U.S. State Department is preparing to shut down almost a dozen consulates that are mainly in Western Europe in the coming months and is looking to reduce its workforce globally, multiple U.S. officials said.
#3
“ A consulate is an official office of one country located in another country, typically in a major city, that provides various services such as issuing visas, assisting citizens, and promoting trade. It operates under the authority of the country's embassy, which is usually located in the capital city of the host country.”
[ToloNews] The Institute for Economics & Peace has reported a decline in terrorism levels in Afghanistan in its Global Terrorism Index 2025 following the rise of the Islamic Emirate to power.
That’s because the biggest terror group in Afghanistan conquered the country, and so now has no need to terrorize itself.
According to this report, for the second consecutive year, Afghanistan is not among the top five countries most affected by terrorism, ranking ninth instead.
The Institute for Economics & Peace stated: "For the second consecutive year, Afghanistan was not among the five countries most impacted by terrorism, marking its best ranking since the Index’s inception."
The report further highlights that as the Islamic Emirate nears four years in power, it has maintained relative internal stability.
Additionally, the Islamic Emirate pledged that security is ensured across the country and that Afghan soil poses no threat to any nation.
Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate, stated: "Our intelligence forces are fully capable and vigilant, neutralizing security threats before they occur. It is also a fact that, to a great extent, the activities and movements of unauthorized and destructive groups have been curbed."
"The fight against terrorism is a global responsibility. However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat... Afghanistan has shouldered this responsibility alone for the past three and a half years. Despite this, no evidence has emerged in this period indicating the presence of any terrorist base in Afghanistan that could pose a threat to other countries," said Abdul Sadeq Hamidzoi, a political analyst.
The Global Terrorism Index also noted that over the past year, relations between the Islamic Emirate and Pakistain have deteriorated due to border tensions and Pakistain’s Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s on TTP hideouts in Afghanistan.
[ToloNews] Around 800 families in Torkham have been forced to leave their homes due to intermittent festivities and shelling attacks by Pak forces.
Local residents told TOLOnews that Pakistain’s missile attacks have caused massive damage to their homes and shops.
Abdul Haq, a resident of Torkham Township, said that four nights ago he was forced to leave his home due to attacks by Pak forces and seek shelter in a safer area.
Abdul Haq added: "Shells were coming from Pakistain, I didn’t know where they would land, but we fled and found shelter here. That night, it was also raining, and we bravely ran away with our children and women."
"We left under very difficult conditions while bullets were being fired. We took the children out, but we didn’t even have blankets or quilts with us," said Roqil, another displaced person in Torkham.
Some of the displaced people claim that Pak forces do not have the capability to fight face-to-face with the forces of the Islamic Emirate, which is why they target civilians and workers.
"It is the month of Ramadan; whether we had dry or fresh food, we should have been able to eat it in our homes, but now we are displaced here," Nasib Gul, a resident of Torkham, told TOLOnews.
Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch shot Black Bart's knife out of his hand...... local officials have announced efforts to provide urgent assistance to the displaced people.
Baz Mohammad Abdul Rahman, head of the Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. department of refugees and repatriation, told TOLOnews: "Around 800 families have been displaced from the areas near Torkham. Organizations under the supervision of the department of refugees and repatriation are conducting surveys, and assistance will be provided shortly."
Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal, head of the Omari camp in Torkham, said about the aid to the displaced: "Several organizations have arrived, and the survey process is ongoing to assist them."
This comes as the Torkham crossing has been closed to all movement by Pakistain for the past 13 days, leaving hundreds of passengers, emergency patients, and thousands of cargo trucks stranded at the crossing.
#1
Hah. Torkham 'sounded' British when I first read the headline. Thankfully, Brits are NOT YET shelling their own populace. Yet.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
03/07/2025 15:10
Comments ||
Top||
#2
To be fair, Whiskey Mike, it’s the mighty Pakistani army that’s shelling the Afghans just over the border. It’s near the Khyber Pass, home to Pashtun tribals on both sides of the border. So the Army of the Pure is supremely uninterested in avoiding harm to any of them, whether nominally Pakistani or nominally Afghan.
Besides, the Brits are allowing their people to be brutally conquered by the “Asians” they’ve been importing for going on two generations. Without the need to exert themselves to fire off artillery at them.
[ToloNews] American media outlets have reported that Mohammad Sharifullah,
…also identified as Mohammad Sharif, also known as “Jafar”, he’s the ISIS-K big turban President Trump announced as delivered by Pakistan two days ago during his State of the Union address to Congress…
the individual accused of being the orchestrator behind the attack on Kabul International Airport, has confessed to his crime and may face the death penalty.
The US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the president of the United States has pledged to hold those involved in this attack accountable.
The US Secretary of Defense said: “This is a president who saw what happened the debacle in Afghanistan, and said when I’m president, I will make sure those held accounts—those who perpetrated the death of 13 Americans and injury of dozens of others—we will find them. We will keep our word.”
He also described the day US forces withdrew from Afghanistan as "one of the biggest disasters" in American history and stressed that all aspects of the withdrawal will be thoroughly examined.
Hegseth added: “We are doing a full investigation of what happened in Afghanistan. Those who were involved and made the decision to put our troops at risk will be held accountable.”
Mike Waltz, the National Security Advisor to Donald Trump, has criticized what he called the Biden administration's failure to capture this ISIS member. He claimed that Biden's government has paid little attention to Afghanistan-related issues over the past four years.
Mohammed Sharifullah is accused of masterminding the attack on Kabul International Airport during the evacuation process in 2021. This attack resulted in the deaths of 13 US soldiers and a large number of Afghan civilians.
[KhaamaPress] Russian counterterrorism authorities have reported the killing of four ISIS members in the predominantly Moslem region of Dagestan ...a formerly inoffensive Caucasus republic currently bedevilled by low-level Islamic insurgency, occasional outbreaks of separatism, ethnic tensions and terrorism, primarily due to its proximity to Chechnya. There are several dozen ethnic groups, most of which speak either Caucasian, Turkic, or Iranian languages. Largest among these ethnic groups are the Avar, Dargin, Kumyk, Lezgin, and Laks. While Russers form less than five percent of the population, Russian remains the primary official language and the lingua franca... . The operation took place on Wednesday, March 5, as part of a special operation aimed at neutralizing the threat posed by the group.
According to Russian news agencies, the ISIS bully boyz were planning an attack on Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. The counterterrorism operation led to the death of the bully boyz before they could carry out their planned attack.
In addition to the fatalities, Russian authorities discovered weapons and explosives in the possession of the ISIS fighters. The discovery of these materials further confirmed the potential danger posed by the group in the region.
Russian news agency TASS reported that no civilians were harmed during the operation, highlighting the precision and effectiveness of the security forces’ actions in the region. This is a significant detail, as operations in volatile areas can often lead to unintended casualties.
The operation reflects ongoing security challenges in Dagestan, a region that has struggled with extremism and violence for many years. The region’s complex ethnic and religious makeup has contributed to a long-standing issue with radicalization and insurgency.
Violence and Islamic extremism have become a major challenge for Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... . The persistence of these issues in regions like Dagestan has prompted increased counterterrorism measures aimed at curbing the influence of groups like ISIS.
This operation underscores Russia’s continued efforts to combat terrorism and extremism in volatile regions such as Dagestan. While the immediate threat has been neutralized, the broader issue of extremism remains a significant challenge.
[KhaamaPress] In February, 20% of the Afghans deported from Islamabad and Rawalpindi were found to have UN Refugee Agency documents, raising concerns about the forced expulsions of individuals seeking protection.
In February, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) revealed a significant spike in deportations, with 930 Afghans forcibly returned to Afghanistan—double the number from just two weeks earlier. Notably, 20% of those expelled from Islamabad and Rawalpindi held UN Refugee Agency documents, highlighting the escalating deportation crisis.
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... reported that in January, 1,245 Afghans were detained or arrested across Pakistain, more than double last year’s figures. This indicates a growing crackdown on Afghan refugees, many of whom are undocumented or have migration documents but still face deportation.
Many of those detained hold migration documents, recognizing them as people needing international protection. However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... these individuals continue to face challenges in securing protection, with many trapped in a hostile environment in Pakistain.
Islamabad and Rawalpindi have seen a sharp rise in arrests and deportations of Afghans. Refugees in these cities live in constant fear of daily police raids, with many unable to obtain legal documentation to avoid detention.
The forced deportation of Afghan refugees highlights their precarious situation in Pakistain. The Pak government’s deadlines for undocumented refugees to leave intensify their vulnerability, as the country does not recognize them under the Refugee Convention.
Despite claims from the Taliban ...the once and current oppressors of Afghanistan... that returnees will be safe, the UN reports that former Afghan officials and military personnel are still being targeted. This raises doubts about the safety of deported individuals returning to Afghanistan.
[KhaamaPress] Rooters, citing its sources, reported that a new directive from U.S. President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... may prevent Afghan and Pak nationals from entering the United States. The news agency stated on Thursday, March 6, that the restriction could come into effect as early as next week, barring Afghan citizens from traveling to the U.S.
The restriction is expected to target countries with majority Moslem populations, and other nations may also be added to the list. During Trump’s first term as president, he implemented a similar travel ban targeting citizens from Moslem-majority countries, which was later overturned by President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created ... by the — you know — you know, the thing... The new ban could affect tens of thousands of Afghans who have been approved for resettlement or granted special immigrant visas. This move will particularly impact those who have been waiting for resettlement and are hoping to reunite with their families in the U.S.
Trump has instructed two of his cabinet ministers to present a list of countries that could face partial or full travel suspensions to the U.S. by March 12. Afghanistan is expected to be included in this list, facing a complete travel ban for its citizens.
The U.S. Department of State, which handles the resettlement of Afghan nationals, is reportedly working to ensure that those who have already been approved for special immigration visas (SIV) are exempted from this travel ban. Currently, around 200,000 Afghan nationals with approved visas or applications are stranded in Afghanistan and Pakistain.
The new policy raises concerns for thousands of vulnerable Afghan refugees and immigrants colonists who are at risk of being unable to escape the volatile situation in their home country. As the political and humanitarian situation continues to evolve, both Afghan citizens and the international community are watching closely for any updates regarding this new travel restriction.
[Garowe] The United States army may not pull out from Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... state any soon since it's keen to double efforts in the fight against ISIS turbans, a Pentagon brasshat told VOA, amid concerns over possible retreat in coming days.
Both the United Arab Emirates and the US Africa Command have been assisting Puntland in targeting the bandidosgunnies from the air in recent weeks, significantly helping in the destruction of the group’s caves and hideouts in the Cal-Miskaad mountains.
Recently, the US forces announced the death of 16 bandidosgunnies including Ahmed Maeleninine, described by U.S. officials as a "recruiter, financier and external operations leader responsible for the deployment of jihadists into the United States and across Europe."
A senior defense official who spoke in confidence indicated Washington is prepared to potentially lend additional help. Puntland has vowed to double the efforts despite the non commitment by the federal government of Somalia.
"The Department remains committed to supporting our partners in our shared efforts to disrupt, degrade, and defeat terrorist organizations in the Horn of Africa," the official told VOA.
Observers said the "persistent" pressure by the Somali forces, along with help from the U.S. and UAE, appears to be paying off.
"Indications [are] that the Puntland forces are making real progress against ISIS in Somalia’s hideouts," a former senior Western counterterrorism official told VOA, requesting anonymity to discuss the ongoing developments.
"The question is whether they [the Puntland forces] will be able to continue to hold the captured hideouts, or whether ISIS will be able to return in the coming weeks and months," the official said.
If the Somali forces can hold the captured territory, though, the damage to the terror group could extend well beyond Somalia’s borders. Most training camps of the group have been seized by the Puntland forces, who are in the final stretch towards liberating the state.
"Given the central role of the al-Karrar office in financing the wider ISIS network, there could be some knock-on impact," said the former Western counterterrorism official.
Al-Karrar is one of nine regional 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.... offices established to help sustain the terror group’s capabilities. Since 2022, the office has been a key cog in the terror group’s financial network, funneling money to affiliates in Afghanistan and elsewhere in Africa.
Regional security analysts warn IS could regroup if Puntland’s counterterrorism forces are unable to maintain their pursuit.
"Their mobile special forces have been the pointed end of the spear," said Samira Gaid, a Horn of Africa security analyst.
"For the moment, it appears that the Puntland forces are committed and well-resourced," she told VOA. "However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome... much will depend on the Puntland forces then securing and manning the territories it will liberate to ensure the group does not make a comeback."
As for IS, the terror group is "attempting to melt into the population, though this is difficult," said Gaid. "It’s the natural progression when faced by a force that is superior."
Said Abdullahi Deni, Puntland region’s leader, has also offered IS members in Somalia, including women and kiddies, a chance to surrender and for imported muscle to possibly even return to their countries of origin.
"They [IS] envisioned it as a place where they cannot be seen, strategically a tough place, and gives them access to the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Gulf," he said.
The major aim is to capture Abdulkadir Mumin, the man believed to be the global leader of ISIS turbans. However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome... there were claims that he may have died following US Africa Command Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in May 2024, but such reports have been ruled out.
[ZeroHedge] The Biden presidency might have been the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the American people. A shocking investigation by the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project has revealed that virtually every document bearing Joe Biden's signature during his presidency was signed by an autopen — except for one.
What makes this revelation particularly damning is that the only document confirmed to have Biden's actual signature was his letter announcing his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race. Let that sink in for a moment.
Remember when House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) revealed his discussion with Biden when Biden couldn't recall signing the executive order halting LNG exports? Now we know why — he probably didn't. The real question is: Who did? Who was running the country while Biden was not all there?
The use of the presidential autopen dates back to the 1950s, and there's been much debate about its legality. In 2013, Barack Obama became the first president to sign a bill into law using an autopen. He was vacationing in Hawaii at the time. His office relied on a 30-page memo from President George W. Bush's legal team asserting that the president's presence was not required as long as said president had authorized the signature.
What's not clear, in the case of Biden, is who was running the autopen and whether Biden was aware it was happening.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is demanding that the Department of Justice investigate whether Biden's obvious cognitive decline allowed unelected bureaucrats to essentially run the government without presidential oversight. If this is true — and let's be honest, all signs point to yes — every executive order, every pardon, and every official action taken under Biden's name could be constitutionally void.
Bailey's letter to Michael E. Horowitz, the inspector general of the Department of Justice, spells it out perfectly.
I write to request that you conduct a full investigation into President Biden's mental capacity in his final days in office. By now, Biden's mental decline is famous. Under the 25th Amendment, his inability to make decisions should have meant a succession of power. Instead, it appears staffers and officers in the Biden administration may have exploited Biden's incapacity so they could issue orders without an accountable President of sound mind approving them. That would explain why the Biden administration's orders were aggressively much farther to the left than any previous President. If in fact Biden's staffers were exploiting his mental decline, those orders are null and void.
The evidence is overwhelming. We know that Biden's handlers desperately tried to
prevent anyone from meeting with him one-on-one. Even Democratic insiders admit the truth. DNC fundraiser Lindy Li recently spilled the beans and acknowledged that Biden wasn't running the show; his staff, his wife, and Hunter were.
Thanks to the Heritage Foundation's investigation, we now have proof that Biden's signature was automated throughout his presidency — which raises serious questions about whether he was aware of what was being signed in his name at all. The Oversight Project rightfully points out that since Biden revoked Trump's executive privilege, we can easily determine who controlled the autopen and what safeguards, if any, were in place.
The implications are staggering. We essentially had a presidency by proxy, with unelected staffers wielding presidential power while the man himself was barely cognizant enough to read a teleprompter. This isn't just a scandal; it's potentially the biggest constitutional crisis in American history.
On the other hand, both sides would link arms to make sure nothing ever came of it. Even our politicians aren't crazy enough to set that precedent in motion.
#4
Even if Biden actually wrote his name on a piece of paper in front of witnesses there's reasonable doubt whether he had always been aware of what he was signing and what he was doing. To say the least.
Biden's decline was obvious even in 2020. There was no cover up, it has always been gaslighting.
#8
"The People of the United States Have No Standing"
That would be a win outcome, too.
And, Rantburg for the Win!
This has been talked about here since November IIRC, and can make the case dancing around it since the drop-out, the closed door testimony, and like EH2660 said, since 2020 or even the primary 'win' 2019.
The other thing discussed since the topic was broached, is that this front needs to be opened no matter the shoot the moon odds, because it will have to be defended.
So make the case, very publicly, so that the normies who are new to all this can see for themselves and come into their own, because they are the target audience.
Lot of talk about "where are the perp walks?" well this comes first, setting the scene. To re-cap the ending of Gaslight, the victim wasn't sure who to go at, the one who was gaslighting or the one who was trying to get her out of the situation. That is where we are at, opening statements of a crime trial.
[Breitbart] European Union (E.U.) leaders holding emergency talks in Brussels agreed Thursday to begin a massive increase in defence spending in the wake of President Donald Trump’s demands for less reliance on U.S. taxpayer largesse in hardware, funding, and intelligence sharing.
With the growing realization they will now have to fend for themselves and leave the protective cover of U.S. dollars, countries that have faltered on defence spending for decades held the emergency talks to explore new ways to beef up their security, as Breitbart News reported.
“Today history is being written,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters after the summit ended.
AP reports she said the 27 E.U. leaders are “determined to ensure Europe’s security and to act with the scale, the speed and the resolve that this situation demands. We are determined to invest more, to invest better and to invest faster together.”
The pledge underscored a sea change in geopolitics spurred on by Trump demands European nations be responsible for their own futures and meet their military requirements with their own funds.
The leaders heeded Trump and signed off on a move to loosen budget restrictions so that willing E.U countries can increase their military spending.
They also urged the European Commission to seek new ways “to facilitate significant defense spending” in all member states, a statement said.
The EU’s executive branch estimates that around 650 billion euros ($702 billion) could be freed up that way.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a staunch supporter of Trump, refused to endorse part of the summit statement in favor of Ukraine.
But the 26 other E.U. leaders approved the bloc’s stance there can be no negotiations on Ukraine without Kyiv’s input and the Europeans must be involved in any talks involving their security.
Trump has previously criticized the cost of the war in Ukraine for U.S. taxpayers through major military aid packages and made clear he wants to shift more of the fiscal burden back across the Atlantic.
He has also challenged NATO members to raise defense spending to five percent of their overall economic output, as Breitbart News reported.
[Breitbart] Democrats are exposing their true colors by worshiping at the altar of radical transgenderism at the expense of the safety of women and girls, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) told Breitbart News Tuesday in an exclusive interview.
"Democrats, by doubling and tripling down on the radical transgender agenda that the American people find incredibly distasteful, by forcing girls to compete with boys in sports and pushing transgender surgeries on young children, they are proving themselves to be the party of perverts," Gill told Breitbart News.
Monday night, Senate Democrats killed legislation to protect women and girls from having their sports infiltrated by men masquerading as women. No Democrats supported Tuberville’s bill.
Yet Tuesday, dozens of female Democrat lawmakers are expected to wear pink to President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress in protest of Trump’s supposedly anti-woman policies.
Gill encouraged Republicans to be aggressive and unafraid in communicating to the public Democrat hypocrisy and the dangers of transgender cosplay to women and girls.
