; and 73% for the Jewish Federations of North America.
A majority — 71% — said that, for an organization to speak for American Jews, it must be almost entirely made up of Jews.
The poll was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, a research firm in Virginia, on behalf of the Jewish Majority. The researchers said they polled 800 Jewish adults in December and that the margin of error was 3.95%.
Ira Sheskin, a professor at Florida’s University of Miami who studies Jewish community demographics, questioned the survey’s results, saying there was little information on methodology and it had likely oversampled for religious Jews. Public Opinion Strategies is an established survey firm but does not appear to work with Jewish clients, he said, adding that some of the survey’s questions should have been framed differently for Jewish respondents.
"Usually, an organization is into a topic, let’s say, care for the elderly or antisemitism or Israel or any one of those, they’ll commission surveys using survey experts," he said. "Doing Jewish surveys is different from doing other types of surveys, and they have no experience in that."
Sheskin said that some of the survey’s questions were covered by polls from other groups, such as the ADL, while others appeared to be new. He added that "everything is different since October 7th," so some data preceding the Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... attack on Israel might be outdated.
"The more data we have, the better. On the other hand, if we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it as close to right as you can, and you can’t get it exactly right. No one ever will," said Sheskin, who serves as the president of the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry research group.
Sheskin said he was not aware of any Jewish groups specifically dedicated to conducting surveys like the Jewish Majority and that such an approach could limit bias.
"Sometimes when an organization sponsors, like the Democratic or Republican Party, the Democratic Party seems to come out with results that are somewhat more democratic, and the Republican Party, the same thing. You do lose that if you’re doing it independently of a specific organization," Sheskin said.
[IsraelTimes] Parliament speaker says he, president and PM insist on full IDF withdrawal by Tuesday, but Trump official indicates Israel maintaining 5 positions crucial for combating Hezbollah
Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel... ’s parliamentary speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians... said on Thursday that Beirut rejected Israel’s demand to remain in five southern locations beyond a February 18 withdrawal deadline, as the Trump administration appeared to get behind Jerusalem’s demand to do so.
Concerns have mounted ahead of a deadline for the fragile truce, agreed to in November 2024, that ended more than a year of hostilities, including a brief all-out war, between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group, after the latter started firing rockets and drones at the Jewish state on October 8, 2023, in solidarity with fellow terror group Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... , which had just attacked Israel from the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip.
Under the deal, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in the south alongside United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period, which was extended until February 18. Iran-backed Hezbollah was also meant to leave its positions in the south, near the Israeli border, over that period.
Israel has accused Lebanon of failing to meet its obligations to deploy to the area, allowing Hezbollah to maintain or renew its presence there, and has petitioned to maintain its presence in response.
The United States, a key mediator, "informed me that the Israeli occupation will withdraw from villages it still occupies on February 18, but it will remain in five points," Hezbollah ally Berri told news hounds, according to a statement released by his office.
"I informed them in my name and on behalf of President General Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Judge Nawaf Salam of our absolute rejection" of this proposal," the statement added.
That’s nice. Not effective, but at least he feels better.
Earlier, Berri had met with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson and US Major General Jasper Jeffers.
The American general co-chairs a committee involving the United States, La Belle France, Lebanon, Israel and UN peacekeepers tasked with ensuring any ceasefire violations are identified and dealt with.
"I refused to discuss any extension to the deadline for [Israel’s] withdrawal," Berri said.
"It is the responsibility of the Americans to enforce the withdrawal, otherwise, they will have caused the greatest setback for the government."
For its part, the Trump administration indicated Thursday that it supports the Israel Defense Forces remaining in five strategic positions in southern Lebanon beyond the February 18 withdrawal deadline.
"The United States views President Joseph Aoun as having a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead Lebanon away from the stranglehold of Hezbollah and Iran, and we believe that President Aoun has the mandate to do that," a Trump administration official said in a statement to The Times of Israel.
"The first test of that is whether the Lebanese Armed Forces actually implements the letter of the ceasefire agreement that Lebanon signed in November 2024 to counter Hezbollah’s efforts to reassert itself," the official continued.
"Israeli presence in the five points directly bears on whether the government of Lebanon ultimately does what it has promised to do," the Trump official said, suggesting that Israel’s sustained presence in those five positions will help the effort to prevent the regrouping of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
"Unlike the Biden administration, we will not be grading on a curve," the official added, appearing to claim that the previous White House was too lenient regarding the effort to combat Hezbollah.
The statements came after Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer confirmed Israel’s intention to remain in the five points in an interview with Bloomberg.
Dermer, a close Netanyahu confidant, did not say how long the troops will remain, but "signaled Israeli troops won’t be removed in the short-term."
His comments came after reports that the US — despite originally rejecting a general extension — had approved such a move.
’HONOR COMMITMENTS’
On Saturday, Lebanon’s prime minister named a new government, with the weakening of long-dominant, Iran-backed Hezbollah bringing to a close two years of rule by caretaker authorities.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres ...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years... ’s deputy front man Farhan Haq said, "We continue to urge Israel and Lebanon to honor their commitments to the cessation of hostilities understanding."
"Continued progress in Lebanese Armed Forces redeployment and Israeli Defense Force withdrawal is crucial," Haq said, adding that "the parties must avoid any action that could raise tensions, endanger civilians and further delay their return to their towns and villages on both sides."
Haq added that the "UN continues to urge the full implementation of Resolution 1701 as a comprehensive path towards longer-term peace, security and stability on both sides of the Blue Line."
He was referring to the UN Security Council decision that ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Under Resolution 1701, only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers can be deployed in southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah must remain north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Israeli border.
Late Thursday night, the IDF said it carried out Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s targeting Hezbollah facilities in southern Lebanon, which Lebanese media reported near the towns of Yohmor and Deir Siryan.
The sites hit by fighter jets were used by Hezbollah to store weapons and launchers and had "posed a direct threat to the Israeli home front," the military said.
The IDF also said Hezbollah’s operations at the sites "constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon."
In the arms caches, the IDF says troops of the 769th “Hiram” Regional Brigade found missiles, rockets, mortars, grenades, explosive devices and firearms.
The soldiers also found a multiple rocket launcher system.
[IsraelTimes] A recently returned captive reportedly spent months with 27-year-old, said to be in ‘relatively stable state’; Kalfon’s is 11th hostage family to announce sign of life since weekend
The family of hostage Segev Kalfon said Thursday that it had received a fresh sign of life from him, the latest information to be known about a young male captive since Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... released three Israelis as part of the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... ceasefire deal on Saturday, Hebrew media reported.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, Kalfon’s family received the information from one of the hostages who returned over the weekend and had spent "long months" with Kalfon in captivity.
"He didn’t elaborate on [Kalfon’s] condition, but said he was okay," the family was quoted as saying.
The Maariv newspaper said they described Kalfon as being in "relatively stable condition."
Kalfon, 27, from Dimona, was kidnapped from the Reim-area Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led snuffies stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Kalfon is slated for release only in the next, second of the hostage deal. The second phase, which Israel has not committed to, would see Hamas release remaining living hostages — who, when the first phase is completed, would comprise men aged less than 50 who are not considered "humanitarian cases" for health reasons.
Kalfon’s is the latest hostage family to announce having received information about their loved one since the return of Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy on Saturday.
The three returning hostages’ emaciated state highlighted the male captives’ harsh conditions. Ben Ami, Sharabi and Levy were said to have been bound, gagged, beaten, starved and beaten with a searing hot object.
In the days since their release, 12 hostage families have reportedly received signs of life for their loved ones.
Kalfon’s is the eleventh family to go public with the sign of life it received, following the families of hostages Yosef-Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Elkana Bohbot, Matan Angrest, Nimrod Cohen, Eitan Mor, Omri Miran, Eliya Cohen and twins Gali and Ziv Berman.
Of those hostages, 27-year-old Eliya Cohen is the only one slated for release in the current phase.
Cohen was reportedly being held in an underground tunnel, chained, starved and suffering from a bullet wound to his leg sustained during the Hamas onslaught. Several other young male hostages were said to be suffering similar conditions.
Hamas has so far released 16 Israeli and five Thai hostages as part of the first phase of the hostage deal.
[IsraelTimes] The female surveillance soldiers recently freed from Gaza were forced by Hamas to watch videos of male hostages being tortured, according to one of their mothers.
Speaking with Channel 12 news alongside three other mothers of the surveillance troops, Shira Albag quotes her daughter Liri as saying “I got out of the hell that we went through there, but the men, the soldiers, are going through worse than us.'”
“The terrorists also made a point to show them videos and share with them all sorts of things that they [the male hostages] were going through there, that they starved… all sorts of things that are really tough,” Shira Albag says. “Even today when they’re here, we don’t know everything exactly that they went through.”
[IsrelTimes] Sanctions freeze Karim Khan’s US assets, ban him from the country, a week after Trump signed order to punish court for having ‘abused its power’ in Gaza, Afghanistan probes
The US on Thursday slapped sanctions on International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan, following US President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... ’s order last week to penalize the court over its decision in November to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said that any assets Khan has in the US are now frozen, and he is barred from entering the country.
Khan, who announced in May that he was seeking the warrants, is the first ICC official to be sanctioned under Trump’s order. The White House confirmed on Monday that Khan would be first on the list of ICC officials to be targeted by the order.
Trump signed the executive order last Thursday, while Netanyahu was visiting Washington. The order accused the court of having "abused its power" by issuing the arrest warrants for the Israeli leaders.
The order also accused the tribunal of having engaged in "illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America," referring to ICC probes into alleged war crimes by US service members in Afghanistan.
Republican politicians had already sought to pass separate legislation sanctioning the ICC over the arrest warrants against Israel. Last month, a bill was passed by the US House of Representatives before being blocked by Democrats ...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy,white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects... in the Senate.
In May, Khan announced he was seeking warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant for allegedly targeting civilians and using starvation as a weapon of war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... . Israel has rejected the accusations, with some calling the arrest warrants antisemitic.
Khan also sought warrants against Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... leaders Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister of Gaza after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continued as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintained a separate PM in the West Bank. Zapped during the 2023-24 war, to eveyone's satisfaction... , Muhammad Deif and Yahya Sinwar for crimes against humanity perpetrated during and after October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led forces of Evil stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Israel killed Sinwar in October and Haniyeh and Deif in July. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... Hamas did not acknowledge Deif’s death until last month. As a result, the ICC dropped the charges against Haniyeh and Sinwar but issued an arrest warrant against Deif, as well as Netanyahu and Gallant, in November.
[IsraelTimes] Israel accused Iran of sending cash to Lebanese terror group via passenger flights; shortly thereafter, Mahar Air flight reportedly denied permission to land in Beirut
Lebanese aviation authorities refused to permit an Iranian passenger flight to land at Beirut’s international airport on Thursday, local news reported, following a statement by the Israeli military that 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... has been using such flights to smuggle cash to the Hezbollah terror group.
Dozens of Lebanese nationals were stranded at the international airport in Tehran after Lebanese aviation authorities informed the Iranian Mahar Air airline that its flight to Beirut would not be permitted to land, Lebanese news channel LBCI reported.
Footage circulating on social media purported to show a small band of pro-Hezbollah protesters blocking roads near the Beirut airport in protest of the authorities’ move. "Show us the money!"
In a post to X on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic-language spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee, said cash has been smuggled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to Hezbollah using civilian flights.
The money is being used by the Iran-backed terror group to rebuild itself, according to the IDF.
Hezbollah was devastated by a brief all-out war with Israel last fall, which came following almost a year of near-daily rocket and drone attacks that Hezbollah began launching, unprovoked, on October 8, 2023, in solidarity with fellow terror group Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... , which had just attacked Israel from the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip.
Adraee said that the IDF has been in contact with a US-led committee supervising the November 27 ceasefire, which ended the war, and was regularly updating the committee with "relevant information in order to foil these transfers."
Despite the efforts, the IDF spokesperson said, some of the money transfers were likely carried out successfully.
"The IDF will not allow the organization to get stronger, and will use all the tools at its disposal to enforce the understandings in the ceasefire agreement, for the security of the citizens of Israel," Adraee added.
#1
There aren't a number of nearby alternates to divert to if you get waved off Beirut. Guessing they had to go to Aleppo? Definitely not to Cyprus or Israel...
[IsraelTimes] Military says troops have killed over 60 Palestinian terror operatives, detained over 210, amid ongoing counter-terrorism operation expected to last several more weeks
Israeli troops rubbed out a Paleostinian suspect at the entrance to a military base near Nablus on Thursday, while commando forces destroyed an car bomb in Jenin, amid an ongoing counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank.
The Paleostinian suspect was shot by soldiers at the entrance to the Samaria Regional Brigade’s base near Nablus, the Israel Defense Forces said. He arrived at the entrance to the base in a vehicle and crashed into its gate.
"The suspect was neutralized after moving suspiciously toward the forces," the IDF said.
The Paleostinian Authority health ministry said it had been notified of the man’s death, indicating his body was being held by Israeli authorities. He was named by the PA as 28-year-old Issa Riyad Issa Jabali.
No soldiers were maimed in the incident.
Also Thursday, troops of the Egoz commando unit destroyed an car bomb in the West Bank city of Jenin, the military said. Footage published by the IDF showed a drone dropping a bomb on the parked car.
In addition, the IDF said that on Wednesday, troops of the Maglan commando unit killed three button men during an exchange of fire in the Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem. One soldier was moderately maimed in the incident.
The festivities came amid an offensive, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, that was launched on January 21 and that the military expects to last several more weeks.
Israeli forces have been operating in the Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas areas.
Troops have killed more than 60 Paleostinian terror operatives and detained more than 210 amid the major ongoing counter-terrorism operation, the military said on Thursday.
The IDF has acknowledged mistakenly killing several civilians during the operation, including a toddler and a pregnant woman.
[X]
Troops of the Egoz commando unit destroyed an explosive-laden car in the West Bank city of Jenin earlier today, the military says.
[IsraelTimes] Netanyahu meets defense brass as report indicates bid to pressure Hamas into expediting releases of six others in first stage; don’t get your hopes up, Arab diplomat cautions
Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... said Thursday it would release three Israeli hostages as planned Saturday, backing off a threat to delay the next release of captives after accusing Israel of failing to meet its obligations to allow tents and shelters, among other alleged violations of the truce.
Israel was reported to be pushing for further live hostages to be released in the upcoming days, but a senior Arab official told The Times of Israel that it was unlikely that Hamas would deviate from the original timeframe of the agreement.
Underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire and hostage release arrangement, a rocket was fired from 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... for the first time since fighting halted last month, reportedly killing a Paleostinian teen inside the Strip and drawing the second Israeli military strike in as many days.
In southern Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz spent several hours huddling with top military commanders and security officials Thursday evening, as Jerusalem reportedly sought to pile more pressure on the Hamas terror group to begin releasing hostages sooner than previously agreed.
Israel has said it will resume fighting if the hostages are not freed, and appeared to endorse US President Donald Trump ...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down... ’s demand that all hostages be freed, not only the three scheduled for release Saturday, reflecting growing concerns over the condition of captives held in Gaza for nearly 500 days.
Hamas said it held talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials and was in contact with Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... ’s prime minister about bringing into Gaza more shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble — its key demand in recent days. It said in a statement that the mediators had pledged to "remove all hurdles."
