[IsraelTimes] Case filed by three former hostages against US nonprofit says member of terror group who held them claimed to be working with ‘allies’ at universities and in the media
A Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... member who held Israelis hostage 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... told the captives that the terror group was coordinating with "allies" on college campuses and in the media, according to a lawsuit filed in US court on Friday.
The lawsuit was filed by former hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv. All three were taken from the Nova music festival in southern Israel during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel.
They were held in Gaza by Abdallah Aljamal, according to the lawsuit and the IDF. Aljamal was a writer for the Paleostine Chronicle, a news outlet run by the People Media Project, a US-based, tax-exempt nonprofit that is the focus of the lawsuit.
The hostages were rescued after 246 days in captivity in an IDF operation in June that also extracted hostage Noa Argamani, who was held separately nearby. Aljamal, his wife Fatima and his father Ahmad Aljamal were all killed during the hostage rescue mission. The family’s children survived.
Jan initially filed the lawsuit last year. The judge in the case filed a motion to dismiss the case last month, saying there was insufficient evidence to prove the defendants were aware that Aljamal was a Hamas operative. The judge allowed Jan to refile an amended complaint, however. The new complaint was filed on Friday, adding Kozlov and Ziv as plaintiffs. The lawsuit, backed by the National Jewish Advocacy Center, was filed in a federal court in Washington State, where the People Media Project is based.
The case argues that the Paleostine Chronicle provided Aljamal with a platform to "disseminate Hamas propaganda," providing material support to a US-designated terrorist organization, in violation of international law.
According to the amended complaint, Ziv said Aljamal "repeatedly expressed his hatred for the State of Israel and the United States," and told the hostages that "Hamas was in contact and actively coordinating with its affiliates in the media and on college campuses."
Aljamal told the hostages that "Hamas was going to ensure that the United States, as well as Jews and Israelis, are hated everywhere and that Hamas in Gaza was coordinating with its allies, including its allies in the media and on college campuses, to foment hatred against Israel and Jews," the complaint said.
There were no further details about the cooperation between the terror group and campus protesters or the media.
The Paleostine Chronicle was reporting about US campus protests around the same time, and in August 2024, published an article about Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal urging university students to protest.
Aljamal was previously a spokesperson for the Hamas-run labor ministry in Gaza. He was open about his affiliation with the terror group, appearing publicly in Arabic media as a spokesperson and posting Hamas graphics and photos of his son wearing a Hamas headband on social media. He began writing for the Paleostine Chronicle in 2019 while still serving as a spokesperson for Hamas’s labor ministry, according to the lawsuit.
Aljamal appears to have had foreknowledge of the Hamas attack. On October 7, at 5:43 a.m., immediately before the invasion, he posted a message on TikTok that said, "O God, guide us.. O God, grant us the victory that you promised.. O God, acceptance, acceptance, acceptance.. Your victory, O God," followed by a heart emoji.
Later in the day, Aljamal praised the attack on Facebook.
He began writing for the Paleostine Chronicle more frequently after the attack, sometimes publishing multiple articles per day, while he was holding the Israelis hostage and communicating with the outlet’s staff in the US.
His social media activity, personal correspondence with the defendants, and public position with Hamas meant that the defendants were aware of his connections to the terror group, the lawsuit argues.
Defendant Ramzy Baroud, the editor-in-chief of the Paleostine Chronicle and head of the People Media Project, and Aljamal are from the same town in Gaza and in 2017, co-authored an article for Al Jazeera.
Immediately after the hostage rescue, the Paleostine Chronicle changed Aljamal’s description on its website from "correspondent" to "contributor," then later described him as a "freelance contributor" writing on "a voluntary basis." It also eulogized him in an article after his death, calling him a "well-known journalist murdered in Gaza," and denied that he had been holding the hostages.
The hostages were aware that Aljamal was communicating with terror groups, recording footage and writing about their own captivity, the complaint said. All three were "terrorized" during their captivity, subjected to arbitrary punishment, physical threats, and physical and psychological abuse, the lawsuit said.
The outlet’s tax-exempt status means US taxpayers were subsidizing Hamas propaganda published to a US audience, the lawsuit argues, adding that the salary he was paid also helped him imprison the hostages.
The Paleostine Chronicle and lawyers for the defendants did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
#1
In a totalitarian system where ideological deviation carries the death penalty any living journalist is a regime operative because otherwise he'd be silent and alive or silent because he'd be dead.
Posted for the background on the current conflict, dear Reader. The NGO is not really the point for us at Rantburg.
[IsraelTimes] Africa 3030’s Israeli American founder Ariel Kedem fears third Congolese civil war, warns the severely malnourished children his group is feeding could die in days if not cared for
The Israeli head of an NGO that helps severely malnourished children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... says he fears for the future of his project and for the eastern region where it operates after Rwanda-backed rebels swept through earlier this month.
Africa 3030, set up a decade ago, runs a rural center 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) southwest of Kavumu in the country’s eastern South Kivu province, where it feeds some 200 severely malnourished children between ages 1 and 10.
Last Friday, following the takeover of Kavumu by the rebel March 23 Movement, which goes by the name M23, the NGO sent its staff and families home and hid its vehicles for fear they would be stolen.
"There’s a foreign-gang that is officially the new boss in town, and nobody knows what will happen next," said Ariel Kedem, founder and chairman of Africa 3030.
He added that the children being cared for by the project are all "severely malnourished and fragile" and that "two or three days without our support could be lethal."
Africa 3030 provides these children with daily meals and spirulina cookies made of home-grown dried spirulina algae, a protein, mineral and vitamin-rich superfood.
It funds scholarships that enable 80 children to attend schools and has given micro-loans to over 150 women to help them start small businesses.
The region, which borders Rwanda, has been in turmoil since 1996 following the 1994 Rwanda genocide in which some 800,000 mainly Tutsi citizens were murdered by their Hutu neighbors and the rise to power in Rwanda of Tutsi military leader Paul Kagame, who became President in 2000.
Kagame sponsored two wars in the DRC, during which over six million people died, ostensibly to protect Tutsi populations there. Now, there are fears of a third civil war following M23’s rapid takeover of the eastern Kivu provinces, from the northern capital, Goma, to the southern one, Bukavu.
Critics say the real reason for the instability is the region’s mineral wealth, mined under the supervision of countless militia groups, often using child labor, and smuggled into Rwanda, a darling of the West.
Eastern DRC is rich in copper, cobalt, tin, tantalum, and lithium, all of which are used, for example, in manufacturing cell phones.
Africa 3030 was now "trickling the children back," Kedem told The Times of Israel Wednesday from his home in central Kfar Saba.
But he went on, "Renegade soldiers could come and take our generators or solar panels. We have a couple of vehicles in the city that we’re hiding, as M23 has been looting vehicles from Goma to Bukavu and taking them into Rwanda. Our land cruiser is a lifeline, used to help staff move around, bring in supplies, everything."
"Our center has equipment that draws curiosity," he continued. "Stray soldiers can run by and do whatever they want. Ten days ago, Congolese soldiers who had fled battle formed a gang and walked along the main drag of our village at night, harassing people for money and killing more than nine of them."
With the banks closed, Kedem said, "There’s no money, no local or regional government, no social services; food prices are rocketing, food is becoming more scarce, and it’s a question of days, maybe weeks before people will have nothing to eat or drink, children will be sick, and they’ll get angry. I don’t see anything that M23 can do other than start shooting people. These are plain soldiers supposed to take over government. They don’t know how."
He added, "I’m pretty sure we will find whatever it takes for our community. But if it becomes more dangerous, and there are curfews and the kids aren’t allowed to come to the center and movement becomes restricted, these kids can die."
The battles for Eastern Congo have seen reports of widespread violence, looting, and rape by M23 and Congolese government fighters.
On Tuesday, the UN human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... office confirmed cases of summary execution of children by M23 in Bukavu and recruitment of child soldiers. It condemned attacks on hospitals and humanitarian warehouses and threats against the judiciary.
"Everyone has an interest in Eastern Congo," said Kedem. "The biggest fear is of a third Congo war."
SHOCKING HIDDEN CAMERA CONFESSION: LA Mayor Official Admits Office Knew Wildfires Were Coming, Claims There Was “Nothing They Could Do,” Blames Residents Who “Lost Everything”; LADWP Project Manager Confesses the Pacific Palisades Reservoir Was Empty for "A Year"
Links to searchable databases for corporate donations to BLM and LGBT+ groups can be accessed at the link. They’ve done good work.
[Federalist] American corporations and their government regulators serve radical left-wing interests rather than the common good.
It has become clear that Crooked Hillary Clinton ...former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as The Thing That Wouldn't Go Away. Politix is not one of her talents, but it's something she keeps trying to do... ’s infamous pejorative, her "basket of deplorables," was merely a first-rate projection. The real deplorables have all along been sheltered by her ilk, the Deep State, and its corporate partners; and the Trump Administration is only just starting to shine a light on their malfeasance.
For the past few weeks, the nascent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has begun to uncover how the Left has transformed federal agencies and institutions into tools for political patronage. Elon Musk and his team’s most prominent discovery so far, at least in the public imagination, is the odious behavior of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), an agency that exists ostensibly to project "soft power" abroad but that, in actuality, spends billions of taxpayer dollars each year to sustain a large network of subversive, left-wing non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
This NGO Archipelago serves, among other things, to advance the Left’s ideological agenda extra-legislatively and to afford its constituents stable employment and a degree of material comfort, neither of which they would in a well-ordered society be likely to obtain.
Government agencies like USAID are not the only benefactors of the NGO Archipelago. Indeed, it is possible that they are not even its most prominent benefactors. Both private and corporate philanthropy are essential to its functioning, and it is with an eye toward the latter that we must next turn our attention.
Some organizations have already begun to do the legwork. The Claremont Institute’s BLM Funding Database details nearly $100 billion of the more than $300 billion corporations pledged to the Black Lives Matter movement. And, more recently, the Project to Expose Corporate Activism (PECA) published a database that describes with granularity the LGBT giving and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives of nearly 1,600 companies, including all Fortune 500s and many federal contractors.
Significantly, PECA’s database elucidates the colossal scale of the LGBT activist network, which is just one facet of the Archipelago. The network is comprised of more than 2,500 individual causes, and according to one PECA researcher, the combined assets and revenues of the fifty wealthiest LGBT causes rival those of conservative causes across all issues.
DOGE generated headlines when it uncovered shocking examples of grift, such as spending on sex changes in Guatemala and DEI in Serbia. Just as USAID spends taxpayer money to advance the pet projects of the international Left, corporate America diverts shareholder wealth to advance equally if not more radical causes. (While many of the causes in the LGBT database appear relatively benign at first glance, closer examination reveals that the vast majority support "transing" minors and normalizing unhealthy behavior, among other things.)
It is difficult to reduce PECA’s database to a shortlist of worst offenders. However,
the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... the following examples provide a representative sampling of what’s contained within:
Details at the link.
Therefore, to target only one of the pillars supporting the NGO Archipelago would be a mistake. In addition to DOGE’s important efforts, the Right must take significant action against corporations, including their DEI outfits and identity-based resource groups. Furthermore, the SEC should revoke all rules pertaining to the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) movement. Though unfettered capitalism is not the be-all and end-all for human flourishing, at this moment, social and environmental regulations serve radical left-wing interests rather than the common good.
Lastly, greater scrutiny should be paid when determining which NGOs are granted official recognition, including tax exemptions and other benefits. Much of what constitutes philanthropy today little resembles philanthropy of the past or charity as understood by the public. The time is ripe for reform; those interested should take advantage of DOGE’s findings and PECA’s data to make their case.
[JustTheNews] ICE officials on Thursday said the 177 migrants colonists are being returned to Venezuela
...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeded places like Honduras and El Salvador. A significant proportion of the populace refugeed to Colombia and points south... , which is part of the administration's arrangements with the Colombian, Venezuelan and El Salvadoran governments to take in people deported by the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on Thursday transported over 100 illegal Venezuelan migrants colonists from its Guantanamo Bay detention center, in Cuba, to Honduras for deportation.
President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... signed an executive order last month to have the departments of Defense and Homeland Security expand Guantanamo Bay to hold thousands of illegal immigrants colonists coming from the U.S. Former President George W. Bush's administration established the center after the Sep. 11, 2001, terror attacks to detain terror suspects.
The Trump administration previously stated that the location would be a transitional place for criminal illegal immigrants colonists who were in the process of being deported, in order to get them off the U.S. mainland faster.
ICE officials on Thursday said the migrants colonists are being returned to Venezuela, which is part of the administration's arrangements with the Colombian, Venezuelan and El Salvadoran governments to take in people deported by the U.S.
"ICE Air Operations transported 177 Venezuelan illegal aliens from Guantanamo Bay to Honduras today for pickup by the Venezuelan government, which returned them to their home country," ICE wrote on X, confirming reports of transfers.
The deportations come a week after two Venezuelan flights took another 190 illegal migrants colonists directly from the United States back to their homeland.
The administration has put an emphasis on deporting illegal migrants colonists who have committed crimes or have exhausted all legal appeals for remaining in the U.S. This includes nearly 1.5 million migrants colonists who had final removal orders as of Nov. 24, including more than 22,000 Venezuelans, according to the News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
#2
Listening to NPR drive-time yesterday (All Trump - All the Time!), the little voices were going on about the poor Venezuelan illegals that were being sent to Gitmo where they were no doubt destined to suffer various fates worse than death.
By the end of the piece, the newsies admitted all but one of the exportees were already back in Venezuela, but it was still awful and horrible and stuff.
#3
^ Masochist much? I listen to talk radio (mostly
conservatives), except for Hannity. Can't stand him
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2025 20:08
Comments ||
Top||
#4
^ But Comrade Frank, it is a Citizen's duty to hold the proper opinions. Without daily guidance from National People's Radio, the People would be left to think for themselves.
I listen to NPR to know what the Message of the Day is, what story they are pushing now. Think of it as gathering intelligence, like reading the Daily Mail but more shrill, and with "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me" instead of celebrity T&A.
It could be masochism, as I'm starting to enjoy the hysteria and weeping. Best taken in small doses though. There is only so much whining a man can stand.
[TheBlaze] When Donald Trump won the election last November, like many conservatives, Liz Wheeler feared that we’d see political violence in the streets — the same kind of Democrat-funded violence that fueled the Summer of Rage in 2020.
Surprisingly, the streets were quiet following Trump’s victory.
But it wasn’t because some on the left didn’t want to fund political violence. They simply couldn’t.
“Kamala Harris drained the war chest of the Democrat operatives; she spent all of the DNC's money, and they simply didn't have any money left to pay these people, who are not grassroots activists. …They're paid Democrat operatives,” says Liz.
Plan B, as we’ve all seen, is to wage lawfare.
“As President Trump issues executive order after executive order, reclaiming his rightful role as chief executive of the United States, the left is trying to stop him” by “filing lawsuit after lawsuit, getting judges who have been captured by the radical left and now serve as nothing more than activists on a bench to issue nationwide injunctions,” Liz explains.
“The question of the day is who is behind this effort to stop President Trump.”
His name, Liz says, is Norman Eisen. He’s an attorney and a former United States ambassador to the Czech Republic.
Most importantly, though, “he’s a Democrat operative” who is “buddies with the architects and the lawyers that staged the electioneering of the 2020 presidential election,” says Liz.
“Norm’s group is the one behind the lawsuits which are leading to the nationwide injunctions against President Trump's executive orders.”
To get the scoop on Norm Eisen and his mastermind plotting to thwart the Trump administration, Liz invites legal scholar Dr. John Eastman and journalist and veteran White House correspondent Fred Lucas on “The Liz Wheeler Show.”
According to Dr. Eastman, these nationwide injunctions issued by lower-court judges are illegal.
“The lower courts are courts of limited jurisdiction,” he says. They're limited by both “geography” — that is, districts — and by “the key provision in Article III, the judicial article, of our Constitution,” which says “that they can only address cases or controversies.”
“So they can't decide and impose obligations on people that are not parties to the case before them,” Dr. Eastman explains, adding that what these lower courts are doing right now in regard to President Trump is so outrageous, it’s bound to be addressed by the Supreme Court soon.
And Norm Eisen is behind it.
Fred Lucas says that Eisen “has a large web of dark-money nonprofits that are engaged in lawfare largely targeted at Trump.”
“His coalition is actually part of a larger coalition that's being run by Marc Elias called Civil Service Strong, which is largely focused on defending the deep-state employees,” says Lucas.
A peek into Eisen’s past puts the puzzle pieces in place. Not only was he “part of the team that impeached President Trump in 2019,” but he was also “part of the Obama White House,” where he served first as ethics czar and then ambassador to the Czech Republic. Prior to that, “he was one of the founding members of [Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington] … the same organization that last year tried to get Trump kicked off the ballot in various states,” including Colorado.
To learn more about Norm Eisen’s shady history and his diabolic plan to undermine President Trump’s agenda, watch the episode above.
[Rudaw] Following the exhumation process and identification, the remains of 32 Yazidi victims of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) will be returned to Shingal (Sinjar) on Friday for burial.
"After their arrival on Friday, a religious ceremony will be organized to honor the remains on Saturday. Official death certificates will be handed over to their families. On Sunday, a funeral will be held to bury them," Kheiri Ali, director of the Shingal-based Petricor Organization for Human Rights, told Rudaw on Thursday.
Nineteen of the victims are from Kojo village while the rest come from Qne and Snune villages, he said.
ISIS murderous Moslems seized control of Shingal in August 2014 and committed genocide. In the space of a few weeks, an estimated more than 5,000 people were killed, mainly men and older women. As of February 2025, 93 mass graves have been identified, 58 of which have been uncovered and more than 700 remains have been retrieved. The identity of 242 victims were previously verified through DNA tests. There are yet 500 remains in Baghdad whose identities need to be confirmed before returning them to Shingal for burial.