[Washington Examiner] President Donald Trump was heavily critical of Rep. Al Green (D-TX), who interrupted his joint sessions address to Congress on Tuesday night. The president’s comments came on the same day the House of Representatives voted to censure Green for his antics.
Of Green, Trump said that the Texas congressman "should be forced to pass an IQ test because he is a low IQ individual, and we don’t need low IQ individuals in Congress." Trump also said Green was an embarrassment and called for punitive action against him.
"He should be censured," the president told Fox News Digital. "Nobody takes him seriously. He is an embarrassment to Congress but a much bigger embarrassment to the Democrats."
Green caused a ruckus during Trump’s speech on Tuesday night when he started yelling shortly after the president began talking.
"You have no mandate," Green yelled. Republicans subsequently booed the congressman and began chanting, "U-S-A!" to muffle his outburst.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called for order in the House, but Green kept shouting. After Green persisted and ignored the speaker’s request, Johnson asked the sergeant-at-arms to remove him from the floor.
"A sad cavalcade of self owns and unhinged petulance. It only makes Trump look more presidential and restrained. We’re becoming the metaphorical car alarms that nobody pays attention to—and it may not be the winning message"
Yep, I seem to recall the bearded presence of the future dictator of Red Cuba, when my uncle Bart brought him home to meet the family on November 8, 1959. I had just turned seven at 10 AM and my Dad was at one of his three jobs ( Illinois Medicals Psychiatric Center, The Beverly Theatre, or Home for the Blind) – Ike was about to part the White House, the White Sox won the American League Pennant, but the LA Dodgers took the Series, I was in second grade, JFK was a Catholic running for President and Castro visited the US.in 1959. Castro went to zoos and ranches in NYC, DC, Texas and Canada and generally hung around with Chicago Tribune's Latin Affairs Correspondent Jules Dubois.
Dubois had been a Panama suit and hat reporter in Panama and later became an Army spook during WWII. After the war, Dubois worked to overthrow governments in Central America and also hated Cuban dictator and Mafia puppet Batista.
Bart S. Hickey was a magnificent man.
My Uncle Bart was the tallest of my dad's six brothers and as Mary Garvey once said, ‘That Bart is strictly MGM.' Bart had been a Buck Sergeant in the Marines during the Korean War and afterward worked as a Stationary Engineer. I am given to understand that during one of his not too infrequent visits to Mr. Kelly's that Uncle Bart pal-ed up with Col. Jules Dubois.
The Colonel and Bart hit it off and met up for beers periodically. A few weeks after the Sox lost the World Series, the two ran into one another and met for steaks at Stockyard Inn. Dubois told Bart about the guy who had kicked Batista and The Outfit out of Cuba in January and had charmed the britches off of the Manhattan swells and the likes of Lenny Bernstein. Castro had visited the States on his own, in full beard and Army fatigues many times. He was quietly encamped at The Blackstone Hotel.
Uncle Bart cried Bullshit.
The Colonel protested, "On the Square, Batty. Want to meet him?"
It was arranged. On November 8th, 1959, Fidel Castro wiped his feet on the mud mat in the hall of the Hickey Manse on Marshfield, right here in Chicago.
My Granny, Nora Hickey, was ministering to the "shower of bastards." This was two scores of cousins all of baby boom. Granny welcomed her son and his friends and presented the trio with tea and Lorna Doone cookies, in the living room. The place was generally off-limits to kids who were trooped in the dining room, kitchen or the back basement.
All of my cousins were there but Eddie who was a freshman football player at Notre Dame and it was my birthday; besides, which meant cake. The cake was from the bakery on 79th & Laflin, and it was okay but for the coconut flakes, which I have hated with a generous passion – Lo these many years. Cutting off perfectly good frosting because of coconut flakes is just wrong. Most of the cousins did not seem to mind and swallowed the stuff without so much as a blink.
In walked Uncle Bart and two guys – one a geezer and the other dressed in Army clothes and beards. In the left hand of future dictator and sworn enemy of America was brown paper bag full of beards and paper Army hats, purchased by Uncle Bart at Riley's Trick Shop at 79th and Carpenter. Marine Sgt. Hickey intoned, "Split-tails and goofs, quiet down. This is Col. Jules Dubois and he's a pal and this is his pal, Fidel. Fellas, this is my brother Pat's boy –Patsheen -he's what? Sixteen?"
"Seven, Uncle Bart," I corrected.
"Did I ask you, wise guy? Close your hole and give your ears a chance until you're talked to . . . it's his Birthday, Chief. What did you bring for the kid?"
Into the excitement and up from the basement came FATHER – Grandpa Hickey, formerly of Crinnie Hill, Castleisland County Kerry, a founder of Engineers Local 399, father of seven boys and six girls and a pioneering rage-aholic and unfiltered vocalist. " Bateen, who's your pals, so? I heard ye come in the front door when the back way is good enough for Monsignor McMahon and most Christians. Hello, I'm Lawrence Hickey, Bart's father, like the shtory."
Like what story?
A Kerry man pronounces Bart as Bayart, said fast and says ‘Like the Shhtory' for no good reason. BTW – Bat is short for Bart, which is short for Bartholomew, and it's diminutive in Irish would be Bat-een, like I am Padsheen, or Patsheen. The Hickey clan from Crinnie also known as the Batty-Lars, due to the fact that our tribe always names two male off-spring Larry, or Bart.
Grandpa took in a full eyeful of Fidel Castro.
"Fwhat are you doing here in my living room dressed up like Tom Barry's Flying Column?" quizzed the original Crinnie Rage-aholic.
Uncle Bart answered, " He's Castro, Father (with undiminished irony) – the guy on Time Magazine from Cuba."
"That's near Florida, so?"
It was agreed.
Hands were shook all around and Fidel Castro was seated at the dining room table next to our Chicago Pater Familias – " How's things with that crook Batista off in the jungles somewhere?"
Col. Jules Dubois translated for the English challenged revolutionist – Castro lit up like one of his virgin-thigh rolled cheroots – " Ah Bueno, Senor Hickey! Muy bien! Las personas que saquearon mi pueblo para este año madres Mañana no será bienvenido en Cuba. Al igual que los Medias Blancas y la Sra. Rigné, Ha, ha, ha! "
" So, that's the way of it." A County Kerry declarative/interrogative sentence answer.
On it went, I suppose, in this manner, until the large brown paper bag was opened with my birthday present from the liberator and future dictator of Cuba.
We all got beards and imitation Army caps made like those paper painter's caps.
Some haul, huh?
Uncle Bart decided to put El Jefe on the spot,
"That's all you got for the Kid? It's his birthday for Crissakes. Dig, Fidel, and come up with some folding money for the little guy." This was dutifully translated by Col. Dubois.
Castro feigned a smile of resignation and oiled these words in his native tongue through his gums and whiskers, "What is this? A Capitalist trap? You Yankees! Very Well, here is five Gringo dollars for your homely nephew with the gapped teeth. I am out of here! Say good-bye to your foul tempered Irish father. Basta Ya! Yanquis!"
Within a few months, Time Magazine's Boy, Castro, was locked in an embrace with Soviet Communism that still breathes lustily today. Alas, Fidel shed his mortal husk.
I got to tickle the real whiskers of Castro and pocket a 1959 value 5-$pot from a Commie and never really caught the desire to cut sugar cane.
Hey, it could have happened. Ask Uncle Bart and Jules Dubois. Oh, yeah. They're passed. So is Castro from what I hear.
Just a fun little read.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/07/2025
07:54 ||
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Joe McMonigle, who participated in a secret project of the US Department of Defense, said that he saw evidence of life on the planet Mars. This was reported by the Metro publication.
It is specified that in the period from 1978 to 1995, the man was engaged in telepathic research of remote locations at given coordinates, and one of the tasks set led him to Mars in the period “a million years before our era.”
McMonigle claimed to have seen a giant pyramid in which "very tall and thin" beings in strange clothing were sheltering from a powerful storm. He also described other areas of Mars where he allegedly saw "bones and ruins of buildings."
Yes, but he was telepathically contacting another planet a million years ago for the US Army’s Project Stargate, long before our species existed, so how trustworthy is his witness?
As reported by IA Regnum, at the end of December 2024, American businessman and billionaire Elon Musk said that in 500 million years, the Earth will become uninhabitable due to the expansion of the Sun. In this way, he responded to a remark by one of the users of the social network X that in 1 million years, humanity will have to save itself on Mars due to the explosion of our star.
Russian President Vladimir Putin joked on February 6 about sending cats, dogs and cows to Mars in the future. One of the winners of the Presidential Prize, an employee of the Belgorod State Technological University named after V. Shukhov, Natalya Cherkashina, told the head of state that scientists are working on increasing the radiation protection of materials and this may allow such a goal to be achieved in the future.
#2
"engaged in telepathic research of remote locations"
So, he thought about going to work.
Good gig if you can get it. Definitive research.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
03/07/2025 8:19
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#3
Yeah, they've already done a 270 degree analysis of this structure and determined that it is indeed a geological feature and not created by an 'unkown hand'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/07/2025 8:50
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Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 20.29 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked European leaders for their support for Ukraine and maintaining unity despite the challenges of global politics during the European Council meeting in Brussels. He presented the first steps towards achieving a fair and lasting peace.
19.55 The Norwegian Parliament has decided to increase aid to Ukraine from NOK 50 billion ($4.6 billion) to NOK 85 billion ($7.8 billion) in 2025, NRK reports.
19:25 Britain has held initial talks with about 20 countries on a "coalition of the willing" to ensure peace in Ukraine, the British television channel Sky News reported, citing British officials.
18:56 The US administration is now "actively" putting pressure not only on Ukraine, but also on Russia, using the carrot and stick method. This was stated by the US President's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg at a discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations.
18:24 China's special envoy to the European Union Lu Shay said he was "discouraged" by the way US President Donald Trump is treating allies in Europe, the South China Morning Post reports .
18:00 Ukrainian aviation carried out two strikes on important targets of the Russian invaders - in the Kherson and Kursk regions. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the details .
17:55 US Special Representative for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg said that the spat between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump last week at the White House was due to the two leaders' "different goals" in the Russian-Ukrainian war. He said this in his report on ways to end the war in Ukraine at a discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations.
17:39 Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that Kiev has not yet received details regarding the possible restriction of access to US intelligence. He said this at a joint press conference with the German Defense Minister in Berlin on Thursday, March 6.
At the same time, Ukraine is already developing alternative sources of information, in particular through cooperation with European partners.
17:28 A European air force of 120 fighter jets could be deployed over Kiev and western Ukraine to protect against Russian attacks, the British newspaper The Guardian reported .
17:13 German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the next meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defense in the Ramstein format is tentatively scheduled for late March - early April. He reported this at a press conference in Berlin after talks with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
16:44 SBU counterintelligence officers detained two agents of the Russian military intelligence (better known as the GRU), who were operating in the Kiev, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. The attackers were preparing a series of enemy air attacks on high-voltage power lines to cut off power to part of the northern regions.
16:35 Since the beginning of the current day, 80 combat clashes have occurred on the front. The Russian invaders are most active in the Toretsk area and in the Kursk region, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in an operational report as of 16:00.
16:16 Belgium will provide Ukraine with combat-ready F-16 fighters only in 2026. This was stated by Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever before the EU summit in Brussels. At the same time, he did not rule out that the F-16s will arrive in Ukraine this year, but most likely as spare parts.
15:59 On March 6, Russian troops dropped explosives from a drone on civilians in the Kherson region. Two people were killed in the attack. This was reported by the press service of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office on Thursday, March 6.
15:58 Humanitarian volunteers who survived the Russian missile strike on a hotel in Krivoy Rog say the ballistic missile strike was "deliberate and aimed at killing civilians." This was reported by the British television channel Sky News.
15:49 Russia considers yesterday's speech by French President Emmanuel Macron to be "excessively confrontational" and posing a "threat" to the Russian Federation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the corresponding statements.
15:15 Russian troops dropped three guided bombs on Kramatorsk. Two people were injured as a result of the strikes. A residential building and an industrial zone were damaged in the city.
14:22 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of a special EU leaders' security summit in Brussels, the Ukrainian leader's press secretary Serhiy Nikiforov reported.
14:04 The EU's safe summit in Brussels comes at a "watershed moment" for Europe. Decisions must be made to boost the bloc's defense capabilities and strengthen Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the press ahead of the meeting.
13:41 Moscow happily agreed with the statement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who called the conflict in Ukraine a "proxy war" between Russia and the US. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov at a briefing.
13:20 The Security Service has collected evidence on two more traitors involved in the kidnapping of Ukrainian children during the occupation of Kherson - the so-called "Minister of Health of Crimea" Konstantin Skorupsky and his deputy Anton Lyaskovsky. During the temporary occupation of Kherson, the defendants took 46 young children from a local orphanage to Simferopol.
13:10 President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived for the emergency EU summit in Brussels. This is evidenced by the online broadcast of the event.
12:58 The Dutch government is discussing a possible new aid package for Ukraine. This is reported by NOS. During a debate in parliament, Prime Minister Dick Schoof said that they plan to allocate approximately 3.5 billion euros in aid to Ukraine in 2026, continuing the policy of previous years. Currently, the total amount of aid from the Netherlands already reaches approximately 5.8 billion euros.
12:49 In Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, search and rescue operations at the site of the Russian missile strike have been completed. This was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office. As a result of the attack, four people were killed. 32 civilians were injured, including two children.
12:36 Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that Ukraine and Poland have prepared a joint action plan for the implementation of urgent and long-term projects in the defense sector. He said this during a joint briefing with Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense of Poland Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz on Thursday, March 6.
12:23 The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has appointed Arsen Zhumadilov to the post of Director of the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA). This was reported by the press service of the agency.
12:11 Russian troops launched a massive attack with guided aerial bombs on the village of Saltino in the Dergachiv community in the Kharkiv region.
As a result of the UAB hit, a private residential building was completely destroyed. According to preliminary data, a man was killed and two women were injured as a result of the shelling.
The blast wave damaged nearby private homes, outbuildings and cars.
10:42 France is ready to replace the United States in providing intelligence information to Ukraine. This was stated by French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, the France 24 TV channel reported.
10:39 The Defense Ministry's procurement agency, the State Logistics Operator, has contracted more than one million sets of summer suits for the Ukrainian Armed Forces for 2025. This was reported by the Defense Ministry. It is noted that the ministry has developed and approved the inspection volumes for two types of summer field suits (type 1 and type 2) for defenders.
10:26 The Security Service has detained a collaborator who headed the occupation "Russian police" in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region, in the first months of the full-scale invasion.
After being "dismissed from office" in April 2022, the defendant hid for a long time in the European Union, and then returned to Ukraine under the guise of an ordinary citizen. Law enforcement officers documented this fact and detained the perpetrator in a temporary home in Volyn, where he tried to "lay low".
9:55 As a result of a missile strike on a hotel in Kryvyi Rih, four people were killed and more than 30 people were injured. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"The rescue operation in Krivoy Rog at the site of the Russian missile strike continued all night. Ballistics on an ordinary hotel. Literally before the strike, volunteers from one of the humanitarian organizations - citizens of Ukraine, the United States, Britain - checked into the hotel. They survived because they managed to get down from their rooms. But, unfortunately, four people were killed by this strike. My condolences to their families and friends," the head of state said.
9:20 Russian troops attacked the Odessa region with attack drones on the night of March 6. An energy facility was hit, a residential building and an administrative building were damaged. Two people were injured. This was reported by the head of the Odessa OVA Oleg Kiper.
9:19 At night, Russian military attacked Ukraine with two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles and 112 Shahed-type attack UAVs and drone imitators. 68 drones were shot down. Another 43 enemy drone imitators were lost without negative consequences.
The Russian attack affected Kharkiv, Sumy, Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
9:16 The death toll in Kryvyi Rih has increased due to a missile strike carried out by Russian troops on a hotel building the night before. A 43-year-old man died in intensive care. Thus, the number of victims of the Russian attack has risen to four.
8:42 Over the past 24 hours, aviation, missile forces and artillery of the Defense Forces hit 16 areas of concentration of personnel and equipment, a command post, and a radio-electronic station of the Russian invaders. This was reported on March 6 by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Over the past 24 hours, 109 combat clashes occurred at the front, the hottest areas being Kursk and Toretskoye.
8:22 During the liquidation of the consequences of the night air attack of the Russian Federation, emergency workers saved a woman with a disability, another person suffered due to severe stress. This was reported by the State Emergency Service, publishing photos and videos from the site of the strike.
7:45 Russian troops lost 1,140 soldiers, 5 tanks, and 80 unmanned aerial vehicles in the war with Ukraine in one day. This was reported on March 6 by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The total combat losses of the Russians since 02/24/22 are approximately 881,800 people.
7:20 In Kharkiv, after a Russian UAV strike, residents of a multi-story building hit by a Russian drone are being evacuated; two people have an acute stress reaction. This was reported by the mayor Igor Terekhov. According to him, as a result of the shelling, the roof and the technical floor of the multi-story residential building were damaged. There was a small fire. The elevator shaft, partially the technical floor, and the facade part of the slabs between the 9th and technical floors were destroyed. Glazing in nearby houses and eight cars were also damaged.
01:30 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron for his clear vision and our joint efforts to achieve peace. On the evening of March 5, French President Emmanuel Macron announced in an address to the nation on the eve of the EU leaders' summit, which plans to gather in Paris the chiefs of general staff of countries considering the creation of a peacekeeping mission for Ukraine.
[IsraelTimes] Ten foreign workers from India were rescued overnight from a West Bank village where they had been held for over a month, the Population and Immigration Authority says.
Palestinians had lured the workers to the West Bank village of al-Zaayem with promises of work and then taken their passports and tried to use them to cross into Israel, the authority says.
The workers, who had originally come to Israel to work in construction, were rescued in an overnight operation led by the authority together with the IDF and the Justice Ministry. They have been transferred to a safe location until their employment status is determined.
The IDF had identified the illicit use of the passports and later returned them to their owners.
Some 16,000 laborers have come to Israel from India in the last year as part of an Israeli government effort to fill a void left when tens of thousands of Palestinian construction workers were barred from entering Israel after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/07/2025
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[IsraelTimes] Military prosecutors indict a West Bank mayor, accusing him of incitement on social media, police say in a statement.
West Bank cops arrested Biddya Mayor Zahir Abdelhadi last month for posts he made on Facebook in apparent praise of Hamas’s October 7 attack. They accuse the politician of attempting to influence popular opinion in the municipality through posts that “harm the public order.”
Police say the defendant posted a video on October 7 depicting armed men in masks, accompanied by a song with lyrics in Arabic vowing a “people’s war” against a generalized enemy.
They also cite a photo he posted of Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin alongside PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, with a caption hailing unity between the rival Fatah and Hamas movements.
Police intend to detain the mayor until the end of court proceedings, says a police spokesman.
[PUNCHNG] Nigerian troops have eliminated Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... 's chief bomb maker, Amirul Bumma, along with eight other Death Eaters during a clearance operation in Sambisa Forest, Borno State.
Security sources revealed that the operation took place recently in Bama Local Government Area as part of Operation Desert Sanity 4.