Netanyahu’s office earlier denied a report No, no! Certainly not! that it would let mobile homes and earth-moving equipment into the Strip, calling it "fake news."
"There is no entry of mobile homes or heavy equipment into Gaza, and there is no coordination for it," Netanyahu front man Omer Dostri said.
Nonetheless, Egyptian media aired footage showing trucks carrying temporary housing and bulldozers on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with Gaza. They reported that the trucks were heading to an Israeli inspection area before crossing into Gaza.
Hamas front man Abdul Latif al-Qanou later confirmed to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by phone that three hostages would be released on Saturday.
Under the terms of the ceasefire that went into effect last month, 17 hostages are still slated to be released under the deal’s first stage, nine of whom are believed to still be alive. Recent weeks have seen the group release 16 Israelis and five Thai hostages under the arrangement, which also requires Israel to free some 2,000 Paleostinian security prisoners, including hundreds of snuffies serving life and long terms.
Even as the hostage releases appeared to get back on track, a rare rocket launch Thursday afternoon briefly raised concerns that the sides could decide to resume fighting.
Footage showed the rocket appear to strike inside Gaza. According to Paleostinian media reports, the projectile landed in the Nuseirat area in the Strip’s center, killing a 14-year-old boy.
A source in the Hamas-run police claimed the rocket was an unwent kaboom! Israeli ordinance that had ignited and had gun sex while it was being moved away from a residential area.
The Israel Defense Forces said it struck the source of the launch in the Bureij camp in central Gaza. On Wednesday, the IDF said it carried out a dronezap against Gazooks attempting to collect a smuggled UAV in Rafah, killing one.
At the IDF’s Southern Command headquarters in Beersheba, Netanyahu met with defense brass for over 4 hours to examine the IDF’s operational plans "for various scenarios," an Israeli official said. Attending the meeting were Katz, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, and incoming chief of staff Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, Shin Bet director Ronen Bar, and head of the IDF Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman.
Israeli officials were expecting Hamas on Friday to name the three it intends to release over the weekend, Channel 12 news reported.
According to the station, which did not cite a source for the information, Jerusalem was also pushing mediators, Qatar, Egypt and the US, to pressure Hamas to expedite the release of the other six living hostages ahead of their scheduled release dates on February 22 and March 1.
Israel has been pushing to speed up the releases since Saturday, when hostages Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami were released looking emaciated. Freed hostages have recounted being subjected to torture, starvation, and inhumane living conditions by their captors.
A senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that Hamas was not expected to release additional hostages either on Saturday or in the immediate days that followed, as this is not what was stipulated in the agreement.
"We got Hamas to agree to release the hostages on Saturday, after it was threatening not to release any of them. To assume that they will go beyond that would be a stretch," the diplomat says.
The fragile ceasefire was thrown into doubt on Monday when Hamas announced that it wouldn’t release any hostages on Saturday as planned, accusing Israel of preventing aid from reaching the Strip, which Israel denied.
Trump then warned that "hell" would break loose if Hamas failed to release all the hostages being held in Gaza by Saturday. The terror group is holding 73 people kidnapped from Israel on October 7, 2023, including at least 35 bodies. It is also holding two civilians who entered the enclave around a decade ago, and the remains of a soldier killed fighting there in 2014.
Following Trump’s remarks, Netanyahu said Israel would resume "intense fighting" in Gaza if Hamas did not return the hostages by Saturday noon. Israel then put out a series of conflicting statements saying Hamas must release "our hostages," "nine hostages," and "all of them" for the ceasefire to continue.
Despite the tough talk, Israel had reportedly sent a message to Hamas through Egypt and Qatar that the deal would continue if the terror group released three hostages as scheduled on Saturday.
Appearing to confirm the climb-down, government front man David Mencer told news hounds Thursday that Hamas must release three live hostages Saturday.
"If those three are not released, if Hamas does not return our hostages, by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end," he said.
US hostage envoy Adam Boehler argued Thursday night that Hamas only agreed to walk back from its threat not to release three hostages this weekend because of Trump’s threat.
"At the end of the day, the president has seen movement, and who knows what would happen if he wasn’t there," Boehler told Fox News.
"But it’s not enough," he clarified. "We still have seven Americans that are there, and we’re not going to stop until that’s [not] the case. I hope that Hamas is hearing loud and clear from the president united states that they’ve got to address that issue immediately."
Asked if Trump’s threat remains in place, Boehler responded, "That’s the current message of the president United States."
But the hostage envoy then added that Trump "reserves the right to change or adjust as he sees fit."
The threat to the future of the ceasefire had drawn thousands of Israeli protesters onto the streets this week, calling on the government to stick with the deal and bring the remaining hostages home.
[IsraelTimes] Top US diplomat says Arab allies must figure out how to remove Hamas from power or Israel will have to, ‘and then we’re back to where we’ve been, so that doesn’t solve the problem’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... indicated Thursday that renewed fighting 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... would not ultimately end the threat that Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... poses to Israel, just two days after he appeared to back a resumption of the war.
"Someone has to confront [Hamas]. Who’s that going to be? It’s not going to be American soldiers. If the countries in the region can’t figure that piece out, then Israel is going to have to do it, and then we’re back to where we’ve been, so that doesn’t solve the problem," Rubio said in an interview with conservative radio show hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.
The remarks marked the first time a Trump official has made such an acknowledgment, though it was unclear whether Rubio was speaking off the cuff or on behalf of US President 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... , who appeared to give Israel a green light to return to fighting when he warned earlier this week of hell breaking loose if the hostages are not all released by Saturday at noon.
On Tuesday, Rubio had told NewsNation that "Hamas continues to use networks to smuggle in weaponry and aid for themselves to reconstitute themselves."
"Israel can’t allow that to happen. You can’t allow Hamas to use the ceasefire to rebuild itself and recover strength," he said. "It’s a ceasefire, but it’s not a stupid ceasefire."
Rubio was asked during Thursday’s interview about Trump’s proposal for the US to take over the Gaza Strip and relocate the enclave’s entire population. The secretary reiterated that the US is willing to consider alternative proposals from its Arab partners, but "any plan that leaves Hamas there is going to be a problem because Israel is not going to tolerate it."
"We’re going to give [Arab allies] a chance to come up with a plan... and not just to pay for [Gaza reconstruction] because... someone’s going to have to go on the ground. Hamas has weapons," Rubio continued.
He admitted that Washington’s Arab allies don’t support Trump’s proposal, "but the only plan right now is the Trump plan. If they’ve got a better plan, now’s the time to present it. So we’re looking forward to that."
"All these countries say how much they care about the Paleostinians, but none of them want to take any Paleostinians. None of them have a history of doing anything for Gaza," Rubio charged.
Rubio, who departed Thursday evening on a trip that will take him to the Middle East, said he hopes to discuss ideas during his stops in Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... and the United Arab Emirates, after talks in Washington with Egypt and Jordan. Rubio is slated to visit Israel during his trip.
Egypt is leading efforts to present an alternative plan to Trump’s within weeks, which would involve training a new security force in Gaza and identifying local Paleostinian leaders who would be in charge, likely ones affiliated with the Paleostinian Authority — which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected to date.
Earlier Thursday, Hamas said it would release three Israeli hostages as planned Saturday, backing off a threat to delay the next release of captives after accusing Israel of failing to meet its obligations to allow tents and shelters into Gaza, among other alleged violations of the truce.
Israel was reported to be pushing for additional living hostages to be released in the upcoming days, but a senior Arab official told The Times of Israel that it was unlikely that Hamas would deviate from the original timeframe of the agreement.
Underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire and hostage release arrangement, a rocket was fired from Gaza on Thursday for the first time since the fighting halted last month, reportedly killing a Paleostinian teen inside the Strip and drawing the second Israeli military strike in as many days.
Israel has said it will resume fighting if the hostages are not freed, and appeared to endorse Trump’s demand that all the captives be released, not only the three scheduled to return to Israel on Saturday, reflecting growing concerns over the condition of captives held in Gaza for nearly 500 days.
Hamas said it held talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials and was in contact with Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... ’s prime minister about bringing into Gaza more shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble — its key demand in recent days. It said in a statement that the mediators had pledged to "remove all hurdles."
Egyptian media aired footage showing trucks carrying temporary housing and bulldozers on Egypt’s side of the Rafah crossing with Gaza. The reports said the trucks were heading to an Israeli inspection area before crossing into Gaza.
Under the terms of the ceasefire that took effect last month, 17 hostages are still slated to be released under the deal’s first stage, nine of whom are believed to still be alive. Recent weeks have seen Hamas release 16 Israelis as part of the agreement, which also requires Israel to release over a thousand Paleostinian prisoners, including convicted forces of Evil serving life sentences for their roles in deadly attacks. Five Thai nationals kidnapped during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack that started the Gaza war have also been released.
Israeli officials are expecting Hamas on Friday to name the three it intends to release on Saturday.
Follow up to this story from two days ago, when Israeli Max Veifer called Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, both nurses at Bankstown hospital in Sydney, Australia, who boasted to him that they’d killed lots of Israelis while working at the hospital; as a result of that encounter the two vicious jokesters are now enjoying the gentle attentions of the police.
[X]
They knew. A healthcare worker tried to warn about antisemitism in Sydney hospitals shortly after October 7 over a year ago. You won't believe what happened to her. pic.twitter.com/hMsF0at9aD
🧵1/4 Who is Sharon Stoliar ☝🏻 Sharon Stoliar is an Australian midwife, author, and academic known for her work in maternal health and advocacy against birth trauma. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing (2006) and a Graduate Diploma in Midwifery (2008) from the University of…
…(2008) from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Furthering her education, she earned a Master of Public Health and a Master of International Public Health from the University of New South Wales in 2013. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD at Western Sydney University, focusing on the personal pregnancy and birthing experiences of midwives.
[AFRICANEWS] The Ivorian justice system sentenced Damana Adia, also known as Pickass, and Koua Justin, two officials from the PPA-CI, to ten years in prison without bail for public disorder and incitement to insurrection related to the pre-election violence of 2020.
The secretary general of Laurent Gbagbo ... Former President-for-Life of Ivory Coast from 2000 to 2011. Laurent lost to Alassane Ouattara in 2010 but his representtive tore up the results on the teevee and he refused to vacate the presidential palace. French troops assisted the Oattara forces in extricating him from his Fuhrerbunker... 's party claims this is a political maneuver by the government to weaken their faction.
Tch d Gervais, Secretary General of the PPA-CI, expressed outrage over these tailored sentences aimed at keeping key figures in Gbagbo's camp suppressed.
He stated that the PPA-CI, which supports Gbagbo as its candidate for the October 2025 presidential election, believes the ruling party is attempting to eliminate any rivals that could obstruct its pursuit of perpetual power.
The Ivorian public prosecutor, however, argues that the scheduling of the trial for Mr. Damana Pickass, Koua Justin, and their co-defendants, occurring just months before the 2025 presidential election, was not influenced by the electoral calendar, a claim the PPA-CI disputes.
Tch d Gervais further noted that the lawyers for the convicted individuals have filed an appeal, and the party will support and mobilize for them, urging the government to stop imprisoning PPA-CI officials.
He emphasized that they will remain focused on preparing for Laurent Gbagbo's presidential campaign. Additionally, the secretary general of Gbagbo's party confirmed that the opposition is collaborating to address a potential candidacy from President Alassane Ouattara ...the former president-for-life of Ivory Coast. He actually beat his predecessor in an election before having to eject him from the presidential palazzo.... , although it is not yet time to discuss a unified opposition candidate.
It is important to mention that the former Ivorian president is currently facing a conviction.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025
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Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
Is Damana Pickass a real name or is this one of Fred's jokes?
[Fox] Financial advisor Eugene Ludwig said voters were right and Democrats were wrong about the state of the economy leading up to the election in an article Tuesday.
"Before the presidential election, many Democrats were puzzled by the seeming disconnect between ‘economic reality’ as reflected in various government statistics and the public’s perceptions of the economy on the ground," Ludwig wrote in a Politico piece titled, "Voters Were Right About the Economy. The Data Was Wrong."
"Many in Washington bristled at the public’s failure to register how strong the economy really was. They charged that right-wing echo chambers were conning voters into believing entirely preposterous narratives about America’s decline," he said.
"What they rarely considered was whether something else might be responsible for the disconnect — whether, for instance, government statistics were fundamentally flawed."
Ludwig previously served as the former U.S. Comptroller of the Currency under President Bill Clinton, part of an independent bureau in the Department of the Treasury.
After his move to the private sector, he became "increasingly skeptical that the government’s measurements properly capture the realities defining unemployment, wage growth and the strength of the economy as a whole."
Through research under his organization, the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, he found "for 20 years or more, including the months prior to the election, voter perception was more reflective of reality than the incumbent statistics."
"Democrats, on the whole, seemed much more inclined to believe what the economic indicators reported. Republicans, by contrast, seemed more inclined to believe what they were seeing with their own two eyes," Ludwig observed.
Though Ludwig called the agency employees providing these statistics "talented and well-intentioned," he said the filters they used were "flawed" and the resulting calculations were "misleading."
In one example, he said reports on unemployment often count people "unwillingly under-employed" as employed and disregard Americans "discouraged" enough to stop looking for a job.
"[T]he prevailing statistic does not account for the meagerness of any individual’s income," he added. "Thus you could be homeless on the streets, making an intermittent income and functionally incapable of keeping your family fed, and the government would still count you as ‘employed.'"
Ludwig also took aim at the claims by Democrats that inflation had cooled from its record highs and that wages had risen at a faster rate.
He wrote how this was usually based on numbers from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which tracks the prices of 80,000 goods and services across the economy. However, he warned that most modest-income Americans spend more on basic amenities like groceries and rent rather than the goods from the CPI, painting a vastly different picture.
"If prices for eggs, insurance premiums and studio apartment leases rise at a faster clip than those of luxury goods and second homes, the CPI underestimates the impact of inflation on the bulk of Americans. That, of course, is exactly what has happened," Ludwig said.
He implored both Republicans and Democrats alike to take a more accurate view of the economy and government statistics.
"[I]f the prevailing indicators remain misleading, the facts don’t apply," he concluded. "We have it in our grasp to cut through the mirage that led Democrats astray in 2024. The question now is whether we will correct course."
On Wednesday, one day after his piece, another Politico article reported on comments from former Bureau of Labor Statistics workers worried DOGE would disrupt the accuracy of the very data Ludwig said was already inaccurate.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
02/14/2025
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#1
"Before the presidential election, many Democrats were puzzled by the seeming disconnect between ‘economic reality’ as reflected in various government statistics and the public’s perceptions of the economy on the ground,"
Right now the US government economic statistical reporting is on par with the old Soviet government statistical reporting.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Israeli occupation forces continued on Wednesday their incursions into new towns in the Quneitra countryside in southern Syria.
Syrian media and activists reported that the Zionist occupation forces stormed the village of Saida in the Syrian Golan, at the administrative border between Daraa and Quneitra, and set up a checkpoint to obstruct the movement of citizens and search them.
The activists added that another military convoy belonging to the Israeli occupation forces headed towards the town of ''Al-Muallaqa.''
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025
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#1
Saida, also spelled Sayda, is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate. Ethnicity and religion are intertwined in Syria, with a poly-ethnic population that includes Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians, Armenians, Yazidis, and more.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The Ukrainian Armed Forces are waging heavy defensive battles in the east and south of Ukraine.