Although the excavation of the mass graves started in 2019 after announcing total military victory over ISIS, the process has been slow as there are 35 more graves that need to be exhumed. Ali said that identification of the remains has been slow because of difficulties getting DNA samples from the many Yazidis who fled Iraq during or after ISIS atrocities, as well as the large numbers of remains that the forensic department is handling after exhuming other mass graves, including those associated with Saddam Hussein’s genocidal Anfal campaign against the Kurds.
Afghans are keeping a close eye on this new situation.
[KhaamaPress] The first flight carrying deported migrants colonists from the United States landed in Costa Rica on Thursday, as part of an agreement between the Costa Rican government and the administration of Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... . Among the migrants colonists on board, there were nine Afghan citizens.
According to Rooters, the first group of deported migrants colonists arrived in Costa Rica on Thursday. The flight carried 135 migrants colonists from various countries, as a result of the agreement between the Costa Rican government and the Trump administration.
Costa Rican immigration authorities have stated that of the 135 migrants colonists, nine are Afghan citizens. Upon landing in Costa Rica, the migrants colonists underwent initial screenings, and the authorities will decide on their residency status.
Upon resuming his presidency, Donald Trump imposed strict immigration policies, including plans to deport migrants colonists from the United States.
Recently, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristjen Neilsen, announced a multi-million dollar advertising campaign against undocumented immigrants colonists. In a warning message posted on X, she urged undocumented migrants colonists to "leave the U.S. immediately."
Costa Rica is one of the countries that, as part of its agreement with Washington, accepts some of these migrants colonists. This measure is part of broader U.S. policies aimed at controlling the influx of migration into the country.
It is also noteworthy that the U.S. government deported several Afghan and Iranian citizens on a flight to Panama. Additionally, the U.S. has announced that some undocumented criminal migrants colonists have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.
These deportation efforts are part of a larger strategy by the U.S. to curb illegal immigration. The move reflects a continued commitment to the harsh immigration policies under the Trump administration, with countries like Costa Rica playing a key role in hosting deported migrants colonists as part of the broader migration control initiatives.
#1
Have to wonder how a relatively weak country is going to deal with these mokes once they get their footing and start acting out. May be planting tumors in our own neighborhood.
[VOAAFRICA] The United States has firmly rejected allegations that the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, is funding Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in Nigeria. This followed an allegation made by a US congressman, Scott Perry, that USAID has been funding Boko haram and other international terrorist organizations. Our reporter in Abuja, Nigeria has more
#4
Come on, man! We are not funding terrorist groups. We are funding the groups that fund terrorist groups. Do you think we are such amateurs that we would not use cut-outs?
Besides, this is humanitarian aid which, because money is fungible, means the Bozos can save their cash for durable goods like guns and bullets.
[ShabelleMedia] Somali government forces are working to fully secure areas in the Middle Shabelle region that were attacked by al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... gunnies on Thursday, as the situation remains tense in the aftermath of the assault.
A statement from the Somali government released on Thursday indicated that up to 130 al-Shabaab gunnies were killed by government forces in the areas where the attack occurred. However,
a woman is only as old as she admits... independent sources have not confirmed these casualty figures, and there has been no independent verification of the government’s claims.
Locals in the affected areas report that tensions remain high, with festivities still ongoing between the Somali military and al-Shabaab fighters. The areas, which include El-Ali, El-foldheere, al-Kowthar, and Daru-nimca villages in the Middle Shabelle region, have been the site of intense fighting in recent days.
According to witnesses, there is still a significant military presence in these areas, with forces reportedly on high alert in preparation for further festivities.
The government has deployed additional forces to help secure the region, including a helicopter, which was publicly displayed by the authorities. The government claimed the helicopter played a role in the operation, though the specifics of its involvement remain unclear.
And other times — almost all of the time — the Taliban work with and protect Al Qaeda, at least, out of a shared world view, mutually supporting goals, and two generations of intermarriage at all levels. I need to see Secretary of State Rubio’s full statement in context before believing that this conveys his meaning and intent.
[ToloNews] 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... said that the Islamic Emirate has, in some instances, cooperated with Washington in eliminating ISIS and al-Qaeda.
In an interview with an American media outlet, he said that a lack of control over these groups in Afghanistan gives them the opportunity to expand their activities.
Marco Rubio stated: "I think any time you have governing spaces that are contested, that you don’t have a government that has full control of every part of the territory, it creates the opportunity for these groups."
The US Secretary of State also stressed that America's concerns are not limited to Afghanistan, and mentioned Syria as another security threat.
"In my opinion, this is a baseless claim because, over the past three and a half years, the current government has proven its authority in Afghanistan and has not lost control over even a small portion of its territory. They should clarify which part of the country is outside the government’s control," said Moeen Gul Samkanai, a political analyst.
"These are just media statements. So far, they have not provided any global proof, nor does such proof exist, to suggest that Afghanistan poses a threat to the world or its neighboring countries," said Hewad Zazi, another political analyst.
Meanwhile,
...back at the comedy club, Boogie was cracking himself up, but nobody else seemed to be getting the non-stop jokes... in a recent statement, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior told TOLOnews that ISIS has been suppressed in Afghanistan and that there are no concerns regarding threats from this group.
“So I think returning us to that, now you can have a framework by which you analyze not just diplomacy but foreign aid and who we would line up with and the return of pragmatism. And that’s not an abandonment of our principles. I’m not a fan or a giddy supporter of some horrifying human rights violator somewhere in the world. By the same token, diplomacy has always required us and foreign policy has always required us to work in the national interest, sometimes in cooperation with people who we wouldn’t invite over for dinner or people who we wouldn’t necessarily ever want to be led by. And so that’s a balance, but it’s the sort of pragmatic and mature balance we have to have in foreign policy. “
#1
"By the same token, diplomacy has always required us and foreign policy has always required us to work in the national interest, sometimes in cooperation with people who we wouldn’t invite over for dinner or people who slaughtered 3000 Americans and attacked the US NCA in a war crime committed on US soil we wouldn’t necessarily ever want to be led by."
"We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them. "
George W. Bush, September 11th 2001
"These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate."
George W. Bush, Statement To Joint Session Of Congress September 20th 2001
Qatar harbors terrorists and the West doesn't hold Qatari leadership accountable in any way.
The Taliban did not hand over anyone. They are in power and in possession of a huge arms cache courtesy of the US and NATO's scary Article 5.
During the 20 years of Western presence the West has paid danegeld and imported elements of the Afghan's alien tyranny into Western politics and culture, including specifically Afghan but nonetheless especially revolting practices like Bacha-Bazi / Teen Drag Queens, reversing Stalin's statement that "Everyone imposes his own system as far as his army can reach."
[IsraelTimes] British broadcaster says ‘Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone’ to be unavailable until ‘due diligence’ is conducted; narrator’s links to Hamas not disclosed
The BBC on Friday removed a documentary about the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... war from its online streaming service after it emerged that the child who is a central figure in the film is the son of a Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... deputy minister, a fact that was at no time disclosed in the movie.
"Gaza: How To Survive a War Zone" is narrated by Abdullah al-Yazouri, a 14-year-old boy. The Telegraph reported earlier this week that the teen’s father is Ayman al-Yazouri, deputy minister of agriculture in the Strip’s Hamas government.
"’Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone’ features important stories we think should be told — those of the experiences of children in Gaza," the BBC said in a statement.
"There have been continuing questions raised about the program and in light of these, we are conducting further due diligence with the production company," it said. "The program will not be available on iPlayer while this is taking place."
After the narrator’s Hamas connections were revealed, the British network initially said the film would remain available to view with "some details" added. The broadcaster later succumbed to widespread criticism and removed the film.
Former BBC One controller Danny Cohen led the criticism of the program, questioning whether the BBC paid Hamas members during the filming, the Guardian reported.
"[The] documentary fails the most basic of program standards," Cohen said on Friday, according to the Guardian. "Links to the terrorist group Hamas were not disclosed"
"It appears that children have been manipulated by terrorists," he added.
The younger al-Yazouri’s Hamas connections were initially revealed on X by journalist David Collier.
The Guardian quoted Collier describing al-Yazouri "as the child of Hamas royalty."
The elder al-Yazouri’s LinkedIn profile says he has been deputy agriculture minister in Gaza since July 2021 and before that worked as an assistant to the deputy minister in Gaza’s education ministry. Hamas controls all government institutions in Gaza.
After Collier revealed the film’s Hamas connections, a letter signed by 45 prominent Jewish journalists and members of the media calling for the program to be taken down was published.
"Given the serious nature of these concerns, the BBC should immediately postpone any broadcast repeats of the program, remove it from iPlayer and take down any social media clips of the program until an independent investigation is carried out and its findings published with full transparency for license-fee payers," the letter said.
The International Centre of Justice for Paleostinians, a pro-Paleostinian NGO, condemned the criticism of the documentary, saying that despite Ayman al-Yazouri being "a civil servant in Gaza’s Agriculture Ministry," that "does not negate Abdullah’s lived experience as a child in Gaza nor does it invalidate his testimony."
The Guardian reported that British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she would inquire into how the documentary was sourced, adding: "These things are difficult and I do want to acknowledge that the BBC take more care than most broadcasters ... They’ve been attacked for being too pro-Gaza, they’ve been attacked for being anti-Gaza."
The UK public broadcaster has been criticized for its refusal to describe Hamas as terrorists, even though the group’s military wing is proscribed by the United Kingdom as such, and even after the widespread documentation of its systematic targeting of civilians on October 7, 2023.
The October 7 massacre saw Hamas-led Lions of Islam kill some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnap 251.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 48,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,000 Lions of Islam inside Israel on October 7.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.
[IsraelTimes] Hadi Matar has no reaction to the verdict except to mutter ‘Free Palestine’ as he is lead out of court; still faces Federal terrorism charges
A New Jersey man was convicted Friday of attempted murder for stabbing author Salman Rushdie multiple times on a New York lecture stage in 2022.
Jurors, who deliberated for less than two hours, also found Hadi Matar, 27,
...Lebanese-American reared un-Islamicly in New Jersey by a single mother. He went to Hezbollahstan a few years ago to visit his dad and came back primed for Shiite jihad. Despite failing to kill Mr. Rushdie, the government of Iran has awarded the misceant a full quarter acre of farmland to show their appreciation…
guilty of assault for wounding a man who was on stage with Rushdie at the time.
Matar ran onto the stage at the Chautauqua Institution where Rushdie was about to speak on Aug. 12, 2022, and stabbed him more than a dozen times before a live audience. The attack left the 77-year-old prizewinning novelist blind in one eye.
Rushdie was the key witness during seven days of testimony, describing in graphic detail his life-threatening injuries and long and painful recovery.
Matar, sitting at the defense table, looked down but had no obvious reaction when the jury delivered the verdict. As he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, he quietly uttered, "Free Paleostine," echoing comments he has frequently made while entering and leaving the trial.
The judge set sentencing for April 23. Matar could receive up to 25 years in prison.
His public defender, Nathaniel Barone, said Matar was disappointed but also well-prepared for the verdict.
District Attorney Jason Schmidt played a slow-motion video of the attack for the jury Friday during his closing argument, pointing out the assailant as he emerged from the audience, walked up a staircase to the stage and broke into a run toward Rushdie.
"I want you to look at the unprovoked nature of this attack," Schmidt said. "I want you to look at the targeted nature of the attack. There were a lot of people around that day but there was only one person who was targeted."
Assistant public defender Andrew Brautigan told the jury that prosecutors have not proved that Matar intended to kill Rushdie. The distinction is important for an attempted-murder conviction.
"You will agree something bad happened to Mr. Rushdie, but you don’t know what Mr. Matar’s conscious objective was," Brautigan said. "The testimony you have heard doesn’t establish anything more than a chaotic noisy outburst that occurred that injured Mr. Rushdie."
Matar had with him knives, not a gun or bomb, his attorneys have said previously. In response to testimony that the injuries were life-threatening, they noted that Rushdie’s heart and lungs were uninjured.
Schmidt said while it’s not possible to read Matar’s mind, "It’s foreseeable that if you’re going to stab someone 10 or 15 times about the face and neck, it’s going to result in a fatality."
Rushdie, 77, was the key witness during testimony that began last week. The Booker Prize-winning author told jurors he thought he was dying when a masked stranger ran onto the stage and stabbed and slashed at him until being tackled by bystanders. Rushdie showed jurors his now-blinded right eye, usually hidden behind a darkened eyeglass lens.
Schmidt reminded jurors about the testimony of a trauma surgeon, who said Rushdie’s injuries would have been fatal without quick treatment.
He also slowed down the video showing Matar approaching the seated Rushdie from behind and reaching around him to stab at his torso with a knife. Rushdie raises his arms and rises from his seat, walking and stumbling for a few steps with Matar hanging on, swinging and stabbing until they both fall and are surrounded by onlookers who rush in to separate them.
Rushdie is seen flailing on the ground, waving a hand covered in bright red blood. Schmidt freezes on a frame showing Rushdie, his face also bloodied, as he’s surrounded by people.
"We’ve shown you intent," Schmidt said.
The recordings also picked up the gasps and screams from audience members who had been seated to hear Rushdie speak with City of Asylum Pittsburgh founder Henry Reese about keeping writers safe. Reese suffered a gash to his forehead, leading to the assault charge against Matar.
From the witness stand, institution staff, and others who were present on the day of the attack pointed to Matar as the assailant.
Stabbed and slashed more than a dozen times in the head, throat, torso, thigh, and hand, Rushdie spent 17 days at a Pennsylvania hospital and more than three weeks at a New York City rehabilitation center. He detailed his long and painful recovery in his 2024 memoir, "Knife."
Throughout the trial, Matar often took notes with a pen and sometimes laughed or smiled with his defense team during breaks in testimony. His lawyers declined to call any witnesses of their own and Matar did not testify in his defense.
Public Defender Nathaniel Barone said Matar likely would have faced a lesser charge of assault were it not for Rushdie’s celebrity.
"We think that it became an attempted murder because of the notoriety of the alleged victim in the case," Barone told news hounds after testimony concluded Thursday. "That’s been it from the very beginning. It’s been nothing more, nothing less. And it’s for publicity purposes. It’s for self-interest purposes."
A separate federal indictment alleges that Matar, of Fairview, New Jersey, was motivated to attack Rushdie by a 2006 speech in which the leader of the terror group Hezbollah endorsed a decades-old fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death. Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued the fatwa in 1989 after the publication of the novel "The Satanic Verses," which some Moslems consider blasphemous.
Rushdie spent years in hiding. But after 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... announced that it would not enforce the decree, he had traveled freely over the past quarter century.
A trial on the federal terrorism-related charges will be scheduled in US District Court in Buffalo.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2025
2025-02-22 01:18 ||
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#1
Seems like Justin will have trouble negotiating his way out of bad times for his country.he started the disrespect in the first term.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/22/2025 10:10
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#2
I'm curious what Trudeau's definition of 'success' would look like.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/22/2025 16:21
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#3
^ Cuban-style Communism, just like Dear Ol' Dad?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2025 16:37
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#4
This just ain't about Trump. A lot of Canadians are unhappy with little Justin over antics like the Trucker's Protest where the government invoked the Emergencies Act to shutdown weeks of protest against COVID lockdowns. No-go zones, people arrested, their bank accounts seized - it all seemed very un-Canadian.
[DW] A man has been seriously injured in a stabbing at Berlin's Holocaust memorial, police have said. Authorities said they took one suspect into custody.
Police in Berlin on Friday said a man had been seriously injured by at the site of Berlin's Holocaust memorial. Authorities later said one suspect had been taken into custody near the scene of the crime.
Police said emergency workers were at the scene "to care for several people who had to witness the events."
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE ATTACK
The Tagesspiegel newspaper reported that police had sealed off the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... in the city center.
Police told the newspaper the man had been injured with a sharp object and was taken by the fire brigade to hospital.
Police later said the victim sustained serious but not life-threatening injuries.
The attack was said to have taken place on the northern side of the sprawling Holocaust memorial, near the US Embassy. Police said there was no initial indication regarding a potential motive for the crime.
Police front man Florian Nath told the Berliner that the weapon used in the attack had also not been found.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, designed by the architects Peter Eisenman and Buro Happold.
It is a 1.9-hectare (4.7-acre) site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs or "stelae," arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field.
Detectives launched a manhunt across the German capital Friday after a stabbing at the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, two days before the country’s national elections.
Berlin police later said on X that one suspect had been arrested near the scene but that the investigation was ongoing.
Earlier, an unidentified assailant fled the scene with his weapon after the attack at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe at 6 p.m. local time, police said.
One male victim was left with serious but non life-threatening injuries to his upper body. Six other people were traumatized after witnessing the attack and are now in the care of officers, they said.
Between 80 and 100 detectives and other officers were scouring Berlin, according to Florian Nath, lead spokesperson for the city’s police department. It was not clear whether the arrest meant the manhunt was over, or whether police were looking for anyone else.
“We have a suspect at large who took the weapon that was used in the attack,” Nath told NBC News at the scene. “We are looking at every area in Berlin, deploying plainclothes officers and officers in uniform; foot patrols, car patrols and we’re looking for a possible suspect.”
In the run up to the election Germany has been hit with a spate of high-profile attacks, some of them by people with migrant backgrounds. It has given a heated atmosphere to the vote, particularly around the debate on immigration.