Commending the troops, the General Officer Commanding 7 Division, Maj. Gen. Abubakar Haruna, praised their gallantry and reaffirmed the military's commitment to eradicating terrorism in the Northeast and across Nigeria.
Military sources confirmed that the troops of the 21 Armoured Brigade, 199 Special Forces Battalion, the Civilian Joint Task Force, and hybrid forces launched the offensive based on intelligence that Death Eaters were regrouping in a well-fortified enclave between Sabil Huda and Njimiya, near Alai Dala Stand.
''The holy warriors, caught off guard, attempted to resist but were overpowered by the troops' superior firepower. After the battle, it was observed that the snuffies had brought hospital beds to the battlefield, intending to evacuate their casualties—an indication of the devastating blow they suffered,'' a security source disclosed.
In addition to neutralising the holy warriors, troops recovered a significant cache of high-caliber ammunition.
Meanwhile,
...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had been cornered by the banditti... in a desperate bid to retaliate, Boko Haram fighters planted multiple improvised bombs along the troops' withdrawal route.
However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... the troops successfully detected and neutralized about 10 IEDs, preventing potential casualties.
INSURGENTS ATTACK>COP SHOPPE
Suspected Boko Haram snuffies attacked a cop shoppe in Malari, Borno State, in the early hours of Wednesday, security sources have confirmed.
The assault, which occurred around 1 a.m., was repelled by coppers on duty with support from the military, preventing the Death Eaters from penetrating the town.
Confirming the attack, the spokesperson for the Borno State Police Command, Nahum Daso, said the coordinated response of the police and soldiers forced the attackers to retreat after a shootout.
''Yes, there was an attack on Malari Police Station. There were no casualties. We have a police Forward Operation Base in the area, and our officers have been on the ground for a long time. This is not the first time such an attack has happened, but the officers remained resilient, repelling the Death Eaters and preventing them from entering the town,'' Daso stated.
Related News
He explained that while the police initially engaged the attackers, military reinforcements later arrived to support them.
On the extent of damage to police facilities, Daso disclosed that the primary target of the Death Eaters was a police Armoured Personnel Carrier.
''The snuffies fired at the APC, specifically targeting its tyres. While the tyres were damaged, the vehicle itself remained intact,'' he said.
Daso further noted that while no casualties were recorded on the side of security forces, it was likely that some of the Death Eaters had been killed in the exchange of fire.
[Rudaw] The United States said on Thursday that it is reviewing all current sanctions exemptions that offer 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... any form of economic or financial relief. A waiver allowing Iraq to buy Iranian electricity expires in two days.
"The Iraq sanctions waiver, as you've noted, for Iran gas imports, expires on the eighth and we have, at this point, as you might imagine, we have nothing to announce with regards to the current electricity waiver that expires on the eighth, in line with National Security Presidential Memorandum number two, we are reviewing all existing sanctions waivers that provide Iran any degree of economic or financial relief," Tammy Bruce, Department of State spokesperson, told Rudaw during a press briefing.
The US government in summer extended its sanctions waiver for Iraq to purchase electricity from Iran for another 120 days. It expires on Saturday and it is not clear if Washington will renew it.
Washington has repeatedly renewed a four-month waiver to Baghdad in a bid to help the country provide sufficient electricity to its people.
Bruce urged the Iraqi government to "eliminate its dependence on Iranian sources of energy as soon as possible," welcoming Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... i’s "commitment to achieve energy independence."
Iraq is heavily dependent on gas imports from neighboring Iran to prop up its production of electricity. The waivers help Iraq bypass existing US sanctions on Iranian exports and are intended to act only as a short-term stopgap until Iraq is able to wean itself off of Iran for its energy needs.
[Rudaw] More than a dozen security personnel affiliated with the new Syrian leadership were killed in Latakia, west Syria, by supporters of the toppled Syrian dictator Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... on Sunday, a war monitor reported, anticipating the number of fatalities to rise.
Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), told Rudaw that 16 members of the security forces, mostly from the predominantly Sunni province of Idlib were killed in "attacks and ambushes" carried out by Assad loyalists in his former stronghold of Jableh and Latakia countryside.
The UK-based Observatory described the assault as "the deadliest attack on security and military forces since the fall of the [Assad] regime."
Following a swift offensive, a coalition of rebel groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS) on December 8 toppled the regime of Assad, who fled to Russia with his family.
SOHR added on Thursday that "at least three members of the gangs were killed in festivities" as well. It quoted Syrian security forces as stating that they were engaged in festivities with "gangs affiliated with Suhail al-Hassan, a prominent military commander during Assad’s rule."
For its part, the state-run Syrian news agency (SANA) cited the head of Latakia’s General Security Directorate, Mustafa Knaifati as describing the attack as "planned and premeditated." He added that "several" gangs affiliated with Assad "attacked our positions and checkpoints, targeting many of our patrols in the Jableh and its countryside."
SANA quoted another unnamed security source in Latakia as stating that "the remnants" of Assad’s regime "are targeting personnel and vehicles of the Ministry of Defense near the town of Beit Aana in the Latakia countryside."
The fighting marks a sharp escalation of tensions along Syria’s coast often regarded as the heartland of the Alawite sect, which Assad descends from.
Courtesy of badanov:
Clashes between Assad supporters and police in Latakia Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Clashes between supporters of former President Bashar al-Assad and government forces occurred in Syria's Latakia. The Defense Ministry of the transitional government of Syria sent armed forces to the region, Al Hadath TV channel reported,citing sources.
According to the channel, 28 protesters loyal to Assad were killed in clashes with security forces in Latakia province, while authorities imposed a curfew in the area.
Moreover, according to Al Hadath, at least 16 security personnel were killed in clashes with Assad supporters. It is noted that security forces took control of the clash areas in Jableh, where supporters of the former president attacked one of the checkpoints of the Internal Security Directorate of the new Syrian administration.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, in December 2024, armed groups of the Syrian opposition launched a large-scale offensive against government forces. On December 8, the Syrian army left Damascus, and the militants announced the transfer of power into their hands. Shar Assad resigned and left the country, receiving political asylum in Russia. Ahmed al-Sharaa became the head of the interim government.
On February 12, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin held telephone talks with Ahmed al-Sharaa. They discussed the situation in Syria and issues of cooperation in trade, economic, educational and other areas. The Russian President emphasized that Moscow takes a principled position in support of the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.
On February 25, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov reported that Russia is in contact with the Syrian authorities on the issue of maintaining Russian bases in Syria. The working process is underway, including the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov visited Turkey, where he also raised this issue for discussion.
More than 70 people were killed and dozens more maimed in Syria in fighting between government security forces and bandidosturbans loyal to deposed ruler Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... , a war monitor said Friday.
"More than 70 killed and dozens maimed and captured in bloody festivities and ambushes on the Syrian coast between members of the Ministry of Defense and Interior and bandidosturbans from the defunct regime’s army," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a post on X.
It said earlier that fighting Thursday between government forces and Assad loyalists had killed 48 people in the coastal town of Jableh and adjacent villages, saying they were "the most violent mostly peaceful attacks against the new authorities since Assad was toppled" in December.
The overall toll during this week’s unrest was not immediately clear.
Pro-Assad fighters killed 16 security personnel while 28 fighters aligned with the ousted president and four civilians were also killed, the Observatory said Thursday.
The earlier fighting was in the Mediterranean coastal province of Latakia, the heartland of Assad’s Alawite minority who were considered bastions of support during his rule.
Mustafa Kneifati, a security official in Latakia, said that in "a well-planned and premeditated attack, several groups of Assad militia remnants attacked our positions and checkpoints," targeting patrols in the Jableh area.
The attacks resulted in "numerous deaders and injured among our forces," he added without providing the number of casualties.
Kneifati said security forces would "work to eliminate their presence."
"We will restore stability to the region and protect the property of our people," he declared.of our people," he declared.
TOP OFFICER ARRESTED
The UK-based observatory said most of the security personnel killed were from the former rebel bastion of Idlib in the northwest.
During the operation, security forces captured and arrested a former head of air force intelligence, one of the Assad family’s most trusted security agencies, state news agency SANA reported.
"Our forces in the city of Jableh managed to arrest the criminal General Ibrahim Huweija," SANA said.
"He is accused of hundreds of liquidations during the era of the criminal Hafez al-Assad," Bashir al-Assad’s father and predecessor.
Huweija, who headed air force intelligence from 1987 to 2002, has long been a suspect in the 1977 murder of Lebanese Druze leader Kamal Bek Jumblat.
His son and successor Walid Wally Jumblat ...Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... retweeted the news of his arrest with the comment: "Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest)."
The provincial security director said security forces clashed with button men loyal to an Assad-era special forces commander in another village in Latakia, after authorities reportedly launched helicopter strikes.
"The gangs that our security forces were clashing with in the Latakia countryside were affiliated with the war criminal Suhail al-Hassan," the security director told SANA.
Nicknamed "The Tiger," Hassan led the country’s special forces and was frequently described as Assad’s "favorite soldier." He was responsible for key military advances by the Assad government in 2015.
HELICOPTER STRIKES
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had earlier reported "strikes launched by Syrian helicopters on gunnies in the village of Beit Ana and the surrounding forests, coinciding with artillery strikes on a neighboring village."
SANA reported that militias loyal to the ousted president had opened fire on "members and equipment of the defense ministry" near the village, killing one security force member and wounding two.
Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i broadcaster Al Jazeera reported that its photographer Riad al-Hussein was maimed in the festivities but that he was doing well.
A defense ministry source later told SANA thon the lam military reinforcements were being deployed to the Jableh area.
Alawite leaders later called in a statement on Facebook for "peaceful protests" in response to the helicopter strikes, which they said had targeted "the homes of civilians."
The security forces imposed overnight curfews on Alawite-populated areas, including Latakia, the port city of Tartus and third city Homs, SANA reported.
In other cities around the country, crowds gathered "in support of the security forces," it added.
Tensions erupted after residents of Beit Ana, the birthplace of Suhail al-Hassan, prevented security forces from arresting a person wanted for trading arms, the Observatory said.
Security forces subsequently launched a campaign in the area, resulting in festivities with button men, it added.
Tensions erupted after at least four non-combatants were killed during a security operation in Latakia, the monitor said on Wednesday.
Security forces launched the campaign in the Daatour neighborhood of the city on Tuesday after an ambush by "members of the remnants of Assad militias" killed two security personnel, state media reported.
Salafist tough guys led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... launched a lightning offensive that toppled Assad on December 8.
The country’s new security forces have since carried out extensive campaigns seeking to root out Assad loyalists from his former bastions.
Residents and organizations have reported violations during those campaigns, including the seizing of homes, field executions and kidnappings.
Syria’s new authorities have described the violations as "isolated incidents" and vowed to pursue those responsible.
NEW -- a day of *very* serious hostilities in #Jableh, #Latakia, triggered by attacks by #Assad loyalists.
13 interim gov't forces killed, plus loyalists. A helicopter gunship deployed & DMO forces dispatched from #Damascus tonight as fighting continues. pic.twitter.com/lbvf9wFQOG
Sarah Adam’s twitter/X feed is blowing up with ugly tweets on the viciously thorough HTS response to Assad remnant rebelliousness here. Those of you who happily swim in those waters might want to bring back some key tweets to help us keep up with events — it’s beyond my ability.
My thanks in advance.
[Rudaw] The British government on Thursday announced the removal of sanctions of two dozen Syrian entities, including the country’s central bank, marking a milestone in the western diplomatic relations with Syria following the downfall of the Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... regime.
The UK Treasury declared that sanctions had been lifted from Syria’s central bank and 23 other banking, commercial, and oil entities, whose assets had been frozen for six years.
The UK government initially imposed the sanctions on Syria in 2019 to penalize "individuals and entities involved in repressing the civilian population in Syria" during the 2011 uprising against Assad’s rule, as well as those who "supported or benefited" from his regime.
The move by the UK follows a similar step by the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... in late February, which suspended several restrictive measures targeting key energy and transport sectors, as well as a number of Syrian banks, including the Industrial Bank, Popular Credit Bank, Saving Bank, Agricultural Cooperative Bank, as well as the Syrian Arab Airlines. These entities were also included in London’s sanctions relief list.
However,
the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... the EU emphasized that it would proceed cautiously, warning that it could reinstate sanctions if the new Syrian government failed to establish "an inclusive government" that accommodates the country’s various ethnic and religious groups, according to the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas.
The diplomatic shift comes after the swift overthrow of the Assad regime by a coalition of opposition groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS) in early December. In late January, HTS leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was appointed as Syria’s interim president. Sharaa vowed to hold "free and fair elections" to pave the way for the formation of an inclusive government and the drafting of a new Syrian constitution.
On Sunday, Sharaa formed a seven-member committee tasked with drafting a constitutional declaration for the country’s transitional period. The move came days after the National Dialogue Conference, held earlier that week. While the conference was praised for pledging reforms, it was also criticized by some groups in Syria - particularly Kurdish political parties - which deemed it exclusionary and rushed.
[IsraelTimes] Jews were targeted in 28 hate crimes in New York City last month, far more than any other group, the NYPD says. Because there's no hate in black-on-black crime?
The figure amounts to 68% of the 41 total hate crimes reported to police last month.
The total antisemitic incidents for February is twice the amount reported to police during the same period last year.
Jews are consistently targeted in hate crimes in the city more than any other group, and last year were targeted more than all other groups combined.
Roughly 12% of New York City’s population is Jewish.
Last month, Asians were targeted once, four incidents targeted Black people, two were against other ethnicities, three against Muslims, and two hate crimes were based on sexual orientation.
The figures are preliminary and subject to change if, for example, a crime that appeared to be discriminatory turns out to have had another motivation.
Jewish security personnel say many antisemitic hate crimes likely go unreported to police.
Unidentified, yes, But the smart money says they’re Turkish…
[Rudaw] An unidentified Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... targeted a mountain village in eastern Sulaimani province, a conflict monitor reported on Thursday.
"At 11:40 pm on Wednesday, Ottoman Turkish warplanes heavily bombarded the Zhazholan valley in the village of Gulala," Kamaran Osman from the Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... organization that monitors The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... ’s operations in the Kurdistan Region.
See? Turkish.
The Ottoman Turkish army has bombarded Galala village several times under the pretext of targeting Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters allegedly present in the area.
"Due to the proximity of the bombardment, all the villagers felt it and their houses shook," Osman added.
The strike came amid intensified efforts for a grinding of the peace processor between the Ottoman Turkish state and the PKK.
On Saturday, the PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire with Turkey, stating it agrees with the contents of leader Abdullah Ocalan’s recent letter that called on the group to disarm and disband, but set a physical meeting with their placed in durance vile Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! leader as a precondition to any successful grinding of the peace processor.
Ocalan’s letter has sparked hope for a resolution to the nearly four-decade-long conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which has claimed over 40,000 lives.
According to CPT data, 183 villages have been abandoned and an additional 602 are in danger of being evacuated because of fighting between Turkey and the PKK.
Founded in 1978, the PKK initially called for the establishment of an independent Kurdistan but now calls for autonomy. The group is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey. It has bases in the Kurdistan Region’s mountains.
[Rudaw] At least 15 people, including security personnel, civilians, and armed Death Eaters, were killed in violent mostly peacefulfestivities between government forces and gangs in Syria’s southern Daraa province on Tuesday, the governor’s office said on Thursday.
The festivities erupted in the city of al-Sanamayn, north of Daraa city, when "gangs outside the law" engaged in firefights with security forces, resulting in "several injuries and deaths on both sides, in addition to injuries among civilians," the governor’s office said in a statement.
Government forces responded by deploying multiple checkpoints across the city. One checkpoint came under "direct gunfire that resulted in the injury of an internal security member," prompting reinforcements from the defense ministry to arrive the next morning, according to the statement
The ensuing festivities left at least nine Death Eaters, four members of the security forces, and two civilians dead. A total of 27 people were maimed, and a further 60 were taken in for investigation.
Daraa, the birthplace of the 2011 Syrian uprising against toppled dictator Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... , was recaptured by government forces in 2018, but violence and instability have reigned in the province.
The governor’s office accused some of the Lions of Islam of being affiliated with 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).
ISIS rose to power in 2014, seizing large swathes of Iraqi and Syrian territory in a brazen offensive and declaring a so-called "caliphate." The group was territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019. It has sought to take advantage of increased instability in Syria since the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS) led a rebel offensive that overthrew Assad in December.
#2
^ #1
It also brings up the question.
Why was the National Organization for Women (N.O.W.) so quiet during the Liberal Democrat perverted agenda goals that directly harmed women and girls?
Where the LSD's pushed and promoted the intermixing of mentally ill Transvestite men into Women sports, and locker rooms?
Where women and girls were either brutally defeated, and/or sexually assaulted.
Sure looks like N.O.W. quickly placed Women Rights on hold to support the perverted Democrat political agenda.
[PJMedia] During President Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress, he announced that with the help of American intelligence agencies and Pakistain, the planner of the Abbey Gate terrorist attack in Afghanistan was being brought to America at that moment to "face the swift sword of American justice."
It was an exhilarating moment. The news may have prompted a small feeling of "closure" among the families of the 13 American service members who died in that Afghanistan calamity on Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. I'm not working for you. Don't be such a horse's ass.... 's watch.
But the Paks may have handed over the wrong guy. They say that Mohammad Sharifullah is "a commander of the ISIS (ISIS) affiliate in Khorasan Province (ISKP) [and was] an Afghan national captured in an operation conducted in the Pakistain-Afghanistan border
...also known as Pashtunistan, home of ignorance, poverty, and automatic weapons... region." The Pak Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump in a statement for "appreciating Pakistain’s role and support in counterterrorism efforts across the region."
But, could it be that the Paks, who hid the late Osama bin Laden ...... who has left the building...... from the Americans for years, engaged in yet another subterfuge to stick it to us? Of course the Paks could have done that.
A former CIA "targeter" whose job was to find bad guys in Afghanistan says whoever told the Trump team that this Mohammad guy was the shot-caller for the Taliban ...Arabic for students... is lying to them.
Adams, who now works for the Defense Department, uses open source materials and sometimes calls her old contacts in Afghanistan to run down leads while looking for bad guys and connecting the dots for articles and books.
She thinks a different person was the actual shot-caller for a suicide kaboom at Abbey Gate at the Kabul Airport in those frantic days before the U.S. ignominiously bugged out.
The man who helped plan the attack, Adams believes, is Hafiz Haqqani, of the notorious Haqqani terror network, and who has connections to Al Qaeda's one-time number-two bad guy, Ayman Al Zawahiri ...Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodox al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra...> . In fact, Adams believes the man who told the boom jacket-wearing terrorist the precise place to detonate his bomb for maximum U.S. casualties is Zawahiri's son-in-law.
Here’s a hard truth:
Hafiz Haqqani—the terrorist on the ground at Abbey Gate who told the suicide bomber he was in the best position to kill the most U.S. soldiers and to detonate—is the son-in-law of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri.
First, you have to understand what Adams believes is the leadership apparatus of the Taliban. She believes the Taliban is wholly infused by Al Qaeda. Adams says the families have intermarried. She says three of the top leaders of the Taliban have the last name of Bin Laden.
Adams is the first to point out that the United States bankrolls the Taliban — and by extension Al Qaeda and the Bin Laden family — $40 to $80 million per week.