The hottest part is in the Pokrovsky direction. There, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled 17 Russian assaults in the areas of 10 populated areas.
Since the beginning of the current day, 72 combat clashes have occurred on the front in seven directions. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in an operational report on Thursday, February 13.
Thus, in the Kupyansk direction the enemy attacked three times near the settlements of Golubovka and Zagryzovo. All assaults were repelled.
In the Liman direction, the Russians advanced four times near Grekovka, Novolyubovka, Yampolevka and Kolodezi. Another clash is currently ongoing.
In the Kramatorsk direction, the occupiers tried to advance four times in the area of Chasovy Yar. One clash continues to this day.
In the Toretsk direction, there were 14 enemy attacks in the areas of Shcherbinovka and Toretsk. Currently, six combat clashes are ongoing.
The hottest part is in the Pokrovsky direction : the occupiers have already carried out 23 attacks in the areas of the settlements of Sukhaya Balka, Tarasovka, Elizavetovka, Promin, Lisovka, Udachnoye, Uspenovka, Zaporozhye, Andreyevka and Dachnoye. The defense forces repelled 17 assaults, six clashes are still ongoing.
In the Novopavlovsk direction, the invaders launched an offensive eight times in the Zelenovka area and in the direction of Burlatskoye. Four of the clashes are still ongoing.
In Kursk region our defenders repelled 12 attacks by the invaders, four clashes continue.
Let us recall that on February 12, 116 combat clashes occurred on the front, 34 of which were in the Pokrovsky direction. It remains the hottest.
It was also reported that over the past 24 hours the Ukrainian Armed Forces "minus" 1,250 Russians. Russia's total losses since the beginning of the war are approaching 860 thousand people.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 20:45 Ukrainian troops have good results at the front. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky during an evening video address on Thursday, February 13.
"There were reports from our military today - very important reports. There is a good result at the front - it is incorrect to name the geography, I will not make it political," the head of state said.
At the same time, Zelensky thanked the Ukrainian soldiers from the 425th separate assault regiment.
19:10 Ukraine will take part in the negotiations to end the war, but the main counterpart on this topic will be the United States. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He predicts a "bilateral Russian-American track" in the negotiations, as well as the separate involvement of Ukraine.
18:13 Ukrainian military holds about 500 square kilometers of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation. This was reported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky. This is a security zone on the territory of Russia. This forces the Russians to move their most combat-ready units in other directions.
17.50 Russian troops attacked a car with a drone in the Dniprovsky district of Kherson. Two people were killed.
"As a result of explosives being dropped on a vehicle, two people received injuries incompatible with life - a 58-year-old woman and a 62-year-old ambulance driver who was driving on business," said OVA head Alexander Prokudin.
17.44 Volunteers under 25 will serve in combat brigades on the front lines for six months. This was announced by Defense Ministry representative Dmitry Lazutkin on the air of the telethon on Thursday, February 13.
Six military brigades with extensive combat experience have been identified for the service of pre-conscription age volunteers.
"These are brigades and commanders with vast combat experience: the 95th Brigade; the 72nd Brigade, which defended Kyiv and fought near Ugledar; the 38th Marine Brigade; the 28th Brigade; the 92nd Brigade, which defended the Kharkiv region; the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade, which fought near Bakhmut and has a large number of heroes who have gone through combat - that is, all units with experience," the MOU spokesman explained.
16.56 Russian troops dropped two FAB-250 aerial bombs on Kramatorsk. As a result of the strike, one person was killed and five were injured.
"The Russians dropped two FAB-250 on the city. A 46-year-old man died from his wounds. Among the wounded was a 16-year-old girl. Two houses and several cars were damaged," said Vadim Filashkin, head of the Donetsk OVA, on Telegram.
16.33 Russian military attacked the positions of the Security Forces of Ukraine in the Kamenskoye area in Zaporizhia, which led to the disruption of the rotation of IAEA technical experts at the captured Zaporizhia NPP. This was reported by the press service of the Main Intelligence Directorate on Thursday, February 13.
13.59 The Security Service has announced in absentia suspicion of Russian General Alexander Dvornikov, who ordered a missile strike on the Nikolaev OVA, which resulted in the death of 36 people. This was reported by the SBU press service on Thursday, February 13.
13.23 In the city of Dolgoprudny near Moscow, on the night of February 6-7, 2025, a powerful explosion occurred on the territory of a military unit. This was reported on February 13 by the Main Intelligence Directorate. It is noted that the explosives destroyed two Russian Valdai radar systems , designed for round-the-clock automatic detection and counteraction of UAVs.
12.43 The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has published new data on the shadow tanker fleet of the Russian Federation. The War&Sanctions portal has published information on 57 captains and 45 vessels engaged in the transportation of sanctioned oil. This was reported by the press service of the Main Intelligence Directorate on Thursday, February 13.
12.29 Russian troops shelled the central part of Kherson on the morning of February 13. They hit a multi-story building, there are wounded. This was reported by the head of the Kherson OVA Oleksandr Prokudin on Thursday, February 13.
12.13 The Ministry of Defense explained the terms of the annual contract for volunteers aged 18 to 24. The contract provides exclusively for combat positions. This was stated by the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Dmitry Lazutkin on the air of the telethon on Thursday, February 13.
11.52 US President Donald Trump's statements regarding a peaceful settlement between Ukraine and Russia will be the subject of discussion at a meeting of defense ministers of the Alliance member states. This was announced by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
11.17 On February 13, Russian-released "shahids" violated Moldovan airspace, two drones exploded on Moldovan territory . Moldova considers this a violation of sovereignty and a risk to peace and security in the region. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian ambassador.
10:41 Former commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Serhiy Nayev arrived at the site of combat missions in the Velyka Novosilka tactical group.
10.22 Ukraine will continue to receive American aid, but "there must be a demand for money." This was stated by US President Donald Trump at a press conference in the White House the day before. He estimated that Ukraine had received $350 billion in aid from Washington.
9:46 On the night of February 13, Russia launched 140 Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicles and drone imitators against Ukraine. Air defense forces shot down 85 drones. This was reported by the Ukrainian Air Force.
9:21 On February 13, Russian troops attacked the city of Sumy with drones. The enemy directed the drones at the residential sector. This was reported by the Sumy OVA. The consequences of the shelling are being clarified.
8:50 Over the past 24 hours, 116 combat clashes occurred on the front, 34 of which were in the Pokrovsk direction. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on February 13. Five UAV control points, an air defense system, an area for the concentration of weapons and military equipment, and two radar stations of the occupiers were damaged.
8:26 In the evening and at night, Russian troops struck the Nikopol district. Civilian objects were damaged, including a private enterprise, a funeral home building, and private houses. This was reported on February 13 by the head of the Dnipropetrovsk OVA Serhiy Lysak.
8:01 The occupiers struck Kherson, there are casualties . This was reported by the head of the Kherson GVA Roman Mrochko. The man was taken to the hospital with a concussion, a mine-explosive injury, and a closed head injury. The woman received medical assistance on the spot.
7:45 Russia continues to suffer losses in the war against Ukraine. Over the past 24 hours, the Defense Forces destroyed 1,250 occupiers and more than 400 units of enemy weapons and military equipment. The total combat losses of the Russians from 24.02.22 to 13.02.25 amounted to approximately 854,280 people.
However many really died, none will be fathering beautiful Russian babies, accelerating Russia’s depopulation.
This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
7:22 In Russia, air defense allegedly shot down 83 drones over 9 regions. This was reported on February 13 by the Russian Defense Ministry. It is noted that 37 UAVs were allegedly shot down over the territory of the Bryansk region; 12 UAVs over the territories of the Kursk and Lipetsk regions; 9 UAVs over the territory of the Tver region; three UAVs over the territories of the Belgorod, Kaluga, Smolensk and Voronezh regions and one UAV over the territory of the Rostov region.
[CoffeeAndCovid] Yesterday was a terrible, no-good, very bad day for the Swamp. He's not waiting for the courts to do the right thing—nor is he defying them.
Good morning, C&C, it’s Wednesday! Yesterday, instead of retreating into lawfare defense mode as everyone expected, the Trump Team unleashed the most devastating assault yet, the Deep State’s D-Day. Nobody’s covering it, but it is inescapable. You may have heard about some of the parts, but just wait till you see the big picture.
The Trump Team fooled everybody, including me. As last week’s various lawsuits sprouted restraining orders like early buds emerging all over the willow trees in springtime, most commenters expected Trump to take a necessary pause for defensive retrenchment. Surely, we all thought, it would take Trump’s anti-bureaucrats some time to clear the judicial logjam. But all of us were wrong.
A brief pause to clear past the TROs wasn’t Trump’s strategy at all. No pauses! Instead, yesterday Trump tripled down, jamming the battle tank’s accelerator into overdrive and smashing ahead in a whole different direction. His new battlefield banner unfurled yesterday afternoon in the form of one executive order plus three separate press conferences, which together sent a just-relaxing Deep State enemy racing for the bunkers with its trousers still half off.
It was a simultaneous coordinated assault, deployed with consummate skill in a single afternoon. It was all happening at once. We will start with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his incredible comments. The New York Times covered the story in a haplessly hysterical headline, “Johnson ‘Wholeheartedly’ Agrees With Trump’s Spending Cuts, Undermining Congress.”
We had the various parts, but this summarizes it with insights that had not occurred to me and are very heartening. Grab a cup of the good coffee or your preferred beverage and something nibbly, and enjoy the whole thing at the link.
[GEO.TV] Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... said on Thursday it did not want the Gaza ceasefire agreement to collapse.
Mediators are exerting pressure for the deal to be fully implemented, ensure Israel abides by a humanitarian protocol and resume exchanges of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel on Saturday, Hamas said in a statement.
Israel has called up military reservists to brace for a possible re-eruption of war in Gaza if Hamas fails to meet a Saturday deadline to free further Israeli hostages. Watch the hands, not the lips.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025
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#1
Just take out Hamas already and be done with it.
#2
Since Hamas has come on the scene.
The only statements it has ever honored were those to Kill, Rape and Torture those of, or those that supported the Jewish Faith.
Orders issued by the Iranian Islamic Radical leadership.
So it's way past time to cut the head off the snake.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Furious MPs today accused Donald Trump of 'appeasement' of Russia and warned Britain must be ready to go to war.
Politicians from across parties voiced alarm in the Commons after the US president's bombshell call with Vladimir Putin overnight.
Mr Trump and the Russian dictator had 'a lengthy and highly productive' phone conversation, during which they agreed that talks to end the conflict should start 'immediately'.
But any peace deal is expected to see Russia keep territory it has annexed since 2014, including the Crimean peninsula – a huge blow to Kyiv after three years of fighting for freedom. Ukraine joining Nato - an official policy of the alliance - has also been effectively ruled out.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump is demanding that European Nato powers commit to spending 5 per cent of GDP on defence - a level the US itself does not reach. The UK is one of the biggest spenders but has yet to set out a timetable to hit 2.5 per cent.
Speaking in Downing Street, Keir Starmer highlighted 'huge sacrifices' made by Ukrainians in the war. 'Nobody wants the conflict to continue... but we must make sure Ukraine is at the heart of it,' he said.
At a Nato meeting in Brussels this morning, Defence Secretary John Healey played down differences while stressing there 'can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine'.
However, MPs were far more blunt during an urgent session in Parliament.
Tory Sir Julian Lewis said Mr Trump needed reminding that 'appeasement led to World War Two', as he he urged the government to push defence spending quickly towards 5 per cent of GDP.
He said: 'Will the Government impress on President Trump at every possible opportunity that the reason why appeasement led to World War Two was that it left a vacuum in Europe? Whereas the reason why the occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of that war did not lead to World War Three was the United States filled any possible vacuum and contained further aggression.
'So if he is going for a settlement against the wishes of the Ukrainian people, the least he can do is to guarantee directly the security of that part of Ukraine which remains unoccupied.'
Fellow Conservative Sir Bernard Jenkin said: 'Some of the defence chiefs have been expressing this, that we must be ready to fight a war with Russia if necessary, in order to be able to deter Russia, and if we are to be in any position to guarantee the security of an independent and sovereign Ukraine, after whatever is agreed between President Trump and President Putin.'
Labour MP Johanna Baxter welcomed the UK's position that 'any negotiations about Ukraine must involve Ukraine'.
'Because if reports of the call between President Trump and Moscow are to be believed, then this is less the Art of the Deal and more a charter for appeasement,' she added, warning that further Russian aggression is 'inevitable'.
US defence chief Pete Hegseth told European counterparts yesterday that Ukraine's dream of returning to its pre-2014 borders was an 'illusionary goal' and that Kyiv's wish for NATO membership was 'not realistic'.
His statements were widely seen as a victory for Putin and a devastating blow to Kyiv, which as a result could be forced to cede vast swathes of territory without the prospect of a security guarantee.
'I tell you they're drinking vodka straight out of the bottle in the Kremlin tonight,' Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton told CNN. 'It was a great day for Moscow.'
Analysts have warned that appeasing Putin could result in history repeating itself, with former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt accusing Trump of an historical sell-out of Ukraine.
'It's certainly an innovative approach to a negotiation to make very major concessions even before they have started,' he said. 'Not even Chamberlain went that low in 1938. That Munich ended very bad anyhow.'
Bildt is among a number of experts who have drawn comparisons between Trump's statements and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's 'peace for our time' declaration.
Et cetera.
Posted by: Penguin_of_the_Best_Desert ||
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#1
Oh, so NOW the UK is suddenly interested in their military?
I no longer care if Russia conquers the UK--that would be preferred over their Muslim population taking control over nuclear weapons.
I'd prefer Putin control the UK instead of the Muslims.
#2
And I feel the same about Europe. Europe will never taste freedom again--it will either be ruled by Islam, or Russia, and I don't give a damn. No more American money should be invested in the outcome.
On the one hand, at least verbally, he curb stomps and threatens Russian and Chinese allies in an unprecedented manner ('Palestine', Iran, even South Africa) on the other hand he seems to be ready to give Russia and China strategic access to Central Europe.
Is he applying a madman strategy or is he really a Russian&Chinese asset now?
In any case appeasing an exploratory aggressor is a game that has its dangers. Russia wants much, much more than Ukraine, in Europe and worldwide.
I'm not defending 'Europe' in any way.
The EU, individual EU countries and European NATO countries outside of the EU have all but taken a d*mp on NATO, the US and true core principles of Western civilization over the last years, especially after 10/7.
E.g. NATO ally Spain closed its ports to US ships shipping arms to Israel, NATO ally Poland threatening to arrest Netanyahu (and implicitly Americans falling victim to arbitrary ICC shenanigans), the EU trying to impose censorship on Europe and the US, British threats to arrest Americans for free speech, Norway (NATO only) and Ireland (EU only) stepping up their political harassment of Israel after 10/7 etc.
Ultimately an alliance between an aggressively censorious, antisemitic and tyrannical Europe and a US that revives Western Civilization would be unnatural.
If European leaders were smart they'd ditch the ICC (a brainf*rt from the 'Holiday from History'), recommit to true Western values, support Israel and propose a renewed alliance with the US.
#8
What the Trump administration is doing here can have grave unintended global consequences even if the intentions are good.