Though scholars say the crime rate in Germany is actually decreasing, the incidents have deeply shocked the country during the campaign. The far-right, anti-migrant Alternative for Germany party has pointed to these attacks to support its calls for a mass deportation scheme and restricted borders.
“A man was seriously injured by an unknown person” at the site, police said, adding that “rescue workers are caring for several people on site who had to witness the events” and that “the victim is undergoing surgery.”
Police later said they had arrested a male suspect near the site of the suspected stabbing.
“We just arrested a male suspect,” police spokesman Florian Nath said. “It’s probably the suspect that attacked the 30-year-old Spanish citizen at 6 p.m. here at the memorial,” he told journalists at the scene.
Nath added later that the suspect “had blood on his hands.”
An AFP photographer witnessed the man approaching police to talk to them at the memorial, about three hours after the attack.
Police then wrestled him to the ground and handcuffed him, with one officer shouting “we have the suspect” to his colleagues.
Before apprehending the suspect, police said they “don’t know anything about [the] motive.”
Police armed with assault rifles were at the cordoned-off Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a somber grid of concrete steles located near the iconic Brandenburg Gate, commemorating Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
Update at 9:30 p.m. ET from information in comments, below: The knifeman is a Syrian asylum seeker, Wassim al M., 19, who arrived in Germany as an unaccompanied minor in 2023 and lives in Leipzig, Saxony, where his police file lists a number of acts of petty criminality. He is not known to the police in Berlin. Over the past few weeks Mr. al M. formed a determination to kill Jews, and so went to Berlin where he tried to cut the throat of a 30 year old Spanish tourist from Bilbao; the man is now recovering after having been put in an artificial coma. The authorities are checking to see if Mr. al M’s attack was triggered by mental illness, which strikes me as special pleading.
#3
It cute how these EU mouth pieces poo poo these attacks and are like, stabbing victim pressed R3 for a med pack, zip, 100% health, and not he lived but will live the rest of his days in sub standard health not fully recovering from the gut stab and slit throat or sleeping well because of the night terrors and statistically 3000% more likely to fall into substance abuse and domestic issues.
But you know, 'EU mouth pieces' will get me bagged for a hate crime, and that's what is important.
A 19-year-old Syrian man has been accused of stabbing a Spanish tourist at a Holocaust Memorial site in Berlin, police have said.
The suspect is believed to have approached the 30-year-old man from behind before stabbing and seriously injuring the Spaniard before fleeing on Friday evening.
Nearly three hours after the attack, the assailant was arrested when he approached officers with blood on his hands and clothes.
The Syrian refugee, whose name is Wassim al M. - according to Bild - apparently wanted to kill Jews, investigators have said.
In a statement, Berlin Police said the victim had sustained life-threatening injuries to the neck when he was attacked with a knife.
The 30-year-old underwent an emergency operation and was put into an artificial coma for a while, and his life is no longer in danger, they added.
The victim, believed to be from Bilbao, is currently in a stable condition. Six others who witnessed the incident are receiving counselling from local authorities.
The investigation currently points to a link between the attack and the conflict in the Middle East, police and prosecutors said.
The evidence so far, particularly from what the suspect told police in questioning, suggests that he had decided in the last few weeks to kill Jews, authorities said.
However there is no evidence to suggest he is connected to any individuals or groups at this stage, they added.
Investigators found, a prayer mat, a Quran, and the knife he apparently used during the attack in a backpack he was carrying, local media reports.
Police and the Berlin Public Prosecutor's Office said in a joint statement: 'According to previous investigations and current knowledge, there are apparently connections with the Middle East conflict.
'According to current knowledge, in particular based on corresponding statements made by the accused to the police, the plan to kill Jews is said to have been maturing in his mind for several weeks.'
Wassim al M arrived in Germany in 2023 as an unaccompanied minor and successfully applied for asylum, according to asylum records seen by Bild, and had been living in Leipzig.
Investigators were working to determine whether the suspect suffered from mental illness. They said he was not previously known to police or judicial authorities in Berlin.
He is under investigation on suspicion of attempted murder and bodily harm and is due to appear before a judge on Saturday.
#10
M is short for something, SteveS — they don’t report the last names of miscreants in Germany as a legal thing. I’d guess the M is tribal or country-related like Mizr for Egyptian. In Pakistan they might give the name as Wassim Md al XX, where Md is short for any of the variants of Mohammed. Hope that helps!
they don’t report the last names of miscreants in Germany as a legal thing
Innocent until proven guilty, I guess. We only leave out the names when it would cause people to make assumptions about ethnicity, gender or sexual confusement.
#12
Bit surreal reading this between eps of the nutsy season of Babylon Berlin (protag: Inspektor Gereon Rath). Show's silly in all the expected ways, of course, but I'm a sucker for even half-assed period atmosphere.
#13
Asked a curious Basque of Bilbao
Who was probably new to the Gau,
"Could you kindly direct
Me to Germany echt,
Mein Herr maybe-Mohammed? Ach, owww!"
Trump is planning to detain undocumented immigrants at military sites across the United States.
Trump’s team is developing a deportation hub at Fort Bliss in Texas that could eventually hold up to 10,000 undocumented immigrants as they go through the process of being deported.… pic.twitter.com/WnvlOMkk4l
[IsraelTimes] Announcement comes after Hamas finally hands over body overnight, and day after her 2 young sons were determined to have been murdered by terrorists in Strip
Kibbutz Nir Oz said earlier Saturday morning that resident Shiri Bibas was murdered while held captive in Gaza, after Hamas handed over her body overnight and it was brought to Israel for identification.
“With pain and deep sorrow, Kibbutz Nir Oz announces the murder of Shiri Bibas, may her memory be a blessing, who was kidnapped from her home,” said a statement from the community, which was one of most devastated by the Hamas-led terror onslaught on October 7, 2023.
According to assessments by Israeli officials, Shiri was “brutally” murdered along with her two young boys in November 2023.
The announcement came a day after Hamas handed over remains that it said were Bibas turned out to be a Palestinian woman.
Following Nir Oz’s announcement, the Bibas family put out a statement saying it held out hope that Shiri and her young sons Ariel and Kfir would return alive after being abducted by terrorists during the Hamas attack, having “requested certainty [about their fate] for 16 months, and now there’s no comfort in it.”
“Shiri was a wonderful mother to Ariel and Kfir, a loving partner to Yarden, a dedicated sister and aunt and incredible friend,” the family added, saying details would soon be provided on the funeral and shiva.
“Thanks to everyone for your support and love these 16 months, we wish that Shiri could be here to see it.”
The Red Cross earlier confirmed transferring a body it collected from Hamas in the Gaza Strip to Israeli authorities.
A police convoy then brought the body to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv.
Residents of the southern Eshkol Regional Council, where Nir Oz is located, lined up in the middle of the night in cold and blustery weather along the highway as the convoy passed by, waving Israeli and yellow flags in honor of the hostages.
“Today, after 16 unbearable months, this real painful circle has finally been closed for the family and in the coming days she will return, together with her two small sons, to eternal rest in the soil of Israel,” added the statement from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
The confirmation of Shiri’s death means that three generations of her family were murdered by terrorists — her parents Yossi and Margit Silberman were killed at Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, during the attack.
The Hamas terror group was supposed to return Shiri Bibas on Thursday along with her young sons Ariel and Kfir, and fellow Kibbutz Nir Oz resident Oded Lifshitz. The remains of Ariel, Kfir and Lifshitz were later positively identified, with forensic evidence determining all three were killed over a year ago.
The fourth body sent by Hamas, however, was later found to not be Shiri Bibas or any other hostage but the Palestinian woman from Gaza.
Hamas later claimed that there had been a mix-up with the bodies during an Israeli airstrike, though the military said evidence clearly showed that Kfir and Ariel were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in November 2023 when they were respectively 10-months and 4-years-old.
“The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys — they killed them with their bare hands. Afterward, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities,” said IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari on Friday.
Hagari added that he spoke on Thursday with the children’s father, recently released hostage Yarden Bibas, who demanded that he tell the world what had happened. Yarden was abducted separately by Hamas terrorists after he left the safe room of their Nir Oz home in an attempt to distract the gunmen and save his sons and wife.
“The entire world must know exactly how the Hamas terrorist organization operates. Ariel and Kfir were murdered, and then on Thursday, their bodies were returned in a cynical and cruel ceremony in Gaza. Shiri Bibas, who was meant to be returned with her children to Israel as part of the agreement, was not returned by Hamas. Hamas lied and violated the agreement,” said Hagari, referring to the ongoing hostage release and ceasefire deal.
Hamas, meanwhile, professed surprise at what it asserted was a mix-up over Shiri’s body, saying it would “examine these allegations very seriously” and announce the results of its investigation.
Hamas called on Israel to return to Gaza the body of the Palestinian woman that it handed over in place of Shiri, which the Ynet news site said Israel return to Gaza would once Bibas was identified.
The terror group then said it remains committed to implementing the current ceasefire-hostage release deal and vowed to uphold “all of our obligations,” claiming that it has no interest in holding on to any bodies of hostages. It also said it would proceed with the release of six live hostages on Saturday, saying it would release hostages Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.
No doubt with more ceremonies intended again to humiliate both prisoners and watchers. Evict them all.
According to Hamas’s past statements, the six are the last of those to be returned under the first phase who are alive.
Al-Sayed and Mengistu have been captive in Gaza for over a decade, after entering the Strip of their own accord. The others were abducted on October 7, 2023.
In return, Israel will release 602 Palestinian security prisoners from jails on Saturday as part of the ongoing hostage release-ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Amani Sarahneh, a spokeswoman for the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said those slated for release include 445 individuals from Gaza who were arrested after Hamas’s October 7 attack, 60 serving long sentences, 50 serving life sentences and 47 re-arrested after a 2011 exchange for captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
If any of them end up being rearrested, hang them, because they will be proved incapable of reforming. Or shoot them — as long as they are dead, I don’t care.
Hamas is also due to release four more bodies next week, bringing an end to the first phase of the deal.
The second part of the three-stage deal calls for the release of all the remaining hostages, in exchange for a permanent end to the war and the release of more Palestinian security inmates. It is believed that some 24 living hostages would be released in the second phase.
We will soon see how President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu choose to respond to the recovery of these four victims, two of whom are small children. Depending upon the amount of outrage upon seeing the bodies of the Bibas family, there seem to be three choices:
1, Israel continues negotiations for phase two of the ceasefire in hopes of regaining any living hostages;
2, Israel goes through the motions of negotiating for phase two of the ceasefire while simultaneously preparing to attack Gaza and Iran in the coming days or weeks. Israel has just received last week the weapons that they had bought from the United States, but that the Biden administration had refused to release for months. With these new weapons, the military strength of Israel will increase exponentially; or
3, Israel decides that ceasefire negotiations are not helping retrieve any of the remaining hostages but rather are making the entire region more dangerous. As a result, they launch strikes against Gaza and Iran shortly after Saturday's exchange.
Whichever choices are ultimately made, we will all be immersed in pain with the delivery of the dead bodies, especially of the children. We all need to feel emotional pain and sadness for the evils that Hamas has done. And then we need to be conscious of the justifiable anger at Hamas that every compassionate human being feels when this type of evil is recognized.
And in the midst of our anger, we must heed the old advice to pause and count to ten … if only because it helps us aim better.
Steve Bannon, former chief strategist for Donald Trump, calls for dismantling the CIA and FBI, labeling the CIA a “cancer” and part of the deep state.”
"We don’t want to have spies all over the world, we don’t want a CIA anymore. Is it going to make us less secure? We’re so… pic.twitter.com/y0JsfKMuYS
#2
The world has become a dangerous Dali landscape of dysfunction. The CIA is the cause not the cure.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/22/2025 10:05
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#3
VDH called it (article here today). Obama's third term. Should have never been able to keep a residence in D.C. I'd put monney on a secure T3 coms line and video conference capability in his residence.
[MSN] A federal judge on Friday cleared the way for one of the Trump administration's remaining steps in its dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, allowing it to move forward with pulling thousands of USAID staffers off the job in the United States and around the world.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols rejected pleas to keep his temporary stay on the government's plan to remove all but a small fraction of USAID staffers from their posts. His ruling also allows the administration to start the clock ticking on its planned 30-day deadline for USAID workers abroad to move back to the U.S. at government expense.
His ruling comes in a broad lawsuit filed by unions on behalf of the agency staff, especially those at risk of being stranded abroad. The suit describes the Trump administration stalling needed medical evacuations for USAID staffers and spouses overseas, cutting some contractors off from emergency communications, and leaving staffers to flee political violence in Congo without support or funding.
The lawsuit more broadly challenges the constitutionality of the administration's dismantling of USAID, saying eliminating an agency would require congressional approval.
"At present, the agency is still standing," Nichols wrote in his ruling. "And so the alleged injuries on which plaintiffs rely in seeking injunctive relief flow essentially from their members’ existing employment relationships with USAID."
Nichols found that the unions’ challenge must be dealt with under federal employment laws rather than in district court.
President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... and the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency tied to billionaire Elon Musk have moved swiftly to shutter USAID, calling its programs out of line with the president's agenda and asserting without evidence that its work is wasteful.
The case is one of multiple lawsuits from groups representing USAID workers and nonprofits and businesses that are challenging the administration's sudden shutdown of the agency, including its placing of agency leadership on administrative leave. A judge in another suit has ordered the administration to temporarily lift a freeze on funding that has shut down USAID programs and operations worldwide.
Nichols, a Trump appointee, said he had been "very concerned" about workers in high-risk areas left overseas without access to emergency communications. But he has since been reassured by the Trump administration that they would still have access to two-way radios that allow 24—7 communications in emergencies, as well as a phone app with a "panic button."
He said the government’s statements persuaded him "that the risk posed to USAID employees who are placed on administrative leave while stationed abroad — if there is any — is far more minimal than it initially appeared."
The judge also said he was satisfied by assurances from USAID deputy administrator Pete Marocco that workers abroad would be allowed to stay in their jobs beyond the 30 days even if they stayed overseas.
#4
The USAID workers abroad is a complication that I had not thought of. The move back timer may be pushed out in labor court. 30 seems aggressive, but warranted based on what USAID was doing for a living.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/22/2025 10:01
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#5
Thirty days is very doable. My last move for the company was accomplished in 19 days, and that included three days of thumb twiddling while we awaited the formal announcement; the trailing daughters and I even had time for a final overnight run back to Germany to say goodbye to friends and shop for a few last specialty items ordered to be delivered to the house in Brussels the next day. A full inventory with photos of key items — necessary to be recompensed should the shipping container fall off the boat, as once happened to friends of mine — takes at most a single day, especially if one kept receipts for key purchases, and that included counting all the trailing daughters’ underthings and Lego sets. Everyone who goes out there knows how to do this stuff, and if not, there are always plenty of trailing wives happy to be consulted. As for those few hundred problem pregnancies, they should have been back Stateside already — you do not want to be stuck out in the bush should Baby decide to come early — and their husbands will have plenty of offers from the local trailing wives to help get the household packed and shipped. No sympathy from me, I’m afraid —if you aren’t willing to do the work to become seriously competent at this stuff, you have no business going out there.
#6
@#5 - "Thirty days is very doable". Generally agree (I've done 16 international moves - 8 round trips). Almost always come down to local labor/movers availability. Off peak season right now which is good. The fact we usually only have a few (sometimes 1) reliable company overseas is bad. Coordinating things to left of the actual pack-out is what takes time. The Department of Redundancy Department bureaucracy at its best.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
02/22/2025 22:50
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#7
The rats will find another home if we dont get them out fast.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/22/2025 22:54
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[FoxBusiness] Elon Musk said DOGE's review found large numbers of people over the age of 100 in Social Security's system
The acting head of the Social Security Administration opened up on the activities of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the agency, as well as claims about millions of dead people receiving benefits.
Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek said that DOGE "is a critical part of President Trump's commitment to finding fraud, waste, and abuse, and better ways for the government to function to support its people."
"I want to be very clear about the DOGE personnel who are now working at Social Security," Dudek said. "DOGE personnel CANNOT make changes to agency systems, benefit payments, or other information. They only have READ access. DOGE personnel do not have access to data related to a court ordered temporary restraining order, current or future. DOGE personnel must follow the law and if they violate the law they will be referred to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution."
Dudek's statement also discussed reports about Social Security beneficiaries over the age of 100 receiving benefits, which followed comments Musk made in the Oval Office with President Trump last week.
“I also want to acknowledge recent reporting about the number of people older than age 100 who may be receiving benefits from Social Security," Dudek said. "The reported data are people in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record. These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits."
Musk said that the Social Security system has "people in there that are about 150 years old" and that "there are a whole bunch of Social Security payments where there's no identifying information, like, why is there no identifying information?"
Later, in a post on X, Musk posted a picture of a spreadsheet he said was from the Social Security database showing the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to false. It showed more than 17 million such records for people over the age of 100.
In 2015, the Social Security Administration (SSA) and its inspector general looked into the number of people in the system with no death record who were listed as being over the age of 112. SSA found 6.5 million numberholders aged 112 or older with no death information in the system, but noted that other records suggested the majority of them were deceased.
Of those, SSA issued payments to 266 numberholders — though the IG's review indicated only 13 beneficiaries were likely age 112 or older, while in the remaining 253 cases there were discrepancies in SSA's records that indicated the beneficiary wasn't actually that old.
Following the review, the SSA decided not to proceed with adding presumed death information to the records because it would be costly to implement, provide little benefit to the agency and duplicate other information already available in government data exchanges.
#2
OK, I understand that just because somebody's in SS's records, it doesn't mean that they necessarily draw benefits.
Here's the thing. If someone of current age 369 was recorded on original files, they had to be at least 250 at the earliest records (Aug 14, 1935). Or they were added later.