As I reported previously, USAID money was used for a lot of the payoff to the terrorists.
Adams's claims were verified in a February congressional hearing.
Adams isn't new to finding bandidosDeath Eaters who try to hide. She's written a recent work about the Abbey Gate terror plot called "HKIA: Know Thy Enemy."
She also found all the planners of the Benghazi terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2012, and wrote about them in her book, "Benghazi: Know Thy Enemy."
Remember that Secretary of State 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... , Jake Sullivan, and Obama aide Susan Rice told Americans that the Benghazi attack was a misunderstanding that grew out of a movie no one watched — for which the movie maker was tossed in the calaboose Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! in America by President Obama. But Adams wouldn't rest until she tracked down every one of the bandidosDeath Eaters who killed her CIA compatriots and America's Ambassador to Libya.
After last night's announcement, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X.com that the FBI and American intelligence worked to get their hands on the planner.
But Patel need only remember his own frustrations as a DOJ investigator involved for a time in the Benghazi prosecution to inform this latest case. In his book, "Government Gangsters," Patel was frustrated that "when it came to Benghazi, the B.O. regime, the F.B.I. and the D.O.J. wanted to seem tough on terrorism, so they kept minimal prosecutions open and brought up big-sounding charges that we couldn’t support."
And before he became the nominee to head the FBI, Patel told the Shawn Ryan show that the top brass "went and got basically the wrong guy [involved in Benghazi]. And then we prosecuted that wrong guy. Not that he wasn’t a part of it. He just wasn’t like the top tier of guys I would have gone after. And they screwed up the prosecution because they didn’t listen to us."
🚨BREAKING NEWS: The masterminds behind the Abbey Gate attack are Sirajuddin Haqqani and Sanaullah Ghafari. So why was a fake mastermind detained and extradited to the U.S.—and who is telling our American President @realdonaldtrump it was someone else?
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] The Russian Armed Forces continue to carry out their assigned tasks during the special military operation. In a number of areas of the front, a relative calm has been observed in recent days, which both sides are using for their own purposes. The Ukrainian Armed Forces Command is trying to hold the existing demarcation line, throwing fresh formations of mobilized fighters into battle in the most dangerous areas of the front.
Thus, Kyiv managed to somewhat stabilize the situation in the Pokrovsk area, which led to a weakening of the Ukrainian defense in other areas.
In Donbass, Russian troops are building on the success achieved after the liberation of the settlement of Velyka Novosyolka, expanding the bridgehead at the junction of the borders of the DPR, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions. During the offensive, Russian troops managed to drive the enemy out of the settlement of Privolnoye and penetrate into the enemy's defenses by one and a half to two kilometers.
The information about the liberation of the settlement was officially confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
"As a result of active and decisive actions, units of the Vostok military group liberated the village of Privolnoye of the Donetsk People's Republic," the department noted. Earlier, Russian troops occupied the villages of Skudnoye and Burlatskoye in this direction. The offensive is developing in the direction of the villages of Zelenoe Pole, Volnoye Pole and Shevchenko.
According to the latest information, the enemy does not plan to fight "to the last fighter" and is preparing to retreat to the territory of the Dnipropetrovsk region, which creates new opportunities for Russian troops. To the north, the armed forces of the Russian Federation are advancing on the village of Bogatyr, which the enemy has turned into a large defensive hub.
Troops that had retreated from the Kurakhovo area and earlier from Ugledar were concentrated in this area. In order to advance further to the West, Russian troops need to destroy this enemy group, a frontline source for the Regnum news agency reports.
"The remnants of several Ukrainian Armed Forces and National Guard brigades, which have already been pretty battered in battle, have concentrated in this area. There is no one else to cover this area. Once we "crush" Bogatyr, we can confidently say that the enemy has finally lost the eastern part of Donbass," the source noted. The fighting is also continuing in other areas of the front, where Russian troops are pushing back the enemy everywhere.
CROSSING A RIVER ON ICE
In recent weeks, the brunt of the fighting has shifted from the Donbas to the northern Kharkiv region. Russian troops are expanding their zone of control on the right bank of the Oskol River, seeking to bypass the strategically important city of Kupyansk from the north and south. According to reports from the field, unexpected spring frosts have frozen the Oskol River, allowing Russian troops to move reinforcements across the ice.
The fighting is developing in the area of the settlement of Golubovka, part of which, according to unconfirmed information, has come under the control of the Russian army. There are also reports of clashes in the area of the settlements of Zapadny and Kondrashovka. Russian troops are trying to cut off the road connecting enemy forces in the city of Velykyi Burluk with the group of troops in Kupyansk.
South of Kupyansk, the settlement of Zagryzovo has come under the control of Russian troops. Ukrainian sources note that in recent days the intensity of military actions in this area has been constantly growing, while the Ukrainian Armed Forces have no reserves either for a counterattack or for organizing the defense of the city. This has already led to the fact that forces from other parts of the front are gradually being transferred to the Kupyansk area, a source of the Regnum news agency from the Kharkiv region reports.
"There is information that part of the forces that the enemy was preparing to send to the Kursk region were turned back and sent to Kupyansk. Now the Ukrainian Armed Forces command is feverishly preparing the defense of the city, since they missed our advance on the right bank of the Oskol River. This may lead to some other section of the front "sagging" in the future," the source notes.
The configuration of the front in the north of the Kharkov region as a whole suggests that the command of the Russian troops is planning a deep envelopment of Kupyansk from the north and south with a breakthrough into the rear of the enemy group. The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is concentrating forces north of Kupyansk, trying to prevent the loss of Kondrashovka, and in the Senkovo area, in order to prevent the crossing of the Oskol River and the envelopment of Kupyansk from the south.
For Ukrainian troops, the situation is complicated by the geographical location of Kupyansk, which we have already described: a river dividing the city in two, destroyed bridges, densely built-up areas and administrative buildings. The enemy previously encountered similar problems when defending the cities of Bakhmut and Chasov Yar. Ultimately, Ukrainian troops are forced to abandon the "left-bank" part of the city and retreat to the right bank.
How the situation in Kupyansk will develop will become clear in the coming days, since the Ukrainian Armed Forces risk facing serious supply problems.
SHELL FAMINE OF THE UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES
The suspension of American military aid could create major difficulties for Kyiv.
According to Forbes, Ukrainian troops have already faced a shortage of 203mm shells for the super-heavy self-propelled artillery units "Pion". Earlier, the Ukrainian Armed Forces exhausted their own stocks of shells, after which they were forced to ask the United States for help. The previous American administration was able to find and buy about 10 thousand shells in warehouses of third countries, and Greece provided some of the ammunition.
However, the curtailment of American military aid could lead to the Ukrainian "Peonies" going silent forever, so that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will have nothing to respond to Russian artillery with. In the future, the Ukrainian troops may also run out of NATO-caliber 155mm shells, the lion's share of which were also supplied by the United States.
The enemy may try to mitigate the shortage of shells by actively using drones, but recently an “antidote” has been found for this threat. Sources on the ground report that key supply routes for Russian troops have been protected by nets stretched along highways. This measure seriously reduces the effectiveness of drones used to attack supply routes and troop movements.
The front expects that with the cessation of American military supplies, Russian troops will gain a significant advantage over the enemy. "Last spring, there were cases when their guns fell silent for weeks, because then the States also cut off supplies. This gave us a big advantage, it was then that we broke through to Pokrovsk. So this time, too, we will use these moments to move forward," the agency's sources summarize.
Despite the approaching thaw and spring mud, both sides of the conflict are preparing for fierce military action, and the current lull may only be a prologue to a new escalation of the conflict.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF confirms carrying out a drone strike in the northern Gaza Strip earlier today, saying it targeted several suspects who were spotted planting a bomb near troops.
According to Palestinian media, one person was killed in the strike and several were wounded.
The strike was reported in Gaza City’s eastern Shejaiya neighborhood.
Israeli forces are still deployed to a buffer zone along the Gaza border amid the ceasefire, and the IDF has repeatedly warned Palestinians against approaching the area.
Columbia Prof. Basil Smikle claims DOGE saving taxpayer money is RACIST because it targets a gov’t once led by a black man and nearly elected a black woman.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2025
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#1
The black community has LOST 50 years that could have been spent on improving their lot. Martin Luther King was deeply flawed, but spoke on judging character rather than skin color.
Once we died, *grifters* replaced him and decimated the cause of black people everywhere.
[Rudaw] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... ’s defense ministry on Thursday called on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its affiliates to immediately disband and surrender their weapons, asserting that the group has reached the "end of its lifespan."
"The PKK and all groups affiliated with it must end their terrorist activities, dissolve themselves, and immediately and unconditionally lay down their weapons and surrender," defense ministry spokesperson Zeki Akturk said in a press briefing.
"The PKK organization has come to understand, albeit belatedly, that it has reached the end of its lifespan and that it has no choice but to dissolve itself," he added.
Akturk also revealed that Turkey’s military operations have "neutralized" 26 fighters in the past week, and that 478 have been neutralized since the start of the year. Turkey uses the term "neutralize" to refer to adversaries who are captured, maimed, or killed.
His remarks come after the PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire with Turkey on Saturday, stating that it agrees with the contents of leader Abdullah Ocalan’s recent letter that called on the group to disarm and disband, but set a physical meeting with their jugged Book 'im, Mahmoud! leader as a precondition to any successful grinding of the peace processor.
Ankara considers the PKK a terrorist organization, as do its Western allies. Ocalan’s letter has raised hopes for a resolution to the nearly four-decade-long conflict, which has claimed over 40,000 lives.
Founded in 1978, the PKK initially called for the establishment of an independent Kurdistan but now calls for autonomy. The group is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/07/2025
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[NYPOST] Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited New York City Wednesday, stopping at the Brooklyn subway station where a migrant allegedly torched a sleeping homeless woman to death.
Noem, who has been traveling across the nation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, was spotted at Coney Island's Stillwell Avenue subway station, where the infamous arson attack took place last December.
Along with the stop in Brooklyn, Noem was seen visiting the US Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma vessel at Pier 88 in Manhattan, where she was pictured with ICE, NYPD, Coast Guard and ICE officials.
"Met with law enforcement officials this morning in NYC. Those who are in this country WILL be tracked down, prosecuted and not allowed to return," Noem wrote about the trip on X.
"If aliens voluntarily leave now, they may have the opportunity to return the right, legal way and live the American dream. If they don’t, they will face the inevitable consequences," she added.
[IsraelTimes] The family of a top Hamas official was paid some $1,000 (£790) for his 14-year-old son to narrate a BBC documentary, the Telegraph reports.
As far as I can tell from the internet, that’s about what an average Gazan family earns in a week — pretty good money for a couple hours work for a young teen..
The BBC has apologized for “serious flaws” in the making of the “Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone,” which was produced by UK company Hoyo Films, after it emerged that the child narrator was the son of Hamas’s former deputy minister of agriculture Ayman al-Yazouri.
The money was paid into a bank account belonging to the boy’s sister, the report says, noting that it was paid by Hoyo Films and not directly by the BBC.
The BBC has previously acknowledged that a payment was made, but has not disclosed the amount.
The BBC removed the documentary from its platform after a backlash and launched an immediate review into the “mistakes,” which it called “significant and damaging.”
[IsraelTimes] Interview: David Collier quickly revealed the film’s narrator to be ‘Hamas royalty,’ but he also believes this episode could be a turning point for an outlet perennially accused of anti-Israel bias.
The documentary cost £400,000 ($515,000) to produce,
How much of that was spent in Gaza, ending up in Hamas pockets?
and the BBC is entirely funded by taxpayers. The broadcasting company has apologized profusely in an unprecedented statement, with chairman Samir Shah calling the affair “a really, really bad moment” and “a dagger to the heart of the BBC claim to be impartial and trustworthy.”
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Kirill Novikov
[REGNUM] On March 4, 2025, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order in which he noted that the 10% tariffs imposed on China would be increased to 20%; he justified his actions with completely non-economic arguments.
Trump accuses China of not taking any measures to combat the spread of synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl).
Tariffs were also imposed on imports from Mexico and Canada. Both of these countries had previously demonstrated their willingness to give in to American pressure. However, China is not going to make concessions, for its part it has imposed duties of 10% and 15% on agricultural products from America, and 15 companies from this country have been added to the Chinese government's "export control" list.
Donald Trump has made drug abuse a major issue during his first term, declaring opioid overdoses a public health emergency in 2017.
“In 2016 alone, nearly 64,000 Americans died from drug overdoses. During that time, the number of overdoses specifically from opioids exceeded 42,000, more than in any previous year.”
According to the latest statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 87,000 people died from overdoses in 2023–2024, which is 24% less than in 2022–2023. However, Donald Trump is sure that these figures are wrong. At a cabinet meeting, the US President said that in recent years, 300,000 people a year have died in the country because of fentanyl. Thus, the total number of victims, according to Trump, has already exceeded a million.
Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid that is widely used as a painkiller; it was developed to help patients after major surgeries. The drug gained popularity due to its low cost (since the 2010s, control over opioid turnover has been tightened in America) and high effectiveness in relieving pain (it is 50 times stronger than heroin).
Restrictions during the coronavirus epidemic played a role, when the transportation of large quantities of drugs was difficult. Fentanyl, on the other hand, could be delivered covertly in small quantities.
In 2019, the Chinese government tightened controls on its production, but could not ban the production of precursors - the chemical elements needed to synthesize the substance, since they have already become drugs of daily demand.
Therefore, the ban had almost no effect: Mexican cartels purchased precursors from China, synthesized fentanyl from them, and shipped them to the United States.
Western media paid special attention to the Chinese company Yuancheng Group — from their point of view, it is engaged in the supply of precursors. It is worth noting that another source of fentanyl is India, but Donald Trump talks about this much less often.
China initially expressed its willingness to cooperate with the United States in the fight against the spread of the terrible drug, but after the visit of former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in 2022, China refused to coordinate its actions with America in this matter.
The United States is convinced that China is deliberately ignoring the problem, directly or indirectly encouraging the export of fentanyl. For example, it was noted that the Chinese government provided tax breaks for companies that exported fentanyl precursors abroad, and some chemical companies even received state grants.
To confirm their suspicions, the Americans like to refer to the book “Unrestricted Warfare” (published in 1999), written by retired Major General Qiao Liang and Professor of Beihang University (Beijing), former Colonel of the Chinese Army Wang Xiansuya. The authors pointed to the transformation of forms of warfare that can already be observed today, for example, the emergence of such phenomena as “information warfare” or “trade war”.
The book, in particular, briefly mentions drug warfare, defining it as “ the receipt of superprofits through the illegal distribution of prohibited substances abroad.”
The purpose of publishing Unrestricted Warfare was to formulate a strategy to counter the unipolar hegemony of the United States. The new US administration is convinced that today the Chinese government has moved from words to action.
CHINA DENIES ITS OWN GUILT.
On the day Trump issued his decree, China's State Council published a white paper on fentanyl, outlining its own contribution to combating the drug's spread. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian noted at a briefing that the US was denigrating his country for propaganda purposes.
It should be understood that the problem of the spread of fentanyl is only an episode in the escalating confrontation between China and America.
Despite the fact that the US is currently experiencing an ideological and value split, both parties – Republicans and Democrats – are convinced of the need to combat Chinese influence. The sanctions imposed by Donald Trump during his first term were not lifted by Joseph Biden. Moreover, in some areas they were even tightened – for example, 100% tariffs were imposed on Chinese electric cars.
And this has brought results: according to statistics for 2023, trade turnover between the countries decreased by 11.6%, and from 2018 to 2024, China’s share in the total volume of US trade decreased from 15.7% to 10.9%.
Both countries are trying to identify each other's weak points and strike at them without hurting themselves.
For example, China has effectively become a monopolist in the rare earth minerals market. Any restrictions in this area will hit not only the American economy, but also the leading supporter of its president, Elon Musk, whose companies actively use titanium and lithium.
This explains why the US is confidently trying to impose an unequal agreement on rare earth mining on Ukraine.
Donald Trump's core constituency, farmers whose prosperity was largely based on exporting their own produce to China, is suffering from higher tariffs in agriculture. China is ready to switch to the agricultural market in South America - for example, it already buys soybeans from Brazil.
The US, in turn, is trying to find other markets. For example, Canada has become one. However, this has not helped to cover the losses from the trade war. Will farmers then continue to support the Republicans?
But China is also suffering from US sanctions: the tariff standoff has slowed economic growth. China already faced difficulties - for example, the housing crisis led to a decrease in purchasing power. And the government has to inject new money into the economy to solve this problem.
But on the other hand, the trade war allows the Chinese government to attribute the slowdown to negative influence from the United States and to unite the people around opposing this threat.
The trade war is hitting both sides equally, but each side is determined to achieve its own goals. America is seeking to maintain its leading position, while China is seeking to increase its influence through its status as the new “workshop of the world.”
In general, tariff wars clearly indicate a weakening of economic globalization and a return to the concept of “national interest.”
[IsraelTimes] Police say they plan to deploy some 3,000 police and border officers across Jerusalem tomorrow for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount.
A spokesman says police will operate with additional reinforcements at checkpoints on the perimeter of Jerusalem, in East Jerusalem and within the Old City. Police say they aim to prevent “hostile elements from exploiting Ramadan for incitement, disturbances, terrorism or any form of violence.”
Several roads adjacent to the Old City, including Nablus, Sultan Suleiman and Salah a-Din Streets in the East Jerusalem downtown, will be closed to traffic from 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Police advise drivers to use Begin Road as an alternative route.
The holy site has been a flashpoint for violence, particularly with large crowds gathering on Ramadan, and has seen frequent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces over the years, sometimes leading to wider violence.
Last month, Hebrew outlets reported that Israel’s security establishment plans to allow only 10,000 West Bank Palestinians to enter the al-Aqsa compound for Friday prayer, and only if they submit a request in advance. Ex-prisoners released under the current ceasefire deal will not be permitted to enter the compound.
Hamas calls on Palestinian Muslims in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as well as Arab Israelis to reject efforts to impose restrictions and to travel to the Temple Mount in large numbers and oppose attempts by Israel to “desecrate and control” the site, “by any means.”
[IsraelTimes] Police in Jerusalem gear up to secure prayers at the Temple Mount on the first Friday of Ramadan, with the Prime Minister’s Office saying Palestinians from the West Bank will be able to visit the holy site under the same terms approved by the government last year.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office says males 55 and older, women who are at least 50-years-old and children 12 or younger will be allowed to enter Jerusalem to attend the prayers after receiving a permit from Israeli authorities.
The statement adds that Israel is committed to upholding freedom of worship “for all religions and nations.”
#1
It amazes me that we continue to pretend that *anything* associated with Islam can be "holy", whether its a date on a calendar or a site on the map.
NOTHING is "holy" to them. They are a culture of murderers. They have no concept of holy, of compassion, or love. They are an enemy of civilization and need to be eradicated.
[IsraelTimes] The Police Prosecutions Division files an indictment against a resident of Holon who transported a terrorist to Bat Yam and who was responsible for placing explosives on buses that exploded in Holon and Bat Yam last month.