On the contrary. US policies between the collapse of Soviet Union & Tramp's (second) election were going to provoke a nuclear exchange. And for what? Because the degenerates ruling Western Europe, are not content to destroying their own countries - they want to destroy the whole World?
#9
If European leaders were smart they'd ditch the ICC (a brainf*rt from the 'Holiday from History'), recommit to true Western values, support Israel and propose a renewed alliance with the US.
#10
Oh yeah?
Who are you going to call up, all those guys you've harassed and jailed because they don't want their daughters graped, their friends stabbed, and noticed the GayGB being the GayGB?
'I tell you they're drinking vodka straight out of the bottle in the Kremlin tonight,' Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton told CNN. 'It was a great day for Moscow.'
All I need to know in one paragraph. Thanks, Daily USAIDs.
#11
You expected Putin to let NATO have Sevastopol? That'd be like us letting the Chinese have San Diego Bay. Not without a fight. Keir Starmer talks a good fight but he's happy to let Ukrainians go to the trenches for his pipe dream of expanding NATO into Ukraine, and he's happy to let Uncle Sam pay for it. If he thinks it's so important, let him put his own ass on the line.
You wanna talk about appeasement? Churchill urged the British Parliament to prepare for war way back in the early 1930s. How is Britain preparing for war now? Do they think all those Muslim migrants will fight for them? How many divisions can they field? What will he tell his people when their boys start coming home in coffins? Who's gonna pay?
And who is the aggressor here? I don't see Putin rolling his tanks into Poland. He can't even get them to Kiev. How many of his "special forces" are on the down low in Scotland launching missiles at London?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/14/2025 12:31
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#12
^The thing that really gets me are Americans who talk about defending EU in terms of "defending democracy".
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/14/2025 13:24
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#14
Time for fun with math. The UK Army at last count was about 75,000 (rounding up). Their tooth to tail ratio is officially 1:2. That means they have about 25,000 actual fighters (split between infantry, armor and artillery units). If they kept 5,000 in reserve, reduced external commitments to 5,000 (Gibraltar, UN peacekeeping, Northern Ireland, etc) they could conceivably put 15,000 combat troops into play. Once. Since they wouldn't have the depth to replace them anytime soon. The phrase "toothless lion" comes to mind.
#15
Everyone knows these people are bullshit, which is why they are screaming so much, because they don't want the natives to take to heart over there what is going on politically in the USA.
[Jpost] Twelve people were wounded, six critically, after a grenade was thrown into a bar in Grenoble, southeastern France on Wednesday night, French media reported.
French prosecutor Francois Touret de Coucy said the attacker "came in, threw a grenade, didn't say a word, it seems, and then fled," according to the report.
The attacker was also carrying an assault rifle - similar to a Kalashnikov - which he did not use, according to Touret de Coucy.
The incident occurred in the city's Olympic Village district, built for the 1968 games.
Chloé Pantel, deputy mayor of sector 6 of Grenoble, told AFP that the bar is "a gathering place for people from the neighborhood and from elsewhere, and is especially popular for watching football matches."
Le Parisien reported that, according to a police source, the grenade's spoon was found at the scene of the explosion. Some 80 firefighters were present on the scene.
TERRORISM RULED OUT
According to Touret de Coucy, terrorism has been ruled out, but otherwise, there are no leads as to the motive yet. "Everything must be studied; we cannot say at this stage if it is linked to drug trafficking," he explained.
"We can rule out a purely terrorist attack since there is nothing that leads us to believe that it is linked to terrorism," said the prosecutor.
The attacker is on the run and is yet to be identified. No arrests have been made, according to the reports.
[AFRICANEWS] R. Kelly's convictions for racketeering and sex trafficking, along with his 30-year prison sentence, were affirmed on Wednesday by a federal appeals court, which determined that the artist had exploited his celebrity status for over 25 years to perpetrate sexual abuse against girls and young women.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan delivered its ruling after considering arguments presented last March.
The Grammy-winning and multiplatinum R&B artist was found guilty in 2021 in a Brooklyn federal court on multiple counts, including racketeering and sex trafficking.
Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly's attorney, expressed her belief in a statement that the Supreme Court would agree to review the case. She characterized the 2nd Circuit's decision as "unprecedented," arguing that it grants prosecutors excessive discretion to apply the racketeering statute to scenarios that are "absurdly remote" from its original purpose.
Let the South African government sell some of the diamonds piled up in the DeBeers vaults and use the proceeds to handle it. The country used to be rich, back when the whites were running things, and everything was supposed to become so much better when the natives took the country back.
[AFRICANEWS] Community members in Evaton, South of Johannesburg, gathered at the Emthojeni Awareness Centre to collect food parcels donated by the U.S. Department of Social Development on Wednesday.
Emthonjeni Awareness Centre is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that specialises in orphans and vulnerable children as a result of the HIV pandemic and also has other programmes to help women and youth in the community.
The NGO is one of many that have been affected by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and USAID freeze by U.S. President Donald Trump ...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election. Then he beat Kamala while dodging bullets... , which has left many of their staff and beneficiaries worried about the future. Shortly after returning to the White House Trump signed an executive order freezing almost all U.S. foreign aid.
Many Africans had known that Trump's ''America First'' outlook meant their continent was likely to be last among his priorities. But they hadn't expected the abrupt halt to foreign aid from the world's largest donor that stops money flowing for wide-ranging projects like disease response, girls' education and free school lunches.
Angelina Msimanga a beneficiary of the funding said she had previously defaulted on her medication and is worried that she will suffer without the help of the NGO. ''I wish that the NGO could continue helping people living with HIV/AIDS for them to continue with their treatment and live a healthy life like other people and not default on their medication,'' Msimanga said.
The NGO has over 200 patients living with HIV/AIDS along with 15 staff members who are mobilised to conduct patient visits. Harriet Mutle, a social worker at Emthonjeni, told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the funding played a significant role in helping people living with HIV/AIDS and she wishes Trump would reconsider freezing the aid. ''I would be happy if the American President, Donald Trump, stopped the whole crisis and takes things back to normal," she said. "I don't think he is aware that the funding was helping us and the beneficiaries of the funding."
You would be wrong, my dear. He just considers it the responsibility of your countrymen, who deliberately chose actions that resulted in your infection — a process known for a generation, so there is no excuse — and then equally deliberately refused to take care of those they infected.
The U.S. provides more foreign aid globally than any other country, budgeting about $60 billion in 2023, or about 1% of the U.S. budget.
Is that all of it, or all that is not given sub rosa? And how much of what is given in each category is actually spent to help those in need, versus flowing into private pockets along the way?
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025
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#1
I no longer care. Perhaps there's some white farmers they could steal some more land or money from?
#2
The Blue in-line (first para) talks about "natives." I had no idea that thieving North Afri and Nigerian illegal migrants and border crossers were "natives."
#7
natives." I had no idea that thieving North Afri and Nigerian illegal migrants and border crossers were "natives."
I’m the periwinkle highlighter (a purplish blue or blueish purple named for the flower of the same colour), Besoeker.
I meant to refer to the African National Congress/Nelson Mandela types running the country when last I looked, who I thought were as much a racial-tribal group as a political one — all members of certain native tribes. I had no idea immigrants from up north and even further north were allowed to participate.
[Epoch Times] Current and former employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), claiming that Musk should have been first confirmed by the Senate. The White House has stated that Musk is a special government employee, meaning that he is not beholden to the same kinds of rules as other federal workers.
Only a few federal executive officers need to be confirmed by the Senate. All the rest are hired either directly by the president or by those designated by him as they work to fulfill their duties. I suspect that every one of the current and former USAID employees involved in this lawsuit was not one of the few who needed Senate confirmation, so they already knew this.
Musk and DOGE were then accused of trying to dismantle an agency "from within by severely disrupting or crippling operations" while posting about their actions on X.
As intended, buttressed by the results of the first DOGE deep dive into USAID records, which revealed shocking levels of illegality, immorality, and egregiously careless handling of the funds and responsibilities entrusted to the department in recent years.
Lawyers for the USAID workers, who remained anonymous in the lawsuit, then deployed a novel argument, saying Musk should be confirmed by the Senate because he should be deemed an officer of the United States under the U.S. Constitution’s appropriations clause.
Because you say so? An arrogance that fits in well with the behaviours that got USAID shut down.
The lawsuit is one of many legal challenges filed in favor of USAID officials against the Trump administration. Last week, a federal judge paused plans to place thousands of USAID workers on leave, while a lawsuit filed on Feb. 11 alleged that the unraveling of USAID is stiffing U.S. businesses on hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid bills for work that has already been done.
Work that never should have been ordered, and therefore ought not be allowed to be profitted from. There’s a well-known legal principle involved, I’m sure, along with the second that ignorance of the law is no excuse.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/14/2025
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#1
He is an adviser. The confirmed person (Rubio in this case) makes the final decision. They didn't seem to have a problem with it when Soros did it for Obumble.
[FoxNews] OpenAI says each 1GW supercomputer campus in the US could create thousands of jobs
Stargate, the massive artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure project recently unveiled by President Donald Trump, has begun production in Texas — with data center construction in other states expected to be announced in the coming months.
OpenAI, Softbank, Oracle and other partners' total investment of $500 million in the project will produce a large-scale network of campuses. Each campus will be designed in the roughly 1 gigawatt (GW) or greater range, a measurement of electricity that can power a minimum of 750,000 homes.
During a recent press briefing on The Stargate Project attended by Fox News Digital, OpenAI announced that construction on the first site is underway in Abilene, Texas. Significant progress has been made in identifying additional locations. Stargate is currently weighing 16 additional states as options for future sites.
#3
It's an interesting Flex by Elon. As I understand it, he's not poaching OpenAI, but is after the entity that is being created, that will be used as the vehicle to make OpenAI a for-profit company. And if I follow, this entity is mostly outside of Atlman's purview and control.
[NYPOST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the Trump administration on Wednesday arguing that migrants colonists detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have not been given adequate access to lawyers — a claim the Department of Homeland Security disputed and said shows the organization cares more about ''highly dangerous criminal aliens'' than Americans.
The complaint, filed in the district court of Washington, DC, described the notorious Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp (GITMO) as a ''legal black hole'' where the Trump administration is attempting to ''thwart access to counsel'' for migrant detainees.
''For the first time in US history, the federal government has moved noncitizens apprehended and detained in the United States on civil immigration charges to the Naval Station at Guant namo Bay, Cuba,'' the lawsuit reads. ''And it is holding them incommunicado, without access to attorneys, family, or the outside world.''
The ACLU believes the federal government is ''ramping up'' migrant flights to GITMO and is now housing over 50 people with deportation orders without ''any means of communication'' to the ''outside world.''
''Immigrants colonists held at Guant namo have effectively disappeared into a black box and cannot contact or communicate with their family or attorneys,'' the complaint states. ''By doing so, the US government has prevented immigrants colonists from accessing legal assistance to understand their rights and to challenge their transfer and detention or conditions of confinement at Guant namo.''
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025
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#1
Since when do we grant prisoners of war access to lawyers?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/14/2025 12:53
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#2
Given that a lot of this first roundup are already under deportation orders why do they need a lawyer? The due process is already complete.
Two faltering economies attached to two teetering governments, each hoping to get enough from the other to shore itself up. Sounds like a winning formula to me.
[GEO.TV] Underscoring a shared commitment to fortifying economic ties between the two nations, Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdo%u011Fan said on Thursday that both nations have agreed to ramp up efforts to boost bilateral trade to $5 billion.
"We agree with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to increase our efforts to reach the target of $5 billion dollars in trade volume," Ottoman Ottoman Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo%u011Fan said at joint news conference with the Pak premier in Islamabad.
Accompanied by a high-level delegation, Erdo%u011Fan arrived in Islamabad late Wednesday night for a two-day visit to co-chair the 7th session of the Pakistain-Turkiye High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) with PM Shehbaz.
In light of the deep-rooted historical ties between the two nations, the HLSCC, which was established in 2009, stands as the highest-level mechanism institutionalising Turkiye-Pakistain solidarity, Erdogan said.
''We have just concluded the seventh meeting of our council, where we reaffirmed our commitment to further strengthening our relations. Within this framework, we signed 24 agreements covering trade, water resources, agriculture, energy, culture, family and social services, science, banking, education, defence, and healthcare,'' the Turkiye president added.
Erdogan said they organised a business forum with the participation of entrepreneurs from various sectors, emphasising: "We encourage our investors, who are the driving force of economic cooperation, to engage more actively in Pakistain."
Both countries signed several memorandums of understanding (MoUs), protocols, and cooperation agreements across various sectors to further strengthen bilateral economic ties.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025
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#1
About the only thing that Pakistan exports that makes money is opium and derivatives.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Elon Musk's Tesla appears set to get a $400 million contract from the US State Department, even as Donald Trump's 'First Buddy' looks for budget cuts with the Department of Government Efficiency.
That follows up a $38.5 million deal with Musk's SpaceX on Monday which outraged liberals.
Marco Rubio's Department of State appears to have altered its fourth quarter procurement forecast to include the $400 million buy for 'Armored Tesla.'
No such vehicle appears to exist as of yet, the modification to the budget was made on December 13.
Under a headline on the forecast that says 'extent completed' under the Tesla buy, it reads 'TBD' according to Drop Site News.
The DOGE chairman is used to dealing with the government, as SpaceX and Tesla have gotten a combined $18 billion in federal contracts since 2015, dating back to Barack Obama's presidency.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the State Department, Tesla and the White House for comment.
Speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Musk insisted there is no conflict of interest if his companies receive government contracts from the same agencies where he is looking to conduct cuts.
[FoxNews] Zeldin said his team found $20 billion in taxpayer money 'parked at an outside financial institution'
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lee Zeldin said Wednesday that his team has located $20 billion in tax dollars that the Biden administration purposely wasted.
"An extremely disturbing video circulated two months ago, featuring a Biden EPA political appointee talking about how they were ‘tossing gold bars off the Titanic,’ rushing to get billions of your tax dollars out the door before Inauguration Day," Zeldin said in a video posted to X, citing another video from December. "The ‘gold bars’ were tax dollars and ‘tossing them off the Titanic’ meant the Biden administration knew they were wasting it."
Zeldin said the EPA has plans to recover the "gold bars" that were found "parked at an outside financial institution," which he does not mention by name.
He said that "this scheme was the first of its kind in EPA history, and it was purposefully designed to obligate all the money in a rush job with reduced oversight" before Inauguration Day.
Zeldin said "there is zero reason to suspect any wrongdoing by the bank," but he thinks an agreement with the institution "needs to be instantly terminated" and all the money should be immediately returned.
He says the EPA needs to resume responsibility for all of these funds, adding that his team will "review every penny that has gone out the door."
"The days of irresponsibly shoveling boatloads of cash to far-left activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over," Zeldin said. "The American public deserves a more transparent and accountable government than what transpired these past four years."
He also said that he would be referring this matter to the inspector general's office and that he would work with the Department of Justice to assist President Donald Trump in regaining control.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Shocking video caught the moment a Taco Bell security guard slapped a woman across the face in a seemingly unprovoked attack.
Footage shared online shows a woman walking past the security guard, who appeared to be arguing with her, at the downtown Los Angeles franchise on Sunday, and make a beeline to a self-serve kiosk to place her order.