Either way, your records obviously have errors.
That was just the first look at the records, without detailed examination. (I have read that SSA challenges people in regards to benefits at age 115. OK, good.)
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/22/2025 14:23
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#3
"It only looks like dead people are collecting benefits because our record-keeping sucks. So there."
Posted by: Matt ||
02/22/2025 14:25
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#4
More interesting is who were these records shared with, particularly political parties. There must be a trail.
[Real Clear Politics] VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: They call it the "MAGA Revolution." It is not a revolution, it is a counter-revolution. There's a big difference.
This is a restoration, let's use the word restoration.
We don't know or appreciate what we've been through with eight years of the Obama administration and then the third more radical term of Obama using or employing the waxen effigy of Joe Biden.
The revolution that we've experienced was cultural, economic, political, and social. It was very similar to the French Revolution under Robespierre. Remember what they tried to do, they changed the days of the week, they renamed things, they tore down statues, they went after the church. Does this sound familiar?
In this revolution we've experienced, everything was up for sale and everything was negotiable.
We invented a third gender and rammed it down people's throats. We tore down statues. We said 1776 was no longer the foundational date, it was 1619. We changed the very mechanism by which we vote -- we went from 70% of the electorate voting on election day to 70% of the electorate, not doing that either through mail-in or early voting. That was a radical change that had no discussion. It was done by fiat. It was incredible.
We looked at girls' sports and destroyed it. We said that transgender biological males who were now transgender females could compete. They won over 600 medals they took away from hardworking female athletes. We had drag shows among young children.
It was an effort to change the entire constitution, we forget that. They were trying to bring in Puerto Rico as a state and Washington DC to get 4 instant senators.
They were proud. They said that they were going to pack the Supreme Court, hadn't been done, hadn't been tried since 1937 and it was an object of disgrace ever since, but they were proud to try it again.
The retrieval-inhibition account assumes that the forget cue activates an inhibitory control process that impairs access
Suggesting that some of diminished capacity ['Danes', et. al.] may be suffering a evolutionary disfunction of the organic engine of memory. I suppose a propagation error is possible in small gene pools, clans or constrained religious sects.
I'm reminded of the street interview videos of Muslims following the 10/7 events. Complete, absolute denial of the encroachment, murders and kidnappings that occurred.
#4
IMO, leftists (rank & file) fall into two categories: herd creatures and people who (somewhere deep inside) know they're second rate but like to pretend they're elites.
Vitello reportedly is being reassigned within the agency
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2025
08:32 ||
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[11147 views]
Top|| File under: Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
#1
You can make the number by forgetting about the dangerous criminals an sweeping Home Depot parking lots instead as long as the ICE officers are in decent cardio shape.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/22/2025 10:13
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#2
1,500 a day is 547,500 per year out of 11 million who came just in the last 4 years. There will also be self-deportations, but it's still not enough. In other words, Biden let in more people each year than Trump is planning to deport.
#3
The law-abiding among the illegal community will cash out and go home, then apply to come back legally. Back when the trailing daughters were in school, one of the girls in their social circle came to school in tears one day because her father — an engineer with a management career at a mid-sized firm in the area — had applied to the government to regularize his situation after the rules changed, and had been rejected. So they’d packed up their stuff, sold their very nice house, and were headed back to Mexico, where he’d work at the company’s regional office until they could bring him back to America legally. But it was probably going to take a few years to make that happen, which meant the child, who had never lived anywhere but here, would not be able to graduate with her friends.
#4
Homan: Reassigned Acting ICE Director Will Now Focus on Interior Alone, Arrests Will Go Up
On Friday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “Cuomo,” Border Czar Tom Homan stated that Caleb Vitello’s reassignment from his position as acting ICE Director is to a position that is at a lower level, but where he’ll be solely focused on interior enforcement and that while he is happy with the current immigration arrest numbers, they need to increase and they will.
Homan said he’s pleased with the immigration arrest numbers, but they need to go up and there needs to be “better targeting, more targeting. And sanctuary cities are a problem.” And that targeting is increasing and they’re suing sanctuary cities so the arrest numbers will increase.
He added that Vitello’s removal wasn’t his decision, “But if you look at what they actually did to him, they didn’t remove him. … [T]hey took him out of the director’s job, and the director’s job is very political. Not only do you oversee the operations in the interior, you oversee international offices. We’ve got attaché offices in over 40 countries. You’ve got to deal with HSI, criminal investigations, drug trafficking, gun trafficking, weapons of mass destruction, you’ve got to be on the Hill with Congress. You’ve got to do all these political things as a director. She put him in a position as the executive associate director over ERO. Yeah, it’s a lower level. But now…all he does now is oversee [our] interior enforcement operation.”
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2025 16:35
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#5
Biden let in more people each year than Trump is planning can afford to deport.
[AP] New FBI Director Kash Patel has told senior officials that he plans to relocate up to 1,000 employees from Washington to field offices around the country and move an additional 500 to a bureau facility in Huntsville, Alabama, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions.
The plans were communicated Friday, the same day Patel was sworn in at the White House, and are in keeping with his oft-stated vision of reducing the size of the FBI’s footprint in Washington and having more of a presence in offices in other cities.
"Director Patel has made clear his promise to the American public that FBI agents will be in communities focused on combatting violent crime. He has directed FBI leadership to implement a plan to put this promise into action," the FBI said in a statement that did not provide any specifics.
#5
Why you wanna do that to Alabama? (Or Atlanta, 'cause that's where they'll all hang out...)
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/22/2025 14:26
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#6
"FBI Innovation Center at Redstone Arsenal
A Training Ground for the Cybersecurity Crimefighters of the Future"
"The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is expanding operations at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama with new facilities dedicated to attracting and developing a rising generation of technically advanced agents — a “graduate school” for the cyber crimefighter. The FBI envisioned a 240-acre Science and Technology District with a central building for cybersecurity crimefighter training and education plus offices that would support its critical mission to protect Americans now and into the future."
#8
Shall we assume salary adjustments to reflect relocation to a lower cost area? Seems only fair.
Posted by: Regular joe ||
02/22/2025 17:53
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#9
In January 1991, the FBI purchased 986 acres of land in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Seems to be mostly info-processing and training center. Might be able to disperse a few feebs there after the downsizing.
[GatewayPundit] Democratic Representative Robert Garcia from California has received a letter from U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Edward R. Martin Jr. seeking clarification on comments that the house member made during a CNN interview on February 12 in which Garcia stated, ‘What the American public wants is for us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight’, in the context of opposing Musk’s work.
In the meantime, a report arose that members of Elon Musk’s private security detail have been deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service. That would grant them certain rights and protections of federal law enforcement agents.
[GatewayPundit] Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided Abby’s Bakery in South Texas, arresting eight illegal aliens and slapping the bakery’s owners with charges of harboring and abetting criminals.
The bakery owners, Leonardo Baez and Nora Alicia Avila-Guel, admitted to knowingly hiring and sheltering illegal aliens—an act that flouts federal law and contributes to the ongoing border crisis.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) confirmed that the pair was charged with bringing in and harboring aliens and aiding and abetting the harboring of aliens, offenses that carry serious penalties under U.S. law.
Yet, rather than report them to authorities or comply with federal employment laws, they chose to harbor them, even providing shelter for some of the individuals on their own property.
Texas Tribune reported:
Agents conducted a “worksite enforcement action” at Abby’s Bakery in Los Fresnos and apprehended eight immigrant workers on Feb. 12 following a tip the agency received in December, according to Special Agent Dillon Duke with Homeland Security Investigations, who testified during a preliminary hearing Friday morning.
Six of the immigrants were in the country on temporary visas that do not grant them permission to work in the U.S. It is unclear if they were in the U.S. longer than their visas permitted, but immigration officials have since removed them to Mexico.
The tipster informed the agency that the business owners were harboring and employing immigrants without pay, Duke said. However, when the agents questioned an employee, he said he received $8 per hour.
During the raid of the business — whichalso includes Dulce’s Cafe — agents also searched an apartment located on the side of the building where several of the employees lived. Duke described the apartment as a rectangular room with six beds along the wall, two bathrooms and no kitchen. The windows were covered with cardboard.
Agents also questioned the couple, who allegedly admitted they knew their employees were not authorized to work in the U.S.
The couple’s attorneys said during a court hearing on Friday that offering shelter to their employees did not constitute an attempt to hide them from authorities and that there was no evidence suggesting the employees were prohibited from leaving the apartment.
The judge disagreed, setting a $100,000 bond with a $15,000 cash deposit for each defendant.
[ZH] On Thursday evening, the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs published the first-ever in-orbit image captured by Boeing's X-37 spaceplane, which was shared on the DVIDS website.
USAF Public Affairs described the photo, taken by an onboard camera designed to monitor the X-37's "health and safety," as showing Earth in the distant background during a series of "experiments in a highly elliptical orbit in 2024."
"As part of the X-37 B's seventh mission, the vehicle executed a series of first-of-its-kind maneuvers, called aerobraking, to safely change its orbit using minimal fuel," the public affairs office said.
The top-secret spaceplane, built by Boeing and operated by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office and the Space Force, has spent years in space quietly conducting classified missions. Its real purpose has yet to be revealed.
With each successive top-secret mission, the X-37B spends long and longer time in orbit:
OTV-1: launched on Apr. 22, 2010 and landed on Dec. 3, 2010, spending over 224 days in orbit.
OTV-2: launched on Mar. 5, 2011 and landed on Jun. 16, 2012, spending over 468 days in orbit.
OTV-3: launched on Dec. 11, 2012 and landed on Oct. 17, 2014, spending over 674 days in orbit.
OTV-4: launched on May 20, 2015 and landed on May 7, 2015, spending nearly 718 days in orbit.
OTV-5: launched on Sept. 7, 2017 and landed on Oct. 27, 2019, spending nearly 780 days in orbit.
OTV-6: launched on May 17, 2020 and landed on Nov. 12, 2022, spending over 908 days in orbit.
OTV-7: launched on Dec. 29, 2023 ... still ongoing...
In the age of DOGE, perhaps it's time for the Space Force to provide more color on the spaceplane's objectives to determine if the return on investment for taxpayers is truly justified.
#5
Divisions of Boeing still work very well. X-37 is an amazing craft and its real purpose is just testing tech. What it is testing... well... let's just say it has been guessed and not talked about by the press. I'll leave the rest to your imagination. No death rays though.
[American Thinker] If you spend any time online (particularly after Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show), you’ll find memes saying that blacks built America, a black woman wrote Shakespeare’s work, and black Africans built Western civilization. I’m not convinced.
To put it bluntly, has black Africa ever given the world anything of consequence since humans originated there? Has black Africa ever had a civilization worthy of comparison to the great civilizations we’re all familiar with? Is there a reason why Africa has the lowest IQs on the planet? That almost every country in Africa is poor while the continent has a majority of the world’s gold, cobalt, diamonds, and platinum? Is it any coincidence that 8 of the 10 most violent countries in the world are either in Africa or are majority black? Ditto for wars? Is it any coincidence that black Americans are 600% more likely to commit murder than whites?
We’ve been told that white racism is the driver behind all of that. If that were true, we would expect black Africa before Europeans arrived to be a thriving continent bustling with advanced civilizations. But is that the case?
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#2
"Alexa, what is the best caliber?"
"It depends on the target du jour. For squirrels, .177 pellets. For poodles, use 9mm. For large mammals like deer and humans, you want something bigger. For really large mammals like water buffalo and mastodons, experts recommend the .577 Tyrannosaur."
[Zero] Nearly two dozen members of a violent transnational gang were arrested and charged in Massachusetts, federal authorities announced Feb. 19.
Twenty-two alleged Trinitarios gang members face various federal charges including racketeering conspiracy in connection with several murders, attempted murders, shootings, kidnappings, and robberies.
Authorities confirmed that factions of the Trinitarios gang have been identified in the cities of Lawrence, Lynn, Boston, and Haverhill.
"We believe those arrested today—leaders, members, and close associates of the Trinitarios—have allegedly shown a reckless indifference to human life in order to control their turf, push their poison, and make money," Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, said in a statement.
The investigation, led by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE), began in the aftermath of four murders and a series of attempted murders and shootings that happened in Lynn back in 2023. Two of the alleged gang members were juveniles at the time the crimes were committed and have been charged with murder.
"The Massachusetts Trinitarios allegedly recruit new members among communities of legal immigrants and illegal aliens from the Dominican Republic—specifically juveniles in local high schools in Lawrence and Lynn," according to ICE.
U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley said this latest enforcement ends the gang’s "reign of terror" in Massachusetts.
[AP] VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Making the trip from Vancouver to Seattle to watch baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays play the Mariners has been a tradition for Peter Mulholland and his wife, but not this year.
Mulholland was already frustrated over U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of crippling tariffs on imported goods from Canada and talk about the country becoming the 51st state. The final straw came when Trump referred to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a dictator.
"We were starting to get leery," said the 69-year-old, semiretired Vancouver resident. "The tariffs he’s trying to do is going to hurt both countries, that’ll become evident eventually, but it’s going to hurt us more."
Mulholland is one of a growing number of Canadian who are choosing not to vacation in the U.S. this year.
McKenzie McMillan, a travel consultant with the Vancouver-based Travel Group, said some of his clients have canceled trips that were already booked.
February is usually a busy month for the retail travel agency which specializes in both corporate and premium leisure travel as Canadians make plans for spring break vacations.
"We’ve seen a complete drop off in any new requests or new interest in U.S. travel," said McMillan. "I’ve had no requests for travel to the United States for about two weeks."
#5
Informal surveys of cars in parking lots of several border towns and easily reached malls on the I-5 corridor north of Seattle reveals a marked decrease in British Columbia tags.
#9
Two points:
1) BC is one of most leftist parts of Canada.
2) The US dollar has soared vs C$, so anyone with US assets is sèĺlin̈g an̈d repaþriatin̈g the money.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Another coronavirus feared to be powerful enough to spread through humans has been discovered in China.
In scenes eerily reminiscent of the beginnings of Covid, researchers at the infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology detected the new strain living within bats.
HKU5-CoV-2 is strikingly similar to the pandemic virus, sparking fears that history could repeat itself just two years after the worst was declared over.
The new virus is even closer related to MERS, a deadlier type of coronavirus that kills up to a third of people it infects.
Virologist Shi Zhengli, known as 'Batwoman' for her work on coronaviruses, led the discovery, published in a top scientific journal.
Tests showed HKU5-CoV-2 infiltrated human cells in the same way as SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind Covid.
Sharing their discovery in the journal Cell, the Beijing-funded researchers admitted it posed a 'high risk of spillover to humans, either through direct transmission or facilitated by intermediate hosts.'
Then you’d better lock your people down so it dies out instead of leaving China. Because if you do it again after your little Wuhan experiment escaped, there will be repercussions.
[MAIL] For years, thousands of Americans who suffered debilitating side effects after getting the Covid vaccine were told there was no evidence the shot was linked.
Some were branded antivaxxers, others told their symptoms were imagined or related to other conditions, like long Covid.
But that changed this week.
On Wednesday, a team from Yale University known for their rigorous work revealed the mRNA shots can cause a previously unknown condition known as 'post-vaccination syndrome.'
The syndrome appears to cause brain fog, dizziness, tinnitus, extreme fatigue and biological changes to patients' immune systems.
Dr Akiko Iwasaki, the lead researcher behind the paper, told DailyMail.com she understands her findings could be seen as controversial. But she wants patients to know her team will keep studying to bring them 'better transparency and safer vaccines.'
#7
There were many abuses of power and privilege during the pandemic. Those who took advantage of the public should pay. Not with money, with their freedom.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... , nnounced the names of six Israeli captives set to be released on Saturday as part of the seventh batch in the ongoing prisoner exchange agreement with Israel.
In a statement, al-Qassam spokesperson Abu Obeida said: ''As part of the 'Al-Aqsa Flood' prisoner exchange deal, the following Israeli captives will be released tomorrow (Saturday): Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem-Tov, Omer Wenkert, Tal Shoham, Avera Mengistu, and Hisham al-Sayed.''
On Thursday, Hamas handed over to Israel the bodies of four detainees who were killed by Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s 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 after being captured on October 7, 2023.
During the handover, the coffins of the four captives were placed on a platform in Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis before handing them over to the International Red Thingy as part of the prisoner exchange deal under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2025
01:36 ||
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[11197 views]
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[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Islamic Resistance® Movement ''Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... '', expressed its surprise by the uproar caused by the occupation following its claim that the body of the captive Shiri Bibas does not match the DNA test,
In a statement, Hamas rejected the threats launched by Benjamin Netanyahu as part of his attempts to improve his image before the Zionist community, and in the context of their internal disputes.
The movement stressed the need to move forward in implementing the requirements of the ceasefire agreement at all levels.
“You’re being stupid,” is neither refutation nor effective. But it’s clear Hamas and its fellow travelers will be absolutely shocked when Israel and America make kinetically clear exactly how displeased they are by what Hamas & Friends did to their captives.They are truly lucky I’m not in charge — I can’t decide whether turning the sand to glass, then shattering it is preferable to plowing Gaza end to end, then sowing it with salt. Either way, I’m definitely ready for Nakhba II.
''We in the Hamas Movement confirms our seriousness and full commitment to all our obligations, and we have proven this through our behavior during the past days. We have no interest in not committing (to the ceasefire terms) or in keeping any of the bodies,'' the statement.
Serious? Yes. Though you’ve thoroughly proven that you are viciously untrustworthy even with a gun held to your head.
Hamas indicated that it had received the occupation's allegations and claims from the mediators, stressing that the movement will examine them with complete seriousness, and we will clearly announce the results.