The defendant told investigators that he transported the terrorist twice on that day in return for a payment of NIS 450, Kan News reports
In the first journey, he took the terrorist to a checkpoint in the West Bank, and the second time, he transported him from the checkpoint to Bat Yam.
He admitted that he transported the terrorist but claimed he did not know that he was involved in terrorist activity.
“He sat next to me with the bag, I didn’t know that he had an explosive and that he was a terrorist,” the defendant is reported as having told investigators.
The defendant was released to house arrest after being indicted since the judge did not believe there was evidence that he knew he was transporting a terrorist.
Kan reports that the terrorists responsible for placing the explosives have yet to be apprehended.
[IsraelTimes] School condemns remarks by Sebastian Ben Daniel, posted under his alias ‘John Brown’; in apology letter, he asserts ‘political actors’ are trying to stifle freedom of speech
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev suspended a lecturer on Wednesday over his criticism of the Israel Defense Forces, which includes asserting that soldiers are "taught to murder Paleostinian children."
The school said that Dr. Sebastian Ben Daniel, of the computer science department, would be suspended until the matter had been fully probed.
Ben Daniel, who posts to social media under the alias "John Brown," has long published inflammatory criticism of the IDF.
Over a thousand students reportedly asked for his suspension after the posts were highlighted in media reports.
The university said in a statement that it "condemns and completely rejects the insulting remarks of John Brown that slandered IDF soldiers, particularly as many of the university community are themselves soldiers."
It noted that published comments, "terrible as they were," were not made as part of Ben Daniel’s academic role.
Earlier this week, Ben Daniel held a meeting with the university rector. On Wednesday, he published an apology letter that accused "political actors" of working to stifle freedom of speech.
"I regret that the witch hunt over what I wrote on the social networks is affecting you, and has entered the study hall by force, and against our will," he wrote in a letter to the students, as reported by Hebrew media outlets.
He claimed that "political actors" had taken his remarks out of context and stressed that his criticism was "entirely separate" from my academic work.
"The goal is always to keep things separate," he said. "With that, I know that my remarks have consequences for you and that the separation is not absolute, no matter how much I wanted it to be, and how much I intended it to be.
"If any of you were hurt by the things that have been publicized, I apologize for that here and hope you understand that that was not my intention."
He criticized his suspension, saying the aim of the politicians "is not to harm me, but freedom of speech in Israel, and that by way of fatal harm to academia, which is the last fortress standing before them." He drew a comparison to the days of dictatorship in his native Argentina ...a country located on the other side of the Deep South. It is covered with Pampers and inhabited by Grouchos, who dance the Tangle. They used to have some islands called the Malvinas located where the Falklands are now. They're not supposed to cry for Evita... Among the posts he has published, as reported in Hebrew media, are remarks that IDF soldiers "voluntarily" follow orders to "murder children," that troops are "taught to murder Paleostinian children," and that IDF soldiers are "baby murderers, not because of orders, but because they were taught to murder babies."
The right-wing Im Tirzu organization dismissed the apology letter, saying in a statement that "the lecturer did not retract his words and published an embarrassing apology."
It said suspension was not enough and that Ben Daniel should have been dismissed. The group filed a complaint with police for suspected incitement against soldiers, Walla reported.
The right-wing Btsalmo nonprofit welcomed the suspension.
"Anyone who incites against IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens should be in the garbage bin of history and not in academia," it said in a statement.
[IsraelTimes] Exercise includes F-15i and F-35i fighter jets alongside a US B-52 bomber, whose help Israel could potentially need to strike Iran’s underground nuclear sites
The Israeli Air Force held a joint exercise with the US Air Force on Tuesday, in what was likely a message to 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... amid speculation about a potential joint strike on the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s nuclear facilities.
During the exercise, pilots "practiced operational coordination between the two militaries to enhance their ability to address various regional threats," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Thursday.
The drill included Israeli F-15i and F-35i fighter jets flying alongside a US B-52 bomber.
"The exercise aimed to strengthen and maintain the longstanding cooperation between the forces while expanding connectivity and building integrated capabilities for a range of scenarios," the IDF said.
The drill is potentially aimed at readying the Israeli military for a potential joint strike with the US on Iran.
The IAF has already carried out two strikes on Iran without US support, in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attacks on Israel. The Israeli strikes reportedly left key Iranian air defenses crippled.
Israeli Air Force F-15I and F-35I fighter jets fly alongside a US B-52 bomber during a drill on March 4, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... Israel would likely need the heavy capabilities of the B-52s to effectively hit Iran’s heavily fortified underground nuclear sites.
A report late last month said Iran had placed its nuclear facilities on high alert and deployed additional air defenses, bracing for a potential attack — but included an official’s statement that the existing defenses "may not be effective in the event of a large-scale strike."
Iran, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, insists its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes. However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... the UN nuclear watchdog has said that Iran is currently enriching uranium to levels that have no civilian use, and the country has obstructed international inspectors seeking to visit its facilities.
US President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... has repeatedly said Iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, and reinstated a "maximum pressure" campaign of sanctions on the Islamic Theocratic Republic upon his return to office in January.
At the same time, Trump has advocated a diplomatic agreement to stop Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, saying last month: "I think Iran would love to make a deal and I would love to make a deal with them without bombing them."
This week, Russia offered to mediate talks between the US and Iran about latter’s nuclear program.
Russia and Iran have expanded military ties in recent years, with a report Tuesday showing that Russian officials had visited Iranian missile production and air defense sites twice last year, both times within weeks of Tehran launching massive missile barrages at Israeli cities. In January, Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... hosted his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in Moscow where they signed a 20-year strategic partnership.
[IsraelTimes] Footage from Sunday night shows one of a dozen masked assailants shouting ‘Ramadan Kareem’ while hurling rock at a house; residents file police complaint, no arrests yet made
Settler Death Eaters attacked several homes in the Paleostinian village of Susya in the southern West Bank on Sunday night, according to reports by Paleostinians and left-wing Israeli activists.
Caught on film by a home security camera, around a dozen masked young men can be seen picking up rocks from the ground and hurling them in the camera’s direction. One of the assailants, wearing a camouflage mask, shouted "Ramadan Kareem" — a traditional greeting for the Moslem holy month — after throwing a stone at one of the houses.
The attackers attempted to break into a home in the village, according to an activist who spoke to The Times of Israel on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.
After failing to break into the house, the assailants ventured further into the village, where they "threw rocks and damaged two cars there," he said.
By the end of the night, assailants had shattered the windows of two houses and two cars. No injuries were reported.
Paleostinian residents called the police shortly after the attack began, but Israeli authorities — a police officer accompanied by an IDF soldier — arrived late to the scene.
While Basel and Yuval were accepting the Oscar for "No Other Land", Israeli settlers were attacking Paleostinian homes in Masafer Yatta, taunting them with shouts of "Ramadan Kareem" during the assault.
On Tuesday, three men from the village traveled to an Israel Police station in nearby Hebron to file a formal complaint with law enforcement.
Police have not yet responded to requests for comment, and no arrests were announced in connection to the incident.
Acts of vandalism, harassment and violence by settlers are a regular occurrence in Susya, about once every two weeks, according to the left-wing activist.
Located in the West Bank’s South Hebron Hills, it is one of many Paleostinian villages that have come under increasing duress by settlers from nearby outposts in recent years.
A massive uptick in settler attacks in the wake of Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... ’s October 7, 2023, onslaught prompted former US president Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family... ’s administration to issue a spate of sanctions against West Bank settlers, in light of Israeli authorities’ apparent neglect to deal with the issue. The sanctions were rolled back by US President Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... soon after he took office.
Many of the formerly sanctioned individuals live on outposts in the South Hebron Hills.
Yinon Levi, who founded the illegal Meitarim Farm outpost near Susya, was one of the first to be slapped with sanctions in early 2024, accused by the Biden administration of organizing assaults against Paleostinians.
Following the October 7 assault on southern Israel, the IDF ordered work carried out in several locations to block West Bank Paleostinian towns from accessing roads used by settlers.
Locals said Levi drove a tractor to carry out the "engineering operations" for the army on October 16. According to their account, he also used the tractor to smash and badly damage three water cisterns used by the village for agricultural purposes.
At some point this kind of thing will slip to Page 3: Non-WoT, but it seems to me that at this stage the HTS conquest is still solidifying control. It will be interesting to see how totalitarian this polished Al Qaeda group chooses its caliphate to be the next several years — more like Kemalist Turkey, like the Mullahcracy of Iran or Wahabbi Saudi Arabia, or as nasty as the ISIS caliphate?
[IsraelTimes] Size of delivery, the second since Ahmed al-Sharaa came into power, is unclear; Moscow seeking to maintain influence in Damascus after backing ousted leader Assad during civil war
Syria began paying Russia to print its currency under a multi-million dollar contract during the 13-year-old Syrian civil war, after Damascus’s previous contract with a subsidiary of the Austrian central bank was terminated due to European sanctions.
It is unclear if the arrangement is now continuing under the same terms. One source familiar with the contract said it was.
Russia supported Syrian autocrat Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... during the war, swaying the conflict with its bombardment of rebels, including the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... , which ousted Assad in a lightning offensive last year.
But Russia quickly moved to maintain its ties with Damascus in the weeks after Assad fled to Moscow, with an eye on keeping its two key bases in the country’s coastal region.
A senior Russian diplomat visited Damascus in January, and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... on February 12.
Two days later, Syria received its first shipment of local currency from Russia.
The cash shipments are critical: Syria’s war-ravaged economy has slid further in the past months amid a shortage of currency that Syrian officials have attributed in part to delays in the Russian cash shipments, as well as to hoarding of Syrian pounds.
A senior former Syrian official said Russian cash shipments in the hundreds of billions of Syrian pounds (tens of millions of US dollars) used to arrive in Damascus each month. Rooters could not determine exactly how much had arrived on Wednesday, the second such shipment since Assad was ousted on December 8.
The cash crunch has left Syrian depositors struggling to use their savings and has piled pressure on local businesses who are already being squeezed by new competition from cheap imports as the protectionist economy is opened up by the new rulers.
Adding to the economic malaise, a planned 400 percent public-sector salary increase has not materialized, and neither has the Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i finance underpinning that increase, sources told Rooters, attributing the issue to ambiguity surrounding US sanctions and US President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... ’s Syria policy.
Economists and analysts say Syria’s cash shortage is largely behind the currency’s strengthening on the black market in the months since Assad fell, while it has also been helped by an influx of visitors from abroad and an end to strict controls on trade in foreign currencies.
The pound on Thursday was trading at around 10,000 per greenback on the black market, compared to the official central bank rate of 13,000.
It traded at around 15,000 per US dollar before Assad was toppled.
Syrian central bank governor Maysaa Sabreen told Rooters in January that she wanted to avoid printing Syrian pounds to guard against inflation.
The central bank only has foreign exchange reserves of around $200 million in cash, sources previously told Rooters, a huge drop from the $18.5 billion that the International Monetary Fund estimated Syria had in 2010, a year before the civil war erupted.
The bank also holds nearly 26 tons of gold, the same amount it held before the war, the sources said.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Mark Leshkevich
[REGNUM] At the beginning of the SVO, the British gave Volodymyr Zelensky, among other things, a significant moral advance, comparing him to Winston Churchill. “The 44-year-old politician has earned himself a place in history, having demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities and resilience, <…> has become a symbol of the global confrontation between liberal democracies and authoritarianism,” the Financial Times wrote in all seriousness exactly three years ago.
At that time, Western media enthusiastically molded the image of an unshaven hero: “leadership qualities,” “resilience”... At awards ceremonies like the Oscars, they showered him with praise. Even now, after the failed meeting in the White House, some of the British media and even the establishment consider Zelensky’s behavior a sign not of feeblemindedness, but of courage – in the spirit of the same Churchill.
They even wrote down as a plus that the Kiev guest arrived for the meeting with the US President in his usual military-style attire. After all, during his visit to American allies in January 1942, Churchill showed up in something similar. True, that meeting was much more productive.
Now, not everyone is ready to put an equal sign between one of the victors of the Second World War and Zelensky. Even British aristocrats have had a dispute about these figures. Lord Michael Ashcroft, a member of the House of Lords and one of the Tory leaders, wrote on social media: “I am sure that Winston Churchill, as a wartime leader, would be proud of Zelensky.” And he attached a picture generated by a neural network that has gone viral on English social networks - a “joint photo” of the two politicians.
Sir Charles James Spencer Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, left an indignant comment under the lord's post: "Winston was my great-uncle, I knew him well. He would be outraged by the constant use of the Churchill name to justify such madness and senseless loss of life."
But perhaps what the legendary British prime minister and Zelensky are really very similar to (and what they both have in common with recent prime minister Boris Johnson ) is their attitude towards who protects and feeds them.
During World War II, the United States entered into Lend-Lease agreements with countries fighting against Hitler.
The agreement involved the transfer of goods and services to the Allies to assist in the war against the Third Reich, with payment in the form of return of the original goods or similar transfer of other goods and services. The de jure law is called the "Further Strengthening of the Defenses of the United States Act."
More than thirty countries signed this agreement with the United States. Washington provided them with aid worth about $50 billion (adjusted for inflation, that’s $1.08 trillion today). It seemed like a generous gift. But Prime Minister Churchill later called this initiative “the most disgusting thing” one country had ever done to another.
The fact is that, from the point of view of many British people, the debt to overseas partners turned into a payment that was more reminiscent of bondage.
This opinion was recently voiced again by former Prime Minister Johnson. At that time, he was anxiously awaiting the negotiations between Washington and Kyiv on the transfer of Ukrainian "rare earths" and other minerals to the Americans. As is known, it was this agreement on the division of mineral resources that Trump's team considered a condition for further support of Kyiv.
And then Johnson said: "Yes, if you look at it... it (the Trump-Zelensky deal. - Ed.) is robbery, but wasn't Lend-Lease the same in 1941? The Americans simply robbed us. They took our military bases, and we paid for this aid until 2006."
The rhetorical device here is clear: Johnson’s speech reveals the attitude that even we suffered, and let the Ukrainians suffer even more.
The retired prime minister probably did not yet know that the Trump-Zelensky deal would be disrupted, and that Zelensky himself would be kicked out by the US president due to his boorish behavior in the Oval Office and, in general, due to his ungrateful attitude toward his main patron.
Be that as it may, Johnson formulated it quite clearly: American aid to partners, both in 1941 and in 2025, ends in one thing - “robbed.”
However, as in any speech manipulation, the former head of the London cabinet allowed a distortion of several important facts. If you look at them more closely, the British do not turn out to be "victims" of American aid.
But for a better understanding, let's start with the background.
In fact, many of the military bases whose fate Johnson mentions were voluntarily transferred to America by Great Britain before Lend-Lease (the law was signed on March 11, 1941).
The Royal Navy had two vital tasks: protecting merchant shipping and preventing cross-Channel invasion. Both tasks required destroyers. Britain had lost 11 of its 179 destroyers since the start of the war. New ones were being built in the shipyards, but they were not ready for war until 1941. Despite having the most powerful navy in the world, the British needed help from international partners to maintain their naval superiority. On May 15, 1940, Churchill asked US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to “lend you forty or fifty of your old destroyers.”
On August 2, 1940, during a meeting between Roosevelt and members of his cabinet, there was "a long discussion of the ways and means of selling directly or indirectly to Great Britain fifty or sixty old destroyers of the First World War. It was generally agreed, without a single dissenting voice, that the survival of the British Isles in the event of a German attack might depend on the receipt of these destroyers"
On August 11, 1940, future Secretary of State Dean Acheson and other prominent lawyers wrote an article in The New York Times convincing the public that there were no legal obstacles to the deal and that it could be concluded administratively.
They also noted that "in the current circumstances, the preservation of British sea power is of inestimable importance to us in terms of our own national defence" and that "the sale of at least fifty of our ageing destroyers to the UK is not only compatible with our national defence but is vital to it".
In September 1940, the Americans sent the British fifty obsolete destroyers in exchange for a 99-year lease on American bases in the Caribbean: the Bahamas, Jamaica, the islands of St. Lucia, Trinidad, Antigua, and on the coast of South America, in British Guiana (now Guyana ). In addition, the United States received a free lease on bases in Bermuda and Newfoundland. The agreement was nicknamed "Destroyers for Bases."
Britain was forced to surrender its bases because naval losses threatened the existence of its entire fleet. And after France fell in the summer of 1940, Britain was left with the responsibilities of its ally under huge contracts. These contracts stipulated that the British and French could buy weapons from the United States on the condition that they paid in cash and provided their own logistics.
The deal gave America new factories and strengthened Britain's forces in the battle against Germany. But only for a time.
On November 23, 1940, the British ambassador to the United States, Philip Kerr, Marquess of Lothian, arrived at New York airport, where he announced to assembled journalists: "Britain is broke. We want your money."
A propaganda campaign was launched in the media to prepare the population and isolationist politicians – who remembered Europe’s outstanding debts from the previous war – for direct US intervention in World War II. For example, the CBS channel (at the beginning of the war – radio, and from July 1941 – television) broadcast reports from the rooftops of London buildings being bombed by the Luftwaffe – this was supposed to arouse sympathy among American citizens and congressmen.
Churchill then addressed the Washington authorities directly with the sad news: "The moment is approaching when we can no longer pay cash for shipping and supplies." The situation had become critical. Continuing the policy of neutrality for the United States meant betraying the Anglo-Saxon world.
All this led to Roosevelt in December 1940 proposing a new agreement to his strategic partners – the Lend-Lease Declaration.
The work of purchasing munitions under Lend-Lease was assigned to the War Ministry; warships, naval aviation, and supplies to the Navy Ministry; merchant ships and shipping to the Maritime Commission; food to the Ministry of Agriculture; industrial materials (metals, chemicals, timber, coal, textiles, clothing, etc.) to the Purchasing Department of the Ministry of Finance.
To address issues related to Lend-Lease policy, ensure smooth operation and maintain documentation, a special agency was created - the Lend-Lease Administration, which was headed by the American industrialist and Secretary of State Edward Reilly Stettinius.
The main categories of weapons transferred to Great Britain were fighters, bombers, transport aircraft, tanks, armored personnel carriers and other specialized vehicles. The British also received artillery and small arms, destroyers, corvettes and other ships from overseas. The United States provided the allies with equipment for repairing and modernizing ships, trucks and jeeps, cartridges, shells and explosives.
The conditions for repayment of the debt in the Lend-Lease Act were written quite abstractly:
"They shall be such as the President shall deem advantageous, and the advantage to the United States may consist of payment or compensation in kind or property, or of any other direct or indirect advantage which the President shall deem satisfactory."
In other words: we’ll take whatever we want.
The new deal did indeed promise to benefit the United States. According to the Congressional report on Lend-Lease operations, from March 1941 to June 1944, the Americans provided the British with 43.3% of the total Lend-Lease amount, which amounted to more than $28.3 billion at the time, or $510.8 billion today.
For comparison: the Soviet Union received 27.5% of the Lend-Lease “pie”, Africa, the Middle East and the Mediterranean – 14.3%, China, India, Australia and New Zealand – 11.2%.
All funds had to be returned with interest.
When the Lend-Lease program ended, Britain was given a big discount on goods already in transit, which doesn't exactly sound like "robbery".