But the security guard follows her, and grabs her arm so that he is face-to-face with the woman.
It is then he unleashes a brutal slap across the woman's face.
'Oh s***,' someone could be heard saying in the background.
'The security guard was telling her to leave and she didn't want to because she was ordering food,' Alejandro Sanchez, who recorded the viral video, explained to SWNS.
'Then he just went off and she started going crazy,' he said.
'He slapped the s*** out of her. It was crazy. Everybody was shocked.'
The unidentified woman was seen in the aftermath cradling her face in stunned disbelief and walking over to the other side of the restaurant, stopping underneath a television broadcasting the Super Bowl.
The security guard again follows her, and the two could be seen having a heated argument, with the woman claiming she would sue.
She repeatedly told the guard to get away from her, as he tells her to leave.
Eventually, the guard could be seen escorting the woman out of the fast food joint.
It is unclear what sparked the argument, but Sanchez claimed that the woman appeared to be 'homeless.' I bet there's a lot more to this story
'There's a Skid Row a couple of blocks away from there and they just have a lot of traffic,' he said, noting that the employees seemed more concerned by him recording the incident than by the slap itself.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Taco Bell for comment.
#4
Nicest Taco Bell I've ever seen. Got the game on and everything.
So yes, I'll go with there's a history, and yes opening act is missed while people quit watching the game and start recording.
And, actually, she hit him before he countered with a mere slap. Watch as she is pulled away from the kiosk.
The way she tanked that slap and just went on like nothing happened would have me guess she high as fk, and was acting like it in a nice restaurant, she been asked not to come in anymore, and security was enforcing the right to refuse service.
#5
A Conjunction of Venus and Mars
"Last week she was still behind bars."
"Now we'll work as a team
For our Hollywood dream."
"Come on, baby, I'll make you see stars!"
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Kharkov direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on units of three territorial defence brigades close to Liptsy and Volchansk (Kharkov region).
The AFU losses were up to 130 troops, one armoured personnel carrier, six motor vehicles, two artillery guns, and one ammunition depot.
Units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation.
Russian troops inflicted fire damage on enemy manpower and hardware of one tank brigade, one mechanised brigade, one assault brigade, one air assault regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and one territorial defence brigade close to Kutkovka, Kondrashovka, Boguslavka, Novaya Kruglyakovka, Zeleny Gai (Kharkov region), Novolyubovka (Lugansk People's Republic), Kolodezi, Yampolovka, and Yampol (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 220 troops, one tank, five armoured fighting vehicles, including one U.S.-made M-113 armoured personnel carrier, seven field artillery guns, including three NATO-made combat vehicles. One ammunition depot was destroyed.
Units of the Yug Group of Forces improved the tactical situation along the front line.
Russian troops inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of four mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, and two assault brigades of the AFU as well as on formations of the Foreign Legion close to Nikiforovka, Zvanovka, Pereyezdnoye, Raygorodok, Vasyukovka, Privolye, Chasov Yar, Konstantinovka, Aleksandro-Shultino, Ivanopolye, and Dachnoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 155 troops, three pickup trucks, four field artillery guns, including one German-made 155mm Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery system and one ammunition depot.
The Tsentr Group of Forces' units continued advancing into the depths of enemy defences and liberated Vodyanoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
Russian troops inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of four mechanised brigades , one jaeger brigade, one airmobile brigade of the AFU, one territorial defence brigade, and two National Guard brigades close to Shcherbinovka, Lenina, Baranovka, Zverevo, Udachnoye, Kotlino, Nadezhdinka, and Novoandreyevka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 510 troops, one German-made Leopard tank, five armoured fighting vehicles, including one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, and four pickup trucks. In addition, one Czech-made Vampire MLRS combat vehicle and two field artillery guns were eliminated, including one German-made 155mm Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery system.
The Vostok Group of Forces' units improved the situation along the front line.
Russian troops hit units of three mechanised brigades, one air assault brigade, and two territorial defence brigades near Konstantinopol, Bogatyr, Burlatskoye, Komar, Skudnoye, and Rovnopol (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 140 troops, one tank, one armoured fighting vehicle, eight motor vehicles, and seven field artillery guns, including one U.S.-made 155mm M198 howitzer. One ammunition depot was destroyed.
Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces engaged manpower and hardware of one coastal defence brigade of the AFU and three territorial defence brigades close to Novoberislav, Kazatskoye, Tokarevka, and Antonovka (Kherson region).
The AFU losses were up to 70 troops, eight motor vehicles, four field artillery guns, two ammunition depots, and two electronic and counter-battery warfare radars.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces engaged Ukrainian military airfield and port infrastructure, unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing facilities, POL storage facilities as well as clusters of enemy manpower and hardware in 146 areas.
Air defence facilities have shot down one guided JDAM aerial bomb and three U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles, three French-made Hammer aerial guided bombs, and 202 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 653 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 43,247 unmanned aerial vehicles, 592 anti-aircraft missile systems, 21,314 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,515 MLRS combat vehicles, 21,627 field artillery guns and mortars, and 31,528 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
In the course of offensive actions, the Sever Group of Forces' units inflicted fire damage on formations of two tank brigades, one heavy mechanised brigade, five mechanised brigades, three air assault brigades, one naval infantry brigade, one assault brigade, one territorial defence brigade, and three assault regiments of the AFU near Gogolevka, Goncharovka, Guyevo, Zaoleshenka, Kazachya Loknya, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Malaya Loknya, Melovoy, Nikolsky, Oleshnya, Rubanshchina, Sverdlikovo, and Sudzha. One AFU counter-attack was repelled.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, artillery inflicted fire damage on AFU manpower and hardware close to Viktorovka, Pervy Knyazhy, Kolmakov, Kositsa, Kruglenkoye, Loknya, Makhnovka, Mirny, Nikolayevka, Novaya Sorochina, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye as well as Basovka, Belovody, Vesyolovka, Zhuravka, Miropolye, Obody in Sumy region.
During the day, the AFU losses were more than 270 troops, two tanks, one infantry fighting vehicle, two armoured personnel carriers, 13 armoured fighting vehicles, 16 motor vehicles, five artillery guns, three mortars, one anti-aircraft missile and gun system, one electronic warfare station as well as three UAV command posts and one ammunition depot.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk direction, the AFU losses amounted to more than 60,210 troops, 363 tanks, 263 infantry fighting vehicles, 213 armoured personnel carriers, 1,867 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,960 motor vehicles, 435 artillery guns, 48 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 20 anti-aircraft missile launchers, eight transport-loading vehicles, 108 EW stations, 15 counter-battery warfare radars, six air defence radars, 41 units of engineering and other materiel, including 18 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, two bridge launchers as well as ten armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
[Breitbart] Several grocery store chains such as Aldi, Costco, and Trader Joe’s are limiting how many eggs customers can purchase, citing supply issues amid an outbreak of the avian flu.
A spokesperson for Trader Joes confirmed to CNN that due to “issues with the supply of eggs,” the grocery store chain was limiting its customers to purchasing one dozen eggs per day, meanwhile Costco also confirmed that it was limiting the amount of eggs customers could purchase to “three packages of eggs.”
“Due to ongoing issues with the supply of eggs, we are currently limiting eggs purchases to one dozen per customer, per day, in all Trader Joe’s stores across the country,” a spokesperson for Trader Joe’s told the outlet.
NBC5 Chicago also reported that a local Costco had placed signs up reading, “Due to limited supply please: Limit 3 eggs,” while an Aldi in Chicago was reported to have limited customers to purchasing two dozen eggs.
Other places such as Waffle House have taken steps to account for the “continuing egg shortage” caused by the Bird Flu, such as adding a “temporary .50 per egg surcharge to all menus.”
Breitbart News’s Amy Furr previously reported that the bird flu outbreak has caused the price of eggs to soar, leaving many Americans feeling the sting of the costs.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that the average price for a “dozen Grade A eggs” had reached $4.95 in January, representing a record high, according to ABC News:
The average price of a dozen Grade A eggs in U.S. cities reached $4.95 in January, eclipsing the previous record of $4.82 set two years earlier and more than double the recent low of $2.04 that was recorded in August 2023.
Breitbart News recently reported that after seven cases of the bird flu were reported to have been “found in poultry during routine inspections of live bird markets in” several boroughs of New York City, New York officials directed live poultry markets to close down for a week in order to help combat the spread of the bird flu.
#4
Loss-leaders or not.
I am sure the 10,000+ cooked birds sold each week, by just SAM's nationwide, were not all roosters ☺ and many could be producing more eggs.
#5
Roasters and egg layers are different birds entirely. Roasters mature meat wise in 8-10 weeks and are slaughtered. Egg layers have much less meat and start laying at six months.
#10
The same bureaucrats who slaughter a million chickens 'just to make sure it doesn't spread' are the same bureaucrats who are whining and screaming its being done to them back in the Swamp. Irony is not a river in Wisconsin.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A unit of Russian drone operators received an unpleasant surprise last week when a new batch of goggles used to control their unmanned aerial vehicles blew up in their faces.
The shipment, reportedly delivered to the Russian unit as part of a crowdfunded humanitarian aid package on February 7, contained several boxes of Chinese-made Skyzone Cobra X v4 goggles.
These goggles allow the operator to assume command of their UAV as if on board the craft, with the drone's camera providing the pilot a first-person view (FPV) of the battlefield.
But when the goggles were turned on, the headsets exploded - causing serious injuries to the unfortunate drone pilots holding the devices.
The operation is reminiscent of Israel's sabotage of Hezbollah last year which saw thousands of the militant group's members injured and dozens killed after their pagers were booby-trapped with a small amount of explosive.
Clips shared by pro-Kremlin military blogging channel 'Razved Dozor' showed investigators cracking open untouched headsets to discover plastic explosives buried beneath their casings.
Igor Potapov, a spokesperson for JSC NPP - a Russian company responsible for developing electronic warfare equipment - told the TASS news agency that the donation came from an individual named 'Roman' as part of an aid package.
'I would like to especially note and convey to everyone that humanitarian aid always requires verification if it is provided by a new, unfamiliar person,' Potapov said in a statement shared by Russia's TASS news agency.
'When some benefactor suddenly appears with a desire to help - this is, of course, wonderful - but such people always need to be verified.'
Skyzone's Cobra model has reportedly become a favourite of Russian drone operators for its high-quality imaging and robust signal control, and is routinely requested as part of crowdfunded aid shipments.
The shocking sabotage incident highlights the blurring of the lines between combatants and non-combatants in today's modern warfare landscape amid the mass use of consumer drones on the frontlines.
With both Russian and Ukrainian army units relying on the goodwill of civilian benefactors providing them with warfighting equipment and humanitarian aid, the opportunity for such sabotage operations is greater than ever before.
Neither Razved Dozor nor the TASS news agency provided details of how many Russian drone operators were killed or injured in the sabotage attack.
But the military blogger reported that each headset is thought to have carried between 10-15 grams of plastic explosives.
If an operator was wearing the goggles when the explosives were activated, they certainly would have been killed.
No one has yet taken responsibility for the punishing operation, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not commented on the reports.
But it wouldn't be the first time that Ukraine has used booby-trapped devices to take out Russians involved in the war.
In December, an attack orchestrated by Ukraine's SBU security service - successfully eliminated Igor Kirillov, one of Vladimir Putin's top army generals in charge of nuclear and biological forces, along with his assistant Ilya Polikarpov.
Shocking images showed their bloodied corpses lying on the snow-covered pavement outside a tower block in Moscow whose brickwork was left blackened following the small but powerful explosion from a device planted on an electric scooter parked outside.
Russian investigators revealed that the lethal charge was triggered remotely after they discovered a camera installed in a nearby rental car pointing at the building's foyer from which Kirillov and his ill-fated assistant emerged.
Sources within the SBU confirmed to international press that the perfectly orchestrated hit was indeed the work of Kyiv's operatives.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, described the attack as an attempt by Kyiv to distract public attention from its military failures and vowed that its 'senior military-political leadership will face inevitable retribution.'
Kirillov, 54, had served as the Chief of the Russian Armed Forces' Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defence Troops since 2017.
He is believed to be the most senior military officer to be assassinated since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The bombing - claimed by the Ukrainian security services - came a day after Kyiv had accused Kirillov of overseeing the widespread use of banned chemical weapons against its troops in the conflict zone.
Charging him in absentia with war crimes, the SBU said he was responsible for more than 4,800 documented cases of Russian troops using chemical munitions since the start of the full-scale war.
'Such an inglorious end awaits all those who kill Ukrainians. Retribution for war crimes is inevitable,' the SBU source said.
If only the family had been illegal aliens, last November when the problem started, housing and all sorts of aid would have been given to them with no strings attached.
[Breitbart] Two children were reportedly found dead inside a parked vehicle in a parking garage in downtown Detroit on Monday, with police believing the kids froze to death.
The Detroit Police Department said a family pulled their van into a parking garage at the Hollywood Casino Hotel at Greektown at around 1:00 a.m. on Monday, and parked on the ninth floor as the vehicle ran out of gas, according to a report by WXYZ.
“They said that they were unsheltered and they didn’t have a residence to go to,” Detroit Police Captain Nathan Duda said.
Five children were asleep in the van, authorities said, adding that at around noon the mother realized that one of her kids, a nine-year-old boy, was not breathing, at which point she called a friend to take him to the Children’s Hospital of Michigan.
But while they were at the hospital, the grandmother noticed that another child, a two-year-old girl, was also not breathing. So the friend came back to the casino parking garage to retrieve the second child and bring her to the hospital as well, police said.
Both children were pronounced dead at the hospital, WXYZ reported.
While the cause of the children’s deaths have not yet been confirmed, police say they believe the kids both froze to death.
“Very sad. Especially as a father, I just can’t imagine what the family is feeling. I wish it wouldn’t have happened,” Duda said.
The other three children were examined and treated at the hospital, and were listed in stable condition on Monday afternoon, the outlet reported.
Interim Police Chief Todd Bettison reportedly noted that he had heard the family was traveling from casino to casino, adding that he believes they have been living in the van for around two to three months.
“From what I’ve been told, the mother had a lot of pride,” Bettison said, adding, “She loved her kids and she wanted to keep the family together.”
On November 25, the family contacted Detroit’s homeless response team to inform them that they had been living with another family, but could not continue residing there, and needed another place to go, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said.
Duggan added there was no resolution as a result of the family’s late November conversation with the city’s homeless response team, and that an outreach worker was never sent out.
The mayor noted that outreach staff are sent in emergency situations, but that the family never called back. Duggan, however, also believes that no one from the homeless response team ever reached back out to the family to determine whether their situation had been resolved.
In the meantime, Deputy Mayor Melia Howard has been directed to conduct an investigation with Detroit’s Housing and Revitalization Department (HRD) Director Julie Schneider into how this transpired and develop a plan to make sure it never happens again, the mayor said.
Police, meanwhile, are reminding the public that warming centers are available in the city, and are directing Detroit residents to the city’s website for more information on how they can be accessed.
Additionally, City of Detroit Homelessness Solutions Director Terra Linzner said the city’s shelters have beds available for residents who need them “to try to prevent situations like this.”
Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries (DRMM), also chimed in, reminding the public that their shelters can be used by anyone in need during cold winter months.
“We’ve had quite a few cold snaps and it’s very dangerous,” DRMM director of communications Chiara Clayton said.