''We also point out the possibility of an error or mix up in the bodies, which had resulted from the occupation's targeting and bombing of the place where the (Bibas) family was with other Paleostinians.''
The movement will inform the mediators about the results of the examination and investigation, and at the same time we call for the return of the body that the occupation claims it belongs to a Paleostinian woman who was killed during the Zionist bombing, according to the statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2025
01:34 ||
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#1
This was before they returned the remains of the correct person, right?
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2025 8:33
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#2
yes
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2025 8:34
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#3
Not hard to see why they tried to pass off a fake, given the shape the actual victim was in.
"Of all our Mohammedan arts,"
[scribe observes punctuation and farts]
"This sorting of junk
From some Tombouctou trunk
Is the dearest to scholarly hearts!"
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] An unspecified number of people have sustained injuries after Israeli warplanes carried out a string of Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s against several border crossings between Syria and Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... , in the latest act of aggression since the collapse of the government of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... .
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday that the overnight strikes put an ''unofficial crossing'' near Lebanon's frontier town of Wadi Khaled, which borders Syria's province of Homs, ''out of service'' and maimed several people.
The Britannia-based war monitor added that the aerial attacks came ''after a convoy of vehicles was observed headed from Syria towards Lebanon.''
The Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman reported ''heavy material damage to buildings and vehicles''.
Lebanon's official National News Agency reported ''enemy aircraft flying at low altitude over the city of Hermel'' and villages in the Bekaa Valley in the country's northeast near the Syrian border.
The Israeli military alleged in a statement that its air forces ''struck crossing points in the area of the Lebanon-Syria border,'' claiming that they were used by Hezbollah resistance movement to bring reinforcements into Lebanese territory.
Following the downfall of Assad's government in early December last year, the Israeli military has been launching airstrikes against military installations, facilities, and arsenals belonging to Syria's now-defunct army.
The occupying regime's attacks have drawn widespread condemnation for violating Syria's illusory sovereignty and devastating assets belonging to the Arab nation.
In the wake of the fall of Assad, Israel, which has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967, also invaded a UN-patrolled buffer zone in southwestern Syria, taking over the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, known as Jabal al-Shaykh in Arabic, as well as several Syrian towns and villages.
Israel has also come under scrutiny over the termination of the 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria, and exploiting the chaos in the Arab nation following Assad's downfall to make a land grab.
The United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... created the buffer zone in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. A UN force of about 1,100 troops had patrolled the area since then.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2025
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#8
Artsy colonists from NYC and environs. They fell in love with the idea after watching the sitcom “Newhart” in the 1980s, about a writer played by Bob Newhart who goes to Vermont for vacation and ends up running the quaint little inn with his wife.
[NAHARNET] Loyalty to Resistance® bloc MP Ali Fayad said the funeral of slain Hezbollah chief Sayyed ...Arabic term meaning your/his lordship. Groveling in His Exalted Presence is encouraged... His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> on Sunday will witness ''a million-person rally that is unprecedented in Lebanese political history.''
''Hundreds of delegations from 65 countries have confirmed their attendance, in addition to hundreds of Lebanese figures and 400 foreign officials,'' Fayad added, in remarks to LBCI television. Good time for a hypersonic low level flyover by the IAF
''I have learned that 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... will attend the funeral and will be representing the president. This occasion is not exclusive to the Shiite sect but rather a national occasion,'' Fayad said.
Hezbollah is preparing for a massive turnout for Nasrallah's funeral on Sunday, an opportunity for a show of strength by the group after a bruising war with Israel.
The country will stop for Sunday's funeral, to be held at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) at the Camille Chamoun sports stadium on the capital's outskirts.
Hezbollah has announced strict security measures and urged security forces to help manage crowds that are expected to number in the tens of thousands, with people pouring in from Hezbollah strongholds across the country, as well as from abroad.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2025
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Linked article is available only through a VPN
[EngMilRu] From 15 to 21 February, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out 11 group strikes by long-range air-, ground-, and sea-based high-precision weapons, and by unmanned aerial vehicles, which hit the facilities of the gas-power and port infrastructure, as well as electrical substations that support the work of the Ukrainian defence industry.
In addition, strikes were delivered at missile and artillery depots, military airfield infrastructure, assembly workshops, depots storing attack unmanned aerial vehicles, temporary deployment areas of Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries.
During the week, the Sever Group of Forces continued to rout AFU units in Kursk region.
In the course of the offensive actions, Sverdlikovo (Kursk region) was liberated.
Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, and artillery inflicted fire on manpower and hardware of two tank brigades, one heavy mechanised brigade, three air assault brigades, three assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, one naval infantry brigade, and one territorial defence brigade.
In Kharkov direction, units of one motorised infantry brigade, one assault brigade of the AFU, two territorial defence brigades, and one National Guard brigade were hit.
During the week, more than 2,255 troops, 11 tanks, and 137 armoured fighting vehicles of the enemy have been neutralised in the area of responsibility of the Sever Group of Forces. Moreover, 166 motor vehicles, 36 field artillery guns, three MLRS fighting vehicles, three electronic warfare stations, and five ammunition depots were neutralised.
The Zapad Group's units liberated Figolevka (Kharkov region) and Yampolovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The Group inflicted fire damage on one tank brigade, four mechanised brigades, one jaeger brigade, one mountain assault brigade, and one assault brigade of the AFU, and two territorial defence brigades.
The enemy lost more than 1,315 troops and 15 armoured fighting vehicles, including eight U.S.-made M-113 armoured personnel carriers. Thirty-nine motor vehicles, 36 field artillery guns, with 16 of them manufactured by NATO countries, ten electronic warfare stations, and 11 ammunition depots were neutralised.
The Yug Group of Forces improved the tactical position. Russian troops hit four mechanised brigades, one infantry brigade, one mountain assault brigade, one assault brigade, one airmobile brigade of the AFU, and two territorial defence brigades.
During the week, the AFU lost up to 1,365 troops, 12 armoured fighting vehicles, including two U.S.-made M-113 armoured personnel carriers, 18 motor vehicles, and 19 field artillery guns, including five Western-made artillery guns. Four electronic warfare stations and seven field ammunition depots were neutralised.
The Tsentr Group of Forces units continued to advance to the depths of the enemy's defence, and liberated Berezovka and Nadezhdinka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The units of five mechanised brigades, two jaeger brigades, one airmobile brigade, two motorised infantry brigades, one assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, two territorial defence brigades, and two national guard brigades were hit.
The Ukrainian troops lost more than 2,740 troops, 12 tanks, including the German-made Leopard tank, 28 armoured fighting vehicles, including six U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carriers. Moreover, 42 motor vehicles and 40 field artillery guns were eliminated, including three Western-made guns.
The Vostok Group of Forces units continued to advance to the depths of the enemy's defence and liberated Novoselka and Novoochretovatoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
One tank brigade, four mechanised brigades, one air assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, one naval infantry brigade, and two territorial defence brigades were hit.
The enemy lost more than 1,100 troops, six tanks, including two German-made Leopard tanks, 13 armoured fighting vehicles, 23 motor vehicles, and 29 field artillery guns, three of which were manufactured by NATO countries. Two ammunition depots were destroyed.
The Dnepr Group of Forces units inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of two mechanised brigades, one mountain assault brigade, three coastal defence brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and two territorial defence brigades.
The AFU lost more than 460 troops, 43 motor vehicles, and seven field artillery guns. Ten electronic warfare stations and counter-battery radar, as well as four ammunition depots, were neutralised.
Over the past week, Russia's air defence systems have shot down two Ukrainian MiG-29 aircraft, two JDAM guided aerial bombs, and 36 HIMARS projectiles produced by the United States, 17 Hammer guided aerial bombs produced by France, one Uragan MLRS projectile, one Neptune anti-ship missile converted to engage ground targets, as well as 790 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
Over the past week, 58 Ukrainian servicemen have surrendered on the line of contact.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 655 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 44,132 unmanned aerial vehicles, 596 anti-aircraft missile systems, 21,688 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,521 MLRS combat vehicles, 21,926 field artillery guns and mortars, and 32,005 units of support military vehicles of the enemy have been neutralised.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise AFU formations on the territory of Kursk region.
During offensive actions, the Sever Group of Forces engaged units of one tank brigade, one heavy mechanised brigade, six mechanised brigades, one mountain assault brigade, four air assault brigades, one naval infantry brigade, three territorial defence brigades, and three assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Gogolevka, Guyevo, Goncharovka, Zaoleshenka, Kazachya Loknya, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Loknya, Malaya Loknya, Makhnovka, Mirny, Nikolsky, Oleshnya, and Sudzha. Two counter-attacks launched by enemy units were repelled.
Operational-tactical and army aviation and artillery fire hit enemy manpower and hardware close to Agronom, Kolmakov, Kositsa, Kubatkin, Martynovka, Melovoy, Nikolayevka, Staraya Sorochina, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, as well as Basovka, Belovody, Varachino, Zhuravka, Miropolye, Novenkoye, and Yunakovka in Sumy region.
Over the past 24 hours, the AFU losses amounted to more than 250 troops, a Swedish-made CV-90 infantry fighting vehicle, four armoured personnel carriers, 15 armoured fighting vehicles, 16 motor vehicles, three artillery guns, four mortars, two MLRS fighting vehicles, and one German-made Gepard self-propelled vehicle, as well as two UAV command posts, and one ammunition depot.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk direction, the AFU losses amounted to more than 62,450 troops, 373 tanks, 280 infantry fighting vehicles, 233 armoured personnel carriers, 1,962 armoured fighting vehicles, 2,112 motor vehicles, 464 artillery guns, 51 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 22 anti-aircraft missile launchers, nine transport-loading vehicles, 111 EW stations, 15 counter-battery warfare radars, seven air defence radars, 49 units of engineering and other materiel, including 19 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, five bridge launchers, one engineering reconnaissance vehicle as well as 14 armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront>] 20:40 Captured Ukrainian serviceman: “A huge thank you to the Russian troops, they saved my life”
Prisoner of war Sergei Pachkovtold, how Ukrainian nationalists set up a firing position in one of the residential buildings in the village of Plekhovo in the Kursk region, but during the assault on the settlement, Russian stormtroopers cleared it out. Pachkov miraculously survived, having been wounded, and when he came to, he discovered that he had been abandoned. He hid in the basement for four days, hoping that he would be taken away, but this did not happen. Russian servicemen found Pachkov and provided medical assistance.
19:50 Crews of the Molniya-2 UAV aircraft type of the 44th Army Corps of the North group of forces continue to destroy military facilities, armored and automotive equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kharkov direction.
18:50 Our FPV drone destroys Ukrainian Armed Forces communications equipment on a mobile tower in the Kursk direction, –video.
18:05 Calculations of FPV drones of the Rubicon Center hit supply and transport of Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen via roads, destroying enemy equipment and weapons.
16:50 In the South Donetsk direction, units of the "East" group of forces released the settlements of Novoocheretovatoye and Novosyolka in the DPR.
16:05 From 13:00 to 14:00 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the territories of Kursk and Belgorod regions.
15:05 Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to defeat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces formations in the Kursk region.
During offensive operations, units of the North group of forces inflicted losses on formations of a tank, heavy mechanized, six mechanized, mountain assault, four airborne assault brigades, a naval infantry brigade, three territorial defense brigades and three assault regiments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Gogolevka, Guevo, Goncharovka, Zaoleshenka, Kazachya Loknya, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Loknya, Malaya Loknya, Makhnovka, Mirny, Nikolsky, Oleshnya, Rubanshchina and Sudzha. Two enemy counterattacks were repelled.
Strikes by operational-tactical and army aviation and artillery fire damaged enemy manpower and equipment in the areas of the settlements of Agronom, Kolmakov, Kositsa, Kubatkin, Martynovka, Melovoy, Nikolaevka, Staraya Sorochina, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, as well as Basovka, Belovody, Varachino, Zhuravka, Miropolye, Novenkoye and Yunakovka in the Sumy region.
Over the course of 24 hours, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 250 servicemen, and destroyed a Swedish-made CV-90 infantry fighting vehicle, four armored personnel carriers, 15 armored combat vehicles, 16 vehicles, three artillery pieces, four mortars, two MLRS combat vehicles, and a German-made Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, as well as two UAV control points and an ammunition depot.
14:50 Dnepropetrovsk direction, –MAP.
Intense fighting in the area of Uspenovka - Novoalexandrovka. In Uspenovka itself - about 2/3 of the village is ours. Since night our units have been attacking with equipment. In the area of Preobrazhenka and Zaporozhye the Ukrainians counterattacked. They pushed ours back in the plantations.
14:45 In the Kursk border area, UAV operators of the GV Sever are actively are hitting Ukrainians, who are being driven out of their strongholds and finished off with precise drone strikes.
13:15 Armed Forces of the Russian Federation released the settlements of Nadezhdinka and Novosyolka in the Donetsk People's Republic.
13:06 From February 15 to 21, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation inflicted 11 group strikes with long-range precision weapons of air, land and sea basing, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, as a result of which gas and energy and port infrastructure facilities, as well as electrical substations that ensure the operation of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine were damaged.
12:46 Ivanovo paratroopers destroyed more than 30 Ukrainian Armed Forces drones within a month.
Air defense units of the "winged infantry" are on combat duty day and night in the area of Artemovsk and Chasov Yar. They provide cover from air strikes by the crews of the Strela-10M and Verba anti-aircraft missile systems and remote-controlled machine gun mounts.
12:45 Zaporizhia direction, –MAP.
The units of the Russian Armed Forces, having previously conducted reconnaissance in force and worked on the identified targets with artillery and aviation, pushed through the enemy’s defenses, entered and consolidated their position in Pyatikhatki.
11:50 There is an enemy on the Tokmak-Vasilyevka road attacked a VAZ-2106 car with a trailer with a kamikaze drone.
The car was purely civilian, the driver was a simple farmer who was transporting hay. As a result of the attack, the car was destroyed. Fortunately, the driver was not injured.
11:15 UAV crews of the motorized rifle unit of the "Southern" group of troops provide support for assault units.
This time, drone operators discovered and quickly destroyed a Ukrainian Armed Forces tank in the Kurakhovsky direction.
9:15 At night, the Geranis attacked critical objects in Ukraine, –video.
One of the strikes hit an oil depot in Karlovka, Poltava Oblast. Fuel from there was used to supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Krasnolimansk direction, and was also supplied to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Slavyansk and Kramatorsk (DPR).
9:00 Information on strikes carried out by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Belgorod Region over the past 24 hours:
In the Belgorod region in the villages of Krasny Khutor and Cheremoshnoye released four artillery rounds during one shelling. Also one drone was shot down over the area. No consequences.
In the Borisovsky district, the Klimovoye farm was attacked by a drone. Two private houses and an outbuilding were damaged.
In the Valuysky municipal district, 18 drones attacked the settlement of Urazovo, the villages of Borki, Dolgoe, Kazinka, Kolyhalino and Kukuyevka, 11 of which were shot down and suppressed. One passenger car and a communications infrastructure facility were damaged.
In Volokonovsky district, the village of Borisovka was attacked by a drone. One private house and two outbuildings were damaged.
In the Grayvoronsky Municipal District, 41 munitions were fired during eight attacks. Six drones were used in the settlements of Gorkovsky and Chapayevsky, the villages of Bezymeno, Dunayka, Zamostye, Kozinka, Novostroyevka-Vtoraya and Spodaryushino. A 15-year-old teenager who was injured last night in the village of Novostroyevka-Pervaya sought treatment at the Children's Regional Clinical Hospital with a closed craniocerebral injury and a head contusion. The victim's condition is assessed as satisfactory. After receiving medical assistance, he was sent for outpatient treatment.
Two cars, two outbuildings and a social facility were damaged. At night, in the settlement of Chapayevsky, after explosive devices were dropped from a drone, a passenger car was destroyed by fire and a power line was damaged - the settlement of Chapayevsky and part of the village of Golovchino are temporarily without power. Emergency services are working to restore power supply.
In the Krasnoyarsk region, 21 munitions were fired at the villages of Grafovka, Popovka and Repyakhovka during three attacks and six drones were attacked. A retail facility was damaged.
In the Shebekinsky municipal district, the city of Shebekino, the villages of Murom and Sereda, and the farmstead of Mukhin were attacked by 4 drones. Two men who received a closed craniocerebral injury and barotrauma on February 14 during a drone attack in the village of Rzhevka independently sought medical attention at the Shebekinsky Central District Hospital. Hospitalization was not required, further treatment will be carried out on an outpatient basis. In the village of Murom, three private houses were damaged.
8:42 Northerners destroyed another American M-113 armored personnel carrier in the Sudzhan border area
FPV operators of the North Guard are actively promoting the reduction of the number of M-113 armored personnel carriers in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Despite the significant number of armored personnel carriers supplied by the previous American administration, their number in the Ukrainian army is significantly decreasing and will soon be reduced to a minimum, while the Sudzhan borderland is filling up with burnt NATO armored vehicles.
[IsraelTimes] IDF says it’s bolstering West Bank presence with 3 battalions after apparent attempt at large-scale terror attack thought to have originated there; Katz: bombs ‘will not deter us’
Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency were said on Friday to have detained two Jewish Israelis and a Paleostinian in connection with explosions on three buses in central Israel Thursday night, as the IDF bolstered operations in the West Bank following what is thought to have been a narrowly averted large-scale terror attack.
The arrests come after three empty buses went kaboom! in quick succession in parking lots in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon on Thursday night and the discovery of two more unwent kaboom! devices on additional buses in Holon. No casualties were reported as a result of the earth-shattering kabooms.
The case was placed under a gag order by the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court on Friday, and the Shin Bet did not comment on the reported arrests.