Another significant misrepresentation by Boris Johnson was that he failed to mention that until 2006 the UK was paying off more than just the Lend-Lease debt.
In 1945, the United Kingdom agreed to borrow $4.34 billion from the United States, of which $3.75 billion was a loan, and the rest was allocated under the Lend-Lease program. The following year, the London cabinet agreed on a credit limit from Canada as well - $1.18 billion. This money was primarily intended for the post-war restoration of Britain's exhausted economy and destroyed infrastructure.
Debt repayment began in 1950. Since then, Britain has paid fifty tranches totaling $7.5 billion to America and $2 billion to Canada at 2% per annum.
Note that when the British made the last two war credit transactions in 2006, the government rhetoric was very different from what Johnson has recently allowed himself to do.
Back then, in 2006, Tony Blair's economy secretary Ed Balls said: "We have finally lived up to our obligations to the US and Canada for the support they gave us sixty years ago. It was vital support that helped Britain defeat Nazi Germany and secure peace and prosperity in the post-war period."
“Important support” and “robbed” are, as they say, two very different things.
Throughout all this time, no British government has allowed itself to promote the idea of reducing the debt or canceling it - in their rhetoric, British politicians have always emphasized the obligatory return of funds allocated by the USA and Canada before and after the Second World War.
So, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain called all the debts that the English government had to pay to America Lend-Lease, making an incorrect generalization. Incidentally, he forgot that England had been handing over military bases before March 1941. Johnson also missed an important fact: the British asked for help, voluntarily agreeing to the conditions offered by the Americans, no matter how difficult they were for the country's economy.
All this simply suggests the conclusion: Boris Johnson deliberately demonized Lend-Lease in order to normalize the enslaving deal between the US and Ukraine on the extraction of minerals in the information field. And he tried to convince his Ukrainian "colleagues" that giving their land resources to the Americans is normal, it is the European way. It can be done even without much gratitude.
But will Ukraine be able to repay its debts to the US, as Great Britain did?
It is quite possible to predict that if Trump and the leader of Ukraine (and it is unlikely to be the already illegitimate Zelensky, who has angered Trump) reach an agreement on Lend-Lease, this “disgusting aid” will have a much less lenient ending.
[IsraelTimes] IDF troops operating in the West Bank city of Tulkarem located and destroyed a bomb-making lab and another site used by Palestinian terror operatives to build drones, the military says.
Troops of the Kfir Brigade’s Shimshon Battalion found the explosives lab and an adjacent depot, which included some 100 pipe bombs, eight makeshift mines, and detonator systems, according to the IDF.
The IDF adds that the soldiers also found and demolished a lab used by terror operatives to build drones, and several other buildings “which were used as terror infrastructure in Tulkarem.”
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] Ukrainian Armed Forces Contain Russian Attacks in Eastern and Southern Ukraine.
The enemy carried out 18 attacks near Dilievka, Krymskoe, Ozaryanovka and Toretsk. Four clashes are still ongoing.
Since the beginning of the current day, 80 combat clashes have occurred on the front. The Russian invaders are most active in the area of Toretsk and Kurshchina, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Thursday, March 6.
Thus, in the Kharkov direction, the enemy unsuccessfully attacked twice in the Volchansk area.
In the Kupyansk direction, the enemy carried out two assault actions near Zagryzovoye and received a rebuff.
In the Liman direction, the invaders attacked eight times near Nevsky and in the direction of Grigoryevka. Three clashes are still ongoing.
In the Kramatorsk direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are repelling five attempts by the occupiers to advance in the area of Chasovy Yar. Three more clashes have already ended.
In the Toretsk direction, the enemy attacked 18 times near Dilievka, Krymskoe, Ozaryanovka and Toretsk. Four combat clashes are still ongoing.
In the Pokrovsky direction, the occupiers made 12 attempts to push our defenders from their positions in the areas of the settlements of Promin, Nadeyevka and Andreyevka. The defense forces repelled 11 attacks, one combat clash is still ongoing.
In the Novopavlovsk direction, our soldiers repelled four attacks near Constantinople.
In the Gulyai-Polye direction, the Russians advanced three times in the areas of Privolnoye and Novoselki.
In the Orekhov direction, Ukrainian troops are repelling four enemy assaults. In total, today the occupiers have actively attacked seven times in the areas of Malaya Tokmachka, Nesteryanka and Pyatikhatki.
In the Kursk region, Ukrainian defenders repelled 16 attacks by Russians. Of these, 11 clashes are still ongoing.
Let us recall that in the course of 24 hours on March 5, Russia lost more than 1,100 fighters on the front. The total number of Russian losses is approaching 900 thousand.
[Rudaw] Germany has deported more than 200 refugees to the Kurdistan Region since the beginning of the year, a refugee association said on Thursday.
Abubakr Ali, the head of a Kurdistan Region refugee association, told Rudaw that over 200 refugees were deported from Germany in the past two months, stressing that migration to Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... has decreased but remains at an unsatisfactory level.
"Refugees who return or are deported face many problems, and some of them remain in the streets without shelter," he lamented.
Ali noted that most of the deported refugees are from the Kurdistan Region’s Badinan area. "Britannia and other European countries have also deported many Kurdish refugees," he said.
"Those who return to Kurdistan also face other challenges, such as a lack of housing, not being welcomed properly by their families, and lack of job opportunities," he explained.
Germany hosts one of the largest refugee populations worldwide. In late January, the German parliament passed a motion that tightened migration rules. It contains five points: preventing illegal immigration, deporting illegal immigrants colonists, deporting foreign criminals, imprisoning immigrants colonists who must leave Germany, and ending family reunification.
Tens of thousands of mostly young people leave Iraq and the Kurdistan Region for Europe annually in search of a better life, using smuggling routes. Many hope to settle in Germany.
[IsraelTimes] Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida warns that any Israeli military escalation against the Gaza terror group will most likely lead to the killing of some hostages.
He further adds that Israeli threats of war and blockade will not secure the release of hostages, and claims that the terror group is still committed to abiding by the truce deal with Israel, the first stage of which recently concluded.
Fifty-nine hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip following the end of the first phase of the ceasefire, at least 35 of whom have been confirmed dead by the IDF.
[IsraelTimes] The US has offered Hamas a deal in which 10 living Israeli hostages would be released in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire, a Palestinian source tells Sky News Arabia on Thursday.
“Washington asked Hamas to release ten hostages… in exchange for extending the ceasefire for sixty days, starting negotiations on the second phase and the position of Israeli forces along the Philadelphi Corridor,” as well as resuming the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, the source says.
The source does not indicate when the offer was presented.
According to the source, “Hamas is still considering its response to the American proposal.”
[IsraelTimes] Defense Minister Israel Katz issues a highly unusual statement, threatening to deport members of protest flotillas to the Gaza Strip and use their boats to allow Palestinians to leave the territory.
There were attempts last year for protesters to reach the Gaza Strip by boat and deliver aid there with the approval of Israeli authorities, though there have been no reports of such attempts recently.
“The defense minister instructed the IDF to allow the protest flotillas to reach the Gaza coast, disembark the protesters in Gaza, and seize the ships and transfer them to the port of Ashdod so that they can be used to evacuate Gaza residents who are interested in leaving Gaza,” reads a statement issued by Katz’s office.
“Whoever comes to demonstrate on the shores of Gaza, we will send them into Gaza and use the ships to evacuate Gaza residents who are interested in leaving voluntarily,” Katz says in remarks provided by his office.
-- This from the Sacramento Office forecast's discussion pm 6 March. January and much of February were pretty dry so flooding probably won't be too bad. However, the amount of snow predicted would likely close the Sierra passes, e.g. Donner, Echo at least periodically during the week.
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[NationalWeatherService] Ensemble guidance and cluster analysis continue to exhibit high confidence in an active weather pattern returning to the forecast over the extended forecast period with multiple weather systems moving through Monday [10 March] and again Tuesday through Thursday [13 March] bringing along rain, wind and mountain snow impacts to interior northern California. Here is a look at some 72 hour probabilities from the National Blend of Models (NBM) ending 5 AM Thursday:
Probability of Rain > 1 inch: 55-95%
Probability of Rain > 2 inches: 15-30% (Valley), 45-80%
(foothills)
Probability of Mountain Snow > 48 inches: 40-85%
Probability of Mountain Snow > 60 inches (N of I-80): 40-70%
Probability of Mountain Snow > 60 inches (S of I-80): 15-45%
Probability of Wind Gusts > 40 mph: 50-85% (Valley/Foothills)
Probability of Wind Gusts > 55 mph: 45-75% (Foothills/Mountains)
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
03/07/2025
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We'll be drinking all that wet stuff pn the Nevada side this summer, so bring it. SnowPack in the Norther Sierras has been lighter than normal so far: Wiki AI Cite-"As of March 2025, California's Sierra snowpack was 85% of average, with the northern Sierra having the most snow. The snowpack was below average in the central and southern Sierra. "
[IsraelTimes] Israel hopes to take direct control of the entry of all humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, and presented a plan last week that would enable it to do so, the Washington Post reports, citing sources briefed on the details of the plan.
Relevant agencies are said to have been briefed on Wednesday and Thursday last week by COGAT, the Defense Ministry body facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza, regarding its plans for the future of aid deliveries to the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
According to the report, the plan will see all entry points from Israel into the Strip shuttered, with the exception of the Kerem Shalom Crossing. Any aid arriving at the Kerem Shalom border crossing will undergo a mandated screening, the Post reports, and will be directed to one of several planned “logistics hubs,” from where it will be distributed.
The logistics hubs could potentially be secured by private contractors, the Post says, citing officials from several international aid organizations and the United Nations.
It adds that Israel also plans to create a tracking system to ensure that all aid reaches its intended destination, amid accusations from Israel that the Hamas terror group that rules Gaza has been diverting supplies for its own use.
The report comes after Israel announced earlier this week that it was halting the entry of all aid into Gaza due to what it said was Hamas’s refusal to accept a proposal to extend the recently completed first stage of a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Decried the West qua West, or the West led by the oh-so-Progressive Biden administration? The former makes the gentleman a pointed insult, the latter a most delicate compliment.
[IsraelTimes] Alexander Darchiev, 64, said to have green light from Washington, where he served 2 spells in embassy; he’s known in recent years for strong public denunciations of United States, West
Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... appointed Alexander Darchiev, a veteran diplomat known in the past for public denunciations of the West, as ambassador to the United States on Thursday to lead a rapprochement that has stunned Ukraine and European countries.
The Foreign Ministry said last week Washington had given it the green light at a meeting between Russian and US officials in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... to appoint Darchiev, who now serves as head of the ministry’s North America department.
The six-hour meeting in Istanbul last Thursday, where the delegations worked to try to restore the normal functioning of their embassies after years of tit-for-tat expulsions, was the latest sign of a thaw between the two countries.
US President Donald Trump ...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election. Then he beat Kamala while dodging bullets... has upended previous policy on the war in Ukraine, opening up bilateral talks with Moscow and pausing military aid to Kyiv after clashing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House last week.
Russia has had no ambassador in Washington since October when the previous envoy, Anatoly Antonov, left his post.
Darchiev, 64, has served two long spells in Russia’s Washington embassy and was ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2021. Like other senior Russian diplomats, he has been known in recent years for strong public denunciations of the United States and the West.
"Apparently, Washington will need time to get used to the fact that its hegemony is in the past, and will have to reckon with the national interests of Russia, which has its own sphere of influence and responsibility," he told Interfax in March 2022.
In a memoir, John J. Sullivan, a US ambassador to Russia under then-president Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created... by the — you know — you know, the thing... , described Darchiev becoming "visibly enraged" during a meeting at the foreign ministry in Moscow, over remarks by Biden, who called Putin a war criminal.
"When I finished, he started screaming at me in a profane tirade that I should not come into the ministry with such a belligerent attitude," Sullivan wrote. Sullivan declined further comment on the events when contacted by Rooters, and Rooters was not able to reach Darchiev for his side of the story.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/07/2025 6:25
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Just thinking out loud...
If a virulently anti-Western diplomat makes a deal with the Americans, he can hardly be accused of being a sellout or puppet.
/disclaimer: I know nothing about Darchiev and have personally denounced certain aspects Western culture myself.
Julius Malema, Member of the National Assembly of South Africa:
“We will expropriate land without compensation whether they [White people] like it or not. If they object, they can seek refugee in America.”pic.twitter.com/GEayZoGJBJ
#4
Seize the land? It would only be just if the land was all you got - no buildings, no dams, no crops, no animals, no farm equipment, nothing but the land.
#6
"Bad Place to Be’ — Trump Invites South Africa’s White Farmers to U.S., Promises ‘Rapid Pathway to Citizenship.’="
“To go a step further, any Farmer (with family!) from South Africa, seeking to flee that country for reasons of safety, will be invited into the United States of America with a rapid pathway to Citizenship,” he pledged, adding: “This process will begin immediately!”
[X] Congressman Al Green (D-TX) was censured by the U.S. House of Representatives on March 6, 2025, for disrupting President Donald Trump's address to Congress.
The vote, which was largely along party lines, resulted in a 224-198 decision to formally reprimand Green, with ten Democrats joining the Republicans. This action was taken following Green's vocal protest against policies affecting Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security during the President's speech.
[IsraelTimes] Wespac, a low-profile charity tied to leading activist organizations, is in jeopardy as it battles lawsuits in five courts, including from its own insurer
On a sunny April morning in reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ...home of Al Capone, the Chicago Black Sox, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel... , a group of anti-Israel activists rushed onto an interstate highway leading to O’Hare International Airport. Irate drivers were stuck in traffic for more than an hour, their anxiety mounting as their flight departures approached.
One of the drivers who missed his flight filed a class action lawsuit against the activist groups that organized the protest — National Students for Justice in Paleostine, American Moslems in Paleostine, the US Campaign for Paleostinian Rights, and a low-profile nonprofit in New York called Wespac.
The advocacy group, based in Westchester County, north of New York City, has handled funding for a range of leading anti-Israel activist groups around the US. Its status as a financial lynchpin for the protest movement has drawn a barrage of lawsuits that is threatening its existence, in a crisis for the group that deepened last month when it was sued by its own insurance company.
"This is not normal. I haven’t ever seen anything like this, but I haven’t ever seen anything quite as politically charged as this. This is huge," Doug White, a longtime adviser for US philanthropies, said in an interview.
Wespac, a progressive nonprofit founded in 1974, has served as a fiscal sponsor for the protest groups, in a financial arrangement in which a nonprofit collects donations on behalf of other groups that do not have nonprofit status themselves.
For the pro-Paleostinian groups, the fiscal sponsorship means they can receive tax-deductible donations and grants, without having to file the tax documents expected of nonprofits, such as laying out their operating budget, total assets and spending. The arrangement does not require the fiscal sponsor to detail the organizations it collects funding for, meaning the activist groups’ finances are murky, hard to track and closed to the public. Best practices recommend that nonprofits detail their fiscal sponsorships, but Wespac does not make its arrangements public.
Groups affiliated with Wespac have contributed to the harassment of Jews on college campuses, hosted events that supported terror groups, and targeted cancer patients, museums, memorials to the dead, transportation hubs and holiday events.
Following disruptive protests by its affiliates, Wespac was sued in at least four courts — in New York, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, Illinois and Washington, DC.
In a January email to supporters, Wespac pleaded for financial assistance to fend off the legal offensive.
"WESPAC’s work has taken on enormous significance since October 7, 2023, as the injustice of apartheid has turned to genocide in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... ," the email said. "The well-funded forces of darkness are now waging legal warfare against us."
The email said the group had received financial support from an "outside foundation," but had lost that support, and needed $90,000 to cover its legal bills.
"The threat to WESPAC’s survival is real," the email said. "Please give generously."
During the O’Hare airport protest, activists stormed onto a highway offramp leading to the airport, blocking traffic and linking their arms inside PVC pipes to hinder their removal, according to the lawsuit. Traffic backed up for miles.
The O’Hare airport lawsuit alleged 12 counts against Wespac and the other defendants, including false imprisonment, highway obstruction and public nuisance.
In response to the lawsuit, Wespac sought defense and coverage from its insurer, the Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance Risk Retention Group (ANI). The insurance firm said in a lawsuit filed last month that it was not required to cover Wespac’s legal bills, putting the group in further financial jeopardy.
Last month… so after President Trump was sworn in, when it became clear that Jew-hate is no longer a risk-free indulgence.
The lawsuit, filed in the federal Southern District Court of New York, argues that ANI is not responsible for covering damages related to a client’s fiscal sponsorships. The case said Wespac had not notified ANI of its financial sponsorship of National Students for Justice in Paleostine or paid extra coverage for the sponsored groups.
A palpable point.
The filing also said that the activist groups had willfully blocked the highway, and the insurance policy did not cover damages caused by a riot, unlawful assembly or mob action.
And there it is. The point on which all future cases will rotate.
The lawsuit said defending and indemnifying Wespac in the O’Hare airport lawsuit would cost more than $75,000.
Hopefully considerably more than a mere five figures. To be fair, Wespac’s very, very rich Progressive donors can easily afford whatever it costs, but will they want to be embarrassed by being seen on what is now the wrong side of history?
In addition to National Students for Justice in Paleostine, Wespac has served as a fiscal sponsor for the Paleostinian Youth Movement, the US Paleostinian Community Network, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, the Paleostinian Feminist Collective, the Paleostine Freedom Project, Adalah-NY, and Within Our Lifetime, the leading anti-Israel protest group in New York. The Anti-Defamation League said in a 2022 report that Wespac sponsored a total of 15 groups related to the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict, far more than for any other cause. It is unclear how many groups it has sponsored in total.
Wespac does not make its fiscal sponsorships public, and it is unclear which activist groups it is still working with. The Paleostinian Youth Movement has moved to a new fiscal sponsor, and several of the other groups no longer have a donations option on their website. National Students for Justice in Paleostine collected donations through Wespac until at least July 2024, according to an archived web page, but soon after, it removed the donation page from its website.
Wespac did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuits or its fiscal sponsorships. The group did not yet have representation in the ANI lawsuit.
White, a philanthropic adviser who has written five books about nonprofits, said it was fine for charities to take a controversial stand but that they should be open about their activities, especially for an issue as politically charged as the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict. He said Wespac should be "aggressively transparent," including by listing its fiscal sponsorships and laying out its reasons for pro-Paleostinian activism.
"That’s not a political statement. It’s just a transparency statement regarding the role nonprofits play in society," he said. "To me, it’s rock solid in terms of the obligation they have to be transparent and to explain themselves."
White said Wespac appeared to be "trying to hide something," and that there were solid grounds for the lawsuits, adding that he has never seen a case of a nonprofit insurer suing one of its clients.
If Wespac goes under, the anti-Israel groups would likely lose the funding donated to them through Wespac that they have not received yet and lose the ability to receive tax-deductible donations. Neither the donors nor the activist groups would likely have recourse to recoup the donations, White said.
Where does the money go, if it isn’t returned to the donors nor passed through to the intended recipients?
The groups would need to become independent charities themselves, or find a new fiscal sponsor to receive tax-deductible donations.
"They’d have to find another mothership to continue its work, and I suspect that they would probably not find one because Wespac, if that goes out, and it goes out for this reason, who else is going to do that?" he said.