“You can’t sustain being outside in these types of cold temperatures,” Clayton added. “That’s why it’s so important people know they can come get a meal, they can get a place over their heads, they can get warm.”
Relief centers like these exist “all across the city,” Duda said.
“There are so many resources available and these resources will keep families together,” the police captain added. “This was unnecessary. It didn’t have to happen this way.”
#1
"If only the family had been illegal aliens, last November when the problem started, housing and all sorts of aid would have been given to them with no strings attached."
That statement, clearly, sums it up.
Those in the DC Swamp that funneled $$$$ to other countries, to skim and pocket Millions, MUST be exposed and brought to trial.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Mikhail Kucherov
[REGNUM] On the morning of February 13, 1945, the shooting on the streets of the Hungarian capital, the storming of which lasted a record 108 days, died down. In terms of the ferocity of the fighting, Budapest is on par with Berlin and Königsberg, and its capture opened the way for the Red Army to further advance on Vienna, depriving Germany of its last ally.
The Germans clung tenaciously to the city for two reasons. First, it was their last chance to save any oil. The Hungarian region of Nagykanizsa provided the Wehrmacht with fuel, and access to the Romanian oil fields had been lost as early as August 1944.
Secondly, Hungary borders Austria, and the Fuhrer, who had many good memories associated with the city, planned to defend Vienna to the end.
To hold back the onslaught of the attackers, the German command transferred the elite 4th SS Panzer Corps from Poland, which tried to break through the encirclement of the city three times. The last time, the SS men came so close to Budapest that it seemed they would break through any minute. The Soviet troops barely held back the blow.
Anti-aircraft gunner Isaak Braginsky, a participant in the battles for Hungary, confirms that the resistance of the Germans and Hungarians was extremely stubborn:
"It is enough to remember that the city of Székesfehérvár changed hands several times. The Germans bombarded our troops with leaflets, in which they announced that Hitler was ready to let Marshal Georgy Zhukov into Berlin, but to drown the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front of Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin in the Danube. The enemy attached such importance to holding its positions in the center of Europe."
But unlike the Warsaw garrison, the Budapest group failed to break out of the cauldron.
By the new year of 1945, thanks to the coordinated actions of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts of Marshals Rodion Malinovsky and Fyodor Tolbukhin, 188,000 people were encircled. Understanding that the assault would be difficult and would entail many casualties, on December 29 the USSR prepared an ultimatum for the enemy - an offer to capitulate in exchange for humane treatment.
Two envoys were sent to the enemy camp: the Hungarian anti-fascist Miklos Steinmetz, who had previously fought in Spain with Malinovsky, and the Soviet officer, Captain Ilya Ostapenko. The Germans killed both of them - this was sadly reported in the New Year's issue of the newspaper "Red Star".
"The negotiators had not yet begun negotiations when they were shot. This news horrified everyone; no one wanted to believe it. About a week later, I met a Fenrich named Vargush from the 13th Assault Artillery Division in our house; he was looking for an apartment. I asked him if it was possible that the Germans would shoot the Russian negotiators. He replied that the German command had ordered that the Soviet negotiators be fired upon if they appeared. Each battalion commander had to confirm receipt of this order with a personal receipt," Hungarian Major General Mikloi Frygyash noted in his written testimony.
The Germans' position was fundamental because they almost lost an ally without any military action.
After heavy defeats, in particular the Ostrogozhsk-Rossosh offensive operation on the Don, where Soviet troops killed or captured 80,000 Hungarian soldiers and officers, the mood of the Hungarians changed. Many were looking for an opportunity to surrender, a major turn was brewing in the country: the head of state, Admiral Miklos Horthy, foreseeing the imminent collapse of the Reich, announced a truce with the USSR in October 1944.
However, Horthy, unlike the King of Romania, Michael I, failed to withdraw his country from the war. A German-backed coup d'état took place in Budapest, and Horthy's son was kidnapped by a special SS unit led by the Reich's chief saboteur Otto Skorzeny and taken hostage. Under pressure from Hitler, a few days later the admiral handed over power to the leader of the Nazi pro-German Arrow Cross Party, Ferenc Szalasi, and was taken to Germany, where he was held under arrest along with his wife, daughter-in-law, and grandson.
Afterwards, German troops entered Budapest, taking full responsibility for the city's defense.
Across its entire 200 square kilometer area, Nazi units erected barricades. They installed machine guns and cannons in every building, turning attics and basements into firing points. And the Germans had never had such a density of tanks on the Eastern Front as here.
Therefore, for the assault, which was carried out by the specially created Budapest Group of Forces (three rifle corps and nine artillery brigades from the 2nd Ukrainian Front), aviation was actively involved: on instructions from the ground, aircraft carried out pinpoint strikes. According to attack pilot Fyodor Gavrilov, who took part in those events, it was necessary to make six sorties a day:
"One day we were gathered in a briefing room and shown a street on a city map where we had to destroy a U-shaped building - there was a gun there that was hindering our troops. The bombing altitude was low. The attack aircraft were taking a risk, because it is difficult to dive in the city, but once you receive an assignment, you have to complete it. In the end, despite all the difficulties, we accomplished our task."
And on the Danube, the river flotilla operated with great intensity, landing troops, providing artillery support for the riverine flanks and ensuring crossings over the mighty river, which had become a kind of transport corridor. First of all, thanks to the actions of the reconnaissance sailors Viktor Kalganov from the 143rd Separate Battalion of Naval Infantry, the legendary Boroda.
They determined the depth of the fairways for the passage of armored boats and the landing sites, searched for and neutralized floating mines, and captured "tongues". It was this group that managed to carry out a daring raid on the building of the Danube Shipping Company, blow up the safe and take a map of the fairway from it. It depicted areas dangerous for movement along the river and the alternate routes used by the Germans.
A legendary woman, the commander of a platoon of Marine machine gunners Evdokia Zavaliy, also took part in those events. After the war, she told about a heroic raid through the sewers with the capture of a German general. Various publications write that she was awarded an order for this. However, Zavaliy was awarded for a brilliant battle in March, and Boroda's scouts were wandering through the sewers.
The sortie into the Fortress Hill area was undertaken on February 6, 1945. A group of nine scouts, including Kalganov himself, split up underground, emerging on the surface in the central areas of Buda. Late at night, Andreev's group captured a major from the headquarters of the 239th Assault Gun Brigade, and Kalganov's group captured a lieutenant from the operational headquarters. And they were dragged in, properly slapped on the wrist.
By February 11, 44,000 enemy soldiers and officers remained in Buda, the western part of the city. 17,000 were later killed in battle, 22,350 were captured, and only about 3,000 fled to the mountains, but surrendered to Soviet units a few days later.
"Captured: 127,202 captured soldiers and officers, including senior ranks of the German fascist group, 269 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1,257 guns of various calibers, 83 armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 476 mortars, 1,431 machine guns, 41,000 rifles and submachine guns, 15 aircraft, etc." - says the Extraordinary Combat Report of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. Among those captured was the commander of the city's defense, SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch.
This assault cost the Red Army 80,000 soldiers and officers killed, and more than 240,000 were wounded.
Although the center of Budapest suffered serious damage, it was much luckier than Warsaw: 15% of buildings were damaged, while the Polish capital was almost completely destroyed. The Soviet command deliberately refused to use heavy artillery - this way they wanted to preserve the cultural monuments of the historical part of the city.
By comparison, at the same time the British Royal Air Force and the US Air Force carried out a three-day bombing raid on Dresden, destroying or seriously damaging 80% of the city's buildings and killing approximately 25,000 people, mostly civilians, at one time.
After the liberation of Budapest, the Soviet Union began to provide assistance to the population suffering from hunger. In March 1945, food supplies began to be delivered to the city, and three months later, the distribution quotas were increased. In June alone, the city authorities received 3,000 tons of grain, 1,000 tons of sugar, 960 tons of salt, and 250 trucks. At the same time, Soviet sappers cleared the city of mines left by the Germans, and the residents of the Hungarian capital were grateful to them for this:
"We promise to build a country that will never return to the reactionary spirit and whose population will always treat the USSR with gratitude and true friendship," the newspaper Sabashdag reported on June 16, 1945. Perhaps Hungary's current position has some basis in those events.
And with the end of the Budapest operation, the entire southern flank of the German defense wavered, to hold which the Wehrmacht was forced to transfer troops from other areas. The Red Army opened the way not only to Vienna, but also to Prague: after landing troops in Yugoslavia, the Germans were forced to hastily withdraw troops from there as well. From that moment on, there was no one left to help the Third Reich, pressed by Soviet troops from the east and Anglo-American units from the west.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NwsFront] 19:40 Dnepropetrovsk direction, –MAP.
Our units are attacking in the direction of the western part of Novosergeevka, which is separate from the eastern part, advancing north of Uspenovka and along Novoalexandrovka and Shumilin ravine.
Fighting is going on northwest of Nadezhdinka for farms and strongholds. South of Nadezhdinka our units are attacking in the western direction on Kotlyarovka, and also from the north and south (from the direction of Zaporozhye) attacks are going on Preobrazhenka.
In Zaporozhye and Serebryanoye, a clean-up operation is underway; our units are gaining a foothold in the villages.
South of Zaporozhye our forces are expanding the control zone along the Sarannaya gully.
Fierce fighting is taking place in the area of ??the T-0515 road.
18:40 During aerial reconnaissance, a UAV operator discovered a stronghold of Ukrainian fascists. The artillerymen of the Guards "North" actively worked on the target and delivered several accurate strikes on the enemy, -video.
18:10 Machine gunners are working in the Zaporizhzhya direction North of the settlement of Rabotino, –video.
17:40 From 15.30 to 17.00 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed four Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles: two UAVs over the territory of the Belgorod region and two over the waters of the Black Sea.
16:25 Operators of combat drones with a system for dropping ammunition from the "West" group of troops destroyed the manpower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces units in the Khar'kov region, –video.
16:00 Crews of 152mm 2S19 self-propelled howitzers "Msta-S" destroyed combat armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery units, howitzers M-777, fuel and ammunition depots, as well as the Ukrainian Armed Forces manpower, -video.
15:20 During the cleanup of the village of Blagovatnoye, near Velikaya Novosyolka in the DPR, soldiers from Buryatia captured samples of foreign weapons. An attack aircraft with the call sign "Buryat" told about the trophies.
15:00 Rubicon drone operators destroyed the enemy's armored vehicles. The Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel were abandoned by their fellow soldiers, who fled, -video.
13:45 Russian assault units have advanced in Udachny along the northern part closer to the center. The assault on Udachny continues. The enemy is trying to hinder us with the massive use of drones.
The battles for the southern part of Kotlino continue. Zverevo, Leontovichi and the northern part of Peschanoye are being hit by artillery and drones from our side.
The enemy is trying to gain a foothold on the outskirts of Peschanoye,MAP.
13:00 Units of the "East" group of forces advanced on a broad front about one km further north and approached the Ukrainian Armed Forces' defensive line south of the settlement of Burlatskoye, which blocks the routes of advance along the western bank of the Mokrye Yaly River in the northern direction and the possibility of reaching the rear of the defensive lines to the west in the Zaporizhia region, -MAP.
11:55 "Thor" destroyed reconnaissance UAVs "Shark" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, –video.
During combat operations, servicemen from the Tor-M1 anti-aircraft missile system crew of the Center group destroyed the Shark unmanned aerial vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, providing cover for the offensive actions of units in the Krasnoarmeysk direction.
10:50 Information on strikes carried out by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Belgorod region over the past 24 hours:
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was shot down by the air defense system over the Alekseevsky municipal district. No consequences.
In the Belgorod district, the settlements of Malinovka and Oktyabrsky, the villages of Bessonovka, Krasny Khutor, Nekhoteyevka, Repnoye, Solntsevka, Ustinka and Yasnye Zori were subjected to four attacks, during which 22 rounds were fired, and attacks using 14 drones, six of which were shot down by the air defense system.
Four apartments in an apartment building, two social facilities, a manufacturing plant, six cars, three private houses, two outbuildings and a power line were damaged. An outbuilding was destroyed on the territory of one of the households.
In the Borisovsky district, the villages of Berezovka, Zozuli and Tsapovka were attacked using four drones, one of which was shot down. In the village of Berezovka, a civilian was injured as a result of a drone attack on a moving car. The man continues to receive outpatient treatment after receiving medical assistance. The car was damaged.
In the Valuysky Municipal District, attacks were carried out using six drones in the villages of Dolgoe, Karabanovo, Kolyhalino and Shelayevo, of which four were shot down.
In the village of Kolyhalino, as a result of a drone strike on a truck, two men were injured. The victims were hospitalized in the regional clinical hospital. One of them is in serious condition, and after surgery, he was transferred to the intensive care unit for dynamic observation. The condition of the second man is assessed as satisfactory. All necessary assistance is being provided. Two vehicles were damaged.
In the Volokonovsky district, the villages of Borisovka, Novoye, Tishanka and the Plotovka farm were shelled with five rounds of ammunition and attacked by four drones, two of which were shot down. On the Pogromets-Konovalovo-Davydkin highway, a married couple was injured as a result of an explosive device being dropped from a drone. After receiving medical assistance, the victims were released for outpatient treatment. A private house, an outbuilding, two cars and gas and electricity lines were damaged.
In the Grayvoronsky municipal district, 13 rounds of ammunition were fired during three attacks in the city of Grayvoron, the villages of Kozinka, Mokraya Orlovka and Novostroyevka-Pervaya, and attacks by five drones were recorded. In the village of Mokraya Orlovka, a woman was killed when a drone struck a car. Two apartment buildings, a private home and two cars were damaged.
In the Krasnoyarsk region, the village of Prilesye, the villages of Demidovka, Kolotilovka, Staroselye and Terebreno were subjected to five attacks, during which 27 rounds of ammunition were fired, and attacks by five UAVs, one of which was shot down. There were no consequences.
In the Shebekinsky municipal district, the city of Shebekino, the villages of Voznesenovka, Murom, Novaya Tavolzhanka, the hamlets of Maryino and Mukhin were subjected to three attacks, during which 10 rounds of ammunition were fired, and attacks by 15 drones, of which 11 were shot down. A private and four apartment buildings, eight cars and a power line were damaged.
9:55 In the Khar'kov direction, the fiber-optic FPV operators of the Antagonist group of the North Guard destroyed the equipment of Ukrainian soldiers, –video.
9:28 Fighters from one of the special units of the Russian National Guard discovered a camouflaged enemy vehicle in the Kursk region, –video.
8:15 Frontline report for the morning of 13.02.2025
Zaporizhzhya Front. There are no significant changes in the LBS here. Positional battles continue with the active use of long-range weapons on both sides, –CARDS.
Donetsk Front. West of Velyka Novosyolka, the Russian Armed Forces are fighting in the area of the road to Gulyai Pole, attacking from the south. There is progress. Also, in this area, the Russian Armed Forces are developing an offensive north of Novy Komar in the direction of Novoocheretovatoye.
The advance toward Constantinople continues, battles are underway for Andreyevka and its environs. There are also tactical successes of Russian troops in the Zelenovka area, where the Russian Armed Forces advanced along the bank of the Sukhie Yaly River. In the Pokrovsk direction, Russian troops drove the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of Vodyanoye Vtoroye.