The Kan public broadcaster said two Jewish Israelis, one of whom is a taxi driver, were detained on suspicion of having driven the faceless myrmidons to the scene of the attack. According to the report, the two, from Bat Yam and Holon respectively, are also suspected of attempted murder.,
The perpetrators of the attack are still on the lam, the report said, adding that Sherlocks have video footage of the explosives being laid.
According to Channel 12, police also detained a Paleostinian who was in Israel illegally.
The report added that one of the Jewish Israelis was detained at around 4 a.m. on Friday, some six hours after the bombs went off.
The suspect was being brought for a remand hearing at the Tel Aviv court on Friday, according to the network.
Public transportation returned to normal Friday after buses were halted following the previous night’s explosions, pending security scans.
After police sappers neutralized the two undetonated explosives found on the Holon buses, Tel Aviv’s police chief told the press that the devices were affixed with a stopwatch, which he said was typical of those created in the West Bank.
According to Hebrew media, the bombs contained five kilograms (11 pounds) of makeshift explosives, and some bore written messages indicating they were placed in response to the IDF operations in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem.
Though Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... ’s so-called Tulkarem Battalion lauded the earth-shattering kabooms, it stopped short of claiming the would-be attack.
According to a Channel 12 news report, the devices were slated to explode on Friday morning, when the buses were in use, but went off early. Giora Eiland, a former IDF operations chief, speculated that the timers were incorrectly set.
"We may be lucky if indeed the faceless myrmidons set these timers to the wrong hour," police front man Aryeh Doron said. "But it’s too early to determine."
In a statement, the Bat Yam Municipality said that "miraculously, the buses arrived at the parking lots a moment before the earth-shattering kaboom," and were already empty of their passengers.
One of the undetonated devices was reportedly found due to an alert from a passenger, who notified the driver of a suspicious bag.
In security consultations following the earth-shattering kabooms, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the IDF to carry out a massive counterterrorism operation in the West Bank, his office said.
The military said Friday that it would bolster its presence in the West Bank with three additional battalions after confirming on Thursday night that it had blocked several checkpoints leading into the West Bank in specific areas and would ramp up activities in the so-called seam zone between the Green Line and Israel’s West Bank barrier.
The army has been carrying out a major offensive in the northern West Bank, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, since January 21. On Friday, the army said it had detained some 90 terror suspects in the West Bank over the past week, including five overnight in the town of Iktaba near Tulkarem, and seized 15 firearms.
Visiting Tulkarem on Friday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said the previous night’s explosions "will not deter us," adding that he had ordered the IDF to step up counterterrorism activities.
"We are at war with murderous Moslem Islamic terrorism and we will win, here, 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... , and everywhere," said Katz.
Referring to hundreds of Paleostinian prisoners released amid the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, Katz, using the West Bank’s biblical name, added: "I warn the faceless myrmidons who were released to Judea and Samaria, we have our eyes on you, and will hunt down and eliminate everyone who is involved in terrorism."
Escalating violence in the West Bank has spilled over to the Tel Aviv area on several occasions since October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led faceless myrmidons stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
In October 2024, Hamas faceless myrmidons from the Hebron area shot seven people dead at a train station in Jaffa.
The terror group also claimed a failed suicide kaboom in Tel Aviv in mid-August. The assailant was killed when his backpack went kaboom! early, injuring a passerby, in the first attempted suicide kaboom in the city in years.
Earlier that month, a Paleostinian man killed two people in a stabbing attack in Holon, near Tel Aviv. On Thursday, the IDF razed the terrorist’s home in the northern West Bank.
Since October 7, 2023, troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas, according to the military.
The Ramallah-based Paleostinian Authority health ministry says that more than 900 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time.
The IDF says the vast majority of them were button men killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or faceless myrmidons carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 48 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in festivities with terror operatives in the West Bank.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli TV says woman alerted driver to suspicious item aboard bus, after terrorist attempted to conceal bomb under seat before alighting
A driver told passengers to get off his bus and evacuate the area minutes before a bomb placed under a seat detonated, according to an Israeli television report Friday night on the botched bus bombing plot outside Tel Aviv a night earlier.
Three empty buses exploded in quick succession in parking lots in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon Thursday night and one or two more bombs were discovered on additional buses in Holon. No casualties occurred as a result of the explosions.
There have been conflicting reports on the matter, which is thought to have been a narrowly averted large-scale terror attack, and much of the case is covered by a gag order.
Channel 12 news reported that a terrorist boarded one of the buses shortly after 8 p.m. with a bomb held in a bag, while several people were onboard.
He sat down in the back and attempted to hide the bag below a seat, the network reported, before leaving. A woman who saw him told the driver there was a suspicious item on board.
The driver then called his Dan company superiors, who told him to get all the passengers off, and he did so. As he told his bosses he was minutes from a bus depot, they urged him to head there to keep the vehicle away from passersby.
After parking the bus, the driver got off and police were called, but the bomb went off before they could arrive, destroying the vehicle.
The TV report said all the bombs apparently had the writing, “Revenge from Tulkarem” on them, in reference to the Palestinian city where Israeli forces have been operating as part of a major counterterrorism offensive in the northern West Bank.
Though Hamas’s so-called Tulkarem Battalion lauded the explosions, it stopped short of claiming the would-be attack.
Earlier Friday, the Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency were reported to have detained a Palestinian and two Jewish Israelis in connection to the bus explosions, with Channel 12 reporting that one of the Jewish Israelis who is suspected of transporting the terrorists denied any connection to the incident.
“It’s important that you know I’m an Israeli Jewish patriot who loves the country,” he was quoted as telling investigators, while insisting that “I never in my life was involved with” Palestinians who illegally entered Israel from the West Bank.
He also reportedly complained that officers with their guns drawn burst into his home at 4 a.m. to arrest him, saying he thought they were Hamas terrorists coming to kill him.
“What motive do I have to harm my country, have you gone crazy?” he was said to add.
The Kan public broadcaster earlier reported that the Jewish Israelis are suspected of having driven the terrorists to the scene of the attack, and that the pair, from Bat Yam and Holon, are also suspected of attempted murder.
The perpetrators of the attack are still at large, the report said, adding that investigators have video footage of the explosives being laid.
Public transportation returned to normal Friday after buses were halted following the previous night’s explosions, pending security scans.
After police sappers neutralized the two undetonated explosives found on the Holon buses, Tel Aviv’s police chief told the press that the devices were affixed with a stopwatch, which he said was typical of those created in the West Bank.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded the rank of admiral to Black Sea Fleet Commander Sergei Pinchuk. The corresponding decree was published on the legal acts portal on February 21.
“To award the military rank of <…> Admiral to Sergei Mikhailovich Pinchuk,” the decree states.
By the same decree, Stanislav Gadzimagomedov, Andrei Ivanaev, Vladimir Kravchenko, and Valery Solodchuk were awarded the rank of Colonel General.
In October 2021, Sergei Pinchuk was appointed Chief of Staff - First Deputy Commander of the Black Sea Fleet. After the start of the special operation, the European Union imposed personal sanctions against him. On February 15, 2024, Pinchuk was appointed Acting Commander of the Black Sea Fleet.
As reported by Regnum News Agency, on April 2, 2024, President Putin appointed Pinchuk as commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Admiral Alexander Moiseyev was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy.
[IsraelTmes] US President calls killing of child hostages Kfir and Ariel Bibas ‘so barbaric’; says he’s not ‘forcing’ Gaza plan to expel locals to Jordan, Egypt
US President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... said Friday he is "really" fine with any decision Israel makes as to whether to continue to a second stage 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... hostage deal or return to war in Gaza.
Asked about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s position in an interview with Fox News, Trump said, "He’s actually not torn. I mean, you know where he stands, and he would like to go in, and he’s just so angry, and he should be. If he’s not angry, then there’d be something wrong with him, frankly.
"He is very angry; he’s a very angry man at what happened, especially what happened yesterday with these kids," he said, referring to the return of murdered hostage children Ariel and Kfir Bibas. "It’s so barbaric. You wouldn’t think that would happen in the modern age, but it happened."
Asked on whether Israel would decide between seeking to bring back more hostages in a second phase or resuming the war, and whether he is fine with either choice, Trump answered, "I am. I really am. You know, when you see what’s happening there... you just wonder about the condition of the hostages that they have. One group came in so bad, it looked like it was a concentration camp in Germany."
He added: "Sometimes you have to make a decision... it’s a rough decision."
Sixty-seven of the 251 hostages kidnapped by Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
’I’M NOT FORCING IT’
Trump was also asked about his post-war plan for the Gaza Strip, which calls for the US to take ownership of the enclave and for the local population to be relocated to Egypt and Jordan, who have rejected the proposal outright.
"Well, we play Jordan and Egypt billions of dollars a year and I was a little surprised they said that, but they did. And I’ll tell you, the way to do it is my plan. I think that’s the plan that really works," Trump said.
"I’m not forcing it. I’m just gonna sit back and recommend it, and then the US would own the site and, you know, no Hamas, and they’d be developed and then you’d start all over again with a clean plate."
"I like my plan I thought my plan was good. You get them out, you move them, you build a beautiful community and a permanent community and then you take the site," Trump said.
"You know it’s a great location. I don’t know why Israel ever gave that up," Trump said, referring to Israel’s 2005 disengagement from Gaza. "I guess they look at us and say ’Why did you give up the Panama Canal?’
"I’ve seen a lot of bad real estate deals, that’s one of them right there."
Arab leaders have been shuffling to construct a counterproposal to Trump’s Gaza plan. According to reports, the Arab plan would see Hamas retreat from Gaza’s political scene.
Hamas has controlled Gaza since 2007, following a civil war that saw the terror group oust the West Bank-based Paleostinian Authority, which is dominated by Hamas’s secularist rival Fatah.
Israel has ruled out accepting any plan that involves the Paleostinian Authority playing a role in the management of the Gaza Strip.
Get that DEI shit OUT
[Townhall] It’s not exactly shocking news: President Donald J. Trump fired General Charles Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was cited for pushing DEI nonsense at the Pentagon, with more recent reports noting that he was allegedly on a purge list (via ABC News):
Gen. C.Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy's top admiral, are on the list of general officers provided to Congress this week whom Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could fire or remove from their current jobs, according to two U.S. officials.
Spokesmen for both Brown and Franchetti declined to comment. CNN was first to report their names were on the list for possible removal.
And the president made that announcement official tonight, nominating Air Force Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to replace Brown:
I want to thank General Charles “CQ” Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family.
Today, I am honored to announce that I am nominating Air Force Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a “warfighter” with significant interagency and special operations experience.
During my first term, Razin was instrumental in the complete annihilation of the ISIS caliphate. It was done in record setting time, a matter of weeks. Many so-called military “geniuses” said it would take years to defeat ISIS. General Caine, on the other hand, said it could be done quickly, and he delivered.
Despite being highly qualified and respected to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the previous administration, General Caine was passed over for promotion by Sleepy Joe Biden. But not anymore! Alongside Secretary Pete Hegseth, General Caine and our military will restore peace through strength, put America First, and rebuild our military. Finally, I have also directed Secretary Hegseth to solicit nominations for five additional high level positions, which will be announced soon. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
President Donald Trump abruptly fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday, sidelining a history-making fighter pilot and respected officer as part of a campaign led by his defense secretary to rid the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks.
The ouster of Brown, only the second Black general to serve as chairman, is sure to send shock waves through the Pentagon. His 16 months in the job had been consumed with the war in Ukraine and the expanded conflict in the Middle East.
"I want to thank General Charles ’CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family," Trump posted on social media.
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Trump has fired Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. C.Q. Brown and pushed out five other top military leaders in a historic shake-up. He’s nominating retired Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine as the new chairman, marking the first time a retired officer is brought back for the role. Admiral Lisa… pic.twitter.com/hJJwPMuLmr
…Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead a military branch, is also being replaced. Additionally, Trump is removing the judge advocates general for the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2025
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[11166 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#1
GOOD!!!! Caine is a bad ass. Brown is a fuck twit
We...the people...all of us....sat passively by and put up with a STOLEN election in 2020.
But that's not where it ends. The election was only *stolen* because approximately 40% of our population is a ONE issue voter, no matter how they act in forums or in public.
Until we disabuse our people of the notion that pregnancies can be aborted without moral condemnation and outrage, we will continue to have LOTS of women who pretend to be on "our" side who slide into the ballot booth and vote for "pro choice" candidates.
The Biden camp didn't STEAL 20 Million votes--they stole 5-10 Million and that's all they needed because our culture no longer values right-from-wrong.
#5
Seems like they knew they were going to do this day 1. They must have a wave schedule that includes the legal hurdles and wins. It looks like a military operational plan. I wonder if Flynn advised them on this.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/22/2025 9:56
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#6
Now if they can recall that dikkwad Milley to active duty and court-martial him, then that would be the icing on the cake.
#8
Clarice Feldman on FB: @Heminator
For the new Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Trump admin passed over EVERY FOUR STAR GENERAL to select a three star.
That’s gotta send a message about our failed military leadership.
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Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2025 13:35
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#9
A palpable point, Frank G. I noticed the Lt. Gen thing, but was rushing to get things organized for the rollover, and didn’t stop to think about the deeper message.
That’s like putting in a non-general as Secretary of Defense.
#10
...that part of the big problem in the military's HR management. We went to war on 9/11 but kept the same peacetime promotion system. That peacetime system was intended to identify people who would in wartime supposedly be able to perform. It was not a substitute for actual war environment. It was all about 'fair and equitable' not about performance in war which nothing to do with 'fair or equitable'. The Bug Out at Kabul should have lead to the firing of many of those involved. The beginning of WW2 and Korea saw a slew of officers pushed aside or cashiered making room for talent that wasn't concerned with 'management'.
[GatewayPundit] Enrique Tarrio was arrested on Friday outside the US Capitol.
Enrique, former chairman of the Proud Boys, went to take photos outside the US Capitol earlier today after returning to Washington DC after President Trump commuted his sentence.
Tarrio was hosting a press conference with several prominent J6ers, including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, investigative reporter Ivan Raiklin, Joe Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola.
These patriots were attacked during their presser by radical left activists.
From TGP contributor Jenn Baker who was at the rally.
Screaming protesters were allowed next to the Proud Boys and J6ers during their protest. There was only a few of them. They were blowing whistles and screaming. The police allowed one particularly annoying screaming woman to get up into the faces of the J6ers. At one point Enrique Tarrio defended himself from this screaming leftist. Enrique swiped his hand to get this woman out of his face. That is when the police arrested Enrique.
It appears this entire event was a set-up. If Capitol Police were doing their job they would have removed these radical screaming protesters from the protest area. Instead, they allowed one woman to scream in people’s faces. Then Enrique swiped his hand to get this nutcase out of his face. That was all the police needed to arrest Enrique.
Direct Translation via Google Traslate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] Investigators have completed their investigation into the case of Magomed Kagirov, who is accused of involvement in the attack on a church and synagogue in Derbent.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", on June 23, 2024, on the Day of the Holy Trinity, which is one of the main Christian holidays, militants attacked synagogues and Orthodox churches in Derbent and Makhachkala. According to the investigation, the group included 11 people, Magomed Kagirov was supposed to join the militants, but then he did not participate in the terrorist attacks.
The Investigative Committee has completed its investigation into the case of Magomed Kagirov, who is accused of involvement in the attack on a church and synagogue in Derbent. "The parties are now familiarizing themselves with the materials of the criminal case," TASS quoted an employee of the department as saying today.
An employee of Moscow's Basmanny Court clarified that Kagirov's arrest has been extended until May 23.
Let us recall that as a result of the terrorist attacks in Makhachkala and Derbent, at least 22 people were killed and 46 were injured. Investigators believe that the group was created by the son of the head of the Sergokalinsky district, Magomed Omarov. "Kavkazsky Uzel" has prepared reports "The Main Thing About the Participants in the Attacks in Makhachkala and Derbent" and "Attacks on a Church, Synagogues, and Security Forces in Dagestan".
All for the greater glory of ISIS (Bees piss upon them).
Veterans of the special services interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" earlier stated that the militant attacks could have been prevented if the security forces had guarded religious sites more carefully and paid more attention to preventive work, but the security of religious sites in the republic was strengthened only the day after the militant attacks.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title
[Korrespondent] 21.50 Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski brought a downed Russian Shahed-type attack drone to a conservative conference in the US. According to him, the drone was shot down by the Ukrainians and then taken to Poland.
— Radosław Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) February 21, 2025
19.13 In Kiev, at the forum of defense innovations, new Ukrainian unmanned solutions were presented, including the Bulava strike drone, the TM-62 ground kamikaze drone, the Wolly 7.62 module and a drone carrier.
19.00 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky does not necessarily need to participate in negotiations to end the war in his country. This statement was made by US President Donald Trump in an interview with Fox News Radio.
"To tell you the truth, I don't think his (Zelensky's, - ed.) presence at the meetings is that important," Trump said, speaking about the negotiations to end the war with Russia.
18.47 At least one person was killed and nine were wounded as a result of strikes in the north of Donetsk region.
In Slavyansk, seven people aged 51 to 83 were injured, 62 private homes and an administrative building were damaged. In Kramatorsk, a 39-year-old man was injured, 46 private homes and two cars were damaged.
In Nikanorovka, Nikolaevskaya community, one person is known to have died and one person was injured, and a house was destroyed.
18.30 Over the three years of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, journalists and volunteers have identified 95,026 names of fallen Russian soldiers. Currently, the largest number of Russian citizens killed in the war against Ukraine has been recorded in Bashkortostan - 4,244 people, the BBC reports.