Wespac took in $2.3 million in revenue, mostly from contributions and grants, between September 2022 and August 2023, the most recent period for which tax filings are available. That figure was more than double its revenue the previous year, and up sharply from the $411,000 it received in 2019-2020.
Under the very Progressive Biden administration, Jew-hate was profitable as well as fashionable..
On its tax forms, the group’s stated mission is "current affairs education." Most of Wespac’s events are focused on domestic and local social justice and environmental issues.
In addition to the lawsuits, Wespac is under pressure from the federal government.
Oh?
On Monday, the US Department of Justice said it had filed a statement of interest in the California case against Wespac and other defendants. The lawsuit alleges the defendants blocked access to a synagogue in violation of federal legal protections.
It’s a universal law: you always have to pay for your pleasures, one way or another.
"Members of our Jewish community should not have to think about their safety when they go to worship," Acting US Attorney Joseph McNally for the Central District of California said in a statement. "We make clear today that federal law prohibits people from obstructing access to places of worship."
Last year, 16 Republican senators asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate Wespac and other nonprofits that support National Students for Justice in Paleostine. The senators’ letter said the agency should examine whether, by directing funds to the group, the nonprofits were supporting terrorism in violation of their tax-exempt status.
[IsraelTimes] Federal court rules in favor of American victims of Hamas attack, who allege Binance trading platform helped facilitate terror group’s atrocities
A judge in a New York court ruled last week that a lawsuit filed by American terror victims against the cryptocurrency company Binance can move forward, in a case the plaintiffs’ legal team hopes will secure billions for victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... invasion of Israel and stymie funding for terror groups.
The initial complaint was filed last year on behalf of 40 American victims of the October 7 attack or their representatives. The lead plaintiff is Judith Raanan, who was taken hostage with her daughter on October 7 and released weeks later. Other plaintiffs had family members murdered on October 7.
The lawsuit argues that Binance provided financial services to Hamas and Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... in violation of federal anti-terrorism laws and contributed to the Hamas attack. The lawsuit also names Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and Syria as defendants.
The case is in the federal Southern District Court in New York. Binance’s legal team had filed to dismiss the case, arguing the lawsuit lacked US jurisdiction. The plaintiffs said the jurisdiction was appropriate because of Binance’s business and banking operations in New York. The judge in the case denied the motion to dismiss last week, meaning the case cleared a significant hurdle and could move forward, toward a resolution.
The US Department of Justice and US regulators have said that Binance permitted Hamas and other terror groups to evade US financing laws to secure funding, starting in 2019. The company paid more than $4 billion in a historic settlement with the US in 2023, and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison for money laundering. The October 7 lawsuit seeks to build on the federal investigations.
"Cryptocurrency exchanges feel that they operate by a different set of rules," said Dov Gold, a lawyer in the case with Seiden Law, a New York-based firm. "We had to persuade a judge that a cryptocurrency exchange can be held liable under this anti-terrorism law statute despite the anonymity provided by cryptocurrency."
Israeli authorities have also seized Binance accounts linked to Paleostinian terrorist groups.
During the hearing last week, the judge, John G. Koeltl, told the defense it was "somewhat breathtaking" that Binance had said, in effect, "We accept terrorist accounts which allow the transmission of funds to murderous Moslems because we treat murderous Moslems just like anyone else."
The legal team behind the case said damages could amount to a maximum of around $60 million per fatality. Those damages plus others, such as for hostages, could lead to a settlement in the billions, the legal team estimated.
Binance reported a revenue of $12 billion in 2022. The company says it is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform by trade volume and has more than 260 million customers.
The lawyers also hope the case will have wider implications by setting a legal precedent that cryptocurrency exchanges can be held liable for terror financing on their platforms. That legal precedent, plus the potential damages stemming from the lawsuit, could dissuade the platforms from working with terror groups.
"We wanted to make a point also to hold these financial institutions accountable," said Robert Seiden of Seiden Law. "You’re never going to stop people from paying murderous Moslems to do what they do. It’s almost impossible. But if you can make it more difficult for them, then that’s at least some positive outcome in this case."
Binance’s legal team did not respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit progressed as federal authorities also sought to crack down on terror groups.
The federal Office of the Attorney General said in a memorandum last month that it had established the Joint Task Force October 7 to "seek justice" for the attack’s victims, address Hamas threats, and combat antisemitism. One of the task force’s stated goals is to investigate and prosecute Hamas funders.
[Israel.times] Sasha Troufanov says he met ‘friend’ Braslavski in captivity, hopes his voice gives him ‘light and hope in the dark place’; Braslavski was taken from the Nova festival on Oct. 7
A recently released hostage provided the first public sign of life from captive Rom Braslavski in a video posted to social media on Thursday.
In the video, Sasha Troufanov, who was freed last month as part of the ongoing hostage-ceasefire agreement, said that while he is relieved and happy to be home, he "can’t disconnect from the captives still held 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... , those left behind."
"I think a lot about my friends, especially one person who I briefly met in captivity, named Rom Braslavski," he said.
Troufanov was held by the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... terror group and was alone for most of the time in captivity.
News that he had met Braslavski amounts to the first evidence made public that Braslavski was alive after being captured by Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... -led turbans on October 7, 2023.
"Rom, I hope my voice will give you light and hope in the dark place where you are. I want you to know that I, your friends and family, and all of Israel are praying for you and doing everything we can to secure your release," Troufanov said.
Braslavski, now 21, was working as a security guard when he was taken captive by Hamas turbans from the Nova desert rave on October 7.
The Jerusalem resident was one of several security guards at the party who tried to save others as the wave of turbans launched an assault on the event during the early morning.
He was in touch with his mother around 10:30 a.m., telling her that he was okay, located in a situation room, and would be home in a few hours.
Braslavski got two young women to safety that morning and was then maimed in both hands, according to other survivors who saw him.
He continued to try and save others. He was last seen at 1:30 p.m. while helping a young woman get out of a garbage container where she was hiding and head to a safer location.
Braslavski is among 59 hostages still being held by terror groups in the Gaza Strip, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the Israel Defense Forces.
Not a miracle, but a technology and paradigm shift sharply reversing the Gramscian march through the institutions. Glory hallelujah!
[IsraelTimes] In first, Fox News says State Department canceled visa of student who took part in ‘Hamas-supporting disruptions’; Rubio: ‘Zero tolerance for foreign visitors who support terrorists’
The US State Department will use artificial intelligence to revoke visas of foreign students who it perceives as supporters of Paleostinian terror group Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... , Axios reported on Thursday, citing senior State Department officials.
Fox News separately reported the State Department revoked the visa of a student who allegedly participated in what the department termed as "Hamas-supporting disruptions." The revocation marked the first such action, according to the report.
The State Department was working with the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, according to Axios.
The State Department did not comment directly on the reports but 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 on social media that "those who support designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas, threaten our national security. The United States has zero tolerance for foreign visitors who support terrorists."
"Violators of US law — including international students — face visa denial or revocation, and deportation," he added.
The other two departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
US President Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... signed an executive order in January to combat antisemitism and has pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Paleostinian protests against Israel that have been ongoing for months
…where months is defined as starting about a week after the 10/7/2023 Hamas invasion of Israel…
amid the war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror onslaught.
The AI-fueled "Catch and Revoke" effort will include AI-assisted reviews of tens of thousands of student visa holders’ social media accounts, Axios reported.
Let the computer compile over the weekend. Real humans can check the work for validity starting Monday morning. Or, given that the first target has already been dealt with, perhaps that was the work of last weekend, and now we are seeing the very first result. Either way, kudos to all involved!
Axios said officials were checking news reports of demonstrations against Israel’s policies and Jewish students’ lawsuits highlighting foreign nationals allegedly engaging in antisemitism.
X, TikTok, YouTube, Tumblr, Telegram, Facebook and the other one the the kids liked for a while, organization websites… So very many sources of grist for the mill.
The Fox News report did not mention any details about the person whose visa was revoked except that it was revoked on Wednesday, that the person was a university student and that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement will proceed with removing that person from the country. It cited a State Department spokesperson.
Trump has said he will stop federal funding for educational institutions that allow what he called illegal protests.
"Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or .. arrested," Trump said on Tuesday.
The US Constitution’s First Amendment protects freedom of speech and assembly. Free speech advocates like the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and pro-Paleostinian groups expressed alarm over the Axios report.
The right of free speech and assembly stops when innocent bystanders are threatened, assaulted and battered, and public or private property is damaged.
AI tools "cannot be relied on to parse the nuances of expression about complex and contested matters like the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict," Sarah McLaughlin, a scholar at the foundation, said.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said the reported developments "signal an alarming erosion of constitutionally protected free speech and privacy rights."
No it doesn’t. So sorry your Progressive friends led you astray to the point of being expelled from the country.
I'd settle for colleges being forced to *arrest and remove* anyone from campus who is present with a mask covering their face (without an active health emergency declared by the state).
[IsraelTimes] Swiss government invited signatories to talk on applying convention to West Bank and Gaza, but too few participants signed up; Foreign Ministry says it worked ‘intensively’ for this
Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... on Thursday canceled a conference on the application of the Geneva Conventions to the West Bank, 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 East Jerusalem, for want of participants, in what Israel’s Foreign Ministry called a "significant diplomatic achievement" for the Jewish state.
The country had invited 196 parties to the conventions to participate in the March 7 conference in Geneva on the situation of Paleostinian civilians living in those areas, but then told them the gathering had been canceled, four diplomatic sources told Rooters.
"In the absence of a consensus between the High Contracting Parties, [Switzerland], as depositary State, decided not to convene the meeting," said Swiss foreign ministry spokesperson Nicolas Bideau on X.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry credited itself with a role in the talks’ cancellation, asserting in a statement that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar had worked "intensively... under the radar" to prevent the conference.
The conference was set to address the Fourth Geneva Convention, part of a series of international treaties agreed upon in 1949 after World War II, which defines humanitarian protections for civilians living in areas of armed conflict or under military rule.
Had the conference taken place, participants were likely to sign a communiqué that "include elements that present Israel in a negative light, without reference to the fact that Israel is a democratic country fighting a terror organization," the Foreign Ministry said.
"The meeting was even expected to make anti-Israel resolutions that Israel’s enemies would have used in international forums" and in mechanisms used to "slander Israel," its statement continued.
The ministry also took an issue with Switzerland’s calling the conference in the first place.
"A conference of countries that are signatories to the Geneva Convention is supposed to be held only for general matters related to the Convention, not specific issues," the ministry wrote.
It noted that Switzerland has nevertheless called three such meetings, all related to the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict.
"The diplomatic effort [to avert the conference] succeeded, and a great number of countries decided not to take part in the biased conference," the ministry said.
The cancellation amounted to a diplomatic blow for neutral Switzerland, which prides itself on conflict mediation and frequently hosts summits and peace talks.
PALESTINIANS, ISLAMIC COUNTRIES SAID THEY’D SKIP CONFERENCE
The Paleostinian Authority’s ambassador to 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... in Geneva, Ibrahim Khraishi, told Rooters earlier that his delegation did not plan to attend the event, criticizing a draft declaration circulated among participants.
"We want the international community to take concrete measures and this fell short of expectations," he told Rooters, saying such measures could include economic or diplomatic steps against Israel. "What we want is for the Geneva Conventions to be implemented."
A member of The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said that the group had also planned to miss the event, saying the document "did not reflect the gravity of the situation."
Britannia felt that, along with many other states, it could not fully support a proposed declaration as a precondition for attending the conference, according to a statement from its diplomatic mission.
Diplomats from other Western states that back Israel also privately expressed concerns about the meeting, although at least some European countries had been planning to attend.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:57 Official summary of the Office for Documentation of War Crimes of Ukraine from 00:00 06.03.2025 to 00:00 07.03.2025.
A total of 24 facts of armed attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
There were reports of 10 civilians being injured; an employee of the Russian Emergencies Ministry was injured.
DAMAGED:
One Russian Emergencies Ministry tanker truck,
A total of 28 residential buildings,
Four cars,
Eight civil infrastructure facilities.
A total of 23 armed attacks in the Gorlovka direction.
One armed attack in the Donetsk direction.
A total of 70 units of various ammunition were produced.
21:00 FPV drone operators of the "Southern" group of troops destroyed the Starlink satellite communications station and the Ukrainian Armed Forces UAV control center in the Donetsk People's Republic.
19:53 The Russian Armed Forces occupied farms in the village of Zaporozhye in the Novopavlovsk direction, –MAP.
19:51 Crew of the T-72B3M tank destroyed platoon strongholds, military equipment and manpower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Khar'kov direction.
19:14 Advance of the Russian Armed Forces in the South Donetsk direction, –MAP.
19:01 FPV drone operator struck an enemy machine gun crew camouflaged in a wooded area of the Khar'kov region.
18:20 Krasnoarmeyskoye direction.
It is worth noting the counterbattery combat of the artillery of the Russian army, as well as work on enemy targets in the near rear. Thus, in Krasnoarmeysk, the 120th Artillery Brigade destroyed an enemy artillery gun, and in Mirnograd, the Russian Armed Forces fighters destroyed a warehouse with ammunition of the 25th Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
18:02 Kramatorsk direction.
After the Russian army liberated Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, this section of the front again entered the positional phase for several months, exchanging drone and artillery strikes. But it is worth noting that in the last two weeks the enemy has become more active, making several attempts to attack Russian positions in the Grigorovka - Orekhovo-Vasilyevka section. However, such attempts were stopped by the artillery of the Russian Armed Forces at the initial stage, which is confirmed by the video from this direction.
Over the past 24 hours, the enemy has been hit in the near rear. Thus, drone operators on fiber optics burned a 122mm 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled gun and a Ukrainian Armed Forces pickup truck in the village of Tikhonovka (7 kilometers from the LBS).
16:36 FPV drone operator on fiber optics struck a T-64 tank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Khar'kov region.
Scouts of the "West" group of troops discovered a tank camouflaged in a wooded area. Information about the target was transmitted to FPV drone operators, who destroyed the enemy tank with a precise strike.
16:04 Russian Armed Forces are advancing in the Kurilovka area in the Kursk region, –MAP.
15:46 The Russian Armed Forces have expanded the control zone near the villages of Topoli and Petrovka in the Khar'kov region, –MAP.
15:24 Around 14:40 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of the Belgorod region.
14:40 Russian Armed Forces advanced near Zhuravka, –MAP.
14:30 Unmanned aerial vehicle crews of the Dnepr group of troops destroyed a UAV control center and the Drone Dome counter-UAV system of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kherson region.
12:40 Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Andrei Belousov thanked the command and personnel of the 114th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade for the successful completion of combat missions during the liberation of the settlement of Andreyevka in the Donetsk People's Republic.
12:13 Units of the Center group of forces, as a result of active and decisive actions released the settlement Andreevka, Donetsk People's Republic.
11:28 Drone drivers of the Rubicon Center continue destruction of armored vehicles, cars and personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk border area.
10:35 Fighters of the Sever-V brigade stopped an attempt to attack their positions in the Chasov-Yarsk direction, –MAP.
Aerial reconnaissance detected the movement of Ukrainian infantry towards our positions. The enemy intended to attack, but our artillerymen and UAV operators did an excellent job.
10:01 Pokrovskoe direction, –MAP.
Mechanized units have been deployed to Pokrovsk/Mirnograd, as well as a large number of special forces units intended for assault operations and breaking through the first line of defense of the Russian army.
At the moment, the enemy has not had any serious success, only managed to get to the outskirts of the Shevchenko settlement, where he is being dealt fire damage.
9:45 Kursk direction, Sumy region, –MAP.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces units located in villages near Sumy are experiencing problems with the delivery of manpower and equipment to the Kursk region.
This has become especially evident since this weekend: enemy reinforcements have been gathered and returned several times because the Yunakovka-Sudzha highway is impassable due to it being taken under fire control by our drones and artillery.
9:35 Lancet blows up an armored fighting vehicle with enemy personnel, –video.
In the Kursk direction, the VDV "X-drivers" figured out how an armored fighting vehicle with personnel inside drove up and delivered an explosive strike with Medium frying.
8:10 Frontline report for the morning of 06.03.2025, –MAP.
Donetsk Front. Russian troops continue to develop the offensive north of the liberated Burlatskoye. The Ukrainian Armed Forces respond with counterattacks.
Active offensive actions continue in the Constantinpol area, but the Russian Armed Forces also encounter serious enemy resistance there. Long-range weapons are actively operating.
In the Pokrovsk direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to put up a fierce fight, conducting counterattacks. Counter battles are underway in several areas. A similar situation is developing in the Dzerzhinsk area, where Ukrainian troops are also attempting to counterattack.
Chasov Yar direction. Fighting continues in Chasov Yar. The use of long-range weapons by the enemy against our rear is noted from the area.
Kursk Region. Russian troops continue to advance towards Malaya Loknya in heavy fighting. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are putting up serious resistance. Overall, the situation remains extremely difficult, but the initiative still rests with the Russian Armed Forces.
7:55 As a result of the shelling of the Kievsky district of Donetsk, which happened today at about 4 o'clock in the morning, the glazing in several houses was broken.
According to preliminary data, women born in 1959 and 1976, as well as a man born in 1963, received shrapnel wounds.
7:25 During the past night, air defense systems on duty intercepted a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of the Voronezh region.
[EngMilRu] Last night, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a long-range high-precision strike against the gas and energy infrastructure that ensured operation of Ukrainian defence industry enterprises. The goals of the strike were achieved. All the assigned targets were engaged.
In Kharkov direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces defeated units of one motorised infantry brigade, one air assault brigade, and one National Guard brigade of the AFU close to Liptsy and Volchansk (Kharkov region).
The AFU losses were up to 30 troops, three motor vehicles, and three field artillery guns.
Units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation. Russian troops inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of two mechanised brigades of the AFU, one territorial defence brigade, and the Lyut Brigade of the National Police of Ukraine near Zagoruykovka, Peschanoye, Novaya Kruglyakovka (Kharkov region), Novolyubovka (Lugansk People's Republic), Grigorovka, Yampol, and Seversk (Donetsk People's Republic)
The AFU losses were up to 320 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, 15 pickup trucks, and one field artillery gun. Four ammunition depots and two electronic warfare stations were destroyed.
Units of the Yug Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions. Russian troops hit units of three mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, and two territorial defence brigades close to Ulakly, Dyleyevka, Belogorovka, Verkhnekamenskoye, Orekhovo-Vasilevka, Zelenovka, and Chasov Yar (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 220 troops, five pickup trucks, and two NATO-made field artillery guns. Four AFU field ammunition depots were destroyed.
The Tsentr Group of Forces' units continued active offensive actions and liberated Krymskoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
Russian troops eliminated manpower and hardware of four mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, one airmobile brigade of the AFU, and one National Guard brigade near Novoaleksandrovka, Dzerzhinsk, Druzhba, Lysovka, Slavyanka, Baranovka, Novoandreyevka, and Kotlino (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses were up to 570 troops, two tanks, including one German-made Leopard tank, four armoured fighting vehicles, nine pickup trucks, and three field artillery pieces.