Chasov Yar direction. Fighting continues in Chasov Yar. There is currently no information about any serious advances in the city. Long-range weapons of Russian troops are actively working on the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Kursk Region. Russian troops continue to put pressure on the Ukrainian Armed Forces' defense in several areas. Fighting continues in the Cherkasskaya Konopelka area, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces periodically attempt to advance in small groups. Fighting for Sverdlikovo also continues. The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to build up reserves in the Sumy Region and prepare them for redeployment to the Kursk Region.
8:03 The crew of the Mi-28NM helicopter, as part of a mixed tactical group, carried out an attack on enemy personnel and armored vehicles in the border area of the Kursk region.
The forward air controller confirmed the destruction of the target, -video.
[FoxBusinessNews] New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Texas, "a fully electronic equities exchange," is coming to Dallas.
The announcement came Wednesday, and stated the NYSE Chicago "will reincorporate in Texas and be renamed NYSE Texas," providing companies with a new venue to list their securities.
Several high-profile firms, including Elon Musk's Tesla, and SpaceX, have relocated their headquarters to Texas, attracted by the state's perceived favorable legal and regulatory environment.
"As the state with the largest number of NYSE listings, representing over $3.7 trillion in market value for our community, Texas is a market leader in fostering a pro-business atmosphere," Lynn Martin, president of NYSE Group, said in a statement.
A potential competitor is already in the works, as the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE), a new venture backed by financial giants including BlackRock, Citadel Securities and Charles Schwab, is targeting a 2026 launch after submitting paperwork late last month to operate as a national securities exchange, Reuters reported.
It will also be a fully electronic equity exchange headquartered in Dallas.
#3
Gotta wonder if Letitia James' persecution of Trump has any bearing on this, besides the economic benefits of Texas Taxes? If that bitch and Alvin Bragg can do it to Trump, they can do it to anybody.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2025 7:23
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What is their plan? Do they intend to hold the line, spraying the marching horde of Gazans with bullets as they come across the border, or will they wheel to the right and attempt to cross into Israel?
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Egyptian Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Abdel Meguid Sakr, has called on members of the ''Third Field Army'' to maintain the highest levels of combat readiness to ensure their ability to perform assigned tasks under any circumstances.
This directive was issued during the minister's participation on Tuesday in the primary phase of the Third Field Army's mobilization command center project, as reported by the Egyptian army front man, Brigadier General Gharib Abdel Hafez.
The Third Field Army plays a crucial role in securing the Sinai Governorate and safeguarding Egypt's borders with the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip.
This development follows rising concerns over US President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... 's recent statements about the potential displacement of Gaza residents to Egypt and Jordan. He declared last Monday that Paleostinians would not retain the right to return to Gaza under his proposed plan to control the strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025
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[11147 views]
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#1
Trump should let Egypt know that should they try anything funny the funding that the country has received annually as the result of the Kissinger effort will now be terminated. An Egypt, on the cusp of bankruptcy, could not afford to take the hit.
[SUDANTRIBUNE] Dozens of civilians have been killed in an attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on villages in Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... 's White Nile state, south of the capital Khartoum, the Al Jazirah Human Rights Observatory said on Wednesday.
The RSF, which has been retreating from Gezira state following a large-scale military offensive by the Sudanese army, has begun raiding villages in northern White Nile state that are devoid of military presence, the rights group said.
''Residents of the Na'ima administrative unit and dozens of villages in northern White Nile state were subjected to waves of barbaric raids by the RSF,'' the observatory said in a statement received by Sudan Tribune.
It said the RSF attacked the villages of Na'ima, al-Jamalab, Wad Shal'ai, Wad al-Haj, al-Hubayka, Hallat al-Tahir, al-Daradir, Abu 'Ajaj, Shabunat, Kambu Muhammad, al-Haj Musa, al-Damu and others.
The attack, which was carried out using military vehicles, resulted in dozens of deaths, looting of money and property, as well as forced displacement, humiliation of residents, enforced disappearances and hostage-taking, with the release of hostages being conditional on financial ransom, the statement said.
The Al Jazirah Observatory revealed that 30 citizens were killed in the al-Jamalab and Na'ima areas by RSF bullets. In contrast, 15 others drowned in the White Nile after boarding a boat to escape the group.
The observatory considered the violations committed by the RSF against the residents of the villages of northern White Nile state as war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide.
It called on the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... , humanitarian organizations, and the two parties involved in the conflict to open safe corridors for northern White Nile state citizens and deliver aid to them.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The chair of the State Duma Committee on Culture Olga Kazakova will have to sort out the situation with the mixed-up name of the murderer of Russian writer and poet Alexander Pushkin in an official government document. This was reported by the deputy of the lower house of parliament Oleg Smolin (CPRF).
“Vyacheslav Volodin, the Chairman of the State Duma, asked Olga Mikhailovna Kazakova, the Chairman of the Committee on Culture, to conduct such an examination and advise colleagues from the executive branch... either a gross error or blatant illiteracy was corrected,” he clarified to RIA Novosti.
The confusion with the name of the duelist Pushkin was revealed in an official government document during a plenary session of the State Duma. According to Smolin, the author of the document could have confused Georges Dantes with the hero of the novel "The Count of Monte Cristo" Edmond Dantes.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the US Embassy in Russia reminded about the anniversary of the birth of the poet Alexander Pushkin, but made a mistake with his name. The mistake was later corrected.
The Council for the Implementation of State Policy in the Sphere of Support of the Russian Language and Languages of the Peoples of Russia and the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation have begun joint work to create a single state line of school textbooks on the Russian language and literature.
[SUDANTRIBUNE] The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) renewed its attack on the Zamzam camp for displaced persons in North Darfur state on Wednesday, as the governor of the Darfur region, Minni Arko Minawi, called on those able to bear arms to defend the displaced. The fighting has prompted a desperate plea from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) for safe passage for civilians trapped in the crossfire.
The RSF launched a violent mostly peaceful attack on the camp on Tuesday, committing widespread abuses against civilians, burning down the main market and looting vehicles and property of the displaced. The attacking force was repelled by the army, the Joint Force and the Popular Resistance®.
Minawi, who oversees the joint force, said in a Facebook post: ''We call on all those who can bear arms to move to save our displaced people from the brutality of the terrorist RSF militia and to protect the land and honour.''
Minawi's call came as the RSF and Arab tribal militias launched a new attack on the Zamzam camp southwest of El Fasher for the second day in a row, leaving a large number of victims.
Eyewitnesses in El Fasher told 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... Tribune that they continued to hear the sounds of powerful explosions and fires in large parts of the Zamzam camp while thousands of displaced people continued to flee towards the city on foot in a difficult journey of displacement, some of them with gunshot wounds.
The Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees in the Darfur region accused the RSF of committing a massacre in its attack, which it described as treacherous, on the Zamzam camp.
The front man for the Coordination, Adam Regal, said that the streets of the camp had turned into death yards after being filled with blood and body parts while women and kiddies lived hours of terror, hunger and disappointment.
[SUDANTRIBUNE] Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... 's foreign ministry on Wednesday accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of escalating a campaign of genocide against civilians in Darfur, backed by regional allies, and decried the international community's silence.
The ministry said in a statement that the RSF had launched a brutal assault on the Zamzam camp for displaced people near El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, over the past two days, following months of indiscriminate artillery shelling of the camp that began in December 2024. The attacks have resulted in a large number of deaths among the displaced, the statement said.
''Amidst a disturbing international silence, the RSF, supported by its regional backers, has escalated its campaign of genocide against the majority of Darfur's citizens,'' the ministry said, in an apparent reference to the United Arab Emirates.
The ministry asserted that the RSF deliberately targeted specific tribal groups within the camp and prevented those trying to flee the violence from leaving, echoing the tactics used in attacks on Geneina and Ardamata in West Darfur in June 2023.
The RSF also burned markets and food and water storage facilities and forced the closure of primary healthcare centres in the camp, the ministry added. It reiterated previous accusations that the RSF had for weeks held up World Food Programme convoys destined for the camp before forcibly diverting them, actions it described as further evidence of genocidal intent.
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02/14/2025
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[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] New US forces have arrived at al-Ghaydah International Airport, which Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... has turned into a closed military base, coinciding with the arrival of additional forces from the ' ''Dera al-Watan'' factions, which are supported and funded by Saudi Arabia, local sources reported om Wednesday.
The information indicates that these reinforcements are part of a plan to tighten military control over Mahrah Governorate, while expanding the US role in overseeing the training of these sectarian militias.
Why?
The Saudi and American military presence in Mahrah faces widespread popular opposition, with the people of the governorate demanding withdrawal of all foreign forces, reopening of al-Ghaydah International Airport as a civilian airport, and ending the militarization of the governorate, which is considered one of the last 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... i areas away from direct conflict.
These actions come amid growing concerns about turning Mahrah into a battleground for regional and international military influence, while the people of the governorate continue their peaceful protests calling for the expulsion of all foreign forces and externally supported militias.
Expanding on yesterday’s report. I note that this might work in most of the Anglosphere, Europe, and of course in the Ummah, where marching and screaming imprecations is the regional sport. But in America there’s a new sheriff in town.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... Movement called on people worldwide to go out ''in mass demonstrations in all cities of the world and let the coming Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays be a global movement'' against the ethnic cleansing of Paleostine.
''We call on the masses of our people, our Arab and Islamic nation, and the free people of the world to go out in massive solidarity marches'' from Friday through Sunday to denounce ''the plans to displace our Paleostinian people from their land,'' Hamas said in a statement.
The Movement stressed that ''these marches come in support of our people's fixed and legitimate rights to defend their land, foremost among which is their right to freedom, independence, and self-determination.''
The Movement also expressed ''appreciation for all the global positions supporting, backing, and showing solidarity with our people in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip.''
The statement comes after Trump doubled down on his proposal for the US to take control of the Strip, push its inhabitants off their land into Jordan and Egypt, and rebuild the territory into the ''Riviera of the Middle East''.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
It's not Gaza that needs to be wiped out, it's Hamas.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] Protests have continued in Aden city, controlled by the Saudi-led coalition in southern 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... , for the second week in a row, coinciding with the continued decline in the value of the local currency, as the exchange rate of the US dollar approached 2,400 Yemeni riyals.
Or you lot could go to work, creating something of value that you can sell, the way the unbelievers must do if they want to eat.
Al Buraiqeh district, west of Aden, witnessed widespread protests on Wednesday, expressing anger over the severe economic deterioration and the poor basic services in the city, which has increased the suffering of the population, especially with the approach of the holy month of Ramadan.
Protesters raised banners demanding that the coalition-backed government improve living conditions and put an end to the continued decline of the Yemeni riyal, chanting slogans such as ''Oh Buraiqeh, wake up, no more coalition.''
They also accused the coalition of causing a state of systematic economic collapse and starving citizens by destroying basic services, especially electricity, due to the shortage of fuel to operate power stations.
Protesters confirmed their commitment to continuing their protests and escalating to achieve their demands, stressing their rejection of the coalition's presence in Aden and other southern regions.
These protests come amid stifling crises in Aden and the southern provinces, most notably power outages for more than 19 hours a day, rising prices of basic foodstuffs, and a new crisis related to domestic gas, without any government measures being taken to alleviate the suffering of citizens.
[FoxBusiness] President Trump has paused massive tariffs against Canada amid negotiations
A top Canadian lawmaker and candidate to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for a 100% tariff on Tesla vehicles in an effort to counter tariffs from President Donald Trump.
Chrystia Freeland worked as Trudeau's finance minister until she resigned in January, now running to replace Trudeau as prime minister. The thrust of her economic policy urges Canada to inflict "the biggest trade blow that the United States has ever endured."
"We are going to go after American stakeholders who matter to the White House," Freeland told CNN this week. "I have proposed a 100 percent tariff on all Teslas. I am calling on all the countries that are affected by this tariff to join us, and our retaliation will target specific Trump constituencies."
Freeland also targeted dairy farmers in Wisconsin, saying they are "important" to Trump.
"We're not going to let them sell their products in Canada anymore," she said.
Freeland's threats come after Trump issued pauses on the tariff plans against both Canada and Mexico. Both countries agreed to some capitulations in order to stave off the tariffs and give time for further negotiations.
Freeland's call echoes sentiment from other Canadian officials as well. Canadian lawmaker Jagmeet Singh proposed that Canada should "fight back" against Trump's tariff threat.
"Elon Musk has been very loud. Very vocal attacking our country. We're not going to let that stand. So if you are going to take a shot at us, we're going to fight back," Singh told reporters earlier this week. "So Elon Musk thinks he can tweet off whatever he wants. Yeah, we're going to put a tariff on him. I want that to be something that impacts him."
CNN host Boris Sanchez spoke to Singh on Monday, asking about how Canadians feel about Trump's talk of bringing Canada in as the 51st state. Singh noted that Canadians are known for being polite, but warned, "don‘t take our kindness for weakness" and said "hell no" to the proposal.
"I believe in being good neighbors and having good relationships, but I believe very firmly Donald Trump only understands force. He‘s acted as a bully in many circumstances, and now he‘s acting as an economic bully. The only language that bullies understand is the language of strength. So we have to show that we‘re ready to fight back," Singh replied. "We might be smaller. We might be up against a larger opponent, but it‘s going to hurt both of us. It‘s a bad thing to do. It‘s going to hurt Americans. It‘s going to hurt Canadians. We need to show that it‘s the wrong thing to do, and also show that we‘re ready to fight back and defend what we have."
It’s that important to continue allowing Chinese fetanyl and illegal aliens of all sorts to continue freely flowing south across their border? Or are they so busy cosplaying their anger that they completely skipped over that bit?
[GEO.TV] A three-year-old water buffalo has been named the tallest among his kind in the world, with a height of 6 feet and 0.8 inches from hoof to withers. "It's almost as big as Stacey Abrams!"
Named King Kong, the majestic buffalo, is a resident of the Ninlanee Farm in Nakhon Ratchasima and is almost 20 inches taller than the average adult water buffalo, the Guinness World Records stated.
Owner Suchart Booncharoen said it was expected of King Kong to grow to this massive size as he was huge at the time of his birth and that is why he was named after the iconic gorilla from the film, according to UPI.
An employee of the farm, Cherpatt Wutti, said despite King Kong being of an intimidating size, the buffalo is quite friendly and playful.
"He is very obedient. He loves to play around, he loves to be scratched, and running around with people," she said.
"He is really friendly and it's like having a big, powerful puppy on the farm," she added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025
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Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] Many people may find themselves in a severe identity conflict.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs on its Russian-language Telegram channel that an Israeli citizen who also holds Russian citizenship (regardless of whether he or she holds such citizenship and a Russian passport or merely has the right to Russian citizenship in accordance with Russian law) and who enters, resides, or will reside in the territory of the Russian Federation is subject to Russian laws and regulations, including decisions on conscription of citizens into the Russian army, as well as requirements for entry into and exit from the country.
According to local law, an Israeli citizen who holds Russian citizenship (even if he or she has never held a Russian passport) must enter and exit the Russian Federation using a Russian passport.
Thus, an Israeli citizen who has Russian citizenship and does not have a valid Russian passport will most likely be allowed to enter Russia, but his departure from the country may be delayed for the period required by local law to confirm his citizenship and issue a valid Russian travel document, and he will not be able to leave Russia until he receives a Russian travel document (internal and foreign passports), a process that can take many months.