17.48 The Belgian authorities will delay the transfer of the first F-16 aircraft to Ukraine at least until the end of this year, because there has been a delay in the delivery of American F-35s. This was stated by the Chief of the Belgian General Staff Frederic Vansina, the publication LaLibre reported.
17:25 As a result of a Russian air strike in Gulyaipole, Zaporozhye, Nestor Yalansky, who was the last descendant of the family of the famous revolutionary Nestor Makhno, was killed.
"Nestor Viktorovich was one of the last direct descendants of the Makhno family who lived in Gulyaipole. His great-grandfather Karp Ivanovich Makhno was tortured and killed in 1919 in Gulyaipole by the White Guard Cossacks of the Russian Volunteer Army of General Denikin, who captured the city," the statement said.
17.01 The new Ukrainian Trembita missile was shown for the first time at the Defense Innovation Forum in Kiev. This was announced by Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov on Friday, February 21.
16.45 For the fourth day in a row, the number of battles at the front has been gradually decreasing, at least in the first half of the day. This is evidenced by data from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of 16.00.
16.18 US Presidential Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg called his talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "positive". He wrote about this on the social network X.
15.54 Every fifth child in Ukraine has lost a close relative or friend since the start of Russia's full-scale aggression three years ago, UNICEF reported.
The third year of the full-scale war in Ukraine has become even more deadly for children compared to 2023: the number of child casualties has increased by 50%. In total, more than 2,520 children have been killed or injured since February 2022. The real number of victims is likely much higher.
15.39 The Security Service of Ukraine has in absentia notified two Russian generals of suspicion for organizing the explosion of the Oskol dam in the Kharkiv region in September 2022. This was reported by the SBU press service on Friday, February 21.
14.39 Gas production in Ukraine has fallen by 40% after Russian missile strikes, Reuters reports, citing a senior industry source.
14.15 A large-scale fire that broke out as a result of a Russian strike on an industrial facility in the Poltava region has been extinguished. This was reported on February 21 by the press service of the State Emergency Service. It is noted that there were no casualties. 87 firefighters and 34 units of equipment, including a fire turbine robot, were involved in extinguishing the fire.
13:54 In the Liman direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed a Russian BAT-2 road layer for the first time. This was reported by the Khortytsia operational-strategic group of forces.
13:33 The third group of volunteers of the Ukrainian Legion will sign contracts on February 28. It is expected that the number of recruits will be greater than in previous times. This was reported by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland Vasyl Bodnar in a comment to Ukrinform.
13.22 In Denmark, more than half of citizens are in favor of sending peacekeepers to the country after the war ends. These are the results of a poll published on February 21 by the Ritzau agency, Bloomberg reports. It is noted that about 53% of respondents said that Denmark should take part in any proposed deployment of a military contingent. About 15% were against, and 32% were undecided or had no opinion on the matter. The majority (66%) also said that Ukraine should join the European Union, and 68% said that the country should become part of NATO.
13.13 Work on the agreement on rare earth minerals is currently ongoing. For Ukraine, the important aspects of this document are the correct distribution of profits and security guarantees. This was stated by the adviser to the head of the Presidential Office Mykhailo Podolyak on the air of the telethon.
12:57 Russian special services are moving into an active phase of information operations against Ukraine and Europe, said the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation Andrey Kovalenko on Friday, February 21.
The main goal is to strengthen Euroscepticism, support politicians who may question the unity of the EU, and also attempts to change the European course towards Ukraine.
12.46 The Cabinet of Ministers allocated another UAH 7.9 billion for the purchase of drones. This was stated by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at a government meeting. According to him, in January 2025, the production of drones in Ukraine increased 10 times compared to January last year.
12:37 In January 2025, the number of requests to the I Want to Find project regarding missing Russian servicemen in the Kursk region, where soldiers of the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine continue to destroy and capture Russian servicemen, increased by 29%. This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense.
12:33 Most Poles do not support sending their troops to Ukraine as part of a possible stabilization mission. This is evidenced by the results of an Opinia24 poll for Radia ZET.
According to the study, 63% of respondents spoke out against such a decision. While only 22% supported the idea of involving Polish troops in the mission. Another 15% found it difficult to answer.
12.19 As a result of a Russian airstrike on the village of Zolochiv in the Kharkiv region, four people were injured. As a result of the UAB hitting the road, a car caught fire, three private houses and one apartment building, as well as administrative buildings, were damaged.
11:37 Weapons supplies to Ukraine under contracts with American companies continue. This was stated by Fedir Venislavsky, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, UNN reports.
10:56 Three police officers were injured in the Kharkiv region as a result of a Russian drone strike. This was reported by the regional department of the National Police. The enemy drone, presumably a Molniya type, hit a service vehicle.
10:35 Law enforcement officers detained a man and a woman in the Kyiv region who, on orders from the Russian FSB, were preparing to blow up buildings of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and law enforcement agencies of Ukraine. According to the SBU, the Russians remotely recruited two unemployed people - a 27-year-old drug addict and his common-law wife, who were looking for "easy" money on Telegram channels.
9:42 Russian propagandists and intelligence agencies have received instructions from the Kremlin to promote "victorious" narratives for the anniversary of the full-scale invasion. This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on its Telegram channel on Friday, February 21.
9:20 On the night of February 21, the occupiers launched 160 drones at Ukraine. This was reported by the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
8:44 Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Defense Forces have engaged in combat with the Russians 121 times at the front, most often in the Pokrovsk direction. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
7:41 Over the past 24 hours, the Defense Forces destroyed 1,280 Russian occupiers, as well as 52 artillery systems, 18 armored fighting vehicles, and 12 tanks. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook.
03:03 According to media reports, the G7 countries have significantly softened the draft communiqué for the third anniversary of the Russian invasion, removing the mention of limiting the price cap on Russian oil. The US also spoke out against mentioning Russia's aggression in the G7 statement.
01:25 Every two dollars invested in Ukraine's long-range capabilities causes almost ten dollars of damage to Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a video address.
[IsraelTimes] Swedish police say they have apprehended three men near the Israeli embassy in Stockholm on suspicion of preparing to commit a violent crime but also say it is too early to say whether the diplomatic mission was a target.
Swedish broadcaster TV4, citing unnamed sources, reports that the three men are suspected of planning to attack the embassy.
Direct Transation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding back Russian attacks in eight directions.
In the Pokrovsky direction, enemy troops have advanced 14 times since the beginning of the day. But now there is only one battle in the outskirts of the city.
The number of battles at the front has been gradually decreasing for the fourth day, at least in the first half of the day. This is evidenced by data from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of 16:00 on Friday, February 21.
Thus, today there have already been 53 military clashes in eight directions. For comparison, on February 17, as of this time, the Russian invaders organized 109 assaults in 10 directions.
On Friday, in the Kupyansk direction, our defenders stopped three assaults by invaders near Zagryzovo. Another clash continues.
In the Liman direction, the enemy is attacking in the areas of the settlements of Kopanki, Novolyubovka, Terny and Kolodezi. In total, there are four combat clashes, two of which are ongoing.
In the Kramatorsk direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are repelling three attacks near the village of Vasyukovka.
In the Toretsk direction, the enemy advanced eight times in the areas of Dilievka and Toretsk, six combat clashes are still ongoing.
In the Pokrovsky direction, the enemy attacked 14 times in the areas of the settlements of Vodyanoye Vtoroye, Elizavetovka, Sviridonovka, Promin, Peschanoye, Sergeyevka, Andreyevka, Ulakly. One combat clash continues to this day.
Three enemy assaults have been stopped in the Novopavlovsk direction ; the invader attempted to break through defensive positions in the Constantinople and Burlatskoye areas. One combat clash is still ongoing.
In the Orekhov direction, the enemy attacked twice in the directions of Shcherbakov and Pyatikhatki.
In the Kursk direction, the Russians carried out eight attacks.
Let us recall that in the course of 24 hours on February 20, Russia lost about 1,300 soldiers killed and wounded at the front. The total number of Russian losses since the beginning of the war is approaching 870 thousand people.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] It is not Russia that is to blame for the military conflict in Ukraine, but the incorrect statements of former US President Joe Biden and the head of the Kiev regime Volodymyr Zelensky. This was stated by US President Donald Trump on February 21.
"Every time I say it's not Russia's fault, I always get criticized by the fake news, but I tell you: Biden said the wrong thing, Zelensky said the wrong thing," Trump said on Fox News.
According to the American leader, Russia “could have been easily dissuaded” from carrying out the special operation, but this was not done.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on February 13, Trump said that the desire of Western countries to include Ukraine in NATO was one of the reasons that prompted Russia to launch a special military operation in Ukraine. According to Trump, Russia has long stated that Ukraine cannot become a member of NATO. Both Biden and Zelensky have spoken about this more than once.
On February 20, the Financial Times (FT) reported that the United States opposed the use of the wording "aggressor" in relation to Russia in the new communiqué. The article clarified that Trump thus wants to distance himself as much as possible from Joe Biden's position. According to those close to the American leader, the rejection of such wording will help resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] If the EU countries decide to ensure their own security without US assistance, they will need to mobilize about 300,000 troops. This is stated in a joint study published on February 21 by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) and the Brussels consulting company Bruegel.
"Europe will have to create about 50 additional brigades with a total of 300,000 soldiers. This will require at least 1,400 new tanks and 2,000 infantry fighting vehicles. <…> In addition, it will be necessary to produce about 2,000 long-range drones every year," says the material published on the IfW website.
The study also showed that at least €250 billion per year would be needed to expand the armed forces. To achieve this, the total defense spending of EU countries would have to be 3.5–4% of GDP, rather than 2%, as it is now. As an example, the researchers reported that Germany would have to spend €140 billion instead of €80 billion if its military spending increased to 3.5% of GDP.
Co-author of the analysis and senior research fellow at IfW, Professor Guntram Wolff, said that such expenditures are needed to prepare for a potential war with Russia. The reason for the build-up of armed forces in the EU was that Russia has significantly strengthened its army in recent years, as well as increased defense production.
"Russia may have enough military power to attack EU states within the next three to ten years," Wolf said.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in May 2024 that the EU leadership was preparing for war with Russia. According to him, on instructions from Brussels, the media began to shape the corresponding moods in the countries of the union.
On 22 January 2025, European Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius stated that the EU was facing an existential threat, allegedly coming from Russia. He called for preparing for war within the next five years and mobilising all financial resources for this.
On January 15, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called on EU countries to prepare for war and increase defense spending. Otherwise, he said, in five years Europeans would have to learn Russian or move to New Zealand.
In June 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin called statements about a possible Russian attack on Europe nonsense. He noted that anti-Russian propaganda is used to justify the arms race. The head of state added that the deterioration of relations with a number of European countries was not Moscow's fault.
Nah, they will stop at the Dniepr river. Besides, that would be like winning a contest where 2nd Prize was two Western Europes. Who needs the headache!
#8
Eldest son said in the FOB he was in, the Germans were useless, weren't allowed to patrol after dark, carry loaded weapons in field, wouldn't get out of the APC's on patrol.
OTOH, the Norwegians were some the hardest guys he ever met. One Norge troop set an ambush by lying on the bottom of a mountain lake in a wetsuit with his rifle in a bag, breathing through a straw.
Worked, too.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/22/2025 14:33
Comments ||
Top||
#12
Albanian SF at Spin Boldak, AFG in 2011. "No contacts, no problems." (note the Albanian flag on the whip and the 12.7 mm DShK mounted on the MRAP).
From the Facebook page of Clarice Feldman
Since day one, I’ve been telling anyone who will listen that since 10/7, we’ve witnessed so many miracles, it’s hard to count.
Some of these miracles are easy to recognize, like how well the beeper operation went down or how successful we were at intercepting or detonating those hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles fired at us from Iran. Twice.
Other miracles were harder to recognize.
And then we have last night.
Last night was a miracle the caliber of the splitting of the sea.
I am talking an open miracle that could and should have ended very differently.
Do not ask me for my source and if that means you don’t believe what I’m about to say, so be it. You can keep scrolling. But if you know my work, you know I’m very careful with what I share so if I’m sharing this, trust me, it’s based on a reliable source.
Last night, a young lady noticed a suspicious object on a bus in the center of Israel. She reported it to the driver who pulled into a station, got everyone off the bus, at which point, the bus blew up and was completely destroyed.
But that wasn’t the end of it. Not even close.
Over the hours that followed, an additional four bombs were discovered on busses, some of them exploded, others were taken apart before exploding. Some malfunctioned.
According to my source, and this was news to me, a whopping 15 busses were supposed to explode this morning. According to reports, the terrorist set the timer for 9 PM instead of 9 AM.
So is that the worst of it? Not even close.
In addition to the 15 busses, 5 suicide bombers were set to detonate bombs on the lightrail at the same time, all in the center of Israel.
So is that the worst? Nope. That’s the good part.
Where did this attack originate? Gaza? Nope. Judea and Samaria. In other words, these terrorists came from within Israel.
And here’s the kicker, and again, I am not telling you where I heard this, all of the above was intended to be nothing more than the distraction, much like the incoming rockets on 10/7. Just a distraction for the real invasion.
My source says that as those busses and terrorists blew up, massive security and emergency forces were supposed to rush to the scene at which point, there would be a massive breach of the security fence and many terrorists from Judea and Samaria would invade Israel and carry out a 10/7 2.0. Only this time it wouldn’t be from Gaza so it would be an invasion into basically every major city in Israel.
For the third time, this is not information that is publicly available. I can’t share a link and I won’t share a source. Believe me or don’t. Up to you.
It is worth pointing out that for decades, we did not have any bus explosions in Israel. We do this deal and release terrorists, some of whom were the architects behind the bus bombings during the intifada, and all of a sudden, we’re back to busses blowing up.
I can’t imagine anyone believing that that’s a coincidence.
All of this was supposed to go down during rush hour and would have caused hundreds, maybe thousands of Israelis deaths.
Even if the rest isn’t true, multiple busses blowing up like this bus during rush hour? Can’t even imagine.
Yesterday morning was one of the hardest days in Israel’s history. Perhaps the hardest. We all felt hopeless, every last one of us.
When we are in pain, God is in pain with us.
I don’t know about you, but yesterday morning, as I saw the coffins of the Bibas angels, I looked up to Hashem and asked why. Why would he cause us so much pain or allow Hamas to do this to us??
I told myself that we’ll be ok but wasn’t sure if that was true. Was God even watching over us any more? Has He abandoned us? Did He turn His back on us?
Then, as the hostages were being delivered, a beautiful rainbow appeared in the Israeli skies, a sign from the times of Noah, that God won’t ever destroy the world or let it be destroyed. A rainbow, according to Jewish scripture, is God’s way of telling us, “Don’t worry. I got your back.”
Still, though, I was just so sad and so angry.
And then the news started to hit my feeds.
A bus exploded. No injuries.
Hmm, “How does that happen?” I asked myself.
Then another bus exploded. No injuries. And a third. No injuries.
I already felt God’s presence again. I could breathe again.
And the news kept coming in. More bombs discovered. More intel. This was supposed to be the biggest attack since 10/7, maybe even bigger.
Totally thwarted.
By who? The IDF? Nope.
Shabak? Nope.
Mossad? Nope.
This was a massive attack prevented 100% by God Himself. And a very vigilant young lady who noticed the suspicious object.
Whatever Hamas planned or didn’t plan for this morning, I would not be writing these words if their plan had come to fruition. But God had other plans and after all the pain God’s children endured yesterday, He felt we needed to be reminded of His presence. He felt we needed to be reminded that He has our back, now and always. He was right. We did need it.
This event might go down in history as one of the biggest miracles the Jewish people experienced since biblical times.
“There are two ways to live life. One is that nothing is a miracle. The other is that everything is a miracle.”
Some will explain how the Iron Dome works and therefore conclude that it’s not a miracle. The same for David’s Sling and the Arrow system.
Some will explain how all of those rockets and drones not intercepted by Israel fell in empty spaces. They might not believe that that too was a miracle.
The beepers? The walkie talkies? Getting Nasrallah? Haniyeh? Deif? They’ll attribute all of that to Israel’s intelligence.
But this? What happened last night? Israel had nothing to do with it. If you don’t see this event as a miracle, there is only one explanation. You don’t want to see it as a miracle.
Open your eyes. Clean your lenses. Hashem is here with us in our pain and each day that passes, we are one day closer to Him finally revealing Himself to us, explaining why any of this had to happen, and ultimately bringing mashiach.
For now, I just wanted to recognize Hashem’s greatness and on behalf of the hundreds, maybe thousands of Israelis who should be dead right now, just say thank you.
הודו לה השם כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו
Give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם הַגּוֹמֵל לְחַיָּבִים טוֹבוֹת, שֶׁגְּמָלַנִי כָּל טוּב
Blessed are you, O Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who rewards good deeds, who rewards me for every good thing.
We say that blessing when we are saved from tragedy. Today, the Jewish nation was saved from tragedy.
[IsraelTimes] Lebanese terror group hoping to put on a show of strength to show it is still relevant in wake of devastating losses it suffered in conflict with Israel
Hundreds of Iraqis and Iranians, including big shots, are heading to Beirut where Leb ...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... ’s Hezbollah will bury its former leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> on Sunday nearly five months after he was killed in an Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... , in a mass funeral aimed at showing political strength after the group emerged badly weakened from last year’s war.
Nasrallah was killed on September 27 in an Israeli airstrike as he met commanders in a bunker in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a stunning blow in the early phase of an Israeli offensive that has left the Iran-backed group a shadow of its former self.
Revered by Hezbollah supporters, Nasrallah led the Shi’ite Moslem group through decades of conflict with Israel, overseeing its transformation into a military force with regional sway and becoming one of the most prominent Arab figures in generations.