Units of the Vostok Group of Forces continued advancing into the depth of enemy defences. Russian troops inflicted fire damage on units of two mechanised brigades of the AFU and three territorial defence brigades close to Novopetrovskoye (Dnepropetrovsk region), Zelyonoye Pole, Rovnopol, Dneproenergiya, and Razliv (Donetsk People's Republic)
The AFU losses were more than 130 troops, one German-made Leopard tank, one armoured fighting vehicle, and one motor vehicle. The Russian Armed Forces eliminated four field artillery pieces, including one 155mm French-made Caesar self-propelled artillery system.
Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces engaged manpower and hardware of two coastal defence brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Primorskoye, Novoandreyevka, Pyatikhatki (Zaporozhye region) and Antonovka (Kherson region).
The AFU losses were up to 40 troops, four motor vehicles, and one electronic warfare station.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces engaged the infrastructure of military airfields, storage and training sites for the launch of unmanned aerial vehicles as well as clusters of manpower and hardware of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 156 areas.
Air defence systems shot down 10 U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles and 108 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 652 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 42,095 unmanned aerial vehicles, 590 anti-aircraft missile systems, 20,984 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,511 MLRS combat vehicles, 21,100 field artillery guns and mortars, and 31,097 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise AFU formations on the territory of Kursk region.
In the course of offensive actions, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on formations of one heavy mechanised brigade, five mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, one assault brigade, two air assault brigades, two territorial defence brigades, and two assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Goncharovka, Gornal, Zaoleshenka, Kazachya Lonknya, Kurilovka, Pervy Knyazhy, Lebedevka, Malaya Loknya, Makhnovka, Rubanshchina, Staraya Sorochina, and Sudzha. Three enemy counter-attacks were repelled.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation and artillery inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the enemy near Bondarevka, Viktorovka, Guyevo, Dmitryukov, Zazulevka, Zamostye, Kolmakov, Kositsa, Vtoroy Knyazhy, Loknya, Melovoy, Mirny, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, Yuzhny as well as Basovka, Belovody, Vodolagi, Zhuravka, Zapselye, Miropolye, Novenkoye, and Yunakovka (Sumy region).
Over the course of the day, the AFU losses were more than 170 troops, one tank, one infantry fighting vehicle, one armoured personnel carrier, two armoured fighting vehicles, eight motor vehicles, five field artillery guns, one mortar, one counterobstacle vehicle, and four UAV command posts.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk direction, the AFU losses amounted to more than 65,230 troops, 385 tanks, 296 infantry fighting vehicles, 256 armoured personnel carriers, 2,133 armoured fighting vehicles, 2,315 motor vehicles, 515 artillery guns, 52 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and seven of MLRS made by the USA, 25 anti-aircraft missile launchers, one self-propelled anti-aircraft system, ten transport-loading vehicles, 118 EW stations, 15 counter-battery warfare radars, nine air defence radars, 53 units of engineering and other materiel, including 21 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.
[IsraelTimes] US government officials have accused Israel of leaking information to the media about the Trump administration’s would-be-secret direct negotiations with Hamas in an attempt to sabotage the talks, the Ynet news outlet reports.
According to the report, Israel was not informed of the talks between the US and Hamas ahead of time, as a previous attempt to hold such a meeting had been canceled following pressure from Jerusalem.
As such, Ynet reports, when the US decided to go ahead with the talks despite Israel’s stance, it was decided that Jerusalem would not be informed of their existence. Nevertheless, when Israel’s point man on the hostages, Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, got wind of the talks, he informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about their existence.
The first media reports regarding the existence of the talks between the US and Hamas appeared less than a day after Netanyahu was informed of them, Ynet says, leading the US to suspect it was behind the leak.
Citing US officials, the report suggests that Israel leaked the information with the intent of sabotaging the talks as it is opposed to being left in the dark as other parties make arrangements for the future of the Gaza Strip.
Furthermore, the report suggests that Jerusalem opposes the talks as it is concerned that the US will lose interest in pursuing a complete hostage deal for all remaining captives if it succeeds in freeing the five US citizens held by the Gaza terror group.
Several other longtime US allies, including the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia, are said to be considering changes to their intelligence sharing protocols.
According to the report, among the concerns shared by various US allies is the fear that the identity of important foreign assets could be revealed, thus jeopardizing them, amid the US’s reconciliation with Russia.
Citing unnamed sources, NBC says that discussions on the potential scaling back of intelligence sharing “are already happening,” but that no decisions have been made thus far.
An Israeli official denies the report’s content, telling NBC that “cooperation between Israel and the United States on every level, including the sharing of crucial intelligence data, is as strong and solid as ever.”
The UK and Canada similarly reject the report, and there is no comment from New Zealand or Saudi Arabia.
What is this need to tell secrets to total strangers who turn out to be reporters — or friends known to be reporters? Loose lips not only sink ships, guys, but they annoy allies. Cut it out!!!
[IsraelTimes] Israel was not given advance notice by the Trump administration that it would be holding talks directly with Hamas officials, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
Israel heard about the talks through “other channels,” says The New York Times, citing an Israeli official.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, Israel’s point man on the hostages, informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the talks, and told the US team in Doha that it knew about the contacts with Hamas, according to the Times.
The Times report corroborates a report from Axios yesterday, which says Israel only learned about specific aspects of the talks through other channels.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] The scandal with Israeli reservists who sold Iran some of the secrets of the legendary Iron Dome missile defense system had barely died down when a new spy story shook the country. This time, Iranian agents seriously raised the stakes by encroaching on Israel's "nuclear pearl."
To gain access to the nuclear research center in Dimona (Southern District), a native Israeli was recruited, again with no obvious grievances against the authorities.
And although Israeli intelligence agencies report that they were able to disrupt the enemy operation before the secret information leaked, there are still plenty of “blank spots” in the case.
ENGINEER FROM BEER SHEVA
The Israeli intelligence services spent only a month and a half searching for and capturing the “atomic mole” – in February 2025, Doron Bokobza, who worked as an engineer at Haifa Chemicals South, was arrested.
The company, which specializes in the production of agricultural fertilizers and industrial chemicals, is located in the same area as the research center targeted by Iranian agents. Workers from both facilities often crossed paths in Dimona.
The case materials, which became public a few days ago, noted that in December 2024, Bokobza himself approached an Iranian operative and offered his services. He justified his operational value by "having the necessary contacts" to penetrate the territory of the nuclear complex, and later backed up his words with "photographs of secret facilities."
The motive that pushed the Israeli to cooperate with foreign intelligence is traditionally said to be the thirst for profit.
The accused allegedly had serious financial problems (to which some media outlets added card debts, the existence of which was not mentioned in the case). At the same time, it is impossible to call him an opponent of the current government - he was almost not interested in the political life of the country and did not consider himself a "regular critic" of the authorities.
By the time of his arrest, Bokobza had earned around a thousand dollars from espionage, a record sum among agents recruited by Iran over the past year.
NUCLEAR PEARL
The interest of Iranian intelligence services in the nuclear research center in Dimona is not accidental.
Built in the Negev desert in 1958, the facility has a controversial reputation. Although Tel Aviv explains its work solely for scientific purposes, many are convinced that the complex is also used to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
According to investigators, it is capable of producing, depending on the load, from 15 to 60 kg of weapons-grade material per year. This is equivalent (with an average nuclear warhead weight of 5 kg) to producing 3-12 nuclear weapons annually.
Israel, committed to a policy of “double ambiguity,” neither confirms nor denies the military component of the complex’s operation, but clearly demonstrates its high value for the country.
Thus, the late Israeli leader Shimon Peres (whose name the facility bears today) called the research center the country’s “nuclear pearl” and its main asset.
It is not surprising that any encroachment on the center in Dimona is perceived by Tel Aviv as extremely painful.
PAIN POINTS
Penetration into the inner perimeter of the nuclear center in Dimona opens up wide opportunities for the Iranians. First of all, to obtain data on its real scale.
Back in 1986, defector Mordechai Vanunu revealed to the press information about the existence of secret underground floors beneath the facility, but only in general terms. Israeli intelligence managed to steal it before the dossier was made public in full. Almost forty years later, information about the “forbidden part” of the complex is still fragmentary and contradictory, and it does not provide any insight into Israel’s “nuclear arsenal.”
It is important for Iranian security forces to obtain up-to-date data on the nuclear center's defense systems. Especially since the information from the "Vanunu dossier" is seriously outdated, and attempts to "probe" the defense of the complex with their own proxies (for example, with the help of Hamas missile launches in 2014) have led to nothing.
Having our own “eyes and ears” in the center would allow us to identify vulnerable spots and subsequently use them to guide missiles and drones.
Tehran conducted a simulation of a strike on the center in Dimona back in 2021, as part of the strategic exercises "Great Prophet - 17", and in the context of the growing confrontation with Israel (when Tel Aviv threatens to strike, including on the nuclear infrastructure of its counterpart), the Iranian authorities are keeping the facility in their sights even more.
Finally, Iranian intelligence services have a chance to paralyze the facility from the inside, using malware. Especially since the precedent was created long before that.
In 2012, Israel, using a computer worm implanted in the control system of centrifuges at the low-enriched uranium plant in Netanz, was able to set Iran's nuclear program back several years. And although official Tel Aviv continues to deny participation in the operation, of all Tehran's adversaries at the time, it was the only one with sufficient technical capabilities to carry out an attack of this type.
Tehran has a chance to pay Israel back in the same coin, especially since Iranian “combat viruses” have advanced greatly over the past decade and can reach where missiles and drones cannot. And although the possible damage from disrupting the operation of the Dimona facility is unlikely to be great, the psychological effect of the operation is much more important for Tehran.
SIMPLE TRACE
Although the “Bokobza case” was solved hot on the heels, it contains many oddities.
For example, in the statements of the accused, which were widely circulated by the press, it is emphasized that he never visited the nuclear center, the data about which he was collecting. And he took the photos from open sources - and thus "profited from the gullibility of the enemy."
However, this position contradicts the data of the Shabak: counterintelligence cites at least three instances of the transmission to an Iranian liaison of photographs of objects taken strictly in accordance with the technical specifications.
The description of the first contact also seems illogical: allegedly Bokobza found an account in a messenger with an Iranian flag on the avatar and initiated interaction with the message: “I am Israeli and want to work with you.” The correspondence with the Iranian operative was conducted over an open channel and without allegories. When visiting objects, Bokobza often neglected secrecy and allegedly did everything to attract the attention of counterintelligence.
Such crude work does not fit well with the agent's task: the Iranians hardly expected to take a well-guarded target "by storm". But to briefly throw the Israelis on a false trail, passing off another "disposable" agent as an important target - that's quite possible.
It seems that Israeli detectives have gradually begun to understand this.
A second "Israeli engineer" has appeared in the case, whose personal information has not yet been disclosed. Unlike the main defendant, he was a full-time employee of the nuclear center and could theoretically carry out Iranian intelligence tasks on the "inner perimeter."
True, there is still no guarantee that the second trail will not also turn out to be a side track, and then Iran will have enough time to obtain the secrets of the “nuclear pearl”.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/07/2025 6:47
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Countries get inspected when they show they can’t be trusted with the things. Israel has had nukes for about four decades, and never used them despite strong temptation. They’ve demonstrated they don’t need supervision.
A long way to say what Frank G. said so efficiently.
[IsraelTimes] The US will exert a campaign of maximum pressure of sanctions on Iran to collapse its oil exports and put pressure on its currency, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says.
“Making Iran broke again will mark the beginning of our updated sanctions policy,” Bessent tells members of the Economic Club of New York.
[IsraelTimes] US President Donald Trump’s administration is considering a plan to stop and inspect Iranian oil tankers at sea under an international accord aimed at countering the spread of weapons of mass destruction, sources familiar with the matter tell Reuters.
Trump has vowed to restore a “maximum pressure” campaign to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports to zero, in order to stop the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Trump hit Iran with two waves of fresh sanctions in the first weeks of his second term, targeting companies and the so-called shadow fleet of aging oil tankers that sail without Western insurance and transport crude from sanctioned countries.
Those moves have largely been in line with the limited measures implemented during former US president Joe Biden’s administration, during which Iran succeeded in ramping up oil exports through complex smuggling networks.
Trump officials are now looking at ways for allied countries to stop and inspect ships sailing through critical chokepoints such as the Malacca Strait in Asia and other sea lanes, according to six sources who asked not to be named due to the sensitive subject.
That would delay delivery of crude to refiners. It could also expose parties involved in facilitating the trade to reputational damage and sanctions, the sources say.
“You don’t have to sink ships or arrest people to have that chilling effect that this is just not worth the risk,” one of the sources says.
“The delay in delivery… instills uncertainty in that illicit trade network.”
The administration was examining whether inspections at sea could be conducted under the auspices of the Proliferation Security Initiative launched in 2003, which aims to prevent the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction.
The US drove that initiative, which has been signed by over 100 governments.
This mechanism could enable foreign governments to target Iran’s oil shipments at Washington’s request, one of the sources said, effectively delaying deliveries and hitting supply chains Tehran relies upon for revenue.
The National Security Council, which formulates policy in the White House, was looking into possible inspections at sea, two of the sources say.
Direct Translation via Gogle Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Clashes between supporters of former President Bashar al-Assad and government forces occurred in Syria's Latakia. The Defense Ministry of the transitional government of Syria sent armed forces to the region, Al Hadath TV channel reported,citing sources.
According to the channel, 28 protesters loyal to Assad were killed in clashes with security forces in Latakia province, while authorities imposed a curfew in the area.
Moreover, according to Al Hadath, at least 16 security personnel were killed in clashes with Assad supporters. It is noted that security forces took control of the clash areas in Jableh, where supporters of the former president attacked one of the checkpoints of the Internal Security Directorate of the new Syrian administration.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, in December 2024, armed groups of the Syrian opposition launched a large-scale offensive against government forces. On December 8, the Syrian army left Damascus, and the militants announced the transfer of power into their hands. Shar Assad resigned and left the country, receiving political asylum in Russia. Ahmed al-Sharaa became the head of the interim government.
On February 12, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin held telephone talks with Ahmed al-Sharaa. They discussed the situation in Syria and issues of cooperation in trade, economic, educational and other areas. The Russian President emphasized that Moscow takes a principled position in support of the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.
On February 25, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov reported that Russia is in contact with the Syrian authorities on the issue of maintaining Russian bases in Syria. The working process is underway, including the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov visited Turkey, where he also raised this issue for discussion.
More than 70 people were killed and dozens more maimed in Syria in fighting between government security forces and bandidosturbans loyal to deposed ruler Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... , a war monitor said Friday.
"More than 70 killed and dozens maimed and captured in bloody festivities and ambushes on the Syrian coast between members of the Ministry of Defense and Interior and bandidosturbans from the defunct regime’s army," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a post on X.
It said earlier that fighting Thursday between government forces and Assad loyalists had killed 48 people in the coastal town of Jableh and adjacent villages, saying they were "the most violent mostly peaceful attacks against the new authorities since Assad was toppled" in December.
The overall toll during this week’s unrest was not immediately clear.
Pro-Assad fighters killed 16 security personnel while 28 fighters aligned with the ousted president and four civilians were also killed, the Observatory said Thursday.
The earlier fighting was in the Mediterranean coastal province of Latakia, the heartland of Assad’s Alawite minority who were considered bastions of support during his rule.
Mustafa Kneifati, a security official in Latakia, said that in "a well-planned and premeditated attack, several groups of Assad militia remnants attacked our positions and checkpoints," targeting patrols in the Jableh area.
The attacks resulted in "numerous deaders and injured among our forces," he added without providing the number of casualties.
Kneifati said security forces would "work to eliminate their presence."
"We will restore stability to the region and protect the property of our people," he declared.of our people," he declared.
TOP OFFICER ARRESTED
The UK-based observatory said most of the security personnel killed were from the former rebel bastion of Idlib in the northwest.
During the operation, security forces captured and arrested a former head of air force intelligence, one of the Assad family’s most trusted security agencies, state news agency SANA reported.
"Our forces in the city of Jableh managed to arrest the criminal General Ibrahim Huweija," SANA said.
"He is accused of hundreds of liquidations during the era of the criminal Hafez al-Assad," Bashir al-Assad’s father and predecessor.
Huweija, who headed air force intelligence from 1987 to 2002, has long been a suspect in the 1977 murder of Lebanese Druze leader Kamal Bek Jumblat.
His son and successor Walid Wally Jumblat ...Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... retweeted the news of his arrest with the comment: "Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest)."
The provincial security director said security forces clashed with button men loyal to an Assad-era special forces commander in another village in Latakia, after authorities reportedly launched helicopter strikes.
"The gangs that our security forces were clashing with in the Latakia countryside were affiliated with the war criminal Suhail al-Hassan," the security director told SANA.
Nicknamed "The Tiger," Hassan led the country’s special forces and was frequently described as Assad’s "favorite soldier." He was responsible for key military advances by the Assad government in 2015.
HELICOPTER STRIKES
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had earlier reported "strikes launched by Syrian helicopters on gunnies in the village of Beit Ana and the surrounding forests, coinciding with artillery strikes on a neighboring village."
SANA reported that militias loyal to the ousted president had opened fire on "members and equipment of the defense ministry" near the village, killing one security force member and wounding two.
Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i broadcaster Al Jazeera reported that its photographer Riad al-Hussein was maimed in the festivities but that he was doing well.
A defense ministry source later told SANA thon the lam military reinforcements were being deployed to the Jableh area.
Alawite leaders later called in a statement on Facebook for "peaceful protests" in response to the helicopter strikes, which they said had targeted "the homes of civilians."
The security forces imposed overnight curfews on Alawite-populated areas, including Latakia, the port city of Tartus and third city Homs, SANA reported.
In other cities around the country, crowds gathered "in support of the security forces," it added.
Tensions erupted after residents of Beit Ana, the birthplace of Suhail al-Hassan, prevented security forces from arresting a person wanted for trading arms, the Observatory said.
Security forces subsequently launched a campaign in the area, resulting in festivities with button men, it added.
Tensions erupted after at least four non-combatants were killed during a security operation in Latakia, the monitor said on Wednesday.
Security forces launched the campaign in the Daatour neighborhood of the city on Tuesday after an ambush by "members of the remnants of Assad militias" killed two security personnel, state media reported.
Salafist tough guys led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... launched a lightning offensive that toppled Assad on December 8.
The country’s new security forces have since carried out extensive campaigns seeking to root out Assad loyalists from his former bastions.
Residents and organizations have reported violations during those campaigns, including the seizing of homes, field executions and kidnappings.
Syria’s new authorities have described the violations as "isolated incidents" and vowed to pursue those responsible.
NEW -- a day of *very* serious hostilities in #Jableh, #Latakia, triggered by attacks by #Assad loyalists.
13 interim gov't forces killed, plus loyalists. A helicopter gunship deployed & DMO forces dispatched from #Damascus tonight as fighting continues. pic.twitter.com/lbvf9wFQOG
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.
...
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...
...the once and current oppressors of Afghanistan...
...46th president of the U.S. 
...
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
[IsraelTimes] Jews were targeted in 28 hate crimes in New York City last month, far more than any other group, the NYPD says.
...
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
...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 
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...46th president of the U.S. 
[X] Congressman 
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
..always the voice of sweet reason...