And cost much money: some for fees, more to encourage functionaries to function less slowly.
Israeli citizens who may have Russian citizenship are advised to take this information into account, check and settle citizenship issues BEFORE arriving in Russia.
This also will cost money, and will be even harder to do from a distance.
Meanwhile, the number of Jews living in the Russian Federation has increased since the beginning of the "special military operation", including all those who left Russia after the escalation in Ukraine began, have returned.
All? No likely.
This was previously stated by the President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FJCR), General Director of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, Rabbi Alexander Boroda at a press conference dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
The head of the FEOR reported on the growth in the number of Jews, noting that "many people leave to obtain Israeli citizenship, and then return to Russia."
Some who go to Israel find it not to their taste for a variety of reasons that add up to it’s not like home. This is common among expats and émigrés of all nationalities — no matter where they come from or their destination — and says nothing whatsoever about Russia.
"There was some activity in leaving for Israel with the beginning of the Second World War, but a short period of time passed, and those who left, in fact, all returned.
There was activity in leaving for Israel, among other parts of the world, since the so-called First Aliyah or immigration wave (1881 - 1903). There were five aliyahs, the last ending when Israel became independent in 1948. There have been two aliyahs from the former Soviet Union since then, one starting in the 1970s and the second in the 1990s. A number have come to escape the current nonsense in Ukraine but I’m not sure it’s big enough to count as a proper wave. Most of the immigrants did not return home, though some went on to America or settled in Europe.
Then there were the events associated with October 7, with the open war with Hamas, and I would say that even more Jews came to Russia than left since the beginning of the Second World War," Boroda explained.
Oy vey. And they said that the best people of THIS country are leaving for their historical homeland...They traded Haifa and Tel Aviv for Moscow and St. Petersburg.
#1
I was talking to a russian once and he was telling my the Jewish Oblast is mostly inhibited by non-jewish Slavs. I was just double-checking this factoid, and yes - there's less than a 1000 jews left in the Oblast.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin.
[ColonelCassad] The SVR and the CIA will hold talks on Ukraine, as expected.
The head of the SVR, Naryshkin, reported that after the telephone conversations between Putin and Trump, the heads of the SVR and the CIA received instructions to intensify contacts on the subject of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine. Further, we can expect intensified negotiations between the Russian Foreign Ministry and the US State Department.
At these negotiations, intelligence officers and diplomats will discuss the preparation of the Putin-Trump negotiations in Saudi Arabia and potential parameters for ending the war.
In fact, this is what a discussion of Ukraine without Ukraine looks like.
Of course, negotiations do not guarantee a mandatory result, but judging by the hysteria in the West with cries of "betrayal of Ukraine" and "betrayal of democracy", the globalists suspect the worst.
At the same time, of course, we should not flatter ourselves ahead of time, we will still see what conditions the Americans will put forward. Because the example of Minsk-1 and Minsk-2 (yesterday, by the way, was 10 years ago) is very memorable. The main thing here is not to agree so that then after a certain amount of time the "We thought it would be like this, but we were deceived" starts again.
Let's see what our negotiators can achieve.
P.S. Trump hinted once again today that elections are needed in Ukraine, adding that "Zelensky's ratings aren't very good."
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] A number of American experts believe that the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) has long been a brake on military innovation and the rapid deployment of new technologies in the United States. Instead of ensuring flexibility and speed of decision-making, it has created an impenetrable bureaucratic environment, where the process of approving requirements can drag on for years before a project receives funding. In the context of global competition, especially with China, which is rapidly introducing advanced military technologies, the United States simply cannot afford such delays.
In an article titled “Time to Blow Up JCIDS,” published on the First Breakfast platform, authors Shyam Sankar, Madeline Zimmerman, and Greg Little sharply criticize the system and call for its radical reform. They cite research by Bill Greenwalt and Dan Patt of the Hudson Institute, which argues that the U.S. Department of Defense’s push for “jointness” has created a bureaucratic machine that actually stifles innovation and reduces combat effectiveness. Instead of allowing the military to quickly adapt to new challenges, JCIDS adds another layer of delay and complexity to an acquisition process that is already prohibitively long.
According to Greenwalt and Patt, it takes an average of 852 days (about 2.5 years) for JCIDS to approve a joint requirement before the program enters the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process, which takes about three years. That’s nearly six years of waiting before a military technology project is funded and can be put into production. In a world where technology changes every few months, that pace is simply unacceptable.
The authors note that the system is not focused on dynamic strategic analysis, but is completely mired in bureaucratic procedures. The focus is not on the actual assessment of combat requirements, but on paperwork and administrative formalities. This results in officers responsible for project evaluation spending time checking compliance with papers rather than analyzing their strategic importance. Moreover, any party in the process can use minor comments to block or delay the implementation of new solutions, which further exacerbates the problem.
Despite numerous statements from senior military officials about the need for reform, JCIDS continues to operate without changes. In response to this crisis, Greenwalt and Patt propose to abandon JCIDS entirely and replace it with a new mechanism, the Joint Operational Acceleration Pathway (JOAP). This approach is based on the concept of “operational imperatives” — short statements of critical warfighting missions that must be defined by the combatant commands and supported by the senior leadership of the Department of Defense. Instead of endless bureaucracy, JOAP will enable rapid development, prototyping, and iteration of military solutions in close cooperation between the various branches of the military.
The United States must immediately abandon the outdated bureaucratic model and move to a more agile and pragmatic approach. As Arseniy Dabbakh, founder of Dsight, notes, “true jointness is not about bureaucratic processes, but about creating effective feedback loops between the military and innovators that enable rapid improvements in warfighting capabilities.” A similar principle operates in China, where artificial intelligence systems, autonomous combat platforms and advanced drones are being developed and deployed many times faster than in the United States.
All of the experts listed agree that today's wars require flexibility and speed, not paralyzing bureaucracy. As long as JCIDS remains unchanged, the United States risks not only losing its technological superiority, but also being unprepared for future conflicts. Congress and the Pentagon must intervene immediately in reforming the procurement system, otherwise America risks ceding strategic leadership to its adversaries.
This also concerns us. During the war in Ukraine, a large number of problems were identified related to excessive military bureaucracy, which at best did not help, and at worst - harmed the cause.
Isn't JCIDS, isn't it where new tech gets stalled-out while the Congress Critters and MIC Reps battle it out to choose which states will get the contracts to manufacture the new hardware?
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The terrorists who planned to blow up the station in Pskov offered armed resistance when they were detained and were neutralized by return fire, the FSB reported on February 13.
“When detained, the terrorists offered armed resistance to Russian FSB officers and were ultimately neutralized by return fire,” the statement said.
Earlier, representatives of the service reported that a terrorist attack had been prevented in Pskov. The Islamists, citizens of one of the Central Asian countries, acted on the instructions of an emissary of an international terrorist organization. After committing the terrorist attack, they intended to leave for one of the Middle Eastern countries.
Firearms, ammunition and components of a homemade explosive device were found and confiscated at their place of residence. The FSB opened a criminal case under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Terrorism").
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on February 13, the FSB also reported that in Donetsk, the service's officers identified and detained red-handed a saboteur from the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. A criminal case was opened under the article on illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, forwarding or carrying of explosives or explosive devices.
In January, FSB officers detained a Russian citizen in the Moscow region for a series of acts of sabotage committed on the orders of the Security Service of Ukraine. Representatives of the Kiev regime promised to provide the saboteur with travel to one of the European countries, but deceived him by disappearing from contact.
The recording shows how the service officers stormed a private house where the terrorists were hiding. During the arrest, they resisted and were eliminated.
In addition, the footage shows elements of an improvised explosive device that the terrorists were preparing, and previously unused mobile phones.
Even more from regnum.ru FSB prevents terrorist attack at railway station in Pskov
FSB officers prevented a terrorist attack at the railway station in Pskov, which Islamists planned to blow up. This was reported on February 13 by the Public Relations Center (PRC) of the Federal Security Service.
"The perpetrators, on instructions from an emissary located abroad... intended to blow up the building of the railway station in Pskov. After the terrorist attack (they) expected to move abroad - to one of the countries of the Middle East," the report says.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Mikhail Zakharov
[REGNUM] On February 12, Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump held a telephone conversation. The conversation, which lasted about an hour and a half, was the first official contact between the leaders of the states after Trump's return to the White House.
Following the conversation, the presidents agreed to immediately begin negotiations to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and to organize a personal meeting. They also agreed that the time had come to work together.
Trump called Zelensky after his conversation with Putin and later made a number of comments, including noting that Ukraine might return some of its former territories, but would hardly return to the 1991 borders. The US president also said that the issue of Ukraine joining NATO should be removed from consideration.
Trump's call to the Kremlin is an indicator that very serious changes are coming, says American political scientist Malek Dudakov. According to him, the conversation shows the Trump administration's attitude toward dialogue with Russia, resolving the Ukrainian crisis and other issues.
"The attempt by Western countries to isolate Russia ended in failure, and now they are abandoning it. There is an understanding that we need to seriously talk to Russia on equal terms and discuss all controversial conflict issues," the expert adds in an interview with IA Regnum.
German political scientist Alexander Rahr sees a “very good sign” in the fact that there is a willingness to negotiate on Ukraine.
The fact that a specific meeting place for such negotiations has been named, Saudi Arabia, also suggests that we, the world, Europe are moving towards a peaceful settlement,” Rahr says in a conversation with the Regnum news agency. “And now the moment has really come when America, this is very important, is beginning to seriously reconsider its attitude towards the conflict in Ukraine and towards Russia.”
Associate Professor of the Department of European Law at MGIMO, Director of the Center for European Information Nikolai Topornin also believes that the very communication between the presidents can be regarded as the beginning of serious contacts related to an attempt to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.
As the expert says, Trump tried to find out the Russian president’s position, whether he was ready to agree to a quick, temporary truce.
"It turned out that Putin is not ready. Well, and in principle Trump learned that the Russian president is ready to work with the new US administration, is ready for a meeting. Trump even invited Putin to his office and is ready to discuss various settlement options," Topornin explains to IA Regnum.
Overall, according to the expert, “things have moved forward.”
US'S EUROPEAN ALLIES IN SHOCK
That happens a lot when President Trump is involved.
Shortly after Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump spoke, Bloomberg reported that European officials were stunned by the fact that the two presidents had spoken.
" This is a serious diplomatic step that key allies (Washington ) were not informed about," the publication said.
Now any negotiations will go over the heads of both European "hawks" and Ukrainian lobbyists: both European capitals and Kyiv will only inform about what the negotiators have come to after the fact, predicts Malek Dudakov.
“For Europeans, this is, of course, a complete shock, because they understand perfectly well that they will have to pay for the consequences of the Ukrainian crisis,” the Americanist adds.
According to him, the Trump administration will force them to spend money on post-war reconstruction of the rest of Ukraine and on purchasing weapons in the future. And since they have problems with money, there is a budget crisis almost everywhere, this will lead to further destabilization of the European project.
According to Alexander Rahr, it can be assumed that Trump sees Russia as a great power, similar to how the Americans spoke with Joseph Stalin about a new world order in Yalta in 1945. The expert adheres to the point of view that the main decisions - on the situation in Ukraine, in Europe, on NATO issues, on the division of zones of influence, as well as on the problem of restoring the Ukrainian economy - will be worked out directly between Trump and Putin, bypassing London and Paris.
" Naturally, the Europeans are horrified, shouting that such an agreement cannot be made without them. But, apparently, such a deal between Russia and America will be welcomed by the great powers - China, India, Turkey. Everyone is waiting for this," adds Rahr. "And Europe, of course, must ask itself a very painful question: how adequate is it still in this large world system?"
In turn, Nikolai Topornin predicts that Trump will still consult and interact with European allies and “will not resolve this conflict without the participation of European NATO countries, without the participation of the European Union.”
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE NEGOTIATIONS
Obviously, the negotiation process will start in the near future, believes Americanist Dudakov. At the same time, there are still quite serious differences in the negotiating positions between Russia and the United States, so most likely, the negotiation process will take some time before the parties can come to a result.
“There may not be any quick progress, but the fact that the process is starting shows that the dam has been broken,” the expert adds.
Dudakov admits that Trump will try to add the Middle Eastern issue to the Ukrainian issue during the negotiations – that which concerns the Gaza Strip and Iran – in order to immediately resolve the entire tangle of contradictions.
According to Alexander Rahr, the US is ready to stop NATO expansion to the east, which is very important for Russia. But at the same time, the political scientist notes, America is interested in business in Ukraine.
"It seems to me that there will be a division of economic influence zones. Russia will be given the territories where the Russian army is currently stationed, the east of Ukraine," says the source of the Regnum news agency. "And America will try to realize its economic interests in the territory of Western Ukraine."
However, there are no guarantees that Russia will agree to the US proposals; it is too early to talk about this. Moscow will continue to act in its own interests.
Nikolai Topornin reminds that Moscow is still waiting for specific proposals from Washington.
" There is a certain vision of the situation from the Russian side, what it is ready to do, what it is not ready to do. And it must understand to what extent its vision will correlate with the American vision," the expert says.
However, it is already good that "there is momentum": this has never happened with the Joe Biden administration. Now a window of opportunity has opened, the agency's interlocutor notes.
"Let's be honest: this does not mean that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow everything will be over, some compromise solutions will be found that will suit everyone," warns Topornin. "In my opinion, this will be a long process, it may take many months. But in any case, there is light at the end of the tunnel."
[AFRICANEWS] The incident occurred in Bahia El Aguila near the San Isidro Lighthouse. While kayaking with his father, Adrien was trapped in the whale's mouth for a few seconds before being let go. His father, Dell, captured the moment on video. Despite the terrifying experience, both returned to shore safely. Whale attacks on humans are rare in Chilean waters, though collisions with ships are on the increase.
What a story!
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025
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#1
His father, Dell, captured the moment on video
"I can always get another son. That video, tho' ..is priceless"
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2025 6:08
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#2
"Hey, Chili in my krill!" Barf!
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/14/2025 8:58
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#3
Assumed accident, of course, but got to wondering whether those rascals might not mess with a floating carcass. Swish-n-squish, see what shakes loose, and ptooey? Or how about "Just a pinch between cheek and gum?"
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/14/2025 21:42
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Top||
#9
An ancient beluga from Perm
Whose noggin was roomy and firm
Once went on a cruise
With some dissolute blues...
And she just reached the end of her term. At university, silly. Everybody knows you can't get pregnant like that. Especially at her age. [Quiet Flows the Don sung by W.C. Fields]
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
[AFRICANEWS] 
...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat 
Musk and DOGE were then accused of trying to dismantle an agency "from within by severely disrupting or crippling operations" while posting about their actions on X.
...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...
...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...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
[GEO.TV] A three-year-old water buffalo has been named the tallest among his kind in the world, with a height of 6 feet and 0.8 inches from hoof to withers. 
[AFRICANEWS] The incident occurred in Bahia El Aguila near the San Isidro Lighthouse. While kayaking with his father, Adrien was trapped in the whale's mouth for a few seconds before being let go. His father, Dell, captured the moment on video. Despite the terrifying experience, both returned to shore safely. Whale attacks on humans are rare in Chilean waters, though collisions with ships are on the increase. 