The funeral in Beirut’s southern suburbs will also honor Hashem Safieddine, who led Hezbollah for one week after Nasrallah’s death before he was also killed by Israel, underlining how deeply Israeli intelligence had penetrated the terror group. He will be buried in the south on Monday.
"The funeral is a launchpad for the next phase. A great funeral that draws hundreds of thousands is a way of telling everyone that Hezbollah still exists, that it is still the main Shi’ite actor in Lebanon," said Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center.
Israel killed thousands of Hezbollah fighters and inflicted huge destruction in Beirut’s southern suburbs and other areas of Lebanon where Hezbollah embedded its forces. The impact on Hezbollah was compounded by the ousting of its ally Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... in Syria, severing the supply route to Iran.
Its weakened stature has been reflected in Lebanon’s post-war politics, with the group unable to impose its will in the formation of a new government and language legitimizing its arsenal omitted from the new cabinet’s policy statement.
Sheikh Sadeq al-Nabulsi, a holy man close to Hezbollah, said adversaries in Lebanon and abroad believed the group had been defeated, but the funeral would be a message that this was not the case. It would be a "battle to prove Hezbollah’s existence."
The ceremony will be held at Lebanon’s biggest sports arena, the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, on the outskirts of the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs.
Nasrallah will then be buried at a dedicated site nearby.
Nasrallah’s death was a huge blow to Iran, whose Revolutionary Guards established Hezbollah in 1982. It was also a blow to allied Shi’ite militias across the region, which also held him in high regard.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will attend, an Iranian official said. An Iraqi delegation, including senior Shi’ite politicians and militia commanders, will fly to Beirut for the funeral on a presidential plane, two Iraqi politicians said. 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... ’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s will send a senior delegation led by the Grand Mufti, Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported.
Iraqi Airways has added flights to Beirut to cope with extra demand from Iraqis who want to travel to Beirut for the funeral, a spokesperson for the Iraqi transportation ministry said.
Supporters venerate him for opposing Israel and defying the United States. To his foes, he was head of a terrorist organization and a proxy for Iran’s Shi’ite Islamist theocracy in its tussle for influence in the Middle East.
After he was killed, Nasrallah was buried temporarily next to his son, Hadi, who died fighting for Hezbollah in 1997.
His official funeral was scheduled to allow time for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon under the terms of a US-backed ceasefire, which ended last year’s war.
Though Israel has largely withdrawn from the south, its troops continue to hold five hilltop positions in the area.
The conflict spiraled after Hezbollah started firing rockets into Israel in support of its Paleostinian ally Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... at the start of the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... war, on October 8, 2023, a day after the Hamas onslaught that killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] Security officials believe that the detainees received religious training abroad and then returned to Russia and swore allegiance to the Islamic State.
According to a source in the security forces, FSB officers detained two members of the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS), banned in Russia by the court, in Ingushetia: 25-year-old Azamat G. and 29-year-old Zurab D.
According to investigators, both were undergoing religious training abroad and fell under the influence of radical ideologists there. After returning to Russia, they swore allegiance to ISIS; their foreign handlers planned to use both of them in terrorist activities, Izvestia reported today.
The publication published two videos. One of them shows an entrance and several security officers in military gear and with weapons. One of them shouted: "We're going to break down the door, open up." Then another one started to knock it down. The door opened, and the security officers demanded that the person in the apartment lie down on the floor. Then a man is shown standing near the wall. The security officer demanded that he give his name and year of birth. At this point, the video ends.
Another video shows security forces getting out of a minibus and then using a portable ladder to climb over the gate of a house into its yard. They then inspect the territory of the house and the buildings on it. Then a man opens the door to the house for them. After that, two men are shown, one of them lying on the floor, the other standing near the wall. The security forces told this man that a case had been opened against him. Then a search is shown, several religious books, a Ukrainian passport.
Ah hah!
Then the security forces are shown escorting the detainees to a minibus.
"Kavkazsky Uzel" also wrote that on February 18, on the Karabulak-Plievo highway, a 61-year-old local resident, a former traffic police officer, was shot at while driving a car. He was hospitalized with gunshot wounds. On February 19, it became known that a suspect in the attack on the former security officer had been detained. This incident was the second armed attempt on a former police officer in Ingushetia in four days.
On February 15, former deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Karabulak, Ilez Nalgiev, was wounded in the republic.
Posted by: badanov ||
02/22/2025
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] An 18-year-old native of Chechnya intended to attack the Israeli embassy in Berlin, he was arrested. According to investigators, he planned to join ISIS.
An 18-year-old Russian citizen was arrested in Germany on the morning of February 20. On February 21, a judge at the Brandenburg Regional Court issued an arrest warrant. An investigation is underway on suspicion of preparing a serious act of violence that poses a danger to the state, Brandenburg police reported on their website today, declining to provide details.
The Tagesspiegel reported that the arrested man, 18-year-old Akhmed I., a native of Chechnya living in Potsdam, was planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin. He was detained at the airport. Investigators are considering an "Islamist version of the crime," but already suspect a political motive.
According to the publication, two more people were involved in the preparations for the terrorist attack, and they left Germany. Ahmed also intended to leave Germany and fly to Istanbul after the plans for the attack failed to materialize. The German authorities were informed of the plans for the attack by foreign intelligence. I. is suspected of wanting to join the terrorist group "Islamic State".
Earlier, the "Caucasian Knot" wrote that in early December 2023, a 16-year-old native of Chechnya was arrested in Germany, who is accused of preparing a terrorist attack together with his acquaintance of Afghan origin.
Let us recall that after the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, mass anti-Semitic actions took place from October 26 to 29, 2023 in three republics of the North Caucasus - Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia. The "Caucasian Knot" prepared the reports " Anti-Semitic actions in the North Caucasus: how it was " and " A wave of anti-Semitic actions in the North Caucasus".
The man, a Russian national, was taken into custody late Thursday in the eastern state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin, a statement from police and prosecutors said, adding that the suspect appeared in court Friday and was remanded in custody.
Riot police and specialist officers were involved in making the arrest, which came after a tip-off, officials said.
"No further details as to the background and motive can be given for the moment to protect the investigation," they added.
According to the investigation so far, the man had not been known to police for previous criminal offenses, the German dpa news agency reported.
Posted by: badanov ||
02/22/2025
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Mikhail Zakharov
[REGNUM] The ruble continues to strengthen. On Friday, February 21, the Bank of Russia set the official dollar exchange rate at ₽88.51 — for the first time since September 2024, the American currency fell below 90 rubles. At the same time, in over-the-counter trading on Thursday, February 20, the dollar sank below 88 rubles. The euro also showed a new minimum since August last year — the Central Bank set it at ₽92.48.
At the end of December, the rate was more than ₽100 per dollar. Since the beginning of the year, the Russian national currency has grown by 13% against the dollar and has become the most successful in emerging markets.
Not only the ruble, but also the Moscow Exchange index is doing well: on February 20, it rose above 3,300 points for the first time since the end of May last year. Since the beginning of 2025, the index has also shown good dynamics - at the beginning of January, it was balancing between the 2,800 and 2,900 points marks.
It is obvious that big politics played a role in strengthening the Russian currency. First of all, we are talking about the telephone conversation between the presidents of Russia and the USA, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, as well as the negotiations of the delegations of the two countries in Saudi Arabia - their results were highly appreciated in both Moscow and Washington.
However, there are also other, purely economic reasons, notes Alexander Losev, CEO of Sputnik Capital Management, in an interview with IA Regnum.
According to him, the rouble is being helped by the stabilisation of liquidity – the fact that exporters have been given the opportunity to conduct transactions with currency, including yuan, as well as the approaching tax week. During this period, Losev explains, exporters will convert foreign currency earnings into rubles to pay taxes to the Russian budget, which supports the value of the national currency. Simply put, there is more currency in the country, so it becomes cheaper.
In addition, the source of IA Regnum adds that the ruble has been undervalued recently, considering that Russia has a positive balance of both trade and payments.
The strengthening of the ruble can help reduce inflation, as well as reduce the cost of servicing foreign debt and prices of imported goods. Consumers may have already noticed the latter: for example, the cost of the iPhone 15 (iPhones are often used when monitoring prices for equipment) in Russia has fallen to a record low due to the dollar exchange rate - the base model costs an average of 60 thousand rubles, although before the new year the smartphone cost more than 70 thousand.
According to Alexander Losev, the strengthening of the ruble is a positive factor for the country's economy.
“Firstly, the disinflationary process is launched, and inflation is a very serious problem in the economy for us,” says the expert. “Secondly, the opportunity arises to purchase equipment for reindustrialization.”
At the same time, the strengthening of the ruble threatens major losses for exporters, who are already facing problems due to sanctions restrictions, believes Nikolai Dudchenko, an analyst at the financial group Finam.
MONEY AND SANCTIONS
According to Alexander Losev's forecasts, the national currency will continue to strengthen as long as additional currency comes to the market. Much will also depend on the geopolitical situation, including whether sanctions against Russia are lifted (at least partially).
As for the development of the situation on the Russian stock market, it is tied to geopolitics and the policy of the Central Bank.
"The monetary policy (MP) is still very, very strict, the dividend yield of Russian stocks is lower than deposit rates," notes the interlocutor of the IA Regnum" Two conditions must come together: a softening of the MP by the Central Bank and an improvement in the geopolitical situation, so that the Russian stock market begins a trend growth."
For now, anti-Russian restrictions remain in force. Moreover, the European Union has already approved the next, 16th package of anti-Russian sanctions.
Of course, they will not have a fundamental impact on Russia’s foreign trade and the country’s economy, but they remain a visible reminder: the West has not yet lifted restrictions – it is only introducing new ones.
THERE IS NO NEED TO RUSH TO THE EXCHANGE OFFICE
In any case, while the ruble remains strong, some Russians have already gone to exchange offices to buy cheaper dollars. And this is despite the fact that in some exchange offices the exchange rate is significantly higher than the official one.
Such actions do not make financial sense, notes Igor Balynin, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, in a conversation with IA Regnum.
Exchange rates, he explains, are extremely dynamic, and it is extremely difficult to make money on them, especially if we are talking about a toxic currency, which the dollar has now become. Moreover, says Balynin, small fluctuations in currencies cannot even become a factor in potential earnings: banks have a spread (fixed difference) between the rates of sale and purchase of foreign currency, as well as commissions for making exchange transactions.
"Accordingly, even deviations of 10-20% will not allow you to not only earn, but even break even. Now it is best to put your available funds into bank deposits," the agency's interlocutor advises.
He also shared his own calculations with Regnum News Agency : Russians who invested in dollars in November 2024 have already lost more than 170 thousand rubles (based on the average bank deposit size), with more than 138 thousand rubles of that being losses on exchange rate differences, and the rest being lost income for 3 months (if in November the money had been placed on a deposit/savings account instead of buying dollars).
“I think, looking at this data, it becomes clear why you shouldn’t run to the exchange offices,” says Balynin.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Ol'ga Borisova
[REGNUM] The lack of tap water is a problem that Donetsk residents have been living with for three years now. After the Seversky Donets-Donbass canal, which supplied the city with water from the Dnieper, was blown up in 2022, various solutions were tried: a new Don-Donbass water pipeline, reservoirs, total savings. But the situation did not improve radically.
Now the DPR authorities have decided to resort to a method that many call extreme - to clean up mine waters. First, the first deputy chairman of the DPR government Andrey Chertkov spoke about this, and during the direct line on February 18, the head of the republic Denis Pushilin also said so.
According to him, the Don-Donbass water pipeline, together with the rather depleted reservoirs, covers about 50% of the agglomeration’s needs, “therefore, Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin gave the order to find additional opportunities to provide the population with water while the Kiev regime continues its water blockade.”
Using mine water is one of the options being considered. However, it raises many questions and frank concerns among Donetsk residents.
Previously, water from Donbass mines had never been used - Soviet research showed that it was full of bacterial impurities, mineral salts and heavy metals that were dangerous to humans.
Scientists call mine waters dangerous even when they enter rivers and reservoirs naturally - they are highly mineralized, releasing "dead air" with an oxygen content of less than 21%. The concentration of chlorides, carbonates, sulfates, as well as coal particles and rust are also dangerous.
There have been attempts to clean mine waters in mining regions in other countries, at least the projects in the US and China are widely known. But they were not always successful - at a minimum, the work was too expensive.
In turn, Ukrainian environmental organizations have previously written a lot about the mines of Donbass: according to their data, the most dangerous were the mines in Zolote in the LPR (Pervomayskugol), the Golubovskaya mine and Yunkom in Yenakiyevo (it was closed in 2002 due to fears of the consequences of an underground nuclear explosion carried out in 1979).
It is obvious that the DPR authorities also understand the danger, which is why they are announcing a thorough study of each mine, which will take a lot of time. It is also clear that in peacetime, even more time would be devoted to this purely scientific process, notes Viktor Tarasenko, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Chairman of the Crimean Republican Association "Ecology and Peace", President of the Crimean Academy of Sciences, in an interview with IA Regnum, but now times are hard.
"Of course, there are always concerns about mine pollution, desalination of water, but the main thing in this situation is to provide civilians and troops with water. I am sure that this water will pass through all the treatment facilities, in accordance with all sanitary standards - in our country, this is strictly monitored," says Tarasenko.
The agency's interlocutor emphasizes: of course, we are not talking about radioactive ores, but in the current situation we have to resort to measures that no one would have thought about under other circumstances.
Already in peacetime, the doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences continues, it will be possible to return to traditional methods of water supply - there will be water from the Seversky Donets and Oskol, which flows a little further north.
But even if modern technologies really do manage to purify mine water to an acceptable condition, the question of payment remains. The treatment plant is very expensive, will it be able to pay for itself on the scale of the DPR? And who can guarantee that Donetsk residents, who are already complaining about huge water bills, will not start receiving “golden” bills?
FOUR MAIN PROBLEMS
IA Regnum has written many times about the catastrophic water situation in Donetsk, Gorlovka, Makeyevka, small towns and villages of Donbass. Four key problems can be identified.
Problem one: in a number of villages and districts of Donetsk there is no water at all in the taps after the shelling of the Seversky Donetsk-Donbass canal in February-March 2022. Many Donetsk residents live according to water supply schedules, while the schedules published by utility services often do not coincide with reality, and technical and drinking water is brought in by volunteers and the military.
Residents of the villages are saving themselves with rainwater. The water does not reach the upper floors of apartment buildings due to weak voltage. And since there is no 24-hour supply, the pipes rust, breakthroughs occur regularly - there are few repair crews and their work is mortally dangerous.
Moreover, as Alexey Rutsko, a journalist for the publication “Bloknot Donetsk,” told IA Regnum, practically all the sources from which Donetsk and its agglomeration received water—quarries, lakes, reservoirs—have been exhausted to the point of dryness.
Problem two: the quality of tap water. Despite assurances from local authorities that it “meets the standards of technical regulations in an emergency situation at the outlet of the filtration station,” the liquid actually flowing from the tap leaves much to be desired.
Back in September, the head of the DPR instructed the republic's construction ministry and the state unitary enterprise "Voda Donbassa" to conduct a sanitary and epidemiological examination of the supplied water and "develop a set of measures to improve it." At that time, Donetsk residents reported that even after waiting for several hours of life-saving moisture, they did not see any water - "Nutella" was flowing from the taps: a muddy brown liquid into which the water turns, reaching the city residents through pipes that had not been repaired for years.
Problem three: even those who have not received water since March 2022 must pay for it. Then, on the first day of spring, the DPR introduced a moratorium on paying for water supply, but on August 29, 2024, the Voda Donbassa company announced that it would begin charging Donetsk residents for water, and from August 7, in fact, retroactively.
Already at the end of September, Donetsk residents who received the first bills told IA Regnum that they were horrified: the amounts were two to three times higher than even the most pessimistic expectations.
The agency's interlocutor, Yulia, who lives in the village of Lidievka, part of the Kirovsky district of Donetsk, emphasized: there has been no water since the spring of 2022, and a debt has appeared in her personal account. The woman assured: she will not pay the bills, but will definitely collect all the payments in case of court cases.
Problem number four: a huge number of accidents on water mains. In just one day, February 19, repair crews eliminated 281 accidents on the territory of the republic. At the same time, the crews have to work under constant shelling, and the pipes are often in a deplorable state.
In frontline villages and parts of the Kirovsky, Petrovsky and Kuibyshevsky districts of Donetsk adjacent to the line of combat, there have been no major repairs of intra-house communications for a long time, and the few repair teams that go to the sites of breakthroughs become targets for enemy drones. This was previously reported in a commentary to IA Regnum by the deputy of the DPR People's Council, chairman of the People's Council Committee on Agro-Industrial Complex and Land Relations Yuri Leonov.
It is obvious that cleaning mine water alone will not solve these long-standing problems.
#1
I'd be real leery about using water from flooded mines for drinking. Heavy metals and all.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/22/2025 16:20
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#2
Would steam distilling drop out the dissolved compounds, or would reverse osmoses through membranes be required…or both? There are standard protocols and equipment for getting purified water, though at a price.
#4
When we put in our last hot water heater, the installer asked if we wanted to attach a water softener or reverse osmosis purifier, as the water around here is somewhat hard. I consulted my in-house engineer, who turned down spending a couple extra thousand dollars for either option, as it wouldn’t significantly enough shorten the useful life, and we are not so tender that the deposits on skin, hair, and clothing would be debilitating.
The pilot plant I used when I was developing new and improved toothpastes used water purified through reverse osmosis, as I recall, as did the company’s factories.
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.
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka 
...former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as 
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried....
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...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 
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
...Arabic term meaning 
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
